Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, December 30, 1916, Image 8

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Morning Oregonian., December 30, 1916, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextTHE 3IORMXG OREGOMAH. SATrRDAT. DECEMBER 30, 1916. POKTLAXD. OKEGON. Entered t Portland (Oregon) Postoftlce as Mcond -class mall matter, subscription rates Invariably In advance. (By Mall.) P:iy. Sunday Included, one year . .. .18.00 Pally. Sunday Included, six months 4 paiiy. Sunday Included, three montba . . 2.25 pally. Sunday Included, one month 75 paiiy. without Sunday, one year S.oo pally, without Sunday, three months ... tW paiiy. without Sunday, one month eo Weekly, one year 1.50 Sunday, one year ...................... 2.50 tunday and Weekly 8.S0 (By Carrier.) pally. Sunday Includled, one year 9.00 Dally, Sunday included, one month 75 How to Kemit Send postoftlce money raer, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postoftlce address In full. Including county and state. Postage Bates 12 to 16 pages. 1 cent: 18 to 32 pages, 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages S cents; BO to ou pages, 4 cents 62 to 76 pages, 5 cents. 78 to 82 pages. 6 cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Office Verre &. ConS II:. Brunswick building. New York; Verree g Conklin, ttenger building, Chicago. San Jrancisco representative, K. J. Bid well. 742 Market street. I"OKTLANI. SATURDAY, MCC SO, 1916. WE1V OEFABTUBE IN FOBEIGX POLICY. By his invitation to the belligerents to define their terms of peace. Presi dent Wilson abandoned the isolation of the United States from the affairs of Europe. His declaration of this country's interest in "the measures to be taken to secure the future peace Of the world" and in making "the smaller and weaker peoples" safe against wrong and violence, and his offer to use "every influence and re source" of the American people in co operation with other nations for these ends, admit of no other interpretation. This new departure has a twofold Import. It implies that we are not only ready to take an active part in settling the affairs of the Old World, but that we are also ready to admit Europe and the civilized nations of other continents to an equally active part In the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. It is not to be expected that the nations of Europe would per mit our participation in their affairs if we insisted at the same time that we should be sole arbiters of Ameri can affairs. The decision of this momentous change of policy does not rest with the President alone. Our policy of non-interference in Europe and of not permitting European interference in America was formally stated in dec larations attached to the conventions adopted at both of The Hague confer ences. The treaties and these dec larations were ratified by the Senate. The Monroe Doctrine is not merely a matter of executive policy; it has been made the law of the land by the action of the President and the legis lature, and it has been-made an inter national obligation by being embodied In these treaties. The President's new definition of policy can become effect ive only by declaring null these dec larations at The Hague, and only with the consent of the Senate. It is a mat ter for decision in the first instance by the people themselves, the Execu tive and legislative departments be ing the instruments by which public opinion carries out its decisions. In favor of the new policy it may be contended with sound reason that the course of events has already de stroyed our isolation. By modern means of communication and trans portation, by the extension of our com merce and by the investments and activities of our citizens in foreign countries, we are already commer cially entangled in the affairs of the non-American world. Commerce has become so closely allied with diplo macy and with the political relations of nations that commercial entangle ment is destroying our political isola tion. Strive as we will, we cannot re main disinterested spectators of con troversies between the nations which lead to a war in which our rights and Interests are touched at Innumerable points. Since injury to our rights and Interests threatens to draw us into the conflict despite our comparative Indifference to the cause of the quar rel, it may be argued that we must have a part in the settlement. Should we fight on one side or the other, we should, against our will, be helping to pain for nations with which we thus became allied the ends for which they fight but in which we have disclaimed Interest. War against the central powers would enlist our aid in support of all the ends sought by the entente; war against the entente would enlist us in support of all that Germany, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria demand. Thus the march of events, by making ns a great commercial Nation, has been forcing us into a position where we must take a hand in deciding quar rels with which we have no concern. In case the United States were to Intervene and take a hand peaceably In the settlement of European affairs, sll European nations would have good cause to claim an equal right to inter vene in American affairs. If we were to enter the war. the nations against which we fought would make our action the ground for refusing to re spect the Monroe Doctrine whenever It stood In the way of their designs. Those nations with which we should for the time be allied might take the same position, if we should have dif ferences with them regarding affairs on this Hemisphere at any later time. They might claim that by admitting us to their sphere of influence, they had established a right to enter the sphere which we have hitherto held to be ours exclusively. These contingencies may be ex pected to generate strong oppositibn to the contemplated abandonment of our policy of non-interference in Europe. Pacifists may easily be divided be tween desire that the President by diplomacy hasten the end of the war and promote a settlement which will prevent its renewal on the one hand, and fear that such action would im peril our interests by nullifying the Monroe Doctrine and would in volve us In war for its defense on the other hand. Many others, who might not object to seeing the United States fight on the side which they favor, wpuld oppose any move which would weaken what they regard as the key stone of American foreign policy. Some would rather suffer patiently the wrongs inflicted by both alliances than do anything to resent those wrongs which would open the way to Euro pean meddling in America. But so steadily is opinion growing in favor of a league of nations to main tain peace that this Nation has come to- be regarded as the leader in that movement, and a world congress to form a league Is almost sure to follow conclusion of peace. Were the league to follow the plans outlined for it by ex-President Taft's organization, all exclusive spheres of Influence would be abolished and all nations would sit in judgment together on every con troversy. If some South American na tion were to enter upon a war of ag gression against a neighbor, the duty of disciplining it by force of arms would not be confined to the United States: it would extend to all nations in the league. Abyssinia, Afghanistan and Siam might have a voice in the matter. If one or two nations were to do the work, they would do it be cause authority was delegated to them by the league. The United States would no longer be free to pacify Haiti or Santo Domingo or similar turbulent countries by armed force without con sulting anybody. We could act only under a mandate from the league: and all the other disorderly, half-civilized nations might have a voice in the decision. The little republics of Central America, as well as Venezuela and Colombia, which have the revolu tion habit, would be apt to defend it. Some temporary de facto ruler of Mexico might, by virtue of member ship in the league, establish equality in the world's councils with well established, civilized and orderly gov ernments. Our position as chief among the American nations would be gone: a little country with no greater area or population than some of our coun ties would be on an equality with us. The war has brought us to the part ing of the ways, with the President pointing to the new way, which leads to our acjtive participation in the af fairs of other continents and to all the world's participation in American affairs. Tradition pulls one way; de sire to promote world-peace the other. Our interests conflict, some drawing us one way, others the other way. The people are called upon for decision and the time for deliberation may be short. HERETICS. All the Wav from WlrtriAa trrrntt trt The Oregonian, with the compliments oi an uregonian sojourning in its limpid and enervating climate, a marked copy of the Jacksonville. Times-Union, with some strange obser vations on literary taste. The Florida heretic confesses that he abhors the "Vicar of Wakefield" and he Is bored to death by Dante, Milton, Boswell. Whitman and Frolssart. He concedes that in childhood he found innocent satisfaction in Tom Jones and Don Quixote, but he adds this fierce de fiance: But we must plead guilty to belne; un orthodox, no matter whether tested by the high-brow or the low-brow standard. Wo don't enjoy -Mutt and Jeff" or "BrlnglnB Up Father." Wo consider Bud Fisher. Samuel Blythe. Ell Perkins and Irvin S. Cobb about as humorous as a funeral pro cession, though much more tlrcsoma. Not long ago Ed Howe, the Kansas eidtor. in his famous a Column Of franlc ndTnUqfrtn tlial v. did not like poetry. It wearied him iu me verge or extreme lassitude, and he could not see why the literary car penters were obliged to pare and chisel, and join words and sen tences into dactvls or strnnhM of any other fixed meter, if they really had anything to say. For Editor T T . . ' -nuwe, nowevcr, music nad a strange fascination, thoturh he did nnf nr,r. stand it, and would go for miles to near a nrst-ciass orchestra or a good band. We leave the fnir1ert hn v.o.v, It Interests us. It is too dangerous. We suspect that Howe and the Florida barbarian will never be put on the honorary roll of any Browning or Swinburne clubs or vers libre agon izers. A KBW MATRIMONIAL COMPLICATION. Obe of the eronnrls for- Hlvnrr.o l leged by a Pittsburg woman is that ncr jiuEuaua concealed rrom her until three weeks after their marriage the fact that one of his legs was artificial. Is there any obligation implied by the marriage vow to make known all physical lmoerfecti parties to the contract be held, in the auseuce or admissions to the contrary, to be sound in mind and limb? If that is to be the rule, what Is to become of the woman who wins a man by the spurious attractions of a wtjr. false teeth fnlro ,.,., ..;.,., and artificially symmetrical figure? AI. .. 1 a, . . . "")' "c. upon aiscovering tne decep tion, declare the marriage null? How about the man who covers his bald head with a toupe artfully disposed to appear as if it crew diern' tthhi. the new theory the many thousand mutilated veterans of the war would faro badly. There would be no hope for the man who had given up an arm or a leg for his country, and the man for whom wonder-working surgeons built an artificial jaw out of the ruins of that which had been shattered by a shell would be utterly disqualified. The troubles of the woman who has raised these Interesting questions did not, according to her admissions, be gin until she discovered that her hus band had only one natural leg. Tnere after, she says, he abused and ill treated her. If she courd but have dossed her eyes to the lack of a leg, all might still havo been bliss between them. She may yet learn that a good natured man minus a leg is more to be desired than one who has been angered by the discovery of his in completeness. In the words of the great Mark Hanna, the lady might better have let well enough alone. BOY SCOUTS ANI "TrPltNG." The stand taken by the officials of the Boy Scout organization of an East ern city in declining to permit mem bers of the organization to give their services, for pay to a commercial or ganization, while wearing the uniform or insignia of the order, serves to call attention to an important phase of the whole movement. One of the cardinal principles of the scout is service, and one of the purposes of the leaders is to impress upon youths the pleasures of service for its own sake. The Boy Scout does not accept a fee for little acts of common politeness. He does not. for example, take a "tip" for directing a stranger In the city to his destination. He does not accept a reward for restoring a handbag to a woman who has dropped it in the street. He believes that these things ought to be done as a matter of course. If he has any hope of reward, it is the hope that on some other occasion another person will be equally consid erate of him or his. This is a form of reciprocity quite distinct from that which actuates the professional hat checker, who fees liberally on his day of, when he is making a splurge. The organization, it has been found advisable to announce in the Instance in question, does not intend to prevent the employment of its members as in dividuals In any capacity for which they may be found to have special aptitude. In fact, this Is encouraged, and there are numerous instances in which Boy Scouts have created oppor tunities for themselves by the good impression they have made in follow ing the scout law. The distinction is made that to ask a boy to work in the uniform of a scout is Identical with re questing the aid of the movement, for the uniform symbolizes the Boy Scouts as an organization. Hence no boy Is permitted to give his services for pay while in uniform. This does not affect the voluntary service of the boys in civic affairs, which comes under the "good turn" provision of the scout programme, and is regarded as compatible with the spirit of the movement. The tendency, however, is highly encouraging be cause It gives promise of an entire change in the spirit of service which has been a burden to many forms of human activity. The "tip." once a voluntary contribution by those who could afford It to servants and others presumably in less fortunate circum stances, has degenerated rapidly into a "hold-up" perpetrated in many In stances by Individuals who arc mak ing more money out of the system than their victims are earning by hard work. If the scout movement did nothing else than abolish the unearned gratuity for simple service it would more than Justify its existence. And this is only one of the departments of its work. WE EXTEST) OCR SYMPATHY. A dissatisfied citizen, who "has been a Republican all his life" and who voted for the re-election of President Wilson, writes to voice the alarm which has seized him from his dis covery, or .suspicion, that the Presi dent now is favorable to universal military service. The repentance of our Republican (with exceptions) friend comes too late. . Evidently he is aware of it, and sees no course open to him but to write to The Oregonian, to protest and perhaps to appeal for sympathy. If sympathy Is what he wants. The Oregonian will tender It, in the exact measure of his deserts. If President Wilson at any time be fore election went on record against universal military service. The Orego nian cannot recall it. But plainly he shaped his course in harmony with those white-flag statesmen in Congress who are in a chronic state of profes sional alarm over the bogy of militar ism and who are largely responsible for the legislative and military fiasco of the Hay bill. Now the President Is reported to be favorably considering compulsory mili tary training. We are not surprised. We could have told our pacifist friend of St. Helens Road that consistent advocacy of, or opposition to, any pol icy whatsoever Is not the most strik ing Wilson characteristic. Indeed, we seem to recall that The Oregonian has occasionally dropped a hint of warning about the President's mental elasticity. Whenever the President starts In a new direction, he is pretty sure to meet himself coming back. Has the news yet reached St. Helens Road as to the latest Washington view of the way to raise an army? The Oregonian contained a Washington dispatch yesterday, indicating that the Federal power extends to the odious "draft." The Hay act provides that vacancies in the National Guard re serve may be filled through Individual proscription by the President. There is an intimation that It will be done "when necessary." In other words, the scheme of recruitment under the Hay act Is a failure. The next step Is enforced enlistment. The scheme will probably be for some Army or Guard officer to make up lists of eligi ble men for the Army, and when needed they will be Impressed. Thus the duty of defending one's country will be imposed on a certain group of citizens by discriminative Presidential selection. In that arbitrary process St. Helens Road will probably not bo exempt. If the citizen owes any duty to his country. It Is to defend it in time of peril. If the country owes a duty to Its citizens. It Is to qualify them by adequate preparation to defend it. How, then, can the common obliga tion be fairly imposed on a selected few? How can it in justice be escaped by the many? What plan more wise than universal military training and more equitable than common liability to universal military service? WHO RUNS PORTLAND? Once in awhile the honest, sturdy citizenship of Portland "kids" itself with the Idea that the people rule. The people do not rule. If anybody rules It Is the jitneys. Chosen representatives of the afore said honest, sturdy citizenship of Port land have, since jitneys began oper ating Just two years ago, passed three ordinances regulating them. One was repealed by the Council because it had been referended. The second was repealed because Mr. Daly said he could not enforce it. The third is not en forced because the courts cannot dis tinguish the difference between a Jit ney and a taxicab. The people of Portland also adopted an ordinance regulating jitneys by a vote of 21.093 to 14.095- This ordi nance violated judicial ideas as to the sacredness of forms and precedents. It was knocked out because, before the sovereign people adopted it, the Coun cil had not followed an inconsequen tial ritual for such cases made and provided. So. after two years, all the little children on their way to school look once each way for streetcars, once again each way for automobiles and three times each way for jitneys. Jit neys flit to and fro on ice-covered streets Without tire - chain equip ment. The other day a jltneur dodged between two streetcars on a wet pave ment. It was Inevitable that his auto would skid. It skidded and two pas sengers were killed. Thereafter, an Intelligent Coroner's Jury, doubtless reasoning that the Jit neys own the city and that streetcars have no business trying to pass when a jitney Is In sight, held the motormen concurrently responsible for the acci dent. If city ordinance, vote of the people or power of the police cannot accom plish regulation that will insure public safety, there is but one course to pur sue. That is to give the jitneys the same right of way that is accorded fire engines. When a jitney signals ap proach let streetcars halt, let other traffic draw up to the right-hand curb and let pedestrians scurry to the side walk. Know your masters. THE WAR ON DISEASE. The war on disease during the last year has resulted In some notable vic tories for the United States Public Health Service. It is being pushed re lentlessly in all directions and is winning many recruits, for a large part of the work consists in teaching others how to slay germs. Adoption of a properly balanced ra tion has caused material reduction In the prevalence of pellagra, and more marked progress is predicted when the relation between diet and this disease is more generally understood. Thou sands of operations for blindness caused by trachoma have been per formed. Sanitary surveys have been made of 80,270 rural homes In thir teen states, and the occupants have been instructed how to remedy pollu tion of wells, to exterminate disease breeding insects and to dispose of sew age, with a marked reduction in pre ventable disease as the fruits. Occu pational diseases have been studied. and insanitary conditions in many fac tories have been corrected. Methods have been adopted in the Missouri zinc mines which should go far to eradicate tuberculosis. Surveys of the watersheds of the Atlantic Coast have been made and effects of pollu tion have been made known. Typhus fever, which is rife in Mexico, has been prevented from crossing the border. 26,000 persons having been disinfected at El Paso alone. In the war on the bubonic plague at New Orleans 371,000 rodents have been trapped or killed and 100,000 have been ex amined. A clean record is the result, for no human case has occurred dur ing the year. Hostilities have been continued against typhoid fever, spotted fever, malaria and other dis eases. Though its work is less in the public eye and less spectacular, the Public Health Service is as truly a Ilfesaving service as that which formerly bore the name. It pursues disease to its source and rests not until the right means for its extirpation are discov ered and used. It spreads the gospel of health, which the old proverb puts before wealth, happiness and wisdom as a prerequisite to all three. One good way for a man to deter mine whether he is a "perfect speci men" would be for him to try to take the examination required for admis sion to the aviation corps of one of the nations at war, particularly that of France. Tho tests are exceedingly severe and they are addressed not only to determination of the physical strength of the applicant and his nim bleness and skill, but his sensibility to shock and his ability to receive im pressions conveyed through the sen sitory, auditory and optical nerves within spaces of time that are mechan ically calculated in fractions of sec onds. It is in these latter tests that many men who regard themselves as finished athletes fail. A man must be almost Impervious to shock to be an aviator, and at the same time be re sponsive to the slightest touch and quick to take the Initiative upon the slightest necessity. An ordinary man would be of no value at all as an aviator, and the fact that so many rich young Americans are being accepted for service abroad indicates that they are far from being In a decadent state, either physically or mentally. Although we are rapidly building up a business in the manufacture of toys to take the place of those we formerly imported, our dependence on Europe is still illustrated by the difficulties the manufacturers are experiencing in obtaining raw material. A writer in the Scientific American explains that in our smaller toy industry before the war we were importing burlap for dolls' trunks from Dundee, zinc from Antwerp and dyes and inks from Ger many, besides many other Incidentals from various places. Now it is neces sary to obtain these in the domestic market, which in the beginning was not an easy thing to do. The condi tion has beell either met by home pro duction or obviated by adoption of substitutes and the toy industry ts going ahead rapidly. No effort is be ing made to make the cheapest me chanical toys formerly imported from Germany. American manufacturers regard' it as better business policy to create a demand for other grades in which there is a more satisfactory profit. A real defense of the carp is sent In by G. Q. Ruth. Hn say that there Is no fish as good as the carp when "properli cooked." The qualifying phrase is well taken. But Mr. Ruth further says that It can be properly cooked, and proceeds to tell how it Is done. He says that the fish should be skinned, placed In a pan of cold water containing a spoonful of soda and heated to a point somewhere about half way between tepid and boiling. The water should then be thrown away, the carp stuffed and baked. Corvallls- Gazette-Times. At this interesting point in the process of serving a cooked carp, your real epicure usually throws away fish, water and stuffing and eats the pan. Only an outside body like the Inter state Commerce Commission can com pel the railroads to obey their own rules in regard to cars. It is a case where they must be regulated for their own good as well as that of the public. Prohibition of passes and rebates has done them as much good as it has done to the public, though they fought against these measures. They have now learned to appreciate the benefits of regulation. If the receipts of a football game can be insured against the weather, why not a farmer's crops,? All the risks of drought or rain or frost might then be transferred to the insurance men and the farmer need not worry, except as to how large his profit may be. If the British government should take over the distilleries its soldiers will soon be shooting "Mountain Dew" and various other favored brands into the Germans, but in a badly adul terated state. In Western cities the pride of one generation becomes the historic relic of the next. That is the case with the Spokane Hotel, which was among the best in the early '90s. Berlin will celebrate the coming New Year's day in the customary joy ous manner. Not even Lloyd's, how ever, would take a chance on assuring the one that follows. There is one Judge in Colorado who administers Justice in inverse ratio. The man who beats his lightweight wife gets the heavier fine. The peace terms of the entente al lies, outlined by the London Spectator, will be accepted by Germany after she is "licked" dead. Do not fail to feed the birds. The bugs and worms are hibernating. Even the pesky sparrow has right to live. The coldest place in the country is beside the kitchen stove as the match flames and dies. It's a new wrinkle to send to a chemist samples of ashes from the scene of a fire. The ordinary panhandler may be quoted at a dime; the I. W. W. comes higher. These are halcyon days for the nightworker when it's time to arise. A strike of shipbuilders makes it anything but a happy New Year. With sound visualized, the deaf man's bliss is gone. More tax on liquor cannot bother a 'dry" state. - Foreign War Primer. By National Geographic Society. When Roumanla'a government fled from Bucharest to Jasay It was the fifth European capital to be removed from its regular seat and It makes one of a quartet still away that of France having been moved back to Paris after the retreat of the Teutons from the Marne. Jassy. to which the Roumanian gov ernment was moved whe.i the central powers threatened Bucharert, lies in the extreme eastern section of North ern Moldavia Just a few miles Inside the border from the Pruth. which forma the boundary between Rus3la and Rou manian Though hardly a fourth aa large as Bucharest, it has always prided Itself on having been the capital of ancient Moldavia, and has worn the airs of a metropolitan city and kept apace of the fashions of Western Europe in general and of Paris in particular, as well aa Bucharest. The population of .Taeay is about 75,000, one-third of whom are Jews. Many of the old-line boyar families, with lineages going back long centu ries, retain their homes In the, city, homes which were the center of offi cial life and gaiety until the princi palities of Moldavia and Wallachla united and the capital was removed to Bucharest In 1861. These old homes are stately, for they were built by rich land owners, whose principal occupa tion was that of enjoying the luxuries that a retinue of retainers aa long as a King's list could earn for them. Jassy has a rich ecclesiastical his tory, and tta religious buildings today are In keeping with that history. Just as the rich Mexican mine owner made penance for his sine and provided a monument to perpetuate his memory by the single act of building a fine church, so the rich Moldavian boyar thought his career was not completed until he had built a religious edifice of some kind. With the surrounding forested hills. these structures give the kind of Impos ing plcturesquenese familiar to Ameri cans In novels of the "Prisoner of Zenda" type. According to Roumanian tradition, this region has staged wildly romantic incidents. One of the most beautiful churches of the temporary Roumanian capital, that of the Trel Erarchl, has exquisite, lacelike carvings over the exterior, in cluding the towers, and was once gild ed. During a Tartar occupation wood was piled high around the building and fired. In order that the gold might be melted and carried off. An earthquake did further damage to the church, but It was later restored. This conflagration Is but one of the vivid moments of tho city's history. Her atory abounds with pages of crim son and black when Invaders with fire brand and sword swarmed upon her. The Tartars burned the city In 1513, the Turks In 1638, the Russians In 1686. The peace of Jassy in 1792 was the closing event of the second Russo Turkish War. The years 1821 and 1822 were stormy with events of the Greek revolution. During the peaceful time preceding the present struggle Jassy had devel oped an active trade. Railroads com municated with Galatz, Kishinev and Czernowitz. PRESIDENT'S ATTITUDE ALARMS Republican Supporter Thonght Wilson Opposed Universal Training. PORTLAND. Dec. 29. (To the Edi tor.) I have been a Republican all my life and still consider myself one. but on November last I voted the Demo crtlc National ticket for one reason. I believed that Wileon was on the right side of the military question. Hughes unquestionably stood for universal service, which I consider extremely dangerous from an Internal point of view. Such a policy would mean that not only the patriot, but also those who are riot so kindly disposed toward society as it is . at present organized, would find themselves within the Na tion's military machine. Wilson, I believed, meant to Increase the Army by increasing the pay of the enlisted men, using the present re cruiting system to do It. This would permit the Government to select Its defenders from any class of men best suited for the purpose. Increase the pay to $30, locate your recruiting stations where the right kind of people live and the Army and Navy will never be under the standard In either quality or quantity. It is to be regretted that late press reports have It that Wilson in under going a change of heart to universal service. Every patriotic American should protest against this, as It leads toward National and social disaster. MALCOLM PETERSON. R. R. No. 1. St. Helens Road. NEW "YEAR. I come, I come and Joyously dancing Are the spirits of earth To welcome my birth. Though the flowers are hidden The sunbeams are glancing. And the whole earth re-echoes With gladness and mirth. I come. I come and balm I am bringing To the sad, wdunded heart, Neglected and lone. I have power to banish The gloom that Is clinging And awaken new hopes for the Year that's to come. I come not in beauty: I bring you no flowers. You hear not the sound of the wild bird's clear strain. But ere long the dear buds That sleep In earth's bosom And ' the songbird's sweet carol Will return once again. Then welcome, thrice welcome. Thou happy New Tear; Though thou bringest no flowers, we bid thee good cheer. Thou comest right gladly Whh mirth and with song. And earth waits to hall thee In one Joyous throng. MRS. J. E. MacDONALD. :6 East Twenty-fourth street- Regulation of DsiK-ehnlls. PORTLAND. Dec 29. (To the Ed itor.) Is there a law against dancing after 2 o'clock on week days? If there is not why docs the Mayor says that all the dancehalls may open from 12 to 2 Monday morning? If there Is a law please let me know. SUBSCRIBER. Ordinance 57353 contains the follow ing provision: Section 21. All dancea shall be dis continued and all dancehalls shall be closed on or before the hour of 12 o'clock, midnight, provided, however, that upon application of a responsible person, organization or society, and in vestigation by the dancehall inspector, he may grant such person, organization or society, a permit to continue until a time specified In such permit, but no tickets shall be sold or accepted for admission to such dancehall after the I hour of 12 o'clock, midnight. Pay of Election Board. HEMLOCK, Or.. Dec. 28. (To the Editor.) 1) What pay should an elec tion board receive when the work Is from S A. M. until 2 A. M. the next day? (2) What, authority has the County Court In allowing such pay? (3) Is that under the eight-hour law or not? SUBSCRIBER (1) Each person on the board should receive pay for a day and a half's work, and for three meals at 50 cents a meal, making a total of S6 each. say. County Auditor Martin. (2) By statuta. (3) No. VIRTUE TRUHPHS IN IX WARS Dr. Cllnc Asks Hon Else Good Could Have Been Done. PORTLAND. Dec. 2. (To the Edi tor. Yes. war Is sometimes the only thing. In olden times several power ful nations, debased by Idolatry and corruption filling up the measure of their iniquities, oppressing the people of God by depriving them of both their religion and liberty, were dealt with summarily In war by such military commanders as Joshua, Caleb, Gideon. Jephtha, David and Josiah. I had a good friend in Portland with cancer Just under the ear. He tried all manner of dopes, and then "absent treatments." but the cancer marched right on. Finally he employed a cofh petent surgeon, who promptly placed him on the operating table, and with xnue ana pincers cut and pulled out the malignant growth; a stck.ning performance, but the onlv wav of a-et ting rid of that horrid cancer, and back to health. Would Mr. McPberson. who knows all about war and peace, mind telling how Germany. England and nearly all the nations on the other side of the Atlantic could have saved them selves from the war fiend, whose ambi tion was to have for all Europe one throne, and on that throne he. Napoleon, should sit. without the long and painful series of wars ending at Waterloo? Will you likewise gently tell us how British tyranny of the Colonists could have been thrown off and American independence secured without war? And, how the splendid civilization of California, and all south and east of the south line of Oregon could have taken the place of the miserable Mex ican misrule without war? And should we not now take charge of the rest of It and give the wretched Mexicans a sane and stable government, even by war if necessary? And, while Mr. McPherson has his hand in. will he explain why our own Government, after a peaceful struggle of 200 years, was unable to eradicate the cancer .of human slavery, all the while growing worse and worse, with out four years of bloody war? And would our triumphs of the last 60 years of peace. North and South, have "been in any wise possible without the Civil War? Would the thousands of pitiable women and helpless children, confined In a high barbed-wire stockade In Cuba by the butcher Weyler, rotting, liter ally, hundreds of them each day. In a tropical sun from drlnklnrg their own filth, have been liberated without the war that made the old wolf. Spain, hustle forever off the American con tinent? Could the beautiful talk or the pacifists have made as good a Job of it as did Dewey, Schley, Sampson. Shafter. Anderson and Sumners in com mand of our blooded young volunteers from Oregon and other states of the Union? Would this garden spot of earth, Ore gon and Washington, where we now live In safety and prosperity, have been secure from the hordes of savages that massacred Dr. Marcus Whitman and his household, who were endeavoring by all peaceful methods to do them good, had not the heroic old Indian War veterans, only a few of whom now are with us. risen up and given the red devils .what was coming to them? Finally, was there not In every in stance herein specified exhibited sound Judgment, Christian conduct and ex alted patriotism, and would not any other course than that pursued by them have been unworthy and the rankest atheism? , c e. CLINE. HOW IT WORKS OUT. Our women : . - learned to vote. They must have something still for a goat. So they pick on the egg. And they knock its last leg From our homes and our tables d'hote. The "chickens" they boycott the hen. Thus working great hardships on men. "Let the farm go to pot. So wo win our boycott," Say th women with voice, vote and pen. But old Reuben and young Rube, his son. Skin the cat in more ways than one. They'll Just fat up the pig. And as soon as It's big. Will feed us and "make a da mon." The farmer who's been through this mill Eats chicken the pig gets the swill; Then he sells us hog meat. Head, ears, squeal and feet. For Rube has us all by the bill. O. G. HUGHSON. Captive Skunk Is n Pet. From the Boston Journal. One of the most unusual pets to be come a patient at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a 7-rnonths-old skunk that was operated upon by hospital veteri narians recently. It la now a scentless skunk. The skunk belongs to a Wor cester motor car dealer, who picked it up while motoring in the White Moun tains a few weeks ago, after nearlv running over it in the road. The skunk within a few days win be returned to its owner, who has become much at tached to it. The World's Week Is Chronicled With Many Special Feattires in The Sunday Oregonian - ON THE JOB A photographic color page, showing the little New Year, as the camera caught him, seated at his desk. With ac companying verses. NORTH AMERICA'S GOLDEN HORN A descriptive article about the Seward Peninsula, which Frank Carpenter finds to be one of the most important placer mining districts in all Alaska. With photographic illustrations. WHAT WILL AMERICAN WOMEN DO WITH 1917? A speculative story on the probabilities that confront American women for the next year. Which way will feminine fancy turn? Will the emu lators of Ruth Law, record-breaking air-woman, become many? With a Dan Smith drawing and photographs. TWO TALES OF PIONEER DAYS Told by ex-Governor T. T. Geer and by Addison Bennett. Recalling a trip to Grand Ronde SO years ago and telling of the myriads of waterfowl that once made Sauvie's Island a paradise for the Indian fowlers. WAR, HOLIDAY AND SPORTS IN NEWS PICTURES Photo graphic stories gathered from the four corners of earth and ac companied by explanatory paragraphs. NEW-YEAR POEMS OF OTHER YEARS Led by "Ring Out, Wild Bells," Tennyson's immortal dirge for the dying year, the favorite poems page is devoted in this issue to verse of the old and new year. But "Bingen on the Rhine," is there, as well. CHURCH NEWS Announcements from Portland's many churches, with general church news combined. A full page. THE SCARLET RUNNER Episode 12 of the Scarlet Runner motor ing adventures is entitled "The Car and the Girl." As a thriller it is on a par with any of its predecessors. Follow the story, which has been dramatized and is being produced on the motion-picture screen. THREE PAGES FOR WOMEN Chats in pleasant tone of new hats, new frocks, new gowns, lace and embroidery, and other subjects near to the heart of milady. With illustrations and sketches. Say to Your News Dealer: "THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN ALWAYS T In Other Days. Twenty-five Years Ago. From The Oregonian Dec. SO, 1891. Washington. Dec. 29. Senator Mitchell has had many requests to work for the establishment of a pension-paying bureau in Portland. He referred a letter written by A W. Gow an. of Burns, to the commissioner and received a reply Indicating there would not be an agency established in Port land. Hugh Wilson's residence at Wal dron. Gilliam County, was destroyed by fire recently. 1 Malheur City, a mining center, has no ealoon. The inhabitants are not drinking people and the establishment of a saloon Is impracticable. John L Sullivan and Duncan B. Har rison and their dramatic company will arrive Thursday. Mrs. J. O. Ross and her daughter Carrie are at San Jose for a few weeks. C. W. Wasson. of Munston. Mass.. has been appointed superintendent of. Chemawa Indian School to succeed Mr. Irwin. PREPAREDNESS. "Preparedness" is the topic that's on everybody's tongue. "Preparedness" Is a song which should by everyone be sung;. In every phase of nature, and every place you look. "Preparedness" is as plain to see as an open book. Tho little squirrels that play among the branches of the trees Prejare by gathering nuts for the next November's freeze. The little bees that buzz among the clover blossoms bright Are preparing for the Winter when the days are not so bright. The little rabbit in the field digs a hole beneath a log To prepare a cave retreat from the master's faithful dog. The little mouse prepares Its nest, beneath the cabin -floor. Then at night comes stealing out to gather Winter's store. The preacher in the pulpit will caution you; no doubt. To prepare for the beyond, or you will be quite left out. The bank upon the corner will tell you what to do To prepare yourself and family for hard times when due. Prepare for this, prepare for that, you hear from every side. By rich and poor alike, the word "Preparedness" Is cried. Prepare for war. means to prepare to 'lend your lawful right From the ravage of some nation that forces you to fight. From far and near, now let us hear the words ring loud and clear. Hurrah! Hurrah! for U. 8. A., the land I love so dear. Uncle Sam. right here I am. as you can plainly see. And I'm. prepared to give my life to keep this country free. MYRON E. HOWE. MY PESSIMISTIC NEIGHBOR. My-oelghbor Just across the way I wish he'd ne'er been born comes over nearly every day to toot his grouchy horn. He lets his lurid lan guage fly In aggravating tone, nor ceases when I tell him I have troubles of my own. Oh. volubly he prates about the durned H. C. of L. Invective that he ladles out In print would not look well; he fires his vocal volleys at the grocer down the street and shoots hot phrases through his hat about the cost of meat. Tho baker is a rob ber, too. who ought to get the hook, and from his grouchy point of view the miller Is a crook; the hardy tiller of the ground who sells the truck we buy should to the torturing rack be bound and left alone to die. At every man engaged In trade he hurls anathemas in words of ultra-vicious grade that fairly sizz and blaze, yet t'other day I Baw him stand in line in patient mood to blow the plunks he held in hand at something else than food, and nothing 'twould a saint abash came from his vocal flues, as the ex pressman took his cash, about H. C. of boose. JAMES BARTON ADAMS. Making Dirty Water Clean. World Outlook. When we started for our trip to Mount Kilimanjaro I had told Jeremiah, one of our African boys, to fill six barrels with water and have it clean. But when I opened the first barrel it was covered with soapsuds. I asked the boy what was wrong with the water. He said: "Very clean water. Master. 1 put soap In every barrel to make It clean." So we drank soap suds all the way..