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About The Silverton journal. (Silverton, Or.) 191?-1915 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1915)
MATERIALIST’S COLUMN REPLY TO MEV. MR. PHELPS Mr. I’hclpN ilovHn't like my vocab ulary, thinkn it I h nut claHHical. Well, to uhc nice woh I h one must have n nice Hubject to talk ubout. Neither h<i Emerson nor u .Mutthew Arnold voultl be cluuHical without ii Hubject worthy of their lofty p»wera. Mr. I'helpa I h not a nice subject, but he ban to be ileult with. It I h true that I have ni>i*lie<l Nome pretty pluin woh I h to Mr. Phelps, but I got them out of n cliiNHieul dictionary, mid they fit their subject uh neatly hn his own hide. I Haiti that he published false hood* about the Freethinkers of Sil verton. These Hume falsehoods were intended to "alander” the dead and dishonor the living. 1 »aid also that one of Mr. Phelp’ii main articles of traffic ia the urtiutic fallacy. Just one Hiimp'e: Mr. Hull hud argued thut since Nnlure is cruel Lnd hcurt- leuH in countleu ways, no Mr. Phelpa’ (¡<xl must be cruel. It I n the great unHidved problem of evil, a problem before which Milton mul Tennyson paired mute and buffed; but how easy to Phelpa: “Did you never eat an oys ter stew or sell unything to the but cher?” If Mr. Phelpa hud only thought to add: “Did you never mur der your infant nor’ boil your wife in brimstone?” he would huve proved i hi» case and fully demonstrated the goodneHH of his God. I ulso said thut Mr. Phelps’ method win one of “mis representation.” Twice he accused me of calling Lincoln n Muterialist, when he well knew that he was misrepre senting me. In his Intent he asserts thut I huve culled his “Beat Friend u bastard.” Will Mr. Phelps please state in what issue of The Journul ? On muny occasions he has misrepre sented the uttitude of Huxley on evolution. Once in a quotation from the Fortnight Review he garbles Hux ley's languages and makes him say: "I believe in immortality." Again he misrepresented Alfred R. Wallace on evolution, saying that Wallace hud completely repudiated thut doctrine. I showed that Wallace in one of the very last letters he ever wiote af firmed n full belief in the natural origin and evolution of life. Once again he tried to palm off the state ment that the British Association had repudiated evolution, when he ought to have known thut that Association issues only the opinions of individuul members. Mr. Phelps says that he is "careful" — yes, careful to muke white black anil black white. Yes, it is true thut I called Mr. Phelps a “liar” and 1 have backed my asser tion with one hundred dollars. It is quite evident that Mr. Phelps con siders himself a member of the Trin ity. Just let any one expose his crooked methods in debate or his fullucious reasoning and he at once screams: “A bunch of bitter un reasoning God haters.” Phel| h makes much udo about the Lincoln case; claims he "accepted” my challenge and that I "showed the white feather," etc. He admits that he left out the part about Lin coln joining liny church, but says that 1 am in honor bound to meet him on his challenge. I accepted his new challenge on condition that a perfect jury could be found. And Guy claims the right to select that Jury — a jury that will not lie. Now what do you think of that? Phelpa tries to muke out a moral case against me; that I have knowingly and “will fully slandered the fuir name of Lin coln,” by insisting that he ought to have been an actual Christian in or der that Chrisians might have the right to claim him as one. Now I think I know as much about Lincoln's Christianity as Mr. Phelps does. I know quite well where he got his story of the pious Christian lady who received Lincoln's confession of faith. The preacher who gave out that story was like Mr. Phelps: he was "careful,” he gave no name, and that pious Christian lady remuins name less even unto this day. 1 have read what Holland said about Lincoln’s Christianity; and what Lamon said; and what Herndon (25 years Lin coln's law partner) said; and what judge Davis (Lincoln’s executor) said; and I know that Lincoln’s widow said: Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no hope in the usual acceptation of those words. He never joined a church.” But Mr. Phelps feels very certain that he has won this case already. And what a generous magnanimous guy Phelps is I He offers to give twenty-five dollars of my money to The Journal just as soon as the case is decided. But how many dollars of his own wi 1 he give if I win? Come Guy, aute up, let us see what kind of n liver you have got any way. Once again we come to that mouldy old l’helpsian falsehood about the Freethinkers of Silverton. Mr. Phelps confesses thnt he sometimes uses fig urative language. I have noticed that in quoting other authors his beauti ful figures of speech quite frequently completely destroy the original mean, ing of the sentence quoted. In his latest he says: “I said that I was informed by one whom I fully trusted uh to truth und know thut a majority of those who were prominent sup porters of the school and backers of the League there hud gone out of the world by the back door.” Now turn to The Journul of November 27th and reud the Rev. Phelps in the original: "Mont of the leaden of that old In fidel Club huve blown their heailH off with shot guns. The record shows for itself.” (juite an elogunt figure of Hpeech! Of course, Mr. Phelps In tended this to be u death blow to infidelity; a slander on the dead and u warning to the living. Now the serious question is, would uny man of honor publish such a statement without first being absolutely and eternully certain of each und every one of hiH facts? And would any man of decency respect this state ment ufler it hail been questioned without flrnt going in person and thouroughly investigating the entire ground? Not u week has passed since Phelps first published this falsehood, but he could < have written to Mr. lloHmer or the Muyor or Postmaster of Milverton und learned thut it reHts on not u shred of evidence or fact. Hua Guy put forth a hand to cor- rec himself? Not on your life! Even u blind man cun Hee thut the whole wretched fabrication originated in the fertile, “figurative,” poetic brain of Guy Fitch. The gentleman who “once lived in Silverton" and the “prominent minister” are simply “fig urative men for Guy to hide behind. Mr. Phelps complains that I have "introduced the word official” into my remurkH. Just ignore thut word, Guy, and come down to Silverton, prove your original Htatement and get your $100. Or, for each and every name of those “leaders” that you will print in The Journal as hav ing committed suicide I will pay you $20 each. It is not necessary that I should say anything further to or ubout Mr. Phelps in The Journal. The entire issue is now up to him. Now, I freely und frankly admit thut it is u genuine Christian virtue to lie ubout the Infidel providing the Christian prevaricator has sense enough to get his lie through and muke it stick. But when a man of God lies us crudely, unscientifically and inurtisticully uh Brother Phelps hus, I think thut it is only right that he should lie exposed, and moreover I think that every Christian ought to thank me for exposing, not indeed his falsehood, but his utter lack of skill and foresight. S. H. VAN TRUMP, Mt. Angel, Ore. FREE PICT! RES AT THE POSITION EX All of the communities along the lines of the Southern Pacific will be represented on the motion picture and lecture program being given free to the public at that Company’s building in the Panama Pacific International Exposition. Competent speakers, each day, ut intervals of ubout one hour apart, are explaining to visitors from the Eust und Middle West, as well as from Coast points, what a land of wealth and opportunity is to be found West of the Rocky Mountains. The motion pictures have been taken mostly for this special purpose and from their variety are of the liveliest interest to both tourist and prospect ive settler. No charge whatever is made for admission. The Southern Pacific’s object has been only to render a ser vice by exploiting the advantages of the communities it traverses, be lieving that by encouraging visitors to see the natural advantages of the West, it has thereby sufficiently serv ed its own interest. Sunset Theater seats 350 persons. The programs start every hour, be ginning at 11 in the morning and ending at 6 in the evening, when all exposition buildings are closed for the night il'uminations. Besides the theater the Southern Pacific is building houses, ticket and validiftion offices, capable of rendering any service on the exposition grounds that could be given by the largest down town city ticket office. The vis itor may safely have his mail sent to the information bureau to he there held until he calls for it. The bureau will also give him any data he may need both on the fair and on the cities nearby. There are 21 rules to observe in the proper observance of High Mass. • • • Frnnce does not permit the nuns and priests to bunch in that country. • • • The priests trappings consist of the amice, alb, girdle, maniple, stole, chasuble and plenty of gall. • • • Catholics claim a membership of 66,450 in Oregon. That is about 1 to 13 of the population, — not enough to make a politician throw a fit when made to face Americanism in handling Catholic institutions. • • • The historian says that among the small number of really virtuous Popes not one lasted long on the throne of St. Peter, and the assassins were always Cardinals and monks. SOCIAUSTS,’COLUMN Should Shoot Their Officers and Go usnmnmmmnmmmmmmmmmmmmummmmmmmmmnmnmmnu: Home By George Bernard Shaw Edited by E. W. R ons The Poor Man’s Valentine By Murguerite Head Oh, my Icve is a dear, little, sweet, little girl, But the secret is stored in my heart; For although she is charming and pure as a pearl, My secret I cannot impart. By the light that illuinineH the beau tiful skies, My love is unflinching and true; And I read the return of my love in her eyes — But ten dollars a week won’t do. Shall I auk for her hand when I can’t meet the rent. And 1 know her hair will grow gray With the burden of worry and dis content She must carry along the way? No, 1’11 wait — but I’ll fight for the Socialist Cause — The hope of the ten-dollar clerk — And our dreums will come true with a new set of laws In a commonwealth won by work. Stirring Days For Living Men By Eugene V. Debs These are stirring days for living men. The day of crisis is drawing near and the Socialists are exerting all their power to prepare the people for it. The old order of society can sur vive but little longer. Socialism is next in order. The swelling minority sounds warning of the impending change. Soon that minority will be come the majority and then will come the co operative commonwealth. Every workingman should rally to the standard of his class and has ten the full-orbed day of freedom. Every sympthiser with labor, every friend of humanity, should sup port the socialist party as the only party that is organised to abolish industrial slavery, the prolific source of the frightful evils that afflict the people. Classes and class rule and their attendent progress and poverty, mon ey and misery, turmoil and strife, are inherent in the capitalist system. Why? Simply, because one set of men owns the tools with which wealth is produced, while another set uses them, and there is an irrepressible conflict over the division of the product. The capitalist owns the tools he does not use; the worker uses the tools he does not own. The principal tools of production and distribution in the United States — mammoth machines, complex social instruments, made and used co-operatively by mil lions of workingmen, their very lives, their wives and babes being depend ent upon them — are the property of a few hundred capitalists, and are operated purely to make profits for these capitalists, regardless of the poveity and wretchedness that ensue to the masses. Six Millions Unemployed in Past Winter Six millions unemployed in United States constitutes national menace. Government should relieve situation immediately by building more roads, pushing work on reclamation, irriga tion and reforesting projects, opening more mines, and inaugurating public enterprises and industries. Six Million Jobless Could Manufac ture 24 Billion Dollars Worth of Gooda The Junker caste of Germany is np better, no worse, than the Junker caste of England. Commanding, troops is the only aristocratic pro fession. The German people hate the military caste as do the English peo ple — and for the same reasons. In noth armies the soldiers should shoot their officers and go home, the agri culturist to hia land and the towns man to his painting and glazing! England and Germany are a couple of exteremely quarrelsome dogs gripped in a bitter determination to do rival incurable mischief. Each has the same pretension to naval or military supremacy, the same instinct for empire, the same creed of force and of arrogant hypocrisy. “Weltmacht , oder Niedergang" (Empire or Down fall), says the Prussian war party. "World Dominion or Ruin," says the English jingo. Each holds the other a great robber state. England today holds one-fifth of the globe merely by priority robbers. Britishers be lieve Germany a country that wants | restraining. With England destroyed, ■ Germany would burst into world do- I minion. Therefore England’s mission ■ in the world is to destroy Germany. We must never forget that as an un popular and ill-mannered nation our existence depends on our being pre pared to fight the entire human race. While we so waste and degrade hu man life that the residuum of unem ployable* runs into millions, the less said about the horrors of making a man a soldier the better. Our in dustrial chaos murders more souls in a year of political peace than any military system murders men in war. Ackley, Iowa, March 24, 1915. Editor Silverton Journal. Dear Sir: I admire your grit as you hammer away at the Catholics not knowing that you can not reason with religious people. You might as well try to stop the wind blowing as to stop a Catholic from his folly. Religion is grafted upon hu manity and when once set it is there to stay. The wise king said, “Train up a child in the way he Bhall go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” A Catholic priest made this remark: “Give me a child for ten years and I don’t care who has him the rest of his life." The church has but one point in view, and that is to train the youth in their religious belief and their future prosperity is assured. In order to reform mankind we must turn over a new leaf and send our children to our public schools during their school years and teach them reasonable things without rel igious confusion, and within fifty years the church would fall of its own weight for want of support. I don’t believe that a man can go to sea in a belly of a whale and be del ivered on dry land at the third day all well preserved, because my reason won’t let me, and those people whose reason faculty is not deranged won’t believe it either. Our public schools are for the pur pose of rearing good citizens; any one who takes his children out of our public school and trains them in a religious institution is an outlaw and an enemy to this country. The first amendment to our con stitution in part says. “Congress shall make no law respecting an es tablishment of religion, — or abridge the freedom of speech or of the press — and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Why then should the church have our res pect and why should we grant her special privileges and let her property go free of tax, and let her children be trained in their religious belief respect ing their church in preference to our government. Where are we drift ing? There is no use stirring up strife amongst the churches, for all aim at the same thing, and what the one does the other would do if it had the power. Therefore we can not draw a line, but must take them all and send their children to our public schools and train them to respect our country instead of their church and the battle is won. Yours very truly, A. LUTTERMAN. The United States census takers of 1910 found that 6,468,964, or 22 per cent of all the workers, were un employed at some time during the year to a sufficient extent to make it worthy for them to report. Since the census did not reach the great mass of the transient unem ployed, it is certain that this figure is far too small. Moreover, is was taken in a year of what is commonly called prosperity. Had it been taken in 1907 or 1895, or if it could be taken now, this number would cer tainly have been doubled. It is therefore conservative to de clare there are now Bix million work • less in the land. It is also far within the limits of fact when we say that in any average year there are at least four million able-bodied work ers, whose only labor is that most nerve-racking toil known as looking for work. Statisticians tell us that if the six million unemployed this winter could be equipped with good machinery, then they could produce in one year 24 billion dollars’ worth of goods. That* would certainly be enough to take every human being out of the bread line. It would be enough to comfortably feed, clothe and shelter every man, woman and child in the nation. Help put the jobless to work. Our Objects and our Plan of Cam paign for a Free Press — We have been browbeaten, maligned, assaulted, boy cotted, denied our righta in Court, imprisoned and robbed of the privilege of editing our paper while in jail, all for trying to make the world better by publishing the truth. Thia only makes uh stronger in the fight! But, as we have been robbed through boycott of the where-with-all to continue our work, we are forced to change our plans, and this advertisement is to let the lovers of liberty, jus tice and truth know that they are hereby given the privilege to help in our Campaign. Are you in favor of our continuing in this work? Here are our objects: In order to make the world better for our having lived, and with malice toward none and charity for all, we wish to make public: 1. The doings of individuals who are posing as good citizens, but who are continu lly committing crime se cretly. 2. The grafting schemes and self protecting syc ophancy of .our public officials. 3. The hypocritical and absurd pretentions and con- fidence games of all humbug religious fakers. 4. The effort to destroy our public schools, our other American institutions of civil and religious liberties, free thought, free speech and free press, by the foreign power known as the Roman Hierarchy, and its treasonable efforts to destroy the American government and prevent our progress in perfecting “a more perfect union.” 5. The cause of poverty and crime and the remedy by the destruction of political trickery and false hero worship and how to establish universal knowledge of the true principles of government on the basis of equality and opportunity and the inalienable right of every citizen to an equal chance to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 6. The awful effects of the use of stimulants and nar cotics on the human race and the best methods of eman cipation from their destructive slavery. 7. The principles of the universal (genuine Cath lie) religion of righteousness, and a true, progressive and modern Protestant faith of destroying ancient errors, which have held us in bondage; and that the salvation of our race depends on the solid rock of “the brother hood of man.” We have faith that there are enough thinking people in the United States to save our work from the destroy er's hands, and we are using this space, formerly oc cupied by advertising which made it possible to publish our paper, to call on all who are interested to join us in the work. Do you believe in a free press? Do you believe in our objects? If so, help us establish M M H H ; A Fund for Defensive and Agressive Warfare Do all you can and get others to help ! Send us facts that should be published! That we are alive and willing to work is our opportunity. Do not wait! Previously acknowledged .............................................. $204.65 Friend from our Chiidhoxi Home (Durand) ___ 1.00 James Gilbert ________________ _ __ ___ ______ _ 2.50 Harney Friend ___________________________________ 50 Mrs. Addie L. Foster __________ _______________ 1.00 Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Mott ...... 5.00 W. H. Morrison ..._......... 2.50 George Barron, Wapato, Wash. —____ _________ .50 John L. A. Hawthorne___________________ __________ 25 ................ . ...... THE CASCADE REAL ESTATE CO. Silverton, Ore., Journal Bldg., has the following property for Sale: Seven-room House and Lot in Gei ser Addition on installment plan. Four-room House and Lot, 70x210, on Mill Street. Good location, only $1750. $200 essh, good investment. Do you want a man to work? Lady, how would you like to buy a dandy little business in Silverton. We have it for sale. Write to Cas cade Real Estate Company, Silverton, Oregon. Fine lot between Portland and Ore gon City on car line for sale for $800, $50 down, $15 1 er month. T’.Js is a large lot 50x138% feet It will in crease in value. Buy a lot in Geiser’s Addition— best buy in Silverton—must sell and you get the advantage of the forced sa’e. You can pay for this lot and the CASCADE RFAL ESTATE CO. will bui'd you a bunglow—pay for it in tead of paying rent to the other fellow. Do you believe in dreams? Your dream of a home will come true if you «ill let the CASCADE REAL ES TATE COMPANY tell you how to buy a home on the installment plan. FORTY LOTS for sale in South Salem—high and dry, fine location, cheap end on easy terms. $250 buys the furniture etc. in a small hotel—six bedrooms, dining rooms, bath, good kitchen and par'or, SILVERTON TIME TABLE * everything goes if taken soon—P.ent. only $12.50, excellent location. Arrive from Portland 8.25 A.M. $1050 buys 5-acre tract, 2 miles 44 M 11.05 A.M. from town, new house and bam. 44 M «/ 4.15 P.M. Four acres in cultivation. See Cas 44 H 8.20 P.M. cade Real Estate Co. 44 M Salem 10.59 A.M. Fine Large Lots in Salem, sightly 44 44 «« 5.00 P.M. location, low price, small payment Arrive from Albany down and small monthly payments. 9.15 A.M. via Lebanon Dandy building lot in Davenport Addition on very easy terms. Will take a good cow or a horse or both, Depart for Portland 7.30 A.M. 44 a little cash, and $5.00 per month M 9.15 A.M. 44 M for balance. 2.00 P.M. « 44 « $1200 — Three acres in Southern 5.00 P.M. M « Salem 8.25 A.M. Calofomia, water for irrigation, 44 44 H 3-*oom house. $300 cash, balance to 1.00 P.M. cuit purchaser at 7 per cent. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • H •• Business Chance: A saw mill that will cut 700 rail road ties in a day, 250,000 feet of logs cut, 50,000 feet in the pond; all you have to do is to fire up and go ahead. Price only $1100, half cash, chance to buy 500,000 feet near the mill. Grants Pass property, lot 150x200, 5- room house, big barn, city water, lights, etc., only $1500. Terms. $2000 buys a nice little farm near Amsville, of 15 acres, all cleared. Fruit, berries, house and bam; all fenced. This is a bargain. Will ex change for farm property near Silver- ton. A 54-acre farm, 12 acres hops, fruit trees, berries, garden, grain land, fine house, hop house, bam and mac adam road, fine water, plenty of pasture. Call in and get full partic ulars. $2,500 buys one of the finest homes you ever saw. There are eight lots, lots of fruit, ten room house, etc.,etc., paved streets, city water—one of the best places in a town that has a future, Scotts Mills, Ore. FOR SALE — 1500 lb. Draft H< rse. Buy a dandy home in Oak Grove. Oregon. Four-room house, 22 frur. trees, lawn, on car line, good garden, e'ese to church, school and depot. $200 down, balance $20 per month. Price $1800. Beautiful location. 8 1-3 acres right in the city with one of the best houses you ever saw. fine barn, chicken houses, all kinds of fruits, grapes, berries, walnuts, etc., cement side walk, paved streets, e’ec- tric lights, sewer, city water. Can oc subdivided. Close in. A dandy bar gain at $7600. Half down. Long time on balance. $3000 buys an improved place of 10 acres near Watsonville, Cs! 6- room house and a good bam. Fruit and Nut Trees, Berries, Garden All cleared and in cultivation; goo ’ spring. Will exchange for Willamett Valley property or will accept $10* as first payment with reasonable time on balance.