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WE ARE NO ACCIDENT!
Earth’s unique features declare we did not ’’just happen”
Cuba’s Quick Change in Government
'Here today; gone tomorrow’—uncertain life of Caribbean republic
Why Christians Shun Gambling
Because it is heathen, unscriptural and crooked
Starlings Stump the Experts
Prime pest of birddom laughs off attempts to still him
TUNE 22. 1952 semimonthly
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° Awake I” uses the regular news channels, but Is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four comers of the earth their uncensored, on ’the* scenes reports come io you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint Is not narrow, but is International. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
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CONTENTS
What Real Missionaries Are Like
Other Planets Offer
Cuba's Quick Change in Government
Do Scriptures Support Gambling?
i Draft Act Narrows Definition of Minister 24 “Your Word Is Truth"
Three Gods or One God—What Say
Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach in
AWAKE./
“Now it is high time to awake."—Romans 13:11 &
Volume XXX1H Brooklyn, N, Y», Juno 22, 1952 Number 12
What Real Missionaries Are Like
By “Awake[” correspondent in Puerto Rico
During the week end following |rn |1 April 11, newspaper readers throughout the United States ■MUM and many other countries of the world looked at pictures of a pleasant-looking young man, his pretty wife, and a little two-year-old boy. Accompanying the pictures was an article telling of an air disaster in which 52 persons lost their lives when a four-motored PanAmerican plane was forced down into the ocean a few miles out from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The little boy was Mark Van Daalen, one of the 17 survivors of the disaster. His parents, Leo and Eunice Van Daalen, were drowned. Only a few of the many newspapers mentioned the fact that they were missionaries, and fewer still that they were Jehovah’s witnesses.
Among the members of the first class to be graduated from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, Leo and Eunice, together with Leo’s brother Emil and cousin Donald, flew to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in March 1944 to take up missionary work there. Only six persons were active as Jehovah’s witnesses in Puerto Rico at the time they arrived. The group of four found a place to live and then went to work. No, they didn’t try to build up a following by making “rice Christians” out of the Puerto Rican people—offering them free meals or other material benefits. Instead they worked hard at learning the Spanish language and dally went out from their home into the hot tropical sun, spending the day going from house to house enlightening the people with the comforting truths of God’s Word, the Bible. They gave the people food, all right, but spiritual food of greater value and more strengthening than their hearers had ever received. Evenings were spent conducting home Bible studies with the many truth-hungry persons. Only five such studies were being conducted when they arrived in March. July saw 122 in progress.
More missionaries joined them later and the work of announcing God’s established Kingdom was extended to other towns. But these four had the joy of being in at the start of a grand expansion which was to see the half-dozen publishers of 1944 increase to 622 active witnesses for Jehovah by November 1951.
In January 1950, after having served for six years as a missionary, Eunice gave birth to a baby boy, Mark. To better carry out their new responsibility as parents, Leo and Eunice moved from the Santurce missionary home to their own home tn nearby Puerto Nuevo. Leo took on parttime secular work but continued spending some 100 hours a month in ministerial work. Eunice was soon active again, and the month before the trip expressed her joy at having spent 30 hours in house-to-
house witnessing, and Biblie-study work. Perhaps soon she could be a full-time missionary again! The night before they were to leave for the United States to visit their parents, the congregation in Puerto Nuevo celebrated the Memorial of Christ's death (April 10), and some 90 persons attended (1,038 throughout the entire island). Leo and Eunice were very happy.
Next day, Friday, April 11, they took off with their little boy for the flight to New York, but ten minutes later their plane was in the water and within three minutes sank. Leo and Eunice, evidently calm, succeeded in getting out of the plane before it went under. Eunice, an excellent swimmer/ gave her life preserver to a woman who was trying to swim with a child in her arms. High waves evidently proved too much for them and both drowned before rescue craft arrived, Leo, according to witnesses, throwing little Mark from him before sinking. The little boy was seen floating in the water by a survivor, was tossed into a life raft, given artificial respiration and 'lived.
Newspapers, especially local ones, gave much publicity to the pair and their orphaned son and one wrote an editorial praising Eunice in glowing phrase for her act of unselfishness in giving up her life preserver. But they pretty well bypassed Leo and Eunice’s eight years of unselfish labor in bringing to the Puerto Rican people the comfort and hope of God’s new world in which'death and sorrow and suffering will pass away. Where the newspapers failed, others did not At the funeral services the following Monday some 370 persons came to hear a comforting talk which gave praise to Jehovah God for his loving and merciful provision of the resurrection. Literally scores of those present had come to a knowledge of the truth of God’s Word due, at least in part, to Leo and Eunice’s work. On every hand were heard expressions of determination to ‘work yet harder so that we can attain to the new world along with them'; To be there when they stand up to life and happy reunion with their loved ones in an earth cleansed of wickedness.’ New ones present spoke their amazement at the freedom from distress and the quiet assurance so evident among the members of the deceased ones’ family. They realized that the sectarian religions in their island had never given them any foundation for such a firm faith in God’s power to restore the dead to life in a new world of peace.
Since then the little company at Puerto Nuevo has reached a new peak in active publishers, and throughout the whole island the missionaries excitedly tell of greatly increased interest on the part of the people in the work of Jehovah’s witnesses. And, for all who knew and loved Leo and Eunice, Jehovah’s promise of a resurrection for faithful servants becomes that much sweeter and more precious. How wonderful to know that a new world is at the doors!
God is not unrighteous so os to forget your work and the love you showed for his name, in that you have ministered to the holy ones and continue ministering.
But we desire each one of you to show the same industriousness so as to have the full assurance of the hope down to the end, in order that you may not become sluggish, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises .--Hebrews 6:10-12, New World Trans.
verse is very scientific. H. Spencer Jones, since 1933 Britain’s Astronomer Royal, does not think it an accident In his book Life on Other Worldsj he remarks: "The solar system has certainly not come into existence as the result of chance. It is not an accidental collection of bodies: there are too many regularities in the system?’
The cumulative effect of some of these regularities is awesome. He points out that all the planets, including the many little asteroids, re
WRITE the number six and after it place twenty-one zeros. This reads six sextillion, the number of miles into outer space that our most powerful telescope has probed. TTiis is a billion light* years, meaning that light traveling at its rate of 186,000 miles per second requires one billion years to flash from that point to the earth* In all that vast scope universal law and order over and over again keep confronting the trained and prying eye of science. Our earth, its eight companion planets and the host of asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter swing in their respective pathways about the sun. This is our solar system, which itself moves along, pulled by the sun in one comer of the great Milky Way galaxy, our "island universe”. In turn this entire “island” in the sky moves round its central axis, which is apparently in the vicinity of the constellation Sagittarius. One complete cycle for this whole galactic system requires some 225,000,000 years. Beyond our galaxy are countless others, all guided by harmonious law, none tolerating chaos. As far as our most highly magnified sight has carried us this holds true, giving no reason to doubt that it is just as true in the endless reaches still farther out.
Some call all this a great “accident”. But science is not an accidental art and the univolve around the sun in the same direction, their orbits lying in nearly the same plane. The inclinations of the planes of the other planets’ orbits to the ecliptic, the plane of the orbit of the earth, are for the most part but a few degrees. The sun rotates in the same direction as the revolutions of the planets and the planets’ orbits lie almost in the plane of the sun’s equator. Also, the planets rotate in the same direction as the sun. With few exceptions the orbits of the satellite bodies are found to be nearly circular and lie virtually- in the plane of the parent planet’s equator; and the majority of satellites revolve around their parents in the same direction in which the planets themselves rotate, Then Mr. Jones summarizes, saying:
"We may compare the solar system with a pack of cards as it comes from the makers, in which the cards are arranged in suits and each suit in order of value, rather than with a pack which has been used and shuffled. The regularities demand an explanation, but to find an explanation of how a system such as the solar system could have come into being has proved to be the most difficult of all the problems of cosmogony.”
But, of course, there are theories concerning the birth of our solar system. Some think a star once collided with our sun to
form the resulting necklace of surrounding planets. Perhaps more believe a star simply passed near enough to the sun to cause a mighty tide of matter to be ejected and ball up into planetary bodies. Though not necessarily denying these ideas, Jones states: “The chance that two stars will actually collide was computed by Sir James Jeans. He found that a given star will be likely to meet with an actual collision only once in 600,000 million million (6 x 1017) years. The chance of two stars' approaching each other sufficiently close, without an actual collision, to give rise to the ejection of a tidal filament is somewhat, but not much, greater.’’ Nor do we here take issue with the precise way in which the solar system was brought forth, but only with the conclusion that it came by chance. Further, note that even if a heavenly accident had produced the form of the planets, still more and more like “accidents” are needed to account for their harmony of action. Jones concludes: “Our solar system appears, therefore, to be a system that is nearly, though perhaps not quite, unique in our stellar universe.”
Other Planets Offer No
“Home Sweet Home”
When one next looks for areas in which life as we know it can exist the eligible zone shrinks to a pin point around planet earth. The moon is a mere average of 238,857 miles away from us, yet it is entirely unsuited for life. Dreamy-eyed would-be moon rocketeers of our century would have to wear airtight, oxygen-equipped and bullet-proof suits to breathe where there is no natural oxygen and find protection from bulletlike meteor showers. In a world devoid of atmosphere, temperature variations will be violent One would find no comfort in either the moon’s daytime high of around 215 degrees Fahrenheit or Its nighttime low, perhaps 240 degrees below zero!
Nor would little Mercury prove a desirable home for man. One of its sides, turned sunward, bakes under an average 752-degree Fahrenheit heat while the other freezes. Any atmosphere is extremely rare and there is no water vapor whatever. Next-closest planet to the sun is Venus. So close to earth in size is this neighbor planet of ours that it is called our “sister planet”. But there the resemblance ends. Venus’ atmosphere is prolific with carbon dioxide but has little or no oxygen. In contrast with earth’s much water vapor, the atmosphere of Venus is extremely arid. There are no oceans and the atmosphere keeps closed in heat waves radiating from the surface that are first absorbed from the sun, so that the temperature there remains hotter than that for boiling water.
Going outward from the earth, on Mars one finds little to justify the many fables concerning life there. Reliable authority grants only questionable possibility for some possible plant life, and that only at the poles. There is little or no oxygen and Mars’ force of gravitation is but two-fifths of that on the earth’s surface. What of the so-called “giant planets”, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune? Best analysis available depicts these bodies with rock cores thickly covered with ice. They have atmospheres, but, as we have already found, just any sort of atmosphere is not sufficient.
Life is very particular and demands a certain kind, certainly not one such as these planets offer, empty of oxygen or water vapor and generously saturated with various poisonous gases. Pressures under these atmospheres are prohibitive. Jupiter’s surface pressure is said to be at least a million times greater than that on earth.
Pluto is too far out to have yielded much information about itself as yet. But following the theory of progressive cold on the outward planets, it is probably as impossibly cold as Mercury’s sun-exposed side is warm. The many little asteroids may be mentioned, but their slight size disqualifies them. They have no atmosphere, no water and no gravity. Our solar-system tour has uncovered no sign of life outside the earth.
The Earth, the Planet of Life
The noted British scientist, Sir James Jeans, in his book The Universe Around declared: “The earth is the planet of life, because it is at the right distance from the sun, but we have no reason for thinking that life of the kind we know on earth—life which requires hundreds of millions of years for its development—has either passed from Mars or will in due course appear on Venus; these planets are at the wrong distance from the sun.” We need not be troubled by his tendency toward evolution involving man’s age. More recent experiments have brought it much nearer. Hie point is nevertheless made that the earth holds a unique position able to bear life. And what magical fragmentary amount of the sun’s total energy continually dispatched in all directions provides just the right amount for life on earth? About one two-billionths of the total! And were we placed at just the spot necessary to absorb that amount by mere chance? O most fortunate of accidents!
Earth’s atmosphere, all-necessary to life here, is remarkable in itself. It shields the earth from the meteor showers that plague bodies like the moon, vaporizing virtually all such intruders long before they reach terra flrma. It lets man breathe. It diffuses the sunlight in beneficial proportions for plant, animal and human life. We note another phenomenon in its composition. Among metals, the sameness in kind and the proportion in which they are found on earth and in the sun make some scientists confident that the earth was born of the sun. If this is true the fact that this proportion does not hold good respecting gases in earth’s atmosphere is extraordinary.
For example, hydrogen composes ninety or ninety-five per cent of the sun’s atmosphere, but only a very minor amount of earth’s. Nitrogen, very evident on the sun, stars and nebulae, in earth’s atmosphere amounts to about only one part in two million of the entire earth’s weight. Illis becomes most noticeable with the “rare gases”, argon, neon, helium, krypton and xenon, rarest of all earth’s elements. Their presence in the atmosphere is infinitesimal, and of these only helium is found In the interior of the earth. Yet some of these are known to be very abundant elsewhere in the cosmos. Again the conclusion rises that the earth was prepared for its purpose just as the sun and other bodies were for theirs.
Were it all an accident, how remarkable that the earth’s speed turned out to be the rate it is! Fortunate indeed, for any appreciable change in its rate of revolution around the sun (once each year) or its rate of rotation (once each twenty-four hours) would work a vast change in our climate, and yvere this altered as much as fifty degrees for one year, then, says A. Cressy Morrison, in Man Does Not Stand Alone: “All vegetation would be dead and man with it, roasted or frozen.”
It does not follow that all planets enjoy the seasons as we do, the winter following
fall, and summer the spring. But invaluable forethought in the earth’s 23i-degree tilt from the perpendicular assured this planet of seasons, further aids to life and growth. The action is explained in the New Handbook of the Heavens: “As the world moves round the sun with its axis always tipped at the same angle and pointing in the same direction, first one pole and then the other is nearer the sun. The direct rays shift from 23^ degrees north of the equator to the same distance south of that imaginary line, fee sun shines alternately 23 £ degrees beyond the north and then beyond the south pole. The days grow long in the northern hemisphere and then become short. These are the underlying causes for the change in the seasons.”
I
We recall that the moon was found unfit for life. But that does not prove it useless. Neither was it provided as a simple “plaything” for idle human curiosity. Without the pull of its gravity our seas and rivers would enjoy no tide phenomenon. But this could easily be overdone. Suppose, just by chance, our satellite had turned up only 50,000 miles or so away. The continents would be deluged and the mountains eroded by gigantic tidal waves that man has never conceived. Hurricanes would tear the planet daily, the earth’s very crust would crack! Consider the savage effects of the mere “ordinary” tidal wave accompanying Japan's earthquake early this past March.
Wizards Left Baffled
The extremely suitable natures of the forms of earth life for the earth further blast the idea that they and their home came together by some cosmic fluke. Take just one example, the marvelous cooperation between plants and animals to maintain the correct proportion of free oxygen. Animals breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This further stumps the “accident theorists”: Admittedly, free oxygen appears as a result, not the cause of plant life.
Men opce tried to explain the origin of the sblar system by describing how a shrinking, rotating vast nebulous sun cast off matter that formed the global planetary bodies. Along came those who believed the sun collided with a star to discredit this idea, only to have the tidal theory rise and laugh at both of its predecessors. Variations continue to come forth and continue to fail. H. Spencer Jones takes us back to the time the universe was launched on its great creative project, but he is unable to do more than honestly admit: “Exactly what did happen at that time, and why it happened, we do not know.” But there are some things of which we can be very sure.
For instance, we know that if, when it was finished, the earth had been given no atmosphere, like the moon, we could not live here. We can surely be grateful that our planet did not find itself with Mercury's unbelievable heat or the outer planets' unbearable cold or Jupiter's crushing pressure. How fortunate that the earth is just the size it is, has just the orbit it does and was not buried in ice, left without water or fumed with poison gases.
Unfortunately, some scientists, though they admit their lack of certainty concerning the origins and purposes of our universe, solar system or earth, are quick to speculate on how these will end. The variety of possible accidents they offer include a collision between two asteroids or a star with our sun or another body with the earth. But of such possibilities Sir James Jeans assures that “none of them is at all likely to happen within the next 10,000 million yeans or so”. In that time he concludes that the sun might well black out, thus ending all earthly life and leaving the planet a void. Were scientists but as learned In the Word of the true Creator as they are in some of his creative works they would have no fears of any of these threats in “10,000 million years”, or in all eternity:
“For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens, the God that formed the earth and made it, that established it and created it not a waste, that formed it to be inhabited:
I am Jehovah; and there is none else.” —Isaidh 45:18, Am. Start. Ver.
Jehovah's Word Is the only source giving full explanation to the Creative Force behind the scientific facts so evident in the universe. It verifies true science to show why all created works so marvelously fit their purpose. The Bible tells us what our eyes tell us, that we are no accident!
m Government
IT DOES not surprise people much in these troublesome times to hear of rebellions, revolutions, wars and the shedding of human blood. They are coming to be commonplace affairs. They happen everywhere. Corrupt politics and bad economic conditions are the breeders of such uprisings and wars- Relief is sought through force and violence where other means fail. Underlying these violent actions can be seen the strong desire for freedom, peace, justice and the absence of want.
For many years the Cubans had been under the oppressive, tyrannical rule of Spain. They wanted their freedohi, fought for it and gained it. They wanted Cuba for the Cubans and not for Spain. In 1898 they were freed, and in 1901 they drew up Cuba's first constitution and Cuba became a tuMedged republic, to take her place among the other nations of the world.
They were proud of their republic. They had molded and designed it to suit their needs. It guaranteed them freedom and was recognized as an equal by other democratic nations of the earth. She was accepted by her sister nations as a liberal country, even offering refuge to unwanted exiles of other nations, because she was liberabminded and freedom-conscious.
Since the time of her birth as a republic it has not been easy to keep in view her original purpose and desire to be a free and liberal people. Honest men have had to guard carefully their ideals to see that they were kept alive in the form of laws and guarantees. They have passed many hard tests, men with different views and purposes have risen to power and imposed their ideals upon the people for short periods of time. There have been stormy fights, even bloody revolutions; but they have only served to confirm in the Cuban mind the necessity of guarding more closely the guarantees of freedom.
As an outstanding example of the need to be ever vigilant to protect the rights of the people, to keep bright the democratic ideals, was the revolution of 1933. The government in power under President Gerardo Machado was overthrown by the revolutionary forces under the leadership of Fulgencio Batista. The rule under Machado had not been in harmony with the former high ideals of a government by the people and for the people. The rights of individ-
uals were not respected if their thoughts and actions were contrary to the thoughts and actions of those in power. The tendency was toward dictatorship. Many cruel and barbarous acts were committed against political opponents. The memory of those times is not pleasant to the liberal-minded Cuban. Batista annulled the constitution and established a provisional government He became known as the “strong man” of Cuba. But out of those dark days came a new constitution, setting forth anew the guarantees of rights and liberties so dear to the hearts of many.
The year 1952 was to be an important year to the Cuban people for two reasons: (1) It was the 50th anniversary of the birth of the republic, and (2) it was to be the year when the people would go to the polls to elect their new president for the next four years, In June would be the elections.
So for some time the different parties had been announcing their candidates, and they in turn told the people what they could expect from them when they were once in office. President Carlos Prio Socar-ras of the Authentic party was the present president, but since a president cannot remain in office more than one term of four years, at a time, he was to go out, to be replaced by someone else. Carlos Hevia was the new candidate for the Authentic party. There were various other candidates running, among whom was General Fulgencio Batista (the one who had overthrown the government in 1933). He was chosen by the Pau party (Partido Accidn Unitaria). The scene was all set for an interesting election.
Quiet Revolution
In the early morning hours of March 10 a group of men were meeting together in the city of Matanzas. Their plans had all been made well in advance. The time had come to put them into practice. The meeting was for the purpose of getting final, last-minute instructions from their leader, who proved to be none other than General Fulgencio Batista of the Pau party and who had led the revolution in 1933. This time their purpose was similar: overthrow the government of President Prio.
At a given order they all got into their cars and drove rapidly to their appointed assignments in and about the capital city, Habana. General Batista himself would go to the army headquarters in Camp Columbia and others would go to other strategic places, such as the police headquarters, Marine station, power plant, radio stations, etc. Prearranged plans had been so well made that none found any resistance to speak of. Thus far everything was perfect.
Doctor Prio, the president, evidently unaware of what was underfoot, was at his country place with his family. Out of a deep sleep he was rudely awakened by the ringing of the telephone. On answering it, he was informed of what had happened. Batista, through the army, had overthrown the government. He hurriedly dressed and drove furiously for Habana, to the Presidential Palace, where, upon arriving, he found various members of his government and friends assembled. This was about five o’clock in the morning. Discussions were carried on, phone calls made, possibilities weighed. Should armed resistance be offered? How many of the provinces remained loyal? What were the chances? The seriousness of the situation could be seen in the tense faces and movements.
Outside, the city was coming to life after a few hours of rest. People were beginning to move about, preparing themselves to tackle the problems of the day. To most people it was just another day, like the one before. But wait a minute! What was that? You say that General Batista has gained control of the army, the
police and the marines and has evicted the government of President Prio? When did it happen? How? Goodness, that may mean fighting and bloodshed Now there are appearing more soldiers and policemen In the streets. There goes an army tank headed for the palace. Off in the distance are heard some shots. What was that? A fight between some of the guards in the palace and policemen of the revolutionary movement. Two were killed and several wounded.
Up in the palace President Prio arrived at a decision. There would be no armed resistance. He would not be responsible for any blood that might be shed, as he said in an interview reported in the magazine Bohemia of March 23. At approximately 8:15 a.m. he got into his car as the people looked on with mixed feelings. He went to the Mexican Embassy, where he stayed until Thursday, the 12th, on which day he with his family left for Mexico. Many persons were disappointed by this withdrawal of the president to a place of safety. As a public demonstration of their sentiment toward the action of General Batista, a large number of the students of the university buried the constitution, as though having been killed by the revolutionists.
On the other hand, General Batista justified his bold action because of the deplorable conditions that were prevalent in many parts, and almost unendurable, as he himself stated, as reported in the magazine Carteles of March 16: “Those that listen to me know perfectly that it is almost impossible to support any longer a reign of crime and bribery without guarantees, without hope and without any other horizon than that offered by those who have carried the country to the border of chaos,” and, also, that Doctor Carlos Prio, convinced of the unpopularity of his candidate, Engineer Carlos Hevia, had purposed to suspend the elections and bring the country under dictatorial rule. The 15th of
April was the day set to bring this about From this point of view General Batista would come to be a savior to the people rather than someone forcing his yvill upon the public contrary to their wishes. To fortify his position and assure himself of the necessary support, General Batista (as reported by Bohemia of March 16) raised the salary of the police to $150 per month and the soldiers to $100.
At the time of writing this article the constitution of 1940 has been annulled and a temporary one put in its place. General Batista says that when all necessary ar* rangements have been made, elections will be carried out and the people can select the officials they want. The slogan of the present government is “Peace, work and progress”.
How has the average Cuban citizen reacted to the happenings of the last several weeks? Surprisingly, to all outward appearances, he has accepted it as something inevitable, that must be met, borne, and maybe it might even be for the better.
Past experience has taught them that comparatively few officials are moral men, men of integrity- Few of them work for the real betterment of the people. Corruption, vice and immorality abound on every hand. Therefore, it is not strange that the people at times take alarming situations passively. What’s the use I We cannot change the situation. We will resign ourselves to it. Such is their attitude.
But do not despair. There is hope, a wonderful live hope. Do not look for it in corrupt, fallen man. Look for it through him who was able to make the universe and create intelligent human creatures, and who said through one of his faithful servants: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Peter 3:13, New World Trans.
The Balanced uongressman
u'“TOPICS of the Times” Js a daily column ] in the New York Times which rambles on with all sorts of interesting anecdotes. On February 5 it whimsically recounted the efforts of Virgil Lissom. “up in the Adirondack hamlet of Sugarbushto balance the Federal budget. Part of the government’s deficit, says Virgil, "is due to congressmen," some of whom are likely to go overboard on pet projects for their area because "nothing unbalances a congressman like the easy job of spending other people's money”.
<[ It continued, ‘‘Since these pork-barrel projects may turn up wherever a congressman can find a likely body of water, Virgil decided some years back that there ought to be a river and harbor project in the Adirondacks, whitjh has never had one, having no large rivers and no harbor. Virgil wrote that to his congressman and proposed a project to deepen Alder Brook to fit it for seagoing vessels. He even drew a map showing ho\v Alder Brook ultimately connects, by a devious route, with the Atlantic.
<L “Virgil’s congressman grabbed at the suggestion. He admitted that he had never heard of Alder Brook and couldn’t find it on the map, but that could only mean one thing: that it certainly was in need of widening and deepening. The next thing Virgil knew government engineers came up for a survey and had quite a time slogging through the brush on the east side of Mount Kate. When they did find Alder Brook, which is about six feet wide there, they said it would take a lot of widening to make anything of it and even then they could not be sure just what it would make. Down in Washington the congressman must have picked up some adverse comment. He came up one day for his own survey and went away mad at Virgil, not so much because of the size of the brook but because the only constituents he could find in the whole area were six beaver.
<L “Back in Congress he loudly withdrew his request for the Alder Brook project, saying his conscience would not let him support it at a time when the nation needed a strict sense of balance and economy. Everybody pointed to him as a staunch advocate of a balanced budget who was courageous enough to put the nation ahead of his own district and wished for more men like him in Congress. Virgil was pleased, too. He always felt that it may be tough to balance a government budget but it's even tougher to balance a congressman,”
“The Shape of Things to Come”
“Two wars of unparalleled destruction have left in their wake no formula for peaceful living in the world. Forces that stir revolution and foment political crises are still rampant as populations increase and the flow of food and goods to nourish the world's economy is impeded. The path of collective security is strewn with the failures of nations. They have failed to keep the promises men must live by. ... In such a world more shocks and convulsions must necessarily be expected. . . . The illusion of the hour is the belief that some magic medicine of materialism will bring a strong alliance based on some new-found faith in a pooled sovereignty or even a super-sovereignty. . . . Free men can alter the shape of things to come. Free men can abandon the false gods of materialism and heed no longer the voices that would substitute the short-range lure of Expediency for the long-range security of Principle. Only thus can the world of today avert disaster.”—From an editorial in U. S. News <£ World Report, January 4, 1952.
Why Christian
Shun
BLIIIG
Millions of professed “Christians” gamble daily in America and In other parts of the world. Many character-building groups, including neighborhood and boys’ clubs, patriotic organizations that specialize in developing good citizenship, and churches, of which perhaps the Roman Catholic
Church is the most prominent, resort to illegal gambling enterprises to raise money. They justify the law violation on the ground that gambling is not immoral. This is “a type of rationalization which”, says Judge Morris Ploscowe, “will permit an evasion of most laws.”
Gambling in the form of bingo, which is quite popular in Roman Catholic churches, was recently defended at a legislative hearing in New Jersey as “an innocent pastime to which even ‘heaven’ could not object”. “People want a little fun,” said former Judge Robert B. Carey. “No God is looking down ready to kick people for playing a little bingo. . . . The playing of bingo will not disturb the angels of heaven.” (New York Times, March 13,1952) Ibis view is entertained by many religious leaders. “Reverend” Vincent F. Holden, founder of the Paulist information center in New York city, expressed the position of the Catholic Church on gambling in this way: If a person has what is termed an “honest” chance of winning and at the same time can afford to lose, why, then “there is nothing morally wrong in gambling”.
But is it true that “there Is nothing morally wrong in gambling”? When played fairly is gambling just, right, and moral? Does the fact that gambling is upheld and played by religious and prominent men justify its practice? Is gambling for pleasure justifiable? Does the Bible grant a Christian the right to gamble? Upon the following divinely set principle let us answer the above questions and see why Christians shun gambling.
“By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces bad fruit; a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.” (Matthew 7; 16-20, New World Trans.) The fruits of gambling are unmistakably identified in God’s Word as rotten, fit only for destruction. Consider:
Nowhere is gambling justified in the Bible. It is, however, rooted deeply in pagan mythology, which is condemned in God’s Word as demonic and rotten. In Plutarch's treatise On Isis and Osiris reference Is made to Mercury's playing at tables with the Moon, “and wins from her the seventieth part of each of her illuminations.”
But to come down from the vaporings of mythology to prosaic fact, gambling has from antiquity been associated with crime and violence, which also is fruitage stemming from a rotten tree. Egyptians played at the game of Tau, the Game of Robbers. Romans were famous for their cheating with loaded dice. Sig. Rodolfo Lanciani, professor of archaeology ir. the University of Rome, says that wherever he had excavated he always found Roman gambling tables engraved or scratched on the marble or stone slabs for the amusement of idle
men, always ready to cheat each other out at their money. There was hardly a more ruinous pastime—a pastime in which Cicero himself places a gambler on par with an adulterer. (History of Gambling in England, by Ashton) Children were also initiated into the seductions of gambling by playing “nuts” and “head or tail**, betting on which side a piece of money thrown up in the air would come down. Today they are started off with bingo, beano, and the like. Pagan Roman gambling brought forth fruit worthy only of destruction.
The Roman Catholic Church has well named herself “Roman” by perpetuating Roman, pagan, religious pastimes in her religious organization. The lottery that originated with the Romans is a great source of revenue for the present “Roman” Church. Bingo, raffles, drawings, and guessing contests, changed only in name but not in deed, are but a few established gambling games carried over from pagan Rome and are now fostered by the present Roman Catholic Church in the name of religion.
Since such bingo games and drawings are considered small-time gambling, authorities seldom interfere with their operation, especially since such are operated in the name of charity. The church justifies gambling behind her walls by saying it is not immoral if a person has an "honest’* chance of winning. There is no such thing as an honest chance of winning. The mathematical odds or probabilities in all gamj bling games are so determined that only operators can win. Professional operators use various types of gimmicks and gadgets to control their games and give players no chance of winning. The mathematical advantage runs from a minimum of 1.5 per cent to a maximum of about 90 or 95 per cent. Those that appear honest and aboveboard take in from 1.5 to 30 per cent of the money wagered by players, depending on how the wagers are made. Bingo has an appeal because there is a winner in each game; but the players fail to realize that the prize is usually worth less than half of the money paid by the players. Thus, the bingo operator pockets a profit of 50 to 80 per cent.—Annals af American Academy, May 1950.
The true motive for operating these gambling games in churches is "easy money”. Herb Graffis, a well-known columnist, wrote: "Churches and charitable organizations run illegal gambling because that's the sure way of getting money for holy causes from the people who otherwise wouldn't contribute if the Almighty pushed a .45 at them.” But these same religious law violators are quick, says Graffis, to express themselves toward other violators in this way: "Those commies—they ought to be run out of the country, TTiey’ve got no respect for American laws.” (Chicago Sunday Times, October 18, 1949) Here again we see where gambling fosters dishonesty and a disrespect for law and order. It also reaches into the pocketbooks of the poor and takes their money under false pretense, a practice strictly repugnant to all that is just and right.
The desire to get something for nothing often leads the player to defy the law of mathematics and logic to a point where he gambles away his wealth as well as his earnings for some time to come. The principal sufferers in such cases are members of his family who are wholly dependent upon him for support. The community is often burdened with the family until the gambling debt is paid. Such a person has no wages to take home for Scripturaiiy supporting his family. He is rated worse than an infidel in God's Word. (1 Timothy 5:8) The winner is not honored in gambling, and the loser is not pitied.
The Catholic Church says "there is nothing morally wrong in gambling'’. The
Church must have a different, and In this case a lower, concept of morals than the rest of the world, because, commenting on the moral aspect of gambling, the Christian Science Monitor of June 1,1945, says: “No amount of profit from gambling can outweigh the inherent loss in moral values.’’ Ernest E. Blanch referred to gambling as an important social and political problem, “because it undermines the integrity of many public officials and helps finance gangster and underworld operations.” Governor Dewey of New York state recently said: “It is fundamentally immoral to encourage families to look to gambling as a source of income. It is an indecent thing for government to encourage the weaknesses of the people in order to finance itself from such weaknesses. . . . The entire history of legalized gambling in this country and abroad shows that it has brought nothing but poverty, crime and corruption, demoralization of moral and ethical standards, and ultimately a lower living standard and misery for all the people.” Yet the Roman Catholic Church sees nothing morally wrong with gambling. She is willingly blinded by the glitter of gold.
Do Scriptures Support Gambling?
Some try to justify their conduct by saying Israel cast.Iots and so did the apostles, which some understand to be gambling. (Leviticus 16:8; Numbers 26:52, 55, 56; Acts 1:26)' They argue, if lots were used by Israel and the apostles with divine approval, why is it not proper to gamble with dice, cards, and other forms of gambling games? They reason that what justifies the one should justify the other, and what condemns the one should in the same way condemn the other. To continue with this same line of reasoning would rule out gambling completely and immediately. Why? Because lots were never used for pleasure or sport, which would mean that dice, cards, tables, and other forms of gambling should never be used for pleasure or sport. Lots were used in connection with serious matters, by both the Israelites and the immediate followers of Christ
Lots were to be used in much the same manner, as was an oath. Both, when used, did suppose the testifying presence of God. So when lots were cast or an oath was given prayer was expressed or to be understood. The proper use of a lot, as of an oath, was to end a controversy. (1 Samuel 14:41; Hebrews 6:16) Israel did not cast lots for Selfish gain. The Roman soldiers did, when they cast lots for Jesus' garments, but those were not the lots used by the Jews in obedience to JehoVah's arrangement. The Jews cast lots to determine Jehovah’s decision in a matter. They were not trying to get something for nothing. When Israel cast lots, Jehovah caused them to fall according to his will; through this practice he made his wishes or decisions known to them. (Proverbs 16:33; 1 Samuel 14:41,42) Jehovah God governed the falling of the lots; therefore, they were to be used properly and not in sport.
And, too, we are commanded not to tempt God by a vain desire of a manifestation of his power and special care. (Psalm 78:18,19; Isaiah 7:12) “You must not put Jehovah your God to the test,” said Jesus. (Matthew 4:6, 7, New World Trans.) Had the Jews been using lots for selfish purposes, such as gambling, they would have been tempting God, vainly desiring the manifestation of his special providence in his immediate disposing. Also, whatsoever Jehovah God has sanctified to a proper end is not to be perverted to an improper one. “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a cave of robbers.” (Matthew 21:12, 13, New World Trans.) God had sanctified lots to a proper end, namely, to express his wish or decision.
Therefore, to say that dice, cards, tables, etc., fall in the same category as lots, means also that they should not be used without divine authorization and then only to express his wish regarding a controversial point-Proverbs 18:18;Numbers 26:55.
Some argue that God has sanctified psalms to the praise of his name, and bread and wine to represent the body and blood of Christ, and yet it is entirely proper for Christians to sing psalms and to eat bread and drink wine, not only from necessity, but to cheer themselves; why, then, may not Christians enjoy themselves by gambling with lots or the like, even though He set aside the lot for the special purpose of ending controversy? Simply because we do not find in the Scriptures any special exemption for recreation by gambling, as we do find for wholesome enjoyment by singing, and for cheering ourselves by eating and drinking.—James 5:13; Deuteronomy 8:9,10.
The Bible definitely condemns unlawful gain. “For I the Loan love justice, I hate robbery and crime?* (Isaiah 61:8, An Amer. Trans,) The gambler does not work with his hands the thing that is good and pleasing, and he is not free from cheating and stealing. (Ephesians 4:28; Genesis 29:15) The fact that clergymen, priests, and prominent men gamble does not justify its practice, no more so than murdering would be justified if such men were to commit murder. We are admonished by God’s Word to live according to the standard he set for us through his Son Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:21) Jesus did not gamble. He did not set up an organization of gamblers. His apostles did not gamble. Nor do Christians today. Those who look down on Christians as trying to be overly righteous are often heard quoting Ecclesiastes 7:16, which says: “Do not be over-righteous, and be not excessively wise; why should you ruin yourself?*’ (An Amer. Trans.) But such persons should not stop reading there, they should continue reading through verse seventeen, which says: “Be not- overwicked, nor play the fool; why should you die before your time?’* (An Amer. Trans.) It is not good to be self-righteous or worldly wise, nor is it good to be foolish. We should consider the weaknesses of others, and not love pleasure more than we love God.—Proverbs 1:22; Romans 14:21;
Even though the word “gambling” does not occur in the Bible, the fruits of gambling are both mentioned and condemned. Christians will shun gambling as a rotten tree, rooted in demon mythology, prospered by pagan Rome, perpetuated by the false religious, corrupt, criminal element of this world, which will soon be cut down and, along with its rotten fruitage, will be destroyed in the battle of Armageddon.
Christians, as commanded, will respect their brothers, not deal falsely with them; they will not defraud, lie, cheat, or steal They will take to heart the Scriptural admonition: “Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need, '* (Ephesians 4:28t New World Trans.) In this way they will follow a course in harmony with God’s Word, resulting in great joy now, and in the world to come everlasting blessings.
Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap; because he who is sowing with a vtew to Ais flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.—Galatians 6:7,8, New World Trans,
ANOTHER sudden and very violent revolu-jl / tion has racked the re? public of Bolivia, result
ing In many dead and wounded and in a change of government. The people of La Paz were awakened by shots heard early Wednesday morning, April 9. Truckloads of armed men were seen going through the streets. The radio announced that during the early hours of the morning another government, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), had taken over in place of the military regime of General Hugo Ballivian. Radio Illimani, the official government radio station of Bolivia, which also had been seized by the MNR party, called the change of governments a bloodless, holy revolution, and announced that the jefe, or chief of the revolution, was General Antonio Seleme.
General Seleme, who had been the minister of government (minister of the interior) in President Ballivian’s cabinet, ordered all troops to remain in their barracks without offering resistance to the new government The radio also informed that General Humberto Tbrez Ortiz, chief of staff in President Ballivian’s government, was helping the revolution, but a later report stated that he tried to organize the resistance against the MNR. Others reported as participating on the side of the revolution were the national police, some of the young officers in the army, the veterans of the Chaco war and civilians, consisting especially of the laboring classes.
By “Awakt!1' Corr e ip end* nt in Bolivia
Another announcement was that the whole nation had been taken by the revolutionaries without shedding of blood. However, much blood was spilled, for, after all fighting was over, the press reported this revolution to be the bloodiest and most intense in Bolivia's history. Therefore it was not long before the call went out for men to defend the revolution against troops entering the south into Miraflores and against troops attacking from the “Alto” on the west. Spot announcements were also repeated about 7,000 miners’ coming from Oruro and the mining towns beyond Oruro to reinforce the MNR. By evening Radio Illimani was admonishing all the revolutionary forces to stay by their guns all night without falling asleep and to stay without food if it was necessary.
On Saturday after the fighting the La Paz daily, El Diario, stated that the situation looked very unfavorable for the revolution that Wednesday night with a part of the National Police and the veterans and civilians standing against three regiments of the army that had remained loyal to the former regime. Fighting was heavy that night, and 75-miUimeter cannon and mortar fire could be heard aimed by the Bolivar artillery regiment against the arsenal, which was in the hands of the rebels. The MNR held their ground that night, got more munitions on Thursday morning, and intense fighting continued all day. Later El Diario informed that by noon of Thursday the revolutionaries were in combat against eight regiments of the army, three from the south: the Military College, the
Engineers Battalion and the Lanza regiment; while there were five from the west and north: the Bolivar artillery regiment of Viacha, Abaroa cavalry regiment of Gua-qui, the Perez infantry of Coroco, the Sucre infantry of Achacachi and the Central Technical School regiment also of Viacha.
Big and little machine guns, rifle fire and occasional exploding mortar shells could be heard in almost all directions of the city. Ambulances and emergency Red Cross cars could be seen rushing through the streets picking up the dead and wounded. Planes flew overhead Wednesday dropping leaflets demanding that the revolutionaries surrender, while on Thursday MNR planes flew over and also dropped handbills. The roaring of guns continued until Friday afternoon, when all resistance to the MNR was silenced.
Casualties and Property Damage
As a result of the revolution many lives were lost and much damage was done to buildings and property about the city. Estimates published in the press were that 1,000 persons were killed and 3,000 wounded or missing, but even personnel at the hospital and morgue said there were at least 5,000 killed and wounded. A young doctor said that most of the wounded that had to have bullets extracted from their bodies died. There were so many needing medical attention that the main hospital and the public emergency hospital were full, and other emergency hospitals were set up. It was a sad week end and Easter Sunday for many individuals, for they could be seen on the streets, in buses and in public buildings grieving or crying because of the loss of their loved ones.
A number of homes were damaged by mortar shells that missed their mark, which also killed and injured various persons not participating in the fighting. One entered the home of a worker, killing three persons and wounding three others. The light lines were damaged, and the whole city was left without lights from early Thursday till Friday night and parts of it until Monday night.
There was also intense fighting in Oruro, where miners from the mines of Catavi, Sigio XX, Llallagua and Machacamarca and civilians of Oruro finally overcame the loyal regiments. About 100 persons were reported killed, and there were so many wounded that the local hospitals could not contain them, and therefore an emergency hospital was set up at the railroad station.
Historical Background
It will be recalled that the MNR party was thrown out by a popular revolution in 1946, when its president, Gualberto Villar-roel, and other officials were killed by the enraged people and hung on lamp posts on the central square. However, there was much published about how the MNR had brutally mistreated its opposers also,' and the people were just as enraged to throw it out then as they were to put down the Ballivian regime. Since 1946 the MNR had made attempts to come back into power, both by force and by national elections.
The conditions of the country in general did not improve while under the regimes opposed to the MNR and elected by the people, nor under the late military government. The country’s economy declined, the national currency continued to devaluate and lately there had been an acute shortage of bread, flour and other necessities of life. The sympathies of the common people began to swing back in favor of the MNR, and this was shown in the May 1951 elections, when the MNR candidates, Victor Paz Estenssoro for president and Hernan Siles Suazo for vice-president, gained a majority over each of the other parties in the race. It was shortly afterward that a facsimile of a document establishing a pact
far mutual co-operation between the MNR and the Communist party was reproduced in La Raz6n, a local paper. At the same time the president in office, Mamerto Ur-riolagoitia, resigned and handed the government over to General Ballivian’s military government.
Bolivia continued under the temporary military regime until the night of April 8, 1952, when a crisis and disagreement over new elections arose in President Ballivian's cabinet, resulting in opening the way for the revolution. Then General Selerrte- collaborated with the MNR and the revolution.
The New Rulers
With this revolution the MNR candidates in the 1951 elections, Victor Paz Estenssoro and Hernan Siles Suazo, took over as president and vice-president respectively. When Doctor Paz Estenssoro arrived from Buenos Aires, where he had been exiled for almost six years, he was given a big reception at the airport in La Paz, men carrying him on their shoulders part of the way from there to the government palace. In his home-coming speech, given on the balcony of the government palace to a huge multitude estimated at 60,000 persons, he proposed to solve various problems, such as nationalizing or bringing about government control of mines, extending public health service to include all classes, solving the problem of land distribution, etc. On this occasion two large pictures were hung just beneath the balcony from which he spoke, one being of himself and the other of President Villar-roel, who was killed in the 1946 revolution. Out in the crowd banners were held aloft by the workers, one of which read “Villar-roel Martyr, Estenssoro Savior”. In another address the president stated that his government would stick to two principles: “austerity,” or hardness, and “seriousness”.
A press editorial observed that “Perdn and Paz Estenssoro have many things in common. Both have the majority of support in the laboring class and attack capitalist imperialism as the principal enemy of their respective countries”. Another item of Interest in Bolivia is that La Razdn, the principal newspaper in La Paz, an opponent of the MNR, has not been published since the revolution.
The common people in Bolivia, who are greatly oppressed, look to the MNR as a party that can help them. All thoughtful persons realize, however, that all manmade relief can be only temporary. The “sign of the times" shows that we are in the “last days” in which “critical times hard to deal with" can be expected, as described by the apostle Paul. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, New World Trans.) God's Word clearly shows that mankind’s only hope is in the new world of righteousness by Christ Jesus, which will completely take the place of the present wicked system of things in the day of God’s wrath, and in which new world man will long enjoy the fruit of his labor. (Isaiah 65:21-23) It is Jehovah God and not man that will "break in pieces the oppressor”.-Psalm 72:1,4,7,8.
-------Hi ■ ।
“Overseas Wit”
From Colombia:
A priest was sent on a religious mission to a section of Colombia where the Conservatives and the Liberals were particularly violent in their opposition. When he arrived, one of the Conservative bosses approached him for a confession. accuse myself, father/* he began. “I have killed many Liberal men and children, I have violated their women, burned their homes, destroyed their crops, and ♦ . . " <L "‘Lets not talk politics, my dear son/* quickly interrupted the priest “Just tell me your sins.”—From the Pathfindert March, 1352.
£digimta JKma Stems
"What Say the Gospels?”
ft A “Catholic Information" advertisement by the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Men in New Orleans asked about Mary: “ ‘Ever a virgin?’ What say the Gospels?" How disappointing that it did not answer the question. There is no doubt about Mary’s being a virgin at the time of Jesus’ birth, but the advertisement quotes no statement from the Gospels that says she remained a virgin after Jesus' birth. No proof text is given. No Scriptures cited. Even so, the advertisement asserts: “Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was a virgin throughout her life. This is an article of faith which every Catholic must believe because it is one of God's truths revealed through the Scriptures and through Tradition.” Scripture again, but why do they not simply quote the elusive text and be done with it? Having no such text, the write-up beclouds the question by arguing over whether the Bible actually meant Jesus’ brothers when it spoke of them, or whether it might not have meant cousins. A telling blow to this argument is that the Catholic translators of the Douay Version Bible did not think so. They translated the word “brethren”. (Matthew 13:54-56; Mark 6:1-4) But even if the Bible never mentioned Jesus’ fleshly brothers, there is still not one solitary text that says Mary remained a virgin all her life. If there were such a text, they would cite it and end the argument. Instead, the account concludes with St. Augustine’s statement that he would not believe the Gospels anyway “unless the authority of the Catholic church moved me thereto”.
J'Qnety Per Cent Not in Church
If the people believed today’s worldly religions worth while, they would support them, yet in Britain Dr. H. Watkin-Jones recently said that about 90 per cent of the people are not regular church-goers. The News Chronicle commented, December 28: “The statement by the president of the Methodist Conference that something like 90 per cent of the population do not attend church regularly is somewhat startling. Many people will think this ❖ figure is too high. The News Chronicle Gallup X Poll, however, put the average attendance at X 15 per cent three years ago. Whatever the X figure may be there seems little doubt that £ there is a decline in religious observance . .. X empty ^pews are symptoms of how little a part •> religion does play in our lives today."
X 5\pt a Christian Country
X ft On this matter of church attendance an ar-$ tide in the January 1 News Chronicle said, X "It is important, when considering the posi-tion of the Church, by which I mean primarily
X the Church of England, to remember that X ours is not in any strict sense a Christian <• country.” In proof it cited a report that “not $ more than 10 per cent of the population are X actively connected with any church”, although $ 40 per cent “still wish to claim some connec-X tion”, resorting to the church for marriages and funerals, while "another 40 per cent of ❖ the population profess some sort of vague re-? ligiOus belief”. It further reported that “the X number of clergymen at work in the country X diminishes—there are 15,000 today in a popu-X lation of nearly 50 million as against 21,000 X in 1914 in a population of less than 40 million”.
Spellman's Slur Rackfires
X ft When the American Council of Churches $ arranged a “pilgrimage” to Washington to X protest the appointment of a United States £ representative to the Vatican, Roman Catholic ❖ Cardinal Spellman retorted with an under-X handed, uninformed slur that the demon-J strators might, instead of marching, donate X blood for the soldiers in Korea—as though X that related in any way to the Vatican’s de-X sire for political recognition. In Washington, January 21, “Rev.” DeLoss M. Scott, chairman of the pilgrimage, retorted to Spellman’s mudslinging; “American Council constituents
X are second to none in blood donation for our X fighting forces. This same patriotism compels X them to resist the threat to religious freedom £ and equality in our land by favoritism of X Roman Catholicism through a United States •y diplomatic representative at the Vatican."
STARLINGS Stump the Experts
completed
starling will
the
is
occupy
the woodpecker’s back
the moment
THE starling’s high-twittering,, whistling, bickering, squeaking and squawking may be annoying, but the experts are quite convinced there is little that can be done about it. They have battled the bird for years—in Asia, Northern Europe, Britain, and in America—and the starling has lost very few rounds.
This ornithological nuisance was introduced to America hardly more than a half century ago by Eugene Schieff elin, He released a hundred and twenty of them in Central Park, New York city, and today there are millions of them spreading from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Ontario and as. far west as the Rockies.
Nature has gifted them with a joyous disposition. Nothing seems to worry or disturb them. They chirp, chat, babble, and confer; but never seem to complain, come rain, come shine. Even when the food supply is scanty they appear phitasoptucally indifferent. Despite their good nature, they are cocky and pugnacious little creatures. TTiey often prefer fighting to eating. Mentally they are superior to the sparrow. But they are always on guard. They are comparatively fearless where they are unmolested, but if hunted they become more wary than a crow. Rather than build its own nest the starling pre- ; fers to steal one.
Patiently it will watch a woodpecker dig and shape its nest in a decaying tree. When the nest
is
turned. A fight begins and usually the
woodpecker succeeds in throwing the star-\\Tig cwft.. the Staffing ’wffi curtcmcie tine
fight outside while another starling enters the hole to defend it against the woodpecker. Having whipped the first starling, so he thinks, the woodpecker returns to find another starling enjoying the advantages of his possession, and he has another fight on his hands. After evicting the invader the woodpecker returns to find another starling nrrupying the nest, and the same thing takes place until the woodpecker, realizing he is confronted with a whole chain of starlings, gives up. The starlings will not molest him any further but will allow him to dig out another hole, when a similar battle will take place with more starlings driving the woodpecker from pillar to post until he has prepared sufficient homes for all the starlings in the neighborhood, or until he gives up in disgust and leaves the vicinity to the aggressors. The hairy woodpecker, the flicker, and the redheaded woodpecker all serve as
However, the starling is not really particular where it nests. It lays its eggs indiscriminately in nests—often not its own. One instance is recorded where a starling fell down a chimney and before de-
parting t
k time to lay an egg in the fireplace. Many pairs raise two broods In a season, hatching twelve to fourteen babies a year. The babies are fed every six minutes for twelve days. When they leave their nest at the end of sixteen days they will have been fed at least 1,888 times.'Their appetites carry them into cherry orchards, strawberry patches, olive groves and vineyards, which, in a matter of minutes, surrender all their crop. However, most farmers consider the starling a friend because of the worms and snails it destroys. A flock of starlings, it is estimated, will destroy no less than 12,600,000 snails and worms daily during the time they are in a neighborhood.
The Urban Starling Menace
In the old world the starling went south for the winter. But on being brought to America it had no ancestral air route to follow to a warmer climate, so it did the next best thing—it sought a substitute for migration. Cities, it found, are warmer than open country. So the adaptable starlings flock into cities in the fall and winter, as the best substitutes they can find for a warmer climate. Many flocks have taken up permanent dwelling places in the city and commute daily to the country for a living. Ten to fourteen minutes before sunrise they will be up happily jibbering and jabbering loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. Their early morning exercise is precision flying, which is the envy of any air corps. Hundreds and thousands will be in the air at the same time, twisting and turning in unified aerial acrobatics, swooping left and right, up and down, without a single bird getting out of line or without a bird to lead them. Their inner instinct for night flying works with the efficiency of radar.
The grating noises they produce are perfect imitations of a quacking duck, a creaking door, the clattering of a windmill, or the crowing of a cock. Some starlings have been taught to speak. An Instance is recorded of a starling's being taught to repeat the Lord’s prayer quite distinctly, without missing a single word. Others have been taught to whistle tunes, utter syllables, and to understand and obey words and gestures as a dog. Occasionally a starling wifi have a little fun on its own. It will pick up a piece of white paper in its beak and chase after other birds in the neighborhood, terrifying them. The screams and alarms of the frightened birds seem to amuse the starling immensely. The city fathers would give almost anything to be able to play the same trick on the starlings, to be able to frighten them sufficiently to keep them out of the cities. Because wherever they are real-estate values drop, maintenance cost increases, the public buildings, billboards and neon signs are spattered.
Blow by Blow
The sanitation departments in some cities have tried to rid the starling from the city by clanging bells or by trapping them with molasses paste. The clanging merely caused the starlings to become noisier than ever, and quite often they would mock the clanging sounds.
In Springfield, Illinois, the capltol building was virtually covered with starlings. Professional starling "scare-awayers” were hired to solve the menace. Returning one evening to their roosting places the starlings were greeted by dozens of their worst enemy, the two-faced owl. The owls were fakes. They were placed in trees and around the building. The terrified starlings flew high on the capitol dome to consult with one another. But each day the starling scarers would move the fake owls higher on the dome until the starlings finally deserted the building for less comfortable quarters. In less than a year’s time
eleven tons of droppings were cleaned off the capital building.
But that it works in one place is no guarantee that it will work in another. The two-faced owls were less successful in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. The starlings stayed away a few nights but within a week they were back perching on the owls’ heads.
A clergyman tried desperately to rid his church of starlings by trapping them. After a week, in which he caught 1,500 in a single trap, he gave up. The starlings were back and recoated the church with droppings in less than three days.
In London, England, the starlings are outlawed. The whole parapet of the National Art Gallery was charged with electricity in an effort to drive the birds away. So far it has merely succeeded in moving them onto other nearby roosts.
Indiana residents tried to discourage the starling by sitting on their porches with their double-barreled shotguns across their laps and when the birds would gather in the trees they would let loose a blast. The starlings would take off like greased lightning, but as soon as all was quiet and the people had gone to bed, they would be back—only with reinforcements.
Pennsylvanians had another sure-fire remedy—Roman candles. At the sounding off of the fireworks, the starlings would make a beeline for cover. But as soon as the show was over they were back, only noisier than ever because they had been frightened.
One businessman hit upon the bright idea of stringing bright lights around his place of business, but they stayed up only ont night. When he checked its effectiveness, he found the starlings cuddling close to the bulbs to keep warm.
Every sort of weapon imaginable has been used, from slingshots to supersonic
sound waves, but the starlings petwiat. BB guns, paper sacks, tin cans, balloons, sloping glass, galvanized netting, trappings, and even homemade flash bombs— but at their very best most of these lasted only a few days. After the starlings got used to them, they would roost right on or alongside their would-be scarecrows.
When the starlings made their home in a certain group of trees the residents decided to get rid of them by cutting down the trees. Soon most of the trees in the neighborhood were cut down, but the starlings refused to leave the vicinity.
In one city the starlings chattered so loudly that few persons got any sleep. The people fought the birds and one another. Stanley Meyer, in his article “We’re Losing the Battle of the Birds”, writes: “Shoppers parked their cars blocks from the heart of town. Those who didn’t had the paint on their automobiles ruined. Window shopping was done from curb, signs and marquees were unreadable, cornices and ledges of the buildings were black with roosting starlings. Finally town’s skilled marksmen acted and in one summer alone they alone killed SO,OOD starlings. But the starlings didn’t seem to mind. They stayed, and today they still overrun the city.”
What to do about the starling seems to be quite a problem to solve. Dr. Lytle S. Adams, a noted conservationist of Irwin, Pennsylvania, advocated a “birth control” system. This is the same treatment that brought the sparrow threat under control. He suggests that a shallow dish of crankcase oil and grain be placed near the nests. When they pick up the food they will get the oil on their feathers and transfer the oil onto the eggs, where it closes the pores, thus preventing them from hatching, and nipping the trouble right in the bud.
Whatever the future holds for the starling, this one thing is certain—it rests with the starling and not with the stumped.
Draft Act Narrows Definition of '‘Minister”
ONTTED States District Judge J. Joseph J
Smith of Hartford, Connecticut, recently 5 decided a case of great interest to persons f claiming exemption under the draft law as J ministers. The case involved Hugo Kose, one f of Jehovah’s witnesses, who was prosecuted i for refusing to submit to Induction as ordered I by his local board. In acquitting him the court 5 focused attention on the meaning of the term 4 ’‘minister” as defined In the present draft act. <
X The draft board file showed that Kose was ? not a full-time pioneer minister but a mere 5 part-time company publisher. The evidence in I his file showed that he was engaged in secular J employment as a carpenter. His participation J in the door-to-door witness work was limited J to an average of approximately one full day a ij week. In addition to this time the records ]■ showed that he participated in the meetings 4 and supervised the preaching work of the ij congregation as territory servant. ji
X Counsel made the contention upon the trial ■[ fiat the defendant was entitled to exemption 
Three Gods or One God —What Say the Scriptures?
CCORDING to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion.’* Discussing this subject in The Churchman, November 15, 1951, Dr. Bowie, of the Virginia Theological Seminary, said the trinity was “the most abstruse and difficult of Christian doctrines**. And Canon C. W. Chandler, in the Star-Sun, Christchurch, N.Z., remarked regarding the trinity, “This Mystery of the Faith needs tomes for its elucidation—that is, if it can be elucidated.”
If the trinity is the central doctrine of the Christian religion, and if it is the most abstruse and difficult of all Christian doctrines, requiring tomes or ponderous volumes for its elucidation, is it hot exceedingly strange that not one of the recorded discourses or illustrations of Jesus enlightens us on it? He was questioned by his opponents on the resurrection, on his prehuman existence, on the nature of his kingdom, etc. Now, can we imagine for a moment that he could have taught a doctrine so radically new and different from the teachings of Moses as that of the trinity, that there were three God’s equal in power, glory, substance and eternity, without his enemies’ questioning him about it?
Incidentally, lest anyone should think that when Jesus said “I and my Father are one” he was teaching the trinity, let it be noted that at most such would teach a duality, for he did not say, “I, my Father and the Holy Spirit are one.” But that he thereby taught neither a duality nor a trinity is apparent from the prayer that 'his followers may be one as he and his Father were one’. (John 10:30; 17:20-23; 1 Corinthians 3:5-8) Surely the many thousands of Christ’s followers are not one in ‘glory, substance, power and eternity’. But they are one in organization, one in purpose. The same is true concerning God and Christ Jesus. They are united, working in unity toward the same end.
The historical facts show that although the teaching of a trinity or triad of gods was held by others long before the Christian era, it did not creep into Christian writings until A.D. 180, when Tertullian first made mention of it The mystery of the trinity appealed to those who preferred philosophy to God’s Word. Violent discussions arose during the third century which, by the first part of the fourth century, threatened a serious breach among those professing to be Christians. With a hope of healing this breach Constantine convened the Council of Nice. The theologians being unable to agree, Constantine decided the question in favor of the trinity.
Those holding to the trinity doctrine admit that it is “impenetrable to reason”, that it is an unfathomable mystery. But God through his word says: “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18) We are also told: “Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is right.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, New World Trans,) How can we reason together on a teaching impenetrable to reason? How can we make sure of a mystery and determine that it is right? Impossible. God gave us reasoning facul-
ties and he does not fly in the face of those gifts by asking us to believe something incompatible with reason.
The Bible truth is simple and easy to understand. It plainly tells us that Jehovah God Is one God whose name alone is Jehovah. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Psalm 83:18) Jesus said that God is a spirit, not three spirits. (John 4;24) Throughout the Scriptures God Jehovah is referred to as the Almighty One. Christ Jesus is termed a mighty one, but never the almighty one. —Exodus 6:3; Psalm 45:3, Am. Stan. Ver.; Isaiah 9:6; Revelation 11:15-17.
Jehovah God is the superior One, the head of Christ Jesus. As the superior One he blesses his Son; the greater blessing the lesser, even as Paul states. (1 Corinthians 11:3; Hebrews 1:8, 9; 7:7) Jesus himself also so testified saying that God, his Father, “is greater than all” and “greater than I”. (John 10:29; 14:28) If before coming to earth Jesus or the Logos was equal to his Father why does Paul tell us that he did not aspire to be equarto his Father? —Philippians 2:5, 6, Diaglott; Revised Standard Version; New World Trans.
Christ Jesus recognized God Jehovah as his God, he worshiped him, he sought to please him, he prayed to him. All such indicates that Jehovah God was superior to Christ Jesus. (Matthew 4:8-10; John 4:22; 8:28, 29; chapter 17; 20:17; Ephesians 1:3) Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered. Learned obedience to whom? To himself? Can we imagine the Almighty, the Omniscient One, having to learn something?—Hebrews 5:8.
Jehovah God is from everlasting to everlasting. (Psalm 90:2) But Christ Jesus had a beginning; he was begotten by God; he is the “firstborn of all creation” and “the beginning of the creation by God”. (Psalm 2:7; Colossians 1:15-18; Revelation 3:14, New World Trans.) Jehovah God, being eternal, could not die; but Christ Jesus did die, was resurrected and is now immortal.—1 Timothy 6:16; Revelation 1:17,18.
But what about John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word wgp with God, and the Word was God”? A literal rendering of the Greek text is “Originally the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god”. (.New World Trans.) Clearly there is no trinity here.
In fact, there is only one text in the King James Bible that does teach the trinity, 1 John 5:7: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” The only difficulty with that text is that modem Bible scholars recognize it to be spurious, an interpolation.
And what about the holy spirit, mistranslated “Holy Ghost”? The word “spirit” translates the Greek word pneumo, in some places meaning “wind”, the holy spirit being God’s invisible power in action. If the holy spirit were a person, how could he be poured out upon 120 individuals? One can be baptized with fire, with water and with the holy spirit, but not with a person.—Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:15; 2:1-4.
Jehovah God and Christ Jesus are never referred to in the neuter gender, but the holy spirit is. (John 14:16, 17, An Amer. Trans.; New World Trans.) Stephen and John had heavenly visions and saw the Father and the Son, but no “Holy Ghost”. If a part of the trinity and a person, why was the “Holy Ghost” not seen?—Acts 7:55; Revelation chapters 4 and 5.
God’s Word is consistent with reason. The trinity finds no support in either reason or God's Word. However, the teaching that Jehovah God is supreme, the only eternal One; that Christ Jesus received life from his Father and is therefore inferior to his Father, and that the holy spirit is God’s invisible active force sent forth to accomplish God’s purpose is 'penetrable by reason’ and consistent with the Scriptures.
Jehovah’s Witnesses preach in All the Earth
Jamaica
HE largest of all the islands in the British West Indies is Jamaica* Cradled between the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico, some 80 miles south of Cuba, Jamaica is a beautiful tropical island, first discovered by Columbus in 1494. He called it St Jago, but today it is called by its Indian name, Jamaica, meaning “the isle of springs”. It is 144 miles long and from 21 to 49 miles wide. The surface is quite mountainous, with an accompanying variety of climate. One mountain peak towers up over 7,000 feet, while as many as 114 streams flow off the hilly backbone of the country into the sea.
The majority of the one and one-third million inhabitants of Jamaica are colored, only about 15,000 being white, although there are many shades and tints of color among the people. As elsewhere, a certain amount of class distinction and racial prejudice shackles the progress of the people, and the mixed promises of the two main political parties do not hold out much real hope. While a few persons have large holdings of land and own estates and others have jobs earning comfortable incomes, the unfortunate multitudes have to toil long and hard for a few shillings. For the most part the Jamaicans are industrious and work hard for long hours each day. Those in the country do a little cultivating of various foodstuffs, which they take to market either in baskets atop thexr heads or by donkey loads for long trips. The cost of living is rising and many of the people live from day to day without much hope for the future.
There are people on this island, however, who do have hopes for a better time, in a righteous new world. They are Jehovah’s witnesses. They are spreading that hope to their neighbors, and many persons are being made glad by the message of Jehovah’s kingdom. Jehovah’s witnesses have been preaching in Jamaica a long time now- In 1914,100 were preaching. In 1940, 591 ministers were actively engaged in telling others of the Kingdom. In spite of a ban temporarily imposed by the government against the importation of the literature of Jehovah’s witnesses, the number increased to 884 in 1945, when the ban was lifted. Now this year the report shows a new peak of 2,603 ministers of the good news. Approximately 2,600 home Bible studies are being conducted each week by the witnesses with their neighbors.
In December 1950, the president of the Watch Tower Society, N. H. Knorr, made his second visit to Jamaica with one of his secretaries, M. G. Henschel. The first three days of their visit were featured by a well-organized three-day convention held in Kingston, the capital city of the island. Much admonition and counsel were given by the two travelers daily to the convention crowds, and a total of 4,500 persons gathered on Sunday night to hear the president’s talk, "Can You Live Forever in Happiness on Earth?” As a result of the convention many persons have begun to take an interest in the good news of the Kingdom. The same talk was given before large audiences at Montego Bay, a beautiful tourist center, and at Port Antonio. During this helpful visit 158 new ministers of Jehovah’s witnesses were baptized.
Particularly marked has been the increase of ministers in Kingston. In 1946 there were but slightly more than 200, while now there are well over 800, which means one minister for each 350 of the city’s population of some 300,000.
The missionaries from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead sent to Jamaica have been a tremendous aid in helping to gather the Lord’s “other sheep’’. At present there are eight of these in the country, assisting in the advancement of Bible education and helping to organize the local ministers in a theocratic manner for the ministry.
The theocratic ministry school, which is a regular meeting of all congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, by equipping the brothers for better service, has also played a vital part in the increase. Many have been trained through this arrangement to give public talks; upward of ninety of these talks being given monthly. In Kingston alone, on a Sunday night, close to 1,000 attend the public lectures. One company In the country, with only 22 active witnesses, recently arranged for and advertised the public talk “Surviving Global War”, to be given by a speaker from the branch office. An audience of 194 paid rapt attention to the speaker. After the talk one man went to the speaker and voiced the program’s only complaint, that it was too short
Some have asked how the various religious organizations are reacting to the work of Jehovah’s witnesses in Jamaica. Well, daring the past year the clergy have voiced much concern over what the Scriptures refer to as the ‘spoiling of their pastures’, In 1950 an island-wide campaign was launched by the Christian Council movement in which all the clergy, with the exception of the Catholics, joined under the slogan “Christ for Jamaica’’. Hie campaign was extended into 1951, because, as the secretary of the movement said, “the people are hungry for God and for truth.”
But hungry people go where there is food. The fact that many of the churches are practically empty shows they are not relieving the spiritual food shortage. There is even a shortage of parsons for the Anglican Church, it is reported. The newly installed bishop for the island stated that they should be supplied from England, but sufficient stipends must be guaranteed first Nd pay, no clergy, he said, is the rule they would have to stand by.
The Christian Council with its “Christ for Jamaica” campaign is not accomplishing its purpose, for conditions are getting worse and worse and there is no church revival. In fact, in Port Royal a parson went to church to preach one Sunday, and he had to go home again, as no one came. On the other hand, when Jehovah’s witnesses gave two public talks on the Bible there recently, there were receptive audiences of 260 and 217.
Commenting upon this contrast, the Methodist Record of April 1951 said: “The campaigners were impressed by the tenacity of two of Jehovah’s witnesses with whom they came in contact on different occasions; and while their false doctrines and bigoted anti-church attitude are deplored, it would be good to commend to church people for imitation their seizing of every opportunity for witnessing to their beliefs, and their firm grasp of their particular doctrines based on certain Biblical texts. If only those within the churches had as much enthusiasm and knowledge of their Christian beliefs, and could quote their Bible with understanding, the churches would make much progress.”
Many Jamaicans have a deep reverence for the Bible and a desire to know more of its application today. Jehovah’s witnesses on this “isle of springs” are busy, even as are their brothers in all other parts of the earth, bringing the pure waters of Bible truth to all such men of good will.
* SWATCH1 NG "WORLD
Where Can the World Turn?
Following his close, firsthand look at Asia, U. S. Supreme Court Justice Douglas has accused the U. S. of perpetuating the conditions on which communism grew. He charged (5/14) that America has been "supporting corrupt reactionary regimes, pouring money into governments that are vicious governments, reactionary governments, insurgent governments, wasting the wealth of America, trying to underwrite the status quo". He said (4/7) that in some areas 3,5 million people work for one landowner, and, *T am sure that if the audience were tonight in many of the underdeveloped areas ... we would be forming an American revolutionary committee to overthrow this octopus—these absentee landlords who Live in Waldorf Towers or Paris or Beirut—that has enslaved millions of little people.”
Justice Douglas' voice is not alone. Following her visit to Asia, Eleanor Roosevelt reported (4/1) a "great stirring” of the peoples. A fcmr-and-a-half-year study in Egypt by the Rockefeller Foundation put that land’s villages among the world’s worst, and refuted the claim of the luxury-living landlords that the squalid, disease-ridden villages do not want anything better. A global survey by the U. N. reported
(5/12) that small-scale farmers in underdeveloped areas are the ’'forgotten men of the twentieth century".
Communism’s promises to better conditions are false; yet the U. S. frequently supports oppressors instead of the oppressed. Where, then, can these people turn? Not to self-seeking politics, but to the sure promises of God’s kingdom. Under its blessings to earth the individual will reap the benefit of his own labors. (Isaiah 65:21-23) It is earth's only hope.
The Prisoner Issue
<$> The situation at the famed (for its rebellions) Koje Island prison camp was so fantastic that it was almost unbelievable. U. N. guards withdrew from Compound 76 because "we felt our Ilves were In danger". The Communists fly their own flags, display propaganda banners, have a communications system between compounds, and are believed to be in secret contact with North Korea’s capital. Brig. Gen. Dodd, who commanded the camp, was seized (5/7) by the prisoners and held until "concessions" were made implying that the U, N.'s position on prisoner exchange was wrong- The U. N. command promptly repudiated the agreement, which was believed inspired by the critical truce4alk situation where Gen. Ridgway had said, "Our position is one from which we cannot and shall not retreat/* and Communist Nam n aaid the proposal "cannot he considered by our side in any circumstances". The d e a fl-locked issue was whether the U. N. would send back the 100,000 (out of 170,000) prisoners who said they would resist return to Red control. To do that, President Truman said, “would be unthinkable.”
German Tension
<$> Germany is a great prize in the battle between Russia and the West. The Western powers want West Germany tied closely to the Western alliance. The Soviets tempted the Germans with a promise of unification of East and West Germany, something Germans avidly want. The West has pressed for the contractural agreement, Its substitute tor peace treaty, and for German military participation in the anticommunist European Defense Community. The Reds charged the West was seeking partition of Germany “forever” and was maneuvering in "preparation Sot a new wai*\ West Berlin is a chief target of the Communists, and in another step in the cold war they began an on-and-olT blockade of Allied patrols from the single road that connects it with the rest of West Germany.
Proposed Alms Blurred
A thought-provoking charge against the U. N- (5/16) for refusing to consider the Tunisian question by India’s President Rajendra Prasad declared, "The United Nations organization was meant to represent the world community inclusive of all. . . . Gradually the noble aims of the founders , . . appear to be getting blurred. . . . I earnestly trust that this great organization , . . will return to its old moorlngB anti become as it was meant to bp, a pillar of peace and freedom."
4 Gambler Sqoeato
<$> On September 20,1951, New York gambling king Harry Gross refused to testify against policemen accused of taking bribes, but after seven months of his own 12-year jail term he changed his mind, took the witness stand for six hours (5/7) and charged: "I paid everybody. Everybody," “Everybody" included nearly 200 members of New York’s police department from patrolmen to chief Inspectors. Gross said a chief of detectives was on his “payroll” at $250 a month, radio-Car crews got $40 monthly, $15,000 went to ©‘Dwyer’s campaign. The result? Gross said he “was never raided”, “was not molested,” was advised in advance about police transfers, knew when investigators were around, and that “none of my help .. . even got a day in jail”. He recalled watching gambling calls being checked in a police wiretap room against a list of bookies who paid the cops, and said, “If a name wasn’t on the list, they went out and made a pinch.’’ The story was fantastic, but was it true? Apparently the general substance at least would stick. Since his former charges a little over a year and a half ago, 18 officers had been dismissed and 110 had resigned, 36 in preference to testifying, 74 after doing so.
Klansmen Guilty
Much Of the Ku Klux Klan’s power has resulted from the fact that most of its acts have come under local law instead of federal jurisdiction, and local authorities have feared the Klan’s retaliation. For the first time (5/13) the federal kidnaping law, which forbids transporting across a state line “any person who shall have been unlawfully seized”, was applied to the Klan in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ten former Klans-men were sentenced to from two to five years' imprisonment under this law for having seized a man and woman In North Carolina, taking them over Into South Carolina, and flogging them. As is so frequently the case with the rabble that composes mobs, their own attorney protested they were uneducated men who had been gullfbly misled.
Foot-and-Mouth Disease
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is a more serious blow to Canada’s huge livestock industry than was first anticipated. In February the quarantine area circled onljr a few Saskatchewan farms, but by May it covered 7,000 square miles. Meat prices were dropping, as the U. S. embargo on Canadian meat appeared to be set for some time. A case 50 miles from the border sent extra inspection patrols into Montana and North Dakota to guard against the virus, which has not struck U. S. cattle since 1929.
The disease is also plaguing Britain, where 28,000 animals have been destroyed in less than six months. Movement of cattle Is under control in England and Wales and part of Scotland. The Isle of Man and Northern Ireland have banned import of animals. It is believed that the infection in Britain, the worst since 1942, was brought in by summer migratory birds from Africa and the Mediterranean countries.
Locusts Peril Food Supply 4> Since Bible times the locust has plagued Asia and Africa. This ravenous “flying stomach” can, under proper climatic conditions, hatch by the billions from eggs laid in the desert. Conditions were right in East Africa in January, and by May the locusts threatened “the entire food supply of agricultural countries from Africa through Asia Minor to Asia’’. A United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization report (5/13) said further “serious breeding Is going on”, soon to threaten “the cotton and grain of the Nile on one side and the rice fields of India on the other”. Enmities were forgotten. Arabs and Jews, India and Pakistan, Russia and the U. S. assisted in the common fight against what could develop into the "year of the locusts”, the worst such plague in a hundred years.
Beetles Invade PaclSc Islands 4* Thousands of miles from the locust plague, South Pacific Tonga islanders were battling immense swarms of nightmarish tropical beetles. Native hunting parties 300 strong beat through the underbrush in defense of their rich coconut groves in May, clubbing rhinoceros beetles up to six inches in length. Among the world’s biggest insects, they drill the palms for sap and cut through the early leaf buds.
New Domini can President
•$> ‘That large plantation owned by the Trujillo family, which is better known as the Dominican Republic, is changing its managers. Of course, it remains the property of the head of the family, Generalise simo Rafael L. Trujillo, who has run it without any real interruption and without any argument since 1930. The new president, as he is called, is Gen. Hector B. Trujillo, 44-year-old brother of Rafael, who will be the nominal ruler of this rich flnca for the next five years. He was ‘elected’ last Friday, a result which was not surprising considering that there were no opposing candidates."—N e w York Times (5/20).
Trujillo's Caribbean dictatorship, which lies between Cuba and Puerto Rico, sharing an island with Haiti, put an end to the civil strife that had been common in Dominican history, but did so only by abolishing individual liberty.
No Ruling Queen for Sjveden ♦ In Sweden, where ■six-year-old Prince Carl Gustaf is next
in line lor the throne now held by King Gustaf Adolf, the matter of a possible future ruling queen was being considered. A constitutional amendment wa’S proposed to extend the hereditary crown to women, The lower house shelved It without debate and in the Upper House a Labor spokesman said (5/14) the motion was undesirable, "since Swedish monarchial rule was bound for liquidation anyway* sooner or later.”
Great Lakes Rise
<$> A great, creeping flood is under way on the Great Lakes. By summer Lake Superior is expected to be 11 inches higher than in 1934; Lakes Erie and Ontario, up approximately 5 feet; and Lakes Michigan and Huron, 5.8 feet. The demand for government assistance is getting louder. Chunks of the shore have fallen away, beaches have disappeared and homes have been damaged. The caufee is not certain. It has been blamed on (1) a wet cycle plus faster water runoff due to logging, fanning and Industrialization, (2) the earth*s crust rising slightly on the Canadian side since ice-age glaciers receded, (3) man's meddling with canals and dams, Whatever the cause, the level is slowly rising and may produce a serious flood any time.
SupeTlhiOT “United Stated'
On her initial test run the 52,000-ton, 990-foot superiiner “United States” (exceeded in size by Britain's two “Queens”) is reported to have performed "beyond expectation”. Following the tests Vice-Admiral Edward L. Cochrane, chairman of the U* S, Maritime Administration, asserted the trials “confirmed our conviction that the United States is the fastest liner in the world”. She is to enter transatlantic service July 3 with accommodations for 2,000 persons. At present the Atlantic speed record of "3 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes is held by the “Queen Mary'’.
Observing Invisible Stars
The University of Manchester in England plans construction this summer of a $940,800 radio telescope, 265 feet In diameter (approximately 20 stories). While seeing nothing, this huge rotating antenna win hear ynuch—the Yusslng sound of radio waves from stars man has never seen. Dr, A. C. R, Lovell of the University of Manchester believes that there may be 100,000 million of these, and that if we could see them they would make starlight fill the whole sky. Increasing knowledge of the magnitude of the universe should remind haughty minds of insignificant man of the majestic power and wisdom of the great Creator, who alone can rule in justice.
American Standard ^Version Bible
THE Watchtower edition of the
American Standard Version Bible (1901) makes available at moderate cost an improved version of the English Bible. In it archaic terms and unfamiliar phrases found in the King James Version are rendered in more modem English. The edition has a fine concordance of Bible words, names and expressions which serves as an alphabetical index to the Bible, enabling you tn locate many important Bible subjects, such as truth, hope, judgment, blood, knowledge, comfort, life, etc. These are but a few of the hundreds of terms listed for you to trace through the many places in the Bible where they are dealt with. Other features are improved punctuation, paragraphing and explanatory footnotes. Bound in tan leatherette, sent postpaid for $1.50.
hii—nu—>iit^.ihi—‘im w—w—mi^iwi^im ■" *» mu— bi^iih—-*■ wi«—
WATCHTOWER 117 ADAMS ST, BROOKLYN], N.Y,
Please send me a copy of the American Standard Version Bible. I enclose a contribution of 51.50.
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iTVeMT~Wor& {Translation of t/ie
Okristian Greek ^Scriptures
Rendered from the Original Language
niHE above is from the title page of a completely new Bible translation (contains only the commonly called *'New Testament") that has found wide public acceptance. Rendered in our modern-day English, it is a truly accurate and fine translation, based upon the most ancient and reliable manuscripts available. It serves to supply the searcher for the truths of God's Word with the needed help. The text is presented to the reader in large, easily read type. There is, in addition, a generous array of marginal references and footnotes, besides linked reference chains of outstanding Bible subjects and proper names. Information on the subject of Bible translations and their preparation is a valuable feature. A number of illustrations and maps of unusual interest are included. Think of it, 800 pages of truth-bringing information! You will read, reread and study it with profit and pleasure. Attractively bound in green cloth cover, gold-stamped title, a copy is available for only $1.50. Get yours now. Use coupon below.
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WAKE I
