THE AMERICAN PRESS AND ZION CITY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 134, 9 June 1906, Page 4

THE AMERICAN PRESS AND ZION CITY.

In the midst of the troubles precipitated by John Alexander Dowie, selfstyled Elijah the Restorer, the American public is wondering what will become of Zion City, the little theocracy founded by the outcast prophet. To begin with, will the citizens of Zion remain Dowieites? Dowieism. is the rock upon which they stand, and yet the rock upon which they split is Dowie. Already the whole community is heterodosdj /the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle points out. Dowie alone remains orthodox. Besides, legally, much of the property stands in Dowie's name, and the community cannot tamper with the State law. In the opinion of many newspapers, Zion City, with its' population of nearly 10,000, will continue to flourish, Elijah or no Elijah. After all, Mr Voliva, the new leader, is a young man of great commercial and executive ability, and his regime, thinks the Atlanta Constitution, " starts as auspiciously " as that of the deposed prophet. Monument though it is to Dowie's " bizarre methods," Zion City, in the opinion of the New York World, is a " substantial " monument. It is a peaceful, orderly community, and, granted "an energetic leader or good principles,'" The World cannot see why the prophet's dreams should not "materialise in a useful permanent settlement." The Chicago Tribune and many other papers are of precisely the same way of thinking, and the Toledo Blade adds as a rider that Mr Voliva may succeed in turning its people " away from Dowie's heresies." For, of course, in clinging to Dowieism, he would encounter difficulty. As the New York Tribune puts it, " Can the disciple of a false prophet say, ' My master was a fakir, but I am the real thing?' Or if he does, can he expect the same people to look at him without grinning?" Indeed, the Chicago Chronicle feels that " death and dissolution are inevitable "—pcertainly so far as concerns the religious side. And just as, in the words of the old song, "the light of a whole life dies when love'is gone," so, thinks the New York Times, Dowieism must fail with no Dowie behind it. And when it comes to uninspired communism, well, the advice of The Times is that Mr Voliva had better " not read history if he would sleep o' nights." Judging from appearances, adds the Times, " the experiment at Zion City has now degenerated into a fight for the assets." Dowie is ill and stricken, but the Chicago Chronicle, quoted above, predicts that "Zion City will be quiet even after his death."