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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1922)
8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1922 ESTABLISHED BY HENRY X I'lTTOCK. Published by The Oregonian Publishing Co. 13a Sixth Street, Portland, Oregon. C. A. JIOKDEN, E. B. PIPER, .Manager. Editor. The Oregonian is a member of the Asso ciated Presa. The Associated Press is ex clusively entitled to the use for publication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also tne local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Subscription Bates Invariably in Advance. (By Mail.) Iai!y, .Sunday Included, one year JS.OO Daily, Sunday included, six months... 4.25 Iaily, Sunday included, three months. 2.-5 Iaily. Sunday- included, one month ... Daily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Daily, without Sunday, six months.... 3.25 Daily, without Sunday, one month.... .60 Sunday, one 'year 3-60 (By Carrier.) equivalent sum in the general county ket and the seller can no longer es tax. Sums required for interest on cape the tax by adding it to his price, bonds or to maintain bond sinking The same class of people who pro funds are inescapable. tend that the excess profit tax was A requirement that county taxes paid by the men who made the ex be reduced a given percentage each cess profits strive to create the im year, standing alone, would not re- pression that- a. sales tax would be duce any of these statutory levies paid by the poor rather than the but would necessarily apply to taxes rich. The tax would be a fixed per levied for miscellaneous county pur- centage added to the price of what poses. Unquestionably there have each person buys. The rich would been extravagances in some counties pay in proportion to what they in those particulars, and these ex- spend, and a man who spends travagances ought to be .eliminated, $10,000 a year would pay ten times but we cannot make much of a dent as much as he who spends only m the total tax levy if economy is $1000 a year. The rich may save required only in the comparatively part of their income and invest it, small proportion of taxes over which but the income they receive from it tax levying bodies have individual pays income tax. As the income tax discretion. js graduated, becoming ""higher , as It is clear that a measure designed income rises in amount, big business to reduce taxes ought to be carefully pays more tax than little business or r ii ." gun5jr n , it?- "J1" y" ,c 151oereu anc oe so Droaa in its ap- i anybody having a. moderate income DaiiK Sunday included". on montn..-' "75 plication that it would not necessi- By taxing a man moderately on his Daily, without Sunday, oneayear 7.80 I tate the crippling of one set of gov- I income after it is realized and again IfPAV- "'""S?""" Hi ernmental activities while thr w .rumda out of it. the How to Bern it Send nostoffice money order, express or personal check on your local oanK. stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give poatoftice address in iuu, including county ana state. Postage Kates 1 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18 to 32 pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3 cents; 50 to 64 pages, 4 cents; 66 to 80 pages, 5 cents; 82 to 96 pages, 6 cents. Foreign postage double rate. ' Eastern Ronineu Office Verree A- Conk. lin, 30O Madison avenue. New York: Verree equally subject to- economy, were government would tax the rich far permitted to operate on the present scale. more heavily than the. poor, but would leave an incentive to the rich to invest their surplus in productive industry. ' Mr. Harding's task was .recon struction in its broad aspect, that the BACK TO PRE-WAR ECONOMY. In, attempting to save money by reducing the army below the countrv might be financially sound strength needed to maintain garri- I and prosperous. By performing that & Conk-iin, steger building. Chicago; ver- sons abroad and to train the national task well, he can put the govern guard and reserves at home, the ment in a position to pay the bonus military committee of the house re turns to the same kind of economy as was practiced when a former con gress refused to prepare for a war that every unprejudiced man of or- ree & Conklin. Free Press building. De troit. Mich.; Verree & Conklin, Monadnock building, San Francisco, Cal. without harm to the people as a whole. If he had hastened to pay the bonus before he had brought about that condition, the ex-soldier might easily have' lost as much as he gained in brief, permits an increase each year of 6 per cent in the tax reve nues raised for certain purposes not all of them. It does not apply to .taxes levied for payment of principal of or interest on , bonded indebted ness and it permits the people to levy government taxes outside of those to which the 6 per cent limit applies. The. people have taken advantage of this oppor tunity, on several occasions. Meas. tires of this class enacted by the people include the higher educa damental changes in the world gives us a broader view of the conse XO SIMPLE JOB. It is apparent from statements and suggestions made to the tax Invest! gating commission on its tour of the dinary foresight saw to be inevitable, state that the complexity of condi- We saved millions then at the cost tions due to the constitutional 6 pet of billions in 1917 and and we THE ferment IN THE OLD WORLD. cen, tax limitation is not fully un-ldid not begin to fight on any scale Lord Northcliffe'a forecast of fun- aerstooa. xne o per cent limitation, till we had been at war for fifteen months. That is the idea of economy that npM'aila amnnc lo email politicians that are now sent to con- k"ences of the war than we had eress. when the United States declared Probabiv before this session, ends war. At that time our imaginations a plan for reorganization of the were xaKen captive oy riesmem w n. departments will be submitted to congress. It will be designed to reduce expenses by abol ishing many useless offices that are held by friends of congressmen. Wait and see how the congressmen son's phrase: "Make the world safe for democracy," which led us to see the war as a final struggle between the autocratic and democratic sys tems. . We. saw realization of the dream when the three great empires who nowwield the ax on. army and of Europe crumbled. But when Mr. tional tax of 1920, the elementary I navy appropriations will rush to the Wilson took from the vocabulary of the .Russian ana uerman socialists the word, "self-determination," we little thought that that word would bring reverberating echoes from Asia and North Africa, which had begn touched physically by the war only on their outer edges. On those continents the cry for self-determination was taken up by peoples which had been brought under subjection by the very na tions that were foremost in the school tax, the millage tax for the adult blind school, the soldiers' edu cational aid tax, the market road tax and the many local tax measures voted by school districts, road dis tricts, cities, towns and counties. While the 6 per cent limitation ap plies to all tax levying bodies, the legislature may be taken as an il- defense of the sinecure held by a constituent. In its zeal for economy in the na tional defense, the military commit tee asks the house to infringe on the clear prerogatives of the president by dictating the size of garrisons to be maintained on the islands, the isthmus, in China and on the Rhine. lustration. The appropriations That is for the president to decide in the light of his knowledge of our foreign relations and in accord with charged to the 1921 session of the legislature include, all the appropri ations incident to these special levies over which the legislature had no control. The total thus runs up to $15,000,000. On only $7,000,000 of this total was the legislature re stricted by the 6 per cent limitation More than $2,000,000 came from miscellaneous fees, refunds and other sources of revenue, and the remainder from tax levies that are fixed. If the suggestion made by the As, tona chamber of commerce that a 6 per cent reduction in taxes each year for five years be required in stead of permission being given as his foreign policy, in which he has struggle for a world safe for de the initiative. Any such restric tions wouiq De gooa cause lor a veto of the bill and for a rebuke to the small-town economists who drew it. mocracy, and they construed lit in a manner contradictory of an essential principle of democracy the prin ciple that each citizen has a right to practice any religion, to speak any language, to follow any national cus toms that 'he' prefers, and at the same time to stand on perfect equal ity with every other citizen. In Asia and Egypt the cry for self-determination was first taken up by the Moslems, who still believe their mis sion to be to conquer the world for Islam, that the followers of Ma homet should give unbelievers the choice, "The sword or the Koran HARDING'S POLICY OX THE BONUS. The letter front an ex-soldier w-h. i c h is published in another column, reveals much misunder standing of President Harding's po- 1 sition on the soldiers' bonus bill, also on the several other matters to which it refers. Mr. Harding is now to increase them 6 ncr cent each Pleased by his campaign speeches, year, the reduction, so far as the though not by his platform, to sup- in battle: that unbelievers should be state is concerned, would apply only port a dodus dih, ana iie stands Dy permitted to survive only as subjec to the $7,000,000 or the $i&, 000,000 pieugtr, ne s aiso pieugea xo peoples , to pay taxes to and serve relieve me people iron excessive tr. faithful never to bear arms and taxation, to reduce expenses of gov- tf they rebel, to be slaughtered with- emmeni ana to pur tne nations n- ovt mercy. Their leaders keep these uauces in oraer, an as essential means to restore general prosperity. He believed that to have granted the bonus last summer would have thwarted fulfilment ,of this other pledge, to the injury of the whole population, ex-soldiers included. To Turkey into war on the side of Ger, aerer tne Keeping or a promise, rnanv. their aim was an autocratic tmental salaries, maintenance of frankly stating the reasons, is not to version of self-determination the asylums, penitentiary and other in- break it. : word had not then been invented- stitutions not educational and a great Mr. Harding now stands ready to hv nnitins all tranches of the Tura variety of other incidentals. keep it provided congress provides n,an raCe in an empire of abput fifty It is part of the Astoria proposal tne necessary revenue in a manner million neorile under the sway of the that the higher educational tax be tnat win not irm tne wnoie nation suitan to be exploited for the pashas' abolished. There are two of these, more than it would benefit the ex- enrichment. When the Armenians (soldiers. In the meantime he h as I rtrnvrl an obstruction, thev were done his utmost to provide most massacred or driven into the desert liberally for those . ex-service men who were disabled in the war. He asked those who returned to civil life in full possession of health and strength to wait until the bonus can be paid without undue strain on the national resources. The Oregonian believes that the soldiers fought for their country, not for a b 01 us. Will they not credit Mr. Harding with phate. The British, with the ap proval of the French, promised to support claims to Arab supremacy not only in Arabia but in Syria and Mesopotamia. These claims were made subject to French rights, long established, to control Syria, and to promises to the Zionists as to Tales- tine, but Hussein and his son, Feisal, interpreted the agreements most broadly in their favor. Hence arose the war in which France expelled Feisal from Syria, also much friction between Great Britain and France Several emirs in Arabia and along the Tigris dispute the claims of Hus sein and his sons, and Great-Britain has subsidized them heavily to keep them quiet. ; , While King George's Moslem sub jects from India call upon his min isters to give back the .straits, Smyrna and eastern Thrace to the sultan, his Christian subjects inveigh against the return of millions of Greeks to the rule of the murderous Turks. British policy has been,- de cidedly pro-Greek, while France has constantly become "more pro-Turkish through the historic alliance with the sultans and through aversion for the restored King Constantine, whom France cannot forgive for the treacherous massacre of French troops at Athens in December, 1916. Hence Great Britain is between two fires, in- shaping its policy, while France has made) peace with Musta pha Kenxal, releasing his troops from Cilicia to fight the Greeks, leaving behind arms and ammuni tion for his use and apparently aim ing to supplant Great Britain as prov tectcr of Islam. - This tangle of motives on the part of the western powers, of racial am bitions and religious fanaticism in Asia, has hirought about the strange partnership between the All broth ers, caliphate leaders in India, and the Mahatma Gandhi, prophet of the Hindus, in the agitation i&c inde pendence'which is shaking that con geries of races and creeds. How firm is' that partnership may be judged from the fact that, when the Moslem fanatic MOplahs rebelled, they tortured hundreds of Gandhi's Hindu followers in order to convert them to Islam, Gandhi fights by non violent non-co-operation, while the Mohammedans hold the sword to be the only argument In government or propagation of the faith. Such is the witch's brew which Mr. Wilson set boiling in the old cauldron of Asia with his gospel of self-determinati6n and which Lord Northcliffe has seen bubbling throughout his world tour. It pre sents a task to the statesmen of the great powers compared with which the perplexities of the war were simple. - It has stirred peoples to babble of democracy that are no more competent to govern themselves than is a grammar school boy to manage a railroad. Something must be done and is being done to gratify the sudden passion for self-government, but democracy is strong meat, and nations to which it ia strange can safely be spoon-fed only with milk until they gain strength to as similate meat. TAX RESTRICTIONS ARE NEEDED Writer Also Discusses Pay of Teachers and Road Workers Wagest SCAPPOOSE. Or., March 18. (To the Editor.) There was some inter esting reading in recent numbers of The Oregonian in regard - to taxation, or rather overtaxation. The people and legislature, are both to blame for it. It is so easy to vote a tax. but it is hard to get the money to pay the tax. People must think a little more before they vote, and the legislature can help to reduce taxation by re ducing the millage, special taxes and common taxation. , 1 Nearly everybody can vote a special tax for school purposes, but this right is badly abused. 1 am living in a district where there are less than 10 scholars. The directors hired a teacher for S110 per month and a janitor for $15 per. month. I was director myself for two terms' years ago, but at that time we were more economical. We saved -every dollar for the taxpayers, hired some of the best teachers in the state for J35 per month, one for S50 per month, and no janitor- the scholars and teacher did the little work which naa to De done. With special road taxes it is even worse. A voter must De-a. taxpayer, so some persons have some cows or a horse, also personal property assessed in their names and vote, just for selfish interest. Of course they say it is for improving the roads. Very little in benefit the taxpayer erets out of that, when the road wom- r erets $3.50 a day for eight hours' work. The remedy for that is to let the legislature cut down the 10 mills to 5 mills a year on special taxes and let the county commissioners cut down the wages from $3.S0 to S2.50 a day (this is more than the farmer makes) and see to it that work is done and no loafing. IV is no wonder that Washington conntv had December .!, 9Zl, 974.01 delinquent taxes and the state J4.978, 650.20. The honest mart is lys ine his Drooerty and the tax eaters are getting fat by such a tax system. Outside capital win not invest ners. Those Who Come and Go. Tale's of Folks at the Hotels. appropriated by the last legislature. The reverse of the 6 per cent limi tation would in five years reduce bi ennial appropriations about' ?2,000,- 000. This $7,000,000 which the 1921 legislature had at its disposal, plus I the miscellaneous revenues, consti tute the fund from which are paid the general costs of . state govern ment, such as official and depart- articles of their creed in the back ground when talking and writing to unbelievers, but practice them when opportunity offers. When that precious trio, Enver, tTalaat and Djemal Pashas, dragged an older one w'lich comes within the 6 per cent limitation, and a later one which does not. The latter is I the 1920 act and produces now about 11,247,000 a year. It is worth while to digress here and point out that if this 1920 millage tax had not been ' passed the legislature would have had to give the university, agricul tural college and normal school a large slice" of the $7,000,000 tax money that it was authorized to spend. It had done so in preceding I acting for the best interest of the years, but in 1921 it was relieved of that responsibility and instead of saving anything as a result of the millage tax it spent all the money available. Abolishment of this tax now to starve no democracy or self-determination for them. When the collapse and surrender of Turkey drove the three pashas into exile, the delay of the allies in making peace and their attempt by the severe terms of the still unratified treaty of Sevres to reduce Turkey to vassalage gave opportunity to Mustapha Kemal Pasha to give a new twist to the Turkish demand for self-deter- mand for the preservation of the sultan's power as caliph or high priest of Islam. To the Moslem mind Turkey is a theocracy, over which the sultan whole nation, both in having de- mination by combining it with a de terred passage or tne Donus Dili and in declaring for a sales "tax as the best means of payment? The contracts for war' material were lawful obligations already in- would throw the needs of these lnsti- I curred, and the settlement on them I ruies both as king and pope of all tutions back into the legislature for couia not have been postponed. with- isiam an(j the , proposed interna. consideration, arid require it to pro- out Injury not only to "big business" tional' control of the straits, includ vide for them out of the sum which but to working men and the people it is authorized to spend by the 6 in general, for delay would have per cent limitation. If the legislature I withheld money that was used in decided to continue the higher edu- I keeping industry moving. It was not proposed to "give" any money to the cational institutions on the present scale it would have In a biennium about $2,500,000 less to spend for general state purposes and at the end of five years, if the proposed 6 about haif a billion dollars and they ing Constantinople, and te pro-. posed restrictions on the sovereignty of Turkey were held to destroy his independence in that capacity. All Islam was summond tt crotest. and railroads. According to the terms atritation for the independence of the on wnicn tne government iook con trol of the railroads, it owed them per cent yearly reduction were ap plied it would have about $5,000,000 in tax revenues to spend for the bi ennial requirements of state gov ernment and higher educational in stitutions, whereas in 1921-1922 the tate expended for those two pur poses about $9,000,000 in tax money. caliphate spread through the whole Mohammedan world, becoming most violent in Egypt and India, where it harmonized with the cry for inde pendence. The great Moslem uni owed it about the same amount for improvements made under govern ment control. The railroads were versity of El Azhar at Cairo became not able to pay when government a center from which propagandists control ended ana they needed much went out to stir all Islam into a money for repairs and improve- seething ferment. Delegations of raents in order tnat they might carry Mohammedans went from India to the traffic of the conntry. There- I London to protest against the Sevres This would be an economy that the I fore it was proposed that the gov- treaty and to remind the British people would require a good deal of ernment pay the roads what it owed government that Indian troops, rortitude to sustain. , I them, that the railroads give ten- larsrelv Mohammedans, had formed To put the same thing in another ( year notes bearing interest for what! the backbone of the armies which they owed, and that the government had conquered Mesopotamia - and sell these notes to the public. Under Syria for the allies. that plan the government would I Great Britain had seen and tried have lost nothing, and the railroads I to guard against the danger ; that would have secured money to make improvements and to employ. many men when millions were unem ployed. The impression prevails that, be cause the excess profit tax was so form, the total sum raised by state taxes this year (it should be remem bered that the previous discussion was of appropriations for a bi-en-nium) is about $9,000,000. Of this sum two-thirds, or $6,000,000, was authorized by vote of the people. This sum of $6,000,000 a year is in most of its component items, a per manent tax. The legislature cannot reduce it except by overriding the expressed will of the people. The chance for legislative economy rests in the $3,000,000. The difficulty of holding public officials to account for high taxes or of attempting to reduce them by re verse application of the 6 per cent limitation, finds a further illustra tion in county affairs. The county court levies a county school tax which is fixed by law on the basis of school population. The county of fices - are created by law and the alaries of officials and deputies fixed by statute; the number of cir cuit judges is fixed by law and the county is .required .to co-operate in the payment of their salaries which are fixed by law. . The people have levied a market road tax which .is included in the state levy. But to get back the money that each county thereby contributes it must levy an, Moslem devotion to the caliph might be used to arouse all Islam against it. Seizing on the fact that Moham medanism was born in Arabia, ' that the Arabs were the first to carry the banner of Mahomet in triumph called, it was actually paid out of through western Asia and north excess profits, and . our ex-soldier Africa, and that Hussein, grand seems to have that impression. - The sherif of Mecca, is a member of the Oregonian has heretofore explained prophet's sacred family, they in- that, while this tax was a large spired Hussein to proclaim himself source of revenue, we had what is king of Hejaz and keeper of the called a seller's market in which the sacred cities and to -lead a revolt for seller of goods could dictate the Arab independence of Turkey, at the price. Consequently each person who same time raising questions as to the handled goods' could, and no doubt validity of the sultan's claim to the did, add his estimate of the ,tax caliphate. They won valuable aid plus a profit on it to .the price, so from Arabs in the conquest of Syria, that the tax grew like a snowball to but they prepared much trouble for be pai.d by the consumer, not by themselves., Hussein's office of "big business." The men who named grand sherif of Mecca only constl- it an excess profit tax grossly de- tutes.him keeper of the holy places, ceived the people by leading them to and the most enduring memory of believe it to be paid by the rich few. him that is preserved by those Mos- Since prices have fallen and since lems that have made the pilgrimage supply of goods has come to exceed is the amount of backsheesh that he demand, excess profits ha-e shrunk exacted, so they do not love him. so that they yield only a fraction of nor do they accept the opinion of the tax revenue that they yielded unbelievers on a peculiarly Moham- formerly, for we iave a buyers maj- meuaa .question like that of the cali- BACK'TO THE WATERWAYS. Experience with the federal barge line on the lower Mississippi river goes to show that, given modern craft and regular service, traffic does, come back to the waterways in spite of all the dirges that railroad men have sung over their demise. In 1921 the tonnage carried showed an increase of 423 per cent over 1919 and 275 per cent over 1920, while the increase in net freight revenue was 479 per cent over 1919 and 256 per cent over 1920. Net freight revenue was $1,779,056 in 1921 yielding a net profit, excluding de preciatic-n, of $155,107.' Though de preciation to the amount of $378,607 had accrued to the end of 1921, the net loss including that Item was $223,500 compared with $747,919 at the end of 1920. If the volume of traffic should continue to grow at the present pace, the net revenue should soon suffice to cover depre ciation and make the business prof, itable. ' - 1 Operation of this barge line can. not fail tf modify the view of water transpprtation that is taken by the people of the middle west. Much of the traffic that it carries is trans ferred to ships at New Orleans to be moved to the Pacific or Atlantic coast or to foreign ports.' Barges have rarely been operated , above Memphis, but they will doubtless run farther up the Mississippi and may run through the canal to Chicago. Close- connection with ocean ship lines will bring home to the people of jthe Mississippi valley that they are on the water as truly as are the inhabitants of the seaboard. When the lakes-St, Lawrence waterway is constructed, they will have an out let by a waterway either t the fresh water sea on the north or to the salt-water sea on the south. , The people of the interior will then cease to regard ships as a matter. Thich concerns the people of the seaboard alone. - Right ot Husband In Property. VANCOUVER, Wash., March 18. (To the Editor.) Over 30 years ago a man hougnt a piece 01 iana. auci wards he married, then sold his prop erty to meet the obligations of his wife's parents and pay running ex penses, besides working the property of th wife's parents with the under standing that he would share equally the property. Later the parent deeded a small part of the property o husband an wrfe, still promising o make husband share equally. Later- he died. Property went to wife, leav- nsr husband out of deed. Later hus band and wife sold both pieces of property in one deed, later buying a number of pieces of property ana selling some ofthem, holding a mortgage on others. Has husband an equal right in all of the property or has he no rights at all? Does the personal property belong to the wife or the husband, or both! Is the crop personal property? M. A. READER.' Under Washington law, property acquired by the wife! through inher itance is her separate property to do with as she pleases. Advice as to whether any rights in the estate have accumulated In your behalf through service rendered or by subsequent transfers could bef given only by a lawyer after minute examination of facts and record. The position of a hotel clerk is one that requires considerable resource fulness. J. R. Devlin, clerk at the Multnomah, admits this. A few days ago he received the following letter: "Enclosed plea-se find a $10 bill. A lady will call at the hotel with a small pup. Look the dog over and if he looks satisfactory to you buy him and hold him- until I come." Devlin awaited the arival of the rady and the pup, looked the latter over, decided he would do, and acepted the animal. When the letter writer arrived he was entirely satisfied with the pup. Speaking of dogs, many of the lead ing hottls of the extreme east have started the policy of establishing kennels on the roofs of the buildings. When a guest arrives with a dog the animal is registered and placed in a kennel where care is given during the visit. One of the Chicago Grand Opera company stars who is sched uled, to arrive in Portland early this wee k will be accompanied by five dogs. It will be up to the Multnomah to care for the animals. Conditions throughout the United States are gradually improving, in the opinion of Charles A. Armstrong, of Philadelphia who is a guest at the Portland. For 20 years Mr. Arm strong has been coming to Portland annually. He travels over the entire country and has an opportunity to observe financial conditions.,"! think the Pacific coast is in better shape than any other section," he said yes teday. "However, the east is grad ually getting back to normalcy and business men are- feeling better. always feel at home when I am in Portland. There is a lot of rain but to my way of thinking, that Is better tnan the extreme cold of the east. Under ordinary circumstances in my section or the east It never gets more than 12 degrees below zero. During this winter the temperature has fal len as low as 40 below, and that, to my way of thinking, is too cold." Burroughs Nature Club. Copyrtarht. Houhton-Mlfflla Co. More Truth Than Poetry. By Jmmrm J. Moats A Portland home is proiid posses sor of a 25-pound cat, ready to meet all contenders for the heavy-weight feline championship.' In these days of all kinds of sports, it is a wonder nobody thought of promoting such a contest. . " Now and then a wife consents to be divorced, that the husband can "square" an affinity And an ' off spring or two with the world. Such things happen everywhere, but sel dom get. publicity. . The deplorable accident to- Mrs. Alderson was result of walking around the rear of a street car from which she had alighted, in the rain, too. The effort is perilous even In daylight. ' Judge Johns writes from the Phil ippines that he is an ardent admirer of General Wood. Admiration is general except, perhaps, by Tumulty and, incidentally, a man named Wilson. Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to tell the drinker of moonshine that some of it is distilled from garbage, as revealed in a, news dispatch from Pennsylvania. - - - It is said that rolled hosiery will not appear this season. As the mos quito said to the flea, Alas! - Slightly odd that in this,., of all places, ah. umbrella concern goes into the, hands of a receiver. "Music in the air" is becoming a reality. " , i . Time for the budding candidate to blossom.' , . Foreclosure of Mortgage. TILLAMOOK, Or., March 18. (To the Editor. 1. A owns a piece of land in Oregon subject to two mort gages held by B and. C. In case of foreclosure proceedings brought by either B or C is A notified of same and, it so, how? 2. If property is sold at foreclos ure sale has A -still one year in which to redeem? 3. Must A give possession of prop erty at time of such sale? 4. What are probable costs to one foreclosure? 5. Can A bid on place at sale? 6. A's deed to property, having never been recorded but in his pos session, and. the mortgages given by A being properly recorded, would these facts delay or hinder proceed ings? SWAMP ANGEL. 1. A would be served with a sum mons in the suit to foreclosure. 2. Tes. . 3. Tea. ' 4. Court fees amounting to $12; fees for service of summons by sher iff or by publication are additional and vary in amount; generally an attorney's fee Is recovered as part of the Judgment on foreclosure. - 5. Yes. . .6. No. . Pre-School Education of Children. ROOSEVELT, Wash.. March 18. (To the Editor.) A says that it is better for -a child to be- acquainted with all the letters of the alphabet before she enters a public school. ' B says that they do not teach the A B C's nowadays, but only the sound. t 1 ' - , P. CENTER. D. A.- Grout, city superintendent of schools, says that it is better for a child not to learn the alphabet at home. . With the present, system of teaching the phonic system for read ing, children learn iirst Dy souna and do not learn the names of the letters of the alphabet. The sounds are combined to form words. . Division of Family Fnnds. WASCO, Or..' March 18. (To the Editor.) Kindly say if there is a law in Oregon wnereDy a man in com- fortaoie circumstances can De maae to pay his wife a monthly or quar terly allowance? Or 'is he at liberty to carry the pocketbook and have her beg a little of him if she wishes to stamp a letter, drop a dime in the Sunday school collection or buy a paper? LOINU-l.lM.rJ K.,AJJt,rC . The' law of Oregon does not at tempt to regulate the financial sys tem within the family except to re quire a man to support his wife and children unless he can show suffi cient cause for not bo doing. Recording; of Deed. WOLF CREEK, Or , March 18. (To the Editor.) If I hold' a deed to some property and do not have it recorded, is it valid, and would it hold in court? SUBSCRIBER. Recording of a deed is for the pur pose of giving notice to the public. An unrecorded deed . is valid and binding as between the grantor and grantee, but if the grantor . should thereafter , again deed . the .property to one who had no knowledge of -the first deed, the second grantee could successfully' claim title as an inno cent purchaser. "Something must be wrong with the railroad," declared Sol Dickerson cattleman of Weiser, Idaho, yester day morning, as he registered at the Imperial. - "I have been coming here with stock for the past 12 years, Every time I have made a trip I have started rrom Weiser at approximately the. same hour. It has usually taken me nntll noon Sunday to arrive here. I arrived ;12 hours ahead of my usual time on this trip. Something sure is wrong with the railroad." Mr. Dick erson reports that the cattlemen of his section of the country are feelfng much more confidence in the future now that the market has been strengthened. Sheepmen, too, are feeling better, due to the advance in prices of both sheep and wool during tne past few months. , These ad vances, have given the growers an op portunity to sell some of their stock and cqnvert the money derived into the paying off of debts made at the various banks that advanced credit. Recent advances in the price of wheat have encouraged the farmers of Idaho to plant more acreage, ac cording to H. G. Rogers of Boise, who is at the Multnomah. Mr. Rog ers is manager for the Northern Grain & Warehouse company in the Boise district and as such has had an opportunity to observe agricultural conditions. Many of the farmers of Idaho were discouraged with the wheat prices that prevailed six months ego, and were contemplating the planting of very small crops. The advance in the market has changed" their minds and they feel encouraged by the prospects for a large crop this fall, i ..... . Bound to get afc-the bottom of the cause -for high taxes. Senator W. H. Strayer, of Baker, arrived in Portland yesterday for the purpose of attend ing the tax reduction meeting to be held here today. He will make a fight to bring about a reduction in state taxes. Senator Strayer has been a member of the upper house of the state legislature for a number of years. He is a democrat but manages to be elected in spite of the fact. He is at the Imperial. "They can talk all they want to about the reduction of taxes," de clared Harry Hamilton, Imperial hotel clerk, yesterday, "but the only method I know of to bring this about is simply to quit paying them. If a man who has keen here in a $2 room comes in and finds that the price has been raised to $3, there is only one way for him to beat the game and that is, not pay it. It's the same with taxes." A.. I, Mason, apple grower of Hood River, arrived here yesterday to at tend the meeting of the tax reduction league.' He was afraid to make the trip by automobile so came by train. "There are too many rolling rocks on the Columbia River highway now," he said yesterday.- "I thought I would leave the automobile in the garage until the highway is safe." Mr. Mason is at the Imperial. George E. Hulbert of Boise, Idaho, who has a record of 19 years as fi nancial secretary of .Oda lodge No. 3, Independent Order of Oddfellows, is at the Multnomah. The lodge of which Mr. Hulbert is financial secre tary is the oldest in the state and on its membership rolls are the names of many prominent men of the state governors, bankers and leaders . n Business affairs. - After having spent 46 years in the railroad game as master mechanic for the Chicago -& Northwestern, E. T. Erickson of Chicago, decided to fol low the advice of his company, "See America First," so took a vacation and headed west. He is at the Mult nomah hotel. Accompanied by Mrs. Esickson he will spend two months on the Pacific coast and visit the places he has heard so much about but has never seen. What do you want to know about nature subjects? Send any questions of general interest to the Nature Notes department of this paper. Look ror answers in this column. - Can Yon Answer These Questions t 1. Do we have native silkworms vln America? 2. If, as you state, small frogs, fishes and lizards cannot be dropped from clouds, how do you account for an occurence 'where after a heavy summer rain the ground was found covered with angleworms, and a big milk pail on a platform showed a bitnch of them coiled when the milk was poured, out at the creamery? 3. How do birds that gulp down a whole fish at a time, like kingfishers and seagulls, manage the bones and scales? Answers In Tomorrow's Mature Notes. Answers to previous questions: 1. We have several bob-tall cats In the. neighborhood. Are they wholly cat, or is there a mixture of rabbit, as some believe? Wholly cat. You can see a picture of the Manx cat, with rttdlrnentary tail, in an unabridged dictionary. If this strain has been introduced in the neighborhood, it will appear in de scending generations, where common cats have crossed with Manx blood. Cats and rabbits do not cross, being members or entirely different orders, feline and rodent. - 2. What soil is best for a Christ mas cactus, and docs it require much water? We do not recognize the plant by this name. If really a cactus, it should have dry, sandy soil, re sembling the regions where cacti are 'most common. A cactus should be watered very little while dormant, but when in flower it will take up a good deal of water. If a Christmas rose is the plant meant, it should have good soil and be grown in the shade, as under a tree. The latter is a hardy perennial, properly called helleborus niger, and will bloom in a fairly coo'l climate in winter. - 3. ' Are swimming birds ever both ered with lice? Yes, infested with mallophaga, just as other birds often are. The reason the vermin are not drowned - out is that the elastic under feathers in the water bird's coat is not penetrated by water, and it holds in enough air to protect the lice. . WHY HARDING DELAYED BONUS Ex-Soldier Thinks Him Too Consid erate of Big Business. PORTLAND, March 18. (To the Editor.) The Oregonian editorial on "Harding's leadership" was interest ing to ml. I also read the editorial in the Labor Press, also very Inter esting. The scat of all the trouble seems to be the so-called bonus. bllL What I am inquiring about, and what I would like to 8e you arwwer, is, "Why did President Harding in his pre-election speeches promise a bonus, then as soon as he is elected go to congress and plead for big appropri ations for the railroads and war-time contractors to the tune of about $4, 500,000,000, then repeal the excess profits tax, also the war tax, now turn around and say the country cannot afford at this time the money that would be necessary to meet the bonus? It seems to me that President Harding has done practically all that big business demanded of him. And congress is now willing to help keep the promise he made in regard to the bonus. But, no, he wants the sol diers to wait. What does he care whether a half-million or 90 soldiers are out of a job and hunjrry? He can go to Florida fnd play golf. What he wants is a sales tax: what we really should hsrve is an excess profit tax. Put the tax where it be longs, one the ones who made those enormous profits from the war, not on those who can ill afford it. I wonder what would have been the situation had we lost the war and Kaiser Bill issuing his orders to the American people to dig up. How would that look to you? CHARLES ROBERTS. Ex-Soldier. The misunderstandings of this cor respondent are discussed in an arti cle on this page. GOOD MEASl-RE. We have, met many vry nice people, A we'rsi stolidly journeyed Ion. Who were mostly Inclined to be hon est and kind. And rarely did anything wrong. But all under certain conditions Would make, now and thtn, 10ml small slip Grow angry and swear, or peroxide their hair. Or carry a flask on the. hip. The only impeccable pernona That through all our lifetime we're seen Didn't quite have good emt they were ladies and gents In the good plays you see on thu screen. We also have met many, scoundrel Whose hearts were the color ot coal: Who would stab or garrots for a two dollar note And would shoot their best friend for his roll. But all of these dread desperadoes Were gentle and kindly at times: They would laugh, and crack Joke when at home with their folk (If they were not too buy wiin crimes). The only unlimited rascals. Whose hatred no love could aasuase. We ever have found are the sort that abound On what's known as the up-and-down stage. We are rather addicted to movlfi, Wo see them whenever we can. We sit there and gaze In the kind ef a daze That only can come to th fan. The characters always do just at they should And that is what makes our heart glad; For when they are good they're tm- possfbly good. And when bad th-ey'ro Impossibly bad! OS Beantirnlly Qualified. They ought to make Mr. Bora's president of the senate antl-treatylng club. fine rote sor. President Harding may be right In prophesying that his Income tax blank will be returned, but the check be Bent with it will not. Hoodoed. There must be something the mat ter with Genoa. Columbus got out of the place as soon as he could. 'Opyrlsht or ths hll RrBflieat. Ino In Other Day. Twraty-flve Yearn Ago. (From The Oregonian of Maroh 20, 17 Memphis. Two negroes lost their lives today as the reault of the great flood which engulfs hundreds of acres in the Arkansas bottoms. Ths levees are breaking and the situation is dangerous. Mrs. William J. i'atton was oper ated on in St. Vincent's hospital yes terday when her false teeth, which she swallowed last week, were re movgd from her stomachf Latest reports from Nehalem re garding the loss of the Occident Indi cate there is a possibility for saving something from the wreck. Commander Booth-Tucker of ths Salvation Army will visit i'ortland a week from today. V Snow onvLarch -Mountain. , WASHOUGAL, Wash., March 18. (To the Editor.) Please tell me the approximate depth of snow on Larch mountain. L.-BALDWIN. The approximate depth of sno-w on Larch mountain is four to 34 feet, according tq latest reports,' J. C. Cooper of McMinnville, and the president of the tax reduction league which meets here today, arrived In Portland yesterday and registered at the Imperial. Mr. Cooper is a walnut grower of Yamhill county. He is an ardent worker to bring about are duction t state taxes. Trap shooting fs the favorite sport of M. A. Rickard, garage owner and sportsman of Corvallis. Mr. Rickard came to Portland yesterday to par- ticioate in a shoot held at the Port land Gun club grounds near Gresham. He registered at the Oregon hotel. Bend is the best town in the state. This is the frank admission of Charles Carroll- of Bend, who registered at the Portland yesterday. Mr. Carroll is a - real estate man and that un doubtedly accounts for his ideas. V ' , T. 'H. Moore, manager of the On tario hotel at Ontario, Oregon, is in town for a few days. His name ap peared - yesterday on the Imperial register. ' H. R. Edmunds, hardware dealer of Tillamook, is at the Imperial. Despite the rain and the storms he drove from Tillamook to Portland by auto mobile. A. C. Dixon of the Booth-Kelly Lumber company of Eugene, is a gueBt at the Portland hotel. '" Provide; t'n on Homestead. PORTLAND. March 18. (To the Editor.) (1) If a single woman has a homestead and marries before acquir- ng title, can she acquire title? (2) Can you tell me whether any articles were published in The Ore gonian , on the subject of chrome mining during the years 1917 and 1918, and if so, when? READER. (1) A single woman with a home stead, marrying before she had ac quired title, would proceed as though unmarried, . merely - showing her hanged status in the final process of proving up. . . ..V ' , (2) Articles on chrome mining ap peared in The Oregonian .on the fol lowing dates: 1917 February 12 and August S. 1918 May 7-9, June 16, August 7, September 22-26, October 27, Novem ber 3-11-22. ; Fifty Years Ago. (From .The Oresonlan of March an, ST New York. The Internationalists today celebrated the uprising of the commune. Victoria Woodhult de livered an address. The business of beautifying the streets by planting shade trees has been eoing on actively for the past few days. The first signs of spring have brought out a number of croquet sen around town. Tho lecture on temperance by C. If. Walker, tho first-born Oregon boy, Iihb been postponed until Friday. Ships In Portland Harbor. MA RSHFIELD, Or ...March ,8. (To the Editor.) 1. What is the deepest draft ship that fcan-'cnter the Portland harbor. 2. How much cargo can she enter or depart with? 3. How far can she come up the harbor? BLAZ1ER DAV1ES. H.lTi:s JSOT PRK-WAR HCHt llll l; .er Braes: Fares .Not Law Hnonch to Compete With Alio. PORTLAND, March 18. (To th Editor.) Tho statement In The Ore gonian that pre-war brarh rates Avoitid return this scaxon Heems to me to be somewhat misleading In virw of the fact that the return rate t Newport will be $S.;5 and to the Til lamook beaches 5. Real pre-war rates to my way of thinking would be the old M Z'a rale to Newport and 14 to the other beaches. The crowds who took advantage of the $3 round trip to Seaside at end of last summer will look for a lower rate than 85, if buslneKs In to boom In these days of automobile and river competition, and they are likely M get it, too. These lines that fail to make a popular rate will have ths privilege of hauling empty cars, as was the case last summer. It will be intercMIng to note tho rate that will be quoted to Seaside and Long Beach. According to offi cial report we are promised rates that will make traffic lively down that way. A BEACHEIi. 1. Among the deepest draft vessels to eail from Portland was the steamer War Knight, dispatched in 1917 drawing 31.2 feet of water. ' - 2. The amount of cargo that can be handled of course depends on the size of the vessel and somo have been floated close to 15,000 tons. 3. Vessels of the type' used in the foreign and lntercoastal trade ascend the harbor to the southern limit of, the port, wnicn is near tne root or Ross island. There is no occasion for ships of the deepest draft, to proceed beyond. ' W. J. Kerr, president of Oregon Agricultural college, was at the Port land yesterday, Training School for Nurses. BAKER, Or.. March 18. (To the Editor.)--Kindly tell me name and address of a nurses' training school in Portland. GRACE JALMER. Nurses' training schools are con ducted by all large hospitalssuch as St. Vincent's, Good ' Samaritan and Emanuel, also by some of the smaller private hospitals. , Population of States. ' ASTORIA, Or., March 18. (To the Editor.X What is the population of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Cal ifornia? OLD SUBSCRIBER. Following are the 1920 census fig ures: . Oregon, 783,389; Washington, 1,356,621; Idaho," 431,866; California, I 3.426.S6L Inspection of Tax Rolls. CASCAPE LOCKS, Or.. March 1. (To the Editor.) U). Can a person ascertain tho asscsxed valuation of property in his vicinity In order to get an idea as to whether or lint he Is being over-ass-CRsed in valuation, so as to bane a claim with the borrl of equalization? If so to whom ehoulil one apply? (2). Is it lawful In Oregon t.i asgcKS a person for a family cow aa livestock, there being no other -tU'-on the place? SUBtjCRlBkJU. (1) . Tho tax books of the county are public records and may be In spected at all proper times. Trior to the meeting of tho board of equal ization the assessment books are ar ranged in convenient form for In spection by property owners at th assessor's office for several week. (2) . The family cow is taxable. ' Training as Librarian. B14KD. Or.. March 18. (To the Editor.) I wish to learn to be a librarian by studying at home If this Is practicable? Please advlso me how to proceed. MIU3. D. It Is not possible to study to be a librarian at home. For full Informa tion about the school for librarians, write to Miss Anne Mulheron, city librarian, at Central library, I'ortland. roKltiouN In Forestry erlrr GOLD HN DAL E, Wash., March II (To the Editor.) A person decires to enter the forestry service and secure if possible a permanent location. To whom and how does he make appli cation? What qualifications mut h have, presuming him 10 bo willing tu start in any capacity? IMJIIIIKIi. Write to District "Forester fi-'il. new PuKluirice building, 1'urtlaiiU. Or. "V,