THE MORNING OEEGONIAN, MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1913.
ixmtmt
PORTLAND, OREGON.
Entered at Portland, Oregon, Fostoffice as
second-class matter.
Subscription Kates Invariably In Advance:
(BY MAIL.;
Dally, Sunday Included, one year . .$S-00
Daily, Sunday included, six months .....
l)ai)y, Sunday included, three montha ..
Daily, Sunday Included, one month. ..... .i
Daily, without Sunday, one year VU
Daily, without Sunday, six months ..... a-9
Daily, without Sunday, three months. .. 1.75
Daily, without Sunday, one month -V
Weekly, one year 1.50
Sunday, one year - 2. 60
Sunday and weekly, one year s.fio
(BY CARRIER)
Daily, Sunday Included, one year ....... -00
Daily, Sunday Included, one month .....
II . 1 ia t C.nri nnHtnfficfl mOMV Or
der, express order or personal check on your
local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at
sender's risk. Give postotrice aaaress w
full. Including county and state.
Postage Kates 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18
to HZ pages. 2 cents; 34 to 40 pages, a ceum,
to to 60 pages, 4 cents; 62 to 0 pages, 3
cents; 78 to V3 pages, 6 cents. Foreign post
age, double rates.
Eastern Business Offices Verree & Conk
Iln, biew York, Brunswick building. Chi
cago, steger building.
San Francisco Office R. J. Bldwell Co.,
742 Market at.
European Office No. 2 Regent street S.
W., London.
PORTLAND , MONDAY, AUGUST 11. 1913.
GOOD REASON S 1XB. OPTIMISM.
Optimism as to the business outlook
is the dominant n'ote in the expressions
of opinion from the leading manufac
turers, merchants, bankers and rail
road presidents of the United States
publisher in The Sunday Oregonian.
All tell of healthy conditions and nor
mally expanding business, good crops
salable at good prices, sufficient mon
ey in banks to market them and heavy
traffic on railroads.
There are adverse factors, but they
and their influence are fast passing
away. One is the tariff bill, but, hav
ing reconciled themselves to the cer
tainty that the tariff would be re
duced, manufacturers and producers
have nerved themselves to stand the
unequal and drastic revision now pro
posed. Predictions of disaster to in
dustry are few, and the great major
ity have evidently discounted the ef
fects of revision. The currency bill,
at first a source of uncertainty, has
become a source of confidence since its
defects have been largely pruned away
and good prospect has arisen that the
leaders in Congress will consent to
further improvements. Danger of rail
road strikes has been practically elim
inated by the new arbitration law.
Assurance of peace in the Balkans en
courages confidence that large sums
tied up in European treasuries will
soon be turned loose and will ease up
the world's money market.
With the certainty of good crops
and ample funds to handle them; with
the prospect of an early settlement of
the tariff and the readiness of man
ufacturers to do business under the
new rates and not to sulk; with the
prospect a little beyond that the new
currency; system will provide ample
money for legitimate business, to ex
pand and contract with our needs, and
will render panics a remote possibil
ity, there is every cause for confidence
and no cause for foreboding.
Those who have felt the business
pulse speak of banks eschewing specu
lative loans and accommodating only
their own customers, of railroads able
to borrow only on short time and of
scant supply of capital for public util
ities, public Improvements and devel
. opment enterprises. But the conditions
which have brought about this tight
ness of money are world-wide and the
promised relief from these conditions
is also world-wide. j
Simultaneously with the financial
pinch caused in Europe by the Balkan
War, abnormally large Issues of se
curities were offered on European
markets with few takers. American
securities were thrown back on our
hands with few buyers on this side
of the water. The stock exchange is
running a bargain counter. The loos
ening up of capital which is close at
hand will absorb the undigested Eu
ropean securities and create a market
for those of the United States. Ex
pansion of business will increase rail
road earnings sufficiently to make
their bonds again marketable. Then
betterments and extensions can be
made, which will facilitate the handling
of a larger volume of traffic and will
cause purchases of large amounts of
material. With the easier money mar
ket promised development projects
will secure capital to go ahead and 5
per cent municipal bonds will not go
begging below par.
There has not been a depression;
there has only been a lull in business.
It has not extended to dealing in those
things which we need for consumption
from day to day, but has been con
fined to branches of business which
could await removal of the factors
herein enumerated. A period of eco
nomic readjustment in this country
has synchronized with a period of.
warlike disturbance in Europe. Both
sources of doubt, both reasons for
waiting, are being removed at the
same. time. We are justified in expect
ing a period of activity in production
and development proportioned to the
length and intensity of the period of
lull, for work of this character has
fallen behind. We must do during the
next few years not only what should
ordinarily be done in those years, but
also what should have been done dur
ing the past few years. We are going
to put on a spurt and catch up.
MARRIED WOMEN TEACHERS.
Charles W. Eliot, the former presi
dent of Harvard, has come up to the
help of the New York School Direc
tors against the women. Those for
midable potentates are engaged just
now in devising means of punishment
for Mrs. Bridget C. Peixotto, who com
mitted the enormity of marrying and
bearing a child while she was em
ployed as a teacher in the - public
schools. Dr. Charles W. Eliot takes
the trouble to write to the Directors
and assure them that his sympathies
are against the right of a woman
teacher to produce babies.
'"In my opinion," he says, "the em
ployment of married women in the
schools is not for the interest of the
pupils, the teachers or the community
as a whole." He says, too, that he
thinks five years long enough for a
woman to teach. If she cannot find
a husband by that time, let her go to
the poorhouse or become a suffragette,
he would probably decide. All this is
interesting because Dr. Eliot has en
joyed a long experience of human af
fairs and his opinions are weighted
both with experience and erudition.
Nevertheless, It would be stimulat
ing to inquire just how much of that
mechanical formalism which has
blighted our publio schools could be
traced back to the uniform employ
ment of unmarried women. The fe
male mind naturally delights in fixed
rules and unvarying precepts. It de
tests exceptions and would be glad to
reduce the whole universe to a few
algebraic formulas. Besides that, cen
turles of slavery to the male have
made women apt ministers of that
mechanism which saves work to su
perintendents and directors. It costs
far less trouble to make out tables
of statistics than to teach children, and
consequently, under the regime of un
married women teachers, with male
superintendents, the energies of the
public schools have been largely con
secrated t,o the beautiful but arid work
of compiling- long arrays of figures.
Married women no doubt have some
faults, but they are not as a rule ab
ject adorers of men. Intimacy with
the bearded sex has cured their illu
sfons and made them more or less in
dependent. This may be the real rea
son why boards of male directors are
so eager to get rid of them.
"HE CAN LEAKN FROM LTVEKPOOL.
If the Port of Columbia secures the
services of a dredging expert from Liv
erpool it will get the benefit of many
years' successful experience in con
tending with conditions similar to
those existing at the mouth of the Co
lumbia. At the mouth of the Mersey
is a bar which has required continual
dredging in order that a channel might
be kept open. That channel is safely
navigated by the largest trans-Atlantic
liners, hence if we follow Liverpool
methods we may expect to put to si
lence the scoffers at the Columbia
River, who chuckle over every mishap
to a ship.
While dredges on the Mersey bar do
not have to contend with a long swell
like that of the Pacific, they encounter
in the Irish Sea nasty, choppy avaves
like those of the English Channel.
There is not exact duplication of con
ditions, but there is close similarity.
The Liverpool expert can also give
our Dock Commission much informa
tion on the construction of docks,
piers and belt railways, for he has
been in the employ of the Mersey Dock
and Harbor Board. This body com
bines the functions which are here
divided between the Port Commission
and the Dock Commission. Its juris
diction extends beyond the limits of
Liverpool, as that of our Port Com
mission extends beyond the limits of
Portland. It owns the whole frontage
of the Mersey for miles- above its
mouth and has provided splendid fa
cilities of every kind for ships. In
making Portland an up-to-date harbor
with modern docks, operated at a min
imum of cost to ships, we can learn
much from Liverpool.
WHY THE A IK IS CLEAR.
Those who have lived a few years
on the Pacific Coast can recall when
the atmosphere at this season of the
year was thick with smoke and the
mountains were invisible from the cit
ies for weeks at a time. The present
clearness of the air is due to the work
of the Western Forestry and Conserva
tion Association in preventing and ex
tinguishing forest fires.
Beginning with a local association
in the Coeur d'Alene country of Idaho,
this association has extended until it
covers the states of Oregon, Washing
ton, Idaho, Montana and California.
Composed mainly of private owners of
timber land, it now counts the state of
Idaho among its members and has
secured the co-operation of the Federal
Government and other states in its
work. It employs 450 regular patrol
men and a much larger force during
the season of fires. It guards one-half
the standing timber in the United
States and last year limited fires to
14,000 acres, or one-sixteenth of one
per cent of the timber protected, while
the timber destroyed was only one
seventieth of one per cent.
In protecting their own property the
tlmbermen are protecting the public
interest. Destruction of timber is a
loss to the community as well as to the
owner. By extinguishing forest fires
the association protects the home and
often saves the life of many an Iso
lated settler. By preserving the for
ests, it protects the water-supply. It
confers a public benefit, mainly at prl
vate expense.
FALSE PROMISES.
Last year The Oregonian fought for the
exemption law on household furniture and
effects. It was a law for the good of the
people (and The Oregonian editor.) But
when a law is proposed to exempt $1500 of
the toilers' improvements. The Oregonian
fights it. That is not for the good of the
millionaires and Idle lands. Oregon City
Courier.
The Oregonian may be old-fashioned,
but it cannot conceive of taxation as
a penalty. Taxes are paid for benefits,
and the property which returns a
profit to its owner and also re
ceives benefits from public expendi
tures ought to contribute its share of
the cost of government.
The household exemption has had
very little fiscal significance. It did
not disturb the equilibrium of taxa
tion. The property excluded from tax
ation is not income-producing and is
a necessary burden rather than an
asset. The laws' effect is general and
proportionate to holdings and ability
to pay.
The proposed $1500 exemption is ar
bitrary. It has no sound or scientific
basis. It would disturb the
distribution of taxation and compel a
readjustment. That in this readjust
ment the portion of the tax burden
would be shifted to "millionaires and
idle lands" is bald assumption. State
and local governments require a given
income. When expenses are not met
by the revenues, the revenues may be
Increased by enlarging the tax levy or
putting tax values nearer a 100 .per
cent basis. An increase In valuation
could readily wipe out the whole effect
of an exemption made specific as to
value.
The man paying on improvements
and personalty valued at 11500 under
a 50 per cent valuation would, notr
withstanding a $1500 exemption, pay
the same taxes if the rate were not
disturbed and the valuation were
raised to 100 per cent. Raising of the
rate without disturbing valuation basis
would have nearly the same effect.
Methods heretofore practiced by as
sessing authorities lead to the belief
that one or the other -of these 'two
courses would be followed. If idle
lands and water power are not now
paying a just share of taxation there
is absolutely no assurance that they
would under a law which merely af
fected other property so long as that
other property was assessed at its full
value of the tax rate had not already
reached the legal maximum.
We presume the voters will be del
uged again with meaningless, inac
curate figures based on tax rolls as
they were in 1912. That sly, Indirect
attempt to buy votes for a single tax
measure by promise that this man
here and that man there would escape
a just responsibility failed. The same
oblique tactics, based on falsification,
ought to fall again. The proposed law
does not promise a saving to anybody.
It merely forecasts a disturbance in
the revenue collecting system.
Chicago has a way of dealing with
lazy husbands similar to Washington's
law. The Court of Domestic Relations
gives them the choice between jail and
a promise to support their families.
If they accept the latter alternative
they are set free, but in charge of a
probation officer, who sees that they
keep the promise. Over 1000 men are
now at work on these terms who would
have gone to Jail under the old law.
The remedy is found support for the
family through the work of the man.
FALSE ECONOMY.
It is a lamentable fact that one of
the Central Oregon counties which the
Legislature sought particularly to
benefit by the enactment of a law
authorizing agricultural experiment
and demonstration work, at partial
state expense, has permitted the op
portunity this year to lapse." Crook
County, where this strange exhibi
tion of lack of foresight and enter
prise on the part of the county au
thorities exists, last year established
two demonstration farms with the ma
terial aid of the railroad companies.
This year, when the state is authorized
to expend $2 for each $1 appropriated
by the county, the work is permitted
to lapse; Crook County newspapers,
led "by the Bend Bulletin, are properly
voicing indignation.
Crook County presents wonderful
opportunities to the new settler. The
county is but sparsely settled and
vacant lands are available in almost
boundless extent. But climatic and
soil conditions differ from those to
which the average new settler is ac
customed. He needs, that he may be
successful, practical demonstration of
the best way to farm in that district
and ocular evidence of the productive
qualities of the land as to various
crops. Something on the order of the
Oregon Agricultural College demon
stration work la the most practicable
means of preventing an immeasurable
delay in the general development of
the county.
If the failure to profit by the law
be due to efforts to economize the
idea that there is any real saving in
withholding an appropriation for this
work in Crook County is a false one.
Money so spent will return a thousand
fold.
THE CULT OF THE DICTIONARY.
One of our Eastern contemporaries
comments with disapproval upon "the
stupid faith people have in diction
aries." It quotes an author or two
who have lately sallied out against the
lexicographers and broken their spears
in behalf of individual preferences in
speech. The dictionary makers, we
are told, must collect what little
knowledge they possess, just as the
rest of us do, from observation and
books, and they are by no means in
fallible in judgment. Too often they
act like the lawyers and impose upon
us the decaying relics of former ages
as living and breathing usage. When
a silly thing has once found its way
Into a dictionary it is copied and re
copied with dull docility so that one
generation after another is fed upon
the refuse of departed fools. This
may all be true, and yet it must not
be forgotten that there really is more
or less dependable information in
some of the dictionaries. The makers
of them knew more, probably, than
the average high school boy. It may
even be assumed, though with hesita
tion and doubt, that they knew almost
as much as the average high school
girl and their word may therefore be
followed occasionally with profit.
Still it cannot be denied that dic
tionary worship has been pushed to a
lamentable extreme in some quarters.
There was a time, and perhaps there
is still, when a certain brand of dic
tionary wisdom was adopted by law
in some states of the Union. In these
enlightened commonwealths it was un
lawful to pronounce "leisure" with a
short vowel in the first syllable. "Ad
vertisement" must be accented on the
the second syllable on pain of public
disgrace if not a fine and imprison
ment. - The good old "wound" which
rhymed with "bound" was transformed
under this tyrannical regime into a
monster that rhymed with "swooned
and so on through a painful list. The
despotism of the dictionary reached
its acme in the Middle West bj the
ministrations of young women school
teachers who had graduated at nor
mal schools, where Webster was set
a notch or two higher than the Bi
ble. Unhappy little boys and girls
were compelled under fearful penalties
to commit Webster's "diacritical
marks" to memory. The seven sounds
of the letter a, save the mark; the
four sounds of o and the four of u
must all be rattled off without an
error and the proper symbol attached
to each. In many schools of the Mid
dle West it was a regular Friday aft
ernoon exercise to recite the Web-
sterian diacritical marks and spend a
precious hour of two applying them to
our nondescript orthography. It was
imagined that by this hideous process
young people would be taught to speL'
and enunciate. The curious result
was that they forgot how to do both.
It is vividly remembered with what
horror a Western student entering a
renowned Eastern university heard the
erudite president pronounce "leisure"
with a short vowel. There must have
been some serious defect in his educa
tion even if charity conceded that he
was not breaking the law with malice
prepense. But, after all, there is some
thing to be said for dictionary worship
even when it is carried to the length
of legal enactment. Just as the old
maxim of the church, "one Lord, one
faith, one baptism," secured a passa
ble uniformity of worship throughout
the Christian world, so the Middle
Western adoration of Webster made
the speech of that important region
measurably the same from the Rocky
Mountains to the Allegh.enies. AH
Westerners speak alike. They pro
nounce their r's with a rich fullness
which delights the ear and satisfies
the intelligence. They never flatten
the a in "palm" as do the benighted
natives of Philadelphia, nor do they
prolong a final a to rhyme with er,
as the Yankees do in their blindness.
In a truly New England mouth "idea"
rhymes accurately with "fear." No
native of Illinois or Wisconsin would
commit such an absurdity and his im
munity arises from the worship of the
dictionary which he was taught with
his "Now I lay me" in the tender
years of infancy.
Human speech when left to ita own
sinful ways tends - to break up into
dialects. In poor old Europe every. lit
tle valley and secluded hamlet has a
usage of its own in pronunciation and
often in grammar and vocabulary.
From such variety of speech arises
difficulty of mutual understanding and
the ignorance of neighboring popula
tions generates hostility and promotes
the schemes of the military inciter.
Had it not been for our National love
of the dictionary and that adoring
docility before it which the public
school has instilled, the United States
might have been long before this time
divided into little nests of mutually
, hating people whose enmity would
have arisen simply because they did
not talk alike. Everybody must . have
observed the bitterness with which
rural communities animadvert upon
little differences of language. Let a
family from Southern Ohio, for exam
ple, move into a neighborhood peo--id
Vow Englanders. No matter
If the husband is a philosopher, the
wife a saint and all the seven hilflren
cherubim, that will not save the fam
ily from public reprobation, because
they will be sure to use certain locu
tions which are anathema to the Yan
kees. They will say "Johnny pailed
the cow this morning," or "Susie
shucked right smart of corn this aft-
noon," or "Pap lowed to go to town
this week, but he was tuck with a
misery- in his stummlck and had to
stay home." All these expressions.
which are classic in Cincinnati, are
loathed in Boston. Thus the begin
nings of sectionalism arise when the
dictionary is neglected. Perhaps what
we really need is, not less devotion to
that mighty volume, but a good deal
more.
The appearance of Senator James Hamil
ton Lewis on the streets of Washington In
a cream-colored serge suit and wearing a
white silk shirt Is another reminder of the
Jeffersonian simplicity of the Democratic
administration. Springfield Union.
On this . paragraph, the New York
Herald comments:
Can cold and gray New England never
attain to proper appreciation of the re
splendent glory of the virile, vivid and
bounding West?
Serge and silk properly typifies the pure
jeirersoman lustre 01 the Hamlewls soul.
It is noticeable that, as Senator
Lewis has advanced in fame as the
Beau Brummel of the United States,
he has traveled eastward until at
Washington he has reached the climax
m a career which he began as "Dude
Lewis" in Seattle. He knows where
perfection of dress is most highly val
ued and has carried his sartorial dis
play to that market.
President Wilson has got into trou
ble with the negro-hating Senators by
appointing A. E. Patterson, a negro of
Oklahoma, registrar of the treasury.
Messrs. Vardaman, Tillman, Hoke
Smith and others had a violent attack
of hysterics and the nomination has
been withdrawn at Mr. Patterson's re
quest. The President must now decide
whether he will exclude all negroes
from office at the dictation of the
negrophobes or insist upon his execu
tive powers.
If other men who have the means
and the ability would specialize as
Will Crissey is doing in gladioli, some
wonderful results would be attained
in horticulture, floriculture and agri
culture. The ordinary tiller of the soil
is beginning to show respect for the
work of what he has heretofore called
"the gentleman farmer." The Iatter's
work Is mostly experimental, and that
is the way the biggest and best are
produced.
Once a loan shark, always a loan
shark, seems to be the lesson of the
case of Daniel H. Tolman, king of the
craft. Fined $1000 and paroled on
the understanding that, if he resumed
business in any state where usury is
Illegal, he returned to New York and
was promptly arrested for bleeding a
young man earning $12 a week of most
of his income. The only way to stop
Tolman's extortion is to put him in
jail.
Attention of the I. W. W. is called
to the announcement that farmers in
Washington and Idaho need men to
harvest their crops. The I. W. W.
love the open air, as witness' their
fondness for open-air meetings, so here
is a chance for plenty of It. They
would also have an opportunity in the
harvest field to rest their weary jaw-
muscles and harden the muscles of
arms, legs and back.
Memory of the rains that prevailed
over the Valley last Summer brings
into prominence the lack of them this
year, with suggestion to the county
courts the advisability of using oil on
the roads early and late to avoid the
pestilence of dust. This treatment of
a nuisance would be expensive, to be
sure, but the relief would be worth all
It would cost.
The great Interest Jersey mosquitoes are
manifesting in "slit" skirts would seem to
dispose of the theory that it is only the
female of the species that stings New York
Herald.
The slit might be covered with
mosquito netting. In fact, women
may come to make the skirts of that
material.
A few warm days in a row make the
Portlander recall the good work of
the water committee of years agone
that brought Bull Run water into the
city. One does not have to be very old
to remember the temperature of the
river water. Its chief quality was that
it was wet.
That his actors may see themselves
as others see them, Charles Frohman
has moving pictures made of rehears
als, then causes the company to see its
own performance. Now they can un
derstand why some audiences are
bored and why others laugh at the
wrong time.
Oregonians who have relatives in
the prairie states where wells are go
ing dry and other discomforts of a
continued hot spell are felt must send
them Oregon literature and weather
statistics pointing the way to blessed
relief.
What the Governor of California will
say to the Governors of Oregon and
Washington at Redding next week may
become memorable talk, if this rela
tive humidity does not suffer a chill.
Portland will have a milk show in
a few weeks, with an exhibit showing
the wrong way to produce and handle
milk. Will that include milking a
kicking cow on the right side?
Can Castro come back ? That is the
question in Venezuela,- Napoleon tried
it, but was knocked out in the first
round. Is Castro greater than Napo
leon?
Scoffers will note that all the inhabi.
tants of a Spanish village were at
tending church two miles away when
the aerolite set fire to their homes.
.... . -- --
P. I... rannl r?AnA V, I .
win 'cx..c& uuo umuisa uig icutuij ,
But how are they to be caught?
The harvest fields in the Inland
Empire are calling for help. The work
is hard, but the pay is good.
A city ordinance requiring the owner
of a hitching post to pay a license is
worse than a war tax.
All Kipling needs is to come to Ore
gon and catch another salmon.
IXSFECTIOX " NEEDED IX COUJfTRT
Eating; Houses In Small Towns Need
Cleaning; t;p. Says Traveler.
PORTLAND, Aug. 10. (To the Edi
tor.) Nine out of every ten restaurants
in the rural and semi-rural communi
ties of this state are run under the most
unsanitary conditions. The kitchens
are filthy; the dining-rooms are fly
infested; the waiters and waitresses
are careless about their personal clean
liness. I believe that the state, and not
the county, should appoint kitchen in
spectors for all restaurants, cafes,
"noodle" shops, dairy lunches and
hotels. Only in that way can the health
of the people of the entire state be
properly insured, , -
It is little short of criminal to allow
such filthy conditions -as exist in our
small town restaurants. We are ex
posing our children to diseases, and
In that way impairing the future health
and prosperity of our great state. Good
food, unless served properly, and
cooked under proper sanitary condi
tions, is just as likely to carry germs
as bad food. I have seen milk stand
ing on a counter exposed to dust and
dirt and flies, and then served to a lit
tle child. In many restaurants (this I
have seen) men with nicotine-stained
fingers pick up the butter with their
fingers and place It on the butter
plates. In one restaurant a degenerate,
filthy youth of about 19, before serv
ing some women and children a lunch
eon (?) turned and spat his quid of
tobacco on the floor. In several other
restaurants I have seen men returning
from the toilet and then picking up
bread with their hands and placing It
on bread plates and serving it to the
guests. Goodness only knows how
filthy and vile the kitchen conditions
must be if such things go on in the
serving room.
The subject spoken of in this letter is
very vital, and I believe has not been
given the attention it merits. As an
army crawls on its stomach, so "a state
depends upon the quality of its food
for its general vigor and vitality. Our
little country girls, the future mothers,
and our rural youths, the future fathers.
should not be exposed to food, contam
ination; neither should our grown girls
and men nightly, in small towns,
swarm around the table of the "noodle"
or chop-suey restaurants, and eat food
too often prepared In hastiness. One
cannot help hut understand the reason
for three out of five rural Oregon
youths being pimply-faced, blotchy,
unhealthy-looking young men, in
marked contrast to the average city
youth one sees in Portland and the
Eastern cities.
I believe that no man any way dis
eased should be allowed to wait in a
restaurant or cook or handle food In
any way. The same law should apply
to young girls. I believe that there
should be no smoking or Bpittlng or
chewing 'of tobacco in the kitchen of
any restaurant. I believe in the rigid
monthly inspection of all sinks, kitch
ens, cellars of every place which serves
food to the public. Water-closets
should be far removed from the kitch
ens of all restaurants.
W. J. C. PALMONT.
HARDSHIP IS SEEN IN NEW PLAN
Quarterly Payments of Water Rate
Severe on Needy Persona.
PORTLAND, Aug. 9. (To the Edi
tor.) I ask permission to state a few
facts in relation to the proposed change
in the time for paying water rates. An
article in The Oregonian states that
the people of Portland favor the
quarterly payment plan by a vote of
eight to one. As It is only those in
authority who count the votes, it would
be useless to question the statement,
but If such a vote has been cast thus
far, I, for one, honestly believe it is
because the real facts are not properly
understood. ,
Just one year ago a company of
expert accountants made a report on
the condition of the city's water de
partment and after promising many
things among which was the saving
of $40,000 a year, were engaged to in
stall a complete new system of - ac
counting. How well they iid this is
now evinced by a recent report in The
Oregonian, whereby it is shown that
instead of a saving of the promised
$40,000, the expense has actually been
increased to more than double what it
was before. So sweet was this plum
that those with the drag now want to
make another change and "save" us
$30,000 more.
If it is to accommodate the public,
why not let the public pay as they
choose? If some have the means
whereby they can pay three months
in advance, why not let them pay that
way? As things stand now they can
pay as far as they choose. But when
it will not accommodate the rich any
more than the present method does,
why force the poor to pay three months
In advance when it is often hard for
them to pay even one month in ad
vance. As for the saving, what would
It be to the individual if the Water
Department did save all they hope to
or $30,000 a year? It would only be 5
cents a month to 60,000 people. So, let
not the average water user be mis
guided by abstract figures.
The popularity of the installment
plan is evidence that people prefer to
pay by the month. If it is advisable
to pass legislation providing that
street assessments be made payable in
small amounts if one so desires, why
destroy the same idea in connection
with water rents and compel people to
pay three months in advance when
they can now pay any number of
months they choose? I hope others
will assert themselves and prevent the
adoption of so undesirable a measure.
C. KELLY.
WATER RATE PLAN- OPPRESSIVE.
Working-men and Renters Would Suffer
From Quarterly Payments.
PORTLAND, Aug. 9.r (To the Edi
tor.) I am unable to see how the
work In groan is going to be benefited
by the- change in payment of water
rates. In fact 'the requirement to pay
water rent quarterly in advance is
going to work considerable hardship
oh him. Take the month of July, for
instance. The sum of $1.75 is about
enough to pay at one time for bouse
and hose, but by paying three months
in advance, -$o. 25, would have to be dug
up, which Is a lot or money. And
man who is Tenting would have that
three months to pay for even though
he might be reasonably certain that he
would not be in that house for the
next three months. He would have the
bother of going to the office, stand
ing in line for an hour and the strong
possibility of getting nothing back.
When a man has a meter (and we
all hope to have one some day and
pay for just what we use, be it 25
cents or $2) paying for it in advance
before it is measured would be an
absurdity.
I believe that enough confusion
would result from the change to pre
vent any reduction of force or saving
thereby. Some of that $30,000 could
probably be saved, however, by having
part of the bills oellvered by messenger,
as our friends, the gas people, are do
ing, and it would give some one
job besides. -
ANOTHER CONSUMER.
Orljrln of "Oregon."
PORTLAND, Aug. 10. (To the Edi
tor.) I notice a few days ago that
some one asked the origin of the name
"Oregon." I have in my scrapbook an
article by James. Elverson that gives
this explanation: 'The name of 'Ore
gon' is of Spanish origin and means
wild thyme." " A READER.
No Nosing There.
Washington Herald.
"You seem happier." "Yes," respond
ed the clerk in the department store.
"I've been transferred from the silk
counter to the grindstone department
And very few women out shopping in
sist on pawing over that stock."
IMMIGRATION RILING PROTESTED
Hindu Calls for Justice to His Country
men by America.
PORTLAND, Aug. 9. (To the Edi
tor.) Comes now a crippled Hindu to
raise his lonely voice ss an appeal to
the good" common sense of the Ameri
can people against the high-handed
action of a handful of the Immigration
officers of San Francisco in an attempt
to deport some Hindus simply because
they .are Hindus, and as such they are
undesirables. It is a regret that the
American people, with so much love
of justice, love of freedom, and all
such good qualities that go to make
a foremost republic on the face of the
earth, should look upon this poor, in
sulted and injured nation of about 300,
000,000 as undesirables.
Every American in his grade school
has learned that India was the cradle
of the so-called Aryan civilization, and
yet the discrimination against a hand
ful of Hindus coming into this free
country Is tense. If there is any other
motive in prohibiting the Hindus from
entering this country than merely a
wage question, and their being Asiatics
and Orientals, it pains me to say that
the greatest of all the functions of
the brain, the reasoning, which dis
tinguishes human beings from lower
animals, has not yet fully developed in
the American proletariat, in spite or
their boast of a World's Christian Citi
zenship Conference, their boast of
maintaining a large horde of mission
aries in foreign lands, and the last and
most important of all, their boast of
love of freedom and justice.
I am not here to discuss anything
and everything, but when it comes to
the total discrimination of a nation al
most crushed under a foreign yoke,
and when a handful of the so-called
whites, in spite of -ethnology, though
they be of Mongolian descent, can claim
the citizenship papers, it is time for
every right-thinking pers'bn, if he hap
pens to belong to the same stock, to
fight for the salvation of his people
as well as for his own. By the fore
going I do not mean to incite the Jap
anese or the Chinese to clamor for citi
zenship, but I maintain and assert that
though the Finns can become citizens,
which they: have done for so long, it
is in spite of the fact that they ethically
belong to the Mongolian race, which
fact the authorities intentionally or un
intentionally overlooked. (Vide Ency
clopedia Britannlca, edition 11, volume
10, page 386.) This admission of the
Finns, as every American should un
derstand, is against the Constitution of
the United States, in which there is
no provision for a Mongolian to become
a citizen.
Now, then, is the Constitution or are"
the authorities, who presume to exer
cise the constitutional laws, to be
blamed? ' I believe Mr. Wilson is one
of the greatest authorities in history
and political science, anU as such he
knows the history and ethnology of
the various nations. I, in the name, of
the very religion that stands for the
"brotherhood of man and the father
hood of God," in the very name of the
sublime maxim, "Righteousness exalt
eth a nation," a'nd in the foremost
sense of the love of justice and free
dom of the Americans, demand the
President and the people of America to
dive deep into this and decide accord
lngly.
R. KRISHNA.
CONCERTS DELIGHTFUL FEATURE
Park Band Is Glowlnarly Commended by
Lover of Music
PORTLAND, Or... Aug. 10. (To the
Editor.) The series of Summer con
certs in our various parks given by the
Park band are about to terminate. A
season of delightful music by a superb
organization has obtained, and it is
with regret we witness the closing con
certs. The writer has watched the growth
of the Park band from its first season
of a year ago, and while the concerts
of last year' were a success and met
with instant approval, how much more
can be said in favor of the band this
year! Better balanced, with more effi
cient Instrumentalists, and the concerts
interspersed with a greater variety of
special features by the soloists of the
band, together with splendid vocal and
string talent than heretofore.
It is safe to say that the citizens of
Portland now look upon the Park band
as a permanent institution, and point to
it with Portland pride. That the money
is well expended for the series of con
certs by the city, and meets with the
approval of the taxpayers the writer
will venture to assert as a fact.
As an advertising feature to the city
the concerts act as a double asset, for
they not only give pleasure to the home
people, but leave a favorable impres
sion upon the visitors sojourning in our
midst and advertise Portland as a city
of musical culture.
One cannot dwell too strongly upon
the good influence of the music as an
educational feature to the young people
of Portland, as witness the hundreds of
children attending the concerts nightly
listening with marked attention.
That Director McElroy has proven
himself to be a bandmaster of first
rank is the popular opinion of the pub
lic He has splendid control, is full of
dash and an enthusiasm which perme
ates the audience, and is as quick to
respond to an encore as to be heard.
The writer hopes to see the series of
concerts of next season prolonged as
they are much too short.
W. B. PRICE.
FLAGS, PROGRESS AND SOCIALISM
Inconsistencies In Party Defenders
Designated by Writer.
PORTLAND, Aug. 8. (To the Edi
tor.) In his last letter printed in The
Oregonian "H. A. H." asserts that
"progress is Socialism." Let him tell
us how? His statement reminds me of
some boys who formed a literary so
ciety and adopted as their motto "Con
tention Is Progress."
He starts his letter by defending his
definition of the red flag and what it
stands for, from his point of view. Now
if it stands for a "bloodless revolution
a revolution accomplished by the bal
lot," as he asserts, and if the Socialists
believe as he states, that "we all know
that the American form of govern
ment is superior to all others today,"
then why don't the Socialists put the
star-spangled banner, instead of the red
raff, at the head of their columns, same
as other parties, and accomplish their
purpose under that honored emblem;
Any flag except the stars and stripes
is indefensible as the emDiem 01
political party in this Republic of
America, and certainly the Socialists
have become very meddlesome in our
politics.
Mr. Barzee In another letter defends
the red flag of Socialism (which is also
the flag of anarchy), partly on the
ground that it is their "International
emblem" and that the party (boclallst)
"stands for internationalism." So does
any party stand for internationalism
to a certain extent, but Mr. Barzee
should know that this Nation can get
along very well for some time yet
without the meddlesome interference
of any "international party, especial
ly one which is a nrst cousin
anarchy. O. C R. ELLIS,
to
Spelling for Bryan's Benefit.
PORTLAND, Aug. 10. (To the Ed.
itor.) The English language has many
peculiarities, chief 01 wmcn are the dif
ferent ways of spelling a word to ex
press various shades of meaning, and
The Oregonian is most correct, as a
rule, in bringing out these finer points
in our language both in its news Items
and editorials.
I rather hesitate to point out a possi
ble error in spelling which occurred a
few days since in an editorial and wish
to Inquire if tne word unautauqua when
used in connection with the name of
W. J. Bryan, should not be spelled
Chaw-talk-wa. Would not this spelling
express one 01 the liner shades of
meaning which our language is capa
ble of?- READER.
Twenty-five Years Aga
From The Oregonian- of Aug. 11, 1SSS.
New York. Aug. 10. Tne steamboat
Laura M. Starin, with James G. Blaine
ori board, arrived today, having taken
him otf the City of New 1 ork outside
the narrows. Great enthusiasm" was
shown by the 2000 people on board the
atann. ......
Washington. Aug. 10. '-r- A steady
stream of people poured in and out of
St. Matthew's Church, where the body
of General Sheridan lies in state, ail
day.
Albany, Or., Aug. 10: An indignation
metting- was held at Scio last nisrht and
C. N. Scott, receiver of the Narrow
Gauge Railroad, was burned in effigy.
Salem. Or., Aug. 10. The Oregon
Press Association met todnv. with
President M. L. Pipes in the chair.
Colonel A. P. Dennison; formerly of
this city, but for the rast ten rears a
resident of California and now con
nected with the San Francisco mint, is
at the St. Charles. He is accompanied
Dy nis son, a, j-i. .uennison.
The county court contemplates addinsr
a wing to the Courthouse on the south
side.
Last evening- the Harrison Club of
Portland was formed andthe following
officers elected: President, R. L. Eaton;
first vice-president, W. L. Miller; sec
ond vice-president, W. H. Wilton; re
cording secretary, J. L. Watt; corre
sponding secretary, C. C. Fisher; treas
urer, C. E. Geiger; executive commit
tee, O. Greenwood, Edward Dekum, L.
G. Clarke and A. B. MeAlpin.
The work of excavating for the foun
dation of the brick buildings to be
elected by Charles E. Sitton and N. J.
Blagen on North Front street, between
B and C streets, has been commenced.
Half a Century Ago
Prom The Oregonian of August 11. "1863.
Cairo, Aug. 0. The splendid new
steamer Ruth, valued at $150,000,
burned last night opposite Island No.
10. She had on board eight paymasters,
with their clerks, a number of pas
sengers, $2,500,000, 600 tons of freight.
200 mules and cattle. There were about
30 persons on board, all of whom must
have perished.
Thanksgiving day was duly observed
by the citizens of Vancouver. At the
Methodist Church religious exercises
were conducted in the morning by the
Rev. air. Raynor and Rev. Mr. Bagley.
A meeting was extemporized for the
evening, designated by the president
thereof, S. W. Brown, as a union jubilee.
Remarks were made by L. Holmes, Hon.
E. P. Oliphant, General Alvord. Hon. J.
E. Wyche, J. J. McGilvra and Rev. J. O.
Raynor.
The Portland City Guards held a
meeting last evening in the Council
room. Mr. Lewis in the" chair. A "reso
lution was adopted to reorganize the
company under the constitution and
by-laws of the old Jefferson Guards.
D. Wertheimer, who fell behind the
company he was traveling with from
the mines and who, it was feared, had
fallen a victim to the road agents, ar
rived at home all safe last evening.
This evening the young and favorite
actor, Mr. Charles Graham, will take
his first benefit in Portland.
CAN SULZER . CLEAN HIS SKIRTS t
Writer Calls Attention to Silence of
"Reform" Journals..
, PORTLAND, Aug.- 9. (To the Edi
tor.) The evidence given before the
Lesislative committee of New York
with reference to Governor Sulzer is
somewhat disconcerting, to say the
least.. .It . apparently - -chows, that he
was .a heavy- stock speculator pre
vious to and at the time of his elec
tion, and that he omitted many cam
paign contributions from his sworn re
turn required by the corrupt practices
act.
While there may be nothing Inher
ently wrong in a candidate for Gover
nor speculating in Wall Street at the
time . of his election, yet when . you
consider that this was in the state
of New York, where much legislation
is necessary to regulate stock specu
lations, it would be far better if the
Governor had abstained from anything
of the kind.
v It may be that with reference to the
campaign contributions Governor Sulzer
will be able to show that be omitted
these various items by mistake or lack
of recollection in the matter. Cer
tainly every good American hopes that
he will be able to do so. But the
thought that keeps running through my
mind is this: Suppose these revelations
had been made about some old-time
Republican Governor; what would be
the comment of our "reform" publica
tions? The Governor would be used to
point a mora'l and adorn a tale. He
would be pointed out as an example to
the youth of the country of the cor
rupting influences of stand-pat Repub
licanism. Every "reform" publication
in the country would make the short
comings of the Governor a text for a
sermon of this kind.
. - S. B. HUSTON.
Fishing Rods Not Ordinarily Deadly.
VANCOUVER, Wash, Aug. 9. (To
the Editor.). Being a Justice of the
Peace who wishes to be just, I write to
correct an error in a dispatch from
Vancouver to The Oregonian, which
contains this statement:
A fishing rod is a deadly .weapon Is the
opinion held by the only woman Justice of
the Peace in the State of Washington. Miss
Edmonia Mills, in Fruit Valley precinct.
J. N. Pullan was' arrested July 6 and. taken
before - Mls-s Mills, charged with assaulting
Bernard Surratt with a fishing rod. After
hearing the evidence and weighing the
matter she held Pullan to the Superior
Court, and placed him under a bond of 60-
It was not and Is not my opinion
that a fishing rod is a deadly weapon.
It is obvious that an ordinary fish
ing rod, under ordinary circumstances,
is not a menace to any individual but
an individual fish.
However, in this case neither the
fishing rod nor the circumstances were
ordinary. The unusual features of
this particular rod will doubtless be
presented at Mr. PuUan's trial in the
Superior Court.. EDMONIA MILLS.
: .
What the
Public Wants
The greatest students of "what
the public wants" are those men
who are producing something, lor
public consumption. It may be
anything from safety-pins to
bedsteads, but if these men are
putting their time, money and
brains Into turning out some
thing that will meet the popular,
demand, you may be sure they
are putting the best results of
their experience into placing xn
the market an article that will
.come up to the requirements of
an exacting public. . .
Not until they are convinced
that the have an article that,
will stand the test do they at
tempt to sell it- 1 hen they place
it before the people in the col
umns of the best newspapers
that they can find. You cannot
afford not to profit by the work
and experience of these men. The
only way that you may reap the
benefits offered by their brains
and labor is to keep in touch
with what they are doing by
reading what they say to you in
The Oregonian and equally good
newspapers. .....
A