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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1909)
jGGfe (bre$mm rOLKTLA-D. OKEGOX. Second"?.".1 Kg". O"on- PM"'- " Subscription Rates Invariably In Advance. (By Mall.) Rli&' Included., on, year. g.00 Si v iun2 "eluded, six months .". 5.2S f ? 5 Sunday Included, three month... 2.23 .75 6.00 3.25 1.75 .60 ISO 2 SO 8. 50 riaii. z lures moniai.,, wJi',w''hout Sundy. one month . Tleelcly. one year e-unaay. one year Sunday end weekly, one" year! (By Carrier.) Si!!?." "na Included, one year o.oo ally. Sunday Included, one month. . . .75 -ri"W .1" Eem,t Send poutofflce money J' r', ?Pr;M,ord,r r Personal check oi are a & .bjV"k Stamp., coin or currency drJ.J 5 "?nd""" 7'"k" G,v' Po.tofHc. ad dress in full, including county and state. Rates 10 to 14 pae.. 1 cent: 18 irt to".2 ""I"1 S0 ' Paei a cent." Snub?. 'ratSr"' - Forein "ti Eastern Business Office The s. C neck. rlt..KPecl' Auency New York, reim. M r.hFurnbeUnb"uI5aJ,,!n'- Gh'o. 'oom. .iUm . l'OKTIAVn. SATURDAY, MARCH M. 190B. TAFT'S TRIBUTE TO CIJ'KUM). In a letter written' to The Oregonlan censuring President Taft lor his eulogy ! on President Cleveland, delivered at ; the recent memorial exercises In New ' ork. Mr. William Hampton Smith protests against the ascription, to Mr. . Cleveland of high merit and honor for ; the stand he-took on the silver ques . tlon resulting in protection of the I public credit. In restoration, of confi . dence In business aft airs, and in pres ervation of the integrity of the money of the country. Mr. Smith insists that President Cleveland only played into hand of Wall street." and in fllcted terrible injury upon the country. AVe cannot print Mr. Smith's letter : in full, for it is both loose and long; , but we quote a sentence or two to wit: "The Infamy of that act, which "jLBllVer from co'rage to the . United States, while its unlimited coin. age is continued among- all European nations, is almost beyond conprehen sion. Silver Is quoted on the market at 60 cents an ounce and all European countries are coining: it at $1.32-4 per ounce, while the mints of the United atallS,,ar prolUblted trom coining it It is evident that Mr. Smith remains , as to sliver in the state of mind that ; possessed him to the Bryan period, a . dozen years ago, with only such Infor ; matlon to this day as the silver orators , supplied him. Silver, everywhere, is ; now worth about 60 cents an ounce. The London rate, as quoted. Is less be , cause it is the quotation of silver only nine-tenths fine." according to the custom of that" market.. 3Ut-iere.-ts no free coinage of silver in any of the mints of Europe, nor has there been for more than a quarter of a century The mints of Europe and of America deal In the same way with silver coin ing it in large quantities for purposes of small payments and of "making change." but restricting both Its coin age and its legal tender power. Gold is the basis of money In the whole commercial world; yet all nations maintaining the gold standard use much silver as subsidiary money, but limit its coinage and Its use In dis charge of debts, so as to prevent ex pulsion of gold and substitution of sliver as the standard. ;" President Cleveland was fully en titled to-the eulogy he received from President Taft; not only in the matter of maintaining the gold standard, and thereby the honor and credit and in dustry of the country, but 1n his wise and resolute purpose and policy of en forcing the authority of the United Htates at home and our National dig nity and prestige abroad. Taft's eulogy of Cleveland was. one of the most discriminating and excellent trib utes that any occupant of the Presi dential office has ever rendered to a predecessor. No man's discourse on Lincoln, or Jackson, or Washington, has ever had more general approval throughout the country than Taft's tine tribute to Grover Cleveland. SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT. Traffic Director Stubbs. of the Har riman lines, and Interstate Commerce Commissioner Prouty have had a con ference at Chicago regarding the Spo kane rate case decision. A Chicago dispatch says that the attempt of Mr " , . to "set Bomo "8- on the de cision was unsuccessful. Mr. Prouty ... m ii.vw inxormea the railroad man that "the decision meant about what it said." and that the order "was drawn in a way which, in the opinion or the Commission, would make It most difficult to attack successfully" Despite the difficulty which will neces sarily be encountered in contesting the case, the Interests of such a large area of country and the business of so many miles of railroad are at stake that It Is an absolute necessity that some more definite understanding be reached than is possible under the Spokane ruling in its present ambiguous shape. The Commission specifically ex pressed its lack of jurisdiction over the rates which might be made between the East and Pacific Coast ports, and at the same time assumed the right to regulate rates so strongly interdepend ent with those established by water competition that one could not possi bly be disturbed without affecting the others. The Spokane decision if as stated by Mr. Prouty. it "means about what it said" in effect prevents the utuisconunoniai railroads from haul ing west of Spokane any of the com modities which can be brought to the Coast ports by water. It sevms hardly probable that any such drastic effect was intended toy the Commission, which has at all umes aecreed that the long and short haul provisions of the interstate com merce act did not apply to territory affected by water competition. Re gardless of which side is victorious in the contest that the roads will make, much trouble and expense will be In curred. Instead of meaning "about" what it says, the decision should have been so pladn and should have so thor oughly covered the Coast rates, as well as the Spokane rate, that there would have been no misunderstanding. Mr. Harriman in a recent Interview was lavish in his praise of the attitude of the Mexican government toward railroads. "They grant a charter." sa.d he. "and state just what you can do. They believe in regulation, but have no faith in commissions, and when anything unusual happens it Is possible to get very quick decisions." A direct policy of this nature would vastly simplify matters which become so badly tangled as the Spokane case promises to be before we are through with it. 8 Our new railroad policy, which was . forced on us by the arrogance of the railroads themselves. Vm j scribed as a "thing of shreds and patches," and what is now needed Is somethings more concrete; something that can regulate abuses In ratemaklng in the Spokane territory without in volving every point along a thousand miles' of shore line on the Pacific and several hundred miles Inland. The Interstate Commerce Commission" In its Spokane decision has turned loose a wild animal, and" seems to have de pended on the railroads getting it into a cage, or handling it so that it will 1 1 "i- iitLrin ajiyxnmg. Jl ST TAKE THE MEDIC INK. We are not to expect any man of standing, of independence, of ac knowledged fitness and character, to announce himself r. candidate for the Mayoralty of Portland, and go into the primary to fight it out with con testants. Consequently we shall have the candidacy only of Inferior men. The tendency, the sure consequence and effect, of the existing system Is and ever will be, the elimination of all men of real strength of character and of acknowledged fitness for important positions, from leadership in public af fairs. High-minded men. fittest to Berve the public, will not engage to this scramble. Under the representa tive system public sentiment could be united on men deemed fittest, at least on men deemed fit. Not, under the primary system. Don't worry, however, for it Is an era of "reform." "The people" ere to rule, and for every leading place pre tenders and upstarts whom no con vention would nominate will nominate themselves. For their merits have been long overlooked, and their time now -has come. By a small plurality one of the candidates will get the nom ination. Then, because in the first place he isn't fit, and because in the next place there has been a bitter fac tional fight in the primary, the man of the opposite party, who probably will be no fitter, will be elected. But don't expect to get first-class men for im portant office, under this system. All talk of bringing out under it a first class man for Mayor of Portland is absurd. The effect of the system though sadly misconceived by many, before the trial and proof of It Is to elimi nate men of strength and character and leading from consideration for im portant places, and to give contestants a chance to bring themselves forward men who complained they never had a chance under a deliberative or rep resentative system through which, however, their real worth, or lack of It, might be estimated. The primary law is the opportunity of self-seeking mediocrity, or of some thing below it, and the assurance of poor public service. ' WHiVtL BK THE NEXT? The letter from A. M. Hoffstadt, of Sedro-Woolley, Wash., which Is printed to another part of the paper today. Is of profound Interest to the City o' Portland. Mr. Hoffstadt need not have asked so urgently that it be printed. The Oregonlan prints the letter with inexpressible pleasure, and hopes that It will be followed by oth ers of a similar tenor, though, of course, the bid should be raised by each new contributor. The man from Sedro-Wooley offers the neat sum of $5,000,000 for a monopoly of the liquor trade in Portland. This is something like what the city ought to receive for the privilege. Compared with the paltry offer of J 1000 a day from the promoters of the Gothenburg scheme, It Is princely; but still It Is not enough. The monopoly is worth more. Who will bid six million? By thus egging on those who desire a monopoly of the liquor business to bid against one another. The Orego nlan hopes to run the price up to a respectable figure in the course of a few weeks. What is to hinder us from obtaining money enough in this easy, this delightful way to pay the expenses of the city and relieve the careworn taxpayer from all future anxiety over his lot? Nay. we shall not stop there. By dexterous maneu vering the bids may be exalted to a figure which will give Portland all the new bridges across the Willamette that the most airy promoter could long for. We have also In mind an ex tensive series of parks, one of them in cluding the whole of w.cn. County, to say nothing of the boule vard oi wrucn we fondly dream. No reason is apparent why all the funds needed for these patriotic enterprises should not be raised from the liquor traffic. If Mr. Hoffstadt Is eager to pay $5 -000,000 for the privilege, certainly it is worth more. Undoubtedly he has studied the subject and Is allowing himself a handsome profit. In a few days somebody else will bid six million then, seven, eight, nine, and so on. Heaven alone knows where the en thralling process will stnn. tv, certain thing Is that it opens to the city a prospect of unlimited riches and will act as a soothing balm to the dls- iressea taxpayer. GRAN ART OF THE WORUD. The Literary Digest prints some In teresting observations from an Trails n writer on political economy, In which it predicted that Canada Is about to become the "granary of the world." The basis for this prediction seems to be the fact that just at present the new country to the north of us is ship ping a very large proportion of all the grain that is grown, and that the pos sibilities for increasing the output of the cereal are great. Reducing the matter to figures, however, it Is not at all clfear that Canada has any more right to the title "granary of the world" than the Argentine would have, and not nearly as much right to the title as the United States would have. The wheat crop of the United States last year was not up to the average of recent years, the final out turn showing about 664,000,000 bush els. Exports from the United States to 1908 were 140,000,000 bushels. The Canadian crop of last year was 124.000,000 bushels, or less than one fifth that of the United States, and much smaller In Its total than the ex ports alone from the United States. Canada is a big country and win ia the coming years show a large in crease in its wheat production. With that Increase, however, will come, as In the United States, an increase to the home consumption which will steadily lessen the proportion of the crop which will be available for other countries. -At the present time, de spite the sparsely settled regions of Western Canada, 1t Is extremely doubtful If the proportion of the crop shipped, as compared with the amount grofc-n. Is as large as that of the Pa cific Northwest. The maximum crop produced In Oregon. Washin about 60,000,000 bushels, and from that crop there were shipped slightly less than 47.000.000 bushels, or nearly one-third of the total amount export ed from all American ports. As the wheat crop of Canada increases the population will increase correspond ingly. The statistics on wheat pro duction, which might be supposed to give a country the right to be termed the granary of the world," make a much more favorable showing for the Argentine than for any other country In 1902 the crop of the Argentine was 117,000,000 bushels, while that of Canada was 99.000,000 bushels. Last year the Argentine crop was 192 000 -000 bushels, while that of Canada had Increased but 25,000,000 bushels. In the Argentine the possibilities for a vastly increased acreage are very much greater than they are in Can ada, and, if it is proper to apply the term to any country, we may - most appropriately mention the Southern country as the "granary of the world." AN INTERESTING UFK. A man who, like Judge George H. W"illlams, lives 86 years Or mnr svfll necessarily leave the world a very dif- 1OSe8' Henco the movement to se ferent place from what he found it ""1 "".. ,t,ract to whlch- reference is This will be true even if he does not nimseir help to Introduce changes Variation Is-the law of life, and change will come whether a man likes it or not. But Judge Williams has not heen numbered among those who resist so cial growth. He has had a hand to the development of the country and some of the most Important events whloh have taken place in the course of- his long life he has initiated.' Born to 1823, his youth and early manhood passed during the turmoil of the anti slavery struggle. Clay's Missouri Com promise was enacted three years before Williams saw the light, and lasted until it was declared unconstitutional toy the Dred Scott decision, in 1857. This brought the slavery controversy to a head and probably made the Civil War inevitable. Some writers have said that the consequences of the Dred Scott decision will forever warn the Supreme Court away from politics. Whether it will or not remains to toe seen. The lessons of the past are some times forgotten even toy wise men Moreover, when the Constitution comes into politics, how can the Court evade the Issue? The first rumblings. of poH-Mcs which Williams heard in his boyhood must have come from the bitter strife be tween Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Jackson received 99 electoral votes, in 1824, while Adams had but 84. Still the votes for Clay and Crawford threw the election into the House of Representatives where by what Jackson's partisans called bargain and corruption," Adams was chosen and thn 1 ' " "ti ucieu.i(i. Throughout the next four years Adams, ' ana nonest man, was hounded by this cry and it finally de prived him of re-election. In the last year of his administration the Jack son faction forced through Congress the "tariff of abominations," which definitely committed the United States to the theory of protection. The man ufactures of Massachusetts now be gan to predominate over her shipping Interests, and following the law of economic determinism, Daniel Web ster abandoned the free traders and joined the high tariff men. Williams was nine or ten years old when Calhoun and his South Carolina supporters tried to "nulllfv" this pro tective tariff act. They rather counted on Jackson's indifference, since he was a theoretical free trader and a great believer in states' rights; but he was also a. believer in the Union, and his decisive action stifled secession for the moment to the cradle where It was born. The sturdy infant was not killed, however. For the next thirty years It was stealthily growing and finally reappeared on. the stage full of life and vigor. It was in 1831, after he had been Jailed in Baltimore for preaching abolition, that William Lloyd Garrison began the publication of the Liberator, in Boston, and the anti-slavery propaganda took shape and purpose. The abolitionists were as rankly tainted with dlsunionlsm as Calhoun himself. thone-Vi tvioi- were superior to his. Three years later xreKKea across the plains to Oregon. In comniuiv mrth "v.. .. : , Wyeth, and the colonization of the r- voasi Dy American pioneers be gan. Thus, when Williams was still a schoolboy, the scene where he was to pass the years of his ripe and hon ored age was being prepared. Ten years later, in mil .x -i., j, oligarchs, who had toy that time be- wiuo vreraminrat in the councils of the Nation. COimled a. Humane military occupation of Oregon with ior xne annexation of Texas. For the latter they were ready to fight, for the former they cared nothing. It was only a sop to the easily outwitted North. Texas was annexed the next year, but it was not till 1848 that Ore gon became a territory and then only because news of the Whitman mas sacre auelled fnr o Tvim. i ------ ukj ujjpo oiiruu ui xne slaveholders. iron oi xne slaveholders. Two years later, to 1850, Clay made! S last attemnf n nU.ir V. : . I - , -wwv, .ioj uioue his last attempt tn n a v ' j ui unri lives between the North and South by a compromise, but, inasmuch as his measure Included the fugitive slave law, it exacerbated instead of sooth ing the controversy. Webster deliv ered, dn support of this compromise, the famous seventh f AT . i. , - t ii eijcecn, which put the Presidency of the United o""" lorever out ox nls reach. That his motives were ' sincere historians now concede, but few would venture to commend his Judgment. In spite of the growing feeling against slavery, the Democrats were able to elect their candidate, the amiable Franklin Pierce, In 1852, and Williams, who was then living in Iowa, canvassed the state for him and became one of his electors. Pierce rewarded his efforts by appointing the rising Jurist Chief Justice of Oregon territory, an office which he held" until 1857, when he re signed and began private practice In Portland. The War of the Rebellion made Judge Williams a Republican. It was as a member of the Union party that he went to the Federal Senate, In 1864, and took part In the stirring contro versies of reconstruction days, it is well known that many of the prin cipal act of Congress which restored the Union and established order in the South, were Introduced Jv Judge Williams. When it became necessary later to extirpate the Ku Klux Clubs, Grant left the work almost entirely to his Attorney-General and historians now agree that the first practical sug gestion for settling the electoral con test between Hayes and Tllden, in 1876, was made toy him. Judge Will iams was then 53 years old, in the prime of life. Since that time a new generation has grown up to whom the events we have mpndrmoj in,. ancient history, but Judge Williams is -"vc, sou active in the commu nity, srill eager to meet and welcome those changes in government and so ciety which the welfare of the world requires as time passes. It is a glori ous thing to have lived so long and so well. His career is an inspiration to youth and his honored age the crown ing reward of a noble life. The people of the Mount Scott dis trict propose to take time by the fore lock to the matter of securing a site for a park. There is a tract of forty acres lying south of the carline be tween Tremont and Woodmere sta tions, covered, with a beautiful wild growth, from shrubs Indigenous to Oregon forests to fir trees of all stages of growth. While the whole country round about is really a park and resi dents go and come through It at their Pleasure, the time is not far distant Judging from the rapid development of the. section all along the Mount Scott carline, when the ground will either all be occupied by homes or the Increased value' will render the price of land prohibitive " """ wmie tnere Is yet time. The long look" Is commendable, but it re mains to toe seen whether those most closely interested will be willing to hack up their wishes to this matter toy the cash necessary to make the long look In this Instance effective. The net gain In the price of wheat In Chicago in the past five days has been 1 cents per bushel. The net gain in Liverpool In the same period has been 2 cents per bushel. The speculative Chicago experts who are on the short end of Mr. Patten's wheat deal will have considerable difficulty In reconciling these facts with their pet theory , that the only strength in the American wheat situation is due to the manipulation of Patten. Ar gentine shipments since January 1 are 9.000,000 bushels less than for the same period last yar, and the for eigners are apparently realizing that a serious condition confronts them Meanwhile the 143,000,000 bushels which the Government found in farm ers' hands on March 1 still remains carefully concealed from the world's buyers, who are anxious to take the surplus at fancy figures. Mrs. J. V. Taylor, a pioneer of Mar ion County, and widely known, a lover of flowers and long devoted to their culture, died in her greenhouse In Sa lem a few days ago, suddenly and painlessly, at the age of 81 years. A more fitting close to a long life, which to the last held a tender interest in growing and blossoming plants, could not well be imagined. Surrounded as If by friends and speaking things, with voices on every hand that teU of the miracle of resurrection, to those who can understand them, this gentle life that had found comfort in many sor rows in the beauty and fragrance of flowers, came to a close. It is easy In the passing of such a life, to indorse the sentiment as expressed by Lonir fellow that The ltlc"n death: what "em" l tran- Senator Chamberlain, to a note ad dressed to his colleagues from Oregon In the Senate and House, says: "I am actuated solely by the hope that to all things affecting commercial and in dustrial development of Oregon ;w may bury political, personal and social differences and act as a unit." It will toe called a fine sentiment, but it is ut terly Impossible. Men who are at var iance to their political, personal and social feelings and purposes never can "act as a unit" on anything. It Isn't human nature. "Idem sentlre do re publlca" remains as In Cicero's time, the one sure ground of co-operation among men. It has been a long time since the dexterity of Ah Sin in handling the cards tive Bret Harte such an Inter esting topic for his "Heathen Chinee" poem: but current news iniiinD v... small change In some features of the o""- " i- "-iturcon, near Pittsburg Pa., the holder of an Ah Sin hand which contained one more ace than the late Mr. Hoyle considered neces sary was sent to the hospital yester day with two bullet holes in his lungs. There is nothing very hazardous in the act of holding five aces, but the at tempt to play them has always been attended by a considerable degree of risk. - The Pennsylvania-Ohio kidnapping case recalls the effort of a learned phl lologer to ascertain the origin of the words "kidnap," "kidnapper." The authorities . at his command were meager and he fell back on the re sources of his own Ingenuity. "Kid napping." he said, "and child-tealing I find are the same thing. The word kidnapper, then, must have been kld nabber, originally, and toy the well known method of change through mis taken pronunciation, kld-nabber was wuuineu. um Kidnapper. And the Professbr looked wondrous wise. -. Mr. Kellaher, elected to the Legisla ture as a Republican on a Statement No. 1 platform. Is a candidate for Mayor. He will not enter , the p ri mary, tout announces In advance that he wlll run as an Independent. Which. snows wnat Kind of a Republican one rtepu oucan - state Senator is. there are others. And Mr. Hill and Mr. Harriman met at Paso Robles and nothing happened. But It was worth a good many col umns for the space-writers. The most interesting news in the world is about the things that might have happened and didn't. ' The San Francisco Chamber of commerce wants it understood that San Francisco hasn't the slightest prejudice against the Japanese. This win oe great news for Hashlmu ra .logo, xne distinguished Japanese au- Lixor. The public might be willing to something handsome by those Sharon Kidnapers ir tney would emigrate this country and begin operations Aokl. on Becker, It seems, struck, the psycho logical moment in the Oregon land iin.ua cases, alter Heney had q Could any -other have done better? quit. With the advent In London of the American department store, old Eng land will now get onto the a-b-c's of the advertising art. - - Seattle hotels Will Vint ., V. the proper spirit (Seattle -spirit) If th ley id.ii to raise tne rates during the fair. They -w ill Vae Clufc on the ( orvallia CoIIrate. The Dalles Ontlmiat Nc ow we are told that th i-oro-j is to be Invoked on the sums appropriated by iesisiature lor the Improvements the O. A. C. and one or th at nients ts used by the petitioners is that the islature had no risht to mnv. Legis propr propriation outright, but should have al- lowed me people to pass upon it at the general election, as they now win ' the referendum next under We suppose there Is no use inveighing gainst the movement. The people are In Is ium ana tney know best what wanted, and they will give it to us. S It tO US good ftnrt nlmlir tr . give In . - J ' i. v. i . u i .-3 o mis instance "the nennia" m a. few thousand soreheads, but as they have It In their power to rule we must respect them as the rulers. We notice in this connection what Chamberlain said about the people's rule at a banquet In New Tork a few days ago. He said that the people are so well pleased with their -new primary law and the ,uu"uv ana referendum laws that would stand on our itntlita hnnb. they for years to coma. - Perhaps they will. r.i .1 i what the Oregon voters uHii .,. do know that If thsra 1. . ' , w v 1 ijjiu. way (i wrong way they are pretty sure, under the conaitlons, to go the wrong . We see that vanr ni.inw i way. very fact that Chamberlain was at that banquet as a Senator from Oregon. Does Mr. Chamberlain for a moment suppose that he was the choice of a majority of the people of Oregon? He knows better. He knows that he was elected by about the same tactics as wUl now defeat the recent appropriation for our great edu cational institution. It Is just as true to say that the real Oregon sentiment Is against education as to say It is for Chamberlain for Senator. reSon Observer (Grants Pass). The special session of the Oregon Leg falature appears to have been a decidedly disreputable manifestation in regard to the representative section. The Senate behaved itself respectfully, but the House members seem to have been greedy again to get into the treasury all sorts of ap propriation bills, and to have been ex ceedingly cross and disorderly because they were prevented from further robbing the taxpayers. The normal schools had captured the House and demanded full appropriations for the schools and the House proceeded to deliver the goods ac cording to agreement, notwithstanding strong protests from the minority J-SUr!.. o Bucceed In their schemes f K,y "'sSTuntled a large number of the. 60 Representatives, who proceeded to act like a band of hoodlums. Toward the last they became altogether obstrep erous, yelling and shouting to prevent each other being heard, drowning the voice of the Speaker and ignoring his gavel and otherwise working up an indo lent riot. It was a lovely House of Representa tives, and admirers of the primary law must have been proud of it when the session closed. No harm was done, and that is something that the people may fairly congratulate themselves on. 1 WE3 BUILD ONLY TO liTIItlV." One of the Greatest and Chlefnt of Our 'ISconomlc Problems. Wall Street Journal. It might almost be said that we build only to burn. Our losses by fire In 1908 amounted to J2.72 per capita, as against an average of about 83 cents lor France, Germany, Italy, Switzer land, Austria and Denmark combined. In Germany also the per capita never rises above 49 cents and In some years has fallen as low as 12 cents. Some striking figures bearing on this subject are presented by an in surance expert In the Popular Science Monthly. According to his statistics, the new buildings erected, together with improvements and repairs to old ones. In the United States during the year 1908 cost 8510.000.000, while buildings destroyed by fire to the same period were valued at $218,000 -000. The maintenance of fire depart ments, high pressure apparatus, etc. for the year cost $300,000,000. In the country at large during the month of January, 1908, the outlay for new buildings and improvements on old ones amounted to $16,000,000, while the losses on .buildings destroyed by fire aggregated more than $24,000,000. There were, in round numbers, 14 000 fires In the City of New Tork in the year 1908, making a loss of $7,250,000, while the maintenance of the fire de partment cost $7,000,000. In St. Louis there were 3200 fires, involving losses of $1,298,000, and the cost of the fire department was $1,018,000. To com pare these with foreign conditions, we may take the City of Rome, which, with a population approximately that of St. Louis, had 270 fires in 1908 with a total loss of $56,000, and a charge of only $50,000 for the fire de partment. Here. then, is an economic problem which, to the living generation at least, is quite as Important as the conservation of the country's unde veloped natural resources. Educa tional and legislative processes which shall afford greater security for exist ing property created by human enter prise and In use by living citizens are as greatly to be desired as measures which shall secure the Nation's dor mant wealth to generations yet un born. GREAT RICHES FOR PORTLAND. F"or Monopoly of the Saloon Business, 95,000,000. SEDRO-WOOLLBY, Wash.. March 25 (To the Editor.) Will you kindly publish through The Oregonlan my offer to the City of Portland for the privilege of con ducting the saloon business in Portland for the next 10 years commencing Janu ary 1, 1910. I will pay the city $5,000,000 and will agree to conduct the buslnes. upon the same plan as the Gothenberg Association; and. furthermore, I will put up the entire amount of $5,000,000 to be known as the trust fund, the same to be drawn from to pay the privileges of con ducting the business every six months. I will give a bond of $1,000,000 with a fran chise. Kindly give this space -In your valuable paper. R. M. HOFFSTADT. Rondeau Redouble. Chlcagro News. I hate a dun. It make, me fairly tck. Thl. letter asking me to "please remit.'" If 1 could pay I'd do It mighty quick I can'.t, however, .0 I wish they'd quit. They will not, though, let up a little bit. But threaten suit a very shabby trick. Considering the suit was Door In flt. o I 1 -hate a dun. It fairly make, ma iv I i lwlnl woroi 01 getimg things on tick, I I wish that I had waited for mv I Thi. curt reminder make, my conscience prick This letter asking me to "please remit." i Credit Is an Invention of the pit, A thing devised for torment by Old Nick' I can't grow calloused. I am tired of it. - ' J v " J 111 1 p my quick. When I am broke, that 1. the time they PICK To pester me. to threaten with a writ. To Battery them I'd at nothing stick I can-t, however, so I wish they'd quit. It seems to me as if they had but little One can't get blood from turnip, stone or orlck. WTh.r'.tih,et tatmfnt I my pipe have lit. That end. It. I shall simply let 'em kicku I hate a dun. Direct Primary "Rot. Statesmanship,". s"y" av Southern Masraaine. , Chicago Inter-Ocean. The editor of Uncle Ramus' Magazine declares In the March Issue that the di rect primary has literally squeezed the South dry of the sap of statesmanship," and that, though it has been "perhaps: a necessary evil" In tne past, it Is one that should be no longer endured. It is possibly well to say here that the magazine In which these criticisms ap pear is trying to be more than periodical or entertainment. Julian Harris, son of the beloved teller of tales, and the pres ent editor, endeavors to discuss public questions seriously and from a broad American viewpoint. These Southern censures of the direct primary have a special interest, for the reason that the supposed success in the. TZ, ?. Jhat favorlto political panacea undoubtedly weighed heavily with the average -voter hereabouts In consenting to try n. Yet we find it denounced as ?, th,n5 J,h'ch "rots statesmanship" by a thoughtful Southern writer in such terms as tnese: - TOLdnn t of ten there I. no Is- i Platform and. aa In the two recent fulte?.atlal P.r""rte. inrgla thTre? vicious rlr,"1.00""1?. of Personal abused A oartoontng and a flow of Blllines- ?"4 IZV11 V8 a "shwlfe faint" "Im pure ecstasy. Not one etep forward im ,n.w'n educat'n fe peoJU in the is-'tOat-confront them In the problems 5H?P"Xl,le" ot our "" "an ever com" Sr. d ly'U!m, ot Kovernment. So ihe anT bfVOlf nt mL,u outward aapectS ? ' lntn"ona. has driven th big vital Issues out ot the people's grasp. This Is a description of the direct pri mary as It works In the South generally and In Georgia particularly. Yet how much of It Is true also of the direct pri mary in Illinois! Let the reader think back to last July and August. Credit is cheerfully given to each can didate for trying as oest he could to discuss the real issues. Unfortunately. Mr. peneen and his newspaper organs had begun by assuming that the cen sures of the conduct of the state insti tutions, for which Mr. Deneen was offi cially responsible, had a purely personal' animus. Having started on that line. It was humanly impossible to leave it. And even without the handicap of a bad beginning, and with the most loyal will on either side to- discuss the Issues on their merits alone, those merits were necessarily obscured by the exciting spectacle of a personal encounter. ,3 8Pectators of a battle can take little thought which of the armies ought to win. They are too much interested to marking the attack and the defense. They see the battle as a battle, and can see It as nothing else. And so the "vital issues" are "driven out of the people's grasp" by the excite ments of the personal combat. The peo ple are not Informed and educated. They are merely excited, and that not for a vindication of principles, but for personal success. Under such conditions the loud est brawler or the most plausible trick ster comes to the front. Thls experlenoe Is not confined to the South. It is general. MERE MAN DISTANCES WOMAN. She Struggles for a Vote, While He Cuytures Medal as Boss Milliner. Pittsburg Gazette-Times. When woman Is struggling strenuously to secure the ballot, man is distancing her In many of the fields where she has hitherto held the monopoly. The broom, her whilom weapon, has been wrested from her by the pneumatic cleaner. Socks are darned by machine and the piano player has brought the "Stephanie Ga votte ' lnro desuetude. Now another blow has been struck at the supremacy of the sex in a department which seemed Its exclusive domain. A man has won the gold medal at the convention of the Na tional Milliners' Association. This is a more cruel humiliation than the recent award to a man of the prize for the best battle song in woman's campaign.1 The man who has earned this distinction is a civil engineer by profession, a mathema tician by training, the son of a million aire, and only 23 years old. This com bination of qualities -reminds one of the punch recipe whisky to make it strong water to make it weak, lemon to make it sour and sugar to make it sweet. The modern feminine headgear requires for its construction the enthusiasm of youth, the prodigality of Croesus, a mastery of trigonometry and calculus and the engi neering skill that might create a sus pension bridge or an Eiffel Tower. Wal ter H. Doherty. the man who combined these qualifications, will go down In his tory as the first man to apply the prin ciples of engineering to the building of roof gardens for the fair sex. Will woman realize ere it Is too late that, while she is grasping after that bauble, the ballot, which bothers Its pres. ent possessor so much, she Is letting slip from her many things that are far bet ter? What is the privilege of voting for Terence O'Flanagan compared with the divine creative energy that goes Into the architecture of a millinery miracle? Let woman reflect and choose the better part. Wins Wood-Sawing Championships Hartford, Conn.," Dispatch to New York World. Shortly after 6 o'clock Wednesday night George Michael, proprietor of the Pros pect House in Bristol, sawed the last Btick of ten cords of wood. Last week George Leavttt had ten cords of wood dumped in his back yard, and from a dis cussion as to how long It would take to saw the wood emanated a wager between Leavltt and Michael. Michael bet $100 that he could saw the wood In 30 hours, and if he did Leavltt was to pay him the wager and $1 a cord. Engaging an expert saw maker to keep his two bucksaws In condition, Michael started in, and not only did he succeed in getting his Job done in season, but he required only a little over 20 hours for the ten cords. He is pretty nearly a physical wreck, his hands being swollen and terribly blis tered. "Where Fire Wan Discovered. PORTLAND. March 26. (To the Edi tor.) Would you please publish where fire was first discovered and how? J. P. W. Fire was first discovered by Prome theus, a Greek Inventor, who was impris oned in the Caucasus Mountains and cruelly treated by the trust magnate who robbed him of his patent. Full par ticulars are given In a book called Pro metheus Vlnctus and all the cyclopedias. NEWSPAPER WAIF'S. "All the world's. a stage." "Yes: and my cook seems to think I keep her merely as my understudy." Louisville Courier-Journal. Mrs. Youngwife What is the first ques tion you ask of a maid whom you think of employing? Mrs. Oldone I always say first, "Have you ever lived with me- before?" Life. "How did you cure your daughter of be ing left-handed?" "I bought her a beauti ful diamond ring and made her wear It on her right hand. So she got In the habit of doing everything with that hand." Cfeve land Leader. 'She's a very natural girl." "So?" "Yea; whenever she's invited out to dine she never thinks of taking the smallest piece of meat in sight, but helps herself to as much as she would eat if she were at home." Detroit Free Press. "The tariff is a wonderful institution." said the earnest citizen. "Yep." answered Farmer Corntossel. "It's more than won derful. It's an unprecedented marvel. It's the only thing I ever heard of that our Congressman was afraid to talk about." Washington Star. Police Justice The man you ran down swears positively you were grinning like a fiend before the car hit him. Trolley Mstor man I was. Your Honor. But yoo win derstand when I tell you that I was a chauffeur for three year, before I got mv present Job, and from force of habit T thought I could steer the car to avoid him after throwing the u.ual scxre Into? him Puck. Life's SunnySide T?Tn' 8t. Gaine9 Ml" n 1S63, the Fifth nkeeaa?bUrS1 tWO WhoIe regiments of lanieei, the Texas soldiers were oil proud of their achievement J .V Pollel' a amuiin,armlnfr Xel,le" he describes surrender 8 SCe"e ,n con"ectlon the thTlrwo'rts Tn "J? ""-rendered they wTrl boay to Colonel Upton was oon?fn vnmpt In the duty . that he thfarnd "o'f thCed That wal near th. .Ca?tUred regiments. of the Prlsors Vremmrw,and S1"ad to pass bv "BUr jo m,akin " ttort Danv i. g John Ferris" of Com- swords dangling about , the armfuI of Upton .houteS? eV"y "rectlon. t;ogus0jodi0nnois! What - esng?:,7ettu0rn,D 30' stentorian voice. 8 John' m shouted '..Cd tor 'em than feed vToZ . -,'nlell,Mos"- needing money, sold his Pig to the wealthy Northern lawver J! on JU4SftbU8ht tho "WtbortnPpT. he .tnh lme' nedlng more monev fiten,"wh,red.drtitne S-SSK n anruTon-S -His esJ-rboutIl,ns Xlnwlh abrokd" Sflt1 be?"" 111 -n Leader tet"een yo-selves."cieveiand e , mw!uFr a ? i-where" I"- lto ClWcagoTNews.b;y r da- tharlrou fothe'Wohnuy. is it possible tnat you, as sick as you claim to be have eaten that whole rhubarb pie ' ' Johnny Yes. mamma. You know the 1Z t t"1 1?y Syatera "eded rhubarb and I thought I'd better take a good tV' -ef0re 1 Kot any worse-Chicago Inter-Ocean. vlsTtertn Gran1 Duke Alexia f visited this country with his Imposing sTans we t1 th PlaC68 to whioh the Rus? hunt t2 aS. Ut We8t f or a buffl K anoo-ntof1 ITly Russians, except the Cossacks, are none tOO STOOd when If , ". . 4 , ' - uorsemansnip, 8 Joraiatlon was conveyed to Colonel Hatch, with the request that m m"d and sen" steeds be procured f l3"0 for tne hunt- Hatch did the best he could with the Army mounts, and the cavalcade started from Fort Robinson. ' The leaders rode slowly. It was a long and imposing procession. Just as Hatch was congratulating himself that every thing was going nicely, his orderly rode up from the rear, saluted and said: -Beg pardon Colonel, but one of them kings has fell off." Saturday Evening Post , e The new minister in a Georgia church was delivering his first sermon. . The darky janitor was a criticalHstener from a back corner of the church. The min ister s sermon was eloquent, and his prayers seemed to cover the whole cate gory of human wants. After thA KAnHnM ,l. . - "'1" iub aeacons asked the old darky what he thought of ""uisier. -uon t you think he orrers up a good prayer, Joe?". "Ah mos- suhtalnly does. boss. Whv that man axed de good Lord fo' things dat de odder preacher didn't even know he had! Everybody's. e Two telephone girls were talking over the wire one afternoon. The subject of the conversation was a lawn party, w hich was to take place the next day. Both were discussing what they should wear and sfter five minutes had come to no decision. Willie Vet-Whafn an army endurance test, ma? Mother Vet-Llvlng with your pa the first few days after he gets his pension money. Puck. "He says he has never kissed his wife I think that's outrageous, don't you'" 'No; I've seen his wife." Houston Post. "I forget so easily. I wish I could do something to exercise my memory " -That's simple," said his friend. "Just lend me $10, and let me know If you for get it." Judge. IN THE MAGAZINE' SECTION OF THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN FIGHTING A BULL BARE HANDED IN THE RING Edwin C. Johnson writes a graphic description of an extraor dinary exhibition of courage and f oolhardiness by an American negro in the City of Mexico. MEASURING TORNADOES AND STUDYING THEIR CAUSE Professor Frank H. Bigelow, of the Weather Bureau, is studyino the devastations of tornadoes and has made many interesting dis coveries as to the nature and hab its of this king of storms. STEADY PROGRESS OF FRANCIS RICHTER Mrs. Alma A. Rogers writes of the progress of Portland's blind boy musician in his studies abroad under the great teacher, Lesehe tizsky. , THE LETTERS OF A JAPANESE SCHOOLBOY .Wallace Irwin has discovered a new vein of humor and created a new character in Hashimura Togo. The aerial exploits of the Wright brothers are quaintly de scribed this weeki -; "GETTING A LINE ON OGGIE" Sewell Ford introduces Profes sor Shorty McCabe into aristo cratic; societv. and inf.;jo(,ll,. 1.. . 7 -- .MviuDuiauj in; shows up an English Lord as a. snow.