MOHAMMEDANS. 



567 



Confident of the integrity and wisdom of the Demo- 

 cratic party in conducting the affairs of this State, we 

 invite the closest scrutiny, and we congratulate the 

 people upon the prospect of an overwhelming approval 

 of the State and National administrations as conduct- 

 ed by the servants of the people and the representa- 

 tives'of the Democratic party. 



We approve the action of the Democratic House of 

 Representatives of the present Congress in pacing 

 the Mills Bill, and declare it to be in obedience to the 

 terms of the Constitution, limiting taxation to the pur- 

 pose of raising the revenue for the payment of the 

 necessary expenses and obligations of the Govern- 

 ment. 



The Democratic party, as the special champion of 

 the people, condemns all trusts and rings, and favors 

 such wise legislation as will secure to both producers 

 and consumers prices based on the laws of supply and 

 demand. 



The Union Labor Party placed in the field 



the following candidates: for Governor, 



Manning; Lieutenant-Governor, J. C. Sea- 

 bourn ; Secretary of State, Boswell Fox ; Au- 

 ditor, William H. Noerr; Treasurer. Warren 

 Yertrees ; Attorney-General, L. L. Bridges (the 

 Republican candidate) ; Register of Lands, G. 

 B. De Bernard! ; Railroad Commissioner, Will- 

 iam H. Bell ; Judge of the Supreme Court, 

 Corbin D. Jones. The nominees of the Prohi- 

 bition party were: for Governor, Frank M. 

 Lowe; Lieutenant-Governor, William C. Wil- 

 son ; Secretary of State, Herman P. Farm; 

 Auditor, James S. Cobban ; Treasurer, Will- 

 iam H. Craig ; Attorney-General. George T. 

 Bowling; Register of Lands, John F. McMur- 

 ray : Railroad Commissioner, D. H. Lancy; 

 Judge of the Supreme Court, Loren G. Rowell. 

 At the election in November, the Democratic 

 State and national tickets were successful, after 

 a spirited canvass. For Governor, Francis re- 

 ceived 255,764 votes: Kimball. 24-2.531 ; Man- 

 ning, 15,438 ; and Lowe, 4,389. But Francis ran 

 about 5,000 behind his ticket. On the basis 

 of the vote for Auditor, the party strength 

 was as follows: Seibert, 201,775 votes; Mar- 

 tin, 236,696; Xoerr, 19,069; Cobban, 4,385. 

 The Legislature of 1889, elected at the same 

 time, will stand: In the Senate, Democrats, 

 24 ; Republicans, 9 ; Labor, 1 ; in the House, 

 Democrats, 78; Republicans, 51; Labor, 11. 

 Democratic Congressmen were elected in the 

 first seven and in the Eleventh, Twelfth, and 

 Fourteenth Districts. A Republican was elect- 

 ed in the Thirteenth District, and the fusion 

 candidates of the Republican and L'nion Labor 

 parties in the other three districts. 



MOHAMMEDAXS. The Faith of Islam The 

 reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid has been marked 

 by considerably more zeal in spreading the 

 creed of Mohammed than was exhibited under 

 those of any of his immediate predecessors, 

 and, according to the lists published in the 

 journals of Constantinople, an unusually large 

 number of accessions from among Christians 

 and Jews to the Mohammedan faith occurred 

 during 1887. For the most part the converts 

 were men of little note ; but among the num- 

 ber were Chaphaz Effendi. a judge and mem- 

 ber of an old Armenian family, and a foreigner 



who was identified with Mr. Schumann, a man 

 of letters residing in Hanover, the latter gen- 

 tleman having applied to the Sheik-ul-Islam, 

 Ahmed Ersead Effendi, for a statement of the 

 conditions on which he could be received as a 

 Mussulman. The reply of this officer, which 

 was published in French in the "Levant Her- 

 ald," may be accepted as a clear statement for 

 foreigners of the orthodox Mohammedan faith. 

 It points out, first, that it is not necessary to 

 ask permission to become a Mussulman, " for 

 Islam does not admit of any mediators like the 

 clergy between God and his servants," and con- 

 sequently conversion to its faith entails neither 

 religious formality nor any person's authority. 



In short [it continues] the basis of the religion of 

 Islam is belief in the unity of God and in the mission 

 of his servant, the most beloved Mohammed (upon 

 whom may God confer his blessings and grant salva- 

 tion !), and only requires that one confirm that belief 

 in his heart and" avow it in word, as is expressed by the 

 phrase (written in Arabic), " There is out one *God, 

 and Mohammed is his prophet." Whoever makes 

 this profession of faith becomes a Mussulman without 

 having to obtain the consent and approbation of any 

 one. If, as you premise in your letter, you so make 

 this profession of faith that is, if you declare that 

 there is but one God and Mohammed' is his prophet 

 you become a Mussulman without needing any ac- 

 ceptation by us ; and we shall proudly and joyfully 

 felicitate you on your having been touched with di- 

 vine grace, and we shall bear witness in this world 

 as in the next that you are our brother in religion 

 (the faithful are all brothers). 



Concerning the mission of Mohammed and 

 the inspired character of the Koran, the Sheik 

 declared : 



Man, who is superior to the other animals by rea- 

 son of his intelligence, was produced from nothing to 

 adore his Creator. His adoration may be described as 

 obeying the commands of God and having compassion 

 on his creatures. This double adoration exists in all 

 religions. In its practice, religions differ in regard to 

 the'regulation, the form and number, whether it be 

 large or small, of the rites, the times, places, and 

 conditions of performing them, and with regard to their 

 ministers ; but human intelligence is not adequate to 

 knowing the manner of praying mo.-t worthy of the 

 divine glory. Hence God, in his clemency, by grant- 

 hur t-i some human beings the gift of prophecy, by 

 sending to them through the angels and inspiration 

 writings and books, and thus revealing the true re- 

 ligion to them, has loaded his servants with his bene- 

 factions. The book of God which came down last 

 from Heaven is the Holy Koran, whose invariable 

 precepts, preserved from the first day in written vol- 

 umes and in the memory of thousands of reciters, 

 shall endure till the day of final judgment. The first 

 of the prophets was Adam and the last Mohammed (to 

 whom may God grant salvation !). Between these two 

 prophets "manv others have passed over the earth ; 

 the number of 1 whom is known by God alone. The 

 greatest of all is Mohammed. After him come Jesus, 

 . Abraham, and then Noah and Adam (to whom 

 may God grant salvation !). 



Concerning the future state and the day of 

 judgment : 



All the actions of every one in this world shall be 

 on that day examined one by one, and while all the 

 a^'ts of soldiers who have fought in the holy war, even 

 their sleep, are considered as a prayer, they also will 

 be obliiren. on the day of the last judgment, to render 

 account of themselves. There are no exceptions ex- 

 cept in the case of those who die for the holy cause ; 



