THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND, JtTLT Z5 1913. PORTLAND. OKEGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Fostofflce aa second-class .mailer. Eubscrlpilon Kates Invariably In advance: (By Mali.) " Dally, Sunday Included, one year 18.00 pally, Sunday Included, six mont'n 4.5 Jjally, Sunday included, three months.. 2.5 "Daily, Sunday inclutled, one month... iJally, without Sunday, one year!.-- -9 Xai;y, without Sunday, six months..,. S.o Iaily, without Sunday, three months... l.5 Iaily, without Sunday, one month BO Weekly, one year 5', Sunday, one year... 2.60 Sunday and Weekly, one year. .. 3.40 . (By Carrier.) ' Dally. Sunday Included, one year 9.00 Laily. Sunday included, one month....- - How to Kemit Send Postofflce money or der, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at a sender's risk. Give postoffice address In tull. Including county and state. l'oittage Kates 12 to 16 pages. 1 cent; 18 to :vi pases. 2 cents; S4 to 48 pages. 3 cents; Ou to 00 pages, 4 cents; tt2 to 70 pages, 3 cents; 78 to 92 pages, o cents. For eign postage, double rates. fca-tern .liusinetis Offices Veree Ac Conk lin, Brunswick, bulldn g. New York: Verree av Conklin. steger building, Chicago; San Francisco representative, K. J, Bid well, i2 i'arket street. l'OKTLAXD. 61XDAV, JILT 25. 1015. THE I.AST WORD. President Wilson passes over to Germany, in his latest note, the entire responsibility for all consequences growing- out of violation of internation al law through the empire's subma rine warfare. If there was any ex pectation that the President would yield any measure of American rights, or descend from the noble and Im pressive determination of the original warning to Germany, it has not been fulfilled. The message has the tone of finality, without being either per emptory or provocative. It closes the controversy over the facts and ends the discussion of principles. The United States Is no longer concerned about what Germany says; It Is inter ested only In what Germany does. It might be wished, indeed, that the President had laid more emphasis upon the just expectations of the United States as to reparation for the Lusltania crime. It Is to be noted that,, there is no demand upon Ger many to right, so far as possible, that Incalculable wrong; but there Is only an Incidental statement of the desire of the American Government that full reparation be made. Obviously, -if there shall be no repetition of the Lusltania tragedy, and if Germany 6hall fail or refuse to accept blame for her former misdeed, the United States iwill make the best of the situ ation, either by regarding the inci dent as closed or by merely pressing for a settlement through future nego tiations. There is to be no break over the Lusltania; but the sinking of an other Lusltania will be regarded as deliberately unfriendly." To be sure. ' The President appears to have 'with full intention broadened the Ecope of the discussion to a gen eral consideration of neutral rights and belligerent obligations on the high seas. He states most pow erfully and unanswerably the Ameri can position. He reasserts the unim peachable principle of freedom etf the seas to lawful commerce. He affirms again In explicit language the rights of non-combatants to immunity from attack by any belligerent. He denies the right of Germany; or of any na tion, to ignore and deride the public law, and Insists that the practices of modern warfare must be made to con form to the law In its fundamentals. He notifies Germany and the world plainly that the' "Government of the United States will continue to con tend for that freedom (of the seas) from whatever quarter violated, with out compromise, and at any cost." The Imperial government Is thus left in no doubt as to where the United States stands for the future, even if it is permitted to assume that there will be no drastic or coercive action for the transgressions of the past. It is to the last degree re grettable that the German government has not seen fit to meet the issue in the same spirit of sincerity and straightforwardness as has marked all the President's utterances. It is true that the tone of the German replies has been friendly, and there has been manifest a certain anxiety to avoid a rupture, but through all the shifting and evasive phraseology of the Von Jagow productions there has been no sign that Germany would not in the same circumstances sink another Lusltania. There is nothing substantial upon which to base an opinion that the sub marine war on enemy merchantmen will not continue, whether neutrals are aboard or not; and if there was it would have been wholly dissipated by the attack on the Orduna. Here was a British passenger vessel, with no contraband aboard, with American and other passengers, outward bound from England, yet she was attacked without warning without a pretense of detention and search and, the tor pedo missing, she was shelled as she sped on her course. Coming at a time when the relations of the United States and . Germany were critical, how can it be regarded as other than definite notice that any British ves sel in the war zone, whatever her des tination or errand, is subject to at tack; 'that no notice will be taken of the fact that she has or has not non combatant passengers; and that there- fore no assurance can be felt by American or other non-combatants that Germany will respect their rights, under the rules of international law. to travel the high seas on peaceful errands under any flag but their own, Indeed, it is clear from the German proposals, and from the German deeds, that she intends to respect American rights only when they are emblazoned and protected by an American vessel flying an American ' flag; and if such a vessel flying such a flag shall be attacked and sunk, it will be subsequently disavowed as an "unfortunate accident." The high tone and Judicious firm ness of the President's note are worthy of all praise. It is glaringly obvious that in the diplomatic fencing between the two nations Germany has been painfully outclassed; The great stress laid upon the German admis sion that her submarine policy to ward merchant vessels is in the na ture of a reprisal and that therefore It is illegal, shows that the President was as quick to see the weakness of the German attitude as he is prompt to advertise its lack of logic and con sistency to the world. In effect, Ger many in her scheme of reprisal upon Great Britain pleads the law of necesV sity as her Justification for punishing; her enemy by striking a nation wnicn is the enemy of neither Oermany nor Great Britain. It requires from the United States a concession to Ger many's superiority over all obliga tions to humanity and the public law, iwhlch cannot in honor or. in self-respect be made. If we acknowledge Germany's right to change the rules of international warfare to suit her own needs in one instance, we shall be called upon tg make the same con cessions again and again, as the emer-, gency arises, and we shall soon be in an intolerable fix. IN THE HEART OF CHICAGO. The Eastland tragedy is one ol those amazing and horrifying things which ought never to have happened. It is well-nigh inconceivable that it did happen. ' The Eastland was a lake steamer. used constantly for excursion pur poses, so that her officers were fa miliar with the humors and antics of crowds. Yet while she is lyinir at wharf in the river, in the heart of Chicago, she capsizes, and a thousand or more people are drowned. How could It happen? But it happened. The tragedy was without some of the terrors of the Slocum disaster, when men, women and dhildren were consumed in a dreadful holocaust or were drowned. But it was neverthe less a fearful mishap, all the more agonizing because it was so unneces sary. ,, Of course, the Government will make a rigid investigation and doubt less the owners and the captain, if at fault, will be punished. No legal pro ceeding now will restore dead chil dren to heartbroken parents, or hap less- wives to mourning husbands. But it may prevent other such acciden for 'a time. THE FRIGHTFCX COST. The stupendous nature of the Euro pean war is measured by the cost and the number of men engaged. It is n.o idle figure of speech that it Is the greatest war in history. It is a fact that nations, and not mere armies, are at the front. -';" A German statistician, William Michaelis, estimates that more than 21,000,000 .men are actually under arms and that the dally cost reaches the staggering total of $42,200,000. The Michaelis figures are: Men enraied The allies 12.820.009 8.950.000 Germany, Austria, Turkey.... Total 21.770.000 vVarshiDS enerased For Germany, et al: Line ships OS, cruisers ti, torpedoboats 858, submarines 40, miscella neous 139: total . BSC For the allies: Line ships US, cruisers zio. lorpeaoDoaif 704, submarines 179, miscel laneous 231; total 1,442 Total 2.10S The dallv cost To the German Empire t 8,250.000 To Great Britain; exclusive of colonies (about) . ...i v 8, 250.000 To France (about) - 8.500,000 To the ten nations at war.... 42,250,000 Total cost of war up to April 1 10,000,000,000 War was once the business of mer cenaries and of other martial spirits who took it up as a pastime. But now, alas! it is the chief occupation of men of all walks of life. The world ought to be big enough for all, but evidently it is not. How long can the warring nations stand the drain in men and money? CARRYING THE WAR INTO MUSIC. The story from New Tork that cer tain stupendous fanatics are trying to boycott German music is probably not without grounds. People whose pas sions outrun their reason are always doing just such foolish things. If some of the grosser sort of these maniacs had had their way at the be ginning of the war Professor Muen sterberg would have been driven out of Harvard University, but President Lowell had the good sense to frown down all efforts of that kind. We dare say New Tork will as em phatically frown down these later ef forts to suppress German music. Wagner, Beethoven and Bach are not responsible for the war with its mur derous horrors. : Music, science and philosophy are precisely the factors in German- life which we have all admired in the past. Shall' we cease to admire them now because cold blooded militarism has for the moment overrun them, as it has overrun all the other fine and beautiful things of the spirit? Suppose we wanted to win the Ger man militarists back to sanity, how should we go about it? Should we begin by condemning indiscriminately all that the nation has accomplished, good and bad, divine and Infernal, lumping everything together without judgment. Far from' it- We would begin by praising the good and con demning the evil. Among the good things that Germany has given us is music. This gift it Is our duty to praise and welcome as heartily as we condemn the barbarities on the sea. The New Tork campaign against Ger man music appears to be particularly directed against Wagner, who was not a militarist. His awhole life was con secrated to his art. He was an evan gelist of human liberty and one of the pioneers of social Justice. THE STATE AND PRIVATE AFFAIRS. Some of the county newspapers which opposed the consolidation movement in the last Legislature, or at least gave it no assistance, are now crying out against interference by state boards with the conduct of pri vate affairs and bemoaning the high cost of government. One critic directs an onslaught at the Industrial Acci dent Commission, but oddly enough the criticism concerns something which does not In fact exist, while real reason for complaint Is Ignored. The charges are based upon the as sumption that the Commission is forc ing employers who do not desire to come under the state compensation law to pay 'premiums Into the state fund. Yet that is legally impossible, if the employer formally declares In writing his intention not to come under the act. The law is framed on the as sumption that those who do not de sire to take advantage of its benefits will so declare themselves, so an af firmative act is required of the em ployer. Complaints that employers have been forced in against their will can have no other basis than their own neglect to assert their legal right to remain out. The Industrial Acci dent Commission cannot be properly blamed for the employer's ignorance of law or his carelessness. The real fault of the law lies in the administrative costs and the impost Hon of a tax upon general property to help maintain an insurance that ought to be supported wholly by Industry. The administration cost is not neces sarily the fault of the Commission, but rather the fault of the law. Nor would compulsory compensation and actual "interference" by the state In the con duct of private affairs to the extent that every employer would be Com pelled to adopt the principle of com pensation and every employe com- elled to accept it be really so bad. But compulsory compensation need nkjt mean that the state shall build up agreat industrial accident insurance business of its own. State super vlsicn, to the end that adequate, fixeql compensation for accidents is baid promptly in every deserv ing case. Is sufficient. It is actu ally of no interest to the employe whether his compensation comes from the fund of a private company or one accumulated by the state if there Is no difference in the compen sation and it is paid as promptly. A change in the Oregon law making the state fund competitive with private insurance instead of monopolistic in the compensation field, and one or two other amendments would produce economy in one branch of govern ment without sacrifice of efficiency. But there comes in connection with the criticism of the Industrial Acci dent Commission the averment tnat practically all the present state com missions in Oregon might be abolished without Injury to the welfare of the state. This is so extravagant an as sertion that it needs no reply. There is room, however, for consolidation of commissions. This was one of the is sues of the last political campaign. Public sentiment in favor of such re trenchment was emphatic and wide spread, yet the Legislature signally failed to do its full duty in the matter. It is not likely that there has been any material change In sentiment. Nor is it hardly to be doubted that if the Legislature continually fails to act the people will seek relief through the in itiative. This Is one species of legisla tion that properly should go through the State Assembly, where the statutes in the formative period are subject to the wiser influence of larger counsel. Yet the initiative is designed to secur for the people the things they demand that the Legislature refuses to give. It is a clumsy implement for enacting detailed statutes, but it certainly will be used unless the Legislature is more responsive. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. People in middle life can remember when the Smithsonian Institution at Washington was our only foundation consecrated to the "extension and dif fusion of knowledge." Henry Mc cracken, former chancellor of New York University, is now able to enu merate several of the same kind in an article contributed, to an Eastern paper. The best-known a-re the Car negie and Rockefeller foundations, whose wealth and enterprise have be come proverbial. ' High school principals of fifty years ago dwelt fondly upon the mul tiplied erudite activities of the Smith sonian Institution in talks to their pupils. The foundation was then comparatively young, only twenty years old, and Intelligent men were profoundly Interested in what it was doing. To Americans of that day the extension of knowledge" was a nov elty. Our schools and colleges were engaged in teaching what had been known for centuries. It seemed star tling, almost perilous, to think of add ing anything new to the venerable treasure. But this was what the Smithsonian Institution set out to do. Its founder, James Smlthson, was the Illegitimate son of the first Duke of Northumberland. He must have been a man of extraordinary intelli gence, but he was not a money-maker. His wealth came by bequest and he left It to a nephew with the stipula tion that In case the legatee had no heirs it should go to the United States Government to "found at Washington an Institution for the extension and diffusion of knowledge." . The money came to this country in due time and Congress, with quite unexpected fidel ity, carried out ' the . wishes of the donor. The Smithsonian Institution has al ways had a distinguished scientist for its managing secretary. Such men as Joseph Henry, a great electrician, and S. P. Langley, - the Inventor of the aeroplane, have served In that capac ity. The "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," published at conven ient intervals, contain investigations in almost every field of . research. Many of them have been made in co operation with Government depart ments. PREPAREDNESS AND HEALTH. Men whose interest Is centered In the problem of military preparedness should, if they can find time for it, give a moment's thought to the lack of physical stamina among our citi zens of the age to bear arms. It is difficult to see how ships and guns can be of much use without able bodied soldiers to. handle them. The progressive decay of our physical vigor as revealed by report after report from great medical authorities is ap palling. The latest is from E. E. Rit tenhouse, president of the Life Exten sion Institute, which has made physi cal examinations of CiOOO.OOO em ployed males, that Is, of wage earners. Since this is the class from which most of our troops must come in case of war his figures are portentous, and they apply directly to the problem of preparedness, inasmuch as the aver age age of those examined was 30 years, the time of life when a soldier should be in his prime. Dr. Rltten house says that of these E, 000, 000 wage-earners no more than 3 per cent were found to be entirely normal. All the rest, or 97 per cent, were suf fering from some defect or disease. Of course not all their ailments were serious. Some were very slight. With these minor, or trifling, physical defects, 3 8 per cent of the men were suffering. It stands to reason that these little troubles must Impair their efficiency In the workshop and would hinder their activity in the field, but they are negligible in comparison with the next display that Dr. Rittenhouse gives us. He says that 81 per cent, or more than half, of the 5.000,000 work, ingmen who had been examined, had "moderately important defects" which needed immediate medical attention, and did not get it. The remainder of the group, some 400.000 men, suffered from "serious impairments." This condition of things would be discouraging enough in itself, but there is worse to follow. Not only Is the physical stamina of our population dangerously undermined, but the evil is progressively increasing. The death rate among men of military age out runs the growth of the population with discouraging speed. ' In the United States 410,000 persons die every year of diseases which should be confined to the period of "old age." But. most of these persons are not old when they succumb. Many of them are under 40, and of this number more than four-fifths could be saved from premature death by timely medical treatment. Why do they not obtain it? Some of them fair through sheer carelessness, some through Ignorance. But for the ma jority we must seek some other rea son and we need not look far to find it. They succumb to the effects 'of curable disease because they have not the means to pay a good physician for proper treatment. And if we wish to discover the cause of the lack of physical stamina among uur wage earning population we must pursue our quest in the same direction. Just as the best-bred steer In the world grows up a weakling dwarf if-he is insufficiently nourished, so the Ameri can workingman develops Into a man abnormally susceptible to disease for want of sufficient nutriment. We have beerftold many times over by great medical authorities that our working population, the true founda tion of the National defense, subsists on Improper and inadequate food. Add to that poor shelter and clothing which does not clothe and we find plenty of reason for Dr. Kittenhouse's statistics. An army enrolled from a population reared on famine rations would stand but a feeble chance of success against such battalions as Germany sends into the field. The. foundation of Ger many's military prestige is the scien tific care she gives to the welfare of her laboring population. Goldsmith saw pretty deeply into this matter when the drift of Eng land's population toward the city and the sweatshop first began. "Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey," wrote the wise poet, "Where wealth accumulates and men decay." The whole of Goldsmith's "Deserted Vil lage" may be read with edification In connection with Dr. Kittenhouse's ap palling statistics. DANCING AT PINE GROVE. It is pleasant to. read that . the women of Pine Grove Grange, near Hood River, have made plans to con duct a Friday afternooi dancing class ror their children. In some commu nities a great deal of fanatical preju dice must have been overcome before the grange would have tolerated any such wholesome arrangement. We re member reading last year of a grange somewhere in Eastern Oregon that lost Its best musician because some of the members wished to dance to her playing. She ought to have been flut tered, but superstition was too strong for common sense in her mind. If the Granges, as a rule, paid more attention to innocent and wholesome amusement for the young they would probably flourish better than they do. It is sometimes possible to attract boys and girls by ministering to the spirit of mirth when unmlngled doses of grave discussion repel them. Rural life needs generous and healthy pas times more than almost anything else. It has had plenty of experience of vice and neighborhood quarrels, but very little of real, whole-hearted fun. In fact, anybody who tries to Introduce hygienic mirthfulness into a rural community usually has to contend with the ingrained belief that fun Is wicked. We should dislike to have to esti mate how much misery this supersti tion is responsible for. Young people are literally compelled by nature to seek enjoyment If Its innocent forms are forbidden they will Inevitably turn to those which are objectionable. Ex perience has demonstrated this so often that the lesson should need no repetition, and yet we find very few rural communities where amusement for the young Is adequately provided. The week-end baseball games now so common among farmer boys are an encouraging sign of the times, but baseball Is not played in Winter and at that season the sturdy youths have no resort but the poolroom, the dive or the blind pig. In any village where there are two churches It would pay heavy moral dividends to dedicate one of them to wholesome sports for the young. The Lord would be far better pleased by .these exercises than by a Jejune ritual served out by a half-starved minister. HOI AN DESTINY. The other morning The Oregontan, casting a pensive eye over the world and Its goings-on, remarked that "man is the same old animal he was five thousand years ago." Upon pe rusing this reflection. Andrew J. Marker was moved to write some ob servations concerning human destiny, which he published in the La Grande Evening Observer. Mr. Marker's temperament Is enviably optimistic. He discerns in the European conflict "the birth-throes of a new develop ment." Above the roar of cannon he hears "the rustle of angels' wings." Though man's hands "are smoking with blood, he is still the child ot divinity and the darling of destiny." "The future of man," thinks Mr. Marker, "is not to be estimated so much by what he is as by what he hopes to become." Again we read that "man had a divine origin," and "as a spirit he is on the gain." To demonstrate this spiritual gain we are told that "the hand that once wielded the warclub has become the hand of Raphael and Michelangelo. The voice that once accompanied the tom-tom is now the voice of grand opera." and we are reminded that "he has cut through vast Isthmuses and subdued the chafing oceans," with a good deal more of the same sort which is familiar to auditors of Fourth of July orations. As to the "new development" that Is to come out of the big war we can all agree that after the present state of things something else will follow. It may be better in some respects. It may be worse in many. There Is no ground for hope that diplomacy in settling Europe after this war will depart from its ancient habits and proceed according to the rules of Jus tice or even of commen sense. "The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there Is no new thing under the sun." There have been "new developments" after every great war, but what has come of them except preparation for the next war? "What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?" The faculty of hearing angels' wings rustle above the battle field Is extremely pleasant. Would we all had It! But there is little evi dence that the angels have ever ex erted themselves to stop the slaugh ter. On the contrary, our best authorities assure us that the super natural powers are active partisans and may be relied upon by both the combatants to help slay the enemy. It Is quite possible, therefore, that Mr. Marker misinterprets the Intentions of the angels whose wings soothe him so agreeably. They may have guns In their hands. Concerning man's origin little can safely be asserted or denied. If we choose to call It divine nobody can punish us for doing so. Man's conduct during his ' long career on earth is far more Interesting than his ancestry and that conduct contains very little to encourage the belief that he "Is the darling of destiny." There is a great deal more evidence that he is the sport of malignant demons. We wish Mr. Marker had been a trifle more explicit about the ""spiritual gains" that man has made In the process of his evolution. So far as we can perceive the hand that wielded the warclub of old now wields a mi- chine gun, and the spiritual gain of the change Is not self-evident any more than it Is in regard to the voice "that once accompanied the tom tom." That 8a me voice Is now accom panying a Jewsharp In the trenches. Man's material achievements, which Mr. Marker gloats over at great length, simply reaffirm a' quotation that he makes from Goethe without seeming to feel Its force. "Man," eays the author of "Faust," "grows more acute, more clever, but not happier or better." The Greeks could not have built the Panama Canal, but they could have ravaged defenseless nations Just as modern powers do. Man has al ways seen the future in a roseate glow. He "never is, but always to be blest." He has always reasoned In his troubles precisely as Mr. Mar ker reasons now. It is not realities that count, but hopes and aspirations. Only dream hard enough and your dream will become a fact. Keep on wishing and In the course of time your wish will be granted. Now U Is right here, as it seems to us, that we find the key to man's perennial misery. He has always, like Mr. Marker, been trusting In golden rhetoric, in dreams. In airy hopes, which comes to the same thing as saying that he has trusted In the angels and fairies, and his reward has been the everlasting renewal of disappointment. It Is undeniable that man has achieved some things that might bet ter his condition. We doubt if they ever have in any essential respect, but they might If he knew how to use them. These things have not been won by listening to angels' wings or aspiring to a happier future. They have been won by hard and persist ent labor, cither mental or physical. The human hand guided by the hu man brain has gone far toward mas tering the forces of nature. Most of them are harnessed and are toiling at our command. But tolling for what To feed the widow? To clothe and Bchool the orphan? To develop a sturdy and healthy body of citizens? Not by any manner of means. The natural forces which we so proudly drive In harness are tolling at the business of slaughter. Of those works of man's Intelligence we can say. as the preacher did of everything under the sun. that they are vanity and vex ation of spirit, and feel that are using the most moderate language. There Is no question about man's ability to do things. He can do all Mr. Marker and the Fourth of July orators specify and a great deal more that they never thought of. but what of it? To go back to Goethe's ques tlon, is he any happier or better for it? The trouble Is that the minute he has done anything with his hand and brain he turns away to dream about the angels, leaving his work to be "swiped" by some kaiser or king or other watchful magnate. He never thinks of using his conquests for his own happiness, and therefore happi ness never flows from them. It is literally true, and It can be proved by a thousand Instances, that most of man's Inventions have been turned into instrumentalities of oppression or misery because he has not cared enough for himself to use them for his welfare. Th l nn truth after all. in the report that members of the British Parliament would contribute all sal aries and allowances. We thought not. "Carrania Takes Naco." says a headline. After reading farther we were disappointed to learn that Naco Is a town, not a deadly poison. A total of 3500 iron crosses has been awarded German heroes. And something like 100 times that num ber of little wooden crosses. When the Bryan Presidential boom Is launched, as we have no doubt It will be in due time, a dull, sickening thud will be the only result. Trifle warm of late. But not warm enough to prostrate any one. We never have any of that "real weather" In Western Oregon. American tourists who will visit the Columbia Highway will find no cause to complain that the war has shut them out of the Alps. About time for the Czar to make another visit to the front. However, our advice to the Czar is that he keep away. The season draws nigh. when our own casualties will rival those in Eu rope. The deer hunters are mobi lizing. Oregon's Navy will steam to sea to morrow . to put on the finishing touches of training for any eventu lity. Miss Jane Addams avers that the war must end. And so It will as soon as it has been thoroughly fought out. Another thing to take wlth'you on your vacation: Full Instructions on how not to start a forest fire. Mexico continues running things with a high hand, despite warning No, 578 from the Administration. "Heat drives man insane." reads a dispatch from the East. Out here the heat merely makes us mad. Japan Is increasing her navy. We are still talking about doing some thing similar. Now what will we do when Ger many sinks another cargo of Anierl can citizens? No doubt Moscow will become the new German objective In the eastern war zone. Thaw says he is still without plans for the future. Probably always will be. . Make the most of watermelon time The luscious Oregon product la on the market. The German war saw Is cutting the Russian army off from Warsaw. Gee! They're beginning to estimate next year's tax bill- already. Don't you do It again, Wllhelm, or we shall become nettled. Teddy's out already on a blood and thunder platform. Dee-llghtful! We refer to the weather. No doubt Caruso Is at the Italian front. These are the real swimming days, The Shadow of a Flag (From an address delivered bv Will H. Thompson, of Seattle, at the banquet of the Sons ot the American llevoluuon. Portland. July 20.) All the world loves a flag. Since men began to gather themselves intj tribes and nations they have fashioned symbol to represent the public au thority, and the flag has long been the favorite symbol. For more than 5000 years It haa sheltered homes and guarded the passes ot frontier lands. It has been the highest expression of power. "Terrible as an army of banners. comes the Hebrew tribute out of Immemorial years. The Egyptian carved his flag In granite, where It vet holds Itself aflaunt. above the dust of long-forgotten kings. In tunneled tombs where no wind blows. No other symbol has ever so ap pealed to men. No other Insensate thing has evoked such tumults of ac claim, or led such multitudes. Just why nations, civilized and bar baric, have so loved their flaga. has not been written. From the time the young banner la unfurled at the birth of a nation, to the last hour ot na tional life. It la cheered aa the peo ple's gonfalon. Even lone after national existence ceaaes. the sight of the lost flag will bring a flush to manly cheeks and wet brave eyes, unused to teara. Tnere are In I'oland now, hidden in aecret place, flags that waved when Sobterkl was king. J can well remember when a sum. gi ay-clad boy. but a few weeks over 1 years of age. aick and wounded. trudging homeward from Appomattox, after week of Intolerable hunger and blinding headache. and heart that ached more than the head, with three companions, sat down In the dust and shea of 6hf rman'i awful path and divided a small siuar of bunting which one of them had torn from his regimental flag and. ".ilJdt-n in his bosom, had borne It away from the Held of his last despairing battle. Foolish," you say? "Foolish teara for broken toy." It may be so. And yet. you shoul.l remember lhat they had followed It where angels might fear to tread. i How much It meant to them you will never know. The smoke of hiloh was upon It. It was scorched with flame at the cannon's mouth In Cliica mauga's splintered woods. In the wilderness It was splotched with the best blood of the aona of those cava liers "who rode with Spotswood round the land and Haleigh round t.is ." No wonder that Father Ityan'a moan for the "conquered banner" la yet a tragic whisper. The appeal of the flags of lost na tions, after no handa are left to up hold them. Is powerful yet, and stirs the hearts of even ua satisfied and patriotic Americana. I think, and I trust that you will agree with me, that It would be worth a long and hard pilgrimage If. at the end thereof, one might find, folded away in some old tomb or temple, the flag that the des ert warriors waved, when through the I'almyreun gates Zcnobla rushed upon the Roman swords and lost to Aurelian her freedom, her kingdom and her crown. How a flag will speax though It '.ias no tongue? liow greatly a certain Georgian boy, now grown gray with years, would prize and cherish, and guard and keep, a foeman's flag that moved up through the breast of battle and was planted by strong hands against the flimsy log breastworks at the bloody angle. Upton and Ills he roic men brought it there. Its folds were riddled and Its staff was splintered, but It placidly waved above friend and foe alike, whose bay onets were tangled together above t he- works. And once the shadow of the foeman's flag fell upon the young Georgian's face, and as he looked up hla '.leart gave a startled leap as he saw that Georgia's star waa on the old banner yet. Does It mean nothing that In the hour of Immeasurable strain such - a thouttht should have been born In Oe shadow of the flag. Was It only the delusion of a disturbed and awestruck boyish mind? Or waa It the past of the nation whispering? Were not the c'.ieers of Tlconderoga and Yorktown. of Monterey and Chapultepec fluttering Its folds aa the radiant thing stood in the shriveling mouth of hell and waved and waved? I forego the attempt to call the roll of the fine elements that enter Into the idolatrous worship of men for the flaga that are the objects of their devotion, but leave that to later time, and to some one equal to a loftier scholium. A flag bespeaks a nation. If a na tion stands for freedom. Its flag Is the emblem of liberty. If the nation stands for power only. Its flag becomes the emblem of tyranny. We Americana, proudly, and I think with truth, honor our banner aa the emblem of the truest and noblest peo ple that ever sought to organize liberty under forma of law: dwelling apart from crowns and thrones, on this "fairest aide of the great round earth. as it swings In the smile of God." Thla spirit of nationality, well aym bollzed by frenzied loyalty to a na tlon s flag, ts bom a lofty and a dangeroua thing. The proud pom of republic or empire that says: "every thing for our people, nothing for thoi-e beyond the border." la as wrong as It la i angeroua. Thla excessive spirit of nationalism Is today the central figure In Eu rope's awful delirium. Some of the mad nations are more to blame than others, but all the great powers have been looking with hungry eyes upon lanos not yet their own. From Mecca to Victoria, from Ven ice to Archangel, the nations. In the cause of greater nationality, are feed gin thelr aona to the mouth of the Mar tian Minotaur. "My country, better than yours! My deatlny greater than yours! My cul ture higher than yours! A place In the sun for me. but not for you!" These are the cries that the rifles are speak Ing. and the cannon have thundered them until their brutal lungs are hoarse. They, drowned the wall of murdered Belgium as the roar of a storm-tossed ocean would hush the whimper of dying child. Some day this fever of nationalism must eool. No Imaginary line can make one man better than another. The shadow of no flag should be a sanctuary for one and a menace to another. Yet because of this mad spirit of nationality the earth Is drink Ing blood with a hot thirst that no wild reveller, no Omar crying "Wine! Wine! Wine!" could ever match or mock. . e ' This is your land and mine. Its symbol Is full of meaning. The blue of heaven is upon it. It is striped with the rose-red of lofty passion, and the lilted white of peace. The comrade stars assembled -upon It are bound In a mighty bond of In dissoluble brotherhood, and no star differs from another star in glory. I'n der Its mighty shadow, here at the world's western gate and at the high tide of time, we sunl and watch and wait. They were few who gave our flag to the winds of freedom, but "we are many, we who hold the grim resolve to guard It well. It shadows the richest and fairest domain that man haa won from the wilderness. No better land, no realm more beautiful, has earth's thrilled bottom' lifted to the pun since hJ be gan the building of the hills. We hoe that thn careworn, patient man. to whom we have confided Its vast dea tiniea. may keep our flag in the clear iky out of the smoke and flame of a delirious world. But. whatever fate wills, we will stand by the land and Ita homr. and unoer tne shadow of Us dauntless flag wave w litre it ruay, Gleams Through the Mist By foesm I'eUlaa. The Beach Nat. When that In mid-July the showers scoot And dry becomes the lawn's unwstered root; And a:i the vines unbathed by any shower Require a hose to aoaz out growth of flower; And little birdies make their melody To ope your eyes each morn at half past three: And Zephyrua, we hall her gentls breath. Which saves trim roasting utterly to death; The crops within Ihs field beneath tha aun Ars toasted brown and harvesters are run: Then Nature stirs one up and ha engagea A ticket good for week.end pilgrimages. And rambles oft to seek the lovely strands Where broad Pacific laves her ahtntnc sands. But mostly folks from Portland, who would spend Week-ends at beaches, down to Seaside wend The blest reller of briny air to seek And do so at lea end of every week. So. Muss, pack up my aultcase and your crip. Pack up my harp, my collars and my aocks; Tack up my poet's wreath and snap t s locks. And let us take a Seaside, beach nut trip. Haste, for the train Is tootlns at the station, Ths week-end crowd most all the seats Is taking. And mmy mors ars toward tbs station senile Muse, with your perambula tion. e Ho. there, a ticket for me and my Muse! Please check my harp, my crip and my !yrs. AIM ths wreath thst 1 frequently use! Tickets to Seaside are what 1 require And. say, by the way. when I'm going dovi there. I do think the Mure should be given halt far. see If seats upon the train be few. Just stand within the aisle, or alt in some one's lap. "Twill do the moments to beguile. And do not growl about tha crowd and do not grumble right out loud: be rather thankful, glad and gay you're on the train ar.d on your way. s a Who Is on ths week-end? Who. oh. who? On ths Friday anesk-end To the ocean blue? Bank clerks and millionaires; Salesmen from the stores; School -martna who lug their carsa To the ocean's shores; Waitresses and suclal buds; Everyone In Summ.-r duds. Ksnr'ful and r.ew; Who la on the week-end. On the Friday snesk-end. Who, oh. who? e "Sir." said ths Courteous Office Boy. as he hopped on the train, "let me go. too: don t spoil my Joy nor make my hopes In vain." "No. boy." I cried, "you may not go." "Twere better that vou yield, or I would have you for to know. I'll spoil your pome." he squealed- 'How soT 1 queried.' Well." aid he. -I'll lust stick hers and plead with thee until my plead ings growing volume has used almost your whole blamed colyum. Thus will your Searlde trip be vain. you wont have room left on the page to do much more than start youi train " "Come, get aboard!" 1 roared In rage, e "Oh. Isn't Nature wonderful? Don't you Just lovs ths sea? I met a lovely, lovely maid, who spoke thuswlss to rat (Ms thought: "The maid Is passing fair!") "Oh. yes. I said. "I like the air: Come, let ua stroll upon the shore And listen to tha breakers roar! Ive Just been hers two days.' she said, aa by my aids she strsyed. "And I have Just seen everything!" (She was a lovely maid.) "I met a fellow on ths beach Who said tee-hee I was a peach. And O-o-o. you oughta heard ths things thst fellow said to me Oh. isn't Nature wonderful? rion't you Just lovs the sea?" (She wss a sweet and winning maid.) "Xsw don't you think. ahs said "Ons reslly needs ths change one flnde where sandy seashores spread? I never, never miss ths rhsncs To corns down here! I Uks to dsncs. And Isst night, honest. I stayed up and dsnced till tis'.f psst three. Oh. Isn't Nsturs wonderful? Don't you Just lovs ths sea?" "My Illy maid." 1 whispered low. "will yoa sot steal away With me from out ths msddenlng crowd to wstrh th-. brcskers play. And heir the sons ths ocean sings As on the sands Us ranks It flings. And watch the flecks of wild moonshine Isnce out like ghosts scross ths brine?" With l'.stless she looked St me. "I'd ltks to very much." ssld she. "Hut trulv now I ...net bs gone I've got a bridse whtst party on." (Ah. she wss fair to look -pon.) I sighed regretfully: "Oh. isn't N'sture wonderful? Pon't you Just lovs the ea? see "Good morrow. good pres agent: what are you doing?" "A tale for the boost of thla beach I am brewing. "And what do you fashion?" "I mut own my luck la rotten. At present I'm utterly stuck and not an fldea have I to put by to keep thla fine beach in the popular eye." tie clasped hla poor head and he tore at his hair and lifted a sorrowful song of despair. "O-he! I will wall for the long van ished glory that used to hang round the old sen-serpent story! Each Summer I told them the tale o'er and o'er of the monster sea-serpent we saw off the shore. But years have gone by and there isn't one hope today to get by with that sea-serpent dope. 1 weep for th serpent, whose glory U o er. "Each Summer he used to come round to the benches and roll briny eyea at the beautiful peaches and always with .ease and with grace, I confess, he'd wiEgle his sinuous way to the press. But now he's a chance on which one can lay no dough; extinct as the Icthiosaur or the dodo. O-he! I will wail for the long vanished glory thai used to hang round the old BtJ-ffrpeat story!" e s Mistress Mary, quite contrary, tell me. I'd like to know, why do you run to sit In the sun with pretty belles all in a row? "I will tell you. foolish fellow 1 There's only uit thla to It; to get a man and a Summer's tan nd we've only two days to dc It. Oh. Muse, already tla Sunday eve. I'ack up the suitcase. wee got lo leaoa. For the tang thai roroiis on the Ires n on Sunday Has got to bs back on the Job on MutMiay. I love the sea. and I'd like to play About on the beach from day to ; But duty Is casing to you aud nie To beat tt back from tha briny sea. "Farewell, farewell. O briny main! Now run like the dickens in catch the rrfun. And. Meee, 1 don't like to make a fusa. Hut I do hope there'a one seat left (nr ua. For it vms to me It would bs a yt; j To Uav to aland all lbs way to tus city. I ft