The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-04-12
WORK Us. PRA YER.


Our friend Warren Smith writes to the
Governor and suggests a day Of work
instead Of day Of fasting and prayer
for relief from the grasshoppers. We
heartily second Mr.. Smiths suggestion
so far as it relates to work. If each
able-bodled man in the non-grasshopper
regions would work a day and give the
proceeds to relieve the grasshopper suf-
ferers the question of present relief
would be settled. But this would not
drive the grasshoppers away. What
we need most Of all is to he entirely
rid of the pests. Andjust here is where
the prayer experiment should come in.
It was tried in Missouri with success.
Mr.. Smith is not orthordox and there
fore may be excused for having little
faith in prayer, against immutable
laws" For our part, we believe that
one of these very immutable laws" is
that God will answer prayer. We be-
lieve in putting that one immutable
law" to work against the other ''immu-
table laws' and let us see which comes
out ahead. The Constitution is para
mount to the law, and our view is that
God is the Constitution and that the
immutahle laws" must give way when
the Constitution says so. So let us
have work and prayer both.
LETTER FRO4A MR. TAYLOR.
Elsewhere we publish letter from
Mr.. F. c. Taylor, who is now in Lon
don, addressed to both papers. It is,
in the main, a REPETITION Of the facts
published last week in a letter written
to one Of our County officers.
Mr.. Taylor seems to be quite nom
plussed at the infamy of the Journal
in attacking him, but if he will read
the ADVANCE regularly he will under
stand the whole animus and object of
that pernicious sheet. Or if lie is not
willing to take our word for it, let him
write privately to any one Of dozen
prominent men in this community,
whom he knows and has confidence in,
and see if they do not bear us out in
our statements concerning the chronic,
morbid, insane spite Of the Journal a.
gainst the whole Colony enterprise.
We want now to say a word to Mr..
Taylor and number of other friends
concerning the position of the AD-
VANCE. Wenotice a tendency to speak
of both papers as being involved in the
attacks upon these gentlemen, thus,
probably without intending to do so,
ranking US in the same category with
the Journal. Now, we could not pos
slbly escape, and do our duty as pub
lie journal, from coming to the defence
of the Colony Company and Mr.. Tay-
lor. We regret the necessity Of doing
so, but there has been no escape from
it, because the Journal made the at
tacks. TO rank us, therefore, along
with the Journal in injuring the COM
munity, is just the same as ranking a
friend who defends another from the
blow Of al assassin, in the same cate
CORY with the assassin. The Journal
has undertaken to assassinate the bust
ness standing Of the Colony Company
and of Mr.. Taylor and we have come
to their defence. Are we, therefore,
also an assassin? Is it as bad to ward
of the blow Of an assassin rs it is to
strike the blow? If so, we may as well
give up Journalism in despair. Is there
any sense of justice, any power Of dis
elimination among men?
We have very clearly defined ideas of
the duties and responsibilities of jour-
nalism. We do make clear distinc.
ton between legitimate attacks upon
public officials, dist rbers of the peace
and general public wrongs, and base
attacks upon business men in their pri
vate business. Every fair-minded man
should do the same, and, having done
SO, condemn the wrong attack and de-
fend the right and the legitimate at
tack.
We learn that Captain Blakeley is
putting in two thousand acres Of wheat
in Rock county. He has some forty
teams at work.
Mr.. Buchanan, editor of tie Siou,
Falls Paragraph, passed through town
few days ago and gave us another a.
preeaDle call. We regret tn spe Ruc|,