Golden Age, July 5, 1922

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Golden Age

A ' JOUR.NAL- OF - FACT HOPE-AN D-CON VJCll ON

July 5, 1922, Vol. Ill, No. T9

Published every other week at 18 Concord Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.

Five Cent* a Copy—f 1.00 a Yea* Canada and Foreign Countriea, *1.M

Volume 3 WEDNESDAY, JULY B, 1922 Number 73

CONTENTS of the GOLDEN AGE

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL •

Clever Roman Propaganda 617 Rewriting Earth’s Litera-The Hall of Fame ....... 627 ture ..................................628

1 About Santa Claus ............628 Let Us Be True to All ....629

FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION

German Financial Condi

tions ............ Oli

Economic and Financial

Chaos _____________.___________...61.1

Sale of German Credit ....612

The German Budget ..........612

Pumping the Well Dry ....613

Revenge vs. Common Smuse 613

Fiat Money and Pillage 614

Credit and Trade Languishing

An Unspeakable Catastrophe Impending

The Business Situation ....616

Monopolistic Monologue ijrnemj

Regulation of Values

POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

Violating Three Constitutions .......................................

Land Grants to Veterans ......... -.....................-

How about It, Air. Haiti?

AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY

The Busy Bee ...................................

SCIENCE AND INVENTION

A Theory of the Formation of Our Earth

HOME AND HEALTH

Iridiagoosis .................................... ~....................

Biochemic Preparations

Correction of food Items

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Divine vs. Satanic Law ....631

Evolution and the Universe ......................

God’s Golden Age ...

"All the World’s a Stage” 635

What Is Liberty? .

"Pathos”— Past, Present, Future ..........

Kaines of the Patriarchs 638

Studies in the "Harp of

God” .....................

Published erery other Wednesday at 18 Concord Street, Brooklyn. N. Y., . . . ' . U. S. A. by WOODWORTH, HUDGTNGS and MABTIN CLAYTON J. WOODWORTH.......Editor

ROBERT .]. MARTIN .... Business Manager WM. F. HVDGINGS ...... Bec’y and Trew. Copartners and proprietors., Addresa: 18 Concarij Street, Brooklyn, N. Y......IL S. A

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Jr Golden Age

>;■ Volume III Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, July 5, 1922 Number 73

German Financial Conditions By Robert f. Grosseii (u. s. Treasury)

T^HE Governments of Europe have not only & . -A- been wrenched in some respects from their p old moorings by the war, but the peoples them-| selves have passed through a like experience, in f some countries to a greater, in others to a lesser, degree. Social unrest is widespread, and while & j the hideous specter of Bolshevism has faded fe- "somewhat, it is questionable whether it is not h merely in a state of temporary quiescence. Indated, and hence depreciated, currencies coup> led with general unemployment due largely to ?; depression in international trade have resulted in creating much dissatisfact’on with conditions | as they now exist. It is believed by some of the f best minds of the world that a new understand-:sr ing must be reached between nations that will put a damper, on military expenditures and stimulate international trade. The depressed . conditions in trade — which are world-wide — “ are due primarily to the exhaustion of buying i power, without which trade cannot thrive. And A a factor of prime importance, and incident to » the exhaustion of buying power, is the break-j^ down of foreign exchange, so that the regular ’■ medium, or vehicle, by which nations traded 1 with each other is to a certain extent useless.

EUROPE DISRUPTED

The scars of Europe and the disrupted relationships, economic and otherwise, which the World War brought about, and the far-reaching shock of which has prostrated the nations, can be healed and adjusted only by the milk of human kindness—a sincere feeling of good will and active desire for cooperation. President Harding in the opening address of the Conference on Limitation of Armament on November 12, 1921, struck this chord when he stated:

“Gentlemen of the Conference, the United States wel-^nes you with unselfish hands. We harbor no fears; we have no sordid ends to serve; we suspect no enemy; we contemplate or apprehend no conquest. Content with what we have, we seek nothing which is anotbr’s. We only wish to do with you that finer, nobler thh.g which no nation can do alone.”

It is a well-established statement of political economy that the welfare of any one country concerns the destiny of all other countries; and until an active spirit of cooperation has been aroused and put into effect, there cannot be expected an improvement in the affairs of the world. Especially is this true in this day of the world’s history, when the nations have been so thoroughly linked together in a community of interests by the telegraph, radio, cable, telephone, railway and steamship lines.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CHAOS

A significant statement appeared in the Chicago Tribune under date of November 29, 1921, as follows: •

“In Europe is economic and financial chaos. Unless something is promptly done to avert this disaster which approaches with constantly increasing rapidity, it will spread from one country to another, until we are involved in the maelstrom.”

Where suspicions are harbored there can be little or no cooperation; and it is true with na-' tions, as with individuals, that where a nation is in a defensive attitude it is laying itself open to many troubles and often discerns specters which do not exist. It is feared that it is only “the leaves which are for the healing of the nations” [Revelation 22: 2] which will be*effective in remedying the sick condition in which Europe now finds herself.

In the Pittsburgh Dispatch the following statement appeared:

“The disruption of economic Europe ordered by the conference of Versailles, which treated central Europe as a patchwork of political pawn, disregarding its eco-

nomic unity and necessities, has defied all political or military efforts to remedy it. It has been a ease of ‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men’ being unable ‘to set Humpty Dumpty up again.’ As America's onetime leading financier once said: ’You can’t unscramble eggs’.”

It has been estimated that two days’ work a week is sufficient to supply the needs of the people of the United States at the present time. This being true, the remaining four work days of our factories should be devoted to production for foreign business, were it not for the fact that our foreign trade has been largely suspended.

The German Foreign Minister recently said that the more Germany works, the more other nations must cease working ; and the statement was of sufficient importance to cause the rest of the world to pause and think. He also stated that in Great Britain and the United States, the two greatest industrial nations, there were, in the one three million, and in the other six million workers out of employment, while in Germany there are less idle than ever before.

SALE OF GERMAN CREDIT

Germany has no money with which to satisfy the Reparation demands, and in order to meet the first payments she was obliged to sell her credit. It appears that the low-water point has been reached, as evidenced by the low price of the mark—descending to about a third of a cent. The payment of one billion gold marks ($238,200,000, in United States money) on Reparations account was done only by drawing heavily upon the Reichsbank (Bank of the Empire). As a factor in this payment, a large amount of the silver, which the bank has held in a special account since the demonetization of silver in Germany, was used to establish credit balances in New York, where it brought about 50,000,000 gold marks ($11,910,000), and also it was necessary to draw upon the gold reserve of the hank to the amount of almost 68,000,000 gold marks. This reduced the holdings of the Reichsbank so that the reserve stood on August 31, 1921, at 1^023,708,000 gold marks ($243,847,245.60). This drawing upon the resources of the Reichsbank Was necessary, in spite of the fact that the Government had been makingevery effort to increase its stock of gold for some time before the payments became due, by buying through the Reichsbank and the postoffices, gold coin and

gold by weight at special prices, corresponding roughly to the value of the paper mark in wor^ markets. . '

In addition to the payment of one billion gold^* marks as indicated above, Germany has up to i April 30, 1921, made payments on Reparations ' account amounting to 4,554,792,000 gold marks. This covers the period November 11, 1918, to April 30, 1921, and is divided as follows:

MARKS

Payments in cash ........................ 93,334,000

Deliveries in kind:

Ships ........................................... 276,331,000

Coal .............. ;___________________________________ 437,160,000 ;

Dyestuffs .................................. 36,823,000'

Other deliveries .......................................................... 957,040,000

Immovable property and other assets ............2,754,104,000

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________,

total----------------------------4,554,792,000''’,

On January 15, 1922, a quarterly payment of 500,000,000 gold marks was due; and if the*-.terms of the Wiesbaden agreement were CKt-ried out, it was seen that a large part of that payment would be made in the form of goods. : This agreement, which was concluded early in October by the French and German Ministers for Reconstruction, provides that Gerihariy shall supply France with goods up to a value ' of 7,000,000,000 gold marks during the next four ; and a half years.

THE GERMAN BUDGET

One of the perplexing problems before the German Government is that of increasing taxes in order to meet ordinary Government expend-. itures and payments on Reparations account. In' July, 1921, Dr. Wirth, the Chancellor,'put be-’ fore the Reichstag the Government’s proposals for certain taxes to meet ordinary Government expenditures. Estimates for the year were increased since the budget was first presented. German Government expenditures estimates for the fiscal year 1921 were as follows: ; .

MARKS ;

Ordinary budget ............................... 48,459,000,000

Extraordinary budget: .. ...

Railway deficit ...................... 14,368,000,000

Post and telegraph deficit 4,515,000,000

Other extraordinary expenditures__ 40,797,000,000

The'•extraordinary budget contained the lowing items to be paid on Reparations accoun

., MAKES

For delivery of living animals 3,000,000,000 ^Compensation for delivery of ships -........- 1,500,000,000

.Value of Rys. in former German territory 1,500,000,000 Sundry Reparations payments -------- 8,600,000,000

. . ' total..................... 14,600,000,000

This does not include, however, the amount ? of two billion gold marks due this year, nor the equivalent of twenty-six percent of the export ’ trade, two sums which will total, it lias been . estimated, 42,000,000,000 to 53,000,000,000 paper ' marks.

i The amount of available revenues with which ' the Government will have to meet expenditures ‘ has been placed at 58,959,000,000 marks, which : leaves a deficit of 49,180,000,000 marks, not including the amount of two billion gold marks and the twenty-six percent trade tax. The deficit in the budget is being taken care of by discounting Treasury bills through the Reichs-bank. On May 31, 1921, the floating debt was j 199,000,000,000 marks, and the funded debt was 78,350,000,000 on the same date, making the total debt of Germany to be 277,350,000,000 marks (about 69 billion dollars).

PUMPING THE WELL DRY

The .only way Germany can satisfy the Repa-s .rations demands is by intensive production, but v; for this she lacks raw material, which has to ' be purchased in foreign lands. For these needs she lacks the ability to pay, except in credits, ' which sometimes cannot be accepted because of the risk involved.

In order to lighten the load that Germany has to carry with respect to meeting payments in -~—gold, France has entered into an agreement with Germany covering a period of five years. This ■ agreement covers the delivery of manufactured goods to the amount of seven billion gold marks ($1,667,400,000). The amount delivered by Germany will depend upon the wishes of theFrench, as the agreement does not require them to order goods from Germany. Up to 1926 the Germans ' will be credited by the Reparations Commission with at least thirty-five percent of the goods de- livered each year, provided that the amount to be credited in any year does not exceed one billion gold marks. From 1926 to 1936 the amount credited each year is not to exceed the amount . of Reparations payments due France. These deliveries of goods for the payment of Reparations debt will greatly simplify the task before the leaders of Germany. With respect to the delivery of goods the question now is, not how much Germany can pay but how much the Allies can afford to accept.

The London Daily Chronicle states that,

“In France, the Government has estimated a budget deficit in 1922 of 1,625,000,000 francs, and France relies largely on German reparations payments to make good this huge deficit. If the German mark becomes practically worthless, then the value of the German indemnity payments would disappear. The possibility of French bankruptcy might then loom on the horizon.”

Already France has floated some large loans, the funds of which were for the restoration of the devastated regions. These loans were based on German Reparations payments. Should such Reparations payments fail to materialize it is easy to foresee where France financially would face disaster, as the gross debt is already at a ruinous figure.

The French Government contemplated an expenditure for the year 1921 amounting to 42,412,000,000 francs, as contrasted with receipts of 23,312,000,000 francs, thus having a deficit of about 19,000,000,000 francs to be procured by the flotation of loans. Of this deficit about 16,000,000,000 francs were regarded as eventually recoverable from Germany under the terms of the peace treaty. During the first half of the year 1921 the total public debt of France rose from 245,000,000,000 francs to 264,000,000,000 francs (approximately $52,000,000,000, computed at the standard value of the gold franc).

REVENGE VS. COMMON SENSE

The Philadelphia Public Ledger, in making some terse remarks concerning the growing tangle that has enmeshed France and England states the following: . '

“At Versailles France wanted revenge and reparations. England was fearful of a policy of revenge. It might bring new wars. Clemenceau wanted both revenge and reparations, to eat the German cake and have it. He had his way at the time.

“France backed Poland against Russia—and heaven knows Poland needed backing. England was of the opinion that Poland had loosed the red avalanche on herself by letting her white eagles soar toward Moscow.

“Then came Upper Silesia. France standing with Poland, while England was disposed to see reason in some of the German claims. When Germany stubbornly failed to do anything about reparations, the French were ready to march on Berlin, if need be; but the Eng-*

fish held back. There were other balances than trade balances in the back of the British mind. ‘

“It was and is the same in the Near East, where England, guarding the Suez gate and fearful of a Mohammedan mixed politico-holy war, has wished the Greeks Godspeed in their attempts to chase the Turk back into his deep Asiatic homelands. France has leaned Turk-ward, has made the treaty of Angora, is getting out of Cilicia, and is burning incense to the beard of Mohammed.

“England is fearful of a, dominant France on the continent. Right now France is dominant there. Whether it numbers 600,000 or 800,000, the French army is the best and biggest military machine in the •world today.” .

The maintenance of such a large military force means large expenditures, which with the obligations growing out of . the public debt, together with those funds being devoted to restoration work, makes the current budget far exceed the receipts, a condition of things that cannot long continue. To bridge the chasm between expenditures and receipts most of the European countries have been keeping the "printing presses going printing fiat money, with the result that with the exception of Switzerland Europe today is deluged with a sea of paper money. A day of reckoning must come.

Recent accounts in the papers describing the mobbing of leading hotels in Vienna, in which the people took nearly everything they could lay their hands on, read strangely like the description of disorder as given in the following paragraph of similar happenings in the year 1793 in France:

FIAT MONEY AND PILLAGE

“The washerwomen of Paris, finding soap so dear that they could hardly purchase it, insisted that all merchants who were endeavoring to save something of their little property by refusing to sell their goods for the wretched currency with which France was flooded, should be punished with death; the women of the markets and the hangers-on of the Jacobin Club called loudly for a law To equalize the value of paper money and silver coin.’ It was also demanded that a tax be laid especially on the rich, to the amount of four hundred million francs, to buy bread. Marat declared loudly that the people, by hanging shopkeepers and plundering stores, could easily remove the trouble. The result was that on the 28th of February, 1793, at eight o’clock in the evening, a mob of men and women disguised began plundering the stores and shops of Paris. At first they demanded only bread; soon they insisted on coffee and rice and sugar; at last they seized everything on which

they could lay their hands—cloth, clothing, groceries, -and luxuries of every kind. Two hundred such places were plundered. This was endured for six hours and — finally order was restored only by a grant of seven mil-* lion francs to buy off the mob.” ■»

At last the amount of paper money outstand- .. ing was 40,000,000,000 assignats, by which time it had sunk so low in value that no effort was ever made to redeem it. It was simply abandoned as worthless.

Part of the depreciation of the mark is attributed by officials of the German Government ■ to speculation in exchange, and it is planned to introduce as one of its new tax measures a bill t taxing every exchange transaction. The decline in the foreign exchange value of the mark has ■ made the whole German population want to pos- -sess goods rather than marks. According to 1 cable dispatches retailers’ stocks have been al- ; most completely exhausted by the excited buying. - \

Foreign trade figures for September show that the unfavorable balance in Germany’s foreign commerce increased during the summer of 1921. For the five months, May to September, -inclusive, the adverse trade balance was 9,147,000,000 paper marks. One reason that the value . ?. of the import trade exceeds that of the export trade is the disparity between German prices and those of the rest of the world. The Germans ' are selling cheap and buying dear, and the dif- . ference between prices at home expressed in -terms of marks increased during the summer ■; and fall. - ;

In order to augment the domestic stocks of grain Germany made heavy importations of grain in August, amounting to nearly fifteen million bushels of wheat. When the inflated < mark met the unusual volume of foreign bills ‘ the mark naturally fell. With the fall of the : mark imports were checked, exports increased.

CREDIT AND TRADE LANGUISHING

Negotiations of the Government to raise a ; loan to meet Reparations payments have been under way with German Industrials, but so far have' not been effective, while the effort to raise; ; a loan in London has failed. ;

In the second week in November, 1921, the . ; Reparations Commission went to Berlin to investigate the situation there at first hand.The outcome of the visit was a telegram sent to Ber- ' lin on December 2, 1921, urgently requesting .<

the German Government to give its full attention to the steps immediately necessary to in-*^sure payments of the January and February installments due on Reparations account. The telegram emphasized the fact that the Reparations Commission is persuaded that the difficulties encountered by the German Government—difficulties Avhich are closely connected with the fall of mark exchange—are of a financial rather than an economic character and are in a great measure due to the failure of the German Government to balance its budget.

In the case of Germany it is difficult to estimate the total amount of Government expendi-’ tures. No budget was voted by the Reichstag - for 1921-1922, and the Government continues to cover the difference between receipts and expenditures by discounting Treasury bills with the Reichsbank. For the first six months of the fiscal year, beginning April 1, 1921, the difference between income and outgo has amounted to 44,000,000,000 marks; and, in a recent speech before the Reichstag, Hermes, the Minister of Finance, estimated that before the year was over the deficit would reach 110,000,000,000 marks (approximately $27,000,000,000, if based on the value of the gold mark).

Developments are making it clear that the economic recovery of Europe awaits the restoration of foreign trade; and the improvement of foreign trade involves two factors—a rectification of currency and exchange conditions between countries, and improvements in budgetary condtions. The Financial Conference held at Brussels reached the conclusion that foreign exchange stabilization and rectification must be considered almost out of the question in the absence of better budget arrangements. The conclusions then reached (in the autumn of 1920) are even more pertinent at the present time. During the year a large amount of national revenue in most countries has continued to be devoted to the development of armaments, thereby preventing the various governments from restoring their budgets to equilibrium and compelling them to rely largely upon short-term borrowing in the effort to meet current expenditures.

In view of these conditions it can readily be seen that an effective reduction in naval outlay, if carried through to success, would result in a marked betterment at the present time, while a ^reduction in military outlay would probably

furnish in some countries an even more important means of balancing their budgets.

AN UNSPEAKABLE CATASTROPHE IMPENDING

As to Great Britain’s attitude on reparations and the present condition of the German Government the following from a recent speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer is of interest:

“The collapse of Germany, if that were unfortunately to be caused by any action on the part of the Allies, would be a misfortune, not only for Germany, but for Europe and for the world. What are we suffering from today? Among other things, perhaps, and more than any other things, we are suffering because there are so many derelict countries in Europe, at the present time. Austria and Russia, which used to be our customers, are no longer able to purchase our goods; and to that cause you can attribute a certain amount of the unemployment and depression which exist among us at the present time. But suppose you added to those countries a broken Germany. The catastrophe would be unspeakable. It would be disaster not only from the economic point of view, but no man could foretell what its reverberations would be in the political sphere. What then if we were to put pressure upon Germany? Well, she might be able to pay or she might not; and that is the question, the immediate question, which has got to be inquired into.

“But, if concessions are to be made, there are some things which first ought to be observed. Germany, as a whole, is saying that she cannot pay Reparations which she is under obligations to perform, but she is doing several things which act against the possibility of her meeting her obligations. Let me take one or two examples. She is subsidizing the price of bread in Germany. That is done at the expense of the taxpayer. It makes a deficit in the revenue of the State, but its effect in Germany itself is this: The industrialist employer is able to buy his labor at a cheaper wage because of the subsidy to bread which is given by the State.

“In another direction also she subsidizes the employer. The railways which are operated by the State are run at a loss. I think in the last quarter it amounted to something like 15,000,000 pounds sterling. That creates another tap in the State’s budget, and it enables the industrialist to get his goods carried at a cheaper rate than he ought to obtain. Coal is being sold today in Germany at about half the price which is paid for coal anywhere else in the world. That is another form of State subsidy; and therefore while the German State . itself is paying ont money from the pockets of the taxpayers, there are certain individuals at least in Germany who are growing wealthier by reason of the. subsidies which are granted by the State.

“If we are to forego our just rights in relation to German Reparations, even for a period, which I do not think we ought to decide to do, but if we are, one thing

Is plain: Germany must get rid of those subsidies in order to put herself in a position to perform her proper obligations to the people to whom she is indebted. One more thing, she must make her taxation yield revenue which will meet her expenditure; within some period to be fixed she must cease to print paper marks in order to meet Jier deficit.”

German inventive genius is now at work trying to solve some of the perplexing problems that have arisen as a result of the loss by Germany of some of what was once valuable territory in that it produced those commodities which ministered to her industrial life, and some of the problems seem to be on a fair ways toward solution.

The German character in endowed with a spirit of perseverance and is possessed of an amount of egotism that is monumental; but whether or not the nation will be able to carry the burdens and meet the problems that now confront it is problematical.

■-1

The Business Situation

TT IS a well-known fact that periods of depression and stagnation have followed the great wars of the last' century, owing to the disorganization of the affairs of the various nations, made complex through the ever-increasing community of interest between them and accelerated by the growth of knowledge and communication in these last days. It is not a surprise that a normal setback should take place today, as after the wars of 1812 and 1861.

However, the situation today is not only much more'complex, but beyond normal. The situation is appallingly abnormal and commands attention.

AN IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION

Europe is virtually bankrupt through the multiplied debts of previous conflicts, especially the last; and the value of money is so far out of proportion to that of the United States that to deal with us requires much advancement of credit on our part until they are better off financially, the scaling down of wages in this country to compare with those of Europe (an impossible task) or by raising the tariff rate sufficiently to cover the difference between the ratio of wages and the medium of exchange (and this is possible although suicidal for America so far as exporting her goods is concerned). Manufacturers must close down until this is righted if for no other reason; and this moans starvation, famine, suffering.

On the other hand we have the capitalists of America and Great Britain conspiring to crush labor and to place the workmen on the plane of slaves, thus causing much discontent and slowing down of effort as well as obstinate evasion of work.

By J. II. L. Tralttfelter :

, >.■

Mechanical devices have increased in kind 5 and volume during the last forty years to such extent that the use of human labor is largely dispensed with.

Trading must necessarily be reduced through ’ the needed economies at home due to the ever- ( mounting cost of living, despite the promised _ reduction through the introduction of machin- y ery. The chief reason for this is the capitalization of property and inventions beyond their U real value. All indebtedness demands interest • < and interest means that more profit must be made. •

STOCK ISSUES INCREASE COSTS . '

Rightly so, that law prohibits the issuance of -stock for less than its par value in property or cash. But there are' no less than three different ‘ methods to evade it: (1) By issuing stock for -overvalued property, (2) by stock dividends ( where an equivalent value in property has not ’ been accumulated and (3) by consolidations under statutes whereby good-will is capitalized. i The common method is to issue the stock in ex- ' cess of the value of the property and by agreement to contribute a percentage equal to the excess valuation back into the treasury, to be ■ sold at the price the market will bring.

The best illustration of this ever-growing tax in profits under the name of interest is. given ;

by the tax methods of the city of Baltimore and ~

possibly other cities, where the assessment is * increased but the tax kept constant to compare favorably with others. Whether you increase the tax rate (the interest) or the base (the capital), the result will be to add to the amount extracted for tax. The debts of the industries of ... the country have reached a pinnacle so far as thtt^k

/' profits exactedfrojuthepeople in thesaleof goods to pay the interest to sustain them is the measure k to come from profits. The margin between the earnings of the laboring classes and the cost of living is now in favor of the cost of living. Surely the promoting game was great while it lasted. T Lack of faith on the part of man in God and t'. His Word, superinduced by the anti- and un-

p „ scriptural teachings of a reprobate clergy has

weakened faith in man—and every one knows v " that business is conducted largely on faith and

| confidence in men. The getting down to a cash

* basis without a medium of exchange sufficient * in volume operates to stifle the free course of ' . such transactions. One case in mind is the situ

* ation in South America. Opportunities are present for shipments there if America will accept ninety-day trade acceptances or instruments of indebtedness of these countries. The

' business man says :“No cash—no business.”

* ■ The fanatical efforts of the religious reform-

i ers to put the country into a straight jacket has no doubt contributed toward making business rv • men timid over investments in such lines as are fv _ assailed.

The soothing, palliative doctrine of optimism x was injected into the minds of men to blind ' them to the result of policies and practices giv-‘ ing them a shallow exuberance of feeling, en-r- thusiasm, and hope as a substitute for the sound , logic of cold facts. Under its delusive sway the course followed is not considered so long as everybody is bubbling over with optimism. This theory has exploded.

BAD PROSPECTS

To build a foundation for future prosperity for all men, society must be lifted up to a condition of faith in God and man, present capitalized indebtedness must be scaled down and thereby interest reduced (the boon of the nonproductive and the burden of the productive), to a point comparing with the real value of the property represented. This will in turn prepare the way for the laboring man to share in the benefits of the labor-saving machinery by the reduction of the number of hours worked. Much of the European indebtedness must be cancelled in order that foreign credit may rise, and likewise the rate of exchange. To do all this would mean a great loss to those in power and control. To change a religious fanatic is impossible. Certainly the prospect for the immediate future in business is gloomy when the false spirit of optimism is ignored and reason is cop-suited.

Is it not possible that these conditions are those described by the prophet Zechariah (8: 10) when he said that ‘^before those days there was neither hire for man, nor for beast,” and by the prophet Isaiah (35: 8) who declared that “the wayfaring man ceaseth,” as a prelude to the clash of forces ending the present age and introducing the new? Can we not picture in our minds the exercise of the power among those in control in the dispensing of the few jobs remaining for the benefit of their allies as is indicated in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation ?

Clever Roman Propaganda By Clarence Brittin

j. 1' AM employed as a movie operator: and it X has just come to my attention that my employer, who is a Catholic, has been inserting a ' ' small advertisement in a small public-school

i . paper which states that this slip and 5 cents

* will admit one to a show on Saturday afternoon. * Regular admission for children is eleven cents.

The Saturday feature picture was very favor-G. able to the Catholic faith, extolling the virtues * of the priests, and showing great reverence for them. I am wondering if this is not a scheme . to inoculate the Protestant public school chil-- dren with Papal doctrines and practices and vir-

; tues. The offer applies only to children under

1'V ' twelve years of age.

I am also wondering whether the church is paying the difference in admission price, according to the number of slips turned in. I do not suppose they would try this scheme with any managers except bonafide Roman Catholics. Big business and the churches seem to be using the movies for all they are worth, lately, doping the common people with spurious religion and other false teachings.

It seems to be parallel with the time preceding the French Revolution, when the people were filled full of false religion, which only tended to make them the more bitter when the time came to spew it out. -

Violating Three Constitutions By Chas. Henry East

asm?

Benjamin Franklin, in his “Autobiography,” writing of his ancestors, has this to say: “This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and continued Protestants through the reign of Queen Mary, when they were sometimes in danger of trouble, on account of their zeal against popery. They had got an English Bibl^ and to conceal and secure it, it was fastened open with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great-grandfather read it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the apparitor coming, who was an officer of the spiritual court. In that case the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before.” -

THREE PROVISIONS FOR LIBERTY

Many such occurrences were doubtless fresh in the memory of our forefathers who wrote the Constitution of the United States; and they, realizing that the spirit of intolerance would live on, embodied in that Constitution the following clause:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Our forefathers here in Virginia, realizing the wisdom of this, and knowing themselves of the intolerance which preceded the birth of our nation, embodied in the Constitution of this state, on June 13, 1776, a like clause, and this clause was again stamped with approval in 1902. The exact wording of this passage in the Virginia Constitution reads:

“That religion, or the duty which we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is a mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love and charity towards each other.”

There is yet one other Constitution to which I wish to refer. I have not a copy handy, therefore, I cannot quote; but I can state with certainty that one clause of this Constitution binds those who are under it to support the United States Constitution. The Constitution to which I have reference is that of the American Legion.

Two things cause me to recall the' incident which I shall relate: (1).It is the second anniversary of my life in the truth; and (2) the reading of Franklin’s “Autobiography,” quoted ' above, coupled with the fact that these same city . officials of Roanoke are up for reelection.

VIOLATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONS

All Bible Students will recall, how, in spite of National and State Constitutions, they were . compelled for a period of years to keep their ' “Scripture Studies” under a “joint-stool.” This, however, was only a part of the religious in- ' tolerance of our city which led to the following " unlawful act, perpetrated under disguise of “law and order.” Bible Students know, too, that nothing ever “happens,” to Bible Students, and . they will understand why such things occur. \

Mr. A. H. Macmillan, of Nova Scotia, was scheduled to deliver the lecture, “Millions Now •' Living Will Never Die,” at the National Business College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America. The meeting had been well advertised and quite a crowd turned out to hear him. “Then,” if I may borrow a phrase much in i use that day, “the fun began.” Before Mr. Mac- ’ milhin could enter the hall, he was grrested by an officer. This officer had no warrant; but Mr. Macmillan went quietly with him anyway, not desiring to violate the law in the slightest de- . gree. He was carried to the jail and locked up, though no charge was made against him, and ' though he repeatedly inquired to know the charge. He was held for several hours and then released to catch a train for New York; but no “

warrant was ever issued, nor a charge of any

kind lodged against him. After he had been

taken to the jail, the contents of his suit-case

were emptied upon the floor in an endeavor to find “something,” I know not what. The address ' , that Mr. Macmillan was to deliver was made at the same hall on the following Sunday by another speaker. True, Mr. Macmillan might have gotten redress to some extent in the courts; but . for some reason that his persecutors perhaps cannot yet understand, he did not resort to such methods.

I think, however, that I could enlighten them on the subject; for instance, when Peter, coming to the Lord’s defense after Judas had be- d trayed Him, cut off the ear of one of the enemy, the Lord reproved him, saying, “Put up again ■ > thy sword into his place: for all they that take

i - ' x J the sword shall perish with the sword.” (Matthew 26: 52) Again, "And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a» testimony against them.” (Luke 9:5) There are-many other instances also which Mr. Macmillan perhaps thought of; for the conditions in Christ’s day were very much the same as today.

SHEEHAN OF THE LEGION

Mr. Macmillan was arrested on complaint of one Timothy Sheehan, a Norfolk and Western Railway machinist, whose brother I understand is. City Councilman Sheehan. Timothy Sheehan was also a member of the American Legion; and the “fun” was pulled off, it is alleged, in the name of the Legion. There are five members of our Council, three of whom are, the Mayor, W. W. Boxley (who gave the orders in the case of the arrest of Mr. Macmillan); R. H. Angell; and Sheehan, whose initials I do not know. I had never known the Mayor to act on his own initiative before; so when he made this move at the request of the Legion without even consulting Mr. Angell, he must have felt quite shaky. Whenever there is a speech to be made or anything of importance to be done, it is usually done by Mr. Angell, who acts as his logos, so to speak; and anyone may see that in this case he violated two Constitutions, while the Legion participants violated three. We see also that they were the real violators of the law.

the but for

■ The writer was not then a member of International Bible Students Association, I date my age from that day. I had felt sometime that there was a Protestant-Catholic combine in the politics of our city; and when the Mayor acted thus, I knew instinctively that there was merit in the thing he was fighting. Therefore I-immediately set out to find what I could concerning the matter—I was then an infidel product of the churches. Their different creeds and doctrines were such a jumbled, tangled web that I had long since thrown them over along with the Bible. I saw, too, that none of the men with whom I came in contact- believed the things taught; but as stated, I realized that here indeed must be something meritorious, so . I procured the Seven Volumes of “Scripture Studies,” and as would be the case with almost all rational-minded people, I found that here was truth! Here was Bible harmony! The Bible became a new book to me, and ever since, I have been daily feasting on its wonders ;_and since readjusting my telescope, I accept it all— from the first line of. Genesis One to the first line of Apocalypse Twenty-Three.

TWENTIETH-CENTURY intolerance V

Now, what does all this show to us? To me, it illustrates two things very positively: (1) It illustrates the fact that nothing ever “happens” to the I,ord’s people, and that religious intolerance has the same effect today, that it had in Reformation days; (2) it illustrates the fact that right on up to the time when the Stone, mentioned in Daniel 2: 34, shall have finished its crushing work, zealous Bible Students are going to study and expound the Scriptures, while the liberty haters and religions bigots are going to try to prevent it. .

This article would not be complete, did I not compliment you on your articles, “Go To Church, Thou Fool,” which tille, I understand was taken from The Banner-Herald of Athens, Georgia, and was a slogan adopted by ten- of the principal churches of that city. This reminds me that even as far back as Franklin’s day the “Protestants” had begun to slip back into the outstretched arms of the mother, church; for, while Franklin advised his daugh- ■' ter to go to church, I fed certain that it was simply because there was no I. B. S. A. class for her to attend. Here is what he said to her: “I do not mean to say that you should despise sermons of preachers you do not like; for the discourse is often very much better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth.” .'

ERRATA — G. A. Number 68

Page 464, paragraph 2, line 14, should read: “islands.” Page 467, paragraph 2, line 2, should read: “Kagoshima.

Page 468, paragraph 1, many centuries, reaching its apogee (or zenith). ------» under the Sung dynasty.”

line 22, should read: "with their cannon;

Page 466, paragraph 3, lines 4 and 5, should read: "Its civilization slowly developed, during

Land Grants to Veterans By John Buckley

Me. Sherman Rogers, in an interview to the Boston Post, favors land grants in lieu of a borius to soldiers. The idea is not new; and, I believe, veterans of the Mexican War were given such grants when they applied for them. Where is this land to be found, and what will be its value? As long ago as 1876, in our Western States land was being taken that would blow away as soon as the bunch grass on the surface was destroyed, and crops were taken off that did not pay for the threshing.

Allowing that the young Veterans secure land, how are they to work it? Most of them are unmarried and have little or no money; and the greater number are from the cities, and have no training to qualify them to follow an occupation that requires a knowledge of soils, crops, and business.

A kinsman of mine, who went to a farm in Ohio after the Civil War, thought that after the crop was planted he would be able to sit in the shade arid watch it grow. When he found that the work was then but just begun, he returned to his job in the Navy Yard, sadder and wiser.

A very hard-headed Scotch farmer, for whom I worked years ago, declared that if he got fifty cents a day for his labor he was doing well. He had 160 acres of good prairie land with a house on it, a team, two cows, pigs, and hens. With ■ a wife to help run the place, he was able to work J seventy acres. Anyone that has had to do with / a farm will tell you that a single man cannot , run one alone, even though he may have a team and other stock; and that the more stock he has, ' the less farm work of other kinds he will be able to do.

To give the land to the Veterans will be to give the land over to speculators, who would be able to buy it from needy holders, who would not be able to work it and, in many cases, would not be able to reach the place of its location. The,banks will not advance money on the security of unimproved land; and most of the grants would lie like our railway grants, a hindrance to the development of the country.

The young single man that tries to farm it alone will find himself in as bad a fix as the widow with five or six young children, the only difference being that he can, if he will, dispose of his encumbrances to the butcher. The single man who has found himself tied to a cow, and a bunch of chickens that had to be fed regularly, ' will understand what it means, and will most, emphatically say: Don’t.

How About It, Mr. Ratti ?

By L. D. Barnes

It seems rather strange to one not so initiated that a fellow making such claims would have to specialize on knowing “what not to do.” Some exhibition of power that would distinguish a worthy successor of St. Peter, or the “Vicar of Christ,” would be more in order. Peter just would not stay in prison. He could not be kept there because the angel of the Lord turned him out. Jesus insisted on going about and doing good. Evidently there is a “nigger in the woodpile” because a “Rector of the World” should be a citizen of the world, and able to command that world’s respect through good and unselfish deeds performed for its lasting welfare."Nearly 2,000 years”—less 517 years—of this “RectoP’ and “Vicar” business should begin to show up on the credit side of the world’s ledger.

We humbly suggest that, in this hour of the world’s sorest need, the pope divest himself of empty and meaningless titles and lay aside the musty robes and gowns and pompous claims of the darker past, or else produce the goods. The world is weary of this mountebank acting and this Santa Claus deception! Put up, or shut up!

THE following from the pen of Arthur Brisbane, one of the great syndicate writers, and from his oft and friendly references to the Church of Rome, evidently himself a Catholic, deserves notice:

“Cardinal Ratti becomes pope under the title Pius XI. His photograph shows a strong, thoughtful face, with a high forehead, a most serious expression. Upon him falls a burden that the popes have carried for centuries, almost 2,000 years. Their influence reaches into every corner of the earth, into ice houses in the North, and huts on the equator. They must understand not one nation but the whole world. And above all they must know what not to do.”

The photographs of plain Mr. Ratti do indeed show a very good face. But the photograph of “Pius XI” in medieval robes shows a frightened, cringing individual. The same face is hardly recognizable. Evidently the feeling of being crowned “Vicar of Christ,” “Successor of St. Peter,” and “Rector of the World,” etc., etc., ad infinitum, was not accompanied with the confidence and inherent and inerrant powers that should go along with the exalted “office.”

The Busy Bee By Joseph Greig

THE most careful art of the engraver, when viewed under the microscope, reveals but scratchwork, while nature has engraven upon every grain of sand the most beautiful crystals of which the mind could conceive. This thought of the crudity of human workmanship and the economy and beauty of God’s workmanship was forced home upon the writer by reading the following article on “How Bees Keep Warm,” taken from the Philadelphia Public Ledger'.

“Next time you feel chilly try to warm yourself by shivering. That is the way bees do it. Bees are coldblooded animals. Nevertheless, they must keep reasonably warm in winter, lest they freeze. The hive is usually out of doors; it contains no heating plant, so the bees are obliged to furnished their own heat.

“It is an old story that the worker bee literally works herself to death. In the summer time, when there is a plentiful supply of nectar to be gathered from flowers, ' she toils so hard that an insurance company would not guarantee her life for more than six weeks. In winter, under favorable conditions, she may live six months.

“But during a very cold winter bees have to work so hard to keep warm that by the time summer arrives • they are unable to perform properly the arduous tasks incidental to building up the colony to its full numerical strength. And they die off faster than their places are taken by newborn members of the community.

“When, as winter comes on, the temperature gets down to a certain point the bees gather into a spherical cluster in the hive, those on the outside forming a sort of shell, with their heads toward the centre. The shell may consist of several layers of bees, which move actively about, fanning with their wings and agitating their bodies with a kind of shivering—the object of this performance being to keep the cluster warm. Incidentally the shell serves as a heat-insulator. The bees inside remain quiet, except for occasional shifting of position. With the help of proper aparatus, the amount of energy developed by a man, or a dog, or a horse, can be determined by measuring the heat given off by the body. All of the energy produced by the burning of food as fuel in the body eventually appears in the form of heat, . which is reckoned in terms of calories.

“Thus the heat (or energy) output of an average man actively engaged at hard work during the day is about 4000 calories in twenty-four hours. The daily output of a lumberman toiling arduously in Northern woods in the winter-time might be as great as 7000 calories.

“The bees have got even the lumberman 'beat.’ Two scientists, R. D. Milner and George S. Demuth (the latter a bee expert), tried the thing out recently with a' colony of 9635 bees, duly counted. They found that the energy production of each bee was much greater, relative to weight, than even that of the lumberman; and it was maintained not merely for a short time, but

through the whole twenty-four hours and the whole winter.”

EFFICIENCY AND FIDELITY

Such exactness and a rangement as noted in the foregoing should eidist our deepest trust in ' the primal work of the Logos throughout all the • vast expanse of nature. Moreover, such faithfulness in the minute things of the lower orders, must likewise draw out the finer responses of all intelligent beings unto praise and love. -

The story is told of an atheist who while crossing a pumpkin patch stumbled and fell hard to the ground. Arising in anger he cursed the Maker of such handiwork, saying: “If I were God I’d never put vines on the ground for people to fall over. Now look at that big tree with little acorns on. Why didn’t the Originator put the pumpkins up there and the acorns on the ground ?” Meanwhile the speaker had approached the tree, hat off. Hardly were the words out of his mouth when an acorn fell sharply on his bald head. Crying out with pain the atheist exclaimed: “I’m glad that wasn’t a pumpkin!”

Surely it is folly to try to improve on nature.; Throughout all eternity the eye will never tire of examining the wealth yet hidden in nature’s laboratory. Indeed, the trouble has never been with the paradise of God, but rather in the - •_ “prodigaling” of the human heart from the great Father love. Soon this barrenness of soul is to feel its native hunger ;man will return to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Witness then the flux of blessings world-wide in harmony with every divine tenderness and grace. All hail such a reconciling prospect and such a ~ giving-up of self upon Jehovah’s footstool!

As mentioned heretofore in some of our articles in The Golden Age, this joy and oneness can be experienced now rather than be postponed to a distant time when force will decide the issue. Furthermore, while knowledge has < much to do with our focus on things of the kingdom, nevertheless, love must take the initiative and soften us to warmth like the busy bees by cuddling up to the Center of all attraction, the true God of love and of all comfort, the compas-' si onate One.

Therefore let us become bees of this hive during the long cold spell of sin’s winter, ready at the signs of spring to gather more honey from the blooms of the incoming Golden Age. Let lis determine at once to erect as many barriers f6 temptation as possibly, making the tongue an

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Brooklyn, N. X

agent of healing and an insulator against coldness. Then we shall not need to answer like the man of Dundee who, when approached by the army officer who came asking for weapons of war, replied: “Sarah, gangawa and hold out your tongue for the mon!” Instead, we shall possess the simplicity of the other Glasgow mother who sent her two lassies to America with a Testament in their pocket. When they reached New York, unable to make anyone understand them, mother-instructed they met each enquiry by pointing to a verse in the book and to the name of their destination. It is needless to say they arrived safe among their relatives; for the passage read: “Inasmuch as ye do it

unto one of these my little ones, ye do it unto me.” .' .

Will not such pitiful things melt many a heart soon? And so while all of us are cold-blooded, creatures like the bees by reason of the deflection from the image of the tender One, may we continue to spend the time of our sojourn in . hope of the glory of God when He opens His garden afresh and satisfies every living thing. (Psalm 145:16) It is the contemplation of these glories in nature and in Holy Writ which weans us from the things of sin, hence furnishing the correct way of being lifted up from the “pit of i noise.”—Psalm 40: 2, margin.

A Theory of the Formation of Our Earth By e. s. Mummert

Compiled from the writings of Pastor Russell

IT IS very interesting to trace the theory of the development and formation of the sun and planets of our solar system and particularly the various stages of earth’s development.

In a remote period all the matter which now makes up our sun. and planets was in a nebulous condition. A nebula is an immense mass of intensely hot material in a gaseous state. The nebulous mass, as it gradually and slowly concentrated, drew together into a more dense condition and gradually set up into a spiral motion ; the greater mass of the formation concentrating at the center. As this rotative motion continued through untold periods of time the -central part gradually condensed into a large spherical body, while lesser portions of the gaseous masses which surrounded the central portion also condensed into smaller and independent bodies, these bodies continuing to revolve around the main central body and held at their respective distances by the balance of two opposite forces, namely, the inward attraction of the main central body and the opposite centrifugal force of the smaller bodies. These smaller bodies, being less in mass, naturally cooled down comparatively rapidly on account of being separated from the main central mass. The smaller bodies thus separated from the main mass formed the planets and their satellites, while the large central body formed the sun. It is from this period that we will follow in a very brief way the various further stages of development of the earth.

In the mass of the hot gases which constituted the early condition of the earth were all the ele-' meats of which the earth and the atmosphere are composed. But all the material and every substance were then in the gaseous state. There are three states in which matter exists, viz-: gaseous, liquid and solid. There is another.theoretical or fourth state known as the “electronic state” of matter, 1 he absolute, common or fundamental state of all substance. Thus in the process of cooling from the gaseous to the liquid and from the liquid to the solid state, the less volatile and heavier gases passed downward through the liquid into the solid state, forming the basic, igneous rock — granite, basalt, etc., the bottom of the crust of the earth. Following this came other materials of a more volatile nature depositing themselves in various layers or strata one over the other, in the upper of which were the various mineral deposits. .

THE CLOUDY CANOPY

Just before the later p'recipitations, when the minerals and water were held off as gases, they must have constituted an impenetrable canopy extending for miles around the earth in every direction. The motion of the earth on its axis would extend to these gases surrounding it, and the effect would be to concentrate them more particularly over the earth’s equator in ringlike formauons. As the earth cooled, these would cool and thus be resolved from gases into liquids and solids, the weightier minerals gravi-

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tating in strata toward the bottom. The earth at this period probably resembled the present appearance of Saturn with his “rings.”

To account for our moon we may assume that in the breaking up of the nebula a comparatively small mass condensed and cooled separately, so close to the earth that the attraction of the earth was greater than that of the sun. But instead of starting on an independent orbit around the sun, it started around the earth, held in its path by the balance of the attractive force from the earth and the repelling centrifugal force of the moon, just as the earth and other planets are guided in their orbits by a similar balance of forces between them and the sun.

THE FALL OF THE CANOPY

As the cooling process of the earth advanced, ' the detached and distant rings would gradually acquire a different rotative motion from that of the earth and thus gravitate closer and closer, and as they approached her, would spread out like a great canopy, but would not be permitted to fall because of the circumambient air or atmosphere, which acted as a sort of pneumatic expanse, preventing the direct precipitation. One

after another these descending rings would . spread out above the atmosphere and go in the direction of the two poles, where there would be the least resistance because farthest from the . equator, where the centrifugal force is the greatest. The breaking down of these rings, long periods apart, furnished numerous deluges and'piled strata upon strata over the earth’s ■ . surface. The waters rushing over the earth

" \ would distribute variously the sand and mud L and minerals, the strongly mineralized water

*7^ thus covering the entire surface of the earth.

. These great deluges of water and minerals ■ followed each other perhaps thousands of years apart. The deluge of Noah’s day was the last, * it being of pure water only.

. Some scientists claim that the earth has still

: another ring about it, an electrical ring which

& may descend in a few years and which will de, stroy fermentation, microbes, and parasites and will greatly assist plant and animal life.

. earth’s wrinkles

F. ' The period of the earth’s development in r. . which the early deluges took place is known as the Azoic or lifeless period. During this period Mt'

as the earth’s surface was cooling, and under constant increasing pressure of the deposits precipitated the crust buckled or wrinkled. The depressions became the ocean beds, and the up- , heavals the mountain ranges. The waters gathered together into the seas and oceans, and the upheaved land began slowly to drain off in pre- 1 paration for vegetation. This draining must . have required a long time. As. further precipitations of great masses of water and minerals i took place, great gullies were washed between the mountains. As the draining progressed ’■ land began to appear; and the atmosphere, heavily charged, with carbon was very favorable . for the development of plant life, -which then began to flourish exceedingly. The earth still had considerable heat in its crust, and the oceans were warm and highly carboniferous, and the air was surcharged with carbon to the extent that breathing animals could not then exist. This was extremely favorable to gigantic growths of vegetation. Plants that now grow only a few inches or a few feet high, even at the equator, then attained a growth of forty to ■ eighty feet and sometimes two or three feet in . diameter, as is demonstrated by fossil remains. ;

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