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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1913)
TITE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 31, 1913. POBTLAXD, OBKGOM. Entered at Portland. Onion, Poatofflea as eeoad-dui matter. Subscription Bates Invariably la Advance.: BT KAIL.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year Tjailv. Suediv included, mix. months Dally. Sunday Included. three moothe 3.24 TJally, Sunday Included, one month Dally, without Sunday, one year . .... .7 ... e.tw usiiy. without bunuay, lx momns . Dally, without Sunday, three montha. ., i.73 Dally, a Ithout Sunday, one month - au Kundlu nn- .... 3 & bunday and weekly one year . . 1ST CARRIER) . . ...j.j - - . - a.0v Dally, Sunday Included, one month, ...... How to Bestit Send postotllco money or der, ezpreu order or personal check on yor local hank Ktamna. r.iln or currency are at Bender's rUk. Give postotflce address full, including county and state. Postage Bates 12 to Id paces,'! eantr M to 82 pases. 2 cents: H to psgea, c 60 to 60 pases. cents; 6i to .4 , ' csnu; 78 to M pases, cents. Foreign post sc. double rata. - Eastern Baslncas OMcew Yerree " Conk- !ln. New York, Brunswick building. caro. fitr buildlna. ban If randans Office H. ' J. .'BIdwoU Co, til Market at. KnrMMa nff1eaKo. 5 Resent StTOSt & W , London. rOBTLAN'D, RXDAT, Al'GrST SI. 181S- rOB A TVBI.IC CENSOR. . . The Oreg-oniaa is inclined to think, sometimes, that a good old-fashioned censor of public morals is the crying need of the hour. He should have autocratic power to regulate the home, the theater, the newspaper, the pulpit. the street-forum, the restaurant, dress, customs, manners, and all the institu tions and relations of public and pri vate life. 'Who would more quickly chase the woman with the X-ray gown from the streets or the stage than a public cen sor? What influen.ee could be more corrective and beneficial In determin ing and classifying decent and inde cent or corrupting journalism? How tetter could the question of appro priate speech from the soap-box -and in the parks be solved? Who could snore safely assign the hours when our eons and daughters, and others on pleasure bent, might frequent the cabaret grills and fashionable restau rants? Why not leave it to him what we should eat, drink and wear, and when? Why not authorize him to define the conditions, methods and Ideals of stage production, approving the decent and interesting' play and forbidding the dull, vulgar, debasing and criminal? Why not have a public eensor who knows the whole duty of man and will erect and enforce a standard of public and private con duct? We are aware of the objections to a censor. They could not be enumer ated in the page of an ordinary news paper, and history abounds with illus trations of their pernicious and de structive Influence. One criticism is that no individual could do as he pleaaes. - It is immaterial what the others are, for it is clear that every American citizen purposes to control liis own actions and pursue his own pleasures. But it mill do no harm to speculate a little on the certain ben efits of a censor provided a function ary of universal wisdom and knowl edge could be found. Possibly he does not exist. During the past week there was a play at a local theater that ought to have had the immediate and summary attention of a public censor or of pub lic proscription. It had to do with a foolish young man with no money, but with numerous equally -foolish friends with ' money, including a notorious counterfeiter. Our hero, being at the end of his resources, awakens, the friendly interest of the counterfeiter, who shows him how to capitalize his relations with his rich associates by the exploitation of a spurious mining company, and by selling the worthless stock therein to them. To make the fraud have a semblance of substance, the' counterfeiter gives the young pro moter a large sum of bogus money with which he is to make a "flash" "before the dazzled eyes of possible in vestors. The complications growing cut of this remarkable project consti tute the plot, about which is built a lively and amusing comedy drama. But the price the public pays for two hours' entertainment Is to see crime condoned, friendship bur. lesqued, innocence travestied, and law derided. It Is a joke that unsuspect ing persons should buy stock in a con cern known to be worthless, though there is a pitiful effort to redeem the fraud by the expedient of unexpected ly striking gold in the mine. It is rare humor to humiliate and defeat at every turn the detectives who are honestly striving to apprehend crim inals and expose crime. It is a beau tiful exhibition of the platontc rela tions of a crook and a fool, justifying the partnership between them. It is a fine lesson for old and young to have the counterfeiter's ruse Anally made to succeed, and to reward the rash spec ulator by bestowing upon him at the end the love of a trusting woman and the money of his too trusting acquain tances. Yet this play has passed the general scrutiny without any real crit icism anywhere by the newspapers of complaint by the public. As a demor alizing Influence, it is worse than the X-ray dress and the bare-legged ballet, on the stage or off. The Insidious but definite teaching of such a play is that dishonest methods in business and loose methods In morals are to be crowned with success. Probably we shall have more of this sort of thing In Portland, for the crime play has been the fad in New1 York during the past year. Following the Rosenthal murder and the exposure of police practices, it became highly pop ular in the metropolis to dramatize the officers and their supposed victims and accomplices. At one time In New York last Winter a half dozen melodramas were running, all touching on one phase or other of every-day crime, and Introducing in their order the law breakers and their nemeses, but con triving in every instance to excuse more or less pointedly the former and to make a jest of the latter. What are we coming to when we make light of the darkest misdeeds and applaud openly any effort by the law to expose and punish them? The only public censor Just now is the public conscience. We have fond ly believed that it would be a cor rective of all immoral and Improper public spectacles, and that it might be safely left to work out the common destiny. But who will say that there has been an effective manifestation of the public conscience anywhere, so far as it touches dress or the theater or sight life in the cities? A public cen sor would of course do nothing with out a public sentiment to support him. A public sentiment adequate to make possible a public censor is in itself powerful enough to require reform in all these phases of human existence. Constitutionality of the Kansas "blue ky" law is to be tested by a corpora- tion which has obtained a temporary Injunction against Its enforcement. It is Just as well that this be done. Many states have passed laws patterned after that of Kansas, All have rec ognized -that the corporation laws have been made to serve the purposes of shameless swindlers. Corporations generally need to have the fact lm pressed on them that they are exercis ing a privilege created by law and that that privilege must be exercised In strict comformlty with law or it may be withdrawn. "Blue sky" laws have no terrors for, promoters of cor porations who seek capital' for legiti mate purposes. . On the contrary, they are a protection to such men. Opera. Uons of swindling stocksellers spread distrust as to all corporate Investments and hamper the operations of legiti mate companies. A permit to sell stock from a state having , a "blue sky law is a good introduction to a prospective investor and -Is thus an aid In selling stock. Only the swln dlers .need fear the "blue sky" law. EXGLAKD FTTT TO SHAME. China has called England's bluff on suppression of the opium traffic, and England is in a most unenviable posi tion before the civilized world. Eng land, by treaty, agreed to reduce India's exports of opium to China to 16,580 chests In 1913, 11.461 In 1914, 10,200 in 1915 and 6100 in 1916. in which last year the traffic should en tirely stop. Mr. Montagu, the British Under-Secretary for India, in a recent statement in Parliament, said that at that time India was not selling an ounce of opium to China and that the government was prepared to revoke the treaty and to refrain from sending more opium to China, on being satis fied that China was steadfast in rid ding herself of her indigenous poppy, though India would thereby sacrifice $55,000,000 of revenue. He pro nounced the traffic between India and China dead and not to be revived unless China showed that she would not be -benefited. China is certainly steadfast in root ing out the growing of the poppy. Yuan Shi Kai hates opium, long ago made opium-smoking in the army a capital offense, and in the last few months sent troops through the prov inces to root up the plants. Sir John Jordan, who would not overstate, the facts, says that three great provinces have been swept clean of the poppy. But th? British government still backs Indian opium-sellers in their demands that China buy. Though new shipments from India 'lave cerjed, stocks worth $40,000,00 had accu mulated at Shanghai and Hongkong before Mr. Montagu made his state ment. These stocks are held by Hindu merchants, who Insist upon its sale. China's offer to pay the freight back to India has been declined. Lieutenant-General Chang has gone to Eng land to plead for deliverance from the curse, but in vain. He says. If China had the money, she would buy this opium and bum it. England could better afford to do so than to be shamed before the world by upholding the moneyed interests of merchants at the cost of the degradation of a nation. The whole story of the opium trade is disgraceful to England. She fought China to force opium on that country and her government has upheld the opium merchants against the protests of both China and the beet citizens of England. SCIENCE AND STOUTSt The spirit land Is coming into. Its own as a subject of scientific investi gation. Sir Oliver Lodge, faithful among the faithless for so many years. is the new president of the august British Association for the Advance ment of Science, and twenty-seven out of the thirty papers announced for the next-meeting are to be upon subjects connected with the soul and the future life. This is pretty well for a realm which only a few years ago could not even be peeped into without disgrace. When Huxley was invited to investi gate some occult phenomena, he re plied that he did not believe the re ports about them were true, and if they were true- they did not interest him. This has been the attitude of scientific men for a great while. So long has it continued and so arrogant ly defiant has it been that the spiritists have serious ground of complaint against the high priests of orthodox science. But if they will pause and think a moment they will perceive that the stubbornness of such men as Dar win and his more recent successors in the high places of learning is perfectly natural. In its feeble beginnings science had a hard fight for existence against ubiquitous superstition. It was perse cuted by the clergy on one hand and disgraced by magicians and necro mancers on the other. The Scriptures were quoted against it and its mantle was borrowed to cover witchcraft. Ko wonder, therefore, that men who were carrying on the genuine pursuit of truth amid perils dark and dire should have learned to hate the' occult. It was their worst enemy and at that time it was all-powerful. The world was ruled by magic form ulas of one sort and another. People knew a great deal more about heaven than earth. The devil was the most familiar member of every community and the angels made nightly visits to their friends and enemies, There has been a long and bitter warfare waged between science, with its passion for truth, and the occult, with its almost Invincible preference for mendacity and humbug. But with the progress of the years the occult Itself has been to a certain degree penetrated with the spirit of science. Those who seek to peer through the veil into the bourne from which perhaps now and then a traveler does return are no longer satisfied with fraudulent reports. They are willing to submit everything to investigation and welcome the sifting hand that separates imagination or mendacity from fact. This new spirit makes possible an al liance between the lovers of the occult and the stern protagonists of exact sci ence. The spiritists, as became the original aggressors, made the first overtures for peace and alliance, but for a long while their timorous ad vances were rejected with scorn. It required heroic courage for any man of science to forget the old traditions of his caste and Join hands with the foe that had imprisoned and burned his intellectual ancestors. But the al layment of the feud was only a matter of time. Men of world-wide renown like Al fred Russell Wallace and Sir Oliver Lodge baldly took the initiative, some times, with the zeal of new converts, even going farther than wisdom war ranted. But little by little others fol lowed suit until now psychical research sits proudly throned in the austere chamber of the British Association. Perhaps men of science begin to doubt whether 'the old division wall between the material and the spiritual universes is as solid as they once supposed. The latest investigations of physicists seem to make It rather dlf phanous in places - There Us the old concept of "mass," for example; what could have been more Immovably - established ? Mass, as Newton thought of it, was the most substantial thing In the world. Quan- tlty of mass was. for his mind, the fundamental constant in all investiga tions. Quantity of mass and quantity of motion combined pave momentum, and by the rate at which momentum changed the great pioneer meas ured force. He made the whole sub ject of mechanics depend upon mass. But now comes the new learning and dissipates this solid foundation stone into the thinnest of thin air. What is. more airy than energy? Who knows what energy Is? The most the laboratories can tell us Is that en ergy exists and that everything we see and know is permeated by it. There is energy of motion and energy of posi tion, and one changes into tbe other with the evolution, as a by-product, of that vanishing specter we call force. The latest researches tend to resolve the universe into energy. Bergson calls it "life,'' but names are of no consequence. ' It might be called God If anybody wished. The point is that research has light ed upon the fact that energy and mass depend upon each other. The swifter an electron moves the more energy it has. and, wonder of wonders, the more mass it has, too. Thus we come fas cinatingly near to resolving matter into motion, or at least into energy. Mo tion may fee only an Illusion. It is the way energy presents Itself to our senses. There is another point which the curious student of science ought not to forget. Bergson has gone back to the old scholastic theorem that no body can act where it is not. Hence if the sun attracts the earth it must be be cause It .penetrates the earth. The two bodies are not separated, but more or less merged. This conclusion loses some of its daring when we remember that Kant showed space to be merely a form of thought with no external istence. Since there is interaction among all the bodies In the universe. there must be a unity among them. Science finds this nnity in the hypothe sis that they are all modifications of the omnipresent ether. . It has been proved, by Helmhottz, for instance, that if a vortex be once set whirling in the ether it must whirl forever. Nothing can bring it to rest. Suppose the soul were such a vortex? We should have the dogma of lmmor tallty established by mathematics at one stroke. And if each vortex sends out waves of one sort or another, there Is no apparent reason why there should not he communication between them StilU if the souls or "vortices, of the dead, send out waves of different pe riod from the living, difficulty might arise in receiving; and Interpreting them. Do we not see precisely such difficulties in the phenomena of medl urns? A 6TAMPEDB FOB COVER, Decision' of the Democratic leaders In the Senate to amend the income tax provisions of the Underwood bill by Imposing a higher tax on larger Incomes than the bill proposed is the fruit of consternation at finding them selves on the same side as the stand- pat Republicans. With what horror must they have seen such men as Sen ators Penrose, Galllnger, Smoot, Lodge and Root voting with them! Our ever alert Senator Lane Instant ly saw that the Democracy was in dan ger of contamination by such asso ciates and of being "In bad" with the proletariat. Here were they put in the position of showing excessive ten derness for men of large fortune, of lining up with the purported repre sentatives of the interests. And here were the progressive Republicans held up before the Nation as the true ene mies of excessive wealth and as the true friends of the conynon people. Competition between Democrats and progressive Republicans for the right and title to the name "progressive became keen. After the caucus acts, we may see Senator Simmons outdoing Senators Borah and Brlstow in efforts to tap the overlarge money bags. The progressive Republicans seem to hold the balance of power in the Senate, not .by force of numbers, but through political strategy. Let them father a measure aimed at "the in terests" and favorable to the common people, and the Democrats stampede to get on the same side. Let the stand pat Republicans vote for a measure proposed by the Democrats and the latter promptly have misgivings as to Its wisdom. ; The test is the attitude of the two factions of Republicans. If the standpatters support it, then must It be cast into limbo. If It wins the votes of the progressives, then is it most meritorious. Yet in the eyes of Democrats the whole Republican par ty, standpat and progressive alike, is hopelessly wedded to the special in terests. As to whether a tax of five per cent on incomes ver 2100.000 a year and ten per cent on incomes over 1500,000 is Just or can be collected, that ques tion is held to be of no consequence. It probably 'Is Just, If we consider the manner of Its acquisition, but a man with the ability to acquire it may fair ly be credltee with ability to put it out of Uncle Sam's reach. The expatriated Americans abroad may soon be Joined by- some expatriated American for tunes. " - - OHIO'S-' NEW LABOR, LAWS. -In the new constitution recently adopted, Ohio has gone as far as any state in regulating industry to conform to the theory of .social and industrial justice. It has created a commission of three men vested with power tol compel the adoption of devices for protection of life in factories, laun dries, hotels, apartment houses, stores and by telegraph and telephone com panies, and to regulate hours of labor. This commission's orders are subject to review only by the State Supreme Court. The Legislature is also em powered to fix minimum wages in any or all industries and may delegate Its power to the Labor Commission. Employers express alarm . at the possible consequences of regulation by three political appointees. They fear corruption will grow ont of exer cise of such ' great powers by these men. The J predict lawsuits to test the validity of the new state consti tution in the United States Supreme Court. 'Thy question the authority of the Legislature to delegate such broad powers. They foresee that industry will be duven from Ohio to other states where there are no such laws. If the new laws should be well and honestly administered, they will prove to what exlent efficiency la increased by protectlDn of employes' lives and limbs, by restriction of hours of labor and by assurance of a living wage. It would nem that, Ohio would be-, come so attractive to worklngmen as to draw them to that state in large numbers. Employers would then be able to pick the most skilful, indus trious and generally efficient Quality and volume of output might thus be so Increased as to more than compen sate for the extra- expenditure. Cas ualties might be so decreased that the saving in compensation would prove protective devices to have been a good investment. But if the ideal conditions which Ohio seeks to establish for working people should not draw the best skill and industry of the country: if shorter hours and better wages should not cause larger output; and if competing states should not adopt and enforce similar laws, manufacturers In Ohio will languish and the effect of the in novation will appear In higher prices. imposing the cost on the consumer in the end. The less skilled and effi cient, who are shut out of employment because of inability to earn the mini mum wage, may be expected to raise an outcry. In chorus with the manu facturer, whose plant is depreciated by decrease in earning power, and with the consumer, who pays more for its products. In such a case reaction would make the laws a dead letter or cause their repeal. The fact that employers oppose the new laws Is no proof that they predict truly. Experience alone can decide whether they or the authors of the new labor laws have judged wisely. Men are prone to protest against en forced change, though it may be for their own advantage. The working people of Ohio can do most to vindi cate the wisdom of the laws passed for their benefit. If prosperity for their employers follows shortening of hours, protection from injury and adoption of a minimum wage, then Ohio's experiment will be a proved success and will find Imitators among other states. GOOD ROADS AND GOOD HOTELS. Construction by Multnomah and ad joining counties of tbe Columbia River Highway will aid powerfully in the development of Oregon's attractions for tourists. This class of travelers is generally well-to-do and accus tomed to the comforts of life, and traveling for pleasure, expects to find them, and is willing to pay for them. There are two essentials to the com fort of tourists good roads and good hotels. They will not visit places which can be reached only by an agonizing journey over bad roads and where the hotel accommodation is of the most primitive sort. The Multnomah County Commission. ers have therefore acted wisely in employing an expert road-builder to construct the Columbia River Hlghr way and in deciding on a solid, per manent roadway Such a highway, built on easy grades along a route which will afford a good view of the wonderful Columbia River gorge, would attract tourists and every tour ist who travels It will, by telling of the trip, bring a score of others. At convenient intervals along the road first-class hotels should be built, af fording every comfort and conveni ence. Oregon is well supplied with such hotels in its principal cities and towns, but sadly lacks them In the sparsely settled and wild sections where the greatest scenic beauties are to be found. Multnomah County, as the wealthiest and most populous in the state, does well to establish a standard to which other counties can work. Every coun ty has an equal interest in coming up to this standard, for there is not a part of the state which would not attract travel, once the facilities are furnished. With main highways along the Colum bla from the eastern line of the state to Astoria, up ithe Willamette and to the California line, and through East, ern Oregon from north to south and from east to west, Oregon would soon have a road system on which automo biles would swarm. The most remote parts of the state would be made ac cessible by branch roads. Citizens of Switzerland, the pleas ure ground of Europe, have admitted that in the Columbia River gorge and the Cascade Mountains Oregon has scenic beauties which far surpass those of Switzerland. But Switzerland has an admirable system of roads and ho tels. By duplicating it, Oregon may be made the playground, of America, and at the same time the agricultural and industrial 1 development of the state may be greatly promoted. SEW PARTY SPLITTING TP. The Progressive party Is splitting in accordance with the tendency of all schisms to breed schisms. The organ ization of the party was a protest and the main point of agreement among Its members was this protest. They now begin to discover that, as to af firmative action, they are as far apart as any two parties can be. They are dividing on lines of wbat they believe should be done. There are really three elements In the formation of the third party. One was the really -progressive Republic ans, who wished to end what they con sidered control of the Republican par ty by the privileged Interests and to make the party a true- servant of the people. Another was composed of the men who had suffered by President Taft's strict enforcement of the anti trust law, such as George W. Perkins, Dan Hanna and Frank Munsey and those Republican leaders who headed defeated factions, such as William" FTinn and Timothy Woodruff. A third was composed of the personal adher ents of Colonel Roosevelt who hon estly believed that he was robbed of the Republican nomination. The first-mentioned element is com posed of radicals who continually ad vance further along the road of radi calism and is directly opposed in prin ciple to the second element, which is conservative in all its instincts. The conservatives are more inclined to re join, the Republican party in its fight against the common enemy, the Democracy, while the radicals are making their differences with the Re publicans irreconcilable by advocating measures which are more radical than any to be found in the platform of either old party. This division of sentiment has brought about an open split in the Progressive party of New Jersey, which Is to hold primaries on September 9 for nomination for Governor. The conservative element is supporting Ev erett Colby, a millionaire lawyer, while the radicals, headed by Glfford Pln chot George L. Record and F. J. He ney, support E. B. Osborne, a wealthy manufacturer. The radicals make war on special privilege, which they have reduced to five forms franchises, land monopoly, patents. credit and indirect taxation. In order to extirpate privilege the radicals pro. pose the following principles: 1. Public ownership of public highways and all public utilities. 2. Sincle tax. S. AboUtlon of tha monopoly of patents and provision, for tha xnanulacturo of pat ented derlces upon tha payment of s royalty to tne inventor. 4- Federal banks. 6. Abolition of all Indirect taxation, such as tne tarux, internal revenue, etc. This platform has a general family resemblance to that of the Populists, from which the first plank is borrowed and to which the fourth Is closely akin. The fifth plank Is a natural co rollary of the second, for Henry George, the father of tho single tax. coupled with it abolition of all other forms of taxation. It. will appeal to those radical thinkers who are not prepared to adopt the theory of social ism and may draw heavily on the So cialist vote. It will tend to drive Progressives of the conservative stamp more rapidly into the Republican par ty. How can Colonel Roosevelt cast In his lot any longer with such a party? It may by force of repulsion drive him back into the Republican ranks. THE DECAY OF ENGLISH. The new poet laureate has written a tract on "The Present State of Eng lish Pronunciation." He finds the sad dest processes going on. In unaCfcent syllables ail the vowels degrade to er. The words and, the, to, but become little more than guttural slobbers, all sounding alike. He tells his country men that they say inter for Into, frerm for from, and ter for to. The letters t and d before u pass over into ch and j, so that nature sounds like nacher and Tuesday is Chewsday. while imme diately is transformed into immejutly. Other curious changes are mentioned in vulgar British usage, or perhaps even in that of polite circles. The old Greeks used to assimilate their final consonants to make them slide easily into the next world. Eng land is doing the same. On board, Mr. Bridges says. Is pronounced om board in fact becomes lm fact and in vain tm vain. Here the labial consonant at the beginning of the second word at tracts the one at the end of the first exactly as it happened at Athens in the days of Demosthenes. So there is no ble precedent for such changes, much as a conservative like the laureate may deplore them. The letter r is disappearing rapidly from the language. This is no less true in America than in England. In the mother country far away is pro nounced faw away, or faw awl, in some circles. Forever sounds like faw ever, and pouring rain is pawing rlne. Here we see also the degeneration of long a into i, which began among the poor and Infected the rich. Mr. Bridges does not mention It but he might if he had been a little more observant It is as fatal here as in London. Portland newsboys cry out the even ing "pipers." The Urregunyun and the TullygTum are sold on the streets vo ciferously as dilys instead of dallies. and the boy on the corner offers the passer-by the choice of all his hum polpers. The unfortunate letter r is In a bad way almost everywhere. Even in the Middle West where it was long preserved under German influence, it is perishing by the edict of fashion. Peo. pie who were brought up to say farrrm cultivate the habit of saying "fahm," to imitate New Yorkers. Port- landers pronounce their r"s pretty clearly still,, but it may be observed that when one of them returns from a trip East the sound comes back slighted, and of course those who can travel and catch the tricks of po lite circles in other towns set the fash ions at home. Before a great while we shall be saying "Awegun" Instead of Oregon, and no doubt the day may come when our great river will be the Klumby. For the modern tendency, we are told, is to cut words as short as possible. The accent moves to the first syllable and the rest are either mumbled or swallowed or extinguished. The dic tionaries rule that dictator and specta tor must be accented on the middle syllable, but who in this part of the world ever obeys their command? The Christian Scientist demonstrates against fear and . other ailments of mortal mind with the accent on the first syllable. Twenty years ago boys In the geometry class were made to place it on the second. But there are a few words, of which acceptable is an example, where the accent has moved toward the end in the last few years. Formerly it was on the first syllable of acceptable. Now it is on the second. The truth of the matter is that people will, in spite of everything, pronounce words in the easiest way, and it must not be forgotten that the easiest way for Americans Is sometimes the hard est for Englishmen. The conformation of our faces has something to do with it Dyspepsia, too, modifies our speech more than we would probably admit Not all changes in pronunciation are to Toe deprecated. Nolanguage is per fect Some of the new ways are im provements upon the old. Bdt it can scarcely be held that the slovenly merging of all the unaccented vowels Into one guttural grunt is an improve ment. Whether we hear this mode of speech in England or America, It im plies degeneration. There is a parallelism between the degradation of language and that of character and body. The line of least resistance which pronunciation follows may become the path of laziness. It is not a credit to a nation to lack the en ergy and will power to utter its lan guage adequately. The merging of whole words into their first syllables may be accounted for by carelessness or haste as well as by sheer Indolence. Americans like to excuse their short comings In speech by saying they are too busy to attend to the matter. As long as they are understood, what dif ference does it make? But a society dame might as well ask, "What differ ence do ray clothes make If my naked ness Ja covered 7 Pronunciation is a fine art like dressing and writing po etry. Its decay in London may be traced back to the social misery which taints the life of that city.' Our Amer ican slovenliness of speech betrays the same subordination of means to ends which some have discerned in our busi ness methods. Results without regard to manners or morals have been our aim if the critics may be believed. It is a pity that there is not one good dictionary, and- only one, to which everybody might turn in cases of doubt for the correct sounds. of letters and proper accents. But alas! there are dozens of dictionaries and each differs from the others more or less. It is as if every writer of law books should lay down statutes of his own. But far worse than the dictionaries as destroy ers of uniformity in speech is our un- phonetlc spelling. This will make more and more mischief as the tribes of undigested foreigners accumulate. They cannot possibly learn how to pronounoe our words from the spelling. In nine cases out of ten If they should follow it the consequences would be grotesque. 1 Suppose a Russian Jew should' pro nounce toe. sew and dough as they are spelled. What would happen to him ? Foreigners will be guided usually by hearing, and their models will be the laborers with whom they associate. One may imagine the Jumble into which American English will have fallen within the next fifty years. If the ghost of Benjamin Franklin can understand half of it by that time, we miss our guess. Referring to the proposed tariff amendment prohibiting importation of goods made by child labor, the New Statesman of London expatiates on the great delight most people take in doing good to other people. It pictures' Mr, Asquith proudly going to the country with a record including the institution of compulsory teetotalism in the Ger man Empire, the introduction of old age pensions at 40 in the United States and the passage of a Sunday observ ance act in France." By such means we might be compelled to abolish child labor ourselves, if when we become real competitors in the world's markets child-made goods were excluded from Great Britain and Its colonies. Outside pressure often has more influence than inward consciousness of wrong. The revolt against the Tammany Democracy has given New York three Democratic candidates for Mayor and none to the other leading parties. Mr. Mltchel rejected Tammany and got the fusion nomination; Mr. Gaynor was re jected by Tammany and got the noml nation of a party of his own and Mr. McCall has been set up by Tammany to be shot at by the two others. Mr Whitman has been nominated for Dis trict Attorney by Tammany as well as by all other parties in order that that virtuous organization might emphasize its condemnation of the wicked Gaynor police administration -a condemnation implied by its refusal to renominate Mr. Gaynor. The New York Democ racy shows deep devotion to good gov ernment before election. A review of the work now rn the hands of the State Department is pub- lished in Secretary Bryan's Commoner, but it contains not a word about the canal tolls controversy. Does Mr. Bryan consider this dispute with our closest friend among nations and with the greatest maritime nation of the world, of no consequence? It Is cer tainly of equal importance with most of the other subjects the Commoner enumerates and presses more for early action than does the peace plan. New York bids farewell to what the Tribune calls "the bedsheet ballot.' Thanks to an amendment to the pri mary law passed over Governor Sut ler's veto, the ballot in most district will be only two feet square and In the largest district less than five feet long, though last year it was fourteen feet long. But it will still contain hundreds of names, which fact insures that most voters will vote the straight organization ticket. Tammany saw to that. The objections which many citizens have made to tuberculosis hospitals in the city are well grounded. They are best neither for the patients nor those who dwell near. Sufferers from tuber culosis need quiet pure air and sun shine, which are obtainable in perfec tion only in the open country. No doubt the danger of infection from hospitals Is exaggerated, but It exists and should not be overlooked. Contractors are accused of supplying decayed meat and other impure food to the Ellis Island Immigration station They should be compelled to eat it The Bureau of Municipal Research makes the charges, and Secretary Wil. son promises investigation. So does Commissioner Caminetti, and we hope he will not yield to pleas for postpone ment It Is ordered that all women em ployes of the city must give their names as a matter of record. It is not to be assumed, however, that the records will be of unerring accuracy. A mysterious little black worm has been found which kills grasshoppers by the millions. But there is the danger that the cure may prove more de structive than the original pest. The wife of Everett's Commissioner of Public Safety evidently does not feel that he is as safe as the title might Imply. She has had him arrested for alleged trifling. However, If that Mount Tabor gold strike were several hundred miles away in remote and all but inaccessible regions, how tremendous would be the rush. Carnegie wants the German Em peror to call a peace conference. But has Wilhelm been on the grape juice and lemonade diet long enough yet? Typhoid at 'Oregon City has been traced to a dirty dairy. The average filthy dairyman is often more. deadly than a score of murderers. That scenic road to the ocean is great movement. We have hidden the light of our scenic magnificence under bushel too long. Records, just completed, show that the last Fourth had the fewest deaths on record. The glorious Fourth is be coming tame. But if the big elk in the City Park Is turned loose, would he know enough to keep away from that deadly crea ture, man ? Mayor Albee has gone to the beach for a rest Whereupon he may discover that there are worse displays than the slit skirt Mexico is greatly alarmed by the exodus of Americans. How those Greasers do love the Gringo dollar. Dr. Brourhter savi hA mere.lv glanced at the X-ray skirt with one eye. Missed something, parson. Mayor Gaynor complains that he has a fishhook In his throat." Been hooked for a political sucker? Yes. Mildred, vou are nuitA rin-ht In assuming that the humble scribe will laoor as usual on jaoor day. Democrats will dron tha rlvll KArvlr bars. They want to take no chances of having any plums escape. The Marauis of Oueensbnrv ms have a part yet in settling that desert land board controversy. A Pendleton woman has just di vorced her ninth husband. She has the habit. Oregon is now famous for her marksmen. On to the gold strike at Mount Tabor. . Scraps and Jingles By Leoae Caaa Baer. A lot of folk who say they have only praise for the deserving evidence it when one of the deserving needs a lift on the. road. e I should think someone could make money by starting a pawn shop Just ontslde the gates of the racing track for those who wanted tickets home after backing the winner. as Said Fred'a mother: "I say. With your soldiers don't play On the good Lord's day Tour naughty ways Quite alarm ma Freddie wrinkled his nose -Now don't yon suppose The good Lord know s That this Is my Salvation Army?" a Do you reckon that the engine boiler is to make the engine tender? e Lots of four-flushing literary ?) folk claim books as their best friends. And they never cut thel.- friends, you'll find. e e Account says -the patient died of divers diseases." Translated means he bad water on the brain. see Two women I know were discussing the wealth of a third. "Why, she has a Vandyke and Rubens and two Murll- los and a Millet" said one. "No. really?" gasped the other. "What on earth can she do with so many motor cars?" e e e I know a man who makes every cent he has by the sweating system, making the poor devils sweat. whlla be literally rakes In the coin. He owns a Turkish bath. see "What made you give me that mean look?" queried the bride, and the 'brute answered. "Well, you've sure got a mean look, but I didn't give It to you." "Am I tha only one," he whispered "In this hammock to sit with you!" "Tea yon are." the girlie answered -"For this hammock Is brand new." A woman would always have yon believe that her old flames Just flared up and went out e e Many a man's marriage la a tosaup between matrimony and patrimony. e See where- a young chap only 25. sued by a dame of 52 for breach of promise, is using Insanity as his do- fens-. see Fortune teller told me I'd die when I am 25. I'm past that now. So I reckon I'm living under false pre tenses. see When a man says he is a bachelor from choice you can Just wager it's from some woman's choice, not his own. e Height of absurdity in window ad vertising would seem to have been reached in the case of the man who sits there and makes faces. However, it's a clock store. e e Well, one advantage in being the family skeleton Is that he never has the stomach ache. e e e Man advertises as "doctor of music" There's a lot of it in my neighborhood that's really sick. . e e Man answered advertisement for po sition as hostler, saying: "I know con siderable about horses, as I used to work in a sausage factory." The Sweetest Things By Rev. Alfred Knmmtr, (Former Pastor of the Taylor-Street U. B. Church). What are the sweetest things of earth? The souls transformed by heavenly birth: The cups of crystal water given In name of Him, the King of Heaven. A radiant Hope, triumphant Faith, A Christian's victory over Death, The glance, the touch, the tones of Love, The sunshine streaming from above. Wbat are the sweetest things below? The storms, or fiery furnace glow. Or other forms of chastening rod. So they reveal the form of God. What are the sweetest things of earth? They are moral goodness, manly worth, A woman's love, and childhood's glee. A sinner saved, a spirit free. A gift with Its unselfish giver. A character like crystal river. A holy life, a snow-crowned head. A youth and maiden purely wed. , A home of peace, of prayer and praise, Tbe nights' repose and busy days, A battle won. unconscious worth These are the sweetest things of earth. THE LAST BLUEBIRD. ' Early this morning you sent your glad note. Liquid and sweet through my window to float; Clear as a bell on the keen frosty air. Never more musical, never more rare. White lay the frost' on the grass, on each tree To the land of the roses thou, too, must now flee; Sad is my heart but thy little heart's bold To stay here and sing midst tbe frost and tbe cold. And must we, O bluebird, to thee say "Farewell Tr To say it, is ringing sweet Summer's death-knell; But Winter is here, so, no longer I'd wait I'd haste to the Southland to join my dear mate. But Bluebird, remember, when cometh the Spring. To haste to my window, and blithely to sing; First songster to triumph o'er Winter's cold blast And now to depart thou art sweetest and last A Pointer From Kansas City. Baltimore Sun. Here is Kansas City negotiating for the establishment there of the branch factory of the United Drug Company of Boston, which it has been proposed to locate in St- Louis. George H. For see, industrial commissioner of the Commercial Club, has prepared a brief of 22 pages presenting arguments and statistics to show, that Kansas City, and not 6t Louis, is the better place for this branch factory, and it will be reg ularly submitted to the directors of the company in Boston this Fall when they meet to decide the question. This is not a bad way to go alter things, especially if it is backed up by municipal and general business Influ ence. Are there no branch factories seeking locations which we might cap ture by a display of a little energy ara alertness? We have twice Kansas City's ' advantages. What we need is a little of her "git up and git" Oae Thine Needful la the Beyond. Washington (D. C.) Herald. "She will doubtless have a harp and a halo in the beyond." "Well?" "But she won't be contented without a lor gnette."
