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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1909)
PORTLAyi). OREGOX. Entered at rortland. Oregon.' Fostofflce as Second-Class Matter. subscription Bates Invariably In Advance. .. (Br Malt.) - Dally, Sunday Included, one year IS.OO a; y. Sunday Included, six month! 4.25 Da y. Sunday Included, three months.. 2,25 Da y. eunday Included, one month 75 Dally, -without Sunday, one year 6.00 Daily, without Sunday, aix month. 8.23 pa y. without Sunday, three months... 1.75 Dally without Sunday, one month..... .60 Weekly, one year 1.50 Eunday. one year 2.50 Eusday and weekly, one year 8.50 (Br Carrier.) pIly, Sunday Included, one year 8.00 DrJly. Sunday Included, one month... .75 Mow to Remit Send poutofflce money order, express order or personal check oa your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency r t the sender's risk. Give postoffice ad aress In lull. Including county and state. , "stage Rates 10 to 14 pases. 1 cent; 16 28 paces. 2 cents; SO to 44 pases. S cents; 6 to 60 pajies. 4 cents. Foreign poatag double rates Eastern Business Office The 8. C. Beck E 2. SdcI1 Agency New Tork. rooms 48 1" Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-513 Tribune building. PORTLAND. THCKSDAY. JUNE 3, 1808. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. Have you property? Any property? Are you an industrious and careful and self-denying man? An indus trious, careful and self-denying woman? Are you working and saving and managing now, in the hope and expectation of making some accumu lation of property, which may be of service to you and to your descend ants in the ultimate, looking to the welfare of the state? Even now, if your property inter ests are small, or nothing; if you are a suburban resident, establishing your own little home, you Bhould observe and remember that property can be guarded and preserved only on a prin ciple applicable to all property, great and small. The larger properties form a bulwark for defense of the smaller; and property is thus preserved in all its many grada tions. Remove these barriers, and we shall find the hopeless and des perate large class moving against property and against rights of prop erty, in a mass contending for chances in the smallest hope of the meanest dividend of plunder. This goes deeper than the instinct of the lower mob or rabble, whose creed is the shibboleth of socialism. It Includes all whose effort is to get special advantages for themselves, or for localities, from taxation of the whole body of the community that is, from confiscation of property in one locality for benefit of property In other places. , But then, the question is asked, would you stop all Improvement, all progress? Certainly not. But let the effort be Judicious and selective. In these movements all should share. People who use water and gas and electric light, and the bridges, too, should pay for the use. There is, in fact, no sense in maintaining water rates and not bridge rates. There is no Justice in requiring the city to pay, out of its tax fund, a heavy charge for the water it uses, after it has already pledged Itself to taxation for payment of the bonds and the interest on which the water plant has been established. People who use things should pay for the use. There is nothing of value that can be "free." The cost must be paid somehow. All the tendency of our modern charters and our modern legislation has been to take away property, through various devices, from those who have accumulated it by energy, Industry, foresight and thrift, and to bestow the benefits on the idle and un thrifty class. This is the trend to ward socialism. Nor does it stop here. It proposes to confiscate the superior energy and 'industry and profits of self-denial of those who hope to get on In the world for the comfort, sup port and benefit of those who think little or care nothing about the vir tues of industry, of prudence, of fore sight, and who trouble themselves not with thought of the morrow. Oregon is taking the lead in this kind of legis lation and in the policy that supports it. Such policy and legislation are called "progressive:" Not unless all human experience, through all ages, has been a lie. Nor can there be any question where this, ultimately, would land Oregon should not the good sense of the people check it. To no small extent this situation Is before the people of Portland, in the questions to be passed on in the elec tion of next Monday. Loose Ideas, of socialistic tendency loose ideas of all kinds are in the propositions put up to the voters by vagrant minds, by vagarious thinkers, who. out of all proper relation with the actual world, deem themselves apostles of hew thought and propose to change the basis of human society. Question Is whether there is ballast enough for the ship. We believe there is. The vote on Monday will not be final, but it will show whether the tendency now. after the experience of the last five years, is one way or the other. There is no party question here. On such a question there are no Republicans, no Democrats. It is a question be tween Judgment and sanity, and their opposltes. Undoubtedly there always will be for society a principle of re covery, but why not keep the ship steadily on an even keel? The Pacific Mail Steamship Com pany has served notice on the War De partment that it will, on August 3, withdraw its steamers from the Pan ama route. This news was not unex pected, for it has been a long time since there was any profit in the line as it Is operated by the present owners. The most suspicious feature in connec tion with the announcement Is that it should follow so closely on the well circulated report that the transconti nental railroad interests had secured control of the American-Hawaiian steamship line. The latter line, oper ating its steamers in connection with the Tehuantepec Railroad, has made heavy inroads on the business or the Pacific Mail, and also with the busi ness of the transcontinental lines. If it has passed under control of the rail- roads, it would be th. natural art1 rxtr leal thing for them to close down the Pacific Mall, which has proven such a poor opponent for the American-Hawaiian line, with its modern steamers and fine service. A PHRASE OF SOCIALISTIC JARGON. "Taking the unearned value" is an expression employed in the Jargon of Socialism current in the mouths of many a shallow talker. It is applied to land values, that Socialism wishes to confiscate to land values in the cities, because these people have no mind to live in the country and work the land and share its rising values. Yet land values in the country, throughout our Northwest States, have risen enormously during the last twenty years. Are the owners en titled to the "unearned increment?". What has increased these values but the very same thing that has in creased the values of town and city property? And if the "unearned value" Is to be "taken" by the state in one case, why not in the other? Put this up to the farmers and to the owners of farm lands. Propose to take their "unearned increment" also. Land that sold for ten dollars an acre, or less, a dozen years ago, in many a county of Oregon, couldn't now be bought for fifty, in many cases for one hundred. But your Socialist doesn't trouble himself about that land. He thinks he sees more plunder in the city. But as soon as he has plundered the city he will want to plunder the country, too. "Taking the unearned value" is veriest flummery, fudge, gibberish and balderdash. Land must bear taxa tion, of course. But the pretense that the owner of land, either in city or country, has stolen its value from "the people." belongs only to shallow ora tory or Journalism. There is no definition of urfearned value, never can be. A business, in which only a moderate sum of money has been invested may have grown, through opportunity and the favor of the public, to immense value. Is this value to be seized because "un earned" ? A man has a large flock of sheep. They increase in numbers under his care, and double their value in a year. Is the increased value "unearned"? What rotten rubbish this stuff about unearned value is! This phrase unearned value is never heard, except from the mouth of some most shallow person. A NEW ASPECT OF THE RACE WAR. The railroad strike in Georgia is a formal protest of unionized white labor against social equality with negroes. While the blacks have never yet been employed on the Southern railroads as engineers, many of them have be come firemen, and the object of the strike which is now on, though in pro cess or adjustment by the Federal authorities, is to drive them from that occupation. The white firemen refuse longer to tolerate negroes In their trade. Whether the engineers sympa thize with them very strongly or not, it is hard to decide. They have re fused to take out the trains, but this they put ostensibly on the ground that it is dangerous to do so, since the towns they must pass through are violently hostile to the colored firemen. Very likely the pretended reason con ceals a determination to. stand by the strikers in all contingencies..- Doubt less the engineers are shrewd enough to foresee that after black firemen the next thing would be black engineers, and that their own fate is not very re motely dependent on the outcome of the present strike. Of course the white people of Georgia are eager to help the union firemen to victory. Any thing which involves the question of race equality is sure to incite them to passionate partisanship. Neither in the South nor elsewhere have the negroes shown any capacity for organizing themselves into unions. Their gross racial feeling is so strong that it leads them to protect criminals from Just prosecution, but the sense of a common cause which induces white workmen to unite in close brother hoods they never have developed. This may be from lack of intelligence! It may be from the fact that hitherto negroes have not been employed regu larly in large bodies at mining and manufacturing. It is a theory of the advanced labor agitators that union ism, with all that it implies, will de velop spontaneously in any body of workmen when their environment is suitable. If this is true, we must con clude that when the blacks have be come a more important factor in mod ern industry than they now are they will organize. At present they are isolated units and . therefore industri ally helpless. The corporations in many other parts of the country be sides the South have sought to take advantage of this condition of black labor to aid them in their fights with the white unions. They have found the negroes extremely useful as strike breakers. The apparent inability of the col ored workmen to organize has led to two notable results. One of. them is that the white unions in the South have added hatred of the negro as a strikebreaker to their scorn of him a3 a social inferior. We may fairly sup pose that these bitter feelings have been reinforcing each other for several years until they have produced their first important outburst in the Georgia railroad strike. Clearly the purpose of the strike Is to eliminate the black as an Industrial competitor with organ ized white labor. The other result to which we referred is a manifest deter mination on the part of the corpora tions in the South to displace white labor with black because the latter can be more readily controlled. In many employments it is probably equally ef ficient with the whites, and if it is more submissive the preference of the corporations is, easy to understand; This being so, it is hardly beyond the truth to say that the white unions are actually struggling for existence. Upon the ultimate outcome of the fight which they have now begun will de pend whether the wage-earning popu lation of the South shall in the future be white or black. Hitherto in all such struggles the lower race has finally driven out or exterminated the higher. We shall see how it will turn out In this case. Race antagonism in the So'uth is more bitter now than it ever was be fore. It has come to such a pass that negroes are as good as excluded even from Federal appointive offices, and it is out of the question to expect whites to work side by side with them much longer or admit them to the unions. Instead of healing, the trouble between the races continually becomes exacer bated and spreads into new fields. Who shall' say what the outcome will be? Whatever it may be, the whites of the ' wealthy and educated classes may thank themselves for it in large meas ure. They ' have .deliberately embit tered race antagonism in every depart ment of life except labor alone, and, now that the unions have caught the fever, they need not be surprised. Feeling is as contagious as smallpox, and the lower classes in every com munity are sure to agree on social sub jects with their superiors. Perhaps this has been inevitable. We are in clined to believe so. The negro in the South is an insolu ble problem. He is not to blame for taking every advantage he can seize in the struggle for existence. Perhaps the corporations are not to blame for using his weakness and folly in their warfare with the unions. Certainly the whites are not to blame for fight ing to maintain their racial supremacy and the civilization which depends upon it. As the contest grows mora open and fierce, the blacks will find themselves with fewer sympathizers among the Northern whites day after day, and while the country will never consent to see them reduced to a per manently servile status, it may for the sake of peace undertake the gigantic task of deporting them. A HISTORY OF WASHINGTON. An excellent book is the "History of the State of Washington," by Edmond S. Meany. Professor Meany, of the University of Washington, has been a resident of the state from the early days. He has been an eager student of its history, and an active partici pant in the life of the country. This volume of 400 pages is a Judicious mean between bare or bald outline and excessive detail. Properly, it begins with the period of discovery; and the narrative is carried on down from the time when Washington was a portion of Oregon, through the territorial days to the days of statehood and the present time. The book has a good proportion. This Is one of the things most difficult or accomDlishment In a -nnr-L- . i. ; kind. All . material facts are pre sented with a Judicious selection and aisinoution or the matter. Down to the segregation of Washington from Oregon, it is a history of the Oregon Countrv. Thpn it tato. .. 11 J LUC eit3 cial and separate history of Washing ton. It is a book of Int ent time. Clearly Professor Meany has taken great pains in verification of dates and collation of facts. Sepa- "ul me nistory into its chief epochs is an Important feature, yet the narrative Is nnnMtinni,n -r-i i is not only valuable in itself, for the present time, but will or-i, and index to future investigation. WONDERING AND PONDERING. What relation h ilin that Portland is to have a new ad ministration or affairs within the month to the extraorrlinnrv a.Mxri-, the Lane regime in committing the .-nj ueuuiteiy 10 certain peculiar pol icies of its energetic head? Here we find a sudden burst or activity for spending J3,000,000 for an additional pipeline from Bull Run to increase the supply or water, and at the same time great apparent haste in signing a con tract ror 5000 water meters, so as to diminish the use or water. The peo ple, two years ago, decided to enlarge their water supply; but, ir Mayor Lane has done anything much mean while to carry out their will, it has escaped attention. Why such alacrity now? But the public has never approved the unbusiness-like water scheme, which was operated chiefly to cut down the city's revenues. To make sure that they will be reduced still more, it may be supposed, we are to have 5000 new meters ordered in a rush and installed, ir possible, before the next Mayor (Simon, probably) has a chance to take things in hand. Of course, The Oregonian is not ac cusing the Mayor of trying to em barrass his successor or make him the unwilling residuary legatee of his queer policies. It is Just wondering a lit tle, and pondering a little more over what it sees. That is all. RATE DISCRIMINATION ADMITTED. "To lower the general distance tar iff mentioned to where the Commission believed it should go would have the effect of permitting the Coast towns, with their very low water competition terminal rates, to over-run Spokane's Jobbing territory." In such remark able language, the Railroad Commis sion of the State of Washington, as per letter printed in another column is on record as favoring Spokane and the railroads, at the expense of the consumers whb desire the competition of the "Coast towns." Exposure of the peculiar attitude of the Washing ton Railroad Commission is not an unexpected result of the publicity given the now famous Spokane rate case. The Railroad Commission was a special hobby of- the Spokane peo ple, and since its inception has in ef fect "stood in" with Spokane Jobbers and the railroads to prevent consumers from securing the rates to which thev were entitled. The Olympia dispatch in yesterday's Oregonian indicates that the Commis sioners are somewhat disturbed as they well may be, over the disclosures which are now inevitable. It is doubt ful however, if any more damaging evidence can be presented than the letter of Commissioner Lawrence, printed in another column. Here is certainly a remarkable ad mission to be made by public officials elected, not solely and exclusively by Spokane Jobbing Interests, but by the consumers, who out-number the job bers more than a thousand to one In no other way could the Coast Jobbers "overrun Spokane's Jobbing territory except by selling goods at lower prices than have been secured by the Spo kane Jobbers. Thl. -r.r-, ' vv ajsnington Railroad Commission seems to have re- earaea as a calamity. As for the rail roads, the only. excuse they have ever pretended to make for favoring Spo kane at the expense of the Coast ports and the Inland Empire consumers was that Spokane grumbled so much over Coast aggression that the dis criminatory rates were given her to quiet the noise. If the Railroad Commission had power to make a 20 per cent reduc tion in rates, it certainly had power to reduce the rate "to where the Com mission believed it should go." Fail ing to lower the Spokane protective rates to a point proportionate with the special class and commodity rates, the Commission deprived thousands of consumers in Spokane territory of the benefits of legitimate competition made possible by the "low water com petition terminal rates." As a studied systematic method of cinching the con sumer by denying him the benefits of this competition, which Pacific Coast Jobbers alone could supply, nothing approaching the remarkable policy of the Railroad Commission has yet ap peared In connection with the cele brated Spokane rate case. The official communication of Com missioner Lawrence is a most complete and effective confirmation ot the charge that Spokane has been unduly favored by the railroads. The unwill ingness of Spokane to be contented with much more than she was entitled to has pulled down the entire rate fab ric of the West, and, in the general de moralization resultant, the unfair methods by which Spokane built up her trade, at the expense of the con sumers and the Pacific Coast Jobbers, stand forth in bold relief. It is not a disclosure that reflects credit on either Spokane, the railroads or the Wash ington Railroad Commission. The big life insurance companies of New Tork complain a good deal about the effect of the new legislation in that state upon their business. The laws passed through the efforts of Gover nor Hughes limit the amount of new business which the companies may write each year. They also forbid re bates, loans to agents on the security of anticipated commissions, and so on. Undoubtedly these laws have caused a falling off in the business of the com panies. But other influences have been at work also. For one thing, numer ous small companies, have been organ ized, and the disgust of the public with the improper practices or some or the officials of the old companies, as shown in the Armstrong investigation, has led them to insure in new organiza tions which possess less capital but which,' upon the whole, are probably quite as reliable. That the falling off has been serious may be seen, for ex ample, from the statistics of the Mu tual Lire, or New York. At the close or 1908 that company had lost $151, 000,000 worth or business, compared with its condition three years before. But this does not show the full effect of the blow, for during those three years It wrote $236,000,000 worth of new business. Its total loss, therefore, on old policies was almost $400,000, 000. To be accurate, this loss, as shown from the sworn statement of the company, amounted to $387,425, 319. After all, it pays to be honest. July wheat sold at $1.20 per bushel yesterday, and, unless Mr. Pat ten takes another vacation, it will probably climb up past the figure reached by the May option. Cash wheat sold in St. Louis at $1.62 per bushel yesterday, and the general situ ation throughout the world was de cidedly strong. The Sphinx-like si lence that Is noticeable at the head quarters of Secretary Wilson is in' strange contrast with the loquacity with which "Tama Jim" announced that his farmers would swamp Mr. Patten and his wheat corner with the tremendous offerings from those 143, 000,000 bushels which were still in farmers' hands on March 1. It will be some months, probably years, before the sure-thing men of Wall street and Pittsburg again sell wheat they do not own, simply because Secretary Wilson assures them there is plenty of it in the country. It should be known by the world that Ostrander, Wash.,... is in Cowlitz County. and not in Lewis County, as a Chehalis correspondent averred in an Oregonian special Monday. The item was important because it referred to a square timber an immense "tooth pick" sent to the A-Y-P Exposition from Ostrander, and Cowlitz County, not another, deserves the credit for its growth and manufacture. This is one of the means Cowlitz has taken to ad vertise itself, and it does not want benefits to be conferred on a neighbor when they belong elsewhere. Mr. McDanlel, doubtless a mighty good man, is the candidate of the Pro hibitionists for the Mayoralty. Mr. Albee Is the candidate of the Goody Goods, of the elect, of the men and women who themselves are above all human frailty while the Prohibition candidate is opposed only to those who sell or use liquor. As for Mr. Kella her, he, keeps a liquor shop and doesn't train with either crowd. Now you may have reform in any of these vari ous kinds. The attendance at the opening day or the Lewis and Clark Exposition was 39,577. The .'attendance at the A-Y-P . Exposition was 89.286. It should be borne in mind that within easy reach or Seattle, say within seventy-five miles, there are now' more than twice as many people - as there were four years ago within the same distance rrom Portland. Orchardists in a Northern, Calirornla county are thinning their peaches. It requires more nerve than the average man possesses to do this In a year when prospects show that kind of fruit will be scarce, but it pays. Year by year, thinning is profitable labor in any man's orchard.' Mr. Albee and Mr. Kellaher, stanch champions of the direct primary law when they ran on Statement One for the State Senate and elected Chamber lain United States Senator, do not fa vor the direct primary method of electing Mayor of Portland. Judge Webster, County Court, with holds the salary or Judge Gatens, Cir cuit Court. It would be "interesting to see Judge Gatens pass on a suit to withhold Judge Webster's unearned salary, for the latter's rrequent vaca tion periods. Seattle appears to be surprised and a trifle disconcerted that the fair attend ance on the second day was small, fol lowing the great first day. Seattle will learn that there are other Fair days besides opening days. Harriman stocks have advanced more than two points since the "head of the house" set sail for Europe. Now, if we can induce Mr. Hijl to take a sea voyage. Wall street would have a regular Jag of Joy. American steel stocks will in the future be obtainable on the Paris Bourse. American gold bricks will still find the best market in "Little Old New York." Some bright mind has referred to the Democratic party as "a tradition and a noise." That's about it. Rather than bet Mr-. Josselyn $100, Mr. Kellaher ought to bet his boots or even his Ufa SILHOUETTES Vanity is a mist that vapors around in significance. e a . e Our worst and most unendurable ills are Imaginary ones. Naomi, daughter of Enoch, was 5S0 years old when she was married. A lot of Portland society girls should cheer up. The woman who cries for an hour never gets it. see It is a paradox that loose habits gen erally stick closer to a man than any other kind. Wanted A. coffin in which to bury the Dead Sea; the saucer into which the cup of misery overflowed; a pair of spec tacles to fit the eyes of Justice. Many people think themselves perfectly virtuous because, being well fed and well protected, they have no temptations. They don't distinguish between virtue and vic tuals. e The man who forgets a great deal in his life is happier than the one who remem bers too much. e It is a poorly filled mind that nniri other people's thoughts. e e The richest man in the world with his clothes oft is no better off than a pauper. e Little girls are much interested in the man in the moon. When they grow up they will take more interest in the man in the honeymoon. e There are many who can hold' anything but their tongues, keep anything except their word, and lose nothinsr cept their characters. He who courts disgrace lS Rlire tint r Vir. Jilted. e Advice is like snow the softer ir the longer it remains and the deeper it sinks. It is much easier in n faults than great virtues. Fontanelle describes a lover as one who in his anxiety to possess another loses possession of himself. e e Love's Labor Lost A kr enadlng a deaf and dumb asylum. Some corporations are fined so often they should arrange with the ,-. for a yearly rate. e e Said a thief to a wit "Th. knowing one's friends until they've oeen tried and found steady." Said the wit to the thief. "All vnnro t sume. have been tried and found guilty e I've often wondered ir when a ship makes port the crew gets any. e It Is easier to make u early rising than one's body. The world doesn't know a. frmi' in firmities hair so well as a wise man knows his own. A patient Is in a bad way when his disease is acute and his doctor isn't. Only a woman's face In the dark night and cold. But, oh! the ghost of a vanished grace And the pitiful tale it told; Wrapped in a ragged shawl, (Why was it not her shroud?) It looked as white as the moon that night Through a rift in a driving cloud. It is easy to say grace, but difficult to possess it. e The happiest man is the benevolent one, for he owns stock in the happiness of all the world. e e Time Is an industrtous plowman, for he turns out the most furrows. Georgia' Novel InauKural Ceremonies. Boston Advertiser. Georgia will Inaugurate her new Gov ernor June 26, and the ceremonies will be novel in their lack of gold lace and such fixings. Mr. Brown has said that he doesn't want any. He says he intends to get off the streetcar, walk over to the Capitol, unless It is raining, and wait for the Legislative committee to escort him into the hall before the Joint ses sion. Then, after taking the oath and re ceiving the great seal of the state, he will deliver his inaugural address and go to the executive office. That is a good augury for a sensible administration of state affairs. Have They Had Experience? PORTLAND, June 1. CTo the Editor.) In looking over Mr. Kellaher's letter in The Oregonian of May 27, I notice that he says "the first commission will be com posed of Messrs. W. L. Morgan, C. A. Bigelow and Daniel MeAUen, who will have absolute control of the $2,000,000," etc. May I ask whether any of the above gentlemen have had any experience in operating an electric light and power sys. tern, either municipal or private? RICHARD DAVIS, C. E. Two Watches Grow to $50,000. Baltimore News. A Jeweler In the Pacific Northwest, whb 38 years ago traded two watches for two small lots of land, has made $50,000 out of the land. THE dUARTET. There is a man who detests Sham, He's pure as Mary's little lamb And bears his Cross without a qua'm . It's Albee. . And then another, a Party Hoss, Who wouldn't settle with a toss Which of the bunch should skin the Boss 'Tis Munly. The third Reformer In the fight Cock-sure that he alone is right Whose battle cry is "Light more light!" Is Kellaher. Each of the three has gall enough To fill the public ear with guff That he alone is proper stuff For Mayor. But there's the fourth, who doesn't Jaw, Decides that he his wood will saw A product of the primary law That's Joe. p. r. Birds Which Fly a Night. Suburban Life. The great horned owl, the worst forager. The snow owl. a winter visitor. The long-eared owl, friend of the farmer. The short-eared owl, nests near the ground. The screech owl, noisiest of the family. The Arcadian owl, small and seldom seen. The barn owl, called "monkey-faced owl." The burrowing owl, said to live in the ground. The night hawk, not a hawk at all. The whip-poor-will, famous for its song. The chuck-will's-wldow, much like the whip-poor-will. The poor-will; several geographical races. HELPING ALONGTHE GAME OF SPOKANE SS' Ae- MTSe The extent to which the , railroads and the railroad commission of the state of Washington have favored Spo kane at the expense of the Inland Em pire and the Coast Jobbers stands out in bold relief since the present agi tation over the Interstate Commerce Commission decision. As an Illustration of the workings of this discrimination In favor of Spo kane nothing could be plainer than a transaction which was called to the attention of the Washington Railroad Commissioners more than two years ago. George A. Vawter. of Northport, Wash., on October 9, 1906, shipped a traction engine from Rosalia, Wash, to Spokane, a distance or 36 miles. The charge at regular tariff rates was $36. One week later, the same engine was shipped from Spokane to Northport. Wash., a distance of 46 miles, and the freight thereon was $23.75. Mr. Vaw ter, through his attorney, filed a claim for $16.50 overcharge with the rail road company, basing his figures on the rate charged from Spokane to Northport. The railroad company paid po attention to the claim and. on April 18, Attorney Sherlock, of New port, appealed to the Washington Rail road Commission for relief from what he very appropriately termed "unjust discrimination." The railroad commission's answer to Mr. Sherlock's protest is a perfect, clean-cut, unqualified admission that Spokane Jobbers are being protected by the railroads and the railroad com mission, solely and exclusively for the purpose or preventing the consumers from enjoying the advantages of the competition of the Coast ports to which they are entitled. Following Is the re ply to Mr. Vawter's attorney: Olympia, April 21. 1907. Alvah. S. Sherlock. Attorney-at-Law. Xewport, Wash Dear Sir: Tour letter ot the 18th of April referring to a claim of George A. Vawter of Newport. Wash., and desiring- to lay 'the claim before this Commission, on an over charge on a traction engine ehlppped from Rosalia to Spokane and then reshlpped from Spokane to N'ewport. has been received. mileage: of world's railways la 10 Year It Has Increased 140,137 Miles, or 23 Per Cent. Railroad Age Gazette. Again the Archiv fur Elsenbahnwesen, published bv trm Pmmion urii., Public Works, Issues its statistics of the railways or the world covering the year 1307 and the nearest year for which sta tistics are avallnhle frtr tVtx I'nlt. o. and Canada, the year, ended with June, "' " nnos in tne grand divisions of the world the following mileages, street rail ways and some other litrhr ra 11....... being included: K'LWorld- Ml,e' u,rpa 199.3S5 irl?.. 56.294 Arioa 18.519 Total 074 ino New World. Miles North America 2fiR ncB South America 34911 Australasia 17 700 Total 320.669 Or 691,867 miles !n the whole world. In this division the West Indies are given to South America. All except the Island of Trinidad belong perhaps more properly to North America. They have -745 miles. As the figures stand North America has 34 per . cent more railway than Europe and nearly as much as the whole of the Old World. Compared with the previous year Eu rope increased its railways by 2917 miles (1 per cent), Asia by 1628 miles (3 per cent). Africa by 98 miles (5.7 per cent). North America by 7637 miles (3 per cent) South America by 1380 miles (4 per cent) and Australasia by 51 miles, or of 1 per cent. Australasia, beside Australia and New Zealand, includes the Hawaiian Islands, with 90 miles of railway. Of Eu ropean countries Russia built most rail way in spite of its special difficulties, 1625 miles, as it is likely to do hereafter, because it needs them: France was next, with 431 miles, followed by Germany, with 411 miles. In Asia British India led, with 909 miles, followed by China. 464. In Africa nearly all the progress was in Brit ish South Africa, where the addition was 352 miles (B14 per cent), the French pos sessions (including Madagascar 461 miles (6 per cent), and Egypt, 183 miles (5 per cent). The Archiv gives the increase from 1903 to 1907, which Is 6.8 per cent for Europe, 21.5 per cent for Asia, 24.4 per cent for Africa, 12.4 per cent for the two Americas and 7 per cent for Australia. The growth in Asia and Africa is not able, and the indications are that- in Asia especially, and in China particularly it will continue. The Chinese now insist on building their own railways, and they are making very clumsy work of It. the art of combination beyond a certain de gree seeming to be beyond their present grasp, but they at last want the railways, and in one way or another they are likely to get them. In South America, of the 1380 miles opened in 1907, 894 were In Argentina, 192 in the West Indies, 115 in Peru and 114 in Brazil. Since 1897 the world's railway mileage has increased 140,137 miles, or 234 per cent. Asia has nearly doubled Its mile age, and Africa has gained 65 per cent. Much the largest gain has been in North America, however. The Archiv's statis tics of the capital invested in railways cover about 85 per cent of this mileage and show a total of $41,774,000,000, and it the other 15 per cent have cost at the same rate the world has put over 49 -000,000,000 into these instruments since George Stephenson was a youth. As the population of the earth is estimated by the best authorities at 1,555,000.000. this gives an investment of J31.50 an inhab itant. Mr. Gerlinger May Reconsider. PORTLAND, June L (To The Editor.) Just a few words to L. Gerlinger re garding the proposed construction of what is generally known as the "Broad way" bridge across the Willamette River. Your opposition to the proposed proj ect is apparently based upon a selfish personal Interest. We are assured by the officials of the Portland Railway, Light & Power Com pany that whether the proposed "Broad way" bridge Is constructed or not. the present loop of the West Side car sys tem will be maintained at Second and Al der streets, right in front of the Ger linger building, so there will be no fur ther need of your worrying over the mat ter. The Gerlinger building will lose none of its prestige should the people of Port land In their wisdom grant to a very con siderable portion of their number the needed facility for securing rapid and uninterrupted means of crossing the river. ' With the Second and Alder-street loop and the Gerlinger building safely assured, Mr. Gerlinger's fear of a "cramped har bor" may be reconsidered on his part. J. H. NOLTA For Spite, Skunk Farm Is Started. Newark, N. J., Dispatch. Because Oscar Neidt refused to move his animal-rendering plant near Tren ton, N. J-, on the request of Ephralm Rockhill, a neighbor, the latter has started a skunk farm for spite. The skunks are making things unpleasant for Neidt, and he threatens suit. In reply will amy that we win be pleased to take up and Investigate any claim for overcharge which the Northern Pacific Ball way Company refuses to pay. Such a claim should first be presented to the company mak ing the same. While we have so jurisdiction to enforce the clalm for an overcharge, we have been able. In many Instances, to show the nature and amount so clearly that many such charges have been paid which had been be fore refused. Concerning the particular' overcharge you mention, this Is due to, the fact that all goods ehlppped from surrounding towns to Spokane are shlppped under the general dis tance tariff rates. The first shipment from Rosalia to Spokane, as stated, was made on this high general distance tariff, the second shipment from Spokane to Newport was roarte under the lower commodity rate. These rates have been In effect for a .long number of years. Last Summer In considering certain rates desired by the citizens of Walla Walla, we. made a reduction In the general distance tariff equal to about 20 per cent, which still leaves the tariff 78 to 80 per cent feigner than the special class and commodity rates. This Inequality Is subject to criticism and It Is the Intention of this Commission to take the matter up at as early a date as practi cable with a view to adjusting the same. We might say that the reason which prevented a proper adjustment last Summer was the fact that Spokane and other towns in Eastern Washington and Xortbera Idaho similarly sit uated were paying on shipments from the East, the rates to the Coast, plus the local rates back to the Interior, and to lower the general distance tariff mentioned to where the Commission believed It should go would have the effect of permitting the Coast towns, with their very low water competi tion terminal rates, to overrun Spokane's Jobbing territory. Believing that Spokane would in the near future secure much lower rates from tha East, the matter was held In abeyance pend ing such determination as will probably be made by the Interstate Commerce Commis sion In the esse now under consideration. We are making this rather full explanation to show, not only why the difference in freight mentioned by you does exist at the present time, with some reasons why this discrimination was not removed last Sum mer, but also what the plans of the Com mission are concerning the same. Respectfully yours, TUB RAILROAD COMMISSION" OP WASH INGTON. (Signed) J. C. LAWRENCE. Member of Commission. I'll OK. TODD OS MARS PROBLEM He Believes That Conscious Life la Pos sible on the Planet. Edward JC. Titus in Boston Transcript "My observation of the "canals' of Mars on the Andes expedition was not wholly convincing," says Professor Todd. "Animal life on Mars at the present time is possible, but the gen eral drift of astronomical opinion 13 against that hypothesis. Nature seems to fill with life every nook and cranny where life can comfortably exist, and It seems certain that Mars had con scious life at some past epoch.' But as its present temperature and atmos pheric conditions might be surmised to be somewhat like those prevailing at the summit of Mount Everest, or even higher still, it is difficult to conceive that animal life still exists there." Professor Todd, however. still be lieves that conscious life is Just pos sible on Mars, and if existent, in view of the more advanced development of the planet, its peoples should be at a more advanced stage of evolution, and hence more familiar than we with the physical facts of the universe. If so, it becomes possible that they have for some time been trying to reach us by signals through the ether with the forces which we employ in wireless telegraphy. And if this possibility be admitted, there could hardly be a more favorable time to attempt to receive such signals than when a balloon Is at a high altitude' beyond some of the surface disturbances. Hence, the Mar tian incident to Professor Todd's compressed-air experiments. The use of the Hertzian waves that bear the messages of wireless teleg raphy impresses Professor Todd as about the only possible means of such communication between possible life on both planets. Ether pervades the uni verse, as it transmits heat and light waves through an Infinitude of space. Why not these electric waves, too? The present limitations on wireless teleg raphy are regarded by him as due to the very incomplete knowledge of physical facts. Roughly speaking, he says, it is a little as if you were trying to strike high C on a piano, and in or der to hit that note you had to strike all the notes of the Instrument below. The proposal to flash a message to Mars by great mirrors Professor Todd supposes may have been intended by Professor Pickering as a pleasantry. He thinks it would be next to Impos sible to hit with the flash a little ob ject like Mars 39,000,000 miles away; and when the planets are near each other, the earth is between Mars and the sun, so that the Martians could not easily see the flash, because they would be looking toward the sun. It would be possible, however, for Mars to send a flash to us that could be clearly seen during our night time, looking out away from the sun, in case the flash should hit us. Of course Professor Todd takes the view that in all probability there will be "nothing doing" heavenward, when he sends out his wireless antennae, the principal question in this respect being whether the balloon will get above the melee of signals flying between Government stations, ships and back-yard ama teurs. If it should ever seem that signals were being received from Mars, the question would arise how to find some basis for communication. For a start ing point there would be one common basis of experience in the alternation of day and night and the seasons, and ln. ,aistane. whlctl should make pos sible some numerical and other sym bols expressing these facts. It would be a fascinaUng problem for crypto graphers, and one could dream indefi nitely how some of the universe's enigmas might be solved by such com munication with a presumably more advanced race. Call for Spain's Compulsory Voting. Boston Herald. Male adults in Spain of legal age and under 70, with the exception of priests, notaries and Judges, are required to vote in municipal elections. Failure to dis charge their civic obligation is punishable by having one's name published as cen sure for neglect, by having taxes in creased 2 per cent, by suffering a deduc tion of 1 per cent in salary if employed in the public service, and for a second of fense the loss of right to hold elective or appointive office. A little of that sort of training would do good in American cities Neglect of civic duties imposes its own penalty of Increased taxes, but the penal ized citizen does not seem to realize the fact. Publication of the list of non-voters and a public sentiment that would re gard failure to vote as a neglect of duty which would tend to disqualify a man in his citizenship would be more effective than a fine. But the Spanish point of view is right. The vote is a duty to the community, not merely a privilege of the individual. Serious Omission. New York Evening Post. "Swinburne Last of the Giants.". Current Literature. But the article does not give his batting average.