The
Plattsmouth - Journal
Published Seni-Weeklj it Plattsmouth, Nebrash
R. A. BATES, Publisher.
Entered at the Postoflke at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, as second-class
matter.
$t.SO PER YEAR IN ADVANCE
"All I abk is justice" Taft. All
the people ask Is justice at the hands
of Taft and his administration.
:o:
This week's ralna have been fine
for the wheat, and it is too bad there
was bo little wheat present to enjoy
it. -
:o:
If the railroads are not making
any money hauling freight it Is cer
tainly very sweet of the railroads to
haul it.
:o:
When you got mixed up with the
tall of Halley's comet, please don't
breathe as the gaseous fumes may
smother you.
-:o:-
Tho census estimate that Nebras
ka has only Increased 3.G44, Is all
boiih. If this appears of record there
is "Something Rotten In Denmark."
:o:
The refusal of members of the
"smart set" In several eastern cities
to answer the census questions Is a
reminder that the smart set is oc
casionally a very stupid set.
:o:
Thomas Taggart of Indiana should
not despair of getting an office. If
a Democratic president is elected in
1912 probably he may be given the
French Lick Springs postofflce.
:o:
William the Silent, whose tomb
Mr. Roosevelt visited the other day,
was positively gabby compared to
the silence the ex-president maintains
on tho subject of American politics.
:o:
.Secretary Wilson thinks the sale of
food stuffs In packages is to blame for
tho excessive cost of living. Well,
the ultimate consumers are being
"handed a package," surely enough
: o :
All the members of the legislature
have not yet replied to Mr. Drjan's
appeal for a special session of that
body. It looks very doubtful that
sufficient numbers will reply favor
ably. Then there will probably be
something else to Incite the Demo-trats.
of the entire state. Separate the
sheep from the goats and know just
where we are at. Two months ago
the party was in a better shape than
it has been for years, but since Mr.
Bryan's letter to the members of the
legislature, everything seems to have
gone to pieces. This should not be
the case, but that Is the way it looks
now. We can retrieve ourselves if
we go to work now to effect the
proper organization.
:o:
In some sections of Nebraska the
people seem to have In for Omaha
Go down into Missouri and they pos
sess the same feeling with regard to
Kansas City and St. Louis. It would
appear that the large cities of any
state are the ones the people are al
ways condemning. Lincoln does not
possess enterprise enough to have
people talk either good or had about
It. When that town loses the capltol
they should erect a high wall around
It, and gates on each side and admit
no one but those who are religious
moral and temperate, or profess to
be, and call it the "Holy City.''
:o:
WHAT IS A KTA X I U A 'PTE I ?
-:o:-
The questions have frequently been
put, "What is a Democrat," and
wnai is an insurgent, and now
from Iowa comes tho query: "What
Is a standpatter?" Judge Prouty of
the Iowa bench has pleased the pub
lie by giving the following defini
tlon. Judge Prouty says he is a Re
publican neither standpat nor in
surgent, but plain Republican. He
however defines the progressive an
the standpatter, as follows:
"A progressive is one who has
brains to figure out what is fair, and
courage enough to fight for It. A
standpatter Is one who stands for
whatever is right or wrong, he does
not ask what Is right, but what is
regular, he Is Influenced by patron
age, instead of principles; ducats
have greater weight than documents.
He denounces every nrocresslve
measure proposed, but as soon as it
becomes a lay it is alright. The
:o:-
Thero was nothing said in the
Democratic platform two years ago standpatters were against the two
in reference to pensioning the cent fare bill, against the .anti-pass
retiring professors of tho state unl- bill and other reform measures, but
verslty. Yet we found a few Demo- since they have become laws, they
cratic members supporting the same say they are wise and just meas
in the legislature last winter. Some urcs.
of these self-Bame supporters of the
pension measure, give as an excuse
for opposing a special session that
there was no mention of the initia
tive and referendum in the platform.
It really does make a difference some
times whose ox is being gored.
:o:
Hon. E. S. Carver and wife of
ions of the Sherman law, it created
a commerce court to review the or
ders of the commerce commission and
it denied shippers representation be
fore that court. It looked mighty
good to the railroads then and It
looked mighty bad to the practically
solid membership of both house and
senate, and to a good many insur
gent Republicans as well.
Rut the president and his party
lost their grip on congress. The in
surgent and Democratic allies took
control of both houses. They amend
ed out of the bill the most objection
able and dangerous pro-railroad sec
tions. And they amended into it
some really promising provisions for
the safeguarding of the interests of
shippers and the general public.
The railroads, It seems, are now
about ready to let the tail go with
the hide, and Buffer the entire meas
ure to fail. They were willing, ori
ginally, for the sake of all the bene
fits they expected the bill to give
them, to sugar-coat It with a provis
ion enabling the government to re
strict and regulate tho issue of stocks
and bonds. .This was expected to
make tho bill popular, and hide its
vicious features. Rut now that most
of the vicious features have been ex
posed and eradicated; now that there
has been added to the bill a physical
valuation clause, the railroads are
losing interest. True, the commerce
court Btill remains, and the railroads
want that; but it is a question if the
game is worth the candle. Possibly,
If the physical valuation feature can
be stricken out or materially amend
ed, and if the sections providing for
regulation of stocks and bonds can
also be stricken out in conference,
the railroads will graciously consent
to accept the bill. Rut it will only
be the giving of a few crumbs, in
the form of, a little more delay,
a little more red tape, instead of all
the rich benefits and privileges and
immunities that were expected.
In short, the Taft-Wichersuam
railroad program, fortunately for the
American people, ia a complete
fiasco. The Republican party has
gone a step too far in its service of
the interests,' and can no longer
compel the obedience of its own mem
hers. The "insurgency" against the
tariff has become a more pronounced
and more numerous and bolder in
surgency against the railroad bill.
It Is well for the country that it is
so. me country is badly in need
of additional railroad legislation
legislation progressive and restrictive
In character. Rut no legislation at
all will be infinitely preferable to
reactionary legislation. World-IIer
aid.
:o:
New Assistant at I'ostofllec,
Ooo
PEOPLE'S
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.
0w)
ooo
PULPIT...
PASTOR RUSSELL
IN LONDON
i
Ooo
"HEREAFTER"
"There Shall Be No More Death, Neither
Sorrow Nor Crying, Neither Shall There Be
Any More Pain; For the Former Thing
Are Pasted Away" (Revelation ixi, 4).
ooO
London, Enj
Till: RAILROAD LAW FLA SCO.
Grant City, Mo., are in Otnana visit
ing their son-in-law and wife, Mr.
nn a Mrs. Dresner. Mr. Dresner is a
member of the Ad club and In com
pany with him, Mr. Clarver attended a
meeting of that club the other day,
Ho was invited to Bpcak, and ex
Mayor Heury Goring, who was down
Irom the metropolis Thursday even
ing, pralBed Mr. Carver's address
very highly. He was always a good
rapcaker, and had we known he was
to speak, we most assuredly would
have been there.
- :o:
When President Taft telephoned
to Senator Aldtich that lie left ev
erything in his hands, and that the
insurgents and Democrats would
have to take the' responsibility for
whatever happened to the railroad
out, ne spoue tne truth from the
fullness of an overflowing heart.
All of the Taft policies are in the
hands of Senator Aldrich and his
little clique of plutocratic associates,
including Penrose, Lodge, Crane.
Elklns, Root and Depew. And the
Democrats and insurgents, In both
the house and senate, will have to
bear the responsibility or to Bpeak
more correctly, will be entitled to
the credit for the defeat of the
Wlckersham railroad bill, If it is de
feated.
ThankB to the Democrats and in
surgents the most objectionable fea
Wonder if it could possible be a
. inovo on tho part of tho tricksters at tlirc8 that were in the bill have been
tho head of tho Republican party to put out of it, and one or two very
decrease the population in the west Rood features, including a provision
and increase it in tho east? Take
lowa, for instance, tho estimate made
shows that state has decreased in
population. Does anyone believe
that? The west Bhould rise up ia
one mass and demand Justice. Re-
mcmucr mere win soon ue a reap-
portlonment of congressional dis
tricts, and while tho cast will In
crease representation In congress, the
west may only bold what they have.
:o:
As Boon as tho question of a spe
clnl session of tho legislature Is set
tied, tne Democrats snouid make a
desperate effort for a reorganization
for the physlclal valuation of rail
road property, have been put Into It.
And now, while the president is
enjoying a vacation trip, this most
important of tho measures he has
heartily championed is trembling i
the balance; a hair's weight may do
ride the issue of Its llfo or death. 1
the shape it Is now in nobody, ap
parently, (ares very much whether
it lives or dies. As Mr. Wlckersham
drafted it, and as Mr. Taft demande
it bo pnssed, tho railroads wanted
witn a consuming desire. It legnll
ed mergers, It legalized pooling,
exempted railroads from tho provls-
Postmaser Henry A. Schneider has
made, a new addition to his force of
lerks and assistants in the post-
office, adding Miss Frances Weld
man to the office force, which now
consists of M. S. Rriggs, assistant
postmaster, G. K. Statts, Miss Mar
garet Ronnie and Miss Frances Weld
man, as clerks. Miss Weld man is
widely and favorably known as the
assistant which Mr. Schneider had
in his office during his occupancy
of the register of deeds office. She
is a young woman of much ability,
1'iatismoutn born girl, and one
with friends by the score. She ad
ded to her popularity largly during
her term in the register's office and
doubtless will make many additional
friends during her occupancy of a
place In the postofflce. That her
services will be to the credit of the
postmaster, the public and herself
Is without question.
"Tabernacle Shadows of the Bettor
Sacrifice."
This little book is not for the or
dlnary readers, but most decidedly It
Is what every advanced Rlble Student
and earnest Christian should possess
and study thoroughly. It costs but
ten cents, Is illustrated and draws
its lessons on the higher life from
the types and shadows of Israel's
typical Atonement day and other
sacrifices. Surely every earnest
Christian should have this little book
and find in it a mine of spirtual
wealth, health and refreshment
Order it now from the Riblo and
Tract society, 17 lllcks St., llrooklyn,
N. Y.
William Gilmour, the well known
Shetland pony breeder, Is spending
tho day In the city attending to bus!
ness matters and visiting with his
many friends, driving up from his
homo in Rock Bluffs precinct this
for nl ng.
May 8.-Albert Me
morial Hall, the largest and most re
nowned auditorium In the world, hav
ing a capacity of ten thousand, was
crowded this evening to hear Pastor
Russell, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle,
New York, who delivered an address
on "HEREAFTER" under the au
spices of the "International Bible Stu
dents Association." Taking the above
text, ho said:
Mankind instinctively look for and
believe In a future life; to the majori
ty of minds it does not seem logical
that death ends nil. So surely as we
believe our Creator to lie all-wise, we
must assume that he has some pur
pose in connection with our race, not
attained as yet, something beyond the
capacity of attainment in the present
life?, under present conditions. Even
without a Divine revelation, therefore,
wo would be justified in anticipating
a life beyond the tomb, but specula
tion upon such nn important subject,
of such vital Interest, is not necessary.
We are glad that our Creator has
given us In the Riblo clear intimations
respecting his purposes, In relation to
mnnklud In the future. Nevertheless
these purposes were kept secret, not
revealed until the first advent of our
Redeemer. Thus the Apostle declares
that "Christ, brought ,life and immor
tality to light through the Gospel." It
was invisible before, not brought to
light, and its terms and conditions
could not be clearly discerned.
Without any Divine revelation, we
see a sufficiency on every hand to
cause astonishment and to call anx
iously' for explanations. We see the
world of mankind weak and depraved,
sighing, crying and dying. "Transl
tory" is written upon everything hu
man. The Scriptures assert that we
of today are living under "a reign of
sin and death," and that this dominion
has lasted for over six thousand
years. Why are these things so? Is
it not true that there is but the one
God? Is tt not true that his creatures
on tho spirit plane are perfect, that in
heaven there is neither sighing, nor
crying, nor dying? There is no reigu
of sin and death there, no hospitals,
no asylums, no jails, no penitentiaries
all is harmony, perfect, pure, in full
accord with the Almighty. Why are
conditions so different on this earth of
ours?
Because On Man Disobeyed.
The Bible alone offers us nn explnnn
tlon of tho situation. It tells us that
God created our race as pure, as per
fect, as holy, as happy as the angels,
and that he placed our first parents in
Eden, surrounded with everything
beautiful and desirable. It explains
that our fall from that perfection into
mental, moral and physical decrepi
tude came as a result of disobedience
to God. It explains that "the wages
of sin Is death," that "the soul that
slnneth, it shall die," that nil the souls
produced by Father Adam and Moth
er Eve are dying souls, in consequence
of our sln-inherltance. This is bad
enough, sad enough; and, as was in
tended, our hearts cry out after the
living God, for his mercy and eonipns
slon, thut ho would save us from death,
save us from destruction. The answer
of Divine Justice is, thut we are unfit
to live that our Creator graciously de
signs that sinners shall not be iuiuior
tal. But, hearkening, we hear a mes
sage assuring us that God has looked
down in compassion and "heard the
groaulngs of the prisoners." He fore
knew our helplessness under the relgu
of sin and death, and in his Thin made
provision for our case in advance "be
fore tho foundation of the world."
After four thousand years of this
reign of sin and death, exhibiting Dl
vine Justice without mercy, our Cre
ator revealed the wonderful features
of bis Program. He sent forth his
Son, "that he, by the grace of God,
might tasto death for every man"
not for the Elect Church merely, but
for all the families of the earth
Hence It Is written that Jesus "gave
himself a ransom for all;" and again,
that "lie Is tho propltlutloti (satlsfac
tlon) for our sins (the Church's) and
not for ours only, hut also for the sins
of the whole world." ,
So, then, the dentil penalty pro
nounced against our nee, which would
have reduced Adam and his posterity to
the hopeless condition of beasts, ns
respects eternal life, God had already
lntcuded to set aside through tho sac
rlllce of Christ. Nevertheless, he al
lowed sin nnd death to reign from
Ada to to Moses, nnd from Moses to
Christ, and from Calvary to the pros
out. lie bus contented himself with
hiving the foundation for the world
wide lilessl!!!,'. In the denlirof the Re
deemer. 11" Intends' ultimately, tho
Bible assure- ns. to offer complete do
llventiu e from sin and death, to Adam
and all of his children. The arrange
ment Is that, "since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrec
tion of the dead. For as all in Adam
die. even so all In Christ shall be
made alive. But every man in his
own order" (I Corinthians xv, 21-23).
"Doctrinet of Demons."
The truth about this matter is severe
enough; it shows forth Divine Justice,
intertwined with Divine " Mercy and
Love. We admit our present un
worthiness of life eternal and feel
grateful for proposed assistance
through Christ, but our great Adver
sary, operating through Ignorance, aud
superstition and fear, seized the op
portunlty to deceive us and misrepre
sent our Creator by bringing In what
St. Paul designated, "doctrines of
demons" (I Timothy Iv, 1). These have
been promulgated, not merely In heath
en hinds, but amongst the civilized
These false doctrines have teuded to
alienate the hearts and minds of hu
manity from God and his revelation;
they have put a barrier between God
and his creatures.
These "doctrines of demons" are pre
sented from various standpoints, but
they nre alike in one respect; namely,
they all teach that God deceived our
first parents when he told them that
the "wages of sin is death." These
"doctrines of demons" assert the con
trary, that man cannot die, but must
live somewhere to all eternity. Thus
on the basis of man's fears, this doc
trine that God thrust Immortality upon
his creatures, the demons built up for
us a theory so horrible as to be nau
seating and terrifying to every sane
and healthy mind. These "doctrines
of demons" have been promulgated far
and near, nnd with various colorings,
but In essence they nre all the same.
They have come down from the "dark
ages," represented in all our creeds,
Catholic and Protestant.
Our Catholic friends have developed
this thought to a nicety. They tell us
that of those who die, only a mere
handful are lit for heaven and go
there immediately. They tell us that
the most reprehensible class, heretical
rejectors of Divine Truth, will be sent
to a hell of eternal torture where they
will never die. They assure us, how
ever, mat tne number wno win re
ceive this extreme punishment Is small
In comparison with the race as a
whole. They tell us that the majority,
Catholics and Protestants, civilized
and heathen, are unfit for heaven nt
death, and likewise not deserving of
eternal torture, and that thus the great
mass of mankind, nine out of every
ten, go nt death to Purgatory, there to
suffer for centuries or for thousands
of years in expiation of sins, aud for
purification of their souls, that they
may be eventually fit for Heaven and
Its blessings. Our hearts rebel at such
a view of the "hereafter." While giv
lng oiff Catholic friends, and our own
forefathers who were Catholics, credit
for being as sincere as ourselves, we
conclude that the light of our day, and
the light of our Intelligence, will not
permit us to believe and rejoice in
such a view of the "hereafter" as this.
We say to ourselves, Surely the Great
God has something nobler than this in
reservation for his creatures.
Protestant Views Worse.
What shall we say of the "Here
after" from the standpoint of our
Protestant creeds? How do these com
pare with the Catholic views fore
goinghow much worse? When our
forefathers thought they had found
something erroneous in the teachings
of Pnpucy, when they concluded that
Purgatory was not to be found In the
Bible, they heroically determined to
cast It out of their creeds. But alas!
When discarding It, they did not re
alize that they were making a bad
matter worse. They held on to the
"doctrine of demons," that God had
created man so that he could not die,
and could not be destroyed, and so
they proceeded to interpret matters
along that Hue. Realizing the Scrip
turalness of the proposition that only
the Balutly were fit for heaven, and re
jecting the theory of Purgatory, they
logically consigned all except the saint
ly thereafter to eternnl torture. Alas'.
How Inconsistent It is; how strange
that we ever thought Divine tore
knowledge, Wisdom, Justices Mercy
Love and Power should have created
man to the number of thousands of
millions, with the foreknowledge and
fore-intention and desire that they
should suffer an eternity of torture
Parting of the Ways.
Thus, my dear hearers, you with my
self and others of the intelligent poo
plo of the world, find ourselves today
In a most trying position. Our hearts
have repudiated the doctrine of eter
nal torture as being un-Christ-like, un
worthy even of a devil. We can be
lleve neither in a Purgatory of centu
ries, nor in eternal torture as a conse
quence or penalty for Adam's disobedi
ence In oat ln- of the forbiddeii fruit,
nor as a penalty upon his children for
not living perfei-t lives when they
were "horn in sin and shapen In lnlqutf
ty" iitnl "i fetie to t'-t the sparks to
flv unwerd." Or.;- Iie.irts cry out for
L'nder this awakening intelligence.
thousand of noble men and women
are leavlug God's Book, aud leaving
all of the Churches to go after Theos
ophy. Christian Science, and especially
after Evolution, with its companion
teaching of Higher Critlcism-that the
Bible is thoroughly unreliable. We are
living now in a time of great falling
away from the faith; few intelligent
people any longer believe in the Bible.
Our colleges and universities and, sad
to say, our theological seminaries are
busy turning out unbelievers Infidels.
Nor are these people wicked or Immor
al in their unbelief; they are as well-
meaning as ever, but have lost their
way. They reject tho Bible because
they bulleve it to be the foundation of
the various inconsistencies in their
creeds; they are stumbling for lack of
knowledge; they cannot believe that
man's hereafter Is one of centuries of
suffering, or of eternnl suffering.
the living
lils i!.-a!!.!
the true Ih-.lit upon
Seeking the Old Paths.
The Lord, through the Trophet Jere
miah, tells his people to "Inquire for
the old paths," and this Is the appro
priate lesson for each of us. We do,
indeed, need to discard the creeds of
the past, not because they contain
nothing of truth, but because error
commingles in them to such a degree
as to make them perversions of truth
as a whole. We need to take off tho
creedal spectacles with which we have
hitherto been studying God's Word,
and come to the Bible afresh, to hear
its message. Thus coming, many of
us have been surprised as we have
found its putlty nnd consistency and
harmony with itself. We have already
intimated the Bible view of man's
death sentence, and the Bible presen
tation that Christ died for our redemp
tion, and the Bible assurance that as
a consequence, in "due time," "the
knowledge of the glory of God shall
fill the whole earth." We have also
the Bible assurance that not merely
the living will profit by the provision
of God's grace, but that "all that are
In their graves shall come forth" to
share In and to be blessed by the fa
vorable conditions which God will by
and by Inaugurate.
The Bible declares that the penalty
for sin is being experienced by hu
manity at the present time the death
penalty and that the redemption price
of Christ's death Is sullkient for the
sins of the whole world. It declares
that on account of this redemption,
ultimately tho resurrection of the dead
shall take place "all that are In their
graves shall hear the voice of the Son
of Man and come forth." It is be
cause of the Divine intention that
there shall be n resurrection of the
dead that the Bible everywhere, both
in the Old and New Testaments, speaks
of those who have died, both good and
bad, as being "asleep," and tho prom
ise is that "They that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake."
Nor will they come forth to similar .
conditions of sorrow that now sur
round us nil. On the contrary, tho
First Resurrection is to be composed
of the holy, the saintly, and they are
to be associated with their Redeemer
as his Bride and Consort, to assist in
delivering aud restoring mankind.
Later the imperfect, who have not had
their full trial, the great mass of man
kind, will be brought forth, that they
may learn the ways of righteousness,
that they may learn to know God, and
Jesus Christ, and In due time be up
lifted out of the conditions of sin and
death. Then will come the time men
tioned in our text, The Hereafter for
the world. How joyful is the mes
sage, "There shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, nor dying;
for tho former things have passed
away." Ah, how different is God's
proposition of a general uplift of the
worthy aud their assistance back to
perfection to all that was lost in
Adam. How different Is this from the
"doctrines of demons," which have
perplexed us, which have divided
the Church of Christ into numberless
sects and parties, and which have al
most driven lis from Christ and tho
Bible.
Life, Not Immortality.
Thus we see that God's provision in
Christ for mankind la that each indi
vidual member of our race may yet, if
he will, attain to everlasting life
through tho merit of Christ's sacrifice,
and through the operation of his King
dom. Each may attain to all that was
lost in Adam and redeemed at Cal
vary; namely, human perfection and
Edenlc blessedness. But additionally,
note the blessings which God has pro- (
vided for the Church a spiritual bless
ing, a change of nature. These are
called out now from amongst men,
that they "might be a kind of first
fruits unto God of bis creatures"
(James 1, 18). These ore to be a "royal
priesthood," associated with Christ,
now in the priestly work of sacrificing,
presenting their bodies living sacri
fices, holy and acceptable to God,
which is their reasonable service. And
when the sacrificing shall be finished,
they ore to be joined with Christ in
the glories of his Kingdom, nnd share
with him In the work of blessing man
kind. These nre the "elect" who, in
(Joel's provldotico. shall by and by up
lift nnd bless the non-elect. These are
the ones to whom will come the prom
ised "glory, honor and Immortality."
Our Redeemer brought to light, life
eternal for the world, and he also
brought to light Immortality for the
Church.
Let us then be glad and rejoice In
the "Hereafter" that God has provid
ed, and let us search his Word more
diligently and more carefully thau
ever, that we may know the things
which Gcd has freely given to us.
Thus we may avail ourselves of our
present privileges nnd opportunities
and by and by hear I lie Master's "Well
dvno-e:iter thou Into the joys of thy
Lord."
