Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-06

| and the South saw nothing ahead Dut
humiliation. With such a national
| debt we could never meet our obliga-
! tons, With such mortal antipathies
| Northern and Southern men could new
! er come into amity! Representatives of
| Louisiana and Georgia, and the Caro-
| linas could never again sit side by
eide with the representatives OF Maine,
| Massachusetts and New York at the
national capital Lord John Russell
had declared that we were "a bubble
| bursting nationality" and it had come
! true. The nations of Europe had
gathered with very resigned spirit at
! the funeral of our American republic.
! They had tolled the bells on parlia-
| ments and reichstags and lowered their
| flags at half-mast, and even the lion
| ON the other side of the sea had whined
| for the dead eagle on this side. The
! deep grave had been dug, and beside
Babylon, and Thebes, and Tyre, end
other dead nations of the past our dead
| republic was to be buried. The epitaph
was all ready: Here lies the American
| Republic. Born at Philadelphia, 4th of
July, 1916. Killed at Bull Run July 81,
! 1861. Aged eighty-fve years and sew
enteen days. Peace to its ashes" But
before the obsequies had quite closed
there was an interruption of the cere-
monies, and our dead nation rose from
| its mortuary surroundings. God had
made for it a special Resurrection Day,
and cried, Come forth. thou Republic
| of Washington, and John Adams, and
Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry,
and John Hancock, and Daniel Web
ster, and S. S. Prentiss, and Henry
Clay. Come forth" And she came
forth, to be stronger than she had ever
been. Her mightiest properties have
come since that time. Who would want
to push back this country to what it
was in 1860 or 1850? But, oh! what
high gate, what a strong gate she had
to push back before she could make
one step in advance! Gate of flame!
See Norfolk navy yard, and Columbia,
and Chambersburg. and Charleston on
fire! Gate of bayonets! See glittering
rifles and carbines fash from the Sus-
| quehanna, and the James, to the Mis-
Gissippi, and the Arkansas! Gate OF
heavy artillery, making the mountains
of Tennessee and Kentucky and Vir-
ginia tremble as though the earth it.
self were struggling in its last agony.
The gate was so fiery and so red that
can think of nothing more appropriate
than TO take the suggestion of Isaiah
in the text and cali it a gate of car
| buncles.
This country has been for the most
part of it's history passing through
crises, and after each crisis was bet
ter off than before it entered it. and
| now we are at another crisis We are
told on one hand that if gold is sept
as a standard and silver is not elevated
confidence will be restored and this
nation will rise triumphant from all
the financial misfortunes that have
been affecting us. On the other hand.
we are told that if the free coinage of
silver is allowed, all the wheels of bus
mess will revolve, the poor man will
have a better chance, and all our in
| dustries will begin to hum and roar.
| During the last six presidential cleo
tons / have been urged to enter the
political arena, but | never have and
never will turn the pulpit in which |
preach into q political stump. Every
minister must do as he feels called TO
do, and | will not criticise him for do
ing what he considers his duty; but all
the political harangues from pulpits
from now until the Sd of November
will not in all the United States change
one vote, but will leave many ears
stopped against anything that such
| clergymen may utter the rest of their
| lives AS general rule the laymen of
churches understand politics better
than the clergy, because they tthe lay
mem study politics more than the
clergy, and have better opportunity of
| being intelligent on those subjects. But
good morals, honesty, loyalty, Christ
Ian patriotism, and the Ten Command
ments-these we must preach. God
says distinctly In the Bible, THE sill
yer and the gold are NINE" and He
will settle the controversy between
those two metals. If ever this country
| neeueu the DIVINE rescue IL neeuS IL
now. Never within my memory have
so many people literally starved to
Ceath as in the past few months. Have
you noticed in the newspapers how
many men and women here and there
have been found dead, the post-mortem
examination stating that the cause of
death was hunger? There is not day
that we do not hear the crash Of some
great commercial establishment, and
as consequence many people are
thrown out of employment. Among
what We considered comfortable homes
have come privation and close calcula-
ton and economy that kills. Millions
of people who say nothing about it are
at this moment at their wits end.
There are millions OF people who DO
not want charity but want work. The
cry has gone up TO the ears of the
Lord OF Sabaoth," and the prayer will
be heard and relief will come. II we
have nothing better to depend on than
American politics, relief will never
come. Whoever is elected to the presi-
dency the wheels of government turn