THE SUXDAT OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, " JULY " 8, 1917.
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PORTLAND, SUNDAY, JULY 8, 1917.
EDUCATION.
"I call a complete and generous edu
cation," said Milton, "that which fits
a. man to perform, justly, skillfully and
magnanimously, all the offices, both
public and private, of peace and war."
It is in such a spirit as this, and with
belief as devout as Plato's that edu
cation is the most important function
of the state, that the members of the
National Education Association are
meeting in Portland this week to con
sider fundamental needs of the edu
cational field. For it is undoubtedly
true that the education of modern
times has developed even more social
aspects than it formerly possessed.
We no longer cling to the system of
the monastery, although that once
served its purpose of keeping culture
'alive in a dark age. We should re
gard education as valueless if it pro
duced hermits, no matter how erudite.
We have an almost Spartan consider
ation for the state in the plans we
make for upbringing the young. We
train the child in the theory of happi
ness, but in happiness in his relations
to his fellow-man. The duty of the
modern school is to make good citizens
as well as upright men and women.
The flag floats over every schoolhouse.
It is impressed upon us in every class
room that man does not live for him
eelf alone.
So the teacher, whom we sometimes
more sonorously call an educator, is
mot so much concerned with defini
tions, of which there is no lack, as
with the prime purpose of it all,
which we now pretty generally
agree to be to fit the youth to take
his place in the social scheme. Nor is
this meant in any restricted vocational
sense. We need not, and do not,
smother individuality in the effort to
develop the sense of higher duty. But
as our realization of responsibility to
ward the child is broadened, it is in
evitable that we should expect from
him an even larger comprehension of
his obligation to those around him and
to the generations to come. To fit a
man (or woman, for our ideas have
broadened since Milton's day) to per
form "all the offices, both public and
private, of peace and war" is an am
bitious programme, surely, and yet we
progress in the fulfillment of it, and
the teacher no less than the pupil is
ennobled by the effort we make.
This old outline of the purpose of
education has its counterpart in our
modern times. . We have a wide choice
of definitions, as has, been said.' Pro
fessor William James called education
"the organization of acquired habits
of action and tendencies to behavior
which shall fit the child to his social
and physical world." Professor John
Dewey says it is "the making over of
experience and giving it a more socio
logical value through increased indi
vidual efficiency, or better control
over one's powers." While Dr. Butler
has regarded it as the "adjustment of
the child to the spiritual inheritance of
the race." In all these, the dominant
note is the social one, which explains
our restless quest of new means to the
end. if it does not justify all of them.
That is the underlying motive of every
educational experiment. The awaken
ing of the world and the broadening of
the interests of men have been mani
fest nowhere more clearly than in the
development of our attitude toward
our schools.
Mere erudition is not of much value.
The idle grindstone sharpens no tools.
Whether we seek the culture of the
languages and the arts, or the "men
tal discipline" of mathematics and the
classics, or the solid facts of the whole
realm of scientific knowledge, we have
made no progress unless we have
laid the foundation for independent
thought. Patanjall described four
stages of the mind. There was. first,
the mental butterfly, constantly flit
ting from one thing to another; sec
ond, the confused mind, full of hasty
Impulses, illy-considered thought and
Immature ideas; third, the mind domi
nated by a fixed idea; and, fourth, the
fixed idea dominated by the man. In
2000 years the human mind has not
fjreatly changed, it seems.
In line with its purpose to promote
efficiency in the individual, in order
that he may better perform his duty
to society, the educational system tries
to enlarge capacity for thought. " "Ti
the custom of pedagogues, said Mon
taigne, of whom it is related that his
own only early books of solid learning
were Plutarch and Seneca, "to be
eternally thundering in their pupils'
cars, as they were pouring into a fun
nel, while the business of the pupil is
only to repeat what the others have
said. Now I would have a tutor to
correct this error, and that at the very
first he should, according to the ca
pacity he has to deal with, put it to
the test, permitting his pupil to taste
things and of himself to discern and
choose them." Which is what we are
trying to do today, if we are not
always succeeding, with our special
classes for the misfit and the super
fit, the backward and the forward
pupilt and the genius and the moron
and the freak and the fool. If we
seem to skip about from point to point,
and sometimes to lack continuity of
purpose, our intentions at least are
good. We are going through another
of those processes, not uncommon to
the world, of finding ourselves again.
It is a healthy sign of mental activity;
and we know it will come out all right
in the end.
Every detail is not so clear, but the
social picture is there. The teacher
is more than ever a sociological fac
tor and the educational system more
than ever a mighty function of the
state. That is why the National con
vention which is meeting this week
will so deeply concern itself, among
other things, with "education In rela
tion to conditions brought about by the
war," as President Aley has said, and
why, happily, in the years to come
it will devote its energies to the new
problems of peace. For the new edu
cation is inseparable from the public
weal, and we should hardly know what
to do with a schoolhouse in which the
duty of teaching the citizen was not
an important part of the curriculum.
POOR WEARY WII-LIE.
Drop a tear for Weary Willie. The
greatest of all calamities has over
taken him; he must go. to work or
starve. These beautiful July days hold
no joy for him. The sun shines for
nearly everyone, but not for the man
whose defiant boast it was that he
never worked and never will. No
longer is the "setdown," or even the
"handout," to be had on the pretense
that he is looking for a job but that
work cannot be had. The long road
still stretches away into the distance,
but there is nothing but work at the
end of it. Pity the poor fellow who
faces so dismal a prospect as he plods
along.
Once there was a chance for the
"sundowner" to cover vast areas with
out once having it suggested to him
that he show his good intentions by
performing a stated task. It was pos
sible in those palmy times, when
tramphood was in flower, always to
find a place where work could be
asked for in the security of perfect
knowledge that it would not be of
fered. Those were the happy days,
but they are here no more.
It is positively dangerous to ask for
a job nowadays. Even the old plea
that one's wife is a widow with six
children fails to soften the heart and
open the pocketbook of the citizen.
For everyone knows that unemploy
ment is inexcusable, that the farms
and the workshops, the berry patches
and the lumber mills, the shipyards
and the grain fields and for the mat
ter of that, the Army are calling for
men. The able-bodied hobo is up
against it, that is all. Even the free
souphouse and the five-cent "flop"
are gone. And twenty-three states are
"dry."
It looks as if there would be a long
spell of it, too. Weary Willie might
as well make up his mind to bear it
with as good grace as possible. The
dinner bell rings nowadays only for
the working man. Food may be some
what high in price, and all that, but
every able-bodied man in the country
has a chance to work for it.
SPIRIT OF THE WAR SLOGAN".
Responses to the suggestion that
our troops might find inspiration in
a suitable "war slogan" are numerous,
but they show even in their multipli
city how difficult it is to compress
into a few words the spirit of the task
we have undertaken, and they also
exhibit a certain lack of what might
be termed physical suitability. For
the war slogan that finally catches
the fancy of the Army will certainly
not contain anything like twenty-five
or fifty words and it probably will
not have a dozen of them. One some
how cannot visualize a battalion paus
ing, as it leaps from the trenches, to
utter a long and complicated college
yell. The feelings of such a moment
must be expressed in a word or two
or three of them.
But it is most singular that the bulk
of the offerings thus far have failed
to sense the outstanding fact that, so
far as we are concerned, this is not
a war of revenge. "Kill the Ger
mans:" may express the immediate
purpose of the soldier when he is or
dered to make a charge, as it is the
prime object . of all minor tactics, as
distinguished from greater strategy,
but it does not represent our real mis
sion in this war. It is true that our
men will kill the soldiers on the op
posing side whenever it is necessary
to do so, but we would rather end the
war in any other practical way. So
far as the German is concerned as an
individual, we believe we are in the
war to set him free, along with the
people of the rest of the world.
"Death to the Germans!" is distinctly
not our slogan; it is the system of
which they,, too, are the victims at
which all our -destructive (overs are
directed.
The "Carry on!" of the Canadians
fired the men to capture many a
trench on the western front. In two
words it expressed determination to
keep the flag to the front, to do or
die, to fight the war to a victorious
conclusion; but it breathed no spirit
of mean revenge. And it was the war
cry of manly men, beside whom our
own troops will soon be fighting.
Some such cry, and not "Kill the
Germans!" will be needed to keep
them company. But. as has been said.
it is not at all easy to predict what
will be adopted, or whether any will
be found that will meet the. situation.
LESSON FOR CAPITAL AND LABOR.
British industry is likely to profit
by the experience of the war in ways
wherein American industry may profit
too. British labor has suspended
union restrictions for the period of the
war, but the consequent increase of
output has raised wages so much that
John Hodge, the Minister of Labor,
predicts that the workmen will not
want to return to the old practices.
This, however, will be conditional on
the willingness of capital "liberally to
remunerate extra effort and extra ex
ertion on the part of labor." The les
son learned by both capital and labor
is thus stated by Mr. Hodge in an arti
cle in the July. Factory:
Any modern nation can only reach the
maximum amount of wealth and happiness
by producing the maximum amount of goods.
"War experience has opened our eyes to what
we can do in Oreat Britain. We shall not
readily forget the lesson. We realize now
that capital must work with labor and labor
with capital. There will be no room for
strife between these two complementary
forces, if we are to succeed-In the Industrial
campaign of tomorrow.
If capital and labor will only realize
this community of interest in maxi
mum production of the best quality,
their discussions will cease to be strug
gles of each to get the most possible
from the other; they -will be a search
for the arrangement which yields the
greatest joint output with the least
expenditure of money and - labor.
Labor has opposed piece work and
has restricted output because it has
learned that earnings no sooner rose
above a certain maximum than the
employer wished to reduce the rate
The employer has now learned the
possibilities of increasing output when
he no longer casts an envious eye on
big wages; that the more the workman
earns, the more profit he himself
makes. It may follow that labor will
be called into council before, not after,
a decision affecting it is reached and
that, as Mr. Hodge says, there will be
"a splendid new harmony between
capital and labor."
The controversy about woman's la
bor is also in a fair way to settlement
by acceptance of the British govern
ment's rule that women shall receive
the same piece rate as men, with a J
minimum wage high enough to insure
that incompetent women will not be
employed. When the incentive to hire
women . because they were cheaper
than men was removed, they would be
hired only on their merits and would
cease to te a "bear" on the labor mar
ket. The cause of man's antagonism
would then be removed.
The British munitions department
has also given practical effect to the
dictum that labor is not a commodity
devoid of senses, but is human, with
results by which employers may profit.
Finding that women could not endure
the strain' of long-continued work, it
gave a rest period of a quarter of an
hour in the middle of the' morning
and afternoon, during which women
were encouraged to take a glass of
milk or a cup of tea or coffee and then
to lie flat on their backs for ten min
utes and relieve the tension of their
muscles. This practice has 'had a
marked effect in increased output and
better timekeeping. It might well be
applied to men also, for many ah acci
dent, many a slovenly job and many
a let-down in output may be the result
of fag toward the close of a morning's
or afternoon's work.
ROOSEVELT AND GOMPERS.
The collision between Theodore
Roosevelt and Samuel Gompers and
the riotous demonstration which fol
lowed it will make the Judicious grieve.
The intense and demonstrative patriot
ism of Colonel Roosevelt has been an
inspiration to all Americans, whether
or not they have agreed with him in
recent years on domestic questions;
and the country has had more than
one occasion ' to be grateful to Mr.
Gompers for the open and active ex
pression of his loyalty, both as a citi
zen and as the leader of organized la
bor in America.
It is not auspicious to create any
issue with labor over any question
affecting the welfare of the Nation in
the present crisis. It would be wise
to withhold judgment as to accounta
bility for the St. Louis tragedy until
the facts are known.
Colonel Roosevelt refuses to condone
murder, and denounces the unspeak
able brutalities inflicted upon colored
men and women at East St. Louis.
No excuse can be offered for murder,
and no apology can be made for the
criminal riots which provoked the as
saults on the helpless blacks. Not a
word can be said in reproach of Colo
nel Roosevelt for demanding that jus
tice be done and wrong righted so far
as it may be. But it is quite another
thing without complete knowledge to
say who committed murder, or who
provoked it. Colonel Roosevelt says,
or plainly implies, that it was the labor
leaders.
The head of the Federation of Labor
in Illinois lays the blame on the em
ployers who brought the black men
from the South to work in the East St.
Louis factories. If they had not been
imported to take the places of white
men, the white men,- or their sym
pathizers, would not have slain them.
With the perfection or imperfection
of the labor logic, we" do hot now
concern ourselves. Undoubtedly the
employers knew when they sought to
displace old hands among the whites
with new hands from the blacks that
they were embarking upon a most
dangerous enterprise, or at least deal
ing with an inflammatory situation.
They had no idea, of course, of lead
ing the colored workmen into a sham
bles, for they expected the protection
of the authorities. . They will acquit
themselves of all accountability by
saying that the police failed them.
Law and order were not maintained
and many men and some women were
killed.
It is not at all clear, why the author
ities were unable to handle the situa
tion, and it is quite clear that they
ought to have done it. It is not at all
clear what were the merits of the dis
pute leading to the employment and
importation of colored men; but it is
clear that a foul crime was committed
in their murder, and that the mur
derers ought to be apprehended and
punished. It may not be clear who
committed the murders, nor who was
behind them; but it is clear that who
ever .-did murder. , whatever his rea
son or ..provocation, should be dealt
with sternly. We do not understand
that Mr. Roosevelt and Mr." Gompers
are in disagreement about that. But
they disagree violently as to the Iden
tity of the criminals.
There is enough for the country to
worry about just now in the disloyal
activities of the I. W. W. or of cer
tain leaders among them. It is no
time, as we have said, for idle or
groundless charges: but it is well
enough for the public to note the
grave statements of Governor Withy
comne ana tne vigorous warnings
of United States District Attorney
Reames. It is no time for tolerance
wun seaition ana treason. it is
time to understand that the I. W. W.
constitutes a mighty menace and that
it must be suppressed. It is doing the
Kaiser's work in stirring up disaffec
tion, precipitating labor troubles, ham
pering industry, inflicting sabotage,
encouraging opposition to enlistment.
doing all it can to annoy and handi
cap the authorities and injure th
Government. Mr. Roosevelt and Mr.
Gompers alike are at war with the
I. W. W. and their destructive doc
tnnes and practices. There is, or there
ought to be, no quarrel between them
or between their followers on the great
issue of the Nation s safety.
RUSSIA'S MAN OF THE HOUR.
One of the names which will stand
out in the history of the war is that
of Alexander Kerensky. He stopped
the peace negotiations between the
Russian and German soldiers. He
broke up the debating societies at the
front. He dissolved and. sent home
in disgrace the regiments which re
fused to fight. He disfranchised and
deprived of their share in the land the
soldiers who deserted. When the
storm battalions hesitated to storm the
German trenches, he led the way and
called them to come on. They came,
and word went around the world that
Russia had come back into the war.
Kerensky is a Social Democrat, and
he knows that democracy cannot live
in Russia until autocracy is extermi
nated in Germany. He loves peace,
but he knows that there can be no
peace until the power of the war lord
is destroyed. He is a lawyer and can
argue with the best of them, but he
knows that when war is on all debates
should be adjourned. He has a frail
body, but he has a clear head and a
brave heart. While Russia has such
leaders, there is no danger that she
will desert the cause of democracy.
The fire he started in Galicia will
spread all along the eastern line from
Riga on the north to the Black Sea on
the south.
Out of the wreck which Czardom
left he is building up a new fighting
machine which will grow . in power
day by day. Inspired by confidence in
the support they will receive from the i
rear, the Russians will go forward
and will make no more retreats. Their
present victories are eloquent proof of
the power wielded by one earnest man
who has the will to fight.
1 TEACHING SCIENCE.
Demand for a coherent method of
teaching science in the public schools,
voiced by Professor R. A. Millikan, of i
the University of Chicago, will be in
dorsed by those who believe, as he
does, that the nations that make most
progress in the future will be those
that put emphasis upon scientific at
tainment. Every schoolboy knows how
much the world was changed by the
Invention of steam power, and it seems
probable that we are now on the
threshold of an era equally mo
mentous. New physical truths are be
ing revealed day by day. Chemistry
and electricity, for example, are only
now giving us a glimpse of their pos
sibilities. The most extravagant pre
dictions are unlikely to do justice to
the real change that will take place
in the century to come.
There is no fundamental reason why
Americans should not hold positions
of eminence in the scientific world.
What they are capable of doing has
been shown In many individual in
stances. But if we are to become a
Nation of scientists, it is argued, we
shall need to give more -attention to
the foundational subjects in the
schools, and begin the study of them
earlier. Professor Millikan believes
that there would be no lack of inter
est in the subject if it were presented
differently, if the course were made
definite and systematic, and if it were
understood from the beginning that
there was several years of practical
work ahead. He blames the "tabloid
system" of teaching science, at present
employed. It accomplishes nothing
practical, and the course is generally
dropped as soon as it ceases to be
obligatory. .
The movement to popularize science
as an elementary study does not yet
include a proposal to make it compul
sory at all stages. There still will be
many students who find it dreary and
unprofitable, and whose life work, in
any event, will not be furthered by an
exclusively "scientific" course. But
this will be met by expansion of the
advisory system. "Every principal,"
says Professor Millikan, "knows that
his advice determines quite largely the
average student's so-called choices."
This is, indeed, quite true, and it would
seem to simplify the problem, if we
seriously undertake to take up science
a National vocation. As the twig
is bent the tree inclines, and it is rea
sonably within the power of the teach
ers of the land to bring about a
marked change of pupils choices
whenever they make up their minds
to do so.
CURING COWARDICE.
The constitutional coward, who
flinches in the face of danger but
who in his deeper consciousness really
wants to do his duty, has a better
chance in this war of escaping with
out ignominy than ever before in the
history of the world. Employment of
psycfiiatrists. a departure in Army
procedure, has been authorized by the
Surgeon-General, and a committee on
furnishing hospital units for nervous
and mental disorders has been formed
by eminent alienists, with the approval
of the War Department.
There is good news for the "cow
ard" in the statement that in many
cases his malady can be actually cured.
Best of all,' it is regarded as possible
to determine with reasonable accuracy
whether he is a victim of well-defined
nerve deficiency, or is only craven.
This ability of scientists to differen
tiate holds out hope for the soldier
whose intentions are good but who
finds at the critical moment that his
legs simply will not obey the message
from his brain. In more primitive
times such men were executed without
mercy. More recently their alternative
but not always lighter punishment has
been ignominy and disgrace.
The most important work of the new
neuropathic units, however, will con
sist of weeding out possible cowards,
so far as possible, in advance of send
ing the Army, to .the front. This is
practical today, to a greater extent
than, a few years ago because .f,.re-
cent progress made in the study of
mental hygiene. It is now recognized
that the presence of a few unstable
individuals can disorganize an entire
company, and it is proposed to elimi
nate this danger to the normal soldier
so far as possible. "Mental instabil
ity" will be studied from the time the
recruit is mustered in. Evidence of it
will appear, to the expert, in the daily
records of the companies.
Inability to adapt oneself to new
surroundings frequently indicates men
tal disorder in greater or less degree.
This is reflected in refusal to accept
discipline. Men who repeatedly ap
pear before their officers for punish
ment or reprimand will be subjects of
special investigation. It is a remark
able evidence of our increasing en
lightenment that we are better able
than even a few years ago to detect
the difference between actual nervous
disorder and malingering. It will be
possible to remedy the one and punish
the other without injustice.
Sedative baths and mechanical ad
justments, as well as psychological
teaching, play important parts in the
new scheme for making the soldier
fit for his duty, but they are even
more important in their bearing upon
the reconstruction of the victims of
battle-shock. A writer in the New
York Times credits Dr. Thomas W.
Salmon, who has been studying con
ditions in Europe, with saying that
neuroses constitute one of the most
formidable problems of this war. It
is probably true that this is due to
the selection of men in the first in
stance who were unfit, from the neu
rologists' point of view, to be soldiers.
Elimination in the training camp of
alcoholics, paretics and others would
simplify the after-war problem. Cer
tain types of physical unfitness have
long been recognized and catalogued.
It is now proposed, so far as possible,
to extend this system to the nervous
constitution of the recruit.
Treatment of certain forms of cow
ardice as a disease marks a new era
in war hygiene. Ah army chosen in
advance, as ours will be, with the last
possible hindrance to its complete
unity removed, ought to give a splen
did account of itself in action. It is
hardly too much to predict that it will
be the most efficient Army of its size
in the world.
In his opposition to the food-control
bill. Senator Gore made statements
which were directly contrary to the
facts, as he should have known by
reference to the plain provisions of the
bill. He said its effect would be to
drive down the price of wheat and
corn and to' cost the producers of
wheat $250,000,000 a year and the pro-
ducers of corn $500,000,000 a year. The
bill expressly authorizes the President
or the food controller to establfsh a
guaranteed minimum price for pro
ducers of food, "in order to assure pro
ducers a reasonable profit." Under
that provision the farmer would be
sure .of a profit, and he would be free
to obtain as much more than the mini
mum price as market conditions al
lowed. If any such loss were incurred
as Mr. Gore predicts, it would fall
on the speculators. As their loss would
be the consumers' gain, few tears
would be shed, and the speculators
could recoup themselves by taking to
farming and selling their product at
the guaranteed price.
FARM W ORK FOR Tie CITY MAN.
It is a good time for the city man
who is perplexed over his vacation
plans to consider the advantages of
farm work over an equally laborious
tramp through the mountains, or an
excursion after fish that do not always
bite, or an idle fortnight at the sea
shore. There are some good things
to be said for the harvest field as a
tuner-up of flabby muscles and an
all-around restorative of the bodily
functions, more or less atrophied after
a year of office work. There are not
many men of grit and determination
who could not earn fair wages, and
even if they worked "below the scale"
they would be well rewarded. Their
country needs them, and they have a
chance to serve her where their labor
will do the most good.
This is particularly true of the great
army of men who worked on the farm
when they were boys, and who know
a thing or two about what will be
expected of them. But many of these
will find conditions much changed.
The use of machinery is much com
moner than it was two or three de
cades ago. Farm work is still hard
work, at best, and no really lazy man
ought to apply for it, but there are
plenty of things a city man can do.
It will not hurt him permanently to
get a few blisters on his hands, and
he will come to regard them as badges
of honor after he has returned to the
office to swap experiences with the
other old boys. As has been said, he
will be doing a patriotic duty all the
while.
It Is estimated by Frederic J. Has-
kin, who -has been looking over the
Government figures, that 700,000 re
tired farmers in the United f.tates will
return to the soil again to help their
country. Many of these men own
farms that are now in the hands of
tenants, and they will become htred
men on their own properties. There
are in addition to, these retired farm
ers a couple of million men who quit
farming for the reasons with which
we are so familiar. They are estab
lished in town, but their help would
be valuable, and it would do them
good to get out in the open again
Two weeks or a month in the countrj
would be a fine thing for all con
cerned. TAXING THE AUTHOR.
It was not to have been expected
that a war tax would be- devised that
would disarm all protest, but it is al
most enough to make an early-day
author turn in his grave to know that
the income and "excess profits" fea
ture of the measure about to be en
acted by Congress has stirred the Ire
of American authors if the views of
Gertrude Atherton. the novelist, ex
pressed in a letter to the New York
Times, are to be taken as representa
tive. Clearly, times have improved
for authorship if writers are having
any concern over income taxes in any
form. Tempora mutantur! The
"struggling author" now struggles to
escape his taxes just like any other
malefactor of great wealth.
. Mrs. Atherton, however, makes an
ingenious defense of her position in
opposition to taxing the author's earn
ings as if they were current income.
The proceeds of a book, she argues,
are not as a matter of fact income.
but capital. This disposes of the old
theory that the author's real capital
is his brains and presents a much
more logical and unromantic analogy
between the writer and the house-
builder. The comparison is Mrs. Ath
erton's own. The builder may toil
with his own hands and brain for
a year to construct a house, and he
may sell it .for a certain number of
thousands of" dollars just as does the
fortunate author who- hus disposed of
a book but the builder is not taxed
on the price of the house, but on the
income from that price after he has
invested it. In other words, the house
is capital but the book is not. Mrs.
Atherton thinks that "the little archi
tectural structure built in the author's
brain" is capital as much as the other
structure which she has employed to
make her meaning clear. Waiving
the point that carpentry and author
ship are far different sorts of crafts
manship, it will seem that she has
logic, at least, on her side.
This tendency to regard writing as
trade is of comparatively recent
growth. Not so very long ago the
authors' organization was' nearly split
in twain by a proposition to affiliate
with tho American Federation of La
bor, and a serious schism was averted
only by abandonment of the plan in
deference to the feelings of an earnest
and vociferous minority. For the pres
ent, at least, the author is not bound
by the eight-hour day. with time and
a half for overtime, of by restrictions
on his output or requirements as to his
apprenticeship. The common practice
still prevails of burning the midnight
oil when one can afford it, of market
ing the product wherever and when
ever a buyer can be found, and of
pressing production to the limit while
times are favorable. The writers of
best sellers have an economic law of
their own, and the standard of "com
petency" is set in the end by the pub
lic and the public alone. Genius has
not yet beon standardized, but per
haps it is coming to that. It is im
possible to forecast to what the prin
ciple involved in Mrs. Atherton's pro
test may lead.
It appears, also, that the author is
peculiar in that he commonly eats his
capital. Not all of his income is In
vested; much necessarily goes into his
current expenses. "Unfortunately."
says Mrs. Atherton though we do not
see why "unfortunately" "they have
healthy, human appetites. Also they
are even more "keen than the average
citizen that their children be educated
for the highest class of citizenship."
This is commendable ambition, of
course, and the trouble is that if the
moneys received for the author's work
"be legally rated as income instead of
converted capital." then the futures of
many of these children will be sacri
ficed. If the lawmakers decree that $5000
or so a year is quite sufficient for an
author to live on and educate his chil
dren on, "besides keeping them in
those conditions during their tender
years which will insure a constant
state of health and morale," then Mrs.
Atherton fears that authors'" will be
obliged to cease patronizing - the
schools that turn out the highly spe
cialized. Which i3 ahnnt IViA tame as '
saying that the author's . child will
have no better chance than the aver
age child, while there is little data
to show that under present conditions
he is making better than an average
showing. We know of nothing re
markable In the work of the children
of authors. Even in authorship, they
seldom if ever equal the work of their
parents. Perhaps a change to the
common pabulum would be good for
them.
A hurry-up call to the Nation's law
makers! Not only the author faces a
tax, but the Nation faces the dread
ful prospect that if the tax is im
posed thousands of boys and girls (the
sons and daughters of authors) will
arrive at man's or woman's estate
obliged "to begin life as second and
third-raters, and of infinitely less
service to the Nation." But this pre
supposes several things, among them
that authors will not be able to edu
cate their children out of the pittance
left them after the taxgatherer is done.
and that their children particularly
need, or deserve, highly specialized
consideration. These may be accepted
as not proved yet. Authors who are
in a position to complain about the
Income tax are rather fortunate, on
the whole, and those who are not in
such a position. It is entirely safe to
say, would like to be.
The publisher of "Paradise Lost"
paid in cash only the equivalent of
$25 for It, with a stipulation, so it is
said, that he would pay $2 5 more
after 1300 copies had been sold, and
his widow seems to have been glad
to accept $40 for the rights of publi
cation after his death. The stimulus
of "better working conditions" has not
produced another "Paradise Lost."
Authorship in the palmy days of liter
ature was almost as often a pastime as
a business. ' It was sometimes subsi
dized by the rich, but also flourished
under adverse circumstances. But
poor men have written the lion's share
of the books worth while. The fever
ish desire to get into print does not
wait for affluence or anything else.
Congress probably will not pay much
attention to the demand of the authors
now that their earnings be viewed as
capital" and not as "Income." Equity
would seem to be on the side of the
authors' contention, but tradition is on
the other side. Too many members
of Congress will think that writers are
lucky to be subject to the tax, which
is evidence in itself of their compara
tive affluence and prosperity.
An interesting discussion has arisen
in Canada over the adoption of a flag
of empire, one of the chief points in
dispute being the selection of an ap
propriate animal to be employed sym
bolically in the crest of the arms. Both
the bear and the beaver have friends,
Advocates of the bear urge that no
great nation ever has adopted a small
animal as its symbol, and they insist
that Canada's crest should ' have its
largest and most formidable beast of
prey. This argument is countered -with
the statement that the bear has long
been associated with Russia and that
the beaver makes up in industry what
he lacks in size. Besides, the question
is raised whether the ingenuity and
energy that characterize the. beaver
are not, as a matter of fact, higher
factors in the work of civilization than
brute force. The question is still open
and meanwhile the Union Jack flies
over the Canadian Parliament House.
The call for more cooks for the
Army will serve as a reminder that
the habit we have fallen into of let
ting women do most of the cooking
has its disadvantages. The French
army, on the other hand, is said to
be the best fed in Europe because it
was possible from the very day of
mobilization to supply it with profes
sional cooks of a high type. This will
not be possible with the American
forces. There are hardly cooks enough
in the country now to meet the de
mands of the hotels, whose kitchens
have been hard hit by the departure
of Europeans for the war zone. But
something will have to be done. Our
Army cannot go unfed, and it cannot
subsist long on uncooked food.
Theodore Jasper, the New York
publisher, is a real optimist. When
money is tight, he sells books to the
stay-at-homes: when times are good.
he gets the benefit -another way. It
is the essence of good business man
agement to be able to catch them
going and coming.
"Johnny Yank" has been suggested
as a designation for our soldiers
abroad, being a combination of the
"Yank" and "Johnny" of the Civil
War, but the French people probably
will make the final choice, if we give
them a little time.
The spirit -of "internationalism." fos
tered by the Germans to gain their
own ends, is dying out on the eastern
front. The Russians have begun to
recognize the wolf in sheep's clothing
at last.
Spy hysteria ought to be avoided,
but there should be no temporizing
with spies when they are caught.
Aliens as well as citizens must be made
to realize that war is a serious enter
prise. Judge Landis is not going to be any
easier on slackers than he was on
Standard Oil on another memorable
occasion, but he is having better luck
enforcing the penalty.
Winning a scholarship by feeding the
pigs Is a peculiarly fitting demonstra
tion of the fact that the right kind of
boy can find a way to get whatever
he goes after.
The American suitcase has been in
troduced Into France, and soon our
allies will be wondering how they ever
managed to get along In the old-fashioned
way.
The Klamath Indians are up to the
minute, backing their plea for self-
government with regular Fourth of
July oration. The spirit of liberty is
in the air.
Threats to kill members of the ex.
emption boards will not stop the oper
ation of the draft, and obstructionists
will do well to modify their plans ac
cordingly.
What has become of the good old
muskmelon of our childhood days, a
slice of which went as far as a whole
cantaloupe does now?
The French are impressed by the
sight of our troops on parade but wait
until they see them in action!
The restriction on the use of tin
cans has been removed just in time.
Gleams Through the Mist
Br Desm Colltas.
ODE TO THE N". E. A.
Prologue.
As I came through the desert thus was lt
Said L. R. Alderman: "'T would make
a hit.
If you would tune your harp and sing
and play
A stave or two about the N. E. A.
I piped a few notes, sweet and high
and flutey
And whispered: "Do you think it Is ins
duty?"
He walked beside me, falling into step,
And as he walked, he softly ana were 1,
Tep!"
So other themes and other schemes ,
I've lightly laid away. !
fve hid all other songs and dreams.
To boost the X. K. A.
Perhaps when the convention's through
lou delegates may le-ee
Glad that I sang these saw-haw-haw-
hawings of you.
And you'll re-me-heh-heh-hember
me-e-e-e-e (Barbershop chord!)
And you'll remember, you'll re-mem-
burr me.
Robalyat.
(After the
manner of
the late O.
Khayyam.)
Wake, for the educators on their way
Are swiftly rolling Portlandward today.
And soon our busy streets will buzz
and boom
With all the tumult of the N. E. A.
From the savant, who hardly has to
speak
To draw down his two hundred bones
a week.
To the grade teacher in the rural
schools
All, all are here enlightenment to seek.
Myself, I fear, must earnestly frequent
Their assembly halls and hear great
argument
The City Editor, his ways are deep,
In fixing the reporter's daily stent.
And I shall hear discussions, waxing
wild.
Or tuned down softly into accents mild.
About It and about and ever more.
The "It" referred to; It will be THE
CHILD.
THE CHILD that can with logic abso
lute
The two-and-seventy systems all con
fute.
And demonstrate there is no rigid
rule
To teach the young idea how to shoot.
Teachers may questions ask, and may
suppose
The High School stripling some slight
In t rest ehow-n.
But ah, within his Inner, own con
ceit He knows about it all, he knows, he
knows.
As under cover of departing day,
1 wander slowly home to hit the hay.
In fancy by the teacher s chair I
stand
Surrounded by the classes In array.
Some are bright pupils, and there are
a few
Patient to delve and find the new and
true.
And there was quite a mess that gasp
and sink
When they have waded out past two
and two.
Some grab the pearls of wisdom as they
fall.
In some we have to poke 'em, ground
up small
And we can bank that seventy per
cent
Listen, perhaps, but never think at alL
Wherefore the teacher, after days may
pass ; .
When she has operated on this mass, .
And comes at last the end, for all
her pains
Must very oft turn out an empty class.
Ballade of the Syatetus,
Typewriting only makes my meaning
clear.
Though once three styles of penman
ship -I knew.
"One, two! One, two!" I learned the
first by ear;
Spencerian, quite gracefully I drew;
And vertical, I learned to write it too:
And then the "medial" handwrite did
appear.
I tried them all and now I ask anew
Where are the penmanships of yester
year? When T had done Spencerian, without
fear
I tackled any job I had to do.
And legibly I wrote, about a year
Before the vertical began to brew.
One style is fine; but when you mix
up two.
The chirographic ship begins to veer;
And legibility goes up the flue.
Where are the penmanships of yester
year? ' .
And since I finished all my school
career
- I hear, and what I hear I'm told is
true.
New wheels have been put in our writ
ing gear.
And other systems children learn to do:
And when I do glance back in brief
review.
I almost am inclined to shed a tear.
And sigh a sigh, or murmur low:
"Boo-hoo!
Where are the penmanships of yester
year 7"
L'ENVOI.
Scribes, I was taught three systems
once, but you
Will find I typewrite when I would
be clear.
Wherefore I sigh, and murmur, sad
and blue
"Where are the penmanships of yes
teryear?" Hence.
The Young Idea used to shoot
Almost unconsciously.
When man was nearer to the brute
And had simplicity.
But now it has to shoot, you see,
In such a complex way,
That education came to be
And hence the N. E. A.
The old log schoolhouse on the hill
We sang about of old.
Is carted to the lumber mill
And e'en the hill is sold;
And county high schools, rural norms.
And other things array
And every season brings reforms
And hence the N. E. A.
The three poor R's in days gone by
Were all our fathers got;
It is a puzzler how high
Their young ideas shot.
But branches new and novel texts
Spring up now; ev'ry day
A brand new system one expects
And hence the N. E. A.
I do not like efficiency;
It bores me unto tears:
But this fair land of liberty
Just loves it, it appears.
The Young Idea used to shoot
Unconscious on its way.
But now we have to steer the brute
And hence the N. E. A.
Epilogue
Harp of the West, farewell! I've sung
my sing:
And hope my good friends. Alderman
and Plummer,
With laurel wreaths and twigs of bay
will spike it
And toll me, "Verily it is a hummer!"
I do not know the N. E. A., ..b phases.
Its infinite variety and beauty.
But I have pulled these metric words
and phrases
'Cause they said, "Yep!" when I asked
"Is't my duty?"