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6
TIIE STTNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, DECE3IBER 21, 1919.
ESTABLISHED BY HENRY L. FITTOCK.
Published by The Oregonlan Publishing Co..
135 Sixth Street, Portland. Oregon
C. A. MORDEN. E. B. PIPER
Manager. Editor
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of improvement and extension in re- i to be an ordinary person in times
sponse to this clamor about financial j like these, with discovery and inven
interests. The result is that, -while tion fairly outrunning his capacity
face upward on the table," went over thaw" of February 1, 1916. caught
all the arguments of the agitators j the birds and squirrels relatively un
the railroad companies have lost, the
public has lost much more. But
when it is proposed to start the rail
roads again in solvent condition, the
same old cry is raised. Yet nothing
is said of the $4,000,000 which is
being raised to impose the Plumb
plan on the people.
Is it not about time for politicians
to judge public questions on their
merits, not according to which side
they think the financiers have taken?
Is It not time for them to Tecognize
that the interests of the people and
for apprehending the nature of the
blessings that are being thrust upon
him. It Is a curious anomaly of
modern times that one should be
thus isolated, though of the multitude.
BERGER.
Victor Berger, socialist, was ex
pelled from congress by the vote of
all members of the house, with a
single Ignominious exception. He had
been convicted of violation of the
espionage act and was and is under
sentence to a term of years in prison.
He was and is an enemy of his coun
try; yet now he is "vindicated" by re
election to congress from the Mil
waukee district, a foreign island In
the great American sea of democ
racy. If the result at Milwaukee were
symptomatic of conditions through
out the country, it would be occasion
for grave alarm. But it is not, and
it is universally known that it is not.
It simply means that Milwaukee is
unique in its shameful willingness to
assume the badge of dishonor It
bears through Berger. If Milwaukee
can stand it the nation can. But
Milwaukee cannot stand It, and the
nation will not tolerate nor con
done it.
The significance of Berger's alien
origin and the equal significance of
Milwaukee's German isolation In
America cannot be escaped. Berger
was bprn in Austria, but came to
this country as a youth. He has had
a long career as editor of socialist
newspapers in German and in Eng
lish. He is a dangerous and wily
agitator, a leader in the movement to
impose alien -and revolutionary ideas
on the American democracy. He
found a fertile field for dissemina
tion of his propaganda among the
hyphenated and un-Americanized
Germans of Milwaukee; but he final
ly ran counter to the government;
and is headed straight for prison,
where he belongs.
The Berger election advertised
again the fact that there are unrec
onciled and Irreconcilable elements
of Germanism yet existent In Amer
ica, defiant of America's purposes
both in war and in peace and deter
mined to substitute the discredited
and outlawed kultur for the spirit,
faith and ideals of America. They
have brought German education, loy-
COXCRESS NEEDS TO WATCH.
It appears to have needed the Cen
tralia murders and the presence of
Representative Albert Johnson at
the head of the house immigration
committee to provoke congress to
the financiers may coincide? And is enact unmistakably mandatory laws
it not time to turn down every poli- for deportation of alien I. W. W.
tician who appeals to the people's When the murders drew the atten-
prejudices instead of their reason? tion of the country to the inherently-
revolutionary character of the I. W.
117 T T 1 .. . 1 J 1
SITTING TIGHT ' o yuumju ouwtceueu in Ljm-
President Wilson urged the senate for '"s i-"""""-""
months to act upon the treaty and the where it learned that bolshevist of-
partisan press of the country abused him ficeholders release for further mls-
for trying to club congress. Now he says B . . . -
he will take no further action since the chlef the reds whom the state of
senate failed to ratify the agreement, and Washington sends east for deporta-
the same newspapers (see Oregonlan) abuse tion. The committee learned that
mm uecause ne accepts tne verdict or the iav.- jn,rt,,,nt ,
senators and let, if n ,t fh, k the labor department does not con-
consistency! Eugene Guard. siaer a memDer oi a criminal con-
Accepts the verdict of the sena- spiracy to be a criminal until he has
tors? When did he do it? If he ac- actually committed the contem
cepts the senate rejection, he sets plated crime.
himself down in the class of quitters When congress has passed the bill
(he called them "contemptible quit- commanding deportation of all alien
ters," but we, of course, omit the I- W. W., it will need to keep con-
contemptible" ) whom he once stant watch on the labor department
roundly denounced because they re- In order to insure that they will be
fused to go through with the treaty deported. Congress thought it had
to the end. given a clear enough mandate to that
We have no notion of consigning effect on October 16, 1918, but As-
President Wilson to the limbo of sistant Secretary of Labor Post holds
quitters, whether contemptible or either that congress did not mean
not. He submitted a treaty to the what it said or that obedience Is
senate for its "advice and consent" optional. A new mandate in plainer
(see the United States constitution), and more imperative terms may be
It gave its advice and withheld its construed in the same way. A par-
consent. But he still insists on the lor bolshevist can always find an
treaty's ratification just as it is or excuse for clemency to a roughneck
was. What else does he mean when bolshevist.
he declares he will offer no conces- That has always been the way
slons, no compromise? Is that the with this administration. If a law
language of a quitter? A man does not please it, it construes that
doesn't quit when he merely means law to mean the reverse of what it
to sit tight, says. The draft law contains spe-
The senate, too, Is sitting tight. It cific provision that no man shall
will have reservations, or no treaty, be exempt as a conscientious ob
it takes its constitutional prerogatives jector unless a member of a
seriously, and insists that it is a part I religious denomination which op-
of the treaty-making power. There posed military service as an article
is a different idea at Eugene. It is of its creed prior to enactment of the
that the constitution does not mean I law. But Secretary Baker released
and in a discussion which continued
for ten hours "conclusively proved
to their satisfaction that ho was not
making more than a legitimate
profit," for he "nailed each L W. W.
lie with irrefutable facts." Then he
called for a showdown, with this
result:
Every man In his camp discarded his
I. W. W. paraphernalia and denounced his
former allegiance In no uncertain terms.
And the following morning the camp
opened up with 10O per cent of a working
force, and throughout the long, bitterly
contested tleup of the lumber Industry
there was no break In she ranks of these
loyal workers, who had become thoroughly
convinced that they were receiving a
square deal. These sturdy, red-blooded
lumberjacks not only, went back to work
In a spirit of hearty co-operation, but
since July 16, 1817. no agitator has ever
been able to stay In the camp overnight
without serious consequences to himself.
As in the war, propaganda was met
by counter-propaganda, in industry
falsehood must be killed with the
truth, frankly told and proved be
yond dispute. The time has come
for open diplomacy between em
ployer and workman as between
nations. The man who persists in
egardlng his costs and his profits as
his own business secretly Injures
himself, for he arouses suspicion in
the minds of his employes that he
makes exorbitant profits at their ex
pense and thus makes them a fertile
field for the revolutionary agitator.
what it says.
EX-GOVERNOR MOORE.
The career of the late Miles C.
several hundred reds of all shades,
who made no pretense to believe in
any religion except that which is ex
pressed in the parody on "Onward,
Christian Soldiers" that was read in
Moore goes back through the begin- thJ hou8e and puD,lshed ln Tne 0re.
nlngs of statehood for Washington to
gonian. All of this goes to show that
ernment has assumed authority to
suspend or amend laws passed by
congress, and that we therefore have
a government of men, not of laws.
, V J . .4. l,l I,""'""- ui e,- -v,
cns Ul ...iibxii. the executlve department of the gov-
commercial metropolis of eastern
Washington, and, indeed, of eastern
Oregon, with which it has always
been related by the closest of geo
graphical and political ties. He was
a banker, but he had a deep interest OPEN diplomacy with labor.
in public affairs, and in 18S9 he was Much good work has been done by
made governor of the territory by patriotic Americans, both in public
presidential appointment. He was office and as plain citizens, to corn-
one of a group of four conspicuous bat the revolutionary movement
Walla Walla men who became res- which has spread over the country
pectlvely delegate to congress, gov- in "the last three years, but it has
ernor and (two of them) United struck only at the effects of the evil.
States senator. He was besides a not at the cause. Men who have
son-in-law of the far-sighted pioneer, promoted revolution by all means
Dr. D. S. Baker, who built and oper- from sabotage ln logging camps to
ated the first railroad in that great general strikes in entire cities or
expanse of territory from Walla entire industries, who have destroyed
Walla to the Columbia river. The property, assaulted individuals
results of that remarkable enter- bombed residences of officials,
prise were beneficial in the extreme mobbed and slugged strike-breakers
to Walla Walla and Its surrounding I or have incited such acts have been
country. prosecuted and imprisoned, and lead-
Governor Moore was for many ers of the coal strike have been
years the presiding genius of im- enjoined, but an effective blow has
7 . . - ui milt luuim uu ciuei puacs, aim Liie nut utseii Bvrucn ill tne cnuatj ut tne
thty S- Africa, and part he played in the industrla, de evU. That cause is plainly shown
wLr.nf conqUer America veiopment of bis clty and state was by Sherman Rogers in the Saturday
very great. Evening Post to have been honest
It Is well remembered of Governor belief by many thousands of work
through and with them. Socialism
is the handy Instrument through
Wrtlfn tllPV Wrtlllrl rYt aita thai. i m I
t o Moore that, though a banker and in ingmen in a mass of falsehood skill
Fnrrns.tw niiini,,0'.. a flne sense a politician, he had an fully disseminated by agitators, and
. ,, " " X unusual literary instinct and a re
great American city where the Ger-
the almost total failure of employers
niornK . rlO nf n,,n,n,lnn I , 1.111 1. II V- II . . V.
man Idea persists and flourishes. . ' , ",..., TiT
Unfortunately, its little loci T ui " luli? a"u ""a.. ..y. ....
temnnmrv ,n- ,m CZZ .7."- naDlls' 01 sounQ integrity, or aeep The campaign of strikes Is traced
nwrahern e1i,niMnn i, , """""1" i"s 10 a Biruggie witnin tne 1. w . vv
vlV-hir. riT ciimn, capacity for affairs, he aclfteved
and tionaWnH-Tf hlh place in the commonwealth he to maintain the organization distinct
. j m.ii served so lontr and falthfnllv. fmm onir nthor ita mumhor-c rnr-
nrir piri7pni rf 1 r-1 3 1 - 1 - r ... ... "
w.uitw, omotcucuia ' 1 klJJ k.u . i i-i i
UIUU111 LU 11U1U U1CU1UCI B1UJ 111 ULllCr
unions, and William Z. Foster, who
prepared. The harvest of 1915 was
scant in the region where the cele
brated storm prevailed. Nature re
doubled her energies ln 1916 and
thereafter as if in an effort to repair
the damage done, but she did not
provide growing things beforehand
with increased power of resistance
to the elements. Her hindsight was
better than her foresight, as is that
of man. It will take more than one
big berry crop, followed by a storm
in December, to convince investiga
tors that effect precedes cause.
WHY TURKEY 18 DEAR.
Turkey is dear because everything
else is dear. The big war in Europe
forced upward the prices of a lot of
things besides huckleberries gath
ered by the Indians, to quote a class
ical example, when it gave us a new
basis of commodity exchange, and
curtailed the purchasing power of
the dollar, and otherwise revised the
standard of values up and down
the line. But there is also another
reason.
The larger part of the turkey sup
ply in recent years was a by-product
of farming. There have been few
professional turkey-raisers devoting
themselves exclusively to the busi
ness. The small flocks, designed
primarily to produce "pin money"
for the farmer's wife, fed at little
or no cost on the mast of nearby-
woods and herded by the younger
children of the family, have been the
backbone of the industry. Now our
farmers are turning away from "by
products"; the one-crop system is
coming more and more into vogue;
the age of specialization encroaches
on the era of little things. The glad
some 9-year-old no longer starts the
turkeys on their big circle, whistling
as he goes. The turkey-herder quotes
confidently the passage about the
laborer who is worthy of his hire
and the consumer, as usual, foots
the bill.
Raising turkeys requires patience
and a good deal of attention to detail.
The bird is the least domesticated of
all our barnyard fowls. Less than
fifty years ago it was common in the
wild state throughout the middle
west, but wild turkeys are almost
as scarce nowadays as passenger
pigeons, and for the same reason.
They illustrate the results of doing
without game laws just because
game happens to be plentiful. Com
mercial turkey-raising has not yet
been firmly established, and there is
small prospect that if we are re
duced to dependence on professional
production the price will be materi
ally reduced. Ten-cent turkeys of
twenty-five years ago today were
possible, among other reasons, be
cause they ate nothing that cost
anything and were tended by farm
ers' wives and children, who were
not working by the hour.
There are persons who say that
turkey meat is not delicious, but they
remind us of the fable of the fox and
the grapes. Every American who
has the price of a turkey is going to
have one at least one of the holi
days of the year. The turkey is a
fixed institution. Only the price is
not fixed. It continues to mount
higher year by year.
people want a chance to read about
plain people once more, and to be
cheered by reading about them, as
they are vitalized by contaot with
them. The "great American novel"
can wait a while longer. It will have
better chance of being written.
however, when writers once more
accept the cheerful view. American
readers are neither cynics nor fatal-
sts, nor do they necessarily betray
incapacity for appreciation of sound
literature because they insist that
happiness and realism, in their own
country, at least, may go hand in
hand.
WEATHER COINCIDENCES.
Weather developments of the pres
ent season to date give at least one
class of citizens the opportunity of
of boring from within, leading the saying I told you so." These are
who have met every test of Amer-1
lcanlsm Ti-ltli flut-r , 1 ml THE ISOLATION OF THE MTJT.TTTDD15.
be the' sufferers for it. It is all One f the advantages of higher Proposed that the members join
wrong, but it is inevitable education which has not been made "nlons affiliated with the American
The flame of alienism is kept alit as clear as " might have been is that ederation of Labor for the purpose
Vlir riountooo lri.1,.. j .i It nvrt. tVic "nrrfinnrv nomnn" In. f boring from Within, leading the
ism. Some of them pretend a great to a being capable of understanding ld unions into revolutionary strikes
concern fni- mn i thfi rnnstantlv trnnsnlrlne- rtlnrnunr. In Violation Of contracts, to repudia-
them do not trouble to HiBfimi tv,n ies of scientists. That is. if the Uon f thoso contracts, disrupting
allegiance to an enemy flag AH of higher education in question be high the federation and clearing the way
them together have contrived to set enough. The "ordinary person," we -r n blf "nin""tho ' W' W-
themselves outside the pale of pub- are told with growing frequency ln In r(Jer to hold his ground Haywood
lie trust In tnot,. oij 1 the riav's news from tho sanctums of early In June, 1917, sent 350 agtta-
which is thus faii-w xar,.,. v.J science, would not be able to under- tors Into the Puget sound lumber
revolutionary desiims nnrt -iii mr stand this or that discovery if it were dlstrlct' who on JuIy 16 "had signed
ern itself according. explained to him. He must by this UP three-fourths of the lumberjacks
ttm be fp.plinir kppnlv the aloofness ln that district.
,.,. of his position. It is true that he A strike then was called among
FOWEBFT7X, mANCtU, interests. does Dot iack companionship, but men who "were receiving 65 per cent
Our old acquaintance, "powerful Lhn is th. 0 ntt.riir f... fom higher wages than had ever been
financial Interests," Is trotted out by snobbery that he would not make pald in any Part the United States
Senator Borah as seeking by corrupt some sacrifice to be numbered for lumber labor," who two months
means for selfish ends to "put across" among the elect? previous had been quite contented
ratification of the peace treaty. At Professor Albert Einstein said and who- Mr- Rogers says, "were the
tne same time benator La Follette when he made the nreiiminnrv an. finest body of conscientious, biir
uses the same bogey to scare sena- nouncement of his theorv of rela. hearted workers I have ever met in
tors who would vote for the Cum- tivlty that there were probably no any industrial district of the coun-
mins rauroaa dui. wnen we recall more than a dozen men In the world lry- 111 competition Tor workmen,
to what Ignoble uses this bogey has capable of comprehending that operators had voluntarily raised
been put. It should ecare us no theory if it were expounded to them, wages to a point which "caused
longer. I jj0 BOoner had the twelve ln ques- numerous small logging concerns to
When Mexico murdered, beggared tion satisfied themselves that Pro- so to the wall," while "a vast ma-
or outraged Americans by hundreds fessor Einstein was right than Sir Jrtty of the larger operators were
and It was demanded that the gov- Ernest Rutherford, Cavendish pro- barely breaking even." The workers
ernment should go to their defense fessor of Dhvsies ln Camhrldire. unl-. struck! not because their wages were
and compel respect for their rights, verslty, England, announced another l100 low In proportion to the cost of
it was saia mat powerful financial discovery, "equally recondite," the "ving-, Dut because the agitators told
Interests" wanted intervention for disuatches sav. "and eauallv fraue-ht them they were "receiving onlv one-
protection of their property ln Mex- with the imDossibilitv of belne- nn. tenlh of the amount they actually
ioo. The government held Its hand, derstood." As summarized for popu- earned net," while their employers
and Americans are still classed with lar consumption. Professor Ruther- were making enormous profits. Mr.
Chinamen as people whom Mexicans ford has revealed a secret connected Re,ers was foreman of one of the
may murder with Impunity. with the transmutation of matter, largest camps on the sound and he
When the great war broke out and The search for the philosopher's cornered three of his best workers
Theodore Roosevelt and other patri-1 stone would seem to be nearing its I and demanded an explanation. That
otic citizens caiiea on tne govern- end. By the aid of radium, he has waB lnB answer, and when he asked
ment to prepare against daneer that heen ahle. it la said to retard or- an- them if they believed the wilH state.
the United States would be attacked, celerate disintegration of different ments of the agitators, their spokes-
tne aemana was said to have been elements at will, an achievement raan answered:
inspired by tne munition marnfac. thnt tne alnnemists wnrloH nen. We certain v do. Wh v .i,,, .j,. .
turers. That cry was raised by the turles to make possible, mostly with Xfed aVandVenenl 1 staiom1nt re"
Cermans and their socialist friends, the desire to transmute base metals afraid to contradict damagtrie charges
wnu iiau guuu imsuu to rear Amer- into goia.
ica armed. When the Lusitania was One thing that the ordinary per
sunk and more than 120 Americans son, however, will be able without
were murdered, the demand was difficulty to understand is that trans
made that we should punish the mutation of metals into gold ln the
murderers by destroying their power, chemical laboratory is exceedingly
but again the cry was raised that unlikely to provide him with neces
flnanciers would profit, and for sities of life not grown or manufac
almost two years we fougnU Germany tured by his own hands and those of
with notes until we were driven to millions of other ordinary persons
war. like him. Professor Pegram, of the
When that crisis came, we were department of physics at Columbia
unprepared because heed had been university, proves himself a true
given to the cry about powerful sage by his counsel to the people not
financial interests. Our troops did to expect too much from the trans
not begin to fight until seven months mutation theory. It does not mean,
after we declared war; they did not he warns us, that a brown stone
begin to fight in force until fifteen house is likely to transform Itself
months after that event, and they into a structure of marble, "to say-
did not fight as a distinct army until ) nothing of its likelihood of becoming
seventeen months after. Then they a mansion of gold or silver." There
fought with French and British guns, still is call for us to keep our feet
aircraft and tanks. I on the ground, and to go on working
Our railroad system is utterly un- out our economic salvation ln old-
qnal to the needs of our commerce I fashioned ways.
because it has becu denied the meaiul -11 nevertheless, highly irritating;
made against them. It Is simply because
" " Z"" " conyaaict them sue
cesefully. If these organizations were ly
lug. you fellows would have been out wltl
a counter-argument long ago. Their state
ments were clean-cut and In riiru,
tradiction to the beliefs we have alwavs
had ln regard to the profits we were earn
ing for the company. You have figured us
uuiiin ui uuiiuuirs ana nave nvcr taken
the time or the trouble to f&mllfnri7.
with Industrial statistics relating to the
earnings of the lumber Industry. These
organizers have taken the trouble and
have made the direct charze that inuu..
labor Is only receiving from 10 to no per
cent of the net earnings derived from Its
jaoor. ins mmoer OBerators. have cer
tainly known for weeks that the nr n
lzers were making these arguments, and
tne xaci mai iiiey navcu t maae the slight
est attempt to disprove their charsrea con
vinces us that they are the robbers these
men Claim iney are.
The soundness of this man's rea
soning is supported by the citation
of the experience of one logging
camp operator, who when the strike
was called, "decided to put all the
facts and figures concerning his prof
its, loss and output squarely up to
his men in language that they could
understand," He "laid all his arus
the ones who hold fast to the theory
that nature Is always a good provid
er, that as the result of some scheme
of preparation for events to come
stores are provided against the com
ing inclemencies of winter and shel
ter given in anticipation of the storm.
They accept literally the declaration
of the psalmist, "Yet have I not seen
the righteous forsaken nor his seed
begging for bread." As with men,
so with the lower animals. They
need only, to gather the plentiful
harvest to be Insured against want.
Lacking a harvest, to mix the meta
phor a trifle, they know that the
wind will be tempered to the shorn
lamb.
So bountiful a supply of berries as
grew in the wilds during the past
summer and autumn has seldom
been observed, and now there comes
an early winter storm as If to con
firm the superstition that a big berry
crop means a severe winter. It Is
not a merely local condition. The
London Times notes that throughout
ureat Britain, too, the holly trees
are loaded with berries, rapidly red
dening for Christmas, while "hips
and haws, acorns and hazel nuts
are all plentiful, and tho church
yard yew is gemmed to the tips of Its
twigs with the coral-pink mucilag
inous berries that thrushes love so
well. The weatherwlse shake their
heads and look gloomily at the
woodpile. It Is fortunate that the
coal strike ended when it did.- Na
ture knows.
Yet the cool heads of science de
cline to believe that a big crop of
anything is the result of weather yet
to be experienced. Past, not future,
conditions make possible the fruit
age. Else, why should nature dis
criminate between one kind of har
vest and another? We have an enor
mous yield of mountain huckleber
ries and only part of a crop of
prunes; a surplus of hay and a de
ficiency of potatoes; many pumpkins
and few melons; a bumper yield of
cotton and only an average fleece
on the sheep's back. The "signs"
which some folks Interpret as indi
cating that effect precedes cause are
rejected by the department of agri
culture as unscientific. No more re
liable are the movements of the
birds, who are supposed to know
months ahead of time what the
weather is going to be, and to govern
themselves accordingly. They follow
the supply of food, but do not antic
ipate it.
As the government scientists
are trying, to prove by a long series
of observations, a coincidence does
not establish a rule. Nor, for that
matter, does a storm in December
presage a severe winter. The "silver
REALISM IN OCR FICTION.
The condition which some Ameri
can publishers describe as a "dearth
of fiction" may be a sign of evil
times, when it Is understood that it
is attributed to a deadlock between
printers of books and the writers of
them as to the drift of the public
taste. Authors, it is said, insist on
writing "realism," according to their
own definition of the terms. And
publishers want to go back "to the
old-fashioned novel, of which the
distinctive feature was the happy
ending.
We are inclined to feel encouraged
by the trend and all that it connotes.
Just for once, the publishers may be
right and we hope that they ar
in their appraisal of the popular de
mand. A good deal hangs on what
"realism" really Is. In the past we
have insisted on enough idealism
with our realism at least to send
us to bed after reading our novel
with the feeling that, bad as it might
have been, at any rate it came out
all right in the end. We dc not ob
ject to depicting the struggles of
young men against adversity, and of
young women against worse than ad
versity, but we want virtue to tri
umph before the story Is done. In
an ideal world it would be so: we
seem to be willing to regard a cer
tain type of realism as a privacy, no
more to be dragged Into the lime
light than the shortcomings of our
blood relations, which we may admit
to ourselves, but which we resent
having publicly talked about. But
for some reason, authors who could
write in that vein are refusing to do
so. This Is one publisher's com
plaint: We usually accept about one story In a
hundred. But quote me as saying that the
love theme la always rood. Just like dark
blue, one-piece serge. Tou may change
the collar and cuffs, and add a touch of
color, -but the foundation Is always "being
worn." The "touch of color" since the wal
ceased seems to be the business problem.
Authors today have lost Interest ln the tri
angle and have taken up the vital problem
of adjustment in that family where Gwen
dolyn Is making $: more a week than
her husband Harold, and of what the for
mer soldier does when on his return to his
home town he faces the problem of sup
porting a family of three when there were
only two before.
We have never been "realists" In
the Russian sense of the term be
cause we have neither been willing
to believe that anything was so bad
that it could not be worse nor con
vinced that it was so hopeless that
It could not be reformed. The psy
chology of realism carried to Its nar
row extreme Is the psychology of
hopelessness. It sees only the pit
falls and never the safe path. The
idealist, notwithstanding that his
head is ln the clouds, may be the
better observer after all. He Is no
fatalist, avoiding responsibility with
an "it is written" philosophy. And
because he believes that most peo
pie's misfortunes are due to their
own faults, and that the remedy for
them lies in their own hands, he re
fuses to set down in imperishable
print the tragedy that he does not
believe to be inevitable. Individ
uals may, and do, muddle their own
lives; people as a whole do not; and
It is the art of the novelist to depict
in the individual the type of the race
We care nothing for Isolated odd
ities, except as foils for characters
more broadly conceived. One kind
of "realist" sees In the career of a
Lincoln only a man come to an un
timely end; the other, valulnsr truth
none the'less, but mingling with it a
healthy idealism, looks faRher, and
the happy ending emerges from the
gloom. The realism of the struggle
to subsist on less than a "living wage'
does not preclude a pleasing climax
even within the bounds of verity. The
battle Is not lost, though Harold may
lose his Job. The philosophy of the
ought-to-be leads to the will be. The
stumbling 'blocks of some so-called
realists are that they mistake econ
omics for romance, think that every
novel should be a novel of "pur
pose," and have no faith, i.ere or
hereafter, ln the existence of fairy
land. The authors may be wrong this
time and the publishers right ln their
appraisal of popular demand. Nor
shall we conclude without further
reason for doing so that because
people refuse to be gloomy they are
hopelessly obtuse. The logic of the
leaders is not always superior to the
Intuition of the mass. The sense of
fitness is difficult to analyze, yet it
is quite likely to be based on a sound
philosophy. As the very directness
of children often enables them to
detect the false note that has es
caped their mors sophisticated eld
ers, so the "ordinary Individual,"
lately come Into new prominence.
may possess & combined Insight not
given to professional critics and
overspeclallzed fault-finders. Per
sistence of demand for the happy
ending may arise, not from an ostrich-like,
non-crttlcal spirit that re
fuses to look realities ln the face
.but from faith that, as a matter of
fact, it Is Justified by the broader
outlook. It is a narrow view, that
realism and pessimism must be syn
onymous. We want our stories to
end happily because we believe that
It Is possible for realities to be happy
that these are not the exception, but
the rule.
As it would be said ln France, it
is the war that makes authors be
have, the way they do. A few months
ago they were surfeited with assign
ments that simply bubbled over with
the simple kind of realism that ev
erybody could comprehend. Now It
is hard to get back to the prosaic
idea that there can be romance
without excitement. The war goes
on, ln the minds of writers of nov
els, if not on the fields of Europe.
Lacking a Hun to fight, a social
windmill will serve the purpose.
Grievances are created that "pur
pose" stories may be written about
them. But publishers think that the
public is tired of the spirit of con
troversy, and complain that necessity
for printing more rejection slips
threatens tho white paper supply.
We need another William Dean
Howells to write of the plain, every
day American folk who work out
their own problems without too
much Introspection, and who are not
given to self-analysis to the point of
neurosis. An American "Cranford"
would give us a much-needed rest,
more "Adventures in Contentment"
BY-PRODUCTS OF THE PRK.SS
The triumph of Captain Ross
Smith, who flew from England to
Australia, adds another sprig of lau
rel to the glorious crown of the
Smith family's achievements. From
the Captain John Smith who was
sent by his sovereign to direct the
affairs of the infant colony of Vir
ginia to Captain Ross, who has Just
been congratulated by Lloyd George,
the representative of the sovereign
people of an . empire, the Smiths
have covered themselves with glory
In a thousand fields. Mathematics,
astronomy, statecraft, education.
philanthrophy, the greater and less
er arts and sciences, would have
fared 111 but for the contributions of
the Smith family, and the population
would show a decided decrease if
all the Smiths were omitted from the
census. Ross Smith is now the
world's leading aviator, and he has
set a record that it is going to be
hard to beat. A distance equal to
half the way around the world at the
equator, made in twenty-eight days
by air, alone and unattended, would
seem to make the pre-eminence of
the Smiths secure for a long time to
come.
There Is food for thought ln the
suggestion that a revolver be In
vented that will disable its victim
but not kill him, the idea being to
furnish a weapon that could be law
fully carried for purposes of self-de
fense. But the trouble Is going to
be ln finding a bullet that knows
enough to stop before it reaches a
vital spot.
The woodsman who asked a lady
barber for "a general cleanup" and
got one at cost of $375 for clothes.
Christmas presents and such, really
was treated with much consideration.
Just suppose she had given him
shave, haircut, shampoo, manicure,
shine, massage and all the fixings
and charged him regular rates?
Author of "Abraham I . i 1 1 1. " Wins
Hleh Praise In London.
Not often a man with a business
training turns to the muse and the
drama in which to find his life work.
But this is true of John Drinkwater.
the English poet, author and play
wright, with his great play, "Abraham
Lincoln."
Hamilton Fyfc, dramatic critic of
the London Daily Mail, had this to
say of Mr. Drinkwater:
"John Drinkwater, to begin with.
Is, of course, a poet. But he Is also
an actor and producer of plays. He
believes plays should be written as
Shakespeare wrote his. In the theater.
'Abraham Lincoln' was written ln and
for the Birmingham "Repertory com
pany, which Drinkwater started 13
years ago as the Pilgrim Players. For
six yeaTrs now they have had a theater
in Birmingham and have acted 120
plays.
"This poet-player had a family con
nection with the stage through his
father. Tet he began work ln an In
surance office and endured his desk
for 12 years, writing much poetry
the while. Then he broke loose. Now
at 37 he has begun to gather ln the
harvest of fame which he used to
dream of as he made out fire policies
and attended to schedules of claims.
"Tall, handsome, boyish In appear
ance, with a sensitive well-cut mouth,
deep, thoughtful eyes, and a slow,
attractive smile, he bears his honors
modestly, without exhilaration. He
Is an enthusiast for the repertory
Idea and hopes this success In Ham
mersmith will help It along. He be
lieves in verse-drama, but he knows
audiences must be helped along to
ward It by degrees. He has the true
dramatic gift, our new dramatist, and
may do more to revive the drama
than all the carpenter playwrights
who have been hammering at it these
many years."
Miniatures.
By Grace E. Hall.
Philadelphia wants daylight saving
so much that she is going to follow
the example of New York and put
It Into effect by city ordinance. If
all the cities follow suit, the railroads
will be compelled to do something
to make their time tables under
standable, and we will come near
having what we want after all.
There are two reasons why bootleg
booze won't be used ln making mince
pie. One Is that the kind of man
who will drink bootleg will prefer It
straight, and the other is that no
Judge of good mince pie would dese
crate it with the kind of stuff they
are selling nowadays at $12 a quart
Vice-President Marshall would
suspend the Congressional Record in
the interest of economy. It might
not be a bad idea at least to elimin
ate matter published under the
"leave to print" rule and make it a
record in fact as well as In name.
The enjoyment that Armenian or
phans are getting out of one of the
former kaiser's farms In Turkey
which has been made over Into a
playground furnishes one answer to
those who think that no good can
be done with "tainted wealth."
Might be Just as well to grant his
requested change of venue to N.
Peter Sorenson, convicted of reck
less driving while intoxicated. Some
of those upstate Judges hit drunken
drivers harder than the city judges.
Silver is the favorite money of the
people In many lands with or without
free coinage. Juat as after the In
dian mutiny and the Crimean war
England's demand for silver to satis
fy India ran the white metal up to
$1.37 an ounce, the record figure, so
after the world war India again be
came a prime factor. The tremen
dous balance of trade in her favor as
against England was what London
had to meet ln some way. To send
gold was out of the question. Paper
money the Hindoos did not want.
Sliver in sufficient amount was lack
lng. To help out England our congress
in Washington enacted a law under
which $400,000,000 ln coined sllvet
was melted up Into bullion.' sacriflc
lng the seigniorage, and of this $251.
000,000 had gone to India. But India
Is a sponge so far as silver is con
cerned. A large proportion of what
goes there disappears from circula
tion. The natives love to hide it and
bury it or to use it for personal
adornment. That has been their cus
tom for many centuries.
Last of all came China, bidding
high. Probably, though figures for
September and October are not avail
able, not much less than $60,000,000
of our silver has gone to China ln the
past 16 months. The lifting of the
embargo last May accentuated the
movement. Yesterday's hleh quotation
Is a normal outcome of the world de
mand. It Is now profitable to melt up the
sliver coins of the United States, of
England and of France to make bul
lion. France has made it a penal of
fense to do this with her silver
money. If present conditions should
continue, "free coinage" will be what
no producer of silver will want. at 16
to L How long they will continue
no one can guess from any data now
available. Brooklyn Eagle.
He charges the couch on a fiery steed
That was once but a harmless
broom.
While his cannons roar by the base
ment door.
And his slain smear up the room;
He beats his drum till the rafters
hum.
And his soldiers all "fall ln."
Then he marches away In regalia gay
With his army of painted tin.
He rides at the head of a warrior
band
With feathers upon his hair.
He Is the chief who will bring to
grief
The paleface behind the chair!
He storms the gate where the helpless
wait
With terroi upon each face.
For he Is th brave who is sent to
save
The fame o: his ancient race!
There is an ocean below the hill.
Where pirates are black and bold.
And he schemes all day In his cun
ning way
To seize on their hoarded gold:
His ships set sail in a tearing gale
But always they weather the blast.
And In chains fast bound are the
pirates found
When he anchors his ship at last!
On the sandy shore where the combers
roar
He tunnels throughout the day.
And he guides a train with his busy
brain.
In a strange, unusual way;
He boards the boat that is set afloat
To rescue the lost at sea.
And his courage grows as he boldly
goes
To succor them fearlessly!
He dives for perils where the current
swirls.
In a suit that Is blue as steel.
He sails his ship from the sandy slip,
With a spool for the pilot wheel;
Queer islands loom where the break
ers boom,
But he pushes off in his dory.
And the sea he mocks as he finds the
box
Of Treasure Island story.
So through each day does the small
man play.
And his brain Is a seething store.
Where the virile things of life grow
wings
That fly from shore to shore;
Ho spurs his steed as he feels the
need.
And we trust ln his race to win.
For the world and its plans are ln his
hands.
As he drums to his men of tin!
"I don't believe in eternal pun
ishment on earth," says the governor
of North Carolina, in commuting
sentences of life term prisoners to
thirty years. His authority does not
extend to the next world.
After two years of the "open door'
policy. Mayor Baker finds he must
keep his office door closed so he
can do some work. This doesn't
necessarily classify him as a convert
to the closed shop.
There may be various good reasons
for demobilization, but if we cannot
think of a better one than tMat it
would lift the prohibition ban we
would better stay mobilized.
The governor of North Carolina
has commuted sentences of all life
termers in the state prison to thirty
years. Even that's a rather long
time between drinks.
It Is coming near time for a series
of articles on the delights of farming
by men who wouldn't do H if we
would give them a farm for nothing.
Got out the typewriter, Mr. Lan
sing another American soldier has
been killed in a clash on the Mexican
international boundary.
The government made a mistake
It should have deported Emma
Goldman and Alexander Bcrkman to
Milwaukee
It is toiirh luck to have money to
buy things and then to learn that
you can't get them because of a car
shortage.
The people can hardly be expected
to gobble up the Christmas turkey
supply at 50 cents per pound on the
hoof.
Probably those hair tonic tipplers
are trying to grow more of the haii
of the dog that is good for the bite.
If our scientists keep on at the
pace they are going, they will have
perpetual motion in a few days.
The new war risk insurance law
will make a fine Christmas present
for' the boys.
Germany must by this time be as
hardened to ultimatums as Mexico.
Buy a turkey, if you have to turn
in the old car on account.
The late Christmas shopper now
begins to wish he wasn't.
Portland delights to shop in the
would be a genuine boon. The plain rain.
People who cannot rest until they
know exactly how old this world of
ours really Is will be relieved to find
that a trinity of eminent geologists
have disclosed a simple process of
making the computation. All that is
necessary is to determine the quantity
of salt ln the ocean and then divide
It by the amount brought down in a
single year by the rivers emptying
into it. Of course, allowances have
to be made for evaporation and one
thing or another, but these can be
determined by looking at the speed
ometer or writing a postal card to
Fred Haakin. Anyhow, the grand
finale will be the age of the world
in astronomical years. Sir John Mur
ray, one of the geologists, declares
the age to be approximately 400.000,-
000 years, but he must remember that
since America has gone bone dry a
year seems twice as long as It used
to be. Los Angeles Times.
A man under examination in New
York in a case of assault, says the
Sun, not only denied that he was a
hired thug, but declared that vie
ttms no longer were beaten for a
fixed amount of money. He explained
follows:
When a fellow Is hired to "do up'
another guy he goes up and tells him
about It. Then they get together and
they stlok court plaster all over the
guy's faoe and a bandage around his
head, with a little beef blood show
ing through, and put his arm In a
eilng. The guy who wants him done
up' looks him over and thinks he got
his money's worth."
The breakfast egg Is usually re
garded as a sexless Individual, yet
were It possible to determine such a
point on Its entry Into this world, the
poultry market would be Increased
tenfold.
Some people contend that one can
tell an egg's sex and a favorable
method of determining this Is the fol
lowing: Hold the egg with three
fingers of the left hand towards the
sun or gas light. Shade the point of
the egg with the right hand and look
for the air space or "setting." a dark
spot about the size of a three-penny
bit, says London Answers. If this is
found at the top of the egg, it is a
male, but 'f found lower down on the
side, it is a female.
A method employed by an Australian
poultry farmer is Ingenious, though
rather elaborate. He places a two
shilling piece on a table, threads a
fine sewing needle with a piece of
cotton and holds the cotton in' one
hand so that the point of the needle
Is ranging Just over the center of the
florin. In his other hand he takes the
egg and holds this immediately above
the cotton. It the chicken Inside Is a
cockerel the point of the needle
swings from side to side above the
coin, like a pendulum. If the chicken
Is a pullet the needle swings in a
cUt.uiu.1' ui. Luii round the coin.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
In every age a singer comes with flute
or harp or roll of drums.
And low and soft or loud and strong
he peals creation's note along.
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
God rules on high. Amen! Amen!
In every vale where streamlets purl,
on every shore where, billows
curl, .
In prairie wide or forest deep or
hamlets ln their quiet sleep.
In city marts of toll and gain we hear
again the clear refrain:
"Peace be toearth. good will to men:
God loves us all. Amen! Amen!
The cataclysms shake the rock and
nations sink beneath the shock.
The kings depart and people rise with
eyelids lifted in surprise.
Though wars may surge and death
and pain mark shores with mor
tal blood and stain;
Yet ever back the tuneful note of
better days will ever float
Of days of peace, good will to men.
God ruleth still. Amenl Amen!
The storm subsides, the rainbow spans
the battlefields of raging clans.
And clearer skies declare a sun for
blest posterity begun.
A new resilience In the air portends
ascendance everywhere.
Of myriad winging holy hopes, of
wider, wondrous horoscopes
Of peace for all, good will to men.
liod rules, God rules. Amen!
Amen!
The dun clouds roll, their mutterlngs
are but the death of evi thincs
That fly and hide in night and time
oerore the bursting dawn sublime.
Through strife we rise, and btfttle din,
this holy hour to usher ln
Of heralds singing on their way into
tne aazziing greater day:
Be glad! Be glad!" The Christmas
bell Is ringing in the pealing
swell:
Peace, peace on earth, good will to
men: God loves and rules. Amen!
Amen!
EVA EMERY DYE.
SAVTA CI.Al S.
Out of the kingdom of Christmas
trees.
By the light of the pale moonbeams.
ometh a saint
In his raisnent quaint
Into our land of dreams.
Out of the heart of the bleak white
north.
Where the winds blow cold and ths
snow drifts high,
TJp and away
In his reindeer sleigh
Old Santa comes driving by.
Bringing good will to the homes of
men.
Alike to the rich and poor:
With a message of cheer
At the close of the year.
He pauses at every door.
He cometh as deft as a snowflak
white.
And mystery holdeth sway;
And our hearts grow warm
At the wondrous charm
As he softly steals away.
RUTH FLEISCHER.
Seattle.
OREGOVS JEWELS.
Oh, like a lovely lady fair Oregon is
dressed.
With glowing Jewels at her throat
and hair and on her snowy
breast.
Her gracious throat Is circled 'round
by Columbia's silvery sheen.
And, by the clear Willamette, a chain
of sparkling green;
At her breast Mount Hood stands sen
tinel, all gleaming with ivory
hue.
Against a radiant background of
dainty turquoise blue.
But when the sun has slipped away
beneath the even's bars.
She dons a gown of ebon, a-sparkle
with diamond stars.
JEAN SALISBURY.
GIFTS.
Incense and myrrh and spices sweet;
Gifts of gold at the Savior's feet:
Thus was the earth's first Christmas
When the Holy Child in the manger
lay.
Long since the Jesos chxild was born:
Long since the earth's first Christmas
morn:
But evermore do we praises sing
When the joyous bells of Christmas
TinS' BERTHA E. HUGHEY.
Portland.
Idea and Proposition.
Baltimore American.
"Why don't you want Jlbbs? I think
he Is a promising man for your idea."
"Maybe so, but this is a paying propo-
j sillon. . .