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The Commoner
i VOL. 22, NO. 2
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Darwinism in the
Schools
When Mr. Bryan spoke at Lexington, Ken
tuck, recently, ho quoted from some of the text
books to show what was being taught in the
public schools. Somo of the evolutionists denied
that Darwinism was being taught. Rev. J. W.
Porter, who arranged the Bryan meeting,' an
swered the ovolutionists by presenting the fol-
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"In the early part of the last half of , the cen
tury lfilnO-T-occurred what may bo fairly called
the most Important event in the history of bi
ological, science, the publication of. Charles Dar
win,'s Origin of Species. Up to this time the
ideas of ovolut'on advanced by Buff on, Lamarck,
St. Hilairo and Erasmus Darwin had not re
ceived recognition among zoologists, to say noth
ing of the great mass of teachers, writers and
scholars. But with the Origin of Species began
a stcrm of discussion and debate out of which
there has arisen a calm and sane acceptance of
the gradual development of the various f6rms of
plant and animal life tiy a process of evolution,
Darwin' gathered such a mass of facts and mar
shaled his proofs in such a clear, logical man--ner
that the, world could not deny the' force, of
hid arguments or escape the convincing power
of his conclusions." Toxt-boplc in General ZooU
ogy, by I-Xorrick, pp. 378, 37d. (Public schools,
of Lexington). : ' l
The fallowing is the Family Tr.ee; given .by
the same author: ' ' "' ''
"Order Primates. .
"Types ;of Order.
"Lemur.'
, "Baboon. .
"Orang-outang.
"Chimpanzee.
"Gorilla.
"Man."
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General Zoology, by Herrick, p. 340.-
The Primates, the .group that includes man,
oem to have descended from primitive Insec
tivora The line of descent within the group
la probably somewhat as follows: r i'.. .
1. Egg-laying Mammals. , . . - v. ' -
2. Marsupials. ?;. $
3. Insectivores. 'i ?'.
4. Lemurs. " . '. . f
5. Old World Monkoys with Tails.
6. Anthropoid Apes. ' i
7. .Pithecanthropus An Extinct "ape-man."-
8. The Extinct Neanderthal Man.
9. Modern Man.
College Zoology, Hegner, p. 69G. (Kentucky
State University.)
"Somo fossil remains of a primate that were
found in the upper Pliocene on the island of
Java have been designated by Haeckel as 'the
last link' between the apes and man, and the
animal to which they belonged has been given
the name 'Pithecanthropus erecutus." Hegner's
Zoology, p. 666.
"No one knows when and where life origi
nated on the earth. Many of the ancients be
liever that animals were created by divine provi
dence, but this theory of special creation is not
accepted by present day zoologists." Hegner's
College Zoology, p. 12. (
"This process of developing rew species is
called evolution by variation and natural selec
tion. The ancestovs of the three-toed horses
were f onr-toed animals whose' remains are found
In the layeis of rock beneath those containing
the threetoed ones. By this process of variation
and natural selection the four-toed forms de
rived from a five-toed mammal with such a gen
eralized structure that other of its progeny de
veloped into sheep, cows and deer in accordance
with the various foods" and changing factors in
nature to which they were subjected. Thus, by
variation and natural selection numerous and
widely different kinds of animals arose." Prac
tical Zoology, Alvin Davison, p. 349, 350. (Lex
ington Public Schools.)
"These facts, cited in the preceding para
graphs together with much other information
discovered by the zoologists and geologists, lead
to the conclusion that at first there existod on
earth only a few forms of simple life similar to
the amoeba-, and from these acted on by the
rapid changes of climate, soil, water and food,
hav.e arisen all the varied forms of animal life "
Practical Zoology, Alvin Davison, p. 354.
, "The loss of man's hairy covering is evidence
of his origin in a, temperate or cold temperate
climato, where vhe found clothing necessary to
protect himself from the inclemencies of the
weather." Geology-Physical and Historical
Cleland, page 686. Kentucky State Univer
oity )
"Eoliths, the crudest of flint implements. Be
lieved to have been made by ape-man. . . . The
discovery, near Heidelberg, Germany, of a low- ,
or Jaw of a very low type in early Pleistocene
deposits said to contain eoliths, is important,
since it gives a clue to the makers of these
flints. This lower jaw is 'massive, with an es
sentially human set of teeth, its most noticeable
feature being the absence of a chin projection.
In other words, it is the jaw of an tfnthropcld
(manlike) ape with the dentition of a man. As
compared with the oldest Paleolithic skulls. . . .
A creature (Pithecanthropus erecutus) whose
fragmentary remains have been found in the -Pleistocene
deposits of Java, associated with the'
bones of extinct animals may have also been a
member of a race which made eoliths. These
remains consist of a skull cap, two molar teeth
and a diseased thigh bone and are remarkable
for their combination of ape and human char
acters. ... the teeth are human with certain
apelike characters, and the thigh bone is con
sidered to be intermediate." Geology, Physical
and Historical, pp. 675, 676.
"Darwin's theory was, in short, that species Y
did not endure unchanged, but, owing to con
stant variations, those best fitted to survive es
caped destruction in the constant struggle for
existence, and transmitted their advantageous
characteristics to their offspring. The idea that
all plants and animals, and even man himself,
had developed instead of being created in. their
present form, and that man belonged, physical
ly, to the primates' the group of animals which
includes the apes, shocked a great number of
people, and the subject began to be discussed
with no little heat and some times with much
indignation by men of science, theologians, and
the cultivated public in general A great
part of those who have received a scientific
training, accept the general theory of evolution
as confldentaly as that of universal gravitation.
. . . The cells are composed of a gelatinous
substance, to which the name of protoplasm was
given by the botanist Mohl in 1846. All life
was shown to have its beginning in this proto
plasm." Outlines of European History, Part
II, Robinson & Beard, pp. 665-667. (Public
Schools of Lexington.)
" "My reply to Dr. Porter's question as to how
I Stand on the Genesis accounts of the Creation
and the Flood, is that of course, I do not accept
those accounts as descriptive of actual events.
No biologist or geologist today with the least
regard for his scientific reputation accepts those
accounts as fact. . . . The conclusion is irre
sistible that no modern geologic catastrophic
event, such as a universal deluge would have
been, has intervened to disturb 'the orderly de
velonment and distribution of life upon the
earth." Professor of Geology, State University,
Lexinerton Herald, August 8, 1920.
"And finally we come to the question 'what
about the soul?' when does it enter in the pro
cess of evolution? This is invariably the last'
bolt of the theological objector. Darwin's ob
servation q.n this sunposed objection to evolu
tion if? appropriate here:
" 'Few people, feel any anxiety from the im
possibility of determining at what precise neriod
in the development of the individual from the
-first trace of the minute germinal vesicle, man
becomes an immortal be'ng; and there is no
greater cause for anxiety because the per'od can
not possibly be determined in the gradually as
cending organic scale.
"In the case of the origin of the soul, how
ever, we may define' the soul, and whatever
properties we assign to it, 'we have as in the
case of the orierin of any power of the bodv
ar faculties of the mind- as will, reason: coni
scienceevidently to do with the nhenomena
of growth .... in embrvoloerical development
as nroved 'emnirionllv,' that is as the result of
experiment and observation, each power of the
mind arises so gradually, that at no time can
It be said that just .before a certain moment the
power or facultv did not exist. Th's is the
mvstery of creation creation by evolution if
you Plpase. but none the less creation. It is the
principle of the 'coming in of something new,
gradually"--Professor of Geolotry, State VM
versity, in'Lexineton Herald, August 8th, 1920.
Anyone who is interested in pursuing the sub
ject can find ample .evidence in nearly all the
zoologies and biologies used in the public schools
and universities. While no one is defending
Darwinism, today, all the evolutionists rush to
the defense of Darwin whenever he is attacked
because most of them accept his hypothesis
while they reject the reasons that he gives No
one else has attempted to explain how lower or
ders of life produced man. Every evolutionist
who applies the evolutionary hypothecs to man
believes, that man, instead of being critm x.
the Almighty, has in him. the blood of thohr.it
or the blood of a lower form of life somo ?
Sieving that man branched off from the tree i
low the point at which animals appeared Som
would make the ape a collateral relative instu
of an ancestor a cousin instead of a rrandtn
The important question just now is whetw
teachers, paid by taxation, shall be permitted tn
substitute an unsupported hypothesis for th!
Bible account of creation. Shall teachers be ner
mitted to compliment your little boy by calline
him the son of an ape, or a descendent of anv
other anamil, bird, reptile, or fish? Why not let
him believe that ho is "the child of a Kinc"
created by the Heavenly Father?
J W. J. BRYAN.
AN EARNEST ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Mr. James E. Mercer, law enforcement officer
for the -southeastern states has headquarters at
Atlanta. As evidence of his earnestness he pub
lishes an appeal to the people of his part of
the country. As the matter is of nation-wide
Importance The Commoner publishes the appeal
for the benefit of. lawabiding citizens every,
where. Mr. Mercer's suggestions are as fol
lows: "Justice delayed is often Justice defeated.
"Every child of Liberty submits to the yoke
of the Law.
"Liberty exists in proportion of wholesome
restraint. ' '
. "The boot-legger and the bolshevik are in
the same cla3s.
"The only sound view of government is tbat
of law enforcement.
"If there were fewer bad lawyers there would
not be so many lynchings.
"He Who would undermine respect for the
law is an enemy of law and of orderly govern
ment. "It is the duty of faithful officials to enforce
and the part of good citizens to obey the law.
"Those charged with law enforcement must
enforce all the laws. They cannot exercise any
right of choice.
"The argument of undue abridgment of per
sonal liberty advanced today has in the past been
advanced" by every CHAMPION OF LAWLESS
NESS. "To ask or to expect laxity of law enforce
ment is to contribute to' lawlessness and destroy
the basis upon Which YOUR SECURITY RESTS.
"If our civilization ever yields to the false
doctrine of personal .liberty, it will go the way
of the nations long since passed into history.
"Lawyers who resort to sharp practices to de
lay justice discredit the judicial system of our
country. Some ethical remedy for the aggravat
ing evil should be applied.
"Reverence for the law, respect for the courts,
and support of the officers of the law, depend
largely upon those who occupy the vantage
ground of life in business and in society.
"The people of the United States by solemn con
stitutional and statutory enactment have under
taken to suppress the age-long evil of the liquor
traffic. The absolute success of the undertaking
is purely a matter of time.
"When, lawyers, bankers,-- merchants, manu
facturers, business and social leaders, both men
and women, violate the prohibition or any other
law, they are aiding the rule of anarchy and pro
moting mob violence) robbery, homicide; they
are sowing the dragon's teeth and need not be
surprised when they find that no judicial or
police authority can save' the country or human
ity from reaping the harvest."
WHY NOT TAX EXCESS PROFITS
Louisville Courier-Journal. Apropos of Secre
tary Mellon's opposition to the bonus, Hanfora
MacNider remarked the other day that the Sec
retary would do well to stop arguging and fig
ure out some way to1 raise the money to pay for
it. . ,
Mr. Mellon, who is no doubt grateful for this
definition of his duty, has done so. ,
He estimates that $300,000,000 can be raised
by
(1) taxing each automobile owner fifty cents
per -horsepower; '
(2) increasing thecost of first-class postage
from two cents to three; .
(3) putting a two-cent tax on each oani
check; ,
(4) causing the tax on tobacco to be increased
two cents a pound -and the tax on cigarettes
fifty cents per thousand; .ov
(5) inaugurating a documentary stamp tax
and increasing second-class postage.
Since Mr. Mellon figures the bonus would cost
$425,000,000 annually for the first two years,
Btill other taxable sources would have to be un
covered to make uj the deficit. ,
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