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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1916)
THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 25, ; 1918. C. B. JACKsOS ........Panbr robllcttf mnr ar. af tcraeoa esd aaoralog ' (asrept Bandar Ctaraooa), at Tba Joaraal IMiildlnc. Broadway an4 TaablU atreate. . fertlaad, Or. - , . . - - KtTit at tba poatofttea at Portland. Or., for trtnamiaaloa tarouga tbe mat la aa ascend elaae atattar. - ''.' XCLr'.r HONK Mala WU Boms, A.l. , All departments reached br taeae Bomber. Tail tfaa aerator what dapartmeat yoo Want. VOBKieM ADVEBXIfUtU ftEPRKSEXTATIVK . Besjrnnls A Keatnot Cj.. Broswi "M;; Ut Ulk A., aw Xorfc. 121 Peupw'a i Bldt" Cbtcaao. lubacrlptltnt terme b mall or to any eddrtaa la tba Unit ad Htatae ar Mexico) DAILY (atOBMINQ OH AITKBSOOSl fin aat. ....... tSJM I On auratfc.. t SUNDAY Oaa year.. 92.00 I One moetb .. -28 DAILY IMOBNISG OK AVTERKOOK) ASD SUNDAY 0n year. .. . cr.. I Ona mntith I America atka Dotulng 'or herself bat wba: aba baa a rlgbt to Ilk tf : humanity ltaclf. VOODUOW W1WON. Millions for o" ferine. tnt not a eent (or tribute. CtlAKLEH C. FINCKNKT. God Intanrta bo man to lira In th' world without working; bat It ceams to ma ao leaa evident tbat be Intanda Try man to ba happy la bla work. Uukln. , BUILDIXG A CITY E LETCHER LINN is a whose right intention man and souna juuginenr, iew, n aujr, . . J J . . MB ' who know him will question. . He has done much to build up and 'expand the industrial activities of .Portland, and of Oregon. He has done this in the face of conditions in the Northwest, of discourage ment irom inose 10 wnom ne nas gone for. assistance and the other day he related some of the troubles that come to the upbuilder of busi ness la this vicinity. Mr. Linn has personally helped to finance nine substantial industries all operating In the state and employing in the aggregate nearly seven hundred , men. As a consequence he speaks -with authority, both from effort and experience. "yhere there is no unity of ac tion nor cooperation in effort ln- : dustries will not be built nor pay rolls established." Mr. Linn says, and he goes on to contend that this Is the "common Portland fault." speaking or me men or. large capital who have been leaners and not lifters in .the attempt to ,. broaden the boundaries of Port land's 'industrial scope, Mr. Linn . says that the men who refuse to tint mnnAT Intn farf Arloa a ra SS a rule splendid men, who ap prove the industrial growth of the town, but who have the common Portland fault. They will not work together. Each has his own 'idea of how the thing should be done and it must be his way or not at all. - This la not only a severe indict ment, but it is tbe accepted belief '-. of many besides Mr. Linn. Port land has suffered in the past from self complacency. The units of our civio life have each been too suf flclent unto himself. There has . been too little of the helping hand, too much of the hand closed and fast locked about its own posses sions. Portland men have looked too much to lumber, too much to money lending, too much to real estate, and too little to the varied and diverse producing industries of the modern business world for the foundation of its advancement and prosperity. We have looked too largely upon the stranger who - came to us as a customer for something we had to sell and not . . enough as a probable co-worker who would, with friendly treat ment and fair encouragement, take his place to strive side by side with all of us to the betterment . and the enhancement of the city's future. - Towns have sprung from villages and cities from them the world over, not because they were pre eminently fitted or predestined to 1 grow,' but because in them dwelt -' men who breathed public spirit -' and banded together with unity - and. coordinated purpose for the progress of their communities. That city which is blessed with such cltliens will be the place to which strong - and progressive men will come to labor and live. ' It Is the current remark of law publication that "The excite ment of the election Is over and we can all now settle dowjx to work, except those who were elected to office," which remark does not exactly hold good In Ore gon with the legislature Just avueau. OREGON SOCIAL HYGIENE T i HE new report of the Oregon Social Hygiene society is ready for distribution. " ' The organisation has made itself a factor In the life of the state. The devotion of Its mem bership to the society's Ideal is a marked feature in the work. Men like A. Wolfe. W. F. Wood ward. Ret W. G. Elliot. Dr. W. T, Foter, Secretary Harry. Moor aad manr others . have set tandara of interest in human welfare well worthy of emulation in other fields bf other men. The thought of conserving youth. protecting marriage and awakening new r responsibilities in the home has been spread v throughout Ore gon. The society's exhibit has been displayed In, most of the remote towns and hamlets of the state. Through greater physical fitness of conserved youth for their life service, great economic benefit has been realized. The moral ideals awakened have been compensatory reward of which there can be no adequate estimate. Youth is worth all the safe guards that can be thrown around it. Men wbo are giving time and talent in the effort to aid human society through conservation of its youth are rendering service that deserves a far better acknowledge ment than is contained In these feeble expressions. v' I DID. V SLIGHTLY paraphrased, a letter in the New York World runs like this: . Who built the Panama ca nal? "I did." Who sent the navy around the world? "I did.!' Who discovered the River of Doubt? "I did. Wbo smote the Spaniards at San Juan hill? "I did." Who elected Wilson? "It's an infernal, infamous, con temptible lie." A recent case in the Illinois courts Is entitled "Lord vs. Chica go." Whatever we may have sus pected, we never really believed before, that the time for such in tervention had arrived. DEBATE EXTENSION T HE Agricultural college has another good idea. Which is quite proper. It Is natural for us to look to the colleges for ideas. If they gave us more we should be thankful. But they do i pretty well and we would not find fault without cause. This idea is in the line of thrift, intellectual thrift. It gathers up twelve bas kets of intellectual fragments which have been left littered about heretofore. Professor Peterson appears to be the parent of the new idea. It has to do with college debates. You understand how these exer cises are conducted. The students divide into two teams. Each Bide prepares itself by long study, in vestigation and assiduous practice j for the grand occasion. The great night arrives. There Is a grand outburst of vocal fireworks. Then the pinwheels stop spinning, the rockets fall to the ground and it is all forgotten. What a waste. All this honest effort gone for nothing, or next to nothing. Why not make more out of it? Why not use the stu dents' work over and over again? So Professor Peterson seems to have reasoned and out of his cogi tation grew his idea. , "We will Bend these teams abroad on exten sion work. We will cause them to deliver . their debates in half a dozen Oregon towns. The teams shall go to any town where the people care enough about live questions to cooperate with ufe a little." The questions debated are al ways vital. The preparation is sound and honest. The speakers are in earnest. Audiences hearing the debates are entertained and in structed. This is a fine advance in extension work. We venture to make a suggestion about it. Why not invite a little more co operation from the towns? Some of them have high school debating teams of which they are proud. It happens now and then that such a local team is ambitious to match Itself against the college debaters. Would there be any harm in it? Would it not add something to the interest of this fine extension plan if local teams were encour aged to pit themselves against prac ticed opponents? We think for our part that live debate Is far more profitable for college students than cut and dried oratory. It Ws profitable, too. for high school students. Tortland Is to have a razor fac tory in the immediate future with an Initial pay roll of twenty men, which ought to sharpen up condi tions still a little more. A RICKETY BOGEY T HE bogey that the Oregon sys tem scared capital away has grown thin and threadbare. The wind howls dismally be tween its fleshleaa ribs and wan ders disconsolately round in Its empty stomach. Portland, which is 9 an Oregon city and lives under the Oregon system, has Just sold a bunch of bonds at a fine fat price. They ran up "to something like eight per cent premium. This looks comfortable for a ruined and im poverished community from which capital flees in terror. The premium will give the city a nice little sum to lay up for a rainy ; day; which is pleasant to think of. But it Is still more pleasant to : think;: that under the people's rule the credit of the state steadily grows more solid. With what acerbity will the Hon orable Penrose view the ' new sen ator from California, 'when he and Hiram Johnson first meet and give one another the once over on the floor of the senate. And if Sen ator Hiram Johnson remains stead fast and aggressive In the faith that has made him, what a circus there will be in the senate when, he. and Penrose discuss the state of the Union! BEFORE AND AFTER FEW days ago, all the ills of A the lumber business in Ore gon were charged against tbe Wilson administration. A newspaper that before election shrieked about the harm done the industry by the new tariff, said Thursday: Three million, V two hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars worth of Oregon lumber 10,79 carloads Is lying In yards or at railway sidings awaiting cars which do not come. Every foot of It Is sold. Every board of It Is needed and waited for by some one on the other side of the continent. Every dollar's worth of It would mean a dollar's worth of the prosperity for which Oregon has awaited. Only the railroads stand be tween. "Only the railroads stand be tween." It wasn't the tariff at all. The tariff talk about lumber before election was deliberate humbug. It was put forth In a studied effort to deceive voters. The fact that this 10,799 car loads of lumber Is sold, that "every board of It Is needed and waited for on the other side of the con tinent," shows how the before-eleo tlon statements of the lumber de pression were magnified for polltl cal purposes. "Every dollar's worth of It would mean a dollar's worth of the prosperity for which Oregon has awaited" and in the words of tbe paper that before election said it was the tariff, "only the rail roads stand between." Here is more that it now says: This three and a quarter million would mean continued operation by the sawmills and the maintenance of working organizations. It would mean profitable work for thousands of men who presently are unem- ployed nni it wmil.1 m n n thn plrou- iation 'throurh every channel of com merce of the dollars which it takes to run the mills and logging camps up on which the atate depends for its greater welfare. Why not tell the truth before election as well as after election? What must be the state of mind of those persons who were deceived before election and are now disillu sioned by the very paper that fooled them? It would be of value to have the annual convention of the National Educational association held at Portland. It would be of value to Portland and value to the associa tion. HE BUILT IT. T HE man who, because he built it, knows more than does anybody else about the Pan ama canal has set at rest va rious discouraging reports about the slides in Gaillard cut. In his annual report. General Goethals says the cut is 8.75 miles long and that the slides have at no time affected as much as a mile of that distance. There is no bog under the bed of the canal which is forced up a"s the sides slump. The channel at the point is cut through solid rock The slides are not a sloping movement of earth from high adjacent ground, but arise from vertical slumps of this high ground, i due to deformed or disturbed underlying strata, in the course of which overlying material spills Into the canal. This high and slumping ground is being cut down, and "final rest will be secured when all the ma terlal that is in motion is re moved." General Goethals does not claim that we have had the last of the slides, but he does assert that the difficulty is being gradually and certainly overcome. On such authority, America can put aside apprehension and rest secure in the conviction that the canal is safe, that the great in vestment in it is secure and that the. engineering feat of the cen tury will yield all that was ex pected. A Johnstown, Penn., corporation is paying its employes a bonus of five cents an hour to "stay on the Job and keep sober," and the company's statement is that "the bonus is one of the best invest ments it ever made." THE ONLY WAY? r NTERNATIONALISM was scotch ed by the big war, not killed. Not quite. It lifts its bruised and battered head once in a while and feebly moans. Per haps It will grow lively again in some far future. At present its liveliest manifestation Is In the realm of anti-booze, a vast and growing empire. , There la now proposed union of all the "temperance" forces in the wide, wide world without re gard to race, language or previous condition of servitude. This is in ternationalism with no mask on. A temperate world would be a world filled with sound sense, self respect,; kindliness and moderation. What the world's . statesmen want is a way to stop the miseries caused by liquor. Letters From the Peopte fCoaiiBanieatloaa mKbi Tba Joaraal for mblicatloa la tkla o;rtmeat abooM ba writ ten a oaly one aide of the paper. abooM sot exceed 300 worda hi length, and moat ba ae coupaniea oj in name and aoarene ox low tender, if tbe writer doea not dealra to bar tba name publiabed be abonld aa atate.J "Dlaeoawlon la tba area teat of all reformer. It rattonallsea everything It toocbea. It rob principle, of all falae aanctitjr and throwa them back on tbatr reaaooablrnesa. If tbey Have no rraaonablenasa, it rutbteaaly crasbea them oat of ei.Iateoce and aeta up Ita own conclualooa a tbeta attid." Wood row Wlleon. Complains of "Dry" Restrictions. Portland, Nov. 21. To ths Editor of The Journal Permit me through your valuable paper to express my views on the prohibition law. I am an American woman and mother of a large family. I have always been very fond of our beautiful country, until lately. I don't want to be misunderstood by anyone who reads this letter. What I would like to know is. what right haa one human being to prohibit another human being anything he wants to eat or drink, or dictate bow he shall live? Where is bur liberty or freedom that we read so much about? Is one class of people to rule the other class, that we are prohibited from buying liquor, wine, beer or alcohol when we need or want It? It is well known that our best and finest men and citizens are not ashamed to both drink and smoke and gamble. These so-called goody goody people should all live together some place, as I am sure some cities would prosper without them and thou sands fft real people would not fe?l tbat they were Idiots to be treated like we are now, with such a humbug law. I consider the word alone, "prohibit," a big insult to every American citi zen. If Christ our Lord changed the water into wine I think it must be all right. What Is the world coming to, I wonder, when such humbug laws are springing up to be voted on? The saloons are no worse an example to our children than the moving picture shows, which keep our girls and boys out at night, not- to mention the autos, which have turned most of our women's heads. Home will soon be a thing of the past, while man will be wander ing the streets no job, no home or family, no rights, except to go to war, which he will be compelled to do with out being voted on. What a crime and a shame it is that strong men ara forced to drink hair oil and poison alcohol when they should have all tUo beer they want, which is as harmless a tea. Away with such laws, and give the real people their rights, if we have any. The real drunkard is no good, whether the town is wet or dry. AMERICAN MOTHER. In Reply to Mr. Frank. Portland. Nov. 23. To the Editor of The Journal I will thank you for space to reply, briefly, to O. E. Frank, who, in luesday s Journal charges Great Britain with being responsible for Idleness In Belgium, by prohibiting the importation Into that country of raw material to go on through to Ger many. Now Germany not only removed all raw material from Belgium, but also all the machinery by which raw mate rial is worked up, thereby rendering the people unable to employ them selves. Now she is deporting the work era and compelling them to make mu nitions of war for the purpose of killing off the rest of their own peo ple. Germany is responsible for Bel Slum's deplorable condition In the first place. Aa to Ireland, there would have been no trouble outside their factional an tagonlsms, but for German intriguers and plotters, from whom no part of the world is free. And it should not be forgotten that like the American colonists against hired Hessians Ire land suffered her worst persecutions under the Hanoverian Georges; Ger man tyrants on English soil. The English people were not responsible, and never irf sympathy with these ac tions; in fact, they became rebels themselves, and for the last half cen tury and more have done everything In their power to help right Ireland's wrongs. But It Is only as a united kingdom that Great Britain and Ire land can exist. Greece brought her troubles upon herself. She was by treaty hound to go to the assistance of Serbia, but her king, under the Influence of the kais er's sister, hiE queen, ignored the treaty, for which his own people may yet punish him. It is true that other nations besides Germany have done things that would not have been believed of them before line war. yet the heroic French refuse to r.esort to reprisals in retaliation for German cruelties to prisoners, for which they have the admiration of the whole world, outside of Germany. C. B. PTE. Assails Reformers. McMlnnville, Or., Nov. 23. To the Editor of Thu Journal The Oregon State Bar association has completed its session and adjourned. Some good things were said and some foolish as sertions were made. The meeting of this association affords an arena fbr the "half-baked" reformers to blow off steam. We have in Oregon pretended re formers Wbo are really anarchists, and they want to change nearly everything connected with the administration of the law. Their rulling principle seems to be. "Whatever is, is wrong." Indeed they "sigh for change and spend their lives for naught." One Judge is reported to have said that in the administration of the crim inal code, judges were compelled to resort to "subterfuges," aad he wanted changes made. If any judge, in the administration of the law, resorts to "subterfuges," there is need of reform in the judge rather than in the crim inal code. Our criminal rode was compiled by tbe late Honorable M. P. Deady, an able judge and good writer, and it seems to me that the principal defects in its consist of changes in it made by our pretended reformers. It may be proper to make some changes in our criminal code, but all Bchemes of the wild-eyed reformers should be spumed by our lawmakers. Under the system that seems to be popular with the pretended reformers of the criminal law, the commission of crime is really encouraged. Men dis posed to commit crime know that many offenders are not found out that if they are proceeded against by the officers of the law, they stand chance of being acquitted, and. If they should be convicted, the trial judge may parole them without their having been punished, and. if be fails to turn them loose, the pardoning board and the governor may be appealed to with hope of success. The result is that only a few criminals are really pun Ished for their crimes. Every person charged with crime has a constitutional right to fal and Impartial trial, and this right should be accorded in every Instance, but when an offender Is lawfully con' vlcted some degree of punishment, proportioned to his offense, should be meted out to him, unlesa be is shown to be innocent. JUSTICE. From a Grip Victim. Portland, Or, Not. 24. To th Edi tor of The Journal I can't see why there are mo many doctors, when there are so many 111a they can't cure nor even relieve. 'M have suffered more with the, grip than the devil and all his imps have ever suffered, I be lieve, and I don't know how many cure alls I have used. But X might as well have been drinking water, for all tbe good they bava done me. X don't see why they can't Invent a serum or vaccine to cure this felndlsh grip, the same as they do for typhoid or other malignant diseases. I think the rea son there are so many failures In doctors curing diseases is because they have missed their calling, for doctors are born with the gift, the faculty and insight to do those things, and with development and college training they become true and trustworthy physi cians and healers, understanding fully the sickness and successful treatment therefor. And they are born for this calling and gifted, as the poet, the artist and numerous others, each fitted to fill bis destined place In the uni verse. But many so-called doctors ought to have been blacksmiths, carpenters, or whatever other calling they were best adapted to, in place of doctoring for wrong diseases. I know what I am talking about. I have had experience with some of them. Show me one that can cure grip. SUFFERER. What Women Remember. From the Chicago Herald. Jane Addams' new book, "The Long Road of Woman's Memory," deals with the subconscious race memory of wont an as exemplified in regard to the mythical "Devil Baby" some years since troubling the peace of Hull House and the more recent developments of war. Miss Addams' thesis that feminine race memory dates back to old tribal customs and traditions Is neither novel nor conclusive but it suggests ui interesting vista of thought. Ever since the outbreak of war. to partiCuarlze, the feminine attitude toward militarism has been the sub ject of tense and varied attention The militarist wonders why women, in all ages and stages of the world's progress protected by arms, should sn generally declare against war. The pacifist wonders why women, throuah the world's tragic vicissitudes rarely bearing arms, should now and thjn support military movements. Double explanation, perhaps, lies in some such idea as Miss Addams has advanced. In periods of military excitement or danger, it may be, the subconscious race memory of woman warns her of the need for armed protection. Her lrst reaction echoes the call to aims But underlying and stronger than tnls Impulse surges the dread memory of long gone battle terrors. If men, since the world bes-an. hve paid the price of war with blood women Inevitably have shared bitter cost of tears and loss and sorrow. Dim recollection of ancient glory and triumphs sett strange pulses astir in military connection, but more poignant "hidden memories" render the thought of strife sickening. This, at least, may be one reason why so few women are willing to countenance war. Depew at 80. From the Detroit News. One of the commonest human fal lacies Is the optimistic and inspiration al insistence that what one man can do, any man can do. It Is a beautiful and encouraging theory, but life gives it the lie on every hand. Chauncey M Depew was once addressing an audi' ence of newsboys, and he very encour agingly pointed out to them that each boy present had juet as many heads as he had. namely, one. "Yes. but what a peach of a head!" shouted a lad1 in the gallery. The same optimistic Chauncey, hav lng happily passed his eightieth birth day, Informs all and sundry that to live 10 years past the Psalmist's limit is no trick at all. He asserted that David's "threo score and ten" has been the means of cutting many a life pre maturely off. A man dies when he wants to die. and not before, says Chauncey. Given Chauncey Depew s constitu tion laid deep in the simple life of the early "York state folks," given his fac ulty of seeing the sunny side of ihinga, given his ability to Ingratiate himself with men of vast fortunes and to make himself useful to them, given the easy conscience with which he participated in some of the older railroad and pollt ical practices that are now under the ban in brief, given an easy-going na ture never seriously balked by failure, and nver seriously clouded by setbacks. it is not difficult for him at 80 years to feel that all the other septuagena rians or octogenarians have been un wise if they have not fared as well as he. .His back unbowed, his peach-and- cream complexion unscarred, his gray hair never bowed In sorrow, his hands soft as a child's, his place as suredhe has a right to be happy, but he scarcely has a right to Derate ail who have not come through unscathed as he. Anyway, merely to live to be 80 is not a signal triumph. There are some men who can only prove thev have lived long by showing the number of their years nothing tlse indicates it- Tho Milkman's Possible Emanci pation. Prom tha Spokiijo Spukesman-Rerlew. Probably the milkman is the lone scmest of mortals. He pursues his calling at a time when on the streets la no one to whom he can look for in tellectual stimulus or social compan ionship. While he goes Into or at least up to, the best homes,' he does It at a time when the best homes are nor mally steeped In slumber. The milk man meets. It is true, others of his guild, and an occasional policeman, but these, while excellent citizens in every way, can hardly provide the variety and richness of Intercourse that Is so essential to the thorough, all-round de velopment of one's personality. Every one who has the mental and physical well being of the milkman at heart must be inclined to Indorse heartily the Idea of giving this Impor tant functionary a change to daylight hours. Letting him bring us our milk at , instead of 3 would moan so much to him. Presumably milkmen lwve families. There is no scientific ground for doubting that they have home circles which they must leave In the small hours of the morning and return to only for brief Intervals at unattractive times of the day. How uplifting to restore the' milkman to his family by the simple scheme of chang ing his hours! The milkman's customers, too, would profit by a change of this sort. Now they are likely at any time from 3 to 5 In the morning" to be aroused by the clump of the boots of the lacteal emis sary, the Jangle of the bottles he car ries, his loud adjurations to his horse. These things occurring at a. m. v.-ould not be nearly so disconcerting. Milk at 6 or 7 would be Just as timely. Just as nourishing, and its consumer would' be able to meet his milkman and to know him as a human being instead of as an lnvlslblo force of nature. Modern Edncation. Sim ia Cartoons Msfatina. The old arithmetic is becoming more and mora obsolete every day. The mere adding and subtracting of figures has lost its flavor with the present gener ation. We want a book to take the pjac of tha arithmetic, one that will tell us how 'much mora mileage an auto caa makex on Zl-cent standard gasoline than on the 10-cent staff with PERTINENT COMMENT SMALL CIlAXGE It is fortunate for the old woman who lived In a shoe that she did her living before the high cost struck the leather market. 9 m President Wilson gives token of what an approaching football game can do as an auxiliary to whatever one is taking tor one's cold. "Allies Warn Greece to Give Ud Katerina," says a headline. And now. li Katerina runs true toeex rorm, tnat clinches the case, so far as Katerina is concerned. Carransa wires" - ''Villlstas fleeing all directions, pursued by cavalry." But what, is needed worse than any thing. In villa's case. Is some overtak ing by cavalry. ' The appointment "of Russia's new premier will necessitate an explanation by the government in the duma, is the news report. An explanation by the government in the duma! Well, there has been motion, since Red Sunday. Multnomah county on December 21, for the Mrst time in 22 years, will have no balance in the treasury. Well, then, Multnomah county, on December 31, for the first time in 2 years, will know how the rest of us feel. Soms day ther will be a story of a pair of parents who will leave the children at home with all the doors locked, while they go away to a dance; and tbe children will sleep safe and sound, while the parents perish in the fire that burns up the dance hall. One of Uncle Sam's consuls begs to report that the name of the new Rus sian town and Ice-free port at the ter minus of the Murman railway has been changed from Port Murman to Romanoff-on-Murman. Which is quite agreeable, of course, but it will never get itself called all tnat in the good old U. 8. A- OUR WAY OF ELECTING PRESIDENTS From tbe New Yurk Erenlsc Poat. One of the first duties of congress when it reassembles," says the World, 'is to take the necessary first steps toward an amendment of the constitu tion to substitute a direct vote of the people for the electoral college In the election of a president of the United States." The proposal that the choice of president should be made to turn on the direct result of a count of voters throughout the union always comes to the fore after a close election. And In the mjnds of many, the peril pre sented by the delivery of a big block of presidential electors to one canal- date or the other turning on the count of a few score of votes in a handful of belated districts is merely an ag gravation of an evil which they regard I as In itself intolerable. Thus an In dignant letter writer in one of yester-! day's papers, who happened to labor under the Impression that Hughes had a half-million plurality over Wilson in the popular vote, exclaims: "If this be a government of the people by the peo ple, our system of counting the votes for the presidency Is a farce for a president may be seated when only a minority of the people want him." Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the passing of a constitutional amend ment to substitute a direct popular vote for the present system of elect ing the president will not be one of "the first duties" that con gress will perform, nor, for that mat ter, one of the last. And this will not be due to mere Inertia or wronghead edness. To begin with, there stares us In the face a practical fact, with Its roots deep In our history, which In itself constitutes an almost insuper able obstacle. The nation has tacitly assented to the practice of the 11 states of the solid sduth casting their votes solidly, ss a matter of course, for the Democratic candidate. So long as the states are regarded as separate entities in this matter, there Is some kind of ground whether good or bad Is not to the present purpose for letting this sleeping dog lie. But the moment that that point of view Is abandoned, the moment the voters of the south count simply as to many Individual Ameri can citizens, acquiescence by the north In the virtual suppression of a large part of the negro vote in the south would become unthinkable. It is pos sible to look upon the casting of South Carolina's or Louisiana's' vote as her own affair; it would be impossible to tolerate the spectacle of the Individ ual "voters of the south, through the suppression of opposition voters In their own states, directly nullifying millions of votes cast by their co-equal fellow citizens in other sections. But quite apart from this peculiar and accidental circumstance, the case for a direct vote of the people is far from being so clear as might be thought at first blush. In the first place. It should be noted that the whole system of representative government, as it has historically existed, recog nizes something else than sheer nu merical superiority as entitled to in fluence. A majority in the house of commons, a majority in the house of representatives, may easily represent a decided minority of the oters. If In one district the voters are almost unanimous for one party and In an pollywogs In It, and the number of revolutions of the wheels to make a man walk back five miles when some thing goes wrong with the steering gear, and how deep a gorge a machine can actually leap Into with perfect safety to its occupants. That's the sort of knowledge our children need so that when they graduate and launch Into the world in their first motor cars, they will possess sufficient com mon sense to run them. People of the Soli. Frmr. the Kranclaeo Bulletin. Commenting on the report that Rus sia is planning to Indue vast num bers of her Polish subjects to emi grate to Houth America after the war, a writer in Free Poland observes: "One thing is certain tnat we oo not solve national issues in this sim ple fashion any more-, that the Poles in Russian Poland will cling to their native soil with their surprising te nacity of old. despite the ruins and ashes, and that tney win remain there, no matter wliat the results or the present war may be." In America we have grown to think of emigration as an easy and natural process, and it is hard forus to under stand that abiding love for a given piece of land which causes people to suffer all manner of hardships rather than go away from It. Aa a nation we have no such attachment to the soil. All of us who are able get away from -our native places when we grow up and hunt fortune elsewhere. The few people who are still living in the houses which their grandfather occupied could all join the regular army without bringing it up to any where near the standard demanded by Mr. Roosevelt. But because we are a wandering people, ands have been made up of wandering people from other parts of the world, we must not suppose that all others are like ourselves. There are farms in some parts of Europe not estates of nobility, but plain farms which bar come down from father to son in an unbroken line for hundreds of years. There are races which have lived on the same tract of ground since the fall of tha Roman empire. There are submerged nationalities, Xull of fierce ' . A; - AND NE&S IN BRIEF OREGON SIDELIGHTS Superintendent Schamin and the high school boys at Suthertln are at work en a commodious play abeJL "Hood River city," says the News, "Is veritably bursting with apples every foot of vacant space In ftore, warehouse and basement Is flllento overflowing with the bumper crop. Bonds amounting to 180.000 were voted by Wheeler county at the lato election with which to build the election with which to ouna m : Wheeler county link of the proposed state highway from the Columbia river at Arlington through the jonn ujr valley to the Idaho line. Fire prevention measures hava been taken by the Medford council. An ordi nance provides that all buildings with in the city shall be Inspected by the fir chief or some member of the de partment twice a year in the outlying districts and four times a year in tho closely built secUonv Boosting for a propose! play shej, the editor of the Donald Record says: "Of course, such things as play shens were unheard of when you and 1 went to school, but wo are llting under dif ferent conditions now. Other towns and schools are providing play sheds and other equipment, and It will soon be up to us to make good or get out of the procession." s "One of the curious trends of the times la that there Is little demand for !.anA, ;?ays , the Corvallls Courier, "while therei" a great demand for Us products. This Is explained by the fact that land values ar the last to ao down and the last to recover. The Courier doubts that prices will ever go back to boom days, because buyers now figure on not what they may be able to sell the land for. but what they may make it produce. But it would seem that with prices now back to producing worth, land Is a safe and sane Investment." other there Is a mere shade of dif ference for the opposite party, the re sult is nevertheless one to one as a matter ' of parliamentary power. If "our system of counting the votes for the presidency is a farce," then our system of determining the complexion of the house of representatives is a farce, and the British system for the house of commons which, be it re membered, makes and unmakes the ex ecutive, the ministry Is a farce. And In a country like ours especially, a I great deal is to be said for mitigating the Influence of mere numbers pro- vlded It Is not done upon the basis of any invidious discrimination by other elements. If we did not do that, when- ever any section had a special Inter- est In a particular policy, while the rest of the country viewed the question j A sailor who possessed a gramo ln a more disinterested way, the Phone was secured to discourse np massed sectional vote would prepond- proprlate music between the islldos. erate In a manner most undesirable and quite possibly dangerous, from the national standpoint. fe . Even as regards the dangers nnd what nnt li A o . u . r-A l I . t. V. . . t . . 4 3 a close election under the present ays- tern. It is highly doubtful whether the plan of direct vote would be an Im provement In the case of a close call It Is necessary, under the present sya- rtuHn fh fi. J H.i.,n,iBin:,ellf,.,he gramophone squawked out: the count. Vpon these, the attention of the party managers on both sides can be so concentrated as to make re sort to fraud or trickery extremely dangerous. If the result turned on the popular vote, every one of the hundred thousaqd.election districts In the coun try would be capable of contributing Its share to the uncertainty. Moreover. In the campaign itself, the question of carrying the election would, as a rule, have far less point and reality. Dur ing any such time, for example, as that long period In which the Republi can party was overwhelmingly in the ascendant in most of the states of the north and west, the piling up of still larger majorities In those states would have had littlo or no real sig nificance; yet It would have counter acted the winning over of the same number of voters by the opposition party in Btates where party prejudice was less rigidly established and dis cussion more real and significant , a a There are minor defects in the exist ing system which certainly ought to be cured; but there Is no difficulty ifi remedying these. Since It Is an undis puted fact that the electors are In practice merely the mechanical vehicle of the vote, the death or disqualifica tion of an elector ought not to be al lowed to make any difference in the result; but this could be provided for by simply providing that whenever It occurs the remaining electors from the same state shall fill the vacancy. As has been the case In other matters con nected with the presidential succes sion, we have been very slow to make proper provision for difficulties or an omalies of this kind. But as for ths general method, while It has come into existence in a blind sort of way, and while no doubt some other method may be superior, neither the change to a direct vote of the people nor any other that has thus far been proposed seems to present a balance of advant age over the existing system. patriotism, which In modern times have never had a separste national government. There are fractions of nationalities, like the Roumanians In Transylvania, the French In Alsace, the Danes in Schleswlg and the Serbs In Austria, which retain their Identity though long cut off by governmental boundaries from the main body of their people. There are nationalities mingled with one other, as In Austria-Hungary and most of the Balkan states, which occupy the same land, and love It, yet whos? national Ideals are as distinct as though they were a thousand miles apart. These things are not Rllevisted by immigration, nor will they le per manently adjusted by war. They are an almost ineradicable feature of the old world across the water. Th floods may come, fire nisv burn, sword and pestilence may kill, royal dummies may go' down lik nine, pins, snd the peasant -the common man of those old races will still lc found clinging to his plot of ground, his native language, his racial tra ditions, his old folk storlci and leg. ends and the old songs of cradle, har vest, marriage reie and burial dav This fact yields a grave sort of en couragement. The long suffering man or tne son may outwear his on. pressors and liv until the dawn of a new democracy. Canned Music; Canned Operator. from Popular Mechanic. Applteatinn for patent rights has been made by an eastern Inventor who has designed a phonograph that Is cap- able of playing several disk records In succession without requiring the at tention of an operator. The machine also will select special records and render them, or reproduce a single one as many times as is desired. Another feature of the apparatus is that rec ords of different sizes with starting and ending grooves of various diame ters, can be employed. Small regulat ing knobs permit an operator to omit, repeat, or stop the rendition ot any particular selection. Furthermore, it Is possible to set the machine to stop automatically after playing any rec ord. - , s . . TV. Ratf Tag and Boktail t ' kwita arum i.vcrvwnera J. IT tela eolBsa an rtadt-r .,f Tba journal re laTltad to eootributa original niattar 4s Ctorr. In 'raa or In philuoopliUal oUarrrattoa or atrlltlng ouotatk'na. fruui anr aaorea -CoDtrlbutiona of eircp'lonal mailt will ba Mid for. at ta editor'a appraiaal.j " As Hill Strondborg Would Say. . Y?til!.N George Turnbull, the for w v mer Wavei-ly Country club goll nrofemlonal wna i,nin "'""V."? ' Francisco last spring g a day In Saa en route from Coronado Beach to his new employ1 ment at Midlothian Golf cluh. Chicago' he stepped around to the Continental hotel to call on Manager Walter Me.'' Credle, Dr. Leslie Clough and othet : members of the Portland baseball club, , then playing its first series in th bay city. Now if there is anything tho bl Scotchman prides himself on. it ia picking out his countrymen, and th bigger they are the more enthuMnstli he becomes, even though they don'l drop their "burrs" over the lrul:,cai Turnbull felt thirsty, ami Dr Clough rang for a bottle of grape Juice and glasses. The porter, a strapping seven-footet of blonde complexion, brought the bev. etage to ('lough's room, knocked of) tha tin cap, poured out the contents , d wui.-., tn ,1..,,.. ....i, .?nu'10,? t0, ,He x ? lM" . . ller bcotty." enld Turnbull. hand- lng the porter a gluas of the Julca. iu th nu . The porter gravely raised the glass, beamed on Turnbull, and courteously drawled 'Skol.'' ' "Well, I'llbedamnpd,'' exploded th golfer. "First time 1 ever missed." A Mighty llusy Coyote. Coyotes are becoming very numer ous in this vicinity, writes the Bakei Herald's Ironside correspondent. On was heard In the pig pen of John Smith during the night nnd upon ar. riving at the scene Mr. Smith found the animal ready to run with a pig. The coyote afterwards chased the poultry and sheep and finally Ike Elnv dorf wounded It. It ran out of sight afterwards returning to tha barn glv. lng the horses a good scare and was found dead there the next morning, Adam Couldn't Have Beaten It. Young Mr. Hallowell was not muob f a preacher, but, much to his own surprise and everybody else's, ho was appointed chaplain on a battleship. He desired to amuse as well as Instruct ls men, and to that end ho arranged a magic lantern lecture on Bible scenes and Incidents. The first picture shown wus Adam end Eve In the Garden of Ed on. The sailor cudgeled his brains and rnn through his repertoire, nays tins New York Times, but he could think of no S"0???" Play up, play up," whispered ths chaplain. Suddenly sn Inspiration struck the Isallor. and to tho consternation of the" chaplain anil t lift delight of the audi- "There Is only one girl In this world for inc." Getting tli (ioodH on Mother. A"S'0ung Portland mother was teach, lng her 3-year-old daughter to distin guish colors. She asked the color of various objects, and little Sally answered readily. Pointing to Sally's apron, she asked Its color. Sally couldn't tell. "Oh, you know," persisted the moth er. "Just think a minute." , At last Sally answered, "Blue." "Now what is the color of my dress?" asked mother. Tho pale lavender of the gooda stumped Sally, and glancing up at het mother she anvwerd: "Oh, mother! You know! Juel think a minute." Hill's Ilugle Blew. A lady told us thut nho whs p""1'1 thu home of Bill Moore the other night end heard the m03t fenrful noise as If nme mule were choking to death by Inches, says tho Pendleton East-Orego-man's Weakly liiilldofrgrr. After her first fright she nald slie convlncpd her. self that It wus only Colonel HlH anor lir. She surrgested the occurrence aa a fit themo for poetry. After much mental effort we have to announce th following lines are the best with which llo subject could Inspire us: What Is that deep, resounding roar, I.lko breakers pounding on the shore That Issues from the bedroom door Of Colonel William Warhorss Moorel Ah, now I know. Tls but the snore Of on who's glad election's o'er And Wood row's back for four years more. MotoritUbor Alles. "The other day at some dlflanea from town I was trying to mend a punctured tire when an autom jhllist stopped and asked If ho cou'd help me." "Motorists frequently do that s a matter of courtesy." "But this was an extraordinary case and show how strong is the force of habit. The man who spoke to me. as I learned later when 1 met a car full of detectives whirling out of town on his track, was a fleeing bank cinbrz lar." An Incorrigible Neutral. Up to within three or four days of election Burt Letlle, traveling repr sentatlve of a Portland wholesale house, maintained a strict neutrality as between President Wilson and Charles Kvans Hughes, and even now declares his principles were carried out to the larl ditch, notwithstanding his ballot was caat for Mr. Hugl.es. "it was this way," he explains. "Two of my friends bet each, oris on Wil son and the other on Hughes, and I, being a neutral, was given possession of the stakes. And still being neutral I bet the $10 on Wilson and voted for Hughes. And now, honest, don't you thing my acts squared me up aa an unflinching neutral, especially aa I gave the $10 1 Won to Mrs, lMleT" And. looking at the matter from the $10 standpoint. Mr. !,! lea conten tion seems fair enough. II Copped the Copper. Tom had given Fred the "once over'' Just a year to tho day, and tha let ter's memory had been .refreshed as tha anniversary of "All Pools' day" approached. Knowing that Tom was coming over to his home that morning, I'red placed a new penny on tbe hot slove, and aa Tom was about to enter the house the penny was placed OS I card dated "April 1" oni handed to him with the remark. "Take this; I owe It to you. torn, unsuspecting. accepted the coin, but dropped It in a hurry, with the remark: "It's red hpt." "Sure, it's hot," anrwered Kred, TTW a 1 rand new one; my Uncle Sam makes the,m." Uncle Jeffnow Says: -Down to Marah'field they tax wheelbarrer as a wheeled vehicle Such taxes help put the empty lot owner soma, and that Is what licenses Is mostly for. In Ohio one time tha farmers got the legislature to (put tag of $13 a year on carriages. It less'n two year nobody In Ohio bat ny carriages 'ceptln' some of th farmers.' Tha rich feller in tha cltj all bad phaetons and barroughg. '