I
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1908.
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PORTLAND, THURSDAY, MAT SI. 1908.
THE BRYAN WAVE.
California and Alabama are a long
way apart, but they are both for Mr,
Bryan. The California delegates to
the Denver convention were Instructed
to vote for him "first, last and all the
time." More than that, the Democrats
at Fresno adopted one of those plat
forms which the New York World
shudderingly denounces as "popullstlo
and socialistic." Such platforms are
common in both parties just at this
time, and to the plutocratic mind they
undoubtedly look ominous. The Call
fornia Democrats declare for the Initi
ative and referendum, postal savings
banks and the direct primary. All
these measures are radical, and your
thorough-going socialist says they are
not socialistic. The real socialists
damn all such measures as the direct
primary, the initiative and referendum
and so on, by calling them "mere pal
liatives." What they want is to get
control of the Government and then
put through a programme which they
have not yet formulated, but which
one may conceive would be pretty
revolutionary. The California plat
form merely reiterates Mr. Bryan's
well-known ideas of legislation. About
the propriety of these Ideas thoughtful
men differ, of course.
The World prefers Governor John
son, of Minnesota, to Mr. Bryan, be
cause, as it says, he is offered to the
partk "on a platform which Is Demo
cratic, not Populist or Socialist.
There is no doubt that the Minnesota
Democrats in putting Mr. Johnson for
ward carefully constructed their state
ment of principles to catch the fancy
of the Eastern plutocrats, but as for
the Governor himself, he is more rad
real than Bryan. There Is not one of
the Bryan principles which he has not
publicly advocated. Indeed he has
gone farther than the Nebraskan in
some directions. For example, Mr.
Johnson once declared In a public ad
dress that no man should be permitted
to enjoy an income of more than ten
thousand a year. How would this suit
Mr. Bryan, Mr. Belmont and other
eminent leaders of the Democracy In
New York?
There is no possibility of nominat
ing Governor Johnson, but If there
were one cannot believe that the met'
ropolitan Democracy of New York
would support him. They make a pre'
tense of desiring him for a candidate
now in order to harass Mr. Bryan, but
If he were actually to be nominated
they would at once raise a hue and cry
against him, for he has none of the
qualities which they really crave in
President, and all of those which they
detest. Mr. Johnson is a sincere ad'
vocate of thorough-going popular rule
What the New York plutocrats wish Is
the rule of an oligarchy of wealth.
Their ideal candidate is a man like
Judge Parker. He was so utterly re-
pudiated by the people that It would
be ridiculous to put him forward
again, but they are crying up the
claims of Judge Gray, who is as near
like him as one pea to another, an
whom the voters would reject with the
Fame scorn. The undeniable truth is
that the Democratic voters will hav
Mr. Bryan and nobody, else for their
candidate. In spite of the Eastern
newspapers and the party bosses.
This Is shown plainly enough by the
result of the Alabama primaries. That
state was claimed for Governor John
son. His friends, headed by Senator
Johnston, made a vigorous fight
against Mr. Bryan, and great expecta
tions were based upon the outcome.
The result shows how little some poli
ticians know about popular sentiment
in their own states. The Alabama
primaries went three to one for Bryan,
and the returns make his nomination
at Denver virtually certain. The op
position to him in tha South is purely
fanciful outside of three or four news
paper offices, while in the North the
Democratic masses are more loyal to
him than they ever were before. If
Mr. Bryan were as sure of election as
he is of nomination, we should salute
! him as the next President of tne
United States.
In his last campaign Mr. Bryan car
ried five states which Judge Parker
U;st four years later. All of these
Mr. Bryan may perhaps win back, but
with them and all those which Judge
Parker did not drive away from the
Democratic party conceded to him he
will still be many votes short of elec
tion. To win he must bring some new
tates into the column of his party.
and just how it can be done is
mystery. But there are two incal
culable factors in politics this year
hich tend to vitiate all predictions
based upon former returns. They are
the labor vote and the dissatisfaction
of the people with standpat politics.
It would be rash to try to estimate,
what the effect of these factors will
but It may turn out much more
important than the practical politi
cians expect. If the labor leaders can
swing the vote of the unions, it will
be cast against Mr. Taft, This un
pleasant fact must be faced. Perhaps
they cannot swing the vote, but one
must not forget that organized labor
grows more homogeneous every year
and develops a more pronounced class
feeling. It is puerile also to overlook
the influence of recent Supreme Court
decisions In turning labor sentiment
away from Taft and toward Bryan,
We say nothing at present of the ne
gro vote, because Mr. Foraker is" likely
to become reconciled to his successful
rival, and Just as the negro vote fol
lowed him away from Mr. Taft so It
will follow him back again. But the
popular discontent must be reckoned
with, though it cannot be computed.
ull of menace to machine politics
everywhere, it may give to Mr. Bryan
half a dozen or more states which are
ow counted upon as safe for Mr. Taft.
Congress might have done a great deal
to allay discontent by passing legisla
tion which the country and the Pres
ident demand; but It has done nothing
of the kind. By its inactivity it has
played into Mr. Bryan's hands, and the
suspicion that it is venomously hostile
to Mr. Boosevelt will not only win
votes for the Nebraskan. but it may
make the Government Democratic
throughout.
COLLEGE DISCIPLINE.
In a letter which is printed today
Mr. C. S. Hulin makes some astonish
ing statements about education. Prob
ably he does not intend to mislead
anybody. It is charitable to suppose
that he errs through ignorance rather
than malice; still his statements ought
not to pass without correction. Tak
ing the late disturbances at Stanford
and Ann Arbor for a text, Mr. Hulin
argues that free education leads to had
citizenship, that those who receive it
'lack the fine, old-fashioned sense of
honor that scorns to accept anything
that is not paid for," and that a per
son who pays his own, way through
college "is never guilty of insubordina
tion." All this is silly. The worst citizens we
have in the United States today, the
predatory "malefactors of great
wealth," whom Mr. Roosevelt de
nounces, were many of them educated
at Eastern colleges where they had to
pay tuition. Paying for an education
has nothing whatever to' do with a
man's subsequent career. Free tuition
enables many young persons to edu
cate themselves with an effort less kill
ing than would otherwise be required
and for that reason it is to be com
mended. There is absolutely nothing
to show that it ever injured anybody's
morals or sense of honor. To say, as
Mr. Hulin does, that it promotes polit-
ical corruption is to let one's imagina-
tion stray into the realms of idiocy.
At Columbia University, in New
York, the entire student body revolted
last year because some of their num
ber were disciplined for hazing. The
faculty had not the courage to deal
with the rebels as the Stanford au
thorities did. There was a compro
mise and the students won out. Co
lumbia is a university where high tul
tlon is charged. What has Mr.
Hulin to say now of the connection be
tween free tuition and insubordina
tion? The truth is that college stu
dents are insubordinate everywhere at
times. The history of Yale and Har
vard reeks with rebellion. At Prince
ton only the other day President Wil
son was compelled to abandon his
cherished scheme of tutorships by op
position from the students. As a rule
state universities have better discipline
than other colleges because they are
less dependent upon tuition for their
revenue and are therefore more cour
ageous in dealing with rowdyism. The
Stanford outbreak occurred because
Dr. Jordan undertook to suppress cer
tain disreputable practices which are
openly tolerated at the Eastern col
leges where tuition is charged. A New
York woman reading of the orgies at
Yale said she would send her boy to
hell sooner than to that college. Mr.
Hulin will find a higher morality and a
better discipline at Stanford and Ann
Arbor than he will find at Harvard or
Columbia.
EMMA GOLDMAN AND Y. M. C. A.
Emma Goldman's advance agent
finds the door of the Y. M. C. A. lec
ture hall closed against her, in obedl
ence to the protests of many members
of that organization, who learned that
use of the hall was promised for her
talk. Wherever Emma goes she is ex
cluded from the body of that powerful
element which regards her as an apos
tle of riot. She is spied upon, her as
sociates are watched closely and some
times arrested, and she is often es
topped from speechmaklng or caut
ioned to use "careful" language.
Emma's turn-down by the Y. M. C. A.
is no new experience for her.'
Anarchists are fighting against what
they term the tyranny of government.
As in the ranks of socialism and sin-gle-taxism,
there are varying degrees
of fervor and radicalism. Some an
archists practice bombthrowing
against government's authorities and
others say they deprecate that method
of destroying the hand of the law, and
are striving by education and other
uplifts to educate the public beyond
the need of government; or, as they
term It. oppression.
Emma is not turned away from the
doors of the Y. M. C. A. in Portland
by bluecoated policemen nor by any
minion of the law whatsoever. The
law's force which she would throw
off, is the people's will. That will de
mands government enforcement of
law, hanging of murderous anarchists
and improvement of nuisance-making
(anarchists. All through the worlds
history anarchists have been murdering-
sovereigns, magistrates and citi
zens, yet the people have never been
"educated" to follow them as deliver
ers. In a country like the United
States, where no tyrants rule nor op
pressexcept the struggle for exist
ence which men and women make un
knowingly "for themselves there is
no place for anarchists.
The Y. M. C. A. stands for enforce
ment of law, obedience to the author
ity of the officers of government in
short, for social order and organized
society. Anarchists would each be a
law unto himself. The Y. M. C. A.
has done rightly with Emma Gold
man. It is the misfortune of our sys
tem of government that it cannot wipe
out disease spots in public opinion.
The orchardist exterminates the cod
ling moth, the rosegrower the cut
worm, and the stockgrower the tuber- I
cular cattle. But the American peo
ple have not reached the point of de
stroying diseased bodies and brains.
They only quarantine them in very ex
treme cases. So much have they been
civilized that they seldom hang mur
derers.
DO THE PEOPLE FORGET THEIR
WATER
Many persons are clamoring about
single tax, recall, proportional repre
sentation. Statement No. 1 and elec
tion of United States Senator, but few
about a question more important than
any of those matters, since it reaches
far into the future and begins right
now. That question is whether the
people are going to keep giving away
or are going to retain for themselves
and unborn generations the enerev
and the lifegiving fluid of their
streams.
coal and timber are limited in
quantity and their supply will be ex
hausted perhaps sooner than this
country knows. Irrigated lands will
soak up many rivers and may even
reduce the vast flow of the Columbia
River.
Water franchises are exclusive priv
ileges which the public should give
away with extreme caution, and then
only for limited periods of time. But
the public has been giving them away
forever through Its Legislatures and
other agencies, with no look into the
future whatsoever, and now their pos
sessors hold perpetual and absolute
control of the public's water.
How do the candidates for the next
Oregon Legislature stand on this very
important matter? Do they pledge
themselves to guard the people's water
from grabbers and speculators and
take back special water privileges
where they can? Poor people shiver
for fuel to warm their chilled bodies
and hunger because high-priced land
yields high-priced food. Water makes
cheaper fuel, food and power than
anything else can. Yet it is given away
for nothing and forever. Many Leg
islatures have allowed this to be. Will
the next Legislature In Oregon permit
it to continue?
The grabbers like to- hear all this
clamor about recall, proportional rep
resentation, Statement No. 1, etc. It
diverts attention from their schemes.
While the people are striving to take
politics away from bosses they allow I
worse enemies of the Dublic weal to
seize the streams.
PORTLAND LEADS IN WHEAT.
The latest" April bulletin of the Bu
reau of Statistics of the Department of
Commerce and Labor shows that Port
land exported more wheat in Am-il
than was shipped from any other port
in the United States, New York com
ing second with shipments nearly 600,
000 bushels less than those from Port
land. For the ten months ending
April 30 the wheat exports of Port-
land are exceeded by those of but two
other ports. New York leading and the
Puget Sound ports second, the com
bined shipments of Seattle, Tacoma
and Everett exceeding those of Port
land by a small margin. In flour ex
ports but four other cities make a bet
ter showing than Portland, and in bar
ley exports but one other port, San
Francisco, has exported more than
Portland. This remarkable showing: 1
has been made with but one line of
railroad leading from the wheat coun
try to Portland. With the new North
Bank road in operation, it Is reason
able to expect that another season will
find this port still nearer the head of
the list on wheat and barley ship
ments.
AGRICULTURAL OBSTRUCTIONISTS.
The elementary instructions regard
lng construction of the rabbit pie were
"First catch your rabbit," and the
principle involved in the pie transac
tlon appears in about every undertak
ing with which mankind grapples.
This principle is so generally recog
nized that it seems surprising that so
many people continue their endeavors
to make rabbit pie without first se
curing the chief ingredient. A dis
patch in yesterday's Oregonlan says
that some of the farmers In the vicin
ity of Weston, Or-, are holding up an
electric line by demanding extravagant
remuneration for right-of-way prlvl-
leges. Prior to the coming of the elec-
trie line through that region from $75
to J100 per acre would have been re-
garaea as a nign price lor the land.
When the right-of-way men appeared
and offered $250 per acre, it was re-
xusea ana a. oemana maae ior x jtu per
acre, and then the builders balked.
A similar case nearer home is found
in the experience of the Oregon Elec-
" .. . . ""J"""""
This company, asking no subsidies,
selling no bonds, and in no possible
manner Imposing on the public, built
and equipped a splendid line of rail
way between Portland and Salem, with
the result that land values throughout
the entire district doubled and trebled
and in . many cases quadrupled in
value. Having reached a stage of
completion where the Oregon Railroad
Commission deemed it necessary to di
rect the manner in which the road
should be operated, the Oregon Elec
tric made arrangements to build a line
to Hillsbbro. But some of the wise
landholders along the proposed line
decided to skin the rabbit before It
was caught, and they placed such ex
travagant values on property needed
for right of way that it was impossi
ble to put the road through, and for
at least another season there will be
nothing doing on the Hillsboro line,
and the avaricious farmers will find
that land values without transpor
tation facilities are much lower than
where it is available.
Construction of a railroad Is a busi
ness proposition, and the men wh.o put
their money into such an enterprise
will naturally .seek an opening where
the conditions are most favorable. If
obstructing commissions, for political
reasons or otherwise, needlessly antag
onize the enterprise, states and locali
ties where such antagonism can be
avoided will naturally be preferred to
those where it is prevalent. It may
be only a coincidence, but it is a facv.
that the only new railroads now under
construction in anything that may be
regarded as Portland territory are in
terstate enterprises, over which the
Railroad Commission has no jurisdic
tion. The Harrlman system is building,
south from Lakevlew into California:
the North Bank line is building from
Washington into Oregon, and the
Harrlman extension to Puget Sound
Is, of course. Interstate business. The
Idaho Northern, which Is exclusively
a feeder to the O. R. & N., Is pushing
construction, but when completed it
will not be under the jurisdiction of
any Railroad Commission. What Ore-
gon needs more than anything else is
more railroads, both electric and
steam, and until we secure them it
would seem proper to hold out induce
ments for them, instead of placing all
manner of obstructions in their way.
The Umatilla farmers and the Hills-
boro gardeners who are holding up
the lines, which will make their prop
erty valuable are not only damaging
themselves by their avarice, but they
are holding down values of property
all along the proposed line.
Down at Seaview, a Summer resort
on North Beach, they are excited over
the threatened advent of a saloon. Or
perhaps it would be more accurate to
say that the excitement Is mainly in
Portland, where Seaview property-
owners mostly live for nine or ten
months in the year. In Summer they
take their families to the beach and
pass the hot season in the invigorating
airs, exhilarating waters and stimulat
ing sands along the Pacific shore. The
Portland people and other Summer
residents want no saloons. To get rid
of the saloon is perhaps one of the ob
jects of their sojourn at the beach. It
may be replied that if they don't want
the saloon they needn't patronize It.
They won't. But they think It ought
not to be there at all, any more than it
should be permitted to invade an ex
clusive and orderly residence section
of a city. A saloon is, in the peculiar
circumstances of beach life, with
crowds of all kinds of people coming
and going, a particular menace to the
peace and quiet of the Summer colony,
and an affront to the many desirable
and respectable families that comprise
such a colony. Inasmuch as the peo
pie in and around Seaview draw much
of their livelihood from the non-rest
dent property-owners, it is to be hoped
that the Commissioners of Pacific
County will heed their protest and de
cline to grant the saloon license.
Regardless of whether the "recall1
amendment shall be adopted by the
people in June, the next Legislature
I should enact suitable laws for the in
dictment of public officials for Incom
petency and delinquency. We have a
constitutional provision which ex
pressly authorizes the indictment,
conviction and removal of officers
upon this ground, as well as upon the
ground of corruption and malfeasance,
" necessary, me statutes uenning cor-
ruption and malfeasance should be
strengthened, but laws should also be
provided which will enable the people
to get rid of incompetents, after
fair trial by Jury. The recall scheme
is a dangerous one, for it is a ready
instrument in the hands of those who
are willing to spend money enough to
secure the necessary signatures to a
recall petition. If we must try the re
call, let It be adopted first as a part
of city charters, where it may be test
ed in local affairs and where its oper-
atlon may be observed
We want no
more experiments In freak state law
for a while.
The Seattle Times is Indulging in
some needless worry over the finan
clal conditions in Portland. It accuses
Bradstreet's of "falsifying the bank
clearings of Portland," and gravely as
serts that the losses of this city "ex
ceed all other cities of the Pacific
Northwest," whatever that may mean,
The Times should cheer up. for cher
ries will soon be ripe. . It should also
recall the needless pity it expressed
for Portland when It became necessary
for the Times to transfer the Swift
packing plant from its 3000-acre lo
cation at Portland to the tidelands o
Seattle. Bank clearings are not as
large as they were a year ago, but
when the decrease Is compared with
the decrease that is noticeable in Se-
I attle real estat
well, it really seems
hardly like a decrease.
That was an extremely interesting
picture of the President and forty-odd
Governors of states printed by The
Oregonlan yesterday. But one looked
In vain for the sleek and smiling
countenance of our own gregarious
Governor, who always goes with the
crowd and must have been there. But
where ?
I Two ble Russian sugar refining con
cerns have failed, with aggregate lia-
bilities of more than 112,000,000.
latest advices no financial casualties
I were reported among the American
uear refiners. It makes quite a dlf-
ference whether the market is regu-
lated by supply and demand or by a
1 trust.
The Black Hand is still dynamiting
Night Riders still ride and burn In
Kentucky, and the strikers riot and
murderin Ohio. For a country that
prides itself on being a peaceful Na
tion, we seem to be making fair prog
ress toward a disturbance.
Going Into the courtroom yesterday
on the arms of two attendants, Senator
Piatt didn't look much like a gay Lo
thario. But that's the way the Lo
thario business generally ends.
Everybody got a fine view of the
American fleet at the entrance of the
Columbia ..yesterday, and everybody
who went is satisfied and happy. We
told you so.
Now here's Lincoln County, that's
been going Republican since Hek was
a pup, and yet they couldn't get the
fleet to stop there. Down with the
Administration!
This rain is hard on the strawberry
man, but not on the milkman. It
makes the grass grow so fast that the
milkman has no time to water his
product.
If the enemy's fleet shall ever ap
proach the Oregon coast, it may come
closer than to show only its smoke.
SIICIDE IX OUR AGRICULTURE
Remarkable Address on Pertinent
Topic by Jamea J. Hill.
(Tha adjdrees delivered by Jamea J. Hill
at the White House conference last week
was exceptionally strong. Hia review of
the present harmful system of agriculture
was applicable to lams in uregon as else
where. On thla topic he said in part:)
Far more ruinous than erosion because
universal and continuing in its effects.
is the process of soil exhaustion. It is
creeping over the land from east to west.
The abandoned farms that are now the
playthings of the city's rich or the game
preserves of patrons of sport bear witness
to the melancholy change. New Hamp
shire, Vermont, Northern New York,
show long lists of them. In Western
Massachusetts, which once supported a
flourishing agriculture, farm properties
are now for sale for half the cost of
the Improvements. Professor Carver of
Harvard has declared after a personal
examination of the country that "agri
culture as an Independent Industry, able
in itself to support a community, does not
exist in the hilly parts of New England."
The same process of deterioration is
affecting the farm lands of Western New
York, Ohio and Indiana. Where prices of
farms should rise by Increase of popula
tion, in many places they are falling. Between-
1880 and 1900 the land values of
Ohio Bhrank KO.OOO.OOO. Official Investiga
tion of two counties In Central New York
disclosed a condition of agricultural
decay. In one land was for sale for
about the cost of improvements and 150
-vacant houses were counted in a limited
area. In the other the population In 1905
was nearly .4000 less than in 1855. Practi
cally identical soil conditions exist in
Maryland and Virginia, where lands sell
at from $10 to J30 an acre. .
The richest region of the West Is no
more exempt than New England or the
South. The soil of the West Is being
reduced In agricultural potency by exact
ly the same processes which have driven
the farmer of the East, with all his ad
vantage of nearness to markets, from the
field.
see
But the fact of soil waste becomes
startlingly evident when we examine the
record of some states where single crop
ping and other agricultural abuses have
been prevalent. Take the case of wheat.
the mainstay of single crop abuse. Many
of us can remember when New York was
the great wheat producing state of the
Union. The average yield of wheat an
acre in New York for the last ten years
was about 18 bushels. For the first
five years of that ten year period it was
18.4 bushels, and for the last five 17.4
bushels. In the further West Kansas
takes high rank as a wheat producer.
ItB average yield an acre for the last ten
years was 14.16 bushels. For the first five
of those years It was 15.14 and for the
last five 13.18. Up In the Northwest Min
nesota wheat has made a name all over
the world. Her average yield an acre for
the same ten years was 12.96 bushels. For
the first five years It was 13.12 and for the
last five 12.8. We perceive here the work
ing of a uniform law, independent of
location, soil or climate. It is the law
of a diminishing return due to soil destruc
tion. Apply this to the country at large
and it reduces agriculture to the Condi
tion of a bank whose depositors are
steadily drawing out more money than
they put In.
. e e e .
When the most fertile land in the world
produces so much less than that of poorer
quality elsewhere, and this low yield
shows a tendency to steady decline, the
situation becomes clear. We are robbing
the soil in an effort to get the largest
cash returns from each acre of ground
in the shortest possible time and with the
least possible labor.
We frequently hear It said that the re
duction in yield is due to the wearing out
of the soil, as if It was a garment to be
destroyed by the wearing. The fact Is
that soils either Increase or maintain
their productivity Indefinitely 1 under
proper cultivation. If the earth, the great
mother of human and animal life. Is to
"wear out" what is to become of the
race? The two remedies are as well
ascertained as is the evil. Rotation of
crops and the use of fertilizers act as
tonics upon the soil. We might expand
our resources and add billions of dollars
to our National wealth by conserving soil
resources, instead of exfiausting them, as
we have the forests and the contents of
the mines. For there is good authority
for the assertion that the farmer could
take from the same area of ground In
four years grain crops out of a total of
seven years as much as the whole seven
now give him, leaving the products of
the other three years when the land
rested from grain as a clear profit due to
better methods.
I have dwelt upon the conservation of
farm resources because of the command,
lng importance of this Industry and be
cause of Its relation to our future. Nearly
36 per cent of our people are engaged
directly in agriculture. But all the rest
depend upon It. In the last analysis com
merce, manufactures, our home market.
every form of activity runs back to th
bounty of the earth by which every
worker, skilled and unskilled, must be fed
and by which his wages are ultimately
paid. The farm products of the 'United
States in 1908 were valued at $6,794,000,000,
and in 1907 at 7,412,O00,0C0. All of our vast
domestic commerce, equal in value to
the foreign trade of all the nations com.
blned, is supported and paid for by the
land.
Of our farm areas only one-half Is im
proved. It does not produce one-half of
what it could be made to yield, not by
some complex system of Intensive culture,
but merely by ordinary care and Industry
Intelligently applied. It is the capital
upon which alone we can draw through
all the future, but the amount of the
draft that will be honored depends upon
the care and Intelligence given to its
cultivation. Were any statesman to show
us how to add tf.OOO.OOO.OOO annually to
our foreign trade It would be the sensa
tion of the hour. The way to do this In
agriculture Is open. Our share in the in.
crease would not be the percentage of
profit allowed by successful trading, but
the entire capital sum. On the other side
stands the fact that the unappropriated
area suited to farm purposes is almost
gone, and that we have been for the last
century reducing the producing power of
the country. Nowhere in the range of
National purposes is the reward for con
servation of a National resource so
ample. Nowhere is the penalty of neglect
so threatening.
Some One That Wanted Them Killed.
Prineville Review.
There are some places in the state
which are really more unsafe to human
life than Central Oregon, where, ac
cording to The Oregonlan, where, ac
found to be a crime. The Oregonlan Is
so far totally unable to state who it is
that started a war of extermination
against the Hebrew pawnbrokers and
jewelers of its own city.
THE BUILDING IT OTP OREGON
Among Other Important Thiaga la the
State X'nlveralry.
EUGENE, Or., May 19. (To the Edi
tor.) Will you kindly permit an ex
pression through your valuable paper,
from a late arrival, on an important
public question. The writer of this ar
ticle, having traveled extensively
through the United States, north, south,
east and west, came to the conclusion
that Oregon, in some respects, has
greater natural advantages than any
other state. Assuming that there was
good progressive spirit among the
people, he purchased a good farm near
Eugene and brought his children here
to be educated. What was his surprise
to learn that the appropriation made
by the Legislature In supporb of the
State University had been vetoed
by the governor, and later, held up un
der the referendum law, to be voted on
by the people of the whole state, to see
whether the great and rapidly growing
State of Oregon would grant the small
sum of $125,000 to support her highest
institution of learning.
Neighboring states bad made larger
appropriations without question for a
similar purpose. The tax increase
would be too trivial to discuss in com
parison with the benefits. The greatest
surprise in this connection was the
umor that the opposition had been en
couraged, if not originated, In the
Granges. Our admiration for the
Grange as an educational institution
to uplift the farmer would not permit
us to believe that it would be Indiffer
ent to the needs of the University. But
the recent eessloa of the State Grange
3 held in Eugene. The delegates
were handsomely entertained ana
shown through the University, yet we
have heard of no resolution of encour
agement. This would seem to be a
great mistake and a lost opportunity
which can only be partly remedied by
the individual members ' at the polls
voting to support.
Outsiders may conclude, if land values
are too high in Oregon, and the Uni
versity ought to be discouraged or
abolished, and immigration stopped,
then the action of the Grange was per
fectly justifiable. No wonder the mag
nificent resources of Oregon are unde
veloped. When her people all take
pride in working together and encour
aging progressive people to come and
help us, Oregon may recover her lost
opportunities and take her proper
place as the most attractive land of
prosperous and happy homes anywhere
to be found. We are growing, 'mat
which was sufficient years ago, will not
answer the purpose now. We can
never go back. If we are wise and
faithful to our highest duties, a glor
ious future is in store for Oregon.
JONATHAN JOHNSON.
Why Not One Like It In San Francisco t
San Francisco Chronicle.
The Portland Commercial Club will
take Its first luncheon In Its new build
ing in that city Monday. The club was
formed for the avowed object of attract
ing attention to the advantages of Port
land and the Pacific Northwest, and Its
chief purpose in erecting a big building
was to provide quarters in which to
entertain strangers. The edifice is eight
stories high and the organization occu
pies four entire floors of 100x100 feet. It
will cost J437.000 and is owned exclusively
by the Portland club, whose members
hold all the bonds. As a bit of enter
prise prompted by public spirit this
action of the Portland club is sure to at
tract attention, and let us hope the emu
lation of San Francisco, which needs an
organization and headquarters of the
kind with which the Portland business
men have so liberally provided them
selves.
The Wettest Town 1st America.
Benbow City (III.) Dispatch to the New
York World. -
Benbow City, the flat town which hai
grown up around the Standard Oil Com
pany s new refinery, eight miles south
of Alton, is the wettest town in Illinois,
and because It is the wettest It Is also
one of the richest. It has just begun
Its corporate existence as a village
with 18 registered voters and 23 sa
loons. Within the corporate limits of
Benbow City there are 300 persons and
one saloon for each 13 inhabitants.
In addition to the 23 saloons .there
are seven -brewery agencies and each
dramshop and each agency pays $n00
year license. Payments for the
coming year have already been ma
and the little village starts out in life
with a 115,000 nestegg.
Prize Study for a Prohibitionist.
New York Press.
A porter In a big New York ware
house in Greenwich street was recently
discharged for getting drunk and los
ing a valuable parcel. The discharge
sobered him Instantly, coming as
sudden, hard shock. He said he would
take the oath never to touch liquor
again, but his pleadings for reinstate
ment were unheeded. He searched
everywhere for the parcel, but could
not recollect what disposition he had
made of it. Of his honesty there had
never been a question in 20 years.
Overcome by the loss of his place, he
got violently drunk, and while In this
condition recollected where he had left
the parcel and went and recovered It
Currency BUI With Graveyard Clause.
Washington, D. C. Herald.
While the House was answering a roll
call on the passage of a bill providing
for the transfer of certain ground in
China to some financial institution, two
members were discussing its merits.
"You see," said one of them, -"the
banks in China have to be given a large
amount of ground because with each in
stitution goes a graveyard. Whenever a
bank official goes wrong in China and is
caught, his head is expeditiously removed
from his body and his remains are put
away in the bank graveyard.
."Well," said the second member,
think I'll put an amendment to the Vree
land bill making some provision for bank
graveyards in this country."
Physicians Marvel at Thla Patient
Philadelphia Ledger.
Surgeons at the Polyclinic Hospital
are puzzled over the case of Michael
Tighe, of Hazelton, who arrived there
with a broken arm. When his arm
had been set he rolled up his trousers
and showed a wooden leg. Then he
said the other- leg hurt him. He wa
placed under the X rays, and It was
found that his leg was fractured above
the ankle. He said he fell about three
weeks ago and had been In pain ever
since. He walked to the hospital, and
the doctors marvel at his nerve. On
of them said he never saw a man walk
with a broken arm, a broken leg, and
a wooden leg.
Yankee Rooster Chewa Tobacco.
Winsted (Conn.) Dispatch to New York
World.
Edward Woodford, of Ashley Falls
has a Plymouth Rock rooster which
ohews tobacco. Mr. Woodford was
standing In his yard conversing with a
neighbor. The rooster was nearby, and
when the neighbor took a tobacco
pouch from his pocket to get a chew
he dropped a small quantity on th
ground. The rooster ran and gobbled
It up and went to chewing like a vet
eran.
Open Season In Curry.
Wedderburn Radium.
Varmits are surely becoming scarce.
John Coy killed one wild cat and one
bear last week, and Isaac Miller killed
panther recently of good size. Wm.
Coy also killed a large bear recently.
Initiative and Referendum
Measures
For the information of voters there will
be published on this pass from day to day
brief summaries o the initiative and ref
erendum sneaaures to be aubmltted to the
people at the June election, together with
a short statement of the arguments tor and
against each.
NUMBER 15.
Proportional Representation.
The proportional representation amend
ment, proposed under the Initiative by
the People's Power League, has for its
object amendment of section 16 of arti
cle 2 of the constitution. That sec
tion now provides that in all elections
held by the people under the constitu
tion the person receiving the highest
number of votes shall be declared duly
elected. The purpose of the amend
ment Is to give the people power, "to
make laws for election of public of
ficers by majority vote Instead of
pluralities; to provide that political
parties and voters' organizations shall
be proportionally represented In all of
fices filled by the election of two or
more persons, and that a voter shall
vote for only one person for any office
and shall indicate his second, third,
tc choice; and to provide for a sim
ple method of precinct residence and
registration." Tne synopsis of the
amendment thus quoted Is that given
on the official ballot.
This amendment does not propose to
establish the system of proportional
representation but merely to authorize
the establishment of such a system by
laws to be enacted In pursuance of this
section. If adopted. The argument In
favor of the amendment Is that a
minority party Is entitled to represen
tation In the Legislature or In the Su
preme Court or on a railroad commis
sion in proportion to the number of
voters in that party. Thus. It Is said,
that Multnomah County has 12 repre
sentatives In the Lower House of the
Legislature, and it is contended that
any party or organization having one-
twelfth of the voters of the county
should have the power to select one
member of the Multnomah delegation,
and as many members as they have
twelfths of the voters of the county.
Thus, if the Democrats have three-
twelfths of the voting strength they
should have the power to select three
ot the representatives from that coun
ty. In the same way, any party hav
ing one-third of the voting strength ot
the state would be entitled to elect one
of the three Supreme Judges.
One objection to the amendment is
that it does not declare the manner In
which this proportional representation
shall be secured, but leaves the de
tails of the procedure to the Legisla
ture or to some one who may take In
terest enough to prepare and submit
an initiative measure upon the sub
ject. Thus, It Is argued, the people
would begin to experiment with laws
of doubtful value and perhaps of evil
effect. Tho adoption of this amend
ment would merely open the way for a
number of freak bills proposed under
the initiative. While the friends of the
measure assert that a practical system
of proportional representation can be
devised, the opponents answer that If
such is the case the plan should be set
forth In the amendment so that the
voters may see that it Is practical be
fore they authorize its establishment.
They say that a direct primary law has
been adopted with features - that are
not at all satisfactory, though the
principle may be a good one, and that
it is not wise for the people of Oregon
to undertake new election systems
until it has perfected those already
adopted. In other words, the proposed
amendment Is looked upon by many as
a vague and indefinite scheme, sound
ing well as a theory, but Involving as
serious difficulties in practice as does
primary law which permits Demo
crats to register as Republicans and
help nominate Republican candidates.
RAPS BAR AT GOLDEN GATE
Writer Relates Mishap to Battleship
Nebraska, aa an Object Lesson.
PORTLAND, May 39. (To the Editor)
The Oregonian's editorial regarding an
article which appeared In the Oakland
Tribune is noticed with Interest and Its
remarks are applauded by all loyal citi- -sens
of the city of Oakland who know
the conditions of the Columbia River Bar.
It was not published by the San Fran
cisco newspapers, or the Oakland Tribune,
that when the battleship "Nebraska" re
turned from Magdelena Bay and crossed
over the "Bar" at the Golden Gate, that
she was picked up by an immense wave,
rolled to port, then to starboard a total
roll of about 60 degrees that she was
boarded by an Immense wave and that
some of the men only saved themselves
from going overboard by grasping the
staunchions. This happened about 11:30
A. M. when the tables were set and
crockery and other articles were dashed
to the floor and badly smashed. This
Is not a "smooth bar," as it takes an
Immense power to so handle the many
thousand tons of the "Nebraska,
Further than this, the "Nebraska" is
shorter than the cruiser which was here
last year and of very slightly more draft
and handles quite easily as do her sister
ships. There is absolutely no excuse for
not bringing the ships here, except to
help out a poor tourist season in Cali
fornia and "slap ' tne coiumma rtrver.
The occurrence related above actually
happened and was related to me by one
of the men aboard who holds an official
position, and knows whereof he speaks.
A. J. C
Unknown Wild Man Chflnus Game.
Greenwich (Conn.) Dispatch to New
York World.
The village of Mlanus is startled
over the appearance of a wild man
who lives In a cave in the woods on
the O. H. Havemeyer estate, and who
subsists on game which be lures to
him in some mysterious manner and
kills with his hands.
The man was first seen by James
Ingraham, a prominent citizen of Mian
us. three days ago. He was tall and
had a gray beard nearly two reet In
length. He wore no hat and was bare
footed. When Mr. Iugranam spoke to
him he ran like a deer, and plunging
Into the Mianus River waded across it
and ran Into the woods.
James Smith, a 14-year-old boy, says
that while hunting squirrels yesterday
he came suddenly upon tne wna man,
who was in a crouching position and
making a whistling noise. The boy
noticed a rabbit that was sitting on
Its haunches and apparently fascinated.
Then the man stepped forward and
picked up the rabbit, which made no
attempt to escape. When he saw the
boy, the stranger fled.
Home-Made Wireless Telegraph.
Chicago Despatch.
John Junker, of Mount Vernon. 111.,
has made a wireless telegraph Instru
ment which is working well out of
cartridge shells and spoons. The in
duction coil, less than a foot long, con
tains seven miles of copper wire 1-200
of an inch in diameter.