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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1914)
IS TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PO RT iL AND. DECEMBER 27, 1914. " CHANGES URGED COMPENSATION ACT C. D. Babcock Suggests Com pulsory Law With Waiting ., Period of Seven Days. PAYROLL REPORTS ADVISED Elimination of Workmen's Contribu tions, Establishing: Six Classes and Making Compensation Only Itemed j- Also Urged. SALEM. Or., Dee. 26. (Special.) In a, special report today to Governor "West. C. D. Babcock, retiring member of the State Industrial Accident Com mission, suggests several amendments to the report In part is as follows: "I do not know that it will be ex pedient from a political standpoint to urge all of the suggested amendments at the forthcoming session of the Legislature, but I am convinced that time will demonstrate the wisdom of incorporating: into the Oregon law the following features: "1. The act should be compulsory. "2. There should be a waiting pe riod of seven days. "3. The workman's contribution Should be eliminated. "4. Compensation should be the ex clusive remedy, removing the possibil ity of litigation. "5. There should be not less than six classes, with rates ranging from one-half of 1 per cent to 8 per cent. "6. Employers should be required to report their payrolls to the Commis sion, failure or refusal to do so being made a misdemeanor. "7. The Industrial Accident Commis sion, Bureau of Labor,, Child "Welfare Commission and Industrial "Welfare Commission should be consolidated, and the department administered toy an elective Commission of three members, at salaries not to exceed $3000 per an num per member. "8. Higher benefits should be paid for permanent total disability. Waiting Period Urged. "Twenty-five states have compensa tion laws and Oregon is the only one In which compensation is paid from the amount of accident. "A waiting period of seven days would eliminate perhaps 15 per cent of the claims, thus reducing the cost of administration, and removing the temptation that now exists on the part of some workmen to magnify trivial Injuries for the purpose of obtaining a day or two of rest and relaxation at the expense of the industry in which they are employed. "It cannot be said that if the work man's contribution were eliminated he would bear no portion of the burden of maintaining the compensation act, for the reason that with a waiting period labor as a class would carry a consid erable part of the load. "The elimination of the workman's contribution would simplify the office work of employers and the Commission and remove a fruitful source of irrita tion between employer and employe. Classes Are Suggested. "The theory of the Oregon law is that each employer shall pay into the Industrial accident fund one year's con tribution, amounting in class A to 3 per cent of his payroll, and in class B to 1 per cent of his payroll, and that thereafter he shall be required to pay only for his own accidents until such time as there may be a deficiency in the general fund requiring all contrib utors to resume payment. However, after six months' actual experience. 1 am forced to admit that the exemp tion feature of the act will be at best but a qualified success, and that all employers and workmen operating un der the law will be compelled to con tinue their payments to the fund al most continuously. "In my opinion the remedy lies In an amendment providing for not. less than six nor more than 10 classes, with dif ferential ratings in each, and with basic rates ranging from one-half of 1 per cent to perhaps 8 per cent, "The Oregon law is of the presumptive-elective type; that is, every em . ployer in any of the designated indus tries who did not reject the act prior to a certain time is presumed to have accepted it and is automatically under its provisions. It is apparent to me that if the present type of law is re tained employers should be required to report their payrolls to the Commis sion, failure to do so to be a misde meanor. 1 "This state has four separate and distinct departments dealing with la bor and exercising, .in some form or other, supervisory powers over the re lations of employer and employe. There is no question in my mind that these various activities could be carried on more efficiently and economically un der one head than under four. Method Is Pointed Oat. "In my opinion this may be accom plished by concentrating the various activities mentioned in one commission and by giving that commission the means and authority to carry on a cam paign of education in industrial cen ters throughout the state. "I am of the opinion that the mem bers of this commission should be elected by the people and not appointed by the Governor. Also, it seems to me that the salaries should be. reduced from $3600 to not more than $3000. "Casualty insurance agents are ac tive promoting a scheme to secure an amendment to the compensation act that will give private companies an opportunity to make a profit from the misfortunes of the working men and women of Oregon. The insurance com panies cannot handle the business for less than 40 to 50 per cent of the prem ium income, -while the administrative expense under a state-administered act will not exceed 10 per cent and may be much less. "Such an amendment would be a step backward toward the vexatious and strife-breeding period of litigation which we put behind us when we passed the compensation act." PERS0NALMENTI0N. " S. D. Sutton, of Utica, N. T., Is at the Perkins. J. N. Cohen, of Seattle, Is at the Carlton. C C. Stevens, of The Dalles, is at the Carlton. C. E. DeForce, of Astoria, is at the Imperial. , !'. M. Bullis, of Medford, is at the MuUnomah. W. J. Gardner, of Ilwaco, Wash., is at the Perkins. B. C. Dunlap, of Grants Pass, is at the Imperial. F. K. Deuel, of Medford, is registered at the Seward. J. L. Wells, of Eugene, is registered at the Carlton. S. S. Landls is registered at the Ore gon fiom Baker. S. M. Lewis, of Montesano, Wash., is at the Cornelius. . Air. and Airs. J. O'Meara and J. Smith- son are registered at the Perkins fro'.i La Grande. Mrs. J. E. Kennedy, of Nelson, B. C, is at the Cornelius. Frank F. Esson, of Tacoma, Is regis tered at the Eaton. I A. Y. Anderson is registered at the Seward from Astoria. E. W. Johnson, of Seaside, Is regis tered at the Cornelius. Mr. and Mrs. "William Hart, of Salem, are at the Multnomah. M. C. Behrman is registered at the Eaton from Scappoose. Mrs. Henrietta W. Calvin, of Cor vallis, is at the Seward. Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Stiles, of Oregon City, are at the Nortonia. Mr. and Mrs. L. C. McShane, of Hub bard, are at the Nortonla. Mr. and Mrs. William Oehman, of Wasco, are at the Seward. Mr. and Mrs. P. E. Fullerton and Mr. REPORTER'S F"ITNNX STORIES A HO IT M ITS CREATE GREAT ORGANIZATION. W. P. B1U) Strandborg. ' Now that the Muts have suc ceeded in doing something never before accomplished in Portland in such a comprehensive way spreading the Christmas spirit among boys and girls of poor and humble parents it Is re called that the entire organiza- , tion of the Ancient Order of' Muts came into existence through the efforts of one man. - The man is W. P. Strandborg, popularly known as "Bill." He is a reporter on the Evening Telegram and has a wide ac quaintance among the prominent and near-prominent men of Port land. "Bill" Strandborg originated the Muts in a spirit of levity last Summer by writing a series of stories about men vho, at vari ous times, has done "mut" things. Later the "victims" of his clever stories took the sub ject more seriously and effected a permanent organization. They preserved the name but used it to form the initial letters of their slogan, "Men United to Service." Under this standard they have carried on their Christmas work. They propose to continue their organization permanently. T f and Mrs. E. H. Anderson, of Salem, are at the Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Driscoll, of Fair banks, are at the Perkins. A.- J. Thompson is registered at the Multnomah from Big Eddy. W. F. Carroll, of The Dalles, Is registered at the Cornelius. El H. Savage, of Vancouver, B. C. Is registered at the Multnomah. Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Crandall and son. of Koseburg, are at the Oregon. D. Frankel. a San Francisco cigar manufacturer, is at the Oregon. C. V. Nelson, of Bend, with Mrs. Nel-' son, is registered at the Carlton. Dr. A. H. Chapman, of Woodland, Wash., is registered at the Baton. J. H. Henry,, of Portland, is at Paso Robles Hot Springs taking the baths. George Mather ill, of Boise, is regis tered at the Imperial with Mrs. Matner. Frank F. Metschan, of Grants Pass, is visiting his parents at the Imperial. Wallace G. Benson, son of the late ex-Governor Benson, is registered at the Nortonia from Eugene. Sergeant Stevens, of the Thirtieth Battalion, Second Canadian Contingent of "Victoria, B. C, is spending the holi days with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. D. Stevens, 130 East Sixteenth street. CHICAGO," Dec: 26. (Special.) The following from -Portland, Or., are reg istered at Chicago hotels: Congress. F. W. Vogler; Great Northern, Rex H. Con- ant, James A. Gorman; LaSaile, W. R. Herdner. STATE PRINTER NAMED ARTHUR LAWRENCE, OF PORTLAM), APPOINTED BY BOARD. Action Follows Objection to Selection of Mr. Plimpton Knr Official Takes Office January 1. SALEM, Or.. Dec. 26. (Special.) Ar thur Lawrence, of Portland, was ap pointed State Printer today to succeed R. A. Harris, whose term expires Janu ary 1, and at which time the fiat salary law now in operation, will be replaced by one providing the contract system. The Board of Control recently ap pointed William Plimpton, secretary of the Board, State Printer to serve until after the session of the Legislature, but objection was raised against'' bim on the ground that he was not ' eligible under the constitution, which provides that the State Printer shall have had at least 10 years of experience as a practical printer. Mr. Plimpton has been connected with printing establish ments longer than that, but has not had the necessary service as a com positor. Mr. Lawrence was a Representative in the Legislature at the last session, and is now teacher of printing at the Jefferson High School in Portland. Gov ernor West at first favored the reten tion of Mr. Harris, but the members of the Board finally agreed unanimously upon Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Plimpton will continue to act as secretary. The . appointment of Mr. Lawrence was made as a permanent one, but the Board may make a change at any time it sees fit. After January 11 Governor Withycombe will succeed Governor West as a member of the Board. The other members are Secretary of State Olcott and State Treasurer Kay. v ILLEGAL OUTLAY BY SEATTLE ALLEGED Maintenance by City of Car line Beyond Corporate Limits Is Attacked. INJUNCTION IS ASKED Attorney-General Sues, Contending That All Expenditures on Part of. Lake Bnrlen Railway Against Law Thousands Are "Used.- SEATTLE, Wash.i Dec. 26. (Special.) Charging that officials of the City of Seattle have illegally expended thou sands of dollars on that portion of the Lake Burien municipality" street rail way system lying without the corporate limits, and that the city is about un lawfully to expend more of the public funds, Attorney-General Tanner this morning placed in the hands of Sheriff Cudihee, for service Monday, a com plaint asking for an injunctive order against further dissipation of the moneys in the general fund of Seattle for that purpose. The amount of the alleged illegal expenditure has not been determined, owing to the insufficient details in the city's books. The Lake Burien carline was donated to the city by real estate men who could not make it pay, and while the city operated It, the revenues failed to meet the expenses. It runs from Spokane and Riverside avenue, on the tide flats, south to Lake Burien, a suburb on Puget Sound, between Seattle and Ta coma. Serving of Complaint Walts. As today was a legal holiday by proclamation of Governor Lister, serv ice of the complaint on City Controller Carroll and City Treasurer Terry will wait until Monday. The complaint sets forth that George A. Llebes, examiner of the State Bu reau of Inspection and of Supervision of Public Offices, went into the accounts of division C of the municipally-owned railway and found that four and one half miles of that division are outside the city limits; that between March 7, 1911. and June 30, 1914. there was ex pended by the city for construction $20,491.31, and that part of that sum was spent on the portion of the road beyond the corporate limits. Attorney-General Tanner alleges that the money so spent, as the state ex aminer's report shows, was derived from the sale of the general bonds of the City of Seattle and from loans from the general fund, but that the books of the city fall to show the exact amount expended, and that, therefore, the exact amount has not been determined. He says between March 7, 1911, and June 30, 1914, J9000 was transferred from the general fund of the city to meet the operating expenditures of division C, but the books at the City Hall fail to show what sums were spent inside and what was the expenditure outside the corporate limits. Injunction Is Asked. The Attorney-General contends the city unlawfully included the Lake Bu rien carline operating in the county. in municipal railway, division C: that the city had unlawfully expended moneys for its operation and that the officers of the city will continue to make such unlawful and illegal ex penditures for the county portion of the line unless enjoined by the court. In the complaint is cited a paragraph from the State Examiner's report, which sets forth that the sums expended ex ceeded the revenues of the carline and that the warrants issued and cashed are illegal because the City of Seattle has no authority to operate or maintain a city system outside its corporation limits. The Attorney-General does not ask that the warrants heretofore issued and paid be nullified, but prays that City Controller Carroll and Treasurer Terry De enjoined rrom , expending public money on the Lake Burien line outside of Seattle. w Watch Night Services Set. On Friday evening, December 18. the Epworth League of Mount Tabor Methodist Episcopal Church gave a jolly social, in which each attendant impersonated "a song. The parts were especially woll taken, and much merri ment aroused during the guessing con test. Fifty members were present on this occasion. There will be a watch night service at the Mount Tabor Church, on Thursday evening, December 31. The Epworth League will have charge of the service from 8 until 10:30 o'clock, after which Dr. E. O. Eldridtre will continue with appropriate services. I Ice, Inch Deep, Covers Hood River. HOOD RIVER. Or.. Dec 26. fSDe- cial.) Ice an inch thick covers the Hood River district. The snow and sleet of yesterday turned to rain last night and froze as fast as it fell. The roads were made exceedingly danger ous. The temperature is still below the freezing point and sleet continues to fall at intervals. GIFTED CHILD POPULAR AT ENTERTAINMENTS. i i c - J :: I ' -" " : ' :;- ' ;; I'rf' u ' : , v- i Coriane Roae Buck. A gifted 6-year-old girl, Co rinne Rose Buck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Buck, has appeared at several recent entertainments in , which she has contributed clever readings to the programmes. Among the organizations for whom she appeared were the Montavllla Parent-Teacher Asso ciation, the Massachusetts So ciety and the Daughters of the American Revolution. At the Pat ton Home she afforded great pleasure to the old people, for whom she recited. E are now located in our handsome nine story building at the corner of Fifth .mmm and Washington Streets. . It will take several days to place our mammoth new stock on the different floors and as there will be more or less confusion for a few days yet, the inducements we will offer to intending purchasers will more than compensate them for any inconvenience they may experience. We have demonstrated our confidence in- Portland's future by opening this magnificent establishment in return for the generous confidence and patronage extended to us in the past by the good people of the City and State. We wish the public at large to please bear in mind that our greater and larger store will cater to all the people on the same liberal basis that has characterised our deal ing in the past and that we will carry all grades of goods suited to the plainest cottage or the finest mansion which will be sold on our small profit plan which has made this the largest furniture house in the Northwest. TERMS IF DESIRED HENRY JENNING & SONS Fifth and Washington Sts. I Portland's iSuccesslul bmen BY DEAN COLLINS. (No. 7 in Series.) , PORTLAND public schools in some districts are wonderful types of the "melting pot" into which di versities of nationality are poured to simmer through seven or eight years, and come out again transmuted into American citizenship bearing the sterling-pure stamp. .The Falling School, down at Front and Porter, is one of the most capa cious of these melting pots, as one re alizes forcibly who chances to stand at the entrance of the building at re cess time and watch 24 different na tionalities march out through the sounding halls and whirl into an in extinguishable Babel on the. play grounds. For the past eight or nine years Miss Fannie G. Porter, of Oregon City, has presided over this especial melting pot, and In that time the subtle alchemy of the American public school has trans muted some thousands of little aliens into as loyal citizens of the new, adopt ed country as if their ancestors had come over on the Mayflower or shed their blood at Bunker Hill. Miss Porter has been associated with the Failing School since 1900, when she was ap pointed assistant principal, but it was eight years ago that she was made head of the Institution. Parents Are Problem, Too. Ordinarily If one were to Imagine for oneself the task of the education of TOO or more children of all ages and sizes, and f sufficient variety in na tionality to make the Hungarian Par liament look like simplicity itself, it is safe to predict that one would dis creetly side-step the task and seek rather some simple and less nerve- racking employment, such as the Presidency of the United states or tne political management of the City of New Tork. For, mark you, the story is only one-third told when you consider the task of handling the 700 children of 67 varieties of nationality; mere still remains the parents whose interest and sympathy in the education of the children must be enlistea. ana wnose co-operation must be secured to make possible the complete success of the formula of .alchemy that prevails in the Failing School. Miss Porter seems, however, to enjoy the task immensely, and takes a great deal of justifiable pride in the suc cess she has met in carrying it forward. "The greatest possible means of suc cess, it seems to me," she said, "is tact in the handling of people. This is especially true in work such as this in which I am engaged.' Considering the almost infinite variety of types and nationalities with which one must deal, the attendance record which we maintain at the Failing School and the interest and co-operation shown by the parents seems, at times even to me, wonderful." Anecdote Are' Numerous. There are a number f pleasant anec dotes that could be told in this con nection had one the time, for the prin cipal and teachers of Failing School have had enough gentle adventures among the alien families in South Portland to provide material for a new and Immensely interesting "Arabian Night's Tales of a Pedagogue," If there were someone to make a complete and sympathetic chronicle. There are stories to be told of how the teachers had to constitute them selves an alarm clock for certain new immigrant families that had been here scarcely long enough to begin even the shedding of the first of their old world habits, to say nothing of developing a realization of the importance of an a1 -V - VVV I ' ' ' 'Sfffr- - rk s 'tegs' y education to their children. To those parents had to be brought home this realization. Then, in order that the needs of the new idea might have-no opportunity to fall In sprouting, the teachers were obliged to make the rounds punctually each morning for a certain period and wake up the various families to remind them that the chil dren must get to school in time. Morn ing after morning the task was per formed until the little transplanted citizens began to strike a few roots Into the soil of American ideas' and developed the will to wake themselves up and come to school in time. Discipline la Important. Miss Porter has held discipline In the school always as a point of cardinal importance, and has worked to bring about perfect discipline, "subjectively" rather than "objectively," as we might say were this a treatise of scientific or philosophical caste and importance. In other words, she and her corps of teachers endeavor to lead their little charges into the paths of discipline rather than to chase them in at the muzzle of rigid .rules and regulations. "I find that the teacher must be a liv ing example of what she seeks from the children." says Miss Porter. "You will get from your pupils Just the pace that you set for them." Here we can tell a little tale out of school," illustrating the point touched on. . Punctuality has been one of the points in which the Failing School has been strikingly successful, considering the variety of nationalities and ideals of what constitutes punctuality that it has had to deal with. And the teachers have set for the pupils a strict pace in this matter. For 28 years in her teaching career, not only In the Fail ing School but in schools in which she has served before. Miss Porter has never been tardy to school. Trolley Car Is Derailed. Last Winter it did seem on one oc casion that her record was going to be broken and her example before the pupils upset a trifle, when the car from Oregon City quite irresponsibly went off the track. Miss Porter looked at her watch, and saw therein a vision of her first "tardy mark." Then she tucked her watch back in her belt, climbed off the car and went to hunt up an automo bile. And while the conductor and the motorman of the recreant car maneuv ered and toiled to get it back on the right of way, the principal of Failing School made a wild dash across the country in the automobile and ,reached the schoolhouse just in time to look at the clock in the hall and say triumph antly, "Foiled again!" Not only for the little alien chil dren, but for their parents as well, the Failing School is being made a center for the development of good American citizenship. Miss Porter was principal of the night school at Falling last year, and in many of the classes that at tended, all the pupils were grown men. Lectures in various foreign lan guages were arranged for their benefits and the lecturers devoted their ad dresses to explanations of the princi ples and workings of the Government of the United States. Aliens Become Earnest. "I find that our immigrant people, when they have grasped the idea of the United States Government and un derstand its workings, become earnest in their sympathy and interest In be coming good and useful American citi zens," says Miss Porter. Her own especial hobby in the school work is the handling of the boys. "The girl question seems to take care of itself pretty well in the grammar schools." she says, "but the problem of encouraging the boys to study in school, and of keeping them in school, is an ever present one and one that I find real interesting. "In all the years I have been In charge of thia school I have never sus pended a boy. Even the ones that seem incorrigible I try to keep here and we struggle to work" out some way of helping them and arousing in them the interest or the ambition that will keep them at school and at work in school. "It may be a rather hard job at times, but that is what we teachers are put here for. It is especially hard In a settlement where there are so many races represented, but the difficulty "of the problems, after all, make them the more interesting." And so the "melting pot" simmers merrily on, and into it each year go active-minded little Russians, Italians, Greeks. Yiddish boys and girls, and boys and girls of a score of other na tionalities with a fair representation of the native American product and out of it they come again in time, the characteristic keenness and intelligence of their particular race still preserved, but cast definitely into- the mould of American citizenship. "The great field of education, in my opinion, is in the grade schools rather than in the more advanced schools," said Miss Porter. "More than two thirds of the pupils go directly into the world of work from the grammar schools, and what they are to be and do depends largely on the teachers they have been under. The child of today spends more time with his teachers than with his parents, and the opportu nity of the teacher to raise or lower the standard of citizenship is wonder fully great." Miss Porter is an Oregon woman, born at Oregon City and educated in the pufclic schools of Clackamas Coun ty. After completing her high school work she taught two years in Clacka mas and then went to the Oregon State Normal School at Monmouth, from which she graduated in 1889. She then taught in Oregon City High School for five years before coming to Portland as assistant principal of the Mount Ta bor School. Later she was assistant principal of Buckman School, and then she came to Falling, first as assistant and then as principal. "I went into school work with the in tention of making it my life work, and I have found the field interesting and worth the effort one gives it," she says. "I believe in industry as a means to such success as one can secure, and be lieve in selecting a central plan and working toward it, altering it only as the pressure of circumstances demand. "And I believe." she said, laying her hand upon her well-ordered desk, "in order and system in one's work. I have tried always to keep my work in this school in such order that if I were to drop out over night my successor would be able to take it up and go on from where I laft off without Interruption." RAINCOATS! FAMOUS "CANAL BRAND," Medium and Heavy Welgata. Expreu Paid to Any Address, and 96.00 Stein's Raincoat. Dept. 26, N. Mxth St., Portland, Or. . V