Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, July 23, 1915, Image 8

Morning Oregonian., July 23, 1915, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextrLv "v 8 THE MORNING OREGOXIAN. ifRFDAT, JTJLY 23, 1015. mm PORTLAND. OREGON. , Entered at Portland. Oregon, Postoff Ice aa ' Subscription Rates Invariably in advance: (By Mali.) Daily, Sunday Included, one year $8.00 Paily, Sunday Included, six months..... 4.2b Xaily, Sunday Included, three months.. Z.23 Xaily. Sunday included, one month..... Pally, without Sunday, one yeai J-" Paily, without Sunday, six months.... 8.25 Paily, without Sunday, three months... 1.79 JSaily, without Sunday, one month.. Weekly, one year - l.gjj Sunday, one year .2.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year.......... 3-o0 (By Carrier.) Pally, Sunday included, one year 9.0O Pally, Sunday included, one month 76 How to Remit Send Postoffice money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postoffice address In lull, including county and state. Postage Kates 12 to la pages. 1 cent; 18 to 32 pages, 2 cents; S4 to 48 pages, 6 cents; Su to 60 pages, 4 cents; 62 to 70 pages, 5 cents; 78 to 92 pages, o cents. For eign postage, double rates. Ka stern Business Offices Veres & Conk lin, Brunswick building. New York; Verree & Conklln, Sieger building, Chicago; San Krancisco representative, R. J. Bidwell. 742 Market street. PORTLAND, FRIDAY. JULY 23. 1915. BUT WHAT ARE ME GOING TO DO ABOUT ITT Among- those who are calling atten tion to our Rational defenselessnesa, there is none less inclined to handle the subject without gloves than Mr. Roosevelt. Always ruthless, the for mer rough rider is riding rough-shod over mollycoddles and mollycoddle military policies and seeking to make an issue out of the fact that we seem disinclined to do anything about them. He sees phantoms of invading armies overrunning us. He sees the "I didn't raise my son to be a soldier" spirit sapping the National vitality. . In short, he hasn't a very good opinion of the present American attitude toward military and naval efficiency, and he doesn't mince words in say ing so. It Is an ideal field for the Roose velt vocal energies. He can go as far as he wishes without departing from the realms of truth and accuracy. No . matter how radical he becomes in his utterances along these lines, there is little danger that he will outstrip the borders of reason. The truth almost baffles expression. To say that we are : no better prepared than was Belgium .falls short of the real truth, after all. It is a reflection on the vastly superior military system which the Belgians had in operation at the outset of the war. But while Mr. Roosevelt is describ ing our inadequacies it would be wel "come if he would suggest a remedy. No one has done as much up to the ..present time. If there has been an ; intelligent effort to solve our problems , it has escaped the attention of The r Oregonian. Warning the public of their dangers is but a step in the right direction. As The Oregonian suggested a few days ago, the problems of American - defense should be right now under .consideration by a board of the big gest men in our National life. Not as previously suggested not by a board of Army officers eager for files and advancement; not by a board of ' business men with no practical educa : tion in military affairs, but by a mixed board of men capable of action un- tinged by selfish interest, a board of minds used to big problems with a leavening of technical minds from the Army. Various abstract systems have been suggested. Mr. Roosevelt, for exam- ;- pie, feels that we sh6uld essay the Swiss plan. This, in brief, embodies 'a. system of training citizen soldiery which, it might be said, begins at the : cradle and ends at the grave. There are many good points in the Swiss training, and no doubt we Americans could profit by a close study of it. But what we need is a system adapted to our own peculiarities, temperament and surroundings. Switzerland, in common with other European coun tries, has developed .her army with a definite object in view that of pro tecting her borders from encroach ment from possible enemies the na- ture and character of which were fully determined In advance. This is true in an even greater sense of France, which has developed her entire army and built her entire military policy on the idea of fighting Germany. We have no such definite objective in developing our own military policy. We know not who our enemy will be The most that we can know is that war continues to be a force in the worlds a force seemingly based upon a. fundamental law of nature. Fur thermore, we are able to see that war, as of old, centers about conflict of Interests over the world's food supply. Man no longer hunts his food as an individual with a club across his shoulder. He seeks sustenance as a national or racial unit with rapid-fire guns and heavy caliber cannon. When the interests and viewpoint of one racial unit, or national unit, conflict with those of another the answer continues to be war. We have seen several points t which we clash in our interests arid our viewpoint with other nations. In one case, now pending, the clash of interests has been acute. There is the danger that it may reach the breaking point. But we have clashes in other directions as well. It Is seen that while we are the most blessed of na- tions in worldly stores, our blessings may be limited by our ability to hold that which we possess. With the great object-lesson of Eu- ; rope before our eyes, with the realiza- j tion that our own viewpoint and ! Tights as a Nation are no stronger than our ability to maintain them, what are ,we doing about it? The answer can be entered in one - pitiably weak word. Talking. That is - as far as we appear to "get. Not only ' does the Washington Administration fail to act in this most important matter, but from no independent source does there come true initiative. .Those well-meant individuals and or ganizations which seek to educate the public mind have outlived their use j fulness in that the public mind is i ready. Such, at least, is the belief of i The Oregonian. The mollycoddle and "I did not raise my son to be a sol dier" type of citizenship still exist but no longer prevail Let those whose limitations are vocal in character continue to thunder about our unpreparedness. It is well that we should be accusingly reminded of our delinquency as a Nation in this respect. But what we most want now is solution of the problem. Give us the basis of a tangible system of mili tary and naval preparedness so that Congress can be driven into the act of doing something at the next session of -.that procrastinating institution. This thin? of our National unpreparedness should have gotten past the talking stage. PENROSE'S OPINION OF ROOT. Senator Penrose, of Pennsylvania, gives the mark of his reactionary ap proval to the recent Wall Street move ment to make Ellhu Root President of the United States. He says that Elihu Root is the strongest Presi dential possibility now before the pub lic" and intimates that he could carry Pen nsylvania. No doubt he could. No .doubt any body nominated on the Republican ticket, not excepting Penrose, could sweep Pennsylvania. Penrose did, in deed, last year, which shows the tre mendous power of the Republican state machine and the docile charac ter of the Republican rank and file. the latter of which had been sorely disciplined by two years' experience with the empty dinner-palL It shows also that Pennsylvania had quickly repented of Its adventure in the path of Progresslvism. But there are other states than Pennsylvania. Nothing worse could have hap pened to the Root boom than the in dorsement of Penrose. He will not be nominated for that and other suffi cient reasons. Mr. Root is more than 70 years old. He would be 72 when his Presidential term began, if elect ed, and 76 at its expiration. No Pres ident so old has ever been elected. Mr. Root has been lauded by Theo dore Roosevelt as a very great man, and he doubtless is. But we suppose he Is not so great a man, in the Roose velt judgment, since the 1912 Repub lican convention, over which Root presided. The country is not likely to alter its opinion that the candidate who was once good enough for Roose velt and is now good enough for Pen rose is not good enough for the people. IN THE AGE OF MOLLYCODDLES. If peace propagandists falter as they look on the bivouac and battle in the Old World, and shudder as they see and hear evidences of men "stirred to action" in this country, let them cheer up. The youth of the country has taken heed of their work. 'Play- ing soldier" has become a lost art. No longer do the tin-pan drum and the broomstick gun parade in mock mili tary array down the city streets. No longer do John and Jimmle march up and down the sidewalks in soldierly pride, while little Mary or littler Eu nice or some of the other younger generation of the gentler sex look on with unmingled pride. The new way of teaching history in the schools has told. Who of the boys grown up cannot recall the time of marshaling to gether the other fellows in the neigh borhood and organizing a brigade? Who of the fathers today cannot re call a son's pleading at the paternal knee for a drum and bugle for Christ mas, that he might lay claim to tak ing a place of rank in the neighbor hood of soldierly-inclined youth? Not long ago every schoolboy could answer to some military pseudonym, as General Grant, or General Hooker, or Burnside, or Lee. The fine art of making military caps from old news papers and wrapping paper from the butcher's and grocer's seems to have passed, and the wholesome days when overalls were welcomed as a fine sub stitute for the blue uniform of real soldiers have long passed. Overalls are merely overalls now. Military caps made of waste paper are a forgotten product of imaginative minds. If the peace propagandists fear their work has been in vain, let them look around and observe that the youth of the country has taken peace pleadings to heart. At least the glory and glamor of war are somewhat di minished. "Playing soldier" has given way to singing, "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier. PROTECTING THE CONSTITUTION. To the already innumerable Na tional associations for the promotion or defense of this or that has been added the National Association for Constitutional Government and its general committee embraces such dis tinguished men as ex-President Taft, Alton B. Parker, General Horace Por ter, Colonel George Harvey, John W Foster, Senator James W. Wadsworth and others. The purpose of the association, it is learned from a circular, is to resist forces which are "radically changing the Constitution, thereby endangering the permanency of our institutions.' Elihu Root adds a letter approving the movement, in which he says: The neople of the United States have en joyed a constitutional freedom a long time wunout any conscious enort to maintain it, and many of us have forgotten, many of us have never learned, that it does not come and remain of itself. The principles of our constitutions have passed without question so long tnat many or us nave iorgotten tne reasons wnicn unueriie tnem ana tne ne cessity for maintaining them. Now the prin. ciDles are Questioned. The assumptions ot individual right which underlie our system of government are dented, and it is very important tnat tne people ot tne country should address themselves to the study of their constitutions and the reason for them. That ouht to be done before changes are made wti.cn would be very airricuit to re verse, and which would result in giving us an entirely diixerent Kina ot government. A National organization to promote a better understanding of the Consti tution could doubtless accomplish a vast amount of good work. The Con stitution is studied in the schools, but too often the teaching ends with the details of its contents. Their deeper meaning is neglected. But the purposes of the association obviously do not end there. It as- sumes that those forces which are operating to change the Constitution and which have a visible backing of public opinion are radical and dan gerous. This seems to be the opinion of the New York constitutional con vention. Any alteration that ques tions the wisdom and foresight of an earlier generation is deemed undesira ble. Changes in social and industrial conditions from those of the earlier period must work out their own sal vation. , In some of the older states statutes for social advance almost always run against the stone wall of unconstitu tionality. It was but a few years ago that the New York courts warmly commended the Justice of the work man's compensation principle, yet found the compensation law invalid. The application of a beneficent princi ple was postponed until the people could amend the constitution. Eco nomic progress has also been ham pered. To enact a valid National in come tax required Federal constitu tional amendment as a preliminary. In all, seventeen amendments have been added to the United States Con stitution. Several of them would probably have been considered the height of radicalism by the framers of that immortal document. It is quite likely that there Is a large element in the country that would promote the inflexibility of constitutions. We would not deny them the right to organize if we could. That is their privilege under estab lished guarantees of liberty. In a democracy there is nothing like or ganization of men of common mind to invigorate the spirit of men of op posite mind. In the conflict of thought and activity the really good is more likely to emerge triumphant, and the bad that each may un consciously have advocated stand revealed. A LAWYER'S PROPHECY. "Undeniably it is a scandal and a monstrous perversion of Justice that this murderer (Thaw) should now be at large," exclaims the New York Times. To fortify its own opinion of the Thaw case which is in accord with the dispassionate judgment of other Informed and independent news papers the Times reprints a remark able review of the Thaw proceedings, made in a report of a special commit tee on the Commitment and Discharge of the Criminal Insane, and presented to the New York State Bar Association in January, 1910. The two trials of Thaw were dis cussed by the committee, the first being described as a "disgraceful farce" and the second being ee forth in the following manner, with an ac companying prophecy "of the results of subsequent efforts to free the moneyed murderer: - A second trial, conducted properly and with dignity, results in a verdict of ac quittal on the ground of Insanity, and there upon the prisoner Is sent by the court, as required by the statute, to a state asylum for the criminal Insane. From tnls he p:ans to get free upon successive writs of habeas corpus, which he purposes to apply for so long as his purse will enable him to pav zealous counsel and unscrupulous experts. e say unscrupulous experts, for. to the shame of the medical profession be it spoken, the expert who at one time swears him out of Jail on an opinion of Insanity attempts sit another time to awear him out of the asylum by an opinion of sanity. So forgetful are the murderer's family of their duty to society, their obligation to uphold the law, that they aid and abet the plot, and instead of leaving him to his fate. a it is their duty as citizens to do, they claim. forsooth, that he la an object of persecution Among the numerous Judges of the bupreme Court of this state, the chances are that there Is at least one whose head is not able to control his heart, and the only problem In this murderer's quest for freedom Is to discover who that particular judge is. There may be a number of proceedings, but he will at last be found, and then upon a petition to him, backed up by the testimony of med ical experts, wnose ravora&le opinions can be bought for cash, the path to freedom will be cleared of all obstacles. It la a mere question of time and money when this par tlcular murderer will be set free to direct his homicidal Inclinations against some other citizen who has already fallen or may hereafter come under his displeasure. And everything done according to the forma of lawl The particular Judge was found at last, though it is true enough that the case for Thaw was so skillfully and powerfuly presented, and for the state so weakly defended, that the result is no surprise. Yet what astonishing prescience possessed the lawyers who five years ago said Thaw would ulti mately go free, not because he de served his liberty, but because the battle, sustained by money and the procured opinions of hired experts, would be won through the weakness of the law. A STUDY IN WOOD. The person who will carefully study the results of the city's venture in the wood business will quite likely dis cover that there are other phases to the problem created by the accumula tion of a large supply of fuel besides its sale without direct financial loss. There has been revealed an odd sit uation. Private dealers heretofore have offered wood at a more or less fixed price. It has been at a dollar or a dollar and a half higher than the price charged since the city became a competitor in the market. Who got the excess last Winter over the pres ent prices? Were the private dealers in competition to exact exorbitant profits, or has the city's competition caused a reduction in labor's wage, or are the dealers grimly sacrificing prof its in order to discourage the city from again entering the business? . It will hardly be disputed that the city should not engage in any activity that will remotely tend to reduce the wages of common labor. If that has been the effect, it is labor, not the pub lic, which furnished work for and paid the unemployed in the municipal woodyard last Winter. But if labor's wage has not been diminished and a dealers' combination to hold up prices unreasonably has been demoralized, it can probably be demonstrated that the city has accom plished trlat end without loss, even if it never sells the wood it has on' hand. The city is the people. Wiiat the city has the people have paid for. If the people have bought $50,000 worth of wood and as a result of that enter prise are able to buy wood elsewhere for individual consumption at a' total saving of $50,000, they certainly are not out of pocket. They can afford to hold it until the wood-buying season Is over and then sacrifice it. What the city receives, then, is clear profit remembering, of course, that by "city" we mean the people who make up the city. The situation, it seems to us, invites investigation. Certainly the city has demonstrated that it -cannot profitably engage in a wood monopoly, for pri vae dealers have demonstrated that they can sell cheaper. It is incon ceivable that they are losing money, yet they sell wood for less than wood costs the city. But if the city has de stroyed an unlawful combination, it has demonstrated that there is value in public competition with private en: terprlse in certain cases. An inquiry that would reveal the true inwardness of the late slump in wood prices would be instructive and interesting and pro duce a guidance for the future. TRADE AND ART. A writer in the July Atlantic de fends the thesis that trade is the mother of art. His position has been disputed, but, if we limit the meaning of art to painting and sculpture, all history supports it. The Atlantic writer is not foolish enough to imag ine that trade always produces pic tures and -statues, but he is perfectly safe in saying that there never has been any great art where trade did not flourish. It misses the point to remark, as the Minneapolis Tribune does, that Carthage had a great deal of commerce but no art worth while. We know very little abotit the artis tic or any other aspect of that un fortunate city's civilization. The ac counts we possess of it come from the Romans, who were its irreconcilable enemies. They looked upon Carthag inian accomplishments with more dis dain than admiration. Nor does it help matters any to mention that im poverished Norway has given us Ibsen and Bjornson. Literature Is not In cluded in the meaning of art, as the Atlantic writer uses the word. The teaching of history in this par tlcular is unmistakably clear. Egyp tian art developed rapidly in the early and commercial stages of that coun- try's career. When it became mill tarlstic and priest-ridden art, ceased to progress and crystallized in fixed types. In Greece Sparta, which was a militaristic city with scarcely any out side trade, had no art of its own. When it needed a public monument it had to send elsewhere for a sculp tor. Athenian art reached its climax when the city's commerce was at the maximum. The age of Pericles, which gave us the Parthenon and the statue of the Olympian Zeus, raw Athens mistress of the seas and the head of a large commercial empire. When trade fell off painting and sculpture entered upon their decline. A great deal of the best, Greek art was produced in island cities which subsisted entirely upon sea-going commerce. Turning to Italy, we find the same story repeated scores of times. The Renaissance itself was contemporary with a world wide trade revival. The Florentine Medici were bankers and merchants. From their coffers came the funds which attracted to their city artists like Leonardo da Vinci and architects like Brunelleschl and provided the means to keep them at work. Great art is very expensive and in all ages trade has been the only practicable means of supporting it. Even when a potentate such as Pope Julius II or Frances II of France ostensibly supplies the means, trade is the indirect source of the money. Rome, which was a militarist and un commercial power, never had any art worth speaking of and its literature was pitifully Imitative. The Atlantic writer mentions Venice as the city above all others where art was supported by trade. Titian and Giorglone flourishing there side by Bide with the great merchant princes who supplied their needs. Holland tells the same tale. Its best art was contemporaneous with Its dominion of the sea, The argument is too one sided to need further Instances in sup port of it. The common saying that the commercial spirit is hostile to art is totally without justification from the experience of the world. Commerce is hostile to art only when It becomes predatory and mili taristic. England's colonial enter prises, for example, have produced no great paintings or sculptures that we ever neard of. Trade under normal conditions sharpens the wits, broadens the mind, encourages the spirit of ad venture and provides leisure for the cultivation of taste and luxury. Trade also, particularly sea-going trade makes strenuous demands upon the mechanical ingenuity of a people. It sets all their artisans at work upon congenial tasks and opens hundreds of workshops where artists lay the foundations of their careers. Great art has always had one foot In the workshop and one in the King's palace or the merchant's counting-house. When it tries to hang in the air like Mohammed's coffin, as it does with us, it Is rot likely to achieve anything very wonderful. Many visitors to the San Francisco Fair who would have gone by Tall or boat ten years ago now go in their own motor cars. The perfection of the automobile and the building of good roads have wrought the change. Some people predict that the extension of good roads throughout the country will one day deprive the railroads of all short-distance travel and cut seri ously into the long-distance. Eastern cities are felicitating them selves over the scattering of their pop ulatlon by rapid transit. Both New York and Boston have been wonder fully relieved in this way, but the re lief does not touch the slums. They are still congested because the wretch edly poor cannot afford either commu tation tickets or country rents. Our National housing problem has not yet been solved. A new life of Captain John Smith has just been published in a series called "Lives of Great Americans." It requires some Imagination . to make an Americijp of Smith. He might have been equal to the feat himself, for he was a wonderful liar, but in reality he was as much of a Turk as an Ameri can, since his adventures in Constan tinople equaled those In Virginia for romance. Finding their military weapons of no avail to check the Germans, the Russians have betaken themselves to prayer. The old hymn says that "The devil trembles when he sees the weak est saint upon his knees." If the Russians were saints and the Germans devils, the Czar might draw some hope from this rhyme, but we fear the facts do not warrant any such state of mind The Russians are playing their old game of devastating the country as they retire. This has saved them in many a war and may save them again. Russia is so big and savage that even a German army may be swallowed up in its waste. The world looks placidly on as their forces destroy each other and remembers sympathetically what Mercutlo said when he was dying. Lloyd George talked to the Welsh miners like a father and a patrict. They understood him and their hearts were moved to resume work. It sometimes pays better to reason with worklngmen than to shoot Jhem. The memory of bloodshed Is a shifty foun dation to build loyal devotion on. A mystic from India only place on earth where they grow 'em. all others are bogus says we have fifteen senses a bad way of spelling, but truthful, for many have a nickel and more a dime, which is what he seeks. When Raisull held up an American for ransom this great Governmen taught him to be good. Bandits in Idaho hold up a citizen and pull off the job. Governor Alexander has his work cut out. A woman's magazine advises cooled. boiled water for the baby during hot weather. That is proper elsewhere, but in Portland Bull Run water need not be cooked. "Hello, Bill!" You are not as nu merous as you were three years ago. but you know the way. More English-made candy is due. as If the .local product could not supply the demand. Will the Hon. Milt Miller have a keg of loganberry Juice for the Hon. Bryan T College training: again scores. It made a pretty good robber of Hooper Russians are praying, while the Germans keep their powder dry. Cut those thistles. They are ready to bloom. Have you got your gold dollar? European War Primer By National Geographical Society. AMONG the great fortresses that are opposing the march of German armies into Russian lands is that of Grodno, a stronghold on the main rail way to Petrograd from the west, and one of the more powerful links guard ing the line of the Muscovite frontier. Grodno is on the line of advance from the lake region In East Prussia, and lies about 60 miles from the German border. It is 640 miles southwest of Petrograd. S miles southwest of Vllna, and 160 miles northeast of Warsaw. It la an objective of German invasion from the north, while it. also, is nearly due north of the Austro-Oerman col umns Invading from the south. About 110 miles south of Grodno lies the Russian fortress, Brest Lltewskl. guarding the trunkllne railway. Warsaw-Moscow. The cutting of these two great railroad arteries baa been. likely, the main objective of all recent Austro-German endeavor in Russian Poland. The trunkllne from Petro grad passes through Vlli-a. Grodno, Kiallstock. to Warsaw, and beyond Warsaw to Sklernte wlce. a place re cently captured by the Germans, where It sends three main branches to Ger many, to Thorn In the north, to Kaliss and Llssa in the west, and through Czenstochowa to Cracow nd Koenlg- shuette In the south. These two rail way arteries, between Warsaw and Petrograd and Warsaw and Moscow. are the Muscovite avenues for pour- nor men and supplies into Russian Poland and toward the western and southwestern frontiers. e The works of Grodno fortress have been considerably strengthened during recent years. The city Is the capital of the government of Grodno, and is sit uated on the River Nlemen. It la the headquarters of Russia's second army corps. The city. Itself. Is very poorly built, thoug.t It has a large trade In grain, timber and meats. It has a population of some, 42.000. of which two-thirds Is Jewish. There are Im portant machinery, firearms, tobacco and vehicle factories in Grodno, and the output of these factories was enormously Increased by the war. Grodnj is rich In Polish history. Here the second partition of Poland was ef fected In 17SS: here Stanislaus Ponla towskl. the last King of the Poles, re signed his crown In 1795. The Polish King. Stephen Bathory. made Grodno his capital, snd died there In 1586. The town has been battered by many an enemy since Its foundation In tho 12th century. www Opposing as stubborn a resistance to the armies of the Invader as did the Austrian fortress of Przemysl. the Russian fortress of Osowlec has with stood the attack of troops and siege guns through months. To the west and to the east, the Germans have ad vanced deeper into Russian territory, but the fortress of Osowlec still con- tlnues to check the enemy's progress along an important path. The war primer says: Osowlec. about 20 miles Inside the Russian frontier, southeast from the East Prussian border and the lake country, guards tho Important railway approach to Bielostok, and the great Petrogrsd-Warsaw trunkllne, the cut ting of which Is one of the prime ob jects of the German Invaders. Blelo stok Is 38 miles southeast of Osowlec. Fifty-six miles west-southwest of Osowlec, the Germans have penetrated to Ostrolenka. 30 miles from the Ger man border, and about 30 miles from the trunkllne artery. From Ostrolenka, three branch railways Join the main line. From Osowlec a railway passes south, through Bielostok and over the Warsaw-Petrograd line, over a War-saw-Vllna branch line, through the fortress Brest Lltovsk. upon the trunk line Warsaw-Moscow, to Kholm. a sta tion on the railway Warsaw-Kiev, passing through Lublin and Kholm. The little village of Osowlec. with Its single street and straggling farms, has little other Importance than its military strength. It is situated on the right, and lower shore of the Bobr River. The field works front towara the northwest and fall back to the river. Just across from Osowlec. upon the left, and higher shore of the river, is the larger village of Gonlonds, to which the defensive works are con tinued. The Bobr Is navigable here, and part of its shore Is steep and easily defendable. Osowlec Is one of the more important frontier Russian fortresses. How to Handle Grant. PORTLAND. July 21. (To the Ed Itor.) I see that the people are In terested In the disposition of the rail road lands recently settled by he courts and would like to maKe my suggestions on the disposition. If Congress gives Oregon the right to dispose of the lands I would sug gest the state hold all timber lands for future profit. So that persons own lng timber lands could not sell to mills that strip such lands of all limber. 1 would put all agricultural lands on the market in 40-acre parcels, have the price same as original. $2.50 per acre. That would make a big rush for th land. I would have a public drawing for choice land. Everyone who made application for agricultural land make a deposit of 60 cents as registry lee. Use this money In helping defray the expense of advertising this land through the press of the East, bouth North and West. Give everyone a chance who makes the deposit. There would be no lottery in this plan, as you pay for what you get; you pay for the registry and 12.60 an acre tor the land. If one thinks of the vast number of settlers who would come to Oregon to settle or have the land put In shape for use and the agricultural imple ments used and horses. " stock and buildings, he certainly would figure up into the millions and it would be the biggest, liveliest boom Oregon ever saw. C. J. w. Election of School Director. OSWEGO. Or.. July 21. (To the Edl tor.) At the annual school meeting In a third-class "district In Clackamas County a man received ten out of 24 votes cast for director. plurality over all others voted tor. The chair man of the meeting, the retiring dl rector, applying what seemed to some of us steamroller methods, declared a majority necessary to election and after some complications drew a re election for himself. We h3ld that the man who received the plurality on the first ballot should have beep declared legally elected. 1. What Is the law of Oregon on the subject T 2. Is is necessary for one to be present at the meeting in order to be elected a director? 3. What is the meaning of the fol lowing note under Par. 200 of the Ore gon School Laws: "A majority of the legal voters present at a school meet ing may transact business." Docs this establish the contention that a ma jority Is necessary to the election of director? D. E. louxu. 1. A plurality Is sufficient to elect a director. 2. No. 3. This simply means that a ma jority of the legal voters constitutes a quorum. It does not mean that a ma jority is necessary to elect a director. First Steam Fire Engine. Exchange. The first steam fire engine which, by the way, was a failure, was made In 1329 in London from the designs o Captain John Ericsson, the designer o the Monitor. OB OP SPRAY IX FIRE BLIGHT Mr. Blackwood Meat laaista That Spread of Disesse Css Bo Cheeked. PORTLAND. July 12. (To the Edi tor.) I see that Mr. Williamson, secre tary of the State Board of Horticulture, makes a statement in The Oregonian that my article on fire blight is false and dangerous and that 1 have mis taken leaf blight for fire blight. If Mr. Williamson will ret the latest work of Noack or F. L. Stevens and J. G. Hall on Hypochnaceae he will at once come to the conclusion that leaf blight very often, if not always, is accompanied by fire blight. But the most important point to be considered Is the way to eradicate fire blight or at least check it. a question that the growers are far more interested in than as to whether the two diseases are Identical. Ueorie Massee. whose work is recognized throughout the world, tells us that "on damp, cloudy days drops of a cloudy. milky fluid exudo from canKered tis sues through the lenttcles or pores In the bark." Burrill demonstrated the communlcablllty of the disease by find ing the bacteria in this exudation. J. C. Arthur placed the whole matter on a firm foundation by passing the bac teria through a long series of artificial cultures and then by inoculations showing that they were capable of causing the blight. He then proved that trees Inoculated with the exuda tion that had been freed from the bac teria had not become diseased. All the above ata can be obtained in the splendid work of F. L. Stevens, cn titled. "The Fungi Which Causes Plant Diseases." We know that fire blight is a bac terial disease. We now only have to find out the manner in which it I spread and for this information we turn to mycologists such as Whetzel and Stewart, who have experimented and found that the bacteria, bacillus amylovorus. was found on the claw of tho bee's foot. Other mycologists tin- eluding myself) have also found the bacteria on the feet and bodies of aphis. It has been proved that these Insects carry the exudation containing the bac teria from tree to tree. Mr. Williamson gives the old remedy of careful watching and handling of the disease. I quite agree with his methods as set out by the Oregon Agri cultural College, but I do not under stand how he can make the statement that the disease cannot be checked by any kind of spray. How. In the face of the fact that the disease Is carried by insects, can spraying affect an other man's orchard, or ruin his own orchard? Would It not be to the con trary? By killing the aphis and other Insects carrying the disease, would he not stop the spread of the disease? I am far from questioning the remedy given by-the college. In fact It la a remedy. If properly carried out by the whole community, that would be pre ferable to spraying, but. as Mr. Will amson says, "at the present time the disease commonly called the fire blieht la spreading rapidly through tne Wil lamette Valley and fruitgrowers In this valley are not familiar with this dis ease and few of them know how to deal with It." If this be true does it not seem more necessary to find a spray that will check the disease until those fruit growers are taught the symptoms of the disease and so check the rapid spread? H has been proved, shown and ac cepted by all, that the last symptom or the disease is an exudation of the whit fluid. It has been proved that the bacteria responsible for the death of the tree Is in the exudation. It has been proved that the exudation freed from bacteria is harmless. It has been proved that insects such as aphis alighting on the twigs carry the exudation, and so spread the dis ease. Now. with tills knowledge, surely a disinfectant and at the same time an Insecticldal spray would do much to check a,nd eradicate the disease. In fact I will go as far as to say that X can spray a tree suffering with firs blight nd check the spread. FRANCES E. BLACKWOOD WEST RIGHT KIND OF PEACE IXSIRANCE Trip Through Canada losresses Writer With Our Military Shortcomings. PORTLAND. July 22. (To the Ed itor.) Having recently returned from the East, where It was my privilege to pass through Canada over the Grand Trunk Pacific, as well as spend some time in Toronto. I am able belter to appreciate what the war means. When 1 looked at the thousands of young men as well as older men enlisting for foreign service I thought of the abso lute unpreparedness of this country and really I trembled at the though snd my heart went out for those young men. who in my opinion are fighting a battle for the United States, for there is no question In my mind th if Germany should win that she would demand an indemnity from us for fur nlshing arms to the allies. With ou present unpreparedness what could we do? In Toronto and other Canadian cities I found that every young man capable of bearing arms was drilling, not a for foreign service, for many of the young married men recognize tha they owe some duties to their home and they should not leave their fami lies until It Is absolutely necessary for them to defend their homes. They are not serving under any definite term o enlistment, but are getting In such condition that it would only take few short weeks of camp life to make them efficient soldiers. in view of the present condition o affairs In this country with those who are fighting across the Atlantic 1 seems to me that it is criminal ucgli gence for Americana to delay in mak lng preparation for what might come. Possibly it would not be advisable a this time to call for volunteers to form a fully-equipped force, but we ought to do something, and the plan that ap pears most feasible to me is to organ lze regiments for home guard and de fense, without pay and with no obli gatlona of foreign service If tha should become necessary. Or It the Government should deem that advlsa ble. there la no question of being able to get volunteers. But these reel ments could drill two nights a week and need not have at this time even uniforms, but wo would make such i showing that Germany or any othe country would appreciate that the united States la not a country o money grabbers altogether, but tha when we believe we are right we In tend to stand on our rights and tha the nation who violates our right does so at Its peril. I believe that If every able-bodied man were organized, in this way show lng the world that we have 10.000.0o0 men for defense. It would be one o thev best Insurance policies for peace that we could Issue. If there are any others who are Interested In starting such a movement 1. would be glad to meet them, but we as citizens of the United Slates must make up our mind that our country cornea first. S. B. HUMPHREY, Civil Service Examinations. PORTLAND. July 21. (To the Edi tor.) Please teU me when the nex civil service examinations in Portland will take place. Is there any place In Portland to prepare for these? Do you recommend the Franklin Institute at Rochester, N. Y.? A SUBSCRIBER, Send your name, and address to Local Secretary. IT. S. Civil Service Commission. Postofrice. Portland. Or., and he will aend you application and data on coming civil service examina tions, with such other Information as you may request of him. Including course of study necessary. The Ore gonian does not recommend any par ticular school for preparation. Twenty-Five Years Ago From Tha Oresontan, July -3. 1S:0. Washington Tha Pierce amendment has created quite a talk inoct the tariff makers. Senator Tierce says that the reciprocity Uea has gained quite a great deal of strength and he believes the proper chord has been struck. Sfimd Interesting Riip?,if inr r r r A lay British Columbia under a siege in last) oi war wun cnKiano. are con tained In the testimony given by Gen eral Miles In the report of the Sonata Committee' on Canadian relations, which was laid before the Senate yes terday. General Miles made some In - terejitincr enmmnt nn the H,finctl, condition Df the Cnlted States, espe-. ciauy on tne .ortn western ooraer. Jackson Powell, one of the early settlers In Oregon and after whom Powell Valley was named, died yester day at the residence of John Dolan on Hawthorne avenue In East Portland. R. P. Earhart. newly named col lector of customs, said yesterday he had made several subordinate ap pointments but he would not divulge. their names uniil ho takes office Au gust 1. ' Emperor William of Germany will. on his coming visit to England, pre sent his venerable grandmother, the Queen, with a life-sizo portrait of himself. Mrs. Van R. Do Lashmutt. Miss Inez De Lnshmutt and Ivan I'e l.ai-hmutt. the family of the Mayor, arrive.! at Havre. France. July 6. Thf)' will travel In Europe for six months. B. Campbell, of Portland, according to a letter from Victoria. Is a 'hero. Mr. Campbeil. who is general freight agent of the t'nlon Pacific Railway Company, saved two young women who had been capsized from a boat- Rev. George Slckafooze has returned from his missionary trip to China whither he went last October, accom panied by three other missionaries. Misses Patterson and Shaufner and Mr. Long, a native of China, who has been educated In America. Thomas O. Stoddard, assistant Super intendent of the railway mall service. returned yesterday from Tillamook where he Inspected the routes peti tioned for by the citizens of Yamhill and Tillamook Counties. GOOD MAN AM GOOD OFFICIAL Mr. Grer Rrlatea Good Qnolltlcs of Late Charles S. Moore. PORTLAND. July 22. (To the Ed itor.) 1 wish to pay a word of tribute to the memory or the late Charles S. Moore, who for eluht years was Treas urer of this state. Although I had known him slightly for several years, we became Intimately acquainted when, in May. lc:8. we campaigned Southern and Kastern Orecon to gether, each a candidate for an impor tant stale office. At Lakevlew we hired a team and drove from that rlCo across the desert, by way of Albert Lake, to Burns, thence to Canyon City and Baker by stace. After the election In June we moved to Salem and during the four years from the following January we were Intimately associated in the transac tion of the state's business In all Its ramifications a line of duty which brings to the front all a man's charac teristics, tests his patience and proves his worth or the lack of It. The purpose of this communication Is to express my appreciation of Mr. Moore's many good qualities, as evi denced In his dally attention in the de tails of his responsible position as Stale Treasurer and member of the many state ' oarda. his uniform cour tesy and his reliability under all cir cumstances. 1 regret his passim? ex ceedingly and desire In this way to give it utterance. The state has lost a valuable and enterprlslns citizen and his family a thoughtful and kind son. father and husband. T. T. GliER. What Dr. Clnxton Said. TACOMA. Wash.. July 21. (To the Editor.) Say to the Sons of Revolu tion, who condemned IT. 1'. P. Claxton. that this Is what he said in his Boston lecture five years ago: In modern times the flaz mut stsnd for larcer thlnss than It did tor the anrlenis. I'eople are dran from all corners of the earth to live luzfi hr. Tl.ey -are 1-orn one jilace. live another, trave! much and thus come m-arer to the Meul universal fatherhood of ;ol and brotherhood of man. and in tha connection the flat;, in the .roai-r pn. must serve all. The time has come when men An not revere tha r:s alone for Us material or combination of colors, but for what 11 symbolises. If It mr.ili tor liherty. equality of orrortunlty. rrocress. r-roeperlty snd ral protection, ft l lo and revered. If It stands for oppression and the dt-nlal of freedom and lack of opportunity, then It :a not revered, no matter what the material or color. Wherein. Mr. Editor, is the treason or the Justification for the outburst of the Sons of Revolution? There Is no finer type of a patriot In the land than Dr. Claxton. JOHN A. UEA. rn York Society. PORTLAND. July 22. (To the Ed itor.) I understand there Is a New York Society In this city, which I would like to Join, having. I think, proper credentials. I have not been able to locate the same, as I am a stranger, having recently arrived from the Empire State. I therefore take the privilege of asking the names of some of the officers of the orpaniza tion. 'W- J. MORGAN. The president of the New York So ciety is T. O. Hague. Worcester build ing, phone Main 6593. The secretary is Miss (Dr.) Edith MacDowell. 689 Northrup street, phone Marshall S105. The place of meeting is at the Com mercial Club building (New Chamber of Commerce), the third Tuesday of the month. Joint Deed to Property. FOREST GROVE. Or.. July 21. (To the Editor.) John Smith and Mary Smith, husbar.d and wife, own land In Kansas. The deed Is made out aa above, called a joint deed. At the death of the husband Is It necessary to have any legal proceedings? MRS. E. P. HOGUE. Trobably not. None is necessary in Oregon, where such a transaction is called an "estate by the entirety." Write to the Probate Court of the county in which the property is lo- ca t ed. ' ' ' The Race of the Shoe Lace The laces on women's shoes have been having a merry race. They started In front, skipped to the side and now have gotten to the back. Only one side more la left and then they will have seemed to box the compass of their possibilities. It has taken fleet feet to keep up with fashion this year. Styles have veered over night and to be well Informed a woman had to be alert. ,iul In keeping abreast of the times she has found the advertising n The Oregonian most helpful and 'nteresting reading.