The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-02-01


good reports from Medina. Oh course
you will understand that this let
ter is not for publication, Hoping you
will excuse the liberty have taken,
am Dear Sir,
Yours respectfully. X
10 this letter we wonld append the
following comments:
|. We are glad to see this growing
conviction Of the great dangers which
arise from blind and unreasoning par
tisanship. 1t makes the masses the mere
slaves of cunning leaders. It has brought
our country to q terrible condition of
misgovernment. 1t will. if persisted in,
destroy the Republic.
II. We fully agree with the views of
our correspondent upon the all-important
subject of education. The public schools
should be as unsectariau as blacksmith
shop or business college. There is no
more necessary or remote connection
between religion on the one hand, and
the alphabet, the Arabic numerals,
or the facts of geography, astronomy,
geology, physiology on the other, than
there is between the man in the moon
and the doctrine of vicarious atonement.
They relate to utterly different depart
ments of mind and thought. School
education is simply furnishing the child
with the tools with which to work amid
the stores Of the worlds accumulated
material experience.
But in saying this we do not desire to
throw contempt upon the development
of the child's moral or religious nature.
Although member of no church we
recognize the great service which is
rendered to mankind by all the churches.
Society could scarcely endure with
population that were intellectual giants
and moral idiots. But for this work
churches and sunday schools and prea-
cheers and pastors are maintained, at
great expense, to take care of the COM
munity. Let them attend to it. If they
do not, they are false to their function.
1t is agreed by all men that all chill
dren should know how to read and write
and cipher, and should understand some
thing of the great facts of the world in
which they exist. Let the State meet
this common necessity by general taxa
ton, and let all the children of the pee
pie meet at the school-houscs as at
public fountain, in peace and concord
and amity. But if any man proposes to
get up and bastraddle that fountain. and
preach and pray or sing hymns, as .
condition of drawing water, he will slime
ply drive away those who believe that
those are not the Simon-pure-Dr. Ja~
cob Townsend-Sarsarparilla hymns and
prayers, but base imitation, in violation
OF the Dr's patent derivedright from the
courts of Heaven. And while they are
fighting over the Sarsasparilla question
the fountain is muddled or deserted.
Now the prayers and hymns are all
well enough intheir proper place, but they
have no connection with the fountain OF
education. Let US unite upon what we
can all agree upon tho affairs of this
world and where we cannot agree let
usseperate and go to our churches and
sunday schools, where we can preach
and pray and teach without let or hin~
drance from any power on earth.
We would be glad if our eorrespon-
pendent and others would get up such
petitions as he speaks of. Religion is
near akin to intolerance; and some
of them would force their theolog-
ical pills down the throat OF popular
education even if they killed the patient.
To such minds the most cheering conso>
lation of religion is the belief that hell is
an institution established expressly to
punish those who dare to differ from
them in opinion.
III. We are glad to learn that the
terrible experiences of this winter are
bringing the people otMedina to a near.
; ly unanimous conclusion on the green
back question. "A sihhapsocess OF con-
version is going on all ovsrshs country.
i Men are asking, why they permitted
, themselves to be lashed into. fury, the
: other day, about Hayes orTilden =
what interesthave they in the election
of either how will their condition be
, improved or their burdens 1IgNaped by
j the success of either? fhef begin to
! realize that it is all a ba:tj9pf politicians
!; for the spoils, and that thor property and
3 prosperity are part Of the spoils. The
cattle are stupidity looking on while thu
Z lions are fighting to decide who shat
!. eievocr them. The cattle should Hgh