Golden Age, March 15, 1933
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The Golden Age
A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE
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in this issue
CANADA’S RADIO CENSOR WORLD NEWS ANOTHER ALUMINUM DEATH VALUE OF TOXIN-ANTITOXIN CLERGY STAY IN THEIR HOLES OBEDIENCE BRINGS HELP
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five cents a copy one dollar a year Canada & Foreign 1.25
Vol.XIV-No.352
March 15, 1933
CONTENTS
LABOR AND ECONOMICS
Reduction in Railway Employees . 370
Anticipates 5,000,000 Jobless . . 361
Million Tramps in South .... 361
Thirty-Hour "Week Impends . . . 363
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
Canada’s Impossible Radio Censor 355
Foreclosure Lawyers in Ranger 359
Coal Pickings........360
Winnipeg Closes Parochial Schools 362
Public School System in Alabama . 369
MANUFACTURING AND MINING
Free Electricity at Andover . . . 360
FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION
Scrip Money in Evanston .... 360 Trans-Siberian Double-Tracked . . 361 St. Louis Celebrates New Year . . 361
British Munition Makers .... 362
Bank or Cheese Factory ? . . . . 362
Dividends to Banks......363
Canal Across Northern Russia . . 363
Uncle Sam’s Export Business Gone 363
German Auto Train Great Success 364
How About Post-War Debts? . . 364 In Massachusetts Last Year . . . 365 Stamp Currency Attracts Attention 365 Brooklyn Edison Company . . . 367
POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
Sacasa Elected in Nicaragua . . . 360
Preparing the Public Mind . . . 365
The Handwriting on the Wall . 366
German Fascism and Churches . 369
$3,800 a Year to Care for Horse . 367
World Like Powder Magazine . 370
It's a Great World......383
AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY
Corn as Fuel in South Dakota . . 363
I Wheat Lowest in 300 Years . . . 363
; North Dakota Potatoes for Manitoba 363
SCIENCE AND INVENTION
Synthetic Rubber in Russia . . . 360
Talking over Beam of Light . . . 360
HOME AND HEALTH
Recipe for Pneumonia.....366
Lockjaw After Vaccination . . . 366
Another Aluminum Death . . 367
New Child Health Creed . . . 368
Aluminum Utensil Testimonial . . 368
Value of Toxin-Antitoxin . . . 370
Unscientific Medical Science . 378
TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY
Physical and Climatic Phenomena of Southern Africa .... 371
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
They Would Not Do It Here . 359
What Our Colleges Accomplish 366
After Scalps in Pasadena . . . 368
“Tnou Shalt Not Kill’’ . . . 369
Witnessing in Rhodesia .... 372
Untouchability in India .... 372
Clergy Crawl into Their Holes 373
Obedience Brings Help in
Time of Need.......379
Published every other Wednesday at 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A., by WOODWORTH, KNORR & COWARD
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The Golden Age
Volume XIV Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, March IS, 1933 Number 352
Canada’s Impossible Radio Censor, Hector Charlesworth
JUDAS, had he wanted to make the most of his chosen course, might have remained alive and got himself appointed to some place in the Roman government where he could censor the words of Jesus’ followers. Of course we do not know that Hector Charlesworth, Canada’s bigoted radio censor, will ultimately come to the same fate as Judas. That remains to be seen. The Lord alone will judge him, but we can see the direction in which his course is leading him.
Judas committed suicide and thus cleansed somewhat the atmosphere of the community in which he had lived. We hope that Charlesworth may repent before he finally takes the irrevocable step of complete willful ambushment of those who are committed to the service of the Most High God.
As Judas’ place in history is established almost entirely by his cowardly, treacherous and unprovoked attack upon the One who broke bread with him, so Hector Charlesworth is first noticed in another of the most small-souled acts ever perpetrated by anyone able to frame words into sentences. It is as the editor of the Toronto Saturday Night that he first draws attention to himself as the defender of the clergy, something, it would seem, that no honest and intelligent man can do.
Let Us Get the Setting
In July, 1927, there gathered in the city of Toronto an audience of 15,000 earnest men and women to listen to an address entitled “Freedom for the Peoples”, by Judge J. F. Rutherford. That address was so important that those men and women and their friends subsequently placed more than fifty million copies of it in the hands of the people everywhere.
It was so important that for the first time in broadcasting history fifty-three stations, linked together in a coast-to-coast international hookup. broadcast it to millions in many lands. The address centered around the following:
RESOLUTION
To the Peoples of ‘ ‘ Christendom ’ ’:
The International Bible Students in general convention assembled send greetings:
As Christians and witnesses to the name of Jehovah God, we deem it our privilege and duty to call your attention to the following vital facts:
First: That God made of one blood all peoples and nations of men to dwell on the earth, and granted to all peoples equal rights. There is therefore no just cause or excuse for one nation to make war against another nation.
Second: That the foremost nations of the earth claim to be Christian nations and, taken collectively, they constitute “Christendom” or “organized Christianity”, so called; that the men chiefly responsible for the claim that these are Christian nations are the clergymen of the various religious denominations, who call themselves by the name of Christ but who in fact have denied Him; that their purpose of claiming that these nations are Christian is to induce the peoples to believe that said nations, although military and cruel, are the representatives of God and His Christ on earth; that such claim is fraudulent and false and has turned the minds of millions of honest people away from the true God and from His Christ; that the invisible ruler of the nations of ‘ ‘ Christendom ”, or “ organized Christianity”, so called, is Satan the Devil, who has fathered the scheme of forming “organized Christianity” to deceive the people and to keep them in subjection to himself and his agencies.
That the masses of the peoples of the nations are entitled to self-government exercised by the people for the general welfare of all; but instead of enjoying such rights a small minority rules; that the money power of the world has been concentrated into the hands of a few men called high financiers, and these in turn have corrupted the men who make and execute the laws of the nations, and the faithless clergy have voluntarily joined forces with the high financiers and professional politicians, and that said unholy alliance constitutes the governing powers that rule the peoples; that the masses of the peoples, acting under a misapprehension of the true facts, have borne up, carried, supported and maintained “organized Christianity”; and that without the support of the common
people the unholy alliance constituting “organized Christianity” could not long exist.
Third: That for centuries the privileges enjoyed by men have been wholly unequal and unfair. The multitudes have produced the wealth of the world, but have been unjustly deprived of the fruits of their labors. That the leaders of “Christendom”, instead of teaching the children of men the doctrines of Christ, whom they claim to follow, teach them to murder their fellow creatures; and that now the rulers are amalgamating the common people with the military, in order to make all the peoples a part of and subject to their great war machine; that by unjust laws the common people, contrary to their own wishes, have been compelled to go to war against each other, resulting in great sorrow and suffering, multitudes of broken hearts and millions of untimely graves; that “organized Christianity” has turned a deaf ear to the petitions and entreaties of the people for relief, and now the cries of the oppressed people have entered into the ears of Jehovah God, and His time is at hand to give the peoples deliverance and freedom.
Fourth: That Jehovah is the only true God, the Friend and Benefactor of the peoples. He has now set His beloved Son Christ Jesus upon His throne, and bids all the peoples of earth to hear and to obey Him who is earth’s rightful King.
Fifth: That the kings and rulers of the earth, to wit, those constituting the said unholy alliance, have been duly notified that God has set His King upon His throne and that His kingdom is at hand; but they refuse to understand or to take heed, and they walk on in darkness. Therefore God has decreed and declared that there shall come upon the world a time of tribulation such as never was known; and that during that trouble “Christendom” or “organized Christianity”, so called, and all of Satan’s organization shall be destroyed; and that Christ Jesus, the righteous King, will assume complete authority and control and will bless the peoples of the earth.
Sixth : That it must be now apparent to all thoughtful peoples that relief, comfort and blessings so much desired by them can never come from the unrighteous system of “Christendom” or “organized Christianity ’ ’, and that there is no reason to give further support to that hypocritical and oppressive system. In this hour of perplexity Jehovah God bids the peoples to abandon and for ever forsake “Christendom” or “organized Christianity” and to turn completely away from it, because it is the Devil’s organization, and to give it no support whatsoever; and that the peoples give their heart’s devotion and allegiance wholly to Jehovah God and to His King and kingdom and receive full freedom and the blessings God has in store for them.
Seventh: For four thousand years the cherished desire of Jews has been God’s Messianic kingdom. For nineteen centuries that kingdom has been the hope of real Christians. It is now at hand. True to His promise God by and through the reign of Christ will lift the burdens of the peoples, free them from war, fraud and oppression, from sickness, suffering and death and give to them a righteous government and the blessings of everlasting peace, prosperity, life, and happiness.
Hard to Match
This noble, courageous, true and faithful statement of facts, embodied in the remarkable address given on that occasion by Judge Rutherford, should have awakened a hearty response in every heart in the city in which he was then a guest, and did awaken such response in thousands, yes, millions, then and since.
But at that time, Hector Charlesworth was editor-in-chief of the Toronto Saturday Night. We prefer to let a Canadian tell what he thinks of that periodical, and in this connection readers will find the accompanying communication of Axel Nielsen of interest.
First, though, let us put in the record here the editorial for- which Mr. Charlesworth is responsible, and which he doubtless wrote. It appeared in the Saturday Night issue of August 6, 1927, on “The Front Page”, and for rare shamelessness it would be hard to match anywhere:
VISITING ORATORS TAKE NOTICE
RECENTLY Toronto had the doubtful honor of entertaining once more a heavy-jowled flannel-mouth known as “Judge” J. F. Eutherford, Grand Vizier of the “Russellites” or the International Bible Students’ Association, together with some thousands of his followers. What the said Rutherford is a “Judge” of we do not know,—perhaps of cigars, perhaps of fat swine,—perhaps he is called ‘ ‘ Judge ’ ’ by way of persiflage, just as an elevator man is called ‘ ‘ Cap ’ ’. What we wish to emphasize is that “Judges” and wandering orators of the Rutherford type are unwelcome guests. This is we hope the last occasion on which the Russellite Chieftain and his mob of “students” will be allowed to misuse important civic property like the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds. The average international convention is more than welcome in Toronto but its citizens want no more “Russellite” gatherings here. Such conventions bring small gain, since most of the delegates travel in ‘ ‘ tin lizzies ’ ’ and bring their dough-nuts with them.
Rutherford is no stranger in Toronto. He comes round every once in a while heralded by a slogan of which he is the author: “Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” There is no harm in his cherishing that delusion; but when he violates the law of hospitality by abuse of the British Empire (which he regards as a section of one of the beasts of the Apocalypse); when he traduces every reputable clergyman and every well-to-do citizen in the community, he is going a little too far. It is true that he is equally abusive of fellow citizens in the United States but let him stay on his own soil and hurl his mud there. This same Rutherford spent a term in a detention camp after the United States entered the Great War, and prior to that time the “Russellites” had been in trouble with Canadian authorities because their extensive publishing department had sold out to Bernstorf! and was caught in the act of distributing proGerman propaganda in Canadian towns and cities.
The war is over and peace-loving people are willing to let by-gones be by-gones, but they do object to wandering blatherskites and professional liars starting the war all over again on Canadian soil. That Rutherford is a lying demagogue is apparent from the text of his addresses, in which he exploits the old fallacy that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor, a condition which is certainly not true of Canada, or any part of the British Empire. Clerical dialecticians may be left to answer his attacks on Christianity and refute the charge that their master is Satan, if they wish. The day that the ‘ ‘ common people ’ ’ yield to his appeal and ‘ ‘ forsake organized Christianity and its clergy as the instruments of the devil” will be a hey-day for Satan if that historic person still happens to be going about like a roaring lion. When the “Judge” indulges in tirades against capital and capitalists as oppressors of the common people, he not only prompts curiosity as to his own bank account, but utters a dangerous falsehood. It is true that there has been a great accumulation of capital in the hands of a comparatively small group, but it is also true, especially in America, that never have conditions been so good for the poor; never at any time in the history of mankind was labor so well rewarded, never was so much practical philanthropy practiced for the care of the weak and needy, never was so much capital freely available for the cate and comfort of the underprivileged. Only a fool or a liar could deny these facts.
The reason this loquacious “Judge” has received so much attention of late is that he managed to bulldoze his way into control of the air during the progress of the Russellite convention of Toronto. He gave credit for this, not to himself, but to “Jehovah, the only true God,” who, he said, had “graciously used the National Broadcasting Company for his divine purposes. ’ ’ The tribal god of the Russellites certainly gained no popularity with users of radio thereby; their deliberations were a nightly nuisance in the air. On the night of July 21st reputable fathers of families anxious to listen in on the progress of the Dempsey-Sharkey prize tight were kept out by the high power oratory at the Toronto Coliseum. On Sunday, July 24th, the religiously inclined were prevented from hearing their favorite message because the leather-lunged Rutherford had the air. Millions now living would rather die than be compelled to listen very often to his discourses.
“So They Elevated You”
That full censorship of radio broadcasting throughout the Dominion should be entrusted temporarily to the lace-skirted, reversed-collar fraternity of Canada is, of course, a development to be expected at this time in British Empire activity. But why must the fraternity hire one like Charlesworth? The answer is self-evident. Hand-picked for the job, he is, we presume, one of the few in the country to the north who could and would stoop to do the dirty work prescribed for him by the ecclesiastical frauds, and who would stop at nothing to gain his ends.
At this point we insert a letter from Mr. Axel Nielsen, of Cranberry Portage, Manitoba, Canada, addressed to us, together with a copy of his letter to the Canadian radio commission:
January 23, 1933. The Golden Age, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Gentlemen :
We have been deprived of Judge Rutherford's broadcasts by the asinine action of the much heralded Radio Commission which was to cure all our many broadcasting ills. However, the personnel was appointed by a reactionary premier, and in Canada Parliament does not censor appointments as in the case of the American Senate, or Hector Charlesworth, editor of a reactionary rag, would never have succeeded to the chairmanship of this important Commission.
Hector Charlesworth was for many years editor of Toronto Saturday Night, a weekly whose financial section is dominated by the crowd which is persecuting James Harpel, and the same War Babies who have secured control of Canadian finance, industry and insurance. The editorial portion of this paper, a front page feature, devotes itself zealously to the furtherance of all the forgotten bunk of kings and tyrants, class and privilege. As for the rest, it consists mainly of social chatter, marriages, photos of socially prominent persons, and all the snobs parade of these classes.
Saturday Night is a thoroughly wretched paper, but enlightened people do not deny this paper the right to preach their Middle Age doctrines. Still, the trouble with Canada is that the Press is modeled along the Saturday Night lines throughout, with mighty few exceptions, the Vancouver Sun being one of the few, if not the only major newspaper to permit Liberalism space in its columns. And now the radio is throttled by public ownership, of all things!
If the enclosed letter to Hector Charlesworth, together with this one to explain it further, could be reprinted in your paper I am sure many Canadians would appreciate the publicity which the Radio Commission’s degenerate action deserves, and Americans might learn by our sad experiences and provide proper safeguards when it comes time for them to take over their own radio stations on a public basis.
Yours truly,
Axel Nielsen.
A LETTER TO THE CANADIAN RADIO COMMISSION
January 23, 1933
Hector Charlesworth, Esq.,
Chairman, Radio Commission, Ottawa.
Dear Sir :
I used to admire you in the way one might admire the Devil for his ingenuity, no matter what I might think otherwise of either you or the Devil, for the hypocritical narratives in Saturday Night written or selected by yourself. They must have been hard to write; for such things do not come from the heart, but rather must they spring from a taskmaster like gold, or the degradingly pleasant feeling of going downstream without effort.
And so they elevated you to the Radio Commission, where your aptitude for being thoroughly reactionary is to shine and adorn the ether; but not on my radio, thanks.
I got so fed up with Canadian stations that I forgot they were on the air until Judge Rutherford began to broadcast at convenient hours over the Canadian stations. I do not agree with the judge on all points, but his talks are very interesting, as apart from the bunk fed the Canadian public by men of your type, tutelage and vassalage.
The press gave considerable advance publicity to the speech promised Canadians, and to be delivered by His Majesty, George V. But the next time you busy yourself with this sort of thing, which is interesting mainly from the standpoint of conjecture as to just what sort of a mess can be made of it, please be more thoughtful of His Majesty’s subjects. I object to getting up at 8: 00 a.m. to hear George V or anyone else, even including yourself.
The real purpose of this letter is to let you know that I object, as a Canadian with a radio license, to a person of your connections and past, or any one person or a dozen persons or a thousand more, depriving me of the opportunity of listening to Judge Rutherford at such hours as happen to suit my convenience, which also happens to be during Canadian broadcasts.
However, I can still hear the judge from across the line, and his talks are sufficiently interesting to move me to some effort in the matter of subjugating my own convenience for the sake of hearing him. But now there remains no incentive whatsoever to listening in on Canadian stations, and I should therefore like my two dollars paid for a radio license refunded, as I am not receiving value for money paid out. I shall expect your remittance by return mail.
Yours truly,
Axel Nielsen.
“Of Tremendous Importance”
Since his departure from the sanctum of Saturday Night that paper seems to have materially improved. This is as we would expect, for we cannot imagine a human activity with which Hector Charlesworth could be connected that would not be uplifted somewhat by his departure from it.
In its issue of January 28, 1933, on its “Front Page”, appears the following editorial which at least has the good sense to admit something that the three canine frauds of St. John, N. B., Mr. Charlesworth, and some other Canadians do not understand, namely, that “the question of the censorship of the air is one of tremendous importance, and one which will have to be seriously considered at some time in the fairly near future’’.
RADIO AND CENSORSHIP PROBLEMS
FEW Canadians, we imagine, will be greatly distressed at the news that the mellifluous voice of Judge Rutherford will no longer be transmitted from Canadian broadcasting stations until further inquiry has been made into the character of his utterances. The temporary banning of an entirely non-Canadian broadcast, sent out by an organization which has on previous occasions been under grave suspicion of antisocial tendencies, is not a serious matter. It is, however, very important that we should know in whose hands will rest the ultimate decision concerning not only Judge Rutherford but also any other broadcaster whose utterances may incur the disapproval of clergymen, statesmen or other influential persons in particular parts of this Dominion. The question of the censorship of the air is one of tremendous importance, and one which will have to be seriously considered at some time in the fairly near future, and it might well be linked up with the whole question of censorship in other fields of communication, which is in an extremely unsatisfactory condition.
» * * •
The Haste of the Pickpocket
It is quite natural that when a pickpocket has a job he should move with considerable rapidity lest he be caught; but if caught and brought into court, even the proverbial Philadelphia lawyer would hesitate to stand at the bar in his defense and try to solemnly say: “The question of picking the pockets of owners of radio broadcasting stations is one of tremendous importance, and one which will have to be seriously considered at some time in the fairly near future.”
The time to consider it is now. If Mr. Charlesworth wanted to have this matter looked into in an honest, upright way, why did he not have public hearings where all could have their say and Judge Rutherford could have an opportunity to answer his accusers? There has been nothing straightforward about the whole procedure.
A great wrong has been done by this narrowminded censor. Our last issue suggests that he is probably a liar. That is quite reasonable, for anyone that will steal will lie, and in taking away from the owners of Canadian broadcasting stations the privilege of broadcasting Judge Rutherford’s lectures, Hector Charlesworth seems to us to have shown that he is to all intents and purposes a thief.
One of the Canadian stations sent Mr. Charlesworth a telegram stating, in effect, that “while we do not agree fully with Judge Rutherford’s talks, we have failed to find anything of anti-social or communistic nature. The tenor of his broadcast is directed against other forms of religion and extolling his own creed which we would call fundamentalism. We believe we should accept broadcasts of all nature in the interests of free speech as long as they do not conflict with democratic government. In these times the loss of revenue is a hardship upon us.” Supplementing this telegram the station called up Mr. Charlesworth to get permission to continue the broadcast for at least two weeks anyway, and the answer was, “Not a chance.”
It thus appears that a man who could write or approve such an article as the one entitled “Visiting Orators Take Notice” has been employed to defend the interests of the Anglican and other clergy of Canada against all comers. They need such a defender, being entirely unable themselves to meet and to answer Judge Rutherford’s challenge that they are the employees of their father the Devil and doing his work in the earth.
Anyhow, Hector Charlesworth is now entitled also to wear a lace skirt and to put his collar on backwards.
Are the Canadian people going to stand for this; and if so, why?
Foreclosure Lawyers in Danger
IN A RIOT at Lemars, Iowa, a wealthy foreclosure lawyer came near losing his life at the hands of a gathering of hard-working dirt farmers who felt that he had been too brusque, provocative and contemptuous in his treatment of a farmer who had paid $40,000 on a property, which was more than it was worth, and then finally lost it all because he could not pay the interest on the $33,000 still due. The farmers dragged the fat lawyer backward down eighteen stone steps, overpowered sheriff and deputies, and only the wise counsel of older men prevented a tragedy. Now the state of Iowa is considering the revision of some of the foreclosure laws, which it should have done long ago. Before they get through with it, all the people in the world that have been living selfishly and cruelly are going to regret it. A man who makes his living buying property at delinquent tax sales and foreclosing properties so as to squeeze out hard-working farmers is in the Devil’s own business.
But They Would Not Do It Here
FIFTEEN prominent churchmen, representing seven denominations, recently made a nine months’ study of foreign missions. One of the things they recommend is as follows:
Among the changes that are most often referred to by Christian leaders in the several countries as urgently needed if the church is to become an adequate organ of spiritual life, the one that would certainly come first would be a change away from sectarianism, and a narrow dcnominationalism, and in the direction of complete Christian cooperation. Missionaries who are to go out in the future ought to leave all their sectarian baggage behind and go out to work for a unified Christianity and a universal church. But much more than that is needed.
The only thing about this recommendation that bothers us is that we now have 213 denominations in this country, and how does it come that only seven of them were represented in an important recommendation like this ? Probably every one of the 213 would have signed up. But abandon their sects here at home? Not on your life.
Coal Pickings
Synthetic Rubber in Russia
"DUSSIA has two factories producing synthetic rubber from alcohol. A new source of supply has been found in a species of dandelion, which is said to contain in the stem and in the root all the properties of rubber.
Talking over a Beam of Light
TN THE Adirondacks, recently, scientists talked for fifteen minutes over a beam of light twenty-five miles long. Speech from the microphone was changed into electrical impulses and loaded upon the light waves, while apparatus at the other end reversed the process.
Distress Among “White-Collar” Men
TAISTRESS among the “white-collar” men is growing rapidly. A year ago only 12.6 percent of those registered for relief in New York city were of this class, while this winter 28 percent of those registered for relief were of this class.
Free Electricity at Andover
A NDOVER, N. Y., has its own municipal power plant and, as a consequence of good management, was able to send out its December bills marked “Paid”. Can you imagine a city in the hands of one of the Insull patriots as doing a thing like that ?
Scrip Money in Evanston
TpVANSTON, Illinois, is using successfully the scrip money advocated by Silvio Gesell and first mentioned in the United States by The Golden Age. At last accounts Chicago and Milwaukee were considering the adoption of this simple and effective means of financial relief.
311 Largest Net Incomes ‘
FOR the year 1931 the 311 persons having the ;
largest net incomes in the United States : reported net incomes aggregating $303,575,777, • an average of almost $1,000,000 a year apiece. ’ Four of these had net incomes of more than $5,000,000 a year each.
Reduction in Railway Employees
AMERICAN railroads employed 2,100,000 ' persons in 1929; now they employ less than : 1,000,000; and the statement is freely made that ; a total of 560,000 men could now handle the total < volume of railway business that was handled in : the year 1929 by nearly four times that number. !
Europe’s Largest Hotel
TROPE'S largest hotel is in Moscow. It has 1,000 rooms and will accommodate 1,500 persons. A theater in the building seats 3,000. There are 20 elevators; the hotel garage houses 50 cars.
Razor Blades and Corn
IT COSTS 1c to make a razor blade, which sells at retail for 10c. It costs 50c to raise one bushel of corn, which sells at retail at 12c. Question: How many bushels of corn does a fanner have to raise to make sure his corpse will be properly shaved at the time of his funeral?
10% Tried to Obey the Law
OF FIFTY-FOUR New York canning plants visited, almost 10 percent, i.e., four plants out of the fifty-four, stated that they were trying to obey the code. The other fifty plants did as they pleased. The wages paid are shamefully low, in one instance running as low as 8c an hour for women.
Dr. Sacasa Elected in Nicaragua
SIX years ago the United States Government sent its marines into Nicaragua to prevent the election of Dr. Sacasa as president of that republic. Now, in an election supervised by the marines, Dr. Sacasa has been elected president and the marines will be withdrawn. Meantime, many marines and many Nicaraguans were slain, all to no purpose.
Kaiser May Return to Germany
THERE is now no legal obstacle in the way of the Kaiser Wilhelm’s returning to Germany. He may do so at any time. To a recent convention which issued a monarchist call for his return he sent a telegram echoing the Savior’s words “Without me ye can do nothing”. Like all the rest of the world, it seems that he learned nothing from the World War.
Wild West Holdup in Philadelphia
PERHAPS the crowd of young men that staged a Wild West bank robbery in New
York were the ones that did the same thing in Philadelphia a few days later, for exactly the same methods were pursued. They used sawed-off shotguns and tear-gas bombs and three automobiles, two of which were stolen. They secured $35,000.
Thousands Die of Starvation
ON THE basis of a survey made by the New York Graphic, the Plain Talk magazine estimates that 35,000 persons starved to death in the United States in the year 1932. That does not mean that they did not have some food, but they did not have sufficient to make the repairs necessary to keep going.
Filling the Pothole at Washington
TT SEEMS hard to fill the pothole at Washington. In a recent month the deficit was $227,941,129. In other words, a million people could live a year upon the amount of money the federal government is losing in a month. President Roosevelt is tackling a job that would baffle earth’s wisest.
Prediction of Dictatorship
Pall Y. Anderson, Washington correspondent of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in an address before the University Press Club of Michigan, predicted that an economic, if not political, dictatorship may be established within the next 18 months, with the suppressing of democratic institutions on the ground of necessity.
Singing and Dancing at an Execution
TT MAKES the shivers run down your spine when you read that the execution of the murderer of the French president took place in the open street, and that as preparations were being made to guillotine him men in dinner jackets and women in evening dress sang and laughed and danced around the guillotine.
The Alien in Hard Times
IN HARD times the alien has a much harder time than anybody else. This was illustrated in New York city in December, when 1,415 aliens were ousted from the city hospitals, on the ground that Americans must be looked after first. Every hospital employee not a citizen lost his job.
Roosevelt Anticipates 5,000,000 Jobless
TN AN address at the Metropolitan Club, New York, America’s new president mentioned that he is quite well aware that even if every factory wheel in the United States starts turning at full speed the nation will still have to face the problem of what to do with 5,000,000 who would even then be unemployed.
85,000 New Saloons in France
BEFORE the World War there were 395,000 saloons in France; now there are 480,000, or one for every 84 persons in the country.
Wants Us to Think
rpiIE American Guardian wants us to ‘'think of shivering American women and children, competing with stray cats and homeless dogs for the food scraps in the garbage cans of our alleys, while responsible heads of government advocate the destruction of cotton, milch cows, and fruit orchards in the name of eliminating overproduction”.
A Million Tramps in the South
General Glassford, former superintendent of Washington city police, estimates that there are close to 1,000,000 unemployed men wandering through the southern states, 200,000 of whom are mere boys. State charities are in such a bad way that they are unable to care for this army. General Glassford would undertake the job if given federal backing.
Trans-Siberian Double-Tracked
QUIETLY and quickly the Soviet government has double-tracked the Trans-Siberian railroad. It is generally conceded that had this road been double-tracked in 1904 the Japanese would have had a much more difficult job on their hands than they actually did have in the Russo-Japanese war. Seems as if the Soviet government is looking back and looking ahead.
Farmers’ Protective Association
NEAR Doylestown, Pa., members of the
Farmers’ Protective Association curbed outside bidding on the property of a man by the name of Hanzel. Horses were sold for 5c each, fifty chickens brought 3c, and his entire belongings came to only $1.18. Then the bidders leased the property back to Ilanzel for ninety-nine years, rent free.
St. Louis Celebrates the New Year
ST. LOUIS celebrated the opening of the year 1933 in singular fashion. During the first sixteen days of the new year sixteen banks of the city, with aggregate deposits exceeding $15,000,000, closed their doors. In each case the directors gave the reason that withdrawals compelled the action so that the remaining depositors could be protected.
Winnipeg Closes Parochial Schools
THE Roman Catholic church has closed its J- twelve parochial schools in Winnipeg, and hereafter the kids at Winnipeg, and also at Ottawa will all go to the public schools, where they will have the same chance as all the rest. It won’t be long now before they will be doing the same thing with the 213 kinds of churches. The Millennium is just around the corner.
A Dirty Trick on Brown
WHEN the congressional committee found that Postmaster General Brown had traded eight used post-office cars, plus $1,700, for a Lincoln car made with a special top so he could get into it without removing his silk hat, he begged them not to make their find public, and so they called in the newspaper men and told them all about it. And now everybody is laughing at Mr. Brown.
Starvation All over Germany
ATEN, women and children by the million are on the very edge of starvation all over Germany. With 5,500,000 jobless, and an average of two persons dependent upon them, there are about 17,000,000 persons in Germany that are existing on allowances of $3.25 to $4.00 per month. Their food consists only of bread, potatoes, sometimes a little lard or margarine, some cabbage, and a taste of meat once a week.
Briton Holds Airplane Altitude Record
A BRITON, Captain Cyril Uwins, holds the airplane altitude record, having reached a height of 45,000 feet. He had to use a special oxygen-pumping apparatus and electrically heated goggles, gloves, shoes and clothing. It required four months to prepare for the trip, and five attempts were made before the record of 43,000 feet, previously held by a German, v> as surpassed.
Texas Fee System
THE way the fee system of rewarding politicians works out for the people was illustrated in Texas, where $179.60 of the people's money was paid in fees for handling a chicken theft case where the property in question was valued at $5. To get the fees involved the sheriff traveled 2,560 miles to serve subpoenas on 86 witnesses, and in the end the defendant was freed because of lack of evidence.
British Munition Makers
BRITAIN is now the world’s chief exporter of arms and ammunition, having recently made large shipments of machine guns to Japan and of cartridges to both China and Japan. One of the leading stockholders in the Vickers-Armstrong company, the leading British armament concern, is the bishop of Hereford, with 1,010 shares. He is much interested in missionary work among the Chinese and Japanese.
Bank or Cheese Factory?
WHICH would you think more necessary to a community, a bank or a cheese factory? Leroy, Saskatchewan, lost its bank but kept its cheese factory. The farmers bring their milk to the factory and get cheese scrip. They take the scrip to the stores and buy what they need. The stores take their pay in cheese, good in any wholesale market, and so the town gets along nicely without any bank and without any money.
Another Healer Took the Service
ANYBODY who so desires may seek healing at the Church of the Ascension, Fifth avenue and Tenth street, New York. The other day its regular healing service was held at 5:30 in the afternoon. The chief healer could not come. He was home sick with a cold, but another healer took his place and just as much was accomplished as though the chief healer himself had been there.
Legionnaires Laughing at Archie
THE Legionnaires are laughing at Archibald Roosevelt because he is so excited about the annual cost of caring for disabled veterans. The cost, $767,857,000, seems like a considerable amount, yet it is considerably less than one thirty-second of the net income or profits of those who paid a federal income tax in the year 1928. Their profits that year amounted to $25,-119,760,000.
Boyle Had the Right Idea
William Boyle, of Atlantic City, had the right idea of how to make a success of the police business. With two companions he broke into a haberdashery shop and stole $500 worth of merchandise. Where he made his slip was going to sleep on his beat, which cost him his job. Policemen who are thinking of going into the haberdashery business should be careful not to go to sleep while on police duty.
War Resisters in Holland
TXT AR resisters in Holland are now given a ’ ’ uniform sentence of ten months in prison. after which they are free of all military duties and not again arrested on war resistance charges.
Corn as Fuel in South Dakota
WHILE, pound for pound, corn has only half the heating value of soft coal, yet at 10c a bushel, which is the going price in the Dakotas, it is considerably more profitable fo burn than the coal. This winter the farmers are denuding the woodlots for fuel. One man has started a business of baling thistles, and finds that a three-pound brick, which will fit nicely into his range, will give a good fire for half an hour.
Wheat the Lowest in 300 Years
WHEAT at prices from 20c to 30c, in the latter part of October, was the lowest in 300 years, and is considerably less than the cost of production. Moreover, the yield per acre this year was very light, averaging only 12.8 bushels for the whole United States, so that the average gross income per acre, $4.43, was often not more than enough to pay the interest on the mortgage, leaving nothing whatever for the farmer’s other numerous and heavy obligations.
Dividends to Banks
IN the depression year of 1932 the First National bank of New York paid 100-percent dividends and the 24 leading banks of the city averaged to pay dividends of 1G percent. The twelve largest banks of Pittsburgh paid average dividends of 22 percent. Much of the work in which these banks are interested is now done by machinery, and the wages which used to go to the men now go in dividends to the men who own the machines.
British Broadcasting Company Narrow
IN ORDER to more fully prove to all the people in the British Isles and elsewhere that it has no desire or intention to do the right thing, the British Broadcasting Company, while permitting broadcasts of political speeches of the Conservatives and Liberals, refused to allow the Labor party to participate similarly. This same company refused to permit Judge Rutherford to speak because the official Board of Hypocrites disapproved.
Canal Across Northern Russia
RUSSIA has an important new canal nearly ready for traffic. It reaches from Leningrad to the White sea and is intended to make the industrial region of northern Russia less dependent on Arctic navigation.
Uncle Sam’s Export Business Gone
TN 1920, in the first eleven months of the calendar year, Uncle Sam’s export business was over seven and one-half billion dollars; in the first eleven months of 1929 it was still almost five billions; in the first eleven months of 1930 it was three and one-half billions; in 1931 it had shrunk to two and one-quarter billions; and in 1932 it was less than one and one-half billions, with imports still smaller in every case.
Borough President Has a Bad Tenant
Samuel Levy, borough president of Manhattan, has quite a bad tenant in one of his properties in the case of one Harry Collins, alleged speak-easy proprietor. The place has been raided nine times, and padlocked twice, since 1928, and now the court wants to padlock it again and can’t find the recreant tenant. They found the landlord, but he says he is entirely innocent and wants to get rid of his speak-easy tenant too.
North Dakota Potatoes for Manitoba
BECAUSE their neighbors in Manitoba had a crop failure, and were in need of food, North Dakota farmers who could not sell their potatoes for enough to pay the cost of digging offered the potatoes free if the Manitobans would come across the line and dig them. But the Canadian minister of national revenue refused permission, as there is a duty of 46c a bushel on potatoes entering Canada from the United States.
Thirty-Hour Week Impends
THE six-hour day and the five-day week are recommended by the American Federation of Labor Shorter Workday Committee. They say: “It must come. There is no other way.” They go on to make the further point that there must be no cut in wages. Meantime, businesses everywhere are cutting wages right and left, even at the longer hours worked. The six-hour day applied to railroads would increase expense of operations of railroads by $630,000,000 annually.
Siberiakov HI Reaches Yokohama
The German Auto Train a Great Success
THE year 1932 is distinguished in that, among other things, for the first time in history, in a single season, a ship, the Soviet icebreaker Siberiakov III, made the journey by way of the Arctic ocean all the way from Archangel to Yokohama. We expect to see the time when this will be one of the standard transportation routes of the world. It may take 200 years yet, but the Arctic ice is melting and sometime will be relatively much less plentiful and less dangerous than now.
The Din of Battle at Memphis
THE din of battle is on in the Central Baptist church of Memphis. The most we know at this distance is that the congregation had a five-hour fight led by a brother who the week before had prayed that the Lord would help the congregation to settle their troubles without doing anything they would be sorry for. When they got to fighting with fists about the pastor’s using church funds to keep a pink-haired lady out of jail, the police were called in, and that is how the prayer was answered, if it was answered.
Europe's Idleness Increases
WITH the exception of Poland and Russia, idleness is increasing all over Europe. One of the worst situations is in southern Ireland, which has lost its best and almost its only market, England, by adhering to the shortsighted, antagonistic policies of De Valera, the troublemaker. At the close of 1932 Germany's unemployed totaled 5,773,000. All together, it is estimated officially by the International Labor Office, 30,000,000 of the world’s workers are idle, with 150,000,000 suffering because of their lack of employment.
“Blessed Are the Merciful”
TV ROCKFORD, Illinois, December 14, 1932, Reverend D. L. Lower, pastor of the Free Methodist church of Rock Island, Illinois, caused the eviction from premises which he owns of a man, his wife and five children, who knew not where to go to lay their heads. The man, an honorable and respected citizen, pleaded to be permitted to remain on payment of $10 per month during the bitter winter weather, but his plea was refused. The more things like this that happen, to help the people see the plain truth that the clergy are not Christians, but hypocrites, the better.
THE German auto train is a great success. It consists of two sections, closely coupled and vestibuled over a special truck, seats 102 passengers, and drives in either direction. The ends are streamlined, even to the headlights. It is driven by Diesel motors. On the trial run an average of 70 miles an hour was obtained, with a maximum speed of 90 miles an hour. It is hoped to run these trains at intervals of every half hour on the main lines, and recapture much of the bus and airplane travel. The train has a baggage and a refreshment room.
Fifty Years of YMCA “Character Building” THE Y.M.C.A. has just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of “character building among boys’’. In Denver the police tried to locate a poor man whose sick wife had committed suicide in a hotel, but when they went to the Y.M.C.A. to find him they discovered that he had been locked out of his room because he was unable to pay his rent. If you have the money to pay your dues you can get your “character built” just as well in a Y.M.C.A. as anywhere, and if you can pay your rent you can get a room besides ; but if you have no money, then it is nix on the character stuff or the room either.
How About the Post-War Debts?
A FTER the armistice icas signed the United
States, in addition to all the huge sums loaned during the World War itself, was fool enough to loan the European governments $3,261,000,000. This huge sum, and more too, has been used since that time to make fresh armaments. The total payments Europe has made on the so-called “war debts” to date, including those made in December, 1932, amount, all together, to but $2,726,686,000, so that Europe may as well stop talking about paying war debts. They have not even paid the post-war debts by $534,314,000, and, at the moment, there is no likelihood they will pay even that relatively small balance of the debts they contracted since the war. Uncle Sam has beggared himself to arm the gangsters of creation. Just to complete the record: The ones that paid in December were Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, and Latvia. The ones that defaulted were France, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Estonia.
“Anchored Within the Vail”
Reverend Archibald R. Mansfield, D.D., is anchored within the vail. It says so on his letterhead. Or, at least, if he is not anchored within the vail, the Seamen's Church Institute of New York, of which he is superintendent, is anchored there, and the superintendent would naturally be where his works are located. Just what it means to be “anchored within the vail”, where nothing can break in to disturb your slumbers, not even so much as an idea, becomes apparent when one reflects on the full significance of the following letter, which Mr. Mansfield wrote to one of Jehovah’s witnesses who thought to honor Jehovah’s name by leaving in the institute a little information about God’s kingdom, the hope of the world:
“A member of my staff has called my attention to your desire to distribute certain leaflets in the reading room of this building of the Seamen’s Chureh Institute of New York. This cannot and will not be permitted under any circumstances, for the good and sufficient policy adopted by this Institute a long time ago regarding matters of this sort. We are appealed to constantly for this kind of privilege by Bible and missionary societies, professional institutions such as dentists, doctors, lawyers, clothiers, etc., etc. This Institute has consistently fought exploitation of its guests, whether good or bad. I trust you understand our definite position in this matter. If not, I am very sorry. ’ ’
In Massachusetts Last Year
TN MASSACHUSETTS, in the year 1932, the -*• First National Bank of Boston, on holdings of $10,000 worth of 9% Telephone stock, paid in taxes exactly nothing. In the same year the great banking firm of Lee, Higginson & Company, that shone so brilliantly in the Kreuger bust-up, on holdings of $10,000 worth of 5% Standard Oil stock, paid $30. And in the same year the citizen of Boston who had $10,000 invested in a home paid taxes on that home of $355.
Maybe you wonder why the First National Bank of Boston did not pay $355 on its $10,000 of Telephone stock; or maybe you wonder why Lee, Higginson & Company did not pay $325 more than it did on its holdings of Standard Oil stock. Friend, do you suppose Big Business maintains its legislatures with the aim of equalizing the burdens of all its citizens?
If you desire further information on this subject, you can get it, probably, by looking up conditions in your own state or city. Five sixths of all wealth is intangible, and, all together, pays but one tenth of the taxes. The one sixth of wealth that is tangible, i.e., homes, land, buildings, factories and machinery, pays two thirds of all the taxes.
Preparing the Public Mind
rpiIE public mind is being prepared for a -L strong administration in which, if we may judge from current events, Alfred Smith and the Roman Catholic church will have a big part to play. Colonel House, former adviser to President Wilson, has been writing magazine articles, “Do We Need a Dictator?” In New York the new mayor, John P. O’Brien, received in regal style Martin H. Carmody, supreme head of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. O’Brien says that the new mayor of New York (himself) “has a chin” and intends to make it hot for socialists and other outspoken critics of the capitalist system. It all helps us to see that vigorous times are ahead. Meantime, the secretary of the Taxicab Chamber of Commerce says that the books of the taxi companies disclose graft payments of $3 to $100 a month to the police of greater New York, and, oh yes, the mayor has addressed a meeting to rally Catholic men to the cause of Catholic Action. Looks to us as if they are too active already, but maybe we must have another outburst of action before they finally quiet down for keeps.
Stamp Currency Attracting Attention
THE stamp currency, first suggested by Silvio Gesell, and first mentioned in America by The Golden Age, is proving practicable wherever used, and is now attracting considerable attention. It worked well in Schwanenkirchen, Germany, Woergl, Austria, and Hawarden, Iowa. What it does is to enable the common people to live and do business with one another while the Big Business crowd, so well represented by Ivar Kreuger, Samuel Insull, and other men of that type, are fiddling with the keys to their strong boxes and trying to decide whether to go straight and give America a fair deal or to beat it by the first boat to Europe. That the big fellows have all the money is very apparent. When the government wants to borrow at almost no interest at all, they have it to loan by the billion. If they had given their workmen a fair deal in the clays of prosperity, the country would not now be in its present miserable condition.
The Handwriting on the Wall By C. A. Turner, Inc. (Pa.)
JUST before the fall of an ancient empire, when one thousand of its leaders were seated at a banquet, confident of their power, a spectral hand appeared on the wall and wrote some strange words that none of them could understand but when interpreted read “You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting”. Current events have been writing warnings that we cannot continue to ignore. Can you interpret the full meaning of these strange words appearing in the daily press: “Ten million unemployed”; “eight million speakeasies”; “beggars riding in autos”; “thousands of murders and no convictions”; “graft in high office”; “foreigner bombs house”; “special privilege for the few”; “food rotting on the farm and starvation in the city”; “one billion dollars hoarded”; “90 percent of the wealth owned by 5 percent of the people”; “average worker pays $500 per year in taxes”; “foreigners use machine gun”; “every eighth worker paid with tax money”; “transportation rates high and commerce stifled”; “more autos on the road than jobs in the nation”; “police linked with crime”; “Justice blind”?
What Our Atheistic Colleges Accomplish
(By Albert L. Scott, New York, Chairman, Laymen’s Foreign Missions Inquiry)
THE returned students of China, India and
Japan, after their period of study in the West, and to almost an equal extent the graduates of the higher institutions of learning in these countries, have become accustomed to a type of teaching and to a method of interpretation that are quite different from those that prevail in ordinary church services.
The whole drift of the mental processes of these students is likely to make them impatient with views of life that are out of adjustment with scientific thought and that are promulgated by mere assertion of opinion.
The total effect has been a slowing down of the Christian movement within intellectual circles. It has become more difficult to bring students to a decision to adopt the Christian faith and to identify themselves with the Christian church.
Recipe for Pneumonia
Bi/ Mrs. L. M. Griffith (Missouri)
(Approved by Eric W. Powell)
TAKE six to ten onions, according to size, and chop them fine. Add about the same quantity of rye meal, and vinegar enough to form a thick paste. Stir thoroughly, letting it simmer from five to ten minutes. Then put the mixture into a cotton bag large enough to cover the lungs, and apply to the chest as hot as the patient can bear it. Before this gets cold, apply another; and then continue by reheating the poultices.
In a few hours the patient should be out of danger. Usually three or four applications will be sufficient; but continue treatment until perspiration starts from the chest.
Feet should be kept warm while undergoing this treatment, and the room free from draughts. Comfrey root tea would also be helpful; half a cup every three hours with a little honey added, and a small pinch of powdered ginger root.
Lockjaw After Vaccination
(Copy of editorial in the St. Louis Star and Times, September 6, 1932)
A5-YEAR-0LD boy in Washington, D.C., has just died of lockjaw following vaccination.
Cases of that kind are not infrequent. They are reported often enough, in St. Louis and elsewhere, to emphasize the almost criminal folly of sticking to a medical practice whose need, admitting it once existed, has largely disappeared. The coroner is investigating this death. That will not bring this boy to life. Smallpox as a dangerous disease has almost disappeared. The likelihood is that it would have disappeared if vaccination never had been heard of. Cleaner living stopped it. Compulsory vaccination where modern civilization exists is an anachronism. The devotion to it can be explained only as worshiping a medical fetish. Let those who want to take the risk take it if they choose. The rest should be permitted to get along without.
oGG
Another Aluminum Death By Dr. Julia C. Eberle (Indiana)
THE following is a clipping from a recent issue of the Indianapolis Daily Star:
OFFICIAL PROBES DEATH OF CHILD
Myers Studies Circumstances in Case — Parents Declare Aid Refused.
Death of Helen May Oliver, 12 years old, 30-18 Lancaster street, whose parents alleged they were unable to obtain medical assistance from the City hospital, was being investigated yesterday by Dr. Charles W. Myers, superintendent of the institution.
The parents, Dr. Myers said, apparently did not realize the gravity of the child’s condition. An aunt of the child, Mrs. Elsie Poliquin, 3058 Lancaster street, called the hospital by telephone Tuesday afternoon and was told, she said, that a physician could not be sent until the next morning.
She called again at 6: 30 o ’clock and after describing the child’s symptoms, was instructed what treatment to administer and told if no improvement was noted to call again and a physician would be sent, Dr. Myers said. He also declared no other call was received regarding the girl after that until she died at 4 o’clock yesterday morning.
Mrs. Poliquin asserted that she called the hospital early yesterday before the child died and informed the person she talked with that the case had reached an emergency stage. She then called police and when Radio Patrolmen Mangus and Yates arrived the child was dead.
An autopsy by Dr. John E. Wyttenbach, deputy coroner, revealed that the child died of peritonitis which had resulted from appendicitis and a ruptured stomach. The child became ill Monday and it was at first believed that she was suffering an ordinary ‘’stomach ache”. Other members of the family also became ill, it was said, after eating beans with which meat was cooked. The child’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Oliver, and the family depend upon the township trustee for support. Oliver has been without employment for some time. There are four other children, John, 10; Virginia, 5; Junior, 3; and Rosemary, 5 months old.
A visit was made at this home the day following the funeral of this twelve-year-old girl. The only cooking utensil in the home was a perforated aluminum kettle in which the food of this family was prepared. Another of the family nearly died. The parents described to me the symptoms of this girl and with a certainty I diagnosed it poisoning from aluminum. I purchased some good graniteware to take the place of the wretched, worn-out kettle.
Brooklyn Edison Company By Eliot White (New York)
ELIMINATING the dividends and capital charges of the Brooklyn Edison Company from their electric bill would give Brooklyn citizens four months’ free service every year!
Brooklyn pays double the average rates of more than twenty metropolitan districts. For thirty years Brooklyn Edison Company has enjoyed full 8-percent dividends, panics and depressions included. Brooklyn citizens paid the bill! Ten years ago Edison dividends were $1,400,000 a year. They paid that bill! The Edison system spent $5,000,000 fighting louver rates. Brooklyn citizens paid that bill too! Now the dividends are $10,000,000 a year, and the citizens pay that bill! At their expense $50,000,000 in reserves and surplus has been accumulated and interest is paid on $70,000,000 in bond issues.
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