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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1912)
1 r i li Is PORTLAND, OBEWS. Entered at Portland, Orexon. Postoffice as Second-Class Matter. Subscription Ratts Invariably In Advance. (BT MAIL) Dallr. Sunday Included, one year. I8.00 Dally, Bunday Included, six months.... J-o Dally. Sunday Included, three montna.. x. Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... -' J Dally, without Sunday, one year.. J."" Dally, without Sunday, six months.... .o Dally, without Sunday, three montha... l-fo Dally, without Sunday, one month .' Weekly, one year Sunday, one year Sunday and Weekly, one year 8-W (BY CARRIER.) Dally. Sunday included, one year...... .00 Daily. Sunday Included, one month o How to Remit Send Poatofllce money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or .""V . at the sender's risk. Give pojtofflce addreaa In full, lnciudlnc county and state. Postaxe Rates 10 to 14 pases, 1 cent: 18 to 28 page, 2 cent.; $0 to 40 pages, 3 cent. . 40 to 60 pases, 4 cent. Foreign pottage, double rate. . Eastern Business Office-Jfe Cchl'. lln New York. Brunswick building. Chi cago, Steger building. San Francisco Office B. J- Bldwell, Co.. 742 Market street. European Office No. S Regent street, a W., London. ' PORTLA.VD. rtUDAT. OCTOBER . 1SU- THE PUZZLING THIRTY-EIGHT. In response to an invitation issued by The Oregonlan to any. person who has reached a conclusion as to each of the thirty-eight measures submitted to the voters to describe the process by which he reached those conclusions and to advise his fellow-electors, "One Voter" writes to The Oregonlan today. These are his conclusions, as we un derstand them: (1) If the voter desires to discour age overuse of the Initiative, he may safely vote "no" on every initiative measure and "yes" on every referen dum. (2) Consideration of the measures may be simplified by grouping them into tax measures, road measures, bills to restrain labor and restrict the initia tive, and measures that are miscel laneous in character. (3) All or most tax measures are bad. The harmony road bills are ex travagant and coercive. The Grange road bills are not. The referred meas ures are simple. The miscellaneous measures are fairly well Indicated in their titles. In his summary "One Voter" has not fully accepted the Invitation of The Oregonlan. He does not give his process of reasoning nor tell whether he obtained his Information from the pamphlet or other sources. He gives only one or two specific conclusions and offers no positive advice. His suggestion that no particular harm will be done by defeat of all Ini tiative measures and the sustaining of the Legislature on all referred bills is profoundly true. Nevertheless it is an undesirable course of action for the voter to take, and would defeat its own purpose. Some of the measures are constitutional amendments that can not be adopted without the approval of the voters. Intent of the amend ment granting the suffrage to women, or that of the amendment abolishing capital punishment, is simple and each may be readily identified on the ballot. There is no reason why the voters should not express their honest opin ion on these subjects. The Legisla ture Is now denied the authority to adopt laws relating, to tax regulations or exemptions. Such laws must all go to vote of the people. To prevent overburdening of the ballot in future this power ought to be restored to the Legislature. Rebuke of misuse of the initiative will not be complete unless the amendment repealing a part of section la, article ix. Is adopted. Defeat of this amendment will result in repe tition of initiative abuses. It Is num bered S08 yes; 309 no. ' The consolidation of cities and the division of counties are in much the same tangle as tax regulation. The Legislature has been deprived of the power to Join cities or create new counties. The people may do so by initiative, but the initiative bills must go before the voters of the entire state. Yet such bills are local in charac ter. Two years ago the voters were presented with eight or nine such measures. This year one is In the list. A bill (348 yes) provides for local set tlement of such issues. Its approval will relieve the general ballot of un necessary measures In the future. On the whole, we think it undesira ble, therefore, to advocate simply as a rebuke defeat of all attempts at di rect legislation. Fundamental and ele mental measures and those that would tend to prevent misuse of the Initiative hereafter should be thoroughly and conscientiously considered. On others the rebuke may be properly applied. " Nor do we agree with our corre spondent that all the miscellaneous measures are fairly well Indicated in the titles. The amendment that would abolish the Legislature and provide proportlonil representation is a nota ble exception. The title contains the full legal limit of 100 words. It was impossible to cover the measure therein. Here are some of the changes this amendment would establish or au thorize which are not expressed in the title: Public acquirement of public utili ties. ' Extension of municipal power of eminent domain. Abolishment of Governor's " veto power. Three-fourths vote of Legislature to repeal or amend Initiative measures. Three-fourths vote of the Legisla ture to declare an emergency. Redisricting of the state. Inhibition against creating legisla tive commissions to propose initiative measures. Special elections for filling vacan cies In office of Governor. Five years' residence qualification for members of Legislature. There are numerous Important and fundamental changes proposed In this amendment in addition to the nine given above and the thirteen enumer ated In the title. The arguments in the pamphlet do not discuss all of them. Therein the voter can gain no Information, for example, as to the meaning of the section devoted to emi nent domain. Certainly this amend ment is not fairly indicated in the title, but through no fault .of the Attorney General. It cannot be fairly indicated in 100 words. The Oregonlan would still like to hear from some voter, not a profes sional law tinkerer, who has formed a conclusion as to every meas ure to be voted on and who can ad vise the ordinary voter how to acquire the same admirable frame of mind. j The current number of the Pilot j Rock Record has a variety of interest, lng political articles, including an edi torial (one and one-half columns) crit , icislng The Oregonlan for saying that the opinion of Eastern newspapers generally was that the Maine election presaged victory for the Democrats in November, """lampooning the Demo cratic party, eulogizing Roosevelt and lauding Taft. Another able article (three-fourths column) supports the protective tariff and explains why President Taft was exactly right when he pronounced the Payne-Aldrich act the "best tariff ever." Other articles of varying size, but all of abounding interest, show why Roosevelt, and not Taft nor Wilson, should be elected President. The Record has the true system. It shines for all. GOOD BII.L IX WRONG PLACE. PORTLAND. Or., Oct. S. CTo the Editor.) The '"blue sky' law, which you oppose, is one of the very best measures to come be fore the people. No honest man can possi bly be harmed by It. It will banish the crooked promoter from Oregon, and I nope It will become law. SEVENTY-THREE. Thus we hear from a first-rate citi zen, who has the general interest much in mind and renders much unselfish and useful public service. If such men are to encourage the promiscuous use of the initiative, and the abandon ment of our historic constitutional method of legislation, for the enact ment of purely miscellaneous laws, how is representative government to be restored? ' The "blue sky" law Is a good bill, undoubtedly. The Oregonlan approves Its purpose and is In accord with many of its provisions. The fake stock pro. moter ought to go.' This bill alms to drive bim out or put him in jail. But we are not unmindful that this particular measure authorizes an ex penditure of 320,000 to $25,000 annu ally, creates a fine new $3000 job for somebody and is the pet scheme of some other somebody, though his mo tives may be, and doubtless are, en tirely worthy. This bill, and all similar Mils, belong to the Legislature. It has never been offered to the Legislature. Is there fear that it will not pass? We sup pose so. But why not try? There after an appeal to the Initiative may be justifiable. BORAH'S FIGHT IS IDAHO. Senator Borah is facing in Idaho, in his campaign for re-election, a situa tion of difficulty and perplexity, with a rare degree of candor and courage. Because he was for Roosevelt before the National convention, the uncom promising Roosevelt followers Insist that he must declare for Roosevelt now; because Taft was nominated at rhfpan t-o rffirular Republicans de clare that he must now be for Taft. The Senator refuses to ride with eitner faction; but he states exactly where he stands in the middle of the road and he tells the Republicans of Idaho to defeat him if they prefer some other at Washington. But he says also: 1 think I am violating no confidence when I say that Colonel Roosevelt person ally requested me to Join him in the third party. I said that I would not Join him In the third party movement. That was right. 1 did not propose to leave the Republican party. I made up my mind In good faith. I have not changed my mind and r will . ... i. i th Mmntlsn. Regardless of what happens I propose to advocate those . . . j ...!. f th Ra. principle, wnnm au . publican party. a smaller man than Borah would have great trouble in maintaining himself between the contentions oi factions and the disputes of partisans. Yet Idaho needs Borah at Washing ton. The Republican party needs him, and the Nation needs him. Idaho will hardly make the mistake of defeating him. ' A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT. The Los Angeles Judge who prefers tb. woirarn nf families to that of loan sharks merits the commendation of gooa citizens, ""'"i o roe, Reserves to be written in the Hall of Fame far more than some which are there already. The case which v,. j.ihiu1 in favor of a wife and her children against a gang of loan sharks rnncorneri one" of the City employes. This not very exemplary person seems to have been divorced by his wiie aim ordered by the court to pay her ali mony, so much a month. Without .. tn this nhlicration he fell into debt to the money lenders, who sought to garnishee his salary ana tnus ae prlve his family of their dues. Tnrto-o Monron decided that the gar nishment would riot hold, so that the divorced wife gets her allowance as she ought, but in spite of his decree the loan sharks will probably not go begging as they ought. Much of the machinery of the law pays too little regard to the welfare of wives and children. It Is devised upon the the ory that a man's family is construc tively implicated In his guilt when he commits an offense and ought there fore to suffer with him, or onen in nis stead. Chinese law carries this outrageous thAmr thA lAnirth of making the whole village where a criminal lives responsible for his misdeeds. Our ar rangements never went quite so far in ini.Hi.. Hut tViArn was a time in Eng land when ever felon forfeited his property and his family had to go to the poorhouse. The reason why Giles allowed himself to be pressed to death rather than testify when he was accused of witchcraft at tsaiem was that If he remained silent he could not be convicted. As it was, his family inherited his property. Had he been convicted of witchcraft, which was a felony In those good old ages of faith, they would have lost every thing. The law has passed out of this enor mity, but we. still keep men idle in prison while their wives take in wash ing to prevent the children from starving. Some states actually farm nf cnnvlpt. to cornoratidns and at the same time support their families- in poorhouses. Common sense wouia counsel such states to collect as high wages as possible for their work and turn the proceeds over to the suffer ing family, but common sense and law are two very different things. WATER ROUTES AS REGULATORS. The business policy according to which, for the sake of a Uttle tempo rary, Immediate gain, Portland mer chants allow this port's ocean steam ship business to droop and die is a penny-wise and pound-foolish policy. It has become a trite saying that wa ter routes are valuable as a regulator of railroad rates. So they are, pro vided the regulator is kept well oiled and in good working order. If It be allowed to become rusty from disuse, with no men at hand to operate It, such a regulator invites the contempt of those whom it is designed to regulate. Even though our chief reliance for transportation faculties between our two coasts should continue to be on the railroad, it would pay our mer chants to give steamship lines enough business to Justify their owners in continuing pperation. This would be Just as sound policy as it is to t;arry fire insurance and to maintain water and fire departments. Such a policy would ward off evils as sure to befall the shipper as fire Is sure to ruin the man who carries no Insurance In a city devoid of fire protection. But our chief reliance should not be on the railroads. It has been often said that. In neglecting water routes for land routes, the cities of the Pa cific Coast are doing business through their back doors. Our front door opens on the ocean, our back door on the land. We should gather commo dities by rail from the interior in small lots and send them out by steamer in. large lots. We should receive them from abroad and from the Eastern seaboard in large lots by steamer and distribute them in small lots through the back country by rail. The rail roads should be the feeders and tribu taries of the water lines, not the water Unes of the railroads. The great cities of past and present times have been and are those which turned their faces, not their backs, to the sea. Such were and are Carthage, Tyre, Venice, Genoa, Amsterdam, Antwerp, London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hamburg. Havre, New York, Boston, Philadelphia,. New Orleans. When Carthage and Tyre lost their mastery of the sea, they de cayed and died, so that they have be come but a memory, and Venice is but a relic of past glory. ROOSEVELT'S TEST. Confirmation of La Follette's charge that "How do you stand on ME?" Is Roosevelt's sole test of qualification for a Progressive Is found In a corre spondence which has passed between Wallace Batchelder, of Bethel, Ver mont, and Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Batchelder was one of Roosevelt's Rough Riders in 1898 and supported him in the primary campaign for the Republican nomination. On July 20 he received the following telegram from Roosevelt: We cannot endorse any candidate of either party who will not support Koose velt electors in the coming election. I de pend on yon for your support in this mat ter. Having confirmed the authenticity of this telegram, Mr. Batchelder re plied in part as follows: I supposed that I waa righting- for the real rule of the people and against bosses and bos&ism. Your telegram . . . makes It plain that you direct me, and men in every state that we must not vote for any candi date for office, no matter how honest, able, efficient, or progressive he may be, unless that candidate win agree to pay for our votes ... by supporting Roosevelt electors. . . . With grief, the depth of which you cannot know, I have decided, after one of the hardest fights 1 have ever been forced to put up, that I cannot longer support you for President of the United States. The only bosses whom Roosevelt condemns are those who oppose him. He sets himself up as the Progressive boss and those Progressives who re sent bossism from any quarter what ever, simply because it is bossism, not because it is anti-Roosevelt bossism, find themselves constrained to oppose the third-term candidate, though often with grief, as Mr. Batchelder does. READING FOR BUSY MEN. A writer in an Eastern contempo rary discoursed agreeably through a column the. other day on the subject of "Reading for Busy Men." His pur pose was to make out a case for big books. He deprecated the current rage for handbooks, abridgements and collections of choice extracts from il lustrious writers and urged every body, even the busiest of busy men, to choose some elaborate work and go through it from beginning to end. In fact he had persuaded himself that this plan of reading was particularly good for "the tired business man," be cause It would bring him into pro longed Intimacy with a great author and open ,out new horizons to his thought. In support of his advice he quoted President Butler, of Columbia University, who besought his young students this Fall to "Resolve to pass the year In company with some one high and noble character." Perhaps the ideal way to make Dr. Butler's sage counsel available would be to fill the chairs of his university with "high and noble characters," among whom each student might choose his guide, philosopher and friend for the year. But there ap pears to be a lamentable disparity between supply and demand in this direction and for lack of living men tors he referred the young men to the dead writers of books. Tennyson, or his revelation in verse. Dr. Butler thought, would make a good associate for a year. So would Emersonr Lord Morley or Pasteur. Some timorous persons might object to this exclusive devotion of college students to a sin gle author, however well chosen, but such fears do not trouble us. Let President Butler persuade as .he may, his young men will not interpolate enough of Tennyson Into their series of football and baseball games to nar row their, interests: If the ordinary col-lege man could be charmed by some magician Into a real fondness for any book whatever, long or short, ancient or modern, it would be a de cided gain for him. ' To live with a ione poet for a whole year Is a counsel of perfection which a chosen few may perhaps follow, but the giddy multi tude will be sure to disregard it. Most busy men who read anything at all besides the newspapers do it for information. They wish to keep them selves from shrinking Into the rut of daily routine by acquaintance with the thought of the world, its Inventions and social reforms. They care nothing for literary style. Indeed, few of them can tell the difference between the best style in the world and the worst as far as art is concerned. A book which tells what they want to know concisely and clearly is the one that suits them, no matter with what genius or lack of genius it may be written. It Is this demand for cur rent information which the abridge ments and handbooks of our day are manufactured to supply. A busy man by reading such works half an hour every night can make himself fairly familiar with what is going on in the world. He can master the main ideas of socialism, learn the latest electrical theories, get a fair notion of Berg son's philosophy and among these practical matters he can edge in enough extracts from Tennyson, Em erson and their kind to understand at least why they are called great. On the other hand, if a busy man confines his reading to a "big work like Carlyle's "Life of Frederick" or Gibbon's "Decline and Fall" he will both gain and lose. He will gain fa miliarity with the workings of a great mind. He will learn to appreciate one or more of the masterpieces of human achievement. He will become intimately acquainted with a new and marvelous world. But, on the other hand. It will not be the world he lives in. The more closely he applies his brief daily leisure to Carlyle or Glb 6on the farther he must withdraw from the Interests of struggling men, from the life and movements of his time. Here, as everywhere else, cir cumstances compel a choice and with the choice a sacrifice of something desirable. We cannot help thinking, however. that one choice is better than the other. The tendency of modern busi ness is not to broaden the minds of Its votaries. On the contrary, it swings toward specialization. In the large corporations each man gravitates to a particular department and lodges there permanently. Lawyers select some branch of their profession, such as wills or abstracts of title, and pay little attention to the rest. In medi cine it has become half a reproach to call a man a "general practitioner." With thl3 narrowing of vocation nec essarily goes a narrowing of interest in life and a loss of human sympathy unless by resolute effort the withering process Is checked. It cannot be checked by exclusive devotion to a single book or author. Since business tends inevitably toward monotony, a man who would save himself from In tellectual and spiritual - desiccation must seek variety in his recreation. It is better for him to dip into as many books aa he can even at the risk of shallowness. Try as we may, none of us can go very deeply into more than Ope intellectual mine. Chemistry has become a necessary handmaiden of business. From steel manufacture to farming, it plays an important part In all branches of In dustry. Its most recent achievements are the making of artificial rubber, which Is said to mean that we shall soon, be able to buy automobile tires at one-fourth their present price, and the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, which will supply air nitrates as a fer UUzer when the present supply of ni trogenous fertilizer is exhausted. Dr. Raymond F. Bacon says this discov ery means that our sons and grandsons will surely have something to eat. As fast as some natural product ap proaches exhaustion, the chemist in vents an artificial substitute, which is "just as good," as the grocer often Stefansson, the Arctic explorer, is anxious that the white Eskimo he dis covered be protected from civilization. He desires that white men's food, white men's clothes, white men's houses and white men's diseases be kept away from Coronation Gulf, lest its popula tion share the fate of that of the Mac kenzie Basin, which has been reduced from 2000 to 40 since 1848. If we could take all parts of civilisation to primitive people and if such people would as readily assimilate the good as the bad. It might not prove so injuri ous. But the seamy side of civlllza tion is usually first to take root in new countries and even when the better side is presented the natives take more kindly to the evil. The war clouds which perennially overhang the Balkans seem to be con densing into a storm. The Turks have ofriffAt tin trio mountaineers bv inde fensible outrages in Albania and other principalities and now the recKoning is due. May it be good and heavy and exacted to the last penny. When Tur key is wiped out a long step will have been taken toward international de cency. The Kaiser upholds the em pire of Islam because, he wants to swallow it when it is ripe. The Bal eart war will interfere with his proj ect, but the world will profit by it The amazing generosity of Standard Oil, J. P. Morgan and their kin to the different political parties, as brought to light by the Congressional investi gation, goes far to prove that the trusts and trustmakers are true phi lanthropists. Nay, they are true Chris tians if obedience to Scriptural pre cepts means Christianity. Whoever concealed the charity of his right hand from the lnqulsitiveness of his left more faithfully than Standard Oil? Tf la Ansinurflsine- to learn that the storage battery has been so far per fected that it can be used on suburban trains. A train of three cars carrying ten - - -&n. nm thn Penn. sylvanla station In New York to Long Beach tne otner aay unaer power uuu h.Hara wftVirmr n. hitch or a, ttiwic&gc '. j jar. This means that before a great ull. fnlUv nnlAa nn-tf wirest will bo WililQ n wiicj u . ...-j " superfluous and many central power- nouses Cttll DB UlBpciWCU n "" Taft's sincerity in advocating civil service reform is proved by his adding thousands of postmasters to the classi fied service. Democratic insincerity is nrovpd bv the scheme to limit civil service employes to a seven-year term. a scheme which Taft vetoed, wnne the word "progressive" is in every politician's mouth, it is well to bear in mind the difference between these two brands of progress. As Homestead was the storm center of disturbance preceding the Demo cratic tariff bill of 1894, Lawrence is the storm center in 1912. In 1892 the storm raged around steel; in 1912 it rages around wool. If history should repeat itself, steel would be hardest hit by the next tariff revision, as wool was hardest hit by that of 1894. So that $100,000 of tainted Standard Oil money was used in the campaign of 1904 after all, notwithstanding the candidate's repeated demands that it be returned. However, the Colonel's protests, though . late, served to keep his record clear on Its face. How could the parents of Johnny, Jimmy and Joe expect them to remain away from the championship baseball games? The temptation is too strong for American boy nature to withstand. The Eastern farmer is spending the proceeds of the sale of his bonanza crops in coming to he Northwest in search of a farm where hot waves, tornadoes and blizzards are unknown. Regardless of what Gertrude Ather ton may say, the American woman, the truest and dearest and best on earth, will not demean her sex by smoking cigarettes. The Bull Moose has laid up his vocal chords for repairs and we shall now have an opportunity to hear other voices than his. The young woman who wears white shoes during the Fall rains has oth ers, of course. It is Just matter of perversity. What was the outcome of that In vestigation of the cornering of food products by placing them in cold stor age? All politicians are progressives in this campaign. Even Parker Is one; he says so himself. " ' . -"At midnight, in his guarded tent," the Turk would better set the alarm clock. The masher gets cold comfort, whichever way he turns. BETTER AND MORE PIiAYGHOVSDS Hsstgonerr Tract Ssggeited for Thlngra Impracticable 1st Bill Pmrlcs. PORTLAND, Oct. S. (To the Editor.) In reference to the article which ap peared in The Oregonian October 1 under caption "Children Enjoy Parks" please permit me to draw the atten tion of the Park Board ana the citizens of Portland, to the inadequacy of public grounds in this city suitably equipped as parks and playgrounds. It must and certainly will be admitted by every fair-minded and public-spirited citizen, particularly by those who hare traveled to any extent, that our public parks and playgrounds are few and the few we have are .primitive In the extreme when compared with the highly de veloped grounds of this character in other cities. Where is there a public park worthy of the name In the City of Portland, where our boys can gather and en gage in the healthful game of baseball? Where is there a public ground where our boys end girls can as semble and engage in the health giving game of lawn tennis, croquet and various other exhilarating . exercises? Or where Is there a public ground where a sprinting or cycling course is maintained or where still younger chil dren can find "amusements of various kinds, such as goats and ponies In charge of a keeper for children to ride; shallow water ponds for sailing toy boats, etc? What we want and what we sorely need, in order to advance from the rear rank among cities In this respect is a public park and playground where a number of ball diamonds and tennis courts can be maintained In certain sections of the grounds for those seek ing the more vigorous exercises and a floral park adjoining fr those seek ing a quiet outing. Our twe principal parks, the City Park at the head of Washington street on the West Side and the Mount Tabor Park at the head of Hawthorne avenue on the East Bide, while beautiful in the extreme from a landscape point of view, ara thoroughly unsuitable on account ot their location on hills for our most urgent need, viz; playgrounds with suitable equipment for various games and amusements for all, from the tod dling Infant to the middle aged of both sexes. - Being a taxpayer in this city and a resident .of Upper Alblna, I Would like to call the attention of the city administration, the people of Albina and the northern section of the city in particular and the people of Port land In general to the tract of land in Alblna known as the Montgomery tract, bounded by Hancock. Goldsmith and Page streets and Gantenbeln ave nue. I assert without fear of con tradiction that this piece of land of 25 acres or more is the most cen trally located, most accessable and most Ideal piece of land for public playgrounds and park purposes in the city, not occupied. It appears that in selecting grounds for public park purposes in Portland the selections have been made with the sole Idea5 of developing a garden spot- True our parks are beauty spots or are being developed into such, but our most urgent need, viz; an ex tensive playground, has been utterly overlooked. A glance at the city map will show one how central this piece of property is and It is located only three blocks from the east end of the Broadway bridge. Should this piece of ground be highly developed Into a public rec ..ntiT. narlr It would immediately be come such a popular rest and amuse ment place lor Dotn youns mi u that the concessions would pay good i . . . ti n invpntment and un doubtedly this would be -one of the show places of Portland. It Is rumored tnat xne owners ui this ground are now endeavoring to 1 .4 ,.nnnollnn with a prunuio nwuv yiew to developing a warehouse and factory center, wnicn is a spianuio en terprise for the owners of the prop- ... a .ini.lniw trnnA for Lower T3l VJ ' ' , Alblna. However, the development of a narK and piaygroun on tuio n,A.iM much hetter for the entire city. The boundary slopes can be treated so as to mane tne tmut tract one grand amphitheater large enough for several thousand players and 50,000 spectators. To appreciate .w- tt thin 0-i-M-m - f or nurnoses of this kind one should view it from Gantenbeln avenue on the east-ot tne tract. T . .. n Tflp-flrnrrfln in our L. ub uv . - n ..- park and playground development which Is essential to any J. Z. WILLIAMS. CHANCE FOR REBUKE IS OFFERED Voter Declare No Great Harm Would Be Done By Defeating All Measures. PENDLETON. Or., Oct. 8. (To. the Editor.) As clearly pointed out by you in your Issue of September 30, the Ore gon voters' task this year is a hard vat it m hv no meam hooeless. There are no emergency measures pending ana our present mwa cumpa-ic favorably with those of other states. rj ..ni.n who vntilH discourage over use of the initiative may safely vote "no" on the wnoie lot, except u referred by referendum petition. irh.n urain mnnv of the measures are susceptible of classification. There are two sets of roaa Dins, eacn oisunti in purpose. The four compromise bills, 340, 342, 844 and 846, have as their ulti- -. - nhi..t thA nnnatruction of One permanent road between Portland and the California line ana or anotner iroiu Western Oregon to the Idaho line, these n hi Hnlra In n.n interstate auto mobile road and speedway. This com promise scheme is so aaromy piannea that, when once begun, it can neither be abandoned by the state nor resisted by reluctant counties. It will inyolve the state and counties together in a bonded Indebtedness whose limit no man can forsee, but which is now sup posed to be something less than $40, 000,000. The other road scheme, 324 and 326, is proposed by the State Grange. It provides for permanent roads by and for counties. Its methods are not co ercive and it would not tend to force road-building.. The Southern Oregon road bill stands alone. Then there are two sets of tax meas ures presented, either of which would, if fully accepted, upset our present tax system. First The single tax as a county masure in Clackamas. Coos and Mult nomah, and the graduated single tax in the state. Second The other, 304. 306. 308, 350. 352, 354 and 356, provides for class legislation for encouragement of lux urious living and for seizure by the state of revenues which now go to those schools, city and county govern ments having public-service property within them. This second scheme does not consist of related measures, how ever. Any of them can be rejected or accepted without disturbing the work ing plan of the others. , Then the referendum measures are simple. Those wishing to uphold the Legislature can vote "yes" 314, 316, 372 andl 374. The first will place all public-service utilities under control of our Railroad Commission. The last three - provide such financial support for our institutions of higher educa catlon as the Legislature sought to give them. Then there are four bills, 310, 322, 368 and 370. which aim to restrain organ ized labor and to restrict the initiative. The other 15 are miscellaneous, their scope and purpose being fairly well Indicated by their titles. ONE VOTER. Yl' asking; fa the Harvest Season. Puck. Uncle Ezra These women are always wanting something. Uncle Eben That's right. My wife's pestering me death to buy more land. She says - in-ai.A flAlri Ain't bier enoueh to hang out the washing during harvest Iseason. ANARCHY OF TAXATION PROPOSED Single Tax Negation of All Reaaos, Declares Writer. PORTLAND, Oct. t. (To the Editor.) Take some of the choice single tax delusions and turn the light of logic on them. "We will force enterprise and improvements under "single tax.' " This is a delusion. To induce construc tion of an enterprise there must be a demand for the commodities for a building there must be the need of it. At the present time there are sufficient of both, and demand is the only requi site for the forcing of enterprise. It is said that "land value Is added by the numerical strength of the popu lation" and this Is called "community value." Now, if the pioneers came here in all the splendor of their "numerical" strength and squatted down and made no Improvements, where would the present value of Portland come in? It 1b said that if everyone were to leave a city its value would be mythical. Now, here are the facts: The pio neers did not squat down in idleness, neither are we leaving it to "com munity shadows" now. There has been a never .ceasing expenditure of brain and muscle to add the "value" to Port land and all It contains. If we were all to leave and not destroy anything with our exodus, the value would not go with us or be "purely mythical," as Mr. Single Tax says. The brain and muscle embodied in the shops, mills, foundries. building, transportation, bridges and other improvements would not disappear, and obviously their "value-' would remain. These values might sell low for a while, but soon there would be an" Influx of normal people, and price and value would have a tendency to equilibrate. The single taxer has made a chop suey out of value; he has value and price sadly mixed. ' The single taxer says: "We pay the taxes when we buy," and that "the shopkeeper adds his taxes to his wares." Now. this Is false on the face of it, although with perverted sur face thinker it may seem true. Our system is based on the equal barter or exchange in the values of commodities, although there are times when they sell above and sometimes below. Also partial or temporary monoply and a cornered market cause commodities to sell at an artificial price. The tempo rary fluctuations on the market (in general) are caused by supply and de mand. Of course, there are other causes, but they are only side Issues to the main factors. Therefore. It will be clear that the storekeeper does not despotically set the price of his wares. It Is claimed for single tax that it will lower theT high cost of living. High prices! High from what? It Is as serted "they are higher than they used to be." But were they low at that time? Prices are high when a com modity, through a greater demand than supply or through temporary monopoly, sells above Its value and vice versa. If the supply Is greater than the de mand, it is obvious to anyone knowing the A B Cs of business that it will sell below value. If I had asked as to the degrees on . the thermometer, one would say above or below a given point zero. That Is because every body understands how the theremome ter works. Our system to the single taxer Is one mysterious Chinese puzzle. Prices today are high only as ex pressed in more gold. This is because the value of gold has depreciated. It is plain to all thinking, people that the price of all other commodities will therefore go up; as expressed In gold (money). Gold (money) is a measure of value and a standard by which value of articles Is expressed in price;, hence, as gold value Is lower. It takes more of It to-make equal value with other commodities. Monopoly, contrary to the single taxers, plays only a minor part; also the tariff is only a very small factor In the so-called high prices at the present time. Single tax should be termed "Anarchy of Taxes," as, like anarchy. It is the negation of all rea son. It robs one set of capitalists to the greater glory and concentration of another set. Single tax will Hot force enterprise farther than the "demand for commodities. It cannot force build ing faster than the demand; It will not solve the problem of want, unem ployment and other Ills. It will not benefit any class "the working class It will, and does, -Impart discontent without reason or science a blind, ;0"wS.ereSS hatreJ CLEMENGODE. AS ONE READS BETWEEN LINES. Mr. Meadows Offers Interpretation of T. R, ltter to Harrlmnn. PORTLAND. Oct. 2. (To the Editor.) Prior to the Chicago convention I made reference to a letter written by Theodore The Only to the late lamented E H Harriman, and thereby aroused the resentment of several Roosevelt ad herents who, by proposing my name for the Ananias Club, proved their loyalty to the Bull Con King and gave proof of colossal Ignorance. Credit them with sincerity a quality unknown to their master. ' Since that time I have been to some pains to secure a certified copy of that letter. Here It is. I request that you give it publication in order that the salient points may stand out be fore the thousands of honest men who have been and are being deceived by the great pretender. On October 14, 1904, Roosevelt wrote. My Dear Mr. Harriman: A suggestion has com. to m. in a roundabout way that you do not think It wle to come to see me in these closing weeks ot the campaign, but that you are reluctant much aa I have asked you. Now. my dear Sr vou and I are practical men and you are In the .pit and know conditions better than I do If you think there 1. any danger of"our vi.lt to me causing trouble, or If you think there 1. nothing special I -hould be informed about, or no matter In which I oould give aid. why. of course, give up the visit tor the time being, and then a few weeks i hence before I write my message I snail git you to come down to discuss cer Sln Government matter, not connected with hi ranniiln. With great regard, .tncerel, vour. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. Reduce this to the slang vernacular of the day, for the benefit of Bull Moosers, and it means this- Tm not satisfied with the 3260,000 you handed out. You seem to know m sore. Maybe you are wise not to show here until after e action, but I want you to put up 'on the spot. Do the clean thing with Bliss and the ooys, and show here before I write my message, or I may decide to hand you Hemfn. It might lose votes for me if you come down now, but after I am elected the dear public may-be damned fCan a.Syreman with brains mus to. grease a gimlet read this letter and retain one lota of respect for Kooge vfit .Will anyone blind himself to the facts and contend, that Roosevelt '"rterVaaresident of the United States making an assignation with the wizard of Wall street in order that he might read the riot act to him and his banker friends who used the National funds to finance rallr,oadt.dea'sif, form trust companies for the stilling of competition. ' And this is the man who led tne charge at San Juan Hill and wrote "Alone in Cuba"; dined with Booker Washington and repudiated the negro race; gave the people conservation and the lumber trust forty-six townships of Oregon timber lands; made a speech to Egyptians and took 444th place in King Edward's funeral procession; said he would never be President again and told the truth; threw his hat in the ring and got It kicked out; came West on a rampage and lost the "Second Republic"; called everyone a liar and confirmed the title In himself. Talk about doing things. He does them. He has done and will do almost anything, but his specialty is puddling "Bull," which is why his new party has the Bull Moose for emblem. Further more, he awakened the public con science, and what that awakened public Is doing to Theodore Is well, that is another story. - JOHN GREEN MEADOWS. Babble d'Hote By Dean Collins. The restaurant feeders In bitterness mutter In little New York, and with anger intense They note how the "extras" include bread and butter, Which shoves up the total to twenty eight cents. "Oh, tack on an extra for smokers and . drinkers," The meal ticket holder might truly have said, "Oh, charge us full price for our coffee and sinkers But nix on the extra for butter and bread." If things go on thus, at some future time, truly. When "garcon" comes round to pre sent us our bill. He'll add In the salt and the pepper pot duly And seven cents more will go into the till. Perhaps he will add In the vinegar cruet. The catsup and spoons and the knives and the forks, . Perhaps he'll go over the bill and add to it The glass of Ice water or even the corks. Perhaps when some day I shall call him and splutter. And fiercely point out to his passion less eyes A long, writhing hair in the honey or . butter, He will not explain, but will merely look wise; Pet-haps when he brings in my coffee cup brimming With rich amber fluid filled up to the rim, I'll point out a fly In the midst of It swimming And he will say nothing, and Just let it swim. And then when I languidly reach for my money, I'll faint when these words on my check greet my eye: "To extras served up with the coffee and honey. Eight cents (see the menu): one hair and one fly." Portland, October 3. Half a Century Ago Front The Oregonlan of Oct. 4, 12 From our Powder River Correspondent. AUBURN, Sept. 30. A company has started out towards Boise River, where a portion of the party had been before, and having found flattering prospects, were preparing to commence minliiK operations when they were attacked by Indians and some of the party killed. We think It would be a good Idea for our Btroet commissioner to make a thorough examination of the streets and sidewalks, crossings, etc., and have them repaired before the rainy weath er renders such work impossible. Our city needs quite a number ot sewers. Yesterday being the last day of the State Fair, most of our citizens who were in attendance will return to night. Rooms to Rent Two rooms In the brick building on the corner of Front f. i- .. . . ., n-oaw th store room ana duiia. o.iocko, - - - - - recently occupied by A. Cohn & o will be rentea or teasea n onable terms. L. White & Bro. NEW BRITISH WHISKER HERE. London Bishop's "sou Sport. Dazzling Moton-Chopa Near His Earn. New York World, u-.n.r rle-hton. son of the late Bishop of London, arrived on the steam ship Majestic, bringing wlttl mm. ireo of duty, a sample of the whiskers which have become all the rage in England and which threaten to sprout on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. Crelghton is tall and willowy and his hirsute growth on the sides of his face is distinctly aesthetic. The arch type of the 1830 man is unquestionably Walter Crelghton, who for four years has been playing in Sir Herbert Tree's company and recently has acted as Sir Herbert's private sec retary. . Quoting from the London Standard a correspondent described the fashion as one of foppishness, adopted by ultra smart men. These same men are be coming wearers of Jewelry, and they carry their money in small chain purses of fine gold mesh. The soft silk collars that grace their necks are held togeth er by brooches decorated with a pearl or twisted love knot. A wrist watch on one arm is balanced by a close-fitting bracelet on the other. Quite recently one of the whlskerettes appeared In London with a locket pendant hanging about his neck. A new gold-knobbed stick, chased and embossed and carried In a dainty fashion and perfect nicety; a gold ring on the first finger of one hand and another on thaitblr.! finger of the other hand, each with a sparkling dia mond, are also features of modern male display. Perhaps, It Is suggested, the male evening dress of the near future will include the tiara and earrings. SPECIAL SUNDAY FEATURES The Lost Tribe A first de tailed account of Explorer Stef ansson 's discovery in the frozen North of a strange tribe one ob viously of white descent. Woman Campaigners An illus trated page on the women who are struggling for suffrage in Ore gon. National leaders contribute their views over their own signa tures. Anita Stewart's Romance An account of the troubles in her venture as the wife of a spend thrift Duke. Mysteries of Columbus Histo rians are making some unusual discoveries relating to the life and antecedents of the gTeat explorer. Full page, illustrated. Royal Artists Skillful votaries of art are found in every court. A half page of exceptional in terest. A Big League Episode A thrilling real romance of the busi ness world, by Richard Spillane. Two Short Stories, complete. The Yachting Girl Another live poster in colors. Full page. MANY OTHER FEATURES Order Today From Your . Newsdealer.