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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1900)
-nsfsin'ss'y,i'"T;fi'" THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY; JANUARY 22, . 1900. te g,ouitt$i Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as econd-class matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Booms.... 160 Business Office.. 657 BEVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Daily, with Sunday, per month....... ...50 J 3Daly, Sunday excepted, per year.. ........ 0 Daily, with Sunday, per year. 00 Sunday, per year - J The weekly, per year....... 1 J The Weeklj. S months M To City Subscribers Daily, per week, delivered, Sundays exceptea.i&o Da. y, per week, delivered, Sundays lncluded.20c News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonian should be addressed Invariably "Editor The Oregonian." not to the name of eny individual. Letters relating to advertising; subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply The Oregonian." The Oregonian does not buy poems or stories rrom individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It without solicita tion. No stamps should be Inclosed for this pur peso. Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson. office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 055. Tacoma postofflce. Eastern Business Office The Tribune building, New Tork city; "The Bookery." Chicago; the S. C. Beckwith special agency. New Tork. For sale in San Francisco by J. K. Cooper. 746 Alarket street, near the Palace hotel, and at Gcidsmltn Bros., 230 Sutter street. Per sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street. TODAY'S "WEATHER, Occasional southeast winds. rain; yORTLAyp, MOXPAT, JANUARY 23. It is on everybody's tongue that Ore eon is weakly represented In the sen ate, -where it ought to he strong-. Ap proach of the end of McBride's term suggests that he ought to he replaced hy a stronger man. Four months hence the legislature that will name Mc Bride's successor will be chosen. Mc Eri&e ought 'not to succeed himself. Neither by ability, force of character nor achievement in public station, is he entitled to continuance of this con sideration. The state ought to have strong men In the senate. There are great public questions to be dealt with, questions of national and International importance, upon which the voice of Oregon ought to be heard. As a means also to its present development and future progress, the state ought to have strong representation in the senate. If ever there was a time when a protest ought to be raised against the assump tion that the chief function of a sen ator is to act as an agent of office seekers and distributor of "patronage," that time is now. But whatever desire there may be of McBride's re-election is entertained by men of this class; Whatever effort may pe made to re elect him will be' directed solely by them. It is time, high time, to pro test against further subordination of the great Interests of the state to petty and selfish politics, and against con tinued obscuration or eclipse of Its name and iame by concession of prior ity to such purposes. The Oregonian prints today a letter on abuses in primary elections and the necessity of reforming them, which ought to have the attention of every citizen. The antagonisms that have rent the republican party of Oregon heretofore had their origin chiefly in a play for individual and factional ad vantages. This gave rise to a silver faction in the party though republic ans who were actually sllverites were comparatively few. It was imperative ly necessary, however, to bring the par ty to a positive declaration of right principles; and this has been done, in spite of strong opponents like Senator Mitchell and weak temporizers like Senator McBride. That contest in the republican party is ended, though it will still be necessary to oppose the demo-populist party on these grounds. But the conditions are such that repub licans can now unite, and if they pur sue a just and even course they will have the co-operation of many demo crats. It is necessary, however, to this end that the proceedings taken in the name of the republican "party be lifted to a higher plane. The beginning is to he made in the preparations for the primary elections, which must he con ducted with moderation and fairness. The time is at hand when plain words must be spoken on this subject. Many features of former contests, especially in Multnomah county, have been dis graceful. The time has now come, with elimination of the main causes of dif ference, to stop this factional strife. The letter printed today is temperately yet strongly written, and shows clearly the sources of the evils to be corrected and hereafter avoided. To those persons who have been kind enough to "mention" H. W. Scott for the United States senate. The Oreco- nlan will say that he does not desire it, is not, nor will be. a candidate for '., it. Neither that nor any other official I position lies within the sphere of his ambition. He has no desire to under take the labors of the position, and his 3nodest estimate of his own abilities j would not Justify him in seeking it Br. Elliott Coues. whose death oe- I curred recently, though a strict mnn hef science, was a believer in ghosts. in several departments of science he I was a specialist, but was best known to tne mass of readers by his labors in the field of early American history and exploration. He took the journals of Lewis and Clark and others kept by niembers of their party, and reduced znem to a continuous narrative iour- jnal, covering the entire expedition to tne moutn of the Columbia and back to St Louis, enriching this narrative I with notes of his own on the geography. 1 past ana present, of the country, the jcrratnoiogy, zoology, mineralogy and, jej cn, of the route. He "treated in the same way the narrative of Onnfain- IZcbulon Pike. In this work, as in his scriginal treatises, he aoDears tn hn. a Shard, dry man of science, who believed jln nothing that would not yield to posl Jtive analysis; but his intimate friends I say that he was a believer in ghosts land a careful observer of ghostly phe Incmena. His theory was that there faro always ghosts to Tie seen, but not jaa persons have the faculty of seeing them. This, it would seem, is only an other way of saying that ghosts are spectral illusions, not objective reall- itles The mind that wants jrhosts or Ifears ghosts can make them, and is pretty sure to do so. The "advance sheets" of the consular reports reproduce a summary of state- rents in a Russian paper as to the gc Edition of the Siberian railway. It is indicated that the road will have to be rebuilt before it is completed, owing to sad location, light rails, deficient ballast id wooden bridges. LIght.Tails, welgh- ;g only 12 pounds a foot, are laid over 1 a great part of the line. Being made at Russian mills, they cost high and are unreliable. No speed over 20 miles is safe, especially where the locomo tive is heavy. -On inclines where speed cannot be checked, " travel is risky. Much of the line Is on level, marshy ground, -whereas adjacent highlands ought to have been occupied. It will take some $25,000,000, it is estimated, to put the road in good working condi tion. The estimated cost of the entire line is $150,000,000. The distance from Port Arthur to Paris will be 7060 miles, and the journey will take two weeks if the speed be twenty-five miles an hour. XATIOXAIi BANKING IX REAL MFE. Another national bank in the state of Washington has voluntarily given up Its charter for the purpose of becoming a state bank. On the 25th of this month the First National bank of Col ton will become, the First bank of Col ton. The reasons for this -change are set forth in a letter written from the bank at The Oregonian's request. It reads: In reply to yours of the 17th to our presi dent, Mr. John Boyles, beg to say the follow ing: are the reasons why we have changed our bank from a national to a state: First Fifty thousand dollars Is too much cap ital for eo small a place. The national bant ing laws will not permit of a smaller capital than $00,090. Second The taxes can be materially reduced, and the expenses generally, under state bank ing laws. Under nation! laws there are the examiner's fees, two or more times per "year, as the controller sees fit, the tax on circula tion, the cost of transportation of currency from "Washington, etc. Third Under national laws there are too many restrictions In the matter of loans to suit a farming community. Tours truly, MILES M. MILLER, Cashier. The first reason explains itself. No national bank has any business in a place that does not justify a capital of $50,000. It has long been desired to have the federal banking act amended so as to permit national banks with capital of only $25,000, which the bank of Colton will hereafter use. This has been objected to and defeated by per sons who profess to believe that the only way for the country to prosper Is to bring its banks to ruin. The second specification ought to re ceive consideration from those Oregon and "Washington statesmen who are continually viewing with alarm the in ordinate profits made by national banks. The problem is to them a very simple one. The bank takes its 50,000 to the government, gets bonds of that amount on which it draws Interest and in exchange for the bonds gets $45,000 in circulating notes, which it also puts out at interest. Thus it has doubled its capital and makes too much .profit. This is the populist idea, but' it is wrong. If it were correct, everybody would rush into the business, whereas the fact is almost everybody is getting out of it The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the cancellation of national bank charters, going stead ily on all over the country, shows the profits in the system are imaginary. The profits on national bank circula tion are reduced in many ways. A bank that deposits $100,000 in five-per cent bonds of 1901 for currency must meet these expenses: Tax on circulation 5 j)0O 00 Cost of redemption 45 00 Express charges 3 00 Plates 750 Agent's fees .., 7 00 Sinking fund 2,105 87 Total , v $3,128 37 The bonds cost the bank $113,250. On this sum It could have got at six per cent interest ?G,795. Add this to the $3128 37, the expense of the ""undertak ing, and we have $9923 37 it must get out of its national bank venture be fore it is even with the game. It gets from the government the interest on its bonds, $5000, and If it Is able to place all Its $90,000 of notes out at six per cent interest, the same rate we have allowed for its capital otherwise employed, they will yield in interest $5400. This gives us a net balance of $476 G3, or only forty-two hundredths of one per cent interest on its $100,000. to pay examiners' fees, and offset the disadvantages under which it volun tarily places itself In becoming a na tional bank. A national bank of small capital, like the one at Colton, puts only one-fourth of its capital in bonds. On these $12,500 in bonds it gets $11,250 in notes. Its fixed expenses for exam iners' fees, express charges, plates, etc., are about the same as the large bank has to pay, so the margin is prppor tionately less. Now, a bank cannot live on $476 a year. It must have a chance to do business at a profit, and this is not permitted by the national banking act, for the reasons already enumerat ed, and also for Mr. Miller's third rea son, that national banks cannot lend money on real estate. Congress is about to pass a currency reform bill that will remove some of the burdens under which national banking is carried on. It will permit banks of $25,000 capital in small towns. It will reduce taxation, and will per haps provide two per cent bonds In stead of four and five per cents. These amendments are in the right direction, but the extent of the relief they will afford is problematical. It is to be hoped they will check the tendency of national banks to relinquish their char ters. The number of national banks in the United States has decreased by 204 in six years, and in Oregon and Wash ington alone fourteen have recently abandoned the national field, and be tween fifty and sixty .are at some stage of the process of liquidation. Against these simple evidences we have the sol emn declaration of certain Oregon pub licists that the national banks are mak ing so much money that there is none left for common folks. Facts are on one side and unsupported assertion on the other. TRAFFIC Otf THE "SOO." The business activities of 1899 in the vast producing and manufacturing re gions bordering upon the Great Lakes are shown by the report for the year of the traffic passing through the Sault Ste. Marie canal, connecting Lake Su perior with Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario,. This report has just been received by the treasury bureau of statistics at Washington, and Its pre sentment is conclusive, not only as an evidence of increased prosperity but cf increasing development of the resources of this vast region. There has been a large increase in the number of ves sels, in passengers and in nearly all lines of freight traffic, the aggregate making for 1899 the highest record for business activity in the history of lake traffic The number of sailing vessels In creased 7 per cent as compared with the previous year; the number of steamers 15 per cent; and the number of registered vessels 29 pen' Sent. The increase in registered freight' was 18 per cent, of the quantity of actual freight 19 per cent; of the number of passen gers 13 per cent; of lumber, 16 per cent, and of iron ore the great factor of in dustrial activities during the year 30 per cent. ' ' The magnitude of the operations is shown by the following "Soo" statis tics: " ' Number of -vessels passing through the canal 20,255 Total tonnage 21,058,847 Wheat, bushels 58,397,333 Other grain, bushels 30;000,B35 Flour, barrels 7,114,147 Iron ore, tons ,.r 15,328,240 Lumber, feet '..,, 1,038,057,000 Passengers 49.082 This traffic far exceeds that of the Suez canal, the "figures giving to the ordinary mind but the barest concep tion of its tremendous volume. And the "Soo" is but one of the mighty veins of commerce the pulsations of which were quickened by the bounding pace which prosperity set for itself at the beginning of the year. "VICIOUS ARMY ADMINISTRATION. Great Britain is Buffering today not so much from its military system, which Is open to criticism, as from Its vicious administration, Which was ex actly our own trouble at the outbreak of the civil war. In the regular army In 1S61 there were, exclusive of those who went South, at least 600 'officers who after graduating at West Point had served several years with their regiments and were well qualified to drill a regiment and to command it in battle. A large proportion Were fitted to command brigades and some of them divisions and even army corps. The three years' volunteers first called out could have been fully supplied with brigade, division and corps commanders from graduates of West Point .who were thoroughly qualified by theoret ical education and many of them by practical experience for the instruction, discipline and command of troops, still leaving a sufficient number with the regulars for efficient service. The old sergeants of the regular army of 1S61 were relatively competent company commanders. Experience demonstrated that a volunteer regiment could in a very few weeks be converted into an efficient and reliable fighting force by a single young officer of the regular army. By judicious use of the small body of educated officers a fine army of least 500,000 men could have been called out, organized, disciplined and put into the field by August 1, 1861. By the spring of 1862 we should have had good officers, graduates of the first levy, to organize and command a mill Ion more men. In the judgment of Grant it required only a wise use of the national re sources to overwhelm the South before the spring of 1863. The Confederates made considerable progress at first and offered effective resistance for a long time because the Southern authorities exhibited the greater military wisdom. The North had many more educated and competent military men than the South, but the South used all their trained soldiers to the best advantage! while at the North scores of educated young officers sought in vain for Vol unteer commands and were employed in the discharge of duties below their qualifications. Political Instead of mil itary ideas controlled greatly the se lection of commanders of the Union armies, and prevented unity of action in all the armies under one military leader. It took the North two years to find out that opinions of politicians were not sufficient to determine the selection of major-generals. It took us three years to find out that Lincoln and Grant were exactly right when they insisted that Confederate armies, wherever they might go, were the only real objectives. It is clear today tliat the aggregate loss in men as well & In money was vastly greater than if the Union had put forth its full strength and ended the struggle in two years Instead of four. The trouble in our civil war was not so much our military system, imperfect as it was, as our wretched administration of that sys tem. The South promptly dispersed its trained soldiers throughout the whole army, so that the whole lump of -its raw material was more quickly , leav ened than our own. Grant in Ills pri vate letters noted this fact in August, 1861, and urged the prompt dissolution of our little trained regular army and its dispersion through our raw volun teers. The slow waste of our enormous resources and our latent military strength was what created a feeling of national despondency during the first two years of the civil war, and It has been truly said that "the greatest wc n der in the history of this wonderful re public is that the government actually survived" such a gross maladministra tion of military policy as marked our history during more than two years of our civil war. The outbreak of our war with Spain showed that we had profited little or nothing by our experience of 1801-65. In fact, we were relatively worse rre pared for serious war than we were in 1861, had we been confronted with an equally active, intelligent and enter prising adversary, because congress had failed to keep the country in a state of decent military defense, so far as our seacoast is concerned, and had failed to arm our military organizations outside the regular army with other than obsolete weapons. Unless this country reorganizes its army, provides a trained staff, as Secretary Root urged in his report, arranges for the selection of generals by merit and not by senior ity, and keeps its thoroughly trained standing army up to the decent dimen sions of 100,000 men, it will be disgraced some day by a small war, even as Great Britain is today. Modern science has made It possible for a small army of good marksmen to defy the impact of a superior force that is not ably and intelligently led. There Is only one sufficient explanation of the fact that the British have been repulsed so far, and that is that their war office is behind the times in both the theory and practice of land war, for the European writers on modern war are unanimously agreed that frontal attacks upon entrenched troops armed with magazine rifles had be come impossible without great super iority, of numbers; that turning move ments with Immense numerical supe riority is the only means of gaining decisive victories. The British military system is not perfect, but It has fur nished men enough; only the men have not been of the proper description of troops, -and have been wasted in fatal frontal attacks. It Is not so much a question of military system as it Is administration with brains and up-to-date intelligence. The time when Oregon and Washing ton forests will have to bear the brunt of the country's timber needs may be upon us sooner than we think, Ac cording to the American Lumberman's annual review the stock, of white pine lumber in the country continues to de crease rapidly. The stock at the mills Is now 2,278,000,000 feet, a decrease of 766,000,000 feet from that of last year. Going back through the previous years it appears that the present stock of white pine is the smallest since 1890, while at the same time the white pine resources of the country are over twenty-five per cent less than they were at that time. This shrinkage in the forest area already means a shortage of 2,000,000,000 feet which must be annually filled by the substitution of Georgia yellow pine and Oregon and Washing ton fir. It has been estimated that the whole remalnng area of white pine forests will be. practically denuded within five years, and by the, time that happens the areas of Southern pine and Oregon fir will also be greatly reduced by supplying the increasing 4 deficit. At present the Minnesota pineries show the greatest activity, while those of Michigan and Wisconsin have ceased to produce in large quan tities. In what is known as the Chi cago district, including Michigan and Wisconsin, the cut of 1899 showed a falling off of 345,000,000 feet since 1898 and of 1,200,000,000 feet since 1892. Even Minneapolis already feels a shortage. In a few years the white pine industry Will have gone the way of the Maine salmon industry. These are facts that bear Impressively on forest preserva tion in the Cascade timber regions. THE ILLUSTRATION FROM SOAP. Eastern competition, favored by dis criminating transcontinental freight rates, threatens destruction to the soap manufacturing Industry of the Pacific states and of the states lying between the Rocky mountains and the Missis sippi river. Five factories at Denver have been forced to the wall within the past two years, and one large institu tion at San Francisco has shut down, pending developments. The small fac tories In Oregon and Washington are feeling the squeeze. The larger ones are fighting hard to hold their field, but they admit that the time may come, and that before long, when It will be more profitable for them to close their doors than to sell soap at a loss. Coast soap manufacturers have no direct evidence that the railroads are discriminating against them. But they know from the force behind the East ern competition that something Is wrong. Without a favoring Influence of some kind the East could not keep pace with coast manufacturers west of the Rocky mountains, to say nothing about driving them from the field. The cost of making soap Is very nearly the same on the Pacific coast as in the East. Coast manufacturers know as well as they know tallow that the East ern manufacturer cannot pay the cost of manufacture, the freight rate of & of a cent a pound to Pacific coast ter minals, salesmen's salaries and other charges, and place" laundry soap in the Portland market at 3 cents a pound and make money. The very fact that the Easterner Is enable to sell soap at this price convinces the coast that he pos sesses an advantage which is not justly his, and that that advantage is a rail road concession. There is additional evidence of discrimination in the fact that the East is underselling the coast In territory tributary to Portland, the Lewiston country, for example. The transcontinental tariff to Lewiston is the terminal carload rate to Portland, which is of a cent a pound, plus 3-5. of a cent, the carload rate from Port land to Lewiston, making 1 7-20 cents in all. The Eastern shipper Is not pay ing these charges. If he were, he could not stand his ground against the coast manufacturer in this region. The whole thing bears so close a re semblance to that Middle West conspir acy against the Pacific coast, which finds expression indemands for graded rates, and elimination of the differen tials between carload and less than carload shipments, that it is easy to see that the same influences are at work in both cases. Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha are leading the fight for graded rates, and abolition of differentials. Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha are in vading the actual territory of the coast soap manufacturer, through railroad favoritism, and seeking to monopolize the field. The first step is to crush the coast manufacturer. With him out of the way, and danger of competition re moved, the Eastern manufacturer will advance prices to recoup the profits he lost while fighting for the upper hand. In the case of soap, as in the demand for graded rates and against differen tials, the Middle West is only pursuing its declared policy that there is no ne"eu for. jobbing houses on the Pacific coast; that Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha are the natural distributing centers for the coast, and the rightful coffers for all the profits. All the contentions of the Middle West are in defiance of the rights to which the Pacific seaboard is entitled by reason of its geographical position and Its water routes available for competition with the transconti nental railroads. Soap is one of the articles the Pacific coast can make as cheaply as the East, and for which there is always a de mand In the territory which nature gave us between the Rocky mountains and the ocean. If soap shall fall, what hope is there for other Industries? Car negie and Rockefeller, with their hun dreds of millions, defy development of our Iron mines; Cudahy threatens de struction of soap manufacturing; New Tork supplies us with furniture, and our fine furniture woods go to waste; Boston takes our hides and wool and sends them back as shoes and clothing; Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City buy our livestock and sell us hams and ba con. What is the East trying to do with the West? Are manufauctures to be forbidden here? Are the Pacific stateB to be. like the Spanish-American colonies before their independence a vast farm worked to the uttermost by its proprietors, the Eastern jobbers and manufacturers? Are we to be only a depqt from which are to be drawn away our raw products for Eastern factories and which are to come back our shoes, coats, chairs, bacon and soap? Not an industrial enterprise gets established on the coast that the East does not attempt to root out by under selling, by railroad favoritism and by what Is as fatal to diversified industrial development as military despotism is to civil liberty the trust. The remedy In the present situation is enforcement against the Eastern manufacturer of the published tariff rates on west-bound shipments. How the coast manufacturers shall accom plish this Is a problem that will give him worry. He can hold his own on the terms which were his when there were ntf transcontinental rates, which the railroads, when they were built, recognized and denned, and which the railroads have never, until recent times, disputed, but he stands no show with the Eastern manufacturer in com bination with the railroads. The plague in the Philippines, like the yellow fever in Cuba, will test the capacity of American energy to deal with the nation's new peoples more than did the military opposition offered by the Spaniards or the Filipinos to the occupancy of the United States. The sweeping maladies that nest and breed in the tropics are persistent; it femains for sanitary science to prove itself more powerful and stubborn than they. There w"as a time when not a capital city in the world was exempt, or reasonably so, from the incursions of contagious diseases that swept them like fire. London had Its plague In the seventeenth century, while in a single decade In the fourteenth century the black death swept Europe and slew a quarter of Its population. The prog ress of sanitary science wading through filth and buffeted by supersti tion and prejudice has been seemingly slow, but it has been so sure that not a civilized city in the world today but would feet Itself disgraced should an epidemic spread much beyond its point of Origin. Cleanliness has already par tially redeemed Cuba, and It will do the same, in time, for the Philippines. The white man's burden wilt be greatly les sened when the sinks of physical and material rottenness so long festering in these islands under the rule of Spain have been purified. People who are opposed to capital punishment, insisting that it Is a rello of barbarism, are wont to point to the little republic of Switzerland as far in advance of our own upon this point. But what say they of the punishment to which Lucchlnl, the assassin of the empress of Austria, Is undergoing' In a Swiss dungeon? Buried alive In a wln dowless stone cell, fast losing his eye sight in the unrelieved darkness, and his reason in the horrible silence, surely his punishment is not preferable on the basis of humanity or utility to that of the murderer who perishes upon the gallows, the guillotine or in the elec tric chair. Once a fortnight the wretched creature is taken out to walk in the prison courtyard for half an hour, but in the interval he does not even see the attendants who bring him his daily rations at 6 o'clock eaCh morn ing, the food being passed through an aperture into his cell. While this man's crime was wholly without extenuation, and dea(h was the proper penalty for It, slow death by this tortuous process can hardly be urged in the interest either of justioe or enlightenment, since every end of justice would have been served by his quick dispatch after the custom of countries more civilized in this regard than Switzerland In their mode of Inflicting capital punishment. A dispatch from Charlotte, N. C, states that .George Gould, the New Tork -capitalist, has taken $250,000 of the capital stock of a cotton mill to be established near Charlotte, while another member of the Gould family has subscribed, for $150,000 of the stock. The New Tork World, commenting on the devlopment of manufacturing in dustries in the South, says the Indus trial growth of that section is most ex traordinary, but is manifestly only a beginning. In his message to the legis lature the governor of South Carolina pointed out that the Palmetto state is second only to Masachusetts in cotton manufacture, and that with the com pletion of mills now under construction South Carolina will lead all the states in the number of spindles, In consump tion of raw material and in the vol ume and value of output. The state rio longer exports cotton for manufacture elsewhere, and next year It will large ly import it for manufacturing uses. Many democratic journals advise and urge the Goebel party in Kentucky to drop the proceedings they have under taken for the purpose of ousting the re publican state officials. The Atlanta Constitution says: Mr. Goebel has gone before the legislature to hae the verdict of the people and the decision of the election board set aside. This Is a mis take. If there lu any wisdom or conservatism left among the democrats of Kentucky, -we trust they will bring the present state of affairs to a prompt and final conclusion. We do not think that Mr. Goebel Is as important as the democratic party of Kentucky, and we are very sure that hie personal and Individual Interests In the governorship of that state are not as Important aa the welfare of the party at large. A very important meeting Is the one to be held by the Manufacturers' As sociation tonight in the Chamber of Commerce to consider the woolen mill proposition. AH possible aid and com fort should be rendered this laudable undertaking. Hundreds of men are continually saying that Portland needs manufactures. Now if they really think factories are worth having, let them show how much they think them worth. Senator Clark, of Montana, seems to have paid out more money for the sen atorshlp than it is really worth; and yet he may not be permitted to keep It. The "fixing" of everything, grand juries Included, is said by men of Montana to have cost him $1,200,000; but as he has an income of $5,000,000 a year from mines, he can stand this little extrava gance. It is a pity, a pity, that" the windy Indiscretions and quixotic fooleries of senators of the United States this es pecially means the senatorial rhetoric ian, Mr. Hoar, the flatulent ass, Mr. Mason, and the malicious lunkhead, Mr. Pettlgrew had to be atoned by the blood of our soldiers in the Philippine islands. No people so feeble In fight as the Filipinos are can be fit for national In dependence. Men who can't fight can't have a country. Senator Hoar and men like him seem to think that national independence can be maintained on wind. The demo-pops are searching for mis ery In some direction and every direc tion; but Colonel Watterson says in the Louisville Courier-Journal that "the country is in a state of hopeless pros- , perlty." Heglster, if you want to vote. And do it early, so you may not be shut out by the rush. Too Bnsy. Mexican Herald. "Coin" Harvey again plunges Into auth orship, buti the American people are not reading calamity, literature nowadays; THE ANNUAL OREGONIAN. Easily Rnnlcs Witl the Beat. Syracuse (N. T.) Herald. The Oregonian, one of the great papers of the West, and the leading journal of Portland, has issued its special annual number of 60 pages, which easily ranks with the best in the land. A half-tone supplement of 24 page3 conveys. In a series of beautiful pictures, some Idea of the attractions, resources and Industries of Portland and vicinity. The Oregonian has a large field in the Northwest, and as a newspaper it is supplying the need3 of a growing and appreciative constitu ency. But This Is Not Expected. Houston (Tex.) Press. The Portland Oregonian has Issued a January 1 number describing and illus trating every enterprise of the great com monwealth in a manner and style which should make It famous, were It not so al ready. When It comes to enterprise The Oregonian ranks first with any publication on the Pacific slope. The Press hopes that the extraordinary meritorious efforts of The Oregonian will be recognized in a sub stantial way. Will Be Greatly Prized. Manchester (Mass.) Cricket. Mr. G. L. Story, of Portland, Or., also has our thanks for a copy of Tho Morn ing Oregonian, of that city, of January 1, which issues in connection a supple ment, magnificently Illustrated with half tones, giving a complete pictorial illustra tion of Oregon's great resources and ad vances, notably as they appear in her star city, Portland. We shall prize the sou venir greatly. Especially Good. New Bedford (Mass.) Standard. The Portland Oregonian published an especially good "annual number," repro ducing all the excellencies of Its every day number, with some others beside. An Illustrated supplement, with over 500 pic tures, showing all tho noted scenic at tractions of Oregon and every Important industry of the Pacific Northwest, Is a notable feature. Iieranrkable for Illustration. New Bedford (Mass.) Mercury. The Portland Morning Oregonian's an nual spocial number is remarkable for its beautiful collection of half-tone illustra tions of scenes in Oregon. e , QUAY CASE IS WEAKER. To Be a Pleasant Man ,1s Not Always to Be egally Correct. Chicago Tribune. . Precedent after precedent turns up to plague the friends of Matthew Stanley Quay, who Is trying to break Into the United States senate against the will ot his constituents and without an election. Tho latest Is that of Corbett of Oregon, which was decided adversely in 18DS by a vote of 60 to 29, counting pairs. The Tribune's Washington correspondent has analyzed the vote against seating the ap plicant and the analysis is a significant one. It shows that .IS of the re-elected republican senators voted against Corbett. Not one of those IS can vote for Quay without tainting his record with gross in consistency. It shows also that 22 of the Te-elected republican senators voted for Corbett. It may be possible that they cai. square it with their consciences If they vote favorably upon the application of the Pennsylvania boss, though the two cases are not strictly parallel. The Corbett case was stronger than the Quay case. One, branch of the Oregon legislature did not succeed In organiz ing at all, hence It could not have an elec tion. The Pennsylvania legislature was organized In both branches, but they could not agree, and the election failed. Those republican senators, therefore, who voted against Corbett and now think of vot- Ing fbr Quay, if they do so, will have a particularly difficult task In justifying for Chicago have from time to tim ex their record. They will have to explain pressed sympathy for the people &t CM Why they have voted for an applicant caso who. it was supposed, were having .with a weak case when they voted against , th,P wpathfir mfld& to nrfTr of v, Paft one with a stronger case. Tho plea that is made by Quay's advo cates as to his personal "geniality" and "pleasant disposition" not only has no bearing upon the case, but It la not one which will be accepted by the people themselves as valid. "A man may smile and smile and be a villain still." The Tribune does not mean to insinuate that Quay Is a villain, but the sentiment of the quotation applies all the same. It is not safe to admit men to the United States senate merely because they are pleasanz Individuals and without taking Into con sideration other and more important per sonal characteristics, as well as the legal points In the case. The more the case of Quay is considered the less reason doea there appear to be why he should be ad mitted. Those senators, therefore, who voted against Corbett and who shall vote for Quay will assume a heavy responsi bility and will have a hard time In ex plaining their conduct to their constitu ents. South Dakota and the Dictionary. New Tork Sun. "South Dakotan In New York" thus warms hla hands at an old fire: To the Editor of the Sun Sir: It does do my heart good to see the word "pettigrewlng" and "a pettlgrew" in the Sun. I didn't know they had traveled bo far East. In my state every body from Sioux City to Carop Crook knows them, and pretty much everybody, except a few silver cranks, uses them, on occasion. When I left Sioux City, two weeks ago, they were quite the thing In society. "Mr. So and So Is about the blggeat pettlgrew I ever did see." WHlle'3 mother aya to her little boy: "Don't pettlgrew so, plenae." But you have missed one use ot the word "pettlgrew." In the northeast counties and probably elsewhere It Is used ae an adjective. "He looks very pettlgrew," "a ery pettlgrew thing to do," etc "Why aren't the word In the dictionaries? Many are that have not as good a right to be. SOUTH DAKOTAN- fN NEW TORK. New Tork. January 12. The dictionaries will not long be without these admirable vocables. We shall find in the next edition of the Century and of the Standard definitions somewhat like these: Pettlgrew (pet-I-gro) u. (From the surname of BIchard Franklin Pettlgrew), a. person de ficient in Intellect; a ninny; a. ninny-hammer; lurdan, lob, lout, jolterhead. There 13 no pettlgrew like an old pettlgrew. Hat Creek Herald. Pettlgrew, v. Intran3. To be a pettlgrew; to play the pettlgrew. For the cud ye now are chewing Is remorse for pettigrewlng. Abel Slnkenzooner, Voices of the Ozarks. I. 16. Pettlgrew, a. Like a pettlgrew; weak In Intel lect: ridiculous; contempUble. The very pettlgrewest pettlgrew In -populism, that congress of Pettlgrewa. Wlndcave Vox Popull. Thus will the memory of statesmanship be enshrined In literature. t 0 f Daylight In Texas. Comanche (Tex.) Chief, dem. "With the democracy split wide open In Kentucky, badly ripped in New York, and ripping more every day, the gold men of Maryland and New Jersey still unyielding, and with expansion growing in popular ity, to an Impartial spectator like the Chief it looks mightily like McKlnley In latM. o "Suirar Republicans." "Tho Sugar Republicans" is the name bestowed by the New Orleans Picayune on the white planters of that state who, seeing that republican policies were of more advantage to the South than the democratic policies they had previously supported, have gone over in large num bers to tho republican party. " . NOTE AND COMMENT. It is not surprising that moat of the denti3t3 In Portland, pull together. People who are In favor of the Nicaragua canal would better get In and dig. Judge Lynch holds a. .session in Kansas now and then, when business is dull! la the South. The manager of the coal trust evidently forgot to send Jupiter Pluvlus a Christ' mas box of cigars. Bryan Is always seeing the danger to his party, but he never sees a greater one than when he stands before a mirror. A school In municipal government hast been started In 1 Philadelphia. If moderni methods are studied it will be another "School for ScandaL" Now doth the wily democrat Make up the fateful slates, Nor finds It hard for every Job To get ten candidates. It is said that one of the speakers at. the pro-Boer meeting held the other night, when asked to explain why he was supporting Oom Paul in his present strug- gle, said: I don't know nothln' about the Dutch, but I do know something- about Holland. I knew Hel land is good. I've drunk a lot of K. Anybody that can make Holland Is all right. So I sup port the Boers. They may not make Holland, but they're Dutch, and the Dutch, does. In one of the schools of Philadelphia an experiment In the line of Instruction In municipal government Is being trietL, The school Is converted for the time be ing into a small municipality, with all its officers, commissions and departments, and the business of a city Is conducted on a small scale. With such eminent authori ties on municipal government as Napoleon Davis, Sylvester Pennoyer, M. J. doheeey and a large number of others, for lec turers, Portland ought to be able to or ganize a fine school of this klad. Some of the lectures could bo held at the polls election day. and at the primaries, thus giving the pupils a chance to learn some thing of the practical side of the sub ject. The lecturers above named have not access at present to any branches of Port land's government, but they are all sup plied with good memories, and could doubt less furnish Instruction that would bo valuable. And their names would be all the advertisement necessary to attract pupils from all parts of the Northwest. A day or two ago a merchant of "this city received a letter properly addressed, even down to hla telephone number. In It he found an order for a lot of goods, but neither tho name nor address of his wouM be customer. The postmark en the enve lope was next examined, and It was found that the stamp had been used twice and one impression was so nearly over the other that was very difficult to decipher the name of the posto'fflce. After consid erable study, the name was guessed at. and the merchant remembering that ho had sometime before received an order for goods from this town, hunted through his books and found the name of the per son who had ordered them and concluded that the nameless order was from the same person. He accordingly filled the or der and shipped the goods, but ha not yet heard from, the person to whom they wese sent. It Is strange that a person shoukl be so particular a3 to place the merchant's telephone number on his letter amt ecget, tb give hrs own name or address, aatlf fh. tat not probable that such an order woui often be filled. Those who have been rejoicing in tho beautiful winter weather which has been ! the rula since Prognosticator Pague leit and who were consequently supposed to be In the deep waters of affliction. There fa evidently some misunderstanding about Mr. Pague's mission to Chicago, and it appears that he has nothing to do with the Chicago weather bureau. The Chi cago Times-Herald of January lo, after speaking In praise of the weather fur nished that city by Professor Cox, gives the following in regard to Mr. Pague: The weather prophet'a eyrie la the Auditorium tower yesterday was honored by a distinguished Visitor, none lesa than Forecaster Official 3 S. Pague, ot Portland, Or. He has been the weather-maker of that region for some time, but on his own confession yesterday he doea not have to battle with the trials and tribula tions that Professor Cox encounters in trying: to tell the "Windy City from which way tho zephyr will proceed. In Oregon, he says, zero weather to not known. "We have steady weather out there." said he; "a supply of, it. not mere samples as you have here." The mistletoe Is rapidly becoming tho most popular member of the vegetable kingdom at Chrlstmastlde here, as It long has been In many other places. It will probably surprise many people to learn that It can be easily cultivated. It grows principally on the oak in Oregon, but in Europe a kindred variety grows on the apple, poplar, beech, maple, and even on tho fir. As It will always be In demand as long as Christina's Is observed, people who have orchards might propagate it and grow it for themselves, or for sale. The present Is the proper time for this, while the berries are still in the plants. AH that is required Is to cut a little pach of tho bark off the limb of an apple tree, slightly jam some mistletoe berries and rub a few of them on the part where the bark wa3 removed, preferably on the underside of a limb. This may be done In several places on the tree; the juice ot the berry, being: of a gummy nature, will adhere to the branch. A little piece of thin cloth bauad round the part where the berries are wHIi hold them In place and also prevent Mrda from removing the seed. Germination will take place In May or June, and by the next Christmas the little plant will be an object of interest. It will be well to put seeds on various parts of the tree, and also on a variety of trees, so that if some fail others may succeed. Persons having friends in Great Britain or Europe might easily procure a few berries of the mistle toe grown there, which is slightly different from what grows here, and introduce It Into this state. 1 j 1 Chief Interest ot the Powers. Baker City Republican. The meeting of four great powers to discuss Great Britain's policy towardt neutrals was too shallow an sxcuee to hide their true object. They met to and eut what each other's policy was toward Great Britain. Sic Iter ad Astra. Puneh. As through the Strand, at eve wo went. The Strategist and I. We taught the generals their trade, "We threw Von Moltke la he shade,. "We knew the reason why. Oh. blessings on. the good conceit t That never need.be shy. That could each difficulty meet. And every peril spy. For when we came to Charlnsr CroasV And would have pamed thereby,. " A Brompton 'bus we did not sea . Came at us banal J And where were we? The Strategist aniS IX I