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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1907)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 190?. trait sriwcBipnox bates. VT INVA1UABLY IN ADVANCE, m if. ii , Dally, Sunday Included, one year JS.OO ' Dally, huntlay lnrluded, Fix months.... 4-0 Lmlly, Sunday Included, three month!.. 2.-5 Daily, Sunday Included, cae month 73 Dally, -w ithout Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six month! 3.25 Dally, without Sunday, three months.. 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month. .60 Sunday, one year. 2-50 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday) . 1-50 Sunday and Weekly, one year 3-&0 BY CAIUUKK- Dally, Funnay Included, one year 0 00 Dally. Sunday Included, one month 75 HOW TO KKMJT Send postoftlce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffice ad dress la full. Includlns county and state. TOSTAOK BATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postoffice as Second-Class Matter. 14 to 14 lagaa 1 cent 1 to 28 Fattes J cents 3D to 44 Pages 3 cents 4 tf to 60 Pugee cents Foreign Postage, double rates. IMrOKTA-M The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage Is not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. KASTtHN Bl'SlXKSS OiFICB. The S. C. Beckwlth hpocial Agency New York, rooms 4:l-i0 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms 510-.M2 Tribune building. fcJ-ITT ON b.VLE. Chicago Auaitoriura Annex, Postoftlce Kews Co., 178 Dearborn street. M. luul, Minn. N. Su Marie, Commercial Station. Colorado Springs, Colo. Western Neva Agt-'ncy. Denver Hamilton Hendrlck. 008-012 Feventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 Fifteenth street; I. Weinsteln; H. P. Han sen. kiinua rity, 31 o. Rlcksocker Cigar Co, Ninth and Walnut. MlnneitpoUs 1L J. Kavanaugh, 50 Boutn Third. Cleveland. O. James Pushaw, 80T Su perior street- AUaniic city, N. J. Ell Taylor New York City L. Jones & Co., Astor llout-c; ltroadway ThOttter Kewi Stand. llaklnn.i, Cul. W. II. Johnson, Four teenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland News stand. Ogflen D. I Uoyle, W. Q. Kind. 114 Twenty-fifth street. Hot KpriURU, Ark. C. N. Weaver 4b Co. Omaha Harkalow Tiros., IB 12 Farnam; Maneath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam; 240 Couth Fourteenth. Sacnimenlo, Cui, Sacramento News Co., 43 K street. l-nlt lj;ke Moon Book & Stationery Co., Ropenfeld &- Hansen. I.os Angeles li. E. Amos, manager seven street wapons. Han Dlcco B. R. Amos. I-ng Itenrh. Cul. B. E. Amos. I'aHudenn, Cal. A. F. Horning. fran FrunelHco Foster & Orear, Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent, N. Wheatley. r.un'ka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency. WuKhlngton, D. C. Ebbltt House, Penn sylvania avenue. Norfolk. Va. Jamestown News Co. I'lno lieacli, Va W. A. 'CosgroVe. Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket Office. rORTI.VNn, TVKSOAY, 1T.B. 19, 1007. urzzi.ixs THE FRKSS. Two or throe obtuse Stato Senators at Oly.mpia are engineering a legislative scheme to muzzle the press. They have Introduced the bill, familiarly known as the Pennypaeker law, and are urging it upon the Legislature with great vigor. They have also dotii-ied another inter esting measure by which every news paper within the Stato of Washington is to be prohibited from printing crim inal news, including accounts of public executions, lynvhingB, divorce proceed ings, reports of police court trials, and the like. These designing legislators fancy, perhaps, thoy are iiing the pub lic service in censorlzlng the press. But they are not. They are contribut ing to the security of every criminal or wou'd-be criminal In the state by suppressing public Information ae to his methods and operations; and they are making a secret machine of the law and of the courts which would be a grave menace to the safety of Individ-, uals and the welfare of the public. Of course, if such a law were passed, it would be a did letter, for no news paper would regard It, and no prosecu tion under it could possibly be effect ive. The average newspaper prints "what tho public wants, and the public, being controlled in the long run by a sound sentiment and healthy opinion, wan to and gets, in the main, what is best for it to have. A newspaper that violates continually soundl tenetp of decency and propriety w ill not survive; but a newspaper that informs the pub lic beet as to nil current phaees of hu man life and experience may" be ure of appreciative and generous public support, for it deserves such support. The Ponnypueker law, enacted first by a Pennsylvania Legislature at the instance of Governor Pennj-packer, proposed severe penalties for libel, be sides providing specific maximum sums for actual damages and punitive dam ages. The immediate motive for enact ment of the law was the venomous hostility of Governor Pennypacker towards the Pennsylvania press for lampooning: and cartooning him. This was a species of lese majtute that the Governor resented and endeavored by i.i to prevent, ne ranea. -No news paper paid the slightest attention 'to the law, and there has never been, so far as The Oregonan hue heard, a suc cessful prosecution of any kind under its provisions. Such a law would un doubtedly be innocuous in Washington. IXrAIR TREATMENT FOR FHJPINOS. The Bureau of Statistics has just is sued a bulletin on sugar production, consumption and importation, which presents some interesting figures on the sources of supply on which we are de pendent. It will be remembered: how tho eugar trust and its faithful band of standpatters have fought against ad mission of Philippine sugar. To listen to the arguments which they set forth against removing the duty on sugar from our new island dependencies one could easily imagine that ruin irre trievable and awful would ensue as soon as tho law became effective. The extent to which Philippine competition might affect us is shown by statistics. With a. consumption in 1SI06 of 6,415, 3S9.120 pounds, the United States pro duced tut 1,804,607,360 pounds. The re maining fouivfifths came, as to volume in the order named, from Cuba, Ha waii, Porto Rico. Java, Germany, South America, West Indies, Belgium, Philip pines, Austria-Hungary and Mexico. The awful menace of the Philippine sugar to the industry! in this country is clearly shown in Imports from that country of 26,2S.1,925 pounds, or one-two-hundred-and-forty-flfth of the total amount consumed in the United' States. Cuba, lying close at hand and with her sugar industry fostered for centuries, supplied nearly one-third of the sugar we consumed last year; but Java, ly ing across the Pacific, no nearer than the Philippines, sold us 4:5,372,363 pounds, or about twenty times as much ?a wo received from the islands which we forced to accept our sovereignty. Tho subsidy-seekers are shrieking be cause we do not increase our trade with South America, and yet that country last year supplied us with seven times as much sugar as we received from the Philippines. We are asked to spend millions on a ship subsidy for the al leged purpose of increasing trade with a foreign country, while we shamefully neglect one of our own dependencies, whose growth we have stunted by an iniquitous and arbitrary tariff law which the principal sufferers had no voice in the making. Of course this op position to the admission of free sugar from the Philippines comes almost ex clusively from the sugar trust, but, to become most effective with the people. It assumes varied forms. For example, the beet-sugar interests in the country make tearful protest against ruination of their infant industry by free sugar from the Philippines. The drastic effect of this competition can be understood by the official fig ures, wbich show that of the total sugar consumption of the United States last year only a scant tenth was beet sugar. As usual in a protest against removal of duty, the rights of the con sumer are not considered, and in this case the figures show that the consum er's right to cheap sugar is in jeopardy If we persist in giving preference to the home product. Consumption Is out stripping production so rapidly that, while our production of sugar last year was but 656,000,000 pounds greater than In 1S96, the consumption last year was 2,024,000,000 pounds greater than in 1S96. In other words, our dependence on other countries for sugar is steadily increasing. It muet, of course, be pleasing to the struggling Filipino to observe that, while our flag files over his former pos sessions, we are not Inclined to aid him in developing the resource of the land. We forced our civilization on him, and, despite his protests, are now showing him that that civilization carries' with it a demand for high tribute to the American sugar tru6t. The spectacle Is humiliating for the people of our own country, who still believe in the old doctrine of fair play andi equal rights, and it is not likely to infuse In the hearts of the Filipinos any great amount of reverence for the flag which floats over their rich but undeveloped land. ALASKA-YFKON EXPOSITION. - It is matter of regret that the Seattle Exposition bill is encountering so much opposition in the National Senate. This opposition, of course, is due to an Im proper understanding of the merits of the project, and, reasoning from prece dent, is perhaps not surprising. The special value of the Seattle exposition will lie in its exploitation of one of the most marvelous regions In the jurisdic tion of the United States. Alaska has never been understood or appreciated in the Kast It was only in the face of bitter opposition and toy a long, hard fight that Alaska became an American possession. Then, as now, the ultra- conservative element, which Is a firm believer in the adage that the jurisdic tion of the Almighty never extended west of the Missouri, was governed more by ignorance and prejudice than by the merits of the question. But en terprise won and Alaska was purchased for a sum much smaller than the value of about three months' output of her gold mines alone at this time. The men who opposed the purchase ot Alaska have nearly all passed on to their final account, but those who suc ceeded them have In many cases failed to profit by the mistakes of their pre decessors, andi will now be found an tagonizing the project for bringing be fore the world a better knowledge of the resources of a neglected and unde veloped region of indescribable rich ness. The Seattle-Yukon Exposition is not a sectional affair. "If it Is the suc cess it should be, it will directly benefit every locality on the Pacific Coast and indirectly every part of the United States. There are few, if any, regions on earth today where there is so much latent wealth awaiting development and adaptation to the needs of man as in Alaska. The wonderful output of gold which has been pouring forth in a steadily increasing stream since 1898 has made more millionaires than have ever come out of a similar area of ter ritory in so short a time, and her fish eries are yearly adding millions to the wealth of the country. But Alaska's greatest wealth and it is wealth that has not as yet been drawn on lies in the vast mountains of baser metals copper, iron, zinc, lead and other min erals, which, thougn smaler in value by weight, will in the aggregate, when fully developed, completely overshadow the yellow metal. There are also almost illimitable veins of coal, 'great deposits of oil and wonderful forei?u? of timber which ad1 mit of the greatest possible economies In converting the products of the mine Into merchantable, shape. The prime object of the Alaska-Yukon Exposition is to bring to the attention of the world the great opportunities for capital and labor in Alaska. The growth and; de velopment of that country will not be possible unless" all contiguous territory on the Pacific Coast shares in the bene fits arising. The Lewis and Clark Ex position brought into Oregon and Washington thousands of people who came among us with only the faintest ideas of the possibilities of the coun try. Many of them remained, and In turn sent for others who are now pour ing in and increasing not only their own prosperity, but that of the entire Northwest. Similar results on an even larger scale will follow the Seattle-Yu kon Exposition. The East was wrong in opposing: the purchase of Alaska. It Is again wrong in failing to rally to the support of a project that will do more than anything yet attempted to hasten the develop ment of that rich country. If such a thing were possible, it would be an excellent educational project to hold a Western exposition in the East. The self-satisfied provincials of the Eastern States, except in small numbers, will not take the trouble to come west to attend these affairs. Fojtunately, how ever, it will require something more potent than lack of Eastern support to prevent the Alaska-Yukon Exposition proving a great success. THE BURNS BILL AGAIN. House bill No. 36, known as the Burns bill," was taken from the cal endar yesterday at Salem and passed through the House by a substantial ma jority. This bill is entitled "an act pre venting the manufacture and sale of misbranfled or poisonous or deleterious foods within this state, and providing for the labeling andi marking of all articles or packages of food of any de scription, and providing for the true net weight or net measure of the con tents of every package or container to be branded upon the label, and to pro vide penalties for the violation of the act. A measure that thus plainly and suc cinctly sets out its purpose in its title, and that purpose the simple proposition of honest dealing, should, it would seem, take its regular course through tho legislative body without opposition and become a law without needless delay. Not so, however, in this case. Wholesale dealers in groceries and canned goods, and in package goods of all descriptions of food, flocked to Salem and with the wiles known to the lobbyist so harried the measure that it seemed for a time that it had been suc cessfully throttled. The friends of this bill are legion. They comprise every buyer of food supplies in the state, most of the retail grocers and many of the wholesale dealers. A few of the latter, however. have raised the cry that it will injure the Oregon market in the great food manufacturing centers, if indeed it does not shut this market out from all sources of supply; that it will put gro cers and other purveyors of package and bottled goods to great inconven ience; that food dealers have not time to attend to the old-fashioned details of accurately weighing, measuring and marking their goods in accordance with the provisions of the proposed law; they Insist, furthermore, that because a short pound or a scant measure is ac cepted in other states unquestioned (over in Washington, for example), therefore the people of Oregon should accept this shortage and pay for what they do not get uncomplainingly. This is more than sophistry; it is downright dishonesty. There is no excuse in eth ics for short weight; there should be none in law or through the law's cow ardice. The idea that Oregon would be shut out of the manufacturing markets of the East and Middle West by a law that requires full weight and measure n the goods produced is shallow. In the present era of eager reaching out after business, a market, wherever it exists, will be supplied. The demand of this market undier this law will be the consumer's demand for goods of full weight and measure, for which they are ready to pay the stipulated price. It is not conceivable that a mar ket asking supplies upon this simple basis of honesty will be shut out. The House having at length passed the Burns bill, it may be hoped that it will not be lost in the Senate in the fran tic shuffle of bills during the closing' days. THE NEW ASTORIA SPIRIT. The modern commercial organization is a great power for development which all enterprising cities, large and small, recognize, and few sections of the country are doing more effective work than many communities in our own State of Oregon, It is especially gratifying -to note that Astoria, oldest among Oregon cities, has determined that the entire reading worldi shall be advised of her fine resources, that the people shall be made familiar with her location at the mouth of the great Co lumbia, and be advised' of what must necessarily result to the benefit of that city when her tributary timber shall come under the saw and be made avail able to commerce. Her opportunities from a dairying standpoint are to be exploited, as well as her advantageous location as a port. In the past the Astorlan has been thoroughly satisfied with local condi tions, for it is a city in which there are no paupers and everybody has money. A number of commercial," industrial and progressive organizations were all working to the same end. It was de cided last week, however, to combine them all in the Chamber of Commerce, and a meeting was called for that pur pose. The theater in which these peo ple gathered was crowded to its ca pacity; addresses were made showing the advantageous position of Astoria; her resources were dwelt upon; then a subscription list which would put the promotion departxment of her Chamber of Commerce on a substantial basis was opened, and within Jess than an hour $6000 in cash was subscribed in monthly payments, ' and forty new members added to the Chamber of Commerce, with dues of $12 per year, making a total of $6480. A live and energetic committee was appointed to increase this sum, and when that com mittee closed its day's work last Satur day $8560 had been subscribed. The business men and property-holders of the city have determined to make this sum $10,000 annually. The Astoria Chamber of Commerce Is affiliated with sixty-three other indus trial and commercial bedies which com prise the Oregon Development League, The advertising of this league has re sulted in an enormous amount of cor respondence asking about the resources of Oregon,- and to all these inquirers Astoria wUl send a beautiful descrip tive pamphlet. The city now has a corps of stenographers busy preparing ror the campaign. The -Oregonian takes great pleasure in congratulating Astoria heartily and earnestly, and trusts that each and every community in the State of Ore gon will take pattern from the city by the sea. This work means a greater Oregon. A BI t.L THAT SHOULD NOT PASS. Those who are interested in bird lif a constantly growing throng look with apprehension toward the possible pass ing by the state of House bill No. 367. This measure, it is said, is calculated to destroy the usefulness of the pree ent law, enacted by the Legislature in 1903, which is designated by W. L. Fin iey, bird lover and president of the Oregon Audubon Society, as "a model bird law." The amendment proposed' to this law gives any farmer, gardener or orchardist the right to kill songbirds If these ane found taking any of his rrult. It will readily be seen that this is a menace to bird life in Oregon that is both cruel and wasteful the first be cause the bird is entitled, to the beauty and joy of his brief -existence, and the last because he is in reality the farm er's best friend, in that he lives and brings up a voracious brood each year that feeds upon insects, bugs and creep ing things which prey upon fruits, vegetables and grains. That songbirds "occasionally take a bite of fruit" Is conoeded. But what of It? The amount that they consume or spoil is infinitesi mal compared with the whole, and he is a churl indeed who would grudge the blithe little songster an "occasional bite of fruit" with which to wet his tuneful throat or vary his insect diet. while worse than a churl a ruthless and ungrateful creature Indeed is he who would take a bird's life for eat ing cherries or berries or taking a fly ing bite at a Summer apple. As toll for the relatively few cherries or berries taken, the bird, while rais ing his voracious brood, takes an insect or a worm to his nest every few min utes throughout the day, and close ob servers like Mr. Finley note that a sin gle robin or chipping sparrow destroys in a season hundreds of cutworms., grasshoppers, ante, -larvae and harmful insects. But It to not the songbirds alone-that the bird-lover seeks to protect from overzealous lawmakers, urged on by farmers who do not know the value of their feathered friends. The proposed bill permits the indiscriminate slaugh ter of owls the most harmless and un obtrusive of birds, and withal one of the most useful. To be sure, these birds occasionally visit a henroost in order to supply the clamorous owlets in the nest with a taste of chicken, but they kill hundreds of moles, rats and. mice to one chick, and are Nature's check against the overmultiplication of these pests of the root crops and of the granary. Any farmer knows what pests moles often prove and how difficult it is to destroy the burrowing creatures. Owls find the task a congenial one, and. one suited to their own nocturnal habits, as the mole is himself a night-feeder. The plea of Mr. Finley that House bill 367 be not passed by the Senate is based upon these facts and others suc cinctly set forth. Ignorantly or bung- lingly framed by some one who knows nothing of bird life beyond the most casual observation, it. discriminates against and allows the farmer, orchard- ist or gardener to shoot the "apple bird" a new genus in ornithology, as stated by Mr. Finley, and which may mean a robin, a cedar waxwlng, a chickadee, a tangier or any bird that may happen to be about an apple tree. It may be hoped that State Senators will hearken to his plea and refuse to sanction this wholesale permit to de stroy songbirds and other feathered friends of the farmer which has been. no doubt, unwittingly given by the House, or that, falling in this, the Gov ernor will come up to the help of the weaJc against the mighty by a veto of the bill. The people will pay more attention to the quality of legislation than they will to the quantity. There are com paratively few matters upon which there was a demand for legislative ac tion, and If the Legislature responds to the wishes of the people upon these, no one will care if a multitude of other measures fail to pass. This will be a busy week in tho Legislature. Appar ently some measures must fail because of the congestion of business on the desks. If some measures must fail for lack of time to consider them, let It be those in which the people have no par ticular interest and for which there is no general demand. Another butter and cheese pla.nt of Tillamook. County has .made its annual report, the business showing a dividend of 10 per cent to the stockholders. The amount of milk delivered at the cream ery in 1906 was by far the largest ever received by it during a single year, thus proving the substantial growth of the industry and its increasing benefit to dairymen. The energy and enterprise shown by the promoters of this indus try are all the more conspicuous be cause of the lack of railway transpor tation facilities to which the citizens of Tillamook County have long been entitled and of which they are still de prived. The earnings of the Standard Oil Company in 1906 were more than $65,- 000,000, and in the last nine ' years reached a total of .more than $400,- 000,000. This probably accounts for the frequent use that John D., Junior, makes of the text that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." The figures themselves prove that there has been universal "giving," and, if the Bockcfeller application of the proverb is correct, there rflust be wholesale blessings resting wherever Standard Oil burns. A combination of Democrats and Re publicans is running things in the State Senate at Olympia, another is having everything its own way in the House at Boise, and there are occa sional signs of a more or less harmo nious understanding between Demo crats and Republicans at Salem. The Democrats are beginning to learn that the way to get things done is to tie up with the party that does them. This latest disaster is like unto the boys' game of "snap-the-whip." Light cans attached to heavy engines, going at sixty miles an hour, are bound to leave the rails on a sharp curve. It wouldn't be a bad plan to double-floor them, using old rails, solidly packed, for ballast. The cans would be heavy, but they would be safe to ride In. The people expected more from this Legislature than it has from any other, for the reason that the members were nominated by the people and were un der obligations to no bosses. If the work of the session is less satisfactory than that of its predecessors, the blame will be placed to a large extent upon the direct primary. The appropriations made by this Legislature will not be limited to the amounts mentioned in appropriation bills. Every bill raising the salary of a county officer is in effect an appropria tion bill, for it increases the amount of revenue that must be raised and ex pended by the people. Marion County gave up a Joint Sen ator without a protest But for the fact that Multnomah was denied repre sentation to which its population enti tles it, this would be a fine opportunity for the Capital Journal to go into hys terics over the effort of Portland to rob the rest of the state. The Washington sheepmen who ob Ject to the enactment of a law that will keep their stock on their side of the line must remember that we have sheep of our own that need grass. And Ore gon sheep pay Oregon taxes. There seems to be a disposition on the part of one or two New York pa pers to regard Mr. Del mas as a "coun try lawyer." He Is, if the legal bunch he is associated, with are metropolitan lawyers. Multnomah gets the worst of it, ae usual. Pnvs nonrlv n third, of the taxes, has no state institutions in Its Doraers, and is denied a proportlonat. share of representation In the Legis lature. Who says mow that the climate of Oregon is changing? Not the pioneer, who finds the present delightful and seasonable weather a duplicate of that of many a February in the past. Oregon appears to be about the only state in the Union where a train going at full speed can tip over without hurting anybody much. The St. James Gazette thinks Sen ator Tillman ought to be locked up in a padded cell. Why padded? ASQUITH STANDS BY IRELAND Defend's British Cabinet's Design to Give Greater Liberty. LONDON. Feb. 18. The Irish question played a prominent part in the House of Commons tonight, the opposition lead ers accusing the Ministers of breaking the election pledges by the endeavor to give Ireland an installment of home rule. The opposition further tried to bring out the supposed divergence of views among the Ministers on the home rule question, the Idea being that Chief Secretary for Ireland Birrell, in confessing himself a home ruler, must be antagonistic to that section of the Cabinet represented by Chancellor of the Exchequer Asquith. Mr. Asquith replied, declaring nobody inside or outside the House was yet in possession of the details of the govern ment's Irish plans and contended that there was nothing novel in the declara tions made by the Premier and Mr. Bir rell and that ultimate solution of the Irish problem could be found only in some form of home rule. "Who then," asked Mr. Asquith, "are those guilty of political perfidy? Am I one of them? If, when the government's scheme is produced, it is found to be anything in the letter or spirit incon sistent with or in violation of any pledge or assurance I have given, either before or during the election, I will immedi ately resign. "But the whole Liberal party voted with Mr. Redmond in the late House in favor of a resolution which condemned the political system of administration in Ireland, and I am not going to recede one whit from that position." Finally the amendment moved by Earl Percy, who raised the discussion concern ing the House of Lords by expressing regret that urgent social measures should be postponed in favor of making changes m the constitution, was rejected by a majority of 263. FRENCH CRISIS STAVED OFF Clemenceau and Brland Agree and Cabinet Is Again United. PARIS, Feb. 18. As the result of a conference -this afternoon between, rremier Clemenceau, M. Brland and other members of the Cabinet, a semi-official note was issued announcing that a com plete agreement had been reached and that M. Clemenceau would be able to re port to President Fallierles that the Ministers would present a united front In Parliament tomorrow.' President Fallieres personally inter vened today in the Ministerial situation in the hope of composing the differences of the Cabinet. . He had a long conference with Premier Clemenceau, Minister Briand and other members of the Cabinet. The followers of ex-Premior Combes are lined up aprainst any new conces sion to the church. Their position Is defined by the action as follows. "According to the action of parliament, in giving or refusing its as sent to the contract negotiated by M. Brland, the Republic will be bound to Rome for 18 years, or free from it for ever." The bitter hostility to the government's proposed income tax law continues to bo an important feature of the Ministerial crisis. The Moderate papers believe that some of the Socialist leaders are glad of the possibility of another struggle with the Vatican, because frightened at their own social programmes. Notwithstanding the assurances that the Ministerial differences have been patched up, tomorrow's session of the Chamber of Deputies is likely to be stormy and may bring forth sensational develop ments. New Form of Church lipase. PARIS. Feb. 18. The Echo de Paris declares this morning that the new form of church lease drawn up by Minister of Education Brland and agreed to by the cabinet is practically the same as the model published February 7, with an additional clause, as follows: "In the "event of the parish priest re fusing to exercise his functions, owing to death or his removal by tho diocesan authorities, his successor, in order to se cure the enjoyment of the church edi fice, must prove before the Mayor that he Is acting with the authority of his bishop, and he must sign an understand ing to carry out the engagements entered into by his predecessor. All Ready for Castro'a Death. , MACUTO, Venezuela, Feb. 17 (via Wlllemstad. Island or Curacao. Feb. 18.) In spite of the dally bulletins is sued by the government, announcing an improvement in President Castro s health, he has gradually weakened since he underwent the recent opera tion, and his condition is now more serious than before. It is even affirmed that his physicians entertain no hope of his recovery. His temperature Is reported to be 103, gangrene is said to have set In and the end is alleged to be expected shortly. The gunboat Restaurador is lying at La Guayra, and it is asserted that af ter his death she will carry the body of Castro to Puerto Cabello, whence it will be taken to Valencia for inter ment. Raid on Russian Revolutionists. ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 18. The Social Revolutionists have been holding meet ings In the University building here under the cover of universal autonomy. The po lice, however, are determined to put an end to these gatherings and yesterday arrested 71 Revolutionists and secured 1500 pounds weight of Incendiary procla mations. The Prefect of Police has ordered the arrest of all persons distributing election matter in behalf of the Radical party. and today closed two printing establish ments where Radical ballots were being -printed. Challenges Whole Club to Duel. ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 18. A story is current here that Prince Paul Dol gourokoff, leader of the Constitutional Democratic party, who was expelled by unanimous vote from the Imperial Russian Yacht Club, because of his anti-government teachings, has chal lenged every one of the members to a duel. May TjOt Indians Have Their Cash, WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 The Senate today passed a House bin providing that the Secretary of the Interior may select any Indian who may be deemed capable of managing his own affairs, and place to the order of such Indian the amount of share of the tribal funds In the Treasury. Roth-tclillds Reject Coffee loan. RIO DE JANEIRO. Brazil, Feb. 18.- The refusal of the Rothschilds to float the coffee loan has caused a sensa tion here. The Journal de Commer- clo says the rebuke should convince the government that the coffee scheme is a dangerous adventure, which should be dropped. Liberal Wins in Banffshire. LONDON. Feb. 18. The bye-elections of February 16, In Banffshire, for a successor to William A. Black, Advanced Liberal, who died from Injuries sustained in a rail road wreck last December, resulted In the return of Captain Waring, Liberal. . Suffragists Re-F.Iect Miss Shaw. CHICAGO. Feb. 18. Anna Howard Shaw was today elected president of the National woman Suffragist Association. GROWTH OP AUTO IXDUSTRY Production, and Exports Multiply Two-Fold in Seven Years. WASHINGTON', Feb. IS. The re markable growth in the automobile in dustry Is strikingly Indicated In a statement issued today by the Census Bureau upon the manufacture of au tomobiles, bicycles and tricycles for 1905. The total production of auto mobiles in 105 was 22.SSO, valued at $26,64.,064, as against 372S in 1900, with a value of $4,478,000. Of the 21.692 automobiles turned out by tho factories 18.G99 were propelled by gas oline, 1068 by steam and 1425 by elec tricity. In the period between the two cen suses the number of establishments turning out the finished automobile as their principal product Increased from 57 to 121; the amount of capital in vested lr. these establishments from $5,678,760 to $20,553,247, and the num ber of wage-earners employed from 2200 to 210,239. The value of American-made auto mobiles and parts exported increased from $948,528 In 1902 to $2,481,243 In 1905. The greater part of these ex ports went to European markets. The exports to foreign countries of North America increasfd from $77,801 in 1902 to $6S2,6t)9 in 1905, nearly nine-fold The high line of prosperity in the bi- eyefe was reached about 1897 and in 1900 the manufacture had already largely fallen off. CUT DOWX RAILWAY MAIL PAY House Adopts Reduced Graduated Scale of Rates. WASHINGTON. Feb.' 18. The House today adopted a resolution presented by OVerstreet of Indiana authorizing the clerk to insert a provision in the post- offic appropriation bill looking to the reduction of compensation to railroads for carrying the mail, to take effect July 1, in accordance with the followin schedule: On routes carrying their whole length an average weight of mail per day of more than 50,000 pounds and less than 4,tKiO pounds, the rates shall he 5 per rent lesi than the present rates on all weight car ried in excess of .000 potinds; and on routes carrying their whole length an aver age weight of mall per tiay of more than 4S.00O pounds, the rate shall ho " per cen Utess than the present rate on all weigh carried in excess of C0O0 pounds un to 4S.0OO pounds, and for each additional 200O pounds In excess of 4H.O00 pounds at the rate of $10.24; on all roads other than land grant roads and upon all land grand roads the rate shall he $17.10 for each 'jooo pounds carried in excess of said 4S.00O pounds. After July 1, 1907, additional pay allowed for every line comprising a daily trip each way of railway postoffice cars shall he a a rate not exceeding $'2. per mile per annum for" cars 40 fert in length and S27.T.O per mile for 45-foot cars, and $::2."0 pep mllo for 50-foot cars, and $40 per mile per an num for cars IW feet or more in length. HOT WORDS FRECEDKD SHOTS Brownsville People Made Threats on N'ight of Shooting. WASHINGTON, Feb. IS. The first shots fired in the Brownsville affray of August 13 were fired from the rear o the post commissary and not from the town, according to the testimony of V1I1 lam C. Nolan before the Senate investiga tion committee today. Nolan Is a white soldier belonging to the hospital corps. He was in the hos pital at the time of the. shooting. Ho heard the first of the trouble, he said This was followed by shots from the dl reotion of a negro saloon near the town. William Harding, a negro ex-private, said that on the night of August 13, while walking between the post exchange and tho hospital, he almost ran into Majo Penrose, Major McComb and another man He said he stepped back to let them pass and they stopped and began to talk. The strange man, according to Harding, said "I tell you, Texas won't stand for it.' He then said something about an assault upon his wife and added: "If some soldiers are not put under arrest by 10 o'clock tonight we will kill every negro soldier in Fort Brown." BILL FOR VOLUNTEER ARMY Taft Proposes Authority to Raise Troops in War-Time. WASHINGTON. Feb. 18. Senator Warren, chairman of the Senate com mittee on military affairs, today intro duced a bill providing for the raising of a volunteer army of the United States during actual or threatened war. The bill divides the military estab lishment into .three brandies, the reg ular army, the National Guard and th volunteer army. It provides that th volunteer army shall be maintained in time of war and when war Is immi nent, and that it may be raised by proclamation by the President afte Congress shall have authorized such act. In transmitting the draft of the bill to Chairman Warren, Secretary Taft wrote a letter saying that while he recognized tnere is little hope of con sideration during the present Congress, he hoped it would receive attention next session. The same bill was introduced in the House by Chairman Hull, of the com mittee on military affairs. Rejects New 16-Hour Bill. WASHINGTON. Feb. 18. By a vote of 119 to 69 the House today under suspension of the rules refused to adopt the substitute recommended by the Interstate and foreign commerce committee for the so-called La Follette 16-hour bill, to promote the safety of employes and travelers on railroads by limiting the hours of service of em ployes. The amended bill was sent to conference, a two-thirds vote being re quired. LINCOLN ' (fcr .Ml . IKS'SX?. "TP YOU CANT PLOW THROUGH JAPAN IS CALMLY RESIGXKD Senate's Action Announced With Mollifying Phra.es. TOKIO. Feb. 19. The passage of Presi dent Roosevelt's passport bill by the Sen ate of the United States was semi-offi-cially announced this morning. The lead ing newspapers today explained that this action by the United States Government s perfectly legitimate and in accordance with treaty stipulations. It Is also pointed out that the promise of success of the judicial procedure in the school question 3 lessening. The newspapers thus far have refrained from making comment on this latest news from ashlngton. It is believed that the emigration companies will combine to at tack the Government's attitude, if an agreement is reached with America on the basis proposed. It Is thought that the general public, while regrettinc the, solution of the San Francisco school ques tion tuning mis form, will calmly resign Itself to the situation. FLINT OPPOSES AGITATION". But Fears Japan May Kvade Pass port Provision of Law. WASHINGTON". Fob. IS. Senator Flint of California had a conference with the r-resident today about the Jananese nnes- tion and legislation pending in Congress upon the subject. He expressed the opinion that the present agitation on tlio I'acino Coast was unfortunate, as tun ban Francisco School Hoard com mittee now here was doing the best it could to settle the controversy and to get, for the people what they -want. i ne poBsioiiity of the Japanese govern ment's issuing passports for the Japan ese to come to the mainland, thus ren dering nugatory the effect of the pro posed legislation, was sugRested to the President by the Senator. Such a course, the Senator said, would be regarded as a breach of good faith and in his opinion would be followed by legislation against the Japanese coming at all. LET PEOPLE VOTE ON' QUESTION California State Senator Proposes to Block School Settlement. SACRAMENTO. Cal., Feb. 18. In the State Senate today Senator Oamlnettl in troduced an anti-Japanese bill, which not only embodies the provisions of Senator Keanos measure giving the school au thorities the power to segregate children, but goes further and declares that wheio separate schools have been or will be established hereafter they shall not rm discontinued until the matter of s-uch discontinuance has llrst been s.ubmltled to the vote of the qualified electors of any district or city. Japanese Watch the Survey. HONOLULU, Feb. 18. Five survey ors are at work under the. direction of the United States Engineer officer. Captain Otwell, making surveys for the erection on Diamond Head of fortifi cations. Yesterday two Japanese dressed as laborers spent n consider able part of the day on the slopes of Diamond Head, watching the work of the surveyors through field glasses. Test Case on Schools Postponed. SAN FRANCISCO. Feh. IS. The ap plication of Kciklchl Aoki for a writ of mandate to compel the school au thorities to admit him to the public schools was called in the Supreme Court this morning and postponed to March 4. PUT 1 1 EXE Y ON THEIR TRAIL; Nevada People Will Expose Sins of Railroad Lobbyists. RENO, Nev., Feb. 18. Should tha railroad bill now before the legisla ture be defeated, . Francis .1. Honey, of San Francisco, will conduct an inves tigation on the part of the people of Nevada against the railroad lobbyists. A fund to pay all his expenses has been raised by private parties, and he has consented to carry on the In vestigation. HAS BOUGHT THE COTTON BELT Ilarrlnian Adds Another Railroad to His Big Merger. MEMPHIS. Feb. 18. The News Bcimitar today says that practically authoritative Informatioi received here Is to tho effect that E. H. Harri man has secured control of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, Ttnowm as the Cotton Belt. EXPLOSION' IX COAL MINE. Thirty Foreigners Meet Sudden Death In Mexico. LAREDO, Tex., Feb. 16. Word reached this city late tonight through telegrams from Monterey, Mexico, of a disastrous mine explosion in LaConqulsta Mine No. 3. of the Las Esperanzas district, in which 30 miners are known to have lost their lives. The dead and injured, however, may be Increased to 75 when full details are received. According to meager reports, the explo sion occurred at 7 o'clock tonight, 'shortly after the night shift had commenced work. The explosion is thought to have been caused by gas, which Ignited from a defective lamp carried by one of tha miners. It is thought that no Ameri cans were Injured, as, with the exception of mine bosses, all the employes are for eigners. SAID From th Brooklyn Eagle. A LOG, PLOW AROl'M) IT." r