davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
Should a Sea-Level Canal be Cut at
Panama?

Although it has long been taken for
granted that the canal to be constructed
on the Isthmus OF Panama would be
provided with locks, of late disposition
has been evinced in influential quarters
to advocate the substitution of sea-
level waterway Some cogent objec-
tons to the change are set forth by
Brig Gen. P. C. HAMS, L. 5. A., in the
March number of the North American
Rerico. Much weight is given to the
objections by the we'll known technical
qualifications of the writer, who has
served as an engineer Of numerous har-
Dor and river improvements and works
Of harbor defence as the engineer in
charge OF the Potomac Flats improve
ment; az a member of the Board of
Ordnance and Fortiications; as mem
Der Of the Nicaragua Canal Commission
in 1S97-99, and as member Of the 18TH
milan Canal Commission since 1900.
Gen HAMS begins by pointing out
that a sea-level canal inthe ordinary sense
Of the words is not practicable at Panama.
BY the term is commonly understood
an open cut, unrestricted by locks, like
the Suez Canal that connects the Medi-
terranean with the Red Sea. or the st.
Clair Canal that unites Lake ST. Clair
with Lake Huron Inasmuch, however.
as twice day the level OF the ocean Mt
Panama is 10 feet higher at high tide and
10 feet lower at low tide than it is at
Colon. the currents in a sea-level canal
would be most OF the time so rapid that
large ships could not be handled with
safety The only way of obviating the
difficulties arising from these conditions
is TO provide tide lock. A mean level
might thus be maintained between the
lock and the Atlantic Ocean, while the
level on the Pacific side might be allowed
10 fluctuate between 10 feet above and
10 feet below such level In other words.
the difference between n sea-level canal
and lock canal at Panama is simply
this. that the former would require one
lock and the latter several locks.
1t is not denied by Gen HAMS that a
canal with only one lock would be better
than a canal with several locks. But
the question is pertinent: How much
better? Is the former, he asks, worth
500 900 600 more than the latter? To
the excess cost must be added ten years
delay, by which many hundred additional
millions OF dollars would be lost, if the
canal is to render the United States as
much benefit as has been claimed for it.
We are also reminded by Gen. HAMS
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12

had at its service greater wealth OF devo-
ton than Of money.
About ten years ago a woman Of slender
means. but with the heritage of a great
name gentle nurture and a tender heart,
went down TO the lower East Side 10 nurse
and comfort INDECENT sufferers from cancer
the most hopeless and terrible of diseases
She lived in a two room tenement, to which
she brought as many helpless, dying cancer
victims Of the neighborhood as the apart
ment would bold. 70 others she ministered
in their own homes.
Moved by her zeal, number Of women
joined in the work Of mercy. Some followed
her in consecrating themselves wholly to it.
A sisterhood was formed, calling itself the
Servants Of Relief The two room tene-
ment hospital developed into the St. Roses
Free Home for Incurable Cancer, IN Cherry
street, to which the sisterhood eventually
added the Rosary Hill Home, at Hawthorne,
Westohester county
It'll for the purpose Of paying of the small
debt on the modest buildings in which these
institutions are housed that the lectures are
given. This way of going about 1t Is
unostentatious and old fashioned like the
virtues on which the charity Is founded.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
singular Reticencs of the Pres.

To THB EDrroR or THB SuN-,Ssr: Herbert
Spencer and other notable foreigners have pre-
dcted civil war for tho United States. ending In
military despotism Americans prominent 10 bust
ness and politics have said the same: some, per
hAps, like Governors Pingree OF Michigan and
Murphy OF New Jersey. adding the proviso If GER
tain evils arc not removed" In the private talks
have heard when one predicted civil at least
three times out OF four the answer would be, you
are hight or. You may be hight
Yet FOR two years more have seen this
prediction or the slightest reference 10 It In any
leading newspaper although It is repeated every
day In city and country as men converse together.
Do newspaper managers fear 10 air the subject In
public' or Is It because they deem 1t unworthy
OF notice'
or those frequently hear predicting civil war
don't believe any, with a single possible ex-
oepuon. have the romo,est intention OF ever pro-
noting revolutionary disturbance. nor do
believe there Is a single band OF plotting revolu-
tlonisis in the whole country. | know OF but one
militant rcvoutionist. and he IS OF a very unusual
type-s religious OF the Cromwell Puritan
stamp. Perhaps the war prophets would DO the
most alarmed OF anybody II outbreak should
occur. Well, then, why do they predict 80 muchi
UHchsvTLLR. Conn. March O. JAMES W. FITCH.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
NY BUNTING, RIGHT OR WRONG,

To rHE EDITOR OF THE Sun Sir: / wish
10 be correct, and II the term flag worship
which l used was not the right one would
beg leave to substitute ecstasy OF Jingo-
ism" But 1t does seem 10 me that the cult
or sentiment, whichever it is to be deemed.
is new, and appears to have come in some
measure into the place left vacant in the
soul by the departure of religion That 1t is
new can hardly be questioned. In my own
country, at all events. at the time when my
life reached the Oslerian limit, though there
was plenty of ma tural feeling for the emblem
of the nation, any one who had proposed TO
punish peder for sacrilege in having the
Union Jack on the wrapping of his wares,
and to present the policeman with a medal
for anesting him. would certainly have
been deemed n candidate for a berth in
Coney Hatch, The serious part Of II is that
the flag is supposed, in whatever cause 1t
may be unfurled, TO constitute or suspend
morality. and TO make it the duty Of the
devotee, without questioning. to take part
in any aggression upon other nations My
bunting, right or wrongl" is the cry Sc
rious consequences may follow.
GOODWIN SMITH
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12

To TIE EDITOR OF THE Sun Str. The
question, Shall young man on a salary OF
SIS per week have a dress suit2' has been
argued recently at some length. and with
diversified opinions, In your columns. VIII
you permit me TO say a few words IS TO why
| think the small-salaried man should not
even own an OUTFIT of full evening dress?
] was impelled TO write this letter. partly
by previous convictions on the subject and
partly by an incident which occurred in an
adjoining village within a week. young
man whom all thought above suspicion
was detected in a forgery. II was the
old story. an attempt to keep up a full
dress appearance on a brown jeans income.
result. young mans future blighted. his
old parents Inundated and distressed as
they will be Obliged TO make good the theft
by mortgage on their small village home
II their boy is to be saved from sentence rs a
criminal. have seen this fellow in his dress
suit attending social functions for the past
two or three years. and wondered how he
kept It UP. doubt very much If his parents
knew what dress suit was. being I'm a less
exalted state of society than their SON who
doubtless thought them well enough but
was secretly ashamed OF them.
Should a man on SIS a week in the country
fail in keeping up dress suit, what becomes
Of the city man trying 10 do so? lie can
sponge about for time on richer friends.
Tor the possession OF dress suit presupposes
that II Is to be worm but occasions win arise
demanding accessory expenses which must
be met requiring more money than the SIS
man has at his disposal. after his board is
paid and his shoes tapped, DC.
/ am sure that n dress suit is dangerous
property Tor such man. II would be much
better for him 10 use the money to buy brain
food. which would enable him 20 obtain a
SENECA FALLS. March O.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
The First and Foremost.

Col BRYAN finds great difficulty IN
adjusting himself TO the changed politi-
cal conditions with which he has 20 deal
His attention is now directed toward
another great apostle OF some of the
doctrines that lie nearest his heart. He
crosses the line into Wisconsin, the pre-
serve and home of Governor and Sena-
tor-elect ROBERT MARION LA TOILETTE.
The unimportant details of legislation
are abandoned, and ION invitation of
both houses" the Colonel addresses the
Legislature.
In his speech at Madison Col BRYAN
particularly scored the railroads. The
Wisconsin railroads are accustomed 70
the process. Little Boz himself is no
mean scorer of railroads. Col BRYAN
issues this certificate of merit to the
conqueror of the Federal Crowd:
Governor Ia TOILETTE is the INST and fore
most champion OF reform in the Republican party
In the United States
SO Governor LA TOILETTE is now the
first and foremost? Col. BRYAN seems
to suffer from an embarrassment of
riches.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
GENERAL KUROP4TKIN.
Too Early for Fair Criticism or His
Leadership In Manchurta.

To THE EDITOR or THE SUN-Sir: Just
criticism OF Gen. Kuropatkn for the dlsas-
ter that has befalen the Russian arms
will be impossible until We know just
what the conditions OF himself and his army
were when the japanese began their attack.
Did he act OF his own initiative In holding on
TO his positions on the Shaho until II was too
late or under orders as has been said. from
st. Petersburg, 10 hold on TO Mukden 10 the
last? When this "a known other questions
may be asked, such as: Did he employ the
force under his orders TO the best advantage,
and was it adequate to the task in hand?
In view also OF the violation by the Japan
csc OF tho neutral territory west OF the Lao
River II becomes matter of special interest
TO know whether IT took place with the COM
plicity OF tho Chinese Government or against
its will But whatever the answers TO these
questions. there can be no doubt as to the
fact that the Russian army in Manchuria
and the Russian Government the world over
have sustained most damaging blow TO
their prestige. The result. no Aatter what
the causes. constitutes 50 far its own criti-
cism Of the entire situation.
Comparison has been made by German
writer between conditions in Manchuria to-
day and those in France In 1852 after the
Battle OF Minden. The state of the French
army was bad the soldiers expected 10 be
beaten. and this expectation helped TO bring
about the. result. The explanation Of sue
cessive defeats was chiefly 10 be found in the
ineffioency Of those In command Another
writer, French officer, only few days be-
fore the movement OF the japanese army
be gan described the Russian army as a force
without elasticity. administered by pecu-
lators. with the commissariat In the hands of
buccaneers. capable under certain oircumstan-
ces OF prolonged stolid resistance. but with
out intelli gent movement or decision
Opposed to this force he found an army
whose repeated successes had raised its moral
vigor 10 the highest pitch, sober, alert and
commanded and led admirably administered
and supplied. while the training could not
be surpassed Summing up the various
qualities OF the Japanese army, he discerned
all that goes to make a people nvincible. and
In substance ne predicted what has Just
taken place f.
NEW YORK March H.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
Recommendation and Law.

The Clereiand Plain Dealer tabulates
tho recommendations made by Presi-
dent ROOSEVELT 20 the Ffty-elghth
Congress, and finds that, Of twenty-six
specific propositions urged upon that
body, only two, the Philippine tariff bill
and the increase of the navy, have be-
como law. Hence unfavorable oonclu-
sons are drawn TO Mr.. RoosEyELTs
influence with Congress. Thus the INCA
Obserrer says that the inefectiveness of
RoosEvELT's assertiveness is well shown
In this comparison of programme and
performance.
This method of argument, IL argument
! it can be called, is unfair. Mr.. RoosE-
WELT did bis duty and pleasure in max
) Ing recommendations. Congress had its
own duty TO perform, in its own time
and way. Some of Mr.. RoosEvEIT's
/ critics seem to suppose that il ia the habit
! of Congress blindly and eagerly 10 carry
{ out the Presidents suggestions.
A Congress which should be the pup
( pet and echo of the Executive would DO
perhaps a dangerous, and certainly 4
despicable, body.
The country will not suffer loss, oven
OF sleep, because Congress, which Is
supposed to be deliberaive, is deliberate.
The Santo Domingo treaty, perhaps the
most important measure proposed by
MIR. ROOSEVELT, is being pondered by
the Senate with the care the subject de-
mands. That s one of the twenty-four
propositions catalogued az rejected adj
dresses by our Cleveland contemporary.
Another is the railroad rate bill. The
inpulsive passage of that bill by the
House OF Representatives was, next to
constructive mileage that Houses
most disreputable act. The suffocation
of that bill by the Senate was one of the
Senates many and most useful services
10 the country
A President ought not TO have too
much influence" upon Congress. But
Mr.. RoosEvELTs influence cannot be |
guessed from the failure of dying Con-
gress to stick all or many of his recon-
mendations into the statute book. Legis |
lation takes, or should take, time; and |
yet there is much too much of it. For |
our part, we can wait very patiently. |
There are laws enough even il, for in
stance. the transmission Of insect pests |
through the mails was not forbidden by |
the Fifty-eighth Congress-
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12

To TIRE FDIroR or The SuN-sfr, I've read
about the youngster who rolled OF bed. fell nve
stories TO the ground while asleep. and received
only few minor and unimportant bruises. I'm
not surprised. for was taught In childhood that
somnAmbusts were guarded by good spirits that
never let harm befsll them.
believed hrmly that a sleepwalker could step
OF q roof or out OF window and alght on the
ground unlnju and unawakened that sleepwalkers
also could walk the surface OF the water without
sinking, or wettlng more than the solos OF their
feet. boy friend OF mine once pointed out 10 me
the exact spot where his sister. seepwalkeF. had
walked across the surface of a creek ~ feet wide
She accomplished II once when some persons were
crossing bridge near by. The creek and the
bridge arc there TO day to prove the story.
Nothing can harm a somnambullst II one Of
them steps on keen knife blade the steel Will not
cut. II one is struck by locomotive engine no
injury viii result. Runaway horses swerve from
their course TO avoid striking sleepwaiker. It's
a great thing to walk In ones sleep.
NEW YORK. March 10. PETER L, MASON.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
One of Labor,s Fallacies.

The strike of the marlborough men
serves to illustrate prevailing fallacy.
There is a widespread belief that cor
poration treasures are plethoric pockets.
owned by individual proprietors whose
right hands are kept busy robbing the
public while their left hands are actively
occupied in depressing labor and rob-
bling it of its just dues The belief is
that these pockets can be raided by the
presumed victims of their owners with
no loss to any one except the presumed
proprietors This obtains in the case
Of street railways and trunk lines, beef
packers, oil companies, and nearly all
other institutions operating under con-
solidation of capital,
The strikers on the marlborough
acted on the assumption that all the
money they could squeeze out of the
company would mean loss only TO Mr.
BELMONT and his associates 1t is not
TO be denied that Mr.. BELMoNT's weak
concession a few months ago encour-
aged this idea individuals with so
,cialstic and Populistic tendencies fancy
that railway rates may be reduced and
none be a loser excepting such men as
Hill, HARTMAN, GOULD and a few
others The Beef Trust is attacked in the
belief that the Big Six can be forced
TO surrender portion Of its presumably
inordnnte profits to the public The
Standard Oil Company is attacked in
hope Of securing for the public some Of
the profit now made by ROCKEFELLER
and ROGERS The clerk asks for a
raise in the belief that it will come
from the bloated pockets of his en-
ployer On every side there is the hand
outstretched to grab
. Those who analyze this situation and
call attention to its fallacy are set down
as academicans and theorists Yet it
Is they who see to what end the game
must come. It is they who see that the
people OF this country cannot forever
go on living on each other divided into
scrambling groups, wrestling with each
other for the dollars which nature in
her bounty scatters through the land.
So long as the matter remains a domestic
question, prices and wages are not of vital
importance They will adjust themselves
in their relations to each other. If wages
were TO be multiplied by ten, so cents for
ride on the elevated would be the equiv
alent Of the nickel under present rates.
II cotton spinners and weavers were to
get IS a day, the public would have to
give 20 cents or more a yard for it's
cloth. If wages stand on such a scale.
the price of commodities will adjust
itself TO wage rates This particular
form of financial folly is called imitation,
and the history of economies proves that
while it has many times proved popular
1t has never proved successful.
1t is probable that some day strikers
viii learn that their increased wages do
not come from the OVERLOOKING pockets
OF money-rotten capitalists. They will
also learn that the employers Of labor
are men who stand as buffers between
the higher wage claimants and the pock-
ets Of that public Of which the claim
ants themselves form an important part.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
Mr.. Clancy and 'It."

To TIKI EDrToR OF THE SuN--,sir. In THE suN
OF March appeared exceedingly interesting
letter displaying curious system OF logic. by one
James Clancy.
To be palmer and brefer than the gentle man
himself was. It may be stated that morals or ethics
is the application and demonstration Of all edu-
cation and experience as means 70 the end tina,
humanity shall progress in harmony Humanity,
man collectively. is the feld OF application.
The highest executive ability Is required TO main
tain the moral or ethical relations OF humanity.
Curious that this genilemAns logic. CONSIDERING
his low estimate OF the attMnments OF woman and
his assertion Of her inherent infcriority. should
assign 70 Der the exalted position OF natural place
in tho department OF morals or ethics: while he
himself modesily rettrrs to the department Of clAs-
sined technical irudEery.
It would. however, be interesting TO know to
what. by his curious system OF logic this gentle
man would allow woman 10 devote her Actlvitios
A nero woman could not be expected 10 guess the
answer The writer. therefore, asks him 10 state
1T as expressed In his own oompre hensive ian
guAgo. CoRNRLIA s. RosrSVoS
NHw YORK, March II.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12

They are, in fact regulators who adjust
the relations OF cost and selling price
! They protect the wage earning public
against itself by preventing an extrava-
giant increase in tho cost of living. In
times of so-caled prosperity the adj
! justment Is somewhat elastic. Wages
advance and prices go up. The ad-
justment is not and cannot be exactly
simultaneous, but the principle holds as
a fundamental rule. subject to the effect
of incidental influences.
Mr. JAMES j. HIT Of the Great North
ern Railway is quoted as having said, in
recent interview, that the present
standard of wages is artificial. p" This
is as true rs it is daring Yet so long as
our domestic consumption fairly equals
our production, the question of wages
and prices is of little significance. Mr..
HEDLEY could pay his men 81 n day if
car fare we're 10 cents. On the other hand,
if car fare were 10 cents he would have
to pay 81 or more. In the broad question.
the pressure in wages and in prices is
mutual Increased prices force an in
crease in wages, and increased wages
force an increase in prices. with little
or no betterment to those affected.
Prices and wages are both higher, much
higher, than they we're from 1894 TO $685.
yet few will say that times are better
The increase which the striker has forced
from his employer has not been paid
by the employer. Individually, but by
the public of which the strikers form a
part AS Mr.. HILL says, "the present
standard of wages is artificial.
Secretary SHAW has measured pros
perity by high prices. Mr.. GoMPERs
measures it by high wages. SO do Mr..
PEPPER and Mr.. JENCKs Both views
are narrow and unsound 1t is only a
fictitious prosperity that is measured in
rows of figures A man does not enrich
himself by calling his dimes dollars and
his dollars eagles. He achieves that
end by gratifying his wishes, if they are
right and proper, and by surrounding
himself with the objects of his desire
This end is not to be attained by proc
esses which force an increase ~ the cost
Of those objects.
The striker who thinks that his raid
is made only on the moneybags Of an
individual will some day be forced to
realize that it is actually made on his
own pockets and on the pockets of
his kind. He will also realize that the
better business sense of the employing
class, operating to effect a fair balance
between cost OF production and dis
tribution and the selling price of COM
modities, is in reality the buffer between
his own selfshness and his own hurt
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
Lincoln and slavery.

To 1HE EDITOR OF THE SUS-sir, notice the
very interesting communication from your CORE
spondent Mr.. West 10 the time when Lincoln
decided TO issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
1t would seem long 10 antedate his election TO- the
Presidency and the clvl war.
IL is said with authority that Lincoln, after one
OF his IA, boat trips to New Orleans. when young
Of less than twenty, landing together with
some OF his crew companions strolled about the
city and came upon slave auction mart. young
slave girl was being exhibited. and soon the cry of
the aucIioneer ASKING for bids echoed through the
throng. Lincoln witnessed the scene with bitter
evaporation. Turning TO his companions he said:
by Cod II ever the opportunity is given me VIII
hit that thing-ard Will hit II hard" at the same
,imc driving his clncued right hand against tho
palm Of his left.
Tho Emancipation Proclamation was born then
SUYT1ELD, Conn. March 10. l.. b. MERRIAM
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-12
Why Boy Sat out Father. L.ctur..

From Ne Chlod0o Trtbunt.
While Prof George Z. Vincent OF tho University
OF Chicago addressed the Chicago womans Alt
yesterday afternoon on The Psychology Of De-
mocraoy,- his son John. aged IL yaArs. who had
been promised a bicycle when the lecture was done,
lmpaiiently sat It out"
on a rear seat. where he wTfrKled uneSIIly. John
Vlnceu, was testimony that his father WA prophet
without honor 30 Ear as he was concerned. The boy
held watch on his father when ID, LATER. with
effective carnestness. said:
Society Is held together By sentiment II 10
that which guides the great mas OF people, and the
test OF more insight Is the ability 20 decide by In
tinet the nEst and wrong Of any proposition.
Therefore. soy
But John Vincent was not waiting TO hear what
Vincent elder said: he Was waiting In tho vestlbuIe
Going 10 buy me a bicycle now" he told q sym
pathetic woman. -and guess listening 10 hina TAX
! earned It."