JUNK 15, 1915 



513 



In regard lo having a revolver right 

 handj' on a shelf under the pulpit, no, my 

 good brother, I would not keep a revolver 

 thei'e, and I would not have it anywhere 

 unless in the hands of a duly appointed po- 

 liceman. Years ago I did have a revolver 

 which I kept under ray pillow; but after my 

 conversion I put it away, and have never 

 handled one since, and, in fact, have scarce- 

 ly seen one; and since you call attention to 

 it, I think now I would rather take the 

 small chance of being killed myself rather 

 than to keep a revolver, thinking the time 

 might come when I could save my life by 

 the use of it. My long-time friend who is 

 taking down these notes suggests right here 

 that the PilgTim fathers always went to 

 church with guns to protect themselves from 

 the Indians; and a similar condition may 

 even now exist in some parts of the world. 

 In the book of Nehemiah we read that in 

 building the walls of Jerusalem the men 

 wrought with one hand and in the other 

 they held a weapon. Shall we not face 

 conditions as they are 7wio, and work and 

 pray for the time coming when such things 

 will be needed no moref 



The midnight assassin and the highway 

 robber are, I am convinced, largely the 

 product of our saloons; and when they are 

 banished from the face of the earth the 

 need of taking life to save life will have 

 largely passed away, as in the language of 

 our second text. Let me repeat what I have 

 said about Manatee Co., Florida. There has 

 never been a saloon in that county, and, 

 God helping us, there never will be one. As 

 a result, my good neighbor Mr. Rood had a 

 poultrj'-house undisturbed for years right 

 up against the fence along the highway. A 

 passei'by could, in fact, reach through and 

 get a chicken if he wanted to, and yet our 

 population is lai'gely colored people whose 

 loose habits and fondness for " chicken " 

 have been proverbial. So long as we have 

 the rum trafTic we must fight. May God be 

 with us, and help us in this fight until the 

 partnership now existing between our na- 

 tion and the liquor-traffic shall be ended. 



SOCIALISM, CHRISTIANITY, ETC. 



ifr. A. I. Root: — In my copy of Gleanings for 

 Dec. 1, under the headin? of Our Homes, I noticed 

 your view-s of socialism expressed, as likewise our 

 brother Boone's. You stated that you were liable 

 to put your foot in a hornet's nest if you discussed 

 this subject. Gleanings has always seemed to be 

 an impartial magazine based upon truth and not 

 Sction. 



Mr. Root, I admire your religious views, and am 

 a lover of the Bible; and it was the Bible, and par- 

 ticularly the teaching of Christ, that first opened my 

 eyes to the glariner inju.stice of the present capitalist 

 system. This system uses the dollar as it god, and 

 •* will end when one man owns the world and all in 



it. Tt has held up profits ae its Christ. For profit 

 the liquor traffic exists, the tobacco traffic also, and 

 tho present social evil. 



May I not say you wore mistaken or misinformed 

 when you stated the Socialist party was in favor of 

 the liquor-traffic? We are for the prohibition of the 

 manufacture and ksale of liquor, or at least the ma- 

 jority are, throughout the world, and, likewise, the 

 upbuilding of the laboring class. All men are or 

 should bo laboring men by the Bible's teaching. 



Now, Mr. Root, is it the laboring man or capitalist 

 that finance the old parties? As it is the capitalist, 

 how can the laboring man expect laws made in his 

 interest ? 



As God has put enough food, shelter, and clothing 

 into this world for all, why do not all enjoy it? Is 

 it right for one man to corner or own nearly all the 

 necessities of life and withhold it from the producers? 

 Why are not the things used publicly owned public- 

 ly ? or the means of transportation, production, and 

 distribution? This would be like a swarm of bees 

 all workin^g and producing for the common good. 

 What would you do with a colony of bees that 

 would allow the first workers of spring that collect 

 pollen to hold up the colony for ten cells of bee- 

 bread apiece for it? 



While I do not like the manner of the attack of 

 comrade Boone, I still mantain that all laboring men 

 .should support the socialist movement; also all pro- 

 fessors of Christianity. 



Newaygo, Mich., Dec. 24. A. A. Woodruff. 



My good friend, if I understand you 

 correctly, as you state it I am a Socialist. 

 I do most vehemently object to one man or 

 a gang of men cornering the necessities of 

 life; and I am strongly in favor of gov- 

 ernment ownership, so we can all share 

 alike, as fast as it can be brought about. I 

 am gTeatly pleased to hear you say, indirect- 

 ly if not directly, that socialism indorses the 

 gospel of Chi'ist Jesus. If this is true, then 

 I gather from reading a great mass of pe- 

 riodicals that a large part of the Socialist 

 party are " away off " in their ideas and 

 methods. As socialism is pretty well up 

 before the world, I leave our readers to 

 judge. I agree with you that our old polit- 

 ical parties have been dominated largely by 

 capitalists. But this is fast passing away. 

 The laboring people, and especially the 

 farmers, are making themselves heard. The 

 downfall of the liquor-traffic is a striking 

 evidence of it. 



Later. — Since the above was written I 

 have seen somewliere a statement in regard 

 to the number of people employed in the 

 liquor business who belong to the union. 

 I think it was a good many thousand; and 

 inasmuch as these would lose their occupa- 

 tion by prohibition, it was stated the union 

 could not indorse nor recommend prohibi- 

 tion. 



A LETTER PROM TROUBLED MEXICO, 

 jifr. Root : — The reason that I delayed sending my 

 subscription was that it seemed that foreigners would 

 have to leave Mexico. I have asked a friend of mine 

 who lives in California to renew my subscription. It 

 is a great pity that your articles on gardening are 

 not more widely known. From what I read in Glean- 



