War in South Africa and Armageddon
By Editor
THE reports indicate that the British are pushing the war in South Africa with a great deal of energy. There have been a number of engagements, and the British are said to be victorious, altho there has been a great slaughter on both sides. Every Christian should be earnestly praying for the return of the Prince of Peace, to forever bring to an end this terrible slaughtering of human beings. And, while we all pray for the coming of the Lord, we can at the same time be doing much to hasten His coming by faithfully working to give the last message of mercy that is now going to the world. IT is reported that Great Britain's immense military preparations against the two insignificant South African republics are viewed with considerable curiosity in some of the European capitals, notably Paris and St. Petersburg. Diplomatic notes have been exchanged on the subject, and it has been hinted in unofficial quarters that inquiries will be addressed to the English Government as to the absorption of the two republics by the British Empire. It is interesting as well as instructive to watch the many different things which show how full the world is of the war spirit, and what possibilities there are for extended international complications. The time can not be far off when some of these things will start the great march to the battle of Armageddon. THE Pullman Palace Car Co. has purchased the Wagner Palace Car Co. These two great firms are now consolidated, with a capital of $74,000,000. It is only necessary to make a note of current events in order to see that all the wealth of the world is swiftly coming under the control of a mere handful of men. And because of this many are exasperated, and breathing out threatenings against the rich. But could all such be led to inquire of the Word of God, they would there learn that the heaping together of treasure is one of the leading signs that we are in the last days. And consequently it is no time now for us to be picking a quarrel with the rich, or any one else. The one thing that all should do now is to prepare to meet their God face to face. The second coming of Christ is right at the doors, and every one should be made aware of it, and each one as he receives the good news should do all he can to pass it on to others. MICHAEL DAVITT, a Nationalist in the British Parliament, characterizes the Transvaal war as a "hideous and damnable massacre." He further said there had never been such magnificent robbery by force, "doubtless because the prize was the greatest that ever tempted the cupidity of the empire." All war is a "hideous massacre." To be sure, some wars may seem to have more just grounds than others. War is the struggle of sin and unrighteousness. It is prompted by greed and unholy ambition, and is always cruel and heartless. It is altogether out of harmony with the tender sympathies of Christ. And while one war may seem more just than another, yet all wars are wrong. If men would only let the Lord Jesus Christ come into their hearts and govern their lives, they would find that there is absolutely no necessity for wars. It is only the sinfulness of men that seems to make it necessary. THE Anti-Saloon League is planning a systematic attack upon the saloons of Chicago. Good! But it is to be hoped that this systematic attack will not resolve itself into that worthless and wicked farce, a skirmish for the closing of the Sunday saloon. So many times have great things been promised in the temperance field that have distilled themselves down to this dreg, that the heart nigh grows sick from hope deferred. As well might the law lay a Sunday embargo on polygamy, legalizing it thereby on the other six days of the week, as to close the saloon on Sunday, and thereby recognize its legality throughout the rest of the week. The consistent Christian can not compromise with evil. The saloon is evil and only evil. It should be closed twenty-four hours every day, seven days every week, and fifty-two weeks every year. If the League succeeds in closing the saloons of Chicago completely and utterly, it will have wrought a grand and noble work. If it succeeds in closing them only one day in seven, it has added to the evil by recognizing its right to run the other six days. The votes that would close Chicago's saloons on Sunday would close them every day in the week. "FIFTEEN hundred Boers reported killed at Mafeking," is the flaming headline to a recent newspaper despatch from the Transvaal. This news will cause great rejoicing in England. There will be some of the English, of course, that will be made sad, but the great majority will hail the news with transports of joy. But how much sadness and misery does this news mean for hundreds of homes among the Boers! War is horrible! War is the crudest and the most cruel barbarism. War gloats over bloodshed and the destruction of property. It not only spreads misery on every side, but it glories over it, and rejoices in it. And what a strange misconception of Christianity must those persons have who think that the cruel and bloodthirsty barbarisms of war may be harmonized with the character and teachings of the Christ of God! SOME negroes near the little village of St. Ann, Miss., burned a mother and her four children alive on the morning of October 19. The ringleader in the tragedy was taken by a mob and burned at the stake. It is painful to note the deeds of violence that are characterizing these times. But the sure Word of God has told us that terrible scenes of violence will be the order of the day, in the times just before the second coming of Christ. Indeed, one of the things that will make His second coming so urgently necessary, will be the violence and crime of the times, and He comes in mercy to destroy its perpetrators, and to relieve "them that sigh and that cry for the abominations that are done in the land." IT is now considered certain that the Andrade government in Venezuela will be overthrown by the rebellion that is making such headway in that country, and the Bank of Venezuela has issued an order to stop the pay of all the consular and diplomatic representatives of the country. This is the bank that transacts all the business for the Venezuelan Government, and the managers say that since succeeding presidents who are established by a revolution always repudiate the debts and obligations of their predecessors, it will not be safe to let the government have any more money. ONCE war is started there is no telling the course that affairs may take. For instance, since the war in South Africa began, it now develops that the native black men of South Africa are beginning to rise up to assert their rights. In some instances they stand with the Boers; in others, they stand with the English; and in still other cases they hate the English and Boers alike, and are preparing to make a general fight against any white man they may find in that territory. They hold a grudge against the white man for coming in there and taking their land from them. A WRITER in the German scientific paper Prometheus, declares that overindulgence in tobacco will prove the ruin of South American people. Not only do children of three years smoke all day long, but mothers have been seen trying to quiet their babies by putting cigars in their mouths. As the action of tobacco on the most vital organ of the body is so well known, the ruinous effect of such a practise upon the longevity, vigor, and moral stamina of a people can easily be understood. A CORRESPONDENT of the Keene, Texas, Reporter, writing from Abilene, in that State, says: "They have the strictest Sunday law here of any place that I have ever been. The only thing the confectioners can sell on Sunday is ice-cream. The law allows milk to be sold, and they sell ice-cream as frozen milk. A man can not buy feed at a livery stable even if his stock are starving. This is truly a priest-ridden country; people are afraid of their preachers." THERE will be completed and added to the American navy within the coming year, five battle-ships, one armored cruiser, one cadet training ship, and twenty-five torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat destroyers, while others are planned for and to be completed during the following year. WILLIAM H. APPLETON, the oldest member of the well-known publishing house of D. Appleton & Co., New York, died on October 19 at the ripe old age of eighty-five. THE famine still continues in India throughout a district comprising about 350,000 square miles, and containing about 30,000,000 inhabitants. A little more than one-third of this territory is in the British possessions, and Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India, is going to make a personal visit to the district to see what can be done to relieve the distress. It is hoped that the worst of the famine has been reached, and that relief can be afforded in time to prevent any further prolonged suffering. A FEW days since some cowboys and Mexicans had a fight at a little town on the Mexican border. Two cowboys had been arrested by the Mexicans in a fight on the Mexican side some time since. And now the cowboys are demanding their release, under the threat of making a raid along the Mexican border. Two hundred cowboys are assembled, and the excitement is running high. It is thought that great care will need to be exercised by the authorities to prevent an ugly clash. THE latest advices from Japan inform us that the great typhoon of October 7 and 8 that swept the Japanese coast destroyed hundreds of houses, and in two little towns alone over 500 people were killed. The loss of life in various places was very great. Storms all over the world tell of the furious workings of Satan as he is making his last supreme efforts to destroy mankind. REV. A. B. SIMPSON raised sixty-eight thousand dollars for missions at a meeting in Carnegie Hall, New York, October 15. It is said that women tore off their jewels, and the excitement finally ran so high that men took off their coats and vests and threw them into the collection. Mr. Simpson is the leading representative of the Christian Alliance Missionary Society. A FEW days since the language question was under discussion in the Austrian Reichsrath. The minister of justice, Herr Kindinger, was literally bombarded with papers by his opponents, amid shouts of, "Resign." "The uproar finally became indescribable, and the president of the chamber closed the sitting." ACCORDING to the Saturday Evening Post, "estimates show that the capitalization of the trust organizations for the present year will exceed twice the volume of currency, or five times the bonded indebtedness of the country." MINERS returning from Surprise Lake, east of Atlin, Alaska, report that a volcano broke out in one of the mountains in that region on September 7. The eruption was preceded by tremblings in the earth for several days. THE latest despatches state that General Cipriano Castro, the Venezuelan insurgent leader, has assumed control of the government, and formed a cabinet. General Castro is very popular just now. SERIOUS rioting has broken out in the lower Chidwin district of Burma. The natives are demurring because of their strict quarantine in the cholera district, and the rioting is the result. THE Navy Department is making preparations for extensive tests of Marconi's system of wireless telegraphy as adapted to naval warfare. THIRTY-FIVE of the thirty-seven large bridge building plants of the country have combined. The new trust is capitalized at $67,500,000. THE reports that the bubonic plague had reached Brazil have been confirmed. The dread scourge is now raging at Santos. THE consideration of the Transvaal war is bringing out some very stormy discussions in the British Parliament. NINE persons perished in recent blizzards in Montana, and it is feared that still others have perished. THE family of the defeated president of Venezuela have gone to New York because of their imminent danger. THERE has been a rapid increase in the price of diamonds since war in the Transvaal was declared. THE rebellion in Santo Domingo has resulted in the election of General Jimenez as president. A REBELLION has broken out in the republic of Colombia.