THE WEST SHORE.
221
THE FERMENT OF POLITICS.
The political aspirants for Washington's fat offices, who fancied that
everything would become lovely for themselves if they could succeed in secur
ing statehood for men with disfranchisement for women, have learned, since
trying the treasonable experiment, that a graver conundrum than woman suf
frage confronts them now. I gleaned this information from the tone of the
newspapers I perused as a transcontinental train famed me across their state
a few weeks ago, when I seemed to hear, above the rumbling of wheels and
snorts of locomotives, the harsh disclaimers of disgruntled candidates, who
have found themselves, after all their scheming as state makers, stranded help
lessly among the " outs," instead of being safely housed, as they had planned,
among the " ins " of office. I was led to pursue these reflections further as I
found myself lazily ruminating upon mundane matters, with ample leisure
ahead of me for several consecutive days. How evanescent seem the am
bitions of man, as face to face with the majesty of Nature, he spans her
mighty distances and realizes his own pigmy proportions by the prodigious
contrast. And yet, how mighty is man, even in his littleness, since he can
control the elements and compel them to do his bidding, even though he fail to
control his fellow beings !
" You touch a button and we do the rest '' is the mute signal of the elec
tric bell at every elbow j and the sleepy, but obliging, porter literally does all
else for you but the said " button act," as, in the depths of these great moun
tain gorges you allow yourself to be made thoroughly comfortable as you read
the papers on the " installment plan," or gaze, as inclination dictates, upon the
wonderful panorama of your journey, visible from the Pullman windows.
What a ferment of news the Washington papers reveal, to be sure. The
" outs " of office are worse disgruntled than the disfranchised women, for the
latter know that the day of their reinstatement is at hand, and as their cause
is just they can afford to wait. The " ins " sit insecurely in their places, too,
not knowing how soon, or for what reason the wheel of politics may turn back
ward, or stop stock still and dump them overboard, after the manner of a
Chinese irrigating machine, with its leaky buckets and unceasing grind.
As a woman has no voice in governmental matters, that is, outside of
Wyoming, where there is political peace, I feel over this " scrap " a good deal
like the woman who looked on while her husband and a bear were in a fight,
and said she " never did see a light before without caring which whipped."
Yet I can't help getting interested sufficiently to inquire after the " under dog
in the fight," and am cooly informed by two or three gentlemen who have
discussed the matter in my hearing across the aisle, that " nobody can guess
which one of the contestants has the ghost of a chance." Only think of it 1
Those would-be senators, who for long months prior to the legislative efforts
that elected too many of them so there is a surplus stock on hand are now
compelled to see their hopes for a final settlement of their case deferred until
December. So they must wait in helpless expectancy for a decision which,
when made, can only accommodate one of them I What an uncertain trade
is politics, and how like an ignis faluus does it decieve the vast majority of its
pursuers ! And yet, the science of "government ought to be the noblest, as it
is the most far-reaching, science under the sun. Liberty, finance, art, indus
try, invention, literature everything upon which a nation subsists, and all a
mighty people may obtain in the way of intellectual improvement, is based
upon the proper administration of governmental affairs.
But, while we are moralizing thus, the train has spanned the " panhan
dle " and carried us into Montana. Here we see the same general topography
which marked our progress through Washington and Idaho. We note the
growth of her cities, the length of her fences, the character of her public
buildings, the height of her mountains and the vast expanse of her mining
possibilities, and we say, " Surely here is a place where the people are too
busy to wage a relentless war upon each other in the political arena." Hut
the Montana papers come aboard and belie the assumption. The very first
paragraphs we read denote internal broils, quite in keeping with the partisan
ferment of the neighboring states. Even " precinct 34," a mountainous suc
cession of heights and gorges through which we pass, and which would delight
the heart of a Tennessee " moonshiner," has made an ineffaceable mark upon
the politics of the times. Gentlemen and ladies have joined us at Missoula,
Helena and Anaconda, and our conversation takes a wkle range, bringing us
all at last to the one conclusion that there is no use in crrating new states to
relieve the plethory of office seeking, since all such efforts increase the supply
of aspirants in inverse ratio to the vacancies created.
Why, oh, why, big brothers of our overgrown sister, Washington, do you
not cease belittling your older sister, Oregon? She is slow and pokey enough
in all conscience, and needs occasional stirrings up j but you ought to com
miserate her unfortunate victims of the mossback element, and at least per
mit them to endure their usury law and mortgage tax in silent misery. We
feel sorry enough about the short-sighted policy of our antcdcluvian legisla
tors, heaven knows ; but we do wish you'd have a little mercy on us, and
spare your ridicule, even if we do deserve it. Your big sister, Oregon, sits
serenely beside you on the opposite side of our common artery, (lie Columbia
river, which unites the two great states in what ought to be a community of
interests. Our mutual, natural interests are sufficiently diversified to insure
domestic tranquility if you would but pause and behold " how peaceful and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." .Oregon is proud
of Washington s she is our own, saucy, big sister, and she is quite willing to
see her brag and strut. But other states, not members of the family, are less
considerate hence this admonition to cease quarreling.
While the scribe has been moralizing, the iron chargers have cavorted
through the Cascade mountains, and here we are in the bunch-grass regions
of Kittitas and Yakima. Numerous settlements show signs of steady growth
in the narrow valleys i and yonder, as 1 keep my eye on Pasco," I behold a
widespread sage plain, where, at the contluence of the Columbia and the
Snake, this little city sits, with an oriental air about it peculiarly its own.
Here we get more newspapers, and again we get t r,ifrt with the throes
of politics. The "Squire" men and "Calkins" men are not yet cooling
down from their last winter's legislative "scrap," and dire threats of future
happenings peep out from between the lines, under the thin veneenngs of
patched-up editorial amnesties. We pass Cheney and Spokane in the darkness
and are soon out on the panhandle of Idaho.
Even worse than the mutterings of discontent that fill the political air of
Washington is the commotion that agitates the "gem of the mountains."
The " Dubois " men and Claggett " men have each refused to give up the
senatorial row, and each contestant has decided to pursue the fight "to a
finish." '
I haven't seen anything the republican party has said or done for the last
year or two that so nearly makes It honest with itself as the following associ
ated press dispatch which is self-explanatory :
Huston, Mnnh 85. Al Itic convention of the republican stale league of Massachu
setts today resolutions were Introduced declaring 1I111I the women volert ot lloston have
(or three yean kept the school committees In the hands ol ilie republicans; that Wyom
ing, In which women vole, li the only western Male wherein the republicans met wllh no
reverses nt the tail election!, anil telling forth that Ihcse facti suggest the Importance of
extending full municipal franchise to qualified women voters, and of inviting the aid of
Massachusetts to inure the ascenilancy of the republican party In thii commonwealth,
The resolutions were referred to the rcKiblkan Hale convention. Major McKinley anil
Hon. John M. Thurston, of Netimslia, delivered i-echct, and resolutions were adopted
discussing in broad way the issues of the day, and laying down a strong platform of
reiwhlican princiidrs,
AintiAiL Scorr Duniway.
HILLS110RO, ORF.CON.
The county seat of Washington county, Oregon, is the thriving town of
Hillsboro, now brought into special prominence by the fact thai it will be the
point where the Astoria & South Coast railroad, now in process of construc
tion from Astoria to the Willamette valley, will form a junction with the wesj
side division of the Southern Pacific's Oregon system. This line will run
through the fertile Nelulem valley, one of the finest agricultural sections of
the state, and penetrate the largest body of first class limler reached by any
road in the west. It will also oen up the coal measures of that region,
whose importance to the state can not lie estimated. Ilillsboro is already a
prosierous business town, but under the impulse of this addition to its im
portance k must grow and thrive. Surrounding it is a great area of that un
dulating valley land that has given the Willamette valley such a reputation for
the production of fruit and cereals, and which is capable of supporting a far
greater population than that now occupying it. As a base of construction of
the new road, Hillslxiro has already begun to feel the effects of the new
movement.