II
TITK SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, FOKTLAXD, JANUARY" ID, 1919.
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PORTLAND. SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 1919.
BOLSHEVIK ECHOES.
A general strike to secure a new
trial for Thomas Mooney and Warren.
Billings is a remedy which does vio
lence to the fundamentals of justice
and democracy, and can do no good
to labor. It is direqX action, with a
vengeance. It is a threat against thj
orderly processes of government. It
voices a demand for interference by the
President himself, with a penalty for
refusal or Inaction in advance defined,
in the paralysis of all Industry. "We
will stop," shouted one delegate at the
Chicago labor conference, "every wheel
in the land, and make the country
look like an Arizona desert." Thus
the whole country, If the scheme of
coercion is carried out, is to be made
to suffer for the action of a court in
California, which performed its con
stitutional function of trying two men
for murder and finding them guilty.
Whether It was performed well or
badly, tho case is California's, not the
Nation's. The National Labor Con
gress regards Mooney and Billings as
innocent, and declares that their con
viction was obtained by bribery and
perjury. It is well to recall that one
of ninety witnesses against Mooney,
one Oxman, was tried for perjury and
acquitted. It may be fair to add that
Billings, who was accused of the same
crime as Mooney, was convicted with
out the testimony of Oxman, and that
the acquittal of Oxman occurred also
in California. ,
Over in Seattle there is an Inter
national Workers Defense League
which declares that the "courts have
failed to give justice to our fighters in
the industrial conflict," and which
proposes to "use our economic strength
and go out on strike to secure justice
for our champions." It makes an ap
peal for soldiers and sailors to join
them, and it asks them not to take a
job "until we all go back together.
The further demand for amnesty for
all political prisoners is made. "The
man (in Bulgaria) who was given life
imprisonment for anti-war work," it
is further said in a Workers' Defense
League circular, "is now the head of
the government. Will you see that
this is done here?" This means Debs,
perhaps.
Here in Portland there is a frank
effort to constitute- a soviet to be
known as a soldiers' and sailors' coun
cil. It is backed by radical Socialists,
who do not hesitate to proclaim their
sympathy with Bolshevism. "We are
through asking favors from the mas
ters," says their leader. "Hereafter,
what we want we will take."
In Russia, the Bolsheviks, who take
what they want and kill off all who
resist, are still dominant. In Ger
many there has been a test between
the Reds, or Spartacans, who are kin
to the Bolsheviks, and the conservative
Socialists; and the latter have appar
ently prevailed. The issue was not
joined in any peaceful conflict of
minds, but in the old brutal way of
armed force: and the strongest won.
In ' Poland, there is confusion worse
confounded; and there is a powerful
Bolshevik element which is seeking to
have its way. Chaos is its best chance
President Wilson has taken public
notice of the Bolshevik menace, and
he asks for $100,000,000 to feed the
starving millions of Europe as the best
means to combat it. But whether or
not Bolshevism thrives on starvation
and poverty, it is clear that America
has a duty of humanity, and will per
form it.
Bolshevism is a twin of defeatism.
and it thrives best in those countries
where autocracy has been overthrown
as a consequence of the war. The
reasons are obvious. A people striving
to find itself, bitterly resentful of its
sufferings, ' sacrifices and wrongs, is
likely to give a ready ear to the prodi
gal offerings of those who promise
much. The counsels of moderation
do not take root easily in preju
diced soil. For Germany, however, it
is to be said that the habit of order
and law-observance is strong, and it is
to be expected that the proposals of
conservative men are likely in the
long run to be accepted. It may be
the same in Austria. Russia and Po
land present more perplexing prob
lems. Tho manifestations of Bolshevism
have been slight in the countries vic
torious in the war, but here and there
outbreaks have occurred. But the
masses in the allied nations have no
euch grievances as have provoked the
conditions of disorder and ruin and
poverty, which have led to the rise of
the red terror east of the Rhine. They
have not hungered, nor starved, nor
gone naked; and they have not against
their will been driven into a disastrous
war. They have had a full part in
the triumph of democracy and hu
manity; and they know that the prin
ciples for which they fought and died
are to stand, and that the benefits of
the world's peace are to be theirs.
Yet the echoes of revolutions and
anarchy in parts of Europe are heard
here, and some men have lost their
heads and are trying to convert them
into action in concert with the irre
eponsible elements abroad which are
striving through force to take what
ever they want."
The menace of the red flag in
America is serious enough, and. should
be taken seriously; but it stands for
policies of action which run counter
to the conscience, spirit and judgment
of America, to the rock-bottom prin
ciples upon which the republic was
founded, and to the old-fashioned
tenets of justice, good faith and mor
alitf'. So far as there are abuses and
inequalities here and there, there is a
lawful and rational way to correct
them, whether they are abuses and
Inequalities of classes or of individuals.
There are certain guaranties of life,
and liberty, and opportunity, in Amer
ica, and on the whole they are ef
fective. That there may be instances
of injury in the operation of our eco
nomic and industrial processes may be
freely admitted, and that there may
be miscarriage of justice in our courts
is only too well known- But whether
Mooney is guilty or innocent, whether
Billings is guilty or innocent, there is
nothing in the procedure in a local
court in California which justifies a
sweeping vote of censure on our judi
cial system, or a proposal to wreck
our industrial or political structure.
If, by a strike or a threat of a strike,
the Labor Conference shall have freed
Mooney, they will have done some
thing far worse for all citizens, in
cluding themselves, than his incarcera
tion in prison for life. They will have
substituted for our present judicial
practices, which, imperfect as they
are, are the product of many hundred
years of civilization, the right of ap
peal from a court to the uninformed
opinions and decisions of a class. What
could be worse than the administra
tion of justice in that way?
The Red Flag will not wave over
America. It is not the flag of our
country, and it never will be. All
Americans worth the privilege of citi
zenship will join to put it down, and
among them will be those thousands
and millions of workmen who have
just as much at stake in the preserva
tion of our institutions as any others.
COMPULSORY VOTING.
The term compulsory voting as
applied to the object of a bill in the
Oregon Legislature is somewhat of a
misnomer. The maximum object of
the bill can only be to compel at
tendance at the polls. It is the old
proverb in a new form. You can drive
the horse to water but you cannot
make him drink.
In other words, if we shall have
"compulsory voting" we shall merely
compel the voters to go to the polls
The only evidence that an elector has
voted is the depositing of his ballot in
the ballot box. Nobody is permitted
to examine his ballot at the time. It
may be wholly blank, for all the
judges of election may know.
Presumably, the supporters of com
pulsory voting argue that the voter
will mark his ballot if compelled to
go to the polls. Perhaps. Yet in the
last general election more than 8500
voters who voted for Governor ex
pressed no preference on the contested
office of State Treasurer. Actually a
minority of the voters of Oregon de
termined who should be the Treasurer,
for the combined vote of the three
candidates was less than 50 per cent
of the registration.
Here were 8 500 voters who had
enough interest in the election of
Senator and Governor to take them to
the polls, but were frankly indifferent
as to the identity of the Treasurer to
be elected. It is a reasonable enough
assumption that the 100,000 or more
who were not attracted to the polls at
all would, had they been compelled to
go, have gone through with the mo
tions of an undesired task as quickly
as possible. Some, without doubt,
would have voted for a candidate or
two on the ticket; many would have
voted for none.
But what would have been gained
if all had been compelled to attend the
elections and those who would not
without compulsion have attended had
voted for a full list of candidates? In
what way is the vote of the man or
woman who cares not enough about
state or local affairs to ascertain the
qualifications of competing candidates
of value to the community?
SOMETHING DONE.
It Is necessary in order to compare
the Canadian land programme with
the programme or lack of one of
the United States to make allowance
for the circumstance that a large pro
portion of Canadian soldiers are out
doors men, to whom farm life would
be likely to appeal, but a fact that
stands out, and will bear emphasis, is
that something is already being done.
"The Government," said Major G. W.
Andrews, a member of Parliament and
student of the land laws, "already has
advanced $1,300,000 to returned sol
diers who own lands to enable them
to buy livestock and make improve
ments." The point of comparison is
contained in the three words, "already
has advanced." It might be worth
while for the United States Congress
to make a not too protracted inquiry
into the Canadian method of getting
action.
In financing first the returned sol
diers who already own farms but pos
sess inadequate capital, Canada has
regard for the needs of the nation as
well as the wants of its soldiers. But
it is interesting also to note that the
entire land programme has taken con
crete form, although it is only a little
more than two months since the ar
mistice was signed. It is proposed to
sell farms to actual settlers upon a
cash payment of 10 per cent, with
twenty years to pay the remainder.
and with interest at S per cent. It also
will lend the settler $500 with which
to build a home and $1500 for livestock
and improvements.
Details of the scheme are unimpor
tant by comparison with the circum
stance that something is already be
ing done. Forty-three per cent of
Canada's returned soldiers have sig
nified their desire to become farmers.
It is highly improbable that so large
proportion of Americans will be
drawn toward the land. But the per
centage In this country, whatever it
may be, of would-be farmers is receiv
ing no real encouragement from the
Government. Departmental recom
mendations and Congressional talk do
not take the place of $1,300,000 "al
ready advanced" to its soldier-farmers
by a country with about one-twelfth
the population of the United States.
MUIR, INTERPRETER OF THE WEST.
Something about the West inspires
men to do big things, to write poems
expressive of love of both nature and
liberty, or in majestic prose to tell of
the grandeur of mountain, forest and
plain. That something in our tu day
has led the 91st, Wild West, Division
to perform deeds of valor which have
distinguished it in an Army abound
ing in heroes. At the same time it
has moved a soldier of the Spruce
Production Division, an anonymous
member of the Loyal Legion, to write
songs of spruce which rank among the
best war poetry. The West has pro
duced many of the best fictionists of
the last half century, who have de
picted man, freed from the trammels
of convention, in contact with raw na
ture in its wildest and most awe-in
spiring forms.
That may explain the enthusiasm of
John Muir for the West, which has
found vent in his latest book. "Steep
Trails." Born in Scotland, that land
of old romance, he came to America
and studied botany, chemistry and
geology in Indiana and Wisconsin.
His instinctive love of the open for
bade him to immure himself in a col
lege and drew him to the Far West,
where he explored and lived among
mountains, glaciers and forests, de
lighting in their wildness and solitude.
He has made his country familiar
with the glories of the Cascades and
Sierras, with the gigantic peaks and
glaciers of Alaska, with the big trees
of California, with the awful beauties
of the Grand Canyon, and with the
wonders of the Yellowstone Park. In
a special sense, he is the discoverer of
the West, for he has shown the. world
that the West is more than the land
of cowboys, miners, bad men and In
dians with a sprinkling of speculative
boomers. He has shown it as the land
where nature has done her greatest
work in her most sublime moods, and
he has tempted the people of the East
to leave their crowded cities, to turn
from the beaten track leading to Eu
rope, and to come West to admire.
Muir is an example of the West's
magnetic power. It first drew the
hunter, the gold-seeker and tlte ad
venturous on the trail of the explorer
and the missionary. Then it drew the
builders of big enterprises, men whose
combination of courage with con
structive genius accepted its chal
lenge by spanning its plains with rail
roads, by tunneling or climbing its
mountains, by mining its minerals, by
cutting its forests, by harnessing its
waterpower and by building its cities.
Among these first comers and the
swarm of homebuilders who followed
were men of Muir's type, who in
terpreted the West to the East and
who disproved the shallow assump
tion that the West is all raw and un
couth.
DEFEAT OF THE SPARTACANS.
The tragic end of Karl Liebknecht
and Rosa Luxembourg as the climax
of the Spartacan uprising at Berlin
proves that there are strong men at
the head of the revolutionary govern
ment in Germany. The intent of the
Spartacans was avowedly to prevent
the election of delegates to the Na
tlonal Assembly next Sunday, and their
implied motive was to establish their
own minority rule, knowing that In
an open election they would 'be vastly
outnumbered.
The vigor and success with which
the government crushed the revolt
contrasts with the weakness which
Kerensky displayed in dealing with the
Bolsheviki. He .defeated their first
revolt in July, 1917, and had some of
their leaders fn his power, but he
weakly set them free and attempted
compromise with men who were in the
pay of Germany and would make no"
compromise. He had another oppor
tunity when General Korniloff began
his march on Petrograd to crush Bol
shevism once for all, but he was de
ceived into turning against Korniloff
and denouncing him as a traitor. Then
Kerensky's power ended.
President Ebert, of the German re
public, was in a more critical position
when the Spartacans rose against htm,
but he did not flinch. Besieged in one
of the government buildings, he called
from the window to men' in the crowd
to come to defense of the government.
and they came, for men will always
be found to rally to a strong man who
stands for something. Once In the
fight, he acted with energy until it
was won. This is a new development
in the course of a revolution. Usually
the extremists have overthrown the
moderates until the people weary of
bloodshed and react either all the way
to despotism or establish a moderate
democracy.
Liebknecht adopted far more radi
cal theories than his father, who was
leader of the Socialist party thirty
years ago and who would have been
called a Progressive in this country,
The younger Liebknecht opposed the
war from the beginning, and became
more bitter and more radical after he
had been imprisoned for an anti-war
speech; In fact, he proved the Kaiser's
Nemesis. After his release by Prince
Max, he was a popular hero and raised
the cry for the Kaiser's deposition
Rosa Luxembourg had also suffered
Imprisonment for incendiary speeches
made during the strikes of the early
months of 1917.
Popular support of Ebert may have
been due to dread of like disasters to
those which Bolshevism brought on
Russia, and to fear that, if Germany
fell into a state of anarchy, the whole
country might be occupied by the
allies. While stubbornly brave in bat
tie, the German is a prudent indi
vidual, and, when driven to extremes,
plays for safety first. Hence the ar
mistice before Germany had suffered
devastation, the surrender of the fleet
in preference to sure defeat, and the
support of Ebert in order to show an
established government to the allies,
FARMS AND JOBS FOR SOLDIERS
While the allies long ago had plan
completed to place demobilized sol
diers on the land and to find other em
ployment for them, the United States
has only begun to begin to get ready,
though hundreds of thousands of sol
diers are returning to civil life every
month. Soon after the United States
declared war. Secretary of the Interior
Lane proposed that the Government
provide work and farms for those
soldiers who wished to go on the land,
by employing them to reclaim great
areas of arid, swamp and cut-over
land and by then assisting them to
make farms on the tracts they had
reclaimed, but Congress has gone no
farther than to appropriate $200,000
for an examination of the tracts and
to consider a bill appropriating $1.-
000.000 for surveys. At this rate, all
the soldiers who are to be demobilized
will either have found employment or
will have-spent months in hunting
other jobs before Mr. Lane is ready to
put them to work.
The way to begin Is to begin, and
Representative Sinnott has shown
where an actual beginning can be
made. Surveys and estimates have al
ready been made for reclamation of
many arid tracts in the West 2,000.
000 acres in Oregon alone and there
Is' need only of funds to begin con
struction work and to carry it along
until the next session of Congress. Mr.
Sinnott's bill contains provisions for
establishing soldiers on farms, which
are In harmony with Mr. Lane's
scheme. He asks for an appropria
tion of $1,000,000,000, but all of that
sum could not be expended for several
years, so that a smaller Immediate
appropriation would suffice. While
construction of Irrigation work was In
progress, an additional bill could be
passed for surveys, reclamation and
settlement of swamp and logged-off
land, and surveys, appraisals and set
tlements with individual and corporate
owners could be made.
There is no reason why irrigation
work, for which preliminaries are
complete, should await drainage or
clearing, for which preliminaries have
not even begun, nor indeed why the
latter should e connected with the
former, unless It be a political, log-
rolling reason. Nearly all arid land is
owned by the Government, and con
tracts can easily be made with occa
sional individual owners for irrigation
and sale of their tracts. Nearly all
swamp and logged-off land is owned
by individuals, and there will be much
debate and dickering before terms
can be made with them. The only
owners of Southern swamps and Mid
dle Western pine barrens may be un
willing to let the West receive a big
slice of pie unless each of them gets
one too. They would rather let the
soldier wait for his farm . or his Job
than come away from the pork-bar
rel empty-handed.
A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
There is pending in Congress a bill
Introduced by Senator Hoke Smith, of
Georgia, to create a Department of
Education, the secretary of which
would have a place In the Cabinet.
The department would take over, at
the discretion of the President, the
work of other departments and bu
reaus which it ought to co-ordinate
and supervise. The bill is the result
of a joint conference of committees
of the American ' Council on Educa
tion and the National Education Asso
elation, and gives voice to the asplra
tions of educators who realize that the
whole Nation is affected by backward
ness of education in any part of it.
and who desire that there shall be
practical equalization of advantages
and opportunities. The principle is
observed occasionally in state educa
tional laws, such as those which tax
tho richer districts for support of
schools in the poorer ones, and It goes
to the root of the proposition that
inefficiency, or illiteracy, or disloyalty
in one section of the country, or among
one class of the people, is the concern
of every other section and of every
other class.
The bill makes an appropriation of
$100,000,000 a year, to be expended, in
co-operation with the states, for the
prime purposes of removing illiteracy,
promoting "Americanization," extend
ing school terms, especially in the
more sparsely settled communities, for
physical education, and for better
preparation of teachers. States, in
order to enjoy the benefits of the act,
are required to appropriate amounts
equal to those received by them for
the purposes designated. Apportion
ment of funds is not invariably made
upon the basis of total population, or
school population, but in proportion
to needs.- Thus, for example, three
fortieths of the whole amount is to be
devoted to instruction of illiterates 10
years old and over, not including the
foreign-born, and this is to be appor
tioned in accordance with the native-
born illiterate population. A similar
amount is to be devoted to teaching
immigrants of similar ages to speak
and read English and to instruct them
in the duties of citizenship, and also
to "develop among them an apprecia
tion of and respect for the civic and
social Institutions of the United States,"
and this sum is divided in the ratio
dY Immigrant Illiterate population. A
state which will draw most heavily
upon one part of the fund, and con
tribute to it, may not be much affected
by the other. The South just now Is
the center of native-born adult illiter
acy, and New England and New York
have their special problems of adult
Immigrant education.
Half of the entire sum Is to be de
voted to improvement of schools of
less than college grade, "with the
definite aim of extending school terms
and of stimulating state and local in
terests in improving, through better
instruction and gradation, and through
consolidation and supervision, the rurart
schools and schools in sparsely settled
locations." This is to be apportioned
in proportion to the number of teach
ers in the public schools of the states.
It is interesting to note, in addition,
that states which avail themselves of
this provision are required to compel
every public school district to maintain
a minimum school term of twenty-four
weeks, to enact and enforce a com
pulsory attendance law and to require
that only English shall be employed
as the basic language of instruction.
A fifth of the. total sum, distributed
in proportion to population, would be
devoted to physical education, which
would include the rudiments of medi
cal and dental instruction, determina
tion of medical and physical defects,
employment of school nurses, estab
lishment of dental clinics and "Instruc
tion of all the people In the principles
of health and sanitation." The final
provision, as to apportionment of
money, devotes the remaining three
twentieths of the whole, in proportion
to number of teachers, to Improvement
of the teaching staff, present and
prospective, and to encouragement,
"through scholarships or otherwise,"
of a greater number of talented young
people to make adequate preparation
The National Education Association
seems determined to show that In edu
cation. If not In physics, momentum
may be derived from a force within
the body itself. The teachers would
undertake the task of reforming edu
cation. But if they ask for aid from
without, their plea in justification is
logical enough. It is that the profes
sion of education is less attractive than
it used to be for reasons over which
teachers themselves have had no con
trol. Never overpaid. It was neverthe
less In a bygone period more attractive
than It Is now, with the cost of living
far outstripping the liberality of school
boards and taxpayers. Even with a
combined fund of $200,000,000. which
is only $2 per capita of the population,
something may be hoped for in the
way of stimulus to better education
along practical, financial lines.
Aside from its appropriation feature.
the bill to create a Department of Edu
cation is regarded by schoolmen as
appealing when it is considered that
the Federal Government already is In
the field to the extent of about $139.
000.000 a year, that practically every
Government department is engaged In
some form of educational activity, and
that the Bureau of Education receives
only about $200,000. There are agri
cultural schools, and Indian schools,
the War and Navy Departments have
their schools, and educational propa
ganda is widespread, but it is without
co-ordination. There Is at present no
scientific budget and there Is no center
of responsibility. Undoubtedly there
is much overlapping which ought to
be avoided. The idea of dignifying
education with a place In the Cabinet
Is not new in the world; many foreign
countries have their ministers of edu
cation. In pressing this feature of his
bill. Senator Smith will have the sup
port of many precedents.
We probably are not in danger of
too great "standardization" of our
educational systems, especially in the
higher . Institutions, which is a peril
that some of the opponents of the
measure profess to foresee. It is not
an unattractive phase of the present
method that it affords a wide field of
choice. But there is also need of
greater thoroughness, and of a gener
ally higher standard, and of such wider
opportunities as are represented in the
effort to eradicate adult Illiteracy and
to extend 'education In Americanism
and all that this Implies. This it would
be the natural function of a Federal
department to promote. Our foreign
educational relations present another
argument for the bill. We shall pres
ently come in contact, to a greater ex
tent than ever, with other countries.
France, Italy and parts of South
America are already looking to us for
advice. It seems likely that we shall
be called upon to act as counsellor to
Russia after the present turmoil is
over. The Orient, which has been In
clined toward Germany In the past,
will turn more toward the United
State's in the future. This does not
necessarily mean that the world sys
tem will be "Americanized," but it does
mean that there will be systems of
exchange upon broadly national and
international lines, and the proponents
of the new department have a strong
irnimpnt in this. It will seem reason
able that this country should have to
deal with other ministries of educa
tion through the minor agency of a
bureau in a department of the Govern
ment which has many other interest
to look after.
Senator Smith's bill promises at
least to arouse further Interest In
subject which is Just now very close
to the popular heart. Discussion of
it In the Senate ought to be highly
instructive. It is safe to forecast
criticism on the ground that too com
plete "standardization" of the schools
is undesirable. Standardization of
Americanism, however, which is pro
posed, and equalization of educational
opportunities, and Federal aid, if not
supervision, in maintaining a high
state of health and efficiency will
present a common ground for discus
sion. With the bill before it. Congress
is sure of a subject which will not be
exhausted in a single session.
GET READT TO SPRAT.
Increase in number of plant pests
which was noted last season as the re
sult of neglect, for which the war was
given as the excuse, makes timely the
warning to farmers and fruit grow
ers recently issued by the American
Phytopathological Society not to neg
lect to provide themselves early in the
present year with supplies of fungi
cides and Insecticides and machinery
with which to apply them. The so
ciety includes most of the experts In
plant diseases in the United States and
Canada, and has recently conducted
an investigation which shows that
there Is danger of shortage of both
chemicals and implements.
The shortage, formerly due to di
version of raw materials for war work.
Is now likely to continue because of
delay of manufacturers in turning
their plants back to the industry of
peace. Individual buyers can do much
to hasten the reconstruction by filing
estimates of their needs at once.
The food needs of the world are still
too acute to warrant waste, such as
resulted in the season of 1918 from
neglect of the important duty of
spraying. Although the nutritional
value of the food grown in the coun
try in that year was estimated as 15
per cent above normal, it is also esti
mated that it would have been another
15 per cent greater If It had not been
for the ravages of plant enemies which
could have been controlled by sprays.
The loss to fruitgrowers was particu
larly large.
Suspension of hostilities should en
able chemical manufacturers to meet
farmers' needs if they are prompt In
readjusting their affairs. The impor
tant ingredients, copper sulphate and
commercial sulphur, and also formal
dehyde, which were affected directly
by war. are relieved of the restrictions
under which they have been laboring.
It Is obviously the duty of farmers to
count on a spraying campaign during
the coming season, and prudent ones
will make preparation well In advance.
Plant pests multiply rapidly and an
other season of neglect is likely to be
far more costly than that of 1918.
FLETCHERISM.
Horace Fletcher suffered In contem
porary judgment somewhat as did
Professor Elie Metchnikoff, in the
respect that his name was associated
in the popular mind with an achieve
ment that in fact constituted only a
minor part of his work. The pains
taking researches of Metchnikoff have
been dwarfed in public estimation by
his association with the theory that a
certain kind of buttermilk promoted
development of bacteria in the alimen
tary tract which would prolong life
Indefinitely. Similarly. Fletcher, who
was a philosopher of a highly optimis
tic school, is known to fame as the
exponent of thorough mastication of
food as a recipe for health and lon
gevity. Indeed, the verb "to fletcher
Ize" has an established place in our
language, and has already found Its
way Into the dictionaries.
"Fletcher was not the long-haired
apostle of a vague cult, but a highly
successful business man, who made a
fortune by his own efforts. He had
been an athlete in youth, but when he
stopped training became immensely
obese. He traveled in the Orient,
where he conceived the idea of In
troducing Oriental knicknacks to his
countrymen, and he was the proprietor
of a, famous business with a Japanese
name in a Pacific Coast city. He was
rich at 35, when he retired from
money-making to pursue the substan
tial pleasures of life. He studied
painting and produced some creditable
works. He was, indeed, a many-sided
man. But his greatest satisfaction.
his profoundest pleasures, grew out of
his philosophy of optimism.
"I am," he 'said, "an instance of a
man who acquired optimism, who de
liberately set out to attain it." He
preached suppression of the "fear-
thought," and urged against the "self
suggestion of inferiority." It was not
inferiority to other men to which he
alluded, but Inferiority to any circum
stances. He said that It was the
easiest thing In life to rid oneself of
the fear of death. He began by ban
ishing anger and worry, and then by
questioning whether It was necessary
that they should exist in the first in
stance. He said that he had found
that actual physical pain was not un
bearable: that it was the fear of pain
that made men sicken with It. He
tested his own theory In the dentist's
chair, which most of us will concede
was a fair enough test. But his phys
leal condition led to certain expert
ments since his was a nature given
to experimentation which resulted
gradually in the merging of the phil
osophy that a sound mind operated to
produce a sound body and the theory
that a sound body also was an aid in
preserving a sound mind. His studies
In nutrition were conducted from the
point of view of a sociologist no less
than that of a dietician.
The dietary rules of Horace Fletcher
were reduced to five, at some sacrl
flee of completeness for the sake of
epigrammatic terseness. He was not
precisely a disciple of fasting, as was
Dr. Tanner, but he frequently fasted
He ran counter to the teachings of
physicians who placed emphasis upon
regularity of hours of eating when he
advocated "waiting for a true, earned
appetite." He was inclined toward
the practice of vegetarianism, but he
did not place as much stress upon this
as do most so-called vegetarians. His
counsel was to select from the food
available "that which appeals most to
ppetite, in the order called for by
appetite." He did not disdain the
pleasures of the palate. An incidental
purpose of "fletchertzing." which con
sisted in painstaking mastication, was
to "get all the good taste out of the
food In the mouth." The essence of
the practice consisted in swallowing
the food only when it "practically
swallowed itself." "Enjoy," he said,
"the good taste for all It is worth. Do
not allow any diverting feeling to in
trude upon the ceremony." And then
there was the final rule: "Walt, take
and enjoy as much as possible. Na
ture will do the rest," he added.
This philosopher borrowed from an
cients and moderns alike. Was it not
Dr. Holmes who proposed that we
chew each mouthful of food thirty
two times one time for each tooth
in the head? There was Emerson,
who said that it was a "greater dis
grace to be sick than to be in the
penitentiary." because when one was
arrested It was because? one had
broken a man-made statute, but when
he was ill it was because of diso
bedience to one of God's laws. Were
there not ancients who believed that
the mysterious something which they
called the soul was located In the
stomach and not In the heart or brain?
Fletcher said that there was sound
logic In the ancient notion, because
the bad effect of unhappy thought
that "touches the heart" is first felt
In the stomach, if the stomach has any
troubles of Its own to worry about. To
the habitual Fletcherite he insisted
such double disaster could not come.
There thus appears in the Fletcher
philosophy a curious mingling of the
physical and the psychological. The
process of digestion, having been be
gun in a thoroughly normal manner,
was capable of arrestatlon by un
favorable psychic Influences without
producing "those poisons which wear
out the body faster than any other
cause." One who ate slowly might
bear the shock of the most terrible
news the physical shock, at least
and the misfortune, or its opposite in
disguise, would not set up a vicious
circle of accumulating bad effects.
"The faithful one is ever ready to
go before the bar of Death's tribunal
for the approving judgment his dietetic
righteousness is sure to secure. " Thus
spoke Fletcher In one of his books.
"Dietetic righteousness" is putting it
rather strongly, perhaps, but there is
a good deal to be said for any philos
ophy which gives real promise of set
ting In motion a healthy circle of
causes and effects. It is conceded that
as a people we eat too fast, to put it
bluntly, and it is worth while to in
quire where there is any connection
between this fact and certain Nationa
neuroses which are also admitted to
exist. We may not be ready to go to
the Fletcher extreme of "chewing
liquids" thoroughly, but any physician
will indorse the main article of the
Fletcher creed.
Fletcher did not. any more than did
Metchnikoff. attain the great age
which it is said was the desire of both
men. But life is not measured in
years alone. It is pretty well estab
lished that he lived happily, and that
most of his 69 years were free from
bodily cares. We are unable to appor
tion the credit equitably between ban
ishment of the "fear-thought" and in
tensive mastication. Doubtless both
helped, each In Its own way. Those
who possess untroubled consciences
and unimpaired digestions will not
concern themselves too much to in
quire which is the cause and which
the effect.
The tonnage of British ships de
stroyed in the war causes a more ur
gent demand for new tonnage in
England than exists In this, country,
but that fact does not prevent British
yards from being allowed to build a
million deadweight tons for France.
The Foundation yard in Portland.
however, is kept idle because Presi
dent Wilson objects to its building for
foreign account. An injury is thus
done to the men who would be em
ployed, to the owners of the yard, and
to France, which needs the tonnage.
The estimate that there is an actual
shortage of labor of 4 5.000 men In the
Scranton district of Pennsylvania is
encouraging news from the employ
ment standpoint, provided it is not off
set by too great an advance in the
price of coal.
Those who think that the airplane
will prevent railway development are
just natural pessimists. It is more
reasonable to suppose that it will be
employed in scouting out land to be
opened by permanent rail communi
cation.
It undoubtedly Is the duty of every
citizen to go to the polls and vote, but
the thought obtrudes itself that the
citizen who requires compulsion may
not be a voter whose Judgment is much
worth while.
Before the Bolsheviki in this coun
try ask us to adopt their way of think
ing, it might be well for them to wait
for their Russian brethren to do some
thing to prove their right to leader
ship. Sane plans for the welfare of re
turning soldiers, of course, will not
have all their eggs In the back-to-the-land
basket. There are still men who
yearn for other pursuits than farming.
If those women who are kindling
fires in the streets of Washington had
been asked to kindle the fire at home
we would have heard talk of divorce
before now.
Better a starving garbage can than
a starving people. The need of thrift
still exists, with a mouth waiting for
every morsel of food we can possibly
produce.
Those who do not like to live in the
United States will soon be free to go
elsewhere, but there are many places
to which we think they will not care
to go.
The Kaiser is still sawing wood, at
the risk of becoming overheated, and
saying nothing, perhaps, for fear of
the same peril.
There seems to be a confusion of
"self-determination" with "self-extermination"
in certain European quar
ters. Artificial limbs are attachments that
ought to be exempt from attachment.
The bootlegger Is gradually drawing
to the end of his rope.
First signs of Spring Vader wants
a newspaper.
PAXCT TIME.
Oh. I want to wander back again In
memory, for today.
To a snappy, frosty morning in an old
home far away.
Where a miracle in pictures, which no
human s brush e'er made.
In a tracery of frostwork on the win
dow-pane is laid.
There are fern leaves fine and filmy.
uuno wim wonarous (Kill and
care.
Pressed as for some sacred purpose on
that surface white and nn ua- -
And sometimes In a marvelous land
scape, fleecy clouds and ragged
trees
Stand upon that coated canvas and defy
the chilling breeze:
There are mountains topped with snnw.
shine there are hills and valleva.
too
And sometimes a gleaming river and a
pnantom white canoe.
"Twas a field at glorious fancy that my
"uuuui mtna aia roam.
When the Frost King did his etching
n me window-panes ' "back,
home":
Oft there comes an ache and longinu
lor those rtavs no mor t r m-.
Best of days, though countless others
offer all they hold, to me.
Oh. how far the tides have traveled on
life's restless, surging main.
Since 1 took those fancv lr,nrn,v.
that stenciled u-lnris,-n.....l
Would that We Illic-hr evee ,.,.,.-
where the fanrv rivn,. -iia..
Loiter there, and calmly ponder, as we
glimpsed the passing tide:
Feel the eager blood a-pulsing through
our quickened, tingling vein.
ith the thrills we knew in
taken on those frosty panes!
,, a RACK K. HALL.
o"7 East Fortv.nimh o, ...... v ....
Portland. Or. . '
IICRALDS OK PKACr,.
Upon the mountain slopes did the un
seen Heralds glide
Down from the snow-crowned sum
mits: past crevasse and rook
They came with air of Heaven, and
God-inspiring words.
By the grassy pathways: did they th-
forest-fastnesses unlock.
As aid and guide'.
By sheepcotes of the herders; valleva
of streams and rills:
Across the plains and prairies. to
Bahel-haunts of men.
These Heralds of good tidings. Heralds
of I'eace once more:
For cometh not the Christ of Peace
to this poor earth again
The Christ of now and yore?
And Sharon's rose and heartsease flow
ers will ever bloom;
From deserts parched and dry doth
war and discord fly.
"The arts of Peace alone will live!" the
Heralds sins;
"The battlo armaments and trophies
droop and die.
Forever buried lie"'
And we. too. must be Angels in this
Mission great.
Spread wines and hasten footsteps.
as Messengers of peace
Keep dissolved the feuds of nations; by
Prayer bring Heaven here.
By wlt-e and gentle suasion help
quarrels cease,
Ushering the world's new Plrth!
LOUISA A'HML'TV NASH.
Nashville, Or.
TIIK CHHISTMA THEK.
It was two weeks or more after Christ
mas had gone
When a little green fir tree lay out on
the lawn.
And I thought, as I looked on it, lying
out there
In the rain and cold, so neglected and
bare.
Of the joys it awakened that Christmas
morn.
When our thoughts turned back to the
Christ that was born:
Of the light that It kindled in child
hood s glad eves.
Who beheld it with wonder and joyous
surprise.
Arrayed in its trimmings so splendid
and lair.
And the gifts that Its wide-spreading
branches did bear.
Oh. the bright, happy faces that looked
on it them.
With a rapture .that cannot be told bv
this pen!
And now. as I look on it there on the
lawn.
My memory goes back o'er the years
that are gone.
To the happy reunion of one little band
To a circle unbroken by death's cruci
hand:
The love and the cheer and the gifts
that were given
Seemed a foretaste while here of re
unions in heaven.
But farewell, little tree, you have not
lived In vain!
You w ill live in our hearts till the day
comes again.
And the joys of the past unforgotten
will be.
While we cherish thy memorv. dear
Christmas tree.
DR. J. J. WIGGINS.
FAITH.
I won't believe the things they say
I know they can't be true.
For nothing false could ever live
In you, dear heart. In you.
How can they think your lips deceive,
lour eyes express a lie?
They cannot see. they cannot know
Tour heart, your soul, as I.
I do not Judge the words, dear heart.
You may to others speak:
Who. hearing them, account you false-
I know the flesh is weak. '
The many things we say and do.
Because we are of clay.
Do not reveal th soul of us.
Or show the truth alway.
I read your lips not what they speak.
But what they can't declare.
I read your eyes: not what they say.
But what is masked there.
.Though mortal life may never bring
Your own dear self to me.
Since it must go the earthly way
To reach eternity.
Yet faith will make me strong, dear
heart :
Tour soul, I know. Is true:
Through all man's condemnation. love,
1 keep my trust in you
I won't believe the things they say;
I know they can't be true;
For nothing false could ever live
.In you, dear heart, in vou.
MARGAHKT M. NELSON.
University of Oregon.
VIA DK MORTK.
Who rldeth here, the bloody way.
Bordered by poppy fields of France?
In mud and blood 'neath skies of gray
Halt and let the King advance!
The King of Death, he is reme:
This is his highway: let him go by.
His darkness lighted by the gleam
Of shell fire in the midnight sky.
What cares he for moans and groans
Of dying in the poppy fields?
Of shattered limbs and broken bones.
And all the pain that warfare yields?
He Is the King, the conqueror.
Who never yet has known defeat;
The Kings of earth, gone on before.
Have never moved him from his seat.
His cities on a thousand hills.
With all their chiseled monument;
Ah. how- the cold mausoleum chllla
And kills their sad illuslonments.
CALVIN G09S.
North Powder, Or.