- v "V 8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1920 ' i- --5 ..';.r( . -. i t V V..- 1 - ' - .. ' 1 "i '. ..1 t i 1 at A ? - . . -t vrFrACK. tSTABT.isnr.n nv HENBY 1- PITTOCK- r-ut,l.,hed by The Oresontan P0"lhJ C-' 135 Sixth Street. PorUand. Oregon, a A. AlORDE. - B- B. MM,,. Manager. -o The Oreconian la a member of the dated Press. The Associated Pr",i!t"n clustvely entitled to the use tor puW lea tlon i all news dispatches creaneu w etherwise credited In this paper and also All rights news pamisucu u.. Kriii of publication of special dispatches herein the local news published herein. are also reserved. Subscription Rates Invariably In Advance. (By MaiD Vt -; i c , - .. 3.aa An vear . Ially Sunday Included, six months... Daily. Sunday Included, three months, 'i ' ij , ounaay miiuunit wi - Daily, without Sunday, one year... Daily, without Sunday, six months. BOO Pally, without Sunday, one month.. .60 1 00 6.00 eekly, one year. ' Sunday, one year I By Carrier.) Dally, Sunday included, one Taily, Sunday included, three months. Daily, Sunday included, one month... ' Iaily, without Sunday, one year...... ?" Daily, without Sunday, three months. l. Daily, without Sunday, one month 00 How to Remit Send postofflce money ordfr. express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give postofflce address in full, including county and state. f ofctate Rate 1 to 1(1 paffes. 1 rent: 18 to 22 panes, 2 cents; 34 to 4S pages, 8 cents. 60 to t4 t-ages. 4 cents; BG to 8U pages, 3 cents: 82 to l p.igea, 6 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern ISuHiness Office Verree & Conk lin. Brunswick building. New York; erree A Conklin. Steger building, Chicago: erre - Conklin. Free Tress building, Detroit, Alien, ban Krancisco representative. R. J. H. dwell. HI'GHES' POSITION OX THE IJEAGCB. By choosing Charles E. Hughes for secretary of state President-elect Harding would give a pledge of his sincere purpose to bring the United States into a league of nations, jut. Hughes was one of the first repuh licans to propose reservations' and to advocate ratification with them His reservations follow the same general lines as those of the senate foreign relations committee, but In some respects they go farther, though they make no objection to the British six votes to one. They were set forth in a speech at New York on March 26, ID 19, in which Mr. Hughes commented adversely on the failure of the covenant to make progress in arbitration and Judicial decision of disputes between nations, thus striking the same note as Elihu Hoot and the republican platform. His views as then expressed were those which Mr. Harding supported in the senate, and are quite recon cilable with those which Mr. Hard ing expressed during the campaign. Such a league as he would help to form would be no international de bating society; It would be a virile thing, well equipped with teeth. Mr. Hughes will carry to conduct of foreign affairs a well trained judicial mind, accustomed to state precisely what he means. On publi cation of the first draft of the cove nant he expressed repugnance for its ambiguities, obscurities and clumsi ness of expression. He said it was "poorly drafted" and he called at tention to the severe criticisms of its friends. He quoted Mr. Taft as say ing that "its meaning has to be dug out, and the language is ponderous and in diplomatic patois" and Presi dent Lowell of Yale as saying that "in places it is so obscure that the . meaning is often Inaccurately ex pressed" and that "it is easily mis understood and has in fact been " widely misunderstood." Mr. Hughes added: "The American people were entitled to a better piece of work." At that time he proposed reserva tions as a means of making the best of a bad job. When Mr. Hughes is secretary of - state, he will have ehe opportunity . to repair the defects to which he pointed to substitute the clarity - and precision of the lawyer and judge for the ambiguity and ob- - scurity of the diplomat. He will bring to bear those qualities of di- , rectness which distinguish American from European diplomacy and which have earned for the former the name "shirtsleeve diplomacy." American diplomacy threshes out disputed points till agreement is reached, then defines the agreement so clearly as to leave no opening for further controversy. European diplomacy dodges knotty points and wraps them In a cloud of words .which makes further work for diplomats. Conditions will be so favorable that Mr. Hughes may cause the entire covenant to be rewritten, and he may insist that this be done as a lawyer would draw a contract, - so that the meaning need not be -dug out." A covenant thus revised would cover all of the seven points in which he found the Versailles cove nant defective. These are: 1. Explicit provision as to the require ments of unanimity of decision. 2. Suitable limitation as to the field of the league's Inquiries and action, so as to leave no doubt that the Internal con cerns of states, such as immigration and tariff laws, are not embraced. i. Providing that no foreign power shall hereafter acquire by conquest, purchase or In any other way any possession on the American continent or the Islands ad jacent thereto. 4. Providing- that the settlement of. purely American question shall be sub mitted primarily to the American nations ana that European nations Shalt not In tervene unless requested to do so by the American nations. 3. Omitting the guaranty of article X. . Providing that no member of th league be constituted a mandatory with out its consent and no European or asso elate power shall be constituted a man datory of any Asiatic peoples. 7. Providing that any member of the league may withdraw at It pleasure on a specified, notice. Other criticisms were made by Mr. Hughes, which show him to be in close agreement with Mr. Harding and Mr. Root. He remarked that . "the covenant contains no plan for the establishment of a permanent court of international justice', and that "so far as arbitration is con- . cerned, the submission is optional and does not gq beyond existing practice." As to inquiry and recom mendations by the league into such matters as labor conditions, manu facture of munitions by private en terprise and exclusion of domestic affairs from league action, he said: "The Jurisdiction should be properly defined, else that which is intended to heal difficulties may create them." He further said: "Unnecessary am biguities are not the friends of peace." His criticism of article ten was in harmony with that of Mr. Hard ing and of the reservation senators, and thf following passages strongly resemble what the president-elect has said in regard to American readiness to help other nations In case of another assault on their liberties: , f think that ft I a fallacy to suppose that helpful co-operation In the future will be assured by the attempted compul sion of an Inflexible rule. Rather will such co-operation depend upon the fostering of firm friendships springing from an ap preciation of community of Ideals. Interests and purposes, and such friendships are more likely to be promoted by freedom of . conference than by the effort to create iard and fast engagement. ' If in our conception of duty, olarified hv one VIM.rtenr In 4h ftn w a f mi. ! houid conclude that w should so ' war to preserve the territorial Integrity of ,!.h!.t," orJn ?Jt'M ! "!VLrt' "d civilization, we should respond wltb heart. Iness to that call of duty In the absence 01 article A. The recent session of the league assembly gave many indications that, when Mr. Hughes moves to have representatives of other nations join him in revising the covenant and reconstructing the league on the lines proposed by Mr. Harding and him self, he will find them willing. The outcome may well be a league of which the world court Is the corner stone, which contains binding obll gatlons to arbitrate defined classes of disputes, provides for periodical conferences, will adopt and carry out a plan of general disarmament that will leave no nation defenseless and which will quickly array the moral force, backed by the physical force, of the world against any na tlon that attempts to repeat th crime of 1914. We may expect a league that, while attempting less, will accomplish more than the ver sailles league possibly can. r A TING TUB PRICK. The fidelity of Mrs. Etheridge to her husband in his grave troubl not the first in her experience Is both admirable and commendable. To her the marriage vow for better or for worse Is a sacred and life long obligation to stand by her part ner in good fortune or bad, in health or sickness, in Joy or sorrow, in good repute or ill. If there were more like her, there would be little for the divorce courts to do; and, paradoxical as It may appear, there would be fewer men like fctheridge, It may be natural that Mrs. Ethe ridge should think her erring hus band the victim of a hostile social organization, a hunted and perse cuted creature of circumstances not of his making. "I only wish," she says, "that poople would not be so eager to turn on a man before he has had a chance to present his side of the case. What good are our methods of reform if a man Is not to get an equal chance with others after he has paid the price once? The obvious truth Is that Ethe ridge had every chance in the world to tell his story, and ho ran away. If he had stood by his guns, the papers would at least have given him an opportunity to have his say. That other story he did tell, in the sanc tum of his lodge, pertained, of course, to his past life, and not his recent record. It was, however, the beginning of the end. Everything depends upon the character of the story. Etheridge had his chance many chances and he forfeited them all. It is quite clear now that society held out its hand to him; and it would not have withdrawn the hand if it had had any reasonable assur ance that he had measured up to his opportunities and responsibili ties in Oregon. Because it trusted him, it pays the price. Tl'RX ABOUT. When the, legislature met in 1919 it had before it a budget estimat ing state requirements in the sum of $1,297,214 in excess of visible reve nues. It was no light task that the ways and means committees of the two houses had before them that of reaching at least a balance between appropriations and revenues. The 1921 legislature will have be fore it a budget listing general state requirements in a sum $819,376 in excess of visible revenues. The mean ing is that the ways and means committees must pare requirements more than $819,376 in order to make ends meet and leave leeway for pos sible necessary miscellaneous ap propriations not carried in the budget. Either that or the legisla ture must discover new sources of revenue. On the face of the comparison the difficulties of the coming legislature are not so great as those that con fronted its predecessor. But in 1919 short work was made of $680,000 of the excess by temporarily suspend ing the state's' contribution to the industrial accident fund. This tem porary statute will expire unless it is re-enacted by the forthcoming legislature, and the present budget contains an estimate that about $506,000 will be required unless the law is again suspended. Meanwhile a commission has been at work on revision of the industrial accident law. What it will recommend as regards contributions by the state to the furid is as yet unknown. There is also a commission at work endeavoring to discover new possible sources of revenue. Its report and recommendations have not yet been given the public. Furthermore the fact that esti mated requirements for running the state government show a lesser exr cess over maximum revenues than in 1919 does not mean that the vari ous commissions. Institutions and officials are asking for less money than they did two years ago. Instead of the total estimated requirements caving been reduced, the estimated revenues show a substantial increase. And this estimated increase has been largely attained by assuming, for comparative purposes, that 1921 taxes will be increased 6 per cent over 1920 taxes and that 1922 Taxes will be increased 6 per cent over 1921 taxes. No greater increase can be applied under the 6 per cent tax limitation contained in the state constitution. ' It has been complained of the 6 per cent tax limitation that it is looked upon by tax-levying bodies as an authority granted by the voters to increase the tax levy 6 per cent each year as a sort of public defini tion of economy as that policy which does not increase the total taxes, or appropriations paid out of taxes, more than 6 per cent each year. It is complained that instead of being a brake on public expenditures it is accepted as license to expend more and more each year, within the limit fixed, whether absolutely es sential or not. It is appropriate to remind the legislature that nothing it could do would be more welcome than appli cation of the 6 per cent . in the opposite direction. If the budget estimates can be so trimmed that state taxes for the ensuing two years will show an annual reduction of ( per cent. Instead of an increase of 6 per cent, an example will have been set which lesser political units cannot fail to heed. It would re quire heroic work, but perhaps it could be done. The committee of German women who are trying to persuade the women of France that enforcement of- the demand -for restoration of milch cows threatens the lives of German babies and in consequence ought not to be Insisted on, are confronted-with a task no less difficult because their contention may. be J true. ' French mothers, too, are con- leerned with the welfare of their own babies and are likely to be hardened by the thought that if the war had terminated otherwise than It did, Germans would have ruthlessly held to the letter of their exactions. France's demand was not made as punishment, but on the basis of the estimated number of cattle driven from the country by the invaders. As to the outcome, much probably depends on whether the French find they have livestock to spare after caring for their own population. It being borne in mind that mercy may always temper justice with excellent effect on those who decide on the merciful side. EDWARD E. KIDDLE. The state of Oregon has been for tunate in commanding the public service of many goodmen of first rate - capacity, who : have devoted their time, talents and money to its welfare, to the detriment of their private interest. It has been un fortunate in the untimely loss through death of more than one, of its capable servants. A year or more atro the tratredv of murder ended the energetic and valuable life of J. N. Burgess, who had Just Deen named as highway , commissioner, and now his successor, Edward E, Kiddle, has been suddenly sum moned. Mr. Burgess was less than 50 years old; and Mr. Kiddle was less than 60 years old. It is a sad thing to die when one Is in full possession of his mental and physical powers: it is sadder only when he lags superfluous in a lingering de cline of health and strength. The La Grande Observer,' printed in Union county, the home of Mr. Kiddle, pays a fine tribute to his memory, describing the keynote of his sturdy character to be his will ingness to work. Work, says the Observer, "was his companion, his guidepost, his anchor." Here was the secret of his success, as it is the secret of many another's happi ness and fortune. But he had ho ambition to create a great estate. What he wanted was to gain worth ily what he needed for his comfort and for his family's; what he did was to employ himself usefully al ways, whether in private pursuits or In public place. On the highway commission, he devoted himself indefatigably to the varied tasks of that responsible and arduous posi tion. He took nothing for granted; but he studied every problem for himself. It will be hard, to find such another. There was no brilliancy about Mr. Kiddle, only steadiness, sureness, in tclligence, kindness and helpfulness. He was a model type of sound American citizenship of which every community has its representative; if it has not. it is not well off. He was honored by his neighbors and by his state. When a man, or woman. gains the respect, confidence and liking of his neighbors and his com monwealth, he has had the best there is in life. LAVA BEAKS. Irvin S. Cobb's story of his quest of the lava bear in central Oregon, printed in the current issue of the Saturday Evening Post, contains its own answer to his expression of wonderment that next to nothing is known of this "rarest of existing large quadrupeds on this continent. No one who has ventured within the borders of the obsidian overflow tn which the lava bear takes refuge and in close proximity to which it has maintained itself from prehis toric times will fail to understand why the most persistent hunter is likely to lose enthusiasm for his task. Mr. Cobb mentions a government trapper of predatory animals who in a dozen years of active observa tion has seen only three and killed but one, and a stockman who has had fleeting glimpses of only four In thirty years. These, obviously, have been favored above the ordi nary run of men. The stuffed speci men which Mr. Cobb says was for some tme on exhibition at The Dalles and one that used, to arouse the mild curiosity of visitors at Lakevlew represent perhaps two thirds of all the opportunity that scientists have had for close study of this remarkable little animal. Whether, as Mr. Cobb likes to be lieve, the lava bear is in fact the sun bear, supposed by some faunal naturalists to be extinct, or is a distinct and yet unclassified species, the mystery of its survival is never theless an interesting subject for philosophical speculation. The sun bear may even belong to a genus of its own, otherwise represented by a number of fossil species including the cave bear probably exterminate. by prehistoric man. But the sun bear is a Malaysian product, and in speculating upon the manner of its arrival in North America the student will be led into a maze of geological and ethnological theories as difficult to traverse as the lava beds that cooled the ardor of Mr. Cobb. The amazing and romantic fact about the bear, by whatever name we choose to call it, is that It has sur vived in Incredibly difficult circum stances, its belligerent spirit of inde pendence only intensified by the ob sidian hardness of its lot. Its like ness to Old Ephraim, the grizzly, lends color to, though it is not con clusive of, Mr. Cobb's sunbear fancy, for the latter is, or. was. as fierce and aggressive as the grizzly when brought to bay, and like the grizzly apt to do its own choosing of time and place of battle. The persistence with which species and races cling to an unfavorable habitat has caused puzzlement to more than one naturalist since Dar win's day. Tribes that refuse to migrate from the icy Wastes within the Arctic circle to an environment more suited to racial expansion possess Ihe same Instinct as that which " holds the lava bear to its home of sand and rock, nearly- de void of means, of subsistence and offering the smallest encourage ment to reproduction. It is easy to surmise tha in these and in similar phenomena the selective system of eugenics has worked its inevitable way. ' The lava bear, which most Oregonlans have heard of but few have seen, may be, as another specu lative school would have it, the stunted descendant of a greater race of-Vrsidae but in any event it seems to have reduced the problem of existence to its lowest terms. With the alternative long ago of migrat ing to a richer foraging- ground; as did those Of other species, and of waging the fight for survival with different weapons on a" different ground, it has preferred the sparsity of a region to which it Is attached by ties of home. , The instinct that leads some ani mals to battle pluckily with the ele ments, scorning a - less elemental manner of life, is found too in the human race, as Mr. Cobb discovered in his observation of the desert' farmer ' whose grit he is moved to praise. The desert farmer would deserve less comment here if he were only an individual and not a type. Without much doubt, as this writer says, dry-farming on an alkali flat may he and frequently is one of the most uncertain an hazardous of agrarian pursuits," In which the settler, "season in and season out, wages a war against un friendly elements and a nature which begrudges his scanty gifts.' No western American -familiar with the conditions which Mr. Cobb de picts will regard, for illustration, the following picture as .overdrawn: Always there Is the possibility ot a scant rainiau in tne. wet season, which means disaster . for the. Brain he has planted and there is certainty of assaults on his growing crops if his crops grow by the Jack rabbits and the gophers and the' ground squirrels. It may be that he has to haul his water for miles; not only the water he drinks, but the water he washes tn and the water he gives his stock. Often he must travel a considerable distance to chop the stunted juniper which serves him as firewood. He and his brood endure loneliness and alkali and- sagebrush and sand storms and snow storms. No flowers grow about hi doorstep. No fruit trees blossom and bear in his dooryard. Juniper and lava bear and desert farmer three of a kind in common instinct to fight against self-imposed odds offer material for a specula tive philosophy and present new evidence that there are living thingB not bent on discovering the line of least resistance with a purpose or lack of purpose which we leave to the philosophers to disclose. FTLMS IN EDUCATION. In the backwash of enthusiasm over the educational mission of the motion picture there already appears doubt that the' film will fulfill the universal purpose that Thomas A. Edison and others have predicted for it. Its value as an adjunct can be admitted without conceding everything that extremists have claimed. It still" remains a picture. though it enables the beholder to visualize a sequence of events, and it is likely to supplant neither the book, nor oral" precept, nor concen trated thought, which is most neces sary of all to the lesson that is being learned. The film is not alone, however, in the respect that it betrays a ten dency to deliver to the pupil con clusions ready-made. Pnedigested education is doled out in schoolrooms that have no motion picture para phernalia. It is discoverable in more than- one so-called text book, and It is imparted by teachers who mistake information for education and learn ing for thinking. There are, it Is true, certain facts which it were con venient to know, and certain short cuts to experience which ought not to be ignored by the economical, yet these are not the foundation itself. The danger in these innovations is the same as that which lies In a mul tiplicity of books. It is that the pupil will come to rely too much on others to do his thinking for him, that from having all things made easy for him he will form the habit of shunning every difficult task, and that he will suffer from a kind of mental atrophy. There was a sound core to the Old educational philosophy which gave weight to the disciplinary studies. There was indeed some waste to them, but they did produce thinkers and most of the moral progress of the world has been led by men with disciplined minds. The motion pic ture undoubtedly has its place in the educational scheme, as have the pro cessor and the book, but it will not take the place of old-fashioned hard work. It will need to be employed discreetly to do all the good possible, without exhibiting preponderant dis advantages. The livestock show people are opposed to consolidation with the state fair and say Salem is the place for the fair. That's right, it belongs there, and nothing short of seven teen cataclysms, 1101 earthquakes and another democratic administra tion can move it away. Cutting kindling must be peculi arly a woman's job. Seldom is one injured. On the other hand. men. who may not be familiar with such work, are cutting off toes and fingers all the time. The wife who values er husband should hide the ax and the hatchet The Tin Can Tourists of the World are holding their first annual con ention at Tampa, Fla. Speaking offhand, we presume they all drove their J'ords to the meeting. The ex-kaiser is said to have twenty-four charwomen in his castle. He must have someone to kick out of the way and probably the scrub women enjoy the honor. Now that we know exactly how large the stars are, perhaps some genius can invent a machine to tell the size of a football score before the game. How could D'AnnunzIo expect suc cess while running around with an other woman? A reformer must have clean hands. Thousands of Pullman employes have volunteered to accept lower wages, Put that s not for "George." If Wilson has a rolltop desk there is excuse for not finding the bill Senator Aahurst Is fussing about A Rhode Island man is named for minister to Rumania. That makes elbow room for the rest . What's in a name? they ask. Well, under any other name the cootie Isn't half so respectable. Only one day more of leap year, which means that some of the girls will have to hurry. The despairing bond buyer will get his money. Depend upon it, Jt will be squeezed out There is. one comfort left you cannot get the Christmas bills be fore Monday. Uncle Joe Cannon has become a national Institution, like poker and baseball. " Wath the smoker who would re form give away all his "rope" to night Keep the porch lights burning to night to welcome the -new year.. Just about time to get those an nual resolutions out of storage. Grumble about the raln, when milk has dropped half a cent? "Old-fashioned mince pie" is ad- vertisad, . JSht How pome? I BY PRODUCTS OF THE PRESS. Cowboys Flee From ClvtUxatlosi to South America's Opea Raase. "Something coming," remarked a deputy in the office of the clerk of tbe United States district court, as the click of high-heeled, spurred boots rippled down the corridors Of the federal building. .The noise stopped as three cow punchers -stood framed in the door way. They were dressed In garb that only thoroughbred cowpunchers can wear with ease, and which movie ac tors cannot imitate. "Pard," the spokesman said, ad dressing Abe Vfnick deputy, "what's the chances of gettln' out of the United States today? , "Pretty fair, for getting out, but you'll have to wait a few days. Where do you want to go?" "South America." The three cowpunchers, a trifle Urr.id, entered. "What do you want to go there fcr?" Vlnick asked. . "Well, you see," explained Robert G. Rodgers, spokesman, "we're cow punchers and we want to stay at it. There ain't none of that work here any more, since a certain party be gan floodin' the ranges with his mo tor trucks. Late years a puncher rides around the range in a flivver while his pony gets fat and loses his wind feedln' the corral. And then along comes prohibition and makes it no fun to get to town. The only excitement in the city is a pitcher show with actors tryin to be cow boys. It's all gone dead here and we want to go south where they still ride the range with ponies." ' The three men from the range country they had spent years In the cattle country around Lodge Grass, Mont. were being driven south by "civilization, which is supplying the ranchman with new implements, and robbing the cowman's life of its ro mance." Kansas -City Star. Life on the island of Palmito del Verde, where 1100 former Taklma val ley residents are establishing a col ony. Is no longer the splendid adven ture in a modern garden of Eden which it once seemed. When the Yaklmans left they were certain they wfrre going to find a 20th century Eden. Now many of them were get ting discouraged and wish they were back in this valley, according to the letters received from them. Miles Thomas, one of the emigrants, was bitten by a- poisonous scorpion and is so 111 that his recovery seems unlikely. Another man has been bitten by a centipede, and is also in serious physical state. The Takimans are finding that while crops grow rapidly the weeds grow more rapidly and that the de sire for worlt decreases. They have learned that during the rainy season the heavens give their sole ani un divided attention to the business of pcuring water. The ants swarm over the houses in myriads, the Yakima exiles have discovered, and they are compelled to construct coal oil bar- liers to protect their food. There is no doubt that the colonists are acute ly homesick. Yakima Republic. Ah Jim has disgraced Chinatown, so to speak. It has remained for him to be the first local Ch'nese to be arrested for drunkenness within the memory of the oldest citizen of the oriental col ony. What you drink?" asked Police Judge McAtee of the prisoner yester day morning. "Dlink litta bitta glappo," said Ah Jim contritely. "No more evah, you bet Pfobitlon all same good for Ah Jim by and by all time." Up till Sunday night it Had been a sort of legend in Chinatown that the only drunken oriental seen there was away back in the sixties. When Detectives Walsh and George Hippely saw Ah Jim come weaving up Grant avenue Sunday night they could scarcely believe their eyes. But when Ah Jim stopped in front of them and blew his breath in their faces and told them what he thought of them they concluded he must be drunk. Judge McAtee dismissed the case. Ah Jim is 70 years of age. Sao Francisco Examiner. , Tonsorial uniformity will not be re quired of the "gobs" at League island before they will be allowed to leave the navy yard on furlough. Haircuts which are known to the manipulators of the shears and razors as the "Zulu," the "Tango" and th "Grizzly Bear" will not be frowned upon by naval., authorities in the fourth naval district although rigid rules have been laid down in the Bos ton navy yard, according to word re ceived from that city. Rear Admiral Herbert O. Dunn, commandant of the first naval dis trict has decreed that there must be uniformity of hair dress as well as of clothing among the sailors under his command, and no man will be allowed out of the yard on leave with his hair "done up" in futuristic styles. Phi la delphla Public Ledger. Indianapolis fish and oyster dealers are taking orders for venison steaks, chops and roasts One dealer received a deer from Wisconsin hunters. The shipment was the first of the present season. Prices ranged from 75 cents to $1.25 a pound, according to the cut Indianapolis News. e . Mrs. Larz Anderson has written an entertaining book with the quaint ti tle, "Presidents and Pies," from which the following is an excerpt: A house painter once asked Presl dent Taft for an appointment to the cabinet preferably, he said, as secre tary of commerce and labor. Feeling unable to grant this request Mr. Taft tried to soften his refusal-by explain ing that a cabinet portfolio called for a big man, but the applicant retorted, much to Mr. Taft's delight that if the president would appoint him to the position he would then be a big man. - Hard I v a day now passes in Wash ington that some member of con gress does not solemnly announce that the war produced 20.000 or more new millionaires. The number dif fers. Some fix it as high as 40,000. , We have repeatedly pointed' out that" no figures, so far as we know. are available to sustain these state ments. We have written to man after man who quoted them, but none has ever given an answer that means any thing at all. If there is anyooay wno nas any actual figures and reliable statistics on which to base a statement that the war created 20.000 new million aires, he will be performing a public duty by producing them. How far does a lie travel? Manu- facturertf Recotd. Those Who Come and Go. "The 2,500,000 bonds for the Roose velt hglhway, authorized by the peo ple, should be spent now Instead of "w'aitlnjr for congress to match these bonds, says Charles Hall, state sen ator for Coos and Curry counties. "I plan to Introduce a measure in the legislature removing the contingency clause so that the bonds can be sold and a start made on the highway. By the time our bonds are sold the gov ernment may be ready to do its share. I have a sort of Idea that $1,250,000 of the bonds should be used by starting from the California line and working north through Curry county. The balance, I would suggest, should be tised for commencing the highway from Seaside south. The people ap proved the measure, but I think the legislature has power to eliminate the contingency, clause. If it doesn't, the matter can be referred to the people at a special election to be held some time next eprlng." Senator Hall checked out of the Benson last night for Coos Bay. Before leaving for home last night T. L. Stanley called on the Southern Pacific officials and express officials to see If It is possible to get better service into Klamath Falls from the outside world. "Klamath Falls is now feeing California," observed Mr. Stan ley, "but the hastening of the high way construction to Ashland and to Bend will do more-to help Klamath Falls face Oregon than any one thins, until that part of the country Is linked up with Oregon railroads." The last time Mr. Stanley came to Portland snd was interviewed, four settled in Klamath Falls as a direct result of the interview. One man bought a farm of 250 acres; another bought Into a Jwelry concern and the other two new arrivals are also in business. Mr. Stanley Is secretary of the KlSm ath county chamber of commerce and was here attending the meeting of state secretaries as well as the state chamber of commerce. The people' of- Malheur county couldn't get their hay to market ex cept at a loss, so hey are going to taite aoout iuuu cows to maineui county to eat the hay. A committee representing the farmers of that county is buying up cattle and ship ping directly in carload lots to Mal heur from the Willamette valley. Professor F. B. Fitts of O. A. C who is in town for a brief visit, tells in terestingly of the dairy outlook- for that part of the state. Professor Fitts says that alfalfa hay and corn Bilage makes a good ration for the cows. The pit silos are used largely In Malheur. Some of them are 32 feet deep and 16 feet in diameter. They are lined with cement and have a cement wall around. The only dif ficulty, he says, is in getting the sil age out. But those eastern Orego nlans accomplish this feat with dexterity. Coming from a cattle district Jay Upton of Prineville, says that the stockmen need assistance of some sort and that perhaps a way out will bo found durirrg the legislature, al though he admits that he has no definite ideas as to what form this assistance to the industry will as sume. Senator tpton says that one of the banks at Prineville closed its dcors temporarily a few days ago. This bank, he explained, has been doing its best to carry the stockmen, end this is why the institution has had to close for the time being. Mr. Upton will be chairman of the sen ate committee on irrigation and he will also be on the judiciary com mittee. John Bell, senator for Lane and Linn counties, Is at the Imperial. Sen ator Bell says that the committee ap pointed at the 1919 special session of the legislature to look Into the salary question of officers throughout the state will make a report next month. The senator, however, declines to say what the recommendations in the re port will be. Salary increases are not as popular with the taxpayers now as they were when the legislature appointed the committee. According to L. H. Carter, Los Angeles is not a city of profiteers, and contrary to many reports, he in sists that the hotel rates there are no higher than In other cities. He also states that there is no especial bousing problem and wealthy people are not forced to live In tents. Bun galows are advertised daily in the "for sale and for rent columns or the newspapers. The resort man agers are looking for a heavy bus! ness following the holiday season. Dr. Owens Adair of Warrenton, Or., is at the Hotel Portland. For a num ber of sessions of the legislature, years ago, she lobbied for a bill to authorize sterilization at me peni tentiary, the asylum and the home for the feeble-minded. Dr. Adair was the pioneer advocate of this Idea in Oregon. "We are anxious to make the in ternatlonal mining congress in Port land a success' says W. B. Dennis of Carlton, chairman of the state bu reau of mines. "The convention will be held within a few months and we hope to have 1200 people here, repre senting all' phases of the mining in dustry from engineers and owners to prospectors." Representative Denton Burdick, of Redmond, Or., Is at the Imperial, and has been talking over legislative matters with fellow members who are drifting Into town. Mr. Burdick de clares that the delegation from his section Intend making a drive for more rapid development . of The Dalles-California highway. These are busy days for Fred W. Williams, who is registered at the Hotel Oregon. Mr. Williams has been holding hearings, as a public service commissioner, on applications for in creased rates for gas and telephones and now will come an application for Increased rates for steam heat Mrs. C L. Hobart of Grants Pass Is at the Hotel Portland. Mrs. Ho bart's husband is operating a garage in the Granite oity. In and around Grants Pass there is Ideal road mate rial, for the country is composed of decomposed granite, which packs into a fine roadbed. W. A. Johnson of Rlckreall, at the Perkins, is here to attend the meet- Inv nf tenrhnra 7r-Mier!clc Itrch- told, of the Oregon Agricultural col- I lege, is here on a similar mission and is also at the Perkins. Over in London someone handed C. E. Maples of Ormshirk a card of Ross Finnegan, at the Benson. Mr. Maples has arrived in Portland and presented Mr. Finnegan with the card. W. P. O'Brien, newly elected di rector of the state chamber of com merce, Is registered at the Benson from Astoria. Mr. O'Brien is with the Astoria Box company. P. L. Campbell, 'president of the University of Oregon, is at the Hotel Portland while attending the confer ence of teachers. Ancient mariners at the Multnomah are Captain Mons Daksen and Cap tain T. N. Annensen of Norway. James Wilson,, who looks after the Prineville railroad, a municipally owned affair, is in the city. L. I Turney, in the stock business in the Condon country, is aa arrival at the Perkins. . . I John Burroughs' Nature Notes. Can You Answer These Questions f 1. How does the pine tree shed its leaves? 2. Do crows eat corn in winter? 3. Is the gray squirrel distinctly American ? . Answers in tomorrow's nature notes.' Answers to Previowa Question. 1. Will a severe winter destroy birds? A severe winter destroys a great many of our half-migratory birds. The mortality appears to be the great est In the border states. Game birds and nearly all other birds will stand the severest weather if food Is plenty; but to hunger and cold both, the hardiest species may succumb. 2. What is the crucial time in the farmer's year? Haying Is the period of "storm and stress' in the farmers year. To get the hay In, In good condition, and be fore the grass gets too ripe, is a great matter. All the energies and re sources of the farm are bent to this purpose. It is a 30 or 40 days' war. In which the farmer and his "hands" are pitted against the heat and the rain and the legious of timothy and clover. 1. Does the fox run easily? Judged by the eye alone, the fox is the lightest and most buoyant crea ture that runs. His soft wrapping of fur conceals the muscular play and effort that is so obvious In the hound that pursues him, and he comes bounding along precisely as if blown by a gentle wind. Ills massive tail is carried ao if it floated upon the air by its own llghtneea, (RlSbUi reserved br Houghton lyfnin Co.) HOW ORCHARD MAS CONVERTED Widow of Victim Induces Slayer o Religious Mind. PORTLAND. Dec 29. (To the Ed itor.) I beg your indulgence for space that another foature In con nection with the history of the no torious Harry Orchard, the self-confessed murderer of the late Governor Steunenberg of Idaho may be un folded. A true Christian missionary, real izing at the time of his Incarceration that the murderer would for his crime suffer at the bands of the staff a living death throughout his natural lifetime, and In the end eternal death at the' hand of God for his sin unless he repented and received di vine forgiveness, made an effort by God's grace to enlighten the mind and heart of the then vile wretch. Gospel literature was supplied him. and a ray of hope came into his life when he learned that the missionary interested In his soul's salvation wa none other than the broken-heartc and bereaved widow of the murdered governor. Mrs. Steunenberg knew the powe of the grace of God in the forgiveness of sin, as well as the conditions lm posed by the Lord namely, that she, as the one wronged and ginned against, must also, from the divln angle, forgive the wretch and work and pray for his conversion, yet rec ognizing that the state must never theless punish for the crime. "Thus Harry Orchard sought and found Christ whose divine spirit o forgiveness he had seen exemplifiea in Mrs. Steunenberg's life and ob tained forgiveness at his hand for his sin; but admitted that the state must still justly punish for his crime. Mrs. Steunenberg was at that time, and is now, an Adventlst This in formation may explain why some o the Adventists In Idaho now are in teresting themselves In the case, since they believe Orchard to be "a new creature" In Christ Jesus. II. W. COTTRELL. SIMPLICITY IS MKRIT OF TOXGUE Enellssi and Other I.nns:naa;es Com pared by Dr. Hondlry. PORTLAND, Dec. 29. (To the Edi tor.) To make English the common language within the United States and to teach it alone of the tongues of the earth within our secondary schools should receive the approval of even all people who come to our shores from other lands. No other tongue has the simplicity of the Eng llsh words. These words have" In gen eral a uniformity worth appreciation The tenses of verbs representing past time are like each other, and In gender we are released from follow ing other languages in calling moun tains or trees and the names of other objects either masculine or feminine The Germans make head masculine and the Italians call It feminine, but our tongue leaves sex behind objects Many, indeed the majority, of the names of persons disregard the mat ter of sex. We .do not ask whether "writer" represents a man or a wom an. We are not called upon to dt- cHne nouns, articles or adjectives "He," "she," and "It" have a common pluraL Our verb has but few changes of form, and the greater part of the verb forms are regular, and but few Irregular. In the incomparable Eng. lish we bid farewell In general to conjugations and declensions. Then our language has come out of our needs, and therefore Is a liv ing treasure, and has been used by Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Burke, Webster and Lincoln. Therefore we cheerfully welcome all comers from other lands not only to our material resources, but to our matchless Kne ll ah. It ought to go to other lands to take the place of perplexing con fusion, and if heaven Is to sneak but one tongue of course It should be the English. B. J. IIOADLEY. MR. STONE'S BONIS BILL VIEWS Clacknmna Representative Replies to Criticism of Legion Poet. OREGOX Cirr. Dec. 29. (To the Editor.) I was surprised to read In The Oregonlan the resolution In which the American Legion condemns my attitude on the soldiers''' bonus bill, and invites me to reply to the same. I have not expressed my attitude publicly as being opposed to the bonus and privately I have stated that if the finances could be arranged I was in favor of a bonus to those who. by their services to their country, had incurred a financial loss. I am not In favor of granting a bonus to those who worked In the BlllUVO 1-.""- .v. who tt ' b HH),0 VI those who served several months in the training camps. I was and am still in favor of a bonus to those who spent a certain length of time in the service, the same to be based on the length of service, and to favor those who saw service in Europe. If a bill is submitted to the legis lature, the same to be referred td the people, embodying the conditions hereinbefore enumerated, I shall sup port It Otherwise I shall oppose it WILLIAM M. STONE, State Representative, Way to rrotect Fhrasants, PORTLAND, Dec. 29. (To the Edi tor.) Of late there has been some discussion as to the best way to pro tect China pheasants. I claim that the only way to protect them Is to prohibit hunting with dogi. Stop hunting with dogs snd In three years toe China pheasants, will be so plentiful and tame any -person can take bis .22 rifle or .20-gauge shotgun and go afield and kill a few pheasants any time he wants them. More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Siesta roe. THE DI.KSSl.TfGS OF lATKH ALIS3I. No wonder that we think a beep Of our free institutions. When Uncle Samuel helps us keep Our New Year's resolutions. The fear that they are far too good To keep no more wllf fret us. We could not break them If we would. The government won't let us. If we resolve, through self-control To go upon the wagon, Eschew the jug, the flask, the bowl. The seldel and the flngon. It's likely that we'll keep this pact Kxactly as we make it, Berause we'll find the Volstead act Has made it hard to break It If we resolve to save earn- day A part of our per diem, Instead of tossing It away As did old Omar Khayyam, The government will are us through And make us strung and steady, For when the Income tax Is due We'll have to have It ready. If we resolve to do more work. Our annual vow renewing. That we will nevrr dodge pr shirk, The task we should be doing, The government again will aid Our eneritis to fire. For many recent laws have made The cost of living higher. Wbolo Moce. The coal mine owners, while ad mitting that providence committed the coal to their charge, are deeply grieved because .the same providence permitted a mild winter In the north, see Se Prepared. Meat prices are coming down, but you won't notice it unless you use a microscope when you read your butch, er's bills. see How Doee lie Knew? If we were Mr. Harding we couldn't help feeling a little Irritated when the reporters ask Holes Penrose who Is going to be In the new cabinet. (Copyright, 1920. by the Bell Syn dicate. Inc.) Concentration. Dy Grace F- IlalL The million factors In our mental store That labor with one purpose to wards an end. Are like an army marching on before. Each with a common Impulse; and they bend ' With every ounce ef force, their rltal strength To gain one final triumph at the Inst, And surging towards one mighty goal, at lenrth Accomplish that one thing for which they massed. They are as well-trained soldiers on parade. Or else ns raw recruits, untaught unheui By discipline, whose blunders oft hav made Such hnvor " t hn been spelled: Like men who wnndir out Into the wood. And, roaming, separate and pass from view. These factors. If they stray, miss what they could By sirong, concerted effort, wisely do. That man who wins the oftenest his goal, Is master of this army In Ms brain; Those mental units yield to hlf control. And march together with united aim To do his will; but he whoso grist Of thousht Is scattered, like a hand-tossed bit of wheat. Shall seldom see his plans la beauty brought To full fruition, perfect and com plete. In Other Days. Tnrnty.Flve Years Aao. From The Orrsonlan of December M. 1M. Cottage Grove. Tlio I'oseburg local was wrecked yesterday by running over a large stoer a mile north of Comstock. The engine, mall and ex press cars jumped the track, but no one was injured. Frederick Baker, assistant janitor In the I'ekuin building, foil da feet to his death yesterday while clean ing windows on the fifth floor. People have become so sccusiomed to the cool clear Hull II un water they scarcely ever think of the muddy stuff they used to drink at this time uf year. T'. O. R. ft N. Co. today began cutting lis annual supply of ice at 1'orry, in the IHue mountains. I'lfly Yea re Ao. From The Oresonlanof December tl. W). The railroad ranvasing committee. seeking a subsidy of flUO.OtK) to In sure construction of a west aide line, i reported lust night that it has 00,000 pledged and la sight I The law firm of Igan, Fbsttuck ft Klllln has been dissolved by the withdrawal of .Mr. Logan. December has been a very good month for marriages, IS licenses having been issued. The steamship California will this morning take away exports for Vic toria valued at 13.t and about like amount for Puget Sound porta XOT SOLUTION OF DIVORCE EVIL Evans Plan Would CTeaie stw ana Worse Conditions, fays Jurist. PORTLAND, Dec 29. (To the Ed itor.) Having given some study to the divorce problem, I am Interested In the propoeed law which Mr. Evans, offers as a solution or toe vil It la quite evldont that Mr. Evans has not lost great aeai oi aieop nor given an abundance of bis time to the study of this perplexing prob lem. The idea must have struck hlra spontaneously or perhaps It was an inspiration. In any case It is lacking n reason, ana n suwi duce a condition so mucn worso uwu that which now exists as to make the present divorce evil seem scarce 1 worth discussion. Mr. Evans may be able to change the laws, but can he change human nature? This law may prevent re marriage, but it will not prevent di vorce. And there are worse things than divorce and remarriage. Will this law prevent lewd cohab itation and the many evils resulting therefrom? But perhaps Mr. Evans has planned to furnish eaoli divorcee with a beautiful halo which will have the effect of changing the buman to i angel, and of dostroylng all desire not in aocord with law and morality. Ha would have the children of di vorced parents made wards of the state; he would prevent remarriage. In other words, he would Introduce free-love Into the state. Why not adopt the Russian idea as a whole? Or does he plan to give it to us la homeopathic, doses? W. N. QATENS. V r . - - t V -1- i V m V..'', X 0 i