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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1920)
8 TTIE MORNING OREG ONI AN, MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1920 ESTABLISHED BY HENttT I. WTTOCK. Published by The Oreponla.il Publlhln Co, 135 Sixth Street. Portland, Oregon. C. A. MORDBN.- E- B. PIP BR. Manager. Editor. The Oreronlan la a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated Press U ex clusively entitled to the use tor publication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited In this paper and also the local news published herein. All rla-nts of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Subscription Bates Invariably in Advance. ' (By Hall.) Pally. Sunday Included, one year .....$8.00 Daily. Sunday Included, six months . . 4.25 Daily, Sunday Included, three months, i.- Daily, Sunday Included, one month... .5 Daily, without Sunday, one year JJ.OO Dallv, without Sunday, six months.... B.-in Dally, without Sunday, one month.... . Weekly, one year. ......-..-...---- J-JJJ: Sunday, one year ...... o.ou f (By Carrier.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year S-59 Daily, Sunday Included, three months. 2. Jo Daily. Sunday Included, one month... -5 Daily, without Sunday, one year...... 7.80 Dally, without Sunday, three months. 1.95 Daily, without Sunday, one month 65 How to Remit Send postofflce money order, express or personal check: on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give postofflce address in full, including county and state. Pmtsire Kates 1 to 1 pages. 1 cent; 18 lo 21! pices. 2 cents: 34 to 4S pages, 3 cents: 50 to 64 pages. 4 cents; 66 to 80 pages, 5 cents: 82 to 08 pages, 6 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Business Office Verree A Conk lln, Brunswick building. New York; Verree A Conklin. Steger building. Chicago: Verree & Conklin, Free Press building, Detroit, Mich. San Francisco representative, R. J. Bldwell. LET'S QUIT. The forecast of a, 44-mHl tax levy in the) city of Portland for an pur poses Is disquieting and impressive enough to Justify serious inquiry in to the causes and Justification of the mounting1 burden imposed upon the taxpayer. , The mere statement that the tax levy is so many mills does not convey a definite meaning, for the tax valu ation, upon -which the levy is applied, has as much to do with the total sum extracted from the property owner. As long ago as 1903 and 1904 the tax levy In Portland went to 40 mills but when. In 1905, it went down to the superficially attractive figure of 14.8 mills, there was no pronounced breathing spell for the contributors to the cost of government. Mean while the valuation of taxable prop erty had jumped from $50,000,000 to $130,000,000 and the sum raised with 14.8 mills was almost as great as that raised by the 40-mill levy in the preceding year. Yet 44 mills is the hlgest rate ever levied in Portland and the assessed valuation is $338,000,000 or more than six times as much as it was when the highest preceding levy 4 0 mills was applied in 1904. The actual amounts raised by tax ation tell a completer story. Just two decades ago the sum raised by taxation for school district No. 1 was $132,993. This year it is to be $3. 099,400. In twenty years the sum required for school purposes in the city of Portland has been multiplied by twenty-three. In the same period the population has been multiplied by three. Stated another way it cost one-twentythird as much for schools when the city was one-third as big. The multiple is somewhat less in the other tax units of Portland but in each instance the tax moneys raised at the beginning and end of the double decade make a startling comparison- In 1900 yfor city pur poses there was raised $310,319. The sum now required is thirteen times as much, or $4,126,060, The sum raised by taxes for countv purpose's in 1900 was $163,200. This year it is to be $1,853,129, or more than ten times as much. Twenty years ago $47,654 sufficed for port purposes. This year $444,000 will be required. The county schools got along twenty years ago with $163,200.. To day there is levied for that fund $634,100.. It is sometimes said, dogmatically, that it is natural and unavoidable that cost of government should in crease disproportionately to the in crease in population. There is doubt less some loss of economy in un wieldiness but during the neriod over which modern statistics run there has been a marked change in the thought of the people. Twenty years or more ago the idea began to spread that government should be some thing more than a formal exercise of judicial, legislative and executive powers. In the beginning this idea was that government should perform for the people certain needed func tions that the people as Individuals were unable conveniently to perform for themselves. Once started, the scope of the policy grew until it has com to include functions that the people are fully able to perform for themselves as individuals, and the policy has demanded that these things and the necessary things of government shall be done better and better, and consequently in "an increasingly expensive way. It is not by any means wholly chargeable to the successive school boards that school taxes have been multiplied by twenty-three in twenty years. Vocational studies have been added; building construction has taken on a new standard: gymnasi ums, assembly halls, swimming tanks, the latest devices in heating vand sanitation have been added all at the behest at least Implied of the people. And of the $3,099,400 in the tax sums levied for the district this year more than $1,000,000 thereof was authorized by direct vote of the people. The city and county government likewise has been called upon to do things in a, better way and to accept new duties and responsibilities. Whereas twenty years ago a $250,000 bridge across the Willamette, which may or may not have been a toll bridge, sufficed, nothing in the bridge line for that stream Is worth considering now unless it costs a million or two. We have paved vast ireas of streets and now must pa to keep them In repair and to keep them clean. As an example of doing that which it is needless for govern ment to do there is the city paving plant. Another, discussed, but for tunately never adopted enterprise. was a municipal street railway. At the height of enthusiam over pater najlsm in government we heard of free rides on street cars and of free water for householders. We have escaped municipal ownership of tele phones and there is less talk of free this and free that. But we have in troduced the playground, added to the parks, provided automobiles for city employes and done many other things that were not thought of twenty years ago. v Meanwhile there has been a lack ot watchfulness of public expendi tures by the people and occasional carelessness an. the part of officials. Enterprises Introduced as of con servative type have grown to elabor ate proportions. There is before us today tha county hospital, with Its. record of money wasted on unneces sary excavations. Its unexpectedly large cost, its newly written history of purchases of equipment made during the high-cost period and many months in advance of need Clearly the time has come for tak ing stock, for closer scrutiny of pro posed enterprises, for refusal to en gage in needless activities. By need less, it is not solely meant that which it would be sheer waste to do or pro vide, but that which private enter prise has been doing and providing and is willing to continue to do and provide. It also means those things which private enterprise perhaps might not do or provide, which would be enjoyable to have, but which can be got along without. In the matter of enlargement of activities there are now but two en terprises that have unimpeachable merit. They are port development and permanent roads. The port de velopment is for local consideration; the road programme is for the state to handle. They are concrete enter prises. They will pay dividends. They are not designed to assuage soul hunger or delight a love for the beautiful. But inasmuch as they will pay dividends, they will doubt less put us in better shape in time to pay for the esthetic, the experi mental and the paternal than we are at present. Forty-four mills ought to be pretty near, if not quite, the limit. We have all been in the game of boosting taxes to that figure, either actively or passively. Let's quit. WHO BHALX. EEGrNT Japan will not cease to arm bo long aa the United States continues to arm, and the United States will not cease so long as Japan continues. Great Britain will never have a navy weaker than that of any other nation, and the' United States will have one at least as great as that of Britain. That Is the way with all nations all around the world. Each one will try to match the army' or navy, or both, of that one with which there seems to be even remote possibility of conflict. None will reduce its armament until the other doe It first. Who shall begin trusting the others to follow, and how shall each be sure that the other disarms .as much as It does, and then does not secretely re-arm? Disarmament, about which the world has been talking for a score or more years. Is not so easy as it sounded. Tho first requisite, is good will, which prompts the nations to renounce secret thoughts of attack on each other. The second is confi dence that this good will will not be abused. Then there is need of some impartial, infallible international au thority, which will insure that dis armament is genuine and permanent. No nation would dare take the risk that some new device like poison gas got by this authority. THE EXPOSITION OF 1925. Portland is the appropriate scene for a great national exposition in 1925 to display the progress which the nation will have made in the first quarter of the twentieth cen tury. For Portland is the heart of a region which symbolizes that prog ress better than any other part of the country. Four great achievements mark the 25 years which will end in 1925 the automobile, paved highways, hydro electric power and the airplane. The automobile has revolutionized transportation, both of passengers and freight. It has enabled every family to travel on its own vehicle from its own home as fast as the average train could carry it, and It has extended mechanical transport of goods to the most remote farm aiid mining camp. The paved highway has cleared the way for the automobile, and Ore gon has performed the greatest feats of road-building. The Columbia river highway is the first unit of a system of trunk highways which will soon traverse Oregon in both direc tions, connecting with roads extend ing through other states, northward to Canada, southward to Mexico and eastward perhaps to the Atlantic coast. One of these highways will follow the route of the old Oregon trail from the Pacific ocean to the eastern bouridary of the state and will suggest a contrast between the automobile and the prairie schooner. Over these roads many thousands will come in their own cars. Already one of the leading states in the use of hydro-electric power, Oregon is at the eve of a period of rapid development In that industry. Five years hence we may see the Co lumbia and other great rivers of Ore gon harnessed to give us light and power. The great river that flows by the proposed site of the exposi tion may give it brilliant illumina tion and drive its machinery without ever a puff of smoke. From all points of the compass people will come by air as well as by road to the city in the h,eart of the country where airplane spruce grows. We should in five years time be able to show airplanes made in Portland o"Oregon products. There will be other things to show in addition to the well-known resources of Oregon wealth. There will be a well-developed harbor, oc cupied by many ships from many climes. There will be many Indus trjes, consuming and producing the goods carried on those ships. And there will be the Portland rose, bor dering the road which leads to the projected exposition site. Portland energy, enterprise and genius are equal to the occasion. THE MTJTE OF DTFORMATTON. At last the much abused Congres sional Record has found a champion. For years the fnen who had some de- sire to know what was in it but who quailed before the herculean task of reading through its endless pages in the search have jeered at it as the kind of newspaper that the political maligners of newspapers publish when given a free hand. There-is no limit to the number of its pages, for it consists of as many as are neces sary to print all that 5 31 loquacious statesmen choose . to say, all the speeches that they write and are permitted to print but not to speak, and all the documents of every kind that they choose to throw into the hopper. But Mr. Lampman has been "a constant reader for many, many years" and extols it as a "mighty palladium of useful information" "a veritable mine of not only valuable but highly mteresting information." It Is "an exact record of the official words and acts of our national legis lators, complete, unabridged, undis torted and uncensored," Including words which often rise up to plague the speakers an.d acts which they fain would undo. We accept the verdict and set Mr. Lampman pa a pedestal as a painstaking and indus trious reader without a peer in the United States. The objection to the Record aa a mine of useful informa tion is that the paystreak is thin and that the miner must dig his way through a vast mass of barren rock to find It. That barren rock consists of words, and it convicts many- of our national legislators of being bores and talkers of buncombe. Perish the thought that their speeches should be censored after having been spoken, but if the speakers would censor them before hand they would toe much shorter and many of them would not be spoken. The bulk of the Record would then be greatly reduced, the labors of the constant reader would be much lightened, and there would be more .constant readers. The ver bosity of the congressional bores and demagogues Is their best defense, for it warns away the people from be coming familiar with it and thus saves the offenders from the wrath of an indignant populace. Members of congress are not con tent with printing in the Record all that they say.' They also print, along with many informative public docu ments, any number of speeches made by all sorts of people on many occasions. If some newspaper or magazine article' strikes their fancy, they put it in the Record, also many letters and memorials from their constituents. Thus the Record has become much more than a report of the proceedings of congress; it Is a medium through which congressmen gain publicity for anything they wish to have published. There seems to be no hope of change, for members of congress shrink from objecting to the request of other members for publication of some matter lest they set a precedent for future use against themselves. A publication containing in full the actual proceedings of congress would be more valued by the people and would be far more widely read than the present cumbrous affair. This would be no bar to separate publication of the many documents that are now included or of the speeches that are now published under leavs to print. That ma.y be a doctrine of perfection which can be approached only by slow steps, but the first step should be made now, when the air is full of talk about economy. wirr the domtnions protest. The Indictment of European diplomacy that was made by Mr. Rowell, delegate from Canada to the league assembly. In protest against permitting some of the league commissions to fall under European control, throws a bright light on the view taken by the new world of the statesmen of the old world; also and equally Important, it sheds light on the relations of the younger mem bers of the British emplre'to the mother country. Before Germany struck, the allies went about in a fool's paradise. Ig norant of the network of propa ganda and Intrigue which the kaiser had spread throughout the world. There were secret German outposts In all their territory and colonies, even in their own governments. The conspiracy had been woven under their eyes, but they were blind to it. When Greece offered troops and a plan to capture the Dardanelles at one stroke, the allies rejected both because Russia wanted Con stantinople, which from earliest his tory was a Greek city,' and because Russia was Jealous of Greek claims and of the presence of Gree?c troops. That rebuff alienated the treacher ous Constantine. and made the op portunity for him to wean his people away from the cause of the allies. When Serbia was the weakest point in the semicircle by which the allies shut in the central powers, the allies left that country to shift for itself while they sent an army of 300,000 men on the futile, costly expedition to GallipolL If sent to Serbia, it could have blocked the weak point, shut off the central powers from Bulgaria and Turkey and saved Serbia and Roumania from being overrun. No army was sent to Serbia because the allies were then making a treaty with Italy which cynically Ignored the rights of the Serbs and because Italy op posed aggrandizement of Serbia These blunders of strategy were thus due to old-world, territory-grabbing diplomacy and they were paid for in large part with the lives of Cana dians at Ypres and of Australians and New Zealanders at Galllpoli, but the dominions had little, if any, voice in the decisions. Other examples might be cited, but these are enough to show that pur blind old-world diplomats called the tune while not only their own people but those of the new nations paid the piper. Hence, in response to the demands of the dominions, an im perial peace cabinet, in which they will be represented, is to be. estab llshed in London next June, in order that they may have a voice in for eign policy lor which they may have to fight. A KANSAS SOLCTION. An antithesis of the forty-acre farm unit tentatively put forward by the federal secretary of agriculture as a solution of the rural social prob lem is the plan of T. A. McNeal, edl tor of the Kansas Farmer, to de velop the biggest farm In the coun try. Mr. McNeal's ideals are partly communistic and partly capitalistic. The Kansas editor would establish a farm of 64,000 acres a hundred square miles In one body,-and have it managed in the same manner that a big corporation operates its plants. The "main object is to conduct the farm scientifically and use the man power to the best possible advan tage." A mere matter of $12,000,000 or so capital would be required to purchase land and equip the prop erty with buildings, machinery and factories, but it is easy to convince the most skeptical that $12,000,000 is not necessarily a huge sum, since capital investments are relative, Workers would be stockholders and would be limited as to amounts of stock they could carry, but employ ment would be governed by princi ples of efficiency. The fact of stock ownership would render no member of the colony Immune from dis charge for cause. In keeping with the spirit of modern industry, the farm would have a packing plant. creamery and flour mllL As far as possible effort would be made to deliver finished product to consum ers, thus eliminating numerous mid dlemen. No undue attempt would be made, however, to create a farm that is "self-contained" that is, that will consume everything that it produces or produce all that it con sumes. But somehow, it is to be feared, this scheme to dehumanize agricul ture is destined to fail. It is prob ably not the result of accident or oversight that the most ancient pi all vocations has failed to respond to the Midas touch of modernization. Mr. McNeal tells the truth when he says that a, large number of farmers do not know how to figure costs, that some are misfits and that a large proportion of them are unable to tell at the end of the year whether they have made any money or lost a lft. Tet there are farmers who are held to .their calling only, or chiefly, by such fascination as the right to learn by experience and to profit by error possesses. The hired farm hand is likely to find no more stimulus to endeavor in employment by the giant corporation, even with nominal stock ownership, than hf does under existing conditions. Scar city of farm help quite as much as abating inclination of individual pro prietors to continue in the business menaces the future of American ag riculture. "Factory farm" has long been a phrase to conjure with. It represents an ideal of efficiency such, one will Imagine, as might catch the fancy of any great captain of industry. But It Is a safe prediction that the regen eration of agriculture will be brought about in some other way. Farming has more to lose-by being deprived of the guidance of some millions . of self-interested proprie tors than, it has to gain from the theoretical economies of gigantic consolidation such, as the Kansas scheme implies. Mexico, now reported to be turn ing to potato culture as a means of rehabilitating the food supply. Is only reverting to a practice that an tedates the discovery of America by Columbus. Tubers- thought to be superior to those now produced in America were found growing in Peru when the Spaniards lnvaved that country and the potato was a staple upland crop throughout south and central America, although then as now it was a cool weather product and did not flourish in the hot sun shine of the tropics. Now the Mexi cans are said to be importing from this country a -million pounds of seed, under a plan of the department of agriculture of that country to put the business on a permanent footing. If by any .chance the potato in its new surroundings should attain the former perfection claimed for It by historians, the world will be the gainer, and the problem of what to do for a new and healthier stock will be solved. There seem to be limits to what civilization can accomplish in this regard. The. authoritative announcement by the president of the Rockefeller Foundation that a new factor has been introduced into yellow fever control by development of a vaccine for that disease is ground for In creased hope that this tropical and semi-tropical scourge will be ban lished from earth within measurable time. It is not, however, the first news of the event that has been given to the public Hideyo Noguchl, the Japanese physician to whom the discovery Is attributed, was one of the staff of savants assigned to in vestigate methods of disease control for Peru some time ago, and it is more than a year since it was said unofficially that he had made en couraging progress. Announcement probably has been delayed because of desire to authenticate results thought to have been obtained, and this conservatism increases credibil itiy of the present report that the much desired agency has at last been found. More than seventy thousand ne groes in Chicago are ready to accept 10 per cent, reduction in wages rather than be out of work with cur tailments that .follow, which include "rolling the bones." The average negro is philosophical. Twelve pallbearers and a specially constructed coffin were required at the funeral In California of the champion fat man of the world. He attained some distinction, at least, which is more than the average" man does. Any place used for the killing and dressing of poultry In quantity is bound to be odorous. Whether it can be kept meticulously clean is a prob lem. However, a slaughter house, is not necessary for the business. In view of that 200 gallons of bonded whisky the government has just turned over to Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, the doctor by unanimous con sent will- be excused from the usual New Year resolutions. The "secret protection" said to be given td vice in San Francisco Is scheduled to be exposed today. Passing the buck" is well developed in the Bay city and nothing startling can be expected. Sloan P. Shutt, famed for starting country papers in Oregon, has done it again at Uniontown, Wash. He starts them good and most of them stay that way. Now Henry Ford is reported to be missing. That's not surprising. A couple of his cylinders have been missing for some time. - The bank at Aurora recently shipped 25,000 pennies to this city. Portland needs them so some men can go to church. - That Pullman porter who found a hunch that it wasn't intended as a tlp- If we are to have uniform auto laws in the Pacific coast states, let's see to it that the uniform fits. , Oregon Is rated very low In Infant mortality. The industry'ltself, how ever, is nothing to blow about. The boy sure of knife Christmas Is about other things. a four-bladed not worrying The rains this week are forecasted as "occasional." Fifteen minute in tervals, probably. May be Laurelhurst lots were sold for a song, but the singing was done in the high Cs. An Irish bomb factory has been found, but the Irish navy still is un discoverable. Nothing like a baked apple to start the day with. Buy apples by the box. r Portland In 1925! Remember how the Lewis and Clark fair started? Can they get. Ireland out of the union by Christmas? Anyway, washed, the streets are getting NOT QXB OF1 TUB WEEPY KIND I En Denies That She Goes About ' fta Oregea Mint of Tears. PORTLAND, Deo. 12. (To the Edi tor.) Referring to the criticism of me by Adam, which appeared in The Oregonlan December 6: Certainly I know the "trouble lies within myself." I am not, as yet, so near senility aa to fa11 to realize the fact. If it ware something "outside" myself I could, and would, shoulder it out of my way. Loneliness and homesickness are within oneself, like headache, rheu matism, appendicitis, toothache, stom achache or other Ills and pains. As I said before loneliness and homesick ness are Ills that receive scant atten tion, or sympathy. Yes, indeed, Santa Claus would- be a royally "good sport" if he gave me my expressed desire. And why not? I know of a woman who desires and confidently expects a $3500 car from him and will, no doubt, raise a "mer ry howl" If she falls to receive it- The little home 1 asked for would not cost so much as that auto possibly a great deal less. However, if Santa overlooks me I will not fuss about It. I will eimply fold my hands over my lonely heart and. shall I say, "Thy will be done," or "Dear Lord', make me duly thank ful" and hope for better luck next Christmas? Possibly It la, to & man, a strange idea that a womanSsJiose earlier life was filled with home, home folks and home duties should miss them keenly when fate, or whatever it is generally .termed, has torn them from Her heart and hands and should earnestly and sincerely long for or desire something of a home life and) companionship. 6o much depends, you know, upon the point of view. So far as the church greetings were concerned. I appreciated! them for Just what tiey were worth. It was the apparent indifference to them to which I referred. Please do not think of me as one of tho "weepy ones " or that I go about bathed In a perpetual self-manufactured Oregon mist. I s sure you the corners of my mouth turn upward far oftener than down ward. I smiled at a litfle kiddie in church last Sunday, during a pain fully long prayer and received In re turn the sunniest dimpled smile A little girl, a stranger to me, whom I smiled at across the hotel table a few days ago, said: "Muvver, 1 like that lady over there, she has rich nice eyes." I blew a kiss to her; she was a dear baby. I could scatter smiles Just as readily to the older folk, only I don't know just how they "would take" them. One does not need an introduction to child In order to smile at It. "To the pure all things are pure." I mention this merely to show I am neither grouchy, nor doleful. My lone liness and homesickness rarely appear on the surface, but are deep In my heart, like "the worm In the bud" or canker in the heart of the rose. But sometimes they get the better of me; my full heart overflows and the hot tears will fall. EVE. WTTEX J U STICK TREADS SLOWLT Lynch Law Likely to Be Invoked and Public Inwardly Applaud. Pnril.n fir Pdl- 1 " (Tn th, PM ltor.) "Due process of law!" That is something that all good people de sire. The men who were lynched In California the other day, did not get "due process of law." It is an inter esting question why? Perhaps we can find an answer In some of the instances of the law's delay that are notorious. California has them; so has Oregon. One re nowncd case is that of Bill Haywood, the I. W. W. man who in August, 191S. was tried, found guilty and sentenced to a term in the penlten tlary. He has been out on ball nearly ever since. A few days ago one federal appellate court decided that he must go to the penitentiary and serve out his term. Now an appeal Is belner taken to the highest court in the land, and that means a few years more. Two men were tried recently In Pendleton for a cold blooded murder and were found guilty. They have appealed and nobody knows how long they will be held unpunished, and experience teaches that they are likely to go scot free, if we are to iudere from the result in similar cases. In one of the best residence dis tricts in this city a woman opened disorderly house. Barrels of liqaor were recently brought to her resl dence and later seized by the local authorities. A nominal fine of $50 was assessed against the defendant. Efforts are being made to close the house of ill fame that Is still run- nine:, but the authorities seem to be powerless. They appear to want some neighbor to come who can testify to personal knowledge, of im moralities going on within the house. Outward sijrns of strings or automo biles stopping there at all hours of the night; hilarity inside and outside the house; and other well known evidences of violation of he law are available, but the authorities seem to be powerless even to get 'due pro cess of law" in action. Lynch law will continue to prevail In such fair states as California so lonfr as justice is disposed to tread with leaden feet; and while we de plore It when talking out loud, many verv excellent people reel inclined in wardly to appiaua sucn acts as mose of the so-called moD tnat strung up the California brutes and murderers, OH8EKV1S8. PLENTY OF FXTN WITHOUT MATE Merry Grandmother Reads, Swims, Dances, Smokes, Hunts and Golfs. PORTLAND, Dec 11. (To the Edl tor.) My hat is in the ring. I am sore and neeved through and throu I have lust read letter of December 9 signed "Widower" and headed "Worn en Show Their Age. Does he think he Is the only "well preserved human being in the world I would like to snap my fingers at him and say "pooh pooh for you and a couple of Judges for I am sure could take some of the conceit out of him. He seems "worldly wise" and satisfied": peace to his ashes. I am a widow and a grandmother. but I am far from being "laid on th shelf with gray hair and a wrinkle." I can swim a mile before breakfast. am fine shot (so beware), hunt. golf. motor, dance the latest dance or th stately minute. My tailor assures me my figure is superb. Lonely? Not a bit ot it. I have true companionship In my dearest pals, my books, the old philosophers who don't criticise or find fault- My home Is my own. and none to say m nay, wrought by my own hands. My diversions are many music, piano, o my orphans, my studies, French o Spanish. At quiet evening I hie mo to m cosy corner where my true pals await me and sh, sh, don't tell a soul, for fear "some fool may be insulted smoke my cigarettes. When I travel among the elect 1 carry my handsom case but when In ye narrow west It Is laid away. Oh, fear not, only blessed few are Invited into my den. When a "Widower" comes near simply cannot make my "bright eyes" behave, but not for the life of me would I want to own one of them. They are either one of two things, blase, which is insufferable, or passe. which is impossiDie. . YOUTHFUL WIDOW. Neighborly Suggestion. Newberg Graphic Portland and the state as a whole needs a revival of her water shipping interests and all should unite In the effort to improve her harbor facili ties. . . Those Who Come and Go. The Columbia Ladles Symphony Or chestra gave the third of a series of concerts In the lobby of the Mult- omah hotel last night and were greeted by a capacity . crowd. Miss Frances Knight is their director and he had 30 girls playing- under the control of her baton and their Ira- rovement seems marked at each new ppearance. Of especial merit last ight was .a trio, violin, cello and harp, that brought prolonged ap plause, and the brass section showed an enhanced attack over their prior performances. One noteworthy feature emarked by auditors last nieht was tho harmony in the ensemble selec tions, and they stated that the girls seemed to have a certain touch that made their work stand out from that generally given by male orchestras. The local concerts will likely entend for several weeks yet, or until the or chestra Is ready to take to the road on a concert tour for which thev have been booked. All the jrirls are amateurs and members of the Monday Musical club. "Nineteen hundred nd twentv wan the most prosperous year in the his tory of Hawaii," said L. F. Parker of Honolulu who Is registered at the Multnomah hotel yesterday. "Al though we were handicapped by transportation facilities to and from tho islands the trafflo was excep tional. The hotels suffered most last winter as there were thousands in the mainland w<lnar to ff-ftt ATAF find few of them succeeded. Transporta- " is euu bard to get and one has to make reservation weeks ahead. But the fact that Honolulu broke rec ords In a business way proves that wo ro not Dependent on the tourist business as many people suppose. While It Is welcome we never suffer when it does not come. There has been considerable talk in the state about the race of Hawallans becoming eitmct just iiKe the American Indi ans. This may happen but It will be many -year a They are missed from tho centers as tho Japs. Portuguese, English and Americans are crowding them out of the cities and towns and forcing them back into the interior. Tho real sickness of the Islands at the present tlmt Is "too much Jap." Tear storm h from all indications. .nd. while down at the mouth of tho river wo manage to get the full sweep of it, we haven't suffered any," said B. V. Stone, presi dent of the Port of Astoria, in the Multnomah hotel lobby yesterday. Mr. otono wui speak tonight at the for eign commerce dinner and will return to Astoria tomorrow morning. "Since August 26 wo have had few olear or caim days, but the worst day for sev eral years came Friday last, when we ,had a real gale, even for the ocean front- It Is fortunate that the tides are low at this time, and the present indications are that the wind will Dlow Itself out before we iret the ten-foot or higher tides of Christmas time, une moon chanced this week and tho tide from now on will get "'suw- .10 tiaie mere- nas not been the slightest damage at Astoria." When the new Standard On tanker W. H. Libby kisses the water for the first time tomorrow from the Standi- rer ways at Vancouver. Miss Madsre Libby will be on hand to formally bestow on the great ship her father's name. ino christening party arrived In Portland last night from New York and are registered at the Benson hotel. Besides the sponsor, there are in the group Mrs. Frances D. Vickers, Miss Liboy's mother, Miss Mercedes Libby, Miss Florence Martin, Miss Clara V. Elliott and Mrs. Arthur Pennlman. They will leave Wednes day for San Francisco on the Shasta Limited and make their return to New York over the southern route. Major E. P. Newson of Tacoma Is one of the best-informed men on ori ental conditions In this section of the United Stat.es, according to reports. He Is with the Marine Products com pany of Tacoma and i3 at the Oregon hotel for a few days. He will lec ture at the Spokane fair this week. Timber Interests In Oregon and Michigan occupy the time of Clare Harding and he divides his work be tween the two states. His father was a well-know.n timberman in this city and the son yet has a good amount of the old property under his control. Lumber is due for a more active season soon after tho beginning of 1321, irom all Indications accordlmr to F. IL Dunlap of Littell, Oregon, who is interested In the trade. Mr. Dunlap is registered at the Hotel Portland. Tho Wind River lumber company is doing a Bteady grind at their finish plant at Bridal Veil. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson of Bridal Veil aro at the Oregon hotel! Mr. Wilkinson is In terested in the management of the plant. Daniel Webster of Salem Is 80 years of age but manages to have a good tlmo on his periodical visits to Port land. He is a guest at the Seward hotel. Levi J. Bird and L. C Parkhurst. who own extensive land interests near Browning, Montana, are at the Multnomah hotel and are transacting some deals of importance. G. H. Florence and family are reg istered at the Benson. Mr. Florence is well known in the Canadian prairie provinces and makes his home in Winnipeg. Tom Nolan of Corvanis Is at the Hotel Portland. Ho is a-merchant and Is restocking for the Christmas season. T. Yoshida, vice consul of Japan tn Portland, has taken a suite at the Multnomah for the winter months. Captain J. A. Whltesldo and Mrs. Whiteside of the U. S. navy are regis tered at the Multnomah. B. F. Brngeman of Juneau, Alaska, is at the Multnomah with Mrs. Bruge man for a few days en route to Cali fornia. HOSPITAL SITI3 IS ITFITl POOR Writer Anticipates Million or Two for Employes Automobiles. PORTLAND, Deo. 12. (To the Edi tor.) I was very glad to see The Ore gonlan take a crack, editorially, at the building of the county hospital on top of that high hill In South Port land. Aside from the waste of a cou ple of million of the taxpayers' mdney. think of the thousands of poor people who will line that steep road, trudg ing and climbing up to the hospital to see their loved ones In the years to come. It's a crime. Unfortunate people who are obliged to go to a county hospital have no au tomobiles; neither do their relatives. And as there Is no car line up there, it means that they have the privilege of climbinig up there the best way they can. Then think of the heavy expense of taking patients up there, and of bringing their bodies down again. If there is anything left after the medical students next door get through with them. Then the next jolt tho taxpayers will get will be the announcement of half a million for a nurses' home, and ,another million for automobiles for the superintendents, doctors, nurses, et al. Fine business, so long as the taxpayers are willing to foot the bills. . TAXPAYER, OJTLT AFFLUENT GET ASSISTANCE" Farmers Unable to Borrow on Land or Wheat and o Sell la Rnln. HEPPXER, Or, Dec. 1L (To the Editor.) In The Oregonlan recently was an article- la which the presi dent of tho Northwestern National bank of Portland Is quoted as saying that there is no scarcity of money to carry on "legitimate business" such as financing clients In developing for eign trade or In building up business offering good returns on Investments Other prominent bankers are also quoted as saying that there is more money in the country now than ever and that the bond market 13 easier than at any time within recent months. i In an editorial the same day, The Oregonlan says, "Evidence is lacking that banks have refused loans on farmers' wheat or that the federal re serve banks have refused to discount their notes though they have doubt less scaled the amount of loans as the price felL" I have read with much appreciation your several recent comments upon the financial situation and its rela- ition to agriculture, but must say that the a D o v e statements ana com ments aro too optimistic. Farming is not a legitimate business, or there Is a faulty link In tho connection be tween the farmer and the federal re serve banks and this easy money. I can name a dozen men of my ac-' qualntance in different parts of east ern Oregon who have made tho trip to Portland In search of even a little money after their local bankers had been unable to accommodate them and have offered wheat receipts, unen cumbered wheat land, and even lib erty bonds In amounts ranging all the way from $5000 to $20,000 in value and have been unable to secure a cent. I can give the names of 50 more. A very few have obtained relief. Any bank will buy liberty bonds. Farm ers aro being told that this erstwhile peerless investment is now no good to them anyway, at about 87 cents on the dollar. Or they can sell their wheat that has cost them around $2.20 a bushel at anywhere from $1.15 up. But not $1 to hold for better prices. A few have obtained relief. Men worth $100,000 are unable to borrow enouprh money to discharge help costing J125 a month In order to hire another at $60. Men with land unencumbered, and grain In storage who scarce owe It cannot borrow enough money to buy distillate or feed for plowing next years summer fallow, which work is now on hand. Many farms in the wheat counties will not bo tilled next season. If you or our backer friends can show tho way to money to build up no. save from disaster this industry, or show why It Is not entitled to the same assistance as other "legitimate business" you will confer a great boon to many a hard pressed farmer. We do not say tho federal reserve banks are refusing assistance. Simply the farmers seem unable to find the way to the right door. Which way? L. A. HUNT, SCHEME FOR CTRKG ALL ILLS Promise or Give Everyone Every thing He Wants. PORTLAND, Dec 12. (To tho Edr tor.) May not the following sugges tions be offered as remedies to our present ills? ' Promise high living at a low cost, cheap prices with high wages. Make it an Issue before the people at the next election. Increase the number f federal em ployes and officials. Make the railroads safe for democ. racy by decreasing rates and increas ing taxes. Ditto with the merchant marine and all commodities. Break the heart of the world. Prosecute the packers and butchers, apartment and hotel builders, and generally all Investors. More bluff, untruth and politics. Parole, pardon, or excuse all crim inals as Insane; put it all on the po lice. Increase th corporation tax. Put in Jail all bourgeois. Confiscate all Industries. Increase the number of state em ployes and officials. .-Increase the epeed of autos. Suppress capital, capitalists end thrift, large Industries, banks and business. Rebuild largo Industries and run them by taxation. Promise to abolish all taxes. Promise free rides in cars, low rents with high cost of building, fuel, eta. the moon, cheese and soft soap to all. Increase the number of county em ployes and officials. Give an income to everybody with out work and tax. Make everybody wealthy. Tax Peter to give to Paul; there after hang Peter. ""f Prosecute the packers, grocers, commissioners, retailers. Ignore that there is ever any loss In business. Call all profits and interest on money "profiteering." Increase the number of city em ployes and officials. More peanut politics, quacks and lame ducks. Bolshevism propaganda and unrest. More gas, hot air and bubbles. DEMOCKITUS. FROM PEACE TO SANDY ROSE WAY Writer Asfcs Questions Separated by Well Known Tar Cry." PORTLAND. Dec 12. (To the Edi tor.) Some questions: Since we are the only nation Jn the world that Is at war with Germany how can we ever make peace with that country unless it be a "separate peace?" " If "Col." House was worth $1000 a month to this country for serving as a member of the peace conference would not tho membership of Elihu Root. Instead, have been cheap at a million a month? By thev way, who Is Col. House, anyway, or; who was he? Seeing that President Wilson is considering whether to present the Versailles treaty to the senate again, the question arises: why doesn't Mr. Tumulty, or Admiral Grayson Inform him as to the' result of the solemn ref erendum on Nov. 2 or doesn't a ref erendum really referend a thing? Instead of changing the name of Sandy Boulevard to "Roseway" why not change it to Sandy Road? A rose would smell Just as sweet by that name. . T. T. GEES. OREGON MIST. Oh, Jilpiter Pluvlus, Why don't you have a heart. You've drenched us to the very skin With your old sprinkling cart; You've poured down tons of water. And we'd surely think it fine If you would ditch your sprinkling pot And let the old sun shine. My shoes are wet and soggy And my top coat weighs a ton, And the hat I bought the other day. You've put it on the bum. I used to walk to work each morn. ' To start the day at pax. But now you make me pay 8 cents And ride the old street car. We're willing to admit we like To see you come in season. But such a downpour as you've sent Is surely out of reason. Of course we're not in charge of things. But you, no doubt, could try And bottle lip a shower or two For some time next July. mVEKNON WHITE. More Truth Than Poetry. , By James J. Montalfue. 4 ONLY FANCY. They have established tiffin at Harvard. Where is Forward Tigerface, who on "the hockey team. Would dash and glide and slip and Bllde, And swing his stick from side to side, A tower of strength, fair Harvard's pride, A human walking beam? irom 3 to 4 each afternoon you'll see the hero sit, A teapot just within his reach, a trumpet in his mitt! Where is Stroke McBrawneyarm, who pulled the forward oar, Who sent the shell along pell mell. Whose giant muscles heaved and fell. And finished with an awful yell . Three lengths ahead or more? At Tiffin every afternoon he takes a leading place, A spoon half hidden in his hand, a biscuit In his-face! Where Is Halfback Mussumup, who In the days gone by Tore through the mud amid a flood or arms and legs and brows and t blood And landed with a crunchlnar thud On some Yale player's eye? xouil una him every afternoon at Just half after three: The harid that tackled Callahan now lifts a cup of teal Not So Easy. - Once a klrtg was born to .a, throne. Now he has to take a civil service ex amination In order to get on the eli gible list for election, and then. If he lands, go out and raise a campaign fund. The1 Sole Condition. If by paying the kaiser a pension the Germans can keep him out of the country It may be worth, while to do it. Lnckler Than Most of TJs. Now that John. D. has received a legacy of J500 from H. C. Frick. he won't need to lay up his car tho next time gasoline advances. (Copyr'.Eht. 1920. by the Bell Syndicate. Ine.) John Burroughs' Nature Notes. Can Ton Answer These QnectJonsT L Is a dog largely1 dependent upon Its eye? 2. What are the advantages of farm life? 3. Are hawks and vultures rapid flyers? " Answers to Previous Questions. 1. Is a nest in a hole safer than one In the open? That & bird in a hole Is oafer than a bird in an open nest may well be doubted. The eggs are probably more secure from the thievish crow and the bluejay, but not from rats and squirrels and weasels. I know that the nests of the bluebird and the chickadee -are often broken up by some small enemy. 2. Of what are limestone rock and chalk formed? Our limestone rocks, thousands of feet thick In places, the decomnonl- tlon of which furnishes some of our most fertile soils, are mainly of plant and animal origin. The chalk hills of England, so smooth and plump, so domestic and mutton-suggesting, as Huxley says, are the leavings of mi nute creatures called globieerniae, that lived and died In the ancient seas in the remote past. - S. Do rights? animals respect property As for tho rights of property among animals. I do not see how we can know Just how far these rights are respected among individuals ot the same species. We know that bees will rob bees and that ants will rob ants: but whether or not one chip munk or one flying squirrel or one woodmouse will plunder the stores of another, I do not know. (Rights Reserved by Houghton-Mifflin Co.) In Other Days. Twenty-five Years Ate. Tom The Oreeonian of December IS. 1SSS. Directors of the Portland Amateur Athletic club will today, it is said, file articles of incorporation of the Portland Athletic club as a step in forming an organization to supplant the old club. Columbus. O. Judge Allen G. Thnr man, former United States senator, died at his home hero yesterday. He was S2 years of age. The assessment roll of Muttnamah county, completed yesterday, amounts to J5o.5,950, which is $2 075 451 greater than in 1894. W. W. Catlin, receiver of the Ore gon National bank, who has been In the east for some time, returned home yesterday. " rars .ago. FTom The Oregonlan of December IX 1ST8. Thirty thousand dollars In coin was i... onereo. ana rerused for the Cosmo politan hotel and the ground upon which it stands. Virginia, Nev. The population of the state of Nevada. Just announced, is 42.G36. Boise City, Ida. Shipments of bul lion from Owyhee continue at tho rate of $40,000 weekly. Six Percent Limitation. SHERWOOD. Or, Dec 11. (To the Editor.) 13 there a law prohibiting the levy of taxes to exceed the 6 per cent limit? Who should one refer to In case of a road district voting a special tax of 10 mills, to see if It can be collected If it exceeds the 6 per cent limit? If advertised In notice pf meetings can it bo levied by the ma jority? O. A. OLDS. The sum" raised by taxes In one year cannot legally exceed by more than S percent the sum raised in the pro ceeding year, but this limitation ap plies only to acts of tax-levying boards as distinguished from the peo ple. The voters of any district or municipality may authorize a greater tax. Keeping- Cider Sweet. CORNELIUS. Or, Dec 11. (To the Editor.) Do you know of anything that can be put in apple cider to keep It from fermenting? Or, anything that will cause it to become acid in a few weeks? I do not wish to can cider to keep it sweet. What could be put In elder to spoil It for drinking purposes after It has started to ferment. MRS. X. Y. Z. Write to agricultural college. Cor vallls. Or, for bulletin on preserva tion of cider and vinegar making. No Felicitations from Wilson. CHEHALIS, Wash, Dec 11. (To the Editor.) Did President Wilson congratulate president-elect Harding upon his election; if so in what man ner? CHEHALIS. He did not. 'n