1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



273 



Five dollars will rescue from starvation, and support 

 fifty children for a month. 



One hundred dollars will dig a well that will insure 

 bountiful crops tm several acres of land, and secure 

 many families against future famines; or the same 

 amount will equip a cheap grain-shop that would 

 lower the market rate in a circle i f many villages. 



All contributions should be sent directly to Frank 

 H. Wiggin, treasurer of the Ameri.an Board, 14 Bea- 

 con Street, Boston, and should be marked for the 

 Congregationalist's Relief Fund. 



One thing more before I close. It grieves 

 my heart to see the waste that is going on in 

 our United States. In a recent daily a report- 

 er interviewed the head waiter in a large res- 

 taurant. They served meals both on the Eu- 

 ropean and American plan. He told the re- 

 porter they made more profit, althoiigh they 

 received less money, from guests who ordered 

 and paid for what they wanted and nothing 

 more. He said those who paid for a full meal 

 would almost always order every thing on the 

 bill of fare, eat what they wanted, and all the 

 rest of the nice expensive food was dumped 

 into the slop-pail. And this goes on the world 

 over. We are told a good meal can not be 

 furnished for less than 50 or 75 cents or a dol- 

 lar, because it is customary to throw away 

 more than a customer eats. Not only is the 

 food expensive, but high-priced cooks must 

 be employed to get up expensive dishes just to 

 throw the greater part of them away. I need 

 "not speak of the amount wasted, or worse than 

 wasted, on drinks. 



Last summer there were more people attend- 

 ing pleasure-resorts than ever before since the 

 world began. I suppose one reason is they 

 were all earning money ; and then they made 

 a study as to how best they might throw their 

 money away. All these people have good and 

 abundant meals at home ; but in between 

 meals they must have popcorn, ice- cream, lem- 

 onade, and may be beer. At the close of the 

 day, after three good meals, banquets are the 

 fashion at 75 cents or a dollar a plate ; and in 

 large cities they have $5.00 a plate, $10.00 a 

 plate, and somebody who knows can tell me 

 how much more Think of all of this, and 

 then think of the little girl who begged her 

 mother to spare her life, promising she would 

 never again, even if she was starving, ask that 

 mother for a crumb of bread. No doubt this 

 -child was a pretty winning little girl, like 

 yours or mine. Christ Jesus, and he alone, 

 teaches us that we should stir ourselves for 

 that little girl in starving India as we wmld 

 were it a child of our own. " Thou shalt love 

 thy neighbor as thyself ; " and few would, at 

 the present day, dare to tell us the starving 

 people of India are not "our neighbors." 



Why does God allow this ? I think we may 

 say truthfully we are a part of him. Why 

 -does he allow it ? Why does the United 

 States of America allow such a state of affairs? 

 God has given us this great abundance in 07-- 

 der that we might feed the world. Instead of 

 feeding the world we are wasting it and throw- 

 ing it away, making ourselves unwell by the 

 great abundance we do not need. God expects 

 us to compass the whole earth and hunt up 

 the starving. We have been for years trying 

 to get to the North Pole, and are at it yet. 

 Let us use a little of that zeal in hunting up 



the starving people and setting them at work. 

 I do not believe in making paupers of men. 

 God gives the means and commissions us to 

 do the work he wants done. When soldiers 

 and money were called for to go to Cuba, there 

 was no lack. To those who are so patriotic, 

 let me suggest it may be God's will that 

 America shall lead the world in wealth and 

 arts and progress in every direction. Now, 

 before we are fit to lead the world let us first 

 feed the world, or rather the starving people 

 of the world. 



If patriotic America is to /^ai/ the world, is 

 it not a grand matter to start the work on a 

 good foundation by letting patriotic America 

 commence \ofeed the world? I need not tell 

 you who it was that said, " Whosoever will be 

 great among you, let him be your minister ; 

 and whosoever will be chief among you, let 

 him be your servant." 



SOME EXCELLENT SUGGF.STIONS FROM OUR oi^D 

 FRIEND PROF. COOK ON CO-OPERATION. 



Dear Mr. Root . — I have always admired your earnest- 

 ness to benefit others, even though you received no 

 personal consideration, it is certain!}' a thing to be 

 coveted. I therefore am free to come to you now with 

 an article which I think is very important and oppor- 

 tune at this time. We all know the magnitude of 

 trusts at the pi esent time ; we all know the evil con- 

 nected with them ; we all know the unrest in the pub- 

 lic mind because of these great combinations. Any 

 such general disturbance is greatly to be regretted. 

 On the other hand, close .study makes it very certain 

 that such combinations have inuch to recommend 

 them. The economy which they permit is certainly 

 greatly in their favor. The economy of production, 

 the economy in advertising, economy in sale — indeed, 

 economy everywhere — urges in favor of great combi- 

 nations. Again, these great combinations make it 

 possible to develop any art to its fullest extent. I 

 think few will dispute the fact that some of our great- 

 est improvements ot late have come froin combina- 

 tions. An institution that has so much to recommend 

 it when once thoroughly organized is very hard to re- 

 move. I doubt if we can ever do away with trusts. I 

 do believe that, with better Christianity and better 

 methods, the evils will di.sappear. We may be glad 

 of the best coinbination if the evils are to be elinii- 

 nattrd. Your great business gives you marked ad- 

 vantage over tliose who have a less trade, and manu- 

 facture less. This advantage would be even greater if 

 all the bee supplies were produced and .sold by you. I 

 believe that, were this the ca.se. you would not take 

 advantage of your position to fleece the beekeeping 

 public. Not as much could b^' said of many people. I 

 believe the best way to overcome these evils is to make 

 combination general. I believe the solution will come 

 in general co-operation. The leader of one of our la- 

 bor unions recently .said. " We make no fight again.st 

 combinations if we can only be fully oryanized our- 

 selves." I believe there is a wealth of philosophy in 

 his remark. You and I know that our manual-labor 

 pursuits have been .seriously handicapped in all the 

 past. The fact that manual-labor occupations have 

 used less brains and culture is the great re>son for 

 this struggle in the economy of the world's work. 

 The immediate cause of the handicap is the lack of 

 co-operation. The farmers, including the bee-keepers, 

 have suffered most. Their isolation makes combina- 

 tion much more difficult than in any other class of 

 the world's workers. You and I also believe that 

 there is more of integrity and wealth among oiir 

 ranchers, as a whole, than among other classes. After 

 any general election we are all eager to learn whether 

 the country people turned out to vote. The very fact 

 of labor and intimacy with God-made things, I believe, 

 accounts for this moral superiority. I like Tenny- 

 son's bea\itiful stanza : 



Flower in the crannied wall, 



I pluck thee out of the cranny ; 



I hold you here in my hand, little flower : 



And if I could but understand what you are. 



Root and all, all in all, 



I should know what God and man are. 



