Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, March 21, 1921, Image 8

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Morning Oregonian., March 21, 1921, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page Text8 TIIE -MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, MAItCII 21, 1921 ESTABLISHED BT HENBY L. PITTOCK. ' lis i ix,h k, Oregonian Publishing Co.. A. MORDEN. E. B. PIPER. llinuer. . Editor. The Oregonian la a member of the Auso 'ilalea Frees: The Associated Press Is ex ilusively entitled to the use for publication r all news dlpatches credited to It or not Uherwtse credited In this paper and also the local news publlthed herein. All rights I publication of special dispatches herein sr also reserved. Subscription Bates Invariably in Advance. (Br Hull pally, Sunday Included, one year. . SHn!ly 'nc'u5ed'. hree months. 2.25 lJ" ?u"dV .'n"ied. one month... .75 y, Bunaay included, six months 4. 23 e!ob I'aiiy. WILnoUt Klinriav Ann vMP I'aily, without Sunday, six months Iaily, without Sunday, one month. Weekly, one year Sunday, one year..-. 8.25 .60 1.00 (By Carrier.) ' Dally. Sunday Included, one year $J0O I'aily, Sunday Included, three months. 2.25 i'aily, Sunday Included, one month 75 rily, without Sunday, one year 7.80 Dally, without Sunday, three months. J. OS Dally, without Sunday, one month.... .05 How to Kemlt Send poMofftce. money order, express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. iive postolflce address in lull. Including county and state. Postage Rates 1 to 16 pages. 1 cent: 18 to 22 pagan, 2 cents; 34 lo 48 pages, 3 cents; 50 to 64 pages, 4 cents: 66 to 80 pages. 5 ornts; fc2 to t pages, 6 cents, iorcign postage double rate. Eastern Bnslneas Office Verree A Conk lln, Brunswick building. New York; Verree Conklln. Steger building. Chicago; Ver ree St Conklln, Free Press building. De troit Mich.; Verree & Conklln. Selling building, Portland: San Francisco repre sentative, R. J. Bldwell. BEATING THE GAME. The drift in recent years has been distinctly away from competitive conditions In the field of public util ities. Monopoly under public regu lation of rates and service has been the popular order. Theoretically At is the economical policy. It avoids duplication (of capital and duplica tion of facilities. Bates charged are supposed to be reasonable and ser vice is supposed to be adequate. Pub lic utilities commissions are charged with the duty of determining when rates are reasonable and service ade quate, and they use as the basis for determining reasonableness of rates the physical value of the property employed, as that , physical value may be determined by investigation by the commission and its own en gineers. But it may be suspected that there Is a way to beat the game. There is, in fact, a way to beat almost any form of regulative public policy. As a purely hypothetical case, a great telephone corporation, during the period when wages were low, service poor, labor and materials cheap and rates not regulated, accumulates a surplus. It invests that surplus in plants to manufacture the parapher nalia of telephone systems. Its as sociate corporation, the telephone company, buys or leases most of the output. The manufacturing company is able to economize on sales force and advertising. It can know pre cisely the demand for its output and can plan scientifically in this and other respects and thereby produce cheaply. In the days of competition this manufacturing corporation may have been organized with the primary thought of reducing costs of oper ation of the telephone corporation in order that it might compete more successfully with its rivals In rate making and quality of service. The manufacturing company so long as competitive conditions exist is con tent with the status of a going con cern yielding a fair profit on the Investment. But, when competition ceases and regulation of utilities begins, the manufacturing company is freed from entanglement. It is not a public utility. Its profits are not subject to public regulation. It may pay lar'ge dividends and cut an occasional melon and nobody can say it nay. By reason of the certainty of its! market and the lower expense of ire operation and manufacture it may overcharge for its products and still be able to give the appearance of not doing so. But what it charges the telephone company for equipment appears In the latter's balance sheet as disbursements, and all disburse ments are offset against gross reve nue to determine the net revenue and and whether the net revenue is a fair return upon the capital invested In physical- properties of the one corporation the telephone company. Rates seemingly based on physical valuation of the one corporation's property are In fact thus adjusted so as to give exorbitant returns to a subsidiary or interlocking corpor ation. The Oregonian emphasizes that it gives the foregoing only as a hypo thetical case. It docs not charge that telephone conditions in Oregon have been so manipulated. ' It simply be lieves it can be done. It has said and It repeats that the relationship and dealings between the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph company and the Western Electric company ought to be made clear and certain to the public which is called upon to pay greatly increased . telephone rates at a time when all commodity prices are falling. . In general, the public is condemn ing the advanced rates on outward appearances rather than upon exact knowledge. It Is aware that the telephone company not long ago spent several millions of dollars to purchase an all but bankrupt com petitor. It knows that the poles, lines and equipment were largely a duplication of poles, lines and equip ment in the same locality and, therefore, of questionable value as additions to the system. It has ob served that this large purchase was made at a time when the pur chasing company is assumed to have been making less than a rea sonable return on money already in vested. It has witnessed the prompt application for an increase in rates and it Is ntiw paying the second in crease within two years. It has ob served that this, second increase runs In Instances as high as 200 per cent It has had laid before it the con gratulatory report of the president of the 'parent company to the stock holders, this report detailing pay ment of large dividends and accumu lation of surpluses during the period of lower rates. These circumstances naturally promote a conviction that something is wrong. But exact knowledge as to how or where the game was beaten, if it was beaten, is not at hand. It i9 clear, however, that if an increase in rates was justified, it has been applied without much regard tor equity. The demand for rehearing or ap peal or recall is widespread. It comes not alone from those who are hard pressed to meet living expenses or from habitual corporation baiters. It is joined in by the substantial business men, the men who oat of their own large- experience under- stand the difficulties that confronted every institution during the period of increasing cost of labor And mate- I rials. Band large the latter have no glowing reports to make to stock holders. They are passing through a readjustment era and In many In stances are eating into their reserves. With every prospect for establish ment in the near future of a lower basic cost ' of doing business they have had a startling advance in tele phone fates thrust upon them. The painful inquiry goes beyond the Justification of a recall or of a At.ln T a. iu iue meni oi iae eajaiing policy 01 encouraging monopoly under public . 6 f . i regulation. If that policy can be j turned against the public in whose behalf it was adopted, and is being so turned, it is time to plan a new deal. SYSTEM AND APATHY, From a high school girl comes the inquiry: "Kindly state the advantages or disadvantages of the commission form of government over other forms and what form in Portland has proved to be the most economical.' Articles on the theoretical advah tages of commission" government are doubtless to be found In number at the public library, but.it must be assumed that the youthful student desires facta, not theories. They are not available. We may draw one conclusion from a given set of con ditions and somebody else may draw another conclusion. Our own, after an observation of commission gov ernment in Portland since 1913, is that the system is neither appreci ably better nor appreciably worse than any other truly representative form of city government. Commission government is pretty much of a symptom. It is a symp tom that the public at one time, be came, conscious of bad government but mistook the cause. Represen tative government is what you' make it and it can be made good or bad according to the public interest taken in election of honest and competent men to office. Tou can get them under either system. In adopting commission govern ment the public seeks a form of gov ernment that needs only to be wound up once in four years by the inter ested few In order to function ad mirably to the best interests of everybody. It is an effort to over come public apathy with system without surrendering public apathy. It is a good form of government when people are awake and ob servant. It is no better than any other if they go to sleep. Taxes have increased under com mission government Promises by its most devoted advocates that it would save millions of dollars have not been kept. But taxes have also Increased in other units of the gov ernment not having the commission form. Probably taxes would have grown as much had -the council manic form been retained. ,Ve know what has happened under commission government but can only speculate as to what might have happened had the commission char ter been defeated. BETTER TIMES FOR LUMBERMEN. Reduction of lumber rates from the Pacific coast to territory as far east as Chicago will almost, if not quite, restore the relationship with yellow pine rates which enabled Douglas fir to .compete in the' middle west. It should help to give an im petus to building: when the season is opening and when the cry all over the eountry is for more houses. The fall in lumber prices, together with the reduction in rates, should vymvn an Inrfinflva r nAGlnnnu firof tion of houses no longer. It shoulcf incline producers of other materials to make reductions in order to make a market. If such . a movement should be general, it should start the long deferred building boom and should do much to revive industrial activity. Nothing seems to have been gained by the railroads through their delay in granting the rate redaction. It was asked as long ago as August, when- the general advance was made, but they have exhausted excuses for inaction, their last resort being the argument that there was no demand for lumber, therefore lower rates could not increase sales and traffic. They, do not know how many men, hesitating. whether or not to bujld, decided in the negative because the price of lumber raised estimates be yond a certain point, nor what sales might have been made during the winter, when thousands of cars were idle, if the lower rates had already been in effect. They do know that high rates on railroads have turned shippers' minds to the water. jus,t when ships were becoming abundant and water rates low. They- have paid for their short sight. : NOW COMMERCIAL GEOLOGY. V The commercial aspect, of a science is also the human side of it, because it deals with the relations of men, and the study of geology ought to gain interest from the effort of the United States geological -survey to show how 'geology concerns our everyday affairs. The survey: has just issued an atlas, in the introduc tion to which it sets forth that "study of the distribution of mineral raw materials and their relation to the promotion of trade and the con trol of industry is a branch of geol ogy." This is a companion move ment to that which has recently re sulted in 'arousing deeper interest in the geography of commerce and pro duction. Its purpose is the same to teach people to think in terms of world-wide and quantity production, and t show the interdependence both of nations and of individuals on one another for their supplies of primary necessities. The importance of the United States in production of these essen tials is shown by the statement that of thirty most important mineral commodities, this country was first as to thirteen and second in four others. Russia, Austria and Spain each ranked first in production of two, Germany and France first in production of one. Multiplying the world's output of the thirty commod ities by the average price prevailing in the United States, the survey finds that their combined value amounts to about 4.o75,000,000. Qt this amount the United States contributes more than 36 per cent, though containing only about one-sixteenth of the tributed In 1913, the year before' the war, less than 15 per cent. Great Britain 10.5 per cent and no other country more than 5 per cent. The survey reminds us that. "la this matter of mineral wealth, the nation that is a spendthrift today is so much the less likely to pqssess Independent means tomorrow." The statement would be as applicable to any other form of wealth. It has been newly shown in connection with our efforts to relieve famine in Europe and China that agriculture as well as mining has a world mean ing. Farmers of the central west offer corn from their surplus yield, to be forwarded to aliens, on condi tion that the actual commodity be transported and not sold in a home market further to break the price. Planters of the south with too much rice on " hand propose a similar method of relief. Rice, which we were taught as children was the staple food or many millions of Asiatics, will be shipped to Europe and to Asia, showing that the feed ing of the world is only partly a problem of producing food: it is also a question of distribution, and we are only now being awakened to the fact that distribution 1s seriously defec tive, regarded in international terms. Commercial geography and commer cial geology teach that abundance in a local sense does not necessarily imply plenty for the world at. large. We know comparatively little re garding .he exact world situation as to such an important commodity as petroleum, and even lese about corn. Nations export and import Important products by roundabout routes, when economy would be served by simpli fying transportation. In the same season in which corn is a "drug" on the prairies, maize appears in the list of Imports from far-off Rho desia at the port of New York. In its humanitarian phase com merce seeks to Invoke the principle of enlightened self-interest in the highest sense. The new effort to promote education along this line is in the interest of thrift and industry. There will be a new incentive for conservation when it is understood that the world as a whole has need of about all that it can produce. Waste, never desirable, will be less than ever defensible when we have learned to think of the wants of the 1,700,000,000 people or thereabouts who inhabit the entire globe. WHAT SHALL BE DONE FIRST T So many troubles press on the ad ministration for action that there Is discussion as : to which should be taken up first. Some help to decision will be obtained from consideration of the cuestiona: Which, troubles would be so aggravated by delay as to require Immediate attention? Which troubles will partly or wholly pass away when others are cured or will be so modified bythe cure of those others that no decision can now be made as to the form of ef fective treatment? Relief of the farmers from the re sults of sudden and drastic deflation of prices and from the threat of dumping by other nations seems to be first in order. At the opening of a' crop season the prospect as to future price of farm products is so dark and doubtful and many farmers are so impoverished that they are unable or unwilling to plant usual crops or maintain their flocks. Ag riculture produces the first neces saries of life and, unless farmers are enabled or encouraged to produce an adequate supply, there may be an actual shortage in the world s mar kets. Before harvest other nations may have recovered sufficiently to demand an increased proportion of what may prove to be our decreased crops, and new inflation of prices may automatically compensate the farmers for shrinkage in valueslast year. The consuming masses would pay dearly. - As to i the most important farm products, like wheat, corn and cot ton, this country controls the world supply and is. an exporter, not an importer, therefore protective duties are worthless to the farmers, but they' can be helped to finance the crop from seedtime to harvest and can be encouraged' to secure a larger proportion of the consumer's price by resort to co-operative marketing. The wool and cattle - industries need protection .against dumping. The price of wool has been de pressed by the large surplus war stocks and by the fall in -ocean freights, which facilitatss imports at ruinous prices. . Facing bankruptcy, many woolgrowers are selling their flocks for slaughter, and the whole nation's sheep and wool industry Is endangered. .Low ocean freights also stimulate imports of frozen meat, which depress prices of live stock and cause cattlemento. reduce their herds. If this state of affairs should continue, the falling prices of meat this year may be followed by a sharp rise a year or two hence. Then the first duty of congress is to insure the country's basic indus try and the people's supply of staple commodities necessary to life by passing a tariff bill which will pro tect where protection would be effec tive and especially to prevent dump ing, even to the point of prohibition. The farmers' co-operation bill, which failed at the last session, should also be pushed through, and a credit sys tem should be passed which wilf fi nance farm operations as readily and on as easy terms as the banks have financed manufactures. Next in order o' urgency is reform of internal taxes. Readjustment -.- f industry and foreign commerce, re newal of building and starting' of new productive enterprises, all are obstructed oy our present uneco nomic system of taxation. The ex cess profits tax- is not paid by the producer and merchant, at whom it was aimel; it is passed along with a further profit added, to be paid by the consumer." The revenue it yields is shriJklng as profits shrink, espe cially since the seller can no longer dictate prices; As a source of revenue It has almost outlived any usefulness 1t ever had. Surtaxes on incomes, intended to tax men more heavily the richer they are, drive men to in Test more of their income irr tax-exempt securities the larger their in comes are. The surtaxes thus help the rich to escape taxation and they keep money out of the treasury. They also keep money out of productive investment when it is most needed. A tax on what the people consume, imposed when they buy for consump tion, so graduated as to be higher on large than small quantities, higher on luxuries than Necessaries, would bear most lTghtly on the poor and most heavily on the rich. It would replace the excess profits tax and would permit lowering of the sur taxes on incomes.' A change of this kind is essential to that return to normalcy which all desire. Adoption of a permanent tariff at the special session is Impracticable within the limit of time that has been set, not only because the time is too short bat because the entire structure of the bill should be in fluenced by factors which are as yet unknown or uncertain. While con gress would be considering the tariff, the state department would be ne gotiating peace, which includes the American part in enforcing repara tions, settlement of the allied debt to this country and Arrangement of the degree to which this country will co operate in economic reconstruction and preservation of peace. All of these settlements, will pow erfully influence rates of exchange, prices, revival of Industry In Europe, the volume of commerce, activity of shipping and ocean freights. Not till we can judge the effect of these vari ous factors can we form an -opinion as to what countries will be our best custodiers and our greatest competi tors, nor as to what commodities. Representative Fordney Is quoted as saying that the ways and means-committee already has sufficient infor mation to guide it in forming a tariff. It may have, as to a tariff which would fit present conditions, but before a bill enacted In the sum med could become law, conditions are likely to be so radically changed that the bill would be obsolete the day the president approved it. Six months will witness a great change. The first requisite to a. permanent tariff is the stabilizing of our inter national relations, both political and financial, and the economic conva lescence of Europe. When congress knows what kind of a world it has to deal with, it will know how to deal with the world, but it cannot legislate for ' commerce with an economic kaleidoscope. ri'TTLVG THE SOVIET TO THE TEST. Conclusion of a trade agreement with the Russian soviet by Britain Is an act of political expediency as re gards both foreign and domestic politics. It has a practical test of the sincerity of the bolshevists and of the soundness of the judgment of those British . parties which have calld for trade with Russia. The soviet has maintained., that economic breakdown of Russia is due not to the failure of communism to justify itself in practice, but to" a hostile blockade by the allies, espe cially Britain, which prevents Rus- sia from buying and selling abroad. This so-called blockade consists in absence of facilities for trade, such as are provided by diplomatic rela tions and commercial treaties. In fact there is no blockade, but the risks are so great in the absence of official relations that few ' British business firms dare take them. The agreement clears the way for Russia to sell, if it has anything to export, and for Britons to sell, If Russia can pay in goads or gold. We shall see whether the "bursting cornblns," to which MJoyd George has referred exist. The British labor party, which is openly socialist, has accepted as true all the professions of the bolshevists and all their accusations against the British government, and has agitated for full recognition as well 'as for trade." British manufacturers and mer chants, having suffered a slump in foreign trade, are anxious to enter the Russian market. They maintain that Russia, ragged, hungry, with wrecked railroads and dismantled factories, must be an unlimited mar ket for their goods, and t'.iey say that, if their government will do its part toward opening that market. they will take a risk on selling and getting paid for their goods. , Against the government's policy it is argued that the soviet is the only seller and buyer that soviet law allows, therefore trade with Russia is recognition of the soviet. That government has little to export and what it has is stolen. It has broken every agreement it has made .and it always will, in the opinion of its enemies. It will use the machinery of trade to continue its propaganda of revolution more extensively but more secretely. Britain is welcome to make the. experiment; which will determine ' which party tells the truth. The United States is fortu nate not to have undertaken it and to have the opportunity of merely watchhig the outcome, 'i - The, Irishmen of Morrow county celebrated the "great day" with a banquet' at the Hotel Patrick in Heppner and Hon. P.,A, D'Arcy was orator. They do these things prop erly in Morrow. The chief of police at St. Louis, an Irishman, has stopped sale on the streets of Henry Ford's Independent because of its attacks on Jews. This is a harsh measure, though it has much justice. c ' . - V . It soninds like a new frill-the sys tem that will call a patrolman to a reporting box within forty-five sec onds; but as it will cost probably a hundred thousand dollars it may be all right ' Americans consumed less meat last year and are healthier for it, no doubt, though it is likely, the lesser consumption was by people who had less money to buy. -' A demented ' woman, wandering, nude, is enough to startle any neigh borhood, and the. occasion is one time when a telephone is a reeking neoessity. ' Women can be elected to the school beard provided not too many run. tThis is an Instance where they need a "boss" and. he will need prayers. Tacoma high girls have declared against waists that show the cami sole and against half hose and decry rolling-down the lftter.' The dar lings! The Palles is going after a water supply from her side of Mount Hood. There ought to be enough for all on the mountain. That's why it "grew" there. The question of rank is beginning teHDother social Washington. This is vital to a few of the aale sex and all of the other. One hundred credit men of Port iand have gone to Seattle for a con vention a creditable delegation, in deed. In -the old days a wink meant "tonic" at the fountain. More than that will be needed to get beer. Once the "big plums are dispensed, the persimmons will care for them selves. Another comet has been discov ered, but it f is nothing to stick a tax on, DISLIKE OF ENGLISH OBSERVED Bat Canadian Is) Unable to Ascertain . Reason tor It. PORTLAND. March 19. (To the Editor.) Having lived and beers em ployed in maqy oC the cities of both the United States and Canada during the past six years, and being of a nature that takes a keen Interest in local and public affairs, and the sen timents of people, it is perhaps nat ural that I shouldejhave become well acquainted with many of th news papers. Recognizing The Oregonian as one of the leaders, with a broad minded policy, I am taking this op portunity In writing, as a Canadian citizen, some of my views, or rather cbservations, of the wholly unwar ranted, prejudiced and vicious, feel ings which exist in a small, but seem ingly growing class of people in this country against England and the Eng lish peoples When I say English peo ple, I dont Include Canadians, for despite the fact that It seems strange to a few Americans, the Canadian people are fully as proud and jealous of their individuality as a race and a nation, as are the citizens of this gVeat republic. Why is it so many men In this country, when talking on these lines, make remarks of this nature: "Oh, I like the Canadians all right, and think they have a fine eountry, but I hate those d d English?" I have heard expressions similar to this all along the coast, and to a lesser ex tent in the east, but up to the present haven't been able to find anyone who seemed to have a very definite- idea why he hated the English. It strikese me that this word "hate" Is a trouble maker, as exemplified by the war, and should have been left to die with the war. Most of the really able and far sighted men in this country and. on the other side of the Atlantic, know and preach the doctrine that it Is necessary for nations as well as indi viduals to "love thy neighbor," etc.. If real peace and harmony is to be secured. , It would - seem that the feeling if allowed to spread would become an instrument of much harm, in the fu ture. To find a solution of this prob lem, probably the most likely method would be that followed by a physic-Van, In attempting to solve an un known malady "first find the cause, then effect a cure." Possibly many causes could be found, such as per sonal prejudice, or the subtle edi torials of such newspapers as the Hearst publications in California. R. O. L. FAITH IX "WEBSTER'S CHERISHED Reader Ready to Give Vp If Diction ary Can't Be Relied Upon. SEASIDE, Or., March 19. (To the Editor.) The Oregonlan's reply to Eu gene Vincent has an undoubted warm ing influence on tje cockles of a mod est proletarian heart. The so-called Intellectuals have a way of assuming a monopoly of understanding in the matter of words that is somewhat Ir ritating to the average reading citizen. Webster's Unabridged Is open to us all and I have worn a path in my Axmlnsterrug consulting mine, but what is the use of trying to become acquainted with even a few of the thousands ef words in our language, if, after all our paina, we are informed that we do' not properly sense the meaning implied by 'Mr. Webster? There are enough writers lying in wait for the defenseless reader with out the added efforts of a college pro fessor who might aspire to usurp their function. Samuel Blythe i nearly sure to send you to the dictionary a time or two while reading one of his articles, and then there comes along Octavus Hoy Cohen wfth words like "ineluc table," and this month's Harper's has an article by W. .L. George in which he makes use of the word "phobo centric" which he avers be caught hotSff the bat of an ambitious female Oregonian, all of which we poor every day readers have to swallow with no hope of ever being able to assimilate. One can hardly help wondering why we go on reading at all. Perhaps it is a vicious habit like chewing gum or singing out of tune,vbut we have persisted all these years believing that ordinary English was not beyond thp average comDrehension. There are certain words that have always been prime favorites or tne writer of this skit. "Terminology" is one of them and "nomenclature" is another. "Nomenclature" always sug gests having torn one's dress by crawling through a worm fence, but it is a noble word and I am proud to have it on my string. "Mellifluous" is another bird. It is so honey-flowing you know. One could go on in definitely citing words that have made an undying appeal to mumble taste, but if our judgment has failed us all these years we hereby .throw up the sponge, come a cropper and slide home. . " , T , SUZONNE ASPASIA. rERICLESIA. SOME HIT BAKD BY GAS RATE Small Isef. PHI for Heating In. creased as Mneh a 131 Per Cent. OAK GKOVE.Or.. March 19. (To the Editor.) One or two items in "IJhe Oregonian Marck 16 expressed sur prise that the .telephone rate Tise was more than the 30 per cent represented. Why any surprise? It's in keeping with the ' representation on the gas raise, which was represented to be SO to 70 per cent. ", Now for the average small user of gas it works ou bs follows and the public service commission must have known it if It made any investigation before granting the rise: Old rate for residential nse (cooklne). 1000 feet, tl; new rate, 800 feet, minimum, 85 cents; next 700 feet at 11.33 per M., D4..1 cente, L795. Advance to small user, 79.3 per tent But that Is small beside what they L... .3n trt ihA small user of Eras for heating. The old rate was equal to 50, cents per lOUU reel, laams owuv feefe as a' basis for the small user we have: . . . -AAA RA -nta n- 10nO. .Uia rate uuiv iw " - ' " 50' new rate, minimum 300 feet, at . . . ,-AA ... a, 1 An H fl3.t BO cents; nex.i . (5.785.- iirtAu In favor of g"s company or 13.285. i . . Or. better than 131 per cent Increase to average small consumer: Now, do you wonder people are up t . tliA tfelprthnnA rise following-gas, and the electric light company s ana sircei wr uu mici urban lines watching to see how it goes over? Do you won-aer me recall is in . .-K..'a minA a n4 that nil nearly ovcj'vuj they are waiting for is the proper pe- ...... n....n. a th,mf F. A. SMITH. Collection of Alimony. SORTLAND, March 19. (To the EdTtor.) Is there any way to compel - ji..n..D(i hnnhnnd. llvlno Tn another a, u. . , a state from the one in which the di vorce was ODiaineu, L" VJ a-iimuny to the wife who has not moved from the state? CONSTANT READER. The wife may take a judgment in the court where the divorce was granted for alimony due and bring suit in the state where the husband has taken up his residence to compel payment If he has any property or means subject to attachment. Sigh of a Taxpayer. London Opinion. Tn ft recent motion nicture hn nf the characters is sdtnned alive. The realism is rather njarrea Dy not rep resenting him as a taxpayer. Those Who Come and Go. Evil days have fallen upon "Jim" Stewart, the rotund and renowned state senator from .Corvallis. Dark and dreary solitude is his lot. For three days and three nights, he has been seen by no man. For three days and nights he has eaten nothing but mush: hot mush, cold mush, medium mush, and as he says, "damn mush." During that whole period Jim's sole occupation has been the mastication of soft, rubbery gum, plastic gum that does not hurt his own gums. The tragedy of the senator's present ex istence is directly traceable to that moment, three days ago, when 26 per fectly good and nearly white teeth belonging to' Jim, were extracted bodily fey a Portland dentist. The sen ator decided some time ago that the teeth which had faithfully served him throughout almost his entire life, must go. He put off the evil day un til finally the time came when he could put it off no longer. So he hied himself to Portland with his wife, registered at the Perkins, and told his dentist to do his worst. Now he is in the deepest seclusion regretting his rash act while his wife feeds him alternate rations of mush and gum It wasn't so very long ago that Sen ator Stewart- lost his collar while visiting in Portland. The city was scoured from one end to another, but none of suitable size could be found. Rumor has it that the senator, wish ing to be fully clothed, wore a horse collar on the trip back to Corvallls. " Henry McCleary and the town of Mouieary, wash, are almost aynon- ymous words. Mr. McCleary is pres ident of the McCleary Timber com. pany, the Chehalls Fir Door com. pany, and many other lumber enter prises. The town of McCleary. named after him, is located in Cheha-lis county about 12 miles from El ma. Mr. McCleary, who is registered, at the Multnomah, believes that the resump tion of business to normal in the lum ber industry will be Blow. He bases his belief on talks with large dealers throughout the Pacific northwesC ''The United States -is thoroughly solvent and there Is no need to fear or preach disaster." said Mr. McCleary yesterday. "I am optimistic tor tne future. The readjustment will finally create demand for timber products but the Question is when this demand will come. We cannot place too much confidence In the reports that the southern nine forests will soon be deleted, for timber men know that there' Is enough pine In the south to orierate mills for many years, wnen foreign exchange is stabilized, we may look for a new impetus in tne nortn west timber industry." "There never was a better man ever lived than Fred Stewart of Kelso. I don't believe that there Is a man, woman or child in Kelso whom Fred hadn't helped at one time or arfother. The whole city mourns his loss. We .would give anything under heaven to have him back with us." Thus Sam Dukendorf, merchant of Kelso, lauded the miss ing banker yesterday. Stewart, who was cashier of the Kelso State bank disappeared Thursday night from a launch plying across the Co lumbia frora-Goble to Kalama. It is Dukendorf's theory that the banker was worried over some loans made by the bank which had not turned out successfully. The bank was closed by the state authorities on the afternoon of the day that Stewart disappeared, but It Is believed that the assets are such that it will soon .be reopened. Mr. Stewart was a vis itor in Portland on Thursday and was on his way iome when he van ished. Mr. Dukendorf is stopping at the Perkins. Oshkosh is the name of a thriving town of 35,000 souls, situated in Wis consin. C. R. Meyer, who is the head of a large contracting firm of that name, is registered at the Seward while making a short stay in Port land. The business outlook, to Mr. Meyer, is tinged with a roseate hue. "Last summer our company did $2.- nnn nnn'wnfth 'nC nnnst ruction work." he declared yesterday. "Every indica tion points to anotner gooa season tils year. In our work, by the way. we nuantitlea of Oreeon tim ber. The Oregon product has always been of line quality ana nu pruveu more than satisfactory.' Mr. Meyer, hi. Hatifhipr. Is tourlnfir the Pacific coast on a pleasure jaunt. He expressed a great HKing tor -ortiana and for San Diego, but his affection t c Pp,ni.iRin wfln somewhat qualified. "In San Francisco every.- hody is for nimseir, ana tne aevii take the hindmost,'' he said. There is a great similarity between the dancing of the moderns and the ancient ritualistic dances of the In dians, according to J. C. Deerlng of Baker, who is registered at tne Multnomah. "Not long ago on the frontier I watched an Indian tribe perform its. ritualistic dance by fire light to the pounding of toirs toms," said Mr. Deering. "A few evenings ago I sat in the balcony of one of Portland's dance houses and watched the surging mass of humanity wave and sway there on the floor below us. The Portland dancers had a few more clothes to cover them, and swung around, lighted on their way by electricity instead of the flicker ings of a camp fire, but the primal emotions in the savage were identical with those that actuated the city folk. The bodily motions of each were practically the same." The native heath of George C. Walker is' Scotland, but he does not confine himself to that bonny land. In recent years he and his wife have wandered over all the lands in the world. They are registered at the Multnomah, after a recent trip to New Zealand. That island, according to Mr. Walker, is noted for two things, wild hogs and shark meat. The wild hogs overrun the country. They were brought to New Zealand scores of years ago,by the ill-fated explorer, Captain Cook, and thrived so well cn the abundant vegetation that they have now reached the status of a pest. Shark meat Is considered a great delicacy on the island, but Mr. Walker predicts that there will be few or ganizations exploiting the advantages' of shark steak as a food. , S Schwartz" of Buffalo, arrived in Portland, and a new heir to the Schwartz family, arrived in Buffalo, at -one and the same time. When Mr. Schwartz stepped to the registra tion desk at the Multnomah, he was handed a telegram which had just been received. "A fine baby boy ar rived. Weighs ten pounds. Both are well." The 'good news on the mes sage was too good to keep. Every one with whom Mr. Schwartz came la contact with that day, first heard ox the message, and then became the recipient of a long, black cigar. Baker City could almost have cele brated "Old Home Week" in Portland yesterday. - G. P. Lilly, prominent business man, was registered at the Benson. J. Barton stopped at the Oregon. The Multnoman housed J. C. Deering.. A liberal scattering of Ba- kerites was also distributed among the other hostelries. s militant-general George A. WhttA and his wife spent part of this week end in Portland, leaving yesterday nnrnin; for their home in Salem. While here they registered at the Portlana. nnv TCItner of Pendleton, president of the late lamented state senate, passed Saturday and part ef Sunday at the Benson, RECALL IS LOGICAL RECOURSE Appeal Will Drag; for Months i Re hearing Implies Incompetency, PORTLAND, March 19. (To the Editor.) I read with great apprecia tion .The Oregonian editorial Friday on telephone rates. No one is better qualified than The Oregonian to sense the drift of public opinion. I am con vinced of the correctness of your sur mise that "telephone users are pretty well united In regret that the recall job cannot be done at once with the whole commission" and am equally sure of the truth of your statement that "the outcry is not from profes sional ,agltators. corporation baiters or notoriety seekers." So far as I can see the bulk of the objection to the orders of the commis sion is from that class of quiet, sensi ble people that usually minds its own business and votes republican, a class that Is basically conservative, but that, once aroused, is a bad oppo nent. Tou point to three possible reme dies (1) a rehearing; (2) an appeal to the courts; (3) a recall. The appeal to the courts Is not a practical remedy open to the public in its present temper. The case bris tles with technicalities and is com. plicated to the last degree. If it once got into court lawyers would make a football of the case for months, if not years. Lawyers alone would be the beneficiaries, not the public. It is a regrettable fact that the courts do not offer hope of redress, and we may as well pass up this alternative as use less to the public. The next alternative, a rehearing. Is apparently favored by the city gov ernment. Let us consider It for a moment. The commission has been working on this case for years. There are exhibits piled up in its record vaults numbered by the hundreds. Solid masses of statistical matter that would take weeks to read stand in piles several feet high. Numbers of hearings have beea held and all kinds of witnesses examined. As a result ot all this work .and the thousands or dollars of expense Incurred, the com mission issued order No. 6S9 which it self consists of 30 pas-es of closely written matter, stating the new rates and the reasons leading the commis sion to make its decision. To assume this decision of the com mission was not a mature one would be absurd. No decision was ever more mature, nor could a rehearing do any good save to stir up again all this vast mass of stuff and lead to fur ther delay and expense, with no pros pect of relief the public There Is no excuse nor justification for a re hearing except on the ground of new evidence, or new conditions, or some thing the commission obviously over looked or could not obtain, and which would change the basis of order No. 689 if they had been available. There is nothing new, nor have con ditions changed. The order is only some two weeks old; its ink is hardly dry. Then how can we consistently or reasonably ask the commission for a rehearing. To ask for a rehearing Is an Insult to the commission. It im plies they are incompetent, foolish, crooked or cowardly and that their order of yesterday should be recon sidered, solely because of public out cry and clamor. No.. The act of the commission must stand on its merits. It is no ac cidental or careless incident; some thing to be taken back and reissued In another form. A rehearing would be merely an excuse for delay or to permit the commission to crawl out from a position too unpleasant to be faced with composure'. We cannot In justice to the commission, asperse Us character by asking for a rehearing two weeks after the date of approval of order 689, save for specific ana valid cause which we know does not exist. Our only recourse Is acquies cence in order 689 or a petition to re call. We all dislike the latter, but we have no other means for relief. Now, what does a recall petition mean? Nothing, except an appeal to the court of final decision the public. The commission was appointed by the public. It is to be Judged by the pub lic. The commission is a public body responsible to the public alone. The public may be depended upon not to act unjustly to its loyal servants. If the only offense of the commis sion Is that it has raised telephone rates, the public will not recall It. If the public believes the telephone rates have been improperly raised It will recall the commission and we will all be glad to see the deed done. If the commission has acted in good faith and faced an unpopular decision, without fear and favor, tt will emerge, from the ordeal more strongly en trenched in public estimation than ever before. The petition for a recall means this and this only: That a part of the pub lic Is dissatisfied and has appealed the case; that the petitioners have as sumed the responsibility of proving their complaint against the commis sion; that the commission will have the opportunity to prove the Integrity of their position and to disprove the allegations of the petitioners. Final ly, It will put the whole matter squarely up to the public to decide, and will drag every obscure issue into the full light of publicity. The public should abstain from pre judging this case until It has in Us possession all the basic facts. The mere fact that telephone rates have been raised, while a serious burden, Is not necessarily an offense by the com mission. Let us keep open minds. An attitude favoring the recall pe tition does not necessarily imply a prejudging of the case against the commissioners. It is merely an ex pression of dissatisfaction with orde 689 and an appeal to the great court of final appeal. E..G. HOPSOV, 310 Railway Exchange Bldg. CLange of Name. PORTLAND, March 19. (To the Editor.) I have lived with a family and haee been known as their daugh ter and have always been known by their name, though not legally adopt ed. Can I be legally married or hold property under this name? If not, what" step is necessary to legalize my name. I am over 21. A TORTLANDER. Tou can legally marry or own prop erty under the name by which you are known. If you were to conduct a business under your name it would be advisable to petition the circuif court to have your name formally changed. i Raising of the Maine. SILVER LAKE, Wash., March 19. (To the Editor.) Was the battleship Maine ever raised? If so, when and at what conclusions did they arrive concerning its destruction? A CONSTANT READER. The hulk of the Maine was. raised In 1911. A board , of experts, after examining the wreck, reported that an exterior exploslon on the port side Ignited and exploded a reserve maga zine, which was followed by more or less complete explosion of the con tents of the remaining forward maga zine. Determined Woman Speaka. Boston Transcript. Fortune teller Tou wish to know about your future'husband? Customer No; I wish to know about the past of my present husband for future use. More Truth Than Poetry. By Jamea J. Montague, TUB BLACK SHEEP. The bards of all the ages, With lyrics ringing clear. Have filled uncounted Pages, Eleven months a year. Eleven months, in phrases Of eighteen-karat gold. They've sung the season's praises. But March has left 'em cold. No doubt they've often started s To chant of coming spring. When snows shall have departed And birds are on the wing; But ere their lays were ended. As swiftly as a wink. A blizzard has descended And frozen up their ink. Full many a glad cadenza Has lost Its silver trill When colds or Influenza Have made the poet ill. Full many a lilting measure Has been begun, no doubt; Then bards with sore displeasure. Have seen their coal run out. So poets gayly carol Eleven months a year, But, ah! the muse Is sterile Whenever March is here. The songs they sing lack savor. All Inspiration dies. For March can find no favor la anybody's eyes! Boll It Down. We trust that Mr. Harding will now and then cast his editorial eye over the Congressional Record. Established Forever. We have no hereditary offices tn this country save the assistant secre taryship of the navy, which always must be held by a Roosevelt. Too Bad. It would be unfortunate if Charlie Chaplin has to walk straight as tha result of stepping on a nail the other day. . t (Copyright by the Bell Syndicate. Tne.) John Burroughs' Nature Notes. Can Ton Answer These Questions? 1. Why is artificial comb, founda tion often used in bee hives? 2. What harm do moles do? . 4. Will an owl attack a man? Cor respondent writes he was strolling at dusk when a bird the size of a hawk, but very silent In flight, flew at him Just clearing his head, and repeated this several times, until frightened off by hand-clapping and throwing stones. Answers in tomorrow's nature notes. Answers to Previous Questions. 1. What marks distinguish the male from the female wild goose? The plumage of the two sexes is practically alike. The Canada or so called wild goose has a dark bill, black head and long black neck with a conspicuous chin strap of white ex tending well up on the aide of the cheek. The breast and under parts are whitish and the back and wings brown. Feet are black, tail and rump black. . 2. Why does not a frog have a tail? We cannot always explain the why in nature. Frogs (and toads) belong to a branch of reptilian life called batrachians and some of them do have tails, as salamanders, mud puppies, newts, etc. Frogs are a different di vision, however, and nature sees fit to make use of the part of their anat omy which began in pollywog days as tail by absorbing it as food as the frog gets its legs. When food is scarce the tail is consumed more quickly, Isut life under low tempera-' ture and with good feeding often shows the tail disappearing much more slowly. When the frog is a baby the tail helps in swimming, but does not appear to be needed for adult life. 3. Are mushrooms nutritious? The nutritive qualities of mush rooms are small and these fungus growths are valued chiefly for their delicious flavor. In America the mushroom that appears on the table is usually the cultivated variety only, agaricus campestris, a plant that flourishes in practically all temperate regions. It has been known to be edible at least from the time of Pliny, and has been a cultivated article in parts of France since the 16th cen tury. 1 In Other Days. Twenty-five Yeara Ago. From The Oresonlan of March a I, 18n. Washington. Senator Mitchell of Oregon today reported to the senate ph behalf of the elections committee that that body favors the election of senators by direct vote of the people. , The salmon canncrs of the state have organized their new association bearing the name of the Columbia River Packers. New sanitary conveniences are be ing placed in the city schools. It was announced yesterday. Rome. King Mentlik of Abyssinia stated yesterday ho will make peace with Ilaly for iiO,000,GO war in demnity. I'lfty Yeara Ago. From The OregonlHn of March 21, 1571. Providence, R. I. There were 162 divorces granted in Rhode Island in 1S69. Tuget sound people aro firmly con vinced that the terminus of the new North Pacific railroad will be In the Bellingham bay country. v The Incorporators of the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake railway held a meeting recently in the police court room, Washington. President Grant will attend the reunion of the Army of tho Tennessee on April 6. General Sherman will also be present. Cowboy Tribe Vnnlxbea. Chicago Journal. The 1921 cowboy, like the trapper, has almost vanished from the west ern picture. He lives now chiefly in Hollywood, Cal., or In barnstorming troupes touring the country. He is no longer concerned with cattle, ex cept as theatrical props; he is an actor, not a stockman. Except in a very few places he is gone from the range, and in these scattered spots where he still persists it is in reduced glory as a greatly modified type. He is likely to be as familiar with flivvers as with horses; he Is as handy with the monkey wrench as with the branding iron, and as for six-shoot ers, he is more iiKeiy to carry a kodak. x Oregon Child Labor Law. TAQUINA, Wash., March 19. (To the Editor.) Please tell me what Is a legal age to hire a boy or girl to do hotel or store work. A READER. The child labor law has numerous provisions as regards day and night work, hours employed, kind of em ployment, attendance at school, and issuance of age and schooling certifi cates. Vrite to board ot inspectors of child labor, courthouse. Portland. for requirements, giving full particu lars of the individual case.