Mission Statement
Our mission is to reawaken American pride: of being a joyous part of the vast adventure of living in a great, good, and growing nation as free-born individuals.

Our Values

The St. Croix Review acquaints readers with a wide spectrum of conservative thought. We hope to sharpen our readers’ perception of passing events, so that they can discern the just cause. The Review is a specific voice in the conservative medley, a voice wide ranging in its outlook, having something cogent to say about economics, the countryside, about high culture, and about the life of ideas. By showing varieties of conservative thought, we make the Review a foremost magazine of conservative opinion.

We promote a broad-based American culture, with a rich history and precious traditions that point to a future full of promise. We emphasize American resilience, independence, creativity, and compassion.

We explain free enterprise, showing how millions of intelligent Americans create prosperity for themselves. We show how honesty, honor, kindness, and generosity are essential virtues infusing each American institution with the spark of life.

Our format is simple and direct; we emphasize clarity of expression. We are not bound to the news cycle, not caught up in media feeding frenzies. We explore basic principles. We cover events as they are: moments in the course of a slow, deep, winding river—the true stream of life.

Founder — Angus MacDonald came to the U.S. in 1946 from Australia with a degree from the College of the Bible (Victoria, Australia). He obtained a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Columbia University in New York City, and served as a Congregational Minister for twenty-five years, finally settling in Minnesota in the 1960s.

It was during the turbulent 1960s (1968 to be exact) that Angus MacDonald thought the nation needed another conservative journal, as the national newspapers, radio, and television were dominated by a left-leaning point of view. Alternative voices were ridiculed, and the country had only a couple of alternative publications so he launched The St. Croix Review.

From the earliest issues the editorial board has included a who’s-who list of prominent conservatives: Henry Hazlitt, economist and journalist; Russell Kirk, author of the Conservative Mind; Thomas Molnar, Catholic philosopher and historian; Henry Regnery, Publisher of conservative books; William F. Rickenbacker, prominent writer for the National Review; and Peter Stanlis, Professor Emeritus of English at Rockford College and author of Edmund Burke and the Natural Law; and Yale Brozan, economist and advocate of free markets.

Angus MacDonald was an early publisher of Milton Friedman, economist at the University of Chicago, and recipient of Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The following are some of Milton Friedman quotes:

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.

Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.

The 45-year history of The St. Croix Review resembles that of a self-sufficient farmer on the edge of the American frontier. All the various tasks involved in publishing the journal were done by Angus: to cut expenses he bought a printing press and printed the next issue, even though he had never printed before. He typeset the articles, kept track of subscribers on index cards, typed addresses on each label and sent them out (computers didn’t exist in 1968). Each issue of the journal for 25 years was printed, folded, collated, stitched and cut, sorted and addressed by hand in house. And of course Angus wrote editorials the whole time.

It has taken tenacity to survive, and the coming of the computer age has been a blessing, allowing much greater ease and efficiency in publishing. But the perspective of the review has remained the same: common sense, enterprise, and honesty.

The following is a summary of the December/January 2015/6 issue of The St. Croix Review:

In “The West and Islam,” Mark E. Mishanie remarks on the nature of Islamic ideology and Michael S. Swisher responds.

Don Lee, in “I Will Discriminate,” distinguishes between politically correct notions and common sense judgment.

Thomas Martin, in “Who is in Charge Here?” offers Platonic wisdom.

Paul Kengor in , “Paris, Brussels, and Twenty-first Century Europe,” sees post-Christian Europe as extremely vulnerable to Islamic conversion; in “Cherry-Picking Pope Francis,” he makes the point the Pope is neither liberal nor conservative, but he is a dedicated proponent of the traditional family; in “Pope Francis vs. the ‘Demon’ of Gender Theory,” he shows the Pope’s passionate reinforcement of traditional views on gender; in “Surviving Hitler’s ‘Hell-Hole’ . . . Remembering Frank Kravetz,” he retells the story of how an airman kept his spirits up while he was a POW.

Mark Hendrickson, in “Feeling Good About America on a Chilly Autumn Evening,” reminds us of the ties that bind us together; in “Thoughts on Jeb Bush’s Tax Plan,” he considers the pros and cons of the plan and looks beyond just the economic factors; in “Hillary Clinton’s ‘New College Compact’ Raises an Important Question: Did She Ever Take Econ 101?” he sees layer upon layer of error; in “The ‘Not Enough Jobs’ Scenario: An Economic Fallacy,” he contests the recurring arguments for more government interference by showing that economic freedom is the source of our prosperity.

Herbert London in, “The Iran Deal Is a Turning Point,” he considers strategic consequences and ends with an intriguing question; in “Why Government Has Grown,” he sees weakness in the mediating institutions that used to infuse vitality into society: the family, the schools, the churches, and the civil associations; in “Russian Attacks on U.S. Backed Rebels,” he compares Russian goals and actions and President Obama’s embarrassing ineffectiveness; in “Israel Defending Itself,” he considers the perils Israel is facing due to President Obama’s deal with Iran and Russia’s aggressive posture in the region; in “Blindness in the Rationalist Tradition,” he describes the mindset of President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry who refuse to recognize evil and who downplay the words “Death to America.”

Allan C. Brownfeld, in “‘White Privilege’: Not a Term Generations of Hardworking Immigrants Would Understand,” points to the difficulties Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants had upon their arrival in America, and he highlights the historical ethos of America – through hard work anyone can succeed; in “The Sin of Contemporaneity: Cleansing History by Applying Today’s Standards to Our Ancestors,” he cites the world-wide prevalence of slavery throughout history and at the Founding of America; in “Remembering a Time When Our Leaders Risked Their Lives and Fortunes for What They Believed,” he compares the wisdom and courage of our Founders with the cravenness of modern politicians.

We have learned that John A. Howard, the former President of Rockford College and veteran of W.W. II, passed away this August at the age of ninety-three. John Howard was a long-time supporter of and a greatly appreciated author for The St. Croix Review. We are publishing “Some Reflections on Choosing a College,” as tribute to him: he writes about the need to transmit the virtues necessary for self-governance to the young, and he explains how well our universities are doing (not well).

In “Obama’s College ‘Scorecard’ Doesn’t Measure Up,” Paul J. McNulty, the current President of Grove City College, in Grove City Pennsylvania, shows how Grove City College is truly a school a cut above the rest.

Philip Vander Elst, in “Resisting Socialism in Early 20th Century Britain,” shares the history of the Anti-Socialist Union, formed in 1908, as a pioneering organization promoting classical liberalism.

Alvin Shane, in “Political Outlaw,” assesses Hillary Clinton’s character.

Jo Ann Gardner, in “Reading Genesis from the Ground Up,” presents a reading of the bible including the symbolic importance of shepherds.

Jigs Gardner, in “Letters from a Conservative Farmer: My Days as a Hedge Vet,” tells delightful stories about a neighbor and caring for farm animals.

Jigs Gardner, in “The Scarlet Letter,” considers Nathaniel Hawthorne’s great novel.

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