Current Mention

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 2, 1902

—Herr Krupp, the German gun maker, left an estate valued at 300,000,000 marks, or $75,000,000. He was the richest manufacturer in Germany.

—Revolutionary disturbances are again reported from Santo Domingo, the northern part of the island being the seat of the new outbreak.

—Proof of the existence of a syndicate for the promotion of vice, whose operations cover a large territory in this country, has been gathered at Philadelphia.

—Vermont appears to be about to substitute high license and local option for prohibition, which seems not to have proved a successful temperance measure in that State.

—Labor unions are springing up rapidly in the manufacturing centers in southern Russia, and the St. Petersburg authorities are taking measures to arrest the increasing activity of these and similar “unlawful societies.”

—A boiler explosion in the Swift refrigerator plant at Chicago, November 29, killed thirteen men and injured many others. The same day four men were killed at Shamokin, Pa., by an explosion of gas.

—One of the American commanders in the Philippines has been prosecuting a Spanish organ of the friars, published in Manila, which recently charged him with having stolen funds raised from the sale of foodstuffs during the reconcentration period. He was unable, however, to discover the person who was responsible for the publication of the libel.

—Owing to losses from the militia which are due to the hostile attitude of the labor unions, the members of which must either resign from the military service or be expelled from the union, some New York regiments are reported to be unable to carry on their accustomed drills. An investigation is being conducted by the military authorities.

—Conflicting reports come from Russia concerning the health of the czar and the czarina. It is admitted, however, that the czarina has become subject to fits of great melancholy, one cause of which is the failure of the hopes for a male heir to the throne. Should no male heir be born, the succession may pass to the Grand Duke Vladimir, the czar’s eldest uncle.

—The interior of the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, suffered recently from a destructive hurricane, many coffee plantations being laid in ruins.

—Germany and Great Britain have agreed to use force on Venezuela to effect the settlement of their claims against that country. The United States, it is stated, will not interfere.

—A dispatch from Kingston, Jamaica, states that General Nord has gathered an army of 10,000 men, and is advancing on the capital, with the intention of proclaiming himself president of Hayti.

—A hurricane of vast dimensions was reported sweeping through Argentina, November 24. In the province of Santa Fé one hundred houses were reported blown down, five persons being killed and fifteen injured.

—Districts in northern Sweden, estimated to contain about 700,000 people, are threatened with a famine, owing to a failure of the crops. Swedish citizens in the United States are organizing a fund for their countrymen’s relief.

—Contrary to recent reports, it is now stated that the negotiations with the Colombian government regarding the completion of the Panama Canal are at a standstill, and the prospects for an early settlement of the matter are not bright.

—The Canadian Doukhobors have appealed to the sultan of Turkey to grant them land in his dominions, to which they may migrate from Canada. They inform him in their petition that they do not want to obey any laws but the laws of God.

—The largest gun in the world, according to newspaper accounts, has just been shipped from the Watervliet arsenal to Sandy Hook, N. Y. The bore is sixteen inches in diameter, and the weight of the gun is 130 tons. Two years have been spent in its construction. It will be officially tested at Sandy Hook next month.

—The city of Buenos Ayres, Argentina, is threatened with a general paralysis of business, owing to strikes that have recently occurred. A state of siege has been declared, and the government has secured the passage of an expulsion law under which foreign agitators, who are held responsible for the present situation, may be expelled from the country.

—A strike precipitated by the cigar-makers’ union and other labor unions, in Havana, November 24, was attended by serious rioting, in which many persons were injured, and a number of the strikers were shot dead by the troops. The unsettled condition of affairs at the Cuban capital has given rise to some talk of intervention and annexation by the United States.

—On account of the expulsion of a member of the painters’ union in Schenectady, N. Y., and his loss of employment also, because of his connection with the State militia, it is expected that Governor Odell will recommend to the legislature the passage of a bill making it a crime for a labor union or an employer in that State to discriminate in any way against a man because of his membership in the national guard.

—The steamship “Silvanus J. Macy” is reported lost in a gale on Lake Erie, with all on board, the crew numbering thirteen persons.

—It is reported that a railway will be built next year from Nome to Council City, in the gold regions of Alaska. The Pioneer Mining Company, the richest company operating at Nome, will construct the line.

—The United States circuit court in Missouri has by a recent verdict decided that “faith cure,” “magnetic healing,” and the like cannot be considered fraudulent practices in such a sense as would debar practitioners of this sort from using the United States mails in their “healing” work. At Nevada, Mo., there exists a school of “magnetic healing,” which was declared by the postmaster-general of the United States to be conducting a fraudulent business, and therefore was to be debarred from the use of the mails. This was done at the instance of the postmaster of Nevada. The matter was carried into the United States court, where a decision was handed down by Justice Peckham, in which he said: “As the effectiveness of almost any particular method of treatment of disease is, to a more or less extent, a fruitful source of difference of opinion, even though the great majority may be of one way of thinking, the efficacy of any special method is certainly not a matter for the decision of the postmaster-general within these statutes relative to fraud. Unless the question may be reduced to one of fact, as distinguished from mere opinion, we think these statutes cannot be invoked for the purpose of stopping the delivery of mail matter.” This decision is considered to be of far-reaching importance because of its probable bearing on the doctrine and practice of the Christian Scientists.

—Pope Leo has come forward as an advocate of the study of the Bible. Now that the Bible has been circulated broadcast, so that every person, Catholic as well as Protestant, has easy access to it, it seems to the pontiff to be time to adapt the policy of the church to this fact, and safeguard the interests of Rome, which the Scripture opposes, by another means than prohibition. Accordingly the pope has issued an encyclical in which the study of the Scripture is recommended, under certain conditions, which, if observed, will effectually prevent its reception by the student as the word of God. The wisdom of God in his Word must be first explained and construed by the wisdom of man; the Holy Spirit must be superseded as the teacher and guide into all truth, by a human teacher and guide. The pope is to appoint a commission of “serious men,” whose duty it will be to “devote their entire energy to insure that the divine words may receive the explanation demanded of them by the times.” For the guidance of this commission the pope has prepared this statement of Catholic principles: “First of all, they will carefully investigate the modern trend of thought in this branch of study, and regard nothing discovered by modern research as foreign to their purpose. Nay, they will use the utmost diligence and promptitude in taking up and promoting by their writings whatever may from day to day be discovered useful for Biblical exegesis. Thus they will pay great attention to philology, with its kindred subjects, and carefully follow their developments. Next, in regard to the uncompromising maintenance of the authority of the Scriptures, they must exercise earnest care and diligence in matters of faith and morals. Relating to the formation of Christian doctrine that must be held to be the true sense of sacred Scripture which has been and is being held by the holy mother church, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretations of the Holy Scripture so that no one may unlawfully interpret the Holy Scripture contrary to this sense, or even in opposition to the unanimous consensus of the fathers.”

—The Ministerial Alliance of Salt Lake City, Utah, which is fighting the prospective election of “Apostle” Reed Smoot, the Mormon, to the United States Senate, has drawn up a document consisting of resolutions adopted at a recent meeting of the alliance, justifying their position in the matter. A copy of the resolutions is to be sent to every ministerial alliance in the country, and also, it is said, to President Roosevelt and every member of Congress. The resolutions set forth some good reasons for keeping politics and religion separate, and apply as forcibly to the Roman Catholic Church or to any Protestant body as to Mormons. They contain the following: “We protest against this endeavor to elect Apostle Smoot to the United States Senate as an endeavor to force upon the citizens of Utah a union of the church and the state. The election of a man who holds the highest office, save one, in the gift of the Mormon church to the highest office, save one, in the gift of the people of Utah or the United States would be a menace to our civilized and religious beliefs. No other church has dared to attempt such an ecclesiastical invasion of Congress. The election of Apostle Reed Smoot to the United States Senate would actually be the election of the will of the Mormon first presidency and twelve apostles to that body. As a consistent member of the Mormon apostolate, Apostle Smoot cannot make an important move without getting permission or taking counsel of the quorum of Mormon high priests to which he belongs. By virtue of his apostolic vows he must act first as a Mormon apostle, and second or third as a citizen of Utah and patriotic American. We protest against the proposed election of Apostle Smoot to the United States Senate because the majority of the Mormon apostolate, to which he belongs, and with which he works in harmony, are living in polygamous relations in violation of covenants made to the people of the United States, as well as in violation of the criminal statutes of Utah. The two or three apostles who may be living monogamous lives are obliged to defend the righteousness of the polygamous system of marriage, and to wink at the law-breaking polygamous relation of their fellow apostles. The Mormon apostolate stands as one man before the community as directly or indirectly encouraging or conniving at the continuance of polygamous relations throughout the Mormon church. The vigorous and rigorous execution of a law like the Edmunds-Lucker law in this State would drive the Mormon church and the majority of its apostles into exile or throw them in prison within twelve months, and Apostle Smoot dare not oppose such polygamous conditions.”