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PORTLAXD, SUNDAY, I "KB. 18, 1917
THE NEW FKl'DiUSM.
Indefinite postponement of the
Shields and Adamson water-power
tills by Congress means that for an
other session develop'ment of water
power in the West has been blocked
by the obstructive band of lobbyists
of which Gifford Pinchot is the head
and by the body of bureaucrats
headed by Secretary of the Interior
Lane. With the general 'dam ' bills
go the bills for leasing water power
on public land and for leasing- the
vast areas of land containing coal, oil
and other minerals. Representatives
of the West refuse their consent to
the imposition of a perpetual feudal
.system on the Western states as a
condition of consent from Congress to
their development. Therefore an em
bargo is placed on use of the land In
question, in the hope that the next
Congress or some future Congress
may be able to override Western op
position or that the West will be
wearied into acceptance of a position
of permanent inferiority ton other
states.' It is a holdup by a "band of
fanatics and bureaucrats, nothing
else.
The situation is forcibly set forth in
a. letter which has been addressed to
Senator Chamberlain by Chester T.
Kennan and which is published in
"another column of The Oregonian. A
clique of lobbyists and of appointive
officers is attempting to impose its
will upon the elected Representatives
of the people. The lobbyists represent
nobody but themselves, fof they have
been repudiated by the organization
which they profess to represent. The
officials do not represent the people,
for they are not elected by the people.
Yet on the false pretense that by their
policy alone can be public domain be
saved from spoliation they have im
posed their will on the majority of
members of. Congress. t
This is not a party question. The
leasing policy is supported both by
the great body of Democrats and by
the great body of Republicans. Rep
resentative Mann, leader of the Re
publicans in the House, is one of Its
most ardent" advocates. So are Sen
ator Morris and other Republican
Senators. The opposition includes
hoth Republicans and Democrats from
the West and some Democrats from
the South. Its support from the West
comes from men like Senators Cham
berlain and Lane, who are more con
cerned about party regularity than
about the vital interests of their states,
or from men like Senator Walsh, who
represent states where the power sites
have already passed into private own
ership. Regardless of the attitude of
these latter Senators, the question is
sectional, for the Kast, South and
Middle West are attempting to im
pose on the Far West a system to
which they would not be subject and
which they would passionately resist
if the attempt were made to fasten
it on them.
It is proposed to make the Secretary
of the Interior, as the representative
of the Government, the landlord over
- an area "greater than many kingdoms
of Europe combined." comprising an
average of 67 per cent of. the area of
each of the. eleven states in question.
This is feudalism, abolished in Eu
rope and in Japan, but to be revived
in the twentieth century in the coun
try which boasts itself the freest on
earth.
It is landlordism, which has been
the bulwark of aristocracy in every
monarchy.
, It is absentee landlordism, which
was Ihe curse of Ireland, for this
huge estate would be administered
from a distance of 2000 to 3000 miles.
It would make the Secretary of the
Interior a greater landlord than the
Czar, for his domain would exceed the
huge personal holdings of the Russian
autocrat.
It would make eleven states prac
tically dependent on the policy of
each successive Secretary for their
prosperity. At his will they would
cither thrive or stagnate.
That official , would wield greater
power thai any "other man' in the
country below the President. On his
will would depend the fortunes of
thousands, either invested under lease
or derived from industries which
drew power or raw material from the
public domain. He would collect and
disburse a vast revenue, which would
stow yearly, and he would employ an
army of officials beside which that
under command of the Postmaster
General Would be insignificant.
If this system were once firmly
established. . the Secretary's army
could be organized into a machine for
its perpetuation.' upon which each
subordinate's job would hang. Only
a political revolution could destroy it.
The Secretary's broad 'domain
would be exempt from state taxation
and from the operation of all state
property laws, but the states would
bear the burden of keeping the peace
and of enforcing the criminal law.
In place of the right of taxation, a
cop is offered to the states. One-half
of the rental income from leases is
to be paid to them, and the other
half is to be expended in reclaiming
arid land. Under this arrangement
the state must spend its half on
schools and roads, being treated like
a schoolboy to whom a certain amount
of spending money is doled out week
ly with strict injunctions how it shall
be used. For- this mes of pottage
the state would be expected to sell its
birthright its sovereignty over from
35 to 93 per cent of its area, its right
to fix the amount of - revenue to be
collected . from that area and to dis
burse as it willed that which it re
ceived through the grace of the Sec
retary. Upon the Judgment of that
official in fixing rent would he con
tingent the amount of revenue which
the slate- would draw from this source.
Perpetual tutelage would be the re
sult. . This system has already been ap
plied to the coal land of Alaska, and
has failed to .attract investors, for
they are not eager to place them
selves under its many restrictions and
under the power "of an official who
is changed every four years. There
was little opposition In that case, for
Alaska is a territory, and conditions
there are exceptional. In his grasp
after more power and patronage, the
Secretary now proposes to extend it
to eleven sovereign states, where con
ditions are no different from those
prevailing in the other states except
that great areas of land are still
owned by the Government. Although
these states have been foremost in
bringing corporations under effective
public control, the cry of monopoly
is raised to win the Support of those
who combinei prejudice against cor
porations with ignorance of the facts.
Since the West must again wait for
the right to develop its resources, it
should put this time .'of waiting to
good use. Its people should awake to
the enormity of the wrong which it
is proposed to do them. It should in
form the people of other states, of the
fact. It should not rest supine while
its freedom is demanded as the price
of lifting the embargo on its develop
ment, '
NEARLY ' KTVE TO ONE.
Forty-eight Representatives at Sa
lem voted for the amended delinquent
tax publication bill. Ten members of
the House voted, against it. t It is not
possible that Any measure 'having a
taint of "graft" as the insane Even
ing Journal says it has could have
commended itself to so great a ma
jority.'" Few' measures before trie Leg
islature have received so overwhelm
ing . an indorsement. The tiresome
iteration of the insane Journal against
the bill doubtless caused many mem
bers 'who were indifferent or unin
formed to ' investigate carefully, and
to vote according to their, conviction
of its merits. So much.. for the yiflu
ence of a 'witless newspaper, gone
utterly mad in' its venomous purpose
to befoul the profession and practice
of newspaper-making in Oregon.
If it be conceded that-a delinquent
taxpayer ought to psfy at all rand
every sane person ' and i every sane
newspaper will agree that any -effect-ive
plan to procure payment is lauda
ble and even necessary it must also
be conceded that the "machinery of
tax collection should be . crevised to
that end. Let all who 'suspect or
fear as a result of the furious tan
trums of the Journal understand
what the revised Forbes bill-does.
Ninety days after taxes are delin
quent there shall be mailed a notice
to the owner of his arrearage.
If payment has not been made with
in thirty days, the remaining delin-4
quencies shall be advertised In one
newspaper of general circulation in
counties of less than 10,000 inhab
itants or in two newspapers in larger
counties. The rate of payment shall
not be greater than the established
commercial rate in any newspaper for
similar matter.
If there shall be graft or collusion
under, this simple and proper arrange
ment, the law has been violated. The
remedy therein ought to be in the
hands of any citizen.
Bui of course it is an honest, merit
orious and square-dealing measure. It
provides a way to collect delinquent
taxes. Evidently the insane Journal
thinks they ought not to be collected.
THE SAME MEDICINE FOR ALL.
To line up the Southern Democrats
in the House for his new revenue bill,
Claud Kitchln, leader of the majority
and Bryan pacifist, said to the Demo
cratic caucus:
You can tell your neoDle that rtracticallv
all of this tax will go north of Mason and
Ulion l line. The preparedness agitation
has Its hotbed in such cities as New York.
This bill levies a tax on thnee who have-
been clamoring for preparedness, and are
benenting because of preparedness appro
priations. Taking the Southern Democratic
viewpoint that all appropriations are
pork for somebody, Mr. Kitchin as
sumes that preparedness is asked only
in order that fat contracts may go to
Northern manufacturers, and he dis
misses without a word the fact that it
is for the defense of the whole coun
try. South as well as North. There
fore, he says in effect: "The North
asks for preparedness; then let the
North pay for it.".
Then why not apply the same prin
ciple all along the line? The South
demands a public building at every
crossroads, the r dredging of every
creek and the draining of flooded
private land. Then why not let the
South pay for them by means of spe
cial taxes on cotton, tobacco, rice end
other Southern products? Oregon has
voluntarily put that principle m part
practice by paying part of the cost
of river and harbor improvements. If
it were extended to the South, there
would be a sudden decline of interest
in river improvement and Southern
postoffices would worry along with
rented quarters.
But the increased revenue provided
by Mr. Kitchin's bill is not made nec
essary by preparedness. Absorption
of the existing revenue in gratifying
the appetite for pork, leaving insuf
ficient sums for the Nation's first
duty its own defense makes new
taxes necessary. Abolish the pork
barrels and eliminate the waste which
prevails throughout the Government
then there will be plenty of money
for defense without further- imposts.
LANE CONTRADICTS DANIELS.
There is need that Secretary of -tha
Navy Daniels and Secretary of the In
terior Lane get together on the sub
ject of oil land, for there is direct
conflict between their statements In
regard to the amount of oil available
In naval oil reserves. If Mr.- Lane's
statements are correct, Mr. Daniels
has been guilty of misrepresentation
regarding the ability of the Navy to
obtain oil for warships from the re
serves. In his annual report Mr. Daniels
said in regard to the three naval pe
troleum reserves, two in California and
one in Wyoming, that "the Navy has
received no benefit and the Navy De
partment has been unable to take
actual physical possession, except aa
to those parts -upon which no oH has
been discovered, no drilling in prog
ress . and no adverse claims -appear,
because litigation is -pendjng in the
Land Office over fall these public
lands which are claimed by individ
uals." He says tTfat many "of these
claims are fraudulent, but "that the
Senate committee proposes to amend
the general leasing bill by nullifying
the Supreme Court decision which
held the withdrawal order valid.
"abolishing the naval petroleum re
serves, dismissing all suits instituted
and leasing or patenting outright to
the claimants the lands claimed."
In the course of debate on the leas
lng bill, fl was said that Mr. Lane had
approved the Phelan amendment rec
ognizing the equities of private claim
ants. In a letter to Senator Thomas,
Mr. Lane denied that he favored this
amendment and quoted from his last
annual report the statement that he
would not "assume to say what policy
should be followed as to the naval re
serve lands." , He continued by quot
ing from a statement which he made
to the press last July:
There Is no danger of the Navy's being
short of oil. for there are nearly 3.000.000
acres of public oil lands now withdrawn.
Included therein are two special naval re
serves' which are practically free from ad
verse claims. These contain approximately
130.000.000 barrels of oil. and more of this
area can be withdrawn for the Navy at any
time by the President whenever he decides
to do so. "
If Mr. Daniels' statement that the
leasing , bill would abolish the naval
oH'.reserves is no-more accurate than
his statement in regard to interfer
ence of private claims with the Navy's
ability to get oil from those reserves
appears to be, in the light of Mr.
lane's statement, it is not wortsi much.
Mr. Daniels says that when the three
year building programme is com
pleted, the Navy will require 6,721,000
barrels of fuel oil annually during
peace and about three times that
amount in war. At that rate the 130,
000,000 barrels which Mr. Lane says
are now at its disposal would supply
it throughout more than nineteen
years of peace; and it can get as much
more as the . President chooses to re
serve for its use. Mr. - Daniels has
only added to the already great accu
mulation of" evidence that his state
ments are so frequently inaccurate as
not to be credible without ample cor
roboration. !
FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. '
Leaving the Bible and Shakespeare
out of the reckoning, .t must remain
more or less a matter of dispute which
authors have contributed most to the
list of phrases that have become part
of our every-dav speech. In total
number it "is pcrhVips true that Pope
leads all, but it is doubtful if any
single poem . contains more popular
quotations than Young's "Night
Thoughts," unless it be Gray's "Ele
gy." As to the decision between
them, it must remain more or less
a-matter of opinion whether this quo
tation or that one Is the more "popu
lar." Young gave us. for example.
'Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy
sleep," and his "Night Thoughts" are
a mine of quotations so familiar that
many who use them do not stop to
think who their author was. It was
he who said that "procrastination is
the thief of time," that "blessings
brighten ' as they take their flight,"
that "none think the great unhappy
but the great," and that "all may do
what has by man been done." Best
known of all. perhaps, is "at thirty
man suspects himself a fool, knows it
at forty and reforms his plan." He
told us that we should "be wise today
'tis madness- to defer." and that
Vpygmles -are pygmies still, though
perched on Alps'. His declaration
that "too low they- build who build
beneath the stars".has been -echoed
by many a minor poet, as has been
also "man wants but little, nor that
little long," which Goldsmith made.
"man wants but little here below, nor
wants that little long." without much
improving on the original. He said
that fa God all mercy is a God un
just and a man or pleasure is a
man of pains," which,, while not so
well known as the others are, none the
less the bases of many a philosophy.
Death loves a shining mark has a
particularly wide currency in the
Western country because of a famous
parody.
Gray's "Elegy." as h,as been said.
is a mine of the same sort. It con
tains "the short and simple annals
of the poor," "the paths of glory lead
but to the grave,' "full many a flower
s born to blush unseen and waste
its sweetness on the desert'air." "some
mute, inglorious Milton," "hands that
the rod of empire might have swayed
far from the madding tcrowd's igno
ble strife," after which Thomas Hardy
named a book, and "e'en in our ashes
live their wonted fires." ' The most
misquoted of all quotations is prob
ably Gray's "noiseless tenor of their
way," which people persist in calling
the "even tenor of their way" to this
day. Other almost equally well
known phrases from the same poem
are "the applause of listening senates
to command." "a youth to fortune and
to fame unknown" and "to wade
through slaughter to a throne
'Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly
to be wise is by the same author,
but is from the ode "On a Distapt
Prospect of Eton College." ' It appears
in Ecclesiastes in a different form.
"He that increaseth knowledge in-
creaseth sorrow," wrote the preacher
which is fully as pessimistic, al
though less rhythmical.
Pope, as has been said, has- high
rank among the makers of phrases
that endure. His "Ix, the poor In
man- nas given a designation to a
race of people. It was he who said
that "hope springs eternal in the hu
man breast." that "the proper study
of mankind Is man." that "order is
heaven's first law" and who gave us
the famous triplet, "guide, philos
opher and friend." and the phrase
when doctors disagree."
Benjamin Franklin was a' famous
phrase-maker for those who followed
after him, but he adapted rather than
originated a fact that he did not try
to conceal, for he has said in the
Introduction to one of. his later alma
nacs that they "contain the wisdom
of many ages and nations." He said,
for example, tha "God helps them
that help themselves," which had
been said by Algernon Sidney nearly
a century before "and which La Fon
taine had put "help yourself and
heaven will help you. Diligence is
the mother of good luck," said Poor
Richard, and Dr. Johnson had said
that "few things are impossible to
diligence." "A penny saved is two
pence clear" appears in Somerville
as "a penny saved 's a penny got,'
and nearly everyone nowadays pre
fers to say "a penny saved Is a penny
earned," which is near enough for
practical purposes if we only would
put the precept into practice. "Hold
ing one s nose to the grindstone" ob
tained popular currency from Frank
lin, but it was a phrase frequently
used in one dress or another by others,
among- them Hevwood. Lord Chester
field and Burton, whose "Anthony of
Melancholjr is another of the quota
Hon storehouses of literature. And
Chesterfield, by the way, who- pains.
takingly wrote all his life in the hope
of attaining literary immirtality and
ended by being famous only for the
letters he wrote with no thought of
their publication, was a maker of say
ings on his own account. "Whatever
is worth doing at all Is worth doing
wellV is one of Chesterfield's, and it
will live a long time. "Style is the
dress of thoughts," "dispatch is the
sohI of business" and "a chapter .of
accidents" are everyday sa'yings that
we owe to the famous letters printed
after his death.
. These and a thousand other phrases
are almost as current as the language
Itself. Yet we" are not wholly an Imi
tative people, either. We make
phrases f our own to enrich
our language. . Only they - have not
yet been subjected to the test of time
and we do not recognize them now. It
would be interesting if we could peer
into the future and glimpse what pos
terity finds we have said that is worth
remembering.
BETTER RILE FOR ALASKA.
It is to be hoped that Congress will
find time to adopt a joint resolution
offered by Senator Pittman for an in
vestigation of all Alaskan affairs.
These affairs are divided among a
host of departments and bureaus at
Washington, each acting tndependent-
y of the others. Few of the subor
dinate officials in the territory -have
authority to decide, any question, no
matter how urgent, and practically
everything is referred -to bureau and
department chiefs at the capital, who
have no first-hand information and
no knowledge gained by . personal ob
servation ot the facts upon which they
must decide. Tire division of author
ity is- carried to such an absurd ex
treme that brown bears are under the
jurisdiction of one bureau and black
bears under that of another.
t. onstructlon or Uovernment rail
roads should hasten the settlement
and development of Alaska. Unless
these railroads are to be a drain on
the territory, all of the laws must be
amended In such:-nianner4 as to stimu
late development and Jhus to produce
trairic. -While ovil government may
be left to the . territorial officials.
there is great need of centralized con-
trol of public land - aid all natural
resources. One body should have
charge of coal. oil. other minerals,
agriculture,-, forests, fisheries. game,
together with the .railroads, highways
and waterways which are needed for
development. The coal-land leasing
aw has failed to attract capital, and
the reason for this failure should be
ascertained as a guide to Congress in
acting on pending legislation of the
same kind.
It is impossible to govern and de
velop Alaska efficiently at long range.
There is as great need of separate ad
ministration with- broad powers as
there was in the Philippines and Porto
Rico. Congress has done better by
these people of alien blood than by
our own . citizens who have under
taken the pioneer work of the Far
North. - -
EDUCATION )'OK, PURPOSE.
In support of a plan adopted by
the General Education - Board for
establishment at Columbia University
of "a school for the. purpose of con
structive work in the reorganization
of elementary and secondary educa
tion. Dr. Simon Flexner has declared
that the teaching of the classics has
proved a failure. He does so in com
mending the purpose of the new
school tt work out suggested Im
provements in the curriculum "bv
cautious experimentation." but his
strictures on the teaching of the
classics have called forth a retort.
He has cited the poor showing made
at college entrance examinations, but
W. V. McDuffie, of the Central High
School at Springfield, Mass., replies
with the far worse showing made in
English and American history, Eng
lish literature, advanced French ind
German, geometry, chemistry, biology,
physics, mechanical drawing and other
subjects.
This controversy seems -to be beside
the mark,,' for it is irrelevant to the
purpose of education and to the. man
ner in which it. should be imparted.
The purpose should have close rela
tion to the character of the com
munity and to the place which each
pupil is destined to fill in that com
munity. The curriculum should bo
adapted to carry out that purpose and
should be constantly modified in 'ho
light of experience.' The proposed
school will "do valuable service in pro
viding experience. Some'objection is
raised to the use of pupils as subjects
in a sort of educative laboratory test.
but there Is no valid reason to be
lieve, in the light of the plans out
lined, that the education they receive
in the process -'H be inferior to that
which they would have received at
other schools, and it may prove far
superior.
The plans for the school, as de
scribed in the ' Outlook, certainly
promise education more closely re
lated to actual conditions than the
old classical course. That paper savs:
Modem languages are to toe emphasized.
while Oreek and Latin aa languages will not
be taught. Science. Industry and the do
mestic arts will be prominent: and music,
drawing and art will have Increased at
tention. Effort Is to be made to connect
the study of mathematics with its use; to
make studies real to the pupils by means of
charts and maps, by shop and laboratory,
and thus to put the pupila Into such contact
with their environment aa to give their
school work a busts of reality. The school
will "frankly discard that theory of educa
tion known as 'formal discipline.' " confin
ing itseir to those subjects "which are In
themselves valuable." -
The aim is to carry out the idea
of Dr. Eliot, president emeritus of
Harvard, that the most important
part of education has always been the
training of the senses, a branch of
training which in the old days the
farm boy got in the field and forest,
in association with animals and in
the use of ' tools, but which is now
gone and has not been replaced with
anything hew. Drawing and music
train the senses but are regarded as
frills, though they are "important fea
tures in the outfit of every human be
ing who means to be cultivated, ef
ficient rationally and happy."
Dr. Flexner's modern school will
not have any subject that does not
"serve a purpose," not merely ma
terialistic or commercial, for "intel
lectual and spiritual purposes are gen
eral and valid." The child will be
taught not only to use his senses but
to interpret what his senses acquire.
He will begin to experiment with the
objects with which he gets acquainted.
In literature the school will establish
a connection between Its teaching and
the child's spontaneous reading. Lan
guages will be taught on the assump
tion that "they are valuable only in
so far as. they are practically mas
tered." Such a system wouM combine the
essentials of general and technical
education. It would develop all the
faculties of mind and sense and would
train them to work together. Both
primary education, such as all must
have, and training of the senses would
become actually the tools with which
the child acquires the special educa
tion for a certain vocation in a tech
nical school, and they would greatly
aid his progress there.
This system seems as well adapted
to conditions of life in America as is
the old classical education to make
a cultured gentleman of leisure out
of the son of an English squire. Our
mistake has consisted in transplanting
the English system into an environ
ment in which it supplies the needs
of only a small minority, while the
needs of the mass are neglected and
they are compelled to waste precious
years in acquiring knowledge which
they promptly "scrap" upon going out
Into the working world. But the first
requisite will be teachers trained to
follow the new curriculum. Where
are they to be found? Dr. Flexner
may be called upon to pro4J,de them.
SCHEME TO TAY NATIONAL DEBTS.
A scheme is proposed by Henry
Vamum. of Jacksonville, Fla.. for ex
tinguishing National indebtedness by
isue of what he calls non-maturing
bonds. He would have the bonds run
for 100 years and he would pay 1 per
cent of the principal with the interest
each year, so that at the end of .he-J
century the debt would be extinct. His
pamphlet on the subject is warped by
prejudice, for he calls his scheme "a.
suggestion for emancipating the
money-getters from the power of con
centrated wealth" and he calls the
owners of this wealth "the money
getters." But he relies for the sale of
his new form of bonds upon "the
common people" who will "contribute
their savings." forgetting that these
common people by saving and by
lending their money -at interest be
come "money-getters." and that thou
sands of the Individual accumulations
which constitute "concentrated
wealth" have been made by the same
kind of people in the same way. In
his estimation, those who have al
ready saved money are "a venal money
power." while those who have yet to
save it are "the common people."
The weak point about his scheme
Is that he has not sufficiently consid
ered the necessity of finding buyers
for his type of bond. The" investor
docs not want his money to come back
In annual driblets, too small for a
separate investment; he wants It to
come in a lump sum. large enough to
buy another lot of securities. He
cites the practice of insurance com
panies in selling policies which pro
vide for annuities, but he overlooks
the fact that in Investing their funds
these , companies lend in large lump
sums on mortgage or buy blocks of
bonds, payable in a lump at a fixed
time, and that they are organized for
continuous operation in just that way,
while the Government would be work
ing to get out of debt and stay out.
His judgment is warped by the preva
lent opinion, that accumulated wealth
Is an evil in itself: it is not; the evil
consists In the manner of its use. His
error is akin to that of the people who
misquote the Bible as saying that
"money Is the root of all evil"; It
does not say so. The words are: "the
love of money is the root of all evil."
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
Few persons realize- but it "is only
because they do not pause to think of
it the progress the world has made
in practical science since Oregon was
settled, or even since it attained the
full measure of statehood. The dedU
cation last week of the interstate
bridge spanning the Columbia between
Portland and Vancouver serves again
to remind us how rapidly the world
has moved within the past few years.
Electrical transportation, the high
power transmission of electricity, con
crete and steel buildings, most of the
chemical industries, the telephone, the
airbrake, the cream separator, the
X-ray, the Delsel engine, automobiles,
motion pictures, wireless telegraphy,
the linotype machine and the electric
furnace are only a few of the inven
tions that have been perfected within
the lifetime of men now living. Only
a few years ago the construction of a
bridge across the Columbia of the
completeness of the one just finished
would have been a task of a great
many years, and the cost would have
been prohibitive. A great army of
men would have been employed, and
the approaches would have been made
by the tedious pick-and-shovel proc
ess. The speed with which this work
has gone on has excited no wonder
even in the minds of the older in
habitants; so easily do we grow into
the habit of taking everything as a
matter of course.
It would be interesting, if it were
practicable, to obtain a referendum of
opinion upon the question which of
the many Inventions of recent years
has been the most wonderful, or of
the greatest service to mankind. In
a poll taken a few years ago, wireless
telegraphy received 97 per cent of all
the votes, the aeroplane coming next,
with 75 per cent; but in the light of
subsequent developments it may be
questioned that this would represent
the opinion of today. The electric
furnace has been modest in asserting
its claims, because it is not well un
derstood by laymen; but it may yet
prove to be of the greatest service
to man of all the inventions on the
list, especially .n view of the fact that
through it alone has the fixation of
nitrogen been made possible. In event
of exhaustion of the natural nitrate
beds of the world. It will be a highly
important factor in the production
of Indispensable fertilizers, without
which the food supply of the
world would be seriously menaced.
The electric furnace also has made
aluminum cheap, and aluminum is
an exceedingly useful metal. Discov
ery of a process for the preservation
of sugar-producing plants also has an
important bearing upon the world's
future, since suga- is a food element
that we cannot well do without. For
merly it was necessary to handle the
entire crop during the brief time of
harvest, which was becoming embar
rassing from an economic point of
view when the new process was hap
pily developed.
The automobile illustrates the adage'
that familiarity breeds contempt. Few
there are today who give it credit for
all its achievements, social and in
dustrial, direct and Indirect. Its suc
cess depended upon the perfection of
the internal combustion engine, which
was not an accident, but the result of
long and patient search. The auto
mobile has built up many collateral
arts. Its service in bringing about
the betterment of roads has been
truly amazing, and this has had a
direct bearing upon improvement of
relations between neighbors In the
rural regions.- The automobile and
better roads have done more for rural
education than any other factors
since the public school system was
first established. The automobile may
be said, too, to have changed the
manner of living of the civilized
world. Those who now ride in their
own motor cars, or employ the
ubiquitous jitney, do not remember
that only thirty years ago this year
Alexander Winton took sixty days to
go from Cleveland to New York by
automobile, which was the first am
bitious achievement of the motor road
vehicle. The delay was due almost
wholly to the wretched condition of
the roadS.
The induction motor is a compara
tively recent invention that has played
modestly a highly important part in
the scheme of things. It made pos
sible the abolition of line shafting and
belting, saved energy, thereby making
manufacturing less costly, and made
work safer. The motion picture, which
has revolutionized entertainment and
popularized it, and which may have
an effect upon o:ir educational sys
tem that cannot now be fulfy esti
mated, was invented within a- quar
ter century. Wireless telegraphy" did
not exist at the beginning of the pres
ent century. News of the naval bat
tle of Santiago, in our war wth Spain,
was conveyed by fast steamers to the
nearest cable station, iipw the world
would know the result of such an en
gagement a few minutes aftev it was
over. The submarine has put .war on
a different plane. .The aeroplane has
created a new strategy, by making the
surprise attack almost impossible. -
The cream separator Is a recent in-'
ventlon of-, high social significance.
and with its collateral discovery, the
Babcock test, has been of inestimable
value to all who eat. We did "not
have reinforced concrete buildings
When Oregon first became a state, or
phonographs, or electric railways, or
photo-engraving, or picture telegw
raphy. or color photography. There'
t.-ere no calculating machines, which
have robbed bookkeeping of most of
its terrors, and no dictagraphs to add
refinements to the business of black
mail and crlme-dete.ing. There were
no typesetting ' machines, with their
consequent multiplication of books
and the writers of them which is a.
blessing or not, according to the way
we look upon it. The incandescent
lamp and the steam turbine had not
given or seen the light. There were
no telephones. The photograph film
had not been perfected, and radium
and liquid air and smokeless powder
were not even in the chrysalis stage.
All these have been achievements
of a very few year. A few more
years added to them would seem to
sum up the most of the scientific in
ventions wo employ in our present
way of living. Telegraphy itself was
in the experimental stage in 1844. The
revolving printing press is a creation
of the '4 0s. There were no type
writers until 1843, but the machine
of that day was u. clumsy affair and
slow, and typewriting did not become
common for many years afterward
There were no passenger elevators
prior to the year that so many of our
pioneers crossed the plains to Ore
gon.' The reaper and mower, invented
In the 40s, but not perfected until
later. Is one of the essentials of to
day. The crops necessary to feed the
world to its present - requirements
could not be harvested under the
primitive methods that once pre
vailed, and as a result most of our
other enterprises would fall to the
ground.
It has been a wonderful era, and
the last third of a century has been
the most wonderful of all. The last
decade of the nineteenth century has
never had its equal in the history of
the world as a period of scientific
achievement. -. '
-.The medical side of universal train
ing as a benefit, to the people who
adopt the system has been presented
by the American Defense Society,
which summarizes by giving three
reasons why physicians should sup
port the movement. One is that the
thorough physical examination re
quired would disclose every abnor
mality and call attention to the neces
sity for treatment, where this neces
sity exists. In the second place, mill
tary training in camp and field would
teach the young man in the most
practical way how to take care of his
health. In the third place, the regu
lar hours, plain food and open-air ex
ercise of a well-disciplined camp
would be in themselves the best kind
of health measures. Special training
for medical students for military serv
ice In case of war is also strongly ad
vocated and several of the medical
schools of the country already have
voted to add lectures on this subject
to their regular courses. In these the
treatment of bullet wounds will play
a relatively minor part and the "sci
ence of keeping men well" will take
the lead.
Two alluring sources or pota-sh, a
large supply of which is requisite to
the growing of our crops, have been
discovered by the Federal Bureau of
Mines. in the manufacture of Portland
cement and the smelting of pig iron
In which industries potash may be
come an important by-product. The
output o4 pig iron in this country in
1916 was 39,000,000 tons, and it is esti
mated that something more than ten
pounds of potash to the ton of ore
could be Baved in the form of potas
sium oxide, equal to twice the amount
of potassium sulphate, or 4 00.000 tons.
It is estimated that the total amount
of potash, or potassium oxide, that
was fed into the cement kilns of the
country last year was 300,000 tons,
large part of which might have been
recovered. The total normal consump
tion of the country being about 267,
000 tons of potassium oxide a year,
the importance of these two sources
cannot easily be overestimated.
There is no doubt that when the
time comes there will be plenty of
men to defend the honor of the Nation
on the battlefield, but a still more en
couraging sign is the way property is
coming to the rescue. It used to be
said that it was easier to get men to
risk their lives than their fortunes,
but this year both will be joined, 1
necessary, in the patriotic outpouring.
The Chicago School Board's de
cision to require all pupils to salute
the flag once a week and to renew
their allegiance to the republic is a
pleasing, and no doubt will prove
permanently valuable, innovation. It
would not be a bad idea If the grown
ups would set apart a moment occa
sionally for considering the subject.
While we are preparing for event
ualities, it would not be a bad idea for
every citizen to ask himself what he
can do to help if he should be needed
take stock of himself, as it were,
and have the inventory ready for the
call.
In the circumstances. Count von
Bernstorff cannot be expected to
worry much over the fact that the
British have carefully arranged that
he shall have no opportunity to see
the sights while delayed at Halifax.
That California chief of police who
says that women have the same rights
as men to smoke and drink and go
unescorted to public cafes is running
a theory into the ground. Be prac
tical, chief, be practical!
- Action of the United States on the
bone-dry provision of the postoffice
appropriation bill ought to give J,
Barleycorn at least a hint of his grow
ing unpopularity.
' It is the season when the seed cata
logue looks as attractive as any pic
ture book and when the text is as
Interesting as a novel.
Turkey says it will fight until th
enemy has recognized its rights. The
right to massacre Armenians, for ex
ample. .
It is easier to talk about boycotting
the potato than it is to get along with
out this highly nourishing vegetable.
Gleams Through the Mist
Br Deaa (.'Ulna.
SO' OK THE TOXG.
(The Chinese Peace Society predicts
that tong strife will not break out in.
the next few days, pending a confer
ence of high officials of the warring
tongs. News item. Thursday. Feb. 15.)
Muse, strike the gong, let us sing
sweet song now;
Soing that shall swing and shall tingle
and dingle;
ing a long song of the peace of the
tong now;
Sing in a Jubilant, jovial jingle;
Muse, let us sing about Leon:: Jew
Hing.
Who announces the dov.
Coming down from above.
To spike aM the gats and the Colts and
the skodas.
And hang olive branches upon the pa
godas, ,
And still the warsongs of the turbu
lent tongs.
And bind up the war god in leg-irons
and thongs.
Oh. sing a small Jingle that's scanty
in sense, now;
B'lt lnr.g upon rhythmn that's rolling
and running.
On how Orientals and Orient gents.
now
Declare a short truce upon sociable
gunning.
Sing right along of the Suey Sing Tong,
And the bold Bins Kong Tong
And the Bow Leong Tong,
And Hip Sing and Hop Sing that used
to go scooting
Out into the streets to indulge in their
shooting.
And how they've abandoned those
desperate chances
To bask in the shade of the sweet
' olive branches.
(Which same is no rhyme for scrup
ulous pote. but sounds pretty well, if
read quickly. Ed. Note.)
Let's sing "Hip. hooray for the Hop
Sing and Hip Sing;
And laud with loud lung the Bow
Leong in our song:
And the Suey Sing Tong with long
tongue and lithe lip stng;
Just, so we sing some for the Suey.
Sing Tong;
And ban, the strong gong for the big
Bin Kong Tong.
Til the ding-a-dong-dong.
TMng along, swing along;
Til the world waxes wild as the glad
news increases
That the tongs declare peace while they
r'ck up the pieces:
And Harmony now on her flute gent
ly toodles.
And safely we all may go back to our
noodles.
Without any fear that some foible of
Kate, or i
Some turbulent tongman may shoot up
the waiter.
Doc' David Starr Jordan is coming next
Tuesday.
To prattle of peace and of proud pa
cificism; Oh, Muse, for Doc Jordan 'twill be a
glad news day.
To hear that the tongs have removed
the wide schism
That lay for so long betwixt tong and
'twlxt tong!
We bet "he will smile
A consid'rable while. .
When he finds that at home here. In
old Portland. Or.,
The tongs that were warring have
shown War "what-for,"
The Hip Sing and Hop Sing and
Suey iing Tong.
And bold Hing Kong Tong and the
Bow Leong Tong.
So let's close our song we have spun
out so long
With a hip and a whoop that shall
ring from the rock.
For the truculent tongs, and the Dove,
and the Doc
"Mr." said the Courteous Office Boy.
"t"?o . on," I cried preparing for the
worst, for I knew that the C. O. B.
was still harping on the same tune
that he had lugged into the office a
week or more ago.
And without more ado he tuned his
dulcimer and proved that my suspicion
was well-founded.
For thus sang he: the C. O. B.
The Spring.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
A pail with water pure to fill;
They fell, and yet
They did it get!
The pail upset
And they were wet;
And. ah, the cause of all this thing
I will not hide it was THE SPRING.
A small boy had a little gun
With which he frolicked, just for fun:
But he did not
Control Its shot.
And so, I wot.
'His sire grew hot.
What made this air-gun "do this thing?
'T was not to blame; it was THK
. SPRING.'
The baby has a little ewing
In which it jumps like anything;
With gladsome cry.
His legs he'll try.
And bye and bye
He bounces high.
What makes his swing do this here
thing?
The principle, it is THE SPRING.
(And as we reached for a paper
weight the C. O. B. folded bis manu
script and fled down the corridor with
a mocking laugh.)
BARD'S SPRING TW1TTKR.
"M. F.." heavily veiled, came Into the
circle of bardti the other day with a
poem for the Spring Twitter.
We believe that "M. F." is a lady.
Judging from the stationery, but we
are not inclined to exclude ladies from
the Twitter, remembering as we do
how Sapho and Dorothea Felicia
Hemans and Mrs. Browning and Eliza
Cook sang.
"You brang this on yourself." said
"M. F.," beginning to sing, "you asked
for Spring poems."
And, inasmuch as the rules of the
game to make it brief have been
followed, we allow "M. F." to give the
eong in full.
I'm glad that, just a little while.
You plan to let us have a smile
With poets of the Spring.
We've .grown so very tired, of late.
With all the wans and all the hate;
It's good to take a fling
i
At "purely sentimental stuff
That oftimes meets a quick rebuff.
When we our offering bring.
Saner will be our sympathy.
If we awhile rut by our dree.
And with the new earth sing.