Parallel between Two Great Crimes along Saloon Lines—The Gin-mill in Two Assassinations.
[From the New Voice Bureau in Washington.]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19.—In the midst of the national woe, specially marked here at the capital, it is proper to recall the striking similarity in the tools which struck down President Abraham Lincoln and the miserable wretch who ended the life of the late President. Both were the products of the licensed saloon.
Mary E. Surratt, who was hanged for complicity in the assassination of Lincoln, kept a licensed grog shop at Surrattsville, about ten miles south of this city. Her saloon was literally the rendezvous of “rum, Romanism, and rebellion,” if there ever was such a place. (The Surratts were Catholics.) It was in this rumshop that John Wilkes Booth, Herold, Atzerot, Payne, and O’Laughlin and the others made their headquarters. There they got their education, their ideas and inspiration. There Booth fled after the assassination, and there he got the two bottles of whisky with which to nerve his flight for life.
Shortly before the assassination Mrs. Surratt leased the place to one John M. Lloyd, who barely escaped being hanged for his part in the hellish tragedy.
After Mrs. Surratt’s removal to H street in this city, the bibulous exploits of the precious crew were transferred to the new home, and Mrs. Surratt made periodical trips to her old dive for liquors.
It was at Mrs. Surratt’s house that the daily conferences of the gang were held and the devilish plots made. It was at her saloon at Surrattsville, run by the drunkard Lloyd, that the plans were made for the escape.
The official record of the trial tells us that on that frightful fourteenth of April, 1865, these conspirators drove up and down Pennsylvania avenue, stopping at nearly every saloon on the way for liquor to nerve them for the awful night’s work.
John Wilkes Booth was to visit Ford’s Theater and slay the President. How well he succeeded is known too well.
Lewis Payne was to kill Secretary Seward in his bed of sickness at his home; and he nearly succeeded.
Mike O’Laughlin was detailed to assassinate General Grant. He went to a reception given to the general at the home of Secretary Stanton for this purpose. But fortunately, he had taken too much liquor. He blundered into the Stanton home in a semi-drunken condition and was ejected.
George A. Atzerot’s part in the tragedy was to murder Vice-President Johnson, who was stopping at the Kirkwood house. But during the evening Atzerot went off on a drunk among the neighboring grog-shops, and forgot his part of the program. The military commission remembered it, tho, and hanged him.
Of the four who were hanged,—Mrs. Surratt, George A. Atzerot, Lewis Payne, and David E. Herold,—all save the woman were known to be common drunkards, and the dame was a rum-seller.
O’Laughlin and Sam Arnold, who were sentenced to prison for life, were products of the saloon, both being confirmed drunkards. O’Laughlin’s lawyer even pleaded that his client was such a confirmed sot and natural-born coward that he was constitutionally unable to take part in such a plot as an assassination.
Edward Spangler, who was sentenced to six years’ confinement, was another saloon victim.
John Wilkes Booth himself was accustomed to drink heavily and often. His haunts for years had been in the saloons of Washington and Mrs. Surratt’s rumshop south of the city.
John H. Surratt, who escaped to Europe, got drunk on the voyage and revealed his identity to a passenger, who for some reason did not tell of the occurrence till after it was too late to apprehend the fugitive in Ireland or England.
Of the entire list of conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln, the trial records show all, with the possible exception of Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Mudd, to be confirmed inebriates, and Mrs. Surratt kept a bar, while Mudd was a frequenter of it.
After the sentences had been pronounced, strenuous efforts were made to induce President Johnson to commute the death sentence of Mrs. Surratt on the ground of her sex. The President refused with the famous remark, “She kept the nest that hatched ‘the eggs.’”
Just so, the murderer of President McKinley was a regular product of the licensed saloon. According to the newspaper reports, his father kept a saloon at Cleveland, Ohio. Young Leon Czolgosz got his education in the saloon. The local anarchists used to have their meetings in the rear of the Czolgosz saloon. Whoever heard of an anarchist meeting anywhere save in the rear of a saloon, or above a saloon with a dumb waiter-connection?
The meetings of Johann Most are invariably held in a saloon. The meetings and “conferences” of Emma Goldman are always held in licensed rumshops. Wherever the murderer of the late president went, he stopped at saloons. When he went to Buffalo on that deadly errand, he made his home in John Nowak’s saloon on Broadway in that city.
The words of Andrew Johnson are as applicable to-day as they were in 1865: “SHE KEPT THE ‘NEST THAT HATCHED THE EGGS.” What a mountain of guilt was described in those words.—New Voice.
ANARCHY
By G.
Another vain appeal to civil law is being agitated. This time it is for a law to keep out of the country that class of people who may become Anarchists. One prominent religious journal says keep them out, “whether they be known as Anarchists, Communists, ‘Nihilists, or what not.’” Yet the editor of that same paper, in a public address, expressed regret that some one did not beat to death with a pistol the assassin of President McKinley. But lawlessness is anarchy, and the principle involved in the proposed law would include at least this one of its advocates. Such a law, however, would be impossible of enforcement, except in the cases of outspoken persons, unless the immigration inspectors should be expert mind-readers. Another point to be considered is, that anarchy is most prolific in those countries where the laws against it are most stringent. There is nothing that so tends to the incitement of anarchy as too much law. People generally have a contempt for law that can reach them only through some kind of inquisition; such law usually takes effect upon innocent, well-meaning people, while the vicious are able to evade it. Again, it is easy to reckon any man as an anarchist and list him in the “what not” (or miscellaneous) class, if his course becomes unpopular or distasteful to more influential people. Such a law in some countries would banish Christians; indeed, it would make it very uncomfortable for them in some localities even in so-called “Christian nations.” All evil is anarchy, and it is only punishable by civil law when it becomes overt. G.
—The Milwaukee Journal.
It is but a logical coincidence that in some localities in the United States the saloon men are persistently working to enforce the Sunday-closing laws upon other branches of business. True, they are actuated by a spirit of spite, but that is perfectly consistent with the real spirit of all Sunday laws. From the very beginning of Sunday laws the design has been opposition to the law of God regarding the Sabbath day; and their revival in the United States during the last twenty years has been incited by the fact that attention has been called afresh to the Sabbath of the Lord as set forth in His Word. As the Sunday law is the essence of human opposition to the law of God, it is fitting that it should be championed by men engaged in the liquor traffic, whose business naturally fosters a spirit of violence eminently calculated for such intolerant work. It is natural that they should instinctively seize such a bludgeon, made ready to9their hand, for the reeking of vengeance. The plea for laws closing saloons on Sunday has all along been a covert scheme for stirring up the ire of men in that business, with the expectation that, in a spirit of spite, they would become effectual instruments in the compulsion of general Sunday observance. The scheme seems to be working quite well in some quarters, and will likely become more extensive in its operation. It is time the people were awakened to some of these last-day delusions. G.
A DEADLY REMEDY.
By S.
A SYSTEM wrecked by morphine can not be restored by a further use of the drug. The protesting nerves may be anesthetized and thus temporarily quieted by continued doses, just as the “nerves” of the habitual tobacco-user are smothered in the fumes of the pipe and cigaret; but a cure does not come by their further use. If persisted in as a remedy, the evil is increased. The remedy is a dangerous and deadly one.
No more dangerous or deadly, however, is the remedy which the noted writer and preacher, Charles M. Sheldon, is proposing for the unsatisfactory conditions which he finds in the religious world. He says:—
I do not see any prospect of a change for the better until we have established a school for Christian acting, or even founded a theater which shall be as distinctively Christian in its purpose, in its financial management, and in its entire life, as the most Christian home or church that we now possess. That this is within the reach of possibility I believe, because I believe in the elevating power of Christianity over all things that belong to humanity. The histrionic passion is a part of life. If it can be ministered to through a Christian channel, there is no telling what wonderful impulses might be set in motion, or what influence upon conduct and character might be permanently established.
Thus, then, the work of the church, from the day when its founder was baptized in Jordan, has been a failure, the methods which He devised for the establishment of His kingdom are inadequate and out of date. The whole proposition is a denial of the power and foresight of God in devising a plan for man’s redemption; a declaration that the founder of the church has established a work which He is unable to complete in the way which He designed; and that the inventions of the world are more efficacious for God than are the ways which God Himself has pointed out, and the instruments which He has dedicated to His service.
The actor is always playing a part; and in the “Christian theater” which Mr. Sheldon proposes, the actor would still be “acting a part,” representing for the time a character other than his own true character. This is being done already by altogether too many who profess the name of Christ; and it is this very fact that is responsible for very many of the unsatisfactory conditions existing in the church to-day. Christ demands that His followers represent Him, and Him alone, in all things. They are never to play a part for any purpose. They are to present and represent the realities of the Christian religion. This they can not do when playing a part in any conceivable drama or tragedy of the stage. The world knows that that which is put upon the stage of the theater is imaginary, unreal, deceptive; and “Christian playwrights” would be expected to produce for the entertainment of the world that which was imaginary, unreal, deceptive. Thus would the cord of real Christian influence be broken so that it could not draw; and thus would the edge of real Christian truth be dulled and broken.
Rather let it be said: “I am not ashamed of the ‘Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto ‘salvation.” That has never been said of the theater—it never can be truly said. There is no place for the “Christian theater” or any other theater in God’s plan of salvation, and the true Christian will not look for any such device.
S.
What Could We Hope For?
By Editor
Mayor Phelan of San Francisco we are sure would not claim perfection, but so far as we can see he has tried to do his duty, and preserve order in the city. If he has erred in appointing more policemen than are necessary, as the strike element claims, surely no law-abiding man need be troubled. Yet the mayor’s course has stirred up as manifest a spirit of anarchy as was ever witnessed outside of violence. The evening of September 28 there was held a meeting of the “Ancient Order of Hibernians” in Metropolitan Hall to welcome a noted Irish priest and lecturer. This meeting was thrown open to the public. Archbishop Riordan was to have presided, but for some reason could not, and asked Mayor Phelan to take his place. But according to our paper, when the mayor attempted to open the meeting he was hissed, jeered, hooted, laughed at, called opprobrious names, till he was forced to desist. The great mass who thus showed their disrespect for the representative of law and order have been under the direct instruction for some time of a Catholic priest whom they cheered again and again. We wonder what this priest thinks of the spectacle afforded by his pupils in their treatment not only of the chief magistrate of their city, but of one who was acting in the place of this priest’s superior by that superior’s own appointment? Surely it augurs not well for the government of the future in the hands of such men. What must the writers in those dailies think who see this fruitage of their teaching? Sometime they may be in a position where the doing of their duty does not please the fickle mob. Will they then be prepared to take the consequence of their teaching now? Would they be pleased with such manifestation of lawlessness against themselves? Surely, as Christ predicted, “Lawlessness abounds.” But the good Christian—Hibernian, American, or Chinese—will have no sympathy with it. He may think rulers wrong, and warn them; but he will ever uphold proper authority, and show respect for its representatives. But what has America to hope for in the future if such a class is to rule who so manifested themselves in Metropolitan Hall, San Francisco, September 28?
Campaign for an Anti-Polygamy Amendment
The Interdenominational Council of Women for Christian and Patriotic Service, of New York, has started a campaign in favor of the adoption of an anti-polygamy amendment to the Federal Constitution. The reason given for this movement is the alleged practice of polygamy by the leaders of the Mormon church in Utah; the disposition of the State authorities to look lightly upon such offenses; the rapid spread of Mormonism; and the prospect that it will one day be sufficiently powerful to prevent such an amendment of the Constitution by controlling more than a third of the States. The council invites all ecclesiastical bodies, all reform organizations, and all women’s societies of every description, to pass resolutions in favor of such an amendment, and send copies of the same to representatives and senators in Congress. As the Constitution has been found unable to “follow the flag,” such an amendment could have little force over the ruler of the Sulus or those of his subjects who are able to support a harem.
French Catholic Associations and the Law
The law recently passed by the French Government dealing with the various Catholic associations, and requiring that they publish the rules of their societies and furnish reasonable guarantees that their funds are not applied to purposes they do not care to avow, has been recognized by less than one-third of the associations. The rest are unwilling to face the test, and this is regarded by the advocates of the law as a proof that the law is a good one. The orders which oppose the law are strenuously opposed to the supremacy of the secular republic, and can not bring themselves to surrender the cherished principle of the supremacy of the canonical law.
Death of the Ameer of Afghanistan
A REPORT from the East states that Abdurrahman Khan, the Ameer of Afghanistan, died on October 3. As the Ameer was friendly to England, his death is looked upon as opening new possibilities for danger to English prestige in that part of the world. There is a considerable current of uneasiness in official English circles over the possibility that Russia may now seek to push her borders in that vicinity farther to the south, at the expense of England.
Miss Stone’s Captivity and Ransom
Miss Helen Stone, the missionary who was recently captured by brigands in Turkey and taken into Bulgarian territory, is still held by her captors. Strenuous efforts are being made in this country to raise the $110,000 demanded for her ransom. Thirty days more have been given by the brigands in which the friends of Miss Stone may purchase her release. The matter has also been taken up by the State Department, but so far nothing definite has been accomplished. It is thought that the brigands are members of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Committee, and that this is a scheme of the committee to raise funds for its cause.
Railroads to Abolish Free Passes
A COMMITTEE of railroad managers representing all the railroads in the Trunk Line, Central Traffic and Western Passenger Associations met in the offices of the Trunk Line Association in New York on October 7, and voted to recommend the complete abolition of the free-pass system, to take effect January 1, 1902. It is proposed to stop the practice of issuing railroad passes, and no exceptions are to be made. There is to be not even the customary exchanges of annual passes between presidents and other leading officers of the railroads. No trip passes are to be issued for political, business, or other reasons.
The Peril of Orderly Mobs
On October 2, J. E. Brady, of Helena, Montana, was lynched by what the press styled “an orderly ‘mob,” in the public square at that place. The crime charged by the mob was criminal assault. The peril which such an affair as this makes manifest is in the complacency with which the public are coming to look upon it. There never was an “orderly” execution by a mob; but more and more frequently do we see reports of such occurrences in which the taking of life is done by what men are now coming to style “orderly mobs.” It is an indication of a retrogression which it is impossible to hide.
Proposed Pacific Cable to Manila
The cabinet at Washington now has under consideration the proposal of the Pacific Cable Company to build a cable from San Francisco to Manila by way of Honolulu and Guam. It is feared that the government will be unable to grant landing privilege for the cable in the Philippines, owing to a concession which the cable company now operating at Manila holds from the Spanish Government, and which was virtually guaranteed by the United States in the understanding with Spain over the maintenance of property rights in those islands.
International Salt Trust
An international salt trust, which is to obtain control of the salt mines of the entire world, has been incorporated in New Jersey, with a capital of $30,000,000. This international salt trust is the outgrowth of the National Salt Company, which is a monopoly of all the salt-producing plants of the United States. The new company will acquire the National Salt Company, the Retsof Mining Company of Russia, the English Salt Company, and all the principal salt-producing properties of Canada and Great Britain.
New Nicaragua Canal Treaty
A REPORT from Washington states that the United States and Great Britain have come to an agreement concerning the Nicaragua canal, and that a new treaty will be presented to the Senate for its ratification early in the coming session. This treaty is said to provide for the complete abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty; the United States to guarantee the neutrality of the canal when she is not at war; but when at war she is to be allowed to take such measures as she deems necessary for the protection of her coasts.
Boer War Continues Without Decisive Victory
WHILE the Boer war continues to pile up the debt of England, the army in South Africa fails to gain any decided victory over the fighting burghers. The Boers seem to have determined upon an active campaign in Natal, and are still keeping up operations in Transvaal and Cape Colony. Desperate fighting is reported on the Zulu border; and wherever the opposing forces have come in contact, the engagements have been sharp and sanguine. The end of this bitter struggle seems still far distant.
San Francisco Strike Ends After Eleven Weeks
THE great strike of teamsters and dock laborers which had continued in San Francisco for eleven weeks, came to an end on October 2, and the business of the city is again approaching its normal condition. The strike was characterized by much cruelty. Some lives were lost, and very many were maimed for life, while scores were beaten, bruised, and disabled temporarily. The demands of the strikers were not acceded to, and the employers look upon the outcome as a victory for them.
Samar Slaughter Investigation
INVESTIGATION into the slaughter of company C, Ninth Infantry, on the island of Samar, seems to indicate that the massacre was made possible by the treachery of the president of the town, who led the assault in person. The ringing of the church bell was the signal for the attack. Four battalions of regulars and 300 Macabebes have been sent to that island to conquer the natives. Three gunboats have also been sent to Samar to assist in the work.
Drift Casks on the Ice Floes
CAPTAIN TUTTLE of the revenue cutter Bear has placed fifteen drift casks on the ice floes far to the northwest of Point Barrow for the purpose of ascertaining the direction of the drift of the ice floes. The undertaking was regarded as an extremely hazardous one, but was successfully executed.
Nanaimo Mine Fire Claims Seventeen Lives
The Nanaimo coal mines on Vancouver Island, B. C., continue to burn, and there are indications that the mine may be a total loss. Seventeen men met death in the burning mine.
German Tariff Bill Threatens European Crisis
OWING to the radical measures proposed in the new German tariff bill, Austria and Hungary will refuse to renew commercial treaties with Germany, and threaten to close their frontiers not only against Germany, but also against the Balkan States. This, it is feared, would drive these States into the arms of Russia, and bring about a political crisis in European affairs.
Alger's Criticism of Miles and Sampson
GEN. RUSSELL A. ALGER, former Secretary of War, has published a book on the Spanish-American war, in which General Miles and Admiral Sampson are severely criticized, the former for the position which he took with reference to the provisions furnished the army, and the latter for his alleged failure to co-operate properly with the army.
Ancient Mining in Nome
MINERS working in the Nome district of Alaska have found evidences of mining done at a much earlier date. Stone cofferdams and bedrock drains show that the work was carried on in an intelligent manner, probably by Russians. The fact that these were covered with earth shows that the work must have been done many years ago.
Election Riots in Hungary
It is estimated that 24 persons were killed and hundreds injured in recent election riots in Hungary. In various places voters were coerced by threats of death, while one prominent politician and his whole family were murdered by his political opponents. And this is in a country which has been under Catholic instruction for centuries.
McKinley Monument Planned for Canton
It is proposed to erect at Canton, Ohio, a national monument to President William McKinley. President Roosevelt has appointed a committee of well-known men to act as trustees for the McKinley National Monument Association, who will have in charge the funds collected and the work of erecting the monument.
Netherlands Plans Coastal Land Reclamation
THE government of the Netherlands is now planning for the reclamation of another large tract of land from the ocean. The plan is to build a dike from the North Holland coast to the island of Wieringen and thence to the Frisian coast, and then pump out the water. This would mean the reclamation of 114,901 acres of land.
Peking’s Looted Astronomical Instruments
The ancient astronomical instruments looted from the wall of Peking have been landed at San Souci, Germany. These are the instruments which the French Government refused a landing on French soil. The German newspapers are now condemning their retention in that country.
Colombian Troops Rout Insurgents at Curoga
THE Colombian troops are reported to have completely routed the insurgents and Venezuelans at Curoga, Colombia, on September 29. About 600 men are reported to have been killed on the Venezuelan side. The casualties of the Colombians are not reported.
Death Rate in the Aleutian Islands
MANY natives of the Aleutian Islands have fled from their homes because of the fearfully high death-rate in those islands during the past year. In some places two-thirds of the natives died, and their remains were left unburied by the fear-stricken relatives.
Kitchener’s Sudan Railway Pays
The military railway which General Kitchener constructed to conquer the Soudan, and which was completed to Khartoum in 1899, is now on a paying basis, altho much of it runs through an unproductive desert. The line is 779 miles long.
Carlists Prepare for Uprising
Reports from the frontiers of Spain indicate renewed activity among the Carlists, who are said to be accumulating rifles, uniforms, and ammunition on the border, and bringing their work of preparation for an uprising near to completion.
Deadly Feud Battle at Big Springs
Six men were killed and three injured in a battle between warring factions at Big Springs, Tennessee, on October 6. The feud was one of long standing, and all the participants well known and prosperous residents.
Japan to Station Troops in Shanghai
It is reported that Japan, following the example of Germany, will hold a considerable body of troops in Shanghai for use in case of further disturbances in that portion of China or districts north of that city.
George F. Pentecost to Labor in Philippines
GEORGE F. PENTECOST, prominent as evangelist, lecturer, and minister, has accepted the call of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board to labor in the Philippine Islands.
France Seeks Suzerainty Over Tunis
A REPORT from Germany states that France has demanded of Turkey the recognition of France’s suzerainty over Tunis. This the sultan is not willing to grant.
European Powers Press Sultan on Armenia
THE European powers are reported to be again making representations to the Sultan of Turkey regarding a remedy for the troubled conditions in Armenia.
Marquis Ito Arrives in Victoria
MARQUIS ITO, Japan’s foremost statesman, arrived at Victoria, B. C., on October 2, on his fifth tour of the world.
Senators Plan to Advance Ship Subsidy Bill
SENATORS interested in the Ship Subsidy Bill are planning to bring it up during the first sessions of Congress.
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