Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-04-01
ToLsToI AND TWAIN.


TOLSToI AND TWAIN
The Literary fellers' are coming to
the front these days as champions OF
oppressed and outraged humanity,
throwing the fashlight Of their intelli-
gence into the dark places and tearing
the mask from the face of fraud and
pious hypocrisy.
Tolstoi and Twain both. find wide
fields for exploiting their Quixotic ten
denotes, although the n belongs to
the most autocratic and illiberal and
the other to the most enlightened and
supposedly free government on earth.
Brave and true-hearted Tolstoi ap-
peals to the Gear on behalf of those
thousands suffering from religious per-
secution and the horrors, injustices and
sickening cruelties Of existing laws
and conditions. These latter long
have been breeding revolution and a
horde of mortal, secret enemies of gov
eminent, continually seeking the
chance TO STAY CA6lr ruIeTS.
Matters in Russia may have gone too
far for reforms to accomplish much
within the life Of this Car, young
though he is; for 1t is difficult to alter
the views and feelings of a people who
have suffered from father to son under
ages of cruel oppression. But it were
well for the Car to open his eyes to
the plain situation. disclosed by Tolstoi,
to which he is wilfu1ly blind or blinded
by unworthy advisers. Russia IS 20
Sleeping over a s~molder.ag volcano of
deep popular wrath and bitterness at
y time when most Of al she needs
harmony at hone. She IN i" afford
10 assume the aggressive in China with
)he rumblings Of revolution shaking
me foundations of St. Petersburg.
The Gar would do well to heed Toll
ytoi as the powers that be at Wash
ington with their pious hypocrisies
concerning benevolent assimilation"
and the like, and also certain others
wearing the cloth, would do well to
study themselves in the mirror Mark
Twain holds up to them. Honest men
have read nothing with a keener relish
Than Twain's raZor-edge satire CON
cerning the piratical d~epredations of
the powers of Christianity and civil
ization in the heather Orient-in China
and the Philippines. Not the least in
teresting are the shafts of keen sarcasm
which he levels at those good Chris
tians composing the board Of foreign
missions who would shoot Christianity
into the heather through the medium
of'the rapid fire gun and who are not
above grabbing at their share of
heather loot, calling it Indemnity and
excusing the method of its acquire
ment by the fact that it is to be de-
voted to the church. Wincing under
the lash of Twain's satire the board of
foreign missions replied that it had not
demanded thirteen times the amount
of its losses in indemnity as reported,
but only an excess Of one-third, to
which Mark Twain responds: Moral
ly there are degrees in stealing. The
commandment merely says, Thou
shalt not STEAL and stops there. 1t
doesn't recognize any difference be-
tween stealing a third and stealing
t~hirteen-fold. The one-third obtained
by theft and extortion' is tainted
money, and cannot be purified by de-
fraying church expenses and support
in widows and orphans with it. The
morals of the act are Chinese, but are
approved by the board, and by some of
the clergy and some OF the newspapers
as being a valuable Improvement upon
Christian enes-which leaves me with
q closed mouth, though with a pain in
my heart"
The truth in the hands of such mas
tiers as Twain and Tolstoi is a weapon
OF irresistible force and power. 1t is
a brilliant, flaming sword that pieces
with ease the toughest shield of guilt.
oppression, falsehood and pious hypoc-
risy. 1t is good to see this bright
blade flashed over the world OCCASION
ally More power to Tolstoi, Twain
md their like.
Two tons of flags have been con-
tracted for to fly over the school
bOuSes of PORTO P;oo 70 ;n,+;l1 .o