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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1914)
lO TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY. APRITi 29, 1914. FOBTLAND, OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Fostof&ce as seeond-class matter. EnJjecrlptlon Ha. tea Invariably In Advance: (BT MAIL) aUy, Sunday tnektded. one year. . . -.$S.0 Itijr. Sunday lncluosd. six aaoBtas. ... Dally. Sunday Included, tare month.. 2.25 ltiy. Sunday lnel-adi. UM miuull.... -75 Dally, without Sunday, one year - patly. without Sunday, six months 3.25 IUy, without Sunday, three months.. 1.75 HaUy, without Sunday, one month BO Weekly, one year l-50 Eiuday, one year ........--.-- 2.50 bua4ay and Weekly, one year. ......... a.oO (BT CAKB1HK) Dairy, Sunday Included, one year. .... .- Datly, Sunday Included, on month.... .73 Mew to Remit Send postoJBoe money or der, express order or pereoaal check on your local bank. Stamps, com er carreacy are at ktcdcr'i risk. Uive postofflce adtlrtsas In full, lueiudinff county and state. Postage Rates 12 to 16 pares. 1 cent; 18 to &i pages, 2 cents; 84 to 48 paxes, 3 cents; ( a 60 pages, 4 cents; e2 to I pages. 5 cants ; 78 to u2 pages, o cento. Foreign post age, double rates. Juastern Business OfBcea Y8rree & Co nlc -Iln. New York, Hruuawiclc buUding. Ctai caso, Stcger building. ban Francisco Olhce R. J. Bldwell Co I4:i Market street. PQB.TL.1XD, WEDNESDAY. APRIL 29, 191. THE LIMITS OF MEDIATION. Whether mediation will accom plish anything more than a tempo rary restraint on intervention re mains to be seen, with the bulk of well-informed opinion inclined to take a pessimistic angle. But that it should be allowed to drag along through weary weeks and months is li&rdly to be thought of in view of the. present status of our differences with the Huerta government. , An carty conclusion of these eleventh-- lioar negotiations would seem to be imperative for several reasons. In the first place the continued presence of our troops in the pestilence-ridden environs of Vera Cruz will be a greater menace to the men than an aggressive campaign, accord ing to Army sanitarians. Huerta' could inflict no greater punishment upon Funston's men than to Impose npon'them a protracted stay in the low country along the coast, where smallpox, typhoid fever and even yel low fever may make its inroads on men fresh from the more temperate climate and perfect sanitary condi tions of the United States; To with draw these troops at this time is im possible. They were landed there for the aggressive action they will be called upon to take if the dictator renews his defiance. Another reason has tcy do with ref ugees. It had been supposed that Americans would take advantage of the present lull to get out of the country. Some have done this, but a goodly number who had planned to leave Rave since canceled their res- ervations and will remain at Mexico City and interior points hoping that something will come of mediation. Thus, with troops on Mexican soil, anti-American sentiment fanned to a high pitch, Huerta doubtless press ing preparations for eventualities in the mountain passes . approaching Mexico City and foreigners venturing to remain in the country, we have nothing to gain except any fruits that may come from mediation itself. The waiting period is far more valuable to Huerta than to us. If mediation fails the toll in American lives will doubtless be greater as a result of the delay. Hence mediation should not be allowed to degenerate into tem porizing and watchful waiting. EFFICIENCY AJiD HIGH PRICES. Mr. Vanderlip says ignorance and inefficiency of the, farmer rather than big business cause the high cost of living. He would better have said the farmer must share the responsibility with big business. If the claims of big business are well founded, it is 100 per cent efficient, as compared with the lower efficiency of the small . business which it supplanted, but this increased efficiency has raised in stead of lowering prices. Big busi ness boasts of economy in production, but takes to ltself all the proceeds. It is difficult to see how the con sumer has gained by its increased efficiency. The farmer's inefficiency has com bined with the greed of big business . to raise prices, for the farmer has not used the land to its full efficiency. Mr. Vanderlip says land is used to only 40 per cent of its efficiency. But the farmer's responsibility does, not end there; he is as inefficient in dis tribution as in production. The first requisite to economical distribution is good roads, which the farmer has been, until recently, slow to provide. The cost of farm prducta is raised in proportion to the quality of the roads over which they must be hauled to "the railroad. But the people of the cities have been the first to move for good roads, and they have always had to overcome the opposition of far mers, who often say the demand comes from the pleasure-seeking au tomobilists, though the roads are equally open to the farmer's wagon and there is nothing to prevent the farmer from using the automobile to haul- his produce. The farmers' methods of distribu tion are also inefficient for lack of co-operation. Where they co-operate, a surer, wider market is obtained at a higher range of prices than where they market individually, yet the ' price paid by the consumer is re duced by eliminating middlemen The entire crop Is utilized in one way or another, while with individual marketing much produce rots on the ground and much more is destroyed by middlemen, either because they have an over-supply or in order to maintain prices, though at other places the supply may be deficient. By co-operation alone can supply be regulated to meet demand, that notlv ing be wasted. This brings us back to the question of good roads, for observation shows that where co-operative distribution is practiced most extensively and suc cessfully, the good roads movement has borne the best fruits. This would naturally De so, lor an up-to-date, progressive farmer naturally gravl- tates to those districts where roads are good or farmers "willing to lm prove them, and shuns those where roads are bad or farmers unwilling to improve them. He is the man who realizes the merits of co-operation and-who is broad enough to joirr his neighbors In promoting their com mon interests. The farmer who is content with bad roads Is also con tent with- inefficient methods of all . kinds; he is slothful and suspicious of his neighbors, therefore will not co-operate with them. It follows that the good roads farmer is the farmer whose land is used to its full effi ciency and who boosts for co-opera tion, while the bad roads farmer works hla land to only 40 per cent of efficiency and sells through the com mission man. The efficient farmer is gradually cfow&mg out the Inefficient, is awake to the value of good roads and is re sorting more to co-operative distri bution and direct selling, but the con sumer is not meeting him half way. The cities are made up of consumers of farm produce, but they have been low to establish public markets and to avail themselves of the parcel post. whereby they can buy direct from the producer. Preference given farmers who produce the best goods would exert an economic pressure towards efficiency upon other farmers. By providing a sure and steady market, they would help to put the farmer on his feet financially and to enable him to improve still further. The impetus to better farming and better distribution should come from the cities, just as does the impetus . to road improvement. It is no use to pitch upon any one class as "the goat which, must be blamed for the high cost of living. AU must share the blame manufac turers, farmers and consumers. We have been spending nature's bounty like one who imagines his pnrse in exhaustible until the era of high prices has pulled us up short. The time has come for each to mend his ways and to help his neighbor to mend his by practicing those- econo mies all along the .line which We have been wont to despise. MERE rEN SPLTJTTE RINGS. How Governor West "never al lowed his veto pen to dry" seems to be considered important by a news paper admirer ot the . Governor. Whether the matter is considered of interest as an Important historical event or is a. press agency forerunner of candidacy for something or other Is left to surmise. But whether to promote a dwindling notoriety or es tablish, the basis for a, political cam paign, the series now running is care fully built on half the truth instead of the whole truth. In the last installment from Salem it is stated that the 1913 Legislature made a record for passing salary- raising bills over the veto of the Gov ernor; that there were a score or more of them applying to offices in various counties; that as fast as they were presented the Governor vetoed them, but the Legislature enacted therrf Into law ard thus the cost of county government was increased. But it Is customary for a Governor when vetoing bills to give his rea sons. Governor West gave his when he vetoed the score or more of coun ty salOTy bills. He vetoed individual salary bills because he favored the enactment of the Gill salary bill (H. B. 184). He said so in his written vetoes. The vetoed bills were bills applying to individual counties. The Gill bill was general in effect. Moreover, the increase in county salaries occasioned by the passage of the several indi vidual bills over the Governor's veto was not so great, as it would have been had " the Gill salary bill passed. His purpose was antagonistic to econ omy. That purpose is now carefully concealed. The Governor does not appear to know the meaning of the word economy. His vetoes largely were spite vetoes. The Governor is not dependent on vetoes to make a record for economy. It is within his power to prevent ex penditure, in some cases in part, in others in whole, of numerous ap propriations. - He has exerted none of his powers to curtail extrava gance. Wherever the Legislature has shown a spendthrift spirit he has shown apathetic indifference, aside from " the ineffective splutterings of his well-inked pen. His has been the most extravagant administration in the history of Oregon. FOLLOW OUR NEIGHBOR'S EXAMl'lE. A quarrel between the owners and miners of coal in Colorado has cost scores of lives, has brought misery on thousands, has deranged business, has brought about a condition of civil war, has exhausted the military power of the state and has caused an appeal . to the Federal Government for aid in restoring peace. All this could have been prevented . had the state provided means of amicably settling Industrial disputes, enforced the law impartially against employer and empjoye alike, kept the exercise of its police power in its own hands and provided an adequate force for maintenanoe of order. We need to take a leaf out of our neighbor's book. Canada forbids a strike or lockout until public inquiry into the dispute has been made by a board of conciliation. That board reports findings if it fails to bring the parties together. The loser is then free to strike or lock out, as the case may be, but he has rarely done so, for public opinion is against him. If conciliation "fails, there is a police force under control of Dominion or provincial governments to maintain order. This gives no excuse for em ployers to hire armed guards and hence for employes to retaliate by arming. The one notable example of violence was seen recently at the Vancouver Island coal mines, but the militia proved strong enough to sup press riot and arrest the rioters and the courts imposed punishment on the leaders. It is a disgrace to the United States that any state should have sunk into such a condition of anarchy as exists In Colorado, when we have at our doors an example of means which would have prevented it. We are in no position to teach Mexico lessons in orderly government when this con dition prevails within our own bor ders. We have a Federal law which has prevented strikes from growing out of railroad disputes, similar in many respects to the Canadian law. Congress need but extend the appli cation of that law to industry in gen eral, the states to pass similar laws relating to disputes confined within their own borders, and strikes should become rare occurrences. Having been marked more than any other state by scenes of violence, amounting to civil war, Colorado owes it to herself and to the other states to move first in adopting pre ventive measures against repetition of such scenes.- Lest Colorado should not act, or should delay too long. Congress should act by extending and improving the excellent provisions of the Newlands concilation act. Then we should be reasonably safe against the production of another Mexico in our midst. It is cheering to read the account of "Good Roads day" at Irrigon. All work and no play would have made it a dull day for Jack, but there was plenty of play and a chicken dinner too. Whole families turned out with pick and shovel. The schoolchildren took a hand. The housewives cooked a glorious meal. Good for Irrigon. It has set a noble example which every other community ought to toV- low. Kvery rural teacher and minis ter ought to talk their best for a good roads day at once. THE PUBLIC MTXD. How quickly a tranquil state Of mind appears to have come over the country since the cry of mediation arose' above the nautterings of grim old Mars. A few clays ago war was in the air. It was in the National mind. Other things were put aside in point of popular interest and en thusiasm. The war spirit was being fed by accounts of action and blood shed. It was growing by leaps and bounds in the public imagination. Then a sudden halt. The subtle hand of peace caught the herculean ' war god by the wrist and stayed his blows. The public pulse-beat dropped off almost instahtly. It has since slowed down to normal. Hop now exists that possibly after all the scenes of carnage, the fearful loss of life and the suffering that go with conflict can be avoided. It may prove to be a vacant hope. The war god may wrest free his sinewy arm and let fall his keen-edged blade. The spectacle of man killing man in a struggle of race, hatred and misunderstanding may not be spared to us. Nevertheless, approach to the very edge of -war and the drawing away again to public tranquillity have served to give fresh hope to those who look ahead to that day when the rattle of musketry, the roar of artillery and the moans of dying men w,lll have vanished from the face tof the earth. Centuries may pass, but one day such a hope may be consummated. It will come when the public mind does not turn except in horror to thoughts of war. In the meantime human nature must revise itself, civilization must have completed its adjustments and ignorance and vieiousness must have been rendered wholly subservient in the -human animal. SAVING THE BABIES. According to Miss Julia C. Lathrop, Lof the Federal Children's Bureau, 300,000 infants die every year in the United States. This is at the rate of something less than a thousand a Way. Miss Lathrop believes that at least half these deaths are unneces sary. The babies would survive if they were properly cared for and it is the purpose of the bureau over which she presides to see that condi tions are improved in this particular. With this end in view, the Children's Bureau has begun an inquiry into in fant mortality which is original in two of its methods. It begins by counting births instead of deaths and it takes account of "the social industrial and civic surround ings" of the children. Upn drugs and charity Miss Lathrop seems to put little reliance. Some fifty typi cal American communities are. to be studied to begin- with in order to col lect statistics for future use. But statistics are not the only object' of her work, as they are in far too many investigations vand surveys. Miss Lathrop expects- that the facts she gathers "will awaken public interest and stimulate a feeling of responsi bility in families and communities. When the knowledge' that a little care and attention will save 150,000 babies every year percolates the public mind it is likely that Miss Lathrop's labors will bear fruit. Her arguments are supported by the annual report which Mrs. Freder ick Schoff has Just issued as president of the National Parents and Teach ers Congress. This authority esti mates that 100,000 babies die need lessly every year in the United States who might survive, she says re proachfully, "if the Congress of Moth ers was able to carry out its practical measures for baby-saving." In her opinion the mere education of moth ers in infant hygiene will save 60 per cent of the lives now thrown away. She makes the practical recommend ation that every parent-teachers' as sociation institute a child hygiene committee which shall persuade mothers to submit their babies regu larly for examination and advice. A record should be kept from which measures can be designed for build ing up the child's, health. This is a partial and most commendable appli cation of the Montessorl "biological charts." FREIGHT RATES THROUGH CANAL. An article by Russell L. Dunn, of San Francisco, which has been read In the United States Senate, gives a closer conception than has yet been possible of the probable coastwise freight rate between the . Atlantic and . Paoific Coasts. It opens a prospect of a vol ume of traffic three times as great as now crosses the continent, but it also brings into strong relief the disad vantage under which our shipowners, and therefore, our shippers, are placed by our shipping laws, and the Impor tance of exempting coastwise ships from canal tolls as a pwrtial offset. As a basis for calculation, we now have' an actual contract for carrying lumber through the canal from Vic toria to Toronto." The Robert Dollar Steamship Company has contracted to carry 24,000,000 feet of pine timber at (6 per thousand feet. This is equal to $3.60 per ton dead weight, or, after deducting canal tolls, to 4 2:90 for the actual transportation in petroleum burning steamships. But the petroleum-burning steamJ ship, which has been rapidly displac ing tlje coal-burning ship, is itself be ing displaced by petroleum-burning Diesel motor ships, which are in serv ice on the Atlantic Ocean and which cost about a third less to operate and maintain. Mr. Dunn estimates that a foreign-built and foreign-operated ship of this type, rrtaklng twelve knots an hour, carrying 10,000 tons and paying 8 per cent over fixed charges and operating expenses, can take freight between ' San Francisco and Liverpool at $2 a ton dead weight, arid that this will be the mean freight rate' between San Francisco and all the principal ports of Europe. A similar ship, American-built and American-operated, could take freight between San Francisco and New York at the same rate, the higher cost bal ancing the shorter distance."" He sums up the effect of the canal tolls, if they should be imposed alike on both foreign and coastwise ships, by saying they would "lessen the vol ume of both foreign and coastwise trade, more of the foreign than the coastwise, in low-priced-staples, the torls being equivalent "to a Specific export duty on Pacific Coast products .and to a specific import duty bn for eign and Atlantic Coast products." The canal was built with the credit, not the money, of all the forty-eight states, but practically the seven Pa cific Coast states will pay the fixed charges and operating expenses of the canal. Diesel motor ships' .at the rate of $2 a ton will enable the Pa cific Coast to develop an immense trade In lumber and other raw prod ucts, -which Mr, Dunn estimates at 12,500,000 tons a year east bound, as compared with the present eastbound tonnage of 3,500,000. This total is made up as follows: . Tons. Present export tonnaxe, sea routes, r.00,000 Probable diversion from railroads.. 2,WVH0 Lumber. l.OOll.OOfl.OUO feet 1.M50.O0U Petroleum, 25.00WOO barrels...... 4.UIMJ.UU0 Borax. soda. potash and .-non metallic minerals l.r.no.iHK) Metal ores and metals fiuO.OOO Green fruits gnd vegetables feoo.uuu Prunes, raisins, canned and drted fruits, wine 400. OOn Grain and hay r)K,000 Fish, fresh and cured 250, 000 Wood pulp, paper and other manu factures 400.000 Total annual exports through canal 12.500,000 But with the advantage of cheaper ships, the cream of this traffic will go to British Columbia unless it is offset by toll exemption for Ameri can coastwise ships. How great is this advantage can be seen from the statement that freight will be carried from San Francisco to Europe in for eign ships at' the same rate as from San Francisco to New Tork in Amer ican ships. We have placed ourselves under 'this handicap with shipping laws, and the President opposes our offsetting it when he insists upon sur render of our right to exempt our ships from tolls through the canal. By bo doing he places himself under a greater obligation to release our shipping trade from the shackles which the law has placed -upon it. Should he. succeed in securing repeal of toll exemption, the least- amends he can 'make to the Pacific Coast will be to knock off those shackles. ' The feeling that business ought not to be quite so unchristian as war grows upon the country as many events prove. For instance, one elec tric power company operating at Baker City prays the Railroad Com mission to protect it from the alleged predatory competition of a rival. We can all remember a time when it would have succumbed quietly to its fate without a thought of aid from the law and after its demise the Ba ker citizens would have paid the ex penses of the fight and funeral. Presumably a man who shoots rob ins and other songbirds is a hard case. We can readily believe, there fore, that Joe Lorrenzo drew his re volver on the officer who caught him red-handed lnthis miserable pastime. If he is guilty as charged we -may breathe a hope that he will not es cape punishment on either count. We can spare our Lorrenzoa better than our songbirds. The Wallowa high school has just graduated nine girls and five boys, a proportion that will probably hold throughput the slate this Spring. If Wallowa would supplement its hJgh school curriculum with a course in forge work, one Jn forestry and a good,-- genuine year's work in the principles of xstockbreedlng, we con jecture that more boys would stay and graduate. The Oregon Agricultural College's request for a small percentage of the receipts from the National forests is reasonable. The college would use the money to support a forestry school and we can think of no more profitable way to spend it. Oregon needs a forestry school far-more than she does a law school, though of course it would be pleasant to have both. The Bulgarian Queen may cancel her trip to the United States if war with Mexico ensues. She shouldn't let a little thing like that deter her. The United States is so big and pow erful that a war with Mexico would cause little commotion outside the zone of operations. New Tork has just passed a law forbidding employment of children under 16 in mercantile establish ments for more than eight hours a day. Oregon forbids, employment of adults more than eight hours a day. That is how far Oregon is ahead of New York. The order that the National Guard will - be exhausted ' before a single volunteer is thought of points a les son tof those patriots who will hanker lor me unng line it war comes. x nut lesson is to prepare for war In time of peace. . . . The Queen of Bulgaria must not cancel her plans for a tour of, this country on account of the war. She can have a guard of a thousand mili tants of the swellest sort. ' Porfirio Diaz is suggested as the man to take hold in Mexico. Porfirio had his fill of it and probably intends to enjoy his rest without interruption. Miss Wilson is going to be a Jour nalist. That is, of course, unless cu pld' gets busy and captures the last of the White House prizes. The Chinese President has hired an American adviser at $1000 a month. And yet there is a saying that advice comes cheap. The baked potato Is not popular at Selah, since a warehouse containing 100 carloads burned a few days ago. ' Census returns show heavy gains for Oregon. The strange thing to us Is that all don't come here. Among the list of prisoners in Mexico we expect to note the name of one Carranza ere many days. The Oregon strawberry the kind that is fit td eat Is wedging it way into the local market. Huerta , will resign the same day John D. divides his fortune' with the public. In the contest -for Carnival Queen the danger place seems to be at the top. Mediation is lauded by the Brus sels Peace Bureau. Little early yet. Why not put .John D., Jr., in com mand of a detachment in Colorado? John Barrett is not the limit. John's ambition has no limitation. Stones are the only beds In Mexi can Jails. -It Is a hard life. The best man may not be nominat ed if you fail to register. These light frosts are lingering al together too long. The place for the "nature man", is the asylum, , l- HOW PROSPERITY IS HELD BACK. Contributor See Urate Influence In Debt and Speculation, DEE, Or., April 28. (To the Ed. tor.) Your editorial April( 25, "Who Holds Back Prosperity," has attracted my attention. To start at the com mencement of the article to arrive at the base of the reason why prosperity is held back you speak of President Wilson's attitude toward Mexico, and especially Huerta, and y if invasion took place we could use the $100,000. 000 of unsold Panama Canal bonds and thereby not have a war tax for a year that would interfere with business. Debt is the reason why DroHoeritv is held back. Very largely people have exhausted their credit, and no matter how much money is in the banks, they can't get it. and this has been done bv over-buying in the past on a specula tive basis, principally in lands and Duuoings ana with only partial pay ment and big mortgages. The land and buildings not meeting expectations in way of returns, they can't keep going, as they have been doing, on un earned increment. Yet the mania is in the air to con tinue to "tax themselves rich" by float ing new bonds. When the period of liquidation now going on is complet ed a new base of values more normal will be had. Then people can start in and do what they have done and in a jew years meet another situation such as we now have. It has been the history of all depressions and panics. t I was in Vermont many years ago when merino sheep were a craze. Any one who held a . nstf ul of wool had a strut and talked eheen until a arood buck that didn't have a particle of wool turned the wrong way was worth anywhere from $1000 to $5000. Every body exhausted his funds buying a sheep or an interest in one on the unit" system. - In three years they were selling the flocks at -?l.or less per bead for their pelts. We all remember the rabbit craze, wnen a pair mat bad the srooer nui ber of whiskers was worth from $5 to (1000. Not long afterwards hunt clubs were organized to kill them off. ..Min ing stocks, railway stocks, everything that would make a talking basis for gun talkers caught the unthinkine- public, and as long as the money was cnanging nands times were prosper ou": but when one side held the "col. lateral" and the other the money, then came depression. Everyone knows that with all the physical forces at work this country in one year could supply all the nec saary comfort and many pleasures to everyone in - it. Certainly this. The demand is always there and the supply would be excepting for the side-tracking of our legitimate industries for speculation and the other fellow's game. We are in the position of a farmer who tries to cover a thousand acres when he can only care for 100. Our development is sown broad- pcast. Within a radius of 50 miles of Portland all the population of Oregon could be centered and mostly sus tained, and Portland is big enough and has buildings enough to do all the busi ness of the Pacific Northwest. Over and above what is necessary to do thi represents dead capital. The counties that are going into the bonding business on a big scale will rue the day. We neew people, and we need enterprises, but we will get few of a knowing and desirable class .so long as our lands are excessively high taxes high and we swing clubs over the heads of corporations after thev are established by attacking their legitimate income in various wavs. Our Government land laws have been responsible in a measure for the exo dus of American farmers to ranaiia. Thousands of them have been "here, looked us over with a view to settle ment, and gone away. They were think ing people, and when they investigat ed conditions, land values and what farmers got for their products, they didn't want It. It's a cinch that no people ever "taxed themselves rich unless they bought something to get returns out of that would meet their obligations, and that not unearned in crement. W. H. MARSHALL. COSTLY MEXICAN WAR PEXSIOXS V. S. Government Still Allows 1442 for Conflict TAat Ended in 1S4S. - New York Tribune. Although It is nearly 66 years since the war with Mexico was ended off! daily, on July 4, 1848, there were 1442 veterans of that war upon the rolls of the pension bureau at' the close of the last fiscal year, each drawing 30 a month. There were also 5123 widows of soldiers in that war receiving "pen Blons from the Government. As there were only 30,954 regulars and 13.776 volunteers, a total of 112, zju American soldiers engaged in the struggle, which officially began 63 years ago. the soldiers of that period must have been a hardy lot, for a boy of 15 at the close of the war would now; have passed the scriptural allot ment of three-score and 10 and been well on in the second half of his fourth score of years. The larger number of widows on the rolls Is accounted for by tne fact mat, as In the case of the tCivil War veterans, many hundreds of those who fought in Mexico under Scott took second and even third wives late in life Inquiry at the offices of Grand Army memorial committee in the City Hall where records are kept of the veterans of United States wars, brought out rh fact that there are no veterans of the Mexican war living in New York City. Soldiers of the Mexican war and their dependents received no pensions for their services until nearly 31 veara after the war closed, the first act, for tneir Denerit oearing the date of Janu ary 30. 1&87. Since that time the cost of their pensions to the Government, up to the close of the last fiscal year. Was S4(.t.Sii.tV2. , i MAIL. FOR BELLIGERENT BULL PUP Carrier Calls "Hello, Tire, Vntll War ot Tall Indicates RIa;ht Doc Hammond, Ind.. Dispatch to - Chicago Tribune. A postal card from "Bessie" came from Hot Springs. Ark, today, ad dressed to "Tlge." Hammond, Ind., postal authorities pondered over It long. It read: "Hello, Tlge, are you a good dog?" Julius Kasanke. a mallcarrler. agreed to deliver it. He called "Tlge" at dogs all day long and was chased by them. He at last came to a house where a bow-legged, sway-backed bull pup came out to meet him. The dog growled say agely and Mr. Kasanke said: ."Hello, Tige." The dog wagged his tail and the car rier asked the woman of the house if her dog's name was Tige. It was. "Have you a letter from his mother?' she asked. "I have," said Mr. Kasanke. "Well, here is a letter to his mother, said Mrs. Martin Lins, "please mail it. Force of Telephone Habit. Philadelphia Telegraph. They were speaking of force of habit, and Henry nan. recently made a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, was reminded of a pretty little telephone girl named Miss Marie. One night Miss Marie went to church, and, being somewhat tired, she fell asleep during the rather protracted ser mon. Finally the sermon was conclud ed, and after the usual prayer, the minister picked up the hymnaL. "Brethren and sisters," he announced. glancing first at the choir and then at the congregation, "we shall sing hymn 343. Hymn 343." "The line is busy," cried Miss Marie, suddenly waking and hearing the dom inie's last words. Please call again. SIXS OF FEW ARE LAID TO STATE Orrpon Vajuatljr Accused of Set tin a; Self Ip Pattern. SALEM. April 27. (To the Editor.) Having just read a news item in a Washington newspaper I am sending a copy of Jt for publication: Oregon U still ambitious to set patterns In political reforms for the rest of the states. At the instance of various oncanlEatious two radical amendments will be submitted to the people at the next election. One provides for proportional representation in the State Legislature, so that the minority party may have their equitable quota of members, and the other proposes to abollHh the State Senate and adopt the unicameral system. Upon reading the above excerpt one is apt to wonder . whether Oregon is ambitious, or whether it is a certain clique of radicals who do not hesitate to experiment with our state govern ment to further, their own ambitions and are known ae progressive organi zations. One thing in the above article that strikes me as savoring of the truth is where it speaks of the radicalism of the proposed amendments, and if one is conversant with constitutional gov ernment cannot fall to see it. Constitutional history tells us that had the Constitution of the United States been left to the voice of the peo ple in 1787, when our ancestors were struggling to organize a form of gov ernment that would bind the people together and make us a strong Nation. It would have been defeated. It was finally adopted in 1789 by the represen tatives of the required number of states, and those representatives were the most learned and hard-headed men of their time. The United States has grown and thrived far beyond the wild est flights of the imagination of the men who framed and adopted onr Con stitution. Our sfate Constitutions are copied from the Constitution of the United States. Although in Oregon "we have the right of the initiative and referen dum which was not given us by the United States Constitution we should not abuse instead of use that great privilege. ( The articles that caused the diffi culty in our National Constitution were the new and radical articles, while the ones taken from the Magna Charta and from the constitutions of the various states as they then existed were the most successful. It is but a step from progress to retrogression when experimenting along governmental lines, and it stands to reason that a few radicals cannot make improvements upon a system that has been built up by the American people of the past. We should consider the struggle our ancestors had in the early days of the Continental Congress before they adopted our present system of government. The people of Oregon have not met together in convention to discuss these proposed amendments, nor have they sent representatives to act for them and consider the fitness of these measures, but a certain clique." who have secured the required number of names to the petition, are the ones who propose the radical amendments. When the people of this state see a measure upon the ballot abolishing one of the most important braneties of our State Legislature, it is certain that the people will have considered well the radicalism of the organizations that are pushing these measures upon the people of this state, and will show the world, that Oregon is. not ambitious in that way, but that the ambition emanates from other hearts, such as the ones that accused Caesar of ambi tion. RALPH W. F ARRIS. IX DEFESSE OF llOMK COOKING Housewife Who Can Cook Can Do It Better Than Beat Chef. DRYAD, Wash., April 27. (To the Editor.) In your editorials on home cooking which have appeared in The Oregonian you have shown yourself to be woefully lacking In knowledge when you class all home cooking as bad. I have lived at hotels and restau rants for the last 30 years in all parts of these United States and I know something about their good cooking and the preparation of food, and I want to say here that I never ate a meal In any hotel or restaurant in all these years that the food from start to finish was. as well prepared and as finely cooked and as Inviting and ap petizing as I can get in hundreds of homes throughout the land. You take a fling at "mother's pies" as some thing absolutely bad, and some of them are I will admit, but the worst of them are no worse than -the best of them that are turned out by our bakeries, hotels and restaurants with out they are made by some good housewife. Anyone who prefers the tasteless, mussy doughy things they call pies in the average bakery, hotel and restau rant to the crisp, well-seasoned, well browned pies such as can be found in hundreds of homes, must be almighty deficient in the sense of taste, or his mother was a durned poor cook. Anyone who has ever sat down to a heavily ladened table "of some good housewife in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and many other states throughout the Union and feasted on its bounty of roast turkey, baked duck, pumpkin and mince pies, rich cakes, delicious Jellies, preserves, marmalades and dozens of other good things to eat. will not make such state ments as you and many others make "egarding mother's cooking. That the majority of housewives are mighty poor cooks no one will deny, but not all by any means. There are some foods, such as roast beef, broiled steak and some fancy dishes that are better cooked in hotels and restaurants simply because the average housewife is not provided with the proper utensils for cooking or cannot afford the food, but as for good cooking, as far as her means and knowledge will allow I will stand by the American housewife against any cook in the world. We have a class of people, and it Is a big one. In this country who are always bragging about the good French cooking or the good English cooking or something else that Is foreign that is better than it is here. With these people if the food Is cooked by a high-priced chef and served by flunkies In claw hammer coats, with a. lot of women dancing the tango or turky trot among the tables, with music by a Dago band, and pay about $10 per, they imagine they, have feasted on the best in the land. If it would do any good. I would advise these people to read an article which appeared in the Saturday Even ing Post Just recently on French and English cooking, also one. which ap peared a year or .so ago on home cooking and good food. It might dawn on them. If they had any intelligence, that they can find some mighty good cooking and mighty good food prepared in American homes. R. S. C. The Oregonian does not recall that it ever classed all home cooking as bad. WEARS HAT HE'S HAD 50 YEARS Jameaburs; (X. Y.) Man Celebrate His 'Wedding Anniversary. Jameeburg (N. Y.) Dispatch to the New York Sun.. Fulfilling a promise which he made to his wife at the time of their mar riage, and. notwithstanding he has been a widower for 16 years, Matthew Eler, a veteran railroad man of this place. In celebration of his 69th wedding an niversary, wore a silk hat which he bought before he was married. Eler says he promised his wife to wear the tile on every anniversary jof the wedding, and has kept his word. Entering the employ of the eld Cam den & Amboy Railroad Company more than 60 years ago, Eler is now one of the oldest men enjoying a pension irom the relief f und , of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He is in his 80th year. Twenty-five Years Ago (From The Oregonian of April 29, 1S8.) Hamilton. Ont.. April ig. A terril.lc railroad - accident occurred on the Grand Trunk line near here this morn ing. The St. I,oul3 express Jumped the track and the engine ran into the water-tank. Two ears were, tele scoped and took fire. All the dead. 17 In number, have been taken out. Washington, April 28. President Harrison and party started today on a magnificently appointed train to at tend tne centennial celebration at New York. San Francisco. April 2S. J. O. Brown, wife and daughter, of Portland, reached here today. Rev. B. F. Rat trey, pastor of the Emanuel Baptist Church of Portland, is spending a few weeks with 'his family in Oakland. London, April S. Henry George is now In Scotland, preaching his single tax doctrine to large audiences. The X. P. T.'s and Nob Hills played day. The N. P. T.'s won by a score of a to 6. , Rev. w. O. Forbes will leave tomor row for New York. Major C. it. Hill, of George Wright Post, G. A. R., has Invited all the mem bers of the Alblna fire company who take part in the parade tomorrow to partake of a grand banquet in Port land. Smith & Paquet have commenced work on the new grain elevator. An unknown person lias given J230O towards the erection of a new build ing for the Adams-Street Methodist Episcopal Church, on the East Side. A large cherry tree in the old Mur chard place, on the corner of Eighth and G streets, is already loaded with bright red cherries. Mrs. Mary Caplan has bought from M. G. Griffin two corner lots at Sev enteenth and Eighteenrb. and M streets at 2500 each. Dr. Gunderson, who has been under treatment for blood poisoning at the Portland Hospital, is rapidly recover ing. The first baseball game of the sea son was played at Clinton & McCoy's grounds. East Portland, yesterday. Score: Willamettes 7, Standards 4. F. Parrott pitched for Willamette, and Landls for the Standards. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of April 29. 1864. Mrs. John Dart, living seven miles from Roseburg, in Douglas County, was attacked by Indians on the 20th.-while at work in her garden. She was shot at with arrows, four of which took effect on her person, after which they beat her with a stone and threw tho body into a creek. They next beat her two little girls, leaving them for dead. They took all the booty they could carry, carrying with them an Infant child, which was afterwards found In a mudhole but little Injured. Six men started in pursuit, but the search was fruitless. Superintendent Haines, of tho Cali fornia State Telegraph Company, left yesterday morning for Puget Sound and Victoria to Inspect a route for the construction of a line to the Brit ish possessions. At a meeting of the Ladies' Oregon Sanitary Aid Society, held In Portland April 22, an address to the patriotic citizens of Oregon and Washington Territory was adopted. It recommends the churches and all other societies to take collections for the Sanitary Com mission once a month, and siisrgests organization of a Sanitary Aid Society in every township. New York, April 27. The City oT Baltimore, from Liverpool, on the 14th. has arrived. Garibaldi arrived in Lon don on the 11th and met with a most enthusiastic reception. Meeting of the Common Council Petition of residents for a system of drainage in the vleiinty of the public square was referred to committee. The City Surveyor was directed to define the boundaries of streets that property holders might know where to build. The pupils of the Portland Academy and Female Seminary contemplate holding a May festival on Ross Island tomorrow. Captain Kellogg, of the steamer Senator, has kindly tendered a free passage. This morning the opposition on the Cowlitz route commences. The Cow litz and Express both leave for Mon ticello and Pumphrry's Landing, and we have no doubt that trips will be quick and fares low. Weeks & Gilmore have recently dispatched two steamer-loads of sheep, besides a large number of cattle, for the mining region - for -consumption. The firm known as Parrish & Mulkey Is this day dissolved by mutual con sent. L. M. Parrish. M. F. Mulkey. 1 M. Parrish will continue the business at their old stand. The Orlsrln of "Bucket Shop. London Chronicle. Frank Harris' new play, "The Bucket Shop," sets a correspondent asking for the deriviation of this phrase. It arose in Chicago when the market authority forbade any dealing in op tions of less than 5000 bushels of grain. To catqh the man of small means an "Open Board of Trade," as it called it self, began business In rooms directly under the offices of the regular au thority. When business was slack in the official rooms & member would sometimes refer to the small specula tors down below with the remark: "I'll send down and get a bucketful." and this small market jest gradually resulted- in the application of the name bucket shop to all outside brokers. A Mammoth Calf. CORBETT. Or.. April 27. (To the Editor.) I have heard a good deal of bragging, the last few years, about the hens laying the biggest eggs'. Now let us change the subject a little, for the sake of variety, and see which cow can lay the biggest calf. A cow of my neighbor, I Fought, In the eastern part of Multnomah County, laid a calf the other day which was feet round the long way and 39 Inches the short way and which weighed HI pounds when It-was born. Who's cow ran heat this? L. FERDINAND FLOSS. Discovered! Now and then some new sunrises upon the advertising horizon. The trumpet sounds r and the world Is Informed of a new food, purer and better than ever; of a new invention that lightens labor; of "an improvement in this or that; or of a perfected brand of mer chandise that is a boon to everyone. Advertising, especially newspaper advertising, does not boost dead and shopworn ideas. It takes its posi tion right in the front lank of progress. There is very little happening in science, discovery or invention that Is not reflected in the advertising of good newspapers like The Oregonian. X