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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1911)
TUB MORNING OREGONIAN. TUESDAY. JANUARY 17, 1911. FORTLAXO. OUOUX. TEntarr1 i Portland. Or goo, loalorfie ea cind-r:aa Slattar. SutacriiiUoa hiiM-lmiltbl? la Advanca, (BT V All.) rairy. SaTfty fn-ltild. aa year. .... I-a;;-. S-ja ! Included. ala monthl.... 4 21 I ally. ftjB.'.t; Include, ihm raantha. X3S r!. Sun.l.)r ln.:l'id. on monlb.... X'e.ly. wl:f.o.;t ub1v, oe yaar. I'i'r. wltfco-jt Runtr. e'a mim -J 117. ll ioyi Sunday, thraa cuontaa.. a- l ailjr. without Sunday, as moot W' !. 00 year ...... J-jJ IJBiir. a year aucday axul weaaiy. aae yaax. . (BI CARRIER) raTy. Sunday Included. Ma year...... AM ia::y. 6-4aday lacltJd. ana snanta... tS How t Kaail in poetafflc monay rcr. aapra erdrr ar paraonal ehaoa en your local bank, stamsa. cola ar enrreeey ar at ice eacder'e rai. ulr paatorflr addreaa la roll, including eaoety and etnt. Pnatac Bat 19 I 14 pagaa. 1 Cent; 1 t 2 : canta; 10 la 4 iagae. a casta: 40 19 so tagea. 4 casta. F.we.ga soalag Cmbl rata. Ea.trra Rnatnm Otne Varr Cook llo N-w York. KrnoewlcA kul:Uac CAW cago. ateeer buildmg- TO AT LAND. TIUMI.IV. 4 IMAKV IT. I1L THE lr.MM KAT, AT WORK. The Democratic harmony meeting in Baltimore today does not promise to be A very grand affair After ail the talk It ha excite J. Something may happen to brighten its fJdlng luster little, but it will have to happen pretty n. The proiwti are now that scarcely Anybody will Attend the Bal timore gathering except the pro nounced partisans of Mr. Harmon. The Governor of Ohio Ls An eminent g-nl!emun and his partisans have chosen their hero with nounJ di.xrc tl.n. Still he Is not the Democratic party, and a meeting which represent ed nobody ah would lack certain ele ments of complete harmony. It would be a sort of chord of the diminished eventh. very sweet and expressive, but after all sounding of lor.eaomencsJ and A trifle melancholy. Wa hiiva bnnuTi in nnr inrrow for a Ions time that Mr. Iirjun would not be there. He sa his presence mia-ht Introduce A note of discord, which above all things he abhors. Pome of the guests, he fears, have re volted from the platform of 190S. They are heretics of tlreudful hue. and Mr. Iiryan will have nothing to Uo with the Babylon of party Irregularity. Gorei-nor Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey, will not bo there either. His reasons for Abstaining are not quite so explicit as Mr. Bryan's, but one is At no loss to make a shrewd guess At . them. Like the great Nebraskun. Mr. Wilson suspects that the Baltimore conclave will really represent "the In terests" and not the plain people. A Tecent cartoon depicted the ominous thins; which some muckrakers have designated emphatically as "If springing like a disturbed squirrel from the Republican to the Demo cratic hollow tree. The Baltimore conference ls this hollow tree, very hollow and very rotten, as Dr. Wilson thinks, and he does not want to be Inside it when the squirrel Jumps. Other Democrats of considerable magnitude hare also regretfully de clined to present themselves at the Baltimore harmony meeting so that one cannot look upon the affair with very hopeful prognostications. The ronfemce of Democratic Congressmen railed to meet At Washington on the 19th of this month promises to be A rood deal more of An event. We gather that the purpose of this Conference will not be so much talk as action. It indicates a definite in tention on the part of the Democrats who make up the real strength of the party to take hold of the tasks before them with vigor. The old Idea that !he Democratic party runs to talk and ihuns work will have to be abandoned According to present indications. For the meeting on the 19th a pretty definite programme has Already been mapped out and no doubt It wilt be followed fairly well. For one thing, the election of Mr. Clark to the Speakership to succeed Mr. Cannon rill be determined upon formally, while the 'ways- and means committee of the next House will be chosen And at to work upon the tariff. Noth ing could please the country better than this. Mr.. Champ Clark is liked by all sorts of people. Americans like to see politicians keep their promises, tt is not certain that the Democrats will Adopt Mr. Taffs cherished plan of a tariff commission to Investigate the schedules Atl prepare the way for Congress to revise them one by one. In response to the eagerness of the public for some prompt relief from tariff taxation, they may fix upon a more direct method of revision. It Is said that many Democrats look with favor upon what is known as the "compromise tariff which was enact ed About the year 1830. By this law the reduction of the duties was dis tributed over a series of nine years. The exAct time when each schedule should be lowered was definitely f xed, and when the date arrived the duty went down by prearrangement, without any further trouble. The great merit of this plan lies In the warning it gives business men of com ing change. A definite reduction of A certain duty being fixed for a known date, they can prepare themselves for it. and thus there ought to.be no par ticular disturbance to any Interest. Changes are dangerous only when men have no opportunity to prepare for them. The objection to this method of re vision ls that It will not be Any more scientific than the Aldrich and Ding ley efforts. Nor will It exclude the wirepulling And favoritism which have been the curse of all our. tariff tinker ing. It is therefore apparently f;ir less desirable than the tariff commission proposed by the President which would Investigate the schedules with out bias and give the country A scries of facts which would virtually compel Congress to do Its work honestly. Of course if there were the slightest prospect that the Democratic plan would lead to a revenue tariff within a few years, the country would hall It with unqualified commendation, for everybody ls tired of the sorry old swindle of babying the Industrie And fattening the trusts. But we can hardly believe that there is Any such prospect. When the mad turmoil of revision Is on and the usua! onslaught of the Interests Is made, can ex pect th Democrats to resist If any better than the Republicans have? They did not resist when they had A chAnce. They gave us the Wilson tariff, that product of "perfidy and dishonor. What reason Is there to look for better results next year? ing voters. "It will be its duty to de termine the true effect of each meas ure," ls the command. This assumes that five men can be found In Oregon who can tell ten, twenty or thirty years In advance, with precedents as a guide, how new legislation will work out. Have we Indeed men of greater political wisdom than Washington. Hamilton, Jefferson, Webster and Lin coln? Is prophecy Infallible? Ask those who remember the Intellect of the United States Senate In the !at '60s and early '70a And the states that voted for the fifteenth Amendment. No one may predict what a soverclgi people will do to a law after they en Act It. SENATOR LOIHiE. Senator Lodge, a useful And distin guished Senator, ls In grave danger of defeat. The insurgent wave has reached Massachusetts. It will ongulf the Senator unless Its progress can be stayed by such "progressives" as The odore Roosevelt working In harmony with others of Lodge's friends. Senator Lotige has served In the United States Senate eighteen years. He Is A scholar, a litterateur and a patrician. He ls also a Senator of Influence and character. A politician of energy and adroitness and A mem ber of the reigning Senate machine. But the machine is now smashed, or will be with the retirement of Hale. Aldrich and Kcan and the approach ing dominance of Cummins, La Fol- Ictte and the rest. It Is to be noticed that the fight on Lodge Is being led by Governor Foss a Democrat. He doesn't like Lodge's stand on the tariff and Canadian reci procity. He has encouraged the Re publican revolt. Yet the Senate will be distinctly the loser by Lodge's retirement. He measures up well with the historic Massachusetts Ideal of a Senator. Lodge was President Roosevelt's clos est friend and one of his most trusted advisers. Tet he ls to be beaten now because he Is or was a "standpatter. What will Massachusetts or the coun try gain oy snppi.mtlrig him with a Senator of lesser distinction and smaller caliber? TUB aOAKOITY OF WOKKINO HANIW, Many men in the cities of the Pa cific Northwest are said to be out of employment at this time. Vet few who have applied themselves with dil igence to the tasks In the country find themselves in distress on this account Those who are out of Jobs and funds are nearly All In the citius. The only serious part of the situation Is the dependence of wives and children on men who may not be earning steady wages. The trouble is, too many men seek living In the cities. Too many shun and shirk work In the country. In the rural districts are plenty and Abundance for men who apply ordi nary foresight and diligence to their opportunities. The country Is growing fast. Its activities are multiplying In the general progress. But It is well known that the chief difficulty Is that of labor. Men are hard to find on whom employers can rely for faithful and honest service. Dairymen, orch ardists and farmers of all kinds Join In the complaint. Tens of thousands of raw acres of land need to be cleared and plowed. The openings for employment in the country are without limit. But candidates for place will need to take lower pay than they like: they will have to work longer hours than the barons of Wall street: they will have to eschew the so-called pleasures of the city's paved streets and nickel shows. Tet in such work there ls honest purpose and It Is rewarded by steady gains. It seems queer that Just now when the country ls In such urgent need of hands to perform its tasks and has been confronted so seriously with the "labor problem," any considerable number of men should be out of employment. TirE ENGINE PROBLEM OF FLYING. The flying machine may be said to have reached a high state of perfec tion. But progress of the motor lags behind that of the sailing planes. Thus the problem of the aeroplane Is that of the gas engine. Toward perfection of the mechanism that drives the pro peller and thus supplies the lifting force. Inventive brains are directing their energies. The flying machine depends upon an engine that ls driven by very rapid explosions. These explosions are fired by an electric spark. The "explosive mixture of gasoline and air must be of Just the right density and the mech- ansm that adjusts the mixture must compensate for varying Atmospheric pressures. Many valves And gears compose the engine. Then, 100, the electrical mechanism is one of deli cacy. When one considers the fre quent difficulties of the g&s engine under best conditions of terra-firma use. and then realises the multiplica tion of those difficulties that the op erator Is destined to meet In the air. he sees that the motive-power prob lem of the flying machine ls a very serious And dangerous one. Doubtless Improvement . will be made In the gas engine so that dan gers of flying will be greatly lessened. But It Is not likely that flying will be come a popular sport, though In many ways It will be useful. vast proportions which will prove more difficult to dispose of than those which have absorbed so many millions for others who attempted "corners" in more pretentious staples. It ls re grettable that at least a portion of these Immense cold-storage stocks of poultry, butter and eggs, which have been Accumulating for five years, will prove a total loss. The lesson, how ever, may be worth the money It will cost some of the manipulators who are responsible for this needless waste of what at one time were good, palatable necessities of life. Advancing prices on any staple tend to curtail consumption, and If the ad vance Is tJo great the price becomes prohibitive for a certain class. No more striking example of the work ings of this economic law can be found than in the phenomenal slump In the Oriental flour trade. This trade out of North Pacific ports was built up In a few years from practi cally nothing to a total of nearly 4.000,000 barrels per year. Then came two or three short wheat crops throughout the world and price soared skyward. The bread of the white man was no longer the "staff of life" for the Chliaman and the trade dwindled away until last year the ship menu were more than 2.000.000 bar rels less than they were a few years ago. The Chinaman could afford to use flour mado from 60-cent wheat but he could not afford to use it when wheat was tl per bushel. There are millions of consumers who can pay reasonable prices for butter, eggs and poultry, but who cease to be consum ers of .those commodities when prices are forced to unwarranted heights. TAKE FROM THE FCRAP-HEAP. The Anriy Board found the West Umatilla Irrigation project practicable and desirable, but recommended that the project be thrown to the. scrap heap of neglected Government enter prises, because the Irrigation fund was needed - for the development of rec lamation schemes elsewhere. That was the sole reason. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and other states had the necessary "pull." Oregon had none. But Secretary Balllnger interfered. He knew the unquestionable deserts of West Umatilla and he understood perfectly that It had been Ignored becauso It could be, and for no other reason. The Senatorial delegation from Oregon had utterly failed to look after Oregon's interests and welfare, both in Congress and before the Army Board. No wonder Oregon was left to contemplate longer the cold and barren waste of its unreclaimed West Umatilla desert. Then Secretary Balllnger Interfered. He ordered a final survey of the West Umatilla project. He announced his definite purpose to go ahead with the work If a way could be found. The way was found. West Umatilla Is saved from decay and probable aban donment by Secretary Balllnger. The OregOnlan emphasizes the Im portant and Indispensable fact of the friendship and favor of Secretary Balllnger for a great Oregon enter prise because it ls his due. It is proper that suitable recognition be given of his fair attitude toward Oregon and his vigilant and helpful efforts in the state's behalf. Tet he has been ac cused, here In Portland, of blocking the West Umatilla project. Such a charge ls quite -In keeping with the general campaign of slander, abuse and falsehood to which the .Secretary has for months been subjected. ! And now it Is proposed tocreate a disinterested commission of flva to sup plement Oregon's initiative by advls- FOOI TRCfcT WATERLOO. The fclg combination of produce dealers known as the "food trust" Is reported to be'faclng a loss of millions. This trust has for the last five years set aside the natural laws of supply and demand, supplanting them with artificial prlcereguIat!ons. The principle Involved In the at tempted corner of poultry and dairy products Is not different from that which ls found In cprners of wheat. cotton or other prominent staples. 1 Fortunately for the consumer, and to the discomfiture of the manipulators, the experiment now gives promise of being a failure. When Joseph Letter was conducting his world-famous wheat deal, about a dozen years ago, and. In order to prevent a break In prices, was paying very high figures for everything offered him. an ex wheat king who had played with that kind of fire pertinently remarked: "Joe can put the price as high as he wants to, but what ls he going to do with the corpse?" The "corpse," It might be explained, is a trade term applied to the accu mulated etock of wheat or cotton or any other commodity which manipula tors generally find necessary to buy In abnormally large quantities when at tempting to effect a "corner." The food trust. In Its efforts to maintain prices at unwarranted levels, has Ap parently accumulated, a "corpse" of HOW THE rOSTAL BANK WORKS. The postal savings bank which has been opened At Klamath Falls does not seem to have brought about any of the dire calamities which were pre dicted when the new system was being debated in Congress. Funds have not been withdrawn from the local banks to any extent. In the course of Its first week the new institution has re ceived only some $200, a sum which need not startle the most timid. It does not foretell a serious financial disturbance. No doubt the postal bank at Klam ath Falls will run along quite Incon spicuously for several years. We should not be surprised If Its deposits were never very heavy until the next panic occurs. Then It will show Its real merits. Frightened depositors will, as they always do, withdraw theli money from the private banks, hut In stead of hoarding It they will deposit In the postofflce and thence it will go back Into circulation without delay. hTe amusing failure of the predicted calamities to occur when the postal banks opened will tend to make the country distrustful of the prophets who foretell awful disasters from the parcels post. If we ever get one. The country merchants will go bankrupt, the postal deficit will swell to huge proportions. Everybody knows the talk. But there Is no more In it than there was in the frightful warnings about the postal savings banks. AH these predictions are made by narrow' and short-sighted people who dread some little Injury to their particular inter est and wish to keep back the whole country to benefit themselves. But they are mistaken. The parcels post will not harm them a particle more than the postal banks have harmed the bankers. These things are not ex periments. They are old established institutions In the progressive coun tries of the world, and they injure no body while they benefit millions. are looking for openings where they will not have to wait years for their holdings to reach a productive stage. "What Oregon needs," says one of the owners of the tract, "is farmers who will raise vegetables and poultry and hogs and cattle; men who will milk cows and send the milk and butter to market." The 20,000-acre tract. If It is of the average quality found In the coast re gion, can easily support more than 1000 families, and it is from the addi tional thousands who are now pouring Into Oregon In search of new homes that Portland will draw support for the new skyscrapers that are constant ly being planned and built. No one ever questions' the fact that the city can never sustain a growth in excess of that which is experienced In the country tributary to it. The country might get along without Portland, but Portland could not get along without the country. For this reason every new settler who comes Into Portland territory Is contributing, in a degree, to the growth of this city. News of the transfer to newcomers of suburban acreage, or chards, farms or ranches is fully as important to Portland as that regard ing the transfer of a city lot or the building of a business structure. New capital and new blood in the state and Northwest, outside of Portland, may properly be termed a "cause." and Portland's phenomenal growth the "effect." The Department of Justice has de cided that it has no Jurisdiction over the foreign steamship lines - which were named in the trust suit filed a few days ego. The new subsidy bill of Representative Humphrey, however, will provide a way for getting even with these highwaymen of the seas who have been carrying the honest emigrant 4000 to 6000 miles, paying his railroad fare from Interior Europe and giving him meals and berth en route all for $30 to' 135. It Is this kind of combination in restraint of trade that Is keeping back the mil lions of foreigners who are so sadly needed in the tenement districts of New Tork, Boston and other Atlantic Coast cities. To the other drastic features of the Humphrey bill should be added one that would require all foreign steamships entering American ports to carry steerage passengers at tl each. This "hydra-headed .mon opoly" which Insists on charging the outrageous sum of $35 must be pun lshed, or New Tork's East Side will be no more populous than an anthill in July. The coming of the railroad will not Interfere with Tillamook County's lib erality toward wagon roads. In the past three years that isolated count? has spent nearly $300,000 on road work. This year the County Court has made a levy which will provide $125,- 000 for road and bridge purposes. It is a difficult matter to reach Tillamook over the present roads across the mountains, but once within the con fines of that prosperous county, the traveler will find highways that would be a credit to much more pretentious communities. Clatsop County, lying north of Tillamook, Is also making liberal provision for 1911 road work and has plans for meeting Tillamook County with a first-class road over Ne carney Mountain. When that road is in shape for automobiles, people will cross the continent to use it. The Government engineers are pre paring to improve the Coquille River channel between Coquille and Myrtle Point. An appropriation of $56,000 ls available for the work, and the im provement will greatly facilitate de velopment of a very rich country on both sides of the river. Both the Co quille and Coos Bay countries are growing more rapidly than ever be fore, a fact that has not escaped the attention of the Californlans, who still have a strong hold on the trade of that region. This trade will naturally come to Portland as soon as a railroad ls built. Meanwhile Portland should re member that a large number of new settlers are going into that country, where irrigation ditches and water rights are not troublesome and "grass grows green the year around." Why did the first bank swindled by Thorp, alias several aliases, conceal the fact? Wanted to keep it out of the papers is perhaps the only reason. But if publicity had been given to the doings of this sharper, wouldn't every Pacific Coast bank have been on the watch for him? Didn't the first bank think it necessary to warn others? In the matter of smooth crooks' victims, publicity pays. The National House of Representa tives contnues to decide appeals Just as it pleases, taking orders from no body. If It keeps on It will regain the dignity which belongs to it and may again play a responsible part in gov erning the country. The people would prefer a free and responsible House to a collection of marionettes. FlAx CILTIRG IX EARLY DAYS. Valley Former Sold Seed to Pressing Mill at Salem. PORTLAND, Jan. 14. (To the Edi tor.) I wish to add my personal plea for the culture of flax. The whole subject lias been ably and enthuslasti cully 'discussed in the columns Of The Oregonian. nor am I qualified to speak upon its merits. But I remember that my father, who was a practical farmer, raised most satisfactory crops of flax In Polk County more than 35 years ago. The fiber was not utilized then, but the seed was sold in Salem to Joseph Holman, who managed a mill for the expressing of oil. The byproduct of oil cake was returned to the grower, and was most valuable for feeding young cattle. As there seems no doubt of the ex ceptional quality of the Oregon-grown flax, it ls to be hoped the farmers will look with favor upon this profitable Industry and that flourishing' linen mills, twine manufactories, etc., will reward those who have labored so faithfully for their establishment. Some day the small farmer if there Is one in Eastern Oregon and Wash ington will consider the cultivation of flax, for that section ls Its habitat. A few years ago I found some fine speci mens growing wild in the sagebrush. six miles from Walla Walla, and It certainly ls not confined to that locality. When Lewis and Clark made their great Journey more than 100 years ago, they found the Clatsop Indians using flax or hemp fishlinea. and were told they obtained it by barter with their neigh bors, east of the Cascades. These simple, primitive people were wise In gaining secrets from Mother Earth and utilized for food and use the plants that grew within the con fines of their nomadic lives. That they understood, in a crude way, the retting ana hackling of flax and hemp is very clearly proven by examining bags made by the Wascos, Kllckltats, Warm Springs, Cayuse. Umatlllas and othe tribes. Any good collection of basket will have these. Being much on horse back, nothing could be better adapted to their use than these strong, dur able, pliable and beautifully-woven bags, or pouches. Their love of colo and beauty wove a decoration, on the flax foundation, of finely split corn husk, in its natural tone, or dyed with alder bark or copper. Either cultivation of vast areas has destroyed much of the native plants, or the degeneracy of their handiwork has made it less arduous to use the Boston man's cheap twine. The delicate blue of the lovely flax "blushes unseen" in the gray waste of sagebrush, and the sturdy hemp by the creeks ls ungar nered. Lucky is the possessor of the finely wrought and enduring pouches. Some day It will grow again, more vigorous and abundant, under intelli gent cultivation. Farming methods are too advanced for enlightened men to waste time and labor with unsatisfactory crops if other things make profitable returns. then let us consider them. HARRIET M' ARTHUR. WHEN THE EDITOR IS IN A Ht'RRY, Annoying Mlatake In Kews Columns Explained by Contemporary. Astorlan. The Astorlan has a public apology to make. In the rush of telegraph matter of the office of Wednesday night a date line was overlooked by the telegraph editor, and it was re ported that Clatsop County had no representation of the standing commit tees of the Oregon ' Legislature. The telegraph editor overlooked the fact that the dispatch was from Olympia, Wash., Instead of Salem, Or., and being Just at that moment filled with Oregon legislative telegraphic matter, naturally began to look for Clatsop County's awards on the legislative committee Not being able to find a Clatsop name in Washington legislative committees he thought the county had been turned down rather hard by the president of the Oregon Senate and the Speaker of the Oregon House. Result, - it was printed in headlines as large as are at the top of this article that Clat sop County had been ignored in the Legislature. It was a bull-headed mis take. Oregon's state legislative committees have not yet been appointed. The Held s a new one to the telegraph man, and he has had his lesson and won't over look a date line again. When Mr. KJernan Is finally through with his bridge litigation, his remains should be carefully preserved for the Inspiration of the young. Surely he Is the most persevering man who ever lived and the badness of his cause should not be allowed to obscure the brilliancy of his virtue. JEEI-PIVO PORTLAND GROW. Naturally, every Portland man is In terested In and pleased by the steady Increase In the number of skyscrapers shooting up along our principal busi ness thoroughfares. They are orna ments to the city and they advertise Portland's growth. We like to read that some prominent Eastern capitalist after a close scrutiny of the remain der of the big American cities has paid from $$000 to $4000 per front foot for a business lot In this city and will erect thereon A ten or rwefve-etory building. We have had considerable of this pleasing news In the past two years, and there Is much more of the same kind coming along this year, and the next, and then some. Meanwhile there Is another class of real estate news that means Just as much, per haps more, to Portland than the sale of a high-priced business lot or the building of a sky-scraper. As an example of this class of news which has such a direct bearing on the supply And demand of Portland skyscrapers, an Item In The Oregonlan Sunday relating to the sale of 20,000 acres of land in Lincoln and Benton counties is Interesting. This land is to be cut up into smalt tracts and sold on. easy terms to small farmers who In order to perfect the experiment of dropping explosives from an aeroplane the military manager at San Fran cisco ought to have stationed some marksmen with Martini 30-30s to as certain wnat the enemy could do in the way of defense. Tbe Real Xorth Pole. February St. Nicholas. The popular idea of the compass Is that it is an Instrument having freely moving needle which points to the North Pole. But the needle points to the North Pole when the compass s situated on the meridian of longi tude that runs through the north mag netic pole. The real (or geographic) north pole and the magnetic north pole are not in the same place. The magnetic north pole, toward which the compass-needle really points. situated in the northern part of Canada, in northern latitude 70 degrees minutes and longitude 96 degrees 43 minutes west from Greenwich. It was first visited in 1S31 by Sir James Ross. The southern magnetic pole is in a corresponding position In the Antarctic region. It was discovered by Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition to be latitude 72 degrees 25 minutes south and longitude 154 degrees east. The magnetic poles are not sta tionary. The northern one Is slowly moving westward along the 70th par allel, and In the course of 300 or 400 years will probably have encircled the geographic north pole and returned to about its present location. Of course the southern magnetic pole follows a corresponding course about the geo graphic south pole. In such cities in the United States as Omaha, Sioux City, Topeka, Gal veston, etc., the compass needle would point about in the direction of the North Star and the North Pole that Commander Peary reached. This geo graphic pole Is about 1500 miles north of the magnetic pole, toward which the needles of all compasses point. To determine the extent to which the postal savings bank can draw on private hoards stowed away in stock ings and teapots, it will be necessary to give one of the institutions an op portunity in a town like Seaside, which was recently deprived of its banking facilities. Dona-las Connty Artist. Roseburg News. Few of the people who sac the name William Walker, signed to drawings In "Life" and "Judge," are aware that the artist is one of the Garden Valley plant ers. Before turning his attention to fruit growing Mr. Walker was cartoonist on the Philadelphia North-American. INJUSTICE IN KLAMATH PROJECT. Many Suffer for Acta of Kerr Senntora Give No Help. MERRILL, Or., Jan. 12. (To the Edi tor.) As a further contribution to the in dictment by The Oregoniaa of our dila tory or Incompetent Senators at Wash ington, the condition of most of the settlers and landowners of the Klamath project may well be cited. After exhaustive surveys a report was mado to the people that the cost of the project would not exceed 20 per acre. This was satisfactory to the people in terested and, accordingly, under the su pervision of the Interior Department, a water users' association was formed. The land in private ownership was signed up so that each acre of land rep resented one share of stock at J-0 per share, which was subsequently raised to $30. 4- On completion of the first unit of the project, which covered some 30,000 acres, the land owners were informed they would have to pay $20 per acre instead of the i'JD, as had been estimated In the beginning. This caused a good deal of complaint from those living under the finished portion of the project, which finally culminated in the directors of the association making a very serious charge against the Reclamation Service to the visiting Senate committee, and also, I believe, to the Secretary of the Interior. Now, this was not sanctioned by the vast majority of the stockholders, but only by those under the first or com pleted unit, some one-tenth or less of the whole number. But this doesn't seem to have had any influence on our Senators in the least. We are all to be punished for the dereliction of a few." A very small portion of the project will be fin ished with the appropriation so far made. The expenses of the association have gradually increased from 2 to 8 cents per acre, and this year will in all proba bility be still more. Thus we who have no water have to pay equally with those who have. No more funds are to be appropriated for at least Ave years, at the end of which time, in all proba bility, our lands will be confiscated to pay the expenses of the association from which we of the dry lands absolutely derive tio benefit whatever. The association ls simply an organiza tion relieving the Government of the necessity of collecting the delinquent payments. Now, It must be manifestly fair and equitable that if we have to hare in the expenses we should be al lowed to share in the emoluments, and this can only be done by the speedy com pletion of the project. ' Never in the history of Oregon has there been a people so oppressed un justly as are the great majority of set tlers and land owners under the Klamath project. And our dejection and hope lessness are Increased by the knowledge of the supplneness and almost treason able incapacity of our two Senators. The stand of The Oregor.ian is surely to be commended in the position it takes on this matter, which, I feel certain, has the indorsement and thanks of every well-wishing citizen of Klamath County. LAW-GIVERS AND NOTHING MORES. fol B. ELRY. The problem of cheap living at Eu gene and Corvallls ls one which the students ought to solve for themselves. If they wish they can form clubs and fix the cost of living to suit their means, while at the same time they learn valuable lessons In co-operation. Because several pedestrians whom he held up with a revolver did not hap. pen to have a lot of money, a murder ous thug In New York asked the police to lock him up. He said the business didn't pay. It never does. Will Add It to His Collection. Detroit Free Press. The report that Venus Is Inhabited will doubtless he Investigated at once by J. Pierpont Morgan. Terrible Flow of Ink. New York World. The "Battle of London" has already taken a place In history, but more ink than blood has been shed over it. Government has seized on valuable phosphate beds discovered in Montana. Under the Plnchot policy these should not be uncovered and put to use of Americans until the year 2100, or maybe 2200. But Maybe That Is Beat. Drrep sorrow's ours, 1010. To hava to say "good-bye." But fate has willed that time's up when. For a twelve-month a year aaa been Feasting on a world'a pie. A youngeter wilt at 12 o'clock Demand of you your rtlace. An' with his new key hail unlock An' call for an "account of stock." Then you'll soar into soace. Welt. lftlO. our Oregon Cannot complain of you. For eyea of railroad kings are on Resources to stretch rails uson Which you brought them to view. Where you will go we do not know, Nor where you will rtnd rest Nor whore go shifting winds that blow. Nor we. when called from here bttlow But mayba that is beat, R. M. WADE. SO 1012 RIVAL AGAINST TAFT. Probability of Renomlmtlon Empho aiaed by Political Talk. Ernest G. Walker, in Boston Herald. It seems to the Republican President makers at Washington as though the holiday discussions have quite effective ly forcast the verdict of the next Na tional convention. There has been 1 lull In popular interest with reference to other affairs, which nas Deen im proved to emphasize the tendency to ward President Taft. V hiie nis re nnmlnarinn was taken for granted some weeks ago, the political talk brought here from the states ana tne views which have, been disseminated from Washington go far to confirm such a prospect. The holiday emphasis upon the Presi dential situation is gratifying to Mr. Taft's friends for several reasons. One of them is that it has developed 110 rival booms or boomers. ' There is no disposition, apparently, to bring any other candidates to the fore. The Cum mins Presidential boom which was vigorously heralded out of the VTest in November, has not materiaiizea among the politicians sojourning in Wash ington. It was promised that henator cum mins would virtually maintain head quarters by the Potomac during the Congressional months. Nothing like this has been done, and, in a Presidential way, the Senator has been quiescent. The stanch Iowa stalwarts ridicule the Senator's aspirations. His Insurgent brethren from adjacent states nave as sumed an attitude of diffidence. If they are to support a Western candidate, it ls decidedly a matter of the future, and has not been determined upon yet. In surgent indorsement of the President ls, Indeed, among the probabilities. It mav not be an enthusiastic indorse ment, but sufficiently cordial to make for campaign harmony. Americana In English Society. Philadelphia Times. A witty "Frenchwoman declared the other day that London was no longer an English city, but an American re sort, and she feared that Far.'s. too, would soon surrender to the American invaders, who came armed with beauty, charm, wit and gold. Every year the center of the social stage is occupied by American hostesses and brides, and every year some lovely American receives the homage of the season, as the most beautiful woman. This Winter tnis aouiauon nas Deen paid to Mrs. Gifford Alexander Cochran of New Tork, who before her marriage was Miss Mabel Heywood Taylor of Philadelphia. Two other American women wno are in the limelight of public interest In Bnellsh circles are the Duchess of Rox- burghe, who was Miss May Goelet, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. ftooert uoeiei, 01 New York. Thev are salmon flBhlng on tne iweed River and their prowess with rod and line 1ms astounded the men wno nave been on the fishing expeditions which tart from Floors Castle, wnere tne duchess is keeping open house. Explosion on Steamer Fnxon. TURNER, Or., Jan. 12. (To the Edi tor.) Can you tell me where the river boat Anna Faxon, O. It. N., was blown up about 15 years ago, on the Snake River? Two men lost their lives on it at the time, John and Tom Mcintosh. If you can, please give me the nearest landing and also how far from Riparia. E. L. MARTIN. The steamer Anna Faxon blew up at a point known en Wade's Bar, about half way between Riparia and Lewis ton. Wild Fiowere of the Coaat. FALLS CITY, Or., Jan. 13. (To the Editor.) Where can I find a complete description of the wild flowers of the Coast? I am particularly desirous of Information regarding the "Oregon Grape." A. D. DAVISON. Buy Howell's "Flora of Northwest America," price $5 and sold by the leading book dealers. v Explanation Is Eaay. Atlanta Journal. A London editor finds our sailors "thin-faced and sad." The ones he saw must have stumbled upon a copy of Punch by mistake. Ontario Cltlxen Scores Senators Loss of Retinmntlnn Funds. ONTARIO. Or., Jan. 13. (To the Ed itor.) I have read with a great deal of interest much that lias been written in the past several years concerning Irrigation, and especially irrigation in Oregon. I was here when the irriga tion law of li02 was passed. I was a delegate to our first state irrigation meeting in Portland, where our own Malheur project was presented with others of Eastern Oregon. I was here when the reclamation engineers first Invaded Malheur County, and after something like 18 months and the ex penditure of more than $100,000, we were told that our project was prac ticable and feasible. Chief Newell himself told us righ here under our own vine and fig tree, of our low altitude, our rich soil, our seductive climate, our ample and abun dant water supply, of the moderate cost of construction; in fact, to use Mr. Newell's own language, "the Mal heur project is unique from the stand point of good features. Including more water than land." This was Bome six years ago. During all this time our state's money hurt been diverted to more favored states. And during all this time we have main tained a stiff upper lip, relying on sec tion 9 of the reclamation act, and trust ing in a kind providence that we might be spared till the time when lnforce ment of the law would bring us frui tion of our fondest hopes and desires. But alas! though the wisdom of our representatives at Washington is sanc tioned and their followers are proclaim ing throughout all the country as to tlio wise, modern and beneficent laws they have promulgated and enacted, and while wise men of the East are urging the adoption of their so-called advanced ideas, I would like to inquire which is better, a bad method, if you please, that brings good results, or a so-called good method that brings bad results or, in this case, no results? It is a weil-known fact that the repeal of section 9 of the reclamation act was directed solely at Oregon; that other states which it would have affected had no practical projects. Hence Oregon is the sufferer. It is also known that it was entirely need less in passing upon the $20,000,000 loan to stipulate that It must be ex pended to complete projects already under way, for the reason that nearly all the projects are built by units, each one complete In itself. This is true of the Bolse-Payette project, and the Gov ernment Is now being repaid for the money so far expended. Consequently it is mere bosh that there was, or is, any good reacon why Oregon's money should be stolen upon such a pretext. But grant for argument's sake that under the law the Malheur project could not avail Itself of a portion of the $30,000,000 loan. There is now and has been several million on hand from the regular source, and this sum is be ing augmented daily. Again I am in formed that two or three of the proj ects recommended by the Army Board are entirely new ones. But they are not ir. Oregon. It appears to your humble servant that our Senators In Washington are chasing the shadow, and are losing sight of the substance. They are con cerning themselves as to who shall be appointed Postmaster in some one horse town, or who shall b made Speaker of the Oregon Legislature, in stead of attending to the larger and more Important duties of their office and station. We, the while, of Mal heur County, with 200,000 acres ol splendid land with water, productive in the highest degree, much of it nr. rich as the flats of Holland, where we can produce the sweet corn of Maine the field or fodder corn of Iowa, the peaches of Southern Michigan, seeds in great varieties of the most favored region, ten tons of hay from a singla acre, the apples of a Medford or a Wenatchee yea, we challenge Hood River to surpass them in either beauty or flavor I say, here we stand, our feet in the burning sand, viewing across the Snake our neighbor in the State of Idaho, expending $E,000.000 of our state's money, yea, our money, it you please, by every right, human and divine, building homes and highways, cities and citizenship. Turning to the west we behold again the broad ucrea of old Malheur, in all their primitive beauty and grandeur, as yet untouched by the advancing hosts of civilization, awaiting, thirsting, plpadlng for the water which gives it life, to the end that it may bloom, blossom and bless us. Language cannot express our Indig nation, our humiliation, our feeling. So far as I am concerned, I can only say, to h with men and measures who have brought us thus. In the meantime Oregon's friend, Secretary Fa'llnger, has condescended to leave a few straggling surveyors on the sands of Umatilla, presumably to alleviate our suffering and appease our wrath. God speed the day, I pray, when we shall have done with petty politicians, and when Oregon's representatives in Washington will again be the peer of Borah, of Carter, or of Hale, regardless of what system or what laws elevated them to leadership. In the interim I fear the present generation in Malueur County will have passed at least beyond the age of their greatest activities and be con tent that Oregon Is the Home or tna most renowned law-givers in all the world. Fellow citizens of Orecron, I await yovr pleasure. Have we not sufficient blood in our veins to rise at so great a call? C. E. BELDIXG. Miner May Be Ohio's Governor. Lleutenant-Govornor-elect Atlee Pom- erene, progressive Democrat, who will be the next United States Senator from Ohio. succeeding Charles Dick, is a self-made man. He was born in Berlin, O., ii years ago, a poor boy. He worked his way through .school and through Princeton. He practiced law in Can ton. In 1D0S he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Gov ernor and was defeated by Harmon. In November he was Harmon's running mate. He ls married, but hag no chil dren. Through Pomercne'g selection a coal miner may become Governor of Ohio. William Green, President pro tem. of the Senate, will succeed to the office of Lieutenant-Governor. Should Gov ernor Harmon become Democratic can didate for President he probably would resign as Governor and Senator Green would succeed him. Green is an ex president of the Ohio miners. Sore They Overlooked Him. Chicago News. Senator LaFolletts thinks that Wall street has already selected the Presi dential candidates of tha two parties in 1912 A Lincoln Tintype. Kennebec Journal. Mrs. Freeland Young, of Norway, has a stickpin which ls a keepsake. It has a small, rounded gold-platecr frame con taining a tintype of Abraham Lincoln On the frame are the words, "For Presi dent, 1S61." Mrs. Young's father gave her the stickpin when she was a girt and before Lincoln was chosen Presideni the second time. Not many of these small tintypes of Lincoln are now in ex istence, but the picture is a very fint likeness. Proved. Washington Evening Star. "You have heard that great wits are oft to madness close allied," said one alienist. "Yes," replied the other, "and it is proved nearly every time one of these Smart get-rich-quickers looks for a defense." Are Sorry It Iant True. Louisville Courier-Journal. Abe Hummel ls said to have arrived at San Francisco and sworn he was a British subject. His countrymen sweaj because he is an American.