The Alaska citizen., 1917-08-13

... a. months a4a muA.us. When 1t uums ao,s ..aoa the merchant .u .,Nu1ygla4a, h, .- not free to 7yu l. where il. m.g. bu, <, must ov ac- counted for pound by pound If he
 breaks aatn. the punishment k most
 severe, for the honor ol tuc con
 ..dyrauon IS d, stake, d, the Sw.ss -oyrgnmuu, gsp.l stands behind the
 ;. s. S The merchant l- lined, us uou as all the parties to the
 uan-acs.on, the guarantee Is conus-
 cutya. and the offenders name is
 pat upou the blacklist. He might as well close his doors, as no future pyamlss.ons ot any sort Will ever be
 accorded to hm.
 The constitution Of tnIs trust is
 for Switzerland d humIiating neces-
 ,lly, and 1t must cease to exist as
 soon as possible after the war shall
 be o,er But Jhls arrangement has
 put d stop to d state ol uncertainty and mtsuust which Was most preju
 dic.aI 10 cur good relations with the IuetghborIns powers.
 You will thus see that the suspi
 cions expressed in the American pa
 pers and in congress in regard to Switzerland are not only unfounded,
 but that they are even offensive.
 We feel certain that the Ameri-
 can government will pass no mea-
 surcs based upon superficial judg-
 ment, nor listen to those who ask
 that We should be starved out for
 it would mean starvation to deprive
 us. at this time, of wheat from Am
 erica The German submarines,
 which, to blockade England, torpedo neutral ships, are doing an abomina-
 bIe work, and yet now, upon the ,upposition of blockading Germany, a suggestion is made to reduce to
 starvation entire populations of neu-
 rral countries. Is this much more
 admirabIeo The United States en-
 ters the war because of last su-
 premc attack upon neutral rights. President Wilson, speaking, as We
 believe, for the American people,
 made a proclamation that lifted high
 the hearts of every democratic peo- 1 pie and gave hope and courage to the small oppressed nations. The
 entire world listened, awed, as be
 fore a miracle The other day an l other proclamation rang out that
 America was fighting in the name of humanity and democracy against au- tocracy." The echo of the cXpres- sion of the highest of human ideals is still resounding in our ears, Are they only empty words? Could Am erica even now be contemplating as great a crime against right and jus 1 tice as Germany herself?
 It must not be thought, either, that Switzerland has not preoccu- pied herself with her material life CT the protection of her frontiers. l The mobilization of her armies has cost this little country over 600,00O,- 1 900 francs.
 She has also understood from the very first hour her duty toward the nations at war who are exposed to such great suffering. l can only state that the large majority of the Swiss have not only understood, but are carrying out this duty. It is a delicate matter to talk of ourselves and our good deeds but the world must know that Switzerland, follow ing her old tradition, has tried with out ceasing to be useful to humanity. On Aug l, 1914, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ge- neva founded the Agency for Prison CTS of War This institutiOn whose work it is to hunt up the where abouts of prisoners on each side and to put them into communication with their families, employs the vol untary, unretributed work of many hundreds of people. At one time there were more than 1,20O workers in the Geneva office alone. They are rendering an incalculable and necessary service to the anxious families and the lonely prisoners in permitting them 10 communicate by mail. A few figures will give you an idea of the work of this Agency of Prisoners of War. IL receives | upon an average of from 1,5O0 to to 1900 letters d day. In November, 191f, this rose to 2,500, and in one day reached 25,0O0 letters.