The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-22
FROM OTHER PENS
THAT PANAMA CANAL.

| The report of a violent and disas-
trous volcanic eruption In Panama
| need cause no axiety for the safety
of the canal works. The scene of the
outbreak Is in the Cordillera of Chi
! r1qui, which is a continuation of the
/ mountain range of Costa Rica, and
this particular peak is well toward the
Costa Rican boundary and fully two
hundred miles from the canal zone.
That Cordillera, moreover, does not ex-
tend to the zone, but stops a hundred
miles west of it, so that the ridge In
which the eruption has occurred has
no direct geological connection with
! the hills near the canal. It is doubt
full if any shock or other symptom OF
the eruption was perceptible in the
zone.
1t is to be assumed that the peak in
question Is the we'll known Volcan de
Chiriqui. This is shapely cone
$3.50 feet high and one OF nearly a
dozen extinct volcanoes in that part
OF the Cordillera- They have all been
quite dead, to all appearances, as far
back as history runs. Indeed, geo
not one has been active since the PHO
Gene Tertiary period. Yet the same
range of mountains a little further
west, in Costa Rica, is dotted with vol
canoes and solfataras of marked ac-
tivity. Turrialba had an eruption of
great force in 1856, and the great peak
of Poas had one Of memorable vio-
lence in 1884. There is nothing at
breaking out of the Chirfqui volcano,
which belongs to the same geological
formation as the active volcanoes of
Costa Rica and is indeed only a few
miles distant from the nearest OF
them.
The canal zone is fortunate in be-
longing to neither of the geological
systems which lie one at each side OF
1t. 1t is an Independent formation.
lying between the two and enjoying
comparative immunity from the earth
quake shocks and other phenomena
which disturb them. In that particu-
lar it is well chosen as the site of the
canal and that circumstance gives
ground for hope that the great works
which we are creating there will re-
main uninjured and undisturbed.-
New York Tribune.
TOO MANY LAWS AN EVIL
1t can almost be set down as an In
variable rule, confirmed by the history
of the race. that the more laws a
country has, the fewer laws IL en-
forces. Kansas City paper recently
compiled a list of trivial enactmentE
on the statute books of Kansas. KaI,-
sas is comparatively a young state. yet
it has larger code than many OF the
old states, or than nations like Eng
land or France. In fact il is the
younger states, like Kansas, Texas and
Oklahoma, for example. that have out
stripped all other countries in their
efforts to regulate every line Of hui
man conduct and every sort of human
rights by legislation. Logically, one
looks to these states for many failures
to apply promptly; certainly and fairly
the laws of great Importance, the laws
which it is most difficult to enforce:
and, quite naturally, the law-makine
habit, carried to ridiculous excess, has
led them to add a few "unwritten
laws" to serve in saving men from the
more serious offenses, as well as mob
law and lynch law. to enable the peO-
pie to express their contempt for fall
ures of the courts. Where the laws
are numerous it is difficult and some
times impossible for the officials &C
enforce them all; but that is not the
worst Of it. Where there are many
laws that it is comparatively easy tc
apply, the few which can hardly be
like the statutes against
murder and other felonies, sure &C
be neglected, on the principle that 1t
is pleasanter and safer to perform that
part of ones duty which it is easy to
perform. Excuses for failure to pun
ish felons promptly are found in a
multitude of acts and ordinances
against petty misdemeanors, vices and
News.