Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-01-29
CONSERVATION OF
Man" WAS SUBJECT
Continued from Page ~

q VIVA o~~y
before the institution has been able to
leave its impress upon their charac-
ter and leads them home If possible,
II not, then into right thoughts and
actions. 1t stands at the prison gates
and meets the branded man when he
comes forth. 1t looks him in the eye
as a man and walks with him side by
side until he gets the lock.step out
of his system 1t teaches him that he
is still a man and capable of useful
ness and then h"lps him in the way
of usefulness. Verify "a society for
the triendless."
What a field of usefulness is unfold
ed before l.. What a fed Of conserva'
ton it is entering upon!
Along these general lines this So
ciety IS working. 1t has been impos.
sible for me to more than familiarize
myself with the outlines of the work
and learn Of a few Of its accomplish
ments and in the brief time at my
command. it would be impossible to
tell in detail even what | have learned.
Therefore, l will not tire you with
statistics or dry tabulations of figures,
but will confine myself to a few COM
ments on the conditions that justify
The society's eXistance and efforts.
When God made man and set him
up in His own image and likeness. he
intended him to be useful on the face
of the earth and that there should be
many Of him: that his usefulness
might be much, so he commanded him
to be fruitful and multiply and as an
incentive, he implanted in him a de-
sire to reproduce his species. He
made him perfect in body and limb
and mind and spirit with the expecta-
ton that his progeny would be in all
things the same. But it seems that
things may 90 wrong even in the plans
Of the Almighty, or else we are unable
to fully comprehend the plan.
1t soon developed that the offspring
of man were not all coming into the
world in the image of God, perfect in
all ways, but now and then a crooked
body Dr. a twisted limb or m%isshapen
face appeared, and those who were
born right looked upon and treated the
unfortunate as possessed of devils.
and treated them as devils. accord
lngly; even to the extent Of taking
their lives. And the cripple in savag
cry and early civilization intsead oil
being the subject of pity and syn
pathy was the object of hate and
abuse.
1l:en II was lAsrrv"ll IT, vt all who
were born in the correct image. were
not equally sturdy Or disease-resistine
and that while one would thrive anG
wax fat, another, under the same con
ditions would wither and stunt and
dwarf. That one would safely with
stand the daily bodily injuries Incl
dent to active life while another, the
same injuries would leave a misshap
en- body or limb. These tangible, Wis
ible bodily ailments, capable of being
understood and studied, finally attract
ed the attention of thinking men anC
the idea took root and finally prevailed
over the world that the crippled and
physically weak were not possessed Of
devils, but we're beset by misfortune
Tha: they should be sympathized with
and not stoned and that by proper
treatment and care their condition
could be made better or cured and
they brought or restored to a condi
ton Of us%efusness as a part of man
kind. We know the extent to which
that idea has been carried until now
there is no n beyond hope of science
to better his ailing physical being.
1t was also early observed that mcr
sessed of the same spirit, but that
some we're crooked in mind and tho't
as others were in body and limb, and
these would do things that the con
science Of those correctly equipped
condemned as not right and they de
nominated them as, wicked and de
PRAYED, and they, too, were said to be
possessed Of devils and men arose who
claimed to be able to cast them out
The professional devil-caster became
a man Of considerable Importance in
the community. And these caster
outs of devils were nearer the real so
luton of the problem than anyone
else in the worlds history until with
in the. past few years. They did cast
out devils. They recognized that the
bad was only n element in nature
and they found the good elements and
worked upon and strengthened them
until they Overcamc the bad and by
the process they made good men Out
Of bad ones and they did this by get
ting,the mans confidence and making
him believe, first; that he had a devil
and second. that 1t could be cast out
The field Of operation OF these people
was never very extensive. Tlcil
claims wrc bascI upon Il false pre-
tence Of an occult power and theil
real methods not being understood
they were, not in good favor. Then
too. the man possessed of a few devils
had to be handled automatically. He
didn't want to be deprived of his pos
sessions at one fell Syoop. He rather
glcried in defying the devil caster to
get them and that very disposition was
ordinarily that worst devil of which
he was possessed.
This mental or spiritual defect, in
visible, intangible, incapable Of ready
observation long puzzled the thought
Of the world and it is only in recent
years with the great advance in phys
ioloyy and medical and surgical sci
en- e that it has come to be under.
stood by the great students that the
weak and immoral tendency is as much
an abnormal condition of the mental