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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1915)
THE MORNTXG OREGOXTAN. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 1915. POBTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Fostoffice as second-class matter. Subscription Rates invariably In advance. (By MalO raily, Sunday Included, on year.. .....$8.00 Xally, Sunday Included, aix months.... 4.25 la)ly. Sunday included, three months. . 2.20 Lmliy. Sunday Included, one month..... .?3 Laily. without Sunday, ono year.. ... 6.U0 I-auy, without Sunday, six months..... 3.23 Imlly, without Sunday, three months... 1.75 Jjaljy, without Sunday, one month, Weekly ono year. ..................... unoay, one year. ................... .. 2.50 feunday and Weekly, one year. ...... ... a.40 (By Carrier.; Dally, Sunday Included, one year....... 9.00 lly, Sunday included, one month..... .75 How to Remit Send postofflce money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender'! risk. Olve postofflce addreaj In full. Including county and state. Postage Rates 12 to IB pages, t cent; IS t Z'J pages, 2 cents; 34 to 43 pages, 3 cents; 60 to do pages, 4 cents; 52 to 7o pages, 5 cents; 78 to t)2 pages. G cents. Foreign lulagev double rates. Eastern Business Offices Veree A conk lln. Brunswick building. New York; Vcree 4c Conklln, Steger building. Chicago; San Francisco representative. H. J. Bid ell. 742 Market street. rORTLaM), FRIDAY, SEPT. 10, 1915. MR. TAFT AND EQUAL SUFFRAGE. When a delegation from the Wom en's Congressional Union called upon Mr. Taft In Portland In behalf of the Susan B. Anthony amendment he re ferred them to his forthcoming article on woman suffrage. That article ap pears In the current number of the Saturday Evening Post. Naturally the members of the Congressional Union will turn to it -with avidity, if no others do, for of course they truly wanted to ascertain the views of the former President and were not actuated by a desire to gain notoriety, as some cruel persons have intimated. While Mr. Taft Is silent in his ar ticle, bo far as specific reference Is In volved, as to the "Anthony amend ment," no one will have difficulty In. determining his stand on a Na tional equal suffrage amendment at this time. In brief, Mr. Taft believes that American women should vote but not yet. He holds that "If the suffrage is sufficiently de layed to give better preparation to women as a class for the exercise of the franchise, its advantages will outweigh Its probable injurious conse quences." Not that Mr. Taft would expect to witness the disastrous con sequences to the home and society from the Immediate extension of the suffrage that the radical opponents of the principle predict. In a friendly tone he accuses both sides of extrava gant argument. What he seems to fear is an over dose of what he terms "millennial legislation," such as mothers' pension laws, minimum wage acts, eight-hour day laws for women and similar en actments. "By taking too much from the prudent and industrious to help the unfortunate, the thriftless and the Idle," he says, "and by teaching all to look to the public treasury for sup port, thrift and saving will be discour aged, independence and strength of character will be destroyed." In other words, the great body of women have a keen Interest In the Individual's im mediate comfort, but as yet exhibit little or no interest In the economic welfare of the Government. Nor does Mr. Taft believe that the majority of women now want the fran chise. He says: It is a substantial reason for delaying the coming ot tne naiiot to women that more than half of them now do not wish to have It. One of the chief grounds for giving every class a voice in the Government is to satisfy Its desires and induce It to support and strengthen the Government. But If a class does not desire the responsibility and will not meet that responsibility by its best aver age Intelligence, the reason fails. We suppose mothers' pension laws, eight-hour laws for women and mini mum wage acts affecting women may be happily termed "millennial legis lation," but we are not ready to admit that there is at this time much cause to fear their economic influence. We might quote from Government reports to prove that eight-hour laws are of economic, value to the employer and that the disastrous effects expected from the Institution of minimum wage laws have not been realized. Mothers' pensions so far are not general in scope, but rather take the place of public charity. Moreover, there is strong indication that such laws will spread to other states without the Intervention of votes for women. But so far as actual experience Is concerned in the particular of mil lennial legislation and the desire of women for the ballot, Mr. Taft has somewhat disarmed us by indicating an opinion that some states are better fitted for woman suffrage than others. If Oregon has found the laws that women have put on the statutes satis factory, and the interest among wom en in governmental affairs to be keen and widespread, the answer is, we pre sume, that. Oregon is one of the fa vored states. What is good for Ore gon might be disastrous for New York. Thus has Mr. Taft offered an argument that automatically answers almost everything that can be ad vanced In attempted refutation. But we miss one thing In his article. There is much said about woman's in. fluence on legislation but nothing about woman's influence on the exe cution of the laws. In Oregon, since women were granted the ballot, it has been found easier to nominate and elect to office men of moral worth. Woman, so far at least. Is not ,so re sponsive to factional allegiance as man. Character and reputation weigh heavier with her than a cordial hand shake or the ability to remember one's name after the first meeting. Oregon, perhaps. Is a superior field for the ex hibition of this singularly worthy trait, for its exercise is not necessarily antagonistic to political party affilia tion. Whether women would follow partisanship to undesirable ends as men have done Js not revealed by Ore gon's experience, for the character test of candidates is possible and practi cable of application in the direct pri mary. Which brings us around again to the possible conclusion that perhaps 'Oregon, which has a wide-open pri mary, is one of the favored states. Mr. Taft's rather indefinite implica tion that equal suffrage is now good for some states but not for all has certain merits that have been recog nized by other great men in respect to other issues. Mr. Roosevelt said the same thing about the recall. Presi dent Wilson has written something quite similar about prohibition. The thought may always have sprung from sincere conviction, but still It is rather a nice way of meeting the majority in every community. It is interesting to reflect that our industries exist largely subject to the dictates of a foreign nation like Aus tria. The House of Hapsburg never had any colonies in the United States, but Its rule here seems nevertheless to be pretty extensive, Americans will draw a sigh of relief when they finally learn whether their allegiance Is due to the Washington Government or to some of .the European monarchs. MISDIRECTED. The Portland Evening Journal, which sees In the proposal for a city manager a dark plot by evil men to deprive the people of their hard-won liberties and to set up a local autoc racy, ought to convince Woodrow Wilson of the error of his ways. For the President is also president of the National Short Ballot Organization. which has fathered the propaganda for city managers throughout the United States, and which takes credit to itself for the rapid spread of favor able opinion in many communities toward the plan. This Is what our excited neighbor thinks of Woodrow Wilson's proposal for a city manager: The plan denies the collective wisdom of the community. It assumes that Just as-few are wise enough to decide what is good for the city and for the people. It is the thought that prevailed 3000 years ago. It is assertion that one-man power and one man rule Is the true theory of government. All it lacks of being the elective monarchy under which Poland fell are the throne, the scepter and the trappings of kingship. In Its frequent calls upon the people to stand by their President, our neighbor chooses to overlook what It Is" pleased to regard as a device of machine politics and oligarchic rule the city manager. But it ought to feel consoled. For, while It may not be able to stand by the President on the short ballot and the city manager. It finds strong support from the bosses. For example, take this gem from an Interview 'of Boies Penrose: The so-called short ballot Is only another name for concentrating enormous power in the hands of ono individual. - Experience demonstrates that human nature is frail enough to render it probable j:hat In nearly every case this power will be abused for the selfish interest and aggrandizement of the person holding It or for the purpose of coercing the community to accept views and policies which may be advocated by the executive heads. That felicitous telegram of com mendation sent by the Journal to Elihu Root, who sought to concen trate enormous power In the hands of the Governor of New Tork, was misdirected. It ought to have gone to Boies Penrose. AMERICAN DYES TUFFS. Ever since the war broke out Unit ed States manufacturers have been worrying over the supply of dyestuffs. It had been the custom to import most that were used from Germany, and when the Kaiser's ships were driven from the seas this country bid fair to become unpleasantly colorless. The German dyes, upon which we have de pended so largely, are manufactured from coal tar, a substance that is pro duced incidentally when coal is dis tilled in gas works. ' By deft chemi cal manipulation the tar is made to yield a great number of substances, some medicinal, some used for flavor ing food and drinks. ..Explosives are also obtained from coal tar and, through a complicated process, most of the dyes commonly employed in manufacture. The Germans, being the best practi cal chemists In the world, naturally secured a .monopoly of the dyestuft business and this country found It more profitable to buy of them than to undertake the manufacture at home. But the war has changed the situation. Thrown upon their own inventive re sources, our chemists have labored at the problem of producing the dyes formerly imported from Germany, and at last they have succeeded. One of the Government chemists. Dr. Thomas H. Norton, announces that an entirely new process has been in vented for manufacturing dyes from coal tar. He speaks of it in the warm est terms. "It is revolutionary in its nature," he says, "and it will solve the dyestuff problem now confronting the country." Of course it would be a great, deal better for 'Americans to produce their own dyes than to send abroad for them. The more independ ent we can make ourselves of foreign assistance the less we shall suffer in future wars. The circumstances of the present war seem Hkely to encourage the spirit of self-reliance here in more than one direction. If we should emerge at the end of the tumult with a widely extended seagoing trade and a manufacturing industry based firmly on home products and inventions there would be some occasion for rejoicing. though it is easy enough to foresee that. whatever we may do, our losses must exceed our gains. WORKING ON CONGRESS' SYMPATHY. The charge that the sponsors for the seamen's law used the plea of hu manity in order to carry through un observed those pernicious sections which are driving American ships to foreign flags is proved by the defense which Andrew Furuseth makes. The Oregonian has repeatedly condemned imprisonment of seamen for desertion and would support any measure to secure humane treatment for seamen, but the shipowners' association of the Pacific tells us that "the practice of having deserting sailors arrested has long been discontinued except in very rare cases" and that flogging was long since abandoned." The bill fixes an allowance of butter and water for seamen, thus creating the impres sion that seamen are stinted, when In fact the Pacific Coast ship-owners agreed on a most abundant and varied menu for crews, but states that the Sailors' Union refused to abide by It, claiming the right to dictate the quan tities and varieties of food. The conclusion Is that the so-called humanitarian sections of the sea men's law were inserted only as a cloak for other provisions designed to serve a less worthy purpose. The na ture of these provisions indicates this ptA-pose to hawe been to place the shipping business in the power of the union. The sections to which the shipowners most strongly object are those requiring masters to pay seamen one-half of their wages at any port, thus putting a premium on drunken ness and desertion; the language test, which drives American ships off the Pacific Ocean and transfers commerce to China and Japan; the section per mitting one "reputable citizen" to hold up a ship; the requirement of a certain percentage of able seamen, when not enough can be found; and the abrogation of treaties, which would cause a quarrel with every commercial nation. This law has not bettered the con dition of a single American seaman. It has deprived of employment the few who were on American ships on the Pacific. It has not reduced "the number of Orientals employed on Pa cific Ocean ships. It has transferred the trans-Pacific trade to steamships which employ only Orientals. Those sections which purport to Improve the seaman's condition are either mere legal ratification , of accomplished facts or are approved by the ship- owners themselves. Only five changes are asked by shipowners among the twenty sections of the bill and the objections to those five are that they are ruinous to the shipping business and are designed only to fasten upon it control by an organization nine tenths of the members of which are not even naturalized American citi zens. Congress has been wheedled and frightened Into passing this law to Injure American shipping for the benefit of a body of foreigners. A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION. Henry Ford has had one thousand of his foremen In the Detroit plant examined for physical defects by the New York Life Extension Institute. The disclosures made as to their con dition are shocking. These men are well paid and they work under fairly wholesome conditions, but their health Is, upon the whole, far from perfect. Their physical condition is no better than that of sedentary clerks who get little exercise and subsist upon Insuf ficient food. The Ford workmen are fatter than clerks, but this Is no Indication of bet ter health, since the fat comes from over-eating, while the clerks are thin from slow starvation. At the average of 32 years half the Industrial work ers gave Indications of trouble with their hearts and arteries and 45 per cent had incipient kidney disease. Owing to the dust they were obliged to breathe Into their lungs they suf fered from tuberculosis more than the clerks, but this was not their main peril. Death attacked them insidiously by way of the heart and kidneys. The health of those who used no liquor was somewhat better than that of the moderate drinkers and they had less mouth Infection. The latter seems to be an extremely comm on J complaint among workmen. Of the fcord employes examined 70 per cent, had it In one form or another. Medi cal men are coming more and more to the opinion that a good many "con stitutional diseases" may be traced back to mouth Infection. It is ranked with tobacco, alcohol and overeating as one of the principal causes of pre mature physical decay. There Is rea son to believe that a largo part of the common physical impairment among workmen is preventable. It is, for example, comparatively easy to care for the mouth properly. Ignorant in attention is answerable for the greater part of the trouble in that quarter. It would be interesting to learn what proportion of laboring men and artisans understand the value of tha tooth brush, not as a mere polite ac cessory, but as an instrument of health. The agitation in the public schools for better care of the teeth and gums may. In the long run, profoundly benefit the public health and add to the defensive strength of the country. AS TO BACK YARDS. One of our bright exchanges has worked up a fairly complete system of philosophy, based on the appear ance of the neighbors' back yards. The editor undertakes to read the character of the .citizen from the ap pearance of this portion of his prem ises, just as a phrenologist can tell all the secrets of your mind and soul by feeling of the bumps on your skull. Using the back yard as a criterion, he divides his neighbors into three classes. The first includes those mis creants whose "front yards bubble over with flower beds while the back yard is a hideous array of slop bar rels, scrap iron and brickbats." Hypo crites, these are. All they care for Is "front." We dare say their conduct in business and in the 'bosoms of their families conforms to the appearance of their back yards. Outside all is smiling but within they are ravening wolves. The second class includes those mis erable creatures whose front and back yards are both as disreputable as possible. These wretches are cor rupt and contented, like Philadelphia, They love to wallow in old tin cans and dried-up briars and they don't care who knows it. They are not quite so bad as the smooth-surfaced hypocrites, but they are bad enough. The next class is wholly praise worthy. It revels in virtue and merits a golden crown for exemplary right eousness. These people's "front and back yards both show the utmost care." They are like the good school, boy who washes behind his ears and pares his toenails. He can strip to the skin in any company without a blush. Thus doth our editorial friend deal with the neglectful owner of a back yard. He is a moralist and a stern one. Perhaps he is a little too stern for daily human nature. He should be caught up to dwell with John Cal vin and St. Simeon Stylites. As a mat ter of practice we must permit some relaxation in the back yard as long as the front is kept reasonably decent. What man can daily explore all the nooks and crannies of his heart, and root out every little sin? And would he pe any more lovable if he did? There must be some concessions to our frail nature. MAKE TIIEM SEAL. AMERICANS. The propaganda which Germany and Austria have carried on in this country has produced results destruc tive to the existence of the United States as a Nation, were it to be imi tated by every country having former subjects among our citizens and were all such citizens to follow its teach ings. These propagandists have acted upon the assumption that every man who was born in Austria is still an Austrian and owes obedience to Fran cis Joseph, though he may have re nounced allegiance to that"sovereign years ago. The same assumption is adopted by Germany as to naturalized Germans and by France as to natural ized Frenchmen. They deny the right of a man to transfer" his allegiance from a native to an adopted land, even extending the claim to children born in this country. The United States Government has dodged this issue too long and should insist upon the acceptance of the American principle. That principle is that every man is free to become a citizen of any country which will ac cept him. It-strikes at the root of the foreign contention, for the very term "subject" implies lack of freedom to change allelrtanee without the consent of the ruler whom one would re nounce. But recent events show.that, unless we maintain it, the American Nation will be a Nation in name only. There would, it is true, be a majority of native citizens whose forefathers had been here for so many generations that no foreign government would claim their allegiance. But there would be millions of German, Aus trian, Hungarian, British. Italian and Russian birth who, according to the foreign theory, would be in the Amer ican Nation but not of it mere colo nies of foreigners who, by taking the oath of citizenship, had acquired the rights of citizens but who would not perform the duties. Indeed, If the United States engaged in war with the native country of any one of these groups, the - Ambassador from that country would call upon his group to fight against the United States and a very large proportion would respond to the summons. This is a reasonable inference from the summons of Am bassador Dumba to Austrians to quit work in munition factories and from the strike of Germans in a Chicago tool works. We cannot build a nation with groups of people who acknowledge claims of foreign countries to their allegiance. . It . is necessary that we require other nations to renounce all claim on former subjects who have become American citizens. .We must then take steps to make these new citizens Americans in spirit as well as in name. This requires education, for which the public school will serve as to the children, but a systematic effort should be made to induce adults to attend .'night school for the purpose of learning the English tongue and the history and geography of the United States. But some means should be found to scatter the foreign-born among the native population. There are dotted throughout this' country large colonies of foreign nationality which are in effect sections of Euro pean countries dropped down in the middle of the United States. They are in this country, but not of it. In such settlements the generation born in this country is as foreign as that which crossed the Atlantic. We should have no Little Italy, Little Russia, Lit tle Hungary or Little Austria In any of our cities or rural districts. No man asks the immigrant to for get his native land. That would be to ask him to forget his mother. Every native American will applaud foreign- born fellow-citizens for keepinsr- the land of their birth in loving memory. But as a man is expected to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, so he should abandon all thoughts of serving the rulers of his native land and should give sole al legiance to the government which has made him the equal of all and under which he has cast his fortunes and reared his family. As no man can serve two masters, so no man can be loyal to two flags. It devolves upon those men who have been called upon to obey foreign rulers to the injury of their adopted country to choose which they will serve the land they left or the land they live in. The Rev. E. O. Morris may feel with some Justice that he has been harshly treated. By a court order he is forbidden to open his mouth again at the Chicago Colored Baptist con vention. But he may thank his stars that he does not HVe. in the days when dissent from the majority ran up against something more disagreeable than injunctions. There was a time when Mr. Morris' case would have been . treated with thumbscrews and the iron boot. Professor Koopman, of Brown Uni versity, estimates that the silent letters In the English language cost $100,000, 000 a year. He gets this sum by tak ing into account the time, space, paper and so on that they waste. Professor Koopman has invented an alphabet of forty letters which, he says, would give us a perfect orthography. Per haps it would, but -so would a dozen other alphabets we know of. Who will tell us which to choose? Men who have accomplished much in the world are always practical but at the same time they are Idealists. They have a vision and they follow It until the dream is made reai. Wash ington Irving says of Columbus that "he was a visionary, but a visionary of a rare and unusual kind." We do not believe the type is rare. Almost every successful man is a Columbus, at least in a small way. The Arabic captain's story was that he turned to relieve the Dunsley, which had been torpedoed and behind which the submarine was hidden. The submarine's captain says he thought the Arabic was going to ram him. How could that have been when the submarine was hidden by the sinking Dunsley? There is need of further ex planation. The population of London is some thing more than 7,000,000. In the last Zeppelin raid twenty persons were killed. At this rate London will be depopulated in 350,000 nights, or in slightly less than 1000 years. Should the Kaiser live to see the work com plete, it is said that he plans to re ward all concerned in It with iron crosses. A Linn County man was fined $100 for pointing a gun at a neighbor. The man who draws a gun and does not use it is as big a fool as the man who shoots, and may be a bigger. In the one case he has no defense, in the other there will be plenty to testify he was "crazy in the head for years back." Carranza is trying to repeat with the Pan-American Conference the trick he played the A. B. C. Confer ence make its work unnecessary by knocking out the opposition before the mediators - begin to mediate. Diplo macy is handicapped by being slower than war. The Pacific Telephone Company has asked the California Commission to fix its rates. Public utilities like pub lic regulation so much that they cry for it, as babies cry for a certain soothing draft. France has a new reason for pro hibition all the alcohol is needed for ammunition to pour Into the Germans, who will not like it in that form. Phenomenal weather for fairs and hoppicking, but do not mention it and break the charm for "Our Fair" at Gresham next week. . The two bear influences on the wheat market are the "boom crop re port and the boom of the allies' guns on the Dardanelles. To see capital unbend watch the thousand visiting bankers In Portland today. "Life is not worth living with you around," said the sparrow to the Zep pelin. "Persona non grata" is a polite hint to get out and not come back. King Alfonso is the great radical among monarchs. Those electrical delegates are juicj fellows. European War Primer By National Geosraphlcal .Society. Bobruisk, the Russian fortress beyond the marshes, guards the threshold of Great Russia. Napoleon's soldiers stormed In vain the fortress, which was considered at the time of the 1812 campaign one of the strongest places n Europe. The defenses built .by Alex ander I, at the confluence of the .Bob rulska with the Beresina, withstood heavy bombardment and bitter assaults by the French. Before the fortress, toward Europe, are millions of acres of tangled, desolate marsh lands, while a long line of swamps extends for hun dreds of miles up and down behind the stronghold, simplifying the defense of Great Russia, just to the east. Bobruisk Is situated in the govern ment of Minsk, 108 miles southeast of the city .of Minsk. It is built on the high, sharply cut. red bank of the Beresina, where its triDutary, the Bob- rulska. Joins it. Steam-packets, plying up and down the Beresina and down the Beresina to the Dnieper, to the cities of Kief. Kherson and Black Sea, dock at Bobruisk, and the town has a large water traffic. It assembles and exports considerable quantities of grain and timber. Grain is also ground in its mills for export. While its manu factures are of less importance than its trade, they have builded up rapidly during the last few years. The prin cipal industrial establishments are iron works and woodworking factories. The fortress is on the railway from Libau and Vilna to Ekaterlneslaf. One of the great trans-European Russian highways, beginning at Warsaw and passing through cUedlce, Brest Lltovsk, Kobrin, northeast over the swamps to Malowldy, and thence through marsh, forest and meadow, to Moscow, passes through Bobruisk. This is one of the most direct and convenient of all the great roads leading into the heart of Russia. The fortress is more than 200 miles beyond the German lines advanc ing from the west. The town, housing a population of 35,000, was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 192. which directed the government's attention to Improvements and to the dismantled defenses. Rovno, at the southern end of the third Russian line of defense along which the Czar's troops are now re ported to be regrouping, has become of first importance, as being the last stronghold blocking the German ad vance into the rich hinterland of Little Russia, or the much-contested Ukraine, and as tying across the Teutonic path south to the Black Sea. , Rovno is the farthest removed of a triangle - of fortresses guarding Southern Russia. Lutzk, the apex of this triangle, lies north of the Galician city of Brody, and about 85 miles northeast of Lemberg. Dubno, in the southeast, 33 miles northeast of Brody, is a point on the Lemberg-Rovno Rail way. Rovno is situated i:i the midst of a hilly country, 40 miles east of Dubno and the fortress is a Junction point on the railway running from Koenigsberg through Osowiec, Brest Litovsk. and Kovel to Kherson and Odessa, with thai north-and-south line of railroad which runs behind the third line of Russian defense, from Vilna through i,iua, ijaranovicnt to the southern for tress. A German peasant community is set tled in the rolling country to the north of the fortress. Here begins, also, the una oi sunriower culture. The sun flower forms a much-respected article of diet in Muscovy, and, in season, eaters of sunflower seeds are found' everywhere. The peasants dry the seeds and chew them as means for reflection and for diversion, much as gum is chewed in America When the peasant strikes up an acquaintance wVth a stranger, he offers him, by way of breaking the ice, a handful of seeds, as the people of the West offer a drink or a cigar. Places of public use are often crisp underfoot with the husks of the seeds, which are consumed in great quantities, and particularly is this true of the railroad stations. Rovno is a town in the government of Volhynia, distant 115 miles west northwest from the capital, Zhitomir. Besides its military value, it has no im portance. Its population of 25.000, mostly Jewish, has some commerce in grain, cattle and wood, and there are a few flour mills and distilleries. Rovno is a strongly guarded gateway to a wealthier country just beyond. HIGH STEPS AND SACROILIAC JOINT Chicago Doctor Scea Humor in Mr. Gecr'a Letter, but Answers Anyhow. CHICAGO. Sept. 4. (To the Editor.) I am in receipt of The Orec-onian of August 15, in which T. T. Geer criti cises and makes light of what I am quoted as saying in regard to the bad effects on the sacroiliac joint of high streetcar steps and straphanging. While I Baid that high streetcar steps and straphanging are among the most common causes of sacroiliac trouble, I did not mean to imrjlv that that was the only cause of such trouble neitner did I wish to imrjlv that th City of Portland, which entertained the American Osteopathic Association so graciously, was an offender. If an Mr. Geer, says. I might stand on on of Portland's prominent corners and watch women young and old fairly leap up the car steps and that not one in a thousand-has the slightest trouble except for her caressing garments, then most certainly the steps of Portland's streetcars are not too high, and Port land is vindicated. But to come back to me mam proposition, which is not a local proposition or an attack upon a local corporation, but which i a uni versal fact and a universal problem; that the sacroiliac strain and pelvic distortion are very -common and are often the cause of pelvic trouble backache, lumbago', sciatica and more 'ciuute truuDie oitentimes. It is not necessary to take the word of an osteopathic physician for the truth of this statement, although h osteopathic school was the first tn recognize the fact that the sacroiliac is a movable Joint and capable of strain and distortion; the . other schools are recognizing the same conditions now and are attempting to correct them After reading the article referred to one could not doubt Mr. Geer's ability as a humorist, but it scarcely convinces one of his ability as an expert anato mist and diagnostician. The sacroiliac joint is peculiar in that the sacrum which supports the weight of the body is hung between the Iliae by heavy ligaments, these ligaments carrying the greater part of the load when one is in an upright position instead of the load resting upon a Joint surface as it does in the hip joint for instance. A high step, especially if it is accom panied by a side bending, as is apt to be the case if one uses only one hand in helping one's self up, has a tendency to gap the joint and produce a strain, or a mal-adjustment of the ilium on the sacrum. This is especially true in case of women, because the sacroiliac ligaments in women are much weaker than in men. Straphanging is perhaps worse than high steps, although there is not the excessive stretching of the ligaments. The jrking of a car from side to side, the stopping and start ing, subjects the sacroiliac joint to about every strain imaginable, but the com bination of straining the sacroiliac ligaments in getting into a car fol lowed by being Jerked around while hanging to a strap, especially (f one is tired to begin with, is more than the average Individual should ask or expect his anatomy to endure HARRISON H. FRYETTE, D O M. D., Goddard building GRANT SETTLERS WILL. NEED AID Tempsrarr Tax Exemption and State Assistance Are Advocated. BROWNSVILLE, Or.. Sept. 8. (To the Editor.) I wish to say to your readers, and to L. U Purdue, of Rose burg, whose article in the matter of the Oregon & California land grant was published in The Oregonian, that there are many large tracts of that grant in Linn County with good, rich, fertile soil. ' The only trouble with it is that brush, log, stumps and trees or tim ber cover it. Also, if this land was cleared it would make many good homes for people homeless today, and would add materially to the wealth and pros perity of the state. The great difficulty in the way i3 to get it into the hands of those who would like to build homes thereon, and to get the state or the Legisla ture to allow them to build homes thereon. The great and only desideratum seems to be to get a chance to tax this land without any kind of thought to en courage the poor fellow who tries to wrest an almost impossibility from it. How many of you have ever tried to clear some of this land? Well, I have, and I am sure I can assert, without successful contradiction, that no man with a family of young children can take his family on a tract of this best land and single handed carve out a home, or subsist long enough to do it without any outside aid. He may, if ho has a tolerably de pendable Job on the outside, eventually get started by clearing at odd times. butt will take him the best part of his sife. even then. I have a powerful stump puller. S00 feet of one-inch best yellow strand cable, nearly 50 feet of anchor cable. cluster cables and root plow, team, wagon, and in fact a good outfit and one that will remove any stump, and I am here to say that it Is the toirschest job I ever struck. Furthermore, if I nan Known just now tough it. was I would never have tackled It. And what is more, at my age :n life, if 1 had to depend on hard knocks to moke a living for myself and family wMle clearing that land it would bo an im possibility. I was in hopes some one who has had more practical experience than I nave would come torward. but. as thev have not. 1 have this recommendation to make in the matter of disposing of inai lana; Sell it in tracts not exceeding quarter section to actual settlers who wisn to make a home of it. Remit all taxes -n the Innd each year tor a number of years, upon proof of a certain amount of improvements maae. . If logged-oft or non-timbered land remit -the tnterest on the purchase price upon proof of a certain amount oi improvements made, say one-tenth eacn year ror ten years. Then at the end of ten years he would own the tana and Improvements and would take his place among the taxpayers of tne state. I would recommend f lat all taxes on his personal property to a certain amount be remitted each year during the ten years, provided he resided on tne land and made his home there. I think it would be most advan tageous to the state and to the settler as wen. ir, upon the show nr of a ror. tain amount of improvement, the state wouia lurnlsn the settler with ar.n ratus. advice and assistance in clear ing the land. takin.T .i lion on the lanrt and improvements for reimbursement to tne state for the tost and interest on such apparatus. Where such land had valuahln tltn ber it would be best to withhold title to it for. say ten ye-irs, or until a cer tain amount of Improvements had been made, or for both years and improve ments. It would also be advantageous ard helpful to all concerned if the state would advance the bona fide home builder, financial aid with which to make Improvements thereon, taking a no on tne Timoer. land and Improve ments as security. a e-ui wen aware mat there are srave aimeuities In the wav. but it can be solved, and it is up to "the state to sen that these lands are not ex ploited by speculators to the dlsafl vantage of both settlers and state, but that bona fide home builders are placed on the tillable and pasturage lands. It is not necessary to call attention to the difference in value to the state between these lands unimproved and yielding nothing of value to anyone, nor yielding any comforts to any human being, and these same lands improved and peopled with independ ent homes bearing a fair share of the burdens of the state. Furthermore, results cannot be ob tained by taxing to death at the com mencement any settler who has the hardihood to undertake the task, and with no encouragement to persevere the majority would have to quit starved out. It Is certain that none but the hardi est will undertake and carrv through an enterprise like that. Therefore, the state cannot afford to withhold from them any encouragement, actually necessary to their success. W. W. BAILEY. Seas Are Free. PORTLAND, Sept. 9. (To the Edi tor.) It has been said that age brings wisdom. After reading the letter of Levi W. Meyers, who honored himself by supporting Lincoln during his first campaign. I conclude wisdom some times fails In its choice of companions. His Germanized mind thinks England rules the sea to the detriment of all others. If such hgd been the case Germany's exports would not have grown to five times these of Great Britain. Instead, she would have been master as .well as mistress and. with Dioootnirsty spirit, developed by Ger man Kuitur, sunk all other merchant vessels crossing -the seas. And Just now England finds herself forced to do as the United States would be doing, if Mr. Myers' Idol, T. R., were in charge. We would be "licking Mexico" and saying to England, Germany or any country, who might be sending con traband of war to Mexico, "Keep off the seas leading to our foes." Germany may torpedo ships with Americans on, but as her right, England will as long as the war is on, be "mistress of the seas" within her rights. JAMES THOMPSON. Germany's Fear of Roosevelt. FALLS CITT. Or.. Sept. S. (To the Editor.) After reading a communica tion in The Oregonian, "Roosevelt Is One Who Did It." I feel like making a suggestion to the German people. Traveling throua-h Germany one finds a statue of Bismarck in almost every town of any consequence. The writer was particularly impressed by the boldness of an inscription upon one of Ihese monuments at Wiesbaden, a city of some importance in Germany. This inscription reads: "Wier Deutsche fuerchten Gott. sonst aber Nichts in der Welt." Translated this means: "We Germans fear God, otherwise nothing in the world." This is an expression used by Bis marck in one of his speeches in the Reichstag. Now my suggestion is to change that inscription to read: "We Germans fear Roosevelt and God. but nothing else on earth." I believe this would please the Colo nel and not make any difference to Bismarck. F. X. SMITH. The Richest Nation. irMIXNVILLE, Or.. Sept. 8. (To the Editor.) Which is the richest nation in the world. SUBSCRIBER. The United States. Before the war Great Britain was second and Germany third. Twenty-Five Years Ao From The Oresonlan. September 10. 1890. Nearly 1500 people crowded into fitv View Park yesterday to see the open ing day or the greatest race meet ever held in the Northwest. Everything went off smoothly and all races were contests. In the three-eighths mile running race. W. H. Babb's gelding. Bob Wade, McLaughlin up, won; Cy clone was second and Joe Colton. third. Time. :35Vi. In the seven-eighths mile dash H. D. Brown's gelding, Olympia, .nos up. won: Syntax second and Co- loma third. Time. I:29i. In the 2:30 trotting race L. P. W. Quimby's geld- ng. . H. Bailev. Sawver driving, won: Capri- was second and. Joe Kinney third. Best time. 2:27i. Salem. The recount in tha census at Salem shows a gain of more than 3000. the new figures giving 10.407 as against 7231. the first count, and 8506 the corrected first count. San Francisco. California celebrated its birthday of admission Into the Union yesterday. The Native Sons staged a gala parade. Ned Gird, of Corvallls. and Miss Nel le Goodchild. of Junction, were mar ried at Newport, Or., September 5. Larry Sullivan. "Scotty." and a few others of the Astoria aggregation of pugilists and sailor boarding-house runners, have left the city. They did not leave of their own volition. George W. New. prominent citizen of Indianapolis, father of Charles H- New. bookkeeper for Esberg. Bachman & Co.. and a cousin of John C. New, formerly united fatates Treasurer, now Consul in London, arrived in Portland yesterday. The Associated Press has given in structions to its telegraph operators to learn the manipulation of the typewrit er as it has been found that this instru ment materially increases the speed of receiving messages. Messrs. William M. Ladd. R. L. Dur ham. C. E. S. Wood, Morris Sternfels. Leonard C. Jones and T. Jesse Watson have purchased a large tract of land near the town of Hood River and pro pose putting up a hotel next year. They have platted a townslte and will call it "Idlewllde." Marlon Harland says write should not marry. women who Senator Hearst Is reported to be dick ering for the New York Star, for his son, now proprietor of the San Fran cisco Examiner. The rumor is the Sen ator will risk $1,500,000 on the Star. T. B. Reed was re-elected Speaker of the National House of Representa tives yesterday. The Republicans . of Maine held a joyful celebration as soon as the news was learned. A- scheme to build a motor line through the south end of East Portland toward Sellwood and Milwaukie came to light yesterday. TO MAKE ARTISTS IS IMPOSS1BLK Unless So Born, Product of Schools Will Be but Craftsmen. PORTLAND, Sept. 9. (To the Edi tor.) The Oregonian spoke approving ly the other day of Augustus Thomas' plea for the independence of the Amer ican stage from European influence. Of course, no fault can be found with any plea for native dramatic productions. But I have Just read in a popular week ly the details of the plan by which Mr. Thomas expects to obtain original pro ductions, and without deslrlnsr to be irreverent toward a man of Mr. Thomas" reputation, I am reminded of the people of the Southern commonwealth who met and resolved that, "Whereas, it is desirable to have a strictly Southern literature, the Hon. John Smith be ap pointed to produce such a literature." It seems that a subject for a play was assigned to students of Professor Baker's class in the drama at Harvard, with instructions that they produce a play, Mr. Thomas aiding in the tech nical parts. Classes in drama-making are to be established in all the large centers of population: I wonder what Professor Baker's con frere. Professor Irving Babbitt, who in his "New Laokoon" showed in so mas terly a way what lack of Inspiration, what barrenness of thought, went hand in hand with perfect form, during the "pseudo classic period." thinks of this attempt. From the details of the plan. It seems to be asumed that all we lack is knowledge of the technique of the drama. Is it so? We certainly have some very brilliant theoreticians of the drama Mathews, Winter, etc and yet no great dramatic productions have come from their pens. Why? Because, as a Roumanian critic Tltu Maiorscu once said, the characteristic of the poet or dramatist is subjectiv ity, while the characterization of the critio is objective. And few seem to be endowed with both. One looks in vain throush Salnte ' Beu ve's or Men endez y Pelayo's poetry, impeccable in form, for a spark of genius; although Lesslng may be considered a brilliant exception to the rule. The trouble with the American short story, if we are to believe Professor Seldel Canby. is that, while conform ing to an accepted model, it lacks spon taneity, originality, inspiration and ideas. It Is the work of craftsmen, and not of artists. And it is the same lack of originality, inspiration and ideas which is responsible for the dearth of dramatic literature. Unfortunately, these qualities cannot be taught in the classroom, nor ac quired, correspondence schools for writ era to the contrary notwithstanding. The fact that so few of our stage suc cesses are considered worthy of per petuation in print indicates that if our dramatists are lacking, it is not . in knowledge of the "tricks of the trade." Even Mr. Thomas' published plays differ from their "acting versions." Instruction such as Mr. Thomas in tends to give may produce an occasional dramatic craftsman, capable or produc ing at command plays to "suit the tal ent of Miss So-and-So," but will not produce dramatic artists. Dramatists, like poets, are born, not made. Les festins humans qu'Ils servent a leur fetes Ressemblent la plupart a ceux des pelicans. Quand Us p&rleut ainsl d'esperances trom pees De tristesse et d'oubll, d'amour et de mal heur. Ce n'est pas un concert a dllater le ceur. I.eurs declamations sont comme des espees: Klles tracent dans lair un cercle eblouissant. Mais 11 y pend toujours quelque goutte de sang-. (Musset. Nuit de Mai.) (The repasts served at their ban quets are like the pelican's: When they speak of forlorn hopes, of love, and misfortune, their declamations are like swords they may trace a dazzling cir cle in the air. but a drop of blood clings to them.) LEON R. YANCKWICH. "Some Men Have Such Good Taste" x You see it reflected in their neck ties and in the snappy shirt pat terns they wear. Their clothes give them indivld aality. These men do not buy from stores with poorly chosen- stocks and un known brands. They are particular. They do not choose haphazard. They inform themselves. In nine cases out of ten they keep informed by reading the advertising 1n their favorite newspaper. ft