10
THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1915.
THE JOURNAL
AX ntDBPXSDENT HIWWAPEB
: CL ft. JACKSON Publlabar
frebUaaxI miarj daj, afternoon and morning
sept Saaciay afternoon), at Ttt Journal
BoUtUag. Bteadway ana Yamhill it.. toet
laad. Or.
katere at toe poatofflca at Portland. Or., for
tiaaamtastoa truugB tae nUa a aecead
eleee aurur.
IIUPUOM8-Mats T1T3; Bon. A -601. All
Aevertaecnts reached by tbea aumbtra. Teil
taa epwaloe oat department yen want.
ftOMEJGN ADVaTISXQ BPaXSENTTl VK
. -tJln K itao Co.. B nun wick Bid.,
22 rtftk tn. New York, Uia PaopM't
Caa bldg.. Chicago
tabMtyea terms y aU or to am ad
dreaa la e United State or Mexico:
DAILY (MOHJilNO OB AFTK&KOOK)
Ooa x 11.00 Ona Boat M
8CNDAI
On rear ZSO I One month t .23
DAILY (MOE.MNO OR AFTERNOON) AND
EUSDAY
fta year $7.50 I One month t AS
X 1 11
America asks nothing for her
self but what she has a right to
k for humanity itself.
WOODROW WILSON7.
Laws are commanded to hold
their tongues among arms, and
tribunals fall to the ground
with the peace they are no
longer able to uphold. Burks.
-a
WILL HISTORY RKPLAT?
ACCORDING to report, differ
ences of opinion have arisen
between the county courts of
Marion and Polk counties
over plans for the new intercounty
bridge which It Is proposed to erect
at Salem over the Vlllametto
river. From Dallas there comes
word that the plans which are to
be submitted next Friday, are to
be rejected and new ones calleu
for. From Salem comes a com-nunicatio-
from Clerk CJehlar to
the effect that the original proposi
tion for competitive designs is still
In effect In 6pite of the attempt of
certain parties to have it rescinded.
Back of all the discord are
bridge contractors who have been
besieging the members of the two
county courts, for weeks for the
purpose of "fixing things" in such
a way that competition would be
HmlnatecL
At first these contractors found
fault with plans drawn by the state
highway department. To placate
them it waa decided to appoint a
board of viewers and call for com
petitive plans for a steel or con
crete construction based on desigu
specifications furnished by the
tato hirtwiy department. To en
ccrage bidding it was proposed to
ive a $1000 prizo for the set o!
plans that should be selected.
Tha design specifications of tho
highway department called for both
ateel and concrete structures capa
ble of sustaining the same load
and for a draw span. This did not
suit the steel contractors for the
reason that the difference in cost
of construction would not give
them much of a talking point.
Trey thereforo began an effort to
eccure a change of the specifica
tions eo that they could submit
tlds oa a light, high structure
which would cost much less. This,
lu their opinion, would eliminate
concrete competition.
It is a fight to perpetuato the
"bridgo graft" of years which was
bo fully exposed la"t winter by
fcrmer State Highway Engineer
Bowlby and tvhieh exposure was in
Borne measure influential in secur
ing his removal from office.
Marion county has already had
an experience in which the con
tactors nade a profit of 130 per
cent. It wa in connection witn
ti e construction of the bridge near
Newberg in conjunction with Yam
hill county. This la;ge profit of
tha contractor was mostly due to
the fact that there was not full and
open competition.
The reported abandonment of
tue Dardanelles campaign and thj
letreat within the defenses of Sa
lonikl indicate that affairs are not
COing very well with the allies and
that the task before them has be
come more stupendous than eve-.
With a free road to Constantinople
Germany threatens Asia and Egypt
WORTH THE PRICE
THE Multnomah board of com
missioners made no mistake
in fixing the road levy at
1.98.
It is an investment, ,For every
dollar efficiently spent, there will
b a dollar's worth of road, a
dollar of added value to property,
and somebody in Multnomah
county will still have the dollar.
Few investments pay such excel
lent dividends.
The Columbia River Highway
made such a levy logical. That
great causeway is catching the eye
of the wander-lust world. Its ac
ceptance as one of the great In
terest points on the planet is al
ready chronicled. It has received
thw enthuciastic approval of Ameri
can sightseers, and they intend to
make it the annual rendezvous of
themselves and their friends.
There must b roads in Mult
nomah county to match the high
way. It would be absurd to have
i
i
a magnificent highway without
other roada to fit. If we pretend
to .make a apecialty of highways,
we must go the whole length.
But back of Jt all, is the contri
bution perfect roads will be to the
joy of living In Portland. With
such roads it Is but a step from
the city to the heart of nature. An
hour or two carries the weary
worker from the city noises to the
deep mountain fastnesses where
the great solitudes are a tonic for
the over-wrought nerves.
It !s worth something to live In
such a city. It Is worth far more
than tho slight sum that will be
added to the taxes of those who
pay.
The Philadelphia Trust company
employes are encouraged to use
the bank's library on the bank's
time, are given luncheon gratis
at the bank's table and are sent
to night school or college it thoy
desire to go. It had 20 employes
in school last year. Here is au
institution that realizes as all In
stitutions should, that the most
preoious capital any employer has
is the people who work for him.
MANNERS OF THL IiOAI)
ON THE highway by which
motor cars left Prlneville
for The Dalles there stood
a year or two ago a sign
board which read "Pleasant jour
ney. Come asrain," or words to
that effect. The sign left a warm
Impression on the mind of the de
parting traveler. It showed that
the city felt an interest in his
trip. Of course the Interest cen
tered more or less closely around
the money he might have spent In
Prlneville, but it was a little broad
er than that. A lively fancy could
have interpreted the sign board
to imply a friendly hope that the
lone wanderer might not perish be
fore he reached The Dalles, that
his tires might escape puncture and
his gasoline hold out to the next
garage.
Very likely Prlneville still keeps
that sign standing by the road, or
some new and still more cheerful
one to speed the parting guest, it
presented such a charming contrast
with the notices-which meet the
wayfaring eye in some towns that
it should be perpetuated in letters
of gold. The only greeting a trav
eler gets in these places is a no
tice that the speed limitls ten, or
pix or four miles an hour. The
smaller the town and the worse
the streets the lower the speed
limit. With this polite welcome
usually goes a warning that per
sons exceeding the prescribed rate
will be fined or jailed, sometimes
both. But the fine is never omit
ted. Such towns seem to regard
travelers as enemies.
Here and there a town has, like
Prineville, perceived the beauty
and profitableness of good man
ners. In those places the traveler
reads on the street corner, "Please
remember the speed limit," or "Re
member safety first," or some
kindly hint of that nature. The
spefd laws are no better observed
in towns that give gruff orders to
the traveler than they are in polite
communities. We do not believe
t!:ey are observed so well. A man
must be a churl as well as a speed
n.aniac to ignore requests made in
good fellowship and with no sug
gestion of a threat.
Blue laws of ancient enactment
prevent symphony concerts in Phil
adelphia unless given free. Such
concerts redeem life, lift the com
munity, advance spiritual develop
ment of the day, and the offend
ing statutes accordingly thwart the
very purposes for -which they were
enacted. The prohibitive laws had
their origin in the old idea that
man wa3 made for the Sabbath,
not the Sabbath for man.
MOTHER GOOSE REVISED
THE Safety First Federation of
America has published a
primer for the use of youn
children who play in the
streets. Recognizing that this is
at best a dangerous pastime the
federation has printed in its
primer a number of warnings, po
etical and more or less beautiful,
designed to teach the young idea
how to keep its eyes open as It
sports among the automobiles,
street cars and motor trucks. The
full title of this extremely modern
guide to youth is "The Safety First
Primer."
The rhymes it contafns are
framed upon the metrical outlines
of Mother Goose to give them the
attractiveness of the old jingles
and make their guidance palatable.
Is Mother Goose attractive because
he i silly? Does the child, like
a tired business man at the thea
tre, instinctively reject everything
that is tainted with common sense?
If he does we must not expect this
Safety First Primer to be very
popular among the rising genera
tion for it is quite markedly sensi
ble. But perhaps it is a mistake to
believo that children thrive beat
on nonsense.
We remember soma bold here
tics of a few years ago who thought
that the ordinary mother's lingo
for babies did more harm than
good. The "tootsey-wootsey, poy-ry-wopsy"
style of conversation
was said to make It difficult for
children to learn good English in
after years when mother's endear
ments had to give way to the tua
Ble of the world.
Be this as it may, It is an in
teresting experiment to present
Mother Gooso to the young with
the Idiocy left out and a flavor
of common cense put in. If the
children should happen to like the
novelty, book publishers might
possibly follow the example of the
Safety First Federation and before
long we might bee feeding the lit
tle ones on a mental diet that was
not wholly warm air and slop. A
specimen of the new Mother Goose
rhymes is all we can give here:
Keep your eye open whan out on
the street
To take a good look at whatever you
meet. .
If & big hat you wear, or umbrella,
take care
To tip them well back to you'll keep
on your feet.
Fathers are not always indis
pensable. An eastern man has ac
cepted a sum of money for removal
of himself for all timo from his
6on's sight. It appears to have
been a commercial transaction by
which each secured what he
wanted.
DISCONTENT
THE notion that we should have
a better government if the
right of voting were limitei
to a few millionaires and their
retainers is cherished fondly by a
great many people now-a-days. It
is not by any means confined to
the brains of Richard Achilles Bal
linger. Universal suffrage Is se
cretly or openly opposed by almost
everybody whose interest is hostile
to the public welfare.
n the long run the people will
by their votes pursue their own
advantage and this, in the eyes
of special privilege, is the greatest
of sins. The proper course, as the
oligarchs see it, is to sacrifice the
many to the few in all important
matters. This waa always done
until democracy and universal suf
frage changed the course of his
tory. It i3 what the opponent
of universal suffrage would like tj
do again.
In order to make the multitude
an easy sacrifice it Is necessary to
keep them contented with their
lot. They must not aspire to those
p'easures and possessions which by
divine dispensation belong to tho
Ballinger tribe. Hence content
ment had always been preached to
the poor and tb6 exploited as the
first of the virtues. To be satis
fied with , "the station in life to
which it has pleased the Lord to
call them," is the fundamental
duty of the humble.
No better sermon was ever
preached on this text than the ono
tho Vicar of" Wakefield delivered
to his fellov prisoners in tho
ufbtor's jail. Goldsmith maka3
poverty and misery fairly en
c' anting before the sermon ends.
Leslie's Weekly, which Is a peri
odical of the Ballinger type of
mind, takes vp tho samo pleaaint;
theme in the current issue. u
urges our modern novelists to
"write of thj joys of the poor
man's household" and thinks "the
spirit of discontent" might thus bo
lessened.
It might elp but ttie only In
fallible way to blind the poor to
their condition is to put out their
eyes, thlr mental eyes v.e mean
The stupid contentment which
Leslie's longs for is obtainable
only at the cost of midnight Ignor
ance. With tre vote ve must
take away the schools. Probably
it would be better also to destroy
t!.e printing press. This modern
discontent which so many deplore
really began with the use of mov
able type.
In the recent fighting in the Ba1
kans several Irish regiments are
given credit for saving the English
forces from destruction. History
attests that this is not a new part
for the Irish to play.
AS COLD AND HUNGRY
IF A man is accidentally killed
in a factory, or In average in
dustrial occupations, there ij
provision under workmen's com
pensation laws for the support of
his widow and orphans.
We are more lenient with men
-who slay a fellow man, and even
if set free after trial, they are not
obliged to support the widow and
orphans of their victim.
But do not the children of a
murdered father get as cold and
hungry as the children of a father
killed in a falling elevator?
Attorney General Brown rules
that tho Union Meat Company is
enjtled, under the law, to a five
per cent price preference over a
Tacoma bidder on meat contracts
foi Oregon's public Institutions.
But he does not explain why the
Portland concern should charge
ircre than its Tacoma competitor.
GOOD ADVERTISING
ADVERTISEMENT writing ha
become one of the fine arts.
'No adept in that line dreams
now-a-dajB of offering the
public a dish of falsehoods. The
first principle of good 'advertising
is to tell the truth. Tho second
principle is to tell it alluringly.
Some of the more eminent adver
tisement writers can make their
wares so attractive by the way thev
describe them that people are sim
ply compelled to buy. The words
of the artist weave a hypnotic spell
around the reader's mind and th
only way for him to break it Is to
draw a check. A well written up-to-date
advertisement repays study
in more than one way. Not only
does it tell the truth but it always
has some valuable truth to tell.
It is never trivial.
The modern advertisement artist
also feels little confidence In ex
aggeration. He believes In the
force of "understatements." The
latest rule in tho business is to
discard superlatives like "finest,"
"cheapest," "rarest." Statements
are written in the positive degree
and the reader is trusted to add
from his own Imagination the bril
liant hues wtleh will cause blm to
6pend his money.
The advertisement writers have
taken a hint, we conjecture, from
modern literature which values re
straint mora than almost any other
quality. It 6eeks to suggest rather
than express ideas. Some day, per
haps, our political orators will see
the value of this method. What a
blessed relief it would be to hear
a stump speaker utter his thoughts
sanely and temperately. If he had
any thoughts to utter. The trouble
frequently is that he hasn't any.
When former President Roose
velt calls President Wilson a By
zantine logothetc, he simply means
"I do not like you, Dr. Fell."
DECLINE IN TRAFFIC ON
INLAND WATERWAYS
From International Murine Engineering.
IN spite of the Immense sums of
money that have been expended for
the Improvement of inland water
ways in the United States (prob
ably in the neighborhood of three
quarters of a billion dollars), the
total river traffic of the country
has steadily decreased, eo that at the
present time few rivers are used In
anything approaching their full ca
pacity. As a matter of fact, the
only inland waterways that have not
6teadlly lost ground in recent years
are the Ohio river and the Great
Lakes. The favorable showing on
the Great Lakes is due to the trans
portation of heavy bulk freight, Bucn
as ore coat and grain; while on the
Ohio river an enormous coal traffic
Is kept up chieily because barges can
be loaded directly from the mines on
the upper reaches of that river and
its tributaries. On the Mississippi
river, which, in pioneer day?, was the
main connecting link between the
communities In the Mississippi valley
and the outer world, the total river
tonnage at St. Louis has diminished
from 1.33:,S'G tons In 1SS6 to 365,
SIO tons In 1'jfiS. The entire commerce
of the Mississippi river system, in
cluding all tributaries except the ObiJ,
In 1 833 amounted to 12.4i2.6S5 tons,
while in 1906 it had dwindled t
4,304,2SS tons this in spite of the
fact that an eight-foot channel Is now
maintained from Pt. Louis to New
Orleans, and within a few years a
permanent six-foot channel will be
available from St. Louis to Minne
apolis. The same, or an even greater,
decrease Is also found on the cana'.i
In the United States. Out of a total
of nearly 1000 miles of canals, more
than half have been abandoned.
Generally speaking, the decline of
navigation lines on inland waterways
Is due larrely to the natural expan
sion and legitimate competition of
the railroads. The advantages which
railroads possess over inland water
ways for traffic are clearly set forth
by Walter S. Fisher In a recent
Issue of the Journal of rollttcai Econ
omrr The railroads can provido
shorter and more direct routes; they
are practically unhampered by cli
matic conditions; t-hey can provide
practically unlimited extensions for
the collection and delivery of freight
remote from their main lines; a thou
sand conveniences and economies are
possible by using the car unit of the
railroads with which trans-shipment is
cheaper and quicker than transship
ment from boat to boat. Another de
cided advantage of the Railroads Is
their superior administration and or
ganization, and the fact that they
practically insure their freight.
Granting these advantages to the
railroads, nevertheless there Is an
other side of the question to be con
sidered. Investigations by the con
gressional committee on merchant
marine and fisheries have produced
ample evidence to show that the rail
roads have successfully opposed the
maintenance and development of rjver
and canal traffio by a variety of
effective methods, mainly by acquir
ing competitive water lines and
canals, by obtaining control of the
terminal facilities, by the usa of re
bates or by the undercutting of rates
Since the railroads reach all sections
of the interior, while the inland navi
gation lines are restricted to their
water course, they can easily control
bo large a proportion of the total
freight as to leave the water lines
insufficient freight to maintain prop
er terminals and efficient service. So
large a portion of railway traffic la
free from water competition tint
railways can readily afford to reduce
rates on those portions affected by
such competition, so as to destro'y the
profits of the water lines without
appreciably affecting the profits of
the rail systems, which recoup these
reductions by higher rates elsewhere.
The Mississippi river, for Instance, la
paralleled on both sides by railroads.
River steamers can still underbid the
railroads to some extent on local
traffic, lut they are at a disadvan
tage in loading o:- termlnaf expenses
and in Insurance risks, as well as on
account of the haiards of navigation
due to the varying stages of tha rlvar.
On the Mississippi, placket line serv
ices have for the most part disap
peared, owing to the railroad com
petition, and the cam handicap 11
also found on other large rivers in
the country. Most of the canals of
the country have also passed into the
hands of competing railroads. At
present about 90 per cent of the mile
age of the private canals still in op
eration is under railroad eontrol.
e
The decline of river traffic can be
laid, of courae, to other causes be-
sides the discrimination in ratlroa-1
rates, although tha opposition by the
railroads la by far tho moat im
portant. One of the greatest handi
caps to inland navigation is the ab
sence of terminals. On an experimen
tal trip of a thousand ton, self-propelled
steel barge from New Orleans
to 6t Louis the total oost of loading
and unloauir.g the barge on the trip
was 63 per cent of the gross receipts
for the freight carried. No greater
obstacle could be placed In tha rath
of transportation than to Ignore en
tirely the question of terminal!. In
addition to this, the water lines
should be linked up with the rail
roads, eo that one will supplement
the other without destructive rate
wars. Better bajikinii and insurance
facilities would also go far toward?
Improving conditions in the improver-tint
of inland navigation, all of
which is to be looked for when the
general public berins to realize that
the navigation of lnlaud waterways
Is an Important economio fac tor in the
transportation systems of the coun
try. Letters From the People
(Comniunlratlons Kent to The Journal for
pulllcaUon 1d bl department ibmild t writ
ten on only one aide of the paper, should not
exed J wirda In length and must be ac
companied ty the name and aiidresa of toe
KTidtr. If the writer does not desire to hare
Uia uaina yublihhed. he should au atata. )
"ri-iiimU.n la the (rreateat of all reforniera.
It rati'.riiil.X'' ptt ttnng It tou'-liea. It rota
Crinrilea r all fnl- ship tlty and throws tbem
nek on their reaoiiMenpoi. If thej have uo
retinT.:;blrues. It ru.lilevly irliea them out
of existence and nets ui Its 11 conclusions
ll their atead." WwUrow Vt il-m.
A Suggestion.
Portland, Dec. 13. To the Lditor
of The Journal Your editorial In The
Journal of December 11. "The Jitney,"
contained a phrase that should have
been printed in red and scattered
broadcast.
With sincerity I repeat. "We coyly
suggest, however, that comfortable
seats which do not compel passengers
to stare ono another out of counte
nance would somewhat enhance the
ljre of the street car." These words
express the sentiment, of all street car
patrons.
I feel safe in saying that the, people
of Portland do not want three cent
fares or six rides for rue. Hut we do
v ant up to date street cars. (Jive us
these and the jitney problem will be
easier to solve.
I will add a few words relating my
experience with o.r rubber iifk street
cars. The first timo I entered a Port
land street car "a few years ago" I re
ceived such a Severn shock of "stage
fright" that I was for severai months
compelled to ride out on the platform.
I am still somewhat shy, but I am
living in hopes of some day again rid
ing In street cars with comfortable,
front facing seats
A FORM Kit ST LOUISIAN
Typical.
Klamath Falls, Lec. IS. To the Kdl
tor of The Journ.il The address of R.
A. Ballinger, before the Progressive
Business Men's club. In which he scored
the Oregon system. Is truly typical of
tTTe maji. Any semblance of popular
activity In legislation Is repugnant to
him.
The republican form of government,
aa he terms tho reprejentati ve system.
appeals to lnm because It is Indirect, 4
and indirection is the policy most fa
vored by those who seek to divert the
benefits of our institutions to their
own ends.
We owe Mr. Ballinger our gratitude
for the candid. If tactless, way In
which he has expressed his thoughts.
Few exponents of the "substantial
Interests" would have been so out
spoken in their contempt for popular
intelligence and the ability of "irre
sponsibles" to enact their own laws.
If, as Mr. Ballinger suggests, the
political influence of Alexander Ham
ilton and John Marshall could have
been diminished or eliminated by the
Oregon system, we have only deep re
grets that It was not In existence in
their day.
If it implies distrust of our public
officials we have but to recall the
"midnight resolution" and our govern
or's deep anxiety for the welfare of
the railroad to Justify the Implication.
And while he was secretary of the In
terior Mr. Ballinger treated the "sub
stantial interests" with the same kind
ly solicitude our governor la employ
ing today.
We shouM not Impute motives of
dishonesty, because his habits of
thought, his associations, his interests
are almost identical with those who
seek to make popular government an
instrument for the furtherance of pure
ly private ends.
That there can be Intelligent govern
ment by direct legislation of the peo
ple appears beyond his comprehension.
To impress him with an intelligible in
terpretation of the principles of democ
racy would be about as easy as to in
struct the wild man of Borneo in the
synthetic philosophy.
FRED IITNDMAN.
"Literary Insincerities."
From the Literary Digest.
When the occasion does not permit
of a plebiscite on the "beat books of
the year," literary supplement! and re
views fall back on the "best books of
all time." From Sir John Lubbock to
Don Marquis, the task lias been mors
or less lightly undertaken. Sir John's
"hundred best" are still wrangled over;
Don Marquis put a crimp In our learned
pretension by asking in the New York
Kvenlng Sun: "How many of us, if
we were reallv honest, could make a
list of preat works that we have tried
to enjoy and couldn't rise to?" After
having challenged us, he takr a sort
of ghoulish glee In making his own
cotif esJ-ions :
"We have for our own part a greater
Fin than that on our conscience. There
are a number of books that we habit
ually pretend we have read which we
have never read at all. I hey are great
books, we suppose. At least we've
heard a lot about them and read a lot
about them and people who assume to
know aay they are great books. Some
of them we have tried to read and
couldn't read, but we have pretended
at one time or another to ha read all
of them. Here is our list of shame)
" Tcm Jones. We have tried to read
It four times and could never get five
pages into it.
" 'The Vicar of Wakefield.' We have
attempted It at least six times and
taken the count In the first round
every time.
" "Dante's Divine Comedy.' We have
been going against the Gary transla
tion, which we hear Is a good one, at
least ocice a year for 20 years, and we
can't get Interested In It. Yet up to
the present moment we have always
pretended that we had read all of it
and liked It.
" T3on Quixote.' Wi have read a
little of it and we know all the ueual
things' that are said about it, and we
even wrote aom stuff about it one
PERTINENT COMMENT
SMALL CHANGE
Now is the time when small boys
with big feet are envied by their
companions.
Portland's windstorm Sunday eve
ning was only a gentle reminder to
former Kansans.
There is no reason why it should
not be a safe and sane Christmas as
well as a merry one.
The presumption is that secret ser
vice men prevented elaborate decora
tion of the presidential trunk.
Germany has Just finished a $60.
OOO.O'ju canal, but you don t hear about
"pork" accusations over there.
Portland thieves who are collecting
expensive Jewelry furnish another
prosperity fact for the thieves.
The Journal's "beauty chats" by Lil
lian Russell are now beautifully and
profusely Illustrated at a Portland the
atre. Quite a, few married men can sym
pathize with King ronstantine, who is
asked to choose between his wife's re
lations anj his own friends.
Irrigation, discussed yesterday at a
chamber of commerce luncheon, grows
In importance as the New i ear ap
proaches, for the time is fast coming
when speakers must depend entirely
upon water to "wet their whistles."
GOVERNMENT OF
Washington, Dec. 20. The commis
sion form of government Is in effect
in 81 of the 204 cities of over 3O.U00
Inhabitants. Civil service regulations
are applied to the appointment of
policemen In 122 such cities, including
all those of more than 300.000 inhabi
tants. Policewomen are employed In
J6 cities. Municipal prohibition pre
vails In 15 cities, state prohibition in
IT, and county and parish prohibition
In 3. In 15 cities certain saloons are
licensed to sell malt liquors only.
These are a few of the significant and
Interesting facts which will be brought
out in a report under the title of "Gen
eral Statistics of Cities, 1916," to be
issued In the near future by Director
Sam L. Rogers of the bureau of cen
sus, department of commerce, and
compiled under the direction of Starke
M. Grogan, clhef statistician for sta
tistics ot cities.
The commission form of government
row prevails In no fewer than 81 of
the 2u4 cities estimated to Ivave 30,
C00 Inhabitants or more In 1915.
These cities are scattered throughout
26 states. In addition to the District
ef Columbia, ranging from Massachu
setts to Washington and from South
Carolina to California. Five of them
are In New England. 27 In other north
ern states east of the Mississippi, 16
in northern states between the Missis
sippi and the Pacific coast states, a in
the Pacific coast states, and 24 in the
eouth.
The largest city at present operating
under the commission form of govern
ment la New Orleans, whose popula
tion is estimated at about 365,000; but
Buffalo, with a population of 460,000,
has recently voted to Inaugurate this
system on January 1, 1S16. Next in
order are Washington, D. C, with
nearly 350,000 inhabitants, Portland,
Or., with about 260,000, and Denver,
with about 250,000.
In these cities the commissions
range In size from three to seven
members. Those in St, Paul and
Omaha have seven members each,
those in San Diego. Cal., and Fort
Worth. Texas, six each, and that In
Huntington, W. Vt, four. All the
other commissions are composed of
either three Or five memberii, tha
great majority having five. Thj
salaries paid municipal commissioners
range from $500 a year In Jackson,
Mich., and Springfield. Ohio, to $70UJ
a yt ar In Birmingham. Ala . and their
terms of rff!ce vary from one to lour
years.
Dayton, Ohio, haa a commission of
five members, which decides matters
of general policy, and a "city mana
ger." appointed by the commission,
v.iio looks after the administrative
work. The presiding officer of the
commission receives J 1800 per annum,
tha other members 11200. and the city
manager $12,000.
The, larger cities tlU cling to the
older form of government by mayor
and council. In all. 123 cities of over
30,000, Including all having more than
400,000 inhabitants, are governed in
this manner. The mayors' salarlea
range from J100 per annum In Flint,
Mich., to $15,000 In New York city,
and their terms of office from one to
four years.
A total of 51,045 police officials, pa
trolmen, detectives and civilian em
ployes are engaged in the work of
maintaining peace and order In the 204
cities. Of this total, 656 are officers
exclusive of detectives, 34.320 are pa
trolmen. 3303 are detectives, and 3015
me civilian employes. Of the patrolmen,
31 2S4 are unmounted and 1804 are
mounted on horses. 70S on motorcycles
and 514 on bicycles. Park policemen
number 248, and policemen detailed at
municipal buildings and courts, 330.
Nw York has 626 mounted police-
time, eaylnr: all tha things that are
usually said about it. for which wa
got $25, but we don't really like
It puts us to sleep; It aeems long
drawn out and clumsy to us.
Boswells Life of Johnson.' We
never read any of it. But we have pre
tended to, and have pretended at time
to quote lnotdents frosQ it and have
got away with the incidents. . .
"We have always pretended that we
were familiar with Walt Whitman's
poetry, but as a matter of fact we
never read anything through excepting
'When LUaca Last In tne Doorv ard
Bloomed.' "
The Voter's Duty.
From the Boeton Globe.
In the long run, the people of an
American city get Juat about as good
a government as they deserve. Of
course, when a municipal government
becomes so bad as to become a national
scandaJ, It may be true that the voters
have gotten a little worse government
than they deserve. On the other hand,
there have been Instances, although
less frequently, when an American city
has l ad a period of government which
was really better than the votere de
served. Too few voters cat their ballots,
and far too few of those who go to
the polls are as well informed as they
might reasonably be concerning- the
men and measures before them. We
undervalue what we have. What we
have not we overvalue. More women
want to vote about everything than do
vote for the school board candidate.
The same la true of the men, only the
men can see that it le true in the caee
of the women. A vote is a thing to
be valued. People have not always
governed thomselves. Usually they
hv0 not; but. If they do not, they may
be very sure that some one elae will
take the burden, and equally sure that
the hand that steers will be the hand
to gain.
miring the moments that a man is
AND NEWS IN BRIEF
OREGON SIDELIGHTS
Anent rest rooms, the East Orego
nlan, Pendleton, advites that R. Al
exander has given a Pendleton Indian
robt to the hermiaton Civic club for
use in the rest room recently opened
in that town.
Apropos of oncoming prosperity, the
Salem Statesman tvays: , No one lies
to himself alone; neither doeo any
section. The general riBe of pros
perity throughout most cectiona of
the United .States is bound to reach
gradually with Us beneficent lnrlu
enna to every other section. The
signs are multiplying.'
Anent "preparedness" discussion the
Paiiy Oregon Statesman muses'
".Maybe Hawaii can defend ns. She
has a national guard 3u0 strong, in
cluding Americans, Hawiians. Fili
pinos. C'lreans and Chinese. If conti
nental United States had a national
guard of the same strength in pro
portion to its population, it would
number S.lOO.CoO men."
This Is a good time of the year."
suggests the Mail Tribune, Medford.
"to repair the lurm fences. Many of
them lp-ed it. Kerne rows In good
repair and clean of di litis and weeds
give a farm h more bubst.intial. vip-to-date,
appearan. . It is an evident e
of pride ainl i ,. :iniiliff s that adds
much to the nluu of the farm and
the general Hppe.uan. e of toe com
munity. lirt I'eiite rows serve as
the breeding places for millions of
crop pests."
AMERICAN CITIES
men, Philadelphia 435 and i'::i-'ago lSti
No other city has as many its 100. In
New York city 135 of the tno-.ntcd po
lice ride bicycles, but (iico and
Philadelphia rely entirely upon the
horse and the motorcycle W'u'-.'imgtoii.
D. (, has HI bicycle po.l. t ::.-ii far
more than any other city except New
York; and its total number of mounted
policemen, 101, is greatt r than t:iat of
any other city except New York, Chi
cago and Philadelphia,
The highest paid patrolmen are those
of San Francisco, who are unmade,!
and receive $1464 per annum, and to
lowest paid disregarding those in t;.
lower grades In a few cities are In
Wllliamsport, Pa,, where patxoimen
are ungraded and receive $7iti per an
num. Of the 204 cities Of over 30,000, K,5
hae municipally owned water sippiy
systems, the total est. mated valim of
which Is $ 1 ,07 l,ou0,00u. Municipal own
ership In this field haa been In forco in
Philadelphia, which built Its plant in
18ol and has operated it continuously
since that lime, for a longer per.od
than In ar.f other city.
The bulk of the water supply for
most cities come, of course, from 1 t'n
and streams, but there ate 2ii34 wei's
In operation In 47 cities. U'. tl.ci-e,
1367 are In New York city alone.
Five processes of purification are
enployed, namely, tedi:iientat ion, coag
ulation, slow sand filtration, mechiii
cai filtration, and chemical steriliza
tion. In the 15o cities of over Uo.U'jO
which have municipal ownership of
water-supply systems, there are In
operation 7 sedimentation reservoirs,
In which are treated 'JsH.Hou.'juO gal
lons, a day. 64 coagulation plants,
handling 42,lu0,000 gallons daily, 627
sand filters, which treat 1 1V, O0.0QO
gallons a day; and 427 mechanical filt
ers with an output of 4';8.2UO,OuO gal
lons dally. The amount of water
chemically eter'.liied aveiages 1,'.'72,
&00.000 gallons daily. A part of this
water la alio treated by other proc
esses. The cost of treatment per 1,00". 009
gallons covers a wide range, from 4
cents In Chicago to $17.40 in Columbus,
Ohio. In the former city the chemical
sterilization process Is used exclusive
ly, while In the latter both mechanical
filtration and chemical gterilizaT ion
are employed. In 15 titles the cost of
treatment la less than $1 per 1,000,000
gallons and in 16 It is more than $5.
In these 155 cities with municipally
owned water systems there are 30,926
miles of water mains, 330,533 fire hy
drants, and 1,787,448 meters. During
the year a total of 1,320,028.000,000 gal
lons of water enough to cover the
state of Connecticut to a depth of near
ly 16 Inches w as supplied to a total
population of 26.200,000, the average
daily per capita consumption being 1,3
gallons.
The greatest dally consumption of
water per Inhabitant, 430 gallons. Is
reported for Tacoma, Wash., and tha
smallest, 34 gallons, for Woonsorket,
R. I. In the former city 8 per cent of
the water is mstercd ar.d In the latter
fr per cent.
The tendency of meters to curtail
greatly the use of water Is strikingly
nhow n by a comparison of the figures
for the 26 cities In which the enUr
water supply U metered with those for
'the 26 citl'-s in which not more than
25 per cent is metered. In the former
group the, average daily consumption
per iiihabitarit ranges from 42 gallons
In Brockton, Mass., to 17K iralloris !i
Colombia, S. C, and in only sevn
cities does it exi ci Icy frallorm. In
the latter Kroup It varies from 43 gal
lons In Savannah, Ga , to 430 gal
lons In Tacoma, Wash., and in only
three cities does It fall below 100 gal
lons alone In the booth with his conscience
and a lead pencil It might be good for
him to feel a little asliamed of tht)
number of candidate,, before bim of
whom he knows little, nnd the number
of Issues concerning which Je dots not
care.
What would happen In this town, or
In any town. If no voter had cause for
shame?
Many things almoat too good to be
true.
Knowing How and Doing.
Oirard, in Philadelphia Publlo Ledger.
One of Philadelphia's best known
musical critt-s cannot play a note, nor
can he u,g. Therefore, exclaim the
captious, he must be a faker aa a critic.
Some one ventured to make a similar
remark ti John G, Johnson in regard
to his knowledge of pictures.
"True," Fald the great Lawyer, "I
can t paint a picture. Neither can I
lay an egg; but I know a good egg
from a bad one."
Anybody who has visited the large
galleries of Europe and had Ruskln s
opinions of pictures flung in his teeth
a tnouaand times might suppoae he
was a second Raphael. Nothing like it.
He couldn't even paint a sign.
Some of the best players are poor
football coaches, and vice versa. To
do a thing and to know how it should
be done are often very far apart.
fciharpeninji Himself.
When the train stopped at the little
southern station, the tourist from the
north sauntered out and gazed curi
ously at a lean animal with acragrr
bristles, which was rubbing ltatif
against a scrub oak
"What do you call that?" he asked
curiously, of a native.
"Razorback haw g. suh."
"What is he doing rubbing- himself
against that treeT-
"lie's stropping hlsaelf, suh; Just
Stropping hlsself."
Tonceoven
OVER at the postofflce yesterday
afternoon I tried to mail a pack
age.
5J And I went f the wrona; window.
and Tom P.laf kwell came and
took me by the arm.
and led me to tho right one.
ffAnd while he wis doing It he
told me he had f-.n my statue In
Meier & franks window. S
51 Arid he said it flattered me.
and I asked him why.
and he said h couldn't under
stand it either.
T "Of course" Tom said "you got
off lucky
"because the artist might have made
a caricature
"Instead of a llkrne.-s "
flAnd after that I just couldn't
tell Tom that Howard Fisher the
artist who made it meant It for a
carlcatu re.
And I got my stamps.
and licked them.
and licked off all the go.
and they wouldn't stick,
--and I got rattled.
and didn't know what to do.
and the woman behind n.e be
gan to gay things.
J And Tom Blarkwell saw rrve.
and pulled me nut of line.
end took my package.
and my stamps
- and said something about muci
lage. and wer.t away.
jAnd I don't know what he did
with it.
but 1 gut.-s he mailed It.
ft Anyway he didn't give It back
to me.
and I was glad to get rid of It.
fT And I felt relieved.
and ftood around to watch the
people do thinrs wrong.
fl And there was a one-cent stamp
end a two-cent stamp lying on a
de-k.
f And Tom saw them.
and got there first.
; And he said to the woman
nearest tiie stamps:
f "I'.irdon me ma'am" but are
t!.' oiir ttampH?"
J And sh" opened her purse.
- and looked in.
--and c cii.tt-d her stamps.
- and sild no.
T And Tom c ailed out that he had
two .stumps th.it were perfectly g"Ood.
a1 And ha sa.i anybody could have
them
who toild Identify them.
fj And then he put them In his vest
pock t .
fAni I thii.i- ho Intends to keep
them.
fVnd Postmaster Myers came out.
and stood around,
--at d looked happy.
and sani it was a re' ord day for
businefs.
and acid like he felt responsi
ble - for the Christmas rush.
fl And I stood in thfi post of f ice
for a long time.
- and wnt. hed the harpy faces.
fj That ib -must of them were hap
py and ail wire eager
--ea,;er to make bon.e.me elie
happy.
fj Ar.d 1 f irss I'm old-fashioned
and sentimental and all that.
fj But as I stood there 1 thought
Of the Santa Onus myth
--find I taw that it Isn't a myth
at all.
but a redeeming reality.
f And Of cours I don't know how
anyone else feels about It -but
fj LISTLN As for me I'd rather
be Senta finis and do his work
than bo any king or c ir or mper
or 1 1. a t eer cumbered the earth.
Rations for Santa ( laus.
f-he was pen hed upon a h:gh stool,
her silken coppery curls bobbing about
aa she 'niitt red of many thlfra.
"And do ou hang your stocking for
Santa Clnus on thrlstmaa ve?' she
was asked.
"Sure," elm replied with much aatou
lshment at such a question
"Do you l'ave anything I y the chim
ney for l.im to eat 'amy or nuts?
You know he t omes a b ng. lor.g way
and lie is apt to r hungry."
"Oh," she said, after th nking deeply
a moment, "I guess well give Mm
some white grai y tr.d puffed wheat!-
A. 1'. C.
X4ttle Story of Cnrittmattide.
Fre4 W. Goodrich K"'iKi t little
boy down town to n-e ti.a Chrlatmaa
decorations n the treetn.
The son arid heir tlidn t seem prop
erly impressed.
"What'a the matter, sonny, aren't
they pretty?" said father.
Master Goodrich broke Into a wall.
"Oh." be nald, "I don't like thes
kind of Chrlatmaa trees. There aren't
any presents on therm"
De That As It May.
The Oregon "ivic league has l.lg
nated Saturday, January 8, aa 'Ones
Over" day.
Members will give the arie the
one over -tell each other briefly J iat
what they think of It.
That's what I call !artlrg the New
Year right.
They'll have a dashed food time.
It's me that knows.
Stories g
5t,reetgown
A Champion In DUguiso.
VINCENT MONTPIEK, who has
calma to the 126 pound amateur
boxing championship of tha Pacific
coast. Is the hero of an unofficial
boxing story that leaked out yesterday.
Montpier, who goes to high school
and helps support himself by deliver
ing papern, waa standing on a comer
the other day, waiting for his papers
to arrive, when an auto party with
two kItI" nd two hilarious male mem
btrs passed by.
One of the young women shouted at
Montpier. asking if he was eeUtnf pa
pers. Montpier replied that ha was
delivering them. One of th men in
the party became lncenaed because th
girl apoke to Montpier, and he jumped
out of the machine and attacked Mont
pier. He met hard luck. When his oonv
ranlon saw him fail under a straight
right from Montpier, he came to h!
rescue, and Montpier put him down
also.
One blow was enough for each, and
they clambertd Into their mathine and
drove away.