The Tucson citizen., 1902-05-21
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

would have received approval. In
this age either because the thought OF
the world Is more enlightened and man
has a far different conception Of the
Deity, or possibly because man draws
the line between nature and natures
God" few thoughtful persons think of
earthquakes, cyclones and the erup-
tions of volcanoes or explosions in
mines as manifestation of the wrath
of Providence. Not long ago storm
swept over Galveston and thousands
perished in the flood. Only last Sun
day a cyclone struck Goliad and nearly
hundred dead were left in It's wake.
Monday an explosion In coal mine
in Tennessee caused the death OF up
wards of two hundred. Galveston Is
a city of churches. In proportion to
population it has probably as many
Christian men and women among its
residents as any other city Of the
same size in the United States. When
the storm came and Galveston was
overwhelmed no discrimination was
made between the just and the un-
just. the wicked and those who led
Christian lives. All alike went down
to destruction. There were churches
in St. Pierre. and institutions conduct
ed by pious men and women, whose
lives were devoted to reclaiming and
uplifting those inhabitants of the town
whom the former consul describes as
being of bad morals They shared
with the vicious and immoral" the
residents of the doomed town.
Churches have been struck by light
ming in various parts of the world,
while congregations were engaged in
worship. There are not many per-
sons who would like to believe that
such disasters could not be accounted
for on purely natural grounds.
To suggest that st. Pierre was de-
stroyed because OF the vice and i'm
morality" of its inhabitants does not
seem to be reasonable. 1t is far more
to think of the destruction
Of the town as the work of the ele-
ments alone When Nature Is aroused,
no one looks for discrimination. Her
lecrees are inexorable. She strikes
blindly, and spares not when she Is in
angry mood. TO her, good and bad,
righteous and wicked, are all alike.
II all the residents of St Pierre had
been men and women of the noblest
Christian type, there is no reason to
think the catastrophe would have been
avertet. that there would have been no
*of Mount Pelee, or that the
lava and the flames would have been
less deadly. Christian men and
women go down to the sea in ships.
The storm does not spare them be
cause they have led good lives. The
hurricane takes no account of the
wicked or righteous. 1t "bloweth
where it listeth,' carrying death to the
righteous and moral as we'll as 70 the
vicious and immoral who happen to
be in it's path. All these things man
can understand when he attributes
them to Nature. Why confuse him
tnr IN HN hA a
elsewhere?
Before the world agrees that st. |
Pierre was destroyed because of its
wickedness it will be tempted to ask
whether there were not other places |
on the globe more like the ancient So |
dom and Gomorrah than the ill-fated |
town on the island Of Martinique. If !
there are such places. why should they /
have escaped? Why should they CON /.
tinue to flourish. when ST Pierre is a I
mass of ruins? Is it not more ration /
al TO conclude that a town built at the I
base of an active volcano is always in |.
danger, whether its inhabitants be /
good or bad, while a town not in the
region Of earthquakes and volcanoes
and not exposed to tidal waves. is apt
t6 enjoy comparative immunity from
destruction by the elements, however
degraded or moral its residents may
be?
---Cl------
In making it a misdemeanor to ped
die policy" tickets in Tucson. the
aI4,, an,,y.iI . 1,,I..