davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
FLAX AS CONTRABAND.
Sinking Of the Leelanaw COntrasted
with the Allies FOrbearanCe.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SrS-Sir: Mr..
z. J. Butler OF Seyark appears to think
that the sinking of an American ship
by Germany because she carried a cargo
OF flax might be justified by showing
that the Allies had committed acts
equally r~eprehensible against American
shipping. Where docs the United States
come In under such reasoning?
In addition to a clear violation OF the
Prussian treaty provisions which Ger
many acknowledges as binding between
her and ourselves, while distOrting its
terms to suit her purposes, the Leelanaw
case involves the right OF Germany TO
destroy American property at sea. re-
sorting fp' her defence 10 the subter-
fuge OF calling absolute ~contraband'
commodities Inherently iucapable OF the
sort Of use which the whole world re-
cards as necessary to warrant their
classification as such. II Mr.. Butler
knew anything about Ireland and her
Industries he would know that fax con-
signed to Belfast is Of no practical
value except for making linen. which is
not In demand for military" use.
Germany having injured American
property and seeking to defend herself
through resort to a mere bubble. the
,hing for Mr.. Butler and the rest of
us 10 do is to defend American interests
and eNpose that bubble instead of eN-
cuslng the injury on the preteXt that
others are visiting Ike wrongs on us.
Moreover, Mr.. Butler Is mistaken IN
his assumption that the Allies are treat
ing us as Germany is. While Germany
has committed a number OF acts Of war
against us, sinking our ships and kill
ing our citizens. the Allies, without
pressure from our Government, not only
have placed nothing on the list of abso
Lutte co~ntrahand which Is not admittedly
valuable for the provisioning of armies
and the making of implements OF war,
but have even ahstaincd from plac!n9
on that list a product which Lincoln
treated as absolute contraband durin
the civil war with the approval OF tn
supreme Court OF the United states.
Now az then cotton. the staple prod
uct of the South, might properly h,
called the equivalent of money. In ad.
d!tion II Is used to-day for the manu-,
faCture of G%uucotton, 4 most i'm.
portant element OF modern ammunition
yet England and France have rccrainet
from placing it on the list of absolute
contraband.
In a number of other respects they
have 1eopardized what a large sector
Of English and French public opinion
has regarded as vital military interest,
In giving the United States not only tn
benefit Of every doubt, hut often Tn,
benefit where no doubt whatever e>
listed. Their forbearance is in str!kinl
contrast to the ruthless policy Of de.
struction followed by Germany. and ".
have them To thank for the fact that
because of their mastery of the seas
the Germans cannot do on n very larg,
scale what they have been doing arains,
US on the few occasions when the oppor,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
The Horrible confessions" Of a
College boy.

The sad old men of twenty WHO know
all about 1t pronounce college a fall
ure. One of them mumbles in the
outlook his Confessions Of an Tn
~dergraduate." College destroys the
capacity for work. 1t encourages the
habit of doing no more than the ir.
reducible minimum. Courses are
dull, and through fault not of the
structor. And the instructor i~nstructs.
not because he loves 10 teach. but to
make his bread and butter.
Incredibly" little time Is now re-
Quired, not merely to get through"
but to graduate with hopors and a
Phi Beta Kappa key. "Blutiing' Is
easy and profitable; class work is all
routine. mechanical. Ten minutes of
study a day is enough for n bright
man." Instruction and diversions
are alike dull. dreary, u%ninspiring.
The barriers Of caste are ''impregna-
bic and inviolable." The campus has
its complete set of ready made
ideas" Non-conformers suffer.
But the picture Is not all dark.
Not ever college can prevent the de-
termined student from getting an edu-
cation. He "a read in the words of
this ornament of the confessional.
pour over "Piers Plownan' and
Montesquieu. Perhaps ''in spite Of
itself a college curse IS better than
nothing Of the sort at ALL"
This melancholy young persons col.
lege is quite Enthusiastically recognlz-
able in his scolding, and 1t Is one of
exalted prestige honestly earned and
we'll deserved. But the injury which
such vapid utterances may do to wool
witted readers. feeders on error. af-
fects not this single institution. but the
whole college world. For this reason,
though the identity of the anonymous,
hopelessly self-conscious blastcr Is no
concern OF ours, we take the trouble
to say that we cannot possibly be-
lieve this outlook article was written
by any present undergraduate. If 1t
is, as we strongly incline to believe,
the composition of a graduate of. say,
a dozen years standing, a literary
hack with a turn and taste for fault
finding and reform" 1t Is an imposl.
ton or Doctor LYMAN ABBorr's ha-
bitual power. If 1t Is what 1t purports
to be, then the colleges are to be con
gratulated on being in such a state
Of health that they find critics princi'
pally among those whose unhealthy
dilettantism. affectation and fiabby
mentality nullify the effect Of their
feeble %mouthings.
The American college boy Is a fine
fellow. The American college profes
sor knows his business. The Ameri
can college is the healthiest and ough,
to be the happiest microcosm In tn,
wide, wide universe.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
The Kaiser to His People.

The manifesto Of WILLIAM II. to
the German people at the end Of the
first year of the great war will always
be viewed as n historical document,
no matter what the issue Of the strug-
gle is. Will posterity say that the
Kaiser was i~nsincere when he de-
clared that the enemies OF Germany
had been preparing for a decade to
humiliate her, and that she was
driven into n defensive war? We
think not, although the impartial his.
torian. dealing with recorded and
easily accessible facts. will decide that
the Austro-German coalition was the
aggressor and that there would have
been no war in 1914 II Sir EDWARD
GREY's negotiations for a settlement
Of the Serbian dispute had received
proper consideration ut Berlin and
Vienna.
No statesman deserved as much
credit as Sir EDWARD GREY for pro.
venting n general conflagratlon In
Europe when the Balkan nations com.
bined to expel the Turks from Eu-
rope and later quarrelled among them.
selves over the spells. But, with the
best Of intentions. he was 1mpotent
In the greater crisis. WILLIAM III,
speaks in a political sense. and not al
a soldier. when he says that the wal
was a defensive war and that 'it was
a fight for the highest good Of the
nation, its life, its freedom" No one
knows better that Germany was ready
to strike and that the enemy was not
ready. His conviction that Russia,
France and Great Britain meditated
the reduction Of Germany to the state
Of a second class Power in the fulness
Of time Is unsuitable. If the publ
cists Of Germany. the politicians, the
professors In the universities and
the journalists Of the empire % inter.
preted the diplomatic exchanges OF
forty-three years. dating from the
close Of the Franco-Prussian war, Is
1t astonishing that WILLIAM II. agreed
with them?
II they were wrong headed was 4
to be expected that he, who believed
in the divine right Of kings to rule
could see clearer?
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
PATERSoN'S NEW PLAY PARK
Demonstrates the Uselessness O
Amusement Instructors.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir.
Paterson has a novelty in the form OF a
play park. which Is attracting the at
tention OF park and playground mana
gers throughout the country. Inciden-
tally instructive and organized playing
for children gets a decided setback and
the positions OF hig salar!ed officials
in that line may he entirely abolished
should Paterson's example he followed
by other municipalities throughout the
United States.
The idea OF a play park Is entirely
original with Andrew T. Fletcher, "A
member OF the Paterson Board OF Park
Commissioners and a New York business
man. Mr., Fletcher regards as tommy
rot the theory that children have to
be taught to play. All that is needed,
he insists, besides the play implements,
are green grass. shade apd running
water
With this idea In view. Mr.. Fletcher
induced the other members of the Pater-
son Park Commission to open Penning-
ton Park In Paterson as a play park.
The park, which has an area of approyi-
mately sixteen acres, is one massive
lawn. There isn't . path in the park
and not a single Keep on the Grass
sign is to be seen anywhere. There are
swings and rings and an excellent beach
for the children 10 battle, with an in
structor to teach swimming.
But there isn't any teacher" to give
the play park any appearance of school.
and the only attendant Is a man who
walks about to see to 1t that there isn't
any disorder.
Now Paterson has several Fairgrounds
whore instructors are paid rather decent
salaries to teach childrcn how 10 play.
But strange 10 say. every child de-
serted these expensive places to go "a
Pennington Park the day on which II
was opened. Altogether there were
5000 children and 1000 mothers pres
ent, many of whom brought basket
lunches and spent the day, Every day
since the park has grown In popular ity
and the Fairgrounds are deserted.
Since milk at a penny a glass has
been introduced, II Is sold exactly al
cost and sterilized under the supervision
Of the Paterson Board OF Health. As
I things ga along Mr., Fletcher plars Ia
introduce penny lunches. city officials
are devoting their spare time to promot.
Ing athletics on the park grounds.
As to cost. from 5000 to 10000
women and children are daily being en-
tenta,ned at a net cost TO the city OF ap.
proximately sl2 a week, Does that
speak well for Fairgrounds with high
salaried play instructors? J. Q.
NEWARK. July 81.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
CAPITAL
To Rejoice In an Execution Is
Scarcely Humane

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir, II
is a question of tha salvation of a sin
gle life set up against tho salvation Of
many lives. To rejoice in the violent
taking of as such OF any human being
Fan scarcely be deemed humane. nay,
human. From the standpoint of Kan
sas, eYempli gratia, a penalty somewhat
loss than death Is considered sufficiently
effective to safeguard its citizens.
Since we live. and desire to safely live
In New York State we reasonably re-
joice in Becker's ~electrocution, because
the law of this land. an undoubted bless
ing, has been indicated in our favor.
No thoughtful person can take Becker's
diving word u surest information.
though accidentally false in possibility,
comes to US from tho verdict of a sworn
jury.
1t Is, II not sophisticated, certainly I'M
practical to reason from possibilities,
This neither world Is doomed by its nat
ural Limitations tQ proceed in practice
according to a species OF cert inty which
Is not apodictical. j. A. M.
CHESTER. July 81.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

In the North Amercon Re,iem for August
literature again has an equal showing with
war. The venerable Frederic Harrison writes
on Friar Bacon. e. A, Boyd on "AE" Rus
sell, W, d, Trites on Dostoievsky and John
burroughs and q Bradford phtlosophizc on
life and on journal SIN, y, II Dole con
tributes verse and Mary Austin continues
her rcliglous serial, On the war side Sydney
Brooke explains Lord Northcli ne. the editor
cr!t!c!ses various matters, +, " Mahin
writes on international finances and VIM,
fred Kirkland and the Hon, Mrs Midway
contribute impressions, j. c. Hemphiu die.
cussss the negro vote in tho South.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
Bulgaria's and Rumanla's Hour.

With the Germans at Warsaw and
the further extension of their lines
upon Russian territory imminent,
the fate Of Constantinople and the
attitude Of the Balkan States, upon
which the success Of the Allies ex-
petition against that city is so largely
dependent, become more than ever
before important considerations In
the hopes of a speedy termination OF
the war.
The withdrawal Of tho Russians
from Galicia and Bukowina increases
the risk to the armies that Rumania
might send north and also opens her
frontier to attack II the Gepmanlc
successes In the east continue. Ru-
mania has been SO long haggl!ng
that she has left little doubt but that
her decision would he determined by
the best offer Of territorial accessions.
Whatever opinion she may have had
Of Teuton agreements, the moral ef.
feet OF the present Victory must be
to make her feel that there Is perhaps
less hope of realizing the offers of the
Allies than of Austria's offer of the
Rumanian portions OF T%ransylvania
and Ressarabia. yet to be won from
Russia, although they may be the less
attractive.
Bulgaria, whose choice seems IN h.
largely In the hands OF King Frum
NAND, Is ms much an enigma now u,
ever. The King has declared tina
recent concessions from Turkey di,
not pledge Bulgaria to participation
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
The DEVILS Activity in Utica.

The Utica Herald Dispatch, a con.
temporary which we should like to
esteem. is published by the Utica Sun.
day Tribune Company. The names
Of the officers Of that corporation are
here exhibited:
President. ............. JACOB ACNE
Nice-President. 80. WILLIAM II. CLoHER
Secretary. II. WIENKE
Treasurer. JOHN c. FULMER
Our reason for summoning these
gentlemen is to inform them that the
newspaper for which they are respon.
sible is p~ersistently and systemati.
cally Offering to Its readers as edito'
rial matter original with the Herald.
Dispatch articles taken bodily, textu,
ally and shamelessly without credi,
from THE SUN. This nefarious prac'
tice is not merely occasional; 1t Il
habitual.
The weather Is 80 hot that instead
Of prosecuting the purloiners Of our
property we prefer for the present to
line them up in the sunlight and tc
ask Mr.. ACNE, Mr. CLoHER, Mr.
WIENKE and Mr.. FULMER very pleas
antly what they think of it.
Our gratifying success In partially
reforming the Boston Erening Tran
script, the refined old kleptomaniac In
the black bombazine dress. leads us to
believe that the more merciful coarse
with regard to such transgressors IL
sometimes the better course.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

on. do I look as old to them
As they look young to met
mean the cop upon his heat,
The subway employee.
The fireman. the - guard and
This u. s, regular,
The college boy with rah-rah clothes,
And X the baseball star.
Time was (and not so long ago)
They all looked old ana sage.
For men of thirty seemed to bow
Beneath the weight OF age,
But step by step I overlook
The decades. after while.
Until a man OF thirty-nine
Looked mighty juvenile:
80, til now when all Of these
Mere children seem TO he.
Say, do l look as old to them
A. they look young 10 me7
II. s. HASNAh
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
Mr.. william JOnes's U~nfavOrable Opin.
lon Of the Inventions BOARD.

To II EDITOR OF THE SuN-Str; Tho
Inventions Board" as organized by our
Secretary of the Navy. Josephus Dan
iels. might better be called the Board OF
Nuts.
Any of our first class practical bust
ness men who have had to do with In
ventors will tell YOU that all inventors
are crazy and irresponsible. go that II
Josephus thinks he is doing the country
a good turn by attempting to organize
a lot OF looms into a body from which
will ~eventuate wonderful inventions,
poor old Josephus is only Kidding him
self and the country at large, always
excepting those hard headed business
men who have met inventors and are
at present laughing their heads of at
the thought that anything practical can
result from such a Board of Nuts.
WILLIAM JONES.
BROOKLYN, July ~.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

JAMES '1IANK' GRIFFIN, a one time
pugilist, who operated a jitney bus In
this city. was fatally injured in trying
to avert n collision with another jitney.
that vas running ahead OF him-Brtd9e-
port despatch.
Judging by reports from places
which the Jitney has conquered he
had best for "A safe occupation stick
Ia his old profession. The perils of
the prize ring are as nothing COM
pared TO those of a Jitney owned
street.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
A to tho Problem Of Cotton.

Cotton difficulties again loom large
In the national prospect. The market
for the South's great staple, so much
Of which customarily goes abroad, Is
being increasingly deranged by the
war. Although under the circum-
stances a remarkably large proportion
Of last years unprecedented crop has
been exported, much Of the cotton has
simply gone into storage IN other
countries. Consumptive demand for
ordinary purposes has been dimin-
ished in foreign lands as a conse-
quence Of the European conflict; and
unless all signs fail troublesome fnan-
cial, commercial and political ques.
lions on account of cotton are rapidly
coming to a head.
1t is difficult to see how prospec-
tive international troubles could be
aggravated II Great Britain and her
allies should declare cotton contra
band Of war. The modern %gunpowder
Is % largely %guncotton that by far the
greatest demand for the staple com
Ilg from belligerent countries Is for
he purpose Of converting 1t into am
kunition. This alone would tc
Stablish a basis for making cotton
e~ontraband, but by refusing so to de-
clare II the Allies against Germany
permit a situation to exist which only
exasperates the South.
As long as 1t Is nominally possible
70 load a vessel with cotton consigned
to a German port in order to take
advantage Of the enormous prices
which Germany will pay for cotton &c
convert 1t into gunpowder, cotton In
terests here are Infatuated when such
q vessel is held up by an allied war
ship and taken to an English or
French port only to have its cargo
eventually condemned and sold. The
fact that the proceeds are RENTED II
the shippers does not lessen the irri
tation which Is felt. Meanwhile, a'
nearly as competent Judgment can de
term!ne, political interests In thu
South with a hyphenate backing ar
prepared to make an uproar In Con
gress over the Allies interference,
with the cotton trade, no matter
whether cotton Is or Is not proclaimed
c%ontraband of war.
Lately it has been proposed II
Great Britain that the British Gov
eminent find the money to take from
the South and pay for the cottoI
from this years crop which would
normally 60 to the countries witt
which Great Britain Is at war. TEN
porarily this might make the interna
t1onal political problem less serious
although ultimately 1t might increas
Its gravity. That 1t would. after
very little while, make conditions II
the cotton trade worse than they ar,
now cannot be doubted.
The process would only be a proc
ess Of valorization. 1t would result
IN the accumulation OF a vast sur
plus OF cotton which would overhan
the market for the staple in the fu
ture. The weight of 1t could not fai
to have persistently depressing effect
on the price which the cotton grove
would obtain for his crops from yea
to year, especially II as seems likel
the war is prolonged and the BIRTHS
purchase Of excess cotton had to b
repeated again and again.
AS a matter Of fact very much {
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

The enterprising officers Of the engi-
neering societies Of this State are per-
fectly willing to have its government
turned ove to them: and the Hoboken
Turtle Club favors an amendment to
the Federal Constitution barring from
the public service all men Of less than
$50 pounds.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
Frankly ldealistic,

To THE EDITOR oF THE SUS--Sir. To
make war less probable In the future sun
pose through some idoa,lstic method of
enforcement II is made necessary that the
surplus capital Of each nation he invested
In territories foreign to the origin Of such
capital. DEAN PALMER
NRw YORK, August 2
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

A record Of eighteen years In the Mon
tana Legislature without having made
a political speech Is claimed by Z, DON
LON of Thompson Falls. Mon. who is
stopping In ST. Paul. He served two
years In the House and sixteen years
In the Senate. voluntarily retiring from
public life last January.-St. Paul
Pioneer Press.
Marvellous record OF a rara avis.
Would that the species was not con-
fined to the Northwest.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

Sixty delegates. including ten
women, attended the convention of
the Progressive party In New Jersey.
II women are TO become prominent in
Bull Moose party councils. some APP
propriate term of designation must be
found for them. Cow Moose. while
strictly correct from a natural history
viewpoint, seems somehow to be lack
ing in political dignity.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

II we can teach our drinkers to stop
drinking and teach our boys never to
start drinking, we won't need any pro-
h!bition laws,--JoHN l.. SULLIVAN.
Why not do away with all laws by
teaching our bad men to be good and
teaching our boys never to be bad?
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

District Attorney CRoPsEY and the
Police Commissioner hope to end perjury
at patrolmen's trials.-Ne,cs Of the day.
Merely setting an excellent example
for Judges Of the civil and criminal
courts.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

similarly arraigned in the inscription
on a monument. which, we believe. still
stands, was reelected by an over
whelming majority. Sympathy is often
won, and often forfeited, in unex-
pected ways
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

Sheriff KINKEAp's way Of quelling a
riot is spectacular, and not cheap; but
Il Is better than Governor FIELpER's.
It a hardly be disputed that Cover
nor WHITMAN bettered them both In
his prompt. unostentatious and BUSH
nesslike dealing with the disturbance
at Massena.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
To Fleet a Mother Superior

CoNvENr STATION. y. J., AuE '''
TIE purpose Of elact.ns a success" . 80
late Mother Navier as head OF tHA So
ters OF Charity in New Jersey uyH0'rs
OF the order will meet at 81. Ei.2t.'ih'
Convent on August Is.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

II do not think the men OF New York
city would give false replies to women.
A suNrd1ist oorker.
Much depends on the hour Of their
arrival home.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

ro''re take plate OF Becker coffin
HeUdlnc,
Its presence there violated the
sanct!ty Of the Church and the law Of
the land. to say nothing OF common
decency. In the South Q Judge once
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
August

Now August comesi
The locust huns:
The maiden thumbs
The novel summary.
Her rose and tan
Drawn from their can
Delude no man.
And all Is fummery.
The timed pie troupe
Have fiown tho coop:
The cantaloups
is to the fore again
In Delaware
The peach crop scare
Has sought its lair
To (next year, score again.
Tho ups OF stocks
Bring down tho rocks.
And crops In shocks
Are on the way once more.
Humidity
Brings on ennui.
Aud you agree
All work II such a bore.
-- MsucH MOAN
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

The Kentucky National Guard was
routed by a swarm of bees. Just as
soon as the news reaches the trenches
in Flanders a new atrocity will I'M
doubtedly be added to war.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

Chicago boasts of ar organization of
which 5000 "anti-British thinkersv
are members, and the American Truth
Society Is willing to indorse their def
milton of neutrality.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03
Sing Sing lowbrows win.-HeddNne.
Another blow at higher culturs7

United States marines are to pre-
vent the holding of an election in
Hayti, in order apparently that the
cherished right Of slaughter may not
be infringed
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-03

Twelve men, to each OF whom a com-
m!ttee In Port au Prince offered ths
Presidency. refused 1.-THE neWs.
Self-preservation is the first law Of
nature