VOL. XV. NO. 1.
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1915.
PRICE 5 CENTS.
CAPS FOR FRESHftlEN
8ALE WILL START TODAY IN
MEMORIAL HALL
SELL TWO FOR ONE DOLLAR
The Color It Qreen, Usual A
Record Breaking Sale le Ex
pectedDon't Delay In the
Purchase of One
Sale of Freshmen caps will com
mence this morning In Memorial Hall.
A skull cap and a toque will be Bold
together for the price of f 1.00 to all
first year men. Juniors and Seniors,
with a few of the under classmen will
have charge of the distribution. A
.large number of the initial bonnets
have been purchased to meet the de
mand and an effort will be made to
make this year's sale a record breaker.
The caps are made of good green
matftrtal and elve promise of being
f Vl k-mtA nrltVl thiol
very oervivcauic Aimcu m vu
quantity and quality of head gear,
each Freshman is supplied with fash
ionable caps for the entire year.
The Freshman cap is a tradition in
Nebraska, which has done much to
promote a spirit of fellowship among
the first year men. It is not a badge
of inefriority, as it is often thought.
"Barbs," fraternity men and all alike
wear the same hat, so that they will
be known to each other.
The handicap of going through the
University unknown and undiscovered
is one to which every embryonic col
lege man should turn his attention.
The green Freshman cap has been
tried and has been found a success. It
has promoted fellowship and It has
bound the first year men together in
such a manner that they have been
able to accomplish things.
One of the first big events in the
University activities will be the An
nual Olympics the scrap in which
the Freshmen and the Sophomores
fight for class supremacy. For the
purpose of more effectively uniting
the Freshmen for this event, it has
been thought a good idea to put the
caps on sale early. The price is mod
erate and the purchase Is not a lux
ury!, By buying the two hats a man
can. save money.
Those in charge have requested that
the Freshmen be urged to get behind
this movement and push the sale of
caps. They want it impressed that
they are not used as a sign of infer
iority in class standing, but merely
as a means of bringing th new men
together for a bigger and better Uni
versity.
Association Keeps Open House
The Young Women's Christian As
socaition welcomes all girls. It ex
tends an urgent invitation to its
rooms, where tea will be served dur
ing the days of registration. Tuesday,
Spetember 21, at 5 o'clock, will be the
first meeting, the topic being the Uni
versity Girl and the 3k W. C. A. In
conjunction with the Girls'. Club, they
will give a party in the Temple Satur
day, September 25, to which every girl
is Invited.
Yon
Wot
COTTON A8 CONTRABAND
By Edwin Maxey
Professor of International Law,
verslty of Nebraska
Unl-
So much and such violent opposi
tion has arisen in the cotton growing
Bectlon of the United States to the
British treatment of cargoes of cotton
shipped to ports adjacent to Germany
and Austria, that it is fitting we in
quire seriously into the Justification
or lack of justification for the policy
pursued by the British government
with respect to this commodity. As
spokesman of the jingo element in the
south, Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia,
insists, with clenched fists, that any
further interference by the British
navy with shipments of cotton to
neutral ports should be considered by
the United States as an unfriendly act.
and that an ultimatum to this effect
be sent at once to the British govern
ment.
Before considering the legal phases
of the question, it is interesting to
note the extent to which economic in-
tersts may at times bias people's
views as to purely legal questions;
also what strange bedfellows are
created by economic as well as politi
cal interests. While the law is no
respecter of persons, persons are fre
quently no respecters of the law, pro
vided it conflicts with their economic
interests.
During our Civil war the United
States declared cotton contraband. The
south was at that time extremely pro
English in their views. In fact they
were then as much Anglophile as they
are now Anglcphobe. And the Federal
government, which Is now protesting
the policy of the British government
in treating cotton as contraband, was
at that time using the guns of its
navy to emphasize its insistence that
cotton was contraband. As the Brit
ish did not resort to the same form
of emphasis in their insistence that
cotton was not contraband, the view
of the Federal government prevailed.
Now the British government is insist
ing that cotton is contraband and en
forcing their view by a resort to the
same form of emphasis which carried
conviction during the Civil war. It
would appear that our Federal gov
ernment was wrong then, or now, and
whether they were wrong then and
now is a qeustion of law which we
will now proceed to examine.
With respect to their character as
contraband, Grotius divides goods into
three classes: 1 Goods used mainly
in war; 2 Goods used only in peace;
3 Goods of use in peace and war.;
The latter he terms ancipltls uses, or
of a double-headed use. The goods of
the first class are absolute contraband
Those of the second class are never
contraband, and those of the third
class are conditional contraband, L e.,
are contraband if destined for the
use of the enemy's army or navy. This
classification has not been Improved
upon and was cited with approval by
the supreme court of the United
States In the case of the Peterhoff, 5
Wallace 28.
Of these classes little difficulty is
found with the regard to the first or
second. Articles manufactured for
aid used primarily in war, such as ar
tillery, are universally conceded to be
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r FRESHMAN
UNIVERSITY CHORUS IS
TO STUDY FOLK SONGS
Meet in Art Gallery Three Nights
Special Class for Drill Men
on Monday Evening
The University Chorus will meet
In the Art Gallery next Monday at 5
o'clock. Mrs. Carrie B. Raymond,
the director, says she hopes tvat the
change in rooms will make it more
convenient for students to belong. A
series of Folk Songs of all nations
will be the first on the year's pro
gram, coming to a climax in the May
Festival. Class meets Monday, Wed
nesday and Friday at 5 o'clock with
an additional hour on Monday even
ings at 7 o'clock for men who drill.
Nebraska Graduate Defends Pastor
The News Letter, the official organ
of the Trinity Methodist church, Is
sued Saturday, comes out strongly in
defense of Dr. Hull, the pastor, and
says in part:
"Trinity has never had a pastor
that has given more of his own money
or worked harder for the upbuilding
of the church than Dr. Hull, and he is
entitled to courteous Christian treat
ment, which he certainly did not re
ceive Saturday night." -
The editor of the News Letter is
Miss Edna M. Brown, a graduate of
the State University and a member
of the Delta" Zeta sororiety.
NEBRASKAN TO BE GIVEN
ONE YEAR FREE A8 RECOGNI
TION OF LOYALTY TO THE
PAPER.
TO ANY STUDENT WHO SUB
SCRIBES TO THE DAILY NE
BRASKAN FOR SIX CONSECU
TIVE SEMESTERS AT $1.00 PER
SEMESTER, THE PAPER WILL
BE GIVEN FREE FOR THE NEXT
TWO SEMESTERS. EIGHT SEM
ESTERS FOR THE PRICE OF SIX.
NOT PAID IN ADVANCE, BUT
EACH SEMESTER.
FRESHMEN MUST SUBSCRIBE
FOR THE NEBRASKAN THIS
SEMESTER IN ORDER TO BE
ELIGIBLE.
long In the list of absolute contra
band. Articles of the second class,
such as works of art, are never con
sldered contraband. But articles used
in peace as well as in war, become
contraband only according to circum
stances, as goodstuffs, ocaslon on end
of difficulty. It is by the addition
of such articles to the list of contra
band that friction frequently occurs
between the belligerent and neutral
are on this point antagonistic, as the
expansion of the list is manifestly an
advantage to the belligerent, and, as
it interferes with bis trade, it is a
corresponding disadvantage to the neu
tral. Out of this antagonism of inter
ests, more than out or tne innereni
difficulty from a legal standpoint, hafi
come the inconsistency and confusion
In regard to the subject of contra
band. So hopeless was tne last con
ference at The Hague of being able
to harmonize the conflicting views
that they refused to make the at
tempt.
Since cotton has come to be bo
largely used in the manufacture of
high explosives it would seem clearly
enough to belong in the class of ab
solute contraband. The Importance of
cotton as a factor In military opera
tions will be better appreciated after
reference to the July number of the
Sclentlfld American, in which It Is esti
mated that 730,000 bales of cotton a
year is necessary for the manufac
ture of the explosives used by the
German artillery alone. This is about
half of the normal importation of cot
ton Into Germany annually. When we
remember that the above estimate
does not take into account the amount
necessary for the manufacture of ex
plosives for small arms, the navy and
clothing for the soldiers, the military
importance to the allies of cutting off
the importations of cotton Into Ger
many grows upon us. As Germany
does not produce cotton she is depend
ent UDon importations direct or
through neutral territory.
When wood charcoal was the car-
bonizer in gunpowder it was generally
conceded to belong in the list of abso
lute contraband. Now that cotton
takes the place of It and sulphur in
the great bulk of explosives used in
war, there is no convincing reason
why it should not be placed in the
list of absolute contraband, since it Is
its possibilities for direct military use
which determine in .which of the above
classes an article shall be put. The
fact that In its raw state it is not
used mainly in war does not exempt
it from the list of absolute contraband,
If by a process of combination it be
comes an explosive of decided use in
military operations. Saltpetre, char
coal and sulphur, not in combination,
are harmless and are used extensively
In the arts of peace, but this does not
prevent a recognition of the fact that
in the hands of an enemy they have
great possibilities of harm, and there
is no breath of protest, even by the
south, against placing them in the list
of absolute contraband. Yet it might
readily be different if their produc
tion and exportation, like cotton, were
the ereat industry of the south. The
logio of the pocketbook is frequently
more powerful than the logic of the
law.
The reasons for placing cotton in
the list of absolute contrabands now
are certainly more convlcing than
those given during the Civil war. The
contention of the Federal government
at that time rested solely upon the
grounds of military necessity. The
contention of the British government
at the present time rests upon the
same general principle which applies
to all other commodities in determln
ing in what list they shall be put. It
will, however, be difficult for the pres
ent democratic administration to in
sist upon adherence to legal principles
as a gainst a combination of political
and economic exigencies.
If, legally, the British government is
warranted In placing cotton In the list
of absolute contraband and It seems
abundantly clear that It is, the Brit
ish navy may lawfully interfere with
shipments of it to German ports, even
apart from the blockade It Is main
(Continued on page 4)
ilLY I
CHANCELLOR URGES 8TUDENTS
TO READ UNIVERSITY ORGAN
IT'S WORTH THE PRICE TO ALL
School Pride Should Lead a Student
to 8upport College Dally Do
Your Part
To the Students:
University patriotism demands that
you support the Nebraskan. We can
not have a real University In the mod
ern American sense of the term with
out a daily paper. A dally paper re
quires not only editors, reporters,
news gatherers and printers, but sub
scribers. If some philanthropist would
present each of you daily with a print
ed sheet, it would not be a real news
paper. It would be simply a subsi
dized bulletin.
The Nebraskan is worth more than
its cost. It Is the official medium for
the announcement of University af
fairs. More than this, it voices the
sentiments of the student world.
The Nebraskan will cost only about
a cent and a quarter a copy. Students
should be economical, but It isn't
worth while to have a single paper at
a frat house to save on the price.
Besides the Issues during the coming
year will be so bright that you will
want to save your copies for posterity.
Subscribe for the Nebraskan!
S. AVERY.
Last Year's Bird Neste
One of the most useful things in
a college community is a (bulletin
board. Likewise, one of the most
useless things anywhere is the notice
of some affair which has already
taken place. Such posters can be
compared in usefulness (or useless
ness) to a last year's bird nest and
yet they are left on our bulletin
boards for weeks at a time. The re
sult of these conditions is that no one
uses the bulletin boards as much as
they would if all notices referred to
ovpnts. In some schools a fine
WAUkMQ W ' -
sum of money is charged to Individuals
or organizations, who abuse tne ouue
tin hoard nrlvileee and in other places
they are deprived of the right to post
any notices whatever after a lew oi-
fenses. It is possible mat me .-
tr ha not been thought or m wis
nrh hefore and that this sure warn
ing will be sufficient to secure syste
matic removal of notices; if it laus, a
r0f.ii f the use of the hoaras m
question should be imposed upon the
offenders. Ex.
-
Organization Lends Aid to Girls
The Girls' Club has been active in
securine rooms for out-of-town stu
dents. The members will meet trains
the rest of the week and will be glad
to aid girls unfamiliar with the sys
tem .of registration. Attention is
ieain called to the Club's party given
for all girls, Saturday afternoon, Sep
tember 24.
M
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ill
DAILY MUCH
II "7. l