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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1912)
TTTE MOTtXTXO OREGOMAX, RATUItDAY, MARCTI 16, 1912. 8 rotnjLxo, osxoox. Iitn4 at Portland. 0l. f"torne facosil-ciua Ullr. atKriiiMt Invartmbly si a M BT MAIU) r". ni1T fncla44. . 7 Iwlir. untr Included. motuli. .. I uy. vlthoul sundajr. oo . W"xly. oao foor. .- 4 t und.A7. en Ivor. f u aulaf ! Wookly. as ' ' m PxMt, Bandar trlu1L ' . tolly, tuidir Included, om montB Mow to fUwoHSfid Po-1 offl r. m r. oiprooo orl or Donosol Ucol book, siimt -olo or 7drio oi iho o.ndro ruTohi pootonico aaoxooo la fall. larludlac eont and at. rootoco IUUO-M o 4 po. 1 I. i .. co; eo ; ISJSi 4 lo u (M aww soablo rot. . - run, mm otto oi ...... Im .S.w York. Hruawlc kuUdlSoV ttia. tuiti balldtnc tinoMl Oflkro No. a RofOBt atraat. Ca rORTLAM). HATt RI.V. J.AKOI l ' rurkeu lttO.K the bi-rxtso. ColniwI Roosevelt U loudly demand ing th selection and Instruction of National delegate br direct vote of tha people. Tha simple statement may not convoy th iropraaslon that Colo nel Kooserelt's attitude U Incongru oin tut the history of the Presidential primary puts th former President In an odd position. The PresbicntlaJ primary I an Ore gon product. It wa Invented or at I-aM he says by Senator Bourne, of this, state. Evrry other state that ha enacted Presidential primary has rnpU-d the trcgon Idea. Ll n investigate the conditions that caued the Orepwn Senator to apply his tre mendous Intellect to devising thin new power of the efple. Senator Bourne unfolds the workings .if hta tiHllous rrdnd on the subject tn a opeech leltvvTrl In the Henate Keb ruaTy 27. 1911. "Three year bip." ha . "we had a convincing exhibition of the pwer of n President to dictate the se.Wtlon of Ills successor." Con tinuing. b asserts that -through the tremendous power of the Chief Execu tive and of the Ft deral machine." the will of thTee-fourths of the voter) of Oregon w.a thwa.rted. He also says: rJw"? VT.h. Prro.d.nt to tbrtnio ,h. people. 1 realised that .uh P"" ,n to lion.lo ot' aar la a oerluua meoaco t". a tralr rvp nu itivo so.emm.ol. con nnentlT I tn-xl ..iv- . pUn to dr. rri nrk bow. r. M'd after miKb thonght !..id th? loWa of enl.rl.. our dlre.t onmarr law ar thai- "( voter may di fVc"".pres hie. k. l;"?''" Iro-PTwaldenl .krrtlnl. 1 d a bill ir roeh a Uw pr-oorM and submlttrd to Ihe people under fj Inlllauva. Who r-upplied the "horrible exam ple" that mad Oregon's Senator tremble tor the jeople? Who waa President three years ago?" Who exercised t lie "tit imendous power of Chief Executive o f the Federal ma chines" and cau sed the People's Friend to put this rvew power Into the hands of the bullet-rroof composite rltizen? It was thfi same man who now vociferously shoals for the Presl. il.ntUl primary. It was the Colonel himself. Alt. well, the "horrlfrfte example" has served good purpose In other forma of moral revival and perl.apa ha will In this. But ordinarily he- first advances tituidlv and In contrite spirit to the mourner bench. It Is unusual to sea one Jump straight frDm tine gutter Into the pulpit. A SLY EVASION. Leave to print" Is a grecious privi lege. It saves the earnest statesmen many dollar In postage. It permits the Senator or Repreaentiitlve to get before a wonderinir and anxious Na tion as a public document a Q the burn ing words he emitted at tlie. farmers" picnic at Punklndorf Station concern ing the marvelous IntellUrvnce, up rightness and patriotism oC the com mon people. Tha remarks may fit the tariff bill, the pension bill, the con servation bill, the banking tdll. or any other bill that may be. und.r consid eration, or they may not. "Leave to print" never asks questions. If there is a lull In the progress of the Nation's business. "Leave to print" may present Itself to the yawning body and Inject the Punklndorf masterpiece without reason or excuse. It is a good thing for an ambitious Congressman, The "franking privilege" la another of our cberlahed and worthy Imple ments of popular government- "Leave to print" and the "franking privilege" advance hand in hand to meet ignor ance among the people and Inform an anxious constituency that the man It hs honored Is "no small potatoes" down In Washington. When under the gracious patronage of "leave to print" the Immortal addresa ikt. Punk indorf is incorporated in the traper hshable records of the Nation the "franking privilege" may then place It at L'ncle Samuel's expense la the homes of all the constituents who mere not so fortunate as to attend the farmers" picnic. Thus true states manship Is not confined In a dark closet. It can be brought forth into the full light of day that the Nation at the next election may not be de prived of Its glorious counsels. Prob ably the two greatest bulwarks of per petuation In office are the "leave to print" and the 'franking privilege." In tilting against them the corrupt practlcen act shatters Its lance or in effectually bumps its head. The voters of Oregon have recent reason to thank a beneficent govern ment for the Inestimable advantage of a printing shop and a postofflce de partment that are at the disposal ef the members of CongTesa. "Leave, to print" and the "franking privilege" have given them the opportunity to read an article by Senator Bourne on direct legislation and the recall that had been printed in the Atlantic .Monthly. It U now not necessary to buy the magazine. All may peruse the opinion of Oregon's Senator and peruse without cost at least direct cost to themselves. It has become a public document. The Penate has so ordered at the request of one member. Senator Brown, of Nebraska. l'ncle Sam will now carry free of co-.t few or many of the Atlantic Monthly articles to the remotest parts of the country. The voters of Oregon may now learn what Senator Bourne said In an Eastern magazine on a sub ject concerning which everybody In Oregon already knows his views. The only possible satisfaction it can give them Is the knowledge that the Ore gon Senator is able to write something that is acceptable to a leading publi cation. The article advertls the Oregon stem and It advertises Bourne. Fur thermore, when printed as a public document It enables him to advertise ll)r. Sunday lnelud.4. oo m"ia.... i:r. without Sunday. M jrr....... Hit. vltnout HukIm. six m; r-. himself among his constituents dur ing the height of a political campaign in which he la seeking re-election. It may Interest a few but Its main pur pose and Intent when sent to Oregon is that of the campaign document. It goes to the voters of Oregon under the Senator's frank. There is no ac counting to ba made under the Oregon corrupt practices act. But there la no "leave to print" or "frank ing privilege" for rivals. They must pay their own postage billa and commercial rates for printing. Each is limited In the nominating campaign to an expenditure of 11125 over what he pays for apace In tha publicity pam phlet. Senator Bourne has contributed $500 toward an Independent effort to en force the corrupt practices act In Ore gon. In spirit this $500 Is an election expenditure. He expects It to aldls own campaign. Unfortunately detec tive who can look Into a man con science do not exist and therefore can not be employed. Nor can state laws override Federal enactments. Senator Bourne la deubtleaa safe In his evaalon of the corrupt practices act. "Leave to print" and the "franking privilege" are noble Institutions. They ably aid his pretense of making no campaign. THE mit COIAKO ORATORY. One of the Judges at the recent In tercollegiate oratorlal contest at For est Grove makes a comment upon tha character of the orations which we are permitted to quote. "A dosen years ago." remarked this highly intelligent student of current tendencies, "tte orations on occasions of this kind dealt with auch subjects aa temperance, the greatness-of America, the conquest of the West, and ao on. It would Jave been Impossible to Imagine an Inter collegiate oratorlcaTcontest without at least one speech lauding our country and magnifying Its advantages over the rest of the world. But now there seems to have been a total change of spirit among thoughtful college stu dents. All the orations at this contest were distinctly of the 'muckraking type. They evinced a feeling of dis satisfaction with present conditlona and a burning aspiration for some thing better." When one glances over tha tltlea of the orations the truth of this observa tion Is pretty evident.' Miss Johnson, from Monmouth, spoke on "The Cry of the Children." Raymond B. Cul ver, from McMinnville, whose speech was rated very high by the Judges, had "The New Statesman" for his topic. Of course he dwelt on the deficiencies of the older type. Harry O. McCain, of Willamette 1'nlversity, discussed "Ideals or Citizenship." A wise man said not a great -while ago that If you want to know what men will be doing in fifty years, in quire what the college boys are think ing now. The Ideals of tha world make their chosen home In the col leges, and among the graduates from Willamette, McMinnville and our other advanced schools will be found the hands and brains to make them ef fective In practice. Between the -wild outcries of the I. W. W. maniacs and the equally wild do-nothinglam of some of their opponents there Is ft middle way. It runs neither through the rocky wastes of anarchy nor the quagmires of standpatlsm. This mid dle way, which la the path of safety and progress, la being studiously ex plored by the boy and girls In our colleges. A few years from now (hey will be traveling it and leading the American voters along its difficult course. The world Is not going to be saved either by standing still or by plunging over precipices, and the col lege students seem to have found it TUB FIGHT OVEB Sl'GAR Dl'TIR. Tha fight over the sugar tariff has become a fight between refiners Of Im ported raw sugar on the oneTiand and producers and refiners of home pro duced beet sugar on the other. Tho cane sugar refiners ask that raw su gar be put on tho free list, offering a reduction In the price of refined sugar as an Inducement. The beet sugar men say this course would place the consumer at the mercy of tho cane sugar men -by killing the beet Industry. which employs thousands of farmers and laborers, increase the fertility or the soil and keeps down the price of all sugar until the beet supply la sold each year. They advance the familiar protectionist argument In favor of pro moting home Industry and keeping the money at home. It would seem that the cane sugar refiners" monopolistic proclivities would be kept In check if not only the duty on raw sugar were repealed, but that on refined augar were reduced in a larger degree than the amount of the duty on the raw material entering Into It. With no duty to pay on raw material, the refiners would require much less capital to carry on their business and would have a wider source of supply. They could there fore continue business In competition with the foreigner, though the degree of protection given them were re duced. Th y question for Congress to decide is no longer one of whether It Is de sirable to tax Imports of raw sugar; the question Is whether tha amount of revenue derived from that source can be raised from any other source with out Imposing a greater burden on the people. If. as th beet sugar men say, they can undersell the cane sugar re finers with protection on raw sugar. they can probably undersell them with. out protection. If the contention of th beet sugar men Is well founded, that beet crop Increase by 2$ to $0 per cent the yield of all other crops grown In rotation with beets, then that alone Is sufficient inducement to grow beets without protection. In deciding whether to Impose a protective tariff on any commodity. Congress should be guided only by the comparative cost of production in this and other coun tries and should Impose a duty suffi cient only to offset the difference In favor of the foreigner, allowing a fair profit to the American on the actual capital Invested. The facts leading to a determination of this question can be ascertained only by Impartial Inquiry of all sugar-producing countries by the tariff board. The contradictory statement of a number of Interested parties before a committee of Congress are no aafe guide. It were far wiser to defer ac tion on the sugar duties until the tariff board has completed Inquiry. W can better afford to endur continuance of the present duties for another year and then settle the question right than settle It wrong with the Inevitable necessity of settling It all over again a few years later. It seems anomalous to read of an Ice famine In Alaska, but there Is every prospect that on- will rage there next Summer. Moat people now In middle life were taught at school that Alaska was a dreary waste of ice and snow not worth half the money we paid Russia for it. The child of today learns that It Is fertile land of sun shine and Summer stored with timber, gold and coal and capable of support ing a numerous population. Before many years we shall be reading in the Congressional Record the great speeches of the Senators from Alaska. rtUNEMM IKPRKSION PASSING. (resident Lovett returns East as a bearer of good tidings from the West. The general Improvement In business, of which he tells, will spread eastward until It covers the whole country. Prosperity Is as Infectious as depres sion, and it cannot but inspire courage for new ventures among the timid. Business depression is largely a state of mind. It often prevails when none of the causes known to economists over-production, liquidation following a period of Inflation, uncertainty as to war or politics exist. There Is reason to believe that the depression of which Mr. Lovett notes the passing was due mainly to an attack of the sulks among leading men In business. Railroad men were soured because forbidden to raise freight rates. Manufacturers were out of sorts because President Tart would not relent In his assaults on the trusts and because both political parties showed a determination to reduce the tariff. They protested until they real. Ued that the purpose of the people was unchangeable. Now they show a disposition to accept the inevitable and to adjust their affairs to new condi tions, actual or Impending. The change In their state of mind will bring about the change from depression to activity. It Is helped along by the depletion of supplies caused by greater shrinkage In production, by the growing necessity of Improvements long necessary, but postponed while the men who should have made them Indulged in their fit of the sulks. Capital. like a child recovering of the sulks, has learned, that U cannot have its own way, and Its face now breaks into a smile In the hope of win ning an answering amlle from the strict but often indulgent parent. CHANGING JAPAV. In a recent address Thomas C. Men denhall compares the condition of Japan In 1911 with what It was in 1181. At the latter date Mr. Menden hall left Japan to return to this coun try after residing there several years aa one of the professors in the Imperial university at Toklo. In 1911 he made another trip to"Japa.n and found that great changes had taken place. One of the m,ost Interesting was a wide spread revival of the Buddhist religion. This faith has existed in Japan for many centuries-, but always in a som nolent condition. The temples were for the most part forsaken, the priests Indolent and sensual. But now all this Is changed. A new life has been by some means breathed into the old faith and It displays a vitality which is as tonishing. At the bottom of the Buddhistic revival lies a modification of some of Its doctrines to adapt them to modern life. In particular the no tion of Nirvana has been transformed. Anciently Nirvana was understood to be a condition where all the faculties were benumbed if not annihilated. It differed so little from the total de struction of consciousness that none but an acute logician could tell them apart. JThe new Interpretation of Nirvana corresponds with the new spirit which has pervaded the Orient. We are now told that tlfe Buddhistic heaven is to consist In the harmonious and ener getic action, of all the powers of the mind. Peace is to be attained, not by complete cessation from effort, but by victorious effort In all directions. Budd. hism has always presented a certain attraction to the Western intelligence. Ita deep humanitarlanism makes a strong appeal to our best thinkers, while its ethical teaching la as noble as that of our own religion. But in spite of these excellent features the Buddhistic doctrine of Nirvana, so nearly akin to annihilation, has been an obstacle to the acceptance of the faith even in the East. With this new Interpretation the ancient creed seems to have attained fresh life and Its ad vance is said by other observers as well aa Professor Mendenhall to have be come surprisingly rapid. At the aame time we learn from various sources that Confucianism has experienced a renascence tn China. With the general revival of the na tional spirit among the Orientals has come a determination to satisfy their religious needs from native cults. This may or may not improve the outlook for the spread of Christianity in that part of the world. The new interpre tation of Nirvana makes It almost Identical with the Christian heaven where we have been taught that Joy everlasting will be found in the exer cise of our highest gifts. Confucian Ism Is more remore from the Christian faith, externally at least, but history tells us that every religion undergoes whatever modifications are required to adapt It to changing circumstances. We may therefore before a-great while see both, Buddhism and Confucianism merging Into some form of Christian ity. This is ail the more likely since our Western faith has proved Itself better suited to men of action than any other that has ever existed. Along with these changes in the Oriental religions Professor Menden hall mentions others not so Important but mill of a good deal of interest which have taken place in Japan tn the last thirty years. One of the most curious relates to women's clothes. When the disposition to Imitate every thing European was in its first flush the Japanese women, to show that they were not behind the times, adopt ed Western clothes. The corset, the elaborate ornamentation, the decollete gown, which adorn our women, were all to be seen at fashionable gatherings In Japan. It was supposed that inas much as Europe was fa,r ahead of the Orient In everything else its modes of dress must also be preferable to those which had obtained in the island em pire. Experience, however, did not confirm thla supposition. It waa found in a little while that the newly adopted attire was not so pretty aa that which had been abandoned for H. while It was ,far less hygienic. Pres ently the Imported styles were cast off and the Japanese women resumed their ancestral costumes with some modifications In the manner of dress ing the hair. The old coiffure was excessively elaborate and not striking, ly graceful. Th new mode is simpler and prettier. Moreover one reflects with satisfac tion that it Is not likely to be altered again for a long time to come. No doubt Japanese women worshio Fash. ion in some way. but. whatever it may be. it is different from ours. Their costumes vary in color and expensive ness of material, but year after year they are cut and made after the same pattern. Omitting the little flurry or imitation when Paris styles were tran siently adopted, the Japanese women have worn the same fashions, without change, for several centuries. Very likely they have ben Just as happy as if .they had had new ones every Spring and Fall, and certainly the family budget has profited by their conservatism. Jt is a pleasant thing to be able to buy the latest styles in gowns and bon nets, but it is bitterly unpleasant not to be able to buy them, and since the great majority are in the latter, class it Is a fair conclusion that our rapidly changing fashions cause more misery than happiness. Perhaps the stability of Japanese costumes foa women helps to account for the remarkable increase of well-being which Professor Menden hall says he observed everywhere in the Island empire durkng his recent visit. Colonel Roosevelt's article on "The Conservation of Businesj" may be in terpreted as an indorsement of the policy of President Taft. The 'Presi dent proposea the very measures for control of business which the Colonel outlines. He Insists Jtast as strongly that we ahall conserve Ideas, efficiency and up-to-date methods and that a corporation be not condemned on ac count of Its mere size. The two men disagree about the application ef their policy. Roosevelt's alliance with the heads of the steel, harvester and shoe machinery trusts indicates that he would spare those which Taft attacks. Both men believe that the people must rule, but they disagree as to the best vehicle for giving proper expression to public opinion. The Colonel cannot enlighten us as to- tha difrerence be. tween him and the President by re peating a statement of general princi ples. The people will Judge between them according to thedr alliances and their application of those principles. The murder of a Judge, prosecutor and Sherirf by mountaineers in a Vir ginia village reminds us that not all of the United States is civilized coun try. There are parts of this country where the law 1b successfully set at defiance by clans such as that which Invaded Hillsville.. Immunity from punishment emboldens these lawless men to greater crimes until a tragedy like that at Hillsville forces the state to act vigorously. If Virginia has any self-respect the triple murder commit ted by the Allen will cause Virginia to establish her authority in the mountains. Mrs. Qoode, of Salem, had five chil dren. Each of these had, upon the average, eight, or more nearly nine. The grandchildren number forty seven. The grandchildren have thus far produced eighty-one ' offspring, which is a sad falling off, being less than two to the Tamily. Of great-great-grandchildren only two have ap peared in the world, though of course there Is an expectation, of more. But we would be willing to wager that the fourth generation will not do Its duty to the country half so faithfully as the first and second did. i The conditions attached to the sale of the new Issue of bonds of the Port land Railway, Light & Power Company insure that every dollar of the new securities will represent more than a dollar of actual investment. They also insure that the company's capitaliza tion will not become top-heavy through additions for renewals. Were the same principle applied not only to the bonds, but to the capital stock of corporations, the clamorers for physi cal valuation would be put to silence. The Modern Woodmen of Kansas show very little sense by their seces sion from the National body. The pretext is the increase of insurance rates. Before long the seceders will be forced by the operation of natural law to raise their own rates and they may thus expect this foolish move of theirs to be Imitated by a disgruntled party of irreconcilables. Fighting the laws of nature is good sport, but It is often expensive. Hlllsboro has two women detectives to divide honors with Mrs. Goodwin, who fixed the guilt on the New York taxicab robbers. To Miss Bertha Johnson and Miss Queenie Coles is due the credit for securing a confesr sion from the murderer Humphrey. Such achievements open a new field of activity for woman's genius. Dalba's bullets, fired In protest againat government, produced an out burst of loyalty to King Victor Em manuel In Italy which demonstrates how the democratic sovereign has en deared himself to his people. Those bullets aroused a protest against assas. slnatlon. Chara.i Clark looms larger every day oo tho tAadlnir candidate for the Demo cratic nomination for President. His Indorsement by Kansas will strengthen him throughout the Middle West. The Callfornlan who remarried dur. ing the interval between his wife's death and funeral was not so heartless as the facta make him appear. He complied with the dying wife's request. There will be jio scarcity of sugges tions of names for the baby girl born at sea to Mrs. Turner. All the poets and all the sentimental old maids In California will set their wits to work. The report of the Logan-Fitzgerald episode fails to enlighten as to the fate f tho inkwell which, it is asserted. came Into violent contact with Mr. Fitzgerald'a Jaw. Whether tendered cheerfully or with a grouch. Oregon tax collectors have received a tremendous amount of money the past few days. Just as soon aa the huge anowdrifts melt to let trains run; dwellers in the prairie states will buy colonist tickets for Oregon Caruso was found not guilty of breach of promise, but must pay the costJi gentle hint not to do it again. Dr. Wiley, having done all the good he was able, resigns. That la where Wiley outshines all the bureaucrats. Vag the soapbox orator. What do architects fear in a build ing of extraordinary height? "Remember the Maine." WHV SOCIALISTS OPPOSE SCOUTS They Are Sura to Gw lata Sloa Who Have 'o I'se for Doctrine. PORTLAND, March 13. (To the Edi tor.) The Oregonian's editorial on the Boy Scouts Monday suggests a few thoughts which I will ask you to pub lish. In commenting on the conduct of the Socialists on Saturday you say that if they would take the trouble to Inquire into the nature of the move ment they would find that it is a pa cific, not a military, one. Don't you know that the Socialists will not take the trouble to inquire into anything? Those among them who are capable of thinking at all have their own fixed ideas, and they In turn try to pass those ideas on to the rank and file, who are brainless enough( to swallow anything. Anybody who dares to entertain contrary ideas to theirs is a plutocrat, cutthroat and oppressor of "the peepul." A pacific movement is just as abhorrent to them as a military one. If the Boy 8couts are taught to become useful, self-supporting,, self reliant citizens they are sure to grow up into men who will have no use for the particular brand of socialism we have with us here in Portland. You say truly that the Socialists In suited a distinguished visitor to the shame of the city, but why were they allowed to do so? Why are they al lowed to vilify from their soapbox rostrums, every American idea and every American institution which we are taught to venerate? They are al lowed to do so because the city au thorities are not men enough to rid the city of their presence. Why cannot the uovernor of the state be called upon to do bo with the aid of the militia? I am a militiaman and I became one with the firm belief that the state is suffering from a disease which will have to be cured, sooner ojr later, with bayonets and bullets, and the sooner the operation Is performed the better chance the patient has of recovery. In connection with the Socialists a question occurs fo me. Is It not one of the conditions of citizenship here in America that every able-bodied man must bear arms in defense ot the coun try if called on to do so? It is my idea, anyway, that he must and if I am right are not the city authorities condoning treason when they allow the Socialists to denounce military service? Cannot the rederal authorities step in and run this rabble out as undesirables when they persist in promulgating their trea sonable doctrines? I am not a native born American, but I could talk the language before I came here. I did not come in the steerage of a big liner or before the mast, either, and when I ar rived I had enough money to give my self a decent start. I'm a taxpayer and nave always tried to do mv duty to the city and the state, and It's my belief that every good citizen, native born or otherwise, should think and act as I ao. L,et the socialists, ir they are not satisfied with conditions In this coun try, get out of it and make room for those that are, arid If they will not get out, wny then. Jet us fire them out. J. T. DILLON. BliAME IS PIT OM THE POLICE Need Sea for Fare to Distinguish Be tween Citizens and Hoodlums. ANABEL STATION, Or., March 13.- (To the Editor.) What Is the matter with our Mayor and Police Depart ment? Can't they protect, any more, an orderly meeting and distinguished visitors, like General Baden-Powell and our own Governor West? Has It come to such a pass that a handful of boisterous, unreasonable men can break up a gathering of honorable cit zens assembled for the good of man kind? We are spending thousands upon thousands of dollars tor advertising our Deautirul city and our great state, and always did boast about our hospitality, but now. what a downfall, what a shame! You misht say all this work and this expenditure Is undone by a lew fanatics. I don't want to censure our worthy Chier for going around preaching and talking. He is a good man; but, first and all, comes his duty to us citizens. First of all he should give everybody a square deal and he should keep order. That is what we pay him for: that is what we have a Police Department for. It always has been the great trouble with our police force too much but tons and uniforms; too much air and highmindedness of Its members and not enough common sense, politeness and efficiency. When once our Police Department is trained so far that they can distinguish between a citizen and a hoodlum, then we will have more re gard and more respect for the mem bers of the Police Department, and it will be better for everybody con cerned. This meeting where our highly re spected visitor. General Baden-Powell, got so shamefully insulted shows us that there should be something done.. that such an occurrence could and would not happen again. The Police Department and its head should be made the responsible parties to keep peace and order, and if they can't, why, get somebody that can do It. Just as well that the taxpayers keep all the good money that they spend for our Police . Department and for advertising purposes in their pockets if that is what we are getting for our money. ARNOLD KELLER, 332-8 Chamber of Commerce. SI.V AVD BAD HABITS ARE FOUGHT. Aa Regards Theae, the Boy Sronta la Military Organisation, Saya Writer. PORTLAND, March 14. (To the Edi tor.) The recent Baden-Powell dem onstration induces me to say that I consider that the Boy Scouts Is a "military" organization which trains boys to "fight." I was once connected with the Boys' Brigade and each night we were taught fighting and were ex pected to practice it every day in the week. Trie captain used to encourage us with the declaration that the time would come when our training would be of value, and we would remember the drills of the old brigade. I don't recall all the rules, but this one has always remained in my memory: "The captain expects each boy to wage unrelenting war against the fol lowing enemies: Places and company associated with evil; bad language and habits; the use of intoxicating liquor; tobacco chewing and smoking; disobe dience to parents and teachers; Sab bath breaking." ' The captain wag right I have been fighting these. And I know the Scouts or the Boys' Brigade have trained me for fighting, and I hope other boys will Join it. Your truly, "ONE THE CAPTAIN HELPED." t European 34-Honr Clocks. London Globe. Visitors in Belgium will have noticed the 24-hour clocks which are to be seen in .public places and railways. The same system is In vogue in Italy, and both in Germany and Switzerland there Is to be found a considerable number of persons in favor of this new notion. French military authorities also prefer the system, as do two-thirds of the con sens generaux and four-fifths of the chambers of commerce. In view of this opinion, M. Augagneur, tlie Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, has addressed a letter to the prefects announcing that during the Summer the 0-to-24 system will be introduced on the matn lines of railways, and inviting the prefects to take measures to equip the local lines in the same way. Baby Is Kamed. ' MILWAUKIE, Or.. March 15. (To the Editor.) The girl baby born at sea on the steamer President should, of course, ba named Seaborn Miss Seaborn Tur ner. A READER. SERIOlSE9S OF MARRIAGE TIE Tendency to Make Mgbt of It Is De plored. PORTLAND, March 13. (To the Edi tor.) Recent dispatches from the Far East report not only the discovery of the South Pole, but the more romantic discovery "that 13 years after they went through the form of a wedding ceremony as a Joke, a prominent couple find that they have been husband and wife all along." Years of bliss that might have been and were not. Assum ing the story to be genuine, the penalty is, of course, none too great for the unholy pofanation of a sacred cere mony. Assuming, also, that a marriage license was not a necessity in Con necticut 13 yeard aro and that a Justice of the Peace, ex-officio, bound together all and everybody who paid the price of his ministration, an inter esting question, which may serve to point a moral, suggests itself: Is he civil law governing marriage such a fool thing and such an unholy thing as lawyers and even the courts sometimes make it appear to be? Does the civil law of -the states governing marriage recognize and presuppose the higher laws of God and humanity? Or is mar riage looked upon in the nature of a "blind swap" without the necessity of the ordinary horse sense required for every other trade? . According to the Oregon code, mar riage is a contract. And a contract in law is "an agreement between two or more parties, each being capable of assenting to its terms." Once a con tract is lawfully consummated in Ore gon no civilized power on earth may annul it unless by the mutual consent of the contracting parties. The law librar ies of Oregon groan under the weight of volumes filled with reports of legal battles fought and lost over the in tegrity of simple contracts. Yet every day the courts of tiiis state and of other states of the Union annul mar riage contracts with the off-hand free dom of circus ticket venders. Lawyers on either side in every case will fill the records with the stories of sins committed and of wrongs done, but the contract itself, that mutual agreement once entered into with good faith, seems to have no defenders in either court or Jury. Now 1 maintain this Is contrary to tlie spirit of the laws of the State of Oregon and I be lieve of all the states of the Union. I maintain that no state ever meant that a Justice of the Peace should make legal tlie prank of a moment under whatever circumstances it might oc cur. And on the other hand, I main tain that any marriage contract proper ly entered into, either in the presence of a Justice of the Peace or of any one else authorized to receive their mutual consent, is binding for life. It may be that in some instances the public peace will require the parties to live separately if they cannot live together peacefully, but the marriage contract shall hold "until death do them part." It will be said this works a hardship upon the innocent party. But so does the rockplle and the penitentiary and asylum and sickness and death, and a thousand and one otner inconveniences which religion and common sense and the public weal require should be borne with patience and fortitude. In this I further maintain tlie laws of the states implicitly recognize and presuppose the higher laws of God and humanity. The Supreme Court of tlie State of Missouri (State vs. Fry) accepts "mar riage to mean a civil and religious contract whereby a man is joined and united to a woman for the purpose ot civil society." Again in the same case the court says, "almost every com mentator on civil law prior to the time of Sir William Blackstone has invested marriage with the double character of a civil and religious contract, but no one at any time treated it as less a civil contract because of its double charac ter. In the Bible we discover: "There fore, a man shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they too shall be one flesh. What, therefore. God hath joined together let no man put asunder." Christ has said divorce under the old dispensation , was a result of the perversity of men's hearts, but that it was not so from the beginning and re stored marriage to its former unity. In the Christian dispensation "whoso ever shall put away his wife and shall marry another eommitteth adultery." (Matthew xix.) This fundamental social group formed by the union of one man with one woman and their children is today tlie basis of civil society and has ever been so from the very earliest ages. A materialistic interpretation of history has led a few writers to develop the theory that promiscuity was tlie origi nal form of the family life. Following the lead of Engles, many so cialist writers have adopted this theory. a theory which is today absolutely re jected by the best authorities, e. b. Westermarck and Letourneau. In the end it must be .maintained that the per petuity ot tlie race and, therefore, or a nation's, rests upon the unity and integrity of the family and that any Institution, either public or private, that disregards the absolute integrity of the marriage contract is dangerous and a menace to society. FR. AUGUST1N. o Half Day Ties for Him. Sketch, London. Tha Bucolic Customer Young man, I wants a dark gray tie. The Shop Assistant Yessir for half mourning? The Bucolic Customer Arf mornin be blowed! Wen I puts on a tie I puts t on for tne aay. Where the Treat Comes In. Baltimore American. "Doctors are the meanest class of men. "What makes you say that: Rven when they treat a man they make him pay for it." New Special Features FOR THE SUNDAY Is Ireland Coining Into Her Own? A review of pi-eat events in the Emerald Isle. Full page, timely andinteresting, illustrated. Mail-Order Swindlers How they operate and how Uncle Sam is just now hard on their trail. Full page, illustrated. Jinxes In his eighth article, Christy Mathewson, the Giants' star pitcher, takes -up the varied superstitious of the baseball-playing world. ' Illustrated, full page. ' Girl Guides How an auxiliary to the Boy Scouts is to be organ ized in the United States. If already flourishes in England. Woman's Rights in Russia An intimate study by a Moscow co-respondent of Mme. Philosofoff, who has led the fight for her sex in the Czar's domain. An Interrupted Game Another thrilling romance of the business world, by Richard Spellaine. Two Complete Short Stories "The Blue Thistle," a channel isle romance, and "The Ring of the Ostriches," about two Yanks and their adventures in Patagonia. The Jumpups They give a swell dinner party, and some of their relatives call unexpectedly. MANY OTHER FEATURES Order Today From Your Newsdealer Angels Unaware By Dean Collins. He sat upon the curb and sobbed As I came down the boulevard; The pavement round was littered o'er With bits of pasteboard, card on card; I paused to soothe his bursting sighs, And wipe the teardrops from his eyes; "Why weep you so, as if to bust?" "Alas," he sighed, "I've been unjust." "Among my many fellow men. With whom each day my elbows rub, I figured nearly everyone Was just an ordinary dub Like you and I. But, look you here This Is the season of tho year When men, in market, street and hall Confess their merits unto all. "I wandered down the street today And, without pausing in my gait, I gathered nigh a peck of cards From many types of candidate; And lo, before me was unfurled Every known virtue in the world; And candidly each noble wight Hoisted his bushel from his light. "Here is a man I one time thought A decent tailor and no more. Why did I blindly overlook His wondrous talents, and wherefore Failed I to see this moral worth Made him the one best man on earth For Constable? His pasteboard scan. And see unmasked a noble man. He stirred the cardboards with his cane; "Alas," he sighed, "we seldom know What angels loaf round unawares Unless the angels tell us so. 'Most every man I estimated I find I greatly underrated; Therefore I sicrh thus deep, and must Announce again I was unjust. "Ah, he," he mused, "we never dream That mute inglorious Miltons may Be ditched within a butcher shop To whittle pork chops day by day. Nor that a Cromwell's soul may lurk In him who does our laundry work. Till we approach election day And then they give themselves away." Portland, March 15. PROPOSED Cl'X BILL IS OPPOSED Farmer Insist Repeater Is Humane and -ut Destructive. ALBANY, Or., March 14. (To the Editor.) At a banquet held at the Im perial Hotel in Portland in January by the Game and Fish Protective League, Mr. Bean, of Lane County, a hold-over State Senator, made a speech wherein he declared himself that if no one else did, he would introduce a hill in the next State Legislature to put tne pump and automatic shotgun out of business. I suppose the guns Mr. Bean refers to are the pump, or repeating, shot guns. One is a hand-operated gun called a pump-gun. The other Is a recoil-operating gun called an auto matic. Both are in the same class. I am a taxpayer in Linn County. I am only an ordinary farmer, who only hunts once in a while, and what the city sport calls a scrub shot. I do not hunt enough; in fact, I cannot afford to buy a reliable double gun, which would cost me from $75 to $150. 1 have a good, reliable magazine gun that cost me $:i(i that I am satisfied with. Why does Mr. Bean want me to throw away my magazine gun, and, if I want to hunt, 1 must he compelled to buy a double gun. when my J:i0 magazine gun is a better and safer gun? Not because it is a repeater, but because it will shoot better than tlie average double gun that costs three times as much, and because it is a more modern and humane gun. Some experts may he able to get in four or five shots in a bunch of birds before they get out of range with a pump gun. Two shots is about my limit, and I have the remaining two or three shots left to kill cripples with. For this last reason, 1 consider tho pump gun a better gun than a double gun. I have heen told by gun and ammu nition men that there are three maga zine guns used to one double gun in the State of Oregon. Is Mr. Bean going to legislate these hunters out of these guns, not because they kill any more game, he says, but because they scare it away? Mr. Bean has no more right to lesislate the taxpayers out ot these magazine guns than he has to legislate the farmer out of the modern com bined harvester and compel him to take a step backwards and cut his grain, with the old-fashioned hand sickle. I have been told some of the million aire duck clubs, who have duck pre serves down on the Columbia River, bar pump guns because they say they are sportsmen and nobody but a game hog would shoot a pump gun. Yet some of these same city would-be sports men, after feeding tons of grain to the ducks In order to get them to come into certain ponds to feed, the birds, if left alone, In a few days become quite tame. Now, -in easy range of these feeding grounds the would-he sportsman has a sink-box, or blind, w here he goes in and conceals him self, taking two single-trigger, double barreled, automatic ejector guns in the blind with him. What for? Oh. V keep from scaring the birds away, I suppose. It isn't the magazine gun that is ex terminating the game. The gun lias nothing to do with it, but the man be hind the gun has everything to do with it. As long as a person respects the le gal bag limit, what, difference what kind of a gun is used? If we will cut down the bag limit, stop the sale ot game birds and put in nothing hut good, live, honest game wardens, who will enforce the game laws, we will accom plish more than by legislating against any certain type or make of gun. A. G. PROPST. OREGONIAN