T H E TORCH OF REASON, SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, TH U R SD A Y , MAY 5, 1898.
4
Torch of
Reason
The O n ly Paper of Its K in d .
Published W eekly by the Liberal « Di­
versity C om pany, in th e In tere sts of
C o n stru ctiv e,M o ral Secularism .
J. E. H osm er........................ E d ito r
P. vv. G e e r,........
. . M anager
E n tered at th e pnstoffh e at Silverton,
Oregon, as second-class mail m atter.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
One year, in a d v a n c e .. ....................$1 00
Six m onths in a d v an c e ....................
60
T hree m onths, in a d v an c e ................
25
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in a d v a n c e ..........................................
<5
Money should he sent by registered
le tte r or m oney order.
fear it is too slow, and have con-
ehnled to call on our friends to help
us raise One T housand Dollars, in
the following m anner.
Every one
who can help, no m atter how little
or how m uch, m ay do so and the
money will l>e placed in the hank
a t <1 paid out only when the am ount
is rai.-ed t,, pay for the lum ber. In
this way we can surely raise the
One Thousand Dollars, pay for our
lum ber and go ahead with our
school work next year.
Now let every one do something
right away.
The lum ber is now’
being sawed, and will soon he on
the ground, but we must pay for it
or the work can not go on.
N otice!
A pencil m ark here denotes th a t your
subscription will ex p ire w ith th e next
nu m b er. You are earnestly requested
to renew so th a t you may receive the pa­
per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have d e­
cided th a t it is best for all concerned
th a t we do not send papers longer th an
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered.
T his will prevent any loss and we will
know ju st where we stan d .
We request you to send us the nam es
of Secularists who m ight become su b ­
scribers ami we* will mail sam ple copies.
TH U R S D A Y , M A Y 5, E. M . 298
H o w W e W ill W o rk .
On account of our expenses, we
again close the school a little ear­
lier than we expected. The war
excitem ent has monopolized the a t­
tention of m any of our friends, and
help th at we might have received
has been withheld.
In order to
avoid debt, and to get to work on
the new building, so as to have a
place in which to hold our school
next year, we gave the final exam ­
inations last week and closed
school. The Y. P. S. S. C. also clos­
ed, as usual, F riday evening. After
a short literary ami musical pro­
gram , the m embers celebrated the
event by a very enjoyable dance.
These little social parties are very
beneficial to the students, as they
close at an early hour — 11 :00 in
this case,—and are strictly private,
none but the members and invited
friends being present.
Our school has been a splendid
success this year, and we hear no­
th in g hut kind words of praise from
students and their parents. We
have hail a larger num ber t h is year
th an we had last, in spite of the
underhanded working* and lies of
our enemies, and we closed with a
larger num ber in regular a tte n d ­
ance than we commenced with, a l­
though it is the tim e of year th at
some are obliged to stay out. Many
regret th at we were obliged to “ stop
sh o rt”, but nearly all assure us
that they will he back next year.
And now, “ all hands on deck” to
get a place in which to teach.
We have concluded to sta rt a
separate Lum ber Fund, in addition
io the Five Thousand Dollar Fund.
The Five Thousand Dollar Fund
m ust not be lost sight of, and we
m ust h u rry it along just as fast as
we can, but although it is sure, we
A L esson to be L e a rn e d .
and their holy ar hook! Mr. Moody’s
»
church at Northfield, Mass., owns
several large carriages, one in each
district of the church going out ev­
ery Sunday m orning gathering up
persons for worship.
No charge is
made to those who avail them selves
of these conveyances.
Shall we allow these people to
work thus for what we consider de­
basing falsehoods, while we lie on
our oars and do nothing for what
we believe to be the greatest of
tru th s and the salvation of the
whole hum an race?
No, let us, for h u m an ity ’s sake,
awake from the stupor in which the
anaesthetic of superstition has held
the world, and do valiant work for
the cans«* of right. W here and how
shall we begin?
We should begin
in the place which is freest from
th e enem y’s subm arine m ines, by
establishing an educational in s titu ­
tion. Education is the only weap­
on by which ignorance can be de­
stroyed.
W hen all F reethinkers have
learned to work for th eir principles
with the same energy and persever­
ance th a t th e C hristians work for
their Jesus, there will he a radical
change in favor of reason and com ­
mon sens«*. Many calling them ­
selves F reethinkers care for n o th ­
P u b lic S c h o o ls an d t h e ir E n e ­
ing hut their own im m ediate, per­
m ie s
sonal welfare.
There are good
In the wild scram ble for wealth
reasons for this. Conditions and
perhaps inherited tendencies from and power, m any men do not hesi­
F reethought ancestors, who have tate to utilize everything to further
been forced to keep their m ouths their purpose, and while we believe
shut or lose their lives, have made th a t man is slowly hut surely grow­
it easy for m illions to paddle their ing wiser and better, as we grow
own canoe, steering clear of the older we are disappointed to find
burning lake of F aith and Fear th at our age, which we like to think
tl.«mselves, but caring nothing for of as advanced in civilization, is
their poor fellow travelers stru g ­ one th at is filled with the civil war
gling in the awful flames of a secu­ of political intrigue. Our public
lar Hell. If this hell-lire was ex­ schools, the great hope of civiliza­
tinguished we all m ight live a free- tion and w ithout exception the
frorn-care life, but it is not, and not greatest safeguard of our republic,
only is our own life-boat in danger are no exception to the rule and are
of being overcome by the fervent today throttled, gagged and control­
heat, hut the children and the ch il­ led by partisan leaders and their
dren’s children are to be thought of. cappers, and old orthodoxy is one
Then again, look at the desperate of the principal tools with which
efforts being m ade to keep up the this hank of treasures is forced open
lire. Every city and country place and used as political spoils.
has its regular C hristian church
In the state of Oregon, the pub­
and Sunday school services. Peo­ lic school system is a half-century
ple who love Jesus show’ by their behind w hat it should be, because
actions th at they are not asham ed every dep artm en t, from th a t of the
of it, hut many who know the tru th : little schools in country districts to
—know th at all su p ern atu ral relig­ the highest office in the gift of the
ions are m y th s—seem to be insens­ people, is largely controlled by po­
ible of the fact th a t these sam e litical or financial sharks, ra th e r
m yths are the mines from which all th an by those who have ability and
the sulphurous fuel is obtained to educational enthusiasm .
keep up the hell on earth, which is
Reader, we are at your mercy —
as bad as the m ind of m an is ca p a­ call us a crank if you will, but if
ble of conceiving. No hell can pos­ you know the facts you cannot but
sibly he im agined in which the suf­ agree th a t we speak tru ly when we
fering is worse th an w hat is right say th a t our schools are in the
here in sight of us, and why m ust hands of politicians, intead of gen­
we gee it continually? Sim ply be­ uine educational promoters. But for
cause we have not yet learned w hat fear th a t you will really th in k us
we m ust learn or never see the re­ cranky, when it is very far from the
ligion of H um anity and its benefi­ tru th , perhaps we should m ention
cent effects on the earth.
some of the good th a t is to be found
And w hat is this lesson? It is in our public schools.
The best
the lesson of organized, co-opera­ thing we can say is th a t the boys
tive, self-sacrificing labor against and girls of this state are h ard to
old lies, and for the upbuilding of spoil and m any of them will be­
educational,progressive Secularism . come good men and women in spite
4'hink w hat C hristians are doing of neglect and “ m alpractice”. An-
to convert people to belief in Jesus | other thing th a t is very good is the
fact th a t there are many good
teachers — n atu ra l teachers — w bo
rath e r teach even in competition
with those who are allowed h\ a
poor system to “ keep
school”.
Then once in a while a county suj -
erintendent is elected who is inter­
ested in educational m atters and
really does som ething in the wav
of planning his cam paign i’gain.-t
ignorance, instead of going at itln -
dian-fashion.
W h a t do we need? We need the
schools of our land freed from re­
ligion and politics, and we need a
uniform system throughout the
United States; hut our immediate
needs in the state of Oregon, is an
educational test for county superin­
tendents; good school books furnish­
ed by the state free; or at a mini-
mum price, instead of books filled
w ith religious nonsense, made to
sell, and by a com pany a t exorbit­
a n t prices; a course of study for the
common schools; a proviso» for
County In stitu te s which will re­
lieve the poorly-paid country teach­
ers from paying for poorly-conduct­
ed harrangues of politicians; more
difference in the grading, and the
num ber of branches necessary in
order to secure the higher grades of
county certificates and the repeal of
the absurd law which compels a
teacher to secure a higher grade of
certificate or stop teaching, thus
throw ing out experienced teachers,
p u ttin g the schools continually in
the hands of am ateurs and placing
a prem ium on cram m ing for exam­
inations instead of ab ility to teach.
There is nothing too good for our
young people, and to help them
have the best chance possible,
the parents m ust take more inter­
est in school work. They m ust post
them selves in
regard to these
th in g s; they m ust visit the schools
an d co-operate with the teachers in
every way possible an d when nec­
essary for the good of the grandest
cause on earth, th a t of tru e educa­
tion, they should kin d ly criticise;
and the m ale p aren t, who is gener­
ally supposed to be the least inter­
ested, should vote (he has the right)
at all elections for his children’s
welfare.
T he Liberal U niversity is a warm
friend of the public schools, and if
it succeeds in accom plishing what
its prom oters desire, it will prove a
great factor in freeing them , in this
and other states, from th eir worst
enemies.
M e d d lin g w ith H o ly T h in g s.
The New York Voice, the big
tem perance paper, of the date of
A pril 21, jum ps onto the Catholic
church with both feet.
The trou­
ble arises from the brewery run by
the Beuedictine Monks a t St. Vin­
cent’s Abbey in western Pennsylva­
nia.
The holy m onks started a
theological sem inary and brewery
com bined at Beatty, Pa., about 50