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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 1914)
TTTE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1914. POBTLAKD. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oreson, Postofflcs as second-class mattsr. Subscription Rate Invariably In Ad vane: (By Mall.) Daily, Sunday Included, one year ...... ." laily, Sunday Included, six months ..... Dally, Sunday Included, three months ... 2.5 Ijaily, Sunday Included, one month ..... -10 Liully, without Sunday, one year 00 Dally, without Sunday, six months ...... Daily, without Sunday, three months ... 1' Daily, without Sunday, one month ...... .00 Weekly, one year 1.60 Sunday, one year .............. 3ft-o0 bunday and Weekly, one year ........... CBy Carrier.) Dally, Sunday included, one year (9.00 Daily, Sunday included, one month 'S Bow to Kexnit Send poetofllce money or. er, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postotfice address in lull, including county and. state. Posters Kates 12 to IS pages. 1 cent; 18 to i2 pages, 2 cents; 84 to 4 pages, 3 cents; tiO to 80 pages, 4 cents; 62 to ".a pages, a cents; 78 to U2 pages, 6 cents. Foreign post age, double rattta. . Eastern Business Office Verree Conk lin, New York. Brunswick building; Chi cago, stenger building. ban Francisco Office R. J. Bidwell Com pany. 742 Market street. PORTLASD, SATCKOAV, DEC. Z0. 1914. OPIIflON ON BATE EfCRBASE. By newspapers of every shade of political opinion and in all the chief cities of the country, the decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission granting an Increase in freight rates to Eastern railroads is approved as marking the adoption of a new view point by the Commission and as a strong impulse to prosperity. Being proof that the Commission at last recognizes its duty to be the doing of Justice between railroads and public, it strengthens railroad credit and en ables the roads to obtain capital at reasonable interest. It thereby gives an impetus to construction and to buying of material, which will aid the steel industry in particular. It forti fies the policy of private ownership under public control against the champions of public ownership. It ia generally hailed as an act of tardy justice, which the emergency created by the war was alone able to extort. The New York Times says the de cision "does the right thing at the right time for the stock market and the country, but not at the best time for the railways or the Commission." Referring to wage and tax in creases and to regulative laws which add to expenses, the Times says: The broad meaning of this decision Is that the ordering of charges against railway profits has been checked, because It Is per ceived that the limit has been reached. The demonstration has been carried to the crack ing point of railway credit. The psychological effect is declared the greatest of the immediate effects, for "from now progress will be away from disaster, not toward it." The decision is termed by the New Tork Tribune a backdown by the Commission and "a notable victory for public opinion," while its farmer decision is called "a gigantic blunder." The public is held to have "changed its mind about the desirability of starving the common carriers," while the Commission, "misled by pride of opinion and the evil counsel of pro fessional railroad baiters, could not see this, even when the crash of war came." The Tribune says: The main point on which the country can congratulate Itself is that the majority of the Commission has now broken away from the fetters of an obsolete policy. It has turned back into a new path of economic sanity. Its old rate programme was punitive and destructive. Its new programme shows signs of constructlveneas. But the Tribune adds that, "if the railroads are to be restored to a normal condition of prosperity and efficiency, the Commission cannot afford to stop short with this de cision," for "more aid will be needed to put the common carriers on their feet." The net result of the decision is considered by the New York Evening Post to be "as full a compliance, on the part of the Commission, with the reasonable requests of the railroads as sensible railway managers could at any time have counted upon." That paper believes the few mil lions to be placed in the railroad treasuries will not prove so great a thing as "the moral effect of being granted permission to obtain the money," this effect growing out of the railroads' ability to borrow for longer time at lower interest. It sees brighter promise in "not alone the business which comes to the railroads but the business which comes from them." It therefore looks upon the decision as "something 11 a land mark in railway finance." The New York Herald predicts that the effect of the decision "will be felt In every nerve and fiber of the coun try's productive activities"; that it will "strengthen the conviction that the period of corroration-baiting is at an end," that it will "increase the confidence of foreign investors in American railway securities and strengthen the country's credit," while the "increased cost to shippers and consumers will be so slight that it will not be felt." "The current has turned," says the New York Evening Sun, adding that "the decision will set many a useful wheel going." It foretells demands for further increases by the railroads, saying that "the deadening incubus of a little benchful of men upon the transportation industries has been stirred" and "must move still fur ther." The Commission "has at last yielded an inch" and it "will go hard with the needy roads If they do not gain at least a part of their full and proper ell." After observing that -the Commis sion "has at last shown the intelli gence and the courage", to order rates up "when it appears that railroad property is not earning a -fair in come," the New York Globe reviews the history of Government regulation and then says that, when railroads appealed for relief from increased ex penses "the appeal fell on stopped ears" and the "chilling conviction came to many that the representa- tives of the public did not intend to play fair. Large owners sold their holdings and 8,000,000 small capitalists are now the principal owners. The Globe says: It became almost accepted that the In terstate Commerce Commission would not permit rate increases, no matter what the Tacts; tnat it proposea to beat railway values down and down as a preliminary to public purchase at a valuation far below the actual investment. The conclusion is reached that "bottom has at last been hit" in the decrease of earnings, that "something like a aatum-iine or railway Incomes is fixed, and that investors may buy ana noia.wiin new connaence." The advance is pronounced bv the Brooklyn Eagle "wholly satisfactory to noboay, ana mat journal Bays; Yet, the attitude of quibbling, the at tttude of Qualified concession, the attitude of Ignoring the rights of the roads and putting ins aecision on tne ground of "thi public interest," is one unwise for the Com mission and unfortunate for both railroads 1 and the public. The fact Is that those whose money Is now locked up in railroad securities asked mere Justice, and got partial Justice onerea In an eleemosynary spirit. If this pint prevails there is no finality in such concessions. In the opinion of the New York Mail the decision "comes as a con- iderable factor in the restoration of National prosperity," "serves to res cue the principle of public control from public repudiation" and estab lishes "the rule of reason and Justice in corporation control." The prediction is made by the Chicago Herald that future historians. when listing the partial benefits of the war, will put at the head of the list some such statement as this: The war waked np the Interstate Com merce Commission end Induced a majority of its members o view the railway problem more as of the living present and less of the oying past,-. The Herald finds that the Commis sion has "realized that railway man agement abuses of the past, though not yet fully reformed, are less im portant than efficient railway ser vice in the present and the future." It says the Commission's thoughts 'have been too much along the puni tive line to the neglect of the con structive." Beneficial effects from the decision are foreseen by - the Indianapolis News on the stock market, and on 'those industries dependent on the railroads for a large portion of their orders," and the conclusion is: i The country Is Justified In anticipating: an early substantial increase in business as In fluenced by the railroads. Saying -the decision should receive general approval, the Indianapolis Star pronounces it "false economy to cripple any public service by skimping to the point of parsimony" and con tinues: " The decision of the Commission Is evidence of a new attitude toward the railway com panies, and of the beginning of an era of more liberal treatment. The public la not unfair. It is willing to pay for what it gets, and it Is awakening to the fact that the roads, as a whole, have not been getting enough to keep pace with the service and development expected from them. It is predicted by several news papers that the Commission cannot now reasonably refuse to grant rate increases to roads in other sections of the country, now that it has granted the plea of the East. I ROCK I'l I.K PUBLICITY. Down in'one corner of the editorial page of the Chicago Tribune appears a daily feature, reprinted from a se lected one of its contemporaries and enjoying the complimentary caption Best Editorial of the Day." In the issue of the Tribune Just at hand is an ' article from the Cedar Rapids (Ia.) Gazette, starting out as fol lows : Out fn Portland, Or., no one has been In jured, let alone killed, in an automobile ac- tdent In the last nine months. It is not so much our purpose to draw the mortality records and ex pose the painful truth as it is to show why Portland has this extraor dinary reputation for blameless chauffeurs and harmless automobiles in Iowa and In Chicago. It is given thus by the Cedar Rapids oracle: In Portland the automobile driver who la caught while traveling at a speed in ex cess of the limit prescribed is hurried to the Police Court and if found guilty, escorted to the rock-pile, there to work out his sen tence. No fines are levied. Every convic tion means a sojourn with the pick and the rock squad. Now let those critics who com plain that Portland does not get enough deserved publicity in the East make a trip down to Linnton and take a long, earnest look at the large "closed" sign on the outer door of the subjail. WHO IS BENEFITED ? The great political economists who have pointed to the high price of wool as irrefutable proof that free trade has benefited everybody every where may now have a new oppor tunity to say a word or two more on the subject. We turn to the market pages, and we discover that the range of wool prices continues high; and we look at the news columns and we find a pertinent statement as to wool Importations from the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. The wool statistician has been at work and he evolves the following facts: During the first ten months of the new tariff (January 1, 1914. to Dec. 1914) th importations of un manufactured wool were 251,047,142 pounds, valued at $56,406,366. During the same ten months of the previous year (under the unpopular schedule K) importations were 121,- 746,169 pounds, valued at $22,872,692 Let us ignore the fact that the im portations of cloth in the same time have trebled in quantity and value and ask for light on the homely topic of raw wool: Is free trade the cause of the pres ent prices of wool? Is it sound policy under free trade to buy twice as much wool abroad as under protection? Is it wise with our falling revenues to decline to collect any tariff tax whatever on raw wool? MORE STINTING OF THE NAVY. All that the present Administration does toward the maintenance and en largement of the Navy partakes of the spectacular at the expense of the merely useful. Its mind is on battle ships of the . greatest displacement. gun-power and speed known, and on submarines, since the war has brought them much into the public eye. Such prosaic details as fuel ships, supply ships, repair ships, tenders and hos' pltal ships do not Interest Secretary Daniels. Yet they are as necessary to a navy as the tender is to a loco motive or the repair shop to the cars, A battleship is helpless without fuel, its crew cannot eat and its can non cannot shoot without replenish ing supplies; its sick and wounded cannot be cared for without a hos pital; extensive needs require a re pair ship to be at .hand. The very nature of submarines, torpedo-boats andv destroyers requires that tenders accompany them to replenish supplies and to help ships crippled in action or by accident. The large increase in the number of oil-burning ships requires a cor responding Increase in the number of fuel ships. Our present fleet requires about 23,000 tons of fuel oil per month, but the capacity of existing fuel ships Is only 10,000 per month and the deficiency will be much greater when ships now building have been completed. Two are being built, but very slowly, and the board asks that construction be hastened and that two more be ordered, but Mr. Daniels asks ;ongress for only one. The tenders for submarines and de stroyers are improvised and ill adapted to the service, but the request for one for each type of vessel gets no attention. The Navy has four im- provised transports, none of which is fitted for the work, but the oft-repeated call for two new ones is not heard. The two hospital ships are both improvised and small and one is unseaworthy, but the call for a new one is given no . heed. One supply ship has been discarded and another is approaching her limit of usefulness but the request for a new one is de nied. The advice of the men who really know the needs of the Navy is re jected by Mr. Daniels, the editor and politician, who cannot know them. If we should become engaged in war our deficiencies would become ap parent too suddenly to be repaired and our Navy might prove impotent for lack of minor ships and auxil iaries. The first necessities of our National defense are denied us, that money may be squandered on luxuries and on things that are less necessary. THE GREAT BBT AX ' DESERTION. . Secretary Bryan is probably too old to begin anew by weighing his words. Or rather we should distinguish, and say Editor Bryan. For Editor Bryan a month ago, in his Commoner, is sued a solemn warning to Democracy that it is "face to face" with the liquor issue, and "might as well pre pare for it." "When, however. Rep resentative Hobson undertook to pre pare the Democratic Congress for an advance upon the liquor trenches, un der the banner of his prohibition amendment, the most conspicuous, if not the earliest, deserter was Mr. Bryan. To be sure, Mr. Bryan is not a member of Congress, but he is the Generalissimo of the Moral Squad, and his place is on the firing line. But a month made a great differ ence in the Bryan enthusiasm for prohibition. He is for prohibition, but not National prohibition; he wants liquor abolished, but he hopes to preserve the historic principle of state's rights in doing it; , he thinks it will be more merciful ' and more effective to cut off the brewery and saloon dog's tail an inch at a time. "There is no reason," " now says Editor (alias Secretary) Bryan, In the Commoner, "to believe that a prohi bition or a suffrage amendment would at this time be ratified by three fourths of the states, even if it se cured a vote of two-thirds of the two Houses. Believing in both woman's suffrage and the abolition of the liquor traffic, I would vote for either amendment if submitted, but the time does not seem opportune for the submission of either of those amend ments." There Is, no time limit upon the states in ratifying a Constitutional amendment. Doubtless Editor Bryan forgot that. He is for prohibition and woman suffrage, of course;' but what's the hurry? JOHN MUIR. John Muir was carried off by pneu monia, that scourge of later life. We can not call him old at the time of his departure.' He was only 76. With his ancestry and native vigor he should have lived to be ninety at least- His forebears were Scotch who migrated to Wisconsin. It was in that state that John Muir spent the boyhood of which he has written an interesting account. His father's religious views verged perilously on fanaticism of the gloomy sort. He discouraged all books ex cept the Bible and did what he could to crush out John's budding ambi tions. But the lad was tougher than his father and chose his own way in spite of everything. And a good way it was. As a naturalist he taught the American people many an invaluable lesson about the beauty of their na tive scenery and the use of natural resources. He was among the first to perceive the national value of such wonders as the Yosemite Valley, the Big Trees and the Grand Canyon of Colorado. He was a great preacher of the gospel of beauty and the vital benefits of the outdoor life. His years were passed exploring the western part of the Continent from Alaska to California and living among the wonders he discovered. To John Muir the works of nature were sacred. He believed that the excep tional spots on the Continent like the Yosemite Valley and the Hetch Hetchy Valley should be forever preserved, not as hunting and fishing resorts but as playgrounds for the American people. He was also active in the economic conservation move ment which is still gaining headway in the United States and which has already greatly modified the policies of the National Government with re gard to our natural resources. His numerous books were written with a sincerity which made them persuasive, while the style was Invariably simple and direct, like his own character. John Muir was one of our great National teachers. His lessons were of inestimable value and the reward of his Ufework was to Bee them take root in the hearts of the people. SHIP SUBSIDY IN A NEW FORM. Ship subsidies are abhorrent to the Democratic mind, but a Democratic President now proposes to grant ship subsidies In a circuitous manner. He proposes that the Government, as the majority stockholder In a corpora' tion, operate steamship lines on routes which have failed to attract private capital because they would not pay and which, he admitswould bring loss iu tne uuvemmenu This is, in reality, a proposal to sub sidize merchants to engage in a trade which would not be profitable if re munerative freight rates were charged, the subsidy consisting of the difference between the rate actually paid and the rate which would be paid were the lines profitable. This difference would be drawn from the public treasury and would be as much a subsidy as if it were paid directly to private ship owners. The whole Nation would then be taxed for the benefit of these few merchants. The President defends his scheme by suggesting that as soon as a profitable traffic was built up by Government vessels the ships would be sold and the business would be turned over to private corporations. What ground have we for believing that Government vessels "would ever build up a profit able traffic? Their official managers would lack incentive to that close economy and that eagerness to capture and to devel op traffic which are necessary to suc cess. Government enterprises are no toriously wasteful and more costly than private enterprises. The presence in the field of Government ships would discourage private enterprise on the same routes rather than tempt it to take the ships off the Government's hands. Lack of sufficient American steam ship lines on South American routes is due to laws which prevent thejr profitable operation in competition with European lines. Were the Presi dent's scheme adopted and were these laws to remain unchanged there is no reason to hope that private capital would be any more willing in the future than it has been In the past to engage in a hopeless enterprise. On the other hand, were the ship ping laws changed so as to enable Americans to operate ships under their own flag at the same cost as European ships, there is no reason to doubt that capitalists would be found who were willing to engage in the business on any route which promised enough traffic. There has been no lack of Americans venturesome enough to en gage in any enterprise which prom ised profit. There is no need for the Government to engage in the steam ship business in order to overcome the pernicious effect of -its own laws; let it do away with the laws which form the obstacle to private enterprise. GOODBYE TO BLEASE. One of the truly agreeable results of the late National election was the defeat of Blease and his associates in South Carolina. Blease came into power in that state as the leader of a revolt against "aristocratic" domina tion. He was a sort of cruder Andrew Jackson, posing in his shirt sleeves and winning the ear of "the baser sort" with bad language and riotous sentiments. : Tillman began the movement which brought Blease to the front but in his later years the Senator has forsaken his old comrades and repudiated their morals, to say nothing of their man ners. Advancing years have snowed down some of the graces upon Till man's head, but Blease remained as rude and boorish in the Governor's mansion as he had been on his own mbuntaln farm. He thought that "democracy" was the same thing as brutal callousness to decency. As Governor of South Carolina he pro moted race hatred, favored lynch law and discouraged education. Now he has been discarded by his state and his successor, Richard Irvine Man ning, 13 a man of sense, a scholar and a gentleman. We should think the change would be agreeable to Calhoun's old home. MOTHERS PENSIONS. Oregon must have been, one of the states Julia Clifford Lathrop, chief of the children's bureau of the De partment of Labor, had in mind when she wrote the following: It Is noteworthy that tne laws of New Zealand and Denmark are so framed as to encourage thrift on tl e part of the mother and Imply a certain standard of family liv ing by making the pension on a sliding scaie, supplementing, up to a certain per capita, whatever small property the family has. This plan Is In contrast to certain of our laws, which make destitution a condition for eligibility, although the amount given is in no case adequate for support. The purpose of mothers' pension laws is to keep the home intact and insure to the children the benefits of the mother's training and influence. Yet It may be questioned v whether a pension founded on destitution and yet not adequate for support pro vides a "home" any mora conducive to the proper upbringing of children than does "putting them out" while the mother earns a living. It must be admitted that it is not conducive to thrift to place mothers on whom the support of minor chil dren Wholly devolves in position of ease and comfort with nothing to do but rear their offspring. On the other hand, the chief aim of the law is not fulfilled if the mother is sim- rply aided ' with a monthly allowance and left free to accept work away from home and let the children shift for themselves during that portion of the dajrshe is employed. However, work that can be performed at home is not easy to obtain. It is plainly a difficult problem so to frame a mothers pension law that it will not be productive of evils and will carry out the wise principle in volved. The Jap Diet has been dissolved for refusing to Increase the army. A new diet, of course, will be called into action. Just why many leading Jap anese officials insist ' upon army in creases at this time is not apparent to the average person. A French nurse's attentions to a dying German Prince won favor for Maubeuge when the Germans took the town. Some of the romances of the European war render fiction shabby and stale by comparison. The 's are now winning in the Eastern war zone. Note: Fill in blank space with, your favorite army; we are wearied Of trying to note the hourly change of the battle tide. Perhaps the most meritorious act of the season was the deed of the people who carried cheer to the dere licts at the County Farm. Patronage fighting may split the Democratic party. Pie alone seems worth while in the Democratic fold. Industry Is given stimulus by the war in Germany, says a report- Par ticularly the grave-digging industry. London withheld all war news ChriBtmas day. So aa to be certain of a reasonably merry Christmas. Von Hindenburg has at last risen to immortal fame. Almost everyone now spells his name correctly. General Maytorena shows a dispo sition to arbitrate with General Scott. Isn't he the obliging chap? Never was the true spirit of Christ mas more strongly in evidence than in Portland yesterday. Now -will the woman who did not spend all her money secure the bar gains. Switzerland disbands part of her army, but the navy remains intact. This Is the weather that brings out the smiles of Western Oregonians. The poorly balanced person has a grouch of reaction today. The mercury celebrated by getting back to normal. Many got something just as good, so why grouch? Fifty-six local couples started right yesterday. Sweaflng-off time draws nigh. Santa Claus is resting easily. Who ate too much? Welcome rain. Half a Century Ago (From The Oregonlan, December 26, 1804.) Hood's defeat is becoming more of a rout and completely a disaster than was at first supposed. Half his army is lost and the remainder is completely demoralized and spirit-broken. Seven teen thousand men are among' the killed, wounded or prisoners, while the whole country is reported swarming with his deserters. The great achieve ments of our noble Army under Thomas is not half appreciated by our readers. Professor Agassiz.. of the Atlantic Monthly, comes to the conclusion that North America was at one time covered with ice a mile thick. The proof is that the slopes of the Allegheny range of mountains are glazier-worn to the very top, except a few points which were above the level of the icy points. Yesterday being Christmas, and Sun day, The Morning Oregonlan did not issue. The Emperor Maximilian of ' Mexico has issued a decree in which he de clares that in the event of his death or of any other accident which might render it impossible for him to govern, the Empress shall be invested with the regency of the empire. The Mexican people, it is expected, will have some thing to siy about that. The fearful rebellion which has raged in China for 13 years seems to have come to an end with the capture of Kankin. The palace of Tied Wang, the . . . I ... V. . . .1 .-. leauer ox tne i cutuiivii, wan uutucu iu the ground. "The office." a term that applies to all hands, acknowledge favors from A. B. Richardson, Powell & Lappeua and others, which will serve to pass off the holidays very well. Sheriff Jacob Stitzel has announced he will be at the Courthouse to receive taxes until January 20. The Sheriff calls attention to the law which de mands that he collect and turn over the taxes by February 20 and asks the co-operation of the taxpayers. NO CfRE-ALI. FOR SOCIAL EVIL It Arises From Inborn Weakness That Only Divine Grace Can Cure. PORTLAND, Dec. 24. (To the Edi tor.) One is staggered by the immen sity of the problems you raise in your recent editorial on "Remedies for the Social Evil." Your succinct, yet com prehensive, survey of the difficulties besetting the path of virtue recalls how uncertain is the outcome of even the best human forethought and how mysterious are the springs of both righteous and wicked conduct. When we come to set down the causes of the social evil we get into a complexity of psychologic, social and spiritual forces in the face of which some unusually able men and women, after prolonged and conscientious study, have confessed themselves quite baffled. We may as well admit that in the human arsenal for fighting sin no cure-all is to be found, although there are not lacking those who tell us they have a panacea. Socialists, for instance, have ascribed it all to the wage system, forgetting that the eco nomic factor at most can only modify or condition the form rather than cre ate an evil which has flourished under the most diverse circumstances. They fail to explain also why the largest percentage of unfortunate women come from the very occupation most surely providing food, clothing and shelter that of domestic service. Neither does their theory account for the cases where the economically secure have become prostitutes and the exploited have not. Mental deficiency, as you suggest, ex plains certain cases. But it is unde niable that there are some bright and intelligent women who are prostitutes and some very dull and stupid ones who are not. Parents can do much, but environ ment operates only within limits. So licitous and conscientious mothers have sometimes lived to see all their efforts come to nothing, while careless mothers have had daughters who never would succumb. Besides, who is going to train the parents? Why some parents instruct their daughters and others do not is Just as hard to explain as anV other perversity of human conduct. If a poor outcast woman can justly blame her parents for neglecting to guide her aright, they in turn can blame their parents, and so eventually we should be bound to blame it all on our first parents. Adam and Eve, who introduced sin into the world. This doctrine of original sin appeals to me as profoundly true. Neither the daring of scientific research nor th arrogance of free-thinking philosophy has advanced an inch beyond it. The persistence of the Bocial evil for these many centuries.-5iespite the most unre lenting and rigorous measures which from time to time have been taken to stamp it out. proves the soundness of this Christian doctrine. The social evil is as subtle and elu slve as life itself. Indeed, it is one of the protean forms of life. It is so con stant a phenomenon and yet so variable in its phases that we cannot but regard it as arising from some inborn weak ness of the flesh, some deep, ineradl Cable element in human nature. What can that element be but origl nal sin? You may take this term to mean an inheritance from our sinful first progenitors or, in a more modern biological sense, an Imperious Impulse implanted in the very center of physi cal being, inevitably associated with life, subject spontaneously to wide variations, often perverse and lntract able. In the vast majority of civilized mankind rarely subdued, and frequent ly overleaping barriers of all kinds, no matter how carefully erected. Remembering the deep-seated wick edness in the heart of man, it is ques tlonable if prostitution will so soon dis appear, no matter what merely human agencies are employed against it. Man would no longer be man if he were to become sinless. A very devout French abbe once declared: "Chastity is a. virtue that cannot be preserved without a special interven tion of God's good help." How many of us poor mortals feel the profound truth of these words? We can only keep on striving, praying and hoping for divine grace, for that un merited and freely-given favor of God, which, in mysterious conjunction with human freedom and after many years and frequent failures on our part, may bring us to holiness at last. It is my most earnest belief that only ia this wise can the social evil be cured. A PENITENT. Incident of the Big War. London Opinion. Sentry (after arresting suspicious character) An" '8's an Impudent blighter as well, sir; 'o told me 'is name wos Wurzelheimer an' said 'e was a Scotchman! Peep Into Society Circles. Boston Times. "This plant belongs to the begonia family." "Ah! And you are taking care of it while they are away." Relations of War nnd Weather. Dallas. (Tex.) News. " "Mary,-""he said excitedly, "the pa pers say there's a big war going on in Europe?" "Well," she replied, calmly, "they're having fine weather for it." Preparation Before an Address, Baltimore American. "What on earth is Eliza fretting so about?" "About the paper Bhe has to read be fore the Don't Worry Club." HOW TO IMPROVE RURAL SCHOOLS Centralisation and State-wide Tax Unit Saarsreated mm Among Aids. " PORTLAND, Dec. 24. (To the Ed itor.) The rural schools present some very perplexing problems, especially when the installation of the domestic science and manual training depart ments is to be considered. It is an evident fact that the rural schools are far in arrears of the sys tematically graded schools of the cities. Centralization where possible affords the best plan of successfully alleviat ing many of the worst obstacles in the way of advancement of the rural schools. The centralized school system of the Alsea Valley in Benton County. Oregon, is a splendid example of what can be accomplished along this line. In the Alsea Valley the pupils are hauled to school from three different directions averaging from five to seven miles in wagons operated at the expense of the school district. The citizens of the community have met the good roads problem by voting special road taxes which have gone as high as 10 mills, the limit of such a tax levy. It is true the owners of the adjacent timber lands have borne their portion of this taxation, but it speaks volumes for the progresslveness of the community. But how about the isolated school districts? There is in the main but one relief and that will require the expendi ture of more money. High taxes is al ready the cry from every quarter. Then we must devise some means of equaliz ing the distribution of school funds. The opportunity of every child who re ceives education at the hands of the state or Nation should be equal and uniform. The method of taxing the lo cal district for school purposes is in a measure wrong. There is no question about the pupils of the rural schools having the little end of the educational facilities prevalent in our state. There are thousands of taxpayers in Oregon who have no children in at tendance in our public schools. Many prefer to give their children private tutelage. Then as a matter of duty or philan thropic consideration these taxpayers should be interested in seeing that the opportunities of all children who are beneficiaries of their contribution to the school funds are equal and uni form. Really any citizen of a demo cratic government should not feel otherwise about this proposition. By all means, the standard length of the school term should be nine months Instead of six months, as is the condi tion in many cases. We must also in crease the efficiency of the rural school teacher. It certainly will require a personality of the greatest versatility to make a model teacher for these schools. In the cities there are specialists who teach but one subject, but the demands of the rural school require that the teacher bo a specialist in many sub jects. He or she must be a hustler as well for there is a minimum of time for the accomplishment of results. Contrast this idea with a thought of the inexperienced teachers in a great many of our rural schools. This may not appeal to the rural school teachers, but is it now fair to the boys and girls whose time for edu cational opportunity is fleeting? The only way to secure the efficient teachers for the rural schools is to pay attractive salaries, and this should not be saddled onto the local school district but upon the state as a whole. The public school education of the individual citizen Is a National proD lem, but is only worked out by the states and hence each state should be a unit as a whole and not as it is at present an almost innumerable lot of unequal units. The matter of Increasing the effi ciency of the rural school should not be founded upon the basic idea of keep ing the-boys and girls upon the farm as seems to be the general trend of opinion. Equality of opportunity for all. or the Napoleonic idea of "a career open to talent regardless of birth or 1 heritance" should be the watchword of our public school system. So that latent genius may be developed where soever it be found. Then Yankee in eenutty will continue to lead the world. The very foundation of our Nation rests unon the individual citizen. TRere fore there should be a higher order of Individual responsibility than Is extant In our country today. Let us then give every coming citizen a fair chance for an education by striv ing for much needed improvement in the advancement of our rural schools. ROBERT H. GELLATLY. SERIOUS INJUNCTION DISOBEYED War Speakers From Abroad Violate Spirit at President's Proclamation. PORTLAND, Dec 25. (To the Edi tor.) In The Oregonlan of December 23 there appears a commendation of President Wilson's message to the peo ple in this country to observe strict neutrality In regard to the great war now in progress. No exception can be made to that, but when your corre spondent goes on to say that speakers from the belligerent countries should be welcomed to give their views on the causes of the struggle, I think he is getting into deep and dangerous waters, where no good can be accomplished and where much harm might be done if a giant of oratory should be let loose on an audience already equipped with taut nerves. If I, an untutored foreigner, may be permitted a word of protest in opposi tion to the product of foreign univer sities, is It creditable to their culture that they should so flagrantly disobey the serious injunction of the chief magistrate of the country in which they are temporary sojourners? I think the average reader can gather enough of the arguments and statements on all sides of the issue as they appear in the press from time to time, as instanced by the speech of Premier Viviani pub lished in The Oregonlan also on De cember 23; the manly statement of Editor Harderl, of Germany, and those of Clemenceau. Lloyd-George, Dernburg and others which have appeared since the war began, to satisfy even the most exacting desire. ROBERT GIBSON. 265 East Fiftieth street. Blunders of Mould-Be Writers. PORTLAND, Dec. 25. (To the Ed itor.) In your editorial December 24, "How to Write," occurs the following: "And above all things learn the tenses of the English verbs. Do not say, 'John has gone to town yesterday,' a wretched blunder that Is becoming dis tressingly common." In my reading, which I confess is not extensive, although I am some what of a 'magazine and newspaper reader and I make use of the Public Library to some extent, I have never run across a blunder of this character which you describe as becoming dis tressingly common. Was a typograph ical error made here or am I a careless reader, who fails to see such blunders by magatlne and newspaper writers? Won't you print this letter and clear up my trouble with a little comment? R. L. JOHNSTON. The reference wag not to blunders in articles permitted, but to blunders in manuscripts offered for publication. The Oregonlan was not attempting to Instruct authors how to write whoso works are already acceptable to editors. Xstare Gets m Chance. Puck. Crawford I see that the world's supply of drugs Is being Imperiled by the war. Crabshaw Don't worry. Per haps Nature will now get a chance to cure us. Twenty-Five Years Ago From The Oregonlan, December 26, 1SS9. Geneva, N. Y. Professor Brooks, di rector of the Smith Observatory, dis covered a new star here tonight anil it has been called "the Star of Bethle hem" in the newspapers because of it discovery on Christmas. Atlanta, Ga. The funeral of Henry W. Grady, late editor of the Consti tution, was held. yesterday. Every civic society of Atlanta and many from outside attended the obsequies. Five clergymen performed at the funeral, which was the largest ever held here. The entire Constitution staff walked in the funeral as an hon orary escort. Seattle Colonel Robert I. Stevens. United States Consul at Victoria, died yesterday at the home of his son-in-law. Captain J. A. Hatfield. Colonel Stevens had. come to Seattle to pass the Christmas holidays and at the time of his death from apoplexy was assisting in the Christmas tree for the family. The funeral of James A. Kraemer. who for some time had been identified with the firm of p-leischner, Mayer fc Co.,- was held yesterday at 10 o'clock. John Gilnian. the orip-inator of the exhibit on wheels of Western prod ucts and resources, is in the city. Mr. Oilman conceived the idea of having a trainload of products and samples of resources tour the country, stopping several days at all the large cities and shows in progress. The residence of J. C. Smith, 23 1 Salmon street, was slightly damaged. yesterday by fire, which was confined to the roof. The new steamer lone made her maiden trip yesterday and attained, a speed of 18 miles an hour. Engineers William T. Everson and William Coats were in charge of her engines. CARVER NEVER WEST OF ROCKIES Story ITr Gave Namr of Member of Party to Oregon Is Disproved. PORTLAND, Dec 21. (To the Edi tor.) The Oregonian contains a letter from Captain George Pope under the title of "Derivation of Name of Ore gon." In it he quotes "the late Cap tain William Bratten, of Ridgefield. Wash.." as saying. among other things: It was an Irishman who pave the name to this state and the great river that flows fo near our door. It came about when Jonathan Carver's party, in descending the Snake River, struck that splendid huay of water wa now call the Columbia River. lu Carver's party there was an Irishman by the name of Harrlpan, and as he was a very lively fellow, he was dubbed by Carver as "the O'KeRan," in honor of one of the chiefs of a clan in Ireland of that name. As Har ridan had been the first one to decry the union of the Snake with the Columbia, the great father of the waters of the West was named "The O'Repan," which in the. process of evolution or corruption became the Oregon of Bryant and hence the name of our state. And Captain Pope adds, that version was considered "a very reasonable ex planation." The foregoing is sheer romance. Cap tain Jonathan Carver, who was the, ,11 ai. pri sun nnuivii n uats Lilts wujn "Oregon" was never west of the Rocky Mountains. He was in the section of country now called Minnesota in 1766 1768. He returned to New England in the Fall of the latter year. He In serted a prospectus of his forthcoming book descriptive of his travels in tho Boston Chronicle. September 12, 176X. Not receiving sufficient encouragement to justify its publication. Carver sailed for London on February 2, 3 769, ami tlie first edition of his book was pub lished in 1778. Three editions were Is sued before his 1eath in 1780. Afte-.-that it was translated into the French, German and Dutch languages. It is known that all together 30 editions were published. The Oregon Historical Society has an edition of Carver's Travels published in 1796 in Philadelphia, and also a complete bibliography of all his works so far as known up to 1910 prepared by John Thomas Lee. of the State His torical Society of Wisconsin. GEORGE II. HIMES. Some Feaures Of The Oregonian Tomorrow Smithereens Is all that is left of the ambitions plan for a universal New Year's hour, this year. War wrecked the plan. An illustrated page in strik ing color effect. Memoranda of War. Xavier Sagrer, author, artist and French staff officer, writes from the trenches and incloses a -wonderful pen-an-ink drawing of a hand-to-hand struggle over a huge German cannon. Majestic Highway Scenes. A page presenting glimpses of Winter scenes on the wonderful Columbia Highway. Incomparably beautiful are the frozen water falls. Oregon's Part at Fair. Just what the Oregon exhibit at the San Francisco Fair will con sist of is outlined in a special arti cle prepared from reports from the various counties of Oregon. Fierce Fighters. Such are the unbridled hordes from the deserts, who have been thrown on the firing lines of Eu rope. A full page with many illus trations. The X-2. How a daring little submarine went against the enemy is told to R. Darenhower by the junior lieuten ant. Illustrations by G. A. Coffin, the widely known magazine artist. A Woman and a Farm. She took 1000 acres and made of it a wonderfully productive farm, displaying a rare skill as an agri culturist and organizer. Illustrated with photographs. The Red Flower of Courage. Romance ancf truth are wonder fully combined in the story of the Poinsetts. The Twelfth Lesson. Last in the course of free music lessons given by The Sunday Ore gonian. It is in the keys of D and B flat. Dolly Dip. The tango maid gives a New Year party. Full page in colors, with verse, and score of a lively tango air. For the Children. A full page of illustrated features. MANY OTHER FEATURES TO MEET EVERY TASTE. Order TODAY of Your Newsdealer