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