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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1907)
3 TIIE MORNING OKfiliUAIAiV, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1907. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) ally. Sunday Included, one year $8 00 any. Sunday Included, aix montns. 4.25 'ally, Sunday Included, three jnontha.. 2.25 ally, Sunday Included, one month. . .to 6.00 3.25 1.75 ally, without Sunday, one year.... tally, without Sunday, six month., ally, without Sunday, three montha allv. without Sunday, one montn.. .00 unday, one year - 2.50 Veekiy, one year (Issued Thursday).. 1.60 unday and Weekly, one year 3-50 BV CARRIER. 'ally, Sunday Included, one year 900 'ally. Sunday Included, one month 75 HOW TO REMIT Send postofflce money rder, express order or personal check on our local bank. Stamps, coin or currency re at the sender's risk. Give postofllce ad dress In full, including county and state. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postofflce s Second-Class Matter. i to 14 Paxes 1 cent 0 to 2S Panes - cents o to 44 Pages 3 cents 6 to BO Pages : cent Foreign postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict. IN'ewspapers on which postage Is not ruuy repaid are not forwarded to aesu"". EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. Th s. c. Rrrkirith shied al Agency Ne-w h'ork, rooms 48-30 Tribune building. Chl- ago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT OX SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex. Postoffics K'ews Co., 178 Dearborn t. St. Paul, Minn. N. St. Marie, commercial tatlon. . . Penvpr Hamilton KendricVt. 906-913 seventeenth street; Fratt Hook Store. 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. S. Rica. Kansas City. Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Nlnlh and Walnut; Yoma News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh, 60 South Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw. 807 Su perior street. Washington, D.' C. Ebbltt House, Penn sylvania, avenue. Philadelphia, "Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket office; Penn News Co. ' ' ' New York City I Jones tc Co., Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Hotallng Wagons. Atlantic City, N. J. Ell Taylor. Ogden D. L. Boyle, W. a. Kind, 114 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Mageath Stationery Co. Dm 31oinrs, la. Mose Jacob. Kamnnento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 43B K Btreet; Amos News Co. fait Lake Moon Book & Stationery Co.; Rosenfcld & Hansen. l,os Angeles B. E. Amos, manager seven street wagons. una Iieg-o B. E. Amos. Long Beach, Cal. B. E. Amos. San Jose, Cal. St. Jamea Hotel News Stand K l'aso, Tex. riaza Book and News Stand. Fort Worth, Tex. T. Robinson. Amarlllo, Tex. Ainarlllo Hotel News Stand. San Francisco Foster & Crear; Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel News Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agents. 11 4 Eddy street. Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oak land News stand: Hale News Co. Ooldflleld, Nev. Louie Follln; C. E. Hunter. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency. . Norfolk. Va. American News Co. I'lne Beach. Va. W. A. Cosgrove. PORTLAND. TTl'SDAY. SEPT. 10, 1907. THE PLAGUE, OR "BLACK DEATH." It will depend wholly on the vigi lance and effectiveness of the quaran tine and medical authorities of San Francisco whether the bubonic plague, now certainly in that city, shall spread or not. There Is no treatment for cure that can be depended on. Prevention Is the remedy; and isolation of 'every case is the only preventive. This disease will propagate itself In all climates, latitudes, temperatures and seasons. It is an acute infectious disease caused by the presence of a specific microbe, and marked by tumors which com monly suppurate, but sometimes do not. The Inflammation is acute, extremely painful; pyaemia quickly ensues, the progress is rapid, and the majority of those Infected usually perish. In Bom bay, from 1898 to 1901, the mortality was SO per cent. In the Hongkong epi demic of 1894 it was even higher. From time immemorial It has dev astated India and the countries of the Mediterranean. Its horrors are depleted in immortal prose and verse by Thu cydides and Lucretius. Intercourse with the South carried it towards the North; and from Egypt, about th year 542. it passed to Barcelona and Marseilles and thence over all Europe, lasting 50 years and resulting in enor mous mortality. At intervals during many centuries it again appeared. Re turning crusaders and pilgrims spread the; plague everywhere; and commer cial intercourse, which was carried on largely through Venice during the Mid dle . Ages, was another source of its propagation. More than once that city was almost depopulated by it; and the black drapery of the gondola, contin ued to this day, is said to be a me mento of the universal mourning. The advance of the epidemic, at different periods, may .be traced through Ger many anfj France to England, and from the countries about the Black Sea far Into Russia and even to Sweden and Norway. It destroyed in the six teenth and seventeenth centuries nearly one-half the population of Ger many, and In 1G66 it devastated Lon don, carrying off fully one-third of the Inhabitants. "A Journal of the Plague in London," by Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe," is one of the most intensely realistic books ever written. The disease never is extirpated from several of the countries about the Med iterranean, and almost every year cases appear on the northern borders of that sea,' which, however, the au thorities have learned to isolate, thus stopping the scourge. A few cases ap peared in New York, at the close of the Spanish War, but the quarantine was effective. In civilized countries it is now deemed nothing less than a disgrace to allow this dreadful disease fo spread; for rigorous regulations can always stop it. Several varieties of the disease are noted, but all are substantially the same. It Is an acute inflammation of the lymphatic glands, caused by the presence of the plague bacillus. The micro-organism was discovered In 1894. Under the microscope it is a small oval rod, with rounded ends. The bacilli oc cur In enormous numbers in the mailer glands, where they set up in flammation and swellings (buboes), in the spleen, and after death in the blood. The lower animals, especially rat. nre Infected in greater or less degree: hence it is believed that rats may carry the disease. Specialists be lieve that the bacillus may enter the body by the skin, by the respiratory r.aage. through cracks or wounds, i,t by the alimentary canal. Mainte imri'.e of hygienic or sanitary condi tii. though useful and necessary, is n' sure prophylactic; for plague is not cumkM by filth, overcrowding, or poor t'iw. These circumstances may, how ever, render Individuals less able to inxlut It. It Is now universally known jh.it seclusion, and isolation of pa tients is the only way . to stop it. Treatment of persons already infected amounts to little for their relief. SATAN AND THE NEWSPAPERS. . "What would Satan do if he were an editor?" asks the Rev. Mr. Shaffer, and he proceeds to answer his question by declaring that he (I. e., Satan) would do pretty much what every present-day editor does in the conduct of his news paper. Mr. Shaffer is one of those hot stuff creatures who try nobly to do their duty by the Monday morning newspaper, which is largely a chronicle of pulpit sayings and doings. The Ore gonian printed the brother's sermon yesterday; yet it is pained to relate that no Special increase in the usual daily sales or circulation was recorded. On the other hand, the Evening Telegram told in an extra the story of a low prizefight in San Francisco, and sold thousands of copies. Now, we'll have to leave it to Brother Shaffer and the public to draw a moral, if there is any, from this situation. Meanwhile, though a little discour aged. The Oregonlan will promise to stay with the preachers and print their sermons faithfully, even though few go to hear them, or some of them, on the theory that If the public won't listen to them .they, certainly -should be made to read them. We shall await, too, with what patience we can command, the report : from the , sales counter next Monday morning, when we expect to inform the public, through our report of Brother Shaffer's Sunday sermon, 'wTmf Satari 'would' 'do' if he were a preacher." We could answer that question to our own satisfaction, but we purpose first to give Brother Shaffer a chance. We are sure, however, that. If Satan were a preacher, and bad se lected such a sulphurous subject, he would announce it a week in advance, prepare a typewritten report of the ser mon, and give it out to the newspapers. A GREAT DIFFERENCE. It is painful to notice that the licen tious press has applied the odious epithet "mob" to the assemblage of British cit izens in Vancouver who threw brick bats at Baron Ishii and dumped half a dozen of the Mikado's humbler sub jects into the harbor. This use of lan guage is reprehensible. The Britisher never Joins a mob. That is done only by Americans. English subjects are al ways perfectly law-abiding. Under the stern protection of the British courts everybody, black, white and yellow. Is perfectly secure in person and property. The hoodlums of San Francisco when they raid a Japanese restaurant consti tute a mob. The same is true of the Bellingham roughs when they expel the heathen Hindus. But your Vancouver bullies on the warpath are something very different. They are enveloped by an atmosphere of aristocratic calm caught from the King and nobility. When an Englishman hurls a brickbat at a Chinaman, the action has distinc tion, poise, a well-bred tone which can only toe communicated by the influence of a hereditary leisure class. It indicates a primitive, half-developed civilization for an American mob to storm the windows of a ' Japanese Joint; it proves that we have not yet evolved either National respect for law or individual self-restraint. But for a collection, not a mob, of Britishers to do the same thing Indicates that they are the ripe products of a world-old culture rich in altruistic heredity. It proves, that they gladly subordinate passion to law and subdue to a decor ous demonstration what would in the United States become a wild outbreak. Wonderful are the advantages of living under the soothing influences of a ripe and ancient civilization. JAPANESE TRAITS. Oregon farmers say Jap laborers are tricky, lying, dishonest and ever ready to take advantage of their employer in a plight. The tale of these traits was disbelieved In America until the last two or three years. Now comes a Cor ean. Prince Ye We Chong, grand nephew of the recently deposed Em peror, Ye Hyeng, and son of Chin Pom Ye, Corean Minister to the United States, 1896-1900, saying, in an article w ritten by him for the New York Inde pendent: "Japan is playing the ugiy. unjust, inhuman, selfish and brutal role" in Corea, "pushing forward schemes of extortion, robbery and cru elty." . With fair words and fair promises, he says, Japan got its clutches on the land, promising Corean independence and "open door" when the Coreans aided Japan against Russia, then tak ing possession, when the Russians were driven away, and forcing upon the Cor ean Emperor in November, 190o, a treaty which gave Japan a protector ate, yet representing it to the' world as a glad and voluntary surrender on the part of the Coreans. Prince Ye was one of the three Cor eans to The Hague Peace Conference, whoso presence there resulted in Ja pan's recently deposing the Emperor. He lived in Washington four years and later was a military student -n Paris. His wife is Russian and she and their daughter live in Russia. Prince Ye's credentials as delegate to the Peace Conference were sent him by the Cor ean Emperor through secret agents. He has published a facsimile of his creden tials, signed by the Emperor and bear ing the imperial seal. The Japanese have denied the existence or authen ticity of the document, and claim to have obtained a disavowal of it from the ex-Emperor. They have pronounced sentence of death upon Prince Ye and his two colleagues. One of the latter has since died in New York City. It is a sad tale that Prince Ye tells. He charges that the treaty giving Ja pan the protectorate was resisted by the Emperor and his -Ministers. Jap anese troops were stationed around the imperial palace ''and maneuvered there for days until Marquis Ito had gained audience with the Emperor." On the last night of the resistance the acting Prime Minister, who was the strongest foe to the signing of the treaty, was seized by the Japanese and flung into a separate room. "Then the Japanese extracted their desire a treaty by force from an unwilling government." Since then, the writer says, Corean finances have been "shamelessly ex ploited for the peculiar benefit of the Japanese. Hundreds of Japanese sub Jects have been engaged at salaries often three or four times as much as they would be given in their own coun try. Thousands of families are dispos sessed of their property and brought to ruin." The Japanese used to represent the Russians as tricksters and liars irr di plomacy. Their tales of Russian du plicity were perhaps true. But the Japanese seem to possess ethical stand ards no higher. Japan is resolved" to get hold of Corea, . and regards that land as legitimate spoil of the Russian war. The Japanese do not keep their promises in Corea as the United States has done in Cuba. Have the Oregon farmers judged Jap traits rightly? THE WOUNDS OF A FRIEND. Some timid people seem to fear that Fruit Commissioner Reld's plain talk will retard the growth of Clackamas County. Their fears are groundless. The first requisite for growth and prog ress is a clear recognition of the condi tions which need changing and of the faults to be corrected. To deny or pal liate disagreeable facts helps nobody, while it encourages mossback farmers in their shiftlessness. Homeseekers will not be' driven away from Clackamas County by the "un savory reputation" Mr. Reld has given it. HomeBeekers do not buy property, without looking at it and investigating the neighbors. If the facts about Clackamas dairying and horticulture are as Mr. Reid states them, they can not be concealed from shrewd observ ers. The attempt to misrepresent will do muoh more harm than frank admis sion; for nothing repels immigrants so thoroughly as the spirit which is sat isfied with slothful conditions and re sents innovation. Clackamas can best attract home seekers toy making' the homes which are already there . thrifty, attractive and progressive. The prominent men who are "incensed"' at Mr.' Reld's' re marks doubtless find some satisfaction in berating him, but they could employ themselves more usefully ' In helping weed out , the, .scrub .cattle, which . eat up the profits of the dairy business. The petty sum which Clackamas re ceives for milk and cream is no credit to the farmers of that county. They ought to thank Mr. Reid for calling at tention to their neglected opportunities. We can understand why Mr. A. J. Lewis, fruit inspector) resents what Mr.- Reld has to say about the uncultivated, wormy, scraggly orchards of the coun ty. It is Mr.- Lewis' duty- to,- -bring about better conditions in these or chards, and of course it is painful for him to be sharply reminded of a duty apaprently neglected. But he would shine more brilliantly in support of Mr. Reld's efforts for better things than he does in opposing them. Let Mr. Lewis confess his failings, if he has failed, and resolve to do more faithful work in the future. This would be much more seemly than to Join in the foolish outcry against facts which have been candidly stated. We are Informed also that Mr. Reid's plain language has so angered the farmers that they will not attend the institutes where he is to lecture. What do farmers go to these institutes for? To hear the truth, or to listen to flat tering misrepresentations? Certainly no lecturer has a message for them more necessary or wholesome than Mr. Reid. His medicine may be caustic, but it goes to the roots of the disease. If the lecturers at farmers' Institutes must praise mossgrown orchards, be laud fruit blackened with anthracnose and filled with codlln larvae, and go Into raptures over scrub cattle to titil late their hearers' sensibilities, the sooner the Institutes are abolished the better. Men who cannot stand it to hear the truth are beyond teaching. It is of no use to lecture to them. The simple fact is that Clackamas, as well as every other county in the Willamette Valley, is throwing away boundless opportunities. The produc tion of agricultural wealth within them is backward and meager in spite of un equaled soil and climate and markets without limit. The true friends of these communities are men like Mr. Reid, who state facts as they are, no matter how harshly. Their worst ene mies are those who labor to palliate and prolong unthrlft. HAKRIMAN'8 OREGON LANDS. Mr. Harriman, at the Sacramento Ir rigation Congress, made a new an nouncement about the 3,000,000 acres of railroad land of the Southern Pacific in Oregon, which land was received from the United States as a railroad grant, on condition that It should be sold to actual settlers at $2.50 an acre. He declared that the land is to be held as reserve for supplying railroad ties "twenty, thirty and fifty years from now, . . . and when the time comes we intend to have a reserve with which we can maintain the transporta tion linej for those that come after, so they shall not accuse us of wasting the resources which we had at our com mand." This means that Harriman plans to keep the railroad land out of the hands of "actual settlers." His predecessors, the receivers of those lands, obtained them from the National Government, on promise that they would comply with the law placing them in their trusteeship and sell them to actual set tlers at $2.50 an acre. Now Harriman says that he will not comply with that law, but that he will withhold the lands from settlers, in order that his rail roads all over the country shall have ties therefrom in the years to come. All thU is Harriman buncombe. Har riman evidently cares so little about how "they accuse us" In this genera tion that It is hard to believe he cares more about how those of the next gen eration might "accuse us." He is sim ply making a pretext for continuing his hold. It is not right that he should hold an Oregon area, as large in the aggregate as trie State of Connecticut,', a wilderness,- just so that he can exploit its $30,000,000 or $50,000,000 value. Ore gon has forest reserves and other lands enough to keep up the supply of rail road ties. Timber grows fast in this country. New forests will start them selves and grow into big trees in twenty-five years. Besides, there are for ests in other states that will supply ties. If Harriman had his way he would make a reserve out of the whole of Oregon; in fact, he counts it his reserve now, and will not build new railroad's in it until he shall be forced to do so by "invaders." Too many persons are reserving the timber of Oregon for their own schemes of enrichment. This state Is plastered from, one end to the other with tim ber speculators in syndicates and as in dividuals. All pretend to be saving for the Nation a wood supply. The truth is, they are keeping out settlement and maintaining a wilderness in order at some future day to gratify their lust for wealth. The need in Oregon is the clearing up of forest land, so that it can be used for agriculture and for sustaining a larger population. This is not to say that land everywhere should be de nuded of trees, Just for the sake of get ting rid of them. But near the rail roads land should be opened to settlers. Such land Is contained in the railroad grants held by Harriman in Oregon. Back from the railroads it will be well enough to keep the timber for future generations. The wise policy of the National Gov ernment has established forest reserves. They will be maintained, though many problems are to be faced as to how best to use' them. But Harrlman's resolve to maintain a separate reserve system of his own is arrogant violation both of the law and of promise to the people. Harrlman's Sacramento speech is the first announcement from a high rail road official of the policy to bar, out settlement. For nearly five years the railroad has refused to sell the land as the granting act of Congress provided. Hitherto there has been vague promise that the land would be opened Just as soon as the records burned in the San Francisco fire should be restored. It is well to know the truth. Let Govern ment Attorneys Townsend and McBlalr and Attorney-General Bonaparte take notice. Their expected suit against the railroad Is awaited by the public. Let us have it speedily. Civic pride is manifesting Itself suit ably in St. John in placing ornamental drinking fountains at convenient places on the streets. As may be supposed, energetic and loyal women are at the head of this movement. The first of these fountains, an ornamental struc ture in concrete and bronze, and made attractive at night with electric' lights, will, it Is expected, arrive from New York in a few days, and will probably be placed during the present month. It will equal in utility and greatly out shine In- beauty the old "town pump" of New England, to which the school boys and girls of a former generation were introduced by Hawthorne in a characteristic sketch as "a cup-bearer to ' the' ' parched populace, ' for whose benefit an iron goblet was chaired to Its waist." The modern fountain, if it could speak, could give no heartier wel come than that accorded to the thirsty schoolboy of the long ago by the town pump (as interpreted by Hawthorne) in the words: "Drink, and may your heart and tongue never be scorched by a fiercer thirst than now." It is asserted that the poultry and eggs of the United States have an an nual value of $500,000,000. This is a lot of money; yet the statement has a plausible look, if the prices of poultry and eggs on the tables of the land, in cluding those of hotels, restaurants and boarding-houses, are considered; and the eggs, moreover, that are stirred into cakes, egg-noggs and what not, and the fowls of every description served on the tables, and the small chicken or turkey sandwich sold for fifty cents each. Yes; one may very well believe the total to be $500,000,000 a year. But this is more than the av erage value of the wheat crop, as much as the average value of the cotton crop, and more than the values of the to bacco, sugar, petroleum and pig iron, added together. It is amazing indeed to realize the extent and value of the industry of which the humble hen, scratching for her chicks, is the central figure. The annual report of the work of the Juvenile Court in this city proves not only that a large majority of delin quent children can be saved to them selves and society, but indicates plain ly that these children are worth sav ing. A rather peculiar feature of the showing is that of the whole number of children brought before the court 256 were classed as children of competent and capable parents, against 238 as children of Incompetent or careless par ents. It would seem that the charge of incompetency, or at least of care lessness, should He without question against any parents whose young chil dren are brought before the Juvenile Court, or any other legal tribunal, on the charge of delinquency. Proof of the halt in the promotion of new enterprises, compelled by conserv ative views and close money, is sup plied by figures presented by the New York Journal of Commerce. During the month of August in the Eastern States the total authorized capitaliza tion of new enterprises amounted to no more than $64,250,000, against $85,300,000 in July, $165,450,000 in June and $267, 840,000 last January. It Is the smallest monthly record made since July of 1905. In this exhibit only undertakings start ing with a nominal capital of $1,000,000 or more are Included. Money isn't as "easy" as it was; that's certain. But Industry and business are substantial as ever. All over the United States unskilled men are wanted at good wages. Eyvery hobo shuns work; no sweat In exchange for daily bread is his motto. When James Eades Howe leaves a million dollars to aid this class of mendicants he once more demonstrates that a certain type of philanthropist may re ceive the benefit of education at a first-class university without Increas ing his Inheritance of common sense. If Satan were an editor he would publish every intemperate utterance from the pulpit. He would . encourage preachers to set up as the best type of the modern newspaper the dlsrepuatble dallies. He is wise enough to know that one cheap pulpiteer neutralizes the conscientious work of many ministers who preach in the spirit of the Master. We never knew how badly our tele graphic service was crippled till yes terday, when we had to keep the Oregon Country waiting half an hour for the result of the prizefight at San Fran cisco. And when we did get the news It announced that the black boy had won the fight. The time is out of Joint, all round. No; The Oregonlan has not learned as was asserted by Yellow Journalism, that the suits against landgrabbers have been discontinued in Oregon. The Oregonlan has not learned it because it is not true. The trials will be re' sumed speedily It is hard to reconcile Wall street's sympathy for railroads suffering injury at the hands of the Administration with the unchallenged statements that more freight is in sight for the re mainder of the year than the railways can carry. Whether or cot Roosevelt is backing one and Bryan boosting the other in the coming Cleveland election. Burton and Tom Johnson will be running for Mayor all over the United States. If. indeed, railway earnings the com ing four months shall show a failing off. may not the phenomenon rea sonably be accounted for by the threat ened car shortage? Despite the great calamity and the succeeding lesser ones, San Francisco sustains unimpaired the prizering in dustry. As Washington, D. C, is to San Francisco, so is London to Vancou ver. B. C. GAS PRICES LOW IX BRITAIN". Profit In -42-Ont Rate and Makers Use Coal, Not Cheap OIL Indianapolis News. Alfred Potts, who is touring Eng land, sends valuable information and statistics to J. D. Forrest, secretary of the Citizens' Gas Company, relative to the cost of producing and distribut ing gas in English cities. Mr. Potts was one of the original promoters of the Citizens' Gas Company, which seeks, to supply 60-cent gas to the cit izens of Indianapolis, and he has made personal investigation, during his tour, of the gas question in cities abroad. His most recent letter follows: "Finding myself within reach of Plymouth, the old town from which our forefathers made their historic pilgrimage in the Mayflower, I looked in the ' gas reports and found that Plymouth was selling gas at 'one and nine," as the English say one shilling and nine pence 42 cents a thousand. And so I came here for particulars, and they are very Interesting. "Plymouth and Stonehouse are prac tically one town, with a population of 130,000. "There are 90 miles of mains. "Consumers, 27.841. Of thia number, 12,419 are represented by slot meters. "Total consumption, 1,012,476,000 cubic feet per annum. "Rate Private consumers, 42 cents; for gas engines, 36 cents. "But how long have such low rates prevailed? Is this an experiment of short duration? Can it be kept up? How are they able to do it? ' What do they pay for coal and labor? -How do their condition compare with ours? These were the questions to which I sought answers. "In America, to get at such facta would require a United States Court order, supplemented by a crowbar. Here all I had to do was to send in my card to the secretary of the company, Mr. H. B. Heath, a most obliging and clear-sighted man, who assured me at once, on understanding my mission, that if I needed any information which was not readily available from the regular published reports, that he regular published reports, that he would be pleased to furnish it from their rec ords; that while the company was a private corporation for profit, there was no reason for keeping any detail from any inquirer who desired the in formation. I first asked him if the present low price of gas in Plymouth had long prevailed. " 'Yes,' he replied. 'Let me see here is my record of prices. How far back shall I go?' he asked. " 'Twenty years or more. If you will,' I suggested. "Here it is, as Mr. Heath read it to me from his recrods: 1880 Price of gas 2s Id 60 cents 1881 Price of gas 2s 48 cents 1882 3 Price of gas Is lid -46 cents 1884 to 1887 Price of gas Is lOd 44 cents 1887 to 1907 Price of gas Is 9d 42 cents " 'Is that your lowest rate?" I asked. " 'No.' he replied, 'we furnteh it to users of gas engines at one and six 36 cents a thousand feet at which price it is cheaper in gas engines than coal in ordinary boilers.' " nd what is the price you have to pay for coal for your gas?" That varies somewhat, he said. 'Let me see,' referring to his books; 'from 1898 to 1906 it cost us 13 shill ings and 2 pence a ton which in your money, is about $3.30 a ton except in 1901, we paid 19 shillings about $4.75 a ton. This year we are paying 16s, or $4.00 a ton. These prices are, of course, much above the wholesale price you have to pay, which . I understand is about $2.60.' '''How about by-products?" I asked. " ' .'e get from 14 to 18 shillings a ton for coke $3.50 to $4.50 a ton about the same as in your city.' " 'Now, in regard to labor?" I asked. " 'There,' he answered, 'we have the best of you. Your coal is cheaper and you get moije for your residuals, coke, tar, etc., but we gain in the price of labor in making gas. I presume you will have to pay for certain of your men stokers, purifiers, common labor ers, etc. twice as much as we do." " 'May I ask you. one direct question, which our people are asking? Assum ing that we have no advantage over you in the cost of coal or price re ceived for coke or other by-products, and assuming that our labor will cost twice as much as yours, what will be our situation? In other words, Mr. Heath, take your own plant, and sup pose the cost of all labor entering into the making and distribution of gas to be exactly double, at what price would you have to sell gas to put yourself on the same basis as you are today, with a 6t4 per cent dividend to your stockholders, which 1 see you are pay ing, and a considerable sum to a re serve fund?' " 'The total cost of labor In our works, including both the making and dis tribution in other words, everybody up to my office, containing the book keeper and cashier Is exactly eight pence and forty-three-hundredths on each 1000 feet of gas made. Now, an swering your question as given, sup pose all this labor cost has to be double, what must we then charge for gas? Here it is In -our money and yours, as near as I can show It: Present price Is 9d 42 cents Add for doubling cost labor. 8.43d 16.S0 cents Total 68.88 cents " 'A trifle less than 60 cents of your money. .So you see. If you have to pay as much for coal as we do and get only the same price for your by-products and your labor through the whole process cos you twice as much, which is not probable, you can, with econom ical management, sell gas at 60 cents a thousand feet and make a profit, pro vided always that you have a sufficient volume of business to get the average results.' "During the above Interview Mr. Heath had been referring to a printed 'rport to stockholders,' which was on the table before us. Referring to it, 1 said: 'Mr. Heath, I have often won dered at the difference In business methods in your country and ours. You don't seem to hesitate to make quite public Inside details of your affairs, which it would be utterly Impossible for us to secure in regard to one of our public utility corporations." " 'You refer to this report to stock holders, I suppose,' he replied. 'Well, I don't see any reason for secrecy about it. We are serving two constituencies our stockholders, who are interested in dividends, and the consumers, who are interesting in securing gas at as cheap a rate as possible. By absolute publicity both sides -are easily satis fled. " 'Here,' he continued, 'are our re ports to stockholders of June, 1906, and June, 1907. You see there is a plain statement of everything, including our profit, which was as follows: lixjfl 28.642 2s 5d ." $143,210.60 1907 28.921 18a od 1,6W. " 'This is the net profit, you see, after charging in every possible cost of the business made on gas sold at 36 and 42 cents' a thousand feet, figured in your money." " He Passed In the Night. East Oregonlan. We don't know just how zealous idol aters we are until some prominent poli tician comes along and we all rush to the train to get a glimpse of him. Really, it is enough to make public men corrupt and arrogant to see the abject toadyism At tha jaeoole at times. ROOSEVELT AND CANNON.'' Possibility of ry Serious Antagron lam Between Them. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. It is beginning to be hinted in the pub lic prints what has been' flatly proposed no doubt in the inner circle of the Con gressional sanhedrim that President Roosevelt will be rounded up with a Jerk by the next Congress in case he at tempts to secure the enactment of laws embodying the balance of his reform pro gramme. The stand-pat idea, it is be ing whispered about, is to have an exten sion so as to embrace the corporations and the swollen fortunes. Mr. Cannon Is understood to be the possible lord high executioner of the remainder of the Roose velt policies lord high executioner in the sense that he will organize the House against them and use his power as speaker to stifle them. The Cannon idea is understood to be stand pat on the record as it is now made up until after the Presidential election. The corporations have been disciplined enough for the present, and radicalism has been fostered to the utmost limit of safety. Progress Is all very well. Re form is beautiful to contemplate. But, as the Irishman remarked about the truth, it Is sometimes too precious to be used on every paltry occasion. Mr. Cannon believes that the Republican party has already got reform to burn many times s much' as is needed to elect the next President. It is high time to pacify the reactionaries and reconcile them to voting the Republi can ticket. If, therefore, ths President has his friends Introduce trills effecting rigid Governmental oontrol of railroad capitalization, throw them out. If he pushes a scheme to license corporations engaged in interstate commerce, throw It out. If he urges an inheritance tax law smiting swollen fortunes, throw it out. This would be Mr. Cannon's Ideal programme in the first session of the next Congress, and it is one that is be ing seriously considered, we may be sure. The question arises immediately, to whom does the next Congress belong? If memory Is not at fault, it was universally acknowledged that the return of a Repub lican majority to the National House of Representatives in last year's elections was chiefly the work of Mr. Roosevelt. There had been several years of muck raking; high finance had been caught without its sanctimonious wig on, and the people had shot through Its hypocrisies with their contempt and scorn. Hearst was within a fraction of 1 per cent of the governorship of New York. Ohio, Rhode Island and Minnesota went Demo cratic. What kept Congress for the Re publicans? Everybody knows It was Mr. Roosevelt and the Roosevelt polloles; the Republican Congressmen who were elected know It, for they appealed for votes everywhere on the ground that they would support the President. If Speaker Cannon should attempt to rob the President of a Congress that was chosen almost wholly on the Roosevelt Issue, the country may look for 'nigh times in Washington next Winter. In a strug gle for the control of the Republican ma jority, does Mr. Cannon believe that his authority as speaker would overawe the scores of Roosevelt representatives who will know scarcely any other allegiance than that to the man in the White House? The mere thought is upsetting, but one is forced to contemplate the possibility that the President would be obliged to orga'nlze the House without Mr. Cannon's aid. In case the member from Danville should seriously attempt to make the next House, the last of Mr. Roosevelt's term, a dawdling, do-nothing, stand-pat abomination of reaction within telephone can or tne wnite House. The Seesaw of Living;. St. Paul Pioneer Press. ' The first thought of almost every wage earner, overtaken by this perplexity. Is that somehow his Income must be in creased to meet the enhanced cost of living. But after employes have been painfully convinced, and after successive ranks of workers, in all callings, have been granted an increase of pay computed to offset the general increased level in the prices of the necessaries of life, it is Just as like as not that the old problem still remains to be faced. For when all em ployers have to pay high wages, they necessarily. In most cases, advance the price of product or service, so that the Increased wage buys no more than the old one. Good Anywhere Jn Now. Jefferson Review. The town has a deserted appearance St present, about all the women and chil dren being at tne nopyarau. QUIPS VARIORUM, j n.-n illlert artist Is to be the next Lieutenant-Governor of Mississippi. Thus the . j indirect renresenta- coiureu iiihii u,.o - tlorr. Louisville Courier-Journal. "I suppose you had a lovely time on your honeymoon trip 7 "No It wasn't at all pleasant. We met three 'of my former husbands and two of George's ex-wlvee." Chicago Record-Herald. Miss Longslnce "I have never yet met the man I wanted to marry." Mrs. Chllll-con-Kearney "No?" Tell me his name, dear and I'll manage to have you meet him 'some day." Chicago Tribune. "Mr. Nervey." said the girl's father, "It seems to me you sit up entirely too with my daughter." Don't worrry about that, sir." replied Nervey. "I never require much sleep." Philadelphia Press. Sunday School Teacher The Bible says the veil of the temple was rent In twain. What are we supposed to understand by that?" Willie Green I s'pose It means that It was rented to two lammes. t-nn adelphla Record. v "Have you devoted much time to the study of political economy?" "No." an swered Senator Sorghum. "My attention has been largely engaged In keeping down campaign expenses. I have been studying economical politics. Washington Star. IS IT SEAWORTHY? OIR CHIEF IMPORTS. Sugar and Coffee Head the List, by Quantities. New York Sun. We are so accustomed to study our imports by total values in each class that we lose sight of the enormous quantities those values represent and the large in crease in each line (except coffee) in recent years." Here are the Bureau of Statistics figures for 1S99 and 1907, fiscal years, of the chief items, constituting about one-half of our total imports: 1S09. 1907. Sugar, pounds ...3,980.230.560 4.3!U.S:;9,975 Coffee, pounds... S.11,S27,O03 HS3.u21.473 Hides or cattle. pounds 130.306.020 1S4.7H1.02O Tlnplate, pounds. 105.484,S2ti 142.S29.40tl Lemons, dozens.. 100. Jits, 1 3t 1.i7.s.i.!m Tea, pounds 74.OS9.SBB Mt.3iS2.4lH Wool, raw. pounds 76.73rt.20H 2o:t.847.4.- Goat skins, pounds 69.723,945 101.2O1.5U6 lln in pigs. bars. etc.. pounds 67,342,107 96.013.OOS Hides, except cat tle and goats. pounds 66.905.7S5 135,111,199 Cotton cloths. square yards... 51,106.236 ' 80,232.094 Rubber, crude. pounds 81.063.000 76.903.S38 Cotton. raw pounds 50,158.138 104.791,784 Copper In pigs. etc.. pounds ... 31t.813,fM:T 39S.443.715 Cacao, pounds.... 35.512.3fi4 92.249.S19 Spices, pounds 81.O0O.S29 53,562,994 Dressgoods. wool square yards... 27.09S.5R4 46.924.911 Cheese, pounds... 11.826.175 33.84S.764 Tobacco. leaf. pounds 9.888.781 31.968.91W1 Silk. raw. pounds 9,691,145 16,722,707 Tobacco -wrappers, pounds ' 4,147,048 7.576.S2S Woolen e 1 o t h s. pounds 4,092,898 6,336.546 Lumber, thousand feet 423,928 &34.18S Champagne, doxen bottles 362.ST1 419.408 Nitrate of soda. tons 122.814 842.0T8 Sisal grass, tons.. 71.898 ,061 Manila hemp, tons 53.103 S4.513 Wood pulp, tons.- 33.819 S13.HO Pig iron, tons 23.316 664.846 Copper ore, tons. . 10,292 278.4S8 Some of the 1907 lines of import show increases over 1S99 which are fairly start ing, particularly those which are ma terials for use in factories. Besides these great increases in quantity there Is also the increase in price which has attended each line of Import. Whipping; of Hugo Albrecht. Oregon City Courier. It is admitted by all the parties to ths acrimonious argument over the whip ping of Hugo Albrecht at the State) Penitentiary that the beating actually took place. That is enough. There is no need of quibbling over whether the boy was incorrigible or not; whether he was half-witted or of sound' mind. It is not necessary to in quire if twenty-four or twenty-eight lashes were laid on the boy's bare shoulders or If his bleeding body was properly "salved" after the barbarous attack. Neither is it to the point to in quire whether the lad fainted during the shameful episode. Had a horse or a cow been subjected to such cruel torture the Humane So ciety would have intervened and the strong arm of the law would have made itself felt. Public opinion would long ago have demanded a discontinuance of such Inhuman and unusual punishment had the public not been ignorant of the fact that sucn a practice was in voguw at the Penitentiary, it will demand that discontinuance now. Thl3 is not a political question. It develops that it has been the practice under all admlnistrattens and the pub lic now being apprised of the fact cries in a voice that cannot but be heard, shame, shame, shame on any and every man who has been in any way respon sible lor such a degradation of an American institution. The public is now lead to inquire what measures of punishment are re sorted to at the Insane Asylum. The situation suggests a commission with visiting authority to watch over our public institutions and the members of that commission to be selected by the people. Will our next Legislature create such a commission? Let ub take care that it does. The Reason For Conversion. Washington Star. "The late Sir William Henry Perkln, the inventor of coal tar dyes," said a Philadelphia chemist, "had a slgularly lucid mind. I once heard him talking about the missionary movement. "Sir William bad been for years a. warm supporter of this movement, and;1 he praised It highly, but he condemned certain phases of it, illustrating the phaas he meant by a quotation from a letter a letter written by the notable Capt. Davis to Secretary Walslngham about the con version of the Indians. "The letter ran: " 'If these people (the Indians) were) once brought over to the Christian faith, they might soon be brought to relish a more civilized kind of life, and be thereby induced to consume greater quantities of but coarser woolen manufactures. A Philippine Grievance. New York Sun. Perhaps if our Congress could be pre vailed upon to grant the Filipinos the same privileges as have, been conceded to the Porto Ricans, so that the sugar, to bacco and other products of the islands could enter our ports duty free, the ac tivity and prosperity which undoubtedly1 would follow might cause the best part of the Filipino electorate to welcome mora cordially the offer of partial autonomy. As it is they know that the export and import trade of the little island of Porto Rico with the United States is between two and three times as large as is that, of the extensive and populous Philippine" archipelago. From The Milwaukee Sentinel.