Back to the Land by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jun 3, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 23.

Back to the Land

By Editor

An editorial clipping is sent us by a correspondent, on an ancient manuscript said to be written seven years after the crucifixion of Jesus, by an eye-witness who was a brother of the order of "Essers," or "Essees," to which Jesus belonged; and who tells of the trial and execution with many interesting details; among other things, that Jesus was taken down from the cross with permission from Pilate, by himself and others; placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea; afterward resuscitated by them from the deep swoon; was persuaded by His disciples not to appear again; and therefore He retired to solitary life, dying six months later from His broken hopes and of His wounds; all of which is superlative nonsense. In the first place there is no such an order as "Essers." There was the order of the "Essenes" of which there is no indication in the Gospels whatsoever that Jesus was a member. This reads like an old fourth-century forgery. That Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, has been demonstrated by nearly nineteen centuries of work in His name.

Back to the Land.

The Atlanta Constitution, in a despatch from Texas, tells us that the hard times and financial disturbances are driving many people from the cities back to the soil. This is good. There is health and life and independence in the cultivation of the soil. This has been especially manifest in the state of Texas.

Dr. George L. Robinson, Instructor in McCormick University, on April 23, in a meeting of the Milwaukee Presbytery, declared that aristocracy and intemperance were greatly increasing among the students of the large universities. He referred to Princeton as an instance of this, and said that "the university is run by a few rich; and on occasions of reunions more beer flows thru the streets and around the university than you would know where to store it." Intemperance is stated to be common.

Some of what are called mild drinks, among which is ginger beer, one of the so-called temperance drinks, are thought to be perfectly proper by temperance people. The British government has been analyzing some of these beverages and finds that some of them have as high as 12 per cent of alcohol. They are allowed two per cent in order to preserve them. One sample of ginger beer had 9.5 per cent, herb beer, 10.5 per cent, dandelion stout, 12.3 per cent. Eight per cent of true spirit is as intoxicating as ordinary claret or hock. And Mr. Asquith tells us that the "samples tested in the last four years have been as highly alcoholic as ordinary beer or porter which contains from two to five per cent of alcohol." In many cases the fermentation goes on after bottling, increasing the alcohol.

The Gun and the Armor.

The Naval and Military Record of England says that "the security of our [the British] naval position lies in the fact that while the Germans have been developing their secondary battery in order to pierce the unarmored ends of our old battle-ships, we have been improving our primary armament in order to enable us to fight at the range of their quick-firing guns;" in other words, to keep them so far away that they will not get near enough to pierce the battle-ships. And so the conflict goes on between armament and guns, between nation and nation, and the awful war burden piles up on the backs of weary, overburdened people.

"The Century Magazine" has been gathering statistics of the age at which men do their best work, or in other words, at which workers are at their maximum strength. For physical workers the average age is 47; for the thinkers, 52; chemists and physicists average at 41; poets and inventors, 44; novelists, 46; explorers and warriors, 47; musical composers, 48; artists and clergymen, 50; essayists and reformers, 51; physicians, surgeons, and statesmen, 52; philosophers, 54; astronomers and mathematicians, 56; historians, 57; and naturalists and jurists, 58. One of the conclusions reached by the writer is, provided health and optimism remain, a man of fifty can command success as readily as the man of thirty. Among the promoters of this is love of one's work and a conscience at peace with God.

President Gompers of the Federation of Labor has rendered one decision which will commend him to fair-minded people, inside and outside of labor unions. A forelady of an Indiana hat factory trimmed a hat as a part of her day's work. She was fined for her violation of factory etiquette, and expelled from the local union. The proprietor refused to discharge her and a strike followed. The matter was referred to President Gompers, and he ordered her reinstated, and declares that "a forelady has an unquestioned right to assist in the performance of any work" and that "foremen and foreladies are required not only to superintend work, but to do work themselves," and this is simply good, common sense. If it had been honored by its observance instead of by its breach, it would have been a help to labor unions.

The Mystery of Omnipresence.

BE it on ocean's bed— Could there we kneel to pray, Or mountain-top—wherever life hath trod: Be it the heart of earth—by night, by day, The faintest prayer hath audience with God.