Morning Oregonian., March 22, 1920, Page 6, Image 6

THE MORNING ORECONIAN, MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1920
G
iltornhtCDrimtnn
ESTABLISHED BY HENRY I. PITTOCK.
Fublished by The Oregonlan rubllshlni; CO.,
13J Sixth Street. roriland. Oregon.
r. a unur,i- B. B. PIFER,
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o MERCY I'OR political coRRrr-
TION.
It was a happy coincidence that
Kewberry and his associates -were
convicted and sentenced on the same
day that three communists were
found guilty of criminal syndicalism
In Portland. While in Michigan the
law defended the republic against
the" attack of a millionaire by
corrupt use of money, in Oregon it
defended the republic against attack
c.f three men who style themselves
proletarians and who propose vio
lence. There could have been no
hetter proof that in the United .states
all men are equal in the eye of the,
.iw. There are many miscarriages j
of Justice, but they favor the poor as
often as the rich offender, and the
cause is not in the law but in the
j.eople through whom the law must
be enforced.
The fact that our courts convict
the Xcwberrys is the best possible
reason why there should be no com
munists in America, at least none
who attempts adoption of their the
ories by force. So long as purity and
equality of the ballot are protected
by punishment of the rich who would
corrupt it, the poor have no cause to
fear that the majority will not rule.
If any are not then satisfied, it is
because they desire the rule of a
minority established by force, and
the revolutionist enters the same
category as the corruptionist.
Among republicans in other states
6s well as Michigan, also among
many democrats, the election of
Henry Kord would have been consid
ered national calamity, botn De-
liiiifc'lic was a leading champion of
that pacifism which tempted Oer
many to attack us and which sent us
into war unprepared, and because of
his conspicuous ignorance of puolic
pf fairs. In defense of Newberry's
conduct the plea is made that its
motive was good, but that plea can
not be entertained, for it is a revival
of the old argument that the end
justilles the means, that it is per
missible to do evil that good may
come. To have condoned corruption
would hae been a greater evil than
the Election of Kord, for success of
Jvewbcrry by that means would have
incited imitation until the poison
would have spread through the nation
and would have infected the laws
which corruptionists helped to enact.
The follies of Ford are so egregious
that they would surely have been ex
posed in the senate.would have, lim
ited his influence t his own vote
and would have prevented his re
election. Better endure a Ford for
fix years than a moral disease which
spreads like a cancer for a gen
eration. REVISE RATES REGIONALLY.
The declaration of the public serv
ice commission of Oregon in favor of
division of the country into regions
for the purpose of revision of rail
road rates is founded in justice.
The bases on which rates in the west,
east and south were originally estab
lished was not the same, therefore
the sections should be judged sep
arately in making the Impending
advance, and no reaon is apparent
why the advance should be the
tame in percentage throughout the
country.
When railroads were built in the
east and south, those sections were
already fairly well settled, assuring
considerable density of traffic, and
competition soon brought rates down
to a reasonable general level In the
middle west cheap construction over
the prairies compensated for the
original sparcity of population, and
the chief products of the country
jrrain and live stock were of a char
acter which could be shipped by the
trainload at minimum cost of han
dling. Rapid settlement of the coun
try and ease of construction induced
competition which brought rates near
a standard return. Growth of popu
lation in those sections, especially
prowth of large cities, has necessi-1
. , i i . i . : innt.ini;nn I
tated double-tracking, installation of
safety devices and enlargement of
terminals by purchase of costly
urban real estate. Railroads, there
fore, particularly on the Atlantic
seaboard, have gained a density of
traffic which can only be increased
tit disproportionate cost in providing
facilities to handle it. These condi
tions in this era of high prices may
justify a very material increase of
rates in the east and south.
West of the Rocky mountains the
history of rates has been far other
wise. When the roads were built,
population, and therefore traffic, was
so sparse that of necessity rates were
high. Railroads were so far apart
that there was little competition on
any except through traffic, and on
uncommonly long stretches" of line it
was possible to charge all that the
traffic would bear. Since the pioneer
lines have been paralleled, competi
tion has beeh largely neutralized by
,-ute agreements and public regula
tion, so that there has not been the
same pressure to bring rates down
'io a level which would yield a stand
ard return. Even when the Mil
waukee road was extended to Puget
sound, it adopted the same rates
between competitive points as had
cen established by existing lines,
though its line is much shorter. Traf
fic -n these lines is still far from the
point of saturation, hence there has
been far less occasion to double-track
and to expand terminals than in the
cast. Increased traffic, therefore,!
yields a high Return through division
of the same or slightly higher over
head charge among a larger number
of ton-miles.
These facts liave been reflected in
recent reports of earnings on roads
extending to the Pacific coast. Dur
ing the years of federal operation
few. if any. earned less than the
standard return, and in one war year
before the United States was involved
one road showed a net income of 17
per cent. It is doubtful whether any
will fall short - of the guaranteed
return of 5 per cent for the six
months beginning March 1. . Their
density of traffic fias grown much
faster than their cost .of operation
and maintenance plus interest on cost
of improvements. A horizontal in
crease of rates for the whole country
might be found to give these roads
a far highed . percentage of net in
come than was the intent of congress.
"TIIOC ART THE MAN."
The real father in America of the
idea of a league of nations which
should prevent war, promote disarm
ament and amicably settle interna
tional disputes is ex-President Taft.
He worked to that end while presi
dent, and after the war broke out
but before the United States became
involved, he organized the League
to Enforce Peace. That league put
forward the same basic principles
as were greatly elaborated in the
covenant drawn up at Paris. When
President Wilson brought back the
first draft of the covenant, Mr. Taft
made a tour of the country and
spoke in favor of its adoption.
Learning that a large body of opinion
favored reservations which would
prevent the United States from being
too closely tied to intervention in
European affairs, he applied himself
to drawing such reservations and
uniting both parties in their support,
holding that a league which is 30 per
cent good is better than no league.
Writing for the Philadelphia Ledger
before the treaty had been rejected
by the senate but when rejection was
already certain, he said:
When it conies to the president, who
controls the democratic senators, the sin
cere supporters of the league will indig
nantly and properly fix the ultimate
responsibility on him for the dreary hope
lessness of the present situation. Unable
to secure the whole loaf, he rejects the
opportunity to have nine-tenths thereof,
and adds to the chaos and suffering of
the world which our membership in the
league would help much to remedy.
So f.ir as the issue of the league affects
the next election, he will have furnished
the strongest motive to many of both
parties for voting against him and his
party. The democratic factions, like the
extreme Irish and the pro-Germans, will
continue to oppose him and his party
because he created and favored the league.
The sincere republican supporters of the
league wiil oppose him and his party
because, having created It. he has delib
erately destroyed it.
Mr. Taft surveys the wreck of long
cherished hopes to realize which he
becran to work long before President
Wilson became actively interested,
and, seeking the man responsible for
the fact that the league is organized
without the United States as a mem
ber, he points to Mr. Wilson.
THE STORY HOUR.
There were certain inconsistencies
in the revelations of Helen Miller
Senn during the popular story-telling
hour at the Central Labor council
the other evening. Mrs. Senn is a
member of the university faculty in
charge of the public-speaking depart
ment of the Portland center. It ap
pears that Mrs. Senn was sent east
by the University of Oregon to study
public-speaking work as conducted
by eastern universities. Either there
was not much doing in that line in
eastern universities or chance or
foresight favored her with a good
deal of spare time. She investigated
the Boston police strike, visited New
York and interviewed various radi
cals, conferred with the officers of
the big New York Typographical
union then on strike, studied the
methods of the Rand school of sci
ence, had a conference with Samuel
Gompers and other labor men, and
then went to Washington and listened
to the senators debate the league of
nations covenant.
Although the Central Labor coun
cil was not informed as to the results
of her investigations in eastern uni
versities, we shall not say that that
was not the most important part of
her work. Doubtless it is one of the
arts of public speaking to address
one's audience on matters one's audi
ence Is most interested in hearing
about. Summed up, the labor coun
cil was Informed that the Boston
police strike, the riots that attended
it and the final restoration of order
by the use of troops was all engi
neered by a political conspiracy to
make Governor Coolidge nationally
famous and a popular candidate for
president. Mrs. Senn got this Infor
mation early in the strike from a
prominent Boston citizen, and the i
incidents developed just as he said
they would. In other words, here
was one of a group of conspirators
in a most atrocious and criminal plot
who confessed it all to a woman he
had never seen before, doubtless
knowing alt1 the while the reputed
inability of woman to keep a secret.
But the recklessness of the promi
nent Bostonlan is hardly less re
markable than the success of the
conspiracy in view of the fact that
Mrs. Seitn discovered, positively and
by personal investigation, that there
i . .. 1 ; . ni i ; i
is more real intelligence in labor
meetings than in the senate of the
United States. So here, too, was a
group of second-rate politicians
(they could not have been tirst-rate
politicians else they would have been
United States senators) who put it
all over a labor organization of
superlative intelligence. They played
unionized policemen as mere pawns
in their own game. They convinced
them somehow that they had a
grievance and induced them to strike
all with the definite plan of
inducing riots and criminality and
of having a governor restore order
and kick the whole striking police
force permanently Into the cold.
Somehow we cannot reconcile the
story with the observations that go
with it or with human nature or with
the general knowledge of what took
place in Boston. So let us call it a
superior exhibition of public speak
ing. One can almost imagine that
(luring Hs rendition the lights were
turned low, the flicker of the street
lamps through the windows made
fairy dancing across the floor,
while the night wind shook the
building in a most disconcerting and
spooky manner; that after it was all
over strong men started at every
corner shadow, thinking mayhap it
was that of some conspirator about
to trap labor Into making Mayor
Baker or Governor Olcott a popular
candidate for president of the United
States.
We suggest to the ' University of
Oregon that in connection with the
department of public speaking it
establish a professorship on apprecl
ation of gullibility.
COMING INTO OCR OWN.
There Is a notable victory for
Portland In the outcome of prolonged
efforts on the part of the Columbia
Pacific company and of the Chamber
of Commerce to overcome the oppo
sition of rival Pacific ports. The
latter ports have striven to have
Portland made a port of call for
vessels which would serve the com
merce of Pacific coast ports in gen
eral but which would be allocated to
companies controlled by and having
their terminals at other ports than
Portland. If San Francisco and
Seattle Interests had succeeded, they
could have given their own ports
the preference in routing when solic
iting freight and could have made
the call at Portland contingent on
the amount of traffic offered. Port
land would have been relegated to a
secondary position, similar to that
of a way station on a railroad.
Now the shipping board allocates
five steamers to the Columbia
Pacific company for operation to
North China ports and two to Sud
den & Christensen, all for operation
out of Portland, thus definitely, rec
ognizing Portland as a terminal
port for transpacific commerce. The
board's announcement that thirty
seven steamers in all will be allpcated
to Portland indicates that thirty
more are to be added and that this
is to be the terminal port of other
lines, probably to South China, Sing
apore and the Philippines, to India,
to Australia, to Europe and to the
Atlantic and gulf coasts. The action
now taken may safely be assumed to
mean that the vessels now allocated
will remain permanently in the serv
ice of Portland commerce and that,
when congress has decided on dis
posal of the emergency fleet, the
operating companies will have the
first opportunity to purchase them or
to lease them for long terms.
The allocations already made are
equivalent to an investment of ap
proximately $14,000,000, of which
Portland has not had to provide a
dollar. If this city had raised that
sum to establish a home-owned
steamship line, it would justly have
been proud of a great achievement.
It has got the result without putting
up the money. The time will come
when it must buy the ships, but it
will then buy a paying, established
business.
Ships could not have been secured
for Portland service but for the wise,
liberal expenditures which the people
have made on improvement of the
channel and harbor and on construc
tion of docks. The fleet now to be
placed in our service will require
continuation of work on harbor Im
provements, to accommodate not only
Portland lines but competing lines
hailing from other ports, for assur
ance of regular and more frequent
sailings will attract more traffic. It
will be necessary that the depth and
width of harbor and channel be In
creased and that both harbor and
dock improvements be made on a
constantly larger scale.
TEXTURES Of COMMON SENSE.
The homely, unpessimistlc philoso
phy of Ed Howe, for more than a
generation famous as the editor of
the Atchison (Kan.) Globe, con-
trusts strangely with the bilious ap
praisal of the modern tendencies of
Americans made by H. L. Mencken
who writes the introduction to
Howe's "Ventures in Common
Sense." Yet the two, taken to
gether the work of Howe and the
appreciation of it contributed by
Mencken, make an entertaining vol
ume. Mr. Howe,- according to Mr,
Mencken, is a sterling American
(which all will concede), but he is
no Puritan of which we are not so
sure after reading, later on, what
Mr. Mencken has to say as to "the
dualism that claims him in the
end.") Mr. Mencken, who will not
let even Mr. Howe outdo him in his
hatred of hypocrisy, has the failing
common to some cynics of seeming
to regard hypocrisy as an outstand
ing American trait, and he alludes
to Mr. Howe's honesty as a "rare
quality, which we think Mr. Howe
himself would be quick to deny.
While Mr. Mencken is more than
necessarily hard on the Puritans.
He seems to lack perspective: at any
rate he falls short of giving them the
credit for sincerity of purpose that
a more Impartial historian would
concede to be their due. As, for
instance:
Our Puritan culture, as everyone knows,
makes for many laudable virtues; enter
prise. Industry, philoprogenitiveness, pa-tri-otism.
the fear of God. a great appetite
for brummagem ideals, a high desire to be
righteous, a noble gratitude for the fact
that we are not as other men are. But
one of the things It does not make for is
that austere intellectual passion which
exalts a bald fact above comfort, security
and the revelation of God. One of the
things it does not promote is common
truthfulness. The American. Indeed, al
ways views the truth a bit suspiciously,
particularly if it be the truth about him
self and his; he seems convinced that ft
is dangerous and perhaps downright Inde
cent. There is In him none of the Slav's
habit of merciless Introspection, none of
the Frenchman's penetrating realism, none
of the German's appetite for putting the
bitter facts of life Into hair-raising ax
ioms. It Is words that always fetch him
not realities: he is the most ab.lect slave
of mellifluous and meaningless phrases
ever on view in the world.
"We bawl." says Mr. Mencken,
carefully choosing his editorial "we,"
"about the malefactions of Big Busi
ness and every man in Little Busi
ness is trying to gouge and rob his
way into Big Business as fast as he
can." It Is not easy to see mat an
this, however true It may be, proves
that the primary difficulty is that
the American people are "still bur.-
dened by a crushing heritage of Puri
tan pish posh and that it forces them
into efforts to obey rules of conduct
which no healthy race could ac
tually obey and survive." Then, too,
we are intellectually timorous, per
haps another heritage from the
Puritans, though this is also a sur
prising view. Our thinking is shal
low, we have a "gigantic literature
of inspiration" that betrays us again
and again, we live constantly at odds
between the effort to be good and
the struggle to "get on" in the world.
There is no country in which legis
lation directs itself more sharply
toward loftier goals and is more
sharply flavored with pious purpose.
and there is no country In which
the manner of Us enactment is more
corrupt and dishonest, or In which
there is a larger body of unenforced
and uninforcible laws."
The one thing that commends Mr.
Howe to Mr. Mencken is his "relent
less honesty" notwithstanding his
Puritanism." Mr. Mencken tries to
put the Howe philosophy into a few
words. In brief, it is that intelligent
self-interest is the dominating hu
man motive. We doubt that Mr.
Howe himself would subscribe to the
further statement that "altruism is
not only bogus, but impossible."
Nevertheless, "intelligent self-interest"
will fairly summarize v good
deal of that which Mr. Howe has to
say in his "Ventures in Common
Sense." He believes in cultivating
this spirit because it indirectly leads
to general improvement. He is like
the man who joins the better neigh
borhood movement because he likes
to live in a better neighborhood, even
if in his heart he does not care very
much how his neighbors get along.
He has little patience with so-called
reformers because they distract at
tention from the potency of self
interest as a motive power and make
people less self-reliant and teach
them to beg. The people, he holds,
"have a remedy for all public abuses
in their hands." But reliance on their
own capacity for applying the rem
edy is not cultivated by the species
of reformer against whom Mr. Howe
constantly inveighs. "We are now,"
he observes, "confronted with the
necessity of remedying the reme
dies." But he still thinks that the
remedy for the remedies is in the
people's own hands.
Mr. Howe, however, Is at his
wholesome best In analysis of pro
fessional reformers. When the lat
ter speak of the wrongs of the peo
ple, they speak as if of the period
preceding the French revolution
"These conditions were thoroughly
bad, but they do not prevail today."
We are asked to bear in mind:
In that day the nobles paid no taxes.
Now the well-to-do pay taxes, and the
poor pay almost none. That is a very sig
nificant difference, and there are others;
when the poor of this country do pay
taxes, they pay a lower rate than do the
rich. In the bad days before the French
revolution, the king collected a tax from
the poor in lieu of his right to select the
better-looking girls from among the fami
lies of the poor for his harem. No such
thing prevails today; a poor girl is pro
tected as carefuly as is the wife of a
president. In the 'old days the poor re
mained poor, as a rule; there was no way
for them to progress. In this day a large
majority of our wealthy people have been
poor. A poor man may become our presi
dent, as did Lincoln, and of all presidents,
his memory is most popular. We have
every right the French demanded before
the revolution: we actually have no public
wrongs except those for which we are our
selves to blame. But agitators .howl as
though we wore ground down as. were the
French aTid Russians in the days of abso
lutism. It la a ridiculous, a false situation.
It will have been noted by the
observant that the genial Kansan can
be historical as well as aphoristical.
His commonest appeal, however, is
to the facts of everyday experience.
One of these is that in every com
munity, out of a thousand men there
will be nine hundred who can get
jobs and hold them; perhaps one
hundred Who can do neither. He
"makes no charge against the hun
dred unfortunates," but he insists
that they are no better than' the
nine hundred who have found work,
and who attend to it with regularity
and patience. At least "it would be
disastrous to turn the management
of affairs over to the hundred, for
thereby we would gain nothing of
value, but would lose a great deal
of value. The nlan will not work.
We must give it up."
To return to Mr. Mencken: He is
juster to Americans when he de
scribes Mr. Howe as the interpreter
of the thought that goes on behind
the curtain in America than when he
is denouncing them as Pharisees and
hypocrites. The fact would seem to
be that Mr. Howe has succeeded in
interpreting thoughts of Americans
that needed only to be put into
words. And if it is true that his
sober deductions from- experience
are sharol by an appreciable num
ber of Americans, then the country
is safe, as we have always thought
it was.
If the retail price of milk can be
reduced 2 cents, as the producers
assert. It must be dorfe. With
average consumption a quart a day.
that means 60 cents a month to a
family, and just now 60 cents is two
thin quarters and a thinner dime.
Congress might, of course, have
escaped the issue of the bonus to ser
vice men by taking prompt action on
the cases of disabled men a year or
more ago; but it dallied with the
problem then and it deserves the
penalty.
Men who come up to the specifica
tions of the department to fill the
position of postmaster of this city
can make much more in private life;
but a government job looks easy and
the lure may attract a good man.
Judge Sessions at Grand Rapids
did "hand it" to the gang, which was
right. A guilty republican should be
put in jail because he knows better.
A democrat of like guilt, howevsr,
being born so, should be paroled.
Prohibition laws are named as one
of-the reasons for emigration, noth
ing being said at the same time as to
whether the qualtiy of our bootleg
has anything to do with disgusting
foreigners with the country.
La Foltte has a bill to elect
federal judges and It was referred
to committee, where it should die.
The federal judiciary is the one
body that should not be in partisan
politics.
Summer Is coming on the jump at
"Pa'm" Beach, and . the seizure of
300 cases of "coonyak" at Miami Is
not as distressing as it would have
been six months ago.
In a campaign against rate in base
ments, electrical aid should be used.
It ought to be easy to electrocute
most of the rodents.
In announcing a $2.50 "cleaning
charge" against tenants vacating
apartments, the landlords named it
right.
The prevalence of "strikes" among
high-school students calls for a little
opon-shop work on the part of
parents.
To judge from his own statements,
we take it that In politics Hoover is
an independent Hoover republican.
Hood River opens the season with
$41,000 for a new school building,
setting the pace for the state.
The only way for a fellow to do is
to use less sugar at home, and more
in public eating-places.
Watch California pass the Jap
"buck" to the San Francisco con
vention. Mr. Ford has nothing to say, but
he must be hopeful.
BY-PRODCCTS OF" THE TIMES
Coal OH Johnnie Daya Recalled, When
Gasoline Had No Value.
In a review of the 50 years of ex
istence of the Standard Oil company,
the Lamp tells of the rise and fall of
fortunes and growth and decay of
cities lrr the early oil boring days
and of the waste of elements now of
vast value.
"Who today remembers the thriving
city of Pithole. Pa.?" asks the Lamp.
"It was a typical oil town, one of
many. In its flush daya Its postof
fice did the third largest business in
the state. Its population was nearly
60,000 mostly oil-crazed men. It had
opera and famous theatrical troupes
to entertain it, suave and accomplished
gamblers to diminish the pressure of
riches. Who cared? The supply was
inexhaustible, wasn't it? Aladdin's
lamp, yielded all he could ask for,
but the sea of lamp oil under Pithole
was richer far so they felt.
"Pithole is no more. On its site grow
weeds and scanty crops of thin hay.
A few meadow larks pick up an un
certain living. Of its fine hotels,,
courthouses, opera, theaters, etc., not
one brick remains. But wait there Is
a trace; one who searches the valley
with care can distinguish a brief
leveled space where the principal
street ran. Its name is forgotten.
"On the hilltop the big white church
built as a thank offering by a lucky
oil producer is abandoned and crum
bling to decay, the hymn books
mouldering in the pew. No other hofise
is left. Lately a venerable man begged
a loan on the plea that he was the
first to make a million dollars out
of Pithole oil.
."Refining oil was a haphazard busi
ness. Its methods were based on the
old way of treating petroleum that
had been distilled from shale. There
was the same reckless disregard of
economy and much remained to be
learned. After a time men began
to make lubricating oil out of what
was left after the kerosene was taken.
Dut the imperfect processes were
wasteful and the modern schemes for
extracting wax, fuel oil, etc., from the
residue were still undreamed of.
"Modern manufacturers listen with
horror when old-time refiners tell of
letting so many thousands of gallons
of gasoline trickle out by night Into
stream or lake and paying fines in
magistrates' courts for polluting the
waters, or of the sportive tug boat
men who would steam up to wind
ward of a floating patch of gasoline
and throw a shtfveful of live coals
into it for the fun of watching the
lake on fire.
"Gasoline was a drug on the makers'
hands!"
The tank got its name through the
methods the British war office em
ployed to produce the first tanks with
out permitting the enemy to know of
their construction, says the-Jiome
Sector. The name is not derived from
resemblance to any conventional
tank. In England, when the tank ex
periments were started, a big en
closure was constructed and no one
was allowed in- it except workmen
and others engaged In the work. Ci
vilians were kept a safe distance by
the circulation of a story that ter-
rible explosives and poison gases
were being manufactured in the en-
closure. As the work progressed it
became necessary to invent a better
story to account for the existence of
the plant. So, very clandestinely. It
was allowed to become known from
the war office that oil tanks for Rus
sia were being manufactured In great
numbers. From this story the name
"tank" came to be applied to the new
form of armored car before their use
to battle, and the name stuck.
The soap bubble is a simple thing,
yet it has always been more or less
a mystery to scientists. They consider
it perhaps the best phenomenon ex
isting for the study of the habits and
idiosyncrasies of the molecule. Scien
tists now claim, on the strength of
tho experiment made by Sir John
Dewar, wherein he succeeded in keep
ing a bubble intact for over a year,
that when a soap bubble becomes
very od, say in three or four days,
it offers the only possible example
of the molecule visible to the naked
eye. Most parts of the bubble are es
timated to consist of about 100 layers
of molecules. But by various methods
of treatment the bubble is induced to
perform "stunts" until in black spots
which appear it represents only a
single layer of molecules. This layer
Is so thin that Sir James estimates
It would take 1,333,000 like it, super
imposed, to make an inch. Yet, when
the soap bubble is permitted to ma
ture in air that has been freed of its
natural enemies, it Is so strong that
it will support drops of water many
times Its own weight before breaking.
Sometimes a bubble is torn from its
supporting ring by the weight before
the molecule's release their bulldog
grip. San Francisco Argonaut.
The small boy of the coming gen
eration will not have to resort to fly
catching or to marking Up the hymn
book to endure the service. The hours
will pass on golden wings. For movies
will replace the sermon. Instead of
"fourthly" it will be a four-reel film.
The centenary conservation com
mittee of. the Methodist Episcopal
church has come to the conClunion
that movies are the thing and expects
soon to introduce film sermons Into
the Chicago churches, announces the
Chicago Post.
Of course there will be no train
robberies or, holdups, no " harem
queezis, adventuresses or anything so
lurid as all that. But the pictures
won't be exactly tame, either. Mis
sionaries in all parts of the world,
from Greenland's Icy mountains to In
dia's coral strand, are busy making
views of life in those far lands where
only man Is vile.
African pigmies, Eskimos, Arabs,
headhunting Dyacks and Fiji Island
ers will march out upon the silver
screen. The various activities of the
church these, by the way, do not
include fly catching will be shown.
The pioneer of the ecclesiastical
movies is Rev. C. C. Marshall of St
James church, New York. Dr. Mar
shalli is now head of the division of
stereopticons, motion pictures and
lectures of the centenary committee.
This committee, which Includes emi
nent clergymen from all partss of
the country, recently had a private
view of one of-the films which had
been submitted. It proved so interest
ing that, one bishop is said to have
been moved to tears.
Those Who Come and Go.
Jack Hamlin, nonchalant hero of
Bret Harte's engrossing narratives o:
the old west, had at least one point of
nride In common with Sol Heineman,
retired business man, whose home is
at the Multnomah hotel. Hamlin's
hands were spotless as the Illy, taper
Ing, dainty, deft. Not many people
have seen Sol's hands. He keeps them
cased in gloves and he wears the
gloves even when he dines. In this
wise he has become more or less
man of mystery to strangers who
marvel at his eccentricity. But there
are those who have seen Mr. Heine-
man's hands when, on rare occasions,
tke gloves were doffed. And they say
that Bret Harte's famous fictional
character "had nothing on" the Mult
noma's guest in the matter of digital
beauty. Another quirk when Sol
asks the clerk for his mail Invariably
the gloved hands are behind him as
he declines the letter. "You open it
and read it for me," he directs.
SDrine lambing season and sen
atorlal aspirations do not lessen the
troubles of one who is already a
stockman aswl who strives for the
toga. For example, there Is Robert
N. Stanfield, who returned the other
day from Weiser. Idaho, where his
flocks have required supervision for
several weeks past. His senatorial
candidacy already has been an
nounced, and it breaks into one of
the busiest seasonal phases of the
sheep-raising industry. The gossip
around the corridors of the Imperial
hotel, where Mr. Stanfield meets his
friends, is that the genial big stock
man is here to make formal filing
for the primary election with the sec
retary of state, thus casting the well-
known die and placing his name on
the republican ticket.
All the world talks shop, according
to individual calling or profession.
Charles Burggraf. architect ot Albany,
is no exception. When Mr. Burggrat
wrote the Hotel Oregon for a reserva
tion for his present visit, he scrib
bled facetiously: "I desire a room
with a bed. door and a window."
Clerk Edward Doyle, not to be out
done, replied: "Yours received and
contents noted. We. have the room.
It has everything but a floor." At
any rate, the Albany architect is in
it. Among Mr. Buregraf's architec
tural creations, scattered over the
state, are more than 25 high schools
and grammar schools, the Hotel Al
bany and Elks tempie at AiDany ana
the girls' dormitory and agricultural
hall at Oregon Agricultural college,
Corvallis.
"I see by a piece in the paper that
shoes are to be cheaper," scoffed W.
A. Butterworth, St. Paul shoe sales
man, as he stood at the Hotel Im
norial desk and berated the fourth
estate. "Nothing could be farther
from the truth. They're due for an
other 5 per cent rise In fact. It's
already In effect. Increased labor
costs and a shortage of hides are re
sponsible. Heretofore we have relied
upon Russia for caltskin ana upon
France for veals. And now these
same countries are looking towards
us for the same supply. Exporting
has practically stopped. The Euro
pean nations are so heavily in debt
I'm speaking of France and itussia -that
nobody wants to 'take 'em on'
for any more business just now."
The grain looks pretty good out
our way," confessed J. S. Flint, stock
man of Junction City, as he Bigned
the guest register at the Oregon yes
terday. "What did I bring this time?
A carload of hogs, at a pretty fair
price. It's a pretty good old world
and a pretty nice day." Specialist in
many matters appertaining to rancn-
Iiiit nne nf Mr
Flints favorite ven
tures is turkey raising. Those who
dined at the Oregon last Christmas
and New Tears day were regaled
with white and dark meat that once
gohbled l'ghtsomely about the Junc
tion City acres of the versatile Mr.
Flint.
The temper of Astoria Is buoyant
these days, according- "o John Tait.
laundryman. of the Clatsop county
capilal, who registered at the Mult
nomah yesterday. "We have the
harbor, we have tho Industries, we
have the tihiber, and we're going to
have the naval base." exulted Mr.
Tait. "I've only been In Astoria a
trifle more than a year, but I'm a
convert to the town you can bet your
money on that." Mr. Tait was for
merly proprietor of the Troy laundry
of Portland.
Charles Hall of Marshf ield whom
honors seek assiduously Is at the
Hotel Benson during a brief visit to
the city. Mr. Hall is president of the
Oregon State Chamber of Commerce,
and recently received gubernatorial
appointment to the fish commission.
He bears both distinctions easily, and
finds that they afford opportunity to
employ his natural gift as an after
dinner speaker.
E. F. Lenlhan. well known in Tort
land as a former member of the
spruce divisional organization, where
in he was commissioned a major. Is
registered at the Benson, while en
route from San Francisco to the east
As Major Lenihan he served under
General Brice P. Dlsque of the sprue
division of the signal corps, with of
fices in the Yeon building, and was in
charge of the purchasing department.
Mrs. Alberta S. McMtirphy of Eu
gene, wortny .grana matron oi im
Order of Eastern Star for Oregon, is
registered at tho Imperial while mak
ing arrangements for the state con
vention of that order, to be held In
Portland next June. The Eastern
Stars will twinkle during the same
week that the coast-wide convention
of Kiwanis is being held, and the na
tional assembly of the Traveler Pro
tective association
Cousins from afar, come to visit R.
Alexander, pioneer merchant of Pen
dleton, are Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Alex
ander of Blue Island. 111., and Mr.
and Mrs. F. Boldenwiek of Chicago,
now registered at the Hotel Imperial,
where they were met by Mr. Alexan
der. They will leave shortly for
Pendleton to remain for some weeks
as guests.
Mrs. J. P. Bridgewater of Albany is
stopping at the Benson while on a
shopping excursion to Portland. When
Mrs. Bridgewater last shopped In thir
city, a week or so ago. oue of her
purchases was a new, resplendent and
altogether desirable guess what it
was. All wrong. She bought a seven
passenger automobile.
J. F. Emlgh, I. W. W. attorney of
Butte, Mont., who served as assistant
counsel to the defense at Montesano
during the recent trial of 10 I. W. W.
for the Centralia Armistice day crime,
is registered at the Imperial.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Newman. Miss
A. Newman and Miss Laura Pudel
man of Hoqulam, second city of Grays
Harbor county, Wash., are at the
Multnomah hotel during a brief visit
to Portland.
Miss Louise Geiscr, Miss L. Pollman
and Miss E. G. Pollman of Baker, are
registered at the Imperial while en
route home from a winter's visit to
the California beaches.
Lieutenant D. 6. Kelly of Ft. Stev
ens, one of the fortifications at the
mouth of the ColumBia river, is at
the Multnomah hotel for a few days.
He is accompanied by Mrs. Kelly.
J. H. Sturges, prominent Pendleton
wool grower. Is among recent reg
istrants at the Benson hotel.
TRAINED MAN FOR EVERT OFFICE
Party Plafform Should Promts Na
tional Appointees of Experience.
ALBANY. O. " March 20. (To the
Editor.) We are not hearing much
about the new plank the republicans
were demanding for the old platform,
although it can well stand a little re
inforcln.
A few weeks ago Dr.' W. Chandler,
noted educator, was. In Portland. It
is presumed Dr. Chandler Is being
considered by the board of regent
for the position of president or lieca
college. Why? Not because he Is a
noted athlete, a nrlxe fighter or
baseball player; neither because he
has attained prominence as a captain
of industry, an Inventor or a labor
organizer: nor Is he a personal friend
ot members of the board of regents.
No: he or any other person being con
sldered for the position of president
of Reed college Is being considered
because of fitness, due to education
and training, for the position.
Perhaps this may seem foreign to
the matter in hand. However, in
few days less than a year from now
w shall Inaugurate a new president
of this republic. We are hoping for
a business administration, and the na
tion is eadly In need of such an ad
ministration. I would like to suggest
a plank for the republican platform
that I know is indorsed by numberless
voters:
"We pledge the nominee of this
party to fill all appointee ortiees wnn
men Qualified bv training and expe
rience to administer th duties of
those offices."
In other words, we want a man for
MM-rctary of state who has been
trained in the finesse of international
law and diplomacy; a man for postmaster-general
trained In business
administration, one who will get
value-received foe every dollar ex
pended: a man for secretary of the
navv who knows the difference be
tween a naval decoration and a blue
ribbon from a stock show.
Past administrations and especially
the present one have frequently
changed men from one office to an
other. There ! neither excuse nor
justice to the puhlic in this practice
It follows naturally that If Mr. Hous
ton was a good secretary of agricul
ture he is not likely to make a good
secretary of the treasury. If he
knows how to euro alfalfa he Is not
likely to know how to cure a leaking
treasury.
The public, as never before. Is de
manding a business administration.
conducted i along scientific busine:
lines, and Is going to enforce that
demand at the polls by voting for
the man who promises such an admin
istration, regardless of party affilia
tions. It looks like a republican year,
but the man Is going to be the pri
mary consideration. A OTEll.
IIOOTF.ll AS COl'NTHY PRIATKR
Karly Promise Noted by Newberg
Editor Held o Have Keen Fulfilled.
PORTLAND, March 20. (To the Ed
itor.) I wish to hear further testl
mony to Mr. Hugh McNary's state
ment In the article In The Oregonlan
March 19 entitled "Hoover Always
on the Job.
During the winter of 1SSS and 1830
I had charge of the Newbcrg Graphic
as editor and publisher. During that
winter Herbert C. Hoover was at
tending school In Newbcrg. "Bert.'
as we all called him, frequently came
into the Graphic office and would
help out by setting type during the
hours he was not at school. Ills eld
er brother, "Tad" Hoover, was work
Ing regularly in the Graphic office as
compositor.
During that winter two different
traits of character were very strongly
Impressed upon me by these two
brothers. "Tad," who was under reg
ular salary, was always watching the
clock to see when quitting time would
come, and when It came at tfie first
stroke of the clock he would drop his
stick and quit, often with a word un
finished.
Not so with Bert: while Bert was
not under regular salary, no matter
what the time, ho never-quit until his
task was finished. Bert's aim In life
seemed to be a desire to lo. to accom
plish something worth while, no mat
ter what the pay. Yes. Bert was al
ways on the Job of doing something
worth while, to help others.
Yes. Bert Hoover today is on the
job. He has been evcrlHst Ingl.v on the
Job In theso recent years since 11114.
He has been on the great Job of sav
ing life, not destroying life. Ho to
day is not leaving his task unfinished,
running over the country socking
votes to make him president.
But if from my humble walk In life,
am able to sense tho trend of the
great human heart and thought of
the common peopln of these I'nited
States, who are neither "reds" or "re
actionaries," they are going to make
Herbert Hoover our next president,
becaiiso he stands and does for them.
From my viewpoint, if this Is going
to be a republican year, the republi
can party at Chicago next June will
have to get In the Hoover band wag
on. If they don't the democrats at
San Francisco will, and the great
common people In the every-day
walks of life and who dearly love
our country, no mailer what w have
called ourselves In the past, whether
republican or democrat, will make
Herbert C. Hoover president.
FRANK P. BAC.M.
PATIENT OF SI RCEOJI f.RIEES.
Woman V horn l ate Dr. Mackensle
Snved Writes Tribute.
PORTLAND. March 20. (To the Ed
itor.) The news of Dr. Kenneth A. J.
Mackenzie's death was a great shock
to me. Words cannot begin to express
how deeply grieved I am. His pass
ing nut only as a great physician and
surgeon. Lut is one of the kindest
men I ever knew, Is Indeed a great
loss.
Two years ago when I was serious
ly ill, and attar a "doctor" had done
his very best to send my soul Into the
great beyond, we called In Dr. Mac
kenzie and I placed myself In his
care, and I owe my very life to his
wonderful skill. He afterward often
spoke of that trip out In the country
through the sleet and rain and enld
something told lilin to go. I never
will forget how good and kind he was
through the lniny weeks I lay lin
gering near death, or the cheerful
words of hope he always gave me.
But I knew he was going to save my
life and lie did after a very serious
operation.
It is hard to believe that he Is
really gone and it can bo truthfully,
said that he gave his life that I, like
so many of his other patients, might
live. MRS. CHARLES CCLLEY.
CiARDEMSG.
I don my gingham workdress
And work In the early day
Weeding and planting my garden.
While my neighbor over the way
Lingers behind closed doorways.
Lest the world and his wife should
say
"Why look at Jane Brown out weed
ing."
If they did, would It 'matter, pray?
I get the sun on my shoulders, ,
I tread the earth with my feet.
Oh. the pleasure I take In gardening.
Is genuine, puce and sweet;
And when my neighbor, embellished.
Goes forth to the rrmtinee,
I think of all she Is missing.
Housed in and shut in all day.
And I bet ('scuse the slang) would
she own it
, She'd -rather get out and dig
And bathe In the sun and be comfy
As L in my gardening rig.
JANETTE MARTIN.
More Truth Than Poetry.
Bf James J. Montague,
T1II5 LIMIT.
When baker raised the price of
bread.
And butchers raised the prlca of
beef,
A lot of words we left unsaid
Including "crook" and "bilk" and
"thief." .
We merely stifled down a sigh
The things they kept upon their
Shelves
Were things we simply had to buy.
And which we couldn't make, our
selves. But when the barbers of ths land
Advance a hair-cut to a dollar
We'll take a firm, divided stand.
And make a loud and ringing holler.
We've stood for raises, goodness
knows.
On rents, and lights, and coal and
auch.
On shoes, and shirts and ties and hose.
But dollar hair-cuts are too much!
Perhaps we'll let onr hair grow long,
Like Mr. Perclval Markaya's,
And though ws sea th passing throng
Inspect us with deriding eyes.
And think that we're a poet too.
(And that's an awful thought to
harbor);
It's something that we'd rather do
Than pay a dollar lo a barber.
Or we shall take the suarar bowl.
And place It firmly on our Uome.
Like grandma did. dear kindly soul,
What time she clipped our hair,
back home.
And cut our tresses In the stylo
That In the dear departed ri.ivs.
Made all our Utile playmates smile?
Hut anyway, we'll beat that raife!
Time ( hanan,
It looks a If the allies had organ
ized themselves Into a mutual execra
tion society.
They Survived the Itlow.
George Washington, It now appears,
swatted the profiteers, hut he rnut
have done it after ho'd lost hlj war
time punch.
Not I.Ike a Rent Flcht.
The ex-crown prince of Germany Is
learning to box. A man ran t rt very
badly hurt In a boxing match.
Copyright, in.'n hv Poll Sml.t TnO
Love
Ry Grace F Hall.
Would you go with me on tha trail
That lead Into that great un
known ?
My earthly friends are few; they fall
To grasp the spirit of my tone.
And when, afraid, 1 touch a liamt
For that quick pressure that 1 crave.
They smile but never understand.
Nor sense the confidence 1 ae.
Ton are a fickle myth, they nav.
And laughingly your truth decry
As passing fancy of a day
A pleasant mirage to the eve.
But most unstHhle hong lit and sold.
As toys are bartered for, and tossed
Into the discard when they're old,
Replaced by others hen thry'ra
lost!
Will you abide? And will you take
Contenilodly that narrow groove
Where two alono a glad world make.
Enjoy, Illuminate, Improve?
If you are circumscribed In view
I'ntll a heaven you plainly see
Inhabited by only two
Then, take tho narrow trail with
me!
In Other Days.
Tivrnly-flve Wars Aao.
From The On-i.mls n of Mitrt h lMl'i
I.ate Wednesday Jtldu" Gill" it
mado an order appointing John M.
Eaan receiver of the nnnnn Slinit
Line e I'tah Northern lliiiiwav rmn
pany. subject lo approval nf t niiid
States circuit court of Wyoming.
Kvanston. Wo The fire which
broke out yesterday In the Kid Can
yon mine was exttncuishcd Imby and
2 bodies have been recovered. Tho
known dead number 61.
Portland teams fared had'y In fho
North Pacific Whist league contests
here yesterday in which teams from
Seattle, Everett. Tacoma anil Oregon
City were represented.
J. T. Tlayne was yesterday elected
school clerk to succeed t'li rk II. S.
Allen.
Ilfly Years
From Ths Oreunnlsn of Varrh T2. l7fl.
Washlnuton. General Berry. an
ex-federal officer who w;s electe-l
congressman from the third district
of Mississippi, lias nut t.kcn his nul
as lie Ik at home recovering from
wounds received In the campaign.
Tho sixth annual report of the
Portland Library association shows
hat 411 volume were aililcii. mikhiK
:1S0, and that the tntal circulation of
tho jear was 10. M7 volumes.
The republican primary meeting,
when deleitatea to the count v con
vention were chosen, passed olf qui
etly esterdny In the five city pre
cincts. A slight accident to the steamer
Ajax yesterday ai she was leavlna
he bar brought many wild rumors
and damage enough to delay her two
days for repairs.
ATTITl'UK I. in:i.n HE F.PT1VT.
Mr. Odrll Den lea Implication That
Hoover lo Not 4'andidote.
PORTLAND, March 20. (To the Kd.
Itor.) Anent my recent statement
that Mr. Hoover belittles himself by
not frankly stating his political bias,
Mr. U L. Bush In a letter printed In
Tho Oregonlon asks: "Well, suppose
Hoover Is really not a candidate, w hat
then would Friend Odell have tiro
poor devil do in order not to bellttio
himself?"
I sm free to stale that 1 have not
at any time sugKosled any require
ment from "poor devils." but. o to
my demand for enlightenment as to
Herbert Hoover's political status. I
have to say that had Mr. Huover said.
"1 am not a candidate and will not
accept a nomination," his political
status would not be subject to criti
cism or inquiry; but when he said he
was not a candidate, yet annonnced
In that connection that It was the
duty of an Amerlran to answer tho
call of his country and at tho same
time that he was an "Independent
progressive." he played tho game of
"Barkla Is wllllna." and put himself
in tho class nf MrAdoo and Bryan,
who are rereptlve candidates.
Oswald West says Hoover la a
democrat, and the Oregon Journal
says editorially that ho voted for
Wilson1, while his Intimate sponsor,
Barnes, says ho la a progressive re
publican. Thus It will be seen that
he Is a receptive candidate on lines nf
Independent progreaa Into tho Wll
sonian fold. It Is not my province to
tell what will be th attitude of the
political convention of either party; '
neither Is It .asked of Mr. Hoover. All
that is asked is a frank statement of
hla own attitude that Ills friends may
not camouflage his status by aimply
atatlng that he is an Independent pro
gressive. Progressing whenee to
wharat W. U. ODELL.
I