The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-17

Clifford summed up the Passive Resistance
creed in these words: I'VE contend that no
taxpayer should be obliged to support
schools In which dOgmatic and ecclesiastical
instruction contrary to his belief Is taught,
nor 10 help pay teachers who must undergo
a denominational religious test before they
are allowed 10 practice their profession IL
is precisely the same spirit which caused
the Pilgrims to emigrate TO America IN 100,
for just as the government was trying 10
force a state religion upon the people then,
so IL IS trying to strengthen that religion
now by prOselytizing the children OF Non
conformist parents"
One Of the most unconventional OF the
auction sales was held recently in suburb
OF Birmingham. A NOncOnformist minister
who had refused TO pay that portion OF his
taxes which was TO be devoted 10 the sup
port OF schools Of another faith surprised
the officers who visited him 10 seize MS
goods by inviting them into his little front
parlor, summOning his family and reading
the psalm in which appears the words
surely, He shall deliver them from the
snare Of the fowler and from the nolsome
pestilence,' and then, asking offlcerS ana
all TO kneel in prayer, in the course of
which the pastor besOught special grace for
the dear friends who had called upon him
that afternoon After this ceremony the
dear friends carted off the pastors piano.
At Sutton some of the goods Of minister
ninety years old were sold of, and in Ber-
wick Methodist minister was sentenced 10
seven DAYS Imprisonment for passive re-
sistance." At FUlham the mayor himself
was among the number summoned TO court
for Withholding the educational part or his
tax. He told the magistrate that he felt
his position keenly, but, come what might,
his conscience would not let him pay any
portion of a tax for sectarian teaching.
Near Bristol a woman who owned llttle
farm, and who had rendered all of her tax
except the two dollars which was 10 be
devoted 20 the local sectarian school, was
told that part payment could not be ac-
cepted. and the horse and cart on which
she was depending for a living We're seized
for the payment of the whole sum. Friends
finally bought in the property for her, but
the government had the last word by
charging her weeks board for the horse.
ROUGH ON RESISTERs.
In another place some vases for which
the "resisters'' had paid so were knocked
down TO a stranger for the $3.50 of taxes
which had been withheld. In most cases,
however, the goods have been bought 10 by
friends of the ''resisters" and returned TO
the original owner, who would thereafter
find some way Of recOuping his rescuers
without damage to his conscience. At one
sale in fashionable Brighton the auctioneer
was so much in sympathy with his victims
that he refused to accept any fee, and sold
the goods TO friends OF the owners for the
precise sum required to satisfy the war
rant. Strangers present on the lookout for
bargains found it impossible to make them
selves heard when they offered more than
the friendly bidders. That auctiOneer be-
came a local hero, and was the chief guest
after the sale at a meeting in which the
local parson proposed TO the crowd to send
him to Westminster TO see what price he
could get for a damaged Tory Cabinet.
Eighty wOuld-be martyrs at Ipswich were
highly Disguised on the morning of the in
tended sale of their goods TO find that some
anonymous benefactOr had paid their taxes
for. ffarra ffo fsrhf hafn A me a
actually held afterwards. at which some of
the would-be ''resisters'' protested against
the action Of the ''ill-dispOsed' unknown
person.
At Northwood the refused tax for six
persons made total of Sl4, and the goods
sold TO meet this tax were bought in, as
guard had been necessary to protect the
auctioneer. and the fees of the police and
the auctioneer and other expenses made a
total OF nearly 500 All OF the persons
concerned were so poor that they could not
meet this additional sum, and in cOnse-
quence a further sale was held, in which
the six ''resisters' were wellnigh cleaned
out.
An officer who called to seize the goods
of n "reSiSter'' at Stoke-On-Trent was con-
fronted at the door by a hearse, in which
the coffin of the ''resister's'' son was being
placed. The house was barred to the Off
Ger, so he went around to the stable and
seized the saddle which had belonged to
the dead boy.
Although, as a rule, the local Noncon-
formist ministers have attended the sales
and have exerted themselves to the ut
most to keep the sympathizers from doing
anything more than chaff the man whose
unpleasant duty it was to sell the goods.
yet some Of the auctiOneers have been
pretty badly mauled, and two have
had to run for their lives without effecting
sales. One of them was saved from I'M
pleasant experiences by Methodist
preacher. who lay down on the floor above
the room in which the sale was being held
and quieted the crowd by an address
through trap door.
Some OF the local magistrates before
whom the "resisters' have 20 appear in re-
Spouse to summonses let themselves be
fairly submerged by the floods of OratOry
OF them, w. S. Gilbert-nOne other than
the librettist OF Gilbert and Sullivan fame
distinguished himself by cutting short the
Grafton Of the first ''reSister'' who came be-
fore him. This court shall not be made
an area for declaiming against an act of
Parliament" quoth the author. of Pima
fore"
The 'resisters'' have powerful voice in
the House Of Commons with the brilliant
young Lloyd-GeOrge as the leader and
they have a big representative in the finan-
cial world in r. W. Perks. who is the Eng
hsh adviser and hacker of c. I. Yerkes in
the underground railroad schemes. They
have also established a weekly newspaper,
the Crusader, and appear TO be gaining
steadily in confidence that SOONER or later
they will turn Arthur Balfour and his cab
met out of office. CURTIS BROWN.
Copyright 1901