The San Francisco call. [volume], August 03, 1904, Image 8

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
THE SAN FRANCISCO GALL
JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor . . . . t . . Address Alt Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager
; Publication Office- Third and 3Iarket Streets. S. F.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 1904
The Armenians have b;come' strenuous again- and
have attacked the Turks at Mush. If these opera-bouffe
revolutionists: had any sense of the fitness. of things and
seriously thought of exciting our sympathies rather than
our sense of the ludicrous Mush would have been the
last place on earth to begin a sentimental campaign. ¦¦"*""
Townsend's California Glace frmts In
artistic fire-etched hnrrs. 715 Market it #
Special - Information supplied dally *»
business houses ' and public men by th*
Press CUr?1"it Bureau (Allen's). 230 Cal
ifornia street. Telephone Maia 10 U. *
Paris, always nervously eager in her espousal of the
bizarre, is translating the words of coon songs into
French. Let us congratulate our trans-Atlantic friends
upon the fact that this new freak of their fancy is at
least temporary insanity and harmless. We have tried
to translate these alleged songs into English and happily
have recovered. \" *•
Managers of Berlin music halls have made a plea for
public patronage by introducing pantomime instead of
music in their orchestras, the players fiddling, but giving
no sound to charm either the savage or the gentle breast.
The innovation is strikingly worthy. As a substitute for
most of what we receive in our restaurants and music
halls it suggests itself as excellent to all that love the
human species domiciled in San Francisco.
Udnunki, the ancient Adab, perhaps
the oldest city In the world, has been
discovered by the university of Chi
cago's excavating expedition in Baby
lonia. This city has for many years
been the object of search by oriental
ists. It is mentioned in the code of
Hammurabi, an early King of Baby
lonia, which document was translated
recently by Professor Robert F. Har
per, director of the expedition. He has
just received news In a cablegram
from Professor E. J. Banks, field di
rector of the expedition, who since
leaving this country last winter for
Bismaya, in Babylonia, has announced
many important discoveries. The un
covering of ancient Adab is one
of the most important archaeological
achievements In recent years. Dr.
Banks informed Professor Harper that
he had found bricks bearing the sylla
bles Ud-nun-kl at the lowest level of
the ruins.. He is certain that these
bricks Identify the city as Adab. With
a force of 12» men he excavated the
ruins at Bismaya, and found .the re
mains of four temples, built one above
the other, which he named according
The World's Oldest City.
Whatever may be the effect upon our temporary . or
permanent commercial prosperity of the decision of the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company to refuse freight for
Japanese ports, nothing can discount the restoration of
p*ace of mind to prospective travelers to th'e -Orient.
The ominous phantom of a predatory fleet of warships
is certainly not conducive to a pleasant voyage even 'to
the most unconcerned of ocean passengers.
TEMPLARS — Subscriber. City. Al
bert G. Mackey, in, his dictionary of
Masonry, one of the standard works,
has a long dissertation on the subject
of "Is the plural of Knight Templar
Knights Templars or Knights Tem
plar?" In conclusion he says: "All the
American and British writers. Masonic
and unmasonie, except some recent
American ones, use the plural of Tem
plar to designate more than one Knight.
I have In a few instances found Knight
Templars, but never Knights Templar.
The very recent American use of that
plural is derived from the authority'of
the present constitution of the Grand
Encampment of the United States and
therefore the very point in controversy.
The former constitution used aa the
pluraljvnlghts Templars. I am satis
fied on the whole that the expression
Knights Templar, is a violation of both
the grammatical laws of our language
and the usage of the best writers on
both sides of the Atlantic and should,
therefore, I think, be abandoned." The
State textbook that uses Knights Tem
plars Is correct according to the most
ancient writers and the modern dic
tionaries, as well as the older ones. The
commanderies in using on their letter
heads Knights Templar are right, be
cause that is the name of the order as
laid down in the constitution. Under
the constitution In a fraternal society
the society cannot have one name and
then adopt another..
The President of Hayti has exploded into wrathful
protest against a 6oo per cent exchange maintained by
foreigners in the dusky republic as a reasonable meas
ure of protection to themselves. When Hayti is able to
take care of itself President Nord may expect outsiders
to display some confidence other than that involved in
their own ability to look after their own interests. It
might He well also for Nord to remember that if the
world has little confidence' in the financial credit of
Hayti it has less in its boasts of reprisal.
OINTMENT— S. R., City. The ques
tion asked In regard to what is required
to make an ointment of equal strength
of a tobacco wash, depends upon the
exact conditions, and cannot be an
swered in a general way. Perlque to
bacco would make a much stronger
wash than mild Turkish. The question
should be submitted to a chemist, who
will give you an exact answer, and
charge so much for his services.
kM8M<>» if. *•._»¦¦•¦
IRRIGATION — Constant Reader.
City. For such figures as you desire in
regard to appropriations for irrigation,
address a letter of inquiry to the Con
gressman of the district in which you
reside.
CROSSED EYES — Subscriber. City.
What are termed crossed eyes axe the
result of some muscle or the optic
nerve being defective. It is said that
such an affliction is not hereditary.
TEN YEARS— H. S.. City. The sen
tence Imposed on Arthur Phillips for
burglary by Judge Lawior In the Supe
rior Court of San Francisco some time
since was ten years.
The beneficial effects of bacteria are
no less interesting than the part they
play in the propagation of disease, and
a recent discovery is that the vegeta
ble gums found on trees, such as gum
arabic, are the results of their activity.
Previous to some investigations by Dr.
S. Greig Smith of New South Wales, it
was believed that vegetable gums wer«»
the result of the unhealthy or patho
logical conditions of the trees on which
they were formed, but the entire sfib
ject was one about which comparative
ly little was known. Dr. Smith, believ
ing that bacteria produced the gum,
examined two trees from which it ex
uded, and obtained two varieties of
bacteria, of which he made cultures.
Under ordinary conditions of culture
the formation of gum was only sug
gested, but when tannin, a constituent
of bark, was added to the culture me
dium, a thick slime was produced in
considerable quantities. This slime was
made up of gum, as well as bacterial
cells and albumenoids, and by a simple
chemical process a clear, transparent
and brittle gum was obtained similar
to the arabin derived from gum arabic.
and resembling in its essential proper
ties the natural substance. Dr. Smith's
conclusion was that the arabin gums
derived from trees are bacterial and
not higher plant products, and that
certain constituents of the sap, under
the action of bacteria, are changed into
gum, which exudes from cracks or
wounds in the bark, or else is carried
by the sap to the fruit— Harper's
Weekly.
Bacteria in Gums.
Ansivers to Queries.
"WE ARE SEVEN" — Constant
Reader, City. The poem entitled "We
Are Seven" was written by William
Wordsworth.
The wonderful insect-killing ca
pacity of the toad is known in a gen-
eral way to the enlightened few. says
Country Life in America. An imported
colony of toads may be the salvation
of a flower garden. We now have
some interesting figures, which show
that every toad in the garden may be
worth $20 or more. Many gardeners
give, their children a cent apiece for
every cutworm destroyed, considering
this a low estimate of the damage
caused by these insects. From May 1
to August 1 a toad may destroy 2160
cutworms, which it would cost $21 60
to destroy by hand. English garden
ers are said to pay as .much as $25
per hundred for toads for colonizing
purposes.
Valuable Toads.
God!
And if it never have the wings to rise.
'Twill add but one sigh to a world of
The world forgets
Love and the violets —
The new sun rises when the old sun
sets!
Of what avail? • • Yet sing! until
Sends the song ringing to the gates of
night.
When Love made lilies of remembered
light? ~ "...,,,"•
The world forgets
Lilies and violets —
The new sun rises when the old sun
sets!
Of what avail — your passion and your
pain —
The sacrificial cups your lips may drain?
Your burden, in the blackness of the
Of what avail — the singing of your song.
E'en though it echo the wide world
along?
Its truth — its trust— its love-endearing
tone?
When the song dies, the singer dies
alone!
The world forgets
The springtime violets —
The new sun rises when the old sun
sets!
The Singing of the Song.
DURING the present week the Portland Commer
cial Club will consult, in Portland, with repre
sentatives of Oregon cities and towns in promo
tion of its idea for the formation of a State development
league. The Portland Commercial Club is corrfposed of
leading citizens. Its aim is patriotic and sensible and
success ought to attend its efforts. If Oregon is assisted
to grow greater by any means our northern neighbor
will have the good will of California. The interests of
the Pacific Coast States of the Union are largely in com
mon. What adds to the prominence of any serves to
bring recognition to all.
Prior to the holding of the conference at Portland
the Portland Commercial Club has sent out letters ad
dressed to the Mayors of Oregon cities soliciting an ex
pression of opinion regarding probable results and also
concerning the feasibility of inducing Oregonians to
pull together for the common good. Some of the re
sponses are interesting and significant.
Mayor Dimick of Oregon City answers that Clackamas
County has undeveloped territory, mineral resources,
large timber belts and wonderful water power that can
be developed in the mountain streams, with a fine mar
ket at home for its products. To make these known
must result in enhancing their value. Mayor Hayter of
Dallas hits the nail squarely on the head in writing that
"Oregon needs advertising in the Eastern States and
now is the time to advertise." He sees no reason why
the interior and Portland should not work together har
moniously to promote ,the development of every part
of the State of Oregon. Much will be gained if nothing
more is accomplished than the general understanding
and good feeling that a conference induces where all
interests and all sections are represented. With the
advantages in view Mayor Dimick also perceives that
care in the selection of the officers of a State develop
ment body is of great importance. "Its promoters must
take care that the offices do not fall into the hands of
broken-down politicians or broken-down grafters, of
which every city and town in Oregon has its full share."
Mayor Waters of Salem finds that there can be no ar
gument against advertising the State of Oregon. Mayor
Talmage of Tillamook, Mayor Moore of More, Mayor
Scngstackcn of Marshfield and Mayor Ross of St.
Helens coincide in this view. The success that has
attended the efforts of California to secure the proper ad
vertising in the East through the agencies of the Califor
nia State Board of Trade and the California Promotion
Committee may have stimulated the Oregonians to make
a move for publicity. The preliminary expressions
would seem to indicate that there is no doubt that Ore
gon will soon have a State Development League and
that substantial benefits may be derived therefrom. ,
OREGONIANS GETTING TOGETHER.
A Russian newspaper, evidently yellow in its tenden
cies or having designs upon some of the bigwigs of
the empire, has made the startling suggestion that a
Cabinet of responsible Ministers be created for the
Czar. It is safe to assume that if the appointment of
such officers involves any more serious responsibility
than that assumed by the late Von Plehwe the recom
mendation will be rejected with contemptuous emphasis.
Official position in Russia at the present time is. some
what uncertain in tenure.
In an article In the current Railway
Magazine. Robert Weatherburn makes
some interesting remarks as to the
sounds emitted by the wheels and the
rails on our railways. A composite
wheel. In company with a rail any
thing more than eighty-five or ninety
pounds to the yard, will yield a semi
tone of such persistency as to become
the bete noire of the neurotic. A cast
steel wheel, on the other hand, relieves
itself by a bad interpretation of "The
Village Blacksmith." Every railway,
owing to the differences of track and
equipment, has its own particular
method of expression when carefully
noted. Were it possible to take an old
and well-seasoned railway traveler, one
witl. faculties of time and tune mod
erately developed, and place him
blindfolded on one of the long-distance
railways of the country over which he
had been in the habit of traveling, he
would sub-consciously be led to deter
mine, by the peculiarities of the sound
emitted and the involuntary associa
tion of their rappel with some old tune,
or melody, on which railway he was
journeying.
On our California rails who ha3 not
been kept awake half the night by that
iterant golden promise, "Sacramento,
Sacramento — you bet — you bet?"
The Singing Rails.
to the KInss who built them. The
dates became earlier, until finally the
bricks Identifying: Udnunkl were
found. Among other articles which
Dr. Banks found are marble statues,
onyx and sandstone lamps and many
bronze objects.
• When Police Judge Fritz is on the
bench he is dignity personified. When
off he is as fond of a practical joke
as any man. One of his jokes recent
ly caused no end of excitement for
some hours at the Hall of Justice.
Colonel Cronin of the property clerk's
office had bought a turkey for his
Sunday dinner. He took it to the of
fice and placed it at an open window
near the corridor. The Judge hap
pened to visit the office and when
leaving he espied Cronin's turkey. He
quietly seized it unobserved and car
ried it to his chambers. He tele
phoned to Captain Martin that some
one had stolen a turkey from the
property clerk's office and Detective
Dlnan was detailed on the case.
Meantime Attorney Shortall had
seen the turkey in the Judge's cham
bers and thinking it belonged to the
Judge he carried it to the bond and
warrant clerk's office and hid It. The
Judge had noticed 'him ami soon had
the gobbler back in his chambers. He
rang for a messenger boy and sent
him with the turkey to Otto Heyne
mann, stenographer in the Chiefs of
fice. A note accompanied the turkey,
purporting to come from Johnnie
Kreiss, saloon-keeper, and wishing
Heynemann the compliments of
the season. Heynemann called Kreiss
up by phone and said: "I am
awfully obliged, Johnnie; many
thanks." Kreiss replied, not knowing
exactly what he meant: "That's all
right."
The Judge then telephoned to Mar
tin that he thought Heynemann had
stolen Cronin's turkey. Dinan and
Cronin rushed into the Chief's office
and Cronin grabbed hold of the tur
key. "What are you doing?" yelled
Heynemann. "Let go my turkey."
Cronin and Heynemann hung to the
turkey, each vociferating it belonged
to him. Dinan asked Heynemann
where he got it and Heynemann re
plied, "From Johnnie Kreiss." Dinan
called Kreiss up by phone and Kreiss
answered that he knew nothing about
Heynemann's turkey. Heynemann
collapsed and Cronin marched proud
ly away with his recovered treasure.
Judge Fritz's Hoax.
plication for leave to attend the encampment, cannot fly
in the face of a matter of daily bread to carry out an
?obligation to the State*
There should be a more liberal spirit on the part of
employers who hesitate to allow th :ir employes the time
for attendance upon the annual encampment. The an
nual gathering of the State troops for field practice and
drill is not designed to be a prolonged lark for those
who participate, profiting nothing to State or individual,
but it is as important an element in the safeguarding of
the commonwealth as the operations^ of the legislative
machinery or the regulation of the finances. A thor
oughly equipped, thoroughly drilled body of State mili
tary is no less a part of the State government than the
civil arm of the law. The business man would be the
first to feel the effect of a weakened National Guard in
time of public danger.
From their past record Californians have reason to be
proud of the guardsmen and zealous for their future.
No State had a brighter record of volunteer service in
the Philippines than did ours through the First Califor
nia Regiment. These men were of the National Guard.
It was therein that they learned the practices of war
and it was to join that body again that most of them
returned as veterans. While we have a body of State
troops of so high a morale and so efficient a potentiality
we should unite to further its interests and support its
every need.
JB. LAUCK, adjutant general of the National
Guard of California, has made recent announce
• ment of the difficulties that beset the assembling
of a full complement of the State militia for the com
ing encampment on account of the recalcitrant attitude
of the employers alleged by the guardsmen to be ;>iri
force in the matter of granting vacations. Lauck says
that he is daily in receipt of letters from members of
the National Guard the State over protesting the inabil
ity of the several writers to obtain from their employ
ers the requisite two weeks 1 .vacation.*. Either they are
refused a leave of absence, entirely or the respite is
given them without a continuance of salary.
If the restrictions complained of by the National
Guard members are indeed as general as the word "of
Adjutant General- Lauck would have it, the militiamen
themselves cannot be blamed if the quota of the com
panies at Atascadero falls below the mark. Many of
the members who are men of family, and possibly of no
great means, cannot afford to take two weeks from their
earning period at the small pay offered by the regula
tions of the State militia if their employers are unwilling
to give them the time' off with full remuneration.
Others, who declare that a flat refusal has met their an
¦ ¦¦»:". ; ¦¦¦;.¦. •. . ¦ •
THE GUARDSMEN AND VACATIONS.
Celebrity is so fleeting a thing nowa- !
days that probably few people remem
ber who Tunis was. And yet at one
time he played a great part In the
world, and in the telegrams of fourteen
or fifteen years ago hia name was con
stantly mentioned, for h§ was* the
famous black charger on which "lo
brav General" Boulanger was to have
ridden to supreme power In France.
The fame of Tunis, like that of< his
master, was at its zenith on that 14th
of July when General Boulanger rode
back from the review in -the Bois de
Boulogne and passing tbe flower-draped
statue of Strasburg in the Place de la
Concorde was greeted by the fickle
crowd with delirious shouts of "Vive
Boulanger." When the general, an ex
ile from France, committed suicide on
that grave in Ixelles Cemetery Tunis
was old, and passed from hand to hand
until at last he came down to drawing
the cart of an old woman who sold
vegetables at Passy. Every day* he
dragged his burden from the Halles
across the Place de la Concorde out to
Passy, and one day last week as he
was crossing the scene of his former
triumph the Door old horse staggered
and fell and died not far from the spot
on which he so proudly pawed the
ground on that long ago 14th of July.
A crowd of onlookers at once collected,
and one of them as he turned away
spoke Tunis' epitaph to another run
ning, up: "It Is nothing— only an old
*«-«,« dropped dead.'/— London Globe.
Glory Departed.
After a long and inexplicable quiet Venezuela is herself
again, no«ing her disagreeable presence into another
fight. Not satisfied with offending Germany beyond the
point of decent endurance, Castro ha"? seized valuable
American property and blusters in the face of threatened
and warranted reprisal. Some of these days Uncle
Sam will be forced to teach our South American
friends that even if they are harmless they can be an
noying, and then the map makers will have a chance. to
do a little changing in alleged national lines.
The_ cause of the 1S93 riot was
• trivial, in the extreme. The rector of
the St. Petersburg University an
"nounced that any one attempting a
demonstration on February S, the an
niversary of. the foundation, would be
expelled. .The students, until this an
nouncement, had no idea of demon
strating, but they resented the rector's
•words and promptly organized* some
excitement- The police took them
seriously and charged, throwing all
v.ho resisted over the parapets of a
bridge. on the frozen Neva. Five stu
dents were killed and fifty wounded
in tfcis way. And yet at other times,
when no attention is paid, the little
effervescence . passes away so quickly
that the students themselves, finding
nothing heroic, forget their pledges
to one another and return to the calm
of university life. Almost without ex
cvption, before every examination at
each university, there is a meeting of
protest at which the students pledge
themselves not to pass the examina
tions. To render leakage impossible
they deliver to one of their .number
the certificates, without which they
nre not admitted before the board, and
they denounce as cowards and traitors
those who object. But Uie next morn
ing they come one by one to the cus
todian of the certificates and by bribes
and threats get their papers back, so
* that out of each hundred who signed
the pledge .on an average not more
than four abide by it. . -
Students' outbreaks are precipitated
most frequently by discontent at some
prnfess'or. No effort of the univer
t-illcn to be granted V..s selection of
their own faculties has succeeded, . and
rr> long as the decision remains in the
hands of the government at "i- p«t»f».
epec'ml Correspondence. i
ST.. PETERSBURG. July 15.— When
disorders occur in Russia university
students are generally responsible, and
t-h> fact has .been pointed out as re- j
markable that the enlightened should I
thus foment trouble, whereas in other j
• countries the ignorant are almost inva- j
• i iab-iy the culprits, Russian students i
. have grievances of their own, demand
ing reforms which could not be granted
Without shaking the nation's constitu
tion to its depths, and knowing that for
this reason they have conceptions to
Viope for the students turn revolution
. :*-ts, proclaim themselves the friends of
.the i>ecple and provoke riots regularly j
t- very year.
• The people do not, it must be con
" f*>ssed, evirce much sympathy with
The.se movements. In Moscow in 1S9S,
¦when the students posted proclamations
saying that they would help the Iov\er
• lapses to overthrow the Government.
tome of the "lower classes" came out
with knives against thtlr would-be
"champions, saying that they were con
tented with the existing regime and
v ould not be interfered with. As for
;he riots themselves, they become se
rious only when the authorities make
the mistake of taking them seriously.
In 3?02 thf-re were university riots in
Ft. Petersburg. ' The Cossacks, ordered
cut, rode into the mob in front of the j
Kasan Cathedral, lashing right and left
.with their whips. Checks were cut
open, ey.es were torn out. arrests were i
made by the score, the population was
•terrorized and it was thought a state of
?iege would have to be proclaimed.
Simultaneously signs of effervescence
• had manifested themselves at the Kleff.
• 'niversiiy. The Governor of Kieff,
• General- Dragemiroff. a hero of the j
JIusso-Turkish war and noted as the
best strategist in Russia, has his own
theories about students" riots, which he
fonsiders mere child's play and no more
worthy of attention than the pranks of
Harvard students stealing barbers'
j.r>les and shop signs. So when the stu
dents rose up Dragomiroff did nothing.
He let them march in procession
" through the town until they were ex
hausted:" l.e Jet them seize a car and
ride arourd crying "Down with the
Government" until they were hoarse,
and. finally, disgusted by the utter in
tlifference of authorities and populace,
the students dispersed and went home.
M^anwh-jl*, however, a jealous subor
dinate had seen his chance to advise St.
Petersburg of an uprising which Drago
miroff was neglecting, and a telegram
soon demanded of the Governor why he
had taken no measures to protect the
city. Dragomiroff promptly called out
two .full regiments and all the artillery,
"charged at double speed through the
town, surrounded the university with
pointed cannon. Intrenched his soldiers
round about and telegraphed as follows
to the Czar:
"Have surrounded the enemy's quar
ters with 2^00 soldiers. Enemy retreat
ed and not reappeared."
The absurdity was so evident that
the Czar laughed heartily and counter
manded the censure which was to have
been administered to Dragomiroff. But
the lesson has not been applied else
where. ;
Sometimes th*» various universities,
notably in 1S9E, boycott all lectures,
posting, pickets to prevent any indi
viduals -from attending,, or the stu
dents take ill-smelling, chemicals into
the lecture rooms. In 1899 the ex
aminations throughout Russia were
held under protection of the troops
and, the leaders of the movement,
• which had started in St. Petersburg,
(v.ere sent to Siberia, while 600 stu
dents were expelled- This was the
first of the great riots, since when
they have broken out at the same
period each year.
Student Troubles in Russia.
bury rolitics are apt to count more in
a candidate's favor than competency.
The case is cited of a professor of
commercial law at Odesa who, being
too lazy to prepare lectures, contented
himself with reading without comment
passages from a book written by him
self on the subject, which book was
in the possession of all the students.
Another story is told of a general ap
pointed rector of a university who se
verely took to task the librarian be
cause there were gaps here and there
in the rows of books. "You must keep
the library ship-shape," he ordered.
"Hereafter see that the first student
who asks for a book shall take the
first from the first shelf and then the
second, and so on, that the rows may
be kept clean." And he threatened
to send away the librarian for foolishly
suggesting that numerical order might
not coincide with the subjects desired.
At some of the provincial universi
ties there are important chairs with
out occupants, because the Govern
ment's choice fell en some man with
out the necessary degree, who is too j
indifferent or too limited to attain
them and who, consequently, cannot
take possession. While preventing any i
competent person from obtaining: the
appointment, ai the presem lUutneLi '
there is no professor of Roman law !
at the Odessa University. At Warsaw i
there Is no professor of commercial
law. And yet students must get these
subjects up and pass examinations on
them before receiving their degrees.
Except at St. Petersburg and Moscow
professors of political economy never
have any knowledge of modern events,
their course stopping short a quarter
of a century or so back.
To this ' cause of dissatisfaction
among students is added another,
which is connected with it and inten
sifies it. That is. a law forbidding any
one from entering a university save
that in the region of the preparatory
school which he attended. The country
is divided into ten great regions, each
with Its university— St. Petersburg,
Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Kharkoff,
Kasan, KiefT, Helsingfors, Dorpat and
Tomsk. And as at starting school a
child must decide on his university,
the result is almost invariably that
he is bound to his local university.
The Government has devised this pur
posely, to prevent a flooding of the
two capitals, St. Petersburg and Mos
cow, where the education to be ob
tained is far superior to that of the
other centers. This is considered rank
injustice, since the rich, who can af
ford their entire education from child
hood in the capitals, can form excep
tions for these privileges.
These are not the only causes for
discontent among Russian university
students. There is also the lack of
all rights In the university, each stu
dent being required on entering to
sign a paper acknowledging himself to
be merely a visitor or guest. Then
there is the exaggerated system of su
pervision bv an inspector, who is
generally a retired general and who
holds them responsible for every petty
action, as If they were children. Those
preparing for the university are
watched with such strictness that'they
desire some little liberty when once
they have matriculated, and they re
sent the abuse of authority. Further
more, there is the crucial grievance of
a prohibition of societies of any de
scription or even of general meetings.
The direct consequence of this last
measure is that a students' movement
of protest becomes revolutionary from
the start. Xot having any place in
which to assemble, they are constrain
ed to march into the university and
take forcible possession of a hall or
lecture-room. They lock the doors,
hold a meeting, in due form right in
the sacred precincts and pass resolu
tions. When the superior, warned, pre
sumes to interfere, the students, know
ing that their action has already put
them beyond the pale of conciliation,
catch him. beat him to avenge all past
resentment and end by kicking him
out. The next day the superintendent
publishes a notice in the papers say
ling that,' owing to a sudden Indisposi
tion, be. will be unable to attend to his
duties for a brief period, which lasts
until the ringleaders have been im
prisoned.
A boycott of the university follows
the meeting; manifestoes are posted in
the streets. Notices are sent to the
other universities and demonstrations
break out. Often the trouble is quelled
before this last stage is reached by the
arrest of the leaders. Government spies
are In each class, registered as stu
dents, who participate in the meeting
In order to denounce the seditious. It
happens not unfrequently, in virtue
of this system, that the spies de
nounce, for reasons of personal spite,
students who were only passive on
lookers, but on whom the onus of
punishment is thus made to fall.
THE joint committee of the Senate and House on
the merchant marine arrives in this city to-day,
with Senator Gallingcr of New Hampshire as its
chairman. The revival of our merchant marine has been
under discussion for several years. The subject was
concreted during the first administration o£ ' President
McKinley, and has since been before Congress in some
form, but no decision on methods has been reached.
Like too many of our eco- mic issues, it has impinged
upon party politics, and plays have been made for polit
ical advantage rather than for the welfare of the coun
try and the promotion of its commerce. It is an issue
of vital importance Jo this coast, because, without asking
permission of Russia, the position we have asserted in
the trade of the Pacific must be maintained for our own
development and in the interest of the national honor.
When Secretary of Agriculture Wilson made his first
visit here he was entertained by a large company ,of
Californians as the guest of Mr. William H. Mills, and
in a thoughtful address said that Dewey's ships in Manila
Bay had proclaimed American primacy of the Pacific. The
sentiment was heartily applauded. But it requires more
than a declaration and applause to create an actuality.
Primacy on deep water can be manifest only under the
flag of the primate. Until we so write our title the fact
remains only in the form of an ambitious aspiration.
How to effect the transformation of that aspiration into
fact is the problem before the country awaiting solution.
Let us not be understood as saying that this coast is
to be'the sole beneficiary of a revival of our merchant
marine. In proportion to the greater volume of its deep
sea trade the Atlantic seaboard's interest far transcends
our own. What is desirable is to join the two coasts in
a unified determination to secure legislation that will
put American commerce under the American flag, and
keep it there, while still offering Iiosptality to the mer
chant flags of other nations. At present we are driven
out of competition. We are not in the race. We spend
hundreds of millions every decade for ocean freights
that go to the ships of othe'r nations. Our flag is not
on merchant ships enough to do our transportation for
a single fortnight. It is a stranger not only in the sea
ports of the world but in our own. All Americans re
cognize this as an evil. For every national evil there
must be a remedy, no matter how snAll the evil may be.
When it is of such magnitude as this the necessity for a
remedy is of equal measure.
This visiting committee was authorized by Congress to
make close inquiry info conditions, to learn the extent
of the necessities of both seaboards, and, above all, to
get the commercial judgment as to what ought to be
done. We are entering upon the construction of an
American canal, open to the commerce of all nations.
We are preparing to expend vast sums upon that enter
prise. But when it is finished shall we see passing
through it, triumphantly, the flags of all nations ex
cept our own? At this moment both parties are united
in indorsing the construction of the canal, and why?
Because it i> a facility to our commerce. Why can
there not be the same unity upon a policy that will carry
that commerce under our own flag?
This Pacific Coast is a deeply interested section of the
country. Our flag once dominated the Pacific Ocean
before we owned a mile of its shore. The primitive
tribes and the simple Spanish settlers seldom saw any
other. The tribes were so impressed by the constant
procession of American ships, most of them cleared from
Boston, that the common name for a white man in all
their dialects from San Diego to Puget Sound was "Bos
ton man," and to this day in the jargon spoken by most
of those who survive, the term for heaven, the Elysian
fields of the future, is "Boston illahie," the upper Bos
ton. But the marine glories of that day have faded,
and exist only as a fossil in philology.
Now we own -the coast. We have islands in the Pa
cific. We have a vigorous and growing trade with
Asia. We are only just beginning to exploit the resources
which supply the articles of commerce for profitable
exchange- with the Orient. We have made a new con
quest of the Pacific with our navy. Shall we. have a
merchant marine to hold it. or shall we surrender
it? A more pressing question was never presented to a
people than this. Shall it be said we have resources
to build an American canal on the isthmus, but none
| to encourage the building of American ships to use it?
While the committee is here our commercial commu
| nity should frankly and forcibly present its case. It is
I our day in court and our petition should be full. The
committee may rely upon this, that whatever conclusion
it reaches as a result of these conferences, backed by
I its independent investigation, will be supported by Cali-
I fornia in Congress. We cannot afford to remain as we
are. In these days those who stand still until the pro-
I cession passes cannot hope to overtake it. We don't
i want to be put in that position. The committee will
! have every facility and every hospitality at its disposal,
| for our people are impressed with the importance' of the
issue and the advantage which the occasion offers.
THE MERCHANT MARINE COMMITTEE.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL. WEDNESDAY, ; AUGUST 3, 190*.
8
MEN AND MATTERS IN
THE FORE AS THE WORLD
MOVES
TALK OF THE TOWN
AND TOPICS OF THE
TIMES