Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-11-04
Another Of Those Phariseas-

Cora Urquhart Potter, as representa-.
| ilves OF the theatrical profession, and
when lady and gentleman, during
his TRADE from the pulpit, arose to
depart from the church, impressively
pointed his finger at them and ex-
claimed There go the parties | am
talking about" Whether they mis-
understood the slur or did not want to
engage in a wrangle with fakir, they
passed out of the aisle without reply.
Both actor and actress came TO
Olympia, in " The Fringe of Society,""
few days afterward, and in COM
menting upon the matter, assured the
writer that they were not the parties
who had left the church nor had they
been near the church in question dur
ing their engagement in Portland.
The point is immaterial, except rs it
showed up the methods adopted for
attaining notoriety by the man who
protested righteousness. A point much
more commented upon afterwards,
was that this same preacher was driven
from his pulpit, six or eight months
afterward, on alleged Becherian
grounds Of immortality.
Now this incident. which was, from
the writers connection with dramatic
management at that time, peculiarly
his province to comment upon, was
the subject of articles in vindication Of
Mr.. Bellew and Mrs. Potter, the second
of which entitled, "Time Makes All
Things Even" was the final act OF the
play, which rang down with the cal
cium.light turned full on the man who
had met with such unbounded success
in becoming the central figure of q
church scandal.
Reference is made TO this matter
only to show that Portland seems to
be fated for a rabid censorious spirit
among its theological expounders,
which embraces more the nature OF
bigotry than of Peace Oh earth and
good will among man."
It is Rev. ID. L. RAIDER who has just
passed under the scapel Of the Oregon.
ian, and nearly everybody knows what
that means. 1t appears that Rev."
RAIDER lately came to Portland, to as.
sumo editorial charge of the Pacific
Christian Aduocate, paper half GEN.
fury old, and which, nearly that length
of time ago, under the able manage
ment of Rev. T. H. Pearne, was a
power for good in laying the founda-
tions of alphabetically a voice in
the wilderness, proclciming the glad
tidings of righteousness on earth and
life everlasting. 1t seems that Mr..
RAIDER came to Portland with the i'm.
preston that he was going beyond the
bounds OF civilization, and among the
first thoughts given through his
paper was the belief that About half
the women Of Portland are bad" The
Oregonian attempted mild protest
and rebuke, and the reputed follower
OF the Meek and Lowly One then
opened his walls oi wrath on that paper.
No further evidence is wanting that
the reverend gentleman was "new" to
his surroundings, or he wouldn't have
placed himself in position that led to
his being carried home on a shutter
like Artimus Ward was, when he had
had a dispute with Deacon Bascom,
and inquired, on recovery, where's
the thrashin' machine I've ran up
against"
The Oregoniam is unmercilul when
it uses its sledge hammer to crush
such little peanuts, and the eyes OF the
merciful fall before the sad sight.
Here are a few quotations. selected at
random from the text, "A Brother
Who Mistakes"
There is one d. L. Rader-Rev. ID. l..
Rader-who has recently come to Port
lad. He imagines he has come into a
"hard" community. He comes as edi-
tor of the Pacific Christian -4dr0cdte-
a paper that has been published here
these fifty years. But the paper is SUBJ
ject to the itinerary system, and it is
seldom that an editor stays long enough
to learn anything about conditions here.
These persons who come and 90 find
always that The Oregonidn does not
come up to their ideal of morality and
righteousness. The OregOnidR confesses
that it does not come up to any Phari-
saical ideal, but it does not esteem that
ideal the highest.
Now we have it from Brother RAIDER,
through the paper over which he has
temporary control that The Oregonian is
an immoral newspaper. So he advises
all persons who read his paper, the alb.
solutely moral newspaper, to boycott The
Oregonian. Let us say that the people
of Oregon have been here a while, and
they are likely sooner to boycott this
good brother than to boycott The Ore
gonian.
His complaint is that The Oregonian
does not accept his Interpretation of the
Word of God; that it is on agnostic
newspaper; that it would allow Sabbath
breaking and the manufacture and sale
of liquors; that it is unwholesome and
deadly, because it does not accept the
theology and ecclesiasticism that please
this brother in short, that it is dead
ly enemy.
Now let us come to the point. Who is
arbiter of religion and morals? A mar
row sectarian, who never will be able to
speak for composite and tolerant COM
munity7 All know that no conception
of morals is the ultimate one. Our
critic mistakes the tenets OF a stale theo-
logy for absolute morality. He wants
to make what he calls Sabbath-break-
ing sin, under ban of the law, which is
impossible and absurd. He would de.
clare manufacture1and sale of liquors i'm
moral, which is a6surd also and impos-
sible. Everything on earth may be
liable to abuse, and 80 is this. But it is
not immoral to make and to sell liquors,
nor to grow and sell the cereals and hops
from which they are made.