Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-01-30
Does the End Justify the Means

Of ledgerdemain. Several OF his
tricks were new and claimed by him
to be of his own invention, and it is
only just to say that they were very
cleverly performed. The promised
"apose of Spiritualism, however, was
the veriest farce, and in no sense
justified the claim made that it
would be an explanation of the way
in which mediums profess to hold
communications with the invisible
world. The rope-tying feat, which
anybody can perform, If you gre
him cno"gt rope, may have been
done, as claimed, just as some pro-
fesscd mediums humbug the people;
and if it was, it proves nothing more
than that it is easy to deceive those
who are willing to believe that hu-
man nature is not wholly depraved.
But the endeavor to account for ma .
tcrialization of spirits by the means
employed by Thorne and Darwin,
was the most ridiculous assumption
which any Snowman have ever en-
deavored to palm off upon an intel
ligent audience. Darwin was placed
in the cabinet, the curtains drawn,
the lights turned down, and they
were prepared for business. Thorne
called for the spirit of Capt. Kidd,
and Darwin stuck his head through a
hole III the blanket and said in thin,
cracked voice, II am thy fathers
spirit" Thorne then announced
that spirits would appear outside the
"cabinet," and Darwin came out with
Il sheet over his shoulders and said
"Boo!" at the audience. How in.
tellisent people can be instructed or
entertained by any such tomfoolery
is more than we can account for,
and we believe that the impression
made Monday night upon all, Except
one or two gentlemen whose pres
ence in a BODYBUILDING is SO rare as
to render it very easy task to please
them, was that the performers had
not done what they had agreed to
do. Everybody we have heard ex-
press an opinion on this subject, ex-
cept, of course, those whose preju-
dices impel them to cavort like mad
bulls at the sight of a red flag when
ever anything relating to spiritual
phenomena is mentioned, agrees that
it was palpable fraud. And what
better could have been expected
Did not the performers profess to
be Illusionists ?" Did not Thorne
in his broken English, declare, time
and again, that it was his business
to deceive people; that he made q
livelihood by it; that he lied for
money, (his own words, gentle read
er,) and that while he did not be-
lieve in spirits from the other world E,
he did believe in the spirits OF this
world, and ardent spirits at that !?
Were not these professions dinned
in the ears of the audience ad nau-
seum9 And are our white-cravated
friends really prepared to accept
such means to fight righteous
cause? Does the end, indeed, JUS
tify the means?
We do not intend that our posi-
ton shall be misunderstood on this
subject. We are not q believer in
Spiritualism, but have investigated
the phenomena far enough to know
that it is an intelligent force, emanat-
ing from some source that we have
been unable to determine. We sym.
| pathize with the Spirtualists just as
we do with the Met hodists, the
Presbyterians, or the Congrega.
tionalists, precisely as we believe
their teachings to be productive Of
good and their daily life in accord
with their professions of faith. We
endeavor, as journalist, to defend
the weak when unjustly assailed,
and it seems eminently proper there
fore when puppet-show IS used by
ONE of our orthodox brethren to
ridicule and bring into contempt re-
licious opinions held by many of our
best citizens, that wepcondemn it as
illiberal and unjust. We claim to
be influenced by no sectarian preju.
dice in this matter, or bias of any sort.
AS proof of this. we have only to
turn to files of the STANDARD a few