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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 1919)
10 THE MORNING OEEGOMAN, FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1919. ESTABLISHED BT HEBI L- PITTOCK- Publithed hv The Oregonian Publishing Co.. 135 Sixth Street. Portland, Oregon. C. A. MORDEN, E. B. PIPER. Manager. " Editor. The Oregonian is a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated Press is ex clusively entitled to the use for publica tion of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All riphts of republication oi" special dispatches herein are also reserved. bubfccription Rates Invariably In Advance: .. (By Mail.) Tally. Sunday Included, one year . I'aily. Sunday included, six months L'aily. Sunday included, three months Iaily, Sunday included, one month .. Daily, without Sunday, one year Daily, without Sunday, six months .. Dailv. without Sunday, one month .. . "Weekly, one year fiunday, one year feunday and weekly (By Carrier.) Dally, Sunday Included, one year Dally, Sunday included, one month . . Daily. Sunday included, three months Daily, without Sunday, one year Daily, without Sunday, three months . . .is "0 . .. 4.-J5 75 1 3 3r, I .6o ! . l.oo . I", so . 3.50 .19.00 . .75 . 2.25 . 7. SO . l.l'.S -5 How to Remit Send postoffice money der. express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at own ers risk. Give postofl'ice address in lull, in cluding county and state. Pofttuee Rates 12 to 1M paces. 1 cent: 18 to pases. cents; 34 to pages, 3 cents. BO to l.o pas.es, 4 cents; &2 to 7 pases, o cents: 7S to pases. 6 cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Office Verree & Conk lin. Brunswick building. New York; Verree Ac i,ii c.- h.iiMitK, r-hicaco: erre & cnL-iin' iVree Press t.uildinir. Detroit. Mich. ban Francisco representati It. J. Bidwell. SKINNING THE SHIPBL I I.OF.K. If Pacific coast shipbuilders succeed In threading their way through the labyrinth ot obstructions which the shipping board places in the way of contracts, they encounter another ob stacle in the shape of the freight rates on steel which are exacted by the ex tremely beneficent, highly efficient railroad administration. These rates have not been raised the modest 25 per cent which has applied generally. Since December 30, 1916, rates on steel to the I'acific coast have been raised 9 2 per cent from Pittsburg and 105 per cent from Chicago. At such rates the freight on steel from Fitts burg for an 8800-ton vessel amounts to $87,500, which is no small item. This freight charge operates as a protective tariff in favor .of Atlantic coast yards, but, much worse, it pro tects Japanese shipbuilders against American competitors on the I'acific coast. While the all-rail rate from the Atlantic to the I'acific coast is $1.25 to $1.37 per hundred pounds, the export ruil-and-water rate from the Atlantic to Japan is only $1.20. American steel is actually delivered to Japanese ship builders cheaper than to American shipbuilders on the Pacific coast. Thus protection to Japanese industry is the latest innovation in American govern ment. There is no cause for wonder that the shipbuilders have combined to resist this imposition. They do not ask that the export rate be disturbed. They recognize that the increased cost of operating the railroads justifies the general advance of 25 per cent in rates, and they are willing to pay it. They justly protest against being compelled to pay practically double the 1916 rate, and to 'pay more than Japan pays, with the ocean voyage added. The expense to a railroad in handling steel is less than with any other commodity and the risk of damage is practically nil. Ship steel moves not only in carloads but in trainloads and, therefore. In volves a minimum of handling in transit. It is used in a new industry which it should be the policy of both parties to foster in America rather than Japan. The question may be asked why the shipbuilders do not bring their steel west by water. Because the shipping board controls all the ships and it refuses to allocate any for traffic from the Atlantic to the i'acific coast. Scores of ships built on the Pacific coast have gone eastward to the Atlantic coast, but they do not come back. The explanation offered is that they are needed in traffic to Europe and that there is a better market for sale on the east coast. But there is another reason which is not acknowl edged. Both the shipping board and the railroad administration are parts of the same administration, which is struggling to live down a well-earned reputation for waste of the public money. While the government is ordi narily conducted in water-tight com partments, there are occasions when community of interest causes two de partments to open the doors. Such an occasion has arisen. The railroad administration is con fronted with a huge deficit, which it is striving to make good. Therefore it makes the shipbuilder pay all that the traffic will bear. The shipping board prevents traffic from escaping this charge by denying use of vessels for Atluntio-to-Pacifie traffic. That course tends to discourage shipbuild ing on the west coast, which has proved an uncomfortable rival to Hog Island and other favored spots on the east - coast. It also stiffens the market for ships already afloat, of which the shipping board has several million tons for sale. Its vesstls were built in a hurry, largely by green men and ac cording to government designs, which . are not well adapted to general com merce. Ship owners prefer newer, better-built ships of designs made for their traffic and built by men who have become expert. It is to the in terest of the shipping board to dis countenance new contracts until it has unloaded its great tonnage, to which it is still adding at Hog Island and other favored yards. The nearer ap proach it can make to coming out even on the emergency fleet, the better record it will make for the administra tion. What is the life of the Pacific coast shipbuilding industry compared with such a noble aim? KEAI11M; AM) THINKING. Increase in the number "of visitors : to the Portland public library may be due in part to the fact that "the peri odical roitm of the library is one of the coolest places in the city." as a libra rian too modesty suggests, but there is a much more satisfactory way to ac count for it. The library has im measurably widened its service to the public in the last generation. It more than a "coincidence that the read ing habit at the same time has been acquired by increasing numbers of people. Never in the history of the world has so much white paper been consumed in the making of books and magazines. We would not decry the practice, nor urge that people give less concern to acquisition of information, nor seek to direct them too paternally as to the employment of their leisure: yet it will not have escaped the notice of the observant visitor to some libraries that reading in and by itself may be indulged in to excess. It is the kind and not the quantity of reading that counts, and it is the thought which Is given to the printed page rather than the contents thereof that makes it a power for good. A good deal of reading that is being done is a pure waste of time. Some books, said Bacon, are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. But there are too many who read but do not dis criminate. Reading unaccompanied by thought hardly serves even the purpose of entertainment. Thinkers, who. like John Bunyan, have not been readers have oiasionally been leaders of men; readers who did not also think have never been anything better I . . , . . a -. man Human recepiacies 01 umer peo- Ipje s ideas or masses oi usually in consequential facts. Reading to kill time may keep one out of mischief for the moment, but bV itself it will not do the wonders that popular misconception attriDUtes to it. The merely "well-read man may be only an intellectual ape. The reader who also thinks is worth a million of him. foku. The Chicago Tribune may have been or-tied astray by the fervor of its indig- nant" fancy when it charged that Henry Ford is an anarchist. Certainly he is no bomb-thrower, and certainly he does not advocate violence to over throw society. Whether he encour ages violence may be another ques tion. There are various forms of an archy and anarchistic endeavor; but the word itself in its original meaning implies absence of all government and in its popular sense an overturn of law and order and all their instrumen talities. Just what Henry Ford has been try ing to do by his public assault on gov ernment for making war, by his paci ficism, by his bombastic outbursts of a spurious philosophy, by his constant appeals to class prejudice, may or may not have been. clear to him; but it was clear enough to others that he was making it difficult lor the country to defend itself against its enemies with out and within. So the Tribune may not have proved that Ford is an anarchist. But it hvto the point, so far as any popular verdict on the result is concerned, that it did prove Ford to be a good deal of a humbug. The showing of ignorance, made by him on the witness stand. was pitiful. There are two rords one the mechanical genius who has given the world a cheap and valuable automobile; the other is Ford the teacher, who sought to show to Amer ica its duty in war and in peace. The former is the real Ford, the latter the bogus Ford. tso man who proclaims that history is "bunk" is qualified to teach- anybody anything. To the re peated accusations of the Tribune that Ford could not even read, he was able to make reply that he could and did read, but he gave no demonstration of it. What is to be thought about his failure to bring confusion upon his traducers by a simple exhibition of his mental powers? Ford did not need to know much, he said, for he could hire brains," and he did hire them, or thought he did. One of his methods was to commission a publicity agent to write articles bearing the signature of Ford. He writes also that delecta ble literary offering in Ford's paper called "Mr. Ford's Own Page." It is not Mr. Ford's own page; it is some body else's and it is a deliberate fraud on the public for Ford to subscribe his name to it or make his mark. The shoemaker would better stick to his last and the mechanic to his little hammer. The state of Michigan was spared a great humiliation when it failed to elect Ford to the United States senate. A GREAT OFFICE DEGRADED. Secretary of State Lansing's state ment regarding the peace treaty be fore the senate committee on foreign relations was most illuminating as to the position to which President Wil son has reduced an office that stands second to his own in rank, and has hitherto stood second also in im portance and authority Mr. Lansing had to confess unfamiliarity with many details of the negotiations, was unable to answer many questions and as to such vital features as the league of nations and Shantung he said: "Ask the president." Mr. Lansing's title of delegate to represent the United States at the peace conference seems to have been an empty honor. He was relegated to the position of a mere confidential clerk, perhaps entrusted with some minor matters, while Mr. Wilson con sulted his confidential friend. Colonel House, about matters of major import concerning which he negotiated with the allied premiers. Although, as sec retary of state he is charged with the conduct of foreign relations, Mr. Lan sing's name does not appear on the treaty as signatory. As one passes in review the names of the grea men who have held his office, it seems incredible that any of them would have suffered such humiliation. In the early days of the republic it was customary to appoint as secretary of state the candidate who stood second in the ballot for presi dent. That was not the case with John Jay. Washington's first premier, but he alone negotiated the celebrated Jay treaty and he was not of the type to be treated as an underling. It was true of Thomas Jefferson. Washing ton's second secretary of state, and he later became president. John Mar shall, who served under John Adams, later became chief justice of the su preme court. James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams each in turn stepped up from the depart ment of state to the presidency. Then came Henry Clay, one of the greatest figures of his day, Martin Van Buren, who succeeded Jaskson as president, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun, who were commanding figures in the senate: James Buchanan, later elected president; Edward Kverett. William L. Marcy and Jeremiah S. Black, not one of them a rubber stamp. With Lincoln's inauguration began the frequent practice by the president of appointing his strongest rival with in his own party. Thus it was that William H. Seward was appointed. That custom was not followed by Grant, but he named Hamilton Fish, a man of high ability and strong per sonality. He was succeeded by Will iam M. Kvarts. his intellectual equal. Under Garfield, James G. Blaine, one of the great republican leaders, was put at the helm, but was displaced by Arthur in favor of Frederick T. Fre linghuysen. Cleveland revived the cus tom of naming his chief rival for nom ination by choosing Thomas F. Bay ard, a man or brilliant parts, and Har rison followed that custom by recall ing Blaine to the state department. The custom then died, but Walter Q. Gresham. Richard Olney, John Hay, Elihu Root, Philander C. Knox were all men of such high ability, strong character and dignity that they would have held their own with any states men of Europe and would not have submitted to be relegated to an ob- scure position in the background. When W. J. Bryan found that he was expected to sign any paper which the president dictated, he resigned, and Mr. Lansing was chosen as a pliant tool. What most intimately concerns the American people .is the consequence to them of the one-man rule which this degradation of a high office sig nifies. The most serious consequence is that, while the president was absent in Paris doing the work which should have been done by the secretary or other able men, of whom there is no lack, affairs in this country were per mitted to drift. They drifted at a critical period of transition from war to peace, when revolutionary fire brands are at work all over the world, when affairs need a strong, guiding hand and a watchful eye. They have drifted Into a state of general indus trial unrest, in which there is a strong undertone of revolution. This has come largely because the president in sisted on doing the work of the secre tary of state, and because the man who held that office submitted, as few, if any, of his predecessors would have done. EASY TO WED. EASY TO PART. The attentive reader of The Oregon ian will not have failed to note, in that interesting and romantic department devoted to "marriage licenses," that Vancouver is a favorite haven for the connubially-bent. It frequently hap pens that as many couples are married in Vancouver in a single day as in Portland. It frequently happens also that as many Vancouver-tied couples are divorced In Portland as in Van couver. We have no available records on this suggestive point, to be sure; but we venture nothing in making the statement. What is done at Van couver may be easily undone in Port land. One reason that Vancouver has achieved its doubtful distinction as a matrimonial mart for itinerant grooms and brides, in a hurry to be 'made one, is that it is near Portland and it. gets the overflow created by the little obstruction of Oregon laws which require physical examination of the man by a physician. To avoid the in spection, or to save the $2.50 fee, or both, there is a rush to Vancouver. Runaway youths and girls and men and women matrimonially ineli gible in this state because of recent divorce make up a considerable per centage of the eager emigrants; but the medical examination is doubtless the chief trouble. Five couples married at Vancouver were divorced in Portland one day this week. All of them had been wedded in the current year, and all of them soon learned that they had been unhappily joined. It was done in haste, and they repented in haste, and were separated with speed. They will soon be free again to try their luck at Vancouver. The Vancouver method is a scandal for which Vancouver is not alone, or even chiefly, to blame. The ridiculous Oregon law is partly accountable. The general laxness of all law and custom about marriage accounts for the) rest. .Some day the public as a whole will awaken to the ancient and wholesome truth that marriage is a sacred rite and not a libidinous adventure, and will make uniform laws controlling it, and will enforce them. BERKV FIELDS NEED ATTENTION. This is the time of year when the berry grower by his conduct to a great extent determines what his crop next year shall be. Work done in the berry patch now probably counts for more in the next season's yield than work done at any other time of year. The raspberry fruiting season has just come to an end and in the rows of bushes stand the dead and dying canes that this year did or did not do their duty, all depending upon whether the grower did or did not do his par ticular duty, and they are waiting now to be disposed of. Along with the canes that have finished their mission there have sprung up new ones, many of them now five feet tall, and these likewise await the attention of the grower, for these are the canes that will or will not produce next year. Cared for properly now, they will yield an abundance of luscious fruit next season; neglected, they will not. For years it has been the custom ol berry growers generally to count the old canes so much trash, to be gotten out of the way as expeditiously as pos sible. Therefore the grower set to work with pruning shears and when they were cut out dragged them to the edge of the patch and burned them, his sole idea being to get rid of them. Fertilizers being scarce and high and difficult to get and apply, it naturally followed that the ground whence these old canes were taken away was left a little weaker for the new ones than it was the year before. Naturally also it followed that the next berry yield was a bit lighter than the pre vious one, and when this process of annually taking the produce of the land away and never returning any thing to it had gone for some years the berry patch simply petered out. It couldn't well do otherwise. There was never a time in any part of year when the grower with a sympathetic interest in the welfare of the bushes couldn't see that they were hungry, but in far too many cases they were left to shift for themselves as best they could and face their own cost of living problems in whatever way they might. That is the sort pf treatment that makes for small berries, small crops and small prices, and it doesn't pay. Within recent years some of the more progressive berry growers have abandoned this old system of burning the finished canes. They have come to the conclusion that it is something really more than waste to destroy the old canes: that' these old canes, once decomposed, are an excellent fertilizer for the new ones; an ideal and perfect one. in fact. Rotted, in a measure at least, they furnish the food elements that are needed by the new growth, for they are made up wholly of those very elements. Now it is a custom with some of these growers to- remove the old canes from the row, and instead of burning them cut them up with a hatchet and block, or in whatever other way is possible, and leave them on the ground, later plowing them under. This method of disposing of the played-out canes involves some toil, but it is not so difficult as some might imagine to dispose of them in this way. and unquestionably it pays. The old canes in the berry patch out of the way, the new ones should be trimmed to a height of three to four feet, according to the strength of the ground and the vigor of the plant. This trimming of the new canes, many growers will say, should be started earlier, when they are about two feet in height. If the tips are cut off at that tirfle the canes will soon send out laterals, developing a bush form, with much greater fruiting surface or capacity than a single spindling cane. However, in working for bush form and heavy production, one must con sider the capacity of the soil, for no raspberry bush will develop and ma ture a heavy crop unless it has the right sort of root system and plenty of provender. The new growth that is cut away In pruning at this time of the year should be left on the ground also. Like the old growth that has just been re moved, it will rot quickly, and so far as it goes will help the coming crop. But it is not well to depend solely upon the surplus wood growth of the berry patch for fertilizer. The more the growing bushes are mulched the better. They are voracious feeders. They will draw sustenance from almost any kind of refuse, and, the more readily disintegrating refuse the berry patch gets the better will be the yield of fruit. Further, this liberal sort of fertilizing keeps the ground in a loose and workable condition and helps in the retention of moisture at a time when for the perfect maturity of the fruit water is a most essential thing. A perfect berry largely is water. Always the grower should have in mind large berries, for they alone are profitable. Large berries make more crates than premature, dried-up ber ries. Invariably they have better qual ity than the small ones, and they sell more readily and at better prices. In the berry business, as in other things, it is well to have an ideal and work like the old fiend to attain it. GOING BACK FOR HIS TOOLS. If the plumbers now making new wage demands find themselves mostly without the sympathy of the public, they will do well to consider how far they have themselves to blame. For the chief grievance which practically every householder who has had oc casion to call in a plumber holds against plumbers in the mass is the outgrowth of small irritation which may be summed up in the symbolical practice of "going back for his tools." Mr. Householder, for example, is troubled by a leaking faucet. Almost, but not quite, willing to trust himself to make the insignificant repair, he calls . at the shop on the way down town and describes as accurately as a mere layman may the nature of his difficulty. Does the plumber put a few implements in a bag and go to the house prepared to go right to work? Nine times out of ten he does not. He first calls and inspects the job, though it may have been fully outlined to him, and then he returns to the shop, the bill meanwhile running on as ag gravatingly as the meter in a taxicab, with the difference that the added ex pense is wholly unnecessary, and that Mr. Householder knows that it is so. This single practice, because it Is so obviously wasteful of the plumber's time and the householder's money, and is so economically unsound, is largely responsible for existing prejudice against the useful and highly neces sary profession of plumbing as a whole. We have no predilection against plumbers, either personally or in their professional capacities. They number among them many gentlemen of high talent and engaging personality, who do their work well once they get about it. It will be admitted that the really wealthy one exists chiefly In the imaginations of vaudevillians and colyumists, and that no one ever heard of a billionaire plumber. Neverthe less, there is a feeling that waste is waste, wherever one finds it, and men will pay a high rate more cheerfully if they know that tlje workman is giv ing some thought to their interests as well as his own. Those who like to moralize will per haps see a wider application of the principle herein suggested. If wages are to advance in purchasing power as well as in dollars, the increase must be accompanied by greater efficiency, or less waste, of production. If this can be accomplished without in any re spect impairing working conditions or lengthening the working day, there would really seem to be no reason why it should not be done. Necessity for making more work for more men no longer exists in the face of a shortage of skilled labor of every kind. The plumber is not the only workman who, figuratively speaking, "goes back for his tools." The custom is only sym bolical of wasted effort in general. And since almost every wage-earner is also at some time an employer of other wage-earners, it illustrates an other phase of the vicious circle which it is within the power of wage-workers themselves largely to obviate. There comes a time to every fellow. i -whether official or common man. who goes about picking flaws in the con duct of other men, when somebody arises to prick his hide and he gets what is due. Truly, half the world is trotting around bare-footed and much of the other half would enjoy doing so. This is barefoot time, though not as the calamity howlers mean it. If parents would let their children go barefooted In summer, much of the demand for shoes would lessen; but maternal pride keeps many a boy and girl on the suffering list. Holders of railways securities want government assurance of 6 per cent interest. Of course! Ride poor old government to death and let the other fellow pay. The people of the Pacific coast would like a visit from the prince of Wales if only for the sake of studying I the species before it becomes extinct. Time was when Blanche Bates was a Portland girl and it may not be un gallant to say that she is dear to the hearts of the oldtimers. The German grain crop is said to be overripe for lack of workmen to harvest it. "Workmen!" Typographi cal error for "women." Chance for "Governor" Vinton next week, while Mr. Olcott is in Mormon dom. but the suffragists must be easy on him. When two congressmen rush at each other, both are restrained always. Pure bunk, with committee rooms bandy. One would think salaries were more important around the city hall than mere working for the pay given. Tinoco has gone the way of Huerta, who was the first victim of the Wilson freeze-out game. Must be warm in . Klamath Falls, but there's near relief. Those Who Come and Go. Every Hay there is an influx of tour ist parties to the hotels of Portland. These tourists travel under a guard, or guide. They are mobilized in the east and are escorted around the country so that they can cover the largest amount of ground in the least possible time. Several agencies are engaged in this business and each is putting Portland on the travel map for at least two days. These tourists gave one day to Portland and another day to the highway. When the Mount Hood loop and other pending projects are completed tourists will be unable to get out of Portland in a week. On an average each tourist leaves $10 a day in the town, but this is considered a very conservative figure. "San Francisco cafes are as cheerful as a hospital these nights," announced a returned Portlander. "There isn't much of a crowd in any of the well known grills, and the places which of fer entertainment are about as sad as the others. With a glass of Iced tea, lemonade, or any of the other kickless cocktails the cabaret performers find a cold and unresponsive audience. The songs don t 'go over' and the customers get out Into the street about as quickly as they can. And as for the waiters, they are disgusted, for tips are shrink ing and becoming intermittent instead of being continuous." Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Pemler and son of Monmouth are at the Hotel Oregon. The main interest in Monmouth at pres ent is the highway construction. A few hundred feet from the beautiful build ings of the normal school there is a paving plant and there is an incessant movement of motor trucks to and from this plant all day long. Weather per mitting. Independence and Monmouth will be joined by a strip of patented pavement before snow flies. Mon mouth is on the west side Pacific high way. F. H. Nave of Hilt, Cal., Is at the Perkins. Once upon a time Hilt fur nished the power for many a thirsty Oregon citizen. Now It is furnishing power to operate a crusher on the bump of Sisktyous. where basalt of intrusion formation is being ground to make J paving material for the Pacific high way. The juice is carried seven miles to the crusher. T'm paying girls $5 a day to put pieces of paper around pears at Stan field." said Dr. Henry Waldo Coe. "For merly girls were paid $1.50 a day to perform this task. I just mention this to show that the high cost of living is hitting the producer pretty hard, and that when costs mount upward like that, the producer must pay more for his supplies." Last February Dr. G. L. Bigger of La Grande bought and paid for a high priced, high-powered car, and he hasn't received it yet. The. doctor came to town yesterday to inquire when on earth that machine would be turned over to him. Meanwhile the doctor has been using a tin cootie pending the delivery of the big ear, insisting that If he can't have the best he will use the cheapest machine he can find. "We won't have more than half a crop," declares Bruce Dennis of La Grande. "These statements of big crops in eastern Oregon I take no stock in. While we have a half crop there will be no suffering, nor anything of that sort, but our wheat men will be unable to obtain the fullest advantage of the guaranteed price." A party of young women who are chugging along the coast to the scenic points drove up to the Hotel Washing ton yesterday. " The party consists of Miss Aloyse Sinnott, Miss Blythe f-laughter. Miss selma Wilson and the chaperone Is Mrs. W. O. Clark. They live at Palo Alto, Cal., and are on their way to Glacier Park State Treasurer O. P. Hoff dropped in at the Perkins and was assigned a room. After he had gone. Clerk Thompson leaned across the desk and confided as follows: "Let me tell you something funny. When Hoff was a candidate I wrote 118 personal letters In his behalf. Hoff was nominated by 118 votes." Well, what's the answer? Instead of one of those plain concrete or iron posts at street intersections with the label "turn to the right." Tilla mook is more artistic. The posts in Tillamook streets have an ornamental bowl on top, filled with flowering plants. Mr. and Mrs. C. Dye. of the cheese county, are at the Imperial. From Mocllps, where the oil excite ment is now raging and the price of land is soaring because any piece of land may conceal millions of barrels of oil, comes T. J. Long to the Hotel Oregon. The Mocllps oil Investigation has stirred inquiry in other places, in cluding a few sections in this state. One of the several men mentioned for the state highway commission to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of W. L. Thompson, who leaves the commission January 1, is William Poll man of Baker. Mr. Pollman, who is at the Imperial, isn't discussing the sub ject at all. Since 1875 Mitchell has been on the map of Wheeler county. It was built on Bridge creek and has attained i population of about 350, but the peo ple are active and nearly every day someone from Mitchell Is at a hotel in Portland. F. L. Mansfield is at the Imperial. L. E. Barnett of Mabel is at the Mult nomah. If you go three miles north of W.endling, in Lane county, and hit the Mohawk river you will come to Mabel, which has a high school and is sur rounded by a good dairy and fruit country. Mrs. L. B. Markham of Government Spring camp, Washington, is in town on business and is registered at the Hotel Washington. She reports that travel is very heavy to the camp. Vice-president of the Olympic Ath letic club of San Francisco. L. M. Hoefler is at tVie Multnomah. Aside from his connection with the athletic organization, he is a lawyer. Hot sumrrvers and cold winters of Minnesota drove Forest Baldwin to Oregon. He has been engaged as night manager of the Hotel Washington. "Reserve me two seats on the Co lumbia highway." This is a telegram received from a man in California by Manager Childs of the Hotel Portland. In nine days Dr. E. P. Rohrbaugh and his wife motored from Casper. Wyo., to the Hotel Portland. This is considered going some. R. S. Eccles, who is an extensive lumber operator In eastern Oregon, is at the Benson, registered from Baker- G. M. Raymond, connected with the Astoria- Marine Iron Works, is reg istered at the Multnomah. R. W. Harvey and wife are heading a party of residents of Bend who have motored to Portland to see the sights. They are at the Perkins. State Senator F. G. Barnes and daughter. Vernon, of Silver Lake, Wash., are at the Imperial- Keep Out of Bad Company. Washington (D. C.) Star. "Do surest way to keep out o' bad company," said Uncle Eben, "is to mind yoh own business so close dat bad com pany won't take no Interest in you." More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Montague. THE PROPHECY. There was a goody-goody boy Who learned his lessons well And took a vast amount of joy In knowing how to spell. Whenever other boys were slow With their arithmetic He'd raise his hand and say. "I know!" And tell the answer quick. So good a child, in short, was he, His teacher used to say, "Our little George will surely be The governor some day!" There was another little boy Who sat up nights to find Ingenious methods to destroy The teacher's peace of mind. He'd scatter - powder on the floor To make the children sneeze. His teacher, whom he should adore, - He called a piece of cheese. And she would frown and look severe And shake her head and say. "If Thomas won't be good, 1 fear He'll go to jail some day." Now teachers do not always know Forthere is no sure rule Of telling where a boy will go When he departs from school. Good boys have perpetrated crimes And fallen in disgrace. While naughty boys have oftentimes Been foremost in the race. But that is not the ending for This truthful little tale. For George became a governor And Thomas went to jail! Xow You Know, The reason the deacon holds the col lection plate in front of you longer than he used to, Mr. Congressman, is because he is waiting for you to drop in the war tax. A Disappointment. The sale of ice cream sodas hasn't met expectations. When people dis cover that winking at the girl doesn't change the character of the drinks, they either order water or nothing. Ask the Cider Man, He'll Know. A lot of hogs are going to do a lot of wondering about the whereabouts of a lot of good cider apples that won't be allowed to rot under a lot of trees this fall. (Cnyripht. T 01 J, by TM SynrticntA. Inr.l Sins of Omission. By Grace I".. HalL They pass, an army wan, ghosts of the things I meant some time to do. Neglected, undernourished, in the dawn and hesitate, because alas! 'tis true. I've thought of them ofttimes with mo tives kind. Hoped aye, and planned that I at length should find The opportunity to give them thought ful care. Which should develop them beyond compare. But they reproach me with a look of scorn and pass in silence. Every day is born an army which, in active, passes by. Leaving the world the poorer when they die. The deeds we meant to do! How rich were all If we dreamed less and acted more! The all To sacrifice and serve comes to each soul The real desire to help; upon the whole. man's better self implores. But is denied through lack of action. Some may laugh, deride. But, counting o'er the thoughts that run the course Within our brain each day, we find the source Is not so foul as some would make be lieve. Though judged alone by acts, one is deceived. Had all our good intentions turned to deeds. The earth had blossomed and human needs Had been attended: for T feel 'tis true That all men dream each day of good they'll do; And when a life seems empty, I suspect 'Tis thus not through intention but neglect. I offer no excuse. I know full well each one Should do some kindly deed 'tween sun and sun; And as my own intentions I review. I am aghast at what I've failed to do! At Judgment I would rather face my deeds Than my omissions crying out their needs. NO COLOR LINE IX Jl'STICE Law-Abiding Should Unite Against Lawless of Whatever Race. PORTLAND, Aug. 14. (To the Ed itor.) Had our white congress, fed eral and state authorities done their plain duty to lynchers and ravishers of women in years past, irrespective of the offender's color, and adminis tered simple justice to all, the frightful race war as exhibited In Washington, D. C, would not have occurred. The thing now to be done is to see to it that all law-abiding citizens, black as well as white, shall unite against all lawless elements of whatsover ra cial descent. Our hundreds of thousands of well trained soldiers, if fairly treated and rightly handled, will be of incalculable service in maintaining good govern ment among their kindred: but if served with continued prejudice and contempt, they cannot fail to become a menace to be reckoned with. One thing that sticks in the craw of these returned colo'red soldiers is that Mr. McAdoo, as director-general of the railroads of the land, could by pruning a single sentence, have removed the de grading and irritable "Jim Crow" car in transporting our soldiers, a thing he refused to do, though urged repeat edly to do so; and his successor, ap pointed by the president, has been equally unwise. These dreadful outbreaks of inter racial warfare at Washington and Chi cago are the result of long-existing discrimination against a people now grown numerous and strong enough to submit no longer to such humiliating treatment in a government for which they have willingly fought, not a few of them paying the supreme sacrifice. C. E. CL1NE. Gel ting Rid of Mnny Dollars. New York Sun. The Rockefeller foundation has spent $22,444,815 on war work, includ ing appropriations for 1919. since 1914. The vast scope of the foundation's ac tivity was reyealed in the first instal ment of a review prepared by Dr. George E. Vincent, president of the foundation. The flood of gold poured out to re lieve the suffering and the necessities of humanity covered pretty much the whole world. To the United War Work fund went more than $5,000,000 after large appropriations had been made to the seven individual agencies composing the united service, an equal amount having gone to these previ ously. Large sums went for medtca! research, the war work of the Rocke feller institute, for war research, in cluding the work of Dr. Alexis Car rell; for hygiene and for demonstra tions. Great sums were appropriated for relief in the small countries most devastated Belgium. $1,498,000; Ar maria and Syria. $610,000; Serbia. $163. C5. The American Red Cross received .he immense contribution of $8,083,772. In Other Days. Twenty-live Years Ago. Prom The Oreuonlan of Aujcu.it 15. 1S94. William A. Maury, for IS years first assistant attorney-general at Wash ington, is the guest of Richard Nixon at the residence of Senator DolBh. F. C. Baker, editor and proprietor of the Troutdale Champion, was arrest ed yesterday on charge of criminal libel, preferred by Mrs. Johnson of Gresham. County Superintendent Ackerman re ports that of the 56 applicants exam ined for teachers' certificates last Wednesday 38 passed the tests. Charles Pooch, a German copper smith, was arrested yesterday by fed eral officers when they found a com plete still in his home. LAWYER SAYS I1LA11E IS HIS Harney County Alien "ot Slacker, as Questionnaire Mlcht Indicate. BURNS. Or.. Aug. 9. (To the Edi tor.) In justice to a resident of Harney county I desire to correct a statement appearing in The Oregonian under date of July 28 under the caption. "List of Slackers Is Compiled by Legion." and warning employers against men who refused to enter the service. In this list appears the name of Jacob Aschbacker, Burns. Or. In justice to Mr, Aschbacker I desire to say. while admittedly an alien of the United States, not having as yet completed his citizenship, he should not have been placed in that category, for he does not bear the slacker tissue in any sense. I prepared his question-, naire for him. While he does not ex- press himself clearly in conversation, nor does he readily read, yet he has a very intelligent unde "standing of the English language whtn spoken to. In answering question 6. VII series. citizenship, his answer Is shown to be "yes." when it rightly should have been "no." By carefully reading this question you will observe it is somewhat equi vocal and on first blush it might easi ly occur that it should properlv be answered in the affirmative, thereby showing registrant's willingness to be come a citizen of the United States and wholly without intent of evasion of service, and if error it was. It was my mistake and fullyhls Intention to con vey that idea, as he is at this time car rying on procedings to complete his citizenship in our circuit court. In this connection I wish to say that a short time after the question naire was returned my attention was called to the error by the registrant himself and I at once submitted my affidavit in the hope of correcting the error and filed the same with chief clerk of the locai board P. T. Randall but it now develops that said affi davit was without avail. 1 desire the onus of blame be placed where it belongs. In Mr. A-sch backer's behalf I will state that he has been a resident of Harney county about three years en gaged in farming being the manager of a 640-acre tract, and is not seeking notoriety or employment; having no otlyr motive in protesting against the Injustice imposed by this publication than to set himself right in the com munity where he resides. I might add in conclusion that during the whole of my service on the local board 1 closely scrutinized the per sonality of every alien resident who appeared nerore me and at the outset mentally resolved to give any slacker the benefit of some wholesome advice and 1 was pleased at the attitude of this registrant, this being one of the principal reasons why 1 recall the cir cumstances so clearly. 1 also desire to say that the local board of this county stood as one man. thereby aiding and supporting each other, feeling that a pronounced slacker should not only be given a sound lecture but by right ought to be scourged with a cat-o'-nine tails and deported or banished. A. W. GO WAN, Member of legal advisory board. THRIFTY BUYER HOLDS REMEDY Limit Purchases to Actnal Needs and See Prices Come Down. PORTLAND, Aug. 14. (To the Ed itor.) As one who- is familiar with prices in the east. I wish to voice my appreciation of your editorial. "No Ben efit to the Consumer." If the editors throughout the country would employ some of their staffs in exposing "big business" in its eiforts to create and stimulate an artificial demand and so bring about a reaction in an artificial lack of supply, the high cost of living would drop to normal price level. Every prominent business men who goes to Chicago or New York for goods returns with the same story: "Prices are going up. as there are no goods to be bought." Yet big bargain sales go on in shops, with burlesque regularity, to refute the story of a lack of production. The arti ficial demand is a part of the scheme to keep up and stabilize high prices, not to lower them. The dollar is now worth about 35 cents in purchasing power and while the cause of its de preciation is the inflation of the cur rency and the national debt, the oppor tunity also is given to the profiteer to boost the cost of production and create an artificial demand for commodities. All this is so apparent that any EChool boy unfamiliar with world finance can grasp the situation. In or der to release the public from the octo pus of high prices it should buy only what it needs and so force prices down by stagnation. So long as the public nibbles at and swallows bait, hook and line, the jobber and retailer will reap the harvest. The laugh is always on the public. Portland markets .need to be revolu tionized and the consumers' end con sidered. I believe that price fixing and gouging are going on in your public markets precisely as they are in Cleve land. Indianapolis and Seattle. Force the farmer to sell goods at 25 per cent less than the stores or surrender his privileges and you will see a big change In local market prices. As to the cause of the high cost of living, the above solution is offered for thoughtful con sideration. DR. J. C. F. GRUMBINE. SOME RECENT DEPARTURES. We saw the czar go roamin' off Deserted by his men-ski; And also through the gloamin' off Went Ivanoff Kerenski. And Ludendorff i.e. too. went off. And Bela sniffled, snuffled. "I'm feeling' blue, not red." he said. As down the road he shuffled. And down the dim and dusty lanes That fizzled monarchs travel About a thousand dukes and lords All merrily scratch gravel. But who is this that totes a saw. And answers Fate, 'aye, aye, sir, The while mankind gives a guffaw? My word it is the kaiser. And just who else has hit trie pika It seems we have forgot-ski; But we remember we would like To see old Trotzki trot-ski. EVERETT EARL STANARD. Elinor's Homestead Rights. PORTLAND, Aug. 14. (To the Ed itor.) Can a minor who is obliged to earn his own living take up a home stead? SUBSCRIBER. A minor who is also head of a family may take a homestead, but the fact that he is earning his own living would not alone entitle him to do so. Although a minor, a soldier may also take up land under certain conditions too da tailed to be given here. If interested in this phase of the question, see elr cular at the United tates land office. 4