The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-30
WORLD OF LETTERS.

Where the solendor first falls from tho
wings of the morning,
And away in the West. over river ana
plain,
Rings out the grand anthem of Liberty's
From green-rolling prairie it swells to
For the people have risen. victorious
and free
They have chosen their leaders. and
braveSt and best
Of them all is Old Abe. Honest Abe
Of the West!
The spirit sFa that fought for the patriots OF
Has swept through the land and aroused
us forever;
In the pure air Of heaven a standard un-
fold
Fit to marshal US on to the sacred en-
deavor!
Proudly the banner of freemen We
bear;
And where battle is thickest We follow.
the crest
OF gallant Old Abe. Honest Abe Of the
West!
There's triumph in urging glorious
cause,
Though the hosts of the foe for a while
may be stronger,
Pushing on for just rules and holier laws.
Till their lessening columns oppose us no
But ours the loud paean of men who
have past
Through the struggles of years. and
are victors ut last;
So, forward the flag! leave to Heaven
the rest,
And trust in Old Abe. Honest Abe of
the West!
I.o! see the bright scroll of the Future un-
fold!
Broad farms and fair cities shall crown
our DEVOTION
Free labor turn even the sand into gold,
And the links of her railway chain ocean
to ocean;
Parks that float fair and free on the
dark river waves
With wealth never wrung from the
sinews Of slaves;
And the Chief, in whose rule all the
land shall be blest.
Is our noble Old Abe. Honest Abe of
the West!
Then on to the holy Republican strife!
And again. for future as fair as the
morning,
For the sake of that freedom more pre-
cious than life.
Ring out the grand anthem of Liber;y's
warning.
Lift the banner on high, while from
mountain and plain,
The cheers of the people are sounded
again;
Hurrah! for our cause-of all causes the
best! r...ss
Inrrah, for Old Abe. Honest Abe of
The question which confronts the
reader of William Yates Chinn's latest
book, THE Mercantile Agencies Against
Commerce" Chicago; Charles ii. Kerr
d Co) is. Are we nation of
swindlers and liars? The impression of
Mr.. Chinn is that If we are not we owe
no thanks to the mercantile agencies.
which in his Judgment are doing their
best to cultivate swindling and lying in
the business community. The volume
comprises nearly 400 closely printed
pages, and Is wholly directed to an
elaboration of the following proposition
from its introduction:
Among the many and venal accessories
and outgrowths of this mercenary system.
the mercantile or commercial agencies, so
called, are the most plausible In their
motives. the most rernicious in their
methods, the most corrupt and cSwardly
In their operations, and the most dam
gerous and degrading. in their influence
and results. Professedly organized to pro-
tect credit and advance commerce, they
stab the one and debauch the other.
Hypocritically pretending to rely upon
voluntary support and to afford impartial
information. they are sustained by. gi-
gantic levy of indiscriminate biackmail
and they habitually dispense to their In,
voluntary patrons the most unreliable
and distorted reports. based on imper-
feet and often imaginary data. Originat-
ing in the commercial centers where COR
porate wealth and corrupt combinations
rule trade and credit these agencies have
become a curse TO all honest commerce. q
menace to individual enterprise and indus
try, and a perpetual terror to every
Golfers or acknowledge allegiance to
their tyranny. In the train Of the larger
establishments have sprung up q horde
of lesser concerns, disguised as collect
Ing agencies" clearing houses" "coni-
mercial bureaus" wherein pettifogging
attorneys and irresponsible clerks compile
and disseminate villainous literature Of
blackmail and extortion.
Considerable interest was recently ex-
cited among educators by the appear
ance In the Metaphysical Magazine Of
series Of papers in which the noted
German scholar and philosopher, DR..
Adolph Brodbeck, outlined what in his
opinion should be THE Ideal Of Univer.
sites" Under this title DR.. Brodbeck's
papers have been put in. book form by
the Metaphysical Publishing company
of New York, in handsome volume
selling for $1.50. The glst Of DR.. Brod-
bSSh StutcItIOfl Is lndt tne mission OIL
our higher schools should be not to go
off on tangents in the direction of some
special scientific or philosophic fad, but
strive to catch the unity of spirit under
lying all sciences and all systems of
philosophy.
i !!
In neat pamphlet printed by the
American Relief association of New
York, William Willard Howard, who of
the fifteen newspaper correspondents
who left London in December 1894, to
investigate the massacres of Armenians
In Eastern Turkey, was the only one
that succeeded In penetrating into the
interior of the devastated regions and
who was subsequently blacklisted by
the Turkish government which put q
price on his head. tells thrilling story
Of the Horrors Of Armenia" We doubt
II a parallel narrative has ever before
appeared In print. Its revelations are
simply indescribable. We will not at
tempt to make quotations. We would
not trust ourselves to do this. But the
pamphlet itself is for sale at 10 cents a
copy by Charles Fl. Stout, treasurer of
the American Relief association, Ma
tional Bank of the Republic, New York
city, and as the proceeds go into the re-
lief fund, we trust that every reader of
this notice will purchase at least one
copy. Fox's Book of Martyrs" Is tame
and pale in comparison.