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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1900)
Conservative. world will miss him. It has need of more iiiou of his strong and standfast typo , bat the world has the satisfaction of knowing that he did a largo work aud did it well. Davenport Damoorat. LKT WKLL ENOUGH ALONE. We are told that Bryan will not do any mischief if he is elected because he will not have congress back of him ; that even if Congress should bo democratic ho couldn't control it couldn't do with it as he did with the Kansas City conven tion. Wo are told tbnt the tariff will not be disturbed and that the sound money democrats in congress will tie Bryan's hands and feet on the free silver business. If all this bo true what's the use of making any change. If Brynn can't disturb the tariff , bring about free coin age of silver , and haul down the flag in the Philippines , what's the use of going to the bother of electing him ? He doesn't really need the salary of the office , for ho makes good money de livering his lectures , and as for the honor of the position , he has had as much of that as is good for him. The election of Mr. Bryan would make the greater part of the trouble that would be inevitable long before ho assumed the office. Industry would bo chocked instantly. Distrust would re appear everywhere. People would re sume hoarding. Labor would become idle again. Nobody would build any more factories. Nobody would invest money in productive enterprises. Stag nation would be upon the country in a very little while. Until the people learned what Mr. Bryan's policy would do to establish conditions , they would hold on to their money ; that's certain. It is conceded , we believe , that Mr. Bryan doesn't pretend to be able to make times any better unless he can open the mints. But it is claimed that he will not make them any worse. But is it worth while to run the risk of his being mistaken about his prowess in this regard ? Ha was egregiously mistaken about the practicability of the tariff aud distressingly mistaken in his prophecies concerning the gold standard. Mistaken about these two important matters and being fallible he may be mistaken about not making times any worse than they are now. He might mean to help sus tain good times , but his election would so demoralize business that years would be required in which to restore it to its normal size. We are getting along tolerably well , all things considered , and whether our prosperity is dispensed by Providence or by confidence and a good government , it would be folly to make a change just for the sake of a change. It would be unwise to hazard an experiment just to gratify the ambition of a clever man to be president. Detroit Journal. ClIKISTIAN LOOTING. Wo have had occasion to refer to many of the militant expressions of ministers of the gospel as to the Chinese troubles. As a rule these expressions have favored force and bloodshed , war and its horrors , as missionary efforts , necessary to open the Orient gates to Christianity. Wo have felt , earnestly , that such a policy is antagonistic to the spirit and teach ings of Christianity. It is true that they have some warrant in Jewish history and the stories of the old Testa ment , originating when Jehovah was a tribal God , differing from other tribal gods in being greater than they. But in the teachings of Christianity the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth disappears not only , but is reprobated and superseded by a gospel based primarily upon nonresistance and teaching that evil must be requited with good. This philosophy was in the world be fore the events which fill the new testa ment and make the body of Christian doctrine had occurred. It was taught by Buddha , Confnscius and by the Roman bondman , Epictetus. The morals aud ethics and the religion of com passion , which have gentled the rude spirit of man , were early among men. Christianity revived them , spiritualized them , gave them a metaphysical basis , and made them an enduring force in the world , refined of all the dross of selfish ness and passion. As we have been taught , and today understand , this is that Christianity which has wrought out in many nations. But the spirit shown by the ordained class among us and by the missionaries in many cases is something widely different , and the nations concerned are confronted with the inquiry whether they have any function in its propaga tion. Opposed By ChalTeo. The Associated Press announces that the American general , Chaffee , is opposed to the outrages and the looting at Tientsin and Peking , saying he "could not have believed that any city would ever be given over so completely to looters , " and he earnestly desired the co-operation of any nation to prevent this. That is the feeling aud opinion of a soldier and man of war. The same dispatch says : "On the other hand , the missionaries complain because the sacred city has not been looted also. " Now , the sacred city is the inner one of the series of cities of which Peking is composed. It is the holy of holies. It is to them more than the threshing floor of Oman , the Jebusite , was to the Jews. They believe that it is under super natural guard. It is piled high with treasure. The missionaries , unlike the soldier , want it looted. They want its treasure for the spoil of the Christian. They are promoters of an act repugnant 3 . . - * ' \ ? " * * fl * ' 'V e tf' to the laws of war , offensive to the true soldier , revolting to morals , aud they are the teachers of Christianity to the heathen ! Surely it is time to rewrite the Sermon on the Mount , that it may not rebuke those who profess Him that preached it. Lot it read : "Blessed are the numorcifnl , for they shall obtain mercy. " "Blessed are the strife-makers for they shall bo called the children of God. "Therefore , if thou bring thy gift to the altar , and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee , leave then thy gift before the altar , go thy way , first smite thy brother , bruise him from crown to sole , take from him purse and script , and then come and offer thy gift. "Ye have heard that it hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth , but I say unto you resist evil with evil , and whosoever shall smite thee on the right oheek smite thou him also. "I say unto you hate your enemies , curse them that curse yon , do evil to them that hate you. "Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should not do unto yon , do then unto others. " The beautitudes must be reversed to fit the cult of the missionaries. Chapters of the Koran must be transplanted into the New Testament , and the religion of mercy and compassion , represented by the beaming face of the Madonna , must be transformed to one that forgives not its enemies , that loots and murders , and the goddess Bellona must be placed in its temples to typify its spirit. Americans Did Not Join. The authentic reports from China not from Chinese but American sources , and from soldiers at that confirm the news of the awful outrages committed by the sacramental armies of the Christian nations. To the honor of our service , Americans have had no part in these crimes. The Buddhist warriors of Japan have also acquitted themselves with conspicuous honor in the same matter. General Fukushima , the mikado's field marshal in command in China , has reported to General Chaff ee the most sickening and appalling out rages , crimes unspeakable , bestial and beyond belief , committed upon hundreds of helpless Chinese women by the anointed troopers of the Czar. Cleaving and quartering the deflowered bodies of these poor creatures has been the sport of the soldiery. And the missionaries stand crying , "To that add the loot of the' sacred city ! " They rebuke our high hearted Ohaffee , when he appeals to any nation represented there by soldiers to join him in ending the crimson carnival , and only Japan responds 1 It is our fear that these things foretell the downfall of what has been called and practiced as Christianity. The theory of Christianity does not appear