The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-05-24
"THE TIDE OF LAwLESSNESS,
IS Installments-Part o
"The Five Present Plaques"

int ElNc IEtStut u iUSutS
All these are but illustrations of the
general revolt against the authority
of the pasta revolt that can be mea-
sured by the change i'm the fundamen-
tai presumption of men with respect to
the value of human experience. In
all former ages, all that was I'm the
past was presumptively true, and the
burden was upon him who sought to
change it. To-day, the human mind
apparently regards the lessons Of the
past as presumptively false-and the
burden is upon him who seeks to i'm
woke them.
Lest | be accused of~undue pessim-
ism, let me cite as a witness n who,
of all men; Is probably best equipped
to express an opinion upon the moral
state of the world. | refer to the ven
cradle head of that religious organi-
cation which, with its trained repre-
is probably better informed as its
spiritual state than any other organ
iZation.
Speaking in an address to the Col
lege of Cardinals, the venerable Pontiff
gave expression to an estimate of
present conditions which should have
attracted far greater attention than
it apparently did.
The Pope said that five plaques were
now affecting humanity. The first
was the unprecedented challenge to
authority. The second, an equally un-
precedented hatred between man and
man. The third was the abnormal
aversion TO work. The fourth, the ex-
cessive thirst for pleasure as the
great aim in life. The fifth, a gross
materialism which denied the reality
of the spiritual in human life.
The accuracy of this indictment will
commend itself to men. / trust that
lenge to authority is universal and is
not confined to that OF the political
| state. Even in the narrower confine
OF the latter, the fires of revolution are
either violently burning, or, at least,
smothering. Two Of the oldest en-
pires in the world, China and Russia,
are in a welter OF anarchy; while
many lessor nations are in a stage OF
submerged revolt. The government of
Italy has been preserved from over
throw by a band of resolute men, cal
led the Fascist" Even England has
been shaken to its very foundations
in the last three years, when power
full groups of men attempted to sieze
the state by the throat and compel
submission to their demands by threa-
tening to- starve the community. This
would be serious enough IL II were
only the world-ol struggle between
capital and labor and had only invoi-
we'd the conditions Of manual labor
But the ,nsurrcction against the pol
itical state in England was more pol
itical than 1t was economic.
or greater significance to the wei
fare of civilization is the complete
subversion during the World War o.
nearly all the international law
which had been slowly built up In {
thousand years. These convention.
were Immediately swept aside In thu
fierce struggle for ~existance, and civil
lied man, with his liquid fire and poi
son gas and his deliberate attacks up
on undefended cities. and their wOmei
and chillren, waged war with the un
relenting ferocity of primitive times.
Nor will Many question the accurac.
OF the second count in His Holiness
Indictment. The war to end war oni.
ended In unprecedented hatred be
tween nation and nation, class AM
class. and man and man. Victors AM
vanquished are involved in a commo
ruin.
Still less can one question the close
w related third and fourth counts II
the Pope's indictment, namely. he un
precedented aversion to work. whel
work is most needed to reconstruc
the foundations Of prosperity. or tn
excessive thirst for pleasure whic