How can Christ’s teachings relieve the situation?  Easily.  He dealt with fundamentals, and gave special attention to the causes of evil.  He taught, first, that man should love God—­the basis of all religion; second, He taught that man should commune with the Heavenly Father through prayer—­the basis of all worship; third, He proclaimed the existence of a future life in which the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked punished.  These three doctrines contribute powerfully to morality, the basis of stable government.  In another address I have called attention to the destructive influence exerted by the doctrine of evolution, as applied to man, and have pointed out how Darwinism weakens faith in God, makes a mockery of prayer, undermines belief in immortality, reduces Christ to the stature of a man, lessens the sense of brotherhood and encourages brutishness.  It is unnecessary, therefore, to dwell upon this subject in this address.

Christ warned against the sins into which man is sure to fall when the heart is not wholly devoted to the service of God.  He shows how evil in the heart will manifest itself in the life.  Greed is at the bottom of most of the wrong-doing with which government has to deal.  The Bible says “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

It surely is responsible for unspeakable ills.  The case is so plain that human reason would seem sufficient to furnish a cure.  It ought not to be difficult to agree upon the principles that should govern legitimate accumulations.

There are two propositions that cover the whole ground; one is economic and the other rests upon religion.  Both are based upon the laws of God, but one can be enforced by the government, while the other is binding on the conscience alone.

The divine law of rewards is self-evident.  When God gave us the earth with its fertile soil, the sunshine with its warmth and the rains with their moisture, His voice proclaimed as clearly as if it had issued from the skies:  Go work, and in proportion to your industry and ability so shall be your reward.  This is God’s law and it will prevail except where force suspends it or cunning evades it.  It is the duty of the Church to teach, and the duty of Christians to respect, God’s law of rewards.

It is the duty of the government to give free course and full sway to the divine law of rewards; first, by abstaining from interference with that law; and second, by preventing interference by individuals.  No defense need be made of the righteousness of this law; just in so far as the government can make it possible for each individual to draw from society according to his contribution to the welfare of society it will encourage the maximum of effort on the part of the individual and, therefore, on the part of society as a whole.  If some receive more than their share, others will necessarily receive less than their share—­the very essence of injustice; the former will become indolent because work is not required of them and the latter will grow desperate because their toil is not fairly rewarded.  Injustice is the greatest enemy of government.