PAGE FOUR
(The OREGON STATESMAN, Salem. Oregon, Saturday Morning, October 31, 1938
Founded 1S51
"Ao Favor Sicay Us; Mo Fear Shall Awe'
From First Statesman. March 2. 151 ,
Charles A. Spraguc -Sheldon
F. Sackett -
THE STATESMAN PUBLISHING CO. ;
Hember of he AatWd Twm
The Associated Press J exclusively entitled to the use for public-.,
lion of a:! nens dispatches credited to It or not otherwise crediteQ In
tiiM paper. , - . : . - - -;
County Measures !
ON a separate ballot is a proposal to form a county public
utility district for the purpose of going into the light and
power business. It would create a new board with taxing
powers, who could, after approval of the people, issue bonds
up to ten per cent of the assessed valuation of the county.
The question, together with the companion measure for
the state power act, really gets down to this: are you in fa
vor of state socialism, either in full or in part; or do you fa
vor private ownership under regulation? If the former, then
you will vote for these measures; if the latter, then you will
vote against them. j ' ;
In the matter of rates and service The Statesman believes
that Salem and the most of Marion county ! has been very
well served by the Portland General Electric company. Cer
tainly there can be no complaint on the quality of; the ser
vice; and comparative figures show that rates are on a very
favorable basis, particularly so when it is realized the com
pany pays back about 15c out of every dollar it takes in, in
taxes.- I - - ' ' l'i
There has been complaint in some sections served by oth
er companies' that the cost of rural line extensions was too
high. Some of this has been justified ; and the companies are
belatedly becoming more generous. But these -complaints, af
fecting the smaller part of the county, are not weighty enough
to justify the setting up of public ownership for the whole
. county. ; - '!..
Just come to hand is a fact-finding study of power de
velopment in Oregon by the state planning board. It show?
that Oregon as a whole is very well off as t its rural ser
vice. To quote : j
"The TV A recommends a minimum of four ; customers per
mile of line with a guaranteed consumption of 6S2 kilowatt-
hours per month per mile. ' -: '
"The REA specifies an average annual use ot about 3.800
kilowatt hours per mile of line as a prerequisite for financial aid
La construction of new lines where the construction cost is ap
proximately $1,009 per mile. There are many miles of rural line
In Oregon where the customer use is lees than kilowatt
hours per mile per year, and where electricity is delivered to
the customers at rates equal to or below those being charged for
similar service on REA project. j
"Oregon with 5,200 miles of rural distribution lines serving
. 19.284 rural customers in December, 1935, had an average den
sity of 3.7 customers per mile of line using an average of 44 2
kilowatt hours per mile per jmonth. This is one-third less than
the SS2 kilowatt-hour minimum recommended by the TVA.
"Line construction costa in Oregon are comparable with
those allowed by the REA ... i
"It should be emphasized that Oregon farmers, in general,
now served by privately owned utilities, have not had to meet re
quirements so high as those established by the TVA and REA."
Because the state and particularly Marion county are be
ing well served now, at very favorable rates,; under private
companies, this paper opposes the formation of the utility dis
trict. If it bought out existing utilities and Obtained a mon
opoly it probably would succeed, but the county would lose
in taxes all that it would save in rates for a great many years.
We are getting a taste of tax-loss in the purchase of the Sa-
JBm water system, but there
fjuarantee the best water. So
Vote 601X No.
Previously The Statesman has discussed the local option
question. The issue i3 one of how best to control the liquor
traffic. Because we fear that setting up a legal dry zone in
Marion county would create an illegal wet zone we do not fa
vor local option at the present time, so we recommend .
Vote 319X No. I T
. Apple Week Again j
WE see by the papers that it's Apple week again. Twenty
five years ago when apple growing was in its period of
expansion in the northwest Apple week was widely ad-
vertised. There was a big apple show in Spokane; and Morris,
cartoonist on the Spokesman-Review would get out some clev
er cartoons on the apple family -the Mcintosh Red; the
Yellow Newton, the Jonathan, the Rome Beauty, all bound for
the apple show. The catch-phrase, "An apple a day keeps the
doctonaway" was on the tongue of apple promoters, men like
J. L. Dumas of Dayton, Wash., who had one of the earliest
of the modern commercial apple orchards in the northwest.
Apple growing has been in retreat in Oregon for awhile,
as Hood River, the chief growing district, shifted over more
. to pears. The industry now is on a stablebasis in this state;
and here in the Willamette valley very fine apples are grown.
Just to prove there was something in the slogan of the apple
' as good medicine, Dr. Manville ot the University of Oregon
medical school has found the orange has only half as much
vitamin A as some varieties of apples, and says that the apple
has therapeutic value. I
But who wants to eat an apple as medicine? Tonight is
Hallowe'en, and the children will bob for apples, not because
they are a good substitute for castor, oil, but because they
like apples. And tomorrow mother will bake a big apple pie ;
and 1936 Apple week will be well started on its way.
Portland Schools Amendment
A few days ago this paper gave rather grudging endorse
ment' of the amendment which affects the Portland school
, district. Further study convinces us that the state should
, pass this amendment to correct an injustice previously im
posed by the, state. After the six per cent limitation amend
mend was passed about 20 years ago, the legislature put an ar
bitrary limit on the Portland school district levy. So the dis
trict was unable from 1917 to 1925 to increase its income un
der the six per cent limitation. So after 1925 it had to ask for
special levies in prder to carry on its school work properly;
In 1927 the district asked to have the previously voted special
levy made a permanent part of the base ; but the vote' turned
it down. Then in 1932 the Portland taxpayers refused the ex
tra special levy. The school district is therefore greatly hand-
icapped in financing its school system. Q&npare its per capita
cost of $72.94 with Los Angeles, $1172 for example.
The state should rectify its jyJm injustice to the Portland
schools and adopt the amendment by voting 304X yes.
City Ticket W
THEREare tTo contests on the city ticket for Tuesday's
election, Tn the second ward Frank P. Marshall and Fred
E. Wells are candidates for the city council. We recom
meniflhe election of Mr. Wells, who has been engaged in the
ilrel business here for a good many years. j i
The present city treasurer C O. Rice, has as his oppon
ent Paul H. Hauser. Mr. Rice is a man of high personal in
tegrity, who has served In the office a great many years.
Auditors have been - critical of the operations of his
office, ' complaining of overpayments of warrant interest,
failure to collect licenses and property liens,1 etc. Mr. Rice
'says he was given insufficient help, which has now been rem
edied; and that cash accounts are in balance.;
His opponent, Paul Hauser, was formerly in business
here, later deputy revenue collector for the federal govern
ment. This paper regards him as honest and competent; and
thinks he -would be more active in pushing city collections.
For this reason it is inclined to favor Hauser. ; ..
:;;-T.- 4
Editor-Manager 1
Managing-Editor ,
is was necessary in order to
we recommend i
I f
Bits for
Breakfast
By R. J. HENDRICKS
Above all things, , 10-21-36 J
this country needs ; 1
an overwhelming victory
in the election ot Tuesday:
-' -
Above all things, this country
needs an overwhelming victory: in
the election of Tuesday next
And so does the entire world.
And. as the matter stands now.
it; should be a republican vic
tory. An overwhelming democrat
ic victory might serve, if the
platform of that party of four
years ago were the platform" of
193 6, and if it had a certain
chance of being observed.
But it is not, and it would not.
That water has gone under
the bridge.
b H U
An overwhelming republican
victory, as matters stand now,
would be a mandate for a thor
ough house cleaning
For stopping the political de
bauch this country has had
For facing to the right instead
of the left
For restoring the principles of
our American government.
, m I '
What would follow would fol
low quickly. s
It would be like the McKinley
victory of 1896, when the wires
announcing the favorable returns
were not cold before a tremend
ous business revival started.
- Thd very next day, hope re
turned to the - Americas people,
and they -were ready to march
on In the ways ot progress and
expansion, with the full din
ner pail and all willing workers
who had been idle speedily find
ing employment.
That vote put a definite end to
the 'Cleveland hard, times' of
the four .years beginning with
1893. - x .v
"Such . a vote on Tuesday next
would at once be followed with
confidence . and hope everywhere
in this country.
V "
It would be hailed in all the
the other countries of the world
as a vote of confidence in a gov
ernment of, by and for the peo
ple - ':
There is no other country in
which such a vote would mark
such a conspicuous halt in the
trend toward the left that is seen
in many other lands.
S W
In Oregon, this writer believes,
and in her counties, including
Marion, this same sort of a vic
tory would be a salutary thing.
For Marion county, this is
sound advice, generally.
; For instance, there is no
good excuse for any member of
the republican party to rote
against Roy S. Melson for county
commissioner.
S S
Indeed, he deserves the votes
of the members of other parties,
for he is honest and faithful
end has served Marion county
well in -that office. That one good
term deserves another is an old
rule in the county, and, generally
just.
The writer intends to vote no
on most of the measures, like
that for a state bank, etc., etc.
But he intends to vote 304 X
Yes; that is, for the Portland dis
trict school measure.
-V 'm
In the ordinary course ot
events, that, would not be the
business of any one in the state
outside of the Portland school
district.
And it is not the fault of Ore
gonians outside of" Portland that
it la in this case a part of their
business.
S S
The provision that needs re
pealing was foisted upon the
people outside of Portland by sin
ister interests there.
So it transpires that relief can
not be had excepting by this ap
peal to the voters of the whole
state.
V W
The title was written by the
attorney general of the state. If
a majority of the people of Ore
gon will mark their ballots 304
X Yes, the school matters of the
Portland district will again be
the business of the ; people of
that city.
That's all!
It means nothing else.
S .
Then how can there be any
valid reason for not voting that
way? . . .
We never had any right "with
our noses in Portland's school
affairs. This predicament was
wished upon us unwittingly. Then
let's get our noses out. ?
Jf nothing were at stake la the
National election but the haywire
public security act, every man
and woman who works for wages,
and every one who pays wages,
would be justified in voting for
Landon whether he or she te a
republican, a democrat, socialist,
communist, Townsendite, or what
not. ' j- -: - s
That law must be rewritten. I
Landon has promised when he
is president tjhat it shall be re
written, along lines that will
make it workable and sound. The
way it stands now, it is a mon
strosity, add a possible danger
to the very stability of our gov
ernment. " i
Newton Thompson Killed
In Accident; at Redding
STAYTON, O c t. 30. Newton
Thompson was killed and his wife
seriously injured' in an automo
bile accident at Redding, CaUf.,
Tuesday, according to word re
ceived here today. Mrs. Thomp
son, a cousin of Miss Susie
Kearns. was returning with her
husband, to their home at Long
Beach after a visit here of the
past several months. No Inform
ation was received as to the na
ture of the acccident.-
, ' ' I II I II I ) 1
! Interpreting ;tKeF(!!ews
-5 . ' By MARK SULLIVAN 1
" By MARK" SULLIVAN
1 WASHINGTON, Oct. 28. Pres
ident Roosevelt on Monday spoke
at the dedication ot a new build
ing ' at a leading
institute for col
"ored. students,
Howard univers
ity. It was one
of ; those presi
dential addresses
which are desig
nated as "non
poUtical." occa
sions when Mr.
Roosevelt Is Just
the president
i
1 -
, - !
ft- r
Hark SaaiTu
and is not run-
ning for reelection at all
To that
serviceable assumption Mr. Roose
velt lived up. His speech was
cot political Mr. Roosevelt
would hardly commit any such vi
olation of subtlety. It was the
sort of speech, tn complete prof
priety, wnicn any president might
make at any Negro institution.
Mr. Roosevelt did not ask the col
ored folks to vote for him de
tails of the campaign are In the
hands of Mr. Farley. The one per
sonal allusion he made was to
the effect that bis administration
had followed a policy that "there
should be no forgotten men, and
no forgotten races."
But the president had with him.
as an aaamnai speaker, njs sec
retary of the interior, Mr. Har
old L. Ickes. It was from Mr,
Iekes PWA that the- funds for
the building came. And PWA had
functioned (in this case) with
such happily precise timing that
the progress of the building to
the point of dedication coincided
with the eighth day preceding the
election. With equal felicity and
facility, Air., Ickes in his address
was able to call off a long list
of other Negro educational insti
tutions and hospitals which have
received a total of f 6, 250, 000
from PWA. .
It was-all pood.-clean politics.
Yet onefelt that Mr. Roosevelt's
laudably sentiment about "no for
gotten races" might have been
more convincing. It would have
helped if his runningmate had
been on the stage with, him and
had Joined In this assurance to
the colored audience. And one
felt that the colored folks now
about to vote for Mr. Roosevelt
might be disouietd If they were
to remember that In voting for
President Roosevelt they are also
voting for Vice-President Garner.
After all. In the course of nature,
if the democratic ticket wins. It
is conceivable that Mr. Garner
might Dossiblv' become resident
some time during the next four
years it is for this contingency
that rice-presidents are elected.
The possibility seems to have
been- foreseen by some colored
leaders. The National Council
far" Negro Constitutional Defense
has been looking up Mr. Garner's
record in congress. If has issued
a pamphlet reciting some actions
by Mr. Garner which suggest that
be, contrary to Mr. ' Roosevelt,
prefers that the Negro should be
a "forgotten race" or should be
remembered only to be discrimin
ated against. The citations from
the congressional record made by
the 4 Negro National Council have
not; been checker by me It has
not seemed necessary, for the
pamphlet bears evidence of pains
taking care. It recites that on
four occasions, from 1906 to 1922,
Mr. Garner introduced in congress
bill "to repeal the law allowing
enlistments or colored men in the
United States army."
There are other democratic
leaders whose presence on the
platform with Mr. Roosevelt at
the Howard university dedication
might have given a much, needed
seconding toCne? President's reso
lution that the Negro shall not be
a "forgotten race." For example,
democratic Senator Pat Harrison,
in whose state an Ingenious con
stitutional provision is so operat
ed that only abut one Negro in
a thousand is permitted to vote.
And Senator James F. Byrnes, in
whose state of South Carolina
only about 100 Negroes vote In a
total Negro . population of about
900.000.
Mr. Roosevelt in one of his
campaign speeches, spoke ot the
republican leadership in this cam
paign as being "Janus-faced,"
presenting one fact to the east,
another to the west. To any
charge ot "Janus-faced" coming
from Mr. Roosevelt, the republi
cans might make a piquant re
tort by comparing Mr. Roosevelt
as promiser in 1932 with Mr.
Roosevelt as performer during his
presidency. But let that pass.
The Mr. Roosevelt of today, the
Mr. i Roosevelt who is- now run
ning for reelection. Is saved from
any necessity of being Janus-
faced. He is saved by tne nappy
fact that he Is running in two
separate roles as nominee of the
democratic party, and as head of
the : New Deal. It ls the Mr.
Roosevelt that Is head of the New
Deal who tens the colored folks
that ia his administration there is
"no forgotten race". It is the
other Mr. Roosevelt, the nominee
of the democratic party, wLo.say3
nothing about Negro voting in the
south. It Is the New Deal that
solicits colored votes in the north.
It is the democratic party that
prevents . Negro voting in the
south. . But the northern Negroes
who are being solicited to vote the
democratic ticket might appropri
ately send a pointed telegram to
Uvalde. Texas, telling Mr. Garner
that "We will vote for you in
New York as soon as we are al
lowed to vot.for.you in Texas."
' Up to this time. Mr. Roosevelt.
Mr. Farley, Mr. Ickes and the oth
er rfew 'Deal leaders clearly have
mad progress toward getting
much of the Negro vote, especially
in the great cities. They get it
mainly by appeal to a quality that
Is strong tn the colored race, the
admirable trait of gratitude. A
very Urge number of, the Negroes
in the large cities are on relief.
An appeal put out by the demo
cratic national committee says
"We have almost nine and a halt
million colored people either on
work relief or direct relief."
That number seems excessive, al
though the democratic national
committee ought to know presum
ably it can get freely from WPA
figures which the republicans are
unable to pry out even by court
proceedings
The colored persons
on relief are grateful. Another
group is the friends and relatives
of those - on relief. The colored
people Are a generous folk. ' It
was their custom to give from
their own ' earnings to those who
had none. - From this they '., are
now relieved. "
To the appeal for gratitude,
democratic organization workers
add intimidation and fright. The
colored folks are led to think that
unless Mr. Roosevelt is reelected,
relief win end. ; A "summons to
colored voters" put out by the
democratic national , committee
tells them that unless they vote
for Mr. Roosevelt "You will bring
upon yourself four longyears of
deprivation, starvation, and want
ot food, clothing and shelter. So
vote for your friend, your leader
and your president. Franklin Del
ano Roosevelt.;
The colored folks abide by an
old southern saying: 'Whose
bread I eat, his song I sing."
WTien Mr. Roosevelt and the PWA
and WPA officials. In their out
givings about relief, say "We have
given," the ."We" Is assumed to
be the Imperial use of the word,
as a substitute for "I" that man
ner of speaking has irked Father
Coughlin, who pointedly asks
"Where does Mr. Roosevelt get
that 'We' sutff?" It does not
occur to beneficiaries of relief
that "We" really means all the
taxpayers, and that Governor Lan
don, if elected, would continue re
lief as long as it is needed.
Kw York Hcrmld-Trifeaa Byaaicat
Ten Years Ago
October 31. 1926
Dr. Fred Taylor of the First
Methodist church was elected
president of the Methodist Minis
ters association of Salem an d
vicinity.
Marlon county team In boys'
and girls' club work won first
price at Pacific International
contest.
Dr. Estill Brank. director, of
the county dental service, spoke
at the meeting of the Dallas cham
ber of commerce yesterday on
work of the Marion county dental
nit.
Twenty Years Ago
October 31. 1916
James P. Veatch, 76, original
republican and cast his first pres
idential ballot for Abraham Lin
coln. Republican campaign in Marion
county will close with an old
fashioned political rally in the ar
mory Monday.
Hartman Bros, will award a
trophy for the best window dis
play in connection with "S a 1 e m
Week".
Gopher Meeting
Is Well Attended
LYONS, Oct. 30. About 40
men and women attended the
mole and gopher catching dem
onstration, held at the -G. A. Ber
ry farm Wednesday. The demon
stration was sponsored by County
Agent Floyd Mullen and the state
college rodent control man, Mr.
Brtgga. An instructive and in
teresting explanation of how to
set and bait traps for the dif
ferent rodents was given. Also
the effects of the poisons used
for bait and how to prepare them
were explained.
The two Boise families who
were living tn the Hobson place
and Just recently moved to Mill
City, have moved back to the Hob-
son property this week.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kinsman
are living In the Harry Hobson
house at present, but expect to
move to Lyons as soon as the
Donison house Is vacated by . Mr.
and Mrs. George Huffman and
family. The Huffmaus are to oc
cupy the new cottage-balonging
to P. S. Darnell as soon as It
is completed.-:
Only Fruit, Spuds
Saved From Fire
MONMOUTHrX)ct. 30. Fire of
unknown origin - entirely destroy
ed the home- of Mr. and Mrs. Wal
ter Norton near Hoskins Monday.
The house, a twostory structure,
was burned to the ground, to
gether with all furnishings, win
ter wood -and family clothing
Canned fruit and potatoes were
the only Items saved.'
" Mrs. Norton had gone to Har
risburg on a short visit, and Nor
ton and their son, Marshall, were
at work on a distant part of the
farm. They had no insurance. It
is sftid 1 " j
The house, b u 11 1 nearly 30
years ago on part ot the, old Grieg
holdings ( ' grandparents ot Mrs.
Norton), had been occupied con
tinuously by the Norton family.
Among burned items of especial
value were a new piano and new
radio, also much beautiful hand
work and several guilta made by
Mrs. Norton. Relatives here said
the Nortons may.be able to ren
ovate a large chicken house and
make it available for occupancy
this winter. ;
Children's Meetings Are
Held as Revival Sidelight
MARION, Oct. 30. Good at
tendance and Interest has marked
the first few services of the re
vival meeting in progress at the
Marion Friends church. Rev. Den
ver B. Headrick of Springbrook.
is the evangelist. The meetings op
ened Sunday and will continue
over a period of two weeks with
services each night at 8 o'clock.
Of special interest are the child
ren's meetings conducted each
school day afternoon at 4 o'clock.
' Can't Happen Here" lewis
Almost daily, Windrip, Sarason.
Dr. Macgoblin. Secretary, of -War
Luthorne, or Vice-President Fer
ley Beecroft humbly addressed
their Masters, the great General
Public, on the radio, and congratu
lated them on making a new
world by their example of Amer
ican solidarity marching should
er to shoulder under the Grand
Old Flag, comrades in the bless
ngs of peace and comrades in the
Joys of war to come.
Much-heralded movies, subsid
lzed by the government (and could
there be any better proof of the
attention paid by Dr. Macgoblin
and the other Nazi leaders to the
arts than the fact that movie act
ors who before the days, of the
Chief were receiving only fifteen
hundred gold dollars a week were
now getting five thousand?) ,
showed the M. M.'s driving armor
ed motors at SO miles an hour.
piloting a fleet of one thousand
planes, and being very tender to
a little girl with a kitten.
Everyone, including Doremus
Jessup. had said in 1935, "If
there ever is a Fascist dictatorship
here, American humor and pioneer
independence are so marked that
it will be absolutely different from
anything in Europe." - '
For almost a year after Windrip
came in, this seemed true. The
Chief 'was photographed playing
poker, in short-sleeves and with a
deTby on the back of his head.
with a newspaperman, a chauf
feur, and a pair of rugged steel-
workers. Dr. Macgoblin in person
led an Elks brass band and dived
in competition with the Atlantic
City bathing-beauties. It was re
putably reported that M. M.'s apol
oglsed - to political prisoners for
having to arrest them, and that
the prisoners Joked amiably with
the guards. . . at first.
All that was gone, within a year
after the inauguration, and sur
prised scientists discovered that
whips and handcuffs hurt just as
sorely In the clear American air
as In the mlasmic fogs of Prussia.
Doremus, reading the authors
he had concealed in the horsehair
sofa the gallant Communist,
Karl Blllinger, the gallant anti-
Communist. Tchernavin, and the
gallant neutral, Lorant began to
see something like a biology of
dictatorships, a 11 dictatorships.
The universal apprehension, the
timorous denials of faith, the same
methods of arrests sudden pound
ing on the door late at night, the
squad of police pushing in, the
blowg the search, the obscene
oaths at the frightened women,
the third degree of young snipes
of o f f 1 l a 1 s, the accompanying
blows and then the formal beat
ings, when the prisoner is forced
to count the strokes until he
faints, the leprous beds and the
sour stew, guards Jokingly shoot
ing round and round a prisoner
who believes he is being executed,
the waiting in solitude to know
what will happen, till men go mad
and hang themselves -
Thus had things gone In Ger
many, exactly thus in Soviet Rus
sia, in Italy and Hungary and Po
land, Spain and Cuba and Japan
and China. Not very different had
it been under the blessings of lib
erty and fraternity in the French
Revolution.-All dictators followed
the same routine of torture, as If
they had all read the same' manual
of sadistic etiquette. And now, In
the humorous, friendly, happy-go-lucky
land of Mark Twain, Dore
mus saw the homicidal . maniacs
having just as good a time as they
had had in central Europe.
America followed, too, the same
ingenious finances as Europe.
Windrip had promised to make
everybody richer, and had con
trived to make everybody, -except
for a few hundred bankers and
industrialists and soldiers, much
poorer. He needed no higher math
ematicians to produce bis finan
cial statements: any ordinary
press agent could - do (hem. To
show a. 100 per cent economy In
military expenditures, while In
creasing the establishment 700
per cent. It had been necessary
Hallowe'en!
S-f, .' "...
only to charge up all expenditures
for the Minute Men to non-mill
tary departments, so that their
training in the art of bayonet
sticking was debited to the Depart
ment of Education. To show an
increase In average wages one did
tricks with "categories of labor'
and '"required minimum wages.'
and forgot to state how many
workers ever did become entitled
to the "minimum," and how much
was charged as - wages, on the
books, for food and shelter for the
millions in the labor camps.
It all made dazzling reading.
There had never been more ele
gant and romantic fiction.
Even Corpos Worry
Even loyal Corpos began "to
worry why the armed forces, army
and M. M.'s together, were being
so increased. Was a frightened
Windrip getting ready to defend
himself against a rising of the
whole nation? Did he plan to at
tack all of North and South Am
erica and make himself an em
peror? Or both? In any case, the
forces were so swollen that even
with its despotic power of taxa
tion, the Corpo government never
had enough. They began to force
exports, to practice the dumping
of wheat, corn, timber, copper, oil.
machinery. They increased pro
duction, forced It. by fines and
threats, then stripped the farmer
of all he had, for export at depre
ciated prices. But at home the
prices were not depreciated but
increased, ao that the more we ex
pected, the less the Industrial
worker In America had , to ' eat
And really zealous County Com
missioners took from the farmer
(after the patriotic manner of
many Mid - Western counties in
1918) even his seed grain, so that
he could grow no more, and on
the very acres where once he had
raised superfluous wheat he now
starved for bread. 'And while he
was starving the. Commissioners
continued to try to make him pay
for the Corpo bonds which he Jhad
been made to buy on the instal
ment plan.
But still, when he did finally
starve to death, none of these
things worried him.
There were bread lines now in
Fort Beulah, once or twice a
week.
The hardest prenomenon of dic
tatorship for a Doremus to un
derstand, even when he saw It
daily in his own. street, was the
steady diminution 'of g a y e t y
among the people. - -
America, like England and Scot
land, had never really been a, gay
nation. Rather it had been heav
ily and noisily Jocular, with a sub
stratum ot worry and insecurity.
In the image of its patron saint,
Lincoln of the rollicking stories
and the tragic heart. But at least
there had been hearty greetings,
man to man; there had" been clam
orous Jazz for dancing, and the
lively, slangy catcalls of young
people, and the nervous blattlng
of tremendous traffic.
All that false cheerfulness les
sened now. day -by day.
- Taxes and Taxes
The Corpoa found nothing more
convenient to milk than public
pleasures. After the bread had
molded, the circuses were closed.
There were taxes or increased tax
es on motorcars, movies, theatres,
dances, and ice-cream sodas.
There was a tax on playing a pho
nograph or radio in any restau
rant. Lee Sarason, himself a ba
chelor, conceived of supertaxing
bachelors and spinsters, and con
trariwise of taxing all weddings
at which more than five persons
were present. - . -
Even the most reckless youn fe
sters went less and leas to public
entertainment, because no one not
ostentatiously . In uniform cared
to be noticed, these days. It was
Impossible to sit in a public place
without wondering which spies
were watching you. So all the'
world stayed home and jumped'
anxiously At every passing foot
step, every telephone ring, every!
tap of any ivy sprig on. the win
dow. .
The . score of people definitely
f '-'".' .7. v
'-v
5
n1w1f trt tha Now T'nHor Ground
-w . - - - - O -
were -the only persons to whom
Doremus dared talk about any
thing more incriminating than
whether it was likely- to rain,
though he had been the friendliest
gossip in town.
As he read of rebels against the
regime who worked in Rome,' in
Berlin, he envied them. They had
thousands of government agents,
unknown by sight and thus th
more dangerous, to watch them;
but also they had thousands of
comrades from whom to-seek en
couragement, exciting peri onal
tattle, shop talk, and the. assur
ance that they were not altogeth
er Idiotic to risk their lives for a
mistress so nngratful as Revolu
tion. Those secret flats In great
cities - perhaps some of them
really were filled with the Tosy
glow they had in fiction. But the
Fort Beulahs, anywhere in the
world, were so isolated, the con
spirators so uninspiringly famil
iar to one another, that only by
Inexplicable faith could one go on.
Experience Essential
Buck and he and the rest they
were such amateurs. They needed
the guidance of veteran agitators
like Mr. Ailey and Mrs. Bailey and
Mr. Cailey. -
Their feeble pamphlets, their
smearily printed newspaper, seem
ed futile against . the enormous
blare of Corpo propaganda. It
seemed worse than futile, it seem
ed insane, to risk martyrdom in a
world where Fascists persecuted
Communists; Communists perse
cuted Social - Democrats. Social
Democrats persecuted everybody
who would stand for it; where
"Aryans" who looked like Jews
persecuted -Jews who looked like
Aryans and Jews nersecutAri thir
debtors; where every statesman
and clerygman. praised Peace and
brightly asserted that the only
way to got Peace was to get ready
ior w ar.
What conceivablA Ton inn .Anlil
One have for seeklne: after rie-ht-
eousness in a world w hich so hated
righteousness? Why do anvthine
except eat and read and mat inva
and provide for sleep that should
ue secure against disturbance by
armed policemen?
, He never did find inr nnrttMi-
larly good reason. He simply went
on. - . r
In June, when the Fort Ttaniah
cell of the New Underground had
Deen carrying on for some three
months. Mr. Franots Taahrnnrh
the golden-ouarrvmnn. n Hon nn
his neighbor, Dpremus.
how are you, Frank?"
Fine. Remus. Hnw'a th
carping crltie?"-
"Fine, Frank, Still carping. Fine
carping weather, at that. Have a
cigar z-
"Thanks. Got a match? Thanks
Saw Sissy yesterday. She looks
fine."
"Yes. She's fine. T w MaWlm
driving by yesterday., How did he
like it in the Provincial Univer
sity, at New York?"
"Oh, fine fine. He says the
athletics are grand. They're get
ting Primo Camera over to coach
in tennis next year I think it's
Camera I think It's tennis but
anyway, the athletics are fine
there, Malcolm says. Say, uh, Re
mus, there's something I been
meaning to ask you. I, uh The
fact is I want vou to b nr and
not repeat this to anybody. I know
you can re trusted with a secret. -even
if you are a newspaperman
cr uea to oe. i mean, nut
The fact is (and this is Inside
stuff; official), there's going to
be some governmental nromo-
tions air along the line this is
confidential, and It comes to me
straight from the ProvfaHal
Commission, Colonel Hkik. Luth
orne Is finished as Secretary of
War he's a nice fellow, hut he
hasn't got as much publicity for
tne corpos but of his office as
the Chief expected him to. Haik
is to have his Job, and also take
over the position of Hlrh Mar-
thai of the Minute Men from Lee
Saras cm I suppose Sarason has
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