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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1920)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY 18, 1020 "THE OREGONIAN" FORUM OPENS WIDE RANGE OF TIMELY TOPICS , v , '-I -. f - - , , . , - . . ' - . - Readers Discuss Plumb Plan, Capital Punishment, Japanese Invasion, Food Waste, Slang, Garbage, and Movie Censors From Variety of Angles - 6 TARIFF MAKES HIGH PIUCES Tax Upon Exports Advocated as Solution or H. C. L. FORKST GROVE. Or., Jan. 16. (To the Editor.) What are we going to do to combat this high cost of living and the regularly advancing prices for almost everything: we have to buy ? Laws and regulations, investiga tions by committees and commissions; presidential orders that prices shall not be advanced beyond a certain point; price regulation or price limi tation all these have about as much effect as the command of King Canute that the ocean -waves should .not ad vance beyond a line he had drawn in the sand. And we are told that it is futile to try to regulate or limit the advance in prices, because we are trying to regulate or check the-operation of a natural. Immutable law: the law of supply and demand. 1'o.ssibly that is true. But if there Is such a . law and it is a . natural law it must be universally appli cable. But let us take a look at the matter and note how our profiteers take advantage of this law "a-gwlne an' a corain'." I presume they figure that it Is "a poor rule that won't work both ways," especially for them. Well, let's grant that point, and then pro ceed. to try them by their own rule. Almost from the foundation of our government we have had a "protec tive tariff" to "encourage our infant industries"; to "protect our workmen from the pauper labor of Europe." 1 don't know what the figures are now, but some 40 years ago those inter ested in industries that could be bene fited by a protective tariff constituted only about 20 per cent of the total population of this country, xne pro portion may be double that figure by this time, but the principle is the tame: taxing all the population "for the benefit of the 20 per cent or 40 per cent by Increasing the selling price of almost everything covered by the protective tariff. Now. if this is Justifiable, or desir able; if U is best for the general good of the country, and if we can raise the selling price of commodities with in the limits of our own country by a tax upon imports why can't we re duce the selling price of commodities here in these United States by a tax upon exports? If we "put up the bars" so high that our goods cannot get out at a profit, it will limit the felling market, and the price is bound to fall. And this seems to be the great desideratum the object of all the aforementioned committees, com missions, investigations, orders from I the president,, etc. Lowering prices is the announced object that all the powers of government nave oeen (ostensibly) striving for for lo! these many moons. "But this will be interfering with business!" I hear you say. Well, if a reduction in prices what we want, let's go after it, even though we do interfere with bus! ness. Business has been interfering with us for quite some time now (profiteering it is called), and "turn about Is only fair play." And almost everyone In business is boosting profits doing his part In causing and maintaining high prices. As one evidence of this, note thaft there are no failures in business these times; everyone in business is doing nicely, thank you. There is no com petition, no cutting prices these days dealers have found the better way co-operation in maintaining the pres ent high level of prices, or boosting them still a little higher. Also, we are told by the merchants. that they cannot ge half what they order from the manufacturers or job bers. This is probably because so I much Is exported to meet the foreign demand; for "we must not let Europe starve and freeze"; we must each "do I our bit" In the way of sacrifice. Well, this is a good time for the profiteers to "do their bit" by passing up some I of their exorbitant profits for the benefit of their own countrymen; and I If we ae really in earnest in our at tempts to- reduce the high cost of I living we should not be deterred by I the objections of the gentlemen who are profiting by these high prices; and the way to do so one effective way at least has been pointed out I above; put an export tax on all pro duce, manufacturers or commodities of all sorts needed in this country, and I make that tax so high that nothing hut our actual surplus can get over it at a profit. C. A. CAMPBELL. tion, near Seattle. This fiber, meas- JAPS SHOULD GET WELCOME uring ao incnes, was narvestea just 71 days from planting the seed. It, however, has to be sent to foreign mills to be appreciated. The Irish Trade Circular. Belfast: "We refer to the receipt of American-grown flax. which, as regards treatment, beats anything we have seen in home mar kets." The samples have been divided between Ghent, Belfast and Dundee. The highest price named is 80 cents a pound. This flax was planted In May and harvested the last of June. April 4s the month to plant seed to insure No. 1 quality, which Oregon can and has grows. The only criticism made on the sample was 6n its dryness, "due prob ably to the heat of the climate," but really due to late planting, otherwise the fiber would have been in No. 1 class. The same difficulty, according, to the Belfast paper, is experienced in Ireland in regard to labor, $20 per acre being the price paid for pulling flax the last yeur. A pulling machine was successfully used, which cut the cost two-thirds, and a new method of scutching has been invented for which unskilled labor can be utilized, great ly reducing the cost of manufacture, all of which will help to solve the flax problem for Oregon, we hope. MRS. WILLIAM P. LORD. 'MOVIE' MOVEMENT REMOVED J. P. P. Advises Women to Clean Own Homes First. PORTLAND, Jan. 16. To the Ed itor.) One of the greatest education al pictures of today is the so-called "movie." Thousands of our young girls that unfortunately never had a mother to tell them the right and wrong of life, have seen at the "movie" how the virtuous girl was enticed away by the villain and what the penalty was for her; an equal amount of our lads have seen what the effects of women, wine and song are to him. I, having seen at least as many pic tures as the average movie fan, can honestly say I have not as yet seen one that I would object to my mother or sister seeing, and I have seen them other than in Portland. I have always noted this at the start: "Passed by the national board of re view." This board, as I understand it, is composed of some 300 members .picked from all classes. Now, I see the club women of the city are going to clean house, not their own, but the movie and vaude ville houses. The women of the clubs of Portland woirld, I am sur"e, please the majority of us, if instead of worrying about what we should and should not see at the movies, stay home and darn pa's socks and mend little brother's pants. . Our City of Roses has already put itself at the top of the sporting list Shrewd American Labor Should Not Fear Competition. PORTLAND. Jan. 16. (To the Ed itor.) All honor to the Seattle Minis terial association for adopting reso lutions against race hatred and foi opposing the cheap jingo politics em bodied in the Jones bill denying the right of American citizenship to chil dren of Oriental races born in our country. Pastors are urged to preach trt thiir coneresrations against an to producing garden truck, potatoes and all the necessities of life? The present system of excluding all oriental labor (and all European labor is to be excluded) will drive potatoes to 10 cents a pound, milk to 50 cents a quart and butter to $2 a pound. Is that a policy In the interests of the masses of our people? Has the city of Seattle not shown wisdom in not ex cluding the Japanese steamship lines from that port, and has not San Francisco paid the penalty of losing nearly all its oriental shipping by constant agitation of radical race hatred against the Oriental? What manifestations of race hatred and to can Oregon gain by enacting a special encourage the bringing about ol Det ter feelings'between the average citi zen and the many foreign elements domiciled in our midst. Is not our country big enough, are notover a hundred million American citizens intelligent enough and pos sessed of enough stability and char acter to hold their own --with any foreign element that comes to our country and seeks to make a living by labor, with the handicap of not knowing our language, methods of do ing business, ways of living and en countering all the prejudices there are against foreigners in- any coun try! Then shame upon us and our boasted greatness as a free country! It is proposed to enact a state law especially against oriental races, but more especially against the Japanese coming to our state. All manner of political prejudice is appealed to to stimulate race hatred against Ori entals, when both China and Japan were our allies in the recent war against the cenetral ' powers of Europe. Is this Americanism, to join with those nations in a world war as allies and then forbid them by special legislation, singling out their race, from coming to our country? In the border states all the way from the Mississippi to the Sacra mento we employ hundreds of thou sands of Mexican laborers in mines, as railroad- section men, to make the sugar beet crops, and do the general farm work and ma the smelters and other large industries. Without that Mexican labor the bordfr states could not carry on their greatest industries. Yet the newspapers are full of ex pressions of race hatred against Mexico. The politician and even some church organizations are pre pared to embroil us in a war with Mexico. It is the same with the development of racial prejudice against the black man of the south. He supplies the labor without which the south could not carry on its agriculture nor its industries. Yet we see careless ex pressions by press and politician that must eventuate in development of racial prejudice and hostility between the white and black races. Are they not a valuable asset of a great nation and are they not proving their worth by patient industry, many at occupa tions the white man shuns, and did t n V Ti fit Vilr. tn Ti 1iB iin thA man oy staging some or tne Dest boxing power on the battlefields of Europe? .. .... . . - -1 .viiii. . . uii vii Lilt; uuaai, and our commission is bending every effort .to make clean boxing a real success and we fans are with them. But when the club women cut the movement out of the movie Portland will not have the pleasure of seeing the best in pictures, but will only see what the clubwomen call "moral." I am in favor of doing away with this local censorship and abide by the national board of review. Let's all insist on our cuy having the best clean amusement that can be had, but don't let the club women tell us what it will be. j. p. p. If we are Americans in the true sense of the word, and if we . have the faith In our free institutions that we so constantly boast, why should we fear competition with any worthy class or labor mat is willing to per form the toil and drudgery of develop ing the soil, clearing the lands and making them produce? What has or ganized labor or trades unionism to fear from labor that will produce more of the necessities of life? Are not the men and women who work for wages complaining of the high cost of living, and are they the ones to object to labor that confines itself Japanese exclusion act? We are de prived of nearly all kinds of agricul tural labor now. What future have we in the race for development of Pa cific coast states without abundance of farm labor of some kind? Is it not time we ceased to cultivate race hatreds and cheap politics and Became big, broad Americans, stand ing for freedom and equality? COL E. HOFER. 'HORROR" FILM DESCRIBED Action of Censors Arraigned by Movie Fan. PORTLAND, Jan. IS. (To the Ed itor.) The present airing of the censorship of moving pictures impels me to.make a few remarks. If I may be so bojd. I have not seen "The Thirteenth Commandment," but if the manager of the Columbia by any chance stepped Into the Peoples last week he must indeed be indignant at being singled out for the attention of our esteemed board of censors. Feeling that I would like to attend a show I went there. The press no tices were good, and I like both Jack Holt and Seena Owen, but this is what I saw: A man, being shot, is shown pitched forward into a fire, where bis hair immediately blazes into flame. This scene is shown for eeveral sec onds. Later his killer is also killed by being thrown into another fire, which scene, however, merely shows the fire and the act of tipping him over, but, having seen the first, your imagination does 'the rest. . A supposedly decent girl, alone with a woman hater on a desert island, tries to "wound him with her beauty," by dressing in nothing much above the waist line. I hate to accuse the estimable Mrs. Colwell of being a woman of one idea, but it sterns to fne that a set of hor rors such as are shown In this pic ture can do just as much, if not more, harm than any so-called "suggestive" scene. It was not a clean old William Farnum fight, it was just horror, the sort of thing that would make the sensitive have nightmares, or incite the naturally cruel to more awful deeds. I wonder how many of the fathers of growing sons would like to have their young hopefuls confronted with a final sub-title something to this effect: "To love and to slay the two great adventures, but the greatest of these is love." Elevating, isn't it? Love is indeed a great adventure, so is death, but not murder. I saw a num ber of boys and girls of the formative ages of from 15 to 20 in the audience. A MEMBER OF THE INSIGNIFICANT i AUDIENCE. SLANG BECOMING GREAT SIX Hello Girls Should Cut Talk With Scathing Rebuke. rORTLAKD. Jan. 16. (To the Edi tor.) I would like to call the atten tion of the public and offer a protest to the use of slang used so freely by our schools and others. The German language is to be elim inated, why not slang with It, that which often reaches flie vulgar and profane? One hears it over the phone, in street cars and public gatherings. I om told by teachers it is deplorable. If a pupil is spoken to, the answer comes very flippantly: "My mother says this" and in some Instances "My teacher Says so." On Investigation, I find it a sorry fact. In some instances a child will say to an oider person: "Where do you get that stuff?" or "Are you nutty?" "What's the matter with you? Op soak your head," "Start to the Insane asylum, better hurry and get there quick." "You must be prpud of your ancestors," "I like your kick," and many others passing over the phone or to each ether. I heard a flttle 5-year-old say, to something said to her. "What rot!" It seems to me it might be stopped if one stops to think. The operator on the phone could cut off when such language was being used and with a rebuke. Principals of schools could place cards in halls that slang after a certain date reported, credits would be taken from standings. Streetcars put up notices about no smoking why not. no slang? Each and every one help put down this of fense to refinement. Only 60 years ago a girl saying gosh or darn was to. bo avoided. Now these are mild terms. Where has the genteel girl and the gallant lad gone of that age? Go back to Washington's time and remember the chivalry all love to read about. Now for a clean all America and the little children, the reverence of the aged. Cannot thinking people help stop it It is a habit and ar bad one and to be reprimanded, like any other bad habit, to stop its growth. MRS. MARY POTTER. cannot exist without labor and a con- PLUMB spiracy to stop it for selfish gain I think a crimo against the public. Then there is the dog question (I Imagine I hear 3ome one laugh), but two years ago when your columns were open for the dog question, I was thinking of the millions and millions of dollars' worth of good hu man food going Into the stomachs of worthless dogs, and the other mil lions of dollars' worth of mutton and wool and poultry and eggs being de stroyed by worse than worthless curs. Then the thousands of men who let themselves become soft, and hunting dogs, and the thousands of women who give their time and affections to poodle and bulldogs that Fhould be devoted to the raising of children. All this while we were on rations and substitutes, conserving and economiz ing to the limit. It made It hard for me to appreciate the good and useful dogs. From long experience and ob servation. I think approximately nlne tetiths of city and one-half of" rural dogs are more harm than good and should be eliminated. Then why not a uniform marriage and divorce law, establish one in each county with three or five members. containing a lawyer familiar with probate work, a physician skilled in Inheritable and communicable diseases, and a preacher with a good eye for public welfare, and include one good, sensible mother, or mako It five with two mothers. Let them issue all mar rlaco licenses, hear and decide all divorce cases, then allow no divorced person to remarry except by getting a license from the same Identical court that divorced them. I think they could not only put the brakes fn the "divorce evil." but prevent many unwise and ill-advised marri ages by the weak-minded old, the impetuous young and the unscrupu Ions adventurer, who marry for so ciaJ or financial gain. SILENT THINKER. EDITORIALS ARE WELL LIKED "Silent Thinker" GiTes Views on Weighty Subjects. SEAVIEW. Wash.. Jan. 15. (To the Editor.) I want to express my ap proval and appreciation of The Ore gonlan editorials. I have always read newspapers with special interest in the editorial page. I commenced with Greeley and Retd, Dana, Locke; then in turn the leading dallies of Chicnuo, St. Louis, Kansas City, Topeka, Wich ita, Denver, Los Angeles, San Fran cisco, and of late years, Portland. I think a fairly good history of the last 50 years could be compiled from the editorials I have read. I have never written for publication, but have done lots of thinking, aivl as thoughts unexpressed affect no one but the thinker, 1 will write you a few thoVights. First, as it is "only a Ktep" over county or state lines, I think many problems can be handled better by uniform or federal laws than by state and municipal laws; for instance, the question ol human slavery, interstate commerce, prohibition, union labor strikes. I have thought for several years we would eventually have to penalize all concerted strikes. We LIFE HAS HIGH I DEALS to PLAN IS ADVOCATED Reorganization of Railways Dy Cummins Bill Opposed. PORTLAND, Or.. Jan. 16. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonian Decem ber 9 is an Illustration of the "Men dacious Propaganda" which Is being carried on to misinform the public as to the provisions of the Cummins bill. You stated that the bill provides that the Interstate commerce commission shall adjust rates so that the roads of each district shall earn an aggregate annual net railway operating Income as near as may be to 5 ',6 per cent upon the aggregate value as determined in accordance with the provisions of the railway bill. You then stated that this aggregate value shall be deter mined by the actual physical valua tion as being made by the interstate commerce commission under the act of 1913, and then state that this valuation has been almost completed. It is not true that the interstate Capital Punishment Belongs Period Now l'aet. ALBANY, Or., Jan. 16. (To the Ed itor.) As regards capital punish ment and beat respects to our club women who are going to make clean fight against it. Capital pun ishment has had its day; we are liv ing a life of higher ideals than we were when capital punishment was in vogue. We abolished capital punishment for the good of mankind. It was one big step for humaiity. If we would strive to better things we would en force our laws and give leniency to no criminal. Put him behind prison walls, there he will have plenty of time to find out who was wrong. Nine times oot of ten he will admit his guilt and accept his punishment as just recompense for his crime. Hang him and he does not suffer in mind, body or soul. Then, too, we have committed a crime to cure crime. Why should we live back in the time of shallow minds when It is far beneath our ideals of today? We will be aH.we stand, for, no matter how many stones are strewn in our way. We will advance in spite of our ene mies. Our enemies are jealousy, hate and greed. These are all for no good. We cannot aid them and expect to prosper. Let us strive for all that Is good and righteous, then we will succeed. Until then our enemies are the stronger of the two. MRS. MARTHA FISK. commerce commission has almost completed a valuation of all the roads. At the present time an actual physi cal valuation has been made of only five roads. The result of the findings of the commission have been filed and a determination has been made as to the actual value of the Texas Mid land Railroad company, Atlanta. Bir mingham & Atlantic Railway com pany. Kansas City & Southern, E. J. & E. and the Winston-Salem South Bound. The reports to congress show that it will be at least five years before the physical valuation of all the roads Is completed. This means that the interstate commerco com mission will be forced to accept Im mediately the book value or the capi talization of (he roads as the basis of rate making." It is important to note that the total physical valuation of the five, roads as named above aggre gates J177.031.508. The interstate commerce commission has found that these roads could have been repro duced June 30, 1914, at a cost of $S9. 821.584, this cost would have in cluded the enormous increase In the cost of terminals, the increase in cost of land, in the price of labor and material and also unearned incre ment. In other words, under the Cummins bill, until the physical valuation of the roads i completed the book value or the property in vestment account, or, as it Is some times called, the securities value of the road will be made the basis for rate making. If we take the findings of the five roads as a fair basis and if we take the findings of the Inter state commission as made in the I per cent case. In the New Haven in vestigation in the Chicago & Alton case, the Anthracite coal case and the eastern advance rate case, we can but conclude that for the next five years the American people will pay virtually t per cent upon irom 000.000,000 to $10,000,000,000 of fic titious stock Also, the Cummins bill has another particularly vicious feature, in that it provides that for four months after the roads are returned to the private owners the government shall guar ante a rate which will equal the present rental which is to be paid by the government at this time. The bill makes no other restriction upon this guarantee. It is conceivable to me and highly probable that in the movement which is being furthered to break the back of organized labor the railroad owners could provoke labor to a strike and then could sit ESSAYS REVEAL DETAILS OF LIVING COSTS IN PORTLAND Contributed Articles in The Oregonian's Prie Contest Are Printed. Living Costs Held Down by Thrifty Means. Savin More Each Ynr as the EipuMi Mount Is War Local family Conquers. OREGON FLAX FILLS BILL Fiber From This State Compares With Best Anywhere. PORTLAND, Jan. 16. (To the Ed itor.) In an article relating to tne fishing interests In The Oregonian re cently, reference Is made to the pro hibitive price of seine twine, which has not receded from its pre-war price of $4 a pound, and the conse quent substitution of cotton twine, which Is only $1 a pound. Why this difference in cost? There in comDaratlvely little difference in raw material both being held at frnm 30 to 70 cents a pound. Flax fiber at 70 cents, according to the Irish Trade Journal, is second graae. There Is almost no first grade to be had the only small amount which was received In Belfast In the early spring almost equal to Courtrai brought $2750 a ton, ad the linen trust evidently Is not using first grade. Before the war, the price oi seine twine was $1.25 a pound, and the cost of manufacture was 13 cents a pound, which allowed a fair margin of profit. . Probably cost of manufacture has quadrupled. Even then $1.25 will cover expense. Linen thread for shoe making is $6 and up per pound. No comment is needed. The flax from the penitentiary oc casionally reached the higher fig ure, but, as a rule, 25 or 30 cents was ihe price received. This seems to be .i case which should interest Attor nev-(leneral Palmer. Mr. Basse grew flax which received the highest price from French, Irish and Belgian mills. Forty-five cents a pound was offered for unlimited quantity. Samples of the same were then, sent to Barbour & Marshall, who control the twine and linen thread of the United States, and 13 ents was offered, 10 cents below the ost of production. an article dated December 24 In he Oregonian a warning was given regarding cotton by Professor Todd, English delegate to the world s cot ton conference at New urieans. tie says that the world's supply of cot ton for the next ten years is serlous- ttjreatened. Indications are that scarcity of cotton will Increase, as the'world capacity to consume it re turn to normal. The whole world supply, of staple cotton had been re duced to 1.500.000 bales, of which 500,000 bales had been used in motor construction the past year. I will here remark that Oregon could relieve this pressure by mak ing a low-grade fiber which could easily take the place of this cotton. If Mr. Flack, who contributed an appreciative article on Oregon flax a few weeks ago to this paper, will again call at the Portland libray he Till kc a bunch of fiber grown by Mr. Cunningham, former euperin- Xeadegi f.or ibje Wuui'.u's Flax associa- WINJJBR OP FIRST PRIZE, $10. To Contest Editor: There are only two ways of meeting the Increased expenses of the present day earning more, or saving more. Both are good, but the one most easy to put into practice is the latter, and that is (Vhere the budget , plan comes into play. Webster defines the budget as "a financial estimate." A household bud get is a financial estimate of the cost of running the home. A budget really means the planning beforehand of what one expects to spend, with the object of getting the most good out of one's money. Thinking of the future, when we should be able to own our own home, we decided to put into practice, with resolute will, the principles of economy and thrift as they apply to saving money. We are a family of six adults five girls and our aged father two of us practically supporting the family. It Is true that our salaries have in creased somewhat along with, the higher living costs."but we have had to practice the strictest economy for the last six or eight years in order to meet the advancing prices. We have kept a strict account of our In come and expenses, so wo know where every penny has gone, prac tically. No doubt the results given pelow seem almost impossible in some cases, but we have always had to economize, making our clothes, doing our own laundry, having our shoes mended and denying ourselves lux uries many times In order that we might live within our income and at the same time setting a good table and' having plenty to clothe ourselves respectably. In making up this comparison of household and family expenses, dat ing from 1914 to 1919. Inclusive, I have given the lump sums for the following items: Food, rent, fuel, clothing, shoes. Under food Is grouped groceries. vegetables, fruit, milk, meat. ets. Fuel includes light, gas, coal, wood, etc. I have not included in this summary doctors' or dentists' bills, medicine, household furniture or supplies, church, education, books and magazines, car fare, amusements, telephone, insurance, vacation ex penses and sundry other items, but have endeavored to show the exact sums expended in each year for the five Individual Items, showing the in creased cash outlay required for actual living expenses in our indi vidual familyr Careful Housewife Saves Nickel When She Can, Living for Adnlt Couple Costa S792.ll UurInK 1919. Food Rent .., Fuel Clothing Shoes . . . 1014. .$303.00 . 120.00 . 71.20 . 129.24 . 31.00 Total $654.44 1015. 1MB. 1917. 1918. J3.-i3.ll $3S4.93 $395.33 $58:2.80 120.00 120.00 133.30 244.20 92.90 124.90 90.45 105.60 130.95 1(17.60 172.15 110.07 30.00 25.S0 29.10 23.40 $726.96 $S23.23 $S2G.53 $1070.87 1919. $7B1.33 8SH.20 180.20 219.(12 40.15 $1387.50 M. R. Vain Search Made for Items That Do Not Rise. Cost for Family of Fhe Doubles In Last Five Tears. regulated by the amount available. But that amount now doesn't cover the needs as it did then, as. the fol lowing list shows:' Suit, boy 9 $ Overalls, boy 9 Ptockinirs. girl 11 Hair ribbon, girl 11........ Shoes, girl 11 PORTLAND, Or. (To Contest Edi tor.) "It costs us twice as much to live as it did five of six years ago," had been often on my lips the last year. But it was The Oregonian contest that led me to hunt up my old house keeping books and see whether I was justified in making such a statement. And the figures certainly bore out my assertion so that - in womanly fashion I could say,- "I told you so." In 1914 we were five in the family, father, mother and three hearty chil dren, 11. 9 and 3 years- of age. Of course the children are five years older so that one comes In the adult class now, but father Is working away from home so that his board Is not Included In the 1919 figures. Our house has the same number of rooms' but Isn't as good a dwelling. We use the same number of stoves and what is the difference in our cost of living? The comparison of figures for' No vember, 1914, and November, .1919, tells the tale: 1914. 1919. Rent $12.50 $25.00 Food 20.00 40.00 Fuel 2.-5 00 Some individual items throw light on the food and fuel bills, viz: lyiw. $11. R0 4.0O .70 On 1.70 .16 1S.00 12. CO Soft collar (father).... Pilk waist (mother).... Velvet hat (mother)... Silk gloves Outing flannel, yard. Oil cloth, yard 1914. 1019. 5.00 $30.00 .75 "2. 5o .25 RO .25 .00 2.5rt 5.00 20.00 45.O0 .15 .35 4.00 10.00 4.00 . 9.00 15.00 . , 30.00 .K5 1.05 .15 - .30 .25 .60 in the total 1914. 1919. PORTLAND. Or.. Jan. 6. (To Con test Editor.) The.followlng Informa tion is presented to you, as exact evidence In the high cost of living controversy which Is stalking through the nation. The showing made In these figures is to be credited to the housewife of the family because she makes all ex penditures for the home, even to over seeing the purchase of clothing, par ticularly as to its quality. The family income fFom 1914 to 1919 ranges from $100 to $275 a month. We are living In the same house that we were in six years ago, entertain about the same, and conditions through the period are substantially the same. The exception in certain changes is in goods. Our food ie different and Is based on a more scientific basis. Wherever a nickel can be saved In the purchase of two pounds of butter or anything else. It Is saved. My wife is a good buyer and of an economical nature. We have a small garden. Its produc tion is not so great the last two years because of too much shade. Size of lot is GOxlOO. The following table of costs in cludes, under the heading of "Food," groceries, meat, milk, water; under the heading of "Fuel," gas, electricity, coal and wood; under the heading of "Clothes." underwear, stockings, sox, suspenders, handkerchiefs, thread, buttons, suits, waists, everything in women's wear; all of our clothing Is bought ready-made. The figures are for two adults: get' what they really need. Much of country. I found that the food cost this struggle is due to lack of proper I had averaged $3 a month. rid 1914. 101S. 19ie. 1917. 1P1S. 1919. Food $309.87 $285.17 $279.58 $291.13 $31(1.40 $309.37 Rent 18H.0O 180. OO 1O8.00 IHS.OO J 91.0(1 21(1.00 Fuel 60.80 44.15 .1(1.(15 54.37 Mt.B.3 R7.5 Shoe 12.95 15.30 24.78 30.21 19 75 20.5S Clothing 78.74 78.74 107.71 44.69 46.19 128.60 Total $600.36 $602.86 $630.72 $583.37 $677.02 $792.11 S. C. L. Budget System Wins High Cost Battle. 1 in But Slight Increase "oted by Care ful PrDnlnc of the Npceaaltles to Limits Set. WINNER OF SECOND PRIZE. $3. PORTLAND, Or. (To the Contest Editor.) In order to show that by being economical and careful in buy ing, and using what is bought to the best advantage, a family can live comfortably on a very slight Increase over the cost of living prior to the beginning of the war. Notwithstand ing the fact that the price of most commodities has advanced 100 per cent during that period. I will fur nish a statement of comparative costs of some of the Items that enter our living expenses, as follows: . .. .$ .05 $ .06 .05 .15 .10 .0614 .20 .10 .20 .1 5 .OS .40 1914. ;.$ C.50 . . 1.25 .30 .50 Bark sugar. . . Fai'k potatoes Rutter. pound......... KgKs. dozen Apples, box. Milk, quart Coal, ton Wood, cord Then, as now, our clothing bill was .in 9. on 5.00 Boy 14. Girl 8. Many small itemi of advance: Street car. ........... Tablet Magazine ....... Crochet cotton . . .... Soap Honey Some items that do not show so much advance are deceiving for the quality is so much poorer. For in stance: A pair of rubbers, rolled edge, heaviest quality, cost 60 cents the first year. Last year the same size rubbers in the thinnest of soles and lightest of weight cost 75 cents. The Christmas list for the two was a revelation to me. In 1914. we re membered 21 relatives and friends outside of our own home circle with gifts ranging from 25 cents to $2 in cost. In 1919. we had reduced the list to five, with only Christmas cards for all the rest, and yet the reduction in expense was only $5. The plainest of cards now costs 10 cents which helps to explain the problem. And so it went through the list as I hunted vainly for some item that read the same. Stop: I've found one! 1914. 1919. Food. $351.30 356.50 336.20 369.00 397. 0O 404.70 Fuel. $78.00 45.00 42.70 53.80 72.00 60.70 Shoes." Clothing $18.75 $117.00 21 30 27.75 15.95 30.20 48.60 90 00 124.30 85.20 151.00 121.80 1914.... 1015.... 191S 1917.... 1918 1919. . . . The above items are not estimates of what a family might require, but are actual figures taken from the ex pense account of a family consisting of two adults and one girl, now 14 years of age. You will observe that the greatest advance in cost is for shoes, and that may be accounted for, partly from the fact that at the beginning of the period the girl wore children's shoes, while the last two years she has beeu wearing ladles' shoes which take a higher price than children's shoes, also after shoes began to advance In price we dug out of closets; several pairs of discarded shoes, and had them repaired which gave consider able wear at a slight expense, and thereby saved the purchase of new ones. , Some may consider the sums ex pended for clothing would provide a scant wardrobe, and while I admit we do not have as many suits hang- i ing In the closets as pome people, we One postage stamp Scents 2 cents I wear good clothes and take good care But don't ark about all of the in-lof them, and the wife being handy terveniug years. R. E. S. I with shears and needle, and good at planning, is able to make over gar ments for the daughter, as well as for herself, and get much wear out ol clothes that might otherwise go to the ragpickers. We have, during all this period, raised a good garden which supplied the table with vegetables and have grown all the berries and fruit which we could use, also have kept a few hens which have supplied us with eggs for the table., besides selling al most enough eggs to pay for their feed. All of this grown in our yard, the labor being performed by myself at odd times before and after office hours, which exercise provided me with a vigorous appetite and kept me In good physical condition. While fuel has almost doubled in price, we have been able to keep our six-room house comfortable at about the same cost now as in former years, due to the fact that Instead of heat ing the entire house from the fur nace, we now heat only a part of the rooms at one time, closing the rooms not actually in use and turning the heat into rooms being used, also by having a small heating stove which we have In a room used for a living room, and which Is the only heat used part of the time. Other living expenses, such as wa ter, gas, electricity, telephone, insur ance, etc., have not advanced as much in cost as the four Items listed, yet they all help to eat Into the salary check. The Item of rent I have not touched upon for the reason we own our home and have no ent to pay. but the ad vance in taxes' and all kinds of build ing materials used in alterations or repairs to the place add materially to the upkeep in lh?u of rent. O. L. K. Abou Ben Ad hem Takes Lesson From Horse. He Ubora 14 Hoars Dully at Cont ' of S2.25 Per Month for Food. PORTLAND, Or. (To Contest Edi tor.) This contribution to the H. C. L. essay contest is not written so much for those who can afford to buy what they want as for tne poor, humble ones who have a constant struggle to study of how to get on in the world I have, for instance, seen people pay 15 cents for a cucumber that is 97 per cent water when' the same money spent for some other kinds of food would have bought 25 times as much nutriment. (Right here, I want to advise all to send to the department of agriculture. Washington, for a free copy of Dr. Atwater's "Principles of Nutrition and the Nutritive Value of Food," Farmers' Bulletin No. 142.) When James J. Hill said, "The high cost of living is. the cost of high living." it seemed to me that, with some qualification, he uttered a great truth. Not believing that the chief end of man is to glorify his stomach, I welcomed an opportunity to make a simple test of it in its application to food. This test coverad only one third of the period mentioned in the contest, nearly one-half of it before the United States entered the war. the remainder of it the year after, and before war prices had reached their, crest In some things. For ten months, from August, 1916, to June, 1917, I was away from home and was in the country ten miles from Portland and kept house alone, or "bached." About half that time, the rent for the six-room house was $5 a month; then a family occupied half of- It, and my rent was $2.50. Wood, stove length, delivered, was 90 cents a rick, or $2.70 a cord. Potatoes were $3 a sack, apples 60 cents a box, whole milk 5 cents a quart. My chief food was "What they feed horses in Eng land and men In Scotland." A frequent and very satisfactory dish was pan cakes made of let-over oat mush mixed with half as much wheat flour, fried in plenty of fat and sprinkled with sugar at 18 pounds for $1. I used but little butter and no tea nor coffee. About three times a month I would get two or three pounds of fat meat with which for several meals I would boll potatoes. Here Is an entry from my diary for December 30, 1916: "Got three pounds meat, 30 cents: ten pounds oats, 50 cents; ten1 pounds whole "wheat flour. 50 cents: eight pounds soda crackers. $1; 20 dbzen doughnuts, $1." I was away from the house all day except Sat urdays and Sundays. Including house work, I labored busily at light work 14 hours a day. ate heartily, had good health, was contented, kept strict ac count of all expenses and at the end of my sojourn there found that the cost food averaged $2.25 a month, one-third of it for milk, a pint a day. From August, 1917, to June. 1918. I was again alone, on a five-acre farm. 22 miles from Portland, for which I paid a rent of $5 a month. Four-foot wood was $3 a cord and potatoes and fruit I got from the farm. I got two quarts of skim milk fresh from the separator a day for 50 cents a month, less than a cent a quart, and in sum mer I got four quarts a day and made cottage cheese frequently. I lived very much like the preceding year, but prices were higher. Nine pounds of oats or 'cornmeal or flour was 65 cents. It was impracticable to have bread, so Instead I used a variety of crackers and cookies and doughnuts. During the ten- months, I ate four boxes of 20 dozen each of doughnuts, 960 of them. The doughnuts then re tailed tn Portland at 20 cents a dozen and all that remained unsold after one day were returned to the bakery and were sold at i cents a uozen. 1 found that even when a month old. If they were heated In the oven a few minutes they were Jut like ifir. At the end of my second sojourn In the The country is a good place to wear out old clothes. During those two years. I bought only one suit of clothes and the total expenditure for clothing, including shoes, for that period was under $35. Some people seem to take pride in telling how much they pay for various articles. Rather, especially in these times, should it not be a desire to show how cheap, not necessarily how cheaply, and how well we can live? ABOU BEN AD1IEM. Family Increases, but Buys Home and Saves. llDOHTflfe Rvolvea Philosophy of Manaa-rment That Proves Acme of Kfficlenry. CAMAS, Wash. (To Contest Edi tor.) To show how the cost of living has affected us. here Is the experi ence of a family, who. married the last of June. 1915. has kept account of every cent spent since. We have no car or garden and the average standard of living. There are two children born the last of August, 1916. and the latter part of June, 1918. In February, 191S, we bought a home ror tjuoo.. This we mortgaged for $1000 to run at 7 per cent for three years. The $1000 and the interest so far paid are included under shelter; also $50 a year life insurance. Shelter includes rent, payment on property, taxes, fire and life Insur ance. Food Includes groceries, water, butcher, dairy products and ice. Clothes, all wearing apparel, except shoes. Incidentals include light. heat, laundry, carfare, house furnishings, drugs and doctors. Advancement Includes books, peri odicals, church, charity and amuse ments. Luxuries are gifts, etc. Incidentals ran so high the first year because they Included furniture, etc'., necessary to begin housekeeping. Following are the figures: 1915 (six months) Shelter. $118; food. $109.66; clothes. $37.92; shoes, $4.80; incidentals, $329.03; advance ment, $39.45, and luxuries, $44 51. 1916 Shelter, $210.09; food. $269.67; clothes, $132.60; shoes. $17.19: inci dentals, $58.69: advancement, $194.72, and luxuries. $122.43. 1917 Shelter. $224.44; food, $314.09; clothes, $163.64: shoes, $225; Inci dentals. $129.32: advancement, $70.28. and luxuries. $82.65. 1918 Shelter. $1372.08; food. 448.16; clothes, $109.81 shoes. $34.60; inci dentals, $317.10; advancement, $69.31. and luxuries. $120. 1919 Shelter. $158.76; food. $467.31; clothes. $211.17; shoes. $43.04: inci dentals, $192.15; advancement, $215.67; and luxuries. $62. SS. To keep your expenses down do your own marketing, personally, not over the phone. Pay cash, many stores will give a discount. Keep accounts, you can at least see where your money goes. Make a budget and try to stick to it. Learn to find your recreation at home. Go only to good shows and r.ot so often. You will enjoy them more. Do not be afraid of spending your money, but be sure you are petting your money's worth. M. L. 11. idly by. reaping the fruits of the guarantee. The Cummins bill also provides that the accounting between the gov ernment and the railroad owners the government snail Immediately pay to the railroad owners all indebtedness due from the government, but that ie ra.uroaas snail have ten years in which to pay their indebtedness to the government on account of Im provements and betterments. The present book value of the railroads ncludes enormous Investments of surplus earnings. To cito one In stance In the Eastern advance rate case, 20 I. O. C. 269, the president of the Pennsylvania railroad testified that since 1877 his company had put nlo the lines east of Pittsbursr $262,000,000 from the earnings. Dur- ng an this time this companv paid liberal dividends to all stockholders. In your paper of November 25, you stated that "Nothing can be plainer than that undue profits of the em ployer after labor is paid ... belongs neither to the employer nor to tne employe, but to the public from whom they were exacted." To whom, then, belongs thla $262,000,000, equal to nearly two-thirds of the total cost of construction of the 2123 miles owned by the above named company? Reports show similar Investments of surplus earnings and that the public nas oeen paying rates upon the sur plus earnings for many years. The particularly vicious feature of the Cummins bill Is the fact that by leg islative act it determines what shall be a fair, value for rate-making pur poses. The United States supreme court in the Monongahela case said: Ihe question as to what is the na ture of just compensation, either for use or taking, Is a Judiciary and not a legislative question." The attempt of the bankers to have the legisla ture determine the basis upon which compensation shall be paid is a usur pation of the judiciary function and it is an attempt by statute to deter mine the rights and property Interest upon which rates must earn a return. It is easy to see the exceeding friendliness of the railroad bankers for legislative action when we know that heretofbre the Interstate com merce commission has refused to fix rates based upon earning a fair re return upon the book value which wifjl have to be done for at least five years under the Cummins bill. The interstate commerce commission in ther 5 per cent case. 5860, said: "The property Investment account as now standing on the books of the com panies cannot be accepted as accur ately showing the fair value of the property devoted to serving the pub lic" Commissioner Clements said the "book values have been long and generally recognized as largely un trustworthy." Now the railroad bank ers are turning to the legislature to obtain something which they could not obtain from the interstate com merce commission. In other words, they are demanding a validation of all fictitious stock ever issued, and they are demanding a return upon all surplus earnings invested and I repeat the statement as made in your paper of December 2S, that under the Cummins bill for the next five years the American people will pay tribute in the way of rates upon at least $8,000,000,000 of fictitious stock. You call the Plumb plan the soviet plan. Such is not true. It provides for the taking over of the railroads by the government, for the formation of a corporation, composed of 15 di rectors, five to be appointed by the president with the approval of the senate, five elected by the executives, about 22.000 in number, and five elect ed by the classified employes, about 2.000,000 In number. The interests of the executives and the employes is made adverse by the provision that out of one-half of the surplus earn ings the executives- shall receive twice the dividend rate as that paid to the classified employes. The pro vision for a voice in the management by the employes is simply recogni tion of the new spirit of labor and also of forward-looking employers, such as the Proctor Gamble company, where three directors were recently elected by labor, these labor directors constituting one-fourth membership on the directorate. The point of valuation alone con demns the Cummins bill. The Plumb plan provides for an appraisement by a board, of which the Interstate com merce commission constitutes a party. Either dissatisfied party may appeal from the decision of this court to the federal court and from there to the supreme court. This insures a fair appraisement. Whenever the railroad bankers are unwilling to submit a determination of the fair value of their properties to our supreme court, we may be assured that the stakes are mighty heavy. The Plumb plan provides for a de crease In rates, since when the gov ernment's share of the profits shall exceed 5 per cent of the gross oper ating revenues the Interstate com merce commission shall lower rates to absorb this surplus. Thus, before further profits shall be paid to the employes or the government, added efficiency must be demonstrated. The time has come when a worker should have just as much voice In the industry by which he exists as he now has in the government under which he lives. The greatest steal ever perpetrated In history Is now being attempted In the halls of congress. American peo ple at the lowest possible estimate will pay a tribute of $480,000,000 upon fictitious stock if the Cummins bill passes. BERYL A. GREEN. WASTE OF CANS BEWAILED As an Adjunct to Scenery They Arc Failure. PORTLAND. Jan. 16. (To the Edi tor.) Just now we are patting our selves on the back,, and loudly ac claiming to tne world that the scen ery of Oregon is unsurpassed any where In the world, and Frank Branch Riley, he of the mezzo-tinted voice, is beguiling the Innocent eastern mil lionaire to spend excess profits midst this paradise of ours. Now, if any one thinks I am going to knock any of our permanent and enduring scen ery, far be it from such. as I am most enthusiastically in accord with the best that can be said about our state: but We are accumulating some scenery to which I am vigorously opposed, and I would sanction a law that would condemn to Kelly Butte for life those patriotic citizens who vol untarily and without charge to the public decorate our highways with the scenery aforesaid. I had occa sion to drive out on the Powell Yal ley road, a most beautiful and pic turesque driveway, leading to the classic village of Gresham. now the habitat of that distinguished jurist, the Hon. George Stapleton. and at intervals of short duration I noticed what I at first thought was guides or markers strewn along the road, supposedly to prevent .the strangers In our midst from going astray and wandering Into unknown rields. However, upon closer Inspection )dis covered that these marks were empty cans, bearing the label of some well known brand of milk, or directing your attention to the fact that the can had at one time contained full 16 ounces of tomatoes, and having served a useful commercial purpose, was now (Concluded oa l'ais T.) 6 4