TaIE MORX1XG OltECOXTAX, SATUIIDAT. DECEMBER 3. 1921
KSTABI.ISIIEO BY. KENR7 I- PITTOCK.
Publlflhed by The Oregonian Publishing Co.,
lii Sixth Street, forllanO, Oregon.
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NO SUCH WORD AS FAILURE.
Having encountered knotty prob
lems, the Washington conference ap
pears to have lost much of its initial
speed. As the delegates apply the
intellectual ax, wedge and sledge to
the knots, the radiant smile with
which they greeted the bold plan of
Secretary Hughes gives place to
lines of deep thought. The chorus of
approval in principle for the Hughes
proposals is followed by criticism of
details. France sees in the unre
pentant militarists of Germany cause
for maintaining a great army. Great
Britain thinks the menace is exag
gerated, and that France should not
take isolated action, and all the pow
ers tell France that, fa case its free
dom should be attacked, instinct
would prompt them to go to its de
fense. Japan believes its defense re
quires a higher ratio of naval force
than Mr. Hughes' plan provides, but
is opposed by all the other powers.
Shantung again becomes a subject of
debate between China and Japan,
and the United States and Great
Britain strive to reconcile them.
This is the stage in the proceedings
at which the prophet of woe, the
apostle of a new gospel for world
salvation or-the sower of discord
finds his opportunity. Loud as were
the hurrahs which greeted the aus
picious opening are the lamentations
of those whose volatile tempera
ments and shallow Judgments keep
them swinging violently between
hope and despair. The man who
would produce world harmony by
gathering all nations into one as
sembly, where confusion of tongues
would produce a new Babel, says the
Washington plan was doomed to
failure from the start, and he strives
for failure through setting nations by
the ears. Those whose schemes can
be served by the weakness and iso
lation of individual powers breathe
suspicion of those powers' aims and
ascribe to them purposes to divert
the conference to malign ends.
The differences of opinion and the
divergences of interest which have
come to the surface in the confer
ence are no reason for expecting its
failure. It was called because they
existed and as the means of remov
ing them. By bringing them to the
front and by setting about the work
of finding a basis of agreement, the
conference opens the way to success,
not to failure. The conferences which
dodge problems, not those which
attack and solve them, are the con
ferences which fall. This conference
lias good cause to expect success be
cause It started With a clear-cut pur
pose before it reduction of arma
ment, and with a bold plan to work
to the Hughes proposals. It will do
its utmost to succeed, for it has
adopted -so large a degree of pub
licity that practically it Is working
under the eyes of the whole world
and it knows that the heart of the
world is set on attainment of its pur
pose. The peoples know of the disagree
ments which must be removed from
the way, and believe that they can
and must be removed. They will not
tolerate evasion of any knotty prob
lem or any agreement to disagree, or
any subordination of the rights and
interests of any nation to the arbi
trary will of other nations for the
sole reason that they have the physi
cal force to compel submission. They
know that real agreement must re
gard the rights of all nations in
order that all may cut their arma
ments deeply and in good faith.
Knowing these to be the public de
sires and that the public watches it,
the conference strives to satisfy
them. The work has slowed up be
cause the conference is splitting
knots, not throwing them aside.
There are a few men, especially in
the senate, in whom the faculty of
destructive criticism is overde
veloped and who view with special
aversion any move to commit the
United States to any action by agree
ment with other nations. Having,
by acting with those who went to
the other extreme, prevented the
United States from entering the
league of nations, they look askance
at the earnest determination with
which the American delegates seek,
agreement with a few nattons on
arms lirnitatlon and the far east.
They seem to oppose any undertak
ing of this nation to act with any
other nation on any subject, though
our Interest therein may be involved
with that of the whole world to the
point that we can protect it only by
wosking with other nations. They
are tools ready to the hand of those
elements In this country which, Gen
erul Pershing said, act on American
questions for a foreign reason. Some
want to prevent us from acting with
the allies in dealing with Germany
and to cause division among the al
lies In order that Germany may es
cape the penalties of the war. Some
would block any co-operation with
Great Britain because they condemn
British policy in Ireland or because
in their opinion the traditions
banded down from the revolution
have not been modified by our rela
tions with Great Britain through a
century and a half of crowded his
tory. Yet tho senators and others
who pander to these un-American or
outworn prejudices are most vocifer
ous la assertion of their American
ism and of their freedom from old
world or antiquated Influences.
One phrase coined by Woodrow
WIlson-T-"a little knot of wilful men"
admirably fits this group. It was
originally applied to the twelve sena
tors whose filibustering in the first
days of March, 1917, prevented
adoption of the resolution for armed
neutrality against Germany. It fitted
the irreconcilable foes of the league
of nations. Incidentally it also fitted
Mr. Wilson and his group of no-reservation
irreconcllables. It also fits
the group which now plots to destroy
the work of the Washington confer
ence several of this group having
been in the original knot of wilful
men and all having been among the
anti - league obstructionists. They
qualified before the storm of public
anger that they, raised before we
entered the war. Aided by the ob
duracy of Mr. Wilson, they succeeded
in turning public opinion against ac
ceptance of his league without the
dotting of an "i" or the crossing of a
"t," to the point where President
Harding adopted a new plan of co
operation with other powers. If
they imagine that they can again
turn the tide of public opinion, a
great awakening is due them.
The American people are deter
mined that the conference shall suc
ceed, and they will join hands with
other nations in lifting the world out
of the confusion that war has caused,
and any little group that tries to
balk them will be swept away by a
storm as fierce as that of March,
1917.
WILP-CATTERS AND SUCKERS.
The Taklma Republic has been
compiling a list of casualties in the
Yakima valley inflicted by t h e
ravages of the oil craze and sundry
ballooned ventures, all under the
manipulations of smooth salesmen
who had something gilt-edged to sell
and nothing to lose. . The Republic
will not print the list; but it will be
put away in the paper's private
morgue under the inviting caption of
"Sucker list," for such use as may
seem expedient from time to time.
The list aggregates the sorrowful
total of 400 or 600. The favorite
lure was an oil scheme, in the hands
of local promoters, who themselves
saw millions in it and wanted their
neighbors to share their prospective
good fortune, and incidentally most
of the hazard. The outfit is bank
rupt, after sinking a quarter million
dollars. It owes $40,000 or $50,000
and has no assets. Those stockhold
ers who did not pay in full are now
to be called upon to settle, and they
are not happy at the pjroepect.
There may be oil In the Yakima
valley, but the profits of the average
oil-stock promoter do not lie in pro
duction, but in successful exploration
of the pockets of the amateur specu
lator. Your novlce, with a few dol
lars In his pocket, rarely speculates
wisely or well; but he is told of im
mense fortunes made on a 'shoe
string, of dire poverty transformed
overnight to glittering affluence, by
some fortunate Investor who took a
chance; tyid he takes a chance, too
often mortgaging his poor income to
do It.
There are blue-sky laws to guar
antee good faith and to protect the
unwary; but all the laws in the
world cannot completely safeguard
the foolish, the inexperienced, the
innocent, the credulous, the ahxious-to-do-better,
from the urgencies and
promises of the wildcatter. Some of
these hand-to-mouth adventurers
are indeed well-meaning and are
themselves obsessed with their own
financial formulas, but they are dan
gerous just the same.
If any one is in doubt about an
investment in oil stock, or any other
stock, let him go to any bank, and
ask If it will be taken as security for
a loan.
A DEFENDER OF POISON OAS.
A writer in the Chemical Bulletin,
whom we would suspect of being a
press agent for the poison gas trust,
if there were such an institution,
makes a plea for the retention of
gas as a weapon in war. He is in
favor, he says, as are all reasonable
men, of limitation of armaments,
but even this, he suspects, will not
wholly abolish war until the natures
of men are changed. Meanwhile he
sees no reason why the use of the
cheapest, easiest and in his opinion
the most humane instrument of
which it Is possible to conceive
should not be permitted.
The suggestion that poison gas is
humane is the chemist's own and
shows that even the deepest-dyed
villains may have friends in their
owt circles. The argument in behalf
of gas is only superficially plausible.
In brief, it Is that "a gas casualty, as
statistics show, has twelve times the
chance for recovery over any other
casualty. It does not malm, cripple
and disfigure those who survive It,
and recovery seems complete. Mili
tary preparedness in this regard is
largely a matter of a healthy chem
ical, industrial background." We
read with more interest the claim
that it is also "economical,! because
if we must have wars in the future
cheap ones are much to be preferred
to wars like the one through which
we have recently passed. On the
ground of efficiency, however, the
writer seems to Justify the agency of
his choice. He presents figures
which show that 30 per cent of all
the American casualties were caused
by gas, and that there was an in
crease of 1400 per cent in casualties
in the British army after mustard
gas was introduced. "Its capacity to
harass a n d handicap, an army
through the mere enforced wearing
of gas masks" he regards as still an
other point in its favor.
If the real point of disarmament is
to deprive the nations of such
weapons as constitute a temptation
to quarrel, then the very cheapness
of gas which the chemist pleads in
its favor would seem to be a con
clusive reason why It ought not to be
permitted. It is bad enough when
the production of arms and arma
ments becomes a costly special in
dustry; it. would probably be many
times worse if a nation of the future,
contemplating aggression, needed
only to cultivate a little more strenu
ously its "healthy chemical and in
dustrial background" In order to ob
tain supremacy in its chosen field.
It will not be opposed that in such
circumstances the production of gas
would be long confined to relatively
harmless kinds. It is whispered, in
deed, that if the war had lasted a
few months longer it would have re
vealed new and more nearly impreg
nable forms of gas horror than any
that had been utilized up to the time
that the armistice was signed.
The tendency to develop warfare
along lines interwoven with peaceful
industries is, moreover, psycholog
ically wrong. It Is better to build
battleships and guns in factories by
themselves than to have whole In
dustries predicated upon their prob
able utility in war. This was illus
trated in the world war as in no
other conflict in all history. The
militarism of Germany by no means
consisted in the maintenance of a
standing army alone. The whole
scheme of industrial particularly
chemical organization was. based
on Its ultimate subordination to war
purposes, and this was the reason
why the Germans were first to em
ploy poison gas. A better reason is
needed for permitting its continued
use than that It Is cheap.
BOLD ON TO TOUR TEETH.
. The dentists say that too many
teeth are extracted for no good rea
son, and they blame the doctors for
It. The doctors have of late years
become firmly convinced that one
great source of man's physical ills is
decayed and abscessed teeth. Within
tho memory of men still living life
being longer than of yore because of
the skillful and assiduous ministra
tions of the doctors we have pro
gressed from the appendix as the ex
act center of the world of infection
to adenoids, to the tonsils and then
to the teeth. No one who has lost
an appendix through applied surgery
ever regretted its absence, and there
are few persons who are not .cheer
ful about separation from a tonsil or
two; but the teeth, that's different
The Oregonian has heard lately of
a suffering citizen twinges of rheu
matism who presented himself to a
well-known dentist with a chart of
his entire frontal region wherein his
teeth had their appropriate places.
They were all to be extracted, ac
cording to the doctor's orders. "Not
by me," said the dentist, after look
ing at the picture and at the original.
'You go and ask some old-fashioned
doctor about your tonsils." The re
lieved rheumatic left, and later re
ported that the doctor had discov
ered that his tonsils were in bad
shape. That Is all we know of the
story.
It is creditable to the dentists as a
body that they regard dentistry as a
curative and protective profession.
They are in that respect several long
scientific steps ahead of the doctors,
who still think or many of them
think that all there is to do with a
bad tooth is to get rid of it. It is
noticeable that the discussions of the
Oregon State Dental association dis
close the dentists practically a unit
tn their opposition to radical extrac
tion. There is an attainable happy me
dium, of course, between the dentists
and the doetors. It is that no doctor
should condemn any patient to a
toothless existence until he is certain
of his diagnosis and unil the dentist
has had his turn at remedial meas
ures. Your teeth may not indeed be
as good as the artificial substitute,
but they are, after all, your own.
only twenty-It ve years ago.
The following interesting item ap
peared In The Oregonian December
3, 1896, just twenty-five,' years ago
today:
Edison's latest invention, the wonderful
vitascope, has been secured by John Cord
ray and will be shown here next week.
The vitascope throws on the screen life
size figures which move, dance and walk
Ilka ordinary human beings.
The chief point of Interest is that
this occurred only twenty-five years
ago. Kdison's invention of the auto
matic shutter which made the com
mercial motion picture possible dates
only from 1893. Yet it is hardly too
much to say that the effect of the
vitascope has been in some re
spects revolutionary. Only the Dther
day at a convention of educators tho
question was discussed whether it
was not seriously affecting the read
ing habits of the young without de
termining the issue, it Is true, but
proving by the earnestness with
which the topic was debated that the
motion picture Is already a factor in
our education. Kdison predicts that
the time will come when there will
be a motion picture camera in every
school room. Scientists employ it as
a means of studying nature. It is
widely used in the dissemination of
educational propaganda among those
who cannot read the printed page.
Its language Is universal, and it ap
peals to the illiterate and the cul
tured alike, so that in campaigns like
that which is now being waged
against tuberculosis, its influence
may be more far-reaching than that
of the printed word.
The development of the entertain
ment phase of the motion picture in
a quarter of a century is a phenome
non familiar to the most casual ob
server. The tendency has been gen
erally wholesome, and largely educa
tional, and in a broad sense it has
promoted better social understand
ing. The role which it has played in
banishing the saloon, by furnishing a
counter-recreation, cannot be easily
overestimated. We obtain an im
pression of the vast magnitude of
the industry, the . product of only a
quarter of a century, from the fig
ures of the United States Internal
revenue department, which show
that the annual income of motion
picture houses in the UniUd States
for taxation purposes is about $275,
000,000. Incidentally, the word "vitascope"
has vanished in that same brief
period. Language itself changes with
great rapidity in response to popular
demand. Whatman old-fashioned
word "vitascope"! As ancient, al
most, as the horse and buggy, the
hoop-skirt and the cable car. Yet it
serves us once more as a reminder
that the world does move.
ECROPK'S PROGRESS IN RECOVERY.
A conference on economic recon
struction is a necessary sequel to the
arms and far east conference. The
gathering now in session aims to re
move causes of war in the far east
and causes of waste, through exces
sive armament, in all countries. Thus
it would prevent further destruction
by either fighting or bankruptcy.
That should be followed by recon
struction, which must be economic,
scrapping worse than worthless ex
pedients that were adopted to meet
war emergencies, creating new
wealth to replace that which was
destroyed, and providing new meas
ures of value on a solid foundation
that will be practically uniform and
stable In all countries from day to
day. This is no one nation's job; all
nations' must work together on it,
for it is spread over all countries and
much of it consists in repairing im
paired economic relations between
one nation and another.
A tone of pessimism has run
through recent descriptions of
Europe as it is that is not warranted
by the facts. While conditions are
bad, improvement has set in through
the almost unaided efforts of in
dividual nations. A more accurate
word picture is given In dispatches
from attaches of the department of
commerce than in the writings of
men who preach some new social
gospel or whose views are colored
by prejudice for or against some one
nation.
The worst situation prevails in
Germany. Commercial Attache Her
ring at Berlin reports an "un
paralleled fall in the exchange value
of the mark" from .79 of a cent on
October 1 to .4 of a.cent on Novem
ber 14; It is now .41 of a cent. Note
circulation increased 5.500.000.00P
marks in October, the level of prices
rose 150 per cent from August 1 to
November 1, while wages rose only
20 to 25 per cent. These conditions
are attributed to "the upper Sileslan
decision, the growing budget deficit
the maturing of foreign credits and
recent exchange purchases on accoun1
of reparation payments, a heavy un
loading of marks held abroad and
panic buying of foreign currencies
by Germans." The people stampeded
to turn their money into some other
form before it depreciated further.
They rushed into the stock market
and in a month they raised the al
ready inflated value of twelve lead
ing stocks 64 to 100 per cent. They
bought goods of intrinsic value in
such quantities that ''amounts of
merchandise on hand are greatly de
pleted," and that "stocks are espe
cially low in the. textile trades, as
well as in other industries, largely
dependent on imported raw ma
terials." There is no Important sur
plus of such materials in Germany.
The financial situation "is chaotic,"
The current budget deficit is 110,
000,000,000 marks, that for next year
is estimated at 127.000,000,000
marks, while the new tax bill pro
vides at most 42.000,000,000 marks,
and its early enactment is improb
able. -Imports in August exceeded
exports by 50 per cent. The general
opinion in Germany is that exchange
will not improve unless reparation
payments are postponed and unless
foreign credit is obtained. A com
mittee of the reparation commission
Is in Berlin investigating Germany's
ability to pay, and Hugo Stinnes has
been in London seeking British aid
in having payments deferred and
economic aid given. '
In other countries improvement
has begun. In Great Britain prices
of food and clothing are steadily
falling, interest is lower, exports,
especially of cotton, iron and steel,
are increasing, and the October bal
ance of imports over exports was
the smallest since 1913. In the coal
industy output increases as miners'
Wages and prices fall, and these facts
react favorably on the iron industry.
There are still about 1,750,000 unem
ployed. France is coming back. The ordi
nary budget Is balanced for the first
time since the war began, .exchange
is steady, foreign trade in the first
nine months of the year practically
balanced, the iron and steel Industry
is improving, coal output increased
10 per cent over last year, strikes in
the textile industry have been- set
tled and unemployment steadily de
creases. . . -
In Italy "the adjustment of business
conditions is proceeding satisfac
torily, the general situation is some
what improved, unemployment is
rapidly declining, cotton mills are
running practically full time," and
the Fiat works have resumed opera
tion at reduced wages. Government
revenue has increased materially
during the last few months, though
floating dCbt grew 4,800,000,000 lire
In the fiscal year 1921.
Belgium shows continued Improve
ment in the condition of the key
industries, with "encouraging deple
tion in the stoeks of certain raw ma
terials." Cotton spinners grant long
credit to Czecho-Slovakia and Rou
mania. Demand for steel has in
creased, causing more furnaces to be
fired. Kmployment is Increasing.
The unfavorable news comes from
Norway, Sweden and Spain, which
were'nutral, while the countries of
western Europe which suffered most
in the war have begun the climb up
ward to prosperity by their own ef
forts. Having given this proof of
internal soundness, they would surely
climb faster with the concerted help
of all nations.
Germany is a drag on general re
covery. Its people have tried to be
prosperous through the bankruptcy
of their government, but seem to
have come to the end of their string.
If they would make an honest effort
to enable their government to pay
its way and to begin paying its debts
other nations would help them and
would be disposed to defer payment
of the indemnity. So long as bank
rupt Germany continues to act the
spendthrift, other nations will con
sider help wastea.
The allies look forward to the next
German reparation payment with as
much fear as hope, for it may hurt
them as much -as it helps them. In
the money of any particular country,
it demoralizes exchange. If paid in
goods it drives those of the recipient
nation out of its own market or some
market to which that nation exports
It would be most harmless in the
form bf non-competitive goods se
lected by the nation which would re
ceive them, but they may. be pre
cisely what Germany has not avail
able for export. The next payment
might knock British industry flat.
John Bull wants it if he can catch it
in his hands like a ball, but he would
like to dodge it if it is going to- hit
him on the head.
This Morse ordered to leave
France within seventy-two hours is
the financier released from serving a
long sentence in Atlanta prison a few
years ago because his health was so
bad it' was feared he would die there.
His recovery was rapid.
"The weather these days Is just
one thing after another," said one
Laurelhurst tree to another as they
crashed down in the great wind
storm.
Hope the elements get reconciled
Into shape before the "week before
Christmas." Meanwhile, shop when
you can and do it early in the day.
Dancing in the nude seems to be
part of the Doukhobor's rites, but he
needs a warmer climate than that of
the American-Canadian boundary.
If Japan, really hopes to bluff
Uncle Sam into handing over Guam,
it. must have forgotten that he in
vented the game of poker.
The difficulty about prohibiting
the submarine is to get the prohibi
tion, observed,
HISTORIANS AND WHITMAN MYTH
I flAnr O nn Tfarv W. Sfmii and
Cltea Other Anthorltlea,
PORTLAND. Dec. 2. (To the Edl-
! tor.) The analysis by Fred V. Hol-
man, president of the Oregon Histor
ical society, of a recent dispatch from
Walla Walla, in regard to the Whit
man myth, was an Interesting and
important contribution. Edward O.
Bourne, professor of history in Yale
university, has well said that "the
growth and diffusion of the legend of
Marcus Whitman is one of the
strangest things In the literature of
American history." It originated In
1S64, 17 years after the Whitman
massacre, and the propaganda was eo
ingenious and so widely circulated
that for a long time it was almost
universally accepted. Even Professor
Bourne, "fell for it" at first, as ltd
almost all of the historical writers of
the country. Almost-without excep
tion they have since repudiated it.
Harvey W. Scott was one of the
victims, and one of the most aggra
vating features of the later discus
sion of the legend was that after he
and the leading historians of the
country had analyzed and repudiated
It, they were for years still being
quoted as indors'ng it. In 191. when
discussion of the matter was general,
Mr. Scott wrote a number of charac
teristically vigorous editorials on the
subject. In ona of them he says:
. There are persons whose nature, is such
that they must have heroes to worship or
to deity. It is this class ot persons who
adhere to the Whitman myth. Plain facta
of hlstbry do not aatlsfy them. They want
fables', for plain facts are prosaic, and
fables appeal to the Imagination of which
they are the offspring. - Nothing
could be more unfounded than that he
(Whitman) saved Oregon. The first large
migration to Oregon that of 1843 which
had been assembling on the Missouri fron
tier for a year before it started, was not
organized by Whitman, for he in fact had
nothing to do with it, till he overtook it
on the upper Platte,
In still another editorial Mr. Scott
says:
Whitman was a Christian missionary, a
pioneer worker for Protestantism and a
brave man. He was a pioneer among
many, but he was by no means tho most
useful of them all. and his place In our
history is due chiefly to the pathetic fate
of himself and of his devoted wife, as his
legend, so persistently exploited, is due
wholly to it. Had he lived- the allotted
life of man and paid the debt of nature In
the usual way. tho legend never would
have been known.
The most pretentious work -relating
to the Whitman controversy is "The
Acquisition of Oregon," written by
Professor W. D. Marshall of Chicago.
It is a work of two volumes and con
tains 800 pases, and Professor Mar
shall spent 28 years in Its prepara
tion. He was an original believer In
the legend and wrote to Judge M. P.
Deady, United States district judge
for Oregon, for some evidence to es
tablish its truth. Judge Deady wrote
him: "There is no truth in the story.
The whole story is merely one of old
Gray's yarns." Thereafter as a con
vert he continued his search with a
zeal that was untiring and relentless
and the result has been production of
proofs established by official records,
personal Interviews end newspaper
and. other evidence, that are absolute
ly conclusive. His work In .tearing
Into shreds the fabric that supported
the contentions of the propagandists
is amazing. It .was but justice to the
memory of the real Whitman, and to
students of Oregon history that some
one should do this work. The vol
umes of Professor Marshall can be
found In the public library. They will
be found intensely interesting.
OREGON PIONEER.
WHY COn ON HOOP IS HIGHER
More Hoes Would Mean Lower Hog
Prices. Too, Argue, Farmer.
INDEPENDENCE, Or., Dec. 1.
(To the ErUtor.) In an article, "Corn
on the Hoof," The Oregonian states
that the farmers of corn states made
.a mistake In not providing them
selves with hogs to feed their cheap
corn to.
The corn farmers are suffering
from the effects of a corn boom.
Corn In Chicago during war times
and for a year after sold up to $2 a
bushel. Of course, the price of hogs
was high, but the farmers, took the
short. cut and sold their corn and quit
raising hogs.
It does not require much of a
stretch of imagination to see what
the price of hogs would be If they
had fed all their corn to hogs, as
they have had several bumper crops,
one after the other.
I was in Nebraska when the farm
ers" were feeding all their corn to
steers and hogs. Hogs sold at $3.50
in Chicago and steers up to 4 cents.
Eggs In Portland are worth 60
cents a dozen. By the same course
of reasoning the farmers of the
northwest should have fed their
wheat to chickens and made some
real money. FARMER.
GREAT FltEXCH ARMY JUSTIFIED
Treaty Provision for German Dia.
armamrnt Hats Bern' Evaded.
KENT. Or., Dec. 1. (To the Edi
tor.) I am a diligent reader of The
Oregonian. However, I do not always
ajrree with it in everything, and I
think this is a credit to both of us.
But the cartoon Monday, In which
France is represented as saying she
must go neavuy armea as protection
against Germany, whose poverty is
represented by the man in the barrel.
Is, to my mind, too severe a criticism
of France, whose territory, twice
within 60 years, has been overrun,
her people murdered, her property
destroyed, and loaded with a debt
that is greater per capita than that
of her only partly conquered foe,
whose chief business now Is to rail at
the reparations demanded, which are
not as great as they should be.
Neither has Germany fulfilled the
treaty in regard to disbanding her
army.
France has a right, . I say, to as
large a standing army as she can
maintain for this very protection. If
we had suffered as France has at
the hands of the Germans, I think
very little of this sympathy stuff
would appear in our papers.
C. E. ENGLISH.
Fees on Protested Check.
NEHALEM, Or., Nov. 30. (To the
Editor.) A, who has sufficient bank
deposits, draws a check on bank, B, in
favor of C. C banks check in the
regular way and check reaches bank,
B, which in the meantime has closed
doors (failed). B protests check and
forwards to C, who notifies A. Who
should pay protest fee? It A, why?
Was it regular and necessary for B to
protest check? INTERESTED.
No protect is necessary on negotia
ble paper issued in this state, but the
holder may, if he sees fit, protest a
check for non-payment. In case pro
test is made the fees may be collected
by the holder from the maker.
Golf Score Estimated.
Detroit Free Press.
"Your husband seems pleased."
"Yes; he played golf this after
noon." "Did he make a good score?"
"No; took the same old 102. but he's
perfectly delighted because he can sit
down and figure it ought to have been
an 87."
Sermon to Her Doll.
London Post.
Four-year-old to her favorite doll,
the loss of whose arm exposes the
sawdust:
"Oh, you dear, good, obedient dolly!
1 know I told you to chew your food
fine, but I had no idea you would
chew it as fine as that,"
Those Who Come and Go.
Tales of Folks at the Hotels.
"Sheep business Is coming back
with a bang." assert-s J. H. Blackaby
of Ontario, Or.," who arrived yesterday
at the Imperial. "We sold several
carloads of wool a few days ago for
30 cents and 28 cents a. pound. The
deal was closed November 26 in Bos
ton. Wo disposed of the clip of six
growers and the clip of one outfit
filled a couple of cars. This Is the
highest price that has been paid for
wool In a, long time, and I want the
wool men to know it, for it indicates
a return of better times for them.
Tho wool we sold is shipped to Bos
ton, cominig through Portland, placed
on steamers here and sent through
the Panama canal. We people out in
the state will make a great part of
this town If you will only let us
and by that I mean if Portland will
help us develop our own section. The
demand for sheep Is growing. Breed
ing ewes are now worth $10, year
ling ewes are at $8 and lambs at IS
In our country. The men who bought
lambs at $2.50 a head are making
money." Mr. Blackaby, who is a
hanker and business man, says that
the 1925 fair will receive the support
of his section, for In Ontario people
are always roady to boost any pro
gressive movement. One reason why
Ontario Is strong for the fair is that
three state highways terminate there,
and overland travel to the exposition
will -pass through Malheur county
Mr. Blackaby reports that the old
Oregon trail is now completed or
under construction all the way from
Ontario to Huntington.
Emington Stewart Jr. The're, that's
the first time the name has ever ap
peared In print. Emington, second.
appeared on the scene December 1
and Emington, first, Is commendably
proud, as any father should be of his
first born. Emington Stewart Sr.. Is
with the Stewart Livestock company,
near Dayvtlle. Or., a concern which
has more than 1000 head of cattle and
plenty of range. Mr. Stewart motored
from Dayville to Portland, being little
Inconvenienced by the storm. There
was but 14 inches of snow at Day
vllle when the Columbia gorge was
tied up. and this snow disappeared the
next day under the promptings of a
Chinook wind. The road, the John
Day highway. Is In good travel con
dition from Dayville to Condon, with
the exception of a grade near Sarvice
creek, which Is now being rocked.
When the road between Condon and
Arlington Is graded and rocked, Mr.
Stewart says he will be able to drive
from Dayville to Portland in 12 hours,
the distance being about 275 miles.
As to the cattle business, he says
there Is little doing and very little
stuff for sale, most of it having been
disposed Of.
Governor and Mrs. Ben W. Olcott
checked out of the Multnomah yester
day and returned to Salem where, on
their return, they will find that the
wind storm of Thursday afternoon
blew In some glass in the dome of the
statehotise. The Olcotts were in
Portland to meet Marshal Foch. To
the governor the soldier said that
during the war he never Issued an
order which was not so plain that
even If it fell Into the hands of a
second lieutenant It could he ex
ecuted. The marshal declared that he
approached every problem with the
mind of a child, on the theory that
simplicity means understanding. "I
don't care to see things," observed the
commander of all the forces of the
allies in France, "but I do want to
seo people and above all I want to
see children, for they are the future
of nation." One of the party in
formed the governor that Marshal
Foch enjoyed himself in Portland
more than any other place during the
trip. The French are so polite.
After serving 8V4 years as a United
States marshal in Alaska, L. T. Erwin
of Fairbanks, Alaska, has decided to
motor down to California and take a
rest of several months. After living
In Alaska Judge Erwin ays that Ore
gon roads in winter time have no ter
rors for him and that by taking the
trip In easy stages he expects to get
his automobile through In good con
dition.. As a matter of fact, the judge
apparently doesn't know that he can
travel through Oregon to the Califor
nia line almost all the way on hard
surface pavement and that the Oregon
part of the Journey will offer no ob
stacles at all. But wait until he hits
the California section ana gets tne
blimps! Judge Erwin is at the Mult
nomah. Despite the wind and rain which
struck Portland coincident with the
arrival of Marshal Foch, there was
one man of the marshal's party who
became enthusiastic over this state.
As the train pulled out, M. Gravelle,
official photographer of the party,
called out: '"Send me some literature
about Oregon, and when you write
make It strong, so I can read it to
my wife and convince her that Oregon
is the place to live in, for I want to
ccme back again and make my home
here." M. Gravelle will be accom
modated. The "amen corner" of the Imperial
has been wrecked. The "amen cor
ner" was the foot of the staircase at
the north side of the lobby. For sev
eral years It has been the gathering
place at noon, for politicians, local and
upstate, where they debated men and
measures and politics In general. The
corner Is being changed, as it will be
Included n the new dining-room now
under cona'tructlon.
James K. Shaw, attorney for the
Pacific States Telephone company,
made a quick trip from San Francisco
and returned yesterday, checking out
of the Hotel Portland. He was here
hoping to hear the decision of the
public service commission relative to
the telephone rate hearing.
Oliver Favorite landed at the Im
perial yesterday from Haines, Or.,
for the winter. He Is an extensive
land owner near Haines and a year
ago he lost $2650 of liberty bonds
when yeggs robbed the bank at
Haines and looted the safety deposit
boxes. ,
Ralph A. JJorr of Seattle is at the
Hotel Portland. Mr. Horr Is here to
Investigate charges of mistreatment
accorded disabled soldiers in the
United States department of public
health in Portland.
Montana had plenty of far below
zero weather a few days ago, eo J.
C. Keller of Kalispell finds Port
land a balmy winter resort. Mr.
Keller is at the Perkins
A. D. Plnneo, manager, of the porfc
of Astoria, Is registered at the Mult
nomah. B. F. Stone, a member of the
port commission, is another arrival
there.
F. B., Swayze. a banker of Hermls
ton. Or:, s at the Hotel Oregon. Her
miston was not affected by the storm
of last week.
Dr. and Mrs. F. E. Selover of Eu
gene registered at the Hotel Ore
gon yesterday. The doctor is Con
valescing from an operation.
Glen S. Dudley, a grain grower of
the Athena, Or., district, registered at
the Benson yesterday.
John-Leary of Salem, where he Is
in the restaurant business, is an ar
rival at the Hotel Oregon,
ffil'REST WAY TO PREVENT CRIME
Writer Would Have Everybody. Good
r Bad, Rear Children Properly.
PORTLAND. Dec. 2. (To the Ed
itor.) No! The surest deterrent of
crime is not the speedy and certain
application of Justice.
The surest deterrent Is the Instilla
tion of Justice Into the consciousness
of the babe, the child and the youth:
and this not emphasizing the wrongs
in the world sin, sorrow and the
dark side In general, but the beauties,
the kindness, the happiness always In
evidence for those who can see.
In such an atmosphere the happy
babe grows into a cheerful child, and
then Into a moral worthy youth. The
good in the child craves nourishment.
Supply that natural demand and char
acter building goes on night and day
until maturity. Such a trained youth
needs no example of hangings to keep
him from crime.
Crime will only disappear as the
race is trained to love virtue not as
they learn to fear a penalty. I would
not enjoy. the daily association of a
human that mentally grazed on crime
but was deterred only by fear of pun
ishment. "Mother. I hear thee speak of a
better land," is a better subject for
the young mind than all the rhymes
about hell, sin and damnation. As a
man thinketh so he is; yes and as a
youth, even a child thinketh. so will
he become. ERNEST BARTON.
The Oregonian agrees with the cor
respondent that the best guaranty of
brotherly love and perpetual moral
rectitude Is to bring on the millen
nium. But while we are applying the
Influence of the good, the true nd
the beautiful to the little children, let
us not forget the old-fashioned reme
dies for those who matured before
the era of uplift.
MgnlNrnnre of Mepe.',
WARRENTON, Or., Dec. 1. (To
the Editor.) Recently In urging the
building of a direct road from War
renton's main thoroughfare to the
Pacific ocean, a distance nf about two
miles, I waxed enthusiastic and of
fered the prediction that the road
when paved would make Warrenton
a tourists' Mecca, because of the
beautiful country it passed through
and the ten miles of h;ird eand
beach drive that would be found, be
tween tides, st the end thereof. Later
I was asked for a definition of
"mecca" and on searching through
my library failed to discover the word
in either of my dictionaries. I used
the word In a laudatory sense, think
ing It signified a place where people
would gather. Please give me the
definition of the word or explain
why It has been adopted bv several
writers. G. CLIFFORD BARLOW.
"Mecca," In a general sense. Is any
object of pilgrimage or place of large
gatherings from a distance. Specific
ally, It Is the sacred city of- Islam,
through being the birthplace of
Mohammed and containing the ven
erated shrine -of Kasha, fabled to
have been erected by Abralrum. Mecca
has received as many as 100,000
Mohammedan pilgrims at a time.
Perhaps your dictionaries spell it
"Alekka."
Title and Second Mortgage.
DALLAS. Or.. Dec. l.-(To the Ed
itor.) 1. My sister wishes to buy a
house and wants me to lend her 500
for the first payment. She will have
to give the owner a mortgage on said
house for the balance due. As she
has no other property, would It be
legal for her to give me a second
mortgage on the house?
2. My wife has a piece of property
in her name. When she bought there
was a balance of J800 yet to be paid.
We both signed the contract agreeing
to pay so much per month unfl bal
ance was paid. Can she lawfully sell?
3. Can she lawfully mortgage or
give a lien on this property without
my consent and pignature?
OLD SUBSCRIBER.
1. Tes.
2. Your signature to the deed would
be required to pass a marketable
title.
3. Your signature Is necessary to
bar your right of courtesy; probably
no one would take the mortgage
without your signature to it.
No King Kxrhanare.
PORTLAND, Or., Dec. 2. (To the
Editor.) Have'heard that the city of
Portland would furnish "in exchange"
new flags for old ones.' Is this cor
rect? Where should one apply to
make this exchange?
JOHN RAYMOND.
The city maintains no department
which exchanges flags and there
seems to be no other public body
that carrier on this work.
The American Beauty of 1950
Hither come the nationals of many lands to mingle in the Ameri
can race. The type that is known a3 American, when we speak of
feminine beauty, has no counterpart elsewhere. It cannot have,
for it is tho composite of many lovely types. Yet it is in the forma
tive period at present, and decades must ensue ere it is fixed and
permanent. A story in the Sunday issue, superbly illustrated, cast
into the future and evolves for us a picture of the girl of 50 years
hence. Scientific and interesting is this treatise on the commingling
of racial strains into a new national type.
An Hour With Society. The Sunday Oregonian devotes an entire
special section to news of society. It is not least of the many ex
cellent features of the big issue, this splendidly illustrated depart
ment which chats of the social events of Fortland, and of those
who are the participants. Turn to it tomorrow.
Portland Harbor and Its Efficiency. We know surprisingly little
of the city in which we dwell, and in that respect Portland folk
differ not at all from those of other cities. Yet we should know
much concerning Portland, for our own interests are those of the
city. In the Sunday issue, the magazine section, you will find an
article on Portland's harbor, written by De Witt Harry, which nar
rates the efficiency and expedition of its operation. Illustrated with
hitherto unpublished photographs. .
The Sinister Cousin. Another new short story, by an American
author of prominence and popularity William Almon Wolf. When
you have read "The Sinister Cousin" the wish will rise that there
were more stories as well told, as surprising and as logical withal. It
is a study in the inevitable, with "one can't choose one's relatives"
for its central theme.
She Danced Her Way to Liberty. She was a Russian girl, in her
sixteenth year, and beautiful after the exotic charm of her strange
race. Yet fate would have dealt most harshly with her had she
not been a dancer, gifted with art and youthful grace. So it befell
that she danced her way out of the dark circle of bolshevism and
over the seas to free America, bringing with her the delighted family
mother, brother and grandmother. Told in the Sunday issue by
Percy A. Adams, and appropriately illustrated.
Are "Broadway Trout" Lost in the Social Swim? The boys go
angling for them, with golden bait, in the current of beauty that
flows down New York's most famous street. Yet when they have
brought one to creel it is difficult to persuade society that a trouj)
and not a humble sun-fish has been landed. Wherefore the matter
becomes a theme for Betty Van Benthuysen's light and happy gossip
in the Sunday magazine, with pictures.
The Curse of Bergdoll Gold. There was blight on the Bergdoll,
fortune, a blight that withered the lives of those who touched the
hoard. In the Sunday issue you'll discover a special 6tory, illus
trated, that bears out in every particular this remarkable statement.
All the News of All the World
. THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN
Just Five Cents
Burroughs Nature Club.
Copyright, Housfctoa-Mlfflln Co.
Can Yon Answer These Questions f
1. Do all fishes lay egg"?
2. Is there anothrr name for the
wood called "lancewooii" usi-d In
making fl.h-rods. and whero can it
be obtained?
3. Are peacocks poultry?
Answers In tomorrow's nature
notes.
Answers tn Prevlona Questions.
1. How long do spiders live?
Of course the span of llfo depends
on pood luck in. eacaping enemies or
accident. Four years Is a long llfo
for a captive specimen, though longer
lives are on record. Only captive
olies can bcpositlvely observed.
2. Can you tell me any good hand
book on pigeon raising?
There are several. "Feather's Prac
tical rigoon Hook" by J. . Lang;
"The National Standard Squitb Book"
by E. C. Rice: and "Fancy riegons"
by J. C' Lyell. arc all good. There
used to be a I'. S. Govt, bulletin, but
it is exhausted and no longer obtain
able. Some public libraries have it.
3. Why do plants and trees grow
so unhealthy when Insects get onto
them? Why don't they Just grow out
new leaves?
They do try to, but find themselves
starved in various ways by insect In
terference. Plants depend on leaves
to digest with aid of sunshine
chemical food absorbed from the
ground by roots. If much foliage Is
eaten, less food is manufactured and
stored for next season. Or if stems
and trunks are riddled by borers, or
irritated by larvae hatching within
their fibers, less raw food can pass
up to be digested, and again less sap
storage occurs. Some Insects attack .
buds and make them drop; others de
stroy poJlen on blossoms. In both
cases preventing fruit and reproduc
tion. Certain Insects leave openings
through the bark, through which dls.
ease germs enter. In each case, the
plant's life fluids are wasted and ill
health results.
In Other Days.
Twenty-Five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian of December 3, llft.
The first of the long delayed over
land Union Pacific trains, which have
been snowbound near Bonneville
since 'Monday, arrived last night,
bringing mail and 65 passengers.
Ashland. General Ellsha I Apple
gate, son of the late Lindsay Apple
gate and one of Oregon's earliest and
most prominent pioneers, died yes
terday at the age of 65 years.
Ice Is still running very heavy In
the Columbia and the night boat serv
ice to Astoria has been abandoned.
Edison's latest Invention, the won
derful vitascope, has been secured by
John Cordray and will he shown here
next week. The vitascope throws on
the screen life-size figures which
move, dance and walk like ordinary
human beings.
THE MGIC OF LEADERSHIP.
I stood upon a shore of shining sand;
The happy sun shone down in
warmth and love;
The blue sky spread Its canopy
above;
All Nature smiled upon my little land.
Yet at my feetl heard the ocean moan
With ceaseless sobbing and decp-
smothercd'slgh.
For to my heart no human sym
pathy From my fair Eden spoke. I was
alono!
Before the walling wind the bare
boughs bend;
The shivering snow clouds hasten
on their way.
Tet radiance fills my world; and all
the day
Is glory-lighted! For I have a friend.
. HAROLD SAXE TUTTLE.
Official of Livestock Show.
KENT. Or., Dec. 1. (To the Edi
tor.) Who was secretary of the Pa
cific International Livestock exposi
tion? Was hie name Kramer? He
took the railroad ticket recolpts and
1 want to get ours back.
What is his address now?
C. E. ENGLISH.
O. M. Tlummer was secretary. TL
Kramer was auditor and is probably
the man to whom you refer. Tou can
get In touch with him In caa-e of the
Pacirio International Livestock Ex
position company, -211 Northwestern
Bank building. Portland.