Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1914)
6 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1914. PORTLAND, OREGON. Eutered at Portland, Oregon. Postofflce as secona-ciass matter. Subscription Katea Invariably In Advance: (BY MAIL) pally. Sunday included, one year IS.O0 Ially. Bunaay Included, aix months... 4.25 ' Iaily, Sunday Included, three montha.. 2.23 I'aliy, Sunday Included, one month... .75 lially. wltnout Sunday, one year 6.U0 uuiiy. wltnout Sunday, six montns.... oto Laily, without Sunday, three months.. I.Ij Jjaliy. without Sunday, one month. ... .60 Weekly, one year..... l.ou Sunday, one year. .............-- 2.60 Sunday and weekly, one year 3.50 (BY CARRIER) Ial!y. Sunday Included, one year J9.0O bunaay inciuaea. one mania io How to Remit Send postofflce money or. der, express order or personal check on your loeal bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postofflce add roe In full, including county and state. Pontage Rate 12 to la pages, 1 cent; 18 to 32 pages. It cents; 84 to 48 pages, 3 cents: CO to tiO pages, 4 cents; 62 to 76 pages, 0 cents; 78 to U2 pages, cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Offices Verree & Conk, li n. iNw York, Brunswick building. Chi cago. Sieger building. San Francisco Of ice R. J. Bldwell Co., 742 Market street. fORTLAND, MONDAY. MARCH 8, 1914. 7 , LIBERTY AND MARTIAL LAW. One after another state Governors have undertaken to end disturbed or disorderly conditions by the short cut of martial law before they have ex hausted the powers entrusted to them under the civil law. Mr. A. S. Ben nett well expressed the contrary prin ciple when he said that, if elected Governor, he would enforce the law within the law. Often In recent years Governors have undertaken to en force the law against others by set tins aside the law which defines and limits their own powers. This has been the case in West Virginia, it was the case in Colorado under a former Governor and is so again under the present Governor and it was so in Oregon when Governor West resorted to martial law in suppressing the dis orderly saloons of Copperl'ield. ' The danger arising from increasing resort to such methods is greater than any other danger which threatens us, for it strikes at the first principles of liberty. Under martial law, every cit izen's life, liberty and property are at the mercv of the Governor a.ni4 his military officers. A man may be ar rested by military order, may be tried witheut jury by a military tribunal, may have sentence imposed greater than the law provides, may be Im prisoned for long terms and may be released only on condition imposed by the Governor that he does not ex ercise rights guaranteed to him by the civil law. All these things hap pened in West Virginia and they may happen in Oregon, when we have a Governor who follows up his declar ation of martial law against a few sa - loonkeepers. b ordering one of his rtffifr frt inor th nivH nrrtrooa rt one of the courts. The methods of this form ot usurpation are exposed in a strong light by Senator Borah's findings as to martial law In West,Virginia,which are included in the report of the Sen ate committee on the Paint Creek strike. He finds that no effort to indict offenders by grand jury and to try them by jury had been made be fore martial law was proclaimed and trials by court-martial were held; that the civil courts were open and in operation during the period of martial law; and that no" threats of violence or use of force were made against the judges or courts. The prosecuting attorney simply assumed that practically everybody in the county had expressed an opinion on the controversy and the crimes aris ing therefrom and that, for that rea son, prejudice was so universal in the county that a grand jury would not indict and that an impartial trial could not be procured. Kanawha County, where the disturbances pre vailed, has a population of 80,000 to 87,000, but only atrout 20.000 were included in the martial law zone. A complaint before a magistrate in the strike zone, who was ..known to be prejudiced, could be taken to any other magistrate in the county for trial. A state of civil war existed in the strike zone between the mine op erators and their guards on the one side and the miners on the other, and the rest of the population took sides, but no effort was made by the Sheriff to use the forces of the other three fourths of the population, or by the Governor to use his police power in the state at large, in disarming and dispersing the combatants. The offi cials took the short cut of martial law as the easiest way. The militia .were not used to re inforce the civil power, as they might have been and have been in similar emergencies. The Sheriff admitted that, martial law prevailing, a civil officer could have found evidence as easily as a military officer. The millj tary could have disarmed both parties to the strife, protected courts and witnesses, restored peace and cleared the way for unobstructed operation of the civil law. But the whole ma chinery of the civil law was swept aside, so far as regards offenses grow ing out of the strike, and military law was substituted. Courts-martial tried men for offenses committed outside of the martial law zone and at times when martial law was not in force. Civil officers arrested men and hand ed them over to the military officers. Penalties were Imposed by courts martial in excess of those provided by civil law; a. man might have been imprisoned for life for perjury. TVm Woe Vlrcrlnfa ontlinrlHd necessity as the excuse for this military despotism, for necessity has 1 1 L 1 V V- U 1 L 1 111 ijiaiuij . Necessity was not present In this case. Resort to the processes of civil law would have been slower and more tedious, but it should have been had. , iot until it naa ianea alter lair trial nailltlsa urA tVtpn ormA1 fnrn.s ehnnM have been used onlv as an aid to the civil power. Only when that expe dient had failed would martial law have been excusable. It was still less excusable in Oregon, where it was applied in a diminutive community before sincere effort had been made to stir the county authorities to action. The principle at stake Is more im portant than the questions at issue between the operators and miners or between Governor West and the Cop perfield saloonkeepers. It is that the basic rights of every man and woman shall be inviolate, and that the offi cial chosen to administer the law shall himself scrupulously regard the law. That principle requires that he shall himself respect those rights and compel others to do likewise. Immigration officials sometimes make themselves ridiculous to the world. That was the case when Mrs. Flora Annie Steel, the English author of a novel that has had a sale of a half million copies, was quizzed for two hours ffnd was reluctantly cleared of a charge of senile dementia. Mrs. Steel Is 67 years old, in full possession of her faculties and only stopped off in the United States for forty-eight hours on her way to Jamaica, She says she will home by way of Canada rather than set foot in this country, The Brooklyn Eagle says: She had to tell an "Immiirration inspector that she had a hundred pounds in her pocket-book. She did tell him that sne could scrub floors and cook a dinner as well as anybody. He asked her how she made a living, and she replied that she would get thirty pounds for writing up the quizzing process. The old lady will surely put some red pepper into the article she writes. I. W. W.'B FEELINGS HURT. There are risks in holding up the I. W. W. to ridicule and contempt. John Carey, a New York merchant, displayed a cartoon in which the .cen tral figure says: I Want What I Want When I Won't Work. A crowd of tramps is depicted en tering a stylish Broadway restaurant and bearing a sign: "Give us work and sleep at the same time." On a table stands a figure supposed to rep resent Tannenbaum, general of the New York army of the unemployed, who says: WE Btarted out for Bread Now we want Chocolate eclairs and Charlotte russes. Let slaves work. Two of the tramps swagger up a broad staircase, ordering the manager to "Lead us to de best room in de joint one wld a perfumed bath," while two others bid the assistant managsr to "Call us at noon and have de limou sine waiting." The man who was ar rested with $750 In his pockets when the mob invaded a church is de picted as the "$750 Beauty," with greenbacks sticking out of every pocket. , A roughly dressed, bearded man told Mr. Carey if he did not take the pic ture out of the window pretty quick "something is going to happen to you that you don't like." Mr. Carey ordered him out, and that night a stone was thrown through the window. That is a warning to beware of wounding the tender sensibilities of the t. W. W. For obvious reasons they cannot sue for defamation of charac ter, but any suggestion that they have a repugnance for work is gross libel on the principle that "the greater the truth, the greater the libel," and may be resented with a stone through one's window. They are one branch of our self-elected aristocracy, which is made up of the idle rich and the idle poor, and .must be treated with the consid eration due their rank. THIEVES OR RASCALS, ALL. The Portland citizens who are fight ing the meter extravagance are a pretty bad bunch of crooks, in the judgment of Commissioner Daly. The leaders in the referendum, it seems, are composed largely of men whom he has forestalled in efforts to-impair the Bull Run reserve or commit the water department to some extrava gance for their personal benefit. Either that or they are distantly re lated by ties of blood or employment to someone who has some pernicious scheme afoot to rob the public. Even some of the signers of petitions are lawbreakers who don't want meters because with meters they can't break the law. There is an East Side woman, it Is learned from an Interview with the Commissioner, who has been irrigat ing her garden by letting the water run all night. Another, woman on Portland Heights waters several lots from one tap. Another preserves the family food by putting it in running Bull Run water. One man has no ice bill because he has a coil of water pipes in the refrigerator through which the water runs all the time. All are opposed to meters. It is too bad that a community, generally honest and moral in other particulars, should descend to" such depths of villainy in respect to pro tection and use of water. But it is not clear Just how the would-be raid ers of the Bull Run reserve and other big schemers are to get much of a revenge on Mr. Daly by preventing the installation of water meters. Defeat of the plan does not relieve him of his job. It does not deprive him of any perquisites that we know of. In fact, there is a general impres sion that it would give his depart ment a record for economy to which he some day can point with pride, for the people will soon forget tnat they forced it on him. Inflicting perse cution that does not persecute is mighty poor satisfaction to a man seeking vengeance. As for the small water grafters, now that Mr. Daly has discovered them, their fate is in his hands. There is a city ordinance which authorizes their arrest and the imposition of a maximum fine of $100 on each of them for every' day the water is per mitted to run to waste. There is no need to spend $500,000 to stop water thieving definitely known and located by the water department STATE AID FOR IRRIGATION. In reply to a request from The Oregon Hub, a Redmond newspaper. Dr. C. J. Smith has set forth his views on the irrigation problem. He proposes a plan for state aid in reclamation of arid lands and fol lows It with the unoriginal remark that he expects it to be criticised. Nevertheless it is "thrown open for criticism," but with dark hints as to what would happen to Eastern Ore gon "if we all stood back and told ourselves how bad conditions were and hit every head which bobbed up with an idea offered to afford relief." Fully aware that all critics are thus prejudiced as mere head hunters. The Oregonian nevertheless ventures to offer a few modest opinions concern ing Dr. Smith's irreproachable plan. In brief, he relates that it is cus tomary to allow a reclamation company 100 per cent for promotion and construction over and above the actual estimated cost of reclama tion. He would save this sum and avoid bad engineering and slipshod methods by having the state do the work under the supervision of the State Engineer, Desert Land Board or Water Board. The money would be provided by bonding the project itself and the income from the sale of land and water rights would be used to pay the interest and princi pal of the bonds. It is admitted that the state might have to , guarantee the bonds to insure their sale. The kernel of the plan is that state aid is promised without cost to the tax payers. It may be said that Dr. Smith has hit upon an excellent plan if it would work as he seems to think. One cause for the addition of 100 per cent for promotion and construction over the estimated cost of the work is the length of time that must elapse be fore returns are had from a recla mation enterprise. Several , years, sometimes eight or ten, must elapse, before the water can be turned on the land. To obtain an Income from the project before that time the water rights must be sold to speculators, a practice that has been a serious handicap to : the success of projects heretofore undertaken by promoters. On the other hand the right of entry given to actual settlers before the water was on the land has caused un measured distress on some of the Government projects. Unforeseen ob stacles almost invariably delay the completion of Irrigation works and the settler without water must starve and default in his payments. In fact the only practicable plan is to with hold sales or entry until the water Is actually available. The state aid plan offered by Dr. Smith means that the state would have to raise money on a project a number of years before there would be any returns on the Investment. Buyers of bonds are not satisfied with a mere guarantee that they will ultimately receive Interest and prin cipal. They want bonds on which the interest is paid regularly and promptly. It follows that to make Irrigation bonds saleable the state must guar antee principal and interest and it also is certain the guarantee with regard to interest . would be en forced against the state for several years on each issue of bonds. The state would have to advance the in terest. "An annual interest charge means an increased tax burden. The prom ise of its return and the insurance of future benefits by its expenditure classify it as something else than extravagance but undoubtedly before the people will . be in the humor to accept new responsibilities they will require that there be a ' counter sav ing In the conduct of government. The Oregonian clings to the opinion that the candidate who can definitely show where he will save a dollar Is more likely to be elected than the one who shows solely where he will spend a dollar. TRUE SOURCE OT PROSPERITY. Talk as we may about the human efforts which promote or delay prosperity, the most powerful agen cies to those ends are natural and above human control. 1 If the sun shines, the rain falls and the wind blows in season, we have all the pri mary essentials of prosperity, and if the individual man sows the seed, cul tivates the ground and reaps the har vest in season, he wil! be prosperous without regard to what man in his collective capacity does in the way of passing tariff laws, currency laws, anti-trust laws and railroad laws. These latter may somewhat lubricate the wheels which pass prosperity around, but they " cannot greatly aid or greatly hinder its coming. While our eyes have been turned eastward to see what Congress is do ing, what Wall street is doing, what the Interstate Commerce Commission is doing to bring us prosperity, the weather and the farmers at our doors, combined, have taken the most ef fective means to that end without re gard to outside help. Bountiful rain and snow followed by bright Spring sunshine have put the land in condi tion to yield abundantly, and the farmers of the Pacific Northwest have increased their wheat acreage to take full advantage of nature's bounty. Growth of the wheat crop of Ore gon, Washington and Idaho from 56,000,000 bushels in 1913 to 70,000, 000 bushels in 1914 is the fair pros pect held out to us. This is typical of the prospect as to other crops grain, forage, fruit and hops and from this bounty we may expect abundance of cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry and dairy products. Prosperity after all is ' based on products of the soil. When they abound, the farmer prospers, and from him prosperity flows In a golden stream to men of all useful callings. The city man who sits at home wait ing for prosperity to come to him would better go into the country and dig it out of the ground. Let him wait no longer for business to "pick up," but hie to the farm and make more business at the starting point of all business. If he does not fatten his. bank account in the first year or two, he will get rich returns in better health, and in future years, if he farms wisely and well, his material wealth will be abundant. MR. BRYAN RIDES BEHIND. The relation of .Secretary of State Bryan to President Wilson Is dis cussed with fine irony by Colonel George Harvey in the North Ameri can Review. Beginning with the quotation "When two men ride an ass, one must ride behind," Colonel Har vey describes Mr. Bryan as having taken "his place in the second saddle upon the flanks of the ass of Democ racy." He relates the negotiations through Colonel Edward M. House which ended in Mr. Bryan's elevation to that seat. Among the terms men tioned are that the President reserved to himself the making of all appoint ments and the making and shaping of foreign policies, but conceded to Mr. Bryan "the privilege of continuing his lucrative lectures" and relieved him of the traditional requirement to serve wine to his guests.. The President's eulogium of Mr. Bryan in a letter to a Baltimore friend is ascribed to Mr. Wilson's re alization that the Secretary "had be come unwontedly restive under criti cism which he felt to be undeserved" and to exposure of an alleged Wall street conspiracy to discredit him in the eyes of the President Referring to this letter. Colonel Harvey says: Somehow- we have never been able to cir cumscribe Mr. Bryan as a mere Secretary of State. We long since came to regard him as a public institution such as the English possess in Westminster Abbey and the French in the Arc de Trlomphe. Official Information, therefore, to the effect that he can sit without restlveness for hours at a time before a desk and not only detect red tags, but untie red tape and "clear away many a difficulty" assumes the magnitude of a surprising revelation. "We would not be understood as questioning the potency of Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State," continues Colo nel Harvey. He then mentions among the Secretary's achievements "valua ble assistance in proposing ministers to South American republics: serving notice upon Great Britain that home rule must be granted to Ireland; counseling the recognition . of Yuan Shi Kat as a 'just government resting upon the consent of the governed'; dispatching of election inspectors to Santo Domingo." He also (Selected John Lind for the Mexican mission; "Induced the Commoner to loan As sociate Editor Metcalfe to Panama," and more in the same strain. The peace treaty with Salvador Is called Vso utterly absurd upon its face that it evoked only derision," but he is credited with having thus paved the way for the solution of the gravest problem of the age, ... a very great achievement" upon which Colonel Harvey remarks: "We are surprised that the President should have overlooked It" Mr. Bryan's course in refusing to serve wine Is pronounced "wholly commendable," but the Colonel has doubts about the compromise on grapejuice. saying: "Personally, we should have preferred cider as a more healthful, more delectable and more truly National beverage." But he as sumes' that Mr. Bryan would not "ob ject to an Ambassador fetching and sipping his own wine." Colonel Harvey has evidently been at great pains to get the facts about Mr. Bryan's Journeylngs and their purpose, for he says that "of the 310 days succeeding his installation, he was absent from Washington 72 and journeyed 31,800 miles. He finds the "net outcome is that out of 310 days Mr. Bryan has appropriated to his own use but thirty-five, or less than one day a week," and says this "dis poses of the accusation that he has disregarded his obligations as a pub lic servant" As to the question of propriety Colonel Harvey quotes Mr. Bryan's two explanations, one that he gives lectures "not for a lucrative end" and the other that he needs the money, remarking that they "are not conterminous," -and sums them up by saying: "In a word, he would divide the expense." The programme of one" Chautauqua is quoted in which Mr. Bryan is sand wiched between the Neapolitan Troubadors and Elliot A. Boyl. From an account of the lecture it is quoted that he cooled his hand on a cake of Ice and rubbed it on his head. The report closed: At the end ot an hour and a half Bryan and the ice disappeared and the orchestra resumes with "Madame Sherry." The Colonel sees little occasion for criticism except as a matter of taste. He is" "indisposed to combat Mr. Bryan's determination to visit the chancellories of Europe for the pur pose, of promulgating his views upon universal amity," remarking: "Though wholly sophisticated and inclined to be skeptical, it by no means follows that they might not succumb to his homlletlcal words and winning ways." He sums up how much of Mr. Bryan's several platforms has been, or is in a fair way to be realized, and closes by suggesting the following introduc tion "if the yodelers have quite fin ished": William Jennings Bryan; last in war, first in peace, safe in the hearts of his countrymen. If Mr. Bryan's real sentiments could be learned, they would probably be that he would rather be spared Colo nel Harvey's compliments. In giving a square deal to the rail roads the people would be giving a square deal to themselves. Inefficient railroads are a hindrance to the busi ness of the whole country; efficient railroads are a help. The offenses of those railroads which have permitted promoters and speculators to juggle with them should not be condoned, but the great majority which have been honestly managed and have cheerfully endeavored to comply with the law should not be punished for the sins of these few. By pun ishing them, the people punish them selves. They should, without fur ther delay, be permitted to increase their earnings to the point . where they can operate with the highest ef ficiency and can secure capital for those improvements whkh demand Investment of nearly $1,000,000,000 within the next year. The New York Times closes a rather lugubrious article on the experiment with Government railroads to be made In Alaska by offering a good sugges tion. This Is that rates on the road should fall as profits rise, as is pro vided in contracts with some public utilities. If the roads be leased to an operating company, expenses can be held in check and rates can be re duced as profits rise with growing traffic. If the Government should operate the roads, profits might fail to rise, hence rates might fall to fall. We don't wish to repeat Canada's ex perience with the Government-operated Intercolonial Railroad, which has always palcl "Irish dividends." . : Thomas C. Piatt escaped much grief by dying ere the United States Express Company voted to dissolve. When he was In the heyday of his power, he guarded it carefully against hostile postal legislation, and his sorrow over Its present plight could not have been assuaged. Bandit Villa, who by telephone in vites himself to eat supper with the Federal commander of Torreon, does not set a date. It will be recalled he failed to keep a promise to take dinner last Christmas in Mexico City. California's unemployed are headed this way. Have they heard of the de mand for farm laborers in the valley or of the emptiness of the Gypsy Smith auditorium? Seventy million bushels of wheat is a great crop for the Pacific Northwest and Portland Is the great port from which to ship the bujk of it Many illustrated advertisements of the corset dealers are an aggravation to the woman whose latitude equals her longitude. Every now and then faith in justice is restored on learning that the man who beats a horse Is punished. ' Why not have the Third Oregon go into camp at the Exposition next year on its return from Mexico? Money must whirl Into the Multno mah treasury this week trr settle the $6,000,000 taxes still due. Some people are doing their worst to put the British Government in a hole in .Ulster. Jackson County is up to date in using an automobile to overtake a horsethief. The millennium surely is coming, since Paris has begun a moral reform. The English idea seems to be that a regiment In time saves nine. " There will be no getting away from a Roundup at Culdesac. Medford is becoming quite a city with its trolley car in service. Bryan is unable to retain a tall hold on the llama. John Und has been "sawing wod" a long time. . ' BRITISH PURSK .JIUST BE SAVED Free Toll Opponents) "Seeing English" Declares Correspondent. TACOMA, March 19. (To thevEd itor.) I noticed in The Oregonian yes terday some petulant words from a correspondent He blames Americans for standing for the long-established policy" of free interstate commerce. Shipping has passed free and untaxed between our home ports; but this man of "economic understanding," for so he describes himself, declares that free dom of exchange between Pacific and Atlantic states Is "reckless extrava gance." He says taxes are levied for the "glory of tax eaters," and yet he is eager to tax Oregon products car ried through the Panama CanaL In other words, he insists on more taxa tion in order that there may be less taxation, in order that there may be less "glory" for tax eaters. It is be cause of their obtuseness in this mat ter that he censures Americans. He finds no fault with the many millions of dollars conected with construction and maintenance of the canal, provided our domestic commerce is damaged by the cheaply operated and subsidized ships of England. To Americans, such a mental atti tude seems irrational. But your cor respondent believes that we are suffer ing with brain storm, because we ex pect to derive National benefit from the canal. He says Senators who take the American position are crazy. Now, it is a common phenomenon to see an irrational person manifest, in word and action, toe belief that all the rest of the world has gone awry, but your con tributor is not that kindfof a chap. He Delieves tnat Americans are nutty, but tirat English are guided by reason. His is the view point of English boards of trade and shipowners. Anything that affects British pockets unfavorably is unjust almost sacri legious. Yes, American honor will be forever sullied if covetous English pockets are not swollen at American expense. Hence, an American who be lieves that his country should profit In a pecuniary way from the canal is un worthy and dishonorable. He is a dis turber of the "sweet atmosphere of Anglo-Saxon peace. Ife Is, as was Samuel Adams of old. a "shiftless agi tator and dangerous demagogue." Such are Senators O'Gorman and Chamberlain, who are endeavoring to safeguard and conserve the legitimate and natural interests of our country. These men and those co-operating with them are sustaining the Panama legis lation enacted by Congress in 1912. Their position is support'' by author ity of Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Taft Of the same mind was Mr. Wilson onue upon a time. That was In 1912, when he made his molasses speech to the Jersey farmers. But in those days Mr. Wilson was an ungodly man. Now, ac cording to London papers, he is one of the elect he sees English. JAMES HOYE. SEVERE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE Judge Murphy Calls on Candidates to Explain High Coat of Government. PORTLAND. March 21. (To the Edi-tor.)-St've been reading a howl from a fellow in Wisconsin. He calls that state an "experiment station." The fellow aforesaid complains of a tend ency toward the confiscation of prop erty by taxation, and alleges that the cost of government in Wisconsin ad vanced 50 per cent within a period of 10 years ending 1900; the 1913 Legis lature appropriated over $36,000,000 for the current two years; collections on income tax for 1914 will be over $4,000. 000 and taxes on railroads $4,000,000 more, while the entire cost of state government In Wisconsin In 1900 did not exceed $4,000,000. This brother proposes to cure the ills of unjust taxa tion by using "the hair of a dog," and keep people from leaving the state, which they are doing with amazing rapidity. Here's a tip from my overmuch ad miring friend. Doc Smith. He might call into service the "tail of a rat" and give the women a rest on "enforcement of laws." Any woman whose husband ever went to the Legislature knows full well that if he thought the statutes he lived for and fought for and was ready to die for, were introduced to be en forced, he would die of unrequited love on the part of his compatriots whom he swopped laws with. It's no use asking Spinoza U'Ren to do any hard work, for iJThe gets off the subject of taxation he doesn't know a political peanut from a piece of cheese. Any man who allows his "slogan box" to get aflame over taxingthe property of a dead man, and overlooks those big, husky, fat plutocrats, alive, with good digestions, and fail to impose a tax on their appetites and stomachs to give us poor dyspeptics of the crackers and tea and pursuit of pills a chance to live, is no friend of the tallow-faced brigade. 4 It's a pretty state of affairs that one has to go to Wisconsin to get data on the comparative increase of the ex penses in-' running local government, when we have such handsome-looking, public-spirited men, with brains and industry and love of country and suf fering humanity, like Dr. C. J. Smith, to inform us. Our Oregon system oper ates queerly in tax reform; our bonded indebtedness increases; assessments are growing higher; men supposed to be comfortably situated are borrowing money to pay their taxes. Yet, after all, there is some satisfaction in know ing rum can't be sold to bucolic rum mies and subpenas can't be served with out the consent of our rulers, and wo men are happy over the prospect of eugenic babies, and Doc Smith Is going to enforce the laws. But somehow or other there are those who would like to hear from Doc on the comparative increase of government expenses for 10 years past and the reason thereof. We don't like to believe the comedian who jokes on racing at the rate of 90 miles an hour on an Oregon system track with a loose nut Tighten the nut and get busy. Doc. Tell us something that is something. J. HENNESSY MURPHY. Diplomats Talk Too Much. EUGENE, Or March 21. (To the Editor.) It seems that the Wilson- Bryan appointees on diplomatic posi tions are not aware of the fundamental principle of diplomacy as expressed by Talleyrand. Talleyrand said in reference to the requirements of a diplomat in his of ficial capacity: "The language (or tongue, which is the same in French) has been given to man to hide (cover up) his ideas." First Ambassador Page and now Minister Voprika have been talking too much. Have these diplomats been hypnotized by Secretary Bryan, whose greatest asset since many years, is talking? Talk is cheap (except in the Chau tauqua circuit) but it becomes a heavy burden on the dignity" of a great na tion, if officials talk before they think. E. SCHWARZSCHILD. Right and Left Eyed. PORTLAND. March 22. (To the Ed itor.) Is there such a thing as every person being right or left eyed? If so, how can we tell? A SUBSCRIBER. Dr. George M. Gould, of Philadelphia, maintains that one eye is usually domi nant As an experiment point the fore finger at some object on the wall, tak ing aim with both eyes open. Then close each eye alternately. With most persons it is true that closing of one eye will seem to cause the finger to point to right or left of the object while when the other eye is closed the finger covers the object The dominant eye is the one that shows the aim to be true. If it is the left eye, one Is "left eyed"; if the right eye, one is "right-eyed." SEVERE COST OP PATERNALISM Mr. Rus Recalls French Attempt to Relieve the Unemployed. PORTLAND, March 22. (To the Ed ditor) In a previous letter I consid ered Mr. ITRen's plan of relief for the unemployed relative to the acute con dition of distress, hoping that he would point out what he considers, the man ageable causes of our unemployed problem; also the connection between them and his plan or how the latter will tend to diminish or eradicate the evil. His latest contribution to The Oregonian is so vague and barren, that notwithstanding the great demand men like myself have already made upon his patience, I desire to attack his plan fundamentally and as a remedy, either for the chronic seasonal or the peren nial condition of distress of the un employed. Parenthetically, ,let me say, that perhaps no citizen of this state taxes the patience of the electorate of Oregon more than does Mr. U'Ren, with his many innovations, and it ill be comes him to complain on that score. I - believe there is at present little danger of people starving in Oregon, provided they make their condition known, but there is great danger that In trying to find artificial means for the support of the unemployed, the means which are adopted to help one thousand men and women, will bo an injury to thousands of others. Repugnant as the solicitations fof help must be on the part of some of the needy, yet on the part of the givers, voluntary actions will tend to strength en a moral habit better than compul sory exactions In the form of taxes doled out by the state officials in payment of relief work, which under the circum stances are acts of charity just the same, no matter by what name they may be called. For let it be clearly understood that no one having been born with the Btate's consent it does not owe a living to anyone. This, of course, does not imply that within certain limits, the state should not do something to relieve extreme cases of distress. No one is responsible for having been born, and it may be granted that every one has a right to live, but not the right to hring creatures into this world to be supported by others. If the claim made upon society, to provide work at "reasonable wages" to all who de mand it was limited to the existing members of society only, it would, per haps, have few objections. But the proposition is altogether different when those who have produced, saved and accumulated are asked to furnish the necessities of life, or work to ob tain them, not. only for those now ex isting, but also for those whom these people may see fit to call into exist ence. An acute thinker, who was also a good friend of the common people, truly said: "To give profusely to the people under the name of charity or employment without placing them un der restrictions is to lavish the means of benefiting mankind without obtain ing the object" The result of past experiences of work performed under similar plans as that proposed by Mr. U'Ren, has been unsatisfactory. The work done was expensive and inefficient Officialdom does not work as expected, and the achieved results of a legislative meas ure usually differ greatly from the ex pected results. This Mr. U'Ren will not dispute. The state may begin with the payment of $2 per day and a total expenditure for the first year of $500, 000; but what will it be four or five years from the beginning? Another thing, which, most likely, has been overlooked by advocates of the proposed remedy Is that in the past the principal beneficiaries of such work are the members of the shiftless or un. deserving class, to the partial or total exclusion of the deserving and com petent members of the unemployed. For some reasons these classes do not easily mix. The proposed plan is further open to objection because it would compel the taxpayers of this state to supple ment the wages of hundreds of more or less skilled workers who are en gaged in seasonal occupations and do not earn enough during the working part of the year to maintain them selves and their families during the whole year. This burden, which in all equity ought to be borne by certain industries, would then be shifted to the taxpayers. As I have remarked before, it is the nature of this precious rem edy of Mr. U'Ren to 'aggravate the disease it is meant to allay. Let me give one striking example. What were the conditions in Paris, where the ad ministration in the course of 16 years had expended 1,865.000.000 francs, or $354,350,000, on works undertaken mainly for the purpose of employing the people? At the end of that pe riod there were, outside of the forti fications, huddled into hovels of wood or tarred pasteboard, or bivouacking on the ground, over 300,000 workmen, ex clusive of the families, which many of them had. An eye-witness described the scene as a picture of barbarism by the side of civilization. INNE RUS. CITY MAN'9 PLIGHT IN COUNTRY Plenty Fresh Food All About' But Only Canned Truck to Eat. PORTLAND. March 21. (To the Ed itor.) Wednesday last was spent in an Oregon village located in a fine agri cultural and dairying region, the farms coming -up to the store, hall and other buildings in the town. The depot platform had on it an as sembly of empty milk cans, returned to the owners to be refilled for the city market During the day was witnessed also the dressing by two farmers, a fine fat hog, to go by next train to the city. They were in a hurry to get It ready. At noon the tavern was visited for dinner. The meal consisted, with the exception of eggs and potatoes, wholly of "canned truck," the landlady, by way of apology, stating that not an ounce of bacon, ham or other kind of meat could be had In the place. I remem bered seeing her in the village store wanting to buy meat an hour before. For cream In coffee was served a ropy, suspicious looking matter bought at the store In tin cans; and this in a community where any amount of deli cious cream is produced. A glass of milk at dinner was wanted, to which the reply came, "We have no milk, our milk Is ail sent to the city!" Commercial men visiting the smaller rural towns in Oregon wilt confirm the fact that the town described is not an exception; that the practice by the ranchers of Belling to the city for a little ready cash, the best things pro duced on the farm, such as wholesome meat poultry, cream, and fresh milk, and buying back at redoubled cost "canner's" and "packer's" things, is all too common: and poor living it is, too. The average farmer is nobody's fool, far from it but he does not seem to see that in the practice now in vogue he cheats not only his own stomach, but his pocket-book as well. There are. however, among Oregon farmers, numerous exceptions to this way of doing things. C E. CLINE. Origin ot Latin Quarter. PORTLAND, March 22. (To the Ed itor.) Kindly give the definition of "Latin Quarter." What kind of a lo cality is It? N H. W. G. Latin Quarter Is a name applied to a section of Paris which In the thirteenth century became the Bite of the schools comprising the National university. Up to the time of Henry rv students were taught a mixture of French and Latin, and because "Latin" was the language of the university the region became known as the Latin Quarter. The quarter is now frequented by all tongues except Latin. Twenty-five Years Ago From The Oregonian of March 2U, IS S3. Tacoma, March 22. When the elec tion among the Indians took place on Tuesday on the question of opening the Puyallup Reservation to the Puyal lup Valley Railroad, Agent Eells called up 12 Indians and charged them with receiving bribes from George J. Dough erty, agent of the Puyallup Valley Railroad. One and all confessed. Frank O. Meeker, representing the railroad company, asked for an inves tigation, which was held today. Salem, Or., March 22. Justice Frlnk placed O. P. Beardsley under bonds of $2500 for killing Perryman. Threats of lynching are heard, but no danger Is feared. Wichita, March 22. Hundreds of Oklahoma boomers left the northern part of the territory for their homes, being conducted by soldiers. Many hundreds are hiding in Oklahoma and others are arriving. Samuel Elmore, the well-known canneryman. who has been East for two months, is in the city. Under the auspices of the Oregon Alpine Club, Portland is to have two concerts by the Ovide Musin Concert Company at the New Park. A handsome Black Republican cherry tree, which has been growing for nine years past on Mr. H. L. Pittock's block between Washington and Alder on West Park and Eighth streets, was dug up and carried away by some en terprising fellow as the tree was just blooming. Thursday evening Mrs. C. W. Not tingham left her home on Portland Heights in a buggy with her sister-in-law to attend Grace Church. On serv ice being over, they found the buggy was gone. Policeman Joe Day recov ered the horse and buggy in the back part of town. The La Camas lumber mills will start up full time Monday. The cornerstone of St Patrick's Church, whietr was laid by Archbishop Gross last Sunday, was the gift of Edward Campion. On motion of Mr. Ladd. the school directors appointed Chairman Thomp son and Mr. Therkelsen a committee to engage an architect and adopt plans for an addition to the Failing School. 4he affairs of the Oregonian Rail way Company are shortly to be wound up. Phalanx Lodge No. 14, K. of P., cele brated its sixth anniversary last night in Ross Hall. S. Bloomer, C. C, called the assembly to order, and addresses were made by Dr. Royal, Mr. Bloom field, of Vancouver, Mr. Brewster, of Alblna, Mr. Glover, of Vancouver Lodge. D. D. Neer, Judge Llewellyn and A. B. Bloomer. Dr. J. H. Heppburn read a letter of regret from Governor Semple, whose health was drunk, also that of the new Governor, Miles C. Moore. G. W. Shaver will leave soon for California. Half a Century Ago Prom The Oregonian of March 23, 1SB4. Paris, March 5. A Hamburg dis patch announces that, three brigades of Austrian troops had received orders from General Wrangel to enter Jut land and Invest Frederica. Washington, March 20. Prisoners from Richmond assert that the rebels have already secretly executed a num ber of officers attached to colored regiments. It is said that several have mysteriously disappeared from Llbby Prison. Washington, March 21. General Grant will be here In the morning. On Thursday he reviews the entire Army of the Potomac. Washington, March 21. A joint reso lution has been introduced in Con gress, submitting to the Legislatures of the states an amendment to the Constitution declaring slavery for ever prohibited in the United States. The O. S. N. Company are running some fine boats between this city and the head of navigation on the Colum bia, and a trip to Lapwai is quite a different undertaking to what it was a few years ago, when river facilities were confined to the Indian canoe and when the overland conveyance was limited to the cayuse: The office of the State Telegraph is in the office of the Pioneer Hotel and the eye of a verdant merchant from the interior being attracted to the telegraph Instrument he inquired of Mr. Arrigonl the price of "those sew ing machines." The present quarters of the Oregon Iron Works are too small and they arc putting up a new building just west of the Academy. Yankee Sanders announced yester day that Mrs. Hayne, Miss Gass, Mr. Waldron and their company would play at the Oak Grove Theater, Van couver, this evening. A. C. Swift of Idaho City, has been appointed commissioner of deeds for Oregon by Governor Gibbs. Candidate for City Marshal William Grooms. Notice By the solicitation of many friends I announce myself as a candi date for City Marshal. J. R. Witherell. No Consideration Shown. Baltimore American. Doctor I hear the operation lately performed by Dr. Cutem was a botch. Friend Why, I understood the pa tient was completely cured by It Doctor (loftily) I am not speaking of Its effects on the patient but of the way the operation was performed. Modern Merchandisinar Forty years ago our wants were comparatively few and the means of gratifying them correspondingly scarce. Hats were hats, shoes were shoes, and clothes were clothes in those days. Requirements today are much more complex, our needs are multi plied. So that it is not enough to make up our minds to buy a new hat or a new pair of shoes or a new suit of clothes. Style, quality, service and many other essentials occupy our minds now, when we feel the need of pur chasing anything. Newspaper advertising has opened our eyes to the need and to the dis tinct advantages of being Informed. And retailers in their constant striving to please and to create new business are daily telling of the merits of their wares in the col umns of dependable newspapers like The Oregonian. Keep up with the times. Don't neglect your newspaper. Adv. S '