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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1900)
- - 1 XHr MOBBING OKEQONIAN, SATURDAY, JAOTAKY 13, 1900. Wkw x&Qoni&n Entered at the Postoffice at Portland. Oregon, as . eecond-elass matter. " TELEPHONE! Editorial Booms.. 1G8 I Business Ofaoc 037 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By .Hall (postage prepaid). In Advance Dally, with Sunday, per month .".t ?0 S5 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year T SO Uallrv witn Sunday, per year.. ............ 8 00 Sunday, per year ., 2 Cft The Weekly, per year!- 1 2 The VTeelcly, 3 months .... 60 Toaty Subscnbert-' X4Ur, ier week, delivered, Sundays exeejtecUlSp Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays lneluded.20a 2i$K& or discussion Intended for publication is The Oregonian should be addressed invariably Edi$or The Oregonian." not to the name of oay Individual, letters relating- to .advertising, inscriptions or to any business raaiter should be Addressed simply "The Oxego'nlas." The Qrepmlan idoea not buy poems or stories ironi individuals and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent tq It wUhpo: solicita tion. Ko stamps should bo inclosed far this pur pose: Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson, pffioe -at 1111 Pacific avenue, .Tacoma. Box SSSl Tacoma postoffice. Pastern Business. QSlce The Tribune building; Mew Tv-rk -c!H'.r "The Hookery," Chicago: the s. -c. Beckwjth special agency, TJew "fork. Fflr ale In San Francisco by Z. X. Cooper. 7iB Market street; near the Palace hotel, and at Goldsnaita Bros., 536 Sutter street. Pet sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 17 Dearborn street TODAY'S WEATHER. Occasional rain, with couth to -west -winds. PORTLAND, SATURDAY, JAKUARY 13 THE ABOSE5 OP A SYSTEM. Bev. Alexander Blackburn, of Port land, who professes to have been a sol dier in the civil war, in a letter on pen sions, published in The Oregonian of yesterday, began thus: "As one who draws a pension and is not ashamed of it, though not dependent on the pension for my bread, will you permit me a word ?" Here is a man who uncovers his moral nakedness before the public, and. is not ashamed. He admits that the pension Is noti necessary to his support; yet by a course 63: casuistry, reasoning from false premises, argument loaded with economic error, and manifest compro mises, with conscience, he justifies him self for seeking and taking it. The purpose of the pension is totally misrepresented by Dr. Blackburn. The government Is not completing the pay ment of the soldiers who have rendered t service in Ifs wars. JBise it would pay all aHke sick and well, strong arid in firm. The very preamble of the "de pendent pension buT of 1890 refutes this assumption. It Is a bill "granting pensions to ex-soldiers and sailors "Who are Incapacitated for the performance of manual labor, and providing pen sions to -dependent relatives of deceased soldiers and sailors." The spirit of the law is right, but the loose wording Is taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons like Dr. Blackburn, who, though-not needing pensions, and abun dantly able to support themselves, claim pensions on the ground that they are not able to perform manual labor, Buch labor, say, as chopping cordwood though In fact many have fine Incomes from professions and from property, and not a few are rich. Xet they go and swear they can't perform manual labor, -and dra"w the pension. Some of them, however, be It said to their credit, are yet too -honest to pretend that the "government is simply paying a debt" it owes them. They find them selves able to get the money, by per version of the law, and they get it. The general tone of Dr. Blackburn's letter Is that everything that can be got out of the treasury by the man who served in the federal army during the civil war is that man's due. As one justification is the false as sumption that it is a "debt," another is an argument that the man who sup plied the government with money for prosecution of the war was a robber. The government, however, was very glad to get this money, and so was the soldier; and the low rate to which the credit of the country had fallen when the lenders parted with their money showed how slight was deemed the chance of ever getting it back. The country got its money as cheap as It could and bought its supplies as cheap as it could, and hired Its soldiers as cheap as it could. To the patriotism of its soldiers it owes great things, but it is a debt which it does not undertake to discharge with money, nor does it grant pensions on that basis. Still another audacity of this letter is the cool assumption that the money paid for pensions "scatters plenty" over a smiling land, and "nobody feels it except as a benefit" Of course, it is no concern to Dr. Blackburn how the money is obtained. He views it from the standpoint of the man who has.no financial or business responsibilities. To such as he, money "comes by na ture." Nobody has to toil for it, and the greater the public expenditures the greater the "benefits." There is not a question that the pen sions paid by the United States ought to be liberal and. large. There are sol diers who ought to have pensions, yet have none. But there are many more 1 persons not in need, men who 'have large or considerable incomes from pro fessions or from property, men, and women, too, who are wealthy or well-tQ-dD who draw, pensions, some of them large. The "widow" abuse is also very great. So also of the "minor children" abuse, in the case of those who have estates. There- are, moreover, on the pension rolls the names of thousands whose terms of enlistment were very short, and who never saw service es pecially so towards the elbse of the war. These are- the bases of criticism upon the pension system of the TJnite'd States. They are just It is the busr ness, as certainly it is the right, of the citizen to discriminate between a sys tem that the whole country cheerfully supports, and the abuses of it, that only men like Dr. Blackburn have the hardihood to defend. It remains a pity that a man of Dr. Blackburn's pretensions cannot see the Immorality of his presentation of the subject It is not the money; it is the debauchment of the moral sense of the country to which such statements con tribute, that gives most concern. How t far it has gone, such a letter from such a source gives, proof sad enough. It is- interesting that the reduction in Multnomah county's assessed valuation fails even yet to bring the county's state taxes down to the average ratio as compared with population. "vVhile the county has, according to the cen sus of 1895, only 25.6 per cent of the population, it Is to pay this year 26.3 per gent of the taxes. The figures are $199.46. out Of "$757,782. As lriilrrmrn?. county's propartSon o taxes to people I is aooye the general average, other counties must make it up in corre- sponding reductions. The circumstance Is the more striking In. -view of the nun' dregs and thousands of poor people in every large city, who swell the popula tion but contribute nothing to tha local share of the state burden. It Is doubtful if more than one person in ten- In Multnomah county Is a taxpayer under the law. In cdtfntry districts, of course, the majority of -men own their homes, at least. PRESENT AXTICS, FBTUKE SHAME. Not ajl that Senator Pettlgrew says can be set aside with contempt At the basis of his criminal demagogy is a foundation of truth. McKinley has un doubtedly managed things with a view to nis personal fortunes, and now much he has suppressed or garbled, reports from the Philippines, or disguised or ders sent thitheT, is a mete matter of detail. That the McKinley machine fre quently regards itself erroneously as a synonym for the government of the United States has been ascertained and commented upon long before Pettigrew thought fit to lift up his voice in trea sonable defamation. Now Pettlgrew, having made out a case against McKinley, commits the same- offense named in his Indictment. He confuses a part with the whole. He regards It monstrous that our "puny president" be regarded as identical with the country's course, and then he pro ceeds to denounce the course things have taken because of McKinley's do ings. The mistakes of McKinley da not suggest to Pettfgrew that McKinley is imperfect, but only that expansion id altogether wrong and dishonorable. Our presence in the Philippines is un holy aggression, says Pettigrew, and the Tagals are to be commended for every shot they send home to our forces Why? Because MCKInley is a puny president Because Otis made some changes in the words of a proclama tion. Because a censor refused to send a story about silver in the islands. Be cause the full truth about the Sulu agreement was held- back till after the Ohio election. This is very short-sighted statesman ship, but it 'is prevalent It is, to be sure, ridiculous that republicans should adore McKimey because of the correct ness of our course In the Philippines. But It is just as ridiculous for popu lists and anarchists like Pettlgrew to" oppose expansion because they hate McXlrrTey. Partisanship is no answer to partisanship, if en who act as if Mc Kinley could do no -wrong will doubt less be ashamed of themselves When his two administrations are over and his weaknesses stand out in the full light of impartial scrutiny, uncloud ed by the needs of republican office holders and office-seekers. But their mistake is nothing compared to the pit iful blunder made by those who are standing in the way of their country's honor and advancement, seeking by every partisan device to dishonor it and discredit its purposes. There is a middle course, that the people see, and that history will ratify. McKinley has his faults, though hero worshipers and candidates are blind to them. But these faults need not ob scure from the open mind the patriot's duty and the grandeur of his country's destiny. CHURCH atJESTIOX IN PHILIPPINES. Of the church question in the Philip pine islands and of the relation of Aguinaldo's -rebellion to it, General Jo seph Wheeler writes: The more 1 talk to people the more I aw con vinced that the insurgents are actuated in a measure- by; a spirit of communism, and in their" talks, their most serious objection to the church seems ta be the fact that the ecclesiastical or ganizations own so .much of the property, and one of Aguinaldo's most earnest demands la that the church property be confiscated. In this General "Wheeler agrees with all the observers who have preceded him. It was the ambition of the junta with which Aguinaldo was connected though he was not its head, but only the intermediary between them and the Tagal masses to use their position and power in reconstruction of the state, so that they might have in their own hands the management of confis cation of property under pretense of "nationalizing" it. All our people in the islands who have acquainted them selves with the purposes and desires of the members of the junta have borne witness from the first that their scheme of national Independence was based on amhltious projects for their own ag grandisement and enrichment Under the rule of the United States there must be complete separation of church and state: and If the estates of the church are to be dealt wfth, as proba bly they must be, it will be done in an open manner, Under the eye of the world, with responsibility to the people of the United States and to the opin ions of mankind. In other words, indi viduals will not be permitted to enrich themselves through confiscation of the estates of the church. "When General Funston said that confiscation of the property of the church would end the rebellion at once, he simply meant that, the main motive of the rebellion re moved, the rebellion itself would col lapse. BtJILDIXG WARSHIPS ON THE LAKES Th statement made by Secretary Long in his annual report that an effort had recently "been made by the United States looking to the abolish ment of the agreement between this country and Great Britain which pro hibits the building of warships on the Great Lakes, seems to have escaped general attention. At least, very little public comment has bpen made on the matter. The agreement to which ref erence is made was entered into at a time when there was mutual distrust between this country and England, and -when there were practically ho ship yards on any of the Great Lakes. It is held that it has worked consider able hardship in recent years to a num ber of firms that have since developed and that by its terms have been shut out from bidding on government con tractsthey "being outside of the pale of the law so far as the construction of warships is concerned. According to this agreement we can only maintain revenue cutters of a cer tain size on the Lakes, and no vessel of war can be built upon or brought to these waters. In other words, the Great Lakes are neutral waters,. and as such, prudence in former years de manded that they Bhould be so kept. It Is belleVed, however, and so asserted by naval authorities, that there is no' longer any necessity for precautions that were based upon mutual distrust between the two nations. In this view the joint high commission consented to terminate the agreement and permit war vessels to be built on the Lakes, with certain restrictions, that were ex ample, armament and armor were not? .TUtt tn- be put on the vessels until they, reached salt water, the understanding being that only the hull and machin ery were to be built on the Lakes. The whole negotiation, however, fejl through on account of the failure to agree on the Alaska boundary,, and Lake shipbuilders still find themselves unable to bid on government contracts. It is suggested that, though the gen-H eral agreement with Canada has been thought to a halt, this particular point might be pressed to a satisfactory con clusion, and that Indeed, in the inter est of justice, it should be so pressed. It is a question that Can readily be 4 separated from the others that came before the joint high commission, all of which are in abeyance on accdunt o the Alaska boundary dispute, and read, Uy dealt with upon its own merits. Its pre'sent status may be taken as proof that the agreement is obsolete so far as sound reasons for its continuance are concerned, and it only remains for it to be remanded b,y official action to the realm of things that have "been out dated by events. A THATfTCLESS TASK. Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener are in Cape Town, with an army of 120,000 "Englishmen In South Africa. But through the fault of the war office at London the British campaign has been so mismanaged from the start that it will be a difficult- task for Lord Roberts to correct It and repair the consequences of the great strategic blunder committed by the British in the outset In trying to hold Ladysmith. The true line of advance toward Pre toria was through the comparatively open country from Colesburg and Bur ghersdorp to Springfontein, in the southwest of the Orange Free State, thence along the line of the railroad to Bloemfontein, the capital of that state, and thence to Kroonstad, and finally to Pretoria. Ladysmith, after the fights at Glencoe and Elands' laagte, was of no strategic va'ue, and badly situated for defense. General White, as was pointed out at th'e time by the English military experts, should have fallen back behind the Tugela at Colenso and taken up a strictly defensive attitude. In thlB way he could have saved the valuable railroad bridge at Colenso and spared a strong force for the true line of advance on Bloemfontein. But the blockade of General White with 10.00Q men and a vast quantity of valuable stores in Ladysmith compelled General Buller to abandon his original plan of campaign via Colesburg and Burghers dorp to Springfontein, and to weaken General Methuen's column moving on Kimberley. Sound strategy would have held the Hopetown bridge, on the Or ange river, to concentrate all the rest of Buller's available troops at Naauw poort for union with French and Gat acre in the advance on the Orange Free State capital. The advance in force on Bloemfontein via Colesburg and Springfontein would have relieved Kimberley, just as Sher man's northward movement from Sa vannah compelled the evacuation of Charleston. The garrison of Kimber ley, the division holding the bridge at Hopetown, would have swelled the col umn moving on Bloemfontein to at least 56,000 men, after prpvlding lor holding bases and lines of supply but with General White and 10,000 men cooped up in Ladysmith, General Bul ler was compelled to abandon his plan of campaign until General White could be relieved. The bad strategy of Gen eral White in allowing himself to be cooped up in Ladysmith was similar to the blunder committed by the Confed erate General Fembertoh, who, in defi ance of the orders of General Joseph E. Johnston, withdrew after defeat into "Vicksburg, instead of saving his army by retreat to Johnston's lines. The British plan of divided columns has wasted their strength, but for this sit uation it is quite possible if not proba ble that General Buller is not responsi ble. Probably he was ordered by the London authorities to proceed to the relief of Ladysmith, but whether the present military situation is due to lack of military brains in the field in South. Africa or lack of brains in the war of fice at London, it is clear that Lords Roherts and Kitchener have been called to correct a fundamental error of tac tics and strategy that has thus far spoiled the British campaign. The British army has lest In killed, wound ed and prisoners about 9000 men since the middle of October. These losses are not a serious matter, but the false military position that has been created for Lord Roberts to cor rect is not easily or quickly remedied by mere numerical superiority. In all probability, Lord Roberts did not con sent to assume his present thankless task of plucking the flower of victory out of the nettle of defeat without the stipulation that his military plans should not be revised and corrected In London. His first natural effort will be to concentrate and make available his J numerical superiority by concentrating his army for the execution of the orig inal plan of campaign against Bloem fontein via Colesburg and the line of the Orange river. This concentration win take Considerable time, and it is not likely that the readjustment of the military chessboard will be complete before the first of February, when at least 30,000 reinforcements will Have arrived. In the meantime, if any fur ther "accidents" should befall Buller, or Gatacre, or French, or Metnuen, the re sponsibility for them cannot rest on Lord Roberts, who for the present is powerless to cure at once a lamentable military situation that he did not cre ate. Lord Roberts must feel today like a d'octor of ability called to the bed side of a patient, or rather victim, of a quack, at a time when a priest is wanted rather than a physician. Market quotations in papers of East ern Oregon afford food not only for thought, but for action by farmers. Wheat at points on or near the rail roads is worth three-fifths to three quarters of a cent per pound; but other products command prices that would seem to be highly remunerative. Pota toes are quoted at four-fifths of a cent per pound In large lots, and higher In small quantities; apples and pears range frQm "2 to 3 cents per pound; cabbage brings 2 cents or more per pound by the hundredweight, and In. some instances reaches the 3-cent mark; rutabagas and carrots are taore variable, but often are listed at a rate above potatoes. It certainly is not a wise diversification of agriculture that permits farmers to raise wheat at three-fifths oa cent per pound In com petition with the cheap lands and cheap labor of the world, when cabbage brings four times as much; and while. the market is somewhat limited, a j considered unobjectionable. For small area devoted to cabbages or roots ought- to bring a good income. There seems to be no danger that farmers will engage in cahbage-raislng or rootgrow Ing. to the extent of overproduction; so a few farmers may find it highly prof itable to shift a part of their effort from the wheat field to the garden plot Stewart's address on the money ques tion is valueless, for the simple reason that he fails to discriminate between the two functions o gold. One is a standard of value; the other is a me dium of exchange. Increase and con traction of a circulating medium Is a desirable resource for the ups and downs of trade, through busy crop sea sons and resting spells, days of com mercial venturesomeness and hours of enforced liquidation. But no such vari ation as this is wanted by anyb'ady In the standard of value, whose worth de pends on its approximation to stability. The standard of value wants' to be fixed and firm. The circulating medium wants to be adjustable to actual needs of credit transactions, which are the bulk: of all transactions. To repeat, Mr. Stewart's remarks' are valueless, be cause they confound the function of money as a standard of value, and its function as a medium o,f exchange. Continental crities of England, who have been hoping for a declaration that foodstuffs will be treated as contra band, may now retire to digest their mortification wfth what grace they can. Great Britain will release ships not car rying contraband, and pay damages upon appraisement. Meanwhile it Is as true as ever that If she can reduce the Boers In no other way, she will starve them By embargoes at Lorenzo Mar ques, and also as true as ever that no Continental power will respect this pre cedent the moment it has a chance to starve England into humiliation. The things that Mr. Kasson didn't find out about the basis of his recipro city treaties would make a very volu minous report. It Is probable that the senators who parade this oversight so joyously are more concerned for their own future successes than for our dip lomatic decency and order, but this does not mitigate Mr. Kasson'B grave case of inadvertence. Or Is it possible this defect is an afterthought, trumped up to beat the treaty over Wb complai sant shoulders? The water power possibilities of the Chicago drainage canal are now tils closed, and must prove not the least of its epoch-making achievements. The time is not far distant when electric currents derived from falling water will be the determining factor in manufac turing competition. Chicago, Minneapolis-, Buffalo, Portland and Spokane Falls will gain at the expense of cities that must burn coal at whatever cost of transportation. A lawyer in Oklahoma advised his client mortgagor to resist the foreclos ing mortgagee with force, and the ad vice was followed with fatal effect. The other day a contest between in coming and outgoing officials in San Francisco was -settled through appeal to force this also upon the advice of the incoming official's lawyer. The legal profession seems to apprehend "the strenuous life" all right The Oregonian seems to have done an unintentional Injustice to Mr. D. Ij. Lawton, of Medford, in the . dispatch from Medford, printed January 9, which characterized Mr. Lawton as "a Mitchell-republican leader." The assertion did not come through The Oregonian's regular correspondent at Medford. and for that reason, perhaps, should not have been credited. The return Stewart is to make for his acceptance in the republican caucus is certainly not explained by his speech against the reform bill. Perhaps the reward is in his readiness to speak, while other obstructionists coolly pro fess they have no desire for delay and yet refuse to speak. Beside such shame less effrontery honest old Bill's prompt ness becomes a conspicuous virtue. Federal interference in Kentucky Is a weapon the administration will do well to touch very gingerly, and McKinley is just about cute enough to know it. It Is hardly worth while, even to please Bradley, to throw out of the window every electoral vote south of the Ohio river and the Pennsylvania line. English newspapers believe that the garrison of Ladysmith, if reduced to extremity, will be able to cut its way out. But they are less confident about the garrisons of Kimberley and Mafe kfng. France will make no demonstration against England this year. Even her diplomacy will be smooth. France has the interests of her grpat exposition to conserve. . . The Dfcteh Gambit, Rutland (Vt.) Herald. There are, however, some points that appear as plain now as tbey will 20 years hence. The Boers, In the first place, do not fight as the dervishes of the desert or the Zulus or the Arghans do. Their manueveTS show up-to-date knowledge of warfare. They have, moreover, developed a mobility rarely seen even in Europe, and they manage a line of battle-radically different from what we have been accus tomed to see. And it is probable that their plan of "battle has In the main been developed as a return play to the British attack. In other words, they mobilize their brains as readily as their regiments and battalions. Now, the British in near ly every battle have been strikingly weak In their scouting. They seem bent on dealing hot blows on the enemy's center. They secure their flank as best they may, open lire with their artillery on the Boer center, and when the enemy's guns are silenced the British charge, under the protection of their artillery, which stops firing when there is danger of hitting the British advance line. Given such a plan of attack, the Boers, I,f their forces are numerically equal to "It, have a complete answer. Th'ey In the first place have two and sometimes three lines, one back of the other. The moment that the British artillery opens on their center, the Boers undoubtedly prepare to fall back on the center of the second line arid perform a double flank movement. The center, as the Dutch look upop it, becomes practically useless ex cept to draw the British Into It. A strong second line center and strong first line flanks explain the terrible cross fires to I wnlch the .British nave so often been sub jected in battles of this war. This shows how the Boers have been able to take so many British prisoners. They open their vllne of battle like the mouth of a huge monster and close in on the British. A ohess player would call It a Dutch gam bit, and it can be successfully played Only so long as the British are stupid enough to rush into a eenter that is all but surrounded by an j&rsenal handled by fighting men. The maneuver of the Dutch in retiring their first line center to their second line and advancing their second line flanks to tho first lino has the effect of forming a circular line of battle which the British do not seem to understand. If they per sist In their Weak center attacks, the Dutch gambit will cost 'England half her empire. GREAT fclUTAINS DEBT. Notv 638,000,000, Against 000,000, 000 in 1816. The national debt of Great Britain on March 31, 1S38, the latest date for which exact statistics are available, amounted to-63S,SG,4S2. divided as follows: JL The funded debt (a) Permanent 5!&lKt W Annuities 42'&2 2. The unfunded debt 8J5'229 3, Other Capital liabilities 3.830,378 The permanent funded debt on the date mentioned consisted of the following stock: 2 per cent consols 522,653.360 2& per cent, 1305 S.'2 VJa Per cent 31,826.171 Bank of England debt 11.015.1UO. . Bank Of Ireland debt 2.631760 Bond debt, 2 per cent 13,600,000 The increase of the national debt by the new Issue of Consols, said, to be in con- . templation, will check the process of pay ing off the government obligations, wiilcn has been going on for many years so steadily and successfully as to justify the following statement in Whltaker's Alma nack for 18S9: "The national debt took many years to reach the gigantic proportions which it assumed under the regency of George IV, and any serious reduction was regarded as almost hopeless, but it has been so Vigorously and so successfully attacked during the past 25 years that It bids fair to be all but extinguished within a rea sonable limit of time. Even so late as 1883 the funded debt stood at 713,000,000; It Is now less than oS6,000,000, and within the next 0 years, at the present rate of shrinkage. Will be nearly 200,000,000 less. The debt reached its highest proportions In 1816, when It exceeded 000,000,000. near lv all of which had been expended in for elgn wars within a comparatively brief neriod. At the accession of George in, the debt was under 140,000.000, and in the first 12 years of his reign it was re- duced 10,000.000. The costly and unsuc cessful resistance of the American Revo lution added 121,000,000 to the debt, and after this came the series of Continental warB, from the outbreak of the French Revolution, In 1793, until the exile of Na poleon, at St Helena, in 1815. During these 23 years of war, money was bor rowed in the most extravagant manner, and the government securities greatly de preciated. From 1733 to 1801 the average price of 100 3 per cent atock was 5T 17s 6d. Since 1816 the reduction of the debt has been going on steadily, but not rapidly, until recent years. At the accession of Queen Victoria In 1837 the gross amount of the debt was 761.422.570. and In tbe period from then until March 31, 18$8, It was decreased by 123,156.058. i a Condition In the Boer States. Consul-General Stowe, at Cape Town, eays that Johannesburg In the Trans vaal, and Bloemfontein, In the Free State, are to all intents and purposes deserted cities. Johannesburg, the largest commercial center In South Africa, has, so far ap trafle la con cerned, ceased to exist. Thla once busr, hustling city, producing monthly ever 15 tons Of gold and yearly $00,000,000 trorth. Is silent. "Up to this time goods have reached the Trans vaal via Delagoa. bay, but It la not supposed that "they will long be permitted to enter. The two republics must then live on their own re sources. Their cTops are ready for the slclsle, but cannot be cut, as tho men are off to the war. Tiie exodus of outlanders from the South African Republic and Orange Free State has, I believe, been unprecedented In history. Many of these people the mining population, the bone and sinew of the country have scattered over the world. Numbera of them, too poor to get out of the country, are subjects of charity In the cities of Cape Colony and Natal and have to be fed. a Enormous Business Expanion. The Record, of Philadelphia, says that the number of new railway cars built In this country last year, exclusive of cars constructed by the railroad companies themselves, was 123,893. Of these 117,082 were freight cars, and yet there was hard ly a line of road which had sufficient cars to move the freight offered. The Increase in business was something .unprecedented, and still the impression thrown off was that the year's work was but the beginning of vastly more future work. Our country seems only just beginning Its real business expansion. Monstrous Frand Someyrhere. Pension statistics "make so glaring an exhibit of monstrous fraud somewhere In the pension system that It seems astonish ing any public man should dare to stand for Its defense," says the Buffalo Express (rep.). "Instead of bills further to increase expenditures, congress should paea an act ordering the director of the census to make another count of the surviving veterans this year, and to make it complete and ac curate as possible." ' ' iM B' It'n Sole Defect. Brooklyn Hfe. Scholar Professor, your -mnemonic sys tem Is wonderful, and I am sure that any one, after mastering the rules, can learn to remember anything. But I am handi capped by one difficulty. Professor 'What is that? Scholar I can't remember the rules. Always Rendy. New York "Weekly. Caller We ate trying to raise a little money to help the starving millions In Average man AH right. Just get half a dozen theatrical companies to give a ten dollar combination benefit performance for one dollar and a halt, and I'll so. One "Woman's "Wisdom. Chicago News. Mrs. Dlggs How Is It you are so suc cessful In manglng your husband? Mrs. Biggs OH, I simply feed him well and trust to luck. Chicago's tffew Spell. Chicago News. Fonetlc spellng will hereafter rule In the ofl3hul publicashuns ov Chicago university. Had a Variety. New York Weekly. Friend Hello, Jinks, bow Is your cold? Jinks (hoarsely) "Which one? - c "Wanted A Mnzale. Tou may talk of your Caesars and Nebuchad nezsars. Of your Pllnys and Plut09 and men of re nown. But your Homers and Plates are all small po tatoes Compared with a man whom, we have In our town. He is amarter than blazes, and hlo check doth amaze us. And the strength of hia lungs no power can exceed; For he roara like a Uon when he's shouting for Bryan, And his tongue is continually golnff to seed. He is versed in toxicology, he Is good in phraseology; His learning's encompassed alone by the skies; And when the truth he has told till Its rusty and old. He rings in a change with abominable lines. TW man Is a pest; fox he gives us no rest; He bores us with politics, science and law; A reward will be offered for the first thing that's proffered That will stop this curmudgeon's noisy old jaw. George Williams. Hubbard. Or., January 12. THE OREGONIAN'S ANNUAL. Tlionsrhtful Tr-Tbtitc to a Worthy People. Milwaukee. Evening "Wisconsin Westward the star of empire takes its way. It would be difficult to imagine a more exquisitely artistic and wholly sat isfactory example of newspaper half-tone illustration than tho album which ac companies the annual number of Tne Portland Oregonian. The plates were made in the office of The Oregonian, ana the printing, executed In Portland, 13 equal to anything that could have been expected had the publication come from th& vicinity of the continent's eastern In stead of Its western shore. Glorious Mount Hood and other scenic accessories of Oregon's metropolis and pictured poet ry of epic grandeur and magnificence. Portland's harbor Is the subject of an illustration that acts upon the Imagina tion like a view of Wondorland. The log ging Industry, the salmon fisheries, the mining camps, the cattle and sheep Tanches. and the cosy homes of the Ore gon farmers in the Willamette valley are all portrayed in a manner calculated to stimulate the imagination of an artist as well as to arouse the interest of a polit ical economist. The Oregon hop fields, which supply the breweries of Milwau kee, arc demonstrated to be as beautiful as those of Kent. There are also pic tures of the buildings of Portland, show ing that the architect has followed the march ef the star of empire, and there Is the face of a Yakima brave, which would Inspire a sculptor by lt3 masstve dignity and repose. The many pages or letterpress setting forth the statistics of Oregon's material development are a fit accompaniment of this artistic album. It Is one of the marvels In the history of the human race that the advanced civilisation- which this Issue of The Oregon ian espounds has grown up In a region which within the memory of men now living -was the ultima thule of wild re moteness. "Lose thyself." wrote Bryant, "in the continuous woods where roils tne Oregon, and hears no sound save his -own dashlngs." The region or the Ore gon, now the Columbia, Is the busy haunt of prosperous thousands. Truly, the Amer icans have a great country and are a great people. In 189? Oregon produoea &,O0O,00O bushels of wheat; in 1899, 2000. 000 bushels. In 1873" her expenditures for public education were $181,000; In 1899, $1,327,(00. In 1879 her population was 90,- 000: it Is now -C5.000. The products or farms, orchards, dairies and ranged m Oregon In 1859 were valued at $15,000,000; the yield of minerals was $3,700,000, of which more than $3,300,000 was gold; the manufactures were worth $36,000,000, In cluded in which was the lumber cut,, rep resenting $6,000,000; the product of the fish eries was $2,400,000, and Portland's foreign commerce was $9,130,000. Statistics like these speak louder than rhetorical gener alizations. The first copy of The Portland Oregon ian bore date of DecemBer 4, 1850. It Is an Instructive fact that the people who, under God, have wrought Oregon's mar velous progress are a people who even In their pioneer stage read newspapers. The newspaper Is one of the causes a3 well as ono of the accompaniments ot American progress. Correct on the Centnry'a End. Grand Baplds (Mich.) Herald. The Morning Oregonian, of Portland, Or., which is ono of the strongest and most influential papers of the Northwest, be gins the new year with an annual numner for 1900, a splendid production, containing 38 pages, which is a credit both In me chanical and literary work to the paper and to the state. Besides the usual amount of news, the number contains a. review of the wonderful progress which Oregon has made and the great activity in every line of industry which has mace the past year one of the most prosperous In the history of the state. But especlalry interesting Is the progress which has been made In The Oregonian Itself since the first number was Issued 50 years ago, and which Is very apparent from the de scription of the paper as It was then and the appearance of the present number. The annual number Is accompanied by an excellent supplement, made up of fine engravings of the state's Industries, prom inent men and places of Interest, tna whole forming a valuable memento. This annual of The Oregonian, the last to no published in the 13th century. Is one of the best of Its kind, and is indicative of a high standard of newspaper work to be maintained throughout the year. Cnuxe and Effect. Chlcaso Frele Presse. 2U9feuiaIritu irc-nt eTbiS 5Jfoinin3 Qregonian" in spottlanb. Ore., ifl ine ioutndittirc Iait3 Ietffuna. 2h illufhirfe Settafl tnt fjalt iibir 500 botaufilicfc au35fufjtie Sifter, Serin- au ben S3ttqs imbwi ffenqegenben Qiegon'3 fotoie br Be teutenbftcn SnbulTitQnTiqen ber Spa rificfiifte. 2er ()ttaemAn' ijt bte ctnffuDrei$fte Seiiumi ber notblidjen $acificfiaaten nnb rcrt in Ogon, SBafrjmgtort, Sbarp, bem teefUicfcn Sftontena unb 3rHiFe$ Goium&ia jaM Teis4 Sefer. 2ta3 Statf flerjt ' imter enttflifcfcr unb faer eihing, to wn bk imotmie'9?euiarrJnummr jjpttbsx mtn J9ehHi3 q&kaL Exhaustive Record of Progress. Indianapolis Sentinel. The New Tear's issue of The Portland Oregonian is a mammoth affair. The illus trated supplement appeals to the special Interest of those who are interested In tho progress of the country. It contains over &0 illustrations, all printed on the finest quality of enameled paper. The views era brace all the noted scenic attractions of Oregon, and they cover every Important Industry of the Pacific Northwest. Subject for Consrat-alation. Buffalo Express. The Express Is In receipt of a special annual number of The Portland Oregon ian, which has, among other interesting features, a supplement containing 500 Il lustrations of noted scenic attractions ot Oregon an'd all of the Important indus tries of the Pacific Northwest. The pub lishers are to congratulated on tho ex cellence of this special edition of their paper. Partisan, Say YonT Oh, Hot Hal Burlington (IaO Democrat-Journal. The Portland Oregonian, a newspaper that 1s noted chiefly for being the most partisan republican organ in the Pacific Northwest, has just Issued an annual trade edition that make3 a wonderful showing for the city of Portland and the state of Oregon. A specimen number is on our table, and It reflects great credit upon The Oregonian's enterprise. o Don't. Corning Journal. Bo not let a quick-tempered person stand between you and a powder magazine; you might get singed. NOTE AND COMMENT. Senator Clark ha3 doubtless discovered that he was elected to a very high office. The author of "Beautiful Snow" has escaped with very little execration this year. Anyway, the prisoners at Ladysmith don't have to read any of Alfred Austin s poetry. There may be a pleasure in the pathless woods, but the fellow who Is lost In them never finds It. It Is singular that so many of the women who have sensational adventsurea fit vari ous parts of the world hall from San Francisco. If a committee of congressmen Is to be sent to the Philippines. It should consist entirely of antls. The others are needed to make laws. Great Britain would probably be more grateful to the United States if the open door policy bad been Inaugurated in Lady smith instead of in China. Toung men who've failed to get ahead Have no real cause far fear; They'll get a head Quite rapidly By drinking wine and beer. "While the antls are passing resolutions of sympathy with Aguinaldo, they ought to pass a few for that downtrodden and oppressed patriot, Matthew S. Quay. A French count says that France will be a monarchy again. If this man's af fairs are looked Into, it will probably be discovered that he has been mentioned a3 a prominent candidate for king. "Tou don't need to get so hot." said the cook. T guess you'd get hot." replied the fire, "if you were not allowed to go out all winter." 1 V The following original poem was writ ten by Aguinaldo and found among effects of his which were recently captured: 1 want to be an angel. And with tho angels stand. For then lvd har two big strong wlnga And fly to beat the band. The fact that Portland Is without an artificial limb factory Is the cause of a large amount of money of the Northwest aeeklnsr San Francisco and the Eastern cities. Persons from the Interior are fre quently seen in Portland hotels on their way to some distant city to purchase ad justable artificial limbs, which they woull be glad to buy here. These people ex press surprise that a large city, with all the Northwest to draw from, should have been without one of these Industries so long. Accidents are continually happen ing In Oregon. Washington. Idaho, Mon tana, British-Columbia and Alaska whicli necessitate nfeuse of wooden artificial limbs, costirigffrom $100 to $200 each, an! people who have thus been crippled for life are obliged to go to Chicago, and even to New Tork. to purchase what thoy would gladly have bought at home. Too many Portland men are accumulat ing a bad habit of converting the rear ends of street-cars into smoking saloons and stand-up conversation parlors. Mjst of them do not realize that they have made a very gradual growth toward each other and considerably increased the length of their waistbands, and they for get that when they face each other on the car platform the space a taw feet below their faces Is narrowed down. the danger point for other passengere who may want to enter or depart. An! the conductor taking fares at the front Interior cannot see the steps or te whether he Is letting on one passenger or three, or ringing to start up when women or children are halt on or half off the steps, and are thus being placed In daily danger. Men who ride on the rear plat form should be careful about accumulat ing too much flesh. Franca has adopted the 24-hour clock a3 her official timekeeper. Her depots will now bristle with cards announcing the leaving- tune of the 23:01 Paris ex press, and the airrivlng of the 21:06 Renncs mall. Her people, however, will never be able to catch any of those trains, for the reason that, while they are counting the strokes of the clock to learn the hour, the trains will have come and gone. France once did a great and wlso thing In thl3 line. She Introduced tha admir able metric system, which by sheer force of merit Is slowly fighting down preju dice and Introducing Itself all over tha world. Just why she makes a deviation from this rule of measures In favor of time, and replaces a cumbrous and un wieldy system by one still more cumbrous and unwieldy, is not clear, but it Is "dead" French, and the rest of the world will have to let it go at that. Soldiers who served in Luzon say that the following general order from General Otis has been Issued none too soon: "a.- Lleged cases of bribe-taking, of the accept ance of gifts from Inferiors, and of Ilka misconduct, by persons holding positions In the military or civil service, have of late been brought to the attention of these headquarters. It Is reported that passes are obtained and transferred for a money consideration; that compensation Is made for the transportation of persons and things on public conveyances or convey ances controlled by the public, to officials unauthorized to receive It, and for their own benefit; and that contributions are solicited. If not exacted, any at any rate received, from subordinates for the pur chase of presents to superiors. The com manding general Is constrained to the be lief that these reports, which are In the nature of general complaints, and do not relate to specific offenses, have- a more or less substantial foundation. The evil. corrupting and far-reaching In its effects, appears to have reached a stage whlh renders Its' suppression with a strong hand Imperative." o The Lay of the Kanlrjrram. Tell me not about Marconi, and his wireless telegraph ; He's a mud-stalled, one-horae chalee com pared to met Tha way I trek from Ladysmith. from Boer and British staff. Tommy Atkiaa stops his fighting: just to see. The cables may be rusted. The land wires down and busted. But that ne'er cuts the current on my line; I kill Plet Joubert dally. Or apln you off quite gayly A sorry, gory atory, extra fine! Would you like to have a aortle out of Kim berley, by hors Or Infantry, with bay'nlts dripping gore? I can brine you In all details, names, and num ber of the force, "With heroics auch as never were before. I'm the Correspondent's safety-valve, without me he'd explode! He marks his message "Bush." and off go. Skedaddling over kopje, over rand and veldt and road. And slve the merry ha-ha to our foat Edgar "W. Townaend In Harper's "Weekly.