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About Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1902-1919 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1916)
h i i . II': 1 ,5 ' ' ; JOBEGON CITY COURIER OREGON CITY, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH ao.'lBlO. ;f;: U J. j. i. ' i 1 " 1 ; l! I : t ' 'i J!ii 41 1 is i v.?: i it i ; 4 i ; 1 Mi J Urn 1 III. lit. '! i OREGON CITY COURIER Published Thursdays from the Courier Building, Eighth Street, and entered in the Postoffice at Oregon City, Ore., as 2nd class mail matter E. R, BROWN Editor and Publisher Subscription Price $1.50. ' C. W. ROBEY Business Manager Telephones, Pacific 51; Home A -51. THIS PAPER REPRESENTED FOR FOREIGN ADVERTISING BY THE GENERAL OFFICES NEW YORK AND CHICAGO BRANCHES IN ALL THE PRINCIPAL CITIES SECOND THOUGHTS BEST Yuan Shi Ki, titular head of the Chinese republic, and quite recently slated to be the founder of a new im perial dynasty, has thought it over, and has decided that China will re main a republic. This decision was reached by the wily Yuan after rebels who objected to the revival of the monarchy for Yuan's benefit, had sacked two or three cities, captured a number of provinces, and amassed enough strength to threaten Yuan himself. It is what might be called I a triumph of discretion over valor, ' Yuan's troubles, however, do not appear to be over with his simple re nouncing of ambition. The revolt tion against him does not show any indications of lessening very much. Revolutionary leaders, in fact, say that they will never be satisfied until Yuan himself is killed and with his death all dreams of monarchy forever stamped out. In short Yuan and China, between them, are proving the often-suspected axiom that the day of "rule by divine right" either fan ciful or real has passed; and that the dawn of rule by the people has well advanced. ; The chief interest attaching to Yuan's sudden change of heart in regard to monarchy lies in the fact that Yuan and his followers and enemies all live in the Old World in the oldest part of it, in fact. They live where for countless centuries royalty and the rule of royalty has been the accepted thing. When China finally awoke and changed to a re public, there were those who said the change was merely a manifesta tion of political plotting against the then ruling dynasty. It appears, however, that it was not; that it was really an awakening of the oldest nation in Europe to the fallacy of monarchy as a system of govern ment. If China has thus thrown off the slavery of years, and has risen to a new enlightenment and a realiza tion of the inherent right of the people to rule, what of the rest of Europe? Profound students of po litical economy have declared that after the close of the present war in Europe the people of these more "civilized" nations will revolt against the rule of kings and emperors, and establish a continental republic. And if China has done this, if China has thrown off the habit of ages; how much easier will it be for the people of Europe, where already the repub lican form of government has found firm lodgement in France and Switz erland. Germany and Britain, the two leading nations of the great war, al ready have a modified form of monar chy, in which the voice of the people rings loud and powerful. Russia has made concessions to her awakening hordes; Italy and Austria are not as absolute in their monarchial control as they were. The leaven of the right of men to govern themselves is working in the Old World, and who can say what strength the new age that will follow the war will produce? Yuan' Kai Shi's second thoughts seem to have been the best. They are filled with wisdom, and doubtless other rulers will have similar thoughts ere long. There is a change coming, an epoch-making change; and it will be more than interesting to watch it develop. OREGON AND KANSAS Oregon and Kansas both have "prohibition." Oregon and Kansas both have foolish girls, automobiles, jitneys and sad tales of broken homes. There is no connection between those two paragraphs we are simp ly comparing Oregon and Kansas. Oregon, however, has during the past week developed something that Kansas has not yet attained. Down in Portland a young girl confessed to various forms of immorality, and an Oregon judge hailed the girl's mother into court, and started an inquiry to ascertain what was the mother's re sponsibility in the matter. rt... i j: i , i . i- . , . . . . uivgvn nus discovered, apparently, i According to Judge Anderson re that the place to keep girls from go- ductions in tuxes can best he made ing wrong and boys too, for that matter is in the HOME, and not in the reform school, after they have al ready taken the first wrong step. Kansas has not discovered this, it appears. The Topeka Daily Capital, a Kansas newspaper, in a recent is sue, said: "There is an epidemic of immoral ity among the young people of To peka. This is the declaration of Rob ert Garver, assistant county attor ney. As former judge of the court of Topeka, and with his experience as assistant county attorney, his knowledge of conditions covers sev eral years. "Garver blames the jitney and the motorcycle for the downfall of many of the young girls, but the real trouble, in his opinion, goes farther. Mothers and fathers are to blame. " 'Walk down Kansas avenue any night,'-said Garver recently, 'and you will see young girls 14 to 16 years old, powdered and painted and dress ed to attract attention, simply dis playing themselves and looking for an invitation to be picked up by some boy or man with an automobile or a motorcycle. Jitney drivers get much of the blame. " 'But what is the matter with the parents? Can not mothers see as well as anyone else how their daugh ters are dressed? And why do they not know where their daughters are at night and what they are doing? But instead of knowing, they are just letting their daughters run. It is time they were waking up. " 'It used to be thut prosecutions growing out of immoral acts of or with young girls were an exception. There was not one such case in months at a time. Now there are five pending, all of which developed in the last two months, and there are several more which have been brought to my knowledge personally, but in which no official action has been tak en. " 'We, in the county attorney's of fice, can not take preventive meas ures. We can only act when it is too late when the harm already has been done. Such cases usually are brought to light by the city's wel fare workers. But welfare workers, courts of law and prosecuting attor neys do not get at the root of the evil. " 'The stories these mothers andj the girls themselves tell are almost unbelievable.- It ' is hard to believe that such young girls have such ex periences and it is doubly hard to un derstand how mothers can be so blind to a daughter's actions.' " The Courier reprints this pathetic and sordid tale from Kansas because many of the things mentioned there in are to be seen in other places than Topeka. Some of the statements apply to Clackamas county towns and girls and maybe to some mothers. And the Courier also calls attention to the fact that while in Kansas the county attorney may not be able to do anything, that in OREGON a mother who permits her daughter to be influenced by the evil of the streets MAY HERSELF BE HELD RE SPONSIBLE. Every child is entitled to a erood bringing up. Next time you hear of a "girl going wrong" don't pile all your blame on the girl, or on the low down brute man in the case but look and see what the girl's mother did to keep her in the paths of virtue. Re form, like charity, begins at home. MORE ABOUT TAXES County Judge Anderson gave ;m most interesting talk on taxes before the Eastern Clackamas Taxpayers' leugue recently. The judge did not particularly defend the present high levies; but he did point out that our taxation system was a result of our community life and of our depend ence upon each other. In fact he put an entirely new face upon the tax question, and demonstrated that to yield to some of the demagogic de mands for an immediate and radical cut in taxes would be to return to the selfishness and mutual independence of tho barbaric ages. A Service based on the facilities and experi ence gained during thirty-five years is what this bank offers. THE BANK OF OREGON CITY Oldest Bank In Clackamas County through careful pruning of the bud gets, through willingness on the part of the people to do without certain ex travagant and ornamental phases of our public government, and by care in the expenditure of funds raised by taxation. The preparation of budgets is at best a piece of 'guess-work, but it is 'guessing in the right direction. Perhaps the best way to reduce taxes is to leave them as they are for the present, and then to insist that there be more economy on the part of execu tive officers in the different depart ments of our public business. Too many officials seem to have the knack of spending all they are allow ed in the budget. Some officials, on the other hand, manage to have a surplus of their allowed funds on hand at the end of the year. These officials are the real reducers of taxation; for by showing that they can do their work without spending all they have, they set a. standard of economy that can be followed with reasonable ex pectation of future success. Judge Anderson pointed this out in an interesting way when he compar ed the chief items of expense in Clackamas county with similar items in Lane county. Both divisions of the state have practically the same problems in expenditure and labor to face, and in some particulars Clacka mas county showed the lower record, while in others Lane county officials appeared to have discovered greater economy in managing their offices. Clackamas county spent less than Lane county for its circuit court ex penses, for care of the poor, for its clerk, recorder, assessor, sheriff, coun ty court and school superintendent. And on the other hand Clackamas county spent more in its upkeep of roads and bridges, for widows' pen sions and for its treasurer's office. In ed lor sale also provides n penalty lor the sale of property not so legal ly described. This penalty is a fine of ?r0 for each violation; and when the violation occurs in a city, it is provided that the sum gained by the nne snail he given to the common council of the city for .such use as it sees fit. Supposing, then, a prosecution has been brought for the sale by the city of a grave in its. unplatted cemetery. What would have been the result? Recorder Loder would have heard the case, solemnly listened to the evi dence, and then fined the city of Ore gon City fifty bucks. To pay this fine a warrant for $50 would have been drawn on the general fund and then, in due course of time, carefully and legally have turned the "fine" back into the general fund. Thus Oregon City would have paid its fine and in the end not been out any money. It is a wonder some of the council men did not discover this, and see that it would be economy for Oregon City to keep right on violating the law. Every time it sold a grave in the addition to the cemetery it would bring the city in five dollars in cash. The city could then fine itself fifty dollars, and turn the fine back to the general fund. Five dollars would be the gain on such transaction. Why should a little thing like the law bother Oregon City under such cir cumstances ? en, and ,the bond tangle Is nearing an end. - If the council would more often take good advice and would more often try to. do things in the legal and correct way, the sessions of the county seat's city fathers wouldn't be half as funny as they are now, and a great deal more would be accomplished. CAN IT BE? GOOD ADVICE Oregon City's councilmen got some good advice last Friday evening,, when they met in special session to consider problems connected with the sale of the county seat's refunding bonds. The advice, which came from E. G. At last week's council meeting the Courier noted with sincere regret that there was no report submitted on the mysterious ordinance which attempt ed to fix the grade of the west end of Twelfth street, where the city had a public dock site. Mr. Moore, who ask ed that this matter be investigated, and on whose motion the matter was referred to a committee, did not ap pear to be sorry that such a report nad been delayed or smothered. When the attempt to end Twelfth street so high up in the air that access from it to a public dock would be exremely difficult, it was Mr. Moore who saw the hidden object of the ordinance, and who helped get the measure kill ed. Can it be that since that time in fluences which have for years been waging a war on the city's water front have come into contact with Councilman Moore, and dimmed his keen eyesight and stilled his suspic ions? It would be a pity if such a thing had occurred, for it is good for the city to have at least one alert councilman in its employ to have at least one man who will safeguard the public interest without being prod ded to do it. What happened to the report that was ordered on that mysterious ordl nance? ' """i1 -ytrllm ,tM "ti -T1Tll1 'w iiiiiffiiftrfifwrmrtiJ-T"tA'--jh 'if iiiywrliiaft-lhm-iii iiNhiMlr A Big Price Reduction in Stover Engines Now made in 1, , 2, 4 and 6 Horse Power and up, at prices that put this GOOD Engine within the reach of all See the new line as soon as possible W. J. Wilson & Company 10th and MAIN STREETS, OREGON CITY, ORE. FULL XINE OF PUMPS, WAGONS, IMPLEMENTS, ETC I A regard to its roads and bridges alone, Clackamas spent $97,000 more than did Lane county and it is exceeding ly doubtful if it has $97,000 more worth of good roads to show for it. One of the big chances for lower taxes in this county is to abolish the pres ent and expensive supervisor system for road work, and to substitute in its place direct county management. A step in that direction has al ready been taken but judging from the remarks made at a former mass meeting, Clackamas county folk pre fer the supervisor system, with its drain on county funds, even if taxes are high as a direct result. JUST SUPPOSING Caufield, was simply to the effect that This is the time to fix up the old the council obey the law and proceed screens or put up new ones. This is legally. Later on other people gave better than swatting the fly later on. the council the same advice; and in the end the council appeared inclined Chief Blanchard says he didn't to do this. It may seem odd that a shoot at Wells because he wouldn't council has to be advised to proceed join the militia. First reports said with with legal regularity but Ore- he did. gon City's council is quite an unusual body. Chasing Villa may be an uncertain It appears that the county seat's game while the chasing goes on, but refunding bonds, according to the the end is inevitable. Think of charter amendment which authorized Aguinaldo. them, cannot be sold by the city for less than par and accrued interest. Like the bear that climbed the tree Offers had been made the city to buy after honey, the Russian bear appears the bonds for less than par from 96 t0 be g'ng back for more, regardless to over 99V4 having been bid, in fact. of the stings. But any fraction of a percent below par is not according to the charter amendment; and hence the advice given the council to proceed legally and with due regard for the law as laid down by the people. Mr. Caufield also went further, and told the councilmen that if they Last week the Courier called the attention of the city council to the fact that the so-called "plat" of the addition to the cemetery on file in the county recorder's office wasn't a legal plat at all, and that by attempting to sell lots therein the city was vio lating the law. The council realiz- couldn't sell the bonds in the wan ing that its predecessors had made a'ner already provided," the square blunder in filing the so-called plat, thing to do would be to go back to authorized the preparation of a new the people and admit that they had and legal plat, and in due time will ( failed, and then ask further instruc file that, so that lots and graves may . tions from the voters. Of course all be sold. this seems the natural course of pro- But supposing this council had ceedure yet it took two meetings of been as bull-headed as some other j the council and much argument to councils have been. What a humor-'get tho city fathers to see its wis- oug time we would then have had. dom. Now the council appears to The law that requires a recorded plat be moving on the correct, simple and of all subdivisions or additions offer- legal path; the advice has been tak- Molalla's chief of police says the next drunk appearing on the streets is going to get pinched. And Molalla is "dry," too. Judge Anderson says that if there were no taxes we'd all be back in the Stone Age. Well, the Stone Age had its good points. And there is such a thing as too much rain. Ask anybody who is wait ing to put in garden or somebody who's already put ore in. While William Porter was missing from Milwaukie there was a William Porter in the "tank" at Salem. But it wasn't the same William. Savings and Checking Accounts One or both of these forms of banking should be used by everyone. A savings account is an incentive to thrift and to systematic accumulation of funds. A checking account is a daily convenience and a safeguard in paying out money, and a check is an indisputable receipt. mic A Per Cent payS 4 on Savings BANK OF COMMERCE I.KROY D. WAI.KKR, , President. THOS. P. RYAN, JOHN R. HUMPHRYS, Vice President. Cashier, line in the Oregonian. Don't you be lieve it; Oregon will be for Wilson when the votes are counted. - Oregon City will probably need that $55,000 post office when congress gets round to granting it. Congress is just talking about it now. One of the local restaurants last week served German pot roast with Ttnlinn Hnno-Viotti Thaf'a 'wllflfr Wfl I call being perfectly neutral. The saddest thing about the fire on the S. P.'s Molalla branch train is that the train didn't burn up. Then they'd have got a decent coach. . One of the most pathetic things about Bill Stone is that he has such a reputation for being a humorist that it is hard for people to take him seriously. Troop trains igaing through the county seat last week, loaded with Uncle Sam's regulars, made the Mexi can trouble seem just a little bit more serious. A writer in one of the county pa pers doesn't look kindly on the sug gested employment of a county pur chasing agent. Yet it might save considerable money. Several eastern states are wrest ling with the direct primary ' this spring and are calling it bad names. But then, they have no lawgivers of the U'Ren caliber to keep the voters in the straight and narrow path of understanding. (Gresham Outtlook.) PROBLEM PLAY OFFERED Psychological Drama. Staged at the Grand Today and Tomorrow Opportunities for exceptionally beautiful photography as well as scenes of absorbing interest, have been taken full advantage of in "Should a Wife Forgive?" which is the next release on the Equitable pro gram at the Grand Theatre, and will be shown on Thursday . and Friday. There is a wonderful picture of a dance hall, where Lillian Lorraine as La Belle Rose, the star danger, at tracts the attention of a young busi ness man, who is there with his two chums, one of whom is already in the meshes of the charmer. The manner in which the dancing girl holds the affections of both men is revealed in an exceedingly interest ing scries of illustrations, and the in trigue involved in her winning a cot tage from one of the men and induc ing the other to act as the "angel" of a new play, in which she is to be exploited, as well as the shock to his wife when she finds the young busi ness' man in attendance on the open ing night when he was supposed to be out of town on business, provide an opportunity for some spirited acting. There are some gripping scenes when the wife is told that her hus band's affections have been placed elsewhere, the dancing girl jilts her old admirer for the new with whom she has really fallen n love, her reading a note written to her by the 'wife, in which the circumstances un der which the money spent for her advancement and pleasure has been obtained from her own, and not her husband's resources, are told, and the scene between the young business man and the girl when, after reading the note, she dares him to commit suicide with her, and he weakens. If you want to know how this grip ping play ends, and how the problem is solved, see it at the Grand Thursday or Friday. R. L. Holman and T. P. Randall, Leading Undertakers, Fifth and Main St.; Telephones: Pacific 415-J; Home Iowa Visitor Here Mrs. Frank Stansberry, of Gilman, Iowa, was an over Sunday visitor at the home of Mr. and Mrs. D. Grady of this city. Mrs. Stansberry is traveling on the coast with her little daughter, Eorothy, who is in poor health. Tell it to the printer at the Courier job department he does the rest. A Covenant With the People If I am nominated and elected District Atttorney, I will, during my term of office, endeavor every day to perform useful public service. I will give the same earnest, thoughtful and diligent care to the People's cause that a faithful lawyer gives to the cause of his most favored client, and I will keep in mind, constantly, the public welfare, as opposed to all private or selfish interests. Anyone qualified for the office can take care of the work easily without a deputy; I will not require one. I will join hands with all moral forces in making useful citizens out of young offenders and wayward boys and girls. O. W. EASTHAM. (Paid Adv. by O. W. Eastham, residence 620 11th St., Oreeon City, Ore.) MONEY TO LOAN We have several sums of money to loan on good real estate, from $100.00 to $1,000.00. HAMMOND & HAMMOND ATTORNEYS Beaver Bldg., Oregon City Ore. MONEY TO LOAN PAUL C. FISCHER Lawyer Deutschcr Advokat Room 2, Beaver Bldg. Oregon City, Ore. Geo. C. Brownell LAWYER Caufield Bldg. Oregon City Oregon REAL ESTATE MONEY LOANED ON IMPROVED FARMS Mrs. Delia Etchison John Edwards 401 E. 50th. St N. Sherwood, Ore. Phone Tabor 5805. Phone Sherwood. Office phones: Main 50, A50; Res. phones, M. 2524 1715 HomeB25l, D251 WILLIAMS BROS. TRANSFER & STORAGE Office 612 Main Street Safe, Piano, and Furniture Moving a Specialty Sand, Gravel, Cement, Lime, Plaster, Common Brick. Face Brick, Fire Brick "Oregon for Hughes" says a head- Willamette Valley Southern Railway Co. Arrival and Departure of Trains Leave Southbound 7:25 A.M. 10:00 A.M. 2:30 P.M. 6:55 P.M. Daily Freight Servic (except Sunday). at Oregon City Arrive Northbound 8:20 A.M. 10:55 A.M. 2:20 P.M. 6:20 P.M. Th American Express Co. operates over this line V