mis SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, JULY 9, 1922
j5hmda(9rfptttan
ESTABLISHED BY HENRY L. PITTOCK.
Published by The Oregonian Pub. Co.,
135 Sixth Street. Portland, Oregon.
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NARCOTICS AND CRIME.
The medical director of the mu-.
nicipal court of Boston does not ex
aggerate the importance of theere
striction of the traffic in narcotics
as a means of reducing crime. This
is particularly true, as was shown
in Chicago recently, and as has
been demonstrated in other cities,
of the incidence of first offenses. A
considerable proportion of petty
robberies and small holdups are
now committed In efforts to pro
cure the means with which to buy,
injurious drugs lor which the ap
petite has been previously created
hy peddlers seeking a market for
illicit warea In a larger number of
Instances inwhich drug stores are
the victims of highwaymen and
burglars the criminals seek the
drug direct. "
The number of arrests in Boston
In 1920 cited by the director
245 for violation of the narcotic
laws and 837 for other offenses
committed by addicts is a meas
ure of the relation between the two
kinds of crime, but it does not tell
the entire story. A still greater
number of crimes committed by
narcotic users go unpunished for a
time, until the offenders, embold
ened by their success and rendered
unfit by use of drugs for any pro
ductive employment, venture into
more serious enterprises. There
comes a time when most of them
are caught, but meanwhile the cun
ning which use of narcotics seems
to stimulate in some minds makes
them a serious menace to society.
The recent strengthening of the
Harrison narcotics law by the
unanimous enactment of the Jones
Miller bill marks a step in the di
rection of overcoming the so-called
"crime wave," but it will be a futile
step unless it is accompanied by
vigorous pursuit of the illicit pur
veyors of drugs and by heavy pen
alties for offenders. The conse
quences to society of a policy of in
activity in this field are only be
ginning to be appreciated. The pur
veyor of illicit drugs, from what
ever source obtained, is responsible
not only for the making of addicts
a heinous offense in itself but
for a large increase in the number
of criminals of other kinds. When
the peddlers have been put behind
the bars, a great number of other
crime problems will have solved
themselves. k
SUBSIDIZING LITERATURE.
. The curious notion that literary
genius is a plant capable of being
nourished by pecuniary subsidy has
but recently found favor in the
United States and here only to a
fortunately limited degree. In
France, where .the popularity of a
literary creation is less dependent
upon the verdict of public opinion
than in this country and where the
awards of juries are ' taken much
more seriously, a curious situation
has arisen in which the savants are
loudly protesting that too generous
prizes . have a tendency to blight
real art. They point out that since
the great body .of French readers
incline toward giving undue weight
to awards, and since open discus
sion and criticism are not as com
mon as on this side of the Atlantic,
the effect of the prize system is bad
in two ways. It creates & motive
for writing not calculated to pro
duce the best work and it places at
' a disadvantage those who have
done excellent work but with whose
merits the juries of awards do not
happen to agree.
It is probably truer of writing
than of any other profession that
it is basically inspired by a funda
mental desire for self-expression, so
that the writer who "has it in him
is unlikely to be repressed by pov
erty or by any other-cause. There
are not many mute, inglorious Mil-
tons in the literary field, with the
price of white paper and ink Its
low as it is in this day and gen
eration and with publishers avidly
competing with one another for the
honor of discovering new geniuses.
The prize usually takes the form
of royalties and this is apt to be
very much . more substantial than
any formal award- '.The American
juries of awards consist of a vast
body of critics whose work appears
in, newspapers and magazines and
the final verdict, which does not
Invariably agree with that of the
critics, depends upon the extent Jo
which the book answers to a deft
nite demand. A recent example of
work which won a formal prize
which the people as a whole did
not endorse was "The Triumph of
the Lgg, and one that has pros
pered notwithstanding a good deal
of severe criticism is "Main Street.1
The latter triumphed over certain
inherent weaknesses of structure
because it set people to thinking
about themselves in a new . way.
Neither the. award nor the refusal
of a p'rize to its author would have
been likely to affect its success ma.
terially.
Story-telling and the-poetic in
Btinct are gifts, which can be im
proved by study of technic but
which cannot be created by any
- method. The potential author who
K has not yet. unburdened himself
of the inside urge but who would
, do so if a large money subsidy were
offered as an inducement is prob
ably a non-existent type. When
the brain of your poet or story
teller begins to seethe only one
thing is going to happen subsidy
or no subsidy, he is going to sit
down and write.
NO GREAT CAUSE FOR REGRET.
Regret among republicans at the
defeat of Senior McCumber by
Lynn J. Frazier in North Dakota
will be- modified by consideration
of, the character, political course
and degree of ability displayed by
the rejected candidate. McCumber
is a straight republican leaning to
conservatism, but he is not the stal
wart champion of republican prin
ciples . against the -non-partisan
league delusion that the situation
in North Dakota demands and that
would have won hearty support
from the conservative voters. He
has been too passively opposed -to
the league to play the part desired
by its' determined foes; therefore
apathy prevailed among many who
might have rallied to him. Oppon
ents of the league may rally to
O'Connor, the democraticf nominee
for senator, as the means of saving
the state fnom being represented by
a believer in. the league's ruinous
theories. 4
McCumber's record shows him
not to be as loyal a worker for the
republican policies to which the
administration is pledged as his
party had a right to expect from a
man who has reached his high
position, in the senate. He has re
peatedly pushed forward his own
policy ott the soldiers' bonus in op
position to that of President Hard
ing, trying to give his bill prece
dence over the shipping bill which
the - president deems of first im
portance, even to interject it in the
midst of the tariff debate. The new
conditions under which his tariff
bill comes before the country render
difference of opinion among repub
licans, but he has ascribed criticism
by great republican newspapers -to
sordid mercenary motives. Such a
man is not qualified to lead his
party In the fight for one of its
basic principles, and he weakens it
by refusing to do teamwork with
a republican president
The North Dakota senator is a
its details a legitimate subject for
product of that vicious seniority
rule which raises men to the chair
of important committees without
regard to their ability to lead. No
party would have chosen him for
chairman of the finance committee
from a free, - open field. He is a
third-rater, and therefore does not
command the confidence of his col
leagues or evoke loyalty in them.
The same accident which raised
him will make Senator Smoot his
successor as chairman, a prospect
which affords much consolation,
for the Utah man has a knowledge
and understanding of the tariff and
finance which mae him looked
up to as a natural leader. He also
works in co-operation with the
president and the body of his party
in the senate, and would not spon
sor a legislative programme to
which they did not consent. If the
republican majority in 'the senate
should be reduced at the coming
election, there will be decided com
pensation if it should weed out
such men as McCumber and others
who do not play the game.
THE SCIENCE OF GOODNESS.
Professor 'William Morris Davis
of, Harvard, who told the Phi Beta
Kappas the other day that issues of
right and wrong belonged in the
field of science and ought to be in
quired into and discussed in the
spirit of scientific research, may
have only anticipated another con
flict between science and religion
concerning 'the. proper limitations
of their respective fields. But he
scores a point when he says that
the controversy is not new, that re
ligion as it has manifested itself
in various times has not infre
quently attacked . the truths Re
vealed by science, and that it has
not made good its claim to the ex
clusive right to deal with issues of
morals and ethics. "Just as surely
as all questions of a geological or
astronomical or evolutionary na
ture," said Professor Davis, "have
now been permanently taken over
from religion by their respective
sciences, so conquest, will be made
of all questions concerning right
and wrong r by that division of
science which concerns itself with
the natural history of goodness as a
matter of purely human experience,
in .contrast to goodness as a matter
of supernatural revelation."
The two sciences which naturally
suggest themselves to the speaker
in this connection are eugenics and
psychiatry. Doubtless there are
others, and if we concede the scien
tific standing of the metaphysical
the field is widened immeasurably.
Underlying motives, perhaps, and
underlying causes certainly are a
proper subject for calm reasoning.
Science is adjudged cold and harsh
by many who have some reason for
their judgments, and Professor
Davis admits that "some scientists
are very tiresome fellows who do
science a disservice," but there are,
on the other hand, too many "who
resist the .methods of science only
because they themselves, being gov
erfcd by purejemotionalism, are in
capable of appreciating the calm,
free spirit $t inquiry and are un
willing to follow free inquiry to an
unwelcome conclusion. They em
body the species of cloudy thinking
which will not accept any verdict
which involves a large sense of
human or individual responsibility,
and which takes refugOn a con
venient and fatuous optimism. They
are symbolized by a class which
rejects the philosophy of evolu
tion because, as they fastidiously
phrase it, they do not like the idea'
of being descended from monkeys.
"Natural history of goodness" is
by itself an engaging phrase. We
shall achieveteomething worth while
if we discover proof that right
ethical and moral standards are
not merely relative, but on the con
trary, that they , are answerable to
natural laws through the violation
of which they are impaired or de
stroyed. The promise that scien
tific inquiry in the field of natural
history of goodness may remove
from the minds of intelligent think
ers the ancient view that punish
ment, either in this world or in
hell, is .the best means of sup
pressing evil does not seem impos
sible of fulfillment. Professor Davis
thinks that it will be done and that
there also will be found a better
method of promoting good than by
a system of rewards, either in this
world or in the next. He adds
There is great need of finding some'
thing better than reward or punishment
as a means 01 Improving the world, can
the scientific study of the natural his
tory of goodness find something better
It ought at least to try to do so; for a
I have noted that study included a search
for- the forces by which good thought
and actions may be encouraged and
strengthened and bad ones inhibtedv
The four processes employed by
the scientist are available in this as
in other investigations. They are
observation, invention, deduction
including experiment, and verifica
tion. Professor Davis believes that
the case -method lends itself pecu
liarly to this kind of presentation.
Its' facts could be set forth in
studies of various kinds of behavior,
concerning which pupils might
make their own judgments and
generalizations. - Meanwhile special
ists would carry oh experiments
concerning all sorts of conditions.
Undoubtedly observations would be
difficult and experiments would be
exceedingly intricate, "but both
should be conducted with a view
to determining how far the love of
goodness and the hatred of evil can
be cultivated and how far the "cul
tivated love of goodness, the spir
itual happiness that comes . from
good deeds, together with the cul
tivated hatred of evil and thet spir
itual distress that comes from bad
deeds, may be trusted as guides to
conduct, in preference to rewards
for good behavior and punishmept
for evil-doing."
Systematization of the study of
human conduct with a view to Its
improvement at least can do no
harm, though it has a forbiddingly
academic sound to the ear of one
whose mind is tuned only to con
crete things. It, is, as Professor
Davis suggests,' a mighty task as
ponderous as the process of eVolu
tion itself. Yet. religion-need not
meanwhile suffer. The professor
concludes with this defense of his
position r "There will be those who
will say that, just as in, replacing
special creation by evolution, so in
replacing the,revelation of goodness
by 'its ' experimental development,
we are acting as if .we had lost
faith, as if ,we were unbelievers;
but for my part, I hold that we are
thus acting as most sincere, most
earnest, most devout believers, and
as having the greater faith."
THE DIKE THAT HELD. '
It is so much more inspiring to
be celebrating the holding of a dike
than -to be participatingin a. me
morial to the victims of a levee that
broke down in an emergency that
the example set by th people, of
Woodland, Wash., seems worthy of
widespread emulation. Prevention
is literally worth s'o much more
than cure in cases of the kind that
more attention, ought to be given
to It. The exceptional tragedy is so
much more impressive' in the news
than the everyday escape from it
that insufficient weight is usually
placed on preventive measures.
On a previous occasion the back
waters of the Columbia river had
broken through the retaining em
bankment, causing heavy damage
to crops, m the vicinity, The,
strengthening of the dike was an
obvious procedure, but celebration
of a victory oyer the forces of na
ture is not yet so common as to be
unworthy of comment. It. will be
worth while to continue the prac
tice. Long after memory of the
particular event of which the an
nual affair is a memorial has faded
will have value as a reminder
that the sensation that : did . not
come to pass also contains a practi
cal lesson for us all.- -
PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO. .
Principal Robert R. Moton of
Tuskegeo institute, successor to
Booker T. Washington in the lead
ership of the movement to uplift
the negro race in the United States,
has statistics on his side in his con
tention that, his peojile have the
necessary capacity to work out
their own industrial salvation. In
an address at the northern Baptist
convention the other day, he said
that in sixty years negroes have ac
quired 22,000,000 acres of . land,
not as speculators but, as working
farmers, that , they own 600,000
homes aa 45,000 churches. They
are operating seventy-eight banks.
100 insurance companies, and some
70,000 business enterprises of va.
rious kinds, with a capital of $150,-
ooo.ooo;
Even more to, the point is his
showing in behatf of education,
Illiteracy, says Principal Moton,
has "been reduced to 26 per cent.
This, as is well known, is due to the
general advance in , public . school
facilities, but 44,000 negro teachers
are doing their part and there are
more than 400 normal schools and
colleges for negroes. - ,'
It was the view of Booker Wash
ington that the members of his race
would prosper most by a policy of
education which would make them
industrially self-contained and eco
nomically independent.,. It js not
lorgotten that ne- naa a long, up
hill fight to overcome the opposi
tion of misguided theorists who dis
agreed with him, and who talked
in terms which they themselves
probably did not understand about
ideals and aspirations Which only
grew more nebulous as the dlscus
sfbn was protracted. That there is
room for indefinite, cultural de
velopment within the intensely
practical course which Washington
adopted and which Moton has pur
sued with scarcely any deviation is
attested by the by-products of the
system. . But the conservative lead
ers who have held that the first
duty to the people was to establish
them in industrial independence has
been amply justified by the event.
In the south, as it is working out.
the communities in which the ne
gro is most respected are those in
which he is known as a farmer who
does not disdain the most modern
methods of agriculture, whose boys
and girls'have their lubs! at which
farm economics and husbandry are
studied, and whose county demon
stration agents are contributing not
a little to the Increased wealth of
their- states by fostering improved
methdcJs of agriculture. In this re
spect. it is possible that the negroes
who are being taught by Moton and
his followers have something to
teach the white farmers who for
two decades or so have been mov
ing to the towns faster than the
towns have been able to assimilate
them. The problem has not been
solved In its entirety, but Principal
Moton shows that Tuskegee is do
ing its share bf seeking to incul
cate the lesson that the producer
alone is able to justify his relation
to society.
It js gratifying to learn that Port.
land's "Library week" will broaden
to a national event under the
auspices of the American Library
association. What it did for the
locallibrary it is to do for all-i-an
almost incalculable assistance to
the cause of good hooks,. Library
finances unfortunately do not ex-f
pand with the tendency of expenses I
to increase, so that whatever econ-;
omy may be practiced must be at
the sacrifice of the budget for new
books,. "Library week" in Port
land, When citizens were asked to
give used books to the library, re
sulted in the acquisition of many
standard reference works and vol
umes of literature, fully as valuable
to the library as new books, ,and
the lack . of which, in many in
stances, has .been long felt. Those
who gave books to the library dur-'
Ing that week, having previously
extracted both pleasure and infor
mation from the volumes, were
public benefactors in every sense of
yie term. They made it possible
for library patrons to receive the
same benefits and they helped
solve a library problem. - The adop
tion of this . plan nationally is
significant of a long step forward
in library management, and is cer
tain to meet with the assistance
and approval of all.
MAYOR OLES RESIGNS
George L. Oles had the gift of
spectacularity. , He was. filled with
that" vague and volatile essence
known as pep. He was a slangy
phrase-maker a. window dresser
with words. So it came to pass
when Mr. Oles aspired to become
mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, his
applauding fellow citizens gave him
their votes. He became mayor of
Youngstown on a platform that
promised to permit spooning in the
public parks, which will afford you
a perspective Of his genius for ap
plied politics. From coast to coast
the American people read with
much interest of Mr. Oles and his
dynamic disposition.
He resigned a day or so ago, and
returned to his food market-
where he has built a large business
through spectacular advertising
and phrase-making and the appli
cation of that vague and volatile es
sence known as pep: Less than a
year at the. helm of Yorlngstown
was sufficient to convince him that
running a city is not to be classed.
among the avocations, and that a
mayor who boldly asserts hlmteelf
as f or'public spooning is not neces
sarily equipped to draft a new traf
fic .ordinance or stretch a limited
budget over unlimited needs. His
resignation seems to have been
cheerfully received by the populace
of his own home town. Less than a
year .of Mr. Oles as mayor was
enough for them, as well.
CENSUS PUZZLES.
It has been noted before that
census' statistics are . frequently
hard to unravel. A recent sum
mary of the distribution of the
population of the United States by
dwellings and families furnishes
another Illustration in point;
For the united States as a
whole," observe the report, "a de
crease in the average number of
persons - per dwelling has been
shown at each census from 1850 to
1920 for which comparative figures
are available. During the same
period, however, as a result of the
increased construction . of : apart
ment houses ' and tenements, the
number of families per dwelling
has increased from. 1.07 to 1.18."
Now it would be reasonably pos
sible to deduce from this seeming
paradox something tangible as to
the social . condition of the people
were it not' that the terms "dwell
ing' and "family" are employed in
a strictly technical sense and not
in the manner in which the aver
age citizen would use them. Thus,
in census families we may have, as
the report explains, either a -"private"
family, or a "natural" family,
or an "economic" family. The term
"dwelling," too, is elastic- For cen
sus purposes, as we' are are told,
this need not be a house in the us
ual sense of the word, any place In
which 'one or more persons regu
larly sleep answering sufficiently to
the definition. For example:
It may be a hotel, boarding house. In
stitution or the like. A boat, a -tent. -av
ireignicar or a room in a xactory. store
or office building, although occupied by
only one person, is also counted as a
dwelling, while, on the other hand, an
entire apartment house, although con
taining many families, constitutes but
one dwelling. Variations among the
divisions and states In regard to ' the
number of persons per dwelling are due
in great part to differences, in the pro
portion of the population living In large
cities, where there are many apartment
or tenement buildings, housing more than
one family, and often -large numbers of
families. . ..
In consequence of the grouping
of private, natural and census fami
lies nd of various kinds of dwell
ings (a hospital for the insane, for
illustration, containing a thousand
persons would constitute one
dwelling), it Js impossible to arrive
at a conclusion as to our domicili
ary situation. . We -shall look in
vain for satisfaction of any curi
osity we may have as to whether
housing conditions are relatively
better now than thev were one rr
tvJo decades ago. The . "excess of
families over dwellings" is shown
to be' equal ., to 15 per cent of the
total number of families, but the
futiUJy of hoping to extract any
worthwhile information from this
showing is exhibited' in another
typical passage from the report:
This does not mean that only 15 per
cent of the total number of families were
living on .January 1, 1920. in plural
family dwellings. To Illustrate: Sup
pose that 120 families 'were housed In
100 dwellings and that no more than
two families occupied one dwelling. In
this case 80 families would occupy 80
dwellings and 40 families would occupy
20 dwellings, and the number of famlllM
living In dwellings housing more than one
family each would be 40, or exactly twice
the excess, of families over dwellings.
If, -however, 98 families occupied 9S
dwellings and each of the remaining two
dwellings were occupied by eleven fam
ilies each, the number of families living
in plural-family dwellings (22) would be
only slightly greater than the excess of
families over dwellings (20).
"The suggestion that we may
obtain a rough approximation
of the trend toward plural
family dwellings by comparing
the percentage which excess of
families over dwellings repre
sented", of the total number of
families for a given area in 1920
with the corresponding figures for
previous censuses" is. less enlight
ening than It might be, owing -to
the confusion already alluded to of
"dwellings" and "families" of var
ious and Sundry kinds. We gather,
for example, that the excess of
families over dwellings in Oregon
In 1920 was 18.5 per cent, whereas
twenty years ago it was but 12.6
per cent. But just ' what this
means, and whether it betokens
relative stagnation of the building
programme, or fewer servants per
household, or a larger or smaller
number of boats, tents, freight cars
or public institutions per capita, it
is likely that we shall never know.
If you cire to learn the number
of "families" per "dwelling" in the
various subdivisions of the United
States, the census report wmtell
you. But if .you are interested in
finding out whether a greater or
lesser number of private families,
consisting of blood and marriage
relations, are cosily living together
under their own little rooftreea
than there used to be, you will scan
some pages of unilluminating fig
urea without result. - ,
A GREAT MISSIONARY EXPLORER.
Just half a century ago, as was
recorded' recently in the "Fifty
Years Ago" column on 'this page,
word, was received in America that
7-T n J-,r TW Qfanla,, 1, a J "f t, n ,) " T"l,-
David Livingstone at Ujiji in the
heart of Africa, It matters little'to
the value, of the incident as a
reminder of the work of the greatest-
missionary, explorer that, the
world has ever known that Liv
ingstone himself hardly realized
that he was lost, that he was so en
grossed by the labor in which he
was engaged that he had given no
thought to the stir that his pro
longed absence had caused among
civilized peoples, and that he con
tinued so intent upon the purpose
of his original undertaking that he
stubbornly refused to be "rescued."
There Stanley was compelled 'at
length to leave him, and there he
died a year later, a martyr to his
overwhelming- zeal.
Llvingtone's is still the outstand
ing name in the annals ofthe prog
ress of civilization in Africa. His
discoveries, his explorations, his
contributions' to the solution ofthe
problem of the hydrography of the
dark continent were momentous
and without parallel, even in the"
labors of men like Burton, Baker
and Speke, but they were excelled
by his far-sighted conception of his
duty as a pioneer missionary, by his
Influence upon the people of the
country through, which he traveled
and by the inspiration of his ex
ample and its effect upon the minds
and imaginations of people at
home. It is difficult to realize that
only half a century has passed since
the events which are mentioned
took place, so vast have been the
changes which have been recorded
since then.
Livingstone began his active ca
reer as a missionary, in preparation
for which he obtained an education
as a physician. He left England the
first time on his mission to Africa
In 1840, and soon after that con
ceived the idea.'in which he was far
in advance of his time, that mission
ary success was not to "be calculated
In te-ms of numbers of more or less
doubtful converts to Christianity.
His whole life was a development
of the larger background for other
missionaries to work upon. He was
Indeed the missionary statesman df
his period. His largest accomplish
ment in a practical sense was the
arousing of the world, to the hor
rors and i desolation of the slave
trade, which had been carried on in
Africa since very ancient times.
This idea took possession of him
in the early '60s, at which time its
rapid growth was favored by senti
ment fostered by the civil war in
the United States. In his work he
was hampered by political, no less
than by geographical, obstacles, or
by the fact that practically two
thirds of Africa was a blank upon
the maps. In 2000 years or more
of exploration for the purpose of
local .commerce, other nations had
set down nothing by which science
had been enriched. Livingtone laid
a foundation upon which others
might build, after the manner of
northern peoples everywhere and
his successors created the Africa of
the present time-
i The state of knowledge in 1866,
the . year in which Livingstone
plunged into the interior on the
final expedition which alarmed the
world as to his safety, is revealed by
the fact that he was moved to
search for the ancient . reputed
"fountain" of Herodotus. But he
had already discovered the Vic
toria falls of the Zambezi, had for
mulated an accurate conception of
the -configuration of the great con
tinent and had published the great
est volume of geographical and
scientific data concerning Africa,
that the world had ever seen.
Thereafter he continued his search
for the sources 'of the Nile, but
meanwhile carried on a larger work
in making hideous the slave traffic,
at which the Arabs openly, and the
Portuguese secretly connived. His
actual travels covered a third of the
entire continent. His remarkable
personality Is revealed in the state
ment of a biographer that "in all
the countries through which he
traveled his name was cherished by
the native tribes, who regarded him
as a. superior being," and that even
the Arab slave traders whom he
opposed greatly admired him and
styled him the "very great doctor."
It was due to him that the trade re
ceived its death blow a fact of
enormous importance because of its
effect upon the trading nations no
less' than upon the enslaved-
The . semi-centenary of Living
stone's death, which soon Will be
commemorated, is an event which
might with propriety be made the
occasion for reflection upon the
power of a great idea to unite civ
lized peoples in the advancement
of a common cause.
rHE BASIS OF THE MENTAL TEST.
A thought-provoking contribu
tion to the discussion of the value
of mental tests in determining in
dividual responsibility is contained
In an .article by Fabian Franklin
In the Independent. Mr. Franklin
calls attention to a fact, which
must have occurred also to other,
that when It was stated that the
average mental age of the white
drafted men of the country had
been shown to be. 13.08 years.
which was "probably representa
tive of the whole white population
of the country," a serious question
was automatically raised as to the
sufficiency of the measuring device
employed. Forof course if It be
assumed that the "average man" is
mentally but thirteen years old, it
must be meant that he is of that
age by comparison with- some
standard. " Mr. Franklin's article
jogs the memories of those who
have forgotten what that standard
is.
The customary assumption, says
the writer, is that the mental age
of the "average adult" is about six
teen years. He continues, quoting
from the official report of the surgeon-general
on . "Psychological
Examining in the United States
Army":,
The fiifure Is based, however, upon ex
aminations of only sixty-two persons,
thirty-two of them high school pupils
from 16 to 20 years of age, and thirty of
them "business men of moderate suc
cess and of very limited educational ad
vantages." "The group Is too small to
taerowe, not typicL High school pu,-
plls and business men of moderate suc
cess rrobablv do not reDresent the aver
age American adult with respect to in- i
leutgencs. .
. It appears in' the' body of the
report itself that 85 per cent of
men who had been to high school
showed mental ages above average.
,In other words, "the drafted Sen
were measured with enormous care,
but with a mental yardstick which
was not very reliable and which In
fact was presumably much longer
than a yard." 1 The value of the
discussion, however, is not in its
uggestion ofk criticism of mental
tests in principle, which is express-
nL50116.3, bUt ? SfemS
lie in certain conclusions which it
permits us to draw a to collateral
matters. The mental test as an
Institution ; has probably come to
stay; if would appear to have am
ply justified itself as a measure of
relative, ability; and as Mr. Frank
lin says, it has been the basis of
tome remarkably correct forecasts
of , relative performance.. But we
are impressed by a singular coinci
dence in the result of a recent
examination of the prisoners at
Sing Sing prison. These prisoners
are adults and their average "men
tal age" has been set down as thir
teen years and two months. The
question arises whether this war
rants sociologists in founding the-
entire system of crime prevention
upon the idea that criminals are
less responsible than other men for
their own shortcomings and wheth
er they are more to be pitied than
adults who do not commit crimes.
It is apparently conclusive that
these convicts are not criminals
chiefly because of inferior mental
age, since - their ages correspond
very closely with that of the aver
age of the drafted army, which was
composed overwhelmingly of young
men' who have . never been . and
never will be in prison. The con
vict in fact "hasany number of
companions not only of the same
mental age' but surrounded by the
same economic and social circum
stances, the same trials and temp
tations, who abstain from crime
and keep out of prison all their
lives." The figures show that It is
not yet time to abandon the safe
and reasonable principle of personal-
responsibility or to reject
the notion that those who steal and
kill do so under the impulsion of
an inferiority for which they are
not to blame. By the showing that
the average criminal is, endowed
with at least as many of nature's
gifts as the average American out
of prisop. we are furnished with an
argument in contradiction of the
mushy sentimentality affected by
many doctrinaire reformers which,
while it does not . count against
humanitarian, methods of prison
administration, is likely to supply
a foundation for abatement of the
-so-called crime wave that will be
much sounder than that which be
gins with, denial that the offender
is to blame for the crimes he com
mits. " v "
Not less interesting is Mr. Frank
lin's suggestion that' further tests
need to be devised to determine
how far the use to which mental
abilities may be put is influenced
by a series of factors which are as
yet pnly dimly understood. For
Illustration: ,
To . . . an nrdfnnrv riav 1,1mm,
the demand that he execute a number of
tasks caNlng for .Intelligent understand
ing of artificial questions, however sim
ple, presents a wholly different aspect
from what it does to a person who has
been brought up In an atmosphere of In
teresting conversation and alert social
Intercourse. He may be frightened and
demoralized by a demand for the exer
tion of his mind which, had he been
brought up tn higher surroundings, he
would have found pleasantly stimulating.
Can we assert with any confidence that
an Italian stevedore who makes a poor
list at the simple tasks, set him In the
beta' tasks WOUld have hn nlt..
awkward if he had been adopted Into
neu-io-ao and cultivated American
family at the age of two? On the con
trary, there is every reason to' believe
that hQ would have done better and yet
his "native mentality" would have been
toe same.
The limitations oT the mental
test are quite obviously limitations
as to the capacity of the judges to
Interpret them correctly. This is
not disparaging of a principle ca-
paDie or increasingly wide applica
tion, but it does suggest a word of
caution concerning the too ready
aaopiion oi methods which are
likely to do grave Injustjce in the
nanas or charlatans and quacks.
Auto licenses issued in Oreeon
total 109,001, which means that
about 60,000 young fellows will be
on the Columbia river highway
Sundays teaching girls how to drive.
"Financial report of cemetery
shows healthy condition," says a
headline. Which rather overlooks
the fact that unhealthy conditions
make the cemetery necessary.
The rush for admission to the
country in the first few days of the
r iu.ur a new justm-
cation for the re-enactment of the
Immigration limitation law.
We met a man the other day
whose sole complaint against Ore
gon was that he had never seeh a
potato bug here. Inquiry revealed
that he sold Paris Green.
The big mysfcry to us is why.
when so many girls are always
learning how to drive, so very few
of them ever complete the educa
tion. - - ,
Mr. Borah complains that gag
rule prevails in the senate. By
some trick Mr. Borah seems to have
escaped the operation of the ryle.
They will go on trying to climb
Mount Everest, but they won't
make a populttr sport of it for a
good many years to come.
The soviet authorities are aot the
first to find out that the road to
confidence doesn't lie through the
confidence game.
Radium is down to $13,125,000
an ounce, which in all seriousness1
is a distinct reduction in the cost of
staying alive.
As between Youngstown, Ohio,
and Mayor Oles, it is hard , to tell
which was the fjrst to get enough
of enough.
Business and office building, the
cost of which runs into six figures
each, continue to be planned for
Portland. ,
Should think the big drawback to
selling rain Insurance would be that
nobody wants it in weather like
this.
Poll tax is unpopular because
there's no chance to pass it along to
the other fellow,
The Listening Post.
By DeWitt Harry.
store or stores that never quite
seem to be a success. Frequent
changes in ownership seem to have
no effect The central business dis
trict is no exception, for there are
numbers of establishments there
flaunting new names every few
months.
One little grocery store in a resi
dence district has' changed hands
at least once a month during the
past year. With each new owner
comes an alteration in appearance
and style ot carrying on the trade.
First a slovenly woman managed
the business. She slumped about
the place in a soiled wrapper and
did not seem to attract much trade.
Then came an old-country Scotch
man, possibly in trade at home, for
he was exceedingly urbane and
made a great show of bowing,
smirking and scraping for every
customer and was exceedingly def
erential. He seemed to have a habit
of misrepresentation, so he did not
thrive.
- The next change saw three buxom
girls in charge. All of the owners
lived in rooms at the rear of the
store. It got to be a usual sight
to glance inside the front door and,
in a setting of cracker boxes, Vickie
kegs and bunches of bananas, see
one of the fair damsels toying with
her tresses. As the girls went in
more for lollipops, licorice stocks,
French chocolates and confections
than for bacon, spuds and eggs, they
too disappeared. '".'-'
Now there is a Back of onions in
the window and several strings of
garlic and dangling sausages deco
rate the interior. - The latest pro
prietor, as he flashes his White teeth
and shakes his curly pate, greets
passersby - with a gleaming smile.
He least is sanguine, but many
others have taken a (ihance there
and the place must be a gold mine
in commissions to the business
chance broker.
I
This Is hard weather, on the shop
girl. They wilt and fade away like
flowers in the garden. Most people
who study their flowers know when
to give them a drink and how to
care for them. It would be absurd
to turn the hose on a bed of pansies
when the hot afternoon sun was'
beating down. Pansies like water
and sweet peas a meal of substance,
but there is a right time and a
proper amount to eat and drink. Too
bad that girls do not have to eat
and drink by rigid rule that could
be enforced. Mutton stew, clam
chowder, French pastry and coffee
for lunch when the mercury hovers
around the 90 mark will give any
one the willies almost as -fast as
moonshine, especially if several gal
lons of ice water and other fluids
are poured atop. .
Take a stuffy day behind the
counter, plenty of sweets, and then
a night at a dance on tired feet and
it's no wonder that the cars are
filled with sleeping beauties going
to or coming from work or starting
out ,or returning from the evening's
entertainment. , There's nothing like
a cat-nap or a little doze to help
some folks along, but others are
just made mean thereby.
Ice is the gnat preservative this
weather. Meat and humidity are
great promoters of decay. Florists
place reliance on their cold storage
facilities as do those In other lines.
Though few know it confectibners
also use great quantities of Ice in
keeping their candies fresh. Dres
baugh, with one of the big firms,
never allows his best grade chocq
lates to leave the ice-box until In
the customer's hands. If displayed
in this kind of weather the loss
in appearance and softness would
be enormous. '
-
- It's a, dififcult matter to beat a
woman to It these daysthey just
will have their own way. One de
termined young matron bought a
pair of shoes and gave In payment
therefore her personal . check.' She
wore the shoes home and met with
much adverse criticlssa at the hands
of her family on account of their
appearance, and also made the' discovery-that.
In search of style, she
had made the natural woman's mis
take of getting them too small.
When she took them back the next
morning the store refused to make
an adjustment, contending that the
; shoes were worthless to them, as
they had been worn. The woman
f olrectly' to her bank and stopped
I threw tnem oown ana leu ana went
paym6nt on the check.
Alarmed because she believed her
pet dog had swallowed a small rub
ber ball an east side woman called
a veterinary who Is somewhat of a
wag. After hearing the details and
promising to come he was asked if
he thought he would have to oper
ate,' If Mt would be necessary to cut
poor Rover open to retrieve the ball.
"No, ma'am, I'll be right out and
I think can fix it by vulcanizing."
i -
' W. J. R. Beach is a civil war vet
eran 75 years old. He is.an' insur
ance agent at Forest Grove and. In a
recent communication to the state
rating bureau says:
"When a very plain individual
takes advantage of only one outing
in his entire life period and must
crowd everything Into five days and
one suitcase, his mind must be cen
tered on that one thing, and there
is the Juice of the whole business.
Returned late last evening. Don't
like it, too much wind, hills and
overcoat. They are great on flow
ers, dog fennelnd dandylions. Try
It.
According to' warm-weather ob
servations life seems just one fcwitch
after another. - In the la It Is un
derwear that tickles the epidermis.
but the sweet young thing you may
Bee shaking a temperamental shim
my as she waits for her sundae to
day is Just trying to wriggle her
chafing garments away, from the
burned area, and it is a large one,
not covered by her one-piece bath
ing suit. ;
They say your ears will burn if
someone Is saying nasty , things
about you. Wonder how the girls
cart telL during this hot weather,
whether it is gossip that heats the
ears or merely the mass of hair that
keeps them aglow,
Lazy Roads.
By Grace E. HalL
There are lazy roads that loiter
along
Past orchards that are sweet with
pinkish bloom,
Down etee'p banks into the valley
, - stretches
Flanked by fennel and the vagrant
marguerite.
Up hilrs where thistles vie with
.Scotchbroom for a place.
And through the woodland where
the creeks slip by
Under the roadbed, making muffled
murmur there
Where once a culvert spanned the
little ditch. x
On and forever on the drowsy old
road goes.
Running through sunshine and
through the winter rain.
A dull gray wanderer, holding close
together r
Fields of wheat and gay-fringed
, - oats, full-plumed and heavy
headed: ' .
Until, quite suddenly developing a
, thought,
Tt runs straight up a little knoll
To stop before an old moss-covered
. house.
Where all the family sits upon the
long, gaunt porch '
While twilight slips a gray veil
over Nature's face.
The mother. generous bosomed,'
and with a most amazing girth
And apron area, rocks contentedly
, her palpitating bulk
With maddening regularity and
monotonous click -clack-click;
While, lean and spindle-shanked,
his vest a sunken front
Of spattered, brindle hue whereon
his old pipe rests.
The father dozes in his creaking
chair, top-tilted to the wall;
And climbing, crawling, rblling, as
they please,
The lucky hodge-podge, juvenile, of
miscellaneous sex.
Disports itself upon the porch and
ground.
The shepherd dog,- tongue lolling,
" mixing in
Gay partner of all joy that may
accrue.
The morning-glories, clambering on
the lattice work.
Hang now with drooping heads at
close f day;
The bee-hives in the back lot are
peaceful, silent homes;
The clothes line in the door yard
flaunts a denim shirt,
And just beyond the woodshed is -a
row of bright tin cans
Wherein the yellow cream awaits
the morning cart:
While In the garden, where the let
tuce curls its green leaves up.
And ripening peas show purple
blossoms here and there,
A scare-crow flaps his broken arms
as though with pain o'ercome,
His rakish hat Jammed down upon
his wholly-lacking ears.
The old road passes by the gate,'
like a tramp who pauses to
look in.
But must go on again, having no
part in all that is inside
Dusty and dejected, it slides across
a piece of meadow land
And slips through an open gate,
then out again into the open
space
Whee roads are supposed to go,
unnamed, unknown, unkempt,
Following their early training, e'en
as men;
It crawls down a hillside where
sharp rocks cuddle in the
brown earth.
And lazily takes up its idle way
But suddenly, as man greet? man
upon a narrow street. '
It meets the concrete pavement
coming down
Gives up its aimless wandering
and both run back to town.
.OW I SKK.
'One thins I know, that whereas I
was blind, now I see. St. John 0-2.Y
Now I see, who once was blind; '
See the hand that gave me sight,
BaYidages of grief unwind:
See the bent and feeble wllir
Growing straight and supple, till
It will reach at last the light.
What care I what griefs may be.
Now I see. j
Now I set;, who groped for aid;
See a hundred hands outspread.
Timid, blindly, half afraid:
And (through him who gave me eyes
Through his grace that in me lies),
Now I succor them Instead.
None in vain can ask me,
Now I see..
And the talent that God gave.
Long within the earth lain hid.
Springs in blossom from its grave.
For his voice has bid it bloom.
Called it from its quiet gloom.
Pressed apart its heavy lid.
Life is opened by love s key,
Now I see.
MART ALETHEA WOODWARD.
' LOVE'S i;arde.
One youthful day. the, Spring's warm
rays ,;.
Begat a strange quest for flow
ers. And straight way garden fay I
sought,
Through Love's idyllic bowers,
v
The graces Splendor, Pleasure,
Joy ' ..
With artifices sublime.
Decoyed the radient Psyche, who
In time was wholly mine.
Then life became an Eden fair.
Where blossomed holy love;
Thft nniil nf beinar. thus evinced
The plea bf Him above.
For as the pansy,heartsease, balm,
Must propagate its kind.
So love flowers blossom, that again
May man expression find.
PEARL GREGORY CARTLIDGE.
THE BROKEN IMAGE.
There once ,was a little maid who
bore
An exquisiteimage of love in her
heart.
Well guarded, behind a hidden door.
Untti in a shining moment she
Brought forth her treasure for him
to. prize, .
Tenderly, shyly, T-everently.
He -held it in his indifferent hand.
Lightly, and carelessly let It fall
For it was not given him to under
stand. She knelt in the dust and tried in
vain
With a woman's eternal, unwaver
ing faith.
To mend the image in tears and
pain.
CHARLES 'C. OLSEN. -
THE BIRCH TREE.
Could words be things
lTo touch or feel,
They should be cold.
Pure silver when they speak to you.
Could words express
In their true color
Nature's thoughts.
Then all the rainbow would encircle
you.
Could words, like wind.
Be heard to sob
And sigh for you. -
Then might '"they utter '
The soft swishing of your branches.
KATHRYN BASTHAM.