shment of the weak. Poverty is a social condition to which millions
are doomed and from which only hundreds escape when the doom of birth is
sealed. What has Ahab Wright given to Harvey more than James McPherson,
who discovered coal here? What has Daniel Sands done for Harvey more
than Tom Williams, who has spent his life at hard work mining coal? Is
not his coal as valuable as Uncle Daniel's interest? Friends--think of
these things!"

The wraith of smoke that had appeared when Grant first began speaking
personally to the men of Harvey, in a minute had grown to a surer
evidence of fire. The smiling ceased. Angry looks began flashing over
the faces before Grant, like darts of flame. And after these looks came
a great black cloud of wrath that was as perceptible as a gust of smoke.
He felt that soon the fire would burst forth. But he hurried on with his
message: "Poverty is not the social punishment of the weak, I repeat it.
Poverty is a social inheritance of the many, a condition which holds men
hard and fast--a condition that you may change, you who have so much.
All this coal and oil and mineral have profited you greatly, oh, men of
Harvey. You are rich, Daniel Sands. You are prosperous, Ahab Wright. You
have every comfort around you and yours, John Kollander, and you, Joseph
Calvin, are rearing your children in luxury compared with Dick Bowman's
children. Hasn't he worked as hard as you? Here are Ira Dooley and Denny
Hogan. They started as equals with you up here and have worked as hard
and have lived average lives. Yet if their share is a fair share of the
earnings of this community, you have an unfair share. How did you get
it?" He leaned out over the chancel rail, pointed a bony, accusing
finger at the congregation and glared at the eyes before him angrily.
Quickly he recovered his poise but brought his steel claw down on the
pulpit beside him with a sharp clash as he cried again, "How did you get
it?"

Then it was that the flame of indignation burst forth. It came first in
a hiss and another and a third--then a crackling fire of hisses greeted
his last sentence. When the hissing calmed, his voice rose slightly. He
went on:

"We of the middle classes--we have risen above the great mass below us:
we are permitted to learn--a little--to imitate and expand somewhat. But
above us, thank God, is another group in the social organization. Here
at the top stand the blessed, privileged few who are the world's
prophets an