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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1908)
c TIIE MOBSIXG OREGOXIAy, MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1903. W teaman Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflcs 6econd-Clasa Matter. Subscription Kalrs Inrartably In Advance (Br Mall- Dally. Sunday Included, ons year. IJ-J Daily. Sunday Included, six months.... Daily. Sunday Included, three months. - Dally. 6unday Included, one month.... Dally without Sunday, one year Dally, without Sunday, six months..... .- Dally, without Sunday, thrie months.. i Dally, without Sunday, one month " Weekly, one year J-JjJ Sunday, one year f " Sunday anil Weekly, one year -u By Carrier ) Dally. Sunday Included, one year...... Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... How to Remit Send postofflci money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk- Give postofttce ad dress In full. Includlag county and stats. PoMage KsU 10 to 1 pages. 1 cent; 1J to 2 pages. 2 centa: 80 to 44 psges. a centi; 48 to 60 pages. 4 cent. Foreign post age double ratea Eattrra Boinea Oftlce The a C- Beck wit;! Special Agency New York. room. 48 10 Tribune bunding. Chicago, rooma elo-bl-J Tribune building. PORTLAND. MONDAY, AUG. 11. 1908. A CHEERFUL. ESSAY. The Economic Functions ot Vice." by John McElroy, Washington. D. C, U? an interesting essay. The postulate Is that the economic function of vice In the human family is analogous to that of nature In the Anlmal-and plant family In general, whereby excessive reproduction is held down, and room left for those able to survive. "Below the human stratum superabundant generation Is neutralized by the sim ple device of having every organism prey on some other one. In her ten years of fruitful life the female cod lays 50,000,000 eggs. If nothing thwarted the amiable efforts of her self and offspring to multiply and re plenish they would shortly pack the ocean as full as a box of sardines." And so -of the chlnook salmon. But the creatures that live on the fertil ity of the cod or salmon are so nu merous that not one egg In thousands comes to a mature fish. Likewise, "in the whole animal kingdom it Is a reck-to-neck race between production and extermination." It is so, very largely too, in the vegetable world. Go to any thicket, bush or wood, and note how the different varieties are struggling with each other for soil, light and air, and how many of the members are perishing In the competi tion in Oregon the Douglas fir or white cedar, or in "moist lands by the river's brink the cottonwood or alder, triumphing over all. But man Is, to an extent, an excep tion to this form of struggle. He makes constant effort to exempt him self from nature's law of survival of the fittest, and with some success; "for while man preys upon myriads of ere ated things, there is no created thing that preys on him, if we except the latest scientific explanation of the rause of everything from pneumonia to laziness, the modest but effective bacillus." Xow according to our au thor the economic function of vice. In the human race, is analogous to that of prey and plunder In the remain der of the organic world. "Without vice the race would multiply so fast that in a few years there would be no sustenance, nor even standing room. We may take it. if we choose, as a new theory of the origin of evil or rather what we call evil; for if vice have a true economic function, we cannot properly call it, or Its conse quences, evils at all. A phase of the argument is that vice is not so much a cause as an effect precisely as disease Is a symp tom; that vice does not make a na ture weak or defective, but a weak and defective nature expresses Itself in vice, and that expression brings about in one way or another the sov ereign remedy of extermination. In other words, vice is a counterpoise to the advantage of Intelligence which man has over all other creatures, serv ing to keep down overwhelming ex cess of numbers. This is merely a statement of the argument, which they who are curious on the subject may consider. Stated differently, the writer's meaning is that destruction by vice makes room for virtue In the world. The argu ment would perhaps be conclusive, if there were no other way to advance virtue; which, however, this philoso pher seems to think can be done only by restriction of population. He would tell us. however, that he is not arguing for a theory, but is stat ing a condition, and an Inescapable one; namely, that there would soon be too many people In the world. If their vices did not keep down their numbers. Room Is made and society is improved, by the self-destructive-ness of vice. The man denies that he is a pessimist; professes to be an op timist. The essay bristles throughout with pungent sayings, as this: "People who have done much In the way of reform ing' drunkards have been astonished to find how little manhood remained after elimination of whisky from the equation." Or this: "The struggle for existence is a murderous scramble to get rid of a vast surplusage, and the 'survival of the fittest is the suc cess of the minority in demonstrating that the majority are superfluous." And this: "Yet none of nature's methods of extermination are pleasant to those connected with the victim, though some of them are to the vic tim himself. Of course each one of us feels entirely competent to pick out in his own community the persons who could best be spared, but public opinion at present is hostile to any practical plan of making the neces sary thinning out." Some of the vices that check or pre vent multiplication of the human race, and some of the most potent of them, pass unobserved by most or are re garded with favor. We recall a re cent book by Professor Patten, an eminent biologist of the University of Pennsylvania, who asserts and main tains that luxurious living has greater effect in minimizing the birth-rate than all the open or notorious vices. The women of such families bear no children. Overabundant sugar diet, candy, sweetmeats, rich confectionery, make women fat and barren. The hope of the race. Professor Patten de clares, is not in "sugar-fed women." No doubt if Mr. McElroy"s eye had fallen on Professor Patten's book it would have given delight to the au thor of this essay on the utility of vice as an economic function for preven tion of too rapid increase of the hu man race. While those not upon the ground and not aware of the actual condi tions cannot understand the provoca-, Hun wlilili has'-lnspired the mob vio lence at Springfield, 111., there will be general condemnation of the course the white people have pursued in their attempt to punish offending blacks. The people of one commu nity will criticise the action of the people of another community in a case of this kind, even though they would have proceeded in the same manner under like circumstances. Springfield has suffered In the estimation of the rest of the country. It will be many years before that city will again be thought of by the people of the United States as a quiet and law-abiding com munity. We may find excuses for mob violence, but we can never Justify it. HERE IS TROUBLE, CTDEBD. When Senator Bourne, Chairman Cake and their campaign managers get to work in Oregon if they ever do to fight for Taft for President and Chamberlain for Senator, they will learn something about the difficulty of fishing In troubled waters. ' The absurdity of the effort to carry the state for Taft and Chamberlain will appear, first thing; and it will be apparent last thing. If a man is & Republican, and knows any reason why he should be a Re publican, what reason then has he for wishing Taft to be President and Chamberlain to be Senator? But if a man doesn't know what he is, or what he wants but here we stop. For we remember that one said "Whosoever shall eay thou fool" shall be in danger of hell fire." nGHLY PROSPEROUS TIMES. There is wonderful prosperity these days. No man feels that he ought to work. If you want man and wife to go into the country even only a short distance where they are to milk the cows and look after the sheep, and hoe the potatoes for their own table, and gather the apples and collect the eggs and eat them, and to look after the cattle and hens and crops, you will be disappointed. You will not find anybody who will do these things. Nobody is willing to work. Mr. Bryan promises all things without labor. One can get a sack of flour somehow, and catch a few mudcats out of the lake and wait for the millennium. A great lot of people have got what they never worked for. Why shouldn't all of us? Bryan will bring it about, all right. .'Rah for Bryan! Advertise for man and wife to do work on a ranch, near the city with in daily and nightly reach of carlines. You can get nobody who has any ef ficiency. They say they can do things, but they can't. Main reason is they don't want to. They fear you will make something out of their la bor. They think they can do better. Above all, they are unwilling that any one should make profit even the smallest out of them. There Is enormous prosperity at the present time, and every one should make the most of it. The good rule is. Don't work for anything that any body can afford to pay. And If you engage for employment, see that the person who hires you makes no profit out of your labor. Why should he? It is your business to strip him of what he's got. He got it out of some body else. It Is universal thievery. Vote for Bryan! There Is enormous prosperity Just now especially in -our Pacific North west States. It will be greater, after the election of Bryan. Portland and our other cities will issue bonds. There is wealth in bonds. Prosperous days are ahead of us. TAFT FITTER THAX BRYAN. It is a significant fact that the New York Independent, Collier's Weekly, the Outlook and the Springfield Re publican have all stated editorially that they believe Mr. Taft would make a better President than Mr. Bryan would. Whatever may be true of certain great New York dailies, it can not be said of any of the periodicals named that they are guided by parti san prejudice, that they are subser vient to "the interests" or that theii opinions are for sale. Each of them is Independent, the Springfield Re publican arrogantly so. Each of them has strong convictions and the cour age to express them. The Outlook Is a thorough-going admirer of Presi dent Roosevelt, but it did not hesitate to rebuke him for meddling with the discipline of Harvard University, and when Judge Grosscup's extraordinary Standard Oil decision came out no magazine dealt with his flimsy logic more candidly than did the Outlook. The Independent has not been an adr mlrer of Mr. Roosevelt except with many reservations, but it prefers Mr. Taft to Mr. Bryan, and says so frank ly. Collier's Weekly Is the freest kind of free lance, plunging into every fight there Is going, and taking always the side which it happens to prefer. It is sometimes misled, but never can be accused of acting from Improper motives. The Springfield Republican Is so In dependent, as we have said, that It Is fairly arrogant. To Illustrate this trait of the paper one may remember that when almost every "respectable" newspaper In the country was ridi culing, and many of them reviling, Mr. Bryan for his free-silver fantasies and later for his views upon Gov ernment ownership, the Republican criticised him without rancor and took incomparable pains to point out wherein it thought he was right as well as to publish his errors. It has always been almost more than fair to Mr. Bryan, and even in the editorial article where the Republican states Its preference for Mr. Taft it takes pains to say that it. has always respected the Nebraska leader "for his stainless character, his brilliant leadership and the resoluteness of his nature." But for all that it thinks Mr. Taft would make a better President. The Republican's reasons for wish ing to see Mr. Taft elected are inter esting. It begins by saying that "the problem for every citizen in the com ing National election will be to weigh every man and every Issue for himself and in the end go where to his mind the largest popular advantage Is to be found." It proclaims unwavering loy alty to essential democracy and be lieves that "a majority of the people of the United States are irrevocably committed to that safeguarding of the people's rights which has taken shape In the popular mind under the broad designation of the Roosevelt policies." The question then becomes very sim ple. Which of the two candidates Is the more likely to carry out the Roosevelt policies efficiently? Natur ally It will be the one who has "pa tient, constructive ability for the wide seeing and capable handling of large things" and is at the same time "in full sympathy with the popular cause." How do the two candidates meet this test? The Republican finds Mr. Bryan to be a "strong and attractive preach er," and yet his years of preaching "have unfitted him for such govern mental work as the Nation needs." He Is an "orator and doctrinaire in stead of a well-poised administrator." On the other hand, the Republican thinks that Mr. Taft Is fitted by na ture and training to be a better ad ministrator than Mr. Bryan, or Mr. Roosevelt either. It believes that his faith in the "new Republicanism" and in democratic government is perfectly sincere, that "he stands unswervingly on the main lines of the President's fight for the people," and that he will carry on the task of transforming the Republican party from the bulwark of special privilege to a party of equal opportunity. The progressive forces of the country, it says, are turning to the support of Judge Taft and the reason for it Is their "conviction that he will keep the faith" of the great Roosevelt policies, going not only as far as the President but surpassing him. The Republican "accepts Judge Taft as the best exponent of the National purpose to enlarge within the republic the dominance of genuine de mocracy," STRENGTHENING OUR TRADE POSITION The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company has at last announced the establishment of a regular steamship service between Salinas Cruz, the Pa cific port at which Atlantic freight is trans-shipped, and Portland, thus giv ing this city an admirable freight serv ice from New York. The steamers will reach Portland every three weeks, and will be enabled to deliver freight in this city twenty-five days after it Is shipped from New York. It is diffi cult to overestimate the value of a service of this kind, for it places this city absolutely Independent of the rail road on fully 95 per cent of the com modities named in the Western freight classification tariffs of the railroads, and it makes it an impossibility for the roads to grant to any interior point better rates than are given Port land.. The establishment of the new serv ice almost simultaneously with the opening of the new North Bank Rail road makes it doubly valuable, as the new road will open up territory from which lack of transportation facilities has In the past prevented Portland Jobbers doing business. The Nebras kan and Nevadan are the vessels which have been selected for the in auguration of the Portland service, and they will undoubtedly prove large enough to handle the business at the start. Later, however, as the new trade field into which Portland has been admitted by the completion of the North Bank road is developed, it will be necessary to provide larger steamers. Our present twenty-six-foot channel to the sea is ample for the class of vessels that are now coming here, but it will be insufficient for those on which we must depend in the near future. The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company Is only one of four big lines which have been endeavoring to do business with Portland. The Kosmos line, the Blue Funnel line and the French "round-the-world" line have all been looking over the field, and if the river improvements are continued it is only a matter of time until they will come here. Meanwhile there must be no rainbow-chasing or Indul gence of wild vagaries which will tend to prevent a centralization of energies on the one vital part of oar entire transportation system the open river to the sea. Our facilities for reaching the Inland Empire will be within a month superior to those enjoyed by any other port in the Pacific North west, and it is of the utmost import ance that we make immediate provis ion for passing this traffic to and from the high seas on the largest class of carriers. BILLIONS IN GRAIN. Six hundred millions is not an In conceivably vast sum in a country like ours, where the average dally remun eration of the farmers is about $24, 000,000. It Is a large sum, however, when it appears, as it does this year, as an increase in value of the grain crop alone, over that of the preced ing year. It means that wheat, corn, oats, barley and rye crops of the United States will this year increase the average purchasing power of every man, woman and child in the United States about $7 over that of last year. This is Just the increase. It is when we get down to the total value of the crop that the figures be gin to grow bewildering in their im mensity. The August report of the Agricultural Department, giving con ditions and acreage on the grains mentioned, has been reduced to quan titative figures by the statistician of the New York Produce Exchange, and indicates a yield of 4,508,892,000 bush els. Corn, of course, leads with a total of 2,716.000,000 bushels, oats 811,347,000, wheat 675.651,000, barley 173.452,000 and rye 32,442,000 bush els. Estimating the value of this im mense crop at Saturday's prices, we have a total of $2,937,807,500, with the strength of the market situation indicating that this sum may be ma terially Increased by higher prices later in the season. The wheat yield, according to the Government figures, is about 40,000,000 bushels greater than that of last year. Corn shows an increase of 124,000,000 bushels, oats 157,000.000 bushels, barley 20,000,000 bushels, and rye about 1,000,000 bush els. These five most prominent grains last year showed an out-turn of 4,166, 013,000 bushels, which, based on values-ruling August 15, 1907, was worth $2,353,236,870, the Increased value for 1903 thus being $584,570,630. This Increase 6f nearly $600,000,000 in the value of the crop is only a por tion of the Increased benefits that the country as a whole will reap from the excellent harvest. The additional 343, 000.000 bushels of grain will all find Its way to market in some shape, and to move it will require the services of cars and locomotives by thousands and tens of thousands, and as these are again brought into service there will be increased employment for rail road employes, freight-handlers, ware housemen, and practically all kinds of labor that exacts a certain amount of toll from the grain crop at the vary ing stages through which it passes on the way from the farm to the ship. This grain crop is only one of the many great resources which make the perpetuation or prolongation of any thing like hard times an impossibility in this country. Anarchists and other brands of Jawsmiths may rant and rave over the inequalities of the sys tem which gives wealth to those who work for It, and withholds it from the drones who will not work, but effort of this kind cannot retard prosperity so long as Nature and honest labor collaborating can turn out $3,000, 000,000 grain crops. The success of the Board of Trade in discovering between 6,000,000 and 9,000,000 bushels more wheat in the Pacific Northwest than could be lo cated by the railroads, the exporters or any of the grain men who have had from ten years' to forty years' ex perience in crop estimating, is grati- fying to a certain extent. And yet if the foreign shipowner had even a hazy suspicion that there was a 50,000,000 bushel crop in this territory, there would be an immediate advance of about 5 cents per bushel In ocean freights. "Padding" may be all right when confined to the bank clearings of ambitious Puget Sound cities, but when applied to the wheat crop it Is more liable to be harmful than benefl' clal. The crop of Oregon, Washing ton and Idaho, in its actual propor tions. Is not so small 'that it should become necessary to "pad" it out, and the foreign buyer who withholds his orders in the belief that there is a 60,000,000-bushel crop here will, like the shipowner who advances rates on the strength of such a report, be doomed to disappointment. The Japanese have as yet failed to make much of a reputation as an in ventive people, but as imitators they can challenge the world. The cap ture of two of their poaching sealers by an American revenue cutter re vealed an attempt at deception which recalled the experience of the famous Dan McLean. The Japanese poachers had painted one of their vessels white, and rigged her with papier mache yards in imitation of an American revenue cutter. This was a clever at tempt at deception, but It was not new with the Japanese, for it was first worked, and with great success, by Dan McLean, the "Sea Wolf." Mc-J Lean conceived the plan and used it N for the purpose of frightening poach ers away from a big pile of skins which they had taken in a raid on the Islands. The coup was so bril liantly executed that it was afterwards embalmed in poetry by Rudyard Kip ling. There is nothing new under the sun, or even under the Aurora Bore alls. It wa3 a rare discovery of "unde veloped resources" of the Pacific Northwest that was made by the Vic toria men who a few years ago estab lished a whaling station at Kyuquot, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Every year since the estab lishment of the station the enterprise has paid enormous dividends, and this year the catch is breaking all previous records. Last week the steam whaler connected with the station captured twenty-six whales, and since the sea son began 234 whales have been cap tured. These whales, of course, lack the financial value of the old sperm whales of the early days of the indus try, but their capture is so easy and the amount of oil and fertilizer they yield Is so great that the profits are enormous. Thus far there is appar ently no diminution in the available supply of raw material. We had this by telegraph, as a statement made by President Eliot of Harvard, the other day. It Will bear repetition, viz: "Socialism has not a chance in this country, where wealth is so diffuses If a man has $100 all his own he loses all ideas of sharing it with anybody else. Human society Is based on self-interest, shaded and concealed, perhaps. To have social istic society, where every one thought first of the rest of the world, you would have to change, not society, but humanity." Truth The Oregonlan has been preaching many a year. Every boy who is graduated from the Agricultural College should be fa miliar with the principles of scientific roadbuilding. Though many of them do not take the. engineering course and will never engage in roadbuilding as an occupation, a very large propor tion of them some time will have oc casion to use a practical knowledge of the most approved methods of con structing a permanent highway. The subject is not a difficult one and could be taught without any sacrifice of other branches of the courses of study. The Russian peasants are facing another Winter of famine and cholera rages in the country around the Cas pian. On the other hand, India is seething with revolt; but trifles of that kind are not permitted to mar the pleasures of monarchs. Emperors and Kings greet each other with a couple or holy kisses, one on either cheek, and the royal festivities proceed as if there were no such things as misery, death and revolution. When The Oregonian calls Mr. Bryan "humbug," and his work "bun combe," observe that it does so only at the close of articles that show the reasons why. After review of Mr. Bryan's platforms, speeches and ban alities, then these words "humbug" and "buncombe" properly come in. A primary law, it is found, splits a party up into factions and fragments; and no party, after a hot primary, in which its members contest with each other for control, will ever unite for the following election. About the only -enthusiastic man for Bryan, who has yet appeared In the West, is Judge Alton B. Parker. If he can Induce the few men who voted for Mm to vote for Bryan, there will be a wonderful result. But he can't Those Idaho Democrats are going to fight it out on thi3 line if it takes all Summer. They are In Just as deadly earnest about it as If they had something to fight about. But they haven't; only Dubois. If Harriman can be Induced to spend next Summer at Tillamook or Coos Bay, he may Join another Cham ber of Commerce and build another railroad. Here we are again 1n Oregon with two Republican parties and one Dem ocratic. The girl who elopes to wed starts life with chances heavily against her. SO TIME FOR A MERC AGITATOK Reasons Why a Great New England Newspaper Prefers Taft to Bryan. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. In its first phases the campaign of this year is devoid of excitement as of fear. The voters are thinking and de liberating. Respect there is for both the leading candidates for the Presi dency, and the disposition is to view them candidly, to the end that the man may be elected who seems upon the whole best fitted to serve the people, and to guide and protect their interests along lines which are established and of which the country approves. Such temper and attitude the Republican shares. From its first issue it has been dedicated to an essential democracy, whose first and last thought is for the advantages of the people in enlight enment, in self-government and the ad vancement of the common Interest. The problem for every thoughtful citizen In the coming National election will be to weigh all things for himself every man and every Issue and in the end to strike a balance and go where, to his mind, the largest popular advantage is to be found. It is a year when men are more than ever before determining and setting up the commanding issue or issues for themselves and this is well for the republic. The thing which is already determined in our political situation that which stands out and all accept is that a majority of people of the United States are irrevocably commit ted to that safeguarding of the people's rights which has taken shape In the popular mind under the broad designa tion of the Roosevelt policies. There can be no retreat, as even the thor oughly overtaken reactionaries are forced to admit but there should be well-considered advance. The need Is for safe and wise and prudent progress toward the realization of true demo cratic government. e e Even if Mr. Roosevelt lighted his torch from the flame which Mr. Bryan had kindled, as is so often claimed, the torch of the President started the re form watch fires on every hill which have stirred the people into a militant advocacy which will not be denied that which is demanded. To change the figure, after the yeastlng comes the breadmaking and for that painstak ing and careful attention and experi ence are needed. The business in hand Is no longer spectacular It is of a homely sort, but necessary to the Na tional well-being, and the permanent advantage of the people. The times call not for the agitator, but the man with patient, constructive ability, in full sympathy with the popular cause for a wide seeing and capable handling of large things, and these often of a very delicate nature. Great as has al ways been our respect for Mr. Bryan his stainless character, his ability for brilliant leadership, his resolution of nature the doubt as to bis capacity beyond that of a helpful propagandist has not been satisfied during the years of his great prominence before the American people. e e The one time when Colonel Bryan appeared as a factor to control the ac tion of his party and the country, leav ing his command at the time of the war with Spain to secure the ratification of the treaty of peace, to which the Phil ippine acquisition was appended, how ever that action may be explained, left an impression of political time-serving not to be effaced. It was a mistake for him, for his party, and for the Nation. He demanded a share In the decision for which there was no of ficial warrant, and he must accept the responsibility so .invited. Strong and attractive as a preacher, his achieve ments in that field have tended to un fit him for such Governmental work as 1b the need of the National situation, and developed the orator and the doc trinaire at the expense of the practical, well-posed administrator. To his close personal following, the men who have been near to him through thick and thin since the days of the silver radicalism, Mr. Bryan would be loyal, and that would seem to compel a circle of ad visers In ca3e of election, not calculated fully to reassure. In human affairs we are confronted as a rule. If not with a chjolce of evils, at least with the necessity of weighing situations not in their entirety to the liking. It Is a poor philosopher who battles with all who disagree with him in a decision he may reach under such circumstances. Mr. Taft is fitted by nature and training to be a better administrator of the questions which press upon the country for prosecution and solution than President Roosevelt better, we believe, than Mr. Bryan. The assurances regarding his welcome for the abiding faith in the new Re publicanism and the Democracy are ab solute. Whether Judge Taft has ap proved of all the restless methods of his chief we do not know, and doubt that he stands unswervingly by him on the main lines of the President's fight for the people, and the purpose to transform the Republican party from one of special privilege to one of equal opportunity, seems to be established. So much demonstrated, Mr. Taft's can didacy makes a wide appeal, and not only so, but It brings him under strong bonds to the people. e e a The progressive forces In the re public which now turn to the support of Candidate Taft will do so under the conviction that he will keep the faith, not only to the measure of President Roosevelt's advance along just lines, but beyond. More heavily than ever. in case of the election of Mr. Taft, will the duty rest upon the Republican party to do something for the relief of pur tariff-burdened Industries, and therefore for the relief of the country. The freedom to do business Increases its volume and benefits all, producers and consumers alike. The stream moves freely when barriers are removed. So far as the Influence of Mr. Taft can go, the platform declaration In favor of tariff revision must be made to mean the real thing. In our interna tional relations Mr. Taft should be Judicial and trustworthy a better and safer President than Mr. Roosevelt. If he advocates a longer period of tute lage for the Filipinos than the Repub lican, wedded to genuine Americanism, stands for, his position there is so far away from the early and crudely con ceived views to his party, as to illus trate in striking relief how the country has been swinging to the position of the once despised anti-imperialists. All are agreed that we must let these people go and time and circumstances must inevitably help to hasten the day of their freedom. The Republican accepts Judge Taft as the best exponent of the National purpose to enlarge within the republic the dominance of genuine democracy, and believes that he will look to that end with fixed resolution, and purpose unchanged by the blandishments of the reactionaries. The National conven tions of the year all of them have registered the determination of the American people to make special priv ilege subordinate to the public wel fare. To that doctrine Judge Taft is pledged, no less than Mr. Bryan or Mr. Hisgen. Beyond these two, Judge Taft seems fitted by experience and tem perament to make the popular will ef fective, so far as it lies within the power of the Executive to do this. Phrase Worth Remembering;. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. In Introducing Mr. Taft to an audi ence or lawyers a Virginia judge re marked that he "had touched nothing he has not strengthened. The phrase will be remembered because It t an exact fit. THE DIRECT PRIMARY. Inquiry From Illinois .Whether the Re sult Is the Will of the People. It disappoints, everywhere. It nomi nates men who are not known, men who stand for nothing; men who push them selves, but who have scarcely been heard of, and have done nothing to merit the suffrages of the people. The candidate of a small faction succeeds by a vote that is a petty plurality among the votes cast for others. There has been no debate or deliberation over his nomination. The system nominates nobodies, and of course they are beaten. They are "up against it" in Illinois and in California, as in Oregon, and every where ele, so far as the system has been tried. It is a consequence of repudiation of the representative system, under which the worth and merit of men might be sub jected to debate. This system cuts debate out entirely. A small minority of a party nominates. The main body of the party has refused its assent. What further? Failure and defeat. Read this, from the Chicago Inter Ocean. The Oregonian will add no com ment, further than to inquire whether such results are to be taken as the will of the people. Read: It Is a literal and when we rightly think of it an appalling truth that thousand! upon thousands of Republicans voted in Chicago last Saturday for candidates of whom they knew absolutely nothing except that they had seen their pictures -or their names In some newspaper, published with motives of which the voter could know nothing and often upon the same basis as other advertisements. This Ignorance, this blindness, these piti ful gropings In the dark, and this thrusting of power upon the press an institution whose field It Is to inform the people but not to rule them Is the price we pay for the abolition of representative government within political parties. Politics, like husiness, rests on the con fidence of the Individual In men he knows welt, through whom he comes into further contact with men -whom he does not and cannot know well. These channels of con tact and communication the representative system provides for political parties. The direct primary closes and destroys them. It forces the citizen to turn for guidance from men he knows to men he knows not at all. And when a thoughtful man contemplates the mental confusion, the groping in dark ness, the running in circles, to which the vast majority of the voters of Chicago were reduced during the recent primary campaign he is filled with forebodings. What a spectacle to see tne great par ties, which grew up to meet our necessities, thus ruthlessly atomised, robbed of their adhesive force, and made as the sands of the seashore to be blown helplessly hither and thither by every gust that Issues from the offices of the daily press! BETTER TIMES NEXT TEST YEARS Expert Statistician at Washington Makes Such Prediction. Washington Special to New York Times. Prosperity, better and saner than the United States has ever known before, Is foreseen for the next decade by Pro fessor Henry C. Adams, for 20 years in charge of statistics and accounts for the Interstate Commerce Commission. Pro fessor Adams is recognized as one of the closest students of Industrial and finan cial conditions in the service of the Gov ernment. His intimate association with the railroads and their operation has given him a thorough Insight Into business con ditions. The Commission's statistician has reached the conclusion that business in all lines will soon return to normal con ditions, -to be succeeded quickly by ex traordinary prosperity in every depart ment of indUBtria.1 activity. Both capital and labor, In his opinion, are on the dawn of a new day. Professor Adams declared that the holder of stocks Is about "to come Into his own." He regards the depression that followed the panic of last October as a blessing in disguise, in that it will In sure economy by preventing the return of reckless confidence that was engendered by too much and too long continued good times. "We are now almost through the busi ness depression," ho said today. "It was preceded by a period of intense business activity. Inevitably during such a period, men lose more or less of their caution. In such times everything seems prosper ous and the future promising, and there is less care taken to watch details of management and expenditure. So when the depression comes and revenues fall away, the managers cast about for means to reduce expenses. They have been find ing out for the larger part of a year where to make economies; where they were permitting part of their money to go into avoidable expense. They have been taking in the slack, getting things on the safe and secure basis. It has been a severe experience, but from the stand point of the shareholder, it has been really a good thing.' The depression will end. and business will be good again; its volume. In the next cycle, will be greater than ever. But the lesson of this period of enforced economies will not be soon unlearned. The increasing revenues will be paralleled off againBt columns showing reduced ex penditures In many ways. There will be greater care and economy, with the re sult that the stockholder will have a larger share of prosperity coming to him." Professor Adams is a firm believer In the periodical recurrence of panics, which he 'believes come with almost clockwork regularity every 20 years, with smaller financial depressions intervening. He points to the panic of 1873 and 1S93 as proof of his theory, and he has marked a danger signal over against the year 1913. The flurry of last Fall he puts down as merely one of the disturbances that fill in between the real upheavals. It is acknowledged by Professor Adams that the closer connections established be tween business and transportation con cerns will render future panics less dis astrous than in the past. The strong will uphold the weak when crises ar rive, he says. This will not be an in dication of the arrival of the millennium, but merely an exhibition of economic wisdom, for it will tend to restore con fidence. And when confidence walks abroad, says Professor Adams, panics take to cover. Apple Dumpling and the Form Divine. Nashville American. Short and stout women avoid the um brella hat, nine and ten feet in cir cumference, which is now the fad In London. Show this to your apple dumpling. The First Chapter. (President Roosevelt will get dollsr a word.) We saw (two plunks) a buck (that's four) And then (six dollars, please) I fired (that's eight) a shot (two more) And brought him to his knees. The hunting scene (that makes nineteen) Is something really fine; The Jungle's all a vivid green. (I think that's twenty-nine.) Tonfght we lis beneath the sky. It's great (seven, eight): the moon la high. SO what we do (that's twenty-two) Let's do with all our might. (Come, Kermit, count, whate'er you do! Yes, twenty-eisht Is right!) i It Is great sport (my words are short. But why should I waste Ink?) I thought I heard a rhino snort in cominr down to drink. I'm on his track. (Kermit. go back: And count these woras again.) The night is still and raven black! (Loeb, come and hold my pen.) Bang! Bang! Bang! Bangl (They'll hate to pay For four bangs In a row A dollar each, but that's the way (Loeb, skin the rhino while I add These words.) What heavenly breezsl We're off to bed! (And Kermit, lad. Mail this nrst cnapter, pieae!) J. W. Foley, In the New York Times. Watterson Thinks History of 1803 Wll Be Repeated This Year. New York World. "I am looking for the same groun swell this year for Bryan and Ker: that we had in 1892 for Cleveland an Stevenson. Those things go. In season: and the Republican party Is due for ; beating. It certainly deserves to Li beaten; and I believe it will be." This is the confident forecast of Col onel Henry Watterson, the famou Louisville editor, who, from opposir.f Bryan in 1896, giving him lukewarn support in 1900, has come in 1908 to n his most enthusiastic supporter , an. champion. Seated before his work table in h! room in the Manhattan Club, where Il ls busy forming the advisory pres committee, which Is to be one ot th most Important adjuncts of the Dnmo cratic National campaign. Editor Wat terson yesterday gave to-the World til views on the campaign to date. "I believe that Bryan and Kern ar going to be elected," he said. "The R. publicans are facing two ways and th will fall between two stools Anyway, think it is their turn to be beaten, think the people want a change. Jus for the sake of a change. "Democrats who for the last sever elections have not been voting wit. their party will this year vote fo Bryan. The Democratic party, afte being In power for nearly 60 years made their exit from power the signa for a great war. Now the Republican have been in power for nearly 50 year. and It is time for them to go." "Do you believe the conservative! Eastern Democrats will support Mr Bryan?" was asked. "I have talked with a great maxj conservative Democrats here who hav not voted for Mn. Bryan before. The 5 do not Ilka Mr. Bryan, and they say st frankly, but they tell me now they sr going to vote for him. They are privat' gentlemen who do not give their viev: to the newspapers, but what they s;i represents the tendency of a very irt portant element of voters. "What is there to prevent these men or any Democrat who knows why he 1 a Democrat, from voting for Bryan thl year? The same old issues which til vided the party In the days of Tildir and Cleveland are the Issues of today The Republican party stands fo' all i. stood for In the days of Grant, Hayof Garfield and Arthur. "Democrats who know why they an Democrats know there should be nt halting on these plain propositions ar rest of the breakneck speed towarc centralization of power; some real (no spurious) purpose toward tariff reform some sure separation of the politics ol the country from its partnership wit! high financiers; some breaking o groups and rings of wheels Inside c wheels, always involved by a change c parties, even when made only for th sake of change." Hisgen, Nature Fnkrr. Syracuse Post-Standard. Listen to Candidate Hisgen as h draws from nature a parallel to his owi position in this campaiRn: "Among all birds, insects and anlmrl It is noticeable that they all get out o this earth enough sustenance for them selves and do not try to deprive th other birds, animals or insects of th;i living." This comes of living in the same stat with Rev. Dr. William J. Long, wh writes of the birds and beasts as if the were human. Long tells fearful whop pers about his furred and feathere friends, but Hissen outdoes him, for h won't concede that there is anythin less noble than the Golden Rule In th brain of the weasel, the skunk or th henhawk. The fact Is that an uncon scious war to the death goos on hptwr-ei every two saplings in the forest dr pendent upon the same opening in th trees for the light of the sun. Edison Half Time. Boston Herald. Having been a prodigious toller all hi lite, with heavy emphasis most of th time, In the commercial and applied field of science, Edison, it is said, will now ease up the strain, spend part of his day: in recreation, part in travel, and part li residence out of reach of his labora tory. When at home and near his ap-! paratus he will henceforth delve mor, into "pure" science. Blessed with richfs renowned to the ends of the earth, rlei in memories of conquest and of servicf to mankind, he now may make his olo age one of speculation as to origins ami essences, and become a philosopher, saj;f In his example as well as in his utter ances. For there is wisdom, worthy of imitation, in his course. The time hat come for rest, for meditation, for a gracious senescence." Presented as "A nemedy." . The Kelsonian. If you have read the speech of "W. J. Bryan, which was published this week and are in need of a good antidote look up the leading editorial of Thf Oregonian of yesterday. Lack of space prevents our publication of this mas terful resume of the career of Air Bryan, but to those who read we woulti prescribe it as a remedy for all the 111 of the mind consequent to a dosa oif Bryan's acceptance speech. He Knew a Good Tailor. Brooklyn Life. Millionaire (to tailor) I'm told by my son that you have permitted him to rui-i a bill for two years. I have therefore come to Tailor O, sir, don't trouble. I'm in no hurry. Millionaire I see that, and that's why I've come to tell you that for the future I wish to get my clothes from you, too! Double-TrlKurered Advertising. Washington Star. No expert accountant will ever be able to figure out for Mr. Bryan whether his editorial advertisements of his campaign have been as valuable as his campaign advertisements of his editorials. Bather Chases Cow for Hit Trousers. Wilmington (Del.) Dispatch. While Victor Allen was bathing at Beaford, Del., a cow chewed up all his underclothing, and it was necessary to chase her a mile before she would re lease the trousers. Where John D. Laughs. Louisville Courier-Journal. John D. Rockefeller Is said to enjoy a joke at his own expense, but he g ts more enjoyment out of a $29,000,010 joko at the expense of Kennesaw Mountain Landis. One Quality That Is Mistrusted. Baltimore American. Mr. Bryan may say smarter thinps than Mr. Taft, but smartness is a qual ity which conservative voters mistrust. They may enjoy it, but they will not Indorse it. Too Much to Expert from Gould. Indianapolis News. Mr. Harriman will have to get alorg the best he can with that stomach trouble. He needn't think George Gould Is going to lend him any pepsin tab lets. Lightning Settles a Lawsuit. Philadelphia Record. Lightning put an end to a lawsuit at Shamokin, Pa., by destroying a barn, the object of dispute between Daniel Yost and the town council.