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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1902)
THE MORNING OREGONlAN, M03JBAT, SEPTEMBER 1, 1902: JEntered at the Poatcfflce at Portland. Oregon, as second-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postaco prepaid. In Advance) Dally, with Sunday, per month $ 85 Daily, Sunday excepted, per year 7 50 Dally, with Sunday, per year 9 00 Sunday, per year i 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 50 The Weekly, 3 months 00 To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered, Sunday excepted.l5c Dally, per week, delivered, Sundays included.20o POSTAGE RATES. "United States, Canada and Mexico: 19 to 14-page paper lc X to 2S-page paper - 20 Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication la The Oregonlan should bo addressed invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to tho nam Ol any Individual. T.ttfr relatintfit ar- tlslng. subscrlDtlons or to any b should be addressed simply "The fcastern Business Office. 43. awune building. New Tork Tribune bulldlmr. Chicago: tho Special Acmw Vnciprn wriresenta For sale In San Francisco by-ifjlM.f'Ce. Mj ace Hot! nra-i tnnri- n,-lrtmamJr08.. 23 Sutter strit fr W 'PIttK 100S MaKet street; J. K. Cooper Co., 740 Market street near tho Palace Hotel; Foster & Orcar. Ferry news stand; Frank Scott, 80 Ellis street, and N. Wheatley. 813 Mission street. For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 50 South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 800 South Spring street. For tale In Kansas City, Mo., by Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut streets. For sale In Chicago by tho P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald, 63 Washington street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1012 Farnani street; Mtgeath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam street. For saie in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second South street. For sale In Minneapolis by R. G. Hearsey &. Co.. 24 Third street South. t For sale In Washington. D. C by the Ebbett House newB stand. For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamlltoa & Kendrlck, 906-012 Seventeenth street; Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co., 15th and Lawrence streets; A. Series. Sixteenth and Curtis streets. 'J TODAY'S WEATHER Fair. Northerly winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature. 70 deg.; minimum temperature, 01 deg.; no precipitation. PORTLAND, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. CONTROL OF THE TRUSTS. It is difficult to see what Congress could do in such cases as that of the coal strike in Pennsylvania. How could Congress interpose? States would re gard any interposition of Congress as intrusion upon their own. domain. The whole question of distribution of pow ers as between a state and the General Government would be at the front. How the latter eould act, until or unless the Constitution, were amended so as to give it specific powers, does not ap pear. That President Roosevelt is aware of this is apparent from his speeches on Tecent occasions. Effective ctate ac tion, he says, cannot be expected, be cause the states will not co-operate, on any efficient plan. "Some govern mental sovereign must be given fuller power," he adds; "and in my opinion that sovereign must be the National Government." This Is the burden and refrain of the President's talk about the trusts and the means of controlling them. It means, probably, that in his next message to Congress he will urge sub mission by Congress to the states of a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States so as to make the National Government sovereign over corporations of the class Intrenched in these great trusts. It would not be contrary to the traditions of the Re publican party to accept this method of solution; but what would the Demo cratic .parts', the ancient party of state rights and of state sovereignty, do about it? Already in Congress its representatives have voted unanimously against submission of such amendment to .the states; but that perhaps was chiefly because the Republicans fa vored it It is clear that the trusts never will be brought under control, as matters now stand. The states will not be of one mind, there will be no correspond ence of action between them, they will take different views of their respective interests and will not act together. Only the General Government can ex ercise control, and it cannot act with effect , until the Constitution shall be changed. "WITHOUT AILMENTS." A few days ago there appeared, as supplemental to an advertisement for a girl or young woman for domestic service- in this city, the wjords that head this article. These words were striking as proclaiming a general need, and pitiful as suggesting the broken physical condi tion the constant ailing- of many, per haps the majority,, of young women who, finding it necessary to earn their own living, "take up housework" with out the equipment of physical strength that is required to perform Its routine duties acceptably, and, alas, too fre quently without the knowledge of de tails by which the trained worker in any vocation can. lighten his or her labors by what is familiarly termed "head work," A woman fagged and ailing while yet young is an object of sympathy even when life has brought her leisure, or, if not leisure, an Intelligent training in her vocation that will enable her to perform Its duties to the best possible advantage to her employer, conserving meanwhile her own strength. "When untrained in this particular, or devoid of what New England housewives term "faculty" and those of the West call "management," she becomes a drudge of the most unsatisfactory type, an ob ject of pity to her more humane em ployer and of utter exasperation to the selfish mistress who takes no account of "ailments" outside of her own, ex cept to cavil at those who possess them. It is easy to see that there are two sides to this matter. Health, treason ably sound, and a certain type xt en during strength are so essential to the successful performance of household la bor clay after day that the woman who does not possess them cannot give sat isfaction In domestic service or, It may be added, in any wage-earning vocation -without a strain upon her vitality that Is likely at any time to result in a physical and nervous break-down. "Work In this busy, driving, striving world must be done, and no one wants to hire a person to do It who in the very nature of things cannot do It with out constant complaint and frequent lapses. It is no indictment against hu manity that this is true, but quite the contrary. This question of "ailments" is perhaps nearer the core of the servant girl prob lem than we are aware. An ailing per son -is not in the very nature of things a dependable person, bo far as work Is concerned. And when we reflect that perhaps" three-fifths of the women who KK1 go out to domestic service are of this class, we may cease to wonder that the ordinary demands of household duties are considered by ailing housemaids as but the selfish exactions of mistresses or that the latter out of utter wear!-, ness lose patience with filing servants and are ready to declare that they are all alike, unless It may be that each Is more incompetent than the other. Viewing the matter from the stand point of an observer merely, one hardly knows who Is the most deserving of sympathy the housemaid who is beset with "ailments'' or the mistress, herself perhaps also "ailing," who tries to keep the household machinery running with the half-sick maid's assistance. If the mistress Is a truly sympathetic woman, she has the worst of it, since she con stantly strives to lighten the labors of the weakling in her kitchen, at the ex pense of her own strength and leisure. If she acts upon the principle that a servant has no right to be ailing; that probably her ailments are" but a con venient cloak for laziness or Incompe tence, then the girl's note of pity speed ily falls due. Whatever the situation in this regard. It contributes to condi tions so unsatisfactory In the domestic realm that we must admire the sagacity that Is shown in the premise that a girl, answering a call to domestic serv ice, must be "without ailments," since the stipulation Is in accordance with a prudence that foresees an evil and sets up an intelligent guard against It. THE ANTHRACITE RIOTS. The one lesson that organized labor must learn thoroughly before Its title to public confidence la perfected Is that It must win its way to success through other methods than the forcible inter ference by strikers with those who are willing to take their placea The right to quit is incontestable, but so is the right to go to work. A man can't throw up his job and at the same time hold on to It All the peaceful paths of or ganization, conciliation, persuasion, ex ample and proselyting are open to the union. But one way is closed, and that Is the way of physical force, directed either at the employer's prpperty or at the nonunion workman. To enter upon that path is to transform society from friends into enemies. He that takes the torch and brickbat shall perish by the bayonet and Remington. It is but fair to say that the higher walks of organized labor, educated and strengthened by higher wages and the moral Influences of machinery, and es pecially by the bitter school of experi ence, have learned this most Important lesson already. Highly trained oper atives are on a plane of enlightenment and self-control to which the trades that labor with bare hands or the simplest tools are slowly climbing. We may never again see the day when printers or telegraphers resort to violence; but it Is not long since striking street-car men at St Louis tripped Inoffensive women naked in the streets, and in Pennsylvania last week riotous miners seemed to think they might help their cause by dragging beneath their feet men In uniform who were sworn to keep the peace. For all such misguided efforts the only answer Is the old one of obedience to law and enforcement' of its penalties. The deadly enemy of strike riots and the only one that can be counted on for effectiveness, future as past, Is self interest The Ehrewdest unions do not resort to violence because of lt3 dls astrousness as a policy. The cost of un successful strikes, and the really bitter cost of all strikes, falls upon the work lngman. His Is the hunger, his the darkened home, loss of wages. These are bad enough; but when there Is reck lessly added to thenAthe collision with troops, which adds bereavement to the family and Intensifies the local gloom with funeral trains and black crepe floating everywhere, then" Is the work lngman's lot truly and lnconsolably miserable. Nothing so tends to make a strike fail as a resort to violence, because nothing so certainly alienates that public sentiment which under peace and order is pretty sure to be on labor's side. v It Is to be feared that the only appeal worth while "in this awful strike is to the miners themselves. Morgan has come and professes his helplessness. Wllkesbarre appeals to the President, Harrlsburg talks of a special session of the Legislature, and Mitchell will today confer with Senators Quay and Penrose. But under existing law it Is difficult to see what action any of these agencies can accomplish, where the Civic Federa tion and Mqrgan himself are powerless. Until there is some disposition on one side or the other to yield, who has power to compel that disposition? The coal shortage may be the public's con cern, but not In any such sense as the Issues involved are the concern of the parties Interested. It la well enough to remember that the public has received 2000 pounds or thereabouts for every ton of coal It has paid for, -and that there is no contract, express or implied, by which anthracite is bound to be sold by operators or cut by miners. The real stake and the real authority for settlement rests with master and men alone. Appeals' to the masters have been spurned with contempt. The only recourse Is appeal to the men to keep the peace and hope through "popular support to win their just cause at last CLEAN SEED FOR CLEAN WHEAT. A very Interesting and valuable arti cle on vltrlollzlng wheat to avoid smut is printed In another column this morn ing. The smut evil has been growing In the Pacific Northwest, and In the present season has attained proportions that are proving very costly to the wheatgrowers of the afflicted districta Tho remedy suggested In the letter of Mr. Smith is easy and economical, and Its merits are unquestionable. That gentleman Is raising clean wheat year after year in a district which has suf fered more from smut than any other portion of Washington or Oregon, and seven years' trial In which he has grown 200,000 bushels of wheat, and no smut, certainly gives weight to his opinion. In the present season some of the Pa louse wheatfields have been damaged fully 25 per cent by smut, while the output of entire fields has been tainted sufficiently to affect the price a cent or two per bushel. With a big yield and high prices this would be a matter of concern to the growers, but this year, with only a moderate yield and moder ate prices, it presents a grave aspect and demands the serious attention of farmers. The Pacific Northwest, under favor able circumstances, can produce the fin est wheat grown anywhere In the world, and the merits of our best wheat are each year becoming more thoroughly appreciated, it has taken years and decades to narrow the differential be tween Walla Walla and California car goes Sn the Liverpool markets, but, ow ing to Improved methods for cleaning and handling the grain at North Pacific ports, the "spread" between the two grades is now down to but one shilling per quarter. Even this differential may in time be eliminated if due care Is exercised by growers in turning out nothing but clean, high-grade wheat There are seasons when climatic condi tions prevent certain sections from pro ducing choice wheat, but, according to the "testimony of Mr. Smith, there Is no valid excuse for growing smutty wheat, and even shriveled wheat which Js clean and bright will command more money than can be secured for It when it la tainted with smut In this connection the thought is sug egsted that the Washington State Grain Commission might do something to earn the several thousand dollars per annum which it is extracting from, the wheat growers and giving nothing in return. The grading work of the commission Is a farce, as practically the entire crop of the Northwest is marketed on the grades made by the buyers for the Liv erpool markets, who pay no attention whatever to the grades established by the board. The commission could be of some service to the farmers, however, by making an effort to Impress upon them the necessity for sowing clean wheat, free from smut or other impuri ties. It might with credit to Itself and profit to the farmers see that a copy of Mr. Smith's article on smut be placed in the hands of every wheatgrower In the state. The man who raises clean, high-grade wheat needs no state, grain Inspector to establish a grade for it, as it will always command a premium over light-weight, dirty wheat. The Washington Grain Commission may term flfty-eight-pound wheat "No. 1"; sixty-pound wheat "choice milling," and heavier wheat "extra choice wheat," and so on up or down the line. The fact that they "christen" this wheat of different weights with the names mentioned does not add to its value, for the exporter will pay just as much of a premium over flfty-elght-pound wheat for sixty-two-pound wheat, without the classification "choice milling" as he will with It, and the farmer will not be taxed 75 cents per car for the service. If the Grain Commission will Improve the quality of the wheat before It leaves the farm. It will have performed a greater service for the farmer than It Is now doing with its alleged grading at tidewater, where its grades are accepted or rejected according to the views of the buyers for the Liverpool market. WORKING TOO HARD. The New York correspondent of the Philadelphia Press writes that Mr. Schwab's recent nervous prostration Is not duo to his working too hard, but to his luxurious habits of living since he came to New York. In other words, Mr. Schwab has not been working too hard, but playing too hard. He has been keeping late hours, eating big din ners, sleeping late, and his career has been compared to that of the hero of Daudet's romance, "The Nabob." The New York Times, referring to these re ports regarding Mr. Schwab, repeats a twice-told tale when it says that no man can make his pleasures more exhaust ing than his work without giving out more quickly than nature intended he should; that a man to carry without fatigue the varied and heavy responsi bilities of a great business must take these responsibilities seriously and rec ognize that he Is not at liberty to follow as recreations pursuits more destructive of his mental and physical energies than the work he has to do. The Times is right Vers hard work associated with great responsibility seldom kills a man who takes care of himself. Worry, not work, kills a man. Napo leon, who was a tireless worker, gen erally had excellent health, whether he was In Egypt or Russia; but when dis aster and crushing misfortune pressed upon him, his bodily health lost Its tone before he was 46. Commodore "Vander bllt was a tireless worker, but he was temperate in diet, went to bed betimes, attended no balls or late suppers. Hor ace Greeley was a great worker, but he was temperate in diet and took reg ular and sufficient sleep. Political dis appointment and ceaseless watching at the bedside of his dying wife broke Greeley down; not his work. Charles A. Dana, another tireless worker, lived to a good old age, and always said that hard work with regular sleep and wholesome diet seldom broke its doer down, but that ceaseless worry from any cause would break a strong man down. Professor Huxley, a tireless worker, was always cheerful and lived to be 75. In his letters he confesses that he was not as prudent in his social life as he should have been, for he liked a good dinner with, genial company. Ex Unlted States Senator Edmunds has all his life been a very hard student, and yet at nearly 75 he Is still in the prac tice of his profession. Gladstone was a very hard worker, and could make a powerful speech when past 80. Herbert Spencer, naturally of delicate constitution, has worked very hard all his days, and Is now 82. His habits have been temperate, but he Is of social temper and likes a dinner with his friends, Edward Everett Hale has been a tireless worker all his days, and at SO years of age Is still active. All these men who have worked hard and lived long have been the fortunate pos sessors of the "don't worry" tempera ment, the kind that the venerable Pope Leo has always possessed, the kind of temperament that carried William M. Evarts to 83, despite tho blindness of his last years of life. Now, work, espe cially if it Is victorious labor, does not bring with it worry, but Irregular hab its whrch impair the digestion and pro duce sleeplessness do bring on worry and vexation of spirit, and finally lead to nervous breakdown. So Charles A. Dana was right when he said that hard mental work killed few, while mental worry had killed a great many. Few men ever possessed a stronger body or constitution than Lincoln when he became President at 52. He was In his prime of body and mind; he had never abused his health by intemperate living, and the anxiety and worry of four years of Presidential service had so greatly broken down his nerves and affected his temper that those nearest to his dally life did not believe that he would have outlived his Gecond term had he escaped murder. Worry had worn Lincoln out because he had a great heart which the horrors of war filled with ceaseless ,paln. Had it not been for his very humane temper, Lin coln would have suffered no more from worry and vexation of spirit than that grim military genius and imperturba ble, cheerful egotlsi William T. Sher man, who never worried about anything that happened unless it happened to him. Miss Stone's narrative of her life among the brigands, continued from month to month in McClure's Magazine, recites daily hardships and sufferings overbrooded by the misery of constant apprehension and the heart sickness of hope deferred. Covering a period of nearly five months, the details of these days and weeks of captivity are har rowing to the sympathetic reader, while in the practical view, that sees the utter uselessness of so-called "evangel ical work" among a brutal, mercenary people represented by the custodians of MIsa Stone and her companion in cap tivity, pity struggles with Impatience for mastery as the story proceeds. While everybody in the widely com prehensive sense of that term Is glad that the captives were ransomed, many still adhere to the idea that a woman of Miss Stone's capability might read fly and safely find plenty of work to do In- Christianizing the heathen without going outside of her own country or learning to speak a foreign language". There Is some danger that the story will arouse the spirit of adventure in emotional young women and render fu ture demands for the ransom of Amer ican missionaries possible. Unfortu nately, In the very nature of things, the most realistic details of this captivity must remain to a considerable extent unwritten, it being impossible to con vey by language the nameless dread, the sudden apprehensions, the awak ened hopes and fears and the physical sufferings of these two women as they were literally dragged about the moun tains for months for the purpose of hid ing until the ransom was paid. Other wise there is no danger that any zealot would be willing to take chances upon duplicating the experience of Mlra Stone and Mrs. Tsllka In the mountains of Bulgaria. Considerable attention has been drawn to Coos Bay by the organization of sev eral corporations for the development of that country, including the building of a railroad between Coos Bay and Salt Lake City. The scheme seems an am bitious one. but It Is not wise to con demn it for that reason, for the field holds possibilities so vast and varied that no man can place a limit or define the extent of the industrial and com mercial activities that may grow up there. It Is largely an unknown coun try because of the limited means of communication with It The Oregonlan has taken the trouble to send a mem ber of Its staff to the Coos Bay coun try to see what Is In progress there and to tell of the conditions as they appear to one on the ground. These matters will be presented In a series of letters, the first of which appears this morning. Information about the country is Im portant because Its appeal to enterprise is too strong to permit it to remain "bottled up," and if the present devel opment projects should fail of accom plishing ajl that Is promised, others are sure to seek the field and Improve it Oregon's time to move forward has come, and the Coos Bay empire cannot long remain In seclusion. The disgrace of child slavery Is mov ing the conscience of Alabama. In the cotton mills of that state 22,000 white children are at work, the majority of them from 7 to 12 years of age. The Alabama committee, engaged In a cru sade against this horror, says that these children work In both the night and day shifts, stunting their growth and losing educational opportunities. The most desperate feature of it Is that their indolent parents are content to receive the blood money, of 9 to 29 cents a day. This new sacrifice of children to Moloch and Mammon is to be stopped. If possi ble, by appeal to the Legislature of Alabama, for which the committee is making preparation. Among the negroes of the South there, Is hopeful decrease of llllteraqy. Twenty years ago two-thirds of them were wholly Illiterate; but the census of 1900 showed that this element had been re duced to 45 per cent. In some of the Southern States there is a large white element whose Illiteracy seems even more incorrigible than that of the negro. The paradox of this is that among these white persons there Is a great deal of Intellectual and moral force; yet somehow they are content with the lim itations of illiteracy. They may yet be stimulated to action by desire not to be outdone in educational results by the negroes. While this country leads the world In its railroads and street railways, it is far behind the first countries of Eu rope In its system of public highways. England and Wales spend annually $20,000,000 on their roads; Ireland, $3,000,000; France, $37,500,000, while the United States spends but $40,000 upon its Federal plan of public road Improve ment If we include the annual ex penditures of the various states of the Union, there" will be expended this year about $10,000,000 throughout the coun try for the betterment of highways. It is certainly a remarkable phenom enon to see a President on a stumping tour cutting out a line of thought that has been tabooed by his party leaders both In CongresB and in campaign com mittees. AH the same, he Is strong where those leaders are weak. It will be humiliating if the party elects to leave this fair mountain of civic right eousness to batten on the moor of cor porate influence and millions in cam paign contributions. A3 soon as the banlt3 begin to cast about for bonds with which to enter Secretary Shaw's arrangement for emergency circulation, the bonds begin to rise so high as to make them profit less for the purpose. This automatic movement of bonds has always been the despair of patent circulation de vices. It might have been foreseen now. Its hampering effect is obvious. If the coal barons persist much fur ther in their refusal to come to a con-, ierence witn tne miners, and to give a hearing to the- demand of the miners for wages that will enable-them to live, the test whether the barons hold the coal deposits by divine right may come sooner than they think. Our Washington dispatches this morning quote Representative Pou, of the Fourth North Carolina District, as predicting all manner.of disaster to the Republicans from President Roosevelt's attacks on the trusts. Mr. Pou's Demo cratic wish is doubtless father to his thought. In Kansas the County Assessors, un der direction of the State Board of Ag riculture, make a yearly enumeration of the inhabitants. By the report just made public it appears that the popula tion of Kansas Is 1,464,569 a loss of 3239 since the return of last yean k REMEDY OF DOUBTFUL POWER New York Times. That the states organized' out of the Brit ish colonies attained to all the rights and powers of sovereignty on establishing their independence; that they created the Federal Government, granting to It cer tain of their sovereign powers while re serving others to themselves; that the power to create and control corporations is an attribute of sovereignty not sur rendered to the. states by the National Government and that the power of the National Government over corporations deriving their powers from the states" Is now held to originate in and be limited by the inter-stato commerce provision of the Consltutlon these are the familiar and fundamental truths of the question discussed by the President at Providence. An amendment to the Constitution such as the President suggests would not mere ly confer upon Congress the power to ap ply to corporations the remedy of pub licity, to limit the amount of stock Is sues to the actual 'amount of assets, or to forbid their merging and consolidation. These, things are details and belong to statute law. The organic law concerns it self with broad principles. The Presi dent's amendment therefore, would In broad, but In precise, terms give Congress the power to control and regulate corpor ations throughout the Union, not merely In their lnter-state business, but general ly in their conduct and management There are 45 states in the Union. Con stitutional amendments fall If not ratified by a vote of three-fourths of the states. The adverse vote of 12 states would de feat the President's amendment It is as certain as any future political event can be that the amendment would be rejected by the Legislatures of Maine, New Hamp shire, Vermont Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut New York, New Jer sey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Il linois. Here are 12, enough to defeat the amendment Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and certainly Delaware, might bo added to the list But 12 are enough. The Legislatures or the conventions of these states would defeat the amendment because they are great manufacturing states. Countless millions, yes veritable billions, of their capital are invested in the securities of their corporations, and millions of their citizens depend for their salaries and daily bread upon the pros perity of the Industries In which these corporations are engaged. The people of these states, in their present disposition, will not consent that the power to control their corporations shall pass from the government of their own states, always responsible to themselves, to the Congress and Executive of the Federal Government One Course or the Other. New York Evening Post. It has been manifest from tho begin ning of Mr. Roosevelt's Presidency that he must either take the lead in the cam paign against monopolies, or resign it to the Democratic party. The case is an alogous to that which existed when the two parties were confronted by the Cuban question. The glaring defect In President Roosevelt's Providence speech was his failure to take notice of the tariff as an instrument by which the Industrial com bines or a portion of them maintain their power. The very same newspapers which print his speech contain the news that contracts have been made In Chicago for iron and steel from England, because our own furnaces cannot supply the demand. Every pound of material so imported lias to pay a heavy duty for the benefit of tho steel trust and all other home producers. It Is needless to say that this duty is unnecessary, and Is a sheer gratuity. It Is needless to say that Congress has the power to repeal this duty, and by so much lessen the power of the steel trust Nor can the President plead Ignorance of the public desire for this method of dealing with the trusts when the conventions of his own party In Iowa, Idaho and else where are demanding tho abolition of such restrictive and unnecessary taxes. So long as Mr. Roosevelt Ignores this branch of the question, he leaves his flank exposed to a fire which must become more and more galling as the fight proceeds. Coal Supply and Whter Supply. Boston Herald. It has come to be the case that coal is one of the prime necessities of life In our civilization. The millions of users will not brook being deprived of It by any body of citizens who set their selfish in terests above the public necessities. It is as if a water company, which had ac quired control of all available, sources of supply for the citizens, In case of a differ ence of opinion between the company and Its employes, should tell the people that they might go without water until their employes got ready' to accopt the com pany's terms. The .company would not hold Its charter long. The sovereign peo ple would find a way to dispossess It of the privileges It so oppressively abused. The Safest Age. London Business Illustrated. The Insuring of one's life is one of those things which one Is most apt to put off. There are few, however, who postpone what ought to be the Inevitable until so late a period in life as did the tough old smackowner of Grimsby. When he pre sented himself at the insurance office he wa3 naturally asked his age. Hla reply was "Ninety-four." "Why, my good man, we cannot Insure you." said the company. Why not?" ho demanded. "Why, you are 94 years of age." "What of that?"" the old man cried. "Look at statistics, and they will tell you that fewer men die at 94 than at any other age." "In Kentucky.' Springfield Republican. It Isn't every man who can so gravely silence all talk of his nomination for Gov ernor as Editor Watterson. of Kentucky. "I am too old to turn rascal." he says in an address to the people. Which somehow reminds one of the celebrated stanza: Song birds are the sweetest In Kentucky; Thoroughbreds the fleetest. In Kentucky; . The mountains tower proudest. Thunder peals the loudest. The landscape Is the grandest And politics the d dest. In Kentucky. Cleveland's Time to Strike. Atlanta Journal. Perhaps Mr. Cleveland Is used to Editor Watterson's buzzing, and doesn't think it necessary to slap at him until he lights. Mr. Dner Explains. B. E. Klscr, In Chicago Record-Herald. I. God reigns on high; From there In his Infinite wisdom ho Is guiding nnd inspiring Me. The power I hold God gave Me. I Am sent to drive, to crush, to stand With warning and uplifted hand. Waving the clamorous throngs Back to the slavery they would shun! What of the stories of their wrongs? Their sacrilegious cries Offend the Powers In the skies I Tls the Lord God's wlU that Is being done! Through Me he gives, through Me he takes; I am the blossom and the fruit; Through Me he bends, through Me he breaks, I am his agent absolute! II. By right divine I let Starvation's fangs sink deep Within the vitals of men's children. Mine Is the voice they must obey, I keep A holy order locked within My breast God. knowing what Is best. Has chosen Me to answer yea and nay. And If I crush or if I kill It Is the Lord that shows the way. Therefore, beware, ye sacrilegious hordes. In strlklnc down my hands, ye strike the Lord's I represent his wishes and his will I Through Me he gives, through Me ha takes; Iamthe blossom and the fruit; Through Me he bends, through Me he breaks. I am bis agent absolute! "A M0VE.IN FAVOR OF PROPERTY." Chicago Tribune. After the fierce contest over the control j of the Northern Pacific Railroad the men whov took an active part in it devised a plan of merger on tho ingenuity and effi cacy of which they prided themselves. Their complacency was rudely shaken when the Attorney-General of the United States began suit against the Northern Securities Company. They were much displeased. It is believed that some of them remonstrated with the President but found him immovable. The suit has not been abandoned, and the financiers whoso plans have been interfered with by It long for a more tractable President. There Is in the President's address at Boston a passage which may with propri ety be taken as a reply to the expostula tions addressed to him because of suits ordered brought under the anti-trust law. Ho said: I am far from being against property when I ask that the question of trusts be taken up. I am acting In the most conservative sense In property's Interest. When a great corporation is sued for violating the anti-trust law It Is not a move against property; It Is a move In favor o property, because when you can make it evident that all men, big and small alike, have to obey the law you are putting the safe guard of law around all men. When you make It evident that no man shall be excused for violating the law you make It evident that every man will be protected from violation of the law. This Is a view of the case which the men prominent in great railroad and In dustrial combinations created for purposes which the law condemns as Illegal should accept. If they demand exemption from the operation of the law when ,lt declares illegal acts which they from a buslneso point of view consider eminently commend able, they will awaken bitter and lasting animosities. The men to whom the Presi dent addresses himself are nowise slow to ask for the protection of the law when their rights are attacked. They should be ready to respect the rights of the com munity or of individual members of the community. To all who are violating the anti-trust law the President says, "As far as the laws go they will be enforced." No suit will be begun unless the Attorney-General believes there Is a violation of the law which can be got at, "and when the suit is undertaken it won't be compromised except on the basis that the Government wins." The men who Intimate that when the President orders suits under the anti-trust laws he Is "against property," and the men who insinuate that such suits arc begun merely for 'the sake of appearances have their answer. s Prlco of Coal Almost Double. New York World. The following table tells the story of the price of coal before and since the strike: Before tho strike: Coal for domestic use, per ton $3 40 Coal by the pall 0 Coal by the bushel 25 Since the strike: Coal for domestic use $10 00 Coal by the pall 20 Coal by the bushels 45 Probable price this week: Coal for domestic use $12 0O Coal by the pall 22 Coal by the bushel CO Obsolete Statesman. Tip, in the New York Press. Lafe Pence says that he has persuaded Jerry Simpson to resume his socks and Senator Peffer to shave oft his whiskers. Those were great days when Pence, Pef fer, Simpson. Allen. Davis, Clover, Stew art Kyle, Otis and Baker held the center of the stage of Populism. Where are they now? Scattered to the four corners of heaven. Bryan alone manages to get his name In the papers in these times. If Peffer gives up his whiskers, where will the wind blow? What will It moan through? A Sufficient Answer. Providence Journal. Charles Eliot Norton, whose pessimism grows sourer with the years, asks what credit we have gained from the Spanish War. His neighbor and friend, Charles William Eliot, says that if it had resulted in no other good to mankind, the war would have been worth while, because it led to our discovery of how to check yel low fever, thereby enabling us to save more lives every year than the war cost us: The Aim of the Iowa Platform. Indianapolis News, Ind. The whole effect of Secretary Shaw's speech Is to Justify the present tariff. He Is in favor of "advisable" changes, but he doubts whether any changes are advis able. He would modify those duties that shelter monopoly, but he is not yet con vinced that thero are any such duties! The hope is that the Iowa platform will satisfy those who want changes, without committing the party to making changes. What Is the Limit f Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. Colonel Henri Watterson has got us all guessing again by his assertion that he Is "too old to turn rascal." The Colonel is about 62 years old, and his language in timates that there Is a limit beyond which turning rascal Is not allowable. Those who have passed the three-score mile post are presumably safe, but by how large a margin? In other words, what Is the limit? PERSONS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT. M. GIrault. a member t the French national legislature, has drafted a bill prohibiting duels In tho republic and her colonies. He proposes that the principals In such encounters shall be deprlved of civic rights for eljjht years and seconds five years. In the case of foreigners fighting on French soli the principals are to be Imprisoned for a year and the seconds for a month, with subsequent expulsion from France. Carrie Nation was delivering a "lecture" In Lima, O.,, a few nlrhts ago. and In tho course of her remarks Indulged In abuse of the late President .McKlnley. This made her hearers somewhat restive, and ono of them, roused by & particularly brutal remark, arose and called her a liar. Instantly, the audience was In an uproar, which continued for some minutes. When quiet was restored nearly all the seats were empty. The "Knox punch" Is a new drink named In honor of the Attorney-General's recent pugi listic encounter with Mr. Stevenson in the At lantic City cafe. Of course. Jamaica rum Is the chief Ingredient, for no drink mixer would regard a punch complete without It. pineapple and lime Juice also figuring. When all have been well shaken somo blood-red fluid Is added, and the barkeeper passes It pver with the re mark, "That's what Knox drew." In the diplomatic colony of Washington the coming Winter a more than usually American atmosphero will prevail, as. In addition to the wife of the new British Ambassador, who was Miss Wilson, of New York, the announcement has Just been made that the wife of M. Jusse rand was also born In America. She was for merly Miss Richards, and prior to her marriage to the French diplomat, had lived some years In Paris, where she receded a brilliant educa tion. Abraham L. Graham, of Jersey City, has set tled out of court a suit which he brought against the North Jersey Street Railroad Com pany, one of whose cars killed his 4-year-old son six years ago. A Jury awarded him $5000, but this verdict was set aside in a higher court by Judge Gummere, who gave his cele brated, decision that 91 was ample monetary consideration for the death of a child of that age. Graham was not content, and kept up the fight. Now he la to receive $1000, and the company Is to pay all his legal expenses, amounting to some $3000. According to current rumor In Newport, Jame3 J. Van Alen Is planning to dispose of all his property in the United States, his in tention being to lte in England, which, he Is credited with having said, "Is the only fit place for a gentleman to live In." Mr. Van Alen bitterly resents the publicity which has been jtlvcn to his private affairs by saffron hued newspapers, and has frequently declared that some day he would take up permanent residence abroad. It Is understood that he would fcave done so ere now but for the fact that it Is doubtful whether his daughter. Miss May Van Alen, would consent to leave her na tive land for gocX NOTE AND COMMENT. More explosive than the oil 'tanks have been some people's tempers. We haven't any more kissers since the last naval war, that's one comfort The most enjoyable' part of our Summer vacations was just after we got back. Is coyote "farming" one of the infant industries of Oregon that needs protec tion? j. Can you make a man out of a boy of 16 years by putting him on the throne of Spain? It seem3 impossible to get many people fired up even en such a burning question es a fireboat Of course, lawyers won't contest pay ment of their own occupation tax; there's no money In It. Perhaps when the Filipinos see the gold braid and regalia of General Miles they will think they got off lucky. Mayer Williams doesn't go after vices spasmodically. He has started not a moral wave but a moral tide. Any man who knows the girls and in the secret deeply probes, finds the Joy of being Queenly lies hi wearing Queenly robes. The only place where swearing doesn't seem to hurry things up is at the tele phone. And perhaps the hello girl is hu man as well as yourself. Solomon In all his glory was not arrayed like our Carnival Queen. All the other girls will now wonder how much more radiant and brilliant their charms would have been If the people had only known of them. The Portland police have arrested sev eral persons, among them Chinese, for al leged gambling. But It begins to look as If to get conviction the quality of justica will have to be strai ud. even though per force it should be temcpered with mercy. The Beers bow to God's will. They said, they bewed. when they began the war, but did they? If they bowed then as well a3 now, were they dupes then, or are they now? The Almighty has been known to cast his fortunes with the strongest force most of the time. It remained for our own John Barrett to be received by the Empress of China. Nerve leads on when wisdom fears to tread. All feliow-cltizens of Oregon will share In the unprecedented distinction, par John is a man of likely parts, suave, a good talker and handsome withal. Wo don't bldme the Empress of China, indeed we don't. If Hanna is really serious, he acts like a man with a penitent heart who is trying to reform. We all wish that his contrition 1& not induced by shabby treatment from the trusts. The Senator is credited with having said: "What I was to McKlnley I should like to be to Roosevelt." God forbid that his new activity presages any effort In this direction. A minister at Baker City is reported to have shocked his congregation greatly, not many Sundays ago. He Is an English man, and arrival In this country only re cently. After the services the good pastor eaw a woman departing who had forgot ten her overshoes. "Madame! Madame!" exclaimed he You've forgotten your ov eralls." The Spanish-American War Veterans have on thf lr membership roll the name of President Roosevelt. They will hold their annual encampment at Indianapolis September 23. The1 President will honor them with his presence and will make a speech. They will probably hear the story of San Juan Hill all .over again, and, even if he gives out the Impression that ha was the whole show, he Is entitled to do so, because that Is what every American coldler in the fight was trying to be. We trust the antis will not have aching corns, as usual. The Czar has proposed to reduce ths standing armle3 of Europe and to apply the money thus saved to fighting trusts.. A noble Idea, surely, but the monarch grates on rusty hinges- Only the weaker nations would;consent to cutting down tha military expenditures, and in case of war it would be done for them, willy nllly. Tha Czar should wait, as did his Illustrious predecessor, Peter the Great, who, when repeatedly defeated by Charles XII, Is re ported to have said: "Never mind, they will teach us how to beat them." It is saljl that an editor recently an nounced that for Just one Issue he would tell the truth, the whole truth, naked and unvarnished. That is. the' truth was to be naked and unvarnished. Here Is one Item from that issue: "Married Miss Sylvia Smith to Mr. James Carnahan. last Saturday, at the Baptist parsonage. The bride Is a very ordinary girl about town who doesn't know any more than a rabbit about cook ing, and never helped her poor old mother three days in her life. She is. not a beau ty, by long ahot and has a gait like a fat duck. The groom is known as an up-to-date loafer and lias been living off hia mother all his llfo. and don't amount to anything nohow. They will have a tough time of It. and we withhold congratula tions, for we don't believe any 'good can come from such a marriage." PLEASANTRIES OP PARAGRAPIIERS With Socrates. "Pop. don't you wish you were me?" "Why?" "Well, mamma whips me when she gets mad. but she talks to you." Life. Tenderfoot I see there's great indignation over the killing of Ginger Jim. Native You bet. Why. Bad Bob's bullet went through Jlni and smashed a Jug o' whisky on Poison Pete's bar. Such doln's won't be tolerated! Chicago" News. Viewed It Scientifically. "Wasn't It a terri fying experience," acked his friend, "when you lost your fcothold and went sliding down the mountain side?" "It was exciting, but ex tremely interesting," said the college profes sor. "I could not help noticing, all the way down, with what absolute accuracy I was fol lowing along the llni of least resistance." Chicaso Tribune. Sherlock Holmes In New York. "Will you marry me?" he said, suddenly looking up from the paper, which he had been studying. "Wh why," she replied, "how you startled me. What has caused you to ask me such an Im portant question a suddenly?" "I've been looking over the tax list." "f can't see what the tax list has to do with our love?" "Your father's name Isn't on It. He must be very rich." Chicago Record-Herald. Spoiled a Deed of Heroism. "Uncle," said little Johnny, "tell me how you charged with your war horse up the San Juan hill at ths head of your troops." "Well." said the battle scarred veteran. "I mounted tho fiery animal drew my sword from Its scabbard, rose In my stirrups, cried 'Forward!' and sunk the spurs deep in the quivering flanks of my gallant steed." "Yes!" exclaimed the boy, breath lessly. "Go on, uncle. Tell me the rest of it." "There isn't any more to tell. Johnny, said his uncle, with a pensive sigh. "Th horse balked." Chicago. Tribune.