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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1915)
8 THE MORNING OREGOXIAy. TniJESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1015. PORILAXD, OREGON. Entered at Portland, Oregon, 2'ostofflce as svcona-ciass matter. Subscription Hates Invariably in advance. (By Mail.) Hally, Sunday Included, one year $8.00 Xally. Sunday included, six months 4. 15 Iaily. Sunday included, three months... 2.23 Xiiy, Sunday included, one. month "3 XJaily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 I'ally, without tiunday, six months 3.25 Ia!iy, without Sunday, three months. ... 1.T5 X'aiiy. without Bunday. one month...... .00 Weekly, one year 1.00 fcunday, one year feunday and Weekly, one year (By Carrier.) rally, Sunday Jnciuded, one year.... Ually. buMlay included, one month. 2.50 3.00 s.oo .78 How to Kemtt Send postofflce money or per, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at senaer a risk, uive poatoiiice address in lull, Including county and state. Postage Kate 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18 to o- Pages. 'J cents: 34 to 4t oases. 8 cents: t0 to 00 pages. 4 cents; to 76 pages, a cents; 78 to 02 pages 6 cents. Foreign poat- so aouoie rates. Eastern Business Offices Verree & Conk lin. Brunswick buildlncr. New York: Verree s Conkho. bteBer building, Chicago; ban Francisco representative, R. J, BitlwalU 7J juarKet street. POKTLAM), TUIKSDAV, SEPT. 10, 1813. I THE -LASn GRANT CONFERENCE. The land grant conference which Will begin its deliberations at Salem today will apparently have no com plaint as to the number or variety of the. policies that will be proposed for its endorsement. They will range irom trie simple to the complex. There are those, it is presumed, who advo cate Government control and reserva tion; there are those who propose state control and reservation, and there are still others who want the lands opened to settlement on wholly unrestricted terms and do not care iwhether Government or state or rail road has administration so long as the land Is made available to the first ap plicants at a nominal price. These are the more simple pro posals. There are others which pro vide certain restrictions in detail. Ex Governor AVest advocates an appeal to Congress to permit the state to pur chase the grant from the railroad company, iwith the idea of gaining profits from its disposition for the benefit of the common school fund. Judge Cleeton proposes that the con ference make a similar effort, but he would have the proceeds from the lands divided into three funds one for loans to settlers, one for highways over the land and one for Irrigation purposes. H. L. Ganoe, of Portland, has issued a pamphlet in which he suggests that the conference stand for a. policy which would give the settler on each tract of timbered land 50 per cent of the annual timber sales from ihis tract, to be expended for clearing and improvements and that, the other 0 per cent of the timber proceeds be divided equally between the public Toads of the county where the tract is located and the irrigation- of arid lands within the state. Mr. H. H. Schwartz has offered the general out line of a plan which would aid settlers to improve the land by making profits from the timber sales available as loans. In one or two of the afore mentioned proposals and in some of others offered, it is suggested that the Government surrender its rights to the state and that the state paj- the rail road its $2.50 per acre as the lands are 6old. It is not the purpose of The Orego nian herein to advocate a complex policy or to question the abstract vir tues of any of the detailed plans that have been offered. It ends its own suggestions iwith expression of the be lief that it is 'profoundly to Oregon's interests that the lands be not re served for speculation by either Gov ernment, railroad, state, company or individual; that Oregon's welfare is dependent upon a prompt conversion into homes of that portion of the grant which is suitable for agriculture and upon the earliest possible return of the entire tract to the tax rolls. But it is perhaps timely to point out some of the difficulties that stand in the way of success of a detailed plan it such should be adopted by the con ference. For example, a plan that contem plates state purchase of the lands and subsequent state administration Is confronted by three contingencies: The consent of Congress; the willing ness of th railroad to sell and the approval by the people of Oregon of a. $3,000,000 bond issue. Failure in any one particular would kill the plan. It cannot be denied that in Congress there is a strong ultra-conservation element. This sentiment is opposed to state control of natural resource's. Deep ignorance of Oregon and West ern conditions also prevails among most of the Eastern delegations. Not only must preconceived opposition, therefore, be overcome, but an edu cational work of large proportions provided for. What hope could there be for favorable action by Congress unless a strong delegation of private citizens were sent to Washington to remain for an indefinite period? And who could devote their time to the matter? Who would pay their ex penses? As to the railroad's willingness to sell the grant to Government or state at $2.50 per acre, perhaps the proceed ings of the conference will be informa tive, as the railroad Is to be repre sented. It has been suggested, but riot by an authoritative source, that the railroad may hold that Congress can not compel it to sell; that it has as good a hand in the game as state or Government and that by standing pat it can ultimately compel Congress to grant it more favorable consideration than a straight $2.50 per acre. We trust that this is not the railroad's present attitude. We cannot believe it is. Yet it may be.- If the railroad deems itself permanently secure in its $2.50 per acre it may be willing to gamble the obvious benefits to it of prompt settlement of vacant lands in its traffic territory against a possible direct profit from the grant. If so, it will be up to Oregon to make the railroad company see the light. As to whether the people of Oregon would approve a $5,000,000 bond issue for the purchase of the lands If the other two contingencies were settled favorably there is an element of doubt. AVe are wholly unable to fore cast the result. As to those plans which contemplate a relinquishment by Congress of the Government's interest to the state un der guarantee from the state that it will pay the railroad as the lands are sold, and also as to the proposal that the state buy the grant outright, it is probable that in the present state of Congressional enlightenment, the act would be combated as a grant to Ore gon of Government lands on an en tirely new basis and as the establish ment of a precedent which would make future trouble for Congress. There, is another suggestion for ac tion, by the conference which is aimed to overcome these apparent obstacles to the enunciation of a. detailed policy. It is that the conference declare I formally by resolution the Interests of Oregon in the settlement and taxation of the grant and then invite Congress to send a committee to Oregon for the purpose of gaining first-hand informa tion of local conditions and formulat ing some solution of the problem that will be just to the Government, the State of Oregon and the railroad com pany. This plan is naturally predicated upon the assumption that Oregon's primary Interests in the disposition of the grant are bound to be so clear to those who understand Oregon condi tions and are so strongly founded on justice that action favorable to Oregon would be recommended by the com mittee; furthermore, that if a just and reasonable bill were prepared public sentiment would impel the railroad company to accept its provisions with out litigious contention. As already stated The Oregonian en dorses no policy other than that broadly outlined. It has discussed some of the complexities that confront the conference in the hope that the delegates will give them thought and come to some wise conclusion. To do that will be no trivial task. But let it not ignore the existence of a wide spread opinion in this state. In the public estimation, as we read it, Ore gon needs more settlers; It wants no more of its lands included" in reserva tions; it disputes the right of Congress to withdraw from the tax rolls, except for necessary purposes to government, lands that have . once been legally taxed; it contends for prompt settle ment of the agricultural lands in the grant; it opposes private speculation in the timber and it opposes any pub lic speculation therein that will Inter fere with the early use or develop ment of the lands by cultivation or other industry. WORSE THAN WAR. Sir. Bryan makes repeatedly the sneering proposal that all the jingo editors who want war ought to be re quired to enlist and be put in the front rank on the firing line, there to get the full benefit of their belligerent and bloody policies. Mr. Brayn pretends that everybody who opposes his turn-the-other-cheek notions is necessarily an advocate of war. It is a false and silly assump tion. There Is no newspaper of stand ing anywhere that wants war, or thinks of war, except as a deplorable alternative to save the Nation or to protect Its honor and .vital rights. Mr. Bryan thinks that the way to have the world disarm is first to lay down one's own arms. To show one's own helplessness to the world is to invite indignities and attacks from possible enemies. All history proves it. It is folly to deny it, or attempt to ignore it. There are worse tragedies than war. One of them is national indifference to a nation's rights and duties. Next comes national decay. GONZALEZ r'eIGN OF TERROR. General Gonzalez, who has taken command of Mexico for Carranza, has shown what kind of a deliverer he is by issuing the following proclamation: There -will be inexorable punishment not only for the active enemies in the field (after the amnesty expires September 15), but for all indirect abettors of treason, even those who- disseminata false or de moralizing news, as well as those who cir culate money issued by any but the Car rania government.. We will institute a veritable campaign of extermination, against all armed enemies. Since Madero succeeded Porfirio Diaz, the capital- of Mexico has fallen a prey to a series of such deliverers. First came Felix Diaz with his 10 days' battle in the city, then Huerta, then in turn .Carranza, Villa and Za pata, each occupying and evacuating the city as the fortune of war changed. Murder, summary execution, loot and starvation have been the lot of the people. President Wilson at Indianapolis said it is "a fundamental principle that every people has the right to de termine its own form of government." The only people who have exercised that right in Mexico are the military and bandit chiefs. The only right that has been left to the rest of the people is the right to be robbed, starved and killed. These are the effects of what Colonel George Harvey calls the anaemic policy of the Administration. The only persons whose rights are re spected are those who by their crimes have forfeited their rights. The only persons whose rights are not re spected are those who patiently, peacefully or through sheer helpless ness suffer by those crimes. Which class has the greater claim on our sympathy? SENSIBLE EUGENICS. The type of mind that loves to be lieve the world never can be any bet ter than it is now has a particular grudge against the new science of eu genics because it proudly promises to do the very thing which the rooted pes simist avers never can be done. The eugenist says that the same laws of heredity which have made other ani mals rugged, beautiful and docile can do the same for mankind if they are properly applied. The pessimist an swers groaningiy that it is of no use to try any such experiment, for he knows beforehand that it would fail. One of these Jeremiahs exclaims, "there is no evidence that the qualities man has selected for breeding in sheep are of any advantage to the sheep itself." And if long wool Is of no ad vantage to the sheep that bears it how under the sun can any qualities what ever -be of xise to man? Such is the logic of the opponent of eugenics. It compares quite favorably with the reasoning of the anti-suffragists, but that is the only praise we can give it. No eugenist of whom we ever heard proposes to breed men according to the practice of the farmyard. The re sults might be beneficial or they might not. It is useless to dogmatize about them with no facts to go by and the actual experiment is one that is never likely to be tried. What the eugenists want is better public 'education in the principles of heredity. They believe that if the laws were better understood which govern the transmission of disease, vicious propensities and mental de fects, many, foolish marriages might be prevented and some wise ones pro moted. Whatever our prejudices may be we must admit that It is foolish foT a healthy girl to marry an imbecile man. It is worse than foolish for a syphilitic man to Inveigle a pure woman into marriage with him. It is a crime unless indeed he has been cured of his malady. Even then it seems as if she were entitled to know the facts of the situation. It is by correcting some of the siily popular notions concerning marriage and heredity that the eugenists hope to effect a slow improvement in the human race. They, also desire to pre i . . . . i i vent certain classes of the "unfit from mating and propagating their kind. Surely nothing is to be gained by the multiplication of imbeciles. thieves and congenital paupers. Of course we should still have plenty of these classes, even if all the unfit were sterilized. As long as social con ditions produce defectives and crimi nals we shall have them with us. The forces which degrade and ruin human beings must be checked beforo the world will be clear of the unfit. But no doubt it would be helpful to pre vent the propagation of undesirable specimens. We question whether sterilization is the best way to reach this end. It is cruel in Itself and it excites horror in the public imagination. Confinement is just as effective and less repulsive. The multiplication of the unfit bene fits nobody and harms almost every body. It is particularly injurious to self-respecting working men, since it tends to stock the labor market with cheap and servile competitors. Wage earners would be more benefited than any other class by intelligent control of births. OREGON REPUBLICANS' CHOICE The canvass of Republican local leaders in Oregon by the state com mittee shows the strongest desire of the party to be for the nomination of a candidate for President on whom the party can unite. That is the ex planation of the preference for Justice Hughes as first choice. He Is recog nized as a man who will calm the con servative fear of radicalism, while sat isfying the progressive desire to go forward. He is without doubt the strongest man in the estimation of Republicans holding all shades of opinion, not only In Oregon, but in many other states as well. The preference for Senator Borah as second choice, is due to a variety of motives. One is the fact that, though he took a leading part in Colonel Roosevelt's fight for the Republican nomination in 1912, he did not bolt the ticket. He is therefore acceptable to the great body of Republicans who incline to neither extreme of policy. He is so unquestionably progressive that he commands the support of progres sives both those who stayed in and those who went out of the party. He is at the same time so reasonably pro gressive that conservatives can find no valid objection to him. Oregon Republicans would welcome his nomi nation also because he is a Western man, who has made a valiant fight for Western rights and interests, and be cause they are confident that. If he were President, those rights and inter ests would Teceive the care which they sadly need. Oregon admires Mr. Borah personally because of his char acter, his ability and his achievements. Ji.itner or these two men would re ceive the united Republican vote of Oregon for President and would carry the state by a majority of many thou sands. The Republicans of this state. however, have not given their alle giance to any particular candidate. They are ready to give loyal support to any genuine Republican, free from taint of reaction, whom the National convention may nominate. NO TIME FOR PARTISAN FEELING. Governor Withycombe is respon sible for the land-grant conference at Salem today. It is his creation. It is an effort by him as the state's chief executive to clarify the discussion over the profitable disposition of the rail road lands, and to advance by a step the movement for solution and settle ment. He does not shirk his duty to the state or to the conference. He feels undoubtedly that the policy it adopts, or the recommendations it makes, ought, to be the product of untrammeled and uncoerced delibera tion; and he feels, too, a sense of ob ligation to accept the results and in good faith to use the power and pres tige of his office to make them effective. These are the reasons, no doubt. why Governor Withycombe has said that after he shall have made a brief address in opening the conference he does not intend to participate active ly." Now the inquiry is directed to The Oregonian as to why Senator Chamberlain is not free to keep away from Salem during the conference if that privilege is to be granted to Gov ernor Withycombe. "Upon whom," it is asked, "more than the Governor of the state rests the duty of formu lating and helping shape a policy that will bring about the greatest welfare to the people of the state?" Upon the Congressional delegation, we should say. The disposition of the railroad lands is placed by the Su preme Court decision directly with Congress. It, will be the duty of the Oregon delegation at Washington to procure legislation that will benefit the state and its citizens. If the Salem conference is to have any Importance or validity, it is clear that a rational and practicable policy must be adopt ed and that it must be acceptable to Congressv What policy will be accept able to Congress? From the far-off shores of Coos Bay, which has been the favored seat of his latest junketing sojourn, the voice of Senator Chamberlain is heard saying that he will approve the plan of the. conference, if it is made as the result of a free and open discussion, and if it is such a policy as he can accept. A trifle delphlc, but never theless clearly indicative of the Sen ator's non-receptive frame of mind. The proceedings of the conference will be futile, of course, if it shall not adopt a course approved by Oregon's Senators and Representatives.- It will be unfortunate, then, if all the Con gressmen shall not be on hand at Salem, at least for purposes of con sultation and admonition. The - Gov ernor will be available, and the entire state may well wish that the Senators and Representatives will be. It is no time for quibblings or recriminations, or querulous whimsicalities or laissez faire postponements of real and press ing duty. It is a time for sober real ization of the fact that the larger in terest of a great state is involved in the opening of the land grant to set tlement." " It will be regarded as a strange and unpardonable avoidance of duty if the Senators and Representatives shall not solicit and procure, if possible, the support of the entire commonwealth for the effort they must make before Congress to procure beneficial rail road land-grant legislation. It Is no time for partisanship. GOING OUT AGAINST SPOILSMEN. If a statement of the Boston Tran script is correct. President Wilson is preparing trouble for himself in his programme of National defense. His plan is said to be the increase of our forces without Increased expenses by stopping the present waste in Army and Navy expenditures. As evidence of this waste it is stated that Germany spends 55 per cent of her, revenue on account of war, Japan 4 5 per cent. Great Britain 37-per cent, France 35 per cent, while the United States, with a smaller Army than any of these na tions, spend3 68 per cent. The voluntary system -is necessarily more expensive than compulsory serv ice and thus may account partly for our higher ratio. But many expenses of civil government are charged to the central government in Europe, which are borne by the states under our Fed eral system. Thus our ratio of mili tary expense is artificially raised. The most obvious measure of econ omy which Congress could adopt would be abolition of many Army posts and concentration of-the Army at a few large posts. Ex-Secretarj Stimson estimated that by this means more than $5,000,000 a year would be saved, and certainly efficiency Would be vastly enhanced. But the proposal would no sooner be made than the pork-barrel statesmen would form in solid phalanx. She same is true of Navy yards. In order to carry any such . plans of economy through Congress, Presi dent Wilson would need to align all his forces for a determined fight with combined opposition, which would struggle with the desperation of ra pacity. Somersetshire is a great English apple district. The orchards are not cultivated aa in Oregon, but grow up to grass, which is tall and rank at the season when the fruit is ripe. There is so mucn rain in tne English Sum mer that drouth does not trouble the orchards as it does in Oregon when the ground remains unfilled. Nor are the apples picked so carefully as in the Hood River section. They are shaken off into the grass and gathered Into heaps, mostly for the cider mill. The British like their apples best in liquid form. Jackson, Miss., has some confidence in the boys of that region. The Board of Trade offers to sell any boy a good pig for $10 and take his unsecured note in payment on two years' time. The expectation is that a smart boy can double his money by fattening the pig. If he sells the increase only he can clear $100 in a single year. With such profits In pigs we shall expect every boy near Jackson to be a mil lionaire before long. Nine of twelve members of the Chamber of Commerce who were sud denly asked who was Vice-President of the United States hid their blush ing faces and confessed that they couldn't tell. Probably ninety men out of a hundred are In the same boat. There is so little occasion to remem ber the Vice-President's name that 1t slips out of the memory and when one does remember him it seems hardly worth while. An Iowa association of good roads enthusiasts has undertaken to build 1900 miles within the next five years. They talk of engaging General Goe thals to look after the work. If the General should undertake to fill all the offices for which he has-been nom inated lately he would have a busy time of it. But about the good roads why cannot Oregon have an asso ciation like that one in Iowa? The positive statement is made that nearly 3,000,000 Jave enlisted in Great Britain. If they had equipment there would be something doing; but Great Britain, like English-speaking coun tries in general, was not prepared. Where are the young people of Aberdeen to spoon on cool evenings if barred from the free reading-room and how is civic improvement to be promoted if the mating instinct is checked? Horseshoers in convention say hard- surface pavements wear out horse shoes four times as fast as before; yet no one notices the horseshoer getting Independently rich. The city purchasing department Is said to have saved $1900 by calling for new bids for feed, but has It saved the $100,000 a year promised when it was established? There is no conclusive evidence in the Hesperian affair, but there is a whole lot in affairs in Northern Mex ico, If this Administration wants to do something. The submarine M-l could almost cross the Atlantic and return. If we had a hundred such vessels, our Navy would be equipped with one arm of defense. What the Governor of North Caro lina will say to the Governor of South Carolina when visiting after New Year's remains to be heard. If the Germans can iind a way to carry American goods home, they are free to borrow American money with which to pay for them. There is nothing the matter with Echo, where the taxpayers have just voted $10,000 for a City Hall and $3000 for a city park. The Controller of the Currency will note that deposits in Portland banks show a gain of a few millions every time he "hollers." Averse as the United' States is to Intervention in Mexico, we are now facing Mexican intervention In Texas. Japan wants a whack at the allies' money and will mobilize industrial re sources rather than send fighting men. Germans are within 400 miles of Petrograd. but Winter is due very soon to check advance. Secretary Lansing wishes to have no misunderstanding about the fact that Dr. Dumba is "fired." Candy stores, of course, must be closed on Sunday, according to Justice Burnett's decision. When James Peebles' auto truck hit the streetcar, the second bump was for safety first. Great weather for a ride to Gresliam and a gTeat little show when you get there. The Oregon boy envies the boy In the East, where it Is too hot to keep school. Only a Republican administration can build the Portland Postoffice edi fice. It is as easy for a hophouse to take fire as it is to allege incendiarism. 1 .1 KO FAVORITISM IS European War Primer Br National Geographical Society-. Hundreds of thousands of Germans were living under the Scepter of the Czar when the world war broke out, the Teutonic subjects of Russia being greater many times in number than the combined German sojourners of all the other allied nations. Until very recent years the condition of these German colonists In Russia was that or favored citizens, of citizens specially entrusted with the work of developing the empire. With the strong revival of the Great Russian policy, that of the Kussiflcation of the whole monster land, however. German schools were suppressed and. other measures were adopted toward making the Teutonic citizens Rood Slavs. mm The Czar's German subjects formed a much more important element in Rus sia than is generally considered. From their ranks were recruited the model artisans and peasant proprietors, while they furnished a significant quo ta to the ranks of Russia's professional men. business men and technical work ers. Descendants of the German col onists who were brought into the em pire by Catherine the Great, herself a, German Princess, were prominent lawyers, university teachers, scientists engineers, army leaders, captains of industry and of commerce and mem-. bers of the Russian bureaucracy and diplomatic corps. For generations these German col onists and their Slav neighbors have gotten along amicably with one an other. Their attitude, on both sides. nas Been one or tolerance and irood nature. The German language served as a medium of communication every where, whether at Petrograd or Vladi vostock, at Archangel or Kherson. The colonists mostly persisted in the use of their mother tongue, sent their children to German schools, celebrated their religion in Lutheran churches, presided over by the old-type German Lutheran pastors, and kept to the cus toms which they had brought with them from Saxony, from Bavaria and from Westphalia. Russian Germans were divided into four classes, the colonists, the business classes, the intellectuals and the no bility. The German nobility, the own ers of vast estates, were mostly con fined to the Baltic provinces. The history of their services to the land of their adoption forms no unimportant part in Russian annals. On the other hand. Russia has been lavish with her lavors to her German citizens. Cour land. Livonia and Esthonia were the provincial seats of the powerful Teu tonic Russian nobility, old German families with ancestral lines clear through centuries. They have filled the high places in the Russian state honorably and ably and there has never been any question of their loy alty. Practically all of them were Lutherans. The intellectuals lawyers, doctors, artists, engineers, scientists, archi tects, pastors, and so on and the business classes of Germans in Russian dominions formed the Czar's most im portant division of Teutonic subjects. In many of the towns the German in tellectuals furnished occupants for all the best posts, while from the ranks of the same people came a preponder ating number of the millionaires. Teu tonic tradesmen. manufacturers and commercial travelers have been busied in the flevelopment of every corner of the empire. Before the war they were to be found in all parts of the land, doing a thriving business. The German colonists were agricul turists. They were first brought into Russia by Catherine the Great, in the hope that they would serve as teach ers of better and more scientific farm ing to their new fellow citizens, and vast grrajits of land were made to them. One belt of setlement reaches down the Volga Valley from Tver, branching south from the Volga to Kharkof. Many privileges were given to these settlers and their colonies rapidly grew rich. Their villages were plant ed with fruit , trees: their farms were operated with' Germanic thrift and at tention to business and the more ad vanced methods of agriculture in use in their old homes were put into prac tice. Their Slav neighbors, in many cases, profited by example and learned much from Teutonic management. The position of the colonist, however, was better than that of his neighbor. He was never a serf, but a peasant pro prietor; and, therefore, he enjoyed a many vears' handicap over the Russian peasant. It is these colonists in Cen tral Russia who have been the back bone and the sinew of Russian agri culture. PLIGHT IS LITTLE VXDKRSTOOD Josephine County' Development Hurt ' by Renrnailsn Policy. HOLLAND, Or.. Sept. 11. (To the Editor.) As a citizen of Josephine County I desire to express my grati tude for your most enlightening edi torial September 7. entitled "Stranding a County." We seem isolated here In the southern part of the state, with few influences to champion our cause. To those who do not understand our situation I would only suggest that they read your timely editorial above mentioned. As you pointed out. over two-thirds of the entire area of this county is either in Government reserve or rail road reserve. From the first condi tion we can see no immediate relief, as we do not expect the Government to change its policy of forest reserva tion. There will soon be, however, an opportunity for Congress to act in re gard to the disposition of these rail road grant lands In Josephine County as well as in other counties. I have lived here in this county of Southern Oregon for over seven years and have therefore been in position to note the conditions existing here as a result of the railroad reserve. Much of this land Is suitable for agricultural purposes and much is mineral in char acter. Our taxes are high and our people are only awaiting an opportun ity to till the soil and thus increase the amount of land subject to taxation. There is also some timber land in the railroad reserve, but it is gener ally known to be more valuable for Its mineral resources than for the actual timber thereon. The pros pectors of this county are also await ing action on the part of the Govern ment in making some provision for the mineral lands, that they may be given a field for labor and a chance to make a livelihood. They care not for the timber, but only ask that the rich est mineral lands in the state ba classified as such and not as timber lands, when they are known to be more valuable for the mineral depos its contained therein. Again as a citizen of Josephine County, I wish to thank you for the stand which you have taken in our behalf and your clear understanding of our situation, which apparently few people in the northern part of the state have been able to realize. VIRGIL E. M'KIXXET. India la Makins Munitions. From the London Timesf Bombay The participation of India In the supply of munitions is univer sally acclaimed. It is believed that tha resburces of the country, if fully de veloped, will produce substantial re sults, as India is now a steel producer and the engineering shops have been greatly expanded. Labor is eager. Mr. Victor Bayley. the newly ap pointed superintendent of munitions for India, has completed arrange ments by which all railway workshops, eight large manufacturers, and a larta number of Jute mills will produce munitions. INVOLVED Public Interest Only Motive of Effort to Connect Telephone System. PORTLAND, Sept. 15. tTo the Edi tor.) In The Oregonian of September 15 were two letters . relative to the proposed plan of the Public Service League to secure an interchange of local telephone service. In order to correct any misunderstanding that may exist in the mind of cither writer or the general public I wish to make a statement on behalf of the league. The plan proposed is an attack upon neither company. It is an honest en deavor to secure an adequate telephone service at a cost that is not exorbitant. An interchange between the two com panies is now made for long-distance calls and If the practice was extended to include local business it would not violate any of the terms of the fran chises under whifeh they operate nor destroy any of the property which either possesses. On the other hand the public would enjoy the advantage of a competition based solely upon the merit of the service rendered and would be able to discontinue the use of one phone or the other as individual preference dictated. The order of the Public Service Commission directing the connection in the Oregon Hotel was upheld by the Federal Court when an appeal was taken to that court. Likewise the present interchange over the long distance toll lines of the two com panies is-.made under the direction of the United States Court. It would seem that the legality of such an order -has been proven and the practicability of a connection between the two com panies is every day being demonstrat ed to the limited number, who are af fected by these orders. . If the plan has proven feasible In the ono instance there is no good rea son why It shouldn't be made to in clude all other phone users and the business men and citizens of Portland, who by granting franchises have made existence possible for theso companies, are entitled to enjoy every benefit growing out of their operation and in sist they shall not be discriminated against. We fail to to see how an interchange can Increase the cost to the public. The maximum charges for the compa nies are limited in their franchises and that maximum is now being charged by the Pacific Company. Should an Interchange of service be ordered the Public Service Commission is in posi tion to see that no undue burden is thrown upon either company without Just compensation from the other. Surely these companies are no great er than the community which licenses their operation and the dual telephone situation as it exists in Portland today imposes a cost that is excessive and an annoyance which is unnecessary. The league and the professional and busi ness men who have joined with it are trying to work out a solution that Is fair to all concerned. PT-BL1C SERVICE LEAGUE. By Ross M. riummer. President. LOGANBERRY TO SOLVE PROBLEM It Offers Sure, Profitable Crop for Oregon Stump Land. PORTLAND, Sept. 14. (To the Edi tor.) For publishing the letter by Thomas McCusker you deserve the thanks of all those bent on finding a solution to our biggest problem the profitable settling of our cut-over lands. Within a radius of 100 miles from Portland, we have several millions of acres of logged-off lands, now idle, unsightly and useless a dead asset to their owners. Very few settlers will take up these lands and carve out a farm and a home from amongst the stumps, because it is not profitable to do It. The price of the stump land, the long time to wait for returns and the back-breaking labor required to bring the land under cultivation make the cleared land too dear ever to pay for itself. Even after it is cleared there is the competition in the glutted mar kets among all the farmers on small tracts competition that often brings prices down to a point where profit vanishes. With these lands practically all planted to loganberries, as advocated by Mr. McCusker. there would be no competition, except as to quality, and no lack of a market. Each grower would deliver his berries' to the central organization which would sell some raw berries, evaporate some and make Juice out of the rest. There would be no waste and growers would know in advance just what their income was to be. Now for a few figures in the case. Taking advantage of the newest meth od of clearing, stump land can be taken, cleared, plowed, planted to logan berries and delivered to the set tler at a reasonable profit at $150 an acre. It is true that the price in the market today is considerably more than that, but that does not affect my statement. And off every acre handled right the grower should make a net profit of $200, In addition to $75 an acre that can be made from the sale of plants if desired. Here Is a plan that is definite, prac tical and for the good of Oregon. Let one of the big owners of logged-off land turn over 1000 acres of his Idle land, as a start, to a company organ ized to settle It. Let these lands be cleared by the new method,, using the labor of the settler in the work, and letting him pay part of the price of his tract that way. Have the block platted into ten-acre tracts and planted to loganberries. Potatoes or other crops may be grown between the rows the first year and after that the berries will be producers. The colonizing company will arrange for the erection of a cannery, evaporator or Juice mill as thought most profitable. They will make contracts with all growers for their full product and at the close of each season can pay a bonus to sup pliers as is done by some creameries. Loganberry juice Is a product that offers clur state one of Its biggest op portunities. Its demand can be so stim ulated that every acre of our idle land can be turned to account. Portland will some day be made prosperous by the humble loganberry and there is no reason other than our own indifference why that day cannot be in the very near future. G. WYNN WILSON. MAMMY'S GOOD-BYE TO SUMMER. Now, 'Rastus, what you gloomin' 'bout? Got a touch o' rheumlz or gout? Too poor fo' one. too young fo' t'other? Dat's right, smile at yo' ol' mother. Summer's gone, an' all de birds? Well, if dem ain't foolish words! Why, man alive, if Summer's gone. So has de heat Jest see dat lawn! An if de birds is gone, creation! Dey's only takin' a vacation. Besides, dey ain't all gone, you know. Some never will go 'way no mo'. Becus dey Ilka dese noble scenes. Dese mount ns an cool evergreens. Dey like to feel de soft winds blow On hillsides where dey ain't no snow. What if it pours, an' pours, an' pours? Dey ain't no cracks in dese here doors. An' if dere's rivers in de street, Dey ain't no germs fo' us to eat. No. 'Rastus. don't sit down an' grieve, Bu Jes' get up and stretch an' breave! Jes' breave dis good ol'. clean ol' air FAVORITISM An say, "I s glad I se here, not dere!" Pick up dat banjo, strike de cawd. An' while y'u's playin' thank de Lawd Dat sun inside keeps shiniu' on. Even after Summer s gone. An' listen, Summer'll come again. Ez lovely ez It's ever ben. An while y'u's waitin", seems to me You can make Summer where vou he! MARY H. FORCE. Twenty-Five Years Ago From The Oresonian, September IS, ISso. Salem This city is in gala attire. The ?0th annual Oregon State Fair opened yesterday. Governor Pennoyer has sent a let ter to Secretary Noblo demanding a recount of the census in this state. Chehalis. Wash. The city election, the first under the Australian ballot system, resulted yesterday aa follows: '. W. Haynard. Mayor; C. C. Gregg. Assessor: I. Jr. Urquhsrt. Treasurer, and Dr. J. T. Coleman, Health Officer. Frithjof ansen, the Norwegian, wiil lead an exploration party in search of the North 1'ole in 1SSZ. it is announced. New York. Jack Dempsey and Bob Fitzsinimons have been matched to ap pear at New Orleans, it is announced unofficially here. Washington Bodle. a lad of 12 years, arrived on a Northern Pacific train yesterday, expecting to be met by his father, a farmer, who. the lad says, lives about eight miles from town, but in which direction he does not know. The father had not been found late last night, and the boy is being cared for by the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society. The baseball team, the Northenders, defeated the Reds 29 to 9 yesterday. John Gordon Is captain of the winners and Joe Dolph captain of the Reds. Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun. has pone to Europe for a six months' conference. Mrs. E. J. Godfrey, a wealthy lady of Denver, accompanied by her niece. Miss Helen Nicholson, are at the Portland while Mrs. Godfrey is looking after her property in this part the country. Mrs. Alice Houghton, of Spokane Falls, the real estate investor, spec ulator and agent, was interviewed in New Ybrk by a reporter. Mrs. Hough ton told how she made her first $10. 000 in real estate in Spokane Falls. She is in New York to see the North ern Pacific official on some right-of-way business. J. O. Shirley, the well-known stock man of Union County, was in the city yesterday. W. W. Spaulding has a large and handsome residence nearly completed on Park avenue. The new St. Helen's Hall building ia rapidly nearing completion. From The Oresonian September 1. 1S5. The correspondent of the New York Tribune at Washington intimates that there are still some male coquettes in the Treasury Department. Ho says that a number of timorous treasury clerks, having- the fear of the "Womm in Black" before their eyes, have in structed the messengers in the depart ment to say "'Not at home" to every suspicious female desiring an audience with them. A Rockford. 111., inventor has devised a horseshoe that does away with nail ing the shoe to the hoof. It holds the shoe in place by a series of clamp hinges. It is pronounced a success and a very humane machine, by veterinari ans. Governor Hamilton, of Texas, has is sued a proclamation urging the people of the state to take measures to restore Federal and state authority at once. The proclamation tells the blacks that they are free and that freedom shall ba maintained. J. E. Vinton, of California, will de liver a temperance lecture at the Meth odist Church Sunday evening. Mr. Virv ton is traveling in tha interests of Post Office Department business also. Those who are maligning President Johnson are the same ones who a short time ago were maligning President Lin coln. There will be a sacred concert at the Cosmopolitan saloon Sunday morning at 10:30 oclocK. John Bruce has opened a shipbuilding yard on the levee north of the Portland sawmill. Thomas Stevens lost his gold watch and chain on College street near tt.e brickyard on the evening of Septem ber 13. Breckenridge. Jacob Thompson and Slidell have assembled in Paris. Their hopeful arguments and discussions are on the rumors that France and the United States may become involved in war. It is said that the movement to urge war on Mexico is only part of the general scheme. The Vancouver Register has made its appearance and is a creditable sheet with good editorials. Teople should be careful about put ting up a stovepipe. One of our good citizens paid a line of $1.1.50 yesterday for violating the ordinance by putting a stovepipe through a window. Fred Muller. better known as "Fax- aratta," of the coffee and oyster stand at 89 First street, has furnished this office with a choice collation of which clam chowder was not the smallest part. Speed of a Star. From the Ohio State Journal. There is a star nearly overhead these evenings tlio handle of the dip per points toward it a reddish star known as Arcturus, that is traveling: at the rate of 150 miles a second, and what is interesting about it is. it is coming this way, and will for a good many years; but it is so far away that it doesn't seem to have any motion at all. It is in exactly the same spot, so far as our vision is concerned, where It was a century ago. There is an other star known as the "runaway." whose speed is twice that of Arcturus. That is. it could sweep Ohio in a sec ond of time. We refer to this fact that the gentle reader may understand how insignificant are the little concerns of life that tear his patience into tatters and turn the world into woe. Long after he has gone Arcturus will be traveling 150 miles a second and to all appearances not budge an inch. How modest and patient should this touch of near infinity make us all. And yet. as Tennyson says; We cannot be l:ind to each other here for an hour. We whisper, and hit. and chuckle and grin at a brother's jehuine. However we bravo it out, we men are. a little breed. Well-Dressed Men Like as not the men who "always look well dressed" do not spend as much money for clothes as you do. Perhaps they pay more but do not buy so many. They know the economy of qual ity and the deceptiveness of cheap things. They shop at the good stores. They buy standard brands. They keep themselves informed on "what Is what" in the clothing lino by reading the newspaper advertising. Half a Century Ago 0 a 1 4 4 4