The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-10-22
WHO Is N. P. T."
What Is His Present and What Has
Been His Past Record?
To the Editor of the Oakland Republican

10 the Editor of the Oakland Republican:
1t is astounding to many intelligent
readers that the editor of the Mountain
Democrat would yield SO much valuable
space to the whangdOodle rantings of a
wild-eyed self-imposed moral leader
and theological expositor, signing his
initials III. p. T." HIS divine aff1atus
breaks out in spasmodical regurgitations
OF tawdry politics and half-baked theo-
logy. Such long drawn out array of
words, clearly devoid of truth or sense,
one rarely ever sees. He seems to have
Just learned that a great man lives,
moves and has his being, who is a mem
Der Of the Unitarian Church, and disbe-
leves IN part of the orthodox creed.
He seems ignorant of the fact that we
have had Unitarian Presidents before.
He says that his father once gave
away an acre of ground. | wonder how
many H. P. T." has donated. How is
his record for integrity, moral ideals,
and citizenship? With what elements
OF society does he operate, and by whom
the best known? Is his influence in the
community for bad or for good? Is it
exemplary and representative, com
handing the respect and admiration of
the church and society, or is it be-
smirched by the Glow and bestlal, the
thriftless and the irresponsible? Or
may be like the hero Of Dryden satire;
"a man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind'S epitome;
Stin in opinions, always i'm the wrong,
Was everything by starts, and nothing
long:
But in the course Of one revolving moon,
Was rnvmist, fiddler, statesman ana Duf-
toon."
A man who has disingenuously or 9th
erwise, wasted column after column of
newspaper space, mixing up stale pohti-
cal platitudes with scripture verse after
scripture verse, irrelevant to the subject
eXcites suspicion at once We conclude
he is either insane, bordering on insanity
or has the cerebro spinal meningitis.
The only remedy for him is a good,
strong dose of common sense taken after
each religio-political attack. This rem
ely never fails and does not evenrequire
the phycho-mental assistance of Chris
tian Science.
1t is sin to scatter pearls around
promiscuously, but when the sower casts
his seed it may fall on both stony and
good soil, and bring forth fruit. A truth.
although crushed to earth, never dies.
The religious faith Of Judge Taft is as
old as any faith recorded in history, sa-
cred or profane; so old that the memory
Of man runneth not to the contrary, and
that faith will die only when human rea-
son atrophies and mans soul turns to
dust. Who are the great Unitarians
The poets, Longfellow, Bryant, Low
ell, Emerson, Holmes and in faith Whit
tier; the historians, Parkman and
Irving; tn e philanthropists, Enoch
Pratt, George Pea ,ody, Peter Cooper;
the ministers, Edward Everett Hale,
Robert CoIlyer, Theodore Parker. and
thousands Of others in every department
of life, whose names are household
words.
The man who would call into question
the religious belief of an acknowledged
great, good and useful man, before cast
ing his ballot, deserves not only pity,
but the severeSt condemnation. 1t was
just such narrow minded bigotry and
fanaticism as this which has held back
human progress through the centuries,
and menaced the advance of true re-
ligion and civilization. The same narrow
mind during the Dark Ages made it the
blacklist page in church history, and the
church with an iron bound creed then
predominated over state. Deed, and
not creed, is the only thing that counts.
Any man might well be proud to lay
down his armor at the end of life's Jour
ney, with the record of heroic deeds,
and aname that stands as synonym for
all that is good and noble in American
manhood. as does that of William How
ard Taft, and yet he is still in the zenith
of his life and activity. No living man
has done better work for his country
than he, and his race but half run.
What charge does H. p. T." bring
against this man? A man who pretends
to question candidates. creed before
casting his vote, being satisfied with
his character, should certainly stand as
a paragon of perfection himself. His
character should scintilate with virtue,
and his record be galaxy of good and
noble deeds. But is it not true that the
exact opposite of this condition exists?
Is it true that this juggler of scripture
texts, this jabberwock of campaign
literature, has been weighed in the bal
ances and found wanting? Ask the
GROWER, the prowler. the rum mills,
and the totally irresponsibles. The
sheriff and even the Jail warden, it is
said, stands out in bold relief and points
he finger at him, ecce Thou art
tha - A Oh he e