The Sermon on the Grass
A populist gathering at the university grounds turns into a political critique of the land system.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Persons assembled on Sunday in the university grounds to hear a sermon by Mr. Morse. He took his text from the lilies: 'They toil not, neither do they spin.' The announcement called it the regular Sunday meeting under the auspices of the Reform Association. The meeting had a reference to the labor problem and caused much sensation. It was evident that it was a People’s party crowd and that the Reform Association was a new name for that political cave of Adullam. Mr. Morse was not present, so his sermon was read from a Farmers’ Alliance paper. The sermon described society as it was in Christ’s time—marriage feasts and funerals, poverty and wealth, palaces for the few, hovels for the many—and argued the same social conditions prevail today. The contrast between poverty and overproduction was discussed, the political economists were scored, and the troubles of mankind were attributed to the existing land system. He illustrated his theory, which seems to be the single tax, by comparing present conditions with what they would be among the lilies or among the ducks in a pond if similar laws prevailed.
“The contrast between the poverty of the many and the overproduction talked of was discussed... and then the troubles of mankind were attributed to the existing land system.”
This sermon from 1892 echoes Seattle’s long-standing preoccupation with land value and economic disparity. Just as the 'Reform Association' sought to debate the single tax amidst labor instability, Seattle continues to grapple with the tension between private land ownership and public welfare.
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