r
8
TEEMORXIXG OREGONIAN. TUESDAY, SEPTE3IBER 28. 1915.
mum
l'ORTLAXD, OREGON.
Entered at Portland. Oregun, rostofftca as
com1 clasa matter.
Subscription Kates Invariably in advance.
(By Mail.)
TalJy, Sunday tnclutitd, one year $8.00
lMlIy, SiiDday Included. ix munlhs ..... 4.-0
Daily, Sunday included, three months .. 2.-5
3ail, Sunday included, one month 73
3 tally, u ithout Sunday, one year ti.oo
Dili); without Sunday, six moiulia
2;ail, withtrut Sunday, three montha ... I.Ij
I'dl), wlthuut .Sunday, one montb
"W'--kly, one year l.uo
Sunday, one year .50
bunday and Weekly, one year JJ.OO
(By Carrier
Dally, Funday included, one year ....... V.00
aily, Sunday Included, one month ..... ."Si
Mow to Remit Send poatoffice money or
dr, express order or personal check on your
local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at
sender's rlMc. Give postoffice address in
xuu. including county ana state.
Pnotaire Rates 12 to 16 pares. 1 cent: IS
to U paces. 2 cents: S4 to 4S pages, 3 cents;
.10 ta tw paces. 4 cents; 02 to 7tt pages, o
nts: 78 to 02 pages. 6 cents. foreign
postage, double rates.
Eastern Business Offices Vcrree & Conk
lln, lirunawick Luildlns. New York; Vcrree
A Conklin. Steeper building. Chicago: Pan
fraacisco representative. II. J. Uldwell, 74a
Market street.
rOBTtAKD, TL'KSDAY, SE1T. 2, 1915.
OX THE WXSTFBN BATTI-.K FRONT.
After long months of comparative
inactivity, the western battle front is in
the throes of a terrible convulsion. The
allied armies in the western theater
snem to have set out on the long pre
dicted offensive. From the fragmen
tary dispatches it may be gathered that
the present conflict is not one of minor
svtors in the greatest battle line of
history, but a general engagement pre
cipitated by the French armies, sup
ported by their British allies.
Just what considerations have
moved to drive the allied armies for
ward at this late date in the eason
must remain a matter of conjecture.
Just what may be the immediate ob
jective and the immediate precipitat
ing causes may not be known for
veeks or months. Whether the allies
are throwing their fullest energies into
the fray, whether the French have set
themselves to do or die at this time
are matters that must develop slowly.
The present apparent general offen
sive may mean that France has un
leashed the whole of her pent-up en
ergies with the hope of ridding the
French domain of the German invader.
Or the whole action may prove to be
a series of strategic moves of no vast
importance.
There are a number of indications
suggesting that the mission of forcing
the Germans back to the first French
line on the frontier is the purpose of
the present conflagration. Necessar
ily the dispatches do not disclose the
French plan in this regard. German
sretors are reported to have been
driven back from their advanced posi
tions in front of Lille, where the
French appear to be intent upon
breaking through. At the same time
British offensive movements to the
north of Ypres might suggest a co
ordinate movement to clear Belgium.
Simultaneously the French are pound
in g away on the German sectors north
of Jlheims, although activity is not re
ported in the sectors extending from
Yitry to Soissons.
Should the German sectors at Lille
and at Rheims be repulsed the effect
upon the German line doubtless would
b to force it back slowly from its
foremost western point at Noyon to
the Belgian and French frontiers. This
would serve to relieve the pressure on
Verdun and render more hopeless the
ttek of capturing that formidable po
sition, from which the Crown Prince
has been thrown back time and again.
Warfare with a ferocity and horror
that knows no precedent, even in the
present war, must be the result of a
concerted struggle in the area now
afire. No subtle strategy, no masterly
combinations can serve the allied
jinnies in forcing the Germans from
their present fortified position. Only
a. determination to win regardless of
the cost in human life and treasure
an serve, and this only in the event
Hist the French have the numerical
.supremacy and. the resources of mu
nitions for the horrifying task.
Fighting from carefully constructed
works with the most destructive In
struments of warfare ever known, the
Germans will be able to mow down
line after line and it is only by the
most wanton disregard of human life
that the allies can hope to succeed. This
cost must be met one day, of course, if
the allies would hope to regain their
lost territory and rrestige. This may
be the day of the sacrifice.
The strategy of enveloping or out
maneuvering cannot be hoped for by
either army in the early stages of this
action. Direct frontal attack is re
quired on entrenched and fortified po
sitions with a depth as great as two
End three miles, which the allies must
face along the entire battle front from
' Kleuport to Mulhausen. In breaking
down the German defensive barriers,
enveloping movements on a small
Ecale and the use of salients may be
come factors in the second stage, al
though it must be assumed that once
their line is threatened the Germans
will retire systematically to new lines
of defense.
A puzzling element in thin offensive
movement is the lateness with which it
is undertaken. The allies have only
a. month or so left of favorable
weather for operations. Thereafter
the Fall and Winter rains make dif
ficult the movement of their artillery,
without which they cannot hope to
mirceed. It would seem that the feat
of forcing the Germans back from that
line, which has been forced in the
shape of an arrow point deep into the
vitals of France, would require a
" ' greater period than four or five weeks
for consummation.
Mut while we must remain in the
dark as to the seloction of this time
and method, it may be assumed with
certainty that the allies are moved by
definite considerations. It may be that
they have acquired the superior sup
Fly of munitions for which they have
Jong waited. Germany has been burn
ing up large quantities of war supplies
in her tremendous Russian offensive
movement. Germany, too, is now appar
cntly on the point of completing her
great victory in Poland and northwest
ern Russia. These victories on the Ger
man eastern front, taken in conjunction
with the coming of Winter, would
serve to disengage hundreds of thou
sands of veterans, who eould be
thrown Into the western battle area
and made use of against the French
and English, while the Russians were
pulling themselves together.
Then, too, the French and British
Inactivity, added to the Russian dis
asters, must have had a considerable
influence upon the Balkan states, and
especially upon Bulgaria, which ap
pears to favor the Teutons. Loss of
allied prestige ia reflected further in
the difficulty which the allied interests
meet in floating their war loans. Dis
couragement has become widespread
4a b&Ui4 arid fia doubt lh$ infection
of misgivings has seized upon parts
of France.
These are some of the considerations
which may have spurred the western
allies on to drastic action. If they suc
ceed in forcing back the German lines
and constructing new French en
trenched works in front of new Ger
man works, the advantage probably
will obtain until the opening of Spring.
By that time ' the British millions
should be fully trained and equipped
for the bloody task of recovering Bel
gium, a task which, if ever completed,
will make the world stand aghast at
the reddest and most .horrifying pages
history has ever known. Not strategy,
nor the masterly combinations of some
military genius can accomplish these
things. It must remain for bloody
hand-to-hand fighting at the muzzle
of machine gun and point of - the
bayonet. It has been estimated that
the loss of a million French and Brit
ish lives is the cost which must be paid
for the redemption of Belgium, even
if the task can be done at all.
THE ROAD TO TEMPERANCE.
What do the Women's Christian
Temperance Union suppose the man
who is both tippler and smoker would
do if their construction of the pro
hibition law were upheld by the Su
preme Court? Would he give up tobacco
or liquor? Our guess is that he would
cling to tobacco and become also the
patron of the bootlegger and blind
piggcr.
There is probably no surer way to
overturn the prohibition victory that
has been gained in Oregon than for
the prohibitionists to go to absurd
lengths in forcing their ideals upon
others. Laws that are unreasonably
discriminatory are always unpopular.
It would certainly be discriminatory to
deny the man who smoked three or
four cigars a day the right to have
liquor for home consumption and ex
tend that right to non-smokers. Hu
man nature, under such circumstances,
would make the average smoker an
enemy of the law whether he wanted
intoxicants or not.
It will require all the energy and
sincerity that officers of the law can
exert to enforce the prohibition sta
tute in the beginning, but efforts to
have a strained construction put upon
the law will make their task still
harder. On the contrary-) if about
one-half the money that will be de
voted to putting prohibition law
breakers into Jail were to be expended
in providing several respectably con
ducted halls, where idle men could
smoke to 'their heart's content, play
cards, pool and billiards and feel them
selves welcome, actual temperance in
Oregon would be brought nearer by a
full decade.
STICK TO THE TEXT.
The resolution of the Salem land grant
"conference" asks nothing out of the for
feited portion of the grant lands for Ore
gon. But The Oregonian defends the resolu
tions and commends the men who passed
thtsm. In fact, it is well known that The
Onegonlan secretly aided in the selection of
delegate to the Salem "conference" who
would mak-a no demand on Congress for the
excess over the railroad's portion of the
lands to go to the people of Oregon.
Portland Journal.
It is xinfortunate that the issues over
the land-grant conference and the
water-power congress present to the
public so many of the aspects of up
roarious newspaper controversy. The
public is entitled to have from the
press impartial and complete reports
of the proceedings of the two confer
ences and dispassionate and informed
discussion of results. It is to be feared
that the readers of our overheated con
temporary have begun to suspect that
its rancor against The. Oregonian has
Jaundiced its views and led to an angry
purpose to get at The Oregonian
through the Salem and Portland as
semblies.
A certain latitude may be given to
the needs and uses of partisanship; yet
deliberate misrepresentation of what
The Oregonian has said and done is
pot on that account to be excused nor
overlooked.
The Oregonian has not defended the
Salem resolutions, but it has sharply
criticised them. It has not commended
the conference for passing them. It
has not secretly aided in the selection
of delegates, who were named by the
commissioners of many counties, by the
State Grange, by the Labor Council,
and by other public hoards. It has no
where objected to any "excess over the
railroad's portion of the lands" going
to the school fund.
The sole questions over water-power
legislation are as to its practicability
and propriety. There is a valid rea
son an overpowering reason why
the state, which owns the water pow
ers, should control them, and why the
plan of the Government to control
them for purposes of Federal revenue,
and of Federnl domination over state
concerns, should not prevail.
PATRIOTIC MOTHERS.
A few weeks ago The Oregonian
commented on an article, by William
Howard Taft in which Mr. Taft ex.
pressed some doubts as to th readi
ness of woman for the ballot tiecause
of her emotionalism. We wish that
we had then had two letters which are
published in The Oregonian today.
Written by women on a subject which
tends, possibly more than any other
In the public mind, to excite the
emotions of either sex, the communica
tions hxeathe.the coolest, calmest,
most convincing sort of logic.
"An American Mother"is a very real,
very earnest woman. We have said
her letter is logical. It is. Yet it
breathes an almost agonized cry for
aid and sympathy. She has three sons.
Sha knows in her inmost soul that If
their country needed them for its de
fense she would not,, could not stay
them. With smiling lips but bleeding
heart she would bid them go, and re
gard her own suffering as contribu
tion to her country's cause. But she
does ask, here and now, that the pre
vention that only preparedness can
give be directed against that sacrifice:
and that if her boys must go that they
and their fellows be given the fight
ing chance for life that military train
ing and adequate equipment best pro
vide. Need there be said another word
from the mother's standpoint? And
that letter from Anna Read, the Port
land teacher, who writes with pride of
her belief in the patriotism of the
"tall .boy who calls me mother" in
the light of her wholesome reasoning
she sees nothing but an aid to orderli
ness in marching in the schools. Tet
facing, aa does the Vancouver mother.
the possibility of the highest sacrifice
woman can give, common sense pre
vails over emotion. She realizes that
unpreparedness cannot avert war; that
the hostility of an enemy is .not as
suaged by the defenselessness of his
opponent; that peace treaties are no
more than paper bulwarks. This
teacher-mother would begin the day
with a salute and pledge to 'the flag.
JJava S:U i-sard, it said, that J&sjjlo
peace-at-any-prlce movement Is an
outgrowth of advancing feminism? It
is false. Call it Bryanlsm If you will,
but not feminism. There may not be a
comparatively great number of moth
ers who are so adept at expressing
their thoughts as the two whose letters
The Oregonian prints today. But the
tttought, the sentiment, the patriotism
exist in abundance. There is more
than one American Mother in Vancou
ver; there is more than one Anna Read
in Portland. Glory be! The whole
country's full of them.
ROOM FOR XHK-BIOOKST SHIP.
The knockers who have made it
their constant diversion, to slander the
Columbia River would do well to turn
their attention in some other direc
tion. The channel across the liar has
now been deepened to 36 feet for a
width of 1000 feet by the dredge
Chinook. With ample allowance for
sounding in ordinary weather, this is
sufficient for any ship afloat.
Dredging and jetty-building will
continue until the depth is increased
to 4 0 feet, that a good margin may
be given. Before the present work
ing season ends the channel from the
sea to Portland will have been deep
ened to 30 feet at low water for a
width of 300 to 400 feet. As the river
is seldom down to zero, any vessel
which can cross the bar can come up
the river.
The Columbia is now safely navig
able without delays by any man who
knows how to navigate a ship. Of
course, some ships will still run
aground, but except in severe storms
that will be the fault of the captain,
not of the channel. When a channel
Is so plainly marked as that across the
Columbia bar, there is no excuse for a
captain who cannot keep his ship in it.
NO COMPROMISE OX DCMB.4.
The Administration has done well in
insisting that Dr. Dumba, the Austrian
Ambassador, be recalled. The request
for his recall was notice that he is no
longer an acceptable person to repre
sent his country. Consent to his return
to Austria on leave of aDsence would
have implied that he was still accept
able and was welcome to return.
By Insisting that he be definitely re
called. Secretary Lansing has given
Austria and all other foreign nations to
understand that no diplomat who uses
his position to stir up strikes and de
moralization in American Industries
will be permitted to remain in the
United States. The Administration has
given notice by this act that n.o foreign
meddling in the domestic affairs of the
United States will be tolerated. A
timely hint has been given to for
eigners and to nominal Amerftans
whose acts ahd words mark them as
foreigners that this Nation views with
displeasure any propaganda which im
pairs the neutrality of the United
States. These agitators are self-chosen
guardians of our neutrality, but that
trust has been reposed in President
Wilson and his executive officers.
Whatever further aid the President
needs will come from genuine Amer
icans, not from those who use the title
to the injury of the Nation.
The attempt to induce the American
Government to be satisfied with Dr.
Dumba's departure on leave of absence
was designed to save his face and that
of Count Burian, the Austrian Foreign
Minister, by whose orders ho had
acted, but it had a deeper purpose.
The design was to avoid even an im
plied disapproval of his conduct and
thus to leave the way open for his suc
cessor to continue the same course
with more secrecy and discretion. By
refusing consent to any subterfuge, Mr.
Lansing has made it known that there
must be an end to all plotting, once
for all.
TTTII.E ADVICE TO LOVF.RS.
Sages of great and small degree
have been wont to regale us since mar
riage was first established on just
how to select a wife. The sea of mat
rimony has been charted by 10,000
mariners, all of them pointing a warn,
ing finger to this shoal ana that one.
Solomon, who had some little practical
experience in the matter of wives, had
a great deal to say on the subject,
as we are reminded by Dr. W. B. Hin
son in a sermon on the subject. But,
in spite of all these well directed ef
forts, the frail little barks of conjugal
felicity continue to shatter on the
shoals and flounder In the breakers.
Dr. Hirvson warns us especially
to beware of the lazy sort of woman
and of the kind that nags. With
such a mate on his hands it is
difficult for the ordinary male biped
so to regulate his conduct in this mun
dane sphere that the Kingdom of
Heaven will be open to him hereafter,
the good doctor tells us. There are
other women against whose deficien
cies as soulmates and helpmeets he
seeks to caution us; but the two vari
eties referred to are pictured as the
most odious.
We agree with him most heartily.
The woman from whose soul the
venom of vituperation wells in endless
flow strips life of its Joy and Hades
of its terror. The man of weak will
passes under her dominion to end his
days in meek subjection, bewailing in
unspoken bitterness the day that gave
him birth. The strong man tames her
or hies him thither. As to the
lazy woman, a slower but no less
deadly poison withers everything about
her. She brings discontent into her
home and passes a burden along to
posterity. The divorce court records
bristle with her footprints. The penal
Institutions and almshouses are peo
pled with her progeny.
But, after all, what Is the good of
warning us against these insidious
dangers? How are we to determine
in advance where thej- lurk? Cu
pid plays his game too well to let
us see clearly behind the scenes. He
Is too shrewd to let hideous realities
intrude themselves upon our be
wildered dreams. It is not until long
after the preacher has received his
fee that we learn the truth. Needless
to say, it is then too late. All of
which being eternally and unalter
ably true, it would seem that what
we need is practical advice. Tell us
how we best may treat and cure these
faults after we have married them.
ANTHONY COMSTOCK'S ERROR.
With the death of Anthony Com
stock passed away the crank who mis
took prudery for purity. In his cru
sade against vice he did much good
work by stopping the circulation of
undoubtedly obscene literature and
pictures. He performed a valuable
public service in bringing about the
suppression of policy shops, lotteries,
green-goods men and gamblers. But,
like all crusaders, he carried his cam
paign to absurd extremes, and by his
failure to discriminate between artistic
ove of the beautiful and sensual love I
-
of the suggestively filthy, he made his
cause ridiculous and thus did it Irrep
arable Injury.
He failed to recognize that impurity
consists not in the thing seen with the
eye, but in the manner in which it is
approached with the mind. Pictures
which he condemned would haveeno
evil effect on any person except those
whose minds were alreaay impure.
The half revealed, vaguely suggestive,
would produce evil impressions which
the frankly nude would not cause. He
fought outward manifestations and
provocations of vice and did not dis
tinguish between them and the essen
tially innocent, which can be twisted
into impurity only by a mind that is
already corrupt.
He continued his crusade far into
the time when his fellowmen and
women had begun to take a saner view
of this subject. We have learned that
to avoid discussion of sex, upon
which he insisted, has only aggravated
the evils growing out of abuse of the
sexual relation: that ignorance, instead
of preserving innocence, has placed it
In Jeopardy and propagated vice. We
have learned that frank explanation
and discussion of the subject with the
young no more injures their parity
than does the nudity of a savage who
has never worn clothes cause" her to
blush. Purity consists not in igno
rance, but in knowledge rightly im
parted, and is protected by that
knowledge.
A successor to Anthony Comstock
may be found, but he will accomplish
more by excluding or driving vice from
the mind through substituting correct
knowledge than Comstock did by his
policy of mere suppression.
Toung Rockefeller was exhausted
after a week spent in Inspecting his
mining camps. Which shows that while
rich in gold the young man is poor in
vitality. One of his miners would be
refreshed after such a week. It would
be a mere vacation jaunt for the type
of husky that wields drill and hammer
eight and ten hours a day through
the week. Being born with a silver
spoon may have its compensations, but
it has its drawbacks. There are those
who would hesitate in making a choice
between young Rockefeller's wealth
and one of his workmen's health.
Dr. Hlnson's use of Solomon as au
thority in selection of a wife is not
practical. Solomon had them hooked
up abreast, so to speak; nowadays a
man must take them tandem or risk
going to Jail, and by the time he has
acquired acumen with experience he
is pressing the age limit, when he will
cease to attract. Dr. Hinson's advice
i3 interesting, but man will continue to
dip into the grab bag and, perforce, be
content with what he gets, or not show
his feelings If he is not.
We are at something of a loss to
understand why the Teuton allies con
tinue to protest at our sale of muni
tions to their foes. Another firm pro
test is at hand. It savors of the lawyer
in laying foundations for representa
tions yet to come. Can it be that the
Teutons have in mind the sending .of
a bill for indemnity after the close of
the war?
World business in one big swap. A
ship, Just arrived at Astoria, brings
oak logs from Japan and will load
Oregon fir for Australia. What she
carries on the other leg of the triangle
is a problem.
If our own Dan McAllen had been
with his namesake, J. B. McAllen, on
the border, the pair of them might
have whipped the whole Carranza
army and ended this watchful waiting.
Initiative petitions are circulating at
Spokane to reduce municipal salaries
and for a wonder they propose to be
gin at the top by lopping off J1400
a year on th Commissioners' payroll.
ej,
Two battleships aro put in reserve
for lack of trained men, yet Secretary
Daniels counts them ns units of the
Navy and calls it economy not to in
crease the enlisted force.
The proposal to bar smokers from
the privilege of buying liquor under
prohibition next year overlooks the
great fact that the heaviest smokers
are the lightest drinkers.
How would Mrs. Sleeth's "perfectly
lovely scheme" work if it were ap
plied to the perfume with which some
women stifle fellow-passengers on
streetcars?
The joker who sent out. a wireless
call Saturday night, causing distress to
thousands, Is of the breed that would
pull a chair from under his grand
mother. An alleged German plot to influence
Congress has been discovered. Even
if influenced. Congress wouldn't do
anything mote than talk.
Senator AVorks may be right in say
ing that ex-President Taft is not a
wise politician, but he has learned a
few things since 1912.
Now if some genius could make the
canal work, his glory would rival that
of the man who merely made the
canal.
Sailing into the mouth of the Co
lumbia is easier than navigating the
Panama Canal.
What a bloodthirsty lot of militar
ists those high school cadets of 18S7
have become. .
However, some of the finest weather
of the year is in store for us this
month.
Greece ia mobilizing 400,000 and
her knee is not "in fruppllance bent."
Seeing Greece mobilize!! also, Bul
garia says: "I didn't mean anything."
Congress will .study gas, says a dis
patch. Congress doesn't need to.
"V '
The Taquis are Indians and burn
captives in the Indian way.
The question of the hour is where
will the pennants go?
Last week of league ball In Port
land. At last the allies are off in a bunch.
,On to Salem, is the latest battle cry.
New life is given the wan colleges.
Good roads lead to SaJm.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
From Tha Oregonian of September 2S, 1SUU.
Madrid, Sept. 27. It Is reported that
the Spanish government is placing a
cordon of troops along the frontier of
Portugal in consequence of apprehen
sions of a revolution in that country.
A year ago The Oregonian noted the
fact that a peach tree in Captain C. M.
Noyos" grounds, which was loaded with
remarkably fine peaches, was a seed
ling, produced from a peach pit planted
by Miss Nellie Noyes four years be.
fore. This year the tree is again loaded
with beautiful fruit, many of the
peaches being more than 10 inches in
circumference.
President George B. Markle. of the
Alpine Club, has received an- invitation
for the officers and the members of
the club to attend the second annual
congress of the Oregon State Secular
Union, which meets in this city Octo
ber 11-13 In the Arion Hall, corner of
Second and Oak streets. The object of
the convention is to guarantee civil
and religious liberty to the people.
As Mrs. Ella Brown, the variety ac
tress, died in very straightened circum
stances, a subscription was started yes
terday for the purpose of raising funds
with which to give the body a decent
Christian burial. Those who circulated
the petition met with generous treat
ment. The owners of Kenilworth Addition
have completed arrangements for the
supplying of water through their prop
erty and William Gardner & Co. have
been awarded the contract for laying
the mains.
The lectures by Mr. Longshore-Potts,
M. D.. at the Masonic Temple continue
to attract large audiences and they
have already created very favorable
impressions, particularly among the
members of the fair 6ex.
St. Patrick's Church t the corner of
"S" and Eighteenth streets, is rapidly
approaching completion. The walls are
up and the roof is being put on.
In order that the many visitors now
in Portland may have a chance to see
the beauties of the Wallamette River
the Hart Land Company will give a
free excursion this morning at 3Vs Mor
rison street.
Shortly after 3 o'clock today the
formal ceremonies of laying the cor
nerstone of the new hall of the Port
land Hibernian Benevolent Society at
the corner of Sixth and Washington
streets will take place. . An address
will be delivered by Hon. John M.
Gearln and the cornerstone will be laid
by Thomas Kearney, the president of
the society, under the direction of J. E.
Kelley. president of the day.
William H. Galvanl. editor of the
Northern Light, published at Tacoma
and Seattle, came in on last night's
train. He Is enthusiastic over the con
dition of organized labor on the Sound
and thinks that the Twin Cities should
be proud of the conditions of their
laboring people.
0K TEACHER'S IDEAL ItKWAHD
To Have Pupils Recall That She Gave
Them First Leasoas In Patriotism.
PORTLAND. Sept. 27. (To the Edi
tor.) I see that your Sunday poet
makes merry over the efforts of some
teachers to eliminate marching in the
public schools. May I say that not all
teachers are opposed to such "militar
ism" as is expressed by marching, and
by the introduction of military training
In the high schools?
I believe that any sensible . person
will admit without argument that the
orderly and safe entrance and exit of
pupils is highly desirable. If there are
any more effective means of attaining
such an end than by marching, an ex
perience of ten years in the city schools
has failed to reveal them to me.
I seemed to have read that in some
schools pupils are placed upon their
honor in this matter. I sm sure that
my fellow teachers will sadly agree
with me that not all pupils can be so
trusted. Jf our schoolrooms were all
on the ground floor, thus doing away
with entrance and basement stairways,
then the necessity for orderly Ming
might not be so apparent. Constructed
an they are, however, the restraint im
posed by the rhythm of marching seems
to be absolutely necessary to safety
and order.
It is absurd to say that marching in
school turns children's thoughts to
ward warfare. One might Just as
reasonably forego the Summer's outing
In tents, ino they are a necessary part
of an army's equipment.
The question of military training in
the high schools is. however, a more
serious one. At this point, lest the
gentle reader mentally classify me as
the traditional he-spectacled spinster
schoolteacher, possessing only theoreti
cal conceptions of life outside her lit
tle domain. I will say that in a great
Eastern school a tall hoy who calls
me "mother" wslky with n carriage
which testifies to the excellence of
three years of rigid military training.
He, as well as I. would deplore the ne
cessity for war: hut. were his country's
defense and honor at stake. I doubt not
that he would offer his life as readily
as did his two grandfathers, the one
whom we laid away on last Decoration
day under the colors for which he gave
three years of his splendid younsr man
hood, or the other, a gallant Confeder
ate Officer, who offered his life for a
cause which he believed to be worth It.
War Is the inferno of human experi
ences. If unpreparedness could aver!
it: If hostile powers would courteously
refrain from attack because of our de
fenseless condition: if peace treaties
were more than "paper bulwarks" of
defense, then might wo hesitate to
make even such preparedness as Is em
bodied in the proposed high school
training. Unfortunately the facts of
history point to the contrary.
Another fundamental fact of human
nature seems to have been overlooked
by our pacifist friends. It is the In
stant impulse on the part of every
normal male to resent by physical
means attack or injustice. No one
realizes this fact more deeply than the
schoolteacher as she watches the de
meanor of hundreds of boys on the
playground. As It is with the indi
vidual, so it is with the nation, that
multiplication of individuals. The time
when the sword can be safely beaten
into the ploughshare seems very re
mote. This being true. It becomes the
high duty of every teacher to instill
into plastic minds lessons of National
honor, to the end that for future gen
erations the Liberty Bell may not have
rung in vain. i
No finer beginning for the day's work
in the schoolroom can -there be than
the salute to the flag. The skeptical
reader may smile at the thought of this
ceremony having any meaning for chil
dren In a primary room. The phonic
and number symbols have no real
meaning for them now: but as I ex
pect these symbols to be the founda
tion of all education obtained from
books, so do I believe that the pledge
to the flag, recited with dimpled hand
to unlined forehead, may help to at
tain that higher education without
which the other one is useless.
I ask no higher reward than that the
boy "lawbreaker of today, lawmaker
of tomorrow." may remember that his
first lessons in patriotism were learned
from ANNA READ.
Ockley Green School.
Forethought of a Groom.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
"I fear my cousin is going to marry
a stingy man." "Why so?" "She sug
gested a morning wedding, but he said
to make it after lunch on the ground
that she would get ono more meal at
horns,"
NOW THE TIME TO SPOT TROUBLE
We Have All Rssentlals for Leading
Port, but Others Do the Business.
PORTLAND. Sept. 27. (To the Edl-tor-
From the over-seas point of view
the question is frequently asked. "What
' the, matter with Portland commer
cially?" It was not many years ago
when Portland shipped and controlled
all or nearly all of tha cereal exports
from the Northwestern states. Al
though Portland firms, the heads of
which reside here, control the trade at
the present time, nevertheless, regret
table as it may seem, the bulk of their
shipments start from Puget Sound. This
condition is not caused bv sentiment.
If it was, naturally Portland would
reap the benefits. The conditions,
whatever may be the cause or the rem
edy, compel shippers to utilize north
ern resources in marketing their prod
ucts. Strange as it may appear, Puget
Sound Interests, with the over-mountain
haul to tidewater, have come over
to Portland, a competitive point of
long established advantage, and In
duced or compelled our millionaire ex
porters, whose every interest In those
days was in Portland, to go to Puget
Sound and establish branches that aro
now doing the larger bulk of the grain
and flour shipments.
From time to time in past years, even
though considering that Puget Sound
was handicapped with an over-mountain
haul, the people on the Columbia Rivor
were informed that the following were
all that was required to make Portland
the leading shipping port by long odds:
(a) A 30-foot channel to the sea. We
have that.
(b) A navigable channel of 400 miles
into the interior, tapping the great in
land wheat belt of three states. We
have that.
(c) The competition of the North
Bank road, a down-hill water-grade
haul for Eastern Oregon and Washing
ton grain. We have that.
(d) The purchase of waterfront prop
erties and the erection of large, mod
ern warehouses. We have those.
And still we do not g't the flour and
grain trade in the volume that was
promised. One large Portland flour
concern, the largest in the Northwest,
this year especially, has made, over 90
per cent of its Oriental shipments from
Puget Sound. Three other Pottland
grain exporting firms, covering flour,
wheat and barley, are making the bulk
of their shipments from northern ports.
These ports on Puget Sound are dis
patching almost one vessel for each
working day in the year to European.
Asiatic and Alaskan ports. Each ves
sel, inward and outward combined, will
average more than half a million dol
lars in merchandise. The larger por
tion of these shipments have the over
mountain haul to contend with and
none of the advantages that are claimed
by Porland.
One. firm in Seattle, with no rail
connectio. this season has chartered
and taken over 14 Oceania freighters
and sent them from Puget Sound laden
with millions of dollars of merchan
dise. Then, too. there are the lines of
steamships operating directly with the
Great Northern Railway, the Milwau
kee, the Northern Pacific and the Cana
dian line out of Vancouver. All vessels
are carrying capacity cargoes.
What is doing in Portland in com
parison? A few grain cargoes to Eu
rope. No cargoes of flour or merchan
dise shipped to Oriental ports, Asia or
Alaska points. Occasionally our ex
pensive municipal warehouses are util
ized for parcel shipments from Eastern
and South American points In steamers
calling en route to and from northern
ports.
For upwards of half a century the
Pacific Mail did an enormous over-seas
business for the Southern Pacific Rail
road through the Port of San Fran
cisco. It was regarded a,s : e principal
shipping asset of the Bay City. Recent
National legislation has put the steam
ship company out of business, leaving
the Harrlman interests, which have
several terminals with all of our boast
ed facilities here in Portland, deprived
of their San Francisco-owned steamship
outlet to the Orient. Our friends in
the north, always alert and every ready
to acquire new business. notwith
standing that to reach Puget Sound the
Harrlman trains have to run directly
through Tortland. are actively engaged
In diverting the erstwhile Pacific Mai!
Oriental shipments to Seattle and Ta
coma. By reason of our present condition
In being practically wholly without
steamship connections from this port,
two of our principal Oriental lumber
exporting firms, whose head offices are
in this city, have been compelled to
pass up Orrgon lumber mills and pur
chase large lumber shipments on Puget
Sound for Oriental markets. The tim
ber industry affects a very large per
centage of our population locally.
One thing is certain: If wo are cor
rect In the supposition that we possess
advantages superior to those of Puget
Sound for shipping. then we are negli
gent in not taking advantage of the
situation and securing a portion of the
northern commerce. If our facilities
are of no importance to shipping, why
is it necessary to continue deluding
ourselves into believing that we have a
great sea port? If that in true, there
is no further reason to tax the ettl
r.ens to purchase Mock's bottom. Swan
Island, or the construction of more
docks.
Is It not shout time that a decision
was reached? Is It not shout time to
take stock, look the situation squarely
In the face, determine the causes, over
come them If we can: otherwise, do the
next best thing? There Is something
wrong, and it is about time we woke
nr. analysed, the situation and adopted
remedies. If they are to be had. and
took such action as will bring bene
ficial results from som. source.
W. J. JONES.
27 Second street.
HF-ll BOYS MAY DEPEND COUNTRY
Rut Tatrloile Mother Insists That They
Have Fighting Chance for I.lfe.
VANCOUVER. Wash.. Sept. 27. (To
the Editor.) 1 am the mother of three
boys. The idea of their going to war
Is terrible to me, and if they were to
go I should be agonized continually
with fear for them. But if America
should need them, they might go and
I should regard my suffering as my
contribution to the Nation s derense.
1 pray they may not have to go,
and my prayer is a great deal more
likely to be answered if we have
enough National defenses so that a
covetous nation would think the trou
ble of defeating us would be more than
the game was worth.
Also, if my boys have to go, I want
them to have the best chance possible
for their lives, and I clou t want them
kjllod uselessly, because the raw
troops are like a mob of rioters and
must learn to fight before they are
effective. That would be murder, and
murder by the so-called friends of our
own household.
I don't believe for a minute that the
sentimentalists are in the majority in
this country, but they make the most
noise, and it may Influence the legis
lators and school boards if they don't
hear anything from the other side.
Therefore I think every mother who
is willing to make the great sacrifice
for her country should also let her
voice be heard, that everyone may
know that the mothers of today are
able to march down through history
abreast with the mothers of 1776 aud
1861. AN AMERICAN MOTHER.
Plural Forma for Words.
PORTLAND. Sept. 27. (To the Edi
tor.) Please tell mo whether it is in
correct to use the plural "ies" after
the words flunkey or money. B. J. W.
Webster gives plural for flunkey or
flunky as flunkies. The regular plural
for money is moneys; the irregular
plural being monies in the sense of
"sums of money."
Hali a Century Ago
From The Oregciian Feptembcr. 21. isrt.1.
Paris. Sept. 2S. It is asserted that
the French government has addressed
a note to Prussia in reference to the
murder of Otto by Count Ebinberg. It
dwells on the fact that France extends
her protection to all her subjects.
Paris Cyrus W. Field is a passenger
by the Australian. He was present at
one of the meetings of the British As
sociation, and made a brief speech ex
pressive of increased faith in the
accomplishment of the Atlantic cable
enterprise next year.
San Francisco. Sept. 27. About B0P0
persons were present at the Cliff House
today to witness James Cooke perform
the feat of walking a tight rope from
the Cliff House to Seal Rock. At 12:15
P. M, precisely Cooke stepped upon the
rope at the Cliff House and started
out on his perilous journey, the crowd
standing in awe-struck silence, not a
word being spoken, so intense was the
interest of all the beholders.
By far the greatest bulk of freight
coming down the Wllamette at this
time is composed of apples. About 300
boxes were taken on storage at Couch's
wharf yesterday for export. Flour and
oats arrive in considerable quantities.
The sale of property delinquent upon
the assessment for the improvement of
Front street, above Morrison street,
will be resumed at the Courthouse to
day by City Marshal Hoyt.
Our young friend Gllman. more com
monly known as Sam, conducted the
regular sale at Richardson's yesterday
with becoming propriety. It was his
first real effort at crying aloud amidst
the people and he was eminently suc
cessful. Encouraged by the results of
his first experiment, we expect to hear
of Sam very often In that line.
Governor A. A. Denny. Congressman
elect from Washington Territory, is
stopping in this city on his way to tha
National capital. Governor Denny goes
prepared to do something for his con
stituents. The matter of obtaining aid
from the general Government for the
construction of a better road to the
Sound from the Columbia River is one
of the measures likely to be Introduced
by him. He will take stage to Cali
fornia from here.
We learn that Dr. Wythe has been
chosen president of the Willamette
University. The doctor has been presi
dent of the Powell-street SI. E. Church
at San Francisco for the last two
years. He formerly resided in Phila
delphia. He is known as an accom
plished scholar. It Is stated that he
will reach here from San Francisco in
a few days.
COST OF I.1Y1N(5 WHEN MARRIED
One Who Kails on SJ.'.O a Month Learns
How to Do It on 1
TENDLETON. Or.. Sept. 27. (To the
Editor.) The effusion of "A Single
man." in The Oregonian September 22.
interested me. Let me give my expe
rience: Nine years ago I was married on a
salary of about J ISO per month, and
while conditions were probably some
what different than those confronting
"A Sincleman." I think the theories
were practically the same, viz. the sal
ary, being somewhat better than that
of the average man, demanded a more
showy display. In any event, we
started, out something like this:
Rent of modern house.'. 2 00
Food 4 5.00
Fuel 6 00
Electricity 2.0)
Water 2 50
Laundry 7.50
Clothing, wife 10.00
Clothing, self .' 10.00
Miscellaneous (meaning so-called,
society and other hypocritical
porno and show) the balance.. 39.00
Put something semed to be wrona:.
True enough, there was the $1T0 to
draw from every month and the tabu
lated list did not seem to exceed It.
yet we gradually accumulated debts
we could not pay.
However, we must keep up appear
ances. We did for six years and
then went broke had. We bmi to leave
town. But we had learned what the
trouble was. Our foolish notions about
how people in the .lf0 a month st
ourrht to live had wrecked our craft.
For ihreo yenrs we have been re
building our shattered home on a mere
modest salary $12S a month on a
much more modest scale in a new
town. Now our expense account reads
something like this:
Rent of house ? "0
Food 55.00
Furniture payment 12.ni)
riano paymcut 1V00
Interest thrreon 1-50
Fuel 5.00
Light, not elertrti-lty but old
fashioned coal oil ft0
Water 7,1
Iiiindry Vni)
Insurance, life 1.3)
Savings bank 2.0i)
I'apers and magazines 1.50
Total $00. S3
It will be noted that clothing and
society foolishness are eliminated alto
gether and that the expenditures are
down to brass tacks. Of course we buy
clothing, but we have no set sum for
that purpose. We only buy what we
need and have no cios-t full of clothes
we do not need or wear.
Our house rent has depreciated by
$?0 and that sum we put in the savings,
bank. We have accumulated about
1400 worth of new furniture on which
we owe a balance of but ?50. have a
1400 piano ivearly paid for. ha.ve no
debts, and besides our savings account
we can always draw a check for a
few dollars.
The $S rent provides a very cozy,
five room, vine covered cottage with
some modern improvements, a chicken
yard, a garden, some fruit, many
flowers, a fine lawn and shrubs, on the
edge of town out of the codfish district,
but. decidedly not in the poor section.
The drop in the food column does not
mean that we are starving ourselves.
On the contrary we have more whole
some food now than ever at about
half the cost and we have a fanilly
of five now as against two at the be
glnninng. Needles to say we are much happier
and decidedly more Independent.
I would not attempt to ndvise "A
Singleman" to cut out the flubdub and
get down to business at the begin
ning, as the giving of acceptable ad
vice "can't be done." But I wish I
had it all to do over again, and at that
I am only 34.
AN INTERESTED ONE.
The Home, Your Home
A large advertiser recently said:
"Put confidence in YOUR home.
Put cheerfulness there. Put
faith there. Tut there a new
piece of furniture, a new rug. or
some improvement to show to your
family and to your neighbors that
we are moving quickly into better
times. Don't let your homes get
into the condition of some railroads
so run down that they may never
'catch up' again. Once run down,
anything costs twice as much as it
should to build up. 2lut kept always
In good condition, things are kept
efficient at the least expense a
railroad, a piece of machinery, a
store or YOUR HOME."
And as you think this over per
haps you can find some helpful sug
gestions In the advertising columns
of The Or:gonian.
ft