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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1912)
TITE MORXING OREGOXIAX, M'EDXESDAY. MAY 8, 1012. 10 mrtmtmt Entr4 at Portland. Orason. Poatofflea as Mattar. fcubac.-lptloo Bataa Invariably U Aaanca BT MAIL.) Tally. Sun4a lne!ull one yaar la!!y. Sunday lorlua'ao. al month! ... 4-JJ T'aPlT. Sinday Included, turaa msntba.. railr Sunlay lneli1ad. ona month.... .T r'i;:r. without Bund?. ana yar J ra:.'Y. without Sunday, aim montba..... Iai:y. witbout Sunday, thraa month... X-5 I-ai:y. without Sunday, ana month..... . Vtarklr. ana year J frunUay. ara yar aucday ud waakly. ana year. ....... . " BT CARRIER.) Tally. Sin4ar ln-lurtl. ona yaar...... laiiy. Sunday Included, ona month How to Kraalt S.nl Ptoffira eVr. aiprcaa ordar or paraonal eh-n on your local bank. Stampa. coin or f.irrancy ara at tha loodora rlaic OlTa poatoffira addraaa In fuil. tncludin county and atata. Poatmca K4ea 10 to 1 paaa. 1 cant: 1 to : raaa. 2 canta; 3") o paa. 4 to u pagra. cant.. ora.n poatasa, aouhla rata. . UMtl Itaal-aaa r"W V.rr. A Conk- f v.. V Hr.nlfk bUildlnS. tB1 Clio, steaar butiQinft-. LaraoaM Off Ira No. Rant atraav. W Lor.don. PORTLAND. HUWECDAV. MAY a. 11J. THE MEANING Or MARYLAND'S VOTE. The rult of the Presidential pri mary in Maryland suggests not only the probability but the desire of many Republicans that the National con vention be deadlocked between Tart and Roosevelt. The two candldatea have o far developed abont equal itrenrth In the Republican and doubt ful statea. -Tart Is strong In New Eng land and New York, hta real strength in Massachusetts having been con cealed to some extent by the partici pation of Democrats and Socialists in the Republican primaries for the pur pose of voting for Roosevelt and ag gravating Republican dLssenslon. In Michigan. Indiana and Iowa Taft has the majority or the delegate. Roosevelt, on the-other hand, is much stronger In the West and may carry the majority of the Middle West ern States. The South U controlled by the man in office, but will be apt to swing to the man with the big battal ions from the North. The Ohio pri maries on May 21 will decide who that man shall be. Should Roosevelt win. Taffs weakness in hlon state may be fatal to this hopes. Should Taft win. it will enable him to hold the bal ance more than even with Roosevelt In the North, will strengthen his grip on the South and on the unlnstructed Northern delegates who prefer him and will give him power to force hts nomination. But the great mass of Republican voters Is more Interested In Republi can success than in scoring a personal triumph for either Ta or Roosevelt at the convention. These men foresee that such a triumph for either man would be won at the expense of so great a defection In November as to render Republican defeat certain. In such circumstances the sole Republi can hope would be a mortal blunder by the Democrats. It would be the height of folly to presume on their commlttting such a blunder. Men whose first destre is to enter the campaign with a united Republi can party as a first essential to -victory therefore desire that neither Taft nor Roosevelt enter the convention with a sure majority or the delegates. They desire rather to hold the forces of the two men about even, but well short of a majority. Out of the resulting dead lock they hope to bring the nomina tion of a compromise candidate mho can unite the factions, command the loyal support of both and end a situa tion fraught with Imminent peril to the unity of the party. As an aid In bringing about this outcome, they count on the fact that what both Taft and Roosevelt each desires most, next to victory. l defeat of the other. In the last analysis they count on that fundamental loyalty to party which should prompt both the rivals to sac rifice personal ambition to party success. The triumph of Republican princi ples la bound up in the personal sue cess of no one man. co matter how great h! ability or how numerous and devoted his admirers. Whan a man's ambition can be gratified only at the expense cf his party, it behooves him to sacrifice personal triumph for the sake of the gTeater triumph which hta party will thereby gain. ANOTHER BLOW TO RECIPROCITY. The correspondence between Presi dent Taft and Colonel Roosevelt on the subject of reciprocity with Canada, like Speaker Clark's Pole-to-Panama speech, betrays Ignorance of, or Indif ference to Canadian opinion and senti ment. The publication of the corre spondence has served only to strength en Canadian prejudice against closer commercial relations with the United States. The quarrel between Taft and Roosevelt has therefore injured not only both parties to It. but the Na tional interests alike of the United States and of Canada, Had the President been aware of Canadian sensitiveness on the subject of national Independence, he would never have viewed the subject of reci procity in such a light as to write, even In a private letter, that It would make Canada an adjunct to the United States. He would never have said that Canada had come to the parting of the ways. Had Roosevelt known the state of Canadian sentiment, he would never have approved of Taft's senti ments. Had Clark known, he would never have made that flamboyant speech. Canada had so long begged for reci procity that our statesmen rashly as sumed that she would grasp It as ea gerly In 1911 aa she would have grasped It twenty years ago. But many things have happened In Canada dur ing those twenty years. The move ment for reciprocity having met with , no response in trie united Mates, can. ada set to work to develop her com merce without regard to the United States. By preferential tariffs on im ports from Great Britain and the colo nies and by reciprocity treaties with other nations. Canada worked out her commercial Independence of the United Spates. The national aplrlt was thus quickened and Canadian pa triotism and loyalty to the mother country were strengthened by the par ticipation of Canadian troops In the Boer war and by the several Imperial conferences. Had our consuls in Can ada kept the Government Informed of the change thus wrought in the Cana dian attitude towards the United States" we should not have assumed that any reciprocity agreement satlsractory to us would be welcome to Canada. Thus forewarned. Taft and Clark would not have fanned Canadian nationalism to a flame which shriveled up the agree ment In a moment. Taft would not then have pursued such a train of thought that, even in a personal let- ter. he would have spoken of Canada's becoming an adjunct to the United States. The publication of the Taft-Roo.e-velt correspondence, which formed the subject of discussion In the British Parliament, came at an opportune time for the Canadian Conservatives. Reel, procity sentiment had revived In the prairie provinces to so great a degree as to alarm the Tories of Eastern Can ada. The "adjunct" letter Is splendid ammunition for the Tories. It prompts the Toronto Mall and Empire to hint that letters of like import may have passed between Taft and Laurler and may yet come out during the Presi dential campaign. Prospects of reciprocity have been put far In the future. The subject is not likely to come to the front again until opinion north of the border has undergone a radical change. When that time comes, the first step will be taken by Canada, for the United States can get along better without reciproc ity than can Canada. (OXSTRITTIVK PLAN NF.KDF.D. Mr. U'Ren finds fault with some features of the Oregon system, and nothing is done to correct them. Mr. Fulton finds fault with certain features of the Oregon system, and nothing Is done to correct them. Everybody finds fault and nobody Is able to suggest a remedy that anybody else will accept. Mr. U'Ren. of course, approves the Oregon system In the main, for It la largely the more or less perfect prod uct of bis constructive genius. He can not be expected to disown his own child, though he might. If he desired, find distinguished precedent In current political history for that course. But he is willing to have the manners and methods of the young governmental prodigy Improved. They need It. in some particulars. The cumbersome ballot, the volun teer candidacies of too many undesira bles, the free registration of one party for the primary of the other, the abuse of petition-chasing, the indiscriminate use of the Initiative all are evils that should be corrected. All agree that they should be corrected. Since the need of Improvement la universally ad mitted, what stands In the way? The Oregon system Is nol In the bal ances. It is here to stay. The people rule, for they are determined to rule. They rule in Oregon through the Ore gon system, and they have no wish or desire or purpose to go back to old methods. The time has gone by when any sug gestion for the more satisfactory work ing of the Oregon system should be re sented as an Impertinence, or as the hostile and meddling Interference of Its enemies. Every proposal should be considered on Its merits. Let os have, from Mr. CRen. a prac ticable plan to put an end to frauds In petition-making. That will be a good beginning. AS TO ms CULTTXK. Intermittently for many years the farmers of this state have been urged to add flaxgrowing to their endeavor, aa a sort of by-product or their fields, a fllllng-ln crop, ao to speak, which can be planted, harvested and cured be tween seasons. The late Mrs. J. C. Card, a prominent worker In the State Horticultural Society, together -with Mrs. W. P. Lord, at that time or Salem, worked industriously in behalf of flax culture In the Willamette and Lower Columbia Valleys and by compiling statistics, exhibiting ' 'specimens of home-grown flax and printing and cir culating directions In regard to its cul ture, succeeded In creating quite an Interest in the industry. It was proved beyond a doubt that fiber flax, not exceeded In length and fineness, evenness and strength or tis sue, could be grown In certain sections of Oregon In which Its culture, through careful test, had been recommended. Yet. owing first to the absence of linen manufactories and again to the fact that our farmers were wholly unused to and unacquainted. with flax culture and care of the product, nothing came of the agitation for flaxgrowing at that time. For many years, even antedating this efrort, flax of the coarser fiber had been grown, to a considerable ex tent, chiefly for the seed. In some of the Valley counties, and It has con tinued to be so grown to a greater or less extent, but the fine possibilities of flax culture in the state have never been developed. Nor will they be until some assurance of a steady and grow ing home market is made. The pros pect for this Is said to be good at pres ent. When it materializes, or upon asi sured promise that it will materialize, the matter of growing fiber flax In Oregon will receive the attention that It merits. The state and Federal ex periment stations will not fall In their duty- in regard to sending out, upon application, all the Instructions neces sary to enable intelligent farmers to add a flax field to their crop area as soon as a home market for the product Is assured. In point of fact, it does not require more skill to raise flax than It does to raise onions. The only requisite where conditions of soli and location are right Is the knowing how and acting upon that knowledge with the necessary persistence and intel ligence. A HOPELESS TASK. It Is. unfortunately, at times neces sary for the city to tax Itself to pro vide work for the unemployed who cannot compass this end for them selves and whom stress or Winter finds destitute. This response of the city to a bitter need is, under proper restric tion and supervision, applauded. When, however, it comes to levying a tax upon thrift to provide amusements for those who desire to play, the ne cessity of the expenditure is not appar ent. This statement does not, of course, apply to what may be called the lungs of the city the public parks. - with their beautiful shrubbery and flowers, their fine walk and drives, their cool fountains and grand natural beauties, all. of which Invite to recreation and repose." But when It comes to provid ing public dancehalls and games and similar things In order to diversify the amusements of people who enjoy such things exclusively It would seem to be a work of supererogation. As well for the churches to devise plans for forci ble baptism and the taking of the sac. rament in the name of religion, as for a community to attempt to force peo ple who find their enjoyment In public dancehalls and Sunday revelries of various kinds to accept carefully super, vised amusements In the name of mor. ality. Water does not more persistent, lv seek Its level than does the human mind when out for "amusement." This I being true. It la as futile to provide decorous places of amusement and to expect all who are out In quest of what they call "pleasure" to attend them and be satisfied with what Is provided for them aa It la to hope, by building plenty of churches and making all we! come to seats therein, to compel or in. duce universal attendance upon what is termed "divine worship." Police supervision over Sunday dancehalls and amusement parks Is necessary, but no power, police, moral or ecclesiastical, can make the multt tude of amusement seekers enjoy things that are not to their liking, nor or their own choosing. In point of tact, everybody objects to having his amuse ments and recreations cut. dried and presented to him and the effort to In duce him to accept them and be con tent is none the less futile because it is made with the best possible inten tions. The task Is hopeless. CHANCE FOB AX EXPtRLMENT- Governor West's efforts to force an era of reform upon the penitentiary have now resulted In the dismissal or Superintendent James and Dr. Byrd. and the d'-charge or many other em ploves. Why does not the Governor extend his "honor" policy so as to cut off all or the paid employes and place the Institution In sole charge 'or the convicts? It Is hinted that the bookkeeper will be dismissed, and that W. Cooper Mor ris will take his place. Instead or al lowing Morris to dally with the books, why not put him in charge or the rinsnces? Perhaps in that way the funds available ror the maintenance or the prison would prove sufficient. No doubt there are many men serv ing time there who would be glad to take the place of Superintendent James, Dr. Byrd and Parole Orricer Bauer. Carrie Kurtz might make an erflcient matron. As to a head rarmer, there are many farmers "visiting" there, and there are surely many com petent engineers to take the place of the supervising engineer dismissed. The Governor has wanted to start prison policy that would be the wonder of the world. Here now Is his golden opportunity. Think what a hit lie would make with the newspapers! He would monopolize the rront pages of all the newspapers in the country for days, perhaps weeks, to come. MKS. EDDY'S 1VLLI- The conrirmation of Mrs. Eddy's will by the New Hampshire Supreme Court places the sum of $3,000,000 at the dis posal of the Christian Science Church In Boston. The court bases its decree on the distinction between a gtft to a church and a charitable trust. It ap pears that, if the bequest had been a gift to a church, it would have been void. As a charitable trust it stands good in law. The distinction is a fine one. but the public Is well used to hair splitting by the courts and in this in stance it happens to work for good. The Christian Scientists know how to make excellent use of the funds which are at their disposal and of any others which they may happen to receive, Their work Is, broadly speaking, for the general welfare of the world. It does not agree precisely with the plana and notions or some others, but that is or small consequence. Happily do ing good is capable of many variations. It is an employment sufficiently flex ible to suit all sorts of tastes. The taste of the Christian Scientists is one of the most useful and fertile there Is. We say it Is useful because of the excellent results which have flowed from It. There are thousands of per sons in this and other countries who ascribe their restoration to health from diseases of many varieties to Christian Science. They may not diagnose their cases with atrict correctness and per haps other factors may now and then have contributed to the cure. But what of It? Christian Science supplied the spark to fire the train which ended In health, and therefore we must give It the credit of the cure. Tho particu lar name of the disease Is a trifle. The main point Is that the person was sick in mind or body and now he Is well. We say also that Christian Science Is "fertile." because Its seed ideas are spreading Into almost every walk of life. The employer is' using the "mind cure" philosophy to get better results rrom his workmen. The Toung Men's Christian Association applies "mental therapy" to aid applicants In rinding jobs, or rather to thelp them "sell their ability." The Y. M. C. A. sells ability, it does not seek Jobs. Thus we rind Christian Science permeating the active world In all directions. IT that does not constitute fertility for a theory of life, pray tell us what does? THE FORTUNATE MRS. ASTOR. Madeleine Talmadge Force Astor, widow of the late Colonel John Jacob, finds herself In tolerably comfortable circumstances. To begin with, a set tlement was made upon her before the wedding which she accepted in place of her dower rights. How much she obtained In this way nobody seems to know very accurately, but It must have been something like 5. 000. 000. Peo ple In the Astor walk of life are free from some middle-class Illusions about the marriage relation. A woman of merely moderate means Is likely to say before marriage that she trusts her intended husband enough to wish him to have full charge or the family purse. The consequences of her unqualified confidence are sometimes charming, and sometimes abominable. It all de pends on what kind or a husband the trustful bride has obtained, and hus bands, as we all know, are, like prizes In the lottery, seldom really worth while. The bride in wealthy and aris tocratic circles permits herself no such beautiful reliance upon the tricks of fate and male petulance. There is a settlement before the ceremony which meticulously provides ror the wife's Income. The same practice has long prevailed among the British aristoc racy. In that country It Is only the peasantry which casts the wire upon the husband's mercy ror all the money she gets. It Is not out or place to re member in this connection that there are very few divorces In any part of Great Britain. With these facts to help them some readers may possibly be able to deduce a connection between our matrimonial recklessness In money matters and our overflowing- divorce courts. Besides her opulent ante-nuptial set tlement Mrs. Force-Astor receives by will the revenue from $5,000,000 more, so that her Income will be perhaps $500,000 a year. The question what she has ever done to earn this rich reward from the producers of the world cornea obstinately Into one's mind. That her yearly half million must be paid by the producers Is of course undeniable. If she should turn her securities Into cash and Jock up the proceeds In a safety vault, she would draw no income. The wealth must be fertilized by the brains and muscles of actual workers before it can generate more wealth. Mrs. Force As tor's part In the programme will be to parade gloriously up and down the world, radiant In her gems and silks, acd waeta what others have produced , by their toll. What has she ever done to earn this privilege? Has she made any Invention which lightens the task of feeding , and clothing the popula tion? Has she written a great book or painted a noble picture? ' She has done nothing of the sort. The only title by which she holds the enormous privilege she enjoys Is that or a suc cessful schemer. By her wiles she en snared the heart of John Jacob Astor and won him to marry her. The re ward which society grants her for her success in this little game seems dis proportionately large. Had Mrs. Force-Astor ever lifted one of her Illy fingers to create any frac tion, no matter how small, of the wealth which she will now spend upon luxuries, we should not grumble. Our complaint Is that she has done noth ing to help on the work of the world. No thought, word or deed of hers has ever contributed a solitary penny to the vast hoard which she now owns. Her possession of it and the power which It gives her form one of those anomalies In the working of our social system which Incite men to ask ugly questions. Why should this woman have so much to reward her idleness and intrigue, while many a worthy man who tolls diligently all his life to feed wife and children never can by any effort get away from the ragged edge of want? Why does society re ward wasteful Idleness so richly and measure out the portion or honest toll so stingily? Is it right? When poor men ask questions or this sort, what answer can be made? Who dares to say that the distribution or the prod ucts of the world's work is equitable as between Mrs. Force Astor and the Italian who digs ditches in the street? Who can blame the navvy, if he finds fault with the social system which de prives him of a large part of the fruit of his labor to bestow it upon butter flies and drones? The death of Captain W. S. Bu chanan completes another page In the history of local navigation. So long has Captain Buchanan's name been connected with the waterway service of this port that we had come to think of him as an old man, whereas he was but 68 years of age at the time of his sudden death, an age at which, as now reckoned, a sturdy, active man Is scarcely beyond the prime of life. His death concludes a life of many useful, energetic years. He is kindly remembered by a large circle of ac quaintances and tenderly mourned by many relatives and mends. Edward Robinson, or Spokane, com mitted contempt 6r court by marrying Ethel Irving thirteen days after he was divorced from his rormer wife. Had he waited six months, he might have remarried with impunity. As It is, he must pay $100 fine. If he had chosen to live with Ethel Irving for the re mainder or the six months, roregoing the marriage ceremony, the court would not have been oferlded. And yet this would have been sinful, while In hastening the ceremony he showed respect ror divine law. Human and divln law sometimes clash. The beauty or Spring sunshine is al. ways more or less insidious in the eyes or the rarmers along the Columbia flat". Too much sunshine may bring a flood down upon them' rrom the headwaters or the Columbia and Snake Rivers and inflict damage ror which pleasant weather seems but poor com pensation. Thus rar the Weather Bu reau has issued no warnings about an impending freshet, so we may assume that there is little danger this Spring. The doctors, lawyers and politicians of Kansas are flocking Into the woman suffrage ranks. If reports are true. Something or the same sort is going on in Oregon. There seems but little sense In denying the suffrage to women lawyers and physicians, as the men seem to be aware. As ror the politi cians, they see which way the wind Is blowing and trim their sails accord ingly. The water which is now drowning hundreds In the Lower Mississippi Val ley could have been used to advantage along the upper river during the com ing Summer. A flood is only water in the wrong place. The bill requiring enough lifeboats and rafts on ocean liners to save all on board may Increase the cost or Eu ropean trips, but rew 'will grudge the extra price. Arrest or remale Joy riders and con sequent publication or names might stop offense against decency, if the of fenders were not lost to all sense of shame. The Oregon Lawmaker's plan of a cabinet to advise the Governor urcon slderable of a flea on the body politic. The executive is above receiving ad vice. . The workmen's compensation act passed by the Senate Is no small addi tion to the beneficent measures to be credited to the Taft Administration. Failure to drag the Chicago print ers into the senseless strike of press men shows the Integrity or a body of workers who abide by agreements. Adams, who developed a new way or getting rich quickly in the Seattle assay office, is rree after serving seven years at big pay. All parents know that children eat up money, but few of them have devel oped a taste. for it in the form of $200 drafts. The 'crease of the; moon is not due for a week, yet yesterday's weather felt like corn planting time. The District Attorney scared the Workingmen's Political Club into un covering Its nakedness. President Taft is a man who can brush aside trifles annoying and enjoy a ball game. The Chicago convention may be a repetition of 1880, but who will be the Garfield ? It Is "My Maryland." but with mighty little unanimity. The lone anti-suffragist from New York Is a poor politician; Local Prohibitionists worked out the usual Joke yesterday. The Colts are prancing Into popular esteem. What is the local Vice Commission doing? Astor tied a string to bis widow. POPI LAR WISHES MISCARRY. Direct Primaries Often Give People Re verse of What They Want. PORTLAND. May 7. (To the Editor.) "The best system of government on earth," with Its base fixed on the Initi ative, referendum, direct primaries and recall, is supposed to get from the elec torate a fair and intelligent expression of their will at the ballot box. Just how the theory works out can be discovered after . the ballots have been counted succeeding any election held under the system. For instance, at the recent election in Massachusetts some 6000 of tiie Republicans who cast their ballots for Taft for President voted on the same ticket for delegates pledged to cast their ballots in the con vention to further the nomination of Roosevelt. In Portland we have at every primary election the spectacle of thousands of Democrats voting for the nomination of Republicans. At our last primary sev eral of the successful candidates were forced upon us by this means. At this same election several pre cinct committeemen were elected from three or four precincts, and many of those elected by the Democrats are Republicans. Think of Dan McAllen being voted for as a Democratic com mitteeman! And, "Bill" Hanley, the Republican war horse of Harney Coun ty several voted for "Bill" as one of the guardians and guides of the Demo cratic party in Portland. Perhaps Mr. Hanley is about as near a Democrat as D. M. Watson is a Republican and a lot of Republicans voted for Watson as a Republican committeeman. Why such miscarriages of the wishes of the people? Simply because, under the direct primary law as at present written on our statute books, the voters in large numbers do not know how to prepare the ballots to express their Wishes, and never can learn. In addi tion to this, the way lies open for shrewd political manipulators of one party to force nominations on another party. The friends of the "new-thought" system will say that the casting of the ballots mentioned were In the way of Jokes. What a lot of Jokers there must be In Massachusetts. Six thou sand men went to the polls evidently for the express purpose of doing all in their power towards the nomination of Taft yet cast their ballots for Roosevelt delegates. Quite a Joke on the law. At our own election last month how many of the Republican voters in Port land voted intelligently for assembly men? Not one in a hundred. Not one In 60 knew 12 of the men whose names were on the ticket, names placed there by the candidates themselves, office seekers who stood for nothing but their desire for office. Nobody stood sponser for them, nobody suggested that they should become candidates. If even a small minority of the voters naa Deen consulted as to what names should ap pear on the ballots, perhaps nine tenths of those that did appear would have been eliminated. Theoretically the primary law of Oregon, and presumably that of Massa chusetts, is Just the thing. But in practice these laws produce strange results and foist upon us a lot of office-seeking candidates who are not the choice of the voters, and eliminate the retiring but capable men who will not force themselves into a scramble for office, and for whom there is no concert of action to bring to the front A. JONAS BENNETT. RELIGIOUS TEACHING IV SCHOOL Writer Approves of Moral Instruction Without Reference to Doctrines. PORTLAND, May 6. (To the Editor.) The subject of teaching morals and religion In schools Is one wherein many will differ, probably not as to teaching morality, but when religion Is Included the writer Is 'opposed, as it is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. The human mind Is prone to follow almost any belief, right or wrong, if followed In a strain one-sidedly or blindly, as It were. It is these "one sided" zealots that ever and anon pour out their effluent enthusiasm on those that differ with them. The writer has known many people, very devout and sincere In their beliefs who were in direct opposition to each other. Which were right? Probably neither. What is right, between man and man, what Is human, can be taught without reference to doctrine of belief. It seems here is where some fail in broad-mindedness and see only one side their side. All others seem wrong to them. The thought that perhaps they are wrong does not enter their mind. The writer strongly advocates the teaching of ethics and morality in our schools. There is a stage in almost every child's life when the influence for good of a teacher or friend of no blood relation is greater than that of a par ent or relative. I have come in con tact with a number of cases to bear me out. Children have so much man ners Inculcated at home that to some it seems to become a monotony and they want to get away from it. At this stage the words of a teacher or friend will Influence the youth Indelibly for good and will be followed quicker than had the same words come from a par ent's lips. It is well to stock the mind with knowledge, but It is essential to train the mind for good. Let our Immigrants from foreign lands be impressed that this Is the land of human brotherhood, of liberty and untrammeled belief in religious freedom, so long as It Is not in conflict with common decency, law and order. Educate and teach them that everyone is expected to have respect for his neighbor's rights, regardless of his religious beliefs. Teach this, preach this, and our fear about the foreigner will disappear. PROGRESSIVE. Skipper Ireson'a Ride." PORTLAND, May 2. (To the Editor.) Anent the Titanic disaster, kindly publish the poem, several lines of which are: "Old Floyd Ireson. for his hard heart. Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart By the women of Marblehead." READER. The lines quoted are from "Skipper Ireson's Ride," written by John Green leaf Whlttier, and appear on pages 216 219 second volume of "The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whlttier." published by Houghton, Mifflin Com pany, Boston, and dated 1882. The book can be consulted In the reference department of the Portland Library Association. The poem consists of 102 lines, and is too long to be reproduced here. Oregon Nostalgia. They can talk about the Land of Golden Sunshine Where the poppies lift their waving, yellow heads. Where the cypress and magnolia trees Shed their perfumes on the breeze And rare old gardens riot in their beds; And the calm seas of the Southland that forever Are crooning the same unhurried lul labies. Where life Is one perpetual dream And all Joys and pleasures seem To lie 'neath California's sapphire skies. I'm sighing for the mist-kissed petals of a rose. For the dewy breath of firs bathed In the rain. I would kneel In Pantheistic Obeisance pagan mystic At the feet of silent, snow-crowned Hood again! Jo Hartman, Los Angeles. MEDFORD LIBRARY RULE UNJUST Inhibition on Suffrage Meetings Arouses Ire of Correspondent. PORTLAND, Or- May 6. (To the Ed itor.) From Medford comes the report that the Carnegie Library Board of that town has refused to allow a meet ing of a few suffragists to be held within the holy confines of that build ing. Says one of the . members of the board: "The library is an educational Institution for the non-voting populace, and if women cannot gather without attracting all the old cronies In the city, they will not be allowed to meet in the library." When, pray, was the privilege ever before conferred on any library board to pick and choose the associates of the women patrons of the institution? This instance certainly casts a reflec tion upon the women of Medford that the whole state should resent. If women are to be excluded from public buildings, which their taxes have helped to build and maintain, until the "lords of creabion" approve of their friends, then certainly we have entered upon an era of oppression which wit! equal, if not surpass, the tyranny of Homestead which built up the fabulous fortune out of the agony of human en durance and suffering which is now being used to erect monuments, in the guise of libraries, to the man that held the whip hand over an army of starv ing employes. We have no quarrel, however, with the Carnegie library scheme, for It has enabled towns that are too poor to erect libraries unaided to have them, and we. can look upon the Carnegie libraries as we look upon Lot s family the only good thing to escape from the Sodom and Gomorrah of evil. It is the asinine stupidity, the brazen affronter- of any board of men refusing to allow any board of respectable women to meet In liny library building of the state for any purpose that con cerns us Who, pray, put the first library law on the statute books of Oregon? Who made it possible to use public funds for support of public libraries? Who has al ways, in every town of the state, start ed the library movement and been most zealous In securing a building? Even the Medford Library Board must admit it was the women. And yet women can be excluded from at least one of these buildings because some men ob ject to the company they keep. This is poetic justice with a ven geance! It is a species of justice that should make even the women that "have all they want," sit up and take notice, for there is no telling where it may end. Some sweet day they may be condemned to tho "Jim Crow" car be cause the conductor does not like the shape of their Easter hat, or be asked for a certificate of character before the elevator boy will carry them to the next floor above unless it is to pay their taxes. AN OLD CRONY. CANADA'S LAWS NOT FOR WOMEN Alberta Writer Urges Sex In America to Investigate Before Moving. STRATHCONA, Alberta, May l-(To the Editor.) Needless to say, our Ore gon friends are greatly surprised at the prevailing element and slow progress along the line of laws In Alberta, it Is not only surprising but outrageous. How much change has taken place since the laws were made for the bene fit of squawmen, I am not prepared to say, but I can state that to place even a squaw under Alberta's laws of today would be blasphemous. What, then, of the hundreds of women, daughters of white men, who are compelled to abide by such law? It is In behalf of the farmer's wife I speak, who may be a hard-working. God-fearing mother, endeavoring to rear her children under a Christian in fluence, but married to a drunkard. This woman has no say. She has not a cent to call her own unless the good (?) man donates a few paltry dollars. Her children could work all their lives for him, but could collect nothing. On the other hand. If a child leaves its parent al roof and secures employment else where, the father has a right to collect his or her wages until of age (21), or can compel them to return and work for him. Likewise with his wife; if she attempts to leave, unless she reaches the boundary line, he can force her to return, and where, pray, is the poor woman to get money enough to reach the line? True, what she can manage to sell and get the money for la hers a splendid training for the young generation theft! But the hus band and father can at any time cross the line and sell all from under the feet of the family who have worked and saved and made a home, and thus leave them destitute. He can will It all to some one else if he wishes to do so, or if he dies without a will, a large percentage goes to the Government. There are women who will cry out In horror at the least mention of wrongdoing on the man's part; women especially of the - East, schooled to "love, honor and obey" their husbands. They will close their doors lest the words of Emmaline Pankhurst reach their children's ears, and fall upon their knees In prayer for their beloved husbands. If their husbands ill-use them it is their fault. Very well, then, they are contented. But why lead women of freedom, wornen not steeped In old-fashioned ignorance, blindfolded into slavery? Is It not cow ardice to secrete the truth? Why not publish in all the papers, at least throughout America, the form of gov ernment In Canada, and let the women choose for themselves? Canada is a wonderful country, ex pansive and free for men, but, ah! Women of freedom, look into the laws very closely before consenting to move. H. F. EMBERTSON. Tactfnlnrna and Medicine. London Tit-Bits. Mr. A. A more deserving medical man than our friend Richard does not exist. He very frequently accepts no fees from his patients. Mr. B. You don't say so! Mr. A. He generally settles with the heirs. S75.000. DiiviRR nr.. Mav 6 fTo tha Edi tor.) To settle a dispute, please state what salary the President receives per year. BUtJatJitiiiiiK. A HEDGE OF ROSES. On a treasured post card from Portland Glows a hedge of roses abloom; They seem to sway in the windlets That scatter abroad their perfume. In gorgeous masses seem to quiver. Resplendent in bright-tinted hues. And beckon and nod on the branches. Til their beauty and fragrance confuse. Do their seeming loveliness cover -Thorns that grow down below. To protect from the hand that would cull 'them Ah me, I never shall know. If I could bend lovingly o'er them. And touch them with softest caress. Would their breath linger ever around me, ' My life's path and life's work, to bless? Is there no one that lists to the story. That's whispered from rosebud to leaves; Or catch the murmurs so tender That float on a love-laden, breeze? Is It distance that lends its enchant ment To this card of Oregon's view; Or the lure of the sweet roses calling O'er the divide that parts me from you? Maude Talmage Johnson. 1741 Ohio avenue, East St. Louis, 111. The Pen of Peace By Dean Collins. I dreamed that, In the future years, I roamed within the festive halls. Where convicts erstwhile fashioned stoves And bricks and things, within those walls. (My visit, you will bear in mind. Was quite the unofficial kind.) But all activity was gone. In ev"ry yard, in ev'ry room, Where onoe the merry lockstep rang. All was as quiet as the tomb: The convicts all their beds had furled And ambled out Into tha world. And he who pinched his neighbor's watch, And he who sallied forth to kill. And he who busted up a bank, And he who Jumped his hotel bill. No longer through the cellrooms stole They were all out upon parole. And likewise he who bossed the place, And he who stood around on guard. And he who taught the lockstep dance Within the sunny prison yard. No longer could I find at hand. All had departed they were canned. I found one lone and sleepy guard. Who o'er one convict watching stood, And each was worn with hanging round In such a lonesome neighborhood. Their friends were gone, you under stand; Pardoned they were, paroled -or canned. And as I gazed, the convict spake Unto the guard: "Do not despair. For I'll be pardoned soon and then I'll ramble out in open air; And you will then be canned, you see, In Interest of economy." And so it came; and so they went; They wandered out, the canned ana free, Into the great broad state, wherein Ex-wardens and ex-convicts be; And peace came down and hovered o'ei The restful pen, forevermore. Portland, May 7. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonlan of May 8. 12. The new apportionment of Ohio for 19 members of Congress so changes the districts that it will be impos sible for the dirty dog Vallandigham to get a re-election. He is thrown into a district good for 1200 Republican majority, according to former votes. The Detroit Tribune reiterates s statement it made some months ago that a treasonable organization exists in that state, having branches in all the prinicipal towns, the object of which was, first of all. to prevent en listments, and to make forcible resist ance to any attempt to draft. Among the cannon captured by Gen eral Burnside at Newbern were 13 brass field pieces taken by the enemy at Bull Run. The Secretary of the Treasury lately received from a New York banking house $1,000,000, the gift of a patriotic American in Europe for the purpose of war expenses. The Navy Department has made a contract with Captain Ericsson for six iron gunboats on the plan of the Monitor, but of larger dimensions. Hardly a day passes without one noticing individuals who have great taste for showing off their equestrian skill, charging up and down our most " principal thoroughfares, to the great danger of life and limbs of pedestrians crossing the streets. J. H. Mitchell, Esq., has declined the appointment of prosecuting attorney. The rush for the mines is so great that the boats cannot accommodate the crowd. We understand that all the tickets were sold by noon and the office closed. The City Council last night fixed the salary of the City Attorney at $500. As "Ed" Howe Sees Life MEN have always, wasted time in telling what should be done, and neglected what could be done. Every- newspaper has a favorite saint or devil. Why men are willing to do so much for a quarrel and so little for peace, is another of the things no fellow can ever find out.' Every man seems to be more or less insane about himself. Probably the wor3t fault of the peo ple Is their indulgence in little tricks; most of them know enough to avoid real crime. If Mexico could be walled In. I would hesitate whether to call it an insane oaviiim or a nenitentiary; sometimes 1 think habitual disturbers are insane. and and sometimes I think they aro criminals. Men have been fighting foolish bat tles ever since they first appeared on earth; but if civilization means any thing, and if we are becoming civilized, they will finally quit it. People do not object to paying taxes for needed Improvement:.; what they object to Is that so much of the tax money they pay, goes astray. No one is right in a quarrel. Those who have had experience in love do not seem to be any wiser than those who have not. Disfranchisement of Voters. DnDTr.Avn t,. c To tha Editor.! Will you please tell why each voter was restricted to only one vote lor elector when there were five to elect; also to one vote for delegate to the National Convention, when 10 were to be elected? OLD SUBSCRIBER. Because advocates of proportional representation wanted to try out their vagary and incorporated it in the law. Information oa Patents. PORTLAND, May 6. (To the Editor.) Will the U. S. Patent office. If given the description of an invention. Inform me whether any such Invention was ever patented before, without me filing ap plication for patent? CONSTANT READER. Write to Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. for free copy of Rules of Practice. 15,000 for a Persian Rag. Indianapolis News. Harold F. McCormick, the Chicago millionaire, has given nearly $100,000 for a fifteenth-century Persian rug of the type that was used in the triclinium. It has a floral design which begins at the bottom and works up through an ornate tracery. ' Growth of Detective Instinct. . Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I notice that Mrs. Binks had trou ble in dealing at the bridge club to day. Rheumatism?" "No. She's joined a market-basket club."