oc-plain-dealer 1924-07-22

EDITORIAL AND FEATURES An Independent Newspaper Issued Every Afternoon Except Sunday Paul Y. Hester Editor and Publisher DAILY GREETING TO OUR READERS We all know that we have each our guardian angel who watches over us; but we must also remember, that all the angels, with one accord, care for our well-being; for are we not told that the angels rejoice more over one penitent sinner than many just persons who need no repentance?—John Calvin. HAPPINESS IN AMERICA If Americans are not the happiest people on the face of the earth, they assuredly ought to be. A writer in the Atlantic Monthly says they are. "Wherever you go in the whole vast territory of the states," he says, "you discover that sort of freedom in the soul which is the breeding soil of happiness." Several people do not agree with this writer. Cynics, pessimists, bolshevists and dyspeptics do not agree with him. To them America is the anathema of happiness. The Japanese do not think so, however, and are much put out because they can't come here any more. Some folks are not happy until the thing that should make them happy is taken away. Those who are so wretchedly unhappy in America should try some other country—if there are any left that will have them, that have not already gone to the dogs because of cynicism, pessimism, bolshevism and dyspeptia. California must guard its forests against fire, or suffer calamitous consequences. PERILS TO HUMAN LIFE IN FOREST FIRES The Pacific West is assailed by a relentless foe. From the Mexican boundary up to and beyond the Canadian border, this red terror flaunts itself and threatens, not only the stupendous forest wealth of this section, but imperils human lives as well. Report comes that lives have been lost in Washington and Idaho. No foreign foe is invading this land. But here at home, an element, which, controlled, is harmless and useful, is breaking control frequently and is ravaging wide areas of forest, sween- PERILS TO HUMAN LIFE IN FOREST FIRES The Pacific West is assailed by a relentless foe. From the Mexican boundary up to and beyond the Canadian border, this red terror flaunts itself and threatens, not only the stupendous forest wealth of this section, but imperils human lives as well. Report comes that lives have been lost in Washington and Idaho. No foreign foe is invading this land. But here at home, an element, which controlled, is harmless and useful, is breaking control frequently and is ravaging wide areas of forest, sweeping to destruction everything in its path. Never again may the people of California and the Pacific slope be indifferent toward forest fires, or toward the conservation of water—the two being intimately related. There must be energetic, consistent, persistent conservation and protection. It is not a debatable question. Dallying would be disastrous. It is a very live question—a basic problem. Curb forest fires, or bring calamity upon this section. Conserve water, or invite catastrophe. LAWS MUST BE OBEYED Upon the observance of the laws, more than any other thing depends the safety and future of this country or any country. Dislike for a law is no excuse for violating it. The right procedure is to get it amended or stricken off the statutes. The thoughtful citizen differentiates sharply between obedience to the law and satisfaction with the law. There may be laws, from time to time, which are galling and which the people do not wish to have stand as they were enacted. Here is where the distinction comes in: Duty to country does not demand that the citizen like an unlikable, mayhap, inequitable law. But duty does demand that even an unlikable, inequitable law be obeyed so long as it is law. Sustained Quality will give you more miles too ASSOCIATED GASOLINE ASSOCIATED OIL COMPANY Pacific Electric Building, Los Angeles These dealers sell Associated Gasoline ANAHEIM — FULLERTON— FIVE POINT SERVICE ST'N West Center at West St. WEL. SPERBER, Jr. Cor. Helena and Center Sts. HARRY D. RILEY 151 South Los Angeles St. ANAHEIM VULC, WORKS 180 S. Los Angeles St. E. M. FARWELL Cor. Chistaut and S. Los Angeles K. E. LORD S. Los Angeles and South Sts. WEST ANAHEIM STORE 1500 W. Broadway MYERS GARAGE, So. Lemon MOORE & COX So. Spadra Road PITT & WILKINSON E. Commonwealth C. E. Smith 1 mile east of Buena Park J. E. WRIGHT Buena Park VALENCIA SERVICE STATION La Habra R. E. WILLIAMS Olinda G. B. STUBLEFIELD Brea Home Oil Co., Distributors of Associated Products ATURES Hourly Except Sunday Editor and Publisher Plain Dealer TUESDAY Subscription Entered at th DERS Guardian angel member, that well-being; more over who need A the face of the the Atlantic the whole vast sort of freepiness." Cynics, pessiwith him. To The Japanese because they it should make wretchedly unif there are dy gone to the and dyspepsia, fire, or suffer IN oe. From the n border, this by the stupenhuman lives as Washington at home, an il, is breaking forest, swee- THE NEW RING MASTER TA DA DA AAAAAAAA TA DA AAAAAAAA JUDGE GEORGE WOLVANY TAMMANY PARAGRAPHS By ROBERT QUILLEN No wonder rich children are better looking. Rich guys get the pick of the chorus. It is easy to pick out the American abroad. He is cussing the country he is in. A religionist is a man eager to be offended by somebody who doesn't agree with him. There’s always a bright side. When the home team loses you are not so horrified next day. About the only things the upper and lower classes have in common are patriotism and files. Any time a platform committee wishes to avoid effort, it might adopt the Ten Commandments. A child has inallenable rights, also, but they are not worth par until it is big enough to defy those who would punish it. It's a queer world, and most of the important looking people you see at the resort are nobodies. The world improves and even in hick towns you seldom hear show people called an "opery troupe." A nomination isn't worth a great deal if the poor thing is harried ragged before being delivered. Still, billboard people have a sense of beauty or they couldn't pick out the best views to obstruct. The long-predicted shake-up in Germany seems much nearer now that Henry has sent over 20,000 jits. And yet very few of the world's great problems are solved by people who remember their algebra. ABE MARTIN "What's more embarrassin' than walkin' clear across a hotel office, an' then missin' th' cuspidor?" said Lafe Bud t'day. It's just about got so th' price o' liberty is a fine an' jail sentence—unless you kin prove you bought it before th' saloons went out. The sick man is credulous. He will accept, as the truth, any statement that promises hope of cure. That's why quacks flourish. It's always the last remedy we take just before we get well, that cures us. SUNSHINE PELLETS BY DR. W. F. THOMSON Last to borrow, Last to lend; Keep your dollar, Keep your friend; A good cook is the doctor's best friend. Foods that are not covered with glass are with dust. "Croup" that persists after daylight may be diphtheria. A "touch of malaria" covers a multitude of misinformation. "Perhaps you have noticed," Said old Daddy Jones; "That the older they are The bigger their bones." It's no trick to immunize Fido against Rabies, but treating Willie is expensive. When the law is the bone of contention it's frequently fractured. Most any butcher can whack off a limb but it takes a skillful surgeon to save a mangled member. As a bath-room fixture, the only safe drop-light is one suspended out of reach. Salesman—Plain Dealer Class Ad. TAGGART'S DEPENDABLE hick towns you woldom hear show people called an "opper troupe." A nomination isn't worth a great deal if the poor thing is harried ragged before being delivered. Still, billboard people have a sense of beauty or they couldn't pick out the best views to obstruct. The long-predicted shake-up in Germany seems much nearer now that Henry has sent over 20,000 jits. And yet very few of the world's great problems are solved by people who remember their algebra. The difference between Daughter and the maid is that the maid isn't always pouting when she is working. This wrong-number business might be much worse. Suppose telephone girls worked in shoe stores. Browning didn't write very libre, but he had the idea. At times he didn't know what he meant, either. Another conference on disarmament may be all right, but can't we hamstring ourselves without a conference? The hard job is not to amend the Constitution to keep up with the people, but to amend the people to keep up with the Constitution. Correct this sentence: "She runs her finger through my hair," said he, "but she doesn't really care for me." THE COUNTRY FAITH Here in the country's heart, Where the grass is green, Life is the same sweet life As it e'er hath been. Trust in a God still lives; And the bell at morn Floats with a thought of God O'er the rising corn. God comes down in the rain, And the crop grows tall— This is the country faith And best of all. Norman Gale, The sick man is credulous. He will accept, as the truth, any statement that promises hope of cure. That's why quacks flourish. It's always the last remedy we take just before we get well, that cures us. TAGGART'S DEPENDABLE USED CARS CHEVROLET $550 Touring CHEVROLET $550 Coupe CHEVROLET $525 Track CHEVROLET $425 Touring CHEVROLET $250 Touring CHEVROLET $175 Touring CHEVROLEX $125 FORD Sedan $425 FORD $125 Touring FORD $100 BUICK $175 Touring DODGE $125 Touring HUPMOBILE $275 Touring OAKLAND $150 Roadster We also sell New Chevrolets. OPEN EVENINGS These cars all offer splendid value at prices asked and can be purchased on very easy terms. F. P. TAGGART USED CAR DEPARTMENT 202 North Los Angeles St. Taxes more reductions The measure of success in railroad dollar earned does not cover the cost with a margin over, the business. THE SANTA RIVER Maintenance of track, buildings, train station and switching, and other equipment. Salaries and expenses of clocks and leagues, valuation, general officers,Depreciation and retirement benefits. Rent of equipment, joint facilities. Interest on bonds and other interest dividends on capital stock. Taxes. Balance available for expanding fur. Of one last item 3.02 cents came from then rates so that a reduction of less than would have wiped out the entire margin of earnings through rates. Even a decline in gross business such as this year inevitably reduces this balance because not many of the cost items can in proportion. The adjustment between success and delicate one in the transportation industry welfare of the country, it should not be light with either by laws or by the various com­ control the main elements of railroad earn­ ing. It is particularly notable in the above s taxes were more than dividends and on The Santa Fe already has reduced vital for shippers. It can be fun- TUESDAY, JULY TWENTY - SECOND, 1924 Subscription Rate—In N. Orange co., per year, $3; 6 months $1.75. Entered at the Postoffice at Anaheim, Calif., as second class matter COMMENTS of the PRESS What Editors Are Saying PROTEST AGAINST STOCK FRAUDS—Santa Barbara News Following the decision of the courts upholding the powers of the State Corporation Commissioner, that official has opened a campaign to demonstrate that the teeth out into the corporation commission law will bite. A number of the promoters of a motor company and those associated with them in the selling of the company's stock have been indicted for violation of the law. In this instance it is charged that the promoters and their associates deliberately defied the law, which requires a State permit as a pre-requisite for the sale of securities. But this is not the limit of the activities of the Corporation Commissioner. He is moving to reach the army of men who are busy extracting good money from the pockets of "easy" investors in exchange for oil stock or "units" of uncertain value or worse. The operators in these securities, a large proportion of whom are declared worthless by the corporation department, have taken enormous sums from small investors during the past few years. Probably not one per cent of these investors or speculators ever realized one cent from the funds they trustfully placed in the keeping of gibb-tongued young men working for high commissions. Most of the investors will lose every dollar they invested. The worst part of it is that these losses do not fall on the investors alone. They are a direct tax on the finances of the communities from which they were taken. Business suffers in consequence of the decreased buying power of the men and women who have taken the long chance. A large proportion of these smooth operators in high and low finance have escaped with their loot, leaving behind merely gauzy, but worthless "shares" or receipts for the money they have taken. Now the Corporation Commissioner proposes to secure an accounting from some of the gentlemen who ignored the provisions of the law. This will not bring back the lost money. It will not keep the fool and his money from parting. It may serve to check the activities of the operators in securities of doubtful value. At least it will compel them to make a prima facie showing that their enterprises are legitimate. AMERICANS HAPPIEST WHITE PEOPLE—Berkeley Gazette A writer in the Atlantic Monthly says that Americans are the happiest white people in the modern world. "Wherever you go in the whole vast territory of the states, you discover that sort of finance have escaped with their loot, leaving behind merely gaudy, but worthless "shares" or receipts for the money they have taken. Now the Corporation Commissioner proposes to secure an account from some of the gentlemen who ignored the provisions of the law. This will not bring back the lost money. It will not keep the fool and his money from parting. It may serve to check the activities of the operators in securities of doubtful value. At least it will compel them to make a prima facie showing that their enterprises are legitimate. AMERICANS HAPPIEST WHITE PEOPLE—Berkeley Gazette A writer in the Atlantic Monthly says that Americans are the happiest white people in the modern world. "Wherever you go in the whole vast territory of the states, you discover that sort of freedom in the soul which is the breeding of the soul of happiness." This is something for Americans to think about. If it is not true, it ought to be, for with all our faults of government and education and for all our inequalities in the distribution of wealth, fundamentally the whole nation has more causes for happiness than other whole nations. If it is true, then we need to do all we can to keep it so. The freezing of little children from grinding and soul-destroying child labor is one thing to make for greater national happiness. Another is the promotion of health. Widespread educational opportunity is a third. There are others which the thoughtful citizen can name for himself and which the patriotic citizen can help to advance and maintain. FAILURE Beginning a chapter in his story, "The Duel," is observed by Joseph Conrad that: No man succeeds in everything he undertakes. In that sense we are all failures. The great point is not to fail in ordering and sustaining the effort of our life. In this matter vanity is what leads us astray. It hurries us into situations from which we must come out damaged; whereas pride is our safeguard, by the reserve it imposes on the choice of our endeavor as much as by the virtue of its sustaining power. Only a fool can always smile at his failure. But think of what the Emperor Galerius told a soldier who had missed the target many times in succession: "Allow me to offer my congratulations on the truly admirable skill you have shown in keeping clear of the mark. Not to have hit once in so many trials, argues the most splendid talents for missing." However, one cannot entirely agree with Propertius when he says in his Elegion: "Although strength should fall, the effort will deserve praise. In great enterprises the attempt is enough." The attempt is not enough. The world moves forward on accomplishments, not attempts." Yet, if you must fail, be a magnificent failure, like Napoleon or Alexander. As Lowell says: Greatly begin! Though thou have time But for a line, be that sublime— Not failure, but low aim is crime. The Santa Fe dollar was spent in 1923 rates more than dividends. Rate reductions more than taxes of success in railroad business is the relation of costs to returns. If the does not cover the cost of earning it, the business fails. If it covers the margin over, the business succeeds. THE SANTA FE DOLLAR IN 1923 WENT AS FOLLOWS: maintenance of track, buildings, etc. maintenance of locomotives, freight and passenger cars representation and switching, and other transportation public expenditure cities and expresses of alerts and other general office employees signal, valuation, general officers, pensions and death benefits and miscellaneous prestations and retirement equipment and ice plants the maintenance and remobilization of equipment, joint facilities, etc. interest on bonds and other interest charges dividends on capital stock rates balance available for expanding facilities 15.37 cents 15.36 10.48 1.69 0.49 9.99 1.28 3.09 1.07 1.04 4.00 4.08 8.14 8.78 100.00 cents item 3.02 cents came from sources other that a reduction of less than 6% in rates carried out the entire margin of safety from high rates. line in gross business such as has occurred suitably reduces this balance of 8.79 cents, many of the cost items can be cut down between success and failure is a factor in the transportation industry. For the country, it should not be lightly tampered with laws or by the various commissions that maintain elements of railroad earnings and costs. Similarly notable in the above statement that more than dividends and only a little less Santa Fe already has reduced freight rates many millions. But adequate service shippers. It can be furnished only when fair rates provide the money needed. W.B. STOREY, President The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway System