WEST SHORE.
An IUuttrated Journal publiihtd entry Saturday by the Wat Shore Publuhng
Company, Portland, Urtgon.
I SAMUEL, Oenorul Manuger.
SubKriptioH Price, 00 per Year. Single Copy, 10 Centt.
Portltnd Offlct,
Ipokint Falls Office,
Ntw York Offlct,
171 Second 8lrrt.
3Ealt Miin 8trl.
TrlbuM BuHdiog.
Th WilT Ihori offer the Best Medium for Advertiser, of any
' publication on the Paolflo Coatt.
Intone! to Ikt FoH Offln in Portland, Onto, or (ranmlHim (Arose fit maili at
Mcond clam rattt.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1801.
Shall we have a state flower? California has adopted the beautiful em
blem shown on the drat page, and the- states of the northwest ahould each
elect from the flora of their plains, moantaina and forests some fitting and
beautiful emblem. Wiht Biiori cilia upon the lovers of nature to express
their Tiewa on tliia aubject, and deacribe the flowtra each would have for
the state In which the writer Uvea. Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Mon
tana should each choose a floral emblem of It own. In these columns will
be produced engravings of the flowers receiving the greatest endorsement
from the varioua atatea, and an opportunity will then be given to all to vote
on the aubject. If 70a know a flower native of your state and in other
ways deserving of apecial honor aa It emblem, write about it. A full and
enthusiastic expression of views and preferences is invited.
Ingalls Is in gall and wormwood Just now.
The wisdom of childhood ia laughable, but the laugh of age Is wisdom.
The American Federation of Labor has wisely decided not to Join the
third party movement of Powderly and the farmers' alliance.
tk l,n hive read and admired that great poem, "The Light of
J'Ztto Arnold'' ? Tt' "5",W
1 . W 1 l will he published in this country on the sixteenth of Feb
; l e ; d I has sl,on the buutie, of tbe Chn,tiM W igioa
fu iy M b. did thU of Buddhism, Christianity will (ram much by h
"bore. The volume will doubtless have a remarkable sale.
A portage road around the cascades will not open the Columbia to traf
fic farther than The Dalles, and the greatest portion of the producing coun
ry to ha lx-uefi.ed lies above that point. A echeme to be practicable
should include some means of opening the upper river as well. It congress
be depended upon to do this, relief will come no sooner than if we wait for
the casc ades canal to be completed. The portage at the cascade. I a good
thing and will relieve The Dalles and tributary country, but the larger re
gion beyond calls loudly for help.
Oregon is peculiarly blessed in a chief executive who is opposed to all
new-fangled notions; who believes the machinery of government prepared
for a handful of people is adequate to rule a multitude ; who feels confident
of his ability to manage all things himself j who believes that because na
ture clothed this region with forests it should so remain-wlth the excep
tion of enough logs to run his saw mill ; who sees the life-giving tide of im
migration and capital flowing by and will not open the gates to let it in;
who, in fact, can see nothing in the future for his state, but a great deal for
himself.
Oregon enjoys the distinction of being the only state to import European
song birds. Two years ago a large number of skylarks, bullfinches, chaf
finches, goldfinches, linnets, nightingales, blackheaded nightingales, starl
ings, song thrushes, black thrushes and singing quails were brought from
Germany and turned loose. They have increased rapidly and demonstrated
that the scheme is a success. This spring 1,000 more will be imported. The
legislature will pass an act protecting these foreign and native song birds
and their nests. Such actions as this make us realize that there is some
thing in life besides the selfish struggle for gain.
Kupertnlendent Porter ia a very busy man. He find the job of prov
ing hla census worth anything a great deal harder than the work of taking
It.
Those who have thought but lightly, or not at all, of the persecution of
the Jewa in Russia, are advised to read Mr. Cohen's address, on another
pan
The Pennoyer boom resembles smoke. It started very dense all in one
place, but as It rises it spreads out and gets thinner and thinner the farther
It goes. .
Winter has but a few days more to put in an appsarance, or the case
will go agalnat him by default. Already the aweet violet are blooming In
tli garden.
If senator drop into poetry on appropriation bills, what a flood of mel
ody may be looked for when the mortgage tax law cornea up. There will
be music In the air,
II tli Oregon legislature fall to pas an adequate world's fair bill, every
member voting against It will b filled with vain regret in 181)3, when hi
eye are opened to the light he now persistently refuse to ave.
Willi tli monkey and parrot at Helena hare stopped a few days to
take breath and an Inventory of lost feather and hair, the pot and kettle
at Olympla have entered upon a campaign of criticism of each other's com
plexions, Th Immunity from snow storms and billiards anjyed by tli Missis
sippi valley this winter 1 credited to tli fanner' alliance having assumed
charge of tverythlng , Meanwhil tli deluded gold bug of tli Atlantic
Slate are being battered by Old Korea moat unmercifully.
Purely, th least tli legislature ran do In response to tli almost unani
mous dsmand for consolidation Is to pas th bill and let th cities vote on
the question. Neither city bonds nor charter should b imposed upon a
city by tli legislature direct, but should always be subject to approval by
ballot, taxpayer only being tllglhl to vol on tli question,
Wist mom Word ContMt oIom January 31. Th name of
prli winner will be .nnounoed next week.
The movement on foot in the house for calling a constitutional conven
tion for Oregon meets with the approval of every citizen who realizes how
the state is retarded in its development by a constitution framed to meet
the exigencies of 'entirely different social, commercial and industrial condi.
tions. We need a modem constitution, The only reasonable objection to
the framing of a new one is the fear that the tendency of the day to put
legislation into constitutions will be too strong to be resisted, and that tem
porary " Isms " will be engrafted upon the organic act of the state. This
danger Is a real one, and calls for vigilance on the part of those who would
prevent it,
The Australian ballot bill baa passed the house and been amended
in the senate. If the senate had kept its hands off, we would have a
law that would deal a death blow to political corruption and bos role In
Portland. But that la too much to expect, where the interest in changing
it is so great. Under the pretext of purifying the primaries an attempt is
made to draw its sting, . Friends of purity of elections will oppose all
efforts to tinker with this bill. Under its provisions the primaries lose
much of their importance, since it is easy for any set of, men who object to
Die manner in which a nomination has been secured to have an opposing
candidate's name placed on the official ballot, where trickery can not affect
it and where it will be as prominent and as easily voted lor as that of the
corruptly secured nominee. Give us the law just as it is, without one word
added or taken away, and the cause of genuine relorm will have gained a
lasting victory.
The visit of the legislative committee to the cascades to examine the
condition ol work on the locks hu revealed two things, viii The work is
being done in a most thorough manner, and under the moat favorable con
ditions possible it will take four years more to complete it. In view of these
facta it become an interesting question what the state ahould do aboot It,
Certainly it should do nothing to interfere with the progress of th work,
nor anything that will have a tendency to cause congress to delay still more
Hie necessary appropriations. It ia equally certain that the conditions of
transportation must be changed before the four years have passed that are
set as the earliest p mible limit of completion, or the eight years which our
experience teaches ns will bs the actual time cansumed. W can not en
dure the present aituaUon even four years longer without a loss ten time
" u' e0" Cmporary measure of relief. Portage railroads
built jointly by Oregon and Washington, can supply a measure of relief un-
of Tl,h-"iI TrltV 01 verM 0,lled th department
of Poet ol the Paclflo Coat," on page 7.