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About Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1902-1919 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1916)
10 OREGON CITY COURIER, OREGON CITY, OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1916 i. v. H 1 I. , OREGON CITY COURIER C. W. ROBEY, Editor and Business Manager Published Thursdays from the Courier Building, Eighth Street, and entered in the Postofflce at Oregon City, Ore., as 2nd class mail matter. Subscription Price $1.50. Telephones: Pacific 61 j Home A-61 MEMBER OP WILLAMETTE VALLEY EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION MEMBER OF OREGON STATE EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION THIS PAPER REPRESENTED FOR FOREIGN , ADVERTISING BY THE 6ENERAL OFFICES NEW YORK AND CHICAGO BRANCHES IN MX THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OUR GREATEST CITIZEN That rare human combination of loose purse strings, big heart and broad mind is so undeniably the foundation of the manhood and char acter of W. P. Hawley, Sr., that the Courier takes occasion to nominate him, or rather second his nomination, as Clackamas county's first citizen. And there are few to deny him their vote should it be asked. The civic and commercial pride of the man is second only to his busi ness ability, but it appears to be ar. odd trait that his private business affairs never cloud his allegiance to the cause of civic progress and he is ever ready with his financial, moral and physical support to aid any pro ject that may bring about the des tiny of Oregon City and the entire state of Oregon. At the head of a great industrial concern, it is sometimes to be won dered at that Mr. Hawley will go so far as to seemingly sacrifice his per sonal interests for the sake of the city that he has done a great deal toward building up. This is so un usual in a man of position in the commercial world, especially when the connection with that sphere is so extensive as Mr. Hawley's, that the fact is worth attention. There has been nothng of public importance planned or carried out in Oregon City in many years that has not felt the influence of Mr. Hawley's labor and money. It does not cheap en the man or his motive to connect his benefactions with his pocketbook, for like some of us aid with our hands and others with our minds, Mr. Haw ley aids with his money. And still it is important to note that the financial aid lent to every worthy undertaking by Oregon City's first citizen is tempered largely by his strong moral and physical force. Only this week Oregon City has had evidence of Mr. Hawley's bigness of heart and mind and the looseness of his purse strings. In offering to buy city property and donate an additional sum for the purchase of fire fighting equipment Mr. Hawley cannot be accused of the I ulterior motive that inspires so many j in his position in the world. To be sure he is to be benefitted by the es tablishment of a fire department, but he could as well spend $2500 toward equipping is own mills for fire pre vention. That would not be like Mr. Hawley. Unless he chooses to do both, he will be found on the side of "the greatest 'good to the greatest number." He is giving his time and his money toward the proposed fire deparment and is making no boasts about it, simply because the city needs the equipment and Mr. Hawley is able to help. That is the kind of man he is. W. P. Hawley, Sr., is like a par ental influence in Oregon City. And like a good parent, his influence is usually good. We repeat a hearty second to the nomination of this man as Oregon City's first citizen, in case there be anyone to deny him the palm. "GLORY" AND OPPORTUNITY The American Forum presents a heartrending cartoon, "Glory, to the attention of its readers. A woman weeps outside the cold, cheerless, des olate cabin, and a little child, with a curious and anxious face, wonders why she weeps, and is asking for her father. The storms of winter beat upon the log cabin standing by the little brok beyond the hill. The winds moan, the leaves rustle, and the night is gathering. The spectre of death is awaiting his new victims, How long will this bloody scrim mage continue? How many millions more of men will fill unknown bloody graves? Every house in Europe has been bereaved. "There is no flock, however watched or tended, But one dead lamb is there; There is no fireside, however de fended, But has one vacant chair. The air is full of farewells to the dying, The mourninp for th AeaA: The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Will not be comforted." Their bones are bleaching on every battlefield. But yesterday a proud boy in the heyday of life and hope fell. He was the only son of his mother, and she is a widow. She asks you with trembling lips and tearful eyes for the idol of her heart, her hope, her joy. May He who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb protect her. You cannot restore her child. But we can in the sacred name of humanity cry out to the world, "Thus far shalt thou go and no far ther." Let us call back the living who have been spared. With tears of art less innocence, the children through out the world demand their fathers. This is President Wilson's crowning opportunity. The eyes of the widows and fatherless children the world over are looking to him to effect an early cocration of hostilities r.nd br:n; hrj piness to the homes of millions. PEACE PROPOSALS. Regardless of the outcome, Ger many is entitled to great credit for her peace proposals, which were an nounced as a decided surprise to the world on Tuesday. It is not probable that these overtures will result in any prompt cessation of hostilities, but they involve important concessions on the part of the German government and are entitled to respectful atten tion. . It seems that they will not do the work for which they are designed, and the fault for their failure will rest principally upon Great Britain. George's realm has tasted the fruits of victory and no doubt George will see to it that his soldiers land with renewed fury into the job of pounding the very stuffing out of His Majesty's enemies, whomsoever they may be. How appropriate it would be, though, if the dogs of war were placed with an honorable peace from called from their battles at the Christmas season. It would be re ceived by the world, and especially the neutral nations as a belated blast ing of the wrath of a monster, and the dawn of the light of reason that we have ceased to credit to civiliza tion. But if England did not hold out on the acceptance of the Teutonic terms, we wonder if the vast treasures of France could be restored to her. We wonder if her arts could every be re- the horrible vortex of shot and shell. We wonder if Belgium could regain her place in the world, rebuild her homes, her churches, her farms from the papers that bring her an honor able peace. . Could the lives of mil lions of men and boys, both Germans and Allies, be morally called back from their heroic graves were peace restored to their fatherlands. What a horriable toll the war has taken I How the nations at war have suffered from the greed of their rul ers, from the unjust hatred that has torn millions of homes from their very foundations and has snapped the heartstrings of what we thought a few years ago to be a great and pow erful brotherhood of civilization. But, though the toll has been taken and though its awful cost can never be paid though every nation at war must suffer the agonies of a pricked conscience, let us pray for the end of it all. Is there not some way to force the acceptance of peace proposals if they do not entail unjust sacrifices? Great minds have been lost in a sea of fruit less theory in efforts to bring about these same proposals. Now that they have been made by the nation that Great Britain, France and Russia be lieves to have been the aggressor, they should be accepted.. It appears that their acceptance is the only way out of endless battle, and the continued destruction of the civilization of a universe. Germany has acted, ap parently, in good aith. Let the Allies display the same virtue. CHRISTMAS. With talk of peace in the air, the Christmas season is upon us most auspiciously. And peace talk lends an enchanting melody to the tune of prosperity and progress that is sound ing over the United States. We have in all truth, a wonderful nation this Christmas season and for once in a generation heavy purses, full dinner pails and the open road to better things before us indicate the binding of all ties, as it was intended in the begnining. . How blessed we are? ' Christmas morning will break over the eastern hills upon such wonder as we have not known for years. From the mansion to the hovel, we find such a condition of promise as we have only dreamed of before. We find poverty disap pearing and the comforts and joy of life coming upon us so rapidly that we will be forced to make rapid prog ressive strides to keep up with them True, our own prosperity is be dimed and our rosy path is clouded by the shame of battling brothers, by , the destruction of our sacred civiliza tion. But since that condition is in. i evitable we had best turn, with what spirit we can muster for the occa sion, to the fullest and most complete enjoyment of our own blessings. Meanwhile, as we offer to all Cour ier readers a heartfelt wish for the merriest of all merry Christmas sea sons and the happiest of all happy new years, let us turn with devout I grace to Him whose wonders have brought these tnings upon us to mm from whom all blessings flow. KILL THE COMMISSION We haven't that perennial crop of legislators going to Salem this year with the usual hackneyed pledges to knock a few worthless commissions in the head and save the poor taxpayers from a great burden of expense. We have, instead, a group of men from Clackamas and other counties pledged to represent the people hon estly and fairly and with the great est possible measure of economy. That being the case, the Courier can see no worthy reason why the legislature which convenes at Salem next month should even attempt to avoid mortal combat with that figure head of idleness and uselessness, the state tax commission. Judge Grant B. Dimick at a meet ing on Tuesday expressed the basis of his many reasons why the tax com mission should be abolished, when he pointed to a duplication of work with the highly important public service commission; work which could as well be done by a clerical staff as by a set of well-paid commissioners. Of course, it would be a mean thing to cast these nice little commission ers out into the cold air of this damp winter season, but if our legislators are sincere in their pledges to the voters they will certainly make haste in knocking the props from under the tax commission. As Judge Dimick says, this com mission had a work before it at the time of its creation that warranted the expense of the cfRcas. 3t:t every last bit of that work has been accomplished and the taxpayers are now called upon to support a salaried group that it perhaps the most idle of any at Salem. It is the essence of idleness and uselessness, now that its work is done. The only important task in the hands of the commission now is that of levying the tax assessment on pub lic utilities. The equalization of the assessment of counties has been ac complished after a fashion, leaving only the levying of the assesments to the commission. The fact that equal ization is notoriously unfair and re ligiously unequal does not constitute a valid reason for allowing the com mission to live when the work could as well be done by one or two clerks in another office. Taxpayers are asked to contribute annually from ten to twelve thousand dollars for the support of the tax commission. Two thousand dollars would be more nearly right. The public service commission makes all physical valuations of property and all that the tax commission can do is levy the assessment. Why cannot the public service commission do that as well as the idle commission and save that much money? Our legis lators should be asked to answer that question in case they fail to carry out their "honesty" and "economy" pledg es next month. We find no complaint with the es tablishment of the . tax commission, but we do object to feeding it about twelve thousand dollars a year now that its purpose has been accomp lished, simply to provide soft snaps for political puppets. If we would pay a little heed to the class and character of men who represent us at Salem, being sure, first, that they have backbone and honesty of purpose enough to force them .to do as they promise, we would have less of this everlasting howl about the increase of taxation. The state tax commission is one item of expense to the state that increases expenses without returning, in even a slight way, value for the money spent upon it. If our representatives and senators are true to their pledges the tax commission will lose its head at the coming session. Th Man Knowt. SheA proverb says that fruit Is gold In the morning and lead at night, mean ing that It's bad for one In the evening, I suppose. He-Thafs right. Look at the trouble Adam got Into by eating aa apple after Eve.-Boston Transcript When Ma Takei Up Oratory. When a lady finds out she can make a speech the husband may as well put the children In a boarding school, strangle the canary bird and renew his acquaintance with the fellows at the club. Houston Post Strenuous Kindness. She Here's a story in the paper that tells about such a kind policeman. He -What did he do? She-He found a man nsloop In the street, It says, and fanned him till he woke up.-Baltimore American. Deep Lakea of Scotland. Scotland has thirty-two lakes whose maximum depths are greater than 200 feet Neal & McClatchie Jewelry store is five doors west of elevator. tf Divorce Asked Nora Stanten charges her husband, Charles Stanten, with desertion in a Mvnm comnlaint filed in the circuit ' court Tuesday. The couple was mar- ried at Moro, Sherman county, on January 21, 1895. Decrees signed by Judge Campbell Tuesday separate Nancy E. and Al bert G. McCarty, giving Mrs. McLar ty care of the children; Mary L. and Angus McPherson, giving the mother the children, and Nannie E. and Frank E. Callaghan. ; Mrs. Callaghan is allowed $350 for costs. Ask Probate of Will. A petition to admit to probate the will of R. A. Wilkerson was filed in the county court Tuesday. The es tate consists of personal property valued at $500. Mr. Wilkerson died at Canby on November 28. There are 500 miles of wagon road and 4600 miles of trail on the nation al forests of Oregon and Washington. R. L. Holman, Leading Undertaker, Fifth and Main St.; Telephones: Pa cific 415-J; Home B-18. IT Should be borne in mind that saving money is the start towards wealth. Every man CAN'T Get rich, but everyone can save something. No matter how small your income may be, if you make up your, mind to lay up a part of your earnings every week, it may RAIN And then rain some more, but with a snug little sum to your credit in the bank you can laugh at hard times and. poverty. While the Sun of Prosperity is shining is the time to save for the rainy days that are ALWAYS Bound to come. We can help you save; our Savings Department does the business. $1.00 will start an account. We furnish a bank book and savings bank free of charge. Start saving today. The Bank of Oregon City For Christmas a pair of NETTLETON SHOES THElSSJJM CLOTHES MMluutNlMALtwU For Christmas A Clothcraft Suit or Overcoat If it is a man's gift get it at the man's gift store that means PRICE BROS. " Somethin: Practical" These two words reflect the new spirit of Christmas giving. And "something practical" for the man means something from a man's store-where else are his needs so well anticipated? When you've selected from the list, at side, the kind of gift you think he would like, let us help you pick it out, for where it comes from is just as important as what it is. We had in mind the sensible gift and the sensi ble giver when we chose the large stock from which these sug gestions are offered. PRICE BROS. Where Clothes Fit Oregon City, Oregon GIFT HINTS Bath Robe Belt Cuff Buttons Garters Gloves Hosiery Lounging Robe Stein Bloch Suit Cane Cap Scarf - Shirt Clothcraft Suit Watch Fob Umbrella Pocketbook Sweater Coat Sweater Vest Suspenders Hat Clothcraft Overcoat . Underwear Smoking Jacket Boxed Holiday Set No. 4130 Blue Serge Suit Muffler Raincoat Scarf Pin Handkerchiefs Fancy Vest Collars Collar Bag Necktie