The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-12-22
KANSAS. C0MMENT
PAT CROWE.

Pat Grove, the celebrated bandit,
klohaper and general bad man, whose
| picture occupies a conspicuous place
IN every police station in the country,
a"oke from deep dream of peace
with bad taste in his mouth, the
other morning, and decided to aban-
don the sporting life
Ihe difference in. the morning has
leo many hayward spirits to repent
ahce IN the coure of ages. and while
IL is recognized part of American
me- many other sinners will return
because or 1t; but such repentance is
seioom long lived, and it will be a sur
PRISE lndeed If the extremely reverend
TAT persists in good works for any
length of time
This new planet that sWirns into orr
ken Will not cause more than a mo-
mentary excitement; we have become
accustomed to reformed gamblers. re-
olIneu prulserS. reformed ball players,
and reformed has-beens of all sorts
mat the apotheosis of Pat Grove will
cause no more than a ripple, save in
such communities as witness his per-
sonar efforts in the snatching of brands
from the burning -
Inc regularly ordained ciergymen
OF the country, the men who are
equipped by study and virtuous living
sacred calling, will witness the advent
OF Pat Grove with the accustomed
apathy, although they should protest
against the evangelical work of all
these reformed outlaws and sports.
Lawyers and doctors are jealous of
their professions, and try to keep out
the quacks and shysters, although
their success is not always noteworthy.
The quack preacher is worse than
the Quack doctor or the shyster law
yer, and it is the duty of the ministry
to cast him into outer darkness. Re-
l1g1on is made cheap and ridiculous
-I,kaN &C. So
criminal records are notorious. and
whose repentance is too recent, and too
spectacular, to command respect The
spectacle of a man issuing from a, dive
to lecture upon the sacred prece pts of
the Testaments is not eleyating, to say
the least.
The preachers are preaching against
many evils and abuses. The Gazette
of a day or two ago contained a re-
markable discourse delivered by Chi
cago parson, and scores of others are
throwing their shining 1ances against
the faces Of frauds and sinners; but
pug-uglies who go forth in pFiestly
robes to make g. travesty of creeds and
doctrines, and tear the dignity of true
goodness into shreds.-Emporia Ga
zette.
''STAGNATIoN" RETIREMENTs.
Congressman and senator's are receiv-
ing petitions from army officers against
the enactment OF pending legislation
which contemplates elimination among
the commissioned personnel as a means
of creating vacancies and helping pro-
motion. The officers who are filing
their obligations against the measure,
which has the sanction of the war de-
partment and originated with General
William Crozier, chief of ordnance,
are pointing outsefhat any scheme
of elimination would do harm to
officers who have been planning
to serve their allotted time on
the active list Of the army. and
who find themselves confronted with
the prospect ofAbeing premature1y re-
tired on a basis of pay@sFhfch takes into
the cases of officers who entered in or
just after the Spanish war, a captain
who will have served sixteen or eight
cen years would go on the retired list
with pay of $50 a month not sufficient
to sustain himself and his family, and
under conditions which make it diff
ficult for him to engage in any occupa
ton in civil life. having given the best
years of his existence to the military
establishment. Then, too, it is pointed
out that if elimination prevails some
tired who, will seek to be restored to
duty on full pay, with pressure applied
in that direction. All of this, it is point
ed out, will increase the expense of
maintenance by additions to
the retired list in a way which is dis
to army officers. There is
no prospect that the bill will be taken
up at the coming session of congress-
Leavenworth Times.