181
June, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S
B U S I N E S S
right of contract. The Jones five and ten law contravenes the provision against cruel and unusual punishment . . . What’s the Constitution these days? The gentlemen who say it is an archaic document and a dead letter seem to be right. This great Chicago daily should also have called atten tion to the fact that when the Senators and the Representa tives, as well as the President of the United States, men who on March 4 swore that they would “ preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution of the United States—when those men signed a four per cent béer bill, they joined the lawless and rode roughshod over the supreme law of the land. When those who sit in the high seats have no respect for the supreme law o f the nation, what is to be expected of “ the common herd” ? Without a law-abiding citizenry, any nation rides to certain doom. Lawlessness such as we have seen in the rulers o f America, as well as in the rulers of other nations, may be excused by some on the ground o f dire necessity in national emergency, but lawlessness it is just the same. And world-wide lawlessness in high seats assuredly foreruns the revelation of “ the lawless one” (2 Thess. 2:8, R .V .) whose brief rule over the nations will itself forerun the coming of Him who, on the throne of David, will rule the world in righteousness, and “ will bring forth justice in truth.” Verily, “ he will not fail nor be dis couraged, till he have set justice in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his law” (Isa. 4 2 :4 )— for the law o f a Ruler who, Himself, shall have a regard for law. The Tremendous Significance of “ Economic Dictatorship” Picking up the well-known magazine, the Nation, we read : Many of them [measures recently enacted by the ; United States Congress] give the President or members of his cabinet executive powers previously unheard of under pur Constitution. . . . Already in Mr. Roosevelt’s brief period of power, he has seen how each proposed eco nomic change has merely created the need of a larger one. A limited farm-allotment plan grows into a general dic tatorship over production and marketing and the prices to be paid . . . As they grow and multiply, these various schemes are merging into something like an unplanned economic plan. Its shape is not clear. But this “ unplanned economic plan” was revealed to the world through the Apostle John over eighteen centuries ago, as a part o f the great plan of God for the closing of man’s day on the earth. “ Unplanned,” perhaps, by men, but it was perfectly planned by an overruling “ divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.” Few ever could have been made to believe that in America we would ever see “ a general dictatorship over production and marketing and the prices to be paid.” And just as few now see swiftly approaching the day when, under a general world-dictatorship, “ no man should be able to buy or sell, save he that had the mark . . . of the beast” (Rev. 13:17). If Roosevelt and the International Conference Fail— Then What? Again, the editor o f the Nation, Oswald Garrison Vil- lard, exclaims : What a marvelous opportunity confronts Franklin Roosevelt ! . . . And the question is whether President Roosevelt will be able to rise to this emergency. I f he does not, and if the leading nations summoned to the inter national conference at London cannot agree upon some vital remedies, then the world will continue to sink and decay because o f the futility and feebleness of its leader ship. Did we believe President Roosevelt to be endowed with the powers o f a superman, we might believe him able to “ rise to this emergency,” and restore order- in a sorely
hour when our poor, troubled old world is thus shackled by dictators, that the Stone, shall fall upon the oppressors, yea, the great Liberator that is to come shall come, and shall not tarry ! Who, fifteen years ago, when the score o f mighty na tions that went forth to fight under thè slogan, “ Make the World Safe for Democracy,” were returning home from that battle flushed with victory—who then would have believed that within less than a dozen short years, this same old world would stand pillorized and shackled by dictators, most o f whom are o f the lowest order and most beastly type ? Russia has her Stalin ; Italy has her Mussolini ; Turkey has her Kemal Pasha; Poland has her Pilsudski; Austria has her Doll fuss; Germany has her Hitler; and impossible as it may seem, the United States o f America has her Roosevelt ! The latter is at present a most benevo lent dictatorship, it is true, but a dictatorship it is, all the more impressive in that it has been forced upon a great na tion, not by the force o f arms, but by the force of circum stances. Harry Carr, the famous columnist o f the staff o f the Los Angeles Times, on February 12, 1933, wrote: Terrified by the approaching storm—afraid to risk their political jobs by cutting veterans’ pensions or dis charging Federal chair-warmers—they are ready to pass the buck to Franklin D. Roosevelt—and sneak into the cyclone cellars. And the crisis which Roosevelt, as dic tator, is left to face alone was caused by a war fought to make the world safe for democracy. Smear this over with honey—camouflage if you like—the proposed dictatorship of Roosevelt marks the definite failure of the demo cratic form o f government . . . Where it will end, no one can say. We are passing over a hill, leaving the old- time America behind us. In any case, Roosevelt, playing a lone hand, will do better than Congress has done. When Calvin Coolidge, old-time American that he was, realized what had come to pass in “ the land o f the free and the home of the brave,” his heart broke, and he gained what he preferred— rest within the great silence where the old- fashioned patriots of America now sleep. And if the handwriting is on the wall for American de mocracy, what can be hoped for real human freedom in the rest o f the world? Few, indeed, are the nations, great or small, that are without some form of dictatorship, political, military, individualistic, or otherwise. What meaneth all this? Whereunto are we drifting? Verily, the day is ap proaching when ten kings “ shall receive power [unques tionably dictatorial power] one hour [thank God fervently for the brevity] with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:12, 13). Thus are we not only to have dictators, but over all, a dictator o f dictators, without whose permission ( “mark” ) “ no man might buy or sell” (Rev. 13:17), or even live (Rev. 13:15). Dictatorships are, indeed, the ominous shadows presaging the end o f Gentile dominion. Hitler of Germany is himself a foreshadow o f the world wide dominion of the Jew he so bitterly hates! Then let the dictators dictate ! “ Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3 :20 ). Let the inhabitants o f this world tremble as they see the night coming on and know not what to do. Children of God, “ neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself ; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall he fo r a sanctuary; . . . I will wait upon the Lord, . . . I will look fo r him” (Isa. 8:12-14, 17). Lawlessness in High Seats— A Portent In this same issue o f the great Chicago daily, a leading editorial appears, from which we quote: The executive order for the punishment of persons re taining private property in the form o f gold coin or notes deprives these persons of property without due process of law. The thirty-hour week proposes to abridge the
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