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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1915)
THE SUXDAY OKEGOXIAN. rOHIfrAXP.- FEBRUARY H. 1915. l'ORTI.ANI, OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Fostoffice as second-class matter, .-ubseriptlon- Rates Invariably In advance: (By Mail.) railv. Stindav Included, one vear . . 'allv Sunday included, six months . ily. Sunday included, three months . aiiv, Sunday included, one month . 'tatlv. without Sunday, one year ,j;iHv. without Sunday, six months ' . ailv. without Sunday, three months -ally, without Sunday, one month . . A'e.-kiy. or.e year -iindav, one year . v -unday and Weekly, one year .18.00 . 4.2.". 6.00 3.2.-1 1.7;. 2.30 3.50 (By Carrier.) :)aily, Sunday ineluded. one year 9.00 janv. sunua) uiciuucu, u How to Remit Send Postnfflce money or- r express order or personal cheek on your oral bank. Stomps, coin or currency are at .nder's )ik. ciive postoffice aadress in tun. ucluding county and state. Footage Rates 12 to 16 pages. 1 cent: 18 o jcj pages. cents: 4 to 4S pages. 3 cents: m to pag-s. 4 cents; Y1 to 7 pafc-es. o nts: 7 to U-l pages, e cents, roreigu poli ce double ratei. Ka-acra Business Office Veree 4- ronk n s. w York. Brunswick building: Chicago. aa f-ranrieo Ofriee R. J. Bidwell Com- nny. 74L Market treet. l-ORTLAND. SINDAV. FKBRl'ARY M. Vila. SIX MONTHS OF THE WAR. After six months of war, Germany is ihting at almosti all points on her nemies' territory, while they hold nly two small corners of her domain. Mie has a firm hold on all except a mall corner of Belgium and on 8000 nuare miles of Northwestern France, 1 1th a population of 2,300,000. She :olds one-fourth of Russian Poland nd continues the tight in that arena, 'er home territory has been invaded nly in two remote corners, the French laving fastened upon part of Alsace nd the Russians on part of East russia. She has won battles at "harlcroi. lions, Cambria, Tannen rrg and Lodz, which in any war of he Middle Ages would have been de rive. Germany has proved her strength n land; her weakness is on the sea nd in her allies. Austria-Hungary Imost collapsed early in the war and Sermany has been compelled to eend rmies to that country"s defense, lest : be made the base for an invasion of ,rr own territory. She has sent of fers. warsTTips and money to Turkey, nly to see the Turkish armies routed :i the Caucasus and Mesopotamia and riven back from the Suez Canal and rom Persia, to see the money stolen r squandered and to see the war hips crippled while Russia becomes omlnant in the Black Sea. Germany - in the position of a strong man triving to drag a pair of cripples long with him. Outside of her home dominions, lermany has everywhere met defeat he has lost Kiauchan and all of her slands. and her forces are contend ng against invaders in Kast Africa, Southwest Africa and the Congo. Her lag is driven from the sea, only a ew scattered cruisers being; abroad nd apparently inactive. Her hopes f creating dissension among her foes ave been dashed, for the' Moslem nly war proved a lizzie, Ireland stands nally by Britain and the revolt in -utith Africa has been crushed by the -outh Africans themselves. German ommerce has almost ceased to ex--t. Imports of food have practically Lopped and the empire is carefully usbaiuling its food supply in the. ef- rt to make it last until the .next rop is harvested, and is cultivating very patch of land in order to pro uce enough at home to feed its eople. Germany's hope of success at the pening of the war hung on the pos ibility of dashing through Belgium nd crushing France before that ountry was ready and before suf-i-ient British aid could come, also efore Russia could mobilize her vast rmy. She hoped then to turn against :ussia and crush her in like manner, aving trusted Austria to hold Russia t bay in the meantime. Then her 'Ian was to settle accounts with Great iritain. whose navy she hoped to have educed by means of , submarines, lines and airships to a point where he German navy would have a fight ng chance of winning a naval battle v hich would give it control of the ca. Then the Kaiser designed to crrify Britain with bombardments rom air and sea and to subdue it y invasion. Belgium's resistance delayed the ash toward Paris long enough to give ranee time to mass her forces and t give Britain time to send her first ontingent across the channel. It gave "ranee the opportunity to gather a ow army, which, by threatening the Irrman right flank, forced the ir.vad rs to retreat from the Marne to the isne and then to the line stretching outhwest from Nleuport to Roye. he German capture of Antwerp en bled the Teutons to secure their mmunications and to seize the Bel ian coast from Zeebrugge to Nieu ort. but on those lines they have en blocked for months. Each rmy has "dug in." and an almost oaseless bombardment, with repeated ml , furious infantry onslaughts, has tn-eeeded in bending the line here ud there, but not in breaking it. The unexpected happened in the ast also. Russia mobilized with a lrprising celerity and. has disproved harges of military inefficiency. She roko tp the Austrian armies, seized early the whoTe of Galicia and in adVd East Prussia. Germany was hliged to relax the vigor of her off ensive In the west In order to cope ith the eastern foe. She cleared East russia of the enemy with the victory t Tannenbers, invaded Poland and nice advanced to the gates of War ,iw. reorganized the Austrian forces nd stopped the Russian advance on racow. but once her itrmy was driven avk through Poland almost to her a border and the second time it .is heen blocked. Russia has over un Ttukowtna and though her army now retiring before superior force :t that quarter, it is advancing in s'orthwestern Poland, in East Prussia nd in the Carpathians. The third number on the programme ass made no more progress towards erformance than the occasional pick Tig off of a British warship by a sub marine or a mine, the bombardment f two undefended and one defended oast towns by cruisers and an occa ional raid by airships, while in naval ngagements on the surface the odds ave been decidedly In favor of the tritish. Striking of a balance between aval losses shows that Britain's naval owcr has not been materially int aired and the. raids by cruisers and irships. so far from fighting the Brlt--h. have served only to stimulate rrruiting. A submarine raid in the rit-h Sea and English Channel- haj oft Britain five merchantships, and Irrman warnings portendT a desperate (Tort to break the grip by which miaiii is throttling German com merce, while she pours a steady stream of reinforcements into France. Serbia also has failed to perform according to programme, for Austrian armies twice overran her territory, only to be driven out again with enormous loss. Rumors that an Austro - German army' was qeing massed for a new attack have not been verified by events. The most the Austrians have accomplished in that quarter recently hasNbeen to prevent Serbia and Montenegro from sweeping over Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the coming of Spring the war will enter on a new phase. Kitche ner's army of 1,000,000 British may then be expected to join the French and Belgians in a determined effort to break the deadlock in the west, to drive back the invaders through Belgium and themselves to become invaders; that is, provided Germany's threatened efTort for naval supremacy proves abortive. In the east Greece has openlv declared her readiness to join the allies and apparently only awaits the word to leap idto the fray; Roumanla aches to deliver her brethren in Transylvania and is re strained from invading that province by German loans and menaces and by doubt as tothe outcome; Bulgaria, vengeful against Serbia and Greece, renews vows of neutrality. Italy, ready to a'man, awaits only the right moment to wield her sword where her heart is already given for the British and French against her for mer allies. Terrible as has been the conflict hitherto, it will soon be renewed with a ferocity and on a scale unexampled in history. It will - extend almost throughout Europe, through most of Africa and through all of Western Asia. Its limit as to time promises to be only the powers of endurance and resistance of one group of com batants. NOT LIKELY. The New York Times, an inde pendent Democratic newspaper, pro fesses to find a growing sentiment throughout the country for the re nomination of William Howard Taft by the Republicans for the Presidency. The Times remarks: , Mr. Taft'a conduct since he left the White House haa made him hosts of friends and has even affected the faction of the party that was hostile to htm while he was there fhnuvh rhttt hoatilitv was not directed so much ut him as at those arour.d him. His good temper, the wisdem of hia public utter ances, and the service he has performed in directing public opinion have gone a long way toward clarifying the popular impres sion of an honest President who suffered for sins that were not his. it is probable that the gossip now springing up in so many dif ferent parte of the country will Increase rather than diminish,. The Oregonian suspects that Mr. Taft has no idea of seeking a renom- ination. He has spoken everywhere on public topics, and has openly re- joiced in his freedom from the restraints placed upon him by the "Presidency. He has not hesitated to take the unpopular view for example,, his repeated criticisms of modern tendencies toward radicalism or pro-, gressivism and he has said what he had to say merely because he was in position to say it. That is not the candidate's way. Is there a general demand for Mr. Taft to try again? We think not. It is true enough that he has grown in popularity since he left the Presi dency. It would seem that the peo ple like and respect Mr. Taft for himself alone. " It may be. too, that his demeanor and his genial and frank expressions afford an agreeable contrast to the activities of another ex-President. It is quite unlikely that either Mr. Taft or Mr. Roosevelt will be seriously considered for President next year. If we do not mistake, neither faction of the Republican party desires o run the risk of reviving old animosi ties and controversies. A real duty confronts them. It is to unite for restoration of the country's well-being. t SAO BUSINESS. Our indurated free-trade neighbor, the Salem Capital Journal, chortles with glee over the fact that a ship ment of 3,500.000 feet of lumber is to be made (via the Norwegian steam er Thor) from Portland to Quebec, saying: We were told last Fall, before the election, by The Oregonl.-in. tiint Urecon 's lumber business was ruined forever. The Canadian mills, owing to the removal of the tariff Htirv under the ITnderwood law. were taking our home markets away, as well as all the foreign trade: mid all at nee we wake up to the fact that we are actually shipping lumber into Canada. The oregonian was like these "before" and "after" picture ad vertisements of patent medicines all run down, pessimistic, a nervous wreck: alter election, healthy, optimistic, and strong enough to even tell the truth occasionally. It is Indeed cheering to hear from the high authority of the Salem pa per that the Canadian market has been captured and that the outlook for the lumber industry is' so opti mistic. But, despite the pleasing news exclusively announced from Sa lem, and also despite the rejoicing over a single cargo of lumber sold in far-off Quebec, The Oregonian is moved to make an observation or two, in the interest of the truth. A small percentage of the North west output of lumber is shipped for eign and another small percentage coastwise, leaving the great bulk for the local and domestic markets. It is, therefore, obvious that the Ameri can market is the chief outlet for the Northwest lumber mills. Yet the lumber duty has been removed, with the following result: The Middle West lumber market Is at the mercy of the Canadian mills. Through lake and rail shipments your Canadian competes on equal or better terms with the Northwest and south ern mills for their own market. The Panama Jolls situation gives the American shipper no advantage over the Canadian for the Atlantic Coast markets The inundation of Canadian shingles, pouring into the United States, has been quite heavy. Cana dian logs are now brought Into the United States for sale. The present condition as to competition is due wholly to removal of the tariff. It may be well to sayXhat the Thor's cargo is made up of large timbers, such as are not easily available at Quebec. It is quite probable that, owing to the utterly demoralized con dition of the lumber business, a cargo could now be made up at Portland ax cheaply as in Canada -perhaps more cheaply. Transportation by a Norwegian schooner is cheap: but it Is not cheap from Portland by water on an American vessel into an Ameri can market. A Canadian shipper can dispatch a cargo by any foreign-built end foreign-operated carrier into an American market; but your American cannot, and he must pay the higher charges of an American vessel for hi coastwise trade. If he Salem paper will make in 'QUiry of any lumberman it will dis cover a fixed opinion with him that the lumber .business Is just now a sad thing to be flippant about. It will discover also, If the lumberman is an exporter, a definite view as to the disastrous free trade policies of the present Administration. SALMOX TROUT.. I The. House at Salem has tiuder consideration a bill (H. B. 461) in troduced by the Game Committee,' (hich among other things seeks to regulate trout fishing by making a closed season from November to April. The following clause from the present statute is omitted from the measure; - Trout over ten Inches in length, open sea son all the year witM hook and line only. Bag limit, Bfty flsu. or fifty pounds in one day. The effect of the above omission will be to make it impossible to fish for salmon trout at any time except from April to November. Yet It is well known that salmon trout run in from the sea in Winter months and no possible service to anybody can be given by makTng it unlawful for anglers to take them. Yet they can and doubtless will be caught in nets, or other devices, in some streams without violation of law. Why the discrimination? It may be doubted if the framers of the proposed code intended to go so JCar. They ought to be reminded that the present code in this partic ular was framed with the definite object of protecting the salmon trout angler during-the Winter months. It may be hoped that when attention is called to the radical .prohibition im posed by the objectionable discrimina tion, it will be corrected. THE SWITCHES IN OCR BOOIHS. It seems as if investigators have at last found the points where conscious ness establishes contact with the ma terial world. They have not learned what consciousness is, nor is there any more certainty than formerly about the real nature of matter, if it has any real nature. But be matter and con sciousness what they may, we know perfectly well, if we know anything at all, that their relation is Intimate .and that it appears in a thousand different forms. Once it was believed that the seat -of consciousness, or "the seat of the soul" was the pineal gland, but that hypothesis Is no longer tenable. Dr. Eliot Park Frost, of Yale Univer sity, tells in the Yile Review how it has been put out of court for good and all. Naturally the point of contact between consciousness and nerve fiber is deeply interesting because in a way we may think of it as the place where mind and matter meet. Dr. Frost's statement of the situation is compara tively simple. It can be understood without much technical kjiowledge of brain and nerve physiology. Children learn at school that the body contains two sets of nerves, those of the sensory and motor systems, re- pectively. There is no essential differ ence between the substance of these nerves. They are simply carriers or energy like electric wires and will transmit impulses with equal facility in- either direction. The difference be tween sensory and motor effects lies, not in the nerve that carries them. but in the energy that Is transmitted. This seems to be either positive or negative, again like electricity, and there isi no way of changing one kind into the other. The sensory nerves run from the exterior of the body to the inner centers, some of which are In the spinal cord, while the more intel lectual ones are in the brain itself. They are called sensory fibers because they convey energy from the sense organs to the interior, but witn a change of position they might become motor fibers Just as well, ine other set of nerves, the motor system, runs from the inner centers to the exterior, conveying mandates to the muscles. The wonderful arrangement wnlcn Dr. Frost describes lies at the junc tions of the motor and sensory nerves. It is a sort of electric switch, called by scientific men a synapse, by which the incoming sensory impulse Is received and dispatched outward. In the course of this process it is transformed from positive to negative. A positive currejit of energy can not go to thelexterior, a negative one can not go to the interior. Their directions are fixed by their na ture. The reader will understand that this language is figurative insofar as the terms "positive" and "negative are concerned. At the switch or synapse a given impulse may be turned in any one of a hundred different directions. Where it shall go depends, according to Dr. Frost, entirely upon the relative ease wjth which the various switches open and close. The impulse as it starts on its outward way will pass through the switch that opens to it most readily. Some work rustily, some are well oiled and worn with constant use. When a switch, or a certain group of them, has been worn into facile action by long use we say a habit has been formed. To break up an old habit means to fasten down these switches so that they will not permit impulses to pass through. Sim ilarly to form a new habit means to put a new system of synapses into easy working order. Dr. Frost's theory is thus a pure matter of physiology. It silently dis misses the so-called "will" from con sideration. Breaking off a bad habit seems to imply no education of the metaphysical will, but merely the me chanical alteration of a group of synapses at the junctions of motor and sensory nerves. A habit is, in the last analysis, nothing but a recurring set of muscle movements. The whisky and the morphine habits mean that at regular intervals the muscles will automatically carry a glass to the Hps or apply a hypodermic syringe to the arm. To destroy the habit it is only necessary to close the switches that call the muscles into activity at the usual times. The conscious mind lin gers at the synapse in the capacity of a more or less Interested but totally idle spectator who exerts not the faintest influence upon the course of events. The sensory impulse after it has been transformed into motor en ergy goes out througH the switch that opens to it most readily. It follows the path of least resistance,- to use the customary phrase. Thus the dis covery of the point vfhere conscious ness comes into contact with matter does not appear to have solved any metaphysical riddles. It rather tends to put consciousness out of business, if we may confide in Dr. Frost. And yet not wholly so. For upon what does the closing of old. well-oiled switches depend? It depends, says Dr. Frost, upon the conviction that the habit in question is inadvisable, that friends disapprove of it, that it will entail ruin if it is followed up, and the like. Such convictions are not material phenomena. They are. on the contrary, states of consciousness. Hence while "the condition of the synapses is the material expression of a habit, there is a corresponding men tal expression which precedes and de termines the physical:. So we perceive that we have not got rid of the will after all. It is there still, and, care fully examined, it is seen to determine everything else In the process. Dr. Frost has made somewhat clearer to our .minds theT structure oithe physi cal machinery through which the con scious will acts upon the body to form and destroy habits. The habits them selves are as much of a mental affair as they ever were and their control still depends unalterably upon the education of the will. The progress of physiological psychology does not therefore diminish the . importance of consciousness in human life, but mere ly brings to light lie apparatus which it uses. GALLANTRY IN THE SENATE. The prohibition bill as, amended by the Senate committee is still a bill to regulate the individual appetite as well as to prohibit the manufac ture and sale of intoxicating bev erages. x The principal change proposed is certainly a gallant recognition of the rights of women who now are voters that should be praised and encour aged. As ordered by the House two quarts of whisky or wine or the twenty-four quarts of beer had to dox for an entire familyr Contemplate, if you will, the spectacle of the head of the household, by superior masculine force, appropriating to himself the glass of beer or the glass of wine that the House bill implies would not hurt a family. No wonder the Senate committee was touched. Now the good wife can have her peg just the same as the good husband. All she will have to do is to order a shipment, and then sign a solemn oath that she is more than 21 years old and is not an habit ual drunkard. It seems to us that a great deal of thoughtlessness has entered into con sideration of the prohibition, measure. The limitation put on personal and family shipments from without the state is urged as. necessary to prevent bootlegging. , Has it not occurred to the promoters of the bill that no mat ter what provisions are included for employing prosecutors, punishing re calcitrant officials, opening con signee's receipts to public gaze and the like that there is a trial jury still to be reckoned with? Unless, public sentiment approves rigid enforcement of a law that law will not be enforced Juries will habitually turn loose the accused. It is possible to make the prohibition law so obnoxious that it will fall within the category of non-enforcible laws. There is reason to fear that the existing a-aft of the bill closely approaches that undesirable status. -. TVii.2 io whniiv lnsiflA the assurances given the people that adoption of the amendment would not mean regula tion of personal tastes or appetites, but only abolishment of sale and manufacture in Oregon. The element of good faith alone ought to prevail. KUGE HANS. Tt is a common belief that animals have means of communication which are. not available to human beings. Signals of some sort pass with magic celerity through a flock of crows and put them all to flight. The closest attention does not reveal to a human observer what the nature of such sig nals Is Dut it is senseless to ueiiy tuai Hiiv avinl TVitt sentinel on the out skirts of a herd of feeding deer com municates intimations oi aanger w an the individuals under his guard and does it very rapidly in ways of which we can form no notion, two anus meeting on a foraging expedition gos sip with their antennae. Some say ideas are conveyed between them by the sense of smell, others maintain that it- id tAnh but nobodv feels ex actly certain what it is. Theaws of the swarm must be taught to young heea in some way. but since they all appear to be expert as soon as they are born nobody unaersianas wnen they go to school or learn their les sons. The ichneumon fly lays its eggs in the body of a caterpillar with the plain intent to have its young devout piecemeal the living prey. Who taught it this engaging trick and when? We are moved to these reflections by a book on the famous Kluge Hans which was published in Leipzig last year and has just made its appear-ar,r-a in the United States. In this work Dr. S. von Maday undertakes to re view the various explanations wnicn have been proposed to account for the weird expertness of the famous stal lion. He is an arab, and some ten years ago when his celebrity was most flourishing he was owned by. a Herr von Osten in Berlin. His perform ances delighted the vulgar and per plexed the learned. He could answer the most astonishing questions,, ex tract the cube root of large numbers, and in a general way he exhibited a degree of intelligence which would have been creditable to an ordinary Vnman heinir Morallv he was of course far superior to most of our race, but this excited no surprise, since it is so common in horses, dogs and other animals. Erudite sages devoted their days and nights to the explanation of Hans' proficiency. Books were writ ten about him. Discussion rageu warmly over the secret of his tricks. Some said they were fraudulent. - Oth ers that they were clear proof of high intelligence in the animal world. Eru dite opinion finally settled upon the theory that Hans depended on subtle signals of some kind made by his mas ter and answered questions not intelli gently but by automatic obedience to preconcerted taps or something of that nature. The only trouble with this theory was that the' horse could go through his programme fairly well when his master was absent He would do almost as well for a total stranger as for his familiar owner. Moreover, he could do sums in arith metic when the person who was sup posed to direct him was out of sight and hearing. So there always re mained a residuum of doubt as to the real explanation of Hans' performances. Dr. S. von Maday examines all the theories which have been offered to account for the mystery and finds none of them entirely satisfactory. He mak.es some allowance for exag geration in the published stories of the horse's accomplishments, but upon the whole he admits that they can be relied upon. The things reported to have happened actually did happen. The first explanation offered is that the animal possessed an intelligent mind with a highly developed number sense. The difficulty with this is that nothing similar is to bq found among animals. Many beasts have good mem ories of isolated facts, some are ex tremely wary and shrewd in a" me chanical way, their senses are far more acute thn ours and their affec tions occasionally warm, but of intelli gence they give only the faintest indi cations if we understand Intelligence to mean the adaptation of means to ends and the pursuit of a train of con nected reasoning. Animals do wonderful acts auto matically, but they never reason. Hence if Hans really thought out the . answers to his problems he did something that no otherhorse had ever done. Scientific men are not disposed to put much faith in such extremely exceptional ability. Dr. von Maday therefore rejects the hypothesis that Hans was a reasoning being and turns to memory for an explanation. Perhaps the horse was taught to associate eight taps with the written figure eight, nine taps with the figure nine, and so on. Hordes have proverbially strong memories, but this was asking a good deal of that faculty, especially when we bear in mind that few animals can distin guish numbers beyond four or five. Upon the whole the memory theory does not seem to work. Hans made so many mistakes in his sums that he could, in any case, hardly have been following a purely mechanical chain of associations. Finally Dr. von Maday examines the hypothesis that Hans obeyed uncon scious signals made by his master. This he might have done even if such signals had been indistinguishable to the human eye. Horses notice move ments which to us are imperceptible, a fact of which stablemen and riders are well aware. But how could Hans have obeyed such signals when his master was hidden behind a screen? The truth is that every explanation of Hans' expertness, with one exception, is beset with insuperable difficulties. The only theory that survived criticism we have not yet mentioned. It Is, frankly, telepathy or thought trans mission. It almost seems as if we were forced to concede that Hans possessed telepathic powers of perception, and if he did we need not be surprised. What other faculty explains the swift transmission of knowledge through a flock of crows, the ..travel signals of wild geese and the instant obedience of an entire herd to the imperceptible messages of its sentinel? BETTER ELECTION LAWS. If the Legislature shall pass the Olson bill directed at paid circulation of candidates', petitions, the Day resolutions, submitting constitutional amendments to confine signatures on direct legislation petitions t regis tered voters and the Smith bill eliminating the "proportional repre sentation" element in the election of National Convention delegates, it will have done much to improve the elec tion laws of Oregon. Mr. Olson's bill, as it has passed the House, still permits the nomination of candidates by petition, but it pro vides also an optional fee method. The candidate, if he so desires, may simply pay a fixed fee to county or state and thereby obtain place on the ballot It has become patent from experi ence that the paid petition signifies nothing as a rule but the fact that the candidate has paid a certain sum to get on the ballot. Mr. Olson's bill removes this fee from private pockets to the public treasury, where it will help pay the high cost of election. Another section is designed to pre vent Laffertylsm. The candidate must sign a pledge that if he is not nomi nated by the party from which he is seeking preferment he will not accept the nomination of another party. The candidate may break this pledge with out penalty unless the ignomy that accrues to him who violates his word be so construed. The Day constitutional amendments are intended to prevent frauds, not to curtail the initiative and referen dum. No check of the genuineness of signature is now possible and this faot has led to gross forgeries. If the amendments finally are approved, enactment of a law requiring com parison of signatures with the regis tration books will be possible. Senator Smith's bill relieves; the taint of TTRenism from the election of National delegates dnd restores full franchise to the voters in this particular. With ten to elect at large the voter may now vote for but one. The bill permits him to vote for ten. Another election bill was presented early in the session but it has not been heard of since. Perhaps it was thought too radical to be considered favorably at this time. This bill eliminated circulation of petitions for laws or referendums, and provided in lieu thereof for public depositaries where the voters may sign voluntarily. The optional plan of the Olson bill suggests the thought that an optional method of initiating or referending laws 'might be' tried. Let those who believe the people's power cannot be preserved without continuing the pe tition shover In existence still employ the soft-footed, often untruthful and sometimes criminally dishonest name solicitor. Let those who are content with an unassailable test of public demand for this law or the defeat of that law have their method. Such a law would soon determine whether the money element Is essential to the life of direct legislation. THE DECAY O' ORATORY. In a pensive editorial the Cincin nati Times-Star discourses on the de cay of oratory. Our public speakers, it tells us, have become matter-of-facf. They keep their oratorical feet firmly planted on solid groud and do not essay the lofty flights of such men as Webster and Henry Clay. "A speak er may convince us," laments our con temporary, "but he no longer thrills us." Since it is the business of oratory to convince, it looks like a genuine economy of efTort if that feat can be performed without going to the extra trouble of sending thrills down our backbones. Still we must admit that a great many estimable people enjoy that experience and it may be con ceded that oratory has lost something valuable if this art has disappeared. But has it? No doubt the orator of today is a 'far more quiet-mannered personage than his predecessor of half a century ago. His voice is agreeably modulated, his gestures are severely restrained, unless indeed he be a Billy Sunday. If he is of that astonishing breed, then nobody can lay down any rules for his conduct. He is liable to do anything on the platform short of changing his shirt. . But there are plenty of thrills in the quiet oratory of our day. Hyper bole, as The Times-Star remarks, has disappeared from public speaking. Those "noble edifices of words" that the Olympian Daniel used to construct in his perfervid moments no longer rise in the oratorical atmosphere and few regret them, because after all they were merely words. It is to the credit of the present generation that it pre fers stern realities to airy nothings. Still there are thrills in stein realities. The quiet statement of a truth has been known to move a great audience profoundly. The passion which in flames human hearts can be infused through soft syllables and gentle ges tures as. well as through oratorical thunders. Perhaps better. We know of orators in Portland who can thrill an audience as powerfully as any Web ster of old. On a larger stage Billy Sunday still does it. Savonarola never moved his hearers more powerfully than this erratic genius does. Neither the art of thrilling has been lost nor the capacity to respond to its charms. XEKDS, OF dlR FORKIUN POLICY. The present condition of interna tional affairs makes more than ever necessary that our foreign affairs should be in-the hands of trained men, whose ability has been proved by long experience, and whose tenure of office Is not contingent on political changes. Our National safety also requires con tinuity in our foreign policy, such as has been lacking since the Cleveland scuttle from Hawaii. Patriotism dic tates that our political quarrels should be confined to our domestic affairs and that, in our dealings with other nations, we should stand as a unit. Close intercourse and constant fric tion, resulting in periodical war, com pel European nations to treat diplo macy as a profession in which a man holds his position and wins promotion without regard to changes, in control of the Government. In the more des potic countries, such as Russia, the of fice of Foreign Secretary hus frequent ly been the highest prize awarded to successful diplomats. Thus wide ex perience and personal acquaintance with foreign statesmen are drawn Into service in the conduct of the Nation's foreign affairs. Until recent years the United States has been so completely outside the cir cle of international intrigue that we "have not suffered seriously from our practice of pitchforking green men into the State Department and into foreign missions for short terms. We have been blessed with an occasional genius at the head of the State De partment, such as Olney, Hay and Root, but they gave place to corpora tion lawyers like Knox or mere spoils politicians like Bryan, while perma nent, trained statesmen like Adee were kept in subordinate places. Men of experience and proved diplomatic talent like Henry White and W. W. Rockhill are supplanted by men who have merely deserved well of the party in power, and even a man who rises to the occasion so splendidly as did Herrick is hustled out of the way lest his gqod work make him political ly dangerous. The foreign policy of an administration is attacked for po litical effect, and the critics, in order to make good on their attacks, undo or discredit the work of their prede cessors upon gaining oirtee. This is not te way for a nation to make its power and influence felt in world affairs. Events since 1S98 and the present world-conflict have drawn us into the vortex of world politics. We shall . be called upon to play a leading part in the peace negotiations which will follow the war. It is nec essary to our National interests and dignity that on that occasion we should be represented by men who are able by training and ability to hold their own with the diplomats of Europe, not by such political appointees as Mr. Bryan has sent to Europe or by such "deserving Democrats" as he has sent to Latin America. It should also be an axiom in the State Department that a new Secretary should follow up and complete, instead of undoing, the work of his predecessor. At a conference in Paris, Latin civ ilization for the world was unani mously urged. However, at a late hour Teutons. and Anglo-Saxons were still somewhat in evidence. It is reported that a Baker farmer seized a rabid coyote by the tail and swung it over his head. Samson now reverts to second place with his lion episode. Our note to the powers is approved by the neutrals. Sorely. They're pleased to have us draw their clfest nuts out of the fire. Michigan Republicans demand a tariff revision and a larger Navy. Such a demand will not fall on deaf ears two years hence. Tacks are being used to put jitneys but of commission at Seattle. The jit drivers might retaliate by soaping the streetcar tracks. The Germans may install a new King for Poland at Cracow. We de cline the nomination in the interest of health. The Legislature has decided that women can't serve as Jurors. So the homely man still has a chance for justice. London reports that the British now have bigger howitzers than the Germans. It may be so, for all we know. For a Nation with no Army and no means of raising one. it appears that we have rather a loud voice at times. With the Eastern Oregon farmer plowing this early a bigger year than ever.in Oregon looms ahead. Less uplift and more practical as sistance are Mexic6's need, says Henrj Lane Wilson. Exactly. Personal mention: One of the Ore gon faithful will spend about two years in Siam. With the Legislature about done we can now look forward to the base ball season. Now that we've had a thorough cleaning up in Portland, let's keep the city cleam Japan is growing avaricious and grabbing everything that's loose in the Orient Elimination of petition peddling will rid the public of a needless nui sance. ' That foolhardy foreign policy is going to get us into trouble yet. Tomorrow the Legislature gets down to brass tacks. . , Made a start yet on your vacation-at-the-Fair fund ? The Jiips will be grabbing the Phil ippines next. . 'v 1 Gleams. Through the Mist By Deaa Calltaa. Ode to the t.rrat. When I was a lad, I had cause to be vad. For all of my teachers, ambitious. In guiding my youth Through pathways of truth. I found to be rather officious. "The ways of the great," They went on to state, "Should really create A profound admiration. And make ev'ry boy Their model employ. Till he shall enjoy The applause of the Nation. "Now Washington had. When he wag a lad, A bump of veracity hopping: As well you can sea From the old cherry tree. Which same he did not deny chop ping"; My teacher would say In her gentlest way. Till I wanted to bray And express my vexation; For I never could see How that old cherry tree As they told it to me Should deserve admiration. ' Now I was not bad When I was a lad. But I loathed all those praise which, quaintly, My teacher all piled When thry told of some child Who grew to a great .man, go saintly. And I feel to this day. And I rise here to say, That they tisel the wrong way Now the dope that I needed. Was how some fa4ioiie guy. With the same faults as I, Still, in some way, got by, And grew up and succeeded. "Sir." said the Courteous Offlca Boy. "in these hard times, the only chance to make both ends meet " "Don't say it, my son. don't pay it" I warned. "You have been beaten to that Joke by the contortionist the inch-worm, the hoop snake and tha baby who can stick his toe in his mouth." "Anyhow," said the C. O. B. hope fully, "If you are a beef you can al ways figure on a quarter."' "But don't go any further and talk about the polecat and Jhe cent." "Even if I leave that out I know of .agoat "herder who found five buck " yep, and no doubt you can tell of the surgeon who took a hundred bones out of his patient's hand." "No, I was thinking about the gard ener " "Stop, now, before you have gone too far," I said. "You can't beat the game, boy. Dawgonnlt! There hasn't been a new one in that line pulled for years and years." Solemn Tkougkt. Now the Spring season doth appear Behind the druggist's window glass. Where is that pile of sassafras The sassafras of yesteryear? - One would think, after noting the list of vices that the Social Upliftcrs attribute to Heredity, that Heredity works only with the "reverse English." . e The rose is red; the violet blue: Sugar Is sweet; and so are you. Old Valentine form, a If Poe Wrote It. The rose is as red as the passloa Of sunset In skies o'er the sea; As red as tho rubies they fashion In bracelets of fine filigree; As red as the blood that I see In thy petulant lips flushing through; And the violet that blooms on the lea Is a tender and tremulous blue. A beautiful, baby-eyed blue Its petals reflect in their neatness. From the sky in its tender complete ness; Its leaves are begemmed with tho dew: And sugar has saccharine sweetness. A syrup', stlckyish aweetness. And so. my beloved, bave you. e If Kipling; un It. Of the rose is red they tell me, and Hie violet is blue. And I'll not dispute the statement 'tis as old as it is true; And they say that sugar's sweeter than molasses in a pall; And the female of tho species msy 1 sweeter than the male. If Bursa Warble It. The rose that blooms upon the lea Is red as royal rubies be. And by the bubblln' burn we see The violet's blue: And sugar's, ah, so sweet to me And so are you. a-, If George Ade Ceo Id De II. The rose can hand out Cards and Spades To the best Highball Beak I've geen; The Humble Violet's Color shades The Bluest Orbs of Sweet Sixteen; There's Taste about the Saccharine: But Sweet, or Red, or Tender Blue, I'll hand It to you, Oeraldine You've got a Lot of Class to you. W kittled Out Fntnrtat Style. Wild, ardent color, flaming In the void. Chromatic chaos, square or trapexold. Hurling sharp sparkles and long lam bent glows , Is It the violet or yet the rose? Vague senses stir to taste. Whst does it mean, This all-pervading tang of saccharine? Blend all ofthese sensations Into one. Like twisted tendrils, through a streamer run, And loud I bellow, In a voice of flame. Ah. Love, like all of these, you are the same. St. Valentine, by the way, seems to be losirrg some of his grip on the peo ple, but St Vitus is getting stronger with the mob every day. Here's an extract from an ancient manuscript: "If Father Noah lived today. Wo wonder how he'd stand To have his ark held up by shipo in search of contraband?" Wo arc Informed that a friend doegp t like the way wo have been ending om columns. Ho thinks it is silly. So do we. So this time, out of respect fer him, We'll simply stop when we're throush.