Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1911)
10 rOBTX-ArD. ORET.OX. r.tr4 at Portland. Oregon, Poatefaae W Matter. I vacriauea, Ium Invariably la Aarsaca, (BT MAIL) fir. "aaaa? tnelud.4, aaa ytf Il .iy. fcuaday Included, sis nianths..., 4 J rr. Sunday tnrlud.4. thraa tnantae.. all -ily. a-uaday Included, ana moaUk..,, -T i.y. wxlwvt Sunday, oaa year....... nr. without Sunday, als. roacthe. . a.J ! I. Ilhw Sunday, threa inanlbs... Ul -liy-. without Sunday. ODa xnoslh. - I kly. oaa year. ............ l-a caay. oaa y.ar ...... ia; ua wealcly. aaa yaax. ......... (BT CARRIER) i'r. Fonday Included, oaa roar.... . I'y. Sunday Included, ace month. tf How ta Keaait Band S-oatofflca manay 4r. aiares. wdar ar paraonal ehaek oa ur local tank. Ptampa. coin or currency at the Madera r.fL. OIa poatofBce dr.aa n fuii, including county aad atsta. iaataca Bates 10 to 14 paaaa. 1 cant! 14 ; isH. 2 canta; to to 4U paaaa. eeoia. a ao naaaa. a uuu. Foxeiaa saaiasa ' nbl. rata. Lantrra Hnalaaaa Office - Varroa Cbnk- New Tork. Prnoesrlck building. CM f. Staaar butldlns. RTLAM, SATTHDAT. JAX. Si. 131 1. I r R.xAjfu or row rj rx miovr. Captain Mahan speaks with author about th naval affalra of tha rld. but It is not conceded by every dy that ho understands land armies ;it ao thoroughly as he does ships. his article for the London Dally ail. which the Boston Evening ansrrtpt has reprinted for the -nertcan public, his estimate of the lative strength and importance of - Kuropean military forces appears mearhat lacking- in that sound judg- ant which one always expects when rilacusses navies. Mnee the article is written to rouse the British publto a sense of Its needs in the matter buCding warships. Captain Marian ay have arranged his facts a little suit t's Immediate purpose. At iy rate his estimate of tha European llltary forces leaves a good deal to - desired In accuracy. He assumes the basis of his reasoning that the rlple Alliance of Germany, Austria I id Italy Is a permanent grouping of . powers of Central Europe. Russia lid France are to act In harmony In future, as they have for the last en years, while England is to stand f listed, ready to take a hand in af- 'lra wherever aha sees her Interest. Under this arrangement nf the wers the German army makes the rlple Alliance predominant on the nd. Captain Mahan believes that usxla was so much weakened by the hipanese war that she doea not count r much at present, while he Inclines depreciate toe French army also. 1 ustrla, he thinks, is so closely united Xorth Germany by race and inter- t that she will not think of breaking 'f the present alliance. Of Italy he iys nothing specific, but the assumpt ion Is that the kingdom will hold tat to the triple arrangement. 8tlll lie key to the European situation is the hands of England because of r predominant naval power. Ger- tany really depends upon her ne wly reated seagoing commerce for sub- stence in time of war. England can ottle up this commerce pretty effee- lally. A victorious fleet stationed at tie Skagerack channel, whose narrow aters separate Denmark from Scan ir.avia. would close the Baltic, An ther at Gibraltar would make the ledlterranean impracticable even if ie Triple Alliance had ports at 'rleste and elsewhere on the Adriatic, hlch, as everybody knows, Austria seeking. Perhaps a few more ves- -La would be needed to guard the anal the Germans have inconvenlent- r dug across the neck of Denmark. ut the theory Is very attractive In I plte of some little difficulties. It omes to this.- that England could Carve Germany out. But in order to take sure of doing it she must hurry p with new Dreadnoughts, since, un 'appily, the Kaiser has mastered the ecrct of building them with porten ous speed. To many students of international ffiilra this reasoning will appear fan- I istic for several reasons. Ru5sla. or one thing, is not nearly so regligl le as Captain Mahan seems to think. : t Is doubtful whether her essential Ulltary strength was impaired at all y the Japanese ar. In the rar :ast her situation has been fairly well otrleved. as America knows to her - ommerclal cost. In Persia. Russia eeps up a friendly rivalry with Eng- and which may at any time change to something sharper. Captain Mi ' ;an'a opinion that the Triple Alliance . the only power which can operate ffactlvely la Pernla looks extremely hibious. Russia Is on the ground rtth battalions whose number nobody eally knows much about, while her nrtrfti--"S. scattered through Central jla. give her a tremendous advan- ge In any contest. Of course the nllttary power of France Is prob- rmatic Her reorganized army has : tot known a genuine trial of strength md efflclenry since 1170. but no wise baerver will depreciate It. The Trench are at heart a more military .wnple than the Germane. For cen urlrs their armies have been the best lghters In Europe, and it Is unsafe a believe that their Inborn faculty ias permanently declined. It Is ten ifclo to hold that France and Russia n combination would outmatch the Triple Alliance even If that entente were likely to continue unimpaired. :DtaJn Mahan probably errs In his l-pir.lon that the compact situation of .he German nations and Italy In the neart of Europe gives them an ad- Iv an tare not to be overcome. The po sition of Russia on one flank with Frence on the other would be highly l-alrable in many contingencies. Frederick the Great found It pretty nearly fatal even with his supreme -nl!t:ary genius to help him out. A '"ontral European alliance far more .-.impact than the present triple en tente was easily penetrated and utx-ared In fragments by Gustavus Adolphus entering from the north. Rut there Is little likelihood that the Triple Alliance will endure mucn longer. Now, as in the sixteentn cen tury, tie Northern powers are more if a mrnai-o than a help to Italy, tier interest cla-hea seriously wun Aus tria's on the eeatern shore of the Adriatic. Germany can obtain a port on the south only at the expense of ItaJr and by the euojugatlon of two or three millions of determined Ital ians who have become denizens of the eastern shore. As these conditions develop it is extremely likely that Italy will forsake, the Triple Alliance and resume her more natural connec tion with France ana x-nguina. I the German powers sno ' """w t onouered and exploited in due time. To England she Is an ally whose r,rt and fleet can be uterui wnne there Is no temptation to plunder. Upon the whole it seems to be pretty certain that Captain Mahan's argu ment for building British Dread noughts will need some revision be fore long. The Dreadnoughts are de sirable, we dare say, but some other reasoning will have to be Invented to convince the taxpayers of it. M. HAMJET, CONSERVATIONIST. True conservation has won a victory in Harney County. Mr. WiUlum Han ley will not be prosecuted by alien theorists of false conservation for his progressive endeavors there. Mr. Hanley undertook to dig a ditch that would make a large area of land productive. He needed fuel for his machinery. He cut from a neighbor ing mouptatn top scrub junipers, worthless for any other use. These "trees" were not timber: they served no good purpose where they grew. Stein's Mountain, their habitat, was not even beautified by thtm and scarcely shaded. Along came sleuth "agents" of the Government. They caught" Mr. Han ley In the act of "stealing timber" from the public domain. It did not matter to these agents that Mr. Han Icy was performing valuable service for uplift of Harney County far more valuable than all the Plnchots and the Garfield put together. They had him Indicted. They threatened him with floe and even prison. Xow, after a year's interval, the in dictment Is dismissed. Harney County has been deprived of this development project. Why? In order that over buy factotums of conservation bu reaus might make a showing to their non-resident superiors 3000 miles away. This is one sample of official tyranny, out of many. Is it any won der that people of the West are de manding home-rule conservation and elimination of alien bureaucrats? THK DEMOCRATIC PROBLEM. If President Taft were more of a politician and less of a great execu tive, he might not be so obviously dis turbed over the probable failure of his legislative programme at the pres ent short session of Congress. The winning campaign is almost invari ably conducted on a platform of promise and not of achievement. The country is much more easily interest ed and aroused by the denunciatory philippics that "view with alarm" and always observes with undisturbed complacency the glowing resolutions that "point with pride." The Taft Administration was at- Its lowest ebb in popular favor last year following the adjournment of Con gress with its remarkable record of party pledges redeemed. The public Is never so much Interested In the things an Administration has done as the things It la going to do. President Taft may get through at the short session pi pet project of a tariff commission, and that is about all. except the appropriation bills and probably the Panama Canal legislation. Tha President appears, in urging his nonpartisan investigation and de termination of tariff problems, to be inspired by an altruistic purpose to make it easy for all concerned. The Republicans know from unhappy ex perience that any tariff bill is ruin ous to the dominant party; and the Democrats ought to know It. Per haps they do. though Joe Bailey, and Champ Clark, and Colonel Harvey and all the other tariff cooks are very busy concocting the legislative broth for the next Congress. The shrewder Democrats, however, have Joined with the Republicans In getting behind the tariff board proj ect. They would gladly shift the bur den. The Republicans are Just now for any solution of the tariff discus sion that will relieve them of some of the blame for the disastrous Payne Aldrich act. Some of them would like to see the Democratic party wreck itself in fruitless wrangling over- the subject, but for the lnvltable disturb ance to business. After Congress adjourns, it will be President Taft'a turn to pursue a pol icy of legislative rest, negation and silence. He will be left free to carry out his great plans of administrative reform and departmental economy. He need not worry about the future. It will do him no good. It will soon be the Democracy's turn to walk' the floor. A COISTT DIVISION RILL. Oregon now has no definitely pre scribed method by which new coun ties may be created. Able lawyers construe a provision of the constitu tion to mean that the Legislature shall not create new counties, and while it might be held by the courts that a means of setting up a new county government has been granted to the people of the territory affected, the law is too Indefinite to be relied upon. "Considering Oregon's rapid growth in population, clearly it will be expe dient In the near future to divide some counties now large in area and grow ing In population If the time is' not already at hand. The Eggleaton bill submitted in the House at Salem is designed to provide a fair method for such division. The procedure in general as given therein is similar to that prescribed In the Initiative bill defeated In the recent election, but some features of the de feated bill have been made much less objectionable. In the Initiative measure, for exam ple. 30 per cent of the voters of a proposed new county could start a di vision movement by signing a petition. In the Eggleston bill SO per cent la required. In the initiative measure a majority of those voting In the pro posed new county was sufficient to approve the division. In the Eggleston bill 75 per cent must vote in the affirmative. The initiative bin. also, was made appllcalbe to the Incorporation of new cities, town's and other municipal di visions. The Eggleston bill applies only to formation of new counties. These are practically the sole vari ances from the defeated measure. The plan of referring the petition for for mation of a new county to a disinter ested commission Is retained, as Is also the method of dividing county property In the event the new county Is created. An objection might be made to the bill because of omission of minimum limitations on area and population to be Included in new counties. The con stitution now forbids the creation of a new county of less than 400 square miles in area r having fewer than 1200 Inhabitants. Unless this limitation can be and is raised by general stat ute, the Eggleston bill would per mit approximately 180 voters residing In a district twenty miles square to form a new county, figuring on one voter to every five inuhabltants and taking 71 per cent of the voters. Such a proposition, however, would have to go before a disinterested commission with plenary power to reject it, so the omission Is not really a serious one. It ought to be conceded, we think, that If 75 per cent of the voters In a populous area of properly deflned pro portions wish to form a pew county they should be permitted to do so. By properly defined we mean ono whose segregation would not work a hard ship on the parent ounty or on the taxpayers or commercial conditions of the new county. The proposed bill ought to produce such results, and it prescribes perhups as feasible a method for county di vision as could bo devised aside from a constitutional amendment restoring to the Legislature the power to cre ate nw counties. A WRECK WITH rORTCNATB OUTCOME. The wreck of the steamship Cot tage City near Cape Mudge, on the "inside passage" to Alaska is another of those "fortunate disasters" which -a fiillv as numerous as the kind that leave in their wake lifelong misery and suffering for the friends and rela tives of the missing passengers. The Cottage City was old and tender. She was built of wood more than twenty five years ago, and. after outliving her usefulness on the Atlantic, wns sent around to the Paclllo to end her days. - Better seamanship or better weather enabled the Cottaga City to get safely past Cape Hatteras, where the wooden steamship Kentucky was shaken to pieces while en route to the Pacific last year, and for nearly a dozen years she has been tempting fate on the Alaska route. There is. of course, a strong probability that a stanch steel vessel driven on the rocks as the Cot tage City was driven on them might have met the same fate, but it is hardly probable that any modern-built vessel properly provided with 'collision bulkheads would have become a hope less wreck In so short a time as elapsed between the striking of the vessel and her abandonment. This wreck was "fortunate" in more than one way. Not only -vere all of the paasenRers and crew safely landed, but there has been removed from the list of Pacific Coast craft another an cient vessel that might at any time have ended her career In a storm or on a rockbound coast where the pas sengers could not have reached shore. Periodically the Pacific Coasters are thrilled with horror and Indignation when some ancient craft goes to the bottom with a number of passengers. but the good resolutions maae n ,m Coroner's inquest or the official inquiry are soon forgotten and the tender tubs of a bygone age still churn their way over various routes between Panama and Alaska. Let us hope that the elimination of the rest of thue marine relics will be accomplished "with no greater loss of life "than that attending the Cottage City when she "laid her bones with Davy Jones' SHORT WEIGHT. "Net weight" Is to be revived In the Oregon Legislature. It means that food packages shall be truly labeled as to quality and weight of content. That would make sale of short-weight packages unlawful. Manufacturers and Jobbers would be forbidden to "shave" 16 ounces and call it a pound. Four years ago an attempt was made for such a law in the Oregon Legislature. Wholesalers and Jobbers resisted, .on the ground tnai oulsiuo goods would be free from euch re quirements and would drive home products out of the market. There ought to be a way to protect buyers from short-weight fraud. Dis honest goods, it would Beem, ought not to compete successfully, for favor of the buyer, with honest goods, when the latter are full value in obedience to law. The Capitol wlll be swarmed with lobbyists bent on convincing the leg islature that Oregon manufacturers and Jobbers must sell dishonest pack ages, in order to compete with wicked rivals in other states beyond the reach of Oregon law. rROrOBKD CiLWOKS TS SCHOOL MAN AGEMENT. The Civic Council of this city has caused to be prepared and presented a bill providing for radical changes in the management of the affairs of School District No. 1, both in an edu cational and financial sense. These proposed changes do not appear to be entirely in the Interest of civic virtue and clvlo duty. While the Intent of the bill may be good. It Is likely to be mischievous In operation. Clearly nothing can be gained by casting re flections upon the honesty and com petency of the reputable citizens -who comprise the present Board of Edu cation, and who have without excep tion given much valuable time and much earnest, unselfish effort to the work of the schools. The cost, of our public schools is necessarily large. If it has outrun prudence, the taxpayers of the district and not the Board of Directors are to blame. Witness the pressure that has been brought to bear upon the Board for the construction of the Lin coln High School building, almost doubling the cost of that structure. Witness the indorsement of the de liberate and careful readjustment of the teachers' salary scale. ThAi tha. avatm whereby tha Board of Education is chosen and endowed with authority is the "village system" is freely acknowledged; that Portland has outgrown the village era and is entitled to a revision of Its school management to meet the requirements of Its gTOWth Is also conceded. But the spirit in which this subject has been approached by members of the Civic CouncH Is not one of fairness and impersonality. It is, rather, of revolutionary purpose. While some of the changes proposed by the bill might be beneficial, as cited by Judge Northup in an opin ion given upon the subject, a majority a thom wmiM hn detrimental. It is certainly not wise to - endow newly created school officials with auto cratic powers and high sounding titles as this bill proposes. The absoluto will that scorns to give a reason for Its dictates has no place in education al affairs. The Interests Involved are too complicated, and depend too much upon conditions and circumstances to be subjected to the rule of absolutism. One of the strongest points that has been made In the Interest of Justice and efficiency In criticism of school management in. the past Is that it works in the Interest of favoritism and consequently of incompetency In the selection of teachers, architects, con structors and purveyors of school sup piles. If this criticism has at times been well based under the present system it would certainly be given additional scope under the tnanage- ment of the schools as proposed by the pending bill, since the bill would virtually lodge all power over the schools to the minutest details in the hands of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Commissioner of School BuHdlngs. Washington advices indicate that the nefarious ship subsidy bill has met the fate of its predecessors. This is ' encouraging for an American mer J chant marine. After the men who are I so persistently seeking a subsidy are I made, by repeated drubbings, to un derstand that the American people will not stand for a subsidy bill, they will be willing to undertake the mat ter of providing a merchant marine by the same successful methods uaed in other countries. It will be slow work building up a merchant marine In this country so long as the opportunity for capital Is so much better on land. As a beginning, however, we might repeal our present absurd navigation laws and permit American citizens to bqy ships as cheap as foreigners can buy them. With this for a beginning, we would in due season reach the point where our shipbuilding trusts would build a ship for an American at as low a rate nronortionatel v as thev are now I charging for battleships for foreigners. Death has levied heavy toll in the ranks of the blrdmen, but the im provements in their machines con-, tinue, .There Is good reason for be lieving 'that eventually aerial' naviga tion will become as safe as other means of traveling. A French aviator has succeeded in making a flight with six passengers accompanying , him. Thursday at San Diego Glenn Hi Cur tisa demonstrated that It was possible to alight In the water and rise there from in an aeroplane, thus making the machine of great value to the navy. Flying Is a new art, but rapid progress has been made, and as the novelty of witnessing the exhibitions of the men who are now running the game wears off, more attention will be given the practical side of the busi ness. The aeroplane is destined to be come something more than a vehlole for amusement, and from this time forward improvements will be in the direction of utility. "The time has come," declares State Superintendent of Education Alder man, "when we must expend some thing besides money in schools." Ref erence is here made chiefly to the rural schools. Otherwise many faith ful teachers in our city schools would, if asked for an expression of opinion, say as with one voice, "that time has lung been here. We have given our time, our strength, our earnest, con scientious endeavor to the schools for lo these many years. There are few of us, indeed, whose efforts are not blossoming in intelligent, capable womanhood In myriads of homes and In earnest, competent manhood in the broad field of citizenship." This, It may be added. Is practically all that a multitude of faithful teachers have to show for fifteen, twenty or thirty years of strenuous endeavor in their vocation. Naturally and properly they are Jealous of this possession. The announcement of the death of Jacob Stltzel at his home in Colvllle Wash., will recall to relatively few of our citizens the time when his name was influential in the poll tics of Multnomah County. That was in the later days of the Civil War. It is recalled that he was Sheriff of Multnomah County when President Lincoln was assassinated, and prior to this lived on a homestead In- Clacka mas County a few miles from Needy, where the log cabin in which he set tled when first married, was a lowly landmark of pioneer strivings for many years. That time la as remote from this as is any likeness in tho pic tured face of Jacob Stltzel that print ed In conjunction with the notice of his passing to that reproduced by memory of the young man who was known in the early annals of Mult nomah and Clackamas Counties. - Dr. E. N. Hutchinson, of the Bu reau of Animal Industry, has made a remarkable discovery. . It is that of a dairy barn, the cleanest and best kept of any he ever Inspected, and a dairy herd, well kept and free from tuberculosis, while the ensilage being used was the finest he had ever seen. Strange to say, this perfection in dairy .ninmnt xi'fla found in connection with a Government institution namely, the Indian Industrial School at Chemawa. He found the herd of Inferior breed, however, and will rec ommend that it be replaced by better stock. Let us hope that this recom mendation will be favorably consid ered, since clearly these Indian farm ers and dairymen are entitled to the encouragement that a better initial equipment will offer. The signal "S. O. S." la reducing hazard of the sea so often of late that apparatus for sending it is now an es sential equipment of ocean-going ves sels. The steamer Cottage City flashed the word of its sinking last Thursday off Cape Mudge, B. C, and told of the lifeboat refuge for safety of passen gers and crew. The steamer Queen, with fire in the hold, seat ashore word of Its danger and was shortly rescued by a flre-flghting force from San Fran cisco. These examples of rescue are quite frequent nowadays In fact. It tiin- to be a rarity when a pas senger ship doe not speak the shore or a neighboring vessel when In dis tress or danger. The Weyerhaeuser Company pays nearly J100.000 taxes in one Washing ton county. It pays early and gets the discount. That is one way a rich concern gets richer. "Poor Richard" said the dollars took care of them selves. Just keep an eye on the pennies. Impecunious Dick probably adapted the sajing from a remark of a pre historic Greek. Its truth is mighty In all centuries and countries. The Vancouver squad of vagrant woodcutters pile up cordwood at the rate of less than half a cord a day per man. This fully Justifies the official complaint that "they Just keep mov ing." Perhaps their motives might be accelerated by paying them a little something. Possibly they would cut so much more wood that the city would gain by it. Monument people holding conven tion here say the high cost of living has not affected their business. Like the undertakers, the tombstone man Is a Joker. It is the high cost of dying that bothers hts patrons. If the Legislature thinks there ought to be more holidays, why not Mc Loughlln Day? single; tax advocates reflies. Qneatloas Aakad by ti. B. Tucltar Takea T.'p by Mr. Illraaa, PORTLAND, Jan. 26.-(To the Edit or). May I reply in Tha Oregonlan to some of the questions Mr. Q. B. Tucker has put UP to ma in the issue Of Jan uarv 16. He asks: Does Mr. Himes mean that vacant land adjoining land on which stands a skyscraper should be taxed i about the same amount as the owner I of tbe skyscraper pays? That the owner of land beside a mill, factory or j wharf, should pay as much as the own I ers of these? The owner of these va- : cant sites are holders ef natural oppor- ; tunlties of relative values' to the sites I whose owners by legitimate and honest enterprise improved their land and are performing useful service to society, and thereby are creating double value in those vacant sites held out of use by their owners for speculation, who now collect those values, created by their more Industrious neighbors, in hlfther prices when sale is made. Why should we fine men for performing use ful service and tax them higher the more they add to their improvements or employ more labor. If owners would use their land instead of holding it for speculation they would be more use . ful citizens and could well afford to . pay the natural tax upon the natural opportunities they absorb to tne exciu sion of useful industry. Mr. Tucker asks further: Would an employe fry to save enough to pay for a couple of lots on which to build a home, pay the same as his employer who has a fine home, near by pays for the same number of lots under pis im- , nrovements? . When a Question of free- I dom and Justice la to be settled the 1 employer and employed should etana I equal before the bar of social Justice, They should each have tha same right I In the natural creation.- Mr. Tucker no ' doubt intends to picture in this ques tion a wealthy employer having a nne home In a select district of the city and a very noor emolove. whom he no doubt : has Induced to buy of him a couple of fine lots In the same district, on wnicn, some time In the future, he hopes to build a home, when the mortgage on the lot is paid. This picture is true to life in only a few cases. Such trans actions are based more on speculation than on expectations of building a home in such a district by men of this class; as poor men, as a rule, do not act so foolishly. The vacant lots may or may not offer the same inducements for a home site, but they have a relative value to the site improved. Therefore they should pay taxes according to that value. Again, Mr. Tucker asks: Would we try to force the building of improve, ments to make land pay regardless of the financial condition of owners or whether the Improvements could be made to pay In competition with prop erty already built? The single tax would not force men to do anything. It is a step toward freedom of oppor tunity and would encourage building of all kinds of business and Improve ments because it paid to do so. The de mands of a really free people are prac tically unlimited ,and well directed In dustry would always pay. There are practically no Idlers under such condi tions as has been proven. .Opportuni ties are opened In all lines of useful endeavor and those who have Jived un der conditions of forced idleness, or worse, either unchecked profligacy or abject poverty, as the result of former social conditions, are Inspired with a desire to become useful citizens. The result Is, real progress, healthy activ ity, greater demand for the better things and comforts of life. Capital Is freely Invested in the useful industries, repression ceases to be the order and a natural order ensues full of hops and encouragement to the weakest, as well as to the strong. Again, he asks: Would we force heavy toll from owners of franchises before' 1 the use of such franchises could be ! made to pay In competition with prop erties already bullt7 Not at all. The value of a franchise is a land value and Is measured by the social demand or inducement for its use. Those who use it can afford to pay toll according to its use value, which may be very little at first, but Increase as demand increases. Those who obtain a franch ise and hold it without using may be come a menace to social progress there by, and could be forced to use It or let others do .so by taxing the franchise at its full value. This, of course, would discourage monopoly for speculative purposes only. Again: Would capitalists loan money on improvements and enterprises thus situated? Capital would not In my esti mation wish to loan money for the pur pose of helping anyone to monopolise natural opportunities; neither would any wish to borrow for this purpose, or invest what they might have for such purposes, and this Is one of the very best results for such a system, for capital would be left free to Invest in useful Industrial enterprises for which there would be a very attractive demand. , ' Again: Who owns these worthless lands that should not be taxed because they are In private hands? Speculators? There are many thousand acres of land In private hands In Oregon too poor to yield a fair return for labor expended, or too remote from population at pres ent to be put to profitable use, only a small portion of this Is being worked because the city offers better wages. Much of this land Is held by foreign land speculators who have paid but very little for the title, and are hold ing It for large returns when industry shall have opened up Its opportunities. I could furnish a long list of foreign land owners who hold many mlllons acres of land in our country to the detri ment of our people, but time and space will not permit. These men may find It more profitable to use their money for development than to hold it idle under the single tax. Again he quotes: The agricultural class will have nothing to fear, under the single tax the farmer will be re lieved, etc. He says, if the values are not high in the. country, how about land selling from one hundred to one thousand dollars an acre? Land im proved by clearing the stumps, building houses, barns and fences, planting fine orchards of prunes, apples, berries, etc., and brought to a high state of develop ment by the Industry of the farmer Is bringing high prices because of these facts, and unimproved land near by held by speculators is sharing in these benefits, while the owner may live In New York or London and does nothing towards this development, but holds on for his price while the working farmer pays the taxes now levied mostly on his Improvements. Under the single tax all these Improvements will be exempt, only wild land values will be consid ered. We will then have the Idle acres improved, Oregon will then attract workers and capital instead of Idlers and speculators: We are now develop ing thugs and Joy-riders, we will then develop useful citizens. I deny that nearly every one Is busy and contented, and even Mr. Tucker must know that he was in error when he made this statement. ALAN SON M. HIMES. Rights of Creditors. PORTLAND, Jan. 27. (To the Edi tor.) Can the creditors of a man who has failed in business put a lien on or attach property that is In his wife's name and whioh also has a mortgage against it? , A READER. unless the indebtedness of the man was Incurred for family necessi ties. Enough to Give 'Era Sere Eyes. Omaha Bee. Those Democrats up In Maine are not through rubbing their eyes yet Sixty three years Is a long time to stand on the outside looking in. . TREATMENT OF HV8AXB PATIENTS, Elimlaatlon ef Madhouse Semblance at Hospital Commended. SALEM, Or., Jan 26.(To the Edi tor.) So much criticism and eensure of Dr. Steiner's management of the state insane asylum is being published it would seem but fair and somewhat in cumbent upon some one in touch with the real condition of affairs to explain some of the ideals and necessities of an institution of this character. It will be admitted by all that buildings for the insane shquld be fireproof; that they should be constructed wih a view of permanency, economy of upkeep, and adaptability to the carrying out of modern lines of treatment of the in sane. Now, what is essential in the proper care and treatment of the In sane? Briefly stated, the situation Is this: Every large state asylum has within its walls the accumulation .of years, a host of more or less demented persons for whom custodial care, the creature comforts, employment and amusement is the best that can be pro vided or accomplished. In addition to this class of patients there are the recent patients, the acute Insane there were 1068 new patients received in the asylum during the past two years; these require special treat ment, 95 to 40 per .cent can be cured If properly managed, and, If one will consider for a moment the conditions under which most insane persons are adjudged Insane and enter the asylum, he cannot but realize the infinite ad vantage of a modern receiving hospi tal like the one built by Dr. Steiner that has been the subject of so much of the eensure that he has received. Take, for lnstanoe, the ordinary case of insanity the father or mother, the brother or sister, the son or daughter of some family of this state filled with morbid suspicions, complaint and commitment carried through largely without the insane person's knowledge, the patient is, from his or her view-, point, spirited away from her home and deprived of liberty. Now, under these unfavorable conditions the institu tional treatment begins. Nothing can be of more importance than a favor able first impression. If an Individual finds himself In a well-equipped hos pital, where every semblance of a Jail or madhouse Is eliminated he will be helped to realize that he is sick and In need of treatment and have his mor. bid suspicions allayed by kindly at tention. Is Dr. Steiner to be con demned for attempting to build such a hospital, or, is he not rather- to be commended for having the courage of his conviotlons in attempting to live up to his Ideals in the care of these un fortunate individuals? L. F. GRIFFITH. NEUTRALITY OF THE SCEZ CANAL. No Analogy Between the Situation There and at Panama. Philadelphia Inquirer. The statement of reasons - why the Panama Canal should be neutralised and not fortified, which has Just been promulgated under the signatures of Richard Olney. Henry Wade Rogers and other more or less distinguished persons, contains the assertion that "though the Sues Canal was built with English money England agreed to lis neutralization." This Is an astonishing misrepresen tation of the facts. So far from its being true that the' Sues Canal was built with English money. It was built in spite of the most strenuous English opposition. In London the great finan ciers were so firmly convinced of the Impracticability of the project that they contemptuously refused to have any thing m An with It. whila the British government of that day pursued a pol- loy 01 passive out irouuicauwa ouonuo tlon. Palmerston was premier at the time when De Lesseps was struggling to launch his great undertaking, and he took no pains to conceal his disbe lief in the possibility of Its success. It is to France that the credit for the construction of the canal belongs. Do Lesseps managed to interest the Em press Eugenie, with whom he was a personal favorite, in his plans and she oonsented to bring them to the atten tion of the Emperor. She did so, with tha result that the engineer obtained the political support of the French government, and the neoessary conces sion from Said Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, was obtained. When the oanal company was organized, by far the larger part of its stock was subscribed for by French investors, and it was not until years after, not until 1875, when Disraeli, acting on the advice of Fred erick Greenwood, the well-known jour nalist, who died not long ago, bought for some $20,000,000 the big block of stock which bad been allotted to Khe dive Ismail Pasha that England ao quired any Interest in tha Sues water way. It Is believed that even now tne French holdings are substantially pre dominant. There is no analogy whatever be tween the Suez situation and the situ ation presented at Panama, and the cir. cumstance that the Suez Canal was neutralized constitutes no reason at all why a like policy should be pursued In the 'latter ease. It Is obvious that as regards Suez there was really nothing else to be done.. As the canal there traverses territory which Is under the suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey, It would logioally be subject to Turkish ..-1 hut that, of course, was Quite out of the question. That it should be administered Dy nigypi was even muio impracticable, and neither France nor lnrrlnnil AnilM t)A PXDeCtfid tO SgrCO that he other should be supreme in Its management. Kjn iuu hww m. n a - p.i lias u-hnliv within the Jurisdiction of the United States, and was DUHt exclusively win ' monev. so that the Suez precedent has no application. CbanKina; Ena-Uah Nnraery. Boston Globe. Those American girls who become the wives of British nobility are be ginning to have an influence en Brit ish customs. The first of these lnter .tlAn,l tnn.rHn.frea occurred about 80 .ran r O im fin A since that time the exodus has continued, and shows no sign of stopping. It la notea ny Keen British observers that the children born 4n .ti.., intrna Hnna.1 unions are reared differently from the children of ordi nary English nobles. The American-born wives find that tt.iiuv. nhfiriren n r brouirht ud al most exclusively In a stern nursery regime- The parents went tneir way and communication between them and . Ahiiiipan n un nf tha narowest Kino. Tho American wives have flatly de clined to bring up their children in that way. They have reiusea to jei. nurses supplant them in the affection -, . .hUiiTAn Thev are hreakiner down the nursery barrier and in short are bringing up the children as a part of the home circle, and in the way most parents in this country think they should be brought up. The change has been noticed by other British parents, who do not like It, but their children are demanding to be made more a part of the home. Inventive Women. New York Sun. Miss Sophie Heilbrun has Invented a machine which will' open 400 letters a minute. She Is at the head or a small order concern, and realizing the time It required to open letters, she set about to find something tnai wouia nasten the process. Her Invention is the re. suit. Ernesta di Lulsl is another feminine inventor. She is only 15, and she has Just invented a turntable which, fixed to a vehicle, will enaoie it to reverse at once - SCRAPS AND JINGLES BY I.EONH CASS BAITR, Cash is comfort In the concrete. t We do not speak as wo pass by. Our once warm love remains untold Alack! Tears drip frnm our four eyes. We both have taught a thund ring cold. m An athletic yount; gent TJ Egvpt once went, The land of the corn, not in cans. sir. To Cairo he walked And back again stalked. i Was he a Calropedist answer? . To err Is woman, to forgive feminine. May Tohe says her family'can trace an uninterrupted descent for a period of six centuries. What ah awful come down. aaa ("Not even bread and butter, ror tho ap parently harmless breakfast foods are frc from the death-dealing microbe." reads an editorial In a scientitlc publication.) Mvrtylla. eating breakfant food, These warning lines In horror viewed. And woi assisted by the niald Continued munching straw trapped. Nature pays, with apology To old Bacteriology. Spite of threatening bactelli. We must all eat. wllly-nllly. Where, oh, where, shall we find foison If ail breakfast foods are poison? Once 'twas told to swains and misses Death lurked in their loving kisses. But that did not guard a nation From sweet joys of osculation. Science now tells the younu- !"" (Whom Eddie Bok vents his cursa on) Grandmas, grandpas, hablea aven. In their porridge find death s leaven. Can't quite see h. this is made out. Science? like tha stork, is p layed out. fcnlte its warnings, or its blurring. We will still eat mattress stuffing. There was a young lady named Why, Who handed out riddles so fly. "What's tamer." asked she. 'Than a verv tame flea?' X sea-tamer." was the reply. Being virtuous solely for the sake of virtue with no hope of reward, is to be good for nothing. a Someone writes to know an tual way of exterminating dry rot and nreventing Its reappearance in a church." Why doesn't the inquirer try somebody else's sermons, or have no sermons at all? The first legBon in bookkeeping is never to lend one. Miss Calamity Btepandfetchit, the clever and talented home-grown author of Kllama. has Just completed her new book, "The Domestic Lyre a compan ion to her former publications, t ath er, Dear Father," and "The Family Story-Teller." . . Rest is unperceived activity, aaa The only real rejected addresses sr.. apparently, those that go to the dead letter office. ... It has Just come to light that the Romans had a telephone system, and thaTlydia was an operator on; board. Witness Horace. Ode Xin. Quern tu, Lydia Telephi." ing properly translated, reads, "Whom you, Lydia of the telephone." can prob ably tell me all about, or whatever the rest of the line may be. Or mayhap. -Whom you. Lydia of the h"B board hav. cut me off from, and 1 ve been waiting," etc., etc aaa Whatever his virtues may be, the av erage phrenologist Is a bumptious per- - ... The Missing Link: Few things srs late' ... Definition Of a Joint offense: Wh the cook-lady brings In an overdone leg of lamb. ... Haopy Wife writes to say she would be ever so much obliged if some one wouie furbish iTer the remainder of th. coup let, of which she encloses tivo Hnes. ft11?.". ttmpTl. to mak. him s.w. a Echoes of the Yuletide: For exchange -Sixteen assorted ties, four hand-painted calendars, one pair of Uv.nder satin, shirred suspenders, eight boxes of Rotto cigars and a burnt wood motto. Wll Exchange for anything. Write what you have. . A journalist may oft write mm Be neither silly, sad nor shoppy, He may run to comicality, Prlnle? anh.7-eade7l?opV." 'I love these here cradle songs," said a fashionable Mrs. Malaprop "i V sing my children a good-night alibi. And she also observed, apropos of tha recent spell of weather, that she ex pected "equally obnoxious gales. v ... Motto for the proposed Portland Dresa Reform League: "All hobbles abandon, ye who enter here." . a a It lay in a book shop for sale. But io one seemed keen to brttT. "Real Jokes." I read on the pla-rd "One dollar reduced to a quarter. But the joke was lost upon roe. Its humor uncommonly flat. Could the child of my brain then ba So fallen in v'u thtT -What oonatitntes Good Dressing:! Boston Herald. We are often told that women dress for men's approval, but that is no longer a general truth. How many men like the hobble skirt? But how many women bought and made and ; loved . . , , T..ot mr what then, do nOOOlB eK.lI I fce, , , . women dress? Not one In 10 could give you a logical answer. Women spend a great deal of time on their clothes, but the trouble Is that they spend more time than they do in : -nr n .hmiM trv to ex press their individuality In their clothes rather than to exprooo wi .... -ii ...mi.ai 4hA storv of tha husband who went shopping with his wife. As tney sioppau uciu.o "72 j ho rnshiv recommended s certain silk. "Why. nobody is wear ing that, retorted nis who ouuiih.u.j. ..r- ..v.o ..ihaiiari. hut a. little later again plucked up courage aDd timidly suggested anotner laDriu. looked at mm as omy tui.tu"" woman can look at a man. "Why. everybody's wearing that," she replied. A little less attention to what every body is wearing, and a little more real study of our own good and bad points would do wonders for the most of us. In this as in all things women need to think for themselves. When Sons; Saved Jewels. London TU-Blts. Mr. Kube has a remarkable celiac, tion of autograph letters from notabls people, and among them is one from Mme. Pattl which relates to a visit paid by burglars to Craig-y-Nos. it con tains the following: "I suppose the wretches heard that I had Jewels and diamonds and Imagined that I left them about loose in the house, always hanging up a few diamond necklaces In the hall with my hat and coat! However, it was an inspiration on my part, going upstairs in the corridor I began singing, which made them be lieve I was going into the room they were in, and consequently frightened tbem away. I knew my voice had done a great deal for me, but never ex pected it would save our bouse from being robbed."