TIIE SUNDAY OKEGONIAN, PORTLAND, 13, 1913.
POBTLAD( OREGON.
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l'ORTLANl), 8UNDAX. JCX.Y 13, 1918.
- STEMMING THE TIDE.
Whether to be alarmed or not at
the tide of foreign immigration (which
is setting so strongly toward the
chores of the United States is a ques
tion which will be answered different
ly according to our various points of
view. The actual immigration figures
are a little deceptive because, of late
years, an increasing number of for
eigners stay here only for a little
while and then go back home. This
habit has been growing for some time
until the returning tide now compares
in magnitude with the advancing,
though, of course, It Is still a great
deal .weaker. But, making all possi
ble reservations, it must be confessed
that we have an embarrassing host of
foreigners to deal with and are likely
to have still more before long. The
census of 1910 gives some startling
statistics concerning them. In that
year there were in this country about
19,000,000 persons of foreign or mixed
parentage. Of these, about a million
were Canadians, almost five million
Germans, more than three million
Irish, while the Russian Jews num
bered somewhat above a million and
the Poles and Bohemians, somewhat
under that mark. . .
This foreign-born population Is in
creasing yearly at a rapid rate, per
haps by one-sixth of itself. ' Its birth
rate far exceeds that of the native
born and it receives constant acces
sions from across the ocean. More
over, the foreigners do not distribute
themselves well. They dwell cooped
up in tne city slums instead of scat
tering out upon the land, where they
ought" to be. New York, for exam
pie, has a foreign-born population of
more than 1,600,000, which equals a
third of its inhabitants. Hardly one-
fifth of New Tork's population Is of
"Anglo-Saxon" blood. It is a foreign
city, reckoning according to our usual
standards, and so is Chicago. Some
of the smaller cities exhibit a still
more interesting condition. Of the in
habitants of Lawrence, Mass., to take
an extreme case, all but one in eight
are of foreign or mixed parentage.
The same is true of Fall River, Mass.,
and of Passaic, N. J., as well as of
many another manufacturing town of
considerable size. In Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and New Tork State the
foreign-born population is more than
a fourth of the whole. In such Mid
die Western states as Minnesota and
North Dakota it reaches the same pro
portion. In states like Wisconsin,
Michigan and Pennsylvania it is only
slightly less. Even in Texas it is a
tenth of the whole, and the same is
true of Oklahoma. The foreign-born
population of the entire group of
Rocky Mountain and Coast states, ex
eluding Idaho and New Mexico, rises
to about 25 per cent. In Idaho it is
not more than 15 per cent.
This condition of things is sufficient
to alarm anybody who is imbued with
a dread of "foreigners" as such. The
recent immigrants come largely from
unfamiliar parts of Europe. Their
languages do not resemble English at
ell. Their habits of life are unlike
our own, and it is common to say that
they cannot be "Americanized." Our
prophets of evil look fondly back to
the good old times when . the immi
grants were mostly Irish, Germans
and Scandinavians and shake their
heads sadly over the change. "We
could assimilate those old-time immi
grants," they wail, "but the new ones
are utterly Indigestible. If they keep
on pouring in they will swamp our In
stitutlons." Such talk as this involves
one or two fallacies which it may be
worth .while to notice. In the first
place we did not "assimilate" either
the Germans, Irish or Scandinavians.
On' the contrary, they assimilated us
Wherever they settled in predominant
numbers they radically modified
American institutions. This Is notori
ously true of New York, where the old
Knickerbocker civilization evaporated
like dew under the influence of the
Irish. But It Is Just as true of Wis.
consin, Missouri and Illinois. The
. Germans stamped their ideas indell-
bly upon the institutions of those
states, and is again true of Minnesota
and the Dakotas. Those common
wealths in Ideals and modes of
thought are as Scandinavian as Nor
way and they show it in everything
but their language. None of the lan
guages can hold their own against the
all-conquering English, but ideas have
far better fortune. All that the ordi-
nary wiseacre means when he speaks
of a foreigner being "Americanized
is that he has dropped his native
tongue for English. -Of course this
means a good deal, but not nearly so
much as some persons would like to
believe.
The institutions which the German
and Scandinavians, as well as the
Irish, have established here are now
- just as genuinely "American" as those
' set up by the Puritans, and in scores
of cases they are infinitely better,
Moreover, we must not forget that in
the days when the Irish first began to
pour in the same cry was heard that
"they were destroying our civiliza
tion." They did destroy part of It,
but they put something a good deal
better in its place. The Germans, we
. were told with tears and sobs, were
going to found a new fatherland in
Wisconsin. They did that very thing
and it has turned out to be an excel
lent land to live in. Wisconsin, with
all its Germanism, sets a noble exam
ple for the rest of the country to fol
low, which is more than anybody can
say of Puritan New England for these
many years. Now we hear the same
melancholy wail about the Poles and
Italians, to say nothing; of the Rus
sian Jews. .
We wish there were space here to
tell the honest truth about these most
admirable races of men. Physically
they are leagues ahead of the spind
ling, dyspeptic Yankee. Mentally they
are patient, intelligent and merry.
They bring to us the art, the beautiful
folk lore and folk dances, the gay
Ideals of their native lands, and we
shut them up in such debasing- sinks
Lawrence and Paterson, where
their bodies are ruined and their
minds poisoned. Then we wonder
that they fall a prey to the I. W. W.
And we wonder also "why they collect
In slums instead of going out upon the
land. They collect where they can
make their living. What have we
done to help them get out upon the
,d? Canada has solved that prob-
em completely. So have the Argen
tine Republic and Brazil. We have
done absolutely nothing about it ex
cept to whine and snivel. If our for
eign population does prove a menace
to our civilization, we may thank our
own stupidity and., indolence. The
trouble is in ourselves, and not in the
immigrants.
COOL HEADS AND FIRM HANDS
NEEDED.
Governor West left the executive
offices at Salem, boarded the train
for Portland, went to the scene of
the packing company's strike on the
East Side, personally faced the strik
ers and the agitators, and demanded
that they obey the law or be visited
by severe penalties. It was a sur
prising performance and Indeed a bold
one. Let the Governor have whatever
credit his intentions and his personal
Intrepidity entitle him to have. The
Oregonian is not disposed to cavil with
him or with any official who respects
the law and is determined at any haz
ard to make others respect it.
Yet the Governor's deed was not in
all its aspects fortunate or Judicious.
In the crisis that confronts the admin
istration of law and the preservation
of order in Portland, there ought to
be neither suspicion of motive nor
division of counsel nor conflict of ac
tion among the representatives of the
police power of state, county or city.
Governor West appears neither to
have consulted with the Mayor nor
the Sheriff about the local situation,
nor to have considered the effect up
on them and their plans of his precip
itate personal descent upon Portland.
It is true that he says he was more
or ' less in touch with the strike, but
it seems to have been entirely
through his personal agents. He
ought first to have sought communi
cation with the Mayor, the Chief of
Police, -and, if need be, the Sheriff;
and if he was convinced that they
were Inactive, or powerless, or unable
to keep the peace and protect the
peaceable, he would have been entire
ly Justified in taking matters into his
own hands. He consulted nobody
who ought to have been consulted in
Portland.
If the Governor's Interference shall
have contributed to improvement of
conditions or brought about a settle
ment of a serious and growing issue,
well and good. But it is an occasion
for the use of cool heads as well as
firm hands. The Governor's place is
behind, not before, the Mayor of Port
land, in-the present situation, where
he may and should give the support
of his powerful office. Let us have
harmony between the various arms of
government. If we cannot have it.
we shall be in a bad way.
THE MEANING OF THE BTFERATOR.
They that go down to the sea in
ships have a sumptuous time of it
these days. The new German passen.
ger steamer Imperator gives its pat
rons about everything they could buy
on shore and in a style of luxury that
no Sybarite ever dreamed of surpass
ing. The old-time cabin with beds on
narrow shelves has given way to
spacious apartment with breakfast
room, two bedrooms, servants' sleep
ing quarters, bath and drawing-room,
There is a palm garden on board, a
sun parlor whose arched roof of glass
spans the whole width of the ship.
dining conveniences of half a dozen
different descriptions, from the long
table supplied wholesale out of the
ship's kitchen to the private gustatory
shrine of the "imperial quarters," with
their separate pantry and cooks. The
modern passenger steamer carries a
population of 6000 people. The fru
gal-minded pay about the same prices
for accommodations as they did of
yore, but those who participate In the
luxuries of their floating home must
yield up something like $5000 for
what they get, ; No doubt the expert
ence is worth the price. It must be
delightful to have, a deck all to one
self and one's valet, tf sun parlor, a
private library, a music-room and a
grand saloon hung with Gobelin tapes
tries while sailing the briny deep.
It is said that the more than Ori
ental private splendors of such vessels
as the Imperator are not patronized
by the true leaders of the American
aristocracy. The Astors and "Vander-
bilts, for example, content themselves
with accommodations less magnificent
than they could procure if they
wished to spend their money in that
way. It is our newly rich who breast
the ocean waves in the glow of Pom
peiian frescoes and refresh their
storm-beaten bodies in perfumed
baths. The old families are content
with the second best, making up for
what they lack in splendor by the
consciousness of their exalted social
rank. Still, even the second best on a
modern steamer is better than a mere
human being seems worthy of. Read
ing of the fleshly delights which are
lavished .on those who can afford to
pay, one cannot help remembering the
old Greek belief that too much show
of carnal pride would provoke the
envy of the gods and bring" down
curses upon the offender's head. What
is to become of our moneyed princes
who dwell in "Imperators" on land
and sea?
The merit of the ancient European
aristocracies is that with their privl
leges they acknowledge a strict obli
gatlon. The motto "noblesse oblige1
means a good deal to them. It is not
good form in England or Germany for
a hereditary noble to spend all. his
rents on pampering his body. He
owes a duty to his tenants, to the
neighborhood where he lives and to
his country. Many of the great Brit
ish reforms have been fathered by
members of the aristocracy. Some
nobles have . been eminent in scienc
and literature. They . have com
manded the armies of the empire and
universally given part of their time to
.the business of government. The
same is true of the German aristoc
racy to an even greater degree. The
notion of vacuous idleness would be
abhorrent to them. If they had noth
ing better to do than run about the
world seeking new stimulants, they
would probably commit suicide.
Our aristocracy is mainly the prod
uct of accident. Its members possess
enormous fortunes, but only in excep
tional cases by any merit of their own.
They happened to be placed in sur
roundings .where it was raining gold
and they had just wit enough to turn
their pots right side up. Some, purely
by chance, settled on coal lands.
When the coal was discovered they
could not help amassing wealth. The
Astors happened to put their money
Into New York land. The growing
population of the city heaped up a
fortune for them. All they had to dp
was to sit by and collect their multi
plying rents.
THE DUTY OF WOMEN.
Alfred Hayes, professor of law in
Columbia University, has an article In
the Current Independent with the sig
nificant title "Thrust the Ballot Upon
Women." The writer discusses the
time-worn and familiar argument that
the duty of voting should not be
thrust upon women until the majority
of them desire it," making the true
and sensible remark that "whether
the majority desire the ballot is not
known," and moreover the proposed
referendum to find out is not worth
while. How many women, called up
on to vote on the question, would vote
at all, unless they desired the ballot?
Women who are indifferent or who
are hostile would, of course, stay
away.
The questions to be answered in de
termining whether to confer the bal
lot upon women are well stated by
Mr. Hayes as follows:
(1) Do women need the suffrage for
their development and the promotion of their
interests? (2) Does society need the votes
of women for its welfare? The test Is not
Inclination but need. It Is a strange notion
of the ballot which classes it as an orna
ment to be put on or off . as the women may
desire.
An affirmative reply may be made
to both queries. We have found in
Oregon that the women .who thought
they needed the ballot for their own
benefit have used it for the general
benefit, and that some of the women
who opposed suffrage take their du
ties seriously, study public questions
and vote. We think the time is com
ing when all eligible women will vote
as freely as men, except the scarlet
women. The political interest that
solicits and secures their support in
vites defeat. Such women do not
seek to get in, but to keep out of, the
public eye.
BATTING THE COURT.
Although the dock commission case
involving title to overflowed land on
Portland's water front has become a
closed incident in view of the decision
by the commission not to ask a re
hearing, a reply should. In common
justice to the Supreme Court, be made
to the continued attacks upon that
tribunal by the men and interests
which encouraged the shoestring lit
igation in which the commission has
been defeated.
It has been repeatedly and openly
charged that the Supreme Court re
versed several former rulings in de
ciding against the dock commission.
It is easy to find in the great number
of Supreme Court decisions rendered
some chance phrases or expressions
that seem to have a bearing upon an
important issue newly presented or
newly decided. These collateral opin
ions are known in law as obiter dicta.
and are universally considered not
binding. It is on obiter dicta that the
entire criticism of the dock case de
cision is based. A paragraph from
the opinion in Montgomery vs. Shav
er, 40 Oregon 247, Is frequently cited
as having established a rule violated
in the recent decision.' This paragraph
reads: . .
It Is suggested that the 'shore owner of
npland takes to low water instead of ordin
ary high water mark, but the rule to the
contrary has been so firmly established in
this Jurisdiction that It Is unnecessary to
treat the question further than to cite the
cases In which it was Involved.
To refresh the memory it may be
stated that in 1862 the Legislature
authorized owners of uplands border
ing on navigable waters in incorpor
ated towns to construct wharves upon
the same extending -beyond low iwater
mark to the ship channel. In 1874
and 1876 the Legislature in addition
to the wharf grant conveyed to up
land owners the overflowed lands in
front of their premises, that Is lands
between the upland and the low water
line.
The case of Montgomery vs. Shaver,
from which the above quotation is
taken, was a controversy over wharf
ing privileges, not overflowed land.
The shore line in front of the prop
erty of the litigants formed an angle,
with the result that if each claimed
wharfing privileges out to deep water
at right angles to high water mark
their rights overlapped. The sole ques
tions involved in the case concerned a
ratable adjustment of the claims of
the litigants and whether rights of
adverse possession extend to wharfing
privileges. The Issue of state owner
ship of overflowed lands was In no
way Involved.
It should be remembered that
wharfing rights attach to upland, not
to overflowed lands. In the absence
of the record in the case we can only
speculate as to why the suggestion
was made that uplands extended to
low water mark, but obviously the na
ture of the controversy would have
been altered if the contention had
been upheld, and probably as result of
differing contours of high and low
water lines. Obviously, too, the court
was merely defining the extent of up
land in order to determine the pro
portion of wharfing rights that at
tached thereto. It did not say that the
grant of overflowed lands to the up.
land owner was valid or invalid. That
question was not in issue. N
As a matter of fact, instead of re
versing itself on this proposition in
the recent opinion, the Supreme Court
has specifically affirmed its former
ruling. In the dock commission case
It says: "An upland owner of land
bordering on a navigable stream owns
only to the high water line and the
stream and the river and its banks
and bed belong to the state." But as
in the Montgomery vs. Shaver case
one cannot rely on an isolated sen
tence or paragraph to ascertain the
court's meaning. What has been said
before and what comes after must
also be read. In the later opinion the
court says: "In the case at bar the ad
jacent overflowed land has been con
veyed. by the state to the upland own
er." It then proceeds to define up
land as it has always defined it. There
is no faltering, no cnange, no re
versal. Upland extends to high water
line. Between that and low water is
the overflowed land," which has been
granted to upland owners. The up
land owner also - has the right to
wharf beyond low water to the ship
channel. This is as laws and court
rulings have long been construed bj
the public and by the taxing officials,
and upon this construction have num.
berless transfers of realty and the
prices thereon been based in the last
forty years.
Aside from its legal soundness there
is an element of justice in the opinion
that should not be overlooked. The
owners of the water front property in
question were grain buyers. They
bought it with Intent to erect a wharf
thereon to facilitate their business.
The title of the property was passed
on by' a firm of lawyers who relied
on the good faith of the state as ex
pressed in its statutes. But the own
ers were delayed in building by a
change enacted in the fire limits after
their purchase. This change .com
pelled them to construct concrete in
stead of wooden wharves, as intended.
Their financial resources did not at
the time permit improvements so
costly, so the land was held and state,
county and city regularly levied and
collected taxes on it.
The suit to deprive them of the
property was commenced at the
height of the grain shipping season
and at a time when these dealers had
temporarily used all their financial
resources to move the portion of the
crop they handled. Like other grain
buyers they operated in the shipping
eason in part on borrowed capital.
The unwarranted -lawsuit attacked
one of their best assets and impaired
their credit at the banks. Only their
high standard of personal integrity
pulled them through the crisis. Had
the city won its unwarranted action
they would not only have lost prop
erty in which they had invested $137,-
000, but would have been bankrupted
in business and wholly ruined finan
cially. How many other shore land
owners would have had a similar fate
cannot be told, but they would not
have been few in number.
But there has been no grab. The
shore owner's title built up on faith
in the honor of the state and in the
integrity of its plain and unequivocal
statutes was upheld by a court which
refuses to heed a carefully nursed
clamor for confiscation of private
property a clamor whose sole foun
dation is that the public once owned
the property, but in its disposal did
not comply with all the mazes of le
gal : technicality.
POTNDEXTEK'S NEPOTISM.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has
been at some pains to Investigate the
political annals of the Poind exter
family, and it makes the discovery
that the chief of the clan. Miles Poin
dexter, Progressive Senator from
Washington, has taken precious fine
care of the whole outfit. Or, rather,
he' has seen that the United States
Government cares for them. For Sen
ator Poindexter has during his term
of office contrived to nlace the fol
low&g relatives on the Federal pay
roll:
Ernest Poindexter, William Poin
dexter, Fielding L. Poindexter, Gale
Poindexter, Eugene Poindexter, Carl
ton D. Poindexter, Robert H. Poin
dexter, Major Jefferson D. Poindexter,
Mrs. Anna L. Poindexter,
Poindexter, Samuel J. Graham,
The Poindexter with the unknown
given name is on the Navy payroll at
Washington, and the son- Gale is a
midshipman at Annapolis. The list
includes three brothers, one son, six
cousins and the wife of a seventh
cousin. Besides ' these striking evi
dences of the paternal interest of Sen.
ator Poindexter in his own kin, it ap
pears that the Poindexter family has
sold to the Government for $30,000
mountain land in Virginia owned by
his family. The Senator has recent.
ly built a fine house in a fashionable
section of Washington.
Senator Poindexter has not been
able to get any party appointments
or very few for his own supporters
in Washington, but --. all
over the United States for the Poin
dexters. The Poindexter appoint
ments range from midshipman to
postmaster, mailing-room clerk at
the Capitol to assistant to the Attor
ney-General. But the faithful in
Washington State go hungry.
The Poindexter episode is quite the
worst ease of nepotism in recent po
litical history. Evidently Poindexter
is making hay while the sun shines,
He. is the only Progressive Senator,
Ha ought to be the last of his kind.
WISDOM IS BETWEEN EXTREMES.
Controversy over the currency bill
will evidently rage around the ques
tion as to the degree to which the Gov.
ernment shall interfere in the manage
ment of the reserve banks. At the
one extreme of opinion are those
bankers who object to any greater de
gree of Federal control over reserve
banks than Is now exercised over Na
tional banks. At the other extreme
are those who, taking the facts dis
covered by the Pujo committee as evl.
dence -that no banker is to be trusted
would in effect have the Government
do a banking business with private
capital which the banks had been
forced to contribute. In the one class
are the great financial interests of
New York and other business centers,
In the other are Secretary Bryan and
those who, like him, believe that Fed
era! officials alone can be trusted to
fix interest rates and to regulate the
ebb and flow of . capital between the
money centers and the producing dis-
trlcts. They have, in effect, revised
Jefferson's dictum to read: "That gov
ernment governs best which governs
most."
As usual in such controversies.
truth lies somewhere between the two
extremes. Admittedly control of cap.
ital and credit has become concen
trated in few hands. This fact is con.
fessed . by pne of those who exercise
this control to be a danger to the
country. -Although this condition is
largely the result of our present pernl
clous banking law, it has spread
among the people distrust of bank
ers' in general and has created a de
mand for greater Government control.
The Owens-Glass bill proposes to con
fer so many benefits on the banks. It
gives them so many things for which
they have long asked, that they can
well afford to submit to closer control
as the price of valuable concessions,
They can scarcely afford to sacrifice
all concentration of reserves, redis
counts, asset currency, foreign
branches, retirement of bond-secured
currency, through unreasonable oppo.
sition to closer supervision.
On the other hand, those at the op
posite extreme cannot afford to dash
the' country's hopes of currency re.
form by rigid insistence on the terms
of the present hill. They cannot rea
sonably ask the banks to surrender
the power to fix interest rates from
week to week to a board of seven Fed
eral officials, only one of whom need
be a banker, and who are subject to
all the changing winds of politics
through appointment for only eight
years. Nor can, they reasonably ask
the banks to surrender one-fifth of
their capital and one-twentieth of
their deposits to a reserve bank gov
erned by a board two-thirds of whose
members are either appointed or re- j
movable by the Federal Reserve
Board.
The bill is admitted to be a com-
romise, and the announcement of
Chairman Glass that the House com
mittee is willing to consider amend
ments gives hope of further compro
mise. How far some bankers are
willing to go in this direction may be
inferred from a letter which John
Harsen Rhoades, a Wall-street bank
er, has written to President Wilson.
He sees in the endeavor to avoid the
placing of overmuch power in the
hands of the banker a tendency to
place overmuch power in the hands of
the politician. He suggests that the
danger of political control could be
eliminated if the Federal Reserve
Board were appointed for life, and
that we should then have a positive
guaranty of exclusion of personal in
terest. So conciliatory a spirit on the one
side should awaken a like spirit on
the other. If the moderates on the
two sides get together the extremists
can be ignored and Congress may
evolve that much-needed boon a
sound banking and currency system.
THE NEW LAUREATE.
Robert Bridges, the new poet laure
ate of England, is distinctly a safe
man. He has no disturbing opinions
on any subject -whatever; or, if he has,
his "writings do not show them. The
serenity of his soul is not muddled by
Kipling's robust Jingoism nor Brown
ing's turbid philosophy. He has
never felt Tennyson's thrills over evo
lution nor Swinburne's affection for
anarchy. The world may wag as it
will as far as Mr. Bridges ' is con
cerned. AH he asks Is permission to
sit and trill his pensive little lays in
his Oxford hermitage. His voice is
thin and tinny. His' poetry is frail
and icy. But in its frigid way it pos-
sesses a sort of beauty, or rather ohe
ought to say, perhaps, that it has no
faults. Mr. Bridges belongs to the
class of writers against whom nothing
can be said by the most ill-natured
tongues. In all that he has published.
and it is a good deal, he has not com
mitted a solitary sin against prosody
or gentlemanly taste. His rhymes are
perfect, his feet cut to exact length
In many ways he is a well-chosen rep.
resentatlve of all that is old, stable
arid a little desiccated in British life
He is a good churchman, tending
rather to be "high," as we gather
from his -poetry, an ardent adorer of
throne and nobility, a devoted wor
shlper of the classics.
No doubt this last quality particu
larly endears him to the middle-class
British, "who, next to their lords, love
the Greek and Roman myths. Their
minds are a little too reposeful to
have invented a mythology of their
own, so they have taken Zeus and
Mars to their souls with all the para
phernalia of imagination that goes
with them and the poets whom they
like best are those who dutifully re
hash this material. Mr. Bridges has
done this to sweet perfection. His
long poems, of which he has published
several, handle such themes as "De-
meter," "Eros and Psyche," "Prome
theus the Fire Giver," and so on. His
dramas cling to Rome. "The Tragedy
of Nero" is one of them. This is a
stupendous production in two parts
which have been greatly admired by
sepulchral critics, though the first
part is said to lack somewhat of the
genuine odor from ' the tombs which
breathes through the second. His
'Feast of Bacchus" is an imitation of
Menander, whose lost plays have stim
ulated British genius to emulation for
centuries. The fact that nobody quite
knows how his plays ran makes the
exercise all the more fascinating to
people who have nothing better to do
The "Feast of Bacchus" has another
attraction for British antiquaries in
that it is founded on Terence's "Hean
tontimoroumenos." How exquisitely
classical it makes one feel merely to
see that divine word in print, and if
one can actually pronounce it his soul
seems to wallow in culture. A man
who can imitate both Terence and
Menander at the same time is sure to
receive as many palms and laurel
wreaths as he cares to ask for from
Oxford and the British ministry. Mr
Bridges' great and decisive merit ap
pears to be his total lack of interest
in modern times. The world of classic
myth and fable completely satisfies
him. If all that has happened for the
last 300 years were annihilated, leav
ing his Oxford cell undisturbed, his
tinny piping would proceed Just the
same. Not one of his pet ideas would
be lost, not a solitary darling of his
soul would be killed. We may ex
press the new laureate's crowning
merit in another way by saying that
he has no opinions on anything but
prosody and Aphrodite. There Is no
danger of his writing an ode to Mrs
Pankhurst. He is not at all likely to
celebrate the airship in & roaring song.
Whatever he produces will be quiet,
gentlemanly and dry enough to be ac
ceptable to good society everywhere
we do not need to say that a poet
like-Mr. Bridges has no readers, or,
at any rate, but very few. A certain
school of critics praise him with cul-
tured moderation and we suppose they
must have read through his classical
imitations and his sequence of love
sonnets. But the rest of the world is
content to admire him tepidly without
trying to read him. He -was so well
aware that his poems "were not for the
herd that in the beginning of his ca
reer he circulated them in private edi
tions. His admirers do their best to
make a merit of his inability to gain
the public-ear. They say his, beauty
is too delicate to be Intelligible to the
vulgar. His music is refined to such
a degree of purity , that the common
ear cannot appreciate its fragile ca
dences. His faultless verse Is attuned
only to highly cultured souls. There
is something in this sort of praise. We
do not for a moment question that
there is a beauty and purity of art
which the great masses cannot appre
ciate, but we do not believe that It is
of much worth.
In our Judgment Mr. Bridges" deli
cacy and fragility, his isolation from
the world he lives in and his devotion
to the dead past simply mean that his
genius is - sterile. It . never has been
fertilized by the spirit of his own time
and therefore it bears nothing but lit
tle abortions which resemble poetry
in form but lack its true vitality and
are doomed to perish before long.
poet who can find nothing in the mod.
ern world to sing about, but must
wander back to Menander and Ter
ence for his themes, might as well
never have been born. He is certainly
not destined to survive a great while
Menander has come down to us, a few
fragments of him, because he loved
the life of his generation and put it
into great literature. Mr. Bridges
cares not a penny for any life or any
problems of life since Rome fell. This
lack of Interest in the modern world
fits him to sing of Kings' birthdays
and Queens' laces, but it makes his
poetry as lifeless as the mummies.
Those who praise him most say that
he "avoids all the questions that per
plex pur day and this makes his po
etry reposeful." Death has the same
kind of repose. Mr. Bridges is an
apostle of art for art's sake. One of
his best friends writes of him that "he
loves love and loves beauty." This Is
as true as possible, but in order to
be a great poet he must love men and
women. Love and beauty are but
shadows unless they are embodied in
our passionate and suffering fellow
creatures.
It has become so habitual with
many people to speak with horror of
the streets as a place where children
learn and do evil that the People's In
stitute of New York City set to work
to ascertain just what children -do in
the streets. It employed 500 persons
to take a census of what children
were doing on the streets of New York
one April afternoon between 4 and 5
o'clock. They counted 158,636 chil
dren. They found fifty-two distinct
games in progress, baseball being the
most popular. Only 904 boys and six
girls among the 94,302 observed in
Manhattan were fighting, or about
two-thirds of 1 per cent. There was
little gambling among boys, chiefly
pitching pennies and shooting craps.
About 20 per cent of the children were
simply loafing. As the streets ' are
about the only playground the city
furnishes, the children seem to make
good use of them.
The new Commissioner of Educa
tion announces that he edited his an
nual report with the idea that it was
to be read by the general public
Would that all Government officials
would . follow his example. Millions
have been spent in printing and bind
ing Government reports which nobody
reads because they are too long and
prolix, too technical and too full of dry
statistics. Their very aspect Is repel.
lent and one no sooner sees their titles
than one turns from them with aver
sion. Why can't they be condensed
translated - into plain English and
made generally readable? Then the
money spent on them would not be
wasted and Americans would not be
compelled to turn to the work of a
newspaper man like Haskln to learn
how their Government is organized
and what it is doing.
The back-to-the-f arm movement
has split the family of Richard F,
Hallahan, of New York. The hus
band wearied of living in city flats
and wished to take his children to the
country, where they would have room
to develop, but his wife refused to go
on the pretext that she would be too
far from her own family. She sued
for separation on the ground of cruel
ty and Justice Delaney granted her
plea with $40 a month alimony. But
he expressed sympathy with the fath
er's views and awarded the children
to him. It would be interesting to
know how long a time will elapse be
fore the mother's pining for her chil
dren overcomes her aversion to the
country. 1
Secretary Bryan's request that Colo
nel Brewer be ordered to demand re
lease of Americans held prisoners by
Mexican rebels is the first sign of
vigor in his foreign policy. The time
may be near when the United States
must do the work of international po
licemen by ending anarchy in Mexico,
as we ended it in Cuba.
, Postal cards are being circulated
reading: "Governor Stubbs, of Kansas,
Progressive party candidate for Presi
dent in 1916." Are teeth to be dis
carded in favor of red hair? Is the
creature to turn against its creator
Diplomatic relations between Oyster
Bay and Topeka are likely to become
strained.
How much gold can a woman carry
In her stocking without limping was
the question raised in a Seattle court,
Well, that depends on the woman, the
stocking and how skilfully the gold
was stowed. If the stocking covered
a wooden leg, the woman could carry
considerable gold without its being
noticed.
The speculative land owner proves
to have been one of the chief obstacles
to construction of the West Umatilla
irrigation project. They are playing
dog-in-the-manger, refusing to devel
op the land themselves or to let any
body else develop it until an exorbi
tant price has been paid.
Religious education in the schools
is no sooner proposed than the ques
tion arises: What religion?" Then the
trouble begins. The scheme is im
practicable in a nation where religious
liberty prevails, and the nation is not
willing to abandon religious liberty
in order to make it practicable.
If experts were to draw bills for
Congress, Senators and Representa
tives could not easily slip in their
jokes. Hence Senator Bacon's hor
ror at Senator Owen's bill, for he is
a Senator of the old school.
Warning is given of danger of
spread of disease by the automatic
cigar cutter. After all, the only safe
ty lies in the old pipe, ripe and rotten.
Nobody can get close enough to it to
catch anything.
Muzzling dogs that appear on the
streets will not prevent pets at home
from biting. A good many decent
animals are due for humiliation and
must, suffer for possible general good.
In this absurd climate, where blan
kets are needed at night and a light
wrap in the daytime, one can pity the
poor Kansan sweltering in 110 degrees
in the shade.
Under home rule there will be no
disturbances after the first 12th 'of
July following inauguration. There
will be no Orangemen left.
Portland's new inspector does not
know one dance from another, but he
knows what is decent and proper, and
that is enough.
Waldo Sloan's name is added to the
roll of honor of boy heroes, whether
or not he gets a Carnegie medal.
A Portland policeman plays many
parts. The latest addition to his rep
ertoire is inspector of dances.
Miss Wilson and her father are
quoted as saying young Sayre is a
fine fellow. Lucky Sayre!
Get into the country today and help
Nature rejoice in. her glory.
Jack Johnson is in London, where
the color line is invisible.
Montana Mutterings
By Leone Casa Baer.
(Written at Billlng-s.)
Amended reading of an old proverb
Where the family is, there lieth also
the vacation.
On to Montana is one of the slogans,
and I verily believe that any visitor is
fully so after a week's stay.
i.iLiuuti yj l lucm DOH.ru. til. UOthllU
found rubber tire in -a. niece of sausasre.
Which proves that in Billings also the
motor car is replacing the harse.
Am so lazy I wish I had a Job taking
moving pictures of a tortoise.
My sister's three-year-old baby girl
asked: "Gran'ma do you see great big
when you got your specs on?" "Yes,"
answered grandmother. "Den take "em
off when you cut my cake."
Local minister advertised that he
was going to preach a sermon for wo
men under 30 and men out of debt. The
church was packed.
There was a nice Installment man
called at a house across the way. The
lady met him at the door, and bade
him "Enter pray." She said "It's lovely
weather. Won't you take the easy
chair?" "No," he said, "but the piano
I'll take if you don't care."
It takes a lot to make the average
woman satisfied with hers.
Its easy enough to acquire an air
after one has acquired a millionaire.
Wails a headline in the local paper:
"Girl Drops Suitor." Naturally she con
siders him beneath her.
The folk who get punctures in life's
race are generally those who were
born tired.
When money talks you don't notice
any one howling about its choice of
English.
The only man who boasts that he
never made a mistake in his life is the
bachelor.
I reckon lovers make spectacles of
themselves mostly because love is blind.
I think I'd get tired of doing nothing
there's so much of it to do, you
know.
I know a man who is taking lessons
of a burglar so he can get in at nights
without awakening his wife.
Account of a train wreck says: "Tai
lor is saved." Ah-ha! Survival of the
fittist!
I think that quotation about patience
on a monument should be changed to
patients under monuments.
See where Kay King-Nelson and her
pugilistic husband. Bat Nelson, are
writing "memoirs." Some sort of scrap
book, I suppose.
Lecturer says the two keys to pros
perity are luck and pluck. Yes, he's
right in a way. What he should have
said is luck in finding some one to
pluck.
"Laughing trout" is a descriptive
term I read in a railroad book. Well,
I've heard of a merry old sole.
e
Example of "strong will:" Sir John
Scott's bequest of $2,600,000 to Lady
Sackvllle.
If I wanted to get real even with
some woman I'd maneuver to get men
tion of her printed in that 25-years-ago
column.
"I have a heart affection
For you," cried the bashful boy.
"Have yon had It lung?"
Inquired the maiden coy,
"Tea, and if you won't wed me
I'll liver troubled life."
"Well," said she "asthma, then.
If I will be your wife."
m m m
"Mrs. Jake Els has husband arrested
for flirting." Just so. Can't make
her Els behave.
m m m
Read of a "shower of puppies."
Probably belong to the dog star. Ex
pect now to hear from Ursa Major.
He's a bear!
Vacation Ditty
By Dean Collins.
Tick, tick, little watch, ever faster and
faster,
. And shovel the seconds back into the
past;
Bright joy o'er the future is spread
like a plaster:
Tick, tick? little watch, and please
bring it here fast.
With glad cachination and exhilara
tion, I hall the approach of the Summer va
cation. Oh where shall I spend those bright
days of vacation?
- Oh where shall I sport in my fair
leisure day?
I've not made my mind up, but sure as
creation.
The time shall soon come when I'll
beat it away.
With jubilant heart, to some far dis
tant part
As fast as I ever can pack up and start.
Sing ho, for the tingling bite of
mosquitoes.
That sing their small song In the
mountain and wood,
I'll laugh though they nibble my ankles
and wee toes,
And holler: "Bite on! May it do you
much good:
This price must one pay when he ram
bles away
To spend his vacation in loafing and
play!"
Sing ho, for the sizzling sting of the
sunburn.
That covers my arms with its skin
tanning paint.
Until shoulders, face, arms and neck
are just on burn.
In blisters designed, that are fancy
and quaint. ,
"Hurroo! Let 'er burn," I will holler In
turn,
"There's no other way the rich color
to earn!"
Oh what though it cost me my ultimate
dollar
To settle the bills when vacation is
o'er;
I'll pack up my other soft shirt and
my collar
And seek me seclusion at mountain
or shore '
To loaf on the lea and to chuckle in
glee:
"Vacations come high, but that don't
worry me!"
So tick, little watch, tick away like
the difekens;
Grab hold of the future and shove
it to me,
For brighter the glow on my horizon
thickens
The closed I feel my vacation to be;
To my heaiSt appeals what 'most every
man feels
A yearning to cut loose and kick up my
heels.