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I'OKTLA.M), SCNDAI, NOV., 82, 1914.
THE EASTEBX BATTLE LINE.
Slav and Teuton are interlocked in
what may prove the decisive action
of the Fall campaign. Most bitter of
all battles in the Eastern theater of
operations is that now waging from
Gallcia almost to the Baltic. ,Lodz is
about the center of the extended fir
ing line, which winds back and forth
along a front of hundreds of miles
in the shape of a vast serpent
sprawled out after striking.
Human life has no value in this
struggle; no value, at least, other than
that fixed by military expediency.
Fragmentary reports picture the most
furious scenes of hand-to-hand fight
ing. On the center the battle takes
the form of a struggle in which two
great racial units are centering their
most malignant fury, each seeking to
dominate the other. Momentous con
sequences hang in the balance as the
tide of this tremendous carnival of
slaughter ebbs and flows with the ac
tions and reactions of battle.
The one great reason why each na
tion seeks to put its most virile en
ergy into this fray is the approach of
'Winter. Advantages gained now must
persist until the snows and ice of this
forbidding region have released their
gripping fingers. If the Germans can
cripple the Kusslan first line and
drive the Russians far back into Rus
sian Poland, Germany will be prac
tically free from the menace of inva
sion during the . Winter months. If
the Germans can take Warsaw and
cripple the Russian lines of communi
cation and systems of supply they will
hold an advantage which only the
most determined offensive in "the
Spring can counteract.
On the other hand, should the Rus
sians again override the Germans and
force them back on Thorn and Posen
in the center, upon the Vistula in the
north, and into the inner fastnesses
of the Carpathians on the south, the '
Russian sieges of vastly important
German positions can be conducted
intermittently during the Winter
months. Russian hopes of an ag
gressive Winter campaign must de
pend on Russian ability to establish
now, and maintain, her system of sup
ply through Russian Poland.
There has been a marked change
in the whole situation on the east
during the past week. Where, a week
ago the Russian offensive was suc
ceeding, today the German counter
action is progressing. After being
swept back scores of miles by the
spirited German onslaughts the Rus
sians are now making a hard stand on
their severely-menaced center in the
district between the Vistula and the
Warthe Rivers, in Russian Poland.
Von Hindenburg, in driving his
most furious blows directly against
tho Russian center, appears to have
adopted masterly strategy based on
the relative distributions of the
nnnies and the topography of the
eastern war zone,. If he can defeat
the. Russian center, then the Russian
right and left must fall back auto
matically or run a serious risk of en
velopment. Von Hindenburg does
riot run the same risk of being en
veloped when he presses his own cen
ter forward in advance of his wings
because of the protection afforded by
the marshy region" on his north and
the Carpathian Mountains and the
fortified Austrian cities on his south.
If Von Hindenburg smashes the pres
ent stand on the Russian center he
will be in a position to advance once
more on Warsaw. The pressure on
Przemsyl and Cracow from a men
acing Russian line which faces south,
and almost at right angles from the
center, will be relieved and the Ger
mans will be masters of the situation,
at- least for the time being. Yet it
must be recalled that once before
they gained practically such an ad
vantage only to lose it to the Rus
sians, who in turn are now losing the
advantages gained from Von Hinden
burg's first retirement from before
Warsaw.
A Russian rout on the center might
prove peculiarly disastrous at this
time for the reason that the Russians
have no clear fields of retreat from
the region of Lodz. It will be .re
called that Von Hindenburg's army,
when being pushed back over this
country a short time ago, destroyed
bridges and highways which were re
placed only in the most superficial
and temporary manner by the Rus
sians in their pell-mell pursuit of the
retiring Germans. The Germans, in
their orderly retreat, utilized these
bridges and highways before destroy
ing them. Should the Russian de
feat become a rout the Russians
would be hampered greatly and might
even be destroyed in an attempted
hasty withdrawal over an obstructed
course.
While the Czar and Kaiser are
clutching with such ferocity at each
other's throat on the east, the west
ern situation is comparatively tran
quil and serene. Perhaps the east
ern situation is responsible for this, a
suggestion which is supported by the
fact that the western tranquillity ex
tends all along the line. Late dis
patches say that from Belgium to the
Oise no actions are occurring; along
the Alsne the gunners are amusing
then-.selves with artillery exchanges at
long range, while around Verdun .and
in the Vosges there is merely desul
tory fighting between, intrenched
troops.
It is likely that the outcome on the
east will be followed closely by ag
gressive action In the west. Should
the Russians succeed in regaining
their lost advantage and press the
Germans back, the allies will be en
couraged to assume the offensive.
Should the Germans win in the east,
as Indications now suggest, a renewed
German offensive to the west might
be inspired by a quickened military
zeal or reinforcements might be
awaited from the east, following re
lieved pressure in that region.
In either event the western theater
has before it its bloodiest struggles.
During the months while the east is
in - the grij of Winter the Germans
must crush the allies if they hope to
win. That they will be able to rein
force their lines from the east is cer
tain during the months when Winter
hampers the moving of Russian ar
tillery and supplies. But whether
these reinforcements will suffice to
smash the allies and leave the Ger
mans free to assail the Rusisans anon
is one of the great questions that re
main to be settled on many a blood
drenched battlefield of the not dis
tant future.
KULTIR AXI) CULTURE.
The German word Kultur which
we hear so often nowadays is not ad
equately translated by our "culture."
It means something more. Culture re
fers to the graces and refinements of
life. It includes art, literature and
nice manners. Kultur means all this
and a great deal more. The phrase
standard of living" expresses part of
its meaning. The Germans include in
their. Kultur their system of police su
pervision, the ownership of transporta
tion by the state, the discipline of the
army, the general neatness and pre
cision of their private and public life.
WThen they speak of their Kultur as
superior to that of the Slavs they mean
that they keep their houses and per
sons in better order, work more ef
ficiently and amuse themselves more
intelligently. We suppose no German
would pretend that his country has
produced a greater novelist than Tol
stoi or that, upon the whole, the Ger
man mind is superior to the Russian.
But he does assert that his practical
standards are higher than the Rus
sian's. Whether they are really higher or
not is an open question. They are cer
tainly different, just as the German
manners and habits of life are dif
ferent from ours. The Slav loves to
'loaf and invite his soul." He is slack
and moody. The Anglo-Saxon could
not endure to live under the police
espionage which seems to be exactly
what the Prussian wants. We believe
in private Initiative rather than state
ownership and control of the big" in
dustries, while the Germans are per
fectly satisfied to have their "govern
ment manage the railroads and canals
and take a dominant hand in mining
and manufacturing. There the state
is everything and the individual, hard
ly anything. Here the state only ex
ists for the sake of the individual.
In these respects our Kultur is es
sentially unlike the German's and he
Is disposed to feel something of the
same contempt for the Anglo-Saxon
ways as he does for the Russian. Na
tions have seldom taken the pains to
understand and appreciate one another
In .the past. Perhaps they will in the
future. If they do they will be less
disposed to fight and quarrel.
THE SOUTHERN COTTON CRISIS.
A correspondent asks The Oregon-
ian to publish a synopsis of the cotton
situation in the South. The situation
created by the war was at first serious.
more particularly to the South but
generally to the whole country. A de
mand was made that Congress take
measures of relief, but the steps taken
by diplomacy and by private agencies.
as well as the course of events, have
rendered such measures unnecessary.
The South has a bumper crop of
cotton, estimated at 15,000,000 bales,
of which more than half would ordi
narily have been exported. The war
caused foreign exchange to advance to
a rate almost prohibitive on exports.
It caused marine insurance to rise
very high and to continue high until
British cruisers made the North At
lantic safe for shipping bound for the
allied countries. It drove German
merchant ships from the ocean, there
by reducing the available tonnage and
causing ocean freight to advance.
Doubt existed whether cotton would
be treated as contraband of war. All
these causes combined to stop exports
almost entirely and to destroy the
market for cotton. Cotton exchanges
closed In New York, New Orleans and
Liverpool, lest a stampede to sell
should drive prices down to ruinous
figures. Owing to the uncertainty as
to what raw cotton was worth, spin
ners, both in this country and Europe,
feared to buy lest a fall in price
should impose loss upon them.
Cotton is grown largely on credit.
Land-owners lease land to farmers on
shares and make advances of money
and supplies to the lessees, which the
latter use to carry them through the
season and which they repay when the
crop is sold. Men who farm their
own land obtain credit from mer
chants for supplies and borrow from
banks. Advances of cash to -lessees
are made by borrowing from banks.
Southern merchants buy on credit
from manufacturers, largely in the
North, who also owe money to banks,
and Southern banks borrow from
Northern banks. Thus the inability
of the South to market cotton pre
vented payment of debts all' along the
line and threatened serious embar
rassment. It reduced exports to such
an extent that the ' balance of trade
was seriously affected and the rate of
exchange was kept unfavorable to our
export trade.
The bankers turned their efforts
first to cutting down the rate of ex
change. They did so. by providing
gold for payment of American debts
to Europe. By driving German cruis
ers from the North Atlantic, Great
Britain opened the way for exports to
her own and her allies' territory. This
cut down ocean freight and marine
insurance. Both Great Britain and
the United States provided for govern
ment assumption of war risks, which
aided in reducing insurance rates.
Great Britain was induced to declare
cotton absolute non-contraband of
war when carried in neutral vessels.
That opened the way for renewal of
exports to Germany. Through the
Federal Reserve Board, bankers all
over the United States subscribed a
loan fund of $135,000,000 to be lent
on raw cotton at a stipulated maxi
mum valuation. Large exports of
foodstuffs and raw material have
caused foreign exchange to fall to
normal rates.
The result has been renewal of ex
ports to Great Britain, France and
Germany. Cotton exchanges have re
opened and the establishment of mar
ket prices has encouraged spinners on
both continents to buy. The loan fund
will enable the South to carry over to
next year whatever surplus remains
after the requirements of manufactur
ers are met. Growers will be -able to
pay their debts to the merchants and
the bankers, or will be able to renew
loans obtained from the latter. The
South will be able to pay what it owes
in the North. The balance of trade,
which has already turned strongly in
favor of the United States, will be still
more in our favor as cotton exports
increase, for, taking into account in
creased exports of breadstuffs and war
material and decreased imports, the
scale will be turned so strougly our
way that it will help greatly to pay
interest and dividends on American
securities held abroad, also to pay for
American securities which Europe may
sell in this country.
OLD FREEDOM SET AT NAUGHT.
When the negro delegation protest
ed to the President against segrega
tion, he made the excuse that it was
enforced for the comfort and best
interests of both races in order to
overcome friction. WThen Mr. Trotter
renewed the protest with some passion
and warned the President that segre
gation would cause the blacks to vote
the Republican ticket, Mr. Wilson
called this warning "political, black
mail," and, professing to feel insulted,
abruptly ended the interview.
The reason given for segregation is
nothing but an excuse of the hollowest
kind, which ignores ' notorious facts.
Black and white vmployes had worked
side by side in Gownment offices for
fifty years without svious complaint.
They Aid so -rijough ttte two terms of
Mr. Wilson's Demr-satfc; predecessor,
Mr. Cleveland, who appointed some
negroes to office, including Mr. Trot
ter's father. If any friction existed, it
was created by the white race alone
through hereditary prejudice, and the
race which created the friction, not
the one against which it was created,
should suffer through its existence.
There was valid ground for the pro
test, for segregation is an outcroppiag
of the same sentiment which causes
denial of negro rights in the South.
Mr. Wilson's hot resentment at Mr.
Trotter's outburst of indignation and
his entire demeanor arouse suspicion
that he shares this prejudice and re
gards negroes as Inferior politically as
well as socially. His campaign prom
ise of absolute fair dealing to negroes
was a bid for their, votes. He cannot
therefore Justly complain if they
threaten to vote against- him when
that promise is broken.
A PRODIGY.
Wonderful tales are told of 12-year-old
Winifred Stoner's accomplish
ments. She speaks eight languages,
including Latin and Esperanto, knows
the higher mathematics and most of
the natural sciences, plays the violin
and piano like a mature musician and
withal she can swim, row, skate, ride
horseback and cook better than most
other children who regularly fail to
pass their examinations at ' school.
This sounds incredible, but it is
vouched for by a correspondent of
the New York Sun, who adds other
marvels to his account. Winifred has
written stories and articles for the
magazines ever since her fifth year.
We can readily believe this as well as
the further report that she has ac
tually sold poems to the magazines.
There is ground to suspect that a good
many of the stories and poems that
bedeck our great monthlies are writ
ten by children much .under 5 years
of age and not by any means so intelli
gent as little Winifred Stoner appears
to be. Young as she is, she has tried
her hand at teaching other children
Esperanto and has written French
verses. There is no doubt that Wini
fred is an intellectual prodigy.
And yet it is said that she is a per
fectly normal child, fond of play and
enjoying the best of healthy There is
nothing of the anemic brain monster
about her, much as she has acquired
in herhort existence. Her education,
it seems, has been conducted by her
mother. Since Winifred has never
been to school her advancement has
proceeded without either the inspira
tion or the handicaps of class work.
Mrs. Stoner uses a system that Is very
much like Dr. Montessori's. Some of
her maxims are never to punish her
daughter except by the discipline of
consequences, "never to frighten or
tease her, never to force her to study.
She depends entirely on rousing her
daughter's interest1 and thus secures
attention and concentration. When
the little thing's mind grows weary
she 13 permitted to rest or sleep as
she prefers. Like Dr. Montessori, Mrs.
Stoner imparts everything in tho form
of play. To teach the girl Latin she
associated the first lines of the
Aeneid with a game of ball. As the
ball rolled back and forth across the
floor mother and child recited the
words of the poem alternately. This
method would, of course, have scan
dalized an orthodox pedant, but Wini
fred actually learned Latin by it, while
the pupils of the pedant usually leave
their classes as ignorant as they en
tered them.
Winifred learned geography in a
series of imaginary trips here and
there about the world. The technical
terms in arithmetic were made the
names of gnomes and fairies. Botany
was ' vivified by imagination in the
same way. Mrs. Stoner appears to have
had the rare good sense to enlist the
whole round of her daughter's intelli
gence and imaginative faculties in the
great business of educaitng her. She
is admirably free from -theories and
employs every resource that lies at
hand. Would that other, teachers of
children were .as wise, or the tenth
part as, wise. What fojly it is to ex
clude from the educational process
every faculty of the child's mind ex
cept two or three. In this play school,
under her mother's vigilant care, Win
ifred has accomplished results that
would be creditable to a university
graduate. Mrs. Stoner makes no se
cret of the method she has applied.
On the contrary she has published it
in a little book (Bobbs, Merrill & Co.)
and has taught a score of other chil
dren. If none of them have quite
come up to little Winifred's marvels
we may perhaps ascribe the failure to
the lack of constant oversight by a
loving mother.
There are two points in connection
with Winifred's1 achievements that are
worth thinking over. The first is the
fact that education has done so much
for her, while for the ordinary child
it does so little. Helen Keller affords
an example of the same sort. With
but one or two senses to work upon
she has become a refined and highly
intelligent woman who Is making her
mark in the world. The ordinary
school child is much in Helen Keller's
situation educationally. Although it
has several senses, It might as well be
without them, for they are never used.
Winifred's mother, kept the little girl's
whole mind at work in the business
of education. It Is quite reasonable,
therefore, that she should have ad
vanced five or six times as fast as the
poor little kid that is allowed to ex
ercise only one sense and that in the
most restricted way. Our second point
is that both Winifred and Helen Kel
ler enjoyed the exclusive attention of
their teacher. Winifred's mother had
no other pupil in the critical years of
her child's education. Helen Keller's
teacher lived with her pupil even
more intimately than a mother.
It Is perhaps Utopian ever to expect
that ordinary schoolchildren can have
each a separate teacher, but it does
seem as if there might be one for each
group of five or six. Inspired with
hair the zeal that Mrs. Stcner or Helen
Keller's teacher felt and gifted with
half their wonderful skill, they could
accomplish immeasurably more than
by current methods. The children of
the Nation are Its most. valuable capi
tal. Were each one a gold dollar no
pains would be spared to make it
fruitful in returns. But heretofore,
however lavish we may have been in
other directions, we have spent but
stingily for education. Winifred
Stoner is an example of what real
teaching can accomplish. There have
been others hardly less wonderful of
late yers, the little Sidis boy, for In
stance. The more there are of them
the better, for, as they accumulate,
they may finally drive home to all of
us the truth that in education and in
that alone, not as it is, blundering and
half-blinded, but a& It might be, lies
the hope of the human race. Not the
warrior but the schoolma'am holds the
key to the future.
AIRCRAFT IX WARFARE.
The airship and aeroplane continue
to divide with the submarine interest
attaching to new implements employed
in the present war. The general con
clusion has been reached that air
craft are of immense value in recon
nolssance, but are of small value as
weapons of offense.
They, have practically eliminated
the element of surprise in military
strategy by conveying information of
an enemy's movements, thus render
ing flank attacks on a large scale
practically impossible. They have in
creased the efficiency of artillery by
spying out an enemy's position and
directing fire. They have done good
service in naval reconnoissance, a
Schuette-Lang airship having given
the German submarine U9 informa
tion as to the position of the three
British cruisers which she sank. The
Russians in vain made every effort to
conceal their advance from German
aeroplanes by abandoning highways,
marching 'through fields and forests at
unlikely hours and even at night. But
the German air-craft spied out their
movements and helped General von
Hindenburg to trap the Russians at
Tannenberg.
Should a fleet of German airships
make a raid over English cities, we
shall have an opportunity to judge
positively of the efficiency of airships
for defense as well as for offense. The
British Government has taken elabo
rate precautions for defense. It has
a fleet of aeroplanes and dirigibles, to
the credit of which must be placed
what the New York Evening Post con
siders "the best "single achievement of
the war Lieutenant Marlx's destruc
tion of the envelope of the Zeppelin
in Its shed at Duesseldorf." Britain
Is reported to be building a new type
of dirigible, smaller ' and less in
wieldy than the Zeppelin, , and has
many aeroplanes, which have proved
their efficiency. These smaller craft
have the advantage in attacking air
ships, and the threatened raid, If
made, may end in an aerial battle,
which will become historic.
So far, air-craft have not justified
their use as weapons of offense. Such
justification is to be found only in the
reasonable certainty that an armed
enemy and his means of conducting
war will be injured and that non-combatants
will not be Injured, nor prop
erty unused or useless for military
purposes be damaged. Unless the ac
curacy of air-craft, in hitting a mark
can be greatly improved, their use for
bomb-dropping should be stopped by
common agreement of civilized nations
as barbarous in the extreme.
IDEALISM.
George Creel in the December
Century has an article on "Our "Vis
ionary President," which is founded
upon the questionable assumption that
President Wilson has an extraordinary
hold upon the popular Imagination. It
is not to be questioned- that the Pres
ident has won public respect and
esteem but we would estimate the
feeling somewhat short of the adora
tion that Mr. Creel exhibits and thinks
he discerns in the hearts of the peo
ple. Woodrow Wilson's "reliance on
idealism rather than on logic," as Mr.
Creel expresses his tendency, has per
haps awakened admiration of his
steadfast determination to do what he
believes is right, but still there is
quite prevalent a wish that he oc
casionally would' create his idealism
out of cold logic. The Mexican prob
lem has been handled with small re
gard for practical benefits to all in
volved and large concern for pure
Idealism, but unfortunately idealism
that does not promote material wel
fare is but abstract Idealism and prac
tically useless.
"Judged by every act In the case,"
says Mr. Creel, "Woodrow Wilson's
repudiation of Huerta was in no sense
the result of a carefully reasoned de
termination, but unmistakably the in
stinctive recoil of the democratic
spirit. . . . While recognition'' of
Huerta was the wise course, as practi
cally defines wisdom, it was not the
right course. The acknowledgment
that he asked involved a sanction of
assassination and acquiescence in the
legitimacy of murder as a substitute
for constitutional procedure."
Nobody but the most persistent
idealist is able to- distinguish any
thing in any of the successive Mex
ican revolutions but individual thirst
for power. Speaking in cold logic
Huerta merely took the short cut. In
stead of making war, and assassinat
ing and murdering common folk sup
porting Madero they knew not why,
until Madero was compelled to flee,
Huerta made war on Madero person
ally. By the token of having waylaid
two or three when he might have
killed 10,000 Huerta becomes an as
sassin. Villa or 5arranza choose the
longer, bloodier road to power and if
either gains the goal, the peculiar
reasoning of pure Idealism, we pre
sume, will permit their Instant recog
nition. It may be the wise course but
will it be nearer the right course than
refusal to recognize Huerta?
The Plan of Guadalupe, the declar
ation upon which the Constitutionalist
cause was founded, provided that the
First Chief of the Constitutionalist
forces should become provisional
President of Mexico pending election
of a constitutional President. Con
stitutionalist principles made Car
ranza the .Provisional .President.
Villa's menace with troops prevented
the carrying out of the distinct pro
visions of the Plan of Guadalupe.
Carranza is now ready to fight for
Carranza. Villa is preparing to fight
for Villa. Zapata continues to fight
for Zapata, rapine and plunder.
We have said to each- and all:
Murder and assassinate as many
peons as you wish in order to become
ruler of Mexico, but spare each other.
The short cut to power offends our
democratic spirit. Yes, the President
has applied idealism in Mexico. It
would be fortunate rpr Mexico if he
had applied wisdom and more of that
logic which he professes so to scorn.
THE WORD OF A MTRDERER.
A contemporary has worked itself
up into something of a passion be
cause The Oregonian, in a recent news
article, reported the murderer Tron
son as saying that he had long In
tended to slay Miss Ulrlch, and had
waited tp see the outcome of the vote
on the capital punishment act. Now
Tronson Is quoted as denying the
statement and one or two other re
marks he made to The Oregonian,
which somehow have hurt the tender
sensibilities of the Journalistic foe of
the noose and friend of the murderer.
The Oregonian is obliged to say that
it has no great 'confidence in Tronson,
or any' other murderer, sane or In
sane, and Is quite unconcerned about
either his affirmations to one news
paper and his procured denials to
another. But it will say that, if it
shall transpire that capital punish
ment has been abolished in Oregon,
it thinks a sad mistake has been made.
The Tronsons may hereafter pursue
their victims and slay with pistol or
knife or axe or club, and they are safe
from the gallows; but they may feed
and fatten in prison, at public ex
pense, all their rotten lives, or until
a yielding Governor pardons them,
upon the demand of some maudlin
friend, newspaper or otherwise.
If California, had said that under
no circumstances a murderer should
be put to death, the Infamous Mc
Namaras would never have confessed,
and the" world would not have ceased
to dispute over the facts of the great
Los Angeles dynamite conspiracy. To
save their guilty necks, the Mc
Namaras told their story, and by
agreement were sent; to prison.
Pastor Richeson, a few years ago,
in Boston, slew his fiancee, and stoutly
proclaimed his innocence and- was be
lieved by many sympathetic men and
women, until his confession just be
fore he was executed.
On the scaffold in Virginia a year
or two ago, young Beattie, an aristo
cratic murderer, owned up that he
had killed his young wife, and a
mystery that had divided a state into
factions was forever cleared up.
What a weapon for eternal justice
Oregon has surrendered, if the anti
hanging bill has carried.
"GERMANY AND THE NEXT WAR."
In his extraordinary book on "Ger
many and the Next War" General von
Bernhardt has a great deal to say
about "the struggle for existence." He
seems, in fact, to idolize this phrase.
It forms the fundamental theme whose
variations fill the greater part of his
volume. In one place we are told with
all the pomp of militaristfc positive
ness that "The struggle for existence
is in the life of Nature the basis of
all healthy development." Again he
quotes from Schlegel that "war Is as
necessary as the struggle of the ele
ments in nature." In another para
graph we read that "Between states
the only check on Injustice is force."
The conquest of new territory Is "a
law of necessity" for growing coun
tries anfi "the right of conquest is uni
versally acknowledged." After such a
country as Belgium has been over
run, then "It Is not the old possessors
but the victors to whom It belongs."
War, we learn. Is a biological law,
and. more than that, "it is a moral
obligation." - Further along we find
that "it is political idealism that calls
for war, while materialism repudiates
It." Finally, according to Bernhardi's
variety of Christianity, "we cannot dis
approve of war, but must admit that
it is Justified morally and historically."
Evidently this author dwells In a
"topsy-turvy world." He speaks like
a character out of a Gilbert and Sulli
van opera where the ideas advance
tail foremost. One cf his most amus
ing tricks is to bold up the United
States as a horrible example of the
evils of peace. We only champion
peace hypocritically, ' he assures us,
and in order "to devote our undis
turbed attention to money-making and
the enjoyment of wealth," but even
this pretended devotion to unwarlike
pursuits promises to be our ruin since
It deprives us "of all chance of contest
with opponents of our own strength,"
such a contest, for example, as Ger
many has in full enjoyment. To clinch
his adoring praise of war Bernhardi
quotes from the old Greek philosopher
the maxim that "war is the father of
all things," a maxim which his mind,
atrophied by militarism, seems hardly
able to understand. The philosopher
who invented the saying that "war is
the father of all," did not speak of the
mutual slaughter of human beings.
He referred to the clash between the
Inanimate elements of the world which
is constantly going on now just as it
did 3000 years ago. He used the word
"war" figuratively, but his figure was
unfortunate, since now military ma
niacs can quote him to uphold their
fantastic views.
General von Bernhardi has but a
very inadequate idea of what Darwin
meant by "the struggle for existence."
The German war fanatic assumes that
it means an everlasting fight between
Individuals for wealth' and pleasure;
and, on a larger scale, between na
tions for the same thing. Darwin had
no such concept in mind when he In
vented - the expression which mod
ern militarism has fashioned Into a
fetish. The struggle for existence
meant, to Darwin's mind, the ever
renewed disharmony between the in
dividual and his environment. This
arises partly from variations In the
Individual himself and partly from
changes in the environment, but how
ever it comes about it sets up a dis
turbance which the living creature
cannot evade. Of course, the men and
animals in his neighborhood are part
of every creature's environment, but
they are not the whole of it. nor, in
many cases, the most important part.
Bernhardi totally misapprehends the
effects of the struggle for "existence.
He says that by means of it the
"strongest creatures make a new place
for themselves," thus growing In
power and faculty.
This Is the exact opposite of what
really happens. In Nature's "strug
gle for existence" no creature ever
"wins" place and power. The most
and best he can do is to adapt himself
to the changing environment. If he
succeeds In adapting himself, which
means yielding, he survives. If he
does not yield he perishes. The adap
tation thus effected mty mean in
creased faculty or it may not. This
all depends upon what Darwin calls
"fortuity." Nature has- no prefer
ences in the matter. The adaptation
which she forces upon her creatures
degrades them quite as often as it ele
vates. And this Is just as true of
human beings as of any other living
objects. For every instance that
Bernhardi or anybody else can cite
f '
of good results from war a moderately
instructed historian can cite a hun
dred of Its evils. Instead of the strug
gle for existence- being the source of
civilization and advancement It Is per
fectly easy to prove that the human
race never has been able to advance
except when it partially escaped f,rom
the struggle.
Anthropologists assure us that a
great part of human predominance in
the world is due to our prolonged
period of infant helplessness. The
chicken runs about and feeds itself
as soon as It is out of the shell, the
child must be nursed and coddled for
several years. What is this period of
infancy but a long immunity from the
struggle for existence? And while it
continues the child is educated. He
receives inherited treasures from the
past and is thus prepared to carry on
the great human warfare against na
ture which is the Inspiration and
meaning of history. What are our
schools and colleges but asylums
where, for year after year, the devel
oping man is protected from the strug
gle for existence.? If our boys and
girls were obliged to plunge Into it as
early In life as the apes do they would
resemble-apes In their achievements
and character.
Civilization is nothing more than the
total result of man's successful efforts
to protect himself from the- struggle
for existence. When he built the first
house he mitigated the ferocity of the
struggle. The discovery of fire still
further emancipated him. When he
began to build walled cities his life
became comparatively safe and peace
able and in the shelter of his protect
ed home he Invented literature and
the arts. None of these pursuits are
compatible with war. When peace
goes they all accompany it and the
nations revert to primitive savagery.
Bernhardi's grotesque contention that
civilization grows out of war is as
senseless as if one should say that
conflagrations build cities. Sometimes
a new and finer city is built upon the
ruins ' of a conflagration, but the
flames are not responsible for it.
Every useful invention in the world
helps emancipate us from the struggle
for existence The very name we give
them, "labor-saving inventions," im
plies this. Labor is the heaviest bur
den which the struggle for existence
lays upon the common man. What
ever lightens his task sets him pro
portionately free.
The entire practical aim of science
has been to mitigate the struggle "for
existence. By harnessing the natural
forces it releases the energies of man
for something higher and better .than
the gross effort merely to keep him
self alive. War, Instead of forward
ing civilization, is its greatest hin
drance. For one thing, it destroys in
a day what the civilizing work of man
has taken centuries to construct. For
another, it constantly diverts to pur
poses of destruction the inventions of
his genius. We can ask for no better
example of this than the flying ma
chine. It might have increased the
wealth and promoted the happiness of
the world. Instead of that, war has
made it a thing of horror, an Instru
ment of death and destruction.
Democratic Jobholders find solace
In Governor-elect Withy com he's an
nouncement that he will make
changes for reasons of efficiency only.
For where is the Jobholder who does
not Insist that his middle name is ef
ficiency? It was the part of discretion to bar
Japanese aviators from flying over
Hawaii. We have secret fortifications
there which it is just as well should
not be charted by foreign powers.
Yes, Edith, replying to your query,
we opine that if someone should sink
half the American Navy the State
Department would find some way of
construing it as a "friendly act."
A rriptorboat has been perfected
which travels l'orty-five miles an hour.
We want that to start upstream in
should there ever be an invasion from
the Pacific side.
Although the Administration Is un
concerned over Mexico, Europe pauses
in her awful struggle to ask us what
we are going to do about that chaotic
country.
Two more German generals are
said to have committed suicide fol
lowing defeat. Good thing Turkish
generals do not resort to this practice.
It is reported that the dead on the
battlefields are no longer counted.
From reports we thought they were
counted twice in some instances.
The man who loses his mind over
a woman had little to lose in the first
place and had it not been that cause
another would have interposed.
Calve Is singing to the wounded In
France. However, we still prefer the
old way of courting bankruptcy In
order to hear her siren voice.
Great Britain is pronounced beaten
by one German authority.- But at last
accounts Britain ,was able to muster
one or two war vessels.
"Shots, not hostile, but unfriendly,"
is the conclusion in the Turkish inci
dent. We see the difference, but not
the distinction.
The fall of Przemysl is near, say
the Russians. The same thing they
have been saying for more than two
months.
Of course, If turkeys persist in be
ing dirt cheap we shall crave a r-oast
of beef for Thanksgiving.
.With foreign squadrons centering
on the Pacific Coast 'we may get to
see some of the fur fly.
We should really apologize to Tur
key to be consistent with our recent
type of diplomacy.
Surely you can find something to
be thankful for Thursday, or you are
no optimist.
The Oregon murderer can be thank
ful that he didn't commit his crime In
Arizona.
The Kaiser, in an auto, is said to
be near the allies' line. But not too
near.
The season of holdups, burglaries
and Chinese gambling is now with us.
Japan's virile- military policy is the
very antithesis cf our own.
Japan is enlarging her army and
navy. Why? '
On to Warsaw!
Gleams Through the Mist
By "ns Collins.
The reaceful Life.
As oft along the busy street
I plod my weary way,
I view 'the stone beneath my feet.
And frame a whimsical conceit
And .to myself these wurde repeat.
And thus go on to say:
"What careworn mortal, tired of life.
With all his goods in hock.
Would not admire the gentle life.
Of the peaceful paving block?
"For men must work, while women weep.
"Tis thus the world doth go;
But while men struggle hard to reap
Their scanty hare of food and sleep.
The paving block hath nought to keep
Except its statu quo.
Its calm and carefree statu quo.
While people all about
On frenzied errands speeding go.
And hustle in and out.
"While I may shrink from Fortune's knock.
With spirit sprained or bent.
While I may shun the rush and shock.
And wish my door to shut and luck.
Hard knocks upon the paving blv-k
Can scarce produce a dent.
The grinding; wheel upon its face
May roll in passing by.
But the calm block t!il keeps its pi ace
And never baus an eye.
"While sumo rush in where angels fear
To tread with lightest pace,
I've never heard, nor far nor near.
By rumor vague, or legend queer.
Of any paving block, my dear.
That did not keep its place.
Contented with its humble lot.
Nor seeking more to win.
It sticks serenely in the slot
The workmen put It in.
"And, furthermore, though men may try
To smirch one's record fair,
I hope to live and hope to die.
And never hope to see the g'ly
Who dares, of paving blocks, deny
That they are on- tiAe square."
And so upon the busy street,
-At all hours by the clock.
These words I'm likely to repeat
In accents low anl soft and sweet;
"Oh, happy paving block!"
"Sir," said the courteous office boy, "I
understand that there will be no rr.ore
regular funerals In Vancouver after a
short time.''
"How so, my son," I gasped, "has im
mortality set in?"
"Nay, nay, sire,". said the rougulsh
C. O. B.. "but the laws of Washington
will now forbid a man to have his
bier."
V.'hereupon I grasped the telephone
and ordered a large wet one for me and.
a small cedar one for the C. O. B.
Thanksgiving day
1m on the way.
And I would feel quite chorky,
"Were I not wise
To scores of guys.
With scores of wheezes they'll devise
About the fate of Turkey.
Kef lertlonM of a Ituttou.
You'll never miss me till I'm gone.
Civilization depends upon a button.
Verily I say unto you. it is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for one fat maa to fasten
the top button of his shoe.
When buttons fall oft, then laundry
men get their dues.
Better a button burst by a hearty
la. u h than by the washerwoman's
wringer.
'Tis a wise master that ktioweth his
own collar button.
A soft buttonhole turneth away
wrath, but a rolling collar button stir
reth up anger.
A button on the shirt Is worth two
on the pincushion.
A hitch In time covers a multitude
of sins.
The boy stood on the burning deck.
Whence all but him had fled.
For; "We believe in Safetv First,"
Is what the others said.
Or If one desires to give the honored
classic a more humane quirk:
The boy stood on the 'burning desk.
Prepared to meet the worst.
But when things got too hot he dived
And shouted "Safety First."
And now, having given The Boy a.
chance for his white alley, we wouM
desire to lead you back two and one
half colyums to remind you that:
The French hold all the passes.
Which you'l admit is fine.
But, speaking of the fruit of war
The Germans hold the Rhine.
And also, lest we forget, etc.:
If Father Noah lived today
In the North Sea. I ween.
His -ark would very soon be turned
Into- a submarine.
Last week we felt thai, we had
showed up completely the character cf
the rascally baker man, but to cake
assurance doubly sure, we now remind
you that: y
Though well we pay him for his loaf.
By everyone 'tis said.
The baker In a surly oaf
The graham's better broad.
We noted recently that C. L. Edaon
In the N. Y. Evening Mail explains
that:
No more the German band Is heard
In London - on the Strand.
The reason is, as you've inferred.
The' band is contraband.
But we would ask him further
How could the German band reach o'er
To England's distant land.
When it is on its native shore?
'Tia no elastic band.
m
Yet hope springs eternal, and
Though the Teuton band is not
Now tootln" on the Strand.
Still they may all enjoy, I wot.
Perhaps a saraband.
I feel that this has pone far enough.
So does the compositor.
So does the proofreader.
And perhaps others that I wot not oT.
Boy, run down and unlock the doors
of Oblivion,
And shoot this colyum in.
Lei's go to lunch.
Cotton Situation in Hie south,
PORTLAND. Nov. 16. (To the Edi
tor.) Will you kindly give in The Ore
gonian a brief synopsis of the ccrtton
situation in the South, that is. a gen
eral statement of the conditions exist
ing and what steps have been taken
to remedy t!iem. 1 believe this synop
sis would be of general interest to
your readers, as pertaining to general
business conditions.
INFORMATION SEF.KER.
Xose Glasses and Dignity.
Exchange.
Nose glasses are also mistaken for
dignity on certain occasions.