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TIIE SUNDAY OREGONTAX, POTITTAND, XOVE3IDER 2G, 1916.
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POKTI.AXI), SIXIIAY, NOV. 26. 1016.
PBfKiRKSS OK THE WAR.
While America was engrossed with
a Presidential campaign and election,
events of moment were occurring in
the countries at war. New issues, new
hopes were raised; new campaigns
were begun, new movements presaged,
to which scant consideration was given
In the newspaper columns because of
the importance of more intimate af
fairs. While none of the events in
the war zone or in the countries en
paged assure an early peace, some
of them may count for much in deter
mining the final overthrow of one
force or the other. To recount them
may not be amiss, that we may again
take up with intelligence thethread of
a great world history now in the mak
ing: In England the food supply has
become a serious problem. Retail
prices of foodstuffs in a year ad
vanced an average of 27 per cent. They
have Increased 78 per cent over prices
before the war. On November 15, in
the House of Commons. Walter Runci
man. President of the Board of Trade,
stated that the time had arrived when
the government must regard the ques
tion of food supplies as a war prob
lem. The political situation in Ireland
Continues to be of much concern to
the British government. Martial law,
the resurrection of many of the old
political methods of Ireland's past, to
gether with the threat to apply the
compulsory service act, which now
Is enforced only in Kngland, Wales
end Scotland, have thoroughly irri
tated the country. Ireland still has
160,000 men fit for military service
who have not enlisted. To her other
troubles are added a short and bad
potato harvest, accompanied by a stiff
rise in prices.
On August 27 Roumania entered the
preat war on the side of the entente.
Today Roumanians military situation
Is a critical one. Apparently the cen
tral powers were well prepared for
the swift campaign that followed.
.Von Mackensen, at the head of a
mixed force of Bulgarian, German,
Austrian and Turkish troops, swiftly
swept back the Roumanians and Rus
sians in the Dobrudja, capturing In
turn the fortresses of Turtukai and
fiilistria. After a slight check he fol
lowed with the capture of Roumania's
chief sea port, Constanza, and seized
the railroad line extending from that
city to the Danube.
Roumania began the war by in
vading the Hungarian province of
Transylvania, only to be defeated and
thrown back through the Carpathian
passes, which are, for the most part,
now in the hands of the central pow
ers. Russian troops have been poured
Jnto Roumania and seem to have
checked the Teuton rush in the north,
but in Western Wallachia the Rou
manians are in retreat and in great
danger from Austro-German forces
that threaten to envelope them from
the south. The Roumanian city of
Craiova has fallen, thus cutting the
Orsova-Bucharest railway line.
Winter weather has now settled
down in most of the war zones. The
tjreat battles that have been in prog
ress for months on the Russian and
French fronts have been brought al
most to a standstill.
The great Russian offensive that
swept the Austrians off their feet in
July had practically spent its force
by mid-September. Today the Rus
sians have retaken the whole of
Bukowina and are well into the Car
pathians. In front of Leraberg the
Russian drive was halted by new Ger
man and Turkish troops.
The great combined French and
British drive on the western German
lines has for several weeks shown
signs of exhaustion, only to flare up
spasmodically when the weather and
artillery conditions are favorable.
As the Somme front stands today, the
British are some three miles from
Bapaume and the French in the out
skirts of Peronne, two villages, re
spectively, nine and eight miles from
the old battle line.
After four months of steady fight
ing, which has been highly destructive
of life, comparatively small gain has
been made. The British alone report
a loss of more than 400,000 up to
November 1.
On October 25 the French, by a
brilliant surprise attack, recaptured
the heights, including the ruined fort
of Douaumont, just east of Verdun.
This offensive resulted in the Germans
also abandoning the fort of Vaux on
November 3, thus delivering up posi
tions to the French that had taken
several months to win at heavy cost.
German submarines continue to take
heavy toll from British and neutral
shipping. Berlin asserts that 180
ships were sunk in the month of Sep
tember. The destruction continues
with undiminished vigor. The destruc
tion of Norwegian ships has caused
that country to adopt a vigorous policy
against German submarines in the wa
ters of Norway. This action has se
riously strained the relations between
the two countries.
In Germany a tremendous internal
campaign is being carried on by the
political forces supporting Chancellor
von Bethmann-Hollweg. on the one
side, and by the followers of Von
Tirpitz on the other. The German
people have great faith in their sub
marines and believe that an unre
stricted policy would result in the de
feat of England. Public opinion,
therefore, especially of the masses,
supports Von Tirpitz' policy of "sink-on-sight"
regardless of neutral opin
ion. This radical policy for subma
rines is combated by the German
Chancellor, who, with the Kaiser,
realizes that such methods would be
sure to involve Germany with the
United States.
Efforts to bring Canada's "Over
Seas Force" to a half million men
have to date fallen short by approxi
mately 100,000 men. Enlistments have
decreased steadily from 29,212 in Feb
ruary of this year to 5999 in October.
The French Canadian province of
Quebec is less inclined than are the
English-speaking provinces to send
men to France and has supplies
fewer than 20.000 of Canada's quota
of 400.000 now in service.
As indicated by the casualty lists
published in the Canadian newspapers,
a large percentage of Canadian sol
diers state their home address to be
in England and Scotland.
After many months of idleness, the
large entente army based in Saloniki
has, by an extended flanking move
ment, forced the Bulgarians to
evacuate the Macedonian city of
Monastir. This army, under the
French General. Sarrail, is composed
of troops brought up from the four
quarters of the earth. In addition to
European troops from England, Scot
land, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy,
Portugal and Russia are a motley array
of Serbian, Albanian, Montenegrin and
Greek volunteers from the Balkans;
Sikhs and Ghurkas from India; Turkos
and Senegalese from the French col
onies, in Africa; Annamite soldiers
from French Cochin-China and the
native Maori - and white soldiers of
New Zealand and Australia. The fail
ure of this army, estimated in some
quarters to number 700.000 men, to
move sooner to release the pressure on
Roumania is to some extent due to
the activity of German and Austrian
submarines in attacking the ships
carrying supplies to its base at Sa
loniki. Political changes in Japan, due in
part to Japan's relations with China
and to issues of the European war.
finally culminated in the resignation
of Premier Okuma on October 4. The
new ministry, headed by Count Terau-
chi. whose career as director of the
Military Academy, Minister of War
and as Field Marshal of the Japanese
army, stamps him as a soldier, is ex
pected to adopt a policy of firmness
in Japan's policy toward China.
The Australian conscription has been
voted down by a very large majority.
This result is, in some quarters.
blamed on the attitude of the Irish
voters.
In Belgium the German government
has begun a systematic rounding up of
able-bodied men and is sending them
to Germany. From allied sources
comes the claim that these men are
to relieve German workmen for serv
ice in the army. Military observers
see in this move a possible withdraw
al of German troops from Belgium.
Germany would not leave the able
bodied Belgians behind to be enlisted
in the entente armies.
The Italian troops are still engaged
in an almost hopeless struggle with
the troops of Austria-Hungary in the
mountains east of Gorizia. The ad
vance on Trieste consequently pro
ceeds slowly.
A revolution has occurred in Greece
and the Greek navy and part of the
army have been taken over by the
entente powers. The mass of the
Greeks-people, however, still support
the King in his policy of keeping out
of the war.
That the conditions in the warring
nations are rapidly becoming unbear
able seems to bring the conviction
that peace is nearer than develop
ments on the fronts would indicate.
Only in England and France is the
determination most pronounced for
continuation of the struggle, and even
in these countries the conviction is
dawning that no military decision is
possible that will crush the central
powers.
Roumania's fate hangs in the bal
ance. Should the result go against
the entente allies, Russia's position is
a dangerous one.
The cry for peace throughout the
whole world is more pronounced than
ever and seems to be making an Im
pression. DALY'S PERSONAL FRANCHISE,
The license or franchise under
which certain jitneys are permitted to
operate in Portland has been granted
under one of the most astounding as
sumptions of autocratic power ever
witnessed, even in the days when the
city was under machine rule.
The word "franchise" is used ad
visedly, for it is a fair construction of
the terms under which the jitneys are
now conducting their business that
those terms do constitute a franchise.
Moreover, it is a franchise attempted
to be granted by one member of the
City Commission in violation of the
charter provisions that no franchise
shall be granted except by ordinance
or without compensation to the city.
The jitneys are operating under a
zone system and thereby fraudulently
pose as taxicabs. The zone system
adopted by the Chauffeurs' Union has
been formally approved by Commis
sioner Daly. Incidentally, it was
Commissioner Daly who presented and
had adopted an ordinance prohibiting
the operation of jitneys except under
franchise.
The zone system is depicted on a
card or leaf which. It is the assertion
of the jitney union's officers, has been
copyrighted. No driver of an auto
mobile or taxicab or jitney can post
or utilize the zone card unless he first
acquires membership in the jitney
union. Under copyright laws he can
not even approximate it with intent
to circumvent the copyright. Under
city law he cannot operate under
a zone system without posting a card
depicting the zones. He cannot op
erate a straight jitney without a for
mal franchise.
The zone system approved by Com
missioner Daly is thus not a standard
zone system open to application by
any or all jitneys or taxicabs. It is
a special right or privilege granted to
a definitely formed organization to
operate over certain indicated streets
in Portland as a common carrier. Call
them taxicabs, taxi-jits or jitneys, their
privilege still constitutes a franchise.
Furthermore, it is a valuable privi
lege. The city of Long Beach. Cal..
as will have been observed by those
who read an article published in The
Oregonian yesterday, has disposed of
a jitney franchise covering certain
streets for $6600 and the owner of the
franchise expresses a desire to acquire
and pay for a franchise over other
streets. Here the jitneys pay nothing,
except a small license fee.
Mr. Daly, of course, has no power
or authority to present a grant of
pecuniary value to his jitney friends.
But that he should attempt to do so
is a distinct violation of trust, if this
be a. fair construction of the zone sys
tem he has inaugurated. And we
think it Is. This special and advan
tageous privilege granted favored
drivers of for-hire cars should be
promptly overturned by the Council.
SEND THEM HOME.
According to various Thanksgiving
day proclamations, ante-election asser
tions, post-election jubilations and
public congratulations, we are at
peace with all the world.
Yet an Oregon battery and an Ore
gon cavalry troop, composed of civil
ians, have been doing military serv
ice along the Mexican border for five
months.
Whatever may be the oath of a
member of the militia, whatever may
be the terms of the enlistment law, the
spirit of the system does not contem
plate withdrawal from civilian life for
permanent police or military duty of
National Guardsmen in time of peace.
The National Guardsmen have not
adopted militarism as a profession or
a means of subsistence. Their main
interest and responsibilities are in
civil life, in the support of themselves
and their families. They have offered
themselves to the state and Govern
ment, merely for incidental military
service in time of peace and to sever
ance from civil life and duties only in
time of war.
The United States has a permanent
military establishment composed .of
men who have entered it with mili
tary service solely in view. It is out
rageous that this establishment is not
sufficiently strong to protect our
boundaries from a country with which
we are at peace. Either we are at
war or the Nation is disgracefully in
efficient in military preparedness.
Government inefficiency is killing
the National Guard as a reserve force.
Sequestration in desert military camps
of two Oregon Guard organizations for
five months of - watchful waiting is
sufficient warning to civilians of what
they may expect if they respond to
the call for National Guard service.
No wonder that officers are resigning
and that there is difficulty in reor
ganizing.
There is a reason aside from that
incident to fairness and good faith
why the Oregon battery and troop
should be sent home.
AWAY YONDER IN
Theodore Roosevelt is 58 years old
(born October 27, 1858); but he has
not seen everything, though he has
been a traveler, a hunter, a naturalist.
a historian and a statesman. He saw
life on the American frontier in its
roughest days, and he explored both
Africa and South America after he
retired from the Presidency. Now it
is announced that he is to start next
February for Hawaii, Samoa, and the
Fiji Islands. The best has been saved
for the last or perhaps only the
latest. For Fiji will afford the Colonel
a new and thrilling experience.
The casual reader will be surprised
to know that the Fiji Islands number
250. They are beautiful and fertile.
But that is not the reason, we venture
to guess. Colonel Roosevelt is going
there. It is to see and mingle with
a people having the amazing history
and practices of the original and only
Fijians. For example, take this ex
tract from the article on Fiji in the
Encyclopedia Britannica:
The Fijians "were formerly notorious for
cannibalism. The Fijla-n's chief table luxury
was human flesh, euphemistically called by
him "long pig." and to satisfy his appetite
he would sacrifice even friends and rela
tives. Trie Fijians combined with this
greedness savage and merciless natures. Hu
man sacrifices were of daily occurrence. On
a chief's death, wives ami slaves were buried
alive with him. When building a chiefs
house, a slave was buried alive In the hole
dug for each foundation post. At the
launching of a war-canoe, living men were
tied hand and foot between two plantain
stems, making a human ladder over which
the vessel was pushed into the water.
Enough to excite the interest of a
historian, such as Colonel Roosevelt.
We shall look for a mighty interesting
report on the fatted ease to which the
Fijians have now degenerated.
WANTED MEN FOR THE NAVY.
The candid statement of Admiral
McGowan as to the present condition
of enlistment in the United States
Navy, and disclosure of the fact that
it will hardly be possible to recruit
a full personnel for a year or two, if
it is accomplished then, indicates a
condition of affairs that calls for the
attention of the most practical of men.
Clearly it is no task for a theorist.
There is a rather strange contradic
tion between the showing made by the
Navy that the opportunities afforded
by the service compare favorably with
many of those that industrial life of
fers to a young man. and the state
ment by Admiral McGowan that the
high cost of living is one of the chief
influences tending to keep down this
same recruiting. One would be in
clined to believe that the high cost of
living would operate to attract men
into a life in which the Government
did the worrying on that score, and
the explanation that men in the Navy
find it next to impossible to support
dependents left ashore is only partly
satisfactory. For if the same young
man were, on land, a clerk or a me
chanic, as has been pointed out by
an analyst in the Scientific American,
he would pay for board of the same
quality the Navy furnishes, together
with sleeping quarters, not much less
than $6 a week. It is figured that his
carfare and luncheons would amount
to another $3 and his clothing to per
haps $1.50 more. The Navy supplies
some other facilities, in the way of
amusements, and so forth, that seem
to bring the total value up to what
would be about $50 a month ashore.
This, it is pointed out, is for a young
man who may still lack two or three
years of coming of age.
The young seaman assigned to his
first rating aboard ship receives $26.40
a month. This makes his total emolu
ments equal to about $75 a month in
civil life. But he is eligible to pro
motion. ' As a third-class petty officer
he would receive $33 a month, in ad
dition to board, quarters and amuse
ments; as a petty officer of the second
class, $38.50; in the first class, $44 a
month. These positions are reason
ably within the reach of any striving
young man.
With special qualifications the
chances are correspondingly larger.
As a chief petty officer, he would re
ceive $77 a month, which with his
fixed emoluments would be equivalent
to about $125 a month in civil life. But
there are in addition certain induce
ments for re-enlistment. If he re
enlists within four months of his dis
charge he receives a bounty of four
months' pay. Furthermore, his pay
is increased by $1.50 a month in recog
nition of his honorable discharge, and
also by $5.50 for his first re-enlistment
and by $3.30 a month for each
subsequent re-enlistment. For each
good-condnct medal or good-conduct
bar he receives another 8 2 cents a
month. These credits would mean that
he would receive the equivalent on his
first re-enlistment us a seaman of
$35.60 a month instead of $26.40, and
if he had attained sua U higher
grades his pay would be increased in
proportion.
These figures take account only of
the relatively lower grades and the
early enlistments. Progress may be
rapid, if the young man is ambitious;
it is steady, if he Is only faithful. The
way to become a warrant officer is
open to him. His future there will
be assured, with pay ranging from
$1500 to $2400 a year, with the benefit
of retirement on three-quarters pay
at the age of 62. The promise that
he will be taken care of in his old
age is a substantial factor, in com
parison with the advantages of life
ashore, but one that is not readily
estimated in dollars and cents.
It would seem that it would take a
pretty good job in industrial life to
compete with the Navy on the merely
financial side. Vet the fact remains
that young men do not enlist in suffi
cient numbers, even from the ranks
of the unskilled, who do not often
receive even the minimum equivalent
of $75 a month, with a life job and
retirement pay in view. If there are
other conditions that make men shun
the Navy, they should be made known.
If there are misconceptions, these
should be cleared away. Admiral Mc
Gowan says that those who know the
Navy life love it. He points to aver
age re-enlistments of 8 5 per cent of
the qualified men as proof, and this
would seem to make out his case. It
is not lack of re-enlistments that per
plexes the higher officials; the Navy
is growing fast and more new hands
are wanted. Getting them promises to
be as serious as any of the mechan
ical and scientific problems connected
with the building up of this impor
tant arm of our Nationnl defense.
1IENRVK SIENKIEWICZ.
It was a strange trick of fate that
took Henryk Sienkiewicz from Polancf
at the beginning, seemingly, of an
other historic epoch in that unhappy
country's history. Through a long
lifetime for he was 74 when he died
the other day he had given voice to
the aspirations of his people, he had
placed them before the world as no
other writer ever had done, and he
had accompanied this by no effort to
gloss over the truth. Restless, his
own political ideas, like those of so
many Poles, havinry advanced hardly
beyond the brain of him who held
them, ardent when the subject of lib
erty was mentioned, yet impractical as
to the means of obtaining it. he was the
embodiment of the spirit of all Poland.
Essentially he lacked talent for what
we in America would call "practical
politics." When he so aptly descrihed
in his "Bez Dogmatu" ("Without Dog
ma") as the "fatal Slavic unproductiv
ity" was exhibited in himself when
some forty years ago he Joined the
actress, Madame Mod.ieska, and her
husband. Count Bozenta, in their at
tempt to establish in Southern Cali
fornia a colony in which oppressed
Poles should find a haven of refuge.
The scheme was typically Polish in
its idealism and also its lack of those
fundamental elements necessary for
its physical existence. It was pre
destined to failure, but perhaps, for
the world, it was as well. .Thus was
Modjeska given back to the stage and
Sienkiewicz to the world of letters, in
which from that date, some four years
after the beginning of the experiment.
the great novelist shone with brighter
and brighter luster.
"Remember, this life is nothing!"
was the message his Pan Michael sent
to the wife who had been at his side
through the years of his fighting, as
he laid his final plans for the supreme
sacrifice. This is a curious bit of
fatalism that runs through his work,
that characterized his own life, that
accounts, perhaps, in large measure
for the failure of all the courage and
self-sacrifice of the Polish people to
gain the reward that they would seem
to have earned. Exalted ideas, noble
aspirations, talent and mentality there
were among their leaders, without the
necessary final spark of ability to or
ganize along practical lines. Just as
the California colony actually reached
the land before it discovered that it
could not hope to prosper without
hewers of wood and drawers of water.
so Poland has taken preliminary steps
enough to have set a world free from
bondage, but never has been able to
pluck a ripe fruit for itself at harvest
time. Sienkiewicz wrote an amazing
number of strong novels and more
than one short story that has been
compared with the best work of Bour-
get; he labored with mind and heart
and hand to lift up his people: he
spent a fortune in works of philan
thropy; but Poland is today the same
unhappy land it ever was.
Americans know Henryk Sienkiewicz
best as the author of "Quo Vadis?"
partly because this appeared at a for
tunate period in book publishing in
the United States nnd partly because it
treated a topic with which we seemed
to be more familiar than we were with
the "local struggles' of Poland. Yet
it is seriously to be questioned that
it was his best' work, while "Children
of the Soil." which also had a vogue
in the United States, was not to bo
compared for strength nnd vividness
with the great trilogy. "With Fire and
Sword," "The Deluge" and "Pan Mich
ael." The wars of the seventeenth
century, which was an especially trou
bled period for Europe, furnish the
theme of all three books. The novels
of the trilogy describe the Poland that
stood on the outpost between the
forces of Christianity and those of the
Tartar and the Turk, which may ex
plain the popularity that "Quo Vadis?"
attained also in Poland: for "Quo
Vadis?" depicted the conflict between
Christianity and Paganism the dawn
ing of a new day before the effulgence
of the old had faded away. "The
Deluge" tells of the war with the
Swedes and "Pan Michael" deals with
border warfare and the Tartar in
vasion. There is nothing more vivid
in romance than the final scene at the
funeral of "Pan Michael." with its
prayer, "O I-ord. they will turn the
churches into mosques and chant the
koran in places where till this time
the gospel has been chanted." Then
comes the entry into the church of
John Sohieski. followed by his iron
shod escort of cavalry, and his kneel
ing at the catafalque of Pan Michael.
This was the Sobieski who later turned
back the Turkish Invaders at Vienna
and still, centuries later, Poland is
not reunited and Poland is not free.
It Is not always easy, or even profit
able, to compare great writers with
one another. It is conceivable, though,
that if Sienkiewicz had written in
English upon themes familiar to Eng
lishmen, he would have fired them
with enthusiasm as did Scott; as a
writer of historical novels he compares
in some minor respects with Louisa
Muhlbach. but it is extremely diffi
cult to think of him as a German, or
as winning popularity as a German
author. We have no one in our own
country with whom to compare his
work. His writings upon the whole
have a healthier tone than those of
Tolstoy. Above all things, he excelled
in his interpretation of the character
of his oia people. To reud hixu ex
tensively 1st to know Poland as inti
mately as it is given the people of an
entirely different mold to know it:
but there must remain, after all is
said and done, a striking sense of the
difference between the people of Po
land and those of any other country
in the world.
Death could not have come at a
more inopportune time for his coun
trymen. Sienkiewicz was engaged re
cently in efforts to get help to them,
surrounded as they are on all sides by
belligerents and conflicting interests.
He had succeeded in rallying the peo
ple to a marked degree and almost had
put hope into them. With Paderewski,
he had been able because of his world
wide training to introduce an ap
proach to occidental directness into
their methods of work. His last mes
sage received in the United States had
been an appeal to the Red Cross. In
which he said that the birth rate in
Poland had dropped to 100 for every
240 deaths, that a terrible malady had
appeared in the country, the symptoms
of which were preceded by blindness,
and that fatalities were being in
creased by cholera and typhoid, which
were almost exterminating the popu
lation. And then seemed to appear
before Poland what Paderewski has
called the mirage of national auton
omy, which was to softie a hope, to
others a portent of darker days to fol
low, and which will need every pos
sible atom of intelligence and patriot
ism and character to meet. It is
known to comparatively few that he
was the recipient in 1905 of the Nobel
prize for the "most important work of
idealistic tendency." Through all his
writings he appealed to the noblest
Impulses, and to the end he was the
bearer of the oriflamme of Polish nationalism.
AMERICAN IXDISTRY PIT SECOND.
An example of the view taken by
Secretary of Commerce Redfield of
his duty toward American industry Is
furnished by a controversy regarding
a census report on the dye business.
It contained elaborate information on
manufacture and import of dyes, and
a copy was sent to the Exposition of
Chemical Industries at New York last
September. Importers of German dyes
protested against the publication of
certain data, contained in the report,
relative to quantities and prices of
German goods, and Mr. Redfield with
drew it after a few days. It was pub
lished in mutilated form without the
data in question. A flood of protests
from manufacturers and consumers
poured in on Congressmen, and Sen
ators Iodge and Hughes tried to have
the complete report published, but
failed. It is now announced that Mr.
Redfield will publish the suppressed
facts.
The Secretary of Commerce seems
to have imagined that his duty was
to aid the foreign manufacturer and
importer in preference to the Ameri
can manufacturer and exporter. He
does not realize that American Indus
try has the first claim on his services
and that the interests of importers
should be subordinate to those of
American manufacturers. Mr. Red
field's free-trade notions constantly
interfere with his carrying out the
purpose for which his department was
established.
SOME SIGNIFICANT FIGl'RES.
Although present incomplete reports
of the popular vote show that Presi
dent Wilson has a plurality of 403.312
over Mr. Hughes, they also show that
he carried many states by so small
a margin and lost others by so wide
a margin that, if the strength of tho
Republicans had been more evenly
distributed, Mr. Hughes would have
been elected by a good margin of
electoral votes.
This is apparent from the following
table of pluralities in states carried by
Wilson by less than 20,000 plurality
nnd of states carried by Hughes by
largo pluralities:
Wilson
Klec-TMil-
toral
State - railtv. ote.
California 3. Ml 13
Idaho 4
Marvland l!i.4:i S
Nearia J.tl'itl ::
New Hampshire 4
New Mexico V.".I4 3
North Iakota 1.K1S .1
WasMncton 14. ooo 7
Wyoming .1.1119 3
Totals 61.7SS no
IT uhes
State pluralttv.
Illinois i
Iowa ft::,ii;7
Michigan Tl.noS
New York 1M7.H77
Pennsylvania ......... ... 184 l'.7
Total 0i.6S5
The Hughes plurality in the five
states carried by him by a wide margin
was so great that, could it have been
generally distributed, those states
could still have been carried by him
with enough votes to spare to carry
all the close Wilson states and to add
50 electoral votes to the Hughes total,
thus electing him.
The moral is that it is unwise for
a party to concentrate its efforts on
a few states having a large population
and many electoral votes to the neg
lect of many states having small popu
lation and few electoral votes each,
but many votes in the aggregate. Tho
lesson of 1916 has been salutary for
the Republican party. Never again
will it subordinate those questions in
which the West is especially inter
ested, or the Western view of ques
tions in which all states are interested,
nor will it pour out money, literature,
oratory and organization on the East
ern states, while it leaves tho leaders
in the Western states to rely mainly
on their own efforts and resources.-
ACQUIRE THE GIFT OF TONGUES.
One result of the isolation of the
American people is. their neglect to
learn foreign languages. Hearing
these languages spoken only by poor
immigrants, the majority of our peo
ple think them not worth bothering
with. Having had few dealings with
other countries which could not be
transacted in English, our manufac
turers and merchants have not real
ized the need of languages in business.
If we are going after foreign trade
in earnest, we must change our atti
tude towards languages. Hitherto,
they have not mattered much because
the trade we have done has been with
England or with Germany.' where
everybody in business speaks and
writes English, or because trade has
come to us unsought. But when we
go out to seek trade, it will be neces
sary to consider the buyer's wishes and
tastes. He will insist on being sup
plied with what he wants, not with
what we wish to sell. He will demand
as long credit as he has had In other
countries and the same terms of de
livery as other countries make. Also,
he will insist on discussing business,
orally or by letter, in his language, not
in that of the seller. The salesman
who complies with his wishes In these
respects will get the business: he who
writes and talks only in English will
get a cold reception.
That our merchants may be pro
vided with men capable of meeting
these requirements of their foreign
customers, it would be advisable that
every student in the high schools learn
at least one foreign language so thor
oughly that he can write and converse
in it with ease. The most important
are French. Spanish, German. Italian
and Russian. If a young man has
the gift of tongues and can acquire all
five, he will be qualified to do busi
ness In almost every country in the
world, and his gifts will be worth a
large salary to him.
The good roads movement knows no
bounds. The recent Ozark Trails con
vention at Oklahoma City was at
tended by delegates from all parts of
Arkansas. Kansas, Texas. Oklahoma.
Missouri and New Mexico, nnd of the
eight thousand who attended it is esti
mated that fully a third went in auto
mobiles. It was decided that in mak
ing a choice of routes the first factors
to which consideration would be given
would be distance, drainage, location
above high water, grade, culverts,
bridges, curved turns and availability
of hard-surface material. There are
many rival claimants and it was an
nounced that whenever, in considera
tion of the merits of various routes,
there happened to be a tie on the
basis mentioned, throe other factors
would be considered population,
scenery and enterprise of the people.
It will seem to the average man that
these deserved a place nearer the head
of the list: at any rate, it would be
an interesting subject for debute.
Population, scenery and enterprise are
a mighty big trio all by themselves
when it comes to a road proposition.
If our Nation gets into trouble, we
can count on Guam. The matter-of-fact
official report of the Governor
contains assurance upon that point.
About 100 natives come of military
age each year and they take deep
interest in military drills and train
ing, the Governor says. At present
the volunteer forces of the island are
limited to a rifle club of twenty-two
members and a company of high
school cadets, number not given. The
cadets make up in enthusiasm for
what they lack in stature, for they
furnish their own uniforms and turn
out in full numbers at every oppor
tunity given them for drill by a ser
geant of marines. The firt rifle club
is composed of natives, mostly clerks,
and organization of a second among
the native laborers is under way.
Gratitude is a characteristic of the
natives of Guam, and in view of all
we have done for them it is good to
know that we shall be able to rely on
their help in time of need.
Buddhists are becoming deeply con
cerned over the failure of the prayers
of their Christian brethren to accom
plish the end of war and have decided
to offer prayers on their own account,
according to the translation furnished
by the Manchester Guardian of a no
tice recently placarded on the Pagoda
of the Seven Towers at Ningpo. It
says: "May Buddha in his goodness
cause this decree which sends so many
men to their death to cease! We trust
to obtain by these prayers cessation of
the noise and the alarms of battle.
As to those who have succumbed to
their wounds on the battlefield, we
hope to obtain for them a new life,
by a happy transmigration, in a puri
fied and sanctified earth." Not the
least interesting phase of the whole
thing Is the light it sheds on the im
pression produced by the European
war upon the minds of the people of
the Far East. If it does nothing more.
It will give the people of the western
world a topic for serious reflection.
The high cost of living in a fash
ionable suburb, it seems, was the
cause of the downfall of the thief who
stole Mrs. Harriman's jewels. Just
another case illustrating the folly of
trying to keep up with the Joneses
and the futility of expecting to estab
lish real happiness on a basis of fraud.
Wife of Seattle professor, who hits
been called on to pay support money
to her husband pending the outcome
of a divorce suit, must bear in mind
that new occasions bring new. duties,
or words to that effect, as the poet
said.
Wisconsin is out for the record of
having elected the fewest lawyers to
the legislature in proportion to popu
lation. Only five succeeded In getting
into the newly elected assembly.
It isn't right to wish any other com
munity bad luck, but still a town
can't help feeling relieved when an
I. W. W. visitation is averted by their
"passing through."
Oregon Democrats should not be
asked to help make up the deficit on
the expense books of the National
committee. They did not win any
thing. It is cold comfort, at best, these days
for the Roumanians to read about the
success of the Serbs in getting a par
tial foothold in the country they once
lost.
Another "harmless" inmate has
killed a fellow patient. This will hap
pen at intervals, because the deranged
mind always awaits opportunity.
Gompers has an excellent machine
and is re-elected. All phases consid
ered, this action is well. A new man
would "spill the beans."
It Is now pretty definitely up to
Mr. Carranza to decide whether there
shall be co-operation or not in making
the border safe.
Just now many who do not expect
them are being notified of arrival by
express of early Christmas presents
from California-
Think of the good advertising Chi
cago and California are getting out
of the diet squad and the belated elec
tion returns.
The bootleggers" trust ought to be
called to the attention of the Depart
ment of Justice without delay.
Another comet has been discovered,
but there is no room for war it pre
dicts. Some will find comfort in knowing
California cannot go "dry" for two
years.
Write to the home folks today to
tell them yon will be there Thursday.
Oregon rain is the real article. It
is not Just a wet drizzle.
We agree to leave Mexico but will
watch the line.
When would you have the rains,
anyway?
Old 11 got there.
Gleams Through the Mist
By !) Col Una.
I'.ncims in Chicago.
The shade of Epicurus hit the pike,
pike. pike.
The pathway of the moonbeams from
the) sky.
For he said: "I'm getting homesick and
I d like, like, like
To see aeain the earth of days
pone by."
So he hied him like a dove
To the earth he used to love.
And he landed m Chicago like a sip"
And he paused and looked around.
And he said: "Where are they found
Oh. show mo where the followers of
Epicurus- are!"'
The shade of Epicurus heard a laugh,
laugh, laugh.
A snicker and a gicgle and a roar;
And he saw a stranger almost bent in
half. half, half
With laughing till his very sides
were sore.
"Epicurus.'" said the wight.
"All your teaihinss may be right.
.And the folks would gladly your dis
ciples he.
Rut the world has moved, you know.
Since two thousand years ago.
And you'll find that your dlsViples
now are studying with me."
The shade of Epicurus gave a frown,
frown, frown.
"Who are you, then?" in accents un
forgiving. "Oh. I'm the guy who owns the bloom
ing town. town, town
My card, sir! I'm the High Old Cost
of Living.
In the days so long gone by.
Well you taught them living high.
And the Epicurean idea made other
Idols fali.
Eat. drink and do be merry
Was a pleasant doctrine, very
But jiow you'll find them doggone
glad to eat and drink at all."
The shade of Epicurus rubbed his head,
head. head.
The shade of Epicurus knit his brow.
And to the grinning stranger, then ha
said. said, said:
"It may he true, but it seems strange
somehow.
I tauciht to eat and drink
And be merry, and I think
That the plan I gave my pupils was
quite nice.
But there's one thing pretty sure.
If you'd he an Epicure,
What you will need in the first place
is the price!"
CUOItie DANCE.
By the diet squad. To the- tune of
"The Funeral March of Marionette," or
any olher tune that seems to fit.)
Stewed pears and griddle Vakes and
coff-fee.
That is a breakfast that pleases me.
I love to seize its calories
And store them up ln my sys-tem!
If one don't think about ham and eggs.
And draws his belt i" Just two more
pegs.
Forgetting, yes. the sausages
He'll never know that he missed "em.
Whoop! I just found an extra bun!
Oh whoop! I may find another one!
'S a long time till lunch,
So all of the bunch
Had better clean up the platters.
Whoop! I'm certain the food I ate
Has added certainly to niy weight.
When food prices leap.
We've gotta live cheap
And nothing else ever niat-ters.
Beef, rice and carrots and ginger
bread !
How thin at lunch is the butter spreadl
Oh how we ache for T-hone steak.
While following out this di-et!
Our health we may by this stunt im
prove. But where. O where is the grub vt
love?
It well may he that o'er the sea.
The food-censors cause a rl-yot.
Whoop! That guy stole a pea from met
He swiped a crumb and he'd swipe my
tea.
For the hunger he had
Is driving him mad.
Though science may try to save him.
You'll admit it. that forty cents
To eat a day is a llgrht expense.
So let each one smile.
And add up the while.
The calories that they gave him.
EPIUOQUE.
The shade of Epicurus rubbed hia head,
head. head.
And up the air he skidded toward the
moon.
"Eat.-drink and do be merry, for you're
dead. dead, dead."
He snorted as be heard the doleful
tune.
With the cost of living high.
Before you start to try
To follow Epicurus' bold advice.
And become an Epicure,
You had better first make sure
If, for the round of merriment, you
really have the price.
The Gronninfs Table.
"Th table that 'groans' with
Thanksgiving delicacies this season."
remarked the High Cost of Living,
shootini; another egg into the re
frigerator, "won't have a thing on the
guy that has to put up for the big
feed."
l)rr Stuff.
To the Editor We have been follow
ing you In your topical rhymes for
some time and immediately after the
recent election) we were apprehensive
that you weren't goinc to come through
with the dry-bone salutations. How
ever, we noticed them just a few days
ago, but were somewhat disappointed
inasmuch as you haven't opened that
rolyum for a general, free-for-all bone
dry "pome" contest. Come on; don't
be selfish. Anticipating your favor w
are inclosing our contribution. Yours
resp.. ORK O. SMITH.
Dear Orr We gotcher pome. Lack
of space at this time, delays its use.
W are willing to take up your idea,
provided we can hear from someone on
the other side of the question. If it is
to be a free-for-all bone dry "pome"
contest, let's hear from the jubilators
as well as the lamentators. And by the
way. Orr. the pomes ought to be held
down to 20 lines, so's to give the others
a chance. Yours resp..
THE EDITOR.
Part tf the Treatmenf.
Maritime Medical News.
Tatlent (to pretty nurse) Will ou
be my wife when I recover?
Pretty Nurse Certainly.
Patient Then you will love me?
Pretty Nurse Oh, no; that's merely
a part of the treatment. I must keep
my patients cheerful. I promised thin
morning to run away with a married
maii who has lost both of his lugs.