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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1912)
THE MORNIXG OREGOXIAX. WEDNESDAY. SEPTE3IBER 4, 1912. PORTLAND, OREGON. Entered t Portland. Oreson. otoKlc as Second-Class Matter. Subscription Bate Invariably in Advance. (BT MAIL.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year Dally, Sunday included, six month! 4.- Dally. Sunday Included, three month!.. z Dally. Sunday Included, one month . Dally, without Sunday, one year . Dally, without Sunday, six months J.zo Daily, without Sunday, three months... 1.15 Dally, without Sunday, one month -o Weekly, one year ...... ... Sunday, one year Sunday and Weekly, one year (BY CARRIER.) Daily. Sunday Included, on year 9.00 Dallv. Sunday Included, one month o How to Remit Send Postofflce money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stampa, coin or currency are at the sender- risk. Give postofflce addres in full. Including county and state. Postage Rates 10 to 14 paces. 1 cent: 10 to 28 pages. 2 cents: 30 to 40 pages, 3 cents; 40 to 60 pages. 4 cents. Foreign postage, double rate. Eastern Business Offices Verre A Conk lln New York, Brunswick building. Chi cago, steger building. San Francisco Office R- J. Bidwell Co.. 742 Market street. Enropean Office No. Regent street. B. W-, London. POBTLAJiD. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. , Wit. PERKINS VS. PERKINS. When George W. Perking, the phi ' lanthroplst, looks around him and I sees the sorrowful effects of social and ' Industrial injustice, he Is much trou bled. He thinks the world ought to be : made better, and he tells why in full ( page interviews with the metropolitan ' press. Following is one of the noble ! passages from the rich man's creed: i Money is not all this life. I might have ' gone on adding more millions to my pot 1 sessions, but what would those additional millions avail me? I have enough to pro- vide for my family and for myself. I can wear only one suit of clothes at a time: ; I can eat only one meal at a time: I can ' llv In onjy one house at a time, and when I die I cannot take one dollar with me. These were the thoughts that came to me as I approached the fiftieth year of my , life: Will the mere accumulation of wealth bring an honorable heritage to my only son? Is there not something more than money which I can leave to him? That is - th answer to the query of my friends. But there is another George W. Per. kins. He Is a director of the har vester trust, of which the Osborne Twine Company, of Auburn, N. Y., is . a subsidiary. Testifying before a leg islative committee which is investigat ing the factories of New York, the su perintendent of this company's mill said that 150 women were working at night on a ten-hour shift; that some - of the working rooms were dark, even ' in daytime; that the women workers ("had to haul to their machines plies of hemp weighing 160 pounds, and that, contrary to law, no exhausts were op erated to clear the atmosphere of the r'dust with which it was charged. Senator Wagner, a member of the committee, said that most of the em ployes are women and girls. The wages run as low as $5 a week. One . woman said that she could make J 7 if - she worked "terribly hard." The women were "worn and pale, and their ; clothes, faces and hands were covered with oil and hemp, dust." On the night shift there are more women than men, most of the women being married. Sixteen-year-old girls work ten hours a day, and rarely make over 11 a ween, una case was mat ui woman 42 years old, the mother of five children. She gets up at 6:30, goes at once to work, and keeps at it till , with a half hour for lunch. She earns between 18 and $7.50 a week. One of her boys works in the factory. The house and the other children are ' looked after by a rheumatic husband, who also does the family washing. When asked whether she got enough to eat, she said "sometimes." The directors cannot shirk responsi bility for these conditions, for the su- perintendent said that orders as to la. ; . bor conditions emanate ultimately from the board of directors. But the " other Perkins explained to reporters ' that the night work of the women r "has been rendered necessary, large ' ly because of the Government's per l fectly unreasonable attitude toward r large corporations." In other words, Taft's enforcement of the anti-trust law has compelled this good trust, which Roosevelt would simply control and not dissolve, to violate a state law. But what becomes of that "supreme duty of the Nation" which the Pro - gressive platform says Is "the conser ' vation of human resources"? What about social and industrial Justice? What about "the general prohibition of night work for women, and the establishment of an eight , hour day for women," advocated in r the Progressive platform? Perkins, the Progressive, should ; certainly use his influence with Per f kins, the trust director, to conserve the human resources of "sweet Au- burn, loveliest village of the plain." f If he waits until the Progressive party controls the Government, the women s and girls who are now slaving for 85 t a week 17 if they work "terribly hard" may all have been re moved to the graveyard before the beneficent measures of trust regula tion and of social and industrial Jus- ' tlce have become law. That would rend the tender heart of the mlllion- aire who modestly admits that he has enough for himself and his family. J Since he cares so little for money, let him persuade the other Perkins not to await the compulsion of new laws, but to obey the laws now in force and to add of his own volition that other law to which the Progressive Perkins Is so devoted. IMMTNITY FOR MURDERERS. In the six years preceding the year 1911 there were 804 homicides In Cook County, Illinois, which caused 739 arrests, but only 388 of the per sona arrested were brought to trial. These trials resulted in 208 sentences to prison, only eleven hangings and 171 acquittals. The convictions to talled only 55.9 per cent of the num ber tried and only twenty-seven per cent of the number of homicides. For the whole United States Judge Gem mill, of the Municipal Court of Chi cago, estimates the - percentage of convictions to trials at CO to 65 per cent. This compares with a percent age of convictions to arrests of 84 in the year 1906, and 76 in the year 1908 in Germany, and of 71.5 in Eng land In the year 1907. When for 804 homicides only 388 persons are brought to trial, there is something radically wrong with our police system. - When among those 388 only 217 persons are convicted there is something decidedly wrong with the police force, which either failed to secure evidence or arrested the wrong persons; or with the pros ecuting officers, who failed In many Instances to convince the Juries of the guilt of the guilty persons; or iwlth the Juries, which often failed to convict when sufficient evidence of guilt was presented; or with all three of these parts of the law's machin ery. When only 27 Jn 100 maneuvers are punished the percentage of im munity is so high as to constitute a direct incitement to every angry man to kill his enemy. This condition can be remedied only by a reversal of the popular at titude towards murder. As a rule, the popular opinion of a murdered man and his slayer may be summed up in the words: "He's dead and can't be brought to life; what's the use of killing another man?" We need to get back to the first princi ple of law, which is that a man who wilfully and deliberately kills another should be executed because he has proved himself unfit to live and that a man who kills another without the elements of purpose and deliberation should serve a long term In prison, immunity being granted only to him who slays simply by unavoidable ac cident or in self-defense. When pub lic opinion is thus Changed the po lice will become more diligent In de tecting murderers and in finding the evidence of their guilt, prosecutors will become more earnest and Juries will be ruled more by their sense of responsibility to the community and less by sentiment or personal opinion. WAITING FOR THE SQUALL TO SUBSIDE. Some of our most respected citizens are a great deal disturbed over the disquieting report of the Vice Com mission and the circus-parade crusade of Governor West, on the ground that they will give Portland a bad name abroad. The newspapers, we are told, ought to have hushed up the affair or mads light of it, and nobody would then have known how wicked we are or the Vice Commission says we are and the entire disgraceful epi sode would soon have been, forgotten. This is an aspect of the case ,fre quently presented; but It does not especially impress The Oregonian as being worthy of much consideration. Waiving any" discussion of a news paper's duty to print the news, what impression have the vice report and the Governor's theatrical project to clean up Portland made in other places? Not much, we think, except that Oregon has a busybody in the exT ecutive chair. New York is suffering Just now from a police explosion; but we cannot see that New York has suffered much in the general view. San Francisco has a widespread reputation as a very, very bad city; but somehow San Francisco appears to get along. Seattle is pop , iiaviv unnnitpfi to h nurer than it used to be, but it is also duller. But far be it from us to say that tne rea son of the stagnation there is the im proved moral atmosphere. Possibly the atmosphere is clearer because the town is quieter. Conditions in all American cities, truth to tell, are much the same, for v, naAnia u-Via llv in them are about alike. The general Judgment of the Portland outbreak, in our opinion, will be that it is a sporaaic upneavat turn wnnn tn nil American cities. We are fond of excusing conditions here by saying that we are no worse than oth ers, and are better than some. True. We know it is true Everybody else knows it is true. Therefore' do not worry. The little storm win soon mow over. FIVE DOLLARS REWARD. . i mv.' An.TnAn will rive- SS for an authentic list, of the names of the twen ty-two Missouri delegate who Parker tor temporary chairman at Balti more. If all names cannot be secured, a i . . . . in . ,-tuAn for ft&CD propomuuaiw utuuui " , .,, name. If several answer, the reward will go to the one wnoso isner The Commoner. William J. Bryan, editor and proprietor. WiHHonriv Tirvan wants those names. and wants them very much. The vast reward vast for the thrifty and fru gal Bryan Indicates that he has some important use tor tnem. wnat js iw Champ Clark ought to be able to aar-n th IS MJlilV. tOT OiaillD knOWS who the twenty-two were and why they voted against Bryan and for Parker. Everyone else knows, of course, why the Missouri delegation split, but everybody does not know why tventy-two went for Parker and r.w. fntiptdnn fnr Rrvan. Probably it was not arranged that way, for the dolt and handy Clark manager! in ir,x.a tn oirlenten the preliminary Bryan-Parker issue, and to show no leaning one way or the otner, oy making an equal division of Missouri; but they wobbled and Parker got more than Bryan. Champ Clark holds Bryan responsi ble fnr his defeat. Clark knows. Bryan has tried to show Clark that defeat is a good thing ror mm; dui r-iat-v An not believe it. Evidently Bryan has at last become impatient, and purposes now to retaliate. Some day war between Bryan and Clark will break out It has already been proven that no . friendship catt survive the test of ambition when two bosom companions want the Presidency. CHEER UP. MR. SCHWERIN! While the Panama Canal bill was still under consideration by the Sen ate, R. P. Schwerin, vice-president of the Pacific Mall Company, announced that, in consequence of the proposed restrictions on railroad-owned ships, he had abandoned the intention to build $3,000,000 steamships to ply be tween New York and Asiatic ports through the canal. These ships were to have been the biggest ever turned out in American yards. He accused Congress of an intention to deprive railroads of their water terminals and of 8100,000,000 worth of property. Mr. Schwerin emitted this wail too soon. Let him cheer up. As the bill finally became law, he can still build those ships at American yards or, if American shipbuilders cannot or will not build them at a reasonable price, he can buy or' build them at foreign yards and have them admitted to American register. As an extension over the ocean of some -railroad ter minating in New York, he can operate them to Asiatic ports under the new law, and his railroad associates can still legally hold their Pacific mail stock. The railroads with which he is affiliated are not to be deprived of their water terminals , at San Fran cisco, but can use them in operating steamships across the Pacific as exten sions of their rail lines. The rail roads cannot, however, continue their present practice of using those ter minals In operating steamships to Panama and along the Pacific Coast for the purpose of throttling water competition. They must extend their rails to the docks of all steamship lines and must make through rates with such lines under the direction of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Panama Canal law has simply divorced the steamship lines from the railroads, except where they form a continuous line of transportation. Railroads are not to be allowed to continue the force of competing with themselves. . They can no longer have "one foot on sea and one on shore." They have no more business on sea than a steamship has on land and must hereafter keep to their proper element. The law need anger only those who do not know how to operate a steam ship line on its merits to make money for itself. It is an obstacle to the operation of steamship lines which lose money In order that the railroad which owns them may make more money. SOAPSUDS AND A BURGLAR. We commend to an admiring world Mrs. Palmer's method of protecting her house and home against burglars. She dwells at Baker City, where bur glars seem to thrive and where some more effectual way of fending them off is needed than the regular system would seem to afford, So she set her inventive ' genius at work and the re sult was something as novel and sur prising as it was efficacious. It was particularly surprising to a burglar who tried to break through Mrs. Palmer's kitchen door. She greeted him with a dose of her Anti-Burglar Compound and he departed in some haste, never to come back again. If Mrs. Palmer had been possessed of a revolver she would no doubt have shot at the intruder and of course would have missed him. The average woman cannot shoot straight any more than she can thow a stone within a yard of what she aims at. Providence, for excellent reasons of its own, has or dained that shooting shall not be In cluded In woman's sphere. Fortu nately Mrs. Palmer relied on a truly feminine weapon, for we suppose no body will dream of disputing that soap merits that adjective. Soap is perhaps the mo6t obstinately feminine of all the compounds that the genius of man has invented. It was lysol soap that Mrs. Palmer dashed into the burglar's face. The most notable property of this article is its tendency to smart and burn. Once the intruder got a dose of it in his eyes he could burgle no moreat least for a while, and for lack of some more profitable employment he ran away. No doubt he fancied that the lysol soap was only the beginning of his troubles and that Mrs. Palmer had ctm mora imnresslve COmDOUhds in store back under the kitchen sink. The moral aspect of the incident is plain. The fiery sensation which the burglar felt in his eyes will naturally remind him of what awaits him in the next world unless he mends his ways and thus perhaps his salvation will be effected. But what shall a lone woman do if she does not happen have nv Ivanl anan In the house? There are substitutes. Cayenne pep per does very wen. xt can oe tippueu with nn nf the little blow pipes which are used to dust insect powder on roseDusnes. vvny snqma nw, oyij woman who sleeps in fear of burglars keen a blower full of cayenne under her pillow? IS ENGUBH DECAYING? As a rule it is not worth while to nav but attention' to that class of Jeremiahs who wail over the progres sive decay of the isngnsn language. They have been howling over popular disrespect for their "revered mother tongue" ever since there was an Eng lish language and they will be howling when Gabriel sounds his trumpet on the last day. What they are really worried over is not the decay of Eng lish, but the exit of Greek and Latin from schools and colleges. It would not trouble tnem in tne least to thai rovnrerl mother tongue ko to the dogs, but they think' they can make out a case for studying tne classics from the prevalent use of slang and naturally they try to do it. "In ' order to use words correctly one must know their derivation, which nnmmnniv runn hark to aomo Greek or Latin root. We cannot appreciate n . . such writers as tsnaitespearc mu- ton unless we are ramuiar wnn men classical allusions. Hence everybody n,irh tn take Greek and Latin in his college course." Thus their argument runs, and a pretty slim affair it Is. We are moved to make these reflections by an article in tne aepiemuer i?,im whirh rehashes the old com plaints that slang and the misuse of words are sapping the foundations of English and that neglect of the clas sics is ruining our popular literary taste. To begin with, it is not true mat m.iot irnnw the derivation of words in order to use them correctly. Nine times out of ten the derivation would lead a person astray. We have a good example or this in me common efforts to define "education." Every body has heard them at teachers' Rrnne npraon rises and tells UlGLI.iQu. ww-.. r us with professorial profundity that "education means me arawms n,. aitie nf the child because It is derived from the Latin educare, which signifies drawing out." jvotnmg couia o mn nhnnrrl. We mieht as well say that "dollar" means the standard coin of Joachimstnai. uerraaoj, be cause the name comes from that r,i.i.. uMnontlon cannot be defined by inquiring what the Romans meant by "educare" or any oiner ui men t what education signifies to us we must study the con ditions of modern lire, ine meaning of almost every word in the language has progressively changed with time because circumstances have changed. To use words with their strict etymo logical significance would be as un practical as to till the land with a forked stick. We might as well cling to the derivation In using any other tools as in using words. The ham mer, for instance, was first applied to crack an enemy's skull. Therefore we must still use it for that amiable purpose and for no other. We must never drive nails with it. If we do we are guilty of degrading the "re vered science of mechanics." In the opinion of your thoroughgoing devotee of the classics nothing must ever be altered in speech and very little in anything else. The good old ways are the only perfectly lovely ways and we must forever walk in them. No person could ever make himself skillful in using language if he con tinually kept his mind fixed on the derivation of words. What he must do is to take words as they come to him. If he clings to their derivation nobody will know what he means and he will be o busy puzzling over ety mologies that he cannot think of any thing else. Suppose a man wanted to ohop down a tree but his conscience would not permit him to cut out a chip until he knew what mine his axe came from and the entire history of its manufacture. He would certainly lose his Job. Shakespeare usually was too sensible to care where the words he wanted to employ came from, but he once made an excursion into the realm of derivation and a sad mesa he made of it. The pedant in "Love s Labor Lost" gives us an etymology of "abominable." His Implication Is that It comes from the Latin "ab" plus "homo," so that it literally means contrary to human nature," and ac cordingly heaspells It "abhomlnable." All professorial pedants lay down the law that words ought to be spelled according to their derivation. Now the fact is that abominable has noth ing whatever to do with "homo." In reality it comes from "omen," a word whose meaning is separated from "homo" by thousands of miles. For tunately Shakespeare made no other excursions into this treacherous field. It is easy to imagine what would have become of Hamlet if his mind had been fixed on Greek and Latin roots instead of the roots of human nature while he was writing it. Now let us pass to the other argu ment of the pedants for wasting the best years of the young over Greek and Latin. Unless It is done, they tell us, nobody can hope to appreciate Milton and Shakespeare. .Here is the Forums' version of the precious plea: "I fancy the reader of almost any standard author may have puzzled moments If he thinks that the Ama zons were a Gallic tribe conquered by Julius Caesar, that Penelope was a desert island In the North Sea, or that Orpheus was a New York gentleman of Hebrew extraction who founded the Orpneum circuit." So he would. But he would also have troubled moments if he thought that an electron was a kind of cuttle fish or that a gas engine was the tower of Babel. Nobody can understand what he reads unless he knows what the author's terms mean. But he can always find what they mean by looking them up Inhe dic tionary. It is not necessary to study Greek grammar ten years in order to learn that the Amazons were women warriors. Any book of reference will tell it In ten seconds. As for Milton it Is probable that his circle of appre ciative readers will grow smaller with each new generation simply because the world cannot be persuaded that the kernels in his classical nuts are worth the trouble of learning how to crack them. But nothing . of the sort can be said of Shake speare. The understanding and en joyment of his plays are no more de pendent on Latin grammar than they are on a knowledge of Choctaw. He did not know Latin himself, though the pedants have done their best to make out that he did, and there is no con ceivable reason why his readers should know it as far as he is concerned. What the forlorn classiciasts take for signs of decay in current language are really Indications of exuberant health and vigor. - A friend asks The Oregonian what Marie Corelli's literary weakness fs. He Is concerned at pur occasional depreciation of her merits. Her weak ness is the same as that of any other ignorant, sentimental woman who un dertakes to discuss important sub jects without, understanding them. If she wrote novels of slushy passion only, nobody would think it worth while to criticise her, but with her slushy passion and illiterate style she combines a stupendous conceit which emboldens her to write upon relig ion, suffrage and so on, and always foolishly. . Much Is made of the annual pil grimage of well-to-do Americans to Europe and the money they spend, but all this is trifling in comparison with the exodus from Europe to America. For some years this mi gration has Included a million per sons every season and sometimes more. No such movement of popula tion has been seen since the tidal mi grations that preceded the dark ages. ! Of late some 600,000 foreigners have gone back home annually, but even then we retain an increment of half a million. Since Great Britain insists on med dling with the regulation bf the Pan ama Canal, it might be advisable to offer a fair exchange in order to set tle the controversy. There is a canal connecting Birmingham with the sea. The United States might propose to let England fix her own tolls at the Isthmus If she will In return let our Government make the rates on the Birmingham Canal. If we are to have dictation in our internal affairs by foreign nations we ought to favor them in the same way. After having stepped in front of a moving auto which killed his wife and maimed him, a Tacoma preacher says "I alone am to blame." Justice, and unselfishness are seldom displayed in such finely developed form. 1 Despite the fact that he is now the center of ' legal procedure involving millions, it Is safe to assume that the Astor Infant' continues serenely Indif ferent to all matters unrelated to the commissary, . The Colonel is taking a tank of oxy gen along on his campaign tour to prevent sore throat. It might also prove serviceable in an emergency to keep up the supply of hot air. "Keep your heads during the pup stage" is the advice on love that -comes from a local pulpit. We thought the "pup" stage consisted solely in the losing of one's head. John ' D. has .received threats of death and demands for money. The death threats probably worry him little, but the demands for cash are heartless and cruel; The poor man, serene In possession of his little family, may envy the Rockefellers no longer when he reads of their . fear of kidnapers and despoilers. Electricity is to run a Walla Walla farm. As soon as electricity is used to do all the work, farming Is certain to become popular. A California town contemplates a municipal bar. Candidates for the of fice of city bartender may shortly be ln,order. There is a gleam of hope In Mr. Beals' "westerly winds," as well as in the change of the moon today. The report of a quadruple wedding in Arkansas is inspiring. It is divorce that usually stalks in flocks. The weather man was lost sight of yesterday in the scrutiny of Vermont's political weather-cock. ' As only about 1 per cent of the bops go into yeast, can a Christian engage in picking them? Governor Osborn probably never heard of the Oregon plan of moral suasion. Did the "spell of weather" prevent the Governor from making the test march? BOOMS TAFT FOR ' SECOND TERM Dr. Coe's Dlacvuafoa im 1910 of Roose velt and Hia Friend. Salem Statesman. Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, who claims to be the largest Bull Moose artist in Oregon, gave an interesting interview published in the Morning Oregonian of May 30, 1910. Dr. Coe's followers, co workers and admirers will be inter ested in some of the statements he made in that interview, as follows: "When Colonel Roosevelt returns (from Africa) there will be many dis appointed persons among tho ranks of the Administration's (Taft's) detract ors. I believe Colonel Roosevelt went to Africa as a refutation of the pre-election assertion that he would continue to be President and he will endeavor to carry out that policy when he returns. I believe he is heart and soul with Mr. Taft. becausex he has' been there and knows the inside his tory of the situation. Also he believes In the sincerity, ability and honesty of Mr. Taft. - Personally I believe i him to be one of the greatest Presidents we ever had. Roosevelt may be Pres ident again. In fact, I believe he will, but not until Taft has served his second term. "Coming back to the present,' you have asked me about .the depth of this so-called 'insurgent movement. It is history repeating itself. We all remember the old Independent Repub lican movement, the free silver move ment and the greenback movement. It is pretty much the same. These clam orers do not know for what they are clamoring. "The way to treat with those fel lows," he added, significantly, "is to keep them at home. When they bob up for re-election, tell them with the ballot. In such a way that there will be ' no mistaking the direction from which the political wind Is blowing, that their services are no longer re quired." Dr. Coe lauds Fresldent Taft as one of the greatest Presidents we ever had and says Roosevelt will wait un til Taft has served another term be fore again entering the White House. He thinks the "so-called insurgent" movement will get nowhere and cites history. Probably Dr. Coe would re vise the above statement of two years ago, but Is It not correct as it is? TOWN OF REDMOND IS DEFENDED. Recent Crusade of Governor There Unjustified, Says Writer. REDMOND, Or., Sept 1. (To the Editor.) There have been so many untruthful and misleading opinions uttered during the past two weeks re garding conditions in Redmond, that I believe a few words ' of ."the truth about the situation," from the father of Redmond, would be timely now. First, let me say, I have been en gaged in promoting new towns in the Pacific Northwest for more than 50 years, several of which towns are now cities of fairly good size. Redmond was started by me seven years ago, and up to two years ago, when a movement was started here to make the town '"dry," after the county had voted "wet," no discord was shown here, but everybody was pulling to gether to build up the town and coun try. , In all my experience of building up new towns In the Pacific Northwest, Redmond has been by far the most peaceable and law-abiding, and since the incorporation of the town, over two years ago. it has not had a felony case from the town before the courts, the officers here have never tolerated open gambling of any kind, and only during railroad construction was there disorderly women In the outskirts of the town. Some six or eight of such women were here for a year or mora and several months before Governor West threatened the town with mar tial law, the disorderly houses had all been closed for want of support. Only one of these women remains here un til she can sell her property. ; Governor West is not a stranger to Redmond, and if he was not aware that the above statements were facts,, he could easily have become acquainted with, the truth. Simply because Red mond was the residence of a small num ber of fanatics on law and temperance, this was no reason why the Governor should develop a case of brain storm. When the City. Council wired Governor West . that the resignation of Mayor Jones was In the the hands of the City Council, stating that they were hold ing said resignation until a disinter ested investigation could be made, this did not 'sutl the "Czar of Oregon," who not only refused to appoint a .member of an investigation committee, but whose answer was an insult to the Council and plainly showed to any one acquainted with conditions at Redmond that Oswald West was unfit to hold office and ia a fit candidate for the recall. W. A. BELCHER. SOAP BOX AGITATORS RAPPED. Conditions Good and Opportunities Plentiful In Land, Says Writer. . PORTLAND, Sept. 8. (To the Edi tor.) I have been in Portland three months, and in sight-seeing abouU town in tne evenings i nave otten come across a Socialist on a soap box, try ing to convince his audience that the working men are on the verge of star vation; that all who do any work are no more than slaves; and almost any evening such orators can be heard call ing our United States soldiers vile names and insulting them as well as our flag. Now, it seems to me that people liv ing under the Stars and Stripes and who are not afraid to work for what they get, have equal chances to make a living. The Socialist blames the cap italist for having to work under a boss, but I think under any system there would not be much accomplished without a boss. . - There are as many opportunities for a man now as when our fathers crossed the plains. I notice that the majority of Socialists are foreigners who were apparently glad to leave their fatherland and glad to get to the United States, where they could get good wages and free farms as well as free speech. But as soon as they get a foothold here they talk for the down fall of the very Government they have sworn to uphold. There are thousands bf chances in this country for those who dislike to work under a boss, to work for them selves. What the Socialists want Is to confiscate other people's property and avoid work. . S. P. C. Instruction tn Wireless. PORTLAND, Sept. 1. (To the Edi tor.) Kindly Inform me If there Is any place in Portland where a woman may learn wireless telegraphy, or ad vise me to whom I should apply for information on the subject. J. C. B. There is no such school in Portland, but there are several operators whose names can be' furnished either by the City Harbormaster or the Port of Portland.- - "Government Whitewash." SANDY. Or., Sept. 1. (To the Edi tor.) Kindly tell me the receipt for making Government whitewash. . or where I can get receipt for same. E. W: READ. Information on this probably can be secured from the United 8tates Depart ment of Agriculture. Question tn Grammar. CLARENO, Or.. Aug. il-. (To the Editor.) Which is correct, I drank or I drunk, as in saying, I drank a cup of water or I drunk a cup of water? GEO. 1TGBEER. "1 drank" ia correct. ftlEER NOTION OF PROHIBITION. Correspondent Insists It Is "Exclusive National lasue.lf PORTLAND, Sept. 2. (To the Edi tor.) When one peruses the pages of all the local newspapers and sundry periodicals, he runs across many amus. ing articles. One of them is in The Morning Oregonian, August 26, headed, "How to Achieve Prohibition." I am only a lay proht, but can hardly refrain Just this once from trying to point out to your many readers that which tickles me. The article as a whole is very good Indeed, contending with us that our method is the only one by which the Nation can hope to destroy the liquor traffic successfully. You practically removed the "if" from your editorial of August 17, 1912, which says: "If Prohibition will pro hibit the sale and traffic of liquor, there would be no effective argument against It." We are glad that you are growing In grace; but you create a new "if" in your imagination (which you can easily outgrow also in two years) by saying Brothers Paget and Stlllman (and I reckon a few others) make a mistake in not knowing that "prohibition is not generally recognised as an exclusive National issue." To me that sounds perfectly childish; If 1 need enlightenment, please help me. Have you never read our 1912 or any former platform? Have we not 15 planks, beside the prohibition plank, of which perhaps more than half are ex clusive and National, or were, before the Bull Moose convulsion copied a few of them to bait its deadly hook with? Does a traffic that concerns every decent citizen and the welfare of tne Nation, directly affeots the safety and happiness of every living being, and has been agitated for 76 years, and has been declared an outlaw by numerous Supreme Courts, by a majority vote of about three-fourths of the voting pop ulation of the Nation at various times in sections, and by numerous legisla tive bodies, not become an exclusive National issue Just because the liquor and white slave and money trust have captured, temporarily, the National ad ministration of Government and an nounce that It is not a National issue? Then has not the Prohibition party, which deserves the . name' of "Civil party," advocated many reforms even ahead of the Socialists of this country, which the other parties have from time to time taken up and made National Issues (which they will carry out on a stretcher as usual), and have done this thing right to the critical point of risking the influence of the money and liquor trust (which, by the way, control a few votes), beyond which point none will go? Please tell us what are exclusive National issues of the other three parties. What'muet we do to make a problem a recognized exclusive Na tional Issue? Must we wait until the average dailies volunteer to do it for u? Does it indicate Ignorance when an individual or party advocates a re form that has hot yet become a recog nized "exclusive National Issue"? Please don't think me sarcastic. I am intensely sincere and if you will publish this with or without answer you will oblige many readers and I'll not bother you again. C. A. REICHEN. The reason that The Oregonian said "prohibition Is not generally recog nized as an exclusive National Issue" is merely that It sought to state a familiar fact. If the bare statement of such a fact sounds "childish" to this correspondent. The Oregonian will ray no more than that it is sorry for him. ZIEGLER . AMENDMENT EXPLAINED Its Author Tells of Encroachment on tbe City's Public Streets. PORTLAND. Sept. 3. (To the Edi tor.) I find in The Oregonlan's report of the City Council's action on pro posed charter amendments, that the only amendment tailing to De suomnxea waB "one offered by J. B. Ziegler, au thor of the celebrated - amendment which nailed down the city's streets so tightly that the city could hot use one needed for auditorium construe-, tlon." . The reasons, as I am informed by Mr. Wilcox, that the. Auditorium Commis sion has not ' built upon the market block are: First, they lack J200.000 funds to purchase additional t area needed according' to their plan; Sec ond, tbe Commission did not regard the site with favor. The Ziegler amendment forbids the vacation of a street, which is a right of way and not land In fee. The pub lic rights and proceedings relative thereto, follow the right of way and do not forbid alteration of a street under section S47 of the charter. How ever, at the request of Mr. Wilcox, I suggested an amendment which Mr. Montague has drawn and which the Council has placed upon the ballot. The people will now have the opportunity to stay this tempest in a teapot, threat ening to wreck their right to protect the public streets. If the Ziegler amendment nailed the streets down nretty tight, it is because the history of Portland proves that It was necessary to do so. I have only to cite such grave losses as those of the Park blocks, from AnKeny 10 sal mon streets, the public levee from Ankeny to Jefferson streets, the Ste phen Coffin public levee and the re peated encroachments on the harbor. notably, those Detween tne croaaway and Burnslde ' bridges, reducing the width of the river from a normal of 1000 to 1600' feet, to the present wiatn of 600 feet at the old Steel bridge, and 650 feet at Pine street. An attempt in 1906 to push the har bor line further out in the river, be tween the Steel bridge and Burnslde bridge failed, as did the attempts to vacate the shore ends of 14 East Side streets in 1910. This last burglarious attemot lnstieated the Ziegler amend ment, and constitutes my apology. If the public feels aggrieved, l nummy beg pardon, J. B. ZIEGLER. FIGHT EXPECTED AT MOUNT TABOR Writer Locates Battle of Armageddon North of Johnson Creek. PORTLAND, Aug. 81. (To the Edi tor.) "I will stand, with the righteous at Armageddon and fight the battle of the Lord." The Oregonian will un doubtedly be a member of the Ananias Club if Teddy reads its- editorial on Armageddon. The Bible may be wrong but Teddy, never. There is no doubt but the prophet had him in mind when he said the leader Is to be one "dothed ,n a vesture dipped in blood, a name written on his thigh. King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Could less be said of Teddy? The beast referred to is undoubtedly the Bull Moose. There Is to be a big battle, and at Its close there Is to be the big burning in the lake of fire and brimstone. It is not clear where this lake is lo cated, but Armageddon is reported as located on the west bank of the River Jordan,' a little south of Nazareth and Mount Tabor. This is undoubtedly a mistake, as the place Is doubtless north of Johnson Creek and south of Mount Tabor. Anyhow, this is a good place for a fight, and Ted will be here September 11. So Ralph Williams, Jay Bowerman, Senator Fulton, Judge Ellis, George Kelly, Ed Sommerville, Ben Selling and .11 nthnfM nf their class - who dare OD- pose the big I, better see the error orl their way ana repent, tor wnen xeaay arrives we shall see him in his garb dipped in gore and his lieutenants, Dr. Henry Waldo Coe. Dan Kellaher, Dave Povey. A. W. (Walter) Lafferty and many others clothed In fine linen, white and clean, ready to do battle. They may take prisoners and chucK tnem In that burning lake of fire and brim stone, or at least Into the Mount Tabor reservoir, H. H, H. The Lojt Ballot By Dean Collins. I saw them lead him down the street, And ever as they walked. The men who stayed on either side In soothing accents talked. I asked a friend. "Who Is the gink?" He "gave a slow and pensive wink, And thus he went on to relate: "The best-read man in all the state. "He is the man who hath perused Those measures thirty-eight: Hath read with care the platform of Each party in the state; And the commission charter, too. Well hath he conned It through and through; He knows the pledges, every one, Of candidates who are to run. "The evils that beset the state And each proposed correction He knows, and is prepared to vote With wisdom, next election. By day and night, with care he read. And stored his learning in his head Till every point had found a home . Within his high, expansive dome." I gazed with joy. "At last," I cried. With gesture of elation, "I know of one who hath a grasp Upon the situation: At least one ballot, I've a hunch. Out of thousands In the bunch. Will be correct In every way." "Nay." "Why not?" I cried, amazed, and checked My gloating In mid-gloat. "Alas!" he sighed, "The well-read man Will get no chance to vote." "Elucidate," I palpitated. With gestures he elucidated. Moving his hands In giddy reels To symbolize a bunch of wheels. "Last night, long study did Its work," He sighed with quivering Up. "Just as he grasped It all, he went : Completely off his dip. The keepers led him to a cell. Where they will lock and guard ful. well, Leaving to gibber, rave and dote Tne only man prepared to vote." CONVICTION AND PUNISHMENT. Figjnres Relating; to Murder Record tn This Country and Germany. . . CHICAGO, Aug. 2. (To the Editor.) I noticed In The Oregonian of a re cent date an editorial headed, "Out Frightful Murder Record,'- and in it are given figures concerning murders In this country and Germany. I have taken occasion In the last couple of years to examine carefully all records possible, to obtain criminal statistics In this country and tn Europe, and am quite familiar with the statement contained in the editorial to the effect that "In Germany 95 per cent of those legally accused of mur der are convicted, and in the United States 1.3 per cent." These figures came originally from Joslah Strong's book. Issued in 1906, and were copied from that book into "The World's Almanac" from which place they have received general cir culation. Both of the figures given are incor rect. The same authority, towit, "The World's Almanac," gives the follow ing figures sb to Germany: For year 1906, homicides tried 567 Convicted ...476 making the percentage of convictions 83, Instead of 95 per cent. The last German reports Issued for 1908 give the following figures: Homicides tried 843 Convicted 161 or 70 per cent convictions. The most serious error, however. Is in the other figure, that of 1.8 per cent. "The World's Almanac,'' in a note, now states that this is a mistaken figure, and that what the-writer meant was that 1.8 per cent of those tried for murder In the- United States were hanged, and that the writer was made to say that 1.3 per cent of those tried were convicted. I have carefully examined all the records furnlBhed by the Department of Commerce and Labor, including the different sheets- Issued by the United States- Government, and I find that, notwithstanding the death penalty has been abolished in eight or nine states, yet about 2 per' cent of the persons tried for homicide in the United States have been put to death either, by hang ing or electrocution, and that, as nearly as & record can be made up, from 60 to 66 per cent of those tried for homicide in the United States have been convicted in the United States during the past ten years. I have examined the figures for Cook County, Illinois, covering six years immediately prior to 1911, and these figures are: Total number homicides reported. .804 Total number those arrested. ..... .739 Total number tried 388 Total number acquitted by Juries... 171 Total sentenced to penitentiary or reformatories 206 Number hanged H Number of suicides after crime 78 Balance released by Coroner or grand jury. Based upon the number . of persons tried for homicide, 66 -per cent were convicted and 8 per cent were exe cuted. f-1 Last year, there were '122 arrests for homicides In Chicago and 61 persons were convicted. In England, for 1907, 404 persons were, arrested charged with homicide; 289 were convicted, 20 were sentenced to death, but the sentences of 16 of the 20 were afterward commuted, and but four of the 30 were executed, making a conviction of 70 per cent. W. N. GEMMILL. PORTLAND NOT ESPECIALLY BAD Correspondent Avers That Governor . Has Defamed City's Name. , TWIN FALLS, Idaho, Sept 1. (To the Editor.) Why all this talk about fortiana.' wny uvo g,ui submit to having our city exploited from one end of the country to the other as a hotbed of vice and de pravity, simply because our Governor must have material for his campaign -..KHntt v ? t am a traveling man and a resident of Portland and regret . . 1 . . . . A .. k to see our iair cny niontcu u., a way as it now is. Portland is not n .. n tnt that matter an hurl as any other city in this country, and mucn Detter umu n them. Let Governor West raise a "hullaballoo" and rave about the de pravity of Portland, If he must, but let him keep his hands off our city t T nnt.il fnr him anA ha- gUVfllHIIlCiil. - ' " ...... -- Ueved him to be a good -man, but recent aeveiopment-o wuuiu uiun...u that in his mad desire to keep always in tha Dublic gaze. Governor West is very Indiscreet- It must Be apparent to any man wuu has traveled and knows of conditions in other cities of the size of Portland that Portland Is not, and has not been for several years, any more of a center . j.ni,.n, tn. iiniiArworld than any other town of its size, and for that matter Is not nearly so oaa umci d..i,i. naat .itirf Ta ftoveronr West i . n i. hnmnn tmtur and make of Portland a social and political Utopia, wnicn win enaure i after the Governor has departed? Will t-t i-.. fnr better cov in n fluio; l-o-llilJcwb .-- ernment in Portland have any lasting benefit? -. I think not. ano. m roauiv will be that the city officials will have - .,...,(. An thAir hands when the Governor gets through that will tax their capacity to tne utiui - a stiif a hasn't- sense enough to keep In his place It la time some one came iurom wn could put him there. It is for such 'as he that the recall was invented. J-l. VV . V. V,