Torch of reason., April 10, 1902, Image 1

OF
• truth
B eason .
bears th e torch in t h e search for TRUTH.” - £ u c r e « U S .
NO. 14.
SILVERTON. OREGON, THURSDAY, A i'lill. 10, E. M. '"2 U
)L. 6.
SOCIOLOGY II.
F ailure seems to he the tra d e ­
to the vertebrate, to one th a t has a
Iron Bonds Are B re a k in g .
m ark of N ature. W h y ? N ature
Governmental Telesis.
cranium — a house for a brain to
has no design, no intelligence. N a­
B I ALICE ROSE CLEVELAND.
one with fins, still onward to one
ture produce« w ithout purpose, sus­
BY PR O F. L E ST E R F . W A R D .
with fore and hinder fins, to the
tains w ithout intention and destroys
"*HEBE’ s a c ra sh of a n g u ish b re a k in g ,
reptile
m
am
m
alia,
to
the
m
arsu­
1 T h e re 's a h u sh b o th d eep a n d long,
HE exactly interm ediate step
w ithout thought. Man has a little
h ere’s an ech o in g c ry of tr iu m p h
pials, to the lem ures, dwellers in
between individual telesis and
intelligence, and he should use it.
As th e y c ru s h o u t sh am e a n d w rong.
trees, to the simiae, to the p ith e­
social telesis is an organiza­
Intelligence is the only lever cap a­
wirling, flinging through th e darkness canthropi, and lastly, to man.
tion of individuals into a limited
S tr e tc h a m illio n gleam in g h a n d s .
ble of raising m ankind.
We know the path« th a t life has
b e y are sw ift and su re in ju d g m e n t,
The real question is, can we pre­ body. Such organizations are al­
H ark! th e y ’re b re a k in g iro n b a u d s.
traveled. We know the footsteps
vent the ignorant, the poor, the ways for some specific purpose, and
T om th e g u lfs w here b la c k n e ss shud- of advance. They have been traced.
vicious, from filling the world with the word purpose sufficiently in d i­
dors
The
last
link
has
been
found.
For
C ry on c ry is rin g in g o u t—
cates their telic character. It shows
their children ?
> ie s of hope long c e n tu rie s su n k e n ,
this we are iudebted, more than to
Can we prevent this Missouri of th at there may be a thought com­
D eep w ith in th e d e p th s of d o u b t.
all others, to the greatest of biolo­
ignorance and vice from em ptying mon to a num ber of persons, and
T w ill ta k e long, y o u say, to b reak
gists, E rnst Haeckel.
into the Mississippi of civilization? th a t several individuals can, as well
th e m —
. . 9
We row believe th at the universe
All th e s e f e tte r s —e re ry c h a in 7
M ust the world forever rem ain as a single one, act teleologically
<uow you th e n , we’re grow ing s tro n g e r, is n atu ral and we deny the exist-
the victim of ignorant passion ? toward a desired end. In m odern
S tro n g in body, h e a rt, a n d b ra in ,
, ence of the su pern at ui al.
Can the world he civilized to th a t society there is scarcely any limit
r i l l w ith a ll o u r s tre n g th u n ite d ,
In som e f u tu r e s u n -lit day.
degree th a t consequences will be to the variety in such organiza­
R EFO R M .
We will free each m an in ju s tic e ,
tions. these bodies may in a very
For thousands of years men and taken into consideration by all ?
T ill th e la s t bond fa lls aw ay.
W hy should men and women just sense he regarded as conscious
women have been trying to reform
T h e re ’s no tim e to w ait or
‘•Is th is b est?” o r “ is th is r ig h t.
the world. Th ’y have cieated gods have children th a t they cannot take and intelligent, and they conduct
A ll is b e st w hich le a d s to freedom
and devils, heavens and hells; they care of, children th at are burdens their operations in all essential re­
A nd all free d o m e n d s in l i g h t .
have written sacred books, per­ and curses? W hy? Because they spects in the same way th at individ­
formed miracles, built cath ed rals have more passion than in te lli­ uals conduct theirs. Even if we
W h a t Is R e lig io n ? *
and dungeons; they have crowned gence, more passion than conscience, were to suppose such an organiza­
tion to include all the individuals
BY R O B E R T G. IN G ERSO LL.
and uncrowned kings and queens, more passion than reason.
they have tortured and im prisoned,
You cannot reform these people of a nation and no others, it would
PART V.— C onclusion .
I flayed alive and burned ; they with tracts and talk. You can n o t still differ from the governm ent of
F m atter and force are from have preached and prayed; they reform these people with preach th a t nation in its specific object.
etern ity , then we can say th a t have tried prom ises and threats; and creed. Passion is, and alw ays The supposition is, however, in ad ­
man has no intelligent creat- they have coaxed and persuaded; has been, deaf. These weapons of missible, since a limited organiza­
r, th a t man was not a special crea- they have preached and taught, and reform are su b stan tially useless. tion m ust be voluntary, and the
in countless ways have endeavored C rim inals, tram ps, beggars and in h ab itan ts of a country include
ion.
n
,
We now know, if we know any-
to m ake people honest, tem perate, failures are increasing every day. m inors, and infants who have no
hing, th a t Jehovah, the divine pet­ industrious and virtuous; they have The prisons, jails, poor-houses and intelligent ideas of the purposes of
er did not mix and. m ou'd clay
built hospitals and asylum s, uni­ asylum s are crowded. Religion is association. If a very large and
nto the forms of men and women,
versities and schools, and seem to helpless. Law can punish, but it powerful lim ited organization were
ind then breathe the breath of life
have done their very best to make can neither reform crim inals nor to coerce its members or other per­
nto these forms.
m ankind better and happier, and prevent crime. The tide of vice is sons to perform certain acts, it
We now know th a t our first p a ­
yet they have not succeeded.
rising. T he war th a t is now being would he usurping the sphere of
rents were not foreigners. We know
W hy have the reform ers failed ? waged against the forces of evil is governm ent, and if this were acqui-
th at they were natives of this world,
as hopeless as the battle of the fire­ esed in it would become, in so far,
I
will
tell
them
why.
produced here, and th a t their life
Ignorance, poverty and vice are flies against the darkness of night. the governm ent. Such was the
did not come from the breath of
populating the world. The gutter
There is but one hope. Ignor­ case when the Church of Rome as­
any god. We now know, if we know
is a nursery. People unable even ance, poverty and vice m ust stop sumed such powers.
an y th in g , th a t the universe is n a tu ­
If a sm all num ber of individuals
to support them selves, till the tene­ populating the world. T his cannot
ral, and th at men and women have m ents, the h uts and hovels with
be done by moral suasion. 1 hi» may th in k and act for a common
been n a tu ra lly produced. We now
children.
They depend on the cannot be done by talk or exam ple. purpose, a larger num ber may, and
know our ancestors, our pedigree.
T his cannot he done by religion or there is no necessary lim it u n til the
Lord, on luck and ch arity ,
We have the family tree.
are not intelligent enough to think by law, by priest or by han g m an . totality of a people is em braced in
We have all the lin k s of the
about consequences or to feel re­ This cannot be done by force, p h y s­ the num ber. If such a universal
chain, tw enty-six links inclusive
organization has for its sole object
sponsibility. At the same time ical or m oral.
from monor to m an.
embers in general;
they do not w ant children, because
To accom plish this there is but the good of its • m
. VI I
-♦ V X
We did not get our inform ation
n ew way.
a y , Science
science m
m ust
u .. m
I . » ake
- ........
it thereby v irtu ally bec° “ ®9
a child is a curse, a curse to them o one
wo
from inspired books. We have fos­ and to itself. The babe is not wel­ man the owner, the mistress of her- government. To justify this title,
sil facts and living forms.
~ •
* the
1 only n/AuaiHlp
COH) pi 180 1*9
however, und
and IlC
accomplish
its pUT
p u r­
come, because it is a burden. I hese self.
Science,
possible Lntuuvpr
From the sim plest creatures, from unwelcome children fill the jails
saviour of m ankind, must put it in pose it m ust assume full power, and
blind sensation, from organism ,
this single act deprives it of the
and prisons, the asylum s and hos­ the
power
of
woman
to
decide
for
th
e
now
er
w
om
an
vo
ucviuu
from one vague want, to a single pitals, and they crowd the scaffold-
herself w hether she will or will not character of a purely voluntary as-
cell with a nucleus, to a hollow
Hociation
No g o v e rn m e n t can be
A few are rescued by chance or become a mother.
8
c
’
. Pi»ht
ball filled with fluid, to a cup with
T his is the solution of the whole such, although so long as the n g h
ch arity , hut the great m ajority are
double walls, to a flat worm, to a failures. They become vicious, fero­
T f n This frees woman. The of voluntary expatriation exists, as
som ething th a t begins to breathe,
cious. They live by fraud and vio­ h ab es" th a t are then born will it alw ays has done, it is virtu al y a
to an organism with a spinal cord,
lence, and bequeath their vices to he welcome. They will be clasped voluntary as.o c .at, o n .
to a link between the invertebrate
With glad hands to happy breasts.
Now there is a sense in which the
their children.
* Phis was Colonel IntrerBoll’* bu>t public ad-
Against this in u n d atio n of vice They will fill homes with light and very existence of governm ent
X d e l l .T « !
(o r-
A m «"™
plica a consensus of intelligent pur-
the forces of reform are help'1'88, 1 y
----------------- ---------— --------- - poBe. Mr. Spencer, the severest
and ch arity itself becomes an u n ­
C ontinued on page 3.
r
conscious prom oter of crime.
T
I
ith w hich th e address e n d n .- E u . I o n H .