The Subdivided Factions of Reform
By T.
THE people who are illustrated on this page as marching with the banner before them believe that they are reformers. They are doubtless very sincere. They have grievances without any question. But they insist on reforming the country after their own notions of things. They are sure that any other plan would meet failure. The country is full of other organizations, each of which is positive that there is something radically wrong with the nation, and all affirm with earnestness the importance of having their plan of reform adopted. Prominent among these organizations are the five great political parties—the two kinds of Republicans, the Democrats, the Prohibitionists, and the Socialists—that are bidding for our support and our votes. Very inflammatory speeches are made on every hand. All seem to unite in saying that unless we can have some genuine reforms, we will have an awful revolution. As the days drag on, the utterances become more and more pronounced. We are addressed with ever-increasing vehemence. But there seems to be no getting together. The reformers are divided by factional strifes, and denouncing each other, as well as keeping up the common refrain, "We must have reform or revolution." The logical outcome of this, following the philosophy of history, will be for an ecclesiastical organization to come forward with the claim that nothing can unite these forces except a strong intertwining religious sentiment. And this will give us the most ardent and most crushing religious despotism that the world has ever seen. The logic of the situation demands it, and it may not be amiss to say that the Word of God in several distinct instances tells us of just such a world-wide ecclesiastical despotism. And the divine words that make this prediction, specifically state that this despotism will be in the last days. We have made frequent reference to these scriptures, and they ought to be familiar to all our readers. Lest the reader may think this a "dream" that could not come true in "this enlightened age," we ask him to consider the fact that this is an age of federations and combinations. Men have learned to "combine" in order to secure what they could not otherwise obtain. The times are federation and organization mad. It would hardly seem necessary to state that church federation is sweeping like a craze over the world. T.