Torch of reason., March 20, 1902, Page 4, Image 4

T H E TORCH OF REASON, SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, MARCH 20, E. M. 302 (1902.)
4
Torch of Reason
T h e O n ly P a p e r o í Its K in d .
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P u re science, applied to E ducation,
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T hursday , M arch 20, E. M. 302.
S O C IO L O G Y IN
OUR
SCHO O LS.
It Is the Scientific, and Only Basis for
the Republic and Its Politics
and Morals.
cal»” have been trying of late to
rally the elite, and get an “ ethical
basis” upon the u ltim ate Ideal or
“categorical im perative” of K ant
and Hegel. But all th a t is m eta­
physical assum ption, or “ principle,”
and wont stand fire or hold water.
It is a sentim ental vacuum , and at
bottom hostile to the Republic, for
the M vstocrat is alw ays the child
of the Theocrat, su b stitu tin g a
“ P rinciple” for the D eity— both re­
quiring a G od-interpreting and gov­
erning class and order,—alw ays
exclusive—and never favoring a
Republic or a Democracy.
Gur Southern States are still
dom inated by theology and slavery;
the New England States by m eta­
physics and consequent exclusive­
ness, which their grain! colleges
fatally repiesent and continue.
The great Middle and Western
States then, m ust save trie Republic
by a Secular, Scientific, H istoric
and H uman education of its young
people. Sm ail hut m any universi­
ties are needed, in which historic
Sociology and its Religion of H u ­
m anity, Republican politics and
M orals should he the foundation.
T hink of i t ! W hat F rance is do­
ing, we m ust begin to do, but in the
way our Republic calls and needs.
I l needs th a t L. U. 0. he completed,
strengthened and repeated a h u n d ­
red fold 1
received, in w hich you s ta te th a t th e
P o rtla n d B oard of T rad e have refe rred
to its c o m m itte e on leg isla tio n a request
from th e D irect L eg isla tio n L eague of
O regon fo r th e ir e n d o rse m e n t and a p ­
proval of th e p ro p o se d a m e n d m e n t to
th e c o n s titu tio n of th e S ta te of O re­
gon, p ro v id in g fo r th e in itia tiv e an d
re fe re n d u m .
“I th in k you know w ith o u t any e x ­
p ressio n from m e t h a t I am n o t only now
b u t have been to r y ears h e a rtily in
favor of th is p ro p o se d a m e n d m e n t,
an d I have no h e s ita tio n in ex p re ssin g
m y self a t all p ro p e r tim e s an d in all
p ro p e r ways in its favor. I believe a
large p o rtio n of th e people of O regon
favor th e a m e n d m e n t; so let us try it.
I have n o t th e tim e a t p re se n t, n o r
do 1 th in k it n e ce ssa ry to go in to th e
specific re a so n s why I favor th is a m e n d ­
m ent. T h e re a so n s e n te rta in e d by
th o se who fav o r it are know n g en erally
to th e people of O regon.
J ohn II. M itchell .
T H E R E P U B L IC
The Mother, Nurse and Protector of all
Reforms.
When we see how the French are
now try in g to teach in their schools
the “ S uperiority of the R epublic
On our first page you will find a
and its form of governm ent,” we
docum ent, new, rem arkable, im ­
cannot but rem em ber th at this was
p o rtan t, and very surprising. It
the great lesson with which Thom as
shows th a t France, the new R epub­
Paine placarded Paris when the
lic, has gone away ahead of U. S.
king and royal fam ily left, Ju ly 1,
in m aking Sociology the qorner-
1791. The people were then dazed
stone of its public education, and
and ignorant and would have none
thus the foundation of its Republic,
of it. (See Conway’s P aine’s W rit­
Politics and Morals.
ings, vol. 3, p. 10, etc., and his
W hy have not Americans done
TH E R EFEREN D U M !
Life of Paine, vol. 2, p. 31-60.)
th at ? Because, as the T orch has
The A narchists of th at revolu­
been saying, they have, in the most What U. S. Senator Mitchell Says of It.
tion made the convention and the
suicidal way, allowed theologians
revolution do the governing, and run
to run our Republic by m aking a
In the T orch of March 13 was
N o thingarian Vacuum of all of the printed an adm irable statem ent of them against the Rupublic, and
“ higher education” they could not Dr. Bates, showing why every Re­ the constitution which Paine and
them selves have or dom inate. The public should have the referendum , Condorcet prepared, ami which was
French R epublicans have, on the and th at it is a constant influence form ally adopted, and then indefi­
co ntrary, tried to exile the Jesu its for good over politicians and law­ nitely suspended. The “ Tree So­
and the churches’ whole educative m akers, although laws may seldom ciety,” the A narchist paper of C hi­
kit mid influence. Uncle Sam ban be rejected under it. It has worked cago, is putting out a history of the
spent a century in nursing these adm irably in Sw itzerland, in New French R evolution, by C. L. Jam es,
their leading thinker, for the p u r­
vipers, and a tine crop he has!
Zealand, and wherever it has been
T hus our R epublic is now prac­ adopted. Indeed, A m ericans have pose of exculpating these French
tically suspended in the air with used it in regard to their co n stitu ­ A narchists and the mobs they cul­
tivated and misled, and thus ruined
no solid bottom or foundation at tions and am endm ents thereto.
the revolution, and so put back the
all. For all Theology is hostile to
We are not surprised th a t our ' progress of civilization more than
a Democratic Republic. It means senator Mitchell has sent out the
a century.
N otw ithstanding the
a God, and a C hrist, as “ King of
following letter in its favor. But purpose of this new hook, no sensi­
Kings and Lord of Lords,” with his he is m istaken in supposing that
“ kingdom to come.’’ It is now the reason for it are “ generally ble person can read it w ithout see­
sim ply “ biding its tim e” to get all known to the people of Oregon.” ing th at Paine, the Republican,
was right, and the one sensible
of these things “ in the C onstitution”
Few really know how it and the pilot who would have brought the
as the result of its practical con­ “ initiative” work, so m any m ay not
trol of all the education and motive vote for it. Be sure to bring this Ship of State out right and safe, if
his advice had been taken.
our young Americans are to have.
m atter to the notice of your neigh­
And the trouble is now, (and th at
T hink of the state of mind of Presi­ bors and friends. You can do this
dent Roosevelt, and his idea of best by having some literature on is why we refer to these A narchists
Paine! Y’et the only influence op­ the subject, which you can obtain at a ll),th a t our Anarchists,Socialists
and reformers of all kinds, are doing
posed to all th a t is the sem i-m eta­
of Hon. W. S. U’Ren, Oregon City,
physical deistic religion upon which Ore. Tliis is not a party m atter, generally and at large, what their
A narchist predecessors did in th at
Paine,
Jefferson, F ran k lin and
and must be attended to by people
great revolution.
They imagine
W ashington really founded the Re­
outside of their party, though all
th at they can succeed with their re­
public. T his was the best those
parties should, and we believe do, forms w ithout a Republic to sus­
great men could do at that date,
favor it. If they do not, it is surely tain and make them practicable.
hut the progress of Science has
not from any good reason.
They have practically dropped the
been equally fatal to their theology
“W ashinotod , Feb. 26.
Republic out. The effect of their
and m etaphysics.
The Republic
Hon. W. S. U ’R en, S e c re ta ry D irect L eg ­ course is “ no political action,” or
m ust have a new scientific founda­
isla tio n L eague, O regon C ity , Ore:
class parties so small as to have no
tion or fail !
M y D ear S ir —I beg to acknow ledge
True, I)r. Adler and the “ Ethi­ receipt of yours of February 17, just result but to elect the opposition,
and so intrench the centralization
of w ealth, politics and power into a
position th at will soon make any
Republic impossible. All such re­
formers are merely A narchists,
though they abhor the name, over­
throwing the Republic. N >r can
-uch people hope by force to effect
anything against a Plutocracy thus
in control of the governm ent, and
of its arm y and navy sanctified by
its “ law and religion.”
It follows th at tne people cannot
afford to have more than two p a r­
ties in this Republic, and they must
form the winning one; or see the
time when they will have no Re­
public, and consequently no rights
the victors are hound to respect.
In Europe the reformers have
performed, a u d a re perform ing, (he
same farce. They agitate the peo­
ple for A narchism , Socialism, N i­
hilism and many special reforms,
w ithout educating them , or trying
to prepare them to vote for a Re­
public. So you may see tomorrow
the same foolish result in Spain
th at you saw in France and all
Europe iu 1848, again in 1830,
and in 1791-3. They drive out the
despots only to call them hack, be­
cause they don’t know what else to
do— and find, when too late, th at
their reforms w ithout a Republic
are impossible.
Sociology says th at the integra­
tion of the people is the R epublic ,
and all reforms that are not caused
by and for it, as parts of it, and
under its protection, are inevitable
failures. Yrou who are throw ing
away the people’s votes on th ird
parties, please to m editate on these
things, and then help us “ to get
together,” and vote together. H ave
we not acted A narchist long enough ?
Let us start together by voting for
the Referendum !
P H IL IP P IN E
FACTS.
•Nature Is Conquered Only by Obedience”
—[B acon’s Nov. O rg.
Can the white people live, work,
increase and thrive in the P hilip­
pines? T hat is one of the weighty
questions before the American peo­
ple, and the T orch has done good
service in calling out Dr. Severance
to answer it as he has done, ap ­
parently decisively, in another col­
umn. The sorrow we have about
it is th a t this result of his experi­
ence cannot be read and weighed
by every citizen of the United States.
We think th a t if this could be done,
the present policy of our govern­
ment as to the future of the P h ilip ­
pines would be modified, if not re­
versed. It may be said th a t the
cradles of civilization were rocked
iu the southern valleys of the Nile
and the Tigris by whites. But
they were not very white, nor from
the north, and their river civiliza­
tion was, if an exception, one th a t
proves notiiing against the rule
stated by the doctor.
What then is to he doue ? It