Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1912)
TTTr 5IORNIXO OltEGONIAN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1912, 10 !ifr(Dmrtmtmt rORTI-AND. ORtnOX. y.ntTd at Portland. Ortfoa, Postoftlea as lni-ciMi Mattr. ubecriptioa Ktes Invariably la Advanoa. BT MAIL.) rel:r. So-iday tncluted. ona rear ? HI Sunday Inrlutled. aia mofitnl -I-'aliy, hunday lncu-led. thraa month. I'ai.y c-unilay lac-!uill. on montli... Iiai;y. without s.unlay. ou y-r 1I jr. wlinoat Sunlj. at montm. ... wttbwjt Sun(l7. thre month. I-ai y. without Sunday, ooa r" on t n, . . . w-ak:y. oo yrr ........-... auB0i( oa year auaaajr aal Weekly, om yaar.. .75 8.1X1 1 .'-0 X-W (BT CARRIER) FatTy. Sunday Included, on year "v? Ia4 y, Sunday Included, ooa month " How to Itosnlt 8. ad Poototllco "' . . enoca. on your local bank. stamp, coin or curr"cl,,U I at th sender rata. Olvo poetoftico aaareas i M ru.i. lAciuding county ana iti rxu Klr lO to 14 patta. 1 wot: 1" to as psa. a c.nia. i la o p'. "JZ" to u pasoa, cents. 'orin pool. doable tat. a Eastern Bualneaa Offh-ra Vrro C"V tin .New York. t.runa-K'k ulldlo. " uio, tar building. tawnaa Otltcai No. S Regent etroe. V W . Load ua. roRTLA.ND. HIDNbilttV, . mi I. I. i"4 r0 WOMEN WANT TO VOTE? The Polk- Count v Itemlzer has been collecting the views of the women of rullas the Orearon town wnere it is published, on the subject of voting. ..i r,.t in rik the census of the village, the editor of the Itemlzcr Instructed his employes to asK me women whether they wanted the right to vote or not. To be more accurate thrv were to ask some of the women it rsf thpm hv anv means. The ii iestlon was put only to the "head Udy" of each household, to use the iirmiMr'i nollte expression. For all one can learn from this proceeding the daughters of every family In Dallas eagerly desire the right of suffrage. So do all the widows ana oia maius. Kvldentlv the Itemlzer did not think these classes of females were worth taking Into consideration. Or perhaps the editor realized the Question or vot ing as too indelicate for discussion with any women but m-asoned matrons who were familiar with the world and Its wickedness. At any rate, the straw k-ote which the Itemixer took is almost worthless, because It omitted the very rlnsses ho are most likely to feel an Interest In public affairs In such a community. The mothers of growing families are likely to Ignore the sub let until conditions have compelled them to think about It. The result of the Itemlxer's investi gation, such as it was. is about what one would have expected. The vote of the women stood three to one against suffrage. In other words, the editor obtained precisely the result which he wanted. Most persons who take- straw votes meet with similar good fortune. Ry manipulating the process In the right way It can be made to prove or disprove anything under the sun. The Itemixer calmly felici tates Itself upon the result because It "verifies a statement" which that Ta per made long ag. "regarding the suffrage question." The statement was that women did not want the right to vote. Having thus satisfied Itself that it knows the state of female opinion In Dallas, the Itemlzer goes on to say that It does not believe the women of Oregon want the franchise. And. It opines, if the question could be left to the women 'of Washington. California nr any other suff Aige state they would .-heerfully give up the privilege of vot ing. The reason why the Itemixer thinks so Is because "only a small per ent of the women ever go to the polls -r take any more Interest In politics than they do" In the states where they jannot vote. We submit that the time has gone by when any newspaper which un lertakes to discuss a subject so Im portant as the enfranchisement of women can afford to base Its opinions upon misstatements of current facts. Whether or not women actually use the right of rotlng In states where they have It Is a question upon which Ignorance is no longer excusable. Ev ery reader of the newspapers knows that the women of Los Angeles turned out In great numbers at the last city ctlon. So did the women of Seat rle. The women of Colorado are welt known to vote quite as dutifully and .ntelligently as the men. In Lapland, where women have long enjoyed the right of suffrage, they not only vote, hut many of them are members of the legislature. The statement that worn, rn do not exercise the suffrage when It has been granted them Is a variance rom the truth which a paper of the tandlng of the Itemlzer ought not to Indulge in. But. leaving all such matters aside, we believe that the unconsidered vote of a town like Pallas upon the suf frage question would necessarily be misleading. It Is a comfortable com munity, where the great economic questions which underlie the demand for woman suffrage have not made themselves felt. There are no girls working In manufactories for wages which undermine "their health and moral, and no child labor. As the Itemixer well says, "there, are no homes In Pallas particularly blighted by poverty.- In our large cities there are miny such homes, and the "head la dles" who inhabit them are obliged to look out for ways and means of reliev ing their miserable circumstances. The rout of living Is not necessarily a burn ing Issue In a well-to-do country town !;ke Dallas, but In larger cities It come home to the woman with terrific force. Women In these place have been forced to believe that the only way to secure simple Justice In the matter of wages, pure food and wholesome conditions of living Is through the bal lot. They want the right to vote, not because of "a dwlre t.i enter other fields except the nome. ' as the Item later wrongly surP"P!. but because of their derlre to protect their homes ind bring up their children properly. Our rural contemporary believes that "the true mother with her hands fully occupied In raring for her prog eny, takes no. Interest In politics." - our oplnlin. the "tnte mother" Is precisely the person who does take an Interest In politics, and the reason why she does so Is because in no other way can she "care for her progeny" properly. The Interest of women In poll. lea Is largely a direct growth of an Intelligent Interest In children. There may be here and there a rural ditor who does not perceive the Im mediate connection between politics nd healthy babies, but to most reflec .ive people It Is only too plain. How ran we obtain pure food for the child, lecent playgrounds, the necessaries of life at reasonable prices, protection from epidemic diseases, education and 'Ivlr.g wages, except through politics? In the modern world politics Is life, ind because wo.nen are deeply con--erned with life, therefore they feet driven to take a hand In politics. To borrow the Itemtzer's phrase, they v !h "to taint themselves with poll tic!"." Just as they have long tainted themselves with cooking, washing and maternity. We are sorry to run across puch Idle expressions as "the nasty came of politics" In our contempo rary'! article. Politics Is not a (fame; it Is the highest of sciences and the one upon hfh our welfare more In timately depends than upon any oth er. As for nastinesa. docs the Jtemlzer really think It pollutes a woman any more to no to the polls and drop a ballot Into the box than It does to stand all day over a steaming- tub and wash her husband's dirty shirts? It Is time to Ret away from nonsense of this sort and look at the subject of woman's suffrage on Its merits. THK NEW sqrARx OKAI ciouthern delegate to the Repub lican National convention are being elected In the same manner as they were elected in 190-4 to nominate Roosevelt and In 1908 to nominate Taft on Roosevelt's recommendation. But. after half of these delegates of 1912 have been elected In that very same manner. Roosevelt has discov ered that they should have been elect ed is some other manner, and has be gun contests by wholesale. He con demns participation of Federal oftl- c.als in tate conventions, although the only one who has taken an active and aggressive part Ir. the campaign la the clerk of the I'nlted States Court at Oklahoma City. He stampeded the convention to Roosevelt. The (uiuare deal requires that what is sauce for the goose be sauce for the gander; that convention methods accepted by him In 1904 and 1908 be accepted by him In 1912. But the square deal, according to the Roose velt version, requires that the rules be changed to favor the Colonel, even after the game is half played. We are being treated not only to a new set of Roosevelt policies, but to a new Interpretation of the square deal. Apparently the deal Is not square .unless the Colonel gets four aces. A qi-KMTIOX OF rCXCTl'ATIOX. A pretty little controversy has arisen over the punctuation of the Inscription to be engraved on John Paul Jones new statue In Washington. When our first naval hero was fighting his fa mous battle with the Sera pis. the Brit ish commander asked him If he was ready to surrender. "Surrender?" re plied Jones from his sinking ship, "I have Just begun to fight." Here the trouble comes in. A school of skeptic question the pro priety of putting a question mark after after "surrender." They say it ought to be a mark of exclamation. Since there Is no way to settle the difficulty except by a majority vote of those having charge of the statue. It is easy to understand how wildly argument will rage. The only questions which people quarrel violently over are those which admit of no conclusive answer. To posterity it will make lit tle difference whether Jones' statue Is adorned with an interrogation sign or a mark of surprise at this particular point. All agree that Jones was wor thy of a statue and visitors to the cap ital will be glad to pause and gaze upon the monument to his fame. At least we hope they will. To gaxe upon some of the statues in Washington is conducive to sorrow rather than glad ness, but this one may belong to the less melancholy class. TL'p to the present time most of the monuments which the American peo ple have erected in public places com memorate the deeds of military and naval heroes. We have no fault to find with this. Certainly such deeds ought not to be forgotten. But there are others which also deserve to be kept In eternal remembrance. America has had other heroes beside those of battle on land and sen. Our country- has produced poets, scientists, philan thropists whom posterity ought not to forget and whose monuments ought to adorn the streets and parks of the National capital. It Is a fine thing to see the statue of Andrew Jackson In a Washington Park. It would also be fine to see one of Ralph Waldo Emerson there. It Is a question wheth er the serene Yankee minister did not do more for the permanent welfare of his country than the cantankerous President. The French place their men of literature and science as prom inently In the niches of fame as their 0nerals. Would It not be a little more feemly If we fell Into the habit of doing the same? ADVANCK IX PKlr: AND ITS CAISK. The general trend of prices In the year 1911 was slightly lower than In 1910, but it offers slight comfort to the man who is interested mainly in the cost of food. The Bureau of ta bor reports an advance in the price of food products, the decline being most noticeable In the prices of metal and Implements. The most marked advances during the year were: Corn, 64.6 per cent; steers, S5.7; barley, 34.3; potatoes. 204.1: eggs. 150.8; creamery butter, 73.4; milk, 70; dairy butter, 7.V: granulated sugar, 45.1; coffee, 27.9. The only marked decrease in the price of an article of food was 3S.1 per cent in poultry, but this does not help the poor man's table. As compared with 1910. the general range of prices in 1911 was 2 per cent higher for food: 2.8 per cent higher fo.- drugs and chemicals. The other seven groups of commodities showed a decrease, ranging from 7.7 per cent for metals, down through 3.3 per cent for cloth and clothing, 1.6 per cent for farm products. 0.8 per cent for lurn-h-- and building material to 0.4 per cent for house furnishings. The present general and continuous advance In prices began in 1898 and became marked In 1899. Taking the average wholesale price of 1890 to 1899 Inclusive as 100. the advance has Deen unbroken except In 1908. until in 1909 the figures were 139.9 for raw commodities. 126.6 for manufactured commodities and 129.3 for all com modities. The highest level for man ufactured commodities was reached in 1910, prices having since declined from 129.6 to 126.6. but there Is no pause In the enhancement of raw ma terial prices. The boom In prices coincides ro closely with the boom In trust organ ization that they would seem to be cause and effect. But since trust con trol Is more nearly complete over manufactures than over raw materials, the fact that the advanc- In prices of manufactures has been lesa than that in prices of law materials casts doubt on this theory. The remedy for high prices seems to rest In the hands of every man. With the proverbial three acres and a cow in the suburbs of a city, a man can raise his own vegetables, fruit, poul try, eggs, produce hU own milk, but ter and cheese, and be at least half In- dependent of the general market con ditions. The high cost of living is caused by the growing reluctance of men to follow occupations which bring sweat to their brows, dirty their hands and cut them off from city pleasures and conveniences. The advance In prices Is a premium we pay for es cape from these conditions. That extra 40 per cent on the price of raw com modities can be cut off, if we will buckle down to work, dig, sweat, soil cur hands and spend our evenings at home Instead of in urban resorts of pleasure. BOI BNE AXD LABOR. When one reads an account of labor conditions in the Bourne cotton mills, near Fall River, Massachusetts, owned by the senior Senator from Oregon, the mind almost Instantly reverts to the way Mr. Bourne and some of his fellow-Senators attack the so-called trusts. The average wage in the Bourne mills is perhaps not over $6 a week, and only the foremen and machinists receive as much as 112 per week. The hours are as long as the law will allow, the sanitary conditions under which the men, women and chil dren work, and the moral surround ings are of the worst, and the legal age limit is violated every day. Turning to that greatest of ail trusts, which Bourne and his colleague would put out of business if they possibly could the so-called steel trust we And that there are no children em ployed. ' and the lowest wage paid Is greater than the average for the adults in the Bourne mills, while the average wage is far more than double, with several hundred employes getting each several times as much per year as any of the Bourne workers. In the Bourne mills, when old age or disease comes on, the employe Is shunted to one side as If he or she were a lump of earth. In the steel mills there is a pension fund of over 312,000,000, and 200.000 workmen will sooner or later participate in its prin cipal, earnings and accretions. In the Bourne mills none of the workers Is interested In the profits, the owners taking all; in the steel trust mills nearly 20 per cent of the em ployes are owners of stock in the plant, which stock they have been enabled to buy largelj- through the dividends paid on It. The stock subscriptions by the employes last year amounted to nearly $6,000,000 in the capital stock of the company. How many of Mr. Bourne's employes own stock In his plant? So far as any body knows, not one. The Bourne family pockets the entire earnings of an eighth of a million annually. The Standard Oil Company was one of the first of our . great Industrial corporations to create a pension fund. When the company was dissolved by order of the courts, the first concern of the managers was to keep this fund In tact, to the end that It might reach those for whom It was provided. The Pennsylvania Railroad pays) annually into a pension fund, ultimate ly to benefit its 200.000 employes, over 3700,000 a year. The sugar trust, the Du Pont Pow der Company and the National Cash Register Company all have large pen sion funds: and each of them pays wage from double to treble what our renowned Senator Bourne pays his em ployes. THE TIME HAS COME TO BlllO ROAD. Unless Oregon wishes to be com pletely distanced by her northern neighbor In roadbuildlng, the voters will And it necessary to adopt some of the road legislation to be submitted to them at the coming election. A move ment is now gaining headway In Washington for a bond Issue of $15, 000.000 to carry out the following proj ects: 1. The completion of th Pacific Highway, from Blaine, on tho International line, tc Vancouver, on the Columbia Klver. 2. a road Into the Grave Harbor country, and on Into th fertile region of South Bend and Kaymond. S. An oaat and west highway, whether It be by the Rainier National l'ark or the 6noqualmle Paee. with branches" leading on the one hand to Wenatchee and on tha other to KMensbura; and North Yakima. 4. A road to Spokane. 5. A road to Walla Walla. These roads would be trunk high ways binding together Eastern and Western Washington and every part of Western Washington, except the Olym pic peninsula. To complete the sys tern there would be needed several nortb-and-south roads east of the Cas cades. To equal this system, Oregon will need to extend the Pacific Highway from the Columbia River to the south ern boundary; to build several main roads from the Willamette Valley- through the Coast Range to the ocean and to build two or more roads across the Cascades to the eastern boundary. We have spent enough time in discuss ing how to do It; the time has come to decide on one plan and get to work under that plan. The Washington people are evident ly alive to the advantages of the Pa cific Highway and will no doubt be ready to co-operate with Oregon in building a bridge at Vancouver. With such a disposition among our neigh bors. Oregon should allow no obstacle to stand In the way of this great proj ect. Oregon should also see to It that those who cross the bridge a few years hence will not have occasion to make invidious comparisons, to Oregon's dis advantage, between the roads north and south of the bridge. THE IJXK Or XATtRK. Funeral services for an aged mother and her only less aged daughter were held in Centenary Church Monday aft ernoon, followed by the burial of the two time-worn bodies In Rlvervlew Cemetery. Miss Katharine Zeller died at the family home on the East Side last Thursday, and the death of her mother, Mrs. Susan Zeller, fol lowed three days later. The daughter was seventy, the mother eighty-nine years old. The lives of these two had run In closely parallel lines since the older was nineteen years old, a date In her life record that had long become so dim and Indistinct to the moer that It blended, as It were, with her own years without a distinguishing mark. Tender and in a sense pathetic were th' events briefly characterized by these lives and deaths. They repre sented the common vicissitudes of life, of labor, of care and of love running side by side, up and down the slopes of the years.. The cares of the one were the cares of the other. Their loves, their Interests, their thoughts were in common. lose association through long- years makes two persons thus situated sin gularly dependent upon each other. A striking Illustration of this fact was furnished In the. lives of Alice and Phebe Cary. the sweet singers of the Middle West, whose lives were so closely associated in work, in prlnci- pie, in aspiration and ir. home that, according to their biographer. Mary Clemmer Ames, the latter found It 1m possible to live after the death of the former, but. though In good health at t .e time of her sister's death and not past middle life, she survived her less than six months. , "I feel the link of nature draw me, quoted Phebe Cary, as she approached the end of her beautiful, useful, un selfish life, and the sod that had bee broken In Greenwood Cemetery for Alice Cary In January was again broken for Phebe in July of the same year. In the case of the mother and daughter who were burled in River view Cemetery Monday one ru neral service and one burial sufficed The link of nnture in this case was weakened by the erosions of time and the two, their life work accomplished, relinquished their hold upon the close ly woven fabric together, or so nearly sj that one funeral occasion sufficed fr- both. Girls who wish to make their en gagements legally binding will do well to heed a late decision of a court in Kansas City. According to this opin ioj, a blushing nod Is not sufficient to ratify an engagement. W hen the ques. tlon is popped, the girl should reply with a distinct, unmistakable "yes. Otherwise, the contract is not binding upon the young man and she cannot recover damages if he is unfaithful to his pledge. As a matter of prudence It would be well to have a hidden wit ness at hand when a proposal is ex pected, or why not a dictagraph? If Louis Hill persuades every coun ty in Oregon to hold an annual fal the achievement ought to be commem orated In imperishable bronze, though on second thought, there is a differ ence in fairs and we don't know that there la any particular glory in found ing some sorts. The fair which can be summed up in a horse race and a crazy quilt is not of much advantage to the world. No doubt those which Mr. Hill will encourage are to be real exhibits of our varied resources and the means of developing them. Laborers are warned to keep away from Western Canada. For that mat ter, there are few regions that desjre the unskilled laboring man. Most of them have a full local quota. When a man of that class by diligence and industry accumulates a "stake," he is welcome anywhere, for his success shows his fiber; but the happy-go- lucky man, on one Job today and an other tomorrow, would better vege tate where he is known and pin his trust to Providence and hope of a mild Winter. There is a physical culture expert at Harvard who, being a mere man. would delude all women Into doing housework to make their figures beau tiful. His programme of running up and down stairs, scrubbing floors. kneading bread and working at the washboard has been followed for ages without producing the results he pic tures. When he is older and working for a living, he may meet some women who do all these things, and be wiser. The man who clamors for a fair vote and who accuses his opponents of unfair tactics is backed by men who have been convicted of falsehood and treachery by La Follette. We need a new definition of "a fair vote," "un fair tactics," Just as we need new def initions of- the square deal and the Roosevelt policies. There Is opportu ntty to make a little campaign money by publishing "The Roosevelt Glossary of Political Terms." Hereafter a maiden cannot mutely declare her love by melting into a man's arms, or nestling her head on his shoulder or offering her ruby lips to be kissed, and then maintain a breach of promise suit if the man proves false. She mustutter a plain. audible "yes." Just as would be re quired In making a business bargain hus is love being stripped of Its ro mance in this prosaic twentieth cen tury- The Spokane Park Board is a set of mean old things." All the benches are to be big enough to hold a chaper. one and the parks are to be especially illuminated. This will drive the spoon era to the darkest corners of the church steps. The Park Board should bear in mind that to love is human. but to spoon is divine. The heavy vote against woman suf frage in the river wards of Chicago well Illustrates the character of the opposition to this great reform. The river wards Include the Chicago slums, the abodes of vice, ignorance and crime. All these forces naturally op pose votes for women. La Follette and Houser have swol len the ranks of the Ananias Club by the nomination of Roosevelt's bosom friend, and as events may prove, evil genius, PInchot, for membership. These are sad days for the upllfters. Their lofty brows are spattered with mud of their own making. All the halos are not given to the trusts, which Perkins, Roosevelt's ft nanctal backer, idealizes. One is re served for Patten, the maker of a wheat corner. Difference in the point of view makes a great difference in the way one regards such men. The New York woman, mother of twenty-three, who attempted to com mit suicide rather than have another, was In despair awaiting the trumpet call. She Is not to be blamed. High-salaried departmental people are wasting Government time in dis cussing when an emigrant becomes an immigrant. Simple solution would be: When he lands." There need be little fear of another trial by the Colonel. He will ere then have developed a new wrinkle or evolved another Idiosyncrasy. According to decision of a Missouri court, a nod Is not legal acceptance of a proposal. What would he have a'loud yell and a grab? If Roosevelt continues to repudiate the policies he has Indorsed, he may yet declare for small families and race suicide. A moving-picture show of a minis terial association meeting would be edifying as well as provoking of hilar ity. The Folsom guard who potted a runaway at half a mile has the mova ble target record. LIGHT SE.TE.CE FOR MONSTERS. Sentence of Orovllle Child Mnrderera Hotly Condemned. PORTLAND. April 8. (To'the Edi tor.) Ministers of the gospel are con stantly patting forward the belief that the world Is growing better, and some of us, I may say most of us. acquiesce; It is so much more comfortable to do so. But every now and then, thanks to the columns of our dally papers, we realize that this idea of our superior enlightenment is a fallacy. Several months ago there appeared in The Oregonlan a tale of cruelty so mon strous that it must have revolted all humane people who have not sunk be low pig level, and then some. 1 mean the torture of a 12-year-old girl by two human fl-ends. The form of torture they employed stands side by side with that of the Cencl. Little Helen Rum ball, of Orovllle, Cal., after several years of beatings, kickings and other mild signs of displeasure from her step mother and her step-mother's brother, Arthur Lewis, to which the neighbors testify, was one day last Summer taken up by this pair into the attic of their house, "where the temperature was shown to have been raised to 130 de grees, and bound hand and foot. " Lewis is described by the reporter as being "a powerful man. who had boasted of his ability to break the necks ot steers. Incidentally, little Helen's neck was found broken In two places, "In Just the same manner," some days later, when her lifeless body was dragged from the sweltering torture chamber. Friday, April 5. the case was ended, and what, pray, was the decision of the noble court? The man Lewis was given ten whole, years in the state peniten tiary, while his sister, she of the softer sex, was given two years behind the bars! Why, a Chinaman has been given half that much time lor running a gambling- came, and a few weeks ago an American who stole a few cans of tomatoes from a grocery store to as suage the hunger of his wife and two children, was sent up for two years. So It appears it is not an extraordinary crime to mistreat a child for years, and by way of climax to craze her by heat, malm her delicate body, and finally choke her little life out. Prob ably Helen Rumball did not care much by the time they got to the attic party. I can well believe she- did not. But what Is the matter with us? Are we any better than those people of the Middle Ages? My answer Is "No." so long as public opinion fails to rise in open revolt against such cowardly lax ity in dealing with degenerates like little Helen Rumball's murderers. GENEVIEVE THOMPSON. 69 North Twenty-third Street. WAV TO GET LAW ENFORCEMENT. Writer Declares Election of North and Evans Will Do It. PORTLAND, April 9. (To the Edi tor.) Several years ago the moral con ditions of the city became so bad and gambling was permitted under the fine system to such an extent that all de oent and law-abiding citizens of the community found it necessary to elect Sheriff to enforce the laws which should have been enforced by the Mayor and his Police Department. Tom Word was the man chosen, and without the assistance of either the District At torney or the city officials immedi ately set about the task of cleaning up the city, and his success will long be remembered by the residents of Port land. Judging from observations and reports of the moral conditions of the city at the present time, gambling is being permitted by city authorities and the city is filled with dissolute wom en, and it appears to me to be about time to elect men to the office of Dis trict Attorney and Sheriff who will do their duty and enforce the law without fear or favor. There are many candidates for these two offices, but In looking over their records and qualifications the majority of them appear to me to fall below the standard required for the work before them. I wish to call attention, however, to two young men who are candidates for these offices who have demonstrated to the voters of Multnomah County that they are fully qualified to take up the important task confronting tnem. Both have shown their patriotism and loyalty on many occasions. They are honest, fearless and conscientious and will give the public good, clean administrations in their respective offices, if electea. One of these men Is Walter H. Evans, candidate for District Attorney, and the other is W. C. North, candidate for Sheriff. Both deserve earnest consider ation. Elect these two men and we can rest assured the laws will be en forced. J. F. WILSON. 450 Vancouver Avenue. IGNORANT GRADUATES OF SCHOOLS Business College Man Deplores Their Lack: of Practical Knowledge. PORTLAND. Or., April 9. (To the Editor.) The article of W. D. Moore house In The Oregonian criticising the readers In our public schools, hits only one thing in the public school system that needs hitting. The writer of these lines has been in the business college work for the last six years, and, in that time, about 90 per cent of the students coming under his care are graduates of the grammar schools. I have found that not over 10 per cent of these students have any idea of the use to which their education should be applied or what connection It had with their lives. Ten per cent will take In all that could find the cost of excavating the basement of a build ing 24 feet wide. 30 feet long and 6 feet deep, and right angled at that, and less than that number could tell the day on which a note drawn on the 15th day of January, 1912, for 90 days, should be presented for payment. Reading and spelling abominable. Writing and a knowledge of the English language worse than abominable. One day a young man graduate of the grammar school, who had been a year at the high school, and a. brother of similar qualifications (?) came into the college to make arrangements for them to attend. In our conversation he made the remark, "Pa says that he doesn't care what It costs, that we will have to go somewhere this year where we will not be on the street half the time dressed like fools." This may account for the kind of ed ucation described above. I could give nstances by the hundred that have come under my own personal experi ence, but this is enough. OLD TEACHEK. AS OLD MAN. As I sit here sadly pining for the friends that come no more; lo, behold! the lights are shining over on that other shore. And methlnks I see the faces that I used to love so dear, who with all the gentle graces, hover 'round me. ever near. Tiiey win guide my footsteps weary, safely o'er the shining way, and 1 11 hear tneir voices cneery. ust as If 'twas yesterday. All these aches and pains will leave me, and I'll stand before the King, with no load of care to grieve me, and I'll hear the angels sing. That wllbe the brightest hour that I e er expect to Know; it is life eternal's dower to the soul when It shall go. Just to see my lovea ones meet me t the winding river's brink. Just to hear them kindly greet me at death's door I will not shrink. See the lights. they're brightly glowing; hear those Joyous words of prayer. Ah, I'm going; es, I m going; soon i n join tnem over there. As the gray glint of the morning failed to rouse his drooping head, earth gave forth her usual warning and pro nounced an old man dead. G. NORBREx PLEASANTS. WHAT'S TAUGHT IX THE SCHOOLS. Writer Sees Little L'se In Application of Mythologr t Stndles. PORTLAND, April 8. (To the Edi tor). I tonight read a letter in The Oregonian that bears somewhat upon the question of modern public school education. I can't say much for its clarity. I thought for a moment or two I was back in England, it is so like our village recluses In argument and expression. I gather that Mr. Moor house finds a staff to lean upon in thus championing the most sound and an cient wisdom of which we have written record. There are many written and unwritten laws which should (were we but half-way just) require no mon itor. I think the Graeco-Roman meta morphoses of these sane, wholesome laws which we have. In the New Tes tament, also have their uses even to the present day. I think with Mr. Moorhouse that when If comes to sheer time-saving utilitarianism, that we might do well to cut out the mythology, be it Greek or Hebrew. The aim of true education should certainly be to inculcate some amount of kindly sentiment as well as thorough commercial efficiency. I do not see that this can be done by adher ing so much to the word of God. If the message of civilization is one of funda mental truBt, In Its ultimate may we not, at least in schools and in pulpits, teach the higher values of scientific principles and deductions. This, I think, has become absolutely essential. There are now growing up two op posing factions, those who believe In Mrs. Gamps receipts ana inose wnu, when they go to church, have to listen to tirades that afford them nothing but a concern for the future weltare, men tallv and nhvslcally. of their descen dants. There is no doubt much to la ment in the modern worship of money power, but I don't think any just man will find an antidote to It in the He hw Scrlntures I infer that environ ment Is often the cause of much of the degeneracy that we see arouna us, ana on the other hand, I question the wis dom ot any mere hard and fast, inex perienced administration of the Hebrew morale. I trust that an altogether more mod ern tone may soon be possible. Men have to be fearless and women have to be tender, and this will be needful, I trust, for some centuries. Sorry I have not time to touch a little deeper on modern teachings, but I have not Dick ens' art. I wish that kindly, humorous writer was with us today. We need his insight. E. B. CLARKE. 1M YTHOLOGY IX PUBLIC SCHOOLS. If Mitral la Pointed Writer Believes They Are Not Improper. CATHLAMET. Wash.. April 7. (To the Editor.) There Is no place for mythology In our public schools so writes W. D. Morehouse, of Wamic, Or., and yet we would substitute Bible teaching for it. Let me ask this cham pion who wishes to make such a sweeping change if our dear old Bible is not largely composed of myths. We hold that such Instances as the fall of Lot and the punishment of his wife as myths; but they are good in that there Is a moral: "Beware of too great a temptation." The story goes that the hand of God stayed the sun that a prophet might finish his work of butchery and bloodshed. The moral here is. "Give opportunity time," and so on through the category we find lesson after lesson (myths) from which we can draw lessons. Mr. Morehouse In a great degree takes exception to Greek mythology. preferring Hebrew. Does he not know that our Bible is an account of the He brew creations and the history of that race of peoples? Do we not consider the degree of civilization attained by Greece greater than any one nation? Why should not Its mythology come in for a share of its glory? Why should we ' hold Hebrew mythology greater? We assume that Mr. Morehouse Is a teacher and we would like very much to know If he teaches mythology "straight," without explaining to the child its moral. The examples he cite all have their lessons. From the fact that animals do the talking the child Is Impressed more. The mind of a child is not appealed to as one of frown years. Suppose we would substitute in each of Mr. Morehouse's examples, men in stead of animals. What would be the effect uDon a child? The world is taught by examples myths. Christ .so taught. Myths are well so long as les sons derived are uplifting. W. P. MORSE. MILITIA BETTER THAN CIVILIANS. Guardsman Polntn Out Proportionate Effectiveness In War. PORTLAND, April 9. (To the Edi tor.) I have been a militiaman for about a year. I have Spent 10 days In camp, got my rating as a marksman and think I know whom to look to for orders and how to carry tham out when I get them. I am still something of a "rookie," therefore cannot claim that I am a good specimen of the average mi litiaman -although I have tried to learn all I possibly could and have not missed a drill since I enlisted. I was beginning to flatter mysolf that I a3 an Individual, and the Oregon Na tional Guard as an organization, might be of some use to the country if called into the field, but on reading your edi torial "The Valor of Ignorance," I feel inclined to ask "Cui bono?" If what General Chaffee says iB cor rect we might as well turn our swords into plowshares and wait for some mili tary nation to come along and kick us off the face of the earth. According to him the organized militia Is of no more use than a mob of civilians hurriedly brought together and armed with rifles and bayonets. The only salvation for th. r-ountrv Is an immense sianaints v but will the people of the United I ea ever consent to support a big I arm stnading army when the success of the pending militia pay bill is very doubt ful? Of course we all know that regular troops are better than militia, but it seems to me that militia are better than civilians in about the same pro portion that regulars are better than militia. " However, I do not claim to be an expert and if --'hat General Chaffee says is true we may as well forget what the Minute Men did to the British regu lars in 1776 and "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. y' GUARDSMAN. To Lonely Youtn. Fannie Stearns Davis, In the Atlantic. For all the ribbons and the curia You are not like those other girls. rear heart, you cannot laugh as they. Who never know what makes you gay: you must be lonely, often; yea. And learn to love your loneliness. Yea. lonely. wistful eyeal Oh. child. Vexed by the windy heart and wild. Youth hurts you, and mut hurt you. Yet Hold to your dream! nor once forget They shall ba utter Youth for you When other- dancing-days are through. Hold to your dreams! What If, tonight. You aeemed ao stupid, and the light ToiuiK laughter lashed you? Some day, sweet. Your turn shall come! your turn, to greet High Friends, deep Love: no puppet-play. But Love's last pain and pride, some day. And nights like this, Tired Heart, will seem The least queer shadow of a dream! And yet (great eyes and tear-wet curia) You would be like those other girls! So be It! Run! Blow out the light. But bo more tears! You child, good-night! The Burning Question By Dean Collins. The East is the East and the West, the ..est. And similar terms apply To North and South and to other points That in the compass lie; Howbeit. wherever at eve I walked. Ante-election talkers talked. I turned to the East and I heard them there; , In the West I heard their spiel: At North and South, 1 saw them stano On soapbox or automobile. And I thought as I wandered along th street, "Politics is at boiling heat." "Public int'rest must be stirred up As n'er it was stirred before," I kept on thinking as on I went. Engulfed in the speakers' roar. I spake to a man in the crowd, "I wot Politics is simmering hot." He turned to me in the seething crowd In .the din of the speaker's cry; '"Politics Is he one thing now In the public mind," quoth I. j-nd thus his eager rejoinder came "What was tJie score in the latest' game?"' Portland, April 7. T Half a Century Ago From Tlie Oijegonlan of April 10, ISfi?. The smallpox is among the Indians at Victoria. IAs there is a dense In dian population about the city, it Is advised that prompt measures be taken to arrest the progress of the disease. There has been a great excitement at Victoria about the newly discovered Stickeen mines. The Olympia Standard is in favor of the division of Washington into two territories, the dividing line to run di rectly north of the Eastern Oregon boundary line. Dallas. Polk County, March 29. The Polk and Union convention nominated J. S. Holman, Dr. Wariner, J. L. Collins, B. Simpson and James Gardner as dele gates to the state convention. The fol lowing named persons were nominated as candidates for county offices: B. Simpson and G. W. Richardson, for State Legislature; C. E. Moore, for County Judge; W. C. Whltson, County Clerk; Isaac Butler, Sheriff; J. Em mons, County Treasurer; W. H. Helms, Assessor; J. L. Collins, School Superin tendent; William Hall, Surveyor. Our streets are scarcely passable, ow ing to the number of drags passing to and from with freight for the upper country. The Seceshers met in convention yes terday and elected the following dele gates to the state convention: A. M. Loryea, T. J. Holmes, I. Charlton, W. W. Page, William Cree, A. D. Shelby. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pope have been re-engaged. Their previous engage ment was a success. "Rob Roy" is on the bills for toiight. Mr. Thomas fijly left his residence. East Fork Lewis River, Clark County, W. T.. on Tuesday, January 14. ult.. for the purpose of killing deer. Three re ports of a gun were heard by his broth er, James, a little before dark, which were supposed to be from the gun ot the missing man. He has never since been seen or heard of. It is believed that he accidentally shot himself. As "Ed" Howe Sees Life A woman makes rather less interest ing reading thf(n a man, except in a scandal. ' The dictionary is backed by no bet ter authority than the decalogue, but If the present desire for a "change" keeps up people will finally spell words wrong and insist that It is a better way. "Because the Diaz government is the best we have ever had," the Mexican said, "it does not follow that we may not find a better." But they didn't find it. Some of our worst mistakes arc made in discarding a good thing to look for a better. Of the many things you hear. What per cent do you let in one ear ana out the other? 'Probably you retain much that you shouldn't, and let many ' good things get ajway with the chaff. When a man 1 afraid of the future and sorry for the. past, you can't ex pect very much more from him. When a man kLvs he saw 20 or 30 quail in one flocli I know he saw less than 20. I When S'Ou calftftt a house and the phonograph is turned on for your amusement, they are sure to stick in Caruso. Don't walk the floor let the candidates do it. over politics; Men don't like wives who are for ever putting on the gloves with them. Around home a man wants it under stood that he Is champion. You hear frequent bursts of Indigna tion because men in the penitentiary are abused. Of course they are abused: that's the Idea of sending them to the penitentiary TAFT AND SELLING WINNERS. Straw Vote on Train Shows Trend of Oregon Opinion. DAYTON. Or., April 8. (To the Edi tor.) During a prolonged trip on the Dallas passenger limited (limited to not less than 10 miles per hour) out of Port land last Saturday evening, a straw vote on preferential Presidential and Senatorial candidates was taken in the smoking car of the train. There were 43 votes cast for President and 37 for Senator, thus: For President Taft, 22; Roosevelt 6; LaFollette, 3; Clark, 1; Wilson. 6; Debs, 5- For Senator--SePing, 21; Bourne, 11; Morton, 1 ; Lane, 4. Thus giving Taft and Selling a clear majority over all, including Democrats and Socialists. Those who suggested the vote expressed the opinion that this could be taken as indicative of the proportion in which the votes of Yam hill and Polk Counties would be cast. The casting of the vote drew the people In the car somewhat together and many and varied were the opin ions expressed. The peculiarity of one induces the mention of it here that the expense of Senator La Fol lette's trip into Oregon is defrayed by Jonathan Bourne, and it is made solely in the latter's interest. R. CHILCOTT. Democrat on Republican Ballot. LOSTINE. Or., April 7. (To the Edi tor.) If a Republican wishes to vote for a Democrat in the primary and writes the Democrat's name on his bal lot, does that count in I favor of the Democrat? A SUBSCRIBER. It does not count as a Democratic vote. If enough Republicans did the same thing the candidate would be nominated on the Republican ticket. But the Republican votee would not be counted in determining whether or not the candidate received the Democratic nomination.