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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1915)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 7, 1915. - FOKTLA-ND, OBECOV. Entered at Portland. Oregon, Poatofflca aa second-class matter. Ecbacription Rates Invariably In advance: (By Mall.) rai!-. Fundav included, one year ?"! I.'ai:y. Sunday incitaied. six months .... -a Dally. ?uncay Inc.uiiea. inrefl m'"1 lai:v. Purrday included, one month . Iiaily. wlt.K.'jt Ftinday. one year .... Xaii. without Sunday, six month . kaiiv. without Suncay. tnree m-jnths I-al:y, without Sunday, one month .. Weekly, one year Fi.r.av, one year fcunday and Weekly, one year i By Carrier.) .TJ COO 1. TS .60 1.50 2. SO S. JO Fai'y, Sunday included, one year .. Ijaiiy. Sunday tnciuued. one month JS.OO .73 ii, sr.Tnlt send Postoffie money or er. eiprcs. order or personal check on your 1 ,ca! Lank. Stamps, coin or currency are at tfrd.r'i risk. t;ive j.ostoffico aduresa in xuu, tiifliwiinf couniv and state. . u .. 1 ' in ift oases. 1 cent; 18 to pge . "cents; 4 to 4 pages. S centa k. . .., i rm: J to 1 r&ges, crnts; 7S to &2 pages, ti cents. Foreign post. a;e, double rates. t-.... ,-vf rlr-e Vprce & Conk ltn Nw To . Brunswick building; Chicago. st..cei Kulldinx. Sua FmariMco Office P.. J. Bldwell Com- pany. Market atreet. PORTLAND, SCXDAY. IXBBUABY 7. 101. A QCF.STIOX OF GOOD FAITH. In adopting; a prohibition law It Is riot necessary for the Legislature to attempt to fathom the desires of the people as to this or that regulatory feature. It is possible that a. bill as drastic as that passed by the House Friday would have carried in Oregon. One not much stricter carried in Washington. But it is equally possible that it would have failed. It is ut terly futile to conjecture In the mat ter.but thereis at hand a fairly defi nite yardstick for the use of the Legis lature. The briefly worded amendment adopted at the polls was accompanied by a. definite expression of the intent of its sponsors. The people were publicly assured that the organiza tion which was responsible for sub mitting the amendment aimed only to abolish the licensed traffic In and the manufacture of intoxicating bever ages. It distinctly disclaimed Intent to foist a blue law upon the public. To say that the amendment might have carried without an assurance of that kind or might have been ap proved even if accompanied by a dec laration of desire to wipe out every opportunity for individuals to obtain intoxicants is beside the mark. That the Committee of One Hundred chose to offer a promise of rational legisla tion to carry the amendment Into ef fect establishes a point of honor which the Legislature ought to heed. Following the election the Commit tee of One Hundred demonstrated its eood faith. It frowned on the sub mission of a drastic bill. It engaged attorneys to draft a measure in ac cord with its promises to the people. That measure was submitted to the Legislature. In the House the com mittee on alcoholic traffic spent four weeks considering the bill. As it comes from the committee it is not the bill the Committee of One Hun dred prepared nor a bill that carries out the promises wisely or unwisely made to the people to induce them to adopt the prohibition amendment. It has heen said or assumed that the bill has fallen into the hands of two elements opposed in all thoughts other than the one idea that the prohibition law should be radical. One element hopes that the law may be so obnoxious that the people will arise and smite the whole principle of pro hibition. The other element would eradicate use of liquor as well as traf fic in it. If this assumption be true both sides are headed for disaster if the House bill be passed. It is a safe prediction that no member of the present gen eration will ever witness the restora tion of the licensed saloon in Oregon, no matter what this Legislature does. On the other hand, the final passage of the bill adopted by the House un questionably means a referendum and perhaps defeat at the polls. But rejection of a prohibitory stat ute will not preserve the liquor traf fic or permit liquor manufacture in Oregon. There is sufficient law at rresent, once the prohibition amend ment is in effect, to suppress the open saloon and the brewery and in f-ome measure to reach the bootleg ger. Enforcement of the law would he more difficult, more expensive and less thorough "han if a prohibitory statute were enacted. That is all. The radicals on both sides of the pro hibition question might as well stifle their desires and accept the inevitable. The saloon has gone to stay. Private use of intoxicants cannot, will not, be eradicated In an Instant. The prohibition bill will now go be fore the Senate. There, let us hope, reason and good faith will prevail. The upper house can acquit itself ith credit by a very simple proced ure. The Committee of One Hundred's ' ill. as originally introduced in the House, Is available. It is fair and ra tional in most particulars. Perhaps in some technical respects it is de fective, but its purpose is plainly to carr out the promise made by the organization that did most to Implant Inhibition in Oregon. If the Senate shall go back to the original bill. nrd if both houses shall usrree on Its main provisions, there can be no question of legislative sin-cc-rity of purrose. But legislative cod faith may well be doubted if here rem.tm in the bill such pro viions as the unreasonable limit on shipments for home consumption and trie conversion of consignee's receipts into public records. TUT. rOOT AND MOCTII PISEAf-E. The foot and mouth disease of cat tle is so well under control by scien tific methods that there Is a popular disposition to reearrl it as a trivial matter. With t'lis opinion the Breed ers' Gazette does not agree. That pa rer holds that when a herd has be come seriously affected there is only one proper course of procedure. That i? to exterminate the diseased animals, of course with adequate compensation to the owners. The reason for this radical action seems to us to be sound. Beyond question an animal affected v. ith foot and mouth disease may io all appearances recover. But in spite of appearances the recovery is seldom complete. In males virility is impaired. In females the ability to produce healthy offspring is dimin ished. Sometimes it is destroyed com. pltte r- The Breeders' Gazette ad tiucea the history of the famous New York Mills herd to substantiate these opinions. In 1S73. at a sale of selections from this famous -herd, astonishing prices were realized. Of the cows one group i of eleven sold at an average price of t.'l.TOS. Fourteen other cows brought average of $1S.742 each, while the trice of three bulls was JTSSS a head. Not lone after this wonderful sale the New York Mills herd dropped out of sight. It ceased to be advertised and later Investigation showed that it had dwindled away to nothing. What was the reason? Various, reasons were assigned at the time, tuberculosis among them,' but It now appears that the cattle had become infected witn foot and mouth disease. Every care was taken to treat the affected anl mals and it was supposed that they had been cured. But from that sea son the herd produced few or no healthy calves and therefore, in the course of nature, it disappeared. "It seems," to quote the Breeders' Ga zette, that "like la grippe in human beings foot and mouth disease in cat tle is most to be dreaded for its after effects." It is far easier to prevent this trouble than to cure it. 1ISC01.JJ: A 6TATET The Spokane Spokesman - Review declares .that the plan of .creating a new state to be called Lincoln out of Eastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle has "strong support at Olympia and at Boise." Tho Boise Statesman says the idea "has abso lutely no support here, if we may judge from the close harmony be tween the north and the south." From these diametrically opposing views we are left to assume that the project is at least popular In a Spo kane newspaper office and not pop ular with the , Boise newspaper. It may place an interesting sidelight on the matter to remember that Boise is already the capital of a state and Spokane would have strong claims to be the seat of government if the new state were to be created. The argument for the State of Lin coln is that there is a geographical homogeneity about its area that is ab sent both from -Idaho and Washing' ton. Idaho is divided by mountains into north and .south sections and Washington into eastern and western parts by the Cascades. The popula tion of Lincoln would be 300,000, more or less, which is more than most states have had when admitted to the Union. But the consent of Congress must be had on the division or creation of a state, and that will not be easy to get, for various reasons. There have been many projects for new states. but it Is the rule that states are, or have been, made only from territories and not from other states. Except Virginia, the boundaries of none of the thirteen original colonies have been changed, and West Virginia was cut off from the Old Dominion as a war measure. So far as The Orego nian can recall, the boundaries of no state, except Virginia, have ever been materially altered. The State of Lincoln is a pleasant dream. Some day it may be realized, but not soon: not soon. THE UNITED STATES WIT. I. LEAD. The United States need only keep its head, avoid becoming entangled in foreign quarrels through such folly as the ship-purchase bill and seize the many opportunities which the war is throwing in its way, in order to take the leadership of the world in manu factures, commerce and finance. Nearly all of Europe Is calling upon us for food and war supplies of every kind, also for manufactured goods with which Europe hitherto has sup plied itself but which its present pre occupation in fighting prevents it ffrom supplying. Not only Europe but the whole world calls upon us for this latter class of commodities. Inability to procure accustomed supplies of many commodities from Europe has driven many American manufacturers to exercise their ingenuity in finding or providing a home supply, and in many instances with marked success. Thus we are becoming more inde pendent of Europe, and Europe is be coming more dependent upon us. The results of this industrial and commercial transformation are shown in cold figures by the excess of ex ports over imports in December, amounting to $131,863,077. When we consider that the volume of our ex ports to Europe is likely to grow from month to montn as more men aic withdrawn from industry into armies and as the area ravaged by hostilities grows, an estimate that the balance of trade in our favor will average $100,000,000 a month during 1915 is not extravagant. This would be nearly double the favorable balance of the year 1913. The drain of several hun dred millions a year spent by tourists will be stopped and that golden flood will be poured out in our own country. The natural result will be such an increase in our store of available cap ital as will enable us. almost without feeling it, to buy back American se curities held in Europe whenever ab sorption of Europe's liquid capital in war compels her to realize. We have already begun to lend money to Eu rope and to those countries which have hitherto depended on Europe. These demands on us will grow, for the entire financial resources of the belligerents are being absorbed by the war. and the British government has forbidden investment of British capi tal in foreign loans except those of the allies. South and Central America and the Orient must, therefore, turn to the United States for capital, and Europe will borrow again from this country a large part of the money It pays for war material and food. The United States may thus supplant Eng land as the international loan market. The London Times recognizes this probability, for it recently said: To what eTtent this temporary abandon ment on our part of h!.toric claim as an in ternational mon.-y center may ultimately affect British bank'.na must necessarily be a question for the present of purely specu lative Interest. ... It is Inevitable that much of the International business we have been accustomed to do should pass to the only other country, the United suttea. which is capable of doing It. The United States has just equipped itself, by means of the Federal re serve bank system, to take advantage of this opportunity. By rendering liquid its bank assets, it has vastly increased its supply of investable cap ital. New York and Chicago banks are establishing branches in South America, are buying acceptances in foreign trade and are supplying a market for foreign securities. For eign markets, once captured by this country, cannot be readily recovered by Europe, for the latter continent will be occupied for several years in the work of industrial reconstruction, and the reduced supply of skilled la bor will force wages up closer to the American standard. The newspapers of the country find the Administration's action in changing the date for the formal opening of the Panama Canal from March to July worthy of commenda tion. Certainly, they point out. thers is no need for rushing the celebra tion, and much is to be gained in giv ing the Canal engineers all possible time in clearing the waterway of re- cent slides. A genuine formal' open ing in March was well nigh impos sible, hence, shoving- the American do-lt-in-a-hurry spirit into the back ground, the July opening is the logical thing. CONSISTENT AT LAST. A Portland evening newspaper pro tests that it has no legislative pro gramme. Tut, tut- .A legislative pro gramme honestly conceived for the benefit of the community is a good thing if it be presented with intelli gent argument. - But our esteemed contemporary has reason to abandon the business of fostering legislation. Two years ago it had a programme, which It pre sented In definite form, divided into a dozen or more fixed recommendations, consecutively numbered and earnestly urged. It may have been by chance; it may have been a mere exhibition of good guesswork as to what the Legisla ture would do; it may, though we doubt it, have been due to that news paper's influence that the programme it announced was enacted into law almost from top to bottom. The programme came back to plague the guessing newspaper genius who first put it into printed torm. ie had assured the Legislature, in effect, that adoption of his programme would be sufficient answer to captious critics of the session. Tet after the prg- gramme of the guessing genius had been adopted he became the most captious and persistent critic of the Legislature in all the land. Tes, it is wise policy for the news paper which knows no policy but to condemn and assail, regardless of what may be done, not to promote a legislative programme. niE PHVSICAI. ELEMENT IN MEMORY. The most important fact in the uni verse is consciousness.. We can not look upon this wonderful agency as a by-product- To our apprehension it is as fundamental as It Is mysterious. Nothing explains consciousness but, properly fortified by experience. It ex plains everything else. There Is noth ing like It in the inanimate world as far as we can discern, though there is much that resembles subconscious ness. No doubt the activity of the liver when it secretes bile is akin to the choice which hydrogen makes when it unites with oxygen. The sub conscious, or the unconscious, if one prefers that term, guides the cells of the body to select their nutriment and the chemical ions in their travels through conducting liqulls. It is man ifest everywhere in living and inani mate nature. But consciousness seems to be something totally different- The subconscious in man accomplishes wonders. Great poetry is composed in its recesses. Newton solved his prob lems in the subconscious first and Plato elaborated his philosophy In its secret depths. But what good would have come of it all had it never risen Into consciousness? It seems incredible that conscious ness should have been evolved from matter which In its inorganic forms exhibits nothing of the same, nature. Still we are almost compelled to be lieve that it could have originated no where else. Certainly the upper ranks of animals inferior to man are con scious to a certain degree, though the chances are that most of their lives are passed in a sort of waking dream. They seldom vividly live but now and then they are as furiously alive as hu man beings ever are. Usually their eyes are half vacant but not. always. Occasionally intelligence glows in them, though the flame is transient and soon expires. Even In the lowest living forms there is something that seems to foretell consciousness, a kind of dawn that promises a wonderful morning later on. The subconscious Itself In a way prophesies conscious ness as writing prophesies reading. But the subconscious writes without knowing it as far as we can guess. Still there is a theory that what we call the unconscious is conscious in some master brain from which a little knowledge slops over now and then. as it were, Into ours. Memory is the feat that conscious ness performs when it sits down and peruses the inscriptions on the brain cells. The inscriptions are made by our bodily activities. It is quite certain that everything we do leaves a trace on these imperishable tablets. At any rate they are imperishable as long as our bodies live. But leaving the trace is one thing, while perusing and In terpreting it is another. The trace could be made perfectly well without consciousness, but who or what would read it? The fact that there is some thing within us which reads the writ ing on the brain cells and interprets its meaning is the mystery of mys teries. The physical basis of memory lies in the constant modifications of the brain cells by our bo'dily activities. But this is nothing but the material which the memory itself utilizes in Its inexplicable work. The carving on the Rosetta Stone might have per sisted imperishably in the dry Egypt ian air, but it had no meaning for the world until it had been read by the consciousness of Champollion. So the hieroglyphics on our brain cells wait for their Champollion, who appears in the form of the Individual con sciousness. Memory is the watcher within the gates. The moving finger writes cabalistic texts on the walls of the brain cells. She sits mystically by and reads his riddles. But no text is writ ton on the walls by Itself. Every one runs into others inextricably. They are written over one another like palimpsest manuscripts, the old let ters persisting like wan ghosts under the new ones and mingling with them in Memory's eye, so that she never can read a new Inscription on the brain cells without taking dim ac count of an involved web of eld ones. Nor can Memory peruse the ancient traceries on the cells without glim mering fringes of older and newer ones Intermingling. Nothing in the consciousness seems to be capable of isolation except perhaps for a fleeting instant. Strong thinkers can untwist a single thread-from its entanglements and hold it almost alone in conscious ness, but not for long and never com pletely. This Is not the whole of the matter. When Memory fixes her luminous eye on any brain cell the cell itself re sponds. It becomes more animated". Its activity intensifies, which means physically that it receives larger sup plies of blood. A sort of inflammation is set up which spreads to the sur rounding cells. Consciousness can cause this super-excitement in any re gion of the brain by simply focusing upon it. Throughout the inflamed re gion the inscriptions on the cell walls stand out so vividly that the Watcher can not overlook them. For this rea son when the consciousness becomes vividly aware of any idea a host of kindred ideas march in with it Each member of the family brings all hfs relations when he comes visiting. If the image of a jar of preserved straw berries was imprinted on the brain cells twenty years ago a similar jar seen today recalls it with all the sur roundings. The odor of a wheat-field in a July twilight brings back the dews and odors of twilights gone but not dead from the long, long past. The fact is deeply poetical. Its explanation is as prosaic as a dry bone. The pres ent odor calls the blood to a particu lar brain region where lie inscribed the records of the wan and faded past- In the heat of cell activity the old pic tures stand out vividly, the withered rose leaves grow pink again and con sciousness taking note of the new un avoidably reads the old from the same screen. Memory Is consciousness in the act of reviewing old films in the movie theater of the brain. Percep tion is consciousness in the act of gaz ing at new films in process of making. But new and old are always projected together on the'screen. WASTING TIME ON TBIiXES. Congress still finds time to discuss the municipal affairs of the City of Washington, although the great ap propriation bills await action in the Senate and although an extra session will probably be necessary to pass them. As usual, controversy has arisen in regard to the payment by the Government of one-half the mu nicipal expenses, and entire days have been spent in debate on this sub ject and on every petty detail of how many firemen, policemen, clerks and other persons shall be employed by the city. In defense of what is called the half-and-half system, it is contended that the Constitution gives the United States exclusive jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, that the . origi nal owners gave the Government about half the land and that the Gov ernment imposed on the city a most costly plan of improvement. The Government's exclusive jurisdiction does not prevent It from delegating authority to a municipal corporation, any more than the State of Oregon's exclusive jurisdiction over its own territory prevents it from delegating authoritv to the City of Portland. Under such an arrangement Congress would still be supreme, but it would save the time which it now devotes to serving as a City Council, or a budget committee for the capital. What waste of money this expendi ture of time involves has been sug gested bv a calculation that tne speeches delivered against the ship- purchase bill have cost tne ianon several hundred thousand dollars. That bill is a National affair of the first importance, to which Congress can properly devote much time, but the affairs of Washington are purely local and should be conducted by a local administration. The question of the Governments contribution to the city's expenses can be easily and equitably settled. Gov ernment Dropertv is assessed like other property, but no taxes are col lected upon it. Congress appropriating half the expenses instead. The city could notify Congress of the amount of the Government's taxes and that amount could be paid, after Congress had ascertained that the assessment and tax levy were equitable. EL'OENIE'S MXTY-SEt'OND WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. The Empress Eugenie at the age of 88 years is almost the sole survivor of those who played a part in the great events of the Franco-Prussian war. In September of the year is in, while the war was still raging, she left the Tuilteries with the Prince Imperial and a few faithful attendants and sailed for England, where she pres ently took up her residence at Chisle hurst. In March of the following year the Emperor Napoleon reached Dover a discrowned monarcn ana an exile. Eugenie was at the dock to receive him. Thev journeyed to Chislehurst together and there the un fortunate couple resided until 1873, when tho Emperor closed his accounts with the world. His widow soon art- erward changed her residence to TTaT-nVinrnutrh. where she still lives. January 30 was the sixty-second anni versarv of her wedding. Since thi fall of the Empire and the death of her consort her life has been melan ohnlv rather than' splendid. The death of the young Prince Imperial in the Zulu war of 1879 deepened the sloom which misfortune and exile had cast over her destiny. Eugenie went to South Africa to recover his remains, which were interred in the mausoleum she had erected for the Emperor at Farnsborouch. The contrast between Eugenie's earlier and later years has painfully exemplified the vicissitudes of earthly fortune. She was a Spanish girl born in Granada in 1826 of the daughter of a Scotchman named KirkpatricK, wno had become a naturalized American citizen. When Eugenie was btjrn Kirkpatrick was American Consul at Malaga. Her earnest years were passed at Madrid, but In 1834 the family moved to Paris, where Eugenie was educated and began that brilliant social career which culminated on a throne. Louis Napoleon shone with a benignant light in those days ea President of the French republic, and the beautiful Spanish girl, appearing with her mother at the balls he gave, made the acquaintance of the Prince, who then sought popular favor by his democracy. Their intimacy grew apace until by 1S52 ' Eugenie's charms had secured her an invitation to Fontaine bleau, of course with her Indispens able mother. Eugenie, an- expert horsewoman, charmed Napoleon by her graceful riding and thus securely welded the links that bound her to his heart. In December of that same rear the ambitious young President of France definitely cast off the mask of democracy and proclaimed himself celebrating his perjury by a series of expensive entertainments in which Eugenie was a shining figure. At one of the balls she was slighted by the wife of "an official personage" who shared the natural dislike of the native French for the too beautiful Immigrant from Spain. When Napo leon heard of the petty insult he said to the tearful Eugenie. "Je vous aven geral" and fulfilled his promise by a formal proposal of marriage within three days. "In robe and crown the King stepped down" to meet and greet the beggar girl on her way, as Tenny son puts it. Eugenie was not a beggar, but she could make no claim to those noble antecedents which are commonly sup posed to fit one to be an Emperor's consort. The marriage was so boldly spoken of as a misalliance that Na poleon took occasion to explain him self from the throne. He preferred, ho said, a woman whom he loved and respected to one with whom an alli ance would have brought sacrifices as well as advantages." The fact of the matter was that, like the Great Napo leon and the Kaiser William, Louis was incurably romantic Still his arriage turned out extraordinarily well. Eugenie by her extraordinary beauty and her social graces fortified his power. Her judgment was usually better than his. He consulted her with profit on important occasions, and when he vacillated, as he often did, between opposing courses, she uniformly urged him to take the bolder and safer. Three times' Eu genie was regent of the empire, in 1859, 1865 and in the melancholy days of 1870. Napoleon delegated his authority to his wife when he left Paris for la tete d'armee, from which he would have done much better to have kept away. In a manner Eu genie deserted her trust by fleeing to England in the Fall of 1870, but the issue of events was unmistakable and she merely did voluntarily what she would soon have been forced to do. Toward the close of his reign, months before the calamities of the war with Germany, Napoleon lost that magical glamor which had so long blinded the French to his incapacity. His throne began to totter perceptibly and he sought to stay It with the arts of the demagogue, in which he was far more adept than in those of the statesman. He reverted to the politi cal sentiments of his younger days and became "liberal" again. This did not please Eugenie, who was a thor oughgoing aristocrat, more devoted to royalty than royalty itself was. It was through her Influence, in part at least, that Napoleon was persuaded to bolster up the temporal power of the Pope as long as he did. While Eugenie retained the regency and remained in Paris the Pope was safe. It must have saddened her to remember that the Italian troops entered Rome as soon as the news of her flight to England reached them. Her political acumen was almost infallible. She believed that England's desertion of France the war of 1870 would be disastrous to both countries. "The Germans will not rest content with what they have acquired." she exclaimed; "England's turn will come.', It is a selfish and narrow policy not to have intervened.' Manv Englishmen have been persuad ed by the course of events that her words were prophetic. WILSON BIDS FOR PROGRESSIVE ATD. President Wilson, seeing that his best hope of continuing the Demo cratic party in power lies in bolstering up the fast-vanishing Progressive party, proposes to ignore the Repub lican party entirely and to appoint two Progressives as tho minority members of the Federal Trade Com mission. He thus follows up the bid for Progressive votes, which he made in his Indianapolis speech, by saying the Democratic party was two-thirds progressive. He won Progressive support for the Underwood tariff and he has gained like support for his ship-purchase bill by consenting to amendments demanded by the third party. The President has thus gone far towards eliminating the opposition spirit of the Progressive party and towards making it an ally of the Democratic party. The purpose of the provision in the Trade Commission law for minority representation was obviously that the minority members should be chosen from a real op position party, not from a party which allies itself with the Administration on every important measure. Every precedent is in favor of the appoint ment of minority members of such a body from the largest minority party, a party which is a genuine contender for control of the Government, not from a minor party which is rapidly dwindling into insignificance. Pres ident Cleveland might as fairly have appointed Populists to such offices, but he never did so.- The spectacle of two-fifths of the membership of a body, which is to regulate business, being chosen from a party which polled only 1,061,624 straight votes for its candidates for Representative, while the Republican party, which polled 5,635,015 votes, is entirely ig nored, is preposterously unjust and is partisanship run mad. Appointment of Progressives on the Trade Commission is contrary to the understanding with which Republi cans supported the bill creating that body. The purpose of the law is to restore and to keep alive legitimate competition by discovering and ex tinguishing monopolyiand by stopping unfair competition, which is one of the chief weapons by which competi tion is destroyed and monopoly Is established. The Progressive party opposes this policy, for it has declared in favor of regulated monopoly and it holds that the competitive system is obsolete. Members of that party cannot, therefore,' carry out. in good faith the purpose of the law. If Mr. Record and Mr. Parry should serve on the Commission, they must be false, either to the law which they are to administer, or to the political prin ciples which, though their platform, they profess. The Republican party is in full sympathy with the express purpose for which the Commission was created. It declared for. such a com mission with that purpose in the plat form of 1912. and the Democrats stole that plank and made it their own by Introducing the Trade Commission bill, for the Democratic platform con tains no suggestion of the kind. The Republican party helped to pertect and pass the bill in congress. its embers, if appointed on the Com mission, could consistently um m full accord with the Democratic ma jority to execute the law vigorously and in good faith. The Progressives could not. The only possiDiiuy oi harmonious working would be either desertion of their principles by tne Progressives or betrayal of their trust and adoption of the Progressive theory by the Democrats. The intended composition or tne Commission, as reported from Wash ington, warrants expectation of the latter outcome. w. J. Harris, ot Georgia, and Joseph E. Davies, ot Wisconsin, two of the Democrats, may. judging their antecedents, endeavor to execute the law in gooa iaitn, dui that cannot be sold of the third Democrat. Edward- N. Hurley, of Illinois. Mr. Hurley is described in the Chicago Tribune as a banker, rail road director, president of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and an ultra-conservative, and that paper says: tii. n,awnr on the commission is desired by the business interests who fear that radical control oi ihj "-J. much regulation of commercial affairs by the Government. A man with such affiliations and opinions as Mr. Hurley would be more apt to align himself with the two Progressives, who favor regulated monopoly, than with the two Demo crats who may be presumed to favor restored competition. Thus, while the Baltimore platform declares a private monopoly to be "indefensible and in tolerable" and threatens it with "the vigorous enforcement of the criminal as weil as the civil law," we may ex- pect such a Commission to treat the trusts with distinguished considera tion. Recent actions and utterances of the President and his spokesmen sug gest that his selections for the Trade Commission may have been made with a view to insuring that the Com mission should not be too drastic in its regulation of business. Before his inauguration he threatened to hang on a gibbet of public obloquy as high as Haman's any man who attempted to create artificial business depression in order to discredit his constructive legislation, but some time ago he changed his tune. He has made repeated bids for the co-operation of big business interests. He approved the extraction, one by one, of all the teeth from the anti-trust bills. Appointment of a Trade Com mission, the majority of whose mem bers were committed to the Wall street view that prosecutions of trusts are "attacks on business would he quite consistent with his recent course. The only party which had done ef fective work in the war on monopoly. until Mr. Wilson's inauguration, was the Republican party. Mr. Wilson and his subordinates at first showed some energy in that regard, but their ef forts have perceptibly slackened un til now thev invite the co-operation of those who. they formerly said should be in jail. The President's ac tion in passing by the Republican and turning to the Progressive rarty in his selection of minority members for the Federal Trade Commission is the best Dossible testimony to the sin ceritv. energy and effectiveness of Republican assaults on the trusts. He seems to fear that Republicans would be too hard on" those whom he wishes to conciliate. Smith of Coos Bay has a bill, to tip over our system of electing Presidential electors, and it has a fat Joker in it a provision that each elector pay his own expenses to the National convention or electoral college. Bet vou can guess wh:it clans ot teiiowa wuuiu be candidates. Oregon City Courier. A "joker" that saves the state thousands of dollars, now paid out for pure junketing, is the kind the taxpavers most need. The system of electing Presidential electors is not tipped over in the Smith bill. It is merely sloughing off its cloak of U"RenisTn. Last December the American Uni tarian Association wrote to congratu late their Ensrlish brethren on the "hundred years of peace." The Eng lish Unitarians replied with the hope that "the underlying unity between the two great nations may never be disturbed by the barbarous fanaticism of war." Who does not say amen? Lady Gregory comes to the United States with benevolent designs upon the theater. She wants us to intro duce National traditfons and folklore upon the stage. The idea strikes one as pertinent. Have we not revelled in French and British traditions almost long enough? Have we none of our own worth dramatizing? Municipal trysting places are next in line of realization in Portland. But Cupid really is subject to stage fright when the audience is too formidable. An acquaintanceship will spin the finer web of friendship and love Ii only mother is in the next room darn ing socks, and father perusing the newspaper. The indulgent father, who, after allowing him his own way in e-ery-thing else, "turned down" the son who disappointed him in matrimony clearly repudiates his own work. It savors of the father who whips a child until he cries and then whips him for crying. Los Angeles has appointed a man ager for lazy husbands. There are wives, no doubt, who would welcome a sort of governor for husbands over- zealous in their work and business at the expense of doing their share in home-making. Carnegie forgot to claim his wit ness fee for testifying In New York. However, John D.. who also testified, didn't overlook his fee. It is plain enough why John has the larger wad. The disposition of the ways and means committees of both houses to deal liberally with the national Guard, as indicated In Joint meeting, should meet general approval. The fighting in Poland is merely lo cal contact on restricted battle lines. So far nothing has been gained and nothing lost, except human life, which is dirt cheap In Europe. Eerlin restaurants are charging ex tra for bread. They'll all be doing it if wheat continues going up. Porter house steaks free, perhaps, but bread an expensive luxury. Centralia has the right idea in keeping the I. W. W. on the move. Given time to rest up, these agitators are a grave menace to any small com munity. Germany is willing to pass Ameri can craft in the war zone. No doubt. Especially when Great Britain con trols the approaches as well as tne exits. If accepting foreign dictation and viewpoint will prevent war we shall be blessed with peace so long as any rights or assets remain. John D. says he is willing for the workers to have a voice. So long, we take it. as they do not speak above a whisper. The Viennese object to our use of the English language. Of course. If it really annoys them we might change to Chinese. Hunger is claiming many victims In Belgium. Eventually, no doubt, hun ger will become more deadly than bullets. With bread prices becoming higher and higher and meat out of reach, the Austrians will be digging roots by Spring. Overcrowding of jitneys is to be stopped by the police. That ought to help keep down the local death rate. The California Legislature is ex ceptionally chary with its interna tional crisis producers this season. The exploits of the Emilen's men will live long in story and song. The election is finally over. Gleams Through the Mitt Br Ocas Colllaa, Love Sonnets of a roruriat. The long shora lashes at tha splintered . And yelping hurricanes dash up the sky Upon whose throboms doiua lank planan He. , Raw red and yowling pink and ebony: The garish leaves crawl up tlia shuaderlnc tree: Sonorous clouds take up the tempest a cry. Flapping their shredded pinions a thr ny Athwart the rainbow's cold Immensity. So Nature wrestles in the murky void Where streaming trafttttenta of the coa in oa roll Twlxt battered atar and grinning aster oid. That mock tha horror spread from pole to pole How oft. My Love, through Thee, I am annoyed With inner tumults In m purpling soul. Ah. could my swift. Impulslva aplrlt stay serene in such a gargoyled cataclysm. Divorced from entity or clutching Ism. And shun the purnr.ed pitfalls by tha wsy. Could It escape the cosniual anray; Cuuld It eltect tna final, perfect schism From all Thy eplrlt'a wreathing mesmer- Whose lambent energies about It play: How would It shred the yammering shadca apart. And read the rigorous riddles that they ask : How from the magic of the moment dart Indifferent behind umbrageous niaok. But ah. Enchantress, for my languid heart. It is too hyper-dlfflcult a task. Ferhars the mad dreams soon shsll moon no more. Round the still turreta of my shadowy soul ; Perhaps unreason's myriad mists fcha I ro;i Back from before tho dark subliminal door: Perhaps within Fate-s tessellated floor. My future lies, lost In some cou-wcb'-d hole; Perhaps 'tis 'llumed upon somo misMc scroll That my mad famished cys shsll ra tn o'er Who knows? Ah, Love, who knoas the fatal truth Of a hat becoming shall or shsll not he.' What gentle seraph, full of pits inn rtiih. Shall make the garbled doubts that lioi'r fleet Love, ack some guy who's cut a wIMom tooth That line of stuff is far too deep r-r n a a a "Sir." said the cnurteou offi' - 1 , "your friend, the, unappreciated ifciil'i.. Is color blind." "How did you discover tliiti?" I atKed with intere.st. "He said last night." continued Ht C. O. B., "that lie was going to paint the town red " "And what then?" "This morning, when 1 met lilin. h said that everything looked blue ' "Science tells us. my son," I exptalned kindly, "that things never look the same color under the white lisiit" that they do In the cold and truthful gray dawn." For it is my policy to eiicour;tm -i. entitle study and inveHtigiitiuu in th? yodng. Solemn Thought. "The rose is red; the violet bluv" On valentines one time would ilo. But modern methods change thi si!--; Today such lines as these bgui!c: "My lady fair, my merry win.. You sure are there; you'r,, sure some k:d." Solemn Thought. In all thia game law talk from day to d.ty. The poor game bird has not one word to . Foreeaat for February. Frofessor G. Pythasoras Blmeiack. the well-known ragtime astroloacr, sends the following forecast and dis sertation for the month of February: The month is supposed to open under the sign of Leo. but that Is a Joke, for the Ground-hog Is really the dominant influence. Unfortunately, however. In compiling the sisns of the r.odlar. the astrologers failed to Include the Ground, hog with the rest of the gldoreal me nagerie. February Is a short month, but an annoying one for schoolboys, uwltie to the numbers of the Departed Great, whose footstep lire echoing tip and down this particular corridor of time, and the vast amount ot historic great ness and virtue the schoolboy la re quired to emulate at this period. Aside from the activities of the Ground-hog and Departed Celebrities, there will be little dolnts. The Gennnni and allies win continue their attempts to gain yardase in Belgium: the nvai lows will prepare to fly north and th baseball players south. The Sign of Taurus prenldea over February 22 and the days preceding and following, when educator! of the land . will uncork once more the Mory of tho historic Cherrv Tree and Hatchet. Saint Valentine, the poptilnr uriain ator of mush-poems, will celebrate hta anniversary, appearing as hale and hearty as ever. Those whose birthday falls on Feb ruary 29 will find themselves d'Ut'1 from the cake list by the almanac makers. e e As (he Tnl la Bent. The Nascent Colyumixt on the Van-. High School Kevtew takes us hack lo those d. o. College Duys. by warbllns thus: By using up the FreFhTr.-n Who flourish In our hails. This land forever could supp'v Piano keys and bnllaid bal s. And we predict that when h cei out Into the Wide World and heirina to get a slant at Legislator and Econom ists. Diplomats et alehe'll be aurprlne.) to note how the Horizon of the Ivory Industry will expand beneath Ms I'ro- phetl Gaze. e We shoot the followlri incin.-al ar row Into the air and shall watch lim ing the coming- week with ionlln-. able Interest to see where and Imw it shall fall to the earth: The lawyer can no salad make Yet be said threateningly; Troduce the kale, or no mist.. ' I'll garnish the celery." m e Or maybe this will Inspire sot'i- nt-it inglorious Milton to tune tip Ills lui : The boy stood on the burning . !-. And would not leave the s' ;,t "I am the Fklpper." he dec,ar--i. "And the skipper raunol k,,." s e You remember them Komant V ell. we desire to call your attention '.iv a more to them and to the. fact that In days of old. when Rnrnnns Ic:,j Went forth to kill snd s S3. They let no press dlpnt-l"F "tjt What have become of th " e "Please don't begin operating, ii"', until you're sure I'm under the eirur." e e The doc whetted his sni -kersiv e a..d sized up the spot where he wh - :,ol"i to make the first slice. The assistant crammed the cone down a bit tighter over our nous And all grew dark. Community lUsbts Indorsed. POKTLA ND, Feb. (To the Edi tor.) While serving as clerk on ilia day hoard during the last rlc.ctiou. I was impressed with the lelintr of com radeship shown by men and women in the election booth. It occurred to me then that a com munity property bill would still further this feeling of mutual understanding and solve largely oomestlc difficulties often resulting from the present in equalities of home and leiral status, which Is humiliating to most women. A definite proportion aa a partner would be better than dower or courtesy, MRS. A. E. BORTMWIi.'K. l.onsr laland'a Population. Baltimore American. Ixirg Island, N. J., has a population of 3.500.000, which is ariealer than that of the State of New Jersey. i 1
