-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