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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1912)
-tttt irnrjVTvn nn?r.n'Ti- STTrnr4T. nTTVUTSTnS 21. 1912- - I I PORTLAXD, OBEQOK, Entered at Portland. Oraroa, Foatoiflca ffeeona-ciaaa jaattar. Subscription Ratea Invariably In Advance 1BT HUU) P!.T. rrr.deT Included, on A I 'any. Fundtr inciuaea. six Dally. Sunday Included, three montna. Dlrr. Snndav Included, one montn.... Dally, without Sunday, one year. nlly. without 8u!-ay. ala month..... Dally, without Sunday, three raontna... Daily, without Sunday, on montn." Weekly, one year. ............. Sunday, one year... aunday and Weekly, one year (BY CARRIER.) Dally. on day tneluded. on 7r' , .oo a 23 .eo a M .TS i J. oanair iDUMuw. How t Remit Bend Poatofflee " . i tiikf.it on or- TOUt local bank. Stamp, coin or eurre "7, at the MndeC rl.k. Give poatofflee aar are in lull. Includlnic county roataff urnte w w l'- - - r. n ts to za par, a cenia; K 0 to 60 paces. 4 cent. Forelsn poetae. double rata. . -w. Eaetern BodneM Ofncee Vfrrw A Conk Chi iin r w xora. nnii"i - ajro. Stecer bulldmir. Ce- T4I Market tret. .-- European OMJee No. S. Recent atrwm. W., London. POKTLAXD. aATTKDAY. DEC. 11, PEOPLE'S tSTERFST IX MONETARY There are many men so steeped In prejudice against bankers that sup port of the bankers for any public measure is a signal for their opposi tlon. Such men assume that public advocacy of a financial measure by the tankers Is inspired by an opinion that bankers alone are interested and that the rest of the people should hare nothing to say on the subject. When a man has incurred popular hostility and has been branded as a servant of the interests, any measure bearing his name is straightway con demned without consideration of its inherent merits or demerits. We maintain that such an attitude of mind Is not only unjust to the men thus sweeplngly condemned, but is injurious to the Interests of the very men who assume it. Financial legls latlon affects the interests of the busi ness man and the workingman far more vitally than the interests of the banker- The banker can adapt him '..if tn nv system, no matter how vicious, and still make money, in bad times as in good. But a vicious sys tem keens the business man in con stant. danger of ruin and produces panics which drive him into bank ruptcy. A vicious system causes prices to rise faster than wages in good times, but in bad times it deprives many workingmen of employment anil causes want and privation. The mass of the people not only have the deepest interest in sound finance, but they must decide by their votes now it shall be secured. In considering which monetary and banking system is best, the people should give ear to what bankers say as experts on the subject, making due allowance for the degree to .wnicn personal or class interest Influences opinion. They should consider ine effect of proposed financial measures on their own Interests and should bear in mind that bankers have In terests largely Identical with theirs, for general prosperity redounds to the interest of the banker, enhances the value of his investments and im proves the security for hisloans. Prejudice against ex-Senator Al drich is so strong and with such good cause on account of his manipulation or the tariff that the National reserve scheme propo.ed by . the National Monetary Commission was no sooner named the Aldrlch scheme than it was condemned by most of the men who have come into political collision with Aldrlch and by many who never even, read the scheme. But it is not the Aldrich scheme, save from the fact that Aldrich is chairman of the commission which devised it. It has the unanimous support of a commis sion composed of both Republicans and Democrats. One of the latter is " Representative Pujo, chairman of the committee which is conducting the money trust inquiry- No man who has read what the financial Journals say of Mr. Pujo would suspect that gentleman of excessive love for the bankers. The mere fact that Aldrlch is chairman of the commission and had a hand In' drawing up the Nation al reserve scheme should npt of itself condemn that scheme, though it should Justify rigid scrutiny. The Monetary Commission does not propose a central bank. It proposes a federation of banks, in which the small, country banks would have a voice greater in proportion than their capital; in which the West and South would have control, though the pre ponderance of banking capital is in New York and New England; in which the business and agricultural interests would have a voice; of which the Secretary of the Treasury, the Sec retary of Commerce and Labor and the Controller of the Currency would be ex officio directors. The bill provides that no member of any Na tional or state legislative body shall be a director of the National Reserve Association or of any of Its branches. The National reserve plan proposes to do the very things President-elect Wilson has pronounced Just and nec essary, namely, to provide a means by which "any man anywhere and at any time should have a loan in 'legal tender.' if he can produce good indestructible security therefor on a thoroughly safe basis for the accom modation." The country banks are required by law to carry a certain proportion of their reserve in a reserve or central reserve city. New York is the princi pal reserve city and is usually pre ferred for several reasons- One Is that the amount of business all banks have In New York as the financial center requires them to carry a deposit in some New York bank. Another is that New York, being the speculative center where money can be lent on call at high interest with stocks and bonds as collateral, pays the country oanks nigh interest. Although the panic of 1907 locked up the money of the country In New York, desire for profit causes continuance of this practice. - The National reserve scheme would remove the motive for lending money on call by forbidding the association to rediscount notes "secured by stock and bond collateral, by rendering our currency elastic and by allowing re duction of reserves below the legal limit in emergencies. The Oregonian is no admirer of Al drlch. but is not so blindly prejudiced as to be unable to see any good in any work in which he has ft hand. The prejudice against the National re serve plan is so strong and so general on account of his part in it that there Is no probability of its adoption, but any other scheme which accomplishes the same general purposes will have the approval of The Oregonian, EXCUSING ABUSES. Two or three Oregon newspapers are, in the face of established facts, still repeating the nonsensical conte Hon that Inefficiency of the Legislature Is shown by the large number of bills submitted to vote of the people an that each bill is the outgrowth of som legislative folly discerned by the peo pie. Therefore, It Is argued, the initia tive and referendum system in Oregon has no faults that need correcting and the Legislature Is wholly to blame for overuse of the people's power. 1 But the initiated bills and those re ferred do not always or even generally spring from the people. They come from a minority of the voters. This has been indisputably proved by th defeat in the last two elections of large majority of measures submitted. We might choose a Legislature from the flower of the land; it might work Industriously and intelligently for ten hours each day of the forty in the see slon; yet, even so. a small minority o the people of the state, without doubt, would think some worthy thing had been neglected or that something had been done improperly. How small this minority may be and yet harass the voters with unnecessary legislatlve duties may be realized when it is re called that only 8 per cent of the vot era may rebuke-the fancied folly of omission and only 5 per cent resent the chimerical sin of commission. If inefficiency of the Legislature can, be measured at all by the volume of direct legislation, it cannot be done by counting the number of bills sub mitted, but only by counting the num ber of initiative bills adopted and the number of referred bills defeated. On these, and these alone, does public sentiment reflect indirectly against the assembly. Of the eleven measures adopted last month, only five were within the au thority of the Legislature to enact. One of those had already been passed and was approved by the people on referendum. To the other four may be added the two referred bills which were defeated, and thus by no stretch of Imagination or sly turning of argu. ment can more than six measures out of thirty-seven on the ballot be deemed protests by a majority of the people against legislative Inefficiency. As long as human nature remains unchanged and men are permitted to think for themselves, so long will there be dissatisfaction' by a minority with the action of the Legislature, no matter how complete or how worthy. That this minority should be re strained from pernicious activity by some means that will not impair the proper use of the direct legislative power is so plain that only dema gogues or hard-headed members of a purposeful minority will dispute It, PARDON OF JOHN II. HALL. The people of the state will approve the action of the President in granting a pardon to John .. iiaii, iormer United States Attorney for Oregon Hall ought never to have been convict ed; he ought never to have been tried; he ought never to have been indicted; he ought never to have been accused; he ought never to have been required to rest for eight years without a final adjudication of his case. He has been a much-wronged man. The case against Mr. Hall was that as United States Attorney he obstruct ed public Justice through his failure or refusal to prosecute criminally certain persons charged with fencing unlawfully Eastern Oregon lands. The law gives the District Attorney the option of bringing either criminal or civil action in such cases, and lj seemed expedient to District At torney Hall to do the latter. Special Prosecutor Heney caused his summary removal from office on the general ground that he (Hall) was not sufficiently zealous in the Govern ment's prosecution of Senator Mitchell and Congressman Hermann; and later Instituted the Hall prosecution on the specific charge of non-enforcement of law. If Mr. Hall was in the way of the Government prosecution at the time, it ought to have been sufficient to re move him from office. That he was not in accord with the purposes of Mr. Heney, and could not be relied on to support the Heney methods, is doubt less true; that his attitude or previous actions Justified measures so harsh there are few or none now to declare. The charge against Mr. Hall, If true, was fundamentally technical and es sentially trivial; if not true, it was unwarranted from any standpoint. In the state of the public mind at that time and with the practices of Mr. Heney. It Is not surprising that Mr. Hall was convicted. The Hall pardon is the belated close of a painful incident in Oregon af fairs. It is a tardy effort to right a wrong done eight years ago. WHERE RELIEF SHOULD GO. AVithout a doubt the motive of the people in creating a public utilities commission was to obtain better serv ice for the price paid public corpora tions, or a lower price for the service rendered or perhaps both. It was the Impression that the companies were obtaining unduly large returns from their investments and it was believed those profits ought to be reduced -for the benefit of their patrons. But comes Mr. Kellaher, friend of the common people and friend of Kel laher principally Kellaher and pro- popes that the supposed excessive profits of the streetcar company be turned over to the city for the bene fit of the taxpayers. In other words Mr. Kellaher seems to believe that if the company is getting an excessive Income by compelling the workingman to stand up In traveling to and from Montavllla, the workingman should continue to stand, but Mr. Kellaher should be relieved by the company of some of the taxes on his East Side grocery- It may be a matter of dispute as to whether the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company is deriving excessive profits from its business, but If it is those profits should be turned back for the benefit of the patrons, in the form of better service or lower rates, not in taxes. The largest pa tronage of the streetcar company comes from people in moderate cir cumstances and a large percentage Is from those least able to pay taxes. It would be profitable for the auto mobile owner who pays nothing to the company, for the business block own er, for the investor in lands and for the wealthy in general, to 'have the great mass of ordinary citizens con tinue to pay excessive profits to the streetcar company if the same wealth ier class could divert those profits In the form of taxes. If we had no pub lic utilities commission the tax meth od might be the only way to get back even a portion of the supposed extor tion for the benefit of the public. But we have the commission. If L rates, are -excessive - or. service .not in accord with rates, or both, the com mission can compel correction. Th people voted for relief to the patrons, not to the taxpayers, and that Is where relief ought to go. JURIES AND THE DEATH SENTENCE. The penalty for first-degree murder in Oregon murder with malice and premeditation and without provoca tion or the excuse of sudden impulse or temporary passion is death on the gallows. The opponents of capital punishment contend that Juries are frequently loath to convict because they are reluctant to hang; and there; fore Justice Is as likely as not to be defeated by the very severity of the law. It is doubtless true that no Jury which has what Dogberry described to be a "convicting look," otherwise a convicting mind, will . hesitate ' to bring in a verdict for manslaughter when a first-degree result is impossi ble; yet the inelastic mandates of the law afford an excuse for disagree ments; and disagreements occur, and man-slayers who richly deserve pun Ishment escape. A correspondent today 'calls atten tlon to the fact that a large number'of states have statutes that place with the Jury the discretion of capital pun ishment or life imprisonment for mur. der; and other states leave the option with the Judge. The Oregonian has repeatedly sug gested that the laws of Oregon should be amended so as to accord, with the enlightened statutes of other states, reposing with a Jury the right to de termine whether a murderer should be executed or imprisoned for life. It prefers to lodge the responsibility with Jury rather than with Judge, so as to give full opportunity for discussion and agreement, and to remove any possibility of a split caused by doubt or apprehension as to the subsequent act of the Judge. We have never in sisted that all persons convicted of murder should die; we have protested against tying the hands of justice and the law so that none could be made to suffer death. AN ASSAULT ON GRAMMAR. Professor Lounsbury, of Yale, has occasioned a terrible rumpus among the lovers of grammar in its purity by his heresies. He Is quoted in favor of the tabooed expression "It is me. If that were the worst of his sins he might possibly be forgiven. But in fact it is the lightest. What shall we say of a college professor who sanc tions "Between you and I" and teaches that it is proper to say "Who do you mean?" Surely nothing but black ruin awaits the English language if he is permitted to go his direful way unchecked. "It is me is perhaps not so bad as it might be. As The Ore gonian has frequently pointed out, this usage accords with the analogy of other languages. The French say it habitually and so do the Norwegians. The latter people are entitled to great consideration nowadays, inasmuch as they stand with their kinsmen, the Swedes, at the very front of modern literature. But Professor Lounsbury makes the point that neither "It is I" nor "It is me" has much etymological standing if we care anything for the history of speech. The genuinely cor rect expression is "It am I." Chaucer uses it in ."The Knight's Tale," where any reader can find it for himself. The passage runs, "I am thy mortal foe and it am I," and so on. This strictly logical usage has dropped out of English, but it is re tained in German. No countryman of Goethe would dream of saying "Es 1st ich." On the contrary he always says "Ich bin es," Just as Chaucer did in his day. Even in English, the most illog ical of tongues, this excellent idiom persisted until the end of the four teenth century, when it began to drop away. Professor Lounsbury, for all his gallant defense of "It is me," con cedes that the rival phrase, "It Is I," will probably prevail in the long run. but we do not feel quite convinced of it. The deep analogies of spoken lan guage have a way of gaining victories over the literary precisions and they may do it in this case. "It is me" is preferred by the common people be cause of Its sonority. It is actually easier to utter than "It is I," which follows a hiss with a diphthong and presents serious difficulties to every tongue but a pedant's. It may turn out that the law of least resistance will be obeyed In this Instance as It Is in almost every other. In a century or two the grammarians may- find themselves rebuking careless speakers for saying "It is I." There is not so much to be said for Bel-ween you' and I." "Between" 1b a preposition and it is the invariable usage of English to follow prepositions with the objective case, or what pasnes in our chaotic .grammar for an objective. If we say "Between you and I" we may with equal propriety say "Between I and she," which,, we suppose, would shock tne most in durated despiser of grammar. To be sure, there Is a famous verse of poetry which runs, "Let thou and I the battle try," where a transitive verb is fol- owed with a double nominative, but we must not forget that poetry is priv ileged to take liberties in English and this particular liberty has not received unanimous approbation even from the poetic guild. We doubt if it can be matched in the language. In one Instance at least Shakespeare uses the ery expression. "Between you and ," which Professor Lounsbury has been reproved for favoring. Antonio says to Eassamo, ah debts are cleared between you and I." It seems then. If Shakespeare's authority Is good for anything, that the culprit phrase must be allowable. The trou ble is that Shakespeare's authority is worthless when it comes to modern usage. We are apt to forget that he lived a long time ago, much nearer to Chaucer than to us, both in lan guage and sentiment.- Neither Shake speare nor the King James Bible is a suitable guide as far as current usage goes. They are full of expressions which the pedants stigmatize as un- grammatical, a term which usually means nothing worse than that a par ticular form of speech has dropped out of common use. A moment ago we said "Neither Shakespeare nor the King James Bi ble is a suitable guide." We might have, said, had we possessed a little more courage, "Neither Shakespeare nor the King James Bible are suitable guides," with every confidence of suc cessful defiance to grammarians. Hooted at as this locution is by all the textbooks, it . Is nevertheless in per fectly good usage, and, unless our cur rent reading misleads us, it is gaining ground. The correlatives "neither, nor" are not always disjunctive. They very often are as truly connective as and." An author who feels this sense and wishes to express it Is perfectly Justified in writing a plural verb after , two singular subjects joined by nei ther, nor." After all, the principal of fice of language is to express the writer's meaning, or the speaker's, an any rules of grammar which interfere with that primary duty are In danger of obliteration. Some of our purists trouble themselves a ood deal over collective nouns. Are these unhappy creatures singu- uar or plural? They are both. They dwell in a debatable region where the ordinary rules of grammar exercise but a shadowy sway. Evidently th mind may regard a bunch of onion as a single object securely tied up with a string, or it may fix upon the separate vegetables, and "the devil of it is," if one may quote Sir Lucius O'Trigger, that the mind wavers from one point of view to the other as it Droceeda in a train of thought. Our pedants naturally seek to 'compel us to choose' one way or the other of looking at the bunch and stick to it through thick and thin, but it can be done. The English, especially English orators, permit themselves the widest liberty In handling collective nouns. They would say "A bunch of onions are luscious" without a tremor, Habitually they say "The Government are a set of traitorous wretches," or "angelic patriots," as the case may be We dare say grammar will never con quer the collective noun. It Is a born rebel and will prove incorrigible to the end. The New York suffragettes who set out to march to Albany for the good of the cause ought to have counted the cost before they started. Two out of every three wearied and fell from the rank3 the first day. Talking agrees rather better than marching with good many-of the more belligerent suffragettes and perhaps, upon the whole, It serves their cause about as well. We do not see exactly how out landlsh conduct can bring the day of votes for women any nearer. A cause is seldom helped by making it ridiculous. The operation of Milwaukee trains Into Portland was inevitable from the time constructon of the Western fix tenson was begun. The Milwaukee road could not avoid coming to the traffic center of the . North Pacific Coast. Portland will gain as- much by the arrangement made with the O.-W. R. & N. Co. as it would have gained by the construction of an entirely in dependent line into this city, for it will have direct traffic relations with the whole territory traversed by the Mil waukee road. To the citizens of Prineville at their city election it looked odd to see worn en going to the polls "leading one or two children by the hand." It Is so much more usual to see a ward boss going to the polls leading one or two voters by the nose. But 'in time we shall get accustomed to the changes resulting from suffrage. They will not 'be limited to the appearance of women and children at the voting places, but will penetrate to the depths of public life. Miscegenation continues at Vancou ver. A white man married a negress a day or two ago. This is not so bad as when the sexes are reversed, and anyway, the groom may be color blind Greek and Turkish commanders ex changed Jokes by wireless during the thick of "battle." It must, be that even the active participants see the humor of their alleged warfare. The wise sayings of J. P. Morgan will- rank with the wisdom of Solo mon in the opinion of the worshipers of Mammon, for they regard him as the high priest of that god. Peode enjoying prosperity must remember their juvenile friends, who will expect something and otherwise get little. A desultory Christmas makes the world awry amd gloomy. If Boreas and Pluvius will do a lit tle team work, many a boy and girl will get a proper gift at Christmas. The sled is the thing for the hilly streets of Portland. The cause of suffrage Is merely in jured by the spectacular stunts of ill balanced suffragettes who try to break the long-distance walking record in midwinter. That French banker who got away with $30,000,000 must not be allowed to land in this country. He might own the hemisphere in a year. Perhaps the native "Austryiian," knowing not otherwise, enjoys his Christmas in midsummer, with the mercury at 122. . With the thermometer at 122, A us tralla is having seasonable Christmas weather for the Antipodes. Th movement for a sane New Year's reauires almost as much cour age and optimism as a movement for a sane insane asylum. The Tillamook squaw who died at the age of 109 might have lived to a ripe old age had she followed the rules of hygiene. A rain. It snowed in Portland. All of which would never have been suspect- i but lor tne weatner Dureau reports. ... , a u.-f. ' -- we nave wurucu ah u ngmu. 17...ntaMir tVl. MpYipftnS TT1 ft V rpfUSft even ,to receive our empty warnings. President Taft is no "spug." As dispenser of Christmas pardons his gifts have real value. When each power gets a seaport the waters over there will be cut up into lanes. ShoD early and be patient. Only three buying days to Christmas. It would be mean to inquire as to the population of Warrenton. All eyes will be on Multnomah to win today. CHILDHOOD. you happy children, Playing in the sun, Ere the cares of Life and Men Truly have begun. Feet a-dangling, toes a-squirming. Little legs a-stronger growing; Chubby arms outstretched in play. Nothing all of sorrow Knowing. oes the milkboy on his round, Goes the trafnc, goes tne pleasure, Go the thousand ways of Life, Still your Joy is brimming measure. Oh, that any time should come. When you leave your happy Home; When you leave your happy play. For the cruel strife or aay. W. J. HUGO. BRYAf, AND HIS HIRT( FRIENDS Kebraakan Wants to Go Into Cabinet for Republic's Good. PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi tor.) If The Oregonian is not con BCious of having offended the friends of Brvan. we have but to refer you to P?our cartoons and editorials of the past month. If you wish us to be more spe ciflc your cartoon of November 30 will serve as one illustration, and one of December 8 another. Here Mr. Bryan is represented as a bigoted, selfish demagogue. Is this your "Impartial and intelligible" Interpretation of cur rent events? Aren't these rather the imaginations of a very prejudiced mind? Space does not permit us to enumerate the many editorials ana car toons all in this vein. The friends of Bryan, ask nothing more of The Oregonian, but that it give Bryan time to Justify its poor opinion of him before it anticipates his thoughts and plans. Indeed the Bryan cult Is a psycho logical curiosity Inasmuch as it ex pects him to be as useful to Mr. vvu son as he shall need him to be, to step forward or backward as will help the most to further the Administration, not for his own glory or Wilson's, but for the advancement and glory of tn Republic. We think of Bryan as very disinterested person, one who sacrificed his own ambitions for an other, and Judging by past deeds and not by what is going to happen, w think he will sacrifice himself again if the country and party desire it. STANLEY CHARETTE. Such friends of Bryan as were of fended by The Oregonian cartoons o Bryan wear their feelings on thei sleeves. One represented Bryan as receiving with obvious consternation the news from Bermuda that Mr. Wil son would "rely on no single person's advice," and the other was of similar tenor. If Mr. Charette failed to see the humorous intent of the caricatures he ought to take treatment for his pon derous and excessive solemnity. The Oregonian has through about two decades had full opportunity to form its opinion of Bryan. It does not antici pate his thoughts and plans. It knows them. If the appeal to give Bryan a trial had been favorably heard in 1896 few doubt now that the result- would have been overwhelming disaster. Why now if not in 189S? So far as he is the same Bryan, the country may well object; in sofar as he is another Bryan it regards him now with respect and a certain degree of confidence. GIVES THE JURY PULl DISCRETION Suggestion Tending to Make Conviction of Mnrder More Certain. .' PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi tor.) It is asserted by all writers on the subject of criminal law that pun ishment should always be more certain than severe. It is well understood, and our dally observation teaches us that It is true, that the more severe the punishment the less likely juries will convict. They generally seek for some escape from finding- a verdict In such cases; therefore, it would seem the part of wisdom on the part of our law makers not to make the punishment for crimes so severe and unbending as to deter a Jury from meting out reason able- punishment. The people of Oregon, at the recent election, by large majority, pronounced against the repeal of the death penalty for crime, but this does not seem to satisfy those people who are opposed to capital punishment; hence the ques tion is still being agitated and will be continued until we have some change in our law upon that subject. In many states of the Union, to-wit, Alabama, Arizona, California, Indiana, South Dakota, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky; West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina, laws are in force imposing the death penalty in cases of murder, but giving to the Jury discre tion to add to their verdict, where one is found, that the person be confined in the Penitentiary, and it Is made the duty of the court to sentence him to life imprisonment. In Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Texas, the same discretion given to the juries in the states men tioned is conferred upon the court, and it seems to be the same in Utah. This provision of law in states men tioned seems to have given reasonable satisfaction to the people thereof. In cases of horrid, cruel, brutal mur der the jury may impose the death penalty, but In cases of premeditated and deliberate murder there may ap pear to the Jury extenuating or ap parently extenuating circumstances which in their opinion, and out of their tenderness for human life, and con sidering its weakness and frallitles, are unwilling to impose the death penalty, yet are willing to impose a life sen tence in the Penitentiary. It is not probable our Legislature, soon to assemble, will at all consider the repeal of the present statute im posing the death penalty for murder, but It might be induced so to amend or modify the law as to vest discretion In the jury as above indicated and to lower the penalties prescribed for sec ond degree murder and manslaughter. LAWYER. MARIE TAKE NOTICE. My dreams Marie are all for you. And I am dreaming most the time. It seems no matter what I do Out shooting ducks or writing rhyme. My thoughts are sure to find a way To your sweet race ami eyes or Dlue And while at work or while at play My dreams Marie are all for you. My dreams Marie are all for you, And Oh I dearly love to dream. It makes a cloudy sky turn blue And worldly woes not what they seem. My motor boat that chugs along With gaso-cough, the waters tnrougn, rhapsodize to perfect song, My dreams Marie are all for you. My dreams Marie are all for you. The mundane eartn is poor indeed. The pork chops that I one day slew Are now a mediocre feed To warm this new celestial sense, I come to know they will not do For fear the vision may get dense, My dreams Marie are all for you. My dreams Marie are all for you I bubble o er in cnaste delight hear your sweet lips bill and coo, I feel your arms about me, tight. And so I barter on: my sins Tobacco 1 11 no longer chew For baby cabs and rolling pins. My dreams Marie are all tor you. GLENN IORBREY PLEASANTS. "Stnna-," But Not Pessimist. PORTLAND, Dec 20. (To the Edi tor.) I have been keeping tab on the letters in The Oregonian for some time, and enjoy them very much. But was more than usually interested In one who was stung. He is not the only one tune. He sain in his letter that if there is one th - that will make an nnappy nome ... a. anniting woman. think a drinking man ditto, as I have had a good hard trial myself. After giving the best years of ,my life- to my husband, helping in every way to make a nice home, and after getting it to see it all go in dissipation and drink. Oh, the horror of it! I often stop to think, after all the years, what a lottery marriage is, after alL It seems one or the other so often gets stung. I was surely stung, but It does not make me believe there are no good men, for I am sure there must be a few. So, one who got stung, must deep down in his heart, have just a faint belief that there are some good, honor- ble women left in this city. WIDOW. DIVORCE PERMANENT INSTITUTION Ita Over Activity Curable by Proper Instruction of the Youns. PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi tor.) The letters signed "Old Maid," "Grouch" and others, upon matrimonial matters,- are growing Intensely in teresting and have prompted the writer to a few reflections. In the minds of all these writers divorce Is a great evil. I do not agree with them, as a careful analysis of the question shows that both the mar riage and divorce ceremonies are crea tures of law. Marriage is a contract, divorce its legal annulment. In the administration of the affairs of all well regulated communities, the one is as important as the other. Marriage, how ever, is such a contract that the state becomes interested when children and property are involved. Nevertheless, the state is equally interestd and af fected when the parties to the contract make themselves, their children and the community wretched, unhappy and miserable, and asserts and protects itself by providing the divorce tribunal. The marriage contract is entered into by people presumably of sound mind, and its annulment is arrived at when these same people have had a chance to think over their grievances, and a dispassionate and disinterested judge assists in reaching a conclusion as to what is best for all concerned, includ ing society. Therefore, there is a like lihood of fewer mistakes in the divorce proceeding than in the marriage cere mony. One is no more sacred than the other. To err, is human, and as it is no reflection upon a business man's moral makeup when he makes a mis judgment, neither should it be if i man or woman makes one or even several mistakes in the important mat ter of selectirfg a life associate. It Is very easy for the clergy and the church to sit behind closed doors and theoreti cally pass upon the question, but as a matter of fact it is a difficult thing to know all the evidence in any case and suspend judgment upon another's troubles. One thing is unmistakably certain concerning the contract or marriage, and that is, as a pure matter of con tract If nothing more, the sole con sideration must be unquestioned, abso lute love; otherwise the contract fails sooner or later, falls as the lawyers say, for a lack of mutuality and failure of consideration. History, poetry, so ciology and every science and all ex perience recognize and confirm this statement. The futile attempts of ancient and modern knights to substi tute a dominating lordship and control where love has been driven from the home, is an evidence of weakness of those employing such means. Equality of woman in every sphere ot life, including mental equality, is now recognized, and to maintain the mar riage relation, his lordship man must know that sympathy, honesty, candor, reason and temperance in all things, alone find an audience with any self respecting woman. Without these no man has a right to expect the splendid flower of love to bloom Emerson says, Feeble souls do not desire to be lovely but to be loved." Men who do big things are not in bondage to their bodies. Right thinking men. are gradually learning to control their tempers, desires and their imagination. Right thinking is also fast dissipating the two standards of conduct so long defended, and no real modern knight who can boast of being equal to wo man now dares fix a higher concep tion for his wife's conduct than he finds in his own ideal code for him self. Divorce is with us to stay, has be come a part of the institution of so ciety, and the tendency of the times as Indicated by the reports of the Vice Commision, shows that the legally con stituted authorities are more and more entering into the social questions, and the divorce tribunal will be guarded and protected by all thinking people. The clergy and courts should not dis sipate their energy in denouncing divorce as an institution, but should constantly endetvor to point out to the voune- and ill-advised the true condi tions making towards such manhood and womanhood as will make possible a calm and careful survey and analysis of the meaning and import of the ceremony at the altar. This will de crease the activity of divorce and firmly fix and establish the sacredness of the marriage tie. FELIX. NOTICE TO READERS AND LETTER WRITERS. The Oregonian welcomes let ters from its readers comment ing on matters of timely Interest, but to receive favorable consid eration they must be brief. Letters should not contain more than 300 words. The Ed itor reserves the right to con dense communications. Those who object should so state in their communications. Addresses of correspondents will not be supplied to Inquirers, nor will letters be forwarded to them, nor will this page be per mitted to become in any way a medium for exchange -of personal correspondence. The Oregonian will not under take by mail td supply statistics, addresses, information to settle wagers, references for debates, data of similar character. Ques tions that deal with subjects of general interest may be an swered from time to time in its columns when space permits. Letters are more likely to be published if signed by the true name of the writer. If, in the judgment of the editor, a nom-de-plume Is used for an ulterior purpose, or when so signed the letter would be without weight or Interest, the communication will not be published. Divorce nnd SInrrlngre. PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi tor.) My observations of the divorce columns show that about as many divorces arise from friction caused by the relatives on both sides of the family as from the wife not being an old fashioned girl. It doesn't appear to me that It is as much the old-fashioned girl or the ew style girl that men are looking for, as it is the girl of true devotion nd considerable tact. Men as well as the public prefer the wife that is more than all domestic. Most men are better satisfied to have a little excess in the cost of living than a wife too econo mical and one that knows better how to save her husband's money than she oes how to spend It. All homes are not peopled by the wife's relations instead of little .chil dren: all wives are not humiliated by bringing a good-sized family among her husband's relations. There are still true homes, good men for husbands and enough for all the good girls pre pared to claim them. Self sacrifice as often as frivolity is the girl's obstacle. Both bachelor and maid will find generally they have made their own condition and deserve their titles, and until they remedy themselves needn't offer excuse or plead for sympathy in this broad, liberal land. A WIFE AND MOTHER. Split Electoral Vote. PORTLAND, Dec 20. (To the Edi tor.) Please state if it Is possible for two Presidential candidates to get- elec toral votes but of the same state. If so, how? READER. The electoral vote may be split In the same manner that the Multnomah County delegation In the State Senate; for example, may be divided between two parties. Electors are voted for as individuals. The voter in Oregon, if he likes, may vote for two Republican, one Democrat, one Socialist and one Prohibition elector, or In any other combination. The Mo iey Trust ' By Dean Collins. Morgan tells us: "Why he fussed 'Bout a fancied Money Trust? Why wax serious and hot Over something that is not? For though all the banks should be After some monopoly. Striving fiercely,-with control. Of all money for their goal, ' I insiBt to every one It can't be done; It can't be done." II. Mr. Morgan, if you must Say there is no Money Trust, Lest your claim be held as phony. Let me add my testimony. Though I am a simple guy And my balance Is not high In the bank; and vain you look For my name in Bradstreet's book; By experience I am won To your view it can't be done. III. Once, when payday came to me. Did I bank my salary. Thinking, in my youthful crust, I would start a money trust? That was years and years ago. Did my little trustlet grow? Nix! For as I put cash In, I must check It out agin'. Shining shekels, bones and clinkers. For my coffee, eggs and sinkers. Now. the while I sadly look At the figures in my book. And I see the smoke and dust Raised about a Money Trust, Thus my deep reflections run "It can't be done; it can't be done!" Portland, December 20. Half a Century Ago Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, Dec. 13. The battle, long anticipated, is now progressing. General French's di vision, which was supported by General Howard's troops, advanced to the en emy's works at 11:40 A. M. on a brisk run. The enemy's guns opened upon them with a rapid fire at the base of the ridge. The rebel Infantry who were posted behind stone walls and some houses on the right of our men, and they fell to a small ravine. When our troops arrived at the first line of rebel defenses, they double-quicked and with fixed bayonets endeavored to dis lodge the rebels from their hiding places, but the concentrated fire of the rebel artillery and Infantry was too much for them. The center gave way In disorder, but was afterwards rallied and brought back. General Franklin, on our left, met with better success. He succeeded after a hard day's fight in driving the rebels about one mile. At one time they advanced to attack him, but were handsomely repulsed with terrible slaughter. The Auburn correspondent of the Mountaineer speaks of much sickness prevailing at that place. The citizens of Oregon City have held a preliminary meeting with a view to organize a company to engage In the manufacture of woolen goods. W. C. Dement, L. D. C. Latourette, D. P. Thompson, J. L. Barlow and A. Warner have been appointed a committee to as certain the terms upon which the use of the waterpower at Willamette Falls and the necessary ground for the build ings could be obtained. No New Road Lawn Wanted f EOLA, Or., Dec. 18. (To the Edi tor.) According to the public press the indications are that the Legislative Assembly will bring forth many road bills to wrangle about Why cannot the members represent the people and stand by the people's decision? The vote cast upon road bonding and taxation bills seems to me should be conclusive proof that a vast majority ' are opposed to bonding and increased taxation in any form, and are satisfied with the present system of building roads. The only change voted for is In using convicts and other prisoners upon our roads, and such acts provide ample authority for the proper offi cials to act. Hence, there Is no demand for road legislation at present, except by a minority. Now should the Legislature represent the majority of people, or the minority because it happens to be composed gen erally of the wealthier class? If the Legislature does not see nt to represent the wishes of the majority of the people, as expressed at the No vember election, then the people will use the referendum and possibly there call later. The Legislative members as well as others should realize that laws do not create roads, and that roads can and are being made under present laws. GEORGE C. M1TTY. Loganberry Culture. NEWBERG. Or., Dec. 19. (To the Editor.) Please publish in The Orego- ' nian the views of some experienced loganberry grower as to the proper method of cultivating the same. L. B. S. Write to the Oregon Agricultural College experiment station. Corvallls. ROOSEVELPS HUNTING TALES A Colorado Bear Hunt The second of Theodore Roosevelt's hunting stories deals with a thrill ing bear hunt in Colorado, in which a number of fine specimens were bagged. It is told in Roose velt's graphic style and occupies a full page, with illustrations. Our Fierce Little Pirates We have a large number of them and they cause ns endless trouble in the Philippines. An illustrated page, which includes the stirring account of an exploit in which several brave soldiers won the medal of honor. The Winning of Oregon The second and concluding page in the outline history of the State of Oregon. The conquest by the .wlite man and the establishment of the first Government are de scribed. An Army Christmas A Christ mas short story, profusely illus trated. Close to Death Second in the series of adventures of an Ameri can war correspondent. lie is wounded by Mexican rebels and narrowly escapes with his life. "Rock Sand" A page account, in colors, of the departure of the great race horse for foreign shores, never to return. On the Beach at Dieppe A playlet from the French of Henri Lavedan. Complete Sunday. MANY OTHER FEATURES. Order Today From Your Newsdealer.
