Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, April 04, 1916, Image 10

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Morning Oregonian., April 04, 1916, Page 10, Image 10

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Newspaper Page Text10 TITE arORXIXG OREGOXTAIf. TUESDAY, APR Hi 4, 1916. mtB I'OKILAND, OREGON, Entered ct Portland COregon) Postoffice as second-claes mail matter. Subscription Kates Invariably In advance: (By Mail.) Pallv, Sunday Included, one year ? !?9 Dull v, Sunday included, six months ..... 4.-5 Ijailv, Sunday Included, three months .. . 2.2 3Tai:y, Suurtty included, one month ...... XJatly, withcut Sunday, one year ........ liuiiy, without Sunday, six months a.lio Dally, without Sundiiy, three months .... I;aily, without Sunday, one month .60 "Weekly, one year 1.50 Sunday, ono ytar 2.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year .......... 8.50 (By Carrier.) Iaf!y, Pundaj Included, one year 9-00 laily, Sunday Included, one month 5 How to Itemit Send postoffice money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's rirk. lilvo poatofflce addresses In full, including county and state. Postage Kates 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18 to 3 pages, 2 cents; 34 to 4S pages, 3 cents: M to 0 pages 4 cents; 62 to 76 pages, S ct-nts: 78 to 82 pages. 6 cents. Foreign postage, double rates. Kaatern Business Office Verree A Conk lin. iirunswlck building. New York; Verree A Conklin. Steger building, Chicago. San 1'rancisco representative, K. J. Indwell, 742 Market street. . POBTIASD, TUESDAY, ATBUj . 191- I ISivE wrra THE MUZZLE Oil. The House committee on naval af fairs has taken off the muzzle -which Secretary Daniels placed on the mouth tf Admiral Bradley A. Fiske and has et him free to tell what is the matter with the Navy. He told the commit tee in substance that the Navy lacked the expert, directing brains of a Gen eral Staff such as enabled Germany to win great victories on land; that he had for two years endeavored to in duce Mr. Daniels to make good this deficiency, but that the Secretary had successfully obstructed his efforts. Other criticism- of the Secretary has related to the Navy's lack of ships, men, ammunition, training- and fail ure to correlate its parts. Admiral Fiske's criticism is that, however serv iceable it may toe in these respects, the Navy lacks a mind and will continue thus lacking until it is given a General Staff of experts who will prepare war plans and will have general direction of all the bureaus, subject to the au thority of the Secretary. In order to supply this deficiency. Admiral Fiske, with the aid of Rep resentative Hobson, procured adoption toy the House of an amendment to the 1915 naval bill establishing the office of chief of naval operations, "who, under the Secretary of the Navy, shall be responsible for the readiness of the Navy for war and charged with its general direction." To assist this of ficer were to be assigned "not less than fifteen officers of above the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the Navy or Major in the Marine Corps." Through efforts of Mr. Daniels, this amendment was stricken out in the House on a point of order and a sub stitute was adopted in the Senate, re stricting the duties of the chief of operations to direction of the fleet and thus making the plan fall far short of its authors' purpose. This was to establish a General Staff, such as all other naval powers have, which ad ministers the affairs of all the Navy and can keep the Navy in continual preparation for war.. Though he had emasculated the plan which was the work of others, Mr. Daniels claimed credit for it. One feature of Admiral Fiske's plan was the rendering of quarterly re ports, or war plans, by the various bureau chiefs, for the purpose of in forming the Secretary of the readiness of the various bureaus for war. After beseeching Mr. Daniels for two years to sign the authority for putting this system in effect. Admiral Fiske re signed as aid for operations, an office established by Secretary Meyer as a half-way measure because it required no legislation. At the expiration of a month Mr. Daniels appointed Ad miral William S. Benson, of North Carolina, his own state, to be chief f naval operations under the new law and signed the report which Ad miral Fiske had in vain urged upon liim. He, however, made as little use as possible of the authority to create e. General Staff, assigning only eleven Instead of fifteen officers to it. Of these four are junior-grade Lieuten ants, who do merely clerical work, although the law requires officers above the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the Navy or Major in the Marine Corps. "The purpose for which the office was created has not toeen served," Admiral Fiske told the House committee. Admiral Fiske, told the committee that Congress, by limiting the au thority of the chief of operations to the fleet, had failed to center respon sibility for a failure to co-ordinate all the military features necessary for the successful operation of the fleet. It has not done what other nations do in establishing a General Staff, for they "recognize strategy as a specialty, just as much as construction, electricity or engineering." Officers who are serv iceable and efficient in that specialty at the War College are put tentatively on the General Staff and, if they make good, remain there. How important is this question is shown by these words of the Admiral: All over the -world, especially since 1870, when we became aware of what had been done by Prussia, there has been In naval and military circles an increasing- realiza tion of the Importance of continuity and strategy and that the danger of not appre ciating It Is really tremendous. In my hum ble opinion, this particular question we are now on is actually the most Important ques tion before the country today. The national life has hinged on this particular thing In a great many countries durina- all hl.tnrr. The General Staff of Prussia brought about ntirely a new state of things before the war with A.isirla in 1866, and when the war came along they tried their method and defeated Austria practically In three weeks. Not content with blocking the plans of Admiral Fiske to provide the Navy with this indispensable requisite to success, Mr. Daniels did everything possible to prevent him from giving publicity to the matter. The Admiral was asked to speak before the Com mercial Club of Chicago with the un derstanding that no newspaper man would be present. This is what fol lowed, as he related it to the com mittee: I notrfied the Secretary, and he told me that he am not want me to make any speeches or write any articles for newsDanera or magazines. I expostulated and said I was not criticising any policy of the Secretary r tne rreaiaeoi. Representative Britten asked: "Did he tell you that you were not even to say that two times two make four? "Yes," answered the Admiral. Mr. Daniels, not only muzzled Ad miral Fiske: he also muzzled the Gen eral Board of the Navy, which is headed by that grizzled veteran. Ad miral Dewey. Assistant - Secretary i' rapklin u. Roosevelt said a year and a half ago that the Navy was short 18,000 men. Mr. Daniels denied ft. The General Board recommended an increase of 19,600 men. Mr. Daniels refused to make public the report if it contained that recommendation and In order to get its report before the public, the General Board struck out the paragraph. In defense of the Secretary, it has been said by some newspapers that Admiral Fiske advocated a control oj. the Navy that would remove it from civilian control through the Secretary. On this point he said to the com mittee: The idea of military and naval men is to recognize that in our country the underlying idea of government is not to put the mili tary over the civil, but to prevent the harm being done by a civilian official who did not quite have the proper conception ' of the weight of these factors, to have a competent man who Is versed in all those matters to be principal adviser to the Secretary and also under him. Just as an Adjutant In a regi ment, Mr. Daniels' idea is what might be expected of a petty politician from an inland country town to, get as much power as possible into his own hands and to be boss of the Navy. That he might not fail his country in its hour of need. Admiral Fiske re signed his office and closed his career as a naval officer. He then tore off the muzzle and told the people and their representatives the truth, which Mr. Daniels has striven to hide. The people of the United States paid to have Admiral Fiske and other naval officers educated and trained in order to have the benefit of their skill and experience in voting on general poli cies which concern the safety of the Nation. It is not to be tolerated that the people are to be deprived of ex-, pert advice by the arbitrary decrees of a political boss like Daniels. We need the free speech of the Fiskes to protect us from the Danielses. THE KIND OF MAX THEY HAST. Let us assume that a well-known lawyer (name John Doe, or Richard Roe) should announce his candidacy on any ticket to be a Supreme Judge of the state of Oregon. Let us suppose also that the presi dent of the Oregon Bar Association and seven former presidents should unite in protest against his candidacy, declaring him "not fit to be a member of the Supreme Court." Let us suppose also that represen tative members of the Portland Bar, having full knowledge of the character and practices of the candidate, should unite in testimony that he was "un scrupulous, untrustworthy, lacking in straightforwardness." Let us suppose also that it would be clearly shown that the candidate was a frequent violator of professional ethics, in that he had been the ac credited attorney for one interest in litigation, and had abandoned his clients, and appeared on the other side an offense not committed once, but repeatedly and also that he had in more than one instance practiced duplicity in announcing his employ ment to appear for a client, but had actually been employed by inter ests whose Identity was carefully con cealed. Let us suppose that the candidate should also be openly accused by at torneys of good reputation of making false and misleading statements in public hearings. Can it be Imagined that any politi cal party would have the temerity to nominate such a man for Supreme Judge in Oregon? Tet the Democratic party proposes through its Senators at Washington to elevate to the Supreme Bench of the United States Just such a man Louis D. Brandeis. JCST WAKING UP. -While Oregon has been slumbering the out-of-the-state reclamation people are about to get away with money that should go to our school fund. Pendleton East Oregonlan, Oree-on hfla Bllfferwrl vicflrinnalv fnr the untimely somnolence of its Rep resentatives at Washington; but it has not been slumbering on its rights or just expectations as to Reclamation. It is pitiful that an attempt should be made now to "pass the buck" to the people. Five years ago the original reclama tion act was repealed under the noses of Oregon Senators, without a word of protest from them, and without a word of criticism from journals like this lit tle Pepdleton paper which have sud denly awakened to the great crime the reclamationists are now perpetrating in Oregon. Forty per cent of the excess pro ceeds from the sale -of the O. & C. land grant is to go into the Federal Treasury for the benefit of reclama tion. It will be years before there is any revenue to the Government from this source, -under the terms of the proposed bill. But at this time the reclamation fund takes all the pro ceeds from the sale of public lands in Oregon. All, not 40 per cent. Oregon has contributed millions of dollars to reclamation in other states, and has had little in return. Tet some people are just beginning to get excited about the crime of a spurious conservation, which takes over everything for a Federal bureau cracy. RHOCLD SHE CONFESS? (To the Editor) Will you pleaBe civ mo advice? If one has done something awfully wrong something that can't ever be un done and nothing can ever help is it a worse wrong to go on living amon? people and deceiving them and letting them think you are all rig-ht? I must have advice from someone and I can't tell anybody. CONSCIENCE STRICKEN. Here is a letter that comes to The Oregonlan anonymously. Ordinarily it would be ignored, for the usual reasons; but the appeal which it makes is apparently sincere and the identity of the writer is in the circumstances not a matter either of concern or of curiosity to The Oregonian. The handwriting is a woman's. The offense which is so poignantly de plored is one which it is not difficult to surmise. If so, is it now neces sary for the benefit or protection of society to make it public? There are signs of genuine repent ance in the letter, and we assume that the offense is a thing wholly of the past, and is thus neither of the pres ent nor for the future. The only rea son for confession then would e to relieve a burdened conscience. There are confessionals, where the anguished soul may find help, and they exist in the privacy of one's pwn closet, or in the sanctuary of a church. It may be well to seek solace there: for one's con fidence will not be betrayed. But what right have the everyday com panions of anyone to know one's life secrets? What could they do with the acquisition of unsuspected knowledge but spread it to the owner's injury? We suspect that if any of us would be betrayed by an accusing conscience into telling our friends everything about ourselves, there would and could be nothing but trouble and un happlness for ourselves and for them. They have no right to know, and do not demand to know, everything we have ever done, unless it has a direct bearing upon our present association. On the other hand, every person in the world has a definite right to the good opinion of every other person, and he ought to strive to keep it, and he may properly resent any effort from any source to procure its withdrawal, un less he forfeits it by personal miscon- jduct. Let him be the last to injure himself in the esteem of others, either by foolish utterance or by improper deed. Let us say, then, to our unhappy friend, and to the world, that a wrong which is personal to her only cannot be righted by disclosure to persons to whom it is of no concern, or by at tempted atonement to any others than the principals. If, of course, the con sequences of past transgressions exist today, to the injury of others, that is quite another matter. SPRING. As the poet would put it. Spring has unlocked .the flowers to paint the laughing soil. The bolt is slid some what earlier in Western Oregon than elsewhere in the- country, and it has been moved somewhat earlier than usual this year; for If this is not Spring there is only one other term suited, to such weather Sum mer. The ' first flowers are . be ginning to array themselves in clus tered battalions ready" to proclaim the final victory over hoary Winter. The miracle of transition is passing before our eyes, as trees bedeck themselves in multi-colored buds and the earth takes on a new mantle of bright green. Poets who sing of Springtime usual ly find their inspiration in May. Goethe, in his famous tribute to the new season, was moved by the inspira tion of bright days in that month: "So then the year is repeating its old story again. We are come once more, thank God! to its most charming chapter. The violets and the may flowers are as its inscriptions or vi gnettes. It always rrfakes a pleasant impression on us, when we open again at these pages of the book of life." Had Goethe lived in Western Ore gon he would have found place for April in his tribute. But the poets have thrived in less favored climes. Otherwise, how much more rapturous the tributes to her bounteous charms. Perhaps Shakespeare would not have referred so acridly to the "uncertain glory of an April day." What so rare as a day in April? Does the phrase not fit Oregon completely as the or iginal fits an eastern state? OLD MEN WHO ARE NOT OLD. It was with considerable pride and admiration that the country followed the progress of the dashing cavalry column which broke all marching rec ords in the first few days of the Villa chase. Hale and hearty youngsters, seasoned by months on border patrol duty, they were fit for just such an exploit. But it. was with a shock that the country learned of the leadership of this h.ard-riding, hard-fighting cav alcade. No intrepid youth rode at the head of the column which made forty miles a day over hills and desert waste and finally dashed fifty-five miles in one stubborn ride and struck the fugi tive Villa column at the peep of day. A man of sixty-four is Colonel Dodd; sixty-four, and booked for retirement for old age in July. The fact that the leader of this ex ploit must pass out of active service because of an arbitrary age limit fixed by regulations is another evidence of how slowly Americans adopt the effi cient military methods of European armies. Who can name a distinguished leader in Europe , under sixty-five? One of the great Generals in command before Verdun is eighty, and yet his daring and aggressive tactics have gained for him the sobriquet of 'The Devil of Metz." Dewey at sixty-four was in his prime, and for many years after his retirement age the great American commander was well equipped mentally and physically for active service. General Miles at sev enty was abla to make the ninety-mile test ride in less than a day without Inconvenience. The mere age of sixty-four does not indicate that one is an old man. He may be younger in mental and phy sical vigor than the man of forty-five or fifty. He who has led an active and normal life may be at his highest state of usefulness and professional efficiency at sixty-four. If he is men tally and physically sound the chances are his judgment will be better and his wisdom riper than were he fifty four. The retirement age should not be fixed arbitrarily. There are men who are unfit for further service at fifty. There are others who are at their best at sixty-four. Half a dozen Generals have proved this in Europe, and Colonel Dodd has provided cumu lative evidence. A FAMTNE IN BRIDGETS. . Woe lurks for the housewife in a seemingly prosaic and routine report on immigration totals for the first two months of the year. Milady may have seen nothing to interest her in an nouncement that the foreign influx fell from its normal volume of 210,000 to a sadly depleted total of 40,000 in January and February. But the fact may bring many an unhappy hour into her life, and before the tide rises again her hands may have become reddened, chapped and blistered. The principal note of tragedy -in the immigration total lies In the absence of Bridget from the incoming ships. For, while there may be enough Mikes and Pats to maintain the country's po lice forces, there are not enough Brid gets and Iones to wash the country's dishes, make the Nation's beds and cook the country's meals. The sup ply of Maries and Fifis Is running so low that friend husband may have to resume hooking-up-the-back opera tions, supplementing this useful art with an occasional spin about the neighborhood at the wheel of a one- man-power perambulator because of shortage of Olgas, Selmas and Gret chens. The Ernst is in the grip of this hor rifying famine already, and the always-complex servant problem is rap idly becoming a dilemma, if not a tragedy. American girls prefer fac tory work if education or opportu nity denies them something better. Southern servants choose to remain in the sunny southland, where they are understood. So the housewife who is able to afford hired help may not be able to escape household drudgery, al though the family income permits servants. Means to employ servants and ability to get them are different matters nowadays. The reason Bridget and Gretchen no longer flock to American kitchens and dining-rooms is an insurmountable one. She is faring better at home. Larry and Hans and Pierre are toting muskets at the front and letting the women do the work. Naturally, op erating a streetcar in Berlin is a more heroic and attractive role than oper ating a perambulator in Central Park. Making bombs in London is more al luring than making beds in Hoboken. Complexity is added to the situation by the sagacity of those already on the job. Always haughty and inde pendent. Bridget is now the undis puted autocrat of the household which hopes to retain her valuable services. Moreover, she has suddenly become a specialist. She will cook the dinner but she will not make beds or scrub a floor. This notion is spreading rap idly, if one may credit responsible re ports. In due time milady must do part of her own housework, if not all of it. The -utility servant for that household with an income of $4000 or $5000 a year is vanishing. Unless one can af ford to employ a dozen the matron must step in and do those special parts of the work for which she can not afford specialists. The only inno vation that might save the day is re vision of immigration laws, such as will permit us to Import a few hun dred thousand Chinese girls to do the work. There died in New York last week a woman known as the "mother of the kindergarten" in the public schools of the United States. Susan Elizabeth Blow established the first public-kindergarten in St. Louis in 1873. under auspices of the Board of Education, but at her own expense. 4 She had studied the system in Germany and had become so enthused that she was willing to devote her own means to its spread. The next year the St. Louis Board of Education adopted kindergarten work in the curriculum and relieved her of the expense. Thereafter she. opened a school for kindergarten teachers. Her subsequent activities included writing of books on education, lecturing and otherwise promoting her kindergarten theories and allied subjects. Miss Blow was however, little known outside of edu cational circles. She "did not care to waste her time on the laity." She de clined newspaper interviews and di rected her energies among teachers. Her opinion that the public is pot interested in educatipnal subjects was unusual, but it must be said that her practice of the theory, her devotion of a lifetime and unusual wealth to an educational cause, and her refusal to interest herself in other subjects, re vealed possession of the true mission ary spirit. A report by the New York Senate civil service committee shows that by consolidation, abolishment of useless offices and reform in salary standards, the state could save $2,000,000. But the Evening Post fears that the report will fall on deaf ears: It is so much easier to lew a direct tax of $8,000,000 than to prune away $2,000,000 ef extravagant outlay. Besides, all these superfluous officeholders, th-ace Incompetent servants of the state, have powerful backers in the Legislature, or politically Influential friends at home, who will not see them dis turbed if they can help It. It is not the possibility of saving, but the will to save, that is lacking. , Legislatures are alike the country over, but economy programmes do not always fail because the "will to save is lacking." The Legislature is so con sistently berated that members have come to suspect each other. A body of timid, distrustful men is readily manipulated by keen politicians. There was a striking example in Oregon in 1915, when a Legislature pledged to consolidation was scared off the job by political clap-trap shouted by the identical tribe which persistently hold up every Legislature to public scorn for extravagance and incompetence. TheChicago News has been going back into the history of the Supreme Bench of the United States with ref erence to its relations with public af fairs. It finds that in 1872 a Supreme Justice, was nominated for President by a National convention of the labor reform party. When notified of his nomination the Justice said: "Be pleased to thank the convention for the unexpected honor which they have conferred upon me. The Chief Magis tracy of the republic should neither be sought nor declined by any American citizen." Those were the words of David Davis, Abraham Lincoln's close friend. He had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Lincoln and he had served as one of the executors of the estate of the martyr President. . The Government may investigate the price of gasoline for years, but the best hope of bringing it down is the Rittman process or the adoption of substitute fuel. While the Govern ment investigates, the inventor and business man act to remove the cause for investigation. Much good will a reprimand do Lieutenant Mort, who took a detach ment across the line to rescue two soldiers held by Mexicans. That's the kind of officer to lead troopers. A court-martial is a stuffy old body loaded with technicalities, anyway. The long six-months period of hopes, fears, enthusiasm and de spondency, with noise, begins today, but it's just as well to remember the Beavers have a cinch on the pennant. The $75 to be given each grown Al sea Indian under terms of Hawley's bill, just passed by the House, is an aggravation. That sum will not pay for even a used-up car. Many Princeton seniors say they have never kissed a girl. A table on osculation should now be compiled at co-educational institutions for use in making comparisons. Are we to infer from the fact Professor McCollum uses rats in his endeavor to discover an ideal food for man that he contemplates feeding us on rats" meat? Deplorable as - the idea may seem, the calamities at Turner Saturday night were too slight to be of value. A thorough "licking" might bring peace. With war all over Europe, Africa and a large part of Asia, it is easier to name the countries which are at peace than those which are at war. An ideal food is sought by experts. Price and flavor are two factors they must not overlook, if they expect any one to eat the stuff. Mr. Adams does not seem to realize that Venus has guided human destinies since the infancy of the race. Those Princeton seniors who have never kissed need not feel alarmed. The art is easily mastered. If the Zeppelin raids continue Great Britain will be compelled to spend its nights in cyclone cellars. With baseball all Summer, the Rose Festival and two circuses coming, do we need Billy Sunday? The Sheriff's deputies can take in tax money with both hands today and tomorrow. We'll believe they've captured Villa when we read the certified death cer tificate. The President is the one man who can accept things and not be a grafter. Gleams Through the Mist By Dean Collins. BALLADE OF" THE WOOD. Through wise heads of the city sift The problems of the city's weal: From hand to hand the buck they shift; Round many .a quirk the tape they reel; Efficiency, they make you feel. Is shining in each cranny clear; Yet now I rise up to appeal Where is the wood of yesteryear? When once the host of unemployed Drove deep the wedge and tugged the saw. Fond hopes the citizens enjoyed. With feelings quite akin to awe; The dreams of methods without flaw To bring them safely in the clear Commissioners now hem and haw; "Where is the wood of yesteryear?" A thousand cords, so it would seem. Have dwindled into filmy air Like cloudy fabric of a dream, And though they measure, 'tis not there. Wildly they're searching every where. But the lost wood doth not appear; And Echo says, of the affair: "Where is the wood of yesteryear?" L'ENVOI. Commissioners, within the pile An Ethopian lurks. I fear. Again we ask you, without guile; "Where is the wood of yesteryear?" "Sir." said the Courteous Office Boy, sinking his spade deep into the soft turf. "Yes, my son," -I answered, absent mindedly eating a quarter's worth of onion sets instead of planting them. "Why is yonder potato bug like our policeman?" "I cannot tell." I replied, realizing that the C. O. B. had started riddling again after a long period of abstinence. "Because I have never seen him on the beat!" said he, pointing to the beet patch as a diagram of the joke. Whereupon I sprayed him with limo and sulphur, which was the most proper retort that I could think of on short notice. ' SOLEMN THOUGHT. In Spring the wayward blossoms Through tho greensward sweetly poke; And, side by side with every bloom. There grows the poison oak. "Handsome is as handsome does," was probably invented first as an epigram to apply to the beautiful crimson foli age of the poison oak. THE SNOWS OF ,TESTER EAR. What has become of the old joke about the skirt so tight that the girl had to use a shoe horn to get into it? COJfTISUISG ON NAMES. Toung Addison's inventive quite; But recently the lad Invented a new dynamite Now there is nought to Add. Toung Edward was an orphan child; His parents both were dead; And all the neighborhood went wild And started raising Ned. A WHEEZE FOR THE DAY. C. J. S We don't know why he sup presses his name has pulled the fol lowing guffaw for our benefit: An Italian emerged, doubled up- with laughter, from the Turn Verein Hall, where the German Red Cross Bazaar was in progress. "Italy is avenged." he chuckled, "for when they passed the hat I put in six lires, and what the deuce can a German Red Cross fund do with Italian money?" THOSE NAMES AGAIN. When Clifford went away to war A bullet hit him "Biff!" So we will go no further, for There's grass grown" o'er the Cliff. THAT WAR SERIAL. We regret to report that the comple tion of the war serial, "When the Dove Bit the Eagle," which was to have been undertaken at this time, has been de layed through failure of our readers to co-operate. Last week we announced that we would open free casualty lists and that all might contribute. Since that time we have received suggestions enough to enable us to kill off most of the prominent citizens of Portland, but all of our contributors have declined to let their names appear with the lists they have sent in. We cannot assume this responsibility. We do not care particularly whether you kill the Mayor, or the Chief of Po lice, or the principal of your school, or anyone else, for that matter, but we must insist hereafter that whenever anyone sends in a list of names to be used in our casualty lists in the final battles of the great serial, they give us permission to say who sent them. In this way our public men will gain a real insight into people's opinions of them. Trusting that these rules will be ob served in future contributions to our casualty lists, we " remain, yours for griping romance, WHIXTON G. HOTAIRE, Author. MOTHER GOOSE OF PREPAREDNESS. The King of France and four thousand men. Drew their swords and put them up again. Because they felt that it was right To watchfully wait, and not to fight. "Rub-a-dub-dub. A bowl or a tub Is fully effective, by gravy. For the sailors who sit And must learn how to knit And tat and crochet In the Navy. ' And," Daniels repeats, "The enemy's fleets May lead in the matter of guns; But for sailors as knows About verse and 'bout prose And fancy work ours is the ones." Naturalisation Laws. PORTLAND, April 3. (To the Ed itor.) Would you kindly inform me if the present law regarding the taking out of citizenship papers is a state or Federal law? That is, do other states compel the taking out of final papers at the expiration of five years from the time of declaration of intention, under penalty of forfeiture of first papers? Through family- sickness I overlooked complying with the law as it is in Oregon, and would like to know if I have any recourse other than waiting another five years? JAMES CORNELIA. Naturalization Is governed by Fed eral law. Take up your case with Nat uralization Servica Customs-House, Portland. DEMOCRATIC CLUBS DEFENDED. Mr. Murphy Demands Apology from Kentucky Kllck. PORTLAND. April 2. (To the Edi tor.) That was an able exposition of the Monroe Doctrine by the Hon. Thom as Gladstone Thornton of the inner circle of the Kentucky Klick ii The Oregoni.iri April 1. I hope the outer circle of the K. K.-.are as well in formed; As I understand the "red Democratic blood" interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine from the excellent disquisition o Mr. Thornton, the Monroe Doctrine first means neutrality, hands off, down with the hyphen, the Hapsburgs. the Hohenzollerns. the English Tories. "Pussy William" Democrats. Emma Goldman coddlers, "sailors' risrhts" drivellers, cracked exponents of water power bills, female control of the Dem ocratic party and such things. Brother Jonathan must be the fighting uncle of Latin America and the biff-stick brother of our neighborly greasers. The Monroe Doctrine, says Mr. Thorn ton, is "if you want anything you must fight for it, and after possession you must be prepared to defend it." Good leather! The Kentucky Klick has stated more clearly and forcibly the doctrine of Monroe than the historians, the essay ists on Btate papers and contemporary statesmen. But why did the inner circle of the Kentucky Klick go out of its way to Insult the Jackson Club and the Wood row Wilson League by charging them with being under female domination and control? Admitting that perhaps one-half of these cluba are talking through their hats and the other halt through their rats, isn't pretty much everybody else doing the same in these days? What has become of the chival ry of the Kentucky Klick whose mem bers are "white males, born south of the Mason-Dixon line of legitimate parents"? Does the K. K. wish to in ject into our local Democracy the ante bellum ethics of intransigent Ken tuckyism, such as "to eschew a coon and embrace a demijohn" and similar copperhead crudities? I will admit it's going some to be chivalrous in the midst of a bunch of political ladies, but on the other hand only a group of old grannies still be lieve that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. It's the hand that rules the gavel rocks the world. The Kentucky Klick ought to apologize to the Jackson and Woodrow Wilson clubs for its rude and unsunny south land language. If this be done. I am sure cultured readers and ardent Dem ocrats will thank Mr. Thornton, nay regard him as a profound student of the Monroe Doctrine and withal a scholar and a gentleman and a good judge of Democratic junk. J. HEXXESSI JIURPHV. Extermination of Bedbugs. PORTLAND. April 2. (To the Ed itor.) Kindly give a radical bedbug exterminator, how applied, if poison, etc. I have just moved into a new house that seems to be alive in the floors and all crevices and would like to know as soon as possible. NEWCOMER FROM THE SOUTH. The best method of eliminating bed bugs is to exercise extreme care in transmitting household effects from an infested place to a clean place. Ex treme cleanliness of all bedding, in cluding the mattress, is essential, which may be obtained in tho case of all bedding equipment, except the mat tress, by thoroughly boiling, airing and drying and in case of the latter by thoroughly cleansing With gasoline or burning the same. There are a num ber of things that may be used to good advantage in eradicating bedbugs, namely: Kerosene, turpentine. 1 to 1000 bichloride of mercury solution, a car bolic acid solution and other solutions made from derivatives of phenol. A new house that has never been in habited is very unlikely to be infested with bedbugs and it is probable that in the case of a "Newcomer From the South" the bugs were acquired in tran sit from the furniture cars or the mov ing vans, the latter oftentimes using old quilts, blankets, etc., for packing purposes. Plea for Chance to Hear. PORTLAND. April 2. (To the Edi tor.) Anticipating the unalloyed pleas ure Damroscli's concerts could give the music lovers were there not disturb ances furnished by the opera sight seers, I am sending this protest to The Oregonian. At a recent symphony concert I sat in the balcony. Just back of the aisle. am a listener, but the ushers were so energetic I found myself looking; in stead of listening. In one movement of the symphony two ushers made five trips across the balcony aisle. They were not seating anybody and probably they knew the necessity of this deck walking, but it was not apparent to the casual observer. In "La Boheme" I also had a balcony seat. None of tho first act's singing could give any pleasure. The ushers raced up and down with their flash lights giving the non-musical late com ers a chance to be seated for the three remaining acts. Why should Portland be behind other cities in its courtesy and appreciation? The gallery audience, being a musical one. is always seated promptly. They realize the first note Is as important as the last. A MUSICIAN. Reindeer In Alajtka. RAYMOND. Wash., April 2. (To the Editor.) Are reindeer a native of Alaska? If not, when were they im ported and by whom? What country are they a native of? A READER. Domesticated reindeer were intro duced in Alaska by the United States Government under the personal care of Rev. Sheldon Jackson ir 18S9. Some zoologists maintain that the caribou of Canada is a geographical race of Euro pean reindeer. The wild reindeer once existed in the islands north of Scot land, but became extinct prior to the twelfth century. They are now found almost everywhere from Northern Scandinavia to Eastern Siberia. Do mesticated reindeer are most numerous in Lapland and in Northern Siberia. Marriage After Divorce. PORTLAND. April 2. (To the Edi tor.) (1) A woman secured a divorce in Oregon City in June, 1904, and was remarried in Vancouver, Wash., in July, 1904. Is the marriage legal?' (2) Has law governing such cases been changed since 1904? CONSTANT READER. (1) Yes. (2) Yes. 'Six months must elapse before remarriage. The change in the law has the effect of making the six months' provision less ambiguous than in the law existing in 1904. The six months limit was in effect at that time, but the new law passed in 1913 vali dated such marriages contracted prior to its passage when regular in all other respects. Shamrock fn Orfroa, PORTLAND. April 2. (To' the Edi tor.) Kindly tell me whether the shamrock grows in Oregon and if it has the same color as in Ireland and how many leaves. LE BRETON. Lots of It. It looks the same to every one but to a true Irishman and to him nothing ever looks the same as that from the "auld sod." It has three leaves. In Other Days. Twenty-five Yran Ago. From The Oresontan of Arrtl 4, Seldom in the annals of Portland so ciety circles has there been so large and fashionable gathering of repre sentative laities and gentlemen as Re sembled in the Exposition building last evening to participate in the charity ball fopMhe benefit of the free kinder garten. London. April 3. The German semi official papers have been authorized to deny the report of a transfer of Rus sian troops to the Galacian frontier and to minimize the importance of the Czar's decorating President Carnot. On Monday evening next, April 6, the Grand Army of the Republic throughout the entire country will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the order. M. M. Harris, the recording secretary of the Tammany Society, has been in Taeoma, where he made arrangements to bring General Bragg, the veteran soldier and Democrat of Wisconsin, here. He is making a tour of the Coast. Naval men have remarked that the naval warfare going forward in Chile has demonstrated the weakness of torpedo-boats under fire and the uncer tainty of the fish torpedo, with which our Navy la equipped, is especially re marked. In the Police Court yesterday. J. D. Johnson was given a sentence of 60 days for vagranoy. He claims to have once stood up before John L. Sullivan and displays, with considerable pride, a badly disfigured ear in proof of his story. Half n Centnry Ago. From The Oregonian of April 4, lgfifl. We are informed that the streams south of us were never known to be so full at this season of the year as they are at present. The stages are pretty nearly all water-bound south of Oakland. The steam revenue cutter Lincoln, Captain J. W. White, we are Informed, would leave San Francisco about the 5th for the Columbia River. The steamer Cowlitz arrived at her wharf in this city yesterday from a point five miles up Lewis River well freighted with farm products and hav ing 28 passengers. A trading post on Lewis River, if started by some en terprising man, would soon develop quite a town. At the annual school meeting held at the Central schoolhouse on Monday evening, the following gentlemen were chosen directors for the ensuing year: Honorable E. D. Shattuck, W. S. Ladd. Esq., and J. Failing. L. M. Parrish. who has served as clerk for the past two years, was re-elected. The members of the Fortland fire department met at the house of Engine company No. 2 last evening for the pur pose of presenting ex-Chief Engineer Buchtel with a testimonial of respect for him as a fireman, a gentleman and in token of their appreciation for his services during the two years he filled the position of chief engineer of the department. The present assembling of "Southern Confederates" in this city reminds us that today is another anniversary. One year ago today the Confederate army, under General Lee. was making the tallest kind of time away from Rich mond. Annexation of Texas. PORTLAND, April 3. (To the Edi tor.) Several days ago you commented editorially on the acquisition of Texas by the United States. Just what is the status of Texas in the Union? Is she equally responsible with the other states under Federal statutes, or was there something in connection with her joining the Union that makes her a free and independent state in certain respects? I read or heard something to this effect. WANTU KNOW. Texas was an independent Republic, at the time of its admission as a state In 1S45. Under the terms of the Fed eral annexation resolution. Texas ceded to the United States nil public edifices, military structures, arms and other property pertaining to public de fense, and was allowed to retain all unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to bo applied to payment of Texas' debts and liabilities, and for disposition by the state after discharge of its debts. Congress, by this resolu tion, also gave its consent to the for mation of not more than four other states out of the territory whenever Texas so desired. These terms differ from those on which territories already a part of the Union have been admitted as states. The Government retains tho bulk of unappropriated lands while con sent to formation of new states out of states already admitted is reserved for future consideration. Error In Text Book. PORTLAND. April 3. (To the Edi tor.) In Tarr & McMurray's World Geography. Oregon edition, page 7. there appears this statement: "Only three other states in the country. Penn sylvania, Ohio and Illinois, produce more iron ore than Alabama." Is not Illinois noted more for its deposits of coal than for iron ore? How about Minnesota, with its nu merous and large underground and open-pit iron mines on the Vermillion an.d Mesaba Iron Ranges? (I) Is the statement in the geog raphy correct? (2) If not, who is re sponsible for such errors in the text nooks which our children are required to have? PARENT. The statement is incorrect. The United States Statistical Abstract places Alabama fourth in 1914 in pro duction of pig iron, with Pennsylvania. Ohio and Illinois leading in the order named. But of iron ore, Minnesota and Michigan together mine over SO per cent of the country's output, Alabama between 8 and 9 per cent. Pennsyl vania ranks seventh, Ohio sixteenth. Illinois negligible. (.1) The State Board of Text Book Commissioners adopts text books for the public schools. Division of Property. STEVENSON. Wash.. April 2. (To the Editor.) (1). Can a wife come in for her share of property if husband got the deed after marriage. Case was in court before marriage. In case of divorce can mother obtain custody of three minor children if she Is a good, clean, moral woman, and how much alimony can eho compel husband to pay? SUBSCRIBER. (1). Yes, in case of his death. (2). Division of property, alimony, custody of children and the like in event of divorce are decided by the court, if the parties cannot reach an agreement. Population of European Countries. PORTLAND, April 3. (To the Ed itor ) (1)- Please give population of Russia, France, Germany, Austria Hungary before the war. )2). Would like to write Theodore Roosevelt; please give address that would reach him I C. M. E. (1). Russia, 163.900,000: France. 39. 600,000; Germany, 65,900.000; Austria Hungary, 49.900.000. (2) Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y.