The Sunday Oregonian., March 22, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 49

MAM lADTOfeaWhe
w j&
BT B. A. CHIL.DERS.
NOBODY likes a liar who tells ma
licious falsehoods. Nobody likes a
liar who can tell blgg-er lies than
thfc man who does not like the liar. You
will observe that these lines lie along
the line of liars, and that they lie
leisurely.
Seaside, Or., boasts of a concatenation
of liars unexcelled7. Many of them lie
awake all night Just because they like
to lie. They follow all the tortuous
ways of. the prevaricator and study his
methods of mendacity, for the sole ob
ject of. excelling him along the lines
of his richest mental endowment.
It must be understood that these men
never tell lies that injure anyone. They
do not gossip; do not dig up skeletons
of a man's past failures and exhibit the
ghastly bones to a grinning world. If a
man of that Ilk, a digger, happens to
join their ranks he Is son made to feel
that he is an undesirable acquisition.
Some member will delicately hint that
his room Is much more desirable than
his company. If this hint fails, some
one will suggest something connected
with carrion. An ex-detective's dead
reputation almost always convinces the
ghoul that he would better skidoo.
One member of the Liars' Club went
so far as to tell an unwelcome filth
peddler that he would throw him in the
river. It may seem strange, but the
fellow took the hint and left. He has
not obtruded his .unwelcome carcass
since. Kvidently dreaded a bath.
I am making these explanations to
show that, while we admit that we are
liars, we draw the line and bar all per
sons of malevolent minds. The lies of
each member are figments of his own
brain, and, like bread pills, are harm
less. A whole box, taken in one dose,
would not hurt a child- All of our lies
heard at once, would not stain the soul
of an infant.
We have a belt which the champion
liar always wears. It often changes
places during an evening session. It is
transferred from one champion to an
other, with downcast eyes, and solemn
stillness. Each member strives for It,
and yet dreads its reception. For the
moment it places him In the center of
the searchlight where all of his moral
sinuosities stand revealed of his fellow-liars,
while they may hide their
mendacity in the gloom of obscurity.
He has one consolation, however. His
possession of the belt is usually limited
to the next story.
Lou Wllbert, a prominent member of
New York Stock Exchange
Instead of Starting the Storm It Had Begun to Weather It Ere the
BT Al.VIJf BOODT.
tN TIMES of industrial depression,
the public mind Is casting about for
the cause of the troubles which beset
the country, and is, therefore, more than
ordinarily Impressionable, we are never,
apparently, to be spared the spectacle of
the demagogue rising, for applause only,
to heRp loud and denunciatory abuse up
on everything which capital and brains
have accomplished in an effort to further
the perfection of business economy.
In the present Instance, these nolBy and
ignorant word-artists seem to be making
a mlghtly effort to convince us that the
New York Stock Exchange, with its at
tendant facilities for stock speculation on
a large scale, is the chief offender; they
would have us believe that, this Institu
tion, as characteristically pictured by
them, serves merely as a means for pro
moting a variety of unrighteous schemes
comparable only to downright piracy:
that Its members, artfully disguised as
financial counsellors, are" a rascally group,
constantly plotting to relieve an usus
pectlng public of its investment seeking
wealth; that, In short, it has become a
vast financial chamber of horrors, the
very existence of which must forever
blight and arrest our industrial progress.
While such a volume of abuse may pos
sibly accomplish t he purpose of creating
a false Idea of the functions of the ex
change, what It really stands for and Its
Immense importance to the economical
transaction of the country's business, it
in reality displays a surprising ignorance
of the subject of speculation, and the
causes which invite and stimulate it.
To start from bed-rock principles and
considered In the broad sense, speculation,
which Is fundamentally neither more nor
less than a necessary legitimate employ
ment of credit with capital, will exist as
long as civilization endures and is as nec
essary to the industrial up-bulldlng of
a nation as wise laws are to Its proper
political regulation. It is the principle
from which springs every form of busi
ness achievement, individual or corporate.
"Without it, not only progress and de
velopment, but existence itself, would be
Impossible. The splrtt of enterprise which
clears our farms, builds our factories,
constructs our railroads, cuts our timber,
and opens our mines is speculation, be
cause it is accomplished by credit and at
tended by risk. No business venture is
certain of success. In a country such as
ours, where vast natural resources pre
sent an almost unlimited field for indus
trial enterprise; we periodically witness
the growth and spread of a great com
merclsl enthusiasm, attaining such un
reasonable limits that greater business
risks, of every description, are under
taken and carried to more - reckless
heights than would be possible in lands
less abundantly endowed.
It Is this over-eagerness to take ad
vantage of these alluring opportunities,
which causes values to fluctuate in a
proportionately violent manner. Where
values fluctuate, speculation therein will
ensue and there is no reason, legal or
human, why It should not, or why the
Individual who chooses to employ his
capital and credit in this manner should
not be permitted to do so. whether it be
undertaken In stock values or land
values, farm products or livestock. The
man who purchases certificates on the
New York Stock Kxchange. depositing 10.
1R or per cent of the sum required for
the acquirement of the stock and pledg
ing the shares bought as security lor
the balance, la employing his funds In
every way as legitimately as he, who,
seeking to profit by a possible rise in the
value of real estate and not possessing
the amount required, borrows by mort
gage whatever sum may be necessary
to complete the purchase. In either case,
the money loaned to consummate the
transaction Is properly and lawfully em
ployed, and the transaction Itself per
fectly regular in every way. The only
criticism that can, with any degree of
propriety, be made of such dealings. Is
that of the risk involved: but that, again.
Is the sole business and concern-of the
Individual himself. His preference for
chancing his capital in the hope and pos
sibility of large and Immediate profit, at
commensurate risk, to that of employ
ing it In a less hazardous, but in a man
ner bringing a deferred result, cannot
disturb those who are more conservative
and. consequently, does not concern them,
the views of Theodore Roosevelt. William
J. Bryan or other nearly eminent author
Hies to the contrary, notwithstanding.
The chief criticism of speculative operations.-
ss conducted on the stock ex
akaose. U directed at the manner itself
the club, was becoming "obnoxious. He
not only acquired the belt too often,
but was beginning to show an exultant
spirit, unworthy of a liar and a gentle
man. He was always the hero of his
own story and he always came off with
flying colors. One night, after being
unusually boastful in telling of a com
bat with a gigantic black bear, which
of employing the huge sum which is, un
doubtedly, utilized in these dealings; and
the statement is solemnly made that if
the use of money in this way were to be
prohibited, panics would never occur and
the country would proceed without a mis
step, onward and upward, along the paths
of industrial progress. This, In effect,
would mean that we are not to be per
mitted a choice of employing our cap
ital and credit, but are to be restricted
to ventures approved by our wise and
solicitous Legislators. Sublime theory!
What a relief it will certainly be if we
are to be freed from the worry and
vexation of having to decide for our
selves in what manner or form our busi
ness ventures are to- be made! Why not
make the purchase of Government bonds
the one and only lawful employment of
funds. Individual or corporate, and have
done with it? Give the minds of our
lawmakers a little more time to develop
and the probabilities are that they will
sson begin to exhibit almost human in
telligence. .
It Is undeniable that a very large sum
of money Is and has been employed in
stock speculation, but aside from the un
questioned right of those who have it to
so employ it, it must not be forgotten
that, if to this fact is charged the check
which our business activities have re
cently suffered, liquidation in securities
was started a full year before the actual
panic occurred, and the decline in prices
which ensued immediately thereafter was
not as severe as some of the jolts which
the market had received earlier In the
year. It would .certainly appear from
this, that, far from being the direct cause
of the panic of last Fall, the stock ex
change should be given credit for starting
to weather the storm when the majority
of our people were still prancing blithely
along the business highway, serene in the
belief that not a , cloud obscured the
financial sky.
Furthermore, during the process of
this drastic liquidation, a majority of
houses with Stock Exchange connec
tions were persistently calling atten
tion to the disproportionate and alarm
ing expansion of bank loans to depos
its and cash holdings, and counselling
extreme caution and conservatism In
the purchase of securities at the prices
then prevailing.
If our people at large had shown the
same keen judgment and foresight as
was exhibited by the men whom they
now so loudly denounce, or if they had
but observed the storm signals flung
out In our greatest financial center,
there would have been no disturbance,
for the simple reason that business
enterprise would not have been carried
to that reckless extent which ultimate
ly strained eredlt to the breaking point
and brought tumbling down an indus
trial structure reared to absurd heights.
T those of particularly restricted
vision, who base their outcry against
the Stock Exchange on the collapse of
the United Copper stocks, and conse
quent exposure of the misuse of the
funds of the banks controlled by Morse,
lit line and their friends, asserting that
this directly precipitated the bank
panic in New York, tt Is only necessary
to replv that United Copper Is an un
listed stock and not dealt In on the
Exchange at all. but on the curb. Fur
thermore, the Exchange can In no way
be held accountable for the fact that
these men were permitted- to secure
control of these banks and to then pro
ceed to use the fyids thereof for the
purpose of exploiting the unlisted
stocks of their copper and steamship
companies.
There is. however, a certain feature
of stock speculation-on the Exchange
which has called forth much crltclsm,
probably deserved, and that Is the
manipulation and trickery resorted to
In the effort to move prices one way
or the other. This ground and lofty
tumbling of security values, as pur
posely accomplished by individuals,
cliques and factions, is not to be con
doned, but it is. after all, a force lim
ited in its effects and a cause of
pecuniary damage, if any, only to the
parties involved and their followers.
It is limited in its effect, because
security values In the same degree as
values of any other kind, must posi
tively and ultimately respond to the
universal law of supply,, demand and
intrinsic value. No man or group of
men can more than temporarily main
tain prices out of line with actual value
and earning power.
Looking at the subject, broadly or
specifically, and examining all its fea
tures from Its inception to its practice,
we must find that speculation in values
will continue as long as the industrial
activity of nations is subject to vary
ing decree of intensity; that it is an
Vio slow H nclp-hn ndd.
Charley Bren-
nen Charley wore the b
himself turning to old
Canadian Frenchman, 80
"Mr. Jarvey, you are an
us your most exciting
elt a good deal
man Jarvey, a
years old, said:
old-timer, tell
experience In
and the Panic
Country Realized Its Approach..
absolutely regular and legitimate busi
ness risk and that its bearing an.d
effect upon our business life has been
grossly exaggerated. ' If It is to be
regulated or restricted, the means for
accomplishing It must come from with
in the exchanges and not from the halls
of legislation, for it is purely a matter
between the operator and the broker.
We live but we never seem to learn.
If, Instead of trying to fasten the
blame for our periodical financial
crashes upon some institution or some
specific practice, we should make some
Intelligent effort to curb our natural
"commercial hilarity, we should find
that step in the right direction had
been taken.
Portland, March 12.
Advertising His Wares.
A preacher in a college town In Western
New York recently decided that the best
Eatered a 2nd Clai Male Matter
Our Motto:
BE A PA!
Pt- AppBed F
This 'paper ia devoted exclusively
to the interests of the American Pa.
It la anti-Ma. advocates life Impris
onment for bachelors, and looks for
ward to the day when nobody ezcept
a guaranteed pa can get a Job on
the public works.
EDITORIAL PARSNIPS.
We call on Theodore Roosevelt to
bring the American Ma under Fed
eral control.
The Pa Furnace Club is about to
disband for the season. The annual
report shows that the. members car
ried one million tons of ashes np
fifteen million cellar steps during the
winter 1907-8.
The New York branch of the Pa
Sunshine Society reports more than
S.O0O applications for' admission to
the Painless Pa-Killer.
OIH WEEKLY PA PATTERN.
THE PA
BUFFET PANTS.
Contain liquor
cabjpet, humidor,
cocktail mixer,
cracked Ice and
siphon of vlchy. .
Invaluable for
gay old pas.
Send 10c In
stamps to -
.PA PATTERN COMPANY.
When ordering, state whether
go art or pint sixes are desired.
POEMS PAS OUGHT TO KNOW.
Most every Pa that I have 'saw
Looks kind of sad around the craw.
The Lady of the Lake: Scott.
PAS II
bear hunting. You must have had some
pretty stirring times in the old Hud
son's Bay trapping days. Give us your
best story."
"Well," said the, old man as he leis
urely bit a plug of Star in two and
way to increase the attendance at his
church was to advertise. So he took up
a part of the paper in town with a small
display got up not unlike a theater ad
vertisement. "How long since you have been to
church?" was the first line in black type
Interrogation. "Better go tomorrow," was
the next line. "Try the First ,"
continued the advertisement, mentioning
the name of the denomination that is not
essential in the context.
Then followed the subjects for the morn
ing and the evening sermons.
The pastor has designated for the even
ing sermon. "Boyville," and he invited
for the purpose of hearing what he had
to say, "All boys, all who once were
boys, all who dislike boys, and all who
like them." -
Highly Practical.
"Your business college for young ladles
seems to be all right."
"It is all right."
"Do you give the girls a good, practical
business training?"
"In -reply to that question I can only say
that 60 per cent of oar graduates marry
their employers the first year."
OM QMPAMON
MARCH 22. 1908
HOUSEHOLD HELPS
FOR
PESTERED PAS
By
Henry Wyandotte.
Dear Sir:
What is the simplest way to serve
a small meal to a party of friends
who escort one home at 2 a: m. from
the club? Cautious.
Tie them -securely to lamp posts: a
block away from the house "and
smuggle out the remnants of break
fast to them next- morning.
Dear Hen:
What is the best way to .prevent
trousers from getting shiny?
Elegant.
Carry them over your arm.
"BEST WAYS"
By
Bella Kute.
Mr.
THE BEST WAY
for small pas to enter home late at
night Is to come In disguised as the
cat.
to keep llqaor In the hoilsft is to
move the furnace, place bottle In a
hole underneath, then replace fur
nace and pipes. Thus you can snatch
a hasty drink every time you go
down cellar.
to be a happy Pa is not to brood
too much over being married.
FA ATHLETIC SPORTS.
Brutus Pierpont
Harriman. of Hobo
ken, N J., amateur
middle weight Pa,
has been - adjudged
winner of the annual
Pa Jockey Club
Wash Tournament.
More, than, a thou
sand mas entered
their trained pas In
this event.
OUR PRIZE PA PUZZLE.
500 tmpk$ or
tSlmm Jt buxvoom,
" Wima mmd OoW
Pth," frin.
Is this man a Pa? If so, what
would he give not to be? Stat an
swer in dollars and cents.
B.A.CHILDERS . TELLS HOWHEWON THE CHAM
PIONSHIP BELT OF AN OREGON: SPORTSMEN'S CLUB.
absentmindedly put both pieces in his
mouth he had borrowed the plug "I
think the most excitin' time I ever had
was with -a big grizzly b'ar on the
North Fork of Crooked River, in the
Blue Mountains.
"I'd been chasin' a pair of mountain
sheep all day, and 'bout 3 o'clock I was
snoopin' around among a' mess of
We Are All Criminals and Convicts
The Ten Commandments, Continued With Special Application to Adultery and Adulteration.
BY J. L. JONES.
THE ten commandments are stretched
like a ladder from earth to heaven.
The first one at the top relates to
God in the highest. The last one at the
bottom applies to man on earth in the
beginning of his experiences. We must
begin at the bottom. Before we can
keep the commandment "Thou Shalt not
commit adultery," we must keep the law
"Thou shalt not covet," for covetousness
is adultery.
Adulteration is the mixture- of incom
patible substances. Things that are pure
in themselves may be spoiled in the mix
ing. To dump a lot of salt, sugar and
coal oil together would spoil the whole
batch and the more ingredients you add
the worse the composition becomes. Pur
ity Implies separateness. The separation
of the elements is a primary and essen
tial process in establishing the new order.
Adultery in Its legal, technical sense,
means a specific offense against statute-
PA SUNSHINE SOCIETY
PA'S HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
By
Professor Germlet.
Dear Editor:.
Frequently after, my
wife has 'talked to me
for some time, I get a
pain in the neck. What
can I do for it?
Sufferer.
Adopt a kind but distant attitude
toward your wife. About -600 miles
will be distant enough.
ROUGH ON RELATIVES.
Send 50c for our sure cure for
ridding the place of your wife's rela-
THE PA HELPING HANDS CO.
Will Not Die in the House!
Will Not Die in the House!
PA PUBLISH
ING CO.
Adventures
Among
Savage Babies
By
Prof. Teddebear,
U. S. Bureau,
Pnf. Teddtbtar - Infant Industry
Comments by the Press:
A thrilling record of unconscious
bravery. For sheer terror we know
of nothing In literature to compare
with the chapter "A Night Alone
With a Baby." N. Y. Lyre.
Professor Teddebear's chapter "At
'tacked by a Brooklyn Baby" has the
wolf that bit through a deer's chest
skinned to a frazzle. London Times.
Theodore Roosevelt says: "Pro
fessor Teddebear has seen more and
written a better book about this rare
creature than any one else could, ex
cept me."
THE TALK OF PA SOCIETY!
Handsomely bound in red flannel,
1,000 pp.; price $2.
Sucta Bamboo
A
u 1
ves.
'mm
boulders, tryln1 to get sight of them,
when, dad blamed if I didn't run right
into a big grizzly b'ar, not mor'n 50
yards away. He was doin' a stunt with
a ant hill, and it was plum funny to
watch 1ilm tussling with that ant
mountain.
"Say, did you ever see a grizzly tackle
a ant hill? No? "Well, you orto see one.
It is amazin', and no mistake, the way
them old fellers does. They savies catch
in' ants all right. The ant hill this old
bar had bucked up again was 'bout as
big as a load of hay and more'n 15 feet
high.
"That old b'ar slipped one paw under.
and the other paw on top, and. just lifted
that ant hill straight up in the air, an
was standin' there shakln' it like a bull
dog would a coon.
''Them ants was comin through the
hole like wheat from the spout of a
thresher, an , right in front of that old
law, but in its general sense it means all
impurity in sex relation. This Is sup
posed to be a subject that cannot be dis
cussed. It is like a contagious disease
that some folks are very much afraid of
catching and others very anxious to dis
seminate. There Is n"o law to vaccinate people
with any virus that will make them proof
against exposure. There is no commis
sion appointed to inquire into the causes
of adultery and report to Congress. No
board of health has issued an official
bulletin on the nature of the microbes
that spread the infection. There is no
spray In use to kill them. The disease
is allowed to ravage the Nation un
checked, to destroy Its hundreds of
thousands and cripple and disfigure its
millions. We are as much afraid of it
as the natives of India fear the man
eating tigers that lurk in their jungles.
It is not my business to take off the
Hd. Gentlemen like Mr. Jerome ase paid
for performing that service I am not a
limb of the law; I am a branch of the
vine.
The beginning of adultery is in the
adulteration of those fruits of life which
constitute genuine orthodoxy. The word
orthodoxy means right teaching and
properly applies only to the faching
of that truth which Is to make the world
free. The world is in bondage now be
cause the genuine absolute truth Is lost
- We are taught in the histories that
the Roman Empire was converted to
Christianity under Constantine. The
truth is that the simple faith of Christ
bad become sufficiently corrupt to be
adopted as a state religion. Christianity
was paganized.
Then was consummated that great
adultery that made Rome the mother of
harlots, the harlots of course being the
protestant and dissenting sects that later
sprung from the Illicit union between an
apostate church and a pagan state.
In the beginning the Christians had pro
tested, against the iniquities of Roman
misgovernment and were persecuted, but
under Constantine, the church "stood
in" with the state and became a part
ner in its crimes by Indorsing them. The
word constantine means "standing to
gether." Since then the clergy have been ex
pected to pray for rulers no matter how
wicked, and exhort their people to obey
the laws no matter how vicious. The
early Christiana did not do this. That
it the reason they were used for torches
to light Nero's gardens. Modern Christ
ians are not persecuted for righteous
ness' sake because they do not stand for
righteousness. They don't know what it
means.
The nxet step in declension was that
the Church of Rome claimed the same
ultimate or absolute authority in mat
ters of faith that the Roman Emperors
actually possessed In matters of law,
in the disposal of property and office.
This is the doctrine of absolutism,
the same being in religion as the di
vine right of Kings in politics. It is
by virtue of this doctrine that Rome
claims to be able to pronounce abso
lution of sins. Absolution of sin de
pends on absolutism in authority. This
power did descend to the church from
Christ, but in its descent or fall, it
was broken and lost long before the
rise of the Papacy.
Later on the Church of Rome became
so notoriously corrupt that intelligent
people could no longer accept her
claims to absolutism or Infallibility.
Those who protested were called pro
testants, but the meaning of this word
is now almost forgotten.
What is called the Reformation was
the beginning of complete religious
disintegration. Tile protestants began
to form churches on their own author
ity, without the authority of Apostolic
succession, to which Rome still clings.
Then these churches began to break
up. The next crop of protestanta were
called dissenters. They were still fur
ther from the center. The dissension
has increased and dissenters multiplied
till onw we have universal religions,
as well as political anarchy. If all
the Anarchists were deported there
would not be anybody left.
There is no absolute authority in
religion or politics. One man's opinion
is as good as that of another. The
vote of the criminal counts as much as
that of the honest man, and more, if
he votes oftener. The dictum of any
street preacher is as authoritative as
that of the Pope of Rome to those who
choose to accept it. The greatest
thinkers deny that there is any such
thing aa absolute truth.
"Of what use would be a thermom
eter if there was no point fixed from
which to number the degrees? I
there is no absolute truth there can be I
no point from which to count the de-
b'ar, was a pile of ants 'bout two feet
high, an' more a comin" every shake.
"That old b'ar didn't know I was in
a thousand miles of him, an' I Just sot
down and haw-hawed, like Lou docs
when he tells a story." At this point
every one looked at Lou. He was un
hooking the belt.
"Well, sir, when that old b'ar got 'cm
all out, he pitched the hill off to one
side, laid down. and put his arms
around that pile of ants, the claws meet
In' on the other side, opened his mouth,
and blame bust it if every one of them
ants didn't walk straight xinto his mouth
and down his neck like a lot of trained
pigs. He didn't stop to chaw them, an
I don't know whether a b ar chews his
cud or not. I don't think this one could.
"I've heard that a man Is always in a
good humor when his stomach is full,
but it don't work on a grizzly b'ar. by a
long shot, for when I took a shot at
htm, he let out a big 'woof and come
for me like a house afire.
"I was in a hell of a fix. My gun beln'
a muzzle-loadin' rifle, was empty, and
there was no tree to climb. No use run-
nin", for he'd be onto me atore I could
go a hundred yards, an" I knew It.
"Well, I just stood, weltin', sorter
paralyzed as It was, and that ole griz
zly comin', 'woofin' every Jump.
"When he got close to me I noticed
that he had his mouth wide open, and
then a sudden inspiration, like them poet
fellows has, siezed me. I Jumped at him,
thrust my arm down his throat, caught
him by the tail, and. with one mighty
Jerk, turned him wrong-side out.
"Well, sir, he was the most surprised
b'ar you ever saw. Ho went 'woofin'
over the mountain, sheddin' ants at every
jump. He butted into a boulder and
turned over in the snow. I measured his
track and, by George, he was a leetlo
over 15 feet long.
"Say, Lou," exclaimed the old man,
turning to where Lou had been sitting.
But Lou was gone. When no one was
looking he had faded out into the night,
a good liar, gone wrong.
All about the chair in which Lou had
been sitting were little pieces of leather.
They were all that was left of our
champion liar belt. Disgusted at his In
ability to lie artistically. Lou had de
stroyed our only means of distinguishing
one liar of the club from another, and
left us helpless, at the mercy of any
mendacious individual who might wander
in from Portland. Astoria or way points.
gress of relative truth. The or
der of succession is Inherent in
nature. One is the fruit of prime
number. All others are inferior, be
cause they are successive. Arithmetic
would be impossible without an initial
unit to begin to number from.
If there is no absolute truth there can
be no sufficient authority for anything
In religion or law. We are under no
obligation to believe anything or to obey
anything. We are not in a good position
to combat anarchy.
Where do the Chicago police get their
authority to club unemployed men for
going on the streets, or to torture pris
oners after the manner of the Spanish
inquisition? Are we relapsing into bour
bonish or barbarism? If we want to
work up an export trade in anarchists
we might profitably begin by weeding
out the most murderous of those tnat
are in the public service.
In England there is little trouble with
anarchists because there the police are
not permitted to usurp autocratic powers
and assault and murder people at ,wlll,
nor are they permitted to run innocent
people into a, torture chamber and com
pel them to confess to imaginary crimes
In order to divert attention from the real
crimes and plots hatched among the
grafters that use the police.
In many large cities the police are sus
pected of being in league with criminals.
They seldom arrest one and seem to
manifest more energy in clubbing work
men than in any other part of their
duties.
Of course they are not wholly to blame
for this. Like lawyers, they perform
most cheerfully the services they are
most liberally paid for. "Thcy are mere
pawns In the hands of the plutocrats.
Soldiers and police are not quite respon
sible for their acts. They are under or
ders from superiors.
I hope the editor and reader will par
don this digression. I want to show that
there can be no secure foundation for
authority except absolute truth. It was
a recognition of the fact that prompted
the Roman Catholic Church to promul
gate the dogma of infallibility.
But this did not mend matters any,
for the Church of Rome is not infallible,
and neither is the Pope. The Pope Is a
feeble old man about to die one of these
days and any one who falls into the
grave Is not infallible. Infallible means
incapable of falling.
Death is the wages of sin, not the
reward of righteousness. The final ab
solution from sin implies a full pardon,
an acquittal, a remission of the penalty
of death. Only the immortals are in
fallible. This last infallibility, this genuine
absolutism and actual divine right
must be restored. It must be manifest
again on the earth. This means a. real
knowledge of God and the manifesta
tion of the sons of God again in their
immortal manhood.
God is a rock and he is also a con
suming fire. This looks like a contra
diction or an absurdity. But this rock
is the only fortress that can stem the
tide of universal anarchy and stand
the storm of impending social dissolu
tion. The absolute truth is the only spray
that is strong enough to kill the germs
of adultery and the other infections
that scourge this quack-cursed world.
Spraying is better than praying for
the removal of parasites. Light is an
effectual spray for tne removal of
many secret evils that breed In dark
ness. It Is a preventive for the errors
of youth and the follies of age. But
after the disorder is far advanced, it
needs fire, which Is the most effectual
of all purifiers.
In the light of the higher law we
are all criminals and convicts, traitors
and rebels, aliens and anarchists. We
are all under sentence of death.' We
are all condemned to die. Our freedom
is only a fiction. Our righteousness
filthy rags,. Our legal procedure is a
burlesque, like a kangaroo court. Our
piety is a holy show.
We ought to repeat with sincerity,
with lowly, penitent and contrite hearts
the words of the general confesslou
and the litany: "We nave' erred and
strayed from the ways like lost sheep.
We have done those things which we
ought not to have done and we have
left undone those ' things which we
ought to have done. And there Is no
health in us. But thou. O, Lord, have
mercy on us, miserable offenders.
Spare us. good Lord, spare thy people
whom thou hast redeemed with thy
most precious blood, and be not angry
with u forever. Kyrle Kleison,
Miserere Domine.
Corvallis, Or.
I