Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-11-30

y
public. But his moral shortcomings
had nothing to do with the truth or]
of his theoies on political
economy.
A large section of Mr.. Collins able
address was devoted to the statement
that Socialism aimed to destroy re-
ligion, and last night Mr.. Metcalf
traversed the K. G. lecturer at that
point. Socialist doctrine was quot
ed from original sources. Here is
what Mr.. Metealf quoted from: the,
pen, of Karl Marx: "The religious
world is but the reflection of the real
world. And for q society based up-
on the production of commodities
S. Christianity with its cultus
of abstract man, more especially in
it's bourgeoise developments, Protest
antism, Deism, etc, is the most fit
ting form of religion" Evidently
the father of Socialism is not in OPP
position to all forms of religion.
Keir Hardy, a member Of the House
of Commons in England and a prom
inent leader of Socialism in the Brit
ish Isles, has this to say about So
cialists and the burning question OF
religion: ut cannot be too emphat-
ically stated that Socialism takes no
more cognizance Of the religious
opinions Of its adherents than does
either Liberalism or Conservatism. :
(The two leading English political
parties. st would, however, be an
easy task to show that Communism,
the final goal of Socialism, is form
of social economy very closely akin
to the principles set forth in the Ser
mon on the Mount" That does not
look as though Socialists were vio-..
lently opposed to real religion. Mr.
Metcalf quoted Werner Sombert, who
said: "At the present day, funda-z
mentally hostile views about religion
are to be heard only in the circles of
half educated Socialists"
Then Mr.. Metcalf explained why,
original Socialists seemed to be in!
opposition to religion. The fathers
of Socialism we're Germans. They;
went through the throes of the tre-Sf
mendous revolution OF 1913 in Ger
many. It looked as though the day
|of Democracy had dawned. The
wonderful spirit Of 1S4S, almost al
purely Christian spirit, the reader
may catch in the pages of Carl.
|Schurtz' three volumes of Reminis-.
|cences. Schurtz and the agitatorsi
for Social and political betterment:
Mere cast into prison. Some were!
executed, many were exiled. Prus-i
sian militarism put down the revolu-ii
ton with bloody hand. These men
noticed one very significant thing:
III the midst of the turmoil the Ro-4
man Catholic church stood pat. 1t,
was with the governing classes.
From the Pope to the acolyte in local
churches a solid phalanx of ecclesiat-
ical power threw itself in the path
of progress. This was all the re-,
ligion these men knew. Naturally
they were bitter. Naturally they
threw themselves against this au-s
thority not from heaven but from
the ''above" OF human society.
Moreover the idea Of God which lay
behind the Roman Catholic church of
that day was impossible to these men
moved by the new scientific spirit.
They could not believe in God who
counted candles on an altar to, deter
mine whether religion was being
performed Alright, or who was inter-
ested in the color Of the robes a
priest might wear. To the Socialist
Fathers the Almighty was reduced
to vest pocket edition, God whose
name might properly be spelled with
q lower case "g." Mr.. Metcalf de-
clared that that conception Of God
he'd been backed off the map of the
world, but that the better scientific
of the Almighty which
prevails among thoughtful men to-
day was welcome, not only to Social
lists, but to all classes of modern life.
Mr.. Metcalf quoted the definitions
Of Socialism as given in the Century
Dictionary and also Encyclopedias
Though these defini-
lions may set forth but dream OF
human betterment, Mr.. Metcalf de-
clared it was the dream Of at least
good men who are lovers of their
kind. Socialism is nothing more,
Mr.. Metcalf said, than the logical
of our present democracy
It is government of the people, for:
he people and by the people carried
tut to its logical conclusions. The
.ure for the ills of democracy Mr..
Metcalf declared to be more democ-
'acy.
A most interesting part of the adj
lrocc ,poc x,,hara tho 1onf,, ror nninf.j