THE SUNDAY OREGOMAN, PORTLAND. JULY 27, 1919.
ESTABLISHED BY HEXHT L. PITTOCK.
Published bv The Oresronlan Publishing Co.,
13.. Sixth street, Portland, Orecon.
C A. JiORDEX. E. B. PIPER.
Manager. Editor.
The Orejonian is a member of the Asso
ciated Press. The Associated Press is ex
clusively entitled to the use for publica
tion of all news dispatches credited to it or
not otherwise credited in this paper and also
the local news published herein. All riphts
of republication of special dispatches herein
are also reserved.
Subscription Rates Invariably In Advance:
(By Mail.
Tai!y, Sunday included, one year .
Ftailv KnnilaD Inr-lnifpH y mnnthll
.SS.no
. 4.
J.aily. Sunday included, three months 2.25
i aily, Sunday included, one montn
railyg without Sunday, one year ..
"Daily, without Sunday, six months
Taily. without Sunday, one month
"Weekly, one year ................
KtmHuv n ven i-
e.oo
3.23
.00
l.OO
2.50
Sunday and weekly ......... 3.S0
(By Carrier.)
Dally, Sunday Included, one year
Daily, Sunday included, one month -"
Daily, Sundav included, three months 2--
Dally, without Sunday, one year : T-MO
Taily, without Sunday, three months ...
Daily, without Sunday, one month 8S
How to Remit Send postoffice money or
der, express or personal check, on your local
bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at own
e.r's risk. Oive postoffice address in lull, in
cluding county and state.
J'fwtanse Kates 12 to 18 pages. 1 cent: IS
to 32 pases, 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3 cents;
AO to 6U pases, 4 cents; 2 to 7tt pages. 5
cents: 78 to S2 pages, 6 cents. Foreign post
age, double rates.
Eastern Business Office Verree & Conk
lln. Brunswick building. New York: Verree &
Conklin, Steger building, Chicago: Verre &
Conklin. Free Press building, Detroit. Mich.
San Francisco representative, R. J. Bidwell.
THE AGONY OF THE OLD "WORLD.
As - one reviews the state of the
lately warring nations, the bright
hopes which were raised on armistice
day fade and give place to fear lest
civilization has begun to dissolve into
chaos. The victorious soldiers return
home to find the expected employ
ment not open to them, and some of
them acquire the morally cankering
habit of idleness on the government's
unemployment pay. Hopes of big in
demnities from Germany which were
to produce artificial prosperity vanish.
These disappointments are the more
exasperating because they follow
downfall of great empires, access of
new power to the workers and out
break of the bolshevist delirium in
I?.ussiato spread into all lands. When
these actual achievements lead -to
such paucity of practical results that
many men are still idle, that p
rices '
still rise and that rood is still ra
tioned, the people grow unreasonably
angry. There is a species of hysteria
due to the long strain of five years
filled with alternate hope, fear and
grief and with intense application to
work and fighting, due also to the
sadden relaxation from this strain.
Men in this -mental and nervous
condition incline to believe any ex
planation of the cc-ntrast between
their hopes and the reality, and they
are ready to act on radical propa
ganda. They have beebme accustomed
to violence by the war. They have
discovered what great power they
have in mass action. They want to
strike at something or somebody in
order to display their power and to
set things right according to their
way of thinking. Their first demands
are elementary more wages for less
work but they go on to demand
much more, such as nationalization
of British coal mines. Italian mobs
seize food and sell it at reduced prices
through the chamber of labor. Re
garding war on any power professing
to act in the cause of labor as directed
against labor everywhere, they protest
against aid to the anti-bolshevists of
Russia and Italian mobs prevent ship
ment of munitions to Denikin. War
having caused a mingling of races,
the irrepressible conflict between
white and black has broken out at
such widely separated cities as Wash
ington and Cardiff. Such an attrac
tive phrase as "self-determination"
raises wild hopes in the oriental mind
and causes insurrection in Egypt and
India and fans the perennial Irish
feud into flame. Bolshevism even
penetrates Afghanistan and sends the
ameer to defeat in India. Hungary
is seized by the communists, and
small wars still rage from the Baltic
to the Black sea, while the red terror
of Russia still fends off its ring of
enemies.
This is not a picture of a world at
peace, as the signature of the treaty
with Germany on June 28 leads us to
suppose. It is a picture of . a world
so rocked and shaken, so racked and
suffering from the effects of war that
it does not know how to settle down
to peace. In order that it may settle
down, it needs certain definite things.
The people should be put to work
at wages proportionate to the pres
ent cost of living and lor reasonable
hours. . ,
That requires radical readjustment
of their relations with their employ
ers, which shall convince them that
they get a square deal and that they
lose by denying a square deal to the
employers.
But work requires money, without
which raw material, machinery and
ships cannot be procured to make
and transport the products of labor.
These being provided, production
would increase until it overtook con
sumptive demand, prices would fall
the cost of- living would gradually
fall to normal, and real happiness and
contentment would become general.
The lTnited States from three view
points has a vital interest in provid
ing what the rest of the world lacks.
It wants to sell food, raw material
and machinery, which Europe wants
to buy. Europe must obtain long
credit for what it buys, and America
alone can give this credit. If we sup
ply present needs on credit Europe
will be able to produce, and to earn
the means of paying the debt and of
buying more. That is the business
viewpoint.
National policy dictates that we
help Europe to settle down, for if its
disturbed condition should continue it
will grow worse and the old continent
may slip into chaos, and there would
be danger that it would carry civiliza
tion down with it. Therefore its
present condition is a positive danger
to us, and our safety demands that
peace and order be restored in
Europe.
There is a moral obligation on this
nation also. Europe got into its dis
tressed condition through a fight to
save freedom and humanity from
Prussian barbarism, and in fighting
for itself it fought for us also.
America was like the laborer who
went into the vineyard at the eleventh
hour, and it is incumbent on u now
to help those who bore the burden
and heat of the day.
When the old world is in such ag
ony and in such need of help, how
absurd it is that some senators who
oppose the league of nations should
represent it as a powerful, menacing
enemy which seeks to drag America
into its power. The truth is that
Europe is and for many years will be
impotent to in.iure this country and
calls for help instead of threatening
harm to us. Its greatest need now
vs. that thfi treaty be ratified without
I delav In order that the last obstruc
tions to free intercourse, which war
has interposed, may be removed.
Europe is in such condition that It
could throw no- chains' of power
around the United States if it would.
The opportunity is America's to throw
chains of friendship and good will
around Europe and to draw the two
continents together in suoh bonds as
will never chafe either.
IN A NCTSUELL.
Let us create, for purpose of illus
tration; the prosperous farming com
munity of Harmony Flat. Ten miles
to the southeast of Harmony Flat,
connected therewith with a level high
way, is Bricktown with elevators,
warehouses, railroads and the other
conveniences that go to make an ac
ceptable market place.
Fifteen miles to the southwest of
Harmony Flat lies the town of Stone
ville. It has the same marketing fa
cilities as Bricktown but no better.
But the longer road between Harmony
Flat and Stoneville winds over a long,
high hill.
Is there any doubt as to which town
would receive the produce of the
farmers of Harmony Flat?
But imagine again that the farmers
decide that it is more profitable and
convenient to patronize a trucking line,
than for each to haul his own product
to market. After the trucking line is
established it inaugurates the same
hauling charge from Harmony Flat
over the hill and longer road to Stone
ville that it establishes to the nearer
Bricktown with its connecting level
highway. Would not the farmers feel
that somehow they were being
gouged ?
That is the Portland rate case In
practical illustration. The long moun
tain haul to Puget Sound now takes
the same freight rate as the short
water-level haul to Portland.
A WELCOME NOVELTY.
The other day the Oregon state
board of conciliation was selected as
the arbitration board in a wage con
troversy between dock operators and
grain handlers of the Columbia river
and puget Sound ports. The request
to act was submitted July 18, a hear
ing was had July 23 and the award
was made July 24. The award sus
tains the wage increase asked.
Here was an important controversy
settled by arbitration within a lapse
of only six days. It is in favorable
contrast with the time ordinarily con
sumed by federal wage boards in
making awards.
Numerous costly and inconvenienc
ing strikes in . recent months have
been due. solely to delay of decisions
after investigations had been made.
When labor controversies are settled
as speedily by arbitration as'was this
one the principle of arbitration is
greatly strengthened.
Another interesting phase of sub
mission of the controversy was that
the employes went back to work
pending the award. Still another,
which is of importance to the whole
public, is that the award according
to agreement of all concerned applies
to Portland, Tacoma and Seattle
without differential. Interference
with the normal flow of commerce by
differences in cost of handling cargoes
at the ports of the northwest is thus
to.be ended. The wage scale has been
standardized and permanency of em
ployment has been encouraged.
The virtue of prompt settlement of
industrial differences needs better
consideration than it has had. As
such differences are prolonged, in
justice, real or fancied, probes deeper.
Wrongs rankle and are less easily for
gotten, letter differences are more
difficult to settle and a state of un
rest is clearly promoted. The board
of conciliation has set a good example.
- AMERICANIZATION.
Experience of the War Camp Com
munity Service, said a speaker at a
conference held in New York to dis
cuss the problem of making better
citizens of aliens, has taught that
thing is moreapt to succeed where
it is not too strictly labeled. There is.
therefore, in some quarters a desire
to drop the word "Americanization'
from the campaign which is being
conducted in all parts of the country
to raise the standard of patriotism. It
is true that Americanization, by what
ever name it may be called, is not
wholly a question of dealing with the
foreign-born. The Americanization
committee of the General cederation
of Women's clubs, which met at Ashe-
ville, N. C, the other day, for example,
called attention to the statistics of
illiteracy in the United States, which
show that only 32 per cent t the
illiterate are foreign born. Twenty
eight per cent are native-born whites
and 40 per cent native-born negroes
living chiefly in the southern states.
In the aggregate, assuming that edu
cation is a requisite for perfect Ameri
canism, it is 32 per cent a problem of
Americanizing the foreign born and
68 per cent that of Americanizing
those who already claim the name
American.
The ignorant find refuge in resent
ment at the things they do not under
stand. "I am a better American than
you are" is the ready assertion of one
whose principal claim -to Americanism
is that his ancestors came to the coun
try before the great tide of immigra
tion set in. The citizen with -a long
record of American ancestry does not
like to be told that he is being "Ameri
canized." Yet he may need just such
treatment. If, in the first instance,
he has had an advantage over others
in better opportunity to become ac
quainted with American facts, he is in
proportion more to blame for not hav
ing made himself familiar with them.
Prudence dictates that the Americani
zation process shall be general, that it
shall include all who for the safety of
.the nation need to be Americanized,
without reference to the place of their
birth. Americanization is not wholly,
or even principally, a problem of the
alien. It is only 32 per cent alien. Our
own statistics show for themselves.
Americanization in the main will
consist in inculcating the lesson, of
orderly progress. In examinations in
the New York city high schools in
June the following questions, which
go to the root of the whole matter,
were asked:
Do you believe the following principles
to be in accord with or in opposition to the
aims of th- Russian bolsheviki:
1. Kule by the majority?
2. Progress under law?
P.. The right of each person to the prod
uct of his efforts?
4. The encouragement of individual Ini
tiative? The pupils were asked to give rea
sons for their beliefs in each instance.
It will be conceded that it is a little
difficult to define the aims of the bol
sheviki. but it will not be hard for
those who get .even a passing glimpse
of the news from abroad to see wh'ere
performances fail to square with either
progress under law or rule by the
majority. The youth with the faintest
spark, of ambition flickering iu his
breast will be stimulated to think by
questions Nos. 3 and 4. We do not
expect an economic thesis from a high
school boy, but we have done some
thing if .we have presented the issue to
him in a simple form. Without the
label, "Americanization." it is likely
to be thought provoking. The prin
ciple of ruie by the majority, in a
country in which minorities become
majorities whenever they acquire the
moral strength to make their purpose
good, may be regarded as fixed. The
free ballot, equal opportunities for
education under the best school sys
tem in the world, progress under law
these are existing conditions which
need only be called to the attention of
the pupil.
Nor will it be necessary to seek a
substitute for "Americanization." The
matter can well enough go unlabeled.
It is included in our education as a
whole. But education must go on. It
took the draft to reveal to us that
there was a vast amount of illiteracy
in the country, and not only that there
are great numbers who cannot read or
write but still more who have no
comprehension of the foundation on
which our institutions are based. Many
of those who think they favor bol
shevism are ignorant of the fact that
the remedy for their supposed ills lies
in their own hands. We are com
mitted to orderly progress, which can
be accomplished only by majority rule,
and it will be impossible to place too
mucn emphasis upon this in the
schools.
PIE FOR BREAKFAST.
A commentator on Emerson wonders
how much greater might have been
the work of the philosopher if he had
not undermined his constitution by a
steady diet of pie for breakfast. Yet
it was the fashion in his time, and stili
is the fashion in some parts of New
England, to begin the day with this
typically American comestible. The
New Englanders, too, are an excep
tionally long-lived race. It is said that
Emerson was oppressed by a feeling,
not uncommon among New England
ers, "of the more refined sort of phys
ical insufficiency," which led him to
give-himself to a contemplative life,
rather than to active measures.
Yet it will be conceded that if pie
for breakfast can be made to account
for the wholesome philosophy of the
man who taught us that happiness Is
not wholly material, or for the sturdy
Americanism and the clear thinking
of those others who were given to
ingestion of pie preferably huckle
berry or apple pie with tho morning
meal, there would be a good deal that
could be said in favor of a return to
the old custom, or for wider adoption
of it. Perhaps and probably the
pie was a coincidence rather than a
cause; yet in a time when we demand
to know the underlying reasons for
everything, the matter will bear inves
tigation. It is impossible to lay down a rule
to govern the breakfasts of a people
so diversified as ours. There is an
account in a current magazine of a
wife who set a tomato salad on the
breakfast table and thereby came near
to precipitating a domestic tragedy.
Yet if one will reflect upon it, one will
wonder why salad in particular to
mato salad should not be an excel
lent breakfast food. It is delicate.
and cooling, and not too "filling" for
these hot days. Ofjr abandonment of
the breakfast pie shows that we were
not always the slaves of custom.
There is or was another excellent
breakfast food that we seldom encoun
ter any more. It was the real dough
nut of our grandmothers' time- not
the sticky, sweet confection with a
hole in the middle and sugar sprinkled
over the outside, but the unsweetened,
raised dough affair, cooked to just the
right degree of crispness in '.'deep fat,"
and served with the syrup jug handily
by for those who liked that sort of
thing. But the real doughnut which
it should be explained again was not
the baker's doughnut of the present
was a satisfying breakfast food. A
little less hearty than buckwheat
cakes, and much - more appealing to
the eye, it furnished a sufficient num
ber of calories on which to begin the
work of a not too strenuous day.
The dietary problem is highly indi
vidual. Experience ought to teach
those not blind to its lessons what is
best for them. But there is one rule
that it is safe to follow in weather
like the present, and that Is to prac
tice moderation in eating. Whether it
is to be pie, or salad, or doughnuts,
or ham and eggs in the case of the
very rich, it is well to stop a little
short of sufficiency. We can afford to
tighten our belts a little if thereby we
are made more fit for the duties that
press upon us in a world that calls for
reconstruction with all too few brains
and hands fitted for the task ahead
of them.
WHAT HEAVEN IS LIKE.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of
Sherlock Holmes, turning to spiritual'
ism for comfort in his later years, has
been describing the future life in lec
tures given before British audiences.
The basis of his own belief is a series
of investigations conducted chiefly
with the aid of professional mediums.
A measure of Sir Arthur's own desires
may be found in the kind of heaven
that he depicts for lis: Since man first
began to speculate upon the hereafter,
he has found therein the gratification
of his cherished ambitions. The happy
hunting ground of the Indian, the
place of plenitude of wives for the
polygamist and the harp - playing
refuge that our own overworked an
cestors visualized in- the world beyond
all embodied this common principle.
The idea of continued progress is
added to make heaven conform to
the growth of ambition in mankind.
Sir Arthur, having talked with num
bers of departed spirits, has assembled
his notes of his conversations, gather
ing from each some new phase of the
next life. The vale beyond the veil
is, as we might suppose from our
knowledge of the great writer's tem
perament, a place of sunshine, cool
mountains and delightful vistas. "Art,
literature and music are fostered to
a greater extent than here on earth."
and everyone, it seems, has a beautiful
home in which to live. The things
which in this life we would not change
are not changed in heaven. The latter
is a replica of the physical qualities
of earth, minus its ugly characteristics.
Husbands and wives do not neces
sarily reunite in the after-world. This
prevents embarrassment, we may be
certain, for the too-much married, but
is pleasingly qualified by the obser-
vation that reunions do take place
where earthly love was strong. When
the ethereal body leaves its earthly
tenement, it is greeted by departed
loved ones. Nothing, it seems, is left
out that would detract from our con
ception of a perfect dwelling place.
"What." the novelist asks, "about the
child who dies?" and he answers that
it grows up under delightful condi
tions, and when the parents come it
is there to welcome them. What of
the old persons? They go back to
normal, the man to about 35. the
woman to about 30, so that no man
need mourn his lost strength or
woman her lost beauty.
This would seem to represent the
height of attainable perfection, but it
is not. Many will think that one of
the best things Sir Arthur's heaven
has to offer is the prospect of another
death. The ineffable pleasures of liv
ing in a place of perfection would, we
think, become extremely monotonous
in the course of less than an eternity.
So. to make heaven complete in every
detail, the chance for change is not
omitted. After a period of life in the
new world, another death occurs and
still another life is assumed, in an
even better environment.
Death, as Sir Arthur says, will have
no terror for the person who sub
scribes to his doctrine. "If," he adds.
you die it will not matter. If your
relatives die you will be happy in the
knowledge that you will meet them
soon and be able to keep In touch
with them in the meantime." Even
more satisfying is the assurance that
beyond the veil there Is another veil.
The element of mystery is needed to
give zest to life. Sir Arthur satisfies
our longings for a glimpse into the
immediate beyond and our require
ment that there shall still be a factor
of uncertainty at the same time.
THROWING AWAY GOOD MATERIAL.
In consequence of the reduction in
army appropriations by congress, all
army officers except those In the
regular service are being discharged.
and the army is being deprived of the
aid of many highly trained specialists,!
24,000 of whom have applied for com- j
missions in the regular army. Our
recent experience suggests that the
war department should keep in touch
with these men in somo manner, in
order that they may become imme
diately available in case of another
war emergency. Congress has yet to
decide on a permanent military policy
and, when it does, they may be needed.
A decided change has come over
public opinion on the subject of mili
tary training during the last two years.
Probably a majority would not favor
permanent adoption of the draft or
conscription in time, of peace, though
they have overcome objection to it in
time of war. but opinion has certainly
ripened in favor of universal military
training as distinguished from active
service, and conducted in such manner
as not to interrupt schooling or work.
The men who have seen service vote
for that system by a two-to-one major-1
ity, and are re-enlisting with such
alacrity that nearly 70.000 recruits
were obtained in the three months
ending June 30.
Officers will be needed to give this
training in high schools, colleges and
camps, and they can be found among
those who are now being discharged.
They might be enrolled as reserve or
emergency officers and paid an annual
sum to place themselves at the dis
posal of the army when called. It will
be advisable to keep up a supply of
officers ready for such an expansion
of the army as took place in 1917. If
tho war department should entirely
lose its hold on the fine material which
is now being discharged, it would
throw away a large part of what has
been gained by the war.
A NINETKKNTII-CENTIRY MORALIST.
Dr. Josiah G. Holland was a suc
cessful author of a didactic school
whose works come back to our recol
lection becauso the fact of their suc
cess constitutes a picture of his time.
His style, which was essentially that
of the preacher, would bore most
persons today. He wrote a great
number of letters, some novels and
several poems. The poems do not
escape the charge of didacticism any
more than does his prose. He had
his own - theory of the literary art.
Taine said that "art can have no moral
purpose." Dr. Holland held the oppo
site view. A sympathetic interpreter
says of him that le believed that art
was not lor pleasure Dut lor ministry.
that it was degraded and accursed
when it found no end beyond itself.
Puritanical as this conception was, it
served to hold Dr. Holland to a high
purpose. He expressed it in "Kath
rina" when he said:
Every rift
That God bestows on men holds In itself
The secret of Its office, like the rake
The gardener wields. The rake was made to
till
Was fashioned, head and handle, for just
that;
And if by grace of God you hold a gift
So fashioned and adapted that It stands
In like relation of supremesl use
To life of men. the office of your sift
Has perfect definition.
It was not a new theory of art, per
haps; it was not at any rate a new
measure of human responsibility. But
Dr. Holland performed a mission by
putting the message into new words.
When he began to write the tran-
scendentalists were just beginning to
be heard from. The Brook farm ex
periment was in its infancy. Con
sciences were being stirred by doubts
as to men's right to live for them
selves alone. The old passion for
theological argumentation was find
ing expression in abstruse prose and
esoteric verse. An example of the
kind of "poetry" that threatened to
become popular was:
I rested by day with the formless:
I talked with the stars of the night:
I rooked with the eyes of the viewless.
And I found in the darkness the light.
Dr. Holland told these people that
"hundreds of their wives died annually
from green wood alone," that there
were practical duties nearer home
than the stars, that parents were
ruining their children by Imposing
their iron wills upon them and never
allowing them to be free from re
straint. In his "Letters to the Joneses'
Fhe lectured a shoemaker who is lack
ing in business punctilio, a woman
who had difficulty in keeping hor
servants, the son of a rich man who
was too contSnt with the respectability
and. wealth which his father had left
to him, and so on. He employed here
the pen name of Timothy Titcomb, by
which ho is still best remembered.
But his fame can be said to rest upon
the "Letters to young men, to
young women, to young married peo
pie which it is no exaggeration to say
exercised a profound influence upon
the ethical standards of his day. "To
a . thoughtful boy of a certain age,"
it has been said, "they would be what
Emerson would come to be to h
five years later. To a larger num
ber they would be what . Emerson
would never come to be, because they
would never read Emerson. The lat
ter wrote:
Broader and deeper we must write our
annals, from an ethical reformation, from
an influx of the ever new, ever sanativ
coBfsclence if we would truller express our
central and world-related natures. Instead
of this old chronolosy of selfishness and
pride to which we have too long lent our
eyes.
And while Emerson hitched his
wagon to a star. Dr. Holland kept his
feet firmly on the earth with mee -
saes of which this, from his letter
is an
Idleness la the sepulchre- of a llvlnv man.
A man whose will refuses to direct the vi
tality within him into regular channels of
labor whn .Im.l. - ...a . i
nurses iii ptMioni and appetites whose i
highest satisfaction comes from -,nje li as
good as dead and burled. of what use la
such a man to the world, to himself, or
others? If he will not work, he u t bur
den upon society, even If he prey upon a
pile or Inherited wealth. That wealth. If
he were out of the way. would pass Into
better hands; and the world has need of
It for lis workers. No man has ths right
to be Idle if he can set work to do. not
even If he be as rich as Croesus, simply
because he cannot be an Idle man without
Injury to himself and to society. He de
stroys his own happiness, buries his powers
of usefulness and furnishes to. the world a
pestilential example.
He addressed himself to every phase
of omission and neglect, to mere
foibles sometimes, but mostly to fun
damentals. "Kathrina" is his vehicle
for elaborating the theory that "teach
ers stand between the great master
minds and the people, to break the
bread, to serve as Interpreters." Books,
like frirnds, have their special mes
sages for us at special epochs In lifer,
and missing these once, we must miss
them forever. The best juvenile lit
erature could not entrance us if we
first met it after we had outgrown Its
quality, nor could the great writers
of earth bear any message to the mind
too undeveloped to receive it.
Probably the people of Dr. Hol
land's generation, were not pecu'iar
in their willingness to see the light.
It is a common practice to assume
that In some past time but never In
the present people were continually
asking, "What is the truth?" and
"What ought I to do?" There is bet
ter ground for supposing that people
of all times have been pretty much
alike in this regard. Dr. Holland put
the truth In simple phrase. He dealt
with plain truths which the criti
cal would call platitudes but he de
livered his message to a receptive
constituency. His place has not quite
been filled since his pen was stilled.
There is room for another Dr. Hol
land now. Such a pronouncement,
for illustration, an he has made on
Discontent," in his popular essay en
titled "Every Man Has His Place."
can hardly bo too often repeated, or
said in too many ways. His paper
on "Perfect I,ibcrty" should be read
again and again. His affirmative an
swer to the question, "Can the soul
enjoy perfect liberty In the realm of
duty?" is complete and satisfying His
refutation of the notion that "a man
in order to be 'somebody must be In
public life." in his work on "Ameri
can Public Education," is typical of
his spirit. Ite preached the doing of
duty for its own Fake and pointed out
the extreme simplicity of the methods
by which one may make himself fit for
the truly higher life.
INCREASING SUICIDE.
Statistics compiled by the Save-a-
Life league of New York indicate that
suicide Is on the increase In the United
States. The figures arc complete only
as to New York city, but Incomplete
data from other districts bear out the
estimate. It Is indicated that the, total
may reach 195 per million of the pjp
illation for tho country as a whole.
In 1890 it was 103 per million; in 1900,
118.
The figures wlH possess more value
after it has been made possible to an
alyze them, with a view of determin
Ing the extent to which suicide Is due
to causes which are under social con
trol. It is not safe to generalize from
Isolated data, and census returns are
imperfect as to details in earlier
years. Published figures are always
likely to be too low. Motives for con
cealment of the true cause of death
always exists in cases of suicide, and
we always are inclined to . give the
benefit of every doubt to the victim.
The underlying causes are highly com
plex. Suicidal tendency has been ob
served in some cases to be inherited.
in others to be associated definitely
with mental or physical abnormality.
A chief purpose of modern investiga
tion has been to ascertain especially
how far social causes arc responsible.
This raises the old question whether
present civilization is to blam-.
It is not primarily a modern prob
1cm. Aristotle took cognizance of sui
cide in the fourth century B. C. and
condemned it as unmanly. The Stoics
were more lenient In their views. The
ancient Greeks and Romans changed
front on the subject In various perl
ods. according to the philosophies
which influenced them. The atutude
of the modern world similarly has
changed, somewhat as its views have
been modified as to the treatment of
the mentally afflicted. Times of
greatest severity of penalties for sui
cide coincided with barbarities com
mitted on the insane. Forfeiture of
property, indignities heaped upon the
bodies of the dead and other penalties.
while they could not reach the vie
ttms. may have exercised a deterrent
influence. But the motives of our an.
cestors probably are open to question
We are hardly justified In supposing
that these drastic measures were fun
damentally based on desire to save
lives.
Suicide is not now a crime in many
of the states of the United States, bnt
it is unlawful in most of them, a dis
tinction understood best by lawyers.
As a result the unintentional killing of
another during an attempt at suicide
may be a felony, and it may be a fel
ony to assist another to kill himself.
This is one of the measures through
which modern society seeks to pre
serve itself against the operation of
the law of the survival of the fittest.
Were we to accept nature's law un
modified, we should take the ground
that those who cannot adjust them
selves to a new environment forfeit
their right to live. But the fostering
Instinct of the later order leads it to
protect the weak, even though this in
the march of time should operate to
humanity's own undoing.
There is a later school which denies
that the law of -the survival of the fit
test is unqualified", or that we have
reached the limit of our understand
ing of it. or that suicide is always evi
dence of permanent inadaptability.
The followers of this school would
save to the world all those who,
though temporarily disheartened, may
have within themselves capacity for
achieving a greater destiny. The
Save-a-Eife league, which Is an exam
ple, holds that a "humane and timely
ministry, which befriends souls in de
spair" does not run counter to nat
ural law. It does In any event tend to
develop in Its ministers qualities of
sympathy and brotherly love of which
our world cannot have too much. The
antl - suicide movement, therefore,
whether or not it is biologically sound,
is warranted by the excellent effect
which it may have upon those who
participate in it.
tcrutiny of the causes of suicide
does not reveal much that is conclu
sive. A large representation of farm
ers on the list is taken by some stu
dents to indicate that loneliness is a
1 contributing factor; but suicides were
uncommon among the pioneers, when
on "Indolence and Industry,"
example:
rural life was' more Isolated than it Is
today, and it is known to most men
that no loneliness is comparable lo
that of a great city in an unfriendly
mood. Alcoholism, which looms large
among reported suicide causes, may
bear further inquiry. Some scientists
regard alcoholism itself as a symptom
of unfitness, and Its relation to suicide
may be a coincidence rather than a
cause. The point tha seems to stand
out is that we are definitely trying to
discourage suicide by humane and not
by barbarian measure? such as our
forebears employed. Growing num
bers of people seem to be accepting
the doctrine that we are our brothers'
keepers. The social consequences are
likely to be wholly agreeable, even if
they do violate that which we have
assumed to be a natural law.
The effort4o place America on a
footing of Independence In the manu
facture of dyes will be one of the
most interesting tests of our foresight
during the reconstruction period. As
is well known. Germany attained its
position of pre-eminence because of
the military ambitions which pervaded
even Its chemical industries, the coal-
tar derivatives which enter into dyes
being employed also largely in the
manufacture of explosives. Ameri
cans will be forced to find their Inter
mediates and raw materials without
the aid of a policy of militarism. That
they can do this If they try is shown
by the success of one concern which
expended SS45.000 In developing the
factory process of a certain de, of
which they were able to produce only
30,000 worth while making that ex
penditure. Difficulties are being over
come rapidly; and it can be said with
confidence that the laboratory prob
lems have all been solved. The task
which remains-is that of production
on a commercial scale. Here the final
test of our capacity for business co
operation will come.
A professor of analytical chemlsiry
it Johns Hopkins declares that "under
certain conditions buttermilk can be
made to develop an alcoholic content."
Tho fact has been well known to
analytical chemists for a long time.
but the wets will not get much satis
faction out of it. The fact is that in
the process of developing its alcohol
It takes a form that makes it not only
unpalatable, but positively repugnant
to the taste, even of the most case-
hardened. In this state it" can be com
pared to the mash of the distillery at
a certain stage of tho fermenting
process, and it is not a prospective
tipple for those who would like to
evade the law in their own dairies.
And the prohibitionists wouldn't let
it get by if it could be made palatable.
They have made It plain that John
Barleycorn means alcohol, in whatever
disguise. We shall score another dis
appointment for the unreconstructed
drinkers and go right on drinking but
termilk as of yore.
Nine years ago this month the first
"ocean flight" was made. Curtiss was
the pilot and it was thought wonderful
that he rrached an altitude Qf 1300
feet and remained in the air nearly
twelve minutes. The plane wast al
most wrerked by a dash through a
breaker, which may have cut short
the voyage, although no preparations
had been made for an extended voy
age. This gives Us the entire measure
of the life of practical aviation, all
within the recollection of the average
grammar school boy, and culminat
ing in several trans-oceanic flights
within a few weeks and in plans com
pleted for one flight of 8000 miles
around the border of the United
States and a voyage in a heavier-than-air
machine from Italy to India.
Nine years ago not even Curtiss him
self dreamed that these things would
come to pass within a decade.
Spokane is waking up on morality.
A while ago what would have been a
good 'case on Agitator Wicks fell
through because an ordinance was not
explicit. Other developments in ho
tels have aroused clergymen to action
and there may be results.
' The Germans are talking of a Zep
pelin freight and passenger service be
tween New York and Hamburg, but
they will first ascertain whether there
is a demand In this country for Ger
man goods.
Beer, according to the decision of a
"learned judge, is beer. Which will be
a blow to those who would have
thought it was a cup of coffee if it
were not so much cheaper than
coffee is.
It is to bo hoped that those con
demned Turks will be rounded up,
just to show the Germans and Aus
trian! what might have been done to
them if they had been tried and con
victed.
There ought to be time for com
promise between now and the time
that daylight saving comes up again.
It will be hoped at least that the bene
fits of the system will never be wholly
lost.
The forest air patrol can do little
more than indicate the location of the
fire at present, but wall! There will
be aerial fire extinguishers before we
know it.
The surplus of 40.000. 0P0 gallons
of liquor said to be held in Louisville
is not a matter of national concern, if
the capacity of Kentucky colonels has
not been much overrated in the past.
The merchant ships need men. and
need of men will go further than all
the propaganda in the world toward
making conditions agreeable for them.
(We do not notice any clamor on the
ffirt of the American doughboys in
France to b-5 prevented from returning
to a dry United States,
D'Annunzio in an airplane flight
from Rome to Tokio makes the
Pegasus he used to ride look like a
back number.
Calling tho strike of airplane pilots
a "walkout" is another illustration of
the elasticity of our language.
The alien slacker is about to dis
cover that American citizenship is
worth something after Ril.
It would be useless for the kaiser to
ask for a change of venue. There is
no place to go.
Not until helium is much cheaper
will smoking on airships be a popu
lar diversion.
The cost of living" is distinctly not
a "pendulum." A. pendulum swings
bo Lb.
The Talisman.
Rf (.race K. Hall.
'Twas a little vine-wreathed cor t a Re
standing in tho edpe of town.
Hoses clung to eaves and trellis and
their petals drifted down.
While a tragic scene was acted Just
within tl-e cosy room
Where a man anil woman griml
worked. Ignoring cheer and
h loo in :
Gathered hero and there the bric-a-brac,
mementoes now forlorn.
Of the time thev er.tered joyously one
glad October morn.
From the wall ne took a picture, from
a shelf she lifted books.
Silently they stripped the cottars.
leaving "bare Its pleasant nooks:
Kyes and voices cold mil lifeless, each
avoiding other's way.
Soon they cleared the little bungaloV
of thincs they'd meant to May,
When front out a crowded trunk-till
tumbled eomethlng small and
white,
a flood
blurred
slpht.
And
of burning toar-dropa
the object from their
Just a baby's shoe, quite soiled.
rith
hole in one wee toe.
But It told a heart-break story of the
dreams of long aco;
Each one stooped to srrasp the token
that was lying on the floor.
And two bes-tsi at last seemed broken
from their icy chill once more;
Sobbinly two voicrs minified in A
name that came to nund.
While two hunda were clasped upon a
. shoe that Kite had chanced to
fin.i!
Yea. "A lltt'e child shall lend them.'
it has happened oft before.
And today another laddie plays be
side the open door;
rictures on the wall are hanging, on
the shelves are old-time books.
In the window- swinirs a blrd-caee
there are pleasant Ingle-nooks:
Roses bloom upon tlio trellia and their
petals tumble down
"Round a little vine-wreathed cottage
Just within the ede of town.
KI.AMll-'.R.
Midnight hour in Flanders. -Cold
and dark in Flanders.
On the battlefields of Flanders.
And the airships sailing hl-h.
Ixini is the watch in the midnight.
Iark and cold. In the mtdninht.
With the boom of run at midnight
And star-shells in the sky
The smoking puns and dying ones
And those who cannot die.
toans and groans of the dying ones.
Oh. when will tbe night pass by?
Say. when will the. night pass by?
On the battlefields at midnight.
Iark and cold, in the midnight.
When the guns boom at midnight
In Handera where they lie.
Tbe wind, like healing waters
That T'loweth in the midnight
And know-eth it is best.
The wind that bloweth. bloweth.
At midnight from the west.
That goeth through the valley
W here they lie dow n to rest.
All alone in the midnight.
tark and cold, in the midnight.
Who know-eth what it saith?
They t.f the long night-watches
Who. inniurh the long night-watches.
Stand face to face with death.
Far away In Flanders.
On the battlefields of Flanders,
In the poppy fields of Flanders,
The guns are silent now;
And the graves of them are many
W'ho fotiKht and did for many
Ah, who can tell us how?
Who wroiiKht for us on the battle
ground
And thought for us on the battle ground
And fought for us on the battle ground
In Flanders, where they lie.
Those who died on the battle ground
And were not afraid to die.
SERGEANT CLAUDE W ETHER.
A FAIRY WILL COMK.
Sleep, little one. in the soft silver light.
Soft silver licht or the moon.
And a fairy will come to your cradle
toninht.
A fairy w ill come to you soon
Out of the flowery woods she win
come.
Or maybe from heaven with wings.
Out of the midnight with trumpet and
d ru m
And horses and magic and things.
Then flv. fly aw-nv Into fairyland, dear.
lalo fairyland far. far away.
And tiance if you want to and sins
over there
And laugh in the green woods at
Play.
Perhaps she will take you a. journey
nfar
To the cup of the silvery moon.
Or far. far away to a beautiful star.
And brins you back home asaia
soon.
And If anything harm you. remember
to call.
I shall hear you whatever you say.
And the bears and tho beasts and the
hucn boos alt .
I will chase from your cradle away.
Now.
little one, darling, good-night
unto you.
In Drtamy Land soon you will be.
And safely 'agaan when the Journey is
through.
Come back in the morning to Tne.
CLAL'DE WElMEli.
Vancouver Eirricks.
CLIMATICAI. OBF.RVATIOS IN
ORTLAM1.
City of roses and wome.n fair.
A lowland seaport given mountain air.
Your seaswept breeso at the sunrise
hour
Brings forth a wish for heavy under
w ear.
But later on each torrid thoroughfare
Retains each step and mark imprin ted
there. The noonday sun picks out a girl or
two
And tells me plainly I could have
TllEIit share
J. F. F
THi: HI MOROI i.
You m.iy have a sense of Justice, the
heurt stripes mav be richt.
You may have a pleasant accent -to
the voi-e:
But it is the sense of humor, that
brine- a .u'e delisjht:
And makes your fellow brother to rc-
Joicc.
The pleasinr countenance, the little
word and act:
They keep a brother happy all the
while;
It is not so much the wisdom, as it Is
the ta--t:
To know just how to act. and wh-cn
to fetnile.
BKRTHA E. 1IUGHET.
A PR i KR.
Delivt-r us from sudden death.
From pestilence and flood: t
Deliver. J- from cyclone's breath.
From" battle's rage and blood.
From poverty O set us free.
From sickness and from pain:
from disappointment's agony
When fondest hopes are slain.
t
From -countless Ills we ask for grace.
But over all accurst.
protect is from the .lou ble-f a c :
He. get our oat the worst!
. MAiiV LlEaTEK FORCE.