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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 11, 1903. PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oreson. Poatofsca as Cecoad-Claaa Matter. tobKftltln larariablr is Ailrmmoa, By Mall.) Dally. Sunday Included, on year. tally. Sunday Included, six monini.... Lally. Sunday Included, threa montaa. i taliy. Sunday Included, ona month.... J? Dally without Sunday, ana year...... Daily, without Sunday, alx months..... a." Eaiir. witaout Sunday, thru month.. -j Daily, without Sunday, ona month..-.. Weekly, ona year J!! unday, ana year t it Sunday and Weekly, ona yaar. (By Carrtar.J tally. Sun a ay Included, cm yaar...... ?? Xsallr. Sunday Included, ona month.... - How to Remit Sand poatofsca n ard.r. eipreae order or personal your local b.r.k. stamp, coin or currency re at the sender's risk. Give poatolflca d reae la full, Including; county and '' Foetaaa Ratea 10 to J4 pages. 1 cant; IS to 28 pages. 1 caota: SO to 44 aanta: 4 to SO page. 4 cant. ForaT.n poat tf double rate Eastna Baalneaa Offlee Ttie S. C. Eec- ariui Hpaciai ikvvcj . - . . . , , 4 Tribune building. Chicago, room elu-OlZ Tribune building. PORTLAND. 8 UNDAY. OCT. 11. J08- OREGON'S BAILROAD OITLOOK Mr. Stubbs. director of traffic of the so-called Harriman lines, said. In his recent address at San Francisco: A great majority of cltlaena who ara served by tha railroad Indirectly, but never theless In a way and meaaura that make for tuelr well-being, do not apprehend tha In terdependence or tha right relatione of tha public and tha carrier. Tha aeveral aldea of a aqukra ara equal. A "deal" Implies at leaat two part lea. A equare deal" meana that the deal muat ba fair to both. Mr. Stubbs means that the public is not in mood and temper to deal with the railroads so as to give them a fair chance. They who are looked to for supply of capital for new rail roads are not willing to sink It. New railroads are always a venture for a time, and old ones are not always profitable. But there have been profits for railroads In Oregon In particular for the O. R. & N. The reports all show It. and prove It. Why are not these profits Invested in Oregon? Answer is made that the O. R. N is but part of a great system. Some parts of it pay more, others less. The general scheme that supports the whole. It Is urged, must be main tained. It Is a whole or entire sys tem. For anaJogy It is urged that the expense of Government mail service in Oregon is greatly in excess of re ceipts from the mall service. whJch is an entire scheme. Again, Govern ment receives from sale of timber lands In Oregon far more than it ex ' pends in Oregon for recovery of arid lands. Again, that it spends on harbor improvement and maintenance of lights and ports and other branches of service sums greatly in excess of its receipts from customs. Other parts of the country pay this deficit. This Is a big country, it is urged, and a great railroad system extending across the continent, feels obliged to pursue a course of similar kind. There ought to be railroad exten sions In Oregon. It Is a crying need. They would make returns: and. devel oping the country, they would make Increasing returns. There Is now one question, namely, can the money be had? Can the necessary bonds be placed? Harriman says It la not pos sible at this time. In .other words, that it is a condition, not a theory. Oregon and the Northwest think the profits derived from traffic within their territory ought to be used for extensions within this territory. But It is urged that the whole system, of which this Is but a part, must be sup ported: and moreover, that bonds for new mileage cannot be marketed now. This, we believe, is the real situa tion. Accusation, denunciation, crim ination and recrimination, will not change this situation now. Conditions next year the election being over and settlement of the public mind as to some sort of policy reached it may be possible for the railroad work we require to go ahead. Mr. Bryan advertises himself as the advance agent of this prosperity. Unfortu nately there is some dubltation. THE INDl'STRIAL EMERGENCY MJI AO. The Canadian Pacific Railway nas again demonstrated its power as an employer of labor. The skilled ma chinists of the company's shops, who went on a strike over three months ago to force a reconstruction of the wage and time schedule in their de partment have failed in their conten tion. Strikebreakers shipped in to take their places have been sent back whence they came, and the old em ployes have been reinstated at the old rates. In a triangular fight of this kind the position of the strikebreaker seems to be the least enviable of all. Hawked hither and thither at the be hest of corporate emergency: 111 pre pared for the work In hand and con scious of his deficiencies: detested. In sulted and menaced in life and limb by the rank and file of organized la bor: taxed with a responslbilty which, from lack of training and of the ex perience that can only come through steady, responsible employment, he Is unable to discharge: used while the pressing need for his service exists and cast aside as soon as this emer gency passes, he must reflect In his own self-estimate the contempt that his vocation inspire among working men. A nomad In the field of industry, the strikebreaker Is here today and there tomorrow a thorn In the side of trades unionism, a makeshift without stable standing In the indus trial world. His status 1s sufficiently Indicated by a dispatch from Winni peg announcing the end of the ma chinists' strike on the Canadian road and the capitulation of the strikers, supplemented by the announcement that the company on the day and date named "shipped all strikebreakers . bark to the East and South and all strikers went to work." Professional vagrants ' hovering upon the outskirts of industry. listen ing for the emergency call of capital which they are under contract to an swer, even those who use them feel relieved when the need for their pres ence and such makeshift service as they can render no longer exists. Tet such as they are. they are the product of the times and have their legitimate place In the great scheme of modern Industrial life, and more especially in the colossal requirements of a com mercial age. the very life of which is centered in modern transportation methods. Trains must move on time and streetcar systems must be oper ated, even if the Industrial emergency squad has to be called out for this purpose, pending a display of power by opposing forces of labor and capi tal. From the inconvenience and loss and bitterness and strife that ara engendered by calling upon - the strikebreakers' squad corporations and communities and laboring men may well hope to be delivered. TOVB rNCLE JOB CANNON. Against Uncle Joe Cannon there Is a fight in his district, and In some other districts, where candidates are required to pledge themselves not to vote for htm for Speaker again. He will probably be elected by the people of his district, but It Is not probable he will be elected Speaker again even If the Republicans gain a major ity In the House. He Is regarded as "too old for the Job." The main accusation against him Is that he refused to allow certain bills to come before the House, for debate and vote, but stifled or throt tled them In committees, and espe cially in the Committee on Rules, of which he is the head. For these rea sons factions of labor unions and of prohibitionists are making bitter war on him. The war of the prohibition ists is especially hot. There is no large town in his district, and the labor unions in his district are not strong. The fury of the prohibitionists is due to his alleged refusal to allow the bill to forbid liquors to be carried from other states into a prohibition state to come to a vote. He should have allowed the bill to be brought before the House for debate and vote; where undoubtedly It would have been rejected. Congress has power to regulate commerce between the states, not to prohibit It. Of course any state, under its police power, can suppress traffic in liquors within its own limits, if it will. But no state can stop interstate commerce. After all. since It Is a familiar say ing that the world is governed too much, something may be said, in gen eral, for the man who checks attempt ed legislation. Re-election of Cannon may be expected, for his district is much disposed to stand by him. He is a picturesque character and an honest man. Two years ago (and It was an "off year") he won by over 10,000 plurality. THE CRITICS AND THE BIBLE. In one of his remarkable sermons at the Free Synagogue which he founded In New York, Dr. Stephen S. Wise lately asked and answered the question "Is the Bible In danger from the higher criticsm?" The question Immediately induces the thought that any book, whether It be called Bible or history, which is endangered by the search for truth can scarcely be called an unmingled benefit to man kind. W hen a man or an institution or a document begins to shriek that the progress of research must be stayed lest he or it suffer, it would seem that the time had almost come for that Individual or thing to cease to cumber the earth. Apparently this whole controversy over the higher criticism and the Bible re solves itself Into the simple inquiry whether or not the higher criticism Is a search for the truth. If It is such a search and the Bible suffers by It, then so much the worse for the Bible. Those who composed it ought to have taken care that it should not prove an Impediment to the advance of knowl edge. We may safely say that If the author had actually been the Al mighty he would have foreseen this difficulty and ew-olied It. The gist of the matter is that the higher criticism, docs not injure the Bible in the slightest degree. What It does injure Is a certain theory about the Bible. This theory Is like other human Inventions. Its destiny is to flourish for a time and then to fade. "Our little systems have their day." When Niebuhr made It clear that a good deal of Llvy was pure myth, the great historian of Rome did not "suf fer." Our way of accepting him changed, but he was none the worse for It, while we were a good deal bet ter off, inasmuch as we got rid of a big burden of ignorance and replaced It with knowledge. It Is the same way with the Bible. As our ignor ance of its authorship and meaning Is replaced by knowledge, a vast accu mulation of superstition and misun derstanding vanishes, but the book stands just as it did and we stand much more securely. Nothing in the Bible that is true can be made false by the higher criticism, or the lower either, and nothing that is good can be made bad. WHY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS? In one of his frequent efforts to spread a feeling of discontent and to block the wheels of progress, the edi tor of the Capital Journal, at Salem, denounces the use of textbooks in the public schools, hoping, apparently, to gain favor in the opinion of some par ent who has recently purchased schoolbooks for his children. Con cluding a venomous attack upon the textbooks in use in Oregon, Mr. Hofer declares that textbooks "take children away from real education Instead of enlightening them. The active child whose mind seeks expression in doing things, making things, creating things. Is dwarfed by textbooks more than helped." If this be the Salem edi tor's opinion of the Influence of text books, then he must be opposed to the use of any textbooks by any children, for surely he would not approve con tinuance of a system which dwarfs children's minds. Plainly, therefore, he would send children to school without books, expecting the teacher to Impart all the Instruction and leav ing the members of one class to sit In idleness In their seats while the teacher gave her attention to another class. It Is needless to discuss the matter for the benefit of the Salem editor's readers, for there is not a newspaper reader anywhere so stupid as to believe that the use of text books dwarf a child's mind rather than help it. But there are other features of this diatribe which may be given a little attention. The real complaint is against a change In textbooks, which change. It may be remarked, took place more than a year ago and does not materially affect schoolbook buy ers this year. The Capital Journal undertakes to say that there was no need for a change In any textbooks except arithmetic: by which assertion It shows the fallacy of the whole con tention. There Is no branch In the common school course that changes so little In subject-matter as arithmetic. The only reason for a change would be that books already In use do not present the subject In the best man ner, or that the books cost too much. These same reasons and others Justify a change of textbooks upon other subjects. Geography, history, and even English, are continually chang ing, and authors are finding more at tractive and more effective methods of presenting the subject-matter. Mathematical processes today are Just exactly what they have been for cen turies. We are not only adding to his tory every day, but ire are freauentlr discovering that some of the records of past events were untrue or Incom plete, and that some Incidents which have seemed unimportant bad a large bearing upon the course of National life. Though Mr. Hofer expresses the opinion that there has been no im provement In reading, arithmetic and grammar, his own article upon this subject discredits his assertion. It has been thirty years or more since the occupant of the Capital Journal sanctum studied grammar. He must have used a textbook that Is now very much out of date, for he writes such a sentence as this: "The man who will take his boys and girls to town and teach them to. study the markets they will learn agriculture that Is practi cal and resultful." Presumably that sentence was constructed in accord ance with the rules of grammar con tained In textbooks in use when Hofer was a boy, but If any sixth-grade pupil In the Salem public schools to day should write such a sentence, he or she would be In overwhelming dis grace. Yes, there has been an Im provement in grammar In one genera tion, for which let us be truly thank ful. It is difficult to resist the tempta tion to discuss the novel idea that tak ing boys and girls to town and teach ing them to study the markets would give them an education In agriculture, but to do so would be a waste of time. Suffice It to say that If by studying markets young people may learn the art and science of agriculture, the college at Corvallls is doing Its stu dents a gross injustice and a whole lot of highly educated farmers are wast ing their time In the produce ex changes of our cities. Some of these plungers in wheat and cotton, who do nothing but study markets, should be able to raise Immense crops if they would but devote their knowledge of agriculture to practical operation of a farm. THE RI.TT RX TO NATURE. We hear a great deal nowadays about returning to nature. Poets and novelists tell us what a good thing It would be to get back to a state where we should be emancipated from the false conventions of society, where women could wear shoes that did not pinch and waists that did not cramp; where men could put on shirts unstiffened by starch or even go without shirts if they liked; and where children could grow up with sound bodies and uncorrupted souls instead of sacrificing both body and soul In the schoolroom for the sake of their minds, a sacrifice all the more deplorable since it accomplishes so little. The common Idea of a "re turn to nature" is the peeling off of the thin veneer of cleanliness, good manners and decent habits which civilization has more or less firmly wrapped about some of Us. That feat accomplished we are to disport ourselves in such native beauty as we happen to possess, the beauty be ing enhanced by dirty nails, long snarly hair and canine yelps in place of conversation. This gospel has been preached be fore and not without results. There was a return to natuVe In the time of Nero. Slenklewiz describes it 'In a popular form in Quo Vadis. The romantic emperor and his comrades used to strip oft their outer Integu ments by the shores of a lovely lake beneath a silvery moon and gaily gambol the night away In dewy glades to the music of groaning martyrs ablaze on pillars. There was another return to nature Just before the French revolution. Rousseau was Its evangelist, and Marie Antoinette with her retinue of dissipated nobles put It 1n practice. Carlyle tells us how the poor creatures, unaware of im pending doom, decked themselves out like shepherds and played their pranks while fate grinned horribly to think what was soon to happen to them. Dr. , Samuel Johnson once made a remark which very well characterizes the return to nature which consists in discarding civiliza tion. Somebody had been telling In his presence how delightful it would be to wander over the wilds with a savage bride free from the cares of politics, religion and clothing. "That Is to say, you want to change men Into cattle," was the spirit' of Johnson's comment. Shakespeare gives a pretty picture of how the return to nature might work out In "As You Like It." The Duke and his companions did their best In that enchanting play to con vince themselves that they were hap pier In the forest of Arden than they had been in their palaces, but It Is noteworthy that at the first oppor tunity they all hied them back to walls and roofs. In our intervals of sanity we have to confess that nature is a very poor model in many partic ulars. What we have laid up dur ing the ages In the way of health, happiness and peace has mostly been gained by defying, thwarting and im proving upon nature. This Is true not only of our domestic existence, but also of the fruits, animals and cereals which we depend upon for sustenance. In every one of thera the farther we get from nature the better the product. Compare the Ortley apple In its luscious perfection with the bitter crab which was the best pomological output of nature. Compare the Norman draught horse with the zebra and the wild ass. Compare the Burbank potato with the insipid little tuber which natural selection ended with, and you will begin to understand how we have benefited by substituting the guidance of reason for that of nature. But In some things we have suf fered. That keenness of sight, hear ing and touch without which the nat ural savage could not survive we have lost because we can live without them: and It is a law of life that everything which ceases to be useful must perish. We were lately In fair way to lose our eyes, our teeth, our ears and even our legs as super fluities. H. Ga Wells has many a hint in his books of the coming man who shall be little better than a soft ball of muscle enclosing a brain. But there Is reason to believe that this entertaining writer Is a false prophet. A return to nature is actually in progress which will make keenness of sight, hearing and touch as essen tial to life as they were In the pri meval forests. We are entering upon a world of electricity, alcohol and gasolene Instead of migrating to ver dant dales and flowery meads. It Is a transformed nature that we are seeking, but It Is nature all the same. We are learning to speed over the earth faster than antelopes, to fly like birds, to swim under water like fishes. This Is going back to nature. 1s It not? But It brings us in touch with her great mysterious forces as well as the trees and animals which were all that our fathers perceived. The human race la moving Into a new environment where perfect senses will again become lndiapensaiilfl to survival. Consider the plight of a man In a flying machine who Is deaf or shortsighted. WThat would become of the automobile driver whose re action time was too long? A new stage In evolution confronts us and we must prepare ourselves for its exigencies by a new education, one which shall aim at the brain through the senses and not through abstrac tions. The ears, the eyes, the hands must be taught, or the individual will find himself helpless In his new en vironment. Thus we can understand the salutary race instinct which Is beginning to throw the emphasis of education upon the muscles, the eye and the ear. It Is striving to produce a being adapted to the altered world where a man with dull . senses cannot survive. TirK NEW SLAVERY. "When the world is completely trustified what a happy place it will be. We can predict the bliss that awaits us because we already enjoy a foretaste of it. There is, for ex ample, the razor blade trust which forbids us to sharpen safety blades when they become dull; and the shoe machine trust, which compels every shoe manufacturer first to pay the full price of his machinery for a license to use it, and then charges him an exorbitant rent forever. It sells nothing and rents everything, a pleasant habit which Is growing among the trusts. Presently the mill ing trust will rent each sack of flour instead of selling It. and every con sumer will be obliged to Incur a debt which can never be discharged for his daily bread. Of course, if the flour Is only leased to him, he must pay rent upon it even after he eats it up. It is surprising that our eco nomic masters have not already thought of this effective way of en slaving us even more thoroughly than hitherto. Considering the number of trusts which have their probosces fixed in our bodies and are vigorously suck ing blood, it Is comforting to see that Councilnian Cottel has plucked up courage to attack one of the most ferocious of the horde. May good fortune guide the arrows which he shoots at the plumbing banditti and may none of them miss their mark. If he should succeed In cleaning out the predatory plumbers, posterity will decree him a golden statue and future poets will chant hymns to his glory. Like many other trusts that of the plumbers is founded on a fool ish law. There is a city ordinance which 1n effect, forbids a man to re pair his own water pipes. He must have It done under the magic -supervision of a master plumber. This, of course, delivers the public over to the trust handcuffed and shackled. But to make sure of their prey the freebooters have bullied every dealer In plumbing materials Into' such ab ject submission that not one of them dares to sell a foot .of pipe or a wrench or a basin to a man who cannot show the sign of the beast on his forehead. Is it not a' lovely condition? Talk about slavery! The negro slaves were rampant freemen compared with the citizens of Port land. A STRANGE REPORT. The resolutions committee of the Trans-Misslssippl Congress has done the exact opposite of what one would have expected from an enlightened body of men. It has recommended ship subsidies and refused to recom mend the parcels post. Of course a person who favors ship subsidies Is not necessarily actuated by corrupt motives, but if he has not some pri vate ax to grind it is pretty certain that he Is densely ignorant of eco nomics. The ostensible object of ship subsidies is to build up a merchant marine; but the history of commerce shows unmistakably that they have never accomplished this purpose. Subsidized merchant fleets have flour ished, but it has always been In spite of grants from the state and never because of them. The usual effect of subsidies has been to pauperize the shipping industry and blight maritime Initiative. The perpetual wail that It Is a National disgrace to have our ma rine freight carried in foreign ships and that we ought to hand over a dozen millions to the shipping trust to induce that patriotic body to build a fleet is too imbecile for contempt. In the first place, the cry that our shipping trade Is carried in foreign vessels Is disingenuous. Many of the vessels engaged In the Atlantic trade are owned in America; but they have been purchased abroad and" our In sane navigation laws therefore forbid them to fly the Stars and Stripes. Hence they pass for foreign vessels. A $10,000,000 subsidy could not make them a particle more American than they are, but a change in the naviga tion laws would make their status more honest. Their millionaire own ers could not decently clamor for a subsidy on the ground that maritime freight is being transported in for eign bottoms, in the second place, if foreign nations are willing to subsi dize their ships in order that they may carry our goods cheaply, it would seem to be the part of common sense to bid them godspeed. The bigger the subsidies are the cheaper our goods will ride, the lower we can sell them In Europe and the wider our markets will be. Why anybody should ask the American people to tax them selves for the mere satisfaction of having the shipping trust carry their goods Is beyond comprehension unless the person who does the asking ex pects to get a share of the tax. But it Is the hostility of the resolu tions committee to the parcels post which excites most amazement. In modern times the parcels post has be come a prime necessity of civilization. The rapid advance of Germany to the front rank among nations has been largely due to the rapid and cheap Internal freight transportation which the Government has provided through the postoffice. In the United States it has been years since any dis interested person has opposed the parcels post. Hostility to it has ex isted, of course, and has been power ful enough ' to prevent the country from obtaining it, but the hostility has been notoriously unpatriotic It has come largely from the express compa nies, which cling to their privilege of charging from three to ten times what the service they render is worth. These greedy and conscienceless mo nopolies have also stirred up the country storekeepers to oppose the parcels post, but they could not have done it if they had not appealed to the most short-sighted selfishness. In a brief time the parcels post would double the profits of the rural stores. but the express trust has succeeded in making the merchants believe that It would ruin them. - Its actual effect In this country, Just as in Geramny, would be to develop rural Industry, Increase the country population, and create Increased demand for goods. throughout the territory which the village stores serve. The express trust loudly proclaims that this de mand would go to the cities for sup plies, but it Is not so. - Mr. Meyer's plan for a parcels post gives' every advantage to the country trader over the city mail-order house, - and his custom would Increase while that of the department stores would fall off. But even If the parcels post would ruin every country merchant In the land, we still ought to have It, be cause where one man would be in jured ten thousand would be bene fited. The profit of a small group of Individuals ought not to be allowed to outweigh the welfare of all the rest of the Nation. The great social demand of the present day is for the improve ment of the environment of rural life. The New York conference of charities has declared that the only effective uplift we can ever hope for must be gin among the farmers. Mr. Roose velt has exhorted and preached for years on the betterment of rural con ditions, and now he has appointed a commission of eminent men to see what can be done about its Every body agrees that the weal or woe of the country's future depends upon keeping the country districts populat ed with a happy and Intelligent race. But people will be neither happy nor Intelligent without facile access to markets both to buy and to sell. Lack of communication makes men sordid, stupid and restless. In pro portion as country homes are Isolated men flee from them and migrate to town. It Is evident, then, what an important' part the parcels post must play in the future of our civilization. It would hardly be too much to say that the welfare of the country Inti mately depends upon it. And know ing all this, the resolutions committee of the Trans-Mississippi Congress re ports against the parcels post. What a broad-minded, statesmanlike com mittee it must be! HAND AND BRAIN. It has been said "by observant critics that Americans more than any other people In the world despise manual labor. Their conclusion probably overstates the fact, but certainly there Is something queer In the won der we all feel when a person who might be idle decides to go to work with his hands. It is reported that astonished crowds followed young Roosevelt from the wool factory where he has taken a job to his dwell ing when he went to lunch, and then dangled gaping after him again as he walked back to work. The phenom enon of the President's son making himself useful In the world was be yond their comprehension. It was to them as if a horse had begun to de vour flesh or a whale had taken a promenade up Fifth avenue. Yet it Is no new thing In the world for the sons of eminent persons to learn trades. Scions of the German royal family do It as a matter of course and nobody is surprised. Sen sible people recognize that the educa tion of the hand is as Important as that of the brain. Unless a man's muscles are properly trained by ac tual use, a large portion of his brain lies fallow. We see this only too plainly In the case of our American professional men. Having studiously shunned muscular work in the days of their youth, they reach manhood with no adequate sense of reality. They dwell among the shadows of things, mistaking ghosts for living bodies, preferring fine-spun theories to actualities, and basing their rea soning upon airy abstractions instead of concrete facts. This Is very no ticeable among clergymen, whose en tire training deals with words and verbal subtleties and eschews the con crete entirely. It Is also true of lawyers. In their education scien.ee plays but a trifling part if it appears at all, and as for muscular training, in the sense of work, it Is avoided altogether. Here lies the reason why our courts of Jus tice deal so much with theoretical technicalities and so little with the merits of the cases which come before them. Their education has deprived them of the power to distinguish be tween the real and the delusive, be tween the abstract 'and the concrete. They have lost touch with things and dwell in a world of mental figments. It is safe to say that if every Judge In the United States had spent live or six years in a wool factory, as young Roosevelt will, or had taken a tnor ough laboratory course In natural sci ence combined with manual training, Mr. C. P. Connolly's article about the finicky follies of the courts in last week's Collier's would never have been written. . COLONEL STEWART. No doubt Colonel Stewart is a dis agreeable man and a disturber of harmony. In a private station he can indulge his cantankerousness with less diminution of the general weal than he could If he prolonged his connection with the Army. Still It la not very long till next December, when in the natural course of things he would be promoted and retired. The Army has endured the Impossible Colonel for a great while without se rious Injury to Its morale and one would imagine It could put up with him for a month or two more. To be sure the medical examining board finds that he Is afflicted with a dan gerous form of heart disease, but since he haa lived under this hang ing sword for 34 years, according to the doctors themselves, it Is not likely to "fall Immediately. Nor is Colonel Stewart's blind eye, harmful as It must be to his manly beauty, any more of a military Impediment than it has been any time this last ten years. Why fasten upon it now and make It a cause for the man's semi disgraceful retirement. The great Hannibal had but one eye. It Is Incredible that there Is not a good reason, for the dislike which seems to be universal in the Army toward Colonel Stewart. He must be an extremely disagreeable person. But even a disagreeable man Is en titled to Justice. We do not mean to Imply that Colonel Stewart Is likely to be treated with Injustice, and yet one could wish that there had been less .semblance of persecution In his case. The Army is an Institution which Inevitably fosters a tyrannical disposition In those who belong to it. The rules which govern the relations between man and man in civil life do not extend to the military sphere. There it is peremptory command and unquestioning obedience, while in civil life command is superseded by persuasion and obedience Is modified by individual traits. Colonel Stewart seems to be a person In whom the military habit of thought has pro duced its most - unpleasant fruits. Perhaps in Judging him it might have j been as well to admit something of the plea which Brutus made to Cas sius and blame the man's heredity rather than himself. Dr. Cottel, Councilman from the fifth ward, will have the sympathy and moral support of many thousand property-owners In his effort to smash the monopoly of Portland's plumbing business. How he will be able to attack It successfully by leg islative means Is problematical. It extends from the smallest shop and the smallest dealer in supplies, through the chain of Jobbers and wholesalers to the manufacturers. Under the prevailing "shut-out" sys tem the man who builds a house is helpless. Likewise is the householder who needs the most minor repairs. To pay for six hours' time mostly wasted for a fifteen-minute job is a standing burden. The plumbing trust Is so firmly entrenched that It can't be scared into reasonableness. If Dr. Cottell can frame an effective or dinance and "put it onto" the defiant master plumbers, he will be hailed as a public benefactor. Over one hundred La Grande busi ness men visited the Wallowa County fair at Wallowa, Or., Friday, a spe cial train over the new road taking them to the present terminus of the Wallowa branch of the O. R. & N. Extension of this road means much to the entire Grand .Ronde country, as well as to Portland. Next year, or at least by 1910, It will be possible to attend the Tillamook County fair by rail, and possibly the Coos Bay carnival. The remote regions of Ore gon are slowly but surely drawing together, and when we are connected up by rail throughout the length and breadth of the state, there will begin a period of wonderful growth in both city and country. Mr. Bryan is a man of many parts. At Streator, 111., on Friday, he an nounced himself as "an advance agent of prosperity." The manner In which money, the most potent factor in prosperity, scurries to cover whenever there Is any fear of the success of this advance agent has made him famous. This advance agent is this year carrying a different line of sam ples from those he put before the people in previous compaigns, but the former exhibits were so unsatisfactory that there will be hardly any great rush for the new ones he is now carrying. Prosperity will arrive as soon as Mr. Bryan gets out of the way. Assuming that many thousands of voters throughout the state lied when they went to register, calling them selves Republicans when they were not and swore to the lie to clinch it, our Democratic brethren have been entertaining high hopes of carrying Oregon for Bryan. But the recent registration, when there could be no incentive for lying, as it is assumed there was last Spring, shows two Re publicans to one Democrat. Some observers there are who may be at a loss to account for this. Suppose they put the problem up to Alex Sweek. Maybe Senator Milt Miller might help to solve it. The Government penitentiary on McNeil's Island must be an attractive place of residence,, or else Mr. Tony Gallagher has peculiar Ideas regard ing pride. " Having no money with which to pay his fine, he declines to sign an application for his freedom for the reason that it would be an admission of his poverty, and he Is too proud to admit that he Is poor. It would occur to most men that a protracted stay In the penitentiary Is not much more desirable than the pain of admitting poverty. Judge Neterer, of the Belllngham Superior Court, told the Washington club women he hoped the day will come when "the law will require the prospective bride and bridegroom to present a certificate of proficiency In childralslng before the ceremony may be performed." That Is when pedi gree will count and we will have an American Herd Book to back it up. Some Judges, however, may be barred for foolishness. The Sunday river excursion season is over, but the trolley cars take the city man far afield, where Autumnal changes of leaf and blade rest the eye tired of brick and stone. The town may be closed, but the country Is wide open to the lover, of nature. It is to be hoped that those Detroit baseball fans who waited at the gates all night, so as to buy the first tick ets, got their money's worth. Their team made six runs, which was great, except that Chicago made a few more. The Bryan papers are especially bitter towards Hearst for organizing a party and nominating a candidate for President. Why? Isn't this a free country? Don't the people rule? Can't anyone run for President? Honest banks may be forced out of business by law, but they can't be forced to carry reckless or dishonest banks. It concerns careful depositors as much as it concerns careful bankers. If Portland had the Gresham spirit, as shown at the little county fair now being held, there would have been an attendance of 60,000 every day the Pacific National was running. Pendleton has ordained that cur tains, screens and other obstructions of view shall be removed from its near-saloons. So the blind pig can see and be seen, we suppose. The medical school inspector of Portland who did not know a flea bite from the itch should take a post graduate course in California, where they have 'em. You don't have to pronounce those Balkan names. Just growl a little and bark and everybody will think you're a real authority on wars, and war clouds. The few firms buying all the Ore gon hops at 7 and 8 cents will be able to resell at 15 cents "if things go right." After election, of course. Detroit will probably go down to fame as the city with a ball team Chicago had to defeat in order to win that pennant. 13 t-van lj following In Taft's foot steps and has won Missouri back al ready. Solid South comes next. Haskell is still writing. But the procession has moved on. There are no birds in last year's nests. Let us have rain. BOOTiS & Mil'RIiJr-r BY JOSEPH M. QUENTIN. HENRY JAMES Is again complaining of lack of appreciation from his fel low Americans. The laRt time he was over from England he was a guest at a swell Philadelphia hotel noted for freez ing exclusiveness. and he thought that the attaches treated even him with frig idity. Becoming desirous afterward to find out what were the impressions left of him at the said hotel, Mr. James wrote to a mutual friend about the matter. And this Is the gist of the letter re ceived the other day by the author of "Daisy Miller" and "Portrait of a Lady": "I find that you were reported as hav ing paid your bills promptly, but two housemaids complain of what they call your fussiness. One maid says: 'Mr. James is a very flnnicky gentleman." The other girl's story is: " 'I could not please him. however much I tried. Mr. James caught ma using one of his razors one morning to pry open a stiff window, and he talked awful. Some folk hate a bit o' fresh air. No, I never read any of his books. But say, does he write any?" " a a a I wonder how long our memories will be kept green? Longer, surely, than the memory of the great Thomas Carlyle la kept In hiq own native land. The story comes from Edinburgh that a Boston girl recently visited, that city to borrow some of its literary color, and confidently ex pected to find the natives quoting Burns and J. M. Barrie by heart. Accosting a big policeman, the artless Boston tour ette inquired the location of Thomns Car lyle's house. "Which CiirlyleT" asked the polloa man. "Thomas Carlyle." "What's his trader" "He was a writer but he's dead." The big policeman pondered a min ute, and then stolidly said: "Well. miss. If the man has been dead, say five years, there's little chance of finding anything about him in a big city like this." a a a Rudyard Kipling attended a reception, to London newspaper men the other day, and one veteran scribe was Introduced to him as "one who could quote more of your poetry than any ten men In the British empire." "Do they allow him?" asked Kipling, as he shook hands. e a a The new crop of Fall novels and new books generally shows signs of harvest. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle announces the near publication of a sheaf of "Round the Fire" stories, weird tales for wintry nights. From London comes the news that H. A. Vatchell Is to publish a study of char acter entitled "The Waters of Jordan" and that Marriott Watson will be repre sented in "The Golden Precipice." a story of a treasure hunt. Other new bills for public favor in fiction are W. H. Mallock's new eaovel. "An Immortal Soul," and Miss Rosmond Langbridge's "Imperial Richenda." One new book of notable Interest will be "The Journal of Lady Elizabeth Hol land," which Lord Ilchester has edited and which Longmans are to publish. The Journal opens in the year 1791 and ends in 1811. Lady Holland, from all that Creville, Sydney Smith, Macauley and others have related about her, had a sharp tongue and was quite a leader In. public opinion so much so that curi osity is aroused to read the thoughts she left. a a a An authorized biography of Madame Melba. the opera star, and written by Miss Agnes Murphy. Is announced. Melba personally contributes several chapters relating to the art of music and sing ing as a profession. a a a "The Memoirs of Comte De Rambur reau" will be welcomed for the varied lights It sheds on the old French aris tocracy and the character of Napoleon the Great a . a a . "Egypt and Its Monuments," bearing the name of Robert Hichens, of "The Garden of Allah" fame, is one of the big Illustrated art books of the Fall season. The illustrations are from paint ings by Jules Guerln. The story re cently appeared in serial form. a a A freak book Is "The Whole Family," written by one dozen authors, from William Dean Howells to Henry James, and as the names of the authors are concealed for the present. It will be a great game of who's who? e a . a "The Witching Hour," a novel based upon his successful play of that name, will be out in a few days. And so will Hamlin Garland's "The Shadow World," which lately appeared serially In Every body's Magazine. a a a The Harpers announce , two superb holiday editions of "The Chariot Race from Ben Hur." Illustrated In colors by Slgismond Ivanowski. and "Lorna Doune," with a biographical and histor ical introduction by H. Snowden Ward and 60 illustrations of the wild Exmoor country, by Mrs. Ward. a a a Mr. Howell's "Roman Holidays" will be Issued early next week, along with "Magazine Writing and the New Litera ture," by Henry Mills Alden, the veteran editor of Harper's Monthly. a a a "The Meal Ministry," a new volume by Dr. Herrlck Johnson, of Chicago, is being well received as a standard authority on preaching. a a a The author of "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cab bage Patch" haa written a new novel, "Mr. Opp," which will run serially tnrougn vciiiuij an.u a tui tion of next year. Another new feature in that magazine will be Augustus Saint Gaudens' autobiography. Judd Watkins. Chicago Record-Herald. Old Judd Watkins is a man seldom haJ anything to say; Sits around' and sometimes amlles in a klni of fcnowln way; Lets the other fellers talk, ahowln all thall foolishness. He'd make silly speeches, too. If ha alwayt talked, I guess. , . People think lie's mighty wiaa Just becausi he often sneers At mistakes his neighbors make and tht foolish things he hears. Others glibly rattle on; ho just sets ad nods his head, Makin' no remarks himself, hearln' it that's ever said. Old Judd Watkins seldom speaks; peopK think he knowa a lot: Mebby he is Just as wise as he seems, ant mebby not; Still, I guess it's not for ma to set up n loud conplaint. He's no fool that makes folks think ba'B 1 wise hijlu when, ha sia'w