TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, AUGUST 7, 1921
ESTABLISHED BY UEXKI I, PITTOCK,
Published by The Oreeonlan Publishing; Co.,
J8S Sixth Street, Portland, Oregon.
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RELIEF FOR RUSSIA.
If Herbert Hoover were disposed
to be punctilious, he might object to
the manner In which the soviet gov
ernment of Russia accedes to his de
mand for rc-iease of American pris
oners before relief will be given to
famine sufferers. The soviet treats
the affair as a diplomatic -bargain,
evidently with an ulterior purpose to
lead on to negotiations for trade and
ultimately for full diplomatic rela
tions. Such a proposition is repel
lent to a man of Mr. Hoover's char
acter, though famine and the hor
rors of prison life are familiar tools
of bolshevist diplomacy.
In this matter Mr. Hoover acts
not on behalf of the United States
government but as bead of the relief
association, therefore lacks author
ity for diplomatic intercourse. He
demanded as a condition of a mis
sion of humanity to Russia, that the
soviet itself should display a small
modicum of humanity. But he is
not the man to hold out on such
points. No conference is necessary.
If the soviet sets the Americans free,
relief will go to Russia as soon as
they are safe out. The occasion
calls for acts, not words, with which
the bolshevists are too profuse.
Senator France uses Russia's need
of relief as an argument for sl trade
agreement between the United
States and soviet governments, and
implies that through some action of
the United States trade relations are
cut . off. The government of this
country does not forbid or obstruct
trade with Russia; it simply refuses
to assume any responsibility in the
matter, but leaves Americans free to
trade or not at their own risk. Trade
agreements between governments
are founded on observance of the
ordinary rules and customs of com
mercial intercourse. They would re
quire that-thls country send an am
bassador to uphold the rights of its
citizens, and consuls to facilitate
business transactions; also that Rus
sia have a government which would
observe the principles of honor, jus
tice and humanity accepted by civi
lized nations. A trade agreement Im
plies assurance of all these things.
Our government can give no 6uch
assurance, knowing the character of
the soviet government and that it
may be overturned any day or cause
civil war. It is doubtful whether fit
men could be Induced to accept
diplomatic or consular appointments
under present circumstances. The
best the government can do is to let
Americans take their chances in
trade with Russia, as they would la
trade with the cannibal islands.
MEXICO'S ANTI-AMERICAN LAWS.
Mexico shares with Germany and
Russia the distinction of not having
been included by the Paris peace
conference on the list of nations
that could be trusted to keep their
engagements, and it persists in the
policy which caused it to be pro
scribed. Obregon assumed power
with loud professions of friendship
for Americans, and cultivated the
impression that he would reverse
the anti-American policy of Car
ranza. All that he. has done is to
protect the persons of Americans
from assault and murder; he con
tinues to confiscate their property.
All appeals to rescind the confisca
tory article 27 of the Carranza con
stitution have been fruitless, and the
strongest parties in the Mexican con
gress recently affirmed their pur
pose to maintain it. Yet Obregon
expects the United States to accept
his promise that Americans will be
squarely treated, and he pretends to
be unfairly treated when recognition
is withheld.
Robbery of Americans under the
Carranza policy is not confined to
mineral land, to the claim of the
government to oil or to the 25 per
cent export tax on oil. It extends
to agricultural land, of which large
tracts had been bought for cultiva
tion, development and sale under the
security of the constitution of 1857.
One provision of article 27 reads:
Settlements, hamlets, situated on private
property and communes which lack land
or water or do not possess them in suffi
cient quantity for their needs shall h
the right to be provided with them from
me adjoining properties, always having
due regard for small landed holdings.
Under that clause great tracts of
land have been taken from their
owners to be held as common prop
erty by villages. Compensation is
to be paid only on the value fixed
for taxation plus 10 per cent, and
the owner must accept bonds in
payment. Each state must fix a
maximum area to be held by one in
dividual, and the excess must be
subdivided and sold on conditions
approved by the state. Several
states have passed laws accordingly.
Durango has imposed a graduated
land tax which increases as holdings
grow larger. The state gives any citi
zen the right to acquire idle land for
cultivation and requires the owner
to. furnish working machinery at a
fixed rental. This right has been
perverted to the seizure of culti
vated land by men whose only ob
ject was to remove livestock and
other personal property, then aban
don the land. About 3000 Ameri
can owners who were farming small
tracts have been driven out during
the.xevolution and are unable to re
turn, but are forbidden to sell ex
cept to Mexicans,
. These laws are plainly intended to
drive out foreigners, especially
Americans, At a banquet given, to.
Carranza at Vera Cruz in October,'!
1914,. Luis Cabrera made a speech
in the presence of all the foreign
consuls, who afterward drew up a
report of the speech' on. which they
agreed. W. W. Canada, the Ameri
can consul, told the senate commit
tee that Cabrera said "they were
going to drive the Americans out.
take their property, .were not going
to allow them to buy any more" and
"said something similar to the Eng
lish and Cubans." That was known
as "the Carranza doctrine." In June,
1919, the dictator employed a woman
to write a book on the subject, the
object being in his own words "to
jdstify the attitude of my govern
ment in its systematic hostility
toward foreign speculators, espe
cially Americans and English." In
accord with it, Carranza's constitu
tion declares that "only Mexicans
have the right to acquire ownership,
in lands, etc.," and that "the na
tion may grant the same right to
foreigners, provided they agree to
be considered Mexicans in regard to
the same," under penalty of forfeit
ure, but no foreigner may acquire
direct ownership within 100 kilo
meters of the frontier or fifty kilo
meters of the seasoast.
The prohibited zone comprises 40
per cent of the area of the republic
and a larger percentage of the agri
cultural land, and within it are most
of the lands bought by Americans
for development and irrigation and
for sale in smal tracts. They are
now forbidden to sell to any but
Mexicans, who are unable to buy,
so the result is confiscation. The
effect of the law is to throw a cloud
on the titles of Mexicans also, and
they exclaim loudly against its ruin
ous effect.
Obregon, like Carranza, tries to
make Mexico, a hermit republic. Like
Lenine, he makes it a country where
the elementary principles of justice
do not rule. The least we can do in
resentment is to leave Mexico to its
isolation. I
THE DISTINGUISHED MB, THEOCBITtJS.
We who are blithe to quibble, to
catch up the mistaken statement
and thrust it in the teeth of its per
petrator, must let a lot of splendid
opportunities slip by us through the
haze of ignorance. Witness the Lit
erary Digest, a most particular pub
lication, which some months ago.
lapsed for but a moment and spoke
of Theocritus as a great 'Latin poet.
The ink was not dry on its pages
before the-editors realized that they
were in for it. Theocritus, it seems,
was a Greek. "We braced ourselves
for a deluge of corrections," com
ments the Literary Digest in a re
cent number, "but after two months
only one protest had reached us,
and that from far-away Honolulu."
Gravely confronting the publica
tion with its fault, eighteen students
of McKinley high school, Honolulu,
subscribed themselves to a letter of
correction. The cream of the situa
tion is that, but for three or four
exceptions, the class roster runs riot
with such names as Goonzo Yama
shita, or Edith Ah Chung Ing. or
Kam Dal Ching. Where in the name
of the American states, may we ask,
were the William Smiths, the John
Browns, and the Albert Johnsons of
the many McKinley high schools
here at home? Theocritus was noth
ing in their young lives. It remained
for Sueko Okita and his schoolmates
to admit a .passing familiarity with
the greatest of Grecian bucolic bards.
Where, for that matter, were our
learned professors?
Had the Literary Digest erred in
a more popular particular its mails
would have doubled overnight. Sup
pose it had, with editorial noncha
lance, tossed off the astounding
statement that Babe Ruth had Just
pounded out his umpteenth homer
for the New York Giants? Let's as
sume that it had ventured the
sprightly assertion that Charlie
Chaplin made his histrionic debut
in Kokomo, Indiana; or that when
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Three
Weeks" she found herself on the
high seas of fame. The instant ef
fect would have been horrendousf
After all, and however, Theocritus
has been passe for quite a while;
whereas the gifted' Babe is still
at bat, Charlie at his capers, and
Elinor at her "writing desk. They
are not yet to be found entombed in
the encyclopedia, under the initials
cf their surname.
FURSUING THE POTATO.
If a prophet be without honor in
his own country there is ever the
suspicion that he has fallen down on
the job, that bis auguries have gone
awry, that he neglected to mention
a total eclipse of the sun, or some
thing of that sort. Yet this process
of logic does mot .apply to the po
tato, for whose relief the governor
of California recently proclaimed
a "potato day," on which all loyal
citizens were exhorted to buy the
tubers and consume them freely,
that a great industry might empty
its bins. For of all the garden
family, prophetio of health and
rotund happiness, the potato never
has failed to hold the confidence and
appetite of folk in general.
Mr. Cobb, who bade farewell to
the potato, perforce, in the urgency
of his effort to reduce, did so with
tears unfeigned, ' and as one who
knew in bitterness and regret the
deprivation thus involved. Not many
of us would care to asume the spar
tan obligation of refusing the po
tato, in any of its numerous guises.
Instead we incline to the belief that
the courtly Sir Walter Raleigh,
when he returned from her maj
esty's colony of Virginia, brought
DacK to wueen Elizabeth nothing
quite so acceptable as that native
American tuber. Indeed, we grow
Impatient with' history, that has
glorified the gallantry of Sir Walter,
through the story of his last year's
cloak, the mud puddle, and the
foyal predicament, while it has con
spicuously failed to lend prominence
to that afternoon when he called at
court with a huge potato in either
pocket and advised the queen to
send them out to her kitchen.
The potato, miscalled the Irish
murphy of which more anon
comes of a royal line itself, and is
royally deserving of specific his
torical attention. Several members
of the same family have attained
more or less renown, but none of
them has that reputation for gen-
erous philanthropy which adheres
to the potato. It is first cousin to
tobacco, belladonna, tomato, egg
plant and pepper. Of the first, let
it be said that the modest spud has
itself been conducive to reflective
contentment; of the second, that it
has brightened more glances than
the "fair lady." but false, ever
dreamed of. and that it has harmed
no one; of the third, that the tomato
is honored by. the reiationehjD; pf
the fourth, that the potato is a more
reliable missile, when accurately
hurled: and, of the fifth, that pepper
is merely contrived by nature for
the ' proper spicing of a superior
viand.
It is beyond .controversy that the
Spaniards were the benefactors of
Europe in introducing the potato
overseas, early in the 16th century;
and that it did not appear in Ireland
until 1565, when the slaver Hawkins
landed a few by way of experiment.
Sir Francis Drake, as well, saw the
possibilities of the potato and ush
ered it into England in 1586. It was
a year later that the adroit Raleigh
presented them with his compli
ments to the queen.- The lapses of
history are vexatious. What said
the queen? And were they boiled,
baked or fried? The cook must have
failed to meet the emergency, for
despite the royal - attention, our
old friend gained.no fame in Eng
land for many a year. The Com
plete Gardener of 1719 did not men
tion it, and for sonie time it .was
'contended that the potato probably
afforded a new ration of swine and
cattle. Indeed, it was this happy
thought that gave birth 'to an in
spiration. So prolific a producer,
reasoned the lords, ought to be fine
food for the poor in time of.famine.
It"came to pass that the poor took
on such well-fed proportions, so
frolicksome an aspect, that the
scornful rich "were reluctantly com
pelled to order a portion of hashed
browns and determine just what the
magic was.
LOSSES OF SHIPS MADE GOOD.
Not only the loss of ships during
the war but the deficiency in normal
production for the war years has
been made good by the phenomenal
boom in building. There were
launched in the year 1918 through
out the world 5,447,444 tons, and in
1919 7,144,549 tons, including over
4.000,000 tons in the United States,
and in 1920 5,862,000 tons. The'
total for the three years was 25 per
cent greater than for the 29 years
ending December 31, 1920, accord
ing to the Commerce Monthly. The
world's tonnage now exceeds 60,
000,000 and exceeds by 11,000,000
the total on June 30, 1914.
There has been a great decrease
in shipbuilding this year, both be
cause of depression in the carrying
trade and because high cost of pro
duction and strikes have discour
aged new work. This country's out
put - Has shrunk enormously? and
many yards are -closed or working
to only part capacity, or have been
dismantled, but itsjeapacity has cer
tainly been permanently increased.
On the ability of American builders
and workmen to .reduce cost will
depend our ability to contend with
Britain for first place.
General revival ' of ocean com
merce must be trusted to brfng into
use the large surplus tonnage.
Europe probably la working only
half time, and the United States is
working far below capacity in their
industries. When they get up to
full capacity and exchange their
wares, many idle ships will come
into service. Development of the
conquered colonies and mandated
territories will employ more tonnage.
A few years will effect an expan
sion of commerce which will call
for all existing tonnage and more
into the bargain.
THE STRANGE REVOLT IN INDIA.
The "white man's burden" is yet
an irksome tne, and the cares of
6mpire as fretful as ever they were
when the raw lands were won. There
is in India a mahatma of . the peo
ple, the recluse-prophet, Gandhi,
whose doctrines are today affording
British statecraft one of its most
perplexing problems. For Gandhi is
a revolutionist, not by the bare bru
tality of bomb and torch and tulwar,
but by the spiritual weapon of non-co-operation.
Where England would
not be at loss to cope with another
Sepoy mutiny, or to chase a second
Mahdl into his native desert, she Is
at loss for stratagems and policies
to counteract the influence of
Mahatma Gandhi a mystic of In
dia, whose gospel is "India must be
free."
The revolutionary methods of
Gandhi do not countenance force in
its physical manifestation, do not
teach hatred of the English, nor op
position to them as a people, but
require merely that those who fol
low him shall without passion refuse
to aid the Indian government in any
of its projects, or to in the least par
ticular recognize the duties incum
bent upon those who accept and
recognize a- government. It is the
doctrine of passive resistance, so
often preached by radical dreamers,
and strange it i3 that this most
singular revolution in history should
find its testing ground in India.
It is rather a simple matter to get
a reputation for holiness in India,
one gathers from reading; yet the
desire to attain merit is not a super
ficial Impulse of human pride, and
the begging bowl of the beggar
priest typifies something more than
the-spirit of the mendicant. Indian
princes of station and wealth have
before now given up the world's
goods and comforts to seek spiritual
purification through lives of rigorous
self-denial and prayer. Kipling, who
knows and loves that country, gave
all outlanders a picture of ju'st such
a. priest in the lovable old saint that
Kim followed to the ranges of Tibet.
And Gandhi, so- the story of fact
runs, is one of these, denying him
self his heritage of place and plenty
that he may serve. The appeal of
such a character is powerful in a
land that exalts and ' extols the
spiritual.
Mahatma Gandhi, however; adds
to this record of saintly self-denial
the actual proof of practical achieve
ment. Educated in an English uni
versity, he became a leader of native
thought in his youth, and in 1893
went to South Africa as the cham
pion of. 150000 low-caste Indians
who had settled there and who were
to be deported and excluded by trie
government. It was through his
leadership that the Asiatic exclusion
act was taken into court and de
clared unconstitutional, and that
the Hindus in South Africa were
organized. After protracted diffi
culties, including a strike of long
duration, the mahatma succeeded in
gaining recognition for the Hindus
as equal citizens of South Africa.
Then Gandhi turned again to India
and his strange revolution.
The ways of this revolt are vari
ous, but thus far have proved merely
vexatious. It is said that the Prince
of Wales did not visit India during
his recent tour because Gandhi had
forbidden any Hindu to look upon
the face of the English heir. And
when the Duke of Connaught came
in. his stead he entered .without na
tive welcome,- while 75,000 people
escorted the mahatma on that day.
He has taught his people again to
use the hand loom, so that they may
weave their own garments and yield
no support to the Indian cotton in
dustry. He has declared against re
ligious antipathies and quarrels, a
ban never before ventured in India,
and against liquor and drugs. From
these latter reforms India, In any
event, will be the' gainer. Of Gandhi
the Indian poet and scholar, Rabin
dranath Tagore, has said: "I shall
lay down all f5y wealth and all my
life, at the feet of my master,
Mahatma Gandhi."
One cannot scoff at such a cru
sade nor hesitate to honor ,its high
id-eals. But would India become a
free nation through mystic, relig
ious idealism? It is not so long ago
that the English forbade the suttee.
Famine and pestilence no longer
stride their accustomed course
through the land, nor do the tyrant
princes tax and torture as they were
wont to do. The occupation of. India
by the English has had its com
pensations for the Indian people,
who would today, but for a civilized
government, be dwelling in a state
of barbarous feudalism". All peoples
should and will be free.-but it were
madness to tempt the return to
barbarism by removing all restraint
from a child-like people. In time to
come it will be different. But for
the present the Kipling definition
fits "a new-born, sulloi people,
half devil and half child."! i
Zealots have said that the gov
ernment of uncultured peoples by
the white race is tyranny, however
we condone it. That is not so, and
has not been for many years. A
new senst of obligation, transcend
ing mere commercialism, has arisen
in the world and brought with, it
tasks that civilization may not shirk
orty it does, then at its peril.
GREEN CORN AND THE 1USUET TAX.
Browsing through an advertise
ment, a-shopping with fancy, one
encounters the information that silver-plated
green-corn holders bear
a 5 per cent luxury tax. Most amaz
ing. What would granddad have
said to, even suggestion of such a
device, let alone mention of a special
federal tax on its purchase? He was
a man of fixed opinions, largely de
rived in Indiana, where the corn
grows tall and luscious. His denun
ciatory gifts were surprising.
There is, in an eastern city, a
newspaper which once upon a time
was transported with delight in the
moon of green corn, editorially
speaking, and celebrated its ecstacy
by half a column: of tribute to the
Golden Bantam variety. One might
write , learnedly of the Einstein
theory, might discuss with gravity
and sense the theory of inh'abitation
of Mars, might, indeed, treat with
profound sagacity any number of
scientific topics without creating the
appreciative furore that followed.
By request of constant readers that
paper is now condemned to reprint,
with each returning summer, its
epic on green corn. This, we think,
testifies t the peculiarly national
affection for a seasonal delight.
At that time, however, the luxury
tax slumbered in the fertile fancy
of congress, so that the eastern
pundit did not dwell upon green-corn
holders and the , federal toll. He
could not, by the wildest flight of
imagination, vision a day when an
American appetite should be hin
dered in its democratic attack on the
cob. Perhaps the silver-plated
dingus was not yet conceived, and
the tactics of the day wece still of
pioneer simplicity. However that
may be, here is the long-sought op
portunity to flout the luxury tax by
a return to old and-cherished cus
toms. Certainly your grandfather
never heard of a holder for his roast
ing ear.
Green common the cob should be
lifted with that artistic precision
which, while seemingly careless and
insouciant, permits a maximum of
efficiency with a minimum of melted
butter down the shirt front. Clasp,
ing the ear firmly in the one hand,
by the nub that once linked it to the
parent stalk, and with the apex of
the cob resting in the joined fingers
of the other, the viand should be
slowly revolved before the face, let
ting the natural instinct have its
way. In a surprisingly short time
a matter of moments, the green-corn
expert will so denude an ear of
Golden Bantam, or any other va
riety, as to puzzle and disillusion
any chicken in the flock.
A MUTUAL MISUNDERSTANDING.
As a people we were deeply pained
when it was reported that Professor
Albert Einstein had weighed us in
the balance and found us wanting
lacking in poise, in purpose, in cul
ture, and in scientific comprehen
sion. We rather liked the professor.
He. brightened a dreary world by the
Inexhaustible possibilities of his
unique theory of relativity. Every
Jokesmith in America sprang to the
forge without delay and if we Jest
with a visitor it is always the -.sign
that we are interested in him and
his opinions. But when the pro
fessor was said to have said that he
found us impossible the Joy mo
mentarily went out of life. Now
that he has denied the words attrib
uted to him, and spoken with
warmth and good "will of America,
we are constrained to resume our
previous belief that, as scientists
average, this relativity theorist is an
excellent fellow, relatively speaking.
I am very much shocked (said the herr
professor) at the utterances attributed to
ma concerning the American public. That
the sensational interest in the theory of
relativity manifested by the general public
Is for the chief part founded upon a mis
understanding is, to be sure, only -too true.
What impresses me most when I recall
America to memory Is the feeling of
gratitude for the warm and cordial recep
tion which I' received from all professional
colleagues. . I was struck by the
plain comradeship and harmless, sociable
nature of the Americans who are free.
What Professor Einstein evidently
does not know, concerning Ameri
cans, is that thousands of individual
thinkers, in all walks of life from
the school room to the college fac
ulty gave to his theory the most
painstaking study and, if they did
not grasp it entirely, at least saw a
glimmering, of light. Beneath the
surface of merriment . and jesting,
which the professor falsely assumes
to have been the proof of misunder
standing, a great deal of serious
study was flowing, in an intellectual
current that we cannot but believe
would compare most favorably with
any interest that relativity has quick
ened in Germany. The herr pro
fessoT did not understand an Amer
ican joke, and thereby the scientific
mind went wide of understanding
America. .
Nevertheless we are pleased "to
know that he left our shores without
that jpatronizLns &lr euoeriority
which was attributed to him in the
published interview. When he comes
again it would be well to provide
for a reciprocal understanding. Let
him appoint a t:ommittee to enlighten
the American public regarding his
theories, while we appoint a com
mittee to diagram for him the great
American joke. .
THE COTTAGE AT SHALLOWFORD.
If anglers' havea shrine, apart
from some well remembered place
where the big one struck and was
taken, it is a tumble-down, tattered
old thatched cottage at Shallowford
Staffs in England. Right fittingly
does it wear the aspect of great age,
for there it was, more than two cen
turies ago, that Izaak Walton tied
his flies and overhauled his tackle,.
before he walked" forth into the
joyous rain and sought some river
eddy where the trout were leaping,
or the pike lay in wait for its ap
pointed frog. L4kely enough it was
there that he drove the quill to its
delightful duty of writing "The Com
plete Angler," and to the penning of
these lines:
O! the gallant fisher's life.
It is the best of,, any;
'Tla full of pleasure, void of strife.
And 'tis beloved of many.
We have all . but forgotten how
to pull the -long bow, and hunters
do not send the falcon after the
risen bird. Much that was common
In the sport of Izaak's day is done
for and may not return. But with
Walton himself and the gentle art
of angling we have kept so close a
contact that it is a personal griev
ance to learn that the Shallowford
cottage is in imminent peril ofutter
decay. It needs another thatch, for
shingles wouldn't do at all,, and it
must have new timbers if the roof
that sheltered "such kindly philoso
phy , is to remain intact. What a
calamity it would.be were' Walton's
home to go to the wrecker, never
to welcome another pilgrim.
The English are agitated about
the prospect. The cottage is 'a part
of the foundation of. the Stafford
grammar school, but the board of
education quite plausibly complains
that its funds are far too limited to
permit of repairs. There are, un
questionably, any number of anglers
in England whose tackle alone rep
resents more than the cost of the
work and material. And if they be
true anglers, as they must be, Wal
ton's roof tree has already been re
stored and a new thatch laid, and
all made ready as though the" old
gentleman himself were waiting to
welcome a trio of city friends for
a seventeenth century week-end.
THE SONGS OF SERVICE.
Service has drawn a strange and
Intriguing picture for us in his latest
volume of verse "Ballads of a Bo
hemian" depicting the fancies and
adventures of a young poet in the
Latin quarter of Paris. Aside from
occasional lapses,- and they are
nevertheless welcome, into the 6wing
of his Yukon poems, there is little
in the book to remind the reader
of Dangerous Dan McGrew or his
creator. An assured philosophy of
life, more happy than cynical,
though it partakes of both, has re
placed the frankly unstudied appeal
to dramatic instinct and that alone,
an appeal that was voiced by his
"Spell of the Yukon." Dangerous
Dan seems, most assuredly, to have
been pumped full of lead and left
to the wolves of the past viz, that
cult of amateur elocutionists which
succeeded the "Face on the Barroom
Floor" addicts, now almost obsolete.
In this transition of theme and
treatment we have been privileged
to watch the development of a genu
ine pbet not an exotic nor a lofty
singer, but one whose verse has an
appealing charm that is not readily
apparent in most of the work of
modern poets, and which is pecul
iarly lacking in the verse of those
who style themselves modernists.
For Service is first of all a poet of
the old school, refusing to tr,eat with
ecorn the obvious and matter-of-fact,
but preferring rather to touch
them with the wand of fancy and
perform a transfiguration. There is
no ennervating scent-;-of , -eickly
phrase and morbid introspection
about his poems. There never was.
They are easy to read, easy to under
stand, easy to appreciate. In brief,
they are natural, and the world is
his debtor.
Few who love poetry for itself.
and not merely for the thrill of
dramatic declamation, or for the
pose of one who patronizes the
muse, would have guessed some
years ago that the young fellow who
wrote of Dangerous Dan had possi
bilities beyond that hectic effort.
They were disillusioned when Serv
ice found himself through the world
war, and gave us his "Rhymes of a
Red Cross Man." When one , has
read that graphic and ghastly In
dictment of modern warfare, "On
the Tjftre," he perceives that here is
a poet who mixes no feeble colors
for his work, no pigments of futur
istic fancy, but Is content with the
crude, raw elements of life and
death. One would wager a volume
of Keats against a penny dreadful
that Amy Lowell, with all her art Of
verse libre, couldn't arouse in a blue
moon the instinctive hatred of war
that Service stirs within us.
The imagined poet of the Latin
quarter, through whom Service
sings, is a tender, tearful, happy
scalawag, who has chosen to leave
America for the. Joy that youthful
artists find in tte French capital
and who counts the dearth of fag
gots and the infrequency of food
and wine as little enough to pay for
the privilege of freedom. He tells
of "the newly captured linnet" he
saw in a brothel, and of the dinner
he denied himself, that his last shil
ling might purchase the bird and
give it freedom. He is, as he says,
a fanatic for freedom. He has no
master save his own will, no craft
save the gift of song, this boy of the
Latin quarter. And so
The. tiny door I open threw.
As down upon the grass r sank me;
Poor little chap! How quick he flew .
He didn't even wait to thank me.
life's like a cage: we beat the bars.
We bruise our breasts, we struggle
vainly;
Up to the glory of the stars
We strain with flutterings ungainly.
And then God opens wide the door;
Our wondrous wings are arched tor fly
ing; We poise, we part, we sing, we soar
Light, freedom, love ... Fools call
It dying.
In Paris , Itself, where that first
mad singer flouted adversity and
quite likely went to the gibbet
one "Villon the poet of the Latin
quarter finds sadness in ( the con
templation of great gifts cast in the
mire. Was it not Swinburne who
sighed for the "poor, draggled wings"
of Francois? no matter. The glamor
of putrescent romance that we have
flung, or permitted to be flung, over
the soiled fame of certain. jSoetsj has
no allure for Service. Rather he is
sad with the thought of inspiration
dragged to such lowly depths. His
poet writes of "Gods in the Gutter"
three of them. Beaudelaire, Oscar
Wilde and Paul Verlaine. There was
a trio for you! Wilde, who died in
shameful exile; Baudelaire. who
fathered the French school of poetic
decadence; Verlaine, tbe modern
Villon, a drunken libertine.
I dreamed" I saw three demi-gods who In
a caze sat.
And one was small and crapulous, and one
was. large and fat; 1
And one was eaten up with vice and ver
minous at that . . .
Oh, Wilde. Verlaine and Buadelaire, their
lips were wet with wine;
Oh. votaries of velvet vlcel . . . Oh.
gods of light divine!
Not a pretty picture, yet near to a
true one. Catching its fluorescence
of spiritual squalor one knows why
Wilde, ia agony of spirit cried out,
"Surely there was a time I might
have trod the sun-lit heights, and
from life's dissonance struck one
clear chord to reach the ear of God!"
As these three were great, de
spite the odds of sensual appetite,
and their unrebuked worship of the
flesh. Service will never be cele
brated. But theirs was a tainted
legacy, and never a tribute rises that
is not stamped with apology for their
unbridled excesses. Exile, madman
and libertine, the world touches
their memories with tongs. Service
will leave us joy of life, belief in our
selves, and sane, unsullied songs.
With Service doubtless doomed to
be known as a "minor" poet, at least
by pedantic authority, we may when
we choose
. . . Seek the sunlit roads that lie be
side the sea.
We'll know the Joy the gipsy knows, the
freedom nothlna mars.
The golden treasure-gates of dawn, the
mintage of the stars.
EFFECTS OF DROUTH IN EUROPE.
Drouth throughout Europe threat
ens short crops when not only Is the
supply formerly drawn from Russia
cut off but that country is the scene
of famine on the scale hitherto
known as peculiar to China and
India, The American crop, though
smaller than those of recent years.
must provide a surplus both to re
lieve Russia and to make" good the
deficiencies of the rest of Europe.
The "natural economic effect will
be high prices for the American and
Canadian crops of wheat, for on them
burope must subsist until the crop
of the southern hemisphere Is har
vested. In expectation that the
price would not rise above the low
level of last fall and might decline
further, - American farmers have
produced a smaller crop and have
economized in its cost. If present
prices should continue, they should
make a good profit. If, as is pos
sible, the old world shortage should
cause a material advance in price,
they may also recoup a large part of
last year's loss.
Drouth is so serious in Europe, as
to assume the proportions of
calamity. In England the ground is
dry and baked hard, fire sweeps the
moors and the streams are so low
that the cities are short of water
and .strict economy in its use has
been enjoined on the people. In
France and other countries similar
conditions prevail. There may be
as great necessity to save food as
there was during the last years of
the war.
Toward the close of this month
the ZR-2, giant American dirigible,
will cast off her English moorings
and sail for home. May providence
grant that, ere her days of useful
ness are done, she will be carrying
the mails rather than dropping
bombs.
The hermit of Rocky Butte says
that he doesn't care a hoot about
the prospects of his haunt becoming
the 1925 fair site. The trouble with
hermiting, he says, is that no one
ever happens along to lend a fellow
a chew.
The men who should be "wanted"
in a tong war are not the Chinese
gun-toters alone but the respective
heads of the tongs. The white man's
law treats with odd consideration
the actual principals.
The soviet assures us that all
American prisoners have been re
leased and are leaving Russia. This
last advice seems "a waste of cable
tolls. Why would they linker?
A newspaper airplane is to be
used in searching for a missing
preacher. Even a newspaper might
be mistaken. He may have gone in
the other direction.
Old King Kleagle was a merry old
wen; O, a merry old wen was he!
He called fbr his paper, ha called
for his pen and he called on the
grand Jur-e-e-e.
The government is' almost certain
to impose additional taxes on cigars,
tobacco and cigarettes. Something
always comes along to take the joy
out of life.
The Clackamas county club leader
says that brains are needed on the
farm. She Is right, of course, but
why restrict the necessity to agri
culture? If the Ku Klux Klan is represent
ative of 100 per cent Americanism,
then a good many persons will pre
fer the brand that is only 99 44-100
pure.
The original honest advertiser was
the man who advised not to "go
elsewhere to be cheated come to
us," but he did not know it.
If the body makes alcohol, as an
osteopath declares, it is easy to un
derstand why a camel can endure
so long without a drink.
As their next move in the railroad
rate case we may expect a campaign
by the Seattle newspapers to abolish
the Cascade mountains.
Secretary Mellon faces a big
deficit in the national expenses. Evi
dently there won't be enough melon
to go 'round. ' .
The belated comeback ' of the
Beavers moves the fan only to sad
reflections on what might have been.
About the only way that national
taxes can ever be appreciably re
duced is to abolish congress-
Armistice day is a fitting: one to
choose for the negotiations that
should end warfare.
When in doubt about mushrooms,
let them alone, j
The Listening: Post.
Largest Office Building Described.
DINGY exteriors do a great deal to
mar the architectural beauties of
city office buildings. In Portland
they have a style ali their own in
that most of the structures in the
center of the city are given an an
nual bath. To strangers this is one
of the memorable features of the city.
But how many of the citizens of
Portland know their downtown?
What is the largest office building
in the city? The Teon building rears
its 15 stories high above most of the
nearby structures, yet it is small
compared with others when it comes
to Judging the amount of floor space.
Our old friend, the Chamber of Com
merce building:, built back in 1891, is
the peer of them all, covering half a
city block, 100x20) feet and being ten
stories In height. This means that
it has 200,000 square feet of floor
space within its walls, it has over
500 suites and offices above the
ground floor besides the banks and
businesses there.
And all this big business is man
aged by a woman, "N. D. Silva, Mana
ger," is the legend on the door, and
inside, at a businesslike desk with a
vase of golden glow nearby, alts the
cne who has charge of this largest of
Portland's office Investments. Think
of the detail, of the responsibility,
yet she has been there for years.
In the Chamber of Commerce build
ing there are three banks, safety de
posit vaults, valet service, restau
rants, barber shops, bootblacks, clsar,
tobacco and candy stands, manicure
and all manner of accommodations
including messenger and telegraph
service. It is not really necessary for
the tenants to leave the building for
any ordinary need.
The Chamber of Commerce building
handles 15,000 persons with its six
elevators dally and it Is 'estimated
that 35,000 people either transact
business or enter its doors every 21
hours. The two upper v stories were
acded in 1910.
The Northwestern Bank building
possibly has the greatest number of
visitors daily, though a check shows
that both it and the Pittock block
are nearly on a par. It is difficult
tc get accurate figures on this phase
of city life, but it may safely be said
that both the Northwestern Bank and
Pittock blocks handle about 20.000
persons dally each in their elevators,
with the Morgan building, the Yeon
and the Spaulding not far behind.
Even these estimates might be chal
lenged, for it is rather a delicate sub
ject in these days of high "rents.
. Selling scenery has been a highly
successful business in Europe for
decades. Tourists by the thousands
have been drawn there to spend their
leisure time and cash. The consequent
advertising of the eights they saw
aroused a feeling among their friends
to visit the same places, and thus was
created popularity. It became the
fashion to climb the Alps, go to Nor
way, to the Riviera, and then came
the awakening, with the world war
lending great assistance to America
in the campaign to see your own
country first.
Belated it Is true, but amply able
to offer wares that have no superior,
the Pacific northwest now steps into
the field. A recent visitor to Oregon
from California, on viewing the miles
of massed gold of the Scotch broom
between Astoria and Seaside, ex
claimed: "Los Angeles would gladly pay a
million for this and easily make
ten million in profits."
Leon Hlrsch christened this bit of
road "The Golden Highway" and the
name bld fair to stick. But this is
cnly one of the sights or the state.
The formation of the state tourist
association and ' the co-operation of
the interests of this district have
created a new departure in merchan
dising the selling of scenery. Cali
fornia has been at the game for years.
Oregon, her sister state, and British
Columbia are just stepping into it.
As in any other sales scheme trav
eling men are out to interest the pur
chaser in the goods. The line of sam
ples shown from this district is ex
ceptional, and photographers who
know and love their state and visit
the beauties off the traveled roads
are lending their co-operation. The
reports from the travelers who are
telling of what is to be found here
are to the effect that other sections
of the country are greatly interested.
This is borne out by the rapid in
crease in tourist travel. Selling
scenery from samples seems to be
proving a success. In this state.
One of the best of the local news
writers described yesterday how he
managed "to "train" for his stories.
According to his method he tried to
absorb the atmosphere., place himself
in the right frame of mind, so that he
could do his assignments justice.
Of course, he explained, he often
had to write in a hurry, but even then
found it possible to get partly In the
mood. It was all a matter of train
Ing, and the result was that it did
not take long to be "right."
"T Just unjoad the clutter, clear the
decks and go into action," was the
matter-of-fact manner in which h
talked. "To get a story over it must
be right and if a fellow does not feel
it there is little use in sitting down
at the mill. Of course sometimes a
hard day will tire you out, but then
it is impossible to keep everything
up to the highest standard. Most of
the city editors I have worked with
understand this, know that some of
their men are better on some assign
ments than others, and this gives a
fellow a chance to get into a special
ty line. But he must always avoid
the error of getting out of touch
with the game to such an extent that
he will fan to be an all-round man."
s.
Crossing a bridge we see a canoe
parade.- Thirty or so canoes in line.
It Is late In the afternoon of a sultry
day and each of the light craft seems
loaded with blankets. The skilled
paddlers keep their place in line as
they move swiftly to the camping
place for the night.
Good news for the pie fiends'
Huckleberries have reported for
their 1921 season in excellent condi
tion. This year's crop, judging from
the early arrivals, promises to be one
of exceedingly large berries. The
first ones marketed, said to hall from
the slopes of Mount Hood, are fully
as large as cranberries.
IUS SCOUT.
The Librarian.
By-. Grace K. Hall.
He is the Great Dispenser, though he
reckons not
Of his own strange importance in the
daily scheme of life;
But to him come all the hungry ones,
in time,
For pabulum to Batisfy their need.
The student with his thirst but new
ly 'roused,
In search of lore that had its ftrst
inception
In brains that long since mingled
back again
With elemental earth;
The born adventurer, and legion is
his name, shackled by circum
stance of birth to an uncon
genial sphere and harnessed in
the chains of servitude and
duty, strongly merged.
Scans the insentient page for endless
trails of long-suppressed desire:
and, lure beyond the confines of
his own imagination's widest
field,
He drinks from fresh, sweet springs
that, for the passing hour, as
euapo the fever of his all-consuming
thirst.
The clergy, with its quasi-melancholy
mien
(Thus visaged to impress upon a
headlong world
Its dire need for pause and holy retro-
spection),
Comes searching still for some new
thought.
Some added weight, some fact alleged,
accepted or late-nrof frprt
With which to hush the clamoring
tongues of doubt;
The priest, the monk, foresworn to
solitude and saintliness.
Team o'er the printed page for some
more heartening thing
That shall be strong encouragement
upon
Their sacrificial pilgrimage;
The dreamer, with his crave that has
no name.
Finds in the precious volume of his
more aesthetic choice
Sweet echoes that the years have only
modulated into finer harmony;
Queens, kings and courtiers pass in
regal promenade
Before his glowing eyes;
Their loves, their hates, intrigues and
vanities.
And more than all, their seething
passions,
vritten with their own lite blood
upon the page of history, to
remain .
Yea, here within the bookshop does
the dreamer linger long.
And all his pulsing nature finds re
sponse And wondrous camraderie with those)
who went before him up th
grade,
Leaving their songs of sorrow for a
sign..
The bid sea dog, upon this narrow Isle
marooned at last
Through grim conspiracy of age ana
pain.
Comes to the desk in his bluff questioning-
quest
Of tales that breathe of seas bota.
vision-wrought.
And, lost in eager rapture, once again
he crowds.
His long-furled sails towards far al
luring shores;
His fancy-craft drops anchor In an
alluring southern clime.
And, youth restored, he revels greed
ily in time-forbidden dreams
Of bliss that shall, alas: be his so
more no more.
The hopeless derelict comes too; and
in the magic lines
Penned by soma hand that held a
magic torch.
He drifts away from all the common,
sordid ports
VVhere he has come to be the thing
he is;
He sails new channels 'neath a fairer
sky.
And deep beneath the wreckage and
the wastage of the years
Stir better thoughts and cleaner im
pulse, aye.
And e'en a faint, vague hint, perhaps.
Of one more tense endeavor to go on.
The school boy, timid that his crave
be known.
Comes sidling to the shelf, with grimy
hands.
And, watchful that no disapproving
ye be turned his way,
Plucksjiervously a tempting volume
from its place.
The fancies of a mind that was im
bued With quaint, fantastic pictures, bright
ly drawn,
He quick absorbs, rich fuel to feed
the flame
That flickers, scarce a well-lit spark,
as yet.
Within his dawning intellect and
imagery.
And who shall prophesy where he
shall sometime go
This lad with life's adventures in his
grasp!
I watch the Great Dispenser at his
task
Of dealing out to each a chosen part.
And wonder what he garners from
the store
Of priceless gems forever "neath, his
eyesT
He must Indeed be richer for the
touch
Of treasures passing daily through
his hands;
Be broader, too, because of what hs
tells
Of beauty, worth and truth, to those)
who seek
The largesse of his store for mental
food
With which to feed the cravings ot
their souls.
FOUND A TRAILS CLUB BADGES.
High on the riage past Angels Rest
One day a Trails club badge I found
The highway trails I like the best
When ever I go hiking round.
How long beside the path it lay
Perhaps the owner could not tell
From shirt or coat the pin gave way;
Unnoticed at the time it fell.
This member might have been ahead
Acting as leader as you know
Upon it the rest may have tread
While it lay buried in the snow.
In Portland the hills that lie west
Methinks -this badge was worn by
him
Among the trails round Council Crest
Those now in use and others dim,
A badge with the face of it white
Which went with hikers everywhere
Its possessor it gives delight
For their name is imprinted there.
Although the distance may be far.
The trails appeal to I and you
For information where they are
Ask Trails club and Mazamas, too.
In timbered lands by meadows green
The sturdy hikers routes we trace
And where no sign of path Is seen
They manage to get by some place.
Larch mountain the sunrise to see
A trip that's known to hikers most
Out on the trails where one is free
By rocks and sands along the coast.
Up" Eagle creek to Wahtum lake
Back Herman creek a hike that's
good
Maybe this badge one time did make
The summit of our own Mt. Hood.
Past Angels Rest In Cascade, land
A little badge I chanced to find
Along the verdant ridge so grand
Where nature capitivates the mind,
etORRIX O. SMITH,