•i
THE TORCH O F REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, NOVEMBER 15, E. M. 300 (1900.)
a mere u n th in k ab le m yth: th a t man
was never free nor equal; th a t he
T h e O n ly P a p e r o f It s K in d .
was never “endow ed’' by any n a
ture or any creator with rights;
P u b lish ed W eekly by th e L iberal U ni-
he had to fight for all the
versity C om pany, in th e In te re sts of
which instead of be-
C onstructive, Moral S ecularism .
rights be ha. , wnicn, instead oi u
ing inalienable, are alw ays slipping
T. B. W a k em a n ................... Editor away or being forced aw ay from
P. W. Geer......................... M anager him . As to “ governm ent,” the
----
very id ea of it is th e verv o p p o site
Torch of Reason
E n te red a t th e postolhce a t S ilverton, ,
f
.
Oregon, as second-class m ail m a tte r.
of “ c o n s e n t ,” a n d t h a t
V
it
,
has
1
a l
ways originated, and haH alw ays
subscription r a t e s .
been continued by force, etc., etc.,
One year, in a d v an c e .......................... $1 00 to the end of th a t deistic dream .
Six m o n th s, in ad v an ce....................
The answer to all th is ap p aren t
25
T hree m o n th s, in a d v a n c e ................
tru th iB th a t S tatesm en, like beav-
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in ad v a n ............................;
ce ..........................................
........ i ers, often “ build wiser than they
should
be sen t by registered 1
’ „ ,
,
.
..
Money
,n p v order
order.
know :” th at the conscious motives
le tte r or m u oney
- and reasons assigned for the col-
NotjceJ
lective conduct of people, are gen
i erally very far from being their
complete or even th eir real ones;
A h a n d pointing to th is notice denotes
th a t your subscription has e x p ire d . and this was evidently the case
You are earn estly requested to re with .Jefferson and the F athers.
new so th a t you m ay receive th e pa
per w ith o u t in te rru p tio n . W e have d e The m etaphysical deism they as
cided th a t it is best for all concerned signed were but the drapery and
th a t we do n o t send pap ers longer th a n
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered. rhetoric of their m ain grounds pre
T his will p rev e n t any loss and we will sented in the rest of the docum ents
know ju st w here we sta n d .
‘Is it not for
We request you to send us th e nam es which sum up thus:
of Secularists* who m ig h t becom e su b the interest of the A m ericans and
scribers and we will m ail sam ple copies.
the world th a t they be a free and
independent people? We show the
T hursday , N ov . 15, E. M. 300.
facts which plainly say, yes! And
with a “decent respect” for the
The Foundations Broken bp.
opinions of m ankind we so declare,
and make our appeal for m oral,
OUR REPUBLIC ON T R IA L .
m aterial and m ilitary su p p o rt!’
T heir main motive was the duty
The G reat American Federal Re of looking out for the whole of the
public has only existed one h u n Am erican people and their success
dred years: Will it be in ex ist ors, th a t d u ty m ade the moral
ence a t th e end of another cen tu ry ? rig h t which the D eclaration put it
The answ er from the present o u t into a political form ; and the re
look is very doubtful.
The nam e su lt of the war made th a t moral
may be continued, but where are right a fact, political and in te rn a
th e people who will or can sustain tional.
Now w hat was true of the A m eri
th e reality ?
The question will
press upon every one who reads the cans of 1776 is true of all peoples:
strik in g article on “ The Passing of It is the d u ty and therefore the
N ational R ights,” on the first page right of all m em bers of a com m uni
of this issue. We called atten tio n ty, on the ground of common in te r
in the Torch of November 1st, to est and h u m an ity , to respect and
“ God, The Basis of G overnm ent” to look out for the life, liberty,
as presented by Dr. L ym an A bbott, property and th e chance for welfare
and its inevitable consequences and happiness of every other m em
against the Republic. T he S en ti ber of the com m unity by laws
nel of Liberty of the sam e date dis equally applicable to all. This duty
covered the same dangerous d rift; and right was not imposed nor giv
and the question is raised; w hat is en by any God or C reator, nor by
the n atu re of the difficulty, and a Goddess “ N ature.” It arises out
w hat is the remedy? The firstand of the fact , th e actual necessity ,
m ain difficulty is th a t the old re which compells each to look out
ligions, and the deistic basis upon for others as th e condition of his
which the D eclaration of Indepen own safety and welfare. All rights
dence and th e Republic was based result from the social duties which
by W itherspoon, Jefferson and the the common welfare of all imposes
F ath ers, has, “ in the course of upon social anim als. “ E ach, for All,
events, became washed away. They All for E ach” equally , is the uec-
m ust he replaced by a new’ founda- essary condition of th e welfare of
tion, or the polity based upon them al ; f >r all have common needs, re-
cannot much longer resist th e new quirin g equal protection, and equal
and opposing conditions and forces, laws, and as far as possible, equal
W hen we drop all
Many a College boy is now proud of conditions.
showing, th a t every statem ent in Gods, Devils and N ature-M ythology
the “ Im m ortal D eclaration’s Pre- M etaphysics, we land on the hard
am ble,” is not only untrue, but is bottom where the F ath ers of our
exactly the reverse of the the tru th : R epublic re ally stood.
H um an
It is now scientifically proved th at necessities m ake hum an duties,and
m an was never “ created ” at all; they m ake hum an rights.
The
and th a t a creator and creation is best governm ent is one that best
answers to these necessities by the
best perform ance! of the duties
which it is the com m on right of
each to have secured by all.
This
is the 00111 mon fact and law of
hum an necessity and nature. Laws,
for the “ benefit of the greatest
num ber,” or for “ the governm ent,”
or for the “ benefit of the governors”
will not do at all. They are ruled
out by the said fundam ental fact,
th a t the “ A ll” has no actual, n a t
ural or social purposes or hum an
right or reason for its existence
except to protect and secure the
liberty and welfare of each , and so
of all. No person, however h u m
ble or u n fo rtu n ate, can he exclud
ed; for the all is not all unless it
includes every each . T hus in
sociology hum an governm ent stands
upon its own bottom of social nec
essity. There is not the slightest
reason in the world for us to go
slopping abput in the m uddy and
bloody pools of past Theologies and
Religions or the fanciful n atu re.—
M ythology abstractions or “ p rin
ciples” of m etaphysics to find some
origin, sanction or excuse for gov
ernm ent which in the order of
events cannot help hut he. T he vol
cano or th u n d ersto rm , the polity
of an In d in tribe or of the U nited
S tates, exist as correlative results
of th eir past, and the sanctioned
law of Gods or Devils are equally
superfluous.
Nor is Social existence, order and
governm ent a m atter of contract or
of volu n tary agreem ent, nor were
they ever so “ in stitu te d ” am ong
men. They are a m atter of sta tu s
— th a t is a m atter of social origin
and environm ent, th e state of things
su rro u n d in g
every
individual.
“ Man is not except in society.”
Out of th at he lives but a short
tim e in order to die as a very weak
and decrepid anim al. W hen he is
born he is born as a hum an being,
a child, a citizen and a socius a t
the sam e tim e. No will or com
pact can m ake or prevent these re
lations, and their inevitable duties,
functions, obligations and con
sequently th eir rights , for rights are
the conditions and priviliges nec
essary to enable him to perform
his duties. R ights and duties a l
ways go together, for they are
co u n terp arts which beget each
other aud are reciprocal.
The a n a rch ist who argues th at
he is going to secede from these
social conditions and facts with
th eir duties and rig h ts m ight just
as well talk of seceding from the
solar system , or veto the stellar
m otion of the sun.
O ur wills are the “ pred eterm in
ed” comp emei t and supplem ent of
these social facts and laws of n a
ture by which we are enabled,
bound and com pelled to use them
for th e benefit of each and all, be
cause for the common benefit
n a tu ra l selection operates.
The
best governm ent is th e one in which
they are worked out most effect
ively. O ur declaration and consti
tution therefore rig h tly says th a t
the R epublican-D em ocratic mode
of governm ent is the scientific,
tru e and best one. The action of
the all rests upon and is the action
and support, and so the “consent,”
of those who are served by the
governm ent, which rightfully exists
for no other purpose except their
protection and service. Nor is there
any great difficulty in aiding and
applying this n a tu ra l, hum an and
necessary process of governm ent.
The first consideration of the all is
to look for the liberty and highest
developm ent and welfare of every
“each.” This is done for the child,
the young each, by the p aren ts,
town school, the state and general
all. This is the governm ental en-
virom ent which n a tu ra lly judges
an d provides in the order nam ed,
so th a t the citizen will be able to
support each of the public functions
of the serving governm ent as they
rise above each other from the
hearth-stone to the m ighty United
States. T h a t the laws by which
each is protected in this grow th of
education and support should be
equal follows
as a m atter of
course The best clim ate m ust be
eqular and regular to all kinds of
trees or they could never know how
to grow, so equal and reg u lar legal
clim ate and in stitu tio n s is neces
sary in fam ily, school and state,
and is secured by n atu ra l selection
for all kinds of people.
The first
necessity and grand function of
governm ent is to secure the liberty
and conditions for full develop
m ent of each; for th is equal, im
p artial and slowly im proving laws
and conditions are so n a tu ra l and
necessary, th a t nothing more is to
be said. The duty of the highest
developm ent of each is at the sam e
tim e his liberty and fund am en tal
rig h t: and th a t rig h t, as Spencer
will say, is lim ited only to prevent
an encroachm ent of the equal
rights of another.
Nor is there an y serious diffi
culty in applying this n a tu ra l rule
to holy days, as the S entinel of
L iberty seems to suppose.
For
all rem n an ts of Despotism«, Theo
cracies and O ligarchies are to be
abolished aud swept out of the laws
of course.
Then public holidays
or rest days, m ay be declared by
the wish of the m ass of the people,
as nonbusiness days, like C h rist
m as, New Y ears day and the glo-
ious F o u rth , and S unday.
Only
those large forms of business m ay
be restrained which compel a large
em ploym ent of others, as wholesale
m erchants an d m anufacturers, or
which cause noise or d isturbance
which m ay be a nuisance to others.
These m ay need only to he subjected
to some tax or fine. Every one else
m ight work, so as not to interfere
with others, on such holidays, if he
so wished. T hus the Hebrews and
Seventh day people m ight be h ap
py in a real S ecular Republic.