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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1900)
wftswrs T 'T a fif .--, "ftfcBjHW si jW" rjs s , , r"s:"- SfJRjXS w ?Jp"'T31' 1 ,, THE MORNING 0RE60NIAN, SATURDAY," JANUARY 6, 1900. -u.u . i toe renomcm Entered at tee Fostoffice at Portland, Oregon, as Eecoad-class matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Booms... -160 ! Business Office 657 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By ilall (postage prepaid). In Advance Bally, with Sunday, per month. ?0 ally, Sunday excepted, per year.......... so Daily, wita Sunday, per year....... 00 Sunday, per year - J The "Weekly, per year. l ojj trie Weekly. 3 months B0 To Oty Subscribers Dally, per -week, delivered, Sundays exceptea.loc Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays IncludedDC News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonian should be addressed Invariably "Editor The Oregonian not to the name or any Individual. Letters relating to advertising, eubscrlptlons or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonian." The Oregoalan does not buy poems or stories ttom Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to it without solicita tion. No stamps should be Inclosed for this pur pose. Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson, office at 1111 PaclQc avenue, Tacoma. Box 055. Tacoma postoffice. Eastern Business Office The Tribune bunding. Mew York city; "The Rookery," Chicago; the 6. C Beckwith special agency, New Tork. Tor sale In San Francisco by J. K; Cooper. 746 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and at Goldsmith Bros , 23G Sutter street. Per sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn atreet. TODATTS WEATHER. Occasional rain, with southerly winds, brisk In force. PORTLAND, SATURDAY, JAX. C. A MOMENTOUS BBEASD. It is a prodigious task which Most Reverend Placide Louis Chapelle, arch bishop of New Orleans, has undertaken as papal delegate to the Philippines. He goes on a mission of peace, tomake a white man's promises to a people in whom distrust of the white man has Deen bred by centuries of Spanish cor ruption and embittered by sacerdotal tyranny. Prior to American occupa tion, the Philippine archipelago was governed by the priests, and not by the Spanish civil or military authorities. Monastic influence penetrated into every corner where it could command the Spanish soldiery In support of its oppressions, provided its own hold on the simple people, through appeal to the mysteries of religion, proved insuf ficient. It was the state. The Tagalog, though Catholic to the core, charges all his Ills up to the Span Jsh friars. Every proposed reform has been vetoed by the friars. The Fili pinos even charge them with inciting Insurrection, that they might be the first to discover the "ringleaders and thus to demonstrate to the Spanish government the importance of the or ders in the management of Philippine affairs. Dissolution of the reformist assembly, which, composed of natives, met at Manila after the deposition of Queen Isabella H, in 1868, was credited to the friars. Neittier political reaction in Spain, nor ultramarine legislation, nor persecution In the archipelago, could totally extinguish the spark of liberty which had been lighted by the reformist assembly, and by representa tion in the Spanish cortes under the act of 1810, again in 1820, and for the last time under the regency of Isabella IL Memory of these liberties destroyed, coupled with ecclesiastical despotism, furnished the principal causes of the Tagalog rebellion which broke out In August, 1896. That insurrection was not wholly against Spanish authority, for Foreman assures us that the insur gents, driven headlong out of Cavite by General Lachambre's troops, en tered Santa Cruz crying, "Long live Spam; death to the friars!" It was armed rebellion against the monastic heel pressed against the Filipino throat. Archbishop Chapelle finds himself be tween two factions, each of which bit terly hates the other. On the one hand are the friars demanding state sup port, re-establishment of the Spanish curates and restoration of realty hold ings, the title to which has been cloud ed by war. On the other hand are the Filipinos strenuously opposing the res toration of the friars to their ancient rights and privileges. The fear is ex pressed that bloodshed will result if the friars are given their old parishes. It is not a groundless "fear. If atrocities committed in the early period of the rebellion of 1895 give a criterion. Some of the priests capturecL then were treat ed most barbarously. One was cut up piecemeal; another was saturated with petroleum and set on fire, and a third was bathed in oil and fried on a bam boo spit run through the length of his body. Native feeling towards the friars Is decidedly antagonistic, if not mur derous. It does not seem possible for Arch bishop Chapelle to reconcile the Fili pinos and their natural enemies, the friars. He cannot do it through state support of the friars, for the American people would never tolerate So close an approach to the union of church and state. If he restore the friars to their former authority, he will be placing them in the same position they held under Spanish aule, and- against which the Filipinos rebelled In the first place. The "appointment of an American, like Dr. McKinnon, late chaplain of the Cal ifornia regiment, as archbishop of Ma nila, might relieve the tension, but the best solution would be the recall of the friars by the generals of their orders and the sending of new men to take their places. An Indication of the prob able policy of Archbishop Chapelle is afforded by the fact that when he was in Cuba, the Vatican, upon his recom mendation, appointed a native priest to the see of Santiago, which Arch bishop Saenz had voluntarily vacated. The Tagalogs always complained that their native priests were Ignored. If success shall attend Archbishop Cha peHe's mission, the Philippine ques tion will be satisfactorily solved, for, with distrust of the white man re moved, the Luzon Tagalogs will settle down to peaceful pursuits. Luzon quiet, the entire archipelago will be in peace, as the inhabitants of Min danao and the Sulu .group are" Moham medans, and are not torn up by re ligious strife. Kansas City, a city of twice the pop ulation of Portland and four times its business and wealth, has reduced its taxable valuation from S2& millions to 72 millions. There is complaint about this, just as there is a like complaint at Portland; but at Kansas City as at Portland the complaint comes chiefly from those whe "want more money to run the city government." The bulk of taxes at Kansas City as at Portland falls on real property, which is not more profitable there than here. Hence the reduction of valuations there as kere. Yet business at Kansas City is active and prosperous, and the city has EO.OOO more population than it had when Us property valuation was ten millions higher than now. The fact Is that in all "Western cities valuations of real estate ten years ago were absurd, and it lias been the hardest thing' in the world to get the expenses of govern ment reduced to a level corresponding with actual valuations. OLD FRIEXDS IN XEW FACES. If the anti-Imperialists have any suf ficient ground for their ominous hallu cinations, or if, they have any tenable proposition to offer for the country's consideration, it is meet that they come forward with plans and specifications. This would relieve their families, friends and neighbors from some em barrassment and re-establish the tradi tionary view that man is a reasoning animal. Meanwhile we can only take up their contributions to the eccentricities of political thought, as they are put forth, examine them cursorily, and lay them down with deepened misgivings as to the advance of the human species over the brute creatlpn, For example: Be it resolved, etc, That the United States declares that its purpose in acquiring Jurisdic tion and control over the Philippine islands was and Is to secure to the inhabitants thereof, as soon as practicable after the suppression of the existing rebellion therein, a free, independ ent and stable government, republican in form, and that the United States guarantees to eald inhabitants protection against all foreign in vasion. , This is anti-imperialism, right off the reel. It embodies the ruminations of the holiday recess upon the original cud of anti-ism, and it is brought into congress by representative McRae, of Arkansas. The purpose of the United States in going to the Philippines was to crush the naval power of Spain. "We destroyed the Spanish fleet, we took the islands, we paid Spain $20,000,000 to per fect our title. Before we had a chance to turn around the Tagal warriors at tacked us, and ever since, in a blun dering sort of way, we have been try ing to beat them off and maintain our sovereignty. That is the fact, but Mc Rae has heard nothing of it. He un derstands we went there for the pur pose of forming an independent repub lic The idea is preposterous to all but the infatuated. Whence does Mr. McRae derive his authority to go about the earth estab lishing free and independent republics among mixed populations of savage and semi-civilized peoples and protect ing them from foreign invasion? If the constitution forbids us from en larging our borders; if it inhibits us from making the Philippines into states and at the same time inhibits us from not making them into states; if it denies us such elemental functions of government as acquisition of terri tory and enforcement of sovereignty, how shall we undertake without offense to force upon distant peoples a -form of government of our own choosing and employ our army and navy to bolster up an independent nation half-way round the globe? It is reprehensible in the authors of this resolution not to give article and section of the consti tution directing us to establish free and Independent republics throughout the planet and stand around protecting them against the combined armiss and fleets of civilization. Yes, but the Philippines are just as far around the globe if you propose to keep them, and we now have to defend them against all comers. Oh, but they are ours, and that makes all the dif ference in the world. A. man will' get up in the middle of the night, saddle his horse, take his shotgun and drive a brace of tramps out of his own wheat stacks at the other end of his farm, but he is not going to do this for some body else's wheat stack the same dis tance away. Perhaps anti-ism would require that he should, but he won't; and nations are not built that way any more than farmers. Find out what the government is do ing, and the anti will tell you at once what should be done. That is, some thing different. He doesn't know much, but he does know that whatever is be ing done is all wrong. He would of all things prefer, of course, that his country be defeated and humiliated; but as that Is Impossible now, the next Impossible thing, and therefore the next best, is to turn the Islands over to the Tagals and stand by to see that no one interferes in their carnival of "self-government" as they understand and upon occasional withdrawal of our garrisons practice It. No virile government Will renounce sovereignty over territory for whose in tegrity and permanence It is responsi ble. No government will protect a peo ple from the consequences of its acts and have nothing to say about what those acts shall be. This would be too impolitic, too dangerous, too idiotic in short, too anti-imperialistic. TEE ARMY MEDICAL- SERVICE! The bill before congress providing for an Increase in the medical department of the army embodies substantially the views of Surgeon-General Sternberg, who is. Indeed, its sponsor. Matters to be considered before this or any simi lar bill becomes a law are at once so Important and so technical in character that patient deliberation and a thor ough understanding of its purpose are essential. If this exceedingly important arm of the military service is to be strengthened by its enactment. It Is a well-known fact that from the very beginning of the late war with Spam the medical department was hampered in its work through a lack of officers to meet the demands of field and hos pital service. The requirements for ad mission to this branch of the' gdvern-' ment service are very rigid so much so that of ten candidates rising to meet a sudden emergency not over one on the average could successfully pass the examination. "While the result of this stringency has been to make the office one of special honori -it can.read ily be seen that it would jalspr result-Jfr a great dearth In case of a sudden and imperative demand. The character of this demand and the urgent need behind It caused the sec retary of war to avail himself of the provisions of the act of congress au thorizing the appointment of acting as sistant surgeons, commonly known as contract surgeons, because employed under revokable orders. The posts being in the nature of emergency posi tions, the appointees are not subject to the severe restrictions of the regular service nor to 4he age limitation. As a result, only a very small proportion of this auxiliary body of army surgeons measures up to the standard In the regular service. At first temporary, the conditions requiring a larger medical corps have become permanent, menac ing, as will readily be seen, the high efficiency of the medicalaepartment of the army. It Is eminently proper that this efficiency be maintained, and this can only be done by bringing as mu'ih as possible all now in this branch of the service within the permanent corps and making them subject to the salu tary regulations that govern it. Under the plan embodied in General Sternberg's bill, as many of the 400 acting surgeons now on the pay-roll as could not pass the required test of efficiency for the regular Service wopJd be retired to private life. The measure is one that, while it should not be dis carded without consideration, should not be passed without careful scanning. Army officers, as Is well known, are apt to be jealous o'f their prerogatives, aha, within certain limits, properly so. Per haps none are more stubbornly In clined in this direction than members of the medical corps. Hence, while it Is desirable and indeed necessary that the medical standard for the regular service should be maintained, great care should be taken in so doing, lest the department lose, upon unimportant technicalities, the services of surgeons efficient in everything except in their .power to make the old stagers of the 'service extend to them hearty fellow ship. THE SEXATB REFORM BILL. The statesmanlike utterances of Mr. Aldrich In presenting the financial re form bill to the senate are so farln advance of the traditional senatorial drivel and Insincerity on this most im portant question, that it takes har dihood to complain either of the bou quets he throws at silver and sllventes alike, or of the amendments the finance committee has made to the bill. His defense of the gold standard, both sturdy and unequivocal, his apparently fearless contemplation of the advisabil ity of refunding the national debt at lower Interest, and especially his open and candid way of urging legislation that will give banks a profit on circu lation and increase the supply of their note issues all this is so far ahead of the base deceit and miserable petti foggery with which the money question has been debated in congress, that, if men were to withhold a meed of praise and gratitude the very stones would cry out. Therefore, when Mr. Aldrich 'refers to the silver maniacs as "a band vpf bold, able and aggressive Readers," and professes an open mind and s6ber face towards "International bimetal ism," and urges In favor of the bill that it will do something for silver, because it will "greatly strengthen its position" and not take from It "any of the mone tary privileges or prerogatives which it now enjoys," we are disposed to for give him for this bit of tomfoolery and political chaff offered as grain, in re membrance of the merits of the re form bill as a whole. The amendments are not so harmless. The committee pretends its sole pur pose is to make the bill more definite and certain; but this comes painfully near prevarication; for the first amend ment introduces no new matter of any moment except this pregnant clause: . . . and United States notes, exchanged In accordance with the provisions of this section shall, when covered into the treasury, be re issued as now provided by law. This is not in clarification of the orig inal bill, but in reversal of it; for the original bill said: The notes redeemed as herein provided shall only be used for the purpose of restoring said fund to the maximum amount of $150,000,000. This part is now cut out. The idea is to prevent retirement or even im pounding of the greenbacks. Discussion of Our Currency difficulties has made it much moire' clear than formerly that retirement of the greenbacks is not nearly so vital a matter as some have supposed. They are not our real prob lem. With a properly supplied treasury the "endless chain" will lose much of its efficacy. So the senate's amendment is not the dreadful thing some will re gard it. The mischief appears to be in the ostentatious surrender to greenback protests. The president recommends the impounding of the greenbacks, and the house, as it should, will doubtless force this amendment out in confer ence. The other changes made by the amendments are, as the committee says, textual corrections. Except for its greenback surrender and its failufe to separate the treasury's currency, and fiscal functions, the bill is a grand and good measure. As compared with the house bill, it is more practical and more comprehensive. A result of the breaking out of the plague at Honolulu which is much re gretted is the necessity that will com pel government transports bearing troops and animals to the Philippines to make the entire yoyage from the Western home port to Manila without stopping. This is distressing, since it adds greatly to the tediousness and dis comfort of the voyage and Increases the chances of the loss of animals in transit. However, there Is no help for it, since it would be criminal folly to subject our troops to even a slight risk of infection from that most subtle and persistent of all filth diseases, the bu bonic plague of the Orient. It is grati fying, however, in view of the long, un interrupted voyage between Western Pacific ports and Manila, to reflect that the voyage now does not mean, in bit ter discomfort, what it did to the troops that went out on the first hur riedly equipped, greatly overcrowded transports. Government officials have learned from experience how to trans port troops across the sea without' making the voyage a justly dreaded one. Still, It Is long enOugh and mo notonous enough to make the necessity of passlng'Honolulu without stopping a matter of regret. The Boers are making the most of, the enforced inactivity of the British troops in strengthening and extending the trenches which the foe must take by storm before Ladysmlth can be relieved and England can score a vic tory. Of determination and brawn, the sturdy Dutch burghers have an enormous and as yet an undiminished stock. These they seem to be using to the best advantage possible in making the already difficult advance of the British yet more perilous. Humanity awaits with a shudder the shock of this advance, which cannot now be much longer delayed, and the record of which will be written in the best blood of the opposing armies. Four hundred young men, chiefly from the West, have recently been en listed in the navy. Some of them have never been to sea, and know nothing whatever about water craft of any de scription. The Dixie lately steamed out of New York harbor for a cruise around the world with 200" of these landsnlen on board, and the Hartford will follow soon on a similar cruise with the re mainder. The experiment has never before been made in our navy of taking large numbers of green landsmen to sea and training them to be sailors, and the result will be watched with ih ttefest. Carefully officered, these sturdy young men of the great" West should make ideal sailors. Half a ddzen last week's Oregon pa pers'the sort that have been unable to see a ray of light since the Bryanite fusion of 1896 failed declare the recent flurry among speculators in New York to be conclusive that the country is impoverished. "When Wall street It self suffers," we ate" told, "the condition of the people must be deplorable in deed." Even at. the' joyous holiday time there was no joy for the perennial de pjorer. The panic among the "myrmi dons of the money power" failed to re lieve his pessimism. He has prayed for a decade that the vengeance of a just Gdd be wreaked upon the, sharks of Wall street; but when the hour of Jretribution comes, he has no heart for Jubilation. Gloom has become his habit. It Is difficult, if not impossible, to allay the fears or stop the doleful prophecies of a certain class of people. T'here are those, for example, who see in the recent advance in wages in the New England woolen mills a deep-laid plot on the part of the employers to do their employes an injury. They ar gue that a voluntary advance is too un natural to be altogether wholesome, Shake their heads ominously and say, 'Walt and see." The truth is that the wage increase in New England facto ries refutes all that demagogues tried to prove from the reductidn of wages that resulted from and was a part of the late Industrial depression namely, that corporations have no thought or care for the welfare of their employes. Captain Goldman, of the Twentieth Kansas, who remained in the Philip pines and took service in the Twenty third infantry, writes about the diffi culty the officers experience in induc ing the soldiers to exercise common prudence In caring for their health. He says: Our men are in gtfod health, and If we can keep them exercising horse sense they will re main as healthy, If notjiealthler, here than, at home. But they started in today trying to get sick. They discovered an old sugar mill that had been abandoned by the Insurgents, with several tons of crude sugar lylpg around, and proceeded to fill thfcmsehes full of It. One Company had 17 men Immediately sick. One man of my conpany ate a lot of green nuts, and was pretty sick for awhile, and so It goes. We have to watch, them like a I6t of schoolboys. Archbishop Chapelle Is one of the ablest men in the hierarchy of the American Catholic church. He has the implicit confidence of Martinelll, the apostolic delegate to this country; of Cardinal Gibbons, and consequently of Pope Leo XHI. Rome's confidence in his ability was. attested by -his eleva tion to the see of New Orleans, and by his appointment as papal delegate to Cuba and Puerto Rico, the most im portant mission given to an American prelate since Archbishop Hughes went to Europe in civil war days to coun teract the feeling unfavorable to the Union which the envoys of the seced ing states had excited m more than one cabinet. The growing Importance of Oregon City as a center of public business is shqwn in the-records of the Jan'd office and. the increasing volume of postal busine'ss transacted. The bill of Rep resentatlve Tongue, providing for the appropriation of $60,000 for the con struction of a public building for the use of these offices at that place, is strongly supported by these records. The demands upon the government are so heavy at this session of congress, however, that the chances of securing the appropriation asked are conceded to be exceedingly doubtful. It Is a patriotic letter which John Leland Henderson writes to the demo cratic central committee of Wasco county In tendering his resignation as committeeman for Hood River pre cinct. He has a son in the army of the United States in the Philippines, and will support the government with his vote, as his son does with his rifle, so long as the war lasts. Furthermore, he respects the teachings and doctrines of his party on expansion during his lifetime, and declines to shift his prin ciples to humor the exigencies of politi cians. The report of the senate's committee on the Quay case indicates that the senate will adhere -to the precedents It has made and followed during recent years. It is well It should do so, for. It cannot afford to be changingacdorQIrfg to whim or caprice. It is a piece of impudence and presumption on the part of Quay to seek a seat In the sen ate by appointment, since both himself and his colleague, Penrose, who is merely his tool, voted against Corbett. At Canby, the public school was last week opened to a popullstic and social istic lecture by a vociferous calamity howler. The supreme court and the government were duly attacked, while "socialism came in for an explanation, as did that much-abused word, anar chy." Blatant and unpatriotic ignor ance ought to be kept out of school rooms. Now is the time to register. Every good citizen has a duty to encourage ballot reform, and a good way to per form it is to register promptly when the books are open. Go early and avoid the rush. THE OLDEST SENATOR. Some Interesting Information About rnis Individual. Rochester Post-Express, rep. John P. King, of Georgia", who died March 19. 188, began his service In the senate of the United States in 1833. Upon his death, the distinction of belrt the old est ex-senator belonged to Henry A. Fos ter, of New Tork. who was born May 7, 1800,, and died May 11, 1889. His service In the senate was very brief trom is to 1845, Governor Buck havlhg appointed him to- succeed Silas Wright. Upon his death, the oldest ex-senator became Sl l0n Cameron, of Pennsylvania. He was born March 8, 1799, and died June 23, 1889, surviving Mr. Foster only six weeks. The oldest ex-senators then became James W. Bradbury, of Maine; Alpheus- Felch, Of Michigan, and George W. Jones, of Iowa. James W. Bradbury, now the oldest ex-senator of the United States, is ly ing dangerously ill at his home in Au gusta, Me, He was born In Tork coun ty. Pa., June 10, 1802,. and was graduatcl from Bowdoln in the famqus class of 1825, among his associates being Long fellow, Hawthorne, John S. C. Abbott, and Jonathan CUley, the Maine congress man, who was killed In a duel by Graves, of Kentucky, in 1838. Mr. Bradbury Is the sole survivor of the class of '23. The service of Mr. Bradbury as a sen- ator began in 1847, and he is the only survivor of the 30th congress. Among his colleagues were John M. Clayton, of Dela ware; Herschell V. Johnson of Georgia; Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois; Henry Clay, of Kentucky; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine; Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland; Danl8l Webster, of Massachusetts; Lewis Cass, of Michigan; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; Thomas H. Benton, of Mis souri; John A. Dlx and William H. Sew ard, of New York; Salmon P. Chase and Thomas Corwln, of Ohio; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina; Sam Houston, of Texas, and Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia. a a Railroads of the World. Nearly everyone is more or less interest ed In railroads' and railroad statistics. It was not so very long ago that the first locomotive was put Into service, and since that time the development of the railroad has .been, so rapid and so enor mous as.to make a spectacle of progress to which even the least interested turn with pleasurable contemplation. Here are a few comparisons of the railway fa cilities of the leading countries: The United States has 184,532 miles of rail road,, Germany 20.0S4, France 25,802, European Russia 25,357, Great Britain 23,534, British In dia 21.54S. The United States has 36,746 loco motives; Great Britain 10.002, Germany 10,842, France 10,502, Russia 8748, British India 4258. Great Britain has more locomotles per mile than any other country, owing to the congestion of her population. She also has more passen ger cars, for the same reason and because her coaches have from 30 to 50 per cent Ies3 ca pacity than those of the United States. Her passenger cars number 02,252, while those of Germany number 34,500, and those of the United States 33,893. As for passengers. Great Britain's yearly record lo 1,062,011,000, while that of the United States is 693,342,000, Ger many's 646.431,000. France's 382,240,000, British India's 1GO.000.000, Russia's 07,000.000. But it should be remembered that he average journey In the United States is much longer than that of the European countries, notably than that of Great Britain, where the large number of pas sengers is due greatly to the enormous sub urban service in and about London. But when It comes to freight, here are the best j early records: United States 913,t)00,000 tons, Great Britain 437,000,000, Germany 270,000.000, France 120,000,000, Russia 07,000.000, British India 39,000,000. B fe The Seattle-Alaskan. Trade. Following Is a monthly statement of the traffic from Seattle to Alaska during the year 1899: No. Tons. "Value. Month Pass. Freight. Freight. January 1.40G 3,497 4,897 4,832 349.700 February 1,461 March 1,765 April 1,381 May 1,292 June 1,941 July 1,317 August 1,407 September 1,157 October 418 November 461 December 597 489,700 483,200 456,900 510.300 1,133,400 561,400 967,500 1,123,000 1,251.600 267,600 523,600 4, ota 5.103 11.334 6-,614 ll'229 12,516 2,676 5,236 Totals 14,633 81,178 . From Alaska to Seattle during the movement was as follows: No. Tons. Month Pass. Freight. January 678 367 February 478 411 March 918 650 April 752 40S May 1,015 168 June 1,558 213 July 3.575 340 August 3.094 416 September 3,076 1,257 October 2,670 1,645 November 1,786 1,569 December 699 494 $8,117,800 the year Value. Freight. ? G4.223 71,925 113,750 71,400 29.400 37,275 59,500 72,800 219,975 287,875 274.575 85,450 Totals 20.299 0 7,938 $1,389,150 Births in Germany and France. New Tork Sun. Wnlle France contents Ijerself with not ing and deploring the fact that her popu lation is stationary, Germany can boast a broken record of increase In 1898. In that year the excess of births over deaths was 846,871, about 62,000 more thah it was in. 1S9J; and 25 times as great as France's numbers for the year. Or, as the German newspapers rather unkindly put it, the ex cess of German births over deaths in 1898 was greater than the total number of births in Franco for any year. There were 2,029,891 little Germans born that year, and 1,991,126 the year before. The yearly average for the 10 years from 18S9 to 1898 was 1,919,384. The number of marriages, too, Is increasing, and likewise the proportion of Illegitimate children. In 1898, moreover, more Germans ab stained from dying, the number of deaths being 1,183,090, whereas the yearly average for the decade is 1,2261,632. More Germans born every yaar, with fewer dying and fewer emigrating, while France stands still or retrogrades, means fainter hopes for the latter of recovering the lost provinces and a poor chance of succeeding In colonial expansion. mt Irishmen In the British Army. New Orleans Times-Democrat. There are at the present moment seven full regiments of Irlshirien In the British army the Innlskilllng fuslleers, the Con naught rangers, the Royal Dublin fusl leers, the Royal Irish fuslleers, the Royal MUnster fuslleers, the Royal Irish regi ment and thfe Royal Irish rifles. And these Irish regiments are freer from any admix ture of fdreign or non-Irish blood than probably any other seven regiments In Iter majesty's army. Not only are these Irish regiments com posed of Irish, but tho mixture of Irish men lh the English and Scottish regi ments s very material. Of the 202,000 troops In tho British army last year, 158,560 were of English, 26,370 of Irish, and 16.4S0 of Scottish birth. The Premature German Press. New Tork Tribune. The German papers may be somewhat promatdre in announcing England's total collapse as a military power and discuss ing the problem of her position hereafter. She" has only begun to fight. We were In something tho same pdsitlon after Bull Run, and were promptly dismembered and parceled out by the same Continental press, then, as now, omniscient, self-suf-ficlenti all sufficient and Insufficient, o The British Army. Salt Lake Tribune. It seems clear that when the present war is over Great Britain will have about 150,000 Jighting men trained for service, and tho rtakns that are now declaring that her prestige is about gone will then have -to, bo a little careful, for that many trained men, backed by 750 warships, are war factors that cannot be ignored. B c f ThaRullncr Passion. Chicago Tribune. "Why don't these fellows clap their hands when they want to applaud? ' said tho man in the back Seat. "They do nothing but stomp." "This is a convention of philatelists," explained the man sitting next to him. u For Private Circulation. Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Tes, he hrought out his history of the regiment for private circulation." "indeed. That's strange." "I don't think so. Every private In the regiment bought a copy." d O ' He Lit Hard. Washington Post. Editor Hitchcock has evidently decided that the less said about the lack of up holstering at the bottom of the elevator shaft the better. Waiting: dr Frankfort. St. Paul Dispatch: rpvia irtnhTo -rolf Mr. Goebel seem? to be that he doesn't kriow when the car stops and his station is cauea on. 4 0 Sowing? by the "Wayside. Philadelphia Ledger. Fifteen million packages of government seeds, the coming season, will demon strate the need of congressional fences- RECORDS 0FTHEC0NTRABAND CASE. Nothing Is so incapable of precise defini tion under all circumstances as what is contraband of war. In 1793, during the war between Great Br.tain and France, the 'for mer denied the right to seize and confis cate all provisions destined to Frencn ports. Mr. Jefferson, our secretary of state, denied the right, except in case of a blockade. While admitting that imple ments of war delivered for the enemy might be taken by a belligerent on the open seas, he stated that "corn, flour and meal are not of the class of contraband, and constantly remain articles of free commerce." Modern practice in Europe and America does not maintain the view of Jefferson. The great English admiralty judge, Sir William Scott, held In 1799 that a cargo of cheese was contraband, be cause the proof showed that It was In tended for tb$ use of the French navy. Sir William Scott said, as to the ques tion whether food was contraband of War: "But the most important distinction is whether the articles were Intended for the ordinary use of life, or even for mercan tile ships' use; or whether they were go ing with a highly probable destination to military use." This decision 13 sound common sense, for there is no more rea son In justice why a beleaguered garrison should be allowed to receive food than It should be allowed to receive munitions or war. Mr. Justice Story, of our federal su preme court, said: By the modern law of nations, provisions are not in ceneral deemed contraband, but they be come so, although the property of a neutral, on account at the particular situation oZ the war, or on account of their destination. If destined for the ordinary use of life In the enemy's country, they are not, in general, contraband, but it is otherwise if destined for military use. Hence. If destined, for the army or navy of the enemy, or for his ports of naval or military equipment, they are deemed contraband. The British government claims the right to- extend or reduce the list of articles to bo held absolutely or- conditionally contra band according to circumstances, and In its "Manual of Prize Law," for 1SS8, rates provisions' fit for the consumption of the army or naVy among others conditionally contraband. The French government went further than this in 1SS5, and declared food contraband of war, not only whenr deliv ered directly for military consumption, but when going In the ordinary course of trade as food for the civic population of the belligerent government, a position that England has refused to take. Lord Gran ville wrote the French ambassador in 1885: In the lew of he majesty's government, the test appears to be whether there are circum stances relative to any particular cargo, or Its destination, to displace the presumption that articles of this kind are intendad for the ordi nary use of life and to show, prima, facie, at all eents, that they are destined for military use. Mr. Kasson, then our minister at Ber lin, wrote Secretary Bayard: We are neutrals in European ware. Food con stitutes an Immense portion: of our exports. Every European war produces an Increased de mand for these supplies from neutral countries. The Frenoh doctrine declares them contraband, n6t only when destined directly for military consumption, but when going In the ordinary course of trade as Tood for the civil population of the belligerent govornment. If food can be thus excluded and captured, still more can clothing, the Instruments of Industry, and all less vital supplies, be "cut oft on the ground that they tend to support the efforts of the bel ligerent nation. The views of Great Britain and the United Statos appear to be identical and In line with common sense, viz., that food may or may not be contraband of war, just as coal may or may not be contraband of war, the clear proof of Its destination would be necessary to determine Its con traband character. In our civil war, the ship Peterhoft, sailing under the Rrltlsn flag, while bound for the Mexican port of Matamoras, on the south coast of the Rio Grande, was captured by the United States fleet then blockading the Confederate jjorts on the north coast of tho Rio Grande. Our supreme court adjudged the arms and ammunition that was part of the cargo to be contraband and condemned them as such, but declared the provisions to be Innocent merchandise, not subject to condemnation. Tho rule of our own court seems thus far to be Identical with that of the Brltlsn coiirts-dhat food cannot be properly treated as contraband of war, Unless It Is reasonably clear that such food is intend ed for the use of the military and naval forces of the country to which it Is con signed. It would appear that the English and American view, that food may or may not be contraband of war. Is entirely sound. If the flodr seized in transit to the Trans vaal can be shown to be Intended to sup port the Transvaal military fortes, Its seizure Is in line with the English and American doctrine that food on tho way to the enemy's army In the field may be treated as contraband of war by the other belligerent able to intercept it- The Brit ish government in 1863 refused to Inter fere in behalf of th Peterhoff. Earl Rus sell said: Her majesty's government cannot, without yiolatlng the rules of international law, claim for British vessels navigating between Great Britain and these placed any general exemption from the belligerent right of visitation by the cruisers of the United States; nor can they pro ceed upon any general assumption that such vessels may not so act as to render their cap ture lawful and Justifiable. It is uncertain, however, whether Great Britain will Insist upon the full measure of her rights in this case. She Is more likely, in view of all the circumstances, to make good to the neutral shippers any loss they have sustained as to foodstuffs. A strict enforcement of the doctrine we have outlined would not leave much mar gin for trade Into the Transvaal. The whole people Is virtually In arms. Every man is a soldier. The Boer army Is only aJ synonym for the Boer male population " Netv Year's Ere. The 1.1 ing Church. The night is starry, bright and clear. With moonlight glimmering on the snow; Arid midnight winds, with voicesjow. Sing dlrgea for the dying year. Old Tear, I pray we part aa frlendsi Sincerely we can cay "Adieu1." And as we welcome in the New We promise him to make amends Wep!eage ourselves-to nobler deeds. To loftier thought and purer life, To be more faithful In the strife Tor what our nobler nature pleads. Remembering-all the solemn past. Its lessons treasured la the heart. So we will live and act our part As If this New Tear were our last. a Also "Wavy. Philadelphia Press. Gentle sleep descended upon the Man, and as Jie slept the Woman was made. When the Man awoke he saw her who was to be his companion. She spoke "Adam," she said, "Is my hair on straight?" "No, dear," be replied, "it's just the least little bit curly." Thus Is the antiquity of humor proven. NOTE AND COMMENT. Colonel Hare has a name that is un doubtedly the envy of Agulnaldo. The steamer Mascot, it seems, will never have any luek till her name Is changed to Hoodoo. Mayor Harrison says Chicago Is the 20th century city, which means, we take it, that its career has not yet begun. As he seems to be elected to spend a season on the cold outside. Quay would probably like to be the Ice man. Jaggs What did you get for Christmas this year anything very nice? Jiggs Nothing to blow on; except a handkerchief. V TIs now the foolish housewlfa Her thoughtlessness bewails; She's nothing left from Chrlstmaa Tor the January sales. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach,, the missionaries In the Congo Free State are going in the right direc tion to convert the natives. It is reported that General Baden-Powell has again defeated the Boers, .which means probably that he has once more advised them to lay down their arms. The Newberg Graphic thinks the loving cup reported to have been ordered by the populists of Clackamas county for their democratic brethren will not be overflow ing with the affection lt3 name signifies. Edgar Saltua says that the first fancy dress ball was on Mount Olympus. He might add that while the style of dress at that time has not since been reached, fashionable women are approaching It right along. v A New York man is suing a telegraph company for $10,000 for falling to deliver a telegram that wquld have secured for him the girl of his choice. Perhaps the company will file a counter suit for services- rendered. v " Two of the grandsons of John C. Cal houn reside in the Northern states Pat rick Calhoun In Cleveland, and John C. Calhoun, in New Tork city. They are wealthy men. and interested In the coal, iron and manufacturing enterprises of the South. "Oyster cutlets will soon be on the menu of the Paciflc states," observes the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. "Fifty barrels of the famous Yezo oysters of Japan, which grow to the length of a foot, will be planted In the tidewaters of Washington and Oregon." " At La Grande, a man whose woodpile was rapidly decreasing was called to his woodshed by unusual noise about 9 o'clock at night, and found that hl3 pet bear had "treed" a neighbor In a corner on top of a stack of wood. With an admonition to mend his ways, the bear-owner let the wood-hunter leave. v Charles Gordon, of Fulton, has an edu cated dog, which chews tobacco in three languages and understands what is said to him when he is sworn at In seven. Nothing in any foreign language, how ever, will cause him to get a move on himself so suddenly as when he is told to "clatawah" In classical Chinook. From a New Jersey Inventor comes a top which revolves 43 minutes, and stands erect when at rest. It la perfectly "bal anced with weights Inside, and the "peg" is no larger than a fine needle, The weight 13 four ounces, and only 10 Inches of string are required. The Inventor is a schoolmaster, and when he lectures at educational meetings he spins the toy "to illustrate the beauty of a systematically developed life." The manner in which crowds- gather around pictures of London illustrated pa pers, posted In front of stationers stores in Portland, shows the deep interest every body is taking In the present struggle be tween Briton and Boer in South Africa. Stirring scenes of brave soldiers charg ing on the enemy, entrenched behind rocky barriers, bring forth a good deal of comment, and people who have never met before become quite sociable in tho discussion, and America's troubles with Agulnaldo are entirely lost sight of. Tho football game at Pendleton on New Tear's produced one exciting incident. A player from Walla Walla, maddene4 by "rooters," made an offensive remark, 'and was told by a Pendleton man that no gen tleman would uso such language in tho presence of ladles. The rebuke was re sented with an assault; but an officer sep arated the men. Then a special officer strtick the Pendleton man in the mouth and It was all the sheriff and hl3 deputies and several policemen could do to keep tho crowd from throwing the special officer into the Umatilla river. A lot of the beat looking dressed chickens seen In this market for many a day was rpceived by a commission man yesterday from some country poultry-raisers; also a dozen of very fine dressed, turkeys. The chickens weighed about six pounds each, and were fat and plump, but the neat and careful manner In which they had been dressed attracted attention. The incisions by which the craw and entrails were re moved bad been carefully sewed up, and the severed ends of the neck and legs carefully wrapped in a bit of muslin . The turkeys were also carefully picked, and were as clean and fresh looking aa pos sible. If there were more people in Oregon who knew as much about raising and feed ing poultry as the woman who prepared these chickens and turkeys for market, there would be more profit in poultry, and more satisfaction to purchasers of it. Every ode who Saw the fowls was sorry that they had not been sent in in time for the New Tear's market, for there was such a clean-up of poultry of all Klnd3 at Christmas that the supply was short at New Tear's, and these fine fowls would have brought good prices. Yesterday. There may be days on high as sweet Ao this sweetmundane sample herei There may be trails for angels' feet Where hymnlnff seraphs charm the ear,' And herald larks may usher day In other spheres exempt from. frer. But while we breathe the air of May, Old Earth. I cannot spare you yet. I would not chance the airy league And leave these sunlit, erweet parterres; Ancestral taint makes dire fatigue. Old Adam shuns the golden stairs. I'd ever breathe the encirclin? air But that the Beaper must be met. Sweet violetSi virginal and fair. And Earth, I cannot spare you yet. Not ever thus the azure there Diffuses sunlight through some souls. Oft earthly blues and carklng care Tleld but untc- th4 flowing bowls; But higher plains he rlss to "Who tries thl3 antidote to get The simple gifts conferred, by you. Old Earth I cannot spare- you yet. Portland, Jan. 4. S. SV JJodiWJ. "S A