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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1903)
THE SUNDAY OBEGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 223 1903. Entered at the PostoOce at Portlssd, Orecos. as second-class matter. EEVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Hall (postage prepaid. In advance) Dally, with Hunday, per month ..0.SC Dally. Sunday excepted, per Tear.......... 7.50 Ially. with Sunday, per yeax 8.00 Sunday per year 2.00 The Weekly, per year... ..... 1.50 The Weekly, 3 months... .. -50 To City Subscribers 24y. per week, delivered. Sunday excepted .18s Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday lacluded.20e POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: i i ii-Pce Paper .-....le U to 28-page paper . -2c Forelcn rates double. 2Tews or discussion Intended for publication in TbtOregonlan should be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oresronlsn." not to the name of any individual. letters relating to adver-tlrlog-, eubscrlptlen or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oresonian." The Oreconlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to.lt without solici tation. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. Eastern Business Offlce. S, U. 43. 47." 48. 49 Tribune bulldlnrr. New Tork City; 510-11-12 Tribune bulldlny. Chicago : the S. a Beckwlth Special Agency. Eastern representative. For sale in San Francisco by L. E. Lee, Pal ace Hotel sews stand: Goldsmith Bros., 230 Butter street; F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market street; J. K. Cooper Co., 748 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster tc Orear, Ferry news Und; Frank Scott, SO Ellis street, and N. Wheatley. 813 Mission street. For sale In. Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, 200 South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, SOS South Eiirtng street. For sale In Kansas City. Mo., by Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut streets. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. 63 Washington street. For pale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam street; Mcgeath Stationery Co.. 130S Fa mam street. For sale in Orden by W. G. Kind. 114 25th street; Jas. H. Crockwell, 242 25th street. For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second South street. For sale In Washington. D. C. by the Eabett House news stand. For fale In Denver, Colo., by Hamilton A Kendrick, 000-912 Seventeenth street;' Louthan & Jackson Book and Stationery Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence streets; A. Series, Sixteenth anil Curtis stxeats. TODAY'S WEATHER Fair; winds mostly northerly. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 04 deg.; minimum temperature, S3 deg.; no precipitation. PORTLAND, SUXDAY, 3IAIICII 22. LET VS DEAL IX THE OPEX. In Washington County much interest is felt in. the proposed electric railway line into Portland, and Portland herself Is equally- anxious that the line shall be built But there has- been a controversy over the entrance of the line into Port land, and 00 me of the people of Wash ington County wish to retaliate by try ing to defeat the appropriation for the Lewis and Clark Centennial. This sort of retaliation is that ex pressed by the homely proverb cutting off your nose to spite your face. Should the Lewis and Clark Centennial fail, Washington County would suffer equal ly with Multnomah. This is not a local affair, nor even a state affair. It con cerns the entire Northwest Even If it be argued that the Exposition will be of particular advantage to Multnomah, because it is to be held here, then it will be of next special importance and advantage to Washington, the county dearest to Portland. Many times The Oregonlan. has spoken with disapproval, and even with sever ity, of the obstructive acts of those citi zens who have opposed a grant of use of streets for car lines that must enter or traverse the city. These few people, who put on airs, and can't have any thing about them so vulgar as street cars, are entitled to very little consid eration. They ought to be permitted to slink back into the wilderness. But these persons are too few to exert any real influence In the city's affaira The real objection which this proposal has met is of another kind. The Common Council of Portland does not know, nobody can find out, whether this proposed road is a positive entity, an actual enterprise, or merely "hot dr." Here is the real trouble. Who are the responsible persons behind the proposal? Wero they known, were it certain they mean business and were ready to go on at once, public opinion in Portland would quickly sweep away all the flimsy objections of the few who would obstruct the undertaking. But there is disinclination to deal in the dark with 6uch a matter. It is a common habit with speculators to solicit fran criscs and use them for trading pur poses. Is there any good or sufficient assurance that this is not a case of that kind? Where is the money for this en terprise? Who has it? Who pledges It? It Is not the selfish protest of the few that has prevailed in this particular matter, but tho apprehension that there was nothing of substantial character behind this endeavor to get the street franchise. There is objection to grant ing such franchises merely for specula tion. If the persons who want to build this line or are ready to supply the money for it will come forward and make themselves known, so the propo sition may be cleared of its unknown and possibly fictitious quantities, the people of Portland will see that they get the right to enter the city, in short order. SUPERFLUOUS OFFICIALISM. There is a reform muchneeded in cer tain branches of tho service of the United States. It is unification of vari ous departmental branches of the serv ice, so as to put a stop to repetitive work and to reduce the whole to great er simplicity and economy. President Ropsevelt has appointed a board composed of high and influential chiefs in various executive departments, with instructions to go over the field of work covered by the offices at Wash ington, and to report to him a scheme of reorganization and consolidation which will bring about more economy and greater simplicity in the public service. In many ways the work of the departments is wanting in system and co-ordination. One bureau after an other has been added, many of them pursuing to an extent parallel lines; but the superfluous parts of the work have net been cut out, and there is duplica tion and reduplication in many lines. Of this board the chairman is Charles D. Wolcott, Director of the Geological Survey. Other members are Admiral Francis T. Bowles, Chief Constructor of the United States Navy; Professor Gil ford Plnchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry of the Department of Agricul ture; Gen era f William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance of the War Department, and James R. Garfield, Chief of the Bureau of Corporations of the -Department of Commerce. In his letter to the mem bers of the board the President sets out the objects he has had in view In cre ating the commission, viz: "To report upon the organization, present condi tions and needs of the executive govern ment work, wholly or partly scientific in caftrfcotMfr cod m&bu th steps which should be taken, if any, to prevent -the duplication of such work, to co-ordinate its various branches, to Increase Its ef ficiency and economy, and to promote the general usefulness of it to the Na tion at large." It may well be believed that there is herein ample room and verge enough for extended reform. The plan is re garded as a forerunner of a general clearing up of a lot of superfluous gov ernmental attachments of a kind that has been multiplying in every direction for many years. The commission will not, of course, bo able to get all the barnacles off the bottom of the ship, but It probably will succeed In detach ing a good many of them. THE LAY PREACHER'S PULPIT. Congressman Ldttlefleld, a - man of marked ability and Independence of character, recently said: If it were not for the newspapers the jobs which would so through Congress are terrible to contemplate. If there wero no newspapers at all, I don't believe I would be willing to trust myself alone in the House of Representa tives for 15 minutes. This is a very high compliment to the power of journalism; but it is the truth. Fifty years ago the New Tork Tribune, under Greeley, was about the only great newspaper that stood for utterly un bought, unterrified Influential editorial opinions. The New York Evening Post was equally upright and fearless, but at that date it was not the peer of the Tribune In National circulation and po litical influence. Today there Is not a city of BO.000 Inhabitants that does not support an incorrupt independent news paper. It is true that the so-called sa tanic press of yellow-kid journalism has multiplied in numbers and pecuniary strength, but compared with the able incorrupt independent newspapers the satanic pres3 has small influence. Congressman Llttlefield is right The highest rank of newspapers do act as a check and a restraint upon many Con gressmen who would not hesitate to do wrong if they did not know and fear the newspaper, knowing that it would at once "turn on the gas" and expose their wrongdoing to the country the mo ment it became a matter of news. The gaslight is the best policeman, and the newspaper is feared because It is its business to record the deeds of dark ness as well as award praise to those who prove themselves children of light. This sleepless vigilance of the press and its prompt exposure of social offenders to the public gaze has a powerful re straint on the lawless and turbulent, on both the knaves and fools. Men who care nothing for conscience do care for reputation, influence, commercial credit that can be seriously impaired, if not utterly wrecked, by newspaper, exposure and Indictment of their "mlsdeeda "Turn on the gas" is the best sign for an able and upright newspaper to fight and conquer under, provided it does not forget that even gaslight needs pru dent handling. The newspaper of brains and character has been correctly described at once "Mayor, Sheriff, de tective and teacher and preacher all in one." Of the power of Journalism, Edward M. Shephard, In a recent address, sold that under "the unherolc bombardment of American newspapers the German war lord stayed his hand, and his Brit ish ally was at once ashamed." The power of a great newspaper lies not so much in its purely Intellectual power of expression as It does In the public confidence that Its opinions are honest opinions, unbiased by partisanship or personal friendship. Samuel Bowles, many years ago, when asked if the can didate he opposed for Mayor of Spring field was not his friend and brother-in-law, replied: "Yes, but my newspaper is subordinate to neither friendship nor family ties. It has no brother-in-law." That Is a very high Ideal, and yet the nearer a great newspaper approaches that Ideal, the larger is its unspeakable public influence for good in society or politics. The public have no use for the opinions of an editor If It once discov ers that he does not discuss public ques tions honestly and disinterestedly from the single point of view of public wel fare. If an editor undertakes to frame his opinions by trying to find out what will please his readers, he Is lost He might as well at once abolish his edi torial page. An editorial opinion Is worthless to the public unless there Is a man of good, sense and information behind It, who is as courageous and im partial as a just judge in the trial of causes in the courts. A newspaper is at once a private busi ness and a public trust What It prints and what It does not print must be de termined solely by its own sense of busi ness discretion and its own moral judg ment. A mixture of motives, all entire ly honorable, may govern and dictate the conduct of a newspaper; but a news paper cannot In the long run hold the confidence of its- public if it fails to discuss public questions with honesty and disinterestedness The public weal must be Its point of view if it expects public confidence and respect The pub lic do not expect that their editor will always be acute in mind and able In policy, but they have a right to expect that he will be upright in purpose and incorrupt in action, and the Influential editor seldom falls his public. It is the notorious exception, when a man be comes the editor of a successful news paper that exercises any appreciable in fluence on public opinion, if the man recognises no ouch thing as heart or conscience, integrity or humanity. No man can play fast and loose with these eternal , verities. Just as his sense of im mediate self-interest or Ylndictlveness prompts him. Merciless personalities in politics are sometimes manifested through the press, just as they are else where 'in tho organized expression of human thought, feeling and business, but no great newspaper ever rose to in fluence and long maintained it whose editor made his private piques, his un quenched personal animosities, his un wreaked personal revenges and unsat isfied private Interests the polestar of his working career. The flaw In the diamond of the New York Tribune under Greeley was Its passionate personal invectives and per sonal outbursts of bitter partisan hate. It was always able, but always so in flexibly Intolerant that the New York Times and the New York Evening Post waxed fat on the clientage that Greeley periodically drove away from his doors. The political temper of the American people has become bland compared with what it was in Greeley's day, and no first-class American newspaper could afford today to abuse in Its columns a high-minded, cultivated political oppo nent, as Greeley did when he printed an editorial attack upco Governor Sey mour under the caption, "You Lie, You Villain; You He!" Greeley was an hon est man, a sober man, an able man; but he never ruled, his temper in conversa tion or print His manners were boorish In this respect He injected his in tense, intolerant individuality into everything he wrote and into every thing he inspired his subordinates to write, and the result was that the Tribune under Greeley said a great deal that made its judicious friends grieve. This kind of able, aggressive editor is become obsolete In the great newspa pers. He is replaced by men who, while inferior to Greeley in genius, are equal to him in moral courage and superior to him in discretion and self-command. Greeley's great qualities of moral cour age and political purity are perpetuated by the independent press of the country that in every considerable city of the land champions the cause of the people against predatory trusts and parasitic monopoly. Never were there so many powerful newspapers in the land of en tirely upright purpose and downright action entirely devoted to the greatest good of the greatest number. If It were not for the Influence of the independent press in both parties, the plutocracy would be able to always gag Congress with their gold and pack the leading courts of the land with their body serv ants. The independent press is the lay preacher's pulpit, which does not fear to speak the truth of municipal pirates while living who have become very rich through public robbery., and scorns to whitewash successful scoundrels when dead. The lay preacher's pulpit Is not afraid to award to the memory of great rascals punishment after death. THE IRISH IX THE CIVIL WAR, St Patrick's day celebration observ ances In G. A. R. posts are apt to do full justice to the memory of our Irish fellow-citizens who fought for the flag of their adopted country, but these Irish soldiers of the North did not fight any harder for the flag than the Irish sol diers of the South fought against it. The Irish, like everybody else In the country-, fought bravely with the cause of their section. There were compara tively few Irish living in the South, at that time, but nearryall were ardent and gallant Confederates. Major-Gen eralPat rick Cleburne, a very able Irish soldier, fell at the head of his division at the battle of Franklin. The Roman Catho lic clergy of the South were enthusiastic supporters of the Confederacy, and Father Ryan, the poet-priest, wrote his beautiful poem, "Fold That Banner," in eloquent lament for the lost cause. The Irish were divided In opinion and action during the Civil War, Just as they: were during the Revolutionary War. There were Pennsylvania Irish men to the number of 2600 fighting on the British side under Cornwallls at Camden, and there were Irishmen In the ranks of the Tories who laid waste Cherry Valley, Wyoming. The Episco pal Church at the South was equally strong In Its support of the Confederacy as the Roman Catholic, and so were the great Methodist and Baptist denomina tions. Environment, association, ties of old neighborhood and friendship decide men what side to take in a civil war. The noblliity were divided in the Eng lish Revolution; the nobility were di vided In the French Revolution. When a brave man settles in a country- and remains long enough to form ties of friendship with his neighbors, he is generally sure to cast his lot with his state, even at the sacrifice of his private opinions; that is, he will not fire his neighbors' cornfields, but will defend them from invasion, even If he thinks the Insurrection unwise and not Justifiable. Blood Is thicker than water, and the touch of the elbow rather than deep-seated political convictions makes men go with, their section, right or wrong, during war time. And this ex plains why the Irishman fought for his adopted country In the Union Army and fought against his adopted country in the Confederate Army with about equal valor. SMALL HOPE OP REFORM. The arraignment of the United States Senate because of abuse of Its power by Representative Cannon, of Illinois, was Just and forcible, but the melancholy aspect of the whole matter Is that there does not seem to be any effective an swer to Senator Tillman's easy reply: "What are you going to do about it?" Under the rules of the Senate It Is possible for any Senator like Tillman to levy "legislative blackmail," to pre vent any or all of the Important meas ures of Congress from coming to a vote. Senator Morgan, of Alabama, by his obstructive action of talking against time, prevented the consideration of the Panama Canal treaty and forced an extra session of the Senate with the help of these who were Interested in de feating the consideration of the Cuban treaty. Senator Quay was able to hold back all legislation because his state hood bill was not allowed to come to a vote, and Senator Aldiich's financial bill was killed because he refused to come to the rescue of other measures con cerned In the deadlock, and the friends of the Hoar-Llttlefield anti-trust bill threatened to ditch Important measures unless this ono was secured. The con sequence of this obstructive attitude was that the President felt obliged to call an extra session because of the failure of the Senate to ratify the two treaties. The Senate refused to admit closure, and In theory relied upon "Senatorial courtesy" to prevent the abuse of the privilege of unlimited discussion and minority obstruction. But this rule of "Senatorial courtesy" has been most grossly abused by many Senators, and It cannot be relied upon to prevent un reasonable obstruction and deadlock. As a matter of fact, a few Senators have the power to block the- considera tion of a most useful law or a most desirable treaty. The explanation of this deplorable situatloa Is given by Mr. Henry Nelson in the Century Maga zine as due to the fact that the Senate draws to itself the mediocre sort of suc cessful business men, who stand for "wealth ungulded and uninformed, "un tempered by a patriotic and statesman like regard for the general welfare." There does not seem to be a remedy for this situation. A constitutional amend ment and popular election of Senators would Improve the Senate", but this is a most remote and difficult measure of reform. The only hope of Senate reform lies in an aroused public opinion, which might make the Senate hesitate to want only use and abuse Its power, but public opinion concentrated upon such men as Tillman and Quay, who are al ways sure of home support, would ac complish nothing. Senator Tillman will continue to levy "legislative blackmail"; he will continue to answer vigorous pro tests against his outrageous action by the sneering Inquiry. "What are you going to do about it?" There is noth ing to be done about it except patiently to await the time when the people will refuse to send to the Senate such an un scrupulous Democratic ruffian, ss Till man and such an obdurate Republican scoundrel as Quay. There is no cure for the situation save a reformed and re generated Senate, of which there is no near prospect DECREASE IX THE BIRTH RATE. Inquiry into the birth rate from mar riage of Yale graduates shows that the average Yale graduate -who married in the first quarter of the century had about twice as many children as the graduate in the last quarter. This de crease has a hard economic explanation in the fact that seventy-five years ago the country was so sparsely settled that labor was very scarce, and the economic demand for It very great, and in the absence of much Immigration the aver age American farmer was best oft who had the most children to help him in his farming and pioneer labors. In other words, children were in economic demand the boys for work, the women for wives and domestic help. But with the great Immigration of cheap labor these economic conditions passed away, and the native population no longer felt the necessity of having large fami lies. The English scientist, H. G. Wells, In a footnote to his "The Making of Man kind," holds that the decline In the birth rate In England- Is due partly to "a decline In gross Immorality, partly to the late age at which women marry, and partly to an Increased proportion of people too old or young for child-bearing." In other words, the apparent fall ing oft in the birth rate is due to Im proved civilization and higher morality. If Infant mortality decreased under far better sanitary and moral conditions, then it follows that the percentage of births to total population must mechan ically fall. Mr. Wells show's by his statistics that in the last fifty years, there has been a fall In the death rate and a fall in the number of Illegiti mate births; that society la becoming not only "more hygienic and rational, but more moral and temperate," and he demonstrates that the English people retain their pristine fecundity. The Rev. Mr. Hutchlns, the agent of the Connecticut Bible Society, In a re cent paper read before a religious body in New Haven on rural life, reported that "the dead Yankee blood" In the New England country towns Is often most prolific In children where It Is most degenerate; that the poorest and most hopeless families on the isolated hillsides are developing a type which he described as "the poor whites of the North." Large families are to be found among them, and. compared with the foreign Immigrants who are increasing rapidly In New England, these degen erate Yankees are given greatly to loose sexual relations. These facts are Interesting in connection with the pres ent discussion concerning the failure of the educated and prosperous Yankee stock to reproduce itself. The historian Lecky referred to this conservatism of the Intelligent classes In the matter of child-getting and the recklessness of ab ject poverty In the matter of large fam ilies when he wrote: The shame and dread of falling below (a high standard of comfort), the desire of attaining a higher round In the social ladder, lead to self denial, providence and tardy marriages. But when men have no such standard, when they are accustomed to live without any of the de cencies of life, when potatoes and milk and a mud hovel are all they require and all they can hope for; when. In a word, they are so wretched that they can hardly, by any Imprudence, roaka their condition permanently worse than It Is, they will Impose no restraint upon themselves and, except In periods of pestilence, famine or exterminating war. will Invariably increase with excessive rapidity. IX FAVOR OP THE GREAT PAIR. The Grange organizations of the state ore In favor of the Lewis and Clark Fair. That is to say, they represent a progressive body of farmers who have learned from experience the value of association and a combination of busi ness interests that results from getting together. The isolation that long per vaded the farming districts of Oregon was first broken by the Grange move ment Prior to this there was a sort of exclusive prosperity, a selfish abund ance, so to speak, which supplied the necessities of life while shutting out practically all social enjoyment from the farmers' lot Competitive advancement was impos sible under such conditions, and It was thus that the farm life of early Oregon was dull and nonprogressive for many years. The Grange movement invaded this realm of monotony. Its fortnightly meetings soon come to be anticipated with pleasure; a friendly rivalry In farming methods. In stockraislng, In fruitgrowing, In smartening up build ings and in the feminine realm of dress, cookery, eta, followed. This was an introduction which has ripened by slow degrees Into a kinship of Interests In ag ricultural matters that pervades the dif ferent sections of the state. This kin ship is not the result of a sudden awak ening; It represents a solid and sub stantial growth. Endowment of the Lewis and Clark Fair Is Its natural ex pression. With the narrow view that this Is "Portland's Fair" the intelligent, progressive farmer Is not In sympathy. Hence it may be said that If the appro priation for the Fair must be submitted to the referendum, this class of citizens may be depended upon to place upon It the seal of their Indorsement Quite natjirally, many of them desire the op portunity to do this. If it is to be given,, it should be given at an early date, so that preparations for the event that will signalize at once the beginnings of the state and present to the country an epi tome of its progress and the wonderful scope of Its possibilities may not be un necessarily delayed. Congress, at its last session, refused to withdraw the benefits of pensions from widows who had "married soldiers long after the Civil War, and conse quently the cases cf young wantons who marry old veterans who have but a short time to live, in order to enjoy a widow's pension for the rest of their erratic lives, will accumulate on the pension rolL The number of veterans who would negotiate such marriages must be small; there cannot be many women who In youth would remain un married in order to retain a pension of 5S to 512 a month. There is something to be said on the other side. A decent old veteran might wish to marry a woman nearly his own age as a matfer of companionship. She might be a de cent woman; whom he and his family had known for years. For her compan ionship for a few years all the old vet eran could leave her at his death would be his pension. Why ehould this old veteran be deprived of the satisfaction of knowing that his pension would be continued to the old wife who survived him? A young woman of excellent character married General Longetreet In his old age in order to be a constant companion to him in sickness or health. Why should not -this youcg woman have General Longstreet's Mexican War pension after his death, despite the fact that she is his second wife, married to him In his old age. A wom an or a man may marry from very mean and low motives, whether they marry old or young, but it is not fair to assume that every old veteran's mar riage in his old age Is due to low mo tives. If he married a decent woman of nearly his own age, it would be an entirely natural act cn the part of a lonely man seeking companionship. No body supposes that so fine and noble a woman as George Eliot married, when she was 60 and In poor health, her hus band's most Intimate friend, that she had any other thought than to enjoy the companionship of a strong man on whom she could lean in sickness. In pub lic and private. Her yearning for friendly companloship In. her old age and infirmity Is doubtless feltby a good many humbler folk. In the release of the lad MIIo Steph enson from the County Jail in this city through pardon, Governor Chamberlain performed a meritorious act. A boy of 17, young Stephenson stole two sacks of coal, and for this, his first offense, he was sentenced to confinement nine mouths in the County Jail. Of this term he had served nearly two months when the Governor's pardon released him. The reasons advanced for the pardon are sound. ' The punishment decreed "was excessive, and the boy would probably have been Injured rather than benefited by a long term of Imprison ment." It may, be said that justice nods when a lad Is given nine months in jail for a relatively small offense, and gamblers filching by professional devices large sums of money from unso phisticated countrymen are allowed to go scot free In sooth, "cannot be con victed." This Is a reminder, in a way, of a financial policy that sought to levy a tax upon milk and remove a tax from beer a proposition not unknown in this city at a pormer period in its history. Professor A, J. Anderson, whose death occurred In Olympla a few days ago, was a popular and competent educator In the Pacific Northwest for more than a generation. As a member of the fac ulty of Pacific University, some thirty years ago, he was associated with Pro fessors Collier, Condon, Lyman and J.. W. Marsh, of whom only the latter Is at present engaged in educational work. Professor Anderson Is well remembered as principal of the High School In this city, to which he came from Forest Grove in lg7o. His chief labor and long est term of service, however, was as president of Whitman College, near Walla Walla. It may. Indeed, be said that his life work was performed there. As was eminently fitting, his body was returned to that city for burial. There, In the presence of a reverent multitude, it was laid to rest beside the grave of, his wife, who was his colaborer in col lege or academic work for many years, and who died several years ago. By the advice of Surgeon-General Rixey Mrs. Roosevelt will sail March 2S for a ten days' cruise on the Atlantic. She Is still suffering from the effects of the social strain to which a season of unusual gaiety in official circles in Washington subjected her, and her nervous system Is more seriously af fected than was at first supposed. Her condition is not considered dangerous, but Dr. Rlxey has decided that she needs a complete rest and Invigorating salt air. The latter she will certainly get In an early April cruise on the At lantic. The announcement that "all of the children will go with her," however, makes the matter of "complete rest" on the cruise somewhat doubtful. The trouble with the Lorenz method of reducing congenital dislocation of the hip Is not In the method, but In the at tempt of clumsy or Ill-prepared doctors to Imitate It. The effort made In Phila delphia a few days ago, of which a girl of 8 years was the subject, and which resulted In her death In convulsions a few-hours after the unsuccessful attempt to reduce the dislocation was abandoned, is in point The reflection that a mer ciful anesthetic robbed the attempt of suffering serves somewhat to mitigate the circumstances under which the life of the child went out Oregon is certainly a land of mag nificent distances. The western part of the state has basked In the sunshine for the greater part of the Winter, and the roses were blooming "In the open gardens through most of the month of December. Now comes the story from Eastern Oregon that, owing to the long continued cold spell, there Is a scarcity of feed, and stock must be shipped Into more favored portions of the state. Oregon not only offers inducements In the way of Industrial openings of all kinds, but also has climate to suit, be it warm, cold or Intermediate. "Companionship" 13 the only plea upon which the marriage of aged people is based, and this Is generally urged quite pathetically when cynical sons and Jeal ous daughters oppose objections to ouch, marriages. This, however, could not have been the reason why an old couple embarked upon the sea of matrimony at North Yakima recently, since the bride who Is, however, elderly, not old started off alone on her bridal tour. Truly, it Is hard to fathom the human mind on matrimony bent Though Governor McBrlde has vetoed Washington's appropriation for the Lewis and Clark Centennial, let citizens of Oregon spare their indignation. For there are citizens of Oregon who desire to veto Oregon's appropriation, through the referendum. If you have any stock of indignation to be expended, better keep it for thl3 more righteous purpose. A current circulation of $30, barring a tiny fraction, for every man, woman and child In the commonwealth, is probably the best showing ever made by any na tionthe price of a cow or a Spring overcoat for everybody. Its distribu tion is a trifle irregular, but that is like the sea's level, always in a state, of dis turbance and rectification. The Oregonian will obtain from the office of the Secretary of State the list of names of those persons who have so little pride in their state as to try to defeat the Lewis and Clark Centennial; and it will publish the list by counties. In this way It will be shown what dead weight Oregon Is doomed for the present to carry. It will indeed be a pretty thing will it not? for the President of the United States to be in Oregon to lay the corner stone at the Inauguration of the work for the Lewis and Clark Centennial amid an effort on the part of the moss backs of Oregon to defeat the celebra tion of the great historical eveotl THE REFERENDUM. ! The Dalles Times-Mountaineer. The petition for a referendum on tho Eddy corporation tax law and Tho DaHes Celilo portage appropriation sent out by tho Baker County mine boomers was faulty In its construction, and had to be recalled. It Is well for the promulgators that this Is the case, for their petition would have met with an ignominious de feat had it ever gone to the people. Hillsboro Independent The reason given for desiring a vote of the people is that $500,000 is too much money to spend for the Fair; that the ex hibition will not benefit the state at largo and the desire to punish Portland, whose representatives unanimously voted against the Harris corporation tax law. The Al bany League puts Its objections to tho appropriation on" a bad ground vengeance on the failure to pass the Harris tax law. Would it not be better to take the initi ative on a corporation tax law? Salem Journal. It Is a noticeable fact that the move ments to get the referendum vote are all In the direction of calling down the big grafts, as they are called Portland Fair for 5300,000, portage railway for $165,000 and Indian War Veterans for $100,000. The movement of the miners to refer tho Eddy corporation tax bill will be found to be a mistake, as about three-fourths of all the people will vote for that when they undprstand Its purpose and operation. The Portland Fair bill will probably hot be defeated at a popular vote. All Port land, "Eastern Oregon, the railroads, the steamboat and other transportation inter ests and tho labor unions will vote for it While there is a pretty big political combine worjdng the measure for all there is in it, and the labor organizations will get their share out of the pie, there are enough interests to carry It at the elec tion. The portage railway- bill has more real merit than any of the rest and Is liable to fare the worst. The Indian war appropriation has least merit of all, and will work out badly, and the state will never get through paying. But sentiment may carry the job at a popular vote, as It did in the Legis lature. Salem Statesman. President Roosevelt Is to lay the corner stone of the 1305 Fair Memorial building. It will not be seemly for Oregon voters at the same time to be preparing to take a vote In an attempt to kill the state's appropriation for tho Fair. It Is to be hoped the petitions for the reference of It to a vote of the people will lack tho required number of signatures Harrisburg Bulletin. ' If the Lewis and Clark Fair appropria tion bill ever comes to the people for a vote It will be to their Interests to vote for it A good many people believe that the money- voted for will benefit Portland alone and increase tax on the people throughout the state. Certainly it adds taxes, but Portland will derive no more benefit than the people lot the state in general. The money will be used to make the Fair larger, and the more money the larger the exhibit will be. The money will make the Fair, and the Fair will bring thousands of people to the state. These people will have to live. Who will supply this Increase In demand for pro duce? The farmer of the state, of course. "What the farmer pays in taxes he will more than make up on his produce and railroad fare. The Fair will aad to the value of land. Many people will come from the East for this occasion that would not come otherwise, and, liking the country, will stay. The Fair will, send up the price per acre of all farming land and city" property in the state. Binger Hermann. Hillsboro Argus. It begins to look as though Binger Her mann Is out after the Congressional nomi nation, and Southern Oregon, with the famous Booth-Kelly Lumber Company behind him, is said to be going solid for the ex-Land Commissioner. Binger was forced out of the land offlce by Hitch cock, and he Is said to be out after vin dication, and that Fulton Is behind him, if Brownell is unavailable, is the rumor. Salem Statesman. Hon. Binger Hermann was not a can didate for the Republican nomination for Congress when he was in Portland; ho had not made up his mind during his visit at Salem; at Eugene and at Roseburg he was in the hands of his friends. In Benton County he was not yet a candi date. But when he got around to old Polk he became a full fledged candidate, according to our Dallas correspondent Perhaps he caught It In the air of old Polk. They have a bracing and invigor ating atmosphere over Dallas way. ' Bohemia Nugget It Is difficult at this time to see the out come of the Congressional contest While many are of the opinion that Hon. Binger Hermann should not bo returned to 'Con gress, setting up all sorts of reasons in defense of their assertion, among them that Mr. Hermann is a professional of flce seeker, etc, Btlll at this time it looks to a "nigger up a tree," that Mr. Her mann Is very much in evidence. Mr. Her mann may be a "professional office seek er;" but this is not against him. AH politicians, at least many of them, are "professional offlce seekers." That Is, they always try to remain In offlce; and as a rule the so-called "professional offlce seek er" makes the very best officer. The peo ple of Oregon today feel that Mr. Her mann Is the proper man, and It la almost a certainty that he will receive tho nomi nation. The Corporation License Tax. Forest Grove Times. The mininjr men of Eastern Oregon are much dissatisfied with the Eddy bill en acted by the last Legislature, which Im poses a tax on all corporations doing busi ness in the state in proportion to the amount of capital stock, and propose to Invoke the reierendum in order to defeat it Petitions for signature have been received here, but have not yet been cir- culated. The Times Interviewed Dr. Hines in regard to the matter, and finds that he believes the new law a good one. It will have a tendency to cut down the vast capitalization of mines. Stock with a face value of, say, $1,000,000, is issued on a mining prospect, and sold at any price from 1 cent on the dollar up, Just In proportion to the "easiness" of the party who can be Induced to buy. It Is a favor ite way for separating people from their money, and tho bill was passed with a view to checking it A Reasonable Demand Refused. Springfield Republican. In 30 far as Mr. Lodge represents the Administration, it coolly refuses to permit further Investigation, so that the people may gain further acquaintance with the proceedings of the United States In the Philippine Islands and of the conditions there existing. Autocratic monarchy could not go farther than this In dealing with a most reasonable popular request There must be reasons for this refusal, but there cannot be any which rest upon the broad principles of a republican government ac countable, to the people and ready to give them full knowledge of all Its proceed ings, isothing could be more un-American than a atrenuosity of evasion and a con spiracy of suppression, and even the out ward look of thess things should be avoided. ' NOTE AND COMMENT. A Chlco, CaL, blacksmith advertises that his "horseshoe parlors" are onen for business. Baseball rrtavers cost nearlv as ttiito as coal nowadays, and they make about as hot a fire. John Barrett is back from the Orion and reDOrts" that that nnrt nf thn flnfcai has been completely Barrettlzed. The President will get a dose of some thing really strenuous wlym he falls In with all tho welcoming committees. There seems to be- some excitement over the fact that there was a band of elk in a Portland stockyard the other day. There are plenty of Elks on the streets all the year round: The origin of "minding one's P'3 and Q's" is supposed to have arisen from tho practice of chalking on the walls of tap rooms the pints and quarts ordered by the guests. Thus, when a man became too liberal, either to himself or friends, and was ordering drink3 beyondi his means, he was cautioned to mind his Ps and Q's. Tho directors in German companies get no salaries unless the annual dividend ex ceeds 4 per cent, and the limit they may receive Is JSOOO a year. The law forbids the manager of a company being a mem ber of its board. Detailed statements must be printed for stockholders prior to a stockholders' meeting. Americans might profit by this example Hetty Green, in order that she may es cape payment of personal property tax, refuses to have an abiding place. Sha shifts between New York and Chicago, touching at several minor points where she has Interests. When the assessor catches her she swears she is not a resi dent. But in Hoboken the other day tho authorities made trouble for her because she had not paid a license for her poodle dog. An American has invented an envelope which records of itself any attempt to tamper with its contents. The flap is im bued, with some chemical composition, which, when operated upon by a dampen ing process or any other means of pene trating to Its inclosure, records tho trans action by causing the words "Attempt to open" to appear. It is thought that the Inquisitive will think twice before pursu ing their researches in face of such an in vention. Tho city of Nankin, though the south ern capital of China, does not possess a water-works system. The American Con sul, Mr. Martin, put down a "drove" welL This "American well," as it Is called, soon attracted the attention of high of ficials living in the city, who one after another came to see and test it Tho result of their investigations was the set ting apart of an amount of money to ba used In securing like wells about the city to tho number of 100. The French newspapers say that on March 29 General Andre, tho War Minis ter, reaches the age limit of 63 years, and that consequently he will have to sign the decree removing his name from tha active army list and placing himself In the reserve. This will not of course, pre vent General Andre remaining War Mbi Ister; but it is pointed out that since tho foundation of the Third Republic this la the first time that a War Minister has had to remove his own name from tha active army list v After September 1 next all steam rail road vehicles engines, tenders, snowplowa and cabooses, as well as cars must have automatic couplers, and all couplers on any particular train must be of the same pattern. And at least half tho cars In every train must be equipped with air brakes. Such is the requirement imposed on all Interstate railroads by tho amend ment of the Federal safety-appliance law enacted by the late Congress. The rail roads have been fooling with this matter so long that they lost valuable time and will have to hustle mightily to get In under tho law. Charles Godfrey Leland, who died at Florence, Italy, Friday In his 79th year, was an American humorist who will be longest remembered by his "Hans Breit man Ballads." In 1S&, when Leland was the poet at the Phi Beta Kappa celebra tion at Harvard, Oliver Wendell Holmes read some after-dinner verses In his honor, closing as follows: "Hans Breltman glf a b&rty vhere Is dot barty now?" On every shelf where wit Is stored to smooth the care-worn brow; A health to stout Hans Breltman; how Ions before we see Another Hans as handsome as bright a man as ho?" Nearly 400 ancient Spanish pieces of ordnance, soma bearing dates showing they were cast nearly 200 years ago, wera recently- declared In the United States Cir cuit Court of Appeals at New York to ba subject to duty of 4a per cent ad valorem as "manufactured articles." The guns, which once formed tha armament of Morro Castle and other Cuban fortresses, were bought from the Spanish govern ment at the close of tha war for their value as old brass and bronze, the pur chasers expecting to import them free of duty as scrap metal. When the case was tried ih the Circuit Court on the con tention of the Appraisers that in spite of their ago tha gun3 were nevertheless "manufactured articles," General Brooks and other prominent officers testified that tho ancient weapons could, from a mili tary standpoint, only be regarded as "junk." Tho court however, found for the Appraisers and this decision Is now finally confirmed by the Court of Appeals. There no longer seems doubt but that the long-sought substitute for rags In paper making, will soon be found In corn. Under the supervision of the Agricultural Department at Washington, a series of experiments has lately been carried on at Kankakee, 111. The result of the experi ments seems to Indicate clearly that tha corn plant, all its -various parts, may be utilized in paper making. The hard shell of the stalk, tha pith and the husk, all may be used. It Is said, In making differ ent kinds of paper. From the pith may ba manufactured tha finest grade of oil paper, almost equal to linen. A machine has been invented which will take tha corn stalk, with the ear still on It husk tha ear, separate the husk from tha stalk, and then remove the shell from the pith. Paper-makers, It la said, will send these machines into tha fields, with pro posals to the farmer to buy tha corn crop as It stands. One of Balzac's nov els, "David and Eve," is almost wholly taken up with the efforts of tha hero to find a cheap substitute for rage In paper making. He experiments with rushes, nettles, thistles, weeds of all kinds, but unfortunately was not turned loots la an I Iowa corn field.