Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-01-19
".' "PI,. WASHINGTON TER.
OLYMPIA. FRIDAY EIEAlM. JAN. 70. lSA.

OLYMPIA. FRIDAY EEAlNG. JAN. 70. 1855.
Fitting the Patch to the Garment.
One of the most fragrant attempts
to pcrvert the universally acknowl-
edged intent of fundamental pro-
vision is now beng made in the Su-
plelu- Court of tie United States.
1t seems that San Meteo county, IN
California, is traversed by a few miles
of the Southern Pacific Railroad =,
the frauchise and property Of which
had been assessed at the apparently
Reasonable sum of $4,000 PER mile.
While the courIy authorities were
collecting the tax Oh this valuation
In the State Courts, the company by
RECOURSE TO the L. S. Circuit Court
obtained from Judge Field an in.
Junction against further proceedings,
based upon new Interpretation of
the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution. The first clause, which
reads: Cali persons born or na,ur-
alzed i'll the United States, and sub
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens of the United States and of
the State in which they reside" is
construed to apply to corporations
as we'll and TO constitute them cit
liens" in the sense which guaranty
of "equal protection" is made in
declaring the rights which result
from allegiance to the Government.
The constitution of the State of CAL
ifornia provides different system of
assessing and taxing the property of
railroads and public corporations
from that which applies to the pro-
perry owned by individuals. Judge
Field holds that this denies to the
railroad company an equal protec-
ton based upon the individuality of
citizenship.
1t will scarcely be claimed by any,
BODY that this provision, when it was
incorporated into the Supreme Law,
was intended to secure anything
more than recognition of the newly
conceded rights of the negro, an
equal protection of law, without
distinction of race, color, or pre-
vious condition of servitu de. 1t is
not at all presumable that Congress
which submitted the Amendment,
the States which ratified it, or the
people who authorized its ratifca-
ton, dreamed for a moment that
they were doing anything more than
this. But the railroad corporations
have in theiremploy some of the most
astuted lawyers in The country, and
the bench seems ready to lend a
willing ear whenever capital and
position demands hearing, and the
progress of the case so far shows a
disposition to I'D here to technical
construction at variance with the
intent of the people which gave
vitality to the provision. To affirm
this principle, however, would be,
declaring corporations absolutely in
dependent of Legislative control, and
this would rivet the bands of the
antocratic moneyed power so firmly
that they could only be broken by u
mighty popular convulsion.
OPEN FlRLpLAcEs.-So many SEN
sible people are beginning to adopt
open fireplaces that the subject has
become q very interesting one. C.
w. Siemens, in his article ON
Science in Relation to Art" says
that in the domestic CRATE radiant
energy" of inferior intensity is re-
quired, and he would not like 10
see stoves take the place of the open
fireplace. The advantages usually
claimed for the open fireplace are,
he says, "that it is cheerful, 'pok-
able and conducive to ventilation;
but to these may be added another
of even greater importance-viz.,
that the radiant heat which it emits
passes through the transparent air
without warming it, and imparts
heat only to the solid walls, floor
and furniture of the room which are
thus constituted the heating sur
faces of the comparatively cool air
of the apartments in contact with
them. In the case of stoves, the
heated air of the room causes the
deposit of moisture upon the walls
in heating them, and gives rise to
mildew and germs injuries to health.
It is. I think, owing to this circum-
stance, that upon entering an apart
ment one can Immediately perceive
whether or not it is heated by an
open fireplace; nor is the unpleasant
sensation due to stove heating COM
pletely removed by mechanical ven
tilation; there is, moreover, NO good
reason why an open fireplace should
not be made as economical and
smokeless as stove or hot water ap-
paratus."
The N. Y. Sun has already begun
VI LIZ l.