p. 15 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 46. (11/28/1906)

The New Naval Armament

Peace prospects, according to popular theory, are somewhat brightened by the fact that Great Britain's great battle-ship, Dreadnaught, works successfully. It is the greatest engine of war, in size and power, now afloat, and so well pleased is the admiralty that two or three others of the same class are to be built. But the governments of both the United States and Japan are moved to emulation in this direction, and each have expressed an intention to build vessels to rank with, or even to excel, in size and armament the great Dreadnaught. The very name of the big English battle-ship seems to be deemed a kind of challenge to the world which the proud American republic and the ambitious oriental empire feel bound to accept. This new step forward in naval armament, however, is to have another effect—it is already conceded that it puts other war vessels, such as won the victory over Spain, in the background, and sounds the universal demand for new navies. Thus the leading nations are to be kept investing the people's resources in great war implements, while the masses are being regaled with the siren song of universal peace.

BUDDHISM IN THE UNITED STATES.

By Editor

[Editorial in Missionary Review.]

DURING a tour to the Pacific Coast in March, April, and May, a visit to San Diego, Cal., revealed the fact that there is there a fearful state of things. The beautiful place is saturated with theosophy, which has settled down on a commanding point of land overlooking the sea, and is there creating the Buddhistic center for America. They are said to have twenty million dollars on deposit.

Christians seem to have concluded to shut their mouths about this horrible modern monster which has come from India to propagate its species here. The apathy of professing Christians about it is appalling; and not a few seem to regard it as a great advantage to have the head center of this oriental abomination in the town. A very discerning friend told me that she had actually met not a few who not only do not recoil from the introduction of the worship of Buddha in this country, but openly uphold it.

In Los Angeles a wealthy woman brought a Buddhist priest from the Chicago World's Fair and Parliament of Religions, and in her own palatial house erected a shrine to Buddha, for the worship of this heathen idol, and in her house many people gathered weekly for this worship. One of the pastors says that all California is more or less saturated with this heathen cult, and this he gathers from personal observation as he travels over the land.

It is naturally surprising that in this age and this land of enlightenment and religious knowledge, an oriental religion embodying the essence of heathenism, can take root and flourish; yet, after all, it is not surprising. For outside of Christianity there is nothing but darkness, and it is not strange that he who walks in darkness should make the worst mistakes in his course. He who rejects Christianity is in a position to embrace the worst forms of error, and when this actually occurs, as it is occurring all around us, it is only what was to be expected by those who know the truth. Outside of Christianity, all paths lead finally to one place. "Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you," is a warning which is emphasized by these things.

THE PEACE PROSPECT.

THE prospect for universal peace gets frequent backsets, and the friction between nations often arises where least expected—between governments whose relations have been, at least outwardly, very cordial. But where government administrations desire to be friendly, minor private or class interests may cause trouble that will jeopardize, or even effectively disrupt, such friendship.

The action of the San Francisco authorities in segregating Chinese and Japanese children from the established public schools has called forth such a strong protest from Japan as to cause uneasiness at Washington. This is manifest in the President's sending a cabinet officer to San Francisco to inquire into the matter. Japan's complaint is that her treaty with the United States is being violated, and this is the point that Secretary Metcalf was sent to investigate. The San Francisco Board of Education cite a state law that authorizes them to establish separate schools for Indians and Orientals. But if this law is violative of any federal treaty with a foreign power, it would be deemed unconstitutional. Hence a very delicate point is involved.

Hardly any one thought that war would really grow out of the incident, but it is just such comparatively little things that produce war. There has been war talk by prominent citizens on both sides, even by candidates for office, altho not by administration officials. The possibilities have been talked so loud that it has been heard in England, and is said to have caused quite a stir in business circles. War talk with Japan by any other nation causes uneasiness in Britain, for the reason that she has an offensive and defensive alliance with that empire, and any kind of serious conflict with the Japanese would also involve the British Empire. To say the least, the incident illustrates the precarious nature of all alliances between earthly governments.

The small pretexts from which wars are often engendered, together with the uncertainty of all human compacts when self-interest seems to demand their abrogation, are proof that the only lasting peace on earth is founded on individual peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The reign of the Prince of Peace over a people unanimously at peace with God, is the only guaranty of universal peace. Then will be realized the promise, "The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." G.

Sunday and Religious Liberty

But the institution itself throughout all its history has stood for a union of church and state, for compulsory observance by law, for intolerance and religious tyranny. Let men keep it if they will, but let them not try to force it upon others. If a religious institution of any kind has not enough of the life of God in it, if there is not benefit enough connected with it, to win devotees, let it die, and die forever. With this abstract principle most people will agree. Why not apply it concretely to the Sunday. All over this land men are demanding that Sunday as a religious institution, for it is nothing if not that, should be protected by law, and men should be compelled to observe it. This is contrary to Christianity, contrary to true Americanism. Are Americans going to yield to the demand? It matters not what day a man keeps, if he believe in true religious liberty, it is liberty for the man who does not believe as he does.

Dogs and Horses Eaten

A statistical magazine of Berlin, analyzing a report on the slaughter houses of Prussia for 1905, finds that the slaughtering of dogs for food increased 33 per cent. and that of horses 19 per cent. over the figures of 1904, the total number of dogs eaten in 1905 being 1,568 and the number of horses 81,312.

Crazed by Cigarets

Crazed by Cigarets.—A despatch from St. Louis, dated October 21, declares that D. J. O'Connor is suffering from pausis by the smoking of cigarets. He smoked 100 or more a day. Only twenty years old, but a complete wreck from his expensive, foolish habit! Whatever fastens upon man an undesirable appetite for itself is abnormal, unnatural, harmful.

An Unwashed Chemist

A famous chemist in Italy declares that his body has not been washed, to his knowledge, for seventy-five years. He declares it to be useless, like brushing the teeth and taking off boots at bedtime. “Five years ago,” he says, “the lady I am living with furnished me with three towels; they are still on the rack, old and yellow, but unused.” Such a man ought to live alone, or be a companion to St. Simeon Stylites, the “pillar saint.”

China to Be Reckoned With

China to Be Reckoned With.—In the great battle of Armageddon, China will be found among "the kings of the East." At the recent maneuvers of the Chinese imperial army, a portable wireless telegraphic apparatus was displayed, which can be carried on a light wagon and erected for operation in thirty minutes. The whole army displayed excellent discipline; experienced observers declare that the maneuvers were almost equal to those conducted in European countries. China is preparing for the great world struggle; a spirit of national unity, hitherto almost wholly absent, is pervading the masses.

Pittsburg Ahead.

By Editor

According to a press despatch of the 12th inst., Pittsburg has rather forged ahead of her sister cities in the matter of disorder. The despatch says:

"Pittsburg terrorized and likened to a mining camp or a frontier town, is the tone of all this morning's issues of the papers. With three murders, a number of robberies on the highway, accompanied by violence, and an attempt at crucifixion, in twenty-four hours, added to the large number that have occurred during the past two weeks, there has been such a public demand for extra police that Mayor Guthrie and Director of Public Safety Ridgway last night put on a number of extra police without legal provision for their compensation, trusting to the effect of public clamor upon the Select and Common Councils for favorable action upon this move."

That is decidedly a heavy Sunday record, considering Pennsylvania has such a stringent Sunday law, and Pittsburg was for so many years the seat of "National Reform." Some California clergymen and politicians are proposing to squelch outlawry in this state with a state Sunday law. Californians will do well to make a note of Pennsylvania's experience in face of her century-old statute, before adopting such a measure as a cure-all for crime. The "crucifixion" case was that of a young woman whose neighbors, hearing her screams, rushed into her house and found her with her two hands nailed to the sink-drain. She soon became unconscious, and was taken to a hospital.

Will Americans Yield to It?

By Editor

The Signs of the Times believes that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah," simply and solely because it is so declared in His Word; in loyalty to that Word, we must observe it; in loyalty to that Word, we must teach it. It means, reader, much more than the mere matter of twenty-four hours. It stands for the very heart and effectiveness of the Gospel—the power of God in Christ to create and recreate. That Sabbath demands only willing service. It repudiates all compulsion. On the other side, there are many more observing Sunday, and their motives in doing this it is not for us to pass judgment upon. That rests with God.

Thanksgiving Thoughts and Editorial Notes

By Editor

Our article in the series on the "Great Plan of Salvation" is of necessity and regret carried over till next week.

Do not fail to read the report and review of the "New York State Sabbath Association Meeting" in our Outlook Department.

The article on "A College Conflagration," printed elsewhere, may suggest some principles with which many of our readers will not agree, but it expresses much good Christian common-sense which is worthy of consideration. If any one asks us what college this is, let us anticipate the question and say, We do not know; we do not care to know. The lesson is drawn not to condemn a certain institution, but to bring home to all practical lessons.

This number reaches our readers before Thanksgiving, and tho our issue of last week was our Thanksgiving Number, this has also its thanksgiving flavor. The Thanksgiving poem, by Miss Bolton, reached us just too late for our last issue; and two or three other poems also call our thoughts to the day. And yet, dear friends, every day ought to be a day of thanksgiving to God on the part of His ever-receiving children. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

It is sad to report the death of Congressman Rockwood Hoar, the first of this month at his home in Massachusetts. His death really means the extinction of the Hoar family, of which Senator Hoar and Judge Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar were shining lights. Judge Hoar had two sons, both of whom are now dead, and Congressman Rockwood Hoar was the only child of the late Senator Hoar. He was an eminent lawyer, a true statesman, with a fine old-fashioned sense of liberty for all. The country has too few like him to be able to spare him.

The Exhaustless Life.—We do not find it in this world. Even the very rocks themselves die and disintegrate. We are reminded of this by a little item of news from the Louvre, Paris. A pearl necklace is there belonging to the Thiers family. That necklace was once worth $1,250,000. In a few years we are told it will be utterly worthless, because the pearls are dying. Some time God's people will reach that land in which the gates of the capital city are solid pearls, but they will be pearls which will endure forever, fed forever from the exhaustless life.

Railroad Accidents for the Year.—The Interstate Commerce Commission in a recent accident bulletin give an account of the casualties of the year ending June 30, 1906, as compared with the year previous. In the number of employees killed there was an increase of 546, and in the number injured an increase of 10,098. 119 less passengers were killed than in the year previous, and 1,145 more injured. In the three months previous to June 30, there were 3,103 collisions and derailments, of which 173 collisions and 153 derailments affected passenger trains. Damage to cars, engines, and roadway in these accidents amounts to $12,373,924.

A fearful flood swept through Seattle and surrounding towns the 14th inst., the greatest known for half a century. The Chinook winds have melted the snow in the mountains. Four lives have been lost, hundreds of families driven from home, and Seattle isolated by water. All railway traffic is suspended.

Uncle Sam Gives Warning.—A bulletin issued by the Post-Office Department warns against carelessness in sending money through mails. It gives as an instance of this a letter which was returned to the dead-letter office, which had been addressed to a missionary in Africa. His name was given, but no post-office address. The letter had been through various post-offices in Africa as well as Europe, and then returned to the United States. It contained $400. We hope that our readers will take notice in sending money to this office. If there is any great amount, it should be registered; better still, purchase bank draft, express order, or post-office money order. Care should be taken in writing names and post-office correctly. It is also always safe to place a return address on the envelope.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY?

AMERICANS boast of liberty, religious and civil. Without question, ninety-nine out of every one hundred people one would ask, "Do you believe in religious liberty?" would reply, "Of course, I do; what do you take me for?" But do they?

The Puritans believed in religious liberty for—the Puritans.

The Roman Catholics during all the Dark Ages believed in religious liberty for—the Roman Catholics.

John Calvin believed in religious liberty for—John Calvin.

The Puritans did not believe in religious liberty for Roger Williams.

The Roman Catholics did not believe in religious liberty for John Huss, Jerome of Prague, John Wickliffe, Martin Luther, and many others.

John Calvin did not believe in religious liberty for Michael Servetus.

Do you believe in religious liberty for the man who is opposed, bitterly opposed, to your creed?

This is the true test of religious liberty, to hold and contend for religious liberty for the other man.

That is true religious liberty. It is held by those who have faith enough in an Overruling Power to believe that He can manage the matters which lie between men and God. Jesus Christ held to that. Listen: "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:47, 48.

Are you not willing to stand with Jesus Christ on all the questions of religion, and leave the adjustment of the matter to the individual soul and God, and to the final judgment?

Do you truly believe in religious liberty?

Do you believe in it for the other man?

The Garden of Eden.—A daily paper, Sunday edition, gives us a picture from a photograph of the Garden of Eden as it is to-day. The scene is one in Western Asia, but there is absolutely nothing, unless it be certain names of rivers, to connect any spot on this earth at present with the garden which God made and planted, as recorded in Genesis 2. There is one river mentioned there, which parts into four heads. The name of one of these rivers is Euphrates. But all these names have meanings which are descriptive of the stream, and would be as descriptive of any similar stream in later ages. For instance, "Euphrates" means "to break forth," "rushing;" "Gihon" means "to gush forth," "to issue," "a stream," etc. The name of a river, before the Deluge, descriptive of the stream, would no more identify it with a stream of the same name this side of the Deluge, than the name Adah in Genesis 4:19 and 36:2 would indicate that the two persons were identical. The simple fact is that at the time of the Deluge the earth underwent a great cataclysmal change. Before the Deluge there were no divided seas and continents. The land was together. The sea was one. Gen. 1:9, 10. At the time of the Deluge Peter declares emphatically that "the world [the cosmos, the arrangement] that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." 2 Peter 3:6. "The mountains rose, the valleys sank down," the American Standard Revised Version expresses it in Ps. 104:8. Hence we find fossil remains of sea shell-fish in the rocks on high elevations. Various and many evidences clearly show that the present land was at one time submerged. The place of the original Garden of Eden was obliterated, and all the rivers of the present world drain the land of its richness and empty it in the great salt sea, whereas before the Deluge they were life-giving streams, springing from a great central fountain and beautifully and perfectly irrigating the earth.

A great thanksgiving day at Jerusalem is described in Nehemiah 12. The occasion was the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem that had been restored under the direction of Nehemiah after the return from the Babylonian captivity. In view of our national Thanksgiving, it would be well to note that they kept the dedication "with gladness, both with thanksgiving, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps." Also that "the priests and the Levites purified themselves and purified the people." Furthermore, "they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with joy; the wives also and the children rejoiced; so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off." In the Scriptures, sacrifices and offerings are almost inseparably connected with thanksgiving. Material giving is the really practical feature of Thanksgiving. "O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing." The example of the people at Jerusalem would make an excellent basis for a Thanksgiving program.

The death penalty in France will shortly be done away. The office of public executioner has been abolished, and at the coming session of Parliament the final act is to be passed. The sentiment against capital punishment is so strong that only a small per cent. of murderers are executed, and it is made more difficult to convict such criminals at all because of the death penalty.

A railroad head-on collision occurred at Woodville, Ind., on the 12th inst., in which forty-seven persons were killed or burned to death in the fire which broke out in the wreckage. Thirty-eight others were injured, some fatally. In the crash six passenger coaches and several freight cars were demolished. Cause, somebody failed to do his duty.

Mount McKinley, in Alaska, was recently ascended by a party of explorers headed by Dr. Frederick A. Cook, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who reached the summit September 16. They confirm the altitude given by government surveyors, 20,300 feet, which establishes the fact that it is the highest mountain in North America.

The new railroad across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, was opened for traffic on the 1st inst. The road is 170 miles long, and effects a saving of 1,429 miles between New York and San Francisco, as compared with the Panama route.

All but one of the building contractors of Mobile, Ala., put their establishments on the open-shop basis on the 12th inst., according to a previous agreement. As a result, about fifteen hundred men in the building trades failed to appear for work.

At national headquarters of the Prohibition Party the statement is made that in the past two years the party has gained 68,000 votes in the country at large.

Frederick J. Stanley, D. D., Secretary of American Sabbath Association, and Secretary of the Convention.