13
THE MORJJTJfG OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1923
ESTABLISHES BY HENRY L. PITTOCK
Published by The Oregonian Pub. Co.,
136 Sixth Street, Portiiiand, Ore-g-on.
C. A. MOitDEN. E. B. PIPER.
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A POLITICAL SURRENDER- TO CITIES.
If the constitutional amendment
proposed by Senator Norris should
simply abolish the electoral college
arid should still permit each state
to vote as a unit and to cast a
number of votes for president and
vice-president equal to the number
of its senators and representatives,
there would probably be little op
position. But Senator Norris sup
ports his plan with arguments that
indicate a desire for radical change.
He speaks of "direct vote of the
people," of "the right to vote di
rectly for the chief magistrate." He
argues that by the present system
the people are prevented from vot
ing for men of different parties for
president and vice-president, as
candidates for elector are pledged
to candidates of the same party for
both offices. He says that "it is
practically an impossibility for any
person to become an independent
candidate for the office of presi
dent. While he does not say that
the majority of the aggregate pop
ular vote of all the states should
decide an election, he leaves that
to be inferred, for he says nothing
of counting the votes of each state
separately for the candidate who
receives a majority in that state.
Together with an interview with
Senator Norris setting forth his
case the New York Times publishes
an interview with Senator Walsh of
Montana taking the contrary view.
He recalls that the present distri
bution of electoral votes accords
with the system of representation
in congress, which was a compro
mise between the small states,
which stood for representation by
states as units, and the large states,
which stood for representation in
proportion to population. He evi
dently understands Mr. Norris' in
tention to be that the election shall
be decided by vote of the people in
the country at large, ignoring state
lines, and he offers forcible objec
tion to that innovation by saying:
Success of the amendment proposed
would doubtless be followed by an in
sistent demand for a further innovation
under which each state should be rep
resented according to its population.
Dismissing that consideration, however,
It may wejl be doubted whether the in
terests of the whole country would be
subserved by increasing relatively the
voice and influence of the great . con
Eneted industrial centers and diminish
ing proportionally the part played by
the rural and other sections relatively
sparsely populated. It is popularly be
I'.eved in those regions that the great
cities exercise in some manner an un
. due and not salutary influence in gov
ernment, and a modification of our sys
tem such as is proposed could not fail
- to intensify the Jealousies that already.
unfortunately, have been aroused.
Direct election by national pop
ular vote would be revolutionary in
its effect. It would be so great
an advance In changing this nation
from a federal republic of sovereign
states info. 8, centralized republic in
which all power emanated from the
central government that it would
fundamentally transform the gov
ernment. As Mr. Walsh points out,
it would aggrandize the power of
the populotus states having large
cities and would reduce to near-
impotence the states of small,
chiefly rural population. This
change would come when the strong
drift of the young generation from
the farm to the city is recognized
as a grave) economic and social
danger.
If Oregon should give a major
ity of only 100 for a candidate, its
voice would have practically no
effect on the national result as op
posed to an easily possible majority
of a million in a big state. The pre
ponderant voice in deciding the pol
icy of the nation would be given to
those states which have the largest
unassimilated foreign-born popu
lation. The combined vote of New
York, Pennsylvania and Illinois
would swamp the vote of a score
of such states as Oregon. Though
the south might oppose the change
through traditional devotion to
state rights and through fear that
a direct vote might lead to federal
control of elections, it would read
ily adapt itself to the new system
Whereas it suppresses the negro
vote and has reduced the repub
lican party to a handful in a num
ber of states, it might then drive
the negroes to the polls, count their
votes for the democratic ticket and
roll up big majorities which would
offset the smaller republican maj
orities of many northern states.
This game would be played by the
south either against or in combina
tion with the big eastern states, and
the more sparsely peopled western
states would be reduced to a con
dition of intolerable subordination
It is doubtless designed that en
actment of a national presidential
direct primary law shall accompany
adoption or the proposed const!
tutional amendment. The two to
gether would produce a multl
plicity of candidates for nomina
tion by parties and of candidates
for election. They would, as ex
; perience has proved, lead to forma.
tion of great organizations and
heavy expenditure by primary can
didates, to close contests, to plural
ity nominations and to disruption
of parties, to formation of groups
and blocks and to election of minor
ity candidates as president. This
change is advocated on the ground
that it would give the people
power to express their opinions by
their votes which they do not now
possess. .On the fiontrary, ft would
by scattering votes among candi
dates tend to so many divisions that
it might easily cause the election of
a candidate who was the choice of
a minority and thus defeat the will
of the majority. Alternate dom
inance of two great parties does not
pVevent minorities from influencing
national policy. Minority parties
constantly appear, bolts from the
great parties occur or are threat
ened, and by these means the great
parties are led constantly to modify
their policy to fit the needs of the
day.
The conviction is growing that a
halt should be called to the gradual
transfer . of governmental power
from the states to the nation. As
the federal government undertakes
new functions, it becomes progres
sively more inefficient and waste
ful. This evil tendency would be
encouraged by popular election of
the president, if the vote at large
should decide. The power of the
president to shape legislation would
be increased, for he could so act as
to gratify the many millions of a
few states without regard to the
will or welfare of the other states.
The practice is growing of passing
laws by which congress extends
federal authority into fields hith
erto held by the states and ob
tains the consent of the states by
voting federal funds to be spent
in co-operation v with each state.
The sum provided is usually a small
fraction of the federal revenue
drawn from the 'state, but it is used
to extend a rigidly uniform system
to states which vary greatly in
every particular to which govern
ment should be adapted.
One feature of the much-talked-
of reconstruction of the govern
ment should be restoration to the
states of many functions that have
been centralized at Washington.
'reservation of the identity of the
states by letting the vote of each
be counted separately for president
is essential to that purpose. A pop
ular vote at large instead of by
states, would accelerate the gather
ing of all power into one huge
ureaucracy, under the shadow of
which the governments of the states
would become enervated. This is
too big a country, of too diverse
people, climates and products to be
ruled by one central government.
Each state should continue to be a
distinct entity with a government
that is sovereign within its borders
and with a voice as a unit of the
nation in the election of national
officers.
LET US EVEN SUPPOSE.
"Even suppose," proclaims . Mr.
Fatty Arbuckle, in his Christmas
appeal for justice to the clergy and
the rest of the American people,
taking for his text "As ye judge, so
shall ye be judged" "even suppose
that I had not been able con
clusively to establish my innocence,
and I were conscientiously endeavr
oring, through an orderly life, to
atone for my mistakes, would I
not be entitled to an appeal for for
giveness according to the scrip
ture?"
iou would, Mr. Arbuckle, you
would after certain necessary pre
liminaries had been performed, in
accordance with accepted Chris-
tian doctrine and practice. . If you
will pursue just a little farther your
scriptural inquiries, and when pious
meditation is more familiar to you.
you will discover that confession
and repentance are an absolute pre
requisite to forgiveness. Mr. Hays
indeed told the world that you had
repented and were a good boy now.
but not a word has been said by
him, or by anybody for you, about
confession. On the contrary there
are constant assertions of abso
lute innocence. Did not the jury
(at the third trial) acquit you of
manslaughter ?
What is in the public mind, and
wnat it cannot and will not forget,
is that the facts of the continuous
orgy in the Arbuckle rooms at a
San Francisco hotel, out of which
came the death of Virginia Rappe,
are undenied and undeniable.
The public which once enjoyed
Arbuckle in the belief that his
characterizations were the spon
taneous and refreshing ebullitions
of a wholesome nature, knows bet
ter, and it cannot now be con
vinced that its own mistake can be
rectified.
THE APPKAL OF MYSTFRY.
One does not wholly get the at
mosphere of "Our Mutual Friend'
from the waterfront incident now
engrossing the attention of the
Portland police, but there is enough
suggestion of murder, of dead
bodies on the bosom of a murky
stream, of shady living by some
who prowl the river, to recall Jesse
Hexam and those others of Dick
ens' characters of grewsome river
occupation.
There is naught in the ordinary
career of the "river rat" long to in
trude upon the attention, and still
less of an appeal to refined sensi
bilities in a woman who has tasted
vice to the point of physical degra
dation. A son of waterfront up
bringing who takes to honest means
of livelihood may win passing com
mendation, but even he would not
ordinarily retain our daily consid
eration. But give them a cloak of
criminal mystery, and such as these
become the leading actors on the
stage built and peopled through the
agency of the press, and engross
the attention of the best of us as
do similar characters similarly
clothed engross our attention in
fiction.
Here is a tale by a woman whose
morals are of ill repute, a tale of
murder wholly unsupported by ev
idence, circumstantial or direct, yet
a tale so persistently clung to in
minor and major details that even
in the absence of official report to
which may be tied the identity of
the one said to have been mur
dered, the police feel called upon
to make arrests and conduct in
vestigations.
It is not essential in proving
murder that the body be produced,
but it is essential to prove that a
crime has been committed. There
has not been produced the body of
a girl who may have been murdered
in the lonely houseboat of Cash
Weir; there was at the time of com
mission of the supposed crime no
report of disappearance of a girl
whpse description tallied with that
of the one the Leary woman says
she saw murdered. Stranger still,
if her story be true, no friend or
relative of one who dropped from
sight and may have so been slain,
has come forward in response to
the wide publicity given the tale
and sought to confirm or alia a
natural apprehension as to the fate
of a wayward child.
But yrefp there guc&. &S inquiry
it could do no more than spur of
ficials to minuter investigation.
Known disappearance of one who
fits the description given by Mrs.
Leary would still be far from cor
roborative evidence that such a one
had been murdered by Cash Weir.
But absence of inquiry by dis
traught friends or relatives, while
it may enliven the mystery, may
well turn investigations into a new
channel. Possibly an alienist ex
amination of the Leary woman
would closely determine the prob
abilities in the case. Sometimes
fantasy takes the form of convic-
tion in the subnormal brain!
Mystery palls at last. It is so
lution at the psychological moment
that makes the incident memorable.
And it is the correct solution in
such cases that counts credit marks
for the perception of the police de
partment, even though that solu
tion discloses that no crime has
been committed.
LESS TAXES? OR MORE?
Governor-elect Pierce declared
at Lebanon : last week that he
favored a state income tax "along
the lines of the federal act" a pro
nouncement which definitely sep
arated him from any further con
sideration of the recent drastic and
unscientific grange plan. It is also
well known that he does not ap
prove the flat tax proposal of the
state tax investigating committee.
and long ago he made It clear that
he was not for the unfathered
measure recently on the ballot,
which was voted down by the peo
ple of Oregon with satisfying evi
dences of enthusiasm.
There are other embryonic ideas
about an income tax, coming from
a great variety of financiers and
economists, professional and ama
teur. Even the single taxers per
sist in being heard again. ;
On November 17, 1922 (ten days
after the election), The Oregonian
took a hand in the popular pastime
of framing an income tax. A. para
graph from an editorial article of
that date is worth making of record
again, in view of the form the agi
tation is now taking. It is:
The simplest form of an Income tax
law would require that each person who
pays income tax to the federal govern
ment shall pay to the state also an
amount equivalent to a certain percent
age of his federal income tax. . . .
The foregoing Is offered for discussion.
Perhaps there Is a better simplified in
come tax. .
Now the governor-elect an
nounces that he will recommend to
the legislature that it create a
state income tax, payable by the in
dividual in one-half or one-third
the amounts of his federal tax. The
Oregonian had suggested one-fifth.
The total Oregon returns for 1920
(corporate and personal) were
about $15,000,000. A fifth of that
sum would be $3,000,000 quite a
tidy sum. .
The great merit, of the percent
age plan is that an elaborate and
expensive bureau will not be cre
ated by the state and the cost of
collection will be, or should be,
nominal. But it is only a single
step toward the solution of the tax
problem.
A state income tax designed
merely to provide more revenue
cannot be justified. It would not
lighten the present tax burden on
real estate a single dollar. For the
most part, it would require cor
porations and individuals who now
pay state taxes and federal taxes to
pay more, state taxes.
It will be well to know from Mr.
Pierce just what compensatory and
equalizing features we will add to
his proposal. Less taxes, not more,
is tne need or the time.
BRING ALASKA TO FULL LIFE.
Alaska shows the first signs of
returning life under the stimulus of
a complete railroad from the coast
to Fairbanks, but the report of
Governor Bone is another story of
a treasure land bought and for
gotten." Congress recalled Its ex-
istence in 1913 and in an access
of remorse for long neglect voted
that railroad, but has done little
else. It is still cramped by the
strait-waistcoat held in place by
a bureaucracy 6000 miles away.
Conservation stores up its wealth
for remote posterity by filling the
law with prohibition of the very
things that must be done by
pioneers in a new country before
it awakes to industry and civil!
zation.
Natural obstacles are imposing
enough, but they never daunted the
adventurous pioneer. Those which
he cannot surmount are placed in
his way by a government that
seems to be haunted by a morbid
fear lest he steal something, though
that something can only be pro
cured by such arduous labor and
privation that it must of necessity
be fully paid for. The millions of
people who have developed the
west were practically told by the
government that they might have
its wealth for the taking, but a
jealous spirit leads the law to dog
the Alaskan's steps lest he take
that for which he labors.'
For many decades gold, furs and
fish were considered the only prod.
ucts which Alaska would ever
yield, and copper has been added
recently, yet in the fifty-five years
of American rule the territory has
added a billion dollars to the na
tional wealth. It has proved that
its resources of the precious metals
have only been scratched, that it
has coal and oil of great quantity
and high quality, that its forests
can produce paper pulp, that its
soil yields crops equal to the best
in quantity and merit, that its broad
stretches of tundra will feed mil
lions of reindeer for meat, and that
its fisheries, if wisely controlled,
may be a perennial source of food.
Its scenery matches any on the
American hemisphere for grandeur,
and its summers are so warm that
tourists by "the thousands should
go thither. Every settler who re
mains beyond the tenderfoot stage
finds its climate in summer or
winter so delightfully exhilarating
that he comes to "the states" pin
ing to return, and he never rests
from scoffing at the legend that
Alaska is a forbidding land of ice,
snow and darkness.
Enlightened government on the
ground with power' to act Is the
one great need. That is plain from
the appearance In Mr. Bone's report
of such phrases as "divided author
ity and dilatory red tape, bureau
cracy, obstructive, stagnation, aca
demic treatment, conservation poli.
tics . . a blight, dwindling cen
sus returns and steady retrogres
sion, self-appointed overseers and
well-meaning doctrinaires, patera,
alistic spirit." Builders of the rail.
road, roads and trails have encour
aged the indomitable pioneer to
make another effort 3 spite gf his
artificial bonds. If those bonds f
were cut and if the government
were transferred from Washington ,
to Juneau, the pioneer would be
multiplied by thousands who would
go to work with the same energy
that the argonauts displayed in
California, or the immigrants that
made the Willamette valley a
garden spot. The pioneers would
not all work with the strong arm
and back; they would include capit
alists who are ever Teady to go
where opportunity waits, for Mr.
Bone says:
Capital must lead the way. Without
capital, abundant capital, Alaska cannot
be opened up. - ,
If congress would' turn from its
jangles among blocs and resolve
itself into an Alaska bloc, plant a
government - with broad powers
under direction of the interior de
partment in Alaska and provide
money for extension of the railroad
and for building of roads, that gov
ernment would soon carry out the
other recommendations of the gov
ernor. Then Alaska would become
the home of - many thousands of
just such Americans as have
peopled the west during the last
eighty years. .
THE TIMID HIRAM.
A sufficient answer to' the stric
tures of Senator Johnson on Sen
ator Borah's proposal for a con
ference on economics and arma
ment will be found in Mark Sulli
van's letter in The Oregonian of
Monday on the state of Europe and
the American interest therein. Two
sentences in that letter sum up the
whole. They are: ,
Europe cannot continue to drag along
another year without beginning a defin
ite ascent or a calamitous descent.
It is this lack of capacity to buy on
the part of Europe that is chiefly re
sponsible for the stagnation and low
prices which already are present on our
farms and are apprehended in our manu
facturing communities. .
Mr. Johnson opposes a confer
ence because:
If we brine the nations of the earth
here to Washington to such a conference
we will dump into America's lap the
economio ilia of Europe and the repara
tions muddle. , , . The very instant
we undertake to carry out an agreement
to enforce reparations, that Instant we
abandon the traditional policy of Amer
ica. . . . We cannot officially, with
the nations of Europe, enter into agree
ment for the solution of Europe's pres
ent economic ills without being involved
politically.
Mr. Johnson sees the facts and
the logical way to deal with them,
but he ignores the relation of those
facts to the welfare of the Ameri
can people and he rejects the con
ference as that logical way to mend
them because we should thereby
abandon the traditional policy of
America." He cannot see that.
whether we would or no, the facts
that exist in America and Europe
have profoundly modified what has
been our policy. He refuses to act
according to the facts of 1922 out
of unreasoning reverence for a pol
icy that was propounded in 1822
and earlier, yet he calls himself
progressive. As to foreign policy
he is a century behind the times
and he stands stock still, growing
more behind the times as each day
passes.
"Europe's economic ills" are al
ready in "America's . lap." They
have shrunk the farmer's foreign
market and the price of farm prod
ucts. They cause manufacturers to
apprehend the farmer's fate for
themselves. . The source of those
ills is the reparation middle. 'Be
hind that are political conflicts.
Our diplomatic intervention can
adjust reparation at an amount
that Germany can pay and can re
store German credit to the point
where Germany can raise a loan
that would start all Europe on that
"definite ascent" which Mr. Sulli
van offers as the alternative to a
"calamitous descent." Our media
tion can adjust political disputes
and . can thus put Europe In the
proper state of mind to disarm.
No treaties are proposed, nor any
military action, no grave involve
ment. We are already involved
against our will in a manner that
we do not like. It is proposed to
escape from that destructive -involvement
by a constructive in
volvement through use of American
diplomacy and, after that has suc
ceeded, of American capital to
build a solid foundation for a new
economic structure which shall re
place that which has been de
stroyed. Mr. Johnson draws back in af
fright at the mere suggestion of
this course, and by appeal to tra
dition he tries to infect with his
fear the nation that set tradition at
defiance when it declared its inde
pendence. All wished all a merry Christmas
yesterday but one the fellow who
ran down and killed the little
Rockwood girl and speeded away.
Nobody could wish him anything
but the worst that he be in con
stant dread of capture while awake
and that his sleep be disturbed by
phantasms of horror, to awaken in
sweat and fear. He would better
come in and admit his guilt and
take his medicine.
. Before a mother spanks her little
one for running away around the
block she might consider the baby
born without legs and arms in Chi
cago. Mother, the dear old humbug,
pretended to be merry all day, but
it more, was worry about the din
ner and everything.
The man who had to work yes
terday is not tired this morning;
but he who loafed hated to get up.
Nobody thinks of calories and
vitamines when passing his plate
for "more of the dark meat, please."
The traditional Christmas cup
that cheers has become the Yule,
tide bottle that paralyzes.
Even the merry burglar helped
make a merry Christmas for the
police bureau.
Old adage revised: When Turk
meets Greek, then comes the tug
of war.
The ex-kaiser is becoming thrifty.
He'll be commercializing his shadow
next.
And so the poor dog got the
bones, but they mostly were naked.
Begin Christmas saving today. A
little makes a big start.
All that turkey "and the etc."
set well this morning?
The best was in two stockings, as
usual, . i .
The Listening Post.
By DeWitt Harry.
GRACE TORREY, who wrote
"Cheap People," which appeared
in a December issue of a national
weekly, is an unassuming little
woman who lives at the Mallory
hotel. And her neat little tale has
a particular application to her home
city, though she insists that "Cheap
People" could have been written in
any Pacific coast city and have
been just as appropos.
Mrs. Torrey has been very suc
cessful in writing short stories and
has seen her work published in some
of the leading magazines. Evi
dently she is a keen character stu
dent. One virtue is apparent In her
story people they are not over
drawn. ' '
While a talk with the author of
"Cheap People" is interesting, her
story is more so. Herewith a few
excerpts from , the story. Maybe
you can fancy some application to
Portland:
Anyone who had come to .... since
19M was considered an immigrant by
the children of the pioneers who had
cut down the fir trees and planted the
wheat and developed the water that
made .... -worth "coming to. The im
migrants, who had not come across the
plains1 in wagons, as did the pioneers,
but la comfortable Pullman cars, looked
about them when they arrived and be
gan to criticize at once. Fresh and
rested, after an agreeable trip, they
criticized the station. Then they criti
cized the streets. They were too nar
row. Old . able to re
member when there were no paved
streets at all and when the first street
lamps went in, said little, but opened
up its old- farm on the east side of the
river, sold city lots from them to the
immigrants and went on living an agree
able life within its own circle.
A third generation of pioneer stock
had ramified and interbred, established
fiefs and sovereignties, banks., and
businesses.
He was passing the time of day with
old Bob Fitch, the blind man. who sells
cigars and magazines- and chewing gum
in the lobby of the courthouse.
These are merely random para
graphs. "Cheap People," as a whole,
rings true, and it is not such a bad
Indictment of a community as its
title might lead one to believe. Mrs.
Torrey does not claim to be an
analyst, but she is a fictionist of
the 1923 school to the fingertips,
one who demands that her people
talk, act and live right when she
writes them in her stories. Like
most writers who know what suc
cess is, she is perfectly willing to
talk with anyone who is interested,
She was a dressy girl and had
grand, good taste in picking clothes
and knew how to wear them. She
sat in a department store lunch
room and at a near-by table was
another girl, fully as talented at
grooming herself.
The first girl caught the other's
eye several times and finally tum
bled that there might be something
just a little wrong, so made a close
inspection for any bits of egg salad
or unbuttoned garment,, finally de
ciding that she was perfection. But
at that she gave a few more glances
at her face and studied herself out
very well before beginning to re
turn the other's glances with inter
est. The engagement between the
two girls developed into a battle of
stares, with no appreciable favor
to either side.
At last it came time to leave and
the girl who seemed to be attract
ing the attention sauntered haught
ily out, returning look after look
with compound interest. At the door
she met a close friend who broke
into a gale of laughter, exclaiming,
"For heaven's sake, Maizie, what is
it a new fad?"
And then the girl who had been
staring them all down discovered
that in one dainty, ear she wore a
coy little coral decoration, while the
other was supporting a long, yellow,
amber dangler.
They delight in telling some
yarns on Portland dentist
fishermen, ' particularly the one
about Di. Treve Jones and how
disgusted he was when he landed
a large and rotund catfish. Dr.
Treve seized the beast firmly
around the waist and began to work
the hook out. Quite automatically
and with his usual air of courteous
firmness he spoke to the fish:
"Open wide," he said.
But this one can't hold a candle
to the one Dr. Elof T. Hedlund tells
himself and admits is true. It was
about his pet dog when he first
started practicing in Louisiana.
The dog, a liver and white pointer,
was a dainty eater and evinced a
liking for fruit. He seeaied to care
more for blackberries than for any
other fruit and would go away
into the woods on foraging trips.
returning with his jowls dripping
with juice and stained a lasting
black. - -
'
In some out-of-town newspapers
advertisers , are delightfully frank.
Take this want-ad from the Baker
Democrat, as an illustration: '
REAL Cowboy: no city fcowboy need
apply. Barber shop laid valley.
And in the same issue of the same
paper we find a grocery store ad
vertising: - - .
Klean Kut Kash
it's Owned by the People."
Now that copper cents are
in
euch demand Herb Sichel gets a
great kick out of seeing iioir' the
streetcar men take them. Herb re
calls the -days, and Herbie isn't so
old, you know, when to offer cop
pers to a conductor was to offer
Insult. Then you'd hand five of
them to the platform man and he'd
promptly throw them away in the
mud and hand you a clroice lecture.
Now you hand one of Bill Strand
borg's boosters eight coppers, and
you get a vote of thanks.
.
Frank Bates writes from Hood
River that he misses Paul Bunyan
and then proceeds to offer yet an
other version of how the mighty
Paul 'built some of the coast moun
tains. Thanks, Batesy, but as far as It
goes here, The Listening Post . has
completed the Bunyan episode and
Paul must now find other friends
who'll epread his fame. He's about
ripe for the fiction writers, for we
have written the facts.
They were discussing friends and
she spoke of one young fellow as
possessing affectionate eyes, which
puzzled the other until a few days
latr when the young man in ques
tion, was subjected to a close ecru
tiny. His eyes were affectionate,
they had a slight Squint and turned
In so that they seemed always to
Those Who Come and Go.
Tales of 'troika at the Hotels.
Our neighboring state of Wash
ington has its tax problems, too.
Taxes there are higher than ever
and property owners are hollering.
To curb the voting of additional
taxes and to cut down existing
levies is the purpose of the State
Federation of Taxpayers' associa
tions, with headquarters In Seattle
This organization is constructive in'
purpose and does much more than
just to cry "Wolf, wolf!" It en
deavors to back its arguments to
law-makers and voters with exact
data proving in detail just where
taxes are excessive and may be
lopped off without crippling any
worthy institutions. At present it
is. engaged in a survey, of the state
school system, including the Univer
sity of Washington and Washington
State college. It fought the recent
30-10 school tax bill, which would
have added greatly to school tax
levies, and had much to do with
beating . it. Frank M. Dallam Jr.,
former secretary to Governor Mead,
is secretary of the State Association
of Taxpayers' associations. With
his father,- Frank M. Dallam Sr.,
editor of the Oroville Gazette and
founder of the old Spokane Review,
out of which grew the present
Spokesman-Review, he is an over
Christmas visitor in Portland.
Think of having a daily expense
of $300 or more and no prospect of
an income for several months. That
is the conditions of large sheep op
erators. The expense to the smaller
operators is in proportion. "A
sheep," explained a wool grower
yesterday, "eats about three pounds
a day. A band of sheep say 2000
head consumes three tons of hay
a day, and. hay, in the stack, is $10.
There are many men who have
20,000 sheep, which means that they
will feed $300 worth of hay daily.
In addition it casts $1.50 a ton to
cut the hay and about another dol
lar a ton to feed it. This repre
sents approximately $12.6-0 a ton, or
$375 a day. Now consider that the
sheep have to be fed, according to
the season,- anywhere from 90 to
120 days, meaning from $33,000 to
$45,000. This will give some idea
of the expense to which a sheep op
erator is subjected. A sheep man
cannot .carry himself, so he has to
have credit and lots of it. The coun
try banks, even the large ones, can
not provide the accommodation, so
the sheep men must do business
with the big banks of the cities or
with loan companies."
"There was a warm wind when, I
left Heppner," reports H. A. Dun
can, who arrived at the Imperial
from Morrow county yesterday.
"The sheep are on the hills and
everyone feels good. We had 13
Inches of enow recently, but it was
accompanied by a wind and the snow
drifted, so that it did not do the
wheat land as much good as it
otherwise would. . However, the
ground was damp and much of the
snow melted into the ground. The
streams are not swollen. Willow
creek, which runs through Heppner,
is gradually being deepened. Along
in July and August, when there is
only a couple of feet of water, the
center of the creek bed is plowed
and thus the creek is being deepened
and straightened." Mr. Duncan is
a merchant. He says that there has
been a good holiday business in
Heppner and, in fact, business has
been very satisfactory for many
months past. .
Judging from the appearance of
the hotel registers yesterday, one
might suspect that all in-coming
trains had been annulled. The ar
rivals yesterday were almost at the
zero point and the registers had a
decidedly blank appearance. There
was a heavy travel on Sunday, how
ever, on account of people in the
hotels checking out and heading for
home. .The Benson and Multnomah
hotels displayed Christmas trees in
the lobby and the Hotel Portland
had one erected in the grill.
The somewhat morose and de
pressed looking individuals who
were visible ln'hotel lobbies yester
day were not traveling men far
from home on Christmas day, but
professional bootleggers, regretting
that their stock was exhausted.
Business had been so good and the
federal prohibition operatives had
been so active in the past two
weeks, that the supply of "hootch
in -fortuana was practically ex
hausted. The bootleggers were de
pressed because of the business that
was getting away from them.
Instead of registering at the Im
perial from Zumwalt, near Cape
Blanco, G. P. Zumwalt gives Port
Orford as his postoffice address. At
Zumwalt there is one of the largest
barns to be found in southeastern
Oregon. It looks, from a distance,
as large as the municipal auditorium
at Portland. That section of the
state, such as is used at all. is de
voted to dairying and wool raising.
The miiK is trucked into Bandon,
where there is a condensory, over a
section of the Roosevelt coast high
way.
James Clifford of Prairie City is
among the Imperial arrivals. Here
tofore the only way to get freight
into the John Day valley was over
the narrow gauge railroad into
Prairie from Baker. With the open
ing of the John Day highway, how
ever, .there is an Increasing volum
of freight coming in by way of
uonaon wnicn is expected seriously
to effect the revenues of the little
railroad which doubles back and
forth in making its climb over the
Blue mountains.
F. W. DeFord of Central . Point.
Or., has been visiting Portland in
connection with the sheep situation
in his section. Not all of the sheep
in Oregon are on the ranges of cen
tral and eastern Oregon, for there
are thousands of these animals on
the farms of the Willamette. Umj
qua and Rogue river valleys. Cen
tral Point has at least one distinc
tion: From it was built the first
hard-surface pavement and this
piece of concrete is now a link of
the Pacific highway.
Every Monday Ed Coles is in town
from Haines, Or., to sell "fattened
cattle in the market. Even such an
event as Christmas could not inter
fere with his habit. However, in
stead of arriving Sunday night for
the Monday market, Mr. Coles ar
rived Saturday to be on hand fo
the Tuesday market. He is an ex
tensive feeder and specializes in
bringing fat stock to Portland.
Formerly H. A. Murphy lived at
Monument, Or., and one of his
friends was Albert Hinch of Canyon
City. Yesterday the two men met in
the lobby of the Imperial and began
comparing notes. Mr. Murphy is
now a resideat of Anchors
Alaska, and Mr. Hinch is at Nyssa,
Or., where he is in the jewelry bus!
ness.
Dr. J. C. Exllne. In charge of th
tuberculosis eradication In animals
for the state of Washington, is on
an official visit to Portland from
Olympia. He also has charge of
the sheep quarantine for Oregon
and Washington.,
F. L. Wishard checked out of the
Multnomah yesterday, headed for
California. He announced before
his departure that it is his firm
determination to play a game on
Burroughs Nature Club.
Copyright, Houghton-Mifflin Ce.
CAN TOtT ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS?
1. Am enclosing part of a frond
from my Boston fern. ' Can you tell
me what are the little brown, shell
like things on the stem and what to
do to get rid of them? The plant
seems healthy and is growing well
except for this.
2. What is a dormouse?
- 3. How can I tell a shoebe from
pewee? f
Answers in tomorrow's nature
notes.
Answers to. Previous Questions. -
1. I enclose a specimen of a bug
that has bothered me all summer.
Twenty-five pounds of . arsenate of
lead only kept them lively. They
ate everything that came their way.
What is it?
One of the meloidae or blister
beetles, epicauta cinerea, long, slen
der, ashy-black, wings bordered light
gray. Common, attacks many crops,
particularly potatoes, also beans,
peas, cabbage, etc Spraying must
be done very promptly to get ahead
of the swarms. Paris green can be
used, but arsenate of lead is usually
recommended. Sometimes windrows
of straw are placed just beyond a
field infested by the beetle and the
fiolrt nnmhfwl over bv workers to
drive the beetles ' into the straw,
which is then set afire. These beetles
lay eggs in the ground and a thor
ough harrowing and pulverizing will
destroy many eggs, but is useless 1
Unless done deep, as the eggs are
laid pretty well under. See Farmers'
Bulletin No. 868.,
Is there a squirrel called the
'Stars and Stripes"?
Yes, this is not a joke, but a local
name for spermophilus tridecem li
neatus, a small ground squirrel
whose dark, reddish-brown coat is
marked with alternating dark and
light stripes, the dark ones being en
livened with little U-shaped light
spots; the stripes make 13 lines and
the spots make the "stars."
3. What sort of nest does the
chickadee build and what is it made
of?
The chickadee uses a hole aban
doned by other birds, its bill being
rather small for excavating, it lur
nishes the borrowed hole with a soft
mat of bits of plant down, eta, felted
together, for the eggs to rest on.
ONLY ONE PARDON FOR MURDER
It Is Divine and Comes Only After
True Repentance.
SALEM, Or., Dec. 24. (To the
Editor. 1 Kindlv let me regis
ter my objections to the use oi
the pardoning power by Acting (gov
ernor Ritner, on the recommenda
tion of the prosecuting attorney, the
judge and the parole board. It is
possible that I might overrule my
objections if I knew all of the facts
relative to these pardons. Not know
ing personally the men thus par
doned I must necessarily Judge by 1
the newspaper reports of each case.
Take, for instance, the pardon of
Webb, the murderer. Should a mur
derer be turned on society; iou
say that he will not commit another
murder. How do you know ne
won't? Have you any assurance ex
cept Webb's own words that he will
not commit another such oliense.'
You say that that is all anyone
could give under the circumstances.
I deny that such Is the case, or
that a pardon should De granted on
the word of a murderer. From all
one can gather, Webb would go to
exactly the same place should he
die a natural death or be hanged
for the murder he committed. The
life he led before the murder was
much easier for him than the life
he must now of necessity lead, and,
if he could not then of his own
strength live it without committing
murder, how, then, can he live with
out taking the desperate chance of
committing another such deed?
I have lots of faith fn Judge Mor
row as a man and as a judge.
Acting Governor Ritner I do not
know personally, but I am sure that
he and the pardoning board are ail
good men. who bend their efforts
toward helping those who, in their
estimation, are (worthy. But don't
you realize that Webb could have
gone out of that prison a new crea
ture, in Christ Jesus, were he
worthy, and not as a murderer?
Don't you know that If he had been
set free by Christ he would have
been free indeed that he would
then have had the strength to com
bat all evil, to keep him clean and
good? Then, and then only, might
he be freed without the danger of
bringing reproach upon the men who
are responsible for his freedom.
No man is worthy to be pardoned
while in the same spirit that
prompted the transgression of the
divine laws. For murder is a sin
that cannot be forgiven by the pow
ers of this world, unless it be in
conjunction with God almighty.
WILL E. PURDY.
JAIL FOR DRY LAW VIOLATORS
Five Years for Bootleggers, Hang
ing for Dope Vendors, Advocated.
WOOD BURN. Or., Dec 4. (To the
Editor.) In an editorial Friday you
fail to give the reason why prohi
bition is in a measure failing.
One reason is, that we have too
many judges with an appetite for
liquor and who do not want the law
enforced.
We have too many politicians
afraid of their jobs.
But the paramount reason of the
apparent breakdown of the law is
that there is no penalty to speak of.
A bootlegger is allowed to make
thousands of dollars, and when
brought before the law is fined a
few dollars or given a light Jail
sentence and paroled, so that he
can go immediately back to his ne
farious business.
The penalty inflicted is so Insig
nificant in comparison to the of
fense that the moonshiner comes
from a court of law thinking he is
a hero, instead of the contemptible
lawbreaker that he really is.
There should be a commensurate
penalty. A bootlegger or moon
shiner should get not less than five
years in prison, and his property
should be confiscated besides.
Also, the philanthropist should be
made to take a back seat so that
the honest judges could have a
chance to administer the law in
doses that would take effect. And
when a man goes to jail, let him
stay out his full time.
The parole nuisance as it Is car
ried on is one great curse not only
to the present generation, but to
posterity, and the sooner that law
is repealed the sooner we will get
back to decency and morality.
All dope vendors should be placed
in solitary confinement, for 30 days
that they might prepare for eternity,
after which they should be taken
out and hanged in public.
A. W. HINDMAN.
. On Arbuckle "Pardon."
PORTLAND, Dec. 24. (To the
Editor.) I want to express my sin
cere appreciation of the editorial in
The Oregonian, "Mr. Hays' Job."
Upon reading that the odious and
disgusting Arbuckle was to be per
mitted to appear before the public
acain. I had thoueht that surelv
I someone would raise a protest in
I the name of common decency; and. I
More Truth Than Poetry.
By Jane J. Montague.
THE ALTERED VIEWPOINT.
When first we heard that radium
pills,
Consumed In triturated doses.
Would check the worst of age's His
To-wit: arteriosclerosis
That they would flush the ashen
cheek.
Make sinking limbs grow daily
stronger.
And cause the failing and the weak
To live a century longer.
We cried: "We'll never take
the stuff.
For we've lived nearly long
enough.
"We've stalked our hour upon the
stage.
We've said our piece upon the
rostrum:
Why eke out sad and crabbed age
By drink'ng any modern- nostrum?
What use to linger? what the good
To sink, with slow disintegration.
Alone, unknown, misunderstood
Amid a mocking generation?
We'll exit when, we get our
call,
And if we die we d'e, that's
all!"
But now that life is in a flux, '
And has been, since the war be
gan it,
And what reporters call the "crux"
Is raging on this mundane, planet.
As on the world we gaze aghast,
We find we re nursing an ambition
To .know if it is going to last
Or if it's destined for perdition.
So,, if this radium theory's
sound.
We sort of think we'll stick
around!
The Last Straw.
Laundries are not fio expensive in
themselves. The trouble is that
when the collars come home from
them they so often require the serv
ices of a dentist.
The Only Way.
Not so many -photoplays are being
produced now. This is probably due,
to Mr. Hays' determination to do
something toward their betterment.
.
.Merely the Pedestrian.
Automobiles have been greatly
improved mechanically. It is not
the owners one sees under them any
more.
(Copyright, 1022. by Bell Syndicate. Inc.)
In Other Days.
Twenty-five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian, December 26, 180T.
The "standing room only'' sign
was up last night at the Marquam.
"Olivette" was the opera given, and
it has probably never been given to
a merrier audience. At various In
tervals the opera was interrupted
by cries of "rah! rah! rah!"
Chicago. Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge is preparing a bill favoring
the purchase of the three islands
of St. Thomas. St. Croix and St.
John, in the Danish West Indies.
Senator Lodge is sanguine of se
curing an appropriation.
In response to a telegram from
General Merriam of Vancouver.
Jack Dalton, from whom the well
known Dalton trail took its name,
came to Portland yesterday from
Seattle. He will have a conference
with the general today concerning
means of getting the relief expe
dition to Dawson.
Berlin. The Tages Zeitung at
tacks Baron von Thielmann for not
declaring a tariff war on the United
States.
Fifty Years Ago.
From The Oregonian, December 28, 1872.
At last accounts from the seat
of the Modoc war, L. S. Dyer, the
Indian agent, was surrounded by a
large number of Klamath Indians,
in whom he and the balance of the
whites have little confidence; hence
they have guards out as a protec
tion to themselves and their fam
ilies. It is said that misfortune never
comes singly. The fire which swept
away a portion of the city last Sun
day was followed yesterday by a
storm of snow which promises to
continue for some time to come.
Yesterday the burnt district o
the city presented a lively appear
ance. Teams and men were em
ployed in gathering up and remov
ing to .places of security different
articles of merchandise, furniture,
household effects, etc., which had
been scattered about the streets and
houses to avoid destruction.
The central market was decorated
with the usual evergreen boughs
yesterday in honor of Christmas.
REDEMPTION OF BURNED BILLS
Treasury Experts Accomplish Won
ders With Remains of Cnrreney.
ASTORIA. Or, Dec, . 21. (To the
Editor.) Will you please give me
full particulars on the following
subject?
If paper money is burned until
there is nothing left but the ashes,
is it possible for the government to
analyze and get the exact value of
the money, and will they replace the
burned notes? CHESLET SMITH.
Burned money Is redeemable if it
can be identified. Treasury experts)
at Washington sometimes seem to
accomplish the impossible.' They
find burned money the most diffi
cult to work on with the exception
of that which has been gnawed by
mice.
A cigar box full of charred money
was sent from Philadelphia for
identification and redemption. Ac
companying the box was an affi
davit showing that it had been in
side a poorly constructed safe. Some
silver coins were also In the box,
evidently left there with the idea
that the original package should not
be broken. In its passage through
the mails the heavy silver was
shaken through the charred bills
until there was hardly a piece as
large as the head of a pin. Identifi
cation seemed hopeless, but by the
aid of magnifying glasses and with
infinite patience four $50 bills were
brought out and recommended for
redemption by the treasury. At the
time of the great fire in San Fran
cisco, where many safety vaults
proved insufficient in protection, the
larger part of the charred money
was saved by these treasury ex
perts with the aid , of magnifying
glasses and with the discrimination
that comes with experience.
Music Honse Also Destroyed.
ASTORIA, Or., Dec. 21. (To the
Editor.) In the listing of business
houses destroyed by the fire In As
toria the Gribler Music House was
not mentioned among them.
Our friends throughout the state
are congratulting us and are at a
loss to know how we escaped. Our
store was among the first destroyed
and we were unable to save any
thing. If you will make mention of this
fact you Will confer a favor on us.