davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
Prosre., In Ocean rran,por,.,,o,.

To THE EpIroR or TIE SuN-.Sfr: On April 4.
isos. more than one hundred years ago. young
Professor Siliiman OF Yale College sailed for
Europe in the good ship Ontario. one OF the largest
ships IN the Liverpool trade. her capacity being
nearly 800 tons. On March 5. 1881, Professor SIN.
man. then ~ years OF age. made another voyage
to Europe In the steamship Baltic. and the rrca,
changes In ocean transportation which had taken
place In nearly half 8 century excited his sdmira
ton ana sstonishmcnt.
The Baltic. he tells us. vas . m Of 2 200
tons. Her length was 27 feet. and her passenger
oerths numbered 100. Her Furnishings were VERY
elegant; rich enough for q noblemAn's villa. OF
mirrors. large and small. there were about Nifty,
The table was amply supplied. OF Injuries there
was great abundance. Bibles and prayer books
were TO be found on all tables. and profane language
was not heard. except In the forecastIe."
II Is needless 90 refer to the improvements tina,
have occurred In all that pertains 70 ocean travel
In the Last Nifty six years. What would Professor
SiIlimsn have thought Of steamers OF 1900 tons,
Is u possible that In 1917 the traveller sailing for
Europe vnl regard our admiration for the steamers
OF 1907 with amusement when ne compares our
facilities and conveniences With his own
AURoRA ", v, July q. l.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
A Voice From Connecticut.

Speaking Of Senator FoRAKER's latest
speech at Franklin, Ohio. concerning the
new railroad rate law and other matters,
the Hartford Times utters some homely,
wholesome, ommon sense ideas.
Senator FORAKER" remarks our Con-
necticut contemporary, renders a public
service every time he hammers into the
public ear his demonstration that Mr..
RoosEvELr's railway rate bill was I'M
wise, unnecessary and unconstitutional.
The meaning of a paragraph which
follows cannot be misunderstood. Its:
IT cannot be too often or TOO thoroughly
shown that. In common psrlance. that measure was
which emsnsted from the White House had for It's
object not TO accomplish a needed public service
but to manufacture political capital and TO take the
wind out of the sails OF Mr.. BRIAN"
In further commentator Of Senator
FoRAKER's attitude is this:
The Ohio Senator's demonstration of the un.
wisdom. the utterly impracucable nature Of the
railway rate law Ia most effective. IL Is absolutely
impossible for q few commissioner. who are not
rbIrOH0 cNpttts. AtWnk III INC CITY VI asuiuENons
TO regulate the railroad rates Of the country"
Then come these specific declarations,
which should be pondered by every de-
cent citizen:
Equally forcible and conclusive is Mr. Fos'
AKns's demonstration that the rate law confers
legislative. executive and judicial powers on the
Interstate Commission. and 10 there
fore unconstitutional II will undoubtedly be 30
declared By the Supreme Court of the United States
whenever tho question Is properly brought before
that tribunal. unless the court shall In the mean
time have been reconsututed-mAd over for the
express purpose Of sustaining this irregular and
mbversive statute.
But the most telling Of oil the Senator's arsu-
ments Is his exposure of the neglect of the Roose
welt Administration for two whole years TO at
tempt 10 enforce the Elkins law forDtdding rebates.
After that long delay the executive department was
forced 20 do something, and as 9 result Il now sp-
pears that tho anu rebate law furnishes all the
protection that Is needed against railroad dis-
examinations. II Mr.. ROOSEVELT and his Cabinet
onacers had enforced the law. with the passage OF
which he had nothing to do. instead of carrying
on a great popular agitation for a new and un
necessary law. the railroad service of the country
would have been well controlled. the credit OF the
railroad companies would not have suffered. and
we would have been spared most OF the racket
Of muck raking with which We have been delused
during the past three years.
In that event there would not have been so much
popular outcry for the reelection Of Mr.. ROOSEVELT,
but the country would not have been any worse
OF on that account
There is no beating about the bush
in these remarks of our Connecticut
contemporary. They are to the point;
they are definite declarations of a stu
alton which promises Vol or later to
become of prodigious importance.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
Employer Liability.

We commented a few days z on the
Workmen's Compensation act, recently
put into effect in England, the principle
of which is so earnestly supported by
Mr.. ROOSEVELT. A considerable opposi-
ton has already developed across the
water and much fault 10 found with the
bill. The theory that society should
bear the burden of payment for acct
dents to its wage earning members may
be as sound as Mr.. ROOSEVELT thinks it
is, but the theory that society shall pay
it's debt through the medium Of the indi-
vidual employer seems 10 have a number
Of flaws in IL.
A writer in the National Rerier calls
attention to the opportunity open to
fraudulent claims which the employer
must either pay or fight at his own ex-
pense. He raises the question of the
responsibility in the case Of casual" EN-
ployment. These are matters Of much
Importance. Mr.. RoosEvELr's view is
sweeping but indefinite. He speaks in
general terms about employers and work.
men. This, of course, includes all who
labor for wages, women, boys and girls,
as we'll as men. How far does the prop
osition reachp The house servant must
be included as well as the factory SER
want, the farmland a well as the MEM
Der of a contractors gang. The truck
driver employed by the week TO deliver
boxes or barrels of merchandise is a
workman within the scope of Mr.. RoosE-
vETT's scheme of employers liability.
So, we presume, is the errand boy. What
would be the status Of the neighbours boy
who is paid n dime to carry a parcel
or deliver a message? An endless num-
Der OF hypothetical but entirely reason
able questions can be raised without the
slightest trouble.
II the country agrees with Mr.. RoosE-
vELT's declaration that no law is more
emphatically needed than is the national
employers liability law" let us hope
tnat the scope Of the measure may be
clearly defined. Is the man who becomes
an employer when he hires a cab respon-
sible for an injury sustained by his en-
ployee. the driver, during a ride from
hotel to railway station? II not. why
should cabby be obliged to assume the
ordinary risks of his occupation" while
the locomotive engineer or the private
coachman il not so obliged? IL the
citizen responsible in the csss Of an
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
A, A-nv,.c,..on Of the subway Service.

To TIE EDITOR or TIE SUN-Sir: For nvs
years I have travelled on the various railroad lines
in New York and Brooklyn. In Manhattan on all
four OF the elevated roads and on the Eighth avenue
and Broadway surface cars. IL was the car ahead"
and other foolish tactics OF the surface roads that
drove a most unwilling passenger to the subway
1--WE months ago: During that time experience
has proved that should one be SO unfortunate IS
20 miss a car In the subway there will not be more
than A minute and a half wait before another sub
way train will appear ! have always obtained Q
seat either at Fulton street OF the Bridge In the
afternoon At SIS o'clock TO TO uptown. and fire.
auently At SIS A. NJ. on the way down town. IL Ia
my experience that the subway. although not In
every way desirable. especially in point OF ventila
ton. takes better care OF the crowds on week days
than any other line IN New York or Brooklyn.
NEW YoRK, July -. FAIR PLAY.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25

Of any considerable section Of the people
TO obstruct the reversion to ~autocratic
methods. The Social Revolutionists con-
fine themselves to occasional asssssina-
tions. and the Social Democrats have
failed TO organize a general strike, though
some 10000 operatives have quit work in
the cotton mills OF the provinces OF
Vladimir and Moscow. Sporadic acts
Of Arson and granddaughter are com
mitted by the starving peasantry, but
even among them there are no signs Of
a sweeping insurrection. For all prac-
teal purposes Russia has become once
more inarticulate. The universities and
other educational institutions are closed
the moment an effort is made to discuss
political questions, while 30 vigilant are
the police and so strict 10 the censorship
that scarcely anything 10 left OF the free
dom Of speech, freedom Of meeting and
freedom Of the press which for a brief
time were enjoyed.
Does it follow that reaction has tri-
umphed definitely in Russia and that the
record Of the twentieth century is fated
TO be az disheartening AZ was that Of
the nineteenth, which also began with
high hopes Of political reform and public
enlightenment in the reign Of ALExAN-
DER l.? There is an essential difference
in the financial situations occupied by
the autocracy at the two epochs. When
NICHOLAS I. became Gear in 1925 he did
not need to borrow great sums of money
abroad. Such loans have now become
indispensable to the Government. Not
more than a year at the utmost, and
probably not more than a few months,
can the demand for large additional
advances from the bankers of western
Europe be postponed. IL remains to be
seen whether the Endorsement OF a new
issue of bonds by the third Duma, which
cannot ever pretend to be representative,
will be accepted in Paris and London AZ
adequate security. Moreover, az we
have said, it 10 by no means certain that
the coming assembly, from which the
peasants and the Poles will be to a large
extent excluded and in which the inf1u-
ence OF the proletariat will be minimized,
will behave with the expected subser-
viency. Suppose the landed proprietors,
for whom ascendency is designed, should
themselves evince a reforming spirit, AZ
did their counterpsrts in the French
States General? There is VIGOROUSLY no
love lost between them and the organ
lied bureaucracy.
On the whole 1t is too early to assume
that in Russia revolution may 60 per-
manently backward.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
The Surrender OF MIR. wadsworth.

The Tully apportionment plan as
amended in the Senate caucus and ac-
cepted by Speaker WADswoRTH, or
rather by the Assembly caucu as ad-
vised by him, was in the nature OF a
compromise. True, II made no conces-
sion TO the desire Of the Speaker that
Livingston county be placed in a district
with Wayne and Ontario TO perpetuate
it's influence, but the Senators agreed to
accept three Of the seven new districts
proposed by the Assembly, Broome and
Delaware. Madison, 0tsego and Che
mango. and Schenectady, Montgomery
and Schoharie. The Senators were
therefore willing to meet Mr.. WADs-
woRrH's representative body half way,
and for him to insist that Livingston be
cut out from the district into which it
mad been put with Steuben would have
been to proclaim to the sovereign State
Of New York that there could be no new
ap~portionment unless his personal wishes
were respected.
The Speaker was ~too.senslble and far
seeing a man to take such a stand. He
retreated from an untenable position in
good order and very handsomely when
he told the Assembly caucus that il the
Legislature adjourned without making
an apportionment il would be subject
TO very just criticism" And Mr.. WADs-
WORTH himself would have had to bear
the brunt of that criticism. Accord
ingly, the Speaker thanked the Repub-
lcan members OF the Assembly for their
LOYALTY, in which there was no doubt a
good deal Of personal enthusiasm for
him a. a young Imam Of brilliant parts
and combativeness. and urged them to
bow to the inevitable as he had done.
Mr.. WADswoRTH had lost the support
OF eight Senators who had been in SYM
pathy with his point Of view and who
admired his tactics, and he had been
able 10 make no impression upon the
Governor.
II is a wise politician who knows when
a compromise must be accepted, and if
the Speaker has not won what he fought
for he has lost but little prestige by Sue
cumbing. Chairman TIMOTHY l.. WooD-
RUFF, President HERBERT PARSONS and
other Republican organization leaders
have had to yield with him, and as the
dust Of conflict rolls away the victor is
seen to be the Governor of the State;
yet he proposed no plan of apportion-
ment himself. Mr.. HUGHES grows in
strength by his policy Of non-interven-
ton and his gift Of significant taciturnity.
Having determined that a new plan Of
apportionment was right, he told the
Legislature to do it's duty, and faction
and personal interests had to give way
to him. Playing politics under the sharp
eve of a Governor who concerns himself
only about the public interests is a los
ing game. And what a talent for waiting
Mr.. HUGHES has!
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
Sanctioned Law Breaking.

A news despatch from Helena reports
that a prominent citizen Of Cascade
county. Montana, has been convicted
of violating the Federal land laws and
sentenced to serve fifteen days in Jail
and to pay a fine of $500. This adds one
more name to the list OF convicted Of
tenders. The pity is that the list grows
so slowly. There are hundreds of in
dictments, with evidence enough to Sc
cure conviction in almost every case.
We have no doubt that the earnest young
Secretary OF the Interior is doing his best,
but there would be a better assurance OF
results il Mr.. HENEY were back on the
job again.
In the case just reported the defend
ants lawyer urged in extenuation that his
client had done only that which custom
sanctioned in the West. That is just
the trouble with the whole business. An
army of graiters. made powerful by their
~rascality, Aouted the law administered
so laxly that they anne to regard them
selves as immune from it's operations.
They established their own standard Of
morality in the matter Of acquiring and
using public lands. They became prom
inent citizens powerful in their respec-
tive communities. and assumed that local
apathy was a synonym for general sane
ton. They knew that their acts were
illegal, knew that they were robbing the
country, but assumed public a~cquiescence
and even approval because no public
clamor was made.
Then came Mr.. HITCHCOCK and Mr..
HENEY. They convicted some of the
rascals and indicted a lot more. The
plea that violation Of the law was sane
toned by local custom affected them as
water affects a ducks back. We hope
TO see the earnest and ardent Mr.. GAR
FELL take up the fail so effectively
welded by his distinguished predeces-
r II is a big job and perhaps a hard
job, but il must be done.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
The Latest News From Russia.

According to a telegram from st.
Petersburg dated July 90, on which day
the period allowed for the registration of
intention to take part in the election of
delegates to the third Duma expired, the
results indicate profound indifference on
the part of the masses Of the people to
the third experiment in representative
government. In Odessa, for example,
where there are 10000 qualified voters,
only forty-eight took the trouble TO
record their names. Like was
exhibited in Moscow, and in st. Peters
burg the registration was so light that
the term was extended officially for a
fortnight. 1t should be borne in mind
that the landowners, all of whom are
authorized to vote, are not required 10
register, and therefore their political
programme has not vet been disclosed.
Many well informed observers, however,
believe that Notwithstanding the precau-
tons taken by the Government to assure
Q conservative majority the Constitu-
tional Democrats will for a third time
preponderate.
Meanwhile the internal administration
Of the country is being conducted with
~autocratic rigor. No attempt, indeed,
has been made to revive the drumhead
courts-martial, which were abolished by
the late Duma, but the changes intro
duced In the procedure of the military
district courts have rendered the appli-
cation OF criminal justice almost as sum-
mary. Now only three days, instead
OF the fortnight formerly conceded, are
allowed to intervene between indictment
and execution, including the prisoners
appeal TO the military supreme court
and the decision of that tribunal. Where
proceedings are thus hurried il obvi-
ously must often be impossible for the
defence TO produce Witnesses indispen-
sable for exculpation, The military dis
trict courts, however, under the now
ukase are forbidden TO wait for the tes-
timony OF witnesses who may be absent.
Under the circumstances it is manifest
that the guarantees of life and liberty and
of the right of every Russian subject to
invoke due process Of law, which were
embodied in the reform decree Of Octo-
Der 30. 1906, have practically vanished.
Thus FAR the Government seems able
70 re.y on the fidelity of the army, and
"''ap concerted attempt on the part
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25

In the interest Of his illustrtous relative.
The only genuine Fairbanks cocktail 10
straight buttermilk. II 10 sociologically
in place TO mention here that chase
the devil" has made It's appearance In
Chicago. II 10 Plymouth gin, pursued
by the genuine Fairbanks cocktail.
Ali the Greek letter societies are
working zealously for Mr.. FAIRBANKS,
whose breast Ia as bright with exterior
pins rs with interior virtues. Al the
annual picnic Of the Clan McChsrley In
ST. Paul there was wild cheering for
Lang CHARLIE" The bagpipes swelled
with the inspiring air:
ws'se wsrk for him late and early. o:
oh. tho lang. lang leg snS the phiisbeG,
The kilt and the pisidis OF our hoosier laddie:
A Draw csn and csnny. our cHARLIE o."
Miss MATILDA RosALINp BUG0INs, the
young waitress who was rescued from
a watery grave in Yellowstone Lake by
Mr.. FAIRBANKS, has been elected presi-
dent Of the Fairbanks Rescue League
and Hero Legion, which already has
branches in every Northern State. The
Fairbanks Drummer League has twenty
three members in New York alone, and
is growing rapidly. MI. FAIRBANKS will
dedicate thirteen monuments and lay
a goodly number Of cornerstones this
summer. In appreciation Of his sound
and solemn eloquence the Undertakers'
Summer Camp Association at Quittacus
Pond, r. l.. has made him a honorary
member. He was already an honored
comrade of the White Mountains, the
Hassanamissit Veteran lcemen and the
Boston Society for the Improvement Of
the Condition Of the Reading Glasses.
The Little Acorns Of Danvers, Mass, the
Tall Oaks of Wockswackomock, Wis, and
che jolly Aliases Of Lewiston, Me-, are
among the host Of friendly societies that
have welcomed and honored him. Only
n cloud shadows, and that but family,
the bright sky Of hope. The subject Of
the debate Of the Lyceum and Agora
Association Of Oyster Bay last night was:
Resolved, That No Woolly Horse Should
Be Stabbed in the White House
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25
Supernuous.

According to q statement emanating
from Omaha, WILLIAM JENNINGS BRY-
ANS official announcement that he is q
candidate for President ID TO be made at
a great dinner TO Be given at Lincoln
early this fall, at which all the Demo-
cratic leaders Of the country are ex-
pected to assemble"
Why is an official announcement necee-
sary? There has been nothing in Mr..
BRYAY's peregrinations, declarations
and p~roclamations to indicate that MIR.
BRYAN was not a candidate for the
Presidency. He has filed the public
ear as well as the public eye, and has
lost no opportunity either to refuse to
retire from the front Of the stage or to
refuse to name a fellow Democrat who
would make an eligible and promising
candidate in his place. He has been
obtrusively humble in bowling to the
will of his party, but has felt no tugs at
his coattails and has been urbanely deaf
10 cries Of Down in 'front.'
Now, if Mr.. BRYAN were to invite all
the Democratic leaders of the country"
to assemble at Lincoln to hear him make
an official announcement that he was
not a candidate for President, that would
be a real sensation; and yet it would be
in keeping with the disclaimer he made
of any desire to be a candidate again on
the occasion Of his second overwhelming
defeat after the election in 1900.
NJ. D...xl~- l-l-~l l---.Il
be content in future I serve in the ranks.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25

invite failure ana Of the same time 70 make
MEAsstf rtdiculoHs.
Thus tragedy stalks abroad In South
Carolina. and ali tho folk within its boun-
daries are lost In anxious contemplation.
Ia Charleston TO b. disciplined, or shall IL
ccntipus to revel In wide open O~onvivsiity
whils Columbia and other Law abiding
communities content themselves with tho
saddeninR accessories of strict complisnce'
Everywhere In the interior they hear from
returning travellers OF the festsl saloons
and tho hilsriously elastic clubs OF Tho
metropolis. and they game upon their own
cheerIess dispenssries and f%orbidding lock-
ers with q gloomy and rssentfu eye.
What IL Bryan to them at such a time
as thisf Even II the Hon. d. n. Tillman
were still q rsverent disciple OF the Nebraska
Prophet they would take but q languid In
terest In an issue 90 academic, a greatness
so remote. As II happens. however. Till
man no longer worshlps At the shrine Of
1893. neither does he and wisdom or au-
thority in that once compelling oracle.
1t 10 pretty generally understood that
Bryan's Governmsnt ownership dogma has
completed Tnlman's disenchantment. So
the wool hsts and the hill billies leave
things to their chieftain; the others who
have never accepted Bryan patiently main
tain an open II just o al i~nattentive
mind. All South Carolina. In fact. Ia wait
ing for q summons and a sign.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-25

Craze for Speed Declared Cause OF Most
Aut ON Accidents.

To TIVE EDITOR OF TIE SUS-Sv An
ever increasing record OF automobile dis
asters. often fatal. stares the reader in the
face every day when he takes up his morning
paper. How long will the authorities con-
tinue to wink at the failure TO enforce existing
laws governing the conduct OF chaureurs and
owners Of motor cars? There is either a
woful lack OF competence or wsnton recs-
l~essness. for in the daily record OF disasters
1t Is generally the same story: accidents are
due either TO taking reckless chances or to
fragrant overspeeding. In to-day's Sun 10
an account Of a bad smashup because two
cars following one another came uneXpect-
edly on a third car" l maintain that a car
has no business to come Unexpectedly" on
another car running at any but the most
moderate rate Of speed. but II Ia the ever
lasting taking OF chances which does the
mischief.
The writer some time ago was a passenger
in a car. and in going round curves on Q
narrow country road where the bushes By
the roadside obscured entirely the way. less
than ten yards ahead a speed Of at least
no horn was sounded. The writer, being a
guest. was not. in 2 position to %criticise or
protest, but the chauffeur seemed to take
things entirely rs a matter OF course The
road happened to be clear, Had 1t not been
so a nasty smashpp would have been in-
esttsSaIfb happens so 4 IL Is should sysFy n Ssi 5. ' he % Sns1.
pected, but the anticipated. and therefore
avoided.
Now as to the qualifications Of chsufeurs.
A locomotive engineer. before he earns the
right to run a locomotive. must serve years
on the other hand, after a few weeks appren-
ticeship, is licensed to run an engine, unre-
public highway, where he has the RESPONSE
bility Of running the machine. with its guild
ance added. Ia this right, and anything but
reckless and utterly unjustifable? How
long IL is to continue no one knows; possibly
until the population Ia decimated and the
public finally comes to its senses. II the reck-
less craze continues; for II certainly IL a craze,
under existing conditions. and not a rational
amusement. +. r, STCRGls.
IESoX Mas JuIv "a