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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 11, 1912)
10 tttt; yroTtTvixn- orego.ma5. Saturday, may 11, 1912. (te (Dmrontim tmm4 ! Portland. Or I on. PeMotde as F-nn4:iM Mattar. fuMcrtpuog fcte Inirsrtablr " Aavance. (BT HAIU) ri:. Snn1a ne!urld. t'allr. Sunday ln-tudd. l month".... 4 I J rllr. 8un1r Inelud-d. lhr months.. . I-a.lr Sun'lar lnclu.lKi. ona month.... -TJ I-ailv. llhout Sunday, ona year J !!:. without Sunday, aim month" Iai.r. without Sunday, thraa month... l " I'tiir. without Sunday, ona month. ... k!l, ona ar ?" Snnilav. AM VMf Sunday and weekly, ona year (BT CARRIER-) Pally. Son-tar Included, ona year-. "J Daily. Sunday Included, ona month Hew to Remit-Send Pnatofflraj Her. eipreaa order or p.raonal check on your local tank. Stamps, com or '""VddrwM at the endei-a ruk. Olva poatofflca addreaa in run. mciuamg i""lJ hotan Rjatea 10 to 14 pea. 1 cant. lO . . .. . .. nil in it btfML a cants. i"To ;"'... 4 cant. Kor.i.o po. doubl rata. . Kfr. Bnloe OffW-Verr. Conk Itn New York. Hrunawlc bullulns. Chi cago, titeser bulldmc KaratMOa OMkw Ko. Rnt atraau -W.. Indon. POKTAD. ATTRHAY, MAY lU 1 THE VOTER AXI) HH TASK. The stupendous magnitude of the issues to be decided by tne voters oi Oregon In November under the Ini tiative, anrl referendum Is disclosed by summary of the principal measures proposed for adoption by tnem. inerw are to be about forty act some con stitutional amendments, others initia tive bill and others bill under popu lar or legislative referendum. All are Important; some are vital: others un dertake to establish policies or prin ciples of great weight: still others are revolutionary. The wide scope of the leading proposals may be shown at a glance: Now constitution. abollhln the present Stat and county irovemment and suhstltut tns an entirely new form with Governor and cabinet, on I iiUt body, and stat and county buelneaa manarera. Simla tax tstste). Sinil taa I county). Abo.lhln slnsle tas (state. Tw ot her tax measure. Public serrlc commie Ion. Rosd bond HKi.oou.txw In ten years at rat of ll.0uw.00o a year. PIT other road bill (propoeed by har mony rommlelon. ..... Two oppotnS road bills (propoeed by tat ''cJi'.ftVns commission lo revls Judicial ""VaTirns commlesJon to revls la laws. Abauahlas capital punishment. Minimum (or all Industrie. Ktsht-hour day. Workmen's compensation act (proposed by smployersl. . . Workmen's compensation act (proposed oy Stat Federation of .Labor). One candidate or another may be elected President of the United States; one great political party or another may have in Its control the. Federal and state Governments: one man or another may be elected to public of fice In state, county or city: and the onward sweep of events will not be altered, nor the fortunes of the aver age citizen In any material degree affected. But here the people of Oregon are . to determine for themselves great problems deeply concerning their wel fare. A single mistake will be serious: several mistake will be unfortunate; a series of mistakes and there Is opportunity for them will be disas trous. It behooves the voter to begin now the most careful and thorough consideration of the Initiative and ref erendum measures, that his action In November may be Informed, deliber ate. Judicious and safe. THE TRIE IMMatirlATlON FOIJCTf. The literary tests proposed by the EHllingham and Burnett immigration bills, now before Congress, have caused a great outcry among opponents of restriction on Immigration. They re vive the old argument that this coun try should be the asylum for the poor and oppressed. They point to the number of illiterate Immigrants who have become valuable citizens. They point to the man of physical health and strength, good character and in dustry as a devirable citizen. They point to the need of men. who will do the heavy manual work, of building railroads, subways and such struc tures, above which the native citizen and the "old Immigrant" consider themselves to have risen. They point to the literate schemer, ajritator and criminal as evidence that the literacy test would admit many undesirables. But they miss the main feature of what should be our policy In regard to Immigration that Is. so to pick our Immigrant citizens that our Na tional character shall not undergo a radical change. Such a change Is rapidly being "wrought by the change In the sources of immigration. The "old Immigrants'" came from North ern and Western Europe, from coun tries where the standard of living more closely approached the American standard than the countries whence comes the "new Immigration." They came from the British Isles, Germany, France. Holland. Belgium and Scan dinavia. These countries had training In democratic institutions, in their re straints as well a their liberties-. Their people were of the same nationality with the original colonists and readily assimilated with the descendants of these colonists. There was but a sprinkling from Southern and Eastern Kurope and Western Asia. The "new Immigration" comes from the latter countries, where democratic Ideas are of a hothouse growth, where the strutrg'e for liberty and reform is always Identified In the people's minds with the bomb, the dagger and secret conspiracy. In those countries such secret societies as the Camorra and the Mafia flourish. The standard of living Is Immeasurably below ours. The standard of Intelligence is so low that only a small fraction of the Im migrants who have reached manhood can be expected to learn our language. Ignorance of our language makes these people clannish and ready prey to the educated agitators of their own race, of whom the I. W. W. leaders are a type. If we wish to preserve our homogen eity aa a nation, we must encourage the coming of Immigrants of the old type and discourage that of the new type. The fact that the ratio of Illit eracy Is highest among Immigrants of the new type makes the literacy test the readiest means of carrying out this policy. Records of illiteracy for the years 1S9 to 119 show that the ratio among Immigrants from Southern and Kastern Kurope and Asia ranged from 23 per cent for Armenians to 68 per cent for Portuguese, while for North ern and Western European Immigrants the ratio ranges from .4 per cent for Scandinavians to .J per cent for French, toy adopting the literacy test , we shall therefore exclude a very large proportion of the less assimilable races, but only a negligible proportion of the more assimilable. By so doing we may exclude some desirable people and admit some undesirable, but the general result would be to promote the development .of a homogeneous race and to prevent the admission of great masses of undigested and Indigestible material. THE BOH AND THK PRIMARY. The Indianapolis News estimates that the Roosevelt campaign will cost one million dollars. Some one, or a group of some ones. Is paying the million dollars. The Taft campaign, of course, is costing some one. or several some ones, a lot of money. Mr. La Follette. too, must have found a political angel somewhere. The Presidential prefer ence primary comes high, but we must have it. But the primary Is not more costly than the old system, though it Is the fashion of opponents of the new re gime to say that it is. Besides, If the candidate does not like it, he has the option of staying out. The candidate who really wants to get in the contest, and who has a right to regard himself seriously as a factor, never has the slightest difficulty In finding a Perkins or a brother Charles or an old man Stephenson. The day of practical politics has not disappeared with the adoption of the direct primary. Presidential, state or county. The boss Is still doing busi ness, though some of the old-time bosses are fast being hurried to the boneyard. The boss. In Mr. Roosevelt's lexicon. Is the machine politician who supports Taft. When he is for Roosevelt, he is a leader. The campaign Is not only develop ing new ideas, but new definitions for old and familiar facts, and a new tol erance for old and familiar offenses. TRUMPH OF TUB -fKJl BALERS." Abolition of the Commerce Court la a natural result of the spirit of the age. That spirit prompts the baseball crowd to mob the umpire If the home team loses. - It prompts a candidate for office to approve of established political methods If they win delegates for him but to cry "fraud" if they win delegates for "the other fellow." It prompts demand for recall of Judges who find the law Is not in harmony with the popular will. For these are the days of "squealing" losers, and sympathy seems always to turn to the "squealers." That is why the Com merce Court is to be abolished. The provision of the bill restoring to the Interstate Commerce Commis sion all railroad regulatory power, sub ject to appeal only to United States District Courts, is a false pretense. The Commerce Court was not given any greater Jurisdiction than was vest, ed in the courts before Its establish ment. This Jurisdiction can be taken from the courts and given to the Cora mlsssion only by constitutional amend ment. No power was taken from the Commission and given to the Com merce Court: no power is therefore restored to the Commission. The ef fect of the bill is only to revive the conditions which existed before the Commerce Court was created. At that time railroad cases dragged along In terminably, taking their turn with all other litigation, and could be appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals and thence to the Supreme Court. The Jurisdiction over railroad cases was simply transferred to the Commerce Court, with right of appeal direct to the Supreme Court. Trial of railroad cases was expedited and was entrusted to a court of specialists. Abolition of the Commerce Court is a distinct step backwards and has no element of progressiveness. This step is an Indirect method of recalling the Commerce Court Judges because their decisions did not suit the "squealers." It Is the first application of the recall to Federal Judges. It will not help the "squealers" in the end, for If the Commerce Court's de cisions were good law, the District Courts will render like decisions and the Hupreme Court will sustain them. If the Commerce Court's decisions are not good law, the Supreme Court would have reversed them. Just as it will reverse like decisions of the Dis trict Courts. Nothing is gained, unless there be a gain In smashing with child ish impatience a court which finds the law to be out of harmony with the will of a temporary majority. EXTRAVAGANT YOV5TO WOMEN. There Is some real ground for Mtsa Frances Gage's apprehension that young women of limited means are disposed to spend too much money on their clothes. In her work as field secre'tary of the Young Women's Christian Association she has met many girls and learned all there is to know about their tastes and habits of life. She speaks of one young woman, doubtless a salesgirl, who had bought all hat and was persuaded to give It up only after serious argument. It is lamentable that young women who can earn no more than from IS to 110 a week should fix their affec tions upon expensive hats, rich furs and gay ribbons. The taste for such luxuries Is sure to allure them Into trouble If they try to gratify It. Yet the taste la perfectly natural. For some reason, which we shall not at this moment seek to fathom, nature has implanted in the young woman's soul the love of pretty garments. When the salesgirl sets her wits at work to acquire a 135 hat she Is car rying out a deep instinct for which she Is irresponsible, sine it was born with her. though we grant that she can control the Instinct if she will exercise her will power rigorously enough. Such exercise of the will is the most wholesome discipline in the world morally, but it is made difficult by the spectacle of life which the girl sees around her. The street and store are full of women wearing exactly the kind of hats and dresses which she longs for. ' Why has the right to own them been granted to these favorites of fortune and denied to her? Is it wrong for her to spend the little money she earns In making herself as pretty as she can? Shall she deny herself every ray of light and Joy? Te she must deny herself every ray. If she does not. we all know what her fate will be. But the duty is a severe one. The shopgirl who lives a virtuous life upon current wages must be more of an ascetic than any saint of the desert and her task is a great deal harder than theirs. They were shielded frofn temptation by solitude. She must tread the nar row path with the world tugging at her sleeve ever)" moment. There Is so excuse for her IX she goes astray. but In the rare Instances when she does so it is easy to understand why. FARMING IN ALASKA. When Secretary Seward purchased Alaska from Russia in 1866, a large majority of the people of the country thought that Mr. Seward had gone stark mad. and that the J7.200.000 paid for the territory had been worse than wasted. It was argued that the resources of the country would never amount to anything, and the expenses of retaining It would be heavy. We have since learned that in many re spects Alaska is a wonder land. The output of gold has been immense, and the deposits of coal, gypsum, marble and granite are the richest In the known world. But we have never figured that there was a field in that part of our domain for the agriculturist. We have allowed thousands of our people to be attracted by the alluring and mislead ing literature of the Dominion gov ernment north of us. In Saskatchewan and adjoining provinces, to go over there and waste their substance in try ing to raise crops, when in our own territory of Alaska there was better land and better opportunities than any the Canadian provinces had to offer. In the Tanana Valley, adjacent to Fairbanks, there are 6.000,000 acres of farm land equal to much of the best lands In the Dakotaa and Minnesota, and the climate is not greatly different. About the same crops can be raised there as are produced In the northern part of the United States proper. Here Is what a farmer of that valley writes about his farming operations: I had three acres ef potato, and they yielded m 18 tons: and ths market price was 1120 per ton. for which I sold most of them. I had on acra of bests, on which I had a crop of sight tons; two acres of car rots, which yielded me seven and a balf tons, with a market prlc of $140 per ton; on acr of turnips, from which 1 gathered 300 sacks of 80 pounds to the sack, or sight ton at per ton. I had two and a half tons of rutabagss upon one-fourth of an acr of ground, for which the market prlc was $100 per ton. I hsd on ton of red beets on one-quarter of an acr of ground, at (140 per ton. I had 15 acre of barley which I cut and sold for hay. 1 had three and a half tons which I sold for ITS per ton. and still have enough left to fill mv barn chock-full for my own use for the winter. I raised two tons of cabbages, which I put away for th winter.-besides which I sold between three end' a halt and four tons during the Summer at an average selling pries of $140 per ton. I raised z sucking pigs: also 13 pig which weighed about 100 pounds each, and 23 big bog I sold five of my hogs to th butcher for $60 each. This Fall I put In sis acres of Winter wheat, bluestem, which I sowed ths second wsek in August, and before the snow csme In October the wheat was up two or three Inches high, and I never saw a better stsnd of whsat anywhere. I have raised good Winter wheat, barley and oats and all kinds of vegetables, and. In my Judgment as a farmer of more than 30 yssrs" experience, the Tanana Valley is a first-class agricul tural country. Such prices will, of course, not ob tain when the agricultural resources of that section are further developed. But the statement shows that we have been remiss In letting so many of our citizens flock to the Dominion while greater opportunities awaited them in our own territory of Alaska. ME. JOHVitON'S EDUCATION AX. TEST. Owen Johnson, the author of "Std ver at Yale," has propounded a list of questions to the general public by which any person who wishes may test the completeness of his education. The list Is printed In The Oregonlan this morning. The reader will find it interesting to peruse even If he has not the moral courage to apply it to his own case. It la a modified copy of a set of questions which one of the characters in "Stover" fired at his col lege chums when they were Jiot ex pecting anything of the sort and no body could answer them. Even If they had been looking for the ordeal It would have made no difference. The experience would have been Just as humiliating to them for the ordinary run ot xaie rooiDaai ana asseusii He roes do not feel obliged to know much about anything but their games. Mr. Johnson's list of questions as they appear in The Oregonlan will probably "stump" every person who undertakes to answer them. They comprise pos ers In music, architecture, religion, literature, politics and economics, painting and "general Information." It Is well enough for a person to be informed upon these topics and as many others as he has time to look Into, but we doubt whether the va riety of one's miscellaneous knowledge is a fair test of the excellence of his education. Lack of Interest in the his tory of art and literature certainly stamps one as narrow-minded, but still it Is possible to know a fair amount about those matters without possessing the exact knowledge of a specialist. A great many men under stand vaguely that Wagner revolu tionized the theory and practice of musical composition without being able to answer Mr. Johnson's first question aa to the difference between the Wagnerian and the old Italian theory of the opera. Some very esti mable critics would go so far as to say that the old Italians had no theory of the opera. Their principal aim was to unite pretty melodies to sentimental words without much regard to any congruence between sound and mean ing. Of course they had rules of com position, but they pertained merely to technique and did not touch upon the wide relations between dramatic thought and musical form which Inter ested Wagner so deeply. It is not quite certain that educa tion consists in the memorizing of iso lated items of knowledge. The mind ought to be stored with a reasonable number of such bits of fact, but their value is not fundamental. If a person graduates from college with the power to think vigorously and accurately, he can readily acquire whatever informa tion he may need as he goes along. Better even than the power td think accurately is the cultivation of the hu man sympathies. If the colleges could confer these two boons upon our young people we might well forgive their shortcomings, which are numer ous enough In all conscience. The mind which is full of unrelated frag ments of information is not the most admirable in the world, and we doubt whether it is the most useful. Every Individual ought to know some 'one subject thoroughly well, so well that he can make his living by the knowl edge he possesses. Related to the sub ject which he has mastered in this way, he will naturally find others which are helpful to. him. Of these he should acquire a working body of in formation, but he is foolish if he seeks to specialize in them. One specialty is enough for one man. The attempt to acquire all that Is knowable In half a dozen branches commonly results in that mental cloudiness which ends in mental sterility. After all. the best working power the mind can possess Is that of concentration. In a late de tective story one of the characters tells another that he "has the ability to sharpen his mind to a fine pencil point and hold it fixed steadily on a given problem as Ions &s he likes." What faculty could be more useful In life? It is this kind of ability which brings results. But it must be admitted that most men want something besides results to make their lives satisfactory: They feel the need of a fringe of gaiety and beauty about the prosaic utility of their careers. To obtain this some thing else is requisite besides the keen neea and agility of the intellectual ath lete. What is wanted is sympathy. It is sympathy which mainly distinr guishes the man of "culture" from the man of mere utility. There is a com mon practice of calling a man "cul tured" when he can rattle off the names of the painters of the renais sance, name all the Gothic cathedrals in France and tell how many pictures Rembrandt painted. But over this kind of culture there hangs a mist of unreality. Mere names without a sub stantial structure of feeling and edu cated emotion behind them do not fur nish the soul very desirably. It is bet ter to be able to enjoy a Bach fugue than to know exactly what influence Bach had on the development of music. Too much helter skelter information rather tends to denote intellectual weakness. A man who has genuine mental ability does not want too much lumber lying around loose in his brain. He prefers to go to the sources of knowledge and look it up when he needs it. Books of ready reference are so numerous nowadays and so accessible that it is not necessary to cumber the memory with facts by the carload. When books were scarce and expensive an encyclopedic memory was a treasure above price, but in our time it is more of a curiosity than a treasure. The man who knows where to look for his facts is as a rule much more effectually master of the situa tion than one who tries to remember everything. The advance of evolution is putting the mere memory of facts more and more out of court. It never will disappear entirely because every person must remember some things to meet the exigencies of daily life, but Its field becomes more narrowly lim ited every year. The opening of the Panama Canal will effect a saving in distance for ves sels that choose the new route of 6200 miles between Europe and San Fran cisco; of 1600 miles between England and New Zealand, and of approxi mately 2400 miles between New York and Australasian ports. "Far Ca thay," for long a dream of the ancients, will, with Us wealth and its troubles, be brought to the very doors of the one-time dreamers and the ends of the earth will, for all pur poses of trade, pleasure and com merce, be brought together. The British Tories may change their name, but they are Tories still, with all the word implies in the light of history. They were Irst the party of divine right of kings, then the party of divine right of birth and privilege, then the party of divine right of prop erty and money, and now they ac knowledge themselves the party of di vine right of one nation to rule an other without the consent of the other. They are the original standpatters and have given rise to the new Brit ish radicalism Just as surely as our American standpatters are responsible for Insurgency. The harvester trust, in Its annual report, pleads that it is a good trust and therefore should be immune from prosecution. It denies that its stock is watered. It asserts that it earns less than 7 per cent on its capital, it pro fesses to have benefited the farmer by avoiding fluctuations In price and by not raising prices when cost of ma terial and labor advanced. If all the trust says of itself be true, its officers are qualified for seats In heaven in stead of In the prisoner's -dock. How earnest is the Democratic ma jority of the House in the cause of economy was demonstrated by Its re fusal to abolish useless assay offices and mints. Once more the logrollers, who cling desperately to every scrap of patronage, have defeated economy. Congress once more proves that It Is a machine for distribution of the pub lic funds where they will do the most good to its members. The best measure of the prosperity of a city is the ability of the wage earners to save. Since Portland ranks third In volume of postal savings bank deposits. It must. In view of the dis parity In population with New York and Chicago, easily rank first in the general prosperity of its people. The death of B. G. Whitehouse re moves another human landmark in Portland's history. Brought into as sociation with a large number of citi zens by his business and by his high office In the Masonic order, he won friends by the legion by his amiable qualities and will be sadly missed. The rise in temperature the other day that brought city people to their porches Intensified desire for suburban life, where the cool northwest breeze ripples the grass and grain and soothes the ruffled brow. Yet there must be city dwellers to do the country's busi ness. ' The British Investigation of the Ti tanic disaster is sparing nobody, no matter how high. Great Britain has a way of doing these things that befits a great nation. Bryan's charges against Harmon and the denial of Harmon's manager, Devanney, give promise of the organi zation of a Democratic Ananias Club. In the matter of postal savings Port land Is In great company, ranking third. New York and Chicago are ahead of her. With a maximum temperature ot 84 at Kansas City yesterday, settle ment of the brewery strike was timely. Anything Attorney-General Craw- J ford may say does not override tne vote for Presidential preference. Not many days will elapse ere the Oregon strawberry will crowd the im ported article from the market. A grower at Springfield is shipping a ton of asparagus daily. That is the proper kind of specializing. The Junior Vanderbllt will have a bad mark in the red book If he does not pay that grocery bill. Forty-four new Oregon lawyers are to be turned loose this Spring to ad just the affairs of state. TRAITS THAT MADE CARL GRAY Writer ' Tells ' of Characteristics That Built Ip His Success. PORTLAND. May 10. (To the Edi torsMany thousands of Oregonians have learned of the Intended depar ture of President Carl R. Gray with keen regret, many of them .with sor row. Mr. Gray has only been with us for the short space of a year, but In that time he has so endeared himself to us as to make his name one of the most respected and familiar of any citizen of the state. How well we remember when a rail way president, especially of a great line or system, was supposed to be a superior being, one set apart to be ap proached with fear and caution, and then only by the elect. He was hedged around by door-openers, card-bearers, secretaries and assistant secretaries and finally a personal secretary so that to reach the august presence of the chief was almost impossible entirely Impossible for the poor, the weak and the insignificant Compare the rule of such officials with that of President Gray. He is tiie most approachable of men. His office Is ever open to all who seek him. his hand ever extended with a cheery welcome to the high and the low alike; the millionaire and the laborer, the merchant and the mechanic meeting with equally cordial welcomes. No matter how pressing his duties he always has a word of cheer and Jollity for those whom he knows, and a quick, decisive, but civil dismissal for those who wish merely to monopolize his time. No man in Oregon can dis patch more business in a given time than he. He thinks quick, acts quick and his yes or no is final, hence he can dispose of 20 callers while the ordi nary official would be hedging and side-stepping one. Large of frame, large of brain and with good will and good nature oozing out at every pore, knowing the railroad game from every standpoint and every angle, sympathizing with every man on his payroll because he has occupied so many minor positions in the service himself, he has made himself also be loved by every man under him. During his short year in Portland he has made the public feel that he stands with them in attempting to get from his road the best service that it can possibly render. He has made that public feel that he represents them as a citizen as much as he represents the railway as its chief. He has from the first missed no opportunity to meet and get acquainted with the people of the state, and so successful has he been as a "mixer" and entertainer that but few men within our borders have a larger acquaintance than he. And so skillfully 'has he conducted his cam paign of good fellowship that every friend he has made he will leave be hind him as a friend of the roads over which he ruled. Mr. Gray has enriched the story literature of Oregon with so many clean, bright, witty and ludicrous anec dotes of his native state, Arkansas, stories dealing often with the old mam mies of that region, told in a way that no other can imitate, that for years to come almost every public speaker in these regions who wishes an apt illus tration will have to go back to one of the stories of Mr. Gray If he wants the best One of his numerous other stories will be a fitting conclusion to this let ter: A certain strong maw; calling him self Xerxes, was doing his herculean stunf with a fly-by-night circus. Business was poor and the circus went broke. There was not money enough to go around for railway fares home, so, as the chief officials all had names beginning with letters well at the top of the alphabet, they decided to pay off alphabetically. Of course the funds were all gone before the name of Xerxes was reached and he walked back to New York. A few days later he saw an advertise ment for a strong man and he applied for the ' position finding that It was with another circus.- He was told he could have the Job if he could do the "stunt." and was ordered to report for the trial rehearsal. The first man he met there was the old manager of the "busted" circus. . "Hello. Xerxes." hailed this manager. "Xerxes!" responded the strong man. "Xerxes! Xerxes nothing; my name is AJax." It is tWfe hope of Mr. Gray s friends in the Northwest that he may never become connected with a failure. We hope that he will not only become the Xerxes and the AJax of railway man agers but that in due time he may re turn to Oregon as the supreme ruler wr th roads he now leaves and the thousands of miles of extensions which will be added to them as one of the results of his year's association with A. B. us. SMALL DEMAND FOR LOWER FARES WsrUignas Thinks Carllne Extension Should Not Be Blocked. PORTLAND, May 9. (To the Editor.) I observe with extreme regret that our City Council is unable to arrive at some definite conclusion in regard to a franchise for the P. R.. L. & P. Co., the fare regulation being the bone of contention. Those of us who are waiting patiently the outcome of this apparently needless discussion would like to know from whence came the call to the Council that the people were falling over themselves to have this fare regulation. I sm a working man who possibly could enjoy the benefit of a smaller fare as well as tne average worker. Having conversed with many daily toilers the writer is unable in one single Instance to learn that they de sire lower fare than the one collected at Dresent. None ask the P. R.. L. & P. Co. to carry us to and fro for any thing less than the nickel. By wnat other roirte can you obtain your trans Dortation so cheap? It has been pointed out. lor instance, you can be carried from St. Johns to Lents, a distance or IT miles, for 6 cents. Does it not look ridiculous and absurd to ask for any thing less? Portland is not and will not be for 25 vears to come ready for less than 6 cents. (This Is not knocking.) We are not London or New York, and all this talk of putting our transportation facilities ahead of cities several times our size at the expense of modern service Is talk. Give us our exten sions at once with the means at hand for first-class service. Give the rail way company its dues, if it is a cor poration. This is no time for trying to get even." Such is not business. I see one of our city fathers re marked that, with the fare regulation voted out at the next election, all vot ing to that effect would be swept away in the deluge. Let It be said right here that he is in greater danger of the second deluge. The writer is in no way connected with the P. R-. U & P. Co nor expects to be, but this talk of the city having the right to regulate the fare today, and by passing a franchise with no regulating clause, lose the right to reg ulate tomorrow. Is something new. It is no disgrace for a Councilman to change his vote, and cast in favor of this franchise minus - the regulating clause. The next election for city offi cials will so denote. The committee appointed to solicit funds and other wise to make arrangement to comply with the requirements In order to get the East Mount Tabor extension had to use almost superhuman efforts in over coming obstacles to meet these require ments, and we are all to a man, In the vicinity of this extension, behind them. Does any one think we will go down In defeat to forget It very soon? If we go down we will drag others with us. A. E. DANLET, 1914 East Clay. , CHALLENGE AMERICAN CULTURE Author Submits Twenty Questions as Teat of College Education. Owen Johnson declares that the col lege men of today have no general knowledge, let alone real culture. Most of the colleges, he asserts, have be come mere social clearing-houses, whose students know only a few facts hastily crammed for examinations and promptly forgotten. In his new novel, "Stover at Yale," which takes up the whole subject of American colleges, Johnson makes a character propose a list of 40 general questions to a bunch of classmates. But as the story is laid in 1900, the test Is not hard enough for today, says Johnson, though most of his readers admit that they cannot answer the questions in "Stover." Johnson has Just prepared a new list, which, he says, every college student or gradu ate ought to be able to answer. Any man in a French or German univer sity could pass a creditable examina tion on them. How many American collegians can, he asks. On music: 1. What Is the difference between the Waftnerlan theory of opera and the old Italian? 2. Who wrote "Carmen." and what was the history of Its reception? 3. What was Bach's influence on the de velopment of music? Architecture: 4. Who was the architect of the Par thenon ? 5. What is the fundamental difference be tween Gothic and Renaissance architecture T 6. Who was the architect of the Vatican? ReliRlon: 7. What was historically new in the Chris tian rellirlon? 8. What Is the history of the cross as a religious emblem? 0. Describe any two religions besides your own. Literature: 10. What American author has most pro foundly Influenced modern literature? 11. Name ten French dramatists. 12. Name six German poets or dramatists. Politics and economics: 13. What do you know about the new po litical experiments In New Zealand? 14. What about the labor pension system in Germany? . . 15. What Is the difference between social ism and anarchism? Painting: . 18. What was Rembrandt's contribution to the theory of painting? . , . . 17. What was the medium used In ancient painting? , , 18. Who composed the Barbizon school, and the Pre-Raphaelites? General: lft. What do vou know about the history of the theory of medicine, and particularly of the germ theory of disease? 20. Who were Franx Hals. Spinoza. Hol man Hunt. Ambrose Thomas. Zorn. Bossuet. Tschalkowsky, Jehovah. Goya, Bjornson. Strlndherg, Savonarola. Durer. favour. Wins low, Homer, glr James Young Simpson. Mis tral, Cellini. Garrlck. Abbe Prevost. Engels? MORE OXE-IDEAED- MEN NEEDED Suffragist Believe, Type Criticised by "Ant!" Improve World. PORTLAND. May 9. (To the Edi tor.) Having attended the "anti" meeting Tuesday and meditated much on some of the utterances I heard there, I am still in a mental labyrinth, caused by the pot-pourri of ideas promulgated by the exponents of anti-suffrage. We were amazed to hear copious al leged quotations from the book of Proverbs (to support arguments), which if not wholly mythical, are at least not found in the accepted version of Holy Writ. Let it be conceded, however, that it might have been a part of the wisdom of Solomon with his hundreds of wives and numerous concubines to find it ex pedient to advocate the doctrines set forth in the anti "Protest." No doubt, too, Brigham Young would have held similar views. But did It occur to the speaker of the evening that the women of Oregon do not live on the same level as did the inmates of an Oriental harem? Then, too, another puzzling thing. In one sentence we hear that the things pertaining to government belong in the hands of men. In the next moment we are berated for allowing the men to put a notorious character in office. At one time Miss Martin was calling on the men to save us women from ourselves, which hysterical appeal was soon followed by Mr. Wheelwright up holding us for not saving the men from themselves. A very sorry plight it seemed to be. Then we were given to understand that respected men, bearing illustrious and world-famous names, were really small men in fact, men of only one idea. Wendell Phihlps; William Lloyd Garrison and our later Judge Lindsey, all, all oneideaed men. How ruthless ly they were dragged down those glorious names! But we are told they were merely one-ideaed men: not well rounded and complete. What a pity that this twentieth century has not an honor roll of just stich men of one idea, who would fight for something more than selfish greed. Then after trying to show that mother-love was also not a very praise worthy attribute, he went on to say that women were not fair to each other. It would not be strange if under the false conditions imposed by men such were the case; but it Is our hope and intention that under the new and hap pier rule there will be cemented a sis terhood of women in fact, as well as in name, each to uplift and sustain the other. As for the ungracious task assigned to Miss Martin, which by reason of its unnaturalness and seeming faithless ness to her sister women, places her in a position which in kindness we can not believe she occupies willingly, wo only say. in the words of the greatest defender of women: "Let It not be helloved of Womanhood! Think, we had mothers; do not give ad vantage To stubborn critics apt without a theme. For depravation to nquare the general sex By error's rule; rather think this not Woman." MRP. A. E. CLARK, 819 Johnston Street. A eeret Between Friend. Philadelphia Record. Wigg What did she say when. you kissed her? Wagg She eaid: "This is Just be tween ourselves." FEATURES OF THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN John T. McCutcheon's Pirate Tales In his second story the noted cartoonist and writer tells of the cruise of the Sun Dog;. Illustrated by the best drawing MeCutcheon has done in years. How to Treat Your Husband Laura Jean Libbey gives advice to wives on just how to conduct a campaign for permanent retention of a husband. The 37-Cent Suffrage Hat Half a paf?e is devoted to the remark able creation that costs but 37 cents and yet is approved by fashion. Justice in Persia An unusual contribution from a Teheran corre spondent about the unbelievable methods of dealing out retribution in that domain. Illustrated by photographs. Our Ineffective Army A study on America's military organiza tion or iack of organization, to be explicit. It is shown that we really haven 't any army. Young American Artist3 They are forging ahead, says a Paris correspondent, who tells of the work and life of our painters abroad. Our Best Sellers Foreigners write them, so an investigator finds. Two Short Stories, complete. The Jumpups They invest in art treasures. Sambo stalks another giant, Hairbreadth Harry, Mrs. Timekiller, Slim Jim and Mr. Boss have fresh exploits. New puzzle in colors and cut-out clothes for the children. AND A PROFUSION OF OTHER FEATURES Order Today From Your Newsdealer. Astral Campaigning By Dean Collins. Not oft. I ween, although one search The histories with might and main. Will he disclose a case where ghosts Joined a political campaign. 'Tis seldom, sure, you hear of one That does as Simpson's ghost has done. For I have heard that it has come From the sad spirit's widow's lips. How from the Stygian borderland He peddles out election tips; And whispers in the mystic dark; "Bet all your beans both ways on Clark." Ah, what a vision comes to me. I seem " to see on ev'ry hand, A swarm o spook spellbinders spiel. Along the Styx and through that land Where table-tipping folk belong. I hear a spectral houn' dawg song. Why do the spooks turn out for Clark? Sooth. I should think they'd be In clined To stand for Woodrow Wilson, who Hath got the high-brow, mystic mind; Instead of rapping in the dark: "Hades is solid all for Clark." Yet I am glad that, in the end. When ballot-marking day draws near. No astral pen shall have a chance To scratch my little ballot here. I'll whistle gaily as I mark And let the spirits vote for Clark. Portland, May 10. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of May 12, 1862. The Governor of California has signed the Chinese tax bill and it is now a law. It imposes a tax of J2.50 per month on all Chinese over 18 years of age. except those who are engaged in mining and pay the regular mining tax. "Governor" George W. Johnson and the rest of the "Provisional Govern ment" of Kentucky are at Decatur. Ala,, having established the capital of Kentucky in a Sibley tent, near that General's headquarters. The Nez Perces. Bannock and Crow Indians have recently had a fight with the Blackfeet and Sioux tribes in the buffalo country. Four Nez Perces were killed. Lafayette, May 8, 1862 Our county Union convention met on Monday last. The following gentlemen were nomi nated: Representatives to the Legisla ture, Joel Palmer and John Cummins; County Judge, J. W. Cowls; County Clerk, S. C. Adams: County Commis sioners. T. M. Cochran and Sebastian Brutcher; Sheriff, H. Warren; Treas urer, J. T. Hembree; School Superin tendent, Rev. John Spencer; Surveyor, Charles Hanley. On last Saturday morning snow fell to the depth of three inches on Port land Mountain, about two miles south west of the city. A few of those who pretend to guide the Democratic ship assembled at the Council room on Saturday night. The following gentlemen were elected dele, gates to the county convention: T. J. Holmes, J. T. Castle. Thomas Fitz gerald, William Cree. Thomas Byrnes, M. Moore, J. D. Cremen, William L. McEwan, E. Gallagher, O. Rislcy. H. H. Black, J. H. Block. At the South Portland precinct the following gen tlemen were elected: Messrs. Nottage, Jacobs. McQuade, Shelby, Farrar, Mc Carver, McNamee, Price and Middle ton. Miss Virginia Lawrence takes a ben efit at the theater tonight. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes will appear. Several pat riotic songs will be sung by Miss L. We learn that some of the firemen will turn out in uniform. As "Ed" Howe Sees Life Every time I see the husband of a noted woman, I remark something thst makes me think he doesn't like the job. If a widower gets along well after his bereavement, he should be ashamed to show it. It is no disgrace to be poor; but wo are all sensitive about It. Somehow it always seems disgrace ful to see a horse hitched up with a mule. After a woman has been maried three or four years she begins saying of her husband: "He used to wait on me. but now. half the time he doesn't know I'm on earth." When a married woman starts in to become stouter, her husband usually starts in to shrivel up. Those of us who are not called upon to drown to prove our galantry am very proud of the way the men actnd when the Titanic was wrecked at sea. A man who lives by politics can't understand why you don't take movo interest in the primaripp; and a bishop gives you rather more difficult tiskt' than you think necessary. Probably no row is quite so red hot as that which gets two people into the divorce court. Women have wrongs, as all the world knows; but if you want to know just how ruthless and terrible wrongs real ly are, ask a man to reel off his list. Alarm Clock and Wedding Bells. Philadelphia Record. Love is a dream, but marriage is an alarm clock.