TIIE 3IORXIXG- OliEGOXIAX, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1 1917.
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PORTLAND, SATURDAY, KOV. S, 1817.
, EXHAUSTED BCSSI.V8 APPEAL.
Premier Kerensky's assurance that
Russia will stay in the war accom
panies the admission that the country
is economically exhausted and must
have help in the shape of money and
materials from, the allies before it can
a grain become an aggressive force.
Having already lost enormously by
the defeats and treason of the last
three years, Russia has been com
pletely disorganized by the revolution.
By destroying Czardom the people de
prived Germany of one set of tools,
but the Kaiser found a new set in the
Bolshevik!. But in order better to
understand conditions they cannot
be fully understood until history comes
to be written years hence we must
go deeper.
The one absorbing question is land.
Common ownership by the village is
the traditional system, but was being
broken down by the creation of large
Individual estates. Under the Czars
an attempt was made to strengthen
individual ownership by dividing com
munal and selling crown land among
the peasants, who clamored for di
vision of the great estates among
themselves. When the revolution
broke out, attention of all interests
was turned from the war to this do
mestic controversy.
The Socialist workmen and Intel
lectuals of the cities saw an oppor
tunity to realize their Utopia, and
they enlisted the aid of the peasants,
who comprise the majority of the
army, by promising to gratify their
land-hunger. The land owners, hop
ing to cave their property by some
chance, are accused of having schemed
to postpone adoption of a new consti
tution by prolonging the period of dis
order. Tho Soviet (the name into
which Soldiers and Workmen's Coun
cil has been abbreviated) opposed en
forcement of discipline in the army
through fear that the Generals might
use it for counter-revolution or , at
least to prevent execution of their
plans.
AH parties, except the Bolshevik!,
favor continuance of the war with a
"but," namely, that they will give first
attention to their internal, economic
interests. The result is workmen who
will not work; soldiers who will not
light, at least until they have held a
caucus on the question of obeying
orders; railroads on which trains run
at the pleasure of the train crew or
of the crowd at each station; famine
in a land of plenty; and armies which
are forced to retreat for lack of muni
tions or discipline, even when they
wish to fight. It is a positive paradise
lor the German spy and propagandist.
Kerensky says Russia cannot again
become active In the war without
much help from the allies, and sets
up a claim to this help on the ground
that "Russia began the war for the
allies, saved England and France from
disaster, at the beginning bore the
whole brunt of the fighting, and has
been fighting one and a half yeays
longer than England." '
He forgets that during the first two
years of the war France and Britain
did some terrific lighting at the Marne,
Ypres and Verdun;, that they made
the disastrous campaign at Gallipoli
to help Russia by diverting Turkish
forces from the Caucasus, and then
they sent vast quantities of material
to Russia, which were either handed
over to the Germans or destroyed
through the treachery of Soukhom
linoff and his kind. Notwithstanding
these experiences, the United States
is willing to give more aid, provided
it is used against the Germans and pot
abandoned to them.
The letters of Mrs. Dorr, which have
been published in The Oregonian, do
not encourage much hope that good
use would be made of any material
help that might be given. Before it
would be of any benefit to the allied
cause, Russia must have a disciplined
force which is willing to fight, back
ing up a government which can en
force respect for its authority upon
the civil population, and which will
dispose summarily of the swarm of
German agents. Were it not for diffi
culties of transport, an army of a
hundred thousand Americans around
which the Russians who wish to fight
could rally might be the most effectual
aid.
Despite the jeers of those who de
nounced General KornilofI as a reac
tionary, The Oregonian holds to the
opinion that his movement held out
' the best prospect of developing such
a force within the embryo republic,
and that he is as sincerely devoted to
democracy as Kerensky himself. This
opinion is supported by the admission
of Savinkoff that until Korniloff's pur
pose was deliberately misrepresented
by Kerensky's agent, Vladimir Lvoff,
Kerensky and Korniloff were acting
in concert to crush the Bolsheviki. As
matters stand, the best that the United
States and the western allies can do
is to give the aid which Kerensky
asks, but it should only be given on
the condition that the Russian army
will be reorganized into an effective
fighting force. Unless that is done.
the supplies sent would be worse than
Wasted.
Kerensky's confession and the Jtal
ian disaster serve to impress more
than ever upon the American people
the tremendous burden which they
have assumed. They must finance all
of the four great powers among the
Kuropean allies, must supply all of
- them with munitions and those in the
west with food. They must also ex
pand their own Army and Navy and
arm, equip, feed and transport them to
Europe. Italy's reverse imposes on
us the duty of sending a larger army
than we had contemplated. All of this
means - drafting more men, building
more ships, producing more supplies
of every kind and borrowing more
millions. The whole burden of car
ing for Russia and Italy in these re
spects is thrown upon us.
When we contemplate the immen
sity of this load, we cannot but con
sider how greatly it might have been
lightened if we had entered the war
two years earlier. The sinking of the
Lusitania was a crime of such magni
tude and such barbarity as to consti
tute ample cause, and Germany's de
fense aggravated the offense. The
evil purposes and the evil methods of
Germany had been clearly revealed.
If we had then entered the war, we
might, by joining in the blockade,
have hastened the economic exhaus
tion of Germany. We might have in
fluenced other nations to join then in
the fight for democracy. We might
ere now have had five million men
under arms and have completed the
new Navy and transport fleet which
we have just begun to build.
- With our -aid France and Belgium
might have been already emancipated,
Serbia and Roumania might have
been saved, Turkey and Austria at
their last gasp, Germany unable to
deny the certainty of final defeat and
the war near its end. We are likely
to pay dearly for our two years of
hectic prosperity and for the patience
which was blind to every portent and
which applied the phrase "nervous
and excited" to the men who waVned
us to prepare for that which now has
come.
JCST ENOUGH REFORM.
A diligent reporter of the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer has been investigat
ing the local vice situation on his own
account. He Is unable to verify the
statement of General Greene, that
there is a vice syndicate between cer
tain professional and experienced pro
curers and sundry unnamed "higher
ups"; but the town is or has been
practically "wide-open" and there is
an easy tolerance of, or actual part
nership in, the situation by the au
thorities. The investigator makes this
interesting and 'comprehensive sum
mary: It would hm a tedious story to describe
all the ramifications of vice in Seattle. Aa
one worldly-wise man expressed it, "It's
everywhere and the police have let it itet
away from them." Unorganized, It has es
tablished itself, while the people had their
minds on other matters, principally on the
smashing; of bootlegging- Joints.
The reputation enjoyed by Seattle of be
ing "the best town west of New York" bas
attracted denizens of the underworld In
large numbers. They were here before the
soldiers came and the assembling of the
new Army has had no particular effect
beyond slightly Increasing: that part of the
population which lives on "easy money."
Seattle re-elected its present Mayor,
Hi Gill, once recalled, upon certain
mushy promises of reform; and it
elected him again, on his, record. He
had proved that he was the same old
Hi, and Seattle was pleased.
The conclusion is Justified that Scat
tie sticks to Gill because he gives
Seattle what it wants. He has made
his own peculiar contribution in lift
ing Seattle to its proud eminence as
the "best town west of New York."
It is not easy to escape the opinion
that Seattle Is anxious now to reform
a little, but not much; only enough
to satisfy General Greene.
TJNGBATEFCL.
A report from Salem is that a German-born
woman responded violently
to a request to sign a food-pledge
card , by denouncing the President as
a traitor, predicting failure of Amer
ica In the war, describing as false
news statements in the American
press, affirming her faith in German
papers, and concluding:
I will not hang- a card In my window. No
body can make me do it.
Undoubtedly such cases are excep
tional. No fair or observant person
will fail to testify to the entire loyalty
of American citizens and families of
German blood. When their fathers
took the oath of allegiance to the
United States, and particularly abjured
all fealty to the German Kaiser, they
acted of their own free will, and
meant what they said. Nearly all of
them have continued to Bean it. Their
sons and daughters are keeping the
faith.
This misguided Salem woman Is the
victim of ignorance, prejudice and
falsehood, imbibed from German news
papers and from similar sources.
Yet, curiously enough, she asserts
her American independence. "Nobody
can make me," she says. She left a
country where any petty official could
require her to regulate her life, down
to the smallest detail, to suit him or
the government for which he spoke.
so as to be free from all such re
straints, to live her own life, and make
her own fortune, and enjoy it. Now
she would use her privileges and op
portunities to injure and ruin the re
public which welcomed her, and pro
tects her in her right to be a free
human being, so as to aid a tyranny
which abused, ' repressed and pauper
ized, and all but enslaved her, and
which for these reasons she long ago
abandoned.
The ways of some women and men
are past finding out.
WHI NOT GOAT'S MttKf
The solution of the milk problem
may prove to be the milk goat. When
dairymen are complaining of the high
price of feed, are raising the price of
milk and are selling their stock for
beef, the natural disposition is to look
for a substitute. Enter the goat.
Angora goats have been raised in
this country for mohair for many
years, but breeding of goats for milk
is comparatively new, the first regis
tered stock having been imported in
1904. The industry has grown rapidly
and has many enthusiastic advocates,
though Uncle Sam forbids importation
through fear of hoof and mouth dis
ease. It is claimed for the goat that it is
free from tuberculosis, to which cows
are subject, that its milk contains
twice as much butterfat as cow's
milk, and having smaller globules of
fat, is healthier for babies, causing
less stomach trouble. The meat also
is as good as mutton, not being dis
tinguishable from that of sheep in
taste.
The goat Is also said to be cheaper
to feed than the cow. One breeder is
positive in the statement that a goat
can be fed on the vegetables and grass
cuttings of the average city lot and
will give at least .two quarts of milk
a day. Fine cheese is made from the
milk, Roquefort being a good example.
Nanny is a large source of wealth to
Switzerland, Italy and Norway, exports
of her products from each of those
countries running Into the score of
millions of dollars yearly.
Since the cow is becoming such
burden to maintain, and since her
milk Is rising to such famine prices.
why not try the goat and her milk?
In four months 382 automobiles
have been reported stolen in this city.
Many have been recovered, of course.
but the number missing is large
enough, to call for punislicient of the
crime adequate to stop the practice.
It is not right that the unfortunate
owners be compelled to stand the cost
of repairs, though the thief seldom
has even the price of "gas." Prospect
of a long term in jail will put whole
some fear into the heart of the man
or youth contemplating such a theft.
FREE PORTS ARE PROPOSED.
One of the first recommendations of
the Tariff Commission is to be that a
number of free ports be established
on the several coasts of the United
States New York, Boston, Philadel
phia and Newport News on the At
lantic Coast, New Orleans and Galves
ton on the Gulf Coast, and San Fran
cisco and Seattle on the Pacific Coast.
This recommendation is expected at
the next session of Congress.
The characteristic of a free port is
that goods from any country may
enter its bounds without paying duty
or any other charges except port dues,
which are low and uniform. The port
thus becomes a place for assembling
goods of all kinds from various coun
tries to make up cargoes for reship
ment to other countries. Factories
grow up there which consume raw
material from the interior or from
abroad, and have a particular advan
tage in combining domestic with im
ported materials. When goods pass
the boundary of a free port into the
Interior or other ports, they are sub
ject to the regular import duties.
Hamburg is the greatest free port
In the world, and by Improving its
harbor and the channel of the Elbe
River end offering inducements to
manufactures had become the third
largest port in the world at the out
break of the war. Free ports were
numerous in Europe and the East
Indies during the middle ages and
down to the French revolutionary era,
but of late years many have been
abolished, the bonding privilege being
substituted in some cases. Existing
free ports include part of Copenhagen,
Sulina in Roumania, Kola in Russian
Lapland, Malacca, Penang, Singapore
Hongkong, Weihaiwei, Aden, Gibral
tar, St. Helena and Macao.
THE HIGH COST OF AMUSEMENT.
PORTLAND, Nov. 2. (To the Editor.)
Why don't you write an editorial on the
Injustice of our moving pictures and other
shows raising prices i'5 and 33 1-3 per cent
to onset the lo per cent war tai? A good
many of us have been expecting you to do
this regardless of tho fact that they are
good advertisers.
Talk about patriotism of the wage-earn
ers! How can you expert wags-earners or
anyone else willingly to pay their share of
the war tax when you see publio Institu
tions of this character dodge the tax by
raisins prices to their patrons, far and be
yond the tax asked by our Uovernment.
The American people are long-suffering
and charitable, but this "is the limit," and
I Jrust the public will condemn it by re
fusing to patronize the theaters who have
done this. We don't mind paying their
war tax for them, but we do mind letting
them make an excessive profit, out of it.
A. Ci. MATTHEWS.
Let us first get the facts straight.
Several of the "other shows" includ
ing the Orpheum, Heilig and Baker
theaters have not raised admissions
higher than the war tax.
When a patron of any theater pays
an additional one-tenth of the admis
sion he Is not paying a war tax Im
posed on the theater, but a war tax
imposed on his own amusement. The
war revenue bill definitely provides
that the admission tax shall be paid
by the person paying for such admis
sion. The theater is merely the col
lector. It follows that a moving picture
house which formerly charged 10 or
15 cents admission and has now raised
a flat 6 cents and pays tho war
tax out of that increase has, in fact,
increased admissions 3 cents and no
more. This is true of the former 10
cent houses, because a tax of 1 cent is
levied on each 10 cents or fraction
thereof paid for admission.
The moving picture houses advance
some pretty strong arguments to sup
port this 3-cent Increase. We all
know that they have been confronted
by a steadily mounting cost of almost
everything necessary to maintain a
theater, and also by a progressive ap
petite on the part of the public for
costlier and better films.
Miscellaneous expenditures affect the
continxious performance more vitally
than they do the two-a-day or one-a-day
performance. Cost of ushers;
music, tickets, posters, advertising in
general, and other necessities has
risen down the line, with the excep
tion of light and rent. Tlve theater
managers assert that had there been
no war tax an increase in admission
prices would have been necessary. The
only way to combat their assertion is
to prove that they have been enjoying
large returns and can stand the in
creased expenses. That we have no
means of doing, nor do we know that
it is true.
But there are two things always to
be borne In mind: They are that the
2 cents paid as war tax in the pur
chase of a moving picture ticket Is
not a donation of the theater's war
tax, but a tax imposed by law on the
individual who attends such entertain
ments, and that if the theaters make
an exorbitant profit out of the accom
panying Increase the Government will
make them disgorge a goodly propor
tion of it in corporation taxes, excess
profits taxes and super-income taxes.
SHIPPING BOARD ON TRIAL,
The change in the sentiment of the
business men of the country toward
the Shipping Board from one of "the
most enthusiastic and unanimous op
position" to one of "effective and en
thusiastic support" is hailed with
satisfaction by Raymond B. Stevens,
a member of the Board. In the Na
tion's Business he calls attention to
the opposition of shipping men to
Federal regulation and control before
the war, and places it in contrast with
their actual recommendation to the
Board, after war began, of the policy
which they had formerly opposed.
But this change of front implies no
change of opinion as to the best policy
to pursue under normal conditions. It
proves that shipping men, inspired
by patriotism, recognize the necessity
in time of war of adopting a -policy
which is unwise in time of peace.
Nor did they oppose Federal regula
tion before the war; they opposed
certain regulations contained in the
La Follette law, while approving the
most important and the great major
ity of the provisions of that law." Mr.
Stevens attributes to them a desire
for suspension of that law, when, in
fact, they ask only for suspension of
the few obnoxious provisions which
they deem hurtful to the merchant
marine.
They opposed Government construc
tion and operation of ships in time of
peace, but they recognize its neces
sity in war, since ships, in common
with all other resources, must be at
the disposal of the Government for
prosecution of the war. They no more
approve Government construction and
operation of merchant ships as a per
manent policy than the people at large
I would approve permanent adoption of
the drastic food and fuel regulation
which is now in force.
. The Shipping Board has not yet
justified the confidence which it claims.
It has not yet made good. On the
contrary, its course in the last six
months has added force to some of
the arguments which were advanced
before the war against Federal con
struction .and operation of ships. It
has been slow in getting to work, it
has wavered in policy, it has wran
gled and wasted precious time, and it
has shown itself to be susceptible to
the influence of sectional, and business
interests. Its attitude toward the
wooden ship has been prompted, per
haps unconsciously, by these influences
and by Ignorance of Pacific Coast
shipbuilding possibilities.
Of necessity, the people must look
to the Shipping Board to provide ships
for military purposes and to carry our
commerce. It must perform the func
tions which Britain entrusts to the
Minister of Shipping. These Include
decision which regular lines shall be
kept in operation, which ships shall
be employed, on them and what com
modities shall be carried. When there
is such urgent need of ships for war
purposes, carriage of non-essential
commodities should be restricted in
order to economize tonnage. William
Hard in the New Republic shows that
there has been a great increase in
imports of coffee and cocoa from
South America and in exports of auto
mobiles and tires to that continent
during the last two years. Much ton
nage could be saved by cutting down
this trade.
Mr. Hard also raises the question
whether ships would be better used this
Winter in sending across the ocean
"that notorious one million tons of raw
materials bought by France and lying
on our Atlantic seaboard, three thou
sand miles from the perfectly trained
soldiers" who could use it against the
enemy, or in carrying more American
soldiers who still need much training.
Should we not do more effective serv
ice at present by sending abundant
supplies to the French, British and
Italians who are already at the front,
and who urgently need them, than
by sending more men, to supply whom
still more ships will be needed?
These are questions for the Council
of National Defense to decide, but it
should be the function of the Ship
ping Board to carry out the decision,
not only by building ships but by
operating them as transports. The
Board should have the capacity to
operate all transports in military serv
ice as well as to build ships, and
should be given that duty. Upon the
degree to which it demonstrates that
capacity will depend the amount of
authority which the people will be
willing to entrust to it after the war.
It has not yet proved its capacity for
the more limited power reposed in it.
The time has not come to sing peans
of praise in its honor.
The increasing severity of sentences
imposed upon those who conspire to
weaken the hand of the Government
in time of war shows that all are
beginning to realize that the time for
temporizing has passed. It is good
news for the loyal citizens of the
country that a Federal judge In Okla
homa has sent three leaders in the
anti-draft plots to prison for ten years,
while a South Dakotan will have five
years to reflect upon the enormity of
a similar misdeed, and his associates
in a movement to obstruct the selec
tive draft will spend terms of from
one to two years behind the bars
Here in the West the slackers are also
finding out that it is a serious business
to ignore the law. Heavy sentences
are justified and will meet with gen
eral approval. One effect of them will
be to emphasize the fact that the
country is at war, which even now
seems not to be comprehended by
many persons who have arrived at the
full age of responsibility.
Chairman Hurley, of the Shipping
Board, calls "Full speed ahead" to
Atlantic Coast shipbuilders. Let him
issue the same call to the Pacific
Coast, and put on full speed himself
in employing all of the ways all the
time.
Bootleg whisky may be useful for
medicinal purposes in war hospitals.
but only after elimination of the in
gredients which have been added to
take the place of the real corn juice
and to give it a "kick."
Several hundred people of Astoria
have asked that many places of
amusement be closed, the better to
safeguard young girls. There is wis
dom in the move, but there is more in
parental vigilance.
An advertisement tells how a marl
who handled the boss' money increased
his salary "from $90 a month to S3500
a year," but it must have happened
before the cash register was perfected.
General Greene holds the whip
hand over Seattle, for by keeping the
soldiers away from that city he can
remove the chief inducement for keep
ing the city "open."
Mr. Myers, who sells stamps at re
tail, is the only dealer in town who
can add 50 per cent to anything and
get away with it without a public pro
test.
The schoolboy who learns to knit
thinks he is doing something, great.
but his-activities will produce better
results on the woodpile.-
Cranberries are going higher and
scarcer, and the worst of it is there
is nothing just as good with the
Thanksgiving turkey.
If Hoover keeps at it, what is to be
come of the high cost of living as a
reason for raising wages and prices?
We . blush in acknowledging the
honor. The - new train to the south
and back is called "Oregonian."
A married woman who goes back
to the job she left to marry is likely
to retain it to the end.
These little mutinies in the German
navy are results of German plotting,
of course.
Perhaps the name of Sparappelhoek
irritated the British airmen to bom
bard it.
Colonel, or Major, or Judge Gan..
tenbein is meeting difficulty in finding
himself.
President Wilson can make his
Thanksgiving proclamation this year a
classic'
Seattle has begun to clean up in
spots the very bad spots first.
Colonel Dunne invites you to a great
show tonight.
What Germany Needs.
BY HERMANN- HAGEDORN
of The Vigilantes.
-A FORMER editor of the New York
XI. Call, Herman Simpson, who differs
from the Call's present editor Inas
much as he is vigorously pro-American
and anti-German, has called the atten
tion or the Vigilantes to the following
passage from a book published in Ger
many ten years ago and entitled "Ger
man Colonial Policy and the Coming
Crash" by a man who Elarns himself
Parvus":
"The evolution of France under Nana-
leon III culminated in Sedan and the
Commune. The evolution of Germany
s also rushing towards a German Sedan
and a German Commune. But Capital
ism, the differentiation of classes and
the development of the world-market,
have assumed at the beginning of the
20th century much vaster dimensions
and far more acute antagonisms in the
sphere of production as well as of
politics than was the case in 1871 in
France. Hence the effect must also be
much greater.
Sedan that is, the collapse of the
state. The Commune that Is, the
political rule of the proletariat." (From
IJie Kolonialpolitik und der Zusammen-
bruch," by Parvus, Leipzig, 1907.)
In the light of Russian affairs, the
prediction . of Parvus is particularly
significant today. What is also signif
icant is that Parvus is himself a Ger
man Socialist, whose real name is said
to be Hclfond. In 1907 he saw what
his country needed, namely, a Sedan
which means a crushing defeat such as
the French Empire suffered in 1870
with the consequent capture of the
Emperor and the downfall of bis
dynasty.
what is the matter with the German
Socialists? Parvus, who saw his coun
try's need so clearly in 1807, is today
an agent of the Imperial German gov
ernment. He has been reported as
working busily in Stockholm trying to
bring about a separate peace with
I'.u.isia.
The Kaiser is evidently twisting the
German Socialists about his little
finger. Those who are not at Stockholm
for him seem to be hobnobbing with
him in most friendly fashion in Berlin.
Anyone who expects these Socialists
to start a revolution will be disap
pointed.
The only way of making the German
people revolt against their imperial dy
nasty will be the way marked out by
Parvus in 1907. First Sedan then
democracy. But first Sedan!
COBRA'S TERROR NOT IX COILS
Li Grande Naturalist Finds TVatnre-
Fakt n Figure of Speech.
LA .GRANDE. Or., Nov. 1. (To the
Editor.) The old saying, "Beware of
the lion in his den," might be changed
to read, "Beware of the editor in hla
sanctum." Witness the efforts of the
Corvallis Gazette Times genially to put
The Oregonian in a hole. The trouble
with the Gazette -Times is that a de
batable question was seized, and the
debate is now on. More care should
be taken in an attempt to spear the
editor of "The Thunderer" on the point
of his trusty pen.
The last clause in the closing para
graph of the splendid editorial, "Cier
many's Economic Defeat," in The Ore
gonian, October 31, offers a fall mark,
and it is so seldom that a mere reader
ever has an opportunity to put one
over on the learned Oregonian that
your correspondent cannot refrain from
setting the editor right, even though
it be but a slip of the pen, as it were.
The clause in question closes with
the words, "caught in the coils of a
cobra." I submit that, as the cobra la
not a constrictor, but a venomous rep
tile, the coils of the cobra are
not the menacing terrors that a pe
rusal of the editorial would suggest.
The python or the boa constrictor was
evidently in the mind of the editor
when he Indicted his really graphic
epitome of the condition of Germany
todty. and the reptile editor evidently
failed to pass on the copy. W. D. M.
Perhaps, for the sake of alliteration.
the writer of the editorial did nature
fake a little. ,
LONG TRADE BOYCOTT FAVORED
Correspondent Would Put l'p Bars
Axslnit Germany After War.
PORTLAND, Nov. 2. (To the Edi
tor.) With all due respect to President
Wilson. I think there are thousands of
Americans who disagree with him when
he says "we are not fighting the Ger
man people, but the clique that runs
them." The present generation of Ger
many have been inoculated with that
rotten poison "kultur" in other words,
dishonesty, brutality, f rightfulness.
They are stabbing our boys when they
sleep, as witness the transport that was
sunk a few days ago the forerunner
of many, I suppose.
Therefore, in conjunction with mil
lions of Americans I would like to see
a bill passed by Congress something
like the following: That for a period
of ten years after the war no German
ship should be allowed to enter a United
States port and that no United States
ship will be permitted to enter a Uer
man port.
We have proved to our advantage
that we can get along without Ger
man goods. They know we won't buy
goods marked "made in Germany, but
as Will Irwin writes in the last issue
of the Saturday Evening Post, they
are getting command of Swiss factories
and will mark their goods "made in
Switzerland." Therefore I hope the
Government will see to it that no goods
will be allowed to enter tne united
States unless they are satisfied as to
their origin.
TWENTY -FIVE-TEAR SUBSCRIBER.
TREES.
I know a place where the fir trees
grow.
The red and the Douglas fir;
Deep in the woods where the partridge
broods
And the wings of the pheasant whirr.
I know a place where the pine trees
moan
And sigh their sad refrain:
Yet ever and aye they seem to say.
Lift up your hearts again.
I know a pjtee where the cedars grow.
Dark on the mountainside;
Hemlock and yew, and tamarack, too,
Spread feathery branches wide.
Grand and stately Oregon trees.
Awaiting her sons of toil;
Knew they the ring and joy of grow
ing things.
They'd hasten back to the soil.
MRS. THOMAS MOFFETT.
875 Northrup street
Effect of Hydrochloric Arid.
PORTLAND, Nov. 1. (To the Edi
tor.) What is the effect, of hydro
chloric sold on the system? What is
the cause of practically no hydrochloric
acid in the system, and what docs it
lead to? N. O. SMITH.
The effect of administering . hydro
chloric acid is to stimulate the glands
n-hns dutv Is to nroduce it naturally.
Las an aid to digestion. Deficiency may
be due to various causes, but usually
Is not particularly alarming.
Decoration of Wife Debated.
Judge.
"Yes, sir. It will cost you a thousand
dollars to have this house redecorated."
"Good heavens! Why, I could almost
have my wife redecorated for that.'.
"NONE," IN ITS SEVERAL MEANINGS
Quotations Given' Show Word Does Not
Always Mean "No One."
VALE, Or.. Nov. 1. (To the Editor.)
Nothing delights us more than a
grammar scrap in the columns of The
Oregonian. When a country editor at
tacks the philological grammarian of
that paper the barrage of ink poured
over his exposed trenches is as ruth
less as the Hun invasion over Cador
na'a flyaways and he is as effectively
put out as the fire in Lllliput.
The Corvallis 16-inch shell failed to
explode. The charge was good, but
the gas pressure light.
We have frequently admired the wary
side-stepping of the alert Oregonian
grammarian than whom none may ex
cel and from his enlightening columns
we have been taught exceeding wari
ness in criticising the language of oth
ers. If there Is any one thing a country
editor knows less about than another.
It is grammar. There are exceptions,
proving the rule: Over in Grant Coun
ty is one, and mayhap the Corvallis
educator is another.
Whose pen slides smoothly o'er the paper
With n'rr a blot nor silly caper.
But as for "none," said Macbeth:
Throw physic to the doss, I'll have none
of It.
While the witches told him:
Thou shall set kings, though thou be none.
As for us, attempting to gather
meanings, our ear
Unattuned to the music of language precise.
li Dut the meaning understood crude words
suffice
We care but little how splits the infinitive
If but our mind grasps the meaning de
finitive.
In our pleasant and pertinent per
siflage we pretend no presumptious ef
fort to advise nor to correct, but merely
show the truth of Dryden'a words:
"And torture one poor word ten thou
sand ways," as well as to suggest with
Diogenes Laertius:
It used to be a common sayinir at Mvson's
that men omit not to seek for things In
words, but for words in things; for that
things are not made on account of words
but words are put together for the sake
of things. -
Said- the immortal Milton:
True eloquence I find to be none but the
eerious and heurty love of truth.
The poet might have said "nothing"
rather than "iione," but it seems that
the Corvallis interpretation of always
no one" ought to have occurred to
the educated intellect of the great bard.
In 1'elrs Plowman we fynde:
I bydde thee awayta hem wele; let non of
nem esca ps
Said Howells:
Catalonia is fed with monev from TPrann
but for Portugal she hath little or none of it.
And once again, "while none but the
brave deserve the crown"!?) we great
ly fear that our Corvallis grammarian
has
View'd his own feather on the fatal ilart
And wing'd the shaft that quiver'd in his
neari.
But as for us, having passed through
the outer door, we sing:
Alns! that all sea not the light;
Alas! that none can see It all;
For in Grammarians' fancy flight
There's none but they may see at all.
Singular what singular people dis
cuss singular and plural.
JOHN RIGBT.
Hides Go to Waste.
PRINEVILLE. Or.. Nov. 1. (To the
Editor.) In The Oregonian October 29
I saw an article stating that the West
ern Association of Shoe Dealers have
cut the height of shoes three inches in
order to save a small piece of leather,
at the same time remarking about the
feminine shapely shanks having to go
bare.
There are thousands of cattle hides
going to waste every year in Eastern
Oregon, which the owners will not save,
nor let anyone else save, which if
saved would give the poor feminine
creature at least enough leather to
cover her sundry adorable curves and
shapely shanks and have leather
enough left for several thousand pairs
of shoes.
Why not do something so that this
annual loss can be saved and save the
feminine shanks from shivering?
AN KASTEI'.N OREGONIAN.
Looking; for a Flat.
Chicago Tribune.
"There's only one objection to these
apartments," said the agent of the
building. "From these two windows
you can't help seeing everything In the
dining-rooms of the neighbors on both
sides of you."
"What's the rental?" smilingly asked
the portly dame who was looking for
a flat.
ABOUND THE WORLD WITH THE NEWS GETTERS IN
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN
IS NEW DANCE REALLY GREEK? If it isn't, then what in the
name of Terpsichore is it ? Barbara Craydon, in the Sunday issue,
is very entertaining as she attempts her analysis of the modern
dance steps that have been heralded as a return to the classic gam
bols of ancient Greece. Some dkta on the discussion and a number
of charming photos.
SKETCHES FROM LIFE Another page of the "Among Us Mortals"
series, sketched by W. E. Hill for The Sunday Oregonian. Prowl
ing around the book department of a big store, the artist has met
a lot of people with whom we are acquainted and has sketched them
just as they are, with a deftness of treatment that sets the char
acters before you. These pictures talk.
PERSONS AND PLACES IN PHOTOS What does that spot of Lon
don look like that has been strafed by a raider's bomb? The
actual photograph brings a clearer conception than any paragraph.
In the special page of pictures, appearing tomorrow, is such a one,
with a dozen others from far and near.
HAS UNCLE SAM CORNER ON GOLD? The basis from which an
answer may be drafted is the fact that America now possesses, in
coin and bullion, one-third of all the precious yellow metal in the
world. Nor does that computation take into account the plate,
jewelry and gold fillings in teeth. Something about America's
profit if the value of gold, disturbed by the great war, should
increase.
CHURCH AND SCHOOL A page department for each in The Sun
day Oregonian.. Read the complete sermon, by Dr. Joshua Stans
field, of the First Methodist Church, concerning dollar slackers to
God and country. All the news of Portland's schools and of Port
land's churches; well edited and reliable information.
THE SERVICE FLAG In the needlework section of the Sunday issue
will be found directions for the fashioning of service flags which
designate the home from which have gone soldiers to the service
of America. The service flag is easy to make and both dimensions
and materials are discussed in this timely article.
FIGHTING GERMANS WITH STEAM SHOVELS That is how
Frank G. Carpenter, special contributor to The Sunday Oregonian,
styles the toil that is incessant in the iron mines of the Mesabi
Mountains, Minnesota. His story is certain to revolutionize a
great many of your notions about iron ore, where and how it is
found and in what manner it is mined.
WHO IS NUMBER ONE? The eecond episode of this enthralling
mystery serial, by Anna Katherine Green, appears in tomorrow's
issue. It is captioned "The Flying Fortress,'' and that ought to
pique anyone's curiosity. While the serial is appearing in The
Oregonian, the pictures are on in filmland.
COME ON, NOW! You may deny it, but of course you read the
comics. And, honestly, there are none better than Polly and Her
Pa, and Neewah, and Old Dock Yak and Yutch, are there? Youll
find them each week in I beg your pardon! Of course" you know
where to find them.
Not a Member of the Family Slighted.
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN
Just Five Cents.
IV.
In Other Days.
Twenty-five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian. November 3, 1892.
Ottawa. Advices received here state
that Japan is preparing for a crusade
against the seal poachers next sea
son. Washington. The Treasury Depart
ment' today purchased 797,000 ounces of
silver at prices ranging from $0.8548
to I0.S560. The offers were 1,301,000
ounces.
The price of cattle throughout East
ern Oregon is outrageously low, says
the Pendleton Tribune, and some action
ought to be taken by the stockmen,
not only of this section but of the
Eastern Oregon ranges, to protect
themselves from the beef combine that
has been formed throughout the coun
try. Honeyman & Company have complet
ed the change of the grates of the
boilers of the city water and light
plant. A saving of one cord a day ia
guaranteed by the change.
New Orleans. The threatened gen
eral strike in the city ts off for the
present at least. The arbitration com
mittee agreed this morning that the
men should all return to work In the
positions they held before the strike.
An agreement was also reached as to
hours and wages, but the question as
to the employment of union men is
yet to be settled.
WEIGHT LIMIT FOR PHEASANTS
Sportsman Suggests Adaptation of
Trout Law to Protect Young; Birds,
GASTON, Or., Nov. 1 (To the Ed
itor.) I have been reading the notice
in The Sunday Oregonian regarding
the proposed closed season on China
birds, to the effect that the Game Com
mission close the season next year on
Chinas and open it on quail, with a 15
day season; then close it on quail in
1919 and open it 15 days on Chinas.
Having had my name mentioned in
The Oregonian on several occasions as
being a prominent sportsman, I would
like to' make a few suggestions. We
all know the gratifying results that
have been obtained by the protection
of female aeer and pheasants. Why
not also protect the hen qunil? Our
ducks are getting scarcer every year.
I would also suggest a closed season
on hen ducks.
Our game warden says the scarcity
of Chinas this year is due to there be
ing so many young birds, which makes
them hard to find. Protect them. Put
a weight limit on them, say 10 ounces.
similar to our trout law. These are
merely suggestions. J. H. WEiCOTT.
Origin of "Yeoman.
THE DALLES. Or.. Nov. 1. (To th
Editor.) What is the meaning of
"yeoman," which we see in connection
with the Army or Navy? I can't find
any satisfactory answer in tho en
cyclopedia. It seems to refer to old
times and to have no modern interpre
tation. A SUBSCRIBER.
A yeoman In early English history
was a common menial servant, but
after the 15th century the term de
noted a class of freeholders, forming
the next grade below gentlemen. Later
the name yeomanry was applied to a
mounted branch of British volunteers,
owing to the fact that they were re
cruited from the yeoman class and thus
were able to support the necessary
cavalry charger and equipment.
In the United States the term Is
used only in the Navy, where a yeo
man is a petty officer rated or en
listed to perform clerical duties.
Not Much of a Fighter.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
"That dog of yours seems fond of
chasing trains."
"Yes."
"I wonder why?"
"Well, he Isn't much of a fighter.
Trains are about the only thing he gets
a chance to chase."
Little Things Cause Worry.
4 Exchange.
"It's the little things that cause us
the most annoyance," said the parlor
philosopher.
"That's right." agreed Mere Man.
"The people who live next door to me
have seven children, the oldest be
r.fc 10."