The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-14

WITCH" yelled . woman in q New
York court room not long ago, and
to the surprise Of the Judge and
some of the spectators, other wom-
en- took up the cry. The fact was
suddenly revealed that numbers Of
persons in the most civilized cities
in America firmly believed in the
power Of the evil eye. and that q
baby had lost the use Of it, legs
because 1t had been cursed BY q
woman supposed to have that
power.
The belief in witchcraft Is sup
posed to have persisted in this en-
lightened country . little over 200
years ago. Shortly after the witch
craft persecution which took place
in Salem in the 18th century. a
whole literature against the belief
in witches sprang into being. II
began with books which admitted
that the devil was = dangerous fel-
low and apt to tamper with human
destiny. but which denied that he
could do it through the medium Of
witches. Such arguments a. this
were followed by others more and
more radical in tone, until finally
the most intelligent came out fatty
for the bold idea that there was
nothing in any Of these supernat-
ural ideas.
These bold intellectuals were al
first regarded askance. but they
gradually prevailed. People who
believed in witches became asham-
ed to acknowledge the fact. Most
important OF all. the church and
the law no longer took official cog
nizance Of witches. as both had
done before the year 100. Witch
craft as = crime recognized by the
statutes ceased to exist.
Belief Still Alive.
But the belief in witchcraft by
no means ceased. as the New Yorh
ladies recently demonstrated. Lit
eral belief in witches who com.
mune with the devil and cast su.
pernatural spells is still common
to q large part Of the human race
1t is widely scattered among the
lower peasantry Of Europe, and by
them is imported into the United
States by every boatload Of immi'
grants. Furthermore, 1t still -four
ishes as an Indigenous product ir
many sections Of this country
Down in the southwest. for exam
pie, Mexicans and Indians still be-
lieve in it implicitly. and to some
extent openly. A Mexican woman
in a southwestern town has beer
known to spit in the eye of bah,
in public, and explain that she die
it to protect the child from thu
curse Of a witch who was looking
at it.
Belief in witchcraft as literal ant
crude as is indicated by this Incl
dent. and that Of the New Yorl
court room, may be comparativel!
rare, or at least limited to few
very ignorant classes of the popu
lation. But the essentials OF witch
craft are still widely prevalent
These essentials are ignorance ant
the credulity that always gooe!
with it, and persons who are anx
ious to turn both to their own ad
vantage.
BY his belief in witchcraft, as IL
fairies. ghosts and other super
natural phenomena. the ignoran
man is primarily expressing q feel
ing that there are forces in the uni
verse beyond his ken. This is
sound feeling. When you conn
right down to it. no one can witt
certainty deny the existence Of su
pernatural forces. The universe i!
! infinite and mysterious. The dog
matte scientist who asserts tina
there is nothing beyond what h
can prove by experiment has NJ
way Of proving that he is right.
The sophisticated and educated
man may admit this. but he alst
realizes that If there are supernat
ural forces, in the nature OF thu
case 1t is impossible to understand
them. He therefore confines hi
mental operations to the worlt
that he is able to apprehend will
his mind and his senses. and re
fuses to concern himself about tn
supernatural on the ground that i
is essentially unknowable.
Psychology Of Superstition.
But this position ID possible onl!
to a mind somewhat trained ant
logical. The unframed mind think