184 THE VVEf
THE WEST SHORE,
Illustrated,
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PORTLAND, OKKGON.
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SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1891.
It would seem as though the Italians of San Francisco were in undue
haste to avow their sympathy with the New' Orleans assassins who were so
summarily disposed of. If they were half as eager to proclaim their abhor
ranee of assassination and to convince the people that they do not approve the
bloody work of the Mafia, they would stand better in the estimation of honor
able citizens.
Even such a slight incident as the Mafia affair in New Orleans must
0en the eyes of those who agree with the sockless philosopher of Kansas
that the army and navy should be abolished. Suppose Italy should be a
little contrary in this matter, and persist in seeing in it an insult to the Italian
nation, which must be atoned for by an abject apology and the payment ol
damages, and should send a Heel of her splendid war vessels to convince us
of the strength, if not the justice, of her cause ? The grasshopper statesman
could, of couise, retire to the wilds of Kansas, and be safe, but there are
millions of people and billions of dollars' worth of property that can not thus
easily " Are from the wrath to come." It is questionable whether a genuine
war scare, one that would literally make us tremble in our boots, would not
be a blessing to the c ountry. It would retire into obscurity those hayseed
statesmen of interior states who assert that we must have perpetual peace,
even it we sacrifice the property of the seacoast states to get it, as well as
those spreiuhtagle declaimeri who think the great Yankee nation can whip all
creation without anything with which to do the job. Doth demagogy and
buiKomb vi mild disnpK ar like shadows before the sun, were a few war vessels
to pay ut a visit with hostile intent.
Keen and brilliant as Secretary Maine undoubtedly is, he is gradually
becoming worstrd in his diplomatic correspondence with the British premier,
Indeed, little else couM be exiectcd. Hlaine's position is untenable, and
snphrstries and rhetorical pyrotechnics can not sustain it when tested by the
cold, pulseless standard of international law. It is obvious that the United
Stairs can hot mainiain its claim to exclusive jurisdiction in Hchring sea, even
lor the simple puiie of protecting fur seals, and the sooner Mr. Blaine
admits this fact, which he must know he will be comellcd to admit in the
end, and seels (r some means for joint protection of this valuable animal by
the I' lilted Slatrs, England, Germany, Russia and any other nation interested,
tlie better it will be for the sealing industry, which, beyond question, is suffer
ing seriously from the present method of capturing seals in the open sea.
Such an agreement should be entered into temporarily, to contiuue during the
time of the pending arbitration. But three months will elapse before the
slaughter in llrhring sea will begin, and if the work this season shall show
the same disastrous c fleet claimed for that of last, and as the sealing fleet is
largrr than ever it doubtless will, it is of the utmost importance that some
adequate protective measures should be taken. This can only be done by
mutual agreement lift wren the governments interested, and the longer Mr.
Maine lrniHiriirs the greater will become the evil he is ostensibly seeking to
correct.
In the great citrus fair now in progress in Los Angrlrs and the one re
cently held in Marysville the people of California trach thrir northern breth
ren a uselul lesson in the art of promoting the interests of the fruit industry.
What our fruit needs most is reputation, and this it can only get through the
self assertion of its producers. Oregon and Washington nomologists must
change from a jussive to an aggressive policy 1 they must proclaim aloud with
ceaseless voice the superior merits of their product, When this has been
r SHORE.
done a sufficient length of time Oregon fruit will not sneak into the back door
of the eastern market, to be sold as California fruit and add to the reputation
of that state, but will boldly enter in its own name and claim what is justly
due it. At every county and state fair and city exhibition there are a few
plates of apples and pears, a score or two of bunches of grapes hanging from
a string and some boxes of dried prunes. This is by courtesy denominated
a choice display of fruit. How utterly insignificant it is, and how powerless
to create the proper impression of the fruit industry, can only be realized by
one who has seen or investigated one of these wonderful citrus displays made
in California, where thousands of oranges, lemons and other fruits are used
in constructing the most beautiful and elaborate designs. Portland will have
another great exposition this fall, and in no direction could it expand beyond
its former somewhat contracted limits to better advantage than to arrange for
a grand pomological display. Besides adding a new and interesting feature
to the exposition it would attract such attention to fruit culture here as would
give it an impulse never before known.
The recent election in Canada, while it proved that the feeling of loyalty
to the interests and desires of the mother country is still strong enough to
carry the dominion in a popular election, still serves to emphasize the fact that
Canada has arrived at a state of development where this feeling is simply a
septiment, and one of steadily decreasing vitality. Such a country, an empire
in extent and possessing vast and varied resources, must, as it develops, ac
quire interests and desires antagonistic to those of another country from which
it is separated by an ocean of space and an infinity of varied conditions and
necessities. Equally true, if not more so, is this the case with the Australian
provinces, still further removed by time, distance and interests from the moth
er country. It is inevitable that both these, the farthest advanced politically
and intellectually of the dependencies of Great Brittain, must sever the bond
that now unites them to the mother country and confines them within a lim
ited sphere of action. Unlike the case of our own country, this cutting loose
will doubtless be done peaceably and with the quiet submission of the home
government to what it must consider inevitable. With dependencies scat
tered over the face of the earth Great Britain has a difficult task keeping them
in the leading strings, and can only do it where the dependency is insignifi
cant, as in Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, etc., or where bayonets are the crutch
es upon which the royal authority leans, as in India. John Bull, as a goose
herd, endeavoring to keep his flock within bounds with his crook, finds his
work grows in difficulty as his fowls grow in strength and understanding, and
the time is rapidly approaching when the crook will be woefully insufficient to
the task.
It is unreasonable to expect that foreigners, both within and without the
United States, and especially Italians, will view the New Orleans incident
with the same eyes as Americans. To us it was only a popular protest
against the existence in their midst of a society of assassins so powerful as to
be able to defy the law and corrupt those charged with its administration.
Such a condition of affairs can not be permitted in any community, and the
people of New Orleans took the only course open to them. In this there is
no race prejudice, any further than the natural prejudice that must grow out
of the fact that this murder society was composed of men of one nationality.
Had the Mafia been an Irish, German or even American organization, the
result would have been the same. Nearly all the ills, social, political and
industrial, from which this country suffers, have come to it in the emigrant
ship, and they will continue to increase and intensify so long as unrestricted
immigration be permitted. The incident contains a sermon on the subject ol
immigration that should carry conviction to every careless mind in the country;
but it is to be feared that the sermons from life are forgotten almost as quick
ly as those of the pulpit. We often say that eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty," but we woefully neglect to apply it. The American people are
far from vigilant in the preservation of thrir liberties and institutions. They
submit patiently to misgovernment, political corruption and miscarriage of jus
tice until a crisis is reached, and then they rise in their might and put it down,
only to relapse into the same state of seeming indifference. It will take some
thing more than surgical operations of the New Orleans kind to cure the body
politic of its ills. The country needs a course of hygienic treatment, one of
the first principles of which should embrace a radical change ol the substances
taken into its system through Castle garden. No nation can take into its sys
tem the material constantly entering ours and not degenerate in its political,
nior.d and social status. ,
It you want traa trip to tha Yallowttona Park, road thaeondl- Attention la called to "Pualewlta" and "Poet, of th p.ifia
tlonaonPagalWtJ, Coatt" 8e Page, too and 197. ,r