Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-03-10
Untered ut the Postoffice at Staunton,
Va, Is second class mail matter.
Friday. March 10 1911
DR.. nowERroM SPEAKS RAsHLy

wrong, that he has studied an Incl
dent in our national life until he has
developed sort of mental myopia and
believes that our whole system is dis
eased. At q meeting Of the Presby-
terrain Alliance in New York he said,
among other things:
"You would raze to the ground ev-
cry college and university of any con-
sequence in this country if you would
lay down the rule that tainted mon
ey' should not be used for lawful and
holy purposes. All the endowments
of the great institutions of learning
are dragged from the starving hands
Of the poor man by the modern Ma
poleons of finance. The professors
and students study and live at ease
on the money thus obtained. 'Taint-
ed money is am ong us. 1t is educat-
ing our young. Our colleges and uni
versities are in its clutches.
"Many professors of chairs endow-
ed with this money are bound to
teach certain things in religion for
fear of losing their positions. 1 have
no doubt that for this very reason pro-
fessors teach certain economic and
philosophical principles which will
please the millionaires who have CIV
en- them their salaries.
81 do not believe there is an hon
est dollar in this country. If man
would undertake to abolish every COM
pany, corporation, organization, or in
stitution in the United States which
is dependent upon wealth accumulat-
ed through corrupt practices, he would
have to raze every school, every state
house, every factory, and every other
building to the ground.
s'Immorality and organized prostitu-
ton overrun the country, and the re-
public cannot stand much longer with
out revolution. do not think we
are to have a revolution in which
blood will be shed, but there will be
such revolution of ideas, laws, and
customs as has never before been wit
messed. The outcome will either be
perfect government or an anarchy.
"We cannot raise our hands against
conditions, for we meet with opposi-
tion on all sides. The police, the cor
porate council, the municipal govern
ments, state governments, and even
the national government itself will
lend no aid, for the whole body poll
tic is subsidized, controlled, intimidat-
ed by wealth."
Things are bad enough, the Lord
knows, but they cannot be SO had as
all that. Corporate wealth is arrogant
and full of power, but its influence is
not SO widespread as many suppose.
DR.. Howerton's own University,
Washington and Lee, for instance,
would not have to be RACED if not a
single tainted dollar ever went into its
treasury. It did splendid work before
the day of swollen fortunes, before the
s'malefactor of great wealth" vas a
figure among us, and would do so
again. So with the great University
of Virginia, and SO with scores of
schools, doing noble work for the
people throughout the length and
breadth of the land. Professor How
erton goes too far when he says that
professors and students study and
live at ease on money dragged from
the starving hands of the poor man by
modern Napoleons of finance" There
may be some few instances of this, but
1t is not general by any means. Our
schools are not flowery beds of ease for
either professors or students, as thous-
ands of boys working their way
through college, and many a pEofes-
sor, doing splendid work on half the
pay he could get in some other occupa-
ton can testify.
DR.. Howerton hardly means what
ne says when he asserts that many
professors teach what they do not be-
lieve for fear of losing their positions.
He puts far too low an estimate on the
character and integrity of his co-labor-
ers In the field of education, and his
statement is a rash one. There may
be some instances of this, there may
be few professors who see nothing in
their work but their salaries. but for
tunately for the country, these, we be-
lieve, are few and far between. And
as for there being not a single honest
dollar in the country, that is absurd
on the face of it. The trouble is, the
honest dollars are not organized as are
those that are dishonest, but they are
here by the million, yea, by the bill
lion. Perhaps their power is not made
manifest, but it is there, nevertheless.
Take the single instance of the farmer,
who digs his living from the ground,
working early and late, in the rain
and the sunshine, in the cold and the
heat. Will anyone say that his dol
ars are dishonest? Yet the value of
his crops run into the billions. He is
frequently the prey of these 'Napo-
Icons of Finance" it is true, but his
money, billions Of it, is clean.
Nor do we believe that the whole
body polite is subsidized, controlled
and inundated by wealth. Some
small parts of the body polite may be.
New York City, Philadelphia, Pitts
burg, Chicago-some places such as
these may feel the heavy hand of cor
porate wealth and greed, but even they
are not entirely controlled. And
great as these cities are, they represent
hut small part of the body polite.
1t is true that throughout the whole
land run the tentacles of the octupus,
communicating and corrupting where
they touch, yet the country as a whole
has not been controlled, has not been
subsidized and is unafraid
DR.. Howerton predicts a revolution,
not one in which blood will be shed,
but a revolution of ideas, laws and
customs. The outcome he predicts
will be either perfect government or
anarchy. The revolution is now in
progress. 1t is spreading like a
prairie fire through the land. People
have become aroused to thc nower tho<