davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO THE
NATIONS.
BY REV. c. c, CONNER.
International Arbitration.

NATURALLY, and by force of sense
within and circumstance without,
men and nations have come to arbi-
trate their differences. The last CEN
tury has been fruitful of peaceful
settlements of national disputes.
Rev. DR.. Boardman, president of the
Christian Arbitration and Peace So
ciety, in his address at Washington
in 1890, said that since the year of
our Independence, 1776, there had
been 233 instances of successful ar
bitration between the United States
and foreign powers. The figures
seem large, but they cover period
which includes about forty years
more than that for which Lord Chief
Justice Russell reported in his ad-
dress before the American Bar AS
sociation last August, when he said
that since 1915 there have been some
sixty instances of effective interna-
tional arbitration, his words not pur-
porting to give the exact figures, in
thirty-two of which the United States
had been party and Great Britain
in about twenty of them.
The sentiment of arbitration and
peace has been strengthening and
widening during late years. There
have been Peace Congresses held and
Unions formed. Eminent men in
various nations have given their voice
against warfare as a measure or
method for securing and vindicating
rights, and have offered themselves
to the cause of universal peace.
Every case that is arbitrated must,
with any satisfactory settlement, pre-
pare the way for others, and as the
years speed ON, old-time hostilities
and their methods and agencies must
become more distant and their infiu-
ence upon us relax and fall away.
The industrial and commercial rela-
tions of nations must make wars re-
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

CANTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

people invest his 81 900 90 as to have it
earn, say, $50? And could he be able to
find something to do to earn the other
$3.50? Take out the children and the in
valids and the aged and the paupers, and
it would be necessary for every man and
woman in the United States to earn by
labor over 5000. Is it in the least proba-
BILE that there would, in the circum-
stances supposed, be any chance to do
this? Take out now the taxes, national,
state and municipal, which must be
paid out Of, income, and the average
family would by the hard labor of every
adult member, have an income of about
$3.50. Is that paradise?
Two church ANIMALS have appeared
recently in the high style of the art
maintained in the "Roycroft Printing
Shop" East Aurora, N. Y. One is the
"Universalist Annual" edited by the
Rev. John S. Sayles, bishop of the do
ces of East Aurora, which includes Dele
van, Cowlesville and the region round
about. This is pamphlet of forty pages
which in style, arrangement and matter
might be profitably taken as model for
other similar publications. The other
from the same "shop" is the LIE Roy An
nual, Rev. Eugene L. Conklin. editor.
This is more modest in dimensions and
in the range of it's ambitions; but it
shows that Mr.. Sayles' copy may be fol-
lowed with good effect where the field of
operations is not so comprehensive. The
taste and enterprise shown by these par
ish journalists merit commendation as
well as imitation.
The Young Peoples Christian Union
already reports the foundations of six
funds amounting thus early to $3,511.77,
While it is not the main purpose of this
organization to raise money or to carry
on financial enterprises, it is under the
same law with all other earthly institu-
tions,-it must have money in order to
do work. and it must do work in order to
command attention and WELD influence.
So it is but the suggestion of practical
wisdom to lay the foundations of funde.
These are sure to grow, some more
rapidly than others, and in due time the
national Y. P. @. U. may be provided
with a great instrument and beset with
great temptation. The temptation
will be to measure it's prosperity and its
usefulness by the growth and size of its
funds. This leads to more effort to ac-
cumulate capital than to use it effec-
tively,-a mortal mistake in religious
institution.
To those of us who believed in the
reform of the civil service and advocated
it in the days when it was considered
sort OF amiable lunacy, the passages in
the last message of President Cleveland
and in a recent special message of Gov
ernor Morton, relating to this subject,
are pleasant reading. Mr.. Cleveland
was an early champion of the derided
reform and has probably done more for
it's practical success than any other man.
Hs puts himself on record again in this
closing message in language which is
sure to become memorable. The reform,
as Governor Morton remarks, lis here
to stay" 10000 and more of government
positions having already been placed
under it's rules. The spoils system is
not DESTROYED, but the merit system is
successfully established.
CANTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
CONTENTS.
CHICAGO, SATURDAY. DEC. 26, 1896,
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY WEEKLY

Vn1CAoOs DGOs %Os AOOOe
Page One.
Editorial Briefs.
The Christmas Message to thesNatiOns.
The Madonna della Sedia.
New Years Day in Dutch New York.
Page Two.
Christmas Selections:
Christmas Morning Meditation.
Christianity and Children.
Child Life in Art.
Old Christmas Customs.
Christmas POetry-Old and New.
Page Three.
The Sunday School Lesson.
Page Four.
Christmas and the Historical Christ.
Shall the Universalist Mission in japan be
Sustainedp
The Revelation Of Christianity.
Learning and Statesmanship.
Our Japan Work Again.
Calling a Halt.
Missouri Notes.
Page Five.
Church News and Correspondence.
Page Six.
The Family Page, Farm. Garden and Dairy.
Page Seven.
Our Boys and Girls.
Page Eight.
Church Notices and In Memoriam.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

are burdeneQ with war DEBTS, ana
there is a further annual outlay of
millions of dollars to keep their
standing armies in place and ready
to repulse any that tries to get at the
chip on the shoulder.
The United States has been one of
the most peaceable of nations. Our
revolutionary war cost us Sl60,O0O,-
000 We came out of the Rebellion
with national debt of 81, 2,773 100000.
La little more than a century the
United States has paid for it's navy,
for its war department. and for pen
sions, between eight a7d nine billions
of dollars. For ali civil and miscel-
laneous purposes in the same pericd d
it spent less than three billions.
The lives lost, too, may be counted
against war, but the property wasted
can not be estimated in its magni-
tude, and the large numbers enlisted
on its account in fighting armies CT
in those standing ready to fight, are
turned aside from the useful voca-
tions and not only fail to produce
anything for the comfort and con-
venience and happiness of Others.
but win no bread for themselves,
and must be supported at heavy ex-
pense to governments. How the face
of the earth might be changed, how
the products of the soil might be de-
veloped and improved, how the things
of use and the agencies for life's en-
richment might be multiplied and
perfected, if peace should protect US
aud men might truly serve their fell
lowe.
The disarmament of nations should
be mammoth good fortune. When
it comes it shall seem both natural
and graceful. Many years ago mer-
chants had at their windows heavy
iron shutters which they fastened Sc
curely for the night when they slept.
Now, even the dealer in fine costly
jewels, in company with the trading
fraternity, turns on light over his
wares with only thin and clear pane
of glass between them and the eyes
of men, goes home and sleeps sound
ly,-if his conscience do not trouble
him,-and his goods are safer within
the show window in the light than
shut behind bars of steel in the dark
The sense of right sleeps not, nor
are its servants. as a rule, remiss.
Side by side, trust is stronger
defense against theft than distrust.
The doing good unto men as we have
the opportunity is better safeguard
than firearms concealed or exposed
The husbandman engaged in his field
is a surer protection against trespass
than a notice, keep out, or hedge,
or a picket. A country's safety de-
pends upon the number and quality
of its peaceful and industrial agen-
cies rather than upon it's military
defenses.
LA CROSSE, Wis.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

AN essay fruitful, suggestive, and indi-
cative of masters knowledge, is that
on "The Riches of the Scriptures" in
the new volume, Noble Living. 1t is an
essay from which one familiar with the
Scriptures, both as literature and as
testimony. may derive satisfaction and
help; while to the student of the Script
ures who may not yet have learned how
to study them SO as to derive most profit.
Mr.. Houghton's treatment will be found
not less Illuminating than interesting.
Pastors and teachers will find here
much instruction conveyed without
technical impediments, and the general
reader, for whom this chapter in COM
mon with the others of this book was
especially written, will surrender him
self to an intelligent and trustworthy
guide.
The fact that a church may have
name to live and still be dead is made
painfully plain by the analysis DR.. r.
M. Patterson has given to the condition
of these 1900 Presbyterian churches
which last year reported no additions.
More than half of these-1072-had no
pastor or supply. 121 of them had less
than five members; 261 had between
six and ten; 298 between eleven and
fifteen; $50 less than twenty. More de-
cisive of their state, 1868 did not report
the raising of dollar for their support.
and 1912 churches did not raise one
hundred dollars each. As indicating
one cause of this unfruitfulness, DIR. Pat
terson shows that out of ministry of
6,942 persons there are only $50 pastors
and stated supplies. With 1873 church
es, or those so-called. and but 1850 pas.
tors, it must come to pass that many
shall be weak, some dying and some
dead.
Denominations studies frequently
lack the highest usefulness on account
of limitation of data. The student is
we'll acquainted with certain field and
with the obstacles therein encountered.
He generalizes these conditions and
deduces from these laws and rules sup
posed to be applicable to every spot in a
territory wide as the continent. If his
acquaintance were as accurate with
other fields as with the one he has
studied he would. probably generalize
to different issue and recommend diff
ferent policies. Again. familiar and ex-
act knowledge of the practical operations
of the polity of another denomination as
a whole would make one hesitate to rec
ommend as remedy what has been
criticized as defect.
If the calculators who tell us that
81 900 persons own four-sevenths of all
the wealth of the United States are to
be believed an exact division would give
every person about $1,000. AS at present
invested the income of our wealth and
our labor would give every person about
5000. Suppose division to be actually
made and each one to have his 81 900,
what effect would that have on the in
come? Could each one of the 100000 900
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
CHRIST'S MISSION.
BY ERMINA G. STRAY.

Beneath the star of Bethlehem
Our blessed Lord was born,
His spirit came to bless the earth,
One golden Christmas morn.
The angels sang a jubilee,
A hymn of grateful praise,
The heavenly arches rang aloud
At Gods own wondrous ways.
The shepherds came o'er hill and dale
To see the wondrous child,
The wise men worshipped at his feet,
The hosts of heaven smiled;
The star of Bethlehem shone above
To guide them on their way,
Where in the manger, lowly born,
The Saviour, Jesus, lay.
For Jesus came to save the world,
To seek and save the lost
The Christian banner is unfurled,
Our Saviour leads the host,
And angels chant the glad refrain,
The sinful world of men,
Shall rise with one accord and sing,
Our Saviour lives again.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

1t is an interesting fact that two of
the most prominent statesmen in Ea
rope. Lord Salisbury and Count Golu-
chowsky. are both sixty five years old
Prince Hohenlohe. Of Germany, is seven
ty one. Sgr. Crispi seventy. seven, Prince
Bismarck eighty-one. and Mr.. Gladstone
and the Pope each eighty six. Older
than any of these and yet fully as muca
in his prime as any is George Muller. of
Bristol, Eng gland, now ninety-two years
old, and yet apparently in the full vigor
of life.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26

mOI6T pOSSlUllltl0S DIS GuoSo Ill cur
thoughts and our hands. Interna-
tional expositions must amplify the
feelings of friendship and broaden
the grounds of good will. When De
Amicis saw the people of many coun-
tries together at the great exposition
of Paris in 1879, there was about it
all, he tells us, "an air of peace and
courtesy which really imbues one
with the desire to shake hands all
around and found a weekly Journal
announcing the disarming of Eu-
rope" The Pan-American Congress
in 1890 had far greater effect upon
the peace problem of the world than
upon the commerce and trade of the
peoples that came together; for then
one half of the world consented to
beat its swords into plowshares and
its spears into pruning hooks, to 81
lence the throb of the war drum and
to furl the battle flag, to meet the
noble vision of the prophets and to
carry forward the sweet song of the
poets.
The very recent submission of the
Venezuelan matter to court of ar
bitration after the threat of war had
been virtually flung into the teeth of
one party to the dispute, is notable
evidence of the growing streagl b of
the cause of peace on earth, and an
answer to the prayer of Lord Russell
breathed when and where its influence
should reach the hearts of two ma
tions, that each might be self-respect-
ing, upholding the honor of its own
flag, safeguarding its own heritage
of right, but respecting the rights
of others and working in harmony
for the progress and peace of the
world; for, said he, who can doubt
the influence the two possess unto
this ends "If they have great power,
they have also great responsibility.
No cause they espouse can fail; no
cause they oppose can triumph. The
future is, in large part, theirs. They
have the making of history in the
times that are to come" These words
of the eminent Englishman search
the whole significance of the present
era, and send out the advice that,
while the race has been to the swift
and the battle to the strong, intellect
and heart, truth and right, shall
henceforth lead and rule the world.
How the principle of international
arbitration shall sit in our midst judg-
ing between us, l shall not attic mpt
to say. hardly think the New York
Bar Association has solved the pl OBJ
lem. 1t has submitted a plan for a
permanent tribunal. The court would
be constituted with nine members,
each from an independent State, aud
each Judge therein would hold Office
during life. The court would make
its own rules of procedure, and those
powers not represented in it would be
asked to submit their difficulties for
impartial and disinterested adj St
ment.
The designated might be for some
cases too many, and the acceptable
remnant for others not enough. Nine
nations might not represent fully
world-interests. Life tenure OF office
might be even more inhexible than
the demands of justice.
The benefits of arbitration should
be marked. War has been an enor-
nous waste. The nations of Europe
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
BROOKLYN, N. Y.

BY convention which. it hasrecently
been learned, was signed last September,
China has made some very important
conc essions to Russia as a q1tid pro quo
for Russia's good offices in obtaining
Jap ans retrocession Of the Lian-Tung
peninsula and the advancement of
money to meet the first installment of
the new war indemnity China is COM
PEELED to pay Japan. The convention,
it is learned, provides that the Trans
Siberian railway may be carried straight
through Manchuria, that the projected
system of Chinese railways shall be
brought into connection with the Rus
sian, and that lines forming part of
the Russian system running through
Chinese territory shall be purchasable
by China after period of thirty years.
The Russians are to have the right to
sta tion troops along the lines of their
railways in China and practically as an
outcome of these great concessions, the
whole of the Chinese Empire north of
the great wall will be brought under the
grip of Russia.
THE shortage in the wheat crop in
foreign countries which come into COM
petition with the United States, and the
scarcity in India, suggest that the corn
crop of the United States might be
used to meet the demand for food in
India at much less than is being paid
for wheat. The shipments already made
from San Francisco to India have ma
terially raised the price of that staple to
famine. stricken inhabitants of India
and there is no reason why corn, which
we have in such abundance, and which
is almost equal to wheat in its life-sus-
tanning qualities, should not be utilized.
NOS
MAJOR MCKINLEY arrived in Chicago,
Thursday of last week, on visit to his
friend, Mr.. McWilliams. of Lake Ave.
nue.. Mrs. Mckinley has been here a
fortnight or more. The President-elect
and his wife returned to Canton on
Tuesday night. The visit to Chicago
was purely social in its nature and poll
tics were side tracked for the time being.
SOS
The beautiful statue of Pere Mar
quette, over which there was SO much
controversy when it was placed in the
capitol by the State of Wisconsin, has
been badly damaged by vandals, not
withstanding the vigilance Of the watch.
man who has been employed to guard it
since the agitation aroused by the
American Protective Association.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
EDITORIAL BRIEFS.

BY PRESIDENT I. M. ATWOOD, D. D.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
Special Contribution.
NEW YEARS DAY IN DUTCH NEW YORK.
BY ALICE MORSE EARLE,

Sabbath Puritan England
n Old New York
The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-09-10
The First Proposition.

Let me briefly analyze them.
1. Every free-coinage country is on
a silver basis.
BY this the effort is made to convey
the impression without actually saying
it, that those countries adopted bimet-
allism as we advocated it in the United
States, and that by so doing they had
been forced to a silver basis Hence
that the same fate would befall us II We
should adopt free coinage. A glance at
the worlds monetary history will show
the fallacy of the proposition.
At the beginning of 1873 the coun-
tries of the world, as regards their me-
tallic money, were divided into three
classes-gold standard, silver standard
and bimetallic, the latter being those
in which the two metals were both
freely coined at certain ratio to each
other and both full legal tender after
they were coined. The action OF the
bimetallic countries linked the two
metals together at about 151a to 1 and
gave them practically fixed par OF
exchange all over the world. The effect
was the same as if both metals had
been coined in every country. The en-
tire mass of gold and silver at the ratio
of 151a ounces of silver to l ounce OF
gold (the French ratio) weighed in the
balance against the entire mass OF
property to be sold and fixed prices
the same as if it had been all gold or
all silver
Wren, in 1874, the bimetallic coun-
tries either limited their silver coinage
or stopped it altogether, as matter of
course the only countries in which sill
yer coinage was left free were those
upon the silver standard. The idea OF
their being forced" to a silver base
is absurd. Their monetary systems are
the same as they were before, but the
par of exchange between the metals
has been broken by the closing OF the
bimetallic minis Of Europe and Amer
lea. Consequently gold is dear" and,
by comparison, silver is cheap.
The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-09-10
|CARLISLE'S AXIOMS.
MEANINGLESS PROPOSITIONS
STOLEN BY A PREACHER.
Submits Them As Original to the Chi
csgo Record - Again Puuctured by
Lat,

Rev. Mr.. Case in his recent commune
cation attempts to dispose OF the whole
silver question by laying down five
propositions relative to the condition OF
silver-using countries. They are not
original with him, for they are nothing
more or less than Mr.. Carlisle's five
indisputabe propositions which went
the rounds of the press during the IA
nous Blackburn campaign in Ken
lucky. If Mr.. Case had studied the
question fundamentally instead CT
blindly accepting the ideas of Secre-
tary Carlisle he would have known
that, whether true or false, not one of
the five propositions has the slightest
bearing upon the issue. In using them
Mr.. Carlisle was merely employing lis
power as sophist to befog the public
mind and mislead those who have not
the time or opportunity to study the
question for themselves.
The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-09-10
Threaten Revolution.

If all the voluminous and multituli>
nous lies that have emanated from the
brain of old man Rothschild and the
devil and found expression in the voice
of the agents of the money power were
put into books the world itself would
not hold the books that would be writ
ten" The latest is the threat that
Wall street will wreak terrible venge-
ance on the south and west If silver Is
restored to coinage. 1t can't be done.
Wall street has to pay the fiddler this
time, and Rothschild must drink the
NORWOOD of defeated rascality to tho
dregs.-News, Imboden, Ark.
The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-09-10
Thu Second PrOnOaition.

2. There is not a goldstandard coun-
try in the world that does not use both
gold and silver. o.
That is because they cannot get
along without silver They must have
it for small transactions and to exc out
the supply Of gold. Germany has been
obliged to stop her sales OF silver and
keep in circulation about 1OO,OOO,O0O
of silver thalers. France could not be
induced to part with her 5-franc pieces.
She needs them all. The United States
has been literally coerced into the coin
age of silver dollars by the steady de-
mand of the people for the restoration
of bimetallism. The point, instead OF
indicating the superiority Of the gold
standard, shows it's inferiority. 1t
proves conclusively that the great ma
tions of Europe aad America have I'M
dertaken to establish the gold stand
ard with an insufficient supply of gold
The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-09-10
A to the People Of Mexico.

One word more. Mr.. Case says Mr.
Bryan tells us that the people of Mex
ioo are better off financially than are
the citizens of this noble republic"
This statement proves that Mr.. Case
does not understand Mr.. Bryan's ar
gument. Neither he nor any other sill
yer advocate has ever claimed that Mex
leo is better off than the United States,
in the absolute sense. We have a
thousand advantages over Mexico, with
which every student of history is famil-
lar. Surely Mr.. Case does not think
that if Mexico had adopted the gold
standard in 1873 she would be abreast
of the United States to-day. What sill
yer men claim is that Mexico is rela>
lively prosperous; that, while in the
United States business is depressed, in
dustry stagnant and almost everybody
complaining of hard times, Mexico is
more prosperous than ever before, and
is now advancing with great strides.
If Mr.. Case will reflect for a moment
upon the significant circumstances that
III Mexico everybody is satisfied With
the existing monetary condition, while
in the United States vast numbers OF
people, probably a majority, are now
and have been TO- years strenuously OBJ
jecting to the gold standard, and that
there is great discomfort in every gold.
standard country, it may possibly oc'
cur to him that there is something
wrong with that standard which he has
rot discovered, and that his five propo'
sitions are very far from being conclu
swell. F. Bartine in Chicago Record