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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1903)
s THE MORNING OREGONIAK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1903. Entered at the Postofnce at Portland. Oregon as second-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid. In advance) Dally, with Sunday, per month $ 83 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year 7 HO Dally, Vith Sunday, per year. 9 00 Sunday, per year 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 50 The Weekly. 3 months & To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday excepted. 15c Daily, per -week, delivered. Sunday lncluded.20c POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-page paper ..lc 14 to 28-page paper 2c Foreign rates double. News or dlacusaion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name o ary Individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscription or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It without solici tation. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. Eastern Business Office. 43. 44. 45. 47. 4S. 49 Tribune building. New York 'City: C10-11-12 Tribune building. Chicago; the S. C Beckwlth Special Agency. Eastern representative. Tor sule In San Francisco by L. E. Lee. Pal ace Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Butter street; F. W. Pitta. 1003 Market street; J. K. Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel: Footer & Orear. Ferry news rtand: Frank Scott, 80 Ellis street, and N. Wheatley, 813 Mission street. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 259 South Spring atreet. and Oliver & Haines. 805 South Spring street. For sale in Kansas City. Mo., by RIcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut streets. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. 3 Washington street. For Kale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1C12 Fa mam street; Megeath Stationery Co., 130S Farnam street. For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second South street. For sale In Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrick. 900-912 Seventeenth street; Louthon & Jackeon Book and Statlonor7 Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence streets; A. Series. Sixteenth and Curtis streets. TOD AT" S WEATHER Occasional rain, with outherly winds. YESTERDAY' S WEATHER Maximum tem Ierature. 50; minimum temperature. 43; pre cipitation, trace. rORTLAKD, THURSDAY, JAN. S, 1003. TWO TRUST MEASURES. The sincere and impartial observer will have little difficulty in estimating the trust proposals of Attorney-General Knox as infinitely superior, both In principle and feasibility, to the bill of Senator Hoar. Of the correctness of the Senator's purposes there is no doubt whatever; but he Is not a constructive statesman, and his amiable qualities of head and heart are simply not those of the keen and equipped business acumen requisite for this Important problem. Mr. Hoar's view of the trusts and his contemplated measures present an ex hibit in conflicting sentiments and emo tions. He grieves at absentee manage ment and absentee landlordism phe nomena which laws are powerless to reach and which have decided merits, especially in localities of limited capi tal. He deprecates corruption of elec tions and courts, the rule of mortmain and the decay of local public spirit none of which bears on trusts more than on Individuals and partnerships. In general, as to his remedies, we should say that they partake In part, as with publicity and forfeiture of interstate privileges, of the anti-trust procedure that Is common to all remedial propos als, and where they differ, as in wider provision for Imprisonment of offending officials, they are likely to prove a dead letter. The Attorney-General, on the other hand, justifies in his specific recom mendations all that has been expected of him in his admirable speeches and papers that have gone before. Every business man must be instantly pre possessed in favor of the Knox meas ures by their frank recognition, for al most the first time in public discussion in the United States, of the equal cul pability of the shipper with the rail road, of the consignee with the trust. In the whole realm of Iniquitous dis crimination. It is time to put the clam orous beneficiary of illegal favors on. the same disreputable plane where the be etower has long been pilloried. Secret freight rebates are as often the product of the bulldozing shipper as of the car rier. The Attorney-General proposes that each party to these lawless un dertakings shall suffer alike; and he is right The thoroughness with which Mr. Knox has probed the trust problem Is displayed In an astonishing multiplicity of detail. His designation of the exact points where the Sherman law and the Interstate commerce act are weak and need amendment; his firm reliance upon .competition where special privileges are denied; his tribute io Independent en ergy and acumen; his appreciation, of the advantages of the small dealer, too often overlooked by our department store fighters; his correct arraignment of the unfair advantages made possible through secret rebates; his recognition of what certain large-minded railroad presidents have done in the direction of fairness; his shrewd diagnosis of the promoter; his apprehension of the na ture and conditions of water transporta tion; his urgent advocacy of Congres sional action to further decisions on pending cases all testify not only to his careful study of the questions at issue, but demonstrate most unmistak ably the man's sincerity and earnest ness in the cause he professes to serve. No man who has read the Attorney General's proposals should have the ehamelessness hereafter to repeat the sneer that Knox is a corporation law yer. He served the corporations he worked for once, and we make no doubt he served them well. But he is work ing for the Government now, and the service he has rendered the Adminis tration in directing its course from the miry ground of a constitutional amend ment to this firm footing of scientific and effective legislation, deserves to rank with Secretary Hay's handling- of our difficult relations with Pekin and Secretary Root's inestimable usefulness in the Venezuelan arbitration crisis. "We look to see the House pass the Attorney General's bill; and to see the Senate pay it the high compliment of turning it over to Its trust lawyers to kill out right or sterilize with amendments. The legislature of Montana will be asked to change the name of the Insti tute for the education of the deaf, dumb and blind in that state from "asylum" to "school." This, while In a sense sen timental, Is a very proper demand. While in a literal sense, as applied to the humane institutions of a state, the word "asylum" means a place of re treat and security, there is an attainder. so to speak, upon the word that has come down with It from the time when it covered the retreat from justice or penalty of the vilest criminals. It is certainly just as easy to call Institutions for the care and training: of defective youth "schools' as to call them "asy lums," and the former term is more properly expressive of the work and purpose of such institutions. Montana Is one of the few states that still desig nates its schools for the deaf, dumb and blind as "asylums," and, having its at tention called to the matter, the Legls lature of this greatest of the Rocky Mountain States will no doubt change the title of the Boulder institution as requested. THE REFORM OF REFORMS. Such men df sterling worth and self respect as the United States Senate holds must grow restive at length, one would suppose, at the universal estimate of its undesirabillty. The House has passed the Philippine bill, the country approves It, but its passage through the Senate is despaired of. The House Is for Cuba, the Senate against her. The House has passed the Army reorganiza tion bill, the Senate is where it sticks. A tariff amendment can be passed through the House, but the Senate would kill it. An anti-trust bill could be passed this session without any dif ficulty If it were nbt for the Senate. This present resistance to alleviatory and progressive legislation Is in keep ing with the Senate's record. It was inxthe Senate that the Sherman pur chase law had its stubborn citadel, it was In the Senate that the "Wilson law was corrupted, the Nicaragua Canal so long delayed, the gold-standard act of March, 1900, emasculated and the Phil ippine Islands were denied the gold standard. It is in the Senate today where the opponents of justice to the Philippines and generosity to Cuba and needed action on tariff and trusts are massing their forces. It is ecsler to explain this untoward situation than to correct it. Inertia is the Senate's peculiar prerogative and pride. It Is too dignified to act when it can talk, to move quickly when It can delay. The corporations naturally con centrate their efforts on the smaller body, where fewer conversions will serve their end. It has often happened that the haste with which imperfectly digested legislation has passed the House plays into the hands of the Sena torial manipulators. The House always comes fresh from the people, while the Senate's longer term renders it very slow in response to the popular will. The spasm of 1896 still shows its relics In the presence of accidents like Henry Heitfeld and George Turner. More profound than any of these causes Is the patronage of the Senate, which fills it with bossea The victori ous partisan machine of a state sends to the Senate its head and a tool of his choosing. Piatt has his Depew, Gor man his Gibson, Quay his Penrose, Al drich his Wetmore, Spooner his Quarles, Tillman his McLaurln (since disaffect ed), Proctor his Dillingham, Daniel his Martin, Mitchell his McBrlde or possi bly his Fulton. The boss would aban don the Senate tomorrow if his place were to be shorn of Its power of patron age. Did the Fathers err In their disposal of this power In the hands of the Sen ate? Was Hamilton right and were Jefferson and Wilson wrong when tney contended for the trustworthiness of the masses? Should they have foreseen that the Immense power of patronage, which they relied upon an august and superior Senate to discharge righteously? would in time overthrow the character of the Senate Itself and draw Into It the spoils men to the gradual exclusion of the statesman? Let us say. No. Let us rather say that the opportunity to re deem the Senate is still In the hands of the people, and lhat In due time they will rise to be worthy the confidence reposed In them by the framers of the Constitution and make the Senate what It was designed to be. IATEST NORTH COAST VICTIM. The "terrible north coast" still lives up to its reputation, and another fine ship and eighteen lives have been wiped out of existence in the death-haunted region of Flattery Rocka The theory is advanced that this wreck was due to the carelessness of the master In mis taking Umatilla Reef lightship for the light on Cape Flattery As the men who could refute or confirm this theory are all dead, It will probably serve as well as any other as an explanation of the cause of the tragedy. With the wreck record of the past for this par ticular locality, however, it Is unneces sary to advance any special theory in this case. The story of the disaster, as told In yesterday's dispatches, differs only in names and dates from a large number of others which occurred at that point before the Umatilla Reef lightship was placed on the station. As in the case of the former wrecks, an investigation will undoubtedly deter mine that the direct cause of the wreck Was the 6trong In-shore set of the cur rent at that point. In clear weather this can be guarded against, but in thick weather such as prevailed along the coast for the opening days of the year a shipmaster uncertain of his po sition has great difficulty In keeping clear of the reef or the beach. The shipmaster approaching Cape Flattery in thick weather has but small latitude in which to work to the north or south. If he comes in very close and makes land to the southward, the chances are strongly in favor of his being drawn to the beach by the current, and If he strikes the entrance to the Straits a lit tie too far to the north the strong north erly current which is always In evl dence will hustle him over to the bleak Vancouver Island shore, which lias a larger marine cemetery than that on. the south side of Cape Flattery. A striking feature of this latest trag edy is the length of time elapsing be tween the time of the disaster and the arrival of the news at Port Townsend, This fine ship and her crew were bat tered to death January 2, twenty miles south of the entrance to the Straits of Fuca, through which a stream of tugs, steamers and sailing vessels are con stantly passing. Within less than fifty miles of the scene of the wreck powerful tugs are nearly always In waiting, and yet It was four days before the 300,000 people residing In the various ports within 100 to 150 miles of the wreck knew any thing about it. The maritime commerce of Puget Sound and British Columbia would seem to justify somewhat better facilities for keeping In touch with one of the most dangerous stretches of sea coast In the United States, and it Is a matter of surprise that Seattle arid Ta- coma have not made some move toward securing a lifesaving station and tele graphic communication with the beach on which their shipping Is continually piling up. The United States Weather Bureau has for some time had under consider ation the establishment of a telegraph line and signal stations along the un guarded stretch of beach between Gray's Harbor and Cape Flattery. The line would be 'expensive, and for this reason construction has been deferred. It is believed, however, that concerted action on the part of the Washington delegation in Congress would result in the project being carried out and In se curing the much-needed aid to com merce. The assistance of the Oregon delegation could be relied upon. Scores of lives and millions of dollars' worth of property have been lost along the north coast In the past forty years, and the facilities for saving life and prop erty ore no better than they were a quarter of a century ago. Commerce has grown enormously in that period, but this particular aid to maritime in terests has not progressed In the slightest GOVERNOR STOXE OX COMPULSORY ARBITRATION. Governor Stone, of Pennsylvania, in his message urges the passage of a com pulsory arbitration law for the settle ment of differences between employer and employe. The recent anthracite strike has cost the State of Pennsyl vania over $1,000,000. Its consequences to the outside public In the cities of New Jersey, New York and New Eng land cannot yet be computed, for the coal famine still exists in that region and extortionate prices are yet asked and obtained for coal. There Is no rea son why compulsory arbitration should not be enacted In the Interest of the common weal. It Is of no sort of con sequence whether the employers and employes favor this method of settle ment or not The employers object be cause they do not like to come into court and make a plain showing of their affairs, -and the employes do not favor it because they pretfind to fear that the employers would be able to pack the tribunal of arbitration, but really fear that they might be held responsible for acts of lawlessness committed by mem bers of the union. The truth is that the tribunal would be constituted of Judges whose judicial Integrity would be beyond suspicion. Such a tribunal succeeds so well In New Zealand as to command the warm ap proval of Tom Mann, one of the ablest champions of English labor unions, who visited New Zealand to examine into the practical workings of conpulsory arbitration. The existence of such a tri bunal would exercise a conservative In fluence upon employer and employed. The employer would not wish to force a controversy which he could only set tle by coming Into court and making a public showing which would prove "that his hands were clean of the stain of in justice, and on the other hand .the labor union would be equally anxious not to come Into court unless Its quarrel was just. Even If the Judges of such a tri bunal were elective rather than appoint ive, it would be Impossible to pack the bench, for the worklngmen's vote Is too large In any of our coal-producing states to be treated with contempt by either of the great political parties. Furthermore, corruption on the bench has been unknown In this country since the downfall of the Tammany ring in 187L The steady drift of judicial decis ions In this country has been toward the enlargement of the rights of labor and the restraint of the encroachments and greed of capital. It Is safe to say that if a compulsory arbitration law is enacted In Pennsylvania It will be as uprightly and ably administered as It Is In New Zealand. The public have a clear right to force arbitration upon the contestants in la bor disputes. Labor is not at liberty to raise up a private war when It pleases In sole consideration of its own exclu sive interests as against the general welfare. Capital is not free to recognize no interests save its own in resisting the demands of labor. The present situa tion has become so Intolerable In this country that enforced arbitration offers the only effective remedy. Testing the equity of the demands is arbitration. When conciliation falls, arbitration alone can protect the people on the one hand and the contestants on the other. A resort to some form of authoritative arbitration will some day be adopted In this country. State governments will at least give such tribunals a trial rather than be torn up periodically by strikes that cost the people a million of dollars in increased military expenses, besides the Injury, to trade and com merce, the destruction of property and the breeding of. crime. The misery and moral shame incident to a great coal famine In a great city following a great strike cannot be exaggerated, and the public opinion which protests against the needless recurrence of this coal fam ine will be exerted to procure the es tablishment of some form of authori tative arbitration. It may take one more great strike, with its suffering. Its losses In wages and property, to bring the people of Pennsylvania up to the level of compul sory arbitration, but It ought not to take any further such dread experi ence to enact so simple a measure of safety and justice. . Neither President Baer nor John Mitchell favors compul sory arbitration. President Baer and John Mitchell have tried' the strike and the' lockout, with the frequent accom paniment of violence and suffering; and the Innocent third party; the State of Pennsylvania, has had to pay $1,000,000 because President Baer and John Mitch ell do not believe In compulsory arbitra tion. Some day the innocent third party, the general public, will insist that this form of private warfare shall cease, and that a rational and peaceful mode of settling labor disputes shall be found. "THE KNOWLEDGE WE, ALREADY HAVE." Henry Watterson, the veteran editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, caused quite a sensation a few months ago by exposing the hollow shams of the thing called "society" In New York and other large cities of the East. After some discussion of the Ideas he then ad vanced, the subject was dropped, but It Is clearly not his Intention to permit It to rest from lack of conscientious effort on his part. In a late issue of the Courier-Journal he renews the attack, say ing: "The 'smart set of the East Is like a fire In a certain district The house or houses afire are doomed; there is no saving them; so the energies of the force are bent to the rescuing of the adjacent tenements." . The purpose that is proclaimed by the Courier-Journal, when It raises its voice now and then to "holler fire," Is thus perchance to reduce the area of confla gration; to keep it where It Is; to warn the vulgar and brutal. men of Its own bailiwick that money cannot always bring Immunity from misdoing nor si lence or stop scandal; to Intimate to light-headed and vain women, newly used to riches and untutored In the wickedness of the world, that approval of the "smart set" is their first step downward. Following the statement that "each and every community has its would-be 400." Mr. Watterson continues: Must we be condemned if, in a general way, we hold up the aegis of the republican idea of the home of the fireside the aegis of any old Idea, so It he American to remind them of our common birthright, our title deed to the simple, homespun origin, of the whole ship's crew of us better than the crowns ot Kings and the diadems of Dukes and Princes even when spot lessthrice honorable and blessed, though scourged and sanctified by poverty and rags, by comparison with the crowns and diadems, worn as those modern titled witlings wear them shall we, must we, be made the subject of raillery. In short, because we seek, with hu mility, to recall society to a sense of Its obli gations to morality and God, to remind men ot their manhood, particularly to frighten and drive back women? We do not so much need publicity as willingness to act upon the knowl edge we already have. The last sentence In the paragraph quoted may be said to contain the meat of the whole. Who among us, for ex ample. Is so witless as not to see the application of these words to the effort real or pretended that has boasted itself In this city In recent weeks in the pseudo effort to enforce the law against gambling? With sufficient knowledge In regard to the violation of the law to secure the conviction of some of Its most flagrant violators, has not the whole effort rather been toward a pre tense of securing evidence rather than the use of the knowledge that Is com mon property? And in regard to the social sins and shame and shortcomings of the "smart set" is there not enough already known to point the moral with out digging deeper into the mas for further evidence of its rottenness? If the knowledge we already have is not acted upon for the moral uplift of the community, why seek to add to the shameful aggregate? If the laws we have for the control of vice are not en forced, why seek to multiply them? The man known to the Pacific Coast and as far as such distinction as he has acquired may have wider herald to the world as "Lucky" Baldwin has met in his advanced age an enemy that he is not likely to overcome. He is suffer ing from cancer, and, though he is buoyant in the hope of recovery, he will be "lucky" Indeed If this hope Is real ized, since his malady is one of the few that still defies modern medical and sur gical skill. Determination, energy, his fertility In expedients, and a nbt too quick conscience, have carried him again and again to the crest of the financial wave after having apparently been hopelessly submerged. The wind ing up of his accounts after more than four-csore years of life by the one foe that he was not able to overcome will leave him still a victor in that he was cheated out of very few years at most Until within a few days he had been hiding with his affliction under an as sumed name In modest lodgings in San Francisco, his purpose being to secure the services of a specialist at moderate cost His life, even In Its latest phase, is a significant commentary upon that quality of human nature known as self Ishnesa St Valentine Is still In high favor with lovesick swains, simpering lasses, sentimental youth and malevolent per sons with grudges to settle or slights, real or fancied, to avenge. A printing and manufacturing house In Worcester, Mass., began shipping stock for the present season last August, and so heavy has been the demand that the company was compelled to put In new machinery and run night and day In order to meet It Its latest shipment to Chicago consisted of four carloads In which were 1,322,000 valentines. While great ingenuity Is displayed in the de sign and execution of these missives, there can scarcely be said to be any thing new in the output Bounded by sentiment and humor, with a dash of spite thrown in now and then, the idea In valentines has been pretty thorough ly worked out. The custom of sending them Is, however, as shown by the de mand on the manufacturers, still very popular, though Its expression is little better than a repetition of an old song. And now It Is said that the men who hold clerical positions in the service of Multnomah County want more pay for the work they have engaged- to perform. These are the same men, it will be re membered, who put forth such extrava gance in time, money and energy only last Spring to secure these positions. The pay seemed sufficient to them in anticipation; it has not diminished in realization. If they can make more In any other vocation, let them do It In the slang of the day, "there are no strings on them." Resignation from office will enable them to escape from the dire bondage of hard work and in adequate pay for the country. Per haps all of them could use more money if they had It Most of us could. But it Is at least doubtful whether any of them could earn more as clerks any where else. The political wise ones have slated Secretary George B. Cortelyou for the new Cabinet office that will follow the creation of the Department of Com merce. It Is said that the booms of Merriam and others are but passing shows. Mr. Cortelyou should be, and no doubt is, well qualified for a Cabinet position. To doubt this would be either to underrate the opportunities that have come to him in recent years or to dis count his Intelligence. Incendiary Ares at the village of Long Beach, Wash., have become of such fre quency as to menace the security of property there and the material future of the place. Such public spirit as ex ists In Pacific Counts, Including the O. R. & N. Co. Itself, should not rest until a repetition of them is made Impossible. Crimes of this sort far outweigh In dis credit such Winter vandalism and neg lect of Summer precautions as are com plained of at the beaches bn the Oregon side. Wit at Sir. Reed's Expense. Baltimore Sun. Sarcastic himself, Thomas B. Reed ap preciated a Joke at his own expense. Here is a story that has never seen the daylight of print, and it illustrates bow wen ne nicea a witticism even it ne was its target One day he was browsing in Guild's dingy bookshop at the foot of the Capitol. He took up a number of books, and finally the novel "Scruples." "What is the price of this?" asked Mr. Reed. "A dollar, sir," replied the old man rath er tartly. "Too much." said Reed, faconlcally, and laid the book down. "Well, sir," retorted Guild, who has a sharp tongue of his own. "I don't know of any law you have passed that compels you to buy It, If you don't want to. Be sides, I don't see what a member of Con gress wants of a book with that title, anyway." Reed broke into a hearty laugh, and as ho rolled down the avenue he was still smiling at the old man's reply. SPIRIT OF THE NORTHWEST PRESS McKInley anil the Reporter. Tacoma News. During one of his congressional cam palms, Mr. McKInley was followed from place to place, says the Chautauquan. a reporter for a paper of opposite politics being most persistent. This reporter lost no opportunity of writing unfavorable things, and yet Mr. McKInley admired his cleverness and shrewdness. The late President's admiration was not unmixed with compassion, for the reporter was very 111 and poorly clad, and had also an annoying cough. One night President McKInley took, a closed carriage for a near-by town at which he was announced to speak. The weather was wretchedly raw and cold, and what followed Is thus described: He had not gone far when he heard that cough, and he knew that the reporter was riding with the driver In the exposed seat The Major called on the driver to stop and alighted. "Get down off that seat young man," he said. The reporter obeyed, thinking the time for the Major's vengeance had com. "Here," said Mr. McKInley, taking off his overcoat "you put on this overcoat and gel Into the carrlace." "But Major McKInley," said the re porter, "I guess you don't know who I am. I have been with you the whole campaign, giving it to you every time you spoke, and I am going over tonight to rip you to pieces. If I can." "I know," said the good-natured Major, "but you put on this coat and get inside and get warm, so that you can do a good Job." Where the Fault Lie. Tacoma Ledger. Yesterday a man appeared in court as prosecutor of his 15-year-olQ son. There was no doubt that the boy had not been conducting himself properly. The police had taken him from a sleeping place In a boiler-room. When a boy sleeps in a boiler-room there Is ground for suspi cion that he has no better place in which to sleep, but the suspicion may be wrong. There was no doubt as to the conduct of the father, either. He had been drink ins, and came into court showing visible effects of It It would hardly have been giving the boy a square deal had the Judge been severe towards the lit tle prisoner on the testimony of a drunk en father. Every boy is entitled to a chance, but the boy with a drunken father does not get it The father who goes whining a beery complaint to the police that ho cannot control his son Is not fit to control anything, and the son it to bo pitied. There have been many juvenile offenders lately. Some of them came from good homes, but for the most part they came from very bad ones; worse than none. The lad that gets kicked out into the world may prosper If he has the right kind of stuff in him, but handicapped by attachment to a home where there is neither guidance nor affec tion, he has a grevlous burden to carry. The boy in court yesterday might be bet ter off If taken In hand by the authorities, but Justice would dictate that. If this be done, it be done In a spirit of the utmost kindness. The old man Is the fellow whom the authorities should handle without gloves. Public Land Reform. Salem Journal. By the accusation of Republicans the state and Federal administration of.the public lands has not been exactly on the reform order In Oregon. The state administration of school lands cannot well be made worse by Governor Chamberlain. It could easily be made better. Still a former Democratic administration did not change things much. It did not uncover corrupt nractices and hold anyone re sponsible. Public land reforms will not come about until persons employed in an official relation have a higher sense of official responsibility to the people whom they serve. Officials, from United States Senators down to petty land officials, do not draw a sufficient distinction between the Government, whose servants they are, and serving private interests and their own Interests. As the country grows older the sense of fidelity to the Govern ment will Increase. There will bo a higher devotion to country, and less to Interests of special classes. Oregon has not yet had un administration of its public land affaire from the patriotic -standpoint of serving all the people' all the time es pecially the taxpayer, who Is not grabbing lands for himself. Tent of Their Sincerity. Colfax Gazette. The Sound Is opposed to an open river, as an open river means cheap rates and a diversion of the wheat shipments of Eastern Washington from the Sound down the Columbia River; and any diver sion of commerce and trade from Seattle and Tacoma and other Sound cities is injurious to the Sound's interests, and will be opposed in the future as in "the past by the West Side representatives. An open river to the sea means a 4 or 5-cent rate on our wheat and an an nual saving to the wheat producers of Whitman County alone of half a million dollars with, the present output. Take it on Puget Sound today and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Tacoma Ledger are opposing the election of Levi Ankeny on the ground that he Is In favor of on open river to the sea, and If elected will work for large appropriations for that purpose-r-for which they have good ground, as Mr. Ankeny has expressed himself as being in favor of opening the Snake and Co lumbia Rivors to tho sea. Fnlton of Eastern Oregon. Shanlko Leader. It looks as If no Republican from East ern Oregon cares to be United States Senator, as none such la making any can vass or expressing any desire for the po sition, though a few of the Democratic press are trying to nd an aspirant from this portion of the state. The fact of the matter is Hon. Charles W. Fulton Is in dorsed by about all ofthe Eastern Oregon Republican press. He is resident of As toria, and Is heartily In favor of Improv ing the Columbia River, and has so ex pressed himself. As to other Interests concerning Eastern Oregon, Mr. Fulton already knows of them (he 13 no mush room statesman who has sprung up In a night), and will work with a will for all portions of Oregon, as he has for. the Republican party for a large number of years. Distinctly Unfriendly. Athena Press. . And so Hermann held on because ho feared his removal would Injure his chances In the Oregon Senatorial fight! Bless his dear old parasitical soul! Po litical preferment has been worn almost threadbare In keeping this obsolete office seeker sleek and fat at the public trough. Now that the political fungus is about to pass into oblivion, it objects painfully, and even intimates that If McKInley were alive yet another place would be made for It At last Oregon politics seems in a fair way to be relieved (by force) from the tentacles of BInger Hermann. The "Mandate" Abont Abandoned. Elgin Recorder. BInger Hermann's entrance Into the Senatorial race In Oregon will not assist in untangling the situation any and It now looks as If we were In for a bitter and prolonged struggle. What the outcome will be is difficult to foretell, as It Is apparent that the popular, vote last June will be entirely disregarded. A Browncll Pronunclamento. Aurora Borealls. It Is all-Important to Portland's Inter ests that In the organization of the State Senate and House the Multnomah delega tion be divided. If they vote as a unit for president of the Senate and speaker of the House, they will jeopardize the Lewis and Clark appropriation bllL We are now talking horse sene. ROCKEFELLER'S COMMERCIAL IM MORALITY. Kansas City Star. The most convincing and forcible ar raignment of the piratical business meth ods of John D. Rockefeller, of the Stand ard OH monopoly, comes fom Prof. John Bascum, of Williams College, who makes the bold declaration that the money which Rockefeller has donated to the Uni versity of Chicago has sealed the mouths of the Instructors in that Institution as to the business methods by which the cor poration multi-millionaires acquire their enormous riches. Professor Bascum makes it perfectly clear that political economy cannot be properly taught in an institution subsi dized and purchased by a man who con tinually violates the law of fair and legit imate trade. He asserts, without any ap parent fear of successful contradiction, that John D. Rockefeller has done more to foster commercial Immorality than any man now living. This is not the state ment of an irresponsible and Intemperate agitator, but the opinion of an educator of distinction and or a man of a calm and discriminates mind. It Is so far from being an exaggeration that It comports accurately with the history of the Stand ard Oil Company published In McClure's Magazine. The position of Professor Bascum that, no institution of learning should accept the sort of hush money which Rockefeller and his sort are glad to dispense is thor oughly sound and tenable. Its purpose is to vitiate the schools which accept it and to destroy their Influence for the dissem ination of right principles and truthful doctrines. It Is exceedingly encouraging to see this style of hypocrisy and fraud rebuked by a gentleman and a scholar of such excellent standing as Professor Bas cum. The result of such sincerity and courage must eventually be the creation of a public sentiment which cannot be cor rupted by such enemies to public Integrity as Rockefeller and his fellow conspirators. These men cannot eat, nor drink, nor wear their money, and they can make no use of It which will minister to a single necessity of a wholesome nature or pro mote any high or noble purpose. The manner of Its acquisition precludes all Idea of Its employment In an honest and unselfish way. The sop which these greedy monopolists strive to throw to the public by way of their impudent guerdons should be scornfully rejected. They should not be permitted to use the blood money which they extort from the people to gratify their own vanity or to compromise with any promptings of conscience which they may have left. As long as the Gov ernment sanctions and maintains laws which enable men like Rockefeller to amass fortunes which amount to nothing less than a positive enormity, let the In stitutions which are supposed, to give mental and moral direction to the people be kept free from subsidies which can only contaminate them, and let nothing be done by self-respecting people to give a sem blance of respectability to the monstrous avarice and outrageous extortion which places hundreds of millions of dollars in tho hands of one man. DIVINERS OF WATER. Baltimoro American. An English court has given 530 damages to a person who sued a professional di viner of water. The latter undertook to find water with a divining rod, or twig, and caused his victim to expend a consid erable sum of money In search of It bo fore It became apparent that there was no water at the spot pointed out. The de cision was right, because the diviner did not carry out his contract It does not follow, however, that there was empiri cism. Few things are probably moro firmly fixed In the minds of a larger number of worthy people than the conviction that water can be discovered by the vagaries of a divining rod, which in England ap pears to be a hazel twig, but In this coun try Is more often a peach twig. It Is usually a forked twig, each hand holding one of the forks, and the forked twig Is supposed to bend towards the earth when water Is reached. Some diviners hold, or think they hold, tho twig with an Irresist ible grip. It Is the strength exerted which causes It to turn. Others hold It loosely, and the fact that It is held loosely causes it to turn, the presence of water having no more to do with It than a church steeple. Many hundreds of well3 have been dug In this state by the direction of the divin ing rod, and quite as many have been abandoned after expensive digging be cause no water was reached. It can scarcely be called a superstition, because the majority of these people believe that there is some mysterious but scientific connection between the twig and the water an affinity, apparently, which causes the twig to bend "whenever It comes within a certain distance ofthe fluid un der ground. There is nothing in it but many a well will still be dug under the guidance of the twig. No Desire for Mafrnanlmlty. New Tork Evening Post Since the bill reducing to 25 per cent of the Dingley schedules all duties on im ports from the Philippine Islands has passed the House almost without debate, the question becomes pertinent If it Is so easy to knock off 50 per cent from theso sacred schedules today, why was It so Impossible last Winter to concede more than a beggarly 25 per cent? The same grudging tendency appeared in the case of Porto Rico. Everybody from President McKInley down agreed that the establishment of free trade was an act of elmplo justice, but free trade was achieved only by gradual and reluctant process. Congress has not learned to do fair things willingly or generous things generously, and It would be interesting to discover why the representatives of an open-hearted people seem unable to proceed directly upon lines of magnani mity. For this reason the Democrats in the House did well to Introduce an alter native bill for free trade, putting the Re publican party In the position of a re pentant usurer, who gradually brings himself from 100 per cent, through va rious degrees of extortion, to legal Inter est Of course, the reduction of tho duties will be eo much gain In the way of put ting us In a better moral attitude to wards our island wards, but the practical advantage to the Philippine Islands Is likely, for a time, at least, to be Incon siderable. They have very few products to send us that we cannot get more ad vantageously elsewhere, and they do not need facilities for commerce so much as internal peace and security. In this re spect, the Senate bill for establishing the gold standard In the Philippines is much more to the point A Remarkable Imposture. Boston Herald. The verdict just rendered by a Jury In the United States court In Portland, where a man has been found guilty ot Imper sonating a dead pensioner for 10 years, without detection, and drawing a pension from the government during all that time, Is a striking denouement of the most as tonishing plot based upon extraordinary assurance. The defendant In the case not only brought witnesses to prove that he was the corporal In the Maine regiment, who really died In the National Soldiers' Home at Togus IS years ago, but he took the witness stand and swore that he was the corporal and that the official certifi cate of his death was wrong. When it came to cross-questioning him he was unable to give the history of his regiment in the war, or even to name a single member of the company In which he claimed to have served. The fact that the jury returned a verdict against him after only seven minutes' deliberation Is not strange, considering the character of the evidence that was brought out In the case. Nevertheless, It Is announced that the case Is to be carried to a higher court on exceptions. It Illustrates the difficul ties which the government has to contend with In' purging the pension roll. NOTE AND COMMENT. Flowers that bloom In the Spring water cresses. Rushing the growler Is no fun when It Is of the bull-pup kind. High society is a body of wealth entire ly surrounded by envy. There are 13 ways of ending a fight. The easiest Is to get licked. There is more money in being wildly ec centric than in having unlimited com mon sense. People who pride themselves on saying what they think seem never to have much worth telling. One wonders how much of the hundred days' slumber enjoyed by that Illinois girl Is beauty sleep. Does "out of sight out of mind" mean that a woman Is mad when nobody Is looking at. her with admiration? We trow not It is easier for a man to pass a thread through the eye of a needle than for a woman to pass a mirror without looking at herself. Tho Coqullle City Bulletin wishes a newly married couple "unalloyed happi ness over life's tempestuous sea." This Is wreckless language. The weather man put out a sign, "Oc casional rain with brisk to hlch southerly and westerly winds," and went to sleep. He was rudely awakened yesterday by the sunshine. The exchange editor wishes to return In kind the friendly greeting of "Sidelights," of the Baltimore News. This is a case where scissors do not cut friendship and paste Is more than a material cement Happy New Year, and may your column never grow shorterl Usually we believe everything the As sociated Press tells us, but last Sunday's dispatch from New Orleans describing the accidental death of a tramp while at work In a laundry somewhat taxes our credul ity. It might be possible that he was working; It might even be that he was in a laundry, but the combination la im possible. There once was a writer sans skill. Whose pen ne'er a moment was still. Nd as the months traveled by 'Twas his continual cry" "I have this whole column to flllt" But he came to the end of his race. For the editor sat on his case, So he wished he were dead Till It entered his head That he'd then have to fill six fet of spacv, "Which he couldn't do, and never could. Moral: It's a long worm that has no turning and there Is balm In Gllead, no matter how dark and stormy the night This Idyl of luscious and saccharine multitudinous metaphor, this first, glad, joysome effusion of a poet's ardent heart Is from the Eugene Register: Oh, rarer than a day In June, with Its fields ot green and Its endless bloom is a January day aglow with Springtime warmth, when rose3 blow wide open petals to the passing breeze and birds make merry In the bare-armed trees' arms, extended In a pleading way to woo the kiss of the first Spring day. The yester sun shone from afar beyond southlands, yet rich and rare the mellow kisses of Its radiant beams that drove the shadow from tho streams un sealed the lips of rosebuds till anew they blushed again the Summers ruddy hue. She Was 25, and Didn't Dear it. Chicago Tribune. "Now," said the lawyer to the woman on the witness stand, "how old are you?" "The family Bible was lost" she replied promptly. "And there is no other record?" "None." "But you must have some sort of an idea as to your age?" "I have." "Well, according to your best informa tion and belief, how old are you?" "According to my best information and belief, I am 25." "Oh, you're 25?" "Yes, sir; I'm 25." When the witness had left the stand sho was taken to task by ono of her friends. "How could you perjure yourself that way?" asked the friend. "I didn't" "Why, you said you were 25." "Well, I am 25." "You're a good deal more than that" "Of course, I am more than that." "But you said 25." "Well, I am 25, ain't I? I can't be older than 25 without being that much, can I? I didn't say "I was only 25; I said I was 25, and I am." And yet man sometimes foolishly thinks he Is a match for woman In tho subtleties of a legal examination. Why Men Remain Seated. New York Press. Women are altogether to blame for men's rudeness in public conveyances. In instance, the matter of yielding a seat: In dances Miss Pert or Mrs. Potty. Car crowded. Up Jumps Mr. Polleit Joining the Order of Straphangers. Miss Pert or Mrs. Potty squats In the vacated niche with or without thanks. At the third or fourth station Mis3 Pert or Mrs. Potty gets out and Mr. Hogghle slips Into the seat Mr. Polleit resents this in his soul, and swears by his beard that never again will he be buncoed. The real laJy would do this:- After ac cepting with gracious condescension Mr. Polleit'a seat, she should regard that seat as a loan, to be returned to Mr. Polleit, In case she leaves the car before him. "Per mit me to return your seat sir. I thank you very much." she should say. This would head oft Mr. Hogghle and tickle Mr Polleit so that he would ever after be on the qui vivo to yield hl3 squatter sovereignty to a woman. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS Jerrold I tok Dolly out In my auto yester day Harold Of course, you proposed to her? Jerrold No! Every time I started to I broke down. Puck. Church Do you believe that misery loves company? Gotham Well. I believe It loves the New York Elevated Railroad Company. Yon kers Statesman. -- Salesman This Is the best stove In the mar ket. It will save half your coal. Customer Is that so? Then give me two ot them so's I can save It all. Chicago Dally News. First Youth That wa3 a great tragedy, wasn't It? Did you take your parents to see It? Second Youth Oh, not They are too old for that sort of thing. They went to a farce comedy. Life. She It was fortunate that you were such a fine French scholar. I suppose when you wera In Paris you had no difficulty In making your self understood? He Not when I talked Eng lish. Boston Transcript "I wouldn't say anything unkind to a person behind his back," said Maud. "Neither would I," answered Mamie: "I'd rather say It where he can hear It. so as 'to have the fun of seeing him get angry-" Washington Star. Miss Jilt I'm sorry. No doubt you'll And some other girl who'll make you forget me. Mr. Kloseman Oh, but I can never forget you! Miss Jilt Nonsense! You did It last Christmas without any trouble. Philadelphia Press. First Rider (In six-day rye) They've nick named Bill "tho human automobile." Second Rider How's that? First Rider Why, becaus this Is only the third day of the race, and he'j been laid up Ave times for repairs already. Judge. "I wouldn't give two cents for a cigar like that!" he exclaimed, as he tried for the fourth time to light one. "But I didn't. George," protested his tearful little wife. "I only gav &0 cents for 60 of them." Cleveland Plain Dealer.