THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 17, 1911.
rOlTUXD, OREGON.
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rORTUlXD. frrXDAT. IEC. II.
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MILLIONS MORE I OR PESSIONS.
President Taft Is said to be gather
ing data on the Sherwood dollar-a-dny
pension bill, with a view of taking
appropriate action when the measure
passes Congress. No hint Is given In
the order of Inquiry that the Presi
dent will veto the measure; but inas
much as a year ago he did not hesitate
to declare that he would not approve
a similar measure. It Is to be assumed
that he has not changed his firm and
proper attitude as to pension legisla
tion. The Sherwood bill, which passed
the Democratic house by a large ma
jority, with many protestations of the
tender regard of Democratic and Re
publican Congressmen alike for the
old soldier, provide that ail surviving
veterans of the Union armies In the
Civil War shall be entitled to a serv
ice pension. Living soldiers who
served a year or more get 130 a
month, and others who served a less
time proportionately smaller sums. It
Is variously estimated that enactment
of the bill will increase the annual
pension outlay of the United States in
a. total ranging from 110,000.000 to
J75.000.000. making the aggregate e
pendlture $200, 000.000 or more yearly.
The most 'significant feature of this
stupendous pension grab Is' the atti
tude of the Democrats. A majority of
the Democratic Representatives, in
cluding Speaker Clark, voted for the
bill, though it was opposed by House
Leader Underwood and a few others.
The Democracy utterly ignored their
loud professions of economy and
Joined with the most rabid starry flag
Republican speakers in the effort to
throw open the doors of the treasury
to unlimited pension largess. The old
soldier vote is still a powerful Influ
ence in the East and Middle West.
The Democrats of late years have been
Just as active in bidding for it as the
Republicans. The record shows that
they hnve been highly successful
The House of course expects the
Senate to defeat the Sherwood bill. It
Is bluff legislation. If the Senate
should perchance decline to stand in
the way of pension Juggernaut and let
the bill go through, the President
would be confronted by the alterna
tive of soliciting the favor of the pen
sion army by his approval, or rescuing
the treasury by his veto. It will be a
trying dilemma. An election la com
ing on and the President earnestly de
sires a re-election. But President Taft
has a fine upstanding backbone and
rarely plnys politics. When he has
played politics be has made a mess of
It. President Taft'a strongest appeal
to the public confidence lies in hit
fearless and count geous purpose to do
the right as he sees It. He will meet
the pension crisis as It ought to be
met with resolution and without re
gard to the consequences to himself.
Since the Civil War the United
States has paid out in pensions the
vast sum of $4,000,000,000. No nation
was ever so generous to Its heroes. No
nation has ever so cheerfully taxed
itself. Hut there is a limit to a peo
ple's capacity to pay. though there
may be no limit to their desire.
KNOW THEN THYSELF."
"The proper study of mankind is
man," solemnly asserted Alexander
Pope. Looking at the matter dispas
sionately, however, and appreciating
in some degree at least the spirit that
animated the poet when he Indited
his immortal essay on man. we are
fain to protest against the use of this
quotation as the motto of a hygienic
exposition, the purpose of which,
faithfully, and we might almost say
diabolically carried out. is to expose
and dilate upon every member, order
and function of the human body,
shuddering!- Illustrated by colored
charts and working models of Its in
ternal anatomy. We are unreasonable
perhaps, but we decline to be ac
quitted of the disgust that is inspired
by the "assertion that the contempla
tion of the ghastly array of lungs, llv.
era. stomachs and other parts of the
Internal mechanism of the human
body Is necessary in order to keep the
machine in good working order. Re
ferring to such an exhibit, the Satur
day Evening Post indulges the hope
that the spectators went away wiser,
as unquestionably they went away
sadder and In a condition to sadden
others through the impressions they
received.
This Is. as we are fond of saying
somewhat boastfully, an age of sur
gery the dissemination of the
arutomk-al knowledge diffused by the
literal application of the adjuration,
"Know thyself." It is a far cry from
the woman who declared she had
never taken a bath In her life, adding
indignantly and with a flush of mod
esty suffusing her cheeks. "I would
be ashamed to tell It if I had" to
the woman who on the streetcar en
ters into the details of her latest
"operation" with the friend sitting be
etle her. who has also a similar ex
perience to relate. Perhaps it is too
much to suggest that a safe and
proper medium might be observed in
th.-e matters of purely personal ex
perience. No doubt such a medium is
ob.-rvedMn many pernaps In a ma
jorityof cases. Nevertheless it is
true that we all hear more of the dls
lcr.sable and indispensable tissues
and organs of the body: what and
which may be taken away with im
punity and what must be left, etc.,
etc.. than is either edifying or instruc
tive. One does not have to be a
I'hristlan Scientist to enable him to
ugree with the Journal above Quoted
th.it "thinking about one's canals.
tU.-ues. circulation and reactions is
not only the most repressing of men
ial exercises, but a wellspring of
"lugubrious conversation." As be
tween dogmatically and loftily deny
ing the existence of matter and
dwelling upon it In animate form in
a diseased or menaced condition, the
former attitude is preferable. At least
it is much more comfortable and
withal quit as productive of health
and enjoyment.
Again, with the Post, we agree that
he Is a wise doctor and social bene
factor who never tells his patients
what he thinks ails them except in
scientific terms, which they can
neither understand nor repeat. In so
far as we are informed, the ego of
the sufferer from chronic or acute In
ternal disarrangement has never yet
been reached by the surgeon's knife.
On the contrary, the use of this In
strument has a tendency to exaggerate
the personal equation and bring it
Into tiresome evidence that too fre
quently becomes repulsive as well.
"To know thyself." says the Tost,
"may sometimes be useful. But for
goodness sake keep this knowledge to
thyself."
CELEBRATION OF ORGYf
On perfumed notepaper. and In
writing that betrays the gentle sex of
the Inquirer, "a subscriber" at a near
by town asks The Oregonlan to state
when New Year's eve will be cele
brated in Portland. If the question be
Interpreted literally the answer Is Sun
day evening. December 31. On that
night Portland cltixens who, upon the
dawn of a new year, look forward
with bright hope toward twelve
months of better living, greater pros
perity and kindlier feeling for their
fellowmen. will find no religious prin
ciple interfering with proper observ
ance of the time. The falling of the
Sabbath on the last day of the year
need deprive nobody of sober reflec
tion over the mistakes that time has
made apparent, deter the formulating
of resolutions against their recurrence,
wipe out one's dreams of happy days
gone by or spoil one's plans for repe
tition of Joys that have passed away.
The Oregonlan knows not the Iden
tity of the correspondent. This fact
will excuse the suggestion that she
may desire to know on what night the
thoughtless, the Irresponsible and the
wicked will cast caution to the winds,
breathe of folly, imbibe strong drink
and together end the year In orgy and
carousal. If this surmise be correct
we wish to Impart the conviction to
this inquirer and others out of town
who are prone to be attracted by sur
face glitters, that the date of this
thing, which Is not a celebration, is
better left unknown. The sating of
curiosity or the gratification of "un
natural desires to be obtained at that
or any other time is not worth the
trip to the city, and rather, is likely to
prove an unwelcome penalty for the
Journey.
To celebrate Is "to honor by. or ob
serve with, solemn rites, ceremonies
of Joy and respect, or refraining from
ordinary business; to observe duly; to
solemnize." This Is-the unperverted
meaning of the term. Its authorised
definition, its tnje significance. We
may therefore say with truth that
New Tear's eve will be celebrated in
Portland solely and only on New
Year's eve.
AX OBJECT ITIWW IN "KNOWING
HOW."
J. W. Mitchell, of the United States
Department of Agriculture, told, In a
recent number of Country Life In
America, of how a billion dollars an
nually might be added to our natural
wealth by doubling our corn crop.
According to his estimate, based upon
carefully-compiled statistics, the av
erage corn production for the United
States has been only 25.5 bushels per
acre, whereas there Is no reason why
It may not be made to double that
amount on the same acreage; In fact,
many up-to-date farmers are now
gathering eighty and even 100 bush
els per acre. The first requirement
is the knowing how; the next, to put
this knowledge to careful. Intelligent,
persistent use.
This knowing how consists in seed
selection. Improvement of the seed
bed. better cultivation, the use of
proper fertilizers and a few other
things that have been found out by
careful experiment at the cost of but
little money. The results of experi
ments along these lines have been pa
tiently tabulated, printed In pamph
lets and scattered broadcast, the re
sults being similar to those record
ed by the ancient "sower who went
forth to sow." In some places they
have taken hold; In many places they
have fallen upon unfruitful soil.
Finding that much of the effort
thus made was wasted, the Depart
ment of Agriculture followed these
pamffhlets by sending out field agents
who know how and who by Insisting
on Government methods for a single
season have shown the farmer that
his corn crop can be doubled with lit
tle if any additional expense.
An Interesting phase of this devel
opment was witnessed in the South,
where the farmers seemed more in
need of a helping hand than else
where. There, writes Mr. Mitchell,
"the cattle tick, the boll-weevil and
the hookworm had combined to stunt
the development of what it would
seem ougkt to- be the garden section
of the United States." The boys were
found to be more teachable and less
opinionated than the men, hence the
field agents conceived the idea of a
"Boys' Corn Club" and began to in
terest the boys in "doing things,"
They were supplied with circulars on
seed selection, fertilizers, cultivation
and other subjects that could be stud
led theoretically during the Winter
and In early Spring field agents went
the rounds, overseeing the plowing
and planting and later gave practical
lessons in cultivating, suitable prizes
being offered for specified results.
These prizes consisted of small sums
of money, farm implements, trips to
the state fair, or other things prized
by boys.
This was four years ago. Two
years ago four states offered trips to
Washington as first prizes. The win
ning boys went to Washington, met
the Secretary of Agriculture and were
given diplomas recognizing their work.
Last year there were 46.223 boys in
the competition. 11 states were repre
sented and the eleven high-score boys
who were sent to Washington were
given a great send-off from their re
spective localities. At the National
Capital they met the Secretary of Ag
riculture, who received thrn as wel
come guests and encouraged them to
continue corn-raising on the basis of
"knowing how."
A picture representing barefoot boys
In overalls and broad-brimmed straw
hats, standing in the foreground of
corn fields, the stalks twice the height
of the young farmers; lush with broad
leaves. Jaunty with tassels and heavy
with a wealth of ears. Is a pleasing
and promising one. Some of the se
lected seed from these experiment
fields has been sold to neighboring
farmers as high aa 13 a bushel. Thus
encouraged, the good work Is likely
to go on. with the pleasing possibility
of giving the children, I. e., the half
grown boys and girls of the South, a
healthful, seasonal vocation that will
leave them time to attend school for
a considerable portion of the year and
one that will develop their bodies and
act as a spur to their intelligence In
competitive Industry.
In this way, to some extent at least,
the problem of child labor In the
South, of which, in connection with
work in factories, philanthropists have
made such strenuous and appalling
presentment, may be solved.
LA FOLLETTE WRONG AGAIN.
Senator La Follette's pet remedy for
excessive railroad rates receives a se
vere blow from the Railroad Securities
Commission. He has been the princi
pal protagonist of Government restric
tion on the Issue of railroad securities
and of the physical valuation of rail
roads as a basis for fixing rates. He
has aimed his shafts particularly at
the big railroad systems. After an
exhaustive " Inquiry the commission
finds that restriction of security issue
would check the formation of inde
pendent companies to compete with
the big systems Instead of checking
the operations of those whom Mr. La
Follette would hobble.
As to physical valuation, the com
mission quotes the Supreme Court as
holding that this Is only one among
many elements in ratemaklng. The
commission holds that a high cash
dividend does not necessarily Indicate
extortion, and that to control rates by
arbitrarily limiting profits is to put the
manager who makes his profit by effi
ciency and economy on the same level
as the-one who tries to accomplish the
same result through extortionate
charges. '
This Is the conclusion reached after
thorough Inquiry the Taft method.
The La Follette method was to assume
the correctness of his theory without
Inquiry and legislate accordingly. La
Follette almost succeeded in 1910 and
with difficulty Taft secured the adop
tion of his method. That method
shows that the La Follette theory was
fallacious, like many other theories
based on a maximum of prejudice and
a minimum of fact.
Ft" LA LI A '3 BOOK.
The Paris correspondent of the New
York World has given the American
people a few delicious nibbles at In
fanta Eulalla's new book, but only
enough to make them want more. She
calls her book "The Thread of Life,"
no doubt borrowing an image from
the Greeks, who pictured life as a
thread which one of the Fates spun
from her distaff. A second passed It
delicately along while a third sat near
by "with her accursed shears" only
too ready to snip it off before it was
half run out The public knows of
the tribulations which have compassed
Eulalla roundabout since she under
took to enlist In the blessed army of
authors. Her cruel nephew, Alphonso,
King of Spain, thinks it beneath the
dignity of a royal personage to pub
lish a book. He even threatened Eu
lalla that If she did not desist from
her unworthy purpose he would cut
off her property, but it appears that
he has revised this resolution. Orig
inally the work was to appear under
an assumed name, but Eulalla's cour
age has grown with her trials and
when it finally came out in Paris,
where the Princess lives, her true
name was signed to the preface. One
may even guess that, shaking her tiny
fist, as It were, at her tyrannical
nephew, she wrote the preface In or
der that she might sign her name to it.
From the meager accounts which
are thus far available one is inclined
to say that the book la worth read
ing. It appears to be one of those
meditative collections of essays which
wander rather aimlessly through the
fields of thought sipping honey from
many flowers and culling all sorts of
attractive fruits. In other words, Eu
lalla has filled many a paragraph with
quotations from other writers. Just as
Montaigne did when he wrote his fa
mous essays. Perhaps Eulalla had
Montaigne In mind when she com
posed her reflections on "The Thread
of Life," for she is evidently fond of
France and Frenchmen. In her chap
ter on friendship, she quotes Emer
son generously and the chances are
that her book la the better for it In
asmuch as nobody has written on that
subject to better purpose than the
sage of Concord. There are chapters
on "The Press," "The Working
Classes," "Education of the'Will" and
a great many similar topics of timely
interest and in the course of her med
itations Eulalla quotes from philoso
phers as far apart In time and space
as Confucius and Kant. Few thinkers
appear to have escaped her snipping
shears altogether. Her gleanings are
among the most astonishing features
of the book according to the ac
counts. The book is not revolutionary. It is
nothing more exciting than a quiet
collootlon of thoughts which have
helped the author in her own life.
Perhaps she supposed that they might
help others. Touching upon the sub
ject of divorce her remarks will nat
urally sound startling to Spaniards
who commonly think of the marriage
tie aa Indissoluble, but Americans will
find little that is shocking in them.
Eulalla argues, for Instance, that di
vorce cannot destroy the family be
cause the family is. necessarily de
stroyed in its essentials before di
vorce is ever thought of. She does
not believe that "the family is a sacred
institution" and flatly declares that
those who pretend to look upon It in
that light are hypocrites. They know
perfectly well, she says, that the an
cient parental authority has vanished
from the earth and with it has gone
whatever sacredness attached to the
family. It is now merely a convenient
institution for which something bet
ter may be substituted by and by. In
Eulalla's Judgment, divorces ought to
be obtainable when both parties to
the marriage" consent. We gather
that she would dispense with cere
mony and make the dissolution of the
contract as simple as possible. This
is going far, we must confess, but
there are parts of our own blessed
land where it is behind the times. In
Seattle the other day, to mention a
single typical instance, a wife ob
tained a divorce with, no particular
difficulty when her husband knew
nothing at all about It. This goes
a step beyond Eulalla's ambitions.
She would, at least, give some sort of
notice to the erring "spouse of what
was going on In regard to his con
nubial affairs.
Eulalla's views upon the relations
between men and women in the world
of business and society chime very
neatly with her thoughts upon divorce.
"In principle." she says, "woman is
the equal of man." but she recognizes
some little difficulty In the way of
practicing perfeot equality In the
world aa it Is organized. Eulalla looks
forward, however, to a time when
things shall be arranged more ration
ally and "In that new society woman
should enjoy independence and have
full liberty tp develop her energies."
Remembering what the estate of wo
men has been in Spain for some hun
dreds of years we must admit that
Eulalla has traveled a long way from
the old landmarks. What would the
Spanish beauty be without her lat
ticed window and her duenna? It Is
difficult to Imagine those two sparkl
ing eyes which long, long ago in old
Madrid glowed with love's own light
behind the lattice passing out into
the open world and staring boldly
about in the glare. But we suppose
that Is what women are coming to in
Spain as they are everywhere else and
the chances are that they will be all
the better for it. Shelter is all very
well when it Is needed, but too much
of It does more harm than good.
One would naturally expect Eulalla
to feel contempt for ridicule because
she has braved that and every other of
Mrs. Grundy's weapons In publishing
her book. She has a chapter on the
"Fear of Ridicule" which must be
diverting. For one thing, she says
in It that the need of general appro
bation is a sign of weakness. In fact,
we all know that it is only the strong
est characters who can muster up
courage to defy convention or run
counter to the common tendencies of
their associates. The usual rule
among human beings, as among
sheep. Is to follow the bell wether.
Eulalla has broken the rule and the
result Is a book which will be read
all over the world with entertainment
and, we believe, with profit.
IF CLIVE COULD RETURN.
If Robert Cllve could return to
earth and see the gorgeous pageant en
acted on the plain of Delhi, he would
realize what a splendid empire has
grown up from the victory he won at
Plassy in r757. If Timur could re
turn he would see India under the
rule of a conqueror whose ambition is
to increase the happiness and prolong
the lives of its people instead of to
slaughter them and build pyramids of
human skulls.
The history of British rule in India,
which Is typified by the coronation of
George and Mary at the Durbar, is a
story of adventurous traders followed
by wars with native rulers and tribes
and development of the traders into
rulers, the sending of armies by the
home government to support the
traders and to final annexation and
government of the country as a Brit
ish colony. The East India Company
was chartered by England to trade
In India and established Itself by
means of pitched battles with the Por
tuguese and the native rulers until by
force of circumstances It became a
territorial sovereign. French attacks
on the English settlements were an in
cident of the wars between the two
nations in the middle of the eighteenth
century, but after the nations con
cluded peace, war was continued be
tween Cllve, on behalf of the English
company, and Duplelx, the French
Governor, ending in the final extinc
tion of French and establishment of
English power with Cllve as Governor
of Bengal.
Although the British government
took an increasing hold In the affairs
of India as wars with native rulers
made military aid necessary and as
territorial power expanded, the gov
ernment continued to be conducted to
some extent by the East India Com
pany until after the mutiny. At that
time the company had an army of 24,.
000 Europeans besides a much larger
native army. By the mutiny Its fate
was sealed, the merchants ceased to
be monarchs and India passed direct
ly under the rule of the British sover
eign. Disraeli, with his love or the
spectacular, in 1876 induced Parlia
ment to bestow the title Empress of
India on Queen Victoria and thus
finally establish British sovereignty.
The British government has since
the mutiny aimed more and more to
govern "India for the good of its peo
ple. By means of irrigation and re
lief works It has striven to mitigate the
horrors of famine. By sanitation and
expert study it has fought plague in
various forms. It has given natives
preference for employment in minor
positions in the civil service and has
encouraged them to go to England for
education in her universities. Its re
wards have been the inevitable spread
of the democratic ideas carried home
by these students and a demand that
those ideas be put in practice in India.
England has learned in India that a
benevolent despotism wins no grati
tude and that an Increasing number
of her dusky subjects would rather
misgovern themselves than be well
governed by an Ellen race.
WEAK POINTS OF OCR NAVY.
One drawback of such naval reviews
as that which was held at New York
last Fall is that it makes a great show
of the strong points of our Navy and
obscures the weak points. Attention
is naturally fastened on the noble ar
ray of battleships and cruisers to the
exclusion of the humble auxiliaries
and torpedo craft patronizingly
named the mosquito fleet. Thus we
create a delusion of strength which
does not exist.
In modern naval warfare coal is as
necessary to a fleet as ammunition, but
we are woefully short In our equip
ment of naval colliers and have a very
small reserve of merchant ships to
draw upon when compared with Great
Britain, Germany, France and Japan.
Our battleship strength is slightly in
excess of that "of Germany, but we
have only 36 destroyers as compared
with Germany's 107. Destroyers are
necessary to protect battleships from
torpedo attack, four for each battle
ship, but we have only slightly more
than one for each battleship and are
behind not only Germany, but France
and Japan as well, in this respect.
Scout cruisers are necessary to se
cure information as to the movement
of an enemy's fleet, and. in case wire
less communication should be Inter
rupted, must be able to steam at great
speed to come within signaling dis
tance of their own fleet. They must
be equipped to keep the sea In all
weathers for long periods without re
plenishing their coal supply. We have
but three such ships, while Britain has
twenty-three, Germany ten, Japan
four, and each of these countries has a
number of merchant vessels of high
speed which can be easily converted
into scouts. Such ""vessels require a
speed of at least twenty-eix knots,
while few of our merchant vessels can
exceed twenty-one knots.
A battleship without ammunition is
as useless as one without coal, yet we
have no ammunition ships capable of
replenishing the supply when a fleet Is
engaged in battle. Our fleet might
engage the enemy near the enemy's
port and might easily shoot away all
1 11 o ummuniuuu Lanicu i 1 - w ..
holds before the battle was decided.
The enemy could run to port, secure
more ammunition, return and renew
the battle. Unless our fleet had aux
iliaries carrying a reserve supply, it
might be compelled to flee with vic
tory in sight, simply" because it had
nothing with which to load Its guns.
If It .were not accompanied by a fleet
of colliers with an adequate reserve
supply of coal, the fleet might likewise
be made Impotent In face of the en
emy. We have but one repair ship,
though each squadron on foreign serv
ice should have one ready to make
temporary repairs after an engage
ment. England has three such thips .
and Germany two, ana ooia uinnjwo
have an unlimited supply of merchant
ships fit for such service with slight
changes.
So long as Americans are unwilling
to build ships without a subsidy, and
the people have repeatedly shown
their determination to grant no sub
sidy, there is but one way in which we
can secure the necessary naval auxil
iaries and the merchant marine which
will be available as a naval reserve.
That is to buy ships in foreign coun
tries in time of peace and admit them
to American register. If we wait till
war is upon us, we shall be compelled
to pay two of- three prices for them
and be pushed for time to equip them.
CHASING VANCOUVER'S TAX BUBBLE.
In a debate on single tax a few
evenings ago, Mr. H. W. Stone com
mended the results of tax exemption
of improvements as it Is practiced In
Vancouver, B. C, and argued there
from for improvement exemptions in
Oregon. It is about time some kind
friend explained fully the Vancouver
tax system to Mr. Stone and those ad
vocates of single tax who try to pre
sent the theory honestly. Analyzed in
connection with other features of the
Vancouver tax system the exemption
of improvements does not aid a great
many property owners In the British
Columbia city. The Vancouver man
who has an Income of $5000 a year,
a 31500 lot and a house valued at
$4200 pays almost to the dollar in ac
tual taxes as much as does the Port
land man with the same Income and
same amount and kinds of property.
Portland does not impose an income
tax. but does tax Improvements and
personal property. In Vancouver im
provements and personal property are
not taxed but incomes are taxed.
The Vancouver tax on an Income of
$3001 Is about equivalent to Port
land's 22-mill tax on $1383 worth
of improvements assessed on a 65 per
cent basis.
The income tax on $4001 is equiva
lent to the property tax on $2615.
The income tax on $5001 is equiva
lent to the property tax on $4200.
The Income tax on $6000 is equiva
lent to the property tax on $7000.
The Income tax on $9000 is equiva
lent to the property tax on $14,000.
We BUbmit that $7000 worth of im
provements in addition to the value
of his real property would be a high
average for the man making $6000 a
year. Every other comparison would
indicate a high average of improved
property wealth. The Vancouver resi
dent whose improvements are not
taxed probably pays out in taxes more
money yearly than does his Portland
cousin whose improvements are taxed.
But If the same, what differ
ence could it make to the property
owner if his tax receipt mentioned im
provements or Income, one but not
the other, and the amount paid out
were the same in either case? There
IS no fetish in a printed word.
.How,, too, about flnlag industry?
As soon as the Vancouver man earn
ing $1000 a year commands a raise by
good work and faithfulness to duty
he has to pay an income tax. Single
taxers tell us that to remove the tax
on Industry that is, Improvements
would stimulate Industry. According
to this reasoning, the Portland man
whose Income is exempt should be
more industrious than his Vancouver
cousin. Is he?
The single tax' plan tn Oregon, all
know, does not include an income tax,
and it provides for exemption of im
provements. Anyone who will give a
few momenta to honest consideration
of the Vancouver system must admit
that it can offer no example in re
sults whatever on which to base an
argument for either the proposed Ore
gon single tax system or the alter
native plan of exempting $3000 in im
provements HOW TO DISSOLVE A TRUST.
The decree of the United States
Court, by which the reorganization of
the companies composing the tobacco
trust was approved, has been made the
subject of much ridicule, both by the
enemies of trusts and by those who
would destroy every trust, root and
branch, and put all its officers in Jail.
These critics compare the attempt to
dissolve a trust with "unscrambling"
eggs or to a compulsory change of
clothes. Their estimate of the effect
of the tobacco trust decree Is thus ex
pressed by the Saturday Evening Post:
Tha tobacco organization plan obviously
contemplates that the total earning; power of
tha trust property, after It haa been split
up In compliance with the Supreme Court
decree, ahall be substantially what It waa
before. This meana there will be no com
petition among the several parti for If
they fought ona another their total profits
would certainly decrease; and this again
means that the actual problem of a monopo
listic tobacco trust stands unchanged and
practically untouched.
A most emphatic answer to these
criticisms was made by President Taft
in his recent message. He said:
It haa been assumed that the present pro
rata and common ownership in all these
companies by former stockholders of the
trust would Insure a continuance of the
same old single control of all the com
panlea Into which the trust baa by decree
ben disintegrated. This is erroneous and
Is baaed upon tha assumed lrefficacy and
Innocuousness of Judicial injunctions. The
companies ara enjoined from eo-operatlon
or combination: they have different manag
ers, -nlrectora, purchasing and sales agents.
If all or many of the numerous stockholders,
reaching Into the thousands, attempt to se
cure concerted action of the companies
with a view to tha control of the market,
their number Is so large that such an at
tempt could not well be concealed, and Its
prime movers and all its participants would
be at once subject to contempt proceedings
and Imprisonment of a summary character.
The Immediate result of the present situa
tion will necessarily be activity by all the
companies under different managers, and
then competition must follow, or there will
be activity by one company and stagnation
by another. Only a short time will Inevi
tably lead to a change In ownership of the
atock. aa all opportunity for continued co
operation must disappear. Those critics
who .speak of this disintegration In the
truat as a mere change of garments have
not given consideration to the Inevitable
working of the decree and understand little
tha personal danger of attempting to evade
or set at naught the solemn Injunction of a
court whose object Is made plain by the de
cree and whose Inhibitions are set forth
with a detail and comprehensiveness unex
ampled In the history of equity Jurispru
dence. How the separate parts of the to
bacco trust can again coalesce under
the conditions described by Mr. Taft
it Is difficult to conceive. They are
expressly forbidden to co-operate by
any of the devices to which such com
blnations have hitherto resorted. Any
attempt among the thousands of stock
holders to disobey the decree would
almost surely be detected by a watch
ful Government and the guilty ones
would suffer dire punishment. .Each
stockholder, having his shares in each
company in his own hands, subject to
a veto dn his so using them as to bring
about a new combination, will natural
ly regard his shares in one company as
entirely apart from those in another
company. The inevitable result will
be tljat. In the course of business, he
will sell the one and hold the other.
Thus the stockholdings will become
more and more scattered, the commu
nity of interest among the fourteen
companies become weaker and weaker
until it vanishes and the selfish inter
est of each company instigate stronger
competition. The eggs will no't have
been unscrambled into their original
form, but they will have been divided
among various dishes with no prob
ability of their ever coming together
again in one dish.
If the several companies should ob
tain Federal charters and become sub
ject to constant supervision by an ex
ecutive bureau, to which they would
be required to make periodical re
ports, as recommended by the Presi
dent, the possibility of their recombln
lng without detection and punishment
of the guilty persons would be reduced
to a minimum. To have compelled the
trust to divide Into as many parts as
were originally combined would have
been to compel a return to that ruth
less competition of sixty years ago
which Mr. Roosevelt so vigorously op
poses. To compel its division into a
large enough number of parts to in
sure competition, but to make each
part represent a large aggregation of
capital, is in harmony with the present
economic tendency toward big busi
ness, yet It is to set a barrier against
the re-creation of the oppressive
monopoly.
As finally issued by the court, the
decree differs radically from the plan
of re-organlzation first submitted by
the tobacco trust. The latter simply
divided the trust into five smaller
trusts, each of which as completely
controlled one branch of the business
as the big trust had formerly con
trolled the whole Industry. Such a
dissolution of the trust would have
been a farce, but the court changed
it so radically as to meet every criti
cism. The President and the courts have
bv this decision struck the happy mean
between the old and new methods of
business. Between the Scylla of un
restricted competition among a num
ber of small units and the Charybdis of
monopoly, totally throttling competi
tion, they have found the safe channel
of business conducted by units large
enousrh to accord with modern meth
ods, but numerous enough to keep alive
competition within reasonable bounds
A report that is gratifying to all
bird lovers and especially to mem
bers of the Audubon Society, whose
efforts along this line have been vig
orous and insistent. Is that of Dr.
Henshaw, Chief of the Biological Sur
vey, to the effect that the increase of
game preserves, private and public,
has within the past few years caused
wild fowl to increase greatly in num
bers. The protest upon the use of
birds, wings, heads, feathers, etc., for
millinery purposes by the Audubon
Society has also been measurably suc
cessful, insuring the protection of
mother birds in nesting time. Clear
ing wooded sections and converting
vast areas of table lands into grain
fields are potent and legitimate agen
rl that tend to the depletion of bird
life. To offset these," bird refuges
must be established or mra nie win
perish. We have room In abundance
for such refuges, both for upland and
waterfowl, without in the least de
priving settlers of the privilege of
home-making. The policy that recog
nizes this fact and acts upon it is both
wise and humane.
It would be a great thing if Port
land business men could reach by let
ter their customers in the Harvey Val
ley and along the route from Bend to
Burns within 24 hours. This will
come with the completion of the cross
state railway. It may come before
then. An effort is now in progress to
establish a dally mail service between
Bend and Burns and the ambition at
each terminus and along the route la
to make it an auto service. The im
portance of the plan rests not alto
gether in the immediate advantages
that would accrue to present settlers
and distributors of merchandise. A
dally mall service would be a strong
incentive toward rapid settlement of
this 150 miles of almost undeveloped
country. Its ultimate result would be
increased business, greater production
and these In turn would hasten rail
road building. Any influence tJiat
Portland and its commercial bodies
can give to bring about this mail serv
ice would be well worth while.
An up-state newspaper asserts that
Governor West had nothing to do with
the parole of John Magers, the negro
who after obtaining his liberty as
saulted two women near West Salem.
It is true that Magers was released
under provisions of the indeterminate
sentence law. But the Governor is
directly responsible for the proper
administration of that law. The re
lease of convicts before the expiration
of the maximum term imposed upon
them is left to the discretion of the'
Governor. The parole board, which
may but is not required to make rec
ommendation in every case, is ap
pointed by the Governor. If there is
abuse of discretion in paroling pris
oners the Governor cannot evade re
sponsibility Baker County will soon celebrate
the centennial of the arrival of the
first white man in a region which
has been noted since for the large
number of "white" men.
This year's supply of sealskin
sacques is so short that there will not
be enough even for wives of promo
ters, women who have the best that
is going.
The assessed valuation of Oregon is
approaching the billion-dollar mark,
but If a man had that much money
he could not buy all of Portland.
Acting Governor Olcott will give
Governor West a nice Christmas pres-ent-r-the
money he did not earn.'
For the first time, one of the Van
derbllts has "loosened up." Cornelius
has lost his appendix.
Rain helps the holiday spirit In
Oregon.
To avoid a hold-up, ride through
tha dark streets.
Scraps and Jingles
Leone Cass Baer.
A few advertisements that don't get -Into
the paper: Lady, aged 37, with no
attractions or accomplishments, will
consent to act as wet blanket at any
social gathering where young people
are apt to be too hilarious.
Old Curmudgeon, a crank, who Is
anxious to avoid altogether the holi
day festivities, will accept an offer of
hospitality from the Sultan of Turkey
or the King of Italy.
Gentleman at leisure, of guaranteed
appetite, will take care of pantry or
cellar for wealthy family going out cf
Portland for the holidays.
Policeman, sociable and a real gent,
would appreciate hearing from kind
cook lady. Dreads loneliness of beat
on Christmas night.
Dyspeptic, . nervous, all In, hasn't
eaten a full meal In seven years, pos
sessed of handsome dress suit, will as
sist as deadhead at Christmas feed in
high-class boarding-house.
Pater famlllas, broke, apprehensive
of bills and no Christmas remembrance,
will accept from charitably-Inclined
someone, a ticket one way to China.
e
Another year Is faltering to Its last repose.
And shakes his raiment, sodden as ha goes.
Goodbye, old year! Tho' kingly glories wane,
We cannot, here In Oregon forget your rain.
Answer to EleanorAccording to sta
tistics most centenarians die orphans,
a a a
Mark yonder lad. ho aoorna fcia task.
And stands aloof, serene.
His profound fancies flitting
On things unheard, unseen.
Perhaps he dreams of wondrous feats.
As on his childish brow he beats.
Perhaps It Is his soul would soar
To future triumphs great.
Perhaps he'd tread the path of fame,
And on this would meditate.
But If the truth you'd Investigate
You'll find Its "Santa." in bis pate.
a a a
Fashion note says "women are better
dressed than ever; every one of them
makes somewhat of a picture." Yes.
but mostly for the comic supplement.
What?
a a
Lines on a Jabot.
Christinas shoppers raging round me
Would squash me Into their fold.
Suffragfsts are trying to sound me.
Regarding "views" that I should hold.
Not a fig for their war I'm caring.
Their chatter I scorn to note:
My Joy Is supreme, for I'm wearing
One of those new Jabots an accordion
plaited thlng-a-ma-jlg made out of
14 cents worth of cheap lace, shaped
like a wedge of pie originally 98c,
but I got It on the 42c counter.
It extenda from my belt and my throat.
Mrs. Nutz must discuss prune preserves.
With domestic lore she's Imbued,
And Lizzie to dear teething bablea
Is constantly bound to allude:
While Millie's so flustered U'llh shopping
They wot not I flamboyantly float.
With my stiff starched. machine-made Jabot.
Waving out from my belt to my throat,
a a a
Every Christmas I wish some one
would have foresight enough to Invent
an alphabet primer with all the diffi
cult letters the "I don't know that
one" sort left out.
a a a
Is the butcher a Joint administrator?
a a a
She threw me a smile years ago
And captured my heart there and then
Although she was then twenty-three.
And I was a schoolboy of ten.
What cared I for the variance In age.
My love and me nought could sever,
I dreamed of the day I'd grow up
And own her forever and ever.
And now, to rheumatics a foe
And full of the aches of old years.
Wherever I painfully go,
A simpering damsel appears.
Sometimes she's most simple and coy, ,
But oftener careless and free.
And white I'm an aged old boy.
She'a atlll, ao aha aays, twenty-three,
a a a
Note where someone has invented an
apparatus by which portraits are made
to talk. Speaking likenesses as it were.
a
Mrs. Young-Ma writes as follows:
"Dear Editor Since the announce
ment, in your paper last month of the
arrival of our bright little baby girl we
have been Inundated with samples of
food stuffs milk, clothing, powders,
soaps, toys, etc., which we find very
useful. Please repeat the announce,
ment every Tuesday until further no- ,
tlce. Respectably,
"MRS. IMA YOUNG-MA."
a
A man In Elyrla, Ohio, who was
known as the Greatest Whisky Drinker
On Earth, has been obliged to drop the
last two words of his title. And he was
a young man, too.
a
Headllnlshly I read, "Appalling
Dearth of Babies In Homes of Wealthy,"
which moves me thusly:
It sorter sweetens the common man's cup.
When his lot with the rich he compares.
To think, that while they are all stuck-up
They can't be accused of having airs.
(Working diagram heirs.)'
a a a
Paper gives account of "an entire city
block to be raised, a feat never at
tempted before." Not so. Didn't I
Steffens elevate the whole city of Los
Angeles?
The heading of an advertisement in
telling of a certain sugar suitable as a
groundwork for toothsome bits is made
by the mis-printer to read "Christmas
pies and akes."
Suppression of Crime.
CARLTON, Or., Dec. 13. (To the Ed
itor.) Will you please do me the Jus
tice to state that your recent editorial,
"What Murder Statistics Mean," which
found its Inspiration in two sen
tences from a "lon communication
one too long to publish," did not give
In the slightest degree the point and
purpose of that communication?
In the Interest of brevity, lest I be
attain refused space in the columns of
The Oregonlan, I will refrain from
pointing out what seems to me your
obtuseness or waxing funny at your ex
pense and, with your permission, say
that the above-mentioned communica
tion was not against capital punish
ment per se, but in favor of the emas
culation of dangerous criminals and
incorrigibly vicious persons, thereby
preventing such from reproducing their
kind, and also inflicting a penalty that
would be a far greater deterrent,
through intimidation, than is the death
penalty. Trusting the space limit has
not been overreached, I am
A, C. WILLET.
Mr. Wllley's original communication,
though lengthy, would perhaps have
been available had it proposed some
method of dealing with confirmed
criminals that had not been thoroughly
discussed In Oregon. Not only has the
press threshed out the subject at
length, but a bill such as he suggests
was passed by a recent Oregon Legis
lature, only to be vetoed by the Gov
ernor. The only novel or Interesting
point In the first letter was the way
the writer Interpreted murder statis
tics. That point was discussed prin
cipally to give a little lesson In arith
metic to persons who try to apply a
science they have forgotten or neg
lected. In the hope that It will
give Mr. Willey peace of mind and in
asmuch as he has been brief this time,
The Oregonlan cheerfully puts him on
record and commends fcim to the notice
of Dr. Owens-Adair.
i