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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1914)
10 tttk !TOT?XTXO OTTJOOXT AN. THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1914. prtmn PORTLAND, OREGON, Entered at Portland, Oregon, Fostoffice as second-class matter. Subscription Rates Invariably In Advance: (BY MAIL) Dally, Sunday Included, one year $8.00 Daily, Sunday Included, six months 4.23 Lraily, Sunday includedrtliree months ... 2.25 Daily, Sunday included, one month ..... .70 Dally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six months 3.25 Daily, without Sunday, three months ... 1.75 Duiiy. without Sunday, one month 60 Weeklv. one year l.Ro Sunday, one year 2. 50 Sunday and weekly, one year 3.00 (BY CARRIER) Daily, Sunday included, one year .. . v . . .$0.00 Daily, S.unday included, one month 7o How to Remit Send oostofflce monev or der, express order or personal check on your jucai bantc. mamps. coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postofi'ice address in full, including county and state. :. To,"8 Kales 12 to 16 pages, l cent; 1S to 82 pages. 2 cents; 34 to 43 pages, 3 cents; 50 to 60 pages, 4 cents; 02 to 78 pages. cents; 7S to H2 pages, 6 cents. Foreign post- age, uouuie rales. Eastern Business Offlcet Verree & Conk- nn. Mew York, Brunswick building. Chi cago, Steger building. San Francinco Office R. J. Bidwell Co. 742 Market street. PORTLAND, THURSDAY, MARCH S, 1914. NO CONCLUSION IN SIGHT. Those who fondly imagine that President Wilson's policy of watchful wafting is leading to any definite con elusion in Mexico may be enlightened by reading an article which. James Creelman has written from Mexico City for the New York Mail. He de scribes a corrupt, bankrupt govern ment, headed by a drunken dictator, "who boasts that he is "just a common Indian"; a people indifferent to the fate of the nation and given over to pleasure, while rapine and murder are on all sides; concessions hawked about the city and Huerta's wife tak ing her rake-off; armies of peons dragged from the fields and sent like prisoners to fight for a cause in which they have no interest. The white men own practically everything except the government; the population, which is 65 per cent pure Indian and 20 per cent half Indian is "uninterested in the war or the future of their country-" He sums up the situation thus: President Wilson's theory that the masses of Mexico are yearning for constitutional government would be laughable were the consequences of his blunder "not so terrible. His idea that when the Huerta govern ment ia crushed the leading men of Mexico can be got together to secure constitutional liberty, order and peace is absolutely base Jess in fact. The rebel forces are Inspired to fight by their fierce love of looting, burning and violating women. The federal forces serve through fear of their remorseless master. The sober truth is that nearly all the ablest men of Mexico have selfishly left the country. Bloodthirsty, dissolute, corrupt, "su preme and only master of every thing," Huerta is as incapable of es tablishing constitutional government as the people are of maintaining it, but ' the so-called Constitutionalists are no more so. After a year rt war fare since the death of Madero, they have obtained control of the thiirly peopled northern states, which have hut a fifth of the population, but have been able to take no fortified towns. Though now able to import arms Without hindrance, they halt before the "walls of Torreon, and the much heralded march on Mexico City is not begun. Their General, Villa, is but a bandit, who scoffs at law and civilized warfare. Their chief, Car ranza, seeing his power slipping into the hands of the victorious General, plays upon the anti-foreign prejudices of the rebel army by vetoing Villa's concessions to the United States and Great Britain in the Benton affair, hoping thereby to bolster up his pop ularity. Thus, ere the final victory is won, dissension breaks out among the rebel leaders. Since a year of war with its accom paniments of wholesale bloodshed, rapine and plunder, has enabled the rebels to accomplish so little, how much longer will it be before they can conquer the rest of the country, which is the richest and contains four-fifths of the population? As they advance southward, they will move farther from their base, while Huerta will concentrate his forces nearer his base and will gradually, if beaten, draw into the capital, which Is well sup plied with artillery and garrisoned by veteran troops, most faithful to him, and paid when others go penniless. The struggle appears to have just be gun. If the rebels should succeed, what Improvement would the murderous bandit. Villa, be upon the murderous drunkard, Huerta? - What possibility would there be that Carranza, even if Villa remained faithful to him and even if he made an honest attempt, would succeed in establishing consti tutional rule with such material? Would not a rebellion against Car ranza and Villa follow that against Huerta and the whole bloody drama be re-enacted? Can such schooling qualify the indifferent, loot-loving In dians to found a democracy as we un derstand the term? We cannot expect that Europe will continue indefinitely to endure our policy of watchful waiting. -While. the canal tolls dispute is pending, England may restrain her impatience, but only in the hope that we shall the more readily yield on that point. We may pay this high price for British, tolera tion of delay, but how long will the respite be permitted to extend? Sure ly a time will come when British na tional pride, outraged by such mur ders as that of Benton, and the British-Investor, enraged at the destruc tion of his capital, will Insist that their government do something. If Britain should hang back, other na tions, having less reason for consider ing our susceptibilities, may prod her on with hints that if she does not act they will. ATust we then throw an other sop to the hungry Cerberus? Judging by the fact that Mexicans choose to follow such men as Huerta and Villa, - between w hom there is Ifttle choice, that is the kind of ruler Mexico wants Then why not recog nize as agent for Mexico in its deal ings with us the man who exercises the powers of government? If that man be not Huerta, he will be Car ranza or Villa. If by some turn of the, Mexican kaleidoscope a man of as high type as Madero came to the top, he Avould not long remain there and the old scenes of fcivil war would be repeated. j The task Mr. Wilson has under taken of securing for Mexico orderly, constitutional rule is hopeless of ac complishment by the means to which he has limited himself. The only means which give hope of success are armed conquest and prolonged occu pation, which the American people are strongly averse to using. But rather than see a European army landed on independent American soil, they will resort to these means. They .will approach the work with much grumbling and will not forgive the man who forced upon them this al- ternative to abandonment of their most cherished principle of foreign policy. TIIE LITTLE 1MSLLOW8 thiJlE, The gentlemen who are organizing a campaign for a referendum upon the Daly water meter imposition are obviously in earnest. They are prepar- ing their plans in the open. They are supported by an overwhelming public sentiment. They are making a direct appeal from the three-to-two decision of the City Commission to the rate paying public. They are strictly with in their rights. They are performing what they conceive to be a public duty. There is no hypocrisy or hug ger-mugger or humbug about it. Now the members of the committee are being attacked by the Daly news - 1 pa'per for the heinous crime of being , m,.. a,, -7? small water-rate payers. Two pay 75 cents per month, one 75" cents to 85 cents, one 90 cents and one 95 cents to $2. How much taxes, water or property, shall a man pay to qualify him to declare and maintain his rights as a citizen under our popular system of government? Yet we have been told loudly, bel ligerently, tearfully that the opposi tion to the costly and foolish w-ater- meter venture was the "big interests.' The "big interests" were trying in their own wicked way to defeat the good Daly in his innocent and unob jectionable plan of spending off-hand a half million dollars of public mon eys, all for the benefit of the little fellow, represented by the consumer who pays the minimum rate of 75 cents. Now the little fellow is being lampooned and maligned because he has the temerity to say something the self-constituted guardians of his in terests do not want him to say. There Is no exclusive right of pro prietorship in the referendum. It was not devised for the use or enjoyment of any class or creed. It is" no jug handled device to be employed by one group of citizens to embarrass and cripple any other class. . If it is not proper to appeal to the referendum to prevent waste and correct incompe tence in public administration it is a crime ever to use it. It is no crima to be a little fellow otherwise a 75-cent water-rate con sumer. SEATTLE AND REFORM. Seattle has taken Hi Gill back to its forgiving arms. Seattle is assured that he is a different HI Gill; the world at large is not so sure about it. But perhaps the election of Its Mayor is primarily Seattle's business and not other people's. It happens that in the changing Seattle fashions as to Mayors Hi Gill suits the present humor of that volatile city. It is not hard to understand and explain Seattle's apparent change of front as to Hi Gill. Elected Mayor on an open-town platform, Seattle re called him and has had ever since what passed for a closed town. A purity police squad and an impeccable purpose to live down the unsavory record of the red-light reign, were the principal characteristics of suc ceeding regimes. The people of Se attle got tired of police intrusion into their personal concerns and were di verted again to a thoughtful consid eration of the high cost of living as emphasized by the increased tax levies. But it would be unjust to say that the election of Gill is a vindication of Gillism. It is in fact a repudiation of the attempted domination of Se attle by the so-called "big Interests." The people accepted, with certain mental reservations, the professions of Gill that he would sin no more; but he offered the best way out from the things his opponent, Mr. Trenholme, was popularly supposed to represent. The "rich men" of Seattle were the acknowledged sponsors of Mr. Tren holme. Seattle would have none of him or them. Mayor Gill purposes now to give Se attle a closed town. But it is not to be assumed that, out of the stern rec titude of his new-found conscience, he will make Seattle a desiccated Sa hara of laundered purity. HOW CAN TAXES BE LOWERED? Where is ' the beet place to begin pruning cost of government in Port land with intent to reduce taxe6? We fancy "that the strongest objector among the taxpayers today would be puzzled to answer the question were he placed at the head df the munici pal government with autocratic pow ers. In 1913 the tax rate levied for city purposes produces $2,418,614. But Portland was assessed $6,000,000 more than that for Port, School Dis trict, State and County purposes, so as to three-fourths of the taxes- the imaginary city autocrat would have no authority to make reduction. As to the two million odd dollars collected for city purposes he would find himself confronted by certain necessi ties which he would be powerless to contract. The' item of bonded indebt edness t alone costs Portland about $400,000 annually- in Interest. These bonds, totalling more than $14,000,000, are obligations imposed on the city by the people themselves. The pro ceeds have gone for conveniences like bridges, docks, parks, boulevards, cre matories, a police station and an au ditorium, all of which call for main tenance and repairs. Other munici pal -necessities, like paved streets, the cost of which is not represented in general bond obligations of the city, must needs be maintained. Probably after one had analyzed the whole cost of city government he would find that the only way toward economy is in cessation of certain civic activities and a relentless and courageous reduction of the number of employes on the city payroll. While in the last two years the people have indicated a strong disin clination to increase the bonded in debtedness, an equally earnest spirit of economy has not been indicated in the establishment of new public -enterprises for which bonds are not nec essary nor in the taking on of em ployes. In 1911 The Oregonian issued a warning against city extravagance. Portland was then growing rapidly. Times were unusually prosperous. Three years ago in the tax-paying period The Oregonian said: "The people and the Legislative bodies in the flush of prosperity are more than generous. Extravagance now will augment hard times if the pinch comes, and the pinch is sure to come if the extravagance reaohes certain proportions." The truth of this prediction is now apparent ' to every taxpayer. In the two years from 1911 to 1913 the number of men in the police de partment of Portland increased 38 per cent. Had the population grown in the same proportion there would have been more than 300,000 persons In Portland in 1913. The engineering de partment increased its fflrce 32 per cent. In four departments, fire, po- lice, street-cleaning and engineering, 236 men were added to the payrolls and the. increase in salaries was $217, 049. In these four departments is rep resented an added - cost In salaries equivalent to one-half the entire In crease in tax revenues of Portland in 1913 over 1911. It is not the intent to imply that these departments alone are over loaded. They are given' as "examples of the results of the growing concep tion of public officials as to the gen eral needs of the city. Along with rtew positions in established depart ments, new departments have been created or old departments have branched out into new work. The es tablishment of new departments re quires the creation of new positions. Portland thus has an army of em ployes that increases year by year, but only part of that increase is an out come of growth in population. -' Plainly, however, there is not a sig nal opportunity to reduce taxes by economy in municipal affairs alone. Economy, to make a respectable showing in the tax receipts, must ex tend to school, district, county and state as well as city. , BUILDING UP AN ALASKA LINE. J The Alaska steamship line which was started from Portland yesterday is the result of earnest work by en terprising, public - spirited citizens, who have brought about commercial relations with- the canners of Alaska. They have secured traffic for the steamship and business -for Portland merchants by representing to the can. ners that they can not only buy their supplies here to as good advantage as in other cities, but can obtain banking accommodations here. Their efforts have been so success ful that one cannery company which is owned in Portland has severed Its commercial and financial relations with Seattle and bought its supplies here on the assurance that it can make financial arrangements here. It needs $30,000 to $40,000 to do its sea son's business, has ample assets and Is rated A-l by commercial agencies. It should be able to obtain the money in Portland as a matter of pure bus! ness; it should obtain the loan all the more readily because "thereby a public enterprise which will redound to the advantage of the city will be material ly helped. 4 The way to sustain a transportation line to Alaska is to do business with Alaska and for Alaskans. DRUG HABITS AND THE LAW. The spread of the addlption to habit-forming drugs in the United States is said by- physicians who have investigated the subject to be a men ace to our National life. They tell us facts of the most ominous descrip tion. For. instance "we are assured by Dr. Charles B. Towns, a great author ity, that in the United States we con sume more opium per capita than the Chinese at home. Again it is said that we consume more habit-forming drugs than all Europe each year. Facts of this kind ought to give pause even to the most blinded optimists. Here is an evil of frightful propor tions. What are we going to do about it? Dr. Towns remarks incidentally that our headlong addiction to drugs grows out of a peculiar National psychology. " Evidently It must. But who has studied this unfortunate psychology? . Who knows precisely what traits of it account Tor drug ad diction? Nobody has as yet' thought it worth while to pay much attention to this aspect of the matter. It is an other peculiarity of ours that we trust to law to do almost everything for us. Although drug habits are rooted In psychology and the inner life, the only counsel that Dr. Towns or any other physician gives la to seek he cure for them in legislation. Perhaps we shall find it there. Let us hope so as long as hope is possible. But it is Just as well to bear In mind that men like Brand Whitlock, who have meditated profoundly upon these matters, say that restrictive laws are of no use. There is no doubt what ever that the general trend of modern social thought lies in the same direc tion. We must probably do some thing more effective than passing laws before we shall get rid of our terrible drug addictions. That they are ter rible the facts prove only too conclu sively. There is a typical account of one boy living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, who became a drug fiend himself and who led a hundred of his companions into the same evil courses. The story Is' Instructive- from many points of view. The depraved , youth obtained his supplies of heroin through a phy sician, whose automobile he cared for. His work was paid for by prescrip tions for this drug, which is a prepa ration of opium very- seductive in its effects and pleasant to take. From this boy it was passed on to his "compan ions. What shall we think of a phy sician 'who would be guilty of such a crime? Perhaps it is best not to think of him at all, but to bear In mind the lesson that people of his kind are likely to thwart every law, no mat ter how strict it may- be. Dr. Towns, who has investigated drug addictions in all parts of the world and written most instructively upon the subject, has drawn up a law for New York, which he thinks may well serve all the other states as a model. It hampers drug sales by druggists and manufacturers in al most every imaginable way. Prescrip tions must be filed and preserved with the names of the doctors who granted them and the patients who used them. No, prescription may be used twice. All files and records are to be open to the Board of Health for inspection. And so on to the most minute par ticulars. If law can accomplish the destruc tion of drug habits this one' ought to demonstrate it. But all the time while one is perusing legislation of this sort the mind is haunted by ominous doubts. The method is fascinatingly thoreugh to all appearances, but after all, is It the right method? Can we reform sinners by fixing taboos upon their sins? This question has been powerfully put by a young and promising modern writer, the author of "A Preface to Politics." Have we not taken the wrong road in our ef forts to pursue and capture the mon sters of vicious habit? Dr. Towns' re mark that all such habits depend upon an errant psychology will not down, and psychology cannot be thrown into jail or sent to the rock pile: Law skims the surface and as It slips along over the waves no doubt accomplishes more or less good. But It never gets below the surface. To all our legislation, . no matter how well Intended, the depths of hu man nature, where the sources of evil lie, remain forever inaccessible. What we really' need is some force that can penetrate the man to his Innermost and transform him. Is there any such force in the world? We dare say there is, but the secret of utilizing it does not seem to have been discovered. Now that we understand the true cause of the divorce evil we shall abandon the vain endeavor to remedy it by preaching and legislation and betake ourselves to dress reform. Cor sets it Is that play the mischief with matrimonial happiness. So says Dr. Maude L. Dunne, of Boston, and she ought to know, for she doesn't wear corsets and she is not married. Her argument is convincingly lucid. Cor sets set " up dyspepsia. Dyspepsia sours the temper. Whence wrangles and ultimately the divorce court. What wev really need evidently is an anti-corset law. The suspicion growa that Andrew Car negie, in a last desperate effort to die poor, is financing the Federal League. Boston Transcript. If the star-spangled Scotchman were to run the Federal League, he would secure control of all sources of supply of players and force the old leagues to buy him out as the steel trust did at a fancy price. He would make no progress towards poverty , by going into the baseball business. He would increase the in cumbrance of - wealth and render hopeless the task of giving it away judiciously before he died. New York's deposed Governor, Mr. Sulzer, expresses wonderful zeal for a genuine primary law in his ' current speeches. As an Assemblyman he en Joys the precious privilege of talking all he likes and he seems to be living up to hjs opportunities. We wonder which Tie wants most, a direct pri mary law or to get even with Murphy? The farcical element always predominates in New York politics, but just now there is nothing else. The solemnly virtupus city, the vocif erous Legislature, the incompetence everywhere what a jest it all is. The Yankee retains to this day a good deal of the disposition that prompted him to sell wooden nutmegs In Colonial times. A $2,000,000 cor poration in the saintly and aristo cratic town of Brookline has just been hauled over the coals for swindling. Its particular trick was to make linen thread out of straw. Stock was sold to the tune of $1,200,000 and now the victims are gnawing their nails while the Government prosecutes the. swin dlers. Law is a good thing, but it makes a poor substitute for common sense. Once in about fifteen years Oregon enjoys an early Spring. Crocuses ex pand on the lawns toward the end of February. Peach trees and daffodils blossom early- in March and the dairy men flnti pasture for their cows by the first of April. These blesslngB seem destined for us this Spring. Nay. some of them we actually- have. Such seasons are all the more valued for their rarity. They show us what Na ture can do in her very best moods, but they are no guide to her ordinary habits. Mayor Gill, of Seattle, can now cheerfully philosophize on the fickle ness of fortune and the vicissitudes of popular passion. Yesterday the fickle many cast him desplteously out of of fice. Today they exalt him. And through it all .he is probably the same man. Just now he is the happy bene ficiary of personal politics, as not long ago he was its victim. We wonder what in his heart he thinks of a sys tem that drifts without a chart from one furious mood to another. Mr. Goethals must smile quietly over the efforts of the politicians U reward his great achievement with gold embroidery and military titles. His genuine reward is the conscious ness that he has won a place in his tory and deserved the eternal grati- tude of his fellow men. Deeds like his are their own reward. It Is meet for Congress and the President to ex press their appreciation, but his fame Is secure without them. Attorney - General Crawford has rendered a sensible opinion in saying poverty is not sufficient reason for taking children from parents while they provide the atetual necessities. Zeal often leads to injustice in break ng up families. It is well to remember that many great men of this Nation were mighty poor in childhood. It must be hard for a policeman to resist temptation in a "dry" town and the Eugene officer charged with ab stracting confiscated whisky fell be cause it was human nature to do so. . Huerta demands that TJncle Sam surrender those 5000 Mexican refu gees Interned at El Paso. But can Huerta support them in the style to which they have become accustomed? James MacNaughton indignantly denies having a salary of $100,000 a year. In ante-income tax days he might have smilingly suggested that such afigure was not far off. A Peoria express agent reports the loss of $6400. If it were a press agent rather than an express agent the sum would be announced as $640,000. One year of Wilson has been full of charges, yet hardly full of change, using that gentle word purely in its financial sense. Meat and butter are coming from Siberia. We'll be eating those luxu ries again one of these days. Cheers, jeers and hisses were in dulged in by suffragists before Con gress. Only bombs were lacking. Britain will let us have our own way with Mexico and all we need do in return is eliminate free tolls. Saloons in Alaska must close Sun days. The moral wave is making It self felt in the far corners. Sir Lionel now thinks Huerta will quit. Seems as if we saw that sugges tion before some place. Aetor Hackett is reported to have fallen heir to over $2,000,000. Stage, or real money? Do pot overlook the fact that Act ing Governor Olcott Is sitting in the interim. ! Women as policemen are declared failure in Chicago. Back to the nursery! John Bassett Moore probably got his fill of spineless diplomacy. Hi Gill was high man. ON ; A VOYAGE WITH STEVENSON Famous Poet I Vividly Recalled by Kir. Hartog. PORTLAND, March 4. (To the Edi tor.) Your editorial on "Robert Louis Stevenson" brings back to mind the trip from Hawaii to Samoa which he and his wife took on the S. S. Mariposa, the year of the Chicago World's Fair. How well I remember the first lmpres sion on seeing them take their seats opposite me at the . captain's table. The slim, kindly man and the robust, short-haired wife. His long black hair, his finely chiseled features, the black mustacne and goatee all be spoke the poet and what more natural than my question if he was Mr. Steven son. Acquaintance sprang into friend ship with tnis gentle, lovable fellow. I can still see him on deck with i bevy of friends coaxing for a remin iscence. airs. Stevenson on Board ship was conspicuous for her lack of conven tional-ity, appearing as a rule in i Mother Hubbard and her curly, short locks hanging loose on her shoulders. One of her hobbies was odd jewels. happened to wear a red Mexican opal, wnicn toojt ner eye irom the very first meal, and well, nothing would do but she must have that opaj, and we made an exchange, I consoling myself that I had a souvenir of the wife of a beloved world-famous character. By the way, his wife carried her jewels in a sweaisn-matcn pox. No satin lined bijouterie case for her, nay, nay. the box was in keeping with the Mother Hubbard. Among the many kodak pictures took of Stevenson was the one where his men came with his boat to take him from the steamer to shore, for we anchored a long distance from the Samoan shore. The natives in their striking uniform, raising their oars in salute to their beloved master, cer tainly made a great picture. Unfor tunately it was the season that the Eastman people had great trouble with their films, the year before they start ed putting the dates on the films and all my pictures on the trip around the world were spoiled. Those of Robert Louis would have been the most dear to me. Friend Stevenson was very particu lar to warn me, as he gave me some of his books to read, that, not being a native American, I probably would have some trouble understanding the many Scotch words he used in his writing. He was quite surprised. remember, when I showed him that as a Hollander, the Scotch words were much easier tov me than they were to an American, inasmuch as they greatly resembled the Dutch words. As Hawaii surpasses Florida in beauty, so does Samoa outshine Hawaii, in turn however to be herself outshone by that wonderful gem Ceylon. But for a sweet, dear, kindly fellow like delicate Robert Louis, Apia and Samoa were certainly as if made to order. The sweetness of the Samoan people seemed to harmonize with the very look in those kindly eyes of Stevenson. To have known him was to love him and to love his memory. JOHN H. HARTOG. Law of Descent. PORTLAND, March 4. (To the -Editor.) (1) A. and B. are married. A has children by a former marriage. B. has no children. B. had some means of her own before marrying A. In case of B.'s death, can A. and his children claim B.'s property by law in Oregon? (2) Can B. make a will leaving her property to other relatives, disinherit ing A.? (3) Does B. have to leave some thing to A. in her will to make It legal? A READER. Under the statement of facts given A. is entitled to his courtesy right in his wife's property, a life interest in the income from one-half of her real property. A,'a children can take none of the property of their step mother. (2) B. may make a will leav ing her property to relatives other than her husband, A., but he still has his courtesy right, which must be al lowed before the beneficiaries take under the will. After the death of A. the terms of the will may be carried out. (3) B. does not have to leave anything to A. to make her will legal, but A. has his courtesy In her estate, notwithstanding the will. New Marrlaare Law. PORTLAND, March 3. (To the Edi tor.) Kindly tell me where I may find out about the law requiring persons to pass a physical examination before marriage. L. W. The law providing for a medical ex amination before a marriage license shall Issue is found In chapter 187, gen eral laws of Oregon, at page 350. The law was filed in the office of the Sec retary of State February 26, 1913, and went into effect June 3, 1913. It pro vides "that before any County Clerk in this state shall . issue a marriage li cense the applicant therefor shall file with the Clerk from whom such license is sought a certificate from a physician duly authorized to practice medicine within the s state, made under oath, within ten days from the date of filing the same, showing that the male per son thus seeking to enter the marriage relation is free from contagious or in fectious venereal disease." Petition Pests By Dean Collins. The Spring is the season when every thing From seeds into stalks, buds and blos soms doth spring. And poets are wont, almost every day, To tune up their lyres and uncork a new lay. And sweetly to sing . Of this or that thing That blossoms and burgeons affcL bursts in the Spring;' My spirit agrees With songs such as these. But 'mid all the flower song stunts, if you please, I have my most deep disapproval to fling At the crop of petitions that blooms in the Spring. While earth is a-spreading her blanket of bloom. And April's light underwear's still on the loom, In highway or byway, wherever yon ull. Tow fhid nomination or else the recall. While field, wood and fell And eke bosky dell ' Is doing the bloom stunt and doing it - well, tfpspringing and brave On curbstone and pave The leaves of petitions do bud forth and wave. And swift circulators are ever awing At boosting petitions that bloom in the Spring. 'Tis vain in vexation to splutter and stamp, Decline the petition or plead writer's cramp; From one circulator you beat a retreat. And trip o'er the next as you're cross ing the street. You're harried and pressed. And seized by the vest By recall or long nomination list pest; They argue and squawk And block up the walk. Tou can't run 'em off, although rudely you talk; And that's why I burble and bellow and sing, "Oh, hang the petitions that bloom in the Spring !" WHERE TAXES ARE FAR TOO HIGH Portland and Seattle Held aa Paying Too Much tor Operation. SEATTLE, Wash., March 4. (To .the Editor.) The Oregonian and the Se attle TlmM rpcfln tlv nublished editorial comments on the comparative hi taxes in Seattle and Portland. It was very nice of The Oregonian to aid the Times In reaenwg a conciusi"" concerning Seattle taxes that pleaseo the Times. These editorials have raised in my mind a question: What constitutes bur densome taxation? The correct answer must be found in the consideration re ceived for the taxes levied. When these considerations represent the reasonable needs and necessities of organized society, taxes will not be excessive. It is the indulgence by society in the things not needed and not necessary for its rational ' management that makes taxes a burden. The considerations needed and neces sary may be enumerated as follows Police and fire protection, schools, courts, executive and legislative of fices, streets, roads, .parks, docks, etc. When the people vote for bonds to buy more jark and dock sites than are required, and for resolutions authoriz ing double the usual number of fire men, and more than double the number of firehouses needed, is It not time to reflect a moment and to consider the consequences that may follow such policy of extravagance? Are the people or are the officials at fault for the success of measures authorizing such needless expendi tures? It may truthfully be said that both the people and the officials should share the blame, the officials for sub mitting questions of financial import ance only to some small but organized party, or locality, that will campaign in their favor, and the people for neg lect to register and to organize and vote against the measures proposed, The taxpayer has been attending to his daily business and has neglected to give any time and little consideration to his yearly duty of paying taxes. The remedy is clear the taxpayers should organize and faithfully follow the ad vice given them by the organization if they would aid in an effort to re duce taxes. It is commendable public spirit that would compare Portland with Seattle to the latter city s apparent advantage. It did not seem to occur to those mak ing the tax comparison with Portland that the people and the officials of your city might have been more ex travagant than the. people and officials of Seattle. Waste of public funds in Portland should not excuse like waste in Seattle, and it should not be creditable to either city to be less extravagant than tne other. Comparison of tax rates, if useful at all, should be made between a city with a low and a city with a high tax rate, the property in each municitialitv being equalized in assessment, and both places giving like consideration to the people In return for the taxes paid. Let us compare a one thousand -dollar property assessed in Portland. Seattle and San Francisco, respectively. Portland assesses property at 75 per cent of its value, its tax rate being .027, an increase of .005 over its tax rate the previous year. Seattle as sesses property at 50 per cent of its value, its tax rate being .04387. San Francisco assesses property at 50 per cent oi its value. Its tax rate beinc liie people receive like considera tion in each city for their taxes. v alue. Assessed. Ratp. tt Portland Siouo i7.io n-jTOT) -hi Seattle 1000 500 .04:;S7 21 :i San Francisco. ,1000 500 .02212 11.21 The same property in 1912 would have been taxed: Portland i a .cuv JJ.UU San Francisco 30.47 Portland and Seattle are thus shown to De extravagantly managed cities when compared with San Francisco. C. I. LOOMIS, BUSINESS DEPRESSED BV POLICY. Democratic Rule in Philippines Disas trous to Welfare, Saya Traveler. PORTLAND, March 4 (To the Edi tor.) I have Just returned from the Philippines, and wish to say that Mr. uean uutier s disclosure of affairs the islands is absolutely correct, if not understated. The speech of Governor-General Har rison on his'arrival at Manila was a repudiation of the Americans in office in the islands. While I was in the islands I came in contact with some of the largest business interests. The stories they told me of the depreciation in value of real estate in Manila alone ran In the millions of pesos. Property values dropped SO per cent after Gover nor-General Harrison arrived. While in the Orient, I visited large firms in Canton, Pekin, Hongkong, Shanghai, Nankin and other cities, and was in all tne ioreign colonies, ur course the conversation always turned to the Phil ippine situation. It was common talk all through the Far East that the pol icy laid down by the present Adminis tration was to give the islands theh ndependence and then allow them to have revolution and get mixed up with Japan, which would be allowed to seize them. This same of diplomacy was to induce the Japanese to desist in their plan to get a foothold in Mexico. This diplomatic tpade was common gossip all through China- Everyone knows that Japan has wonderful coal deposits, but no Iron ore. The only iron ore of any value is in the Philippines. For this reason Japan has craved these islands for 40 years. Everyone in the Far East knows what a chaos 'the present Gov ernor has made in the financial and business world of the islands. I wish to say that the riches of the islands are beyond computation, and if we were to hold them for 20 years they would prove one hundred times more valuable than Alaska. It does not make any difference what small stream you go to, with a pan of gravel you will always get a small amount of gold. The country has not been prospected, and I know some wonderful deposits of gold will be discovered there before- long. There is enough iron ore and hard woods there to last the world for 100 years after all other iron ore deposits and hardwood forests have been ex hausted. E. W. McBWES. Women aa Jurors. PRAIRIE CITY, Or.. March 2. (To the Editor.) 1. Under woman suffrage in the State of Oregon, can women be drawn on the jury the same as men? 2. Will they be compelled to serve if drawn? Do women have the same rights in all laws aa men? A SUBSCRIBER. 1. The legality of woman's service on a jury is questioned by some law- ers, but women have served In sev eral instances. If women arc legally competent to serve, they can be compelled to 'Jo so if drawn. 3. Yes. How to Get Patent. PORTLAND. March 3. (To the Edi tor.) Pleae tell me how to proceed, the cost, etc., to obtain a patent through the Patent Office at Washington. D. C. A SUBSCRIBER. It is advisable- that the services of a registered patent attorney be secured. Tommy Is Late at School. Harper's Bazar. ' ' Teacher Tommy Slimson. have you any good excuse tor being Iatt? Tommy (beaming) Yes. ma"am. Teacher What is it? Tommy Waffles. Twenty-five Years Ago From The Oregonian or Marcb-5, 1SS9. - Charleston, W. Va., March 4. Thrc,o rival claimants today took the oath of ofHce as Governor Nathan B. Guff, W. M. Wilson and President Carr. of tho Senate. Washington, March 4. With simple, solemn ceremony Benjamin Harrison was today inducted into the highest of fice within the gift of the American people. Seattle, March 4. Articles of incor poration of the Portland, Seattle & Northern Railway Company will be filed tomorrow by H. W. McNeill, Fred E. Sander and Thomas J. Wilson. It is proposed to build a railroad from Port land to Seattle and thence to Blaine. Salem, March 4. The two rival rail road commissions met at the Capitol today. The one chosen by thn Legis lature Is composed of J. 11. Faull, of Baker; G. W. Colvig, of Douglas, and Robert Clow, of Polk County, with George M. Waggoner, of Benton, clerk. The railroads have recognized it. Tho other commission is composed of Gov ernor Pennoyer and W. H. Biggs, the other member appointed by the Gov ernor, C. P. Church, having declined to serve. The Superintendent of Streels, W. S. Chapman, has reported to the City Council that in 1888 the city did in linear feet, the following new work: Sidewalks, 51,763: crosswalks, S706; macadam, 15,278; bridging, 1447; grad ing, 24,880; sewers, 16,985; bituminous rock pavement, 200. Bids for the erection of the Palmen Garten Theater, to be built for Otto Nussler at the southeast corner of Washington and Ninth streets, were opened at the office of Otto Kleemann yesterday. Jacob Krimbel was awarded the carpenter work at $31,350. . The contract for setting the poles and stringing the wires for the Willamette Falls Electric Company from this city to the company's station at Willamette Falls, has been let to John S. Stronach, of the Postal Telegraph Company. A. R- Campbell will lecture this even ing at Masonic hall on "Alaska." t i n.,tta vtvnhnHiA thart the lata Ma rion F. Mulkey left no will, at least, none has been found. Mr. Mulkey of ten said that a man free from debt had no occasion to make a will, as the law would draw just as good a one as he could. At the annual school meeting last Evening the directors were directed to purchase a site for a school on Port land Heights. Yesterday the Portland Social Turn verein celebrated their annual marai gras carnival with an imposing parade in the afternoon and a grand masque rade dance in the Mechanics' Pavilion at night. J. K. (Fritz) Emmet made his first appearance at the New Park Theater last evening. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of March 5, 1S64. Tho Washington correspondent oi tne Sacramento Union says Mr. Chase lias approved the plan for a new mint at San Francisco. Oregon needs and must have a branch mint, a bill giving her one being now before Congress. T?Ho.t T WalVr writing to a friend at Washington, says that the revolu tion in European sentiment, especially in Kneland and France, in favor of the North is astounding. Since the victory of Grant at Chattanooga ana tne buc- t 1. .. in Tdvnc t hp rrnns- teBB ui iJni, a - Atlantic rebels have become thorough ly cowed and unwillingly aumn ui the Confederacy is in its last gasp.- Corvallis. Feb. 29. Rev. T. H. Pearne addressed the citizens of this place on the 25th on the "Greatness of the Amer ican Nation." t- . f niirhi hof nrf last raised several sidewalks and swamped sev eral buildings in the city. Main street is in a wretched condition from tho f t f a 1 1 t-oh ni throusrh the cen ter of it, which has washed out. quite a gully. The inhabitants on the west side of First street Between Main anu utT-iie-liner n.a:ainst tllO inroads of the elements from 3 o'clock in the morning till late in tne day yes terday. R. R. Thompson yesterday showed us the first brick from the Owyhee mines. Tl,. r,n,.rhoA n.1 Its lArliTPS Dlaillly marked out in a map of this new re gion on exhibition at the O. S. N. Com pany's office. These dark nights a lantern In a very acceptable article to have on the streets. We know from experience they are a very necessary article, and Cran- dall & Towle. 89 t irst street, near Washington, have the finest kind. The steamer Wilson G. Hunt has been loaded to her utmost for the past six trips with passengers and Ireigiu tor the mining regions. Personal Attack Rebnked. - PORTLAND. Or.. March 4. (To the Editor.) The following is a letter which shows that the statements in tne Oregon Journal March 3 have grossly misstated facts with what appears to be a malicious intent to injure: Portland. March 4. 1914. To Whom it May Concern: ... .. .. . .m,!nV0H hv UR MS Mr. ijeorge naa -a cn..w- -restructure! engineer on our larger buildings, the last date being in 1909. He proved him self to be thoroughly reliable and entirely competent. He is a graduate of Cornell Uni versity of New York and has had a variety of experience along glneering lines The information published in the Oregon journal f March 3 was neltner autnonzeu uur iu. ihd hv this office, and is not correct. (Signed) EMIL SOHACHT & SON In the name of fair play and decency . wArlr it 1 asked that in ntiwHpac, : you publish this to refute the misstate ments made Dy tne jouino., . . . ..j . - ....nnalitlfii: inKtf-All of resorteu iu jji ...j...... - . fairly and honestly discussing the meter question on its merits. Answers All Your Wants Newspaper advertising has become so general that there is hardly a business or a profession that does not keep Itself before the people by means of advertising. Such newspapers as The Ore gonian are a handbook of informa tion on all questions of buying and selling, whether it be merchandise or professional services. You are giving a dinner and wish flowers for the table. Where shall you get them? Look in, the news paper. You want to rent a new house. What houses are available? Look in the newspaper. Your feet hurt. Where is a chiropodist? Look in the newspaper. - Practically every time you say "Where shall I get it?" you will find the answer iu The Oregonian or any other reliable newspaper. Form the habit of referring con tinually to the advertisements in your newspaper and the longer and tighter the habit clings to you, the easier will be your solution of all the every-day questions that might otherwise be troublesome to you. Adv.