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Show THE CITIZEN arv inance, say they. We have not compared the two ordinances, are willing1 to lay a small wager that the proposed new law c drastic than the old. e plumbers had not profiteered sufficiently in war times and ce to satisfy their greed. They must needs make it impossible c householder to mend a leaky tap or to stop the overflow of or valve that is flooding the oriental rugs or the1 rag carpets Fitting the piano to death. 5 can imagine what would happen if one of the plain, and fesihat disfigured citizens should venture tremulously to ask for at a piumbing shop. Either he would be refused the washer him to the fatal faucet and report his crime glgpy would trail Mitt plumbing inspector. ainKgA0 doubt the masterful plumbers were astonished at the courage w&tw by the populace. Where they had expected cowardly surrender ltUttlievSiiscovered boisterous bravery. The common citizen once more to call his soul his own. he masterful plumbers, while explaining that they had no intent polloi, revealed another joker in the ordinance, opPress border to withdraw attention from the provision about plumbing atjiairs they dwelt on a provision for a board of examiners. This lStioaril would examine employing and journeymen plumbers. Everyone, found unfitted for the work would be refused a permit to work a Lake. 'hrApparently the provision was aimed at union plumbers; or, at all n .events, it was designed to keep out any plumber opposed by an em-- : in con- ployer or opposed by an employer and his journeymen acting and conspiracy. Such a provision would intensify the ertion the plumbers. Their organization would be an unbreakable Srihgi Once the ring gained the protection of the new ordinance it jcould bid defiance to all control. fy; VWhen the masterful plumbers first put forth their modest proposals they said that they were interested in preserving the health bf the community. They did not want unskilled labor making death- traps of sewer connections. imrrrThe spectacle of the plumbing octopus shedding tears over the in- tat perils to public health" was exhilerating. It stirred the public to r i extinguishable laughter. A masterful plumber in the role of a pub- c Kc benefactor was a sight to make even the shades of the Plutonian o I regions shake with mirth. U c ! WHAT OF THE HONOLULU dis-atPerhaps some of our readers will remember an obscure which appeared a few months ago in the newspapers telling low the Honolulu, an American vessel belonging to the United States Shipping Board, was seized by the British authorities when t entered Queenstown harbor with food for the starving people of lesolated Cork. What has become of the Honolulu and of its do aptain and crew? What did Mr. Wilsons state department ibout it? What effort was made to maintain-America- n dignity and or to assert American rights? Now that a new administration has taken charge of affairs Washington some Americans would like an answer to these questions. We do not know what manner of man that American captain vas, but we fear he did not live up to his countrys traditions. f The veriest tyro in the law of nations is aware that the deck be the f,a ship, no matter where the vessel goes, is considered to soil of the country whose flag she flies. When the Honolulu ailed into Queenstown harbor her deck was American soil. Biitish oldiers invaded American soil, lowered the stars and stripes and confiscated the cargo. Not a whisper, not a whimper from Washis own Shipngton, although the ship was owned by the government ring Board. The American captain and crew were landed and the British seven days at a opk the ship to Liverpool where it was detained for was taken back cost of $1,500 a day to some one. Then the ship o Queenstown. What has been the history of the Honolulu since? Has our 0 eminent ever made a demand for the ship and, if so, why i t ic , ;:i elf-respe- ct ; ; !..i ch 5 state department fail to rise above a whisper? Was our flag ever raised over. the vessel again? Was any apology or reparation made, or asked? And if there was a request for an apology voice of our or for reparation, why the mysterious silence? We trust it is not. less majestie to lift ones voice in respectful inquiry when the American flag is insulted. We know that Americans have not so far forgotten Washington and Franklin and the ragged continentals that they will feel outraged whenever someone speaks a word for the flag, but why does silence palsy the lips of our statesmen when the flag is affronted? NORTHCLIFFE PROPAGANDA Writing to a friend in this country, Lord Northcliffe urged him to dispel the Sinn Fein lie that England would fight with Japan against the United States, and added: To my mind the Japanese are not fools, and fools they would be if they embarked on such a preposterous adventure an adventure in which they would surely be opposed by British Columbia, Austrajia, and the venerable and very vital parent of these new nations. And yet the treaty remains. Why? If Great Britain is going to fight on our side why a treaty to fight on the side of Japan? A mere neophyte at the mysterious altar of diplomacy is mystified by the preachments of such high priests of British propaganda. While we must admire the most powerful publisher in Great Britain for his loyalty and for the zeal with which he seizes every opportunity to circulate publicity in the interest of his government, yet wc cannot wholly accept promise for performance and we are justified in remaining anxious if the people of Australia and New' Zealand cannot rid themselves of anxiety regarding the treaty. Sir John Findlay, one of the leading statesmen of New Zealand, voices this anxiety. He argues that the treaty of alliance for the waging of war in aid of Japan was made by Great Britain in circumstances that exist no longer and that a continuance of the treaty is unnecessary. He contends that Australia and New Zealand think as do the people of the United States regarding the Japanese peril and are eager to see the treaty abrogated. Surely it is. not preposterous for Americans to fear the implications of the treaty if the people of Australia and New Zealand also fear them. Some of Sir Johns more pertinent statesments are as follows : It is apparently difficult for the government of the mother country, and possibly for the people, to realize how great is the color question with us New Zealanders and Australians. The Chinese come to us in small numbers, and we want their numbers to diminish rather than increase. The Japanese arc a more aggressive people and constitute our greatest menace. We want the imperial government to understand this matter more thoroughly than it docs. The Japanese peril is there all the time. It has now come to this: New Zealand and Australia for in this matter wc are all of one mind object emphatically to. the renewal of the Anglo-Japanetreaty. When that treaty was made there was some excuse for it. Russia was threatening India, while Germany was threatening Europe, and America was too much concerned with the Monroe Doctrine to be depended on.- The German and the Russian menace arc now removed, and as for America, she is now ready to make common cause with us over the Japanese peril. So there is no justification for a continuance of an undesirsc - able treaty. The subject came up before the last imperial conference, and in the coming conference I have every reason to believe it will be one of the most important questions for consideration. This time it will have to be thrashed out thoroughly. Lord Northcliffe is a practiced propagandist and he knows the value of arousing prejudice with a phrase. If he can serve his purpose by describing the agitation in this country against the Anglo-Japanelie, he will be doing only what is treaty as a Sinn-Fci- n customary among the professional fabricators of sentiment. But it is fitting that the statements of Northcliffe and Sir John Lindsay should be placed side by side so that he runs may read. se |