THE WEST SHORE. Vol. 10. Portland, Oregon, December, 1884. No. 12. ESTABLISHED 187S. THE WEST SIIOHK. An lllutrnttit Journal of Gmtrol Information, demlnl to Ike deiWupmrnl of ine ureal n off. fliilwoription price, per annum ( go (n Tii funuim ouiuitriuH. incliultim bontjum ' .m BtrHcie oupim Hulworiptinn onn bo torwiinlwl hy redinUipud lottor or portal onlur nt our rink. riMtmwitdni ana Mown AwtnU will rantire ubnorlptiiuui at almve raku. U SAMIIKL, rubllalier, m Front 81., ir. WaahliiKton, Portland, Or. Pnm TABLH OF CONTKNTS, Pnirn Atmiont Wood EnwraTing 87 Jiiilxinit of Dinliinon 1 audio Huiwratiliiin Hit Mmmlain Mnlwim: A Miilnunmor i iiriinniiiityor i-,vnt Hdimro xa " Kn-y Come, baayUo" 71 Piwicullur In China nmioriai... a1 to im llnniinmowim f I'inniwr Daya. Ilia Duly Flint 4im Tim Fly anil llio Clink Imlx Ui Volume 111, 1IW Oil Voyaini of Bir Frnnoia llrnka ,. ILLUSTRATIONS. Pnira P-mi Atlnntici jhI Mornliiit. Noon and Nixlit IM Ai tli MarkoL M Now Year' Uravtinn Cliriatmna Ureetiug S7!V I'limHo 7 LuiUfinga fx Tumpiu Fuait tin A IllltO X fill tllla IMnurrMlih lllilltimlM Hint vmir utiMtirliill.tn mm. plroa Willi tllla liuilllMr. I'limaa milaw at olico. Reference to the index given in the current nuinW of The West Siiohe will show .what a multitude of topics have boon described and illustrated during the year. Complete volumes lor 1884 or 188.1, IhmiuI Willi paper cover, are now ready. Upon receipt of 12, either will be sent to any address, postage free, or both for $.'1, One dosiring information of this region will find the money well invested. The large saw mills on Pugnt Sound are again r mi lling on full time and being worked up to their full capacity for ten hours daily. Hanson's Mill, at Tacoina, is turning out 225,000 feet daily, the Berkeley Mill 212,000, and others in proportion. More vessels have boon chartered during the past two months than ever before during the same poriod. Sixteen vessels cleared at Port Townsend for foreign wrts in October, carrying cargoes of lumber aggregating $109,559 in value Kevivaf of octivity in the lumber trade will make times easier on the Sound, and must have a beneficial influence through out the whole Northwest The West Siiohe will enter its eleventh year with the January number. Its history has been one of steady progress toward greater excellence, and at no period have the improvements boon so marked bs during the year just closed. The volume for 1885 will bn far stijx). rior to its predecessors in evory particular. As an illus trated journal, giving valuable information alxmt the Great West, and original engravings of its scenory, cities and industries, The West Siiohe occupies the field un challenged; and as a clean, wholesome illustrated family magazine, it has no equal at the same low subscription prioe. 8pecial attention is called to the index for 1884 in this number. "EASY GOME, EASY OO." So ofUm has it been used in that connection, and so expressive is it, that the mind instinctively associates this trite aphorism with some homily on the subject of economy; but, urgent as is the need of impressing upon our people tho advantages of frugality, tomornuoo and moderation in expenditures during these times of finan cial depression, it serves, in this instance, to introduce a few thoughts on an entirely different topic -the subject of divorce. Our laws aro Un flexible, and our courts construe them too liberally. It has of lute become thn tendency to look iixm marriage simply as n contract to lie ontered into lightly, and to bn nullified for any of n sooro of general causes, each of which has many sub divisions; and it is to be regretted that such it is rapidly becoming in the popular estimation. Contracts are agreements between parties for the performance of some specific act, which may at any time Is) annulled by the mutual ailment of thn contracting parties, except in cer tain instances where thn rights of others are nlTocted; not so with marriage; and this constitutes its chief distinction from a civil contract The institution of marriage is thn foundation of society. Were it but a contract, to lie entered into carelessly by any one, no matter how unfit to sustain thn married relation, mid dissolvable at pleas, uro by tho contracting parties or by thn simple formal application to the courts, it would certainly lie an unstable foundation upon which to IntiM. To hold otherwise would Is) to subscrilin at once t the d'Sitriuo of "natural selection" rts advocate! by certain free love communities which have established themselves in some of our great commonwealths. Good government has it sent in thn virtue of the siple governml. Thoro can Iw no moral government for an immoral jsioplo, no honest adminis tration of laws for a issipln who are dishonest, mid who choose, from their own numlior those who shall make and execute them. Therefore, for the pruttwtiou of society, for tho preservation of that msiial morality which forms the essence of good government it is necessary that thn institution of marriage bo considered as higher thnn a mere contract that it shall Im regulated by law; that unfit oorsons should bo denied iU privileges; and that once entered into voluntarily, it should U diflleult to shake off the responsibilities and duties thus asNiuiHKL Yet the same consideration for tho general morality or the ooplo which makes it necessary to elevate and pro. tect tho marriogo relation, equally requires that tho mar riago lie set aside when either jmrty is guilty of such I..- 11.. i.f llm Vi.liitinll All ConillKI as lo reimer urn oiiuii'iii"' n......,1.iri.blo Imrden utsm tho other, or provocation or the very immorality which it Is primarily aupo to prevent That one of average moral imture ami nmu". mcut should l chained to another whoso every thought