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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1910)
...... THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1910. rORTLA'D, OBEGOX. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postoftlce aa Cecond-Clasa Mattwr. Subscription Bates Invariably in Advance. (BI MAIL.) Pally. Sunday Included, one year Pally, Sunday Included, six months 4.JS Pally, Sunday Included, three month.. 2.5 Tlat!v RiinHav nolurlA4 nn month .75 Pally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Pally, without Sunday, six months 8.-5 Pally, without Sunday, three months... 1.75 Pally, without Sunday, one month . TVa1c1v oiih vear. .................... . J. 30 Funday, one year 2 .V sasnday and weekly, one year... d.ou CBy Carrier.) ally. Sunday included, one year : .oo illy, Sunday inciuaea, one moui.ii low to Kemlt Sena i'ostomce money er. express order or personal check on Kur local bank. Stamps, coin or currency at the sender's risk. Give postomce aa- . . in full innmmnar countv ana stale. Ptnlarn Rates 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent: 16 to 28 pages, 2 cents; 30 to 40 pages, 3 cents: 40 to 60 paces. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Kastern Business Offlca. The S. C. Bcck wlth Special Asency New York, rooms 4H PO Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-012 Tribune building. FORTLAKO. MONDAY. JAN. ' 31, 1910. IT IS EVOLUTIONARY. Day by day the Chicago Tribune collects and publishes columns of opinions about "the causes of the high cost of living." It takes more money, undoubtedly. Now, who gets it? The farmer seems to be getting his share, at present prices, and pro fessional men appear, generally, to have their share of the prosperity. According to the Tribune's -showing, the advance of the pay of public echorai teachers has been from 10 to 25 per cent in ten years. Bank clerks are said to average 45 per cent more. Department store clerks average 25 per cent more; policemen 25 to 35 per cent more. Clerks in city offices have obtained but small advance due to the willingness of persons to accept light employment at small pay. Labor statistics conflict; but it is cer tain that there has been advance ail along the line, in two years. In Chi cago carpenters have had an increase of 80 per cent, and bricklayers of 70 per cent. Yet employers are figuring more closely than ever before, and employes have lost some advantages which they formerly had. In many cases the work Is by the hour, and the workman loses if anything inter feres with the work. The workman's time is kept more closely than for merly, and occurrence of rain or lack of material may cut an hour or two out of his time interruptions for merly unnoticed. But there is par tial compensation through allowance of work for overtime, at a higher rate, not customary formerly. The reasons given by one and an other for higher prices are multi tudinous. Tet few of them cover more than some little phase of the sub Ject. That shows how broad, and gen eral the subject is. Some say greater population and increased demand account for everything. Others dwell on extravagance and eco nomic waste. The middlemen, pack ers and storage-house people fall jn for their share ' of blame Butchers complain that it is almost impossible to buy poultry from the farmer now. He sells to the commis sion men, who must get their profit and even then the commodity will probably go into cold storage, to be held till prices have been forced up. From the country and country vil lages generally comes the observation that farmers have been moving to . town. Many sell their land to "gen tlemen farmers," who care nothing for the cost of production, and pro duce merely for themselves, so as to have "fresh things," and thousands of acres possessed and used ' in this way don't yield one-fifth of what they once did. Young men are playing baseball and golf, riding in automo biles and smoking cigarettes. Even if the old farmer has not left the coun try he has planned to have his children do it. All say that the auto mobile and telephone have been an influence for luxury, and luxury is something which we must always pay for. No housewife ever markets as economically by telephone as when she goes to market herself. The automobile, besides its own mainte nance, opens a door to a lot of other expenses, of a social kind. ) Pacts like these are obvious. They belong to an evolution or transforma tion of social conditions whjch it is impossible to arrest;still more impos siDie to turn backward, Labor, on the present basis, is not as efficient as formerly. Employers consulted by the Tribune state it this way: "Ten years ago workmen gave ten hours for a day and they worked faster therefore they accomplished much more than now, because they work only eight hours and are much more deliberate and independent. There fore, the unit of value resulting from one hour's work is less, and in many cases the -wages paid amount to dou ble those paid ten years ago. Labor successfully has commanded reduc tion in hours and increase in wages generally." This further statement is worth attention: The law of compensation enters here, so the manufacturer and merchant are com pelled to advance prices because of the Increased cost of production. Now it grad ually has dawned upon the workman re ceiving Increased pay ' that he Is no better oft than before, because he must pay for the Increased wage of other workmen mak ing merchandise that he must have but does not make. Notice the size of shovels laborers use today. They are only two-thirds the Bize formerly used, and move only 66 2-3 per cent as much material aa ten years ago nor are they filled more than two-thirds as often. The carpenters do not accomplish more than on J-J per cent aa much as ten years ago. and get 80 per cent more pay for eight hours than they did for ten hours. There can be but one logical result, which is that the contractors charge all this, and add more for "contingent expenses." be cause of the greater uncertainty. I bought one pound of food for 43 cents. It weighed twelve ounces. Therefore the food cost me &5 cents per pound, or 25 per cent more, because of short weight. This happens with other merchandise, and the came facta apply to labor. From the testimony collected from all quarters it appears, therefore, that everybody lays the blame of high prices on somebody or everybody else. The truth is, it is a general move ment, arising from an evolution . of the complex forces of an immense Industrial society rapid beyond .til precedent, because our country is still new, because its forces and energies, boundless in extent, are but just fairly awakening, and because such a situa tion acts upon the spirit of an Indus trial democracy in ways ana to an extent heretofore unknown. We have a continent of immense opportunities and the movements of our time, if we study them, are just what should be expected among a population that now approaches one hundred millions, in such a situation, where the efforts of an energetic democracy have freer play than ever known before in the history of the world. '-THE FIZZLE OF GLAVIS. The fellow Glavis spent four days of last week on the witness stand in Washington, reciting his .evidence against Secretary Ballinger; yet the great scandal" did not transpire. His "facts" turned out to be noth ing but figments of imagination, sus picions, inferences, insinuations all aiming to make himself important and a "great man." The most thnt he has exposed is his own notoriety- seeking, quarrelsome, insubordinate personality. He could not make the direct charge against Ballinger of dis honesty or corruption; he only could bolster up his personal belief of the improper conduct or tne secretary by quoting what a number of men had said to .him or to other persons, or what they had written to each other bearing on bad blood, jealousies and suspicions between officials of the Land Office and the-Forestry Bureau. It thus turns out. that. Glavis' "in criminating facts" are merely matters of inference and personal opinion and suspicious vanity. He alleged that Ballinger. before becoming Land Commissioner, . drew up pa pers for a fraudulent coal company operating In Lewis County, Washing ton; that subsequently, when Land Commissioner in 1907, he did not sh6w due- diligence in investigating and disposing of the fraudulent Cun ningham claim, and that, after resign ing as Commissioner, he acted as counsel for some of the defendants. But he could give no satisfactory evi dence of these charges. His testimony was pitifully and ludicrously irrele vant and fanciful. It seems absurd that a cheap char acter like Glavis could gratify his own vainglory by making so loud a noise throughout a big Nation. He could not have done so, had he not been boosted along by jealous ' and envious officials desiring to "get even" with Ballinger. Petty enmities be tween Ballinger's Land Office and PInchot's Forestry Bureau have made all this row. Officials have been spying upon -each other, digging up one another's letters and playing "of fice politics" rather than attending io the public business. One set has been trying to get another "in a hole" and to credit to itself, for disadvantage of another, the good works of con servation and the detection of fraud. The public is rapidly getting to the source of the Ballinger-PInchot row. The rumpus springs from official en vies, making use of the self-import ant fellow Glavis. SOME MISTAKES AND OTHERS. By the way," remarks the Seattle Times, "The Oregonian, which pro fesses great zeal to print the facts, and nothing but facts has not yet corrected its misstatement about the 'slump' in Seattle realty.'' Dear, dear. All this after The Oregonian - had painstakingly followed the Times through a maze of varying, statements about Seattle real estate, and had conscientiously presented them as the lastest and newest information about Seattle's chief industry. .first, our interesting contem porary editorially announced that real , estate transfers in Seattle for 1909 showed "a legitimate falling-oft of about $10,000,000 and we admit it." Therefore, The Oregonian ad mitted it. Then the ' Times heard from the Seattle Chamber of Cor merce, and declared that during the year 1909 "there had been an actual gain of 4,000,000 over the preceding year. The Oregonian was a trifle puzzled to know that a loss of $10, uuu.uuu couia De Transposed Into a gain of $4,000,000, but upon reflection It realized that anything is possible to a Seattle statistician, and it faith fully chronicled the gratifying news of the great $4,000,000 discovery. See The Oregonian, January 21, 1910, Page 10, third col., lines 120-127. But it is a little surprising to . And the Times calling on The Oregonian to correct "its" misstatement. The Oregonian's confusion arose entirely through its innocent acceptance of the Times' figures. The Times will, we hope, pardon us for intimating that the misstatement, if any, belongs in the Times' office. The Times ought not to place on our unwilling shoulders the unpleasant task of correcting its errors. Really, we would rather not We are busy, and life is short. POOR OLD SAN FRANCISCO. San Francisco is drifting back into that breezy, bubbling condition of immorality that in the past has made her famous. According to the news reports now coming from the Bay City, Mayor McCarthy has not only removed the lid, and lost it, but he has given the seething cauldron of the under-world a stirring up that will cause its odors to be wafted to the uttermost ends of the earth and bring back the birds of prey who fled in terror when reform and Heney struck the city a few years ago and caged some of their friends at San Quentin. Since the days when the Forty-Niners carried their pokes down to the tents in which the Bret Harte stqry-book gamblers spread their layouts, San Francisco's move ments have been not unlike those o a steam engine unprovided with throttle, a governor, or a safety valve It was high speed while the steam lasted, and no speed when it was ex hausted. The fires have been drawn and the- steam exhausted a good many times since the late William T. Colemar and his vigilantes lynched u few un desirable citizens, but there has beon no permanent normal conaition or decency for San Francisco. It has been a feast -or a famine, a revel of wickedness, or a prayer meeting, a calm, or a tempest. The earthquake and fire which razed the city a few years ago appeared at a time when the Schmitz-Ruef ulcer of graft and immorality was ready to burst with Its own rottenness. Too many physicians appeared on the case, however. For a time, it seemed to be one of those frequently heralded operations which are entirely successful, but are always followed by the death of the patient. San Francisco did not die, but she re mained in such a distressing state of coma as a result ' of the treatment that her citizens were in despair, and, in the belief that any change would be for the better, they elected McCarthy, who was supposed to be one of those leopards with change able spots. . Recent developments, however, tend to the belief that Mr. McCarthy in tends to make San Francisco once again the tenderloin of America. Gamblers and prizefighters and pros titutes of the other sex are to be given free rein, and the old life wi'l be lived over again. For all that, Mr. McCarthy's friends should' be careful about taking checks or bad money, for there are enough decent people in San Francisco to bring on another revolution, and, when the lid is replaced, the proceedings will not be interfered with or confused by any conflict between rival factions of franchise-seeking millionaires. MAKE AJSSEMBLY REPRESENTATIVE. There is ample time for discussing methods of choosing delegates to the Republican State Assembly this year in Oregon. The vitality of the As sembly will depend on the popular strength of the plan adopted. The first aim- must be to make the gath ering as representative as possible nd practicable of the popular ele ments of the party membership. As the Assembly is to be a representative gathering, it will not be a mass meet ing nor a "rally." It is clearly impossible for all Re publicans to meet in one place to carry out the purposes for which the Assembly is needed; also, for any considerable bulk of the party mem bership. Therefore, the proper way is - for Republicans in the several counties to delegate their best recog nized members, according to a stare apportionment, to act for them in the Assembly. At a dinner of Re publicans in Portland', last Saturday night, a letter from George H. WI1 liams set forth this matter clearly, as follows: The primary principle of our Republican ystem of government is that the majority shall rule- If it be true that the will of the majority of the Republican party ought to govern, the question arises, what is the best way to ascertain that will ? I know f two ways In which this can be done. One is for the Republicans in the .state to ssemble in a mass meeting and there as certain by their voices and votes the will of. the majority. But this is clearly im practicable, and the only other way is for the Republicans to provide for an assembly of their representatives. Representation is the basic Idea of our Republican system. Without it the Govern ment would cease to exist or become a des potism. All Republicans want good men as their candidates for office, and it seems perfectly plain that if 200 or 300 represent atives from all parts of the state meet to approve and indorse a candidate for office he is more likely to -be a good man than one who indorses and puts himself forward as a candidate. . I do not see why 50. 100 or 500 Republicans or Democrats may not meet to consult about the good of their respective parties and sug gest candidates without being charged wltn hostility to the primary law. The assembly plan worked out all right In our late city election and I believe it would work out In the same way In our state elections. ' It is the opinion of The Oregonian that an Assembly of not to exceed 400 or 500 delegates can best , speaic for the citizens who call themselves Republicans. Such an Assembly can carry out its work without boss rule or machine dictation and will cer tainly do so, if the members shall be selected from the best citizenship tn the several counties, The Oregonian believes they will be so chosen. But, should the Assembly prove unsatis factory, the Republican electorate will have full opportunity in the primaries to reject the candidates' it shall recommend and to nominate others better fitted. It is not necessary 'to hold an As sembly of 1000 or 2000 delegates to represent the ' Republican senti ment of Oregon, nor is it practicable. Democrats will try to spread discon tent by declaring the Assembly not representative, no matter how nu merous its members, and it will not stay their clamor, to admit 2000 delegates any more than 500. Amer icans have always had strong Gov ernment and strong party cohesion. because they had delegated their poli cies to representatives. That is still the guiding principle of their political action. And the results are bound to be good in Oregon this year, because the- work of the Assembly must go to the party voters for approval in the primaries. RECORD BUILDING MOVEMENT. Nothing but a financial panic of far-reaching effect can prevent the year 1910 from being the most pros perous that Portland has ever known, Detailed figures on the new buildings for which plans are now actually be ing prepared and some of which are already under way show a valuation of more than $14,600,000, or more than three times the amount that was represented by the work in the hands of the architects a year ago. The best feature of this fine showing is that an overwhelming majority of the buildings contemplated have already secured tenants. In many of the down-town structures, which will be used for stores and of fices, . there are waiting lists for the most desirable quarters. All of this is evidence of new business and new capital flowing into the city and state. If this remarkable activity were confined to Portland, and if the re mainder of the state languished, there might be . ground for apprehen sion, but fortunately for city and country alike, the prosperity is well distributed. It is true that Portland is erecting larger and finer buildings than some of the interior cities and towns, but, in proportion to their size, the latter are keeping step with the city. , Good crops and high prices for all agricultural products have been the foundation for this remarka ble prosperity, but another most im portant factor has been the immense sums of money brought into the state within the past two years for invest ment in farm and timber lands Throughout the Pacific Northwest are hundreds of farms that have been cut into three or four or even more tracts. Better farming and a change from. wheat to something more prof itable have enabled the - farmer to make a greater profit from one por tion of the old farm than he could formerly make from- the entire tract The remainder he has sold to new settlers at four or five times the prices ruling a few years ago, and the new arrival is also making big profits on his Investment. The millions brought into the state for timber are not so widely distrib uted as the money paid for farm lands; but, with the steadily increas ing demand for lumber, they will shortly play a most Important part in our prosperity. Portland is grow ing at a record pace, because the en tire country tributary to this city is growing and prospering as never be fore. The city and the country are interdependent, and one cannot pros per without the other sharing in that prosperity. For that reason all Ore gon rejoices with the growth of Port land, knowing, as the people' do, that the growth of the metropolis is but a reflection of that of the country which has built the city. Negotiations begun recently be tween the United States, Great Britain, Japan and Russia for a seal protection treaty have been delayed by Canada's demand that . the schooners and gear of the Canadian sealers be purchased. When it is re membered that the Canadians have worked the Industry to the limit, and have twice mulcted the United States for heavy claims for damages, the present request is certainly somewhat unreasonable. If the United States declines, to invest in the schooners, many of which were 'driven away, from the American flag by our absurd laws, the . enterprising Can adians might resort to their former tactics. By making a sortie ino the Bering Sea, and getting in the way of an American revenue cutter, they would probably be seized, as was the case several years ago. The American Government paid $450,000 for the last batch of seizures made, and that sum would be ample remu neration for all that' is left of the North Pacific sealing fleet. The Coast Seaman's Journal, the organ through which Andrew Furuseth, professional agitator, voices his peculiar Ideas, has never been a very strong supporter of the ship subsidy. It has, however, insisted that American ships should be manned only by American seamen, and that laws should be passed giv ing these American seamen higher wages and shorter hours than are in force on the merchant marine ves sels pf any ' other country. As an example of the number of genuine "American" seamen available, the obituary notices in the Journal are very suggestive. The latest issue of the Journal gives a list, of 13 mem bers who have died in January, in eluding eight who perished on the Czarina. Of the 13, four were natives of Sweden, three of Norway, two each of England and Ireland, and one each of Germany and Finland. Perhaps the American members of the Sea man's Union do not die or get drowned. The keen disappointment of an em ployment-seeking girl, who, trudges the wet streets from Woodlawn . or Sellwood to the business center to save carfare, or of her sister In distress whose scanty savings do not warrant the expenditure even of the 10 cents. which she pays for car-fare, in or der to answer an advertisement In serted as a "joke," may not amount to much in individual cases. If this disappointment and mental anguish is multiplied by 200, the very humor ous Mr. Jacobs, who inserted a fake "ad" in The Oregonian, Thursday morning, can get a fair idea of the diversion created by his playful joke. It would require a very fine sense of humor on the part of the poor girl victims of this practical joker, to enable them t6 understand that their disappointment, discomfort and loss of money and time had all been a contribution to the enjoyment of Mr. Jacobs. The ascendency of the lumber trade and the decline of the wheat export business, were never more strikingly shown than by a1 compari son of the two fleets now in the river. The January grain fleet, usually the largest of any month of the year. shows but three vessels In port un der charter, while the foreign lum ber fleet now loading at Portland comprises eight vessels of a carrying capacity of more than 20,000,000 feet. There is also loading in port a fleet of coastwise lum ber carriers, having a capacity of more than 5,000,000 feet. It will be several years before the last export cargo of wheat leaves Port land, but It is hardly probable that the tonnage of the foreign grain fleet will ever again equal that of the lum ber fleet. Mr. Glavis' tender conscience and his overpowering desire to do his duty seem never to have been manifest in his family affairs. See the court rec ords. Glavis appears to be a man oi contentious disposition and querulous nature. It is hardly to be expected that a man who cannot get along with a wife who is a good woman will fail to have trouble with men with whom he has business or official relations. Democrats don't relish being mis taken for "fool statement-one Re publicans." Milt Miller, of Lebanon, will tell ; you that, ror, although a statement legislator when a so-called Republican was elected Senator in the Legislature of 1907, he failed to be present. The Brownsville Times says Judge Galloway desires to succeed himself. Of .course he does. If ever the time shall come when a Galloway does not want office it will be when the tail of a comet shall have gathered all the plums and swept them off the earth. Surmise, suspicion, envy, jealously. opinion and malice are the main in gredients of the Glavis charges; but they are unconvincing as to every thing except Glavis' petty and mean nature. Many persons thought Venus peep ing at them through a veil of mist was a comet. Venus has caused most of the world's mistakes, and this is the latest. Ha. ha. One of the grave fears of Mr. Jeff ries is that his wind may not hold out in his fight with Mr. Johnsou. His language, however, is rather en couraging.' 1 No gentle reader, a crematory is not an establishment to make fu nerals cheaper. If It were, the fight in the City Council would be far worse. Seattle has so many women lawyers that they demand a retiring room in the Courthouse. The furnishings need be mostly mirrors. Those Seattle policemen have bean Indicted for blackmailing women. This is, indeed, a wicked world. Now Champ Clark has begun a fight on Cannon. Champ will yet spell it with a "u." A man named Bouillon Is running for Mayor of Seattle. We've heard that name before. The cost of living has never been low enough to suit everybody, not even, in 1893-6. WHAT TO DO ABOUT DRINK Inculcate Ideas of Temperance, or Treat Public Like Insane Patients t Harpers Weekly. Harpers Weekly is sincerely on the side of the cause of temperance re form, is very greatly Impressed with the need and the1 Importance of it, and ready to do anything it can to help it I forward. Its chief objection to state prohibition is that It is not the best means to promote temperance, and that what good it does is bought at too great a price of liberty, and at cost of too much law-breaking, deceit, evasion and hypocrisy. It considers that state prohibition is not the method of fight ing the evils of alcohol and that will prevail in the end, and that all the steps taken In support and promotion of that method will finally have to be retraced. ' With state prohibition in the South there are reasons to have patience because of local conditions that make various experiments seem more warrantable there than else where But even in the South local option seems a better, more durable and more efficient form of liquor' regu lation than state prohibition. It does not seem to us that there is any prospect that the use of alcoholic beverages will ever cease in the United States. We do not believe in compulsory total abstinence for all the people. It is not practicable, and we doubt if it would be beneficial. This opinion Is not based on esteem for alcoholic beverages, or on the idea that they do people good. It Is based merely on observation of the habits of mankind and on some reading. You cannot run a country on the lines of an inebriate asylum, nor treat its popu lation like patients, who must be kept from drink at any" cost, and whether they like it or not. An effort was made to do something like that in the Army when the can teen was abolished. It has been f great failure and has helped very much to give our Army the worst hos pital record of any army in the civil ized world. The most that can be done about drink, as we see the case, is to minimize Its temptations, regulate and restrict its manufacture and sale, keep it out of the young, disseminate sound mild beverages rather than the stronger ones, and work out a more in telligent treatment of drunkenness and drunkards. The encouraging signs of our time anent drink are the increase of abstemiousness, and even of absti nence, among the intelligent, and the refusal of employers to tolerate drink ing among workers in employments of high responsibility. Alcohol seems constantly to be better understood; and impatience with the mischief it does is increasingly deep and persistent, and effort to abate those mischiefs, is ceaseless. All that is encouraging, and would be still more encouraging if the effort were more Intelligent. STATE GRANGE TAKEN' TO TASK Protest aiade Against Sympathy With Single-Tax Absurdity. SALEM. Or., Jan. 30. (To -the Edi tor.) For years I have taken threat In terest in the work of the grange and have always viewed the grange as a conservative as well as a progressive and educational organization. Lip to the present time I have never regretted having joined the order, yet I am com pelled to dissent from what seems to be a departure from its past record. I notice that the State Grange was represented in the Federated Trades Union at its recent annual convention at Portland, at which time a measure was considered and passed favoring an amendment to the state constitution to allow each county local option on taxation and exemption. In other words, to give any county the oppor tunity of voting single tax on prop erty within its borders. I understand this measure is to be initiated at the November election. I desire to know if the State Grange is also behind this move and if so, under what authority have they assumed this right? I recognize In Mr. Palmer and Mr. Leady, the delegates to that convention men of ability and integrity and I am loath to believe that they would be cajoled into such a hair-brained prop osition as that, by a set of non-tax-paying enthusiasts. It is up to Mr. Palmer and Mr. Leady to explain this situation, and to also explain the con nection between the two organizations along these lines. Another thought: perhaps a lesser departure is the repre sented antagonism to the "assembly." Since when have grange members en tered the political field? Are they not aware that the organization is largely composed of loyal Republicans who claim their right to assemble and con slder the welfare of their party and state? I trust they will arise and ex plain, and would also suggest that a letter in The Oregonian would better reach those most interested. FRANZ MITZENBERGER. Their Painful Solicitude. The Dalles Optimist- Yes, yes, good Democratic brothers, we are going to send the Republican party to the demnition bow-wows by holding a convention though we may call it an assembly to nominate all our state and county officers, likewise our Con gressmen, and Senators, in due time. We will "nominate them and then at the primaries we will confirm those nomina tions, and without any help from you. We know you feel bad about It. We know you hate to see the Republicans commit hari-kari and ruin the old party. we know you love the G. O. P. We know your advice to the Republicans is given for the benefit of our party. We know It and weep to think that we cannot follow your advice out we can t ana won t- Sorry, but you had better, crawl into your "Independent" hole and haul the hole in after you. Century Magazine's New Editor. Boston Herald. The mantle of Mr. Gilder as editor of the Century Magazine falls natural ly on Robert Underwood Johnson, hii associate for many years, who, like Mr. Glider, is a poet, a champion of civic reforms, and a man alert to the wider and deeper social movements of the time. His selection insures continuance of the magazine in accord with ideals and traditions that have made it an in fluential factor in civic uplift as well as In aesthetic education. Slight Differences With Bryan. Houston (Texas) Post. Contemporaries that declare we-are in disagreement with Mr. Bryan do us an Injustice. Excepting free raw materi als, prohibition. Government ownership of railroads, the initiative and referen dum, Federal charters for corporations. Government guaranty of bank deposits. Federal ownership of telegraph. Gov ernment payment of campaign expenses and several other things of more or less importance, we are In entire agree ment with Mr. Bryan. Short Life of Twelve-Inch Rifles. Baltimore News. The modern 12-inch rules on our battleships lose much of their effi ciency after 75 shots have been fired with them. The rifling becomes so badly worn that the accuracy of the gun Is harmed. It is said that the 14-inch rifle has a much longer life when fired with a big charge of powder. PRAISE FOR SUNDAY PAPERS. Good Literature In Sunday Oregronlan Is Appreciated. - PORTLAND. Jan. 30. (To the Edi tor.) Can It be possible that in an en lightened age like this, in the twentieth century, in an age which excells all others previous to this in countless in- ventions, discoveries and progress in art. literature and general Improve ments, there should be a class of peo ple who are railing against the issu ance and circulation of Sunday news papers? But such is a fact. I read the other day that in this city a min ister of the gospel in a sermon spoke in favor of a law to suppress the pub lication of Sunday newspapers, on ac count of their tendency to corrupt the morals of the community. Good gracious! Does not the clergy man referred to know that the laborer, mechanic, artisan, clerk, etc, who work from 9 to 12 hours daily, who find no time to nourish their brains with mental food during week days, would by such a law be condemned to mental starvation, and thereby deprived of the benefit of useful information which they would find in a paper like the always excellent editions of the Sunday Oregonian? Only last Sunday the account of an- Eastern philanthro- phist, who went Into the slums of great cities, slept in boxcars and brick yards in company of tramps and un fortunates, by the so-called "unco good" despised humanity, a millionaire who endured all kinds of hardship and privations in order to probe to the bot tom the miseries the poor and out casts have to endure. I want to say that this article alone .teaches a moral and more practical Christianity than a dozen silly sermons of a stamp too often heard from pulpits. A week never passes except when The Oregonian doesnT have something instructive, elevating and enobllng to bring before the eyes of the public which is seek ing for and thirsty after truth. ED. ALISKT. CASS OP "UNTHINKING" PUBLIC Latter Helped In Government; Why Not tn Selecting; Of flceholdersf PORTLAND, Jan. 30. (To the Edi tor.) While discussing germs other than political, the local Democratic newspaper says the habit of ridiculing the assertion that there is danger to the public health In impure milk and water. Indulged in by some of its more or less esteemed contemporaries, suc ceeds in fooling a part of "the unthink ing public. But this dastardly thrust at the proletariat, the bulwark of good government, that element which is so Invariably right that it needs no "rep resentatives" in public matters and knows best at all times what is what and who is who, this slur at the com mon people and sneer at their Intel ligence suggests the possibility that a public which is so "unthinking" that it doesn't know good water from bad, nor dirty milk from clean, should not seriously object to a little assistance In the matter of selecting candidates for official positions. What business has an "unthinking public to be monkeying with great questions? There is too much at stake to surrender ail to a vast collection of people who don't think. Suppose the primary election should come on just when the people were In that untntnK ing mood wouldn t they be unnt to select proper men for the public serv ice, a suggestion of which possibility from another source not long ago threw the said Democratic newspaper into a "fit" from which it has never per ceptibly recovered. The divine right of kings rests upon the charge that the public is an un thinking mass. "The unthinking pub lie." indeed! You'll not catch the twinlets. Bourne and Chamberlain, us ing that phrase not yet. AMEKICU3. Back From Elba; on to Waterloo. New York Times. As the triumphant return of the Colonel approaches people are talking too much about Elba. Why Elba? Somebody who desired to associate the Napoleonic Idea with the Colonel spoke in public of the return from Elba, thinking only of the temporary triumph The comparison, however, is uncom monly odious. Elba, in association with this return, will not bear thinking about. The hundred days" were fol lowed by Waterloo and St. Helena. Historical parallels are not appropriate to th'e Colonel's career, for' he defies all precedents, and, though like to the heroes of old in courage and splendor of achievement, he is utterly original. Farmers' Wives at a University. Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin. Courses of Instruction for farmers and their wives," for dairymen, for cheesemakers, and even for small boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years. will open at the University of Wiscon sin College of Agriculture February 8 and extend, according to the individual course, from five to ten days. In this manner the university provides a means for every man and woman in the rural districts of the state who finds it im possible to attend the regular uni versity courses during the year, to ob tain assistance in the solution of the particular problems of their occupa tions. The Diary of a Meat Boycotter. (New Tork Evening Mall.) Sunday Rose at 1 P. M. Breakfast on grapefruit, and bacon and eggs. Had the bacon in the house, so it didn't count. Din ner at 7, consisting of bisque of tomato, an other plate of it, potatoes, oyster plant, peach pie and coffee. Left table feeling hungry, but virtuous. , Monday Breaklast, orange, cereal, three Luncheon Crackers and mfllk. Had drink at 2 P. M. and speared at free lunch counter two ip.'ecea ham, three sau sages and two tongue sandwiches. Feeling better. Moving With Caution. ' Boston Herald. Employer You have an excellent chance to grow up with the business. young . man, ana mane something oi yourself; its all up to you. Boy I d like de job all right, mis ter, but if you don't mind, I'd just as lief stay at de bottom. You see, sir, I'm Just a little leery about bein" one o' dem fellers "higher up. Not What He Expected. Denver News. "Had a great surprise today." "How was that?" "My son pointed out the famous foot ball coach to me." "What surprised you in him?" "Why, it .was a man. I always thought it was an ambulance." SAX ANTONE. When the last calf's branded and marked. And the round-up's over an' done. And the bunch of a thousand yearlin's Trails off in the settin' aun. Then I grabs my pay In a hurry And lumps for the little roan, For me an' Red Charlie an' Utah Are rldln' to tsan Antone. Aw. we're tired o' sagebrush and coyotes. An" sick of our chuck-cart gruD; Red. he's as glum as the devil An' mean as a grtezly cub. There's a big red moon on the Mesa, An" my gal she's waltin' alone; So up with a yell an' a whoop-la, We 11 streak it for tsan Antone. Oh. the lights they are bright and allurln'. An" the music Is happy ana loua ; And you'll always find plenty of buckoes A'settln' up drinks for the crowd. For nobody cares who your folks are. An' a conscience is wnouy unanown; Then we're off on a frolicsome party Whoop-ee! for San Antone. John 6. Reed (Portland), in Harvard Magaxlne. WHERE LEADER BRYAN STANDS Representative Government, He dares. Must Be Accepted. PORTLAND. Jan. 30. (To the Edi tor.) Speaking for the oleomargarine Republicans and "I don't mind if I do" Democrats, my old college chum and ethical adviser, General Klllfeather, pinchotizes this essayist in the follow ing manner, to-wit: "This here Hln nessy Murphy is a hot air what needs to be probed." All right. General all right avic. That must be something dreadful, buc not quite .so sad as a comic supple ment of a certain county newspaper, a Kerry comet or a biliary calculus, moving in a parabola of nebulous De mocracy or cavorting in the orbit of Jonathan's Anglo-Saxon tail. What's the matter with the faded wall flowers and wilted shamrocks, anyway? Are they any better Demo crats than Jefferson or Bryan? The Democratic party stands for representa tive government that is, party gov ernment as the best method to roach the will of the majority as to those who are to represent them in public life. Do they Imagine they can bap tize the old Democracy with the plaus ible name of non-partisans? At a dinner given in his honor a short time ago by the American Min ister at Havana, Cuba, the greatest Democrat of his day, William Jennings Bryan, stated: "There is a growing acceptance of representative govern ment, and a fundamental doctrine of representative government is acquiesc ence in the will of the majority. That was the doctrine taught by Jefferson, the greatest exponent of government that ever lived, and it is necessary to the existence of all republics." Who ever heard of Mr. Bryan sup porting a self-nominated candidate, representing a clique or faction call ing themselves the people? On the. occasion above mentioned, Mr. Bryan stated emphatically that he always bowed to the will of the majority or his party and congratulated the suc cessful convention nominees and con sistently supported them before the people. This is quite a different thing rrom tying up with a fiddle-faddle Repuh lican who would again sneak Into the United States Senate as George III sneaked into heaven. arcording to Byron's "Vision of Judgment. What is wanted just now is a rew good Shan Van Vought Democrats. These erstwhile "change-your-soeks- once-a-month" bunch can now sample two-bit stuff and sport gold band cigars. The next thing we know they Will all have automobiles. JAMES HENNESSY MURPHY. WATSON ON HIS AMERICAN TRIP. Ensrllsh Poet, in New Poem, Says He " Only Found Two Friends Here. London Cable to New Y'ork Times. Since his return to England. William Watson, the author of the poem, "The Woman With the Serpent's Tongue." has been making things unpleasant for the papers which printed the state ments made by his brother relative to the poet's mental condition. Under the English laws the publica tion of such statements is distinctly libelous, and several papers have tendered ample apologies rather than contest the legal actions with which Mr. Watson has threatened them, lie has just published here the verses he wroje before leaving New York to "The Two Friends That Championed Us." Ho apostrophizes these friends: Who midst the howling storm That round us hurtled dear, and blind. Came with your hearts so staunch and warm. And he tells them that "We shall remember while we live The murderous lies, the whirring darts. We shall forget not. nor forgive; For ours are fierce and liery hearts. But this thing, too. shall we recall. Beside us mid the hostile throns. Faithful you stood and firm through all. In love of truth and hate of wrong. Your deal no shade of faltering; knew. Yours were no moods that shitt -and veer. And we who proved you fixed and true. Till death us part shall hold you. Sauce for Goose and for Gander, Too. Condon Times. The Oregonian. Monday, refreshes the memory of the good people of Ore gon in regard to a certain Democratic assembly held at Portland in March, 1906, and which assembly named an en tire state ticket to be presented at the primary, and nominated without a break right down the line. Now, there fore, what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander, and if the Democrats held a nominating assembly in 1906, why, if you please, should not the Republicans in 1910? The direct primary was In full force and effect then Just the same as now, stil it was no crime for the Democrats to meet in convention and nominate candidates, and no reasonable man or set of men should object to the Republicans doing the same. No Stopping; the Assembly. News Reporter (McMinnville). All over the state the assembly propo sition seems to be gaining ground. Even under the direct primary in the past, all the minority parties have used it all but the democrats necessarily, and the democrats as self-interest and occasion seemed to invite. Now the Republicans are extremely likely to do the same thing. In truth, the great part of the opposition to the proposed movement seems to be from the very fellows who have followed the practice In the past, but do not wish the Repub licans to do the same thing. Without doubt the Republicans will decide to handle their own busnless as they think best, whether it pleases the op position or not. Correct. Castle Rock (Wash.) Advocate. The assembly plan of selecting nomi nees for state and county officers is fast gaining ground in Oregon. By this means the best men in the different parties will be brought forward and tho nincompoops eliminated to a great ex tent. The direct primary in Oregon has succeeded In getting a lot of Incom petents into office, and the people gen erally are disgusted with it for that reason. Name as Original Story Teller. Boston Dispatch. Miss Ethel Wood has been appointed instructor in the art of story telling by the Massachusetts State Board of Edu cation. Miss Wood won a reputation as an original story teller while teaching in Brookline. CURRENT SMALL CHANGE. Gladys, you are spoiling your dolly." 'No, mamma: I am painting its cheeks with the same color that you use." Judge. "They say she will create no end of goSBlp." "Well, I guess the Jobbers In that commodity will be able to handle her output." Louisville Courier-Journal. Artist (to burglar who is making away with paintings) Er by the way. If you should manage to dispose of them, would you mind sending me your customer's ad dress? Life. "You should bear in mind," said the pub lisher, "that four-fifths, of the people who read novels are women." "That's why I call my new story 'The Last Word." " re plied the novelist; "every woman will want It." -Philadelphia Record. "What are the three known dimensions?" asked the teacher at the night school. "The world, the flesh and the devil," gasped the shaggy-haired pupil, taken by surprise and unable at the moment to get his mental bearings. Chicago Tribune. British campaign sidelights. First loaf er "Cheero, Charlie. I 'opes the next guv' ment'll make things look up a bit." Sec ond loafer "They would it I was amons 'em. But it's 'uman natur. you mav deneiid as soon as they gits inter parl'ment they torgets tney was once men, Jike me and you and they does nuflak."r Punch.