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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1914)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29. 19t4. i il i t : t f , t PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oreion, Postotflcs aa seeond-class matter. Subscription Rate Invavlably In Advance: By Malt) Daily. Sunday Included, one year ....... S-00 Dally, Sunday Included, six month ..... Daily, Sunday Included, three months ... Daily, Sunday included, one month -'5 Daily, without Sunday, one year 6-O0 Daily, without Sunday, six month! 8.23 Dally, without Sunday, three montha ... 1-75 Daily, without Sunday, one month, ...... ."0 Veekly, one year ..................... Cunday, one year ,.............. Z-50 Sunday and Weekly, one year -au (By Carrier. Dally. Sunday included, one year . . . . ..-" Dally. Sunday included, one month ...... How to Kemlt Send Poetofflce money or. 4er, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stampe, coin or currency are at senders risk. Qlve postoftice address in full, lucludlns county and state. FostrTO Bate 12 to IS paces, 1 cent; 18 to iii pages, 2 cents; 34 to 4S pases. 8 cents; K to 60 pases, 4 cents; 82 to 76 pages, i cents; 78 to U2 pages. 0 cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Office Verree conk lln, New York, Brunswick building; Chi cago, Stenger building, San Francisco Office R. J. Eldwell Com pany, 742 Market street. POKTUND, TIESOAV, DEC. t9, 1914. 1 BRYAX AND WILSON. It may or may not be true that Secretary Bryan is about to leave the Cabinet of President Wilson. It may or may not be true that Mr. Bryan desires to be free to be a candidate for the Presidency In 1916. It may or may not be true that the President has permitted his amiable Secretary to formulate and carry out the Admin istration's remarkable Mexican policy and that Wilson desires a change. We should think he would. But whether any or all of these things are true, or not true, it is not conceivable that there has been a break between the President and his Secretary; nor is it probable that there will be, unless It Is provoked by Mr. Bryan. President Wilson needs Mr. Bryan's support. He will continue to need it. Mr. Bryan has given it fully and even generously. If Mr. Bryan should desire to be a candidate for President in 1916, why should Mr. Wilson complain? He is pledged to a single term. If Bryan demands that he live up to his plat form promise, it will not be easy to refuse. It will indeed be impossible. Both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Bryan must have fresh in their minds what happened in 1912 when Taft and Roosevelt fell out. Is history to be allowed so soon to repeat itself? THE WAR'S RELATION TO CANADA. Possibility of British defeat and of consequent German conquest of Can ada has led to much discussion of the probable course of the United States In that event. Colonel George Harvey, of the North American Review, says that we could not consent to the oc cupation of Canada by any other Eu ropean power than Great Britain. Answering the suggestion that Canada might desire to transfer her allegiance and that she would not wish to come under American domination. Colonel Harvey declared the Monroe Doctrine "a selfish enunciation put forward not for the protection of our neighbors but for the conservation of our own peace, security and welfare." This declaration is met by the Van couver Province with the statement that the Monroe Doctrine has seemed "an extraordinarily nebulous policy which can be made to fit any case as may be deemed convenient," and "has really relied for its efficacy in time of trouble on the British navy." The Province graciously adds: "Every Britisher Is glad of it that is an ex cellent bond and a real one." It then quotes several Americana of note to show that, far from being able to pre vent a change of sovereignty in Can ada, the United States is unable to de. fend its own coast from Invasion or to drive out an invading army. Referring to the oft-quoted fact that the American-Canadian frontier is un fortified and that the United States and Great Britain have preserved peace for a century, the Province takes the chief credit to Great Britain for avoiding a clash. It then says that Canada Is proud of her relationship with the United States and is anxious to make that relationship closer, but Is not anxious to be dictated to by the United States, and, if she chooses, will become German in spite of us. The Province says the Monroe Doctrine does not apply to Canada, so far as 6he is concerned, but kindly adds that "if the United States were in trouble and Canada could help, she would help without bothering about doc trines." This is a good example of the child ish pique shown by a certain class of Canadians whenever Americans dis cuss our interest in their affairs. They euspect us of a desire to annex their country and they find a show of jus tification in the utterances of such Jingoes as Speaker Clark . and in the Ill-advised remark of President Taft that reciprocity would make Canada commercially an adjunct to this coun try. These utterances have no echo In the hearts of level-headed Ameri cans. If Canada wished to come into the Union, she would be welcome, but there is no desire to annex her against her will. The word "annex" should never be used in connection with Can- aaa; . union expresses uie juea oetl ter. Contingencies are possible which may compel us to take a hand in Ca nadian affairs for our own protection, Just as Colonel Harvey says, but in such cases our interest and Canada's would be identical. We could be no more indifferent to the transfer of Canada to the sovereignty of any Eu ropean power other than Great Brit ain than we were to Maximilian's at tempt to set up an empire in Mexico. It is puerile for the Province to sug gest that Canada might willingly ac cept the rule of Germany or any other military monarchy. If we were to in terfere for the maintenance of British supremacy over Canada or for that country's independence of any Euro pean power, we should be welcomed as a. deliverer, and if the only alterna tive to annexation by one of Britain's foes were union with the United States, Canada would gladly come Into the Union. With these contingencies In mind, many patriotic Americans are urging that we should remedy our unpre parednes9 to defend ourselves and our interests. Our shortcomings in this respect are self-evident, but our neigh bor, in calling attention to them, is in the position of a man in a glass house (who throws stones. The United States never guaranteed the neutrality of a nation without providing the means to . make it good. A sufficient answer to the Province's gibes is to point to Bel glum. It is unlucky that the Canadian militiamen should have shot those poachers Just now, but not important. Thia is not a time for making moun tains out of mole hills. The incident should warn Americans that it is safer to break the law at home than in Canada. Here they would not have been quite so safe shooting ducks as men, but they could have done either without serious danger to themselves. PKEPARB TO BECEITE COMPANY. . Starting on a tour of California Monday night, the Rosarians will ex tend invitations to our neighbors on the south to see Oregon and the Rose Festival during the coming Summer. They, as the representatives of Port land, will ask the Californians to pass along to Oregon the visitors who will come from the East to the Panama Pacific Exposition, and they will give the word of Oregon that we will say a good word for California and that we will speed our visitors on their way south. The Rosarians, dressed in white, will carry with them the sun shine in which Oregon basks, while the shivering East hugs the stove or crawls under the blankets. The Rosarians' tour serves as a re minder tq the whole Pacific Coast that 1915 is the year of the Panama-Pa cific Exposition at San Francisco. That city has outdone even Chicago and St. Louis in the'preparations it has made to commemorate a great event. The completion of the' Panama Canal is of the first importance to the whole world, but it is of greater importance to the United States and is of the greatest importance to the Pacific Coast. It will lead to a rapid, inten sive development of the far West such as the early settlers could not have imagined possible. It will expand our manufactures, and our trade will hereafter reach both coasts of Central and South America. The people of those countries are coming to San Francisco to meet us, and by mutual acquaintance to lay the foundation for a great commerce. It becomes Oregon, and Portland In particular as Oregon's metropolis, to prepare for reception of "company." COURT ABUSES. Recently one department of the Circuit Court of Multnomah county was occupied for three days with the trial of a mechanic's lien case involving the sum of $18.75. Al though the controversy involved a matter of so little importance that the Judge would doubtless have been able to decide it fairly in fifteen min utes, the litigants insisted on a jury trial, brought In an array of lawyers and witnesses, interfered with other court procedure and put the taxpayers to a large expense. Strange as it may seem the prin cipal objections raised to cost of liti gation do not come from the taxpay- ing public, nor are they directed at the burdensome expense contracted through trifling disputes that should be settled out of court. The objec tions, as a rule, come from litigants. They protest the payment of court fees and consider it a hardship which the public should assume. For the benefit and protection of the poor, justice through court pro cedure ought to be obtainable wltn ease and at small expense. Tet in auguration of that principle has opened the courts to persons who do not primarily seek justice, but revenge upon ' each other by running up the attorney's fees and costs. It is questionable whether that part of the machinery of the courts .which is designed particularly for the proper consideration of complicated issues should be available without price for use in trivial controversies. We have heretofore thought too much about the woes of the litigants and too little about the woes of the public. A bond to insure the payment of Jury costs by the defeated litigant in certain cases would go far to simplify court procedure and re duce the unnecessary volume of work. Moreover, broadening of the boasted ethics of the bar, that the lawyer might become conscious that he is an officer of the court as well as the employe of his client, with a duty toward both, would promote Justice toward the taxpaying public and not interfere with the rights of quarrel ing citizens. A BRAVES JCIXJE. Leo M. Frank's case is of National importance. He was accused of mur dering a girl in an Atlanta factory and tried in regular course before an Ala bama court Every scrap of evidence that has corne to light goes to show that Frank was -actually tried, not at all by the judge and jury, but by the Atlanta mob. The court was intimi dated. The jury was overawed by the wild crowd that thronged the court room and openly showed its passion against the prisoner. Surrounded by these conditions, Frank was naturally convicted. He then began a fight for a new and fair "trial. The state courts refused to take up his case and he went to the Federal judges for Justice. Locally they would not listen to him. Nor was his first appeal to the United States Supreme Court of any avail. But his lawyers persevered. The matter was brought up on a new point and at last Justice Lamar has granted Frank an appeal. His case will be heard by the Supreme Court with the full bench sitting and something like Justice will probably be rendered. Justice Lamar's decision makes life and liberty more secure for every citi zen of the United States. The Orego nian does not believe in lax appeals and indiscriminate orders for new trials. But on the other hand it does believe in justice and when a fair trial has been notoriously denied to a man as it has been denied to Frank we commend any judge who has the cour age to straighten the business out There is a middle way between new trials that simply encourage criminals and new 'trials that right wrongs too great for a civilized country to tolerate. SUSS AFIHA Xk IHM1CR. Miss Aphia L. Dimick made her mark in the educational world by the conscientious use of great native ability. Beginning as primary teacher in one of the grade schools, she grad ually rose to more important posi tions, and filled them all with un varying success. As president of the western division of the Oregon State Teachers Association Miss Dimick won praise for her executive gifts and for the inspiring programmes which she prepared. It is perhaps still more to her credit that she organized the first parent teachers' association In Portland. This occurred twelve years ago, when the great movement to bring the schools Into closer connection with the homes of the pupils was In its infancy. Miss Dimick proved hr keen apprehen sion of educational problems by her pioneer interest in this work. But it vtaa as teacher that she gained her best renown and won that hold on the affections of men. and women which has steadily Increased year after year. Ay who came under her instruction learned - to love her. She was a true teacher, one who ap pealed not only to the intelligence of her pupils, but to their spiritual na tures. She formed their character as well as their minds, and Imparted Ideals which endured through all their lives. Unwaveringly loyal to the highest standards in her profession and in life, Miss Dimick worked out a noble career. She goes to her reward la mented by a multitude of friends, and her life will be -an Inspiration to all women who desire to be .of service to humanity. It is by such quiet vic tories as those Miss Dimick won that women best demonstrate their ability to take a weighty part in the affairs of the world. OUR NOTORIOUS FAULTS. N Frederick C. de Sumichrast was a professor in Harvard University for twenty years. He then went back to England, his native land, to dwell, and now he has rounded out his career by publishing; a book on America. Like most English books on our beloved country, It chastens rather than soothes. Some of Mr. de Sumichrast's strictures are "well beknownst" to us. Our only answer to them must be that of the conscience-stricken Sarah Gamp, "Who deniges of It, Betsey? Who deniges of it?" Such, for example, are his charges that we are ruled by bosses, that we worship the deified dollar, that our plutocrats shamelessly exploit the masses and that "a general disregard of law is one of the features of Amer ican life." He reiterates also the old accusation that "we lack civility" which so many of his countrymen have shied at us before. What they really mean is that we lack "servility." The genuine Briton often assumes that civ ility and servility are exact eynonyma. We do not think so in this land of the free and home of the brave. In our haughty freemen's pride we deign to accord to foreigners only such civility as is compatible with complete inde pendence. With Mr. de Sumichrast we Join to lament the inordinate individualism of our citizens. It has done us a great deal of harm. It debars us from that successful co-operation which has done so much for Englishmen and so much more for the Danes. Foreigners who come here from Switzerland, DenmarTc, and sometimes from Italy, understand the great art of co-operation thoroughly and practice it to our astonishment and envy. When we try to imitate them we almost invariably fail, though not always. The reason for our failures is probably that irra tional individualism which Mr. de Sumichrast notices and deplores. Sometime we shall no doubt recover from it and begin to apply more com mon sense to our affairs. Books like Mr. de Sumichrast's are excellent in a medicinal way. They help tone down our self-conceit, which constantly tends toward a delirious maximum when it is left to itself. SOOtE: HINTS OX LANGUAGE. The solemn correspondent who writes to comment upon a recent editorial concerning English composi tion makes two or three points which deserve remark. We quote the first of them: "Of course that one should write at all presupposes that he has something to say." By no means, dear sir. Too many of those who take their pens in hand have noth ing whatever to say and the world would be thrice blest if they held their peace. Pretty nearly all the miser ably bad writing that we groan under comes from the effort to say some thing from an empty brain. As to split Infinitives, toward whicfl he turns his attention a little later, we do not remember ever defending them. Our erudite friend accuses us of that enormity, but, until more specific evi dence is produced, we plead not guilty. They are monsters of so hideous mien that we cannot Imagine ourselves tak ing up a cudgel for them, though we admit that such a- thing is possible. We may have done it in our passion for upholding the under dog some time or other. Nor do we "remember or' putting "a subject of a present active partici ple in the objective case," unless that should happen to have been the proper construction for It. If we saw John stealing we should be very likely to make John objective. Of the mon strosities which our friend quotes in this connection we wash our hands. As to "eliminating ., all adjectives," our critic should remember that the best of advice must usually be taken with a grain of salt. With appropriate blushes for the folly of it we confess that we meant to be witty in the pass age which has fallen under his an imadversion. That we failed Is suffi ciently proved by the melancholy emo tion our friend felt when he read it. Whether adjectives "beautify and adorn" or not depends. Too often they uglify and delude. The indiscriminate dust heap of adjectives found on many a current page lacks some essential elements of true beauty. Answering our friend's question about the "Brit ish aorist," we beg to assure him that we said in that connection precisely what we meant. The adjective "Brit ish" was the one we deliberately chose. THE RICH VOUITO MAX. Marshall Field III, heir to two thirds of $100,000,000. will be envied by many who read of his marriage, for to them he will seem to have all that makes life worth living abundance of money and freedom from necessity to work. But is he really more fortunate than any young man of good health with a vigorous, well-developed brain, and with the world before him, though without money? A normal man Is hapipest when he has congenial work and can see with satisfaction the result of his efforts. There is probably no happier boy on earth than the one who has just earned his first dollar by his own ef forts. Nor is there a happier old man than he who can look back on a long life of achievement, which began with nothing but ended with much, honor ably earned and well used. Young Field is spared care as to his future, but he is deprived of these pleasures. The goal for which others strive is his starting-point His wise old grandfather guarded him against many of the dangers which beset rich young men by providing that he should be paid yearly only a gradually increasing proportion of the income of his fortune, and at stated periods cer tain lump sums. He is not to have control of the principal until he reaches the age of 50, but on attaining years of discretion he is to share with the trustees responsibility for the man agement of the estate. The old gentleman evidently de signed to hold the young man to good habits, so far as limited funds would accomplish that end, and. to teach him to take life seriously, but these pre cautions will probably multiply sev eral times the fortune he inherits and make him enormously rich by the time he attains his 50th year. It is possible that young Field may have the character which, combined with careful training, will make him a useful citizen able to apply to the best purpose, both for himself and his country, his great wealth and his na tive talents, whatever they may be. But when we consider how great are the temptations to do evil and how few are the incentives to do good which are offered to a young man in his position, we can realize the truth of the biblical saying that a camel can more easily pass through the needle's eye than a rich man enter the king dom of heaven. CONGRESS FEARS THE TRUTH. It is shown by the New York Sun that the question of preparedness for National defense is one not so much of spending more money as of better using that which we now spend, so far as the Navy is concerned. This is shown by a comparison of our naval expenditures with those of Germany during the last sixteen years. We have spent an average of nearly $103, 000,000 a year to Germany's average of only $77,000,000 a year, yet Ger many has a larger and more efficient navy, better proportioned as to the different classes of ships. After every allowance has been made for differ ence in standards of cost, there is in the difference between these two fig ures a large margin which can be ex plained only as waste. Much of this "waste was accounted for by a magazine writer a few years ago who entitled his articles: "Put Our Navy on the Sea." He showed what a large proportion of our naval expenditure is made ashore, on navy yards and - naval stations which are useless, badly located or ill managed. Some navy yards were crowded with work, while others did little or no work, though employing an expensive staff. Still more money is wasted on arm-chair admirals, commodores and captains, who "stick to their desks and never go to sea." More money has been wasted in bringing Atlantic Coast coal to the Pacific Coast, while the conservationists kept under lock and key in Alaska as good steam coal as was ever burned. Marvelous is the enterprise of the American Bible Society. Its colpor teurs go everywhere and usually man age to dispose of their wares. Ecua dor is more inaccessible to them than almost any other country, but the Bible has begun to circulate even in that land of mountain trails, revolu tions, ignorance and yellow fever. It has been introduced by women.' The plan to teach school children the habits and breeding haunts of the malaria-bearing mosquito should be encouraged. It would be difficult to over-estimate the evil caused by this insect, and yet its extermination is not difficult. The world would be a better place to Inhabit if the energy now devoted to killing men were sp'ent warring upon mosquitoes. Joseph Kehoe was a good citizen of Oregon for half a century, and dur ing that period enjoyed a privilege vouchsafed to few. In performing his duty as locomotive engineer he saw Portland and the "Valley develop al most from primitive wilderness to high stage of civilization and commercial life. . Fernando Somoza "Vivas, Honduran consul-general at San Francisco, is in jail for arson, and the police have "the goods on him." Hon. John Bar rett needs to change his bureau into a bookcase and educate in morals the coffee-colored children of the semi-tropics. British bravery is praised by the German Commander In Chief. Which is quite a change of attitude from that in which the Germans regarded the British warriors at the outset, when Von Kluck threatened to envelop "French's contemptible little army." Italy orders cruisers to help United States war craft in Turkish waters if necessary. They . certainly will need help if fired on, for it would be worth an American commander's commis sion to return even hostile fire these days. The Interruption of a sermon on divine peace by a bomb explosion re-si minds us somewhat of the interrup tion by the war of an Internationa peace conference. President Wilson and Congress are splitting the Democratic party over patronage. Split 'er as far as you like, boys- The party's doomed any how. The Kaiser has good words for the commander who loses in battle, but the loss of a ship by accident sends the captain to prison. The Czar is again at the front, says a dispatch. Meaning that he is about one hundred miles in the rear of the front. The mission worker who stole $4000 and gave the money to Bowery home less had a stout heart, but a weak head. But as to the rumor that Bryan wljl retire from the Cabinet, all we have to say is hurray! Naco is now neutral ground, but the border trouble will break out somewhere else anon. ' Of course if the Germans raid Lon don the British will make a counter attack on Berlin. Canadian soldiers kill an Ameri can on the border. Everybody's do ing It. This appears to be Russian week at the great European blood festival. 'vitb. southwesterly winds," says the .weatherman. Good-bye, winter. Young Marshall Field will get somebody to "mother" him. Italy will hold Albania to neutral ity if she has to whip her. Nicholas is at the front, those moujiks! Fetch up Don't neglect to care for your bud ding roses. We had a real touch of June yes terday. Bryan for President. Ouch! New Year Resolutions By James Barton Adam. Whereas, again is drawing near the dawning- of the glad New Year when custom over all the land demands new resolutions, and Whereas, 'tis well for everyone to see the New Year well begun and feeling I should work a bit along that line, therefore be it Resolved. That through the year ahead to wild extremes I'll not be ledv I'll never drink unless I'm dry, nor eat like hungry pig in sty. I'll smoke cigars while on the street, but when in cosy home retreat, away from public eye I'll swipe the sweetness from the good old pipe, for ladies wrinkle up their faces at pipes when puffed in pub lic places, ill pay my debts when i have got the cash to do so; when I've not 111 work the standoff which has won for me respite in days agone. I'll never smile on girls above the age ol 24, nor love more than a dozen at a time, for gluttony in love's a crime. From scandal I will strive to steer my self; and be it further here Resolved, That manly sports 1 11 strive ray level best to keep alive. The races I will sure take in and bet when I've a cinch to win: show up at all the baseball games and call the umpire Christian names when I observe he tries to help the rivals take the home team's scalp. Resolved, I'll live Just as I've done through year just past, have all theun that comes my way, but never aim .'to crowd the limit of the garne and drift into excesses -that might rrom my morals fry the fat. I'll live life while I have it, for when I pass through the silent door, when death's cold fingers snap the thread, I'm going to be a long time dead. And hereunto. Come woe or weal, I cheerfully affix my seal and confidently set my hand to resolutions that will stand, and not. as others do, collapse and go into the heaps of scraps while yet the new-born Infant year is in its swaddling clothes. (Sign here) (Seal) FRIEND ' OF" ADJECTIVES ARISES They Are the Flowers Without Which Language Would Be Dreary. PORTLAND, Dec. 28. (To the Ed itor.) In your article Thursday on "How to Write," you say "there are a few rules of this sort that may help a person learn to write well. But they are all summed up in having something to eay and saying it." Of course that one should write at all, presupposes that he has some thing to say; he should not only say It, but he should say it well, and things and thoughts are never said well un less they are correctly said. Some time ago you devoted some space to defend ing the 'split infinitive ; you concede that it is, technically, an errorj but justify Its use by saying . that the writer's meaning could always be understood, and this is probably so, since a good guesser might guess it right "the very first time." but the good writer should leave nothing to the haz ard of a guess. The daily newspaper is a leader and a teacher; millions of dollars are spent on our public schools teaching "the young Idea how to shoot," and I as sume the purpose is to teach them cor rectly; why should the vast majority of our leading newspapers not only nn teach, but affirmatively teach certain abominations, such as split Infinitives, for which there is absolutely no proper defense, and almost invariably put the subject of the present active participle in the objective case, when it should be In the possessive case? To this rule there may be exceptions, but I do not now recall one. For these errors there is really no excuse, because anyone fit to write for a great daily newspaper knows better, and. in' the interest of those they are teaching they should do better. As well write "John has gone to town yesterday." or "James has went," as to write "to almost certainly fight." "to so thoughtfully help." or "I heard of htm going" and many more from one Issue of a Portland daily newspaper. With all the mental an guish of a Hamlet I beg of you "to re form it altogether." Then you advise eliminating all the adjectives; not so, indeed; adjectives are to language what flowers are to the garden, what pictures are to the pal ace wall; , they beautify and adorn; in fact adjectives are about the only words that express quality and beauty; language, if indeed there could -be any language, would be but a bleak, dreary .thing without them. Of course one should use taste and Judgment and skill in their use, the same as in buying a picture or planting a flower garden, but to eliminate them altogether, never. The real fact is many people have something to say but lack the ability, the education and the knowledge of how to say it cor rectly and well. As indispensable pre requisites, then, I should say a thor ough course of English (and, if possi ble, Latin) grammar and English com position, a goodnaretionary and a book of synonyms; ead the best authors and remember always that there is no real genius except an unlimited ca pacity forhard work. And for information I ask if, when you speak of the "British aorist," you do not mean the Greek aorist: If by British you mean English, then is there any English aorist? And do you not, in using "an adverb denoting past time," thus destroy the aorist? F. F. SMITH. 150 Hazelfern Place, Laurelhurst. SOCIAL EVIL AXD ORIGINAL SIN Contributor Doubts That Latter Han flayed Any Part in Problem. PORTLAND. Dec. 28. (To the Edi tor.) After reading the letter of "A Penitent," in The Oregonian of Decem ber 26, I felt that there is another side of the social evil question that should have a hearing that there be pointed out where the fault of prosti tution really lies. It is very convenient, to eay the least, for an individual penitent to be per mitted by a divine providence to side step misdemeanors and crimes and charge them up to "original sin," and then to be preserved by a special in tervention of God's good help, but such a procedure has failed to mitigate, or in the least retard the annual output of social evil victims for the past 3000 years or so. The chances are that this thing known as "original sin" has not played any part, whatever, in the social evil problem. I am inclined to the opinion that the-interpreter of that little epi sode in the Garden of Eden mixed things In the translation. A very strong point in favor of this view of the case is that there surely were many other op portunities for Adam and Eve to have become involved in more serious mis chief than an attempt to ' propagate their kind. Another thing that has always in clined me to look with suspicion upon the "original sin" -theory is that Adam and all the male line of the species ever sinc, have made the laws and molded public opinion so that the fault has been charged up to woman and she, alone, has had to bear the stigma at tached to the social evil. Now. in my opinion, to hold that the creator of all things would connive with man to play that kind of a trick upon the mothers of the race is belit tling God and discrediting human in telligence; and certainly it has failed in obliterating the social evil. I would suggest that we abandon this tactic and try for a few years, at least, placing the stigma upon the mas culine side of the race where it really belongs, and extend to the "fallen wo men" that courtesy and social clemency which has always been meted out to the betrayer. ALVIN HECKETHORN, ZIVA Second street Portland. Or. DOWS WITH ABUSE OK ADJECTIVE Let Only Those Who Know How Use Them, Says Sir. Marker. LA GRANDE, Or., Dec. 28. (To the Editor.) I gleefully commend The Ore gonian's editorial on the abuseof the adjective. Adjectives, like profanity, should be! used only when absolutely necessary. Adjectives should be restricted to the use of old experts who have gradu ated from a long apprenticeship of the editorial blue pencil. Tyros who use the adjective without a license should be indicted. The man who makes two blades ot grass grow where only one grew be fore is properly hailed as a benefactor. The man who adorns his verbiage with two adjectives where one is sufficient should be promptly jailed as a male factor. The grandiloquents who get drunk on the fluency of their verbosity should be subject to a prohibition law. They are as much an offense as the man who persists in being profuse of beverages. Alcohol and adjectives have this in common: the habitual use of either begets a powerful tendency to excess. Paucity of ideas and prolixity of ad jectives are commonly found together. Ideas are like beards; sophomores and debutantes seldom have either. This is why the pink-eyed and immature so frequently substitute adjectives for ideas. I suggest that these persistent prac tlcers of the highfaluting should be sequestered on a Government reserva tion along with our other beaded and be-feathered wards of the Nation. A good place for such a gathering would be the Yellowstone National Park. The gushers would then be together. Such a society would, of course, be under the supervision of some fine old mas ter of English, such as the late Hob ert G. Ingersoll or Senator John J. In galls. After a suitable period of in structlon, those who showed a proper restraint in the use of words and a becoming contrition for past misdeeds should be paroled on good behavior, Those who were still incorrigible should be tenderly chloroformed and then tomahawked. The adjective has its rightful place in the language. Conceived in the mind of a master and born of the travails of literary genius, the adjective comes forth with bands and feet and takes hold of the earth and the heavens. Take such a writer as ingersoll, for example. He is profuse in the use of adjectives, but he chooses them with such consummate taste that they stand out from the foliage of his diction like roses on a briar bush. Take, for instance, his picture of Na poleon, "that restless man," chained like a captive eagle to his barren era gazing out upon the "sad and solemn sea, his legions scattered like v in ter's withered leaves" upon "the frightful field" of Waterloo, his glory gone down to the "tongueless silence of the dreamless dust." Or his little masterpiece on the birth of his grand child. Here nearly every noun Is chained to the chariot wheels of a gol den adjective. Like Henry Watterson, I am a lover of the adjective and have sacrificed much sweat at its shrine. In order to improve my own writing, I have often attempted to substitute words of my own chodsing for those of Ingersoll, but never with success to the original I find that you cannot change any of Ingersoll s adjectives without inflict lng that subtle hurt which Beauty feels when a blossomed bougn is broken. The same may be said of such writers as Ruskln and Carlyle. I challenge The Oregonian to give us examples of how it would eliminate the adjectives of any of these writers and yet preserve the power and beauty of the original. The "rule of reason" must be read into The Oregonian's drastic obiter dicta. It must be construed to com mend discrimination in the use of the adjective and to condemn its desecra tion by the Huns and the vandals. It this be the intent, I heartily agree. .ANDREW R. MARKER. EVEN INDIVIDUALS DISCOURAGED Preparation Through Enlistment In National Guard Not Appreciated, PORTLAND, Or., Dec. 28. (To the Editor.) 1 am glad that you gave space to Mr. Roy D. Smith's letter in The Oregonian. With a certain class of citizens it Is very Inconsiderate of Mr. Smith, or Secretary Garrison, or Mr. Gardner, or anybody else to call attention to our military shortcomings or the short comings of our pacific Secretary of State. The emblem of this class of citizens is not the American eagle, but the dove of peace, and any attempt to scare that bird from its perch is noth ing short of treason. It is higly improper to mention such things as violation of women. slaughter of innocents, etc., in a coun try which is protected by the Monroe Doctrine. We are the big brothers of all Americans, north and south. Be ing such, as long as our Secretary of State is satisfied with the way we are fulfilling our stewardship it is up to us to keep our mouths shut and not to question "the right divine of kings to govern wrong." And, remember, we can have kings in this land of the free. Mr. Smith tells us that he will al ways hold himself subject to a call to the colors. That is a- very commend able spirit, but I wonder if he realizes what it means? In my own poor way I am animated by the same spirit and for more than three years I have endeavored to pre pare for such a call by being a mem ber of the National Guard. My experience in that organization has taught me that the Government as well as the public at large, does not appreciate the motives of ua citizen soldiers and I often wonder what makes us stick. Surely it is not from being patted on the back by the Gov eminent we serve or the people we stand ready to protect. A TIN SOLDIER. COLUMBIA. Robert Loveman, In Nautilus. Columbia! though all the world doth rage. Thou art our rock of everlasting peace When the grim grapple of the Czars shall cease. And Slav and Teuton stagger from the stage. Bespoiled sisters of a shamed age Thy fields shall flower and thy bounds increase In hereditaments of loving lease: Oh, let thy holy purpose still engage To be pacificator of all men. Thy ports the haven of the meek and low. Thy happy hearthstone ever radiant when The children gather at the firelight glow; Columbia, rear thou each loyal son. Of Lincoln's mould and mighty Wash ington. Date of Andres's Fllcbt. MEDFORD, Or.. Dec 27. (To the Ed itor.) Can you tell what year it was that Andree undertook to make his voyage in a balloon to the North Pole? A friend here tells me that on August 12, 1901, 200 miles north of Nome in the Arctic Circle, while making a prospect ing trip on horseback he and a friend with him sighted a balloon apparently two miles away at 7 P. M. drifting westward toward Bering Strait. He has reason to believe that the air ship was the Andree balloon and I write to ascertain when it was that Andree undertook his voyage and never re turned. JAMES T. BARBEE. Andres's flight in an attempt to reach the North Pole by Walloon began July 11, 1897. Obviously his balloon could not have been in the air in 1901. Twenty-Five Years Ago From The Oreconian, December 29, 16S9. Dispatches from all over the United States and in parts of Europe show there is an alarming epidemic of influ enza "la grippe." The Czar. Senator Ingalls and. numerous others are suf fering, and in some places, especially in Pajris. there have been many fatali ties. The Medical News, according to a dispatch from Philadelphia, has given considerable space to a discussion of the disease. Chehalis. Wash. Marcil Bernicr died at his home, Newaukum Prairie, De cember 26. aged 69 years. He was the first white child born in Washington. then Oregon Territory. The birthplace was near Walla Walla. The British ship Clan Mackenzie. while lying at anchor in the Columbia River three miles below Kalaraa, was rammed by the steamer Oregon and sunk a few minutes later. Two of the Clan Mackenzie's crew were killed in the collision, it is stated in a dispatch aspossible after the collision the Ore gon tried to extricate herself, but was so tightly wedged in that she could not move out. When she was finally oieared there was a hole big enough for a four-horse team to pass through. Captain Pease was in command of the Oregon at the time and said he was dead in his course. It is apparent the ship's light was mistaken for a shore light (Coffin Rock light). The Clan Mackenzie had just finished a storm- tossed voyage around the Horn. The damage to the Oregon is about $7000. There came on the Union Pacific yes terday five families from Kansas who expect to make Oregon their future home. They are registered at the Mer chants', as follows: S. S. Sheldon, wife and daughter and two sons; W. D. Hal- oway, wife and two children; E. Shel don, wife and two; A. Larsen, wife and three, and W. A. Leviger, wife and two. So many gold-headed canes have been presented to people within the last few weeks that it appears there must be a forest of them around here. The latest victim heard from is Alfred Anderson, the well-known employing printer, whose employes startled him by pouring into his office Christmas eve and presenting him with one. Yet this is better than a strike. Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Fay will leave for Appleton, Wis., this evening to visit relatives. T. Wilmot Eckert is rehearsing about 30 little actors for the presentation of "Hans the Boatman" at the New Park next week. The little actors are be tween 5 and 10 years old. Half a Century Ago From The Oreconian, December 29, 1S64. Eugene F. Skinner, one of the early residents of Oregon and one of the first residents of Eugene City, is dead. Mr. Skinner was a highly respected citizen and it was on the land donation claim taken up by him that Eugene City was founded and from which it received Its name. S. T. Church, of the steamer Onward, sends the following dispatch: "Oregon City A message from Salem says the water December 21 was three inches higher in Eugene City than in 1S61." Some of the Idaho Lewistonians have given their eccentric Governor the euphonious cognomen of "Caleb of Calebsdale." The "third house," not to be outdone in matters of taste and title, styled their Governor (James Warren): "James Warren, of Warrensdale." These titles spring from Governor Lyon's habit of adding "Lyonsdale" to his name, according to the Walla Walla Statesman. F. B. Ainsworth, secretary, has just published the resolution adopted by the Ladies' Christian Commission thankiug Lisle Lester, Mr. Shram and others and The Oregonian for their efforts in mak ing tho fair a success. The fur cape which was seized by Collector Gillette a few weeks ago for an infraction of the revenue law by the purchaser on arrival from Victoria, has been delivered over to the owner. Messrs. Bergman and Naucke pre pared the supper that was served at the Jewish ladles' ball Tuesday even ing. - At the annual communication of Har mony Lodge No. 12, A. F. and A. M-. December 26. the following officers were elected: John McCraken. W. M.; A. G. Walling, S. W.; A. B. Richardson. J. W.; D. M. Lyon, treasurer; J. D. Hol man, secretary; James Burke, tyler. Governor Lyon, of Idaho, has ar ranged for Messrs. Hawthorn and Loryea, of East Portland; to take care of the Idaho Territory insane. Rev. D. Rutledge officiated at tho wedding of Thomas McCulley and Miss Rosannah McCulley, which was sol emnized December 27 in Portland. Stephen L. Ruddell and Miss Amanda J. Packwood were married at the Pack wood residence, in Nisqually Bottom, Thurston County, Washington Terri tory. December 16. Practical Aid to Unemployed. PORTLAND, Dec. 24. (To the Ed itor.) Allow me to call attention to the opportunity that exists to aid large numbers of both skilled and unskilled labor by calling up the Working Men's Club at 271 Front street when needing help of any kind. This club is patronized exclusively by working men. many of whom are of limited means and out of employment. While they are not asking for "handouts," they are anxious and willing to work, and no job will be considered too small or too large. - Numbers of these men are married and call at the club reading rooms dally, hoping to get irk touch with some kind of employment. A telephone has been especially installed for the pur pose of bringing employers and . em ployes In quick contact, so anyone needing help, by calling phone Main 8440, will not only be quickly furnished, but will be aiding the unemployed in a practical manner. CAPT. J. G. M'CLELLAND. When a Man Is a Failure. Exchange. A man is a failure when he reaches that time when the only dates he can remember Is pay day and Monday morning. The Atlas of Mer chandi s e When you want to know some thing about a city or a town you naturally turn to your atlas. Just as instinctively people are learning to turn to their newspaper when domestic needs require atten tion. The newspaper is their buying atlas. It i3 their chart to the safe harbor of good merchandise and fair prices. The newspaper advertising is help ful and constructive. It Is in fact the book to a liberal education.