THE MORNING OREG ONI AN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1921 ESIABHSIIEl) BY HKXRY L. PITTOCK. Published by The Oreronlan Pub'.tohlnK Co.. 130 Sixth Slrset. Portland, ureion. C A. aiOBDE.V. E. B. PIPER. Manager. Btlitor. The Oregonian U a member of the lo. elated Press. The Associated Press U ex clusively entitled to the use for publication or all new! dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited In thin paper and also the local news published herein. All right of publication of special dispatches herein are aluo reserved. SabacrlDtlon Kates Invwrtablr In Advance. (By Malt. Iallr. GanJay Included, one year 8 00 Iaily, Sunday Included, six months 2S Dally, Sunday included, three month.. 2 Iaily. Sunday Included, one month 75 Iai;y. without Sunday, one year 00 Dally, without Sunday, six months t.'M Daily, without Sunday, one month o Weekly, one year 100 Sunday, one year 2.50 (By Carrier. Tmlly. Sunday included, one year $3 00 Dally. Sunday included, three month.. 2.'-!3 Daily. Sunday included, on month 75 Dally, without Sunday, one year 7.80 Dally, without Sunday, three months. . 1 "' Daily, without Sunday, one month 65 How to Remit Send poetofflce money order, express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin ar currency are at owners risk. Give postofflce address In lull, including county and state, Fnntare Rates 1 to 18 pares 1 cent: IS to 22 pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages. S cents: 50 to 64 pages. 4 cents: 68 to 80 fages. o cents: 82 to 96 pages. 6 cents, i'orelcn pontage double rate. Eastern Business Office Verree ft Conk J!n 30O Madison avenue. New York; Verree & Conklln. Steger building. Chicago: Ver ree & Conklln. Free Press building. De troit. Mich.: Verree tc Conklln. Selling building. Portland: San Francisco repre sentative. R J. Bidwell. TTLE KLAN COMES TO OREGON. The secret and shrouded figure of -the. Ku Klux Klan, an apparition risen from the past, has waved a lank and dreadful arm over Oregon. In days to come, whisper its masked prophets, the mysterious menace of (tha night-rider will strike a chill to the- very marrow of . the evil-doer. By the beneficent and autocratic terrorism of the klansmen the state wiH be purged of its criminal ele ment, of all that is not American and upright, and an era of enforced and apprehensive righteousness will Te brought to pass. Risen from the drast of years long sped, of necessi ties long since eliminated, the Bheeted riders would ride through the north, like so'many bogey-men from the shuddering narrative of a negro mammy. Let the emissaries of the klan kleagle or credulous recruit bear with a. typical north ern commonwealth and her terse opinion. One word suffices. It is "Bosh!" Two aspects of the recrudescent klan suffice to condemn, it in the judgment of the serious. The first of these is its arrogant assumption that American law stands in need of a prejudiced, inquisitorial, hidden hand to hale its malefactors to jus tice. - The second is its cheap and Childish Venture at drama, beyond the realm of the ridiculous, and the consequent aim a superstitious awe and majesty. It is this blend of threat and Hallowe'en, of gravity and gibberish, of solemnity and cheesecloth graveclothes, that tickles the tenderest rib of northern risibili ties and evokes sane and healthful laughter such laughter as has time and again whisked away our fears and proved that a clotheshorse in the shadow can never be aught else. Grown men in ghostly gabardines and flopping hoods butchers and bakers and candlestick-makers, cry ing "Boo!" in the twilight! Yet one perceives possibilities In the klan that are not comic from any view. All the potent seeds of trouble and deadly strife are there: the overthrow of law with the or dered mob in the saddle, the fan ning of old prejudices, and the open ing of old wounds. Already in two ptatea anti-khyi organizations, as secret" and resolved as it proclaims itself, ' are calling for neophytes. Where the klan carries a "fiery cross" doubtless these foemen will bear a "blazing bludgeon," and. though we laugh lightly at the con trast, the time may come when the Intemperate will meet up with the Intolerant. What then? Bullets, and headlines and horror. What else? If we but add this prospect to the certainty that the klan will prove to be a meddlesome and dan gerous element, brooking no con trol, not even, of the grand wizard, or most horrific thingumbob, we have a futuristic fancy far from pleasing. The klan asserts its allegiance to the law, its purpose to purify thrbugh lawful means. In a Cali fornia city it has instituted a suit for libel because a newspaper linked Its name and fame with recent tar-and-featherings in Texas. Yet the truth is that the outrages, by whom ever conceived and perpetrated, were committed by men in the guise and habiliments public opinion identifies with the klan, in defiance of the dignity and process of the law . shameful, repugnant, uncivilized punishments without even a mock ery of trial. In one instance the national executive of the klan, sup porting his unequivocal statement that the organization does not and (will not countenance such acts, re voked the charter of an offending klan. But by these acts, as by noth ing else, the public is apprised of the r-pirit that dominates the klan, that cStsUs its candidates, whether official sattoUon is given or denied In truth, if tha'tiot so, what pur pose does this cheesecloth mum mery serve? What citizen with respect for the law, and the will to uphold it un flinchingly and with zeal, need drape himself in spook-like cerements and prowl the night to prove it? There is more than a suspicion that a spe cies of cowardice joins with the flair for mystic ritual in prompting the neophyte to his Initiation. Within the klan he is a peer, a judge, a Sherlock, and a headsman instant ly fitted to ferret out the evil that his neighbor does and exact some penalty arising in his own opinion. We have, of course, the promise of the klan that its dread mission will be to apprise and support the law. But we have as well its own com placent statement that at times "it can best remedy existing conditions by taking up cases where the law leaves off." By what authority, pray: to what purpose, and to what lengths? it is an "all American" unit, and yet: By its own arbitrary ruling it bars from membership certain citi zens millions of them upon whoso patriotism it is a gross and unnat ural insult to cast the vestige of sus picion. Many a young fellow who would, had he been spared, have been disqualified for entrance to the Ku Klux K!an, yielded up his life on foreign fields for America. What sinister, self-righteous chauvinists are these who in the name of patri otism would puff and blow at the embers of irrational racial and re ligious antipathies, long since out grown by the republic? Not by the yardstick of the klan do we of Amer ica measure patriotism, or worth to the nation, or the breadth of that freedom guaranteed by our consti tution. The Ku-Klux-KIan, with its night riders and dank air of mysticism, its renaissance of southern negro-bait-in? methods, its grand wizards and its king kleagles, its southern drawl, its tar bucket, and its punctured pil lowcase, is as alien to Oregon to America as the rites of voodoo. And while we are speaking of mat ters and things un-American let it be listed to the fore. The sound sense of all good citizens should and will condemn it as an absurd and preposterous appeal to the dra matic quantity in folk that ought to know better. THE DEATH OF CARUSO. Kings might die without occa sioning the interest, the sympathy, with which the world hears of En rico Caruso's passing. " To evaluate Caruso's worth to the race, is to grasp at intangible benefits con ferred by him, the ephemeral gifts of wonderful melody, yet which have more worth than earthly treasure. Let us say that he brought happi ness into the world, and quickened our perceptions of beauty. These are things not to be weighed by ma terialists. The son of a poor man. a me chanic, this strange fledgling of Naples rose to fame and fortune by his voice. And speedily, as though destiny had use for him. He. was paid thousands of dollars for an eve ning of song. When he caught a cold the world paused, whatever the excitement of the moment,, to re gard quite gravely his indisposition. It was ever apparent that folk re garded the tenor as one in whom a precious trust reposed. He gave to them something that, though neces sarily measured by monetary reward, was nevertheless priceless.- A, fat man, rather droll of ' countenance, his was a voice from an -imagined paradise. We pay for our-fancies. Do we pay too much ? We pay, for Instance, a brace of fortunes to two atavistic contestants in the prize ring. They pummel one another until the conquered sinks into insen sibility. It is over. Nothing is left save a brutal memory, a spiritual bad taste'. No. Judged by , our standard of comparisons, however richly rewarded the tenor may have been, his patrons received the' full value of their expenditures. LAWYER VS. LAWTEB. The nearest approach we have to open-minded inquiry into a mur der mystery is the proceedings of the grand jury and sometimes the grand jury does only that which the district attorney advises it to do. The grand jury finds an indictment. In other words it makes a formal accusation against a certain person. That person employs a lawyer, and the state, through its district attor ney, conducts the prosecution. There after the proceedings are largely a pitting of the wit and strategy of the defense attorneys against the wit and strategy of the prosecutor. One strives to acquit, the other strives to convict, and the court acts as umpire. Evidence helpful to one side is concealed if possible from the other side and held for surprise, lest the other side, forewarned, succeed in breaking it down. ' Witnesses known to have some knowledge of the cir cumstances surrounding the crime may not be called, because of un certainty as to the effect of their testimony. Co-operation between defense and prosecution to get at the exact facts, oome what may, is almost unheard of. It is. more of a game than a strife for exact justice. It is a contest in which one lawyer's ability is staked against another lawyer's ability. That is often its essence. Yet it is all quite ethical. It is fully coun tenanced by the system. Thus, as in a present instance, time of courts is consumed, the public is put to large expense and the result leaves the crime as much of a mys tery as it was the day after it was committed. Probably the trouble is that our system makes of the court hardly more than an arbiter in matters of procedure. He keeps the lawyers in the straight path of precedent and bars incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial testimony. There are countries in which the trial judge makes an active, yet impartial, ef fort to bring out suppressed truths and promote exact justice. But it is not the American way. The Agee case, just concluded in the circuit court, illustrated our pe culiar form of criminal procedure It need hardly be said that the evi dence submitted was not sufficient to ' convict the widow of the mur dered man. This is not a criticism of the jury's findings, nor essential ly of prosecution, defense or court. In an individual instance none or all of them would be able to change the system that has been made fact by years of practice. THE FIELD FOR POSTAL BANKS. Deposits in postal savings banks of the various cities suggest that there is scope for a wide extension of their usefulness, especially in some cities. Standing tenth in rank, Portland has deposits far out of proportion to its population when compared with other cities. So do Seattle, which ranks next below Portland, and Tacoma, which ranks next above. Cities of far greater population stand far down on the list, San Francisco being fifteenth, Cleveland sixteenth, Los Angeles seventeenth, Washington thirty fourth, Minneapolis thirty-fifth, Bal timore fiftieth. New Orleans fifty fourth, Birmingham, Ala., seventy third, and Spokane ninety-seventh among the leading 100 cities. It has been expected that the pos tal savings banks would attract the hoarded savings of the foreign-born. but the figures do not indicate that this expectation has been realized. New York and Brooklyn, which have the largest proportion of foreign born, stand at the head, but Chi cago has less than half Brooklyn's total, and the totals for Boston. Pittsburg, Detroit and Cleveland do not correspond with their size, while the figures for the three north" Pa cific coast cities, which have a far smaller ratio of foreign-born, indi cate that the native-born make greater use of the postal banks than the Immigrants. The small totals for the southern cities may reflect the proverbial improvidence of the negroes. There Is plenty of room for the changes in the law designed to ex pand the use of the postal savings system that are proposed by Postmaster-General Hays. Some influ ence is working against that confi- dence of Europeans in government I banks which was expected to draw out their hoards. Perhaps interest is too low or the limit on the amount that one person may deposit acts as a check. Possibly red tape worries men unfamiliar with the English language or with government meth ods. Probably the banks estab lished by members of each race have a strong hold, both through the tie of language and through social and other influences. Uncle Sam also is not as skilful an advertiser as are private bankers. Whatever the cause, te total of $153,000,000 for the United States, while good as far as it goes, Is not large enough. There are probably several hundred million dollars in hiding which could be drawn into circulation by the right kind of ap peal to varied human impulses. Mr. Hays has. a good opportunity to "sell" his postal savings bank to those who use an old stocking, a mattress or other place of conceal ment as a bank. CONVERTS TO HUNGER. Hunger Is a powerful persuader. It forced the soviet to accept the terms of America and promise the release of her imprisoned citizens. What moral suasion could not ac complish the pangs of starvation brought to pass. But not without a snarl. For the soviet leaders let the world know that they disapprove of the method employed to procure the freedom of these wronged Ameri cans. They call it taking an unfair advantage of their extremity, and bitterly upbraid this nation for mak ing the relief conditional. It was an. improper time, declares the soviet, to speak of diplomatic mat ters. In brief, it was dinner-time, and half after. Trotzky had said that, unless the bolshevists and their peasant dupes were fed without delay, he would storm Europe for a crust of bread. He threatened to move against Poland, where American relief had saved a nation from starving. This fine theorist, amid the debris of his dreams, went back uncounted cen turies to- the elemental. The price of his folly was the piteous plight ot Russia, for which he perceived no remedy save, the invasion and spoli ation of other lands. Europe will not come to our aid, he said. Europe hates us. it would much rather see our peasants starve than give us bread. There is only one thing left for us to do take forcibly what Europe will not give us voluntarily. Europe has gobd cause to hate the Russian idea, if not the Russian peasant. So has America. Yet it would seem to the bystander that the duty of saving Russia, from starvation as from political peril, devolves not on America but on Europe. We do not quibble. The world maligns us, but it brings its woes to our feet, it shifts its bur dens to our shoulders. We did not seek the role of Samaritan to all and sundry. It was forced upon us four years ago, and America took it up right gladly. Some time the world will appreciate the spirit of an unselfish democracy, that triumphs over spite and contumely and yields with generous hand a goodly por tion of its loaf. PUTTING THE FAR ME Kc0 N HIS FEET. The present session of congress was intended to be a peace and re construction session, but has become a farmers' session with peace and reconstruction relegated to second place. The severity with which de flation of values struck the farmers has awakened them to political ac tivity to a greater degree and in a more practical manner than ever before, and their voting strength has led to formation in congress of a farmers bloc drawn from . both parties. At the same time the teach ing of the war that an adequate food supply lies at the foundation of na tional defense in war and of na tional prosperity in peace has awak ened the people of . the cities and their representatives to their . inter est in the prosperity of agriculture. Census reports show the farm in dustry to be in danger, small profits driving farmers to abandon it, low wages driving labor to . seek high wages in the cities. All agree that something must be done about it and when the farmer calls on con gress for help, he finds everybody giving a ready ear to him. Still loaded with loans on last year's crop, which he marketed at a loss, the farmer wants loans from the government to market the crop that he is now harvesting. Burdened with short-term, high-interest mort gages, he wants the government to enable him to get long-term, low-interest mortgages which he can pay in yearly installments. Finding that he receives only about one-third of the price that the consumer pays for his product, he inquires angrily where the other two-thirds go. He finds freight rates take a much larger share than formerly and he demands that they come down. A string . of elevator men, dealers, brokers, commission merchants, mil lers, buyers and exporters Intervene between him and the consumer, some of them speculating in his product without ever touching or even seeing it, and he classes all of them as middlemen and speculators, and calls for laws to regulate pack ers, to forbid dealing in futures and to enable him to crowd out many others by means of large-scale co operation, or -to impose on Uncle Sr.m the entire job of marketing his crops. While brooding over his troubles and telling them to the world, the farmer is painfully aware that he is a workingman, and when the labor union organizer hails' him as "fel low-worker" and extends the glad hand, he grasps it, believing that, if the worker on the farm and the worker . in the factory combine forces, they will be invincible. That has been done in the past, but the farmer is rather more wary now. He has discovered that the purpose of the labor union is to raise wages in the city, and this causes the farm hand to demand more wages or go to the city; that the cost of handling hi product is increased, that the consumer pays, no more tn tne world market, but that he receives less. He then realizes that by help ing his fellow workman he has taken money out of his pocket. It then dawns o-n him that, though workman, he works for himself; that, as the owner of a farm he is a capitalist and employer, and that, as the sfcller of his crops he must be a business man as well. Yet his time Is so taken up -with the work and management of his farm that he has little time to attend to the business end of his job, much less to- keep books and study market conditions. and that distance from town pre vents that close business contact which would keep him informed It is precisely in the handling of his business securing capital on the .most advantageous terms to raise crops and carry them, and selling them to the best advantage that the farmer has failed. He has the best security in the world land that produces an easily salable com modity every year yet he has not been able to borrow money on as easy terms as' the manufacturer, merchant or owner of city property. He thinks banks have discriminated against him, though the fact is that he is usually out of touch with them, while city men are constantly in touch. Too generally he does not know how to state his proposition to the banker in a way to make it acceptable, while the city man does. Consequently the farmer pays dearly, either to the banker or to others to whom he must turn. Also when the national bank act was passed, it was a civil war measure, there was no question of an abund ant supply of food, therefore no thought was given to the financial needs of farmers, and banking fa cilities were provided mainly for city men.- His crops are of a kind that is handled in larger quantities than he alone produces, hence he cannot deal directly with a miller or with a Liverpool grain merchant for a whole cargo of wheat. He must sell through middlemen, who watch the market . every minute, profit by every turn and take their toll of him. What the farmer needs is help in financing his business and selling his crops. He needs something to take the place of the third of him which ought to be business, but Is absorbed in the occupation of em ployer, manager and workman, all rolled into one. The rural credit law has started him on a system for borrowing on easy terms capital to buy and improve land. Originally capitalized by the government, it is gradually to become a farmers' co operative loan system, owned and operated by the farmers themselves with their own capital. Its oper ation was halted by- the war and lawsuits, and it needs to be set go ing again full blast. Then he needs loans to aid i production and sale of his crops for a term of at least six months, often extending long enough beyond bar vest to enable him to feed them to the market through the next year. A good beginning was made by the federal reserve law, but the sudden transition from war to peace prices seems to have been too much for it. Some additional help is needed to carry the farmer over to next sea son and to ease him down to the permanent peace price level. That help will be given by the McKary bill, which provides for loans by the War Finance corporation, is ap proved by President Harding and is virtually sure to pass. The federal reserve law might well be liberalized in favor of the farmer, in order to provide working capital, but the best permanent help would be ma chinery for seasonal loans annexed to the rural credit system. To sell their crops farmers need a business manager of equal ability with the big business men who handle their products for their own profit. Such men can be secured only by large associations, which can be formed under the farmers' co-operation bill now before con gress, which would buy the crops of many farmers and would sell direct to millers and other food consumers in this country or to merchants abroad. Their managers would keep a keen eye on the market and sell to the best advantage. They would es tablish federal storage warehouses, enabling farmers to obtain loans on warehouse receipts. They would squeeze out many middlemen and would secure for the farmer a large share of the missing two-thirds of the consumers' price. Means are thus being provided to restore the prosperity of agriculture. Congress is doing what law can do. but the most hopeful sign is that the farmer is moving to help him self by co-operation and is not be ing taken in by the fake medicines which have brought North Dakota to bankruptcy. Further help will be given by reduction in freight rates. which will be possible wlren labor adjustments are completed and when the roads are provided with capital to effect economy. No relief can be derived from state banks, state ele vators, state mills, state stores, for they have been tried and have failed. The president, congress, and, above all, the farmers them selves, are moving on the right lines, and they will put the farmers squarely on their feet. The first slacker to be tried In Brooklyn by courtmartial was sen tenced, among other things, to for feit all pay and allowances since May, 1918. Inasmuch as he didn't serve anyway, that sounds like sen tencing the Beavers to forfeit all ball games they haven't won this season. Portland will take Dr. Barton'i word for it that the Rev. Mr. Hal- lock named Council Crest. Portland had a lot to do a score of years ago and was neglecting nomenclature. A Chicago boy has been born with twelve fingers, which is no advan tage beyond good for scratching pur poses. Most people get a handful as they are. Nothing can be done with that discovery of "petrified seafoam". on the Bruneau in Idaho until they make it into some kind of popular drink. Alaskans for federal jobs in Alaska is right in theory, but is not for harmony. If only the pie were big enough to go 'round! N It is a turn of the table to arrest a man for wearing a scant bathing 6i:it, but the intimation is he is crazy. The autos are not al) that cut cor ners. That is what the Canadian Exporter was doing off Wlllapa. That aviator who says he is going to fly over the North Pole is prob ably only crazy with the heat. Evidently these Chinese tongmen don't agree with Lloyd George that world peace is near. Portland is selling this great weather to the tourists and they take it In large quantities. BY-PRODUCTS OF" THE PRESS Chinese Import Their Ire C re ami Japanese Scorn It. Thousands of gallons of ice cream are being shipped every month from Vancouver, B. C, to China, the frozen dainty being forwarded to specially constructed containers holding S00 gallons Although the Chinese are bow showing a. great partiality tor Ice cream, the Japanese do not regard it with much favor and will not consider soft drinks. But beer is getting a strong hold In Kobe, Toklo. Yokohama and other important Japanese cen ters, according to Q. Reifel of Van couver, who has been spending sev eral months in the orient. Sake, for centuries the national drink of the Nipponese, is being more and more forsaken by the Japanese, who are encouraged by the govern ment to drink beer in place of the native liquor, which contains 15 per cent alcohol and which, according to some authorities, has had to do with the Japanese being of small stature. ' The Franco-Belgian frontier has long been a happy hunting ground of the smuggler, both amateur and professional, according to the Mani toba Free Press. In the customs mu seum at Lille is a colleotlon of ex hibits which give a vivid idea of the tricks employed by smugglers. There are chairs, brushes, pitch forks, masons' hods, widows' mourn ing bonnets, wheelbarrows, aawa and boots, all hollowed out for stowing away tobacco. There are stacks of government papers concealing a sine tobacco receptacle, hollow roulette wheels in which coffee was smuggled, and workmen's drinking cans with only a few Inches of liquor in a little vessel beneath the cork, the rest of the can being intended for tobacco. There 'are numerous examples of spiked armor, spiked collars and har ness furnished with a number of sharp spears, worn by the dogs trained to dash across from Belgium at night, and thus protected against the customs dogs trained to chase them. , e e e "The Street of Many Fakirs" the section of the Fredrlchstrasse In Ber lin between Unter den Linden and Koch streets may soon lose the right to its exotic title, won by virtue of the varied and questionable commerce which thrives upon its sidewalks and crossings, for an agitation has been started to "clean it up." Every article from jumplng-jacks to fine oriental rugs may be pur chased from the vendors who infest the street, eternally crying their wares. The chief complaint against the character of the street, however, is that thieves use it continually as a clearing place to market their "hauls.' Not infrequently a ragged, unkempt man will offer most expensive i ported fabrics for suiting, in odd bolt lots, at ridiculous figures. Much of this stuff, the police feel certain has been stolen, but it is difficult to fix the crime on the street vendor. Victims of the various drug habit find their chief source of supply on this street. e The members of the Illuminating Engineers' society of England recent ly appointed a committee to invest! gate the subject of eye-strain caused by watching moving pictures, relates the Vancouver Province. This com mittee found that the chief strain on the eyes comes from the pictures being shown too high up, so that the eyes of the spectators in the front rows have to be raised. It recommend3 that the height of a picture on the screen Is such that the angle formed by lines from the center of the top and the center of the bot tom to the eye of a spectator In the front row be not greater than 35 degrees. Sir Auckland Geddes, the British ambassador, was talking at a lunch eon about a knighthood, says the Houston Post. "Knighthood is quite a complicated subject. Very -Tew people understand the various types of knighthood, their significance, and so forth. A young lady once said to a gentleman: 'What are the Knights of the Bath?' ''Why, the young gentleman - answered, 'why, Saturday nights, of course.' " set Bejrkesd. Ah! then how sweetly closed those crowded days! The minutes parting one by one like rays. That fade upon a summer's eve. But oh! what charm, or magic num bers Can give me back the gentle slum bers Those weary, happy days did leave? When by my bed I saw my mother kneel. And with her blessing took her nightly kiss; Whatever Time destroys, he cannot this E'en now that nameless kiss I feel. Washington Allston. Willie making an excavation for a gas pipe on Bridge street In Orovllle, Cal.. laborers dropped into an old mining tunnel, despite the fact that no mining has been done In Orovllle for many years. Located directly under the street and about the center of the road the walls and roof of the tunnel were found to be in good condition. Mud and running water were found in the tunnel about 20 feet below the sur face. see Two sweet young things sat in the grandstand at the baseball game. They were interested in almost every thing but the game itself. Finally one of them observed: "I don't care a lot for baseball." "Nor I either," the other one joined In. "I'd rather read a book or a story or go to the movies. But an old ball game. You never know how It's going to turn out." Kansas City. Star. . . The Detroit News says that the real classic will come when the Amer ican public hears Charlie Dawes' opin ion of prickly heat. Four girls, graduates of a girls' school at Salt Lake City, are har vesting the crops at the Isaac Wood house ranch in Ruby valley, near Elko. Nev., assisted only by the owner. Clad In overalls the girls are doing the work of regular ranch hands and seem to be enjoying the work. Wood house says the girls are about the best help he etr had, and show an enthusiasm that most male workers lack. . .. Those Who Come and Go. Tales of Folk at the Hotels. Novelist, from choice; globe-trotter from habit, and sugar planter in or der to gratify his other desires, Julia Jorrin of Madrid, Spain, was at the Benson yesterday. He pronounces Julia as Hulio. Although Mr. Jorrin calls Madrid his home, his business interests are in Cuba, where he had two plantations, but recently sold them to a syndicate, taking half cash and the other half in stock. He ad mits that he is rich. "This Is a great country," said he. "I telephone here and I immediately get the number. If I telephone from a hotel on the Rivera I may get a cow you can't tell. Tour highway is beautiful, but there is so much beautiful scenery In the world which I have seen that I decline to say that the Columbia highway is unsurpassed. Take Lake Louise, where I have just been: it looks like it was faked a stage set ting, but it is real. Sugar? Well, it Is going to be higher, even though there are a million tons surplus In Cuba. Of the 197 factories in Cuba. 60 have gone out of business. They couldn't reopen if they could sell sugar at $60 a sack. The BUgar men nd the banks were -alike hit, for when the slump came it came like a thief In the night before anyone was in position to obtain protection." Aa a boy Mr. Jorrin lived In Batavia and to get there he either had to travel one way around the world or the other, so he has seen the globe sev eral . times. Just now he has been making a survey of the sugar situa tion in the European countries and betimes he writes his novels. Dart serious and part humorous. "I will admit that the best writing doesn't pay. said he. "On the other hand. look at my countryman, Belasco Ibanez. He is considered a fourth rate writer in Spain, but he is a great advertiser and will make millions of dollars. His best book, 'Blood and Sand.' dealing with bll fighting. Is not well known in America. Here the people talk about the poor horses in the bull ring. They see but one little speck 'on the immense canvas. I saw the Carpentier-Dempsey fierht and in one of the preliminaries I saw things worse than any bull fight. J saw that vast crowd of spectators forget their patriotism and wish for the Frenchman to win; I saw the American champion hissed." Portland is one of the blestest fur niture centers in tlt country a fact not generally realized by the citizens or tne Rose City. As a furniture manufacturing town Portland is the most important In the west. Among the buyers attending Portland this week are many visitors who are here to order furniture. They come from many states, and among others are buyers from Berkeley and ban Fran clsco, for they would rather buy here than in Los Angeles, if Los Angeles had anything to offer. Ben Burns and T. J. Osmond, both buyers for furniture stores in Nampa, Idaho, are among the arrivals at the Multnomah. H. J. McDonald, a furniture buyer from Pocatello, Idaho, is also at the Multnomah. teiepnone users may find some solace in their kicks against the company in this: The telephones of both Commissioners Williams and Buchtel have, on occasion, been dis connected because their bills were not paid on the dot. These things hap pened when the commissioners were away attending hearings. It is violat ing no confidence to whisper that the commissioners were quite human, the came as other telephone users, when they found what had happened. Both of the public service commissioners, now holding a rehearing on telephone rates, are registered at the Hotel Oregon. "I thought it was sweltering In Chicago, but, believe me. the heat in Sa.lt Lake City is terrific," declared A. Buedel, who with his family has registered at the Perkins. "One thing about Portland is that the days are not very hot and the nights, we find, are cool and comfortable. In Chicago no one want a blanket at night, but here a blanket comes in handy. The nights in the east are insufferable, and it takes almost until dawn for the temperature to lower sufficiently to enable a person to go to sleep." Yesterday Mr. Buedel .took his fam:Iy for a trip over the Colum- bia river highway. Eagle creek, near which point there is a sliding mountain on the Colum bia river highway, was the objective yesterday of a crowd of geological students from the Chicago university. Last month the boys interested them selves in digging up fossils and every youth had slung to his belt a geolo gist's hammer, so new that the label of the maker was still on the handle. The sliding mountain on the Columbia is something that has been attracting the attention of engineers for a score of years. "We will have the best apple crop in the history of the Rogue river val ley, predicted C. M. speck or iieq ford, registered at the Imperial. "The crop will be exceptional, both as to quantity and quality. Tlse price is, of course, unknown, as tne mar ket has not been established yet. The frosts last spring simply thinned out the pears, and the pear crop will also be good. On his way to revisit France after many vears. Alex Gullbert of Seattle was at the Imperial yesterday. Mr Guilbert was in the Franco-Prusian war and when that conflict was over he moved over to the United states. Mr. Guilbert is one of the men who founded Seaside, down where the Neacanicum, Neahcoxle and Wahanna flow. Six hours and 20 minutes was the running time of Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Halferty from Aberdeen. Wash., to the Benson. . The couple said that the trip was dusty, but this explanation was unnecessary, as they sent clouds of dust floating in the lobby at every step after leaving the car. After a few days at the ocean shore, a party of Wasco residents stopped over at the Perkins on their way home. They are traveling by the gasoline route. The visitors were Charles A. McAllister and family. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Johnson and Mrs. H. E. Beers. After being In the east on a busi ness trip. Frank Mashburn of Grants Pass arrived at the Hotel Portland yesterday morning. Mrs. Mashburn came up from the Pass to meet him. Mr. Mashburn has the largest mer cantile store in the Josephine county metropolis. Mr. and Mrs. M. Wllhelm of Mon roe, Or., are at the Multnomah. The Wllhelm establishment at Monroe la one of the largest and most com plete stores in the Willamette valley. J. R. Browne, secretary of the port of Umpqua commission. Is an arrival at the Multnomah. There is a recall out over the commission and the election is to be held August 12. R. J. Glnn. who served a couple of years as county commissioner of Sherman county, is an arrival at the Perkins, registering from Moro. In Klamath Falls. E. E. Magee Is manager of a large drugstore. He is in Portland on business and is reg istered at the Imperial. Mrs. Paul C. King, whose husband Is a real estate operator at Bend, is registered at .the Hotel Portland. , CAUSE OF CHILD DELINQUENCY Mlsnsted Conslfs, Rather Than Dt vsree, Held Fundamental Basin. PORTLAND, Aug. 2. (To the Edi tor.) Being a student of the mar riage and divorce problem, both by experience and observation. I wish to thank you for the informative letter from Mr. John H. Stovall, physical director of the state training school. The bpys in his charge as well s tne stata at large are fortunate to have some one so competently and profoundly interested in the kind of highly useful work being done there. Nevertheless It does not follow that because a man is an excellent .di rector- In looking after the boys' physical training he must also be an accurate diagnostician of social ail ments. I particularly differ from Mr. Stovall In his opinion that many bys are in the stale training school be cause they are the "damaged goods" of divorce. I regard that as a. super ficial conclusion. From facts set forth by Mr. Stovall himself I make a much more fundamental deduction. which is that the boys, where they are not the product of a bad general social environment (apart from a merely bad domestic environment), are the "damaged goods" of mis mated couples. Parents who de liberately fail to provide for their children give every evidence of un fitness for their calling and obviously should never have had offspring. The biological fact must never be forgotten that there are men and women who are not by nature fitted for parenthood. We admit this at once with regard to their physical condition; it is equally true as to their Inborn temperament. Divorce has nothing to do with their unfit ness, for that is already present in them long before they marry and have progeny. It is solely a question cf inherited (not acquired) character. Coercion and the police power of the state are helpless before this con dition. When persons with this non. philoprogenitive strain in them marry, their natures are not changed. Mar riage cannot work a magic like that. But they are in duty bound, in recog nition of their organic shortcomings, to avoid prepetuating their deeply fixed non-parental qualities. Modification or even abolition of divorce would not succeed in pre venting delinquency in the offspring of such types. I do not say this with any feeling of scornful superiority, for I have lived long enough to hold the opinion that both the parental at.d non-parental type has Its good and bad qualities, and its place in the world. But it seems absurd to expect the non-parental kind, with no inborn capacity for that function, to be good fathers and mothers. You would not set a blind man to paint pictures, nor a deaf man to learn the violin. Incidentally I might ask, are those parents who know how to pro vide for their children and have a capacity for loving them nowadays really rearing as many as the wel fare and progress of mankind de mand? There is where the real race suicide Is found In the small families of the well-to-do and the capable. If there were no divorce laws and all the couples who are incapable of creating real family life were forced, contrary to their real natures, to con tinue to live together, their children would be worse off than they are now under Mr. Stovall's kindly and Intelligent direction. Perhaps not one parent In 20 knows as well as Mr. Stovall does what is good for a boy's physical development. Parents might, and do., continue to live together all their lives and treat their children cruelly, rear them in sloth and ig norance, or exploit them shamefully. Such children generally grow up to be criminals, tramps, wasters, defec tives, invalids, hoodlums, drunkards, drug addicts, or perhaps political hirelings and grafters, petty trick sters, liars. corruptionists, jury fixers, or oppressors of their fellow men. They will inevitably prove a burden in one way or another to the really productive and useful elements of a community sooner or later. While divorce may work an oc casional injustice or hardship what human institution does not what 1 see and hear almost every day leads me to believe that vastly more goo than evil flows from it. The "menace of divorce" is an imaginary danger. Divorce really helps to eliminate the matrimonial misfits. Why interrupt the process by crusading against the supposed evils of divorce when it is tn fact a social benefit? HERBERT J. FOSTER . ALTO TAGS TO ADVERTISE FAIR Visitor Suggests L'e of License Plntra With Lrarnd. BELLING HAM, Wash., July 31. (To the Editor.) The writer had the privilege of visiting Portland a week ago and was very much impressed with the interest manifested by many of its people with reference to the fair proposed in 1925. In going about Portland the fol lowing suggestion came to my mind and I am passing it on for what it is worth: I noticed that a number of people were displaying pennants and ther advertising matter with the following words: "Oregon 1925" or "Portland 1925." I also notice that automobile license plates read "Oregon 1921" at the present' time. Why couldn't the following suggestion be carried out, and that is, have the license plate department of Oregon issue license plates with "Oregon 1925" for the next three or four years, but in order to distinguish 1921 and 1922 plates and the other yearly plates from one another, have the color dif ferent each yar? The advertising that you would get from the number of automobiles that you have in Oregon carrying "Oregon 1925" Instead of "Oregon 1921" or "Oregon 1922." etc., would be of a value that you could get in no other way. The hundreds of Ore gon cars that would go to other sec tions of the country with the "1925" number on would attract a great deal of attention and would cause quite a little comment, and an ex planation would be the very best ad vertising. I am very much Impressed with the wonderful opportunities afforded by Portland and the surrounding coun try and with the interest displayed by Its citizens In the Interest of their particular district and I wish to pass this on for what it is worth. PERCY LIVESEY. Early Mornlna; Cats. PORTLAND. Aug. 2. (To the Edi tor.) Can't you say something to cat-lovers, for bird-lovers, which will help our feathered friends In their distress? Surely cats must walk abroad, but if their owners would only shut them In from evening until breakfast-time, our birds would be spared much sorrow. Young birds are always helpless: but at early dawn even the older birds cannot see the waiting claws and teeth hidden in the shadows of the long grass. Yes, some may say that there are too many robins: and that they eat the fruit. But they have their com munity rights! One's feeling of jus tice is roused by these daybreak tragedies. It Is not so much, perhaps, because of the little bird which is destroyed as It Is for the- tree-top group of feathered things crying for their dead. So few come to their aid. One longs to help the' distracted little things against their sore and oft-repeated trial. Can't you write a poem, construct a psalm, run a head-line, do some thing, to persaude our friendly cat owners to keep their pets indoors at the dawn and twilight hours? A SUBSCRIBER. More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Montague. EXPEDITING LEGISLATION. At first we were givena bit of a shock. When a statesman suggested last week. That he hoped to compose a dispute that arose By a biff on a senator's beak. It seemed to us dreadful that men should employ The uppercut. wallop and swing And lams to the jawc in the making of laws. As they do to gain fame In the ring. And yet when we thought of the days we have spent In the echoing chambers of state, And sagged in our chair while the ambient air Was filled with the noise of do-bate. It seemed that a lightning like clip on the ear Would silence much word-burdened din. And that language expressed by a slam on the chest Might be. better than limitless chin. Today, when - a measure comes up for a vote The senators all take the floor. And before there's a chance for the bill to advance They talk for a fortniarht or more. But if all the members jumped into a ring And wallops were savagely plied. They would rush through the bills and give plenty of thrills To the eager spectators beside. Our elderly uncle arises to say That If statesmen resort to a fight. In settling a cause or in making the laws. They'll never be sure they are right. However, we've found a convincing reply To this carping objection of his; And he's bound to admit our conten tion, to-wit: They seldom are right as it Is! Oae Ohjeectlon. That proposed duty on leather would shut out a lot of the beef, steaks that are now current in this country. Not So Easy. Now If Mr. Dawes can show con gressmen how to save their Jobs as well as how to save 1112.000,000 he may be able to persuade them to save the $112,000,000. No Tronble at AIL ' If England will only back her next polo team we may be able to gather In what she owes us without any diplomatic difficulties. Burroughs Nature Club. Copyright, Hooarhton-Mlf film Co. Can You Answer These Questions r 1. Can horses and mules open their mouths after closing their teeth on an object? As in the case of mules seen to catch a chicken by the head and swing it until the head would come off, apparently unable to let go. 2. Kindly explain the meaning of dog days. Is the water poisonous to bathe in during those days? 3. Kindly advise what to feed a tame crow on. 1 It harmful to give bones? Answers In tomorrow's nature notes. A nan-era to Previous Questions. 1. What color is the true pole-cat? The true pole-cat representative in America is a ferret, called black footed pole-cat. It lives on our plains, preys on prairie dogs. Is a buffy or whitish color, with black feet, black at the end of the tail and has a conspicuous black stripe across the face, extending beyond the eyes mm 2. Will ring-neck pheasants mate our native pheasant? We have no native American pheas ant. Several varieties of this bird have been introduced from Asia. The ring-neck pheasant will mate in Europe with the so-called "common" pheasant, itself an introduced bird, but so long naturalized as to seerr native to parts of Europe and Eng land. 3. How long will a plajit live? This depends on the type and spe cies of plant. Annuals, like grain and many garden plants, flower and mature seed in one growing season, then die. Biennials grow a stem the first year, flower and bear the sec ond, then die. Perennials live several or many years, bearing each year. Those flourish so long as their root hairs are able to absorb moisture and nourishment which passes greater and greater distances, as the plant grows larger, to reach the new shoots. When this distance becomes too great less nourishment reaches the shoots, fewer leaves are formed, less chem istry Is performed by leaves and the plant will weaken and die. In Other Days. Twenty-five Years Ago. From The Oreeonlan of Aucuit 3. 1896. Lincoln, Neb. it was given out at the, Bryan home this evening that Hon. R. P. Bland of Missouri will arrive In Lincoln next Friday and will accompany Mr. and Mrs. Bryan on their trip to New Y'ork. Cincinnati. A terrific wind, hail and rain storm, accompanied by blind ing lightning, passed over the city this evening. The wind reached a velocity of 60 miles an hour. In the city proper chimneys and buildings . were blown down and much minor damage was done. The persistent rumors circulated in regard to the health of Queen Vic toria and her intention to retire al most immediately in favor of the prince of Wales have caused quit a sensation in court and other circles. John Sims, a prosperous stockman of Poe valley, was at the Falls Fri day. He returned about two weeks ago from Sacramento, where he took a bunch of horses to sell. He says there is no question of doubt that the horse, market "needs fixing." Heavy horses bring In that market only about $35, and those weighing from 900 to 1000 pounds bring but 17 or $8. Fifty Years Ago. From The Oregonian of August 3, 1S71. London. There is a growing un easiness in the public mind on the fact that the cholera has been rag ing for two years in Russia. As the terrible scourge had not yet reached the frontier, a close watch has been instituted to prevent its progress. . Washington. President Grant, ac companied by General Porter, ar rived here this morning. His ap pearance was a surprise except to members of the cabinet. The party who went into the wil derness to spy out a route for the proposed railroad from Columbia City to the upper Willamette valley, have completed their first survey of the grade from the summit of Cornelius pass. Parties are now offering 60 cents a bushel for wheat at Walla Walia. i