TTTE SUNDAY OREGOMAX. PORTLAND. JANUARY 26. 1919.
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I-ORTI.AND. SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 1919.
1920.
The death of Theodore Roosevelt
has led to solemn observations by va
rious newspapers and politicians that
the Republican party is left withotit
real leadership, and will enter the
campaign of 1920 without the prestige
or advantage of a great figure as a
nominee. If that is so, it will not bo
ivorse off than the Democratic party,
which, with Woodrow Wilson elimi
nated, will be obliged to turn to the
lesser statesmen such as McAdoo or
w ho else? Marshall or Daniels?
Senator Chamberlain is mentioned
by his enthusiastic friends. He is en
joying the pleasurable sensations of a
boom based largely on his courageous
demands for a more effective organiza
tion for prosecution of the war, and
his frank criticisms of the War De
partment and, impliedly, of the Presi
dent himself. It is not conceivable
that the Democratic party will by the
nomination of Mr. Chamberlain con
fess judgment against the present Ad
ministration, thus acknowledging the
entire validity of the Chamberlain in
dictments. Nor is it likely that the
President himself will either -forget or
forgive. It is quite clear that no can
didate can be or will be chosen over
the protest of Woodrow Wilson. More
likely, he must have the Wilson ap
proval. The McAdoo candidacy, how
ever, presents unquestionable embar
rassments for Mr. Wilson. This open
indorsement, in the circumstances, of
his son-in-Iawship is out of the ques
tion. The two parties will start even in
the one respect that a compelling and
solitary personality will be absent. Yet
the Republican party has a greater!
variety 01 cnoice. ror reasons 01 po
litical expediency, the candidate will
not come from the South: and the
Democrats are thus more heavily han
dicapped than the Republicans. There
are Hughes. Taft, Root, Wood, Per
shing, Borah, Cummins, Knox, Hard
ing and several others; and some
among them are unquestionably avail
able, and on the proper issues can and
will be elected.
The issues will decide; and it is
proper that they should. The service
that Theodore Roosevelt performed
for the Republican party in the past
four years is that he crystallized its
sound Americanism into a potent force
for the assertion of American rights,
American duties and American ideals,
and for the winning of the war. There
t an be no charge that the party as a'
whole was not for the war. There can
be no charge that it pursued a policy
of obstruction and vacillation in the
various measures devised for the crea
tor! and support of Army and Navy
and their adequate supply. The only
showing as to the party in that re
spect that can be made is that the
willing service and constructive genius
of its leaders were not sufficiently
utilized, and that the country was the
loser by the failure or refusal to give
them sufficient and just recognition.
A large question upon which the
parties will divide in 1920 is Govern
ment ownership and control of rail
roads and other public utilities. A
second and not less important issue
will be the soundness and fairness of
the present Administration's attitude
toward labor. A third issue will be
the tariff. There will be various
phases of the new social economy
which will call for consideration and
definition, and to which the radical
movement toward revolution, now
making much noise throughout the
world, and a little noise in America,
is related. But there need be no fear
that either party will go far astray on
such matters as Bolshevism, for thev
go to the heart of every citizen's pa
triotism; and in the fundamentals of
their democracy, both parties will be
anxious and determined to place them
selves on solid ground.
It is too soon to say hov far the
settlements of the war, to be effected
at the Paris conference, will appear
in the campaign of 1920. They may.
indeed, be the overshadowing matters
of debate. If the President should
commit the country to a league of na
tions, for example, that involved any
surrender whatever of America's com
plete sovereignty, any right of deter
mination by an international body of
America's place in the sun, any com
mitment of America to causes where
America will not have complete free
dom of decision-in other words, any
foreign entanglements, actual or pos
sible the peace treaty will instantly
be the great storm center of Ameri
can politics. If, on the other hand,
there is proposed a practicable scheme
of arbitration for all nations, and a
further workable understanding be
tween the larger nations to keep the
peace, and to enforce peace upon the
smaller nations, it will be. for it should
be, supported by all parties, and will
disappear from partisan discussion.
Yet in the readjustment of the world's
affairs by the peace conference, there
are many things to be settled besides
the league of nations, and any of them
may be an occasion for instant con
troversy in America: so that, after
all. the problems of peace and the
future relations of the nations maytbe
the overshadowing matters for the
people's decision in 1920. So the
peace conference and its settlements,
yet to be made known, may easily have
a controlling part in the election of a
President in 1920.
Speaker Champ Clark has been
talking through his hat again. When
he said: "After we licked the Ger
mans for them" the French and
Belgians lie forgot that, owing to the
dilatoriness of the Administration in
making equipment, our Army did not
go to the front as an independent
command until two months before
the war ended, and that then it was
supplied with artillery and tanks, and
to a larg-e extent with airplanes, by
the French and British. One fine
point about the French and British
soldiers is the absence of bragging,
and the loudest braggarts in America
are those who voted wrong on pre
paredness and war measures. Clark
voted against the draft."
THE KAISKK'S WOOD I'll 1
The Kaiser is sawing wood. Why
not? It has been the work of men.
Now it is the sport of Kings, espe
cially adaptable to tne sweet uses of
adversity for ex-Emperors. In former
years the unchastened and unchastised
Wilhelm shot deer or wild boars or
pheasants, or sailed a yacht, or painted
pictures, or wrote plays, to beguile his
royal hours of leisure, which were
many. If he had sawed wood, he
would have learned humility and effi
ciency, and hardened his muscles and
improved his digestion, and brightened
his disposition and the war might not
have occurred. What a 'different
world today if the ex-Emperor had
only begun to saw wood in time.
Gladstone chopped down trees when
ever his mind was clouded and his
spirit troubled, and thus was able to
solve correctly many a knotty prob
lem of statecraft. So did Roosevelt.
It is too late for the Kaiser to benefit
all humanity by his new occupation,
but not too late to benefit himself.
He is doing something useful at last.
True, the servants stand about and
hand him the sticks, and take them
away when the imperial saw has made
the final cut: but it is hard to break
the habits of a lifetime. They have
always held the Kaiser's gun. or horse,
for him until he was ready, and re
moved them when he was done. In
the process of his education he may
later learn that the greatest pleasure
in sawing wood is in piling it, and
watching the pile grow, happy in the
thought that here is the accumulating
evidence of real achievement.
It may be well to keep the Kaiser
permanently at his woodpile. Peter
the Great as a youth sawed timbers
and helped build ships, and became
a great ruler. But it is not possible
for the Kaiser now to start life anew,
with a crown as his goal. It is not too
late for him to serve others.
MAKING AN AMERICAN.
The death is recorded at The Dalles
of a citizen who by a life of industry
and probity and of loyalty to his coun
try had achieved a high place in the
esteem of his community and of the
state. He was Max Vogt. a native of
Germany, and a true-blue American
citizen. He was the president of an
important bank, and he had accumu
lated a considerable private estate and
he was the trustee of many other in
terests. During the past two years he
was county chairman in the war sav
ings stamp campaign, and he gave his
unqualified support to every patriotic
movement.
There are thousands of citizens of
German birth in America who per
formed steadfastly during the war
their duty of service and loyalty to
their country. There were millions
of citizens of German ancestry whose
conduct was beyond reproach or sus
picion. Here and there, indeed, some
one, or perhaps some small group-,
responded to the call of the blood and
nativity, and forgot their later and
exclusive obligation to their chosen
land. But, on the whole, those who
had been German were American, and
had no doubtful or divided allegiance.
It is fair to say to their credit that
their course was beset with difficulties,
and to some of them with anxiety and
heart-soreness, but they traveled it;
and they have their share in the
triumph of America. If, as a class,
they had responded to the demands
and expectations of Germany, the way
to final victory for America would
have been made much harder. But
they did not respond. It was an in
sult to them, and a reproach to the
intelligence of Germany, that the
thought that they would should have
been harbored.
The part that the public schools
have played in fostering the spirit of
Americanism in the alien-born of the
younger generation is great. They not
only make Americans of the boys and
girls, but they help through the
pupils to spread the atmosphere and
thought of Americanism to their
homes. It Is to be noted that the
lamented Max Vogt was a product of
the common schools of Oregon. There
he was taught American history, and
learned the worth of American ideals,
and became saturated with the very
feeling of Americanism through his
daily association with other American
boys and girls, and his contact with
American teachers. The result was
inevitable. The German boy who
went into the school came out a 100
per cent American.
There are, or there recently were.
one or two states where the language
of the common school was German,
with the result that German kultur
and not American culture, was im
parted to the pupils, and the common
wealth was, during the war. heavily-
tinctured with disloyalty. It would
not have occurred if the language of
instruc tion and conversation had been
the English language, which is the
language of America. The purpose
was to keep alive here an entirely
alien idea and ideal, and it succeeded.
It is no way to make. Americans, and
the promoters of the plan fully un
derstood what they were doing.
It is not intended to Say that the
parents of young Vogt. who had not
his advantages or opportunities for an
education here, were not thorough
Americans, nor that he would not
have been completely loyal without
his early education. But it is declared
that he, and others like him, are at
a mighty disadvantage when the pro
cess of Americanization is not made
easy and natural for them in the
schools, and that the discharge of their
obligation of loyalty to their country
is likely to prove onerous, unless they
have sound education.
America has learned well one lesson
in the war, and learned it anew. It is
that the public schools are the bul
wark t America and all its institu
tions. THRIFT WIT.T. HELP.
Bankers' estimates that the savings
of the American people increased more
than 27 per cent during 1918, not
withstanding liberty bond drives and
the demands of war welfare organiza
tions, and that savings deposits showed
an actual increase in the month of
December, when withdrawals were
naturally stimulated by holiday buy
ing, indicate that the lessons of thrift
may have been more widely learned
than we had dared to hope.
There is ample ground for support
ing the contention of Paul Warburg
that Nation-wide thrift will prove to
be one of the most powerful possible
factors in readjusting relative values
and restoring normal Venditions of
production which are necessary to re
duction of the cost of living. It was
necessary while tMe war was in prog
ress to save in civil life in order that
war waste might go on. It Is now
necessary' to continue to save In order
that waste may be repaired.
Thrift consists of prudent use of . all
materials, buying necessities first and
luxuries afterward, and especially
keeping expenditures within income,
making provision for the proverbial
rainy day. It also includes production
according to the capacity of the in
dividual. Savings will be well em
ployed in the financing of industries
necessary to readjustment. No indi
vidual can escape responsibility, be
cause National thrift must begin at
home. It is, perhaps, more necessary
than it was while hostilities were at
their height.
"WHEN THE WHEELS STOr.
When the marine transport work
ers of New York struck, the War De
partment, Navy Department, Shipping
Board and Railroad Administration
were hardest hit, but none of them
moved directly to end the strike.
These great departments of the Gov
ernment, with millions of men- and
billions of dollars under their control,
did not know what to do. They had
to cable to President Wilson at Paris,
3000 miles away, for Instructions. A
message from him sent the strikers
back to work and the departments
which had ceased to function func
tioned again.
There arc provisions of law under
which other men than Mr. Wilson
could have brought about a settle
ment of that strike, but they have
ceased to function. When we had "a
Government of laws and not of men"
the absence of one man would not
have stopped the wheels. Now that
we have a Government of men one
man not of laws, things remain at a
standstill till he starts them again.
AMERICAN IDEALS IN LITERATURE.
The Federal Bureau of Education
has performed a service for the cul
tural studies and for the movement
toward Americanization through the
public schools by its publication as a
bulletin of the bureau of a manu
script by Dr. Henry Neumann, of New
TCork, In which an outline is given of
the possibilities of teaching American
ideals through literature. Conceding
that nothing can take the place of
practice in learning to become a citi
zen. Dr. Neumann nevertheless points
out that practice needs to be "propelled
and guided by ideals." To tho propa
gation of ideals literature is peculiarly
adapted: its very existence in the case
of America is a striking refutation of
the assertion often made by the un
thinking that Americans are grossly
materialistic; and by its nature litera
ture is more nicely calculated to touch
the feelings than the purely informa
tive studies, such as history and civics.
"No noble American aspiration." says
Dr. Neumann, "has ever, lacked voice
to utter it in song or story."
The conceptions thus enforced by a
study of American prose and verse are
many. The writer places first in order
the "idea of a certain greatness latent
in the commonest of persons." This
is the essential element of true democ
racy, and it goes hand in hand with
the statement that we In America rate
one another upon personal merit and
not upon birth. As to' the first point,
it is brought out by the reading of
"Snowbound," and the latter by a wide
variety of works, of which the writer's
selection of Edwin Markham's poem.
"The Cup of Pride," and Mark Twain's
"The Prince and the Pauper" and
Huckleberry Finn" are fortunate. But
there runs through our literature so
much of this strain that the teacher
will have little difficulty in making a
suitable choice. It would be harder,
indeed, to go right than wrong.
To the extent the American liter
ature sings of the dignity of work, it
may be made a serviceable medium
for the preservation of sound ideas
among the native as well as the for
eign population. Dr. Neumann men
tions Whittier and Walt Whitman.
but he might have added any of the
standard biographies of Americans
who have become great. Neither our
statesmen nor our captains of indus
try scorned to toil, and such lives as
that of Edison must always be an In
spiration to youth. But the dignity of
labor would be only a phrase If it did
not also imply self-reliance, and this,
too, is taught by such philosophers as
Emerson, whose "discontent is the
want of self-reliance; it is infirmity
of will." ought to be committed to
memory by all who possess Bolshevik
tendencies. The stories of the Ameri
can pioneers are worth a chapter by
themselves. We think that there will
be little need of further Americaniza
tion of the pupil who has caught the
spirit of their work, or who has read
Whitman's tribute, or even has read
the address of Secretary lane, appro
priately quoted by Dr. Neumann :
There Is no teiue In aaylng that the spirit
has gone out of a people when we. as a
landed proprietor, are selling 12.O00.000 acres
of desert a year to people who earn It by
living on It and turning U Into farms. A
few years ago we opened a tract of land In
Northern Montana, where the thermometer
falls to 40 degrees below zero sometimes.
There were 1200 farms to be sold and there
were 27,000 applicants. Out of the first
150 names drawn from the box not one
failed to accept his opportunity. We chal
lenged him to go Into a wilderness and make
a home, and he accepted the challenge.
There's something American about that.
There is definite virtue, too. In
contemplation of the circumstances
that not a little American literature
has been made by foreigners who
"found in America the chance to
make lives for themselves and who
have recorded their appreciation." Of
such as these are Jacob Rils, Mary
Antin, Angelo Patri, Carl Schurz, Al
exander Irvine. Joseph Pulitzer, Gus
tav Pollak, Louis Agassiz. Robert Dale
Owen, Edward A Steiner and Stephen
Girard. These found America a land
of opportunity, but did delude them
selves with the notion that there is a
royal road to success, and there is in
spiration in their lives as well as in
their writings. They illustrate the
generosity of our land in trying out
the "hopeful experiment of making
one country- out of a people so di
verse." It is not a minor phase of the at
tempt to teach Americanism which
takes account also of the spirit of tol
erance which is basically American,
and of the respect for differences, as
well as tolerance of them, which is
required by a true democracy. The
spiritual gifts, no less than the ma
terial, which have been brought to our
shores may be employed to encourage
thesense of obligation without weak
ening the main purpose of the study.
"To encourage the offering of these
gifts is surely sound pedagogy," as
Dr. Neumann says, but in this it will
not be necessary to lose sight of the
fact that pride in America is stimu
lated be regard for the language at Its
best. "Language Is a manner, and a
fine usage betokens the greater Re
spect," Is a sufficient text for a
preachment for . the. cultivation of
English in the classroom. There is'
indeed a connection that is not a
mere coincidence between the ideal
isms of a country and the language
which gives them expression. And the
honor which Is paid in America to the
exponents of its ideals is an honor to
Americans. .
It need not be contended that in
thus bending the study of literature
to the teaching of a broader patriot
ism the schools are giving undue
weight to the problem of the foreign
pupil. Such a course as could be out
lined by any teacher who has his
heart in the work would be bene"
ficial to those whom we regard as not
in need of special training. We can
hardly place too much stress upon the
ideals which have been mentioned.
There is, too, an opportunity for level
ing the barriers of sectionalism which
ought not to be disregarded. Dr. Neu
mann says: .
There Is still need for something more, a
positive and reciprocal appreciation of the
Southern type, for example, and of the New
England, the ISastem and the Western type.
Here, we ahall find literature an incom
parable help. Pupils In the North should
know more than they do about the work
of Foe and I.anler. of Cabla and Harris,
and Page and Allen besides merely re
membering that Patrick Henry. Washington.
Jefferson and Madison were Virginians.
It is recommended, for example,
that study be given to Gamaliel Brad
ford's study of Robert E. I ee in the
North, and that literature and history
teachers. North and South, should
read to their classes the letter written
by I.ee upon accepting the Presidency
of Washington College. East and
West meet in Mark Twain. The West
has Joaquin Miller and Hamlin Gar
land and also Bret Hartc, whom Dr.
Neumann has overlooked.
It is especially timely to call atten
tion to the value of tho cultural
studies In solving a practical problem
in a time when there is danger that
too much emphasis will be placed
upon mere so-called vocational effi
ciency. For it will be conceded that
it is a function of American schools
to make good Americans and that
Americanism is an ideal, fulfillment of
which will be attained only through
understanding of its spiritual as well
as its material aspects.
LOCAL ROWS
In the course of the last election
campaign The Oregonian remarked
that whatever decision should be
reached by the voters on the? Rogue
River fishing referendum, regulation
of fishing in that river would bob up
in the succeeding Legislature. The
Legislature is barely under way and the
prediction is fulfilled.
It was not a remarkable prescience
that enabled The Oregonian to foretell
this event, but juftt the exercise of
ordinary qualities of observation. Va
ried regulation of fishing in the
Rogue began its continuous career six
teen years ago. Every volume of ses
sion laws issued in that period eight
in number contains some enactment
on some phasfe of the subject. In addi
tion the general public has been in
flicted with one initiative measure and
one referendum. No direct action
taken now promises relief from future
annoyance.
The regulation of fishing in the in
terior streams of Oregon should be
delegated to the State Fish Commis
sion. Larger interests are entrusted
to, and larger powers are conferred
upon, the Public Service Commission,
so the plan would be neither novel nor
revolutionary'- The commission is able
to investigate on the spot, and its rule
would be subject to speedy alteration
If they proved faulty. Furthermore,
it is competent and sincere.
Rogue River fishing is not the only
local fisheries matter to occupy the
time of the legislature. Every small
stream in which there ts commercial
fishing presents its own problem and
frequently induces appeal to the law
making body. Much of tb.e congestion
due to shortness of the Oregon legis
lative session would be relieved if the
Legislature would refuse to consider
local affairs that can be satisfactorily
adjusted by another duly constituted
body.
GET ACTION IN WATERPOWER.
There is one piece of legislation now
before Congress which should without
difficulty be completed at the present
session and which should open the
way to employment of many men
and to extensive development, such as
is needed to expand industry and for
eign trade. That is the waterpower
bill passed by the House as an alter
native to the bill passed by the Sen
ate. Both bills have been referred
to a conference committee, which is
to reconcile the differences between
them. The conference committee has
been inactive on account of the illness
of Senutor Shields, the chairman, but
ho has resigned and has been re
placed by Senator Bankhead, so that
this obstacle to action has been re
moved. The differences between the pro
visions of the two bills are few,
and should easily be reconciled
by reasonable men. The principal
one is that the House bill vests Juris
diction over all waterpower in a com
mission, to be composed of the Secre
taries of War, Interior and Agricul
ture, while the Senate bill relates only
to waterpower of navigable streams
and leaves jurisdiction in the Secre
tary of War, while other waterpower
would be under other departments.
There is obvious advantage in con
centrating authority, as proposed by
the House, and the Senate may read
ily concur in this opinion.
Discussion has revolved around the
question as to what payment the
Government should make If It should
take over a plant. The Senate says
"just compensation": the House bill,
"net investment." As any sums set
aside from earnings to amortize the
cost of a plant would be deducted
from the cost In order to arrive at
the net investment, it would appear
that theap two phrases mean the same
thing.
The House bill provides that a re
serve from earnings be set aside for
amortization, while the Senate bill
does not. Under the House plan this
reserve would be added to rates, and
if the entire cost of a plant were thus
amortized during the term of a fifty
year lease, the consumers during that
period would actually pay for it for
the benefit of future generations. But
who can tell whether the entire plant
will not be obsolete at the end of
fifty years?
The Senate bill permits a lessee to
continue operation of its plant after
the expiration of a lease until a new
lease is made or the Government takes
it over, while the House bill terminates
the lease abruptly and treats the lessee
as a trespasser. The House provision
is so obviously inequitable that it is
not likely to stand.
Too much time has been wasted al
ready without releasing waterpower for
development, and other Nations have
gained a long start over us in the in
dustry, and in other industries depend
ent on it. Many great plants have
been built in Germany and Norway;
Italy has niude waterpower compen-
sate for her lack of coal; France Is
moving to develop much power in
connection with canalisation of the
River Rhone into Lake Geneva, and
development of power was one of the
planks in Lloyd George's reconstruc
tion platform at the recent election
in Great Britain. Austria had great
reserves of power in her mountain
streams, and the new states formed
out of the empire are apt to put it to
use. Cheap power being one of the
essentials to economy in production,
the United States must take action in
order to hold its own in competition.
The conferees should be stimulated
into action and a bill passed at this
session, that the whole work may not
need to be done again by the new
Congress.
ECONOMs AS IT 18 PRACTICED.
When a Senate committee proposed
to add $500 a year to the salary of
the Director of the Census beyond the
$1000 increase already voted by the
House, Senator King, of Utah, warned
his Democratic colleagues against ex
travagance, and Senator Williams, of
Mississippi, spoke to the same effect.
Mr. King warned the leaders of the
Democratic party that "unless they
demand and practice economy in deal
ing with public funds, the party will
be held to strict account by the public,
and if it is guilty of extravagance, it
will be sternly and deservedly rebuked
by the patriotic people of the land."
But the Democratic leaders did not
heed that warning. They voted the
increase with the support of nine Re
publicans, while only six Democrats
voted against it. Not until they hear
from the people in unmistakable terms
will they stop handing out increases of
salary.
While the Senate was doing this the
several proposals to grant a month or
more's extra pay to soldiers on their
discharge still awaited action. But
why worry? The soldiers are no longer
needed to fight the Germans. They
car wait. That Is the way this Con
gress economizes.
CKNTENARIKS FN
The present year marks the cen
tenary anniversary of the birth of an
unusual number of Americans who
exercised profound influence upon
their time. A list of sixteen of these.
chiefly writers, and a summary of
the places of their birth, is a reminder
of the period when New England was
the Intellectual center of the country.
Ten of the sixteen were born in New
England, and eight of these in Massa
chusetts. Four were natives of New
York. Excepting only two of the six
teen, American genius was confined
to a region having then a population
of about 3.000.000. It would, perhaps,
be unprofitable to seek a reason for
this. Students of American history
will draw their own conclusions.
Tho name which seems entitled to
head the list is that of James Russell
1-owHI, of whom Henry James said
that "he was the American of his time
most saturated with literature and
most directed to criticism; the Ameri
can also whose character and endow
ment were such as to give this satura
tion and direction this intellectual
experience, in short most value." In
the mazes of this peculiarly James
esque phraseology there is. neverthe
less, the germ of an estimate of
Lowell. He was. indeed, the typically
American representative of his art and
his day. "Man of letters" only in part
describes him. His diplomatic career
was as constructive as his work as
writer and editor. Two surviving
American periodicals, the Atlantic, of
which he was one of the founders, and
the North American Review, are asso
ciated with his name.
Those who dispute the claim of
Iowell to centenary pre-eminence will
take the side of Walt Whitman, also
a product of that remarkable 1819.
They were the products of a wholly
different environment, but both illus
trate the point that the writer In a
man is irrepressible. There is ro
mance if we seek it in every walk of
American life. 'Julia Ward Howe, no
less than the others, wrotesbecause she
had a message to convey and out of
a large experience, which she obtained
by living her own life In her own wa .
Her husband, perhaps the most emi
nent humanitarian of his time, was a
volunteer in the cause of Greek inde
pendence, for which Lord Byron gave
his life, and was a noted anti-slavery
crusader. This atmosphere was friendly
to the production of the "Battle Hymn
of the Republic," with which Mrs.
Howe's name is most intimately asso
ciated and which deserves, if any pa
triotic hymn does, the designation of
"Marseillaise of the Yankees."
Susan Warner and Mrs. E. D. E. N.
Southworth were almost as well known
once as any of those writers who have
been mentioned, bnt theirs was a dif-
ferent clientele. Mrs. Southworth was
famous for her prodigious output; she
published more than sixty novels,
many of them of great length, and laid
claim also to being the inventor of
the box envelope, which probably did
more for literature than her writings
did. It will not be remembered by
many that Miss Warner wrote the
story which, next to "Uncle Tom's
Cabin." was the most widely circu
lated story of American authorship.
This was "The Wide. Wide World."
Taine wondered that two continents
should have accepted, aa they did, a
three volume novel "devoted to a his
tory of the moral progress of a girl
of thirteen." But time has had its
revenge. It would be hard to find
"The Wide. Wide World" today on the
shelves of any bookstore.
Two noted sculptors were bom In
181 9 William Wetmore Story and
Thomas Ball. Story left the deeper
impression, and. besides, he possessed
other talents which entitled him to
fame. A poem of his on the English
language is not as widely read as it
ought to be. He Is less well known
for his treatises on legal questions.
Josiah Gilbert Holland furnishes op
portunity to reproduce as appropriate
to the centennial occasion the brief
verse which used to be found In most
of the school readers:
God, give us men! A time Ilka this de
mands Strong minds, great hearts. - true faith and
ready hands:
Men whom the lust of office doea not lull:
Men wbom the spoils of office cannot boy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Man who have honor men who will not
lie:
Men who can stand before a demagogue.
And damn his treacherous flatteries with
out winking:
Tall men. sun-crowned, who lira above the
fog
In public duty and In prtrsrta thinking.
Like Charles A. Dana, who also was
born In 1819, Holland was Inclined
toward a newspaper career. Dana's
building up of the New York Sun Is
a part of American history: Holland
was associated ea,rly in life with
Samuel Bowles In the editorship of
the still influential Springfield Re
publican. He was one of the founders
(In 1870) of Scrlbner's Monthly, later
the Century, and retained his editor
ship until he died in 1881. He was
best known for his poems, but his
novels were wholesome and thoroughly
American. Thomas Dunn i-jnglish,
another who was born In 1819, further
demonstrated the overpowering in
fluence of the desire to write. Al
though a physician and In a minor
way a politician, he is best known for
his novels. The bit of verse. "Ben
Bolt," which he did not himself ap
praise at high "value, has been one
of the most widely circulated in the
language, and will be associated with
his name long after his two terms
as a member of Congress have been
forgotten.
Thomas William Parsons is said by
a biographer to owe his fame almost
wholly to his Interpretation of Dante.
He owes no little of the sentimental
interest which we take in him. how
ever, to the circumstance that he was
the "Poet" in Longfellow's "Tales of
a Wayside Inn." a plea for the birds
that greatly stimulated the formation
of bird protection societies and made
for a better attitude toward birds in
general. Also basking in the light of
a reflected glory is the name of Samuel
Longfellow, brother of the poet, but
himself a hymn-writer of some note.
His "Life" of his brother was his
most noteworthy contribution to liter
ature. Herman Melville was one of the few
writers of sea tales the country has
produced. His books used to be the
delight of boys, as well as grownups,
and both would profit by reading them
in these times of renewed interest in
life on the sea.
Dr. William T. G. Morton reminds
us again that the blessing of ether has
been mankind's for comparatively few
l years. Morton was a dentist, and It
was he who first performed a serious
operation with the use of an anesthetic
It is less well known that he made
important contributions to the science
of dentistry, and it is incidentally in
terestlng to recall, in mentioning him.
that he christened the newly discovered
anesthetic "letheon," a name which
one never hears today, and that it was
Oliver Wendell Holmes who coined the
word "anesthesia" to designate the
new form of narcosis.
There remain two more names to
confirm the claim of 1819 to being the
most productive year of the century
Cyrus W. Field gave us the Atlantic
cable and Elias Howe the sewing ma
chine. They give variety to the list.
but it will be noted that the augurie
were predominantly literary in tone.
The vastness of our relief undertak
ings can be glimpsed from unofficial
reports of the work the American Red
Cross Is doing in Siberia. From Vladi
vostok, a typical war city on the Asian
coast, it is already stretching four
thousand miles over the steppes and
valleys. Four thousand miles, it must
be borne in mind, is a greater db
tance than from Portland to New-
York, with the added difference lh;it
there is practically no suitable trans
portation. communication by mail or
telegraph is often impossible, and there
are hundreds of thousands of people
who know nothing even of the rudi
ments of hygiene and sanitation. Ces
sation of the war on the western front
has brought no lessening of the tre
mendous need In Siberia, and the men
and women who have been finding
their way there are learning that their
Is In reality a war job.
The American force in Siberia com
prises 752: officers and men. and that
in Northern Russia 5419 men. In spite
of all the uproar made by Senators
Johnson and la Follette about the
force in Northern Russia, the tota
deaths from all causes down to No
vember 25 were only eighty-six. of
which nine were killed in action and
seven died of wounds.
Sweden wearies of the Bolsheviki
It might not be a had idea to turn over
the Job of regulating them to some of
the nations that thus far have escaped
the responsibilities of making the
world safe for people to live In.
The Bolsheviki evidently are In the
housebreaking business in Portland.
The burglar who doesn't want to rob
a "plain working man," but thinks all
others are fair prey, is a type of this
sort of mental defective.
Germany talks of casting 40. 000. too
ballots at the coming election, and will
not forget that there would have been
at least 2,000.000 more voters if elec
tion reforms had been adopted prior
to 1914.
The open season for predictions as
to the future of the airplane is on. and
there is no probability that anyone will
come within a mile of guessing the
actual performances of the next few
yea rs.
I The plan of imposing five-day sen
tences, which are long enough to de
velop a good appetite without creating
any martyrs, seems to give promise of
making the hunger strike unpopular.
Those who have been saving their
money for a trip to Kurope tnipii i:
well make up their minds right now to
spend their 1919 vacations in the
United States.
It is a good time to order minor im
provements, even if one cannot build
a whole house. Every little bit helps
things along toward running them
selves. Recipes for preventing cider from
"hardening" will be in heavy demand.
of course, when the Federal bone-dry
amendment goes Into effect.
The citizen who can be deaf to the
appeal of the Visiting Nurse Associa
tion is, indeed, oblivious to the lesson
of the past few months.
Those who predict that the prohibi
tion law will cause exodus to foreign
countries have a mighty poor opinion
of their fellow citizens.
Speed the sun and rain, which make
the grass grow, which brings the price
of milk and butter within the reach of
the ordinary citizen.
After January 16. 1920, the man
who can take a drink will have more
to brag about than the one who can
let it alone.
Wonld-be burglars who read the
newspapers will presently stop trying
to pull off stunts on Portland land
ladies.
The time when shipbuilding con
tracts arc near completion and no
more are in sight Is a poor time to
strike.
Looking over toward Poland. Prus
sia visualizes a new opportunity to
gain a place in the sun.
Would it be proper to say that the
political future of the Hon. James R.
Mann is at steak ?
When the freshet
comes the smelt.
subsides then
THE I MJEHTAkKR'tL tilT lOl.
The Spanish influeza's come to our
town to stay.
To fill our heads an' backs with pain
an' chase gooU times a,way :
To close the schools an' churches-, an'
all the movies, too: ,
To overwork the doctors an make us
all feel blue.
An" all of us well folkars when the
.-upper thiifgs Is done
Might Jes as well go off to bed: there
no place to have fun.
If a crowd does sflt together, the
germs'U come about:
Then the undertaker'U gn you ef ou
don't watch out.
For onet there was a man. an' he wan t
a hit afraid.
An' he said the germ 't'd git him had
never yet been made:
An" he rode on crowded streetcars at
had all their windows down:
An' he went just anywhere he pleased
to, any place in town.
An' he wouldn't wear a "flu" mask, an
he wouldn't brush his teeth.
An he wouldn't burn irerm killers: an"
now they've placed a wreath
Upon the mound that covers him: he
didn't die of goat
An' the undertaker'!! cit you ef you
don't watch out.
An' onct there was a woman who went
to every store.
An' she d ask the price of this an' that.
then xo to the next floor:
An as she shopped, an' shonDcd. an.
visited, an' went to clubs an teas.
An went to people's houses, an' did
other things like these.
An' she .-hut her windows tight at
night for fear shed git the "flu:
An' this ain't nearly half the things
that silly woman'd do.
Til! they phoned the undertaker man
to come and take her out
An' the undertaker'!! git you ef you
don't watch out.
Now the little Board uv Health ray
Kf vj-j don't want the 'flu.'
Don't go away from home unless yot
jes haf to:
An" brush your teeth, and clean your
throat, add take a bath at nl-ht
An' see 'at you have clean, fresh air--
don't shut yourself up tight:
Don't ride on crowded streetcars with
all the windows down.
But try to use good common sense, an
not act like a clown.
Don't s nee xe and cough near others, an
be sure don't spit about'
Or the undertaker'U git you cf von
don't watch out.
ALIDA J. AITON.
Condon, Or.
Ml IT.RIG-OrT DIB' H
Oh. must we go.
Sweet To-le-do.
And bid thee sant adieu?
Oh. cruel fate!
The word Is straight.
From Plsque it comes.
Hoo:
Our scenic camp
Here in the damp
Of the Toledo flat.
That we must leave.
Oh. how we grieve!
But let's not talk of that!)
Oh. Camp "Three-Eye."
For thee we'll sigh
When thou art far awa-..
No more will be
Blown reveille
At 6 of each cold day.
Old Throe-Kye. dear.
"Twas sweet to hear
The catfish In thy street
Thy street of ooze
Defiled our shoes;
But still thou cantst be beat.
From Yesler Way
To Oyster Bay.
The tears flow night and day
Yes. tears enough
To wash the stuff
All back into the bay!
'Twill soon be Spring;
The sweet carp sing
Beneath our old tent floor.
The seagull soars,
Tho "Sibley roars
Inside our friendly door.
Oh. where away.
Pray tell me. pray,
Can home like this be fontid?
If they'd but let
Us once forget
The gooey on the ground!
And. oh. the mill
Up on the hill;
It's beautiful. Til say.
More lovely still
. Would be the mill
Four thousand miles away.)
Dear To-le-do.
We cannot go:
We love thy bounteous rain:
We love the breeze
From o'er the seas.
Which sings a sad refrain;
We love thy dells.
Also thy belles
(The beauties o'er the slough)
We cannot leave
Them here to grieve.
That they should pine, anew'
Oh. must we go.
Sweet To-le-do.
And must we lack alw-ay
Thy satiating.
Seagull baiting
Odors of the bav ?
Oh. see this tear.
Dear General, hear
We leave it up to you:
Though others "blow,"
Don't let us go.
Please. Mister General, do!
THEO. KOPPER.
Spruce Hound. 86th Prov. Beat,
Till. TRU WPH OK 1 ll-t I .
(The Ford Motor iar Company declared
a dividend of -no per cent and advanced
Edsel Ford to managership at (loO.OOO a
year. News Item. I
Young Lochinvar came from his home
In the West.
But young Edsel Ford thought another
way best.
And he said as the boys hurried off to
the war.
"I gotta help manage the Ford motor
car!"
The wicked they scoffed and said 'twas
a blind
And a Job and s bluff to keep Edsel
behind.
But good Henry swore a pacifist swear.
The works would just stop with Edsel
not there!
-For Edsel." said he. " is my very rlgut
bower;
I need him. I need him. I need hiro each
hour.
And the plant jurt a-humpin' with worlc
for the Uov..
And all done at cost, not one cent:
above!"
The wicked still scoffed, of course to
their hurt.
For vain were the efforts to do Henry
dirt-
Ther. tho stockholders gathered in an-
nual meet.
And then was the triumph of Henrf
complete!
The stingy old mut who in anger had";
come
For want of a div. to make the things
hum.
Soon with broad smlla his homeward
way went.
His pockets abnlge with two hundred,
per cent!
And EdseTs the wizard who tnrnM trie
flno trick.
And they boosted his salary most dam-
ation quick.
For. you bet you. the manager must tin
be lost
Who doubles the cap. while working
for cost !
JOHN HENRY
l ... hi,, i, of 12Kh Infantry.
VANCOUVER. Wash.. Jan. 24. i To
the Editor.) Please print whereabouts
of Company H. 12Sth Infantry, who
have been In France since some time in
August. HAZEL WELCH.
Is part of the 32d Division. Army "f
occupation. Iast announced headquar
ters "Was Kt-ngsaorf. Germany.
f