The Watchtower, October 15, 1919

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Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity: the sea and the waves the restless, discontented) roaring, men Bbearta to come tonal*

to the things coming upon the earth (society); tor the powers of the heavens (ecclesiasticlsm) shall be shaken. .. . when ye see these thirds begirrto‘ cometo pass,

thenknowthat the Kingdom of God is at hand. Look up. lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh .—Matthew 24.33. Mark 13.29, Lake 21.2^1

THIS JOURNAL AND ITS SAGRED MISSION

THIS Journal Is one of the prime factors or instruments in the system of Bible Instruction, or “Seminary Extension,” HOW beififi presented in all parts of the civilized world by the Watch Towns Bible A Tract Society, chartered A. D. 1881, “For the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.” It not only serves as a class room where Bible Students may meet in the study of the Divine Word, but also as a channel of communication through which they may be reached with announcements of the Society’s Conventions and <rt the coming of Its traveling representatives styled “Pilgrims,” and refreshed with reports of Its Conventions.

Our “Berean Lessons” are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society’s published Studies, most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which, translated into English, Is Minister o] the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S. S. Lessons is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.

This Journal stands firmly for the defense of the only true foundation of the Christian’s hope now being so generally repudiated— Redemption through the precious blood of “the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a Ransom (a corresponding price, a substitute] for alL" (1 Pet 1:19; 1 Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to—“Make all see what is the fellowship of the Mystery which . . . has been hid in God, ... to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God”—“which in other Ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed.”—Eph. 3 :5-9, 10.

It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while It seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God In Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken—according to the Divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we Snow whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in His service ; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in Its columns must be according to our judgment of His good pleasure, the teaching of His Word, for the upbuilding of His people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.

TO US THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH

Vhat the Church is “the Temple of the Living God”—peculiarly “His workmanship;” that its construction has been In progress throughout the Gospel Age—ever since Christ became the world’s Redeemer and the Chief Corner Stone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God’s blessing shall come “to all people,” and they find access to Him.—1 Cor. 3 :16, 17 ; Eph. 2 :20-22; Gen. 28 :14 ; Gal. 3 :29.

Fhat meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in Christ’s Atonement for sin, progresses; and when the last of these “living stones,” “Elect and precious,” shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring all together in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled with His glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout the Millennium.—Rev. 15 :5-8. '

(That the Basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,” “a Ransom for all,” and will be “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," “In due time.”— Heb. 2 :9 ; John 1:9 ; 1 Tim. 2 :5, 6.

Vhat the Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, “see Him as He is,” be “partaker of the Divine nature,” and share Hia glory as His joint-heir.—1 John 3 :2 ; John 17 :24 ; Rom. 8:17; 2 Pet. 1 :4.

That the present mission of the Church Is the perfecting of the saints for the future work of service; to develop in herself every graee; to be God’s witness to the world; and to prepare to be kings and priests In the next Age.—Eph. 4 :12; Matt. 24 :14 ; Rev. 1:6; 20 :<k fhat the hope for the World lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ’s Millennial Kingdom— the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified Church—when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed.—Acts 3 :19-23; Isa. 35.

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The Watch Tower Editorial Committee:

This journal is published under the supervision of an Editorial Committee at least three of whom have read and approved as truth each and every article appearing in these colums. The names of the Editorial Committee are: J. F. Rutherford, W. E. Van Ambcrgh, F. H. Robison, Geo. H. Fisher, W. E. Page.

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Term* to the Lord’* Poor as follows—All Bible Students who, by reason of old age or other infirmity or adversity, are unable to pay for this journal, will be supplied Free if they send a Postal Card each May stating their case and requesting its continuance. We are not only willing, but anxious, that al! such be on our list continually and in touch with the Studies, etc.

NOTICE TO ALL TOWER SUBSCRIBERS-Please remember that as a rule we no longer send a card of acknowledgment for a renewal or for a new* subscription. Receipt and entry of renewal are indicated w’ithin a month by change in date of expiration of the subscription on the Tower wrapper.

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ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT PITTSBURGH, PA., POSTOFFICE UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH JRD, 187Q.

SOCIETY REMOVED—CORRESPONDENCE TO BROOKLYN

In harmony with announcements previously made the Society has removed its headquarters to 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y., to which address all communications, remittances, etc., should be sent. Barely enough of our force has been retained in Pittsburgh to publish this issue (and possibly another), as the strike in the printing trades in Greater New York was lound to make such action advisable.

The first issue of The Golden Age has been mailed; though conditions caused by the oncoming strike combined to make the first issue a little disappointing in appearance. But rather than cause delay of the first issue we are sending it out as it is, hoping that some such adjustment will be made in the printing trade as will make possible the early issue of the second number in good form.

CHANGES IN CLASS SECRETARIES

It sometimes occurs that class secretaries remove from one city to another and the class for which they were secretary fails either to choose another person for this work or fails to notify us of the change. The consequence is that notices of Pilgrim visits are sent to the old address, forwarded to the new address, and possibly do not come into the proper hands until it is too late to arrange for meetings. Please notify the Pilgrim Department at once if changes in the address or in the name of class secretaries occur.

• ---- ' - - -------= “ ’_a

OBDEBS BY BBITISH FBTENDS

Orders for the reprint of Towers, subscriptions for The Golden Age, and other orders of friends residing in Great Britain should be sent through the British office. Address all such orders Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 34 Craven Terrace, Lancaster Gate, London, W., and make remittances to the British office for same- The war somewhat disturbed free communication between the London office and the home office and there has been some confusion in the minds of the friends about their communication through the London office. For this reason we state that the same relationship that has existed for years between the British Branch and the home office at Brooklyn still exists.

NOT FASTING BUT FEASTING

My Dear Brethren :

Loving Greetings. I feel that I must write a word of appreciation for the feast that we so continually enjoy from the Watch Tower. What a privilege is yours, to feed the household of faith, what a blessing to serve; and what a privilege is ours to be served. It is no longer a time of fasting for the church, but a time of feasting; surely the Bridegroom is with us, and serving as he promised.

I have been very much impressed by the article on “The Cross of Christ”, May 15th Tower. Never before have I had such a vivid realization of the sufferings of our dear Master; but yet we can appreciate only a very little of all his sufferings for us, and what it meant to the heavenly Father too, in those last dread hours. When we see the manifestation of such love, instinctively we cry: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?”

We are being richly blest at the London Tabernacle; the favor of the Lord is with Brother Hemery in a very marked manner; he is a tower of strength to us, and to the brethren up and down the country; a veritable pillar in the church.

Many are those who, forming themselves into Unions, Societies and Institutes, would draw us away from the Watch Tower, the Seventh Volume, and the Society, but the Towers and the Volumes are such a continual blessing to me that to cast them aside would in my own mind, be a willful act of starvation, almost spiritual suicide. The Father has promised that he will turn his “hand upon the little ones” (Zachariah 13:7), and now that the sanctuary is cleansed, the time is marked for Zion to awake and put on her beautiful garments. With confidence we can say: "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth, even for ever”.

May you still be blessed of the Lord and, as you bring joy to others, your joy will be full. Sister Briggs joins with me in sending our fervent Christ love.

Your brother by his favor, H. C. Briggs.—Eng.

sAWCH TOWER

AND HERALD OF CHRISTS PRESENCE

Vol. xl October 15, 1919 No. 20

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER

IT would be a very blind and indifferent person indeed who could not see the trend of ecclesiastical affairs in the world to-day. The waters are being divided. The peoples of Christendom are slowly taking their point of view from one side or the other—either from that of God’s Word or from the side of materialistic worldly wisdom. Here and there are evidences that some see with considerable clearness the object and purpose of the church during this Gospel age. A contributor to the May 10th issue of The Alliance Weekly (New York) expresses one phase of the situation so well that it is worth quoting from at considerable length:

“If the program of Christianity demands such outward success as shall bring all men to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord in this age, the amelioration of all injustice and social inequality, the banishment of all forms of vice and immorality, the removal of all conflict and strife between men who labor and those who exploit labor, and such a cure and healing of all the ills of sin that through the church the kingdom of heaven shall be inaugurated,—if this is the program, then there is no escaping the conclusion: Christianty is at the crossroads!

“The burdens of a diseased civilization are breaking the back of the world. Outraged justice, because of increasing crime, is calling for more courts and a higher type of justice to vindicate the rights of the oppressed. This means higher taxation and the people are saying to their legislators: ‘Go slow’. Insanity increases so rapidly that some experts are saying that the whole world will be insane in fifty years if the increase continues at the present rate. Social impurity and marital infidelity pollute society and fill divorce courts with the scandal of daily life. We are bringing back some of our boys who fought to make the world safe for democracy, and instead of finding that victory has brought immediate and final results we are standing on the crater of a volcano of political and industrial upheaval. Machine politicians are seeking to make things politically safe for 1920, great industries are seeking to readjust and save for themselves pre-war profits, and men who toil are looking on and preparing to defend the rights of labor from further aggression and oppression if it has to be done by the bayonet. Like a man with the chills, the whole fabric of modern civilization is shaking with disease and unrest. Life has never seemed so cheap, and never less stable and secure. Such are some of the signs of the times.

IS CHRISTENDOM A FAILURE?

“The modern church, facing the fact that it has lost control of the forces of civilization, and having lost the vision of the Master for the age, has virtually ceased preaching the gospel and is now trying to camouflage the issue by a ‘social service' propaganda. It is spending its time seeking to buy up the services of efficiency experts who shall teach us how to socialize aliens, build and conduct community centers, and entertain and amuse this age so sick with its sin that something has to be done to rest its nerves. If the church is under commission and contract to convert the world, fumigate the nations, and make the world a safe place in which to live, then it is open to indictment on every count—we are no longer at the crossroads; we are lost! Christianity is a failure, and we are bankrupt!

“But if, on the contrary, the Bible teaches that such is not God’s plan through the church for this age; if the church is not under commission to convert the world, but simply to evangelize it, that is, give it the gospel as a witness, the issue shifts and God's purpose in the age has another objective. If God now is only visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name, his purpose is elective, and not world conversion until the next age. In this event we may expect to find just what we do find, two harvests ripening, one for judgment, and the other for the completion of God’s larger purpose in the coming age. If the unrighteousness, lawlessness, and inhumanity of this age must ripen for judgment as in the days of Noah and Lot, as Jesus said would be the case, then the unrest, immorality, crime, apostasy and social degeneracy simply become signboards that enable us to locate how near we are to the end of the way, or are like sounding lines that tell the depth of the sea so the sailors can begin to get ready to anchor. If the church is simply that company of people who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and who have separated to him from the world, then it does not seem strange that some men will not now have this man Christ Jesus to reign over them. There is no promise that every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father in this age. That is one of the glories of the kingdom age.

“When tested by this rule, Christianity is not a failure. The gates of hell are not prevailing against it. He said the wheat and the tares should grow together until the end of the age; therefore, we should not expect anything different. Apostasy has thrown its dark shadow over the age, but the true church has not lost its way. It is not at the crossroads, but in the middle of the road, faithful to her Lord and the ministries assigned her, pressing with vigor on to the goal, her cornation day.”

Time-honored ecclesiastical customs are finding themselves besieged by various modernist ideas. An item in the August 27th issue of the Pittsburgh Dispatch informs us that country ministers are to be re-educated to enable them to cope with the world problems of the new era which is now confronting the church nominal. The Presbyterian Board of Home Missions is launching such a scheme and expects to spend $10,000 for the re-education of ministers in 1920, and $25,000 a year for special courses to be offered to the most promising ministers who are discovered by this process of re-distillation. Dr. Warren H. Wilson, of the Presbyterian Home Board, is reported by the Dispatch as saying:

“The demands upon a pastor in a small community are far beyond what he has been prepared to meet. He has been taught to preach, to study the Bible, to teach and to visit his people in their homes. But he is called on to lead the community in work for better roads, consolidation of schools, in reform movements, financial ‘drives’ and in recreation problems. He is called on to be a pastor, not a preacher only.”

It will be readily seen that such demands call for the qualifications of general manager for a large industrial undertaking, rather than for personal devotion and dedication to the service of God’s Word, which is truth. The effect of such a course as that proposed will often be to eliminate some of the most sincere and spiritually influential in favor of the astute and socially brilliant. But no damage will come to the Lord’s cause by such elimination, for the eliminated ones will be, by their very humiliation, prepared to understand the Lord’s purposes in full and to co-operate with them —even if late.

GOATS NOT SHEEP

Efforts are being made in several States to teach the Bible, along with arts and sciences Rev. C. W.

Laufer, in The Christian Educator (Philadelphia) says that “American educators are convinced of one thing, namely, that religion must lay hold of, permeate, and possess the social order. ... If civilization is to continue and democracy is to grow in strength, society must recognize the presence, power, purpose of the living God, and all that he has made known concerning sin, salvation, righteousness, life, and immortality”.

Doubtless those who are fostering this movement have some good motive back of their efforts. But a good motive is not sufficient to bring a movement in alignment with God’s principles and purposes. Great injury might be accomplished through forced instruction in the Lord’s Word for those who do not care for its precepts. It is the ancient mistake of trying to make sheep out of goats.

To the Herald and Presbyter, one of the oldest church papers in this country, is attributed the following paragraph:

“Those who imagine that there is to be any sort df surrender to these wicked forms of error on the part of the evangelical church, are greatly mistaken. Some of these fads, as Russellism and Eddyism, have adopted insolent methods of propaganda, and chuckle because they think they are going on unrebuked. But this sort of error is not to be successful, nor its flaunting organization to be recognized as Churches of Christ by evangelical Christian bodies. We are glad that there is to be a more determined and united effort to rebuke and restrain these false systems.”

Just what is meant by the word “restrain” does not appear. But we do know that ecclesiastical bodies have persisted in making the mistake of applying such civil power as was within their hands to the suppression of what they considered to be false doctrine. But, someone may say, do you not seek to suppress them ? The answer is that we do find fault with other religious bodies in proportion as they seem to us to be misrepresenting the message and purpose of the Gospel. If they honestly believe that we are teaching error (using the Bible as a source of authority) it is theit privilege to criticize our teaching. Religious tolerance does not mean supine indifference to error. We welcome criticism if such criticism is based on the Bible. But when the subject of doctrine is largely ignored and political or civil power is invoked to sustain one’s religious views, that, to our understanding, is a violation of the principle of religious tolerance.

TROUBLE IN SWITZERLAND

In the economic field of human experiences difficulties are everywhere present. Economic difficulties always find more or less of expression through social and political channels. Switzerland is the oldest republic in the world, and this little country has endured many things. Its people are not of one race, nor of one language, nor yet of one religion. The largest portion of the Swiss people are of German stock and speak either German or Swiss patois—usually both. Another large portion of the people speak French, and still others Italian. A small portion of mountaineers speak Romanche, a dialect most closely favoring its ancient mother, Latin. But notwithstanding these points of divergence, there is remarkable unity among the Swiss people, especially on the point of love of liberty. Freedom has been their most cherished birthright and the chief inspiration for their patriotic fervor. The Nashville Banner of August 5th, touches upon the Swiss situation when it says:

“The neutrality of Switzerland from early times has been respected by the greedy European empires and monarchies, and, though the Swiss are the best marksmen in the world and make excellent soldiers, the country has escaped the horrors of war.

“But all is not serene in Switzerland; the world-wide unrest, with the same cause and same manner of exhibition, is creating disturbance there. A Geneva dispatch says:

“‘Troops sent by the government to quell strike riots at Basle and Zurich were forced to use machine guns mounted on automobiles during the disorders yesterday.

“ ‘The strikers at Basle ripped up the pavements and bombarded the troops, injuring many. A number of strikers were killed and wounded and many were arrested.’

“The Swiss have been a remarkably happy and well-governed people in the past and if they are wise they will continue to pursue the tenor of their way after the old order and avoid radical innovations. The dispatch from Geneva continues :

“‘At Basle the outbreak was said to be of a Boshevik character, while at Zurich the disorders were attributed to the increasing cost of living.

“ ‘Newspapers have stopped publication and tramways have discontinued operation. Operations of the gas and electric services are threatened. Ring-leaders of the strikers are reported to be youths 19 and 20 years old. The military are guarding all banks and factories.’

“One cause seems to be hot-headed youth, filled with new and dangerous ideas, and the other the universal trouble, the high cost of living. The scarcity of bread in Paris was the immediate cause of the French revolution—and the strain to live is the chief source of disturbance now. The dispatch quoted above draws a difference between the cause of the trouble at Basle and that at Zurich, but closely analyzed they are one and the same. It is only the manifestation that is different. . . .

"The chief thought connected with these disturbances in Switzerland is that the high prices of which we sorely feel the effect in Nashville, and which the administration at Washington will bend every effort to set right, is neither a local nor a national affliction; it is world-wide. The people everywhere are restive because of it, and the disposition to find some corporation, individual or set of individuals supposed to be responsible for the condition and vent on them or him the popular fury, is causing violent outbreaks in many localities and leading to turbulence and disorder.

“What is chiefly needed is quiet and industry. The world is the same now as it was before the German armies crossed the Rhine just five years ago on their mission of war and destruction. If the people will work and produce now as they had done before that time, and not threaten the world with more disorder growing out of revolution, conditions will soon again become normal.”

THE OLD WORLD GONE

Those who view matters from the standpoint of the Scriptures must conclude that with this editorial writer the wish only was father to the thought, when he voiced the expectation that the world might return to normal conditions. The Gentile times have ended. The old world is gone and is in process of disintegration. It can never return, and no one who has any conception of the grandeur which Christ’s oncoming kingdom will bring to mankind and to his dwelling place, earth, can have any desire to see the old order reinstated as it was. What he probably desires is that conditions of peace and measurable security, which is associated in his mind with the times which were, be re-established.

Several elements contribute to the world-wide unrest. One of them is the wanton display of wealth on the part of the few; and another is an actual shortage of or extremely high prices for the necessities of life. Concerning the former cause the Springfield, Mo., Republican, of July 27th, had this to say in an Associated Press dispatch from London:

“There is no lack of jewels for those who have the price and are willing to pay. Many beautiful pieces of jewelry, the history of which is not given by the dealer, but which experts say could only come from the wealthiest families of Russia, are finding their way into the market. Enormous prices are being asked and promptly paid, while the cost of ordinary stones, diamonds for instance, has risen to unheard-of heights. Many old English families also are selling off their jewels.

“Flowers and food for the elaborate entertainments which are beginning to mark the appearance of the newly rich are commanding fancy prices, such as $25 for an orchid and $1.50 for a peach.

“Automobiles are very scarce and expensive in Britain. Some of them command as much as $10,000 to $15,000, and they are models of three and four years ago, while new machines are almost unobtainable. The maker of the most famous English car turns out only about 800 each year, and it is said he has already booked his entire output for this year and next.

“This extravagance is attracting wide attention from newspapers and public men. ‘Peace has brought an orgy of spending,’ says one writer, 'which high prices do nothing to check. The higher the price the easier it is for those who have money to draw the big lines of demarkation between themselves and the crowd.’ ”

The crop condition, especially as that word applies to the wheat product of this country, is far from encouraging. There were most sensational losses in wheat during July, amounting to 124,000,000 bushels in winter wheat and 97,000,000 bushels in spring wheat, making a total loss of 221,000,000 bushels. The losses reported from both the great wheat belts were due to unfavorable weather conditions in the Southwest, and to blight, black rust, scab, and grasshoppers in the Northwest, or spring wheat section. The Chicago Herald and Examiner, of August 9th, makes these remarks:

“Never in the history of the country have farmers been as disappointed because of the wheat crop losses this year. At one time the combined crops were estimated at 1,250,000,000 bu. These figures were the estimates of the best crop experts in the United States, whose correspondents are men of great experience and judgment and who gave conditions as they found them.

“The condition of Spring wheat at the present time is 53.9, compared with 80.9 on July 1 and 79.6 on August 1 last year.

“There was a big loss in white potatoes, which are second, as a food, to wheat. The potato crop is estimated at 357,000,000 bu., compared with 391,000,000 bu. a month ago and 400,000,000 bu. a year ago, with a five year average of 366,000,000 bu.’’

VIOLET RAYS FOR AGRICULTURE

But something encouraging is given us in the agricultural field which, while we can not expect it to bring immediate relief, may be one of the agencies used by the Lord in causing the earth to “yield her increase” during Messiah’s reign. A Japanese scientist, Taizan Tsuji by name, has been making agricultural experiments with the ultra-violet ray, a very penetrating light of high actinic value, but practically invisible to the human eye. The Pittsburgh Press, for May 14th, has a few interesting remarks on this discovery :

“These rays vibrating 750 trillion times per second, exist in the sunlight but are largely absorbed by the gases of our atmosphere, at the expense of plant life which they stimulate greatly. Dr. Tsuji grew pineapples riper, larger, sweeter and juicier by exposing the rows 40 minutes each morning to the ultra-violet rays from a mercury vapor lamp. Similar results were obtained with sugar cane and etiolated bananas. Tsuji predicts that, as soon as the rays can be produced cheaply, sugar cane will require 12 instead of 27 months between planting and harvesting, and that bananas will be picked green, shipped to market and ripened when needed.

“Electricity is another new crop stimulant. A British government scientist has achieved important results by stringing high-tension wires in a network with 30-foot meshes about five feet above ground. This process is established in England and is now being used on a large scale. Fields thus electrified have crop yields of wheat, barley and oats increased from 25 to 30 per cent. The quality of the grain likewise benefits— more weight, less chaff and more flour per bushel.

“Curiously enough Fry, the electrician who has made most progress in the new field, knew little about agriculture. Outsiders often account for most progress within an industry— they come with a fresh viewpoint and see the obvious. Spinning was revolutionized by a barber, weaving by a minister, and, despite the teakettle story, Watt was a manufacturer of delicate scientific instruments when he invented the steam engine. May we not confidently expect that the world’s food problem is going to be solved permanently in the near future by the agricultural application of electricity, the violet ray, and the ore from which is extracted radium ?”

Tens of thounsands of people are manifesting an interest in spiritism who were entirely passive to it before the war. That such an interest is present in the world could hardly be doubted by anyone glancing at some of the regular periodicals. The Atlantic Monthly, the Hibbert Journal, Unpartisan Review, Harper’s Magazine, the Cosmopolitan, Hearst’s, the Metropolitan, and many other periodicals, have been carrying articles by prominent writers on the subject of spiritistic manifestations and theories. Life, under date of September 4th, makes the following remarks, rather serious, when compared with its usual lightsome strain:

SPIRITISTIC JOURNALISM

“There are now two groups of periodicals: those that pander to the growing appetite for spiritist literature, and those that have not yet come to it. Not ‘pander’ but ‘minister’ is the word that people would use who are interested in the spiritist literature and like to keep the run of it. A little more every month they are ministered to just now, both in the periodicals and by books.

“There must be many other magazines implicated in attention to these psychical and spiritist proceedings lately held in so much disapproval by cautious persons who valued their reputation for common sense. Reputable characters and publications are gradually being drawn into contemplation of them, puzzled and incredulous as yet, but inquisitive. The literature of the subject increases so fast and is so much read that it begins to be impolitic for folks who claim to be awake to ignore it. The New York Public Library reports its readers as ‘turning from books on the war to those on South America, the export trade, Spain and the Spanish language, religion, spiritualism, psychic phenomena, applied psychology and technical subjects. The librarian in charge of the Central Circulation Branch reports that readers are demanding books on all phases of religion, are eager to know how great a part religion is to play in our reconstructed world, and are ‘intensely interested in spiritual subjects of all kinds, and are turning with new eagerness to the writings of Sir Oliver Lodge and his investigations and speculations into the spirit world.’

“This is scandalous, of course, to people who insist on keeping their feet on the actual earth, but the prospect is that we shall have more of it before we have less. One hears there is much more in England than here.

“For people who don't know anything at all about these burgeoning interests, it may be suitable to explain that the foudation for them seems to have been laid by the studies and reports of the psychical research societies, extending over forty or fifty years; that the interest in all such matters has been immensely stimulated by the war and its attending bereavements and by the present parlous state of society, and that the most popular disclosures that attend this movement ate those that come in the form of so-called ‘automatic writings,’ which have been cropping up of late like mushrooms in all parts of the country. They purport to be records, by sensitives or mediums, of information communicated through them but not derived from their own minds, nor from any mundane source that they know of. That there are a lot of these communications is unquestionable. That the persons through whom they come are honest as a rule, and not consciously deceitful, is little doubted. That some of the communications are extremely curious will be admitted bv most people who read them, but how or whence they come, whether from the subconscious minds of mediums or by telepathic communication from minds of other living persons, or out of the minds of the questioners who receive them, or from the spirits of the dead, is all still matter of discussion, investigation and dispute.

“No one need be dismayed to know more about contemporary spiritism and the automatic writings. They are mighty queer, and in any but the flounder type of mind that likes to lie still on the bottom and look like mud, they are bound, if known, to excite immense curiosity. But very many people still know nothing about them. Presently some conclusion about them will be reached, but it will be based not on prejudice but on knowledge, and the knowledge it must rest on seems to be accumulating very fast.”

In substantiation of these findings a London dispatch, quoted by the Daily Oklahoman, of June 8, adds:

“A wave of spiritualism, such as no country has ever experienced before, is rolling over Great Britain, carrying with it thousands of persons of high and low degree. Backed by men of science and letters, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the leader, the movement has assumed such proportions that when a gathering is held in London the Royal Albert hall, one of the largest amphitheatres in the world, is engaged.

“Conspicuous among the growing membership are the wives and mothers of soldiers slain on the battlefield, and since the recent announcement made by Sir Arthur that no less than thirty women, from his personal knowledge, have been vouchsafed the deep consolation of direct communication with their beloved lost, scores of sorrow-stricken women have made the seance their church and the medium their father confessor.”

"WALLS BETWEEN TWO WORLDS”

Sir Conan Doyle speaks for himself in a syndicate article published in the Pittsburgh Post, of August 24th. There is evident sincerity in his attitude toward spiritism and in his desire to render some service to suffering humanity. We would be glad indeed if he and others who are deluded by deceiving spirits could see the truth on the subject and know that God’s provisions for mankind are infinitely better than anything which the imagination can form. Sir Arthur says in part:

“I have now traced my own process of conversion up to the time of the war. I hope the reader will admit that it was deliberate and showed no traces of that credulity with which our opponents charge us. But I was culpably slow, I think, in throwing any small influence I may possess into the scale of truth. I might have drifted on for my whole life as a psychical researcher, showing a sympathetic, but more or less dilletante, attitude toward the whole subject, as if we were arguing about some impersonal thing such as the existence of Atlantis or the Baconian controversy. But the war came, and when the war came it brought earnestness into all our souls and made us look more closely at our own beliefs and reassess their values. In the presence of an agonized world, hearing every day of the deaths of the flower of our race in the first promise of their unfulfilled youth, seeing around one of the wives and mothers who had no clear conception whither their loved ones had gone, I seemed suddenly to see that this subject with which I had so long dallied was not merely a study of a force outside the rules of science, but that it was really something tremendous, a breaking down of the walls between two worlds, a direct, undeniable message from beyond, a call of hope and of guidance to the human race at the time of its deepest affliction.

“The objective side of it ceased to interest me, for having made up my mind that it was true there was an end of the matter. The religious side of it I saw to be of infinitely greater importance, and it is of this which I will presently speak. The telephone bell is in itself a very childish affair, but it may be the signal for a very vital message. It seemed to me that all these phenomena, large and small, had been the telephone bells which said to the human race: ‘Rouse yourselves 1 Stand by! Be at attention! Here are signs for you. They will lead up to the message which God wishes to send.’ It really counted. A new revelation seemed to me to be in course of delivery to the human race, though how far it is still in what I may call the John-the-Baptist stage, and how far some greater fulness and clearness may be expected thereafter, is more than I or any man can say.”

To this is added the testimony of Professor James Hyslop, long connected in a prominent way with the American Society of Psychical Research. An interview with him is published in the Washington Star, of July 6th:

“This much is to be remembered: Science already has given to wise men who have come in contact with it such an assurance as faith never could have given any one. We know that there is future life and progress in it. We do not just believe it.

“We know that any man or woman makes a step forward, and a great one, in voluntary sacrifice of self. There is but one real sin in this life, and that sin is selfishness.”

SCIENTISTS NOT ALWAYS SCIENTIFIC

It would seem that Professor Hyslop has gone beyond the bounds of science in this statement. What has voluntary sacrifice of self or the sin of selfishness to do with proving a future life and progress in it? The universal craving for continued life lies at the root of these erroneous statements. But some of the remarks which this distinguished gentleman makes are well worthy of notice. Some of them follow:

“I always have maintained, and still maintain, that we can hope for nothing of paramount importance from such investigation until its claims have been scientifically proven beyond the slightest possibility of reasonable doubt. For such investigation funds and enthusiasm never have been ready.”

“We find the estimate of biblical times more accurate than that of modern science. In other words, we learn that many sufferers are literally ‘possessed of devils’—that is, are controlled by bad or mischievous spirits.”

“The evil spirits seem to be as disconcertingly plentiful as the physical disease germs; unable to affect normal human beings they seem to seek as prey those weakened by outside troubles (as disease or disaster) of the sort which disturb relationships between mind and body. Of the existence and persistence of these evil or malicious spirits there is a mass of evidence such as cannot be controverted.”

Sir Oliver Lodge, while he has investigated a great deal and written a great deal on the subject of spiritism, is not quite so sure of his ground. He has a statement in the Detroit News, of June 1, in which he says:

“The boundary between the two states—the known and the unknown—is still substantial, but it is wearing thin in places, and, like excavators engaged in boring a tunnel from opposite ends, amid the roar of water and other noises, we are beginning to hear now and again the pickaxes of our comrades on the other side.”

"THE HEART OF JERUSALEM”

The most happifying visible development on earth to-day is found in connection with the Jewish Zionist movement. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, of August 10th, makes a brief editorial review of the situation, especially as it bears upon European Jews:

“The results of the war have given no greater happiness to any people than to the Jews of the world. There is no need to dwell on Jewish oppression in the past. It was practically universal until comparatively recent times and in a few countries. But as a result of the various treaties made with the countries that have recently sprung into existence, the Jews everywhere are promised a freedom of action and development along normal lines that would have been considered impossible five years ago.”

“There is some question as to how many Jews in the United States will return to their native countries. We are inclined to reduce the number Mr. Marshall estimates, for there is little occasion for a Jewish exodus from the United States or from England. Never have they been more prosperous than in these countries and there is no prospect of greater pea..e and plenty elsewhere. But the unrestricted right to live anywhere is a blessing Jews may well celebrate.”

We can readily believe that comparatively few of the Jews in America and England will exchange their places here for new ones in Palestine, because a comparatively small number of the Jews have faith in the ancient promises. This has always been true. The Lord, speaking through his prophet, Isaiah, in extending the message of comfort to his chosen people, after protracted suffering, said: “Speak ye comfortably to [Hebrew, to the heart of] Jerusalem.” It was so after the Babylonian captivity. There was the heart class who had not grown at ease in Babylon and who were willing, yes anxious, to face all the inconveniences and rigors of the return trip to Judaea and to rebuild the temple and the city. The bulk of captives were very comfortably situated in Babylon, having social and commercial ties which they did not care to sever. Likewise there is now a heart class to the Jewish people at large. Their hearts throb and burn at the prospect of restoration of their ancient land to its pristine loveliness and charm.

More actual work toward the rehabilitation of Palestine has been done in the last few months than most people realize. There are still but few Jews there, but the spirit of determination and cooperation has been aroused in Zionists the world over to such an extent as to make the actual carrying out of their projects of secondary importance, and of but slight difficulty. We clip the following from the Maccabaean, the Zionist monthly, of August:

PROGRESS IN PALESTINE

“Mr. Louis Robison, the assistant treasurer of the Zionist Organization of America, is a gentleman who is accustomed to deal with realities. He is a dispassionate observer of facts, and while he has always been an ardent lover of Palestine and expects to be a resident of Palestine, his vision is unclouded by sentimentality, and he therefore makes an excellent reporter of things as they are.

"Mr. Robison has just returned from Palestine where for a number of weeks he has been in the closest contact with the various forces that are at work in the country.”

“‘I had the opportunity, at various stages of my journey, to come in touch with living proof of the determination and capacity of the Jewish people to build up a Jewish home in Palestine. I met Jews in Palestine and on the way to Palestine who were a real inspiration. A story of the wanderings and tribulations which some of them have undergone on their way to the Homeland reads like a romance. Thus I met at Port Said a group of six young people who had wandered from Russia across Siberia to Shanghai and from there around the continent of Asia to Port Said. There they were waiting for permission to enter Palestine. I asked one member of this group, a young woman, what her occupation had been in Russia. She told me she had been a bookkeeper. I expressed the belief that she would be successful in finding work in Palestine in that capacity.'

“‘A bookkeeper?’ she replied. ‘Why, a bookkeeper I could have been in Odessa. In Palestine I want to work on the soil.’ It was a really wonderful spirit which animated these young people.

“Tn Port Said, also, I met a number of individual Jews, all waiting for permission to enter Palestine, who, together, represented all the four corners of the world. There was a merchant from Irkutsk, a Jew born in Siberia and whose native language was Russian. He was on his way to Palestine as representative of a group of Siberian Jews, all of whom are ready to liquidate their affairs and stake their all on Palestine. He told me he knew of hundreds in Siberia, and many of them people of large means, who were making plans to settle in Palestine. This man was anxious to go to Palestine, survey the ground, and report back to the people who had sent him. Then there was a merchant from South Africa who was on his way to Palestine in a similar capacity, representing a group in the Transvaal. A third was a Jewish dentist from the Argentine who had given up a very large practice in that country and was also proceeding to Palestine as representative of a group of Argentine Jews. A fourth came from London and was going to investigate conditions for himself and a large group of English-Jewish merchants who were ready to sell out and settle in Palestine as soon as feasible.’ ”

The May issue of The Chosen People announces the fact that Zionists are planning to have a million Jews in Palestine in order to outnumber the Arabs. There seems to be no anxiety about money to buy land, nor is there a dearth of trained agriculturists. The thing necessary to enable them to get the upper hand in Palestine is a large Jewish population. The Arabs realize this and underhandedly have tried to stir up their own people against the Jews. But no danger has come to the fleshly seed of Abraham, nor will it to such an extent as to interfere with the divine promises.

An old quotation from the Literary Digest, of July 10th, 1915, gives some general facts about the land of Palestine:

“Palestine, it is estimated, can accommodate a population of 6,000,000. With the establishment of new political control of the Holy Land it is intended that Jews shall migrate there from Russia, Germany. Austria, and other European states. Thus, the leaders of the movement say, a solution will have been found for the race-old Jewish problem. Not only will the Jews have their own land, but an end will be brought to the discrimination against them in other countries.”

ROOM FOR ALL ASPIRING ZIONISTS

We read in 2 Chronicles, 13:3, and 14:7, that King Jeroboam of the ten tribes and King Asa, of the two tribes, put an army of one million, three hundred and eighty thousand men into the field of battle. This would indicate a still larger population. Yet they were not possessed of all the countries to the limits and boundaries specified in God’s charter granted to Abraham. (Genesis, 15:18) On the other hand, the Zionists do not expect half of the Jews to migrate to Palestine.

On the 20th of July the Zionist organization handed out a statement concerning the situation both in the Holy Land and in other parts of the world. This statement was published and commented upon in all of the largest papers of the country. Among other things, the statement says that from Poland and nearby countries some delegates have started to Palestine on foot —unable to restrain their impatience longer. The New York American, of July 21, says further on this point:

“To control the human flood, the Zionist Organization has formed emigration committees in a number of countries, while tens of thousands of young men from every class have organized agricultural training groups and other groups for the study of all technical and scientific questions bearing on the settlement of Palestine.

“Boris Goldberg, chairman of the Zionist Organization of Greater Russia, reports that under the pressure of the social revolution, as carried through by extremists, the subsistance of seventy to seventy-five per cent, of the Jews in Russia has been destroyed.

“Experimental farms are being established in Russia, according to the statement, for the training of Jewish young men, and builders, carpenters, and other kinds of skilled laborers are being classified.

“In Bulgaria, the report says, the Jews have established a Bulgarian Palestine bank, with a capital of 10,000,000 leva, one-half of this sum to be devoted to the purchase of land in Palestine and the other half to the promotion of commercial relations.

“The American organization has recently reported that the roster of the first 5,000 applications showed 135 occupations, including all forms of manual labor and professional administrative callings. Jewish farmers headed the list with a capital running into several millions of dollars."

The New York Sun, of the same date, adds:

“Holland reports similar vast preparations, especially among the Russian, Rumanian, and Galician Jews who took refuge in Holland after Antwerp was captured. In Germany many university students are anxious to go to Palestine to teach their people and assist in building up a new State. Reports from Morocco, Algiers and Egypt indicate coming movements of vast proportions. Reports from Canada state that many Jewish farmers are preparing to go to Palestine, and this is true also in Chile and Nicaraugua. In the Argentine the younger Jews are organizing themselves in groups of fifty, each group with an average capital of 15,000 francs.

“In this country and England the Zionist organizations, while preparing to contribute largely to the emigration, expect to furnish administrators, engineers, specialists and civil servants who will devote themselves especially to helping Palestine absorb the great mass pouring through her gates.”

WHOLE VILLAGES TO MIGRATE

It would seem that the desire to get away from some of the European centers has been so strong that not only whole families but whole villages are ready to move at the first opportunity. The New York Tribune, of July 21, substantiates this thought:

“In many cases whole Jewish communities have firmly resolved to leave Poland and emigrate to Palestine. Five thousand families in Warsaw registered for the migration before April 4th last.”

But there are families in this country in comfortable circumstances who seem just as anxious to go, according to the Duluth News-Tribune, of July 29th:

“Twenty Jewish families of Duluth are ready to leave for Palestine as soon as law and order are established there, according to Rabbi Israel Telpitz, rabbi of the Adash Israel Chevre Kadisha congregation. The wealth of each of these families ranges from $5,000 to $30,000.

“‘Only a very small number have left for Palestine as yet,’ said S. Mendelson, who is a member of the district Zionist board. ‘We will not accept any more applications for the journey to the Holy Land until the political status of Palestine is established by the League of Nations. We hope that we may start for the country by the middle of October.

“ ‘I intend to leave with the other Duluthians as soon as possible. The land as I remember it from my visit in 1882, is a big desert and it will require a lot of courage and patience to transform the country. We are making a special effort to interest the young Jewish people in the city in the project.’

“ 'As is the case in other parts of the country, a large number of the men preparing to leave Duluth are those of the professionals and technical crafts. No matter what their trade is here, they all expect to become farmers over in Palestine.’

“‘Taken altogether, there are around 800 Jewish families in the city, and within a short time after law is established in the Holy Land, we expect a large number of them to be on their way across.’ ”

Mr. Nathan Straus, well known as a merchant and philanthropist, entertains the hope of becoming Jerusalem’s first mayor. An extract from the New York Tribune quoted in the Minneapolis Tribune, of August 1, comments upon this desire on the part of Mr. Straus:

“If Nathan Straus, New York's distinguished merchant and philanthropist, wishes to be the first mayor of Jerusalem, let us hope it will not be deemed an unwarranted intrusion in the politics of another community to express a wish for the gratification of his ambition.

“Mr. Straus, by a long life of service to this community, has earned a right to take a series of sabbatical years to devote himself to new usefulness, while being carried on our rolls as a citizen emeritus. In Jerusalem, which his benefactions long ago reached and where his name is deemed blessed by those who have suffered during the long night, he will surely be welcomed. It would be of good omen to have as the first magistrate of the new Zion one whose thought was not to get something for himself or for hangers on.

“It has been the habit, and is still the habit, of some to smile incredulously at the Zionist ideal. But its adherents were never as many as now. It is a fact of history that one group of the dispersed of Judaea, even though living in plenty and honor in Babylon, were moved to gc to the ancient site, then as much a mess of prostrate brick as Verdun, and did recreate the city and rebuild the temple. Thus was rebuked the polite derisiveness of the best circles of Babylon.

“Even though Jerusalem becomes no great capital in commerce and population, it will have power as a spiritual capital of a sort much needed by an unquiet world.

The Boston Post, for July 27, gives a part of a statement issued by Mr. Straus concerning his conception of some of the immediate needs in the city of Jerusalem :

“Jerusalem stands on a hill, and there is every reason why it should be made as healthful and delightful a place to live in as the most modern city in the world. What is chiefly needed is modern water works. There is plenty of water to be had if proper pumping stations were erected. At the present time water is the most precious possession of the household. It is kept in cisterns under lock and key; every drop of it is valuable, because there is no water system available. The defects of the sanitary arrangements of this city on this account are terrible.”

ADVANCE SANITATION IN JERUSALEM

These needs have begun to be met, and movements are already under way for the rehabilitation of the ancient city and also for providing it with such needs as will make it sanitary and conducive to the happiness of all its inhabitants. The Charleston (S. C.) News, of August 3d, contains quite a lengthy article on this subject, parts of which we quote:

“When the British occupied it on December 9, 1917, Jerusalem was a typical Oriental holy city. Its Haram-esh-Sherif was sacred to Mohammedans from India to Morocco; its Wailing Wall was sacred to Jews from Arabia to Chicago; its Church of the Holy Sepulchre was sacred to Christians, whether Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Abyssinian or Protestant. It was picturesque, medieval, filthy, and the scene of constant religious bitterness. No city in the world has such a long record of blood-spilling as Jerusalem.

“Four-fifths of its population lived on religious charities. Millions in money and millions more in treasure have poured into it through the centuries to keep candles burning, while the great majority of its population lived in parasitic idleness and fearfully unsanitary conditions. It had no industry, but lived a curiously artificial existence, making its living chiefly on its Russian pilgrims. Its ordinary language was—and is— Arabic; most of its European population belongs to the Greek Church; and on December 9, 1917, it came under the soldieradministration of the British Army.

“It consists of the ancient walled city, which is so small that one can walk around it in an hour, and a great modern suburb lying in clean, dusty disorder over the hills to the north, northwest and west. No census of any degree of reliability has been taken in recent years, but its population is estimated at between 55,000 and 70,000. These are estimated to be divided into 28,000 Jews, 20,000 Moslems and 12,000 Christians. Within the walls of the ancient city, there are quarters for Jews, Moslems, Christians, and Armenians. Without the walls, there are great French, German, Italian, Russian, Greek, English, and American properties.

“When the Egyptian Expeditionary Force of the British Xrmy occupied it, the first tasks to be tackled were those of feeding the population and of replacing the stench of the ancient city with a sanitary system. These tasks accomplished, there remained the finer task of preserving the ancient city and its life. It augured well for Jerusalem that this task devolved upon such men of vision as General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby, Commander-in-Chief of the E. E. F., MajorGeneral Sir A. W. Money, Chief Administrator of Palestine, and Brigadier-General Ronald Storrs, Military Governor of Jerusalem.

“Brigadier-General Storrs summoned to his aid C. R. Ashbee, whose work in city planning and civic life has brought him into touch with the best ideas in Europe and America; Major Ernest Richmond, son of Sir William Richmond, the British painter, an authority on Sacrascenic art; W. H. Maclean, city engineer of Alexandria and a city planning expert; and W. A. Stewart, supervisor of technical schools in Egypt and an authority on arts and crafts in the Near East Mr. Maclean was employed to prepare a town plan for the new Jerusalem, Mr. Stewart to investigate textiles, looms, weaving and dyeing among the natives, and Major Richmond to investigate the state of the Haram-esh-Sherif with a view to its repairing.

“More recently, too, Mr. Ashbee, after exhaustive investigations into the tasks which confronted him, was made civic adviser to the city of Jerusalem, and thus the beginning has been laid of a new civil administration such as Jerusalem has never dreamed of before.

“These appointments were followed by one of the most significant events which Jerusalem has ever seen. In the Pro-Jerusalem Society, the creation and the special child of Brigadier-General Storrs, all the previously hostile religious communities which for centuries have cut up the population of Jerusalem, are united. The list of its members is unique in the history of Jerusalem.

“Before this society lies the unique task of unifying and rehabilitating Jerusalem. It is through this society that Mr. Ashbee is accomplishing much of his work in creating a new future for the sacred city.”

RUBBISH OF CENTURIES CLEARED AWAY

“The preservation of the ancient city itself presents a great task.

“This involves the isolation of the ancient walled city and its jealous preservation. Already much has been done by refugee labor in removing tons of rubbish from the citadel, and in scraping parts of the ancient wall free of the disintegrating plants which covered it. So heavily is Jerusalem overladen with centuries of rubbish that at one point where Mr. Ashbee’s workmen have been laboring on the walls, a line of cactus had grown over the very top of the wall. When it is fully realized, Mr. Ashbee’s scheme will produce a walk around the wall, with the waste spaces both inside and outside the walls appropriately gardened."

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