to
TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 191G.
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PORTLAND, WEDNESDAY. OCT; 4, 1916.
HUGHES DA BO It DECISIONS.
An attempt has been made to show
by Mr. Hughes' position as Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court on labor
decisions that he is biased against the
cause of labor. Examination of de
cisions in which he participated or
from which he dissented proves pre
cisely the contrary. As a judge he
was bound by oath to declare what
the law is, not what lie thinks it
should be, yet it may be conceded that
his conclusions on disputed points of
law reveal to a certain degree his
mental bent. So far as his sentiments
may have influenced his Judgment on
questions of law, they are decidedly
favorable to labor and to all that type
of legislation which promotes social
and industrial justice.
Mr. Hughes in December, 1913, de
livered the opinion on the appeal of
Liltf DLUIKCfl Ou l- 11 ! II mUUUlUULUIlUK
Company against Arthur Beauchamp,
relating to the child-labor law of
Illinois. Beauchamp was a boy un
der 16, who sued for damages suf
fered through injury, under a law
prohibiting employment of children
under 16 in certain hazardous occupa
tions. He was given a verdict, which
the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed,
and the employer appealed to the
United States Supreme Court on the
ground that the law was contrary to
the fourteenth amendment, providing
that no state shall deprive any per
sons of life, liberty or property with
out due process Of law" 1101? "deny to
any person the equal protection of
the laws"; also that the boy falsely
represented that he was over 16. In
his opinion Justice Hughes said:
It cannot be doubted that the state was
entitled to prohibit the employment of per
sona of tender years in dangerous occupa
tions. , . . As It was competent for the
state, in securing the safety of the young,
to prohibit such employment altogether, it
could select means appropriate to make its
prohibition effective, and could - compel
employers at their peril to ascertain
whether those they employed were in fact
under the age specified. The Imposition of
absolute requirements of this sort is a
familiar exercise of the protective power
of government. . . . The classification
It established was clearly within the legis
lative power.
California passed a law limiting the
hours of labor for women in hotels
to eight daily. F. A. Miller, a hotel
proprietor, contested the validity of
the law and, being defeated in the
state courts, appealed to the United
States Supreme Court. Justice Hughes
delivered the opinion of the court,
holding the law to be a reasonable
restriction on freedom 6f contract in
order to safeguard the public inter
est. In support of his opinion . he
quoted at length from the Supreme
Court decision In the case of Muller
vs. Oregon, wherein the Oregon law
forbidding employment of women .in
factories and laundries for more than
ten hours a day was upheld.' .He
quoted that opinion as saying in re
gard to woman:
She is properly placed In a class by her
self, and legislation - designed for her pro
tection may be sustained, even when like
legislation la not necessary for men and
could not be sustained. Even though all
restrictions on political, personal and con
tractual rights were taken away and she
stood, as far as statutes are concerned, upon
an absolutely equal plane with him. It
would still be true that she is so constituted
that she will rest upon and look to him
for protection; that her physical structure
and a proper discharge of her maternal
functions having in view not merely her
own health, but the wellbelng of the race
-Justify legislation to protect her from
the greed as well as the passion of man.
The limitations which this statute places
upon her contractual powers, upon her right
to agree with her employer as to the time
she shall labor, are not imposed solely for
her benefit, but alao largely for the bene
fit of all. Many words cannot make this
plainer.
Mr. Hughes applied the same prin
ciple to the California law and sus
tained the authority of the state "to
recognize degrees of harm" and to
"confine its restrictions to those
classes of cases where the need is
deemed to be clearest."
The California law was later ex
tended to women employed in public
lodging - houses, . apartment - houses,
hospitals and places of amusement
and was contested by the trustees of
a hospital. It was again upheld by
the Supreme Court in an opinion by
Justice Hughes, who gave similar rea
sons to those quoted from the Oregon
case for Justifying the restrictions of
student nurses' work to eight hours
a day.
One of the most Important decisions
rendered by the Supreme Court while
Mr. Hughes was on the bench related
to the right of employers to exact
from employes a contract that they
would not be members of a labor
union. Kansas in 1903 passed a law
declaring it unlawful for employers
"to coerce, require, demand or influ
ence" any person to enter into such
an agreement. The law was sustained
by the state courts, but was declared
invalid by the United States Supreme
Court in January, 1915. in the case
of Coppage vs. State of Kansas, on the
ground that it infringed upon the
right of contract and did not come
within the poliee power of the state.
Justice Holmes and Justice Day gave
dissenting opinions upholding the va
lidity of the law, and Justice Hughes
concurred in the opinion of Justice
Day, in which he said:
Nothing Is better settled by the decisions
of this court than that the right of contract
1h not absolute and unyielding, but is subject
to limitation end restraint In the Interests
of the public health, safety and welfare
. . . The Legislature is in the first in
stance the Judge of what is necessary to
the publio welfare, and a Judicial review
ef its Judgment Is limited.
There is nothing in the statute now under
consideration which prevents an em
ployer from discharging one In his service
at his wllL The question now presented is:
Many an employer, as a condition of present
or future employment, requires an employe
to agree that he will not exercise the privi
lege of becoming a member of a labor union
should he see fit to do so? ... The
right to. Join labor unions is undisputed,
and has been the subject of frequent opin
ions. . . . The right to Join them as
against coercive action to the contrary may
be the legitimate subject of protection in
the exercise of the police authority of the
states. This statute . . . has for Its
rein of a legal right, by preventing an
employer from depriving the employe ot It
as a oondition of obtaining employment.
Justice Day proceeded to argue that
the state had as much right to pro
hibit employers to require that em
ployes renounce their right to join
labor unions as it has to prohibit a
requirement that employes forego the
right to-resort to the courts, paying:
A man may not barter away his life or
his freedom or his substantial rights. .
. He cannot bind himself In advance by
an agreement thus to forfeit his rights at
all times and on all occasions.
The two dissenting judges drew a
parallel with the case of an employer
who might pledge an employe not to
enlist in the National Guard, or "to
forego affiliation with a particular
political party or the support ot a
particular candidate for office." Their
opinion of such a contract was thus
frankly expressed:
It is constantly' emphasized that the case
presented is not one of coercion. But in
view of the relative positions of employer
and employed, who is to deny that the
stipulation ' here Insisted upon and forbid
den by the law Is essentially coercive I No
form of words can strip it of its true char
acter. Here are three cases involving the
most important features of the labor
programme restriction of female la
bor and child labor and maintenance
of labor's right to organize. On each
one of these questions, Mr. Hughes'
sympathies are shown by his inter
pretation of the law to be with the
cause of labor. He is as progressive
on that subject as the most ardent
champion of labor. lie is fully abreitst
of the times. He has not rendered
mere lip-service. He has served the
cause of labor by his acts, both as
Governor and as Judge. Those acta
prove the sincerity of the pledges lie
now gives that he would be guided
by like sentiments as President.
WAR STOPPER; WAR STARTER,
It is doubtless with confidence born
of the success of his wholly original
conception of the way to stop war
that Henry Ford now points out the
way to start war.
War is one .of the easiest problems
that Henry tackles. Recipes for stop
ping it or recipes for starting it come
to him just like that. To stop one,
first adopt a slogan, then send a ship
load of preachers and schoolma'ams
to the warring countries to shout it.
To start a war fail to elect Woodrow
Wilson.
These are the famous Ford recipes.
One of them, as everybody knows and
as has been herein indicated, has al
ready been tried. How the Ford
peace expeditionusing "peace"- to
define its purpose, not its delibera
tions plucked the soldiers out of the
trenches by Christmas will be recalled
by even the first-grade pupils in the
Government's Americanization school.
Here were demonstrated hard-headed
sense, sound thinking, keen logic and
everything else that makes for polit
ical guidance we don't think.- t in
spired public confidence that Mr.
Ford's brain is running on too lean
a mixture.
Now we have his recipe for starting
a war. It ought to be Just as good
as the one for stopping war. The
only doubt that can be raised is trace
able to the ingenuity of the Wilson
mechanism. Anything that has as
many reverse as it has forward speeds
is likely to carry an auto maker off
his feet.
PERDICABIS ALIVE.
An incident occurred in Theodore
Roosevelt's first Administration which
a subscriber asks The Oregonian again
to relate:
On the evening of May 18, 1904,
Ion Perdicaris, a citizen of the United
States, and his stepson, Cromwell Var
ley, a British subject, were kidnaped
from their home just outside Tangier,
Morocco, by Raisuli, a noted bandit. '
For their return he demanded a ran
som of $70,000, the surrender of all
his followers who were in prison, the.
removal of the Governor of Tangier
and the withdrawal of all the Sultan's
troops in Raisuli's district.
An American fleet, under Admiral
Chadwick, was. sent to Tangier to back
up the efforts of the American Consul
to secure the release of Perdicaris.
The British government took similar
action, but the bandit made fresh de
mands and negotiations dragged until
June 22, the Sultan making only in
different efforts to satisfy this gov
ernment. On June 22, Secretary of State Hay,
under instructions from President
Roosevelt, - cableS to the Sultan of
Morocco:
"Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead."
The captives were returned In
safety to Tangier three days later. j
One American citizen's life was
then more precious than 500 now. Na
tional honor was maintained, Ameri
can lives and property were made safe
abroad not by making war on an of
fending bandit but by threat of re
prisal against the country that har
bored him. And still President Roose
velt "kept us out of waf."
NOTHING MUCH TIIE MATTER.
The habit is growing we had al
most said ingrowing -to ask "What's
the matter with Oregon?" and then
to supply all manner of lugubrious
answers. Better service would be
done to the state by telling what is
not the matter with Oregon and by
dwelling on that feature of the case.
It is well enough for a state, as an
individual, to practice occasional self
examination in order to discover and
correct faults. But that practice
should not be permitted to degenerate
into morbid self-introspection, which
magnifies faults instead of curing
them. '
We are informed by the Portland
Association of Credit Men that Oregon
is under-populated, is top heavy with
cities, has only 8 per" cent of its area
under cultivation and that our lumber
industry, though more active, is not
profitable. That diagnosis has been
made before in varying terms; the
present question is the treatment.
We want more people on the land,
but thy must have both a home and
an outside market for their products,
or they will not come. Manufactures
will- make a home market, for their
products, both as raw material and
for consumption ' r by employes. To
reach the outside markets we must
have more cars, which the railroads
and the Railroad Commission are
striving to build, and more ships,
which are now building at a fairly
rapid pace, thirty-three being under
contract on the Columbia and Willam
ette rivers. The next thing Is to re
tain some of these 'ships in our own
service. That is a matter to be taken
up with some of our moneyed men.
Prove to them that there is money in
it and they will bite.
With half a dozen shipyards In
operation, we have made a good start
at establishing new Industries, but
they are drawing others. First cornea
authoritative announcement that a
steel works, which will disburse $4000
ft week, in, 3vagest is to. b erected is
Portland. The steel trade Is over
flowing its present homes and is
spreading to the Pacific Coast, and
other industries will come in its train.
We are getting the smokestacks and
the ships, and they will bring the
farmers to feed their employes as
surely as the magnet attracts steel.
The main- thing that is the matter
with Oregon is that too many people
are asking, "What's the matter with
Oregon?" In nearly every other re
spect Oregon Is all right.
AUTUMN LEAVES.
In October the smoke of many bon
fires rises all over the land as the
householder disposes of the Autumn
leaves that have fallen on his lawn
and garden. "Rake and burn't is the
motto of this second clean-up time of
year. It is quite natural that it should
be so, for however beautiful the Au
tumn leaf may be in its place on the
tree. Just after the frost has nipped
it and cold nights have begun to ripen
the sap and turn the leaf to its varied
and beautiful shades of red and yel
low and golden brown, once it has
fallen it becomes only rubbish. The
leaf-strewn garden undoubtedly is a
slovenly affair, not to be tolerated by
the dweller who has suitable regard
for good appearances.
Tet Nature did not intend that
these leaves should be removed from
the ground where they fell. In the
primitive forests she made her annual
attempt to restore to the soil at least
a portion of the elements of which It
had been divested by the growth of
trees. Leaves furnished not only hu
mus, which contributed largely to
physical texture and enhanced moisture-retaining
properties, but they
contained fertilizer needed for plant
growth. A scientist who enjoys com
piling statistics has estimated that in
the country 10,000,000 pounds of fer
tilizer are destroyed annually by the
burning of leaves. This is 5000 tons,
for which the growers of gardens
Would pay more than $2,000,000 if
they bought it in its commercial form.
But the destruction is so widely scat
tered that it falls on no one heavily;
its loss is to the people as a whole.
The garden rake is a highly neces
sary implement, and in the city It
should be used freely. There is no
simple way of avoiding the waste thus
indicated, but the gardener should re
member that when he does his annual
Fall cleaning he Is disturbing the bal
ance and that this should be restored
if be is to get results. At least as
muchTfertillzer as is removed by burn
ing the leaves should be applied, and
a little more for good measure will
do no harm.
I.ETIINO GEORGE PAY IT.
The trouble with Mr. U'Ren's letter,
which he writes for the comfort and
reassurance of the farmer and which
The Oregonian publishes today, is that
it does not tell the whole story con
cerning the operations of the proposed
single tax or Confiscate and Divvy
measure.
It is Mr. U'Ren's theory ' that the
Improved farm will pay less taxes
than it does now and that vacant
land? speculator's land and val
uable land in cities and towns will
make up the deficit in tax revenues.
But one must start with the premise
that the amendment proposes to in
crease tax revenues at least 50 per
cent. That i3 to say, only two-thirds
of the revenues from the land-rent
tax will be available for Government
operation; the other third is to be
lent to persons of limited means.
There is in the amendment no in
telligible method of assessing the vast
timber resources of Oregon which
now are heavily taxed. The most
reasonable construction is that they
are to escape taxation.
' There is no certain method of tax
ing the intangible values of railway
property which now contribute large
ly to the cost of government. They,
too, under a reasonable construction
are to escape.
Can any sensible person imagine it
possible that Improved farm lands,
timber land and railroad property will
pay materially smaller taxes, that tax
revenues will be boosted 0 per cent
in the bargain, and that vacant lands
and town lots will assume these sev
eral burdens? It is preposterous.
They could not do it. They would
not do it, either if retained by the
title owners or confiscated by the
state and leased to others.
And there are other losses to be
considered which must be made up
somehow by imposition of rent tax
on lands. In every city there is a
fringe around the business district,
one around the wholesale district,
one around the factory district, one
around the shipping , district, one
around the railway terminal district,
that have a high potential value a
speculative value, if you please
which is taxed year in and year out.
But that potential or speculative value
would not be taxed under the pro
posed amendment. .. -
Many lots on he West Side in Port
land are vacnt or covered by old
buildings that produce a return but
nominal when the price at which the
lots are held as suitable apartment-house
sites or the value placed
upon them by the Assessor is con
sidered. They are not now covered
by apartments, because apartment
building only keeps pace with de
mand. This property would be taxed under
the proposed amendment on the basis
of what it would lease for for five
years. It would lease for about what
the old buildings now occupying it
pay In rent, not what an apartment
house would nay as ground rent.
There are dock sites, factory sites,
wholesale-house sites, terminal prop
erty in a similar condition. Their
value - is strohgly potential, but that
potential value is incident only to
ownership. Their annual rental value
on a five-years' lease would be less
than the present taxes.
Nor can Mr. U'Ren truthfully as
sure the farmer that the lot In Port
land which yields the owner $18,000
a year in ground rent would yield the
state that amount if the conditions
of his amendment wej-e applied. The
ground" rent of the lot was fixed upon
assumption that private titles and
methods of acquiring land that are
the outgrowth of centuries of expe
rience and usage would remain undis
turbed. Mr. U'Ren proposes to revo
lutionize that basis for determining
the actual value of lajid to the user.
If the vacant property adjoining the
lot which pays $18,000 ground rent
is also to be taxed at $18,000 it must
be on the assumption that a similar
improvement erected thereon would
yield as great profits as the improve
ment which pays the $18,000. Tet
any Assessor would know that the
vacant lot would not lease for $18,000
unless the Improvement on the lot ad
Joining did notmeet the demand for
the kind of service it performed. It
is common knowledge that ' business
buildings adequately supply the pres
ent demand.
The, Assessor. If. the amendment
should prevail, will not be permitted
to assess vacant business lots on the
basis of what adjacent improved busi
ness lots are now paying the owners
in ground rent. He must disregard
all improvements, under the express
Instruction of the amendment. He
must estimate what the improved lot
and the unimproved lot would pro
duce in ground rent if all lots were
used. "He would have to conceive
districts fully built up with structures
of practically uniform type capable
only of supplying the needs of the
community for offices, stores, banks,
theaters, newspapers, factories and
other business quarters. He would
then have to estimate what these
vtzuallzed buildings could afford t
pay in ground rent and fix the tax
accordingly.
What the outcome would be we
shall not attempt to say, but it ought
to be apparent to the farmer that
there are no $18,000 plums to be
shaken from fifty-foot city lots. State
and local governments must be main
tained, one-third of the tax revenues
must be set aside to form a loan fund
for the benefit of persons who have
less than $2250 worth of property.
With speculative values untaxed, and
with timber and railroads relieved,
and total tax revenues increased, the
farmer can determine for himself,
without use of pen or pencil, what
chance he would have to escape the
tax collector.
Dr. Katharine B. Davis, who is one
of the leading spirits on the women's
special train now touring the country
in advoeacy of the candidacy of Mr.
Hughes, is famous for the reforms she
set In motion while Commissioner of
Correction of New York. The peni
tentiary on Blackwell'B Island was
chosen as the basis of her most recent
experiment, because of the fact that
it has a great variety of prisoners, in
cluding many who are not hardened
criminals. Her plan, which is being
put into effect by her successor in of
fice, was to establish a receiving sta
tion at the island at which the cul
prits should be assorted, the able
bodied ones being sent to another in
stitution, where work suited to their
abilities would be found for them, and
they would be taught useful accom
plishments if they proved receptive.
The younger ones are to be assigned
to a state farm, where they can live
a wholesome outdoor life and learn
something while doing hard but
healthful work. The idea of reform
rather than punishment is to be fol
lowed as far as possible.
The strong religious feeling of the
Russian people, extending to all
classes, is curiously illustrated by an
incident reported from the southern
part of the country. The proprietor
of a large bell factory had sent three
sons to the front and made a vow that
if they returned safely he would do
nate every bell in the factory for the
purpose of making cannon. Recently
they reached hqme, one of them bear
ing a decoration for heroism, and the
father, in fulfillment of his vow, sent
every bell he had on hand to the rail
way station covering all the available
railway ground and extending far
onto the green beyond. The effect
of this has been far-reaching, and
monasteries and churches all over the
land have taken to- giving their bells
to the fatherland for a similar pur
pose. One bell about to go" to the
melting pot has a history that dates
back to the time of Ivan the Terrible,
in the sixteenth century, and others
have almost equally romantic associa
tions. To our other troubles must be added
the growing cost of authorship. One
struggling author complains to the
New York Tribune that postage at
letter rates is out of proportion to
the returns received. He finds that
it costs 20 cents, on the average, to
mail a manuscript, which must be ac
companied by an equal amount for
its return. More frequently than not
it comes back, and sometimes several
efforts are required before a sale is
made. If he gets $20 for the work
he considers himself fortunate, and
the postage amounts to 10 or 15 per
cent of his remuneration. This, It is
argtred, is far out of proportion to
the postage tax on other mall-order
merchandise, and he makes a plea
for relief in the form of a postal regu
lation classifying manuscripts as mer
chandise, which would prove a boon
to a large and not wealthy class. This
is an opportunity for vote-getting that
the Administration seems to have
overlooked.
The death of a Clackamas farmer
from lockjaw caused by stepping on
a rusty nail emphasizes the necessity
of giving "first aid" treatment to what
seem trivial cases. There are prep
arations in every drugstore which
should be kept in the family medicine
closet and used when occasion arises.
They will suffice until the doctor is
visited. "It is better to be safe than
sorry" applies to cuts and scratches
as well as to dislocations and frac
tures. The movement starting at Kansas
City for an earlier Thanksgiving day
must not be encouraged. Oregon had
an experience once that resulted in
two Thanksgiving days in the same
year. Why fool with a time-honored
custom? '
The Jitneur whose propensity for
girls under age was brought to a stop
the other day gets off easy with a
year in the County Jail. He might
have gone to the morgue.
If it costs'a man $97.60 to put his
arm around a girl in San Francisco,
how much more would be the tax to
bite the little brown freckle under
the left ear?
To the average man all Chinese
look alike unless seen in a bunch, but
this did not hinder local detectives
in arresting one wanted in Boise for
forgery.
Seating a Japanese delegate in a
labor convention in California may be
the beginning of the solution of a
vexing problem.
Concerning the irruption in the lo
cal Civil Service Board, Mr. Caldwell
is silent and the Mayor is dumb.
The school lunch at a nominal price
is, of benefit in teaching children
properly to eat-
The man who keeps up his mem
bership for seventy years, is a real
odd "fellow.
Bishop Hughes brought the dove of
peace, trimmed its claws and turned
it loose.
More Democrats than get Into print
will support Hughes.
Time is short for paying that last
halt jf, the tax, - - ..
A
PLATGBOC5D IS REAL NECESSITY
Sooth Portland Needs It for Safety.
Sanitation and Boslaess Reasons.
PORTLAND, Oct- 3. (To the Editor.)
The excellent article in The Ore
gonian relative to Commissioner Ba
ker's commendabla, effort to secure the
much-needed playground for South
Portland, is deserving of further eluci
dation. No one, familiar with the conditions
existing in the one really congested
residence district of Portland, will
gainsay the necessity of a playground
for the children In this locality. All
drivers of vehicles realize the neces
sity of exercising special caution in
driving through the streets of this dis
trict, owing to the large number of
children forced to play in the streets
for want of a safer place. The large
number of accidents, and in some cases
deaths, resulting from this condition
has aroused numerous and emphatic
protests from societies, associations
I and prominent men and women of this
city who have the safety and welfare
of our children at heart.
The South Portland Improvement
Club, with & membership of more than
2000, has worked unceasingly for a
betterment ot these conditions. Others
indorsing the playground project are
the People's Institute, by Mrs. Helen
Ladd Corbett. president: Mrs. Alva Lee
Stephens, of the Parent-Teacher Asso
ciation; Judge M. G. Munly. late presi
dent of the School .Board; the Portland
Kindergarten Association, the Council
of Jewish Women, the Laurelhurst
Club, the Neighborhood House, the
Master Plumbers' Association, the German-Speaking
Societies of South Port
land, the Fulton Park and Failing
School Parent-Teacher associations and
many doctors and other business and
professional men of this city.
Although the arguments along the
"safety first" and sanitary lines In
favor of the playground project are
sufficient and unanswerable, there are
other points worthy of eerloua consld
eratlon which I would like to bring to
the attention of The Oregonians read
ers, namely, the aesthetic and business
point of view. It is now generally
conceded that one of the best invest
ments ever made by this city was the
money ($250,000) expended for the
Terwilllger boulevard, the only crltl
cism ever heard regarding it being that
obstacles were permitted to remain at
the very entrance to the boulevard
which shut off all view of the entrance
to this highway and give the impres
sion that the head of Sixth street can
not be the entrance' to it. Perhaps
the low. squatty and, in a large meas
ure, unsanitary and unsightly row of
buildings of the foreign quarter, which
fringe the east side of the entrance
of the parkway, receive the bulk of
adverse criticism as being offensive to
aesthetic taste and marring and dis
counting the otherwise beautiful BCenic
road.
The relatively small cost of the proj
ect, as estimated by Commissioner
Baker, would be amply justified by the
results, which would not only give us
the much-needed playground. but
would also remove the obstacles and
objectionable features enumerated, be
sides making it possible to utilise the
now useless surplus ground in Marnuam
Gulch, donated to the city by the O.-W.
R. & N. Company as a part of the
playground and parking scheme advo
cated by Mr. Baker. Since this quarter
of a million was expended for the bene
fit of the whole city, these much
needed Improvements ought to receive
the undivided support of all that have
the best interests of our city at heart.
J. B. LABER.
OREGON' TROOPS NOT MILKSOPS
They Remember Fallen Men ot Cnrrl
aaU Parrel, Vera Cms.
PORTLAND, Oct. 2. (To the Edi
tor.) Permit me as a Spanish-American
War veteran, and lately with the
Third Oregon at the Mexican border,
to reply to the editorial in the Port
land Journal, entitled. "There and
Here."
The editorial for a welcome home
smacks more of a talk to babes at
their mothers' breasts, of milksops and
mollycoddles than of men who were
willing to play the game and take the
chances because' they believed the hon
or of their country was at stake.
Yes, we are back ssfe. But how
about the men who followed Captain
Boyd and Lieutenant Adair and fell
with them at Carrlzal. attacked on the
arders from the Carransa government?
How about the men who fell at ParralT
And how about the brave lads who fell
in the streets of Vera Crux? And fell
why?
The answer can only be that they
have died in vain. They have been an
absolute loss and all to no purpose.
Why? Because of their Government's
useless demands and its lack of cour
age to enforce them. If Justice de
manded our intervention in that grief
stricken country it certainly demanded
our sticking until we obtained what
we demanded, especially when the
lives of our own people were in the
balance.
No, as a regiment we are not for
war simply for war's sake, but as in
telligent human beings and wide-awake
Americans we stand for principle. We
believe in duty and In honor as against
this weak and pusillanimous doctrine
of "safety first."
Yes, Canada, Australia and New Zea
land are giving their thousands for
the British Empire. They are not
forced. An incident will illustrate the
Spirit of those people. About a year
ago I met a gentleman In a dining-car
in this state. He was spending his
vacation here, but told me he intended
enlisting on his return to British Co
lumbia, I said to him. "I admire your
grit." "Someone has got to do it." was
his response. The mothers, the wives,
the daughters, the sisters believe It.
They believe that Anglo-Saxon citi
zenship is superior to any In the world.
They believe that democracy and self
government are at stake. They be
lieve that small governments have
equal rights with the great nations.
They are fighting for a principle, and
have counted the cost. As Loyd-George
says. "They are playing the game and
doing it without a whimper."
And what Is more, after they get
through you will find their work has
not been for naught, and the tears of
those mothers, wives and sisters will
not have Been In vain, as have those
who left their dead at Vera Cruz. Par-
Lral and CarrizaL to say nothing of
tnose who were murdered.
Yes. you kept the country out of
war, but oh, the cost! That song might
go for campaign material with babes,
milksops, and mollycoddles and those
who live in luxurious idleness, but not
with men with red corpuscles in their
blood. The Third Oregon Regiment con
sidered the cost when it left here in
June, but because the lgnominous re
tirement of our Government at every
turn finds us at home whole in Septem
ber is nothing for pride, or to our
credit. A. HOWITZER.
New Proces
Inable.
Kansts City Times.
A new process for extracting ferro
alloys of manganese and silica from
slag, hitherto - considered practically
worthless, has been discovered by two
students of, the Carnegie Institute .of
Technology. This discovery means a
great saving to steel manufacturers as
the prices of these two materials have
more than trebled since the beginning
of the war. ,
Surveyors TTae Addlna- Machines.
Exchange.
The United States coast geodetic sur
vey announces that surveying parties
are now using adding machines almost
universally in making out reports and
recording data. That they are superior
to the old methods is shown by the
statements recently made that enough
time and money is saved in one sea
son to more than pay. for the ma
chines, - '-.
tlf lX. MAKE A GUESS.
There la no calamity which a great
nation ran Invite whlrb. ei ualn that
whirn follows supina submiMlon to
wrong- and injustice, and the conse
quent loe of National eelf-repert and
honor, beneath wbU-h are shielded
nnd eWended a people's safety sad
The foregoing are the words of
a distinguished American. Who
was he? Under what circum
stances were they uttered? What
was the result of their utter
ance?
How much do you know about
American history? Can you
answer the foregoing questions?
The Oregonian has invited sub-'
mission of essays on this quota
tion, but its authorship is plainly
a puzzle.
Let us now make it a guessing
contest. Who said it? Whom does
it sound like? It ought to be
easy.
FARMERS TROUBLES ARE SHIFTED
Mr. U'Ren Says Slnsle Tax Law Pnts
Burden On Others,
PORTLAND. Oct. 8. (To the Editor.)
From the illustration used by your
correspondent. Melvln Fenwick. and his
fear that the old couple who have
worked all their lives improving a farm
would lose It under the People's Land
and Loan Law, it is quite clear that he
has not read that law.
He supposes a case of a tenant farmer
raising 3000 bushels of wheat and pay
ing 1000 bushels for rent of the farm
on which the owner has made all the
improvements. Ninety cents a bushel
will be a good average price for that
wheat. The buildings, clearings, fences
and other improvements on such a farm
in the Willamette Valley will require
an investment of not less than $10,000;
6 per cent interest on this is $600;
maintaining the buildings and im
provements will cost $200 a year, and
all of this $800 the owner will keep
under the proposed law. because the
Improvements in this case are his, and
the $800 per year is for rent and upkeep
of his improvement..
That leaves only $100 for land rent,
which will be the greatest possible
amount of his land rent tax under this
full rental land value tax bill. This
is less than he pays under the present
system for taxes on his land and im
provements, livestock and machinery.
It is cfear that the old farmer who has
worked all his life will have more net
Income from the rent for his improve
ments, after paying his taxes under
this bill, than he has now, paying taxes
on .everything.
On the most highly Improved and
cultivated farm the full land rental
value tax will be exactly the same, acre
for acre, that raw land, equal in fer
tility and location, will rent for in the
same vicinity. The second and third
sentences of paragraph (f) of the law
expressly provide that "land rent" shall
not Include any charge for improve
ments and shall not be Increased be
cause of any additional improvements
that miy be made on. in or under the
land. For every cultivated farm there
is in the same vicinity enough vacant
and unimproved land to make one or
more farms just as good for use as
that in cultivation, but held out of use
by speculators.
Under this law the speculator must
ray Just as much tax on the vacant
land that he keej?s as the farmer pays
for what he uses, and the farmer's
buildings, clearings and other improve
ments aa well a his livestock and
machinery will all be free from tax.
This law will reduce the farmer's tax
and finally drive the speculator en
tirely out of business. It will not take
from any farmer the rental value of
his land, because from 75 to 90 per
cent of the rental value of his farm is
for improvements, and not more than
from 10 to 25 per cent of the total rent
is for the land. Every farmer can
prove this from his own experience and
accounts.
Where will the revenue come from?
Chiefly from the very valuable land in
the cities and towns. There are single
lots in Portland from which the land
lord is collecting $18,000 a year for the
use of the bare ground, the tenants
owning the buildings. The lot U 5
by 100 feet, and the $18,000 rent per
annum for such a lot ia equal to the
land rent value of ISO auch farms as
Mr. Fenwick supposes for his example
of the poor old people who have worket
industriously all their lives, and whom
he thinks the People's Land and Lout
Law will rob of their savings. He
never was more mistaken.
W. S. U'REN.
DISTINCT WARNING AGAINST SIN
Christian Science Tcit Boole Horn Not
Overlook Its- Consequence.
PORTLAND. Oct. 3. (To the Editor.)
In a sermon recently published in
The Oregonian a clergyman or this city
attempts to define the attitude of
Christian Scientists toward sin. His
presentation so far perverts the teach
ings of Christian Science that I re
spectfully request space for a needed
correction.
On page 407 of "Science and Health
With Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy
says: "All sin Is insanity In different
degrees. Sin is spared from this
classilication only because its method
of madness is in consonance with com
mon mortal belief." Now no one can
logically deduce from this that Chris
tian Science in any way leads men to
let sin "sit lightly on our minds." The
inevitable consequences of sin are dis
tinctly and emphatically set forth in the
Christian Science text book. Indeed.
Christian Science is the greatest of all
correctives of sin in that it demands
of the sinner that he recognize and ac
knowledge the sins of his own,mortai
mind and depart from them. It makes
no compromise with sin. Sin must be
cast out as the first requirement of
healing sickness, want and woe. for
"the belief in sin is punished so long
as the belief lasts." ("Science and
Health." page 497).
If Christian Science departs from the
common- teachings regarding sin, it
does so just to this degree: that it
shows a man exactly how he may rid
himself sclentiflcaly of the sin which
causes his suffering; how the licen
tious may be cleansed, the inebriate
made temperate, the sinner purilied, the
criminal turned into a good citizen. An
army of regenerated intemperates who
are today, as a result of the healing
efficacy of Christian Science, leading
clean, honest and contented lives, ac
knowledging and glorifying God. will
testify as to the erroneous nature of
sin. For them Christian Science has.
Indeed, "relieved the situation."
Our brother prefers the convict's cell
to .the insane asylum. Sin leads to
either, or to both. Christian Science
declares that the divine mind is uncon
scious of sin, as did Habakkuk when
he said: "Thou art of purer eyes than
to behold evil, and canst not look on
iniquity." It would not be "trifling
with reality" to be healed of sin on the
basis of its being unknown and thus
unreal to divine mind, rather than to
continue In it as a sad reality to the
senses until one finds himself either in
the convict's cell or at the asylum.
F. ELMO ROBINSON.
Committee on Publication.
Like Many Others.
Exchange.
Edwin Booth, the actor, although an
incessant smoker, could drink very lit
tle, and was promptly affected by the
smallest draft of liquor, a fact which
once led a friend in a waggish mood
to present him a cup in the bottom of
which was a compass. "The gift
came," said Booth later, in referring to
the incident, "from some one who knew
xae. . -,
In Other Days.
IlaK a Centnry A so.
From The Oregonian of October 4. IS
San Francisco. Oct. 3. Queen Emma,
of Hawaii, visited several public schools
of this city yesterday. Subsequently
she visited the Mission Woolen Mills.
She visited the fortifications in the)
harbor on the steamer Shubrtck. Her
Majesty was more than pleased with,
what she saw and the attentions paid
her.
Washington, Oct- 3. S ant a Ana's re
cent visit to Washington and his ef
forts in favor of Mexican independence
did not appear to meet with any sym
pathy from the American Legation.
Dr. Giltner. of this city, has received
from Governor Woods the appointment
of visiting physician at the Insane Asy
lum. The $55,000 shipped yesterday on the
steamer Oriflannue for San Francisco
by Meesrs. Ladd & Tilton were silver
bricks. 29 in number, from the Pof rnian
mine. This is certainly substantial evi
dence of the richness of that celebrated
mine, of which so m ucl- has been said
and written.
Washington. Oct. 2. The household
effects left at the Arlington mansion
by General Lee were recently delivered
to the parties authorized by General
Lee to receive them. This was done
under an order from the President.
Twenty-Five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian of Octooer 4. 1SJ1
Berlin. Oct. 3. Charles Murphy, a
special agent of the United States Agri
cultural Department, is here for the
purpose ot bringing to the attenvon of
the authorities the value of Indian corn
as an article of food. A committee of
officers from the medical and commis
sary departments of the Array has been
appointed to Investigate the matter.
Washington. Oct. 3. Senator Mitchell
was interviewed today on the matter
of Oregon's choice for President. Ho
said Harrison had given the country a
good Administration and the people felt
very kindly toward him. yet Blaine had
a great hold upon the people of the
West.
Everything is about ready to estab
lish the paid fire department on the
East Side, and it will probaoly be dona
durinjr the coming week. Some delay
may be caused in arranging the sleep
ing accommodations in Pioneer engine
house. 11. 11. Holmes has been appoint
ed assistant chief engineer for the Eat
Aide by the. Fire Commissioners.
One of the most interesting of the
special days at the Expo4tion will be
the Wedding day. which occurs
Wednesday next. On the evening of
that day three different couples will
be Joined In matrimony, the ceremony
taking place in the muslo hell.
Whence Came "Com Bayf"
PORTLAND, Oct. 2. (To the Editor.)
Apropos of the historical discussions
as to where Oregon points- aerived their
names, the latest development in this
line is the Coos Bay derivative. A
perusal of the treaty of '55 recalls that
In that time the bay was commonly
called Cow's Bay. Another treaty be
tween the Indians and the Government
has it Cowe's Bay. and now we have
that much more rhythmical gem. Coos
Bay.
Some would assert that some canny
Scot with a nasal twang wandered into
i-ne Bay district and gave us the new
name, but an investigation of the
Marshfield district shows that the Irish
predominated even in that time, hav
ing today a plentiful progeny of
O'Briens, Malontys. FKinagans, Ben-
neis.
The chanae of the original name is
due, doubtless, to the desire ot the
younger generations as elsewhere in
Oregon to soften the outlandish and
uncouth names and to replace them
with some euphonious designations.
J. B. COTTIXUHAM.
N. Nitts on Fearlessness
II y Dean Collins.
Xe.?ciui Nitts, cage of Punkindorf Sta
tion. Emerged from a posture of deep cogi
tation. And haltcl his rythmical, swift masti
cation To check with his quid a black ant's
umbulation.
And then upon fearlessness made an
oration.
I see by the papers that Wilson arises
Indorsln' his stand in the late railway
crisis.
And pintin" with pride how he firmly
withstood
By yleldin' with haste while the yieldln
was good. '
Which same parallels, in affairs ot the
Nation.
A crisis we had here in Punkindorf
station.
Hi Biggins' delivery wagon was uruv
By that petulant jarty called Philomel
Love,
And Phil comes one day and he blusters
and glowers
And 'lows he must have some more
pay and less hours
Or else he'd quit drlvin' that wagon.
and neither
Would ho let nobody else drive the
thing, either.
Jedge Wiggins was Mayor; and the
populace begs
To save the deliv'ry of butter ana
eggs
That he take some steps to have that
thing adjusted
Fore the peace of the city is totally
busted.
The council It met in the office above
The 6tore. and it argued with Philomel
Love.
And Hlggins he 'lowed he'd done all
that he could;
But Philomel firm In his attitude
tood;
And the Mayor says. "We hain't got
no 'thority now
To make legislation about it nohow r
And PhiL says. "You'd better, or Sat
urday night.
As sure as I'm here. I'm a-startin a
X fight!
"I'll prompt quit the Job and. clean tip
yer town,"
Says he. and gives Wiggins a threat-
enln frown.
And Wiggins, he say. "In seen crisis."
sczzee,
'Til have to declare It an e-mergency."
So the council it went into session
once more.
With Philomel bellerin outside the
door.
They passes an ordinance whereby
they guv
The concessions demanded by Philomel
Love.
HI Higgins he yielded, but put up the
price
He wr.3 chargln the public for crack
ers and rice;
And the Mayor says. "I give myself
high approbation
Fer savin' a crisis ia Punkindorf Eta-