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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 14, 1919)
12 TIIE 3IORXIXG OREGOXIAX, FRIDAY, 3IARCIT 11, 1919. PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland (Oregon) Poatofflce a second-class mail matter. -Subscription rates Invariably in advance: (By Mail) Ially. Sunday Included, one year 38. Or raily, Sunday included, six months 4.5 iJaily, Sunday Included, three months ... 2.-3 Xally, Sunday included, one month .75 Daily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Iaily, without Sunday, six months 3.25 Tatly, without Sunday, one month. .. 60 Weekly, one year - 1.00 Sunday, one year 2.50 Sunday and weekly ..... 3.&0 (By Carrier). Dalty. Sunday Included, one year .......$9.00 Dai.y, Sunday Included, one month Xaiiy. Sunday Included, three months ... 2.: Laiiy. without Sunday, one year 7.80 Daily without Sunday, three month .... 1.13 Daily, without Sunday, one month 5 Haw to Remit Send nnntofflce money or der. express or personal check on your local Dank, bumps, coin or currency are at own. er risk, tilve postotnoe, address in iuii, m eluding county and state. Postage Kates 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent: 18 to ax pages, 2 cents; 34 to pages. 3 cents; DO to 00 pages; 4 cents; 62 to 76 pages, 5 cents: 78 to 82 pages. 6 cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Office Verre & Conk- lln, Brunswick building. New York; Verre & Conklln, Steger building. Chicago: Verre & Conklin, Free Press building, Detroit. Mich.; San Francisco representative, R. J. Bidweil MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, The Associated Press is exclusively enti tled to the use for republication of all news aispatcnes credited to it ornot omerwiso credited to this paper, and also the loca.1 ieurs puousned herein. All rights of republication of special diS' patches herein are also reserved. PORTLAND, FRIDAY, MARCH 14. 1919. WHAT DOES IT MEAN A congressional district in Pennsyl vania Butler and "Westmoreland counties on March 4, at a special election, returned a majority of 473 votes for the democratic candidate, a Mr. Wilson. Ordinarily there would lie no great significance to the victory of a democrat for congTess, even in Pennsylvania ; but the fact that it was a district which had returned an almost unbroken succession of repub licans for fifty years justifies inquiry as to the reasons. Last November the republican candidate was elected by the usual majority -about 7000. Now there is a sudden and most mysteri ous reversal. The democratic explanation is that the league of nations is responsible. The candidate of that party placarded the district with announcements that lie was for the league plan as drafted, or as it might be perfected at Paris. It will at once occur to the I-told-you-so mind of the non-leaguers that he was ready to swallow any dose pre pared by President Wilson; and doubt less the same objection to him and his wholesale . acceptance of the "whole hog," whatever its shape, size, color, or taste, was urged upon the voters. The republican nominee took the Ingenious and apparently secure ground that he "would be governed by the course of the republican lead ers." Each candidate therefore was ready to take whatever was given him by his party. It has been generally assumed, fol lowing the great upset of 1918, that neither 1919 nOr 1920 was to be a good year for democrats. Yet some thing quite disconcerting has hap pened right under the noses of those great republican lights. Senator Pen rose and Senator Knox. President Wilson has said the league is not a party asset. The republican party should be grateful to him for his pronouncement. It may be also grate ful to Mr. Taft for what he Is saying and doing. It may have occasion also to be grateful to Father Time if he will get the pesky question out of the way before another presidential cam paign rolls around. KO LOTTERY TO PAY WORLD DEBTS. The formal proposal, made to Presi dent Wilson by ex-Premier Luzzati of Italy, of a world lottery to pay war debts, takes account neither of the legal aspect of the lottery issue in the United States nor of growth of senti ment against the lottery throughout the civilized world. It is less than thirty years since congress dealt a crushing blow to the institution by denying it admission to the mails, but for a long time previously it had been in general disrepute. Abolition of gambling was one of our pioneer re form movements. There is now "ho community in America in which lot tery tickets could be sold without vio lating a national, state or municipal law. The peace makers of Paris will be slow to adopt any scheme which so obviously runs counter to estab lished public sentiment. Yet the lottery once was in high repute. It probably was first played for money prizes in Florence early in the sixteenth century. In Genoa it took the form of betting on the names of five citizens who should be chosen by lot from a list of ninety to govern the state. Governments, pressed for funds, found in it a profitable methoriJ of extracting money from the pockets! of the people, as the Italian ex-premier proposes now to do. With the develop ment of governmental conscience, re port was had to the subterfuge of com bining lotteries with charitable enter prises. England employed them to raise money to ransom English cap tives enslaved in Mediterranean states. Puritanism sanctioned them as a method of alloting lands in Ireland in 1753. They were common in Penn sylvania before our republic was founded, the profits being devoted to public objects, such as road building, and later for the erection of churches. Yale college employed the lottery method in 1750 to finance a building enterprise, and Harvard did so in 1772 and again in 1S06. The enormous profits which accrued to the sponsors for lotteries, both public and private, constituted their least alarming aspect. They were abolished because of their demon strated influence as promoters, of un thrift. In the early years of the move ment to destroy them a good many arguments were advanced which still have a familiar ring. Pam phlets were written in France in ef forts to prove that the savings banks would suffer by their abolishment, but practice proved precisely the opposite to be true. Belgium early in the nineteenth century was lottery mad. Abolition of the institution there rn 1841 drove many pawnshops out of business. Economic experience as well as sentimental considerations, justified abolishment wherever it was accomplished. It has been found that the "rage for gambling" does not necessarily seek other outlets, and that thrift can be cultivated. - The fundamental Nobjection to lot teries is inherent in gamblinin gen eral that they foster desire to get something for nothing and so work against cultivation of the spirit of in dependence and do great moral and economic mischief. The civilized world may be said to have discarded them more than a generation ago, although as late as 1894 enormous profits were derived from them in Prussia for the use of the state, and a quarter of a eentury aso the lottery investments of the people of Hamburg' aggregated nearly $8 per capita of the population. The proposal of ex-Premier Luzzati will possess only an academic interest for Americans. The issue -was settled in this country when the state Ipttery was driven from its last stronghold in Louisiana. Other nations in which the institution formerly flourished are as little likely to consent to its revival, even as a means of funding their debts. The lottery is an anachronism, which no specious reasoning can bring up to date. IESE MAJESTY. Jt will be a painful surprise to the public which has always taken pleas ure in the harmony that prevail within the ranks of democracy to ob serve that a dispute has arisen be tween the affable collector of internal revenue, and the less affable demo cratic newspaper of Portland, over so trifling a matter as an interpretation or the income tax law. It may be said, with considerable fervor, that the reputed complexity of the income tax report is as nothing compared with the complexity of the law itself. Thus it is small wonder that even geniuses, such as the affable collector and the less affable news paper, should come to verbal blows over it. The controversy concerns the 11a bllity to income tax of the public of ficial or employe. One relies upon a ruling of the treasury department, the other upon a reading of the law. One says they need not pay; the other says tney must or become subject to the dire penalties of the statute. The average man who must pay his six or more per cent upon net in come will not have much sympathv for the quandary of the public offi cial. Somebody once gave a reason why the government or state official should not pay an income tax, but it was so inconsequential we have quite forgotten what it was. But in another particular all must admit that the matter is of grave consequence. Is or is not a flat overruling of the treasvry department by a newspaper of its own political faith to be toler ated when the country is still at war? Surely there is some violation of statute here, if not of the espionage law, then of the direct primary or the corrupt practices act. THE OREGON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. The Oregon chamber of commerce is making a campaign to enlist mem bers in every city and county, which merits the support of every good citi zen. It is the one organization which combines all local chambers of fnm- merce and similar bodies in a united effort for the general good of the state and of all parts of the state. It did most effective work in securing passage of constructive legislation at Salem. By its means the united in fluence of the entire state is placed behind any good project for the good of any section, and it wins when that section by its unaided efforts could not win. Speakers are makintr a tour of tho state in preparation for tho actual n. listment of new members, which con tinues through next week. They have met with a hearty reception at Hills boro, Oregon City, Wasco, Madras and other cities, and have won commer cial bodies as corporate members and many individual members as well. They are winning on the record which me cnamDer has alreadv maris s proof of what it is capable of doing. tsy getting together in such an e. ganization, the active, public-spirited men of each section become aimi9int. ed with the resources and needs of every other section, remove misunder standing and local jealousy and be come able to work together. They break down narrow, local lines nri acquire a state-wide outlook. They cultivate state patriotism and learp to put Oregon first. THE PROBLEMS OK 1787 AND 1919. There is instructive readme- in number of extracts which the New York World has made? from cnoocha in several state legislatures in 1787 and 1788 against adoption of the con stitution of the United States. The quotations were for purposes of com parison with recent Knpnlip n(,GinL-f the proposed constitution on the league oi nations. xnere were timid fears that the states would lose their inde pendence, that the president would make himself king, that the senate would become a house of 1 orris thai taxation by both the nation and the states wouia prove an intolerable bur den, that two concurrent powers would destroy each other, that one natlnrtnl government in "so extensive a coun try wouia aestroy the liberties of the people, and so on. If we carry our minds hnr-lr tr 1787 and try to put ourselves in the place oi tne people who lived then, we can realize that the Question of nniin. the constitution was deeply perplex ing, ine idea of federation rived from Switzerland, a small, in land country of which th. f0,')0roi units were no larger than an Ameri can county, it had never been tried m a country or such extent as the thirteen original states. such a degree of concurrent jurisdic tion or wnere there existed such broad stretches of wild land. Each state was -as jealous for its independence of the other states as for its inde pendence of Britain, and some desired all the benefits of self-defense which would be derived from a national gov ernment without surrendering any of the sovereignty necessary to enable the nation to defend them. Yet the Americans nf 1787 ) and decided right. They did so beJ cause tney nad courage to make an experiment in envrrn m on t i-v ; . .. .- won the admiration of men of all na tions Dy its success. They were men oi tne moid to make bold experiments, for there was none bolder tr.nr, t,i voyage across the stormy ocean in frail crttt to a wild country inhabited by savages, in order to make a new home; nor man me defiance of a great coun try in the war for independence. They had faith in their ability to preserve their liberty from pnornank mont tr the president or senate should attempt ii. juey aiso nad iaith in the honest purpose of themselves and each other to respect each other's rirhti o-i " im j work together for success of their ex periment, it was the men and women of that time who made the great ex Deriment of a federal cess. Any inferior type of men might easily nave maoe jt a disastrous failure. It behooves us Americana of twentieth century to prove ourselves wormy or sucn lorerathers by exer cising the same qualities as they dis played when we consider the problem ot the league of nations. We need courage to mane mis new experiment, and breadth of vision to recognize its beneficent possibilities and to guard against its possible dangers. We need faith in ourselves, that we can make it .work, for sood, not evil. The na tions need faith in each other, that they will carry out their declared pur pose, not perverting the league to their selfish ends, to its own destruction. Can we not trust such men as Llojjd George, Clemenceau, Orlando, Pacitch and Venizelos, the patriot premiers of Serbia and Greece. Massaryck of Bo hemia and Paderewski -of Poland? They have placed unbounded trust in us; shall we not trust them at all? The nations which have suffered most look to America for assurance that they shall not again be subjected to such an ordeal. If our love of hu manity and democracy is not a vain boast, we shall satisfy that hope and justify that trust. By calling upon the American pea pie to decide for or against the league or nations, the year 1919 has become one of those years which occur at long intervals in our history to test the moral fiber of the nation years of momentous decision for good or IlL Such years were 1776. 1787 and 1861. We did not flinch then, nor in 1917, when democracy called for help. Shall we not rise to the great occasion now, when we are called to complete the work begun in that year? SPRING. At 11 o'clock or thereabouts (east ern time) on March 21 spring of the calendar is due to be ushered into the northern hemisphere, but we who have lived long in the Pacific north west know that there is a more nearly infallible sign, and that spring in truth and in fact has long been with us. The real harbinger of spring in these parts is the robin. We do not know when he first made his appear ance for 1919, but it must have been several weeks ago. Neither the groundhog, nor the first triliums, nor the fish that swims upstream, nor Indian George himself if he were alive, could hold a candle to the robin as a reliable prognosticator of the season hereabouts. It sometimes, however, requires a philosopher to recognize spring's ar rival. A philosopher is one who views events broadly and in their proper relation to one another, and is not misled into drawing conclusions from insufficient information. The man not a philosopher, for example, will have denied that last week was a part of spring, but he will have been mis taken. For the robins were here then, and the robins know why they came. Spring is more than a matter of a day's weather. Spring arrives when hope begins to dawn, when something within us tells that bright davs are ahead, when we cease wondering how mucn longer winter will hang on and begin speculating on how summer will seem, when we begin looking forward and not backward. It is a state of mind rather than a meteorological ex actitude. And it is because the robin knows precisely when we ought to turn our thoughts to the future that he is the greatest season indicator of all. It is impossible for a normal man to be a pessimist after the spring birds begin to twitter. No matter what the almanacs may say, spring has already come to Oregon. OrR EARLY IICMORISTS. In the "Twenty-five Years Ago" col umn in The Oregonian the other day was recorded the death of James Montgomery Bailey. lie was the last of the old school of American humor ists and he was well known to read ers of current literature less than a generation ago; yet such is the fleet ing nature of the humor of the hour that not one in a thousand even of the aider folks wjll be able to recall orrnand who he was or what he wrote. "Danbury News man" will awaken some memories, perhaps. His pen name outlived the name in which he held his citizenship, but it is per haps no more distressing to be for gotten by a nom de plume than to be lost to fame in a more conventional way. It has been the fate of our humor ists to be forgotten. It is incidentally interesting to recall that the first of American humorists was not a native of the United States, btrt of Nova Sco tia the Sam Slick of our great grandfathers' time, who deserves a more enduring fame because he was the creator of the "Yankee" type which has given so much joy to read ers and writers of books. Who now remembers that he was Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton, or that he was a man of serious bent, with whom humor was only an avocation, to be nurtured in one country and natural ized in another, and who was. in fact. the founder of a school of humor which survived for almost a century? similarly, the name of Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber awakens onlv faint echoes-today. He created "Mrs. Partington," who was famous about three-quarters of a century ago. Scba Smith? No answer. II was famous as "Major Downing" in President Jackson's time. David Ross Locke was another. A. ew will remember mm as Petroleum v. r'iety, who swung around the circle with AndrF-.y Johnson. Melville D. Landon? He was "Ell Perkins." Who was Al- phonso Miner Grlswold? He was the Fat TJontributor" of civil war times and later; also a man of scholarly at tainments and a famous lecturer. Frederick Swartwout Cozzens will hardly be remembered by the present generation, even when his pen name of Richard Hayward is revealed, or as the author of the "Sparrowgrass Pa pers," which reversed the comedy method then in vogue by aiming shafts of ridicule at the city man unused to country life. A woman humorist of the period deserves to be unearthed here, Frances Miriam Whitcher. who also has been forgotten. Yet as Widow Bedott" she made a whole nation laugh, and, so revolutionary was the intrusion of a woman into the field of humor, until then sup posed to he the special province of men, that few were willing to believe her editors when her identity was made known. Bailey, the "Danbury News man." possessed, in common with others who have been mentioned, the un failing sense of proportion which has been said to constitute the basis of humor as distinguished from wit. and the extraordinary quality of common sense which made of American humor a thing apart. Judge Haliburton did not create his shrewd Yankee for nothing; he also established a tradi tion for his successors to live up to. For American humor always has con sisted of the "acute sense of the in congruous and the absurd," which has now become an established definition of humor in general. Its chief grace Is that if it implies knowledge of the Incongruous, it also must carry with it a correct sense of that which is reasonable and in proportion. It does, indeed, prove the problem by proving the absurdity of its contrary, a trick not unknown to the ancient mathematicians anyone which has a sound psychological foundation. By preserving the correct sense of pro portion, by acting as a. fiorrettive I the ego in men, it has had profound political consequences. In a democ racy such as ours, the self-appointed reformer has always been our greatest potential source of danger. But no demagogue has been proof against the humorist determined to expose him. The service of American humorists to the state can hardly be exaggerated. James Russell Lowell, with his "Fable for Critics" and the "Bigelow Pa pers," is perhaps our most conspicu ous example or this. But others in the list also deserve credit for their part in making the American govern ment the solid institution that it is. It has been said that humor, in the distinctively American sense, is declining. That which now passes for humor is less national In tone. It may be that the old contention that there is no humor in the cities is being proved by the march of events. It may not be a mere coincidence that as the population becomes more urban, the sense of humor declines. For hu mor requires leisure for its apprecia tion, which wit does not. It is "In herent In the nature of things." or else It dors not exist, and it Is not easy to imagine spontaneous humor, in mart or factory. "Wit In the drawing-room, humor in the country- store, neither in the merchants exchange." is an old adage that seems to pass the test. The Danbury News man was a type of the American humorist who relied for his effects upon a kind of. exag geration of which Mark Twain was a more subtle but not less effective mas ter. Bailey had his own clientele. He was much given to pointing out the foibles of his townsmen. His "Local Items" depicted life as it would have been good for those townsmen to be able to see it. , Here is a specimen paragraph in which he good-naturedly raps a type of citizen not wholly ex tinct today: One of the Danbury votera was unable to attend the polls Monday. tut Kent his Tote up by a neighbor's utile girl. He was very much surprised to barn that it was not received. He told the little girl that It " quite evident that the traditions of our fathers were being forgotten and that the country was going to the devil with un reasonable velocity. The subscriber who takes umbrage at the editor's views has never been more neatly flawed than in the fol lowing: A Masrleyville subscriber writes that he had concluded to Mop his paper, on the expiration of the term, but. desiring to know when the -Shepang tralna arrive, he renews. There Is nothing like having an Object In this lite. The quality of exaggeration was ex emplified in his comment on a crusade against the use of tobacco, which is not without interest nowadays. For illustration, there is a paragraph from the Danbury News of half a century ago: The terrible Inroads tobacco la making upon the human system Is becoming more and more evident. In a recent article, a moat graphic article It waa, the writer tella of a young ma-n who commenced to smoke, agalnxt the strong opposition of his friends, and In lesa than two years he was dead. This la aad, but not uncommon. We have noticed many similar instance. It la rarely a man Uvea three years after he acquires the habit of smoking, unless he should happen to forget when the three years are up. They go suddenly when they lo go. Any conductor of a train that in cludes a smoking car can toll you about It. He is a good share of the time receiving the last messages f dying men and trying on their boots. Abuses which others assailed In deadly earnest Builey corrected with gentle satire which was far more ef fective, lie was the originator of many subjects for a humorist which have since been worn threadbare by Incessant use. It is related of him that one day he hailed a passing ped dler with the query, "Have you char coal In your wagon?" "Yes," said the expectant driver. "That's right." said Bailey, "always tell the truth and people will respect you." No almanac for years was complete that did not contain this joke, which lias boon at tributed to many authors. But beyond the pure entertainment which they furnished in their time. Bailey and his colleagues, as has boon suggested, ex, ercised a broader influence. They kept folks from taking themselves too seriously, they exposed pretension, and in a very literal sense they helped to make their own land safe tor de mocracy. A Portland paper. The Oregonian. says of President Wilson: "His conduct of the war has been a combination of incompetence and blunders." The foregoing Is the Introductory paragraph of an article irj tho Pendle ton East Oregonian sharply criticising The Oregoman for its "unfair" and "unwarranted" attitude toward the Wilson administration. The exact statement of The Orego nian was (March 9, 1919): His (Wilson's) conduct of the war has been a combination of Incompetence and blunders and delays by subordinates at home, whom he refuse,! to dtacard. with wise and prompt' decisions on the great issues of the battlefield and diplomacy. The entire truth of The. Oregonian's statement will not be denied by any informed and impartial individual or journul. Because the Pendleton East Oregonian is wholly partisan, and whollv dishonest besides, it fmrhlnrl the sentence for partisan and tlishon- ect ends. Such performances, which are commoo. with, this Pendleton panar. p.xnlaln Tvny it has lost the confidence or its community and why another paper there. The Tribune, has largely displaced it In circulation and influence. Returning soldiers cannot await the slow movement of a steamer in their haste to get hbme. They want to come the quickest way when once they get to this side of the ocean. Thus they set at rest any idea that many of them would want to stay in France., One good look followed by a good fight was enough foe. them. Having turned the slackers loose with full pay and an apology, the gov ernment now releases persons im prisoned under the espionage act. How long will it bo after Debs goes to prison before he is again at large, praising the deeds of those great statesmen, Tenlne and Trotzky? An airplane having been used by a nurse to take her patient to a hos pital, it will next be in order for the patient to use one in eloping with the nurse. What chance would the angry father have in a Gretna Green pursuit of a good airman? The postmaster-general forbids the giving of postoffice news to the press, but whenever an examination for more help Is scheduled the department is glad to have the date announced "free gratis for nothing." The upstate city or town is best known by its commercial club or chamber of commerce and its news paper. Two-cent postage Is coming back and a republican administration may cut that in a few years. The epartacans prefer bullets .to ballots, iuid, Aire getting taem. Those Who Come and Go. He may be a candidate for the repub lican nomination for congress In the firat district next time. The man re ferred to is A. W. Norblad of Astoria, who has Just completed the first half of his term as state senator. Senator Norblad tried to start something at Salem in the way of opening up the Cascades after the fashion of the Ce lilo canal, in the hope of enabling eastern Oregon wheat to float down the Columbia river to the municipal grain elevator at Astoria. The plan did not meet with sufficient encourage ment. With his law partner. Mr. Hene, Senator Norblad la at the Imperial. There is a certain free and easy way of doing thlnnrs. When Denton Burdick of Redmond. Or., walked Into his room at the Benson last night he found it occupied by a dozen business men, anglers, professional men. officials and member of the fish and same com mission. They wanted a room to talk In. ko they marched in, occupied all the chairs, threw their coats on the bed, and filled the room with smoke. No apologies were offered or expected. Governor Olcott waa to have attended a dinner given by the fish and game commission Wednesday night, but at the appointed hour he waa play-acting in a home talent production of "Officer 666" at Salem. Frank Warren declare that the governor missed a mighty good meal, which aentlment is echoed by I. N. Flelschner. Maxine Klllott, one of the various wives of the late N. C. Goodwin, No. 3, in numerical order, and whom Goodwin referred to in his book aa a "Roman Senator," is at the Hotel Portland. Since her last visit to Portland she has been a war relief worker in Belgium and re ceived columns of notice. Colonel K. Hofer. formerly a member of the legislature from Marion county, and alo fprnaerly a newspaper pub lisher In Salem, is at the Hotel Port land. When the colonel ran his paper he had an editorial page only on such occasions as he thought he had a mes sage to deliver. On the door of rooms in one of the hotels Is the metal sign: "Stop. Have you left anything?" A stockman from southern Oregon told the clerk when paying his bill that the hotel chould have another lgn at tho desk, rend ing: "itop. Have you anything left?" Fred Poorman, auto dealer -and ga rage operator in Tillamook, la at the Oregon. Tillamook county In planning to hold another bond election to raise money for roads, as it wishes to have a paved highway along the beaches from the Clatsop county line to the city. William Faversham. who was once upon a time a tenderfoot who turned cow puncher on on American ranch, albeit of British birth, and later din carded the hair rar.ts of the cayuse rider for the sock and buskin, ia at the Hotel Portland. J. N. Williamson, who operates a big stock ranch out Prlneville way. was at the Imperial yesterday. Mr. William son was active in Oregon politics at one time and was elected as a repre sentative to congress from eastern Ore gon. Ralph Moorcs. who waa formerly sec retary of the Salem Commercial club, waa at tho Imperial yesterday. Mr. Moores haej recently been discharged from the service efter an experience overseas. W. J. Snider, a well-known timber man of Clatskanie, accompanied by his daughter, was in Portland shopping, yesterday. They registered at the Per kine. Captain T. J. Ccok. member of the Multnomah club and an attorney, ar rived at the Multnomah yesterday, after seeing servico with the American forces. James D. Rums, who ha a large mercantile establishment at Condon. Is at the Seward. Up Mr. Hums' way the chief topic these days is the building of good roads. E. K. Pemm. the new representative of the Canadian Pacific railroad, ar rived from Seattle ycsteiday and is at 'the Multnomah Mrs. Fred Schwartz and Mrs. Nathray Fullerton. matrons of Koeeburg, were among yesterday' arrivals at the lien son. Al A. Roberts, now chief of police of Pendleton. Is at the Perkins. Years ago he was a deputy United States marshal In Portland. Believing In the eternal fitness of things. A. McU Hiwkj calls hitt hotel on Wolf creek "Red Riding Hood Inn." Mr. Hawks is at the Bcnaon. Mrs. Jessie McComb, attached to. the Oregon Agricultural College, was In Portland yesterday and registered at the Seward. H. W. Maynard, who has a ranch near Forest Grove, was at the Perkins yes terday. Mrs. W. E. Schimpff. wife of a former representative from Clatsop county. Is at the Hotel Portland for a few days. Mr. and Mrs. T. T. Kfdd motored from Salem to the Multnomah yester day. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Anderson of Mc MlnnvlUe are at tne Penson. Mr. An derson is in the banking business. V. M. Johnson of Rockford. 111., ar rived at the Berason yesterday. He is the head of the Kiwanls club. Mrs. D. E. Stewart, wife of a lumber man at Knappa, Or., is at the Hotel Portland. One of the stata bank examiners, A. A. Schramm of Salem, was in Portland on official business yesterday. R. B. Goodln, secretary of the state board of control, is at the Imperial. L. S. Hill, a lumberman of Cottage Grove, is at the Imperial. JiOT TEST OF CLATSOP LE ARI1NG Ome Teaeher'a Lack of Information Does -Not Convict All. KNAPPA, Or.. March 12. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonian March 7 there appeard a letter from a Clatsop county school teacher who asks who are our state representatives and sen ators and several other questions re garding his state government. I am sure I speak for the teachers of Clatsop county when I voice my sentiment of the wisdom of our fellow worker who sends to your paper for in formation regarding his own legisla ture. We are not all of the same type. I rather think that the gentleman (your just sarcasm uses the masculine gender) might have saved ua a little derision by applying to his county su perintendent for some confidential aid: or he might even have hunted up some eighth-grader from a neighboring school from whqra to pump the desired knowledge. We instructors profess to have a little education in the subjects which we teach, but heaven deliver us from the pedagogue who casts his ignorance abroad to the winds and brands our profession a pretension and a fraud. I refuse to stand convicted on the weight of one give-away. I only won der who the person waa, and probably our superintendent does, too. ' CLATSOP SCUOOLMA'ASL WHAT 33.000 CANADIANS EMllBF.U Early Condltloaa la War Camps Mack Woree Tkss at Ilreat. SALEM. Or.. March IS. (To the Edi tor.) In The Sunday Oregonian 1 read of the alleged terrible privations at Brest by United State troops await ing embarkation. Thla "unbearable condition" remained through 11 whole days and nights! May 1, air. in comparison, describe something of what the 33.000 mem bers of the First Canadian contingent experienced? (I am happy to have been a member of that celebrated unit from North America.) We had a fairly comfortable time at the camp at Valcartier. Quebec, and after our memorable "armada" reached the shores of England we knew of nothing decent underfoot unless we were visiting one of the cities. On Salisbury Plain we were "under can vas" from October, 1914. until February. 191S. During the whole of the 1 4 weeks we had no such thing as dry feet. For one thing arrafters had got next to the shoe contract. Most of us bought gum boots and to walk in them we hud to hoid on to each or leave them be hind in the mud. Several hundred of our comrades died from cerebro spinal menta-itla. We had a special cemetery for them. At night we did not even have a decent blanket to sleep undej-. The British government could not possibly obtain them. Hut they did the next best thing and gave us what are termed in England "suit lengths." about six yards of ordinary cloth! They helped to fill up our tents, but not to keep us very warm. Later huts were built. They helped some so far as being dry at night was con cerned. But facetiously Inclined among us would "anchor" the buildings so there would be less danger of losing them by floating away in the mud. Our grub waa all right, so far as the mo notony of "mulligan" could provide. But you never heard of any rea! grumbling. Occasionally a comrade would be badly stuck In the mud. so much so that he would have to be given assistance to get him out. But before that. 20 or 38 of the boys would gather around and with arms around each other in a circle, without anv ideas of blasphemy in their minds at all would plaintively sing "What a Friend. .. navo in aietus. When we embarked for France In the early spring of 1915 we felt that the "real thing" would be a picnic to the mud of "The Plains." But Lord What a surprise. We had dished out to us a sector which has since become known as "The Mud of Flanders." We didn't even kick then. We simplv congratulated ourselves on having had good training for It on "The Plains." But this kept on for months and months. There was no such thing as the "Red Cross" then as we know that noble organization today. We did not have the socks and the mitts and the shirts or the cigarettes. We had one pair of socks issued to us. We rarely ever saw them again. They just wore away. Then weeks later, we would find some fuzzy-looking substance at the toe of one of our compressed paper shoes. That substance was once a sock ! We did not even have a decent warm meal, sometimes for days on end. No hot drinks in the trenches for us from the Salvation Army or anyone else. Not even gas helmets: Not even rifle am munition. Our supporting artlllorv had 15 rounds of shells a day dished out to them! And through all those weary months of ghastllness and misery, of stench and filth, when every attack had to be repelled by the bayonet and grit not a myriad of machine guns we stuck. We were proud In the knowledge that we were Canucks. That we were holding the back, which translated Into rood English would mean (Censored.) And there was never a complaint. Not a single one. ,M v I; Talk about mud. real mud. Why If the Canucks could have man aged to have hit-up a spot like Bret sleep In they would have been happy. This does not by any means show that the conditions at Brest were not a lit to uncomfortable, but for a real Ameri can soldier to put himself into print over such a thing and forgetting that It is a war that he took, part In makes a follow tired. Thank yourselves, you of Brest fame, that you got back as well as you did. "490I6." 1st Canadian Contingent. I'm glHd because of them the tacen that I see which tell of life well lived and cheery hopefulness in w hat may lie beyond. I'm better far for seeang them, who'er they be. because they urte upon the mind by tdmple kindliness. The truth that life may be most beau tiful. They tell of hours of pain and weary waiting. of anguisli borne, through which a great hope gleamed. Making tho present bearable, tho fu ture promising. They speak a eilent language which tells in glowing terms of baby arms a-clinging, of orange blos soms, and of new homes; And also they speak of fluttering white crepe, and of gray hoaraes and of flower-heaped mounds. But over and above all and shading into harmonious twilight tones there is the great lovelight and the resignation: And the great hopelight and the ex ultation, which make of the en nobled face of age a rare and clean-cut cameo resting tcrcne on the bosom of nature. On this the observing- glance lingers lovingly and turns away. awed, but not dismayed: subdud, but Inspired; humble, but hopeful; Feeling the far distance stretching be tween blaorr-tlm and fruitage time; sensing, though vaguely, the long path of pain which leads to the heights of gain. I'm glad because of them the faces that I see touched with a radi ance that is not of earth But of divinity. Ase-dote Fits Hnnsry Europe. PORTLAND. March 13. (To the Edi tor.) A hungry tramp on a certain Saturday morning knocked at the back door of a house. The door waa opened by a white-aproned Chinese, evidently the cook. "Say. John, gimme something to eat. I'm awful hungry," said the tramp. "You hungly? Heap bad," replied tho celestial, with a benign expression on his yellow face. "You likee fish?" "You bet," was tho expectant an swer. "All light. Come Fllday." said the chink, and promptly shut the door in the tramp's face. I was reminded of the above story by the news reports from Europe. The starving people of war-devastated countries may appropriately be likened to the hungry tramp, and the allies to the Chinese cook. W. C. Dl'XIWAf. Lands for Discharged Meat. DALLAS. Or.. March II. (To the Editor.) Please tell me If there Is any land open for settlement now for dis charged soldiers and sailors, and where located. Please give mo what informa tion you can. A DISCHARGED SAILOR, As yet no special provision for plac ing discharged soldiers and sailors on land in this state has been made and none can be made) until the taxpayers vote on the proposed bond issiae In June. Government land may be taken throufb. Uk usual pro col axe. Faces. fly Grace K. Hall. In Other Days. Twesty-ave Tears Aico. From The Orrj-ontsn of March 14. , An-'elcs- The preparations for the departure of the industrial army to ahlngton are nearlv complete, t.eneral Fry goes ahead. Request tor transportation and food of its member! and possible recruits has been asked or the secretary of war. San Francisco. The Atchison & To peka rate of 118 from Los Angeles and Oiko to Kansas City goes into cllect Thursday. C. C. Donovan has been appointed general agent of the Great Northern at this place. The work of driving plies for the west pier of the Burnslde street bridge was commenced yesterday. Flffy Tears Ago. From The OresonUn of March IS Oregon City. Iron pipes form' an ex tension of the street main of the Ore gon City water works drive. There are 1 families In the town of McMinnville. The proposition to submit to the people of the state of Nevada an amendment to the constitution permit ting women to vote passed the assem bly at Carson City by one majority. Short time on the Oregon and Cali fornia state line will commence April 1. PEOPLE'S OXLV DK..MRK IS PEACH That Ia What They Favor Rather Thsa Specific Terms of I.eaame Part. PORTLAND. March 13. (To the Edi-lor- The Oregon Journal Is testing the sentiment of the Portland people with regard to the league of nations. On last Sunday the votes stood as fol lows: For, 10.S1S; against, 75. This may indicate tha.t mere it put up to the whole people it would carry by a large majority. Majorities often make things legal, but do not always make things risht. It is a pity that we do not always do things umlerstanuingly. Solomon says. "In all thy getting get understanding." Now it la a safe bet that ii per cent of thoae who voted for the league of nations at the Journal building have not read the constitu tion of the league in ila entirety, and it is also a sfo bet that I'd per cent of them do not understand it. It is a technical and complicated instrument and beyond the comprehension of a vast number of our people. Yesterday I met two or three men In a certain hotel and the talk turned to the almost unan imous sentiment in favor of the league constitution. I thought I would see about how much he knew about the constitution of this league of nations, so 1 asked. "If this constitution is rati fied us it now Hands, how many vote would it give (ireat Britain aiid how many America? If one nation should start war, what itre the methods of the league to brlntr It to time?" There was no answer. The word "peace" Is s charming word. It is magnetic, hyp notic. Ang. Is made use of it when Christ was born: "Glory to God In the hlKhest. peace on earth and good will to man," The league of nations is to secure peace for the tv hoi.- world and the minds iT the people are on peace rather than what is involved in the instrument that Is supposed lo bring It to all na tions. In the years of 1914. lf-1.". and 1?1 U waa peace al any price, and had it been put tip to the people they would have ho voted, and now with the mass of people it Is peace at any price. Thev are thinking only of the present and not of what may come to us later on, and that ia the very thins lo be tun s.dcred. In this countrv we are In a big hurry to do thlrgs. This has one redeeming reunite It gives us a lotiK,-r tlmo in which to rep. nt. sometimes, of our do inns. I am In favor of Senator Knox" :da of tho k'xcije of nations an inter-n-.vl.M-Hl court and nuking war a hijih rim.; and puni-hing it f Jr that crime. 1 also believe that munition plants t.f all kinds should be taken out of th hands of private concerns and oper ated hy the government. This would lake all the thunder of the socialists and bolshevik!. These calamity howl ers are constantly saying that capital ists, especially tho manufacturers of munitions, arc the causes of war. ISAAC I'LAIIT. W1IOLK ISM'K MIT IV CO VEX A NT. I harnrlrr of Peace l.eacue "Igaatorlrs Shot-Id Itr Considered. PORTLAND. March 13. (To the Edi tor.) Referring to the views expressed by Ralph It. Duniway on adoption of ihe proposed league of nations cov enant and The Oregonian's editorial comments thereon, 1 am moved to say that the form of the league or consti tution is important, in elating terms and conditions, safe guarding rights, defining restrictions and imposing ob ligations, iet the most important and vital point to consider is the signato ries thereto. Is it a league in equity with upright, honorable, responsible signatories, or a league with the imps of hell? Tho decalogue aa a league, with the devil as the controlling signatory, would only be the devil's plaything. We all want peace, but we are apt to be misled by he cry of peace, when there Is no pence; as many voters were with the slogan, "He kept us out of war." Terms are of little value in unsafe copartnership; there are some things that you dare not wrestle with, for If you do you are sure to get smudged, whether you fall on or under. There fore the most important thing to con eider is the character, ths responsibil ity of the controlling forces entering Into the league. Let us be sure of the standing of our partners to be be fore wo enter. So far but l'ttle light has been given on thla phase of the subject. The presi dent In his league speeches dwells en tirely upon th .retlcally glorified Ideals, of a regenerated humanity pano plied In the glories of "Peace on earth and good will toward men." W. H. ODELL How to Apnly Income PORTLAND. March IS. (To the Edi tor.) Can you inform me whether ths government, the University of Oregon or California or any other to be relied upon institution has compiled and pub lished a bulletin whose purpose is to assist inexperenced people of eotne means in making the income cover the expenditures? I have often wished that some knowing one would map out a course, for instance, what per cent for rent, clothing, living, incidentals and so forth I cou!d carefully and sc.rupuolously follow- where I airi not wise enough to work out the dope for myself. A SUBSCRIBER, There are articles which seem to cover the ground in Good Housekeep ing for February. 1917, and in ths Ladies' Home Journal for March. 191 S, and January, 1916. These are avail able in tho reference department of the Portland public library. Allen Residents ray Income Tax. PORTLAND, March 13. (To the Ed itor.) Are aliens exempted from pay ing income tax? On what account are the aliens exempt? READER, Only non-resident aliens are exempt from the Income tax. An alien resi dent of the United States is amenable to the. tax the same as a citlzaa. 0