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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1906)
36 .tiflKmnr UDK1 V ff) BY RIOUS Oooooooooooooi ooooooao CONFLICT BETWEEN CHURCH AND SOCIALISM, By Charles Pye lis Ante Bellum Attitude Toward Slave System Par allels Its Present View of Wage System. A recent tssu of a religious publication In this city contained an editorial criti cism of the Socialist programme entitled, "The Changing Socialism." wherein It concedes "that there is danger that the habit of denouncing the false dicta of certain Socialistic apologists will grow Into a habit of denouncing certain politi cal and economic aspects of Socialism which are not to be condemned out of hand." And that "There are Socialistic principles upon which the church has not pronounced Judgment, and which are, to say the least, open to discussion." Also, "that a duty we owe to Socialism Is to rive it a hearing." k This is a hitherto unheard of concession from this source. We will now note some of the changes of the church, and see why It opposes Socialism. "In every historical epoch the prevailing mode of economic production and ex change, and the social organization neces sarily following from It, form the basis upon which is built up and from which alone can be explained the political and intellectual history 01 that epoch." Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. When Marx and Engels put forth this statement, as embodying the essential feature of their discovery of the underly ing forces of the movement of society, they laid down the gage of battle around which the forces of radicalism and pro gress have rallied for over half a century. To disprove the historical truth of this proposition means that you have captured the Socialists' strongest position. Shake the accuracy of this thesis and you have shattered the philosophy of the scientific Socialist. Up to this Ima the opponents of Socialism have been unable to disprove Its accuracy, while on the other hand, history abounds with Illustrations dem onstrating its truth. In the evolution of the American people from the primitive life of the early colon ists to our modern complex civilization the entire social, political, intellectual and religious structure of the Nation con formed to the methods of producing the material necessities of life. We will dis cuss particularly the influence which this economic base of society has had upon the religious Institutions and thought of America, and point out how they have constantly changed to suit the varying Disease, Patent Medicines and the Doctors Perplexities of the Plain People Over Advice Given by Men Who Get Paid for It. BY J. L. JONES. THAT the curing of disease is one of the most important industries of the country is attested by the amount of advertising in sight- Adver tising; must be paid for out of the re turns from the business. We have a bewildering display of medicines and a fascinating assortment of methods for dispensing with the use of medicine. We are told that we all eat too much, that we are dying of gluttony, and on the other hand that a majority of people never have enough to eat. It is said that the American consti tution Is being prematurely broken by overwork and that the people are perishing from sheer laziness and lux ury. We are advised to drink more water and not to take so much; to eat plenty of beef and to avoid the use of animal food; to drink a better brand of whisky and to abstain wholly from alcoholic beverages. We are earnestly exhorted to be very careful about our diet and miles of columns of painstaking essays on this subject are spread before us, but on the otner hand we are solemnly coun seled to eat with thankfulness and res ignation whatever the purveyors and providers nappen to set before us. trusting in the Lord and asking no questions, and we are assured that nothing will hurt us. not even deviled ham or potted floor scrapings, so long as we don't think about It, and keep on working. We arc advised to live In the open air all the time and avoid exposure to the weather. Then there is hot water cure, cold water cure, massage, rub bing, rolling, straining, stretching, pushing, pounding, breathing, bathing, , running, walking, lying, telling the truth and keeping still in the silence. DruR stores abound and prosper and nni XT l.ne iNecessity Housekeepers Would "Wlcome BY J. H. DAVIS. THE middleman can be eliminated largely so far as local trade and the consumer is directly concerned and Interested by the establishment of market-houses, such as are found in all cities of importance at the East. All will agree that a market-house one or more is needed In a city of the size and pre tensions of Portland, and is needed badly. A market-house would be a convenience to every housekeeper in the city, and bring some revenue to the city as well. At the East, going to market is one of the delights of the wife, and even the husband is fond of it. Here are for sale fresh eggs, nice butter, all the vegeta bles, fruits, meats, poultry. Ash and many other articles of food. In Eastern mar kets one finds home-made bread, all kinds of pies, cakes and Jellies strictly homs-made Jellies, not the sort made out of glucose and glue and colored with analine but the pure stuff. Then there is hogshead cheese, pigs' feet, tripe, spare ribs, pondhorse. and even cornmeal mush In nice shape for slicing and frying. Everything wanted or needed Is on sale. All fresh and sweet and at reasonable prices. By the market-house method the con fumer Is supplied directly from 'the pro ducer. There is no middleman, no dou ble or treble profits on the food the con sumer uses. The vegetables have not lain for days In stores, exposed to dust and the sun to wilt and lose their flavor. With an established market-house, there Is no running up and down the streets for blocks hunting something, and then at last be forced to purchase stale stuff or go without. Of course, market-baskets would be in demand, and people not used to "toting" a market basket might not like it. It might hurt the false modesty or foolish pride of some people on the Coast; but. views and economic needs of the domi nant class. In pre-revolutionary times the church supported the divine right of Kings and feudal lords to rule and tax the people, during ante-bellum days the church, with not a single exception, sup ported and fought for the "peculiar in stitution" of slavery, which gave one class of men the right and power to take from another and larger class of men all that the latter produced, save barely enough to support a physical existence; and today the church supports this same system of exploitation in a slightly al tered form. "What matters It whether a landlord employing ten laborers on his farm gives them annually as much as will buy the necessaries of life, or gives them those necessaries at short hand? They are slaves in either case." John Adams. 177S, from "Lost Principles of Sectional Equili brium." by Barbarossa. I860. P. 39. No nation in the world furnishes so strong a proof of the materialistic basis of history as does our own. No country in any epoch of Its existence ever fur nished so striking an example of the complete change in social, political and religious thought as our own when the change was made from the slave method of production to that of the wage system. Let us consider the attitude of the church to the institution of slavery. Did the church oppose it? Did the church support it? It did Both and, strange as it may seem to us at this time, it opposed slavery because It was wrong and went to the Scriptures to support its position; It supported and defended It because it was right for it was a divine institution, inaugurated by God himself, and it (the church) went to the Scriptures to prove this position. The General Conference of the Meth odist Church in 1780 passed the following resolution: "The conference acknowledges that slavery is contrary to the laws of God. man and nature and hurtful to so ciety, contrary to the dictates of con science and true religion, and doing what we would not that others would do to us." Remember, at this time the church was composed of a mere handful of believers most of them fresh from England, poor in this world's goods. "One-half of the community was totally bankrupt, the oth er half plunged in the depths of poverty." McMahon's History of the People of the United States. Some of them had but recently escaped from slavery as bond servants, and all of them were threatened with the prospect of falling into the hands medicines for the cure of all human Ills are on tap everywhere, while many earnest people urge upon us that drugs and medicines are wholly Injurious and that all diseases exist In the mind. Then we have the regular doctors, who do not advertise nor rustle for crade. Neither do postmasters nor tax collectors; but they all do business, and their open season is all the year round. No one ever took any advice or medi cine from me. so I am Innocent of any death or disaster that might have oc curred In consequence. When I give advice it is always received with re sentment or suspicion. The patient seerns to think I am trying to put up a Job on him. He loses his patience, gets mad and tells me to mind my own business. But if I was ordained to preach or paid to give advice as to what the seeker should choose from the above assortment, I would say: Try every thing. Experiment. Prove all things. By experiments you gain experience. If you keep it up long enough you will be an expert. There is probably some virtue or merit in all the things recommended if you can discover it. There is a chance in your favor. There ts a fasci nation about it. like a lottery. The oftener you miss the better your chance of winning the next time. Then all the people employed in the work of distributing cures and reliev ing the afflicted of their ailments (and their coin) are engaged in legitimate business. They dwell in our midst. They are of us and with us always. They need our patronage. They have to live. The more medicine and ad vice that are sold the greater the vol ume of business and prosperity. This argument is a clincher. It appeals to one's patriotism as well as to his philanthropy. Well, after you have taken all the advice you can get free from your friends and all you can afford to pay for from irregular professionals; after f TVT1.TT or a iviarKer-oouse m rortian a Central Depot for the Sale of Perishable iFoods at First Hands. at the East, which embraces the Middle and Western States to the Texas and Colorado lines, all the people tote mar ket baskets, and are glad to do it. No one's pride revolts against the market basket. Ministers. professors, profes sional men men and women of all de grees and stations go to market with a big basket on arm, and like it. It is no uncommon sight to see well-dressed ladies and gentlemen coming from mar ket with basketfuls of eatables. Once, while on a visit to Atchison. Kan., I saw a tall. slim, spectacled gentleman carry ing a big basket of market stuff, and he was pointed out to me as John J. Ingalls. United States Senator. He was laughing and conversing with two ladies, both of whom carried baskets, and were as merry as though at a picnic. Deprive an East ern woman of the joy of going to market and you abridge her happiness. And. as a rule, the men are built the same way. Portland should get Into the market going habit. And. if the authorities have a real and sincere desire to eliminate the middleman, let them get together and fig ure on a market-house, one or more. At Dayton, Ohio, which has two market houses, the larger and more central one runs through the center of a block, from Main to Jefferson street. Above the mar ket are the city offices and some other offices. "Market wagons back up to the curb around the entire block (four squares). The market Is wide, roomy and up-to-date. Other Eastern cities have market-houses constructed similarly, with the city offices above. Now. what's the matter with Portland becoming Easternized to this extent? Of course, there will be kickers against the proposition. It has been so in every city where a market-house was ever talked of. But the houses were built all the same. They were built for the accommodation of the thousands of consumers who were enabled to get fresher food at cheaper of the civil authorities by reason of their failure or inability to meet their obliga tions. Hence you can readily understand why slavery, in any of its hideous forms, appeared to them as a crime against so ciety. ' In 1784 the church was fully organized, and this sentiment was reiterated. A res olution was passed without a dissenting voice proscribing slave-owners from mem bership and refusing to admit them to the Lord's Supper. In 1785 the conference resolved: "We hold in the deepest abhorrence the prac tice of slavery, and shall not cease to seek its destruction by all wise and pru dent means." Again, in 1S01, the conference declared "That we are more than ever convinced of the great evil of African slavery, which still exists in the United States." Now comes to ub the startling part of the programme .of the Methodist Epis copal Church. A complete somersault was turned between the years 1801 and 1836. In 1836. at the General Conference of the Methodist Church, the following .pre amble and resolutions were presented: "Whereas, great excitement has per vaded the country on the ubject of mod ern abolitionism, which Is reported to have been increased in this city recently by the unjustifiable conduct of two mem bers of the General Conference lecturing upon and in favor of that agitating topic; and "Whereas, such a course on the part of any of Its members is calculated to bring upon this body the suspicion and distrust of the community and misrepre sent Its setiments In regard to the point at issue: and. "Whereas, in this aspect of the case, a due regard for its own character, as well as a just concern for the interests of the church confided to its care, demands a full, decided and unequivocal expression of the views of the General Conference in the premises: -therefore, "Be it resolved, by the delegates of the Annual Conference. That they disapprove in the most unqualified sense, the conduct of the two members of the General Con ference who are reported to have lectured in this city (Cincinnati. Ohio) upon and in favor of modern abolitionism. "Resolved, by the delegates of the An. r.ual Conference. That they are decidedly opposed to modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish or inten tion to interfere in the civil and political you "have read all the books printed and tried all the medicine advertised, if you are still not dead nor feeling any better, go to a regular doctor. Take your chances again and give him a chance. This is the common custom. No one will go to a regular doctor so long as he thinks fte can "help himself" by taking something over the bar or out of a drug store. Bottled stuffs have a fascination for the human mind; whether this is due to the enticement of taste or the mystery of their com position is useless to inquire. But the desire to be independent, to lielp one's self. Is Inherent in human nature. A man wants to be his own physician, to control his own life, to be free. To go to a doctor is to give up. It is an admission of need, of in sufficiency, of defeat. The next move may be to the undertaker. It often ends that way. There is an everlasting search, a universal quest among mankind, for something undiscovered, some talisman or occult power a secret spring where man can be made whole, self-sufficient and secure and keep his bones from Davy Jones. So be instinctively shrinks from getting into tho hands of the police, the Sheriff, the doctor or the undertaker. But the poorhouse is worst of all. T'lis Is the struggle for existence. This is the problem of life. And it al ways ends In disaster and defeat. We may keep out of the public poorhouse by living in poorer ones of our own. We may escape the penitentiary by working harder on the outside and do ing constant penance at the shrine of misdirected individual enterprise. But to the undertaker and grave we must surrender. Death makes no dis tinction between King Edward the monarch and Edward King the pauper. He stows them both in a narrow space. Till we can look this last enemy in the face, throttle him. conquer and drive him out of his lair, our boasting is vainglory, our pride must perish. Our medicines cannot heal and our prosperity will not save. Ctrvallis. October 21. Portland rates, because of the elimination of the middleman. Once get a market-house in Portland, and people will wonder how they ever got along under the old method of sprint ing all over the city for something to eat. And they will refer to the "days be fore the market-house" came, just as peo ple talk of the days of stage coaches and tallow candles "way back before the war." A lady friend, writing from Ohio, said: "Of course, Portland has a market house." I sorrowfully informed her that I did not think so. I had looked for it, but, so far. had not met up with.it. If I found it I would let her know. You see. cities and market-houses are intimately associated in the minds of Eastern peo ple, who imagine a city without such universal convenience as lacking In prog ress. But the beauty of the market-house, next to its elimination of the middleman by giving the people cheaper food, is, that all know just where to go to get what they want. There is no uncertainty, no guesswork. The market-house is a grand central depot, open to all at certain hours. There has never been a case of an East ern city abolishing a market-house, but other markets have been added to accom modate certain sections. Yet people of the big cities go miles to market. Anyone who has visited the Fulton-street or Washington-street market-houses in New York, or the old French market-house or the Poldras-street markets in New Or leans, know what sights are to be seen there and how intensely interesting such a visit is. During a week's stay at the Mardi Gras at New Orleans I did not fail to visit these market-houses every day, as did hundreds of other sightseers. Eliminate the middleman with an up-to-date market-house. That is the best way and the cheapest way. Allow the con sumer to purchase directly from the pro ducer and the thing is done. And the relation between master and slave, as it exists in the slave-holding states of this Union." The resolutions were adopted by a vote of 122 to 11! Now you do not have far to go to dis cover the cause of this two-faced atti tude of the great Methodist Church, with Its. at that time, 700.000 members. The slave system of production was now the economic method of production. It was the base of society. The black slaves were the mudsills. They dug the wealth from mother earth and It was taken by the mister. The dominant thought of this nation, at that time, was the thought arising from this system. The majority of the supporters of the Methodist chu?ch were slave-owners. Can you not see that these preachers of the gospel of the lowly Nazarene were influenced by economic and financial considerations? Was there any other cause? Now listen to this, you people who deny that men are influenced in their views by their economic environment, and who deny that our institutions are founded upon and influenced by the base material means of producing the food and clothes which wo must have to maintain a phy sical existence: During the general conference of this same Methodist Church held in 1840, four years after the one just referred to, Rev. Capers. D. D., read from the reports of the 17S0, 1784 and 1785 conferences and attempted to show, because of the small ness of the church and the little con nection it had with slavery in 1785, that it adopted the language which was pre cisely consistent witli Its circumstances, but when the church had extended fur ther and become more entangled with slavery there was a corresponding falter ing in the language of the church against it. "But in 1RO0 the church fell into a great error on this subject," continued the Rev. Mr. Capers. D. D. "The conference au thorized addresses to the Legislatures and memorials to be circulated to all ministers, and instructed them to continue those measures from year to year until" slavery was abolished." He had no doubt but that the men who were engaged in this work were sincere and pious, but they soon perceived "it was a great erroT and abandoned it." "We know our work," says Rev. Capers. "It is to preach and pray for the slaves." Yes. the gentlemen knew their work, and the obeyed their masters the men fame of Portland's market-house will go abroad just as the fame of other market houses Is world-wide talk. Portland. October 24. THOUGHTS ABOUT AUTUMN. Plaintive Moaning by a Prose-Poet From Missouri. St. Louis Globa-Demoerat. Th leaves are swiftly falling:: They are falling in the Fall, And the soot Is also falling And the paper on the wall. Eke the temperature's falling. Though not enough to brag on. And many men are falling From the jolting water wagon. Some are falling by the waypide. Seems that everything must fall This Fall: but still the prices They do not fall at all. The season of change draweth nigh small change which is all we will have left after we have laid in the coal and bought our flannels and redeemed our overcoats. The blackbird has arrived and is singing joyously in yonder tree, a pean of praise to these days of crim son and gold. He can well afford to sing; he doesn't have to pay rent or buy new clothes, or dissemble with the coal man. The katydid and cicada, fiddler and drummer, orchestrals a farewell tune, and stegomia sings a song of parting. But why should we weep? Climex lec tularis and the noiseless, ghostly cock roach we have with us always. An oc casional "devil horse" flits In at the open window, and the dragon fly on shin ing wing flies southward in the sun. The devil wagon toots a defiant toot as it knocks the pedestrian into a better world, for before snow flies it will have estab lished a record that the trolley car cannot beat all Winter. The song of the coal trust is heard In the land, and the plumber sings a merry roundelay. Aster and goldenrod bedeck the common in profusion, but milady scorns their loveliness for - "American beauties," which are going up. The oys ter and the actor are In our midst, but we will have better varieties of both when it gets colder. Baseball will soon give place to foot ball, and both to the perennial highball. The mothball is already making its pres ence known, betraying that the clothes are not new. Autumn is upon us. That melancholy time U here Of which the poets hum. But let us be of goodly cheer. The worst is yet to come. CONSIDERATE OF THE COOK Rural Guest Surprises Hotel Clerk by His Thoughtfulness. "Washington Post. "This story may sound a bit fishy, but it is true nevertheless," said a clerk at the National hotel. . "A few days ago a young man came in and registered and I Immediately sized him up as a resident of the rural districts. He was very verdant and that was demonstrated beyond doubt later when he asked me what time dinner would be ready. I told htm the hours for meals, and he left the desk. Shortly afterward he came back. I saw, there was something on his mind and thought I'd help him out. " 'Is there anything I can do for you, sir?' I inquired. " 'Well. I dunno.' he replied, 'but I was Just thinking I'd tell you I won't be here at dinner time, so you needn't bother about waiting for me. I've got to meet a feller about the time you said was meal time and I don't know whether I'll be able to get back. I don't want to put folks to any trouble, so you had better tell the cook about it. I guess I can get along without dinner for one day any how." "We don't often have guests who are so considerate of the cook," mused the hotel man. Socialism and Convictions. Paris Matin. A very rich and Socialistic Deputy, who had rented a property by the sea, closed his park to pedestrians, and excluded the public from a part of the shore, which he reserved to himself. "What!" says one to him; "you a So cialist, to do this!" "Oh, pardon," repjies the Deputy; my convictions are enjoying a vacation-" who put up the salaries and built the churches. And in exchange for this the preachers were to preach and pray for the slaves, to make them contented with their lot and make them an easier prey for the masters of the lash. What do you think of the record? 'You now begin to understand something of what the Socialist means when he speaks of "economic determinism." do you not? Individuals here and there may be swayed by high ideals and a lofty con ception of duty history records in every age some personage of this kind butthe actions of a class, or of a group, or of a nation, can only be determined and un derstood by understanding the methods by which this particular class or group secure their living. Strange as It may seem, this problem of securing food and clothes has been the great liuman prob lem since the time man emerged from savagery to the present and It will con tinue to be until we get sane and wake up to the possibilities within our grasp. In 1R60. amid the crash and rumble of the decaying system of chattel slavery, the Rev. Dr. Armstrong, in his "Christian Doctrine of Slavery," said: "It may be that Christian slavery Is God's solution of the problem about which the wisest statesmen of Europe confess themselves at fault." How specious, how glaringly false ap pears this line of argument to you to day! Christian slavery! And yet we should remember that our grandfathers and gome of our fathers as well believed these things, and they Joined mobs to do violence to the "infidel dogs" who dared to question the holy scriptures, as interpreted by these good men. By the way. it should be observed In passing that church conferences, eynods, associations, etc.. take no notice what ever of the question of chattel slavery today and have not since 1S63.' Why? Because the economic form of production the method of producing food and clothes has changed from chattel slave.-y to the wage system. The church follows thie form, and upon th3 new base a new system of ethics, a new code of morals has been built. Chattel slavery being abolished, it ceased to be a system whlh needed deference and support and so the church neglected to resolve that it was not a moral evil that it had existed from time immemorial: that it was instituted by God himself, and other arguments of that sort that our forefathers believed. Absurd as they appear now to us. we to The Secrets of DeKoltra's Disappearing THERE! Is a modest little shop on Sixth avenue, with playing cards, goblets, boxes and other innocent looking objects in the window, in whtch is manufactured most of the magicians' apparatus used in North and South Amer ica and a good deal of that used in Eu rope and the Orient, says the New York Sun. Persons interested in the occult would be surprised to see on the books of the establishment the orders from India itself for apparatus to be used in conjuring tricks by native Indians. The little shop is the headquarters of magic In America. The walls are covered with portraits of famous performers, the place is full of souvenirs of them and the proprietor can tell many stories of them and their art. He has. for instance, the vanishing cage of Buatier de Kolta. which Mrs. de Kolta presented to Mm after the death of the conjuror. Sleight of hand men declare that de Kolta was the greatest prestidig itator that ever lived. He never used a trick invented by any other person, and he is said to have invented more tricks which have been copied by other perform ers than any other man. This vanishing cage was a favorite. It was simply a bird cage, containing a live canary, which he held out in. plain view of the audience. Then the whole thing disappeared. That was all there was to It, but it was most mysterious. The cage was collapsi ble and disappeared up de Kolta's sleeve. The art consisted in making it disappear invisibly and without hurting the ca nary. ' De Kolta made this cage wirtl his own hands. Most prestidigitators have been expert mechanicians. Many of them have originally been watchmakers or optical instrument manufacturers. The next most prolific sources of supply have been the professions of chemistry and medi cine. . . A souvenir of "Alexander the Great" Hermann shows the pleasure which that prince of the art -took in his own hocus pocus. This was too small a trick to use on the stage, and he invented it merely to amuse his friends in his own home. It is a- little cabinet of ebony, inlaid with mother of pearl, containing 32 small drawers, just the size of a playing card, all numbered. The observer was asked to choose one of 32 cards and to name the drawer in which he would have it appear. The card always appeared in the right drawer. The conjurer's art lay in compelling the selection of the right card. The draw ers had 'false bottoms and springs, and a ;ard like that selected had been previous ly concealed in all of them, waiting for a deft pressure to bring it to light In the drawer selected. Heller's Great Mystery. Visitors to the proprietor of this little shop of. magic sometimes sit down una wares upon a plain, old-fashioned sofa which they are surprised to learn was once the throne of a high priestess of the occult. Miss Haldie Heller, in her famous second sight act with Robert Heller. The trick awakened wide interest 30 years ago. It seemed most mysterious and inexplic able and puzzled even t.hose who knew that it was a trick. Miss Heller sat upon the sofa blind folded and with her back to the audi ence. Heller, In the audience, borrowed objects from spectators, and Miss Heller described them sometimes. Not a word was spoken by Heller, nor could she see h4m to get her cue by his gestures. The apparatus did it all. The sofa was wired for an electric battery. A confed erate sat in the audience his chair con nected with the battery, the electric push button under the seat. A code was ar ranged by which Miss Heller knew ex actly what to say. The performance was rendered more mysterious by Heller's talking to her in part of the tests. Some people supposed, of course, that he was giving her the cue with his 'questions. But when the same results were obtained in silence the sus picious were also mystified. Apparatus is an elastic term when used In connection with legerdemain. Some pieces of apparatus can be concealed be tween two fingers. Others fill boxes ten feet long. The earlier magicians used cumbersome apparatus. Frikell, a Finn, born in 1S18, who was knighted by the King of Den mark and received diamond rings and the day would believe them had it not been discovered that chattel slavery is a los ing game and fhat there Is a better way io exploit labor. But so long as chattel slavery was the form of economic production: so lqng as deacone. elders, preachers and bishops were slave owners; It held the center of the Mage. The economic interests of the slave-owners were responsible for the church's at titude. The church simply built Us re ligious tenets upon, and to conform with, the economic mode of production, and was always willing to promise the slave a place in heaven, provided he would be docile and work willingly and faithfully for the master who supported the church. Now it must not be assumed that the Methodist Church was alone In its de fense of slavery, nor that it was the only church organization influenced by its eco nomic environment. The history of one at this point is the history of all. The church always comes to the rescue of the dominant class and protects Its financial interests, and these acrobatic perform ances can only be understood by under standing the economic base of the Nation. Today the Socialists stand for the com plete overthrow of the wage system, which is a difference in degree only from chattel slavery. Under chattel slavery the master owned the body of the slave, and took what he produced. Today the capitalist owns the machines, the mines, the factories, the railroads and the great er share of the land. The worker can produce only upon his terms and his terms are the entire product save enough to live upon. These were the terms of the slave owner only he was more generous. He provided shelter and food and medical care when the worker ha'i nothing to do and was sick. The slave had decidedly the best of it. The Socially says that the worker is entitled to the full social value of his labor and that this can only be accom plished by the collective ownership of the machines of production, eliminating the private capitalist entirely, as we have done with our school system and our pub lic road system, and partially by our public postoffice syetem. The church today supports the wage system why? For the same reason that the church supported the chattel slave system. The church draws Its support from the Rockefellers, the Morgans, the Carnegles. the Depews, the McCurdys, Famous Tricks Bird Cage and Heller's Second Sight; like from most of the sovereigns of Eu rope, revolutionized the art. He used no apparatus at all. This tendency prevailed for many years, but at the present time the tendency to ward big, showy effects and gorgeous stage settings is bringing in the use of more complicated apparatus than ever. A first-class magician now travels with a railroad car full of apparatus. Fifteen thousand dollars is not an unusual sum to pay for staging a first-class magician's show nowadays. Too Much Apparatus. It Is a mechanical age. present-day prestidigitators in no way excel the old fellows in pure legerdemain, but a flood of mechanical Inventions has come to help them, and all the conjurers have to do is to manipulate these skillfully and gracefully. Their task is no easier, how ever, for It is a sharper arid more skep tical age than the earlier men played to, and one used to mechanism of all kinds. The little shop carries a thousand dif ferent kinds of apparatus in stock. Then there are thousands of others which it is called upon to make, some of them very old. Every day some book or leaf out of a book will arrive from Kalamazoo or Calcutta, with a letter stating that the writer wants to do the trick described, and wants the apparatus for it construct ed. Some of these tricks were Invented centxiries ago. The great present-day inventions in the art are illusions and levltation, both of which require elaborate devices. Harry Keller's levitatlon act, in which the body of a man rose slowly into midair and re mained suspended there while the hypno tizer fanned him, required a complicated machine behind the scenes to work it. De Kolta's illusion in which every ob ject on the stage appeared and disap peared in a seemingly unaccountable man ner, ending with the decapitation of a woman whose head thereupon danced un cannily through the air without any vis ible means of support, required an elab orately set stage. Everything was draped in black velvet, and the arrangement of light was such that nothing that was not light in color could be distinguished against this mass of black. A black bag thrust over the head of a woman in a white dress decapitated her, while a black bag pulled off the head of a woman in a black dress at the same Instant, revealed a head without any support. Some of the apparatus is amazingly sim ple, considering the thousands whom it has held spellbound. Prestidigitators de clare that De Kolta's neatest trick was a little one In which he took a handkerchief out of a candle. The beauty of this wa that he showed both his hands, palms and backs, with nothing in them. Then he lit the candle, snuffed it with thumb and The Doctors Who Cure We want every man who is suffering from any special disease or condition to come and have a social chat with us and we will ex plain to you a system of treatment which Dr. W. Norton Davis has developed after over 2) years' experience in the special diseases of men. It is a treatment based upon scientific knowledge, and one which has proven supe rior to all others, inasmuch as it has been tried by thousands and proved successful. If you will call and see us, we will give you FREE OF CHARGE an honest and scientific opinion of your case. If, after examining you we find vour case incurable, we' will toll you so; if, on the other hand, we find your case is curable we will gu antee a cure, allowing you TO PAY WHEN ENTIRELY SATISFl THAT A CURE HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, or you may pay in mon ly payments should you desire. Over 50 Per Cent of Our Cases Have Been Cured at a Cost of $10.00, and Many Only $5.00 Instructive book for men mailed free in plain wrapper, sealed. If you cannot call at office, write for question blank. Thousands cured by home treatment. CONSULTATION AND ADVICE FREE. The Leading; Specialist of Ihe Nortliwut. Established 1SSO. Office Honrs 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. and 7 o 8 P. M. Sundays and Holidays 10 A. M. to 12 M. Dr. W. Norton Davis & Co. Van Noy Hotel, Third Street, the Mitchells, the Clarks. and all the lit tle capiiaiists who hope some day to be big capitalists. Their economic interests are at stake: they are afraid they will lose the support needed to maintain their institutions. And so they either'sllently Ignore it or openly espouse it. and. for this same reason, the church opposes and misrepresents socialism. The church is referred to here as an official organiza tionmaking no exceptions. There are many noble men among the ministry who with courage stand out boldly against these iniquitous wrongs but they soon find themselves without Jobs. A few months ago the Methodist Rocl River Conference of Illinois met. One of the questions which occupied the at tention of the conference to the exclu sion of all others was the one presented by the employes of the Methodist Book Concern, one of the largest printing plants in the United States. The print ers asked for an eight-hour day: not an unreasonable request. What was the re ply of these ministers of the gospel? An emphatic "No!" It was not so much a question between the Methodist Book Concern and their printers as it was a question between the employing printers of the United States and their employes. On the floor of that conference a Method ist minister arose to his feet and in an impassioned address told the conference that they must resist these demands of the wageworkers; they must stand by the employers, as their interest was the church's interest. And so the Methodist Church, for the first time since industrial wage slavery was inaugurated, officially took its stand in favor of the master class and against the working class. Do you wonder there is a conflict between the socialists and the church? It. therefore, naturally follows that there is a conflict between the church and socialists. The church stands for the or der of yesterday. (The late Mark Hanna, when he prophesied that socialism would be the paramount Issue In 1913. said th Catholic Church and he might as well have said all churches would be the final bulwark between capitalism and social ism.) The Socialists stand for the order of tomorrow. We look across the border and see there the emancipator of the workers of the world. We see a new interpretation of the Scriptures .and we behold a nation of real brothers and Christians, such as the Christ hoped would inhabit the world. Woodstock, Or. Fully Exposed Peeps Into the Occult. finger, and said gravely to the audience: "The handkerchief is here in the bit of ash I have taken from the candle." Instantly the handkerchief appeared. For this De Kolta invented a tiny bag, no larger than a man's thumb, in which the handkerchief was compressed. It hung over his thumb by an invisible thread, and his dexterity consisted In keeping it out of sight as he displayed his hands. There are 200 members in the Society of American Magicians, but there are thou sands in the country at large. They range all the way from Harry Kellar to the poor clerk who learns a few tricks and does them of an evening to add a few dollars to his income. Seven-eighths of the whola profession are of the latter variety. This kind of entertainment- Is peren nially popular for church socials, chil dren's parties and all manner of private or semi-public functions. A man who can fill 20 minutes or half an hour acceptably In this way can often increase his income by a third by one evening's work a week through the Winter. The amateurs who never work for money but like to amaze their friends are innumerable. There are a number of men in New York who, though they never appear upon the stage, make very good money at entertainments. A German much in demand to amuse guests after dinner manipulates cards, watches, hand kerchiefs and such things in a way to mystify even professionals. A certain me chanical engineer is an expert at elec trical tricks. GLAD THE MINT IS WORKING Hobo Lays His Small Tribute Upon the Altar of Labor. He was a seedy-looking individual and reminded a casual observer of a man who. with Kipling's "tramp royale," had more than once found "his mate the wind which tramps the world." He wandered into a small lunchroom In Washington not far from Pennsylvania avenue and in a low voice ordered a mug of milk. xie eij))cu iiie ucvciagts biuwiy una il whs evident that he was trying to make it do for a square meal. Throwing down a, dime on the counter, he waited for his change. The spry and observing waiter tossed a nickel out to him. but observing the corn's brilliancy; picked it up and looked at the date. "That's a 1906 nickel," he announced to the tramp. The tramp verified his words by looking at the date for himself, then muttered sadly as he started out: "Thank God the mint's still working!" ED th- Corner Pine, Portland, Or.