THE MOJSmSTG- OBEGOOTAST, THUESBAT", F33BRT7AB 28, 1895 )X&UX&tl Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as seconS-class jsatter. TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. Ttelly, per -week, delivered. Sunday exceptedJKc Dally. per week, delivered, Saadiy lncluded-.30c News or discussion Intended for publication in The Oregonian should be addressed Invariably 'Xdltor The Oregonian," not to the name of any Individual- Letters relating to advertising. rabscripUona or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlaa." The Oregonian does not buy poems or stories from individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to it -o-Stnout solicita tion. Ho stamps should be Inclosed for this pur pose. DAILY METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. PORTLAND. Feb. 27. 8 P. M. Maximum temperature, 53. minimum temperature, 40; height of river at 11 A- M-, 4.9; change In the past 24 hours. 0.1; precipitation today, 0.07; precipitation from September 1. 1604 (wet sea son), to date. 0.65; average. 31.27; deficiency, 13 02; number hours of sunshine Tuesday, 6:28; possible number, 11:00. "WEATHER SYNOPSIS. An area of high barometric pressure moved from the northwest southward over Washington, causing showers to occur over Northwestern Oregon and Western Washington. Owing to the existence of this area of high pressure, fair weather may be expected for the follow lug 24 or 30 hours. Fair -Rcather continues In Call fsrnia and In portions east of the Cascades. Slight changes occurred in the temperature. WEATHER FORECASTS. rorecaste made at Portland for the 24 hours ending at midnight February 28: For Oregon, Washington and Idaho Fair weather and octtter. witty light northerly winds. For Portland Fair -weather and cooler, with light northerly winds. B. S. PAGUE. Local Forecast Offielal. PORTLAND. THURSDAY. FEB. 28. THERE WILL YET RE REFORM. It may be supposed there is still some honesty left among- the people of Ore gon. That honesty is indeed slow to assert itself in public matters; but it exists, though latent or dormant, and one day it will be aroused. The longer official greed runs riot, the more certain it is that an honest public indignation will one day explode in a storm of gen eral and terrible wrath. That storm may be due at the next general elec tion In Oregon; for abuses, long-continued and cumulative, which the recent legislature not only refused to correct, but aggravated in many ways, cannot stand through a period of universal public distress. All experience shows that such conditions, whpn all things so conjointly meet, are favorable to revolutions. Two factors were present which oper ated together during the recent session to confound all the purposes the people had in view when the members of the legislature were elected. The factious spirit of opposition to Mr. Dolph, that soon grew into a furious craze to de feat him, welcomed the assistance of the great gang of officials that fought to preserve their privilege of preying on the public; and these officials as eagerly accepted the help of the parti san faction, and their dlfferont schemes were moulded into one joint enterprise. The officials opposing the reductions that the people had demanded and all parties had pledged, threw "In. -a large amount -of money', that maintained a lobby at the capital. It is believed, that no lesa a sum than $20,000, every dollar drawn from the people by the excesses of officialism, was used as a corruption fund fqj: perpotuatipn of these abuses. It must be that there are yet citizens of Oregon who do not approve this sort of business. Brokers, loaded up with this money, swarmed about the capltol, offering members for sale, singly or in bunches; men were heard to boast that they received $50, $100, $500, for controlling one or more votes on the various bills to reduce salaries, emoluments and fees. Beyond all ques tion, this was the way in which the bills wore defeated. But it could not have been done without the co-operation of the partisan faction that be came willing to sacrifice all the inter ests of the state in its fury against a candidate for the senate, though that candidate was the choice of the major ity of his party, and through the cau cus became its regular nominee. Though the senatorial contest Is set tled, this other contest is not. Super fluous and unnecessary officials, exces sive emoluments, prodigal appropria tions, permit no relief from the pres sure of taxation, though these are times of industrial depression, stagnation of business and general distress. The patience of the people was exhausted long ago. It was only under solemn promises of radical reforms that any body could be elected last June. Can any one imagine that after payment of this year's taxes, through borrowing and pinching and personal privations of every kind, and finding- next year's taxes due under even severer condi tions, the people of Oregon in general, and of the city of Portland in particu lar, will prepare for a rush to the polls to support with enthusiasm the au thors of this taxation, who now have advanced to the point of claiming the profits of office as "vested rights," which the state or city is under "moral obligation" not to disturb? For those who bank on this Imagination, disen chantment is in store. There will yet be retrenchment arid reform. The usual "contract marriage" which is unearthed upon the doath of a wealthy C&lifornlan was found by the j .1 bile administrator among the private l'apers of Dr. C A. James, of San Fran cisco, recently deceased. By virtue of this finding "Miss" Laura Milen has en tered suit for the estate of Dr. James, which is valued at $75,000. Between the young woman who sues a wealthy old man for breach of promise and one who springs a marriage contract upon the relatives of an old man or the public after his death there Is but slight dis tinction, when it comes to an arraign ment for unwomanliness, while the dif ference between the men in the two cases is that between a living fool and one who is dead. The first babbles in court, in his own defense, in the futile attempt to heap further opprobrium upon the woman in the case, while the latter, through a decree of kind nature, maintains a deoorous sllenoe and lets his "ooatract" speak for what It is worth of his moral turpitude. The courts of California would lose a dis tinctive characteristic were the dock ets clear for a time of contract mar riage suits, brought by women who have no reputation to lose, for the money left by defunct roues, who defied In their private lives the social laws that underlie community decency and honorable inheritance. HOPE FOR INTERNATIONAL BI3IET AL1S3I. There Is a gleam of hope for interna tional bimetallsm In the passage by the British house of commons of a reso lution giving indirect encouragement to the German project of a new interna tional conference. The British ministry undoubtedly accepted the non-committal resolution of Mr. Everett because It feared parliamentary defeat upon a side issue which would oblige It to re sign office. Undoubtedly many conserv atives would have voted for this reso lution upon a division, who would not support bimetallsm if they were In power, simply to embarrass the .govern ment. It would not be wise to infer from this vote that a majority of the house of commqns favors bimetallsm. Nevertheless, the moral effect of this vote will be great. Probably it will de cide the holding of an international con ference. It is certain that adhesion of Great Britain to an International agreement for common use of both silver and gold at a fixed ratio would give the effort to make that ratio stable, and to hold the metals at permanent parity, large hope of success. This effort and this hope do not involve expectation of real izing the absurdity of a double stand ard, nor acceptance of the degradation of the silver standard, as the London papers seem to assume. International bimetallsm, in the minds of honest and intelligent persons, does-not mean aban donment of the gold standard, but the bringing and holding of silver money up to that standard. This may be done in two ways by limited coinage of subsidiary silver at an arbitrary ratio, or by free coinage at a ratio so carefully chosen and so steadily and universally maintained that the parity will be maintained au tomatically. The first method is that now in use by France, the United States, Germany, by all nations having a bimetallic currency with the gold standard. It is perfectly practicable for separate nations, so long as coin age or legal-tender quality is limited and adequate gold reserves maintained. Undoubtedly the leading commercial nations could carry a larger amount of subsidiary silver In this way than they carry separately, as their union Would protect the gold reserve of each from needless invasion by the others. But this limited coinage would not satisfy the advocates of silver. They want free coinage and full legal-tender power for silver. For any one country or for any group of countries, not in cluding Great Britain, this would mean the silver basis, pure and simple; un less, indeed, silver were so valued in coinage that there would be no profit In exchanging It for gold. If the ratio were less than 32 to 1, at the present price of silver, any country establish ing free coinage of silver would lose its gold or have to pay a premium to hold it- This has been demonstrated by the experience of all times and all nations. But what no nation can do alone, per haps al nations can dq together. His tory throws no light on this subject, for the experiment has not been tried. If all nations were to agree to open their mints to gold and silver alike, at the ratio of 25 to 1, or even 20 to 1, it is by no means impossible that the en larged demand for silver, due to Its in creased use as money, aided by the in creased supply of gold from mines now worked so energetically all over the world, would bring Its commercial price up to the coinage ratio. The ex periment Is worth trying, anyway, es pecially since, if all nations join in it, no one could suffer loss of gold to others by failure. Even If the bullion price of silver do not rise at once to its coinage value, there would be no great peril of finan cial disorders in universal free coinage of both metals at a fixed ratio, consider ably higher than the present When one nation undervalues gold in Its coinage, its gold Is drained away by foreigners. But if all nations were to put the same value on gold measured in silver, there would be no such drain. "When all nations put the same value on silver measured in gold, silver will have the same universal currency as gold, and international balances can be settled in it. Of course this rule will apply only to new silver coined at the new ratio. All existing silver money, until recoined at the new ratio, will remain token or part-credit cur rency, to be sustained upon full-value money. But as the supporting basis will be enlarged by all the new coined silver, it will be easy to maintain local parity for the old coins. REVEVOE THE GREAT XEED. It is all nonsense to pay a bbunty on sugar. What the country needs Is a duty on sugar, and a good stiff one, for revenue purposes. The duty on sugar and the tax on beer ought to be doubled. That would bring about $50, 000,000 more annual revenue into the treasury and put an end to these de pressing deficits. The crying need of the country is an adequate revenue. The nation is rich enough, and it bears necessary taxa tion patiently. There was rfo complaint of the taxes that yielded $1OO,O0O,GOO surplus revenue until a lot of states men out of a job went around bawling that the people were oppressed by over taxation. Oppressed or not, the people were prosperous and happy. Capital yielded ample return, industry throve, agriculture prospered and labor was employed. But the democrats clam ored that the country was in distress because there was a surplus In the treasury, and a majority of the people believed them in 1S92. The democratic statesmen were given the job of governing the country and the surplus disappeared. Large part of the necessary revenues disappeared with It. The treasury deficiency in the first full fiscal year of the Cleveland administration was $76,009,803. Nobody knows what it will be this year. Car lisle figures out a surplus, but so he did last year. No one trusts his fig ures. The income tax will yield some thing and the increased whisky tax a little, but these will not more than make up the losses by reduction of tar iff duties, and the losses due to general depression of business will remain. The revenues probably will not equal the expenditures till new taxes shall be laid. The most available objects of taxation are imported sugar and domes tic beer. Nothing will be done in this concress. The next house of representatives, which will be republican, should take up this question of revenue legislation seriously. By that time the adminis tration will be convinced that the coun try cannot run on forever on borrowed money, and that revenues never can equal expenditures under the Have meyer tariff law. The president will be ready to consent to legislation which will, bring money into the treasury. Indeed, he may have to call congress together to enact such legislation be fore the regular session next winter. IRRIGATION IX OREGON. In view of Oregon's experience in the past In undertaking enterprises at the state's expense, and of the limited in formation possessed at the present time of the conditions of practical effort to take advantage of the Carey desert land and irrigation act, the refusal of the legislature to pass a bill committing the state to the expenditure of money for this purpose was intelligible. Two years hence legislation may be had on that subject with a better understand ing of what is practical, and of regu lations necessary to defeat selfish and fraudulent schemes. The experience of other states will then be available as a guide for action. Oregon officially has paid little at tention to irrigation, though possessing millions of acres of arable land that will remain unproductive until arti ficially supplied with the water they now lack. Other Pacific coast states have legislated upon this subject and have experimented with irrigation and through years of litigation and law making have settled the principle of water rights a it should be applied In a region where the diversion of water from its natural course is necessary for lndus'.Tial purposes. What they have accomplished by years of effort is available for Oregon as a guide to her own action, and it is well to take ad vantage first of what has been demon strated to be practicable in the direc tion of associated local effort. This was done by the passage of Senator King's irrigation bill, which is based upon the Wright law now in successful opera tion in California, objectionable fea tures having been eliminated. The King bill provides for the or ganization of irrigation districts by property-owners living within them. These districts are made to conform to local conditions as to size and boundaries, the practicability of irriga tion from a single or combined source of supply being the determining factor. The district having been legally organ ized, a vote may be had upon the ques tion of levying- a tax or issuing bonds to raise a fund for building or acquir ing a system of ditches, reservoirs, etc. All the land in the district is made sub ject to taxation for the payment of bonds, interest, cost of maintenance, etc, but improvements are exempt, on the theory that to tax them would dis courage the making of them. This lat ter provision is the introduction of a new principle into our taxation system. It remains to be seen whether it will notdefeattheobjectof thelawby placing the total of assessment forirrigation tax below the amount necessary to keep the Irrigation system in order and pay fixed charges, without so large a per centage tax levy as would cause property-owners to rebel. It may well be imagined that in some districts the value of the land only would not be sufficient lo maintain-an extensive ir rigation system. Eastern Oregon has tried for several sessions to secure legislative action on irrigation, but this is the first time that it has presented a practicable plan by which the burden is to be borne by the land benefited. The results should be good injthose sections where large areas can be supplied with water at compara tively small expense. California has given a warning example of excessive bonding, both in drainage and irriga tion districts, and it should be heeded by the farmers of Oregon. The theory of the labor-arbitration bill pending in congress Is absurd, and never can be realized practically. If it could, it would establish the most grinding tyranny over workingmen ever known since the days of serfdom. It is contemplated by the house bill that only union workmen shall be recog nized by the law, and that absolute subjection of the workman to his union shall be enforced. The protection of the law is to be given to workmen through the unions, and, of course, a workman outside of the union will have no protection. On the other hand, the unions are to be employed to coerce Individual laborers. It is through them that the decisions of the courts of ar bitration are to be enforced. If a man refuses to abide by the decision of the arbitrators, he Is to be expelled from his union. It does not appear how this provision is to be carried out, or what penalties are to lie against unions which do not expel recalcitrant work men. Probably the rule of expulsion cannot be enforced at all. If it could, the workman would lose his personal liberty as completely as a medieval serf. He would have no power to quit his employment after an arbitration court had decided against him, except by sacrifice of a connection without which he could obtain no other employ ment. This endeavor to meet the ob jection that the decrees of the courts could be enforced against the employer, but not against the employe, could succeed only by depriving the latter of liberty to work or not, as he chooses, which is the very essence of personal freedom. The debate In the house of represen tatives at Washington on the bill to regulate dealings between railroads and their employes shows how Impos sible it will be to settle questions be tween the railroads and their work men by compulsory arbitration through the courts. The reason is that, while a decree can be enforced against a railroad company. It cannot be enforced upon the men. The men cannot be compelled to work If the decree goes against them, and there can be no pen alty for their refusal, for the act forbids their punishment as for contempt of court. In all the relations of men there are corresponding rights and mutual obligations, but this act attempts to put all the rights on one side and all the obligations on the other. It cer tainly will be wholly Impracticable, and therefore it may be quite harmless. There are eight counts In the pro vision for the indictment of physicians by the new medical board for "unpro fessional or dishonorable conduct," for which the license to practice medicine may be revoked. The last of these is "habitual intemperance," and if one may be said to be of greater importance than any or all of the others, this should take such precedence. The sick room Is of all Dlaces the last to which a man whose moral sense Is stupefied or perverted by drink should be admit ted. Holding the balance between life and death in his hand, a balance often adjusted with such nicety that the slightest movement will influence it one way or the other, the physician who drinks habitually dishonors his profes sion, and more or less frequently places human life in jeopardy. Hence this cause for refusing or revoking a physi cian's license cannot be too rigidly en forced for the protection of humanity in Its hour of distress or peril. The hue and cry raised in Savannah against Slattery, an alleged ex-priest pf the Roman Catholic church, by enraged Catholics is big with unreason and noisy with the hot breath of intoler ance. The man himself is of some no toriety, but of little repute. As a fire brand from an ecclesiastical camp he is capable of mischief only when fool ish religionists expose the nflaipmable material of their prejudices to his reck less fu3ilade. When a sensationalist, working in the interest of political in tolerance on the one hand, is met by the ignorant exponents of religious in tolerance upon the other, a rellgio-polltl-cal riot is the natural sequence- The more intelligent element, which excite ment betrayed Into affiliation with the Savannah mob, was quelled by Vicar General Cafferty with the words: "This man Slattery can do your church np harm." The unreasoning portion could only understand the Ipgic of the militia's bayonets, called Into requisi tion for the protection of the ex-priest and the ex-nun, his wife. Comment upon the incident may be summed up in the words: "Behold how great a matter a little fire klndleth.!' The enormous emoluments of the of fice of sheriff In Multnomah county have been cut off, aqd they never will be restored. It is not worth while for th,e present sheriff to go roarlqg about the streets. and pulling his revolver pn members of the legislature. If Sheriff Sears would like to know whether the people of Multnomah want these emolu ments restored, how would It do for him to become the candidate next year of a party pledged to restore them, and to continue the fees of the district attor ney, and also the superfluous city of fices, with no reduction of salaries? That would be a plain, straight issue. Shall we have it? Perhaps those who are asserting that Oregon's new senator is a free-silver man might take a hint that it would be wel to let him speak fqr himself on the subject Mr. McBride has said nothing more than that he stands on the national platform of the republican party, which calls for maintenance of parity by "restriction" of coinage. This, was the policy the republican party pursued while in power, and it is con tinued under the present democratic administration. The Cuban revolution has broken out in Fiorida and San Francisco, as" well as In New York, and probably will reach New Orleans. Cuban revolutions generally are most active at a safe dis tance from Cuba. THE COMMISSIONS. Hotv the State Press Enjoys th,ei Leg islatives FltLke. CoryaJHs1 Times. One 'of the most remarkable acts of this remarkable legislature was its remark able adjournment -Without electing the of ficers and members of commissions creat ed by statute. This is said to have been a neat trick scored by President Simon. There were so many candidates for rail road commissioner that all of them were, probably promised an election in return for support in the senatorial fight. To have elected three out of the scores of ap plicants would have enraged the balance and made senatorial bolters. Besides the old commission could not be elected, and it was the board the powers desired. Thus the whole thing was made easy by the simple trick of allowing the whole busi ness to go by default The expenditure of thousands of days of hard work and barrels of perspiration by candidates for these offices, swarming in the lobby and pushing their campaigns, were thus made barren of result by the wringing in of a cold deck. Salem Statesman. The railroad commission was not abol ished because some of the senators had relatives who were candidates for places in that useless body. There is some sat isfaction to the overburdened taxpayers to know the relatives of these state sen ators were cut off from their chances by the adjournment without election. The members of the old commission can draw their salaries with as good grace as any man in Oregon, and they can earn them as completely as could be wished for, by doing nothing. We wish to congratulate them and the people, therefore, upon the fortunate adjournment. We believe the warrants for their salaries should be drawn in lump sums now, so as to save them the trouble of coming to Salem every quarter to perform the onerous labor of signing their vouchers and drawing their money. They should at least have all that Is available now, $10,000. Eugene Guard. This legislature was not without at least one supremely ridiculous feature. Imagine about 150 aspirants for members of commissions, and clerkships pertaining thereto, on hand from the beginning of the session lobbying for positions, en deavoring to make trades and combina tions, and using their combined influence to prevent the abolishment of the com missions or reduction of the compensa tion; then, after- 41 days of travail, all their conniving comes to naught, the leg islature failing to elect A Portland ring thought It had a dead sure thing on game warden, but the compensation was not enough to satisfy them. By extraordi nary effort they had it increased, but not for their benefit The present Incumbent will enjoy the fruits of their labor. It is enough to make one of the street-car mules laugh. Jacksonville Times. As the Times has often predicted, the legislature failed to abolish the railroad or any one of the many other commis sions; and as It adjourned without elect ing the successors to their present in cumbents, those officials elected two years ago by the legislature will hold over un tlS the next session ousts them. THE LEGISLATURE. More Comment Upon Its Deeds and Omissions. Salem Post It is said that when the grasshoppers took flight from Nebraska in 1S74, after having devoured every green thing, and for a few moments darkened the sun as they arose in the heavens, the joy of the people was unbounded, so they took off their hats and gave them three cheers. Ne.'er, we think, did a body leave the field of its labor amid such universal ac claim as did your body on Sunday morn ing last With the exception of the lady clerks, who have enjoyed a magnificent vacation from the drudgery of labor, and who were seldom called upon to lay off their sacks and bonnets and grapple with an unwieldly penholder, and a few. favored gentlemen of the old war-horse variety, who. drew pay for lobbying for certain candidates-, and others whose chief business appeared to be to support the pillars of the capltol, your exit will be hailed with delight equaled qnly by the musical cadences of the melodious words "Sine die." The Dalles Chronicle. The populists were not in It Sunday. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky upon the glad spring day, which re publicans and democrats can claim as their own. The legislature had adjourned, and the pledges of economy and reform, of lopped-off raljroad and other commis sions, had not been kept In consequence there was a disgruntled feeling in the re publican camp, which awakened the ten derest sympathies of the democrats, who know haw it is themselves, aqd who in turn await the adjourning of the national legislature that they elected, and that was "full of pror se." Members of the two old parties In Oregon have at last a com mon ground upon which they can meet and minglo their tears. Violated pledges and broken promises are becoming prop erty in common. Roseburg Review. Reay no important laws of general application werp enacted. The bill fath ered by the sheriffs lobby passed, and these officials will now receive mileage in addition to being furnished deputies, and good plump salaries besides. This law is of some interest to the sheriffs and the people but never mind the peo ple, they were not in it this session at all. The mortgage tax law and indebted ness exemption clause were not re-enacted and not a single useless commission was abolished. The general appropriation bill was larger than that of last year and had more private grabs in It- That's all. Albany Herald. The Oregon legislature will have many sins to answer for hereafter. The mem bers went to Salem pledged to reform and economy. They adopted a report traduc ing and maligning the trustees of the Soldiers' Home over an imaginary over charge of a few hundred dollars, but they neglected to cut off expenditures run ning Into thousands of dollavs. East Oregonian. Republican legislators have not lived up to republican principles. No republican paper, believing in republican principles, can, for a minute, countenance extrava gance on the part of republican legislators or officials. True republicanism never was and never will be supported by plun dering the taxpayers. Albany Democrat Of all men In the world those in the last legislature should be the last to com plain of anything that was said about them. They ought to be thankful no more is said about them, fqr of all rocky legis latures, this was about the worst, and no one should ever boast cf having been a member of it ABOUT THE SENATOR. Opinions Tbnt Are Wise and Some Otherwise. Heppner Gazette. The election of Mr. McBride was not, as many claim, a piece of spitework any thing to defeat Dolph. While the people's representatives were working hard to de feat Dolph and "ring rule," they were also working hard to elect a good man who would represent our interests. This we blieve they have done. The only ob jection anyone can raise to McBride Is that he Is not a strong man physically. 1 This we consider is decidedly in his fa vor. What we want in our lawmakers is brains, and a desire to benefit the peo ple, and Mr. McBride possesses these qual ifications. In the election of Mr. Mc Bride tp the senate the people have clearly demonstrated that they are tired of being run by the money power. Mr. McBride is a friend to the poor man as well as the rich, and will stop and shake hands with a man in overalls as quick as one in broadcloth. Astorjan. There is a unanimjty of sentiment among all classes of republicans in Clatsop county that the election of George W. Mc Bride as United States senator was the best possible selection the legislature could have made under the circumstances. He is a stalwart republican, unidentified with any faction, was a Dolph man and n outspoken caucus supporter. The office went to him without any solicitation Whatever, and he is not under special obligation or pledgp tq any individual or element It would be hard to conceive of an election more likely to harmonize and unify the discordant factions of the party in Astoria and elsewhere in the state. There is every reason to be thankful fqr such an ending to the bitter and un seemly fight at Salem. Roseburg Review. Mr. McBride is not a public speaker and it is difficult to say just what quali fications he possesses that fit a man for United States senator. As the result of an accident several years ago, he is a confirmed invalid, and during his second term as secretary of state, left most of his official work to his clerks owing to his protracted illness. Personally, Mr. McBride is an affable gentleman, who has a large number of friends through out the state. Albany Herald. The election of Hon. George W. Mc Bride, Oregon's mqst efficient and re spected ex-secretary of state, to the high office of United States senator, is a mat ter of congratulation to the state at large, and gives to the United States senate a most acceptable and worthy member who will command a complete and full in fluence in every department with which he may be brought In contact, and who will actively and successfully guard Oregon's interests. Pendleton Tribune. It is doubtful if the election of any other man in this state would be better calculated to unite the opposing forces and to add strength to the republican party in Oregon. No man knows better the wants of the people of this state. Mr. Mc Bride is no orator, but is conceded by all to be capable of sustaining in debate the measures he will advocate with skill and good judgment Eugene Register. It is indeed strange how everybody should be so slow to think of little things that have a great influence on great men. Why couldn't somebody-think to take a box of oranges and scatter them through the legislative halls early in the session? It seems that was all that was necessary to break the deadlock and elect a senator. Ashland Tidings. The news of the election of George W. McBride as United States senator was received with no little satisfaction in Ash land, particularly by republicans, who recognize in the result a happy compro mise that will tend greatly to party har mony. "Senator McBride is all right," is the almost universal expression heard. SOCIALISTIC CONUNDRUMS PORTLAND, Feb. 27. (To the Editor.) By what authority did the legislature pass a bill to submit the question of putting tolls on bridges to the "taxpayers" of this city? By wnat constitutional authority are so many people thus disfranchised? There are some of us still old-fashioned enough to believe in a government of the people, by the people and for the peo ple; and to look with distrust upon a gov ernment of the people by a class and for a class. If the question of tolls on bridges may be lawfully submitted to a limited number of electors, why not other public questions? The cost pf maintaining our free bridges Is small compared with the cost of our police and fire departments, and if the regulation of one is to be subject to the control of a select number of voters, why not the others? Moreover, the real taxpayers of this city are the consumers, not the mjddlemen, who collect from fho const mers to hand over the public treasurer. The so-called tax- payers eis are Dy no means the only tar ers, and in the sense in which they re- pay gard , uiuaoavua as taxpayers iney are taxDavers at nil. not Consumers urothp onlv taxrjavers worth speaking of, and since we are all con sumers, we are all taxpayers, and as such strictly entitled to all the rights and priv ileges belonging to taxpayers. The man who buys shoes to wear, pays from first to last all taxes, direct and indi- rect tnat nave ever been paid on these shoes or tne materials of which they are The tax naid tav the manufanturpp made. of of shoes is charged up and made a part the COSt of maklnir shops, and the jobber has to pay It: the tax collected from the iobbftr Is charred nt In th( nnvt of the shoes, and thf r.-tnJ1pr hn' tn nair It ; the tax on the retailer's stock of shoes is cnargea up in like manner and collected from a tne consumer tne man who buys shoes to wear. the And SO It is vlth nil tnvM ta-rnAnt rait nopoly taxes); the consumer in the end foots the whole bill, and is, therefore, the real taxpayer. " s. B. RIGGEN. Voters having the qualification under the statutes to vote in school districts that is, any citizen who is 21 years of age and has property in the district upop which he or she pays a tax are author ized by this act to vote on the question of tolls on bridges. But the vote to be taken as to tolls can hardly be called an "electioq" in any proper sense of the term. The legislature leaves it to a particular tribunal the taxpayers to determine whether there shall be tolls or not, and to another tribunal the county court to fix the tolls within certain limit3. With the arguments presented in Mr. Riggen's socialistic essay, we shall not trouble our selves atpressnt THE BRIDGE QUESTION. A Stntenient to the Public Front Mr. II. W. Coruett. PORTLAND, Feb. 27. (To the Editor.) I herewith inclose the following extract from the Sun, to which my attention has been called: The bill to unload the Morrison-street bridge for about three times its value. In the interest of Mr. Corbett, passed the legislature; but It there is any law to make It a free bridge by aq qulrlng it for what It is worth. It should be In voked, even If Mr. Corbett is thus deprHed of making: a large sum of money. He. perhaps, can live If he does-not make this little "pile;" and the taxpayer? generally should not be palled upon. In these tight times, to pay three or four prices for a bridge, een if It Is needed. I hardly believe that the writer thinks me capable of peculation out of the pub lic or any else. In justice to myself, however, I may as well state my connec tion, as fully as may be, with this bridge matter: Some two months before the legislature met, a meeting was called on the East Side to consider the question of the purchase of the Morrison-street bridge. Being a large holder of property, with others, lo cated in the central portion of the city, I was invited to be present at that meeting, which I attended, and gave my views as to the practicability of obtaining the Morrison-street bridge by lease, for the free passage of pedestrians, and fixing a toll for vehicles. At that meeting my views were voted down and resolutions werp adopted (after I left) recommending the issue of 1250,000 in bonds for the pur chase of that bridge. A bill was intro duced into the legislature providing for the issue of $230,000 for that purpose. This bill I opposed on the ground of exces sive issue. A bill was prepared, and after wards introduced by Senator Denny, authorizing the issue of $150,000 in bonds, and providing for submitting the question to the taxpayers as to the issue of the bonds; and, also, the question as to the tolls on vehicles. This bill was pre pared at my suggestion to prevent the passage of the bill for the $250,000 Issue of bonds. I was waited upon by a number of the central property-holders, who in sisted that if the bond question was left to the vote of the. taxpayers the peopje tributary to the Madison-street bridge and those tributary to the Burnside Street bridge would unite and defeat the proposition, and they would be left in the same positipn with the toll bridge In the central portion, by reason of the self ish interests of those having the advan tage of the two free bridges in their respec tive localities. Reccgnizipg the force of this argument, I consented to amend the bill in reference to the vote upon the bond issue by striking cut the same, but insisted that the question of tolls should be submitted to the taxpayers at the next school election. It seems that in terested parties, without consultation with me, had inserted the provision for the purchase of the Stark-street ferry, and the leasing of the upper portion of the steel bridge. The bill was also amended, as it appears, by turning over the management of the bridges and the ferries, after their acquisition, to the county commissioners, thereby saving to the taxpayers the pay of the present comm'ssioners, amounting to about $2700 a year. This latter pro vision was not suggested by me, but was enacted, I presume, in the interests of economy. The savings that will accrue by reason of tolls upon bridges and fer ries, if voted for, will save to the tax payers probably not less than $60,000 per year. I estimate that the interest on the bonds Issued will amount to $8000 to $9000 a year, as the premium on bonds to be Issued will amount to probably 8 to 10 per cent. It will not probably be neces sary to issue the entire amount of bonds authorized. If, therefore, by paying this amount of interest on bonds, we have the reasonable probability of getting $60,000 in return for tolls, 1, as a taxpayer, re gard it as a pood proposition; and. with that view, and that only, I have favored this measure. The taxpayer? in the cen tral portion of the city insisted that they should be placed on the same basis as other portions of the city, having free bridge accommodations, and then they would vote on the question of tolls on vehicles, whih they believed could be carried. Naturally, the people who have been receiving the advantages of free bridges at the expense of the property holders tributary to Morrison street will do all they can to defeat (as they have done) this measure. The present bridge commission may feel somewhat hurt that these matters are turned over to the county commissioners, but if it is a sav ing to the taxpayers, I presume the mem bers of the legislature thought it wise to make the saving. H. W. CORBETT. PERSONS WORTH KNOWING ABOIIT. M. Andre, an aeronaut of Stockholm, has a plan to go to the North Pale in a balloon. The widow of Herr Reis, who Germans say was the inventor of the telephone, died in Friedrichsdorf, near Homburg, the other day. She drew a pension from the government, owing to the services of her husband. General van Vliet Js not the oldest liv ing officer of the regular army. Lieuten ant Michael Moore (retired) entered the service- as music boy in April, 1812, before Van Vliet was born. The lieutenant is a Brooklyn man. The Indiana legislature has appropriat ed $10,000 to place statues of William- Henry Harrison and Oliver P. Morton in the statuary hall of the capltol at Wash ington. In the same legislature a bill has been introduced to place a statue of Gov ernor Whitcomb in Monument Place. M. Louis Jules Trochu, of the French army (retired). Is seriously ill at Paris. He was born at Bretagne, March 12, 1815, and received his education in the military academy of St Cyr. In the crisis which followed the battle of Sedan, he was made governor of Paris, and commander-in-chief of all the forces there. At the Academy of Visitation, Balti more, yesterday, there was a grand cele bration in honor of the golden jubilee Qf Sister Mary Xavier Queen. Right Rev. P. J. Donohoe, bishop of Wheeling, cele brated pontiflc!al high mass. In the course of the mass the venerable sister i renewed her vows to Cardinal Gibbons. NEWS OF THE XQRTKWKST, Oregon. The school census m Corvallls shows 352 females and 31? majes; total 68S. It Is proposed to hold an encampment of G. A. R. veterans of Eastern Oregon at Elgin. July 23 and 2i, There are 12,000 sacks of grain in the Monkland district of Sherman county yet In the fanners' hands. The Heppner board of trade has appoint ed a committee to see what can be done to: open a road between that city and Parria creek. A public wool warehouse and. market will be established at Baker Cily. It will be 60x100 feet, of porrugated iron, on stone foundation. R. S. Owen was examined for insanity at Eugene Tuesday, and was discharged. It wag fqund that a yialegt temper wYs his distemper. Ladies of West Salem are raising a sub? scription fund to erect a hall, to be used for church and literary purposes. Q. W. Johnson has donated a lot Company A, O. N. G.. of Ashland, will hold an election to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of Captain Graham to be major of the Second regiment It is proposed at Eugene to use the dona tions made for the Nebraska sufferers, not yet forwarded because the roads now charge for freight, for the relief of local cases of distress. The diphtheria cases at Medford and Phoenix are being treated by the antl-tox-ine method, a bottle of the serum having been procured ip Portland, and the result is highly gratifying. The annual meeting of the Eastern Qrfc gon Fruitgrowers' Union will be held March 8. Many of the members of this or ganization favor co-operation with tho Oregon Fruit Union during the coming sea son, in the handling of the fruit and berfy crop. Parties In Eugene have about closed tb,o, purchase of the subscription list and good will of the Oregon State School Jjurnal, which has been published for some time at Drain by the Byrd Publishing Company. The intention is to continue the nublica tion of tre Journal in Eugene. It is a monthly publication. Sunday morning, before daylight, Mrs. Elizabeth Strong, 70 years of age, boarded the train at Myrtle Creek to go to Eugene. In the darkness, she crossed the platform, of the car and fell off the opposite side, bruising herself considerably and dislocat ing her left shoulder. She was lifted upon the train and taken to Eugene, where, un der surgical care, she Is doing nicely. James Cook and W. F. Hobart unearth ed the skeleton of a man near' the bridge across Nell creek, at the old tannery, on the Homes pjace, south of Ashlami, Satur day, while repairing the dam lif tiej creek. It was buried only little more than a foot underground, and on the bank above 'the spring by the side of the creek, which spot has always made a desirable camping place for travelers by team. The skull rest ed on a flat stone, and the teeth were la good state of preservation. Just how long since the man was juried there is of course not known, but it was done more than likely in early times, somp emigrant party losing one of its members, who was given his "six feet of earth" at the first convenient pj.ace. " "Waslilnsrton. It is proposed to locate a creamery oa Cow creek, near Ritzvitye. The city council of Seattle has donated $200 to the Salvation Army, to be used in Its labor relief work. Four regulars and eight specials are to be dropped from the Spokane police force in the interest of economy. The telephone system from Spokane to 'Coeur d'Alene is to be extended to Helena: and other Montana points, 25 miles of wire being put under ground In crossing the Coeur d'Alenes. Next Monday a train pf 10 cars of stall ifed beef cattle will be shipped from. Wallai Walla to Chicago, where. It Is expected to realize 5& cents a pound oh" the hoof. " The Steers average 1500 pounds. Thi3 Is IKe first shipment of "the' season from that lo cality. The Tacoma committee in charge of tho army-post matter, has decided to report Ins favor of a half-dozen sites, as follows: East Side of American lake, west side of American lake, Spanaway lake, Stellacoonx site, near Albert Whyte's place, Edison site, near Edison, and Point Defiance. G. W Evans, aged 87 years, a Walla Walla pioneer of 1861, died in that city Sunday, Several of his sons and daughters are residents of that pity, and are promi nent in business and social circles. Among them are Councilman Milton Evans, An drew Evans, George A. Evans, Noah Ev ans and Mrs. Green Riffle. J. L. Blalock, of Walla Walla, has filed with the Whitman county auditor a notice of an appropriation of water right, claim ing water from Rock lake to the extent of 4000 feet per second. The notice statesthat the water will be stored in Rock lake, which Is to be used as a reservoir, and the water is to be conveyed in ditches and natural channels in a southwesterly direc tion, where it is to be used for the purpose of irrigating lands in Adams and Frank lin counties. PARAGRAFHERS' PLEASANTRIES. The snake is graceful enough; what he lacks is moral responsibility, like so many gDod-looking men. New York Recorder. "Thank the Lord," said the farmer, "cotton's going up at last!" ''You don't say!" "Yes; yonder goes ten bales in a cyclone." Atlanta Constitution. Miss Twenty-Eight Isn't it. strange how the custom of sending valentines has fallen into disuse. Miss Eighteen (de murply) I hadn't noticed it SomervUle Journal. First Chicago Boy How did you like New York? Second Chicago Bqy First rate. "Didn't you get homesick?" "Not a bit You see, my uncle lives in Brook lyn, and I was there during the trolley strjke. It seeded just like home." Street & Smith's Good News. "What is this I hear about your making a good deal of money at the racetrack lately? I never would have believed it" "It is so. though," replied Jonah H. Hoodoo. "There are a half-dpzen fellows paying me every day not tp bet on their horses." Indianapolis Journal. When you write a merry jest, Cut it short: It will be too long at best Cut it short: Life is brief and full of care; Editors don't like to swear; Treat yqup poem like your hair Cut it short. Truth. Little Brother You told Mr. Nicefello you sang only for your own amusement, didn't you? Big Sister I presume so. I tell everybody that- But why? Little Brother Oh, nothing, only I said to him that you was hard to amuse, and he said he thought it took very little 'to amuse you. Street & Smith's Good News. Sallie Well, I really think you are the most conceited girl I ever camp across, You've been exactly one hour by the clock admiring your hair. Laura That just shows your ignorance, then. I'm not admiring my hair. But Harold asked ma for a lock of it, and I can't decide where to cut it from. Truth. Some people talk an' talk o art; An' it's a big pertater; But one thing plays a bigger part, An' that is human natural Fer art is copied so they say; A kind o" gloss on tin; An' human natur stan's today As 'riginal as sin! Atlanta Constitution. Had More Sense Than Hl8 Master. Heppner Gazette. Yesterday near Matlock's corner, Mr. Henry Heppner might have had a serious runaway. He left his horse atanding un hltcned and entered the saloon, and while there the horse started down the street As we stated above, the horse might have run away; but he didn't; he walked a few steps down the street and stopped. r c