Dividends and Wages
There is a not very remote connexion between Mr. Angus Watson's address to the Congregational Union 'on the Stewardship of Wealth and the discussion on Ministers' stipends on which the Union entered shortly -after its delivery. Sketching the characteristics of the Christian society from the point of view of an experienced business man Mr. Watson laid it down that wages should be not merely a first charge on industry, but a further charge as soon as the passive owners of capital have received, say, 5 per cent., and he quoted arresting examples of the combination of high dividends with scandalously low payments to workers. But the churches themselves are in a sense employers of labour in so far as the ministers responsible not merely for preaching but for the equally, or more, important pastoral work are appointed by them and dependent on them for 'support. The . new minimum salaries fixed by the Congregational Union £270 per annum without a house in London, and rather less in the provinces—are deplorably low, for ministers today are rightly required to be men of culture, \with an expensive education behind them. They enter the ministry as a vocation at a conscious sacrifice, but the burden can be lightened if congregations will make the contribution which is their own sacrifice larger.
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