Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1917)
VOL. LVII. NO. 17,720. POKTLAXD, OREGON, FRIDAY, SEPTE3IBER 7, 1917. PRICE FIVE CENTS. nOLAS SECRET ALLY OF KftlSER Telegrams Show Pact Made in 1905. 2 KILLED, 4 HURT AS TRAIN HITS CAR WAR LAWS E INDUSTRIAL PEACE DURING WAR, PLAN MANUFACTURERS LAY IDEA BE FORE DEFENSE COUNCIL. H.J.- ROBINETT KILLS' SUGAR WART0SEND SIX-CENT FARE OR FEWER GARS ISSUE PRICE DOWN TODAY LONG IN SELF AFTER ARREST SIRS. ALBERT CRABBE AND BABY, OF SHELTOX, DEAD. REDUCTION OF 85 CENTS 100 FOUNDS FORECAST. if 1 A D ADVANCE FRANCE'S FAITH QUESTIONED Czar Advised to Put on Duma Burden of Deciding Jap . anese Peace Proposals. GERMAN AID IS TOLD VVilhelm Flaunts Both Eng land and France in Mo - - roccan Speech. BT HERMAN BERNSTEIN. Copyright, TS17, by the New York . Herald Company. All Rights Ee , served. Published by Arrangement. I Third Installment.) ' STOCKHOLM, via Paris, Sept. 6. (Special.) The third and last install ment of the secret telegraphic corre spondence between Kaiser Wilhelm, of Germany, and Czar Nicholas, of Russia, reveals the German Emperor urging Nicholas to place full re sponsibility for war or peace conse quences during the Russo-Japanese peace negotiations on , the Duma in order to. save himself. .. The Kaiser, whose government now deals drastically and mercilessly with the people's representatives who dare to criticise Germany's role in the pres ent war, hypocritically advised the Czar in 1905 to listen to the voice of the people, to save the Czar's face. i "Leave It to Duma," Says Kaiser. On July 29, 1905, he sent this tele gram to Nicholas from Danzig: "With the actual spirit prevailing in Russia, the disaffected masses would try to place the whole re sponsibility for all disadvantageous consequences on your shoulders and all successes would be counted as the result of Count Witte's personal man agement. It would be excellent as a first task for these Duma represen tatives, if you gave them the. peace treaty after it is first formulated, to vote upon it, thus leaving the odium of decision to the country and thereby giving the Russian people a voice in the matter of their own prosperity. The outcome would be their work, and therefore stop the mouths of the op position." On August 20, 1905, the Kaiser again telegraphed to the Czar as ifol lows: Task Too Great for Sovereign. I gather that, in general, peace negotiations are going on satisfac torily, but that some points offer dif ficulty to settlement before you take final decision for peace or the' con- x : - r rri i n ii Kiuiuatiuu ui. me war. i. lie latter win be of far-reaching consequences and will cost unlimited lives, blood and money. I should fancy it an excel lent procedure to submit the question to the great Duma first. "As it represents the people of Rus sia, it would be the voice of Russia. If it should decide for peace, you are empowered in the way to proceed. If the war is to continue, the decisions which are to' be taken are so terribly earnest and the consequences so far reaching that it is quite impossible for any mortal sovereign to take the responsibility for them alone on his shoulders without the help of his peo ple. May God be with you. Do not forget the line of advancement, visavis the guards." Obligation to France Limited. This telegram was signed "Willy." On September 29, 1905, the Kaiser again took up the separate treaty question. In a telegram to the Czar on that date he says: "The wording of the treaty as we agreed at Bjoerke does not conflict with the Franco-Russian alliance, pro vided, of course, the latter is not aimed directly at my country. On the other hand, the obligations of Russia toward France can only go as far as France merits them through her behavior. "Your ally notoriously left you in the lurch durinar the who7 y whereas Germany helped you in evprv way as far as it could without in fringing the laws of neutrality. That puts Russia morally also under obli gations to us. "Do your utmost with the nation to conclude peace on the basis of the (Concluded oa Page u. Column l. Mr. Crabbc Not Expected to Live and Details of Accident Near Aberdeen Not Available. ABERDEEN, Wash., Sept. 6. Mrs. Albert Crabbc, of Shelten, and a baby daughter were killed and Mr. Crabbc and two other children of the family, a daughter of 7 and eon of 15, and 10-year-old Lavina Bartlett, a friend of the family, were badly hurt when the evening Northern Pacific train en route to Aberdeen crashed into the motor in which they were driving to Aberdeen. The accident oc curred on the Olympic Highway, five miles east of here, immediately in front of the Country Club. Autoists immediately behind the Crabbe car say that the brakes appar ently failed to work and that the car skidded on to the track after the en gine was stopped. The train, coming at about 25 miles an hour, struck the car full in the side. Mr. Crabbe is not expected to live and, while the other children have been badly bruised and cut, they will recover. The car was dragged for 100 yards after being hit by the train. It was literally torn to pieces by the blow. Passing autoists picked up the injured children and rushed them to the hos pitals here, where they are being cared for. Mr. Crabbe and his son, the only ones old enough to explain the accident, are unconscious and few particulars con cerning the mishap are available. WORKS QUITS PACIFISTS California cx-Senator Says Council's Scope Too Narrow. NEW YORK. Sept. 6. Ex-Senator John D. Works, of California, has withdrawn from the People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace, it was announced here today. His resignation, Mr. Works stated, is not due to waning Interest in the peace movement, but because he be lieves the council has not taken a suf ficiently broad ground and, "controlled as it was, would be, and could be, nothing else than an annex to the So cialist party and used for its advancement." MUFFLER CUTOUT CUT OUT Half of Manufacturers of Motor Cars Eliminate Device. NEW YORK, Sept. 6. Because muf fler cutouts on automobiles have no mechanical value and add merely an other unnecessary noise to American life the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce has recommended their elimination from all cars built in this country after January 1, 1918, it was announced here tonight. Nearly half the 110 automobile makers in the chamber do not use muf fler cutouts on their present cars. GERMANS SLAY WOUNDED Teuton Airmen Bombard Hospital, Killing 19 Helpless Men. (By the Associated Press.) GRAND HEADQUARTERS OF THE FRENCH ARMY IN FRANCE, Sept. 6 The Vandelaincourt Hospital, in the region of Verdun, was again bombed fArmnn nvjatnra fnr kit Ann nnn. I .half hours last nirht. Nineteen per i sons were killed and 2C wounded. xne nuts aiiacitea contained oniy severely wounded men, who were un able to move from their cots. PRESIDENT SNUBS PACIFIST Professor Dana Told Wilson Won't See One From His Organization WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. Professor H. W. L. Dana, representing the Peo pie's Council of America for Democracy and Terms of Peace, which was not al lowed to hold meetings in several Western cities last week, was refused an interview with President Wilson today by Secretary Tumulty. Mr. Tumulty said the President was too busy to see anyone from that or ganization. SPUD VINE NINE FEET TALL William Heitkempcr Lays Claim to Gardening Distinction. William Heitkemper, watchman at the City Hall, lays claim to the honor of raising the tallest potato vine in Portland this year. He dug from his war garden yesterday a vine measuring 9 feet 2 inches and bearing a half dozen fine big potatoes. The vine was grown In fertile ground at 832 East Eighth street. This par ticular vine had lots of fertilizer and water. RATE CONFERENCE IS SET Japanese Mission Arranges for Sleet ing With Shipping Board. WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. Members of the Japanese mission have arranged to call on the Shipping Board one day this week to take up the subject of ocean freight rates on the Pacific. The Shipping Board plans to reduce sharply the rates now charged by American vessels in all trades, and is working out an arrangement with the European allies looking to control of all Atlantic ocean rates.. German Preparedness Related By Gerard. ENACTMENT IN THREE DAYS Coinage, Banking Regulated, Maximum Food Prices Fixed. ALL GOLD IS GATHERED UP Great Quantities of Food and Sup plies Taken Into Germany From Holland and Scan dlnavian Countries. BY JAMES W. GERARD. . American Ambassador . to the German Im perial Court, July 28, 1913, to February 4. 1917. (Copyright. 1917, by the Public Ledger Company.) On Aucust 4, 1914, a number of laws, which had been evidently prepared long in advance, making various changes made necessary by war, such as altera tion of the coinage law, the bank law, the Uw of maximum prices and so on were passed. Laws as to the high prices were from time to time made. For instance, the law of October 28, 1914, provided in detail the maximum prices for rye in different parts of Germany. The maximum price at wholesale per German ton of native rye must not exceed 220 marks in Berlin, 236 marks in. Cologne, 209 marks in Koenltrsbef g, 228 marks in Ham burg, 235 marks in Frankfort A. M. The maximum price for the German ton of native wheat was set at 40 marks per ton 'higher than the above rates for rye. This maximum price was made with reference to deliveries without sacks and for cash payments. The law as to the maximum prices applied to all objects of daily necessity, not only to food and fodder, but to oil, coal and wood. Of course, these max imum prices were changed from time to time. But I think I can safely state that at no time in the war while I was in Berlin were the simple foods more expensive than in New York. W Bread" la Rye and Potato. The so-called "war bread," the staple food of the population, which was made scon after the commencement of the war, was composed partially of rye and potato flour. It was no. at all un palatable, especially when toasted, and when it was seen that the war would not be as short as the Germans had ex pected the bread cards were issued. That is, every Monday morning each person received a card which had an nexed to it a number of little per forated sections about the size of a quarter of a postage stamp, and each (Concluded on Page 3. Column 3.) THREE SCENES Proposal . Includes - No Strike or Lockout; Conference With WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. Manufactur ers" representatives proposed . to the Council of National. Defense today a joint agreement between employers and employes for the duration of 'the war to prevent strikes and lockouts, compel maintenance of prevailing open or closed union shop conditions and es tablish a board for compulsory arbitra tion of labor disputes directly concerning- war production. A request that the Council call an early conference of representative Na tional and international officers of American trade unions to agree to the proposals was taken under considera tion. Nearly 150 members of the National Industrial . Conference Board, which represents is manufacturers' associa tions and more than 50,000 manufac turers, presented a statement recom mending rules for applying the Coun cil's policy of discouraging changes of labor standards during the war. , Some of the delegates explained in formally today that the feeling is growing among manufacturers that labor bodies are not abiding by the recommendation made by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, as a member of the Defense Council's advisory com mission, that laborers not insist on changing labor standards during the war. BISHOP'S BETROTHAL TOLD Mother of Fiancee Announces En gagement at Michigan Home. Formal announcement of the en gagement of Right Rev. Walter Taylor Sumner. Episcopal Bishop of Oregon and Miss Myrtle Mitchell was made last night at Negaunee, Mich., by Mrs. Samuel Mitchell, mother of the fiancee. First announcement, informally, was made in The Orcgonian yesterday. Miss Mitchells father, who died eight years ago, was a pioneer in the Iron mine industry in the upper penin sula of Michigan. His holdings made him extremely wealthy. Bishop Sumner- met Miss Mitchell in Chicago about ten years ago, when he was dean of St. Peter and Paul's Cathe draL . , . NURSES NEEDED AT HOME Bed Cross to Train Workers at 24 Institutes, Including Seattle. - WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. Needs for thousands of workers, in the Red Cross home service in aiding families of United States soldiers and sailors has caused the Red Cross to establish 24 institutes in connection with promi nent universities, where volunteer workers will be given an intensive six weeks training. Among the institutes established in the West is the University of Washing ton at Seattle. FROM THE TRAGEDY OF WILLY KISS ME AG-A Iti rXCXz B ' K A. M. Crawford Fights VainlytoPreventDeed. BATTLE RAGES IN WATER Ex-Attorney-General Worsted and Thrown in River. MAN TWICE CUTS THROAT Visit Paid With Deputy Sheriff and Counsel, to Tent Home on River Bank to Get Clothing Gives Setting for Tragedy. H. J. Roblnett, 60 years old and an old-time resident of Roseburg, evi dently fearing to return to Roseburg to face a serious charge for which he was arrested yesterday morning, killed him self by slashing his throat with a large butcher knife on a South Portland scow at about 3 o'clock in the after noon after a spectacular battle with Deputy Sheriff Rexford and his attor ney, A. M. Crawford, former Attorney- General. The body Is now at the city morgue pending word from relatives. Pocketknlfe laed Klrat. It was shortly after 2 o'clock that Roblnett. in company with Mr. Craw ford and Deputy Sheriff Rexford, went to his tent home in South Portland to get his personal effects, pending his removal to Roseburg under a tele graphic warrant received from Sheriff Quine yesterday morning. As he was putting his clothing in a grip, he suddenly pulled a small pocket knife from his pocket and cut his throat. As he fell to the floor, ap parently unconscious. Deputy Sheriff Rexford ran from the tent in order to telephone for an ambulance. Mr. Craw ford sat near, but paid no heed to the injured man, thinking that he would remain unconscious. . Mr, Crawford Thrown la Silver. .Suddenly Robinette Jumped to his feet and ran toward the river, about 100 feet away. Mr. Crawford hurried after him and they grappled in about tw& feet of water for several minutes before Robinett was able to throw Mr. Crawford Into the river. Robinett then scrambled upon a small plank which led to a nearby scow and rushed through an open door. A large, sharp ' butcher-knife lay upon the table, and grabbing this he slashed his throat from ear to ear, dying al most instantly. Arrest Taken Lightly. Robinett had been in Portland only a Bhort time, it was said, and had been working in a sawmill in Sojth Port- (Concluded on Pace 2. Column 1. AND NICKY. Portland Jobbers Are Said to Be Loaded With Product Bought Before Last Increases. The price of sugar is due to drop today 85 cents & hundred pounds. Job bing price, and, as a result of the sugar war" about to be precipitated among jobbers, the public will be ben fited proportionately In the retail price within a day or so. The refinery list prices. It is under stood, will carry no change in the mar ket price, which is now ?9.15 a hundred pounds, but sugar will sell to retailers at JS.30, the deduction being made on the invoice. All grades are affected. This does not take into consideration the 25 per cent cash discount, which will bring the price down even more. Portland Jobbers are thought to be heavily loaded with sugar bought be fore the last two Increases in prices. and, with Food Controller Hoover at work and a new crop coming in. Job bers here and elsewhere along the Coast, it is believed, are about to un load their heavy stocks to be able to take advantage of whatever readjust ment may come as the result of Mr. Hoover's activities. The price of sugar before the European war was about ?5 to 5.25. Portland Jobbers are believed to hold anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 sacks of 100 pounds. They bought heavily when San Francisco, seeing the signs in advance, unloaded on the northern market in an effort to get "out from under" before the sugar regulation be gan and the new crop came. SAN JUAN. P. R.. Aug. 31. (By mail.) Porto Rico made 502.39S short tons of sugar in the season which ended this month, according to the final fig ures of J. Ruiz Soler, secretary of the Porto Rico Sugar Producers' Associa tion. This is the first time the produc tion of the island has reached the 500,000 ton mark. BATTALION IS LONE MAN First Member of Unit Arrives From New Mexico. CAMP FUNSTON. Kan., Sept. 6. William Michael Connor, of Clovis, N. M., arrived at the National Army can tonment here yesterday. "Who are you?" asked Lieutenant Colonel C. B. Clark, in charge of the assignment of men. "I'm, the first 5H per cent of the quota from Clovi3, N. M.," Connor re plied. For the next 24 hours the 342d North Dakota machine gun battalion, to which the New Mexico drafted men will be assigned, was comprised en tiiely of Connor. Staff at Camp Increased. ROCKFORD. 111.. Sept. 6. A second force of Illinois officers detailed to build Western Army organizations was ordered from Camp Grant here to Camp Lewis at American Lake, Wash. They will take charge of the bayonet and physical drill of the 91st division. INDEX OF TODAY'S NEWS The Weather. TESTERDAT'S Maximum temperature, 71 decrees; minimum, oi) degrees, TODAY'S Showers; moderate southerly wind. War. Italy loses Monte San Gabrlele. Page 3. Kaiser advises Czar to shift burden of peace negotiations to Duma. Page 1. Americana learn shells' vagaries. Page 2. German fleet reported near Gulf of Finland. Page 3. Foreign. Central powers determine to partition Po land. Page 4. Extravagance of Mme. Soukhomlinoff told at treason trial. Page 4. Gerard tells how war laws, prepared long In advance, were passed in three days. Page L National. Manufacturers propose Industrial peace dur lng war. Page 1. La Follette proposes $50 monthly bonus for American troops In Europe. Page 7. Government will suppress all 1 sedition. Page 8. Domestic. House passes unanimously vast war credits bill asked by President. Page 2. Labor Alliance denounces pacifists' attitude. Page 6. Sports. Pacific Coast League results: Portland 15, f.alt Lake 2; Kan Francisco 4, Vernon 3; Los Angeles 3-5, Oakland 1-1. Page 14. World series talk is uppermost now. Page 14. Ima Jay wins main event at Hartford track. Page 14. Joe Flannlgan may take Weldon Wing and Muff Bronson on Eastern tour. Page 14. Pacific Northwest, Oregon cavalry bids farewell to home and loving relatives. Page 4. Two killed, four hurt In car wreck, near Aberdeen. Page 1. Men chosen for National Army begin duties at once at Camp Lewis. Page 7. Commercial and Marine. Block of $1,50O,000 grain elevator bonds sold. Page Ifi. Los Angeles gets lf1S meeting of port authorities' convention. Page 16. Portland and Vicinity. President Griffith says his company must reduce number of cars or raise fares. Page 1. ' Market prices may be reduced as result of investigation. Page 13. Milk investigation to begin today. Page 12. State highway work ordered speeded up. Page 13. Man arrested for Roseburg crime kills him self in Portland. Page 1. School Board to require two-year rest for parenthood. Page U. First rain in 60 days falls. Page 9. Doctors testify In Colby trial in plaintiff's behalf. Page 20. Price of sugar Is due for 85-cent drop to day. Page 1. Weather report, data and forecast. Page 15. Irvlngton Club Country Fair will open to night, rain or no rain. Page 5. Shlpworkers to demand "closed shop in Portland agreement. Page 15. W. B. Ayer calls meeting of hotel and res taurant men. Page 8. Widow of late Louis Blumauer brings suit against Blumauer - Frank Company Page 8. Wooden ships to be championed. Page 15. Wheat prices not well understood. Page 6. Public Auditorium's $25,000 pipe organ dedi cated. Tage 5. President Griffith Tells of Line's Difficulties. COMPANY FACES BANKRUPTCY Unions Indorse Position of. Concern Before Commission. BILLS EXCEED REVENUES Company Not In Favor of Elimi nating Bridge Tolls or Taxes, AYiiicli Would Mean Great Sav- t lng In Course of Year. A radical curtailmsnt of expenses or a substantial increase in revenues are the alternative courses confronting tha Portland Railway. Light & Power Com pany if the institution is to remain solvent. This, in substance, was the repeated and emphatic assertion of Franklin T. Griffith, president of the company, in testifying before the Oregon Fublio Service Commission yesterday. The company has appealed to the Commission for permission to increase its fares on its city lines, presumably to charge 6 cents instead of 5 cents. Carmen Ask for Increase. Back of the company's appeal is the request of its trainmen and shopmen for substantial increases in wages and a basic eight-hour day. all of which the company; said air. Griffith, is ready to grant. But these proposed increases will re quire an additional annual expense to the company of J600.000. which the company will be unable to pay out of its estimated future operating income. Not only will the future income be Insufficient to meet future expenses, but not one cent will be available, asserted Mr: Griffith, to meet interest on the funded debt or to pay a rea sonable return on the investment in the property. Labor Supports Company. The company is asking for a read justment of Its rates so that a return of 6 per cent can be made on an investment of $18,233,000. which is the valuation placed on the city lines by the Commission itself. The position of the company was heartily supported by W. S. U'Ren. at torney for the organized employes of the company and for the Central Labor Council. Mr. U'Ren stated to the Commission at the outset that the labor organiza tions had investigated the assertions of the company and that they were reasonably convinced that the presen tation Mr. Griffith and his colleagues were about to make was correct. Strike Not Wiliest Way. "In appearing in this case," declared Mr. U'Ren, "organized labor is estab lishing a precedent. It is breaking all precedents, in taking our case, not to our employers, but to a public body. "We are convinced that ou- relief does not lie in the traditional and old fashioned method of quitting the serv ice of the company in a body in an at tempt to coerce it into meeting our demands, but in a direct appeal to tha public through this Commission." He added that scores of employes of the company have been attracted by better wages, and better working con ditions prevailing in other industries and that In the last four months tha company has lost 200 of its men. City Wants to Be Convinced. W. P. I.aRoche, City Attorney, and John M. Mann, Commissioner of Pub lic Utilities, represented the city. They admitted the power of the Commission to fix rates, even In violation of the charges prescribed by the city charter, but felt "compelled to resist any ad vance in fares unless shown to be nec essary to .preserve the solvency of tha corporation." The proposed increase in ' the em ployes' wages and adoption of the basis eight-hour day met with no opposition at any point in the proceedings. "No city can be built on underpaid labor," said Mr. LaRoche, in presenting the city's case. "If the company can't pay the increase, the public doubtless must." Proper Pay Favored. "We are firmly of the opinion," de clared Mr. Griffith, in replying to ques tions by his attorney. R. A. Leiter, "that the men engaged In public util ity service should be paid just as well and work under conditions just as at tractive as men In any other industry. "There is a growing tendency every where for a basic eight-hour day and when our men see others all about them working eight hours, they naturally ask themselves why they can't have the same advantages." At other points In the proceedings Mr. Griffith submitted his readiness to grant the eight-hour day in the belief that it soon will become universal. Fire Cents Held Insufficient. Mr. Griffith occupied the stand near ly all day. He concluded late in the afternoon and was followed by 13. W. Moreland, statistical engineer for the company, who had prepared the tables of valuations, expenses and revenues submitted as evidence. The company's presentation was in tended to show that it Is impossible to AConuluded oa Paso S. Culuuiu l.