davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
A Moral War
= If The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: deep line of moral cleavage sepa-
rates the warlke aggressors from the UNI
prepared defenders, the murderers of non
combatants from their victims, the violators
of women from their prey, and the slave
drivers from the enslaved. Such cleavage
began in this war when the German armies
rolled into Belgium, which Germany was
pledged to protect. Forty years of concen-
trated national effort had created mill
tary machine which put it within the power
of the Kaiser to condemn to death not only
millions of his own subjects, but millions
also of the finest young men of England,
France Belgium, Russia and Italy.
Every violation of moral law by the Ger
mans has widened and deepened the gulf be-
tween them and civilized peoples. The bench
marks of the descending levels are unhap-
PLY familiar TO all the world, the "scrap of
paper" the crimes of the Bryce report, the
infamy of the Lustania sinking the murders
of Miss Cavel and Captain Frystt, the hor-
rors of the wholesale Belgian deportations,
the continuing submarine murders of Ameri-
cans The most terrible feature of such
acts is the revelation of the moral naked
ness Of the German soul, again made clear
by the defiant and untruthful statement is
sued the day of the Entente reply to Presi-
dent Wilson.
Though President Wilson and the pacifsts
seem not to realize it, the sharpest fact in
the war is that it is a battle for moral issues.
No shower of peace notes and no attempts
at peace conferences can bridge the chasm
between right and wrong. For any man not
to know what the war is being fought for
and to intimate that both sides in the war
are fighting for the same objects merely
lead aid and comfort TO the aggressor.
The United States has played the shame
full part of indifference and greed while this
death struggle has been going on, and it Is
only egotism to suppose that this nation will
have anything TO say when the war ends.
The Entente Allies, with clear vision Of the
moral issues, have shown that the war can
not end until the spirit of the German peo-
pie has changed until with realization Of
their guilt, with humiliation and repentance,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24

craek literature from Gilbert Murray
than from all the Anabasis and Homer
in the original we have stumbled through
II the Greek idea has an actual bearing
ON modern life. as many of us believe, can
il not be taught interestingly and erect
ively in a tenth of the old tedious periods
devoted to the imperfect mastery OF the
Greek tongue?
A similar problem suggests itself in the
matter of history Hasty and venerable
critics of the scheme snatch at the notion
that the rising generation is to be cut loose
from all acquaintance with the past. Inc
announcement is susceptible of a quite diff
ferent Interpretation, however. The
teaching of history is not to be abandoned,
we conceive. 1t is to be divested OF Its
Journalism, its dogma, its rigmaroe, and
its facts brought definitely to bear upon
modern life. The interminable string of
dates and kings and battles which were
thrust into the minds of most OF us at an
early period in our careers may very well
be abandoned Such tables quickly fade
from memory. in any case. They serve
no useful purpose in a world of reference
books and libraries. For them can be
substituted all the wealth of human facts
in the lives of bygone peoples, of which
the modern science of history is chiefly
built Here as elsewhere the proposal
merely carries into logical effect the whole
theory and trend of current learning.
These illustrations are given only to
point out the absorbing problems of the
new school ard the very considerable gains
which may possibly result to coming
generations. It's challenge of the old has
the support of current opinion generally.
It's development Of the new may well con-
stitute one of the most interesting spec
tacles of our city and time
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
A Cent a Day for Belgium
Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Millions of people in these United
States must be keenly, deeply sympathetic OF
the suFerings Of the Belgian people, who.
like myself. cannot make large individual
remittances, but who have hearts burning to
help and who would hail with Joy a plan
whereby they could give regular assistance
within their means. l ask if. through the col
umns of your paper, you won't help to organ
ize an America-wide penny-a-day club that
each individual in our country who feels as
I feel on the subject may have the privilege
OF contributing one penny a day, 80 or 81
cents a month, to be sent 20 France or Eng
land or Holland or Switzerland to be dis
tributed TO the suffering Belgians wherever
found, share and share alike.
Thirty cents month from 20,000,000 people
would be $4,000, O00-surey a considerable
help-and believe we could raise more than
that sum in that way. Many more than 90
100000 would jump at the chance to join the
penny-a-day club. Can't we try IL?
MARY RICHARDSON DUSTAN.
FL Dorado, Cal, Jan. 6. 1917
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Mr.. Asquith and His Lucan

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In your cable to-day from Mr.. Francis
". Hirst there is a curious misprint. He is
made to say: 81 hear that Asquith has been
reading Lucian in preparation for the fray.
He will need all his knowledge Of Latin for
the coming oratorical test"
II is. of course, Lucan that the ex-Premier
is reading-a poet who has always been a
favorite with English parlamentarians,
among whom may be noted, especially, Ma
caulay and his nephew, Sir George Trevelyan.
Macaulay says of Lucan: Il know no dec
lamation in the world, not even Ccero's best,
which equals some passages in the Pharsa-
liza" Sir George Trevelyan knows long pas
sages of the poem by heart, and delights his
guests in the country with his spirited reel
tations. As the poet of the civil wars, Lucan
had great vogue in England during the
seventeenth century, and Thomas May, the
historian of the Long Parliament, wrote a
continuation of the Pharsaia down to the
death of Caesar. Perhaps. in these times of
war, active interest may again be aroused in
Lucan. NJ
New York. Jan. 81, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Assuming the God

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: Mr.. Wilson. in his address, IS as
vague as usual in speaking Of the new and
unsettled problems, the limitation of arma-
ments and how far he proposes the United
States would employ force Of arms in up
holding a league of nations to enforce peace,
etc IL it very plain that his entire address
is cloak 10 his unneutral and unwelcome
doctrine that if this country is to join
league for peace. there must be peace
without victory" He therein confirms every
suspicion voiced here and abroad, that his
main desire is to get the Germans let Oft,
now that they foresee defeat. Again he in
suits the Allies in pretending that they are
on the same plane as the Central Powers,
and of the same degree Of culpability.
His entire proposal hedges around this abb
surd proposal. It is doubly absurd for the
reason that If the Allies win a sufficient
advantage to be able to impose good be-
havior on the part Of Germany they will have
sufficient advantage to enable them TO i'm
pose whatever terms they wish, and that
without our moral or material support; and
conversely, if the Allies must let up and are
unable TO eventually impose proper terms
Of good behavior on Germany, then Wilson
would leave the entire domination Of the
situation in Germany's hands! When he has
been unable, with all his rhetoric and moral
force, to obtain restitution and disavowal
for the Lusitania, does he imagine that Ger
many will yield to his Establishments what
it will not yield to the power and force OF
the Allies?
Mr. Wilson never lifted his voice to pre-
vent the total destruction of Belgium, yet
he would have Germany, which encompassed
that destruction, escape her proper punish
ment. which is so vital for securing the
worlds peace. But then Belgium had no
submarines to fear
Mr.. Wilson cannot establish peace in little
Mexico, yet seeks to play the mentor and
schoolmaster TO all the world.
1.-THE monarch hears;
Assumes the God,
Affects TO nod
And seems to shake the spheres"
New York, Jan. %, 1917. JUNIUS.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Economic Equality for Women

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: As working woman, sufragist
and mother, protest against the present-day
tendency to include women over twenty-one
when legislating for minors Of both sexes.
Working women do not want such protec-
ton; they want the same hours and the
same pay as men over twenty-one work and
receive, otherwise the broadening field for
women in industry" becomes a contracted
field. and women will be restricted 70 occu-
patti in which minors and children engage,
their earning power correspondingy cur
tailed.
All the statistics land figures do le-when
gathered to prove that women.
as mothers of the race, need the same protec-
ton as do children and minors have been set
at naught by the women Of the warning coun-
tries OF Europe, who are now doing the hard
est kind of work, under great mental strain,
and thriving upon il! As many of our So
called protective" labor laws were based on
statistics gathered in European countries, is
il not time that said laws be repealed or
modified and women allowed 20 earn their
bread and butter and jam unhindered by
laws which should apply only to minors?
Do the sufragists ever pause TO consider
that political equality is worthless without
economic equality, and that laws which pro-
tect minors prevent women from entering
many highly paid lines Of industrial activity ?
New York Jan. 10, 1917. AR.W W.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Paradise Rewritten

DR.. Simon Nelson Patten, of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, has recently
brought out a book of remodelled hymns
called Advent Songs" "The great themes
of religion and life. according to the an
nouncement in B. w, Huebsch's catalogue
"never change, but with evolving life it
becomes necessary to abandon negative
presentations emphasizing fear, horror
and hatred and urge the positive ele-
ments Of love, peace and beauty"
Many of the old hymns have been sur
prisingly improved. For instance the
negative
Like mighty army
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers we are treading
Where the saints have trod.
is transformed to the positive
Onward, eager people,
Spreading Christian lore;
Greet thy erring brother,
Harmony restore.
There is matter here for serious refec-
ton. If the old hymns can be so i'm
proved, might not some of the old English
poems be similarly rehabilitated?
Drayton's "Agincourt" comes to mind.
Instead of
When down their bows they threw,
And forth their bilbows drew,
And on the French they few:
No man was tardy;
Arms from the shoulders sent,
Scalps to the teeth were rent,
Down the French peasants went,
These were men hardy.
why not
When down their bows they threw,
And tossed pink or two,
Fragrant with morning dew
At the nice Frenchmen;
Who then was not beguiled,
Forgot his bile and smiled,
Fen as happy child.
Hen and his henchmen!
In this revised form we should have no
conjunction even against introducing it
into our modern nurseries.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
The Modern School

There is nothing exactly new or original
about the plans for the Modern School
to be operated at Teachers College except
its courage. Most parents have been re-
volving the shortcomings Of our schools
and colleges for some time. The notion
forming in their minds will agree very
with the expert conclusions for
INFLATED by DR.. Flexner and crystallized
in the interesting experiment to be
financed by the Rockefeller Foundation
under the administration Of Teachers
College.
The feeling has grown that an enor-
nous waste takes place each year in our
educational system. Greek and Latin first
came under fire and have very generally
succumbed. To spend six or eight years
on a dead language and take therefrom
only the veriest smattering of literary
flavor and a few word-roots was impos-
sible of defence with a whole new world
of science crying to be explored. Our
methods Of studying modern languages
have been equally inefficient. College for
the American boy came to mean four
years of amiable loafing so far as academ-
ic work was concerned. Therefrom he
took little more than group of friends,
a healthy body and a careless smattering
of tongues and isms utterly unrelated to
any after work or play.
The radical note in Dr.. Flexner's prof.
ect is its thoroughgoing challenge of all
traditional study Not only Greek and
Latin. but mathematics beyond elementary
arithmetic (save as practical problems
may demand algebra, geometry, etc) and
formal grammar are to 60 by the board.
History, save as it bears on modern prob
lens, is also prescribed. Memory learn
ing is to be reduced TO its lowest terms.
The effort will not be so much to store
a mind with miscellaneous facts as to
equip it with the material of language,
literature and science which form the stuff
of actual life. Naturally, new stress
will be laid upon science. stress which
can only be regarded as an extraordinarily
belated appreciation Of our greatest mod
ern possession. But here, too, the effort
will be not to let science drift into for
malism, paralleling the course Of litera-
ture and languages in the past, but TO
teach it through actually and relate its
every part TO life.
1t is a large undertaking, and DR.. FleX-
ner would no doubt be the first 10 concede
its experimental character. Let us take
iespised Latin and Greek for an example.
II is conceivable, we think, that new
method Of studying the dead languages
might be devised which would bring them
clearly within the scope Of a Modern
School," Most Of us have learned more
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
More Harm than Submarines Can Do

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: | voted against the President and
would do it again. | am heartily in favor of
the Allies and very much anti-Kaiser But
the stupid insult uttered against our Presi.
dent by British army officer who was per-
mtted TO land in New York last week is
enough TO make any loyal American despise
the army that can foster such cad
The United States is the melting pot of
the world, and has treated England with
splendid friendship and generosity. We have
loaned her millions Of money; we have opened
our ports to her countless ships; we have
allowed our wheat fields and our corn lands
to be stripped for her tables; we have shut
our eyes to the guns and ammunition shipped
her in vast quantities. Our young men have
aided her with inventions and given her their
lives. We have patronized her bazaars and
our speakers have swayed great audiences in
her behalf. Our officials have thwarted anti
British plots that could have passed unseen.
The British government does not wish Amer
lea 10 enter the war and has never invited US
20 enter Such move would be as dsas-
trous 10 England as 20 us. Britain is far
better pleased at our attitude as a friendly
neutral
Major c. P. X. Y 4. Dugmore has done
England more harm than hundred subma-
rines could do FOR FRANCE.
New York, Jan. %, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Our Public Health Service
lE'rom The MEDICAL Recordl

In the fields OF preventive medicine and in
all matters in which the public health is con-
cemed the Public Health Service does work
which is not only unsurpassed but unequalled
in any country Of the world This is reeog-
nized and fully appreciated in Europe, and
recently in one Of the chief medical journals
Of Europe high praise was given 70 the SER
vice for the extremely valuable information
with regard 20 disease and preventive medi-
cine which was disseminated by the agency
Of its bulletins and other publications. In
fact, the United States Public Health Service
is unique. and is an institution of which this
country has every reason TO be proud. 1t
remains as an ever-ready foundation upon
which 70 erect the Department of Public
Health whenever Congress shall see At TO
establish u.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Reviyals Still Needed
or of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: Yesterdays issue of The Tribune con-
tanned a criticism Of the Rev. Billy Sunday
by DR.. Joseph II. Mcmahon. a priest Of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Is 1t possible that New York society in
general and the Rev. Joseph H. McMahon's
congregation in particular have arrived a.
such state Of moral and spiritual perfec-
ton that its prelate can give so much Of his
time TO trying 10 minimize and belittle the
work of Protestant revivalist?
Any intelligent person who has the time
70 look over the crime statistics Of New York
City would certainly fail 70 arrive at such a
conclusion. JOHN R. STANDARD.
Springfield. Mass. Jan 70. 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
An Historical Chestnut
n Of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: The little historical anecdote as
quoted by Ernest P. Horrwitz IN your issue
Of to-day. and which he states is little known
outside of the Norfolk family, is an histori'
cal chestnut known to every English school
boy and is as ancient as the old conundrum
relating to the high priest Of sixteenth cen
tury Mormonism- viz, "Why did Henry Wits
wooing differ from that of otler kings" 70
which the answer is: "He married them first,
and axed them afterward.'
The distinguished phlologist informs "
that the story came from his young friend
Lord Colum Crichton-Stuart who was
cousin of the Duke Of Norfolk. Now bus
grace's sisters were nuns; believe, Sisters
Of Charity, and his brother Lord Edmund
Talbot, formerly of the 18th Hussars' ana
where the name Stuart appears in relation
10 the Towards | cannot see. OF course, u
may be through some distant marriage on
the female side. Stuart being the name OF
the Marquis of Bute's family.
Many of US who differ from Mr. HorrwI~
may be shallow patriots" and Ignorant
critics" and come under the whitening sneei
Of self-appointed Hun superiority and o.
those missionaries that have gone form
from Germany preaching the burglars doc
trine Of Pan-Germanism, but not all Of y,
are altogether ignoramuses. IL might as wen
be to the better interests Of Germans In the
Fatherland if they would stay there, fo'
those people have still much TO learn IN tns
ways of general knowledge, truth and honor
In Bernhardi's book of Germany and tns
Next War;" page PSI, we find how much Ger
mans have TO learn, even in elementary NJ.
tory, when he states: at is Significant OF tns
Of our national history which the
school imparts that out Of sxty-three re-
cruits of one company to whom the question
was put who Bismarck was, not single ore
could answer" This is but one instance ana
a highly significant one.
DONALD MAC EVAN.
New York Jan. %, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Theory VS.. Fact

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir; Suppose that European statesmen
duing our Civil War had said publicly that
we should make "peace without victory"
What would the North have said? What
would the South have said? What would
Lincoln have said? Did any thinking man
then believe that there could be any "peace
without victory? Does any thinking man
to-day believe it possible?
President Wilson avoids the duty of the
moment-his duty to humanity" If you
please and INDUCES in glittering general
tiles about freedom and the security of small
nations" in the future. Belgium is small
but Belgium presents a present and vital
issue. There, il is "a condition and not a
theory that confronts us" and so Mr.. Wilson
is not prepared to deal with it. Theory" is
his forte Humanity first seems to be his
motto, but if he would serve humanity how
could he make better beginning than by
taking a decided and a manly stand against
the Belgian slave trade?
Lincoln served humanity by striking the
shackles from the slave. He had threatened
many years before, upon Witnessing the hor-
rors of the slave trade while upon a visit
to New Orleans, that "if the time ever comes
when | can hit that institution | will hit il
and hit it hard" President Lincoln made
good his threat against wrong and injus-
tice. President Wilson forgets his Presi-
dent Lincoln "hit and hit hard" as he
threatened 10 DO President Wilson hits only
the rhetorical high spots. When American
lives were at stake he threatened, but did not
even hit softly. &c. BILLINGS.
Brooklyn, Jan. 30. 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-24
Sermons at War Prices
lFrom ~ Re,tminster 900.

iFrOr1 The WcSfrinSter Gazette
Apparently one trade is to be found with
out war prices. In a church paper no fewer
than half dozen advertisers, some of whom
are clergymen, offer sermons 10 their clerical
brethren at prices varying between Cd. and
Is. Cd. each. Arrangements are suggested
for whole quarters supply at the price Of
half guinea. Either large business is
done in helping lazy or inefficient clergy with
cheap sermons or some clerical hacks are
willing 70 take starvation rates for this kind
of unsatisfactory work. In either case il is
not very creditable TO the Anglican Church
that the machinery should be revealed in
this unceremonious manner. II a man can
not preach sermons of his own composition
one cannot see what good he is as preacher.