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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1906)
8 TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1P0G, Entered t the Potofflc at Portland, Or.. aa Second-Class Matter. ' SUBSCRIPTION BATES. CT INVARIABLY II ADVANCE. 13 (By Mall or Express.) DAILY. SUNDAY INCLUDED. Twelve months $8.00 Blx months 4-25 Three months 8-25 One month .'5 Delivered by carrier, per year. ....... V.00 Delivered by carrier, per month .75 Less time, per week "2 Sunday, one year 2.50 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year 3.50 HOW 'TO REMIT Send postofflcs money order, express order or personal check on your local bank, stamps, coin or curreaoy re at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The 8. C. Berk with Special Agency New York, rooms 43-50, Tribune building-. Chi cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building KEPT OX SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postotflce News Co., 178 Dearborn street. St. Paul. Minn. N. St. Marie. Commercial Station. Uenver Hamilton' A Kendrick. 006-912 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 121 Fifteenth street; I. Wclnsteln. Goldficld. Nev. Frank Sandstrom. Kansas City. Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh. SO Bouth Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw. 307 Superior street. New York City L. Jonea A Co., Astor House. Oakland, Cai W. H. Johnston. Four teenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley. . Oe-den D. L. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam; MMgeath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam: 24t fcouth Fourteenth. Kacrainento, Cai. Sacramento News Co., 4oW K street. Salt Lake Salt Laks News Co.. TT West Second street South; Miss L. Levin, 24 Church street. Los Angeles B. E. Amos, manager seven street wagons; lierl Newa Co.. 326ii South Broadway. Kan Dlt'jco B. E. Amos. 1'aKadeua. Cai. Berl News Co. San Francisco Foster & Orear, Ferry News Stand. Washington. I. C. Ebbltt Kouse, Penn sylvania avenue. PORTLAND, THURSDAY, JUNE 28. 1906. DEPENDENCE ON NATURE. A favorite theme and boast of our race Is the dignity of human nature; yet how entirely man Is dependent on Nature, as contradistinguished from human nature, 1b a subject of everlasting- interest. The individual, resolute end alone, may Indeed stand against, outdare and defy a tendency of his time, but ha doesn't arrest it, and he perishes. Yet by such sacrifices the course of human effort Jo altered-, modi fied and brought more nearly within the limits of human possibility; but the general tendency, that is the course of Nature in the long run, prevails. It is observed that one type of civili sation develops where land is plenty and water scarce; another where water is plenty and land scarce. Still an other, in climatic conditions near the equator, and another In climatic condi tions that prevail towards the poles. But In our time rapid communication and means of transport modify these conditions, to en important extent. Man overcomes Nature, to a degree; and states may grow ae they And food products capable of transportation. Production of cereals formerly con trolled, and still controls, largely, the movements of the human race. But latterly sugar and the potato have be come highly important factors. Their abundance and cheapness have opened up almost unlimited possibilities for in crease of population. Modern methods of transportation Immensely accelerate it. Sugar formerly was almost wholly a tropical product. But the plants from which sugar may be extracted are, un der modern methods, amazingly proline, over vast latitudes. So we may be said to have in our time a sugar diet, in the same sense as the eighteenth century had a bread diet. The change Is Im mense. Use of steam and electricity, growth of sugar and the potato, virtually sus pend for the present the Malthus law of population. So, when Mr. S. B. Rlggen at the People's Forum In Portland a while ago attempted to stand up for Malthus,. ha was silenced by protests against the Malthusian doctrine. But they didn't jrive Brother Rlggen a fair chance. Malthus will be true at last though steam and electricity, railroads pene trating distant continents, increase of cereal production and of grasses, vast extension of sugar and potato culture In known and unknown lands, will sus pend Malthus for a time. But man still Is dependent on Nature, and the human race again will multiply to the limit of subsistence. We shall see In a thou- nd years, more or less. ut Nature also asserts herself by traries. Formerly the underfed ed to survive. Now It Is the over- jt among whom the elimination Is iiKing place, ine iusui ui ueuiiu ih i btaln complete nutrition. Over-nutrl- t on as well as under-nutrltlon weakens the body and subjects it to evils that plethora of food now enjoyed Induces men to eat and drink more than their systems can etandv There Is thus a re duction In vitality that leads to dis ease. 'Moreover, an overfed population Is not fruitful In offspring. That Is, the line of complete nutrition must be reached, but not crossed. When this line Is not reached under-nutrition cuts In on the lower edge of society and the weaker perish. When the line Is passed, over-nutrltlon weeds out the overfed. Such discourse may have an academic air, and some of these things may ap pear contradictory. But on the whole they are mighty true. EIGHTY-CENT OAS IN NEW YORK. The gas situation in New York City, with the Legislature, , the Federal and state courts and the newspapers all pulling in different directions, has reached a degree of entanglement which must make the lawyers sigh with delight. It will be remembered that the Legislature to begin with passed a law fixing the price of gas at 80 cents. This was done after careful deliberation and an investigation by a committee of ex perts. When the time came for the 80 cent rate to go into effect, the gas trust got an Injunction from Judge Lacombe, of the Federal Court, restraining the state officers from enforcing the law, which was attacked as confiscatory. The trust was to charge $1 per thousand as before, and the difference between the two rates- was to be placed at in terest In one of the Standard Oil banks to await the final decision. If the law were sustained, it would be returned to the consumers. Otherwise the trust would keep It. There happened to be a consumer who did not believe that a state law ought to be quite such a plaything, even for a Federal Judge, and he declined to pay the dollar rate. When the trust at tempted to remove his meter he got an Injunction from the state court forbld 3ing .It. The case has been appealed from court to court, and at last the appellate division of the Supreme Court sustains the injunction. Hence by the Federal Injunction the- trust may charge a dollar for gas, but by the state Injunction It Is obliged to accept 80 cents if the consumer declines to pay more. There are subtle beauties In our system of government by Injunction which it takes a situation like this to reveal in their full glory. If each court Is an independent lawmaking body. Legislatures are a useless and rather expensive luxury. Let us abolish them. EVERY MAN HIS OWN LEGISLATrRE. "The referendum," says the Boston Herald, "from one point of view Is an Impeachment of the republican repre sentative system. That 4s, it seems to be an admission that the people cannot be trusted, or cannot trust themselves, to elect Representatives to the Legis lature who will truly and honestly rep resent them." If the people do not trust the Legislature In this state, they have at no time shown It by the refer endum. We have had the referendum since 1902, and one bill only has been taken on appeal from the Legislature to the people. This was after a loud outcry about the iniquity or legislative methods. Yet the bill was passed by the people by a large vote, and the Legislature was sustained. So the peo ple trust the Legislature, though they reserve the inalienable right to say they do not, between elections. But the Initiative Is worthy the Her ald's attention as disclosing the real attitude of the people toward the Leg islatures. The purpose ot the Initiative was to provide a way to get laws on the statute-books that the Legislature couldn't or wouldn't pass; and that Is practically the way It has worked out. It has made two Legislatures In Oregon where there was only one. If one will not enact a bill, perhaps the other will. Each has the power to amend or repeal the act of the other. But they rarely exercise It. The reason Is, perhaps, that they trust each other fully; yet perhaps It Is not the reason. The real function of the Initiative Is to make every man his own Legislature. IS THAW INSAKET The connubial infelicities of high so ciety present an Inviting theme for the satirist. The so-called marriages among the fast set amount to little more than the chance associations of those lower animals which accomplish their love making and forget each other In an hour. In fidelity these degenerate hu man beings are far Inferior to the birds, which always remain faithful to each other for one season at least after mating. It would be hard, for example, to match among the feathered tribes the experience of James King Clark, of Pittsburg, and his wife, who began their divorce proceedings as soon as the honeymoon was over; though per haps one might find a parallel among barnyard fowls. In fact, the loves and marriages, with the quickly following divorces, which occur between million aire couples In Pittsburg and other cit ies where money is swiftly accumulated resemble the happy-go-lucky meetings and partings of the barnyard more than the orderly arrangements of human so ciety. What previous love adventures their partners may have had, these members of elite circles seem to care no more than cattle. Marriage ranks with them, not among the duties or re sponsibilities of life, but merely as one or its pleasures, and they evince a de termination to enjoy it In as great vari ety as possible, exactly as they do other pleasures. The fidelity of Harry Kendall Thaw to his actress wife was therefore some thing unusual in the set he belonged to. With most of them a few weeks or a couple of months are generally the ex treme limit of a matrimonial connec tion, and then by the aid of the law they sever it, and with the blessing of the gospel hasten to contract a new one. Charles Clark's ex-wife was married, presumably by a bishop, since she is wealthy, the next day after her divorce was granted. Thaw, It seems, had re mained more or less faithful to his wife for a whole year. Such conduct is so unusual In fashionable circles that, even 1f he had never shot White, It would of Itself have raised a doubt of his sanity, perhaps. It certainly must have made him appear odd, almost vulgar. If Thaw was not insane we can only ac count for his extraordinary conduct on the ground that his wife was a woman of more than common beauty and charm. We must remember, too, that the fidelity was not all on one aide.- If Thaw lived with his wife for a whole year, she lived with him during the same period, and we are consequently compelled to believe that they were a model couple exemplifying the domestic virtues in a way quite unheard of In the ultra-fashionable circles of either Pittsburg or New York. Their home was a little Eden, or It would have been but for the perpetually haunting sor row which blighted their happiness and turned the sweets of their lot Into-bitterness. Mrs. Thaw had a past, and the nature of her past was so shock ingly scandalous that polite society shut Its door In her face. The Thaws were not admitted to play bridge with the smart set. They were coldly excluded from monkey dinners. The aristocracy failed to bow when their automobiles met In the park. Blooming brides hap pily married to their tenth husbands passed Mrs. Thaw with a stare of virtu ous disapproval. Society can pardon any number of divorces, but at platonic friendships It draws the line, and Mrs. Thaw, before her marriage, had en Joyed a platonic friendship with Mr. White. Nor had she any certificate from the courts to show that this rela tion had terminated before her mar riage began. Mr. Thaw had, therefore, clearly a double cause of offense against Mr. White. On the one hand lay the possi bility that the platonic friendship was running right along parallel, as it were, with the marriage of his Evelyn. On the ether hand lay the fact that White, innocent though he might be of all sin, was nevertheless responsible for her ex. elusion from polite society. As often as Thaw read of an aristocratic party be ing blown up In an automobile he would eigh and say to himself, "But for the hated White, Evelyn and I might have mingled our blood with theirs." When a Puke landed on our shores and soci ety was occupied in paying him divine honors, Thaw would again sigh and re member that If 'it had not been for Evelyn's platonic friendship with White she might have been one of the orna ments" of the religious function. In fact, Thaw's mind, what there was of It, became obsessed with White. He developed what the alienists call a fixed Idea. By. day he ate and drank White; at night he dreamed of him. The vision of his enemy was before his eyes con stantly. The thought of him was in his mind unceasingly. "White has ruined by life. White has ruined my life." This was the idea which wedged Itself' Inextricably into Thaw's mind and ger minated and developed until it took possession of his whole being. Such forms of obsession are most fre quent in persons like Thaw, whose few and feeble thoughts are centered en tirely In themselves and who know nothing of unselfish endeavor or even of honest work. Their universe is so nar row that a single idea easily gains pos session of It and dominates the whole. There Is also reason to believe that Thaw's mind, weak in the beginning, was hastened toward degeneracy by cigarette smoking, and heaven knows what other habits. The reports can only hint at them, and none would be better for understanding what they were. It is sufficient to know that his brain, a flabby, degenerate organ, was seized upon and dominated by the idea that White had ruined his life. The fixed idea Is a form of Insanity and one of the most subtle and dangerous. It absolutely controls the will and com pels the patient to commit deeds of vio lence while up to. the very moment of the act he presents all the ordinary ap pearance of perfect sanity. Quite apart, therefore, from the Influence .which wealth and high 'connections may exert upon the courts, It seems quite likely that Thaw will escape the penalty for murder upon a well-grounded plea of Insanity. THE REPUBLICAN RECORD. What's the matter with Colonel Ho fer? Here he Is, fretting and fuming and scolding because, in his opinion, the Republican party In Oregon does not stand for anything particular in- the way of reform.. He says, with display of black-faced type, of course, that "if the Republican party Is not fully in power In Oregon, it is because It has not advocated any positive measure or policy of state government." What's the reason the Colonel shuts his eyes upon the record and thus belittles the political party with which he acknowl edges affiliation? What la the record? Has not the Republican party stood for something? Was it not a Republican Secretary of State who recommended the enactment of a corporation tax law, and was It not a Republican legislator who Introduced the bill and a Republican Legislature that passed the bill, carrying out this recommendation, thus establishing In Oregon the principle of Indirect taxa tion? Was it not a Republican Secre tary of State who suggested an inheri tance tax law, furnished the data upon which a bill for such a law was drawn by a Republican Representative and passed by a Republican Legislature? Of course It was. Was It not a Republican newspaper, over which Colonel Hofer presides, that urged enactment of a flat-salary law, and a Republican Representative who took up the Colonel's Idea and intro duced a flat-salary bill that was passed by a Republican Legislature? Does not that law require that all fees shall be turned into the state treasury, thus cut ting oft grafts of unknown magnitude? Are not Republican officials bound to carry out that law In letter and spirit, in default of which their terms in the Statehouse will blend Into terms in the Penitentiary? Of course. Was it not a Republican newspaper, The Oregonian, that exposed the iniqui tous lieu-land manipulatipn fron) 1900 to 1903. laying before the public all the Ins and outs of that nefarious business and thus forcing the reforms that took place since 1903? Was U not a Repub lican newspaper. The Oregonian, that disclosed the evils of permitting the State Land Agent to run his office sep arate from that of the Clerk of the State Land Board, thus making reform in that particular inevitable? Was it not a Republican candidate for the nomination for State Printer w-ho, over the protests of Colonel Hofer, exposed the grafting methods of the state printing office and made the first pledges of reform in that expensive de partment? Was it not a Republican aspirant who gave the people their first thorough understanding of the means by which the calendar graft has been worked at every session of the Legislature, and did not the Repub licans of Oregon show their Indorse ment of promised reforms by nominat ing that aspirant by the largest plural ity accorded to any Republican candi date? Certainly. Did' not Republican candidates for State Treasurer make the first promises not to continue the criminal system of loaning public funds for private ad vantage, thus raising an issue that makes the continuance of that unlaw ful system impossible? Was it not a Republican newspaper that advocated the enactment of; a state banking law, with the opposition of the pluto-Demo-cratic newspaper, and thus led public opinion In' a demand which the next Legislature cannot ignore? Was it not a Republican newspaper that waged war upon perpetual franchises and un taxed franchises, and, with the oppo sition of the pluto-Democratic newspa per, made the granting of perpetual franchises hereafter Impossible? Was It not the Republican party in Oregon that nominated In the direct primary a candidate for United) States Senator and elected that candidate at the gen eral election, with the opposition of the plutocratic owners of the Democratic newspaper, who hoped to see the Sen atorship put up at auction next Win ter? Indeed, now, where is there a single reform that has had Democratic origin, with the single exception of the" eradi cation of the emergency clause abuse? It was a Democratic Governor, who. with some Inconsistency, it Is true, put an end to the emergency clause abuse, but aside from that what has Oregon Democracy ever accomplished or first proposed? Go down the list. Colonel, and point us out the reforms that have been first proposed by Democrats. Dont try to dodge -the issue by saying that these reforms have been advocated by Individual Republicans and not by the Republican party. The party Is en titled to credit for all the work of Its adherents. It was Theodore Roosevelt who passed the rate bill, the meat bill, the canal bill, and prosecuted the trusts, but the Republican party claims the credit for his record. We are willing to accord to the Democratic party credit for all the achievements of Individual Democrats. I ,. .. ,' ... Two men have been convicted of murder In Oregon on purely circum stantial evidence, both as to the death of the . person alleged to have been murdered and the guilt of the man charged with the crime. There was no direct proof of the death of Miss Nes bit. for whose murder Norman Williams suffered death on the gallows, nor was there any direct evidence that if she were dead he was the cause of her death. The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the conviction of John C. Barnes, of Douglas County, who was convicted of the murder of William Graham, of whose death there Is no di rect evidence. In both cases the evi dence was so strong that there could be no reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, yet there is the very re mote possibility that the persons be lieved to have been killed are still alive. A Jury of twelve men in each case could reach no other conclusion from the evi dence than that the indicted men were guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt. While there are a great many people who do not believe in the execution of. men convicted on circumstantial evi dence, it Is apparent that if such execu tions could not be had the law would fail to mete out punishment according to the crime. It is fitting that the business interests of Portland should publicly show their appreciation of Mr. A. L. Craig, general passenger agent of the Harriman lines centering here, who will leave soon to undertake larger duties with a trans continental railroad system that Is courting closer relations with Oregon. At tonight's dinner voice will be given to the cordial feeling that exists toward the guest. During the five years Mr. Craig has served his companies here he has also served the Pacific North west. He Is an intelligent and enter prising advertiser. While his primary purpose was to advance the interests of the railroads, he used their machin ery with good effect to exploit the "Ore gon Country." Much of the Immigra tion since 1901 is due to his excellent, well-directed work. Mr. Craig Is the type of man who commands respect and he has had it in large share. That his new duties will keep him in touch with his present field of operation and that Oregon will have a friend at "the other end of the line" is cause for felicitation. We find it stated that The Oregonian is "unequaled" for news; but everybody knows that. Also, that its editorial ut terances are most contemptible and in ane; which we shall not dispute, for the record will speak. However, there are those who think they know that The Oregonian has been the main force in stirring the stagnant pool of thought and action in this Pacific Northwest during fifty years and more; recogni tion of which has been accorded alf these years not only by the thinking and working people of the Northwest, but by the barking of dirty little yellow dogs, like one now barking at The Dalles, and another or two or more, destined also to oblivion, barking else where. Seldom can The Oregonian turn aside to give distinction to such curs by administering a kick. But this is the dull season, and one may take a feeble Interest in -what at any other time wouldn't concern him. He might even stop for a minute 1n the languor ous twilight to notice a tumble-bug rolling his ball uphill. Under the reign of U'Ren we have many new laws, some good, some bad, perhaps, and some Impotent. Mr. U'Ren did it all, and the Legislature has so far ventured to Interfere with none of his measures. It may some time, but probably not now. But If Mr. U'Ren is entitled to credti for It all. he Is also willing to accept blame for mistakes. For example, he relieves all others of responsibility In leaving the enacting clause off the anti-pass bill, and says that he alone is to blame. That is really quite handsome. Yet the public attention was repeatedly called during the campaign to the defect in the measure, but the people Insisted on' passing it by an overwhelming vote, possibly because all the U'Ren meas ures look alike to them. But there is nothing to complain about In the U'Ren method of doing things. All anybody else- has to do is to hustle around and do the same thing. The way to be a lawmaker Is to be a lawmaker. There are absurdities; some greater than others. Among the greatest is the pretense of the gang who have stolen franchises, worth millions, from the people of Portland made through their organ that they are the champions of the people, dote on the people, and are their best friends and defenders. Evi dently the gang and their organ imag ine there Is something yet that belongs to the people which may be dug up and stolen from them. It Is a scheme quite worthy of the bunch of Republican bankers and plutocrats who run a Democratic-Bryan newspaper. According to reports, F. W. Jewett, who is under indictment for Oregon land frauds, cannot live until his case will be called for trial. The Supreme Court has upheld the indictment found against him, and the case now awaits trial upon the merits, with almost con clusive evidence against the defendant. At least we have settled some ques tions of law, even though the guilty may escape punishment. That has been about the only result of the land-fraud prosecutions up to date. The ex-convict who was caught run-, nlng a mint on his ranch near Hunt ington and is in a fair way to land In, the penitentiary again should have had a strawberry patch this year. He would have made Just as much money and taken no chances of landing in prison. Every strawberry-grower this year had a "mint on his ranch," as the dispatches tell us was the case with the counterfeiter. It Is one of the unvarying principle of the Christian Science Church, which dedicated a temple for the "mother church" In Boston last week, never to dedicate a church building until It has been paid for. The cause of religion might be advanced if all churches would adopt the same rule. Never-ending efforts to raise money to pay off church debts do not tend to Increase the sine of a congregation. The next Bryan campaign will be conducted largely on - the contention that Roosevelt has "stolen the Demo cratic thunder." They will have to have better Democratic lightning than that. "You don't look very pert," remarked the charming Mrs. Thaw to her gallant husband In the Tombs yesterday. The reason probably was that he didn't feel very pert. Senator Piatt has reappeared In the Senate "to show that he is alive.' The country will also show that It is still Icickinar. Mr. White, friend of the friendless, but good looking, chorus girl, was sim ply the architect of his own misfor tunes. Our chief fur ahnut th, Walm m,th. Quake is that it miv 1ea.ve tho Walsh alphabet in worse shape than ever. Walla Walla annarentlv knm-a -what It wants. It simply didn't know that It already has it. After the warm bird and the cold bot tle, the Thaw. And the Tombs. THE RECORD OF TRUST-SMASHING, Mr. Bryan, Absent, Doesn't Know What Has Bees Going- On at Rome. New York Times (Ind. Dem.) Waiting with the crow at Tron dhjem to see King Haakon crowned. Mr. William J..- Bryan being Impor tuned for an expression of opinion upon Democratic chances of success In 1933, made no direct answer, but shaped his thoughts on another subject In this language: "I will say this", the next election will decide whether America Is to swallow the trusts or the trusts are to swallow America." Much has escaped the attention and the knowledge of Mr. Bryan during his travels. Evidently he has not seen the American newspapers. If he had he would knew that so far from trying to swallow America, or any other solid food, most of the trusts now. are too scared to eat anything. They are tak ing thought, not wherewithal they shall bo, fed, but how they shall be saved. One look into the hunting-room of the White House would convince Mr. Bryan that he Is far, very far behind the times, that he is prophesying of past events, beating in doors already wide open, and gravely concerning himself with superfluous and supererogatory works. There hang the heads of a larger number and wider variety of octopodean monsters than could be found In any, other gentleman's collec tion. Moreover, the Incomparable hunt er is still at it, panting, it may be, with the exertion Incident to past triumphs, but flushed with the Joy of present pursuit and bigger bags yet to be made. We Invite Mr. Bryan's attention to the lengthening roll of trusts, trade restrainers, monopolizing corporations, and other insolent offenders recently chastened or still under chastisement. There is the Tobacco Trust, compelled by the decision of the court to lay bare Its guilty secrets and yield up the pres idents of two of its constituent com panies to indictment. In a proceeding begun under the Sherman act, the Paper Trust has been bidden to discontinue its unlawful price-fixing arrangements. The Drug Trust has been enjoined, both as an association and as individu als, not to continue in effect retailers' price lists fixed by the manufacturers. The Federal sleuths are on the trail of the Gunpowder Trust with explosive Intent. Against the Fertiliser Trust 80 Indictments have been found and suits are under way to break up an unlawful combination between cottonseed oil mills and phosphate works. We need not dwell upon the awful drubbing ad ministered to the Beef TruBt, which is about to pass under the discipline of rigid Federal Inspection of its products Furthermore, in Kansas City the other day these great packing concerns, the very ones that have been so shown up in Chicago, were found guilty by a Fed eral Jury of accepting unlawful re bates from the railroads. The Standard Oil Company, the biggest and most for midable of all the trusts, is writhing under Commissioner Garfield's exposure of its monopolistic and forbidden prac tices, and shivers In daily expectation of a summons to court. The Chesa peake & Ohio Railroad Company was punished for departing from Its pub lished freight rates in transporting coal to New England under a contract with the New" Haven Road. The New York Central Road has been Investigated for giving rebates to the wicked Sugar Trust. The great and proud Pennsyl vania Railroad has been shamed by the Interstate Commerce Commission's dis closure of the promiscuous bribery of its subordinate officials by Independent coal operators. Then there is the rate bill, which puts all the railroad sys tems of the country under Federal reg ulation as to their freight charges; which makes pipe lines, sleeping-cars, and express companies common car riers, thus bringing them under Gov ernment control, and which decrees the divorcement of production and traffic from transportation, making it neces sary for the coal roads to part with their mine properties. Mr. Bryan knows, of course, what has happened to the great insurance companies. Their power of control over finance, business, and legislation has been broken. This is a list of achievements with which the most ambitious President might be content, upon which he mig.it be well satisfied to rest his reputation. But it Is not enough for Theodore Roosevelt. "I should dearly love to roast a Quaker," said Sydney Smith. Being asked by one of the surprised olrcU of his listeners If he had consid ered that the Quaker would suffer acutely during the process, he replied: "I have considered everything." Mr. Roosevelt is now, according to report, resolved not to roast, but to imprison at least one great railroad president as an example to tiie others. All the great railroad presidents have been "Invited" by the Interstate Commerce Commis sion, to come and tell their story and submit to cross-examination. They are summoned by invitation or suggestion rather than by subpena, in order that the proceeding may give them no im munity from indictment and the jail. An invitation extended in this spirit is naturally most alluring. At the proffer of these hospitable attentions their bos oms glow with the grateful Joy with which the condemned criminal regards the headsman sharpening his ax, or the pirates' captive watches the crew pro jecting over the ship's side the plank be is to walk. Could men lii that frame of mind, men sweating in guilty terror, and ready to scream with fright a(, their impending doom, be at the same time formulating plans for swallowing America? Mr. Bryan has chosen the wrong issue again. Long before he sees the tally-sheet or the convention roll call which his Democratic friends ex pect will make him their candidate, the trusts will be under the- blossoming daisies. The acts of Congress and the decisions of the courts have already tamed them, and are in a way to make them as harmless as cooing doves. Mr. Roosevelt says that Secretary Taft is the only Republican who can beat Mr. Bryan In 1908. If Mr. Bryan comes to America to engage if a warfare upon the trusts, anybody tan beat him. He will be fighting, not windmills, but the ghosts of dead things. It is the con servatism of Mr. Bryan in comparison with the radicalism of Mr. Roosevelt that has newly commended him to at tention and dawning confidence. Pos sibly he might make headway as a friend and protector of distressed cor porations. The work of trust-smashing has been swift and rude. Mistakes have been made, of which time and ex perience will suggest the needed cor rection. Inevitably there will be a re action against radicalism. It Is in the field of safe and sane statesmanship rather thaa in belated and sterile Imi tation that Nr. Bryan will find bis op portunity. Orlsfln et Grass Widow. Minneapolis Journal. "She is a grass widow," said the pro fessor, nodding in the direction of a lady with yellow hair. "A 'grass' widow? Oh, professor, I didn't think you would use slang." " 'Grass' widow Is not slang." said the professor, stoutly. "It is, on the con trary, a very ancient and correct expres sion. It comes from the French "grace." It was originally 'grace' widow. Its mean ing Is 'widow by courtesy.' "There is nothing slangy or disrespect ful in the term 'grace' widow.1 A widow may call herself that with propriety, and with propriety any one may call her that." OBEY THE WILL, OF" THE PEOPLE. Because th Principle of Popular Elec tion Mast Be Obeyed. Salem "Capital Journal." Indications are that the threatened hold-up of the Legislature to defeat Jona than Bourne for the United States Senate will not materialize. Those who do not like Mr. Bourne or who have something to gain personally by his defeat must eee the danger in setting aside the principle involved. The defeat of the regular nominee and the regularly elected Republican candi date by the next Legislature would carry some things with it. It would not only be setting aside the law, but would be putting the Republican party on record as opposed to the popular election of Senators. If the friends of Senator Fulton In any manner assist in the defeat of J6nathan Bourne there will be a kick-back when Fulton asks re-election. Could Oregon have a more energetic and devoted and able pair of men in the Senate than Fulton and Bourne men In the prime of their lives? Can Oregon do better than to keep these two men in their places in the Senate, backed by the popular will, and growing in power and influence? Can the Republican party do better than to stand pat for the direct plan of nomi nation and election of Senators, as we have started in to do? This is not a personal matter, a matter of who can get the Federal offices, but a practical question of party policy for Re publicans to consider. Do they want to make Oregon a permanently Democratic state? Would not the Republican party Insure the election of a Democratic Senator If it again overthrew the popular will and de feated Jonathan Bourne? Senator Fulton can go before the people on his record next time and be nominated and elected, if the party does not put itself in opposition to the law of direct election by the people. If a Legislature more strongly Republi can than ever before, and elected on a platform Indorsing Statement No. 1 re pudiates the law of popular choice, the Republican party will go out of power. With a hearty acceptance of the verdict of the people there la clear sailing ahead of the Republicans on election of Senators at least. Can any Republican opposed to the direct election of Senators show what Is to be gained, from a party standpoint, by defeating Bourne? Mr. Bourne has this to be said in his favor: He never compromised on the stand he took for the enforcement of the law In regard to direct election of Sena tors. He made that an issue and was willing to stand or fall by the principle, and the principle won on account of his faithful determination to stand for that principle. Those who would defeat Mr. Bourne must reckon with the principle and not with personal matters. Play-Farm Products In New York City. New York Sun. Mayor McCIellan. in his last message, gave these figures of the products last year of the children's school farm In De Witt Clinton Park, the first column of figures showing the crops raised on 358 plots between May 23 and July 1 and the second crops raised on 458 plots between August 1 and November B: Radishes 45,008 82 2.13 Kohlrabi 4ht Beans, quarts " 345 H.430 10.755 Beet tops, quarts 8112 ?!"'.nlp" 4.41M) Lettuce, heada .1 443 2 1.14 Onions 1(M71 fteSS Kale, quarts 97 Peapods 7 139 Carrots i.loilSD Ears of corn twg Two hundred and forty boys and 226 girls worked the first gardens, and 348 boys and 288 girls had plots In the second series. Free Fishhooks the Next, Boston Transcript. One of the foremost opponents of the free seed distribution seriously proposes a national appropriation for the annual distribution of fishhooks and tackle to the people of our coasts and along the great lakes as a means of making con gressmen popular with fishermen. He argues that these hardy men do their share toward the support of the govern ment In adding to the material wealth of the nation; that their calling is extra haz ardous; that it Is a school for the navy and that they have a vote. Doubtless thousands of signers could be secured for such a petition to congress. Perhaps the way to kill the free seed farce is by load ing It down with logically related local gratuities, the total of which would be sufficient to arouse public sentiment In favor of throwing them all over. j Dos; Causes 131 Duel Challenges. New York Press. It was with great relief that the world learned that the Hungarian sportsman, Zombory, had avoided the fighting of no less than 151 duels with as many Buda pest bank officials. He had expressed himself contemptuously concerning the whole class because one of their number had resented being bitten by Zombory's dog. The sportsman takes back all that, but will fight with the man who was bit ten, and had the primacy as challenger. Tragedy thus gets reduced to Its lowest terms of larce. Maiden and Wife. Harriet Whitney Durbln In Llpplncott's. I peeped Into her pet retreat A deep, old-fashioned window seat I found behind me. 80 meditative seemed her mood. Did I, I questioned her. Intruder Soft bluehes mounted to her hair; She smiling- said, with gentle air, fine didn't mind me. Lone since, I won the dainty maid; A family man. sedate and staid. You now may find me. Sometimes I give, for her own need. A few instructions aha should heed; But little deference she pays. And, even as In olden days. Bhe doesn't mind met LOCKED ! I u 'k) (VL Ja j" ONK ADVANTAGE OF THE KNIGHT OF HELPLESS CATTLE. f Government Lawyer Forced Railroads Out of Shipment Cruelty. Omaha Bee. One of the smooth and shrewd young lawyers in the Department of Agriculture is George Patrick McCabe, who was re cently promoted for merit to the post of solicitor for the department. McCabe is a Utah product. He entered the Gov ernment service as a clerk eight or ten years ago at a salary of $600 a year. Dur ing his Idle hours he studied law and graduated from a Washington. D. C law school. Before going to .Washington McCabe railroaded for awhile, mainly as a locomotive fireman, edited a country paper and taught school. The first thing he did after receiving the appointment as solicitor was to devise a scheme for making the railroads obey the law which says they shall not keep livestock in transit for more than 28 hours without unloading them for rest and water. The law had been on the statute books since 1STS, but it was practically a dead letter because prosecuting attorneys in sisted that the only way to prove that the cattle had not been unloaded was for some agent of the Government to ride on a cattle train from point of shipment to destination. McCabe, having been a practical railroad man and living at a division headquarters, knew that that was not necessary. He knew that all that was necessary was to take the number of the cars at points of shipment, check them off at the regu lar feeding stations and note the time of the arrival of those cars at the great stockyards. He knew that no railroad company would unload cattle out on a prairie. In a few weeks he had prepared 1200 cases against the railroads. The attor neys for the railroads threw up their hands, confessed and promised to be good if the Government would not ask for the Imposition of more than the minimum fine, $100 for each violation. Secretary Wilson agreed to that because he was more interested in having the law obeyed in the future than of having the railroads punished. They are obey ing the law now pretty well. They know It Is no use to suggest to Secretary Wil son that he cannot prove they violate the law because they know that McCabe can easily ascertain whether they are telling the truth or a counterfeit of it. Not Tuneless In Her Old Are, Boston Correspondent N. Y. Commercial. Julia Ward Howe it seems out of place and almost frivolously unnecessary to em ploy the prefix "Mrs." in her case was 87 years old the other day, and she spent the day Ideally for a poet and philanthropist In the late sunset of a long and useful life. Greetings and congratulations and lovertokens in the form of spoken words or flowers or telegrams or written mes sages came to her at her Beacon-street home in Boston from all over the world, and from men, women and children In all walks of life. It is not a little remarkable that at the age of almost four-score-and-a-half years the author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" wields a still productive pen and dally adds something to her own life-work that makes some body else's better worth the living. Oliver Wendell Holmes was 17 years younger than the widow of Dr. Howe when he wrote If word of mine another's gloom has brightened. Through my dumb Hps the Heaven-sent message came; If hand of mine another's toll has. light ened. It felt the guidance that it dares not claim. But, like him, she Is not "tuneless In old age." and millions of Americans hope that she may not lay down her pen until the tired heart shall cease to palpitate. Famous Estate (banares Hands. Newbury. Mass., Dispatch. The famous Longfellow estate In By Held which had been In possession of the family for more than 200 years, has been divided and sold. The house is now occupied by Charles Longfellow, eighth In the line of descent. Notwithstanding assertions to the con trary, It has always been declared by the By field Longfellows that the poem "The Village Blacksmith"- was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In rec ognition of the smithy which once stood on this very site, and was conducted by Stephen Longfellow, the second of the name, who was born in 1685. Other famous poems were written there. William Jennings Bryan "Not Known." New York World. The World recently sent a cable mes sage to William Jennings Bryan inform ing him that several Democratic state conventions had recently indorsed him as candidate for the Presidency in 1908. The cable message was addressed to Mr. Bryan at Dresden, Germany, where It was supposed he would be, according to the itinerary he had mapped out. The cable message was returned to the World yesterday with this formal notice from the cable company: "Your cable message addressed to Wil liam Jennings Bryan. Dresden, not de livered. Party not known." In Kentucky, J. M. Mulligan. Orators are the grandest In Kentucky; Officials are the blandest In Kentucky; Boys are all the finest. Danger ever nighest. And taxes are the highest In Kentucky. The bluegraas waves the bluest In Kentucky; Yet, the bluebloods are the fewest (D In Kentucky; Moonshine Is the clearest. By no means the dearest, Aad yet. It acts the queerest In Kentucky. The dove-notes are the saddest In Kentucky: The streams dance on the gladdest In Kentucky; Hip pockets are the thickest, Pluto! hands the slickest. The cylinder turns quickest In Kentucky. The song birds are the sweetest In Kentucky: The thoroughbreds are the fleetest In Kentucky; Mountains tower proudest. Thunder peals the loudest, The landscape Is the grandest x And polities the d- est In Kentucky! From the Pittsburg Dispatch LOCK CANAL PLAN.