davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
JOY IN A REFERENDUM.

Really there are some joys about self
government of the Western style, where
everybody is his own lawmaker. We
had thought il was all Il frightful bore
which only an exaggerated sense OF
duty would make supportable. But II
must have been fun for Los Angeles to
vote on the question of retaining the
free lunch in saloons. Ii must have
been great fun, considering the circun-
stances which led TO that vote. 1t APP
pears that this was not reform meas
ure proposed by some enemy Of good
cheer. The saloonkeepers themselves
wanted to get rid Of the burden Of feed
ing their patrons, but could not agree
among themselves to stop doing it. SO
some Of them caused the ordinance for
bidding free lunch TO he submitted to
the voters. not openly of course, but
probably all the while making a long
face at this threatened invasion OF
their rights Of hospitality and Of the
personal liberties of their patrons. No
doubt they expected the newly enfran-
chiSed women voters of Los Angeles to
strike down the rival of the family
dinner table.
SO far as the voters understood the
real motive of the ordinance, what q
satisfaction they must have got in raj
lying to the defence Of the right of.the
man behind the bar to feed his patrons
Free They have been upheld by
large vote, men and women alike de-
Ginning to restrict his generosity. No
one will now venture to interfere with
it. The free lunch has a huge measure
Of popular approval. The saloonkeep-
ers can't abandon it themselves now
without asSailing the sacred right Of
the people TO rule. 1t has almost
constitutional character.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
THREE SWIFT WARS.

Comment is quite justifiably made
upon the amazing celebrity with which
the Balkan League In the present war
achieved the practical conquest OF
Turkey. Yet il was not unprece-
dented or unparalleled In two other
European wars within present memory
events have proceeded no less rapidly,
in one of them more rapidly: and In
each Of them. IL may be added. there
was as noteworthy crumpling up of
what had been regarded as an almost
invincible military power.
In CHS Balkan war it took the allies
fOrty-seven days from the declaration
Of war TO win great battles at Kirk
Kllsseh, Lule Burgas and Monastir.
TO drive the Turks behind the lines OF
Tchataldja and 10 compel them 10 seek
an armistice. In the war o. 1870 IL
took the Germans just forty-fiye days
from the declaration 10 fight Woerth.
GravelOtte and Sedan. TO take Napo-
leon prisoner and cause the downfall
Of the empire BY interesting coinci-
dence the distance from the point at
which the Bulgarian army entered
Turkey 10 Tchataldia and that from
the point Of German invasion OF
France TO Sedan is the same 10 mile.
In the war of 1866 it took the Prus-
slams only nineteen days after mobili-
zation TO fight SadOwa. twenty-four
days 10 enter Prague and forty-two
days TO bring Austria 10 sue for peace.
The chronological likeness among the
three wars is certainly noteworthy.
In each case the swiftness Of the
campaign was due to the unexpected
weakness Of the defeated power. Per
haps the surprise was least in the
case of Austria. though few expected
quite so speedy and complete a col
lapse Of her once boosted might The
French dfbdcIe astOunded the world,
though INSTRUMENTATION and refiec-
ton made il seem less surprising and
showed il 30 have been a collapse or
corrupt imperialism and not Of the in
domitable spirit Of the French nation,
which never in all history showed
itself greater than in the Terrible
Year. The greatest astonishment OF
all. however, has been caused this
year, equally by the pitiabe weakness
of the once formidable Turks and by
the singular efficiency and strength OF
the allies whom it had been the pleas
IRE Of the world to scorn as chocolate
soldiers" We may not expect ever to
see the Tribe of Gilman rehabilitate
itself as did France, or even as much
as did Austria but we may watch with
interest to see how far the allies will
play the Prussian part Of confirming
their triumphs and rising upon the
strength Of them to permanently COM
handing rank among the nations.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
TRUST IN PROVIDENCE.

Mayor Gaynor has drawn a fine dis
tinction between vice and crime in his
address at New York University. He
has pointed out the impossibility Of
wiping out drunkenness. gambling and
other evils while human passions re-
main unchanged. He has traced with
Clearness the inevitable effect Of laws
aimed at commercialized vice OF this
character In bringing police cOrrup-
ton and graft into the community. He
has reiterated anew his belief in the
policy Of outward order and decency'
in official dealings with these evils and
has made a general appeal for pa
thence. calm thought and serene belief
in the general wellbeing Of the uni
verse. In form he was defending
the police work OF his administration.
Actually he was throwing all the re-
sponsibility for present conditions In
this city on Divine Providence and
declaring that when God softened
human hearts things would be better,
and not until then.
1t is a doctrine quite universally
accepted that man is expected to work
out his own salvation in this world,
even as to personal vices, and with
that ordinarily goes the idea that God
helps him who helps himself The
point to all the criticism Of the Gaynor
administration, so far as police prob
lens are concerned, is that it has made
no genuine earnest effort TO help it.
self. It may be conceded that drunk
enness, gambling, prostitution, theft,
arson, murder, even police graft, can
not be abolished until human nature
has achieved a higher level than it
now occupies. IT is true that certain
lack of straightforwardneSs in the
general point of view toward the vices
which the Mayor was discussing and a
certain hypocrisy in the laws relating
10 them make the public officials
task a hard one. At the same time,
whether or not the laws brand vices
as crimes also. there is always point
where the vicious man becomes a
menace to q community and where
the vicious classes must be discour-
aged. restricted, punished, for the
safety and wellbeing Of the nom
vicious part of the public. The Mayors
attitude of reliance on God to handle
the problem in His own good time
and his outward order and decency'
policy have not contributed to the pro-
lection of the non-viciOus class. The
vicious have been encouraged and the
police force has been confused and its
discipline broken down by the Mayors
personal liberty views. He may not
have intended this to be so, but he
must not expect the patrolman or the
"strong-arm" squad man to under
stand his fine ethical andalegal dis
tinctions as clearly as my neighbors
and the people who know me-" Give
the gambler. the Sunday liquor seller,
the diyekeeper an inch and he'll take
an ell. And the vicious element has
conceived the outward order and
decency" administration TO he the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08

stroy all mosquito breeding places in
their courts and gardens. Still, if he
had the firm backing of the govern
ment. he might even do what was done
under American rule 10 educate the
people of Cuba to conform to sanitary
regulations. At any rate, he c0lld
greatly reduce the present dangers
and the disposition of Ecuador ito I'M
dertake a sanitary reform should re-
ceive every possible aid from TINS
country. 1t is to be hoped, therefore
that the Joint resolution introduced by
Representative Fitzgerald. of this cit!'
to permit Colonel Gorgas and two
other officers of the Medical Corps OF
the army to go to the assistance OF
Ecuador will be promptly passed. lhe
Democrats in Congress have shown II
strange unwillingness to allow TINS
country to assist its neighbors WIN
expert skill in matters of finance, Dut
perhaps with regard to sanitation they
will take more enlightened view
Mr.. Fitzgerald's influence as Demo-
crat should. at any rate. forestali
political opposition on the part or his
Democratic associates, and the Repuo-
licans in the Senate should be unit
in favor of a step which is in entire
harmony with the Republican policy OF
helpfulness to this cOuntry's neigh
horS
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
PERVERTED SYMPATHIES.

DR.. w. w. Keen. the noted Phila-
delphia surgeon, strips the anti-viyi-
sectionists clean of their reputation for
sensitive Observation-Disclosures in what he
has to say about them in another sec
ton of to-day's Tribune. The general
conception Of them has been that they
are persons Of such refined sympathies
that the thought of animal suffering
is unbearable 10 them. This idea is
strengthened by the fact that the ma
tority of them are women. But would
a person Of really gentle nature and
delicate sensibilities write the letter
which DR.. Keen received from an anti
vivisectionist source and which e1-
pressed this pious wish:
I hope your mother, If she Is living,
will die in the most terrible torture;
and II she is dead that her soul Will
never know rest for having given life
to such a vile monster as you.
In this letter DR.. Keen was addressed
as arch Fiend," and it was written
because he had ventured upon de-
fence Of vivisection on the ground OF
its usefulness TO humanity.
The expression Of such sentiments as
those. and DR.. Keen produces many
equally violent and heartless. must give
any one pause who is inclined to feel
sympathy with the observation-disclosures
on account of the sensitiveness of their
natures. 1t is not delicacy or refine
ment or a shrinking from the knowl-
edge Of suffering in its various forms
that inspired the violent utterances
that DR.. Keen has collected as illustra-
lions OF THE Influence of Anti-Vivi-
section Upon Character" DR. Keen
says that the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. pos
session by their single idea has made
them cruel. And he seems to prove his
case. But cruel or not they are far
from the soft-hearted creatures unable
to bear the thought of a fy's unneces-
sary death that the public is inclined to
imagine them Theirs Is strange per-
version of the natural instincts; for
with all the to-do they make over the
occasional suffering Of animals through
experimental surgery they are totally
Indifferent to the sufferings Of their
fellow beings from disease, which ami
NAL experimentation aims 10 and does
relieve
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
LENDING COLONEL GoRGAs.

The approaching completion Of the
Panama Canal makes the request or
the government of Ecuador for the
loan Of Colonel Gorgas in order to
improve the sanitary condition Of that
country most timely. The harbor OF
Guayaquil has long been one OF the
worlds notorious pestholes. The town
lies in low plain with large areas OF
shallow water around it, and with a
poor water supply. Tropical heat,
natural breeding grounds for mosqui-
toes and unsanitary sewerage have
combined to make yellow fever and
malaria constant menace not only
10 residents and visitors but TO the
rest of the world having relations with
that important commercial port. A
few wears ago our own consul, Thomas
Mast. was the victim Of yellow fever
shortly after his arrival at his post
The opening of the canal will bring
fbe United States and Ecuador into
closer relations than ever before and
make yellow fever at Gusyaquil almost
AS much Of a danger to our people at
Panama and Colon and in our own Gull
ports as yellow fever at Havana was
n few years ago TO New Orleans and
Charleston. Therefore, self-interest Of
the most practical kind as well as the
higher motives Of neighborliness and
humanity calls for favorable response
10 this appeal, if Colonel Gorgas Is
willing to undertake the task.
The work of Colonel Gorgas on the
isthmus warrants the expectation that
he would be successful at Guayaquil.
That he would be able to devise ade-
ouate measures to free the district en-
firely from yellow fever admits Of no
doubt. He has already done similar
work on an extended scale. In Pana-
ma. however, he had the advantage OF
complete command Of the inhabitants;
he could not only build sewers and
drain swamps, but could secure ODE
dIence TO sanitary laws. II may not
he so easy 10 make the natives OF
Ecuador screen their bouses and de-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
THE ONCE GENTLER SEX
Changed Attitude Of Men Disadvan-
taQe of Struggle for Ballot.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: We are all rejoiced TO learn that
Moslem women are waking up 10 find that
there Is something better for them. In
fact. all Oriental women are TO be pitied
and do need more liberty and privilege
and enlightenment-but what do American
women need more than they have? Here
they are considered. protected and looked
ND 10. why should they clamor for more?
One OF the disadvantages OF this present
struggle for the ballot for women Is the
changed attitude OF men toward the once
gentler sex In the pre-suffrage days
there was courtesy Now the actions OF
men i'm public places show that the feel
ing is. They want to be like men. let
them look out for themselves" Last
week saw a woman fall from the steps
OF trolley car. and as she got up she
slipped again and fell between the car
and a motor A group OF men stood
gazing. but not one attempted TO heip
her. | said. why don't you do some
thing" But they were quite Indifferent
and made no effort. Such is galantry
and humanlty-with suffrage in the air.
women-once our superiors, now our
equals" is proving true I'm these topsy
turvy days, when women are working so
hard 10 upset what the Lord intended.
The joyful announcement made by a
California woman at the conference In
Philadelphia, that when women get tho
ballot they could have a glass of beer
every day" must be n most alluring argu.
ment in favor OF suffrage as appealing TO
the finer instincts and great help in tho
uplifting OF woman. man who has
spent seventeen years In Pasadena told
me that there were no saloons and no
drunkenness there until after women got
the vote, but now the place is full OF
saloons and drunkenness abounds. What
a gain this Is to civilization and refine
ment! All hail to the women who strive
to accomplish such degrading results,
AN ANTI-SUFFRAGIST.
New York, Dec 4, 1912.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
THE NATURALIZATION FAD.

The Japanese suggestion of the neu'
tralization of the Philippines is qmte
natural, seeing that such an arrange
ment would be in accord with frequent
practice In Asia and Europe and would
also he for the direct and material adj
vantage of Japan. 1t IS, however
merely an echo Of a proposal which
has been more or less persistentIy
made I'm the United States. The Amer
ican authors and promoters of 1t have
been those who delight 10 oppose the
policy of the national administration
whatever it may be, on the principle OF
being against the government" and
also those who decry the American
policy in the Philippines as Imperial
istic'' and as likely to involve us IN
undesirable complications with other
powers.
II would be difficult to imagine any
thing more illogical than the attitude
Of these latter, for the reason that the
course which they advocate is exactly
opposed to the theories which they
profess. Naturalization implies one or
the most offensive features of 1mpe-
rialism, namely, discrimination among
states instead of equality, and the ex-
crcising of overlordship by one or
more states over another. The neu-
traliZed state is placed in an inferior
and humiIiating position. as one whlch
is unfit fully to enjoy the sovereignty
with which II is nOminally invested
If is not clear what moral right these
StickIers for Philippine emancipation
from American despotism" have TO
insist that the islands shall be put
under a plural tutelage. 1t would GER
tainlv seem to be more digniied ana
accountable TO national pride for the ISL
ands TO he a part Of the possessions
of one great sovereign nation than 10
lac the wards Of number Of powers.
From the American point OF view
naturalization would be still more Cd
/ iectionable. SO long as we hold the
islands as oar own we are free from
entanglements. But the moment we
Joined with other powers in neurallz-
ing them we should plunge ourselves
into a mesh Of complications OF the
most embarrassing kind. We should
he meddling in world politics" with a
vengeance. Memory of our troubles
when we joined in tripartite neutrali-
zation of Samoa ought TO be suflcient
10 warn every rational American
against repeating that experiment in
circumstances which would magnify
its embarrassments and perlls thou
sandfold. The disasters OF Anglo
French naturalization of Egypt and OF
the attempted plural naturalization OF
Morocco should reinforce the warning
These are examples to be avoided
Those for following are found in our
own prudent refusals, in Cuba and
elsewhere. to enter into naturalization
or protectorate compacts with any
other power. Whatever it is fitting
that the United States should do in
that way it is quite competent to do
ialone and on its own account.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08

found here with the exercise or the
pardoning power by a strong GOV
ernor. That is the best system, we
believe, which concentrates TINS re-
sponsibility in one individual.
The consideration Of pardon appii'
cations is one Of the highest duties
and gravest responsibilities OF GOV
ernor. Any man in that office, how
ever wise. must sometimes shuddel
at the thought of dispensing lie ana
death in his routine of public SER
vice. Yet because he is the elected
representative of all the people, with
the welfare of the state at heart, II
any citizen may be thought to have IL
at heart, he is the fittest instrument
for that duty.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
FIRST EDITIONS sPURNEp.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: read with much interest your
editorial NINA de Luxe" BY a strange
coincidence. after dropping The Tribune,
picked up my old battered twelve-ccnt
copy OF THE Private Papers OF Henry
Rycroft' and read: 81 care nothing for
first editions and for tall copies; what |
buy is literature. food for the soul OF
man" When one thinks of that starved
youth in his Stun lodgings, furnishing
with hunger. yet ever ready to cheat his
stomach for some twelve-cent Ragged
Vetran" and then compare his mental
worth with those who pay fabulous prices
for books they may never read, one cam
not but wonder at such deluded mortaIs.
The individual who spent 100000 in this
manner and was really ashamed of her
self afterward has at least one redeem
ing trait In her character.
JOHN RULE.
New York, Dec. 8. 1912.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY
Injustice to Humanity for Woman to
Shirk Suffrage.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: Your anonymous anti-suffrage cor
respondent In to-day's Tribune asks what
sort of justice 1t is that allows minority
of women to force the right OF Suffrage
upon an apathetic majority.
Without accepting her figures as to the
relative proportion OF women who do ana
of women who do not care about pollticai
responsibility, / would say that 1t Is the
very deepest and broadcast kind OF justice
which demands political responsibility oil
every adult citizen OF this country whose
residence is not In a penal or other pup
lie institution.
Felix Adler, in discussing the divorce
problem, has shown how too much en-
phass has been placed upon the rights
of men and women and too little upon the
rights OF their children In the same way
II may be shown that the suffrage ques-
ton has been discussed entirely too much
from the point OF view OF average men
and women and not enough from me
point of view OF statesmen who look 10
the welfare OF coming generations
From the point OF view OF men like John
Stuart MIL. Wendell Philips and Abraham
Lincoln this question OF the suffrage is
not matter of the rights OF either sex
per sc. but of all humanity. The moment
IL is viewed from the standpoint OF
the universal community, that moment II
ceases to be a question OF who wants IL
or who does not want II, or how many
but entirely a question OF how the gem
eral welfare may best be promoted.
II the wise and the good could make a
paradise for themselves by isolating
themselves with their goodness and re-
fnement there might be some sense IN
the anti-sufrrase theory, but as lie goes
we see that not only is our economic well
fare but even more so our social ana
moral welfare wrapped UP with the gem
eral welfare OF society
The object OF combining the forces or
men and women to make this government
responsible I'm a higher degree than IL
is at present for the general welfare is
not acknowledged by the anti-suffragists
Their cry is that of the spoilt child VINO
does not trouble her majestic self ABOUT
cosmic considerations at all. They are
perfectly willing that their prerogatives
be preserved at the expense OF a more
universal justice, but the result IN "orlu
like this is the enhancement OF an cril
principle and humanity can never be true
TO itself lin a world where pride and nate
are in possession OF the religious sys-
TEN, the social prestige and the political
mower" and cite the words OF De Witt
Hyde.
Judging by the number OF anti-surrra-
glsts enrolled In their organization IL
would appear that the number Of women
in this country who desire the ballot Is
greater than those who do not, for the
number OF anti-sunragists enrolled Is far
smaller than that OF suffragists. But
even II their surmise is correct l cite the
words OF Wendell Philips In reply: the
argument that women do not desire 10
vote Is partly false and wholly irrele-
want" HAROLD sHAFTER HOWARD.
Boston. Dec. 4. el2.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08

4 curiously illogical yet not alto
gether unnatural feature of the warlike
situation in Europe is seen in the
preparations OF the Poles 10 rebel
against Russia the moment Russia be
comes involved in war with Austria
Hungary. II Russia should thus go 10
war It would he in behalf Of the Serbs,
and as the Poles and Serbs are akin il
would be logical for the Poles 10 wish
Russia success in the undertaking, in
stead Of trying to embarrass and de-
feat her.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08
PARDONS.

Governor Dix bases his plea for a
Board of PardOns on the belief that
responsibility for pardons, reprieves
and combinations of sentence should
not rest on the Governor alone. and on
the statement that the Executive cam
not give all the personal attention to
applications which they deserve. 1t
seems a rather queer argument, either
way, from a Governor with a record
for prolific pardons. Surely he cannot
argue that he has not given personal
attention TO the appeals which he has
granted, and surely he cannot have
wished to evade responsibility for any
of these acts And il cannot be that
his attention TO such work has been
permitted to interfere with the per-
Torrance of other duties, for he has
had leisure for numerous vacations
and recreation trips.
Thus, the Governors own experience
cannot be held 10 bear out his plea.
Neither does the logic Of the case.
The constitution places the pardoning
power in the hands Of the Governor,
on the theory that there may be in
stances where the machinery Of the
law, doing justice In the great major
ity of cases, has slipped. or where the
peculiar human elements with which
the machinery OF the law cannot deal
demand mercy. The Board Of Pardons
system is said to work well in states
where 1t has been established, but
that is not sufficient reason for
changing the existing system in New
York. Not much fault has ever been
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-08

inch and has developed into the Grim
inal element.
There are many things which the
police force and the present laws can
not do. The public is fairly sensible
and is not likely to demand the i'm
possible from its servants. 1t does de-
mand, however, attempts in good faith
to repress and punish the vicious and
the criminal classes and not an adj
ministrative attitude which encourages
them. 1t cannot wait for miracles.