The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-10-16
II Second Defense Of State
education.

.................
! papers alone keep thousands of men
from going to the saloons, I know
whereof l speak. And as the news.
papers can be of no use to theJaboring
men unless they are able to read them
it follows that in considering the de-
crease of drunkenness we must not
only concede that education is factor,
but significant, if not the predomi-
nant factor.
Moreover, if "the enlightened nations
are the liquor drinking nations" they
were still more so when they were un-
enlightened. The intemperance of to-
day is as mole to an elephant when
compared with the intemperance of
two hundred, Or five hundred, or a
thousand years-ago. Not only in Eng
land, but likewise in continental Eu-
rope, a few hundred years ago, almost
without exception every one drank to
excess whenever he had the opportuni-
ty. And if certain professors and M.
DIS declare that man cannot exist
without a stimulant, certain other pro-
fessors and M. DIS have declared, and
do declare, that man exists best with
out any stimulant whatsoever; as, for
instance, the late DR.. Carpenter, ply
sician to the late Prince Consort, hus-
band to the late Queen Victoria. And
if Mr. Kelley of Gold Cure fame as
serts that education does not control
the WILL" certain others, equally fa-
NOUS, assert that education exerts an
influence over the will. And since the
will as manifested in our actions is but
the servant of antecedent motives and
desires; and further, since it cannot be
denied that education exerts an in
fuence over our motives and desires,
and sometimes actually leads them
into new channels altogether; it nee.
essarily follows that education is at
least one of the factors which control
or shape human yolition.
Mr.. SIS objection to my assertion
that "the growth of intellectual culture
has almost banished the superstitious
dread of misunderstood phenomena
is easily answered. / must confess
Mr.. S. has the advantage over me in so
far as he is enabled to consult various
eminent authorities. My own private
library consists of but three volumes,
and none of these deals with the sub
ject under discussion. But notwith-
standing what Mr.. Fiske, or any other
authority, eminent or otherwise, may
have to say about superstition, let Mr..
S. bat compare the superstitions of the
dark ages, or the middle ages with the
superstitions of today, and he will at
once see that superstitious beliefs and
fears have decreased marvelously. Or
let him compare the superstitions of un-
enlightened nations with the supersti-
tions of enlightened nations, and he
will at once perceive that ignorance
and superstition are inseparable.
We freely admit that superstition is
hard to eradicate, because Man, on the
whole, is conservative animal, and
conservatism is the deadly foe to new
ideas, especially if such ideas are op-
posed to the beliefs of sour fathers. y
OF the many superstitions enumerated
by Mr.. S. the man addicted to one of
them is frequently totally ignorant
concerning the others; while before
the spread of education every man and
woman, with the possible exception OF
some s'skeptic" here and there, had a
string of superstitions longer than Mr..
Fiske's and Mr.. SIS combined.
To show there is positive proof that
education and superstition are antago.
nistic, we will call Mr.. SIS attention to
q bit of evidence that may be had any.
where in the western states for the
trouble of picking it up: Emigrants
from unenlightened foreign countries
bring with them al their superstitioua
fears; but their sons-I am not so sure
about their dsushters- born. in this
country, educated in our schools
J brought up side by side with children