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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1902)
THE MORNING OREGONIA& .MOKDA3 JECH5MBE& ' :8. Entered at th Postofflco at Portland. Oiwb. as second -class matter. -REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. JBt Mall (postage prepaid. In advance). Dally, -with Sunday, per nionth t Dally. Sunday excepted, per year J Dallv. with Sunday, per year J Sunday. pr year 5 The Weekly, per year 1 j The Weeky 3 months w To City Subscribers . .. , Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday ccepted.lo Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday tncludel.zoo POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: JO to 1-i-pag-v paper. 2; 14 to 28-page paper... - Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication la The Oregonlan rhould be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name o any Individual. Letters relating to adver tising; subscrirtlons or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." Eastern Buriness Onlce. 4.":. 44. 45. 47. 48. i9 Tribune bulldinir. New York City: 510-11-12 Tilbune building. Chicago: the S. a Beckwlth Special Agency. Eastern representative. For sale in San Franrl I. E. Lee. Pal kce Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros.. 233 Sutter street: F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market street: 3. K. Cooper Co.. 746 Market street, near the Palace Hotel: Foster & Orear. Ferry news tiand: Frank Scott. 80 Ellis street, and N. TVheatley. 813 Mipsion street. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 2C9 South Spring street, and Oliver St Haines. 205 South Spring street For sale in Kansas City. Mo., by r':secker Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut streets. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News -Co.. 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. 63 Washington street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1612 Farnam street: Megeath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam street. For sale in Salt Lake br the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second South street. For sale In Minneapolis by R. G. Hearsey & Co.. 24 Third street South. For sale in Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett House news r-tand. For sale in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton A Kendrlck. 906-012 Seventeenth street: Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence street; A. Series. Sixteenth and Curtis streets. TODAY'S WEATHER Occasional rains. Southeasterly -winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 42 deg.; minimum temperature, 33 deg.; precipitation, .12 Inch. PORTLAND, MONDAY, DECEMBER 8. "The lady doth protest too much." In this pregnant sentence does William Shakespeare, that greatest of human minds, uncover one' of the profoundest bits of his unapproachable philosophy of human nature. Nobody had accused the player Queen of crime, actual or contemplated, yet she falls to in' a most vehement denunciation of the sin upon which the plot of "Hamlet" hangs. Is It thus, in a mild and comparatively harmless de.ree, with certain members of our Oregon delegation In Congress? It was said that the manipulation of Oregon public lands could hardly have gone on without the knowledge of them and of their land office appointees. . No body charged them with fraud. All that was Intimated was negligence. Tet now we behold men. tearing hair and cracking heels together because of sus-; pected "fraud" and "corruption." On ary other subject and with any other persons concerned the Inference would be that some knoweldge other than that imparted In the original criticism must prompt these agitated demands that the guilty be punished. and the Innocent freed from suspicion. What possible Infamy is thus hinted at, which has never before seen the light of day? Can it be an arrangement under which information of contemplated reserva tions was sent out here, so that by the time- reserves were created, whole car loads of people had filed on sections cor responding miraculously to the bound. aries of the withdrawals? Can it be that the links in this chain are known at Washington, and something, at least, of the beneficiaries of its profits? Have the fortunes that have been made in the Oregon State Land Office been dupli cated by an arrangement that involved members of Congress, clerks In the Land Office at Washington, Surveyors-Gen eral, Registers and Receivers, In active or passive participation? The Orego nian desires here and now to acquit our Congressional delegation, Surveyor-Gen eral, Land Office officials, general and local, of any direct malfeasance in these and kindred matters. What we do say Is that their agitation over a! mild accu sation of indifference prompts a feeling that they may know of improprieties that have been committed by others; and that if they do, they can render the Government and the public Itself no greater service thari to tell what they know. The escape of the Innocent should be their concern no more than the exposure of the guilty, and for that purpose our columns are open. The Army transport business has been afflicted with a taint of jobbery since its inception, and to this fact probably more than to any other Is due the desire on the part of the Quartermaster's De partment to get the active management off Its hands. To be sure, reforms have taken place since the work was started The Barneson pull in San Francisco and the Waterhouse pull In Seattle are no longer in direct evidence, and ancient scrap heaps which would not sail for 525,000 in the open market are no longer palmed off on the Government for trans ports for $400,000 and $500,000 each. But Is it not possible to work reform with out turning the entire business over to a monopoly, which might and might not do the work as well as it could be done if it were left in a measure in charge of the Government? "Why cannot the Government work be handled on busi ness principles which rule in other transactions? By giving any one port on the Pacific Coast a monopoly of the business of dispatching transports, the Government will frequently be placed at a disadvantage so costly that it will nullify all the possible gains in other directions. It will be poor economy for the Government to save 25 cents per ton on the freight on a cargo of forage from Seattle or San Francisco, when' it Is compelled to pay ?2' per ton more fo,r the cargo than it would cost in Port land. The" Government can always charter ships or space oh ships, as cheap as it can be secured by private indi viduals, and there is accordingly no ne cessity for turning all of its business over to any single firm of shipowners or to any one port on the Coast. The fact that money has been lost and scandals created .by the slipshod methods pre viously employed in handling this busi ness does not prove that it cannot be handled In an economical, business-like manner if proper 'supervision is given the chartering and operation of ships and the purchasing of stores, etc. That warm friend oY the Columbia River and earnest advocate of appro priations for Its improvement, the Se attle Post-IntellIgencer,-has just thrown another of its periodical fits over the detention of a fleet of vessels below As toria. The efforts of that viclssltudl rious paper in behalf of the thousands of Tyashlngtonlans who are dependent solely on the Columbia River route as a highway to the sea for their products will in time become thoroughly Under stood. Spasmodically in the past It has demanded In no uncertain language that the Columbia River be opened for navi gation for . the benefit of the wheat growers of Eastern "Washington and Idaho. Unfortunately for the aforesaid wheatgrower, his disinterested ally on Elliott Bay placed limitations on. the area of the river that was to be opened. In one issue it demanded that every obstruction between Portland and the Inland Empire be removed forthwith. In the next it berated Portland for spending her own money in opening a channel to the sea, and by innuendo as well as direct 'charge sought to create the Impression that the channel below Portland could never be placed in good condition. The Post-Intelligencer would like -to see a forty-foot channel from Portland to Lewlston, but it will fight to the end any effort that is made to Improve the channel at the mouth of the river 'so that ships may come and. go without delays. It will also take ad Vantage of every opportunity like the present to enlarge on the difficulties now confronted by vessels entering the river. The Senatorial prospects of the 'owner of the Post-Intelligencer will not be Im proved In Eastern Washington by these persistent attacks on the Columbia River, which drains a greater area of territory in "Washington than In Oregon. A river "open" In the middle and not at the mouth will benefit neither Ore gon nor "Washington. It Is of no use now to call for an In vestigation of that Northern Pacific lieu land job, as a correspondent does in an other column of today's paper. That belongs to history. The law under which that injustice was perpetrated has been amended so as to prevent fur ther evil. There can be no doubt that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company assisted the bill through Concress in such form as would contribute most to the prosperity of the com pany, and it Is probable that an investigation could bring tfiat fact into light; but what of it? Statesmen who thrive on such practices would tell the virtuous voters that they were acting In the Interest of the dear people, and never once supposed that any octopus corporation would be so 111-mani-nered as to take all the advantages. And the virtuous voters would admit: "Sure enough; the Honorable Great- head and the Honorable Sllmnocket were sitting up nights making opport unities for us, and we never seen it!'1 Thus would confidence In the unerring wisdom and impeccable uprightness of the public servants be re-established stronger than ever. That Northern Pa cific deal, crying shame though it was. has been consummated and 'the objec tionable privilege to take unsurveyed lieu land has been withdrawn. The moral conviction that it was achieved by crooked methods could not be strengthened by any investigation, There is nothing to be recovered. More is to be gained to the public by scrutiny of present practices and elucidation of the methods by which so large a part of the money involved in handling pub lic land falls into private purses, and so small a part Into the public treasury Here Is a field that Is hardly touched as yet, and Us exploration may result In practical benefit RAILROAD POSSIBILITIES IN SOUTH EASTERN OREGON. Let the business community and the property-owners of Portland take notice that surveyors are in the field locating a line of railroad from Nyssa, on the Oregon Short Line, to Vale-, In the Mai heur Valley. Let them consult the maps and note the facts of geography and topography; and then let them con sider the significance of this movement Nyssa is the point Jn Oregon first touched by the Oregon Short Line; Vale lies in the valley of the Malheur, on the line of the most direct route connecting the Short Line with the Malheur, Har ney, Goose Lake and Klamath regions. From Vale It is an easy stage to Burns and Harney County; from Bums it is another easy stage to Paisley or Lake view, In Lake County; and one more stage reaches the heart of Klamath. The route Is an easy and natural one; and it passes everywhere through pro ductive or potential country; and a railroad operating through It would "command absolutely the whole traffic and resource of that fourth of Oregon which lies to the southeast. And it would command it, not for Oregon and for Portland, but for Salt Lake City and the East Thus hooke'd up to the Union Pacific Railway system, and, with no di rect connection with home markets at Portland, our southeastern district would, for all commercial purposes, be lost to us and lost for keeps. Its cattle, Its wool, its wealth of timber, .would in the nature of things go 'East and Its commercial patronage as well for with its outlet opening to the East It would be as effectively shut off from Portland as if it lay on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. From the standpoint of the Union' Pa cific Railroad people, the movement is a very natural one. The country lies within the belt contiguous to their through line, and Its traffic, already large, Is bound very soon to be greater. By the time a railroad line of 300 or 400 miles in length could be built say, In two or three years the country will eas ily afford a highly profitable business. And from the standpoint of the south eastern counties this connection Is In every way to be desired and encour aged. They have been appealing for twenty years past for a railroad con nectionto Portland, to San Francisco, to the East. They have tendered an empire as the prize of the first comer, and have grpwn weary and sick with disappointment because nobody has thought it worth while to heed them. They will welcome the Eastern connec tion just as they would welcome any other connection promising to break the fetters of their Isolation. And "yet there will be on the part of the old-time settlers of the southeastern region a distinct regret If their future commerclal life is to be apart from their natural connections. -They appreciate the advantages resulting from the co ordination of political and business forces, and they have the natural sen timent of a patriotic people to live in close rela'tlofiphip with the general life and Interests of their own state. Other things being equal, they would rather have a home than, a foreign connection; they would rather trade with Portland than with Salt Lake or Omaha. But at the same time they have the sound busi ness. instinct to do the best they can for themselves, and if their fortunes lie In the foreign connection they will make the most of it and turn their back upon the, home state. Let the business community and property-owners of Portland consider this situation well. The southeastern branch of the Short Line, while plainly In pros pect, Is not yet built The projected line from'Nyssa to Vale Is but a first step. The succeeding.. stepa.':are. inevitable if, when time and convenience serve,, the opportunity shall be what It Is today. But they are not likely to be taken if the country shall' bo' entered by a Tall- road from another -route. There is still the clance for Portland to forestall all foreign movements, to make the south eastern territory her own. A. prompt movement from Shaniko through the Upper Deschutes country, and with Winches to Klamath Falls and Burns, in like manner with the movement now making. In the Klickitat Valley by a Portland company, would hold the southeast for Portland.- It would give her a territory far better in its trade possibilities than Alaska, upon which the recent fortunes of Seattle have been built this in addition to a great paying investment There are, we know, difficulties in the way of extending the Columbia South ern line on to the south. But these difficulties are not of a sort to stand very long before a resolute and well- backed purpose. Let it be made plain that if a way cannot be found' for ex tension of the Columbia Southern, Its lino will be paralleled by the route of the Deschutes with its northern termi nus below mark, below The Dalles- Celllo obstructions, and the difficulties which now appear so serious will quickly fade into thin air. To put it in plain words, the O. R. & N. Co. would rather permit the extension of the Co lumbia Southern from Shaniko south ward than have another line built on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, with its terminus at a point on the Co lumbia River below the obstructions to navigation, -and therefore in a situation thanks to the open river at the Cas cades to, reach Portland independently of the O. R. & N. Co.'s rails. THOMAS B. REED. The death of Thomas B. Reed is a Na tional calamity. Not since the unex pected death of Roscoe Conkllng In 18SS has the country lost so large, so Intel lectually Impressive, so patriotic and so siainiess a statesman. Mr. Keed was born of poor parents, was of pure Maine Yankee stock for six generations. Through his humble early life and as sociations he escaped some of the su perficial mannerisms which made Mr. Conkllng at times repellant He had touched the life of the common peo ple more closely than had Mr. Conk llng, and was less fastidious, more in tensely human. He did not love his friends more ardently nor stand by them more loyally than did Conkllng, but he was more of a humorist than Conkllng, who had a brilliant, sarcastic wit, but not much broad humor. Mr. Reed liked a good many different kinds of men, and therefore had many friends, while Conkling was of the sort described, by Shakespeare as Lofty and sour to those who love them not. But to those who seek them sweet as Bummer. Nevertheless, while Mr. Conkling and Mr. Reed were In many, ways very dif ferent men. they had more great public virtues in common than any otheV two men of their political day and genera tion. They were alike at least in this Important respect they never cajoled, never nattered, never begged; they sim ply tried to beat down all opposition by the' weight of a battle-ax which none dui tney couiq wieici. Mrv K.eep was an eminent lawyer, but not so .great a lawyer as conkllng; for Mr..Reed, like Vebster, was constitutionally 'Indolent and fond of social relaxation.- He was capable of enormous industry when spurred to It, as was Webster, but other things being equal, the man who wastes the least time in social relaxation makes the greatest lawyer. Mr. Reed wasted some of his time, while Conk ling was-generally with his books. Mr. Reed had the rare gift of making the "scorching lightning of sarcastic wit play along the iron links oY argument." He was frank, iruthful, a steadfast friend", a relentless but honorable fpe, j.n the union ' of great legal ability to great gifts of forensic leadership Mr. Reed was for more than twenty years the most striking and commanding fig ure in American political life. Above all his peers he won- all his honors by the sheer force orhls remarkable abili ties and the tenacity of his intellectual grip, for he had serious defects of tem per that would have ruined, with i lesser man, all chance of success. Disdaining all concealment of his pur poses or his opinions, and all compro mises with his foes, Mr. Reed always en tered the fray trusting solely to the keenness of his swdrd and the strength of his arm. In law or political debate he was at once a bold and skillful boxer. Aggressive In his temperament, his hos tile speech was saturated with sarcasm that stung like hot sand, finding its way tnrougn every crevice of his enemy s armor, and 'his beaten antagonist was sure to cherish a long and bitter, mem ory of the method of his defeat This .uncompromising spirit, f this pugnacity of temper which shoots scorching words right and left like a flight of arrows Inevitably sows the seed of many resent ments, sighing to be satisfied in a crop or revenges ana retaliations. it was wonderful that Reed escaped political destruction from the hostile elements. which 'he defied as Napoleon defied Win ter in war. The ex-Speaker not only treated blatherskite Democratic leaders like Springer and Dick Townshend with undisguised contempt, but he quarreled with Blaine; quarreled with President Harrison oo bitterly that he consented to make up with Blaine, and spoke of McKinley with unjustifiable contempt He never .conciliated; he never sought by the exercise of social magnetism or worldly tact to compel love and. melt hate. He was as reckless In'hls abound ing wit as was Robert G. Ingersoll. He stigmatized the United States Senate in conversation as a close communion of old grannies and tabby cats; he said that, of course. Senator Proctor, of Ver mont, iavorea intervention ana war with Spain, because war would increase the demand for the number of marble headstones for soldiers graves, which Proctor would furnish from his marble plant; he said that while "Bill" Springer was the "broader minded jackass of the two, Dick. Townshend was altogether the more intense." When Springer said that, "like Henry, Clay he had rather be right than be President Reed an swered with a snarl: "Don't worry you'll never be either." These methods and characteristics are not agreeable, but Mr. Reed had a very .noble side in this that while he was sometimes guilty of domineering rude ness In debate, there was no taint of the dirty, trading, treacherous, syco- nhantic politician in his imperious and arrogant composition. Nobody ever had cause to blush for "2"om" Reed by hear ing- that he was open to .any sort of bribe, whether of place or power or pelf, or ever stooped to any kind or degree of political jobbery or trickery. His as cendency was won by hard knocks in the open field; he was never .found in ambush; he never tried to corrupt the garrison or. betray the camp; he was an ambitious soldier in, the Republican ranks, "but he was always a bold, dar ing, Telentlesg soldier, who scorned to play brigand, pirate, pickpocket or pawnbroker In politics. He had a prompt, aggressive, energetic, fearlesr and altogether honest intellect; he was a born partisan, but would never stoop in order to conquer; he would not accept a crown if hn hda to kneel and grope in the dust for it. To all his friends and they were legion Jn both parties he was open, kind, cordial, hospitable, generous and- true; but he was not affable to the crowd of hostlles in public or private. He never concealed his strong likes and dislikes: he was pugnacious and a hard hitter; but he never fired from ambush or used the weapons of uncivilized war- farepand In spite of his superficial In firmities of temper and merciless speech he deserves to be long remembered as a brave, able, patriotic and "accomplished party leader and statesman, who leaves behind a great record In all the great thlnsrs that mako ud a nubile man a stainless name. - Mr. Reed stood for intellectual Imperi- ousness in politics. Men naturany called him the Czar, and he was termed' a Napoleon In debate. Such men are of vast service to their day and generation, but in ordinary times they never win the Presidency, even when they desire it McKinley stood for the able oppor tunist in politics; he won his way as Thomas Jeff-rson did by his charming temper, his line intelligence and his affa bility to all kinds of men who sought to be his friends. He was placable, ac cessible;1 neither resentful nor revenge ful, discreet In his speech and circum spect with his pen. When a great war throws a strong rnan to the surface, men like Washington, Jackson and Grant win the Presidency. But otherwise your political opportunist Is apt to dis tance your Intellectual despot, who al ways insists that the mountain shall come to Mahomet Instead of Mahomet going to the mountain. If Mr. Reed really ever cared to be his party's can didate for the Presidency, he adopted just the methods to defeat his ambition. He was an absolutist in his political manners; he was .as reckless with his wit In debate as John Randolph; he ex pected the apple would fall Into his lap, no matter who shook the tree; he did not miss the prize, if he really wanted It, because he was too big a man for the place, but because he despised men of great ability as political opportunists, men rarely gifted,- but of far different gifts from his own. He underrated, if he did not despise, the ability of his rivals, and because of this he suffered a severe defeat. HALF A MILLION FROM THE STATE. With the adoption of the plan for Na tional and state co-operation recom mended by Hon. William D. Fenton, the most important feature of the work of the lVwIs and Clark Centennial Expo sition Company has passed to the charge of the. committee on legislation. The first step naturally was the financing of the great Fair by our local people. This done, we are" now preparing to ask the State of Oregon for' $500000 , and Con gress for $2,000,000. All the states In the Union will -tfa Invited to participate. A particularly-strong appeal will be made to the states west of the Mississippi River,' for they are the ones chiefly con cerned In the commercial expansion across the Pacijic Ocean. When we are established ln Asia as we ought to be established, .and when Asia begins buy ing from us even one-quarter of the goods she takes from the world, the region between the Mississippi and the Pacific will be drained of its surplus products to meet the new demanjd. The states east of the Mississippi will sup ply the machinery and some other ar ticles In the manufacture of which the West does not compete. The 1905 Fair must be bullded upon its foundation this Winter, or not at all. The business in hand may be likened to a game of chess. It Is Oregon's first move, anji the kind of play we make will set the pace. If we play pawns, Congress and the states that we shall Invite to participate will play pawns. If we play rooks, then rooks It will be. If we pause at $500,000 because It Is a "whole lot of money," Congress will pause at $2,000,00, because It too, is a whole lot of money. Five "hundred thousand dollars is indeed a heap of money. .So is $2,000,000. So, too, was the $2500 which Jefferson wheedled out of Congress nearly a century ago to send Lewis and Clark on the scientific expe dition that added Oregon to the sover eignty of the United States. Many a front foot of city property on the Pacific Coast is worth more today than the total cost of the Lewis and Clark ex pedition. It Is the duty of the Legislature of Oregon to appropriate $500,000, and to do It quickly. This does not admit of argument from any -point of view. It Is the veriest sophistry for any one to throw up his hands in horror at the amount asked and say It means $1 21 per capita on the basis of the popula tion of the state in 1S00. The per cap ita cost would have been all right for two and a half years ago, but the in-, crease of population has put it out of the calculation. Oregon has 500,000 peo ple today. Next year will witness the largest Immigration, numerically, in our history', and the most consequential" since the pioneers wended their 'way across the plains In 1S43 to reinforce the little American government that had been set up at Champoeg. Unlesa the sighs fall we shall add 100,000 to our numbers In 1903. Before the end of 1S05 we shall have 500,000 people In Oregon, 200,000 of whom will be Hying hi the City of Portland. As the first half of the appropriation will not be collected until 1904, nor the second half until 1905, the newcomers will pay a large proportion of the cost, possibly half, and the ptr capita charge will not be $1 21, but about 62 cents. Sentiment In Portland Is unanimous for holding the Fair and for making It something that the Pacific West may well be proud of. What the stockhold ers of the Exposition company think Is shown in the fact that 93 per cent of the first assessment has been voluntar ily paid In, al a cost, represented by postage and stationery, or about of 1 per cent Nothing that has been under taken here has so united our people and caused them, to get a "move on" as this Fair project. One never hears any one running down the town now or saying how much better town it would be If It only had the get up of some other place. There are now no "knockers" in Port land, for their calling is gone. The hammer brought into play today would recoil upon Its user's, head. Portland is determined, to fca-ve the Fair for the jsood that it will do ,the Pacific Coast- I for the good that it will do Oregon, and for the good that it will do Portland, n will put $500,000 Into the Exposition company without expecting to receive a direct return- of a single dent, and it will pay $156;150 of the state appropria tion of $500,000. It asks the remainder of the state for $843,850, and Congress" for $2,000,000, and It is entitled to receive these amounts and the help that the ap propriation of 'them means, After all the light that has been beat ing so fiercely upon Carey irrigation in the' Deschutes Valley, the State Land Board, goes ahead and enters into con tract for another reclamation project In that part of the state. This covers 27,724 acres, which will be watered from the Tumello branch of the Deschutes. A lien a trifle under $10 an acre Is allowed for this contract, with annual mainten ance charge of $1 an acre. This district lies between the Deschutes and the Cas cade Range, where it is comparatively difficult to Introduce irrigation because of the steepness of the slope down from the mountain crest. It is not probable that this contract would have been ob tained at this time If there had been no merit in it, for public attention has been sharply called to reclamation projects recently with the result that a much better understanding of the subject has been gained by Oregonlans. It Is to be observed, however, that this, Tumello reclamation contract cannot Interfere with any plan for Irrigation of the main valley of the Deschutes, for It is off at one side and will not take water from the main river. It show's a gratifying tendency to occupy, that section of the state lor productive enterprise. Mr. Reed had his limitations. As late as 1896 he advocated in the North Amer ican Review the Bcheme of international blmetallsm, and proposed that Con gress, with threat of hostile tariff enact ments, coerce England Into consent to this currency scheme. Mr. Reed had never studied the money question from the bottom at that time. -He was not as well grounded as was the Democratic statesman Bayard of Delaware, who In the first great debate over the silver question Jn February, 1878, took the position for the gold standard we oc cupy today, and gave his reasons for It Mr. Reed knew as much for that day as Lodge, Morrill, Hoar and John Sherman, but he d.id not know as much as Bayard knew in 1878. Finance was not his forte. It is a pleasure to observe with what uniform favor each and every part of the Presidential message meets from our Republican, exchanges, and with what equally uniform disapproval its every part is greeted by our Democratic exchanges. It 'Is pleasant, because any dislocation of the traditional . partisan slavery would be disconcerting, If not positively alarming.- Another wretched gamblers' quarrel, this time at Marshfield, Coos County, comes to disturb the peace of the com munity and burden the taxpayers. The presence of "both those characters may well be spared from among decent men. The only regret Is that their departure is In such manner as to draw undue at tention. . In view of the appearance- of Venezue la's yellow, book, It may be remarked that her prqspect of owning the Island of Patos Is rather blue. Had she treated Britain white by recognizing the rights of British subjects In the republic, af fairs In that quarter of the world would be more rosy. Persons doing business In Portland now have more than $400,000 on the Lewis and Clark subscription list. Where elsewhere has a city of this size done so much for such an enterprise? THE COLORED REPUBLICANS. The Policy of the President Toward Then Ik Right. Indianapolis Journal. Republicans who give consideration to the declared purpose' of the President not to ignore culored R-publlcans In the South must come to the conclusion that his posi tion Is tho only defensible one. The movement to disfranchise negroes In the South la a Democratic movement For the President to Indorse a few men who have declared themselves Lily white Republicans because they have accepted the policy of disfranchisement would be equivalent to a tacit Indorsement of the scheme by which hundreds of thousands of voters have been robbed of the right of suffrage. The President and Republi cans generally cannot do this because it Is not right, and also because It would be consenting to the annulment of Constitu tional amendments adopted by the influ ence of the Republican party. It Is said that the Lllywhltes have de clared war on the President and will make an effort to send to the next Na tional convention delegations opposed to him. That Is, alleged white Republicans, Who poll no- votes, maintain no organiza tion of any value to a party, propose to go to the National Republican Conven tion In 1901 and attempt to defeat the nomination . of President Roosevelt be cause he will not Indorse the wholesale disfranchisement of colored voters. This Impertinence revives the sentiment In favor of curtailing the representation In Republican conventions of Southern States which maintain an organization to tget the offices without polling any votes. The entire South did not poll half as many votes In the late election as did the Republicans of Indiana, yet they have 120 votes In Republican National conventions, while Indiana will have but 30. Now that tho evils of this injustice art evrdent, tho proposition made by Post master General Payne Beveral years ago to baoe representation in conventions" on the vote, polled rather than upon the num ber of Senators and Representatives by which states are represented in Congress should be ac.ated so as to be adopted by the next convention. A New Way With a Feud. New York World. In pursuit of his determination to "have lt out" with his old partner and present enemy, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frlck proposes to give Pittsburg a uni versity with a princely endowment. In the words of a friend of Frlck, the coming Institution will make Mr. Carnegie's much-talked-of Polytechnic School "look like 20 cents." There Is a lingering tradition that works of great public bcriefllcende should be founded In good will. Af least If a selfish Idea enters into the foundation It should be nothing worse than a man's deeiro to perpetuate his own name In a worthy fashion. Spite work In philanthropy on the stupendous scale saia to be contemplated by Mr. Frlck is certainly a new and amaz ing conception. Tet there Is a suggestion behind the Pittsburg depatfurc which might well bo fruitful. It would hot be well for all quarreling rich men to go to building schools and colleges; But there are in numerable other ventures in which oppos ing capitalists might strive to surpass each other greatly to tha public benefit Surely it Is better to outdo a rival in good. works than, in' wrecking a railroad or In robbing the public, , SPIRIT. Of THE NORTHWEST PRESS' Yen, bmt Betk AreNpw WaBfeiHSta CeHBtlea. Woodburn Independent We do not think there is a county or postoffice In the State of Oregon, named for Lewis or Clark. 13lJiapp6lBtlnL on tke Tariff. CotLage Grove Leader. President Roosevelt's message to Con press Is generally characteristic of the man. though the expected atrenuousnes3 of the document, especially on the trust question and tariff reform. Is disappoint ing. Partisan. Prejudgment. Oregon Democrat. Neither the tariff will b; revised nor anything done to injure the trusts; What ever trust bill is passed, if any Is, it will be of such a soft nature that It will fall far short of the mark, as will be in-, tended. But Where Doea th Trust Get Oft? Eugene Guard. The trusts have put prices to the point that exports decreased during the past fiscal year over $100,000,000, while there wa3 an increase of $S0,GO0.CO0 In Imports. We can buy of the foreigner, with tariff add d, cheaper than at home. This vast bal ance of trade against us i3 not a pleasant incident in the commercial exploitation of the "captains of Industry." May Help the Democrats. v Spokane Chronicle. As to the tariff, the President yields to the clamor against revision and time may tell whether such yielding Is or Is not n sorlous blunder. His suggestion that "One way in which the "readjustment sought can b reached Is by reciprocity treaties" Is likely to prove an extremely unsatis fictory solution of the problem. So long as he can continue to declare that "no country has .ever occupied a higher plane of material well being than ours at the present moment" the opposition may not trouble the Administration greatly; but should the tide turntwo years from now the Republican party's refusa.1 to give any attention to tariff revision may give the "Democracy some excellent fighting ground:. Isn't Tills Treason! Salem Statesman. The authorities at Washington are get ting entirely too meddlesome as regards the private affairs of Government em ployes, and the first thing some of them know they will get their hair pulled out and their faces frescoed with feminine finger nails. Recently the Postmaster General Issued an order dismissing all fe male clerks In the postoffice who marry on or after December 1. Now tho Gen oral Superintendent of the rural free de livery system has Issued an order requir ing each woman clerk to send him a writ ten statoment -setting forth the name of her husband, if she has ono, and his oc cupation, If not in the Government serv ice. It Is Interpreted as a move prelimi nary to the dismissal of either husband or wife where it Is found that both are in the Government service. In. Defense of Football. Albany Democrat. A review of current thought would hardly be in place these days without a reference to the game of football, which for a few weeks has been absorbing the entire- country, not only drawing Im mense crowds, more than any other game, but filling the newspapers with long arti cles anticipatory and of the fact. There Is a striking difference of opinion as to how much of this is justifiable, no game be fore the American pe-ople exciting such general comment All there is about It has Its merits and its demerits. It is the greatest game of generalship ever Invent ed. Not merely strength, endurance and speed count, but in an emphatic manner the generalship of the contest. That Is the manner In which the game Is run counts. The right play at the" right time. Just when It Is needed, takes a good head and a prompt Judgment There are some good lessons In It from several stand point?, while agalnnt it stands almost alone Its very rough character, certainly enough to cause comment. ' A Sign ot Better CitiEcnshtp. Newberg Graphic. One fact stands out prominently in the town elections which are being held all over Oregon and Washington, and that is that tho main question at Issue Is the temperance, or prohibition, question. In the majority of cases this has been more or less an issue, and In agreatvmany It has been recognized as the only ls3ue. This Is greatly encouraging to advocates of gocd government and decent towns. Not that tne temperance people have gained the greatest number of victories, for in many places they have been badly defeated. The significant fact Is that pub lic sentiment has grown until the Issue has been forced all over the state. A few years ago such a thing would not have been possible. People are waking up to tho fact that there are other things as Important to their towns as saloons, and which thej cannot have while tho saloon stays. The sign boards of the re cent elections point unmistakably toward better citizenship. Delay Works Its Hardships. Forest Grove Times. There seems to be a disposition on the part of Portland Councllmen and officials to hold up our electric railway. After dilly-dallying along for neary a year the pressure of public opinion was so strong that they were forced to paas an ordi nance granting a franchise, but they now think, after the railway people have gone ahead and got things In shape for actual work, that they have discovered a defect In the ordinance granting the charter that will nullify It, and they talk, or at least some of them do, as if they were going to perpetrate another hold-up. It may be well for them to consider the situation a little. Washington County Is greatly in terested&n this matter. The people want the electric railway, and they .will not submit tamely to have It held up by grafters in the Portland City Council. Portland wants a new charfer from the Legislature. It also wants a big appro priation for the Fair. Washington County "has four members In the Legislature. If Portland teaches them the hold-up 'game they will have a good opportunity to try It on the teacher. Their treatment of our electric railway should be decent, If they want like treatment for their favorite bills. Let them take warning. Oregon's Timber Resource's. St Hslrns Mist Day after day and night after night great rafts of loss -pass St. Helens on their way to the big sawmills In Port land. Never before In the history of Ore gon has there' been such a demand on the, fir forests of the Lower Columbia. And the big mills at Portland are not cutting all the lumber, for the saws In numerous ralllc in Columbia County, Clatsop Coun ty and across the river In Washington are making lumber as fast as they can se cure the logs. The demand far exceeds the oupply. Logging railways are being steadily extended Into the Interior, and more are projected. It will not be long until the grcnt timber forests of the Ne halem will be drawn upon to supply the demand, end the logging railways will be carrying the lumber- products of that sec tion to the water front to be loaded. on the ships. At the present rate ot supply and demand it will not be many jje'ars until the good timber along the Lower Columbia will be i scarcity. Almost every towboat that carries a raft of logs stops at tho- St. Helens yard to wood, and the shrill whistles of the continual string of landing steamers are heard every hour during the day and night This is a strik ing ocular demonstration of the Immen sity o the logging business on the Co lumbca Riyer, KGTE AND COMMENT: " Experience teaches wisdom and wisdom' needs it sometimes. ' Good-morning! Are you ready for an other week's .weather?.-. ; ' .'. The man that lives on his reputation will eventually starve to death: The man who monkeys with the land laws Is likely to come away with a soiled reputation. , ' . ' , t The boy of 16 cherishes a . hair ribbon, the boy of IS a glove, the boy, of 21 his liberty, and the man of 41 his memories. - Ex-MInlster Cambon-says the Americana are generous. Does he refer to the gra cious Count Castellane as a shining ex ample of our generosity? Another poor devil of an author has killed himself in New- York- because oC the nonsuccers of his novel. It was the only atonement he could make. The wily book agent Is again in evi dence, and people are kicking because his contracts arc not binding. This looks Hko the complaint of a rank outsider. Men say things to their wives that they never, no. never, would dare say to a man. When the woman takes exception then it Is what is called an unhappy mar riage. A little girl In this city who was calling on .some grown-up friends who live In a flat explained to her mother that a flat was a house with the down-stairs just back of the sitting-room. Now that a telephone has been invented where the message Is plainly audible to a person standing 10 yards away from the receiver, we may expect a tremendous falling off in "line busy" owing to gentle conversations between two. Mark Twain has a story In this month's Harper's, in which he makes the telling of a He the keynote to some lovable characr ters. According to Mark Twain's view, even George Washington must have told lies, and It Is with a sigh of satisfaction that we read the vindication of some ot our modern statesmen. . "The last edition of love," said th newspaper poet, dreamily, is and ha sighed rcmlnlscently. "What, dear?" she whispered, and cama closer. "Going to press," he answered, and, through force of habit stretched . out hia arms. Hero is an Item from the Big Bend Chief: Sam Fader wishes the good people to know-that he is not a Missourlan. and that the necktie he has been sporting lately Is not a bandana, but the very latest in neckwear that can be obtained on the West Coast It seems an Injustice has been done Mr. Fader, and the Chief gladly hastens to put the matter right. This courtesy is almost Senatorial. The following things are now due: Pro gramme liable to change without notice. First One big fire. Second One hair raising suicide. Third One scandal In high life. Fourth Repair of one street (this will bo a tableau). Fifth Double murder with accessories; special scenic effects. Sixth A day of sunshine. (Owing to the delicacy and fragile character of the materials used, patience Is requested.) Seventh A snapshot of an ordinance on its way through the Common CouncIl.(A most difficult piece of work. This picture represents over a thousand .failures.) The good dio young, says the ancient adage. It is to be hoped that the young who die are good,, but the statement that the virtuous cannot remain long In this sphere of mundane activity seems quesr tlonable. Else how are w,e to account for the noble men who have given their Uvea, their wealth and their health for the cause of tariff? What to say about the aged reformers who struggle manfully, If fee bly, against the Inroads of a foreign pol icy? The proverb is an excuse of those whom life has proved Inefficient, whose, slender abilities have been exhausted in the effort for'daily bread and butter with al. Let us posit .the contrary. The good do not die young. Hum-mm-m. Well, It's a kittle question, and needs further thought. Ever so often somebody arises and tells the blind people of this generation that they should live as though Fate had de creed death for the morrow. And this doctrine has its followers. Witness the ways of those who pull a long face and throw a fit when it is suggested that a certain movement will result in Portland's prosperity 20 years hence. If a man Is alive (on good authority, of course,) why in the world doesn't ho act and work as If he expected to live a little longer? Away with these croakers who desire to die In then- beds decently1 and with4,' 'flow ers. There's plenty of life ahead, and even. If death does intervene in the midst of aspiration there's at least a start made. If men thought less of forg4V'eness for past omissions and more of future achievement there would 1 fewer unre gretted funerals. Life at Oxford. Church Quarterly Review. The bump suppers and boating wines at Oxford are much less beastly than they were. The men have in many colleges got leave to dance after them; or in some other way Invented something better to do than to get drunk. Teetotallsm has diminished in the university, and so has drunkenness. But for all that there- Is enough drunkenness to be seen In Oxford absolutely to prevent the conversion of any Mohammedan who comes. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS Half the world doesn't care how their better halvs live. Life. ' "Dclllngham's religion is like his property," paid Trlvvet to Dicer. "How's th&C?" ."It's all in his wife's name." Judge. "Is he rich beyond the dreams of avarice?" "Gad, yes! Why say! That chap's rich beyond the dreams of an Infant industry!" Puck. "What do you think of Charlie's proposing: to me when he hasn't known me a week.?" "I think that's the reason." Baltimore American. Kind Lady I suppose you have seen better day3? Tramp Yes'm. One day last week I got three dinners and 10 beers. Detroit Free Pres3. "Is 3he ashamed to look a person squarely la the face?" "Oh. no; It's pride." "Pride?" "Yes. she's proud of her profile." Philadelphia Bvenlnx Uullotln. "Colonel, would you mind telling me how you made your first ?1000?" "Not at all. I made it by attending strictly to business my own business, you know. ' Chicago Trlbuncj Kltt 6o you really think Esther and Charley are to make a match of It? Bertha I'm cer tain of It. Didn't you hear Esther last night speak of Charley as a "horrid old thing"? Boston Transcript. Magistrate Drunk again. Uncle Rastus? Aren't you ashamed to be seen here so often? Uncle Ilaetus Deed Ah ain't, yo Honah. Dis am respocterble 'lontf side o some o de places whar Ah Is seen. Chicago Dally News. . Jack (to lady, como out to lunch) Are you earning with the guns this afternoon. Miss Maud? Miss Maud I would, but I don't think I should Ilka to e a lot of poor birds shot! Jack G 11. it yeu go with Fred, your feellnss will We entirely spared I-'-Punch, t