Consolation, August 9, 1939
Download: PDF — Consolation, August 9, 1939
Contents
A Mighty Catholic in the “Pit” (1) 3
John Bull and Uncle Sam 7
America’s Mental Ailment—Fear 8
Aviation 9
Denizens of Air and Water and Insect Land 10
Education 11
In One Thousand Languages 11
The New Government 12
A Use for Tiaras After All 12
Persecution of Witnesses in Greece 12
Showing Lancashire How to Do It 13
Echoes of the Storm at Oldham 14
An Austrian Priest. Miscellanies 15
Counsel by J. F. Rutherford 17
State vs. Jehovah 17
Germany 18
Home and Hygiene 19
Not a Health Magazine 19
Under the Totalitarian Flag 20
Pagan Nonsense at Vatican City 20
Compulsory Flag Salutes 24
New York 25
Social 26
U. S. Treasury 27
British Comment 28
Canterbury’s Failures 29
Catholics and Politics 30
South Africa 31
Published every other Wednesday by
WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INC.
117 Adams St., Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.
Editor Clayton J. Woodworth
Business Manager Nathan H. Knorr
Five Cents a Copy
$1 a year in the United States
$1.25 to Canada and all other countries
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS
Remittances: For your own safety, remit by postal or express money order. When coin or currency is lost in the ordinary mails, there is no redress. Remittances from countries other than those named below may be made to the Brooklyn office, but only by international postal money order.
Receipt of a new or renewal subscription will be acknowledged only when requested. Notice of Expiration is sent with the journal one month before subscription expires. Please renew promptly to avoid loss of copies.
Send change of address direct to us rather than to the post office. Your request to mail is at least two weeks before the date of issue with which it is to take effect. Send your old as well as the new address. Copies will not be forwarded by the post office to your new address unless extra postage is provided by you.
Published also in Afrikaans, Bohemian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian; also special Australian edition in English.
OFFICES FOR OTHER COUNTRIES
England 34 Craven Terrace, London, W. 2
Canada 40 Irwin Ave., Toronto, Ontario
Australia 7 Beresford Road, Strathfield, N. S. W.
South Africa 623 Boston House, Cape Town
Entered as second-class matter at Brooklyn, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Appetizers
Peasants Were Delighted
The latest Hitler story bears on the Nazi tendency to try to curry favor with the peasants.
Hitler, Goering and Goebbels were traveling by car through a German countryside, when they ran over a pig and killed it in front of a farmhouse. It was decided that Goering should carry in the pig, apologize to the peasant, and offer compensation. He did so, and a few minutes later returned to the car with his arms full of gifts, including a quantity of sausage, a goose, some bottles of wine, and a smoked ham.
“Gott in Himmel!” said Hitler in surprised tones, “for whatever reason did you get those good things?”
“I am as surprised as you,” said Goering, “I went into the house and said, ‘Heil Hitler, the swine is dead.’”
“Nevermore”
The landlady of a popular boarding house in the mountains made a point of asking her departing guests to write something in her visitor’s book.
“But there is one thing I can’t understand,” she confided to a friend, “and that is what a sour-looking man put in the book after stopping here. People always smile when they read it.”
“What was it?” queried the other.
The landlady replied: “He wrote only the words, ‘Quoth the Raven.’”—Labor.
Bright Idea
Employer—James, you were brought home in a sorry state last night. How do people know where you live?
Butler—I always carry some of your visiting cards on me, sir.—Toronto Globe and Mail.
Drawing the Line
Stern Parent (to applicant for daughter’s hand)—Young man, can you support a family?
Young Man (meekly)—I only wanted Sarah!—Tit-Bits.
Truth to Tell
It is not always wise to tell all one knows, but it is well to know all one tells.
CONSOLATION
“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.R.V.
Volume XX Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, August 9, 1939 Number 519
A Mighty Catholic in the “Pit” (In Three Parts—Part 1)
JUNE 3, 1939, marked the end of a judicial career. On that date Martin T. Manton, ex-U.S. judge, described by the press as “the highest ranking judicial officer of this country next to the nine Justices of the Supreme Court”, “the 10th old man,” and a Catholic pre-eminent in church affairs, was found guilty of selling his judicial decisions for monetary consideration.
What follows may seem stranger than fiction, yet true, and in its preparation I was reminded of the words of the Lord Jesus: “And whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased”; and of the further words of the psalmist: “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; . . . he made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.” Thus is foretold in Holy Writ the end of all who presume to plot the downfall of the righteous; and of that the more abundant proof later.
About the crash of Manton, convicted, it is believed, on the first ballot, of “selling justice for cash”, the Catholic press are completely silent. It is amazing that such heralds of Manton’s praise when he held, simultaneously with judicial honors, the Papal “creation” of “Knight of St. Gregory”; appointment as delegate to the International Eucharistic Congress at Amsterdam in 1924; position as president of the Catholic Club of New York, president of the Catholic Club for International Peace, leader of the Knights of Columbus, and contributor of note to various law and Catholic periodicals, are, at this the conviction of the most honored judge of New York, found wanting in any Catholic comment whatsoever.
Not so reticent as the Hierarchy’s combined news agencies, the New York Journal and American, issue of June 4, 1939, furnishes the following biographical notes on the career of Manton:
HIGH IN RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CIRCLES
During his years on the bench Judge Manton has become well known in social and religious circles. In July, 1924, he represented the Catholic laymen of the United States in the International Eucharistic Congress in Amsterdam, and he has been president of both the Catholic Club and the Catholic Association for International Peace.
His distinguished legal record has brought him honorary degrees from such institutions as Fordham University, Manhattan College, New York University and the University of Vermont. [All of which are Catholic.]
This silence on the part of the Catholic press is even more amazing to those who take seriously their patriotic fervor and flag-waving. Though allowing the extravagant plenitude of news columns to howling about the dangers to the country of Christian children who choose to serve God rather than give obeisance to a man-made flag; and while blatantly raving about Judge Rutherford as a violator of the Espionage Law which he did not violate; and honoring Manton with all encomium and praise as a great Catholic American who kept eight “pernicious Russellites” in prison by denying them the bail which the court has generously allowed to Manton himself; while in this the Catholic Church papers of America have spared neither space nor vicious epithet, they have overlooked an unusual opportunity to praise the carriage of justice. They blandly pass up a marvelous chance to wave the flag in approval at the conviction of a criminal who dishonored every principle of law and betrayed in vilest manner the trust of the American nation. Now, when the Hierarchy’s press might come forth with salvos for such square and honest Americans as Attorney General Murphy and “his hard-hitting young prosecutor, U. S. Attorney John T. Cahill”, and really strike a blow for honesty in office by an editorial decrying the abuses of which Manton was convicted, no Catholic comment is made or this important matter. When by plain statement they might place the Catholic press among the patriotic Americans who have a definite preference against their judges accepting bribes and doing business in blackmail, their silence is conspicuously noticeable. Can it be that they do not consider it unpatriotic on the part of a Federal judge or any other judge to peddle his decisions and traffic in blackmail when he is a prominent Catholic? Does it not appear from their noncommittal that, in Catholic usage, “unpatriotic” means simply “critical” of the Roman Catholic Church and is never applied to a loyal Son of Romanism, be he perjurer, briber, or thief?
As no adequate answers will ever come from the foremost professional patrioteers of America, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and her publicity agents, other sources will be presented to show the opinion of America generally as regards Manton’s shockingly infamous conduct on the bench. In editorial comment in the New York Post, issue of June 5, 1939, states under the title “The Mighty Fall”:
Guilty!—of selling judicial decisions.
That verdict, convicting Martin T. Manton, resigned senior Justice of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, is one of the most important events of our times.
No one knows precisely how many decisions Manton sold from the Federal bench, in exchange for money in the form of “loans”. But the sums run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the trail of intertwined cash and favorable court orders is long and intricate.
Manton is the highest ranking judicial officer ever to stand trial in the United States on criminal charges . . .
Preparation of this case by Murphy’s department, with the help of J. Edgar Hoover, was a magnificent job—and a job almost unbelievably difficult. If Manton hadn’t become careless in his later dealings it is possible that a case never could have been proved against him . . . Perhaps we need also to get back to the old belief that a seat on the bench is a great honor conferred—and not an opportunity for hitch-hikers on the path of self-aggrandisement.
The sincerity of a man’s words is measured, not by the volume of his speech, but by his action when called upon to test out his statements. One of the leading Catholic periodicals has this slogan: “We recommend patriotism and have favored it constantly in our press.” This same periodical, in conformity with all other press agencies of the pope, has nothing to say about the fine and patriotic work of Dewey, Attorney General Murphy, U. S. Prosecutor Cahill, and Intelligence Officer Edgar Hoover, for their excellent public service in bringing an arch criminal to justice. Why?
As long as Manton accepted bribery and defrauded and dishonored the American nation, thus smirching the flag he had sworn to uphold, and divided the spoils with the Catholic church, all was well. Now that Manton has been exposed and found guilty, his partners in Catholic Action have nothing to say about the triumph of justice; they are as silent as all other gangsters when one of the mob is sentenced to “stir” (which gangster expression means to be incarcerated in the jail).
It seems that there is nothing too despicable or mean for a man to do when he has the pope’s promise to give him absolution before he commits a crime. It is so simple to decide to do any base action when all you have to do is pay over a few dollars to the pope and he will make a conspiracy with God, and you can go right on in further wicked work, repeating and repeating as long as the “holy father” gets his share. What follows is a highlight on what Manton thought should be done with anyone who committed a misdemeanor without the pope’s O.K.;
In one case, the record shows, Judge Manton sentenced a man to the Federal penitentiary for a year after he was found guilty of selling one-half pint of whiskey to some soldiers.—New York Journal and American June 4, 1939.
Here are some further highlights quoted from the same issue which express the opinion of the judge and prosecutors:
Judge Chesnut: “This is a case of supreme import both to the Government and the defendants. The confidence of the public in the integrity of the courts must not be impaired. . . Believe I ballot convicted Manton. The impression gathered afterwards was that the jurors had required only one ballot to reach their decision as to Manton, and that any delay had been caused by a question as to Spoer’s guilt.”
Cahill: “One of the most monstrous plots to buy and sell justice, in this very Temple of Justice; was born and hatched within the very four walls of this court house. It was turned into a co-venting house, where justice and decisions were bought and sold. We must drive the money changers from the temple. . . Any judge who accepts gifts or other consideration is not carrying out the oath he swore to. Our citizens would no longer have faith in our courts. . . . There was no more honor among Manton’s group than there would be in a group of common thieves. Manton did not hesitate to peddle and prostitute the duties of his high court.”
District Attorney Dewey, J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the G-men, Attorney General Murphy, and “hard-hitting” Prosecutor Cahill deserved and received high commendation and praise. Did the Roman Catholic press add their plaudits to these men for excellent service? THEY DID NOT! Evidently cleaning up the foulest sort of corruption that could possibly soil and degrade American courts of justice is not considered patriotic in the Catholic sense.
One who is bred in the Catholic school of bribery never changes his spots. On June 20, and just before Judge Chesnut gave Manton the maximum sentence, it is recorded in the New York World-Telegram that—
For more than an hour Manton pleaded ineffectively for the setting aside of the jury’s verdict, declaring that he had not had a fair trial, that witnesses against him were persons without honor, and that his career had been spotless. . . . Manton winced when he later heard the court’s opinion of his long plea. . . .
Judge Chesnut said: “I have not heard this morning any new points that had not heretofore been considered. They should be considered, but do not go to the real merit of the case on the facts.”
Judge Chesnut continued: “What I feel I should say in this case is intended to be purely impersonal. The charge which the verdict of a jury has found to be true is obstructing justice and defrauding the United States of an important governmental function. The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000 and 2 years imprisonment. In view of the nature of the case the maximum sentence may seem to the public inadequate. The indictment is not based on the federal statute to punish judicial bribery, which provides a penalty of $20,000 and fifteen years in prison. Possibly the government may have elected to try this case on the conspiracy statute because of the greater latitude possible in the submission of evidence.
“Viewing the evidence as a whole, my interpretation is this: Here we have a defendant of high personal position and great personal fortune. He found it invested in equities which came under the threat of a financial depression. He violated the most fundamental feature of judicial office—absolute impartiality. He agreed to use the power and influence of his great position to acquire large sums of money to bolster up his failing fortune.
“It is abhorrent to our conception of public office that a judge should be influenced for the purpose of profit. . . .
“This case has shocked the public, generally, but it has shocked even more the bench and the bar. . . .
“There has been no such conspicuous parallel since Francis Bacon, who was Chancellor of England 300 years ago, was deprived of his office under similar circumstances. My sentence is that the defendant Manton shall be remitted to the custody of the Attorney General for imprisonment for two years and for a fine of $10,000.”
A Knight of St. Gregory due for another gorgeous uniform—equally meritorious
Manton’s slimy trail stained by the transactions of bartered justice earned him the title of “commercial judge”. His dealings in blackmail involved many wealthy corporations. Of the many shady deals and openly thieving deals, in which Manton acted as chief conspirator, he was actually convicted of receiving $186,000 for six decisions. As a gangster Catholic Manton was really in the big money. Note this explanation of the situation as quoted from the N. Y. Times of June 5, 1939:
The methods Judge Manton was charged with using were almost incredibly brazen. His prosecutor, while not excusing the litigants who made payments to him, points out that many of them were themselves the victims of blackmail. They were told they would have to pay or, if they did not, collections would be made from the other side. “Blackmail was emanating from the Federal court house.”
In other words, selling decisions was in itself a little too slow for Manton, so he had a bag man go out and threaten and blackmail the litigants in order to get them in the bag. Here was not the case of a judge who fell from a course of strict honesty through the importunities of a litigant who desired to pay voluntarily for a favorable decision; here was a highway robber on the bench who created his opportunity and solicited by foulest threats, lowering himself beneath the custom of a prostitute who pimps for her hire.
One of the chief parties to these felonious transactions, namely, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, is for once absent from the flag-wavers, her comment being nil. It seems rather a pity, too, as here would be a rare opportunity to demonstrate altruistic patriotism. The Catholic press might come forward even with the suggestion that, since the “church” has been one of the chief beneficiaries of Manton’s bountiful gifts, she might at least pay the $10,000 fine to the government and reimburse some of the litigants whom he held up and robbed. Perhaps the Catholic press might take this into consideration and see what could be done.
However villainous were Manton’s acts in polluting the courts of justice by reducing them to a blackmail mart, he was a chief actor in another and worse conspiracy, not against powerful corporations nor individuals of wealth, but against Christian men standing for principle; and his action in this regard, it seems, had much more to do with his present degradation. Manton’s recent exposure and downfall is an amazing example of the retributive justice the Scriptures emphasize as certain to overtake those who fight against God’s servants.
This earlier act occurred before many of the readers of Consolation were born. But the Lord has not forgotten, nor until Manton and all of like stripe have been wiped out will the record be marked “Satisfied” on the books of Heaven. In the stormy years of the World War, when prejudice and passion were at fever pitch, a group of conspirators took advantage of the times to carry into operation a conspiracy to rid the “religious world” of an organization, namely, the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY, which was then and still is devoted to telling the people of God’s kingdom. The plot was aimed at Judge Rutherford and seven other officials of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY as the best means of wiping out the publication of Scriptural truths which interfered too much with “religious practices”. In this conspiracy the Hierarchy’s Manton was a leading actor.
The “wrong” that these eight Christians committed was this: They acted to uphold the laws of Jehovah by preaching the Bible truths that God’s law forbids Christians, wholly devoted to God, from killing men in unrighteousness. As the religionists of America and their clerical leaders were deeply involved in the bloodshed of the World War by advocating the war from their pulpits, the unanswerable statements from the Bible greatly angered them. So the plot was devised to stop the exposure by “getting” Rutherford and others considered leaders in spreading the gospel of God’s kingdom. In this work the Roman Catholic Hierarchy took the lead, and, following their usual custom, advanced the “Protestant” churches and clerics as their pawn while staying behind the scenes, represented, however, by such tools as Manton and others of like ilk.
The insidious results are not simply another miserable chapter of judicial prejudice on the part of Manton. The eight Christians above mentioned were tried in the District Court of Eastern New York (the details of which mistrial appear later), and convicted of violation of the Espionage Law, and seven of the defendants sentenced to eighty ( !) years in the Federal penitentiary. Unlike the generosity allowed Manton by his own trial judge, bail was refused these men pending hearing on their appeal; and this refusal was made once by Manton himself without assigned reason. These Christians spent nine months in the Atlanta penitentiary as a result of this infamous conspiracy, and when the case came at last before Manton, Rogers and Ward, justices of the Appellate Court, and was reversed by the prevailing opinion, Manton dissented.
Why are the details of this conspiracy so vital for the people of America to know now? Because at the present time the clergy of the Catholic system, having no excuse to offer for carrying on their racket, attempt to divert attention from themselves by abusing Judge Rutherford, calling him an ex-convict, well knowing that the reversal of the judgment of the lower court proved him innocent and that he never was a convict. The clergy caused him to be falsely charged, and now try to take advantage of their own wrongdoing by pointing to his trial in order to shield themselves from exposure.
Because they have done this, and not to vindicate Judge Rutherford, who needs no vindication before his God, Consolation has asked him in an interview to give the people the facts. This amazing disclosure is now presented.—Elton Groves.
[This remarkable statement of facts will appear in the next issue of Consolation. Preserve this copy and read both issues together.]
John Bull and Uncle Sam
THE occasion of the recent visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to America, and particularly their side trip into the United States, is expected to strengthen the opposition to isolation in Congress. Obviously the tendency of the visit would be to bind the two English-speaking peoples more closely together. That’s why Britain’s statesmen arranged the visit.
England, always looking for the main chance, is not averse to using the United States as a good thing; and while Uncle Sam cannot be said to be moved always by altruistic and irreproachable motives, yet in the field of diplomacy John Bull is a past master, while Uncle Sam is a novice at best.
The recent trade treaty between the United States, Canada and England illustrates very well that it is comparatively simple to take things away from a junior, in which class Uncle Sam, despite his adult sobriquet, still finds himself. It all goes to show that in the coming Armageddon, the United States will not escape the general line-up. While apparently guileless in matters diplomatic, the United States, as much as other nations, is controlled by Mammon. Meanwhile, in the international game of monopoly, England for the moment seems to have some interesting advantages.
In this connection the following comment on the Trade Treaty with England, in the San Francisco Examiner, is worthy of note:
THE TRADE TREATY WITH ENGLAND
The Hull trade treaty between the United States, England and Canada simply comes to this:
We have delegated our tariff-making power to England.
England now holds in the hollow of her hand the industrial well-being of America.
England’s whole economic aim for 150 years has been to achieve free trade with the United States. With Secretary Hull’s assistance she has at last gained her end.
England is, in fact, legislating for us—over the heads of our own people and their representatives in Congress, just as she did with Ireland.
England is treating the United States very much as it did Ireland. It seeks to legislate our industries, as it did those of Ireland, out of existence.
England at least encountered the opposition of the courageous Irish, while our supine politicians co-operate with England’s attack on our industry and labor, our wealth and our welfare.
They co-operate by the unconstitutional delegation of powers.
The Constitution of the United States says that “all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives”.
Not only did the American-British-Canadian tariff pact originate outside of the House of Representatives, but very little of it even originated in America.
It originated in England.
It was not ratified by the Senate, as the Constitution commands that all treaties shall be.
It was ratified by Secretary Hull, British Ambassador Sir Ronald Lindsay and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, sitting in conference.
Nothing touches our workers, industrialists and taxpayers closer than tariff duties—but they not only never voted on this Hull-British pact, but they had no say in its preparation.
No! England had all the say.
The Constitution further says that Congress (not England nor the secretary of state) shall “have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations”.
Under this administration Congress regulates nothing.
It has delegated nearly all of its powers to officials who draw up measures in secret and then either mark them “MUST” for Congressional rubber-stamping or they are, à la Hitler, proclaimed to be law by fiat—by and with the consent of England, which is the case in this recent Hull “treaty”.
When the late Justice Cardozo said in the decision of the Supreme Court annulling the NRA “this is delegation run riot!” he did not dream that delegation would run to England.
It is high time that the Supreme Court took up the matter of the constitutionality of all of Mr. Hull’s 19 trade pacts, seeing that the Congress of the United States has abdicated in favor of secret cabals ruled from London.
America’s Mental Ailment—Fear
THE attitude of mind most in evidence in the United States today is one of fear. Particularly fear of the future.
In the last seven years the term “lack of confidence” in the business world has been printed billions of times in the press. It is assumed that confidence is a cause of business instead of being an effect of business. If confidence is the cause of business, why did the businessmen of this country lose confidence when once they possessed it? As they did in 1929 after they had overflowed with it? Isn’t the answer to be found in the fact that is born of uncertainty and economic helplessness, plus ignorance?
The worker is afraid of the foreman, the foreman is afraid of the superintendent, the “supe” is afraid of the general manager, who likewise is afraid of the boss, the owner, or the board of directors.
The latter, in turn, in tens of thousands of cases, are afraid of the banker, and the bankers are afraid of each other. Fear is the dominant note of American business.
The small grocery keeper is afraid of the chain store, and the chain store is afraid of adverse legislation. The whole nation is afraid of its towering, mounting debts and does not know what else to do except to go in deeper.
The super-patriots are afraid that the Constitution is being violated, and the editors are all afraid of the Communists. The little businessman is afraid of “big business”, and big business is afraid of any ideas except those that they are accustomed to. Fear is universal in this “land of the free and the home of the brave”.
The rugged individualist is afraid to say what he thinks, and the thoughtful citizen is afraid that he doesn’t think at all, and as a rule that is true. The great railroad magnates are afraid of receiverships and bankruptcy and also of other forms of transit. The average worker is afraid of being laid off, and the man past 40 is afraid of old age.
The conservative is afraid of the growth of radicalism, and the radical is afraid of what he calls the stupidity of the conservative. The rich citizen is afraid of the kidnapper, and in many cases afraid of his life; hence a bodyguard. The upper world is afraid of the underworld, and the underworld is afraid of the police, and the average policeman’s wife is afraid that she might be a widow any hour of the day.
The small businessman (and often the big one) is afraid of the racketeer, and hence submits to blackmail; and the gangster is afraid of his fellow gangsters. That is why they shoot each other in the back.
The political economist in college and university is afraid to lay the actual facts of economic science before his students because he is afraid of the regents, and the regents are afraid to tell the truth or permit it to be taught for fear of the effects upon the prospective donations.
Fear as the chronic mental ailment of the American people is here to stay for “a long, long time”. Its most dreadful form is the fear of poverty, which now is a continuous nightmare to millions of people who never knew its meaning seven years ago. Like Banquo’s ghost, it will not down, and this generation may not see it end. Never in our history have so many power plants, machine shops, huge factories and industrial establishments dotted the land; never so much skill, never so much economic power, not half of it in use. Never, for the average worker, has life been so difficult since we left the frontier behind.
Fear is the modern Simon Legree, with his long, cruel whip. The average citizen is sorely confused as to the source of his misfortunes. The pulpit, press, radio, and all of the channels through which accurate economic information might possibly reach him are choked and barred. He cannot get the facts from any of the popular channels of communication, and the men who control these channels are afraid to discuss the causes of our national misfortunes because any thorough-going discussion of this matter will involve the question of legal privilege. They are afraid of the issue.
If this civilization vanishes from the earth, as it may (and if present tendencies are not arrested it will), its disappearance will be due to one disgraceful fact more than any other. It is the fact of sheer moral cowardice. What an inglorious finish is the realization that the epitaph that will be written on civilization’s gravestone will read like this:
“Here lies civilization, a victim of suicide; dead, because too cowardly to live.”—Henry H. Hardinge, in “Independent Food Business”. St. Louis Star Times.
Aviation
Airplane Travel at $1 an Hour
Railway travel at $1 an hour is quite common. The train travels 50 miles an hour, at 2c a mile; and there you are. But airplane travel at the same rate per hour, and going twice as fast, is something new. But it was done. John M. Jones made a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to New York in 30 hours and 37 minutes at a carefully calculated cost of $30.91. The plane weighed only 650 pounds empty, and there were but four cylinders in the ship. It was the longest trip ever made in so light a plane.
How Would You Explain It?
◆ Howard Hughes and his companions were absent from New York city slightly less than four days in their flight around the world. They were flying so fast towards the sun that each of their days was but nineteen hours long. They saw the sun rise five times in the four days they were away. Now, were they four days or five days making the flight? Did they add a day to their lives by flying around the world? What is your answer? What is a day, anyway?
Top Speeds for Airplanes
◆ Top speeds for airplanes are probably indicated by the speed of sound. Sound travels 725 miles per hour at zero, or 850 miles per hour at 60 degrees. When the sound waves tangle the propeller, faster speeds are unlikely. Meantime the aviators complain of loss of consciousness, hemorrhages and partial or complete loss of muscular control at speeds of even 400 miles an hour.
Copping’s Pure Pluck
◆ At Seattle, Washington, George Copping had both legs amputated below the knee, and at the time of the amputation asked and was told that his most difficult line of endeavor thereafter would be to operate an airplane. He thereupon began to study and train for that work, and is now an aviator.
Trans-Canadian Air Mails
◆ Canada now has through air-mail service from Montreal to Vancouver, via Ottawa, Toronto, North Bay, Winnipeg, Regina and Lethbridge, in 20 hours.
Too Many Crocodiles
◆ The Imperial Airways flying boat Ceres landed on Lake Dugarí, India, because of bad weather, and chanced to find too many crocodiles for comfort. The captain shot two that were too inquisitive and too hungry, and then he and 24 natives towed the boat to deep water and it got away safely without harm to anybody. It was a remarkable experience, and Captain Gurney seemed to live up to the best traditions of British pluck in the hour of danger. The plane was in Lake Dugarí eight days.
Berlin to New York and Return
◆ It is some satisfaction to Americans to know that the engines of the German plane that flew from Berlin to New York in 24 hours 57 minutes and returned in 19 hours 55 minutes were Pratt and Whitney engines, even though they were actually built in Bavaria under license by the American company.
Practical Use for Autogiro
◆ The autogiro, which has the ability to go straight up and come straight down, as well as to travel horizontally, is now used to transport air mail between the big airport at Camden, N.J., and the post office in Philadelphia. The planes land on the 360-foot roof of the Philadelphia post office.
700,000 Air Warriors
◆ It is claimed that by the end of the year 1939 there will be in Europe 700,000 young men, pilots, reserve pilots, mechanics, radio technicians, etc., qualified to go out and blow their fellow men into smithereens in the most approved style.
The New Bakelite Planes
◆ It is claimed that the new bakelite planes can be built twenty to thirty times as fast as those made of other materials, and that the perfect molding of the parts enables the plane to travel at 35 miles an hour greater speed.
Strength of Air Forces
◆ Russia has 4,000 first-line planes, Germany 3,500, France 2,500, Great Britain 2,000, Italy 2,000, and Poland 550.
Denizens of Air and Water and Insect Land
Bird Banding
◆ In order to learn as much as possible of the life and habits of birds, aluminum bands with certain markings are placed on the legs of many of them. When such birds are found, usually many miles from the place where they were banded, the information, and the band, may be sent to Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., to be registered. The Department of the Interior at Ottawa, Canada, also co-operates in this effort. Records indicate that few birds besides sparrows live more than six years.
The Female Phalaropes
◆ Canada has three varieties of phalaropes, or shore birds, all expert swimmers, and in each instance the females are larger, handsomer and wear brighter plumage than the males. In courtship the female phalarope makes the first advances toward her shy and modest prospective mate. After the poor devil has yielded to her blandishments, and she has laid her eggs, she makes the poor son-of-a-gun sit on the eggs until they are hatched. The male phalaropes just shouldn’t stand for this kind of deal; and here is hoping if any of them read Consolation they will be men enough to arise and assert themselves.
40,000 Miles to the Pound
◆ It does not take so long for a robust, hard-working man to eat a pound of honey. Next time you do it you might take a moment to think that the bees flew 40,000 miles to take that nectar out of the heart of flowers, and that if the Creator had not made the flowers, and made the bees, and taught the bees how to gather the nectar and store it for you, you would not have had the honey. Every pound of honey represents millions of flowers; for the bee’s load is only about one one-thousandth of an ounce of nectar on each trip.
Haddock Circumnavigate Globe
◆ Haddock with metal tabs attached to their fins have been known to circumnavigate the globe, though taking twenty years to do it. Other fish, like the whiting, never wander far from home.
Condor Flying Ability
◆ The condor keeps its young in its nest for a full year. They do not fly until they are a year old. But the mature condor is a marvelous flyer. Its power over the air is greater than that of the eagle. Its ability to remain motionless in mid-air or to circle about without the flicker of a wing is unequaled. Its wing-spread is between 8½ and 11 feet.
This Whale Got Lost
◆ A 32-ton whale got lost off the coast of England recently and made the mistake of swimming up the river Trent. He managed to get along fifty miles from the coast when he got stuck on a sand bank, and then some of those things called “men” came out and shot him sixteen times and towed his body ashore.
Crows Not Wholly Bad
◆ It must be admitted that crows eat grain and other tidings not intended for them; but they also devour large numbers of insects, and so serve a useful purpose. However, large flocks of them may do considerable damage, and at such times farmers cannot be blamed for warring on them.
Odd Accident in Tuna Fishing
◆ Off Freeport, N.Y., in July, Professor Wm. McTavish, of New York University, caught two large tuna fish on one line. There was a 50-pounder on the hook, and as the line was being drawn in, a 63-pounder was caught by the tail in a tangle in the line, and both were brought into the boat at one time.
Ant Funeral Processions
◆ Ants are known to have funeral processions and to bury their dead in an orderly fashion. Two ants carry the body of the deceased to the burial ground, and all the mourners take a hand in digging the grave and covering the body.
On the Lookout for Insects
◆ On the lookout for dangerous insect pests, Government inspectors apprehend 1,339 recognized species, coming in by plane, ship and rail. About 100,000 specimens are collected annually.
Education
Gellermann and the Legion
◆ The American Legion is not an expression of democratic, but rather an expression of entrenched business and military interests which attempt to hide their true purposes under democratic guise. It is dominated by a small group of reactionary leaders too powerful to be unseated. It is encouraging to observe that the average ex-service man is not now and never has been a member of the American Legion. Through use of stereotypes acceptable to the American middle-class mind, it seeks to prevent democratic change. In the promotion of war and Fascism the American Legion has done more than its share.—William Gellermann, associate professor of Education, Northwestern University.
Making Himself Ridiculous
◆ Making himself ridiculous, Colonel James A. Moss, president general of the United States Flag Association, published the information that when anybody in the house turns on the radio and the persons in the house hear the strains of the “Star Spangled Banner” everybody in the house should stand and uncover. Exceptions stated are that they need not do this if they are eating, telephoning, cooking, playing cards or bathing. So, now, the next time you are pruning your corns, or doctoring a sore toe, or attending to sundry other items of care of your anatomy, if you fail to rise on your toes, throw off the bed covers or what not and remain in an awestruck attitude until the skit is finished, off to the hoosegow with you. Oh, yes, another way would be to shut off the radio. Still another way would be to take the axe and smash the blooming thing, anyway. Or you could write to Mr. Moss and tell him he gives you a pain in the neck. Or you could have the pain in the neck and not say anything about it to anybody. Maybe that would be the best way.
Boys Brotherhood Republic
◆ The Boys Brotherhood Republic of New York has its own mayor, city council, district attorney, police and health departments, and many committees. In the discharge of the duties of these various positions the boys learn how to deal with the civic problems that arise in actual life. It is manifestly the best way to teach civics.
In One Thousand Languages
◆ The Bible (or portions of it) is now to be had in 1,000 languages. The one-thousandth language was Sakata, one of the 500 African tongues. Translations in thirteen more languages were under way when the Gospel according to John was printed in Sakata. The British and Foreign Bible Society has 900 colporteurs, and carries on its work in all lands except Russia and Afghanistan. The annual bill is around £250,000 a year for translating, revising, binding, transporting and distributing. The work is directly under the supervision of the Church of England.
Tonsils May Stay In
◆ Thousands of boys and girls are moldering into dust because they had their tonsils removed and died from the effects of the operation. Now the British Board of Education has decided that inasmuch as physicians have only hazy ideas as to what the tonsils are for, these works of the Creator’s hand will now be permitted to stay in place unless they are diseased, and even then their removal will not be insisted on. The mania for chopping out parts of the human organism and thus “healing all ailments” is gradually passing.
Ballyhooing Patriotism
◆ “American Way” opened recently and “The Star Spangled Banner” is played in the last scene. Why do they have to stuff patriotism down our throats that way? Isn’t it possible that in ballyhooing patriotism with much the same formula that they ballyhoo Hollywood’s beauties, some of the dignity of the emotion is lost? Your love for your country is akin to your love of life itself. And you don’t have to be taught about that, once you’ve developed the capacity to think at all.—Newark Ledger.
National Broadcasting Company
◆ In the year 1937, gave gratis 22 presidential broadcasts, 18 to James Farley, 118 to New Deal congressmen, 149 to New Deal senators, 29 to Henry Wallace, and 203 to an assortment of other politicians whose favor it wishes to retain. It gives free time not only to political self-seekers, but also to the Roman Catholic Hierarchy racket, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, the established Jewish hocus-pocus, and a few others.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT
A Use for Tiaras After All
◆ I will infringe upon your time to tell you why the patriarch Nicolas V did not put a profane hand upon the Lord’s work by destroying Jehovah’s witnesses once for all as they stated in their tracts and announcements that they would do.
It seems that this patriarch long ago was enticed by another more lucrative business and, not being contented with his salary of 120 pounds a month and with gifts worth double his salary, he associated himself with a metropolitan bishop and an archimandrite and with three others of the principal of his flock, and all together on a great scale engaged themselves in the smuggling of opium. Their business prospered because the merchandise was hid in the high caps or tiaras of the priests and in the crown of the patriarch. So they were full of joy and as good religionists they were spreading their drug to poison their fellow men. The short trips of the patriarch and Co. were to first find the merchandise and then to dispose of it among the people. Lately Alexandria and Cairo had been flooded with narcotics.
But the time came and the authorities caught the three of them and, through them and others who were not paid enough in the disposing of the drug, discovered the others. A good many kilograms were found inside the tiara of the representative of the Greek Orthodox church and under the clothes of his retinue. The patriarch said that it did not belong to him but was put there by his companion in travel. These were unhindered in their dirty work; the law forbids anyone to take off their high caps or to search their baggage. The Egyptian Government called the ambassador of Greece and entrusted to his care the examination of the patriarch. He in turn insulted the patriarch severely, even calling him “goat priest” because he had exposed to ridicule the whole nation on account of his shameful deed. The same night he was found dead in his bath tub, and the rumor went out that he was self-poisoned.
Just before this uncovering of the patriarch announcement was made in the Greek and the French press that a united effort of all denominations would be put forth to stop all religious propaganda and that this work would be taken up by the government.
It seems that there is yet a great work ahead of Jehovah’s Kingdom publishers, so that the joyful message may be brought to the other sheep, and they may find food and safety. — L. Psaroudis, Egypt.
Jehovah’s Kingdom publishers at Rangoon, Burma
Persecution of Witnesses in Greece
◆ In the past three years many of Jehovah’s people were before the courts in Greece. When released by the magistrates they were rearrested and exiled. Five were exiled from Crete, and one sister was imprisoned three months because she brought a Bible to her brother in the prison—held there for Jehovah’s name.
In a village near Cavala four witnesses were arrested and exiled to the island of Folcgrandos. This was done at the instigation of the clergy and one of the “evil servant” class. When the wife of one of these exiles asked the governor to give her an affidavit of poverty, that her husband might get 10 drachmas (13 cents) a day for his support, as they were poor, the governor not only refused to grant her request, but slapped her hard on the face and afterwards boasted of it to a high clergyman.
Many witnesses were arrested and sentenced to prison for failure to comply with the law that all books must be stamped with the seal of the church authorities of Athens. Books have been seized and destroyed, mail is being watched, and meetings of God’s people must be held clandestinely, if at all.—Aristodemos Frudarakis.
A Doer as Well as a Reader
◆ I am writing to you to ask if you received my letter about three weeks ago subscribing for the Consolation magazine. In case it has not been received by you, I have had one or two lent to me; and I am thankful to Jehovah I am for them, and according to the one I have now it would be possible for me to take part in spreading the Kingdom message by the offer made on the back cover of Consolation. Enclosed find five shillings for 40 Face the Facts, 2 Enemies and 1 Riches.
My present occupation takes me among many people, and I have always done my best when the chance arose, and it has many times, to help, by God’s grace, to tell them the good news of the Kingdom and the battle of God Almighty so near, whereby they may find protection.—M. M., Britain.
Kingdom II—at the dock, Quebec
Kingdom II—out in the river, Quebec
A Note from Ottawa
◆ We put in two hours last night doing the Chinese laundries and restaurants. All together, we placed fifteen Chinese Riches, and found the proprietors very nice to witness to. Some had the book, well used and marked. Their favorite expression was “Good book!”
For the past two weeks the special pioneers have been working in Eastview, the section whence came the hoodlums to disrupt our convention at the Coliseum last September. As a result of those disorders the pioneers placed more literature and had more phonograph setups than in any other part of the city. The people are enraged at the tactics displayed by their “church”.
The “White Fathers” bought 65 acres of the best land there and are building one of the finest churches in Canada. The labor, of course, is of the most poorly paid kind, members of their own parish. One man with a very large family spud some potatoes in the cellar of a house they were dismantling, to make way for the new church. He asked the priest if he might have them, and what do you think they did?—threw all the debris from the excavations over them. That was his answer. The pioneers say the whole community is in an uproar about it, and other incidents.
One pioneer says he was playing French records in a French Catholic home; a woman came downstairs with a Cure booklet held high in her hand, and called out, “This is what I believe from now on.”—Janet Horne.
Showing Lancashire How to Do It
Kingdom House, Bradford, Yorkshire, England, is the first pioneer home outside London to be organized in the British Isles. It is situated in an area in which there is a population of more than two million. There are also ten companies of Jehovah’s witnesses closely packed together in this area.
The home was completed and commenced work on January 1, 1939, its establishment having been announced the previous October at the zone No. 23 assembly at Leeds. It is large enough to comfortably accommodate thirteen pioneers. These pioneers devote their time to calling upon the people in this area, and working up back-calls among the interested. Their combined field service report for the months of January, February and March is as follows:
Books, 274; booklets, 8,870; peak of publishers, 12; hours, 3,608; average hours, 112.5; attendance, 5,232; back-calls, 263.
The sound attendance was achieved entirely by the use of the phonograph, no transcription machine having been used.
The witnesses all rise at 7:00 a.m., and leave the house for field service at 8:45. The home is cleaned and kept in order by them, different ones being scheduled to perform different duties each week. On Monday night there is a Watchtower study, and on Thursday they attend the service meetings of the neighboring companies.
These pioneers often cycle ten miles to their territory before commencing work, in order to visit some of the outlying territory.
This arrangement has proved to be a great help and stimulus to the work in this area.
On April 23, an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses living in zone No. 23 was held. York is one of the principal seats of religion in this country. The enormous cathedral, known as York Minster, is one of the best known in this country, the present buildings being traced back to the beginning of the thirteenth century. It was considered fitting that a mass demonstration against religion should be made by Jehovah’s people on this occasion. Following the afternoon session of the assembly, and at about the time of the close of the afternoon service at the Minster, three hundred of Jehovah’s witnesses, wearing placards announcing “Religion is a snare and a racket”, marched in a procession more than a mile and a half long to the Minster. The marchers completely surrounded the building, while the people were coming out, filing slowly past the entrance. Clergymen seemed to be in evidence everywhere, and the expressions on their faces showed that they were sorely shocked.
When half the column had made a complete circuit, the gates were locked on us, and the remaining half was compelled to double back. This proved even more effective, as it resulted in a double line passing the main entrance for the second time.
The disgust, wrath and indignation of the religionists was clearly shown, one, a canon, angrily approaching one of the marchers. We look forward to the time when this building, together with all others of its kind, will lie in a heap of ruins, as a testimony to Jehovah’s wrath against devil religion.—A. C. Attwood, England.
Part of 1½ mile march of Jehovah’s Kingdom publishers encircling York Minster, headquarters of archbishop of York
Echoes of the Storm at Oldham
“If you have more leaflets than you require concerning the Oldham Interference we should be pleased to receive a supply, as we have practically exhausted ours and a real good time we have had with them. We have had many cases where the people have refused the booklets but after reading the leaflets the husbands have sent their wives running after us for books to get to know more about it. One lady waited half an hour on the pavement last Saturday for me to return and asked for more information concerning the leaflet. I heard tell of one old man taking the leaflet to work and reading it out to his fellow workers and saying it must be true because the actual names and addresses of people were on it. We have had other cases of people waiting for us to come back their way and also running after us returning the leaflet, even throwing it at us, shouting, ‘A pack of lies, and you’ll get into trouble over this lot.’ But this course of action has only excited the curiosity of onlookers and given us an opportunity to prove the true statement of facts on the leaflet. Another man said, ‘Well, it’s true; I agree wholeheartedly—but my word, I’m afraid there’ll be trouble over it, and I hope you’re prepared for the worst; for you can’t escape’.”—W. Kay.
A retailers’ association in Oldham wrote for a supply of leaflets to assist in their distribution. The large Blind Institute had its secretary write for a good supply so that they also could distribute them. From Glasgow the Orange Lodge wrote in for 800 copies of the Clydebank leaflet to distribute to all the Orange Lodges in the country. The Glasgow Protestant Defense League also wrote in for a large supply and have been accommodated.
[The way Jehovah’s Kingdom interests in Britain are now being looked after by His publishers there is inspiring to all.—Ed.] Jehovah’s Witnesses Persecuted
◆ In a card sent through the mails to a Consolation subscriber, Albert Mitchell, known as “The Answer Man” of Radio Station WOR, 1440 Broadway, New York, makes the following statement of the conditions now confronting Christian people in the land of their birth unless they become pagans like those who heil Hitler:
Educationally it might possibly be said that Jehovah’s witnesses are persecuted. Since they, in their religion, refuse to salute any object other than God, and since certain school laws require that all students salute the American flag, there have been instances in which children have been removed from school, have been punished, and made to stay after school; have, in other words, been persecuted because they, firm in their belief, have refused to salute the American flag. We have had instances of this before in this country, but as a nation we have always solved the problem, allowing to each the freedom of his beliefs and adjusting our rules of behavior, liberalizing them so that he may stand firm in the faith of his religion and yet remain a good American citizen. The best example of this is in the case of the Quakers, who, because of their religion, cannot swear to anything; and so today, it is possible for a president of the U.S., not to swear in taking office, but merely to affirm.—Albert Mitchell.
Kingdom House, Bradford, Yorkshire, England, pioneers and transportation outfits
Unique Experience with a Vicar
◆ Did you know that I took the Lenten service at the parish church at H—— the other Wednesday evening? It came about in this way. In the course of the witness work I called at the vicarage and was met by the vicar. We had a long talk, and in the end he took some literature. Then he said to me, “Would you have a talk with my mother next Wednesday on these things?” Of course I readily agreed to do so. The following Wednesday night, therefore, I called at the vicarage and was met by the vicar’s wife, who frostily informed me that he was across at the church. Going there, I was escorted to the front by “His Reverence”, and then the vicar said to me, “I will give you a quarter of an hour to address the congregation; if the bishop knew, I should get the sack.”
Then I saw it all. I had been mistaken. I was not to speak to his mother, but to the mothers’ meeting and their friends, men included. Imagine my feelings; for I had never spoken in public before. Then I remembered the scripture, “I have put my words in thy mouth.” So, standing up, I said, “Friends, I am more used to speaking to you at your doors concerning God’s kingdom”; and that helped me. For fifteen minutes I told them of the truth, of the unfaithfulness of the clergy, and of the unscriptural doctrines taught by men. Meantime the vicar’s wife was looking daggers at me. When I had finished, the vicar said, “Well, our speaker evidently means that we should get back to the Bible”; and I must say I agree with her.”—As told by a witness to F. R. Freer, England.
An Austrian Priest Miscalculates
◆ The events here set forth took place before the Anschluss (Austria’s union with Germany).
In an Austrian village lived a young married couple and their little boy. The parents were zealous witnesses of Jehovah. The villagers, incited by the local priest, manifested continual hatred towards these preachers of righteousness, treating them as enemies and infidels. Then a sudden blow befell the young couple: their little two-year-old son died.
Instead of showing sympathy to the bereaved parents, this sad loss merely provided the clergy with a further opportunity to show their ill-will. They declared that the child was a little heathen, and denied the parents the right to bury their baby in their so-called “consecrated Christian cemetery”. The funeral undertakers, at the instigating of the clergy, also refused their assistance, so that the parents had to carry their dead infant from their home to the cemetery, an hour’s journey, and then had to bury him themselves outside the cemetery wall.
Shortly after, the grave was ornamented with a large headstone on which the father, an artist of some skill, had painted a beautiful sunny landscape. In the foreground of the scene, bathed in sunlight, was his little boy in the middle of a flower-spangled meadow, and underneath were the following words:
Death is the great enemy of the human race. The dread it inspires would hasten our end, were we unaware that Christ died to redeem mankind from the tomb. Behold the time is coming when those who are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Savior, and shall return to the earth as human creatures, and enjoy God’s glorious sunshine. He who has given this promise is faithful. He will lay the foundations of a new earth wherein shall dwell righteousness. You also, our little Fridolin, will come back* and we will sing together songs of praise to Jehovah, the great Life-giver.
And now the grave of the little child, once despised as a heathen, has become an attraction. From far and near people come to look at the beautiful picture, and to read the moving epitaph, the language of which, all can see, is far from that of an ungodly man. Numerous are the inquirers who then go and ask the parents of little Fridolin the precise meaning of those remarkable resurrection promises engraved on their little one’s tombstone.
And so the parents have the joy of explaining to these inquiring souls, hungering and thirsting for truth, the precious Scriptural promises, and of showing from the Bible that before long Christ will destroy religion and religious practitioners, and will reign over the earth, instead of the Devil, giving life to the righteous.
* A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.—Jeremiah 31: 15, 16; Matthew 2: 16-18.
The great joy these messengers of the Most High experience in thus enlightening their fellow men consoles them in momentarily having lost their child, whose death has indirectly served to bear witness to the glory of the Lord.
This little story demonstrates once again how the clergy, in their desire to hurt the Lord’s people, often overreach themselves. “The Lord disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”—From the French Consolation.
[There are more ways of preaching the gospel than standing up in a box under a steeple, wailing like a pup with a sore ear and then making another yelp for more money.—Ed.]
The Dark Age in Montreal
“Sir,—Last week police raided the meeting house of Jehovah’s witnesses on Hutchinson Street. As I read this in the Star my mind went back to Lewes, Sussex, England, near where I was born. Where the poor deluded Spanish queen burnt men and women who did not bow down to her religion. Where the Frenchman Simon De Montfort fought and defeated the English king at the battle of Lewes, and afterwards instituted what we know as the British institution the Mother of Parliaments, and with it free speech. On September 11 of last year Judge Rutherford, president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, now known also as Jehovah’s witnesses, spoke to an audience of nearly 11,000 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Several days before the lecture, the president of the British branch of Jehovah’s witnesses whose headquarters is 34 Craven Terrace, W.2., received information that Oswald Mosley, friend of Hitler, intended to lead his black shirts to the Albert Hall and stop the meeting. Scotland Yard was informed, who sent the following reply to the British president:
…