8 THE 31011MNU-. OllEGOMAX, MATLUD4V, AP1UL 10, 1910 fltonrinj t$goman ESTABLISHED BY HENRI L. FITTOCK. ubHshed by The Oregonlan Publishing Co.. 135 Sixth Street. Portland. Orteon. p- A. MORDEN. E. B. PIPER, Manager. t-uitor. Thr , . t v. .- n f th Arm. flated Press. The Associated Press is xcluslvely entitled to the use tor publlca ion of all news dispatches credited to it f not otherwise credited in this paper and lso the local news published herein. All Khts of republication o special dispatches erein are also reserved. absi riptlon. Rates Invariably In Adrance. (By Mail.) Pally, Sunday Included, one year $8.00 4.25 ally. Sunday included, six nipnths 'ally, Sunday Included. thrcmonths. . 2.25 'any, Sunday Included, one month 'ally, without Sunday, one year ...... 0.00 'ally, without Sunday, six months .... 8.25 ally, without Sunday, one month.... . -SO Veekly, one year LOO unday, one year 6 00 (By Carrier.) 'ally. Sunday included, one year 9.00 'ally. Sunday Included, three months.. 2.25 'ally, Sunday Included, one month .... .ja 'ally, without Sunday, one year 7-80 aily. without Sunday, three months . . l.l3 Laily. without Sunday, one month 65 How tn Romlt Bend oostoffice money trder, express or personal check on your ucai name, stamps, coin or curreiKj t owner's risk. Give postof'lce address u iull, including county and state. PonUce Kates 1 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 8 m pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages. 3 ents; 50 to 64 pages, 4 cents; 66 to 80 'ages, 6 cents; 82 to 98 pages, 6 cents, 'oreign postage, double rates. Eastern Business Office Verree ft Conlt m. Hrunswltk building, New York; Verree Conklln, Steger building. Chicago; Ver ee Conklln. Free Press building. Ee rolt. Mich. San Francisco representative, J. Bldwell. COStFOKT.TO THE MILITARISTS. The military party in Germany Vnust view with intense satisfaction Ihe situation that has followed the hort-lived revolution attempted by Jr. Kapp. Although the militarists fvere apparently defeated and forced lo withdraw from Berlin, the cabinet igainst which they rose has been iriven from office and has been suc ceeded by one in which they have i strong foothold. Having crushed he red revolt everywhere else, they ire completing the job in the Ruhr iistrict. in flagrant disregard of the Versailles treaty, which places it in '.he neutral zone. Occupation of Frankfort and Darmstadt by France as a counter- imove might have been expected to lilarm the Germans and cause them ko pause lest the allies begin a gen- leral advance. On .the contrary, it las produced sharp division of opin ion among the allies and has proved khat France alone is disposed to take military measures for enforcement lof the treaty. The Ruhr district ad joins the British and Belgian areas iof the occupied territory, but the British and Belgian forces do not move to expel the German forces which are crushing the workmen's revolt in approved Hun fashion. The l'"rench have advanced into territory far from the scene of Germany's of fense and free from disturbance. They could move to drive the Ger mans from the Ruhr basin only by marching past the front held by the lAmericans. British and Belgians. If they took this step, they would only accentuate the disagreement with their allies and their own isolation as the only power that is Inclined to hold Germany to the treaty. In hardly any respect has Ger many lived up to the treaty. The two attacks on Riga, the refusal to withdraw from the Baltic, the sink ing of the fleet at Scapa Flow and the scheme for annexation of Aus tria, all were insolent breaches of it. Only 200 field' guns were to have teen retained, but there are 12,000, all airplanes were to have been sur rendered or destroyed, but 6000 re main and more are being made; the army was to have been reduced to 200,000 men within three months after the treaty became effective, but that period has elapsed and there are about a million men in various organizations, some of them thinly disguised as police; the promised de livery of coal to the allies has not been made. Though so weakened as to be powerless for aggression at present, Germany is as militarist as before the collapse of its army in 1918, and only needs time and a new combina tion of forces to attack the peace of Europe again. But the United States, Britain and Italy have de mobilized, they are impatient to re new 'trade, and the two latter na tions drew unwilling France into a plan of financial aid to the enemy. When France relies on military force as the "only security against another invasion. President Wilson says it it. in the hands of the militarists. When the Pan-Germans were speculating on the outcome of the war they used to comfort themselves with the belief that at the worst it would be a draw. As they consider Germany's condition and compare it with that of the allies, no longer presenting a united front, they may reasonably console themselves with the thought that the outcome is not much worse than a draw. AN CN-AMERICAS REASOX. Men who oppose universal mili tary training condemn it as an un American, yet they resort to this argument, which was made in tile house by Representative Smith of Illinois: A nation trained for war Invites war. It Is futile to Bt-y our people would be trained for defense only. We ought to know our selves better than that. . The individual trained and powerful for defense who thinks he can lick anyone is the one who takes offense when none is meant and gets into needless fights. Nations are not so different. It comes to this, then: That the American people can trust them selves to govern themselves, to elect their president, congress, governors, legislatures and other officials, but they cannot trust themselves with training for defense against a foreign enemy, lest they use that training for a war of aggression. By the same rule no man should learn how to use his fists in resisting the attack of a ruffian lest he become a town bully and use his skill in punching inof fensive citizens; no man should have a revolver to protect his house against burglars lest he be seized with bloodlust and shoot his neigh bor. American history has proved that an essential quality of successful democracy is self-control. On many occasions when elections have been won by small majorities, or by plur alities which were actually minori ties, we have proved our self-control by peaceful submission of the mi nority to transrer ot tne government to the majority. Yet, we are told. sve dare not trust ourselves with a citizenship trained to fight lest the consciousness that we" knew how to fight should overcome our self-control and should start us on a mad career of military conquest. It is not advocates of military training who are un-American, but those who resort to such arguments In opposing it. Their reasoning tm- peaches the fitness of the American people for self-government. Followed to Its logical conclusion. It would end with a proposal, to hire a kaiser to rule over us. As the kaiser would surely enforqe not only compulsory training-, but compulsory. service, and then indulge in a war, the self-styled anti-militarists would arrive at the very destination - which they most wish to avoid. ' --: LET GEORGE DO slT. The public may not, bfit it ought to be. edified by the ball-tossing between the " state public service commission,, and the Portland city council. Yesterday the issue of the Portland, .street . railway's . financial plight was in the hands of one body; today It Is'ih'the hands of the other; tomorrow it will be back again whence it started. . Relief for the street railway com pany is a red-hot object' to handle, politically, and the public has made it so. Two years ago Portland was in a state of excitement, manufac tured and otherwise, over an advance in fare from 5 -to 6 cents, ordered by the. public . service commission. It did not want a 6-cent fare, s It heaped its anger upon'the head of the public service commissioner who was a candidate for re-election. ' The whole state joined" in the clamor for his defeat and he was defeated by a -man .wholly unknown and whose sole recommendation for the office was the .slogan that 6 cents is too much for a 5-cent ride. . . Thus 'the state acquired a commis sioner who, -by the strongest sort of inference, was committed to a re storation of the 5-cent fare. The car riders friend is and has been on the job- but the car rider continues to pay 6 cents. . The slogan is now changed.' as we read the majority report of the commission, which this commission signed. It is now: Six cents is too little to pay for an 8-cent ride, but the Portland city council ought to be the one to fix things right. What official, in the light of this historic incident, would not hesitate to abet the desire of the streetcar company for the right to live? The public service commissioner, whose district includes Multnomah county, is a candidate for re-election this fall. He knows and everybody else knows that there are other unknows who would be glad to slip into a remunerative office on the vehicle of a seductive slogan. Likewise in Portland two or three city commis sioners will be up for re-election this fall. They cannot raise the fare, but they are invited to provide other .re lief for the company. Who wants to tackle such a thing with hungry office seekers lined up six deep along the side lines? We sometimes complain that pub lic officials do not exhibit courage. But what can we expect when the public is led away, from facts and common sense by sensational clamor and the unfulfillable promises that go with itch for office. A REVOLT AGAINST CONSERVATISM, The outlaw railroad strike which is spreading like a forest fire from Chicago to all the chief railroad cen ters Is an open rebellion of the radi cals against the conservative meth ods of the brotherhoods and against the delay in readjustmeint of wages which has continued since last August The railroad administration staved off decision until the roads had been handed back to their owners, who are now called upon to deal with the wage question while they wrestle with all the difficulties incident to reorganization of the property which the government has scrambled. The companies are ready to use the labor adjustment machinery established by the Cummins-Esch bill, but after their long wait the radicals evidently want no more of such methods, and have resolved ton direct action. Disappointment at their failure to force adoption of the Plumb plan of government ownership doubtless also animates the radicals. They were ready to strike in order to coerce congress into its adoption, but were with difficulty restrained by the brotherhood leaders. They have now seen their wishes ignored by revival of private operation. To their minds the brotherhoods have failed, both in getting wages raised and in getting the Plumb plan adopted. They strike for more ' wages, to punish the brotherhoods, and to deal a blow at private 'operation. The inspiration of this strike Is evidently the same as that of the strikes by water-front workers at New York and by the printers and pressmen of that and other cities in violation of collective bargains made by their unions. Their purpose was to deal a blow at "capitalism," to Discredit the system of collective bargains which has strengthened tht craft unions in their relations with employers, to disrupt those unions and to gather their members Into the "one big union," whose aim is revolution. If the present strike should succeed, it would wreck the strongest and most conservative of the old unions, though they have been pushed far on the road of radi calism by the restless, aggressive spirits among their members. A con dition may arise far more serious than was created by the strike of 1894, for a revolutionary spirit is abroad and foreign revolutionists seize on all such disturbances to un dermine what they regard as the greatest capitalist government in the world. lhis strike is a warning against interminable delay in settling labor disputes. The boards established by the railroad law and those proposed by the industrial conference will fail unless they give prompt decisions. The French government has intrO' duced an arbitration bill in parlia ment which requires decisions in in dividual' disputes within 48 hours of their submission. The brotherhoods are bound to fight the strike, from motives both ot principle and self-interest, . They are under contract on behalf of their members to continue work at cer tain terms tor a specified time, and they are called upon to maintain their reputation for fidelity to this collective bargain. They owe their high standing in the eyes of railroad managers to the fact that they have kept their bargains and have been a powerrui agency in preventing strikes. If they should fail on this occasion, the disposition of managers to deal with them would be lessened, they would lose their mutinous mem bers to new, radical organizations, and the mutinous spirit would spread among their remaining members. The quest of the American Library association and the. National Marine league for a list of the "ten best books" written about the sea will be' hampered by lack of first-class ma terial rather than by embarrassment of riches from which to choose. 'We will never have a permanently established and sturdy American marine," says a letter issued by the marine league. "until the people 1 themselves become 'ship-minded. But the curious fact remains that from the point of view of authorship, this most romantic vocation has been practically sterile as a source of In spiration. In our palmiest seafaring days there was dearth of "ship minded" writers whose work would be suitable now for purposes of marine propaganda. Dana gave a faithful picture of conditions nearly a century ago, but these have changed. London's "Sea Wolf would hardly cause an American youth to repeat his experience, and tales of naval heroism are obviously not what the league is seeking. It may yet be necessary for the league to offer a subsidy for new aspiring au thors to take up the subject nearest its heart and this, as is well known. is a dubious method. Ten really good sea books probably would ex haust the available supply. SPARROWS AS BIRDS OF FRET. The fair-minded person who will think over the problem of the high cost of living will reach the conclu sion that the corner grocer is not the one who is making the extrava gant profits, if extravagant profits are made. In this spendthrift age. excessive returns invariably haVe out ward signs, such as fine automobiles. furs, diamonds and a box at the theater. The corner grocer is not noted for the flaunting of his gains. He even takes off Ms coat and wraps up soap and other lowly articles for customers, which is entirely beneath the dignity of a man of wealth. Yet several suburban grocers in Portland were indicted recently on a charge of profiteering. They had added one or two cents a pound to the advisory fair price fixed by a local committee. If this charge of profiteering was true they were but sparrows in the fight for plun der. But the great power and authority of the government were di rected against them. One case was brought to trial. The accused merchant demonstrated that the incidents of his business, including suburban location, exten sion of credit, and general cost of operation, made it impossible for him to make a profit at the so-called "fair prjce." He was promptly acquitted. The fanfare of a great govern ment campaign against profiteers has now died out,, but there is one among the accused who writes a let ter today pointing out that he too was able to prove the unfairness of the "fair'pricV" But his-case was oismissed. Notwithstanding, his busi ness has been virtually ruined by the reputation acquired through an unproved and untried charge. If profiteering is In fact the main cause of the high cost of living It undoubtedly is not to be uncovered here and there among small retailers. The guilt .rests with the large dis tributors of essential products or the controllers of vast resources. To date, in this locality, the great gun ning of the government for profiteers has winged a few innocent sparrows but not one feather from a bird of prey is shown as trophy. HOOVER ON THE FOOD FROBLEM. With the world crying for food, with food control near its end in the United States, with the farmer faced by high prices for all that he consumes,, by high wages for scarce labor, by demoralized transportation and other troubles, politicians come forward with schemes of relief -in hope of winning the farmer's vote. Herbert Hoover also discusses them in the Saturday Evening Post, but there is no suggestion of the poli tician in his handling of the subject. Fortified with the great fund of in formation which he acquired as food administrator, he approaches It as an engineer attacks - an involved problem and analyzes It in all its bearings. But he reveals none of the limitations of the engineer. He branches out into the broad field of the progressive statesman and shows that the solution of the farmer's problem, which is the food problem. is closely ' connected with almost every other subject of current dis cussion, eVen to the size of the navy. Most men who write or talk on this subject try to fasten responsibility on some particular class of raeiv. or some interest, but Hoover has chosen no culprit in advance. With- his mastery of economics he seeks out causes, then infuses human sym pathy into the study in search of means to remove them. First among the facts producing the present situation he places in flation and shortage of world pro duction. The former has been far less in the United States than in other countries and he shows a close parallel between- it and the rise of prices, while production has In creased so slightly as not to justify it. Of expansion of bank credits he sas: "There are the strongest ob jections to it since the armistice waj signed." The United States has pro duced a surplus of nearly all impor tant food commodities except sugar, and our shortage has been caused by the drain of exports to countries of short production. Therefore the world shortage has affected our prices. Hence the wholesale price of 90 per cent of our food is fixed mostly by world conditions, only remotely by cost of production. . Between the price received by the farmer and that paid by the consumer there are two margins, one of which is the cost of placing produce ?n tHe hand of the- wholesaler, the other that of delivering it to the consumer. From the wholesale price, fixed in the world market, is deducted the first margin in paying the farmer: to it is added the second margin arriving at the consumer's price. To reduction of these margins we must mainly look for higher prices for the farmer, lower prices to the consumer. Mr. Hoover says that the food administration established that the margins between farmer and wholesaler "are, even In normal times, the highest in any civilized state fully 25 per cent higher than in most European countries" and. during the whcle period of the war this margin widened, though under food control the farmer's index price moved up 25 points and the whole saler's only six points. The margin between wholesaler and consumer also "has widened out to an extrava gant degree." But Hoover does not propose to indict as criminals the men who share these margins among them, for he says the margins "are i made up of a necessary chain of charges for transport, storage, manu facture and distribution." He con tinues: These margins, starting from the un duly high expenses of a faulty syvtem. have Increased not only legitimately, due to Increased transportation, labor, rent, taxes and Increased interest on the large capital reauired. but they have, except to Increased transportation, labor, 'rent during the period of control, increased unduly beyond those necessities. The middlemen can protect them selves from falling prices, for if there is no profit in sight they can quit, while the farmer with his crop in the ground cannot quit. The middlemen have Beveral turnovers In the year, the farmer only one. They can re sist curtailment of the margin, but the farmer cannot resist reduction of his price. Then the hope of both farmer and consumer rests In re ducing the margin between the price which one receives and the other pays. Consideration of the manner In which this may be done carries Mr. Hoover over the whole field of economics and even that of foreign policy. He shows the broad scope of his study and his complete mas tery of the subject. The excess profits tax Is justified as a war meas ure, but should have been repealed when control was abandoned, "for it not only increases the margin be tween the farmer and consumer but tends to come out of the farmer in large degree." The income tax on earned incomes "tends In certain cases to be passed on to the con sumer or deducted from the farmer." It should be reduced, while the tax on unearned incomes should be In creased. He would increase and re vise inheritance taxes. We may need consumption taxes, which should be levied on non-essentials In order to discourage luxury and extravagance, but "more constructive than increas ing taxes is to take a holiday on gov ernmental expenditures and relieve the taxpayer generally." His plan of improved transporta tion does not stop with increased car supply .and Improved terminals for the railroads. It extends to improve ment of the waterways from the Atlantic to the great lakes by way of the St. Lawrence river, to admit sea-going vessels to the head of the lakes. This would save 5 or 6 cents a 'bushel on wheat for the benefit of the farmer. Refrigerator cars. stockyards and elevators should be treated as public utilities, since they become private monopolies, which stifle free competition. He would regulate, but not nationalize, all busi ness concerns which manufacture or store food, where the quantity han dled exceeds a certain proportion With a view to reduction of specula tion and profiteering, he would In vestigate In order to determine whether a system of centraj markets would not afford great help. He would encourage co-operative mar keting by farmers and co-operative distribution by consumers. The balance between agriculture and in dustry must be restored or we shall become dependent on overseas mar kets for food, he says. From this necessity grew the great naval arma ments, fierce competition for mar kets and the war. Attorney-General Palmer was the only democrat to campaign for the presidency In Michigan, and he fin ished at the bottom of the list. The Honorable A. Mitchell would better confine his campaigning to long distance shots against the profiteers An automobile that can take front and rear steps from a street car is going some," as also is a streetcar chasing an auto and knocking it twenty-five feet away. Such were incidents of city life a day or two ago. Will R. King, perennial political trouble maker for the warhorses. has jumped into the rins- aeain. What Will King does not knw in democratic .politics is not necessary to be learned. Chaplin might film that encounter with his wife's manager and present something really thrilling. People would enjoy it, no matter what they thought of a man whose wife needs a manager. According to Mr. Vanderlip. labor is fully employed at the highest wages ever known and production la only 60 per cent. Nobody seems to know who is "soldiering," but there it is! Senator Thomas wants a tax of 100 per cent put on political con tributions of more than $100. We're for it, if he will tax campaign cigars double. "Fever of politics begins to spread," says a headline. No amount of suffering from this disease seems to make a man immune to another attack. "Pifssyfoot" Johnson Is reported to be on his way back to America. Must have decided he- could keep busier in New York than in London. Croker is a wise politician if he is getting old. He thinks there Is no "strongest" democrat, though Bryan nearly fills the bill. Bootlegging and moonshining seem to be crimes only to officials and those who are caught, in popular comprehension. Now San Francisco is In danger of losing the democratic national con vention to Oakland. We congratu late 'em both. Klamath Falls barbers who raised the price of haircuts to 75 cents put too high a valuation on their con versation. That Poland China hog that sold for $40,000 in Iowa the other day needs and will have a high-priced valet. And while Chief Jenkins is about it, he might instruct his new police men in the meaning of the word tact. The prince of Wales has started for Honolulu, where they'll show him a thing or two. Shake hands with Commissioner Pier, who does not care to run for mayor. Signs of spring at the Kelly Butte rock pile mostly are the new ar rivals. The strike in Chicago has reached the shooting stage and soon will be over. BfSlXESS 1UKT without CAVSK Grocer's Name Damaged Without Warrant by Profiteering Chance. PORTLAND, April 9. (To the Edi tor.) A couple of months ago when as an incident to political propaganda, I in common with several other gro cers, was indicted on the charge of violating the Lever food control act by selling sugar at 14 or 14 cents a pound, I was honored by heavy headlines in certain afternoon papers, putting me before the community as a "profiteer." When the United States district attorney, after a Jury of responsible citizens on the trial of one of my competitors for selling sugar at 15 cents a pound hardly took time to file out ol tne court room before registering their em phatic disapproval of the prosecution, dismissed the cam against me with out going to trial, it was apparently not so interesting a news item. The net result to me is this: After a long and. I trust, honor able life In this community, and after year of work to build up a good name as a citizen and business man. was indicted, as I will herinafter show, under the most outrageous cir- cumstances. The Dubllc. or that portion of It which had dealt with me. deceived by the headlines referred to. assuming the good faith of the politicians in volved to be more specific, I refer to Attorney-General Palmer to a large extent stopped dealing with me. and I was heavily and irreparably damaged. One or two poor devils who could not afford to employ counsel, pleaded guilty and took a fine of $50. My own self respect forbade me to avail myself of this cheap way out of it, and I was compelled, in defending myself against a shameful prosecu tion, to go to heavy expense. The government has finally con cluded that It cannot get a reputable citizen to vote for conviction on the indictment, but the public and my former customers do not know this. and the" law, I am Informed, gives me no recourse whatsoever to recoup either for the damage to my reputa tion or the Injury to my business. The indictment against me was, as indicated, for selling sugar -at an "un reasonable and excessive profit," The sugar which I sold in one-pound packages at 14 cents cost me in 100 pound sacks 11 Vi cents. The indict ment said that a fair price was 13 cents, and some genius figured out that that being true. 14 cents was an exorbitant price. Any business man, or saphead, for that matter knows groceryman has to pay rent, em ploy clerks, run delivery wagons, ex tend credit, pay taxes and incur a hundred items of expense, which make it impossible fo.r him to do business at an expense of less than 20 per cent. A school boy in the fifth grade can figure therefore, that instead of making an -exorbitant pro fit, the fact is that I could not sell sugar at 14 cents and come out even when allowance is made for the time consumed in weighing it out In one pound bags, and the shrinkage in cidental to that process If it is con ducted by one desirous of giving full and lair weight. In fact, 1 made the offer that if any honorable accountant or business man in the city of Portland, after an ex amination of ray books and affairs would say that I could sell sugar at 13 cents and make any profit, leaving out of consideration whether reason able or unreasonable, tor that mat ter, I would plead guilty; but the offer, of course, was not accepted tne point. was, the word had gone forth from Washington that scape goats were needed. The howl justifiable for that matter about high prices required, for the benefit of the democratic party, the immo lation of victims, and a few had to be picked in each jurisdiction. I had the honor of being selected here as a small- target not likely to give trouble and yet qualified' to afford the necessary and desired publicity. As I have said at the outset, they tell me I have no recourse, but I ask you as the Oregonlan at least to as sist me in putting the facts before my! fellow Americans in an appeal to their conscience and sense of justice as to whether or not they wish to continue in power a party capable of so mean and contemptible a method of securing publicity at the expense of the good name of the least of its citizens. A. W. ANDERSON, 808 E., Broadway. WHY TEACHERS LEAVE SCHOOLS Social Isolation In Small Districts Is Main Cause, Says One. PORTLAND, April 9. (To the Ed itor.) There has been an expenditure of much printer's ink during the last year or more as regards salaries for teachers and the peculiar, and in some respects alarming, lack of teachers throughout various states. Theories economic, political and oth erwise have been brought forth to show the reason for the situation but if the theorists and the general public were not so easily satisfied with the obvious they might have discerned that one of the fundamental reasons for the lack of teachers is the fact that women are beginning to realize that the teacher's life, as conditions exist today, differs but lit tle from the monastic life; that the social isolation which the modern teacher must suffer has made the profession almost unbearable to nor mal adult women of some indepen dence of thought and intelligence of observation. In fine, the teacher is associated with women and children only; her contact is with the Juvenile and tha immature, and, while much rhetoric might be employed in speaking of the great opportunities for good in influencing the lives of the young, et cetera, one must concede that the situation is highly unnatural and so cially undesirable. Things would not be so bad if teachers had social di versions outside of business hours, that is if they had ways of meet ing adult men and women of their own station; but any discerning teacher knows how difficult it is to meet the adult people of a community. The problem for the city teacher has been solved to some extent by means of the parent-teachers' leagues and various clubs organized for out side study and recreation, but even in a city the theaters, libraries and churches are the chief means which the non-resident teacher has for knowing "how the other half lives." In small town communities the teacher's life is unspeakably monot onous and unnatural. There are very few theaters, a tiny library perhaps, while chances for belonging to com munity clubs are scarce indeed. Par ents furnish the children and the taxes which employ the teachers and make up the great publ!j school sys tem, but beyond this they do not go. This is not a complaint against par ents and taxpayers. They have bur dens enough. God knows, but those who give any thought to the ques tion must admit that an adverse so cial condition has resulted from Iso lating a great number of women in one profession. To be sure, nurses and nuns are socially isolated, but the nurse is usually far more Inter ested in her profession than ths teacher is in hers, while the nun has the very definite consolation of her church. - Before we rake the taxpayer over the coals for falling to pay the teacher an .adequate wage It might be well for the professors of sociol ogy, "who very often hit the truth, to consult some of the many women who are forsaking the schoolroom and find out whether they are leaving for dol lars only. FORMER TEACHER. Those Who Ccme and Go. "The Metolius river rose four feet when we had the big snow In Decem ber and it is said that no one ever heard of the river doing a thing like that before, as the river apparently stands at the same level all the time," says Pat Mahaffey. banker of Bend, who Is In town on business. "The Metolius comes out of the ground at the base of Black butte. The snow, or dinarily, would sink into the ground and feed various springs, but the ground was frozen in December, so instead of melting and saturating the soil, the snow water ran into the river without the ground getting the bene fit," The Metolius was formerly a I great stream for salmon and before the days of the white man the salmon used to go there to spawn and they died in such quantities along the banks that the odor could be noticed half a mile away. Metolius is a romantic sounding name, but in "Injun" it means "stinking fish." "Americans want only calfskin and kid shoes," says Josph Combs, a shoe salesman at the Imperial. "There is plenty of split cowskin shoes which can be bought considerably cheaper, but the Americans want the best, and therefore they must pay the highest prices. There are no kids raised in America to any extentr whereas In Europe the milk goat is the main source of the milk supply. The Eu ropeans raise the kid and then slaugh ter it, selling the hide. The goats raised in this country are generally herded In a band within a barbed wire fence enclosure. The goats run against the wire and receive cuts which leave scars. When the pelt is taken, the marks of the barbed wire -show in the pelt and who wants a shoe gashed ike that?" Shoes, declares Mr. Combs, will go still higher In price, albeit there is some slackening in the buy ing at present. P. J. Stadleman, who is the "Viayor of The Dalles, is at the Imperial. A former mayor of that city received communication from the local sorosls inquiring what the club coAld do to aid in beautifying the town. The mayor -secured a list of members of the club and devoted a Sunday to a personal investigation. Then he wrote a list of suggestions to the club. He suggested what each member shouTd do to aid in the beautif ication. One was advised to repair the sidewalk. another to clean up the premises, an other was Informed that some paint wouldn t hurt. The communication, when read at the club meeting, was somewhat of a bombshell, but the members were game and the sugges tions were carried out, but that mayor did not run for office the Becond time. The storm did not do as much damage to the fruit trees as was feared at first, and there will be a pretty good crop," predicts W. F. Drafter, the veteran chief clerk of the house of representatives, who be tween sessions of the legislature la a fruit buyer. "There wiH not be a large amount of dried loganberries on the market this year," says Mr. Dra- ger, ror the reason that they would cost the consumer about a dollar a pound. From five and a half to six pounds of fresh' berries -are needed for a pound of dried berries, and the price of the fresh berries will be about 12 cents a pound this year." The first pollenation weather thus far around Roseburg was Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, says Mr. Drager. There is talk of establishing a municipal power plant at Roseburg, according to Albert Abrama. former state senator from that county, who was In Portland yesterday. The sug gestion Is to use as a power site Whistler's Bend, which is ten miles from Roseburg, where the river makes sweep In horseshoe formation and at the narrowest point the land is only about 600 feet wide. There would be a fall of about 40 feet. If a 15-foot dam were built. Roseburg already has a privately owned ppwer plant, which was pot permitted to raise its rates. Mr. Abrama Is the county manager for Senator Hiram W. Johnson In Doug las county and is in the city to at tend a conference. A dealer in hardware and a mem ber of the board of directors of the Boise chamber of commerce is W. W. Northrop, who arrived at the Hotel Portland yesterday with Mrs. North rop. The people of Boise are just now Interested in trying to have the government send Invalid soldiers to the old Boise barracks and convert the buildings Into a toospital for con valescents. A long time ago the gar rlson at Boise was an Important In' stitutlon, those being the days when the Indians occasionally became hos tile, but with the extermination of the Indians the,, barracks became sort of non-essential. . Boise. Idaho, is generally represent ed at the Hotel Portland. For exam ple, there is Charles F. Adams of the Idaho Candy company, a concern which wouldn't have much trouble ob taining raw material, since tons and tons of sugar are being stored in Idaho. Then there is K. M. Rogers. who is a real estate operator and who finds that Boise Is now a good selling proposition. Still another Boise hus tler la L. H. Kllhgensmith, who is buyer for the Falk Wholesale com pany, a concern which was founded back in the days when the principal industry was selling supplies to the miners. . There was 18 inches Of snow In Island City Sunday night when Ed E. Kiddle, state highway commis sioner, arrived at his home town. When he left for Portland the snow had disappeared. Mr. Kiddle says that the depth of snow was unusual for this time of year and it was so light that it ran off quickly. Mr. Kiddle will attend a road meeting of the Chamber of Commerce at McMlnn ville Monday and later he and Com missioner Booth will make a short survey trip through Benton and Polk counties. , For a generation W. P. McKean has been selling gents' furnishings at Walla Walla, Wash. That business I has been good is demonstrated by the fact that Mr. and Mrs. McKean are now returning home from a visit to southerh California, that particular part of the country having an Irre sistible attraction for all prosperous Walla Walla people. The McKeans are registered at the Hotel Washing ton en route. ' Chairman of the Norwegian Bank of Commerce at Christian is G. M. Byrd, who is an arrival at the Multno mah. Mr. Byrd is here to settle up his shipping interests, for when the war was on he was having ships built at Olympia and Seattle. Yester day he took time .enough to flit over the Columbia highway. Skipper A. M. Panzie. from Oakland inner harbor. Is at the Multnomah and will soon return to sea. During the war Captain Panzie was taking ves sels of the emergency ship corpora tion through the war zone. On one of these occasions the enemy "got" his boat but they didn't quite get the captain. Georgia Is all well enough in its way. but Oregon is more attractive. a fact which induced J. H. Lockett to leave the south and come west. Mr. Lockett is now located at Salem and came to . the Hotel Washington yesterday to meet his wife, who had I arrived from Georgia. j CITY'S LIABILITIES ALWAYS MET Single Tax Abandoned In Vancouver bat Obligations Never Defaulted. VANCOUVER, B. C. April 8. (To the Editor.) I have no doubt that The Oregonlan has every wish to be fair to other cities than your own and I would accordingly ask you to be good enough to publish a correc tion with regard to facts stated in an editorial of last Sunday on the question of single tax. The facts on which the article was based have no connection whatever with the city of Vancouver, B. C. but obviously refer to the municipality of fcouth Vancouver. The city of Van couver, the commercial center of Brit ish Columbia, has never been unable to meet its liabilities as they have fallen due, nor has It found It neces sary to seek assistance from the pro vincial government. The municipality of. South Vancou ver Is a suburban district adjoining Vancouver, and the facts stated in your article are. to the best of my knowledge, correct so far as It is con cerned. I feel that this is a matter which should be made clear at this time when the bonds of Canadian cities are being widely advertised for sale in Oregon. I may say, however, that I entirely agree with your position as to the impracticability of the single tax sys tem, and this system has been aban doned as unworkable not only in South Vancouver but also In the city of Vancouver. C. BOILEAU REID, Barrister and Solicitor. The Oregonian's Information was based on an article in an eastern financial journal which quoted from the report of the American Bankers' association made after an inquiry by the savings bank section into the financial condition of Canadian cities. This report as printed In the journal referred to named Vancouver, not South Vancouver doubtless through error in transcribing as the subject of that particular inquiry. Turning: to Rlarht in Canada. CARLTON. Or., April 6. (To the Editor.) The remarks in the editorial columns of The Oregonlan regarding the Canadian "rule of the road." with particular reference to British Colum bia, are correct only as far as British Columbia is concerned. . All other provinces follow the rule of turning to the right, unless Prince Edward Island adheres to British "precedent." I cannot say for certain whether she does. With all the rest of Canada "turn ng to the right," it may not be as dif ficult as it might seem to convert British Columbia, It is up to the States to do it. however. The moun tains Isolate British Columbia from the other Canadian provinces, as far as tourist travel by automobile is con cerned, and the only practical route through from west- to east at present is south of the 49th parallel. LESLIE J. BENNETT. Treaty Text and Reservations. KALAMA, Wash., April 8. (To the Editor.) Could you please give me ths peace terms and the republican reservations, or advise me as to where I could get them? RALPH HARFOLE. The entire treaty Is published in the World Almanac for 1920. The al manac may be purchased of booksell ers or consulted at almost any public library. The Lodge reservations are published on page 4915 of the Con gressional Record for March 19, 1920. If the Record is not to be found in your public library or at the office of your local newspaper, send 10 cents to the Public Printer. Washington, D. C. for copy of ths date herein given. Investigation of Oil Signs. ST. PAUL, Or.. April 8. (To the Editor.) Every year, as soon as the fall rains begin there appears an oily substance on the water. My father says he has noticed this for years, but never gave it any thought imtil they began to talk of boring for oil about three miles from here and so we began to wonder if this might be an indication of Oil. Would it be possible to send a sample and have it analyzed, if so, where? SUBSCRIBER. Write to the Oregon bureau of mines and geology, 417 Oregon build ing, Portland. Tax Exemption of Veteran's Widow. CASTLE ROCK, Wash.. April 8. (To the Editor.) Please Inform me what the tax exemption of a widow of a civil war veteran is, or how much property can she hold that is exempt from state and county taxes. H. A. TYRRELL. Washington grants an of $300 in such cases. exemption Untold Wealth Does Not Tempt There are odd callings accepted by folks as their life work. For example, there is the vocation of safe-breaker. The term summons the flicker of a dark lantern, the muffled thud of the "soup," the trained, sensitive ear bent to the infinitesimal click of the combina tion and the sequel of gray walls, gray garb and gray imprison ment. Not always, friend go slow." In Portland lives a man whose calling is cracking safes, an h&nest and upright professional, whose dexterity is worth a great deal to the world of affairs. Read of him in De Witt Harry's special Sunday story. , MEASURING "PEP" OF TIRED BUSINESS GIRL. Have you marked that period of the day's toil when the nerves show signs of wear, the muscles are jaded, and the brain protests that it is weary and ready to take a recess ? That's fatigue. The scientists measure it as the soda clerk measures a fizz. And the knowledge so gained forms an asset in the business world a tip of how far we may go with our tasks ere the sight draft on nature is paid in full. In the Sunday issue with illustrations. GIRL CANDIDATES FOR OLYMPIC SWIM. At Antwerp, where but lately the German guns commanded, this summer will be held the Olympic games. Lithe, clean-lined bodies, white arms flashing to the stroke that propels, will vie for world achievement in swimming. Many American girls are entered as candidates in the aquatic classics, and a story in the Sunday issue offers you their pictures, their records and a general chat about their capa bilities as water nymphs who are to uphold the honor of their country, f "BILLION-DOLLAR" BEAUTY CHORUS Let none decry their motives, for the daring, darling deed was done in the name of sweet charity but suffice it to observe that the recent appearance of a coterie of New York's most charming and wealthy debutantes in the role of chorus girls created a riot in the public interest. And they do say, the veterans of the front row, that none of the .pro fessional beauties of the stage out-vied these pretty tyros in tights. A story about it all is in the Sunday issue, sponsored by Helen Hoffman. ,. VICTOR BRENNER, PEASANT BOY, TELLS OF HIS STRUG GLES Victor Brenner's father was a blacksmith. Brenner is Amer ica's foremost sculptor. The head of Lincoln on the penny is his work. He was Russian born an emigrant. If you will turn to Brenner's own story in the magazine section of the Sunday paper you will learn how much the life of Lincoln became interwoven with the career of the young Russian artist and idealist. For Lin coln, to the foreigner, is essentially the soul of the American republic, declares Victor Brenner. All the News of All the World THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN More Truth Than Poetry. By Juki J. Hoatagne. THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE AT. Through the ant Is alleged to be wise. He wears himself down to a splinter Collecting the household supplies His family needs for the winter. All summer he rushes, around Excitedly searching foryforage. Which he toilfully drags under ground And carefully places in storage. The grasshopper rates as a fool. And yet In the torridest weather He lolls where the shadows are cool For hours and hours together. What terrors has winter for him. Let others take thought for the morrow. And, filled with content to the brim. He sings away trouble and sorrow. The ant, w are frequently told. Keeps hearty and warm through the blizzard. While the grasshopper dies with the cold That freezes "his ill-nourished giz zard. But while we've no reason to doubt That the ants are remarkably clever. The grasshoppers always come out In the spring, just as plenty as ever. xne moral, we re sorry to say. (You may differ a much as you may with it Seems to teach us that loafing will pay If the loafer can just get away with it. As Well the Railroads. Spring couldn't have been any longer overdue if the government had had control of the weather. . Real Persuading. The best propaganda for meat sav ing week Is the butcher's price list, ' (Copyright, 19-JO. by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Force. By Grace K. Hall. How ort I pause and wonder what Is force? Within my hand alone no power lies. Nor can I reason wisely to its source, ' Nor its strange habits fully analyze: And, tracing to the brain this motive power, I am more baffled still with each queer thought, -Amazed at handiwork that hour by hour By toiling atoms on the earth Is wrought. The silent force that never waits nor rests, -The thrust of lifo that hurries men along. The urge of impulse that forever wrests. Its harvest from our work the bit of song. The etory. or the artist's painted dream Accomplishment of artisan or seer, What is the force within each vital scheme. What is the spark that warms to action here? Because of what I see but fail to know, A tiny flame of hope burns clear and bright! We have no source of ppwer here below Beyond this truth my reason gives no light. You too may go that far and quite believe. If grief be yours, this feeble-ray may guide. For simple logic scarcely can deceive. Though strange and complex creeds we may deride. In Other Days. Twenty-five Yearn A go. From The Oregonlan of ADril 1ft. 1R95. James D. Yeomans, one of the five interstate commerce commissioners, accompained by Secretary E. A. Mose ley of the commission, arrived here yesterday, to hear grain-rate cases. The presbytery of Portland assem bled last night at Calvary Presbyte rian church for a two-day session. W. G. Hunter, member of the state board of equalization, is engaged in setting out 5000 prune trees in the grand Ronde. . . . The town of Florence, a place of about 350 population, at the recent election selected a complete adminis tration of women, though no women were allowed to vote. Assessor Greenleaf states that the enumerators named to take the cen sus have about completed their' task and asks that any who think their names have been omitted to notify his office.