The Northman., May 06, 1920, Page 9, Image 9

THE NORTHMAN
DR. FRITHJOF NANSEN TO RESCUE
PRISONERS IN SIBERIA.
'T'HE REPORT comes from Washington
A that Dr.Frithjof Nansen the Norwegian
explorer, has been tentatively selected as
the representative of the League of
Nations in heading an expedition to
Siberia for the purpose of rescuing and
returning to their homes some 200,000
German, Austrian and other war prisoners
who have been in captivity for five years.
The report goes on to say that the
question of aiding the war prisoners in
Siberia was referred to the league by the
supreme economic council last February
on the theory that under article 25 of the
league covenant members already had
pledged themselves to take interest in the
“mitigation of suffering throughout the
world.” Some Jugo-Slav and Czecho­
slovakia troops are among the prisoners.
While every effort to aid the prisoners
has been made by the American and
Scandinavian Red Cross organizations,
the reports to be laid before the council
will show that their plight remains desper ­
ate and that a!n unestimated number al­
ready have succumbed to disease or star­
vation. It was for this reason and be­
cause it was realized, it was said that only
an organized international effort could
overcome the difficulties in the way of
repatriation that the supreme council re­
ferred the matter to the league.
To meet this situation the league council
[ will consider a proposal to appoint Dr.
| Nansen as a man of international stand­
ing to co-ordinate all efforts toward re­
lief of the war prisoners and to take
supreme charge of efforts to bring them
back to their homes. The task would
require concentration under such a man,
it has been suggested, of all volunteer
agency efforts, as well as the more formal
steps by league machinery and by nations
which are league members.
The problem of finding means of
transportation, of setting adequate rest
camps and of seeing to it that adequate
facilities for protecting communities to
which the prisoners would be returned
i from maladies with which the men might
be suffering would require a substantial
; organization.
Dr. Nansen was mentioned during dis­
cussions at Paris last year in connection
with steps toward sending food relief to
i the captives. Word has reached Wash­
ington that he already has been asked if
he would be willing to serve as the agent
of the league in attempting the repatria­
tion. He had considerable experience with
food questions during the war, having
headed the Norwegian mission sent to the
United States in 1917 to negotiate for
I needed supplies for his own country.
The report from Washington, while
setting forth all the above information is
[silent in respect to details regarding
I where the prison camps are located, who
i are holding the prisoners and why they
are being held.
THE BEST INVESTMENT.
VERY interesting contest was recent­
ly conducted by an eastern paper. The
question, the best answer to which was
sought, was this: What ought a young
man to do with the first thousand dollars
he has saved up?
The answers covered a wide range of
wise suggestion, but five-sixths of them
advised the purchase of land in some
form. Some of these suggestions were
for the acquisition of a home, but the best
ones were those that advised buying a
good piece of farm land, fertile and well
c---------------------------------------
THEY LIKE THE NORTHMAN.
To The Editors of The Northman:
Portland in particular, and Oregon
in general, should welcome The
Northman, the new weekly journal,
with enthusiasm and give it a glad
hand. The initial number gives the
readers a true conception of the am­
bition, the service, the lofty ideals of
the men who will guide The North­
man through all kinds of weather to
success.
Why I Like The Northman.
From childhood I have heard and
read of the exploits and daring deeds
of the Norsemen. They are old
friends of mine. Grit, courage and
faith speaks out of every page of the
new Northman. Therefore, hail and
greetings to my new friend!
George Washington and Abraham
Lincoln, one the father of his country,
the other a father to humanity, are
seen in the pages of The Northman
as its guiding spirit—omen of good
will toward mankind and true
patriotism.
Americanism being the keynote of
The Northman, that is reason enough
that in time it will become a great
family paper that will find a hearty
welcome in thousands of homes in the
Northwest and throughout the
country.
Higher citizenship, cleaner politics,
more tolerance, a square deal to
everybody, is a policy all must
endorse. The people are prone to
appreciate such efforts for education
and enlightenment.
I am glad that The Northman has
come and come to stay, to grow, to
lead. May the efforts of the men at
the helm and the personnel of the
organization gain deserved reward,
and may the people of the Northwest
fully appreciate the service rendered
in this wholsesome, progressive,
American publication.
Long live The Northman!
ARNOLD KELLER.
Portland May 5, 1920.
“The Northman has brought a
message of the true principles of
Americanism that is an inspiration,
and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it
at the home fireside with my
family.”—B. G. Skulason.
“I want to say that The Northman
far exceeds my greatest expectations
of a foreign language newspaper
merging into American. I have read
it through and through and I heartily
endorse it, and firmly believe it will
prove one of the great agencies,
which, in American progress will do
much in the days to come.”—Dow
Walker.
“The front page of The Northman
alone tells more clearly the hopes and
ideals of citizenship in America than
I could possibly express them in my
lecture this evening.”—Dr. Ralph P.
Boas, of Reed College.
v_________ _________ _ ____ _______ >
9
situated with reference to transportation
facilities.
It is a good sign of the times, this land
hunger. It means much for the recovery
of that balance between production and
consumption, which means general pros­
perity. We have somehow got that deli­
cate balance out of kilter. We have
rushed to the cities and joined the great
army of consumers. The accessories and
appurtenances of the civilization of our
day have wrought us to a point of costly
living for those who consume, and greater
opportunities and profits for those who
produce. What more prudent, then, than
for the young man to enlist among the
producers ?
A prominent educator, recently discuss­
ing farming as a vocation, pointed out
that, far from being unattractive to the
man of education and high intelligence, it
is, on the contrary, one of the best voca­
tional opportunities from which choice
can be made. Even the ignorant farmer
can wring a living from the soil, but the
intelligent farmer can derive therefrom
wealth. Practical agriculture, directed
along scientific paths, is today one of the
most lucrative of vocations.
Thus the young man who acquires for
himself a bit of farm land is doing the
wise thing. If he follows that up by be­
coming an expert, inteligent, energetic
tiller thereof, his material fortune in this
world is as sure as anything human can
be. And it is not necessary that he strive
for a large area of farm land. Much
greater proportionate profits are to be
derived from a comparatively small acre­
age intensively cultivated than from a
large one tilled by the old method of
taking everything out and putting nothing
back.
The Northman will be pleased to hear
from any and all who may have other
ideas on the subject.
THE DESIRABLE BALANCE
It has been well and truly said that two
principles govern the moral and intel­
lectual world. One is perpetual progress,
the other the necessary limitations to
that progress. If the former alone pre­
vailed, there would be nothing steadfast
and endurable on earth, and the whole of
social life would be the sport of winds
and waves. If the latter had exclusive
sway, or even if it obtained mischievous
preponderancy, everything would petrify
or deteriorate. The best ages of the world
are those in which these two principles
are the most evenly balanced. It is, there­
fore, the duty of enlightened citizenship
to adopt both principles, and with one
hand develop those things which in our
day seem good and will carry us forward,
and with the other exercise a fine re­
straint. It is well to cultivate the spirit
of patriotism; it is wise to guide it into
the channels of the Christian enlighten­
ment of our time.
If a prophet had told the “forty-niners”
that some day a man would drive his own
vehicle from New York to San Francisco
in six days he would no doubt have been
considered insane, such has been the
advance in the past half century.
They might not need me, yet they might;
I’ll let my heart be just in sight.
A smile so small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
Emily Dickinson,