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