--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 8 number: 4 published: 1905-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Topics of the Moment," *Improvement Era* 8, no. 4 (February 1905): 281–288.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0804unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0804unse start_page: 281 end_page: 288 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1905-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0804unse publication_year: 1905 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1905, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Topics of the Moment TOPICS OF MOMENT. The Fall of Port Arthur. The most dramatic siege of modern times closed New Year's day at 9 o'clock in the evening, when the Japanese commander, General Nogi, received from General Stoessel a note asking that commissioners be appointed to negotiate terms for the surrender of Port Arthur. For days the world had been looking for a collapse on the part of the besieged. According to accounts that had reached the outside world, the last five days in the fort were days of terror and desperation. Not a spot was free from the terrible havoc that the deadly fire of the Japs worked upon the inner fortress. Human endurance had reached its limit, needless sacrifice of human life was everywhere witnessed, and despair of every possibility of resistance came, before the Russian commander would listen to any suggestions of surrender. Thousands of lives might have been saved had the surrender been offered after the inevitable became as clear as day, but General Stoessel hung on with bulldog tenacity and made it cost the Japanese every man that Russian arms could reach. It was not merely a desire to make it cost the Japanese dearly, for the Russians suffered the most dreadful punishment after the Japanese had ceased to suffer the greater loss. Liberal terms of capitulation were granted, and the Japs entered Port Arthur among the greatest heroes the world has ever known in the history of famous sieges. Port Arthur was declared again and again to be impregnable. Its fortifications were all that European skill and engineering could make them; and the Russians felt safe in the presence of any foe. If the ground covering the miles of advancement made 282 IMPROVEMENT ERA. by the Japs in reaching the inner forts could be seen, it would show mountains of earth thrown up, miles of tunnels dug in all directions, and ruined forts scattered over the earth. The enormous work done by sappers in digging their way day by day, and month by month, shows what industrious soldiers they have been. The pick and shovel have performed their part in the memorable siege. The boast that resistance would not cease "until the last cartridge had been fired and the last soldier had fallen," was not made good by the Russians, neither will General Stoessel make Port Arthur his final resting place, at least not now. The desperation with which the Russians resisted the Japs entitles them to the universal acknowledgement of heroism, and General Stoessel will for some time be the hero of the hour. There is that in his make-up which is dramatic. His dash and bravery have never been questioned, and his ability as a commander has been quite universally recognized. His defense was against the most tireless and skillful enemy that ever besieged a stronghold. But, after all, history will place the first laurel on Nogi's brow. With the utmost skill, he moved his army, step by step, against both natural and artificial fortifications that were considered impregnable. His soldiers faced death as an opportunity to glorify their country, No serious blunder has yet been revealed in the conduct of the siege by the Japs. At times, their loss of men was excessive, but that was inevitable while they were rushing over hidden death traps against a hidden and strongly protected foe. The question may be fairly asked. Is there anywhere in the world an army that would have counted so little the cost of a desperate struggle? Through it all, the Japanese have been unpretentious, and not in the least boastful. The siege of Port Arthur really began on the 27th of May when General Stoessel was driven back by the first army landed by the Japs at Pitsewo. When Stoessel was forced back of the outer lines of defenses at the neck of Kwan Fung peninsula, he was practically shut out from his base of supplies in the north, and from the main division of the army. From then on, he was pressed gradually within narrower limits until strangled into submission. TOPICS OF MOMENT. 283 On June 14-16, General Stakelberg made a fruitless attempt to relieve Stoessel, but he was promptly defeated by General Oku at the battles of Fafangvan and Telessu. It required seven months and four days to complete perhaps the most colossal task ever undertaken by a besieging army. The Japs are now back where they were in 1895, when Port Arthur fell to them as an inheritance of the Chino-Japanese war, and from which they were compelled to retire by the united protests of Russia, France and Germany. If Japan now elects to keep Port Arthur, no nation is likely to press her to evacuate her dearly won possession. An accurate and detailed account of this siege and fall of Port Arthur will furnish interesting reading for all time to come. Russia and Reforms. On December 19, the Emperor's fete day, the Official Gazette, of St.Petersburg,published a circular note directing the provincial governors to prevent the zemstvos from hereafter discussing the question of a constitution, and holding them personally responsible for any breach of the order. And this was the answer of the Czar to the cry for liberty; but not, as was at first thought, the whole of it! The plans of the circumspect reformers to combine progress with peace and to safeguard the country from a bloody revolution were not entirely overthrown, though their petition for representative institutions was thus rejected. A reform ukase, warning against political agitation, and embodying several gracious concessions, was issued by the Czar on December 26. This ukase makes no reference tO' the zemstvos suggestion of a constitutional assembly,—that has been denied and settled— but it touches upon the other subjects brought to the Czar's attention by these provincial councils, and promises that each shall be referred to the council of ministers, with orders to report promptly on the fullest measures of relief which can be granted. Among the subjects to which consideration is promised are, the just enforcement of existing laws, an extension of the zemstva organization, the equality of peasants with other citizens before the law, a scheme of workmen's assurance, protection against arbitrary arrest and police severities, more religious freedom, the rescinding of repressive laws, and fuller liberty of the press. 234 IMPROVEMENT ERA. The promised reform in religious affairs is thus stated: That in confirmation of my undsviating heart's desire, as expressed in the imperial manifesto of March 3, 1903, for the protection by the fundamental laws of the empire of tolerance in matters of faith, the laws dealing with the rights of communities and persons belonging to heterodox and non-Christian confessions should be submitted to revision; and that independently of this, measures should be taken for the removal of all limitations on the exercise of their religions not directly mentioned in the law. The equality of the peasants with other Russians is an important matter. Their status is radically different from that of other Russians. In their village communes, the principle of communal, as distinguished from individual property prevails. Though no longer nominally a serf, the peasant is still, practically, tied to the soil on which he was born. He must, to live, take part in the tilling of the common fields, and cannot leave his commune without permission of the village council. He has no opportunity to earn a livelihood except through the common avenues. This ukase is intended to put an end to the treatment of peasants as a class apart, to give them an opportunity to free themselves from the soil, and to place them on an equality with all other classes of the populution, by removing the restrictions hitherto imposed upon them in initative enterprise. Ail the reforms suggested in the ukase are urgent, and steps in the right direction, but the people may well doubt that the good intentions of the "Little Father," as they are pleased to call the Czar, will ever be carried out, for the bureaucrats are adepts in the "art of keeping the word of promise to the ear, and breaking it to the hcpe." And furthermore, the Czar's pledges in this and all other promised reforms, are woefully hedged about by provisos and diplomatic language, all of which must be interpreted by the bureaucrats who practically control him. Hence, it would seem that there can be little good result from the promises, nor can there ba any guaranty of the fulfilment of any proclaimed reform, in the absence of an elective national assembly, to which ministers should be morally and constitutionally responsible. But the note of December 19 distinctly v^'arns the people that they need not at present hope to have any part in shaping the affairs TOPICS OF MOMENT. 285 of the Russian nation, for they are therein forbidden to discuss the question of a constitution, and the establishment of a representative assembly. Senator SmooVs Case. On January 10, Senator John W. Dariel, of Virginia, presented a number of petitions from various persons of his state, praying for "an investigation of the charges made and filed against Hon. Reed Smoot, a senator from the state of Utah." When he had presented the papers, he made the following statement to the Senate: Mr. President, I wish to say just a word concerning these petitions. They concern the right of a senator in this body to a seat—that is, the junior senator from Utah, about whom there is a contention now prevailing before the Committee on Privileges and Elections. 'Hiere is nothing known to the Senate which makes it appropriate for any senator to form or pass any opinion upon that subject, and I am unable to understand how any of the people have been able themselves to pass upon the subject without a knowledge of what may be the testimony in the case. I have consented to present the petitions simply from my view that the people have a right to send them here, though I do not recognize any propriety in their being sent here. '*The Mormon Menace." Under the above caption, a Rev. A. E. Wishard, who is synodical missionary of the Presbyterian church for Utah, with headquarters in Salt Lake City, tells the readers of The Independent (January 12) how he is "weary of the long effort to make our friends in the East understand the true inwardness of that long conflict with the 'Mormon' hierarchy." Then he proceeds to tell the other part of the weary tale, so familiar to those who know of the local ministerial combination, as to how the "hierarchy has violated the oaths and covenants made with the United States government, and by which statehood was secured;" and as to "the supremacy of the 'Mormon' hierarchy over all civil government." He quotes liberally from a tract distributed by the ministerial combination showing how Orson Pratt claimed the Church to hold "supreme authority over the government." Then he argues that Senator Smoot, because of all this and more, should be denied a 286 IMPROVEMENT ERA. seat in the Senate. The Independent, which is certainly no lover of the "Mormons," has held consistently that it is Senator Smoot, not the "Mormons," who is being investigated, and since no fault can be found with him, he should not be denied his place. The editor makes the following statement in reply to the Reverend: We are glad to print Mr. Wishard's article in reply to an editorial of ours; but it hardly touches the subject we were discussing. The ques. tion was not, Is the Mormon Church bad? Nor, Is the Mormon church meddling with politics? nor. Is polygamy still practiced in Utah? but. Has Mr. Smoot a valid right to represent Utah in the United States Senate? Of course, the older Mormons are still living, more or less, in polygamy. Beyond question plural marriages have been contracted since they were pronounced illegal. We are aware that these offenses are no more punished than is liquor selling in Portland or Leavenworth. But the state is in the Union, and has a right to a senator, if a decent man is electe^i; and such we understand Mr. Smoot to be. He is no polygamist. But Mr. Wishard quotes accredited Mormon authorities as declaring that the Church should have supreme authority over the government. Doubtless; but on the other hand, that church has repeatedly pronounced against the union of church and state; and the authorities have solemnly aflSrmed that they are not in politics and do not propose to exercise political authority. How to harmonize the two is not our business; for it makes very little difference to the present question which is true. What Orson Pratt says is of little importance; he may be a veritable Ultramontane of Mormonism; Senator Cannon talks very differently. It would be the easiest thing in the world to collect a catena of claims by distinguished Catholic theologians, and even from the last Papal Syllabus, asserting the authority of that church over the state, and its right to impose its laws on the state; and these utterances accepted by Catholics in this country. But for this reason do we refuse to allow a Catholic to be a senator? Not at all. Further than this, we express our conviction of old, that the cross can properly be hoisted over the flag. We believe, as did Seward, in the higher law. We hold that the church has the right, speaking for the conscience of its members, to denounce and disobey laws of the state which it disapproves. At this day Dissenters are in prison in England for disobeying a law which their consciences condemn, and we do not blame them. TOPICS OF MOMENT. 287 They have done right in refusing to pay taxes for sectarian education, just as our fathers did right in disobeying the fugitive slave law. It makes no difference in principle that we are right and that the Mormons ar«, we think, wrong—their own conscience must be obeyed; and it is right for them to declare, in their own way—even Orson Pratt— that the church ought to be supreme. A multitude of Catholics believe the same. Accordingly, all this argument does not touch the question whether Mr. Smoot should be admitted to a seat. Is Utah a valid state in the Union? Has Mr. Smoot been validly elected? Is he a reputable man, fit to associaie with senators? That is all. Apple Orchards and Cold Storage. In a letter to the Era, Fruit Inspector John P. Sorensen declares that the article in the January Era, on cold storage, is to the point in drawing attention to the new industry that may be developed in Utah to the profit and benefit of the people. He believes, however, that to make the industry most beneficial, the people must know what kinds of apple trees to plant for cold storage purposes. Recommendations in eastern papers, published where climate and conditions differ from those of Utah, or given by professors whose education and experience have been in eastern institutions, are of little value, and even a positive detriment, to Utah growers. He deprecates the fact that the professors of horticulture at the Logan Experim.ental Station, have not remained long enough to familiarize themselves with local conditions, there having been six professors in the course of nine years. Again, the soil of Cache differs from that in this valley. The apple that would succeed there, would perhaps be only a moderate success in the Salt Lake valley, and would not do at all in Weber or upper valleys; what would be a success in Salt Lake, would be a failure in Summit, owing to the difference in soil, climate and altitude. Hence, before planting, consider well soil, climate, locality. He also cautions against following the advice of ''scissors editors" who write very learnedly, but have never owned nor handled either plow or cultivator. Now, as to the size of an apple orchard. For a five-acre lot, a local market may easily be obtained, the work done by the family, and yet cold storage be used to advantage. For a fiftyacre orchard, the local market need not be considered. Now, if 283 IMPROVEMENT ERA. your five-acre lot is in a sheltered locality, with rich mould or clay subsoil, the Twenty-ounce, the Rhode Island Greening, and Gano, are the best apple trees to plant. If land is exposed to much wind, plant Wine Sap, Jonathan, or Gano, since the Twenty-ounce and Greening would blow off; if land is poor and gravely, plant Jonathan and Rome Beauty. For a large orchard, and looking to the world for a market, the Jonathan and Gano, being fine bearers, and extra good sellers, one may safely put train loads in cold storage: Jonathan to February 1st, Gano to April 1st, and they will pay expenses, interest on money, and a large profit besides. This applies to Salt Lake valley, not to the higher valleys. For Morgan and Summit counties the Duchess of Oldenburg and Wealthy will be found safest and most profitable. The Gano is rapidly taking the place of the Ben Davis, and is the b