THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1900.
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for by the insertion; of an item of $16,
000,608 In the sundry civil appropriation
bill. There is, moreover, an unexpend
ed balance available for this class of
work of $30,000,000, so that the failure
to pass a river and harbor bill at this
session of congress will nowhere be
seriously felt The amounts still avail
able for work on the rivers and har
bors of Oregon and "Washington have
lately been published, and It is not nec
essary to give them in detail at this
time. Suffice it to say that the people
of these sections can regard the situ
ation with equanimity, since work will
go forward without Interruption from
Coos Bay north to Gray's Harbor, and
at the several Intermediate points
where channels and harbors are being
Improved by the government, under the
direction1 of its engineer corps.
to the Pacific Coast, and it should
command the attention of Portland's
Chamber of Commerce and Board ol
Trade.
military
IX SOUTH
TODAY'S WUTHIGR.-CTalr, with northwest
yui da. himng to southeast.
PORTLAXP, SATURDAY, FBB. 24.
TAXA-noar akd states REVEHnras.
It is commonly asserted that the
main reason why the Assessors do not
make higher valuations of property is
the desire of the people of each county
t keep down their proportion of the
Mate tax. The Oregonian is by no
mean sure that this is the leading
motive. First, there ie reasonable
CiUostion what the actual cash value of
n al property is. Undoubtedly it is far
ho low what it was supposed, ten years
ago. It may be doubted whether the
li'perty valuations of any county In
ll1' State, by the last assessment, could
1 realised in cash within the next
3 1 are Indeed, it is certain they could
rot be. Again, the people desire low
or moderate assessments as a means
rift merely of keeping down the State
tax, but more especially as a means of
L( TJng down the county and local ex
I rditure. They know that if the val
uations were doubled there would be
r uch more money raised and spent;
r r officialdom never can get enough.
Thfy believe, therefore, that the most
f f t tive method of economy is to hold
Of nn the revenue. This could not or
vi-uld not be done upon high or full
sessments.
ome dosen years ago a commission
.. ; pointed by the Legislature, consist
ing of prominent citizens, among whom
ftp the late Judge Strahan, Henry
Tailing and Senator Hughes, to "ex
cm me the matters of assessment and
dxation in this State," made a report
vhih embodied better suggestions
than any made since. But the sugg&s-
its received no attention from the
2?!lature. Among them were out
. i s of a plan for doing away practl-
aly -with the State tax collected
"Lrough the agency of the counties, and
f r ohtaimtient of State revenues by
t tax on gross earnings of lnsur-
',,ff. express, telephone, railroad and
f ring-car and other companies, to be
I iid dictly into the State Treasury.
"fidenoe was expressed by the com
- iSMon that in- a little time, in Oregon,
in other States, the direct taxes
'- ti these sources would entirely pro
i ir for the expenses of the State gov-
n -ment. Thte, It was said, would at
p put an end to the undervaluation
r property, on the part of the counties,
' w resorted to for the purpose of
ading their proportion of the State
x ami would obviate the necessity
f a State Board of Equalization.
Would such method be constltu-
-naP The commission reported that
had been careful in its recommenda
i ras and had gone only as far as it
utd and still remain within the limi-
tions prescribed by our fundamental
I It reported that it had taken the
'TTxiitution, as interpreted by our
1 chst courts, and by courts of last
resort in those States where similar
;- teions prevail, and had conformed
- bill to such Interpretations. Upon
r me of the matters discussed In the
T i ort, Judge Strahan did not agree
h the other six members of the
mmisslon; but his dissent was not
constitutional grounds. It was
t sod chiefly on the doubt whether the
ume of the business of the railway
. d other corporations at that time
" fS sufficient to produce, at the rate
" ! taxation proposed money enough to
r et the requirements of the State
ernment.
"'he Oregontan believes that the time
come for a new study of this sub
! t on the lines pursued by the com
' s?ion appointed under the act of 1886.
Z a. method can be devised of obtain-
" the State revenues through lndi
r t taxation, to supersede the lneffl-
nt and unsatisfactory system of
untary contribution by the counties
- r this Is practically what the pree
f system is a cause of complaint
uld be removed, through better
mUtation of the burdens of taxation.
FUSION AST) CONFUSION".
It would seem that the subcommittee
appointed by the Populist State Com
mittee to draft an address showing
"thenecessityof continuing the People's
party organization," strayed from its
mission. Instead of recommending
Populist candidates and Populist Issues
as the best method of maintaining sep
arate party organization, the address
discusses national issues, condemns
Republican policies, harps about im
perialism and threatened militarism,
and hints, like the bumpkin Macrum, at
a secret alliance between this country
and Great Britain. Not a word Is said
In condemnation of Democratic treach
ery in the alliance of 1898. No reason
is shown why the Populists should stay
out of the enemy's camp and keep in
the path of duty for which the major
ity of Populists think the party was
organized.
Fusion of the Populists and Demo
crats of Oregon gives but slight hope
of success, even if it shall be accom
plished. There Is no certainty that the
parties will fuse or can fuse. They
formed a close alliance in 1898, and the
result was confusion, treachery and
stinging defeat. The Middle-of-the-Hoad
element bolted and nominated a
separate ticket. A large number of
Populists, disgusted with fusion, and
seeing no show for the Middle-of-the-Road
ticket, stayed away from the
polls. The fusion of the conventions
did not extend to the voters. Demo
crats slaughtered Populists and Popu
lists slaughtered Democrats. The Re
publican candidates gained many votes
from Democrats who would not vote
for a Populist, and from Populists who
would not vote for a Democrat. The
bitterness engendered would, It was
thought, forever settle any future at
tempt at fusion.
In- spite of the fact that the Demo
cratic State Committee adjourned last
month without sending a message of
peace, and that many of Its members
are in favor of dropping silver and
Bryan and of reconciliation with the
gold wing of the party, the Populists
have again shown a desire that
amounts almost to anxiety to combine
for 1900. They may be deluded enough
to think they can win, but surface in
dications are that they are cunningly
seeking an opportunity to revenge the
treachery for 1898. They may fuse the
issues and the candidates, but they
cannot fuse the rank and file. Neither
expostulation, remonstrance, entreaty
nor coercion can whip into line the
votes represented by the five commit
teemen who voted on Thursday against
holding the Populist convention on the
same day as the Democratic. These
constitute one-third of the Populist
strength in Oregon. Their disaSectlon
will settle the fusion' business.
Good times, hard money, the explo
sion of the silver theory, enlarged busi
ness and abundant employment have
so weakened Democratic and Popullstic
followings that no combination which
is open to them will hold out prospect
of success in June and November. On
the Issues of 1895 and 1898 they are fore
doomed to defeat, and attempts to
make a fight against expansion, undei
the tawdTy banner of "anti-imperialism,"
will but intensify disaster in Oregon.
THE RIVBm AXD HARBOR BILL.
'"hlle every section of the Coast-
ng districts Is to a greater or less
f rrt interested In the passing of a
r and harbor bttl, the announce-
r it that no such Wll will be presented
i- mg the present session of Congress
not cause dismay. The character
he reasons that Induced the House
iwittee on rivers and harbors to
.er this decision can readily be con
ured. though these reasons have not
'i given. The expediency, to say the
t of keeping within a certain limit
national expenses, abnormally In-
isd by the cost of operations in the
ippines and Puerto Rico, is readily
gnixed. Those who have been
moring for a reduction of the taxes
n which the- national revenue is de-
d may take the hint plainly given
he suspension- of the river and har-
approprlation and cease vexing the
w lth their protests. If it is neoes-
i or even prudent to withhold the
r and harbor appropriation, It Is
ious that the revenues of the gov-
ment are not appreciably, if at all,
excess of the national needs.
may be well to understand, how--,
that there will be no interruption
be work which the government has
"er contract under the general head
v ' "lver and harbor Improvements. The
c ipletlon of these contracts, or their
tUtuanoe until a future appropria
" n for that purpose is included in a
I. er and harbor btll. win be provided
coaianssioN ox oriental trade.
The surest way to extend American
trade In the Orient Is to know how to
go about it. Experience has taught
that the Orientals do not take to our
system of drumming up orders through
a glib tongue and a small line of sam
ples. They have trade customs of their
own to which we must conform before
we can hope to put our goods on their
shelves. A bill which aims to place
this valuable knowledge at the disposal
of American merchants Is that by Sen
ator Gallinger, of New Hampshire, au
thorizing the President to appoint a
commission: to "study and make full
report upon the commercial and indus
trial conditions of China and Japan and
for other purposes." There are to be
five commissioners, one each from the
Eastern, "Middle, Southern, "Western
and Pacific Coast States. They will as
certain which of the products of our
farms, mills and workshops may be
sold in China and Japan, how they
should be manufactured, packed and
shipped, and the proper means of trans
acting business with the Orient. At the
end of one year they are to return to
the United States and report their in
vestigations to the President.
Commissions of this character have
done more than any other agency to
establish amicable trade relations be
tween Great Britain, Germany and
France and the Far East. Germany
has made greater headway in this line
than any other nation, and its mer
chants know better than any other sell
ers ,how to reach the Asiatic buyer.
Germany guards these reports as it
does Its state secrets. They are for
German exporters, and German export
ers reap the benefit of them. Russia
proceeds on different lines. Its mer
chants establish branch houses in
China and the managers of these
branches learn the Chinese language
and keep constantly in touch with the
Chinese tradesmen. Our best oppor
tunity for trade expansion across the
Pacific is by methods approved by Eu
ropean experience. The here-today-and-there-tomoxTGW
way of our com
mercial men will not avail us in Asia.
John Barrett, of Portland, ex
Unlted States Minister to Slam, is men
tioned as the possible Pacific Coast
member of the commission. Thorough
study of economic and commercial con
ditions in the Orient has equipped him
for the work. Few understand the
situation as well as he, and no one has
been more active in pointing out ways
by which American trade could be en
larged. HIb extended personal ac
quaintance In China, Siam and Japan,
and his Intimate knowledge of British,
German, French and Russian methods,
would make him a specially desirable
member of the commission. Senator
TRANSPORT
AFRICA.
General Sherman, in his "Memoirs,"
says that one of the chief reasons
which impelled him to start from At
lanta for the sea was the practical
impossibility of keeping open his 'ex
isting line of railway communications
to Nashville, owing to the raids of the
enemy upon his rear. He says that the
Atlanta campaign would have been
simply impossible without the use of
the railroads from Louisville to Nash
ville, 185 miles; from Nashville to Chat
tanooga, 151 miles; from Chattanooga
to Atlanta, 1S7 miles. To have deliv
ered the amount of food and forage
needed by his army of 100,000 men and
35,000 animals, without the aid of the
railroad, Sherman sold "would have re
quired 36,800 wagons of six mules each,
allowing each wagon to have hauled
two tons twenty miles each day, a
simple Impossibility In roads such as
then existed in that region of the coun
try." Sherman admitted that, even with the
railroads, his campaign would have
been Impossible "unless we had had the
means and the men to maintain them
in addition to what were necessary to
overcome the enemy," Yet Sherman
had, besides the railroad, the Cumber
land and Tennessee Rivers, that were
to a considerable extent available for
transportation. He held that his cam
paigns had demonstrated that no con
siderable army can subsist if it de
pends upon the wagons and common
country roads for more than a few
miles from the railway depots.
These facts will serve to Illustrate
how difficult has been the solution of
the question of military transport for
the English in South Africa. There are
no navigable rivers like the Tennessee
or the Cumberland; the region south
of the Transvaal frontier is very moun
tainous, and contains but very few
roads, and these are of a wretched
character, running through continuous
defiles, following nearly the line of the
railroad. The elevation of the railroad
not twenty miles from Durban Is 1125
feet; at thirty miles it is nearly 2500
feet, and near Majuba Hill the altitude
of 5385 feet Is reached. A great many
streams have to be crossed, and a sin
gle man carrying a few sticks of dyna
mite can quickly and thoroughly de
stroy a bridge. That is, railway mili
tary communications can be destroyed
with the greatest ease, while the repair
of track and the rebuilding of bridges
is a slow and difficult task, as illus
trated by the number of weeks it took
Lord Methuen's army to rebuild the
Modder River railway bridge, destroyed
by the Boers.
These are the kinds of great natural
difficulties that confront the English
army In Natal, where, even on the
evacuation of Ladysmlth, It will take
the British several weeks to rebuild) the
railway bridge that has been destroyed
at the Colenso crossing of the Tugela
River.
But, even in Lord Roberts' present
field of, operations, the question of mili
tary transport until the railway bridge
across the Orange River at Norval's
Pont shall be restored, is most difficult
to meet. "Without that bridge rebuilt
and the railway restored to Bloemfon
tein, no great progress can be made.
The country Is barren of food and for
age, and roadless, compared with Eu
rope or America. Nearly all the food
and forage required by the British must
be brought up on the railroad from the
seaports of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth
and East London. There is no agricul
ture, and a hostile population will kill
what cattle they cannot drive away.
The Transvaal lives out of its gold
mines; the product of which is bartered
for imported supplies.
The British forces will be obliged to
live for the most part on supplies
transported from the seaports or from
Inland railway bases, like Kimberley,
Mafeklng and De Aar Junction, until
the railway bridges at Norval's Pont
and Bethulie are rebuilt, and- then the
march could be pushed along the rail
way line to Bloemfontein, Kroonstad,
Johannesburg and Pretoria; but until
that time the question of land trans
port for a great army of 50,000 men will
be most difficult of solution, for there
is no double track beyond the Orange
River.
"Wellington said war was a question
of commissariat and commissariat a
question of transport, and the highest
military authorities today hold that
Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812
broke down more from the destruction
of his transport than from the severity
of the climate. The success of Lord
Roberts and Lord Kitchener thus far In
moving a large bojdy of infantry, cav
alry and artillery away from the rail
way and through a barren country,
without forage or supplies of any sort,
is a most remarkable achievement.
dustry. The demands of the growing
trade on the Pacific are being met In a
business-like manner. Ships are pro
vided as fast as business increases, and
the fleet will continue to grow as the
business grows. The wheatgrowers
and lumbermen of the Pacific North
west are anxious to have their prod
ucts carried to market by the cheapest
possible method, and as they are
neither shipowners nor shipbuilders,
they care nothing about the flag under
which their freight-carriers sail. The
lack of merit of the bill as a whole is
enough to carry it, with the accom
panying amendments, into hopeless ob
livion, but the McBride amendment will
still further weaken it. The millionaire
owners of the American steamship
lines on the Atlantic Coast might be
satisfied with 90 per cent or 93 per cent
of the graft, but with 70 per cent,
never. Among many of the Pacific
Coast people, the Payne-Hanna bill is
regarded as a steal, and they will de
cline to sanction any participation in
the robbery, even though promised 30
per cent of the plunder.
The Philadelphia Inquirer tersely
sums up the reasons for ex-Consul Ma
crum's attitude toward the Boers, the
British and his own government, say
ing: "As for the "Vice-Consul, he was
a Dutchman, and naturally went along
with his people." All of his "explana
tions" cannot disguise the fact that
Mr. Macrum wanted to aid the Boer
government. His duties as American
Consul would not permit him to do so,
therefore he left, and, reaching "Wash
ington, detailed a story which, if it had
any foundation in fact, should have
been given to the State Department by
cable and mall weeks ago. He will fig
ure hereafter in the matter as the
cheap, bumptious fellow that he is.
Only this and nothing more.
Inquiry is made whether the pro
posed amendment of the Constitution,
on "initiative and referendum," so
called, is to be voted on at the general
election in June. It Is not. It has been
adopted or proposed only once by the
Legislative Assembly, and must come
before the Assembly again and obtain
favorable action there, before it can be
submitted to the voters of the State.
This concession doubtless will be made
by the Legislature next winter to those
who have so long insisted on submis
sion to the people of Oregon the ques
tion whether this feature or method of
legislation shall be Introduced Into our
system. If passed again, at the next
session, it will be voted on two years
hence.
his kind to control the home market and
'charge what prices on his product he
pleases.
o
THE INDIAN FAMINE.
It "Will Slay Thousands Where War
Kills Hundreds.
Chicago Tribune.
Three and four years ago there was a
lack of rain throughout extensive regions
In India. A shortage of crops and a fam
ine followed. A population of 36,000,000
suffered from total drought. Notwith
standing the unwearied labors of the au
thorities, who had at tHelr command vast
sums of money advanced by the Indian
government and contributed by charitable
people throughout the world, the mortality
from starvation and from those diseases
which lack of food brings with it, wa3
frightful. Until the rains came and the
earth bore crops again, the dreadful state
of affairs In India was a subject of gen
eral Interest.
There Is famine in India now. Its exis
tence was declared official by Lord Curzon
three months ago. At that time 30,000,000
people were Involved, and only 400,000 per
sons were on the relief lists. At present
59,000,000 people are effected, of whom 22,
000,000 are In British territory, and 27,000,
000 In the native states. There are now
about 3,200,000 people on the relief lists,
and the coat of relief work to the end
pf March will not be less than $13,000,000.
Tho rains will not come until July, if they
come then. Between now and then. In
spite of all the authorities can do, there
will be an immense mortality, especially
among children and old people.
It is safe to say that there will be more
actual suffering and probably much great
er loss of life in the famine regions of
India than In South Africa because of tho
war now raging there between Boers and
British. Yet few outside of India are giv
ing any thought to what is going on there,
while nearly everybody is taking a deep In
terest in events in South Africa, and Is af
tected painfully by the continuing reports
of men killed in battle which fill the dis
patches. Pestilence and famine may slay
their thousands where war slays Its hun
dreds, but a greater measure of sympathy
Is given the smaller number who die on the
field of battle.
During the last Indian famine hundreds
of thousands of pounds were subscribed
in England to relieve those affected by It.
There are no subscriptions now. He who
has any money to spare gives It to be ex
pended in caring for the British soldier!
In South Africa. So the British authorities
in India have no resources save their own
with which to make their fight against
famine, an enemy as formidable as the
Boers and ignorant of any of the ameni
ties of modern warfare. If tho hoped-for
July rains should not come the situation
In India will be frightful, and may have
more serious consequences for the British
Empire than the Transvaal war can have.
i e i
Roger Q. Mills "Mills of Texas"
announces that he is not only not a
candidate for governor of that state,
but would not take the job If every
man, woman and child of the com--monwealth
were to make personal ap
peal to him to accept It. The truth
probably Is that Mr. Mills has found
business life far too congenial and lu
crative to be abandoned for political
place on a stated salary. Moreover,
being busy making himself a million
aire, with flattering prospects of suc
cess, he cannot be much in sympathy
with the party that declaims against
wealth and inveighs against those who
accumulate it as robbers..
One would think, from the slowness
and seeming reluctance of voters to
register as preliminary to the exercise
of the highest duty of citizenship, that
the franchise was the least prized of all
the privileges guaranteed by a free
government. The fallacy of such a
view will be fully demonstrated later
on, when, the opportunities for regis
tration having passed unimproved, the
great American citizen will be in evi
dence at the polls by his loud clamor
to be allowed to vote without having
registered. A word to the wise Is suf
ficient. In this case It is "now."
The death of Mrs. John Myers closes
the record of a useful, faithful, unob
trusive life that enriched by womanly
devotion to the duty that lay nearest
the community life of which It was a
part for more than half a century. A
pioneer woman in the fullest sense,
Mrs. Myers grew up from early child
hood and was married in Clackamas
County, where the greater part of her
life was spent. In the possession of
good health until a week ago, she sur
vived her husband but little more than
one month, passing out of life before
the infirmities of age had come upon
her her work done and herself ready to
depart. Her life was not long as meas
ured by the span of the aged, but it
covered a period of wonderful develop
ment in State and community life, and
completed the work to which it set
itself in youth. If it is true that "the
life Is long which answers life's great
end," then it may be said of Mrs. My
ers that long life was given her.
Eugene authorities have set five va
grant boys, of ages ranging from 15 to
17 years, at work cleaning the cross
walks of the town. Their education in
the line of being made useful was
neglected in Albany, the place from
which, it is believed, the boys came;
otherwise, they might have been hon
orable juniors of that community. The
plan of putting idle, vagrant boys to
work is one that commends itself to a
practical, sober-minded people as being
far better for the boys and the taxpay
ers than the ever-ready commitment
to the Reform School.
Russia's long-coveted opportunity In
Persia seems likely to be hastened by a
revolt in Kurdistan, the seriousness of
whlchj it Is held, calls for the presence
of Russian troops. A Russian army
once quartered in Persia, the dream of
Peter the Great of Persian conquest
will soon be realized. Luckily for Rus
sia, England's back is turned and her
hands are extended in quite another
direction just now.
Certainly the bullpen in Idaho, where
the rioters and murderers were confined
last year, was an unattractive place.
But it was even better than they de
served. A harder lot of villains never
was seized by the hand, of long-outraged
law and justice.
The latest amendment which Is re
ported to be seeking attachment to the
shipping subsidy bill is offered by Sen
ator McBride. It provides that 30 per
cent of the moneys appropriated for
subsidies shall go to ships on the Pa
cific Coast. The Senator thinks that
such an amendment would at once give
the Pacific Coast an advantage over
the Atlantic, and would be of vast im
portance in speedily building up the
commerce on the Pacific. This matter
of "advantage" is the objectionable
feature of the subsidy bill. The entire
taxpaylng population of the United
States Is asked to contribute to a sub
sidy fund, which Is to be presented to
a few wealthy shipowners and ship
builders, in order that they may have
the "advantage" over men In the same
line of business who are forcld to build
Under the stimulus of the high price
of wool, the number of sheep in the
country is rapidly Increasing. The De
partment of Agriculture gives the num
ber of sheep now in the United States
at 41,883,065, an increase over last year
of 2,708,612;
still hn TiPrfiri Trrtvt!rtn rnfltmice: Vts,
J Galllngar's bill is of vast Importance i and sail ships on the merits; of the in- j enacted laws which permit Carnegleand
The Roberts Gnnrd.
New York Tribune.
In picking out a squadron of 100 Irish
men for special service, Lord Roberts
acts from experimental knowledge of that
people; and It Is a safe forecast that
they will be heaTd from In a way credit
able to their skill and courage. The home
staying or expatriated Irishman whose
only thought is to throw a stone at the
struggling Empire presents nothing of
the dignity or patriotism which will shine
around the Roberts Guard, lighting
them on Into history, the muse of which
will give them a welcome as generous as
that which she has bestowed on a long
procession of their fighting countrymen
baptized on all the world's battle-fields,
Including a few of their own.
a
Profits Tvro Millions n Month.
Toledo (Ohio) Bee.
According to Frick, who has managed
the Carnegie properties for years, the net
profits of the Carnegie Company last year
were $21,000,000, and he estimates tha
profits for 1900 at 540,000,000. And this Is
one of the Infant Industries which the
great Republican party In its wisdom
"protected" from the competition of the
"pauper labor of Europe."
Carnegie himself owns nearly 00 per cent
of tho stock, and his profits last year
were over $13,000,000 $1,000,000 a month.
This year his profits will be about $2,-
000,000 a month, or $500,000 a week. And
The Case of Mncrnm.
The moral of the Macrtm case Is clear
enough. The consul at Pretoria instantly
became of governmental size. He knew it
and a little more. Brooklyn Eagle.
Ex-Consul Macrum's statement shows
that a lightweight statesman Is all right
until he faces a heavyweight proposition,
when he goes down and out in the first
round. St. Paul Pioneer Press.
His statement neither justifies nor ex
cuses him, but shows that he was alto
gether unfit for the position he had ob
tained, since he collapsed utterly on the
first real test of his character. Philadel
phia Press.
Macrum's whole statement bears ear
marks of being an afterthought and an at
tempt to shift upon the State department
the blame for his own weakness and lack
of judgment, discretion and courage. Min
neapolis Tribune.
The evil of allowing such a man as Mac
rum In the Consular Service is made self
evident by his talking about state affairs
after he has left the service or rather,
after he has been kicked out for incom
petency. Philadelphia Inquirer,
His statement shows him In the unsa
vory light of one who has lost office
through his failure to measure up to the
required standard In time of emergency
and who now resorts to innuendo and ac
cusations to justify himself. Washington
Star.
He says that "American Interests in
South Africa were in that condition which
demanded that the Department of Slate
should be cognizant of them." Yes, they
undoubtedly were, so long as they were
In the hands of Mr. Macrum. New York
Tribune.
He may still have something up his sleeve
to defend his action, but his first and
long-delayed statement of the case but
emphasizes the wisdom of the State de
partment In granting him permission to
come home, and in sending his successor
with all possible promptness. Kansas City
Journal.
What he says enables us to dlsmles the
theories of personal cowardice and of In
ternational treachery, and to see In his
conduct merely a display of that talent for
making mistakes of judgment which is so
often the not unpardonable accomplish
ment of youth and inexperience. New
York Times.
i a
Stntemcnt From Mr. nammond,
PORTLAND, Feb. 23. (To the Editor.)
This morning's Oregonlan contained an
article on the 12th page, under the head
of "Rate War About to End." The writer
of the article claims that his report came
from "good authority," and in attempt
ing to set forth the trouble between the
Astoria Railroad and the O. R. & N. Co.
states that the explanation Is furnished
by an "interested party and may .be of
public interest." The correspondence be
tween the President of the O. R. & N.
Co. and myself should certainly be good
authority for the cause of tho trouble be
tween the two .transportation companies;
and If The Oregonlan considers it of suffi
cient "public Interest," I am quite willing
that It should be published, providing, of
course, that the management of the O. R.
& N. Co. will give consent. I shall bo
pleased If you will kindly publish this
note, as the article above referred to en
tirely misrepresents the position taken by
the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad
Company, and I know well that It Is not
your Intention to misrepresent or do In
justice to any one. A B. HAMMOND.
i o
Lord Roselerys Speech.
Brooklyn Eagle InL, Dem.
In his speech in the House of Commons,
Lord Rosebery described the fighting In
South Africa as "a life and death crisis,"
and compared the need for raising Brit
ish soldiers to that in our Civil War. That
was not the only allusion to this coun
try In his speech. His other remark will
not bring comfort to those Anglo-phobea
among us who shout themselves red in the
face over a "secret alliance" with Great
Britain and who are preparing to use that
as a campaign cry against the re-election
of President McKlnley. Lord Rosebery
said:
Last December tbe Government made vigor
ous overtures to two great powers, Germany and
the United States, for an alliance; but those
overtures were not received with such cor
diality as to encourage the Government to pur
sue them.
That frank statement ought to kill all
talk of an alliance here, but It will not.
There are politicians and newspapers that
would ratner believe Macrum than Rose
bery and who would continue to shout
anything calculated to embarrass tha
President, even If they bad not so much
foundation for it as a Consul out of a
job.
o
The Concord Conch.
The failure of a carriage building com
pany at Concord, N. H., which made the
first Concord wagon in 1S33, will call to
mind the "Concord coach," which did so
much to help the Star of Empire on its
Westward way. More enterprises, ex
pansion, movement and territorial ag
grandizement is associated with the Con
cord couch than with anything else that
ever ran , on wheels, with the possible
exception of the Roman chariot.
DIARY OP THE AFRICAN WAR.
The most remarkable thing about Lord
Roberts' tactical victory over the Boers
is that to. an aRfriendly country, like
North Cape Colony, where every man
sympathizes with the Boers, but will sot
risk the loss of his farm, he should have
been able to execute his plan aad sur
prise the enemy, as he clearly did Gen
eral Cronje. Of course if Cronje had
suspected the design of Roberts he would
not have been caught in the disadvantag
eous and seemingly hopeless position that
he occupies today. Tbe Boers ordinarily
can make 39 miles a day. Cronje made
33 miles in a single night's march; which
Indicates that he made a forced march
and was ignorant of the nearness of
Lord Roberts' main column.
It Is extraordinary that the Boer spies,
who are omnipresent in North Caps Col
ony, should have been so dull, while Lord
Roberts massed 50,000 men for the Inva
sion of the Orange Free State. As early
as February 10, Dr. Layds, the Brussels
agent of the Transvaal, divined the third
attack on the Boer lines on the Tugela
in Natal as a mere "bluff to divert at
tention from the projected invasion of
the Orange Free State. What Dr. Leyds
divined General Cronje ought to have
known. On Monday, the 12th, the action
began, which was an attempt to turn the
Boer position by a march around its left
or eastern flank. On this day General
French's cavalry seized the fords of Rlet
River, southeast of Jacobsdal and was at
once followed up by two Infantry divis
ions. Jacobsdal, It should be remarked,
is a point where a wagon road leads off
to Kimberley from the main road to
Bloemfontein, and It was therefore a nat
ural advanced base of supplies both for
Cronje's main army and his outpost be
sieging Kimberley. On Tuesday, the 13th,
French moved north and seized the fords
at the Modder River, the infantry follow
ing close at his heels. On Thursday
morning, the loth, when one division of In
fantry was on the Modder and the other
close behind It, the cavalry of French
moved forward to Kimberley. This same
day the British Infantry In the after
noon entered Jacobsdal. In other words,
Locd Roberts' movements were so rapid
ly executed that his flying cavalry column
under French entered Kimberley about
the same time that his advance division
of Infantry entered Jacobsdal. General
Cronje's surprise must have been genuine,
for Lord Roberts telegraphed the war of
fice that General Kelly-Kenny captured
on the 16th part of General Cronje's train
which the British artillery shelled all that
day. Since the British Infantry over
took Cronje's rear guard on the 16th, and
forced him to turn at bay on the 17th
and fight all day on the 18th In a most dis
advantageous position, it Is clear that
Cronje must have been surprised by Lord
Roberts dash upon his lines. Other
wise he would have withdrawn hte forces
from before Kimberley and Magersfon
teln so rapidly that he could have fought
his battle from a position of his own
choosing.
It looks as If Cronje never appreciated
his danger until French dashed through
his communications, and that he proba
bly did not begin his retreat from his
lines at Magersfonsteln before the morn
ing of the 15th; so his forced night march
of 33 miles availed him nothing. He Is a
very gallant man, but he Is not a good
general, or he would not nave been caught
"In his pajamas." The success of Lord
Roberts Is a fresh illustration that no
matter what changes are made in modern
warfare of tactics, or magazine rifles, or
rapid-firing cannon, other things being
equal, brains Is the chief essential in a
general. Methuen and Buller have a Ann
record as bulldogs, but Lords Roberts and
Kltchner with comparatively small loss
have won a great victory.
' o
Be Fair to Puerto Rico.
New York Mali and Express, Rep.
Possibly the advocates of a tariff bar
rier against Puerto Rico will find some
difficulty In the House of Representatives
next week when they endeavor to recon
cile their present attitude with that which
they assumed, "In common with the whole
country, when our soldiers took forcible
possession of the little Island and assured
Its people that henceforth they were to
be under the protection and the bene
ficent Influences of the Stars and Stripes.
Nothing was said to them of making
Puerto Rico a possession, but not a part
of the United States. Nor was there any
suggestion at that time of a 26 per cent
tariff upon Puerto Rican Imports into
this country. The Puerto Ricans then
were hailed as fellow-Americans, and am
bitious plans were projected by enter
prising merchants here for Increased sales
of American manufactures to the Inhabi
tants of the Island.
What a policy it is for a Nation like
this, prosperous, enterprising and com
mercially strong beyond comparison, to
hold a tariff club over these people whom
we have forced under our flag and say
to them, In effect, you are one with us
only so far as It is to our advantage to
permit you to be; whenever there Is the
slightest prospect that you will get as
much out of trading with us as we will
get out of you whenever that line Is
reached it is to be the line of separation
between us as a common country!
That was Spain's selfish policy in Puerto
Rico. Is it to be ours?
o
NOTE AJflD COMMENT.
General Croat aught to be
Things are soaring fe war test
BOW.
happy,
enough
" Tie fee ssert Is buntf te hunt '.bwt
when the Hon turns to hunt ysu, Mnetfa
different.' Oom PauL
Now Is the thse fr General KMCeasher
and Judge 0Day to swat a saca sCani
and comfort to the
She (laughing t an slimnsh statues of
some Boers) They're Jnst kUasjg.
He So I have always understood.
The poets will not worry Crenrje tor a
wane at least. Nona of tbm hams yet
learned how to pronoanes his
Jeaquhi Milter has pubHsuad a booklet
entitled "Chants for Am Boar." Trow, tho
present outlook the Boars havo no shane.
Before Congress adgourns it showM pass
aa appropriation lor a few hundred gal
lows and aseut a thousand jafls In Lussa.
And so we are not to have Sue aftor
all. What wfil Utah da far an argument
the next ttm she wants to sen a Hi law i in
1st to congress?
The actress va la mr 3fw Yaric
Mast stFaJgbtwajr ga an get a play
There Is one way to avuM the honors
of a bsll pen, and that te to withhold
support from dynamhors, and abstain
from dynatttng.
What is ssM to be the torgast Wast ftr
naee la the world has just bean started, at
Youngstown. O. It Is )M tost high, K
feet in cruelMa and 2s fast to. bosh. The
capacity of the furnaoa Is W9 tons every
24 boars.
Tbe Ashland Tiihagu has Issued a erastt
abie special edition showing the progress
of Ashland and the Bogus Btvor Taney.
Half-tone views of pobUe bwtlolawa, resi
dences, landscape and mates, and wahV
written descriptions nuke an attractive
souvenir.
A Mntter of Honor.
New York Sun, Rep.
As surely as in the year 1S9S the state
of Cuba was a scandal not to be endured
by a civilized country In the position oc
cupied by the United States, so are the
existing relations between the United
States and Puerto Rico scandalous and
unendurable.
To end tho first we were required to
make war; to end the second It Is neces
sary to pass an act of Congress waiving
or modifying the tariff.
The best way of facing the new situa
tion would be to abolish the tariff between
the United States and Puerto Rico en
tirely. In accordance with the original rec
ommendation of the President, But a
simple modification would be better than
what It Is.
Congress sullenly leaving Puerto Rico
out In the cold, the victim of war, is like
a troop of soldiers .that refuses to bring
In the wounded, from the battlefield
through unwillingness to diminish the
common share at the mess table.
i a
For the Guidance of Shoppers.
San Francisco Call.
Clerk (to employer) What shall I mark
that new lot of black silk?-
Employer Mark the selling price $3 a
yard.
Clerk But it cost only $1 a yard.
Employer I don't care what It cost,
I am selling off regardless of cost.
6 H
The Garrulous Instates.
Chicago Tribune.
The jawsmlth3 who were chiefly in evi
dence at the late antl-truet conference
were exceedingly sever on the newspapers.
How many of them would ever have been
beard of If It had not been for the news
papers? I o
John Rnkln.
F. W- Bourdllion in the Speetatar.
Quenched Is the lamp, ev'n In Ma fltakerlnff
dear. - ,
"We miss the light: we would sot have lite hare;
No carping littlenesses lift their head
"Where he la, 'mid the great uajealoas dead.
He thirsted aa a thirsty laad fr rate
For Beauty, and for Good as men far gala;
Now mar be drink of tbe Immortal tide.
Ever atblrst and ever eatisaed
A new dramatic star Is In the armament.
A paper in Arkansas aays: "A Hot Sortnga
girl who has been told that she peottes
pathetic pieces with the artist's sob In her
throat, will go Bast in May to study,
though ber mother realty needs her on
wash days and her father can't afford
the money."
A correspondent wants to know how
much gold there Is In ctreuhvtton. , Ws
don't know; bnt we do know there Isn't
as much as everybody wants, never was,
never will be. Thar a the reason why
people are going to rash, off for Caoa
Nome m the spring, buying: their outfits
In Portland.
A citizen of Portland has tost serfested
a burner for using coal on, gasoline and
air for heating and cooking surpssae. He
says It will save the cttteens of the City of
London $a09,MA,s90 In one year. If they
adopt tbe burner right off, they win save
the expenses of the Boer war and hava
money enough to Indulge In another ssrap
with some one else.
It Is fairly startling to see how. axaotiy
the ideas of the Port Towns and Leader
and The Oregonlan agree on many sub
jects, and how tbe two papers express
themselves in Identical terms. The only
thing that removes tins constantly re
curring eoineidoneo from tha realm of tho
supernatural is the fact that the Tart
Towneend paper's bright Mass sea day
light two or three days Mtor than The
Oregonian's.
Just what the result of the decision of
the School Board to enforce payment of
tuition fees for nonresident nupUs In the
public schools is to be, cannot yst be folly
determined. So far. It has resulted In a
shower of applications for free tuition.
and the receipt of bnt little money aa
tuition fees. All sorts of reasons for ask
ing free tuition for nonresident pupils are
given, and in some eases It is vary hard to
refuse. To grant free tuition to some non
residents and refuse It to others Is vary
difficult, and the only way out of the di
lemma appears to be to draw a line and ad
here to It. As one of the directors re
marked yesterday, the public schools are
not charitable institutions. They are sup
ported by tbe taxpayers, and however
strongly the sympathies of the otreetors
are appealed to by deserving cases, thsy
should bear In mind that thsy have no
right to exercise their benevolence at the
expense of tbe public. Tf," said he, "tho
directors were required to pay the tusnon
fees of nonresident pupils, there would ba
very few of thera in the schools."
I. a
Filipino Army- Scandal.
Washington Star,
"I suppose thera Is a STJto deal of
Jealousy among your Generafe?"
"A great deal," answered the Fmpteo
chief, gloomily. "We have an army soan
dal at hand. The man who claims to hold
the record for long-distance retreats is
accused of violating the rales of such
contests and using a paee-mahar."
t a
Gives Heed to syxasaple.
Boston Transcript.
Mummsec I notice that you sttok to
one kind of wine whan you dins at Chasa
blay's and never touch any of the ethers,
Brutwln Neither does tbe butler.
Truth and Falsehood.
Kansas City Independent.
List to a tale wn worth ft ear
Of all who wit and sense aamfce
Invented It Is very clear
Seme ages prior to Matthew rler.
Falsefeeod aad Tmtk "upea a. tteve,"
Ooe day is Jane's dellctou weather
("Twos )n a. distant age and ultmc).
Like slaters, teek a walk together.
On. on their merry way they teak,
Threagh fragraat woo aa vnaaat meadow.
To where a heeeh beelde & break
InvHed reet beneath H ahaoew.
There, altuag- Ja the pleasant i
IlDoa the margin's grar ,
(A velvet eosWoa ready maaafc
The young cempanJooa fell to aaatttog.
New, when m vetoMe aueoanie
Ob thla asd that tbetr toagasp were raantag.
As haWt hWa each epeafc aertoMe
The oae la frank, tfce otaer
Falsehood at Iengtb, impatient grown
With acandale of her own areattas,
Bald: "Since we two are anhe aleaa,
Aa-i nicely screened from ofcgeivatlea,
"Supiaee to this dellghtfal rtn,
While all around la so graatneas.
We take a hath!" Said. Troth: "I wfH
A bath, I'm rare, will be aaHatoaof'
At this ber robe she oast astee.
And in the stream that ma baler 8 her
She ptaiwed like Oeeaa'a haaar hrlae
As naked as her mother bare hert
Falsehood, at leisure pew aadreeeed.
Put off her rases her limbs that, homseiy
And having denned Troth's snowy vest.
Ran off aa fast as she ooakt soamser.
Since then the swfetle maM, In ssoth,
Bxpert In nee aad shrewd In ftvaatsesv
Has borne the heaeet name aC Tram,
And wears her atothwi on all poena! efts,
"While Truth, dtofatntoc to :
In Falsehood's petticoat ana boosts,
EMU braves all esea from year to yeak
.jj As naked as a maxWe gossoon.