THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S ists owned 37%% of the nation’s wealth. In 1870 they owned 63%. The concentration of wealth nearly doubled in 20 years in ours own country. . But today 5% of the people own 95% of our country’s wealth. We are making rapid strides toward the whirlpool of national disaster. Golden Text Illustration.—“At Monte Carlo, where people from all parts of the world meet to gamble, there is one table where they play with nothing but gold. The coin used is made a t Paris, and bears the image of the Prince of Monaco. Each piece is four times as large as our sovereign and is a most beautiful work of art. The value of it is one hundred francs or four pounds sterling, about $20.00. Now do you not think it a fearful desecration to coin the pure gold which God meant for the highest and holiest purposes into money of this kind, to minister to the base greed and selfishness of men? One of the first gold coins ever minted in our country (England) had engraved on it the Cross of'Christ, and the mot to, ‘It shall be lifted up in glory!’ It was a quaKer-florin of the time of Ed ward III. Another later gold coin was called ‘Angel’ with the design of Michael the Archangel trampling upon the dragon, and the legend, ‘By thy Cross, save us, O Christ, our Redeemer’.” A Kind Woman. 2 Kings 4:8-11. Memory Verse.— “Be ye kind one to another.” Eph. 4:32. Approach.—Boys and girls, do you like the people who are kind to you and always try to help you in every way they can? Of course you do, and ' ' ' we all love the BEGINNERS people who are al- AND PRIMARY ways kind and lov- Mabel L. Merrill ing. Perhaps some of you know some people who have shown kindness to you or to your mother or other members of
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tury, the richest crowned head in Europe was worth only about fifteen million dollars. At the close of the 19th century there were plenty of pri vate citizens in Europe and America worth more than fifteen millions each, while many now have fortunes of hun dreds of millions.” It is said, “th a t in the United States in twenty-seven years our wealth in creased from 31 billion to 71 billion. More than doubled. In other words our national wealth increased a t the rate of 250 thousand dollars an hour or as one of our senators put it ‘Every time the clock ticks in the dome of the Capitol at Washington,, the accumu lated permanent wealth of this country increases by more than $70.00’.” Misuse of Wealth.—While a ball, costing $50,000 was in progress a t Del- monicoes, out on the curb-stone shiv ered a woman with a dead babe in her arms. It ’was starved and frozen to death. Some people have been known to pay $500 for a pair of shoes and several women petted and coddled a poodle or madero dog costing a thousand dollars. Danger of Concentrated Wealth.—It is estimated that when Egypt was de stroyed as a great civilization, th a t 2% of her population owned 97% of her wealth. When the great Kingdom of the Baby lonians went down to destruction 2% of her population owned all her wealth. When Persia fell 1% of her.people owned all her land. When Rome met her fate 1800 men owned all the then known world. Where are we today? These figures have been published of England. To day in England, Ireland and Wales there are 40 million people, and 100 thousand own all the land in the United Kingdom. This is one-fourth of 1%. How near is England to the breaking point? In the United States in 1850 capital
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