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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1923)
More Real Criticism Needed Says Alexander in Article ITU following article is re printed from the book page of the - Oregon:. Journal. Itt, gives the ideas of the Albany author on the situation in literary ' criticism in Oregon Editor.) - v. By Charlm Alexander The trouble with Oregon liter ' ature Is the climate. The climate ,1s easy and equable. ' If anything ' lnsh, red and alive were written the critical sun would not respon sirely blase warm. When weak things are written there Is no win try chill properly to correct them. The critical climate of J Oregon affords but one official season of all the yeara mild, well-intended and Indlscrlmlnatlng glow of approval shining alike oa the just ly and the unjustly" deserving. This is bad, bad, had, . for the young Western writer.' f Oregon literature needs ? a Bierca. We do not like what is rood for us; likewise, thus far we hare not admitted what is good, for J us. Were we blessed with a Bieree we should beset his path fright fully.' But competent . creative work cannot come up and thrive in a hurrah atmosphere; Claquers do not lessen the 'determination of the prima donna, for she knows ' their noise is Intended to lead the publie, not her. How shall the young: writer, in his tender forma tive years, understand that ' the ,- murmur of approbation he hears - comes from claquers and is . in spired by habit, dangerous kind ness or commercial Intent? i k - Not that ths younker ? In f his first faltering: - creative steps de derrea the full withering: bjwt he may bear 20 years later.. -. He should be Judged not for what he is. but -for what he gives slight promise of." Gentle, intelligent criticism he must have, if he is to grow; and if. in place of this, he Is prematurely and so unwisely praised, his friends have defeated themselves. - - Oregon has no. intelligent criti I S,. LOT : A ; TIIE OREGON STATESMAN, SALEM, OREGON ' ' SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 16. 1923 cism, at least none that is practic ing. Oregon has produced in old times and n ! recent times an amount of genuine talent that scarcely any state has exceeded. In the early years, when the flnx and ebb of pioneer civilization was in flow, the state's young talent sought elsewhere and found what it needed, criticism, r The epic minded Markham, Joaquin Miller, who lived greatly and sang,' did not find their own measures t in Oregon. jThe common attitude is that they simply were misunder stood and unappreciated by the Oregon public. The truth is that they cared little, nor does any valid worker greatly care, whether the public appreciates his formu lated feelings and Ideas, or not. ,' ; Markham and Miller cared for and needed the trained disenst and approbation of critics. This they sought and found far away. , And long ago. For now the case is changed, and there is no lack of public gusto. U Now there are claquers, whose leads the pub lic follows. Upon the innocent victim who has produced and pub lished something, the claquers Impose a sort of lex prima noches, thereafter arising and pronouncing him pood, i ":; As for criticism, the case remains as in earllers days. There isn't any;" but unfortunate ly, the young writer la apt to mis take the pled claquer for a critic. tS believe him, and follow the piper into brown mediocrity. -True, we 'have one crowd iden tifleJ apart" from public and cla quers; these are the' members of the left wing, who know how to run the show but fortunately for all have no chance of putting their knowledge to the proof, ; These teachers and advisors degenerat ed long ; ago, from the tribe' of critics, who in turn sprang out of the side of the . first writer. ; : A writer is an it, which once was a human being. A critic is one of the same who can not create or tell how to create, but who can mi - vQ) M m -.' i f . s jl I f . - - ' ' tell how not to. A teachers of practical literature Is less than n critic; he is one who can not write tell how not to write, or how to write, but who does the latter ne vertheless. ;. ' : ' . A competent critic.', with his feeling and hi? training for creat ed work, can place his finger; on the weak spots where he who ac tually creates has faltered; and by treating them the critic helps perfect the creator. : . This is his capacity.! lie doei not know how to write, but he knows when the other fellow's writing limps. He does not play ball; he roaches. lie offers no lexicon of . scenes, types and situations, as - the teacher does, which will work for all wri ters Inasmuch as they worked for some writers. A persistent sense of these things as adapted to his inner, and intangible, personality, is- native to every writer. ' J tv I .The point could not' be made that Oregon's lack' of competent criticism : is a fault of the people or the writers or the teachers; it is a detrimental cond'ilon that has prevailed and it should be cleared away. In our local mediums,: the newspapers, criticism as ' yet J has found slight foothold. Oregon's publishers have been business men engaged in developing their state industrially. They have develop ed or secured or permitted little intelligence save practical intelll Beace. For them, a mattering of erudition has cloaked an Ignor ance of the artsJNow afterheir long sleep; they roll and toss, and eventually perhaps will come awake. Why not now T The claquers forever will fight bitterly to retain the forefront pd eition they easily won by claquingV But that sort of thing is bad for the young Western writer. Ore gon now has a native literature; she will have a native, literature, shouldering on strongly? in the lit erature of .the world in that time when she' fires serious, considera tion to the obvious weaknesses as well as the patent strengths of her scribblers. As it is, we have an over-supply of native-son : bally- hooing and an nnder-supply of de cisive native work.' . And if a crit JL - An : 1 ic ihould stray among us. it might prove better in the long run to consider a' moment before pitch forking him and rushing up with heaps of faggots for bis pyre. Deficits Cause Breslau To Abandon Street Cars BRESLAU, . Nov. 2 5. (By The Asociated Press By Mail) Unable to bear the deficit piled up daily by: the numerous lines, Breslau has suspended street car opera tion; The situation resulted from the depressed financial and com mercial conditions. Recently street car fares were Insufficient to even pay the wages of employes, and there was little chance of increas ing fares .because the mark's de cline was swifter than the ." time needed to put increased fares in to'effectrV'Ti"! X 're - - Similar step's have been taken in many smaller cities, but 'Breslau is the first great metropolitan city to abandon Its tramways. ! Dr. Erich Gloeden, regarded as an authority on town building, says German towns are now pay ing for the sins of their fathers in town building, and urges a re-' vision in plans for future work so that all workers shall live within 15 minutes' walk from their place of business. He argues that fac tories : built on present-day plans are not unsightly nor objection able to be placed near , residences. He would locate parks, churches and schools in the open countrj surrounding the industrial cen ter. '. "V ., ;,' ,.. , Dr. Gloeden would not elimin ate street cars entirely, but, would have them operated as express lines furnishing a through service to connect the various industrial centers. ' ' r AUSTRIA RAISES HKR FREIGHT RATES VIENNA. Nov. 25. ( By Mall.) In an effort to meet the railway deficit,,. Austria, has' increased freight rates 10 per cent. . Even with the increase the rates are far below pre-war times. Advances in passenger rates are nnder con sideration. , , y o (Dm) Vick Brothers will Hold theirvThird Annual Enclosed car 3 show on the afternoons and evenings of . Next Tuesdiay and Wednesday, ! December 18th and 19th invitation is extended to 1" , We will have on hand several new models that are being , shown duing this show foV the first time in Salem. i : MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT EACH EVENING l.lCome in during the show. and see the latest in Overlanids 5 Willys Knights ! Oaklands and Packards HIGH STREET AT TRADE DEAN ALLEN BRINGS BACK GOWN WORN BY OREGON MAN AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY : OF OREGON. Eugene, Ore., Dec. 15. In order to give Arthur Rosebraugh an idea of real Oxford ''atmosphere," Dean Eric hen brought from the British university a "Eown," which he explains Is the distin guishing mark of all students. The garment faintly resembles the gowns worn ; in this ; country r by students at commencement,, in that it is black, and it has' cloth in front and cloth behind. - But it reaches only to the waist. This particular gown was worn by Kerby Miller a former Oregon student who , won the Rhodes scholarship award in 1920. and the dean considers it a pleasing coincidence to be able to try It on another Oregon student bound for that institution. The gown or robe must be worn by students to all lectures and conferences, and on the streets at all times after dark. . This is to distinguish the "Gownies". from the "Townies" for! the students are governed at all times by the university, and not by the town authorities. The gowns soon reach , a.-delapidated condition -comparable only 'to Jun ior cords, and the one the. dean has is in typical condition. Many ; quaint , traditions sur round ! this ancient seat of .learn ing, says Dean .' Allen. When a student is. caught by the proctor :a some act not in accord with the university ruling, the thing to do is to run. The proctor, who is a dignified don in magnificent robes himself, and wouldn't run. immediately sends his two serv ants In pursuit. Should they overtake the student, they are opt allowed to lay hands on him. but the victim Is required by tradition to surrender himself, and must appear to answer for his crime the next day. In marked contrast to the in tellectual freedom at the univer sity is the rule, which states that all students , must be in their everyone who likes fine quarters by 10 o'clock at night. This rule is rigidly adhered to. as is the one requiring all students to wear the gowns. Violations result in arrest, and the univer sity makes quite a comfortable income out of the fines. Arthur Rosebraugh is a son of Mr. and Mrs. ,W. -W. Rosebraugh of Salem and was recently chosen Rhodes scholar from Oregon. He is now a student at the University of Oregon. '. London to Near East Air v Service to be Extended ,!MUNICHNov. 25. (By Mall.) Plans for a comprehensive air service . from London to Persia were outlined by Major von Tsch di in a recent lecture at the Mun ich Museum before a meeting of representatives 'of various com panies operating airplanes com mercially in Europe. A ' trans European union was established which Professor Junkers and many other men prominent in the world of aircraft Joined Bavaria. Swit zerland, Austria. ' Hungary, and the leading airplane companies of all these countries are represented in the union. J v ;...; It contemplates the extension of the London-Cologne-Fuerth ser vice by night fligEts along the Danube to Budapest in hydro planes which will be guided by re flectors along the river. Before 1926 this union hopes to extend this service to Bralla on the Black Sea, " ' to Russia, Persia, Greece, Turkey nd Spain. ... - The Tourist Bureau of the Cali fornia State Automobile Associa tion distributed 408,000 road maps to individual motorists during the past, fiscal year. 7 A critic says Mr. Cool Id ge has an ' extensive ' vocabulary. How does he know. : cars. OLD OBSERVER '"V'-f: F Knotty Questions are Solved Through Aid of Stars Women Studied ; PRAGUE, Nov. 23. (By Mall) Prom time to time Prague gives up to some persistent delver in records oftthe past that are not wlth'out intTe3t; For it is an an cient city and its museums and bookstalls are filled with chroni cles of what its people said and did In other centuries. A recent discovery Is an old book on astron omy which shows that the men of that day spent no little time In endeavors to read what they call ed the ''enigma of the ages," in other words, their womankind. Baaed on the influence supposed to be exerted on humans by the constellation, of the planets in the month in which they were born, this' volume haylzes girls, accord ing to the calendar, as follows: A girl horn In January is" very likely to become a grwd housewife. She will Incline to be melancholy, but will have a gentle disposition. February girls will be good mo thers, and faithful. ' March maidens,' however, will da loquacious, contentious, "and quarrelsome, while April babies will grow up to-be "tuercurial and unsteady women, r: - -; May guarantees merry and good tempered girls; while June gives them passionate and fiery temper aments, with an inclination to su perficiality. . July produces the roses among women, according to this old sage; beautiful but thorny. Born a month later they are amiable and sensible, but rather' keen for rich husbands.' Girls born in, September are of fine susceptibilities 'and always ready to help others; tfiey will. OIL OWED STARS I therefore, be - i welcomed every where, but should guard against being imposed upon by selfish people. October favors the earth with craatures who surpass all others of the sex as to depth and ardor of love. Women born in November are kindhearted and friendly; if they are not it is always the fault of somebody else, never their own. The last month of the year brings forth racy and very good-lookin?r girls. Unfortunately they c3nnot be recommended to earnest men, for. they are very extravagant and always1 on the hunt for sensa tions. - , Rural Germany Hard Hit By Economic Breakdcv.n , KOTTBUS, Nov. 4 A(By Mall.) Rural Germany is suffering the same sort of disorganization and demoralization that is going on in the great cities' and industrial cen ters. This city of 40,000 persons Is located in the center of a c OJD- paratively fertile agricultural re gion 40 miles from Berlin. tlll the markets afford very little in the way of foodstuffs. -There are no eggs, no ihilk, "no fruit, and very -few vegetables of any sort to be had in the shops and markets Farmers refuse to bring their "products to town. They cannot buy - anything they need with paper marks and prefer to eat their products rather than sell them for paper which Is prac tically worthless to them.- Even in the small villages sur rounding Kottbus the situation is much the ; same. Persons who want to obtain chickens, eggs, tur keys end potatoes make trip3 into the country and carry foreign money or xlothing with then to exchange for foodstuffs. A gas meter reader remarks, "Hell hath no fury like a woman when you tra1c mud Into her house."- if The most satisfactory substi tute for sole leather Is the tele phone. -i