Morning Oregonian., March 09, 1914, Page 6, Image 6

6
THE MORXIXG OREGONIAN, MONDAY, BIAECH 9, 1914.
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rORTIAND, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1914.
"BLUE SKY" LAWS.
Decisions of the courts holding the
"blue sky" laws of Michigan and
Iowa invalid, and suits in other states,
including Oregon, attacking the valid
ity of similar laws bring to the front
the question of the power of the
states to regulate the operations of
corporations. There shows all through
the decisions and the suits a failure to
distinguish between the rights of cor
porations and those of individuals.
Corporations are purely artificial
creations exercising definite priv
ileges granted by statute under gen
eral constitutional provisions. They
can exercise no privileges except
those specifically granted and their
privileges are subject to. change by
legislation. They have no rights such
as are enjoyed by natural persons, for
the same power which created can
destroy or change them. The courts
have habitually confounded the priv
ileges enjoyed by corporations with
the rights enjoyed by their stockhold
ers. Hence have grown up the abuses
which led to passage of the several
interstate commerce laws, the anti
trust laws and the "blue sky" laws.
Had Congress, the state Legislatures
and the law officers of the Nation
and the states held closely to the
principle that corporations are crea
tions of law limited strictly in their
operations by the restrictions of law,
these abuses could not have grown to
their present magnitude and the mass
of legislation a'med at removal of
abuses would not have become neces
sary.
Conduct of business in corporate
form has become so universal that it
has become impossible, even if desir
able, to end it, but it is possible and
most desirable to hold each corpora
tion to strict performance of those
functions which its charter permits.
The custom of investing small sums in
stock of corporations operating In
distant states has rendered legislation
to that end the more necessary. If
five men in Maine each invest $100.
000 in a corporation which is to op
erate an Oregon mine, each has
enough at stake to warrant his per
sonally seeing that the mine has
merit and his money is not stolen but
is 'Wisely expended. But if 500 men
in Maine each make a $1000 invest
ment in that mine, the amount in
vested does not w: -rant the expense
of personal investigation. Since such
small investments ha.; become com
mon, it has become a public function
to prevent the privilege granted by
law from being perverted to purposes
of fraud. ' That is the legitimate aim
of "blue sky" laws, and it should not
be defeated by application to corpo
rations of those provisions of the con
stitutions. National and state, which
were designed to apply only to natural
persons. Surely the Legislature which
gave corporations the right to exist
has the power to prevent their being
used as devices for enriching pro
moters at the expense of investors.
The administration of such a law can
as properly be delegated to a commis
sion as can the administration of
Federal and state railroad laws.
One criticism which the United
States Court makes on the Michigan
law has some merit, as applied also
to the administration of the Oregon
law. That is, that not only are fraud
ulent securities excluded but some se
curities are proscribed upon which the
investor should be left free to take a
chance o loss in '.he hope of gain.
Some corporations are being driven
out of Oregon which might well be
permitted to remain, unless our state
government is to become so paternal
that a man is not to be permitted to
risk his money in new enterprises,
w hich, honestly managed, may or may
not succeed.
As to the Oregon law also, the "blue
sky" law has created one more depart
ment dealing with a subject kindred
to others with .hich other officers
are dealing. We have a state depart
ment to charter corporations, a bank
ing department, an insurance depart
ment and a corporation department,
each with its growing staff of offi
cers. Corporations should be regu
lated, but the control of all banking,
insurance and general should be mi
ner one consolidated department,
which could do the same amount of
work at much less cost.
NEWSPAPER MORALS DEFENDED.
An article on "Newspaper Morals"
by Henry L. Mencken in the Atlantic
Monthly is in reality an article on the
most effective means by which news
papers can elevate public morals
particularly the moral tone of -politics.
It begins by juoting a veteran
of the craft as saying that "the main
' idea is to be interesting, to write a
good story." It then tells how this
idea has been successfully applied In
the pursuit of political bosses and
corruptionists. The people are not
attracted by criticism of a boss' po
litical morals in the abstract. They
must be told that the boss has stolen
so much money. They must be
aroused first by well-cultivated sus
picion and then . the positive accusa
tions must be made one by one until
the public has been worked up to the
desired pitch of -indignation. An in
dictment by wholesale fails of effect,
for the readers cannot digest a num
ber of accusations at one meal and
will not read long articles: the as
saults must be made in series, in or
der to produce a cumulative effect on
the public mind.
Mr. Mencken justifies this newspa
per strategy as made necessary by
the popular temperament and as ac
complishing a net gain in better gov
ernment. The newspaper must ap
peal frankly to the "ignorant and
unreflective majority," not to the
"educative and reflective minority" or
it would get nowhere. The man in
the street "is not at all responsive to
purely intellectual argument," but is
"very responsive to emotional sugges
tion." He thirsts for "the merry
chase of a definite exponent of bad
government."
The soundness of this argument is
supportd by a "survey of the newspa
per field, to pick out those journals
which are most widely read and most
influential with the masses and to
contrast them with those which have
a limited circulation. The former
have correctly read and been guided
by the psychology of the people and
have led the chase after a Murphy,
a Lorimer or a Ru:f; the latter have
preached abstract good morals to the
intellectual few. The preachers of
ethics in the newspapers have as little
Influence as the preachers of ethics in
the pulpits, for the same reason
they do not apply their doctrines to
the affairs of the day.
The newspaper method of attack
on misgovernment is justified by gen
eral results. The blunders and inep
titude of reformers cause many re
lapses to boss rule, but governmental
methods have been improved, and the
bosses' control is diminishing. Elec
tions are no longer stolen, voters are
no longer intimated and the machine
grows less dangerous. Mr. Mencken
truly says:
If we thus move onward by leaps and
bounces, it is certainly better than not mov
ing at all. "
Newspapers have often been de
scribed as molders of public opinion.
They would be more correctly de
scribed as organizers of public opin-J
Jon for the attainment of definite
ends. They find a certain trend of
public opinion existing. They mass it
and direct it against some evil to
which it has been opposed only
vaguely in the abstract, just as a foot
ball captain masses -Tid directs the
energies of his team 10 reacn me
goal. Their methods often do not
commend themselves tc cloistered
moralists and those who fear con
tamination from the touch of -.vhat
they contemptuously term "the mob,"
but those methods carry the ball
closer to the goal. They appear to
be the only methods by which., net
gains can be made, and their success
is their vindication.
PORTLAND'S MEDICAL COLLEGE.
The generous donation of twenty
acres of land by the Oregon-Washington
Railway & Navigation Com
pany asa site for the medical de
partmentof the University of Oregon
furnishes the opportunity for devel
oping that institution to a size and ex
cellence equal to its Importance as
the only Class A medical college north
of San Francisco and west of the Mis
souri River. Small as it now is, it is
already, classed with the best by the
American Medical Association. Witrj
an ample site now provided by the
Oregon-Washington Railway & Navi
gation Company, and with an able
faculty headed by Dr. K. A. J. Mac
kenzie, it now needs only modern
buildings and commensurate equip
ment. Portland would then worthily
fill its place as the center of medical
education for the whole Northwest and
would draw students from all the
states commercially tributary to it.
President Farrell, by means of this
gift, has demonstrated the interest
taken by his road, as an Oregon insti
tution, in the progress of Oregon and
its metropolis. Dr. Mackenzie, by ob
taining the gift, has earned the grati
tude of the state and city. The men
who can furnish instruction to the
students are here, for Portland has
specialists of the first rank in every
branch of medicine and surgery. With
buildings and equipment occupying
the site, students would come from at
least as far east as Montana to add
to Portland's reputation as a center
for many' branches of learning. The
generosity of the railroad company
should stimulate like generosity on
the part of others to supply what is
still lacking.
FLY-CATCHING PLATFORMS.
There are nov- fifteen candidates
for Governor formally in the prelim
inary race in Oregon. Among them
are nine Republicans and four Demo
crats, each of whom has drafted his
own platform. In compiling promises
of executive policy there has been no
party council, no consideration of
what the party as a party desires in
state government, no consultation by
anybody with anybody except In small
personal gatherings or locked-room
consultations with individual follow
ers. Some of these platforms, we
fear, are what President Wilson terms
"molasses to catch flies'."
Politics not only makes strange bed
fellows, but often makes strange men
tal attitudes. We have one example be
fore us of a man heretofore known as
an intelligent, broad-minded and con
servative Democrat, suddenly - turned
radical and experimental. Seemingly
his thought is that the only way to be
elected is to out-URen URen. . So,
suppressing common sense, he is out
with an expressed desire to abolish
the Legislature and leave all lawmak
ing to the initiative.
It may be seriously doubted that a
man whose attitude as a common citi
zen is, antipodal to his attitude as a
candidate will get very far into the
confidence of the people. But if he
be able to convince some of his sin
cerity in furtherance of revolutionary
changes there remains the fact that
Mr. IT Ren. with a consistent record
for radicalism behind him, is also lr.
th field. We do not look for U'Ren-
ism to be strikingly successful in the
general election campaign and cer
tainly it will not be if one of the party
candidates in addition to an inde
pendent candidate flies the same flag.
One might rejoice over the prospect
in division of the visionaries for tri
umph of sane and sober government
were it not distressing to note the fall
of a good man to the temptations of
politics.
It is difficult to believe that Dr.
C. J. Smith is speaking his true con
viction when he suggests abolishment
of the Legislature.
The Legislature is vulnerable to
attack in one sense. Not one Legis
lature but all are too greatly bur
dened with the deadwood of in
competent members. For this the
people are to blame, not the repre
sentative or the bi-cameral system.
Abolishment of both the Houses needs
no opposing argument. ' The applica
tion of the town-meeting plan exclu
sively to state law-making is in its
mere recital plainly absurd.
To do away with one, the House, as
is proposed by Mr. ITRen, will be
much more alluring, though so only to
the uninformed. There are abuses
under the bi-cameral system. There
would be abuses under the uni-cam-eral
system. There is no mechanical
contrivance that will shut the election
door against the unfit but leave it
open for the fit to enter. The initia
tive power is often abused. The ref
erendum power is often degraded.
Nobody has yet been able to offer a
plan that would make either power of
ready use to the just without giving
the unjust an equal opportunity in
attempts to apply it. It is and always
must be so with the Legislature.
No governmental system is better
than the people who control it. If
there is carelessness in choice of
members a one-house Legislature will
not be an improvement. Now one
House is at least a partial check upon
the other. Of the two the Senate is
more methodical, more deliberative
and less emotional. Most of the un
wise legislation and most of the ex
travagance originate in the lower
House, yet it is the Senate that it is
proposed shall be abolished.
But, for that matter, the day has
passed when a candidate's opinions on
such a matter are of great moment
to the voters. If the people want to
destroy the Senate or wholly abolish
the Legislature they can and will do
so without the aid or consent of the
Governor. The Governor the state
needs and the one the state will elect
if he Is in the field, is he who has a
clear conception of past mistakes in
piling up cost of government, has an
intelligent, comprehensive plan for
promoting economy and possesses the
force, of character to put his plan into
execution. The people are more in
terested In taxes than in fads and fan.
cies. They know molasses when they
see it.
KIPLING FORESEES A NEW KB A.
A new era of travel is foretold by
Rudyard Kipling an era in which
the traveler will care little whether
he be over land or sea, for he will
travel through the air. Lecturing be
fore the Royal Geographical Society
in London he said:
Naturally, as lonir as we travel by sea
we must embark from port and look out
for the landfalls: but the time is not far
off when the traveler will know and care
jnst as little whether he be over sea or
land, as we today know and care wnetner
our steamer Is over forty lathoms or me
Tuscarora Deep. Then we shall hear the
lost ports of New York and Bombay howling
like Tarshish and Tyre. Incidentally, as we
shall change all our mental pictures of
travel, at nresent we are already scouting
and reporting along the fantastic skyline
of the future. The old mechanism Is
scrapped, and the moods and emotions that
went with it have followed. Only the spirit
of man carries on unaltered and unappeas
able.
There will arise they are shaping them
selves even now risks to be met cruel as
any Hudson or Scott faced; dreams.
world-wide as those Columbus or Cecil
Rhodes dreamed, to be made good or to
die for, and decisions to be taken as splen
didly terrible as that which Drake clinched
by Magellan, or Oa i little further soutn.
The 1 vision Kipling offers startles
us, but why should it? We are far
ther along in aviation than we were
with steam navigation when Fulton
clove the waves with his steamboat
or than we were with steam railroad
travel when Stephenson rattled the
Puffing Billy over the rails. We' have
become accustomed to seeing a steam
ship shoot across the Atlantic in five
days, and to seeing a railroad train
rush through the country at a speed
which reduces the landscape to a
blur.
We have seen steam and electricity
and gasoline take the place of Dobbin
as means of transportation by road.
Why should we not see the day when
any man going on a journey shall, as
a matter of course, step into his aerial
runabout and soar over mountain, val
ley, plain, desert or sea, landing at
any convenient place, inland or on
shore. Then the moving van may
have wings and may load and unload
our household goods through a scut
tle in the roof. Then all merchan
dise may be transported in aerial
trucks, and good roads and paved
streets may become matters of indif
ference. Streets may become mere
light and air shafts, and traffic police
men may be stationed in sentry boxes
on the corners of tall buildings to
manipulate signals.
Of what consequence will it then be
whether a town is on the seashore or
Inland, on deep or shallow water?
Location with regard to prevailing air
currents may then fix the sites of
cities, and great railroad terminals
and docks may fall into decay, to be
come as truly relics of a bygone a;
as are the ruins of Baalbec and Yu
catan.
TWO KINDS OF UNEMPLOYED.
The country has to deal with two
distinct classes of unemployed, aside
from those who are incapacitated
those who say "I want work" and
those who say "I won't work" or "I
won't work except on my own terms."
Everything possible should be done
by both public and private agency to
help the former, but everything pos
sible should be done to compel the
latter to work under such arduous
conditions as will develop a healthy
appetite for work. The former class
are entitled to sympathy and help, the
latter to a job on the rockpile and to
prison fare.
Unemployment of large numbers of
men is not exceptional this Winter,
for the same condition recurs every
Winter; the number is simply larger
than usual, though greatly exagger
ated, and more attention than usual
has been attracted by the agitation of
the miscalled Industrial Workers of
the World. Naturally the numbers
are largest In New York City and
they have caused a conference on
unemployment to seek permanent
remedies. These are the establish
ment of public labor exchanges, the
diminution of seasonal unemploy
ment through more provident and
considerate organization of produc
tion, and the introduction of insur
ance against unemployment. The
first of these can be applied with
comparative ease and is in successful
operation in Europe and in several of
our states. The second can be dealt
with best by large employers, who can
time some of their work so that It
shall be done when there is a surplus
of labor. Much could be done also
by states and counties in preparing
road material in the Winter for use
In the following Spring and Summer;
also by farmers In providing a cottage
and garden for each laborer, where
he could keep a family through the
WWinter and live on his savings from
the past season and on the produce
of his garden. Insurance against un
employment Is beset with many dif
ficulties in a country having so great
an area as the United States and so
large a floating, population.
By the first two remedies a large
proportion of the "I want works"
could be employed by individuals and
corporations and the remainder could
be temporarily employed on public
relief work, not at $3 a day of eight
hours, as the I. W. W. Insolently de
mand, but at wages which will fur
nish a subsistence, but will insure the
men's seeking private employment as
soon as it Is obtainable.
There would still remain a large
residue of "I won't woks." whose
numbers have been swollen by the I.
W .W. agitation. The"y are represent
ed by the thirty-eight men who gave
up the employment offered by Gov
ernor West at Salem, only two out of
forty remaining at work; by tne mobs j
which have bee- invading New York
churches, .though the city offers free
food and shelter at the municipal
lodging-houses in exchange for work,
and by the army of unemployed which
attempts to coerce the counties of
California to finance its march on
Washington. These men are of the
same type as some In Chicago. Out
of 352 who were furnished carfare to
places of employment, only 199 pre
sented themselves for work; the oth
ers won't work.
A mistake was made in permitting
the army of unemployed to leave San
Francisco. By paying their railroad
fare and feeding them, the 6ities and
counties only fostered an evil which
should be crushed at birth bands of
idle vagrants traveling through' tlie
country sponging on the industrious
population. If San Francisco had
done as Sacramento is doing, that is,
refused to feed the mob or forward it
on its way, afid, treating its members
as vagrants, had forced them to do
hard work, it would quickly have
melted away; One county has no
right to pass its burden of lusty beg
gars on to the next county. It should
deal with them- firmly itself.
Weak yielding to these mobs seems
to be inspired by a fear of political
revenge from union labor, but there
is no cause for this fear. Union labor,
in fact, the honest working popula
tion in general, condemns the I. W.
W. as having magnified the number
of unemployed and distorted real con
ditions . in order to discredit the
unions. The- official who wins the
enmity of these lazy disturbers of
the peace wins the friendship of the
vast majority of voters and estab
lishes a strong claim to their suf
frages. President Wilson Is suspected by the
Boston Transcript of "trying to bait
the American people Into forcing Con
gress to put an end to the humiliat
lng incompetency that has character
ized the State Department's ' entire
course;" in other words, he is trying
to rid himself of Mr. Bryan. Whether
deliberately or not, the President has
caused Mr. Bryan to show up his own
shortcomings and to render, himself
innocuous as a candidate for the nom
ination in 1916. Was it for this that
"sweet William" labored so hard at
Baltimore?
Chicago is to vote on a "little ballot'
in April which will contain about a
dozen questions of public policy for
popular decision and will be four feet
long. The big ballot will contain the
names of only three or four candi
dates for Alderman in each ward. Chi
cago will soon know what we are ac
customed to in Oregon at every elec
tion and will know why Mr. U'Ren
makes some of us very tired.
If the meat-inspection ordinance is
to pass," there should be special pro
vision as to poultry. "Dressed" poul
try as now displayed is little more
than absence of the feathers; the
"innards" are left for removal by the
purchaser. That this is so is. solely
custom, and a bad custom at that. The
dressed poultry should come to the
market minus head and wings, and
perfectly clean inside.
Hjivinar found it necessary to as
prove Governor Glynn's plan for re
organization of the Democracy and for
exposing his grafting assistants in
New York, Charles F. Murphy may
think he would have done better to
put up with Governor Sulzer. Thus
is the truth of the poet's saying once
more proved " 'Tis better to bear the
ills we have than fly to others tnat we
know not of."
Nothing can stay progress of the
parcel post toward popular accommo
dation except it be bad roads. For
these there lies a remedy. Once a
rural carrier ceases his trips, his
patrons must do the rest.
Among the list of filings for mem
ber of the National committee the
name of Milton A. Miller is conspic
uous ' bv its absence. Perhaps the
matter of collecting the income tax
has taken all his time.
An I. W. W. member arrested in
New York had $750 on him. He's
lucky his fellow members didn't know
it or there might have been a mad
rush for the rare privilege of sand
bagging him.
The general strike to be inaugu
mtprl todav in Rome means that re
turning Italians are to put into prac
tice the Ideas they have lmoiDed wniie
in. the United States.
With nine Republicans seeking the
Gubernatorial nomination, the man
.with the lowest vote will need much
saving grace to keep him in line after
the primaries.
If that citizen of Douglas County,
aged 104, bides his time and contin
ues to vote the Republican ticket, he
will yet cast a ballot for the success
ful candidate.
That Aberdeen officer who arrested
his 6on for violating the bicycle or
dinance went at it the wrong way. A
strap of leather would be the best
weapon.
Cheer up! You need not pay your
incoTne tax until June 30. and con
sider how you aro envied by those
whose incomes are too small to tax.
Hung Hop Lee, the Salem laundry
man whn hna 1nst naid $42,500 for his
fourth hop ranch, docs not appear to
be afraid of the horoscope.
Grandfatherhood is becoming com
mon as well as fashionable. The
Colonel follows Bryan's lead but fails
to go him one better.
The real estate man who did not
take a possible customer to the best
located site yesterday missed a great
opportunity.
Women of Oregon must not be dila
tory in registering. Let them set an
example to the male sex.
The groundhog has Just a week
more and his supporters are begin
ning to lose faith.
A Philadelphia oculist is treating
the President's eyes, but Underwood
will open them.
All needed to make yesterday a real
Summer day was an eleven-inning
game.
The Lincoln Republican Clnb has a
healthy look.
Resist the lure of these days to
make garden.
The Denatured Oration
By Dean Collins.
("A political speech should be as
beautiful as a painting; its sequence of
ideas should resemble the natural pas
sage of chords of music," says Miss M.
Katherine Lyons, who is instructing a
class of Chicago women in stump
speaking for the Spring campaign.
News item.) "
When I was a lad,
I went with my dad.
In the heat at a lively campaign.
Where spell-binders roared,
Orated and soared
In partisan, patriot vein.
My heart used to Jump
As off of the stump.
While crowds held their breath in
deep awe.
The speakers would plunk
Their 'stonishing bunk
And make us accept it as law.
But brave days of old.
When speakers were bold.
Must go, with the red-blooded bunch
That passed up all rules
Of rhetorical schools
And got their stuff by with its punch.
At least so it seems;
For feminine dreams
Would fragrance of violets lump
With music and art.
Soft throbs of the heart.
In modern-day craft of the stump.
In soft modulation
Their gentle oration
The hearers' whole spirit would haze.
Till they float to the polls
On its musical rolls.
And make out their votes In a daze.
Nix, lady! Your dope
Holds never a hope
-,- For binding your hearers in awe;
Your symphonies deep
Will put 'em to sleep
Stump speeches you've got to serve
raw.
STRANGERS IN THE SMALL TOWN
Oreson Communities Too Exclusive for
Their Own Good, Says Woman.
PORTLAND, March '8. (To the Edi
tor.) There recently appeared -In our
little town paper an article on the ad
vantages of living in a small town. It
made me laugh but a sad, sad laugh,
for I am that saddest, -most lonesome
individual In the whole world, a
stranger in a small Oregon town.' -
My former home was In Southern
California, where it Nls as natural to
welcome a stranger as it is to breathe.
No matter how long or how short his
stay, he is welcomed. In the three
years I have lived in various Willam
ette Valley towns I can truthfully say
that if it were not for dear old Port
land 1 would go absolutely insane from
loneliness. Why is it? I am a woman
of intelligence and education and strict
moral character, but alas, no money.
My husband is a fine mechanic. The
answer forced upon me by observation
and conviction is this: Oregon towns
exist solely for the old-timer, or long
resident. No others need apply.
I have studied the question of our
isolation on every side. We cheerfully
subscribe to everything, attend church,
in every way conform to the habits and
customs of the town. But we are not
invited to join any club or take part
in any social or society side of life
apart from that of the church. And
why? Because we are comparative
strangers.
No wonder that in a year the sole
improvements of this town consist of a
Carnegie library, some much-needed
residences and a lodge building partly
finished. And this town is the county
seat of a marvelously productive and
rich section. It has no payroll; vari
ous enterprises comprising a payroll
have been driven on to other locali
ties and the town itself has no features
of beauty other than a handsome little
park. In Southern California, under
the same conditions of ereat prosper
ity that this community enjoys, the
population would have increased at
least one-third, for those already on
the ground would want their friends
and relatives to come also to this
wonderful country, and there would be
various improvements to the town put
forward by enterprising, wide-awake
men keeping up with the times
strangers, if you please.
A bunch of men and women, content
with things as th y are, keep back
progress and a fine class of residents
and the thousands of rich, uncultivated
acres will be eventually taken up by
alion people who are indifferent to
snubs and undeserved slights.
When I go to Portland, Portland's
optimism and friendliness and good
cheer always take away the soreness
and heart sickness that my own town
engenders and I go back strengthened
to endure the snubs and airs of those
whose sole merit is in the fact that
they arrived in Oregon some years be
fore I did. God bless Portland, and
may her kindly cheer extend to all the
little towns of tne valley!
MRS. P. J. SILVESTER.
TWO ARE PAR APART IX BELIEF
Contributor Cannot See Common Bssis
in Ilerffson and Haeckel.
ASTORIA. Or.. March 6. (To the Ed
itor.) Your short editorial on Bergson
and Haeckel strikes a new note and
an ambitious one. Finding In these two
a common basis of belief is a big un
dertaking, despite the plausibility of
your article.
As I understand it. Bergson is not a
dualist in the sense of ascribing self
existence to both spirit and matter. As
you say, he may here be compared to
Haeckel, though even here a distinction
may be drawn. Haeckel's dictum is:
No matter exists without energy, no
energy exists apart from matter. They
are equally sovereign or equally sub
ject to his law of substance. With Berg
son. while matter is as inevitably the
counterpart of life, the term which he
uses, life is primary. Matter Is the
shadow, the debris, the "fair' of life.
The significant dualism, then, of
Bergson is not a dualism between mat
ter and spirit, but a dualism or plural
ism in the stream of life itself. Life
is not one broad- shaft, but a sheaf of
more or less conflicting aspirations.
On this terrestial planet, at least, there
is not room for all the types and ten
dencies of life which seek realization.
Bergson is the philosopher of militan
cy. Thus he becomes the prophet of
syndicalism, although I do not know
that he accepts the appointment. Like
wise, as Bishop Cooke points out. his
philosophy is congenial to the spirit
of traditional Christianity before liber
alism had reduced it to a system of
lifeless rationalism.
If Bergson is a good Methodist or
Salvationist in spirit, Haeckel is the
unyielding Calvinist. a prince of dog
matists. Bergson's anti-absolutism, on
the contrary, "unstiffens dogma." to
quote William James. Haeckel scoffs
at the poor dupes of faith. To Berg
son the venture of Intelligent faith is
the ultimate road to. a knowledge of
realltv. To me it seems that practic
ally these men dwell at spiritual an
tipodes. D. E. YOUNG.
As the Sugar In rsmrd.
t London Tit Bits.
Wife (in the city hotel, as the sugar
is passed) Use the tongs, William.
Bill (from tne country; rain t ot, is
it?
Takri Up by Society.
Newark (N. J.) News.
"You folks are being taken up by
society, aren't you?" "Well, we don't
believe In bragging, but we know
three ladies who smoke cigarettes."
fttEER RILES ON RURAL ROUTES
Letter Writers Host Be Cautious nnd
Box Owners Careful.
HILLSBORO, Or, March 5. (To the
Editor.) The Oregonian recently con
tained an advertisement giving the
advertiser's address: "Canby. Or.
Route 1, Box 39." Thus addressed, my
reply to this advertisement reached
Canby, but, instead of being delivered
to box 39, as directed on the envelope,
it was, after being held at the Canby
office for several weeks, returned to
me, bearing the inscription: "Letters
must have name of addressee or can
not be delivered on rural route."
If it be true that a letter without
the addressee's name can not be de
livered, it must be a ruling of the
Postal Department and it looks suf
ficiently absurd and incongruous to be
accepted as such and the public ought
to be informed in regard to it. A let
ter addressed to a room number in a
building in Portland will be delivered
though lacking the addressee's name.
If a 2-cent stamp secures delivery of a
city letter, why doe a 2-cent stamp
lose its potency when attached to a
rural route patron's letter, addressed
to his box number? The status of both
the rural and the city letter is iden
tical, both have a 2-cent stamp affixed,
both are minus the addressee's name,
both are directed to a number only.
Furthermore, the standing of the let
ter carriers is the same. City and
rural letter-carriers are admitted to
service on exactly the same require
ments. Including a civil service exam
ination which would floor 99 per cent
of all the postmasters appointed
through political pull. The same de
gree of intelligence and efficiency may
therefore be expected from the rural
as from the city carrier. In view of
these facts no valid reason ,or explana
tion could be advanced to justify a
ruling by the Postal Department per
mittting delivery of the city letter
and forbidding delivery of the rural
letter. It Is an arbitrary ruling char
acteristic of the incalculable caprice
of governmental red tape and deserv
ing to be speedily eliminated.
As a further illustration of the
whimsicality of many of the Postal
Department's rulings, I'll mention one
which compelled rural carriers to con
fiscate the patrons' paychecks from
the milk conderisaries, monthly deliv
ered by the milk hauler and deposited
In the rural patron's box. Unless an
ticipated by the patron's prior arrival,
the rural carrier would collect and
deliver these checks to the postmaster.
who would then send a written notice
to the amazed and' justly furious
patron informing him that his pay
check letter lay at the postoffice
awaiting the customary fee of 2 cents
to effect delivery. Those among the
rural carriers who were foolishly con
scientious enough to obey this edict
succeeded in making life-long, im
placable foes of their patrons thus
treated.
The advertisement referred to above
calls for "a sober man and good."
Yes, sir, I am sober, alternately so.
And that I am good is proven by the
fact that I am not hoping nor praying
for disaster or sudden death to
remove the Postal Department nor
any of its numerous ramifica
tions down to the pull-appointed
postmasters. But when I am told that
my letter cannot be delievered to Box
39, Route 1, Canby, Or., I propound this
query: Is there anyone of sufficient
goodness, sobriety and love to bear,
believe and endure that?
WILLIAM RICHTER.
FIT JIDGB IN MUNICIPAL COURT
Intelligent Humanity of Judge Steven
son Bring" Praise From, Lawyer.
PORTLAND, March 6. (To the Ed
itor.) I desire to give public expres
sion and make of record a matter com
ing up before the Municipal Court with
in my own personal experience.
A few days ago certain members of
the police force, in their zeal, made a
raid upon a certain house, arresting a
man and his wife and a woman and a
young lad about years of ase, of
goodly presence and demeanor. One of
the women, who proved to be the wife
of one of the men, was locked up and
held as a witness under $2500 bond.
while the other woman was likewise
held as a witness under a similar bond
against the young man found under
the same roof with a charge booked
against him ot living off the earnings
of a prostitute.
The young man in question proved
to be a sailor, who had been in the
Navy for five years and had overstald
his leave of furlough. He was her
alded by the officers as a deserter and
steps were taken to notify the Gov
ernment, and thus earn the $r0 reward
offered for apprehending and deliver
ing him as such deserter to the Gov
ernment. The punishment meted out
to deserters is imprisonment at hard
labor, while a volunteer returning ts
punished only by loss of a few months'
pay. For some, reason or other the
prosecution against the young man was
a bitter one. bordering on persecution,
there being no testimony except so
called admissions wrested from him
after four hours of "third degree" or
sweating process. I learned of the
young man's plight and appeared for
him In the Police Court.
Of the young man's history I learned
that he was one of nine children; that
his parents were poor; that the father'e
income was from $12 to $1.1 a week;
that the large number of children be
came a burden and the parents, with
tears, were compelled to tell three o(
the sons to go into the world and make
their own living. The man in question
was one of these three sons. He joined
the Navy, completed his first enlist
ment and enlisted again. While attend
ing the wedding ceremony of one of
his former shipmates he overstald his
leave and technically made himself out
a deserter. Over protests of the pros
ecuting officers. Judge Stevenson per
mitted this young man to go back to
his ship unaccompanied, putting him
on his honor. The young man took the
first train from Portland to Bremerton,
reporting to his ship in 12 hours from
the time he left (as soon as it was pos
sible to get there), and I have received
from him the following letter:
T urrVfA In Rremertftn VMICrrfnv nffer-
noon and came straight back to the ship. I
was treated fine by everybody.
I thank you a thousand times for what
you have done for me. 1 wish you lots of
luck.
The result is that Judge Stevenson
by this act, saved a worthy young man
from becoming a convict, and has again
demonstrated a lesson in judging hu
man nature.
I might add that the other three ac
cused were discharged from custody.
- How long will petty officials treat
a bare accusation as an evidence of
guilt? We need more Lindsays. Sehaef
ers and Stevensons as fit judges to deal
with this type or class of people.
CHARLES J. SCHNABEL.
In Search of Old Poem.
PORTLAND, March 7. (To the Ed
itor.) Lately I have made diligent
search for a poem which I remember
having read a good many years ago. So
long, Indeed, has It been that I am un
able to recall either title or author. I
remember, however, the following re
frain: Turn turn my wheel, all time is brief.
What now is bud will soon be leaf,
What now Is leaf will soon decay.
The wind blows east, the wind blows west.
The blue eggs in the robin's nest
Will soon have wings and beak and breast
And flutter and fly away.
At the close of the poem there oc
curred this refrain:
Stop, stop mv wheel; too soon, too soon.
The noon wiil be the afternoon.
Tomorrow be today.
Behind us In our paths we cast
The broken potsherds of the past.
And all are ground to dust at last
And trodden Into clay.-
Can anyone inform me where it may
be found? J. H. BKISTOW, M. D.J
Twenty-five Years Ago
From The Oregonian of March 8, 18S9.
Pendleton, March 7. Col. J. C.
Saunders, the Government inspector
who has been straightening out the
tangled condition of affairs on the
Umatilla Reservation, has applied to
the Secretary of the Interior for mili
tary assistance to enforce regulations
against the Indians and white lessees
of their land.
Olympia, March 7. The Supreme
Court today affirmed the decision
against the bishop of Nisqually in the
contest for the Vancouver military res
ervation. Los Angeles. March 7. Great crowds
of goldseekers are pouring Into Lower
California.
New York. March 7. The colt Mas
cot was today sold for $26,000 to D. S.
Quinton for Marcus Daly's ranch in
Montana.
The annual school meeting was held
at Sellwood Monday. M. G. Morgan
was re-elected Director and J. D. Chap
man clerk.
Dr. W. McMurray and family, of Sell -wood,
go to Eugene City on Monday to
reside.
Louis Feurer's addition of 40 acres
to East Portland has been put on the
market.
Otto Greenhood. city editor of the
Evening Telegram, received news
yesterday of the death of his father,
M. W. Greenhood, in San Francisco.
The work of piling for the 800-foot
Union Depot on Front street is com
pleted. i
'!' h appointment of a committee to
take steps toward the building of a
City Hall has brought up the question
of "where will the building be lo
cated?" From The Oregonian of March 8, 1864.
Cairo, March 5. A letter from
Vlcksburg, dated February 27, says:
The Seventeenth Army Corps has fallen
back to Jackson. Sherman, with the
remainder of his force, is en route for
the same place. All the railroads on
Sherman's route are utterly destroyed.
We were yesterday shown some very
rich specimens of gold and silver quartz
at the assay office of Tracy & King
that had just arrived from the Oro
Fino and Morning Star lodes, in the
Owyhee district.
Originally there were two plats of
ground reserved for market squares.
One was block 172, between Yamhill
and Morrison, and Fifth and Sixth
streets, in Lownsdale's Addition to the
city, but that was not occupied as such
and is now private property. The mar
ket square, about which there is now
talk of Improving, is on Chapman's
Addition, block 132, between Market
and Clay and Second and Third streets.
This was deeded to the city by Mr.
Chapman and has but one fault to make
it desirable for the purpose for which
it was intended and that is the distance
from the center of the city.
The bark Almy dropped down to the
Salt Works yesterday to discharge
about 100 tons uf Carmen Island salt,
brought in bulk to Richards &. Mc
Craken. County Court, Judge P. A. Marquam
presiding, met at the Courthouse yes
terday. Levi Frederickson. of Vancouver, has
been purchasing horses and mules in
California for packing purposes and
is expected overland here in a few- days.
;rlet for Arthur C'avlll.
PORTLAND, March S. (To the ICdi
tor.) The untimely death of Arthur
("Turns") Cavil!, the famous Australian
swimmer, who was chilled to death
while trying to swim across the waters
of Seattle harbor, is certainly a great
loss to humankind in general and to
the City of Portland in particular. He
came of a family of wonderful swim
mers, was adventurous by nature and
most resourcefjl by instinct. It is no
exaggeration to say ahat he won a
thousand races, established many most
remarkable swimming records and held
56 medals for life-saving.
But above all he was as generous and
big-hearted at all times as he was
brave and resourceful in any waters
anywhere. These and many other fine
qualities endeared him to all who knew
him.
And now, when about 31 years of
age, after so many great feats which
so often thrilled thousands of specta
tors, the last summons came and Ar
thur Cavlll reached the unknown si
lent shore may he rest in peace!
W. H. G.
Suez C'nunl Charges Tolls.
PORTLAND. March 6. (To the Edi
tor.) Is the Suez Canal a free or tolls
paying canal and by whom controlled?
A READER.
It is a toll canat owned by a corpo
ration, in which 'Great Britain holds
the controlling7 interest, and is gov
erned by treaty of the European pow.
ers.
Hnmmers Out All the Time.
St. Louis. Mo.. Republic.
"That bunch of geologists that were
visiting here yesterday how did they
like the village?' "They naa xneir
hammers out all the time tney were
here."
Courteous Attention
From Sales People
This conversation was overheard
in a department store the other day:
Customer, pointing to some rolls of
cretonne "I want to cover a win
dow seat. Is that what I ought to
have?"
Salesman "Yes. Madam, cretonne is
used a great deal for window
seats."
Customer "My room is blue. Which
pattern do you think would be
best?"
Salesman "Any one of these three
would be all right."
Customer "How much ought I to
buy?"
Salesman "I would have to know
how long the window seat is to
tell you that."
Customer "Well, three people can
just squeeze into it."
The listener moved away at this
point with a feeling of disgust for
the stupidity of the customer and
admiration for the courtesy and pa
tience of the salesman.
This conversation, however, gave
a side light on the policy of our
progressive Bhops. It Is not only
their desire to sell to you but to
serve you as well.
Shops that set this standard for
themselves are the progressive ones
that you enjoy patronizing. They
plan to carry the best possible stock,
to fill your needs with courtesy and
dispatch, and to keep their custom
ers and possible customers informed
of what they have and what tlicy
are doing through their advertise
ments in such newspapers as The
Oregonian.
For reliable and up-to-date ad
vertising news, watch the announce
ments of the reputable dealers in
The Oregonian. Adv.
. Half a Century Ago
i