Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1897-11-24
LOTS OF THEM.
They Are Hatched out by the Han.
sas Sum.

They Are Hatched out by the Kan
sas Sum.
A correspondent of the Age of Rea-
son has given pen picture of a class
OF people quite numerous down in Tex
as. Have you not met any of them?
In describing them the writer saws:
"They think that because they believe
thing it is evidence that they know
all about that particular thing. In
other words, they think that believing
is knowing. This also gives them the
privilege of knowing all about the
things they do not believe in.
This theory covers the whole ground
so far as they are concerned, for they
think they know all about everything
they believe in, and also know all they
want to know about the things they
do not. and will never, believe in.
A man in this condition is almost a
waste of raw material. He will never
investigate the things he believes in
because he imagines he already knows
too much about them and can not
change his mind under any considera-
ton.
Take the average Republican voter
he thinks he knows all there is to
know about the Republican party, and
need not study the party leaders even,
for the Republican principles are so
righteous that none but honest lead
ers can or dare lead.
If you tell him that the party he
loves has no other mission on earth
but to protect trusts and monopo1ies,
and wheedle all the necessary revenue
out of the toi1ing slaves-in other
words, to stand by and tickle the Ia
boring man to sleep while the trusts
and combines rob him-if you tell him
this he will laugh in your face and
pity you in your ignorance.
There is more hope for the fool than
such men as these. They think that
faith is the wisdom in all cases and
under any circumstances.
Anything they do not believe in is
all wrong; anything they do believe in
is always right.
In the days of Columbus these be.
lieving-knowing ones knew that the
earth was flat simply because they be-
lieved it was. They knew ali about it
because they had always believed that
the earth was fiat. What better evil
dence: grandfathers before them be.
lieved the earth was fiat and their
fathers and would anybody want to
prove that it was fiat?
Besides this, all the learned and wise
men of the day knew the earth was
fiat. They taught this in the schools
of learning and science.
Every honest Christian man has an
equal chance in this country, and the
poor have nobody to blame for their
poverty but themselves. They know
this is true, because they have always
believed it to be true. Their minister
has always told them that goodness is
the first step towards wealth and pros
perity.
Therefore Rockefeller and Carnegie
and few hundred other mi11ionaires
must be godly men at heart, or God
would not bless them with so much
wealth.
Stole their wealth? No, sir. Men
could not steal nor rob their country
men under our star-spang1ed banner,
and with such men at the head IF our
government as the great supreme
judges. Steal? Why, they'd be jerked
up and punished so quick it would
make their heads swim. Everything
the rich men do is legal, because it is
done according to the laws of the land.
Corrupted the lawmakers? Why,
man, it is treason to talk that way and
none but a bold, bad, lazy socialist
would talk so disrespectfu1 of our
statesmen and the courts.
And the shame of it all is, there are
so awful many of these believing,
knowing fools who are past all hope of
redemption.