Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1898)
TH E TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1X98. they enjoyed. They sowed, we reaped, and we in tu rn should sow To the Secularists, Freethinker« th a t «„hers m ay reap again. In and Lovers of Liberty in A m erica: „ „ better way can we discharge our National C onvention. The A nnual Congress of the American Secular Union and Free- thought Federation will he held at W ashington H all. 70 E. A dam s St., ••• I lie.».• obligations to these dead pioneers! W e owe a d u ty to our living work- e r s — to sustain those who are op- posing religious superstition and ©c- ,November < .'aiToV.' W e* ‘ iKduTcT^"*5 18, 19 and 20. The object of this encourage them and aid them . If Congress is to tran sact the regular all would do their part the victory business of th is association,to devis® would soon be ours. The b attle of plans for better organization and Santiago, it is well known, was won for the prosecution of its work dur- because every soldier did his duty, ing the com ing year, to advocate Supposing th a t in the m idst of the the com plete secularization of our b attle a portion of the arm y had G overnm ent,to dissem inate a know- w ithdraw n, or stacked th eir arras ledge of the principles of Free- and left th eir com rades a t the front thought, and to enable Liberals to to lace alone th a t hell of shells and become better acquainted with each bullets. We owe a duty to poster other and to unite them in a closer ity. We should d riv e to m ake the fellowship. The purposes for which future better th an the past has this Association was organized were been. never more pressing. Its work m ust We can leave our children no be both defensive and aggressive, richer legacy than an enlarged do- We m ust defend our in stitu tio n s m ain of intellectual liberty, the on- against the attack s th a t will un- ly sure foundation of our liberty, doubtedly be m ade upon them by We hope th a t every L iberal will the T heocratic N ational Reform respond to this appeal a t once. Association and its allies. We m ust Every dollar will be faithfully ex- prosecute with increased energy our pended to advance the cause. Send fight ag ain st the exem ption of your contributions to the treasurer, church property from tax atio n , the Otto W ettstein , Rochelle, 111., or to em ploym ent of chaplains, religious our secretary, or to the editor of instruction and cerem onies i nour this paper. public schools, S u n d ay lawte,relig- J. E. R emsburg , Pres., igious tests an d religious proclam a- Atchison, Kas. tions, ap p ro p riatio n s to sectarian ^ E;j'HUALD, ^ec«, in stitu tio n s,d o n atio n s of government ’ e ’ land for Rom an chapels and d o n a Stephen Girard. tions of goverm ent money to M ethodist Book Concerns. As a Stephen G irard, the founder of result of our war with Spain it is G irard U niversity, was a lover of p ro bable,that Cuba, Porto Rico and children and gave his w ealth to his W the P hilippines will become a part country. V ery few men in history of, or under the protectorate of our have united so m any ap p a ren tly Republic. I f so, we m ust dem and contradictory qualities. He loved W th a t in providing for their gover- children passionately, and the s i g h t ! m e n tth e widest religious liberty of a crippled m iserable-looking ippled o or r iiiiseraoie-iooKing be secured for their in h ab itan ts,an d urchin would bring tears to his th a t no p a rtia lity be show to any eyes. H is devotion to the U nited church. To accom plish these p u r I S tates never faltered, and a t every poses L iberals m ust unite and co- reverse d u rin g the war of 1812-15 operate for th eir own protection and he ground his teeth and, it is said, i the extension of intelligence, free swore ¡n his native F rench. At th o u g h t and liberty. We therefore length he offered to dedicate his en-I Mz Mz \iz urge Liberal th in k ers everywhere j tire fortune to the war, lent the to atten d an d to contribute to this governm ent $5,000,000 and asked Congress. We shall strive to m ake no interest till th e war closed. A { its sessions interesting and profi- table to them . Able speakers will address them , inspiring mueic will be rendered, and fra tern ity and good cheer will abound. F unds are needed to defray the expenses of the Congress and carry on the work of the society. Its use- fulness has been im paired in the past by a lack of funds. This should not he allowed. C hristians co n trib u te a n n u a lly an average of $10 each for the support of their church. Is our cause less worthy of support th an theirs? We have no rig h t to be indifferent to its success and w ithhold from it our support. We owe a debt to the heroic men and women of the past who labored and suffered th a t we m ight have a greater freedom th an I rich m an who loves children and is : w illing to give all ’ his wealth to his country m ust have a great deal of good in him . XI/ His bravery was of the m orally sublim e order. W hen th e yellow j W fever scourged P hiladelphia, and W had driven aw ay m ost of the nurs- es, he and P eter Helm worked two m onths in the hospitals a t the m ost m enial offices and sham ed the faint-hearted into bravery. An affliction in early childhood de- stroyed his rig h t eye and distorted th a t side of his face, so the boys nicknam ed him by a french word th a t m ight be tran slated “ wall eye”, H e lost his m other when he was quite young and his father was harsh. In short, he was a misera-1 O n d B o a nth page. i U niversity T H E O N LY S C H O O L OF T H E K IN D . F ree from S u p erstition S trictly N on-Sectarian Pupils are Given Every O pportunity to Learn W ithout Being Hampered by Supersti- tions and Dogmas. L o c a tio n H e a lth fu l S o c ie ty G ood. E x p e n s e s M o d e ra te A Splendid Corps of Teachers and Good Facil ities for Teaching. For information, address MZ ki/ J. E. H O S M E R , Ph. D., B. S. D., P R E S ID E N T , SILVERTON.