THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, SEPTEMBER 20, E. M. 300 4 (1900.) ters? Because they are especially money went where needed. And interested in tem perance reform, m any who are fam iliar with the do they assum e therefore to have ¡crim es of preachers are not very The Only Paper of Its Kind. the ear of the A lm ighty to the ex a p t to donate at all. T hus the < clusion of all o th er religious women who are not offended with church has alw ays usurped the P ublished W eekly by th e L iberal U ni- versity C om pany, in th e In te re sts of Mr. M cK inley because he has occa people’s rig h ts and added in su lt to C onstructive, Moral Secularism sionally taken a sip of wine for in ju ry by calling everything bad good m an n ers’ sake? It would be unless it had the p riests’ or the dificult to im agine a cam paign de J. E. Hosmer,.................. Editor preachers’ tra d e m ark. We wish veloping a more ludicrous piece of P. W. Geer,...................... Manager th a t th e S unday school children, folly th an this. In the above q uotation from the th e sym pathetic, em otional women E n tered at th e postoffice a t S ilverton, E vening Telegram we wish to call and the virgin-m oth er men could O regon, as second-class m ail m a tte r. be free from these priestly robberies atten tio n to this statem en t: “ T he idea that prayer can effect and th at the governm ent could S L B 5C K IP T IO N K A T E S . an y th in g in such m atters as war learn to take care of its afflicted . .$1 00 or politics is to a practical reason w ithout any aid from the agents of One year, in a d v a n c e .. Six m o nths in a d v an c e .................... 50 ing m ind a grotesque a b su rd ity .” a god who is supposed to have T hree m o n th s, in a d v an c e ................ To be sure it is absurd in war caused the disaster. In clubs of five or m ore, one year, in a d v a n c e .......................................... <•’ But did the C hristian god cause and politics, but isn ’t it absurd in Money should be se n t by registered . . , .. W as this le tte r o r m oney o rd er. as onr work for h u m an ity is con- ev ery th in g else? A reasoning this awful calam ity? cerned. E ith er idea is so much m ind soon sees th at p ray er is a done for a w arning to the people better th an the old orthodox dog great curse as well as a great ab of the U nited S tates and to the Notice! ma about th is life being of second- surdity. How little, narrow and Texas people in p articu lar? Is , . . . ... .. , . i ary im portance, a vale of . tears etc., etulified are the m inds of those there a god and could he have pre A h a n d p ointing to th is notice denotes I - 1 . . . . . . . 1 * — — 1 a . and x 1 th a t each ♦ V - k o ♦ « A M 1 1 1 F t 1 1 I Z 1 * 1 « 1 in dividual, i. e. I a 1 LA who th in k th a t th eir God is con- vented this if he wished? If there th a t your su b scrip tio n has e x p ire d . You áre e arn estly requested to re very thin part of each in d iv id u al, tro lin g things and th a t they can is one, and he knows everything, new so th a t you m ay receive th e pa p er w ith o u t in te rru p tio n . We have de the soul, is to move cam p, some to help him by going into a fit of even to the num ber of hairs on cided th a t it is liest for all concerned p ja „ on golden h arps and others prayer. Do men and women need every head, should we tru st him th a t we do n o t send p ap ers longer th a n r ® r , Do their any longer? Could a devil do any th e tim e paid for unless so o rd ered , to fig h t fire , t h a t we c a n t see a s judgem ent and reason? T his will p rev en t any loss a n d we will eith er of our Torch philosophers’ offspring need m ental stre n g th ? worse? In the lig h t of m odern know ju st w here we sta n d . We request you to send us th e nam es hypotheses is had, but as there is Does the hum an race need to prog science the idea of a god is as fool of Secularists who m ig h t becom e su b no way of settling the question a t ress? Then this w itchcraft of ish as the old E g y p tian bull wor scribers and we will m ail sam ple copies. present perhaps the Porch should prayer m ust cease and we m ust ship. We m ust look fa rth er and now tu rn its atten tio n to things cleave to S ecular Science and com deeper for the cause of this great nearer our tim e and more to our mon sense. The Torch of Reason disaster th an the bible. We m ust purpose. These theories and h y does not uphold the use of intoxi study physical geography and W H IC H ? potheses are certainly im p o rtan t; can ts of any kind but, although learn about the great storm belts they furnish much food and exer in our estim ation, Mr. M cK inley is of the w orld; the direction these SECULAR. C H R ISTIA N . I believe in an cise for thought and th u s stre n g th settin g a very bad exam ple by storm s generally travel; th eir his I believe in God e te rn a l, infinite en our th in k in g ap p aratu s, but we d rin k in g poison, he is doing less tory, etc. This will give us a know l th e F a th e r Al u niverse, of w hich m ighty, M aker of every living c re a m ust not have too much theory harm perhaps th an those who ruin edge which will help us more in heaven and e a rth : tu re is a p a rt; ami nor w aste all our m ental force, th eir own reason by the narcotic of selecting a home th an all the And in J e s u s in H u m a n ity , C h rist, his only w hich was born of th u s evolved, on things too rem ote. prayer and who p u tte th the bottle prayers th a t were ever uttered. son, o u r L ord, who “ lowly a n ce sto rs;” We are alive now ', and our own (o fsu p e rstitio n ) to the m ental lips was conceived by We came to Oregon! D estruct suffered u n d e r the th e Holy G host, generation and our posterity for of th e young and m aketh them ive storm s are unknow n in the W ill rule of p riests; was born of th e V irgin crucified, racked ages yet to come need our best drunken also. M ary; suffered u n am ette valley. The whole history an d b u rn ed , and thoughts. T here is great reason d e r I’o n tiu s P ilate; lived in a hell on of th e Texan coast bears us out iu was crucified, dead e arth . In th e F ra for men of th o u g h t and men of ac and b u ried ; he d e T H E G A LV ESTO N D IS A S T E R . saying th a t it is not a S afe place of Man it began to tion to clear the way for a higher scended in to h e ll; rise above th e dead in which to live. T he New York th e th ird day lie teachings of th e an d a better civilization no m atter arose again from Such tim es as these cause those Suu says: dead, a n d is now w hether the world is to stan d a th e dead; he a s who are left to th in k . progressing in to an cended into heaven “ On W ednesday, Sept. 15, 1875, E arth ly H eaven, few’ billion years only or forever. and sitte th a t the The ideas th a t come to our a storm broke over Galveston, to enjoy th e su n rig h t hand of God m inds as we view the aw ful which subm erged h a lf of Galveston sh in e of E te rn al th e F a th e r Al- T ru th . P R A Y IN G A G A IN S T M cK IN L E Y . disaster from a distance are in Islan d and left the city cut off from m ig h ty ; from I believe in love thence he shall th eir order as follows: relief for the the rest of the world u n til late on for all m a n k in d ; come to judge th e S unday night. Several hundred The E vening Telegram says: th e m ost e arn e st, quick an d th e d e a d . sufferers, cause of the disaster, the tenem ents were destroyed, ch u rch conscientious rig h t I believe in th e “ The W om an’s C h ristian Tem living; th e union perance Association is doubtless rem edy. H oly G h o s t; th e es were unroofed, and the streets of all good people H oly C a t h o l i c The sufferers should at once be were littered deep with debris. in every good work; composed alm ost altogether of very C hurch ; th e Com Every one should Some score of lives were lost in the th e forgiveness of excellent and w ell-m eaning women. fully relieved. m union of S a in ts ; each o th e r’s w eak The general objects of th eir o rg an be given proper food, clothing, shel city and its environs in this gale, th e forgiveness of nesses; th e im m o r ization and work are praisew orthy, sin s; the resu rrec ter and rem u n erativ e work to and the dam age done reached ta lity of good deeds tio n of th e body; nearly a q u a rte r of a million dol and in re st e v e r an d deserve encouragem ent and pay for them and th eir co n tin u an d life e v erlast lars. The shipping in the harbor aid. But, if they will pardon plain, lasting. ing. ance. But it seems a very sad suffered severely, one schooner be blunt speech, when some of them s ta rt an “ endless c h a in ” of prayer th in g to us th a t the religious so ing hurled foity feet inland. In th a t Mr. M cK inley may not be re cieties are allowed to alm ost m o the S trand M arket the water d riv IT M A T T E R S NOT. ----------- elected, they do quite as siily a nopolize this function which pro en in from th e Gulf by the gale No railroad The old theological philosophers l h ing aH arjy pagan m ind could perly belongs to our governm ent was three feet deep. tra in s were run and the telegraph used to discuss the question of how that prayer can an y t,ljllg ¡„ (the people), and th a t, too, m ostly wires were down for three days. m any spirits could dance on the such m atters as war or politics is for th e purpose of advertising the O ther towns on th e Texas coast In this point of a needle, and the argu- | to a practical reasoning m ind a gro- churches and th eir wonderful good suffered in proportion. rnent on the n eb ular hypothesis in t©8que a b su rd ity ; but, granted th a t ness. H ere is a good work th a t gale the town of In d ian o la, in C al the Torch m ight, by some, be con- m.a y ’ cannot th©8e g o o d but all ought to have a hand in, and houn county, with a population of 1,150, was entirely swallowed up ., , illogical and em otional women per- sidered som ethiog of the sam e or- ceive th a t their «endle88 chaHin „ while thousands of dollars are be by th e sea. Two hundred lives ^ e r- will s ta rt hundreds of thousands ing collected from the poor but were lost and the dam age done to If Mr. W ettstein is right and th e of R epublican women to praying sym pathetic people, Infidels as well property reached a m illion dollars. earth is to retu rn to a n eb u lar f° r M cK inley’s success? And are as C h ristian s, the church gets all Bodies were sVewn along the beach state, the right thing for us to do is i P ,e8e • C. T. L. women so super- the credit and the m oney collected for tw enty miles after the gale. latively egotistical as to suppose In October, 1886, S abine Pass, to th in k of present conditions. As God will hear and answer th eir is d istrib u ted w ithout any official Texas, was practically destroyed individuals we all know we m ust prayers, and tu rn a deaf ear to record, thus not even giving the j bv a storm on the G ulf in which die, b ut Secularism teaches th a t those of th eir equally faithful sis doners the assurance th at t h e * 1 247 lives were lost. The L ouisiana Torch of Reason A. * 1_ — — this life is very im p o rtan t and as it is w ithout doubt the on ly chance we will have to do any good it behooves us to work while it is yet d ay , for, even according, to the ne- b u lar hypothesis the ea rth is apt to be fit lor in h a b ita n ts a long tim e yet— so long th a t for all practical purposes it is an etern ity and by the tim e th a t tim e is up m an m ay have become so en lig h t ened th a t he can take a few bottles of liquid air and a m achine for m an u factu rin g food from the ele m ents and ju m p aboard his “ v rill” ship and move to M ars. Or, if the gojar 8yHtem is to rem ain in ta c t, as _ ... . . . ,, Prof. W akem an th in k s reasonable, why, the sam e thing results as far t