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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1909)
TITE MORNING OREGONIAX, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1900. 8 PORTLAND OREGON. r Entered c Portland. Oregon. Poatofflo a fiecond-Claa Matter. subscription Kales Invariably ' Advance. (By Mali.) . Dally, Sunday Included, one year Ially. Sunday Included, six month!.... J JJ Dally, Sunday Included, three month. . .2 2; Ially, Sunday Included, one monti.... Daily, without Sunday, one year. Dally, without Sunday, six month..... Dally, without Sunday, three montna.. . Dally, without Sunday, one month Weekly, one year 1 -J Sunday, one year iTi Sunday and Weekly, one year (By carrier.) Dally, Sunday Included, one year...... Dally. Sunday Included, one montn How to Remit Send potofflce money rder. expreea order or personal check on your local bank. Stampa. coin or currency re at th lender" risk. Give poatofdee d dreaa In full, including county and atate. Postage Bate 10 to 14 cage. 1 cent: 1 to 23 pace. 3 centa: SO to it page, t cent: 4 to 0 pace. 4 cent. Foreisn postage double rate. Eastern Business Office The S. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, room 48 10 Tribune building. Chicago, room 10-11 Tribune building. PORTLAND. 6ATI-BDAT. ixa 13. 190. THE ROAD TO THE TIT. It Is scarcely to be deemed prob able, or even possible, that the peo ple of Oregon will amend the consti tution of the state with Intent and purpose of putting the state Into the business of construction and operation of railroads. For the state, after It had built the roads could not oper ate them except at a steady loss, and would be compelled besides to pay the Interest on the bonds. Financial ruin would be the sure consequence. The best hope of protection the state could have would be the refusal of investors to buy the bonds of an undertaking certainly doomed to dis aster. The argument submitted as a pre amble to the proposed amendment is a childish performance. Xo railroad is to be built, leased or operated, "unless the state shall be compelled to do so for good reasons, or unless Justified in so doing by a superior profit or result." How can sensible men offer balderdash like that for a place In the constitution of the state? There would be "good reasons" for roads in all directions, but "profits" never would be possible. The locali ties where roads are most needed are the wide and thinly-peopled areas where there would be little traffic for many years, but where railroad systems already established might penetrate with their lines, making the old divisions helpers to the new. Pri vate enterprise in these matters can always accomplish things which the state cannot; it can command service from employes which the state can not; it can exercise a forecast which the state cannot. James J. Hill can beat all the states from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Lakes as a finan cier, builder and operator of rail roads; for he knows the business, and he has a compelling and decisive superintending ' power. He says to one. Go and he goeth; to another. Come and he cometh; but the em ployes of the state would argue it with the state, and everything would have to be submitted to the vote of the peo ple. It amazes indeed to find that any should suppose that a great busi ness, like that of covering a Mate with railroads or even a small busi ness could be carried on in this way. But these railroads are always to be "the people's railroads." "Xo rail road owned by the state, or by any county, municipality or railroad dis trict shall ever be sold to a private person, or corporation." Ah, indeed! But the state will not own the roads; the bondholders will own them; and when the roads default, and the state defaults with the roads which, be yond any possible doubt will happen how are our brave men. Teal. U'Ren, Wood and the rest to prevent the bondholders from selling the roads and taking a deficiency Judgment against all other property in the state? Or. is all private property within the state to be confiscated to pay the holders of the bonds of our state railroads, so as to prevent their sale to "any private person or corpor ation ?" This scheme will call for a debt of $50,000,000 to 1100,000,000 and more than even the last-named sum, if all sections and parts of the state are to be supplied with railroads. And assuredly It will not be right to ne glect, omit or overlook any part. Per fection of the system would require purchase by the state, at their just valuation, of the railroads now within Its borders, or construction of lines to parallel them. Oregon then will be a railroad state, indeed! Its sys tem of taxation for support of the railroads will speedily devour all other property and introduce In the guise of railroad benefactions .that blessed system of state socialism, with its de lightful uniformity, which has been the subject of so many rhapsodies, during recent years. We shall have the full fruition when it shall become necessary, as it gurely will, to meet by direct taxation, from year to year, without end, the payments of Interest on the sums thus borrowed and expended; for there will be no way of obtaining the tnoney other than by direct taxation. No man who has a farm or a few acres of land, no man who owns a factory or any kind of building ' or business, no man who owns a town lot or a flock of sheep, will be pleased with this confiscatory tax; and labor. In every form, will be compelled to bear its share of the burden for the gcheme will catch him also who pays no direct taxes. But there Is no intention, it will be said, to go very far in this business. The state will go to no excess in con struction of railroads. But if it shall begin the policy there can be no stop ping place short of that to which the logic will carry it. If the state is to supply the people with railroads It must render its service fully and Im partially; and confiscation of prop erty, earning bankruptcy with it. is the Inevitable pit. Oregon wants capital, and is seek ing it; but if this system shall be at tempted capital will take warning at once and will avoid Oregon: and pres ent owners, wishing to escape the crash which all the prudent ones would foresee, would dispose of their property as fast as they could. For the good of Oregon the Legislature yhould decline even to consider this amendment; for the mere suggestion of It would be a serious injury. That it would be rejected by the people there can be no mannen of doubt; but the mere proposition would bring the state Into a most hurtful notoriety. HOW NEVADA WAS LUGGED IX. The Mate of Nevada. with about a third of a man to the square mile. was admitted to the Union In order that two new Repub lican Senator might appear at Washington. The transaction was a Job pure and simp:e. and. like the pleasant vices of the poet, it has come back to vex Its perpetrator. That thia state, which has been aptly des;.-ived as the one mistake made by the Naf.cn ;n the organization of states In the Far West, sl-culd have the power and the will to em btoil the United States with a .'nend'.y power: that It should, gratuitously and quite uselessly, attempt to legislate away the treaty rights of the subjects of a for eign nation. Is not only an anomaly, but an absurdity most nagrant. Louisville Courier Journal. Nevada would not have been made a state but for the Civil War and the course of the anti-war party of the North. The Democratic party, oppos ing prosecution of the tvar, had won victories in 1862 in many Northern states and had elected many Sena tors of the "Copperhead" type. It was to hold a majority, if possible, against these, that Nevada was ad mitted. It was done with the ad vice of Lincoln, who as President, ap proved the enabling act, and later (October 31. 1864) issued his procla mation declaring that Nevada, hav ing compiled with requirements, waa admitted as a state of the Union. In ordinary times it never could have been done. Lincoln wanted the Sena tors from Nevada to "stand off" such men as Hendricks of Indiana and Richardson of Illinois, so as to give the war for the Union a chance of success. It was a most unfortunate state of things that made a reinforce ment of the war element in the Sen ate desirable, and apparently neces sary. CONCEALS THE KEAX CAUSE. Leslie M. Shaw, ex-Secretary of the Treasury, has apparently resumed his former position as one of the chief "spielers" in favor of a ship subsidy. He has recently made a number of speeches replete with inaccuracies and misrepresentation regarding tho topic which he essays to discuss. The California Japanese agitation was seized on by Mr. Shaw as a pretext for exposing our self-imposed weak ness on this most Vulnerable point. "The powers of the world." said Mr. Shaw, "laughed at the spectacle of our sixteen battleships starting around the world, accompanied by and depending for coal and supplies on twenty-seven colliers and supply vessels floating foreign flags, which would have deserted them and left them helpless at the first smell of hostile powder." Mr. Shaw is slightly in error as to the real cause of this foreign mirth over the idiotic and unnecessary per formance mentioned. What th,e pow ers of the world really laughed at was the sublime stupidity of this country In failing to do what the powers of the world would do under similar circumstances. Xo maritime nation on earth except the United States prohibits its people from buy ing ships where they can be bought the cheapest. Had this country been at all anxious to avoid the spectacle it made. It would have permitted American shipowners to buy some of this cheap tonnage and thus be in a position to engage in the coal-carrying trade. Among the twenty-seven colliers and supply vessels mentioned by Mr. Shaw Is the British steamer Agapan thus, a TOOO-ton carrier in Al condi tion. The world-wide depression in freights left the Agapanthus without any employment after she arrived on the Pacific Coast with supplies for the fleet, and she has since been laid up at Victoria. Last week she was sold for the Insignificant sum of $4 5, 000 less than one-tenth the price paid for the steamer Tremont, a slightly larger and newer vessel flying the American flag. If this country should get Into a strained position where it was necessary for it to have a fieet of vessels flying the American flag, a single call for offerings of ton nage would bring colliers of all sizes and descriptions not twenty-seven, but twenty-seven times twenty-seven, and then some. Why in the name of the Star-Spangled Banner should the British, the Germans, the Japanese, the Norwegians and all other mari timo people be privileged to buy such steamers as the Agapanthus for $45. 000 while we are forced to pay $500, 000 for one merely because she al ready flies the American flag? If the Government had purchased, or per mitted American citizens to purchase, these twenty-seven colliers, they would today be spending thousands In our shipyards for repairs, supplies, etc. If Mr. Shaw is sincere in his as sertion, "I am for a merchant marine at any cost, in any way. In every way," he should promptly drop advo cacy of the subsidy graft and demand that our citizens be given the same rights on the high seas that are en Joyed by our trade competitors. A smIttex trust. The Supreme Court of the United States has rendered a decision In the case of Volgt & Sons against the Con tinental Paper Company, which ought to help materially In the solution of tho trust problom. The Continental Paper Company is a trust, including some 30 factories, which had power enough to force Volgt to buy his paper of it at extortionate rates or else go without. He bought the paper and then refused to pay for it. Tho trust sued him. The case has gone the reg ular way from one tribunal to another, and finally found its quietus in the Supreme Court, which declares that it will not help a trust collect its debts.' The ground for the decision Is that a combination In restraint of trade being an illegal entity, has no standing in court. It was one of those famous five lo four utterances, but since sound rea son is on the side of the majority, it 6eems likely to stand. This places the trusts on the 6am 9 basis as gamblers when it comes to collecting what is owed to them. The law will not enforce a contract to pay a gambling debt, and now, by the de cision of the Supreme Court, It will not enforce a contract to pay a debt to a trust. This may be hard on the com binations In restraint of trade. It may even break them up, but who will grieve if It does? The chances are, however, that it will not break up the trusts. Its result may be to make them do business on a cash basis en tirely. Henceforth nobody can buy anything of the tobacco trust, the beef trust, the powder trust, the whisky trust or any of the rest of the Inflated throng without handing out the coin. This would be one way of evading the dire consequences of the decision. A better one would be for t,he trust to disappear behind an innocent third party, who would do all its buying and nelling In his own name and for his own behoof. The fraud would be fair ly transparent, but from past experi ence the law could be trusted not to see through it. A veil need not be very thick to baffle the eye of modern Jus tice, who is a good deal blinder than her ancient sister was. USES OF THE PARTY SYSTEM. Most readers who keep in touch with the movement of modern thought and discussion are acquainted with the books of Benjamin Kidd. On subjects of political science he is a strong thinker and forcible writer. "Social Evolution" is the title of one of his books; "The Principles of Western Civilization" is the title of another. In this second book there are dis sertations on the uses of Party as an Instrument of Government, among English-speaking peoples: for it is among these alone that the party sys tem and its uses have had actual de velopment. The paragraphs In quo tation marks, which follow, have been culled from various parts of this book, and are worth most careful con sideration in Oregon, where the doc trine is preached that party is a hindrance in politics and government; not a useful or necessary agent. "During comparatively recent time, by the necessary tolerance of many conflicting views, there has been al most imperceptibly developed an en tirely new attitude of the human mind towards every system of action, of power, of knowledge, and of opin ion representing itself for the time being as the embodiment of a prin ciple claiming general assent. "The first large outward expression of this attitude, as a working prin ciple in the political life of our civil ization, is that which we have in view in the rise of tho system of Party Government. If the mind is carried back over the recent political his tory of the English-speaking world It may be noticed that In almost every quarter it presents the same feature. Side by side with the In creasing assertion of the right of every community, from the hamlet to a continent, to manage its own local affairs, there has been developed that phenomenon in public affairs now known as the system of government by party. No system of government has been more sweepingly condemned outside the countries where it exists. In it there survives, as indeed there still survives in most of the insti tutions of the present day, many of the evils of the era of evolution out of which the world Is moving. No system of government is from time to time more scathingly criticised even in England and America. Neverthe less, no system has ever been invented which has given such efficient results as a cause of progress. Throughout the public affairs of the whole of the English-speaking peoples at the pres ent day it is the life-principle of all effective criticism; the most potent fact behind every condition of good government. For 150 years it has been the soul of that orderly unceas ing stress of competing principles, from out of which the rapid but un hasting political progi-ess of the English-speaking world has proceeded. "Now If we look closely at the sys tem of government ny party It may be perceived that what It essentially represents is. the unconscious organi zation, on each side of a line of cleav age, of all the opposing elements, in any situation, utilized against each other to the full extent of their powers as forces of criticism and progress. The essence of the system is that there are of necessity only two principal parties, each continually organized In opposition to the other; and that, as in the system of legal trial developed In the conditions of English Jurispru dence, each side proceeds from the point of view that it is itself entirely in the right, and that its opponent Is of necessity equally and entirely in the wrong. Vital, essential and fundamental as Is the system of party government in the circumstances men tioned, it is nevertheless almost out side the forms and recognition of written constitutions. A system in the conduct of public affairs which appears so entirely bewildering, and even absurd, to the observer who has not grasped its meaning, is only made possible by a condition which Is al ways in the background, but which is never expressed in ahy constitutional formula. It Is a condition the in fluence of which has come to perme ate the entire atmosphere of the intel lectual and ethical life of the English speaking world. "The fact that parties or their lead ers should be at once uncompromis ingly hostile and yet be mutually tol erant; that they should enforce their principles on the whole community at the point of the narrowest majority, and yet expect that their successors on acceding to power should not at tempt to reverse the law they have made; that they should be, as has sometimes been the case in the United States, divided by a principle scarcely visible to outsiders, and yet proceed to call out all the strength of their adherents on the assumption that the opposing party is in all its proposals the representative of abso lute error; that they should, even after the most bitterly contested struggles, accept the result as conclusive for the time being, and with that imme diate subsidence of excitement which has been characteristic of the great historic party struggles in the United States; nay, that they should in their organs of opinion even go out of their way, as has sometimes happened in England, to regret the lack of organi zation or strength in their opponents as being bad for their own side; are all matters which appear from time to time to a large class of critics as utterly irreconcilable with standards of right conduct as they prevail else where In our civilizations. They pre sent themselves either, at the best, as bewildering absurdities, or at the worst, as conclusive evidence of the consistent and organized hypocrisy of the public life of the peoples amongst whom they are found. "At first sight. In short, no more illogical, anarchic or impossible prin ciple of governmeht could be con ceived. Yet no more elemental con dition of progress has ever existed in the world. It is the first fundamental working principle In public life con tributing to tho freedom and intensity of conditions that prevail amongst the English-speaking peoples. So natur ally has it sprung from the principles underlying the development of those peoples, that it has nearly always proved Impossible in practical life to keep its influence out of the affairs of the smallest township or precinct. So entirely foreign has Its meaning proved to the peoples amongst whom Aralnrmtnt in not run itS full course, that as a successful working system of government it is at the present day almost unrepresented out side the limits of the English-speaking world." Party is the efficient and indispens able agent in this work; because It is through party only, or by means of parties having alternate power, or each strong enough to have hope of contending successfully for it, that an orderly and increasing stress of competing principles and purposes can be maintained, in this stress are represented all the forces of free and active criticism, and' therefore of progress. Our country would lose its vital political energy, but for Its party system. Sixteen coasting steamers and three coasting sailing vessels were loading or discharging at Columbia River ports yesterday, this being about the average proportion of the two types of craft now trading here. The change from sail to steam has been even more rapid in the coasting than In the foreign trade, although the sailing ship in deep-water trade has been practically driven from the ocean by the tramp steamer and five years hence will be a curiosity. For these reasons it would be the height of folly for tho Port of Portland to Invest a large sum of money for big, powerful tugs for the Columbia bar. All that Is required Is two or three small tugs to be used In placing pilots aboard steamers and towing the occa sional sailing vessels which come along. Steam, not sail, will In the fu ture dominate rates and service out of this port as well as other ports where large fleets of tugboats have been driven into reirement along with the sailing vessels. The farmers throughout the United States who are now marketing their wheat at prices well above a dollar a bushel are probably less impressed with the evil of Chicago Board of Trade gambling than they would be if the prices were 50 cents per bushel. There Is great legitimate strength in the wheat market, sufficient to war rant high prices. It fs extremely doubtful, however, if the price would be within several cents of where it now stands had it not oeen for the re markable manipulations of Wheat King Patten, who has secured control of a line of May wheat estimated as high as 20,000,000 bushels. With this amount of wheat held off the market, it is certain to affect prices on the stocks still in farmers' hands. If Mr. Patten is able to hold on, the price may soar much higher than now. One who has read last Sunday the facsimile page of The Oregonlan of April 17, 1865, expresses wonder that men were "blacklisted" Jn advertise ments for paying their debts in green backs; and how a creditor, or The Oregonian, should have dared to do such a thing without fear of a suit for damages. The explanation is easy. The Pacific States adhered to gold currency, and there was universal de testation of persons who took advan tage of the legal-tender act to pay with depreciated paper debts incurred on a gold basis. Such was the state of public opinion, that a suit for libel on such a basis would have been thrown out of court lnstanter; per haps the Jury would have ridden the plaintiff out of court on a rail. The Charleston News and Courier hopes Mr. Bryan will reconsider his determination to go into the ministry "after his next defeat," on the ground that he has already done all the harm he can possibly do to the Democratic party, but there is no telling what harm he might do to the church. This is mighty unkind. Judge Parker's adventure as representative of "the other side" of the Democratic party, seems to have been forgotten. The bill in the Washington Legis lature making it a misdemeanor to walk on a railroad right of way is vicious. That state is not England, with macadamized highways. Until country roads come nearer perfection the railway track must be the thor oughfare of the poor man who is not a hobo. To be sure, he Is sometimes killed, but the loss Is his. The committee in charge of the boosters' banquet given at Tacoma last night was up against the hard proposition two days before of pro viding knives to go around the two thousand guests. Were there no Ar kansawans in Tacoma to offer "big butch little butch" and the rest of the family cutlery? No mention was made of the useless fork. "The rainfall in the Sacramento Valley for February (eleven days) ex ceeds by an inch the average for sixty years," say the news reports, and heavy floods are expected. It is not to laugh, of course; but it Is well enough Just now for Oregon people to avoid a country 'where it rains thirteen months in the year." Now that the Untted States has launched the most formidable battle ship in the world, there are some peo ple on both sides of the Pacific who would like to know what-Uncle Sam Is going to do with it. The water code carries an emer gency clause, but all danger of ex ecutive veto is averted by the thought ful wisdom of its promoters in plac ing appointment of the water super intendents in the Governor's hands. Mr. Harriman has gone south for recreation and "to examine some of the Southern Pacific's new lines." That proves It: There are such things as new Harriman lines. Aid and comfort will be given the suffragettes to know that a woman will be Acting Governor of Oregon. But how shall she be addressed as "Governess?" Justice Brewer said recently that the most dangerous tendency of cities Is overbonding. Every resident of Portland ought to paste the remark in- his hat. Senator Knox's salary must be re duced before he Is eligible to become Secretary of State. Public office is sometimes a private misfortune. That proposed state-aided bridge across the Columbia at Vancouver should have a common-user section covering street railway rights. If anything for the Governor has been overlooked there is yet a week of legislation. EinOPE'S ENORMOIS ARMIES. France Strained for Men, Germany for Money to "Protect Trade." New York Sun. The now famous article of General Count von Schlieffen, late chief of the general staff of the German army, which was quoted by the Kaiser in his remarks to his generals 'assembled at the New Year's conference, has drawn attention anew to the great startling armies of Europe', their development in recent years, their present- condition, and tne outlook for further increase or disarmament. Recently in a speech in the Landtag the i Imperial Chancellor of Germany called attention to the fact that the only way to improve the financial con dition of the empire was by a return lo the old German practice of economy. Tho watchword In the army this year, as it was in the Reichstag, is "econo my." The proposed increase of pay of offi cers and men in the German army was postponed for that reason, and the in crease in the appropriations was main ly for material of a technical nature, which would at the same time improve the business conditions of the country. There is little difference between the different armies of Europe today in equipment or armament. European armies are all being sup plied with modern field uniforms, and the armaments have reached a condi tion at present which puts them all practically on a level. . The point of greatest interest to the statesman, therefore, is the supply of trained soldiers, since the armies are practically equal in other respects. This supply depends on the population and on the percentage entering the army. Compare for a moment France and Germanv, tho former with a population of only 39,000,000, the latter with 62, 000,000. The oficial records for 1907 show that France really drafted more recruits that Germany. France strained her population much more severely by putting a much higher percentage in the army. The percentages of the population levied on for the army in the last few years in the two countries have been as follows: 1907. 1906. 1905. 1904. Germany 62.6 B3.87 54.S 65.9 France 90.6 SS.85 80.2 81.8 It Is thus seen that the strain In France is becoming more and more se vere, whereas in Germany it is actually diminishing. In France practically no one who is physically fit is left without military training, whereas in Germany thousands are assigned annually to the reserves and receive no military train ing whatever, simply because there is no place for them in the army, the maximum strength of which Is fixed by law. It may not be uninteresting to con sider the Increase in annual expenses for the armies and navies of the great European continental powers during the last ten years. The annual expenses (expressed in millions of dollars) were as follows: -1897- -1907- Army Navy Total Army Navy Total Germany ..147 27 174 193 69 262 Austria- . Hungary 7 B S2 93 13 105 Italy 64 20 74 62 28 80 France 132 65 187 127 84 211 The total expenses have therefore increased in Germany 8S.5 millions, or 50.9 per cent; in Austria-Hungary, 23, or 28 per cent; in Italy 6, or 8 per cent, and in France -24, or 12.8 per cent. Thus while France is straining her resources in population to the utmost in order to keep his army in numbers equal to that of Germany, the latter country Is straining her financial re sources not only to keep her army .and navy abreast of the times, but also to preserve tho power of the Triple Al liance. There Is no real sentiment inclining toward disarmament among any of the great powers. The demands that the people are willing to submit to are a sufficient evidence of this. The in creased appropriations year after year passed by the people's representatives almost without a murmur show that they believe In their necessity. The great determining factor In keep ing up these armaments is not revenge or resentment, although they may have their influence, too, but trade each nation is anxious to protect its com merce, manufactures, exports, all that relates to its material growth, and de mands protection against every other nation. Coming; Flood of Immigrant. Harper's Weekly. We shall probably see a considerable increase of immigration In the Spring. Calabria and Sicily will doubtless send us an army of refugees from the earth quake region, and if business keeps on Improving the influx from all sources Is likely to be greater than that of last year. In 1907 we got 1,285,000 immi grants; in 1908. 782.870; and these figures were offset by a strong human current running from our ports back to Europe. Out of last year's total. Austria-IIungary sent lliS.OOO; Italy, Including Sicily, 128, 000; the Russian empire and Finland. 156.000; over three-fifths of the total number thus coming from Southern and Southeastern Europe, There is a pros pect of a Russian emigration of a higher quality than we have had heretofore, from the reformer and high-grade revo lutionist class discouraged patriots, such somewhat as came here from Ger many Carl Schurz among them after the troubles of 184S. It has often been said that that suppressed revolution gave us the very pick of Germany. Now if we are to get the chosen best of Russia it will be a considerable solace to the keep ers of our gate, albeit Russia can ill spare them to us. Venl, Vldl, Vict. New York Evening Post. At 10 o'clock on Friday ' morning the picked force of eminent engineers ar rived in the harbor. By 10:30 o'clock they had completed a painstaking and exhaustive examination of the great dam. From 10 o'clock Friday till 1 P. M. Saturday they enjoyed the hospitality of the' authorities. From 2 o'clock till 3:15 they made a thorough Investigation of the great cut. departing immediately for a reception given in their honor by the President of the republic. Sunday they rested. On Monday afternoon they made a careful study of the rainfall conditions, and returned in time for 4 o'clock tea. Epoch-Making Day. Washington Herald. "Taft will settle canal problems on re turn to capital," says a headline in the Brooklyn Standard-Union. It will be a blessed relief, and a noteworthy, not to say epoch-making consummation. BOMB COMMENTS. BT A. GROUCH. Can't Sheriff Stevens stop the profanity of those howling taxpayers who call to pay the flddlers bill? The reason for most of the recent legis lation Is beyond reason. Is Secretary Gaten replying to those variant epistles anent the appointment of Judge Gatons? In his advocacy of more parks. Judge Munley reminds us that we need lungs as well as heads, to which the Judge is re minded that the heads appear to be full of lungs. "No woman Is born Intellectually honest," oratls ThTHon. Wallace McCamant in his Lincoln address. Even so. the true patriot is born with freedom's shriek and a Kosciusko yell. It Is whispered that the Hon. W. S. U'Ren spent the anniversary of Lincoln's birth in searching for a Just application to present affairs of that suggestive political maxim: "You can fool all of the peop e some of tho time; and some of the people all of the time: but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." STOP THIS WHOLESALE LOOTING Vlgorou. Call for a Public Exprewdon of Portland'. Wlde.prred Indignation Over Past, Present and Prospective Ha Ids on Taxpayers' IToperty PORTLAND. Feb. 12. (To the Editor.) When Assessor Sigler began raising the assessable valuations in this county as surance was given by him and the other politicians that the levy would be kept down within reasonable limits. It was predicted then that his course In lifting the value of property would only open new schemes for gouging people. Mr. Sigler said such would not be the result. But every prediction made in The Ore gonlan has been realized. It was pre dicted that Portland and Multnomah County would pay the main portion of the state taxes. First This is now being done. .Second Every day The Oregonlan an nounces a new raid on the taxpayers of this city and county. Third Salaries of all clerks and em ployes of the Water repartment were raised 15 and 20 per cent. Men who In the ordinary affairs could not make $75 per month have their salaries boosted to $130 and $150. Fourth Tho Legislature increased the number of Judges in this county so that the remainder can have another month off during the Summer month. Fifth Oeneral raid on the taxpayers all over the state, but mainly in Mult nomah County. Sixth Push clubs demand another bridge costing $1,500,000 in South Portland. Seventh The County Court prepares to erect a $2,000,000 courthouse. This Is but the picture of a single day. Read the announcements of this charac ter in the daily paper every morning. Hardly had Mr. Sigler boosted the as sessable valuations In this county when the office-holders and politicians organ ized raids of all sorts. If Portland had $225,000,000 valuations, of course the peo ple would stand all sort of looting with out protest, and the Jobbery, grafting and boosting of salaries have gone forward until today the taxpayers of this county are now paying 100 per cent more taxes than before Mr. Sigler began boosting valuations and when the assessment valuation was kept low. If the ordinary citizen repaints his house, Mr. Sigler finds it out and penalizes him. If he buys a phonograph or a piano, or a range; If he buys a wheelbarrow, or needed crockery for his bedroom, the assessor finds that out and the increase is now making Hs appearance in the increased amount he has to to pay. In the suburbs of Portland 83 per cent of the people are home-owners and many are paying for their homes on the install ment plan. These are now being "cinched" to the last point. One poor man came to me and said. "My God, look at this tax bill. How can I pay it and save my home? Where can I borrow the money to pay this tax bill?" Widows who have a house or so. on which they depend for a living, find their taxes so heavy this year that they must take in wasliing to get money to pay their taxes. And so the raiding and looting and grafting go on. We have given the Water Board credit for being sensible, and yet, with the ex piring gasp, of this body, it boosts the salaries of its employes. Who boosts the salaries of these homeowners in the suburbs of this city? They are the ones who must pay the salaries of these water employes. C. K. Henry struck the right key when he declared that the burden on taxpayers In this city had reached tho limit. It has reached the limit and gone beyond. Interview these home-makers who are struggling along with a debt on their property this year? What are these peo ple to do? They must borrow money to pay their taxes, and then grind and pinch to save their homes. The amazing thing is that the Water Board should have boosted the salaries of the men in their JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS IN 1908. Excess of Arrivals Over Departures for the Year Waa 3820. The report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration for 1908 gives the following as the Japanese Immigration into the Continental United States In that fiscal year: Non-laborers 5,503 laborers 2.S60 In transit 1.181 Total 9,644 The non-laborers were Students 2,018 Merchants 951 Falmers 618 Clerks 14 Restaurant and hotel keepers 130 Actors 64 Teachers -i. . . . 60 Government officials .......... 45 Clergy 37 Editors 18 Sculptors and artists Other professionals 70 Other occupations (Including women and childreuj Total nr.n-laborors 6,503 The laborers were General laborers 1,153 Farm laborers 1,031 Working students 234 Tailors Barbers , 28 Carpenters ........................... 27 Other artisans 0 Cooks OS Servants Z 71 Gardeners 18 Other occupations 67 Total laborers 2.860 The departures from the Continental Uni ted States were as follows Non-lahnrers 3.105 Laborers 2,523 Total departures 5,718 Excess of arrivals over departures, 8826- This Is a net addition of only 319 Japan ese a month to our population of 85,000,000. Japan Trade Treaties. Boston Herald. In some respects the most important portion of Count Komura's recent ad dress to the Japanese Diet was his formal announcement of Japan's in tention to notify the powers next year of a termination of all commercial treaties, the warning to be effective one year after notice is given. This means, of course, that, after careful study of the problem by experts, Japan is about to alter her system of tariff and revenue as seems best to her, with out the measure of defence to other powers which they were able to indi cate at an earlier stage; and that she will work out and stand for a system of commercial treaties based funda mentally on the principle of recipro city. Sentence Sermons. Henry F. Cope, In Chicago Tribune. A good day's work Is the best prayer for rest. He who fears to make foes falls to make friends. For the work of heaven you need the bread of heaven. True friendship Is always richest in days of greatest need. It's no use sighing for a chance to lead if you dare not go alone. Out of deep sorrows come high powers to comfort and strengthen. There is always greater benefit In en during my own pain than In envying an other's pleasure. employ when it is common knowledge that every part of that service is over loaded with employes. Enter the Ea-"t Side water office at any time and men will bo eeen hanging around doing noth ing. Business men who know declare that this office has double the number of men It ought to have, and that any pri vate business would smash under such a load. So all through the departments of this city. All are overloaded with em ployes. And etlli the dance goes on. Every day brings announcement of a fresh graft on the taxpayers of this county. Will the taxpayers of this county stand all this raiding and looting? Will they stand for the erection of a $2,000,000 court house, when the present building Is ample for years to come? . Once let Judge L. R. Webster start on the erection of a court house, It means at least a $2,000,000 build ing, regardless of the grinding necessary on the shoulders of the home-builders and the industries of this city. Where are the initiative and referendum laws that were enacted for the "protec tion" of the common people? Why not use this alleged club to beat it into the heads of the politicians that the taxpay ers will not submit to their grafting schemes? Where will all this raiding end? It was extended all over the State of Ore gon. Will the warnings of The Oregonian of the coming disaster be heeded? Not as far as the politicians are concerned. Every boost Assessor Sigler mnkes on the assessed valuation in this county Is hailed with ghoulish glee by these official grafters as so much more to their gain. The thrifty families which strive to build a home and be useful citizens in this city are the victims to be exploited. The industries of the city are burdened with taxation so they must cut down expenses, and the wage-earner is the first to suffer as a matter of course. Rents must be advanced to meet the 25 por cent advance in taxation. And still the cry goes on "More bonds, more officials and higher salaries." The widow's crust niust be taken in order to erect a palatial courthouse. I propose that the people stop the erec tion of a courthouse; the erection of all bridges across the Willamette River, ex cept the Madison; the cutting out of every department of the county and city government every official not actually needed that he might become a taxpayer and producer. I propose that the people stop further looting In the form of sal aries and multiplication of useless of ficers. Is it not possible to do all this? Have we not in this community one who will lead against this wholesale looting that id rampant In this county, and save this beautiful city from the grasp of looters? Is it necessary to call in Mr. Heney? Out of thirty of forty push clubs is there not one which will cry out against this relentless march of the grafters over the toiling bodies of the taxpayers? Where is the United East Side Push Club, representing, as It is supposed, the whole of the East Side? Where is Mr. Nolta's club In Norlh Albina, and Judge Munley a club, snd the East Side Business Men's Club, C. A. Blgelow, president? Why aro these civic organizations silent while this wild career of extravagance goes on 7 Will not these organizations, which pro fess to have the interest of the city at heart and are doing so much, call a mass meeting and start a movement that will put a stop to this wholesale looting In public places? Wind will not do. It will take personal sacrifices and nerve to in augurate a tidal wave of protest. Mr. C. K. Henry had the manhood to tell the whole truth. Shal he not be sup ported by a tangible movement? JOHN F. WILSON. CHORUS GIRLS KISS HERO BIJINS, Wireless Operator of Steamer Republic Fame, Motif of Theater Party. New York Times. "Jack" Blnns, the wireless operator of the Republic, did show the white feather at the Hippodrome. He fled before an onslaught of chorus girls who tried to kiss him. Blnns didn't run fast enough. He put up a heroic fight, and when he did escape into Sixth avenue, bedaubed with rouge and powder, with the chorus girls still pur suing him, even his friends who went to his assistance had difficulty In rec ognizing him. His aprearance at the Hippodrome was entirely unexpected, both by him self and the audience. He dined at the Army and Navy Club opposite the Hip podrome, as a guest of its officers, and later It was suggested that the party go over to the playhouse and see tho water ballet, which was In the last act on the programme. Just as the act was drawing to a close the spot light was flashed on Blnns In the box, and Stage Manager Burnslde announced in a loud voice: "Allow me to introduce C. Q. D. Blnns." The audience Jumped to its feet, and there were loud yells for a speech. Several of Blnns' friends dragged hlra out of the box onto the stage. After the chering subsided Blnns bowed. He said briefly that It was no fault of his that he was there; he had tried to escape, but It was not his fault If he could not escape the press agent. Then he thanked the audience and has tily departed. Blnns was standing In a group of about 50 chorus girls while all this was going on. As soon as the curtain went down every girl made a rush for him. He was taken by surprise, and in at tempting to escape he almost fell Into the water tank. One girl threw her arms around the young man and planted several kisses on his Hps, or, as near to them as she could get, before he could shake her off. The girl's action was the signal for all the others to Imitate. Blnns was firmly wedged in the group, but by main force he fought his way clear and darted down the first passageway. It led to the cellar, where the dress ing rooms are. With loud screams, the girls started in pursuit. Congressman Hears of IV n Death. Washington, D. C, Herald. Representative Loudenslager did not know he was dead until one day recently. Telegrams galore began pouring Into the Capitol asking how and when it happen ed, and expressing regrets. It seems that in an obscure New Jersey town there is an H. C Loudenslager. ana wnen this Loudenslager passed over the great divide, and the papers noted the fact, the Inhabitants of mosquito land were sure It was their own Harry C. Louden slager, statesman from the First District. Consequently they got Dusy with the wires. Representative Loudenslager . is still alive. Tired Out. M. D. Prior In New York Sun. To the assembled alphabet The letter "I" then said: "My master's going to Africa And I am going to bed."