The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-12-19
APPEALS TO REASON FROM
FVFRYWHERE

The Silver State today quotes from
the Denver News of last Friday a
portion of it's report of a lecture
delivered in that city by an eloquent
Kentuckian, Judge Green of Louis
vile. "Diverging from the written text
of his lecture" says the News, Judge
Green quite stirred his audience by
the following remarks:
You all remember that about the
first of September the newspapers of
this country, started by some infu-
ence-it has never been told to us
what that influence was or whence it
came-began to circulate all over this
land of ours the coming of a terrible
disease, the so-called Spanish infu-
enza. Not content with making a
general announcement of its appear
ance, the newspapers for some reason
continued day after day to proclaim
its coming. They told its symptoms
told of its proper treatment-and then
what happened? Like Job. "the thing
l so greatly feared has come upon
me-" Men and women began to have
what the newspapers said was com
ing.
Not content with these things, the
newspapers began to tell how many
people here and there were having it
and how many fatalities there were in
various sections of the country; and
men and women were terrified by this
terrible appearance - those that be-
lieved in this false education that the
newspapers innocently caused to be
spread all over the land.
Then, to make a bad matter very
much worse, the boards of health and
health commissioners took up the stu
alton and they put on their ~so-called
bans and guarantees and said that
children shall not go to school. people
shall not meet in court houses, not in
the theatres nor picture shows, and,
most unusual and unheard of in the
history of the United States, they said
that people shall not gather in their
accustomed places of worship to wor-
ship God after their approved fashion
We did not stop to think at that
time, in our fear and terror, just what
that meant; but l am grateful to
know that there is one city in the land
in the State of California-wherein
is a judge wise enough and brave
enough to say to the board of health,
in the face of a ban on religious wor-
ship in that city:
"YeS, there may be, as you say, in
this city an epidemic; but the Con-
stitutiOn of the. United States guar
antees to every citizen a right to
worship God according to the die
tates of his own conscience; and,
epidemic or no epidemic, the cOnsti-
tuition is not suspended"
That ended the ban on religious
worship in that city.
Let me give you an actual expert
of what happened in the city of
Greater New York. A wise health
commissioner made this statement at
a public meeting held a few weeks
ago. He said:
Being a Methodist and a physi-
clan, 1 cannot, of course, be a Chris
tian Scientist; but I was reading an
article in the Christian Science
Monitor, if you keep your minds all
right, you have not much to fear
/ believe there is a lot in that, be-
cause / have always believed that
as a man thinketh in his heart, so
is he And in Greater New York we
will not close the school houses, nor
picture shows, nor theatres, nor
churches, but let the people go
about in their accustomed ways,
and to their amusementS, and there
by give them something to occupy
their minds and take them of the
epidemic"
There was a smaller death rate in
New York than in any other great
city in the land!
When this epidemic of fear and ig-
norance struck the military camps
the authorities said. You shall not
stick your heads out of camp and a
veritable reign of terror ensued. Two
strong-minded. conservative men said
to me that during the height of this
epidemic in their camp no one was
able, on account of the fear and ter
TOR that had been caused in the camp,
to think nationally or wisely or ven
sensibly, and that it was verify a
world gone mad"
Out of these 100000 soldiers. H.