THE MORNING OE3SGOSIA25i ERTJDAT, JANTTAET 11, 1SSS
uv&u
Entered at the PostoOce at Portland, Oreson, j
' as second-class matter.
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Sally, with Sunday, per year - 1 ?
Sundav. ter Tear...........-.. .. -
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1 00
50
DAILY 3IETEOROLOGICAL REPORT
PORTLAND. Jan. 10.-S P. M. Maximum
temperature, 40. minimum temperature. .
height of river at 11 A. II.. S 4; change in the
past 24 hour. : precipitation today. .01: pre
cipitation Xrom September 1. 1S04 (wet season),
to date. 10.75; average. 22.7S; deficiency. C.03;
npatipr, ot hours of sunshine Wednesday. 3:1b:
possible number, 9.02.
WEATIIER SYNOPSIS.
No material advancement has been made In
the storm, which -was located 12 hours previous
about Vancouver island. There hae been heavy
rains in Washington and light rain In the west
cm portions of Oregon. General snow Is falling
over Northern and Eastern Montana and the
Dakoias. Cloudy and threatening weather, with
lifct rain, wiU continue la Oregon and Wasn
incton. - '
w j WEATHER FORECASTS.
Forecasts made at Tortland for the 24 hours
tending -at .midnight January 11
For Oregon. Washington and Northern Idaho
Rain and slightly cooler, with rresh southerly
winds; gales on the coast.
Tor Southern Idaho Fair weather and nearly
stationary temperature, with light variable
winds.
For Portland-Rain and slightly cooler, with
Jlght southerly winds.
U." S. PAGUE. Xocll Forecast Official.
PORTLAAD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 11.
the establishment of the Eastern Ore
gon asylum for the Insane. If we must
have insanity and it seems that we
must melancholia Is certainly to be
preferred to acute mania.
THERE IS AMPLE EXPERIENCE.
'An organization that calls, itself a bi
metallic league, yet demands free coin
age of silver, is not a bimetallic league.
It is a silver monometallic league. Its
demand, if gained, would as surely
make silver the only money of the
country as any result in science can be
foretold from a known and adequate
cause.
But we are told by politicians of Ore
gon who are endeavoring to ride the
silver hobby into office, that the people
do not believe this, and never will be
lieve it "till silver is given a trial and
they are convinced by experience."
This is amusing to those who know
that the whole history of money, since
money came into use among men, Is lit
tle else than a demonstration of the
iprv fact, that these nersons tell is
still to "be learned from "experience."
The fundamental principle of money,
nbted in all countries through all ages,
has Its expression or formula in modern
times in what is called Gresham's law
the law that the money which has the
Jess value always ousts from circula
tion that which has the greater. There
has been no deviation from this in any
country in any age. nor ever can be.
It is as sure a law as any in the whole
realm of science. Consequently, if we
allow to silver free and unlimited coin-age-at
the mint value of 51 29 an
ounce, -when Its market value all over
the world is but CO cents an ounce the
silver dollar being worth but 50 cents
gold will disappear, of course, and sil
ver will be the only money. That Is,
we shall have silver monometalism, and
there is no power that can set aside
the operation and result of this pri
mary law. . -. . . '
We have the gold standard now. "We
may abandon It, if we choose, for the
silver standard; but we cannot have
gold and silver together, or bimetalism
in any shape or form, If we grant free
coinage to silver. The advocate of free
coinage of silver therefore Is not a bl
metallst. He may think he is, but he
isn't, at all. He is a silver monomet
alist; he would oust and banish gold
and make 50-cent silver 'dollars the
money ot the country.
It was because these facts were al
ready amply known from "experience,"
that is, from the whole history of
money through all times, that both the
republican and democratic parties put
into their platforms of 1S92 their latest
national platforms resolutions against
free coinage of silver. Both platforms
declared for use of both gold and silver
as money, and both gold and silver are
eo used now; but both expressly stated
thatllmltatlonsmustbe put upon silver
coinage as a necessary means of main
taining the parity. The two platforms,
in their resolutions on the subject, were
not very differently worded, and their
meaning was Identical. The republican
platform pronounced for such "restric
tions" of coinage, "to be determined by
legislation, as will secure the mainten
ance of the parity of the two metals";
the democratic platform declared that
"the dollar unit of coinage of both
metals must be of equal intrinsic and
exchangeable value, or be adjusted by
International agreement, or by such
safeguards of" legislation as shall insure
the maintenance of the parity -of the
two metals." It has, indeed, been de
nied that either platform declared
against free coinage oCsllver; but no
"restrictions by legislation to secure
maintenance of the parity" would be
demanded by one platform, or "safe
guards of legislation for maintenance
of the parity" would be demanded liy
the oher, but for the certainty that
if silver should be admitted to free
coinage the parity would be lost, gold
would take to flight, and silver would
become the money of the country, rest
ing -on its bullion value. No one will
suppose that the "restrictions" or the
"safeguards" were to be applied to gold.
They could only refer to sliver and to
the necessity of limiting Its coinage.
Bothi .parties, altexnatelS'in the ascend
ency in congress, have adhered to the
policy that found this expression in
their platforms of 1S92, solely to avert
the disaster of debased money and sil
ver monometalism.
It Is tedious Iteration to repeat these
facts so often, but the delusion about
money Is the most persistent of all the
delusions that haunt the American
mind, and, as the present condition
of the country bears witness, it is the
most mischievous. Even yet there are
those who say, "We shall never know
what free coinage of silver will do till
we try it and learn by experience." It
is just as certain, however, what the
resulb-wlll be as It is certain that the
summer will return with the advance
of the sun on the path of the ecliptic
A POSSIBLE COMPROMISE.
The silver men are taking credit to
themselves for defeat of the Carlisle
banking bill, though they made up not
more than one-fourth of the negative
side, and are hastening to propose
terms on which they will consent to
currency reform. The extremists will
listen to nothing short of free coinage
at the slxteen-one ratio, but Senator
Vest is said to have in mind a compro
mise out of which something practical
might be worked.
The main features of this scheme are
retirement of all the old legal tender
notes by sale of long-time low-interest
bonds and the purchase and coinage
of 'Silver bullion enough to Increase our
silver money to $750,000,000. This would
take the government out of the banking
business so far as the issue of absolute
credit money is concerned, though it
would increase by $150,000,000 the
amount of half-credit money to be held
up to full value by maintaining ex
changeability with gold. That is to
say, the government would throw off
responsibility for redemption of nearly
5250,000,000 of treasury notes, but it
would assume responsibility for ex
changing gold, on demand, for $750,000,
000 of silver and silver paper, instead
of the present $600,000,000.
There is only one way to make it
wise or even possible for the govern
ment to assume this responsibility. The
total amount of gold in the country
must be increased by a sum which will
make up for the losses of the last two
years and restore the proportion of the
two metals that existed before the
drain by exportation began, and, be
sides, at least one dollar in gold must
be added to our stock for every dollar
of silver added to our coinage. Then
some means must be provided by which
the treasury will receive a constant
and ample supply of gold to exchange
for silver on demand and so maintain
the parity of the metals.
There was no danger in the silver in
our circulation, so long as it was sup
ported upon an adequate basis of gold.
It is perfectly safe to add silver, so long
as we add enough gold to support it.
France carries about $700,000,000 of sil
ver on about $900,000,000 of gold and
maintains the parity without difficulty.
Four years ago we had no difficulty in
supporting $450,000,000 of silver on about
$050,000,000 of gold. But we increased
the burden of silver by purchases un
der the Sherman act, and the gold basis
was sapped by exportation until, the
volume of the two metals Is about
equal. This creates dlstiust of the per
manence of the parity and causes a
run on the treasury gold. Moreover,
and this is a vital point the treasury
has no way to keep up its supply of
gold to maintain parity except by sale
of bonds. It has to bear all the drain
of redemption. Taxes are paid in sil
ver, while gold has to be paid out.
How can we recoup our losses of gold
and add enough more to support $150,
000,000 more silver? There is one sim
ple way, which should not be difficult,
with our unexampled credit, with the
glut of money In the capitals of the
world, shunning ordinary investment,
and with the marvelously Increasing
production of gold in all the mining
countries, That is by sale of bonds
abroad. The amount necessary to take
up the old legal tenders is about $350,
000,000. If $300,000,000 could be sold in
Europe, gold enough would be obtained
to make up our losses by export in the
last two years about $150,000,000 and
to supply $150,000,000 more to support
the same amount of new silver. That
would put us nearly on the footing of
France, with about $900,000,000 of gold
and $750,000,000 of silver. It then would
be possible to maintain the parity, by
redemption through the treasury, if
provision were made for a constant
and adequate supply of gold. To se
cure this half the taxes due the govern
ment, of whatever nature, would hq,ve
to be made payable in gold. This is
an absolutely vital feature of any plan
to maintain the parity.
With these changes and additions,
probably something practical could be
worked out of Vest's scheme. It does
not appear whether his plan contains
any provision for. private banking.
Perhaps none is needed, as gold would
take the place of the legal tenders and
$150,000,000 of silver certificates would
be added. If more credit currency
should be needed, however, the amount
will be small, and it will be a simple
matter to modify the national banking
law so that it can be supplied.
exhibit is the extent to which horses
were used on these roads a year ago,
which proves that the cities of the
West took much more quickly to the
electric traction than those of the East.
Boston had introduced electric motors
somewhat extensively at the time cov
ered by the report, but New Tork and
Philadelphia had not. New Toric city
has, Indeed, up to this time declined to
admit the trolley system, but there
have been extensions to the cable sys
tem there that have supplanted the use
of horses to a great extent. Both Bos
ton and Philadelphia have forged ahead
in this line, as have also most of the
towns and cities in the three states
mentioned.
The extent to which the business of
raising horses has been affected by
coming Into competition with electricity
as a motive power is shown in the fall
ing off not only of the domestic traffic,
but of more than one-half in one year,
of the importation of horses from Great
Britain. The growing use of the bicycle
is a minor but not an inconsiderable
factor in the abatement of the demand
for horses. There were, at the time this
report was submitted, nearly 40,000
horses in the street-car service, of
which it is safe to say two-thirds have
since been supplanted by electric power.
Orientals would be feared by Great
Britain, and hence the first thing she
should do is to shake oft vanity so
as to be less annoying. The second
thing is to befriend the most powerful
of Eastern nations. "But if the Brit
ish think they can enjoy supremacy In
the East by remaining the firm friend
of China and continue to behave arro
gantly toward the really most power
ful country, they will find, and are al
ready finding, themselves sadly mistaken."
STREET
IX THREE
From the report of the superintendent
of the Washington state insane asylum
at Medical Lake, It appears that the
proportion of melancholies Is less and
of manjacs greatec,iu.this hospital than
in other 'instltuuons with which com
parisons liave bean instituted. Credit
for this condition of affairs is given to
the "clear, dry atmosphere" of the k-
RAILWAYS
STATES.
Poor's Manual of American Street
Railways, recently issued, presents
some remarkable data, from the stand
points of growth, amount of capital in
vested, number of passengers carried,
etc.", concerning enterprise in this line
in the states of New York, Massachu
setts and Pennsylvania. The figures
presented represent the year closing
June 30, 1S93, before the end of the
"horse-car" system, which completed
the first era of street railways. Hence
little light is thrown upon the present
electric railway equipment of these
states, except that furnished by their
own dynamos. Still, the tables fur
nished serve to show the development
of the Idea embodied in street-railway
enterprise, the basis of which Is cheap
fares and suburban accommodation.
It is a matter of some surprise that
up to that time Pennsylvania led New
York in the number of street-railway
companies and the extent of territory
covered by their lines. New York,
however, came out first in the matter of
dividends upon the money thus invest
ed, several of its companies paying a
dividend of 24 per cent, while the high
est rate of dividend paid by a Penn
sylvania road was 20 per cent, and of
a Massachusetts road 10 per cent. The
railway which cost the most in con
struction and equipment in the three
states is the New York & Harlem,
at $23,574,109; the West End road in
Boston cost nearly half as much, while
Pennsylvania's most expensive road,
the Pittsburg & Birmingham, was con
structed at a cost of about $4,500,000.
A curious feature of the showing is the
excess of passengers carried by the
Boston road over either of the others
named, it having a total of 138.S63.61S
fares to Its credit for the year, while
the Brooklyn City Company, which led
all others in New York state, for the
same period transported 83,196,302,
and the Philadelphia Traction 97,
92S.397 passengers. It looks like walk
ing is in danger of becoming a lost art
In the great cities if the growth of
street-car travel keeps up at the rate
EMPLOYMENT OP CONVICTS.
One of the questions the legislature
will have to decide, is the employment
of the men kept in the state peniten
tiary, for, notwithstanding Governor
Pennoyer's activity, there are 359 of
them still there.
The jute-mill scheme has never
met with popular approval, and
some other plan involving a much
smaller outlay of money must be de
vised. On this question the Industrial
American says: "There is no row
raised when the convicts are put to
work on farms. The pavient and ever
forbearing farmer is made to accept
competition from every quarter. Ten
nessee and Mississippi have bought
farms and will work the prisoners on
them In producing the necessary food
supplies. With this solution of the con
vict question all the trades will be sat
isfied, as the farmer carries this new
burden of competition."
If the prison farms only grew the
necessary supplies for the state insti
tutions, certainly the farmers should
not complain, nor should the tradesmen
were every manufactured article used
in the Institutions manufactured there.
The trouble is that such farm work
gives emplo5rment to but few of the
convicts, while it Is impractical to man
ufacture on so small a scale the multi
tude of things used in a prison. The
Industrial American says: "Thej best
solution of the convict problem is to
work them on the wagon roads of the
state, dividing the work so that every
part will l-eceive some of the benefit."
i As an abstract theory, this is correct.
It would tread on less corns than
any other. The difficulty lies in
finding some practicable plan of
doing the work that would not
involve too much expense, too much
insecurity of the prisoners, and too
much of a public parade of criminals.
This subject has been pretty well dis
cussed in Oregon, without any satis
factory plan of road work being sug
gested that would apply to the whole
state. The roads in the vicinity of the
prison might be easily improved with
convict labor, but as that would inure
to the benefit of Marion county only,
the other counties would naturally ex
pect Marlon to bear the expense, and
this may be an investment Marion
county is not prepared to make. Even
If counties were ready to expend money
upon road work in this way and con-
victs.were employed upon a system of
highways, it is almost certain that in a
short time a howl would be raised
about convict labor on the roads dis
placing free labor, and a demand be
made that the convicts be sent back
to prison and the roads be built by free
labor.
It must be accepted as a funda
mental fact that convicts can not do
any work whatever, even sweeping out
their own cells, without doing some
thing that free labor might be em
ployed to do. This being true, and the
necessity for employment of convicts
being undisputed, it follows that their
employment should, as far as practica
ble, take the form of production of
things used by the state, and, beyond
that, should be governed by local con
ditions, so that there would be the
least possible interference with the es
tablished industries outside the prison
walls. Two years ago Oregon had her
convicts as well employed in this re
spect as she probably will ever have.
The problem of the legislature will be
to find some employment as little ob
jectionable as that was without involv
ing the state in too much expense. In
his report, the superintendent makes
some practical recommendations along
this line that should receive careful
attention.
It is not improbable that the British J
admiral in Chinese waters has been
ordered to resist by force Japanese as
cent of the Yang-tse-Klang, at
whose mouth lies the great treaty port
of Shanghai and which is one of the
great outlets of Chinese trade with
Great Britain. It is not probable, how
ever, that the British admiral will have
any occasion to execute this order. The
Japanese show no disposition to invade
China south of the Yellow sea. The ob
ject of their attack seems to be the
provinces about Peking, which is the
seat of the Mantchu power and the po
litical heart of the empire. They prob
ably realize that conquest of these will
destroy China as a political whole and
give them all the territory it will be
prudent for them to undertake to ad
minister. They will be willing enough
probably to see the British assume a
protectorate over the provinces on the
Yang-tse-Kiang, as this will make an
useful precedent for their half-developed
purpose of establishing a protec
torate over Northern China.
The democrats in the last congress
were afraid of the beer tax because they
feared to offend Hhd brewing interest,
but now they have got to offend some-
body. The doubling of the present tax
of $1 a barrel on beer, as proposed in
the bill introduced by Money of Miss
issippi, would not raise the price of beer
by the glass to the consumer, and
would only reduce the present inordi
nate profits of the brewing Industry,
while it would add fully $30,000,000 a
year to the income from the internal
revenue bureau, without requiring any
new machinery for the purposes of col
lection. In no other way can revenue
be raised so easily and so promptly.
The democrats will have to choose be
tween this and a deficit.
If it is any comfort to Debs to swear
at the court before going to jail, surely
nobody will deny him the privilege.
Sympathy with him will not exceed
this. His punishment is absurdly out
of proportion to his offense, since his
act cost many lives and the destruc
tions of millions of property, besides the
Impoverishment of thousands of de
luded workmen. No punishment pos
sible under the law would be adequate.
His imprisonment is not intended to
punish, but to deter other ambitious
labor leaders from following his fatal
example. Probably it will have that
effect.
When General Howard is to come be
fore the public he needs no introduction
or commendation; only a simple an
nouncement. January 15 he will deliver
a lecture on the battle of Chattanooga
and the military operations that pre
ceded and followed It, for the benefit of
the Young Men's Christian Association
of Portland. As a military writer Gen
eral Howard has an unusual power of
distinguishing main events and their
causes from things merely Incidental
or adventitious. A lecture by him on a
campaign is a piece of history.
The state of South Dakota elected a
popular and energetic young banker
treasurer and he did a prosperous busi
ness on the state funds till his term
expired. Then the state and his bonds
men found themselves $350,000 poorer.
They, at any rate, find the lesson of
the transaction clear.
Is Oregon to send a man to Washing
ton to proclaim in her name the cheap
lie that silver, purchasable anywhere in
the world for GO cents an ounce, is to
be worth $1 29 an ounce in the United
States? Are men of sense not to be
ashamed of demagogic folly?
Stories of dissensions in the British
cabinet are stale. The cabinet has no
internal unity or external vigor. It will
go to pieces the first time it has to
meet any real question of domestic administration.
There is a political faction in Oregon
who proclaim that there are no values
except those made by act of congress.
PERSONS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT.
The shie taken at justice some two
years ago, when a young woman of
this city died under circumstances
pointing to criminal malpractice, has
failed utterly to hit the mark. The dis
charge a few days ago of one of the al
leged principals from custody on tri
fling bail is the last act in what was un
doubtedly a tragedy. Summing up, it
is found that the only results of the
effort made to detect crime and punish
criminals in this case are in the pub
licity given to the facts wholly un
necessary, as it has proved; the equally
unnecessary disinterment of the body
of the misguided and betrayed girl,
who hoped to hide the secret of her
downfall from the public and shield
her family name from disgrace in the
silence of the grave; the bitterly inten
sified sorrow of her relatives; the proc
lamation of a man's perfidy and a
woman's dishonor to the world, and a
heavy bill of expense to the county.
This man has indeed suffered impris
ment for a number of months, but if
half that was brought out In evidence
at the trial was true, a like term of
years would have been a penalty all
too lenient for his part in the tragedy.
.atfrm ThiQ fitfltAmont ls rij-rlavlTv
v-uu.. --..- -....... . i.1,.v...c i
rather than reassuring, and may cause I recorded in five years past-
further misgivings as to the wisdom of One of the Interesting features of the tain.
Japanese newspapers are discussing
the Eastern policy of Great Britain
with great frankness and some shrewd
ness. A writer in one of them says that
Great Britain has now many rivals
who are outdoing her, though she was
at one time the greatest power in the
East. Asia is not what it was in the
days when England trampled upon
China and India. The British, who
look dgwn on Orientals with a haughti
ness based on empty traditions, have
become unpopular, "and if they do not
beware just now, their downfall must
be rapid." In Europe they are no
longer supreme, and the defense of their
Asiatic possessions requires a force
I larger than they can afford to main-
A general movement, amongst
Professor O. C. Hill, who is to be the
private secretary of Governor-elect Mor
rill, of Kansas, was an intimate friend of
President Garfield.
Mrs. Masenberg, president of the Pio
neer Club. London's "New Woman" or
ganization, is a blue-ribboner, and has
forbidden alcohol in any of its alluring
forms, but there is in the handsome club
house a finely appointed smoking-room,
that is said to be enjoyed by most ot the
Pioneers.
Benjamin Van Tyle, of Hoosick Falls,
N. Y., a colored man, has just celebrated
the U4th anniversary of his birth. He was
born a slave in New York state and was
sold three times. At the age of 13 he
shook George Washington's hand at Al
bany. He retains all his senses, and walks
without the aid of a cane.
Lady Colin Campbell has succeeded in
passing all the other papers in London by
securing as a contributor for her new pa
per, the Realm, the sultan of Turkey. All
of the other papers are pitching into the
Realm in a vigorous fashion for using the
sultan as an advertisement, but the ring
of jealousy is evident everywhere.
Senator Cameron used to be the insep
arable companion of Senator Butler, of
South Carolina. They lunched together,
smoked together, and went home together
at the end of the day in the same cab.
The protracted absence of Senator Butler
from Washington has interrupted this in
timacy, and Senator Cameron's chum at
present is Senator Brice.
The Marchese Caprinica del Grille (son
of the great actress Adelaide Ristori) was
married to Donna Maria di Luca Resta
early in December. By special permission
of King Humbert, the ceremony was per
formed in the Church of S. Sudario,
where, unless by exception, only royal
marriages and baptisms take place. The
church was beautifully adorned with flow
ers. Mrs. Flora Annie Steel, who is pushing
Kipling as a writer of sketches and sto
ries of Indian life, is the youngest of a
family of three sons and two daughters.
Mrs. Steel's husband is a retired Indian
civilian, and more than 20 years of her
married life were spent in India. She has
acquired five of the native Indian dia
lects, and can thus pursue studies in folk
lore which even learned philologists who
know only the- written languages could
not accomplish.
G. Adadvoran, chief engineer of the
trans-Siberian railway, and P. Sokolou,
vice-president of its board of directors,
have arrived in Ban Francisco. They have
letters oi mtroc jction to ine presiucma ui
all the large rai roads in the country, and
they will travel in search of information
which they exp ct will prove valuable in
the operation of the Siberian road. They
are more interested in ferries than In
railroads, however, for the establishment
of a line of ferry steamers on the Amoor
river is contemplated, and the visitors say
they want the advantage" of the experi
ence of Americans in such matters.
Lord Wolseley has lately acknowledged
frankly that the British were whipped at
Waterloo and that the real victory was
Napoleon's. Surely when such a surpris
ing confession emanates from London the
time Is ripe for a dispassionate judgment.
THE FOURTH OF MARCH.
How Fixed for Resinning: Congres
sional nnd Presidential Terms.
WALLA WALLA, Wash., Jan. 9. To
the Editor.) Last Sunday your Washing
ton city correspondent telegraphed:
The provision of the constitution that
congress shall adjourn sine die at noon,
March 4, has occasionally compelled the
statesmen to close up their business on
Sunday.
This statement is so far from the fact
that it is difficult to understand how the
error crept into your usually correct col-
umns. T
The only provisions in t"he constitution
in relation to the adjournment of con
gress are those which empower less than
a quorum to adjourn from day to day;
that neither house can adjourn for more
than three days, nor to any other place
without the consent of the other; that
when the houses cannot agree upon a
time for adjournment, the president may
adjourn them, and that all questions
requiring concurrence of both houses,
except adjournment, shall be submitted
to the president.
The word March does not occur in the
constitution.
The only provision in the constitution
relative to the time of meeting of con
gress is contained in the second sub
division of section 4, article 1, which
reads:
"The congress shall assemble at least
once in every year, and such meeting
shall be on the first Monday In December,
unless they shall by law appoint a dif
ferent day."
The 4th of March was chosen as the
beginning of a congressional term in this
manner:
On the 17th of September, 17S7, the con
stitutional convention, having completed
its labors, adopted resolutions submitting
the constitution to "the United States in
congress assembled" for its action. These
resolutions provided "that it Is the opin
ion of this convention that it (the consti
tution) should afterwards be submitted
to a convention of delegates, chosen in
each state by the people thereof, under
the recommendation of its legislature, lor
their assent and ratification," and they
further provided "that it is the opinion
of this convention, that, as soon as the
conventions of nine states have ratified
this constitution, the United States, in
congress assembled, should fix a day on
which electors should be appointed by
the states which have ratified the same,
and a day on which the electors should
assemble to vote for the president, and
the time and place for commencing pro
ceedings under this constitution. That
after such publication, the electors
should meet on the day fixed for re elec
tion of president, and that the
senators and representatives should con
ne at the time and place assigned," and
after counting the votes for president and
"tfter he shall be chosen, the congress,
together with the president, should,
without delay, proceed to execute this
constitution."
These resolutions were transmitted b
George Washington, president of the con
vention, to "his excellency, the president
of cor'gress," in a brief letter, urging
the adoption of the constitution, on Sep
tember 17, 1787.
On September 23, 17S7, "the United
States, in congress assembled," which
was the title under the old "articles of
confederation and perpetual union be
tween the states," adopted the report of
the constitutional convention and sub
mitted it to the states.
On the 13th of September, 178S, eleven
states having adopted the constitution,
"the United States, in congress assem
bled," adopted a preamble and resolution,
in which it was provided that "the first
Wednesday in January next be the day
for appointing electors;" that "the first
Wednesday in February next be the day
for the electors to vote for president,"
and "the first Wednesday in March next
be the time," and New York "the place
for commencing proceedings under the
said constitution."
"The first Wednesday in March next"
proved to be the 4th day of March, 17b3.
But a quorum of the house was not got
ten together until Arril 1, 17S9. A quorum
cf the senate was obtained Holiday, April
6, 17S9. Washington was declared plccted
president th3t day, but he was not in
augurated until Thursday, April 11, 1739.
Subsequent congresses have enacted
that the president's term "shall commence
on the 4th day of March next succeeding
the day on which the votes of the elec
tors have been given."
They have also provided for the elec
tion, "on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday of November" in the even years,
of "representatives to congress, commenc
ing on the 4th day of March, next thereafter."
product of ?0,0OO pounds in pure wool oil.
The object of the meeting yesterday was
to talk the new process over dnformally
with those interested in the wool trade,
with a view of introducing a scouring
plant in Connecticut, Mr. McDowell's par
ticular connection with the plant being to
act in behalf of a corporation to market
the varied products ot the wool oil.
It wa3 the generally expressed opinion
that if the Fahrig and Cutler process did
actually save the oil, as stated, it was one
of the greatest inventions of the day.
Mr. McDowell was on his way to Boston,
where he experts, through Mr. Brown, of
Hemingway & Brown, to introduce a
scouring plant into the Assabet woolen
mill. No action as to forming a company
'or introducing a plant in this vicinity was
taken, but the experiments elsewhere will
be watched closely and the" results noted.
DEMOCRATIC
Wnr the
INCOMPETEN CY.
So Utterly
Party Has
Failed.
PORTLAND, Jan. 10. (To the Editor.)
That the democratic party has failed in
the present administration is a fact so
true that the democrats admit it them
selves. The party came into power in
1893, with the president and both houses
of congress. This gave itfull control of
tho government, a control which has
been unfortunate both to the country and
the democratic party. This was the first
time the party had full control since 1S61,
when the republican party, under the
leadership of Abraham Lincoln, took hold
of the reln3. In order to understand more
fully the position of the democratic party
at this time, let us compare the policy
of the party when it went out of power
In 1851 to Its policy now. The main fea
tures of the democratic policy had been,
before it had been dislodged by the re
publicans in 1S61:
1. Slavery for the negro.
2. States' rights.
3. Opposition to protective tariffs.
4. Opposition to internal improvements.
5. Opposition to national banks.
Now, how many of these principals have
been put forward by the democratic party
since it came into power in 1SD3? Slavery
is gone, root and branch. You never hear
the doctrine of states' rights mentioned.
It fell with slavery, and both have been
washed away in blood. The doctrines of
internal improvements and national
banks, which have been firmly planted by
the republicans, are now sustained by the
democrats. That of protective tariffs the
party still opposes. But its conduct in the
53d congress shows the opposition to
be more apparent than real. The Wilson-'
Gorman-Havemeyer bill is a protective
measure, with all their free-trade work
upon It. As a free-trade measure. It Is
disastrous, while its protective features
are most pernicious. It is a bill that suit3
nobody, not even those who framed it.
The best use that can be made of it is
to frame it in mourning, and then hang
it in every democratic home in the coun
try in memory of their deceased party.
It would have been far better for the dem
ocrats to have been defeated in 1S92. The
victory of the party has brought it to
light. It has shown it to be merely an
ignis fatuus. The defeat of the republicans
in 1892 was a victory in disguise. It has
shown to the people of this country that
the principles of the republican party are
the principles by which this country is to
be governed. It has shown the demo
cratic party to exist in name only, except
where it emerges on republican grounds.
Is it any wonder that the democratic
party has done nothing? It could do
nothing more. The party still swears al
legiance to Jefferson and Jackson, two
old leaders. But all is vanity, for their
leaders are dead, and so are their prin
ciples. What has the present adminis
tration done with the financial question?
Nothing. The purchasing clause of the
Sherman law was repealed, but not with
out tho aid of republican votes, although
the democrats had a majority in both
houses. Sound money is a republican
principle, and repeal meant sound money;
therefore the democrats could not muster
a solid phalanx to support it. So with
tariff and finance, the two most import
ant questions affecting our people, the
party has done nothing. The democratic
party has failed because it ha3 no in
herent power, because Its principles are
dead, and cannot be revived. All that re
mains is a hollow ball, which has arisen
from the dead body, and has dropped into
the garden of republicanism.
M. R. S. LEE.
Local Sentiment "Warned.
Philadelphia Ledger.
Governor Pennoyer, of Oregon, found
another opportunity to issue one of his
remarkable deliverances in a Christmas
letter to the-president on the silver ques
tion. There are not enough holidays in
the year to furnish him with occasions to
ventilate his peculiar views of men and
things. Oregon is not a silver-producing
state, but, as the Portland Oregonian re
marks, a mistaken view of local interests
in the Rocky Mountain states where silver
is produced warp3 public sentiment from
its rational course, and this misguided
opinion affects the contiguous states like
Oregon and Washington. Governor Pen
noyer may be regarded as a present cham
pion and spokesman of this warped local
sentiment as to. the free coinage ot sliver.
He has made up his mind that there is
little to be thankful for in this world ex
cept a 50-cent dollar, and until he gets it
we may expect further installments of
lurid populistlc rhetoric from him.
NEWS OF THE NORTHWEST.
Oresron..
Astoria's disbursements for 1S94 wero
$4LS29 97.
Governor Whiteaker, who has been ill
at Eugene is now about again.
Curry county figures up $330 profit for six
months under the new salary system.
The Baker City Commercial Club Is
discussing the question of good county
roads.
The old opera-house at Pendleton is be
ing transfordem Into a theater of modern
design.
A dozen cars of horses and mules were
shipped from Ontario to the East last
week from Harney and Lake counties.
Miss Mary Foster, of Gold Beach, had
her left arm broken near the wrist by
falling from a horse because of a turned
saddle.
A small portion of the dam at Eugene
has been injured by high water and 13
being repaired. Otherwise the dam is in
good condition.
The total cost of drainage work in the
Lake Labish district will be about $6000.
Much land has been rendered fit for cul
tivation that was formerly too wet.
The La Grande Commercial Club h33
requested the representatives of Union
county to endeavor to secure state aid
for the improvement of Grand Ronde
river.
A "goldbug chief" machine for saving
fine gold will be put at work on Powder
river, south of Telocaset, In the spring.
If it is a success many others will be in
troduced. A. J. Hackett has gone from Union to
Chicago, to secure an extension of the
time within which the beet-sugar factory
must be raised. The subsidy is nearly
completed.
Thomas Mulkey, an old pioneer, who re
sides a few miles north of Eugene, was
examined Wednesday, before Medical Ex
aminers Drs. T. W. Harris and W. M.
Kuykendall and adjudged insane. This
is his first attack and the cause is given
by the physicans as being cerebral em
bolism. E. Gilliam, stock inspector of Uma
tilla county, has inspected 21S.0OO sheep
during the fall of 1S94, and .finds them
in an excellent state of health, and. In his
estimation, freer from disease and in
fection than the sheep of that county
have been for 10 years. Only a small
proportion are infected with scab, tho
improvement in the general condition
having been brought, about by the rigid
enforcement of the law. In the spring
the inspection included 20S.0C0 sheep, ex
clusive of lambs, 25,000 of which were
driven away during the summer. Since
the fall Inspection 10.000 sheep have been
driven and shipped out of the county,
leaving 238,200. The present average prices
for ews is $1 25.
SCOURING WOOL BY NAPHTHA.
A Sew Process Tiint Promises a Great
Savins.
HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 5. (To the
Editor.) I enclose a clipping from today's
Hartford Courant, "Scouring Wool by
Naphtha," which should be of interest to
our Oregon woolgrowers.
To my mind, the saving of oil by this
process ought to stimulate the business of
wool-scouring in Oregon, utilizing the oil
and saving on the scoured, wool in freights
being in Itself a profit.
General Dwight, a veteran in the wool
business, tells me that he has had con
siderable Oregon wool, and could handle
more. He says that the New England
manufacturers are already tired of free
wool, and the sentiment, as I find it, is
that there will be no organized effort to
defeat a duty on wool by the manufac
turers, should the republican administra
tion of 1897 proceed, as they certainly will,
to re-enact the wool clause of the McKin
ley bill, with some such modifications re
garding carpat wools as our experience
with that elusive article may call for.
MAX PRACHT.
Hartford Courant, Jan. 5.
Several gentlemen prominent in the wool
business met in the beard of trade rooms
yesterday afternoon, on invitation of Will
llam T. Parks, of this city, to listen to the
presentation of the new wool-scouring pro
cess. The Invention is that of Ernest
Fahrig. of Germany, and William T. Cut
ler, of this state, and, it is claimed, is
the successful application of naphtha by
forclng it through and through the wool by
pumping. This effectually extracts all the
natural oil, which Is afterward obtained in a
pure state from the naphtha. In this con
dition it is valuable as a medicinal agent,
or for saponification into the purest soap.
The claim made was that the naphtha
did not injure the fiber, as does alkali
cleansing, leaving the wool In better con
dition than by any other process, and that
the fact that the oii product being wholly
saved, would have a material influence on
the price of wool, bringing all its con
stituent elements to market In the best
possible condition. The process, it is
claimed, would bring the fiber Into the
product of the loom absolutely perfect,
and In as good condition as the best of
English seasoned wool.
In reply to questions by General H. C.
Dwight, Judion H. Root and others, Mr.
McDowell said that a plant operating the
process in Pompton. N. J., had scoured
W.0iM pounds of wool, and had saved a
Altogether Too Effusive.
Minneapolis Tribune.
In discussing Carroll D. Wright's pro
posed national arbitration commission the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat calls attention
to the fact that it is possible, under ex
isting laws, for parties to any controversy
to call in arbitrators for its adjustment.
All that Is necessary for them to do i3
to agree upon such a method of settle
ment, and select the men to act as ar
bitrators. It is the simplest process in
the world; no elaborate machinery Is re
quired. Why, then, should the govern
ment go to the expense of $100,000 a year
to maintain a commission for that pur
pose? Such a body could have no more
authority than a common board of ar
bitrators. Mr. Wright is altogether too
effusive.
Gretthnm'H Fullurc.
St. Paul Morning Call.
Secretary Gresham has signally failed
of meeting public expectations in his
present position. His miserable excuse
for submitting to an injustice in the seal
awird is worse than none. We might
have found seme justification for his
course if he had kept silent; none can be
found now in view of the sordidness of his
apology for an Indefensible dereliction of
duty.
o
No Troublesome Surplus Norr.
New York Sun, dem.
Perhaps the treasury deficit was ar
ranged by the administration to empha
size Mr. Cleveland's former horror of a
surplus. This is poor policy. Statesmen
usually balance themselves on the happy
line of common sense with greater success.
A Call ore "Colonel Bob."
Chicago Tribune.
It is recalled that Cplonel Bob Ingersoll
once said he would believe in hell when
Missouri went republican. Missouri has
complied with the conditions, and a re
statement of the colonel's creed is now
in order.
Give the Advertiser Credit.
Cosmopolls Enterprise.
The Oregonian issued its usual New
Year's souvenir edition, doing ample jus
tice to the praiseworthy business energy
of Portland and towns in that vicinity.
a
MaUini? Rare Coins to Order.
In London there is a manufactory In
which every kind of rare or ancient coins
are made' and a collector need not go out
of the place if he wants to fill his cabi
nets with numismatic treasures.
Wnxlilnston.
A new saw and shingle mill is in pros
pect for Aberdeen.
January 12, there will be a butter andl
cheese factory meeting at Palouse.
A union Sunday school has been organ
ized at Long Beach, with Mr. Llnberger
as superintendent.
A new wharf is being constructed at
Port Angeles, 400 feet long, with 25 feet
of water at the end.
The Ballard city council has rescinded
the electric light contract made with G.
F. Gund, by the old board.
An amateur theatrical performance at
Aberdeen Saturday last netted a hand
some sum for the Congregational church.
Ed Faulkner, working in the Port Blake
ly lath mill, lost three fingers by his
hand coming .in contact with the saw,
Tuesday.
The Seattle chamber of commerce is
discussing the advisability of cutting the
city off from King county and giving it a
separate county government.
A motion has been made in theJUnited
States court, at Seattle, for foreclosure .
ot a mortgage of $80,000 on the estate of
the late Mrs. A. M. Cannon.
A petition is being circulated and gen
erally signed in Chehalis county, asking
the legislature to abolish fish-traps in tho
waters of Gray's harbor and tributaries.
A. B. Dorsey, populist county treasurer
elect, ot Clallam county, wants to give
S30.000 bonds instead of $60,000. Taxpayers
representing $120,000 of taxes, have filed
a remonstrance.
Judge M. S. Griswold, of Oysterville,
returned to his home and family Satur
day last, from the asylum at Steilacoom,
to which place he was taken some two
months ago. He returns fully recovered
and in better health than ever.
At Snohomish an old man named Will
iams, between 50 and 60 years of age. Tues
days, passed a raised bill on Gotlieb Roth,
proprietor of Germar.Ia hall. Williams
mode of work was coarse. He raised two
dollar bills to tens by the use of com
mon ink and revenue stamps. Over $10 of
the spurious money was found on his per
son. Other merchants of the city had
been victimized during the day by the old
man.
The Townsend Railroad Bonu3 Com
pany, incorporated at Port Townsend,
with a view to securing transcontinental
rail connections for that city, opened it3
bonus subscription books this afternoon
and immediately begun the reception ot
donations. The first item to go on tho
roll wa3 COO lots, donated by the Eiscnbels
syndicate, and located on the fiat part
of that famous addition, which, together
with the water frontage and tide-lands,
comprise some of the most valuable prop
erty in the city.
Great interest is being taken in the,
coyote hunt to be held near Endlcott Sat
urday. It has been well advertised and
farmers and stockmen for miles around
will turn out to assist in slaying the
animals that have caused them so much
loss. The north line win extend up aim
down Peble Flat creek, with Endicott as
a base, and will be formed simultaneously,
with the other lines at 11 o'clock. Cap
tain of the chase, George Blanchett, has
his officers well instructed and his forces
well organized, and the success of the
venture is assured without a doubt.
PARAGnAPHERS" PLEASANTRIES.
S. Q. Esem I'm going to raise your
rent. H. Ardup Thanks, awfully. I've
been wondering where it would come
from.
Jinks Say, your confounded 3og has
bitten a chunk out of my boy'3 leg!
Blinks There's an end to all my hopes.
I've spent months training that dog up
as a vegetarian.
What makes him wear that haggard
look?
A kitchen fire.
His brave resolve to "fire ' the cook
All must admire.
New York Recorder.
Turned over: Maxwell How are you
getting on in your lav practice? Skinnem
Splendid; although I have had only one
client so far. Maxwell Is he wealthy?
Skinnem He was. Puck.
Police judge What! You here again,
Rankin! This must be the 20th time
you've been up before me. Rankin Well,
yer wortshipt, 'tis no fault of mine that
you don't get promotion. Wonder.
An advertising chandler at Liverpool
modestly says that "without intending
any disparagement to the sun, I may
confidently assert that my octagonal
spermaceti are the best lights ever la
vented." Tid-Bits.
The bachelor Do you let your wife have
the last word. The married man Do I
let her? The B. Yes. The M. M. Huh:
Young fellow, when you've been married
a year or two you won't a3k sucn a ques
tion a3 that. New York Press.
Litigant You take nine-tenths of the
judgment? Outrageous! Lawyer I fur
nish all the skill and eloquence and legal
learning for your cause. Litigant But I
furnish the cause. Lawyer Oh, any
body could do that. Detroit Free Press.