THE MORNING OREGONIAtt, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1900.
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PORTLAND, "WEDNESDAY, FED. 7
'
PRESIDENT 31'KINL.EY.
The republican state league takes
pride in the record of the McKlnley
administration, and well it may. The
mistakes of the president are so many
and so plain that he who runs may
read, but he has been the head of an
administration that will live as one
of the most noteworthy in American
annals, and in the main his course has
been correct and laudable. The presi
dent's lack of courage and decision as
a leader is measurably counterbal
anced by his almost miraculous dis
cernment in interpreting public opinion
as a follower. His most grievous of
fenses have sprung from an excess of
amiability. Kind and generous to a
tault, President McKinley has lacked
firmness to withstand appeals for un
w orlhy aspirants for office, and he hes
itated in the Philippines when he
ehould have gone boldly forward.
Many, perhaps most, of his mistakes he
lias faithfully sought to rectify, and a
2io small portion of his effort has been
expended in endeavors to atone for
blunders so execrable that, though
they may be forgiven, can never be
forgotten or condoned.
The political shrewdness which Presi
dent McKinley has manifested in a
degree truly wonderful has enabled
Llm to command most admirable selec
ting in his advisers. He has laid the
fcc-st brains of the country under trib
ute fur counsel and assistance. His
Paris commissioners and his Philippine
commissioners have attested their
"w orth in the high character of the work
they have left behind. The peace com
mission "was wise and firm enough to
compel the president himself to modify
bis original Instructions to take Manila
cn.y from Spain, so as to Include the
"vh!e Philippine archipelago, and the
Philippine commission has performed a
remarkable service that would have
t en impossible for any men except
Just such as went there, as Schurman
and Worcester did, opposed to "imperi
alism," but honest enough to see and
declare the truth as they found it
So with his cabinet. Every change
has strengthened it. Time has em
phatically approved the elimination of
Sherman, and Secretary Hay Is busy
adding one triumph of diplomacy to
amlher Secretary Gage has loyally
and efficiently served the cause of the
E.id standard and currency reform.
The change from Alger to Root was
lati but abundantly justified in its re
sults. Secretary "Wilson has done much
ir a practical way to advance the con
dili n and enlarge the markets of our
farmers, and Pension Commissioner
Etans has proved to be the right man
lr the right place. No better appoint
ments could be made than those of
Ru'us Choate at London, Andrew D.
White at Berlin, and Horace Porter at
Paris. We were as ably represented
as any power at The Hague. In the
var with Spain our best military conn
ed "was promptly availed of in Gen
eral Schofleld, our best naval authority,
Capta'n Mahan, was promptly ordered
borne from Rome, and the best
equipped working diplomatic student,
I'r fessor JB. Moore, was taken from
O umbia university, was put to work
. Washington and subsequently at
l'uis With all the handicaps of Al
E mm, our generate managed somehow
t aoid a single reverse, and if the
admirals are quarreling. It is never
i responsibility for defeat, but al-
" s for the honor of victories.
The quality of extreme mobility,
Y e display has humiliated us more
than once, has enabled the president
t i adapt himself with felicitous celer
1 ti every change in our national
si uatlon. With steadfast republican
lrvalty he berated Cleveland in 181 for
E diking down one of the sacred metals
cf the constitution, but today he will
freak as good a word as anybody for
the gold standard. He stood for years
1 the public mind as the Incarnation
tt only one idea high protection and
1 s speeches show that if he has such
t rings as convictions at all, he must
1 &n e orehlped protection as second
c in gacrednoos to deity itself. But
2 he is enabled to write his mes
sages to congress without reference to
I uxtion, and unreservedly asks con-
r to enact free trade with Puerto
Zi He seems to have unlearned
c mpietely ate old ideas about the
r nie market, and to have been taken
X session of by the wider conception
c the markets of the world. Through
r i amiability of temper, extreme sus
ceptibility of purpose and singular dis
cernment In taking counsel, President
McKinley has been enabled to steer his
course in the mala so correctly that
those Taho have opposed his general
I icies. as distinct from his weak
r esses and shortcomings, have been
ch.iged to put themselves in the most
oic red! table and impose! We situations.
or the necessity of the gold standard,
fd on our plain course of duty in the
Philippines, the mala points of contro-
erey between the administration and
1 e antagonists, the opposition has no
eiai ding whatever.
Tbe qualities that have made Mr.
M Kin ley far from an ideal but in the
i aii a successful president, are not
fit- highest qualities. They would not
f ii d comparison with those of Wash
r Jefferson or Lincoln. But they
ex-1 as; comparison with his chief op-
ponent for his place. If the Boy Ora
tor of the Platte, with his cross of gold
and crown of thorns, his "enemy's
country" and his 16-to-l idol, has any
qualifications whatever for the presi
dency, they have not yet made them
selves manifest.
MORTGAGE! TAXATION AGAIN.
A bill Is before the legislature of New
Tork for Imposition of a tax of one
half of 1 per cent on mortgages. It is
urged as a sort of compromise meas
ure, between the position of those who
want to levy the same tax on mort
gages that is levied on property In gen
eral, and those who maintain that a
tax on the mortgage Is merely a tax on
the borrower, and therefore should not
be levied at all, since. In the first
place, the lender cannot be reached by
any tax law, and second, that a debt is
good for nothing unless there Is prop
erty behind it, and if the property Is
there, then that already Is taxed and
It is all that should be taxed.
But the familiar plea Is heard now,
In New Tork, as it has so often been
heard In Oregon, that it Is not right
that the money-lender should escape
taxation. Let that be granted; yet the
statement remains an utterly barren
one. The lender never can be made to
pay the tax. He will make the bor
rower agree to pay it, or the borrower
will not get the money. Then if the
law shall declare that the lender, not
the borrower, must pay the tax, the
lender will advance the rate of interest
to cover the exaction. Terms are made
by those who have the money, not by
those who want it. The patent office
has long been waiting for an invention
that would relieve the borrower at the
expense of the lender.
The only possible consequences of a
mortgage-tax law are the confusion of
business relations, the imposition of
further burdens upon those who need
money, and an additional clog upon en
terprises that require the assistance of
borrowed capital. If deduction of debt
be allowed, further Inequalities of tax
ation follow. The deductions wipe out
valuations far in excess of the mort
gage assessment; the public revenues
suffer, and mortgage indebtedness is
manipulated in ways that throw un
equal burdens upon those who keep out
of debt. There is nothing practical or
rational in It, from any point of view.
Tet the singular fact Is that in spite
of all experience mortgage taxation Is
still advocated under the belief that
the lender can be made to pay the tax.
Though exploded so often by argument
and refuted everywhere by experience,
It persists as one of the strange delu
sions harbored in befogged minds. It
is, in fact, a question nowise debata
ble; for it is as certain that the bor
rower pays the tax on the mortgage as
that the buyer pays the tax on trade,
the depositor the tax on savings bank
deposits, and the borrower the tax on
bank discounts. The truth cannot be
masked in the least degree from the
man who opens his understanding to
simplest and plainest facts. Every
mortgage tax is a tax laid on the bor
rower of money, who Is compelled to
pay It directly by agreement with the
lender, or Indirectly by an obscure but
not less certain movement in the mar
ket for credit, diverting lendable capi
tal to other investments and putting up
the rate of Interest on mortgage loans
by diminishing the supply.
But the indignant inquiry Is, "Are
you going to let the man who owns and
lends money escape taxation?" He
escapes, without your permission. He
can shift the tax, and he will do it.
There is the property on which the
mortgage rests, already taxed. Tax
the mortgage, and in effect you make
the owner of that property pay two
taxes upon it, for he must pay the
mortgage tax also, either directly or In
directly; and if you allow deduction of
the debt, the door is open to extraordi
nary abuses. The state should leave
the affair between the borrower and
the lender alone. It is their contract
and solely their business. No effort to
tax Invisible and intangible property
can be effective. Such effort only con
fuses business relations, injures those
whom it Is meant to serve, and intro
duces disturbance and disorder into the
revenue system of the state.
"THE SAVING POWER OF OCR IN
STITUTIONS." As an offset to the figures furnished
by practical farmers, both of Eastern
Oregon and the Willamette valley,
showing that the expenses Incident to
putting a bushel of wheat upon the
market absorb, or very nearly so, the
profits of wheatraislng at current
prices, It is well to urge the absolute
independence of the out-of-debt farm
er's life as compared with that of the
artisan or small tradesman. The chief
points In this Independence are a
shelter, the right to which no landlord
can dispute; the comforts of a home
which household thrift and economy
can certainly secure; a table spread
with plenty In spite of prohibitive
prices In dairy and poultry products;
an abundance of fruit for home con
sumption, even in a year of scarcity;
wholesomeness of environment, based
upon ample space; an abundance of
fresh air and pure water, and an abil
ity to wear comfortable clothes, quite
as good as one's neighbors wear and
suitable to the vocation, even when
crops are short. In other words, the
income being restricted by short crops
or low prices, the individual and house
hold expenses can be restricted accord
ingly without trenching upon family
comfort or f amilypride a thing which,
as every one who has tried it, or who
has looked on observantly while oth
ers have tried it, knows to be impossi
ble to the wageworker when the labor
crop his dependence Is short.
Hezekiah Butterworth contributed
recently an article to the Review of Re
views on "The Future Value of the
New England Farm," In which he gives
as a reason for agricultural decay In
rugged districts once peopled by a
sturdy, free-handed. Independent peo
ple the simple word, "extravagance."
The ancestors of the farmers who first
mortgaged their farms and then al
lowed them to run down "knew well
the duty of simple living and were
proud of honesty, even if it kept them
poor," says Mr. Butterworth, adding:
"They lived before great fortunes
were made by legitimate robbery to
give oharitles to the paupers they
had made. Their conditions in life were
not hard. Their farms provided them
with almost everything. In their cel
lars were bins heaped with all kinds of
natural vegetables, barrels of beef and
pork, and many barrels of apples and
some of cider. Their cribs swelled with
corn, their meal chests were full of
meal ground at the mill. In the garrets
were looms, reels and hatchels, strings
of sausages, dried apples, peppers.
bunches of sage and herbs. The cheese
room was well stored, the cupboards
were solid with jars of preserves; the
eggs and poultry paid for the 'West
Injy goods; the butter and spring
calves paid the taxes." It is scarcely
necessary to add that these people
"worked, throve and were happy."
It is said that such conditions of life
are not possible today. It may be an
swered that they are possible, intensi
fied and Improved to meet the changed
conditions exemplified In the word
"progress." The simple basis of pros
perity and independence, then as now,
can be defined in obedience to the In
junction, "owe no man anything." A
revival of the hand loom and spinning-,
wheel is neither desirable, possible or
necessary. But the possibility of mak
ing the outlay for manufactured goods
conform to the income is still with us.
The cultivation of this spirit, together
with an intelligent determination to di
versify the products of the farm so that
anxiety concerning the price of wheat
will" not rob the farmer's life of the
serenity that is its due, are the ele
ments upon which agricultural inde
pendence rests.
Nowhere has nature contributed more
graciously to this end than in the Pa
cific Northwest. Neither climatic rig
ors nor unfruitful soil has here to be
contended against, and the narrow
market the despair of pioneer agricul
ture In Oregon is now wide and con
stantly widening. Figures showing
that It costs 42 cents a bushel to raise
wheat in one section of the state and 35
cents in another, present a condition
which wise farmers will seek to im
prove not by joining in the political
outcry of demagogues against trans
portation corporations, capital, the gold
standard and what not, and by seeking
relief in debased currency, but by look
ing carefully to the details of their vo
cation, the most ancient and honorable
in the history of civilized mankind, and
turning its many opportunities afforded
by a widening market to their advan
tage. The study of the soil and how to
make it yield its resources to the best
advantage promises returns that will,
if intelligently pursued and practically
applied, restore to the farmer the Inde
penQencehat was his heritage from his
New England forefathers. As Mr. But
terworth says, if you have a farm, keep
it; if not, get one, for the time may
come when this country will be largely
divided into monopolists, dependents
and farmers, and the farmer will be
the most Independent of all men, and
the saving power of our institutions.
There can be little doubt that the re
lief from the perplexing problems of
time is a simple, honest, faith-sustaining
life on the soil. There is promise
in the attentive bent of the agricultural
population as witnessed in farmers' in
stitutes and congresses, fruitgrowers'
conventions and government experi
ment stations, that this relief is being
systematically, intelligently and per
sistently sought.
"THE WINTER'S TALE.'.
"The Winter's Tale" keeps the stage
not because of its general merit, but
because it includes two of Shakes
peare's most lovely women, Hermlone,
the wronged wife, and her charming
daughter, Perdlta. Every one of
Shakespeare's women talks a different
note, and her note, with true artistic
sense, is subordinated to her environ
ment. Leontes is a kind of jealous man
that always inspires disgust, not sym
pathy, because he is a thoroughly stu
pid, sullen fellow. Othello excites
sympathy because he has been imposed
upon by a most subtle villain, a man
of positive genius for duplicity, for the
villainy of Iago is suspected by nobody
but his wife. He Is "honest" Iago not
only to Othello, but to Cassio, Roder
igo, and all his comrades. Othello is
duped by a man of Satanic craft, who
cozens everybody, so that when Othello
in his dying speech asks that he should
be spoken of as "one not easily jeal
ous, but being wrought perplexed in
the extreme," he asked but justice, but
Leontes is naturally a sullen, stupid,
harsh, exacting man, who had no rea
sonable excuse for his jealousy. Leon
tes is a thoroughly mean man nat
urally, utterly unworthy the noble
woman he repudiates without reason,
and whose child he stigmatizes as ille
gitimate and dooms to death by expos
ure. So utterly repulsive Is Leontes in
his commonplace, mean, unjust, cause
less jealousy, that he is a figure of no
dramatic power, like Othello; he is a
creature capable of intense bitterness,
and heartless cruelty, but is utterly
without the generous passion that
makes Othello's lips, even in his wildest
moments, a bubbling spring of com
manding eloquence.
In the dire calamity that befalls
Othello we sympathize with him, for
we know him to be a good and noble
minded man gone wrong; but we de
spise Leontes as a cold-blooded, petty
minded cur. who put away his wife
and disowned his daughter without ex
tenuation or excuse for his injustice.
"The Winter's Tale," but for the ma
ture beauty and noble temper of Her
mlone and the charming vivacity and
delicate 'grace of Perdlta, could not
hope to keep the stage. Hermlone suf
fers the same wrongs that the lovely
Imogen does in "Cymbeline" at the
hands' of her husband, who Is a better
man with more excuse for his jealousy
than had Leontes, but Hermlone is a
much older woman than Imogen or
Desdemona or Hero, and bears her
cross with a superior dignity and calm
ness befitting her years, making her
next of kin in quality to Katherine of
Arragon when she nobly pleads against
unjust divorce. The versatility of
Shakespeare was never so wonderfully
shown as In his capacity to 'make all
these women suffer the same calamity,
and all meet it nobly, and no two of
them talk or act in the same way.
Imogen and Hero bear some superficial
resemblance in age and quality to Des
demona, and yet how different they all
are in temperament; and how differ
ently they all meet the same worst mis
fortune that can befall a good woman
who continues to love a grossly jealous
husband.
Tou cannot conceive of a fine woman
of the type of Olivia in "Twelfth
Night," or Cordelia in "Lear," or Be
atrice in "Much Ado About Nothing,"
or Rosalind or Juliet, enduring pa
tiently what Hermlone, Hero or Imo
gen endured. Ophelia might have en
dured It at Hamlet's hands, and possi
bly even so grand a woman as Isa
bella in "Measure for Measure" might
have patiently played the part of Her
mlone, for the sake of an unjust hus
band she loved; Miranda might have
done it for Ferdinand, and Viola for
the duke, but we suspect Perdlta
could not have played her mother's
part in her mother's place. The most
i eloquent eulogy ever spoken of a
woman is spoken of Hermlone in the
famous lines:
Women will love her, that Bhe la more worth.
Than any man; men that she Is
The rarest of all women.
Beatrice, Viola and Olivia stand for
three very different types among
Shakespeare's women; all charming in
their distinctive quality, and yet there
is another type of women more charm
ing still found in Perdlta, who is to
"The Winter's Tale" what Rosalind Is
to "As Tou Like It," a charming shape,
that most winning of all women, a
woman spontaneously, irrepresslbly
mirthful, witty, vivacious and withal
sweet, modest, affectionate, tender,
courageous and true.
There have been many great writers
among men who have been able to de
lineate correctly a bad woman and a
heroic man; there have been many
great writers among women who have
been able to delineate a noble-spirited,
fine woman, but only the great English
writer whose brain was ambidextrous,
who could draw a bad woman or a
noble woman, a bad man or a. noble
man, with equal facility and accuracy,
was Shakespeare. Byron, Dickens or
Thackeray can paint bad women,
but when they try to paint good
women we always get a wooden figure.
Even Walter Scott painted but one
great woman, Rebecca the Jewess, and
even the artists of the Greek drama
fall when they attempt to picture a
noble, natural woman. The only ex
ception is the picture of Nausicaa in
the Odyssey, who is drawn in as fine
womanly lines as Rosalind or Perdlta.
Senator Caffery is one of the few men
in public life whose utterances always
command respect, however mistaken
his views appear in the light of facts.
He is a man of convictions, and fear
less in their advocacy. In the politics
of all time there have been few more
Impressive episodes than the response
given by him to the demands of his
state that he vote for protection to its
sugar interests, that he believed pro
tection wrong and could not violate his
conscience by voting -f or it, though it
cost him his seat in the senate. His
position puts to shame the equivocation
of Lindsay of Kentucky, and goes back
for its counterpart to Burke's address
to his Bristol constituents. It resem
bled somewhat the celebrated refusal
of Senator Dolph to obey the silver
platform of Oregon republicans. Sena
tor Caffery is wrong on expansion and
wrong on the Nicaragua canal. But,
what Is of vastly more consequence, he
has moral convictions and is true to
them. It is to be feared Mr. Caffery
is too good a man to be kept in the
senate of the United States.
It is a matter of real regret that the
desire of the people of Oregon to re
ceive and Inter within the limits of the
state the bodies of the soldiers of the
Second Oregon who fell in the Philip
pines is so difficult and apparently so
Impossible of achievement. If these
bodies were not to be returned to the
state that sent them out, there was no
special reason for returning them. It
is hard for a people accustomed for
long years to the ways of peace to un
derstand and accept the arbitrary rul
ings of military management In mat
ters that touch their personal feelings
and interests. Hence no stone will be
left unturned to compass this, the nat
ural desire of the citizens of the state,
to secure the return for sepulture of
the bodies of their soldier boys. "As
well have allowed them to remain In
Manila," says Colonel Summers, and
this sentiment finds echo in the heart
of every loyal Oregonian.
Mr. Watterson's statement about af
fairs in Kentucky was not a complete
one. It Ignored the real cause and
whole gist of the controversy, namely,
that the democrats, having obtained a
majority in the legislature, proceeded
to oust the republican state officials
who had been elected, and to put the
defeated democratic candidates in their
places. For this purpose the Goebel
law was made. It has been clear from
the first that there was no remedy for
this outrage, short of revolution, and
this was not practicable. After this,
every election in Kentucky must be
merely a farce, for opposition to the
party in power can avail nothing. Tet
in many Jocallties continual bloodshed
may be expected; for there are many
men in Kentucky who will fight, even
If they know they fight hopelessly.
The disarmament Idea has evidently
not spread to Sweden. The new budget
calls for nearly 150,000,000 kroner (about
$40,000,000), with whch King Oscar pro
poses to purchase forty-six new batter
ies of artillery, 100,000 rifles and cart
ridges to correspond. In contrast to
this expenditure for war is an item of
20,000,000 kroner for railways, these be
ing under government control in Swe
den. Such an expensive armament
looks like supreme folly, since the state
cannot hope to contend with its power
ful neighbors in the game of war. It is
no doubt intended, however, as prep
aration for the conflict which threatens
Norway with her twin sister of the
dual kingdom.
The country barely escaped the con
sequences of a strike on the Great
Northern railway. We have only to
recall the serious Inconvenience and
great loss to which the public was sub
jected by the great railroad strike of
1894 to realize the full value of the
fourteen negative votes by which the
threatened strike was prevented. It
may be hoped that the terms upon
which the differences between the rail
road company and its employes were
settled are those of fairness, since only
upon this basis can anything like a
permanent settlement between these
elements, each of which is necessary to
the activities of the other, be made.
The new president of the Republican
State League, like his immediate pre
decessor, is a man of affairs, and was
a gold-standard man In days when
sound money needed every possible
support in Oregon. The defeated can
didate is likewise a man of standing,
and would have received a heavier vote
had not the idea gotten abroad that he
was the representative of Senator Mc
Brlde's Interests
Thomas B. Reed has rendered his
country many eminent services, but
perhaps none so great as getting out of
the way for the passage of the Nica
ragua canal bill. It begins to look as
if a bill might get through the pres
ent congress authorizing the construc
tion of this long-delayed important en
terprise. It is not necessary to read an alliance
into the Hay-Pauncefote treaty in or-
1 der to gnaw pnn r-prmq ta F,ti gland,
The semi-official declaration that Great
Britain gets absolutely no quid pro quo
is a palpable untruth. The concession
is in the neutralization of the treaty
and the application of "the open door"
to the canal. Maybe we shall want to
do this very thing; but congress will
not agree to it in a hurry. Mr. Hay
has too heavily discounted future de
velopment of public opinion.
Advance agreements as to the status
of the Nicaragua canal in time of war
are not worth fighting about. The ca
nal in war will, be for" those who can
hold It. That Is why we shall need for
tifications. Taylor was elected. Otherwise, the
argument seems with the Goebelltes.
NOTE AND C03IMENT.
They seem to have burled the six-shooter
in Kentucky.
It takes a very, very old friend to shake
hands like a politician.
Sometimes a knot at politicians covers
more ground than a league of clubs.
A French judge has decided that French
poets are mad. aa they undoubtedly are-
This has been such a mild winter that
even the sun has spent most of his time
In Oregon.
This senatorial contest bids fair to re
duce the number of reputations In Mon
tana to the lowest terms.
For the wholesouled brand of patriotism,
the Republican Editorial Association is
the next thing to an Afro-American league.
Full many a stranger has arrived
"Within the cityo gates.
And some are holding' office sow
And some are candidates.
If Senator Peffer does not succeed in
getting promised any job in Kansas, his
whiskers will bo a strong recommenda
tion for a commission as a Boer general.
Xilvea there the man
"Who wields a rhyming' pen
"Who has not Bald
That Culler and his men
Marched up a hill
And then marched down agalnf
Hush thee, my baby, though trusts would undo
thee,.
By hoisting the price of thy cab out of sight:
Don't lift up thy voice when these monatera
pursue thee;
Just wait a few months and 'twill turn out
all right.
For daddy has purchased to plant of the Ice
man,
A red-painted cart and some tonga built of
steel.
So walUtlll next autumn and he'll be a nlca
man,
And baby will ride In an automobile.
The prize-ring Is vigorously denounced
by the pulpit, yet It furnishes it with force
ful phraseology, as the following, from
one or the sermons of J. Q. A. Henry, of
Chicago, will show: "There is a finish fight
between the church and the saloon." Mr.
Henry might have added that the church,
thus far, is doing most of the rushing,
the saloon contenting Itself with an occa
sional counter, and an uppercut now and
then. He undoubtedly was reaching for
the wind with that sermon, and the
chances are he landed. But though the
hairs of one's head are numbered, the
rounds in this great mill are not, and
probably will never be as long as whisky
Is distilled and pews rented. Mr. Henry
is known In Portland, where he filled the
pulpit of the First Baptist church for a
time. There is a strong belief here that
his first three names are John, Quincy and
Adams.
The open season for tops has arrived
some time ahead of schedule, owing to the
absence of winter. Marbles will soon be
here, and will be followed by kites, If
March winds Justify the trouble of build
ing the paper-flyers. Just what has regu
lated the seasons for these important
amusements is not clear, but they follow
one another as regularly as the days of
the week. And It is so all over the coun
try. No one ever sees marbles in top time,
nor tops in kite time. Kites, of course,
depend to some extent on the wind, but
they are seldom borne on the strong wings
of the November gales, and only In March
are they the thing. Law regulates the
time for killing game, necessity the sea
son for enjoying the fruits of the earth,
weather and Paris the time and style of
dres3, but who shall eay by what unseen
hand is guided the destiny of these boyish
pastimes?
The Bostonlans have gone, and Helen
Bertram did not sing, "My Home Is Where
the Heather Blooms," the gem of "Rob
Roy," and "Rob Roy" Is a gem among
operas. Mr. Warde left us without play
ing "Belphegor," and Mr. James will be
here almost a week with all those mar
velous scenes he has created as the jester
in "Francesca" unacted. These pictures
in memory are, perhaps, the greatest bless
ing the stage has for us. Long years after
their seal was first set, its impress Is
fresh and clear. We wish sometimes It
could be renewed, and, perhaps, for Bome
of them, the original pleasure might be
repeated. Others can have no renewing
except In memory. Booth's "Hamlet,"
Barrett's "Lanclotto," Emma Abbott's
"Arllne,"the drolleries of "OldHoss" Hoey,
the singing dolls of Harry Kennedy these
are treasures of which the stage has been
forever despoiled. Tet other delights are
just as irrevocable, for the play, like the
great oration, Is partly in the audience.
To be thrilled with Minnie Maddern's
"Blue Alsatian Mountains." and to- stir
with sympathy for Armand In his Infatu
ation for Modjeska's "Camllle" could hap
pen In one's 20th year, but not again for
graybeards who have grown, along with
the actor of that time, no longer young.
Pictures of glorious nights let them hang
undisturbed on the walls of memory! They
cannot be made over, they shall not be
replaced by any new. There are no plays
like the old plays, no actors like the old
actors for the old-timers. But 20 years
from now your blase first-nighter will sigh
heavily, Just as we do now, when he
recalls Beatrice Cameron In "The Ser
enade," and Frank Campau as "Tom
Driscoll."
o
Sir. Edmunds' Memorial.
New Tork Sun.
The Philadelphia American League, a
graft of the Antl-Imperlallstlc League, has
sent to each member of congress a memo
rial asking that the fugacious Washing
tons and Hampdens of the Tagals be as
sured by law of the Intention of the
United States to help them set up a free
and independent government in the Phil
ippines. The memorial Is said to have
been written by the Hon. George F. Ed
munds, who showa the demoralizing influ
ence of anti-expansion by splitting his in
finitives. An extract:
We respectfully submit that It is due to tha
ever-living principles of our government' that
an effort be mada to Immediately terminate
the great destruction of human lives, both of
our own gallant soldiers and sailors and of the
people of the Philippines, and also terminate
the great drain of the money of our people, of
prolonged and Indefinite duration under existing
conditions, if this can be done by conceding to
the people of the Islands ouch a system of self
government and Independence as they shall
prove capable of maintaining and by assisting
and protecting them in the same.
As to which we respectfully submit:
I. The war In the Philippines Is about
won.
H. It would have been ended before had
not the rebels been encouraged by the an-tl-Imperiallsts,
who are still feeding them
with false hopes and misrepresenting the
will of the United States with regard to
them.
IH. Congress can be depended upon to
provide for the Inhabitants of the Phlllp-
J pjn-&t.ihs. pxonsr time, such, a system of
self-government as they shall he capable
of maintaining and as will best serve thea
and the rest of the United States.
We respectfully submit, also, that a man
like Mr. Edmunds might employ hie time
to better advantage than ia encoaragteg
rebels against the United States.
4 a '
DEMAND FOR FREES TRADE.
Republican Josrnnl Stands Loyally
by President McKlnley.
Chicago Times-Herald.
The senate committee which has the
Puerto Rico bill in charge has decided to
report favorably on the provision for a
reciprocal tariff of 26 per cent between
the island and the mainland. This It has
done despite the protests of the Puerts
Rlcans, who desire free trade, and It is
Intimated that its policy will have the
support of congress.
In their attempt to thus commit the
country the politicians have been influ
enced, It is said, by the tobeceo-growers
of Connecticut, the cane-sugar-growers of
Louisiana, and the American Beet Sugar
Growers' Association. Some comparisons
which are suggested by the interests that
are Involved follow.
Puerto Rico contains but 348S square
miles. The imports which have exceeded
the exports include coal, iron, meat and
vegetable produce and manufactured to
bacco. The exports, according to the lat
est complete returns at hand (189S) were:
"7 sugar)
d,iti,oax, UU11CJT, (UI,I1Q.
Coffee, which is not produced in the
States, has no effect upon the tariff ques
tion, and honey has not been represented
in the lobby, so that wo shall confine the
comparison to tobacco and sugar alone.
The year that Puerto Rico's tobacco ex
ports amounted to $$46,556 our crop of
that article was valued at $35,574,220. The
same year, when the Puerto Rico sugar
output was 54,861 tons, the cane sugar
grown In our Southern states was about
five times as much in quantity. At that
time the production of beet sugar here
was small, but it Is increasing rapidly.
In 1803 It amounted to nearly half the
Puerto Rico output of cane in 1886.
What, then. Is the reason for the exces
give fear of the small island? Manifestly
the free import of lt3 tobacco and sugar
would hardly affeot our producers, and
having our other new possessions in mind
there Is little danger from the establish
ment of a precedent, unless it Is proposed
to knock out the Hawaiian territorial bill
as It now stands. Though the Philippines
produce nearly as much sugar as our cane
sugar states, they export comparatively
little of It to this country, and their total
tobacco crop In 1804 was valued at only
$1,750,000. Moreover, a large part of the
crop is always consumed on the Islands.
It would look, therefore, as though we
were engaged In a picayune business when
we deny Puerto Rico free trade.
The Poor.
J. Sterling Morton's Conservative.
The Conservative, by request, publishes
the address of the supreme council of the
American equal wage union. "The poor
are neglected or considered only inci
dentally," salth-the address. But pov
erty and wealth are relative terms.
Who is a poor man?
Who Is a rich man?
Preachers and politicians denounce the
rich In one breath and in the next ask
them to give to the poor. The rich, from
the press and pulpit, are pounded for
their wickedness every week. The poor
are praised for being poor and congrat
ulated upon their Increased chances of
getting Into heaven easily, while the rich
man is assured that a camel stands a
better chance of trotting through the
eye of a needle than a rich man has of
entering the kingdom.
But the rich seem to enjoy being abused
and to give all the more generously after
a sound drubbing from the pulpit or a
roast from the press. If all were poor
and there were no accumulated riches
in the country, how would taxes be gath
ered; how would government be sus
tained; how would hospitals, free col
leges, homes for the indigent, aged and
the Incurably diseased be established
and maintained?
The poorest "are the proper and legiti
mate objects of our first concern," salth
the circular again. Whose concern? Who
are the "poorest"?
a
England's Necessity.
Philadelphia Times.
England has now no choice but to sur
render South Africa to the Boers or make
South Africa an English colony. None
who have studied the English character
can for a moment doubt what choice Eng
land will make, and when her choice is
made, she has the power to carry it to Its
consummation.
The Boer war now promises to be a
long struggle, and none can hope for Its
termination for a year, and it is possible
it may last for several years. England
la equal to all the exactions that this war
shall make upon her, and this country
will profit by the conflict just In propor
tion as the war shall be Increased in mag
nitude. e
Anxious to Please.
Harlem Life.
"Pat, I thought I hired you to carry
bricks up that ladder by the day."
"Te did, sor."
"Well, I've been watahlng you, and
you've only done It a half a day today,
the other half you spent coming down the
ladder."
"Ol'll thry to be doln' bether tomorry,
sor."
oi
A Hlerh-Toned Affair.
Judge.
Mr. Hlghcollar Mrs. Cash just told ma
that our church entertainment is to be a
very high-toned affair. No tickets will be
sold.
Mr. Shlrtfront No tickets sold? How do
you expect to make any money?
Mr. Hlghcollar We shall allow patrons
to purchase cards of admission.
' a
As One Sees It.
Philadelphia Record.
Tommy Pop, what is vulgar ostenta
tion? Tommy's Father Vulgar ostentation,
my son. Is the display made by people who
have more money to do It with than we
have ourselves. 4
o
Change of Plan.
Chlcaso Record.
"The Folderols have recalled their re
ception Invitations."
"Anybody sick?"
"No; Mrs. Folderol changed her mind
and concluded she would rather have the
house painted."
a
Brave Ilnller of Britannia.
(Kipling's "Bobs".)
Brave Buller of Britannia
Had fully thirty thousand men:
He marched them up oa Spkmkep,
And marched them down again;
He crossed the big Tugeta.
And at dark he crossed again.
Brave Buller of Britannia
And his thirty thousand men.
Brave Buller of Britannia
Has en train four thousand earta
And Studebaker wagaoe
Filled with bagpipes, cheese and charts;
With strategy he moves this train
Wherever he can get.
But Brave Buller of Britannia
Is strategizing yet.
Brave Buller of Britannia
Is deep In Afrte mud:
He' studying tha topagraphy
Across Tugela's flood:
With thiry thousand Britishers
Again he will attack.
Brave Buller of Britannia
Wires, There'H be bo turning back."
Brave Buller of Britannia
This message daily seat
To Chamberlain and Woteeley
And te his parliament:
"Tbe troors behaved most splendidly;
The Boers' loss, severe;
We retired In perfect order.
Fnrta your own, Sir Redevere
, 3IC2ia&OB.
GOSSIP OF THB NATIONAL CAHT&L
WAEINGT05f. Pes, 8. The hlmotaHia
amendment reported fey the naawee esm
mfttee teeay Is for tbe pnraaao emu
lating tbe republicans whe rename with,
the party, but who a8! represent free
silver states. It is a aonseooloa wMeh.
when adopted, as It will he. will enable,
these men to vote for the Mil seen tha
ground that it hoMs ewt a MmalaMla
pledge to them. It m new welt under
stood that the flnaneml Wll will he prac
tically made In conference between tbe
two bouse, and that the bill whisk the
senate finance committee reported vM be
amended very materially before It la
finally adopted. There aaamo to be ne
doubt that this Wnwtalnc amaadwoDt re
ported today will be enmtaated from the
measure m conference. Some TepwMteans
say, however, that it means nothing, ami
will remain practically moperattvs, trie,
same as the little rider that was pat neon,
the repeal of the sitver-pwrcaaee mw.
This little amendment also pleased the
government to bimetallam, and many gold
men voted for It with the naderatamitng
that it was a sop. as tbe btmetaWo
amendment reported today seems te be.
Republicans think that this amassment
may save WoJcott, Carter, and Bwous m
Colorado, Montana and Idaho, and as K
means nothing. It may be amended.
Canal Bill's Prespeets.
Representative Hspbnrn, who Is seeh
ing the Nicaragua canal Mil in the heuee,
says that he has no devbt that It wilt
pees at an early date, though he bas
net yet received the guarantee from the
speaker or the committee oa rales that
the Mil shall have conaWecatton, The
Puerto Rico Mtl and the Philippine and
perhaps the Hawaiian Mil may be passed
in ahead of the Nicaragua canal Mil hi
the senate. A close canvase of the sen
ate shews that there Is not now more
than eight or ten members who are op
posing the canal Mil, and if the friends of
the measure make a fight they can get
this Mil la ahead of even the Puerto
Rico or other Mtts for the government of
the various Islands.
Serieas Blow te Clarlc.
The decision of the committee oa privi
leges and elections, refusing to admit tes
timony tending to impeach the testimony
of Whiteside, Is a serious Mow to Clark
and his ease. Wh!teide Is the main wit
ness for the prosecution. It Is upon his
testimony that the case against Clark:
rests. If his testimony or his character
is not impeached, the case against Clark
will have a standing such as to give the
sitting member much concern. The decis
ion arrived at today would mdteate that
the committee believes Whiteside.
For Sale of Umatilla Lands.
Representative Moody today Introduced
Mils s'mtlar to those recently Introduced
by Senator Simon, providing lor the sale
of the unsold portion of the Umatilla In
dian reservation, and confirming the title
of mixedt-blood Indians to all entries or
allotments of land m severalty heretofore
made.
Naval Cadet Jehas ten's Standing.
As a result of the semiannual examina
tion held at the Annapolis naval academy,
Huntington Johnston, of Oregon, came
out In the 31th plaee. which Is his stand
ing among the graduates of this year.
Bills by Shonp.
Senator Shoup today Introduced a bill
appropriating $lM0O for staking artesian
wells in various sections of Idaho for the
purpose of ascertaining if there is a suf
ficient pressure of water under ground to
Irrigate successfully needy sections of the
state.
Senator Shoup offered amendments to
the Indian appropriation bill paying an
agent at the Nez Farces agency $M09 per
annum, raising the pay of the physician,
there from MN to $, and extending
to July 1. nm, the time In whmh set
tlers who purchased and settled en ceded,
Indian reservations may make payments.
Mining: iMxrtt for Nome.
The pubnc lands eommltee of the house,
which is giving Its entire attention just
now to Alaska, Is much In doubt as to
which way to move. So far, the testi
mony before the committee has been di
verse on most questions, especially with
regard to the Cape Nome country. As
heretofore stated, the Lacey bill will be
defeated, and the scheme that now meets
with the greatest favor is to extend to
Alaska the placer mining laws of the
United States, which are practically in
force at this time. There Is much uncer
tainty, however, as to whether or not to
reserve a St-foot roadway along the beach
and exclude miners from this. It Is point
ed out that at Nome this beach 1s very
rich, and to prevent Its being rained would
work a hardship oa many miners. At the
same time, the proposition to preserve this
roadway, but first allow It to be mined,
provided this Is done in a seasonable
time, meets with much favor, and this
plan will likely be amended. Hearings
will coottmte for some weeks befere a
satisfactory Mil is finally framed.
D "
Mr. Bryan's Cenfessloa.
Neetaotat Stele JrMl
I aa the greatest aa ea ear.
My greataaas to m three perte.
GaH, gall. gall.
1 sever read.
2 HCVQZ JmwmrKa
I aever men te adv.
I just say a bg la so.
And thea it is.
My greaes te asyriM.
It seems to be a sttparsatsral gift.
Tou canaet aaaJyae K- A ,
It's nke the wM wMeh It Is ereatedV-
It comes whan It dara pleases.
Tou bear the sewad ef K,
Bt you cannot ten
Where It cornea ftem.
Nor where It gees te,
Nor where lf at.
Waehtngtoa?
He was all right
For these early tmtes.
Bat he cowldB't make a speeeh.
OraiW.7
Grant made seme ggedmeves war.
But Grant was a ettsnt mas.
And what's a attest maaf
Webster?
Tes, Webster was an orator. .,,..
Bat he made only ave or stx speeefees te ms
whole IMetlme.
I've made nw thousand ha ave years.
What do yea tmwt of Mwt7
Tes. Ltaeem did very wen aa a starter:
Be was a sort of John the Seettst
Of BM.
He made ene Mttle wfc at SetKjwbsrg mat
was very good.
Uaeota was Mfc me la ae respeet
The eouMBon peopla loved Mm.
That is, yoa understand
They U sot dote oa mm
Aa they o .
Bet they liked hhn Ufclr wem,
I've Helped h iepuaniw Nt
I print his peatare side by sMe
Wtthmtne'
Oast Mt for XJnesml
When may see Ms ilsnira they eaeai
When they see mm
They yen.
When they seams
The roafsaes C
Teas Joftarooa was stever wh, Ms pen.
He wmte the Beemratma at maoDosdencs.
That is the gieamsl pea pmiwetioii,
Saeaet my "Flint BaStfe.-
Washmgton. Webster, mrant, Jefferses aid
XJaesia
Were alt geed mas,
Thry had m read and dig hr mats,
Asdtbtok.
I Just swett we with hitulMsa,
Thea eeea vtf mouth and let er Teffl
3feMhr af these seals ran Mr presMest
Tflr'WmmHiC & AOffHlMWlQB
I Jeet ran on my awn heek.
Neither ef these esuM make mere man
One great speeeh m leer yean.
I tan make forty ta mar hours.
Wasblagma worked without pay.
I gat gate rem tpta In every town.
Bat
What's the see?
gverybsdy watwihn
There's only esc great mas, $
Just one.
. And that's me.