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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1920)
10, TTIE 3IOKMXG OREGOXIAX, WEDNESDAY, APRIL ' 14; 19S0 of the efficiency that is possible under private operation and that "60 per I cent is about the best we can do." Kstablished BI HENRY L. FlTTOCK. I Asked whether there was "any fun damental reason for this deficiency," he said: "The task is too colossal." But when asked whether, assuming that all government vessels were turned over to private interests, our shipbuilders would be able to com pete with foreign shipbuilders and our shipowners would be able to com pete with foreign shipowners, he re plied: "I answer with strong per sonal conviction both questions in the affirmative." " Experience with public operation of ships leads to the same conclu sion as that w ith public operation of railroads, that" it is more costly, less efficient and gives worse service than private operation. There is need of public regulation to protect the public Interest, especially to pre vent ships from drifting away to for eign flags, but that end can be best served by freeing ships from many of the restrictions which now ham per them and by putting them in the best position to compete with those of other nations. Published by The Oregonian Publishing Co.. 135 Plxth Street, yoruanu, urrgu.i. C. A. MORDKN. E. B. P1VER. Manaeer. kMlJor. Tbe Oregonian 1 a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated Press exclusively entitled to the use for publica tion of ail news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. 5 Subscription Rates Invariably in Advance. (By MaiL) Tally, Sunday included, one year . Ially. Sunday lncluilea, six monuia . . . rally, Sunday Included, three months. . tally, Sunday Included, one month ... lailv, without Sunday, one year I.attv, without Sunday, six months . .. . rally, without Sunday, one month "Weekly, one year - Sunday, one year (By Carrier.) Pally. Sunday Included, one year tally. Sunday included, three months.. Iailv, Sunday Included, one month . . . . taJl v, without Sunday, one year ...... Dally, without Sunday, three months .. Lally, without Sunday, one month How to Remit Send postofflce money order, express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owners rink. Give postofflce address in full, including county and state. FootHge Rate 1 to 18 pases. 1 rent: IS to pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3 cnt: SO to 64 pages, 4 cents; 6 to SO pages. 6 cents; 8J to 0 pages. t cents, f oreign postage, double rates. . Eastern Knines Office Verree & Conk Iln. Brunswick building. New York; Verree A Conklln. Steger building. Chicago; Ver ree Conklln. Free Press building. De troit, Mich. San Francisco representative, R. J. Bldwell. $8.00 4.25 2.S .75 6.00 3.25 .60 1 no StOO 8.00 2.25 .75 7.80 l.5 .65 scripted. The most successful con quering nation has been Great Brit ain, which did not adopt compulsion until the great war had been in progress for almost two years, and has now abandoned it. The nations which used conscription for the pur pose of conquest are Germany, Aus tria, Russia and Turkey, and all have gone to ruin. France and Italy used it for the purpose of defense, and if they had not done so, they would surely have been overwhelmed. If we wish to avoid the military system by which an empire has been pot only conquered but maintained, we should avoid the voluntary system of Great Britain and should adopt the compulsory system for defense, by which France and Italy saved themselves. BETTER THAN SWATTIX THE FLY. While the fly-swatting campaign each summer is not to be discour aged where it is made necessary by' the presence of flies. Dr. Lincoln Furbush, health officer of Philadel phia, points out that there is an even more logical way of conducting the war on disease that is disseminated by flies, and that is by striking the, pest at the source. The warning is sued by the Philadelphia health de partment is timely now because fly extermination is a work that cannot be too soon begun. The slogan, "Swat the breeding places of flies," at least sounds logical. The doctor points out that the fly swatter and fly paper and poison are indications and do not remove the cause. They a.re better than nothing, but that ,is the best that can be said about them Health officials all over the coun try are optimists on the proposition that a flyless era can be attained. It practically has been reached In Havana, where in the years of mili tary occupation following the Span ish war regulations were enforced tnai maae mosquitoes as wen . '. files things of the past. Military or ' ganization helped, but the lesson was learned by the people and they are . profiting by it today. To maintain themselves in security, Cubans have found that it is necessary only to re move rubbish, to cover all other ICLUSC VI T 1111 U 1 1 1I.H U11M luvn ,uw feed, until such time as it can be re moved permanently, and to leave no liii-ifinw n uppr inr lnsppra riT anv kind. Flies, as a matter of fact, are not the universal pests in this country that they were even twenty years ago. The coming of the automobile with corresponding decrease in the number of stables within city limits, and more general obedience to sani tary laws have made a noticeable difference, which gives emphasis to the point that the thing can be done if people go at it the right way. One hundred per cent fly eradication is not too much reasonably to hope for. The work is best begun in the early -spring. The efforts of individual householders count for much in the aggregate. When the neighborhood , spirit has developed so that each will . qo ms snare me ouraen on any one will not amount to much. And the pleasure of living a whole summer long without seeing a fly in the house will be worth many times the effort it entails. rOISOSKD BY HIS PANACEA. Paul McKercher of White Salmon makes unblushing confession in a Portland newspaper that he is a member of the nonpartisan league and cites the following outrage as one which confirmed his faith in doctrines of that organization. Last winter Wenatchee apple grower rocured a vessel to carry a trainload of pples under refrigeration to New York at reduced freight by way of the canal. The null vs.,iiiue muy n iiu ins snip nuc How did the apples stand the voyage? They froze crossing the Rockies in the cad of winter because the railroad flatly refused cars from Wenatchee to Seattle. Where was the public service commls- on ? Where were the courts with those ndy injunctions? What did state of ficials do? To answer those questions truthfully would be to libel myself under the criminal syndicalism laws. Tet last winter the railroads were controlled and operated by the gOv- rnment. The country had, to the extent of transportation, the exact counterpart of that which is the nainstay of the nonpartisan league ontroi Dy ine pudiic oi ine means of marketing arid distributing. The government railroad administration proclaimed . itself and therein was supported by law superior to any state regulation or rate-making Of ficial or body. . " Where were the public service commissloin arid the courts with their handy injunctions and the state officials? asks the .anguished : Mc Kercher. Sucking their- thumbs, of course, just as they wefe commanded and compelled to do by the greater nonpartisan league that controlled our destines during the war period, and just ts they would do under con trol of the lesser league. The North Dakota leagues really ought to take pen and ink away from- McKercher and lock them up. NOT ACCORDING TO THE BULKS. - Man always had the long end of the odds. Against his superior cun ning and resourcefulness the beasts and birds, however fleet or fierce, could not prevail. -Some of them he drove to the brink of extinction and over, down to the abyss of eter nity. They are the lost species. He mourns them now with that strange admixture of sentiment and sincerity and hypocrisy that is essentially hu man. But when man takes to the chase of fowl with an airplanehe is vio lating: the danons of ordinary de cency and outraging every tenet of the creed of sportsmanship. It doesn't need explanation. - It is so plainly be yond the pale that a federal law prohibited it almost with the advent of tbe airplane. Wherefore, in the arrest and con victlon of Kenneth Jaquith. wealthy Chicago aviator, for the killing of a goose from an airplane near Atlan tic City, every friend of real sport and lover of nature will rejoice. It Is of passing Interest that Jaquith was also one of the first advocates of the law banning airplane hunting for fowl. SELL THE EMERGENCY FLEET. Disposal of the vessels of th emergency fleet will be decided by the action of congress on a bill which is being prepared by a senate com .mlttee. The majority of the commit tee is opposed to government owner ship and operation, but its inclina tion to recommend sale of the emer gency fleet may be restrained by the protest that was made aga-inst sale o the seized German ships. That pro test was founded on belief that number of the vessels were to be auiu lu Lit--; ju icniiiLiuiJiii iuci ui.iiiii- Marine company and that that com pany was owned by the British. How baseless was this belief was shown by the testimony of Chairman Payne of the shipping board before the senate committee. He said that --. the company "is an American cor- . poration, is officered by Americans and is entirely controlled by Amerl- - cans." It ownstwo British subsidi ary companies, ofwhich the direc- - tors are English, but they operate ' wholly from the English side. Thorough investigation proved the " ownership of stock to be "wholly American." But the clamor raised and the injunction obtained by W. R. T. Hearst against the sale of these ships blocked their sale, and they lie idle at a cost of $12,000 a day besides de predation. While the American people doubt- ."J 1 V nil II liio A VITIT 1 1 1 1 ti 1 1 ' DV,lr.a .1 A ,hAi.A .. - Y. i .. 1. V 11 1 - omua 1. 1 1 1 1 .1 .1 in ill. ii n .1 1 1 1 , I I v the shipping board under the Amer lean flag and are in American hards, uo iiuv v. tin l ine government to remain in the shipping business. Con- gress would be supported by public opinion if it were to enact laws pro viding for sale to American citizens .-or to corporations owned by Ameri cans, with precautions against their passing under foreign ownership. In some cases it might be of advantage to the American merchant marine to permit sale to foreigners, but such sales should hot be valid without close inquiry and express authority of the shipping board. The shipping board itself Is so im pressed with the immensity of the task of handling this vast fleet that -it advocates sale to private owners. Contrary to the provisions of the law creating it, the board has only one y its members. Asked whether he had I any experience before going on the I board. Chairman Payne answered: "I I never had; have not had much yet." The composition of the board has changed so much that the mem bers have not had time to master ' (Kul. n,nhlnni f .- .. I : . J in -1 ,i v.ii!iii, i.v 1 1 uiiio a, j j ii 1 1 1 y to follow it. In the three years of T its existence there have been ten changes among the members. The . most experienced operator in its service was J. H. Rosseter. former director of operations, and he frank , ' ly admitted that the board could not eet "much better th;n 50 jci- cent" DRESSED IN BORROWED REGALIA. There has arisen in Chicago, pre sumably from the environs of the packing house district, a bard admit ting that he is worthy to wear the moccasins of the late Mr. Longfellow, who once wrote a poem known as Hiawatha." The mystery of now-a-days poesy remains precisely as it stood in Eli zabethan times where do the poets and poetesses, and bulk of 'em raise the money to pay the printer, the grasping, ink-smudged, highly tech nical descendant of Cadmus, whose price scale would have mantled the ruddy cheek of Ralph the Rover with envious shame? John Fremont Kyger of Chicago has written his Indian romance in the meter of "Hiawatha." Unless it be deliberate desecration, the poem which so presumes must wear the livery of genuine genius. Interpolated in the metrical measure of the death less poem, as imitated by the Chicago bard, one finds the following banal but refreshing departure: Once a star was in love with a flower, -And for days he continued to woo. Ev'ry evening he gave new assurance That to her he would always be true. tend to draw them into the treasury, but it drives them to investment tax-free securities. How strong Is this temptation is shown by the statement that "a person in the high est taxable class would have to make nearly 17 per cent upon a corporate security or in his business in order to get the same return which he re ceives by Investing in a tax-free 4U per cent bond." These taxes were imposed in the belief and with the intent that the rich man should pay them. He does not pay them; be either escapes them by investment in tax-free se curities or he passes them on. Each man all along the line from the pro ducer of raw material to the manu facturer, the wholesaler and the re tailer, adds the tax to the price of his commodity, then adds his profit on the larger sum, so that the consumer pays all of these taxes with the profit on each of them There is no diffi culty about passing the taxes on, for demand exceeds production and con sumers have become accustomed to high prices and pay them almost without a murmur. The sure way to prevent this piling up of profits on y, I BY-PRODUCTS OF THE, TIMES in Evelyn Nesbit Thaw's) Kitten, After 13 Tears la Jail, Killed by Ante Care once killed a cat. And it was either care again, or else too much curiosity, that killed another the best lored tom-cat in all the world, says the New Tork Globe. Ginger, the pet of the criminal courts. New Tork, was killed by an automobile In Centre street. Tou can never tell any one who has anything to do with the criminal courts build ing that there is, was. or ever will be another living creature on four legs that could have "licked" Ginger in a catch -a a -catch -can battle. Ginger once fought a bulldog. The bulldog came out second best. Ginger stopped a bullet once in a pistol duel. Ginger kept right on living. Ginger fought many a cat who later regretted the encounter that Is, if they lived. But, it remained for a mere automo bile, Those Who Come and Go. Throughout the east ts a feeling that readjustment of financial con ditions with the revision mainly downward is due within 0 days,, ac cording to". W. R. McDonald, insur ance broker of Portland, who has re turned from a 30-day sojourn in the east. Mr. McDonald attended a gen eral conference of agents of the Gen eral Accident company in Philadel phia. "Traveling salesmen are re porting light sales throughout the east and attribute the failure to tell goods to the general feeling that pre vails in the east that a general re adjustment of financial affairs is due," said Mr. McDonald. "Just how this readjustment is to be brought about no one seems willing to predict, but everyone you talk to is certain that the creet in high prices has been finally reached." How much is brotherly love worth? I TKnmaa Kinnlr,n 4t , , A mi U fnrnt a common piece or mans nanai-i - ,,r, wurn, iq iinun uiiiftci vi mi ........ is worth at least a dollar, but Rom time, and forever. I Finnigan of the Benson has his They are going to give Ginger a fit- doubts. Benson finnigan had a pat- ALL "V ALU liS ARK INFLUENCED ting burial. In the prison yard, dl- taxes is to increase production. Tha I rectly beneath the Bridge of Sighs, the ent wrench which he couldn't use on his automobile, so he sold it to Port land Finnigan for It. Portland Fin nigan has gone all over his car and can't find a place where the wrench can be used, -so when he paid the Bsnson Finnigan he wrote out a little receipt like this: "For wrench. It; by cash. $5: by brotherly Jove, $1." Benson Finnlgan's attention was distracted when he rimed the re- means have little, if any, surplus to 1 for killing Stanford White, brought ceipt and when he discovered the de- requires investment of more capital, which must come -from surplus in come. This surplus of the rich is either taken in taxes or driven to the refuge of tax-free bonds. Prices are. pet will be laid to rest by those who will long remember him. He was yel low in color, but In color alone. He was in his sixteenth year. Fifteen years ago Mrs. Evelyn Nes- so high, largely as the effect of the bit Thaw, during the second trial of tax laws, that people of moderate I Harry Thaw, who was on the stand invest. One of the foundation stones of the pyramided prices is a system of tax ation which adds to them at every stage of production- and distribution and which by withdrawing capital Ginger as a kitten to Harry Thaw in celt he yelled louder than Jacob did the Tombs. It was against the rules when Esau slipped one over a good f the Tombs to permit a cat there. "" so he was turned over to airs, ireo- Twa eAtinti 4n O,- -r Kawa aw erlck Coppers, wife of the superin- i unenviable reputation as divorce cen- tendent of the building. Later he be- ters. declared Francla Minor Moody from production or by preventing it came tnc, property of Walter Fay. one of Chicago as he was checking out rrom Demg tnus employed, prevents of the operators in the building. mo natural law oi competition irom He nad frce entry to court rooms, reducing them. Another foundation even when tho judfje- were charging stone is inflation of the currency, ..., to the J. 1 M - . . i. " district attornev. Freauently on a CONCERNING THE SOAKING POTATO. There have beenseasons when the potato clambered aloft and perched at the pinnacle of the vegetable price list but folk didn't complain a great deal. The indispensable "spud" was still within reach. It was only with the present season that potatoes broke all altitude records, and vied with alligator pears as luxuries. The suggestion of restaurant and cafe proprietors, and of many indi vidual householders, that a public boycott be instituted until the price is forced down, to a reasonable level, seems, foundationed upon common sense. Not even the law of supply and demand can be cited in extenua tion of plunderbund prices that now prevail. There are those who 6ay that the situation is not brought about by present profiteering, but is actually caused by shortage. Against this excusal must be set the half formed resolve of the restaurant men to boycott. They are certainly in touch vHth the situation, and their attitude would indicate that plenty of potatoes are yet available. With elaborate official mechanism against profiteering the price of po tatoes continues to aviate targeted at with verbal pop-guns. The hue and cry against the high price is mere vocal music. Only the boycott suggestion seems to have force. It is definite, and its effect would be defi nite and educational.' In the meantime the spring gar den, which ought to be planted heav ily to "spuds," will probably germi nate a future shortage, because of the excessive cost of seed. but expanded production would auto matically deflate the currency by giving1 it a larger basis of commodi ties. A small percentage tax on all goods when they pass Into the hands of the consumer could be made to raise as much revenue as the present surtaxes, it would take the place of the taxes now collected at each stage of production and it would eliminate the profits which are now added to those taxes. It could be made heavier on luxuries than on neces saries, and thus could check extrava- Wonderment seizes the reader that Amy Lowell and Harriet Monroe have not indorsed Mr. Kyger's poetic plagiarism, or that it has not ap peared in "Poetry," that forum of fearless freakishness, so conveniently published in Chicago. To be so frankly plagiaristic Is to be original and to -be original, among our little group of serious thinkers, is' to re ceive the accolade. PITY MADE VOLUNTARY, By voting for voluntary military training .the senate concedes the benefits accruing to both the man and the nation, but by rejecting com pulsory military training it denies the duty of every qualified citizen to fit himself. to do his part in defense of the natioji, or it shuts its eyes to the teachings of the war. These are that. when-a nation resolves to attack an other, it trains all fit men of military age to fight, and that any other na tion must do likewise in order to withstand the attack. It cannot be expected that enough men will train voluntarily to insure successful de fense, hence they would be sacrificed for those who shirk their duty. Not only would this system cause the loss of many men imbued with the highest patriotism and save those of inferior moral quality, but would be otherwise wasteful. Modern war requires employment of every citizen in the way he can serve best. either in the army or in support o the army-. The voluntary system takes a man of high mechanical skill or scientific knowledge and puts him at work which can be as well done by a man-who has neither. Yet the first man may be able, by application of his special capacity, to contribute as much to victory as a thousand of the other kind. This fact was so well realized by the British govern ment that it recalled thousands - of men from . the army to their civil cccupations. Yet congress refuses to learn. - ' When at a loss for reply to these reasons for fitting every citizen to do his duty in war as in peace, dp ponents of military training fall back on the idea expressed by. Represen tative Garrett of Tennessee, when he said: - judge's bench in one of the court rooms even during the progress of a trial, he would stretch himself, yawn, and proceed to take a nap. Prof. Earnest W. Brown, formerly of Haverford college, now a member Of the mathematical department at Tale university, will be awarded the Bruce medal of the Astronomical So ciety of ths Pacific. The meual was established 30 years .ICn. 1 . ., , -r, trance and encourage thrift. It would ao y tnc ia.te wCrii. - be simple and certain, and would New Tork- " Is to be ' t i a mark of distinction to those who mous cost of collection with Us army nav maae emlnenl contriDunuu- of employes. - I astronomical science. irirteen per- By seizing the savings out of In- 1 BOns have thus tar oeen awaraea ine rnm o nH rfoviiieirx tvm in tv, I medsiL Those to receive it are Be- of government, the present tax laws commit tne same lolly as would a farmer who sold or ate the wheat which he had reserved for the next season's seed. The savings of one lected upon the recommendations ot directors of six of the largest ob servatories in the world. Doctor Brown is the seventh Amer ican scientist to receive the award. of the Hotel Portland for Los An geles. Mr. Moody is secretary of I society which is inquiring Into the divorce problem and has been gath ering statistics. According to Mr. Moody, Clackamas county is a holy terror to matrimony and more dl vorces are granted in that county than in a I moat anv other 1n tbe coun try. Mr. Moody may be going to Los Angeles to obtain a close-up view of the divorced people of filmland, al though he did not admit as much. Anyway, divorces are entirely too common In Oregon in tbe estimation of Mr. Moody. Word was received at the Perkins yesterday of the sudden death ot Colonel H. O. Newport of Hermlston. Colonel Newport made the Perkins his headquarters for many years and was registered there a few days -ago. He was in the contracting business and built many miles of irrigation ditches and was one of the founders of Her miston. Of late he has been interested in a contract on the Columbia high way in eastern Oregon. Feaalatlon Affeeta Wages Int- rwTententa as Well as Laaa. PORTLAND. April IS. (To the Edi tor.) In The Sunday Oregonian April Mr. L. Bowerman's letter on tne stnglef tax Issue read in part as fol lows: "Land value, rental value, ts made by the people jointly, and should be-used for and by the people jointly. It attaches not to land but to the people. Let the population abandon Portland, and they will take the rental value with them." What values are not created by the people? True, there must be Indi vidual effort, but individual effort alone without a population to create values, would amount to nothing. Business site values, whether In the retail, wholesale, banking or manu facturing district, depends entirely upon whether there are enough peo ple to make such business profitable. The values are not created by the workman alone in such business es tablishments any more than the land values or rental values are created by the holders. of land alone. The farmer who has his land locat ed the nearest to a good market has his land enhanced in value the most for that reason, but the manufacturer has his plant Increased in value for the same reason. From the fact of good market and a population to con sume or buy the goods manufactured. the laborer is employed' at a remun erative wage, and neither the em ploye ner the manufacturer has cre- ted this value alone, but for th population or consumer, the plant would have no value and the laborer no employment, values are not cre ated by one class alone, whether it be In land, merchandise or labor, but all values are created jointly by all the people. The single tax would not help labor. It would be a gradual confiscation by the state of land own ership, should the single land tax to the exclusion of all other forms of taxation be adopted. Is It right to ask the farmer who toils from 10 to 12 hours a day. every day in the week, to vote himself out of his land ownership, by voting for the single tax, in order to benefit a certain other class who demand a six-hour day and a five-day week? It is impossible now to keep the farmer boy on the farm under the present system of land ownership, as the farmer boy would rather go Into the labor market where there are fewer hours and less drudgery. If the single-tax system were adopted, and the farmer reduced to merely a renter of the state, there would not be farmers enough who would stay on the farms to produce the necessaries of life for society, and the laboring man would be the first to suffer. A. P. ADAMS. 607 Lumbermens Bids, City. More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Mmmt, LITTLE MART I OSES ADMIRER. THE BRAVE AND THE FREE. Come, brethren, let's join in the usual song; Hooray for the brave and the free! No tyrants shall dare drag -us 'round by the hair; We'll never be vassals, not we. Although just at present, when pay day has sped. . There's nothing remains ef on rolls. Though to bold buccaneers that w call profiteers. We've mortgaged our wagea and souls. Americans never were horn tw be slaves Or to cringe to monopoly's- sway. And though we may bow to the food - hogs just now. They'll cease to oppress us some day. Let's elng of the manhood that's al- ways been ours, m Since that earliest Fourth of July. Our rights we'll assert; never mind who Is hurt; The great god of greed well defy. Though labor and capital go ia cahoots. Putting prices wherever they like. Audi if we complain, make it painfully plain That they'll make us dig tip with a strike. Americans never were born to submit. Ne dumb, driven cattle are we. And though for a while e shell oat - with a smile. Some day we'll be utterly free. So join in the song of the free tut the proud. That our forefathers ones loved to sing. We're as brave and as bold as tha heroes of old. When they shook off the rule of a. king.. It is true we are nicked for whatever we buy. And that prices go up every day We are also awape that our hair we will tear Yet always we'll walk wp and pay. But Americans never were bora te . bow down, , When tyranny raises its head; Oppression will cease' and we'll find our release. No doubt about that when we're dead. Iaanaasiale. No astonishment Is equal te that ft the presidential candidate when he discovers that somebody is spending money in his behalf. Ten Kisii Wne. And swearing she would ne'er re wed, rewedded. . year should' be applied to increase I He has recently completed the task the production of the next year, if I of defining the motion of the moon the world Is to move forward. Taxes I after a quarter century of study of should be so Imposed that, while they the subject. raise enough money for the expense of government, they encourage in dustry and investment in productive Industry and penalize sloth and waste. On that principle the present tax system stands condemned. It is also guilty of that monstrous hypoc risy of pretending to tax the rich when it actually taxes the poor. "The cold weather did more dam age than was at first supposed," says Mrs. M. L. Meacham of Hood River, who is one of the few residents of that district not in the apple -business. "A friend of ours lost ten acres of apple trees. Of course, there hasn't been much talk about the damage. After the December storm, as soon as we could get away we went to John D. Rockefeller Jr. has gained J-nicago. x am just returning, and iiuiuo 1,-ci lainiy iookb gooo. Jtara. Meacham Is at the Benson. the reputation of being the busiest man in New York. It was because of his manifold activities that he was fined $2 the other day for failing to report as a member of the third panel Of the sheriffs jury.- Mr. Rockefeller intimated that he Once upon a time Ed Russell used to be In the newspaper business in Portland, In the business end, and later he Invaded Astoria for a time and then headed for Alaska, where ne nanaied a couple of newspaper It has been the history of everv great nation that has existed in all the tides of time which entered upon compulsory mill tary training that that nation had become imbued not with the ideals of justice but with thoughts of conquest. m Compulsory service was a feature of the feudal system, butthe greatest conquering armies of modern times began to be formed in the reign of Louis XIV of France, when that sys tem had fallen into decay, and the period of modern conquest dates from that time. Except that of Prus sia, those armies were not cou- A CLUMSY TAXATION SYSTEM. While many members of congress condemn the government for spend ng too much money, there is re markable agreement between men who look at the matter from very different viewpoints that the govern ment collects this money in the wrong way or rrom the wrong sources. Secretary of the Treasury Houston, who administers the pres ent revenue laws, in a letter to Chair man Fordney, of the house ways and means committee, makes many of the. same criticisms as are made by Otto H. Kahn in a pamphlet on "Two Years of Faulty Taxation and Their Results." Mr. Houston declares the laws too complex, when the liability should be certain and definite. Complexity is a source of irritation, labor and ex pense to the taxpayer and, when conjoined with heavy rates, "becomes major menace, threatening enter prise with heavy but indefinable fu ture obligations, generating a cloud of old claims and potential back taxes." "The latter he estimates at more than $1,000,000,000. He urges simplification and modification or repeal of the excess profits tax, be cause it is "so complex that it has proverftimpossible to keep up to date the administrative work of audit and assessment ana Decause it is con fined to a small fraction of the busi ness concerns of the country." Two irreconcilable systems of taxation are applied to business income one to corporations, the other to sole pro prietors and partnerships. He cites the case of one partnership which paid nearly $1,125,000 more than it would have paid if it had been a cor poration. He condemns surtaxes be cause they penalize saving and in vestment. They cause investment in tax-iree securities when there are thousands of millions of -them in the market, instead of in expansion of industry or foreign trade. He pro poses to reduce taxes on that part of income which Is re-Invested, but he would make"no reduction in respect of Income spent for unnecessary or ostentatious consumption." Mr. Kahn is of one mind with Mr, Houston in holding that the excels profits tax causes the rich man to Invest his surplus income in tax-ex empt bonds. The rich man therefore "has little to squeal about on the score of the income tax, provided he will join the ranks of the idle rich," that is, invest his savings in securi ties which Involve no effort and no risk, in preference to enterprises which expand industry and trade but which require personal effort and in volve risk or loss together with lia bility to heavy taxation. Mr. Kahn Is emphatic ia his support of "an un sparing war profits tax," but he con demns the present excess profits tax in these terms: The sultan of Turkey urges his subjects to fight the nationalists, with the promise that "all Mussul mans who fight nationalists will be blessed by Allah and all who die fighting the rebels earn eternal glory hereafter." However, we doubt if there will be any great rush of the boys to profiteer in heavenly futures. Because the sheriff of Walla Walla made a patriotic speech to the Jurj trying three men for syndicalism during the noon hour, they get a new trial. Where blame attaches to the sheriff Is hard to see, but any quibble looks good enough to a guilty man and a hair-splitting attorney. Another deal shows the value of a down-town corner. Which reminds that if every fellow's father had come here early arid bought a corner lot and held it, all the fellows would be coupon clippers, a nice dream, indeed. had been "detained by work in behalf properties with financial results. Mr. ot the interchurch world movement, in which he is taking a leading part. He denied that he had shirked his civic duty. A friend In telling just how busy Mr. Rockefeller is these days, said: "The other day when I called at Mr. Rockefeller's office I found him giv ing an Interview to a caller. While thus engaged he was not losing any time, as a barber was shaving him while a bootblack was polishing his hoes and a manicure shining iis fin ger nails." New York World. It lava a heavy ana elumsy hand t successful business aetlvlty. It is gross inequitaoie in its effects and. to a large extent., tne greater or lesaer degree of Its burdensomeness l determined bv nnrw 1 fortuitous circumstances. It puta a fine on -ner enterprise ana- erriciency. It leaves uniuucnea ine man OI wealth who nelth er works nor takes the risks and responsl bilitles of business, but merely clips hi coupons. The same objection is made to th surtax on large incomes. It does no A new and Improved method of de- llverlnsr mall by airplane to out bound ocean liners is described in a recent .number of the Scientific Amer ican. To abbreviate, the mail is car ried In a leather container held by friction in a sort of socket or chute underneath the airplane body. To the container a long line Is attached. having on its end a 7-tailed grap ple designed to become entangled in the rigging of the steamer. When this is accomplished the line draws taut, the mail bag is jerked out or its The issues are pretty near joined. with Starkweather out to beat Cham berlain and Mrs. Aleck Thompson chute fans lnto the sea, and Is hauled , , ' respect- aDoard tne liner. The airplane re- luujr icicucu lu ur. juurrow, wno knows more politically than he lets on. turns to shore. - Turn back the pages of time 80 Russell, who now registers from Seat tle, ts at the Hotel Portland while comparing Portland as It is today with Portland In the time he was chasing advertisements. Joseph Patterson, formes Portland newspaper man, more recently of Newport, is at the Hotel Oregon. Mr. Patterson is anxious to see a goodly portion of the standing timber in Lincoln county laid low and converted into money, for Lincoln county is par tlcularly "long" on timber. The port or Newport commission Is now ar ranging to buy one of the spruce built railroads, and the terms of the contract are now being drawn up In Portland. Charles Bacon Hodgkin. publisher and editor of the Tualatin Valley News at Sherwood. Or, is among those present at the Multnomah. Mr. Hodg kin has the proofs to back the asser tion that the valley ot the Tualatin is one of tbe garden spots ot the state, in fact, the garden spot. Possibly It haa been the railroad strike. Anyway, the hotels are crowd ed In Portland. Only a small number of the patrons are checking out, pre ferring to remain in Portland rather than be. caught somewhere on the road in esse of a tie-up. One of the leading hotels yesterday had a check out of only ten people. Now there's propaganda on foot to substitute peanuts for potatoes, the lo,wly goober being rich in nutritive values. We have a feeling that this must have started with some potato- peeling squad on kitchen police. President Wilson has canceled his plans for summering at Wood's Hole because of the prevalence of fog horns thereabouts. They'd remind him too much of the senate. To date, Watson, or Huirtt, haa had twenty-seven wives. He has what might be called a matrimonial mania, a free-running definition of which is plain crazy. The strike is lost now and verv soon will dwindle intoV guerrilla af fair. Once more it may be said that the strike that does not win in forty- eight hours is lost. Gaby Deslys was a thrifty dame. Her jewels are valued at $5,000,000 francs. They cost more, but the men who put up are not grieving. One cannot lose faith in mankind while there are people like Miss Miner to find a roll of money and return it to its owner. In anticipation of the construction of The Dalles-California highway fiery through Jefferson county, Maupin i steed In the batt,le of Cerro Gordo as brand new. commercial club and commander of a Mexican unit against arranging to establish a camp years. General Santa Ana rides a the Americans. One leg hangs limply on the side of the horse. Why? 'it is artificial. Yes, the great general issimo has but one good support. Comes a dash from the Americans. General Santa Ana retreats in haste. I Site for motor tourists. C. U. Fargher o Maupin is among the arrivals at the Hotel Oregon. When John McKee is at home he I a police magistrate, but he does no disclose the fact generally. Mr. Mc Mrs. McKee, he is on his way acros the line from a sojourn in California. in the disorder off comes the artificial Kee's home where he magistrates i wh th. smoke of battle Is t Ladner. B. C. Accompanied by cleared away two buck prfvates of Company B, 4th Illinois infantry, dis cover the leg ana oring it dick to George T. Myers, salmon packer, the American lines In triumph. Later with headquarters at Seattle, but for It is sent to Springfield, 111., where it merly a Portlander, Is registered reposes, in the state historical library. ?! More Standia In Line Tfcat Site May See America's Sweetheart. PORTLAND, April 13. (to the Ed- tor.) I read with Interest the article written by R. H. B. in The Sunday Oregonian in regard to the Fair- banks-Pickford marriage, and agree with the author, as all other Amer ican mothers should do, that our chil dren will not be allowed to visit the movies where these two are playing. What a shame! Little Mary, the sweetheart of the movies, could not have peeked Into the future when she ventured forth In the wrong path. In he past I have taken the children and stood In line hours in order to see Mary. But can you imagine! The children even are discussing Mary's atest life reel. I wonder if she will pay the price as so many others are paying? It is said that she loves Douglas, but the surprise of it all Is that she herself is of the Catholic faith. She ignored her own church. How can she truly be happy? I am not a Catholic, but do not believe in divorce, which I think Is America's menace. A divorce se cured on such grounds as Mary's is truly a very bad example for a popu lar star. I wonder if she followed her mother's advice? Surely not, for any mother would look into the fu ture. Had Mary gotten her divorce In California and waited a year and then married, we would gladly have joined In the chorus "God bless you, my chil dren." There is only one love and heaven forbid if humans venture forth to find the second, which is an impossibility. Not only that, but think of the chil dren that suffer through divorce oourts. Mothers true mothers cling to their children of course, where father may go away and marry agrain and forget his children. But sutely he will some day feel the presence of a crying conscier.ee. AMERICAN MOTHER, He's BTas Exnerienee. Secretary Daniels is getting ready for a Japanese offensive, but be prob ably will not put Admiral Sims in barge of his preparations. There are trails in the golden morning That wind to tha mountain rim. And some lead out through the val leys- Brown ribbons that catch the brim Of smooth fields sweet with clover To the crown or the roughened hill. While the thrilling notes from a mil lion throats The whole world seem to fill. Each soul fares forth in Its seeking Oh the trails of the world are broad? But the voice of the ages, speaking. Pays tribute alone to God; For the song birds die in a season. And the voices of mortals cease. And each man grieves o'er his empty; sheaves. For in Nature alone Is peace. Now comes a request from the Mex ican government for a return of the leg. It would have the tropny as a memorial, says a communication to the state government. the Hotel Portland. For about half a century the Myers family has been canning, salmon, the original George T. being one of the pioneers rff the Industry on the Columbia river. J. B. Hanna, who bought the S. Benson interests in the logging busi ness at Clatskanie, is at the Benson. story on himself in the, Boston Tran- Dakota, before the Non - Partisan script. He was making a speech at league affliclted that commonwealth. A banqueter tells this rather good a dinner and in the course of his re marks he said, "America has pro duced three great men Washington, Lincoln and I myself" At this point He is poses. in Portland for business pur- Rest assured, the money will be available to purchase the naval, base PARTY COJfDBMXATIOX RECALLED Johnson Aerasrd ef Ahuaing Body Front Whleh-He Nnw Seeks Firer. PORTLAND, April 13. (To the Edl tor.) I have read several Items in The Oregonian in regard to patriotic Hiram" Johnson. Where did Johnson stand In 1912 election? He wss Bull Mooser, a member of a party formed to break up the republican party. He said then that we must have an army and navy to protect our people at home and abroad, and that the two old parties were corrupt and rotten. I want to ask his ad mirers why he is back in one of those old parties now. He could not get an office In the Moose party. It died but Johnson didn't. He now is not in favor of an ample army and navy. At any rate he said when he spoke in Portland last fall that the way the league of nation read we would have to maintain great army and navy, so he is no in favor or an army and navy. Neithe is the I. W. W. in favor ot them. H said in 1S12 that we should build least two battleships a year. Now how can you tell where a man like that stands? Probably before the convention over Johnson will want to bolt again and the republican party a well. But he had to come back to that rotten old republican party, he called it. to get into office senator from California and. now h wants those same people to elect him president of the United States. Now wouldn't he make a fine president? He will stand just as good a. show as I would. The Moose party died, but Johnson didn't, A SUBSCRIBER. Attorney - General Palmer should worry about the switchmen's strike. His boom for the presidency is al ready side-tracked. Governor Lowden suggests lower ing taxes as the great panacea for present-day evils. - Very good idea. but how? With the perversity of youth, the lad who always said "Naw!" when potato was parsed 'cannot get enough now. a burst of laughter drowned the rest site," declares W. P. O'Brien, a'lum of his remarks. He had intended to say "think Theodore Roosevelt," The laughter got his goat and he sat down without saying anything more. T have my doubts about this league of nations, remarlted. tne prouo parent. , Why?" I understand they propose. to go ahead and, settle It without paying any attention to what my daughter has written about it in her school ex amination eesay." Houston Post, As yet Mrs. Wilson has not been heard from as to whether she wants a second term. Sympathy, being cheap, wasted on the undeserving. oft is They'll be putting potatoes pie if this continues. into If you ask for post cards, and get some old looking cards of the vint age of ten years ago do not be sur prised. The postoffice departmenthas ordered postmasters to rummage through their vaults for all the old cards and stamps and put them on the market, so acute has become the shortage of paper. This activity is in addition to the reBtamping of 400, 000,000 2-cent post cards Issued dur ing tne war. berman of Astoria, who is at the Ben son. "Astoria will not let money stand In the way of establishing the naval base there." "We are starting a Portland branch and will make Portland our head quarters Instead of Seattle, as at pres ent," declared E. A. Mitchell, presi dent of the Mitchell Tractor com pany, who is registered at the Mult nomah. F. R. Pendleton of Everett, Wash., and H. S. Gilkey of Minneapolis, Minn., of the firm of Pendleton & Gilkey timber lands, are at the Multnomah. Foster C. Glaspell, general mana ger of the Oriental-American Com mercial corporation of Seattle, is at tbe Multnomah. L. A. McClintock, head of the firm of McClintock & Simpson, dealers in farm implements at Pendleton, is at the Multnomah. N. J. Drew, chief Inspector of the state highway department, passed through Portland yesterday. Peace, By Grace E. Ran. In OtLer Days. Twenty-five Years At. From Tha Oregonian ot April 14. 1896. London Nicaragua has given a satisfactory answer to the British ul timatum and it is understood that action threatened by the government for next Monday will not be taken. Berlin Fmperor William will re move to his new palace at r-otsoam next week. Later he will spend a few days at his chateau in Alsace- Lorraine. The frame buildings at the north-. east corner of Sixth and Morrison streets are being vacated preparatorv to their removal for the erection of the new Stearns building. San Francisco 'The body of a yerunsr woman. M innre Williams, was round In the pastor's study of Emanuel Bap tist church. A young dental student is suspected. A LEAP-TEAR PROPOSAL. . Has yo' cogitated, honey, on de prob lem of love? Is yo' looked at de subject from befo' , en above? , Does yo' know de rithmetics of a little turtle dovln'? Kin yo' spell economics in de new kind of lovin'? Has yo' calculated 'spenses of de new home lire? Is yo read de late requirements fer providin' fer a wife? Is yo' 'ware of de subtraction of a bit of pleasant strife? Kin yo" roid de multiplication when it cornea to a wife? When yo' knows de college answer to de high cost of love. Den I'll 'cept of yo' money 'en be yo' turtle dove. When yo' learns de word equality in connection wid yo' gal. Den I'll 'sent to de wedding' 'en be yo' lovin' pal. FLEMING COLLIER. . Fifty Years Am. From The Oresonlan of Apafl 14. 1870. Washington Southern coast steam ers will begin carrying mail between San Francisco and San Diego and way ports May 1. Washington Members of congress from the gulf states have agreed t support the Southern Pacific railroad charter for the road to terminate at Marshall. Tex., with right of other roads to connect at or west of Mar shall. Seattle Workmen today began con struction of a rajlroad from Lake Washington to the coal mines. Com pletion - of the road within three months is promised by the company. Sheriff Al. Zeiber yesterday made returns to the county court on collec tion of the tax assessments for 1869. A total in excess of $80,000 has been collected, leaving a little more than $13,000 delinquent. Date ef Hotrtrs Birth. NEWBERG, Or.. April 12. To tha Editor.) Can you give the exact date of Mr. Hoover's birth? A READER, August 10. 1S74. West Branch. Ia. That's What She Ik. Baltimore American. "She's a wonder, that quiet little woman over there." "Why, what's she done?" "I told you; she's quiet," IX THE REALM OP WOMETS ACTIVITIES. Time was when mother and sister and Cousin Alicia used to stay at home the whole enduring day and bake, and dust and sweep and sew and quilt and cook and any num ber of other tasks. But the day came when sens ible folks admitted that this division of affairs, however pleasing and satisfactory to the male members of the fam ily, was nothing more nor less than a moderate serfdom, and not so all-fired moderate, at that. Nowadays the activities of woman range a wide and use ful field. Her kitchen as spot less as ever it was of yore, her men folk fully . as well cared for. mother finds time to bear her share of citizenship and bear it ably. Follow the course of women's activities in the special sec tion of The Sunday Oregonian.