The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-06-21
THE PAcIF1.
Commercial AOOertiser.
saturday,. JUNE q.
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

:" -----'"T--T = ||-T------- -" -'----" II -|T|
lions. Twice lately, zI.c ia= Tut up IN full glare
the weakness and lnilty Of clerical human
nature.
Lord BFOughams maxim that the truth u n lie
persisted in, found illustration in Beecher's case.
IN the minds OF thousands Of young men and
women. The imposing body Of orthodox clergy
men, who met for the trial Of Talmadge, called
themselves the messengers Of God. and the trial,
the " court OF Christ" Yet they did things
which wOud not be tolerated IN a police court.
They lost their tempeTs, LiackguaTded each
other, made long rambling, ~pCintless speeches,
questioned cIch others motive, and INDUCED IN
personalities, which the civil courts would have
rebuked, and punished ne contempt of court. These
men are not Ignorant, they come from the col
lege5 and the semInarIcs expressly for the pur-
pose Of preaching and illustrating religious truth.
L hear that many Christian men and women are
weeping Ove- this humiIiating business. ~
told you these Christian ministers were all
humbugs,' said a young man, the other day, to
q young woman, whose life is all good and beauti-
iEl. They arc not Christians, - che retOrted,
they are the mOncy-changers who have again
got into the temple and we need n new order Of
men who will drive them out The EraHgeEst,
the Presbyterian organ, loses all patience at the
refusal Of n body Of religious leaders, met in
solemn judicial council, 10 sing the hymn,
" BEST be the tie that binds, and on the con-
trary, meeting the proposition to do SO, with
laughter. Tie Nation says, ''sOme Of tic Cusuis-
try Of the defense Was worthy Of the Jesuit
fathers IN the worst days." 1 am told that o
noted % inhdeI' has subscribed and proposes -
circulate $4,000 copies Of the complete trial, a.
the best argument now existing against tie Pro-
test5ns church. 4 write this IN sorrow. Good
men and women are profoundly agitated by this
scandal. y leading cleTgymcn, who took no part
IN the trial said TO me, . they undertook to put
Ialmadge on trial, but they have put the church
generally on trial. The secular press have a
perfect right to pitch into US. We. the clergy,
must now be treated like other men We
must be judged by tie standards we ourselves
raise. Ii We find 1t is better for religion, better
for the world, that we step out, and let better
men take our places" The great mistake was in
putting DIR. Talmadgc on trial. The Presbytery
refused 10 listen to the advice Of - worldly" men.
Back Of Ialmadge was an immense congregation,
and q million readers Of bis sermons. IL Tai
madge's force was meretricIOus or vicious, 1t
would spend itself in time to regulate him was
supremely foolish bis congregation are now
fanatics, and instead Of brethren dwelling in
peace in Brooklyn, there exists u vast mass of
men and women bubbling over with hatred to-
wards each other, while above them all is the
dignifed Presbytery, pulling back the valves and
letting fly a torrent OF human weakness and pas
sion. Out of all this, good will come reGorma-
ton is the order Of the day. Under the cold
and just criticism OF the secular press, the
clergy will improve ; for they must change for
the better in some respects, or their prestige Is for
ever gone. One of the very best signs Is, that
the religious press follows tine secular IN sharp
attacks upon the absurdities of the trial. At this
very moment l read that the minority of the
Presbytery have fled an appeal to the Synod;
and they state among other things, that the vote
of the majority was inconsistent and fitted to
bring religion into contempt. What can Our
poor laymen say, IT eighteen orthodox ministers
rise up and accuse twenty-fOur other orthodox
ministers. Of such miserable business ? AS the old
preacher darkey said, when Inc found that some
one had taken all tie money out of the cOntribu-
tiOn box, - Brcdrcn, dar am some great moral
lesson u lyin about here some whaT.'
The financial situation Ol this country Is not
easily explained trade improves slowly; " we
are walking ON the bottom rOek . the merchants
feel better, but are making little money special
lines Of manufacture are showing considerable
vigOr. After all, tire money rate Is the best iuGIca-
ti0n Of trade. On good security, it Is worth only
> per cent, which means Of course, that people
are afraid 10 risk 1t IN any business operations.
The -ale Of 40 millions Ut Governments four per
cents astOnished everybody the Westminster
Bank Ol London took s. millions. There has been
a gIand, sweeping rise IN the value Of all the rail-
way securities FIRST mortgage bonds Of the
leading lines have gone up from 10 TO 80 per
cent Cotton has risen m price, within a
few months, about D cents per pound The con-
sequence - that many fortunes have been made,
and we have had u touch Of the old war
time cxtraynganee. IL must be remember
ed, however, that we have u superabun-
dant currency. The gold, silver, and paper
in circulation counts up nearly n thousand
million Of dollars The natural result Of such 4
redundancy in the medium Of exchange, would be
n general rise in prices. The hard times have
forced the transportation companies into the
closet, economic management. The results are
surprising; while the freight rates have been
lowered, che expenses Of carrying have been
lowered IN stIll greater proportion. Two lead
ing railroads figure out that the cost Of carrying
n ton Of freight a mile is less than OHe-haT a osHf.
The results are following. Corn that was rottiug
IN tire West, can now reach the Atlantic Coast,
and the vast granarics Of the West can snip grain
with prO6t. These adjustments Of trade cOmc
only after u long and TuinOus period Of disaster.
Even with the low rates which enable the farm
ers to do well, the carrying companies can
make money. 90 we are getting out Of the woods.
The old Erie railroad after being robbed for
twenty years, Is re-Organized, and Is now earn
ing enough money to pay 6 per cent ON one
hundred millions Of dollars. The elevated rail-
roads Of this city have turned out fne
- bOuanZars.' One Of them, the y. y. Ele-
waited, cost about four millions, aud divides
about ten millions Of profits among the pro-
mOters Cyrus W. Field takes no mean share
Of the plumber.
You have already heard Of the great - Negro
Exodus from the South to Kansas. The de-
tails I will not repeat; as usual the matter has
been Oyer-estimated. The newspapers took it
up md discussed it fully; now they are rather
tired Of il. Many negroes emIgrated, but the
number was over-estimated. We, who know the
negro pretty we'll, predicted at the start, that
the .. exodus " would soon come to an end. The
average NOrtherner knows no more about tile
negro, than he knows about the Hawaiian. This
is broad assertion. 1t is true. You know the
English and French are separated by a channel
twenty miles wide, yet for centuries they have
known little about each other. So it Is with
North and South in America. People pick up
information from newspapers. Now newspaper
correspondents arc rapid travellers, and by neces-
sity, are superficial observers. The northern
people have yet to learn that in admitting 4 vast
horde of blacks to the rights Of the ballot, they
have put republican institutions to a terrible
strain. | do not here say that it should not have
been done. / state only a fact. The Anglo Sax
on was several hundred years in training for self
government. The blacks, without any prepara-
tion Of any kind, are given the power Of sover-
eighty. The negro Is just beginning to find out