The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 2

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Wishes for the New Year.

We sincerely wish — : :

That our heavenly Father may bountifully bless
our readers in body and soul;

That the Lord of the Church will widen the
bounds of His kingdom;

That He will use the little “Pioneer’’ to increase
the interest of its readers in our Colored
Missions and in all other missionary enter-
prises that redound to His glory;

That He will give the “Pioneer” many new sub-
scribers; ,

That every reader of the “Pioneer” not only
will pray, “Thy kingdom come,” but prove
his sincerity by consecrating himself and his
means to bring about the fulfilment of his
prayer. THE EDITOR.

Jesus, Mother, and Children.

Jesus.
“Bring the children, I will bless them,”
Thus said Jesus, God’s own Son;
And we know He did caress tliem,
Spake to them in loving tone.
He still calls with love paternal:
“Bring them to My loving heart.”
If but one spurns love eternal,
It will cause His soul to smart.

Mother.
“Yes, I'll bring them, dearest Savior,
Children’s Friend! I want them
blessed ;
Pardon my sinful behavior,
Take them to Thy loving breast.
We are sure of Thy embraces
When Baptism Thy love imparts;
Thy blood all their sin effaces,
Purifies their sinful hearts.”

Child.
“Take my heart; Thee will I give it,
Let it be Thine evermore;
Lord, I know Thou wilt receive it,
As Thou didst in days of yore.
Let me, too, feel Thy caressing,
Cleanse me from iniquity;
They who here long for Thy blessing
Shall be blessed eternally.”
Kappa, Ind. R. KRetzMann.

2 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Reclaiming. Christ’s Heritage.

XNITI.
THE MIGRANT GROUPS.

But few people realize how much work is of
a seasonal nature. For example, there are almost
200,000 more men working in the factories of the
State of New York in January than in the fall;
there are many thousands engaged in canning and
preserving vegetables and fruits in the fall that are
compelled to look elsewhere for employment in
March. Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas
use thousands upon thousands of extra workers
during the harvest season.

3ecause of these seasonal changes more than
a million and a half of laborers are ever on the
move from one part of our country to the other.
And though-these migrant workers are looked down
upon by most of our population, it is they who save
our industries from wreck and ruin. ‘These seasonal
workers, rough and uncouth though they be, are
tramping at the proper seasons to goals that are of
tremendous importance.

The Lumbermen.

The largest single group of migrant workers is
made up of the lumbermen scattered over a large
area of our country. While some people may not
wish to classify lumbermen as migrants,. yet it is
to this class that they belong, for a number of
reasons. The rough character of the work and
absence of good, healthy social surroundings have
made ninety per cent. of the lumbermen to be
homeless, voteless, and jobless. Only a small pro-
portion is married. ‘Their camps are no real
communities. In the mill towns on the edge of the
vast forests there can be found some family life,
but in the camps there are few homes and very few
women and children. Tere and there a cabin may
be found out in the woods where a woodsman is
living with his family. Many of these lumber
workers with families are from the mountain
regions of the South. Of course, living conditions
in these cabins are very primitive. The children
grow up in densest ignorance, and when they meet
a stranger on one of the logging roads, they take
to the brush. The women and children rarely see
even one of the neighboring towns. Coming in
daily contact with the rough men of the forest,
they soon pick up much of their vulgarity and
profanity. The general influence of all about them

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