ABSURD LAWS
For Protecting Royal Dig
’ nity in Germany.
Lese Majcstc a Source of Petty Spite
and Persecution—Amazing
Number of Cases.
The reeorils of punishment for lese
majeste shows an amazing condition in
the German umpire, according to a
special Berlin cablegram printed in the
San Francisco Call not long ago.
I.ese majeste, briefly expressed, is the
crime of uttering an insult to the ruling
monarch of the country.
During the year 1004 there were 3,1)50
convictions for lese majeste in Germany.
Of this number approximately 3,500 per
sons were, arrested for insulting the tier
man emperor, 250 j>ersons for insulting
the King of Saxony, and 200 persons for
insulting one or other of the remaining
German monarchs. The sentences pass
ed amounted to an aggregate jienod of
4,098 years. All classes of the popula
tion had their share of punishment for
lese majeste. The total of 3,956 was
made up as follows : 3,400 wordtnen in
towns, OCX) agricultural workmen, 500
commercial men of all classes, 200 wo
men of all classes, 105 professional men,
and 100 children under 16 years of age.
It should not he supposed that there
were more convictions in 1904 than in
other years of recent date. On the con
trary the number of convictions for this
offense remained beneath the average
for the last quarter of a century.
The federal German empire contains
twenty states over which independent
sovereigns reign. These monarchs, in
significant as many of them are, are con
stitutionally on an equal footing with
their fellow-sovereign, the King of Prus
sia, who is the German emperor; and
lese majeste can be committed by being
disrespectful to any one of those twenty
royal jiersonages. They are the King of
Bavaria (and at present the regent of
Bavaria), the King of Saxony, the King
of Wurttemborg, the Grand Duke of
.Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, theGrand Duke
of Oldenburg, the Grand Duke of llesse,
the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the
Grand Duke of Baden, the Duke of An
helt, the Duke of Saxe-.Meiningen, the
Duke of Saxe-Altenlierg, the Duke of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Prince of l,ip|ie,
the Prince of Schaumbtirg-Lippe, the
Prince of Sehwarnburg-I.ipjie, the Prince
of Schwarxburg-Kudolstadt, the Prince
of Schwar/burg - Soiidershaiis« n, the
Prince of Brass elder line . the Prince
of Keiiss younger line , and the Prince
of Wald.s k
The al**urdity of the conception of
lese majeste is illustrated in several of
these cases. The King of Buvaria is a
raving madman who crawls als.iit on his
hands and knees, harks like a dog. cats
his f.ssl off the ground like an animal,
and is altogether lunch more of a boas!
than a man. Nevertheless it is a crimi
nal offense to utter any remark which
t .><iId la* construed as disrespet tful to
fits roval person. The Prince of lap}**
and liar Prince of B* 11-* elder hue , are
also hopeless lunatics whose dominions
are governed by prime regents The
Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe iH an insig
nificant individual who reigns over a
state ISO square miles in area, with a
total population of 411,000, and the village
of Buckeburg, containing 5,000 inhabi
tants, as its capital. It "is", however, a
criminal offense for any one in any part
of Germany to he disrespectful to his
royal highness the Prince of Sc ban m
burg-Lippe. There are thus many pit
falls for the unwary person who commits
the imprudence of discussing any one of
the score of royal personages in Ger
many.
iiif i iuuiit iri «>i iut' uui’iinu in va
pounded in no less than 12o paragraphs
of the German statute book, and 1NJ0
books of legal reference have been pub
lished for the information of lawyers on
this complicated question.
It is not necessary for the “insult” to
be actually uttered. It can be indicated
or implied by bodily actions. If, for in
stance, when the emperor is driving
through the streets of Berlin any casual
spectator fails to take off his hat as a
mark of respect to the imperial person
he may be arrested on the s[M>t and will
certainly be convicted. The excuse that
he did not recognize the emperor is not
accepted. The precedent has been laid
down in more than one case that if a
man did not recognize the emperor he
ought to have done so. If a jierson were
to point to a photograph of the emperor
hanging in a shop window and at the
same time had a disrespectful or cynical
or mocking or angry expression on his
face, and a bystander construed the as
pect of his features as an indication of
his feelings toward the inqsrial |>erson,
arrest and conviction might follow. If
any one looking at a photograph of the
emjieror were to express the opinion
that the brushed-up ends of his mus
tache presented a ridiculous appearance
he would be liable to conviction.
The privacy of the home does not pal
liate a so-called offense. A frivolous
word between husband and wife or par
ent and child, construed as disrespectful
to the emperor, is lese mujeste. This
leads spiteful wives, husbands, children
or servants to make false accusations,
with the direst results. One witness be
ing enough to convict and the rules of
evidence in these eases being favorable
to the accusing side, petty revenge often
leads to conviction on false testimony.
A curious case is cited where a new
house of several stories had been erected
in a suburb of Berlin when one of the
bricklayers who had assisted to build it
informed the police that the architect
had walled in a document containing
statements which amounted to aggra
vated lese mujeste in one of the founda
tion stones. The entire building was
actually pulled down, but no document
was found. At the last moment the
bricklayer disappeared and is still
wanted bv the |mtirc.
A miller, on reading a certain speech
of the kaiser, remarked that he was less
wise than Solomon, and was given three
months. Plenty of instances almost as
frivolous are named.
The Next Exposition.
Tlit- n< \t un-.if in in • |i«- Initial
Suit'll »ill If llt lil III .lllllll'Klt'VI n, Vu.,
from May lit to N"\ 110, lies, unit will
!»• kif>«n a» llif Jainmtown Trr-tVn
trnnial a it-1 Naval Marine K.i|ii million.
Il aiII roiiiini'iiittnili' tin- tlirev limi
tlrvtilli anniversary til tin- It.imtlinir •>(
tlif |tfriitannit Eimliali avtllvniml
mi Hit- VuvrirM rttiitinvnt. rrv|«tra
li' iit |t<r llif mnl art' alrt-n.lv nn.lrr
nay, a if I ninler the ■ It r*. If hi » liar if*
W. k"hl>ual, llif yt m ral rt'irtmnlalivr
tt| ilf rspoi-iti"i> t"iti|ttiny. lilt run re
rt'ifar'liiia I If .tl.l.r.tli.ii a Uin* m at
Itrretl tirnuiUaal owr I lie I in In l state*
FREIGHTING j
AND PACKING!
| HEETER'S PACK TRAIN f
S Leaves for Glen Every 5 Days. 3
) Freight inir and puck ini; to and from all the &
( creeks. Good teams. Good service. os
..*
PACIFIC TERMINUS
New Transcontinental Canadian Line
May Decide on Kaen Island,
Tuck’s Inlet.
Last summer it was printed in the
papers that the western terminus of the '
projected new transcontinental Canadian
railway, the Grand Trunk Pacific, would
be at Port Simpson, 15. C. Along with
the last pa[>ers that got in by the steam
boat service came a statement that “the
board of directors have taken prelimi
nary steps to make their western termi
nus at Kaen Island on Tuck’s Inlet." It
was added this time, however, that “this
land and the money paid for it will be
forfeited if this is not declared to be the
terminus on or before June til), lUOti.”
The newly mentioned terminal point is
described as follows:
Kaen Island (pronounced by the In
dians Kayen) is about do miles south of
Port Simpson. It is a mountainous
island, but on the north shore facing
Tuck's Inlet there is a strip of land
gradually sloping back to the mountain
from half a mile to a mile and a half in
width, and about three miles in length.
This is the probable townsite. The
island is separated from the mainland
by a narrow passage, but the mainland
is rocky and unsuitable for buildings.
To the west of Kaen Island and sepa
rated from it by a strip of deep water,
less than a mile in width, which forms)
the entrance to Tuck’s Inlet is I)igby
Island, 7,250 acres in size. This is a
comparatively level island with good
soil, but it is Indian reserve. Digby
Island forms the western breakwater to
Tuck's Inlet, which is about ten miles in
length. Coming in from the Pacific by
brow n's Entrance there is a channel a
mile wide with a uniform depth of over
eighteen fathoms. On most charts this
has been erroneously marked “foul
water.” When near the west shore of
Kaen Island a turn is made to the north,
passing between l>igbv Island on the left
anti Kaen Island on the right.
This is the immediate entrance. An
other turn, this time to the east, brings
one to the proposed townsite, sit unted
on a magnificent landlocked harbor,
large enough to float the Itritish navy.
The provincial government has reserved
the mountainous |mrt of Kaen Island,
worthless for building pitr|sises, but
suitable for a mountain park.
Novel Oregon Gold I laces.
I'ainty little |>iive* «tnn k (nun Oregon
gold unit hearing a ileviee • yjiit itI ••( that
*tate have Uen |iri»lneed a* r..iii|.tiiih>ii*
(•>r the ami Clark ai.uv.nir gold
dollar. The inane •>( the-e pieeo*, nhi.'h
are ri>ui|>arahh' in aim- a <|iiurter and
hall dollar in gold, ha* la-en |*r«>im|<t*'«I
hy the novelty uttai hing !•> (lie gold
•inarter ami hall dollar |iMt« inHel J'
t ahl'Tiu.i ThU, in a »• line, «a< a "in •
CMMiljr” ritrrem y United hy the |>i>tnrer
aaaayern «»l the I'aeitW in variott*
den.'ll.matI"|M In-III '.*•’> rent* | it, all
••I ahull lome* were |.rr milted till the
nan Inai iau mint aa» e-lal.li lied m
1*V*.
| RECEPTION |
! ...SALOON... >
S. E. HEETER, HOB SCHARER,
Proprietor Manager
Wines, Liquors and
GOOD Cigars....
....Billiard and Pool Rooms
Barber Chair in the House.
St Louis
^msii
KBC
and Seattle
Ranier Beers
^ Old Valley Whisky
^ the only stock
Something New:
TRY OUR
PEACH AND HONEY BRANDY
In tin* Justice's Court for Rimpurt Precinct,
Third Division of the Territory of Alaska,
In for»* J. I.imlley (ii eeti, Commissioner and
ex otticio Justice of the Peace.
G. A. KETTEMfcli, i’liiilititt. 1 summons BY
C. P. TowLKolefeiiilaiit. S PUBLICATION.
The |;i e.sident of the United States to C. P.
Tow le. defend., nt. greeting:
You ate In re! y requirf'd to appear before
t he uie.lersitrned. commissioner . ud ex ottit io
justice of the |reace. in the court room of the
court house at Rumpuit. Rampart precim t.
Third Division of tin* 1 erritory »,t Al ssk,:, on
the 11th day of December, IWfc», at the hour of
two o'clock in the afteinoouof said day, to
answer the complaint of plaintitl. (». A.Ket
terer, founded upon one certain promissory
note dated June 22d. 1WJ. payable to C». A.
Ketterer and signed by (’. P. Tow le. w herein
for value received the said (’. P. Tow le prom*
ised to pay to the said (». A. Ketterer the sum
of two bundled and sevr nty-one dollars and
sixty ti nts, w hereon lie demands judgment
rir..inst the said C. P. Tow le in the sum of
two hundred and sev* nty-tive dollars ami
eijrlity-three «ents.
A w i it of attachment having been issued
I > the court atrainst >ou. and M. S. (rill ha%
iiiir been trarni'lieed thereunder and duly
aiiswei ed tnut he in indebted to om in tin*
sum of two hundred and forty-eitflit dollars
.lid has | »i i id w dd mu in to the com t : Now in
ease ton f >i! tonp|H*i r and defend as ubove
required jialiru ent w ill 1 e taken cirainst you
and the » i-l two hundred and forty-eight
doll, rs w ill he applied toward the pa> u ent
of t h» i < sts of this suit ami the pctmtnt if
said note. .
I * > * rder if the c«*urt this siiutinons is pul *
Ii*lied in the Yukon Valle> New*, i weekl>
new *paper published in Kin.p it. for *e\en
i oiiikPi atite issues hr*t insertion O, tol rr
11vI*. IH'a. the last insertion November 22d,
biirn iiiulrr tin h • ml t Ii is Vt h da \ of * U to
her It*A. J I.INDI.KY (ilU.KV
('omiidssloner an«l e\ « ftuio
Jn*tne of the Peace.
(ADC VfllI ol,houpfopl«',hu\
MW. I UU hIiIm writ* Homo? i
Th«> will know you trt til ri^ht il you 1
xnd them th< H K0\ V il l IV MViv I
Mill your, or hi u, Mud out w««kly./
A. B NOTICE.
Rttfiilitr meetings of the Arctic llrothei*
ho*-I I ootpe are held nt tla »r hall «*at tie
mi* *•»**! «mI fourth f Ursula i« of ewch RHmtl at
I o’cltto k |, III
W V| si 11* I NY U A MJIIKI.K
Arctic Krritnlrr intir I kaf