The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, August 21, 1921, SECTION THREE, Image 46

The Sunday Oregonian., August 21, 1921, SECTION THREE, Page 6, Image 46

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Newspaper Page TextTHE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 21 1921 W. S i ESTABLISHED BY HENRY L. P1TTOCK. Published by The Oresoninn Publishing- Co.. 13 Sixth Street, Portland. Ormon. C A. MORDEN. E. B. PIPER. Manager. Editor. The Oreffonlan IB a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated Press Is ex clusively entitled to the use lor publication otherwise credited in this caper and also I otherwise credited In this paper and also the local news publ Iished herein. All riehtSj of publication of special dispatches herein are alao reserveed. feubscription Kates Invariably In Advance. Tal!y, Sunday included one yar $8 00 i Ially. Punrtav included, six months Iaily. Sunday included, three months Xally, Sunday Included, one month . raily, without Sunday, one year .... Ially, without Sunday, six months .. Isily. without Sun.. ay, one month .. Weekly, one year .7!i : J J" I So ' oo Sunday, one year 2 30 (By Carrier.) Taily. Sunday Included, one year $9 no Pally. Sunday Included, three months. 2 Pally, Sunday Included, one month... T5 Taily, without Sunday, one year 7.80 Pally, without Sunday, three month. 1.0 Dally, without Sunday, one month 65 Mow to Remit Send postofflce money order, express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give postofflce address in full, including- county and state. Poatac Katen 1 to lfl papres. 1 cent: 18 to 22 pases. 2 cento: 34 to 48 panes. 3 cents: 50 64 paves. 4 cents: 60 to 80 Taxes. 5 cents; 2 to 06 paes, 6 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Bunlneaa Office Verree & Conk lln. 8fW) Madison avenue. New Tork: Verree & Conklin. Steger building. Chicago: Ver ree & Conklin. Free Press building. De troit. Mich.; Verree & Conklin. Selling building, Portland: San Francisco repre sentative. R. J. Bidwell. ILLITERACY AND VOTING. Two successive New York state legislatures having acted favorably on an amendment to the constitution of the state which would require that voters phall be able to read and write English, the question will be passed on by the electors next No vember. The proposed amendment is the result of disclosures made early in the war concerning the doubtful status of a considerable number of non-English speaking citizens, and the outcome of the vote will be analyzed with particular interest because it Is. likely to show how far these same non-English speaking citizens are able to think in terms of Americanism. For they are qualified voters at present and will have a voice in the adoption of the measure which would exclude them from the polls. Nevertheless a campaign is being conducted in an effort to show these same voters that their best interests are bound up in the Interests of the country as a whole and that by learning to read and write English themselves and by excluding those who in fu ture refuse to do so they will en hance the value of their franchise. The educational qualification for voters is not new. Thirteen states now impose it in some form, al though two require it only as an alternative to the possession of some property. Ability to read or write, or to read and write, are common requirements, but seven of the thir teen directly or indirectly exact lit eracy in the language of the coun try. Our sister state of Washington speclfices that the voter shall be able to read and write English. Cali fornia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Wyoming require ability to read the constitution and to write the voter's name. Presum ably the reading of the constitution Implies the English version, which la a language test of sorts, although not much can be said of the ability to write conveyed by only writing a same. Mississippi offers the curious choice between ability to read the constitution and ability to explain it, which would seem to lekve a good deal to the discretion of the elec tion officials. Not all, failing to be able to read one of those interesting documents, would feel competent to expound it, and there are degrees of "explanation," of course. The polit ical background in Missississipi in dicates that the issue has been pur posely left open with a view of giv ing election judges the power to im pose the color line a bit of legis lation the spirit of which was pre cisely duplicated in the celebrated "grandfather clauses," which were earnestly considered in the southern states a few years ago. The purpose of the educational re quirement, however, is to assure the domination of those elements in American politics which are most likely to be guided in casting their ballots by desire to promote the in terests of the country as an Amerl can state. It is well, for example, that ability merely to read and write, which is all that is required in the Carolinas and in Louisiana, or only to reaa, as in Georgia and Maryland should be expanded to require that the reading or writing shall be done in English; if the principle of an educational qualification be admit ted, as its expediency seems to be conceded, it will seem plain that ap preciation of the American ideal will be arrived at best through under. standing of the language of the country and by access to its litera ture and its newspapers. No one will pretend that literacv 13 necessarily a test of good morals or of excellent intentions, or that there are no literate rogues, but it will be borne in mind, too, that the proposed amendment does not pre tend to accomplish everything, but only seeks as nearly aa possible to accomplish a necessary reform. It would be ideal, of course, if we could also detect the honesty of every voter in advance, but this cannot be done. The educational requirement coupled with its specification of the English language, will exclude certain class, including a few per haps who are not bad citizens, bu the question for determination is whether it will not be a good thing on the whole. Louisiana is one of the few states of the union in which the alien lan guage issue is not chiefly a funda mental Issue in Americanism. Whe we acquired the great area which was early organized as the territory of Orleans its population was pre dominantly alien, as the term would be used now, yet it was native to the coil and it possessed rights which we were bound to respect. In thei awn way in original settlers o Louisiana, and of some of the re inaining territory embraced in the original purchase, developed a strongly American sense of patriot ism, while clinging to the customs, and in many Instances the language, of their forebears. Here also there has been no large problem of im portation of aliens of another kind, so that the state has been partly bi lingual, but at the same time strong ly American in sentiment. But New York, now seeking to escape the peril of domination that is foreign In mode of thought as well as in speech, is in a different situation. The metropolis of the country has been a dumping place for unde&ir- since the Immigration m Europe first set in, g place for un-Ameri and a breedin can propaganda of every sort. Restriction in the manner pro posed ought not long to operate to disfranchise any but the utterly dis qualified class. It will not if the state pursues ita present plan of fur- nishing educational ODDortunities for arl .., .n .vii,.. Tt " been shown by figures of the bureau of education that the native-born children of alien parents are largely appreciative of the advantages of- fered by the public schools. The on- eory school attendance laws, will present no problem; and the alien- born who will suffer injustice under an. educational restriction will be few In number by comparison with those who ought not to be permitted to vcte. MYSTERY OF THE SEA. The fact that no pirate craft has been captured on which the wreck ing of the schooner Carrol Deering on the Atlantic coast can be- fas tened adds to the probability that there is no such craft, in view of the modern facilities for communi cation at sea, by comparison with those of the times when piracy was rampant on the seven seas. With almost every ship equipped with wireless, and with a mosquito fleet of fast torpedo craft "rarin' to go," and with the government alive to its duty to protect shipping, it seems improbable that any pirate could ply his trade in the twentieth century. Yet the mystery of the disappearance of the crews of four vessels only deepens with the pas sage of time, and serves to remind us that romance is not all of the past. We may expect to receive many "messages in bottles," which only confuse and do not clarify, and all sorts of rumors will be rife, but there is comfort in the assurance that a navy that was capable of checking the German submarines is not likely to let a solitary pirate, if there is one, go unhanged. PORTLAND'S GROWING COMMERCE. Almost every day records some development in the shipping busi ness which bears witness to the growth of Portland's ocean traffic and of the port's reputation for supplying what ships most crave. which is cargo. A few days ago it was announced that the monthly steamer for Honolulu, which has hitherto called at other Pacific ports, will hereafter come to Port- and. Under an arrangement with the shipping board it has called at Astoria when a certain amount of reight was offered, but Astoria alone could not meet the require ment, therefore has joined hands with the Portland Chamber of Com merce in inducing the owners to send the vessel to Portland. As the two ports together can supply the desired Du sin ess, i-'ortland gains traffic which has been going to other ports and Astoria holds serv- ce which it might have lost. By recognizing their community of in terest the two ports help one an other. Another example of the expansion of Portland's foreign commerce is the first direct shipment of Oregon bacon to London. The proportions to which the meat-packing industry has grown her justify the expecta tion that this will be the first of many shipments of larger quantities until John Bull will become familiar with the taste of Oregon bacon and will like it. These direct shipments are the best means of spreading the reputation of Oregon products abroad. If shipped from other ports, they are apt to appear in a foreign country under a label that conveys no suggestion of Oregon or Port land. That has happened with other commodities, the merits of which went to the credit of places which shipped but did not produce them. WAR SALVAGE. THAT'S ALL. Chairman Lasker of the shipping board is quoted as saying that on July 23 the board had 632 ships in operation, 747 idle and 66 under repair, leaving the wooden vessels out of consideration. Taking these figures as a basis, . be calls the emergency fleet "a failing, sick business" and "a wreck." It never was a business, and the root of the trouble consists in hav ing treated it as a business. The name "emergency fleet" is the key to what it became as soon as the war ended a huge piece of salvage from the war, which would make good material for a merchant ma rine. Through not keeping the sal vage idea in mind and through Imagining that it had a highly valu able prize which everybody was eager to capture, the board over stayed its market. It failed to get the good salvage price that was pos sible in 1919 and it failed to estab lish a privately owned merchant marine on a sound basis. If the present board will get back to the salvage idea, it may yet succeed in giving us a merchant marine that can live. There is little, if any, market for ships ' at present, but the board might be able to stop a part of the loss by giving bare boat charters to shipping men at such low rates that they might compete even at present ocean freight rates. It might thus build up a market for sale of the ships at an improved price when business revives. As it is, many Japanese ships are coming to Port land and taking cargoes of wheat from under the nose of the board. which pays good money to keep hundreds of vessels idle. The board can get business for its fleet oniy by competing at going rates and terms. The ships are not worth more than the price for which equally good ones can be bought in the world market, and if they cannot be sold they should be chartered on that basis. The board's reluctance to act on the salvage principle may be ex plained by such criticism as the fol lowing In the New York Globe: The role of the sovernment. In fact, is to hold the bag as long aa it needs to be held, and then, as soon as handsome Drofits are in sieht. turn over the fleet to private ownership, by which the rates will be put up to "all that the traffic will bear" and the ships operated (unless there Is bribery by me government in the form of subsidy) only on the most profit able routes, resaraiess oi tne usefulness o those routes in the country's general de velopment. No doubt exists ln the mind of Chairman Lasker that this is the wisest course, so why should any other citisen aisagraer "The role of the government" is to sell the ships for what they are worth as soon as a market exists in the reasonable belief that "hand some proms cannot be made by anybod-v tax several i that not until the world's merchant ma-! rine is fully employed. When that happens, "all that the traffic will ! bear" will be limited by competition among all nations and by revival of shipbuilding as soon as profits rise above normal and lead to more building. The best way out Is not to flinch before such criticism as that quoted, but to act as a business man would who had a lot of surplus ma- terial on his hands. THE URGE TO WRITE. I The young man sentenced to serve eight to twelve years in prison in Louisiana for bank robbery and who now says, that he is glad to be sent ir, tho nonitoniisrv sr. that he can fulfill his boyhood ambition to be come a writer is no more likely in the penitentiary than he was out of It to achieve literary fame. It is a pretty safe generalization that those who have writing stuff in them will make the opportunity for indulgence without waiting for such leisure a? is accorded by a term ln jail. Writer's itch" is no mere figure of speech, and people who have it sim ply have to scratch. George Horace Lorimers recent definition of the qualifications for at the writer's trade is fairly conclusive on this score. He believes and so do we that the candidate for writing honors must be born with the right kind of imagination; and he insists that there mast be inherent capacity to recognize the consequential. He mentions "com mon sense," and this is also nature's gift. In other words, there is some thing in the notion that the writer. like the poet, "Is born, not made." A certain amount of technical skill, which may or may not be acquired from text books on the subject, may or may not be acquired. but the capacity to acquire it is in herent, so that we have now com pleted the circle again and are back at the staining point. John Bunyan's capacity for writing existed before he was imprisoned, and the fact of his martyrdom by itself added little or nothing to his literary stature. The most amazing literary perform ances in history have been accom plished by men who did not wait for artificial leisure in which to write. A near relation of the individual who thinks he would be a great writer if he could find time to write is the one who believes that he could win fame in more inspiring surroundings than those in which he dwells. The country youth who wishes for the stimulation of the great city, the twentieth century seeker after romance who is sorry mat ne did not live in uie ume ui me crusades, forget that every place and every period of time have lacked color to the uninspired understand ing. It is failure to "recognize the consequential," as Lorimer suggests. right under our noses, that keeps our inglorious Miltons mute; but those so ungifted are incurable. Not even a prison sentence is going to make a literary silk pur6e out of an unimaginative sow's ear. BADOGLIO'8 TITLE TO FAME. General Badoglio's visit to Port land Invitps attention to the mili- tai-n nutnpv wViin-h Via h a ri the chief r,art in r,la nnlrt ir and. next to Gen- eral Diaz, the chief part in winning. The battle of Vittorio veneto was fought at a time when great events crowded each other so closely that its magnitude has not been fully appreciated. It reduced to a panic stricken mob an army equal in number to that with which Napoleon invaded Russia. It wrecked an em pire which traced its origin back to Charlemagne and was older than the monarchies of either the Hohenzol lerns or the Romanoffs. It was won by a nation all but a fraction of which had been until sixty years be fore subject to the empire which it destroyed That victory was also a dramatic demonstration of the recuperative power of the Italian people, for it began on the first anniversary of a disaster to the Italian army which seemed for a time to threaten the ruin of Italy. Having weakened the morale of the Italians with propa ganda which stirred many of them to dpsire return home at any cost to I their country, the Germans cut a gap in the Italian line at Caporetto which spread panic at that point and caused the whole army to retreat with terrible loss of men and artil- lery. It seemed that nothing could Btop the enemy onrush, but with wonderful recuperative power the Italians formed and'held a new line at the Piave river. This was done before British and French troops ar- rived, though the American Red Cross appeared on the scene a few I turn on capital investment. But it mtttee Jjas its way. It is a sad com days after the retreat began and re- is well known that tenancy in its mentary on the methods of some vlved confidence with proof that America stood beside Italy. The disaster at Caporetto might have been averted if the allies had practiced the same close co-ordina- tion of forces to which the central powers owed a large measure of their success. To that day Italy had been left alone to fight unaided by her allies, except at sea and in fi- nance and material, as though the war on the Italian front were en- tirely distinct from and could not decisively influence the result in France, yet the Italians were in fact defending the French frontier frofti Switzerland to the Mediterranean. Caporetto awakened the allies to their error and led them to send re- inforcements to Italy and to form a military council which should have supreme direction of allied strategy on all fronts. It also Impressed them with the high value of propaganda in breaking down the enemy's mo- rale. They had practically re- nounced full use of this weapon by refusing to include dismemberment of the Hapsburg empire among their war aims, though this meant blight- ing the hopes of the Serbs, Czechs, Roumanians and Poles. They now declared for liberation of all these subject peoples, which were straining at their bonds while forced to fight for the oppressor, and they turned the enemy's weapon upon himself nent practice, there would be nomad- but more of their spirit of patriotism with most telling effect. So many Ism and lower grade citizenship, and of sacrifice and of sense of ob men of these races deserted Austria Stability is guaranteed by ownership, ligation would have been absorbed that Italy formed them into divisions of its army, and widespread insur- rection broke out in the Austrian rear. By their great reliance on propaganda to win, the Hapsburgs dus their own grave, for their dis affected subjects of several races were far more susceptible to its in fluence man was a nation or one race, like the Italians, whose most recent memories of military glory were associated with the attainment of unity. Hence it came that when the Aus- trians took the offensive in June, stall it if possible. The farm loan I rable encounter with the Modoc In 1918, they were driven back to the I act, which has not been in opera-1 dians on the shore of upper Klamath further bank of the Piave with so - is.imus lns Xa wiccu ktuUv cheered the allies in France when they sorely needed cheer, for the Germans had just made the last of a series of drives which had taken them to the Marne. within forty miles of Paris. When Italy took the offensive at Vlttorlo Veneto on October 24. the anniversary of Capo retto, the moral factor had been re versed. Italy's hopes had been raised to the highest pitch by the reorganization and new equipment of its army, by the rapid succession "l ""ulra "y LI" OVrv rf t s f 'fiAll Qnrl Kv Vi lrnwn . - dissolutlori ln the Austrian dominions, while- a large proportion of the opposing army literally hoped for defeat and those who remained true to the empire could foresee nothing else and knew that it meant utter ruin. Attention of Americans was then I so fastened on the titanic struggle in fl ranee, which was then drawing to a close, and ln which their own army played a leading part, and they were so dazzled by a series of vic tories in France, Macedonia and Syria that the glory of Vittorio Ve neto was dimmed by contrast. Yet it deserves to stand forth in history, both as a military achievement and with regard to its effects. A strate- ?ic Plan. covering movement of hun- ureas ox. tuousanas oi men, tneir ar tillery and supplies over a wide field covering mountain, plain and swamp 1 was carried out to sucn perrection that in ten days from the beginning of the battle the opposing army, su perior in numbers, dissolved into a host of willing prisoners and fugi tives, all its artillery and supplies were captured, its commanders sued for an armistice and within the ensuing few days the empire for which it had fought formed by the gradual accretions of almost a thou sands years broke into its several parts. The glory of this victory belongs with slight qualification to Generals Diaz, Badogllo, their associates and the Italian army, for the allied forces were but a small part of the whole. Thus was completed the struggle for the union of all Italians under one flag which had been opened in 1859 by the little kingdom of Sardinia with the aid of France. As a swift climax it has scarce an equal. FARM-OWNING AND TENANCY. The percentage of farm acreage. as well as of the total number of farms in the United States, operated by tenants has increased somewhat I in the past decade, according to the I TTnitpH Ktntes ppnRiis htirpaii. which I l3 in accorri With prevailing ideas on thp Rb1prt : but a. surnrLsinir fact is that the value of the tenanted farms has increased in greater proportion than that of' farms operated by their owners. Here is a complete upset in our calculations. It has been widely concluded that the renting I system was destructive of agrlcul- ture, because it was opposed to the preservation of soil fertility, and be- heroes of a later time were made, cause tenants in other respects had The same Parson Weems who col less interest than owners in the per- laborated ln issuing the life of Ma- manent value of property. But the I figures, puzzling as they are, stand I for themselves. 1 The census bureau finds that the 1 average value of all farms operated I by their owners increased from I ni, T I 1 n -1 A i ) f .. 901.01 in iiiv tu eu.uu yvr hub 111 1920, while the value of rented farms in the same period increased from $48.46 to $89.72 per acre. The tenants seem not only to have had the most valuable farms, on the average, in the first place, but to have improved them more highly, both in actual and in relative values. This vindication of the tenant will I go a long way toward calming the I fears of those who look upon a 1 small increase in tenancy as neces- I sarily a national calamity. The ac-! tual increase in acreage operated by I tenants is in fact only 1.9 per cent of the whole farm acreage in the I United States, and farm owners still I control 66.6 per cent of the acreage of the country, only 27.7 being in 1 the hands of tenants, the remaining I 5.6 per cent being under the dlrec- tion of managers, who are classified as neither owners nor tenants, but constitute In reality an addition to the owner class. The corresponding figures for 1910 were: uwners, os.j. per cent; ten- ants, 25.8 per cent; managers, 6.1 Per cent. Thfcy suggest, however, that more information is needed than the census statistics furnish be-I fore a safe conclusion can be reached I as to the permanency of the drift away irom iarm ownersnip. figures I are lacking, for example, as to the labor return or the tenant or the present Jy comparison with the past, I and also as to the comparative re- I best aspects orten iurnisnes young I farmers, who have small capital, but an abundance of ambition, intelli- gence and energy, with opportunities to make a start toward ultimate ownership. The statistics of in- creased value of tenanted farms in- I aicates mat tne quality or. tenants at least is improving. A permanent increase in the pro- portion of tenancy will be viewed as a dangerous tendency, nevertheless. regardless of the figures, because of the social vaiue or nome ownership J in general. Whether or not it pays 1 better in dollars or cents to own I than to rent, there are other meritor- ious considerations. The farmer, no less than the urban home owner, who has a stake in the land is a better asset for the community than the mere renter. Civic improvement is more likely to be assured and the level of home life is certain to be elevated. The children's bureau of the United States department of ag- riculture has pointed out that the state is benefited by having children born and reared in owned homes, The ancestral roof-tree is a land 1 mark of pride and a heritage of joy. I at the same time that it gives host- age to the future. Certain standards I are set up by home-owning parents that are not associated with ten- I antry. If renting became a perma- I both in the country and in the town. I As has been suggested, we are far from calamity while more than two I thirds of the farm acreage of the country is operated by owners, and the Increase of less than 2 per cent In tenancy in a decade is not par - ticularly alarming, especially when It Is accompanied by improvement in the character of tenants. It is wise, nevertheless, to consider well in advance what a large increase In I tenancy would mean, and to fore- I tioa long enough to show results in Una ftnaiit is expected to increase the proportion of ownership in the next decade, but an even more im- and self-sacrificing American rather portant change is counted on from ( than the mere swashbuckling adven the general movement to improve turer which he has been made to the conditions of country life. A very considerable proportion of pres ent tenancy is due to pressure on owners of farms to move to the 1 towns in order to educate their chil dren and to enjoy social advantages not common to isolated communities. But these conditions are, being cor rected most rapidly in regions where the proportion of tenancy is small est, which furnishes an additional argument in favor of the operation of farms by their owners. RETURN OF THE BUYER. Reminiscences of the role of the beaver in the civilization of the west are Invited by the announcement by the United States department of ag- riculture that beaver in the national forests have increased with amazing rapidity within the past few years. In a certain area in southwestern Colorado in which it is estimated there were 200 of the little animals two years ago, the number is now believed to exceed 12.000. In some states, notably Wisconsin, they have become a menace to artificial res ervoirs. When the Oregon country was in its Infancy they were found everywwhere. but bv 1840 they were regarded as so nearly extinct that the Hudson's Bay Company seriously laid plans to abandon the fur trade for manufacturing and agriculture. The recent reappearance of the beaver is due to game laws which protect it in no fewer than twenty- four states, and to its natural ability to adapt itself to varying conditions, so long as it is protected in its Isola tion. It will interest the wearers of fur garments to be told that some authorities believe that there are now more beavers in the country than in the palmiest pre-pioneer times. dime novelist and historian. A correspondent suggests that the makers of popular histories missed an opportunity by failing to take a leaf from the book of the authors of the dime novels that were so pop ular a generation or so ago that they were a problem to all well- meaning parents of lively boys. He takes as his text the adventures of some of our own pioneers and haz ards a guess that if the stories of their lives were presented without much embellishment they would be read with avidity by the young. It is rerallpd.for PTnmnle.that in the earlv days of the territorial government the Weems-Horrv life of General Francis Marion was so widely read, by adults and youngsters alike, and so fired the Imaginations of the people that the name of Champoeg county was changed to Marion as a mark of tribute to a popular hero. The "swamp fox" was precisely the type out of which the dime novel rion was the author of the life of George Washington in which the cherry tree fable obtained currency for the first time, and it can at least be said of Weems that he un- derstood boys. No biography of a national hero has been "so effective as his was in creating popular interest in the .character the author set out to depict. We pass over the question of the wisdom of changing the name Cham poeg, which had a definite local historical value, to that of a military figure of more remote repute, in order to emphasize the point that the writer of popular histories can be a man of . tremendous influence and that he is especially fortunate when he is endowed with what might be termed the journalistic sense, or capacity for determining the points of essential interest in his own narrative. It is not by accident that a county in far-off Oregon was named for Francis Marlon, and that the names of Kit Carson and Wild I Bill Hickok and William F. Cody I are known to practically every boy, I while those of many more preten- I tious soldiers and, statesmen are now forgotten, if indeed they were ever remembered by young students. It is the essence or sound pedagogy, as has recently been recognized again by the committee on history of the American Schoo Citizenship league. to present history in human form The type studies which commonly begin with Columbus too often end i about tne period oi t-apiain jonn J Smith or William Penn. Daniel Boone, who was dime novel material l if there ever was such material, is I going to be recognized if the com teachers or. nistory mat tjeorge Washington even now owes more to Weems than he does to modern writers, and that Thomas Jefferson is left to politicians to interpret as a partisan character when the true story of his life is as full of romance l as that or any cnaracter wno ever strode through tne pages or a dook Young students of the history of Oregon will be more than casually Interested in knowing that Kit Car- son, about whom our fathers read surreptitiously in tne yenow-oacKed literature of their time, cut a noble figure in the trail-blazing era when I the way was being opened to Ore- gon. A good deal of the credit that has been given to Fremont, the "pathfinder," is due to the work of Carson, who was his guide in 1842 when Fremont made his first ex ploration trip west of the Wind river mountains, and it is not as widely known as it ought to be that Buffalo Bill was a terror to Indians only as an Incident to his career as a pony express rider, and that he performed yeoman service in open ing the way for the transcontinental railroad across the plains. Histo I rians show a tendency to reject Car- son and Cody and men of their com I pany because they became dime novel characters before professional I educators had time to adopt them by youngsters in the school room, and there, would have been less oc casion for secret thumbing of the forbidden books, if their deeds had I not been ignored. I It will be recalled by a few of I the pioneers, for example, that the I same Kit Carson who figured in the old Beadle books was closely asso- elated with the history of Oregon by his role of guide for Fremont on the latter's third western expedition, which brought him north into Ore- I gon and involved him in a memo- I lake; that he and Fremont helped I to add California to the galaxy of states, and that Carson was a brave ' appear. No dime novel contains a chapter more thrilling than the true story of the organization of the first pony express by Russell, Majors & Waddell, or, fdr that matter, the tale of the adventures of Ben Holladay in the pre-rallroad times in Oregon. The travels of Douglas, and of Will iamson and Warner and of Talbot, Kearney and others whose achieve ments are commemorated in the no menclature of the region, and the part played by a hundred trail build ers of an early time whose names are read on the maps without much understanding of their significance, furnish almost innumerable ex amples of opportunities to make authentic history significant and life like, which have been neglected in favor of the dry-bones method of instruction which has prevailed. A noteworthy episode in the an nals of the western frontier was the completion of the first lap of the transcontinental telegraph line, the sixtieth anniversary of which will occur in a few weeks; which is also a reminder that the name of Edward Creighton is forgotten) although he. too, deserves a place in history be side Carson, Fremont, Cody and the others. The great race to win the federal subsidy which had been promised to the first company to succeed in establishing ocean-to-ocean communication, the prodigious and nearly superhuman exertion that it inspired, and the final linking of the Atlantic seaboard with the dis tant Pacific coast were events which were ignored at the time of their performance because they had not obtained the perspective which is ac quired with the passage of time. But these events had their part in revo lutionizing the thought of a people, and if more were made of them in their proper place there would be less cause for complaint that youths find history dull "and seek relief and excitement in prohibited tales. Ever and anon we are reminded again that where there are no trees civilization declines. The deserts of Arabia and the steppes of Russia no less than the wastes of the frozen north illustrate the point only in part, for it is doubtful if the ma terials of a civilization ever existed there, but the vast Interior of China would seem to prove that a people who deliberately destroy their for ests and make no provision for re placement invite famine, plague and ultimate annihilation. The function of the tree as building material may be made good by employment of brick and stone, and even mud, but as a conserver of moisture and of the soil, and particularly as a spirit ual uplifter and a giver of bounteous and grateful shade, it has no sub stitute. T,ie chamber of commerce of the United States undoubtedly has these facts in mind, and the reflec tions which they impel, in its cam paign to awaken people to the de sirability of planting trees and of conserving those already grown. Mr. Kdison has the support" of a number of college professors in his contention that college graduates do not measure up to expectations and If he will wait until the present generation is older he will have the indorsement of some of the college men as well. Mary Pickford's celebrated di vorce case isn't ended yet, for the Nevada authorities say they will ap peal to the supreme court. Perfectly right and proper. Every modern thriller should have at least five reels. It is a noteworthy fact that John D. Rockefeller seems to arouse less and less animosity as he approaches the day when the inheritance col lector will have an opportunity to perform his perfect work. Women in Massachusetts still balk at the requirement that they shall tell their ages to the registra tion clerk, showing that there is at least one secret that they are de termined to keep. When preachers disagree over the "gravity" of the short skirt and bobbed hair crazes, there is a pros pect that they will be permitted to run themselves out, as other fads have always done. The motion pictures of the Demp sey-Carpentier fight being offered at popular prices," we may expect to b told that the movement to pro hlblt them is a blow at the "poor mans sport. Lenine talks of taking a vacation in Scotland. Evidently he wants complete rest from his labors. He can have no thought of trying to convert the Scots to bolshevism. What a stimulus it would give to donations for the starving babies of Russia if a free crack at a bolshevist head were given as a premium with every subscription to the fund. . The new army of conscientiou objectors to the war taxes is much greater and far more respectable than that which was heard from during the war. There is said to be money in garbage, but the one chap whom few people begrudge whateve money there is in his trade is the garbage man. . And now we have the trollibus as an addition to our language no less than to our means of going to places that we do not necessarily have to reach. Maybe it was the prospect of hav ing to live In Salem during a session of the legislature that made Judge Tucker decline that supreme court post. Every new swindle is a reminder at least that the day of implicit faith has not entirely given place to the age of skepticism. With such low rates to the beach, we may expect a revival of poems dealing with what the wild waves are saying. This new rate war to Astoria wiil make good reading for the "Do You Remember" column twenty years from now. Congress promises to repeal the luxury tax on silk stockings on the theory, probably, that they are now - luxuries. observations of philosopher' Sage of Potato Hill Discusses Foibles of Hsmn Family. E. W. Howe, in Howe's Monthly. Love stories are almost as much alike as market reports. So many thlr.es in books sound written instead of. natural. I like books and newspapers: but I prefer that they Instruct rather than fool me. I confess I do not greatly care for the lady Ring: Lar"dner who is lately writing for print. When a man or woman has lost the power of being ashamed, he or she has lost the power of improving morally. I have never read of an age when writers did not say the people were robbed, oppressed and bullied. Look Into any history, and see if you do not, in a few pages, run into this statement. All the calamities in history have been due to contests over the tax ing privilege. A man appears, and ays he wishes to save me. What he really aims to do is to tax me. The colleges are In effect, turning out thousands of Fierce-Arrows and Cadillacs when the demand is for Fords. (More free advertising for Henry Ford, found in a magazine.) 1 do not believe there ever was ' man who actually believed in spiritism. Even a savage has a lit tle of the reasoning faculty, and. fter he has made incantations for years without result he must in- vitably realize that there is some- hing wrong with bis Joss. There must be considerable satis faction in being crazy. Such a man is to blame for nothing: he is wise, benevolent. makes no mistakes others are always to blame. The ane men about him are not only tools; they are rogues'. It is a sane man who tosses on his bed at night because of mistakes. I am weary of fault finding; of men spending their lives in pointing out the faults of others, and recog nizing none in themselves. Some of my readers may say I am a fault finder. I find no fault except that we do not do as well as we might; I object to nothing except bad habits we might get rid of. and thereafter be better off. It is said the Jews are material istic. Are they not. on the contrary, the most spiritual of all races? They are the founders of our spiritism; they are the oldest undivided race and cling together more closely than any other because of spiritism. Our prophet "is the Son; theirs is the Father. . The Jews are one great family; spirituality is the cement that holds them together. As practically every head of an American family must have an auto mobile, and the expense of such a machine is around $50 a month, of course everybody must have more Income. A plasterer lately came to call on me, driving an automobile He recalled the time when he worked ten hours a day for $2.50. Now he receives $8 for a day of eight hours and is clamoring for $10. The attempts of law makers to help the people not only do no good; they result In unnecessary expense and harm. After this year there should not' be a session of congress or state legislature until 1926. And during the remainder of this year congress and state legislatures should repeal thousands of Ineffective, trou blesome and expensive laws, and re tain only the bare essentials of gov ernment. I often think there is indelicacy in the manner ln which cemeteries are usually placed In sightly places. We properly hide certain parts of our bodies and certain of our neces sary acts; we should be equally modest in hiding our graveyards. On every railroad train there are passengers going to hospitals, or to a different climate where they hope to be better. Such passengers can not look out of the windows without seeing a cemetery at least every half hour. Every man who habitually tells lies, or drinks intoxicants, or refuses to pay his just debts, should be ar rested and punished as are vagrants. These habits are as annoying and harmful to his community as is vagrancy. Besides, it a man is ar rested for vagrancy,- he is usually humiliated, and shows a disposition to go to work; arrest would do as much for the habitual liar, drunkard or dead beat. A man must do a certain amount of work in order to be respectable. Se he should be forced to be reasonably truthful, sober and honest. The preachers are making a mis take in trying to bring back the old blue laws regulating Sunday. If such laws could be adopted, they would not increase the attendance at the churches. But such laws cannot be adopted, and the agitation will bring out a lot of unfriendliness to the church which would otherwise lie dormant. One of the certain things is that the average red-blooded Amer ican does not like the old-fashioned "bossy" preacher. If the church leaders were as wise as the political leaders, they would realize that the blue Sunday agitation is a very bad measure. Upton Sinclair impresses me as an immensely industrious man. Prob ably no farmer works longer hours. Had Mr. Sinclair devoted his great energy to legitimate pursuits, ne might have been a prosperous and useful man. I recall only one man who has made a really conspicuous success of socialism: Lenin, the Rus sian. He is very wealthy, and for all time his name will be preserved in cyclopedias and histories. Rosseau and Marx are noted because of their devotion to socialism, but neither was really successful. Lenin, with all his success, is confronted with a disagreeable future; he nas yet to be assassinated, a fate sure to overtake him. Socialism is a poor profession; not half a dozen socialists have been really successful men. Safety of Headtns: Apparatus. PORTLAND. Aus:. 19. (To the Edi tor.) I wish to install a certain gas heating device, but have been in formed that it is unsafe. I have also been told that the fire marshal or in surance companies test such things, but do not know where to apply. Can you tell where I can get reliable, dis interested inlormauon on mis sud ject? I would rather be careful than collect insurance. EDWARD JOHNSON'. Tou can probably secure the in formation you desire at the office of the fire marshal on the lower floor of j the city hall. The Healer. By brace E. Hall. Man breaks the tender plants that, mingled, grow Across the woodland path where he would tread. With ruthless hand the clinging vine flings low. And snaps the boughs that cluster overhead; With sharpened blade hacks into hearts of trees That, through the years, have hun gered tor the sky; Compels the rocks to yield to his decrees. Yea, robs the stream and leaves it hot and dry. The flowers must cease to bloom upon the road That man has gashed across the forest's breast; - ..u " u 1 1 j lvj ix new 1 abode. But discord breaks forever on their rest; The drooping ferns hang heavy with the dust That smothers all their beauty, fresh and green. But man is blind when in his head long lust He hurls his energies against tti scene. But let the old road lose its useful way , And lo! kind nature hurries to the spot; Rebuilds the "havoc of man's heed less day. With sweet commiseration In her thought: A verdant carpet weaves of softest mo66. Loops tendrils of the vine from shrub to tree. Sets brighter flowers to recompense ior loss. And paints the scene anew, most gorgeously. CLACKAMAS RIVER. Spoiled child of sun, and tear be. clouded skies! Of silent ages of eternal change: cradled by wrinkled cliffs, whose patient eyes. Gaze on the wilful wandering of your Play; Where armored mountains, spread in steadfast range. Hold, with scarred Hood, a mighty secret, strange. Of cloud-capped thunders of a long lost day: Of fiery war with molten lava streams. Of fearful trembling of the fright ened earth; Where the sharp sword blade of the glacier gleams; These, careless river, were watchers at your birth. For you, a thousand caverned springs From snowy sleep were drawn; For you a hundred million moons Sank, wanly, toward the dawn; Toward you, the coral salmon leaped. To die In your embrace; By you. the painted savage paused To see his mirrored face; For you. the ponderous caravans Of giant spreading fir. Brought, weighted with the western winds. Their frankincense and myrrh. And you. xh wayward, wandering child Of laughter and of light; Were made to show The endless flow Of everlasting might! Love fails not of its purpose, God fails not of his plan. Eternal hours are none too long, to shape the soul of men! MARY A. WOODWARD. A MONO THOSE PRESENT. "Among those present" at the batbjng beach to be! To feel the surf and view the beauties of the scenery! "Among those present" when the weather's dry and somewhat hot. Along the sandy ocean shore who could, re ruse to trot? Those captivating whitecaps for me brinff forth an urge; Say. don't you feel it. almost, the dip into the surge? I'd have the cheery thought abide, end so. would you. I ween. Although the ocean waves this year I haven't even seen. Imagination always helps when one feels somewhat jaded. And keeps one's hopes a-sparking. one's dreams from getting faded. "Among those present" on a camping trip far out. That for me would put such things as grouches to rout. Why don't I tune the little old gas bus up end vamoose? Er no one yet has lent me theirs. and none is nigh me. loose. I guess the thing is up to me to look ahead a bit. To gather first more jingling coins. instead of sighs to flit; Then, when I get enough ahead, to tep right up and buy A thoroughbred a car, I mean and for the brookside hie; Some time, however, must elapse be fore the plan gets ripe. Till then the old job holds me. so I'll fill the cool corncob pipe. A. O. THE LAND THAT USED TO BE. The flicker of the firelight in mj grand and lonely hall Like a moving picture story casts a shadow on the wall: And time turns back to by-gone days and scenes again I see Of a dim-remembered childhood, ln the land that used to be. I've wandered to the village, to mj boyhood home once more In the twilight I am standing, jusl before the open door. The scent of honeysuckle that I used to love so well On the evening breeze is brought m and wraps me in its spell. The image of dead friendships from across the span of years Smile to me a welcome and my eyes grow dim with tears: Like a song that's half forgotten comes the sad sweet melody Of the whlppoorwill's low crying down the path of memory. But the light fades from the window for the hour is growing late And the darkness settles downward, like the silent hand of fate. The embers in the fireplace that gav this gift to me. In their dying shadows steal me. from the land that used to be. HITTT MAG INN. SELF". I -note on every hand a restless turft. Each one is hastening, and whit s the urge That leaves no quiet hour wh-" phantom doth purine That all seem fleeing from, tho n- k- 'tis in view? The phantom's name is self s". e. dom faced. In efforts to escape, hours are la:d waste; Self (like a waiMni? task, that waits tho' we evade) Responsibility upon each one is laid And with each fleeing one. ft If :- the throng Is ever present, too. although evad- long Waiting a reckoning hour and intro spection's goad Self must be fairly met. sorrv -n-here upon life's rond. JANETTE MART lit.