2dS mo:n^ey axd the kingdom. 



But the acceptance of the Christian doctrine concern- 

 ing property would have a direct, as ^Yell as indirect, 

 influence on socialism. Let us therefore dwell a mo- 

 ment on the subject. In the popular ferment, a hundred 

 years ago, which culminated in the French Revolution, 

 the demand was for equal rights and the watchword 

 was Liberty. There is a popular ferment throughout 

 Europe to-day which is more universal and extends to 

 the United States. The popular demand now is equality 

 of condition, and the watchword is Property — a cry the 

 meaning of which the dullest and most earthly can un- 

 derstand. Tliis movement, Avhich is steadily gathering 

 force, results from the two most striking facts of the 

 nineteenth century : first, the general diffusion of knowl- 

 edge through the press, which has wonderfully multi- 

 plied wants up and down the entire social scale; and, 

 second, the creation of immense wealth by means of the 

 steam engine. But this wealth, which is necessary to 

 the satisfaction of these wants, has been massed. In a 

 word, the difficulty is knoivledge multiplied mid popular- 

 ized, and ivealth multiplied and centralized. 



The right distribution of property, which is the kernel 

 of the social question, is the great problem of our civili- 

 zation; and it may well be doubted whether the true 

 solution will be found until the Church accepts, both in 

 doctrine and practice, the teachings of God's Word 

 touching possessions. For the Church is responsible for 

 public opinion on all moral questions, and no great ques- 

 tion of rights can be settled for the world until Christian 

 men come into right relations with it. 



The inexorable law of our present industrial system is 

 that the cost of subsistence determines the rate of 

 wages. This makes no provision for the higher wants of 

 increasing intelligence, and therefore insures an increas- 

 ing popular discontent. It would seem that the solution 

 of the great difficulties between capital and labor must 

 be found in some form of co-operation by which the 

 workman will be admitted to a just share in the profits 

 of his labor. Professor Cairns, who is considered one of 



