In Pittsburgh

A sermon was delivered last week which cut across the entire religious geography of the U. S. It pricked consciences, awoke indignation, inspired enthusiasm, and was-fortunately or unfortunately--disturbing.

The Pulpit was the plain rostrum of the Smithfield Street M. E. Church of Pittsburgh, where the M. E. Council of Cities was in session.

The Preacher was Warren S. Stone, a layman of the Congregational Church, famed President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers./-

The Sermon had for its text the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was a poor man, a carpenter, who wore plain clothes, had poor friends, low social rating, belonged to no exclusive clubs. The argument was that the Protestant Churches, whether ritualistic or evangelical, had, to all appearances, forgotten, overlooked, or discarded this fact. Extracts:

"You want to know what Labor thinks of the Church? I tell you very frankly that Labor does not think much of the Church, because the Church does not think very much of Labor. Always, in any trouble between Capital and Labor, the influence of the Church has largely been on the side of Capital. This is easily explained when you realize that the Church depends upon Capital for its support and not upon contributions from the workers. Some churches, it is true, carry on a superficial welfare work, but they do almost nothing to interest themselves vitally in wages, working conditions and occupational problems that mean bread and butter and life and death to the worker and his family.

"The average worker is convinced that the Church exists largely for the white-collared people. They regard it somewhat as a comfortable social club for merchants and bankers, Rotarians and members of the Chamber of Commerce ... I have a recollection that somewhere in the New Testament it says that when the Carpenter of Nazareth spoke, the common people heard him gladly, while the religious and business classes persecuted and crucified him ... It might be well for you to take a census of your own churches and especially to count the number of men on your official board who earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brows.

"The workingman is no longer welcome in many of our Protestant Churches, and the workingman clothed in rags has no place where he is welcome in any of the Protestant Churches. The reverse is true of the Catholic Church. No matter how lowly his position in the social scale, no matter how ragged he may be, the doors of this Church always stand open to him.

"The first thing, it seems to me for the Church to do is to live up to its professions. If the ministers were preaching the same sort of gospel and living the same kind of ife today that the great founder of the Christian Church did 2,000 years ago, there wouldn't be standing room left in any of your churches."

Following President Stone, William E. Sweet, Governor of Colorado said the Church bowed to business and wealth. He renewed the attack on the U. S. Steel Corporation, saying:

"The primary object of modern business is the exploitation of humanity as well as raw materials. The history of the United States Steel Corporation, the largest steel company in the world, proves this statement. It exploited its men as to hours of labor and wages for years while Capital received enormous returns in dividends and the accumulation of surplus. Their excuse that they could not afford the short day was accepted. Since its adoption the company has regularly paid larger dividends on the common stock, although it maintains that the cost of production has increased 10%.

"Several years ago at a meeting of steel manufacturers a prominent speaker addressed them on labor and the steel industry. When he had finished, the Chairman observed, 'Steel has always been a mankiller, it always will be a mankiller. We will now proceed to the next order of business.' "