davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
LOCAL SELF GOVERNMENT
Home Rule Needed for New York
Must Be Complete.
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: 1t is quite appropriate that the gentle
man who discoursed so earnestly upon home
rule in your issue Of this date comes from
Rideefeld. ~. II he had lived all his life, as
have, in New York City, his views might
have been decidedly changed, and he would
realize the absurdity Of stating that city
government as but a branch OF state gov
eminent exercised within a certain particular
tract of land" and that it would be suihclent
to have a uniform charter for all the cities
Of the state, large and small.
The committee on the Constitutional Con-
vention of the National Progressive party of
this county has presented to the Constitu-
tional Convention for its consideration an
amendment to the constitution granting home
rule to cities along entirely different lines.
We believe that the city government Is not
merely a branch Of state government, put
that. besides, it is a corporate entity, having
nronertv Of its own to manage and functions
~ it's own to perform. Accordingly, we adj
vocate the giving to each city and village in
the state full and exclusive powers to regu-
late matters relating to its own property, al
fairs and government, and to exercise ruii
mowers Of local self-government; and subject
only TO the constitution and general laws en-
acted BY the Legislature for the government
Of the state at large, to provide In It's own
wov for the government and regulation OF
the conduct of its inhabitants and the pro-
lection Of their property, safety, health, COM
fort and general welfare. We wish each city
and village to have the power to frame
adopt and amend It's own charter and to be
free from legislative control. subject only
n those limited restrictions that the const-
tuition Of the entire state shall lay down.
In this fight for home rule we are work
ing for all the cities of the state, but IN par
ticular we are waging battle for the citizens
% New York City, which has suffered so
long and this year so markedly from the bru-
tai control of an unfrendly Legislature We
demand from the Constitutional Convention
not only full measure of home rule, but
also the removal from the constitution OF
those restrictions which prevent this city
from being adequately represented in the
Legislature and which deny to it, no matter
how great its growth and no matter how
much It's population exceeds the population
Of the rest of the state, a proportionate rep
resentation in the Legislature.
We know that in this fight we will have
the support of the liberals Of all parties, and
are trying to make the delegates to the Con-
sttutional Convention realize that unless
they make these changes, imperatively de-
manded by public opinion, the proposals
made by them will meet with defeat at the
nolls next fall. STANLEY NJ. ISAACS.
Chairman Constitutional Convention Com
mittee, Progressive County Committee
Of New York County.
New York, June "a, 1915.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
School Teachers in Politics.

If the objection voiced by Miss Grace
Strachan and other teachers TO the pro-
posal to give the Board Of Estimate full
control over teachers salaries, instead of
the Legislature, is the only reason against
it. by all means let the Constitutional Con-
vention grant that measure Of home rule.
They maintain, forsooth that this would
put the teachers into politics" Just as
if they hadn't been "in politics. for sew
eral years.
Such a reimbursement of conditions would
be much more likely to take the teachers
out of politics, or at least TO limit their
political activities TO a proper expression
of views on local policies in the proper
place. The lobbying expeditions to Al
bany. conducted under the leadership of
Miss Strachan. the campaigns for pay in
creases and special privileges, were poll
tics of no minor character. The ramifica-
tons of those efforts ran into Assembly
district fights; the political power of the
teachers-not as individuals, but in their
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Wanted.
Now. there is no reason why any male
or female teacher should not give political
expression to views on public policy even
if those views be essentially selfish. There
is much reason why conditions should not
exist which permit such political express
sion to saddle mandatory laws creating
vast expenditures of money on the city
government, which is in the best possible
position to know the facts in the case
The teachers have proved they are not
averse to going into politics" What they
dread is a limitation of their political in
fuence on legislators now able to give
them city money with no responsibility
to the taxpayers who have to raise it
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
EMPLOYERS and Workers Returns.

Having undertaken to combat the dec
aration-circulated by all kinds OF agen-
cies. including Vice-President Marshall
that the worker receives only one-tifth the
value of his product, the National CIVIC
Federation has just issued report OF an
exhaustive investigation. This report
based on analyses of census figures, stats
tics Of the Interstate Commerce Comms-
sion and the financial statement Of the
Bell telephone system, declares that the
average employer gets just half the re-
turn of the average employee. That is, the
worker receives 66.4 per cent of the net
wealth created by industry, the employer
1876 per cent. This return to capital
covers interest, profits and allowance for
depreciation charges, so that the fedora
ton figures the employer, on the average
receives only three-tenths the share OF
labor for profits and interest.
1t is silly for anybody, in this genera
ton, to contend that on an average the
salaried or wage worker gets a mere pit
lance OF Une value HIS WOlh PuOS INV VIM
product. Fortunately, things are better
organized than that The Congress Cam
paign Handbook of the Socialists last year
said that the worker received 81 per cent
of the wealth produced, 1t is interesting
to note that the federation's report says
that analyses of figures of previous cen
suses show that payments for services
are not only increasing, but each time they
are larger proportion Of the sum to be
divided between the capitalist and the
laborer. In this is traceable the influence
of labor unions, profit sharing schemes
social legislation and kindred agencies OF
economic change.
whatever the sum to be divided is OF
may be-" declares the report of the Civic
Federation, "to see that this income i:
fairly apportioned without being lesseneC
by high charges, negligence, idleness oil
waste by employer or wage Garner, or dis
sipated in labor wars, is the proper func
ton of our leaders in business, in labor
organizations and in politics" That is ad
mirably and profoundly true.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Our Navy as q Reformatory.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Again arises the old fallacy regard
ing the United States Navy. To-day's Trib-
une gives light to story headed "Girl
Burglars Boy Accomplish, il Acquitted,
Must Join Navy" Is it not about time that
the general public ceased considering the
navy as a reformatory or disciplinarian in
stitution? Out of sense Of fairness to the
fine manhood that mans our ships some pro-
test should be made. The navy does not
offer anything to a young man Of the calibre
of Donald Chaplain, and it is extremely
doubtful IL that unfortunate young man
would be accepted were he TO apply for an
enlistment.
Merely because parent has been unable
to raise boy in the straight and narrow
path is no reason for shifting the burden
on some naval officer II the boy could not
make good in civil life he will be an abso-
lutte failure in the service. The navy, it Is
true, needs men, but 1t does not need them
badly enough to let down the bars to social
gangsters or those whose parents have been
derelict in their duty. A crook on shore
will be a crook at sea. Let young Chaplain
first make good at home, and then, II he sue
ceeds in living down his mistakes like a
man should do, he may prove himself worthy
Of our navy.
| shall watch The Tribune daily to read
with interest what other seafaring men my
care to write about this matter.
New York, June "a, 1915. JACK TAR.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Further Results of Seamen's Act.

BY degrees and in a manner that can
not be misinterpreted the practical con-
SEQUENCES Of the La Toilette Seamen's Act
are revealed. Hard upon the decision
made public by the Pacific Mail Steam
shin Company there follows a similar an
nouncement on the part of the Robert
Dollar Steamship Company. 1t was not
unexpected The head Of the company
nut the whole case concisely a few weeks
ago. The new law. he said, tied the hands
Of the shipowners while inviting them to
build up a national merchant marine
The directors Of the Pacific Mail made
II plain that under the provisions Of the
new law American shipping men could
not hope to compete successfully with the
Japanese. Mr.. Dollar is Of the same opin-
ion and is accordingly preparing to trans
fer his vessels to the British registry.
Thus two Of the most important Ameri-
can lines in the Pacific have already de-
cIared their intention Of suspending op-
erations. and others will, Of course, fol-
low their example.
This was all clearly foreseen long ago
and clearly pointed out as the inevitable
result of a measure supposed to be IN the
interest of American seafarers. It is said
that the Secretary of Commerce has late
" been making inquiries into some OF the
more obviously Objectionable clauses and
that these are to receive due considera-
ton. It can only be said that this action
is somewhat belated. Long before the bill
was signed its faults were detected by
competent critics. but no heed was paid to
their criticisms, and when they insisted
that Congress was to all intents and pur-
poses preparing to place transpacific traf-
fc under the japanese flag the politicians
dismissed the warning as mere buster.
Some of the supposed friends of organ
ized labor still refuse to be convinced by
the declaration Of the Pacific Mail Steam
ship Company. They take it to be mere
empty threat. and possibly they may ind
some similar explanation for the action
If the Robert Dollar Company. But there
are signs of uneasiness in Washington
and some of those who refused to pay
beed To "vested interests" are apparently
inclined to doubt whether it was alto
gether wise TO proceed so far with piece
of LEGISLATION conceived without the least
regard to expert opinion and advice. Re
neal is now the only reasonable remedy.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Cabinet Appointments.

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: Would you please be so kind as to pub
lish the answers to the following queries in
your next issue: Does the following Article
., Section 2, of the United States Constitu-
ton practically include Cabinet members
"He shall have power, by and with the ad-
vice and consent Of the Senate, to make
treaties, provided two thirds Of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate and
by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls, judges of the
Supreme Court, and all other officers Of the
United States whose appointments are not
herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law" etc.
Does the President of the United States
as a matter of course send in the names
of the proposed members Of his Cabinet to
the Senate for confirmation? X. Y. z.
Jersey City, June "a, 1915.
Appointments to the Cabinet are included
under the provisions of this law. The ap.
pointment of Mr.. Lansing must be confirmed
by the Senate. when the latter reconvenes.-
Ed
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Crimean Veterans.
To the Editor of The Tribune.


Sir: One of your friends, Mr.. James E.
Beale, asks if there are in this country sons
of the veterans Of the Crimean War. The
writer is one Of them, his father being a
middle aspirant" under the order of Admiral
Jean Bernard Jaureguiberry. at that time a
commander, II M Beale wants to communi-
cate shall be pleased to help him in his re-
search, as will also a young friend of mine,
NJ Lester Strauss, the grandson of Daniel
Strauss, who, after earning the military
me dal in Crimea, went through the Civil War
and was after that for thirty-six years in the
New York police.
Many books-at least twenty in different
languages-have been written on the Crimean
campaign, the best ones TO my humble knCwl-
edge being "Siege de Sebastopol," an official
account of the engineer operations, and
"LExpedition de Crimea," by Baron de
Bazsncourt, in which many facts are given,
particular attention being paid to the iron
clads. then for the first time employed in
naval warfare. HENRI DE LAFITOLE.
New York, June II, 1915.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
The Illinois Lynching.
o the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Our voice has been raised against
the cruelties of Germany; to-day we must
hide our faces for shame for an act COM
mitted by Americans in the State of Illinois.
white man, suspected of murder, calmly
waiting the word of the law and justice, was
taken out Of Jail and lynched by an infuri-
ated and savage mob Of Americans. Are
these the same Americans who held up their
hands in horror for the savage acts of a
warning European nation? Are these the
same Americans who boast of American
civilization and progress?
Shame Twice shame, Illinois! You, a
Northern state, have been added to the noble
list OF Southern states whose inhabitants
find sport in taking the life of man in
their own hands. Almost twenty years ago
a mob in Louisiana lynched a dozen Italians
Yesterday one more Italian was murdered in
Illinois.
Does this speak well for America?
ALFREDO DISTEFANO.
New York, June II, 1915.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Making England Sober.

The powers of the new board for the
control of the liquor traffic in Great
Britain are great enough to satisfy any
man short of downright prohibitionist.
No stringent rules have been drawn up for
general application; it lies with the board
regulation, and to what degree. But for
the purpose of regulation they have a
large number Of measures at their COM
mand, and may use any or all of them in
correcting the consequences of drunken
ness or excess in the use of strong drink.
1t is all question of munitions, and the
board is to be made up of persons chosen
by the Minister of Munitions. Any area
in which munitions are produced is sub
ject to treatment by the new board, which
exists, as the Order in Council puts it,
"for the purpose of increasing, directly or
indirectly, efficiency Of labor in such areas
from being impaired by drunkenness, alco-
holism or excess"
To this end the members of the board
nave many nedHS dI JIclf uISpOsdl. L Hcy
are at liberty, for instance, to regulate the
hours during which any place where
liquors are sold may remain open. If they
think that some particular kind of drink is
more mischievous than another they may
prohibit the sale of that brand, and if they
are not satisfied with the manner in which
any place is conducted they may take the
business over and require it to be con-
Quoted under their own supervision. More
over, II they see fit, they may direct that
any licensed premises or club in the area
in which intoxicating liquor is sold by
retail or supplied shall be closed either
for all purposes or for the purpose of such
sale or supply"
As far as their own dealings go they
may carry on business involving the sale
and supply of intoxicating liquors with
out any license and are not subject to the
usual restrictions imposed by law. This
applies not only to those cases in which
they have acquired businesses for the pur-
pose of giving proper effect to the control
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Drouth has Joined the Allies.
Insect Disease Carriers.

fFrop, the Journal Of the American Medical Asso.
cidtfor.)
The investigations of recent years have
disclosed the relations of insects to malaria.
yellow fever, bubonic plague and sleeping
sickness The striking results already
demonstrated in respect to the activity OF
mosquitoes feas, bedbugs and house flies
inevitably raise the question as 70 tho pos
sible significance of other species Of insects
which may be less abundant but whose con-
tact with man may be occasional or confined
to restricted localities. This group includes
cockroaches, ants and bees. Their role is "a
vet purely conjectural, but it is Of interest
to consider the possibilities as they present
themselves to one trained to observe the
versatile habits of insects and TO recognize
the OPPORTUNITIES for infection to which the
sanitarian must give heed.
That insects which will devour any suf-
fciently soft substance, from human foods TO
glue, grease and water colors, and which will
live by preference in the cracks Of the floors
and walls Of houses, bakeries, restaurants,
sugar refneries and tanneries where their
bodies come into contact with the filth and
refuse that necessarily accumulate in such
places, should carry host Of germs about,
on and in their bodies and be able to infect
our foods, is certainly not surprising. Ye;
this is the habit of life of the omnivorous
cockroach. Reaches probably also feed on
tuberculous sputum and disseminate the
bacilli as readily as the house fly.
Ants, which are often abundant in houses
and are readily disseminated by commerce,
sometimes become a pest to the housewife,
particularly when they get into the stores OF
food. They have not escaped suspicion as
dissemnators Of pathogenic micro-organ-
isms. Wheeler points out that II thus be-
comes possible for ants to spread disease in
different ways.
Finally the bees, lauded for centuries by
poet and prose writer alike, have not escaped
the accusation Of suspicion. Wheeler has
observed the stingless bees visit collec-
tons of garbage in the Canal Zone, pre-
sumably gathering foreign substances. which
they knead into the cerumen cells in which
they store honey eagerly collected for food
by the natives in many parts Of tropical
America. According TO Wheeler, there are
records Of intestinal disorders or even death
following the eating Of such honey. The
suggestion Of possible contamination with
disease germs collected by filthy insects Is
plain.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Cowardice.

Not a few New Workers. will recall the
case of Patrolman Walsh, who, because he
feared to rush upstairs after an armed
murderer, was publicly Inundated by
Commissioner Bingham and dismissed
from the department. Commissioner
Bingham expressed, somewhat too theatri-
cally. at the time the primitive concep-
ton of an exhibition Of cowardice as proof
of an ineradicable weakness of character
which makes forfeit for all time the
respect and regard of ones fellow men.
Psychologists long ago riddled this notion.
Mr.. A. E. W. Mason devoted his widely
read novel, "The Four Feathers to
repudiation Of it; and now there comes
from the front in Flanders an incident
which should finally dispose Of it.
So unimpeachabe an authority as Pro-
fessor J. H. Morgan, the results OF whose
recent visit to Belgium were summed up
In the Bryce report, related the story 10
an audience at University College, Lon
don. 1t concerned a sergeant who had
lost his nerve and had been sentenced by
court martial to five years penal servi-
tude for cowardice. But before the SEN
tence could be enforced the Prussian
Guard assaulted the British line, and in
the ensuing fight the sergeant conducted
himself with such bravery that had he
not been technically under arrest he
would probably have won the Victoria
Cross. His sentence was quashed, but,
even more fortunately, his dramatic re-
versal of form led to the passage by Par
lament of the Army Sentences Suspen-
sion Act, which officially recognizes the
towards capacity for redeemng himself.
Such enlightened treatment of the IN
trinity of cowardice should go long way
toward preventing it as well as curing 1t
foo MANY towards are such through the
fear of fear and of its exhibition. Let them
appreciate that this does not condemn
them to an eternity of ignominy, and their
nervous systems will function normally
under strain. After all, every man has
his cowardly moments. It's more mat
ter of luck than anything else if he sue
ceeds in covering them from view.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-28
Aiming Merchantmen in Self-Defence.

The protests Of many German writers
of authority against the wickedness OF
merchantmen who resist the attacks OF
submarines are commonly backed by
vague appeal TO usage and the law Of
nations. 1t is always taken for granted
that, whatever the rights and wrongs OF
the present system of warfare against
commerce. merchant vessels certainly have
no right to protect themselves against
attack.
This is a questionable doctrine. In the
current Nineteenth Century" Sir George
Baker, disposing of the popular English
notion that the German submarine COM
manders are engaged in piracy, touches
incidentally on the practice of arming
merchant vessels. There is no ground
whatever, according to this learned expo
nent of international law, for the belief
that such course is illegal. The mistake,
he thinks, probably arose from a misun-
Outstanding Of prohibition in the Dec
laration of Paris: "Privateering is and re-
mains abolished"
All the belligerents in the present war
are doubtless bound by this declaration.
Il must be remembered, however, that the
privateer was a vessel armed for the ex-
press purpose Of attacking the enemy, but
there is a distinction, Sir George Baker
holds. between such a vessel and one armed
in self-defence TO resist attack. MANY
persons" he says, "who should know better
labor under this mistake. Similarly some
persons think that because the powers who
took part in the second conference at The
Hague in 1907 declared that merchant
ships converted into warships must bear
the external marks which distinguish the
warships of their nationality, therefore
merchant ships armed for self-defence
must do so also. But this is obviously
nonsense"
II this could be established to the salts
faction of ALL merchant ships Of all
classes might secure more or less effective
protection by adopting suggestion put
forward some months ago by an old
sailor, Admiral Penrose FITZGERALD. He
proposed that all merchant vessels, down
TO the most insignificant tramps, be
furnished with some sort Of armament.
Any small guns, guns quite obsolete
for warships, might be turned to ac-
count and only solid shot would be re-
ouired. To learn how 10 load, fire, train,
elevate and set the sights of any quick
firing gun discarded by the navy in the
last twenty years would be a matter OF
three or four lessons for an intelligent
man, and with suficisntly powerful stern