There is a growing sentiment that Jesus is exciting the popular mind dangerously by his denunciations of men of wealth. New York will not stand for inflaming utterances against property and the legal acquisition of riches. This is dangerous ground which he will do well to avoid treading over. Let him confine himself to acts of healing and the preaching of moral living. The attacks he is making on the press for its so-called friendliness to the liquor interests are absurd. The press does not stand for drunkenness or dissipation. But it has always upheld personal liberty and self-restraint. The only practical way to handle the liquor business in a city like New York is to license and regulate it. Any other method is chimerical and impractical. Even the ministers see this and accept it. The proof is seen in the absence of any agitation on this subject by the ministers and churches. Only once in a great while does a preacher in New York mention the bars or talk about idealistic prohibition. They understand that the liquor establishments are here to stay, and it is useless to talk of getting rid of them. So they have wisely kept silent until Jesus has inflamed some of the leading pastors to begin a crusade against liquor, using very intemperate language against it and quoting Jesus as authority.

The problem is growing more serious every day. It is not too much to say that Jesus is growing unpopular with the most influential people of New York. We do not deny him great power. It cannot be denied that he has the ear of the masses. No one living in America can probably secure so large and enthusiastic an audience. At the same time, he is entering upon a stage in his career that will ultimately put an end to his usefulness and destroy his influence. We say frankly that when he attacks the money interests of this city, he attacks its very existence. No man can say what he says and logically carry it out without endangering the very structure of society. We do not hesitate to declare the teachings of Jesus along this line as anarchistic and absolutely unsafe. If persisted in, they will ruin his cause and even result in his being driven out of the city as a public enemy.

“A public enemy?” Carter murmured to himself, and into his mind trooped the images of Jesus’s immeasurable acts of beneficence and his outpouring of self for the good of mankind in the short time he had been on earth.

Then his eye caught another staring headline printed in a sensational sheet:

Jesus talks to the socialists. Liberty Hall jammed to the roof. Thousands outside. Tremendous excitement. Jesus is a disappointment. He refuses to outline a program. Lays down the general principle, Love God and your neighbor, but will not go into details. Attitude is the same as when he said, “Who made me a divider among you?”