8
THE MORNTNG OREGOXIAN,
3IOXDAT, DECEMBER SO, 1913.
mum
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PORTLAND, MONDAY, DEC. SO, 1918.
TIME'S TP.
The series of articles on the report
of the Consolidation Commission, as
printed by The Oregonian, gives only
the high lights of that interesting
document. The full text of the report
is both voluminous and complex. It is
so voluminous and complex that it
may be expected the Legislature will
be discouraged by merely glancing
over its pages. In a word, the com
mission seems to have reached the
conclusion that the way to consolidate
is to reconstruct the state government
from the ground up. The sum of its
recommendations in effect is a cabinet
form of government with the Governor
as chief executive and only elective
officer. Numerous departments are
to be created, heads of which would
be appointed by the Governor, and the
work now carried on by the various
offices and boards and commissions
would be generally reassigned.
The commission has clearly gone
beyond the scope of the inquiry as
conceived by the Legislature. -In an
early day in Oregon the state was
governed with fair satisfaction to the
created by constitutional enactment.
Now there are twelve elective officers;
eight appointive officers, not in
cluding several secretaryships; thirty
two boards and commissions, not to
mention the appointive heads of ten
charitable, penal and reformatory in
stitutions. The later officers, boards and com
missions were created in response to
a more or less public demand. But as
each was called into being there was
no thought given as to whether its
functions might not be performed by
an officer, board or commission al
ready in existence. The implied func
tion of the commission was not to go
back of the original groundwork of
state government, but to suggest
wherein overlapping and duplications
could be corrected.
But with all its complexity there are
some pertinent money-saving sugges
tions in the report. One i3 a recom
mendation that the state contribution
to the industrial accident fund be
eliminated and that the state provide
only certain administrative expenses.
This recommendation is not in any
sense an attack upon the compensa
tion principle. It is a contention,
merely, that industry the employers
should take care of the casualties of
industry. That is the system in every
other state that has adopted compen
sation and a great many states now
have it in practice.
The sum that would be saved the
taxpayers by this one elimination con
stitutes the greater part of the entire
saving forecast for the plan proposed
by the Consolidation Commission. The
total saving from reorganization of
state government is about $342,000
for the biennium. In this is repre
sented a trimming from the industrial
accident fund of more than $500,000
contributed by the state. That is, ac
cording to current figures. The state
share of the cost of industrial casual
ties has been increasing rapidly. Prob
ably in another biennium it will have
reached $1,000,000 instead of the total
of $600,000 now paid out by the tax
payers for that purpose.
It is not found in the report, but it
may be said in this connection that
one profit from the compensation sys
tem has been so far overlooked in the
state. Numerous circuit courts were
created and districts formed when and
where the burden of the court busi
ness was trial of personal injury cases.
These cases have been almost wholly
eliminated with the result that some
districts could be enlarged or consoli
dated.
It is such conspicuous examples of
needless expenditure that should gain
the attention of the Legislature, if the
report is given no further considera.
tion. As heretofore remarked In these
columns, the 6 per cent tax limitation
was not adopted by the people to test
the ingenuity of the Legislature in
circumventing it. Yet here and there
may be heard word of discovery of
some potential source of revenue,
Which, if seized, would permit the
state to run along in the same old
way. The will of the people was
clearly expressed in the late election
when a special levy to meet the in
creased cost of government was de-
feated by a large majority. There is
increasea cost or essential government
can be met by reductions in non
essentials. There is a widely expressed
insistence that the Legislature make
the long - promised cut. We have
waited long for that economy which
every candidate puts in his platform.
The time is up.
TAXING EMIGRANTS.
The experience of Canada with its
alien population, "large numbers of
whom, interned and otherwise, are
clamoring for opportunity to return
to Europe, moves the Toronto Mail
and Empire to warn its neighbors in
the United States against permitting
a similar movement from this coun
try without making provision for col
lecting income and profits taxes which
are Justly due from the departing ones.
They have recently earned higher
wages than they ever before earned
In their lives, and they are planning
to take themselves and their savings
to other lands.
It probably would not be difficult
to enforce a law providing as a condi
tion of receiving a passport that the
traveler should make a declaration of
property which he is taking with him,
and also that he should show that all
his taxes have been fully paid. Yet
there is a question whether it would
be much worth while to throw any
obstacles in the way of 8ny alien who
wants to leave the United States.
Those who have absorbed the spirit
of Americanism are welcome to re
main; others are not wanted, and the
taxes we would lose by letting them
depart without hindrance would hardly
offset the benefit of their going.
The problem of "Americanization"
would be greatly simplified by an in
telligent weeding-out process at this
time. There are arguments, however,
in favor of denying to those who left
our shores without a clean tax bill
the privilege of returning later on.
Most of them are practically certain
to want to come back. A man who
cannot make headway in this land of
freedom is unlikely to prosper in any
other country in the world.
THE BOLSHEVIKI AT THE SCHOOLS.
It is a curious fact that the Bol-
sheviki in their attitude toward the
schools are copying precisely the policy
which was employed by the Russian
autocrats to keep their people in sub
jection. Education finds no encour
agement among people whose present
sorry plight is due to lack of that very
thing. It presents a sharp contrast to
the demands of other apostles of lib
erty, who placed free education near
the head of the list.
Now Bolshevism, even when trans
planted to the soil of Germany, runs
true to form. The new president of
Brunswick, formerly a tailor, has ap
pointed his washerwoman to be Min
ister of Education, and she in turn
has placed a relative at the head of
the Brunswick Academy for Girls.
Without reflecting upon the former
calling of the new minister, it may be
supposed that the cause of education
has not been served by the appoint
ment. But it illuminates the Bolshevik
doctrine, and shows us what we may
expect from Bolshevism.
However, the Bolshevik president
of Brunswick does not lack certain of
the elements of the practical man.
When his personal affairs are con
cerned, he is no mere theorist. He has
fixed his own salary at $17,500 a year.
But this is not all. It Is to be paid in
daily installments. It is evident that
he has no confidence in tenure of
office under Bolshevik rule.
Neither, for that matter, has th
rest of the world. The only question
is how long it will take the people
of these unfortunate countries to learn
that the tyranny of anarchy is quite
as hateful as any other form of abso
lutism, and that enlightened self-interest
calls for mutual concessions and
recognition of the rights of all classes.
It would not be so serious in the
long run if the Bolshevik! would only
seize the government and let the
schools alone. In their attacks upon
education they show themselves to be
like every other tyrant. Nothing good
can be expected of them.
SMALL. FARMS.
A recent survey by the Department
of Agriculture of 342 farms in the best
farming region of Kentucky with a
view to determining the relationship
of profits to number of acres owned
is interesting because it confirms the
growing belief that there is a point of
size below which the farm is not a
profitable venture. This does not ap
ply to those exceptional cases where
intensive agriculture is practiced, as
in proximity to cities, where the mar
ket is easy of access and large quan
tities of fertilizer can be obtained,
many times for hauling it away. In
tensive farming on a tiny area is not
only a special art, but it calls for
measures which cannot be duplicated
as to farming In the country as a
whole. Consequently it is an error to
base a National farming policy upon
experience in isolated cases.
In the area surveyed by the experts
of the department, twenty-nine farm
ers on farms of less than 100 acres
made an average "labor income" of
only $81; sixty farms averaging 286
acres averaged $356, and forty-six
farms averaging 715 acres made
$1133. The chief reasons for the bet
ter showing of the larger farms was
that they permitted better diversifica
tion, were better stocked, gave greater
employment to farm horses, a certain
number of which are essential even to
the small farm, and also resulted in a
smaller cost of man-labor in propor
tion to gross yield.
The indispensable feature of all
farming is maintenance of the fertil
ity of the soil, which can be accom
plished in two ways by a proper sys
tem of crop rotation and by keeping
a suitable amount of livestock. The
small farms which borrow fertilizer
from other industries only beg the
question, and exclusive use of mineral
fertilizers always leaves something to
be desired. Works of the "Ten Acres
Enough" stripe are based upon spe
cial conditions. There is a saturation
point in the markets for fresh vege
tables and small fruits, or even poul
try, and farming as a whole must be
considered from the point of view of
the producer of staples of the grosser
sorts.
It is easy to see, for illustration,
that ten acres In grain could not be
made to pay the most skillful farmer,
that he would need a bigger farm even
to grow his horse feed, and that for
our meat supplies we need broader
acres still. The example is extreme,
but it is fairly typical of the ideas
some persons have of small farming.
The department believes that great
est profits usually are obtained where
half to two-thirds of the total income
is derived from livestock. These are
the farms which maintain their fer
tility at the highest point and they
are "intensive" only in the relative
sense.
Acre crop records in some foreign
countries give an erroneous impression
of the profits of agriculture under
average conditions. The department
holds that there is a point at which
high yield may cease to be desirable
because obtained at the expense of
profits. Farming has most to gain in
the long run from being considered as
a strictly business enterprise. Only in
a National crisis would it be fair to
expect a farmer to ignore costs. Tak
ing one year with another, if farming
is unprofitable men will drift out of
the business, eventually leaving the
country without food supplies.
The subject is important at this
time because of the movement to di
vert returned soldiers to the farming
districts. There is a quite general im
pression among city men that a few
acres highly cultivated will solve the
problem. In fact, about the only
small thing that a successful business
man is willing to contemplate is a
small farm. - But if the returned sol
dier is to succeed on the land he must
have a farm at least big enough to
yield him a labor return, to permit
crop rotation and the keeping of
some livestock, to "feed his horses, to
allow a margin for off-seasons and,
finally, to provide for some mistakes
Every other business man makes a
certain number of mistakes, and it is
a poor enterprise that cannot sur
vive a reasonable number of them.
No merchant ever gauges the demand
for goods with 100 per cent of In
fallibility, and he has no right to ex
pect the farmer to hit the nail on the
head every time.
THE PAT OF TEACHERS.
The salary problem discussed by the
superintendents and principals of Ore
gon schools at their convention in
Portland last week is not a new one,
and it is growing in Interest because
of increasing cost of living and su
perior claims of other forms of em
ployment. The smaller high schools
in particular illustrate an acute phase
of the question, and the departments
of the sciences are most conspicuous
among these because they- affect most
directly the present trend of edu
cation toward practical efficiency.
Plainly, if our youths are to be taught
"practical" subjects in a practical way.
their teachers must be practical men
and women, and it happens just now
that the kind of- teacher who is fitted
for the work can "do better" In in
dustrial fields. He must either do this
or fix his attention upon the execu
tive positions, such as principal or
superintendent. The effect upon the
teaching staff in either instance is to
deprive it of the services of the trained
teachers that it needs.
The maximum salary paid to a
science teacher in most of the smaller
high school districts, for example, is
$120 a month, which, for a school year
of nine months figures out at $1080
per annum. The normal wage-earning
capacity of almost any efficient me
chanic is greater than this, and ac
counts both for the withdrawal of
teachers from the schools and for
failure of new candidates to present
themselves in sufficient numbers.
Teaching remains to a greater extent
than it ought to do a way station on
the road to some other career rather
than a permanent profession. Shortage
of teachers, particularly of the voca
tional branches, which has been at
tested by the Federal Bureau of Edu
cation, undoubtedly Is due to failure
to meet the wage issue face to face.
Payment of higher salaries, how
ever, is intimately associated with the
ability of taxpayers to stand the strain,
and suggests the alternative of certain
administrative economies, such as rea
sonable consolidation of rural high
schools in the smaller districts. There
are wide areas in which the county
high schools average no more than
twenty pupils each, and in which the
average staff is a fraction less than
two teachers, one of whom acta as
principal. If the important branch of
agricultural science is also to be fur
ther developed in the country schools,
as it ought to be, and if the cultural
studies are not to be wholly neglected,
as they ought not to be, some change
Is indicated. The twenty-pupil high
school is neither as economical or as
efficient as it ought to be, and It mili
tates against payment of salaries suffi
cient to attract competent teachers
permanently.
There may be differences of opinion
as to methbds by which reform will
be brought about, but there will be
agreement that change is necessary.
The figures would seem to speak for
themselves. The profession of educa
tion cannot be expected to compete
withother arts and industries unless
thevage basis is equalized. Educa
tors can hardly act too soon in per
fecting organization and coming for
ward with a constructive plan.
BEST FOR BOTH WOOD AND STEEL,
isHirs.
After the United States Shipping
Board has been induced by the politi
cal influence of Eastern Senators and
shipbuilders to strike a vicious blow
at the wood ship industry of the Pa
cific Coast by cancelling many con
tracts, the French government gives
testimony to the great merits of that
industry by praising the enormous
success of the Foundation Company In
building forty wood ships at Portland
and Tacoma. It now gives practical
testimony to the superiority of this
Coast in building steel ships and to
the efficiency of the Foundation Com
pany by letting a tentative contract
to that company to build 174 steel
ships in Portland, Tacoma and Vic
toria, and possibly in Seattle and Van
couver, B. C, the total cost to be
$100,000,000. That fact should dis
pose of the aspersions cast on the
wood ship and on the advantages of
the Pacific Coast for shipbuilding in
general by the unfriendly action of the
Shipping Board.
The- only remaining obstacle to
binding the contract is the Shipping
Board, for it cannot be accepted with
out the board's approval. The board
has evinced a desire to concentrate
the facilities of this country on build
ing ships for the American merchant
marine, and to concentrate the steel
ship industry on the Atlantic Coast,
while rejecting wood ships as a fail
ure because its own designs have
failed. The former purpose will en
counter no opposition among loyal
Americans in any section of the coun
try, provided exceptions are made in
favor of our allies. The French mer
chant marine suffered severe loss from
submarine attack during the first two
and a half years of the war, when
France was really defending the in
terests of the United States. Great
Britain recognized the duty to give
aid by sending skilled men to French
ports, where they repaired a million
gross tons of French ships during the
war. There is an even greater obliga
tion on the United States to give simi
lar help by sharing our facilities with
our allies in order to make good their
losses. It remains to be seen whether
the Shipping Board will do its moral
duty by approving the French contract
or will selfishly take the narrow view
displayed in its treatment of wood
ships.
If the board should continue to dis
criminate in favor of the Atlantic as
against the Pacific Coast by opposing
foreign contracts for steel ships to be
built on the Pacific, its action would
be a flat contradiction of its own praise
for the fine record made by the Pacific
Coast yards. While it has incurred
the maximum expense with minimum
results in the shape of finished ton
nage by building mammoth yards on
the Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast yards
have turned out ships at a pace and
of a quality which have won the palm
awarded by the board while the war
was on. They have done this under
the enormous handicap of exorbitant
freight rates on steel and machinery
imposed by the Railroad Administra'
tion.
The decision of the Foundation to
build these ships on the Pacific Coast
is itself strong testimony to the su
perior advantages of this Coast over
the Atlantic Coast, in the industry.
Prior to 1917' that company was en
gaged in building steel structures on
land, and its operations were east of
the Mississippi River. When it em
barked in shipbuilding it built yards
for both steel and "wood on both
coasts. In the light of its experience
it proposes to build all the French f
ships on the Pacific. Thus the im- j
partial judgment of the able, success- '
ful business men at the head of this :
company is in favAr of the Pacific j
Coast. . The French government has
no cause for particularity as between
the two coasts: it desires to have the
ships built where they can be built
best, quickest and cheapest, and it
contracts for them to be built on the
Pacific Coast.
Because of these facts we need have
no. misgivings as to the permanent
establishment and development of
steel as well as wood shipbuilding on
this Coast and in Portland as one of
its chief centers. Wood shipbuilding
was already established and was grow
ing and thriving before the board
meddled and muddled. It will live
and thrive in spite of political enmity
and business rivalry. Steel shipbuild
ing also has been established beyond
the power of those influences to tear
it down, and it, too, will grow and
prosper, ' even under the incubus of
exorbitant freight rates. It, however,
behooves all the Coast cities and the
back country which they serve to unite
in an effort to throw off this burden.
Shipbuilding has come to the Pacific
Coast to stay, and no power can take
it away, if the people of this Coast j
maintain their rights. The French
contract may reasonably be expected
to be only the first among many,
which all the Influences behind Hog
Island cannot take away.
DELAY IX PAYING SOLDIERS.
The Justice, no less than the ex
pediency, of granting additional pay
to the discharged soldier being taken
for granted, there remains another act
of Justice for the Government to per
form which does not Involve any ma
terial increase in its expense account.
This is that pay already earned should
be forthcoming more promptly. The
tangle of red tape in which the pay
department has become enmeshed is
nothing short of scandalous. The pity
of it, to the lay mind, is that It is with
out excuse. It can represent nothing
else than Incompetency in sotne Gov
ernment bureau; the Bureau of War
Risk Insurance also is coming in for
a good deal of blame and doubtless
deserves It.
There might have been mitigating
circumstances before the armistice
was signed. It will be conceded that
it was no small task to card index and
keep trace of a constantly moving
army of several million men, and also
that competent help, may have been
scarce In the departments at Wash
ington. Competent help, we said, for
it appears that numerically speaking
there were clerks enough in the capi
tal to have accomplished anything.
But the armistice Is more than six
weeks old, soldiers are returning to
the United States at the rate of thou
sands a day, and demobilization is in
full swing. The man-power problem
certainly Is less acute than formerly.
The fault must lie in the method of
organization.
Instances multiply to show that
there has been, and Is, gross negli
gence in this regard. The New York
Sun saj's that there are "at present
in New York some 200 veterans of
Chateau Thierry who are being enter
tained at various clubs because their
pay vouchers are lost; many others
are walking the streets without a dol
lar." In some cases as much as four
months' pay is due them. Four months
is a long while In such circumstances.
The soldiers have given efficient serv
ice and are right in expecting effi
ciency in the minor clerical depart
ments of the service. Yet failure of
men to receive their pay and of rela
tives to receive their allotments have
sometimes had almost tragic conse
quences. The Sun, for example, quotes
a wounded man:
I had to work my own way thronth school
and I had made up my mind that my sister
snouia stay in her school lr I could keep
here there. But my pay I allotted her did
not come and she had to leave school and
go to work in a store.
This soldier had lost a leg, but his
only grievance was that his efforts to
help his sister had come to naught.
Illustrations might be multiplied in
definitely. There is no community but
is familiar with the story. Little fault
would be found if the cases cited were
exceptional, but they, are not. We
were entitled to expect improvement
when the strain of fighting was re
laxed, but it has not come.
There Is a movement on foot to
institute a Congressional investigation.
but the suggestion leaves us cold. Con
gressional inquiries seldom accom
plish anything, and they are tedious
affairs at best. The thing that is
wanted is reform In the whole ray sys
tem. It ought to be feasible, for ex
ample, if there is a help shortage in
Washington, to detail competent men
from the cantonments to the Job. Or
an emergency fund might be created
for payment of men whom everyone
knows to have their pay but who are
held up for months on technicalities.
Meanwhile the routine organization
needs a shaking up. A vigorous busi
ness executive, not deadened by bu
reau methods, certainly would be able
to find a way out of the difficulty.
The regulations governing soft-drink
places are almost as stringent as those
on sale of the "raw stuff" years ago.
They may be needed, probably are;
but a man will be dead before he be
comes Intoxicated on the stuff he
drinks in most of these places.
The vote Is in and Lloyd George is
returned to Parliament, which puts
him at the peace table. There he will
say less and do more than most ot
them.
If the municipal fish business shows
a deficit, what matter? If it has
taught this people the wisdom of eat
ing more fish, they enjoy profit in
better health.
Perhaps the Huns had a little bit
of Justification for calling the Ameri
can marines "Indians." The Hun can
not comprehend a man's fight.
The man who would buy his "for
tune" from an alleged gipsy deserves
to lose his money. His safe course is
to ask the police to lock him up.
Apples are an Oregon product. Are
you eating all you should of them?
Why eat an orange when an apple is
better?
Portland got the Elks six years ago
and financed the affair with a surplus,
and we'll get the Shriners, too.
The world has become so good there
is not much to swear off tomorrow
night.
If the Czar is really alive, as is now
reported, he certainly is showing mar
velous capacity for keeping a secret.
Plumbers and janitors are the fel
lows who consider the weather.
Will there ever come a time when
there is no Balkan problem?
Your Boy in France.
What Be la Doing; and Thinking
About, as Gleaned From the Btara
and Stripe. Official Newspaper of
the A. E. F.
Your boy in France, if this is bis
first Winter there, will know non of
the hardships of those there a year ago.
The triumphal occupation of German
territory is accomplished, and while
military discipline still prevails In Its
fullest extent, there are no, more
trenches, not more' dugouts, no more
tanks to be manned, no poison gas to
be avoided, no more of the horrors ln
effaceably connected with the great
struggle against the most devilish and
murderous warfare the world has ever
known.
Instead, the American soldier is in
4iigh feather, and the experiences which
he is now .enjoying will long remain
bright in his remembrance.
see
If you haven't received your Christ
mas letter from the boy "over there"
you will get it very soon. There was
a scarcity of letter paper when the
armistice was first signed, but that was
quickly remedied. The Y. M. C A., the
K of C. and the Red Cross saw to that.
Not only are paper and envelopes avail
able at every hut, canteen and hospital,
but the workers who go out among the
men in camps are fully supplied. The
K. of C. alone reported a stock of 6.000.
000 sheets of paper and 4,000,000 envel
opes, and the Red Cross started presses
to work in 20 French cities on 6,000,000
sheets of letter paper appropriately In
scribed, with envelopes enough to put
them in. The censorship Is off, and the
letters will be well worth reading.
The march to the Rhine of the Third
American Army, 250.000 strong, began
on the morning of Sunday, November
17. at 5:80 A. M., when the order. "For
ward, march," sounded along the Amer
ican line from Mouzon to Thiaucourt
Mouzon on the Meuse Just below
Sedan, and Thiaucourt down In the
heart of what was once the St. Mihiel
salient.
An hour or so earlier the unfriendly
notes of reveille had disturbed the chill
November air and tumbled out ot a
myriad of dugouts and pup tents a
stamping, growling cursing crew, who
damned the Kaiser and swore at Ger
many, but not one of whom could have
been hired for love or money to go off
on leave this day of days.
Indeed, for several days before the
march began officers and men who had
started forth so gaily on their long
postponed leaves kept hurrying back of
their own accord at the first inkling
that their outfit had been among those
nominated to keep a watch on the
Rhine. Even men who on the strength
of the armistice had decided to go
AWOL (absent without leave) for a
day or so, would glean the good news
at halfway towns like Bar-le-Duc or
Chalons and come sneaking back as
fast as their legs or hospitable trucks
would carry them. Everyone wanted
to be "among those present" at what
came In time to be known as "the
party."
So, when the sun came up on the
morning of the 17th it found them all
marching in columns of squads along
the highways that lead to the fron
tier plodding along and singing as
they went. And the song that they
sang was a new version of an old
favorite which broke ever and again
into the familiar refrain, "The Yanks
Are Coming, the Yanks Are Coming."
Ahead of them, as they ambled for
ward, stretched a countryside strewn
with the things the Germans had been
too hurried or too indifferent to carry
along. In nearly every village the
streets were littered with guns, hel
mets and cartridge belts, as though,
when the armistice news came, they
had been dropped then and there, never
to be picked up again by German hands.
Whole platoons of American infan
try could be seen, each head adorned
with a spiked German helmet. Tne
souvenir market was glutted the first
day. and lugers (magazine pistols).
which a fortnight before would have
sold for anywhere from 100 to 800
francs, could be had in exchange for
a package of cigarettes.
At Vlrton the advancing Americans
found in a big hospital some 400 men
too seriously wounded to be moved
and among these were nine Americana
They had lain there, lonesome and help
less, for manj? weary days and nights.
They woke on the morning of the 12th
to find friendly Americans swarming
around their beds, showering them with
cigarettes and magazines.
All along the way the men of the
Third Army, moving forward un
molested as though on some easy prac
tice march, were greeted and passed
by an unending stream of refugees,
thousands upon thousands of scantily
clad, hungry, tired, happy refugees,
prisoners of war, civilian prisoners,
fugitive townsfolk, men, women and
children, of all ages and all nationali
ties, thousands upon thousands of them
pouring through the towns and villages
already gay with French and American
flags.
Six of the divisions of the American
Army of Occupation have been In the
thick of every big American fight since
Marshal Foch launched the counter
offensive in mid-July. The First Divi
sion, whose infantry paraded the
Champs-Elysees that first French
Fourth of July in 1317. had its memor
ies of Cantlgny, Soissons, St. Mihiel and
tne Argonne.
The Second, half infantry and half
Marines, which made Bellcau Wood a
name to conjure with in American his
tory, was very much in evidence at St.
Mihiel, Jumped in to help General
Gouraud in the Champagne in October
and from that task hustled over to the
Argonne to take the center of the line
when the smash was made on No
vember 1.
The Third was the first American
Division to jump into the fight at Chau-teau-Thlerry
the division that held the
Marne on that historic July 15 when the
last German offensive began, and thi
one longest in the line during the
Argonne battle.
The Fourth is likewise a veteran of
the Chateau Thierry salient and also was
a tower of strength during the entire
first month of the Argonne drive. The
Thirty-second Division was one of those
built on National Guard foundations.
On the Ourcq and the Vesle, one of its
elements won from the French the
name of "The Terrible Brigade." This
division, before it took part in the Ar
gonne drive, was used by General Man
gin as the spearhead of one of his
mighty thrusts below the Saint Gobain
forest.
Then there is the Rainbow Division,
which has always been among those
present at all American battles. It was
part of the dam built by General Gour
aud to stem the German tide east of
Rhelms on July 15. It led the charge
across the Ourcq July 28, It pitched In
at St. Mihiel. It took the Cote du Cha
tillon in the Argonne, and in the last
great week it raced the First Divi
sion to the gates of Sedan.
The Fifth, Eighty-ninth and Nine
tieth Divisions were very much In the
thick of the fighting during the Fall,
and for the most part, side by side.
At St. Mihiel the Fifth Division was in
the front lines from September 12 to 15
Inclusive. During the Meuse-Argonne
battle it was In the front lines from
October 13 to 20 inclusive, again tak
ing its place there cn October 27 and
going through to the end. Except for
a change In datea the other two divi
sions Just named have the same record.
LIFE BETTER WITHOtT TOBACCO
five Sons Cleaner Mentally and Phy
sically for Not Cain It, Says Father.
MONROE. Or.. Dec. 27. (To the Ed
itor.) Ex-President Roosevelt has
given us a vivid picture of a worthy
life in "The Great Adventure." He did
not go into details as to habits, either
good or bad. Neither did our Lord say
anything of the many habits that man
has accumulated along the way, and
yet we may adjust our course in life
quite accurately from his statements.
God gave to the Israelites rules to be
observed, such as the Ten Command
ments and many others, and the rea
son given was that they might live
long upon the earth; that it might be
well with them; that they might get
the most out of life. A long, happy
life is what the normal man or woman
desires. Every true parent is very
much concerned as to the health of his
boys and girls. He desires that they
shall grow up to manhood and woman
hood strong of body, keen In intellect
and clean at heart. Now the question
Is will the cigarette improve my boy's
bodily strength. Will his blood be Tis
pure? Will his respiratory organs be
preserved at their best? Will It aid
him in solving hard, knotty problems
because of the added powers of
thought? Will he be cleaner of soul?
Will it aid him in reaching the highest
efficiency in the moral universe?
Every reader of The Oregonian
should be desirous that the truth should
prevail and that his friends should live
such lives aa will be of the greatest
good to our state and Nation. I have
five boys who have grown to manhood
free from the tobacco habit and I think
they are better citizens, stronger in
body, cleaner than though they were
slaves to it. And I am sure they all
think more of me than if I was a user
of the weed.
I am now 68 years of age and have
handled six horses this Fall In plow
ing and seeding my land, besides at
tending to many chores of the farm. I
have no criticism to make of providing
soldier boys with cigarettes when they
demand them If they were users be
fore they entered the service, but to do
anything that would encourage them to
continue the habit or assist others in
acquiring the use of them w.ould be a
great Injustice, as I believe every cig
arette cuts off a certain number of
moments or hours of human life. The
impression I have received from the
cigarette user Is that his life is far
from satisfactory. I think the better
portion of humanity desire to be re
membered well.
"Let everything be done decently and
In order," is a good proverb.
W. C. BELKNAP.
CArSE OF RAILW AY PAY VARIANCE
Car Repairers Given Large Increase Be
cause of Shipyard Demand.
EUGENE, Or.. Dec 28. (To the Edi
tor.) The Saturday Evening Post con
tains a very interesting article by Ed
ward Hungerford relative to Govern
mental railway inefficiency. He makes
out a very strong case, but in one in
stance that he speaks of he haa his
wires badly crossed. He either lacked
the facts or he held them back. I re
fer to the wages of the car repairers
and the terminal agents. The car man
gets raised to $250 a month and the
agent la handed only a measly $30. That
this is due to inefficiency is absolutely
wrong, for governments cannot set
aside the law of supply and demand.
Only packers have ever achieved such
results.
The Government Railway Adminis
tration was forced to give the car man
$250 per month bocause the shipyard
would be tickled to death to get him
at that figure, as he is a handy man
with tools, and can do anything along
mechanical lines, but the shipyard has
nothing for a terminal agent to do
It is too bad Mr. Hungerford could not
have given the public all of the facts
In the case. We are now suspicious
that the balance of the article is prob
ably Just as inaccurate as the above
case. READER.
Kew Income Tax Law.
PORTLAND, Dec 27. (To the Edi
tor.) (1) When will the next income
tax be payable? Does a person pay on
t the first thousand or everything above
it? (2) Will draft registrants have to
keep in touch -with their local boards
after the U. S. Government ceases draft
ing and the records are closed up?
J. J. BROWN.
(1) New income tax provisions are
contained in the revenue bill now un
der consideration by Congress. We
cannot now inform you definitely as to
the period of payment, but the ex
emptions of the last named Income tax
law will be retained, with probably a
alight change aa regards dependents.
The unmarried person will pay on in
come above $1000; the married person
on income above $2000; a further ex
emption of $200 for each child under
18 and probably for each dependent
will be allowed.
(2) NO.
Marine In Siberia.
CORVALLIS. Or.. Dec. 28. (To the
Editor.) I have a brother who Is a
Marine and has been on the Brooklyn,
until recently at Vladivostok. He wrote
October 18 that he "was 2000 miles from
where he had been." but aa letu-rs were
till censored he did not Fay where he
was. We can hear nothing more from
him and think he may be at Archan
gel, although the Brooklyn is at Yoko
hama. If so. can mail ie sent to ana
received from there during the in
ter? How can I learn where be Is?
MRS. L.
We would guess that he Is somewhere
in Siberia. By no possibility has he
been sent to Archangel from Vladlvo
stok. Announcement has been made
that most of the American troops In
Siberia are to be demobilized. You
may, therefore, hear from him soon.
In writing, meanwhile, direct letters
to his last known address.
No Settled Residences
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
"Where are you going to lecture to
night, my dear?" Inquired Mr. Wise of
his wife, a prominent equal-suffrage
lecturer.
"I am to address the Cooks' and
Housemaids' Union." she responded.
Her husband laughed.
"I see nothing to laugh about. Surely
they have as much right to vote as any
other woman." his wife began, indig
nantly. "I am not denying that, my dear,"
mildly explained Mr. Wise: "but it Is a
waste of time. Don't you realize that a
cook or housemaid never remains long
enough in one position to be entitled to
a voter
Mrs. Wise, recognizing the wisdom of
these, canceled her engagement by tele
phone. 12th Aero Squadron.
HOOD RIVER, Or.. Dec 27. (To the
Editor.) Please inform me in what
division 12th Aero Squadron is. and if
they will be returned Boon? Where lo
cated at time of signing of armistice?
Also location at present time?
P. E. M.
No announcement has been made as
to this squadron.
Return of 306th Infantry.
HUBBARD. Or.. Dec. 27. (To the
Editor.) (1) Please tell me what divi
sion Supply Company, 306th Infantry,
is in. (2) Are they booked to return
home soon? A SISTEIi.
(2) No announcement since listed De
cember 22.
(1) 77th Division. .
In Other Days.
Twenty-five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian. December 80. 1893.
Chicago Prendergast, the murderer
ot Carter H. Harrison, will be hanged
for his crime. The veadlct of tho Jury
said it and the people of Chicago ap
proved it.
London Gladstone is 84 years of are
today. He is in excellent health. Tele
grams and messages and cards of con
gratulations are pouring la oi him
from all parts of the country.
The four-masted British ship Dra-
malis came up the river yesterday aft
ernoon towed by the Ocklahama a rut
piloted by the veteran Phil Johnson.
The Drumulis ranks first in size in this
year s fleet, and is the largast sailing
ship Portland has seen.
The Scottish - American Investment
Company, Ltd., of Great Britain arui
Ireland, has begun an action in the
State Circuit Court against the Port
land Industrial Exposition for $55,000
on a promissory note. The Noijh Pa
cific Lumber Company Is named in the
complaint as a party defendant.
Fifty Years Ago.
From The Oreeoniaa. December 80, 196lt.
The Mayor and City Council of At
lanta. Ga.. have postponed the munici
pal election on the ground that Atlanta
is not yet in the Union.
Chicago Calls have been Issued for
a National convention of women's rights
ana colored men to meet In Washing
ton about the middle of January.
Vienna The Grecians are flealnc
from Turkey on account of threatened
war. Several families of fugitives have
been received by the people of Rou
manian Work on the telegranh lines between
The Dalles and Umatilla is to be com
menced Immediately. The section be
tween the two points named is to be
a part of the line between Portland and
Boise City.
BROTHERLY SYMPATHY E3CTENTJET
Writer Thinks Judice Murphy Must Be
Sad Over Irish Elections.
PORTLAND, Dec 29. (To the Edi
tor.) Sad must be the soul of J. Hen
nessey Murphy when he reads the re
port of the Irish electiona Too bad be
wasn't over there to tell the majority
of the Irish what they wanted and
tnings surely would have gone differ
ently. The Irish never did know what
was good for them, and all those ca
pable of telling them seem to have left
the little Isle. Maybe the Irish would
be better under British rule aa the
judge thinks, but the Irish at home
don't seem to agree with him, and there
was a time when the Judge did not
think so himself.
Mr. riper's article on Sinn Felnlsm
seemed the fairest I ever read on the
Irish situation, and most Irish I have
met in Portland think the same. Sinn
Fein means for ourselves alone, and
in the light of the Irish returns the
Judge must be a Sinn Feiner, as he
seems very much alone. J. M.
YE GOSSIP.
Pray ponnce upon thyself with shar
pened beak and claw
And tear from thine own Imperfec
tions the cover of eelf-righteous-ness
Which thou hast assumed with such
bigoted complacence!
Step aside from the beaten path of
thy pretended rectitude and view
thyself in fairness:
Give to thyself no charity of opinion
that thou wculdst withhold from
another;
Call thy sins, sins, and thy faults,
faults; and thy weaknesses by
their real names.
Hide not thy falsifications behind a
placard of "Tact," nor seek to
give a honeyed coating to words
of ill thou hast tpoken of an
other. Face thyself honestly and see for
once the creature that thou art!
There are many other sins than that
single one which thou, perhaps,
like many others, frown upon as
unforgivable;
Ofttlmes (yea, very oft. Indeed), that
sin Is born of too great a love;
But the gossip's sins are ever the
offspring of human venom and
spleen !
The weaknesses which thou condemnest
In others have replica, nine in
ten, within thine own being.
Thy smug biKotry Is but one degree
less distasteful than thievery.
Because thou hast assumed a perfec
tion which Is not thine In fact;
Thy self-satisfied and lofty scorn of
those who have etrayed from vir
tuous paths
Is In kepeing with thy small soul, which
has but one eye and that to
vision thine own fancied super
iority !
Again I Implore thee, bare thy claws
and beak and rounce upon thy
self but once.
Then shall justice, if any abide within
such as thou, foro thee at last
to see
That one who tears to tatters the repu
tation of another, and who ex
tends no verbal nor mental
charity.
Is lower in the scale of human decency
than Is the wanton who un
blushlngly parades the publia
thoroughfare
Wearing at least no bvpocritlcal mask!
GRACE E. 1IALU
Value of Land Grant.
HOOD RIVER. Dec. 2S. (To the Edi
tor.) 1) Kindly state the number of
acres contained in the O. & C. grant
lands, recently restored to the Govern-mt-nt
Also state estimated value of
entire grant and value of timber sep
arately. (2) What is the Government
doing preparatory to putting these
lands on the maiket? READER.
1. About 2. 360,000 acres of a value In
excess of $30,000,000.
2. The Government is classifying the
lands Into power site lands, timber
lands, and agricultural lands. Some ag
ricultural lands where classification
had been completed were opened to en
try last Summer.
Release From Ty.
PORTL.WD, Dec. 28. (To the Edi
tor.) To whom must 1 write to obtain
my brother's release from the Navy?
He Is urgently needed at home to as
sist in the support of his invalid father.
SAILOR'S SISTER.
He files the request with his com
manding officer. Affidavits and state
ments from relatives, telling of the
need for him at home should be filed
at the same time.
0:tsth Aero Squadron.
MOUNT HOOD, Or., Dec. 28. (To the
Editor.) Kindly tell me, if possible,
whether the 638th Aero Squadron is
listed to return eoon from France, and
if not, how long it is likely to remain
there? A SUBSCRIBER.
Not yet listed for return. As It is
not with the army of occupation it will
probably be released in a reasonable
time.
In, Army of Occupation.
The military organizations Inquired
about by the following correspondents
are listed in the army of occupation:
Soldier's Wile. 126th Infantry.
Sister. Ruch. Or., 18th Field Artillery
Company. Battery B.
A Reader. Laurel, Or Company K,
110th Infantry.