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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1906)
THE riORNIXG OREGOIflAN, MONDAY, DECE3IBUK '3, 1906. 6 SUBSCRIPTION RATKS. VT 1NVAK1ABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Matl.) : nally, Sunday included, one year S.OO ; Pally. Sunday Included, six months.... 4.-5 pally, Sunday Included, three months.. 2.-S , Pally, Sunday Included, one month 75 Pally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 " Pally, without Sunday, six months Z.'l. Pally, without Sunday, three months.. 1.73 Pally, without Sunday, one month 00 Sundaj', one year ? ?? Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... l-oO Sunday and Weekly, one year 3 u BY CAKRIEK. Pally. Sunday Included, one year 9.00 "Pally. Sunday Included, one month J HOW TO REMIT Send postottlce money order, express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postottlce ad dress In full. Including county and state. rOSTAGE BATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postofflce as Second-Class Matter. 10 to 11 Paces c'nt 36 to 1!H races - cents 0 to 44 Paces 3 cents 46 to 60 Fsces 4 cents Foretcn Postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage Is -not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The 8.-C. Beckwlth Special Agency New Tork, rooms 43-00 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms 810-513 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chlcugo Auditorium Annex, Postottlce Ktwa Co., 178 Dearborn street. St. Paul, Minn. N. St. marie, Station. Colorado Springs, Colo. Western News Denver Hamilton Hendrlck, 906-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1J14 Fifteenth street; I.' Welnstein; H. P. Han- "liansas City, Mo. Ricksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. , Minneapolis M. J. Karnaugh. 60 South Third. . -Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 80T Su perior street. Atlantic City, N. J. Eli Taylor. New York City I Jones & Co., Astor Houf - Broadway Theater News Stand. Oakland. C al. W. H. Johnson, Four teenth and Franklin streets, N. Wheatley. Ojjden D. I Beyle; W. G. Kind, 114 2.Vh street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 612 Farnam; Mageatli Stationery Co., 1308 Farnam; 240 Souih Fourteenth. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 4,M K street. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co., 7i West Second -tlrcet South: Rosenfeld & Hansen. Iam Angelen B. E. Amos, manager seven sireet wagnns. San lMego B. E. Amos. Long Beach, Cal. B. E. Amos. Pasadena, Cal. A. F. Horning. Sun Irancisco Foster & Orear, Ferry Nes Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand. Washington, D. C Ebbltt House. Penn sylvania avenue. ' Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket orrici-. . . rOKTLANP, MONDAY, DEC. S, 1908. HOW LEGISLATURES ARE ORGANIZED. The biennial contest over organiza tion of the two houses of the State legislature reminds one of the story of the jury that was called into court by the judge after they had been out tnenty-four hours. In response to his Inquiry whether they had agreed upon a verdict, one of them replied: "No, we haven't been able to elect a foreman yet." To the ordinary observer It ap pears that the members of the Legisla ture, particularly of the Senate, have spent moot of their legislative energy thus far in trying to agree upon a pre--sirjKisr officer. The organization of the Legislature is an important matter, and yet it should be subordinate to legifila tion. Quite frequently in the past leg islation was subordinated to the per sonal Interests of aspirants for the pre siding offices, and trades were made, not upon ther merits of the proposed measures, but upon the extremities to which the candidate was pressed. Com mittees were appointed, not according to the fitness of the members1, but ac cording to the promises they were able to exact in return for their support in the organization fight. . In carrying out promises eo made, the successful as pirants.appointed men upon committees who were unfitted and left off men who were fitted for the places. Because a man voted with the losing side in an organization contest he was assigned to inlmportant committees, even though his experience and abilities would have 'r.ade him a valuable member of lm- portant committees. Thus hae legisla tion been hindered and impaired. Yet there seigiis to be no practicable remedy for this unsatisfactory feature of legislative proceedings. The mem bers like the organisation contests and many of them go into the conflict with ; a determination to land something for ; themselves, if possible. The unsophis v ticated taxpaying voter pictures to himself a body of ninety men going to Salem with minds burdened with the responsibility of making laws for all the people of a great state. In the quiet seclusion of his humble fireside, on the eve of the meeting of the Legis lature, he imagines a crowd of thought ful men conferring upon the needs of vthe state. Far different Is the reality as it appears to the view of a man who goes to Salem Sunday before the open ing day of the Legislature and wit nesses the gathering of solons In the hotel lobby, where ' every resource of political ingenuity Is exhausted in the effort to win the organization. The needs of the people and the character of laws to be enacted are lost sight of except so far as legislation can be lu oetve me purposes or one can .wtidate or another. Perhaps the fight Joes not end on the night before the day appointed by law for the conven ing of the Legislature, but is carried along for two or three days, during which time one house or the other re mains unorganized. In such a situa tion the lawmakers are unable to make laws because they have "not yet been able to elect presiding officers." They have the difficulty of the far-famed jury duplicated in every particular. The fight in the Senate might be avoided by providing for election of a jjieutenant-uovernoi', whose duty It should be to preside over the State Senate, as the Vice-President presides over the United States Senate; yet this innovation would very likely prove to have more defects than merits. There Is no relief at the ballot-box, for the same story of conflict is repeated at each eessicn, regardless of the nerson- nel of the Legislature. Demanding the referendum upon legislation enacted as a result of organization fight is but adding- to the injury that hae been sus tained. At most we can but hope that some time and somehow the members of the Legislature may be induced to lose '. sight of immediate self-interest and . devote their energies exclusively to en actment of good laws. Representatives of the Manchester and Lancashire Cotton-Spinners' Asso- ; ciatlon are said to have purchased . some extensive tracts of land in Lou isiana ail Mississippi for the purpose of growing their own supply of raw cotton. It is ai-nounred that t:.e main object in view is to eliminate- the mii aiemarf. The charges of this individual, -who handles the crop, are apt the most serious drawback encountered by the buyers. The greatest evil that could be corrected by the manufacturers con trolling their own supply of raw cotton is the insurance it would effect against "corners" such as have demoralized the trade so frequently in the past. Under a normal movement at normal prices the manufacturers can feel reasonably safe in making contracts for goods without the necessity of actually con tracting in advance for all the cotton which will be needed. When, however, the middleman and the speculator cor ner the market and force -prices to un reasonable heights, ruin frequently fol lows. For this reason the ownership of the original supply will probably be of distinct advantage to the srinnere. REED SMOOT'S CASE. Among the first things that will come up in the Senate at the session begin ning today will be the majority report of the committee on privileges and elec tions, on the case of Reed Smoot, Sena tor from Utah. Though not a polyga mist, Smoot is on trial for being a Mor mon. The' report on his case concludes with the statement .that "Reed Smoot is not entitled to a scat as a Senator of the United States from the State of Utah." A strong minority of the com mittee dissents, and the result of the vote in the Senate is considered; doubt ful. It will require two-thirds to expel. The charges against Smoot are sup ported by Senator Burrows, chairman of the committee, and by a bare major ity of the members. In. substance they are these: That Smoot is, or was, one of the twelve apostles iSf the Mormon Church: that the authority of these apostles has been exercised so as to en courage the practice of polygamy, con trary to the laws of Utah and of the United States; that the twelve apostles control the political affairs of Utah, thus practically uniting state and church, contrary to the constitution of Utah and of the Unite- States, and that he is not the accredited repre sentative of the State of Utah, but "the choice of the hierarchy which controls the church antf has usurped the func tions of the state." The Burrows re port, after consideration of these charges, said: "The more deliberately and carefully the testimony taken "Cn investigation is gonsddered, the more irresistibly it leads to the conclusion that the facts stated in the protest are true." And, believing them to be true, the committee does not consider Reed Smoot properly qualified to be a mem ber of the United States Senate. Many will think these charges cover ground rather dangerous to tread; for Smoot is not nor ever was a polyga mic, and to punish a man for his ad herence to a church even the Mormon Church would be a strange proceeding. Influential Senators, sitting on the committee Foraker, Knox, Beveridge, Hopkins and Dillingham could not agree with Burrows and the majority. Who can prove that Smoot places his obligations to the Mormon Church above his duty to Utah and the United States? .The Senate or House may, however, expel any member on charge of any conduct which it deems incon sistent with the trust and duty of a member. SANITARY RESrLTS. Chicago newspapers tell us that great sanitary results, have been produced in that city by the drainage canal, which has changed the course of the sewage of the city from the lake into which it was formerly discharged to the Illinois River and thence to the Mississippi. Chicago, pumping from Lake Michigan, now has little contamination of water supply. The results are stated in a bul letin of the Board of Health, Just pub lished. Comparisons are made between two periods of equal length one of them eighty-two months before the opening of the sanitary channel, the other eighty-two months after the current of the river and the bulk of the sewage was turned away from the lake. In the first period there were 3874 deaths from typhoid fever, in the second period 3238 deaths a reduction of 636, or 16.4 per cent. From all impure-water diseases the first period had a death roll of 23, 666; the second period, 19,307 4359 fewer, or a reduction of 18.4 per cent. For the first period the total deaths from all causes were 16.38 per 1000 of population; for the second period, 13.89, a reduction of 15:2 per cent. From the figures presented it is deduced that since the opening of the drainage canal the total saving of life, through. reduced mortality rates, from typhoid and diarrheal diseases, has been 11,636. Further improvement is cpected through better enforcement of sanitary requirements. If a city can get a supply of pure water, and then enforce proper drain age conditions, it can reduce this class of diseases to a very low proportion, in the tables of mortality. In Portland there are few cases of typhoid; among those who live here continuously, sel dom any. Pure water supply and proper drainage will do much, but not everything; for supply of milk from suburbs and country should be kept also under close sanitary regulation. THE MAN WHO KNOWS HOW. Almost certain success awaits that man -who can foresee an industrial de mand and prepares to supply it. He who can anticipate a demand has the advantage not only of previous prep aration, but also of the more active market while the supply is yet limited, This applies not only to the bargain and sale of commodities, but to the sale of labor as -well. The man who speculates in wheat on an advancing market which his good Judgment en ables him to foresee, exercises no greater business sagacity than does the professional man, mechanic or common laborer who prepares himself to sell his services at a higher price in the future than he has in the Tast. Those men who Increased the value of their work by mastering the principles of electri cal engineering while the use of elec tricity as a lighting and motive power was in its infancy, displayed business Judgment of no small degree. So it has been with men in almost every new en terprise. These observations are made as be ing pertinent to the suggestion that the revival of apple-growing in the Will amette Valley will open new opportuni ties for men who are learned and skilled in the care of fruit trees. Thou sands of old apple orchards in the Val ley need rejuvenating, but it is doubt ful whether there are many men in the Valley who know how to do this work. The long-neglected, gnarly trees need to be pruned so as -to bring the tops into a shape that will permit of the production and ripening of first-class fruit. A large majority of the or chards were set to apple trees of nu merous varieties, but experience has shown that the market requires but few varieties- .The Iresa.thaL are-beac-v ing useless fruit need to be grafted to popular varieties. In nine cases out of ten the men who own these neglected orchards do not know how to prune or graft the trees. If they knew, the or chards would not be in such deplorable condition. They need and can afford to pay for the services of a man who does know how and who will do the work as it should be done. In every, community there is opportunity for a trustworthy man, or perhaps more than one, to make a business of rejuvenat ing orchards. A saw and knife, han dled by main strength and awkward ness will make a bad matter worse. The "know how" is the element lack ing in the care of trees.. Then, too, the determination that fruit trees of all Rinds shall be sprayed, has created a demand! for commercial sprayers. Not every man can afford to do his own spraying. The man with a small orchard should be able to hire his spraying done cheaper than he can do it himself, and yet pay a price that will leave a profit for the man who does it for him. Few grain farmers own threshing machines.- One hay baler does all the baling for a township. The commercial creamery does the churn ing oheaper and better than a farmer can do it himself. One good spraying outfit should do all the spraying for a dozen or more orchards and do it bet ter and -cheaper than it can be done by small appliances owned by individual orchardists. The barrel spray pump as unprofitable to the orchardist as a hand churn is to the dairyman, yet the small orchardist cannot afford to own a power spraying machine, with its boiling vats and tank for hauling spray material, etc It seems reasona ble to believe, therefore, that there is opportunity for men who understand spraying to do a profitable business in any fruit-growing community by oper ating a spraying outfit ready to give service wherever and whenever needed. IMPREGNABLE WATER TRANSPORTA TION. Water transportation possesses ad vantages and attractions which will always insure a certain proportion of the business where steamers are avail able regardless of the rail facilities. Illustrative of this fact is the large business handled by water between New York and Boston. With as rapid and frequent a service as can be found onrany railroad covering a similar dis tance, the New York, New Haven -& Hartford is obliged to divide much of the Boston-New York business with the steamers. With a large number of fine steamers already making dally trips on the route, there have Just been added two new turbine steamers for the pas senger traffic between the two ports. These vessels are over 400 feet long, 63 feet beam, 16 feet depth of hold, and have a guaranteed speed of 23 miles per hour. This is slower than the express trains hetween the two cities, but for the night lun the boats are much more comfortable than the trains. They will be operated on the outside passage, at night, making the run between 5 in the evening ind & in the morning. Two good vessels of a similar type to the Yale and Harvard, just launched for the Boston-New York run, are bad ly needed on the Portland-San Fran cisco route. They could make the trip in less than thirty hours, which is faster than the present train schedule. and they would carry all of the passen gers who are now obliged to take pass age on ancient lumber droghers, cast off Klondike liners and other floating scrapheaps, which are either disabled at sea or held up by inspectors in port about half the time. They would also secure thousands of other passengers who would prefer to make the trip by water, but do not like to take the chances with most of the craft now plying in the trade. ONE MOTHER AND HER CHILD. A problem confronts the Attorney- General of the State of Washington lor solution. A woman, the mother of a boy four years of age and a nursing infant of less than one year, has been convicted, jointly with her husband, of conspiracy to rob a night, watchman at Centralla, . and sentenced to incar ceration in the state's prison at Walla Walla for a term of years. The grand mother has custody of the boy; the in fant the mother desires to take with her to the penitentiary. The question as to whether this should be permitted, the Atttorney-General is asked to de cide. It is inconceivable that a child but a few months old could be, or would be contaminated by prison associa tions or d.lsgraced by residence in a prison at a period in life too early to make an impression upon the memory. It may be that some time in later life malevolence might taunt a person who had lived in a penitentiary for a time with the fact, but the taunt would be degrading rather to the one who ut tered it than to the one against whom ft was made. The disgrace, if any at taches to a child thus unfortunate. Is in the fact that its parents were con victs, guilty of criminal purpose, if not of successfully accomplished crime, and this fact will remain, whether the nurs ling accompanies its mother to prison or is taken from her. arms and given to the care of the already burdened grandmother. It is a principle indorsed by all who have had experience in dealing with erring mothers of infants, that the babe is the mother's one chance of re deeming herself. In this View it is not deemed wise to separate the mother and babe, but on the contrary, every effort is made to keep them together, throw the responsibility of the child's care upon the -mother and thus strengthen the bond of nature between them. In this view this babe should not be taken from the mother. In sharing her prison life it will lead her to better things without the least pos sibility of harm itself. The grand mother joins the mother in the plea that the latter be allowed to keep her babe with her. The motive in both cases may be a selfish one, but mater nal affection, -even if it partakes of sel fishness, has in it an element that is uplifting both to mother and child. It may indeed be called "sublimated sel fishness," than which no more potent, persistent force exists in the realm of the human emotions. The orange-growers of Visalia, Cal., held an indignation meeting last Satur day to consider means for correcting the car-shortage evil. It is not stated whether these orange-growers have any definite opinion regarding partiality on the part of the railroad company, but elsewhere on the Coast the blame is distributed. The grain men assert that they cannot get any cars because they have been given to the lumbermen and sent East. The lumbermen, with e"qual indignation, assert that they are unable to get any cars because they are all biiiig ."""d. In moving th,e prang", ornrj of California. Probably the orange- growers, in order to complete this end less chain of complaint, will decide that the wheat and lumber men of Oregon and Washington are getting all of the cars. The most lucid explanation of the situation' seems to be that the num ber of cars owned by the Western roads is woefully inadequate for the business that, is offering. Should Woodrow Wilson, president of Princeton University, get the Demo cratic nomination for the Presidency, he would receive scant support from the Bryan Democrats of the country, even though Bryan himself should take the stump in his behalf. The proposal to nominate Wilson will be taken as sign of an effort to bring the party once more to "safe and sane" conditions, that is, to subject it again to pluto cratic control. President Wilson is a great "literary feller,"" and supposed therefore to be respectably and even eminently conservative. About the "ex cesses of Democracy" he has learned a lot from history. He has the Gracchi, Catiline; Rienzl, Mirabeau, Barere and the rest of them at his fingers' ends. But the Democratic party will not want him. Harper's Weekly has been trying to conjure with his name for a year past. Noting the fact that representatives from thirty states are to meet in Des Moines this week to discuss the direct election of Senators, the New York Evening Post says its own state has a present special interest in this ques tion, since she is the horrible example of the evil results of the indirect method. The Post adds: "All over the country newspapers and workers for good government are pointing to New York's -shame as a,. reason why State Legislatures should be limited in their choice of United States Senators. Rather than risk having any more Platts or Depews, a thorough overhaul ing of the election machinery is, they say, te demand of the hour." " The Washington Legislature, which four years ago heroically departed from the time-honored practice of employing squads of handsome but unnecessary female clerks, is contemplating an other drastic reform. An attempt will be made at the coming session to cut down the number of Senate clerks from fifty-seven to thirty, and to make effi ciency the basis for selection. The floating population cf Salem while the Legislature is in -session will be much smaller than ever before if an attempt is made at this kind of reform in our own state. The Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer have recently inspected a large number of farms offered to the state as sites for a home for the feeble minded. After having heard the sev eral owners expatiate upon the superior merits of each particular tract, these gentlemen snould be experts" on farm lands by this time, and might do well in thi real estate or immigration busi ness when their terms of office end. . Mark Twain celebrated his 71st birth day and about the same time got the news that his "Evete Diary" had been shut out of a Massachusetts library for its indecent pictures. Mark is not only old enough not to care, but to wonder why any one else should care about such pictures. The Democrats once - had another Professor Wilson that made a tariff that lasted a few minutes only after the Democrats enacted it. About all that can be said of the present Profes sor Wilson that will commend him to the Democracy is that he doesn't hail from Esopus. Marlon County officials anticipate in ternational complications as a result of the careless shooting of a citizen of Germany by a Falem police officer. It is to be hoted the war with Ge.many won't begin until the end of the war with Japan over the -public school question- Wood is selling- for $70 per cord in Goldfleld, Nev., and Tex Rickard is in New York bidding '$40,000 for a prize fight to be held in the town with the sugg6tive name. The necessities of life in Goldfleld must be had regard less of what they cost- Mr. Peary didn't find the Pole this year, and Mr. Wellman didn't try be cause it wasn't a good year for hunting the North Pole. Undoubtedly Mr. Well man is wise in waiting for a good year. While there may be no good years, he's a good waiter. There was no difficulty or delay in fixing the responsibility for the railroad wreck in Virginia, in which a number of railway officials lost their lives. When only passengers and minor em ployes suffer, it takes lawsuits to fix responsibility. How many persons noticed that call money on Wall street went up to 27 per cent last week? Very few, outside the professional Wall-street borrowers and speculators. As a financial barometer Wall street is a back number. Congress will not do -much today but to organize and inform the President that it Is ready for business. There isn't much use in Congress trying to do anything- without telling the Presi dent all about it. In his eagerness to set out apple trees the Oregon farmer should not neglect a few ornamental and shade trees that cost but little yet go far toward mak ing a farm home beautiful. There are a few persons in the United Stsesi who refuse to get excited when told that, in event .of war with Japan, the first move of the Japanese would be to take the Philippines. At least they cannot accuse Woodrow Wilsor; of talking too much on public questions. Nobody ever heard that he has talked at all. He's no Democrat. One of the things that we will never know we hope is whether the Rus sians were or were not up against the real thing when they fought Japan. Congress will learn in a day or two that the President went all the way to Panama just to show that as to the canal he has never been at sea. " Count Boni thrashed the servant who refused to let him into his wife's apart ments. We are glad to hear that Cas tellan can do something. ' Now Seth Low wants to go to the United States Senate from New York. He. is alrao&t, alone Jn hia desire. THE WEALTH OF THE FARM. It la Still, Aforetime, the Strength of the Nation. Chicago Tribnne. The year just past has been one of the most prosperous years the farmers of this country have ever known. The value of the farm products. Including live stock, is estimated by the Secretary of Agricul ture at the inconceivable figure of1 6,794, 000,000, nearly half a billion more than last year and over two billion more than In 1899. An increase of 44 per cent in seven wears is cause enough for thanks giving. Over a million farmers who were debtors ten years ago, trying to pay the interest on mortgages on their farms, are now looking for investments for their money. The exports of farm products, in spite of increased consumption at home, have grown to $976,000,000. In spite of the in jurious statements printed about the packing houses the figures for exports of packing house products exceed $200,000,000 for the first time. The balance of trade In favor of the American farjner. that is, the excess of exportation of American agricultural products over imports of the same character, was for last year $433. 000,000. as against $S5,000 for all other classes of exports and import"!. Taking the last 17 years together the balance in favor of the American farmer is over six billion dollars, while the balance against the other American producers combined amounts to nearly half a billion. .- The Increased prosperity of the farmer has enabled him to make himself still richer by developing land which was wholly or partially unproductive because of lack of money. Alluvial land has been reclaimed, marshes have been drained, the proper seeds or plants have been bought for srjoclal soils. Rocky slopes have been planted with fruit trees and leguminous plants on sandy soil. Arid and semi-arid soil has been Irrigated. Im provements have not been haltedDy lack of cash. At the same time farm life has been made less monotonous by the intro duction of the telephone everywhere and by the trolley and by rural free delivery in the more thickly settled districts. The Department of Agriculture has done much to stimulate this growth of pros perity. It has Introduced a Winter wheat which bears five bushels an acre more than the old -kind and a Winter barley which bears 50 per cent more than Spring barley. It has found that the camphor tree flourishes in Florida on land where the orange orchards have been destroyed by frost, and that date palms grow suc cessfully in Arizona. The alkali lands can now be reclaimed, promising new development to Utah and states similarly situated, whilo a way to inoculate soils for leguminous crops has been found even more successful than the one hitherto used. The farm is the strength of the nation, and the city dweller wishes the farmer a long continuance of the present prosper ity. As long as the farmer has work for the unemployed of the cities and money to buy the products of the factories, the cities share in the good things of life. When crops fail and the farmer is hard up the factories must close and the work men out of a job look in vain to the farm for a chance to share in the harvest. The farmer has enough laid by to stand a year or two of bad luck,' but everybody wishes him another- year like the last. . Cleveland for the Senate. Washington dispatch to the Indianapolis News William . B. Gourley,. chairman of the Democratic state committee of New Jersey, who is here, says It is probable that an attempt will be made to elect Grover Cleveland United States Senator from New Jersey to succeed Senator Dryden. Mr. Gourley indicates that the state organization has reason to believe that Mr. Cleveland would accept If elect ed. The situation Is complicated. The Legislature Is Republican by a small majority, but six or seven of the Re publican members declare they will not vote for Dryden. Most of these same men also say that they will refuse to support a Democrat, but the Democratic state or ganization appears to believe that it might be able to control enough votes to elect Cleveland. Five Men Own Private Trains. Pittsburg Despatch. Charles H. Schlacks, vice-president of the 'Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, has the distinction of being one of the five men In the world who own private trains, the other four being Czar Nich olas of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm of Ger many, King Edward of England and President Diaz of Mexico. NEWSPAPKR WAIFS. City Man Has your wife a Rood cook row? Suburbanite 1 don't know. I have not been home since morning- Philadelphia Press. He (feeling his way) Do yon think you could ever bo hnppy with a man like me? f;he Well, perhaps if he wagn't too much like you. Boston Transcript. Young Subaltern : (having applied In vain for the customary overdraft, to bosom friend.) I say. old chap, a most extraor dinary thing. My bankers have lost their nerve Punch. - Nan I don't eee why Miss Mugley ehould want to marry him with all her money. Dick I guess she hart to, I flon't believe he'd have taken her without dt. Philadelphia Led ger. "Woman, you played me false:" The words remained unuttered. but that Is doubtlcns what the long-suffering piano would have fiald had It been endowed with the power of speech. Chicago Dally New. "Corporations will have to cease uslns money to influence legislation." "Well," answered Mr. Dustln Stax. "a lot of corpo rations have about all they want and will be perfectly willing to cut down expenses." Washington Star. THE OVERBURDENED ' - ",cl HZZ" J -sjy COMMENT ON CURRENT OREGON TOPICS How the Graft Thrived on the Portage Road Schemes of State Employe to Fatten at Public Expense Hangings at the Penitentiary. . There are very fow opportunities in the management of the public service in the State of Oregon for grafts such as that successfully worked for a time by Superintendent L. S. Cook, oi the Portapo Railway. Notwithstanding the fact that the head of every state in stitution handles the cash paid to all the employes, the system is so hedged around with safeguards that grafts would be difficult in the first instance and almost certain of detection. Steals from the public are possible in all de partments and institutions but there are few opportunities for thefts by padding the payrolls, as was' done by Cook. Prior to 1905 It had always been the practice to Issue a warrant in favor of every person who had a claim against lhe state, whether for services render ed or for supplies furnished. But that system was found to be cumbersome because the state institutions at Salem are located at a little distance from the city ana every employe had to make a trip to town to cash his warrant or endorse It and let someone else cash it and take the money to him. If the employe went In person he had to be excused from duty during office hours, thus interfering with the service. Then, too, this system made it necessary for the Secretary of State to issue a large number of warrants. l'or example, there are about 120 employes at. the Insane Asylum and a warrant was issued to each of them. For the pur pose of facilitating the payment of employes the Legislature of 1905 passed an act authorizing the issuance of one warrant' for the entire amount of the payroll at each institution, the warrant to be issued to an officer under bonds and charged with the duty of cashing the warrant and paying the money to the persons to whom it was due. This system is now in practice and seems to be reasonably safe from abuse. .Padding is made almost impossible by a plan of double checking. The disbursing officer of each institution makes out ya payroll at the end of each month; showing the name of each employe, the time served and the amount due him. With the payroll thus signed by all the employes the disbursing officer secures a warrant, which he cashes. . When he pays the money to the employes each signs an other payroll receipting for the money, The Secretary of State requires that the previous month's receipts be filed before he issues the next month's war rant. While it would be possible to induce employes to sign a blank pay roll if a plausible reason were given their suspicions would very likely be aroused if they were also asked to sign a blank receipt.. It might also bo pos sible to carry fictitious employes on a payroll, but this would be hazardous. for all the names are on one sheet and every person who signs has an oppor tunlty to read the other names on the same page as his own. Superintendent Cook s graft was made pasy by the fact that his em ployes were few, they worked at irregular times and were paid by war rant. He induced at least one of them to sign Wank vouchers. He t lien paid tho man his money and filled In the blank for a larger amount, which ho collected from the state. At the Portage Road the easiest method of working a graft was by padding- the payroll, though it seems that Cook was also crafty enough to add to his income by selling state coal and putting the proceeds in his own pocket. It is In the handling of etw.te supplies that the greatest opportunity for graft lies at state institutions, and if some of the stories that have been told in years gone by have been true there has been good material for interesting re ports from faithful investigating com mittees. There is no practicable method of preventing graft in the handling of public supplies, for, if the purchasing agent Is dishonest, he can favor the seller in many ways. Where supplies are purchased upon contracts let to the lowest bidder in a competitive bid there is the least room for crooked work. It has sometimes been the prac tice, however, for institutions to adver tise for only a part of what they are likely to need in the way of supplies, and, when they "have bought the speci fied quantity from the contractor, go into the open market and buy the ad ditional articles required. Such a prac tice would open the way for favoritism .and even worse evils. In institutions where a purchasing agent, a steward and a bookkeeper check up the articles bought there is little opportunity for graft in either quantity or quality unless a conspiracy be formed, but Vhere only one man passes upon the From the New Tork Press. quantity and quality and no check ia kept upon the supplies, It Is an easy matter for the state to be defrauded with the probability "of the wrong being detected. For a number of years it was the practice at all the stato Institutions to sell any excess products and use tho money in the purchase of any other articles that might bo needod. If property became useless to the insti tution it was sold or given away. In the course of a year the amount of agricultural or manufactured products thus disposed of amounted to a consid erable sum which the state employes spent pretty much as they pleased. The constitution provides that no funds shall bo expended except in pursuance of appropriations made by the Legisla ture, but by means of money derived from the sale of state property this section of the constituHpn was violated and money was sometimes spent for articles which could not be purchased legally under appropriations that had been made. To correct this abuse the Legislature passed an act which re quired that wrhcnever state property is sold the proceeds must be turnod in to the general fund in the stato treas ury, where it can be expendod only in pursuance of appropriations. If any crookedness exists in that part of tho management of state business it must hereafter be in the sale of property and not in the expenditure of the proceeds. Demands upon the Legislature at lta coming session for appropriations from the State Treasury will apparently bo heavier than ever before in the hlKtory of the state, and probably heavier even though increase In population be taken Into consideration. There Is demand for the creation of several new officos and commissions, some of which seem likely to be looked upon with favor by tho law makers, and each new office carries with it an expense that is not usually taken Into consideration when the new official position is added to the list. For example two new Supreme Judgeships are desired, also a Railroad Commission, a Bank Ex aminer, a State Auditor, a St;rte Tax Commission and an Inheritance Tax Col lector. If these offices, or any of them, should be created it will be necessary to provide new office room in the State Capi tol, and, in fact, such improvements may be needed anyway. Practically all tho office rooms are now filled and the next Legislature will find itself hampered by lack of committee rooms. New rooms can be made by constructing partitions in the old library room In the north wing on the third floor, and this will quite likely be done. When other rooms are needed the most feasible plan will be to construct a new building near the Capi tol for a heating plant and printing office and thus gain more space on the first floor of the Capitol. While it would be less convenient to have the heating plant and printing office half a block away, there would be some advantage In tho change. There would be less danger of fire from the heating plant and the re moval of the printing plant would elimi nate the constant jar from the printing presses, which is said to be injurious to tl.A ViTittHlnc . ' - -r For some years there has been more or less complaint because of delay In publi cation of Supreme Court decisions, and, though .the difficulty was overcome for two or three years, It has been experi enced again in an exasperating form. The last decision published in the Oregon reports Is two years old. Lawyers who want later decisions have been compelled to purchase reports published by a firm in the East. A Salem paper recently com plained of the delay, of which lawyers have been complaining for some time, and It was broadly hinted that since the hold ing back of Oregon reports Is of linaneial advantage to the Eastern publishing house there ought to be a graft in it for1 someone. Supreme Court Reporter R. CJ. Morrow has written a statement to tho effect that the copy was delivered by him to the printer promptly and that the de lay has been due to tho inability of the printer to get the typo set. Mr. Morrow also takes occasion to say that he fur nishes no copy to the Eastern publishing house and gets no money from It. He cays that the 46th. and 47th volumes of the Supreme Court reports will be out soon. All Oregon lawyers must buy the?e reports either from the state or a private publisher. One of the noteworthy results of en actment of the law providing for the hanging of murderers at the State Peni tentiary Is the diminution of public in terest in such executions. The first two or three hangings aroused considerable in terest at Salem, but since then the peo ple of the capital pay no attention to them. When the executions took place In the county seats there was great local Interest and the newspapers were filled with detailed reports of the events. Hang ings were always "first page" affairs, public Interest having been kept up by frequent articles concerning the con demned man for several days before the execution. Now the newspapers give such events little attention and do not re hearse the horrible story of the crime nor picture the nerve-racking proceedings on the gallows. The executions receive only so much publicity as Is necessary to let the people cf the state know that the law has been fulfilled. The demand for Invitations to the events has greatly di minished. Conducting executions at the Penitenti ary has the merit not only of avoiding publicity but also of saving expense and Insuring more satisfactory work. Under the old system a county had to construct a scaffold whenever a man, was con demned to death. Many counties have poor jails and had to incur considerable expense for guarding and otherwise car ing for men who were to be executed. The scaffolds were temporary structures and sometimes not properly constructed. The Sheriffs had few hangings to conduct and mishaps were frequent, owing to the haste and nervousness of inexperi ence. On the other hand the state his every means that could be desired for caring for condemned men, has an ex ecution chamber wltft a scaffold and drop that works perfectly and the officers who conduct the hangings have so familiarized themselves with th details that there is no confusion, delat or accident. Five men have been haitged upon the gallows at Salem, and in efcry instance the body hurg still in de jih from the instant the end of the rope was reached. The swinging, strugglit?, moaning and gurg ling that make sjme executions horrible in the extreme hale not been seen at the Penitentiary. j