Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1909)
the aioRxrxG oregoxiax. sattjedat, December is, 190d. " PORTLAND, OREGOX. Entered at Portland. Oregon, Fostofnca aa Fecond-Class Matter. Subscription Kate Invariably In Advance. (BJ Mall.) Daily, Sunday Included, on year. ... .$8.00 laly, Sunday Included, six months.... 4.25 Pally. Sunday Included, three montha.. 2.25 Daily. Sunday Included, one month.... -75 Plly, without Sunday, one year 0.00 Daily, -without Sunday, fix months.... 8.25 Dally, without Sunday, three montha... 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month.... .80 "Weekly, one year..... 1.50 Sunday, one year 2.50 Sunday and weekly, one year. . 3.50 By Carrier.) Ta11y. Punday Included, one year..... ft. 00 Daily. Sunday Included, one month.... -75 How to Remit Send postofftce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency re at the sender's risk. Give postofn-e ad dress in full. Including county and state. Postage Rates 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent: 18 to 2 pages. 2 cents; 30 to 40 pages. 3 cents; 40 to 60 pases, 4 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Rusrneas Office The a C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 48 80 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 610-513 Tribune bulldlns. PORTLAND, SATURDAY, DEC. 18, 1909. "SUCKERS" AND TIMBER BAIT. Suckers" are rftlll biting. In East ern states, at Oregon's timber land bait. Now comes an attorney of Michigan, Danhof by name, dangling the timber acres of the Oregon & California Railroad grant before eighty-one eager Individuals of his part of the country and hooking them Into the United States Court as "in terveners" in the suit of the Govern ment to wrest the land away from the railroad. Other eager ones In various Eastern states are likely vic tims of lawyers angling for fees and business. . They all seek to claim the land as "actual settlers" and pay the railroad $2.50 an acre therefor, al though they never saw the tracts they -want and probably never will, and of course can come no nearer than 2000 miles to filling the essen tial requirements of residence on the land and improvement thereof. Attorney Danhof sets up that his clients are willing to begin actual settlement if the railroad on Its side would comply with the original terms of the land grant. But the first necessary move is that of the settler he must make his home on the land. The grant was made for the purpose of planting settlers on the land and it expressly shuts out all other per sons. No other man or woman, there fore, can establish the slightest claim to any railroad tract. Nor does this statement of the case Imply that actual settlers can estab lish a valid claim. That is a doubtful question for the courts, to decide. The final decree may take many years nd death and dissolution may out race it. Besides, If the Government should wrest the land away from the railroad the tracts may be at once "Pinchotized" barred , from settle ment and use. The original Intent of Congress Is clear. The high-handed violation of the law by the railroad through a generation is perfectly plain. The in justice to Individuals is manifest. The resultant blight on the progress of the country i3 widely visible. But through the maze of law and quibble the- final outcome for the actual set tler is clouded. But It may be ac cepted as a verity that for any than actual settlers there can be no valid claim. Repeated warnings of The Ore gonian have deterred many persons from this foolhardy game. But It seems that the warnings need to be repeated often. HOW JAPAN DID IT. "The Real Triumph of Japan," a book by Dr. L. L. Seaman, three years ago, is a work of unusual value, iworth study by all the world. The book demonstrates that the victory of Japan over Russia was won, not merely by fighting, but in larger de gree by enforcement of sanitary regu lations which enabled the men of Japan to fight. Efforts hitherto un known in war or peace were put forth to conquer the silent foe of armies, the diseases of the camp; to prevent men from rotting in their tents and barracks; to care for the wounded; to enforce most careful attention to all sanitary regulations, so far as' science had proved them, or even had suggested them. The result was that the mortality of war, which doesn't arise from the battle, but hitherto had always exceeded It, was reduced by the Japanese to a mini mum theretofore unknown In war. The details supplied by Dr. Seaman amply prove his position. He shows that the efficiency of the Japanese camp regulations and hospital service made a new record in the military operations of the world, kept down camp sickness and disability, restored men weakened by the demands of military service to duty, and preserved that efficiency in the armies of Japan that astonished the world. ' This contribution by Japan to civilization, Dr. Seaman maintains, should take rank with other high achievements in the work of hu manity, in the work of science and civilization. The work of Japan in her war with Russia is contrasted with that of the United States in the war with Spain. Our service was so raw that through its glaring faults the sacrifice of life from preventable causes amounted to fourteen times the number of those who fell in battle. On the other hand in Japan's army four men were killed in battle casualties to one from disease. Elaborate description of the sani tary and hospital regulations of the Japanese armies are presented to support the general statement and to account for the results. Japan's triumph was in the prevention of disease; in closest and most scientific attention to camp regulations and supply and quality of food; in an efficiency of hospital service to an extent never before known. There fore though the battles were as bloody as any recorded in history, and some of them as those about Mukden and at the siege of Port Arthur had few parallels for slaughter in the annals of humanity, yet Japan managed to preserve the life of her people to an extent toot before known in war. The lesson is for all nations. Dr. Seaman calls It the real triumph of Japan the conquest of the silent foe. He quotes (appropriately) from Milton (Samson Agonistes): What boots it at one gate to make defense .And at .another to let in the foe? The method. Indeed, was not origi nal with the Japanese. They took the Idea from the Germans and French, and carried it further. The methods and results are In contrast with those so strongly depicted by Kinglake, in his "History of the Crimean War," where the inefficiency makes the heart sick to read It. Intelligence, and use of It, is all there is In the activities of men in this world. THE BURE TENDENCY. "Socialism," says an English news paper, "was bound to come upon us with the adoption of an educational system negligent of the people's man ners, morals and industries, but in sistent on academic trifles and in tellectual gymnastics." In our State of Oregon We are getting similar re sults from similar causes. "We are training twenty times as many "in tellectuals" as can possibly obtain em ployment under government or in the "professions." . It is not to be supposed, however, that statement, of this fact will make any difference whatever in the tend ency of the times now, or for a long period. But it's just as well to un derstand the tendency and movement, nevertheless. Our educational system is rapidly working us towards state socialism. This, apparent now to dis creet observers, will become more and more apparent to the whole body, with progress of time. ' "But what are you going to do about It?" Nothing. It is impossible to arrest a tendency in a great people. The tendency must run Its course. Then something else will be done. But every observer and thinker long time has perceived that the tendency of our educational system is towards state socialism. Indeed, the system is socialism itself. THE FUTURE OF HUNTING. It is all very well to go hunting in automobiles as sportsmen now do from Salem, Roseburg and other val ley towns. That method has decided advantages over the old pack horse system. Certainly it is preferable to the primitive device of threading the forests afoot with a heavy gun across one's shoulder. Still even the automobile leaves something to be desired. There are cliffs which it cannot scale. We do not exactly see how it could proceed comfortably over fallen timber. There are. rivers which It cannot swim. Ripely considered it has many draw backs as a hunting vehicle. Perhaps the worst of all is its incapacity to protect the sportsman from wild beasts. A grizzly bear might assault one in spite of all an automobile could do to hinder unless there hap pened to be a clear track ahead. An angry eagle might swoop down on. a hunter In a car almost as readily as upon a horseman. From all these disadvantages the flying machine .is free. It is speedier than the automobile. Mountains, forests, precipices, rivers offer no seri ous obstacles to its career. By skim ming along Just above the tree tops one could discern game otherwise in visible. But its- greatest merit is its complete safety. Firing at a grizzly from a height of three or four thou sand feet the hunter need apprehend no danger from his rage. The most ferocious eagle could do him no harm because he could sail far above it and dispatch it at leisure by shooting from cerulean altitudes. The retrieval of game shot from a flying machine might present intractable problems, and yet why should It not be possible to evolve a breed of dogs which could descend In parachutes, seize their prey and be drawn up again by a special, rapid-acting engine? We expect to see the hunting of the future done in aeroplanes. ' EXPENSIVE TOYS. The unprecedented demand for ex pensive Christmas toys this year may mean nothing more portentous than that most buyers have money which they are eager to be rid of. How any large number can be in that en viable situation is hard to understand when we remember the cost of living and its upward trend. .Cheese, butter, meat, clothing, all go higher and higher and still happy parents find money in some way to purchase toy engines, sumptuous dolls and gor geous picture books at prices never before equaled. Truly we are a marvelous people. Perish the thought that we are going in debt for Christ mas .gifts. The chances are that the debt is incurred at the grocery while cash is paid for the toys. After all it is natural that gifts for children should become more costly year by year. Johnny's pa being a self-respecting citizen cannot abide to see Tommy Jones playing with more expensive toys than his own son possesses. Mrs. Flintsoup wants her little girl to have as gorgeous a doll as anybody else. The whole process is as natural and inevitable as the race for the biggest battle fleet among the nations. Yet it is yery question able whether children get more en joyment from their sumptuous toys of today than they did from the rag dolls and horn-handled jack knives of yesteryear. A child's happiness depends on Its capacity for enjoyment more than on the cost of Its playthings. In a nor mal youngster this capacity is pretty nearly boundless. It makes capari soned steeds out of broomsticks and royal dames out of slips of paper. Its best friend is the imagination, which is dulled, not stimulated, by a load of rich toys. The, more our gifts approach the reality of serious life the more danger we riln of dulling the childish imagination, wrecking the world "of fancy in which our little ones thrive, and irretrievably marring the freshness of existence for them. OUR PIONEER L.UMBERMAN. The sale of Simpson's mill at Knappton, Wash., as announced in The Oregonian a. few days ago, marks retirement from this field of one of the oldest pioneers in the lumber in dustry on the Columbia River. To witness the growth from its inception and to have been actively identified for more than half a century with such a mighty industry as the Co lumbia River lumber business is a distinction enjoyed by few if any other men beside Captain Simpson. Long before Portland came into prominence as a lumber-shipping port, the Simpson mill at Knappton was dispatching cargoes to Australia, South America, Africa, the Orient and Mexico, as well as to coastwise points in this country, and for a score of years before the building of the Knappton mill Captain Simpson was shipping lumber from the Columbia River. Captain Simpson may not live to see the Columbia River lumber in dustry grow to the mighty propor tions "it will attain when the Panama Canal is completed and when we have the world for a market, but already within his lifetime he has seen an expansion that has brought the week ly exports by water to a figure far in excess of those for an entire year during the era when he first entered the business on the Columbia River. He has seen a gradual increase in the size of the ocean carriers leaving the Columbia River, until today the mam moth freighters from Portland not infrequently carry more lumber than would load to their capacity twenty of the old-time carriers. Captain Simp son was not only a pioneer in the lumber business on the Columbia River, but he was the principal owner in the first tug to establish a per manent towing service at the entrance of the Columbia River. The Knapp ton plant under its new ownership may gradually cease to be known as one of Simpson's mills, ,but the name of its founder has become inseparably linked with the lumber and shipping interests of the Columbia River. MR. ASQUITH AND THE IRISH. To offset the Irish policy of the British liberals the tories will natur ally raise the old bug-a-boo of "dis memberment of the empire" and do their best to galvanize it' into a sem blance of vitality.. But they are not likely to succeed as well with the trick as they did when Gladstone pro posed to give home 'rule to Ireland. The issue of the land taxes, together with critical social questions and the constitutional position of the Lords, obscures Mr. Asquith's Irish policy more or less. It is not by any. means the burning issue of the campaign for English voters. Moreover the Premier has hedged his home rule proposal so effectually with safe guards for the imperial authority that it will be hard for the tories to make anything very . frightful out of it. He offers Ireland nothing more than the legislative power which the separate states of the American Union enjoy. It is to be limited strictly to local affairs. Matters of concern to the empire will be handled in London as heretofore. m The tories can not be hindered from shrieking "dismemberment," but the liberals can answer them by point ing to the United States. Local legis latures do not impair the stability of this nation. Why should they tend to dismember the British Empire? The truth of the matter is that the tories are afraid to treat the Irish decently. They know that the sister island 'has been wronged for hundreds of years. They suspect that an Irish parliament would show resentment for the people's sufferings by anti-English legislation. Hence the wrongs of the past are made the excuse for ever renewed "wrongs and - the Irish policy of the tories, by a sort of necessity, moves in a vicious circle. Now that Mr. Asquith has come out squarely for rational home rule, he ought to be able to count upon the undivided support of the Irish mem bers. Their policy "of tying them selves to neither party and trading back and forth according to circum stances is a good one in the main, perhaps, but it involves dangers. It might possibly impair the trustworthi ness of their promises and cause both liberals and tories to fall into the habit of driving hard bargains with' them. It really looks now as if the time had come for the Irish tp cement a firm alliance with the liberals. - They may obtain from grateful friends more substantial favors than they could ever hope to extort by fear from tran sient and reluctant allies. WERE COOK'S RECORDS "DOCTOREO"? Whatever the dispute about the service of Captain Loose to Dr. Cook, we know that the service had to do with Cook's "records" and "proofs" of alleged polar discovery. Cook's secretary, Walter Lounsdale, has said that Loose was employed for the pur pose "merely of checking records made by the doctor" and "purely to satisfy his own (Cook's) curiosity." . Loose has averred under oath that he was hired to fabricate observations for Cook for proper places and times, and that he made such observations for submission to the University of Copenhagen. For this work Loose, together with a man named Dunkle, who acted as agent for Loose in pre senting him, was to receive $4000 and Loose was to receive an additional $500 should the observations pass expert scientific scrutiny. Loose and Dunkle aver, however, that they were paid only $260 up to the time of Cook's disappearance and that they have been unable to collect the rest of the money due them. Now Loose declares he has been offered $4000 to repudi ate his affidavit and Captain B. S. Osbon, secretary of the. Arctic Club, has announced in New York that Loose Is preparing to deny the truth of his sworn statement.' Whatever Loose did for Cook's "proofs," his engagement was of most unusual and suspicious looking sort. All the parties admit that they had business dealings. Cook's secretary says Loose merely "checked observa tions" and "was placed in possession of observations made by Dr. Cook in the Arctic and North Pole regions." But why was it necessary to "check" the records? What truth will be ac cepted in them after such treatment? The original records of Cook's ob servations, untouched and unaltered, are the only proofs that the world will believe. It seems Cook could not submit these records to the University of Copenhagen until after Loose had "checked" them. Cook's delays, his disappearance and his traffic with Loose are damaging to his veracity and reputation. But what type of mind would dare tell such a monu mental lie? Is it that of a man who fears now the gaze and questionings of a grim-faced world? tEOPOLD AND HIS SUCCESSOR. Upon the announcement of the serious illness of King Leopold of Belgium, presaging his early demise, the press of two continents published a synopsis covering the chief events of his long reign and the personal characteristics that made him de tested throughout Christedom. The prognosis of his case, based upon ad vanced age and serious bodily in firmity, was worked out in a few days, during which surgeons battled in vain for his life. Today his body lies upon a royal bier- in Brussels awaiting the services that befit his rank among the rulers of the Old World. If, according to a set phrase of the old theology, he has gone to be ex alted or punished for "the deeds done in the body," the poorest peasant in the little kingdom of which he was ruler for nearly half a century nay, the most abject slave of the Congo State, maimed at the behest of Leo pold's greed for gain would not will ingly change places with him. This "if," however, interposes between in telligent thought and ruthless decree, and is mercifully inclined to let the reprobate King rest, with his empty titles, in a royal tomb. f The thoughts of his. late subjects turn with hope toward his successor. Prince Albert, who brings to the Bel gian throne the public and private virtues that befit the " modern ruler. Extensive travel has broadened his mind and he is said to have .been a close student of politics and eco nomics. The Belgians, while sorrow ing dutifully for the death of Leopold II, are prepared to accord a loyal welcome to Leopold III. They .will In due time, no doubt, rejoice in the change from -an austere, sordid and selfish ruler to one who is amiable and generous and sufficiently demo cratic in his tastes to be and keep In touch with his Intelligent subjects. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com pany completed within recent months One of the costliest ventures in the history of railroad building in the United States I. e. a tunnel under Manhattan Island from the Jersey shore to' Long Island. It has thus at a cost of many millions made the great city an over-head way-station. The railroad may now carry Its lines to .the eastern end of Long Island with the view of establishing swift tide -water connection for trans -Atlantic business. The triumph is a stupendous one for railroad engineer ing and bold financiering. . It is an open question, awaiting the solution of busjness events, whether it would not have been a saner and therefore better policy for the company to ad here to its advantageous tide-water terminals at. the port of Philadelphia, and from that point of vantage to fight the battle for land and water traffic, than to have burdened itself by the vast indebtedness it has in curred in bringing its trains to tide water by burrowing under the mighty city to which, after all, all channels of trade lead. "The assembly has sense enough to select candidates, but the people haven't," is the distorted method of putting the argument against the as sembly or convention. But when a candidate is "selected" by a bare plurality over . many more, by one third, one-fifth or one-tenth of the members of his party Is the "sense of the people" expressed in his nomi nation? Such sad bosh it is, the effort to cut the representative system out of republican government! That it was that elected an intense, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat to the Senate from Oregon, after it had just given its vote, by an immense majority, for a Republican for President. Go hang! Here Is minority rule. f Fortunately for consumers, 25 cents per pound will not be the prevailing price for choice beef cattle in this market throughout the season. The exhibits at the Union Stockyards Tuesday, and the prices that were paid for steers and other animals, however, offer an excellent guarantee to stockmen that the Pacific North west now has at Portland one of the great stock markets of the country. 'The average per animal for a carload of steers was $121.70, while another carload sold at an average of $115.94 per head. These prices are certainly sufficiently attractive to induce farm ers and stockmen not only to raise more stock, but to exercise care in having what they do raise of a high grade. ' The Hatest deed of philanthropy to the credit of Mr. Nathan Straus is a gift deed for the house once occupied by Grover Cleveland at Lakewood, N. J., and stock valued at $500,000 in the Lakevlew Hotel for a sanatorium for children in the incipient stages of tuberculosis. The retreat will be con ducted on lines approved by modern science, 1. e., on the principle that the best way to cure. this malady is to prevent it. Polk County teachers are taking up the matter of better spelling. This is a good move for other counties, now that nearly all young women are becoming or desire to become stenog raphers and typewriters. Errors that could be disguised in "a bad scrawl" stand out as clear as a lighthouse when run through a machine. No; it is not asserted that the peo ple haven't sense enough to nominate their candidates; but have a fifth or a tenth part of the people sense enough to nominate candidates that all the rest will support? . . . . Yreka, ambitious of honors as capi tal of a new state, must be content with, the fame of possessing the most' unique palindrome known, "Yreka Bakery." What more should she desire ? James J. Hill says more homes are broken up by bad cooking than by any other cause of marital unhappi ness. Hooray! We're glad one man has courage to speak up. A 22-year-old rooster was an at .laction at a Yakima poultry show. Of course he was a two-legged one- but come to think of it, all . roosters are built that way. That Upper Willamette River steamer disabled during high water and "beached" in a potato field, will slide off -in the dew some fine morning. If it were not for the river nobody would wish to cross the drawbridge; there wouldn't be any city nor any body to cross. One never hears Santa Claus com plain of the high cost of living. The kindly old gentleman revels in time of prosperity. Arleta is said to hold the champion ship for back fence gossip. Arleta should improve in style and hold after. noon teas. It is strange that one seldom gets back as much value in Christmas pres ents as he gives; or perhaps one only thinks so. . Mr. Buono is entitled to a vote of thanks for his good work yesterday morning. But of. course you won't quit shop ping just because you didn't do it early. SANE GRAZING AND CONSERVATION No Conflict Between tee Sheep Indus try end Forest Reserves). CORVALLIS, Or., Dec. 16. (To the Editor.) The statement made by J. G. Edwards, in Sunday's " Oregonian rel ative to the grazing of the reserves merits the serious consideration of every citizen of this state. This .pol icy of the Forestry Bureau is threat ening the existence of an important agricultural industry, an Industry that yields annually to the revenues of the state from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. There Is apparently no occasion for this discouragement, as the reserves are capable of sustaining as many sheep at present as they ever have in the past. The loss of the Hay Creek flock is a calamity to the sheep Industry of this state. This flock is rated as being one of the best, if not the very best flock of fine wooled sheep in the world. It has consumed a generation of time and entailed large expense to build up this magnificent flock, and now to have it destroyed through the whims of an individual should call for a vigorous protest. ' The whole forestry grazing policy is modeled . after New England Ideas, which are totally Impracticable in the great West. The present policy Is generally believed to be a covert at tempt to break up the large flocks. Measured from a New England small farm standpoint, this looks well in theory, but from a range viewpoint it is wholly visionary. Range sheep husbandry In Eastern Oregon has been a slow, evolutionary process. Sheepmen have gradually sur mounted one obstacle after another, until at present the industry is well systematized. They have suffered vi cissitude after vicissitude, and dark clouds "have hung heavily over the in dustry, but now, after ye-js of strug gle and when the sunshine of prosper ity appears, by a departmental ruling they are brought to realize that the very existence of their industry Is threatened. The great question 'of grazing the reserves should not be dominated by an individual, but rather should be en trusted to the wisdom of a board or commission comprised of broad-minded and far-seeing men. Every business interest of the state should unite in an effort to correct this evil. In this plea for the range sheep in dustry there is no thought of underes timating the value of forest conserva tion, but rational grazing Is In no way Incompatible with the best growth of the forest. JAMES WITHYCOMBE. I.KT PORTLAND SAVE SHADE! TREES Protest Against Too Moch of "Tie City Beautiful." PORTLAND, Dec 15. (To the Editor.) While we are in this surging wave of energy regarding "the city beautiful" may we not not pause a moment occasionally to see how the finished product will ap pear if we continue to "beautify" and "beautify" until we have slain and laid low all our lovely shade trees, than which no cluster lamps, no matter how bril liant or -gorgeous of design can be more satisfying or comforting to the esthetic taste. For myself, while I offer due thanks for adequate and modern lighting of the city. If not "done to death, I do affirm that no city can look beautiful if the natural beauties are all elimi nated and replaced (?) by things made with human hands, no matter .how perfect in their way these crea tions may be. The trees now being sacrificed on Seventh street might just as well have been saved, and mucn better would have been the result, as there was room for the street lights among the trees, and the effect would have been one of delicate beauty. But no crash go all those lovely growths of the changing years, things of inspiration and joy to everyone with beauty his soul, to give place to a few stark, glittering baubles of electric lighting. It makes one's head ache, and I beg we save our trees Instead or denud ing our city of its plumy branches !n order to acquire the bald glitter of a Coney Island. L. C. O. JEFFERSON-STREET DEPOT LAND. Ararament Tbat It Should Revert Frcm Railroad to the Coffin Heirs. SALEM, Or., Dec. 16. (To the Edl tor) I notice that Portland has at last a Councilman who Is going to see that the city is not robbed of Its val uable property. Of all the outrages ever perpetrat ed under the name of the law, the de cision that gave the river frontage on which is located the Jefferson-street depot to a railroad company. Is the most out and out confiscation. Stephen Coffin gave that property to the city for a public levee. If the Southern Pa ciflc Railroad Company owns it, why does it permit the people to make a boneyard of the river in front of it? For years and years everyone used that place on which to unload wood, gravel, sand, etc., and the worst part of It' is. that Mr. Coffin's heirs are all, or nearly all, poor men. One of his sons, Stephen, was on tne ponce force for a long time. If the property referred to is not to be used as the donor intended it should be, it should revert back totthe heirs. A lawyer will say "maybe the law will give the railroad the best of it." It surely did do so. But is such a court or such a law -to be followed forever? There surely must be an honest court somewhere. ' "All honest people should ihelp Councilman Ellis win this glit. J. W. BAKER. The Horalnc Kewipaper. Thomas E. - Dockrell in Newspaperdom. A man may do-without magazines, but he can't do -without his newspaper. To carry on .intercourse with his neighbors, to become part of the world around him, he must read his newspaper. It brings him news of interest to himself and his r.eighbors, sometimes from the corners of the earth, sometimes from a nearby state, but more particularly of his own county, city, ward, and often of his own street and even the house he lives in. The magazine, the mails', the streetcar, the billboard, the salesman all have their places, but the fundamental primary counselor sitting in the place of honor, whispering in our ear, always able to enter our presence. Is the newspaper. Before a man opens his mail in the morning at the office he has read his newspaper. A Difference. Mexican Herald. Behind President Taft's office table Is the Constitution of the United States of America. His predecessor kept a rifle in the same place. Bis; Gun for Small Game. St. .Louis Post-Dispatch. 1 -Secretary Knox's fiery letter of Nica ragua suggests the firing of a 13-inch gun at a sparrow. ' . Ed. Howe's Philosophy. Atchison Globe. - A man is usually as far from feeing a devil as a woman is from being- an angel. You have probably, at some time, noted the resemblance of the critic to the arank. A man's friends are something like nat ural gas: when he needa them most, the supply la apt to run short. "Although I have smoked all mx life. I have never been able to find a smoking to bacco that suited me." Ben Davis. There never was a woman who loved her husband so much that she would not for get him In making arrangements, for a party. A boy enjoys cold weather, except when It is time to get up in the morning; a boy doesn't enjoy any kind of weather when it is time to get up In the morning. Tell a man a secret, and he tells it to his wife, and when she in turn repeats it, he has s great deal to say about a woman not being able to keep a secret. HOW SHALL WE REPAIR BAD BLUNDER? People Adopted Direct Primary Merely to' Overthrow Bass System Now They Have an Elephant on Their Hands Why Not the Assembly f EUGENE. Or., Dec. 17 (To the Editor.) There has ' been so much said about Statement No. 1 and the direct primary that one would think them the end, rather than the means,, of ultimate political achievement. As a matter of fact, the people did not chose the direct primary because they believed It the acme of political perfec tion for they knew nothing of Its prac tical workings. They merely took It in an effort to get rid of the so-called boss. The people would have accepted anything else just as readily, had the seer of Ore gon City evolved some other political scheme whereby the people could be promised relief from the machinations those horrible machinations of conven tion party workers. Naturally, the convention Bystem is thought to be responsible for the actions of Its choice of representatives, when as a matter of fact, the best men are at times nominated by a convention who turn out to be bad politicians. The con vention is then blamed for nominating him. Instead of blaming him for going wrong. ' The convention. In itself, is the only reasonable method of maintaining govern ment. But many people mistake the real cause when assigning to the convention the filthy work of some of its selections. Who, in a convention, knows what the man chosen will do after elected? If the man betrays his party and his office Is the convention really to blame? The dele gates acted to the best of their knowledge and discharged themselves with credit. What happens afterward should not be charged to the convention system. If a man secures nomination by deceit and secret workers, he is to be blamed, not the honest-minded delegates. The Ore gonian has a volunteer correspondent who is busy keeping before the public by writing articles upon various subjects automobiles, spiritualism, paving, reli gion, etc., and this ex-politician, who was defeated in the convention, turned about and helped defeat the choice of the same convention. Hence, per se, the con vention system is bad, filled with fraud, deceit, and artful machinations, and all delegates are treacherous. Through the fault of a few of Its repre sentatives, the Republican party in Ore gon fell Into disrepute, which led to ths adoption of the direst primary. If Jim Smith, Tom Jones or Bill Brown had con cocted Borne political scheme offering a change in political life in Oregon, the direct primary and Statement No. 1 would never have been heard of. Statement No. 1 merely "beat the other schemes to it," as they say on the street corner. Instead of spending time beating the direct primary and abusing the people, we ought to get together and formulate something reasonable. We must consider that the people adopted this monstrosity much as a drowning man catches- at a straw. No one particularly "blames" a drowning man for catching at a passing straw, but the man on the "bank" knows and sees the futility of the expectation for help. The people were swamped with this corruption-politics reading matter and ding-donged at every corner, until the mole hill became a mountain. The gov ernment' was becoming so shaky it was falling Into decay. Hoodwinked Is .the real term for the condition into which the popular voter fell. He now sees that the ascendant malcontents are' just as greedy for spoils and office emoluments as were THE CONVENTION ASSEMBLY. It Is Strictly In Accord With the Pri mary Law. Oregon Observer (Grants Puss). There is nothing in the primary elec tion law or any other law .that takes from the people the right to gather in meetings, or assemblies. Or onven tlons, however they may be desc.-ibed, and expressing their approval of par ticular candidates for political office. The preamble of the primary law spe cifically states that there shall be no interference with the practice of polit ical parties In this regard. The words are as follows: The method . of naming 'candidates for elective public offices by political parties and voluntary political organizations is the best plan yet found for placing before the people the names of qualified and worthy citizens from whom the electors may choose the officers of our Government. Can anything be clearer from, t..e above than that the primary law con templated the naming of candidates by political gatherings called together for the purpose? The Democratic party so understood It, and has persistently and consistently held party meetings to name eandidatesxwhom they considered desirable. It was. Only the Republican parly that wrongly interpreted the pri mary law, and this serious error will now be corrected by the method rec ommended in the preamble to that law. Of course, these meetings or conven tions cannot nominate candidates; that is left entirely to the voters at the pri mary elecions. But these poliical gath erings have an unquestionable riglit to recommend candidates for the support or otherwise of the voters, and that is what the Republican assemblies pro pose .to do. The primary law provides that any citizen may be a candidate for any state or municipal office, provided that he files with the proper officer a peti tion to that effect, signed by the requi site number of qualified voters. This provision has general approval throughout the state, and no one can, or has any desire to, interfere with it. The right of any person to be a candi date for office as provided "by the pri mary law Is not questioned, and these proposed Republican assemblies will in no way affect that right. ' Statues of the National Capital. ' Springfield Union. William Eleroy Curtis, the newspaper correspondent, notes that there are now 29 statues in the public grounds of the National capital, that one of General Grant is under construction, and that seven others of Pulaski, Von Steuben, Kosciusko Commander Barry, Christo pher Columbus, John Paul Jones and Thomas Jefferson have been author ized and provided for by Congress. This will make a total of 37. The Grant statue is mentioned as the most imposing of the new ones, its location being at the eastern end of the botanic garden, and the cost being $240,000. The statue of Pulaski is provide! as a result of a movement started by citi zens of Polish birth, while the statue of Columbus is to be erected with funds to which Knights of Columbus contributed a substantial amount. Returns Not All In. St. Paul Dispatch. "Which is our foremost college?" asks a subscriber. It is impossible to tell this early after the close of the football sea son. . Quaker Meditations. Philadelphia Record. .Fine feathers make fine beds. Every rose has Its bill from the florist. Beauty, being only skin deep, shouldn't be afraid of freckles. A man of few words may have a double chin, but a woman, well Any man can build castles In the air, but that shouldn't make him feel uppish. We are told that all's well that ends well, but a good, last act won't save a bad play. The worst feature about putting things off till tomorrow is that someone Js apt to do them today.- The Cynical Bachelor rises to remark that the greatest bunco game In the world Is that a man Is up against when he judges a woman's smile before he marries her. the acting representatives of the bad ad ministrations from which the people were warned to flee. He also sees that these same men who solemnly warned him to vote on their side, are deserters of both honor and principles political. The people never investigated the direct primary law. and didn't care much about it 'when they hastened to adopt it. The cry was. down with the convention sys tem. While busy "downing" the conven tion they did not look -to see what weapon they chose with which to . do their work. The weapon proved to be a double-edged sword. The wiehlers have received a slash for every stroke deliv ered; Looking at the direct primary as a passing political cloud a mistake, if you please, in the hasty decision of the peo ple the faulty thins will soon pass. It is not the end, it is only one of the many steps of the people In political govern ment. It Is a mistake they will soon rec tify. The people know now that the direct primary is not what they wanted nor what they expected. It has failed to eliminate the besetting evils and has rather enhanced them. It has created hypocrites out of honest voters. It has deceived the very elect. Give the intelli gent voter another chance and he will eliminate this disturbing foreigner. - e In so considering this political crisis, would we not better be engaged in formu lating some plan for the future and not waste all our time and ammunition pounding the present condition? The as sembly has been suggested. It appears to meet with approval. But to what ex tent will the Idea meet with gnneral sup port? Of course, the Democrats and the base Republicans who have sold their political souls for the benefits accruing from the spoils ircident to the direct primary will sneer at the honest efforts of sensible men to substitute something rational for this political wanton. Thoy will again cry out that the old boss is asking to get back into power. Let them cry. Didn't their cry produce the adop tion of the beautiful Statement No. 1? Will -their cry bring a second adop tion of this infamous thing? The Re publicans who are eating at the primary crib, who have deserted their principles without a blush, are not only known, but' thank God, they are exceedingly well known: better known than they think. Secretly, no doubt, many of them are ashamed of the way they have trod but love of gain goes hand in hand with near sightedness. If there is one thing above all other things political that the writer most de voutly prays for, it Is this: That when ever Republicans get into "business" again, these political snakes who have helped wreck the party, spat upon the honest principles of upright men, and betrayed their political souls, may never again be reconlzed. Let them be buried along with this popular fad and let th people remember them as instrumental in foisting upon them the fatal political in trigue which put the Democrats into power and caused a Republican Legisla ture to elect a Democratic Senator. The people will not soon forget this lesson In political economy. I hope they will not soon forget the men. so-called Republicans, who deceived them. I do not blame the lucky Democrats. Their principle is to stampede the ranks of the other party and slip in during the panic. OBSERVER. STOVAINE, THE NEW ANESTHETIC Probably, bnt Not Certainly, an Agency That Robs Operations of" Terrors. New York World. The successful experiments with sto valne In surgical operations at local hospitals have gone far to substan tiate Professor Jonnesco's . claims - re garding its efficacy as an anesthetic. Medical Science has exnibited no great er marvel than that of patients cheer fully undergoing serious operations while fully conscious, yet in entire freedom from pain. Stovaine as an agent for deadening sensibility with out Inducing unconsciousness appar ently more than realizes all the prom ises held out, by cocaine. Further experiments with the power ful anesthetic should be with a view to determine its ultimate effect on the nervous system. Chloroform has its dangers where the cardiac or renal action is weak. The use of an anes thetic the efficacy of which is depend ent on the artificial paralysis of the spinal cord must clearly be confined to competent hands. Stovaine is not for the general practitioner. Some fur ther light on its after-results will be desired. It is nevertheless a triumph of med ical research in a field which had only been entered' a little more than half a century ago. "Laughing gas," the ear liest of anesthetics, was first practi cally applied in American dentistry in 1844. Ether, the introduction of which was also due to 'an American dentist. Dr. W. T. G. Morton, was employed in operations at the Massachusetts Gen eral Hospital in 1846. Chloroform came into use a year or two later. The subsequent search for a local an esthetic produced cocaine, the benefits of which in surgery have been to an extent offset by its growing abuse as a dangerous narcotic. In stovaine medical science appears to have found an agency which robs the operating table of Its last terror and of most of Its risks. The painless antiseptic surgery of today makes dif ficult a realization of the physical or deal with its attendant dangers of blood-poisoning to which surgical pa tients were exposed at a time within the memory of men yet living. In what field of progress has there been an ad vance comparable in beneficent results with that attained by surgical science within two generations? Limiting; the Porter's Duties. New York Mail. And now Pullman porters are to be prohibited from carrying a passenger's hand baggage. This limits the duties of a porter by the way, the name loses Its significance to making up your berth last, saying that we're a little late, put ting sticky but volatile blacking on your shoes and whisking imaginary dust off your-right shoulder. SQUIBS VARIORUM. Cincinnatus arranged to be found plough ing. - , "For 15-cent cotton and $1.25 wheat, he explained. Herewith we perceive his pose was really plutocratic. New York Suu. Bacon Doesn't your wife get very Impa tient because yon are so long In hooking up her dress behind? Kgbert She used to be, but she doesn't now. Tou see, I get her to stand in front of a mirror. Yonkers Statesman. "Pa. what Is a pessimist?" asked Willie. "A pessimist, my son," returned Mr. Big head, "is s man who, with a whole pump kin pie on the table before him. cannot see any good in this whole wide world." Har per's Weekly. "Whativer made thee marry, John and thee seventy?" "Because I thowt, lad, it 'ud be nice to think there'd be some 'un to close my eyes when time corned." "Close thee eyes! Why. mon, I'se had three wives, and they'a all on 'eni opened mlne!"---Punch. "So you were deeply touched by the . poem young Mr. GufTson wrote to you?" said Maude. "Yes," answered Maymle. "But it was not a good poem." " don't care. It was just as much trouble for him to write it as if he had been Shakespeare." Washington Star. 0