The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-01-20
pHILosopHER LOWE.

VIM. M. Lowe is the mana con-
igressional contestant OF Alabama, who
proposes to eliminate that portion OF
the immoral element in the national
legislature which consists in affecting
moral virtue. II don't think" saith
Philosopher Love-" it is very wrong to
steal. The evil and the good of 1t
balance very evenly. Ofcourse it is a
considerable annoyance to be robbed,
but the thief is exhilerated in degree
commensurate with it so that the net
result in happiness and unhappiness is
the same. One gains what the other
loses" We are not clearly able to
stand alone against the force OF this
telling logic of Philosopher Lowe.
Standards are always difficult to OBJ
tain. All the wisdom and statesman
ship of the nation have been
engaged in vain since the
formation of this government in fixing
a money standard that shall answer the
uses Of trade and exchange. At last
an international congress has tackled
the difficulty with its attainment still
fitting as an unreal mockery before the
eye of the popular mind. Who shall
venture to condemn the increase OF
happiness in the world as the true test
or standard of righteousness Under
lying the foundations Of the republic is
the grand principle that the purposes
of life is happiness. That the right to
pursue it shall be held inviolable. 1t
was pleaded before the tribunal OF the
civilized world as the justification of re.
volt against our rulers by divine right,
and has received the universal recog-
milton of mankind. If that is right,
which secures an individual the most
happiness that must be right which Sc
cures to all men the largest aggregate
of happiness. Now listen to Philoso-
sopher Lowe, who is fifty en-
gineering his way to a sea
in the national council where stealing
needs justification and a standard of
right is sadly wanted. "You see," he
says, "all the divine commandments
which initiated against the rich in the
early days of the world have been sup
pressed in the course of time, and all
that bore against the poor have been
perpetuated. The prohibition of covet-
BUSINESS and theft were of the latter
class. Now any man has right to
covet thing and probably to steal it.
Those commandments are not fair on
the poor man. y No. it isn't
such a bad habit to steal" If
this be so, if the mandates against
covetousness and theft have been pre-
served for the aggrandisement of the
rich, and as a means to money, the
universal sentiment of mankind ap-
plauds Philosopher Lowe, because all
men recognize money as the
source and root of all evil. Let
US then clamor our applause and
open the congressional doors for the
majestic entrance of the great evange-
list with the new evangel to be display
cd in letters of flaming gold on the walls
of congress. "It is probably right to
steal" Come communism and nihi-
lism, come Beecherism and Mormon
ism, come all the isms from the ismite
metropolis, Boston, all around to the
Sandwich Islands and Timbuctoo-let
every perturbed spiritrest, the world is
won. The congressional statesmen,
and the government fficial, from the
chief magistrate down to the .immacu-
late peeler, shall 60 his way stealing
and rejoicing, and no man shall say
him nay-eh. I.owe2 =