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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1900)
"Tfr"- 8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1900. hg V2CfflXHtt Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as ssoond-class matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial .Rooms 1C8 J Business Office.. ..057 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Da.,y, with Sunday, per month....- 50 S5 Daiij, Sunday excepted, per year 7 50 Ua.y, with Sunday, per year..... 8 00 Sunday, per year .. 2 00 TZie Weekly, per year. 1 50 Tfce "Weeklj, 3 months - 50 Ti City Subscribers Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays excepted.l3c Xaw, per week, delivered, Sundays lncluded.20c Netva or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed Invariably 'Eultor The Oregonlan," not to the name of any Individual. Letters relating to advertising, subscriptions or to any business matter should be aJuressed smply "The Oregonlan." Tiio Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It -without solicita tion. 2Co stamps should be inclosed 2 or this purpose. Paget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson, office at llll Pacific avenue. Tacoma. Box 055, Tacozna postofflce. Eastern Business Office The Tribune build ing, New York city; "The Booker." Chicago; the S. C Beckwith special agency. New York. For sale In San Francisco by J. X. Cooper, 76 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and at Goldsmith Bros., 23G Sutter street. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. Uews Co.. 217 Dearborn street. TODAY'S -WEATHER. Fair; Warmer; south ecst winds. PORTLAND, FRIDAY, JANUARY 20. MARCHING 33ACKWARDS. Five years ago Senator Soar, in an oration delivered by him on Forefath ers' day, at Plymouth, Mass., said: The tree, our fathers aet covered at flrst a little space by the eeaslde. It has planted Its banyan branches in the ground. It has epread along the Lakes. It has girdled the Gfllf. It has covered the prairie and the plain. The fiweep or its lofty arches rises over the Rocky xaountalns and the Cascades and the Nevadas. its hardy growjh shelters the frozen region of the Northwest. Its boughs hang oer the Pa cific And In time-In good time it -will send its roots beneath the -waves and receive under Its vast canopy the Islands of the tea. Since that day Senator Hoar has been marching backward in thought and statesmanship. Nothing save his high personal character saves his plea for anti-expansion in the matter of the Philippines from the undisguised con tempt of all intelligent men. Senator Hoar has never yet answered the ques tion, "'In what respect is the principle upon which the Philippines have been acquired different from that by which our other acquisitions have been made, Louisiana, California, Texas, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico?" Senator Hoar's ancestors among the Pilgrims and Puritans were justified for taking possession of New England in spite of its prior occupancy by the Indians. The Pilgrim lathers and the Puritans did not act upon the principle, "let in comers accept things as they find them, or let them stay out." New Eng land civilization was Indelibly founded upen the assumption that backward, unprogresslve people must make room I for progressive folk. This was good enough logic for the foundation of New England; it was good enough logic for the forcible onen- i ing of the ports of Japan and China to trade; it was good enough lofrlc for American extension from 1S03 to 1900; it is good enough logic for the oblit- iratIon of the Boer republics by Great Britain. There can be no more abso lute dogmas in government than there :an be in religion. Forms of govern ment no more reside in phrases than the art of war resides in a changeless phrase. If the forcible acquisition of New England by the Puritan from the abrriginal occupier, the Indian, is justi fied today after the fact by the conces sion that it has been a blessing to the human race, it is but lunacy today to construct any argument against the right of expansion that extends be yond the appeal of mere political expe diency. The Englishman has as good an argument for obliterating a political anachronism, like the medieval Boer oligarchies, from the path of civiliza ticn as the Puritan ancestors of Sena tor Hoar had for destroying the Indian hst.!e confederacy organized by King Philip. The Englishman has a better argument, for the Boers "were not the or:ginal occupiers of the Transvaal, but exterminated the Zulu occupants of the Bcil to make room for themselves and to make slaves of the Kaffirs, even as the Puritans sold Indians Into slavery. Our government is not an enacted phrase or dogma; it is a practical ex periment that has been radically changed since the formation of the Union under the constitution of 1789. How much did the sounding phrases of the "great Declaration" mean to the rich slaveholder, Jefferson, who formu lated that document, or the other slave holders who signed it? How much did It mean when we organized under the federal constitution, which distinctly rec-gnized slavery, protected and per petuated it? How much did the great Declaration mean to Senator Hoar when he labored with voice and vote to impose on the seceding states a gov ernment by military force in contempt of "the consent of the governed"? How much did the great Declaration mean to Senator Hoar in thematter of sus taining with his voice and vote a gov ernment imposed by military force upon the American Indians "without the consent of the governed"? The truth is that If Senator Hoar's subordination of all human progress to "the consent of the governed" had hith erto prevailed, painted and tattooed savages would still be dancing by rr.ocnlight not only on the sands of C r naught, but on the shores of Cape C-J, 'n Manhattan island, at Bati- m re, Chicago. St. Paul and New Or- lears. Both the United States and Great Britain have the same justifica- tl'n fcr their expansion policy; viz., its blesred results. Without such a policy thul treated with contempt government by rhrases instead of government jus tice 1 by facts, the modern world would lncer have emerged from the limited cii..zation and political despotism of the sixteenth century. The wonderful th.ng is that Senator Hoar, a man of hlstcrlcal reading, capable of reaching a s Dund conclusion five years ago, should today undertake to subordinate our country's right and duty of expan sion to a phrase which was not even enacted in our federal constitution, was net i-espected in our civil war, and is cr.Ty respected today so far as it coin cides with the practical necessities and emergencies of the time. The purposes of a republican club meeting held last night in the ninth ward, as set forth in the proceedings printed today, are commendable. Let the republican party go on with Its business upon this basis, and there will ;be ro ground of complaint. The Ore igenian believes there is no reason to fear that the arrangements for the prl- marles and conventions ,will be other than equitable and fair. By this it means that the committee will make such arrangements and establish such regulations as -will assure equal rights to all. It can have no disposition to do otherwise. THB OPEN DOOR. A subscriber -writes us from Adna, Wash: After reading considerable In your paper and many others concerning the "Ooen-Door Pol icy," I have failed to find out -what is meant by It. Please define It in your next iBsue, and oblige. The open door is one thing at one place and another thing at another. What we call the open-door policy at Manila is like, but somewhat different from, what is called the open-door policy on the Asiatic mainland, where Chinese ports are coming under Euro pean control. " The briefest way to explain this dif ference is to say that the open door In Chinese ports means fair trade for na tions other than the European power In control, and the open door in the Phil ippines means fair trade for all comers, including the United States. What Russia and Germany do in Chinese ports and what Spain did in the Philip pines was to make those holdings a trade preserve, to be exploited solely for the controlling power. Nobody sup poses that the United States -contem plates anything of this sort in the Philippines; but it is feared that the protective policy v?e have long observed regarding our home ports will be ex tended to the Philippines, and espe cially to Manila, their principal port. If a high tariff were put into force at Manila, no matter if it applied equally to goods from the United States, there would be no open door, although the closing would be of an entirely different kind from that made use of by Russia and Germany in Chinese ports. The question of the open door at Manila is Inextricable from the ques tion of tariff policy concerning Imports from the islands into the United States. If the constitution is Interpreted to pre vent tariffs on exports from the islands hither, it will also inhibit tariffs on" ex ports to the islands hence. The United States, therefore, will have free trade into Philippine ports. But Spain must also have the same privileges for the space of ten years, and It would be a very awkward thing for us to be giving Spain concessions and denying the same concessions to Great Britain, our only active friend In Europe, whose trade Is now far greater in the islands than that of any other power. The open door in the Philippines, therefore, involves free trade for Philippine prod ucts into the United States and free trade for the products of all nations into Philippine ports. It is a prospect from which the treasury department, needing revenue, and the republican party, tied to protection, may well shrink in concern. But the only alter native is a barrier to trade there which will make our demands on Europe for the open door look funny. But this Is not all, for the most diffi cult complications are connected with the subject of revenue. Nothing is clearer than that, from an economic standpoint, a moderate revenue duty on Imports at Philippine ports, collected Impartially from all sources, American and European alike, would be highly desirable, for only through such pro ceeds can the Islands be made sell supporting, to say nothing of the $20, 000,000 paid Spain to perfect title. But such a regime would be inconsistent with the constitutional requirement! that duties must be uniform through out the United States. If this clause of the constitution is construed as hav ing application to the Philippines, we are estopped from low revenue duties there by 'two considerations. One is that if we have free trade into the islands, so must Spain by treaty, and so must Great Britain almost of ne cessity. The other is that duties will have to be the same into Manila as Into New York. Our principal export to the Philippines now is petroleum, and this Is free of duty; as are other leading articles of Import into the islands. But on cotton goods, for example, our home tariff Is comparatively high. To extend It to the Philippines will be to work great hardship upon British trade now established there, an extremity it is de sired to avoid, and which is distinctly disavowed in Secretary Hay's promises of an open door. An open door in the Philippines, therefore, seeins to involve us in one of two equally untenable alternatives. If we extend our protective tariff .to those ports, retaining free entrance for ourselves and Spain, there is no open door in any proper sense, or In any sense that will be accepted by Europe as reconcilable with our demands for an open door on the mainland. On the other hand, if we open the door there, either with free trade or"with revenue tariffs, hbw shall we Interpret the com mand of the constitution that "duties, Imposts and" excises shall be uniform throughout the United States"? There is reason to believe that the adminis tration will deny the application of the constitution to thecase" and hold with Secretary Root that the clause applies only to the United States as it existed at the formation of the constitution. Then we can go ahead and make tariffs to suit.' A remarkable opinion would have to be forthcoming from the attor ney-general. But how readily this can be secured Mr. McKenna showed us in his decision, that the discriminating duty clause of '"the DIngley bill was en acted without any legislative Intent whatever. THE CENSUS OP 1O0O. An Interesting forecast of the census of 1900 is given by Hon. William R. Merriam in the North American Re view. As director who will have charge of the decennial enumeration, which will be taken this year, his statement possesses the value of emanating from, a man who knows what he is talking about, and who Is therefore worthy of attention. Mr. Merriam believes that the law providing for this work is the best that has ever been devised for the purpose. In his judgment it defines the method of the work better. It lim its the number of Inquiries to fewer subjects, and compels the completion of the most important part of the work within two years after the beginning of the enumeration, while the plan adopt ed for clerical work will, he thinks, re sult in securing the services of a higher class of employes than is usual in this business. This is a very encouraging prognosis of a very expensive and Important un dertaking. The proof Is yet to follow, but the sanguine will enjoy the pros pect outlined In Mr. Merriam's estimate and those more doubtful will hope for Its verification. The last census, as everybody knows, was a very cumber- some, unwieldy, unprofitable piece of work. It was so loaded down with petty and irrelevant details that it could not be finished in time to be of real value, and had it not in the course of events been abridged, its ten-year-old statements of facts and figures would still be dropping slowly from the gorged printing presses of the govern ment. Statistics are at best dry and tiresome; when they are also stale, they are practically useless. It Is also to be observed that Mr. Merrlam Is moderate in his calcula tions. He hopes the estimate of the English statistician, Mulhall, who fixes our population at 77,300,000, will prove. correct, but he himself Is disposed to think that the total will fall below 76,000,000. The population of the coun try ih each census year, and tlie actual increase and the increase per cent, are shown, in the following table: Census, Aggregate Per cent years. xpulatlon. Increase, increase. 1700 3,920,214 1S00 5,308,483 1,379,268 35.10 1810 .- 7,230,881 1.931,898 86.28 1620 0.(533,822 2,393,941 33,07 1S30 12,800,020 3,232,193 33.55 1S40 17,060,463 4,203,433 32.07 1850 23,191,876 6,022,423 35.87 1800 31.443,321 8,251,445 85.58 1870 38,558,371 7,115,050 22.03 1880 50,155,783 11,507,412 30.08 1890 02.622,250 12,460,407, 24.86 If Director Merriam's estimate proves correct and the population of the coun try In June Is only about 74,000,000, the Increase in actual numbers will be only 11,377,500, and In rate per cent only 18. This will be a smaller actual Increase than the last two censuses have shown and the smallest percentage of increase shown In any census. The greater Interest In the findings of the twelfth decennial census, however, will center In the presentment made of our Industrial, moral and educational growth. Mr. Merriam believes that the "high-water mark in our commercial and industrial life has been attained." Their "bigness" he does not consider the chief desideratum,. and he is of the opinion that special inquiries into sub jects more nearly relating to the moral and intellectual life of this nation will demonstrate that "we have eclipsed all former periods In our history in attain ing the higher moral standard abso lutely essential to the permanency of the republic." JAPAN'S FINANCIAL EXPERIENCE. Japan's experience with money has been very similar to that of every coun try that has meddled with the elusive "double standard." The fact is, as Mr. S. Uchida, consul of Japa'n at New York, shows in a recent article, Japan has run through the, whole gamut of false tones ot money and now Is set tling down to the general principles of money that have been evolved in the course of ages through the experience of the financial world. Within thirty years Japan has had a varied experi ence. It tried the gold standard,, but did not support It, and allowed the standard to be wrecked with overissues of paper; it tried the silver standard with the same result; It attempted a double standard, with the usual and Inevitable consequence attending that delusion and impossibility; it limped along with an irredeemable paper cur rency, such as our greenbacks were during the civil war. It has, in short, made the whole round, till now at length it has established its monetary system on a new" gold unit, with use of silver as auxiliary yet as subsidi ary money. The details of its present system are different from those of other gold-standard nations, yet the princi ples are the same. It is shown by Mr. Uchida that Japan, upon opening trade relations with the outside world, attempted to establish her money upon the gold standard. To this undertaking her diverse and de based local currencies presented great obstacles. It was not yet fairly under way when the government was forced to grapple with a rebellion, and its ex penses being very heavy, it resorted to the usual expedient of a paper cur rency. It soon became unable to keep this currency at par with gold that is, to redeem its notes in gold on presen tationand the disappearance of gold, the familiar experience of the world In such conditions, was quickly realized. A national bank currency was also tried, but as this was redeemable In the treasury notes, the banking cur rency suffered the same disastrous fall. The next step was to admit sliver to free coinage and make it a full legal tender. Here, nominally, was the dou ble standard; but the irredeemable pa per expelled all silver as well as gold. Paper, gold and sliver were alike legal tender, and of.the same nominal value, but no" two were of the same actual value. There was one premium on gold, another premium on silver; while, as paper of uncertain value held the field as the medium of exchange, there were high and fluctuating prices. The whole familiar phenomena of such conditions were repeated in Japan. The next effort was to resume specie payments upon a silver basis. The plan was, first, to pay off the government notes, cancel them and issue no more; second, to compel the national banks to pay off their notes and retire them; third, to organize one great central bank of issue, modeled after the Im perial bank of Germany, which should have the exclusive privilege of Issuing paper currency and be required to al ways redeem the same In silver. This tied the currency to silver. It relieved the country from the fluctuations of an irredeemable paper currency which had been found injurious to all Interests, but it was soon perceived that the best results obtainable had not yet been reached. Silver was constantly falling in value, prices were fluctuating, and wages and trade were unfavorably af fected. Leading men of Japan believed the adoption of the gold standard would be another step of progress, and, Indeed, was Indispensable if the coun try aspired to a prominent commercial position. Accordingly, In 1893, there was appointed a monetary commission of fifteen members to Investigate the whole subject. It was composed of high officials, professors of the univer sity of Japan, members of the diet, and business men eminent in the commerce of the country. The outcome of its in vestigations was the decision that the country should adopt the gold stand ard. The account furnished by Mr. Uchida shows that this undertaking was one of the most ably conducted operations in the annals of finance. The change to the gold standard was made without violation of the existing equities, by es tablishinganew gold unit corresponding to the then existing value of the sliver unit. The war Indemnity received from China furnished the gold required to take up the redundant silver, which was either sold or reminted into sub sidiary coins. Here was a repetition of the operation performed by Ger many, through her obtainment of the war indemnity from France. In Japan the entire plan as laid out in advance was carried through, with success and the rising nation was placed securely on a gold basis. Mr. Uchida shows that the change has been fully approved by the results. The industries of the coun try are prosperous, its commerce is in creasing rapidly, wages are advancing, the revenues of the government are satisfactory, and the action commands the approval of the people. There is no new science of money, nor ever will be. The experience of Japan, as written in brief by her con sul at New York, covers the whole field of debate on money; yet in the United States Bryan and his followers still preach the monetary follies that even Japan has exploded and abandoned. The "free" bridges which, in response to popular clamor, were built, pur chased and thrown open to the public in the heightof an extravagant period, in which so many things, Indefensible from a standpoint of common prudence In finance, .were done, are in fact among the costliest of our luxuries. As stated by the county auditor, these bridges and the "free" ferry are main tained at an annual expense, net, to the taxpayers of Multnomah county of over 540,000. It is really twice that. This outlay is, in the estimation of false economists, a "public benefit," to which the people are entitled, and which does not cost anybody anything. Nobody has to pay, since the funds to meet the demands come out of the public treas ury and "everybody is benefited." True, It is hard to silence the stiff-necked taxpayer, and Impossible to convince him by this argument, but as long as the multitude that gets something for nothing is satisfied, those who furnish the funds that make things "free" will have to stand the pressure by which these funds are extracted from the frults'of their Industry or savings. But it reacts upon those who think thQy are getting "something for nothing," and one day they will know it. The -work off the fire department, and of individual firemen, in subduing the flames that for hours threatened the large oil tanks of the Standard Oil Company in this city, continues to be highly and deservedly complimented by observant, appreciative citizens. Cour age in the presence of danger was never more manifest, even on the rough edge of battle, than upon this occasion, when men steadfastly maintained their position for hours, conscious that the enemy they were fighting was pos sessed of a power of destruction with which, beyond a certain point, they were utterly unable to cope. The stake was a heavy one and the game desper ate, but courage and determination won. While applauding the gallant firemen, let measures at once be taken to forestall another such fight by re quiring the removal of these oil tanks to a more suitable because a safer place. W. E. English, of Indiana, a demo crat and the son of a de iocrat, -for his father was a candidate tor the vice presidency on the Hancock ticket, in 1880, has returned his pay to the United States treasury for his military services during the war with Spain. He was captain and assistant quartermaster, and served from May to December, 1898, when he resigned. As Mr. English did not apply for his pay, a check was sent him lately, which he sent to Sena tor Fairbanks to be turned into the treasury, saying that he had served his country for his country's sake. It Is said to be the only case of Its kind, There is danger of a terrible scene in Kentucky. An unscrupulous partisan ship, driven or led by Goebel, has brought the state to the verge of civil war. All the conditions are present and ripe for a conflict appalling to the country. Men Bhoot, and shoot to kill, in Kentucky. It seemB certain that nothing but the abandonment of the Goebel scheme, which has been driven with unrelenting purpose thus far, will avert the most terrible conse quence yet witnessed in the history of our American states. Already the British losses in Natal in killed, wounded and missing ap proach 10,000, and the Boer position has not been sensibly affected. Brave Eng lishmen in numbers sufficient to make doubly good these losses have already been landed at Cape Town, and 19,000 are still afloat, hurrying hither as fast as steam can carry them, to make good all possible losses and turn Boer vic tory Into defeat. All England holds its breath awaiting the onset which sooner or later must result in a triumph of her arms. Representative Moody's reason for supporting the majority report in the Roberts case, that it "proposes to ac complish directly what the minority recommends in a roundabout way, With some risk of failure ultimately," is the view of a practical business man that will commend itsebt to sensible people. Many a longer, but no better, speech has been made on the question. It is somebody's business to keep beg gars off the streets. That is what po licemen and boards of charities are for. If the placard and tin box are neces sary evidences of guilt, they can be supplied. There Is remissness some where, and the responsibility ought not to be difficult to locate. The organs of anti-expansion are making merry over the speech of Sena tor Beveridge because he left the lower levels of prosaic argument to indulge in rhetoric and flights of fancy. These are the same journals that were re cently bemoaning the decline of oratory in congress, Another Democrat for Expnnalon. Ex-Goverrior Churchill, dem., of Arkansas. I am a loyal democrat, but an American cltl2en and stand by the flag and the soldier who la fighting for It. It Is an ac complished fact that expansion has come to stay and it is of no use for the leaders of our party to rail against It. The sen ate has ratified the treaty of policy with Spain and the matter is settled. The Isl ands hwe passed into our hands, and all that congress has to do la to give them a republican form of government, and that government will give them the same liberty and freedom which we enjoy. It is demo cratic doctrine and we cannot honorably recede from it. When Moges led the Israelites out of Egypt into the Holy Land they found other nations there, made war Upon, con quered and imposed a government over them without asking their consent. The Israelites were the chosen people of the Lord, and I presume they had his sanc tion for the act. We are now Imposing a government over Puerto Rico without ask ing its consent. We can hardly realize the extent and magnitude of our Asiatic, possessions. They are beyond the powers of description, with a rich and fertile eoll, equal to any In the world, and when we introduce American Ideas and new meth ods of agriculture, their productions of sugar, coffee, nee and tobacco will be double what they are now. 'Now, a few words of warning to the democratic party. When we meet In con vention we must adopt a platform that all democrats, north, south, east and west, can stand upon, for without unity we can not hope to win. We must not drive any democrats from the party. Imperialism means nothing and is simply used to scare the ignorant. Our flag is planted In the Philippines, and no one Is going to haul 4t down, and there it will remain as a beacon light to all Asiatic nations. o ANTI-IMPERIALISM HARD HIT. Body Blow Delivered in the Senate by Davis of Minnesota. New York Times. A lamentable disaster has befallen the antl-lmperiallsts. A piece of argumenta tive apparatus known as the consent of the governed which they have constructed with great toil and have employed as a battering-ram against the expansionists and the administration has suddenly turned its armored front against them selves and planted a blow In the region of the midriff that they .would instantly perceive to be fatal were their minds not tightly shut against the light of truth and reason. It was the hand of Senator Davis, chair man of the senate committee- on foreign affairs, that reversed their machine. In executive session he is reported to have said that the administration decided to take and hold the Philippine Islands because it learned, during the treaty nego tiations, that Germany would take them If we did not. We quote from a Washington dispatch: At the time that, the negotiations at Paris were proceeding-, and it was a. matter of doubt whether the United States would take up the burden of responsibility for good order and peace In the Philippines, there waa reason to believe that Germany stood ready, upon the intimation of our intention to abandon our ter ritory there, to make a dash and gain a footing at Manila, and eventually upon such islands as "Were deemed desirable to extend Germany's colonial policy. This was not only a menace to our prestige, but It might have created ill feeling in Great Britain, where the sentiment favoring our retention of control in the islands was strong, not unselfishly, but also not Jeal ously, so far as the United States were con cerned. It is represented that Senator Davis made this plain, and that he showed that the administra tion thereupon changed the instructions to the commission, abandoning the Idea of partial occupation and deciding that for the time at least it was the duty of the United States to assume complete control of the archipelago. Further, the senator is reported as having de clared that the plan of the Philippine commis sion to extend civil government throughout the Islands, with native participation as great as possible, is to be the purpose, and that there is to be no cause for regret on the part of the Filipinos that have ceased to be subjects of Spain and required to yield temporary obedi ence to the United States. The consent of the governed argument is the cornerstone of the anti-Imperialists structure. They have wept at the condi tion of the Filipinos, stripped of their lib erties, ground under the oppressing heel of William McKlnley, and compelled to obey laws they have no part In framing. And they have insisted that Admiral Dewey should either have sailed away after he had destroyed Montojo, leaving the insur gents to achieve their liberty and enjoy it; or that we ought now to scuttle out and give Agulnaldo an opportunity to set up and operate his , republic. But It now appears that the alternative to American possession and control Is not and coUld not have been a Philippine re public, but German conquest and a Ger man colonial government. Is William Mc Klnley a worse ruler for the Filipinos than the man with the spiked helmet? It is the announced policy of the administration to admit the natives to participation in the affairs of the government of the isl ands as fast and as far as they show them selves capable and worthy of trust. "Under a German colonial governor the FillDinos would have been the subjects of a mili tary power that has no faith In such nos trums as popular institutions and the con sent of the governed. The governed would never have been consulted about their government. In the light of Senator Davis' state ment, what becomes of the anti-lmperial-lsts' cause? They are engaged in an at tack upon the president for not adopting a course in the far East that would have turned the Philippines and their people over to the tender mercy of the kaiser. That would Indeed have been imperialism In the strictest sense of the word. And the Boston antl-lmperiallsts insist that it is not yet too late. NAVAIj strength of powers. Ail Increasing- In. the Desire to Keep Up WItu Other. A parliamentary paper just Issued gives the fleets of the various great powers and distinguishes the types of vessels built and building. At the same time It explains, without mentioning the fact, why It Is that no power has so far undertaken to Inter fere with the sending of 120,000 troops to South Africa, or has concluded to invado England while denuded of these troops. The list of ships credits England with 53 completed battleships 17 armored cruisers, 107 "protected" cruisers, 15 unprotected cruisers, 13 coast-defense vesselB. 35 tor pedo vessels, 75 torpedo-boat destroyers and 95 torpedo boats. The list of British ships classed as now building embraces 17 battleships, 14 armored cruisers, 9 protect ed cruisers and 33 torpedo-boat destroyers. The aggregate of battleships "built" and "building" is 70, or if armored cruisers are reckoned together with the battleships they are often larger and equally efficient the fighting line contains1 101 ships. France has "built" 31 battleships, 8 ar mored cruisers, 35 "protected" cruisers, 14 unprotected cruisers, 14 coast-defense ves sels, 1 special vessel, 8 submarine boats, 15 torpedo vessels, 2 torpedo-boat destroy ers and 219 torpedo boats. The list of ves sels "building' la as follows: Battleships, 4; armored cruisers, 12; protected cruisers, 4; torpedo-boat destroyers, 10; torpedo boats, 47; submarine boat3, 9. No other power has any submarine boats built or building. Russia has "built" 12 battle ships, 10 armored cruisers, 3 protected cruisers, 8 unprotected cruisers, 15 coast defense vessels, 5 special vessels, 17 tor pedo vessels, 1 torpedo-boat destroyer and 174 torpedo boats. The vessels building for Russia are 12 battleships, 2 armored cruis ers, S protected cruisers, 1 coast-defense vessel, 2 special vessels, 35 torpedo-boat destroyers and 6 torpedo boats. Germany has of completed battleships is, armored cruisers 3, protected cruisers 13, unprotected cruisers 21, coast-defense vessels 11, special vessels 3, torpedo vessels 2, torpedo-boat destroyers 1, torpedo boats 113. She has bulldine 7 battleshlns. 2 ar mored cruisers, 4 protected Cruisers and 9 torpedo-boat destroyers. The United States is credited with 5 bat tleships built and 11 building, J2 armored cruisers built and 3 building, 14 protected cruisers built and 7 building, 6 unprotected cruisers, 19 coast-defense vessels built and 4 building, 1 special vessel, 1 torpedo-boat destroyer built and 19 building, 18 torpedo boats built and 14 building. , Japan is notably weaker at sea than she is usually supposed to be, having but 3 completed battleships and 4 building, 3 armored cruisers built and 4 building, 14 protected cruisers built and 2 building, 9 unprotected cruisers, 4 coast-defense ves sels, 1 torpedo vessel, 8 torpedo-boat de stroyers built and 4 hulldlng and 29 tor pedo boats built and 29 building. In making the above classification It was sought to take account of armor, speed and other feature's that determine efficiency. It Is apparent that the 192 completed Brit ish battleships and cruisers, to say noth ing of other classes of vessels, give Eng land a certain preponderance at sea. France has an aggregate of S3 battleships and . cruisers, Russia 28 and. Germany 55. All three powers taken together have 172 battleships' and bruisers, or 20 less than England, in certain contingencies the fleets of Italy and Japan whatever they may be worth may be counted with the British, but without them the preponder ance at sea is unmistakable. The lists of vessels building in the shipyards of the various powers do not promise an early change of the situation. Germany, Russia and France are, it is true, about to enlarge their building programme, but It Is Eng land's policy to keep up with her rivals. Gold and Sliver. The Engineering and Mining Journal finds that the total production of gold in the year 1899 was for the entire world 5013,954,468, an Increase of $24.S06.eS9 over the preceding year. The loss of yearly product due to the war In South Africa Is estimated at $2O,00O.C0O. The gold out put of the United States was 572.4S3.055; of Australia, $75,082,171; of the Transvaal, S73.108.650: of Russia. 524,072,344; of Canada, 51S.049.593; of Mexico, $9,277,351; of British India, 58.49S.571; of China. 5S.641.190. Rhodesia appears among the minor pro ducers of gold, her product In 1SS9 reach ing 51,110,953. The war seems not to have Interfered, so far, with the Rhodesian out put. As the richness of the mlnes4 there has been demonstrated by the practical tests of working, a la-rge increase of prod uct Is expected when more machinery is Introduced. The three Guianas are cred ited with an output of S3.S44.962; Colombia with 53.7CO.C00: Brazil with 52,531,687; Hun gary with 52.038,993, and Corea with $1,094, 000. The silver production of the United States was about 63,000,000 ounces, or 4,000. 000 ounces more than in 1898. The price has ranged from 61.2 cents an ounce in May to 57.9 cents in October. The aver age for the year was 59.5 cents, against 58.2 cents In 1S9S and 59.7 cents in 1897. China and other Eastern countries have taken Increased quantities of silver. There was an outward movement of gold in De cember, approximating 515,000,000, and this movement still continues, being caused by the London demand. It is to be noted that this outflow Is small when compared with the addition of 572,400.000 made to our stock during the year by our mines. We not only obtained considerable amounts by importation the excess of Imports over exports was 512.193.S1S but we retained nearly all of our own large production. Our stock of gold, even without Imports, and In spite of the exports. Is constantly being increased, and 13 now the largest ever recorded. Our exports of silver In 1S99 exceeded our Imports by 520,000,000. o As to the Expense. New York Journal of Commerce. The limitation of 59,000.000 a year put upon the ship subsidy bill is merely de signed to allay apprehensions of the cost of a subsidy based upon mileage and ton nage, if it should have the stimulating ef fect on the shipping business that Is pre dicted for It. But if the shipbuilding in dustry should flourish greatly under the Influence of this stimulus. It would be necessary to divide the $9,000,000 pro rata. Of course, this result would be most un satisfactory, and if the shipping Interest can secure the 59,000,000 from congress In its present state of development, it could certainly secure more when It Is much larger and richer than it Is today. Of course, congress can remove the limita tion of $9,000,000 at any time, and It la extremely Improbable that a large and profitable shipping Interest will ever be reduced to the necessity of dividing 59.000,- 000 upon a basis lower than the schedule provided In the bill. The limitation ot 10 years upon the period within which 20 year contracts for subsidies can be made Is also removable by act of congress, and If the pending measure should add largely to the mercantile marine of the United States, It would be highly illogical to cut off the extension of Its benefits at the end of 10 years. Of course, this would be in the Interest of the companies that had secured contracts, but the shipbuild ers would bo as much. Interested as the new shipowners in removing this restric tion. If the subsidy bill shall become a law, therefore, we may take 5270,000,000, not as the maximum, but as the minimum expenditure authorized by It. The maxi mum was lately calculated In the Forum by Captain Bates, recently commissioner of navigation, at several times this amount. This Is assuming that it would produce the expected effects, and if It did. not, the fact would be cited as a reason for raising the rates. o ' Value of Manufactures. The town of Randleman, in Randolph county, N. C, affords a striking illustra tion of the value of manufacturing in dustries to a community. Only a few years ago it was a straggling village of a couple of hundred people, with no Indus tries and very little business of any kind. Now Randleman Is the most flourishing town In Randolph county. It has several prosperous cotton mills and other indus tries, Its population has grown to about 3000, and about 90 per cent of the fam ilies depend upon the wages from the spinning, weaving and knitting "factories for bread and meat, etc. There Is said to be not an idle man, woman or child In the town who is willing to work. a Alabama Industry. A correspondent ot the Engineering and Mining Journal, writing from Birming ham, Ala., declares that In 1899 "Alabama had a glorious year, and the new year conies on In a blaze of glory." The output of pig Iron was as much as 1,048,704 tons, and prices were more than doubled. In January, 1899, No. 1 foundry Iron sold at 58 a ton, gray forge at 56 50, and No. 1 soft at 58. In the following December these sorts sold, respectively, at 513 50 and SIS and 518 50 a profitable advance to makers who had their yards full of pig accumu lated during dull times. Iron ore was mined to the extent of 2,140,733 tons; the coke product was 1,834,550 tons, coal 7,559,231 tons. ' a Stealing "Water. Water offered by the water company of New Orleans Is so high-priced that the poor people are forced In time of drouth to steal It. The New Orleans Picayune expresses a natural indignation that with a great river flowing by the city the In habitants should be forced to steal water to drfnk. "When you mention monopo lies," says the Mobile Register, "and want an Illustration of how they work to the Injury of the people, you must not forget that the New Orleans water company la right up next to the band wagon." lj ) fr mm No Vulgar Haste. Philadelphia Press. Mistress Delia, I don't like to speak to you about It, but you're too fond of sleep. You don't get up earl " Cook Shure, ma'am, I'm no fonder av it than the next wan. It's only thot I do slape slower than mosht. i a o Renown. "Still," said the old friend who had called to converse with the venerable sage. ."In your advanicng age It must be a great comfort to know your fame is se cure." "Yes," replied the aged scientist, "I am told there Is a new disease and a 5-cent cigar named for me." a e To Exercise His Talent. Chicago Post. "So he Is going abroad?" "Yes. He got so In the habit of kicking about the way things were done during the Spanish war that he is going to Eng land now to help out the stay-at-homes there." a Why He Resigned. Philadelphia North American. "Why did the young- minister leave so suddenly?" "The Maiden Ladles Home Missionary Society took up the task of finding him a suitable wife." a Poverty's Straits. Detroit Journal. "We can't afford to have any new differ ences!" urged the husband. "I suppose we'll have to patch up our old differences!" sighed the wife, wearily. NOTE AND COMMENT. The circus trust will succeed if it hasttho right ring to it. Taylor's friends appear to be ready to out-Goebel Goebel. There's a Christmas dinner In It, Buller, If you can make It go. The report that Mr. Barrett's Mfe of thar admiral is to be called "Me and Dewey? Is now denied. t What Great Britain needs just now Is a general who will fight it out on that lino. If it takes all summer. Mr. Pague's reception In Chicago Is fur ther proof that a prophet Is not without well, you know the rest, v He walked right up to the cannon's mouth. In spite ot his comrade's warning. But his courage failed when his duty was To get up on a frosty morning. Bonl de Castellane is quarreling with a French newspaper. There seams to be nothing ridiculous that this man will not do. It Is very considerate In Agulnaldo not to call attention to himself when the public la Interested In congress and the Transvaal war. The tone of the Congressional, Record might be raised during these days of un restricted senatorial debate If that jour nal bad a press censor on its staff. If the government Is to appoint a civil commission to treat with the Filipinos, the difficulty will be to keep them civil when they go up against Filipino treach ery. The Lostlne Leader seems to be in tha hands of the devil for a time. The pa per contains this announcement: '"The boss editor is out on the telephone Una this week, getting everything In hell-o shape." A Josephine county man named Jewell says "the sultan of Turkey, Lord Cham berlain and President McKlnley will go Into history as the three great criminals of the century": that "the people of Ore gon In the coming election will have a chasce to renew their allegiance to the principles taught by Jesus Christ, Thomas Jefferson and W. J. Bryan." Notwith standing the crowded condition of tha asylum at Salem, the superintendent will do we'l to make room for one more In the ward for tha mentally defective. You king? You kid! Put Sing, Hbw dkl Yur land. You brat. E'r stand For tha? The ring Won't do A thing Teyeu! It'o flse. Farssothft X nine Yea r youth To try To be The high Chinee! But held Yur tBgue And eld Li Hung May brine You through Good thing - , For you. " Adieu. SnwUI boy. Wish yen Much Jy! The numerous friends of Colonel G. H. Mendell, here and throughout the North west, will be glad to learn that the mayor ot San Francisco, who, by the new char ter, has power to appoint all the com missioners without regard to polities, has Just appointed him chairman of the mest Important commission, that of public works, which has charge of water werks, electric lighting, streets. railways, wharves, sewers, municipal buildings and construction of every kind. Colonel Men doll was for many years division engineer ot river and harbor Improvements and all other government works on this eoaat. be tween British Columbia and Mexico. Tho great Columbia river Jetty, which has been of such vast benefit to Oregon, was one of the many beneficial works super vised by him. Since his retirement from the engineer corps of the United States army, four years ago, he has been en gaged as consulting engineer on many Im portant works, such as the water works of this city and of Los Angeles. Now, without seeking it. this very responsible appointment has been given him. This recognition of his integrity, ability and energy is very gratifying. a Women of Persia. Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Life is sad In Persia, especially tho woman's life. The law of Islam allows each man to have four wives, and as many concubines, and slave girls as his hand ean hold. His wives, also, he may divorce at will. Our word "bosh" Is the Turkish word by which a Moslem divorces his wife. It does not count if he says it only once or twice, but If said the third time tho woman must go, and there is no recourse. Down along the Caspian the men often marry their wives in the spring, so as to have the benefit of their labor In the rice fields, and divorce them In the fall so as to escapo supporting them during the winter. At Meshed, where the pilgrims come, Is a large population of temporary wives who are married to the pilgrims, far from home and families, for so long a time a3 the pilgrims remain at the shrine a day, or a month. The Mohammedan prfeats draw up the contracts for these temporary alliances. Lord Curzon, who has been there, says Meshed, though tho holiest city In Persia. Is the wickedest city in Asia. There are no words for wife and home in Persian. There are no homes and few wives. It is curious to hear a handsome woman say: "I have told my husband if he marries another wife I shall poison him, and I Intend to do It." Or to ask a woman about her homo life, and get the answer, "Love my husband? Oh, yes, I love him. I love him as much as a sieve holds water." Q8 The Defeat of the Strategist. S. E. KIser in Chicago Times-Herald. The strategist eat In hl3 easy chair,. And wrinkled his maseive brow: And the strategist wrote of the when anct the where. Likewise of the why and the how! He laid out the way and he picked eut the tpot, . He dealt with, the "ifs" and the "whys,'" And clearly set forth how the flght should bei fought In words that were pointed and Wise. The strategist laid out a ptan of campaign That left no escape for the foe: His cunning waa deep but hla language waa plain. Or, at least, he Intended It bo; And as he dispceed ot great armies ot men And parceled out states and was Elad. A lady slipped In and surprised him and then She spoke ot a "work" that she had. The strategist "hemmed and the strategist "hawed," " And he nervously squirmed In hie chair; s J Ha longed to get out and 50 roaming abroad;J But the lady had cornered him there. oarxifct And the strategist frowned and the strategist . blinked. 1 ,,1 But the woman was pretty and bland. r , ., jjf And when she departed his three dollarg.fhlnked, In the purse she hold la her hand, "