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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1915)
THE MORNING OREGOXIAN. MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1915. POBTLASD. OKEGOJi. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postotllce as secona class matter. Subscription Rates Invariably In advance. t-tiy ilaii. I Ijaily, without Sunday, one year 9-Y, ualiy. wltnout Sunday, six montns Jjaily. without Sunday, taree months -g- Weekly, one year . ..1 J-V" fcunday. one year -r bunuay and Weekly, one year By Carrier) ' Dally, Sunday Included, one yar ....... Xally. Sunday Included, one moatlx - . - - - How to Remit Send postolllce money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Uive postoffice address tn lull, includina county and state. Postage Kates 12 to 16 pasjea, 1 cent: IS to 3 pases. 2 cents; 84 to 48 pases, 8 cents; 60 to 00 pages. 4 cents; S2 to 7o paces, a cents; 78 to 82 pages, 6 centa. foreign postage, double rates. x Eastern Business Offices Vsrree As Conk lin. Brunswick tutldlnK, New Tork; Verree & Conklln. Steger building;. Chicago; San 'rancUco representative, K- J. lildwell. 342 Market street. I'ORTLAND, JIOXDAT, OCTOBER 4, 1915. MASSACHUSETTS BOOD8 KEYNOTE. The unequivocal declaration of the Massachusetts Republican convention in favor- of increasing our military strength sufficiently to repel any attack is a sign of the Republican party's position throughout the Nation. TJnswerved by the sophistry of pacif ists, Republicans everywhere base their Judgment on the experience of other nations and declare that National safety rests on our ability to repel attack, not on peace treaties, arbitration or our own good inten tions. We cannot trust to the good intentions of other nations, hence must be ready to foil execution of their bad intentions. Endorsement of a like policy by the Massachusetts Democrats is evidence that the people of the Atlantic Coast in general, regardless of party, realize that, if this country should be attacked, they would be the first to feel all the disastrous effects of war. The Pacific Coast, seeing a possible danger across the Pacific Ocean, is also alive to the need of readiness to avert it. In those sections which are not directly exposed to the first attack the specious reasoning of Mr. Bryan has most influence, and Democrats are divided between his and President Wilson's opinions of preparedness. "Whatever is done to equip the Nation for effective defense will be done by the Administration with the support of only part of the Demo cratic party but of the whole Repub lican paTty. The other part of the Democratic party closes its ears to the warnings which are sounded by every cannon-shot in Europe and hears only the seductive voice of Mr. Bryan crying "Peace, Peace," when the world is full of war, and setting up his peace treaties as a protection n.galnst big guns, machine guns, bat tleships, submarines and all the other implements of war. Senator Chamberlain, as chairman of the military committee, cannot help but see the truth. But he is the spokes man of one wing of a divided party, and we cannot yet form an opinion which way the majority of that party will turn. On a question where the National safety is at stake, a divided party is a poor bulwark behind which to seek protection. MISREPRESENTING THE CASE. In defense of the seamen's law the International Seamen's Union has re published a series of documents which are almost entirely denunciation of imprisonment for desertion and de fense of the safety provisions of the law. The law permitting ship owners to send deserters to Jail has long been a dead letter, being seldom invoked, and there is absolutely no opposition among ship owners to those sections of the new law which repeal it. There is no serious opposition to the safety provisions none at all on the Pacific Coast. Sponsors of the law, being at a loss for defense of those provisions which do irreparable damage to our mer chant marine without conferring any Teul benefit on the seamen, are trying to mislead the public. They ignore or scarcely mention these provisions, upnn which they have most strongly insisted, and attempt to create the im pression that the attack is directed against the other provisions to which there is no serious opposition and of which public opinion approves. Their policy weakens their own case, for it is a tacit admission that the sections of the law which are actually condemned cannot be defended. The attack is directed only against the provisions which facilitate deser tion by permitting a seaman to draw half his pay at any port; which permit detention of a ship on any trumped-up charge by a single individual, K and which, by means of the language test, give an overwhelming advantage to chips employing Oriental crews. The proposed annulment of our commercial treaties is also opposed as disastrous to our commerce and as the wrong way to go about the attainment of a desirable end. The obnoxious provisions of the law can be repealed and agreements can be made with other nations to put the other provi sions in effect. AU parts of the law which ameliorate the condition of the seamen and which render life at sea more secure would then stand. The sections which would be eliminated serve neither of these purposes; they only injure the ship owner, - and, through him, the Nation's entire com merce. ! THE trMBERMAJt'S WAY OCT. One paragraph in Mr. Bennett's let ter from Pe Ell is worthy of the atten tion of those lumbermen who are seek ing a way out of the depression which has fallen upon this industry. It reads: Thin little City of Pe Kll was hit :ike the rest of the state. It was practically de-Jiendi-nt upon the srreat Yeomans mills here, the McCormick and Walvllle mills Just to the west. ltut somehow these mills have done better during the great slump than "! others. 1 find all rthrouph the lumber districts that the mills that were specializing are doing the b3St. Those cutting and piling up stock lumber were the first lilt and the hardest htt. unless they had ample capital. Hut those that were making specialties Iiave done better. And that has been the case with the three concerns hereabouts. That paragraph conveys an intima tion that lumbermen can no longer prosper by putting logs through the first processes of manufacture ami then selling the unfinished product. They may build up a steady market by deciding upon some one or more kinds of finished product, the field for which is not crowded, and manufacturing them. The lumber which was formerly their finished product would then be come their raw material. They may Beek out new uses for lumber and de- velop a market for them. Those lum '. tiermcn who first do so will have the opportunity to occupy the market they create and to gain a long start on imi tators. By-products from waste mate rial can be made of a kind suggested by the Forest Service, often turning a loss into a profit on the entire output of a mill. Lumbermen need not cease striving for relief from unfriendly laws and unfriendly administration of the laws, from economic conditions growing out of the war which have borne espe cially hard on their industry, but they can resort to the means we have de scribed in order to work out their own salvation. Irrespective of those obsta cles to prosperity. They can build up a foreign as well as a domestic trade in furniture, boxes, baskets, wooden ware and house-finishing material. Such industries would broaden the home market for lumber and would increase the general prosperity to their advantage. A SAD RECORD. Twenty-five years or so ago mili tarism gained a foothold in the Port land schools. Two companies of high school cadets were formed and they engaged in such nefarious practices as marching, drilling and maneuver ing. Young boys even put on uniforms and carried guns. The consequences have been dread ful. The Oregonlan published a list Sunday of more than 150 horrible ex amples of the influence of military training on the plastic mind of youth. The whereabouts and activities of as many as possible of the cadets of a quarter of a century ago were ascer tained and given to the world that the danger to the Nation of permit ting young minds to think even re motely of warfare as a personal in volution might be generally under stood. ' Those who have read the story about the Portland High School Cadets will shed tears as they reflect upon the unanimity with which the mem bers of that organization are now at tempting to wreck the republic or plunge it into armed conflict with other nations. The thirst for gore and disaster has driven them into mer cantile, agricultural, manufacturing pursuits and trades and profession. They have become lawyers, dentists, doctors, undertakers, bank tellers, printers, insurance agents, architects. railroad employes, Jurists, theatrical managers, engineers, office-holders and various other civic entities that make up a decadent and quarrelsome community. One, more desperate than the rest, has fled .to a far country to become a missionary among the heathen, and three bolder ones have openly and seditiously joined the military arm of the Government. The saddest words, as everybody knows, are, "it might have been." Had it not been for their high school military training, many of our most important citizens might now be en gaged professionally in reciting poetry on the Chautauqua circuit. STATE OR PARTY FIRST? It is with some reluctance that we give credence to the statement of a contemporary that Claude C. McCol loch informed the Evening Star Grange Saturday night that "the issue made by the water-power conference on the Ferris bill was whether the Government should retain title and lease the power sites or give them in fee simple to the water-power inter ests." Yet this wholly untrue and pre posterous assertion is followed by a direct quotation from his apparently serious argument that Federal control would be better for the farmer than unregulated, unbridled private con trol. If the issue raised by the ' water power conference were as Mr. McCol loch asserts, the bare proof of it would be most effective without argu ment. Does Mr. McColloch think the substantial citizen of the Grange is an ass whom he in his youthful wisdom must caution against the evils of unre strained monopoly? The resolutions adopted by the water-power conference have been widely published. They are under standable even to such dullards as Mr. McColloch wrongly suspects make up the Grange. The issue is between State and Federal control of a nat ural resource, the development of which is primarily of state interest and remotely of National interest. The resolutions are the officially recorded sentiments of the conference. There is not a hint or inference in them that the conference wishes the Government to give power sites "in fee simple to the water-power interests." That by conceding state control the Government will Jn effect turn over the water powers to the "interests" can be argued only on a premise that is grossly uncomplimentary to West ern citizenship. The Grange is rep resentative of the farm population of Oregon, and the farm population is the solid, intelligent balance of power that forever insures to a democracy such as exists in Oregon "a sane gov ernment, a government for the best welfare of the greatest number. Does the Grange concede that if the Oregon people controlled their water powers, the "water-power interests" could bunco them out of their property and that Oregon people would thereafter supinely submit to rate-robbery in the rendering of electric service? That is exactly what Mr. McColloch says is the extent of their capabilities. The Ferris bill is an Administration measure. Mr. McColloch is a Demo crat. These two sentences tell the story. But what a contrast between his attitude and that of another Demo crat! The latter, a Senator in the last Legislature, voted for a resolu tion opposing the Ferris bill and in so doing declared that his duty to his state was greater than his duty to his party. nxAxcrxG out exports. The course of foreign trade con tinues to increase the balance in favor of the United States so rapidly that the Anglo-French loan having been limited to S500.000.000, gold imports on a large scale will be necessary to balance accounts. August added more than $120,000,000 to the excess of ex ports over imports and brought the total balance for eight months of 1915 to $1,040,986,297 and for the year end ing August to $1,365,334,346. The grain-shipping season is now well opened and exports of war munitions are swelling monthly. It is, therefore, predicted that the balance for the re maining four months of 1915 will nearly equal that for the past eight months and will bring the year's total up to $2,500,000,000. After all allowance has been made for offsets, such as ocean freight, in surance and interest on American se curities held abroad, an allied credit of $500,000,000 in this country cannot nearly suffice to square accounts. Fur ther heavy imports of gold will be necessary, although the net imports over exports of that metal for eight j months of 1915 have already reached $213,893,970, as compared with net ex ports of $98,589,220 in the same period of 1914. Our banks are overstocked with gold, and further additions to the supply will be a stimulus to specula tion, but they cannot be avoided unless American, banks make further loans to the foreign customers of American manufacturers. The question whether any particular banker or bank depositor is pro-ally or pro-German has nothing to do with the case. We are selling goods to those who are able to buy, and it is up to American banks to finance the deal. Their refusal to do so would not pre vent the sale of food or war munitions; it would simply force payment to be made in an uneconomical manner. It would cause gold to be shipped from countries where world finance requires that gold remain to a country where it is not needed, and where It is becoming an incumbrance. Failure to finance our exports would lower the price of exchange and would force the Amer ican farmer and manufacturer to pay most, if not all, of the difference. Those who denounce the loan permit their sympathies with the Germans to blind them to the business aspects of the situation 'from the American standpoint. A STER.V CHAMPION OF LABOR. In -the death of James Keir Hardin the British Independent Labor nartv and the Socialists have lost a leader whose convictions were the fruit of his own experience, whose honesty of purpose was not rtrmntorl hv Vila nlf- terest opponents and whose stern uevotion to ma principles carried into political and economic controversy the Same OUaJltlnsl w'hlnn Tnnvtrnri hta Scotch covenanter forbears. Like the great religious and political reform ers of former times, he was a man with a mission," for which he worked with almost fanatic zeal. Born in Scotland in 1856, Hardie Went to work" in a. rrnl mino' n f V. s age of 7, and once said that he had never ocen a cnua. rie continued to work iinrlsr"i-rtii nH until 1. .-. ....... o 1 nicking UD an efrnciltion frnni Vilo mother and thereafter learning as best ne couia, out he became a widely read man. He soon became an ardent labor lininntistt nnrl thamninn rt hibition'and woman suffrage, and left me mine to Decome president of the Ayreshire Miners' Union, two years later beginning tn nuhiiah a nTr,. paper. In 1887 he founded the jvuner ana was afterwards editor of the Labor Leader organ of the Inde pendent Labor party. He ran for Parliament in Mid-Lanarkshire, Scot- iana, in iss and was defeated, but in 1892 was elected frnm Smifhwaat Ham, near London, and since 1900 imu represented juerthyr Tydvil in Wales. He visited the United States in 1912 to atterni the nirii ,.r v.i son and namesake to Miss Marion stoaaard at Brooklyn, N. T., and made speeches in many cities in behalf of Socialism TT mnria principal address in Glasgow last Jan uary at a meeting at which the Scot tish Independent Labor party denounced the war. Hardie was not nnW a Knoioifo- a democrat in theory, but he never hesitated to proclaim his convictions and his detestation of monarchy and to put them in practice. He made a Diner speecn in the House of Com mons against a. resolution lating the King on the birth of the Prince of Wales, , and when King George visited the great Dowlais Iron Works in 1912. he wrote a lotto, King denouncing the latter for accept ing riospiiauiy paid out of the blood and tear-stained wealth of the crea tors of dismal Dowlais." He defied conVenti where silk hats are the unwritten rule, bv wearine- Wrntf. , ,- v. House,' and only yielded so far as to wear a stur hat on learning that that is the Italian workingman's head gear. Though Parliament is called the most exclusive club in London, his teaparties on the terrace consisted of workingmen in their working clothes and women with - their arms. Despite his rusrcori n,nani- and his fierce denunciations of rank and wealth, his hitiororf i.-i , enemies respected and even loved him as a man and would shake his hand after making violent retorts to his tirades. His unbending honesty was proved by his rejection of many offers from company promoters to make him a dummy director with fat fees and a block of stock, though by accepting he might have become wealthy. He lived on $1500 a year on a side street in an nnfaehinnhi - ...w.. jut.r- ter and never yielded to social blan- uisnmenis. as did other labor leaders'. it nas been such champions that have formed a apna m t I o Kr.a in the British Parliament strong ""us" l" exact recognition in the Liberal coalition nni t.,-.. .iwcuidUUU in the Cabinet, flnri tn i . adoption of Lloyd George's great o- social Detterment. Har die led the more extreme Independent Labor party, but its infim.i.A. certainly felt in pushing on the mod- caico tiiu tneir allies. LEASING AS PTBUC POUCY. Secretary of th TntHm- v..-. the objection to the Ferris bill that leasing of nower sltA wmii -iti.unij them from state taxation, by saying that the states are free to tax the output of power plants. The answer ia mat tnat is a matter of public pol icy which the states should be left free to decide for themselves; they should not be constrained to adopt Mr. Lane's suggestion by being deprived of any other means of deriving revenue from power plants. This is tn i nn side the question whether the Govern ment nas constitutional authority to lease public li-nd, or to do ought else than sell it or give it away. bince the public land to be used In power develoDment is tn hi a public use by public utility corpo rations subject to public regulations, the question whether it or its product snouia De taxed is a matter of state policy. The land would be in the same situation as that granted to railroads for right of way with this important difference that the taxing authorities nave nunerto regarded the railroad right of way as the absolute property of the companies snd hnva ta-r. t - ..-. , c aa such and the regulative bodies have included its value in the investment on which rates must be based, while the disposition now is to hold that r..Kll land being granted free of cost to fu ture utility corporations, their rates should Include no allowance fni- earn ings on its value. The states might men noid tnat, as the companies derive no income from this land, thev shnuii not be taxed upon it, especially as the states get the equivalent of taxes in the shape of reduced rates to their citizens. States in which there is no public land have had the opportunity to pur sue this policy with utility corpora tions and have thrown it away by per mitting free right of way over what was public land to become absolute property subject to taxation and there-1 fore a basis of higher rates. Equality among the states requires that the Western states should have the same opportunity with regard to future util ity corporations, among which power companies will rank high, and to make the most of it- That is one of the grounds for the proposal made by the water-power conference that the gen eral right-of-way law relating to pub lic land should be extended to power companies that they may appropriate or condemn power sites, reservoir sites and transmission routes. This proposal is met by Mr. Lane with the argument that the power com panies would do as railroad compa nies have done charge rates based on the increasing value of their right of way and that the states would permit them to do so. He foresees great power monopolies withholding power from development and 'charging exorbitant rates on . inflated valuations, unre strained by the states. That predic tion is disproved by the facts. It as sumes the continuance of a policy which was long since abandoned, both by the states and the power compa nies. The states strictly regulate rates and base them on actual-investment, thus excluding any allowance for property which cost the companies nothing. Although the cash valuation as a basis of rates makes nominal capitalization of no consequence, that, too, is limited. Combination of plants Is permitted only when the states hold it to be in the public interest. Monop oly in any field is permitted only un der the same conditions and then it is protected try the states. Power com panies cheerfully accept this control, regarding a fair, stable income as pref erable to one that fluctuates violently between deficits andstock Qividends. In short, the states have tamed the corporate wolves of which Mr. Lane is in terror and have trained them into good dogs. Power sites could not be held undeveloped by speculators, for the states would forfeit the water rights for non-use. Mr. Lane cites as a reason for adopt ing the leasing policy the fact that a tract of coal land which the Govern ment sold outright for $64,000 was leased by the purchaser at a royalty which will yield $800,000. Mr. Lane therein supplies his opponents with an argument, for he is proving the incompetence of the Washington bu- reauracy to administer a vast landed estate at long range. He says the Geological Survey appraised this land at $64,000, though it was worth the cash equivalent of $800,000 in royal ties. A man who would make such a blunder is not capable of correctly ap praising a bag of peanuts; he should be carryirg' a chain for the surveyor or wheeling a barrow. Just because the Government sends such incompe tents to do. its business in the West, the West says It should hand over the power sites to the states for admin istration. The. small element in Oregon which fears to trust the state in the control and regulation of water powers has heretofore praised chapter 189 of the general laws of Oregon for" 1915. The act authorizes an irrigation district to acquire by lease, purchase or con demnation privately owned power sites, not only for its own uses, but to provide for and furnish water and electric current to users outside the district. ' Is it safe to permit a por tion of the people to do that which is dangerous for the whole people to attempt? Why should not each dis trict invite the Government to manage its business and tax Itself to pay the Government for the service? That is what the Ferris bill proposes for the state at large. If Bulgaria should, after all, elect tcv defy Germany, her case would not closely resemble that of Belgium. Bul garia would have allies more ready to help her and the Teutons are so closely engaged with their other ene mies that they could not crush Bul garia as they crushed Belgium. Such things do not happen twice. The 200,000 German prisoners in Siberia, alleged to be without coats and blankets and objects of appeal for help from America, will suffer much before relief from here can possibly reach them. The local season is over and Port land does not care for the pennant. Interest soon will center on the bulle tins and the fans will watch Dave Bancroft get a piece of the big money. The great difficulty about the Ar abic is to get the German government to admit that-a German could make a mistake and that an Englishman could tell the truth. Grays Harbor has made a name for itself as the place which has the lum ber ready when it is wanted. Plenty more will be wanted a year or two hence. One of the idiosyncrasies in the election of Congressmen is that .a man chosen last year does not take his seat until December next. Tears hence, when all the banks have slid into the canal and all the mud been dredged, there will be un interrupted travel. If Gaffeney is being made the goat because of his Irish blood, this Ad ministration is tackling something ticklish. Other countries besides Waterberg, South Africa, will dry up next year. Oregon and Washington for example. The night school is the- training camp for the young man and woman who would do things in the world. In California, as in Oregon, the Jit ney is the one free lance of the transportation business. The quake was indeed kind to pass up the Exposition City, Jostling all around it. The fairs are about over, so let 'eT rain, or the old Willamette needs the water. The man who is robbed by a gypsy women ought to tell his troubles to his wife. Dr. Cook's reputation as a deceiver must have preceded him to Rangoon. A little earthquake like that of Sat urday is welcome as a mild thriller. European War Primer By Rational Geographical Society. Lens, toward which the French re cently made a tremendous drive on their way northeastward in the direc tion of Lille, is a strong iron and steel center. Its great iron foundries sup plied a considerable part of the French trade in peace times, and its engineer ing works ranked high among similar industries. There is also a large fac tory for the production of steel cables among its establishments. The place Is not upon the tourist's map of France, however, for It is a strictly modern business town, and, before the German lines passed over and beyond it, was full of restless energy, of the unlovely noise and grime of factories, and of the unattractive commonplaces of la bor and commerce. e " The region all around is an Indus-! trial one. Through this district of the department of Pas de Calais run large coal fields. Lens is one of the centers of coaj mining. The town is situated 13 miles north-northeast of Arras, around which latter place the French and. Germans have been fighting with Increasing bitterness for months. It Is connected by branch line railways with Arras and St. Pol and Bethune, in the southeast and east, and with Lille, 25 miles to the northeast. Lille is' a rail way center and a manufacturing town pf first Importance. Lens had Just be fore the present war a population of 28.000. Lens has had an eventful history, as all those cities have had which are scattered through the Important north ern and northeastern parts of France. Its grounds were frequently fought over during the wars of the 15th,- 16th and 17th centuries. The outstanding oc currence In its military history was the great battle fought In its neigh borhood by the French and the Span iards in 1648. in which Louis II of Bourbon. Prince of Conde, gained the victory for the French. PATRIOTIC AIRS IV GOOD TASTE Always Appropriate Wherever They Reach and Stir Masses. PORTLAND, Oct. 3. (To the Editor.) Among the open letters in The Ore gonlan has appeared one lamenting' the fact that vaudeville artists utilize our National anthems in their musical acts for the suspected purpose of insuring success for an otherwise mediocre per formance through the appeal of martial music, the enthusiasm aroused and the applause thus secured from the pliant audience. Discontent .was expressed because the audience arose during the playing of patriotic airs and the in sinuation voiced that not spontaneous enthusiasm, but the desire to display pretended loyalty, prompted the almost unanimous action of those present in very properly arising and remaining standing during the rendition of the tune deprecated by our melancholy fel low citizen. I attended the theater where the re ported horrible exhibition was enacted, and must say that it is a mighty poor "American" who can remain seated while our National hymns are being played in this time of world-war and universal battle. I think almost all of us upon hearing one of our National tunes are stirred to enthusiasm and unconsciously thank God that we are Americans. I stood 'Arhile the orchestra played the tune referred to, and for myself can say it was through no de sire to further the success of the vaudeville artists nor was it because I wished to Impress others with the fervency of my patriotism. The only ones present, in my line of vision, who did not rise, were two who sat beside me, a sour-looking young man and his sheepish companion, who remained seated, making themselves much more conspicuous than they would have done by acknowledging a decent grateful ness for their country and an easily understood pride in being Americans. Much or little as we may call our own, we owe what we have to the fact of our being citizens of this glorious republic of ours, and at times like this, when the weaknesses and falla cies of other countries are so pitl lesBly laid visible for the world to see, the most casual meditation upon the manner in which our ship of state is being steered by our wonderful Presi dent is sufficient to arouse the most lethargic American to enthusiasm or should be, if he is fit to be classed as an American. . As for our National anthems being out of place In a vaudeville theater, I cannot follow such reasoning. Such music is certainly appropriate at any place where it reaches the great mass of the people, whether that be in the public parks. In the theater, or else where. I imagine our anemic friend would sniffle through three verses of "Tho Rosary," but "America" is dis tasteful. ANOTHER AMERICAN. CHIEF DIFFERENTE IS N "HOOTS." Blue Grease Gives Five Soandsi Timber Grouse of Eastern Oregoa, One. PORTLAND, Oct. 3. (To the Editor. A correspondent in The Oregonlan, A. A. L., says, in an interesting essay on Oregon grouse of different kinds: "The blue grouse of Oregon never' drums," which, since nobody ever thought that he drums, is like saying "the Oregon salmon never crows." Every boy born in Western Oregon during the past 60 years knows full well that the grouse boots and that when he does so he gives forth the most delightful music known to the minor or adult heart. He makes his initial debut upon the first Spring day when It seems safe to ven ture forth, usually in March, and his first notification to his mate that the business year 1s at hand, that is, the first notification of which the country boy is aware, is his apparently distant hooting, though he may be located in a fir tree not 60 yards away. He usually selects a position on a' limb quite well to the top of a tall tree and immediately against the body of the tree. Almost any country boy can mimic the hoot of a grouse so faith fully that he will often answer the sal utation. The difference which your corre spondent notices between the "blue grouse" of Western Oregon and the "timber grouse of Eastern Oregon" is moBtly Imaginary, save In a technical sense. The former hoots .with a suc cession of guttural sounds, though they have a fine carrying nature, usually consisting of five in number, gradually diminishing In power until the last is scarcely audible, while the grouse of Eastern Oregon never hoots but once, then resting until the spirit overtakes him again. When I first went to East ern Oregon at the age of 15 I was very much aurprised at this differ ence in the nature of the birds that had only the summit line of the Cas cades between them. In other respects the difference between the blue grouse of Marion County and the timber grouse of Union County Is so slight as to sug gest the change which undoubtedly overtakes the young man who, after reaching the age of 20 years on a Linn County farm, goes and settles on a Baker County ranch for five' years. I find it difficult to suppress a feel ing of deep disappointment at the dec laration that there is no Oregon pheas ant nor any phesant of any kind that is "indigenous to America" One by one the supposed joys of our childhood go glimmering and we are assured that what we used to see drumming on an old log In the brush along a swale was but a grouse in disguise. However, there Is undoubtedly a great and grow in variety of bipeds in the world. And. speaking of bipeds, did it ever occur to you that the human family presents the only two-legged animals in the world that are not covered with feathers? . T. T. GEEK. STANDARD WAGES DEFEAT SCHEME t'armploymnrt Relief Moat Not Attract Men From Elsewhere. PORTLAND, Oct. 8. (To the Editor.) As spokesman for the Oregon Society of Engineers In proposing to the Cham ber of Commerce a plan for employing idle men in clearing land, it would, per haps, not be out of place for me to make a brief reply to the criticisms in your editorial September 30. Our plan Is as follows: Form a company with a capital of say $10,000. Buy a suitable tract of logged-off land for from $10 to $20 per acre on easy terms. Provide axes, shovels, mattocks, saws and bara Offer wages of $r25 per day, and put a good foreman in charge, with full power to hire and discharge men. Enter into an agreement with the city that the owners, within a reason able time after clearing, will sell the land to the highest bidder and will turn over to some (designated charity everything In excess of 6 per cent in terest on the amounts actually ex pended, the city, in consideration there for, agreeing, to transport all appli cants for work to the place free, and also to furnish the services of some employer of the auditor's oiHce as bookkeeper. In addition to this, the city should take charge of the boarding camp, charging the men for board, but with out profit. Cooking outfits and tent can be hired from some contractor. The Council should also make an appro priation to aid the families of men who undertake such work. , It is objected that this plan is for temporary relief. ' Is not that exactly what we want? When the house is on fire does the owner scurry around after the hose, or does he sit down and study on a plan for the permanent improvement of the fire department? Inside of three months there will be hundreds of men in Portland who will feel the pinch of hunger. The next time one strikes me for a quarter to get a meal I shall tell him kindly to wait till 1920. by which time some plan will have been worked out for the permanent abolition of unemploy ment. But while this plan is specially In tended to meet the present emergency, it is also capable of expansion Into a permanent means of relief. Let us for get for a moment both sentlmerttallsm and land speculation and look the facts squarely in the face. It is possible that some means of clearing land by machinery at a reasonable cost will be found, but so far there is no proof that it has been done. Clearing, with or without machinery, if standard wages be paid, costs from $100 to $150 per acre. Does anyone believe that land for agricultural purposes will stand such charge? Nine-tenths of the land which has been cleared in Western Ore gon has been cleared with simple hand tools, by men working In their spare time. If they earned $1 per day they were that much ahead, for they would otherwise have earned nothing at all. It is an economic necessity that we get back to the same principle now and proceed to clear more land at a cost such that a return on the investment is possible. The differences between the cost of unimproved land and the value it has when cleared is rarely more than $50 or $60 per acre. Under average con ditions it requires from five to six weeks' labor of one .man to clear an acre. The value of such labor, after making due allowance for other ex penses, will, therefore, not exceed $1.25 per day. Anything more than that is charity, not business. If, however, any undue profit were to result from this low price for labor, the plan proposed to the Chamber of Commerce provides that anything more than simple in terest shall go to some worthy charity and not to the owners of the land. Surely no worklngman will object to a possible profit being made on his labor, if he knows some other poor man will receive all the benefit. You speak of extracting useful In gredients from the stumps and making them a source of profit. . It this can be done it will add a new and valu able industry to our state, but it will not relieve the unemployment situation in the least. In good times or in bad we have every Winter a large number of men unable to find work. This is due to seasonal rather than to eco , nomlc conditions. There is a much larger demand for labor in Summer than in Winter. What we need is some kind of work which can be carried on in Winter and dropped without loss in the Summer. Clearing land, better than any other occupation, meets this con dition. . In wet weather the ground is soft and easily worked, and powder Is most effective. Only the burlng re quires dry weather, and that is but a small percentage of the total labor. Mr. Baker protests that the city will never be a party to any iniquitous scheme whereby men will be compelled to work for $1.25 per day. It is pro posed by the engineers that the city shall do three things to aid in carry ing out this plan. 1. Transport free any man who de sires to take advantage of the pro posed employment. 2. Furnish men good board and lodg ing at cost. 3. Aid in caring for the families of married men who will undertake this work at low wages. Will capitalist, taxpayer or laborer object to any of these? Any scheme of relief which prom ises to pay standard wages will defeat Its own object. Men will flock to this city from every part of the Northwest, and the number to be cared for will be so great as to make relief utterly impossible. Only such plans as pro pose to pay wages in accordance with the economic value of the services ren dered offer any chance of permanent success. J. P. NEWELL. POLISHED RICE ONLY FEARED Government Policy la Philippines la to Wipe Out Berl BrrU PORTLAND. Oct. . (To the Ed itor.) Professor Flynn must surely have been misquoted. The statement attributed to him, "The United States forbids the use of rice In the Philip pines." is too absurd really to require refutation. Klce is the Filipinos staff of life to an even greater extent than bread Is ours. -What the Philippine (not United States) authorities did do was exactly what Professor Flynn advocates and that action was taken some five years ago. The use of polished rice was forbidden in government institutions such as prisons, hospitals, coast guard vessels and the insular police or con stabulary. Tbe government did not interfere with the right of the ordi nary individual to eat polished rice, even though American scientists em ployed in the Philippine Bureau of Science pointed out to him that the use of polished rice caused berl beri, a ter. rible swelling of the limbs. By ex tracting the essence of the rice pol ishings those scientists secured a rem edy for berl beri. Mr. Editor, will you correct the com mon belief that the United States Treasury pays the expenses of the Philippine government? That is not the case. The revenues of the insular government are derived from internal revenues and customs duties on all im ports except those from the United States. American exports to the Philippine Islands have grown from almost nothing prior to 1898 to millions in the past few years. Every dollar's worth of American manufactures sold there means that some American work man has received pay because of that new business which has "followed the Flag." R. H. GBARHART, Former Philippine employe. Economy at Home, Boston Transcript. Husband Why in the world do you have our bills come in weekly instead of monthly? Wife You told me that you didn't want them go iarge, didn't you? Halt a Century Ago From The Oresonlan of October 4. 1865. Washington The President has been informed by telegraph that the Alabama Convention, by a vote of 60 !? J9- Passed an ordinance providing that all debts created by the State of Alabama in the late war. directly or indirectly, are void. Cincinnati, Sept 29 While General Grant was returning from Indianapolis at an early hour yesterday morning a switch at the end of a curve at Guil ford having been turned intentionally, tne car was thrown and draeged for considerable distance. No one was in jured. New Tork, Sept. 29 Th T.rnrin correspondent of the Commercial says it is reported that the Barrings have made arrangements for a Massachusetts state loan of 2,000.000 sterling. ,Je 1vl" 1 to be tried in one of the Circuit Courts of the United States, though what particular one is not known. It la thought probable, how ever, that Norfolk. Virginia, will be the place of his trial and that Chief Justice Chase will preside. Wells Fargo & Co. received $101,000 by Monday night's boat from the mines. Philadelphia. Sept. 27 -The morning papers announce the death of W. J. Duane, aged 85 years. He was Secre tary of the Treasury under Jackson, and resigned his office rather than con sent to the removal of the deposits from the United States Bank. Twenty-Five Years Ago From The Oregonlan October , 1890. London. Oct. S. The McKlnlev bill Is likely to destroy the Birmingham button trade. Man v nr v.- i . been canceled and the employes of many of the button factories have been on snort time. Constantinople. Oct. S. Grand Vialer ivlamil Pasha has Invited tbe Sheika of Anatolia and three Armenian beys to confer at Constantinople In regard to a setlement of the Armenian troubles. Russia approves the conference. Newport. R. I.. Oct. 3. George Ban croft, the venerable historian, quietly passed his 90th birthday today. The second dynamo for the power house of the WaverlyWoodstock motor line was hauled out to the power-house yesterday. The West Shore Publishing Companv yesterday purchased a piece of ground at the southwest corner of Water and Columbia streets, on which will be commenced a fine four-story brick block. G. W. Dickson, assistant general su perintendent of the Northern Pacific Is at the Portland. Chicago. Oct. S. The home team de feated New- York without difficulty, batting ODay all over the field. Chi- aJ2: New York - Pitchers. King and O Day. WHEX OREGO.V HAS BECOME DRY Snbscrlbrr Wants to Knovr About the OlA Scotch Uncle Sends Him. PORTLAND, Oct. 1. (To the Editor.) For a number of years I have an nually received as a Christmas and New Year's present a keg of old Scotch whisky from an uncle in Glasgow. Scotland. Sometimes it has reached me before Christmas and at other times early in January. (1) Supposing It reaches me before the first of January. Can I keep it after that date? (2) Supposing it does not reach me till say the first --eek In January. Shall I be allowed to keep, and, if I cannot, what will become of it? (S) If I send to San Francisco for my "monthly allowance" of eer and when It is delivered I am not at home to receive it and sign the affidavits (I am a bachelor), what will happen to my beer? I am away all day and sel dom reach home before 7 P. M. Will the express company keep making trips until they catch me at home, or can I get tbe express office to sign up for It? (4) Can The Oregonlan give an estimate (approximately) of the amount of money that will go out of Portland every month for liquor? (5) If I may drink beer in Portland, why may it not be' brewed in Portland and keep the money at home? We cry "made-in-Ore-gon," but will be sending thousands of dollars out of Oregon every month, with three or four big breweries stand ing idle. SUBSCRIBER. 1. If the whisky arrives and Is de livered to you before January 1 you may lawfully keep it. Y'ou may keep any quantity you desire on hand so long as it has been received lawfully and Is not sold or given away in viola tion of the law. 2. If the whisky arrives after Jan uary 1 you will be unable to get it out of the express office. If the quantity is more than two quarts. The law makes no provision for the disposition of in toxicants left in the hands of carriers. 3. You can receive lawful quantities of intoxicants at the office of the car rier in person. There is no require ment that liquors be delivered at the home of the consignee. 4. We would not undertake at this time to give an estimate of the sums that will be sent out of the state for intoxicants. 5. That one may drink beer In Ore gon but must buy it outside of Oregon is one of the provisions of dry legisla tion on which the prohibitionists shed no light, and the reason for it is a dark mystery to The Oregonlan. When "Hallelujah" la ssaic. MILWAUKIE. Or., Oct. 3. (To tho Editor.) Please tell me why people stand when tbe "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah" is being sung. I have heard as a reason because King George of England did the first time he heard the chorus. Is this true? MAMIE E. MULL AN. It is a custom to stand, for the sake of reverence and tradition, when a chorus sings the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah." This infor mation appears on page 652, volume X. of "Tbe New International Encyclo pedia, published by Dodd. Mead ec Co.. 1915 edition: "'The Messiah' was pro duced for the first time April 13, 1742. at Dublin, Ireland. At the first Lon don. England, performance, March 23, 1743, in Convent Garden, when the 'Hallelujah' was reached, the King (George II V and the whole audience rose, and it is an established custom which is continued to this day." Concentration Newspaper advertising affords the National manufacturer a chance to concentrate on his best mar kets. He can reach the cream with out having to buy any skimmed milk. Thus he keeps his selling ex pense down to a minimum, and regulates his own expansion oil a solid basis. - v This newspaper advertising gains him a "dealer co-operation" he could secure in no other way.