Every man who comes to America has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we command him. And he who disobeys is as we maintain wrong, because he neither obeys our commands nor convinces us that our commands are wrong; and we do not rudely impose them but give him the alternative of that's the argument has been allowed to enter the game that was being played here. He has, as soon as he becomes a citizen and it depends upon him solely whether he shall obeying or convincing us; that is what we offer and he become one or not the same voice in the making of the rules of the game as the man who has been playing the longest. Whatever justification there might have been for violence in countries where he had no vote, where to demand the rights of a freeman meant imprisonment or death, there can be no possible excuse for it where he has the same right to vote and speak as any other man. The argument is the argument that Socrates made when his friend, Crito, proposed that he should disobey the laws of Athens and escape from prison and save himself from the death to which he had been condemned by his fellow citizens. He imagines what the laws would say to him if he thought of following Crito's advice: "Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of understanding? Also to be soothed and gently and reverently entreated when angry, even more than a father, and if not persuaded, obeyed. And when we are punished by her, whether with imprisonment or stripes, the punishment is to be endured in silence; and if she leads us to wounds or death in battle thither we follow as is right; neither may anyone yield or retreat or leave his rank, but whether in battle or a court of law, or in any other place, he must do what his city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is just; and if he may do no violence to his father or mother, much less may he do violence to his country. What answer shall one make to this, Crito? Do the laws speak truly or do they not? Crito: "I think they do." Socrates: "Then the laws will say: 'Consider, Socrates, if this is true, that in your present attempt you are going to do us wrong. For after having brought you into the world and nurtured and educated you and given you and every other citizen a share in every good we had to give, we further proclaim and give the right to every Athenian that if he does not like us when he has come of age and has seen the ways of the city and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his goods with him and none of our laws will forbid him or interfere with him. But he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the state and still remains does neither.' "This is the voice which I seem to hear murmuring in my ears like the sound of the flute in the ears of the mystic; that voice, I say, is humming in my ears and prevents me from hearing any other. And I know that anything more which you may say will be in vain. Yet speak if you have anything to say." 66 I have nothing to say, Socrates." Then let me follow the intimation of the will of God." "He must do what his city and country order him; or he must change their view of what is just." what is just." "We give the alternative of obeying or convincing us;" and that, too, after he has had the other choice of going away with all his goods to some other country "if he does not like us." That argument is a weapon with which we must arm all who need defense against the attacks of those who seek to make them disobey the laws or to destroy our government by force. How fair and reasonable an argument it is! We say to the man who thinks our laws unjust "Convince the people that they are unjust. There is no czar, no tyrant, no one man whom you must convince and can not because if he is convinced he will lose wealth and power. You have to convince those only who you say will benefit by being convinced the mass of your countrymen." The laws were speaking to Socrates as one born in Athens and a citizen of Athens; and the man that people have in mind. usually when they speak of the necessity of Americanization is one who was not born in America and often is not a citizen of America. If we wish the argument to impress him fully with its justice, its fairness, we must make it true that, although we have not brought him into life, we offer to do everything for him that we offer to do for those whom we have brought into life. Our country does; our country offers him and his children the same education it offers those whose families have been here for ten generations; our country offers him the same legal and political rights. Let us make sure that you and I, the men and women of our country, are equally just and fair; that we give him a share in every good we have to give. Our country, I say, does this, the laws do this. But do we, you and I? Are we sure that no slighting, no contemptuous treatment on our part embitters him; that we do not seek to excuse any of our own shortcomings by charging them to him; that we do nothing to make him feel that the mere fact that he is a foreigner sets him apart as something unworthy of becoming an American. I trust that no one of us will ever have it on our soul that anyone who left tyranny and persecution and lack of opportunity in the old world believing that he was coming to a promised land, to a land not only of liberty but of equality and fraternity, to which he was to contribute, and from which he was to receive, his share of work and good will, and who, if he had been met in the spirit in which he came, might have been a happy man and a good citizen, has become, because of our harshness or contempt, soured and embittered and a bad citizen. I have given you an argument of Socrates, an Athenian of more than two thousand William Watson, an Englishman of today. years ago. I close with an exhortation from I heard it last week at Harvard read by Professor Bliss Perry as a part of his brilliant address on poetry and progress: "prince Vortigern so run the ancient tales Search the foundations, you that build a State; SCHOOLS OF FISH FOUND BY AVIATORS A New use for the airplane discovered in New York City - NEW use for airplanes is found every day. Schools of fish for which the fishing fleets along the coast may search vainly for days can be detected instantly from a seaplane, according to a report by W. W. Welsh of the bureau of fisheries, which was made public by Lieutenant-Commander J. H. Falge of the navy recruiting office at 34 East Twentythird street, New York City. The report of Mr. Welsh followed a trip he made in a naval seaplane from the Cape May naval air station. The flight was made at from 500 to 1,000 feet and at a speed of seventy miles an hour. At the time of the flight no schooling fish were breaking water on the surface, and none could be seen from the crow's nest of a vessel or from fishing piers. "The plane ascended rapidly to about 800 feet and most of the trip was made at that altitude," Mr. Welsh reported. "Few schools of fish were seen at first, but as my eye grew accustomed to the conditions many small schools of menhaden were observed, all moving at some depth, and none of them breaking water. Some schools were so near the surface that they appeared as a reddish brown granular mass, amæboid in character and changing form constantly. "Deeper schools had the appearance of large masses of sunken gulfweed, and others were so deep that they could be distinguished chiefly by the shadow they cause on the suspended particles in the water. From a comparison with other objects seen at known depths it is estimated that the depth of the schools varied from about two feet to ten feet, or possibly more. One school of silver fish was observed breaking water. Those were possibly weakfish, certainly not menhaden, as they lacked the characteristic color of the latter. A school of porpoises was clearly seen and could be followed under water. "The most evident opportunity for the practical use of aircraft in the commercial fisheries at the present time lies in their employment as scouts for the purse-seine fishermen, in the pursuit of such species as menhaden, mackerel, bluefish, bluebacks, kyacks and other schooling fish. In the case of the spring mackerel fishery it is believed that the use of aircraft would save much time in locating the fish upon their first appearance and in enabling the fisherman to keep in touch with the fish as they appeared further north. The chief service rendered would be notification of the fishermen of the general vicinity of the schools, and it would require actual trial and practice to determine how much could be done in directing the fishing vessels to particular schools by means of radio-telephone or other methods of signalling. "It would appear that the menhaden fishery offers the most promising field for experiment in this direction. In the case of a region like the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where there are large menhaden interests, and where there is a naval air station conveniently located, the conditions would seem to be excellent for the development of tactics in the use of aircraft to assist fishing operations. The benefit to the fishing fleet would be in time and fuel saved in the search for fish and in the concentration of effort on large schools instead of wasting time on small, scattered bunches of fish. "It is quite possible also that schools of large, fat fish might be distinguished from those of smaller, leaner fish, although this would require experience in observation. Another field for experiment would lie in the guidance of fishing steamers to large schools not visible from the crosstrees, but plainly visible from aircraft, and communication by means of wireless telephone, harking buoys or other devices would enable the boats to set the seine around the fish invisible to them. Such cooperation would be of great advantage to the naval air service as well as to the fishing interests, as it would provide for the naval aviators, excellent practice in scouting, station finding and communication. "In case such cooperation should be established between the fishing interests and the naval air service, it would be essential that one or more experienced seiners be detained by the fishermen as observers for the aircraft, as the experience of naval aviators has not been such as to enable them, without further training to assist in directing the movements of fishing vessels.” BUYING SHOES BY THE TON Shoes by the ton! That's the way they're buying them in the devastated areas of Belgium. But the Belgians need not only tons of shoes, but tons of corn for chicken feed, kitchen utensils, coal, mattresses and ticking for bedding. All of these commodities are being purchased in carload quantities through the organization effected by the American Red Cross. Among the articles purchased last month were twenty tons of shoes, thirty tons of mattresses and ticking, ten tons of kitchen utensils, ten tons of corn, forty tons of plies, 10,000 fine chickens were purchased for the refugees paraffin and 1,000 tons of coal. In addition to these supto replace those killed for food by the invading armies. DOINGS AND GOSSIP IN THE Some of the important measures pending in the Senate and Bills for reorganization of State government The legislature has decided in a program to solve the housing problem throughout the State. Nine bills have been introduced providing the following remedies: Courts in first and second class cities to grant a stay where summary dispossess proceedings are brought and to determine what constitutes a fair rental. No summary dispossess proceedings brought against a tenant for non-payment of rent shall be maintainable unless it is shown the rent paid during the month prior to commencement of proceedings is no greater and has not been previously increased more than 20 per cent yearly. The landlord to prove reasonableness of rent value, when deference in that amount demanded is unjust. Exemption from state income tax of principal invested in mortgages up to $40,000. Landlord to establish to court's satisfaction tenant is objectionable. Tenants must be given 30 days' notice to terminate monthly tenancy. Unless a definite time is specified, verbal leases shall expire October 1. Senator Sage is in favor of consolidating the departments of State engineer and surveyor and superintendent of public works. He has introduced an amendment to the State constitution to bring this about. The new department would be in charge of a commissioner of public works elected at the general election. In time it is planned to add the State highway department to this branch of the government. Under a bill of Senator George F. Thompson of Niagara County street railroad companies would be relieved from bearing the expense of paving the street on which their tracks are laid except six inches outside the rails. At present street railway companies are obliged to pay for pavement to two feet outside the rails. Senator Thompson explained that the bill was introduced at the request of the New York electric railway association. The present law, he said, was passed when the street cars were horse drawn, but with the general use of electric cars the wear on the pavement from the railways does not extend beyond six inches outside the rails. Senator Mullan of Rochester would make it a misdemeanor for any person willfully to deliver or transmit to any manager, editor, reporter or publisher of any newspaper or magazine any false or untrue statement of fact concerning any person or corporation with intent that same shall be published. |