The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-11

CHICAGO, Oct. 10.-"As spoke the
prophet Elijah, with the authority con-
ferred by God, so speak 1. AS John the
Baptist was sent as special messenger
of Jehovah, so am 1 sent to carry a
message Of repentance. To restore part
of the old dispensation and establish a
new one-this is my mission"
Those are the claims of John Alex
ander Dowie, who this month will lead
q band of 5000 apostles from Chicago
to convert New York to the tenets of
the new faith of Zion. A series of a
dozen monster meetings have been ar
ranged to be held in Madison Square
Garden, besides which Dowie declares
he will send his disciples into the
streets to conduct a house-to-h house
and office to office campaign from one
end of New York to the other. Over
flow meetings also will be held in
Brooklyn. Staten Island and in the
nearby cities of New Jersey.
DoWie expects that before he returns
to Zion City 100000 persons in and
near New York will receive a personal
appeal to desert the faith of their ia
theirs and join his religion. Dowie also
requires OF each new follower a zeal
greater than was exacted by Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young in the early
days of the Mormon propaganda.
Whatever are the extravagances of
the claims of DR." Dowie in aspiring
to the double role he assumed two
years ago, when, before an audience of
5000 persons, he claimed to be the re-
incarnations of Elijah the Tishbite and
John the Baptist, this can be accounted
a certainty, that there is no firmer be-
lever in the truth of his claims than
John Alexander pc,1e himself.
That Dowie believes in his own
claims-vague, bewildering and mys-
teal as they are-even his most cor
dial enemies are willing to admit
Therein undoubtedly lies the secret of
his wonderful success. A master Of
logic, he has converted himself and a
hundred thousand men and women
from all walks of life, from all the va
ried religions of the world, to belief
which all doctrinarians have declared
to be profoundly illogical.
Squatty of cure and squeaky Of
voice. flighty of disposition and utterly
lacking in every attribute of personal
dignity, Dowie has met all the re-
quirement of an autocrat who holds
complete sway over the thousands of
converts who are annually added to
the roster of his sect.
Where are the editors who attacked
me in their yellow sheets five years
dead by God for telling lies about DR..
Dowie!" shrieked Dowie one afternoon
from the platform of the Auditorium.
1t was typical sermon"
Two hours of every Lords Day
Afternoon" Dowie devotes to attacks
of the press or on what he terms the
apostasies of other religions, prin-
cipally the Methodist Episcopal, of
which he formerly was a minister. His
Nominations against doctors and drugs
are couched in the coarsest language,
yet they have attracted and held spell
bound men and women of refinement
and education.
Processing to be healer, and found
ing his whole church on the corner
stone of his alleged power over every
malady and disease, Dowie has failed
In thousands of cases to cure or allevi-
ate the sufferings of those who have
paid for his prayers, and yet only a
small percentage of these have for
saken him. The first article of faith
In Dowies religion is generosity. Give,
give, give" is his constant demand.
One-tenth of all the property and in
come of each member of Zion is ex-
acted and scrupulously collected. This
is what it will mean for ever New
Yorker who becomes converted in the
coming crusade. Besides this Dowie
is constantly taking special collections.
Give me a million dollars! A mil
lion dollars, do you hear? 1 am going