Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-12-09
HALL GAME As A CRITIC
Much Interested In James Greet.
mans New Book.
TWO SUBJECTS APPEAL TO HIN.

The Ma sxman Tells what He Thinks
About the Pope-"Benevolent Des.
potism" and Democracy-Disagr
With Tolstoi's Views ON Marriage
as Reported BY Creelman.
Hall Game has written the following
interesting letter. which friend of his
recently sent to the New York World,
on socialism, religion and marriage
apropos of James Creelman's new
book, ION the Great Highway"
GREEBA CASTLE, Isle Of Man, Nov. 2.
! have read with a great deal Of pleasure James
way" Two at least Of the subjects he deals with
are Of great interest to me. The Hrst is the pope
and his views on social question: The picture
Mr.. Creelman presents OF his visit to the Vatican
10 admirably faithful 10 the atmosphere Of the
great house as ! know it, and the version he
gives Of the popes views is not only true to the
spirit Of the holy fathers published encyclicals,
but he has caught with quite exrraor6.asEv fds5
ity the tone and manner that are peculiar To
the Vatican utterances and especially characteris
tic Of the speeches Of its great head.
confess that with all my reverence for Pope
Leo XIII. as Christian statesman fail to realixs
the definite message conveyed in the words Mr..
Creelman has given. As in the encyclicsls, 70
here, the church by its honored mouthpiece tells
the world that it must cultivate religion, be ODE.
diept to its bishops and bow the knee to the au-
thority Of the pope. Such in effect is the word
Of life which the church gives to sick world
through the mouth Of its sovereign pontif, and 1t
leaves undisturbed the great inequalities OF rich
and poor, which are the manifest causes Of the
worlds unrest. Perhaps it is too much to expect
the holy father to be more definite His obliga.
tons are too many; the claims upon him are too
pressing. Perhaps II one may say 50 without Of
fense his own position is too perilous.
For my own poor part, having none Of thesH re-
possibilities, do not hesitate to say plainly that
the only solution see Of the grievous social and
economic problems that weigh on the world at
present lies in the direction Of the triumph Of
democracy; but this means the downfall Of all
forms OF arogated authority, even when they
come in the guse Of . benevolent despotism hav
ing its only logical seat on the temporal throns
81 the sovereign pontif.
The second Of the two subjects which most in.
terest me in Mr.. Creelman's suggestive book is
Tolstoi and his views Of marriage and the social
order. There cannot be a more sympathetic and
often enthusiastic reader Of Tolstoi than myself
but nowhere have ! seen the essential sophism on
which his great mind is built more plainly re.
vesled than in these chapters Of conversation
Tolstoi has gone further since Mr.. Creelman talk.
ed with him, and in one Of the admirable little
books published by The Free Age Press (''Ths
Relation Of the Sexes') he says plainly that in
his view marriage Is an un- Christian insttu
tion," that it is "a sin demanding redemption"
and that people should marry in the same way as
they die, "only when it is impossible to do Other.
wise" This at all events is no uncertain note,
and il We may take it in relation to Mr.. Creel.
mans conversation It is strangely wanting in the
quality OF logic. Mr.. Creelnan presents Tolst0i
as saying that the physical impulses in marriage,
like the appetite Of hunger, the expression Of
law OF nature and therefore neither good nor
bad.
Again Mr. Creelman describes Tolstoi as saying
contrary to essential tenet OF Christianity, that
human nature at its root is good. Now, if human
nature is good and the impulses in marriage are
Of nature, how comes it that marriage is "a sill
demanding r~iemption?''
Tolstois views the social oider, revealed
in Mr.. Cree!man's book, would appear to me to
be equally wanting in the quality Of logic He
approves of BondarefI's theory, which requires
that every man shall work with his hands to pro.
cure the necessary food for his own subsistence,
meaning by that that he should till the earth and
grow grain to make his own bread At the same
time he admits that the developments OF modern
civilization. with railways, bridges, ships, tee.
graphs, the press, universities and all other ma
chnery OF social life which has been built up
throughout the ages are fastening the day when
humanity will be great family and the
Christian Law ut love and brotherhood will pre-.
vail.
Here, surely is an absolute contradiction. II
every man had spent some portion Of his time in
tlling the earth for his own maintenance. the
present order Of civilized life could not possibly
have come to pas, and IL we carry the world
back to a condition in which each man tills the
soil for his own maintenance We reduce it to a
condition in which the Christian law OF universal
brotherhood could not have come to pass
My conclusion (Which advance with all humil.
ity against the authority Of Tolstos great namej
is that the laws Of nature, whether in the rea.
tons Of the sexes or the relations CT tine classes,
are working out the will Of God. II they are not
doing SO, ! am compelled to conclude that for
5000 years the Almighty has been allowing the
world to 60 in the wrong direction under the in
fuence OF laws which humanity has been powerless
to control. Before can think that shall con.
clude that there is no God in the world at all
and put Christianity aside as q painful snd cruel
delusion ] find the sadness OF the world, the
mystery Of its great burden Of sorrow, as perplex-
ing as it appears to most men, but l should
abandon faith altogether il did not feel that on
the whole and in the long run and taking the
universal view the world is ruled in righteous.
nose Han CaINR