Image provided by: Oregon City Public Library; Oregon City, OR
About Oregon City enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) 1891-194? | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1908)
OEEGON CITY ENTERPRISE FORTY $ECOND YEAR No. 10. OREGON CITY, OREGON, FRIDAY, MARCH , 1908. ESTABLISHED 1861. LITTLE ONES TELL TALES STARTLING DISCLOSURES OF PARENTAL INHUMANITY IN . JUVENILE COURT. CHILDREN WERE ABUSED Compelled By Father and Stepmother tfl do Hard Taekt and Boy la Kept From School to Work In Mills. Tim people of Wi'Hl Oregon City are nroiiHi'ij over the dlm-losim-H Hint tip jn'iircil In tint Juvenile Cnirt, before County Judge Dliiilck, In tin hearing of a petition for llio euro of Elsie Newman, u dependant child. Tim Di tto nil), who Im only 13 year of ago, ami hIIkIiI mill puny, was forced to do tint work of a grown person, mid when Mho fulli'il In her tasks she was round ly whipped. The evidence produced allowed that cxtri'init cruelly wan prac ticed, which flnully resulted In the In terference of Mm. J. It. Hlckiiian and Mr. BfTlo (iny, who are neighbor of tint Newman family. KInIo ran away from homo a few diiyit n ko. She Kim Hcnt by her step mother, Mr. Carrl" I'earl Newman, to the beach helow their homo to Ret 20 stick of wood In 40 mlnutcH. Know ing tli Ih wuh ImpoHKlhln und fearing the remilt, tho child lied to Mm. Hick man. who, with Mrs. (Say. managed to have the child pluced In charge of W. T. (Sardner. superintendent of tho Boys' and Girls' Aid Society In Port land. After hearing tho evidence JiiiIko Dlmlek ordered tho girl retained la tho chin K" of tho Society. The other three children of Mr. and Mm. Newman will Im looked after by tho authorltleH, dm they do not hnvo proper parental guardianship. Walter, aged Id yearn, him had a portion of ono of hlM feet cut off, but though only 18 yearn of age, ho ban been forced to work In tho Oregon City Woolen Mill nil winter. Tho Court ordered that tho buy bo taken out of tho mill and s-nt to Hchool. Tho other children aro "Hunter," aged 9 year, and Helen, uged 8 yeara. Every atlck of wood n"d In th Newman house thin winter ba been aawed anil brought to tho Iiouho by these llttlo children. With a cross cut mow, four or five feet In length, they would bo arnt down to tho river bnnk and aaw sufficient wcxid for tho noedH of tho family. Newman would apllt tho aawed ploccn Into hugo chunk, and then tho children would Im compelled to bring tho fuel homo. How they ever aeonipllshed audi heavy tasks la a wonder. Very fre quently tho three younger children wooiild bo detained nt work ho Into In tho mornlnga that they would havo to run all tho way to tho Ilolton achool ! Lincoln Steffens Pictures tPRen, the (Iiy Lincoln Stcffi'iis.) Oregon has moro fundamental IcrIh Intlon than any other state In the Union, excepting only Oklahoma and Oklahoma Is new. Oregon Ib not new; it is, and It long has been, corrupt; yet it bus enacted laws which enable Its people, to govern themselves when thy want to. How did this happen? How did this state of graft get all her tools for democracy? And, since It has tlimn, why don't her people use them more? The answer to these questions lies hurled deep In the character ami In tho story of W. S. U'Ren (nccent on tho last syllablo), tho law giver. They call thlB man tho fathor of tho Initiative nnd referendum In Oregon, but that title Isn't big enough. U'Ren has fathered other Oregon laws, and hit) own state isn't the limit of hla in fluence. Tho Dakotns have somo similar legislation. Meeting on a western train one day a politician who Roomed to know all about things there, I inquired into the origlu of tho Da kota laws. "Thore's a fellow over In Oregon," ho answered "funny name ho tipped us off and steered us; sent drafts of bills nnd pnmphlo'tR containing argu ments. I can't recall his name." "U'Ren?" "That's It; that's the man." They are getting good laws in the state of Washington, also. I asked in Seattle where they' came froin. Very few know, but those that did said: "U'Ren of Oregon." ' The ft rat time I heard this name was In Rhode Island. ExGovernor Garvin, the advocate of democratic legislation for that law-bound state, knew about U'Ren. After that I used to come upon hiB influence th many states and cities where men were tinkering with the sacred constitutional machinery that won't let democracy go. But my last encounter with the mysterious ubiqui ty of this slpgular man's Inlluenco was' amusing. Spfeckfes, Heney and thfc other fighters for San Francisco thought of going to the people on a certain proposition, and, seeing thus I the uses of the referendum wanted it ' I suggested writing to U'Ren. They never had heard of him, but they wrote, and he came. And he heard them out on their need of the refer endum. .... ; t ' " 'Ml m ., .. . ,.t . . ' f X- j- $.;kV.' ' V- ... J j'H Uw ypy MI8S GOLDIE HINTON, of Canby, who la rapidly gaining In the Enter prise eubecrlptlon conteit, bonne, ho iin to avoid being tardy. Newman Ih omployed In the Oregon City Mill & Lumber Company, and la a Hkllled workman, receiving $3 per day. He baa a "cat of eight tails" which ho iihiih to flog tho children. An Interesting feature that brought tears to tho eyea of tho spectators nt tho (Continued on Pago Five.) PROMOTERS PLAN TO INSTALL GAS PLANT SYSTEM FOR FUEL AND ILLUMIN ATING GAS MAY BE LOCAT ED HERE. Tho project to construct a plant In or near Oregon City for tho dlstrlbu tlon of fuel and lllumlmitlng gna ban been revived, and a representative of a company that ' linn extnhllHhcd plnntM at Vancouver. Corvallla and aeverul other lowna, will visit Oregon Clly In a few weeka to confer with tho citizens, relatlvo to aecurlng a fran cIiIko. This gentleman left yesterday for Cooh liny, whero hn will probably put In a plant at North Hend. It la probable that tho taxpayers will bo oked to meet with tho members of tho city council to heor any prop ortion ho baa to offer. Last Summer tho aamo project was presented to the Hoard of Trade, hut a proposition from that commercial body did not meet with tho approval of the promoters of tho plan, and tho matter waa allowed to drop. In many locitlltlra fuel gas In taking the placo of wood for cook In and heating and the proposal to Inatall a plant here la meeting with conHldernblo Interest. Girls and Bulldogs. As for tho bulldogs, tho feminine mind Is popularly considered to have a predilection for the big tho strong and the ugly, and wo havo Dr. John Ilrown'a word for It that the bulldog fulfill all thoHe conditions almost to perfection. London Tribune. The Legislative Blacksmith of Oregon and "But I think," said U'Rnn. "that you have It in your own city charter." .Everybody looked Incredulous. "Where Is tho book?" U'Ren asked. "1 think I can find It. I certainly had some cor respondeire with tho makers of that charter; I think I drafted a section yes, here It Is. (He read It to him self.) It Isn't mine not very clear but (handing the book back) good enough for your purpose, you see." The Viewpoint of a Mechanic. William Simon U'Ren, the lawgiver, was born Jnnunry 10. 1859, at Lancas ter, Wis. His father Is a blacksmith, and his father's seven brothers were blacksmiths; their father was a black smith, and their father's father, and his father, and his. As far as the family can trnco from Cornwall, Eng land, back into Holland, they see an unbroken line of blacksmiths. And preachers. Five of U'Rcn's uncles preached, and, among their ancestors, other blacksmiths preached. And Wllllnm U'Ren himself is both a black smith and a preachor in a way; In a very esseutial way. "Illacksmlthing Is my trade," he says. "And It has always given color to my view of things. . For examplo, when I was very young. I saw more of the evils in the conditions of life, and I wanted to fix them. T, couldn't. There were- no tools. We had tools to do almost anything with in the shop, boautlful tools, wonderful. And so in other trades, arts and profes sions; In everything but government. In government, the common trade of all men ant) the basis of all soclnl life, men worked still with old tools, with old laws, with constitutions and char ters which hindered more than they helped. Men suffered from this. There were lawyers enough; tnany of our ablest men were lawyers. . Why didn't some of them Invent legislative Imple ments to help the people govern them selves? Why had we no tool makers for democracy? , U'Ren Is a very' -quiet man. He never would strike one as a black smith. He never would strike one at all. Slight of figure, silent in notion, he speaks softly, evenly and little. This was a long speech for him, and, pausing at the end of it, he smiled se riously. , "You see," he said, "I saw it 'all In twrmg of (he mechanic." '. MINORITY VOTE FAVORS RESOLUTION OF DIXON Eleven Members of County Central Committee, In cluding Five Proxies, Manipulated to Sup port Statement No. I. Hy n piece of manipulation that was not characterized by cleverness State ment No. 1 was "Indorsed" Saturday afternoon by 11 members of tho Re publican County Central Committor), and live of these were represented by proxy In tho hands of Chairman Christ Inn fiehuebel, who assisted tho pas sago of tho resolution presented by George W. Dixon, of Canby, candidate for tho legislature on a Statement No. I platform. Proxies had come to Mr. Hchuebcl as chairman of the commit tee, and while these proxies favored tho Statement, the members of the commltteo who were opiosed to tho doctrine were not represented, save by thoHo on tho door. With a total membership of 39 In tho committee tho resolution of Mr. Dixon waa adopt ed, with only 11 members of the com mltteo voting for It, and of tho balance of 28, there were five votes against the resolution, and the other 23 mem bers, comprising a majority of the members of the committee, were not represented at the meeting. For more than a week prior to tho meeting reports had been In circula tion that an effort would be made to place the committee on record In fa vor of the Statement, while Mr. Schue bel atated that ho feared the oppo nents of the proposition would force a vote. With this belief uppermost, he went to tbo meeting armed with proxies to be used at a critical mo ment Tho primary purpose of tho meet- ; Ing, as stated In tho call, was to fix a I dato for holding precinct primaries to i elect delegates to the county conven I tlon, which Is to elect delegates to a I Stato convention to be held In Port land probably some time In May. Calm reasoning would have advised tho transaction of this simple business and an adjournment, but tho Intense feeling, onco released, ran riot. Hardly had Chulnnan Schuebel called the meeting to order and an nounced thnt any resolutions would be considered, this Inviting tho fight, than John 11. Gibson, of Harmony precinct, was on hla feet, with the following resolution: The Gibson Resolution. "Whereas, It la the defilre of tho member8 of the Republican party in Oregon that a Republican United States Senator should be elected from Oregon at the next session of the Legislature; and, "Whereas, It Is the unanimous de sire of the members of the Republican pnrty of Oregon to InJIcote at tho polls their preference for a candidate of their own party to fill the said high office, and to be elected thereto at the next aesslon of the Oregon Legis the Tools He Has Fashioned for How He Started. The way he was started on his ca reer as a legislator shows this. One day toward the end of his wander years, as he was changing from the train to the boat on the Oakland, Cal., route, somebody thrust Into his hand a m . - . ''..'.;-.'.':y '" -.-f.v;r? hjk- lature; and, "Whereas, It Is tho moral duty of tho Republican members of the Legis lature to vote for that candidate of the Republican party for United States Senator for whom a preference has been expressed by the Republican vot ers of the Stato of Oregon, now, there fore, be It "Resolved, That It Is the sentiment of the Republican County Central Commltteo of tho County of Clacka mas that all candidates for tho Legis lature on the Republican ticket filing petitions for nomination at the primar ies should sign a modified form of Statement No. 1 which will bind such candidate, If nominated and elected, to alwaya vote for that Republican candidate for United States Senator In Congress who shall receive the high est number of the people's votes for tho position at the general election next preceding the election of a Sen ator in Congress, without regard to auch candidate's Individual prefer once." Mr. Dixon was in the fray in a min ute, with a blow against the resolu tion, to which Mr. Gibson made the following reply; "The people of Oregon never in tended to be drawn off from party principles. Some of our statesmen politicians In Clackamas County have seen fit to bring in the name of Abra ham Lincoln, but there never waa a more strict party man than Lincoln. We have had enough of Democratic principles In Oregon. The man we sent to the United States Senate two years ago is enough of a Democrat, and when a man will go out and spend 50,00(1 to be elected to the United States Senate, there is something rad ically wrong with the system. I say to, you Republicans that you shduld uphold the principles of Republican ism, and not promote a false meas ure that will place you in a position where you may have to send a Demo crat to the United States Senate. The people of Clackamas County and Ore gon should uphold the Constitution, which specifically sets forth that Unit ed States Senators shall be elected by the Legislature." Dixon and Mr. Parish both declared their allegiance to Statement No. 1, the former stating that the people should elect the Senator and not the Republicans, while the latter said that if the Republicans of Oregon who elected a Democratic Governor, want a Democratic Senator, hy he, for one, was In favor of letting them have their way. "It Is not my Idea," answered Mr. Gibson, "to take the matter out of the hands of the flenple, but each narty should stand by its own candidates." Democrac Make the Latest .- i . ? A t leaflet. There was nothing about the "ref erendum," and U'Ren had never heard of either. But he had noticed that all the political evils of all the cities and states where he had idly watched men defeat themselves, culminated In the o- 2',..;, , ...i y - JAME8 DOWNEY, who has been elected first mayor of Willam ette. Representative J. V- Campbell ob tained thejloor and asked for peace. He argued that it would be ill-advised for the Committee to attempt to out line any policy for the party of Clacka mas County to follow, and asked Gib son, In the interests of harmony, to withdraw the resolution, and Mr. Gib- (Continued on Page Five.) WILLAMETTE IS NOW INCORPORATED TOWN PEOPLE TO CONTROL WATER 8YSTEM ELECT ENTIRE 8ET OF OFFICIALS. By a vote of 26 to 13 the town of Willamette, three miles from Oregon City, on the west aide of the Willa mette River, was incorporated Mon day at a special election ordered by the County Court upon petition of a majority of the residents of that town. The reason for Incorporating was to prevent the water system passing from the control of the Portland Rail way, Light & Power Company to pri vate parties. The new city govern ment will be organized at once, with the following officers who were chosen: Mayor, James Downey; recorder, G. L. Snidow; treasurer, J. F. Sanders; marshal, Joseph Painter; councilmen, James C. Edmunds, John Ream, H. T. snipiey, k. p. Berdine, J. F. Lj'mp, Frank Oliver. James Downey, who was last Mon day elected the first mayor of the new ly incorporated town of Willamette, was born October 5, 1833, in Maine, and when a child went to New York City, remaining there a short time and then moved to Illinois. In 1877 he went to Iowa, and followed farming and railroading until five yeara ago, when he came to Oregon. Mr. Dow ney is as spry as a man of 40 and la highly respected by his Willamette neighbors for his common sense and bard-headed business ability. He is the owner of considerable propery In Oregon and Iowa and is well to do. Oregon Law-Give? Chapter of the American Magazine's Series betrayal of the people by their repre sentatives. And this, leaflet showed how the people themselves, outside of and over the heads of their elected representatives, might, initiate and pass laws. Here was ,i tool for dem ocracy; here was a mtans to achieve the reforms Henry George indicated. U'Ren determined then and there to hammer this leaflet into a bill and pass it somewhere. U'Ren didn't care where. The need of it was universal In the United States.- He thought how useful it would be In Denver, in Iowa, In Wis consin it was needed right there in California. But he happened to be going to Oregon and that3 how URen came to be the lawgiver of Ore gon. Arrived at Portland. The Initiative as a tool, remember; as a means to an end; as a first po litical step toward changing the eco nomic conditions this idea gave pur pose to his life. His health improved. He went to Portland, and, mousing around for books and men, came upon E. W. Bingham. 'Ed Bingham," says U'Ren, "was a lawmaker. He had the. most wonder ful constructive talent for law-building that I ever encountered." Bingham was working with an Aus tralian ballot league. He was secre tary, and he taught U'Ren to be sec retary of things. "Never be presi dent," he said. "Never be. conspicu ous. Get a president and a commit tee; and let them go to the front. The worker must work behind them out of sight Be secretary." U'Ren has always been secretary, clerical, impersonal, but busy, like Bingham. He has given credit for all his work to other men. The first time I met him, he talked of leagues and committees of leading citizens bank ers, railroad men, corporation attor neys, corrupt politicians whom he named. But I noticed that while the members of U'Ren's several commit tees knew something about their own work, they seldom knew anything about that of the other committees of which U'Ren was secretary; and when it came to precise Information, they all would say, "You must see our sec retary, a Mr. U Ren, for that. A Mr. U'Ren is the one man in Oregon who RESULT OF THE CONTEST FOURTH WEEK SHOWS 8EVERAL CHANGE8 IN STANDING OF THE CANDIDATES. AGNES JUSTIN IN LEAD Aspirants for Prizes Well Bunched Narrow Margin of Votes Between the Contestanti How Vote Stand. Standing of Contestants. Agnes Justin, Oregon City.. 23,000 Nelva Green .Estacada. 22,500 Lizzie Schoenheinz, Willamette. ;19,010 Lucia Cattail, Milwaukie.....;.. 19,000 "Dade" Illgham, Oregon City..! .17,870 "Bunnie" Ownbey, Green Point. .17,856 ' Goldie Hinton, Canby 17,710 Carrie Lutz, Falls View 15,535 Dena C. Prosser, Oswego 11,240 Mary Ellen Long, Canemah 10 This week marks the fourth one of the contest. No new aspirants for the prizes enter, but the interest goes on unabated. The battle of the votes Is half over, yet hardly half begun. No young ladyis as yet secure. The mar gin of majority Is extremely small, and the victory will be to the one who does the hustling from now on. All honor to Agnes Justin, who swings Into the top place, handicapped as she was by the mumps. But she leads by such a scant few votes she dare not sleep on her laurels, for there is Neiva Green, from far-off Estacada, crowding up to the leadership again. Some kind friend from Molalla saves Lillie Schoenheinz from a tie for third place by sending in a lonely coupon good for ten votes. Every litr tie bit helps, bul a few more subscrip tions would make the place more se-' cure. Miss Cattail makes but a small gain this week, nevertheless remains right, within reach of the coveted first prize. "Dade" Bigham makes a good gain and creeps up a 'notch In the stand ing. "Bunnie" Ownbey started out last weok at a pace that promised to put her at the top. This week she couldn't quite keep up the gait, but makes a, fine record. . Goldie Hinton Is gaining In fine shape, and Is to be reckoned with, before the close. Carrie Lutz is undoubtedly resting up for a grand finale. At any rate, she failed to turn in many votes. Dena C. Prosser makes a good in crease and now that she has just cele brated her fifteenth birthday, she is going after that piano in earnest The Marshall & Wendell piano to. be given as first prize is on exhibition in the window of the Pacific Tele- v phone Co., on Main street. (Continued on Page Three.) knows all about this legislation." Well, Bingham had drawn the Aus tralian ballot law for his league, and he talked it over, section by section, with U'Ren, who thus got from an ex-, pert his first lesson in law-building. The next thing was to pass it. U'Ren asked why they didn't get the plat form committee of the Republican con vention to indorse the bill. Bingham laughed, and so did a Senator who was present, but the dreamer "rushed in where angels fear to tread." You will , hear today In Oregon that U'Ren is "the smoothest lobbyist" in the state, and he is. He is calm, conciliating, persistent and he fits his argument to his man. He talked politics to that platform committee; he gave, not his reasons for wanting the Australian ballots, but arguments which appealed to these party politicians. And they listened. Then Bingham appeared. Unlike U'Ren, Bingham was aggres sive. He came into the committee room with fire in his eye, bulldozing, begging, reasoning and threatening. They could put off U'Ren; Bingham hung on like a bulldog, and In the end, they got his bill indorsed by the Republicans. Then they went to the Democratic convention and there also they won. And the legislature, thus pledged, adopted Bingham's Austra lian ballot The Re-election of Mitchell. In 1897 Senator Mitchell was to be re-elected; U'Ren had no doubt of that; and he called on him to trade "pop" votes for his help on the Initia tive and referendum. Politician as he was, Mitchell talked favorably in Au gust, not at all in November, and just before the session "went back on" the measure entirely. He told U'Ren why. , "I've got three 'pop' votes that no body can get away," he said. "Are you sure?" asked U'Ren, who could hardly believe that the popu- . lists,- so new and so enthusiastic, would surrender so soon to "the condi tions that make men bad." Mitchell was sure; he advised U'Ren not to introduce the bill. "My people won't Btand for it," the Senator said. Mitchell had made one other shift of position. A silver Republican all through the Oregon campaign (which ended in the June election), he came (Continued on Page Five.) i