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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1912)
irrTTi ifftTivTvr nrrr nvT A "V tttt"ST v. AFRIL 23, 1912. lO - ill. 1 r . -.a.-.m-.-.- .a. - - - POHTLASn. ORE005. Kntr4 t Portland. Oregon. PoBtofrleo Itniid-clui Matt-. . . kkMcxuUioa Kt.. Ionbl la Aano 4BT MAIL.) Hwrir. nr iBciaitf. 2 is lent). lncud.4. m I ,, Di;jr. t.unjr Include!. Ihroo montae.. ' Dal.y auncl.r Included. rnontB.... -f IbLj. without Sunday, cob y-r...... - -a, bal y, wttnaut Suod.r. a;x montna-. 1bi:. vitbsut sund.y. ibtm montna.. M L'i.r. without Bund, oob monin l.se WmkIj. sbs r ' ga fcund.jr, bob rar S.a.r ud W .!. om (BT CARRIER.) - Dalfy. Punay Inclnd.d. bob Br...... ' TJ li:jr. Sunday tncludad. bbb moatB.." Hl S BtBBBll B.nd POBtBUlCB Sar. up.im Btd.r or persona! cb local Baaa. St.mpa. coin or ""Vddrtaa at th Bandar- riaa. Oi-a poatoBie .ara la fu.:. uciudinc cttuacy and aiai. . M It H pacta. casta, urate poa-a-. rata. . -!.- K-atrr. Bu-UM-B Jl- Vr' CB0,. Ila .Saw Yora, DrunawlcB BullCUBg. UK. Bta.or bulidlns- . taramai OORa MX Bnt tt. a. W Lodoa. t rOKTXA.XU. Tl ESUAli. AJ'KIl. li. ' THE KIPt BLICAM CRISIS. The Republican party l rent by division and dissension. uni tne a.t rounsels of its wisest men, Umpired by desire for the triumph of those principles which Republicans consider essential to the national - heal the breach and make victory In November poseible. The time calls for the sinking of personal animosi ty and personal ambition oy ever) t.oHor in tha interest of party unity in.l the maintenance of party organiza tion. It can be done without sacrifice .f principle by either of the contending factions. The Republican masses in the est and in some parts of the East are In rvolt against the party organisation. The Roosevelt movement Is sweeping ever the country like a prairie lire. Turning local issues to account wher ever possible, it has used the key stones In Pennsylvania to overthrow Taft. together with Penrose and Oliver, the disgust with Lorimerism in Illinois to bear down Taft together with Cullom. It has carried Oregon and Nebraska in a standup fight. There is no telling how far It will go. The next gTeat contest will be In Mas sachusetts, where direct primaries will choose National delegates and where the issue will not be clouded bv nominations for Congress or for state officers. We shall then see whether the. old Bay State will reverse the verdict of Pennsylvania. In the number of delegates elected. Tsft has a strong lead, but nearly half of these are from Southern state which will contribute no electoral votes to the nominee. Even should the National committee decide in his favor the many contests, the allegi ance of the Southern delegates to Taft mar be shaken by the fear that Roose velt's nomination will deprive them of their bread and butter. Should Roose velt win half of the delegates yet to be elected and should the La Follette and Cummins men stand firmly by their favorites, the choice between Roosevelt and Taft may hinge on the decision of the Southern contests or on the ability of Taft to hold his Southern delegates after they have been awarded seats. Or the balance of power may be held by La Follette. who Is even more hostile to Roosevelt than to Taft. The conflict Is not between progres sive and reactionary. but between progressive snd radical. The Repub-' lican party has always been progres sive, but Its advance became too slow to please the rank and file. Taft has continued the accelerHted pace set by his predecessor and has whipped the reactionary element Into line with him. but Roosevelt, animated by mingled personal animosity and ambition, has set up a new stand ird of progresslve neas. La Kollerte goes even farther than Roosevelt. Aroused by the ap peals of the two radical leaders, the Republican voters have turned against the organisation and have made Taft the scapegoat of Its sins. When such Is the temper of the party battalions and the enmity of Roosevelt and La Follette to Taft is so embittered, the nomination of Taft means wholesale desertion of tha party standard by those who have imbibed radical ideas, even if it should not cause Roosevelt to lead a bolt. That means defeat In November. The nomination of Roosevelt means de sertion by the conservative element, which abhors his radicalism, by those who cling to the anlt-thlrd-term tradi tion and by those who regard Taft as the true exemplar of progress and aa a man deeply m-ronged by a former friend. The nomination of Roosevelt would rend the party as hopelessly as would the nomination of Taft. It could be followed by his election only through the support of the yearly swelling Independent element, which gives adhesion to no party and of the radical Democracy, which has made Bryan Its Idol. In short. Roosevelt would run simply as a radical, thinly disguised as a Republican. Should the Democrats nominate a reaction ary or such a representative of the old-line Democracy as Champ Clark. Roosevelt would wreck both the old parties by his success and would build a new radical party, no matter by what name it might be called, on their ruins. To avert the catastrophe which must result from the choice of either alternative Is the task now set before the Republican leaders not those leaders w hom the party la day by day repudiating, but those men whose readiness to Interpret party principles In the light of the needs of the day and of the popular will qualifies them to lead and ensures that they will be followed. The obstinate Pourbonlsm of such men as Aldrlch. Cannon, Pen rose, Payne, whose eyes are never opened until long after every other man Is wide awake, has brought about this chaotic condition. A new type of leader must step to the front, who not only knows what the party thinks to day, but can foretell what it will think tomorrow, who will re-form the bro ken ranks and lead them along the h'azed trail of progress without adven turous excursions Into untried paths. tkuuno with tfie pkopurs ver iict. Any opinion that the Presidential primary law does not mean what It was intended to mean, and what the voters of Oregon understand and be lieve It to mean, ought to receive very small consideration from anyone. Attorney-General Crawford says In ef fect If we understand this eminent legal light aright that Colonel Rnose. velt has not received a msjorlty over both Tsft and La Follette In Oregon B" an- I )1B I nnd therefore the delegate who nounced on the ballot as his slofi that he was for Taft or for La Follette Is Tree to vote for Taft or La Follette. The Orcgonlan protests against so technical and strained aa Interpreta tion of the law. It Is trifling with its clear Intent and Is a perversion of the expressed will of the people. The Presidential primary law enjoins upon every delegate the sacred duty of car rying out "to the best of hla Judment and ability" "the wishes of his politi cal party as expressed by Its voters at the time of the election." The wishes of the Republican party of Oregon, plainly and fairly declared last Friday, are that Roosevelt be the Presidential nominee. The delegate at Chicago who chooses to evade his definite obligation will be embarking on hazardous seas. BLA.MTXG THE rEOTW Ten thousand cltixens, presumably In their tight minds, voted for Lafferty for Congress. The reason they cast their ballots for Lafferty Is apparently that they wanted auch a man, as Laf ferty to represent Multnomah County and Oregon In Congress. The public know all about his record, but th us gave him a certificate of their adml Ir atlon and confidence in defiance tha tart of The surprising success of Lafferty is used by some or nis enemies w evnresB th elr concern for the Oregon system. One professional newspaper champion of the direct primary gives this mournrul prognostication. . . . r a It ! H but d-na and b responalbla for auch products aa Lanariy. It muai jioia . it Bill Iobs h-avlly of Ihf atron support i. .nmiiut. bttar cand datas than lafferty or many who har stood tuunrnly oy it win i"oe aouia . ....... -" i- . .. - ni-n it ia nnt. howtvtr. the fault of tha prtnclpls of tha direct prima . . . i ... that DMlOlt. Tk. r.er.r.i are all right, even th ten thousand Democrats and Socialists who are registered In Portland as Republicans and who now foist upon the Republican party, tnrougn its ui visinna and dissensions, such fellow as Lafferty. But the people are often confused and distracted by the coun sels and Importunities of their self appointed mentors, newspaper and ot hArwiae. who designedly produce the Identical result they profess to be anxious to avert, and then blame the people for It. Laffertya nomination, even with rw.mnrmtln and Socialistic support. would have been impossible except for the serviceable snepnera. ine ieuo vhn nut tin h monev for Shepherd and the newspaper mat orrereu aia. comfort and countenance to nis ounce eumnalim hv alvlng him and his in sincere guff continued prominence li its columns are responsime ior fortv Why blame the people, after sys tematic deception of tne people.- KXFtaAIxrca A DEFEAT. Senator La Follette, after two days' cogitation, has spoken, explaining Ore gon and its prlmar' election, which did not Indorse him and did not Indorse Bourne, though La Follette had In dorsed Bourne. It was a rare compll ment. for La Follette's rule Is never to indorse anybody but himself. ColO' nel Roosevelt got the popular ap- nroval. but. adds the Senator sagely. "Selling was openly' the choice of the corporate Interests, led by the stand pat Oregonian. With the (progressive) issue so clearly defined Selling re ceived the nomination for the Senator ship by practically the same plurality as that given Roosevelt." Now here we have an Illustration of the manner In which the great radical statesman often gets his facts when they are Invisible to all others. The Wisconsin prestidigitator merely reaches up Into the Illimitable air and produces something that to the amazed audience looks like a fact and it parses for a fact because he says It Is a fact. Great is Bunco Bob. The Interests supported Bourne. The little whirlwind kicked up -around Portland last week In behalf of Bourne was almost entirely the creation of tha so-called rattled Interests. What deal they made with Bourne Is as yet burled In their corporate souls, but It will out some day. For there . was a deal. The radicals and the Interests thus worked together for Bourne. Ex tremes meet, clasp hands, wink the other eye and strive for the same end in politics. The end this year was Bourne's re-election. Some of the people can be fooled every time. THE tOCKTH-tTREKT FRANCHISE. The Fourth-street franchise, needed by the Southern Pacific Railway for carrying out its extensive plans for an electric system through the Willam ette Valley, ought to be granted In substantially Its modified form. It ia entitled to exactly the same consid eration, without regard to previous controversies or interjected Issues, that should be given to every other busi ness enterprise seeking to do business In the city. The Southern Pacific is desirous of building up a heavy interurban traffic In the territory tributary to this city. It announces that It Is In readiness to spend large sums of money for build ing and equipping the necessary rail lines and, by the terms of the fran chise. It agrees to begin work within 90 days and finish within a year. What the expenditure of the large sums needed for this work and the attend ant Increased development of the ter ritory concerned mean for Portland can easily be understood by noting what other electric lines have done in their respective fields. The large outlay at Portland, at a time when nearly every other city In the country Is halting or retrenching In Its operations, will be a material lift in the midsummer dullness that usually precedes a Presidential elec tion. The Immediate advantage, how ever, w-lll be small in comparison with the benefit sure to follow the estab lishment of the extensive electrlo rail way service which will pour traffic Into Portland as soon as the lines can be built, or changed from steam to electric power. Replacing of the steam trains, with their Infrequent, unsatis factory service, by hourly electric trains gathering traffic from the best part of the Willamette Valley, will make that rich region vastly more at tractive for the small farmers and other suburban dwellers and also for the steadily Increasing number of tour, ists and pleasure-seekers from whom the scenic attractions of Portland and Its environs receive much free adver tising. In granting the franchise by which the railway company may enter the city "-!th this Increased volume of traffic. It Is. of course, necessary that the Interests of the city be properly safeguarded, and this point the pro posed new franchise seems to have covered pretty thoroughly. The case before tha Supreme Court Is In tha na- ture of a friendly suit to determine the exact rights of the city and the rail road company under the terms of the old franchise. In the event of the court deciding In favor of the railway company, the new franchise specific ally provides that the regulations of the ordinance granting It shall govern, with exceptions only relating to the limits of the franchise and the com mon user on one of the tracks. Under the terms of the proposed franchise the Council can regulate the speed of the trains, designate the stopping places, the number of cars to be run In a train, nx the fare at 6 cents within the city limits, compel the company to give an hourly sen-Ice on Fourth street and to increase such service whenever deemed necessary. The ordinance in Its vital pfovlsloni seems to have thrown reasonable safe. guards around the city. It limits the franchise to twenty-five years on both the existing track and the new track, subject only to the United Statea Su preme Court decision, which may af fect one track. In the case of the common-user clause the Council Is made referee to fix regulations gov. erning the common use of the tracks, Every improvement made in the transportation facilities by wnicn traffic can get in and out of Portland adds to our population and wealth. The Southern Pacific's proposed elec tric system will radiate through one of the richest regions of the state, where the resources are aa yet very meagerly developed. BROWNING'S C EN TEN ART. The celebration of the 100th anni versary of Browning's birth on May 7 will be an event of the first import ance In the literary world. Like all great poets. Browning is more admired than read, but he has probably more readers than any other poet of his rank. The obscurity for which he Is often blamed has really been of as sistance to him In securing readers. The ability, or the pretended ability, to understand his enigmas became at one time a sort of social guinea stamp certifying that the individual who pos sessed It was built of finer clay than others. The Illuminated Browningite was a person to be envied with awestruck reverence. The inspired hosts formed themselves into Idolizing clubs and made Browning rather ridiculous with their mopplngs and mowings, but of course all thia folly was temporary. A poet of genuine Inspiration could not be permanently monopolized for the worship of a set of conceited sim pletons. Browning has passed safely through the stage of weak-minded Idolatry and we can now. Judge him as we do Shelley and Burns, solely by his merits. Browning's obscurity, so far as that is concerned, has been greatly exag gerated. His best poetry Is as lucid as that of any other writer of the highest genius. Of course It requires some exercise of the Intelligence to under stand him, but since he exercised his own Intelligence In producing his poems that Is to be expected. It is only the work of blockheads which is perfectly clear to dunces. In some of his productions Browning was no doubt willfully obscure. His thought Is not well disciplined and his language Is so involved and turbid that some times It has apparently no meaning. The best way to treat these poems is to skip them. There is no poet who repays Judicious skipping so well as Browning, and none who gives larger returns for study of the parts which ought not to be skipped. Most of his shorter pieces are full of sane thought and aglow with poetical beauty. Some of them rise to the very highest rank of artistic excellence. Probably no writer of modern times has so success fully combined profound philosophy with genuine poetry as Browning. ISMAT'S RKir-rXMCTMENT. There Is a letter published In The Oregonian today from a correspondent who takes aa his text an editorial par agraph stating that "It were better to be a Smith dead than an Ismay alive. From this text he endeavors to preach a sermon on the duty or an eaitor when discussing an event of note. We cannot agree with this writer's opinion that only those acts which are lofty and noble should be sought out and made the basis of comment. It would be a sorry world If deeds of selfishness, thoughtlessness and care lessness in time of catastrophe were to go unchallenged and uncondemned Human fralllties are not corrected by a mantle of sentimental charity. The thought Is preposterous. In this particular case Mr. Ismay will undoubtedly hear words more painful to him and criticisms graver than have heretofore appeared In Tha Oregonian. The testimony that Mr. Ismay has given before the Senate in vestigating committee and the ac knowledgments he has made In his letter to the press contain his own In dictment. It is the unwritten law of the sea that the commanding officer of the ship shall go down with his vessel. The lives of hla passengers are In his care. When through his carelessness those lives are put In Jeopardy It Is not meet that the one responsible should give thought to himself. If the time comes that the safety of even one of his charges rests upon his stepping aside from rescue the law Is absolute. Is right and Is in variably obeyed. If we consider the reasons for the custom and acknowledge that It Is a proper outgrowth of those reasons. the same rule In all Justice ought to apply to the owner of a sinking vessel when through his carelessness there are Inadequate llfesaving appliances on board. It Is Idle to say that the loss of the Titanic waa Inevitable. The captain knew there were Icebergs near the path of his vessel. The chief cause of the wreck was maintenance of high speed or Insufficient outlook. Even if granted that Mr. Ismay was not re sponsible for either of these factors, he was the one and only man on board whs was responsible for the In sufficient number of lifeboats to save every passenger and every member of the crew. If the overconfldence or carelessness of Captain 8mith made It proper that he should die that one more might be safe, the overconfi dence or carelessness of Mr. Ismay demanded the same sacrifice for some one he had put In danger. Mr. Ismay was one of the few men on board the Titanic that knew the vessel was doomed. He was told by both the captain and chief engineer that the accident was a serious one. He admits this himself. Tet he stepped Into a lifeboat, leaving behind men who knew not that if they remained on board they were doomed. Mr. Ismay In his letter asserts that In the boat In which he escaped there was room for several more persons. Tet the boat rowed away from the 1 I vessel. Dozens of survivors tell of seeing men swimming in the water after the ship went down. Harrowing stories are related of men clubbed away from the sides of overloaded lifeboats. Colonel Grade and other heroes pulled drowning men on board a raft until the craft sank beneath the waves and the rescued stood knee deep In the Icy water. J. Bruce Ismay sat in a dry lifeboat In which there was room for more and with his back to the sinking ship pushed an oar to drive himself away in safety from the struggles of the drowning. In his testimony before the Senate committee Mr. Ismay admitted that he obtained a comfortable cabin on board the Carpathla and remained in It. But while he remained behind its locked doors. Incommunicado, women and children, weak and suffering from ex posure, slept on the cabin floors of the overcrowded vessel. We all may think we know what we would do If placed In the position of Ismay. We may believe we could sup press the Instinct of self-preservation and stand back that those whose lives we had placed in Jeopardy might be saved. But there should be no ques tion as to what we ought to do, and we venture to say that as years go by the president of the White Star line himself, unless he Is totally hardened to public opinion, will express to him self the tenor of the thought. "It were better to be a Smith dead than an Ismay alive." Our correspondent's assertion that woman lost an opportunity to show her equality with man In the Titanic wreck is but one degree removed from absurdity. Woman is not demanding the right to demonstrate physical en durance equal to man's. She Is asking equal political rights and recognition of her mental qualifications. She is not demanding the right to plow the fields, clear the land or perform other tasks which require strong backs and hard ened muscles. It Is not silly chivalry that puts woman first in time of ship wreck. Strong men died of exposure on the life raft that carried thirty, men. What chance would women have had on it. or even to reach its unsta ble deck? If this sort of "woman's rights" had been demanded on the Titanic the grewsome length of the death list would have grown mate rially. But the element of endurance is not the real basic influence that causes men to put women first in place of safety when both are in danger. It la an all-powerful, pervading and ever lasting Instinct. It is the instinct of preservation of the race. It has al ways existed. It always will. Woman could not destroy It If she would: man would not If he could. We shall hold It and cherish It and obey It through out all time. ' Lady Hyde, wife of the son of the Earl of Clarendon, going to farm in Canada, reckons on doing her own work after dismissing the two servants hrontrht over with them. There are millions of women on this continent who will welcome her into the noble nrrler nf domestic martvrs. confident that after a sDell of doing the cooking and washing, feeding the poultry and performing such other arduous au ties that fall to the farmer's wife, she will send out a hurrv call for the maids. Whereupon the million sisters will laugh.- As population grows denser the an nual slaughter by tornadoes and cy clones grows greater. The laws by which these storms are governed are pretty well understood, but no effec tual protection has been devised aulnst them. Most of the fatalities in their path would be prevented if buildings were of stone or brick in stead of wood. Perhaps Edison's ce ment dwelling will ultimately be the best practical safeguard against cy clones. The Klamath Falls pure-seed move ment Is In the right direction. The an nual loss to farmers from defective seed runs Into the hundreds of mil lions of dollars. If one oat out of every three sown fails to germinate a third of the crop is lost. In Iowa the better seed propaganda has produced won derful results. The same may be (tone In Oregon. So long as powerful interests hire lawyers to fight over Harry Thaw's Insanity. It will remain an open ques tion. Such long-drawn-out contests over a worthless member of society are the chief cause of criticism of the courts and induce people to lend a ready ear to advocates of popular elec tions to decide points of law. An amateur electrician of Wisconsin has been given $100,000 by the Gov ernment for a device that will kill rats on warships, but what the country needs more is something that will do the work in the poultry yard. Prob ably half the chickens hatched in the Spring are eaten by these pests, entail ing tentative loss of millions. The proposal of a coastwise shipping concern to handle grain In bulk would eliminate a heavy burden of expense in sacks and their handling if the scheme became general. The sack tax of more than 5 per cent comes out of the crop and could not be equaled by additional elevator charges. There Is no hope of changing the Jaundiced view of the Titanic disaster held by such men aa the Milwaukee Socialist who was chastised by Mr. Stone, but the chastisement will at least check the open expression of such views. While the whole state Is deliberating how to build good roads, Multnomah County is building them. The crushed rock road to the Sandy River is only one of several. Suppress all baby-farming. The hap less Infant would better be cared for by chilling Institutional machinery than drag out an existence in squalid misery. Though the Titanic disaster Is ap palling, there are death and destruc tion by flood and wind In the Southern States that call for substantial sym pathy. There are something less than a hundred tales of how It was done, but the most potent Is not given the de feated failed to get enough votes. The Hon. Steve Lowell invested $1031 and had quite a run for his money. Better than 17 cents for Oregon wool Is fairly well for a start. Stop gambling on baseball and keep the game clean. ISMAY AND WOMEN PASSENGERS Writer Defenda One and Mourns Loaa of Othera Opportunity to Die. PORTLAND, April 21. (To the Edi tor.) The loss of the Titanic has cast a shadow over the civilized world, this Western city even having homes ren dered desolate thereby. Thinking peo ple have surveyed the scene in spirit, have praised or blamed aa they found the balance weigh, and now the verdict ia impending. This morning you lay, "It were bet ter to be a Smith dead than an Iamay alive." I hardly think you should have said that. A great newspaper's work is not to repeat, oarrot-like. words per sonally painful to an individual, that have an eternal stigma, more than likely by historians to be declared un justified. Rather should not the jour nallat, through the medium of his cul ture and experience, build into every passing event of note, high thinking, noble conclusions, ever worthy of the loftiest of Ideals building nothing into the structure of his thought that might tend to lower another's standard? It appears to me that much of the discussion in the press about the Ti tanic has not been sufficiently reasoned out. We know that the public demands satiation of its news-hunger, and that it needs to be fed daily. But are there not master minds in the editorial chairs? Then, where are the master- conclusions? . That midnight scene on the Titanic Is terrible to behold. Slowly, slowly. inking, sinking; yet It Is hard to be lieve she will really go down. But the captain knows, and has ordered the lifeboats lowered, these having room for only one-third of those on board. Officers are In charge at tne gangways, and the order ia "Women and children first!" There Is no panic; everywhere Is obedience and good conduct, all the men helDlnir where possible. As the boats are being filled, a husband and wife essay to go together, linked arm In arm; but the husband and father is pushed on one side, to die, the woman being hurried In alone, followed Dy other women. Several times this hap Dena. but one or two Instances are recorded where the brave wife refused to leave her husband's side, so she must, therefore, die with him. And she did! We are told that four men were shot by an officer, and their bodies hundled overboard, because they re fused to give up their places in a life boat at his command- Sir, are not women claiming equality with men? Do they not loom large in the world's activities? Are they not already a force to be reckoned with. intellectually, commercially ana pomi cally? Are they not heads of great business organizations and firms? Are they not Judges in our courts, lawyers, doctors. iurors7 Are tney not. en throned everywhere, and holding up their end well, to the lasting good of u all? In the office. In the workroom, in the social circle, in the home, and in 'all forms of athletics, either In the sky or In the field, are they not ably represented? Then, where waa the greater, nobler woman in thia crisis of life or death on the Titanic s aecar She claims eauality with men in all else: whv not claim the right to die like men? Was not she who took the husband's place when torn rrom nis wife's aide unworthy or ner sex, me nobler, greater women? Was not she craven, coward, deserving oi oouviuu only? Woman's opportunity had come! Her rlmtinv was In her hands, and the world was watching. How glorious for her would not this midnight hour nave been if. Instead of letting mere man stand aside, to die, for her, she had commanded that he pass on In his turn to th. boat, to life had demanaea. with one united feminine demand, that in this dread crisis they tie not privi leged. "No. sir! After you!" How those words would have echoed and re echoed round the world, raising count less thousands to the height of enthu aiuam for their cause was won, bring ing music, Joy, hope and a new life to splendid womanhood. The dawn of April 15, 1912, would have inaugurated a new era for her, and men would love and adore her as never oeiore. .o nar1 of n wi ndow-smash i ng campaign. no need of rioting to win their right to vote like men. Tneir aeeas ma. night assured It. I claim that if this 'nobler woman hood had asserted itself at that epochal moment, a new page would have been begun in the story of mankind, a mo mentous era been ushered in, heralding a potent advancement of man and woman emancipated. JOHN CHARLES WRIGHT. M ATTER OF WHISKERS AN D TRADE A New York Traveling Mnn'a Queer Experience on the Rond. Exchange. . Charles A. Cotterill 1 as a grand and gorgeous set of whiskers which, in . i . 1 .1 anH tawnv WAV. shOW as many varying hues, as changeable silk under tne miuud? sim. - -mixed up in that growth of beard all the marvelous tints of the surprise, the South African gold mines and the cir- . tj , , . .tiora in n Hart story CUS pUSlflB. . " ' connected with the facial adornment. The first year tnai ioiienn u.ioc. for a big drug firm of New York City he waved the whiskers up and won a , j ..llincr mildl mfirchflll- dise and making many friends. At the end of tire season ne rol suave, im . i i . -i. tho truirffJv hpran to unfold. Nobody knew him. Every time he went up to a man i uui - " made a sale previously, the fellow would say: "You are not Uotteriu. now wen i remember Cotterill! He was a merry, good-natured, entertaining fellow, and he told such good stories. Besides, he had whiskers, and you have none. You can't be Cotterill." After a week of this. Cotterill. ut terly dejected by the fact that he could make no headway in his business, tele graphed his firm as follows: "Must have leave of absence long enough to grow a beard." He has not snavea since. A Tragedy. Hubbv rises from his chair, gazing round with vacant air. Wlfey guesses instantly, he wants a thing he cannot see. "George." she whispers sweet enough, "what is 'It?" He answers gruff, "Can't you see that I must and go, and In this garb I'll be a show. Don't resist me. Let me riy; i win find this thing or die." To the kitchen hubbv swishes, overturning pans and dishes; up the quiet, somber stairs to the second floor he soars; to each ward robe, through each room but In vain. He sinks in gloom upon the cold ana polished floor; he was late it made him sore. Wlfey finds him lying flat hears him moan. "I want my hat." Glad is she that he's not dead, and she cries. It s on your head.' G. NORBREY PLEASANTS. Strength of Army. JEFFERSON. Or., April 21. (To the Editor.) I would be very much pleased If you can tell me the number of men In the United States standing Army. AMY J. STEINBERG. It is limited to 100,000, staff and line. The enlisted strength is now about 77,500. Peru of Potato Fame. Indianapolis News. Peru Is the natural home of the po tato, which grows In many varieties. Of these the most famous is the Peru vian yellow potato. It is of exquisite taste, highly nutritious, with a golden color and a thin skin. WORKINGMAN'S RIGHT TO STRIKE Writer Declares No Controversy Over Orderly Ceasing of Work. BEAVERTON, Or., April 22. (To the Editor.) Under the caption of "Hicks Verdict Stirs," The Oregonian prints a letter over the signature of one Edgar W. Stahl. Now, as to some of the points in Mr. Stahl's article. We all know them by heart; it's the same old whlnet We quote: "It is said the working man should not strike." That depends entirely upon the con struction we give to the word "strike." If it means that the laborer is to go to destroying property the moment he quits work; intimidating those who want to work; trying to prevent trans portation companies from performing their legitimate duties to the public by disabling engines, cutting air brakes; weakening bridges, blowing up build ings, etc, and thereby jeopardizing scores of Innocent lives, I say if that Is what is meant by a "strike," then I believe that every man In Christen dom who loves justice, mercy and fair play would answer most emphatically, "No, the laborer has no right to strike," On the other hand, there is not one of those men who would not concede him the perfect right to quit work the moment his contract expired. All that Is asked of him is to keep his hands off other people'a property, go his own way and attend strictly to his own af fairs. All this your correspondent is surely Intelligent enough to know as well as I do. But Instead of admitting these things, he tries to work up senti ment and sympathy by rehashing the time-honored cry of "poverty." I have worked many a day in the Portland sawmills, have seen scores of men spend every dollar they made over the hotel bar as fast as they earned it, and felt at the time that thousands of others in the city were probably do ing the very same thing. I have worked in railroad and logging camps and found exactly the same conditions there. Suppose their wages had been $10 per day, does any one imagine that they would have been any better oft at the end of the year? And these are the very men who are eternally setting up the howl of "poverty." I have in mind a man who worked when a boy for $2.50 per week, and he won out. Why? Simply because he wanted to: because he looked to the future; because be early had an aim and object In life, and because he didn't wait until middle age. with a family dependent upon him, before he began to think of those things. No wonder he succeeded. Death alone was the only power that could have prevented it. But had he auit work and laia around half his time, and had no ambi tion to rise above the common level of a day laborer, he would undoubtedly be one among them to this day. Your correspondent speaks of a man "without a dollar to his name." Well, had that man kept his share of the $200,000 or $300,000 that the unions sent to Darrow to defend a couple of the most inhuman monsters that ever lived he might have several dollars to his credit now. He draws a very pitiful picture of the greed of the employer and the gnawing hunger of the em ploye. Perhaps had the latter gone back to work last Fall when the rail road company begged him to, instead of loafing around all Winter, his nnan cial condition might not be quite so deplorable as the writer would like to have us believe. No wonder ne nas "little or no credit." What conserva tive banker is going to lend a man money when he is liable to lay down his tools and walk away any minute at the beck or call of some labor leader (usually a foreigner)? In reviewing the remainder of Mr. Stahl's letter I find it nothing but the stock argument of the unions at all times. But the intelligent citizen knows something about the railroad strike last Fall. It wasn't altogether a Question of wages. They were prob ablv eettine better wages than they had ever gotten In their lives Deiore. It was a Question of dictation and doss lm on the Dart of the unions. But the company, like the striker himself who has any nride or spirit aoout mm proposed to manage their. own business in their own way. The laboring man has a perfect right to demand higher wages and better conditions whenever he sees fit to do so (have done it myself time and mralnl. and if he only had sense or principle enough aDoui mm to scop mi that instead or destroying proocuy. dictating such conditions to a railroad company, for instance, as would surely imnair Its efficiency, li not aciuany jeopardizing the lives of the traveling public, he would soon find a wave of niihllo sentiment in nis invoi nm. would sweep everytning Deiore it. A; N. LOWE. REFLECTIONS ON CANAL HISTORY Writer Thinks Roosevelt Made Bad Bargain In Pannma. VANCOUVER, Wash., April 22. (To i l' -i i a nniH a d ve rt i spm en t in The Oregonian prior to the recent prl- .. i ..-,r.- 1' .1 , 1 . . mary election reaus. vuie iui acuhj. le started tne Manama wanai, jcl mm inlsh it." Thia suitre-pats a auestion which I t.-.,A hanpH riifMi-.R(ri duriniT the present campaign, Why the Panama Canal? If memory serves me right, Senator Morgan, of Alabama, began talking Icaragua in the late 'us. out at mat me Ferdinand De Lesseps, backed by -.-Ann- b'Anh nnmnanv. had started the ie Panama Canal, and as he had been iccessful in digging the Suez Canal, ere was every, reason to believe that amr.ppH In onenincr the r rfu.h Th.rpfnrp. it was diffi cult to interest Congress in the work f building a rival canal at iicaraBua, ut at the time Theodore Roosevelt cqulred the Panama property the French company was bankrupt, charges . ,ui war nondinir aeralnst uisuuiicsi; ' - i ' Lesseps. and there was no prospect that the work would ever be resumed by 1113 1 1 V 1 1 . . - - -1 The United States Government was --j nn nhiitrntinn to take over the .1. V a h nmnunv. UI1UCI r. . i .. n- h rponch nnmnanv. and pruyeuica - - . - . - investigation by competent engineers has proved that a sea level canal can constructed oy tne Birarasu. considerable less cost than the lock nal at Panama. Why, then, aia Roosevelt pay $40,000,000 "for a job lot OL W U 1 1 1 " LI L, caved-ln ditch which had to be prac . . . nn, nlI.i.(i maoninery mm tically all reconstructed Dy mo - i l.u rnnnnv ritthtS COUld cans, w urn ' " 1 ... have been secured from Nicaragua and a saving made of several numou hi lars In constructing the canal? . . nf a sea-level canal over the lock type are manifold. There tn nhlnnlnc-. While lock are no w cioj . v . . gates are being opened and closed. No expensive gate in-.v....... , out of order and wear out: no crews of gate-tendera to draw pay year in and year out, and. in aaamon to an this the costly locks oi tne ranama Canal may be rendered useless at any time by one of the frequent earth quakes on the isthmus. As President Taft has made the best of a bad bargain, and has so vigorously and successfully pushed the construc tion of the Panama Canal, it seems to me that he, having borne the main bur den of the work, should have the honor of completing It Instead of Roosevelt, who, to say the most In his favor, made but 'a bad beginning. FRANK W. STONE. Junior. ONTARIO. Or.. April 20. (To the Editor.) What Is the meaning of "sec ond," following a name on a calling card, for Instance, Mrs. James Frederick Allen, SUBSCRIBER. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of April 23, 1862. The San Juan Island Occupation This matter was brought up in the House of Commons on tlie 21st ult. by a motion of Mr. Haliburton, asking upon what terms, if any, tlie Americans retain possession of a portion o the Island of San Juan; whether there was any negotiation pending upon the sub ject, and the nature thereof. Lord Pal merston's reply was that without preju dice to the claim of either party to the whole of the island, there should pro visionally be a joint occupation, the oc cupying force on each side to consist of not more than 100 men, either soldiers or marines, to be stationed on separate parts of the island, so as not to come into contact, each party to exercise control over the inhabitants of that portion subjected to its government and to repel any attacks from Indians. From that time negotiations have been car ried on between the British govern ment and that of the United States with a view of the final settlement of the disputed question relative to the dis puted channel between Vancouver's Island and the mainland a dispute which, of course, involves the question of the Island of San Juan. Among the civil officers of the Gov ernment recently confirmed by the Son ate are: J. R. Meeker, Surveyor of Customs at Nisqually, W. T. ; C. H. Hale, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the same territory; H. Stout, United States Attorney, and J. L. Gibbs. United States Marshal, for Utah; E. D. Shat tuck. United States Attorney for Ore gon; W. Wasson, United States Marshal of Nevada, and Thomas Spencer, Con sul at Hilo. The Metropolitan Hotel has been thoroughly renovated and refitted for a first-class hotel. It will be open to visitors today and tomorrow it will be ready for the reception of guests. Tonight the benefit of Miss Virginia Lawrence comes off. She has, during her stay among us, made many friends and become a universal favorite. We are informed that a number of pretty young men, reeking in hair oil and bad cologne, are in the habit of meeting young ladies of the Portland Academy at noon and recess every day in that vicinity and walking out with them. The young ladies keep up a tele graph with these bummers by waving handkerchiefs, throwing kisses, etc., wherever and whenever seen at a dis tance. The neighbors are becoming dis gusted with these proceedings, and they are talking rather strongly about the virtue of tar and feathers. No girl who has any self-respect or regard for her parents would speak to a man of this character, let alone keep his com pany. Married At the residence of the bride's father at Silverton, on the 16th. inst.. by the Rev. T. II. Small. Mr. David Kelly, of British Columbia, to Miss Nettie E.. daughter of the Hon. John H. Stevens. As Ed" Howe Sees Life No one appreciates a favor very long. I am not a millionaire, but I have always had a square deal In that I have always had a right to be one. The brutal truth finally gets along better than the pleasant fib which Btarts people in the wrong direction. You receive many messages from brain and heart that are not true; but when your stomach speaks, you may depend upon it. After a man has attended funerals B0 or 60 years, he begins to realize what death actually is. A wise man will not rob you, because he knows you will make a disagreeable fuss about it that will injure him more than the profit of the robbery will benefit him. There is an intoxication that comes from the imagination more dangerous than a whisky Jag; the crazy man is suffering the delirium tremens of idealism. A man doesn't care much for a feast of reason and flow of soul unless ho does most of the talking. When a girl is desperately in lovo with a young man, and expects a great deal of marriage, it must often occur to the young man that the poor girl is doomed to a lot of disappointment. People are not" as grateful for past favors as they think they will be for favors they expect in the future. THE WORLD'S BUSIEST STREET A London Thoroughfare Dors a Rui arw of l75,om,OOV in One Day. Answers. London. "Yes, we are proud of this, our street." remarked a stockbroker who was strolling through Throgmorton street. "We call it 'the Street' just as if it were London's only thoroughfare. One of the shortest, it is certainly the richest in the world. What other street has transacted business aggre gating $675,000,000 in cne day'' "Amusing comedies, and even farces, are here played daily. The Inexhaust ible spectacle of finance, with us ro mance, nluckv exploits, brigandisms. daring adventures and tragical col- - lanses. is far more attractive man most artificial dramatic inventions. No where else is the play ot human emo tions so varied; here are experienced a rapid succession or hopes ana rears, sickening failures and intoxicating suc cesses. "Here, when markets are Dooming. is a scene of palpitating, nervous ex citement unknown elsewhere, except when a wild panic is engineered by frenzied financiers in America. But, compared with London, New York is mere local market; we deal in tne securities of the universe. Money rules the world; we control the total gold supply. In the street values are constantly being manipulated; fortunes are promptly made and lost. Be tween the 'bulls,' who want to force prices up, and the 'bears.' who strive to bang them down, a fierce battle rages incessantly." An Anrll Day. Oh, what is so glad as an April da-. When the sun shines Drignt ana ins heart is gay. nd the robin calls to his merry mate, -hv do vou wait?" Don't your heart somehow beat in a iffrtrnt wav? Oh, what is so glad as an April day? Oh, what is so glad as an April day? Yesterday may have been cold and trray: But today the sun shines so gloriously It makes me long to De tree, tree, tree, Vram to listen to song of mate. Never to stop or hesitate. Oh, this Is a wonderful world, I say. And what is so glad as an April day? LOTTIE F. KELLY. Naval Rank of Nations. EUGENE, Or., April 22. (To the Edi tor.) We wish to know which is first, second and third in the fighting ca pacity of the navies of the world. How does the United States rank? A. J. LOTTIN. Great Britain is first, Germany sec ond. United States third, in number of modern battleship-