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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 1908)
TT1E OttEGOXIAX, TUESDAY, DECE3IBEK 22. 1903. 10 PORTLAND, OKiXiOS. j r i KntrM at Portland. Oregon. Postofftca a For-'ii J-ClJi-s Matter. inscription KJIn Invariably in Advance. Sim1av inrlua.-d. one year $S no InLv, mj::.kiv ui.luiicl, six. months.... i ,,. Mtud.ijr included, three months. . l.u.v. Sunonv included, una nn-nta. !..;. without Sunday, one jear I':ii;v, without Sanday. six months.... I'jitv. wl'hout Sunday, three month. . 4.-J. 2 e oo 3 1.73 BO 1 .: 2 SO oo Jj.i.li . without Sunday, one month Kl. one frui-uay' and Weekly, one year 'ijy Carrier. j Triy, Funday Included, one year... ti-.i I Ki:mi:iv inrludi'd. one month. B00 .73 How l Remit Send postoflice money or.e r. nprft) oiil. r or personal chc It on vur Vcl l-.-ink. iumn coin or currency arc at the sender's risk. Give postoflice ad-cr-ss in mil. including county and Btale. lot.ice Hlr 10 to 14 pases. 1 cent; 18 to i-. i...Ke. z cents; 3t to 44 pajei. 3 cents; to tJ p-tirts. 4 cents. Foreign postase u.'nbie rates. KilMenl Kilsine Office The S. C. Beck- witr 1 .ul .u-racy-New Ifork. rooms 4S- So tribune huildlng. Chicago, rooma olO-jl-Tr.Lurie bui:dmjj. l-OI. STLANO. TIKSDAV. 1KC. 22. 1008. IMURNK'S POSTMASTER. . In itself the content over the Post mu&tership of Portland is in no wise important. It marks mainly the con t st of opposing ideas. largely or mo.-tiy within the Republican party with the Democratic, party as a hy t.ind. r, ready to use any advantage thuf mav oifer. Jolin C. Young, who never was Pi for anything else, may 0,- lit enough, for Bourne's Postmaster !' Pori'.amir Yet nohoiy in Portland thinks him actually lit for so impor tant u place. He is not named for ais litne.-s. That is not for a moment considered liy his promoter. He is i rimed because he is Bourne's par lieui.ir toady and factotum, Our .statesman of Portland wants and must have his man. But Fulton, for the present, holds up the continuation. There are great forces at Washington in symptulty witli him; else he could not hold it up. Yet these may Rive way. Some th.ro are. however, who think that the Republican majority of the Son and of the House, and the Re- , : .. ;..., orwl nuhitcan i-rcsoiem hi v,oivt. h: successor in the ollice. may not fully approve the idea ami the pur pose of Bryani.hig the Republican i. any and iikaking it populistic: there fore" may turn Bourne and his Post-ma.-ti r down. Yet probably tliis may be a mistaken opinion. After Fulton shall have ji;t.d tiie .Senate, llourne. assisted l.y his Democrato-P.opulistic colleague, may accomplish the common purpose in Oregon, just as well as if Bryan had been elected. Jt will bo ail right, too looked on from that side. Yet there are thousands and thousands of R.-publkans who never will act with this combination. Their votes, indeed, must go somewhere. Hut they never will so to the support and nggrandize ment of ttie Eotirne-U'Ron end of the combination. We are to have one Democratic Senator, on this basis. Perhaps we shall have another. For the sole i.-viue in the politics of ( irci;on now will be whether this method shall be continued and perpetuated or not. It opens a door to every description of political fraud. It is a combination iind a juggle, the like of which never was seen anywhere else. But whatever may he done at "Washington will ma,f little difference. Assuredly, however, the contest in Oregon between those who intend to maintain the principles of the Ropub lican party, with loyalty to its tra ditions, and those who would com promise botli its principles and its tra ditions by election of Democratic Sen ators, through Legislatures over whelmingly llepubiican (only nomi nally such), will not be ended by the ;t ppointment of Federal officials, at tiie dictation of "the combine." Uf mighty little consequence Is the Post master. Bourne will get his man, doubtless. It is but a trilling- Incident. One of two things, however, of which the distribution of the offices is mere Is' a .---ign of do, -per things, will occur, n.imtiy; Either the control of the Republican party of Oregon will be wrested from those who have usurped it. in combination with the Populistte J'.ryan Detnot racy, or the Republican party will cease to be a power in the state. .Men who respect "themselves will not be juggled with by such pirates as Bourne and U'lien and their ilk et id genus omne. But to return for a word to the one Incident just now in which all are alike interested the I'ostniastership of this great central city. Bourne doubtless will get his Postmaster, at last, for that is the customary method of administrations and "the t ourte.-y of tli!? Senate." But he will he Bourne's man only: and in the dictation of liLs appointment the pub lic interest is not for a moment thought of. The one thour-ht Is to provide for Jonathan's man Friday. Jl lON A. .VF.KK'S LT1K AND DKATH. Protest has been entered by persons who personally knew Judson A. .Meek, late of Clatsop County, against the editorial comment upon the life and death of the recluse who bore this name, as reported some days aso in the news item in The On-Ronian. The basis of the remarks was that this man had, according- to the rec ord furnished, lived alone on hia ranch for 30 years, died alone and that hiF body ivius found several days after death, prone upon the floor of his home. Without having personal knowledgo of this man and his life, the writer of the article drew a picture of the life of a recluse upon the frontier that is not unfamiliar, and was not too stronply depicted in a majority of such cases. This recluse, however, we are assured, was a cheerful, penial, useful man and not at ail the "lonir-haired. long-bearded solitary." whose life u the merest existenco and w hose death was unrtgretted. That ordinarily a life thus lived misses iu fulfillment any useful pur pose and Is fitly closed by a lonely death is a fact too well verilied by human observation to admit of con troversy. That tho life of Judson A. Meek was not of this t pe we. have b. i-n assured and are fiiad to believe. The conclusions drawn from the life end death of the ordinary recluse have a general rather than a personal slnilii iinrc and are in accord with the liisiory-idd declaration that "it is not c ud for man to be alone." There arc exceptions to all general rules and it is a pleasure to note r.n honorable exception in this instance. X,- Mexico, once the home and refuse of the bad men from all parts of tiie West, has reformed and is tiesiro'.is of securing statehood riirhts, .nd. if Governor Curry has not pi ii::i;er.ited tiie situation. It would ap pear that sho would be a desirable acquisition. In his request for state j hood. Governor Curry says that the credit of the state Is" excellent, "no strikes mar the record of its indus tries; the laws enacted its Legis lature are rood, gambling is pro hibited, and Sunday closing rigorously enforced." This does not sound much like the Xew Mexico of old. but time has wrought great changes in that portion of the country, and there t hardly seems to be any valid reason why another star should not be added to the ensign of freedom by taking in the preat cattle country of the South west.' ; MARY'S lUVKR AVI MARVS I'KAK. The Oretronian desires to correct an error it made as to names In the pio neer history of Oregon some months ago. The error relates to the naming of Mary's River and Mary's Peak- in Benton County. These names were triven for Mary Lloyd by Wayman St. Clair, not by Adam Wimple, for his sister Mary, as stated in the former article. Mary Lloyd married John Foster. She died in 1S54. Her fam ily was among the earliest pioneers of the upper Willamette Valley. A younger brother of Mary Lloyd, Fos ter, still lives, near Waitsburg. Wash. The error made by The Orcgonian was derived from inaccurate reminis cences of a very old pioneer of Oregon and Washington, now deceased, deliv ered when- his memory was failing him. Publication of the former arti cle has lid to verification of the actual history, but it has taken a good deal of time and effort to get the truth. This, however, now is estab lished, t-hat it was for Mary Lloyd, not Mary Wimple, that the-river, the mountain and the town (Xow Cor vallis) were named. The Lloyd family came to Oregon in the immigration of 1S4 5. It was with the party that had the experi ence and the trials of "Meek's Cut off." in that year. M..M)K'KI(i TltU MARKIKH. 'The tirade of Kmma Goldman against the marriage state would bo unspeakably disgusting were it not for the fact that there is something al most pathetic in the ignorance of thi3 wandering, turbulent creature on a subject as to what marriage among civilized people actually means. Emma Goldman, professional agitator, com panion of Herr Most and all the rest of the dirty, unwashed, unkempt band of foreign anarchists who have cursed this country with their presence, is as ill-fitted to speak intelligently on mar riage as it is understood in this coun try as a lisping babe is to discuss the movements of the planetary system. Hut. even assuming that Miss Gold man's manner of life had not built up between her and the sacredness of married life an impenetrable -wall,-her opinion on such matters would still remain only an opinion, and would thus be obliged to take its chances with those of others who have had superior advantages for studying the problem, and have also hud the ad vantage of gaining the world's confi dence on this and other topics. Among such authorities we find the immortal Eurke declaring that "The Christian religion by confining mar riage to pairs, and rendering the rela tion indissoluble, has ty these two things done more toward the peace, happiness, settlement and civilization of the world, than by any other part in this whole scheme of divine wis dom" Then there was John Milton, whose matchless work will be enjoyed by thousands long after the world will have forgotten that such a crea ture as Fmma Goldman ever lived in this good old world. It was th; wonderful pnet who wrote; Hail ivedilcd love, mysterious law, true source Of human offspring. soV propriety Tn I'arB'liwn of :i!l thinirs common elso. Hy ih"- ailult'rous lul woh driven from men Amons tie- bestial herds to ranRe; by thee l-Viiml'-.l in reason, loyal, just and pure, li.-lations dear, and all the charities ut father, son, und brother first were known. The condition into which the world would probably drift if it adopted Miss Goldman's views on marriage was quite graphically set forth many years ago by the Rev. Timothy Dwigiit, who expressed the belief that "The insti tution of marriage keeps the moral world in being, and secures it from an untimely dissolution. Without it, natural affection and aniiableness would not exist, domestic education would ' become extinct, industry and economy become unknown, and man would be left to the precarious ex istence of the savage. But for this Institution. . learning and refinement would expire, government sink into the gulf of anarchy; and religion, hunted from earth, would hasten back to her native heavens." Similar views are expressed by William Shakespeare, Dr. Johnson, Schiller, Goldsmith, Moore, Burns, Bacon. Swift, Coleridge. Charles Keado. Sydney Smith, Bulwer. Cowper, Tennyson and a number of others whose opinions on the subject will meet the approval of more people lhan can be found agreeing with the high priestess of anarchy. rOHTLAND'S CHAIN TKADK. With elimination of the differen tial of SO cents per ton on ocean freights, and the coming of the North Bank road to Portland, there has come a radical change hi the relative positions of Portland and Puget Sound In the wheat trade of the Pa cific Northwest. The business is fol lowing the line of least resistance and gravitating to Portland as naturally as water runs to the sea. This re turn of the business to Portland, where for economic reasons alone it properly belong.?, has naturally met with some protest in Washington, and this city has been subjected to un fair criticism, apparently inspired by enemies of Portland. At a recent meeting of the Washington Wheat growers, Millers' and Shippers' Asso ciation at Pullman, Wash., President O. K. Young said: "There is a grow ing feeling among the producers that we are not obtaining the juices for wheat that the markets of the world justify. All through the exporting season of 190S there has been a wide difference in prices between Portland and San Francisco that the difference of freight rates does not explain. A prominent grain man operating In the Palouse country informed me that wheat was 6 cents lower than it should be In Kastern Washington." As no mention whatever Is made of the prices at Puget Sound ports, to which the freight rate from Pullman and other Kastern Washington points Is the same as the rate to Portland, it is obvious that this complaint was given circulation for the purpose of injuring Portland in the territory in volved. There have been throughout the past season engaged In grain buy ing at Portland no less than 27 firms. Of these six have exported grain to Kurope ntiil have also slipped to the California markets. Fourteen others have bought and sold grain for the California and local markets, and the others have bought mostly for the local milling trade, occasionally sell ing to exporters and California ship pers. It is needless to say that, with this number of buyers in the field, with ample dock and shipping facilities and with only a comparatively small crop to work on. a "gouge" of 6 cents per bushel or half that amount would be an impossibility. There is, how ever, another test as to whether or not wheat is selling at its full value, and. before placing too much depend ence on the statement of his anony mous "prominent grain man operat ing in the Palouse country," Presi dent Young would have done well to apply it. The London and Liverpool quotations, on which the export price of wheat is based the world over, are public property, the ocean freight rates are also easily obtainable, iand any. bank in the country will quote the daily rate of exchange. A'ith these figures so easily available, and the rail rate from Palouse points to Portland no secret, it Is never beyond the. ability 4-f President Young or any other farmer of average intelligence to figure out to a nicety the value of wheat. This value is figured out daily by a large number of operators at Portland anil at Tacoma, and. as there Is al ways a surplus of tonnage available, the moment that these ligures would disclose a profit not 6 cents or 4 cents, fr even 2 cents, but aything over 1 cent per bushel there would be a frantic rush on the part of these buyers to do business. San Francisco is no longer an ex porting market. It buys Oregon and Washington wheat as nearly as pos sible on the export basis, but, as the California demand runs to choice milling grades, prices rule higher than for the average run of export cargoes. The price, however, is governed auto matically by the Liverpool price. Kxporters no longer hamper them selves by chartering ahead, and if the San Francisco market shows anv wide difference" over export values, the grain is immediately diverted to California until that limited demand is supplied, supply and demand as usual fixing the price, and the com petition among buyers always assur ing tho sellers full values. The headquarters of tho grain trade of the Pacific Northwest is more firmly than ever established at Port land and it will require some more potent force than tho circulation of baseless rumors reflecting on the methods of Portland grain men to change the existing order of things a r;ooi jiK;iNlN;. pursuance of his ambition to In escape enrollment among the Presi dents who havo been nobtyrlles, or worse, and make his Administration rank high in history, Mr. Taft is se lecting the members of his Cabinet with deliberation. When they are all chosen we shall know whether he is a good judge of men or not. No body questions his personal gift of greatness, but many great men have" so grievously erred In selecting subr ordinates and confidants that their careers have been ruined by Incompe tence and treachery w hich might eas ily have been avoided had they been better judges of human nature. No doubt the consummate ability to fathom men and accurately foretell how they will act in. emergencies is the rarest of gifts. Napoleon had it in perfection. So had Pitt, who by merely changing commanders in America and elsewhere suddenly transformed his defeated and humil iated country into a power whom no nemy could withstand. McKinJey could judge men surprisingly well in view oC the fact that his general .abil ities were so moderate. If Mr. Taft chooses the rest of his Cabinet as wisely as he has the Sec retary of State we shall have to ad mit that he knows men as well as measures. It will show that he is not only keenly aware of what he wants, but also of how to get it. which is usually the more serious difficulty of the two. Mr. Knox has come up to expectations in every public position he has occupied. ILe won renown as Government prosecutor in tho famous, though rather futile. Northern Secur ities case. .It was a futile case be cause it did not prevent the combina tion of railroads under common own ership, no matter whether they are parallel or not. No law or court could prevent it.. But the Northern Securities case, which Mr. Knox won, did firmly establish the authority of the Federal Government over inter state corporations, and from that point of view it marks an epoch in constitutional history. The shallow objection has been made to .Mr. Knox that he is a xcor-' poration lawyer. Those who make it apparently wish to see the Govern ment left defenseless among its foes. When it is beset by corporation law yers on every side seeking to curtail its authority and -wrest from the pub lic special privileges Tor their clients the natural and sensible course is to pit against them knowledge and abil ity of their own kind. None but cor poration lawyers can successfully countercheck corporation lawyers in Congress, in the courts or in diplo macy. Their wiles are inconceivably subtle. They .wind to their ends so sinuously that no ordinary person dreams where they are going until they have arrived. They have a morality of their own whose perplex ities baffle the rest of the world. They have a language which nobody understands but themselves. In the mouth of a corporation lawyer Eng lish becomes a mystic speech, weird and enchanted. The simplest phrases are big with unexpected meaning, sheer gibberish acquires transcen dental import How is the Govern ment to deal with such people ex cept through men who hnve belonged to the same tribe? It is carrying suspicion too far to say that a man who has once been a corporation lawyer can never serve the public honestly. This Is unfair. The instinct of every decent lawyer is to be loyal to his client. If the client is a railroad It gets the best he has to render. If the client is the public be serves it just as faith fully. Why not? It is the business of a lawyer to win cases. All clients look alike to him.- If this is trfte, and It certainly is true In spite of our prejudices, how much more useful to the public a man can be who thor oughly understands corporation law in all its devious mazes, like Mr. Knox, than one who knows little or nothing about it. The fact that Mr. Knox has been a corporation lawyer, and n very great one, uniquely quali ties him to be Mr. Taft's chief adviser in these times when all our political questions relate directly "or indirectly to corporations. Without such a man at his elbow the President would be helpless in his moments of greatest need. This, of course, presupposes that Mr. Knox is an honest man, who will devote his surpassing ability to the loyal services of the Administra tion. " , That he will do so there is not a shadow of doubt.' Treachery is almost the rarest of vices, even among, com mon men. Among those in conspicu ous stations it is almost unknown. The notable traitors of history scarce ly number a half dozen; who can count the men that were faithful to their trust? A man in Mr. Knox' position cannot afford the slightest deviation from perfect loyalty, and nobody knows it better than, he. There is too much at stake. His name is certain to go down in history and according "as he fulfills his duty it will fce written with execration or praise. -Tan anybody doubt which he will choose? To doubt him is to hold that the best or us value money above fame. Some may have done so, but they were not Knoxes. After enjoying the pleasure of wit nessing steamers and non-union ships carry away nearly all of the available surplus of wheat from the Pacific Northwest, at rates from three to five shillings lower than the arbitrary union rates, the International Sailing ship Owners' Association has at last suspended the rates from Portland and Puget Sound. This will enable owners to charter their vessels at any rate which can be secured, and as a result there will be an immediate lowering of ra,tes out t.t North Pacific ports. The signal failure of the attempt of the union to hold rates at a higher figure than were warranted by the law of supply and demand has sur prised no one familiar with the busi ness on the' Pacific Coast. It has again been demonstrated that while "one man may lead a pony to the brink, twenty thousand cannot make him drink." Suspension of the' rates out of Portland does not affect other features of the union, and, with re turn of better times for shipping, it may be reinstated. An Inkling of what the lumber in dustry means to the entire Columbia River region can be gained from a news dispatch from Kalama in yester day's Oregonian, announcing construc tion of two large sawmills and a shingle milh These three enterprises, which will be in active operation in six months, will give employment to 500 men in the yards and camps, and will more than double the population of Kalama. These plants are no larger than half a dozen others already pro jected for various places along the Columbia, and they will be followed by others of .still greater capacity. In lumber to a greater extent than almost any other commodity, labor comes in Wr the largest share of the cost represented In the finished -product, and the money disbursed by these mills and camps will be turned over a great many times in a very brief period after it is first placed in cir culation. Attorney-General Breathitt, of Ken tucky, has handed down an opinion in which he holds that a teacher has authority to whip a pupil if such action is necessary In order to main tain discipline. The decision was on an appeal from a local court decision which refused the teacher the right to whip the scholars, and as a result the entire common school system of Kentucky was in a fair way to be de moralized. If one-half of the stories that are told of backwoods life in the Blue Grass state are true, the teacher should not only be granted the right to whip the refractory pupils, but it might not be out of place to clothe him with power to shoot when he deemed it necessary. Teaching school in a region that produces the Hargis family must at the best be a hazard ous profession. - The farmers of Clark County, Washington, are to be congratulated upon the fact that a cannery of ca pacity sufficient to handle the surplus fruit of that region will be built and equipped this Winter. Owing to the lack of facilities for taking care of it, enormous quantities of fruit go to waste every year in the orchards of Clark County. The' cannery projected and made possible by improved trans portation facilities will give a new impetus to fruit-growing over a wide section particularly adapted to this purpose. . It is quite safe to say that one of the strong influences that directed legislation at the last session of the Legislature will not be felt in that which is to begin next month. J. Thorburn Ross was able to get what he wanted two years ago in the way of a law providirfg for the deposit of state funds in banks, but results of such legislation are not likely to make him a material factor in another ses sion. And yet there may be others to take his place and do as neat a job of manipulation as he performed. Those who aid in piling up tax bur dens should not complain at a, spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction among the taxpayers. It is true that as a city grows its expenses must increase, but the increase should not be at a more rapjd rate than the increase in the number of taxpayers, nor faster than the increase in the taxable property. The man who finds his taxes Increas ing from year to year, though he owns no more property, knows that the tax burden is increasing more rapidly than the quantity of property and the num ber of taxpayers. Portland taxpayers" who look with concern upon the increased burdens incident to local expenditures should wait until the State Legislature has made its appropriations before using up all the expressive words in their vocabularies. Finch will admit, no doubt, that he escaped alive after his encounter with Fisher. Once he had forgotten all about the affair.. N'ow he remembers all about it. How soon till he again forgets all he no- remembers? According to the defense, the Hains brothers had a terribly narrow escape from death at the hands of the un armed Annis. Such are the wonders of our modern criminal procedure. The Democratic party is to establish headquarters in Washington soon in order to prepare for the campaign of 1912. Doubtless the early bird will catch a worm nothing better. An Oakland, California, man who Is 113 years old, led the grand march at a dance given for his benefit. He is a vegetarian. A slump in the meat market may be expected. Oregon has broken many a record in 1908, why shouldn't it break a weather record? Now we've got the weather. But where is Santa Claus? MR. ROOSEVELT AND THE EDITORS N rn.pn iter l ora nient From Both Side-ai An to Merita of Controversy. ' New York Times, Dem. We think it will, be the opinion of Mr. Roosevelt's countrymen that he might have let these newspaper state ments pass him by like the idle wind. Certainly lie ought not to have made them the subject of a mesage to the National lawmakers. Let the People Be the Judge. Chicago Journal, lnd.'-Dem. The people of the United States are the most impartial, accurate judge and jury In the world. Bluster, bluff and intimidation carry no weight with them, nor do they lend willing ear to slanderous scandal. The Panama case can be submitted to popular opinion without the least fear of any miscar riage of justice, and this should be done forthwith. Conirreo Anked In an Iteferee. New York Sun. Rep. We regret to say that the manner In which the President has treated the Panama question has convinced the public that it Is necessary in the In terests of the countrj,- that a full In quiry should be had. The Sun has had no part In the Panama matter. From the beginning it has rejected it with contempt. But Mr. Roosevelt's conduct makes It imperative in our judgment that Congress should deal with It. No Tfeed for Consrrsslonnl Action. Brooklyn (S. Y.) T:agle, Ind. The only justification for a Congres sional inquiry would be the possibility of discovering the names of all the individuals to whom the liquidator dis tributed the money he obtained. Such a possibility does not. we believe, ex ist. How would Congress cross-examine the French government through its agent, the liquidator, and what power, inherent or acquired, does it possess to scrutinize his accounts? Good "Ad" for IVew York Newspaper. Columbia (S. C.) State. Dem. The President's action in directing that the Government bring criminal proceedings against Jose'ph Pulitzer be cause The World two months ago al leged there was something exceeding ly fishv in the Panama Canal purchase, and demanded a revelation of transac tions heretofore concealed from the public, will be worth not less than $1, 000,000 to the New York newspaper and will make Mr. Roosevelt ridicu lous at home and abroad. Dire Alternative Before Trnducera. New York Tribune, Rep. It may be that some misguided per sons in the present case, while iorced to admit that there is not the slight est proof obtainable or discoverable of the charges which they have uttered against their own Government and its good name, will yet obstinately de clare thut it must be so. for otherwise they should have to concede that the. American Government was honest and that its dealings with the Panama com pany had been honorable. Truly, a dire alternative. Piinh Kurther the Query Probe. Chicago winter Ocean, Rep. Tho President's threats merely show what Mr. Roosevelt would like to do to destroy the liberty of the press if he could. Fortunately we still have courts which decide according to the law. regardless of personal opinions. Neither the President's abusive in dignation nor resentment of it goes to the root of the matter. The indig nation excites laughter either of ridi cule or cynical, and In both cases de plorable, though Inevitable. The real question is what was done with the people's money who got it and why? ' No Ground for Libel of Anyone. Springfield (Mass.) Republican, Ind. President Roosevelt declares t-hat the chief offense of the New York World and its editor consists less in the libel of private citizens than in the libel of the Washington Government. If, how ever charges or intimations have been made of interested motives on the part of anybodv connected with Mr. Roose velt's administration in the purchase of the Panama property, the fact is not generally known. Where a libel of the Government comes in, therefore, is not clear, whether as to substance or form. I nllkely Thnt Roonevelt 'Will Sue. Boston (Mass.) Globe, Dem. President Cleveland probably had more cause than any other of our pub lic men, Jefferson and Jackson alone excepted, for action against the press. He showed great forbearance and dig nity by refraining. President Roosevelt. unlike Mr. Cleveland, refuses to suffer in silence. He hits back with vigor which would signify he had no intention of engag ing in a lawsuit. If he should sue, it is not unlikely court or jury would say his castigatlon of the defendants ought to reduce damages materially. Mid Oroundu for Hl Assault. New York Evening Post, Ind. -Dem. It is beyond doubt that President Roosevelt had good grounds for his assault upon the New York World. That newspaper has not been able to substantiate grave editorial allegations of wrong-doing in the purchase of the Panama Canal. Any newspaper guilty of such blunders, whatever its motive, must take the consequences. . . . K President devoting a whole mes sage to Congress to the denunciation of a single newspaper! Who would have thought it possible before Mr. Roosevelt became President? Histor ian as he himself is. nobody should know better than Mr. Roosevelt that his long series of violent denunciations and of branding men as liars will al ways he a terrible indictment of the sanity and wisdom of his administra tion. . 1 Colored Brothers In the Woodpile. Chicago Daily Tribune. Rep. The powerful interests which have felt that the Roosevelt administration has been what the World has not hesi tated to call it "a reign of terror" have expressed themselves through every available channel, sending forth poi sonous rumor as the devilfish spreads its fluid. The World in its reply has called Mr. Roosevelt "the. most reck less, unscrupulous demagogue whom the American people ever trusted with great power and authority." The epithet floods the editorial sanctum of the World with light. It suggests elo quently the standard of values upon which "the editorial comment of jour nals like the World and the Sun have been founded. It betrays the animus which has set and kept afloat the Panama canard and stung Mr. Roose velt into an ill-advised and unneces sary recognition of years of malignant detraction. NEWSPAPKR WAIFS. -What do von lawyers mean by pro fessional courtesy'?" "Passing a rich client down the line." Clevelund Leader. MuKKins Harduppe claims to be very bashful about meeting people. BuKgins Meeting people? Why, Harduppe even hesi tates about meeting his obligations. Phila delphia P.ecord. Applicant Have yes got New Office holder Is It anything of value yez wants? "It is. begorrah." "Thin we hoven't got it. Tlr party goin' out has taken id wid 'em." Puck. Excited caller lat police station! I had my' pocket picked on the streetcars just now. Desk Sergeant Well, if you had it done what are you coming here to kick about? Chicago Tribune. . f RKPI.T TO COUNCILMAN MENEFEE Let the People Decide Between Broad way and Hancock Street Brldsres. PORTLAND, Or., Dec. 21. (To the Edi tor.) In The Sunday Oregonian of yes terday Councilman Menefee gives me quite a roast. Well, in the interests of the people I can stand it. I would like to ask Mr. Menefee on behalf of the jeo ple a few question: On what authority did you employ Modjeskl at $5000 expense to the taxpayers? What did he do to earn the money? He says he made his report from city. data. He never made an estimate for the Hancock-street, bridge. Why did you flop from the Hancock-street location to the Broadway lo cation, after once having the Inited East Side Clubs indorse the Hancock. Street location for a bridge? You say "certain persons whom I be lieve were Inspired by seltish interests." meaning myself (and you know I have no property wifliin eight or ten bWeks of Hancock street), "caused the circulation of a petition which was signed probably by 1"00 people." Yes, and Several thou sand others only wait for an opportunity to sign it. Said petition, however, was circulated by order of tlio M. I. Asso ciation. I want to say to you. every signer of that petition has as much right in this matter as you, or any other member of the N. E. Club. What the people want is fair play ahd a square deal In this matter; not two bridges, or two locations, but the Hancock-street brioge, which will serve both sides of the river equally well; both Northwest Portland and Northeast Port land where large manufacturing, milling and other industries are located. The Broadway location entirely ignores North west Portland and all that territory known as the Lewis and Clark Fair Grounds and surroundings, which Is fast tilling up with our most important im provements. There is no advantage to the people In the Broadway location that is not equally true of the Hancock loca tion, while the Hancock location will bo much cheaper and economical to huild. both as to approaches, . and length of structure. If you are sincere, and desire the great est good to the greatest number of the people, a look at the city map and the territory to be served will convince any disinterested party that Hancock street is the proper location for a bridge. You will notice Hancock street runs straight east, without any jogs, and on a good grade. You cast a slur on the people and tax payers who signed the petition referred to for the Hancock-street bridge by saying "they were in no sense representative." Our Mr. Joseph Ellis, of the M. I. As sociation Club, who circulated the said petition, says t- it members of big whole sale and retail establishments on the west side of the river, as well as both city and county officers, readily signed, know ing full well it was for the Hancock street location, and were told plainly by Mr. Ellis It was in opposition to the $2,000,000 Broadway-street proposition. Is it possible they are not representative? Maybe not. along your line of reasoning However, wo confidently expect the Coun cil will grant the prayer or the petitioners and leave tiie result to the voters. L. M. DAVIS. Bryan Sprintinc Baekward. -. New York World. The World pointed oaf the signifi cance of the official election returns in tho Southern states complied for the World Almanac. They showed that the Bryan vote and the Bryan plufalities decreased notably In most of the Sou thern states. They decreased in all the industrial states of the new South. Significant also are the figures show ing the increase of Republican popular pluralities for President with Mr. Bry an as the Democratic candidate. MpKlnlcy's pluraliy over Bryan in 1S116 was 601,854. In 1900 the McKinley plurality over Bryan was 849,790, an increase of about 40 per cent. This year the Taft plurality is !. 208.99?, an increase of about 42 per cent over MeKinley's 1900 plurality and more than 100 per cent over the 189B plurality. Predicting results hereafter, should Bryan continue in the Democratic lead ership, is merely a matter of mathe matics. In 1912 the plurality for the Renublican candidate will be 1.716,76(1. As a backward political sprinter, Mr. Bryan holds the record. Persecute Government for Libel f No. New York Globe, Rep. Every schoolboy knows that the Fed eral Government, as such, can never prosecute for libel that the states have exclusive jurisdiction over this offense. And every schoolboy also knows that it is preposterous to identify as attack against the Government an attack on any officer of the Government, no mat ter how eminent. In 1798 the sensitive Federalists, smarting under unjust at tacks, passed the sedition act, provid ing punishment for uttering false and scandalous charges against Congress or the President. Hamilton begged and pleaded against the enactment of this law, for he foresaw the conse quences. "And from the day the bill became law the Federal party went slowly down to ruin." Governor Will Parade on Horseback. Springfield Republican. Never before has a Governor-elect of Ohio appeared in Columbus in the great parade which accompanies his inauguration mounted on a charger. T-....T tj uoTi.c nt WilMsim Alc- nuinriivu i. i"..-' - Kinley learned to sit orj a horse while serving in the war. but they were both conveyed in a carriage when inaugu rated Governor. Judson Harmon, how ever, is to mount a horse on January 11. "Why should I not ride horseback in the parade?" Judge ITarmon asked. "My staff will be mounted, and there is no good reason why I should be toted along in a carriage when the rest of the boys are mounted." Columbus ex pects 100.000 visitors on that day. Now Who Elected Mr. Palmerf London Illustrated News. Mr. James S- Palmer. Vice-Presidentelect of the Fnited States, may possi bly look forward td filling one day the position of President. It will be re membered that on the. death of Presi dent McKinley, Mr. Roosevelt, who was then Vice-President, succeeded attto mitically to the Presidency without opposition. Should anything happen to Mr Taft. (which we sincerely trust, for "his sake, may not be the case.) .Mr. PoJmer would probably, if precedent were followed, take his place. New Definition of Opllnilnt. New York World. Dr E. R. L- Gould. the Citizens' Union leader, who is getting ready for a hard fight in the coming city cam paign, gave this definition of an opti mist yesterday: "A fellow, w-ho can fall off the top story of the Flatiron building and yell out as he passes each story on his way down: 'It's all right so far.' " The President 'All llet I p." New York Herald. Ind. The tone of the special mesage sent to Congress dealing with the charges of jobbery in connection with the pur chase of the Panama Canal shows to borrow from the Brooklyn Eagle this good old New England phrase that the President is "all het up." Why He Didn't Walt. Houston Post. "Why didn't he wait until New Year's to swear off?" "The last time he come home swizzled his wife painted a snapping turtle red. white and blue, and turned it loose In his room." LOCATION OF NEW STEEL BRIDGR Let the People Vote Separately on the Bonds anil the Point of Lronninir. PORTLAND. Dec. 21. (To the Editor.) In answer to the numerous articles re garding the location of the new sieei bridge, north of the present steel bridge, for- which the Council passed an ordi nance recommending an amendment to the charter authorizing a vote at the next election for the sale of 2.0io.iKt0 worth of bonds to defray expenses of same, it seems strange that the North East Im provement Association should resent thi. demand of the citizens of Portland to submit the location of this bridu" to a vote of the people, unless they fear tiie Inevitable result of such a vote. As At torney John Logan said at one of th Charter Board meetings. "The people generally vote i-IkIU." and as this Is an expenditure of $2.0ihi.0hii of the taxpay ers' money, their wishes in regard to lo cations should be decisive and not lite interest of a certain l'cvv. The Council allowed an expenditure of $50oo for plans, specifications and esti mates for this new bridge and employed Ralph Modjeskl. an eminent bridge ex pert, to submit the data. His report whs submitted to the Council in October, but what information outside of the cost of two types of briilKCs docs his report contain? He recommends the Broadway site, at which location no soundings have been made; the cost of condemning prop erty for East and West Side approaches has not been estimated and many mora details in a report of this character at sadly wanting. The only report (hat this location wetiM be satisfactory to tho Secretary of War Is Mr. Modjeski's opinion, or in other words, whichever location is recom mended by the expert, it has been taken for granted, would be satisfactory to the Government. Now the Multnomah Push Club insists thnt the location be submitted to a vote of the people, and to satisfy t lie lirtdgo Committee of the Council that there is merit in their demand, they circulated a petition and in less than ten days some 2(100 residents signed the petition for a bridge to be located nt Hancock street, with a west approach to be located in or about Pcttigrove street (or better still, use the I'ppcr Albina ferry slips, now city property), and this petition could be in creased to 10.00(1 nanus if necessary, which shows that the people desire i voice in the matter of locating this bridge. The Multnomah Club desires to have the present ordinance In regard to tho appropriation of $2,000,000 repealed and a substitute ordinance passer? segregating the locations of the bridge from the bond issue so that the bond issue will be voted on separately and the locations separate-lv.- which can undoubtedly bo done leitally, according to tht City Attorney's opinion. Yours for a square deal. W. It. PAYNE. "THAT PETITION FOR PEHJIRV." With a Few Remarks Personal to Rev erend Clarence True W ilson. PORTLAND, Or., Doc. 21. (To the Editor.) "Oregon prior to the adop tion of the amendment to its constitu tion giving to the people the right to express their choice for United States Senator was represented by men who neither morally, socially nor politically represented the best thought or moral of the people of tho slate." Indeed! What docs Mr. Wilson know about the men who have represented in the National Senate the State of Oregon? What does lie know about Senators E. D. linker, J. W. Nesmith. George 1 1. Williams, H. W. Corbetl, L. F. Grocer, James II. Slater. J. K. Kelly. D.-lnzon Smith. .Joseph Lane and J. N. Dolph? Is this man Wilson the same fel low who rushed into the press shout ing for the Democratic nominee for District Attorney at lite lust election? Is he the same nonpartisan, divinely called, who put IL-ncy in tho pulpit of the Centenary M. K. Church dur ing bis last visit to Oregon for the express purpose of maligning the char acter of Senator Fulton? Is this the same Wilson who. like a little dog in high oats keeps jump ing up on every possible pretext and yelping for notice In tho papers.? Is this the same Wilson whose salary has just been reduced by his church, a fact he has thought to cover up by a little pious game of hocus pocus? Is he the same Wilson who has been In Oregon, from Delaware, Call frni and several other places, hardly long enough to get his scut warm, and assumes the role ot spiritual aim po- litical adviser for the whole t''? J. F. CLARK!-! No New Years' Calls in New York. Springfield Republican. An effort is being made in Minneap olis to revive the custom of calling on January 1. and a local paper publishes a list of women who are willing to re ceive. Long ago in New York City the custom reached its height in the, more or less good old days when eggnogg was an accompaniment, and festivity in the end came to take on an objec tionable liberality. Hospitality of that kind will never again generally flourish In American cities. Tho social instinct which welcomes the opportu nity to wish friends a "Happy New Year" is a desirable thing and the more direct social touch is to be desired. The. intensity of American life, how ever has reduced calling in large meas ure, ' so far as men are concerned, to the emptv form ot sending cards b the women of the family. It would conduce to longevity and the general happiness if the more leisurely social . onntact of an older time could be. tc- vived 1 'pott this point we can ah airrce' But when It comes to taking time for New Year's calls, the men folks will, with one accord, begin to make excuses. (. Ilon'ls for I.ae Christmns shopper. Chicago Record-Herald. Kon't stand back and wait for the crowds to become smaller. Don't neglect before starting out to use a f.-w extra pins in fastening on your skirt. . Don't fail to forget to apologize when vou sic,, on another lady's feet. Don't neglect to forget that patience, is a virtue. Don't trv to carry your money wnrre the pi''kP'kot ''inot Set it without Don't buy until you have seen every thing In tlvc stores. Don't fail when you are asked by .i. clerk what you are looking for to re turn a haughty stare. 4 Don't neglect on your way home to fill the seat next to you with our b"l"on:t" save trouble by deciding what vou want and going to it " Don't fail to wear the bigges l,.-t vou have. It will make you look in teresting, when it gets smashed down over your face. , Don't for a moment consiriei in comfort or convenience of anybody else. Count That Day Lost. Chicago Record-lieran.. Some of the members of the most dignified deliberative body on c. It i positively refuse to count 1li.it da lost whose low descending sun bungs in no message bearer on the, run. The Cull of Companionship. Atchison Globe. You often hear a lonesome child say: "I want some one to play with. El derly people often become lonesome and want some one to play with, but are afraid to say so. ' Lert-llauded Keonomy. Atchison Globe. The average man 's so economical that he makes his wife's wedding clothes last her two years.