Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1900)
2 T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , O R EG O N , N O V EM B ER 29, E. M. 300 (1900.) speed ve foods— blubber and m aca crimes and venalities th a t we see houses, there m ight be some sense th in k ers accounts for the large roni, but would be m ade m iserable around us — the felonies th a t fill in such parsim ony; but we are nig- num ber of followers the C hristians by an interchange of t h e m — t h a t in our prisons, the trickeries of trade, garde of air, of which we have so lay claim to in the U nited States, other cases there is still this fit-nesg the q u arrellin g of nation with na- much, and prodigals of health, of All persons who aid the church to diet, to clim ate, and to modes of tion and of class with class, the cor- which we have so little .” and acknowledge a belief in the life, even the most sceptical m ust ruptness of in stitu tio n s, the jeal- Though we have schools iu m any Bible god are counted as being on adm it th at some law of ad ap tatio n ousies of caste and the scandal of localities bearing the nam e of the side of th e churches, is at work. draw ing room s, have their causes H orace M ann, yet on entering you I have personally seen professed T his universal law of physical com prehended under this general- encounter the fetid atm osphere, friends of M ental L iberty give m odification, is the law of m ental ization. growing worse and worse as you freely l0 the m issionary fund, buy modification also. The m u ltitu d Concerning the present position enter the recitation rooms, where tickets for church socials and aid inous differences of capacity and of the hum an race we m ust there- the innocents, with flushed cheeks churches in general, but would not disposition th a t have in course o f fore say, th a t m an needed one mor- and aching heads, are puzzling support a Freethought lecture, buy tim e grown up between the In d ian , al constitution to fit him for his their brains over im aginary prob- F ieeth o u g h t literatu re, or advocate African, Mongolian and C aucasian original sta te ; th at he needs anoth- lems that have no application what- thf-ir liberal views by tongue or races, and between the various sub er to fit him far his present state, ever to ev eryday life. pen. divisions of them , m ust all be as an<l th a t he has been, is, and will j was once, m any years ago, in- The C hristians are becoming so cribed to the acquirem ent in each long continue to be, in process of vjted to listen to a lecture on ven- eager to lay claim to such vast case of fitness for su rrounding c ir ad ap tatio n . By the term civiliza- tilation, in Cornell U niversity, by num bers, th a t they are now offer cum stances. W hy all this diverg tion we signify the ad ap tatio n that a distinguished Professor; the room ing rew ards for hypocrisy, p articu ence from the one common original has already taken place. 1 he Was crowded, and the atm osphere larly so in fraternal orders, such as type? If ad aptation of c o n stitu changes that c o n stitu te progress when I entered was already u n the I. O .O . F., A. O. U. W., U ni tions is not the cause, w hat is the are the successive steps of the tr a n bearable, not a door or window left ted A rtisans, etc., and especially so cause? sition. And th e belief in hum an open. At the close, I was .in tro in orders th a t offer life or accident There are none, however, who perfectibility m erely am ounts to duced to the Professor; thanking insurance. can with any th ing like consistency the belief th a t in virtue of this pro him for his lecture, I said, “ 1 In order to become a m em ber of com bat this doctrine; for all use a r cess man will eventually become should have enjoyed it much more gum ents th a t presuppose its tru th . com pletely suited to his mode of if there had been some open w in one of these orders it is required th at the applicant affirm his belief Keeping in mind then the two life.— [Social Statics. dows, through which the carbonic in the Bible and its God, and I am facts, th a t all evil results from the acid gas, against whose evil influ sorry to say th a t the bribery offered non-adaptation of of constitution to ences you w arned us, could have in the way of insurance, etc.,is h av F o r th e T orch of R eason. conditions; and th a t where this escaped.” I am happy to say I ing the desired effect. If Liberals The Inalienable Rights of School non-adaptation exists it is c o n tin u left him blushing. would be honest and speak the dic Girls. ally being dim inished by the chang A nother teacher, lecturing on tates of their conscience when ques ing of constitution to suit condi BY ELIZABETH CADY STANTON. ventilation, once com plained to me tioned as to their religious convic tions, we shall be prepared for com th a t my d au g h ter had been very tions, such orders would be forced preh en d in g the present position of The first necessity for the pre im p ertin en t to her. W ith surprise to omit the religious test in order to the hum an raoe. servation of good health is a con I asked, “ W hat did she s a y ? ” She g e t the desired num ber of mem By the increase of population the sta n t supply of pure air in all our state of existence we call social has waking and sleeping hours. 2000' replied, “ Stepping on her chair, bers. This religious discrim ination been necessitated. Men living in cubic feet each hour is necessary she pulled down the window and is one of C hristian persecution and this state sutler under num erous for every hum an being; this is the said, pray let us have some pure should be vigorously exposed by evils. By the hypothesis it follow’s m inim um for scientific ventilation. air; with sixteen scholars in this Secularists. In order to become a good m em th a t their characters are not com W ith this necessity in m ind, see little room, we m ust have breathed the air tw enty times alread y ; isn ’t ber of a fraternal order, is it neces pletely adapted to this state. how inadequate is the supply vouch it a good thing, Miss P., to use In w hat respect are they not so safed us, in our fashionable re sary for one to believe the story of knowledge as fast as we get it? ” ad ap ted ? w hat is the special q u a li ceptions and dinners, school houses Jonah and the whale? T h rt the “ W hy,” said I, “ I am more proud fication which the social state re theatres, churches and public con Lord held the sun and moon in the of her than ever, to th in k she uses quires? valleys so th a t the Jew s could see veyances. If we calculate the num so rapidly the knowledge she ac It requires th a t each individual ber of cubic feet in the various a p to kill a few more G entiles? A nd quires; your class is equally in shall have such desires only as may artm ents where we spend our lives, to have a belief like a G uiteau or a debted to you for the lecture, and D u rra n t? be fully satisfied w ithout trenching we shall see th a t we breathe the to my d au g h ter for its prom pt ap upon the ability of other in d iv id u sam e air m any times in one hour. Liberals, let us awake. L et us als to obtain like satisfaction. If Every exhalation of the breath is plication.” cast old Mrs. G ru n d y aside and do It is a pity th a t in all our col the desires of each are not th u s lim laden with carbonic acid gas, and som ething. Rem em ber th a t the ited, then eith er all m ust have cer five-eighths o f the im purities of the leges and schools there is not some price of liberty is alw ays the same tain of their desires ungratified, or system are throw n off through the bright pupil in every class, to de- — ETERNAL VIGILANCE. Those W’ho 2000 cannot aid the spreading of the some m ust get gratification for them skin; w hat then m ust he the at- m a " d her inalie,,!,ble "&>■' a t the corresponding expense of Biosphere of an a p a rtm e n t where Cubl° feet of a ir ever-v h,,ur' gospel of F reethought in a finan others. Both of which a ltern a tiv e s ten people, more or less, have b e e n ------------------- cial way can at least live up to necessitating pain, im ply non-adap confined any length of tim e? Im ag F o r th e Torch of R eason. th eir honest convictions and agi tation. Let Our Light Shine. ine a schoolhouse with one h u n tate our doctrines w’henever oppor But why is not m an adapted to dred children, in a succession of tunities perm it. If we d o n ’t agi the social state? badly aired rooms six hours iu the ta te our gospel, how will we let the Sim ply because he yet p artially retain s the characteristics th a t adapted him for an antecedent state. The respects in which he is not fitted for society are the respects in which he is fitted for his original predatory life.His prim itive circum stances required th a t he should sac rifice the welfare of oth®r beings to his own; his present circum stances require th a t he should not do so; and in so far as hisold a ttrib u te still clings to him, iu so far is he unfit for the social state. All sins of men against each other, from the cannibalism of the C arib to the BY E. L. DAVIDSON. day, and then co n trast the a ir they get with w hat they need; this wou.d be a more valuable sum in arithm etic than any vet laid down by the m athem aticians. Horace Mann, the only m em ber on the Board of E ducation in Mass- achusetts in bis day, who appre- ciated the im portance of a gener- OU8 supply of pure air in the pub- lie schools, well said: “ Seeing th a t th e atm osphere is forty m iles deep !all around the globe, it is a use- less piece of economy to breathe it more i „an once; if we had to trim - die it in wheelbarrows to fill our _______ world know we have an y ? If all the so-called or would-be L et us take our candle from Liberals in the world would show under the bushel, aud let our their colors aud stand shoulder to light shine. shoulder with the Liberals of more pronou need type, w hat a great blow it would be to superstition and Progress of Science. m ental slavery! These would-be Liberals support th e m ythological Science is no longer the concern as much if not more th an the Free- of a few men under royal p atro n thought movem ent. They believe age, but the tw’o great movements the latter cause to be the only true of .......... K,„. the .................. present ce n tu ry — the growth one, yet they are num bered with of Democracy and th e growth o the form er, as the ecclesiastical S c ie n c e -h a v e united for thei powers are only too glad to claim common good.—[P o p u lar Scieuc I them . T his hypocrisy am ong Free- M onthly.