"Would it not be possible to establish, here in America, a genuinely Christian labor union?" This is the question raised the other day by a contemporary religious newspaper. The paper gives its own answer to the question, saying: "We believe it could be done!" Then it continues: "We believe that here is an opportunity for important work to be undertaken by the ministers of the various religious denominations."

In a case of this kind, faith does not count. Only the testimony of past actions can serve as a clue regarding the possible nature and activities of such a union. We do not deny that there are men within the religious ranks who could accomplish great things if they were permitted a free hand in dealing with labor problems.

But the majority--the mediocre, lazy, egotistic, reactionary majority, which in all ages has squelched every noble endeavor in a liberal direction--is still alive and holds sway within the ranks of the clergy, and for this reason, it would hardly be advisable to let the clergy determine the course of the labor unions. If the majority of churchmen were men of the character of Joseph Vanee, Herbert Bigelow, A. W. Small, Herbert Carson, and others like them, then there might be possibilities in a Christian labor movement, but as matters are--do not make the attempt!

Do we need to give reasons for our stand? Go to church on a Sunday; listen to the sermon on, say, the question of [the right to] strike. Then decide whether the preacher who places all the blame for the cessation of activity on the workers is qualified to take the labor movement in hand.

Only a few days ago, an official in the union of store clerks called on one of our Swedish ministers in Chicago, and asked him to request his congregation 3not to make purchases on Sunday morning, so that the merchants would find it useless to keep their stores open on that morning, thus enabling the clerks to go to church. The minister answered that he did not dare [to make the request], for if he did, he might lose the advertising these merchants have been placing in his paper, a monthly which he publishes for the edification of the members of his congregation and for the furtherance of the kingdom of God on this earth. His consistency is admirable!

Broadly speaking, one religious sect or organization is no better than the next. Ignorance clasps hands with cowardice. The former is unable to plumb the depths of the labor question, the latter does not dare make known its findings. In a sweet spirit of fraternity, they close their eyes to the great cultural problems, but with bitter invectives they quarrel about the methods of administering the sacraments.

We have reaped great quantities of such empty sheaves in the harvest fields 4of the various sects, but no matter how thoroughly we threshed them, only chaff resulted. Very recently, we gathered a sheaf in the fields of the Mormons in Utah where, as is known, a strike of the coal miners is in progress. The liberal Utah Korrespondenten says:

"The mine owners have received help from leading men in the Church of the Latter-day Saints; last Sunday, the bishops of Sanpete and Sevier counties said in their sermons that the farmers ought to go to work in the coal mines during the winter. Their advice has taken effect, and a number of farmers sons have gone to take up that dangerous labor."

Does our heterodox contemporary hit above the mark? Read what the Mormon organ, Utah Posten, says in regard to the same question: "As long as the Latter-day Saints constitute the majority in Utah, the State will never become fertile soil for strikes, uprisings, and propaganda. The present situation is due to an element, [in our population] which is, and always has 5been, hostile to that calm and conservative spirit which guides the majority of the citizens of Utah." Does not the statement from our religious contemporary make it quite clear that no strike, however fully justified, will succeed, as long as our bishops and priests are able to control the people, so as to make them become strikebreakers, either by promise of happiness in heaven or through threat of punishment in hell?

No; the clergy of our day, imbued as it is with the spirit of selfishness and partisanship, cannot successfully take the labor movement in hand. Before the guiding reins of the labor movement could be safely entrusted to priests, individual conversions as well as a general conversion would have to take place among the clergy in order that they [the priests] might gain a clear understanding of the spiritual significance of the teaching of the Nazarene: "Come unto me all ye who labor!"