GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



and respect), ja residents of the United 

 States, were biased by selfishness in using 

 their influence for the benefit of the people. 

 Instead of loving humanity, high and low, 

 rich and poor, equally and alike, they love 

 their friends who have helped them to get 

 important offices, etc. Now, I am not ex- 

 pecting too much of humanity — at least 

 I do not believe I am; for I suppose there 

 has never a man lived, and perhaps never 

 will live, who could say as Jesus did, as he 

 stretched his hand out toward the multi- 

 tude, "Behold my mother and my breth- 

 ren." What he meant to convey was this : 

 Every child of humanity on this whole 

 broad earth is just as near and dear to me 

 as my own mothei", my brothers, and my 

 sisters. Who is there living who can say 

 as much? What would it be worth to our 

 nation if we could have just a few such men 

 in office? As I try to comprehend the 

 gi'eat truth here with my feeble human in- 

 tellect, my little prayer wells up, "Lord, 

 help." Some of you may say, "Mr. Root, 

 do you practice what j^ou are preaching? 

 Do you love the great wide world as you 

 love your wife, the memory of your good 

 mother, your boys and girls, and sons-in- 

 laAV, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren?" 



As I contemplate it this minute, that lit- 

 tle prayer rings out again with additional 

 emphasis, "Lord, help." At such times as 

 this, Avhen I consider my own frailty, I 

 thank God I can say, as poor Peter 

 did, "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee;" 

 and I can add (thank God), "Lord, thou 

 knowest that I am hungering and thirsting 

 after righteousness every day of my life." 

 Perhaps it comes by fits and starts ; but T be- 

 lieve it is coming oftener and stronger as 

 I pass the mark of threescore years and 

 ten. You perhaps have recognized that 

 these Home papers are taking a wider 

 scope than they did years ago. Not only 

 are the common people reading my plead- 

 ings for righteousness and fairness, but at 

 least one or two millionaires who got start- 

 ed in beekeeping are giving me encouraging 

 words and telling me to go on. 



We are told, "Thou shalt love thy neigh- 

 bor as thyself." And if you ask who is 

 your neighbor I am glad to point you to 

 that beautiful parable that answers that 

 very question. If I understand it correctly, 

 our neighbor is any one who happens to 

 be in trouble, and who is needing help. He 

 may be white or black, rich or poor, or he 

 may live on the other side of the earth.* 



He is our neighbor still; and if he has 

 fallen among thieves and is wounded, 

 robbed, and "ready to die," if we belong to 

 the Lord Jesus Christ we can not escape 

 the responsibility resting on us. That man, 

 though he be far away, is a part of human- 

 ity; and when Jesus said, "Behold my 

 mother and my brethren," he meant it to 

 include humanity thi-oughout this whole 

 wide world; and my impression is just 

 now that the highest enjoj'ment and the 

 greatest happiness one is capable of is 

 along the line of our text and its teaching 

 — that they are not only neighbors but 

 brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus 

 Christ. 



To illustrate the difficulty of climbing 

 above human temptation, let me mention 

 one or two instances. Years ago there was 

 a shortage of coal here. It could not be 

 had for love nor money. It was then al- 

 most impossible to keep our machinery go- 

 ing by bujdng expensive wood. We were 

 on the eve of shutting down for want of 

 fuel. A carload of coal stood on the track 

 close by our boiler-room. The railroad 

 company needed it to run their engines, and 

 would not sell -it at any price. I think I 

 prayed over the matter, and finally our sta- 

 tion agent came over and said something 

 like this : 



"Mr. Root, we appreciate what you have 

 done to keep our Medina people busy dur- 

 ing the cold winter with your factory and 

 vai'ious offices. While that car of coal is 

 not for sale, we have looked the matter over 

 and decided to let you have it in order to 

 keep you going until some more can be 

 had." 



You can, perhaps, imagine (or at least 

 partly) how grateful I felt toward him. 

 Now listen. With a sly twinkle in his eye 

 he said: 



"Mr. Root, would you be willing to put 

 your name at the head of a paper recom- 



* Right in line with the above I might mention 

 that the world is just now getting stirred in regard 

 to the cruelty exercised toward the natives in Peru, 

 who are gathering rubber to make our automobile 



tires. See the following, clipped from the Chicago 

 Advance for Aug. 8, they copying it from the 

 British Weekly : 



"At the very time when the words 'Great rubber 

 boom' were displayed on London posters to tempt 

 greedy investors, the poor Indians of the Peruvian 

 forests were dying in agony. The full responsi- 

 bility for these crimes must be placed on the gov- 

 ernment of Peru. By failure to punish the evil- 

 doers individually and collectively, Peru will for- 

 feit the right to exist as an independent republic." 



I wish to call your attention to the closing 

 sentence — who is to bring this about? If I un- 

 derstand it, the responsibility rests on the civilized 

 and Christianized nations of the earth — the United 

 States standing, if I am correct, in the fore- 

 front. Is not the time coming when the spirit of 

 the master shall leaven the whole lump of human- 

 ity, so that no more slavery, barbaric cruelty, nor 

 suffering from starvation and liTinger, shall exist 

 anywhere on the face of this whole \viclc earth f 

 The sentiment of our text will bring it about, and 

 it is the only thing in tliis whole wide universe 

 that will bring it to pass. 



