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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1907)
6 TIIE MORXIXG OKEGONIAN, 3IOXDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1907. srBscRimox fates. T INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. "Q (By Mall.) y. Sunday Included, on year 8 5 :y. Sunday Included, mix months.... 4 25 y, Sunday included, three month!.. 2.25 y, Sunday Included, one month 75 y, without Sunday, one year 8.00 y. without Sunday, six months..... 3.25 y. without Sunday, three months.. 1.75 y, Xvlthout Sunday, one month 60 .lay, one year kly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1-S0 day and Weekly, one year. ....... 3.&0 BY CARKlfcK. !y, Sunday Included, one year 9 00 y. Sundaf included, one month.... .75 IOW TO KJEMIT Send postoftice money r, express order or personal cnecK r local bank. Stamps, coin or currency at the sender's risk. Give postoffice ad- m In rull, including county and stats. POST AG K BATES, nlerea at Portland, Oregon, Postollic Second-Class Matter. to 14 Pages ceB 19 28 Pages 2 en" to 44 Pages ceaU to 0 Pages cenls oreign Postage, double rates. HrOKTANT The postal laws are strict, vspapers on which postage Is not fully iiaid -are. not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE, be n. C. Beckwlth Special Agency New k, rooms 43-30 Tribune building. Cnl o, rooms 610-012 Tribune building. KEPT' ON BALE, hlcngo Auditorium Annex, Postottlce vs u, 178 learborn stress, t. I'M ul, Minn. N. at. Marie, Commercial tlon. olorudo Springs, Colo. Western News -ncy. enver Hamilton & Hendrtck. 906-9J2 rnteenth street; Pratt Book Btore, 1214 leenth street; I. Welnstein; H. P. Ban- Kansas City, Mo. Rlckuecker Cigar Co, th and Walnut. linneapolis M- J. Kavanaugh, 60 South ;rd. leveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Bu- kew York City L. Jones & Co., Astor -ise; tfroaaway l neaier rrw luklund, Cat. W. H. Johnson, Four nth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; ,land News Stand. igden D. L. Boyle, W. G. Kind, 11 enty-flfth street. lot Spring-., Ark. C. N. Weaver & Co. imalm Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam: eath Stationery Co.. 1S08 Farnam; 240 :lh Fourteenth. -acramento, CuL Sacramento News Co., K struct. -alt Lake Moon Book Stationery Co., enfeld & Hansen. i ,os Angeles B. E. Amos, manager seven et wagons, -an Diego B. E. Amos. 'Mug Beach. Cal. B. E. Amos. L'anudrna, Cal. A. F. Horning. -an Francisco Foster & Orear, Ferry vs stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; Parent, N. Wheatley. r.uirka, v io.i-i.iu inn n as"1". Iivaahington, D. C Ebbltt House, Penn Ivanla avenue. Norfolk, Va. Jamestown News Co. ine Ueacn. vs. w. a. xjosgrove. 'hiludelphia, l'a. Ryan's Theater Ticket RTI..VM), MONDAY, FEB. 18, 1807. TUB PORT OF COLUMBIA. i'he Columbia River Is being dis minated against to the extent of 30 its per ton by a shipowners' aeso tlon controlling four-fifths of the Ulable grain tonnage of the world, is atvociation ha agreedi to remove a differential, and place the Colum i River on an even basis with ports h which we compete, provided that remove certain disabilities and cor t certain abuses. ' These- specified uses were not named by Multnomah, lumbia or Clatsop Counties. They re named by the shipowners them ves. They have been taken up one one in responee to requests of the powners' association,, and, with the gle exception of bar pilotage, all ve been removed. Astoria contends .t It is not bar pilotage that pre Us removal of the differential, but vage up the river. Perhaps Asto- is right, but the obtuse shipowners :o have it In their power to abolish maintain the differential refuse to ree. Phe shipowner regards bar pilorage Astoria as a condition which war its a higher rate than is exacted m ports where there is no bar pilot- s charge. Astoria takes Issue with - shipowner, and assures him that doee not know why he levies the ferentlal, and, if he vou!d remove it i permit the service at the anouth the river to drift along in its pree- t free and easy manner, everything ujd be lovely. "With Portland, as h the shipowners. It is a condition and i a theory which confronts. Our ippers, who pay-the freight, have tested against the differential. ese protest, have been met with calm announcement that, When tain requests made by the ehlpown- are complied with, the differential 11 be removed! The shipowners i Astoria, Portland or St. Helens ; the arbiters In this case, and all r arguments endeavoring, to make m change their views until we mge our 'conditions to fit their ws are wasted. The Port of Columbia bill, now be e the Oregon Legislature, was imed and Is being urged for passage the people of Multnomah and Co nbia County for no other purpose m to improve the tug and pilot vice at the mouth of the Columbia ver. so that it will meet with the ap wal of the shipowners on whom we i dependent for tonnage. As stated Representative Campbell in his ech in the House Friday, the price wheat is not established at Port id. Tacoma, Salem, Pendleton or alia Walla, but at Liverpool and ndon, the worlds -markets, and the ice in all lands which export wheat the Liverpool price less the freight Liverpool. It is not only the wheat tually shipped that is affected by is differential, but. as the Liverpool Ice forms the base for all prices, ery bushel grown in this territory affected by the freight rate to Liv pool. But, while wheat has In the paet en the overshadowing factor in our ep water traffic, the lumber trade growing so rapidly that every lum rman or anyone directly or Indl- -tl y connected with the lumber bus- ss Is interested in having a good g and. pilot service to facilitate the ovements of shipping coming to our rts for cargoes of our greatest sta e. The opposition to the bill from atsop County receives a well merit : rebuke from the Rainier (Columbia iunty) Review as follows: The editor of the Astorian appears to be 1 broken up over the introduction of th rt of Columbia bill; and especially over e fact that Columbia County is included the port district. Why is not Columbia -unty fully as much Interested In just and annablo rates for pilotage and towage Clatsop, and, proportionately, as Mulino ah? Rainier Is the second lumber port in e state. Turing the past year as many as e ships have been taking lumber at the me time at this port, and there w-ere iwo St. Helens and one at Prescott. Of course. It is to the Interest of Clatsop County to ntlmie the present cinch system It will -t be benefited by any new law looking to wer rates. As for Columbia County, Its mmercs Is constantly growing and any w that will make charges lighter will tie welcome here. We have no fight to make against Portland. Our opposition to any measure will have to be based on better grounds than prejudice against the me tropolis. As an appeal to prejudice tias been Uie nearest approach to an argument used against the toil! by the Astorian, it Is hardly probable that the bill will be defeated. Free pilotage on the Co lumbia bar Is nearer an accepted fact than ever before. WATER RIGHTS AND THE LAW. It Is unfortunate that the Legisla ture could not see its way clear to enact some sort of legislation "that would tendi to settle uncertain water rights and provide a reasonable sys tem of supervision. The measure be fore the Legislature was apparently objectionable because It proposed a su pervisory system out of all proportion to the .needs of the state, gave the State Engineer too much power and appropriated more money than the Legislature thought necessary. But these provisions of the bill should not have prevented enactment of any water legislation. Because irrigation enthusiasts went further in their de mands than the Legislature thought wise was no good reason for defeat ing legislation entirely. The objections made did not go to the purposes of the bill, "but rather to some of its details. If it wae not proper to direct the bring ing of suits by the state for determin ation of water rights, the law could have been made to require that when suits are brought by Individuate all the water users on the stream shall be made parties, thus bringing before the court the whole subject matter. If the powers given the State Engineer were too great, they could have been curtailed. If the bill provided for the employment of water masters without imitation, a qualifying clause could have been Inserted. It is a well known fact that our system of adjudication of water rights is very faulty. Under present proced ure two men may litigate over their respective rights to the use of the water of a certain stream, and, after hearing the evidence, the court de cide that one is entitled to a specified quantity and the other to the remain der. Such a decree may be supported by uncontradicted evidence, yet the best title to the use of the water may be in some third party, whose rights were not in Issue. Manifestly, a trial under such conditions is a farce and a decree rendered after such a trial is of doubtful value. Oregon needs no expensive system of supervision, yet' there should be some regulations which would prevent waste and provide prompt relief to one whose unquestionable rights are being Invaded. Violations' of law are not so frequent, nor Infringements upon the rights of others so common as to require the employment of an expensive patrol force. Any .man wh6 knows how to measure the flow of water in a ditch can Investigate a charge of usurpation of rights, and, if suitaible penalties be attached, there would not be complaints enough to keep one man busy In all Eastern Ore gon. A few convictions would put an end to the theft of water. Water users are men of property, who will not incur liability by infringement upon the rights of others. There is need of a better system of records of water rights, and the collection and keeping of such records must be at tended by some expense, but there is no necessity for a system of records that will require burdensome appro priatlons. . KXGLAND'S INSULARITY. The revival of the channel tunnel scheme in Great Britain fills the con servative politicians of the kingdom with grave apprehension. A writer In a late number of the National Review- recounts the dangers that shadow the project, . and urges careful considera- tion of the risks involved in a scheme that will. If carried out, deprive Eng land of her insularity. The proposi tion involves a submarine tunnel. twenty-six miles long, effecting com munication between England and France that is now possible only by surface transit across the English Channel. The channel scheme is "so old that it is new." Twenty-three years ago it obtained such standing in Parliament that a Joint committee of the two houses was appointed to look into it After taking the fullest evidence and obtaining the best military opinion procurable, it was decided that gov ernment sanction of any submarine communication between England and France was inexpedient. Upon this showing the channel tunnel bill was re jected in 1884. This bill has recently been resurrected and again the Brit ish people are asked to weigh care fully and dispassionately the argu ments for and against the scheme. Your true Briton' is exclusive. He is disposed1 to be friendly, but not ex uberant, when it comes to practical demonstration of international friend ship. He remembers that a friend to day may be an enemy torilorrow, and he Is not disposed, to take any risks by being caught off his guard. He re flects that alliances may be transient; that no man can retend to cast the horoscope of Europe for a decade, or even for a year. With what seems excess of appre hension, the writer of the Review's ar ticle asserts that all signs and omens point to the approach of a period of conflict throughout the world. In sup port of this statement, he cites that for two years France has lived under the constant shadow of a war with Germany; that there to not a minor state In Central or Northwestern Eu rope that does not feel the pressure of the German Empire; and that the great question of the expansion of that empire is still unsolved. Adding to this the fact, known to every student of statistics, that periods of great gold production are in some strange way and for unknown reasons periods of war, and that the present is a period of unexampled gold production, he as sumes that his case is proven and that there is good cause foV England to "look ta her moat." It is admitted that the military dan ger 1 of the channel tunnel would be small if the British .people were trained 1n arms and organized for war in the way that the large nations of the Continent are trained and organized. But the British army today is small, weak nd ill organized, and may not be available in England in an emer gency. The mouth of the proposed tunnel will open near deep water, and at no great distance from excellent landing-places. It would be well placed for striking at London or Chat ham, or for taking Dover in the rear. The British fleet would be of little value for operating against a raid at the British end .of the tunnel, .and In case the raiding force had con trol .of the French end, the whole Brit ish scheme of defense would be upset. The danger of such an attacR, It is admitted, rests upon the destiny and policy of France. But the possibility that'- France may be forced by politi cal and military exigencies to cast her lot with Germany is not -unbelievable and may become a necessity of her na tional existence. These are some of the reasons urged against a scheme that will deprive England of her insularity and by so doing will, open a way for attack at her most vital point. There is little beyond vague possibility in the dan ger thus outlined. Still, since all Eu rope Is in constant ferment, and ls greatest nations are little else than great military camps, it will be the part of prudence, as this writer sug gests, to view without sentiment the military danger to England of -con necting herself by a tunnel "under the channel that separates her .from this turbulent mass. The prudent nation. like the prudent man, foresees evil and hideth therefrom, while the sim ple pass on and are punished. THE JAPANESE PROBLEM. Advices from Washington on the Japanese Question, taken in connection with those from California, quite clear ly Indicate that It will require all of the remarkable adroitness andi acu men for which Mayor Schmltz is fa mous, to prevent his "losing face" with his home constituents. Unless the expulsion plan agreed upon pre- vides for a more .pronounced, stand than Is reflected in the dispatches,' It is difficult to see where the situation has been changed so that it in any way improves the matter from a San Francisco standpoint. At a long-rapge view. It seems to be a case where the big stick won out over tne big bluff. and, if such is the case, there will be prompt renewal of the trouble. As Senator Dubois puts it: If the passport provision of the bill means the expulsion of the Japanese laborers, It would not be satisfactory to Japan. If It did not mean' this, it would not be satisfactory to the Pacific Coast." It is stated in Washington that an ef fort will be made to come to a formal agreement with the Japanese govern ment "that will insure the continuance of the present policy of that government withholding passports to America to Japanese .laborers." The trouble with the alleged "present policy" of with holding passports is that it is not en forced, and the little yellow men are pouring into the Pacific Coast regions from north and south and west in threatening hordes. It is a continu ance of the present policy of making easy the pathway into this country that has aroused the hostility! of the people who are coming into closest contact with the Japanese. At the same time, it would not be at all surprising to learn that Mayor Schmitz backed down. Davy Crock ett's coon came down because he "had to," and Mayor Schmitz' abandonment of the position he originally took on the subject may be due to a similar fenced situation. There is not much room. for -equivocation or misconstruc tion of the meaning of a treaty which provides that all subjects of Japan visiting or residing In the United States shall enjoy the same privileges, immunities and exemptions In respect to travel or residence as may then be enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most favored Nation. The right of "residence" seems to be the point aM issue in the" San Francisco case which has caused all of the trouble, and at this time it would appear that something more than a new immigra tion bill was needed to quiet .the up roar. The treaty under which we are now working with Japan was either made to be respected or else, it is worth less: If the latter is true, something bet ter should take its place. Unfortunately for Mayor " Schmitz, his constituents are in no frame of mind to agree to a treaty such as would be desired by Japan. The administration plan, which was approved by the Senate, contains a proviso authorizing the President to exclude Japanese laborers from the United Statjs at his discretion-. - This certainly places the President in a very delicate position. The protests . from California will continue if his "discre tion" is not- speedily invoked to rid that state of -the Japanese, and a per haps louder outcry will-be heard from Japan if he heeds the demands of the Californians. The sensation of the fa bled individual who got between the devil and the deep blue sea may yet be experienced by some of the active participants in the settlement of the Japanese muddle. TRUSTS IX LUMBER. One reason for repeal of the timber and stone act Is that the administra tion of the present law affords oppor tunity for speculators in timber lands to acquire large holdings, which, pass ing from smaller holders to larger, finally accumulate in. the control of vast timber' corporations, which In time would virtually hold a monopoly, of the lumber of the country. Such has been the trend of events in the last few years. Timber lands have been taken tip by Individuals with money furnished by speculators, and, "as soon as title was secured from the Government, the title passed to the man or men back of the deal. The timber and stone act did not contem plate accumulation of vast areas of timber land in the hands of a . few men, but such has been the outcome of Its operation. As pointed out In these columns several -times in the past two or three yeans, the danger Is that we shall have a lumber monopoly as we have an oil and a coal monopoly. So Jong as the -lands are owned- by the Government they are owned by the people. They have been passing out of the hands of the people Into the hands of a few wealthy timber barons. Repeal of the timber and stone act would at' least put a stop to the timber-land grabbing. No one would ad vocate -a rolicy of -permanent with drawal of timber and timber lands from public use and any repeal of the law wfuld bo only for the purpose of staying the depredations until a bet ter syetem of management can be in augurated. The act proposed by the Govern ment does not seem to promise pro tection against -monopolistic conditions. The plan is to retain title to the land In the Government and offer the tim ber only for sale, and to the highest bidder. While this seems at first glance to offer equal opportunities to all, it does not in fact, for only own ers of mills could- bid upon the tim ber, and usually one company would be in command of the situation to such an extent as to shut out compe tition in the bidding. If. for example, the Government were to offer timber for sale, on the Santiam, the Curtis Lumber Company would be the only bidder, for it has a working monopoly of lumber manufacturing on that stream. To change the plan of selling will not prevent monopolization. It would not have been practicable nor desirable for the Government to undertake to forbid the sale of tim ber lands by the persons who pur chased! from the Government. Large lumber companies could not offord to build mills if they depended upon the timber owned by their members, or upon the purchase of logs from the men who bought the land from the Government. Acquisition of tracts of timber of reasonable magnitude is es sential to the successful manufacture of lumber "upon a large scale. But it Is not necessary that concerns like the Weyerhaeusers eha.l! acquire Immense areas of timber widely distributed- . The Government could have very properly provided in its deeds to tim ber land that no one person or com pany should ever be permitted to own more than a specified area of such lands. There Is good rea son why a lumber company should be permitted to buy timber land enough In the vicinity of Its plant to insure it a supply of logs. There Is no reason why one company should be permitted to buy up all the mills in the country and control the lumber output. It is true no such situation has yet been realized, but the tendency is In that direction. Probably every lumber com pany on the Coast would sell out to Weyerhaeuser tomorrow if it could get Its -price. It is not only the right, but the duty of theGoyernment to prevent such concentration of holdings. If repeal of the timber and stone act is 'a necessary step in the effort to stay the progress of timber monopoly, then let the act be repealed, andi in due time a better act passed, protect ing the people from the exactions of a lumber trust. Any honest man who serves land fraud interests for enactment of laws in their favor exposes himself to severe public criticism. The criticism inevitably is unfortunate for him. Rep resentative Freeman, of Multnomah County, so exposed himself b.y en deavoring to ineert in a bill in the House last Thursday an amendment, sought by holders of fraudulent land certificates. The amendment, Mr. Freeman admits, came from their at torney, then lobbying In the Capitol. Through Mr. Freeman's efforts, the House admitted it into the Connell bill, and thus passed the measure. But shortly afterward the House was moved by protest of the State Land Agent to reconsider the bill and to expunge Mr. Freeman's amendment. Then, with the amendment omitted, "the House passed the bill a second time. This is the record. It is made still more unfortunate by the fact that the vital word "shall" in the amend ment originally was "may," from which it was changed by Mr. Freeman before the amendment reached the reading clerk. The original paper, still in existence, shows "may" crossed out and "shall" substituted. The Orego nian has not ascribed to Mr. Freeman dishonest motives in this matter. But it considers his conduct decidedJy in discreet. Aside from the present dis pute over facts connected with the amendment in the House, Mr. Freeman put himself in a position difficult for any man to maintain before. the public by acting as sponsor for the land-grab element that sought enactment of the amendment. Unlike the power and facilities which make rapid transit possible, the law of gravity remains the same as when Newton first took notice of it. The engineer on a steam railroad in Eng land demonstrated! this fact at a cost of forty lives a few months ago, when he swung his train around a curve at a mile-aminute speed. It was again Illustrated on the New York Central Saturday, where a heavy electric train left the rails at a sharp curve while running at terrific speed. Sixteen peo ple were killed outright, and about sixty injured, some of them since dy ing. We are living in a fast age and demand high speed on our transpor tation lines, but the wholesale lose of life which is now going' on through open defiance of the laws of nature and the dictates of common sense is pretty certain to result in a slacken ing of speed on dangerous curves and of stricter accountability being de manded of the men, responsible for the speed, of these flying- Juggernauts. The fire Insurance companies have paid $180,000,000 In claims to the San Francisco sufferers by the earthquake, and the gross loss of all kinds through the disaster is estimated at $1,000, 000,000. That irrecoverable $820,000,000 is what made the blow one from which the Bay City will not recover during the life-time of the present generation. It is a loss, total, complete and stagger ing in its immensity, but despite its vast proportions, It failed to crush the spirit of the wonderful Califor nians. The establishment of an institute for the feeble-minded Is not a ques tion of policy it is a -matter of ne cessity. The state must take care of those unfortunates who, though -without power to properly care for them selves, multiply and replenish the earth with their kind. Society not only has a -right to protect Itself, but it has a duty to perform which It cannot Ig nore. An institution for the feeble minded should be provided for by this Legislature. Slides, and washouts disturbed the serenity of the press east of the moun tains and in the non-arrival of ready prints many were reduced to the half shell on plain white. The Grass Val ley Journal, however, went the limit In a way to warm the cockles of the heart by a fresco of black on bright green. Now that MrT O'Brien and Mr. Buckley have taken in the wash, all Is serene again. The Chicago woman suffragists have started out on an entirely new line of campaign by getting the pretty women interested. Far be it from us to make any remarks about innova tions. The other Thaw lawyers want again to put Delmas out. They may contrive yet to send the deluded young avenger to the murderer's chair. Yesterday's glorious weather fore tells an early adjournment sine die of every Box Stove and Spittoon Club in Oregon. - California appears to think that it is an Island entirely surrounded by Japanese. If Harry Thaw Is declared craay and sent to an asylunl, he ought to be mad. WALL STREET AND ROOSEVELT Powerful Forres at Work to Thwart Hts Corporation ProKrammr. New York Journal of Commerce. The gravest development of late has been not the continued selling of se curities, not the reckless war screams of sensational newspapers, not the de crease in the banks' reserves, but the manifestation on the part of our lead ing financiers, - through their hired satellites, of a headstrong determina tion to wreck at all hazards the Gov ernment's plans for uprooting corpo rate wrongdoing. - The vituperation, the calumny, the spite that is being vented without restraint may have consequences the President's enemies have not deliberated upon. Forces are at work forces that the average citizen thus far knows noth ing of which threaten to split the country Into two distinct factions, namely, the great body of the people, leaded by President Roosevelt, on the one side, and what will perhaps be termed "the Wall street crowd" on the other. If the elaborate plans laid, at enormous cost and not a little inge nuity, by the President's powerful de tractors are put Into, execution with the vigor and ruthlessness proposed, a clash is Inevitable. This Is the sub ject Influential Wall street men are discussing in the club and bank par lors. Every day brings a more vit riolic, though usually disguised, at tack upon the administration, not, it may have been noted, for what ,has been done,' but for what imaginative correspondents, duly schooled, allege is in contemplation. During the week all sorts of wild guesses were indulged in respecting the Ideas that are forming or will form In the brain of the President before next session of the Congress. It can be stated authoritatively that nothing not in line with the President's pres ent policy is under consideration, al though It can be added that no agita tion inspired by the men whose repu tations may be impaired in the reform ing process will intimidate the Presi dent into swerving from the path he has mapped out. The country is en titled to judge the administration on what has been already done and sure ly there has been no lack of material but mischief may follow malicious efforts to condemn its head for his so called "Intentions." Even the indus tries that have engaged most atten tion heretoforo are ready to admit that the result has been beneficial in every respect. On Saturday a prominent officer of one of the largest railroad systems in the country, in making what was styled "An Appeal for Fair Play," made this admission: "I am beartily in favor of the regulation of the rail roads by Federal and state authority, and regard the legislation thus far enacted in this direction necessary and wise." If past legislation has been "necessary and wise," why should there be hystepia regarding a con tinuance of the policy that brought it about? No one has attacked large corporations per se, but the people are behind the Government An. insisting that corporations and trusts shall con form to the common law of the land and to ordinary standards of honesty and morality. As soon as the public decide this end has been attained, the demand for investigations will cease and no President, nowever powerful, will be able to override the verdict of the public. LIFE I.V THE OREGON" COUNTRY Serenlly Undisturbed. Yakima Republic. - The honest public servant does not need to fear the newspapers, not even the worst of them. Passes for Officials. Cottage Grove Western Oregon. Now dignified legislators proceed to graft the corporations. No wonder Colo nel Bob Veatch said, "Oh, hell." The Faith That Move Mountains. Drain Nonpareil. Since the school at Drain makes the best showing of any normal In the state, it is almost certain to be, one of the two selected. Last Wsrnlng. Jefferson Review. Otto Shultz says the next couple he finds on the schoolhouse steps at night, he will sure publish the names. The two couples he found there on Friday night last will either have to change their spooning place or watch mere carefully hereafter. An Oregon Movement Once More. Irrigon Irrigator. The way the freight is now going East over the O. R. & N., through Irrigon. shows that there are some freight cars and a lot of locomotives in this country. Yesterday about 300 cars passed here, mostly lumber. AVrlcomp to Old Yamhill. McMinnville News Reporter. Perhaps nowhere in the county are the frogs any more merry than at St. Joe, where they are busy serenading the pas sengers on all railroad trains that enter Old Yamhill. The frogs are apparently just as happy as the larks, although their Spring songs may not be as musical. , They Recouped. Jacksonville Times. When the County Assessors of Jackson and Josephine Counties raised the rail road assessment from $4000 to $12,000 per mile, and the grant timber lands to $7 per acre, the railroad company promptly turned the tables on the taxpayers by raising the fruit rates from Ashland, Med ford and Grant's Pass more than 50 per cent. Novel Way of Killing a Cougar. Eugene Register. One day this week Jack Runk. who lives near Lorraine was driving to that place with his wife in a buggy, when they no ticed a half-grown cougar run across the road. Mr. Runk got out of the buggy, and, giving the lines to his wife, went after the animal and soon had him treed on a small tree near the road! He got a hatful of good-sized rocks and went to pelting the snarling varmint with all hi strength. He proved a veritable David at stone-throwing and soon had the big cat hors de combat. Editorial Amenities. "We do not know what the Lord lets some people get hold of & newspaper for, anyway," is the way the Salem Capital Poster puts It. And we have often thought the same thing, only in larger type, when reading and trying to under stand the maundering rot, in double-column doses, of the Capital-Poster. Irrigon Irrigator. , J Baker, you're a dandy. What do you suppose the old soldiers of this county think of you, anyhow? The people who faced the shot and the shell and the privations of hard service, when such suckers as you were getting shot U the back In running away, or hung to the closest tree for desertion. No. sir. the edi. tor of this paper is not "bumming on the Government" nor on any one else. Tilla mook Herald. DELPHI M. "XAPOLEON" DELMAS French-Cast IHan-C'alliomian Lawyer, Chief of Thaw's Counsel Corps. North American. Delphin Michael Delmas, Thaw's chief counsel, comes honestly by the face of Napoleon, for his remote an cestors on both sides were kin to the Bonapartes. He was himself born in France, and then brought up in the France of America, that sunny land on the Western coast that has the blue sky of Italy and the air of the Riviera. The name of Delmas' mother was Coralle, and of his father, An toine names that Napoleon might have chosen himself. The name "Del mas" Is of Spanish origin, and Mr. Delmas himself thinks his remote an cestors were Castlllans. The lawyer speaks Spanish as well as be does French. It was in the Santa Clara Valley, the garden spot of California, that Delmas played when a boy. He there went to school, graduating from Santa Clara College, to later finish his law course at Yale. But that valley, with its mountain Vaekground and with the Bay of San Francisco lapping its shore. Is such a boyhood home as must Instil Independence, strength, courage and force, the qualities a great lawyer most needs. Naturally, the average New Yorker finds It hard to understand how a law yer may become great in any city but New York. Delmas has proved that it can be done. He was a great law yer at home in California, and Is prov ing himself a peer of the best in the metropolis. Delmas is in his 63d year, his birth day being April 14. 1844, and his ex perience at the bar dates from 1866, when he was admitted in California, so that he has been practicing nearly 41 years. After beginning his work he took the Yale law course, and did not get his sheepskin there until 1869, the year of his marriage to Pauline Hoge. But while nearly 63 years old, Del mas is so well preserved that he would pass In court as 63. As he is smooth shaven and very particular about his appearance, women usually Imagine him less than 50. It is not abstemiousness, that has kept Delmas young, for, while always active, with a hankering for outdoors, Delmas has been a good liver. He knows good whisky from bad, and his wine cellar at Casa Delmas, in his home county of Santa Clara, is famed for miles around. Perhaps Delmas' greatest charm in court ia his manner, which dates back to the day of the beginning of his practice. He has none of the brusque, blunt ways so inseparable from the average criminal lawyer. When he speaks of the District At torney, even in the most heated argu ment, he makes a peculiar old-time curtsey, and refers to him a& "the learned District Attorney. It Is not supposed that Delmas uses these words because unduly impressed with the grandeur of the office. He was once a District Attorney himself, back in 1868, but it was out in Cali fornia. In examining a woman witness, as he questioned Evelyn, Delmas' conduct is scrupulous to an extreme, almost chivalrous. He talks to women like a born Southerner. It is doubtless a manner inborn, traceabte to his French ancestry. In the West. Delmas has not for many years been known as a criminal lawyer. He avoided criminal practice as far as it was possible to specialize in a city the size of San Francisco. He was often in court, mostly in great will cases, or in struggles over the division, of landed properties. These are the cases that in California bring the largest fees. But in his youth Delmas became famous for his conduct of murder cases. He bas had 14 trials, and holds an unbroken record of acquittals. It has always been Delmas' skill as a pleader that brought him victory, and in the Thaw case he was added to counsel to make the final plea to save Thaw's life. His last murder case, 20 years ago, was won by basing his ar gument on the unwritten law. Delmas has been called the "expert on the unwritten law," and in one way he deserves the title. As advisory counsel at the time Truxton Beale and Tom Williams were arrested in San Francisco for shooting Frederick Mar riott for an alleged slander of Marie Oge, Delmas advised reliance on the unwritten law, and It brought the men acquittal on the criminal charge. But this was an assault, and not a murder case, and Marriott later got judgment for damages In the civil courts. Undoubtedly, Delmas got Into the Thaw case through Truxton Beale, who was present when White was mur dered, and at the dinner just before in the Cafe Martin, when Evelyn saw White and wrote to her husband: "The B. (blackguard) is here." But in seeking knowledge of Del mas, the Thaws went to Supreme Court Justice McKenna. at Washington. Mc Kenna has heard Delmas argue many cases in California, and had the high est opinion of his wonderful abilities. It is said that if Delmas wins the case for Thaw and keeps him from the death chair his fee is to be $100,000. Beside the Camp Fire. The Outer's Book. Night eem but warp and woof of many sounds That blnd their voles as the darkness falls; The hum of myriad Insect wines resounds And solitude Is filled with mystic calls. Each throbbing note of mournful whip-poor-will. Each hurtlinfc cry of loon out on the lake. Intensify ' the fancies strange that thrill And fill me as I lie but half awake. The waves lap time upon the sandy shore. The camp fire's crackling embers fall apart And fade to ashes frray;- while more and more The forest's magic charm steals o'er my heart; Till, lulled hy all the voices of the night, I dream beside the camp fire's dying light. BACK i rux" III I ,i I c"W"it TPCf7lxft U.S. QFtJATE.- 1 Min.iTs-V RAILWAY COMMISSION APPOINTEES Eastern Oregon Farming Interests Should Also Be Represented. PORTLAND Feb. IT. (To the FMitov.) The Portland Journal states that the State Board authorized to select the Board of Railroad Commissioners has divided up the duty by allowing the Governor to select a man agreeable to himself, the Secretary of State to select another nnd the Treasurer another; and that Treas urer Steel has decided that he will be guided by the commercial interests of this city. It is to be hoped that this statement is not true, and it is very probable that it is not true. If this "give and take'' plan or selecting the Railroad Commis sioners were adopted it is probable that tne ,!) farmers and producers who dig up all the wealth out of mother earth would tie ignored entirely. For rumor gives the appointment in the First Con gressional District to a lawyer or an edi tor of that district. Governor Chamb-r-lain is to select his man from his political cabinet, and Mr. Steele's man is to be the man the Portland shippers select. The Legislature certainly never intended that this very important board should he selected in that way. Recognizing that the Legislature had not the time to in quire into and pass upon the qualifica tions of applicants for the office, it passed the duty over to three trusted state of ficials, and certainly expects them as a board, and not as separate individuals, to Jointly and severally inquire into the qualifications of all applicants for the important office and to jointly, or at least by a majority vote, select the men best fitted to discharge the duties of the office. The intention imputed to Treasurer Steel to allow the commercial interests of Fort land to dictate his choice of a Commis sioner ' is also equally erroneous. Port land has large interests, of course, and nobody denies it. But what about the vast country east of the Cascades and its great and growing interests in pro ducing millions of tons of wheat, wool, ores, lumber, fruit and livestock? W hat about-the independent local lines of rail road projected and being built to further develop that vast territory large enoush to take in a half dozen Willamette Val leys? Are these vast interests of East ern Oregon to be wholly ignored? And who is it that pays the freight after all? Is it the Portland Commercial interests or the men who dig the produce out of the soil. mine, orchard or forest? The commercial Interests of Portland handle, produce and make profit in doing so. But when the farmer, stockman or miner sells or ships his product, the freight money, together with the profits and commissions of the commission merchant, is taken out of the price of the produce, and the man who produced it gets what is left. The bare statement of the case shows that the interests of the farmers, pro ducers and settlers on the new and re mote regions of Eastern Oregon are ten times greater in this Railroad Commission than the interests of the Portland ship pers, jobbers and wholesalers. F. L. YOUNG. Snow Makes Mr. Allison Cautions. Washingten (D. C.) Dispatch. The unceasing snow flurry revived in the Senate cloakrooms the story to illus trate the i-eteran Senator Allison's never failing caution and conservatism of con duct and statement. The Iowan was mak ing a speech in urgent advocacy of an appropriation to be immediately available for removing the snow from the streets of the Capital. "The present condition of our streets and thoroughfares is dangerous and ought to be remedied at once," he de clared. "The snow is blocking the side walks and making street traffic generally almost impossible. It is still snowing, I am informed, and " At this point he was interrupted by Senator Spooner, who is a subtle jokester. "And we will have more snow 'before the AVinter is over," said Senator-. Spooner. "I make no predictions!" promptly re plied Senator Allison, "but I have just been informed that it is still snowing." Dr. IVoodMn Wilson's Double. Kansas City Star. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, president of Princeton University, has a double who occasionally makes his appearance in unexpected places. Two graduates en tered a barroom in Boston recently, and came face to face with a man whom they thought was more accustomed to a classroom than to such a place. The young men were about to leave In a hurry, when the stranger, knowing tho mistake they bad made, called them back and "took something" with them. On another occasion the double ap peared at a Yale-Harvard football game, where he was cheered heartily until the truth was learned. Teachers'-Wages (." Cents Working Day New York World. The Educational Review has discov ered that In 64 American cities school teachers' wages average 95 cents a working day. while the bricklayers' average is from So to S5."0 and tho hod-carriers' $2 to 12.25. It does not entirely destroy the force of this com parison to say that few teachers could lay bricks straight or carry a hod for eight hours. Really, in a way, it does take something of preparation and spe cial gifts to frame up a child's mind, even as tt does to raise up the walls o a house. Guests Drive Rockefeller Away. Augusta (Ga.) Dispatch in N. Y. Times. John D. Rockefeller has left the Bon Air Hotel, where he had been stopping for two weeks, because the guests at the. hotel interfered with his privacy. He has moved across the Savannah River into South Carolina. The Bon Air at tracts many visitors during the Winter, and a crowd followed Mr. . Rockefeller almost everywhere he went. ; Make Everybody Happy. McMinnville News Reporter. To the Oregon Legislature: Give everybody a big salary and let the people foot the bill. The people are becoming much like the boy's frogs thr-v ore srpttinir nnoiiRtomeH in rmtne -' - " " " 1 skinned and rather enjoy it. AGAIN. 'f Minneapolis Tribune.