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DecemsBer 1, 1902 receive truth even from “Nazareth.” I read all five volumes with my Bible always open and with ever-increasing delight. Again I thank you for pointing so constantly and faithfully to the “more sure word of prophecy;” truly it “shines as a light in a dark place.’ Enclosed find one dollar for the WatcuH Tower. I am working at my old trade, stone-cutting, and shall continue at it (D. V.). IL should like to distribute some more tracts. Your brother, E. L. Kenprick,—Missouri. My Dear BrorHeR RUSSELL:— I enclose you $ ; please send me one of those new reference Bibles, and the remainder please apply to the “Good Hopes” of myself and wife. I am sorry we cannot at this time senda larger expression ot our “Gvood Hopes,” tor the “glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” We hope to supplement this offering shortly. And now I want to express to you and all those of the Bible House at Allegheny how we enjoyed the convention at Washington. It was the greatest privilege of our lives to meet with so many dear friends of like precious faith. It was truly a “time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” Especially was I delighted to witness on this occasion the symbolic baptism of my wife into the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are now not only one in the flesh, but one in the spirit and body of Christ, and probationary members of the church triumphant. We pray that we may pass our trial successfully and “rejoice in our sufferings and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for his body’s sake,” and in so doing may finish our course with joy. For your benefit and encouragement I want to say, dear Bro. Russell, the literature you are sending forth as “meat in due season,” is making the household of faith strong, yea. brave in the Lord, by truth. This morning I was hailed on the street by my former pastor, a D. D. (in whose presence two years ago I would have quailed). He introduced me to another D.D., and asked if I had any news. I said, “Yes, good news!” and drew from my pocket one of the discourses as I had taken it down at Washington. I said, “Look here,—in Acts 3:21 God has promised restitution of all things, and that all the holy prophets had spoken of it,’ and I showed him in their respective order from 1 Samuel to Malachi they all had spoken of it copiously, and that further God himself had made a covenant with Abraham as to this restitution and affirmed the same to Isane and Jacob; and now that these patriarchs were dead, together with countless millions who had not received those blessings, said I, “the Lord has shown us in Jno. 5:28, 29 when and where to look for the solution of this matter” In repeating the last clause of the 29th verse he broke in and said “damnation.” I said, “No sir! ‘by judgment,’ and you know as well as I do that ‘by judgment?’ is the ZION’S WATCH TOWER (367-371) correct rendering. Now, gentlemen, why don’t you preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?” By this time Bro. H—— had Bro. C by the arm, pulling him down the street, and said to me, “Well, I reckon you will have to make the ministers preach it right.””’ May God have mercy on the preachers who are promulgating false doctrine! Yours in Christian love, W. B. Surron,—Virginia. My DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:— I want, in a few words, to express my appreciation of the good things which we all received at the Washington convention. It was the grandest feast it has ever been my privilege to attend, and the memory of it will remain with me as long as I remain in this tabernacle. I wish to express my thanks both to the Washington brethren, who contributed so much to the welfare and enjoyment of visiting brethren, and also to yourself and coworkers for the part which you contributed unto edifying the “body of Christ;” but above all I wish to thank our dear Lord for his manifest presence and blessing. I believe it is impossible to estimate the good resulting from these conventions, in the way of spiritual blessings. Each person gets sume new light on different features of the plan and purpose, and these are taken home and given to the Lord’s truth-hungry people who could not attend; and the “unity of the spirit” is so manifest at these gatherings, that the “body” is more and more “knit together in love,” while all realize the significance of Paul’s statement, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together,” as they otherwise would not. In my own case, I can truly say that I received such an uplift and blessing as it has never been my lot to experience before. Praise God for his goodness, blessing and love, as it is now manifested to his chosen people. May his favor and his spirit be continued to you, dear Bro. Russell, and to all the brothers and sisters everywhere, and may we all be kept by the power of God until we shall receive the “change” promised,—is my daily prayer. Sincerely, your brother and servant in the Lord, R. H. BARBER,—New York. Dear BROTHER RUSSELL :— I am an old man 78 years of age, with a very limited education, but a subscriber to WarcH Tower for two years and have MILLENNIAL Dawn. Pardon me for intruding on your precious time in telling you how I enjoy reading the Dawns and Towers; and now after being a member of the M. E. church for 35 years I have withdrawn from that church as I could not endorse its doctrines; am no member now, but trying to serve the Master as best I can. Pray for me. Yours truly, A. J. JONES,—Pennsylvania. [We trust, dear brother, that you may never withdraw from the true church—“whose names are written in heaven.” —Editor.] Vou. XXIII ALLEGHENY, PA., DECEMBER 15, 1902 No. 24 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER THE REAPERS NOT YET CRYING OUT In view of our interpretation of James 5:1-9* and in view, further, of the present prosperous times amongst farmers and others in the Umited States and Canada, some are inquiring when and how we should now expect the fulfilment of James’ prophecy. We answer that we are not sorry the American farmers are not pinched, but prosperous. No one of noble heart could take delight at the distress of others. We account for the delay of the pinch and the cries, here, as follows :— (1) The Spanish war, the Boer war, the Philippine war, the China war and several small wars and preparations for war, in Abyssina, Hayti, Colombia, Argentine, Peru, and Chile, and the immense naval expenditures of Japan, Great Britain, Germany and the United States, have put thousands of millions of dollars into circulation during the past five years; and the effect could not be other than to bring great prosperity in manufacturing lines. (2) The famines in India and Russia and China, and crop shortages in Europe and South America, and the drouth in Australia, have all conspired to make a great demand for all the cattle and crops of this country, and at good prices. (3) The deficiency of money (decreased by the demonetization of silver) would surely have hindered this wave of prosperity from rising as it has risen, were it not for the shrewdness of the American bankers who have much more than made up for the loss of silver by organizing immense corporations and trusts whose stocks, like railway shares, are given a money value in all banks. The bankers thus make interest on loans represented by those shares, and at the same time have a ee Mitrennrat Dawn, Vou. iv, p. 392. Also see Z. May 1, 1919, o. > IV—24 firmer inside hold upon all the industries of the world. It is to their interest to have just as little money afloat as possible— they can the more easily control the financial keys of the world’s business. If there were no money, the bankers’ credits would be the substitute. The manufacturer would then deposit deeds or mortgages or stocks with his banker and secure credit and be permitted to issue bank checks against that credit; and those bank checks, or representations of credit, would pass current instead of money, and the bankers would have the entire control of the credit and charge interest, or toll, on all the business of the earth. Conditions are approximating this at present in that probably nine-tenths of the world’s business is done on interest-bearing credits, while actual money suffices merely for small retail transactions. But what is the difference so long as we have prosperity? The difference is that the treating of stock shares as money is bringing fabulous wealth to a numerous class; but since many of these stocks are over-valued, over-capitalized, it follows that as war-expenditures decrease a panic will occur the like of which the world has never known. “The mighty man shall weep then bitterly’—the rich shall “weep and howl.” That will be a time of general loss of confidence when bankers’ credits will be at their ebb. Under the new conditions, and with the money and the moneymaking property in the hands of the bankers, it would be unwise to attempt to outline or to particularize the character of events that will ultimately lead the reapers to cry out; but we have confidence in the correctness of the prediction and believe that the demonetizing of silver and the consequent decrease of the world’s money will be seen to be at the bottom of that trouble, directly or indirectly precipitating it. (3117)