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JRhcde Island Intervsnes
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From the San Francisco Chronicle.
The state of Rhode Island, by direction of its legislature, has directed suit
to be brought to prevent enforcement of the national prohibition amendment
within that state. As already stated in these columns, we can see no way by
which the supreme court can prevent the execution throughout the entire nation
of this recent declaration of the will of the people constitutionally expressed.
Nevertheless, the points which will presumably be raised by the state of Rhode
Island are of great importance and justify serious consideration from the stand
points of ethics and statesmanship if not of law.
The 18th amendment deprives every state of the union of the exclusive
control of a portion of the police power theretofore possessed by each. Rhode
Island will presumably claim that the first 10 amendments, by which many
rights of the states were intended to be reserved, constituted a sacred pact,
which the nation cannot honorably break, or break at all except by superior
force equivalent to conquest.
The essential facts are in substance as follows: Desperate as were the
conditions of the states of the confederacy, the constitution as submitted by
the convention never had a chance of ratification by the necessary nine states
without changes, intended effectually to protect the states in respect to various
matters which all desired to withhold from federal jurisdiction. When this
situation was disclosed it was considered impracticable to recall the convention,
(but there was concluded something in the nature of a "gentlemen's agreement”
among statesmen, in a situation to control, that if the states would ratify the
first congress would propose amendments reserving certain rights to the states
and more effectively safeguarding individual liberty.
The agreement was kept and the first congress proposed 11 amendments,
of which all but one were adopted at the same time and appear as amendments
one to 10.
Rhode Island, by reason of its small size, was afraid to go into the deal
rlest its big brothers should misuse it. That state did not even send delegates
to the convention. It promptly rejected the constitution as offered and did not
sign up—and then only by a majority of two—until 1790, when it was apparent
that the amendments protective of the states had been or surely would be
ratified.
We assume that Rhode Island will set up that the first 10 amendments
constitute an inviolable pact. A technical defense might be that if it were,
Rhode Island had no right to invoke it because she was not a party to it and
only came in after the amendments were adopted, thereby accepting the
constitution “as is.”
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Good News From Va ley Falls.
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From the Kansas City Star.
The Congregationalists at Valley Falls, Kan., have sold their
church. They have no more use for it. The Valley Falls Congrega
tionalists have united with the Methodist. For the past four years the
Congregationalists and the Methodists have been walking the straight
and narrow path together, and they have found it profitable. But all
the time the Congregationalists have kept their church building,
perhaps with the lingering suspicion that if the Methodists should
show any signs of regretting the union the Congregationalists could
go “back home.”
The four years’ experience, however, has brought the two congre
gations into one body, and for the life of you it is not possible now
to distinguish between a Methodist and a Congregatioualist in Valley
Falls.
For that reason the Congregationalists have decided to “cast
aside every weight” that bound them to the old factional life and
sell their church building. That means they have burned their bridge
behind them. They will dwell in the Methodist fold and pasture with
the Methodist flock. “The experiment was such a success,” t.hd news
dispatch from Valley Falls says, “It was decided to sell the extra
church and set an example to other congregations in the hope that all
protestant churches in small communities would combine and make
one strong organization.”
It is a fine example, too, of Christian grace and religious
efficiency that the Methodists and Congregationalists of Valley Falls
have set for the churches of small communities. The definite action
of the Congregationalists in selling their church building, as a result
of the success of the movement, is an eloquent tribute also to the fact
that church federation in the small towns is possible, and it is a testi
mony not to be scorned by the outside world to the fact that there is
something in “the faith once delivered to the saints” aside from
denominational zeal. While the choir sings:
Blest be the tie that binds
let other weak and struggling churches in the rural districts come
forward and give each other the right hand of fellowship, declaring
by that act their intention to lay aside their denominational partisan
ship and unite to build up one strong church in each community.
What Russia Must Do.
From the New York World.
It Is evident from Lloyd George’s speech
to the house of commons that the allies
have adopted toward Russia the same
policy that President Wilson adopted to
ward Huerta in Mexico. In explaining
that it was impossible to make peace with
Russia because of the civil war existing
there, the prime minister said that "if
the bolshevists want to speak for Russia
they can do so by summoning a national
assembly, freely elected."
This is the one thing that the bolshev
ist dictatorship has manifested no dispo
sition to do. Having destroyed the na
tional assembly, It refuses to permit an
other to convene. Nobody can deny the
right of the Russian people to establish
a bolshevist government if they prefer,
but if there are to be diplomatic relations
between Russia and the rest of the world,
there must be conclusive proof that this
bolshevist government is the work of the
Russian people and that it Is responsible
to them.
I Just a Little Patience.
!
From the Springfield Republican.
Mexico is to have a new president in a
year and, whoever the new president may
be, he is sure not to be Mr. Carranza. Our
government should try hard to worry
along with Carranza until his successor
arrives in the hope that the next admin
istration will show less suspicion, fear
and possibly hatred of this country. It
Is not impossible that a better atmosphere
' ,ln Mexico can be created by Carranza’s
successor and that the relations between
the two countries will thereafter improve,
f Rertness and even defiance to Uncle Sam
yields popularity dividends to Mexican
politicians, doubtless, as much as twisting
the British lion’s tail did formerly ’n
the United States to our own politicians.
The Mexican people do not love us; they
(I never did. But after Carranza it Is possi
ble to hope for better things if our inter
ventionists can meanwhile be restrained.
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A Slave to Art.
* From the Minneapolis Tribune.
* Lambert St. Clair is now a member of
r tho war loan association, but he used to
i be the best buggy painter in Petersburg,
I Ind. Ho was not an ordinary buggy
f painter. No indeed! He is still romem
| bered there for painting a honeysuckle
« ®n a buggy so natural looking that a hum
* ming bird broke his bill on it.
I "But where is Petersburg?”
K If you look at a map of Indiana you
Hi ^w-iii see a small dot about 60 miles west of
■ ■^Indianapolis. That is Petersburg, home
i of 1,700 souls. It had 1.700 of yore, and it
has 1,700 today. When the handle factory
I moved away, the brick yard moved in.
• 1 Life in Petersburg is always undisturbed.
§ The town is as well balanced as a dumb
j| bell. At least it is doing as well as could
II be expected without its prize citizen, Bert.
W the buggy painter.
m Bert was loaned to the government by
Associated Press at the beginning of
(he war. He has written miles of adver
rising copy for the war loans with re
I markable success. It was probably be
J cause of him that you bought that extra
1 bond. It Is his boast that lie has never
I spent 3 cent to have his pants pressed,
1 anti it Is his hobby never to buy a cigar.
■ Kfts them all from his friends and
■ business callers.
And thus he pursues his profitable and
useful life in the capital, far from the
haunts of his youth. It is only now and
then that he is seen to start and look
pained. At such times one is sure to see a
buggy rolling past which calls for an
application of his genius because Its
wheels are not striped right. Bert has
denied his great gift and engaged In
worldly pursuits, but art still calls him.
Pick Cotton, Bolls And Ail.
From Popular Mechanics.
By the simple process of picking cot
ton in the boll, incubating the crop thus
gathered, and then extracting the fibre
by machine, the inventor of a new sys
tem promises a practical metamorphosis
of the whole cotton Industry. A $150,000
plant already has proved the practicabil
ity of the idea. The success of the method
rests on the discovery that cotton ma
tures as much as three weeks before the
hull opens, and actually deteriorates from
the time the boll first cracks. One ma
chine unit produces one halo an hour, re
quiring 20 hp. to run, 20 lb. of steam, and
two attendants. Cotton so picked Is de
clared to be cleaner, brighter, stronger,
and longer fibered than the staple as
handled at present.
Watching Grass Grow.
From the Christian Science Monitor.
The time has come, apparently, when
one can see the grass grow, thanks to Sir
Jagadis Chandra Bose, of India; at any
rate, Sir Jagadis, the other day, exhibited
the growth of a plant to a British audi
ence gathered in the council chamber of
the India office in London, and presuma
bly his Invention for transforming that
natural process into a visible and moving
spot of light on a screen in a darkened
room would apply as well to the growth
of a blade of grass. The crescrograph,
as the Indian savant's invention is called,
uses such things as a magnetic lever, and
a static needle, and a small mirror, to such
remarkable effect, though mysterious
enough to most people, that the highest
power of the microscope is multiplied
about 100,000 times; and so the spot of
light, which is the visible reflection of the
growth of the plant going on that many
times faster, appears to be in motion. So
too, whlcn Is the practical purpose of the
Invention, one can observe what retards
the growth and what accelerates It, and
agriculture is expected to profit.
Iceland’s Undeveloped Power.
From the Christian Science Monitor.
There is a man In Iceland, so the tale
goes In an American newspaper, who has
given many years-of his career, and trav
eled In Kurope and America seeking
knowledge and financial help, in an un
successful effort to Initiate a project for
setting the glacial rivers and rapids of
that little country to work generating
electricity and providing light, heat and
power to make his native land more
•'liveable.” Other Icelander! It seems,
regard him as a dreamer: yet, og a com
mentator points out, the dream Is being
proved a reality in an Increasing number
of places, and falling water Is generating
electricity more successfully than most
people imagine. But until the Icelanders
themselves provide the money there seems
to be Utile likeiianad that its rivers will
be utilised.
i
CYCLONE BLOWS DOWN A VILLAGE IN IOWA
-jijwwbuiumiioowuu* . — v ■%/- " h«t>«»••
n" niir-—"---111 r • i •• , run —- -- * ^nawiMaiwin.iisMiMnnfn-mim—iimi—rimurwi—nr— --
Nashua. Iowa, as the cyclone left it.
A cyclone following close on the
heels of a recent snow storm al
most completely razed the town of
Nashua, Iowa. No lives were lost,
but a number of persons were in
jured and barely a half dozen
houses in the town were left un
scathed. The photos illustrate how
thoroughly the wind did its work.
GIANT HEROES OF THE WAR ARE DEMOBILIZED IN SIAM
I - — "■ -»■■■■— ■ i
( »----------a
Troop of elephants disembarking.
Elephants, known as engines of
great strength in heavy hauling
and lifting, were used to great ad
vantage by the British forces dur
inp the war. They pulled cannon
and supplies through roads im
gassable to motor trucks and
orses. These big brutes were
shipped from East Africa ana
Siam to Franee. Recently those
who survived the war were shipped
back home and demobilized just as
the horses and dogs and other
mute heroes have been.
Di^er John F. Turner in new salt, and Turner being lowered into the water.
A newly invented diving suit of
arroo.. in which Diver John F.
Turner of Philadelphia -recently set
a world’s record by fyoing down 360
feet into the ocean, is to be used to
recover $30,000,000 worth of gold
bullion sunk during the war. The
suit was invented by Charles H.
Jackson, a colored mechanic of
Cleveland. Being constructed of
metal it relieves the pressure
against the body and, consequent
ly, the air pressure. Turner made
the record depth near Graves
Light, near Boston.
Insures Hen for $5,000. *
From the Portland Oregonian.
It isn’t every hen that can carry around
a $5,000 life insurance policy, but that is
the amount of insurance placed on one of
the hens at the recent poultry’ show.
This hen is a White Leghorn, owned by
Doctor Tancred, of Kent, Wash. She set
a world’s record for production by laying
330 eggs in 365 days, ended September 16.
This is about four times the production
of the average hen, so her valuo in the;
poultry world can easily be seen.
Her owner consented to allow her to be
placed on exhibition by one of the poultry
feed companies, but stipulated that she
must be insured for $5,000.
Not Shown Yet.
From the Milwaukee Journal.
Congress met last spring ami Mr. Len
root’s party was going to show the coun
try right away, how a country ought to
be run. They got the peace treaty, they
got the railroads, they got the question
of economic disturbance and the high cost
of living. Nothing has been done about
any of these things, but doing something
is not the idea. The thing Is to say some
body la responsible, somebody, that is.
besides the majority in congress. It's a
good thin* the work! did not oome ta an
end last Wednesday. The president'!
burden of responsibility is great enough
without that.
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Not For Him.
"Here's Just the thing for your new
mansion," said the art dealer. "Daub
leigh's famous canvas, ‘The Portrait ol
a I^dy.' "
"How much is It wuth?" asked the man
who had recently grown rich in the oil
fields.
"Only J100.000."
"What: A hundred thousand bucks,Tor
the picture of a lady! Great t-Ttctetopkat
tnadi: I don't *v«tt know
! ♦♦44 4 444 44 444444444
I 4 THE LARGEST LAKE. 4
4 - 4
4 From the Christian Science Monitor. 4
4 In these days of demand for In- 4
4 creased supplies of wheat, how 4
4 many people know that one of the 4
4 most Important factors In produc- 4
4 Ing that supply Is the largest body 4
4 of fresh water in existence? This 4
4 lake contains no fish, has no steam- 4
4 ships floating on Its surface, and 4
4 has never been seen, for it is en- 4
4 tircly underground. In many local- 4
4 itles the first 100 feet of earth con- 4
4 tain enough water to make a lake 4
4 over the entire area 17 feet deep, or 4
4 about seven years' rainfall. By 4
4 capillary attraction, or hy long 4
4 roots, plants draw on this reservoir. 4
4 reducing the level by only a few 4
4 inches, which is restored during the 4
4 rainy season. The Importance of 4
•4 conserving this supply of water la 4
4 evident, as the indiscriminate driv- 4
4 ing of railroad cuts, ditches, and 4
4 wells, through the water bearing 4
4 area, results In draining the pre- 4
4 clous contents of this Invaluable 4
4 supply. So much Is this the case, 4
4 Indeed, that the state of Minne- 4
4 sota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan 4
4 and the Dakotas have already 4
4 found u serious reduction tn th4 4
4 level of the underground water, due 4
4 to these causes, with a consequent 4
4 diminution in the crop production, 4
4 and legislation Is being enacted to 4
4 prevent this continuing. 4
4 4
444*4444>4444*4444*
Government Spending.
From the New York Sun.
If any ordinary citizen were asked how
much a youn^,unmarried woman In good
health and spirits obght to have to spend
on amusements he might says as much
as she could get, or that he had no no
tion about It. A government mathema
tician, or a corps of them, does better.
In the "Tentative Quantity and Cost
Budget Necessary to Maintain a Single
Woman In the Clerical Service of the
Government In Washington In Health
and Decency,” emlted by the bureau "f
labor statistics of the United States de
partment of labor, the sum ts fixed at a
figure between 38 cents and 38 cents a
week. In the crude precincts of unoffi
cial life a rough and ready thinker might
have said, "Weil, make It 40 cents." Thla
would not do In a public document. These
grave publications seek half the awe their
authors hope to inspire In the fact that
they never deal tn round numbers. Frac
; tlons and decimals betoken their thorough
going quality.
Our single woman In the clerical service
is to eat luncheon outside her hoarding
house 313 days a year, at 25 cents a day;
Iter clothing Is to cost not 1240. nor yet
$211, but exactly $240.15 annually. Her
contribution to ■ "religious organization,”
is set at iO cents a week, which is ridicu
lously low, as every woman interested tn
j church work knows, and "labor organlza
! tlons," whatever that may mean, are to
i get 20 cents a year less. For 600 rides to
and from work at a nickel a ride $30 is set
aside and 144 other rides at the same unit
price are allowed. Tan dotiars a year
must cover "toilet supplies;” what doen
perfume cost on ounce in Washington?
We don't know whether the amusement
allowance of between 38 and 39 cents a
week o' the odd 15 cents tn the allow
ance for dress In this survey is more im
pressive of thoroughness and system In
Its compilation. How much did Uncle Sam
take from his sweating taxpayers to get
It up and to publish and distribute It?
Beating Them to It.
From Blighty, London.
"Why don’t yon marry me?"
“Because I don’t love you."
“Why need that matter? Wed simply
have a five year start on half the people
in our set.”
A Casualty.
From tho Baltimore American.
"Do you notice the distressed look oa
that man s face? He was gassed."
"Was he gassed fighting on the front In
France?”
"No; he was listening to a congressional
debate on the peace treaty."
Hard Work.
From the Houstoln Post.
"Philip, I think you married me for
money."
"Well, dear, I believe I earned it, don’t
you?"
Division of Talent.
From the New York Post.
Friend—How long did it take you to
write your new book?
Author—I completed it in Just 23 days—
but the ad writer worked six months on
the selling campaign for it.
Had a Seagoing Look.
From the Youngstown Telegram
Gerty Glddigad called the new maid and
said tartly:
"If you don’t improve, Marie, I shall
have to dispense with your services."
"But I do my best.” Marie insisted.
"Yesterday afternoon you Insulted a
friend of mine.”
"Why, I never even-"
"When Uriah Umson called for me with
hts golf outfit he said you slammed the
door in his face."
“Was that a golf bag he had?"
"Yes.”
"I’m sorry, miss, but I thought he waa
an umbrella mender."
Conflicting Accounts.
From the Boston Transcript.
Little Helen—Mama, the minister told
me today that God gave me to you.
Mother—Well, He did, my dear.
Helen—Then somebody Isn’t telling the
truth. I heard auntie telling Mrs. Brown
that the court gave me to you.
Yes, the Check!
One evening Miss Muffet, alone in a
buffet..
Bought drinks that she never could pay
for.
Along came A. Snider and sat down be
side her—
Now guess what she allowed him to stay
for?
—From Cartoons Magazine.
Senators Hear From Home.
From the New York World.
The American people are beginning to
take a hand in the treaty controversy.
That is the explanation of the change that
lias suddenly come over the Senate.
“Extravagant Christmas buying has
spread to all classes,” says London. In
attempting to account for the unprece
dented shopping fever, storekeepers have
attributed it to everything from postwar
extravagance to the increased number of
overseas friendships.
The Trouble.
From the Dallas News.
It has Just about gotten so In this coun
try that more people would rather monkey
with a buzzaaw than operate a bucksaw.
Accomplished.
From Blighty, London.
Professor of Languages (to hostess who
has been extolling her dauJfht'W'3 linguis
tic accomplishments) — I ^vofpose shw •
doesn't speak Esperanto?
| Hostess- -Oh, yes, she A _
[ WkUVft.