11
PUBLIC PULSE IS FELT IN LETTERS ON VARIOUS TIMELY TOPICS
TTTE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND. MARCH 14, 1915.
Purchase of Railroad in
Alaska Opposed.
Cormpondnt Criticises Article en
Polities la Alaska Railroads,'
rommrat on Which Is Based on
Commissioner's Report.
PORTLAND, March 13. (To the Ed
itor.) Having read your editorials
for several years, I was much surprised
at your article Wednesday, "Politics
in Alaska Railroads." Having been In
Alaska for several years. I can readily
see that your araicle was either based
on lack of information or extreme bias
against the present Administration,
and. knowing your reputation for fair
ness. 1 prefer to believe the former.
The question of railroads for Alaska
is a bis proposition and one calling for
much study and not hasty action. Not
only does the future opening up or
Alaska depend upon cheap freight
rates, bnt Government consirucwvn
operation of railroaos aiso wni w
i i o oa- to sav that Govern
ment operation of railroads in Alaska
has nothing to ao wim ui """"'"",:
operating roads in the older settled
portions of the United States, but we
all 'know that, should these lines in
Alaska prove a failure financially,
every railroad official in the " United
States would point to it as an instance
of a Government-operated railroad.
Thre are, however, greater issues at
stake than this. The Government
Tailroad presumably must be built for
not to exceed $35,000,000 or 140.000.000
and to get to Fairbanks alone will re
quire between 400 and 500 miles of rail
road. If the Government should take
over the Copper River Railroad run
ning from Cordova, to Chitina. 132
miles, and from there east to the Ken
ntcott. or Bonanza mines, and pay the
owners, the Morgan-Guggenheim inter
ests, their actual cost of construction.
bout 120,000,000. you can readily see
that there will be little money left to
build the remaining 300 or 350 miles to
Fairbanks, and this does not take into
consideration a line to either of the
coal fields, probably the most Impor
tant reason for building these lines.
There are a great many other things
which might be said about this line. It
runs through a canyon and across the
delta, fiats of the Copper River for the
most of Us 13i -miles which the Gov
ernment would use. The wind comes
down through this canyon with tre
mendous force In Winter time ana nas
for the last three years blocked the
rmil vrv Winter, sometimes for as
i o. iv neks at a. time, thus stop
ping the mail for the whole Interior of
Alaska unless It is sent, in u cineo
from Valdex. which has been done in
torn, instances. Its three $1,000,000
hririzes over the Copper River are
thought by some engineers to be se
riously threatened by the enormous
glaciers in their vicinity.
Now let us look at another feature
of this line. To one who knows noth
ing of local conditions it might appear
that the Government, in building a line
to Fairbanks, was Interfering with
the rights of the Copper River line and
therefore should buy this line and
make It a part of the Government sys-
' teni. Let us look at the map of
Alaska. Any railroad going to Fair
banks should start from the neighbor
hood of Prince William found, either
from Cordova. Valdex or Portage Bay
or Seward, on Resurrection Bay. Just
nest of Prince William Sound. As the
two great objects of the railroad are
to gei to the coal fields and to open up
the interior to Fairbanks, we can prob
ably disregard Valdex as a terminal, as
a line starting from there would not
psss to either or any of the coal fields.
Jt would appear that the best that Val
dex could expect would be a line run-
- ning from Valdex over Marshall Pass
to Teikhell. on the Copper River Rail
road. . This leaves Cordova, from
which the Copper River Railroad runs,
and Seward, from which the Alaska
Northern Railway runs north 71 miles
to Kern Creek, on Turnagain Arm.
, about half way to the Matanuska coal
fields. This Is the other lino which
vou suggest that the Government buy.
The remaining route runs from
Portage Bay. in the western part cl
Trlnre William Sound, to mile .63 on
the Alaska Northern Railway on Turn
again Arm. This would involve the
construction of a tunnel about three
miles long and 11 miles of railroad,
thus cutting off 52 miles from the Alas
ka Northern route. In addition, this
52 miles of the Alaska Northern Rail
way goes over two mountain summits
and makes a complete circle on a tres
tle. wIiprss the Portage Ray route
would give a water grade from tide
water to the Matanuska coal fields. It
would pass from the mild climate of
the coast, with Its heavy snowfall, to
the cold climate of the interior through
this tunnel, thus avoiding the difficul
ties of operating over summits or
through canyons in Alaska. There may
be reasons why this route would not
be advisnhlc, but I know of none, and
it certainly should be given careful
consideration before putting $3,000,000
to $5,000,000 in the Alaska Northern or
$20,000,000 in the Copper River Rail
road. Either the rortase Bay or
Seward route would puss near the
Matanuska coal holds, as they would
join at mile 63 on the Alaska Northern
nr mile 11 on the Portage Bay route.
Follow this line on to Fairbanks and
we find that it passes through the
Stisitna Valley, with Its placer ami
hard rock mines, abundant supply of
pulp wood and what is acknowledged
to be the greatest agricultural district
in Alaska: over Broad Pass, where it
is said that some. hard rock mines have
been found: past the Nenana coal fields,
the largest know n fields in the interior,
nd on to Fairbanks.
Glancina at the Copper River route
we find that there is nothing in the
way of mines or agricultural lands
from Chitina to the Tana.na River. 200
or 3o0 miles, except a small placer
amo on Siate Creek, which has been
prettv thoroughly worked out. and
Valdez Creek placer camp, which is
much nearer the other route. Not hav.
'ng considered the different routes, let
ns go back and consider whether the
Government is under any obligation
to take over the Copper River line. The
line from Portage Bay or Seward would
be about 160 miles airline west of the
Copper River Railway, certainly far
enough awav so it would not interfere
with any of their local traffic, when
you come to consider that a developed
country Is supposed to support a line
about every four miles. It is manifest
tnat the Copper River Railway had no
intention of extending Its line to Fair
banks, as It has had several years al
ready In which to do so. As a matter
of fact, the Copper River line was built
for the same purpose that any other
mlneowner builds a tram for his mine,
to enable the Morgan-Guggenheim in
terests to get their ore from the Ken
sicott mine to tidewater. This mine
runs about 70 per cent copper and has
already paid its owners several million
dollars in dividends. Of course it would
be fine for them if the Government
would take over the line, extend it and
relieve them of the burden of main
taining it and thus enable them to re
ceive more actual profits from their
mine. but. as they have not suggested
turning this mine over with the rail
road property. It Is . not understood
wherein the Government Is under any
obligations In the matter.
If the Government wishes to open up
the Bering coal fields, it would appear
to be much better and at the same
time conserve the interests of the peo
ple of the great interior of Alaska as
well as the Government's investment In
the railroad system to arrange tor
traffic rights over about 26 miles of
the Copper .River Railway out of Cor
dova and build a branch of a.bout -'6
miles more to the coal fields. How
ever, as the Matanuska coal has proved
to be far superior to th'e Bering River
coal In the naval test, it would appear
to be unnecessary to open up at this
Ume the Bering River field. This
question of naval coal is a momentous
one In itself, as the Matanuska coal
would appear to be the only coal on
the shore of the entire Pacific Ocean
'suitable for naval use and the Copper
Kiver line would not tap this field.
The question of a naval base, inti
mately . associated with the railroad
question, has not been touched upon,
hilt enouarh has been said. It would
seem, to show that the locating of this
line of railroads was a question requir
ing lone and careful study on tne pan
of the President, and that politics, as
you have stated in your editorial, has
nothing to do with the Presidents ae
lay In this matter.
A SUBSCRIBER.
The Oregonian's criticism was based
on the report of the' Alaska Railroad
Commission recommending the pur
chase of. the existing roads and on a
dispatch from Washington stating that
Secretary Lane recommended the pur
chase of the Copper River road, but
WAX overruled by the President. The
reason given for the President's action
was that the road is owned by the
Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate. We
maintain that that Is no reason at all.
Our correspondent seems to advance
some valid objections to the purchase.
If they should hold good The Oregonian
would be the last to insist upon the
Government's buying the road. We
simply maintain . that the decision
should be governed by just such con
siderations as our correspondent ad
vances, not by the fact that the road
is owned by Guggenheim, Morgan, Bill
Jones. John Smith, or a yellow aog.
It is. a business, not a political, ques
tion, and should be decided on Business
principles.
Dragging of Roads as Spring
Nears Is Advocated.
Writer Suggests Preparation of
Highways Before Tourist Tide In-
PORTLAND, March 13. tTo tne Edi
tor.) Spring Is upon us and Sum
mer will soon be at hand and in a
short time thousands and thousands of
fair visitors will be in our city. Vie
have-In the vicinity of this city and
for a great distance in every direc-
tlon. miles and miles of beautiful,
restful scenery, with which that of
Southern-California is not be compared.
After the glare and heat of a season
in California, thousands of Eastern
tourists, most of whom would make
most acceptable permanent residents
win he clad to spend a time in our
city and to visit in automobiles our
nrrnnnriinr country. But after the
magnificent roads of Southern Cali
fornia and the good ones of the cen
tral part of that state, unless some
thing is done and aone quicsiy,
Imnresslons that might be gained will
in consequence of rough, rutty, dusty
roads be lost. On many or our coun
ty roads no work or any consequence
has been done for many months. Now,
to any one who lias given the matter
any study, the fact is potent that no
roads other than a hard-surface road
is practicable ii this day and genera
tion, but. of course, we all know that
within the next few montns we are to
get, if any, hut nttie nara-auriduiib
of county roads. I believe that imme
diate steps should be taken to put in
better condition miles and miles of
what are now "fair" roads. I have
many, many times seen reference maae
to the "split-log "drag." but with all
this talk and agitation I have, and 1
think myself a fair observer, never
seen one of tnese aevices. x luiim.
frntn published descriptions, tnat J
fairly understand what the Implement
looks like and wnat it is supposed m
accomplish. I believe that it Is uni
versally acknowledged to be a benefi
cial device for the Improvement of a
road. We have In our county alone
many miles of roads constructed of
gravel and of crushed stone. I won
der, and have for years wondered, why
the split-log drag, or something akin
to this. Is not used on these roads.
I never built a road, never had any
thing to do with the building of a
road, but I do know that the one
grand principle of the business is so
to "crown" the surface that water
runs from It and not Into it. I re
member when I was a young man there
was in front of my gate a road built
of fine gravel. This soon became,
with travel, worn into two ruts where
the wagon wheels passed. It was my
custom eacn wees, wnn a r, in yuan
the gravel that had been forced by the
traffic to the side of the road into and
toward the center, thereby filling up
the tracks made by the passing wheels.
and In a measure rounding up ine
surface. That road, m tne course oi
a few weeks, became so tightly packed
and so hard that one could crush with
a hammer any little rock on its smooth
surface. That same road on each side
of my place held water falling on it,
was rough and uneven and was a
wreck long, long before that cared for
by me showed signs of decay. This,
as I understand it. is the principle of
the split-krg drag, ' an Implement
which is. I believe. Inexpensive,
Last Summer -there was a -stretch of
road extending from a point a short
distance below Scappoose and to St.
Helens that was enough to provoke
one to "cuss" every time I drove over
It. Some time before it had been well
improved with crushed blue-black rock
from the vicinity of St. Helens, where
there Is an inexhaustible supply or tne
finest road material ever provided for
man. Auto and watron travel, nas
"saueezed" much of his material to
the outside of the road and to the very
center, leaving two well-defined rough
and uneven tracks in the surface for
many miles. Some simple device for
filling these ruts (and all the neeoea
material was lvinir there useless to one
side or the other or both clean, fine
blue crushed rock) would soon have
provided a smooth, fine surface, but the
last time I passed over that road they
were, at enormous expense, again
haulinsr hundreds and perhaps thou
sands of auto truck loads of rock,
which in all likelihood will be treated
as was the original. I am convinced
that were a drag or light scraper of
some sort put over such roads every
few days while the weather is wet and
the surface loosened by moisture, the
ordinary traffic, even without a roller.
soon would shape this down to a fine
road. The cost of dragging many
miles of such road would be inconsid
erable. The holes in the surface would
soon be filled by loose material and
quickly pack hard. The road between
our paved streets and the paved ex
perlmental piece of roadway on the
Linnton road has been for a long time
a veritable nightmare, simply awful.
During the past two months, however,
a lot of work has been done on this
and conditions have been much ira
nroved. but at great cost. I may be
wrong, but I believe that had a com
paratively small amount of finely
crushed good rock been spread on this
stretch of road and a man and team
and drag been used constantly for
some weeKs, conditions praciicauy as
good as the present would have been
obtained and at a cost very much under
that used. I believe that if work was
done on the Base Line road. Section
Line road. Powell Valley and Sandy
roads. Oregon City road and others; if
a small amount of finely crushed rock
or gravel was used and teams and
drags employed in constantly passing
over the same, with some crude oil to
hold the dust, we would soon have a
lot of roads over which we could drive
our expected guests without feeling too
much ashamed, and from which they
could enjoy our beautiful and varied
scenery with some degree of pleasure.
Of course all this Is but a makeshift
and we must have in the near future
hard surface of some sort on the prin
cipal and most-used county roads, but
a situation confronts us now and we
must meet It as best we can and meet
it quickly. Thousands will be here
and we want them to return and make
their homes in our delightful climate
and fair state. At present there is
hardly a direction in which I could
take a guest for a rido of 10 or 20
miles out of our city without blushing
for the condition of the road. T. G. F.
all belligerents until they return' to and - likely to withhold action if the com .- '"JJdrLM
Return to Sane Restriction Is
Need of Unemployed.
Present Trend of National Legisla
tion Is Declared Opposite to Knds
That Would Give Relief.
be governed by international law. This
would be an honorable and efficient
short cut. True, it would set things
askew for a few days, but in a very
short time all would return to their
normal condition again. Then, when
they are tired of slaughtering each
other, call a congress of all nations,
organize a united states of the world,
adopt a code of international laws, or
ganize a small world army and navy
to enforce these laws when necessary,
and throw all armaments into a junk
heap and -sell it to the highest bidder
and live in peace and happiness ever
after under our several governments,
reducing our enonanous expenses to the
tune of dreadnoughts, torpedo-boats,
submarines, big guns, little guns, pop
guns, ammunitions, standing armies and
various necessary evils. But some man
ufacturer of arms and various muni
tions of war.will say, "No, no, no, that"
will never ao. Uret us, wnne we are
making our millions, teach them that
they cannot Insult our flag with im
punity." And some owner of a line of
steamers will echo, "No, no, no, let us,
while we are sticking to our job and
salting the dollars, do them like we
didn't do Mexico, make them come to
time, and then let us get down on our
knees and pray for the end of this in
human strife, remembering that, while
the producer is raking in the shekels
the consumer is shoveling out his hard
earned nickels."
Tours for an honorable and everlast
ing peace. JAMES HARMAN.
"Moral Raids" Denounced
as Useless and Wrong.
Damage Only- Is Done to People Who
Pay Taxes and Kvil Is Not Cured,
Is Assertion.
"JORTLAND. March 13. (To the Edi
WT tor.) I consider the so-called
"moral raids" of the Mayor and police
on hotels and rooming-houses abso
lutely indefensible and without result
If there is anything wrong in any
building, that particular thing should
be set right, whatever' the complaint.
It is not necessary for a squad of pblice
to enter, in the middle of the night.
any hotel or rooming-house, arouse all
the inmates by breaking in doors, if it
suits police, pleasure, and take 20 or
more people to the police station. I
can see why raids should be made on
disorderly houses run for the one pur
pose only but the ordinary hotel is the
home of transient guests or people of
the city and is entitled to police pro
tection. The owner of the building pays
heavy taxes for this protection, and his
property should not be subjected to
police outrage until all means or
eradicating any particular evil have
been exhausted. If a hotel is reported
disorderly, the exact nature of the dis
order must be known to the complain-
nt. Why, therefore, is the charge not
made specific against persons or rooms
and not against the whole property?
And why are not these specific. charges
made direct to the landlord? A gen
eral complaint that a building is this
or that amounts to nothing. If there
is enough wrong to justify a complaint
it should be easy to say what the wrong
Is. If there is something out of gear
in a man's daily business he fixes that
particular thing very quickly, but does
not pull down his whole Dusiness De-
cause of it. If there are decidedly im
moral people in buildings, the police
must know them and their names, else
why are they branded as such? If a
landlord is shown that such persons are
bad and told to get rid of them, is he
SEW M. VtGKR OF "TRIPLK
AI.M.IXC'K" AT WH1TK SAL
MON HAS E.YPKRIE.NCI
1".
"v j
M 1
, ...... . imnTfiT i-- -ftn-iw1
Homer C Day.
WHITE SALMON", Wash., March
13. (Special.) Homer G. Day,
the newly elected manager of
White Salmon's "Triple Alliance,"
the Fruit Growers' Union, the
Underwood Union and the Colum-
!bia River Cannery, for 20 years
was connected with the sales do-
pariiiieni ui vim . , - .
firms In the country. He came
here from Minneapolis five years
ago to engage in ral estate busi
ness. For the past two years ht
has maintained Portland officafi
in the Yeon building in connec
tion with his White Salmon busi
ness. The position requires a man
with a wide selling experience
combined with the detailed me
chanical knowledge necessary to
the actual management of the
cannery. In placing one high
salaried man at the head of these
three combined organizations It
was felt that better general re
sults would be obtained.
PORTLAND, March 6. (To the Edi
tor.) Anything like permanent re
lief of the serious condition of "the un
employed," in my thought, can only be
accomplished by bringing to pass one of
two things first, diminish the number
or increase the demand for labor.
The law of supply an'd demand con
trols the situation, beyond any perma
nent solution. No plan can be adopted to
make a success of employment at a con
tinuing loss to the contractor, be he an
individual or corporation, municipal,
state or National promoter.
The present trend of this National
Administration is in direct converse of
the needed requirements of diminishing
the supply and increasing the demand.
This it is doing by opening the way for
incoming alien labor and by restrictive
regulation of Industrial activities in the
factories for the manufacture of needed
merchandise and by opening the market
to the products of cheap labor in all
civtlizcd countries of the world.
Here In Oregon the would-be con-1
tractor is confronted with the required
navment of the price tor ten hours'
work, for an eight-hour service, and
the price demanded for the eight-hour
service, is more than double the .pay
for 10. 12 and 14 hours' service in the
foreign factories. This fact, together
with cheap transportation, enables the
.Importers to sell their goods far below
any possible earnings by the would-be
contractors In this country. inis in
hibition is largely abbetted by the
"walking delegates." supported by the
worklngmen, organizing strikes and
boycotts, one of the most wasteful and
destructive interventions of manufactur
ing industries of the times. Uncle Sam's
restrictions of manufacturing industries
and a reasonable protection by tariff
legislation governing cheap labor pro
ductions, manufacturing industries
would soon give employment to labor
on such a large demand that the few
remaining would be classed as the
"Won't works." Under proper protection
our factories could furnish our markets
with nearly all that is needed In the
average well-to-do-home, such as car
pets, rugs, furniture in fact all house
hold furnishings, including food and
clothing of every grade, excepting tea,
coffee, spices and rubber goods.
None of this can possibly be accom
plished by the supinely waiting process
as voiced by fadists peddling "hot air,"
boostings, and optimists psycological
oratory, but when the American voters
recover their senses and return to sane
restrictive legislation and home labor
protection we will find a somewhat
speedy . relief for the unemployed situ
ation. Otherwise it will prove to be a
"long road to TIpperary."
W. H. ODELL.
Forming of United States of
World Suggested.
Peace Advocate Would Have AH
Neutrals Put Embargo on Shtp-
- menta to Ail Belligerents to Bring
Them to Time.
! MODEL OK SKYSCRAPER Ht R- t
Rl ED ACROSS CONTINENT
TO FAIR.
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JM TRTLE CREEK. Or., March 5.
1 I (To the Editor.) I note that the
German press grossly misjudges every
German-American by intimating that In
case of trouble between America and
they would violate their
double oath, renouncing their allegiance
to Germany and swearing aiiesmu-c .
their new home; but the uerman press
i. in error. The German-Americans are
good men and true. They left their old
home for a reason, and haven't forgot
ten that reason. They have also tasted
something that the German press knows
not of. In time or our Jate war Ger
many got a little frisky, and I heard
a German General say, in speaking
about our having trouble with Germany
at that time, that he could raise a German-American
army that would whip
Germany. Now, for a solution of our
threatened trouble. Let all neutrals de
clare an embargo on all shipments to
Great Bank Home Reproduced.
NEW YORK. March 13. An ex
Libit of unusual interest at the
Panama-Pacific International Ex
position is a model of the 40
story pyramid-crowned steel and
granite building of the Bank
ers' Trust Coirfpany, of this city.
The model stands about 40 feet
high and is an exact reproduction
of the exterior of the original
building, which towers 540 feet
above the pavement at Wall and
Nassau streets.
This building is one of the
best-known in America, not only
on account of its unusual archi
tectural features for example,
the granite roof In the form of a
stepped pyramid, 94 feet high
but also on account of its loca
tion, the great banking institu
tion of which it is the home, and
the distinguished tenants, includ
ing many of the best-known cap
tains of industry and finance of
this country.
plaint is well founded? The officer on
the eat ehould know when a place
needs correction, and just how it needs
it. and a word from him. or, if neces
sary, from-police headquarters, should
be sufficient. But If matters are not
remedied within a reasonable time, and
after several admonitions, there is yet
the owner of the property to appeal to,
and he surely will compel his tenant
to put things right. If a place is dis
orderly at all. It is an easy matter to
find out who makes the disorder; but
one or a few disorderly people in a ho
tel do not make all the occupants dis
orderly and should not subject them to
arrest like common felons. No place
becomes a nuisance unless the police,
by absolute failure in duty, allows it to
become such. To meet interest and the
heavy taxes of these times many prop
erty owners are compelled to build to
save their property, and to get revenue
they can build only hotels or flats, with
stores below. The leaseson these build
ings are made as strict and binding as
to their moral conduct as It is possible
to make them. The owners cannot
know who is in each and every room
every night, no matter how much at
tention they. may give their property.
Nor can the "landlord of a hotel know
that guests signing as man and wife
have been properly married. A landlord
who asked his guests tor marriage cer
tificates would certainly have plenty
of trouble on his hands. People must
be taken at their word, unless appear
ances are otherwise against them, and
the property, owner can only warn his
tl ant to be careful to run his hotel in
al orderly manner, as stipulated in the
le se. In the absence of anything to
tht contrary, he believes it is being so
run, until he reads in the paper some
morning that the police have "raided
It. turned the guests out of their beds
in the early morning hours and tanen
them to the police station. What can
the owner do? If he goes to the police
station and tries to help his tenant or
defend his property he will likely be
accused with the tenant and told he
cares only for the money paid him as
rent, when everyone knows most prop
erty owners have had to reduce their
rents to a point where they are abso
lutely unable to get out of their prop
erty the heavy taxes imposed upon it
by the city. Property owners have the
distinguished privilege of paying taxes
to support the city in the raids on
their property when they should be get
ting proper protection for that prop
erty. They are footballs for the Mayor
and police, and perfectly helpless. They
know the raids are not justified and
are wrong, though things may not be
exactly as they would have them; but
they cannot appear to approve or im
morality, and to avoid notoriety and
keep their names out of the newspapers
they do nothing, which is taken as ad
mission that conditions are as claimed,
and with their consent. And so it is
with some of the people arrested. They
may not be guilty, as charged, but the
fine Is small and resistance means em
ploying an attorney, court notoriety, a
long, nervous wait before the case is
heard or finally decided, and repeated
advertising in the newspapers. So, it
is said, they often plead guilty as the
easiest way out of the trouble; when
there is no real evidence on which to
convict them. And after the raid on
the hotel and the newspaper advertis
ing of it, which the public eagerly
reads, what happens? Why. the place
is so branded that many of its best peo
ple move ont at once, because afraid of
another raid or of being known to live
in such a disreputable place. And not
only do they move out, but the kind of
people the hotel wants are for the sa
reason disinclined to move in, and this
applies not only in the city, but to the
transient people from the surrounding
cities and towns who have made the
hotel their city headquarters, perhaps
for a number of years. The instances
are many where guests have left ho
tels raided, or hotels in the vicinity of
those raided, informing, the landlords
when they went that they had no fault
to find and would like to stay, but for
business or other reasons could not af
ford it. The result Is easy to guess.
The landlord cannot fill his house,
therefore cannot pay his rent and the
property owner has to stand a financial
loss. The raiding of one hotel afects
all hotels, because no one knows whose
turn will be next. But the property
owner and taxpayer has more troubles
to come, for the District Attorney, ac
cording to the law, must bring an
action against him. and he is compelled
to put up a 11000 bond to guarantee
the future conduct of his hotel, or per
haps have it entirely closed up. It
would seem impossible to make any
more ridiculous or unfair law than this,
but it is the law, and will be used
against the property owner until the
public sees its injustice and compels
its repeal.
In every hotel in the civilized world,
every night, there is apt to be some
thing wrong going on, and no one can
stop it. The Mayor may strike wildly
lieve in it as thoroughly and advocate
it as strenuously as any medical man.
and I should be sorry for such a one
should he exist. Then, in the name of
common sense, let us get rid of the
idea that sanitation is the exclusive
property of the medical profession.
While giving the profession our sln
cerest thanks and heartiest support in
all it has accomplished or can accom
plish in that direction, let us not forget
that many of the sanitary measures oi
todav are the results of the labor of
men outside the profession, and of those
to be credited to the profession a great
many more may be credited to heretics
within it. Besides beinK fully as mucn
in favor of sanitation in general as is
the medical profession, we drugle6s
nhvsicians are even more insistent than
are the medical men upon personal hy
giene, and sanitation. We insist upon a
hygienic and sanitary diet, frequent
bathing, drinking of good water, much
fresh air and exercises, and frequent
changes of clothes, measures which the
vast majority of the doctors all too
freauentlv Ignore, but we refuse to al
low our bodies to be injected full of
vaccine pus, turtle serums, or any other
freak specific that some Dr. rrieatnann
may choose to pump into us to the tune
of hundreds of thousands or uouars. we
believe in personal sanitation to the ex
tent that should we find our bodies to
be harboring corruption we consider It
poor sanitation to burden it with .still
more obnoxious pollution In the form
of drugs. VIRGIN MAC MICKLE.
Precedent Found for De
struction of Frye.
Correspondent Insists That Law
Points Involved Have Been Deter
mined Long Ago. -
PORTLAND. March 13. (To the Edi
torsThe editorial in The Ore
gonian March 12." entitled "Germany's
Latest Dilemma," raises several Inter
esting questions of international law.
The questions presented in the edi
torial evolve themselves into the fol
lowing propositions: Has the Prinz
Eitel Friedrich, by coming into an
American port for necessary repairs,
submitted herself to the jurisdiction of
the United States so as to leave the
way open for the owners of the ship
and cargo to obtain satisfaction In the
courts, by holding her as security for
their private claims?
Can the ownership of the sovereign,
the Emperor of Germany, be ques
tioned? Have the courts of this coun
try the power to pass upon "the acts
of the German cruiser?
The questions raised by this query
are by no means new. nor is the situa
tion presented in. any way novel. The
law involved on these points has been
well settled both in this country and
in England for the past century.
. It is well settled that merchant ves
sels do not. as a rule, enjoy any ex
emption from local jurisdiction in for
eign ports. If any exemption does ex
ist, it is the result or some special cus
tom based upon a tacit or express re
nunciation of territorial sovereignty.
This rule, however, does not apply
in t.he case of public armed ships of
war and other public vessels which
are the property of a foreign sover
eign. . It is a basic and undisputed
principle of international law that the
persons of foreign sovereigns are ex
empt from the jurisdiction of foreign
courts of law. This immunity extends
to their official representatives, such
as ambassadors, and diplomatic agents,
and also to the property of the sov
ereign. In the case of public armed
ships of war visiting foreign ports, the
question of exemption from local juris
diction is especially well settled. The
, eign power, at peace with the United
States, is not subject to the urdinury
tribunals of the country, so far as re
gards the question of title, by wuirh
the foreign sovereign claims to hold
her.
Upon appeal to the United States Su
preme Court. Chief Justice Marshall, In
sustaining this decision, said:
All exceptions, therefore, to the full ari't
complete power of a nation wttliln Urn ter
ritories must be traced up to the consent
of the nation Itself. They csn Hour from
no other legitimate source. This consent
must be either expresssd or iniplh-ii. . . .
This consent may, In some InslSnres. l-e
tested by common tisane, and bv comtnnu
opinion, growing out ot that ussso.
Uno sovereign bnin: In pu resp-t
amenable to anothor, and hetns. hound t-v
obllgatlons of the nlshest character n-'t to
degrade the dignity or his nation, by pluctttg
himself and htm sovereign rights within th
jurisdiction of another, can he stlvio-d lt
enter a foreign territory onlv under an fv
press license, or In the confident e that the
Immunities belonging to his Independent
sovereign station will be extended to hltn.
This perfect equality and absolute inde
pendence of sovereigns, and this common
lntereat. . have given rife to t-las
of cases In which every sovereign is uriltt -stood
to waive the exercise of a part of ht"
complete territorial jurisdiction, wltirli has
been stated to be-the attribute of cery
nation.
In speaking of the application ef
these principles of international law
to the cage of a public armed vessel
of a sovereign, Chief Justice .M u sh ill
says:
She constitutes a part of Hie ntlMtaiy
force of tier nation; acts under the imme
diate ind direct command of the sovereign;
Is cmplocd Ly htm in national objects. Its
baa many and powerful motives for prevent
ing thoso objects front being defeated hv the
interferente of a foreign state. Such Intft.
feroncn cannot laLu place without affect
ing his power aim Ills dlgnltt.
The implied license, therefore, uniltr whl- h
such vessel enters a friendly port, may
reasonably be construed, and. II sef nm tn th
court, ought to be construed, hm containing
an exemption from the Jurindh t ion of Hie
sovereign, within whose territory sho claims
the right of hospitality.
. . . In the picaciit sleto of the evl
dence and proceedings, the Km -hangs iiiu.t
be considered as a vessel uhirh was the
property of the libellants, whose claim is
repelled by the fact that she l now a na
tional armed vessel, commissioned by. and
In the service of the Kmperor of France,
here and there, injure the property of
taxpayers by emptying their buildings.
and be may likewise Injure the prop
erty of other taxpayers by 1 filling
houses next to their residences with
the same people driven from the first
places; but he cannot kill the Instinct
put In men and women by the Creator
and cannot make any public house, any
where In the world, strictly moral, any
night.
If anything is wrong, cure that par
ticular thing without bluster, loud
noise or police advertising; cure It bV
proper attention, as any business is
corrected. Don't pull down the whole
structure on yourself because a few
bricks are imperfect.
COMMON PENSE.
decisions of the courts of both tht
country and England have been unl
form in declaring that no such Juris
diction can attach,
In the case of the schooner Exchange
vs. McFadrton 7 i:rancn. lib), mi
question was squarely presented and
was passed upon cy Chief Justice
Marshall. '
In this case tho schooner Exchange,
owned by McFaddon and others, was
seized unon the high seas, while en
route from Baltimore to St. Sebastian
Spain, by order of Napoleon Bona
parte, although no war existed at lha
time between France and the United
States. The ship was then armed and
commissioned as a public vessel of the
French Government, under the name
of the Baloau. In that rapacity she
afterwards put into the port of Phila
delphia, and wus libeled by her orig-
nal owners. As the Frenrn Govern
ment did not appear lo resist the libel,
the United States Attorney for the DIs
trict of Pennsylvania filed (at the re
quest of the executive department of
the United States) a .suggestion that
nasnmch as there was peace between
France and the United States, the pub-
Work of "Drugless Healers"
Has Champion in Writer.
Principles for Which Profession
Stands Explnfucd and Plea Made
for Kqual Chance to Practice
With Medical Men.
PORTLAN
lor.) I
have often thought of re
plying to published misstatements re
garding the aims and objects of "Drug
less Healers"." I assure you "Drugless
Healers" Is no misnomer, for we do
heal, else 'why the ever increasing
number of Drugless Healers as well as
of people who take drugless treatment
in preference to medical and often
surgical treatment, and this only after
having tried old methods and found
them wanting? - '
I am now speaking only or tnose
sc'nols of Drugless Healers who recog
nize the existence of disease of a ma
terial nature and fight it with every
drugless means at their command. .
We agree with vendell Phillips in
saying that "The community which does
not protect its humblest and most hated
member in the tree utterance or nis
opinions, no matter how false or how
hateful, is only a gang or slaves," ana
therefore have no desire to restrict any
school of healing, the medical men in
cluded. We only ask that we shall be
granted like freedom to administer to
those whose experience, or that of
friends, has taught them the value of
our methods.
We are not asking to have our meth
ods-enforced by law. I would strenu
ously resist any effort in that direction.
But we do object to any other methods
being foisted upon us by the long arm
of the state or. government.
We ask "a fair field and no favors,
and believe that people generally are
capable of learning from experience and
should be allowed to patronize that
school at healing which, in their ex
perience, seems best.
As for sanitation, x nave yet to meet
lie vessels of the former may enter
Into the ports and harbors of the latter
and depart at will, without seizure or
detention in any way.
The libel was dismissed by the United
States District Court on the ground
that a public armed vessel of a for-
OLD PORTLAND RKSIDKMT
DIKS I CALIFORNIA.
u
insist
- f
A 4 ;
A
e
3Irs. 3Iary W. Pettit.
Mrs. Mary W. Pettit, who has
been a resident of Portland for
the' past 21 years, died of heart
failure March 10, 1915, while
visiting relatives in Inglewood,
Cal. She was 72 years of age.
Mrs. Pettit was born in Indiana
in 1843. From there she went to
Minnesota and later, in company
with her husband, removed to
Portland. In June. 1913, Mr. and
Mrs. Pettit celebrated their gold
en wedding and tho following
October Mr. Pettit died. Mrs.
Pettit left on a pleasure trip
to Southern California about
January 1, of this year, and at
the time of her death she was
visiting at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. W. W. Woods, in Inglewood.
The evening of her death she re
tired at 10:15 feeling well as -usual.
She died at 10:50. The
surviving members of her fam
ily are Mrs. B. O. Woods and Dr.
J. A. Pettit, of Portland., and Mrs.
J. C. Applewhite, of Clarkston.
Wash.
s-e-e-e-e-i
If the preceding reasoning be correct. 0
Exchange being a public armed ship
in the service of a foreign sovereiau, with
whom the Government of the t'nlled Stales
Is at peace, and having entered ati Ameri
can port open for her reception, on the terms
ou which ships of war aro generally permit
ted to enter the ports of a friendly power,
muht be considered as having coine Into
American territory under an Implied promise
that wliilo neeesfarlly within 11. and de
meaning herself tn H friendly manner, she
should be exempt from the Jurisdiction ef
tho country.
In 1K79. in the case of the Constitu
tion, the. Knglish High Court of Ad
miralty held (4S Law Journal. P. D.
A. 13) that an American public shil
of war then engaged as a training
ship) could not be libeled In ths courts
of Great Britain, by an Individual, for
towage service rendered, as sho was
the property of the sovereign govern
ment of the United States, and there
fore exempt from the jurisdiction of
foreign courts.
In the case of the Parliament Fielco
(Law Reports 5. Probate Div. 1!7 the.
English Court of Appeals held that a
Belgian mail packet owned by the
King of Belgium, could not be llheled
In the English court, us she; was the
property of a sovereign, and therefore
not subject to the Jurisdiction of tho
courts of a foreign nation.
A situation parullel to tli.it which
arises In the case of the I'rlnx F.ltrl
Friedrich Is found in the cho of United
States vs. Richard Peters i3 Dall-
1211. which was ileiiileil by the United
States Supreme Court 17 years before
its famous decision In the ease of the
schooner Kxi-hnncf.
The corvette Cassius, a French pub
lic vessel of war. seized the American
schooner William l.lmlsey upon the
hlch seas, and convey-,1 liei- into a
French port an h prize. The Casslus
afterward came Into the port of Phila
delphia, anil the owner of the W illiam
Lindsey had the ship libeled niwl Iter
master arrested, whereupon Hie Su
preme Court of the United Sl.iles Is
sued a writ of prohlhitimi to .ludu
I'eters, Of the United Stales District.
Court of Pennsylvania, proh ibll ink Hie
court from entertaining any tuilher
proceeding. in the ease, Hiid ordering
the relouse of the ship and her master.
That court held thHt no eotirt of the
United States had the right In assume
Jurisdiction over a public ship of war
of a foreign soverelsn. or the nwlsr
thereof, or. in any way lo finest ion tho
validity of the acta f such ship In
carrying out tho i i'l of the foreign
sovereign.
In the light of these a ii l lii.rit i- It
would seem that the ense of the Prlnx
Eitel Friedrich Is no exception to I he
well-defined rulos of lull rnHtioiml
law which exempt the puhlle slilps of
war of a foreign sovereign from (h
Jurisdiction of our courts.
If tho courts cannot take Jiiiisdle.
Hon of the premises. It Is obvious Unit
they will have no power lo pai-s upon,
or question In any way. the ownership
of tho vessel, or the propriety of lis
acts. Indeed, thesn esses seem to b
conclusive upon the point of ownership.
The fact that tlio vessel la armor an"
commissioned by the German govern
ment seems suf fieienl ly to Identify her
as a tierina.il puonc mni r.,iM.
and to render all acts upon her part.
acts of state.
If will be seen that this la imt a ques
tion for the judicial bruip-h ot Hie Gov
ernment to pass upon, but conies pe
culiarly within the province or ine
.veentive or politics! department, sn.i
it is. therefore. Incumbent upon (Ms do
partmcnt to prosecute liny s tiou mat
will be taken.
Therefore, the only recourse wnn-ii is
apparently open It the owners of the
sunken American ship and of Iter cargo.
is to have the executive department ot
the United States Government present.
their claim to the German Rovcrnnien t.
and demand restitution for the wrong
done. By dolnsr this, the Government
makes tho claim of tho Individuals
against Germany lis own claim, and
demands as a sovereign, that Germany
make reparation. This is necessary, as
no individual can. as an Individual, pre
sent to. or enforce a claim against R
foreign sovereign, but must set through
his own government.
The situation Is somewiist compli
cated in this case by the tact that Ilia
wheat already had been sold to an Eng
lish firm at the time the ship was ne-
stroyed. This would seem to hnve a
tendencv to place tno uniieo fist" i"
the position of attempting to enforce
the claim of a belligerent against Ger
many while hostilities were still In
urosrress. However, the fact that the
wheat wrongfully destroyed wss rov-.
ered by a Government war risk policy, .
wnnM seem to give the United States
the right to demand payment of the.
mount of Its llaMllty under tne war
policy from Germany.
This is tne oniy meinoo oi rcraurn
open to tho parties who have been In
ured by tne unwarranted aa oi un
Prlns Eitel Friedrich.
ROBERT W. WUNbT.
'TllIglit Sleep" to Be l'se.I.
NEW YORK. March 7 From opm-.
ions expressed by iO physicians who
have had wide experience with twi--
ght sleep, the Department of Chari
ties Is satisfied that its use In city
ustltutlons In selected cases Is expe
dient. Henry C. Wright. Deputy Com
missioner of Charities, said the physl-
ians deplored the f:,ci. that tmillght
leen had been heralded so widely. It
s not' a panacea for suffering woman
hood, he expaln?d. but simply another
method which to them seems to b up
pllcat.ll In about fi5 per cent of the
cases.
7,WUD To Mr. ond Mrs. lloim .wabl,
1 Fourteenth strict, Miich t. a Caugliu-r.