110
March 1925
TH E K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
fessors was eating, bu t no one was able to give the correct answer. Then some picture tests were made. A professor pictured in his m ind a dying man, drowning in th e w ater and a fireman carrying a woman from a burning house,— bu t no answer. Now if th e professors had tak en the number “ 666” for th e ir te st it would probably have worked, for th a t is the num ber of th e Antichrist, and he is to be th e tool of Satan who is the prince of th e power of th e air. If they had tak en re d for th eir color test, th a t would no doubt have been equally successful, for th e red radicals are th e devil’s tools,— and if they had selected an apple as the food to be eaten, no doubt th ere would have been a quick response, for it was w ith an apple th a t Satan caught our first parents. In dealing w ith though t transm is sion, Satan is to be considered, and so is God, for they know th e thoughts of men, and “As a man th in k e th in his h eart, so is he.” ADAM AN ANIMAL The B aptist Temple News, of Grand Rapids, Mich., publishes th e following enlightening news item : “P ro te s ts g re e te d a n a tta c k on th e b o o k o f G en esis by D r. E d w a rd C h iera, a s s is ta n t p ro fe s so r o f A ssy rio lo g y a t th e U n iv e rsity of P e n n sy lv a n ia , b efo re th e w e e k ly co n fe re n c e of lo cal B a p tis t c le rg y m e n to d ay . . D r. C h ie ra sa id A dam w a s a n a n im a l w ith th e fo rm o f a g o d : th a t w h e re th e G ard en of E d en w a s su p p o sed to be w as o n ly a d e s e rt, a n d t h a t th e s to r y o f th e c re a tio n w a s B a b y lo n ia n in m o tiv e. I w o u ld n o t w o rsh ip a God w h o m u r d ered a n d d ro w n ed th o u s a n d s o f people, D r. C h ie ra said . I f y o u do n o t c h a n g e re lig io n it w ill becom e a s u p e rs titio n . W h en yo u te ll p eo p le t h a t a m a n h a s to be a fo o l to be re lig io u s y o u d e s tro y r e lig io n . T h is is a p erio d of tra n s itio n . Do n o t p la c e s tu m b lin g b lo ck s in th e w a y o f th e y o u n g p eo p le w h o w a n t to g e t ah ead . T h e firs t c h a p te r in th e B ib le is n o t in a cco rd w ith sc ien tific tr u th . Y ou m u st n o t be sh o c k ed b e c a u se I seem ,to p u ll th e B ib le a p a r t. In th e firs t p lace, A dam a n d E v e liv ed lik e a n im a ls. W h en th e y « a w th e y n e e d e d c lo th e s it w a s n o t sh am e, it w a s b ecau se th e y w e re b ecom in g m o re in te llig e n t. S tu d e n ts of to d a y h a v e a h a rd tim e re c o n c ilin g scien ce a n d th e B ible. T h e G ard en of E d e n c a n n o t be p laced g e o g ra p h ic a lly . T h e p lace w h e re j t Is su p p o sed to h a v e b een is a d e se rt. A c c o rd in g to th e B ib le a s e rp e n t sp o k e to E v e. H ow u n u s u a l!” How enlightening! It m ust be won derful to be an “Asst. Prof, in Assyri ology” and to know so much about Adam! Now, we agree w ith his state m ent th a t “We do not have to tell peo ple th a t a m an has to be a fool to be religious," for all men are “ religious” by n atu re. N either is it necessary to tell a man like th is professor th a t he is a fool for anybody w ith common sense knows he is. He cannot help it, of course, for it is due to a mere lack of b rain s; bu t we wonder why the fool ish tax-payers continue to pay out th eir good money for such “ tom-foolery.”
WHO ACTUALLY OWN THE RAILROADS? Political critics of th e railroad s seek public favor on the theory th a t th eir shafts are aimed ag ain st a g reat mo nopoly owned and controlled by a small group of Wall stre e t multim il lionaires engaged in exploiting th e n a tional need for tran sp o rtatio n lo r th e ir personal gain. Seemingly tliey believe th a t th e carriers’ revenues can be reduced w ith impunity, as though none bu t the rich would be affected. No though t, apparently, is given to the real ownership of th e railro ad s or to th e resu lts which m ust follow the de structive action they advocate. American railroads are publicly owned. According to th e in te rstate commerce commission th e re are 777,- i3 2 holders of th e stock of Class I railroads. The p ar value of the out standing railro ad stock held by these 777,132 owners is 17,242,191,000. In other words, on a basis of $100 par value, th e average holdings of each owner is less th a n 100 shares— 93.2 shares to be exact. These figures tak e no account of th e m illion or more railro ad bondholders whose in te rest in th e financial success of th e carriers is equally as g reat -as th a t of th e stockholders. The owners of these stocks and bonds are scat tered all over th e United States. Insurance companies and sayings banks are particu larly large owners of railro ad securities, which means th a t th e holders and beneficiaries of 17,- 663,000 life insurance policies; the holders and beneficiaries of 64,096,- 000 indu strial insurance policies; and the 21,414,085 savings bank deposit ors, are financially in terested in tb e successful operation of th e railroads. Politicians who attac k th e railroads make th e ir whole drive toward fu r th e r regulation and for lower rates, regardless of th e effect on th e effici ency of th e carriers or th e owners of th e railroads. Yet many of these owners are th e ir own constituents and th e whole country-is dependent upon adequate tran spo rtation service. Dur ing one month eighty-seven bills seek ing new regulatory railroad laws were introduced in Congress, despite the fact th a t i t is estim ated th a t 90 per cent of the railroad s’ earnings and 75 per cent of th e ir expenses already are governmentally controlled in one way or another. The latest tax payment figures (for November, 1923) issued by th e In te r state Commerce commission disclose th a t th e Class I railways pay over a m illion dollars a day— $1,012,870, to be exact— to th e government. T h at is about 170 per cent more th a n taxes ten years ago. When someone asks you about restoring prew ar railway rates, you m ight ask him about re storing prewar railway taxes.— The Pennsylvania News.
THE WORLD’S GREATEST SCHOLARS
W hat is th e m a tte r w ith the Amer ican soil th a t it does not contribute any g reat scholars to th is needy world? The professors in th e University of th e State of W ashington ballotted for th e eighteen men who had made the g reatest contribution to learning in th e history of th e world,—and the resu lt showed th a t the Twentieth Cen tu ry has no t contributed one, and despite all its wonderful history, the United States was credited w ith hut one name— th a t of Benjam in F ra n k lin. Read the list as given in a daily paper: "The n am es se le c te d by th e u n iv e rs ity f a c u lty in clu d e: 'H o m e r (a b o u t 1000 B. C.'), G reek poet, a u th o r o f "T h e I lia d ” a n d ' “O d y ssey .” D a n te (1265-1321), I ta lia n p o et, a u th o r of “T h e D iv in e C om edy.” G o eth e (1749-1832), G erm an p o e t a n d p h ilo so p h er. S h a k e s p e a re (1564-1616), E n g l i s h d ra m a tis t. D a V in ci (1451-1519), I ta lia n a r tis t, p a in te r of th e fam o u s “L a s t S u p p er.” B eeth o v en (1770-1827), G erm an m u s i c ia n a n d com p o ser. M oses, H eb rew , re lig io u s le a d e r. P la to (429-347 B. C.), G reek p h ilo so p h er. H e ro d o tu s (484 B- C.), G reek h isto ria n . J u s tin ia n (483-565), H om an la w an d a d m in is tra tio n . G ro tiu s (1583-1645), N e th e rla n d s, n o te d in te r n a tio n a l la w a n d p o litics. A dam S m ith (1723-1790), S co tch so c i o lo g ist. D a rw in (1809-1882), E n g lis h b io lo g ist, a u th o r of “O rig in o f th e S p ecies.” G alileo (1564-1642), I ta lia n sc ie n tis t. N ew to n (1642-1727), E n g lis h m a th e m a tic ia n . P a s te u r (1822-1895), F re n c h P h y sic ia n a n d s c ie n tis t. G u te n b e rg (1400-1468), G erm an , i n v e s to r of p rin tin g . B e n ja m in F ra n k lin (1706-1790), A m e r ic a n sc ie n tis t, p r in te r a n d sta te s m a n . RADIO THOUGHT TESTS Three em inent professors, from th ree different universities,' experi mented recently in an effort to tra n s m it th o u g h t over th e 'radio?' Over 4,000 le tte rs received by them from different places gave very unsatisfac tory answers to the test. The first te st was on th e number “ 664.” Not one of th e 150 who re plied got th e correct number. “ 994” and “ 499” were the predom inant num bers. The second test was the name of an animal— the walrus. A lmost every o th er anim al was suggested in th e re plies, bu t not one gave the correct name. The th ird te st was on th e color of an intersecting yellow line upon which th e professors kept th eir thoughts cen tered, but not one correct reply was received. Most of them were, in fact, radically red! The fou rth te st was reg ard ing th e kind of food which one of the pro
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