1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



765 



thetn. As an inducement, Moses promised him that 

 it would be to his profit to come " I will not go," 

 said I£obab, "I will go home.' Then Monies urged that 

 they needed him as a guide through the wilderness 

 into which they were going. And Hobab changed 

 his mind and went. Some men want wages for_ their 

 work ; others want work for. their wages. „ 



The words that surprised and startled 

 me in this are the following: "Some men 

 want wages for their work: others want 

 work for their wages." In my experience 

 in employing men, women, and children, I 

 have found hundreds who want wages. 

 They want better wages. They are con- 

 stantly inquiring of their employers if they, 

 the employers, do not think they are worth 

 a little viore money than they are getting; 

 and if somebody offers just a few cents an 

 hour more, we have got to pay it or let them 

 go. Sometimes they do not even tell us 

 thej' have had a better offer. They jump 

 at this offer for a cent or two more an hour, 

 and drop their work without even explain- 

 ing to their employer, or their successor, 

 so that somebody else may pick up the 

 broken stitches without injustice to custom- 

 ers, and financial loss. These people are 

 working for wages, and this matter of 

 wages seems to be the sole inspiring motive 

 for their work. Thank God, however, this 

 ;is not altogether the rule. Some bright 

 memories come to me as I dictate, of those 

 who have in years past come to me with 

 something like this: "Mr. Root, I am more 

 obliged to you than I can express for hav- 

 ing advanced my pay, especially when I 

 did not expect it; and what troubles me now 

 is that you are offering me more than I can 

 earn. Now, if there is any way that you 

 can suggest whereby I can be of more ser- 

 vice to you than I have been heretofore, in 

 order that I may keep this advance you of- 

 fer, with a clear conscience, I shall be very 

 glad to know how to do it." 



Oh what a pleasant feeling there is on 

 both sides when dealing with such persons! 

 This last dear brother or sister, for I can 

 with a clear conscience call them by such 

 endearing names, wanted work for the 

 wages given. They wanted tnore work. 

 Does it occur to you, dear friends, that this 

 class of people have in their minds some- 

 thing like the texts we are considering? 

 They want to serve the world, and are 

 more concerned about making their service 

 good, and worth a hundred cents on the 

 dollar, than they are about studying day 

 and night to see how they can get still 

 better wages without a particle more of 

 service. While I am about it, let me say 

 that, as memory goes back, I find that every 

 one who had the feeling that he was getting 

 more pay than he really earned, and there- 

 fore was constantly striving to do more for 

 his employer — such people have always 

 "forged ahead." The great greedy world, 

 if you will excuse me for speaking in that 

 way, of the average world, is looking for 

 just such people. It grabs for them; but, 

 thank God, such persons do not hasten to 

 leave their old employer, even if somebody 

 else does offer more pay. There is a sense 



of fairness and justice in their'makeup that 

 forbids any thing of the kind.; ^ __ ^ 



This last editorial I" have quoted was 

 from an article discussing whether minis- 

 ters should go somewhere else when a larg- 

 er salary is offered. When it seems plain 

 that a minister can do more good to humani- 

 ty by going to a larger field he ought to be 

 willing to go; and his people, no matter 

 how much they love him, should be glad to 

 have him go. Both pastor and people should 

 forget self, and think rather of humanity. 



We have recently been discussing the ad- 

 vertisements in the different periodicals in 

 our land. Mr. Bok has called our atten- 

 tion to the class of advertisements found in 

 our religious papers. Now, advertisers as 

 well as editors, if they have any glimpse at 

 all of the character and spirit of the Lord 

 Jesus Christ, would consider first how 

 they might benefit humanity; and, second- 

 ly, the matter of fixing a fair price for their 

 services. The object-lesson we have been 

 taught by Duffy's malt whisky comes in 

 here in contrast with Jesus' words in our 

 text in a way to make those words precious. 

 The whisky men evidently have no concep- 

 tion of bettering humanity; indeed, I do not 

 believe they have any conception of human- 

 ity at all. In their selfishness they have 

 forgotten there is anybody in the world ex- 

 cept victims to be plundered by such as 

 they are. They are quite willing to curse 

 humanity, to chain it down with an appe- 

 tite that will send one to the bottomless pit, 

 just so they get the dollar. They have 

 learned by being among good men — that 

 is, they have been among good men suffi- 

 ciently to learn that the world generally 

 has some faith in a letter with a man's 

 name signed to it, especially if the writer 

 gives the place of his residence. They take 

 it for granted the average person will be- 

 lieve such a letter to be genuine. In their 

 efforts to gather in the dollars, they seem 

 to have no fear of God or man. We may 

 feel certain, too, they do not fear the Devil, 

 perhaps because they are so intimately ac- 

 quainted with him; therefore they perpe- 

 trate these outrageous and baneful false- 

 hoods, and secure space to print them in 

 periodicals that are generally supposed to 

 be reliable. 



We have been treated to some magazine 

 articles in regard to the shame and corrup- 

 tion in some of our great cities; but this 

 same shame and corruption, it seems, is 

 not confined to the great cities. Society is 

 all honeycombed with it. For many years 

 we as a nation have been prosperous. Ev- 

 erybody is busy. Almost everybody has 

 means; and I fear we have been too busy to 

 look up and point out the wolves in sheep's 

 clothing. Science, arts, and industries are 

 making great strides. Oh that we might 

 see corresponding strides in the way of 

 godliness and righteousness! that we might 

 see able men in high places who are hun- 

 gering and thirsting for service instead of 

 hungering and thirsting for the dollars that 

 rightly belong to the honest tax-payer! Oh 



