Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-08-26
zion LEADER
breaches At
LAS VEGAS
THINKS OF MOVING HIS
COLONY TO MEADOW CITY
DoWie'S Successor in New
Mexico Investigating AgricuI-
turaI Possibilities With View
to Permanent Settlement.

Especial Dispatch to the Morning JOurnai.I !
Las Vegas, n. NJ. Aug. 25.-Over-
seer Wilbur Glenn Noliva fired the first
shot in the campaign attendant upon
the establishment of the New Zion, at
a big meeting at the opera house this
afternoon AT the close of his address
he took occasion to say that he was
thinking of abandoning the old Zion
City entirely and making "A new start
the conditions OF the world had con-
WINGED him that the real basis of pros
perity of any colony or people must
be agriculture. a colony could not
be safely founded on manufactures
and mercantile institutions alone. He
proposed to avoid In the new colony
the errors into which Mr.. Dowie had
fallen in the old. Many of his people
had money and many more would re-
ceiVe money from the sale of Zion.
The action of the Chicago courts in
selling the lace factories to Marshall
Field q Co. for $1,000 600 he de-
nounced as a base steal He said they
had cost millions and the value was
little impaired
Yolivas theme was practical Chris
tianity. He Is a fOrcible, inCisive and
at times humorous speaker. lie lacks
the magnetic power of DOWie, but he
strikes sledge- hammer blows, and
must needs leave an impression upon
any audience he addresses. DoWe he
characterized as one OF the greatest
promoters that ever lived and one Of
the master minds of the country but
said he lacked business ability and
was ruined by prosperity.
He said the mission of Christianity
~ ur tn a lra ln Il TfFarr ll..NFa g f..I
come upon earth, and that the test Of
Christianity was in doing things to
make the world better and happier
and not I'm creeds and churches. He
declared the mission Of Zion TO be
To help the poor and needy every
where, to give every man chance To
make an honest living. to do good to
All men and TO live Justly before the
world. What the world needed was
the practice of the golden rule, not
theories
1t is rather a curious fact that one
OF the ablest preachers Of the city. the
Rev. Norman Skinner. preached
powerful sermon this morning, in
which the central thought was that
the test of Christianity was Ito do
the Will of the Father" and not in
creeds or professions. not in theories,
but in practice. Both preachers
many times repeated the central idea,
mot In theory, but in practice. But
Voliva condemned salaried preachers
and many of the doings of the
churches. while Mr.. skinner spoke of
Christian Science. Dowieism and Nor
monism as theories based upon disor-
dered Imagination, or called into ex-
stence by the failure Of the churches
to teach the realities Of practical
Christianity.
In private MIR. Noliva says that 1t
has not yet been definitely determined
whether or not 10 abandon Zion en-
tirely but it rs certain that the new
colony, founded on an agricultural
basis. will be the headquarters OF the
Zion movement
Noliva expressed his enthusiasm re-
gardng the mesa farms and said that
industry and the employment Of skill
ful methods would make this one of
the grandest spots of the world.