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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1900)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN," FRIDAY, " FEBRUARY 9, 1900. 5 NO HELP TO THE FARMER J. J. HXXjX OPFG9BS HAAXA-PAY.B SUBSIDY BILL. Address 1b. "WMek He Said Fassagre of the Bill Waul Be & National Soaadal. J. J. IBM. reeently spke before the State AgfteMltwral Society of Hlmteeeta on TBrge4 Markets. &e 'was particu larly ektspekea in Ms eppesttJon to the HatuML-P&yne subsidy MU, saw pending la congress for tbe second tine. Hie ad dress In full was as fottews: Tbe question of & market is next In Importance to the question of raising tbe commodities we have to sell. Our coun v try has been for Ml years essentially an agricultural country. Fully one-half of the property, of the capital invested in property, in the entire country Is invested in agricultural property or pursuits. About one-half of Ihe population of the oountry te following; directly or indirectly, the cultivation of the sett. We have ex tended our Holds, extended the areas from which are raised our agricultural products, until we have practically created a sup ply that for a large portion of the time Is in excess of the demand. In the Northwest our priaolpal crop Is iiheat. It has been wheat as far baok as I eaa recall the first farming In the state. I don't know any reason why the farmers of Minnesota may not go on Indefinitely raising wheat. They are now paying more attention to dairying and to live stock, and I think they are reaping the benefit. The benefit from dairying Is not alone in the product of the dairy. The farmer gets back in the added fer tility of the soil an equivalent of fully one-third of all the fodder consumed by the animals fed. The population of this country doubles about every M years. An examination of the ceneue resorts snows this to be true, and there k no reason to expect that this rate of growth will not continue. If this is the fact, in HM we will have a popula tion of from XM,(O,6O0 to 1,09.WQ. They must all be occupied. They can't be like Artemue Ward's regiment atl brigadier generate. Somebody must always work and always will work. If the population continues to increase in the ratio indi cated, where are we to put them all, and what are they to do? 'World's Wheat Consumption. The world consumes 2,309,903,009 bush els of wheat per annum. In 1H7 the fig urea gave a total of about 2,288,009,000, a shortage of about 7MM.M9 bushels from the total ordinarily estimated as the re quired amount to feed the wheat-eating peoples of the earth. The wheat-eating peoples of the world are about one-third of the total population, and they eat an average of a barrel of Hour In a year. In this country we eat about Ave and one half buehete per capita. Ia England It is -about four and one-half bushels; In Franae and Germany it is lew. Now, K .you will recall prior to 1867, many will remember that the price of wheat was very low, but that shortage of 7f,ee,e0 In the entire world advanced the price from 15 to St cents per busheL It is moat extraordinary to me that so small an actual shortage should, be fol lowed by an advance on the entire prod uct amounting to many times the value of the number of bushels of the shortage during that year. Our grain, and In fact our agricultural products generally .including meat In Us various forme our cheese, I am sorry to say. hardly does us credit but our meat and our grain And a market in Europe, fttxty to It 3r efjtt of our entire sales abroad goes to Ores Britain. Great Britain produces enough wheat to furnish Its own people bread for only 12 weeks out of the EL In Germany we are not quite so welcome. The agricultural rep resentatives In the different parliamentary gatherings Jegkuate against us. They find some excuse to keep our meat, or our butter, or our lard, or our grain from their markets. France also discriminates against us. The reason is that so large a portion of the French population Is on the land cultivates the soil that the French politician is anxious to take care of that Interest. The Porgretten Farmer. Our oountry is expanding in population. What hee been done to expand our mar kets? What Intelligent work has been done since the Civil war and that Is as far back as most of ue remember or need to go to add to our foreign mar ket? I have given tbe subject some at tention and I am free to say that I have failed to nod a single Intelligent sentence written or apoken by any one, in an en deavor to Improve oar market for agri cultural products. We have fostered many interests and have said that we must pre serve our home market. Now our ex ports of Iron and steel during the past year have amounted to J75,Wfl,0&8, a little more than one-half the value of our wheat, but a small .portion of our entire agricul tural product. The cheapest steel produced in Great Britain is probably the steet of the Mkl fUesborough district. A year ago, before the recent advances, It cost them about & 76 to produce a ton of Bessemer pig. In this country, taking the cheaply mined, cheaply handled Lake Superior ores of highest quality at the point where it is assembled with the West Virginia o Pennsylvania coke, the cost of as good a quality of Bessemer pig is about ?2 5 a ton less than in Great Britain. So that we are able to furnish them with pic and billets and to an extent with rails and plates and other manufactured steel. We are also gnipptag It to Italy and Austria and Germany. We can furnish the peo ples of those countries with these prod ucts for less than they can produce It themselves. With our great growth of population we must consider how the people must be employed so that they may be intelli gent, prosperous and happy. The foun dation of the oountry, of all Its material good depends more upon the agricultur al class than upon all the others combined. The intelligence and patriotism of the country certainly lies to as large an extent if not larger with the people on the farms as with all others combined. The nation has found whenever this has been tested, whenever help was wanted to sus tain the flag, that K has come from the fields, and. I see no reason why It should not always come from the fields. Rivals la the Field. If we are to continue turning out prod ucts we must And markets. As I have al ready said, we sell M or ! per cent of the total to one country. If for any reason that oountry was not able to buyfrera us our people would very quickly realize the real situation they are in. Take the Ar gentine Republic, for example. Argen tina at times has been a sort of bug bear. The Argentina wheat has broken down the price of the American crop m Europe. Australia has done the same thing occasionally. India was considered a few years ago our great competitor. But India is Just as likely to have a shortage and famine as to have a surplus. For a few years the Argentina crop has been a light one. This month they are harvesting a crop variously estimated at from 6t.0.Mt to n,ttt,M bushels. Australia was a customer of ours to a limited extent last year. This year she will have from 7.Mv to 10.00(1,003 bushels to sett. Under these conditions we may find ourselves as we did In the latter part of 18M and In MW against a low price of wheat, so low that It will not be profit able to cultivate it. And when this is so this section suffers because so many people are Interested la the sett and 4a this one crop. Where an we sell our crop' In Europe, France or Italy, or Austria, or Germany we are met with hostile legislation We are not welcome to take our wheat to Russia would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. They have a surplus to sell. If one-third of the people of the world only are wheat-eaters and the other two thirds live on rice or maize or rye, we must find our markets with people who are not now consumers of our crop. We must have more people to consume the stuff we produce. It is not an experi ment. I believe that wherever wheaten flour has been introduced to any race, with the single exception of the blaqk race, they are from that time on ready to consume it. Take our own American Indians. Once they ahve had it, the Indi ans want flour more than anything else, and will go further to get It except pos sibly "firewater. The Asiatic rice-eaters are as fond of flour as the white race, and as ready to eat it If they can get it at a fair price. "Wasres and Freights. The question may arise, how can people who work for wages of from 10 to 15 cents a day and have lived for centuries on Just such wages how can they buy flour which must be carried across the Pacific ocean? If they did buy flour, instead of 4 bushels ier capita at the rate of one bushel per capita, we in this country would have to go to eating corn pone. We 6lmply couldn't sell it to them. Sup pose we could let them have 150,000,000 bushels, which Is a very large surplus the average for 10 years has been about 97,000,000 bushels. If we could sell them one bushel per capita, it would take 450, 000,000 to supply China and Japan alone, to say nothing of Straits Settlements and other countries having a large population. In the north and west parts of China there Is an excellent farming country with fine farmsteads and buildings. There they can raise corn and wheat, but they are so far from the dense population on the seacoast that It cannot be carried there. We may perhaps fear that Russia with the Siberian railroad completed may enter Into competition with us for the Asiatic wheat or flour trade. The trans portation question settles that. The aver age rate on the Russian state railroads is 1.8 cents per ton per mile. If the actual cost of operation amounted to but two thirds of this figure L2 cents per ton per mile this rate applied to the distance from that part of Siberia where the wheat Is grown would give a transportation charge of 54 20 per barrel on flour, while it should be carried from our Pacific ports to Yokohoma, Nagasaki, Kobe, Shanghai and Hong Kong for 25 cents a hundred, $6 a ton, 50 cents a barrel. Russia is not In a position to compete with us at all, even if the wheat and flour were carried for the naked cost of its transportation to the government. What applies in this respect to our wheat applies to cotton from the South and to every pther article we export, even to Iron and steel. Vaunted Home Market. If the home market which we .have nursed for so long for our iron and steel Industries is of so much value, let us now go on and take some care of our agricul tural Interests and not leave thennwhere they are today without one lota of as sistance from any point. A year ago you could buy noils for ?1 25 a keg; now they are 73 25. You all know how lumber has gone up and all the other articles of prime necessity on the prairie farm. Fuel has advanced. Everything made of Iron has advanced. But your crop has not ad vanced because It is sold in open competi tion with the product of the world. And until we get other peoples to eat wheat It will not advance, and you will go on hoping against hope. You will not get a high price for your wheat until wheat Is made scarce. The figures I have already given you Illustrate It perfectly. A short age of only 70,000,000 bushels in one year's crop raised the price of the whole many times the value of the shortage. If we could Increase our export to the Orient by 50,000,000 bushels and reduce our export to Europe 50,000,000 bushels, I .haven't the slightest doubt it would .ad vance the price tof -what we do send to Europe 15 or 20 cents. In tho first place, what we would send to the Orient would go from the Pacific coast. The Pacific coast grain Is handled In a manner entirely different from that which prevails east of the Rocky moun tains. Having to cross the equator twice, It must be carried in sacks to prevent heatinc, not In bulk in the hull of a ship, as on the Great Lakes or the Atlantic, The grain Is practically all bought by three concerns, two of them located In Liverpool and also Interested In the White Star line of steamers, so that they fur nish their own shipping. It Is sent to England and sold for what it will bring. It aots as a damper a wet blanket on the entire market. The voyage around the Horn Is four months long, and by the time the first cargoes are reaching port the last are leaving, so that It is all afloat at the same time. The buyer in Europe knows what is afloat. Thus the manner in which the crop is handled breaks the market down more than twica the same amount from Atlantic- ports. There the buyer must send over and place his order In advance of shipment. With the Pacific coast groin It must sell for what it will bring. The ship cannot be delayed and the grain cannot be stored in sacks. In Competition "With the "World. You can never get away from the prac tical proposition that you are In competi tion with every wheatralser In every country, the peasants on the steppes of Russia, the ryots of India or the Argen tine farmers, most of whom went from Italy. You are In competition with them on an even wfrlpnletree and you always will be so long as you have to sell out side your own country, and that your own country will ever consume your en tire product no intelligent man will thlnK, at least for half a century, W may Increase the wheat area. Bet ter cultiation and there Is room for it will Increase the yield. More than a hun dred years ago, after the American Revo lution, the people in Great Britain began leavinjr the farms in such numbers that a royal commission was appointed to de vise means to keep the people on the land. That was the foundation of the Royal Agricultural Society of Great Britain,, which is giving premiums for particular ly well-cultivated fields. You must excuse me if I digress from the question of markets to take a whack at the farmers. They certainly ought to do better fpr themselves. In England they have raised their average yield from 10 to 12 bushels 100 years ago to 22 to 20 bushels. Every intelligent farmer knows that under fair conditions he is entitled to a yield of 20 bushels to the acre if culti vated properly. Oh, they say, that Is spe cial cultivation. I would make It general cultivation. It wouldn't be necessary to cut as great an area. It would take less labor. It requires about the same amount of labor to handle 10 acres yielding 10 bush els to the acre as 10 acres yielding 20 bushels tp the acre. It is a little heavier to handle, but there are not so many steps. But coming back to the question of how to get the market. You can do nothing. I can do very little. The price of trans portation has come down, but the price of wheat has come down with it. Compare the cost of carrying a ton of wheat to Liverpool or Antwerp 20 years ago and now, and you will find that the fall in the price of wheat from year to year Is Just about the difference In this rate. It hah made wheat cheaper for the other follow. He Is not compelled to take your wheat from Argentine or anywhere else. We must find new customers by enlarg ing our commercial relations, by expand ing our markets. The country has always expanded and always will. If it is to go on and increase we must have some place, some people, where we can get rid of the stuff we raise. Legislation on Wrong Lines. I notice that the senator from New Hampshire has introduced a bill looking to the appointment of a commission to In vestigate our commercial relations with the Orient, with a view to extending our markets. The new senator from North Da kota in the first 30 days of his service has introduced a similar proposition But both of them seem to nio to wander wide of the mark. They want two members of the commission from the Pacific slope, two I from the Atlantic seaboard, and one from the Middle West The Pacific coast, to be sure, raises 30,000,000 bushels of groin, but the people whose Interest Is the greatest and who will derive the greatest benefit ore the people of the Middl West. Suppose the trade with these people to amount to one copper cent per capita for each day in the year. That would amount with China alone to Ji.000,000 a day nearly 51,500,000,000 a year. We couldn't begin to furnish it to them. We haven't tho sur plus. The European nations have the Mediter ranean sea and two oceans to cross In reaching these peoples. We have to cross but one ocean. Some of our friends say the Panama canal should be built. It might do us some good if we had any ships to use It. Of- the carrying trade going to China in 1898 we carried three fourths of one per cent. Yet we call our selves a commercial nation and are ambi tious to be a maritime nation. There is -a bill in congress to promote the building of an American merchant ma rine. It gives a bonus to ships of Amer ican build according to the measurement of the ship, steam or sailing vessel, for trips of 1500 miles or more and not more than 16 trips a year. It seepis to me to fall short of what is desired, for it is not neces sary to carry one ton of American prod ucts. The payment is on the measurement of the ship and the distance out and back. Shipowner vs. Producer. I am entirely unable to see why tho American people should pay a bonus on ships coming back from Germany or France carrying a oargo of champagne or kid gloves, or any other of the products of those countries, or the commerce of any other country to our own. Certainly they should not as long as wheat Is 50 cents a bushel and has no assistance from any quarter. Whatever bonus Is to be paid I would apply It to tho product of the American field and forest and the mine If the American miner is disposed to kick up a fuss about it. But If they were able to sell at Mobile at $7 a ton they needn't kick, now that they are getting $18 or $20 a ton: The product of your labor Is selling no higher than a year ago. .The reason is plain. It is no more scarce; perhaps it Is a little more plentiful. 'And there will be no relief until there are new peoples to consume. Make your product scarcer and you make It higher. There Is another condition In this bill which Is'to be railroaded through. They give for ships of 14 knots' speed a bonus on the measurement out and back, a bo nus of 1 cent a ton for each 100 miles. For ships of 21 knots they give 2.3 cents. It is a well-established fact tho world over that the cheapest carriers are the low-speed vessels. Take the Lucania and the Cam pania, with engines of 30,000 horse-power and a speed of 21 knots. Horse power of 7500 would drive them 14 knots one-fourth the power and twotbirds the speed. It is the last knot that costs the money. A ship with a speed of 21 knots, while its meas ured capacity may be 15,000 tons, couldn't possibly carry 3500 tons of your agricultural products. And still under that bill It would get an average bonus out and back of about $1000 a day. Now, If the bonus was paid on outgoing commodities, products raised in our coun try, certified out under a customs certifi cate and certified into a foreign country under a consular certificate, we could af ford to pay for what had found a new market. It Is unfair to pay for a tonnage we could not use. Speed Doesn't Signify. It cuts no figure with the farmer how many ships cross the Atlantic at a speed of 21 knots. It Is unfair to the farmer and yet It is proposed in the interest of the farmer. He is asking for bread and it is giving him a stone. If your products were carried across the Atlantic for noth ing, it would only break down the market still more for the benefit of the buyer. If this bill passes and It may be made the business of a party to pass It I hope not it will prove the worst delusion and snare ever offered. The money can all be absorbed by .15 or 20 Atlantic greyhounds. The next time I ask you to consider th& extension of your markets by providing means to carry your products to market and I expect to keep at It until something Is accomplished you pwill say that It has been tried and failed.' It will not be tried under the present bill, It will pay on the measurement of the ship. The ship may never carry a pound of your products and yet draw a bonus for its full measured ca pacity. You care nothing about the size of the ship but you do care about Its carrying your products to some new people who will use them. If this measure is to be urged to assist the agricultural Interests, let It be put in form where the aid cannot be frittered away. There Is little time. The fate of the bill will probably be deter mified in the next 30 days. I am not seeking to build ships, but somebody will. Whoever does will build because he sees on opportunity to moke a reasonable return on his investment. The reason we can compete with other nations is because we have greater facility in us ing human intelligence, while the other nations use simply human energy. Fifty or 60 years ago we had more than our share of the world's carrying trade. To day, the cheapest transportation in tho world is on the Great Lakes. It now as tonishes Europe, but tho end is not yet. It can be done for even less. Riddance of the Surplus. But If we could carry grain at these rates from the Pacific coast to China and Japan we wouldn't ship one bushel of wheat from the Pacific slope to Europe. And with a chance to bring every car back loaded with Pacific slope lumber unless we- were forbidden by law to load our empty cars you know we sometimes are we could carry millions and millions of bushels from Minnesota and the Da kotos. You know empty cars one way means double mileage. It would not only help you here by tak ing the Pacific coast wheat out of compe tition, but it would carry away at times a part of your own crop. Either I know absolutely nothing or I know absolutely that you would be greatly benefited. Why, we have carried right through here hun dreds of thousands of bales of cotton from Texas to Puget sour-d. Our ships did carry some wheat, 257,000 tons I think, about 12,000,000 bushels, last year. The en tire crop might have gone if there had been ships to carry It But If we are to pay $9,000,000 a year In subsidies and three-fourths of It I3 to go to fast ships on the Atlantic ocean. It will bring you no benefit. Let us take our products to markets where they cannot supply themselves as well from other points. Take it up with your representatives. I have talked with your representatives and those from neighboring states, and I know they are anxious to do the right thing. But the trouble is they haven't yet heard from you from the people. It will do them good to let them know that you are back of them and will support them in opposing what will be .a. national scan dal and disgrace upon the country. I claim It would be a national scandal and disgrace If, under the guise of helping the agricultural industry of tho country, a bonus of perhaps $450,000 a year is grant ed to a lot of fast Atlantic passenger boats on which people may go abroad to spend the money they make here. If we are ever to get so prosperous and so fool ish as to do that, first let us raise the price of wheat above 50 cents a bushel. SMITH'S DANDRUFF POMADE Has yet to find the first case in which it failed to do all that Is claimed for it, and Is the best preparation for dandruff. Itch ing scalp and falling hair, and will moke hair grow. Price 50c, at all druggists. B A book published in Japan 1000 years ago notes that at that time good silk was al ready produced In 25 provinces of that country. a '. Chocolate is still used as rtdney In cer tain parts of the interior of South Africa, as also sre cocoanuts and eggs. A STRONGHOLD OF ISLAM VISIT TO THE ANCIENT CITY OF BOKHARA. Cruelty, Filth, and Fanatical Mo hammedanism Distinguishes It Its Mosques Kept Sacred. BOKHARA, July 27. Abdul Hamld Beg and I got Into a Russian phaeton drawn by arpairMo'f little Bokhariot horses and driven by a Tartar groom of tne enibassy, for a trip to the ancient forbidden city of Bokhara. It was nn extremely, hot day and the road offered little shade, for the Asiatics have not learned to plant trees as freely as the Russians do In their streets. Before we were fairly out of the Russian town we drove past the un finished palace of the 'emir Abdul glanced at It as scornfully 'as did the THE GREAT MINARET OP KALIAN. Russian officers with whom I had made my first coll. Evidently the palace gains approval from no one. The nine-mile drive to the city was dusty and hot, but never dull. .Gardens and grain fields lined the road on either side, with here and there the mud walls which surrounded an attractive place hidden among mulberry and fruit trees. It does not do to look down upon a dwelling in this country because It is made of mud and stands but one story high, with a flat roof. It may be the home of a Bokhariot plutocrat, with furnishings of silk hang ings and rare carpets that would make the critic yearn with envy If he could but get a glimpse of them. The road was busy with the traffic that drifts In and out of the city, caravans of cam els plodding along with the ut most dignity and never glancing to right or left, and caravans of don keys, too though that does not seem Just the right word under the guidance of pic turesque donkey boys, who huddled them to one side of the road in order fo let us pass. There was nottnuch wheeled traffic, though we passed a few- of the Bokhariot arbas, those peculiar carts with wheel3 always as tall as a man's head and some times as much as ten feet hi height. They have their advantages, tho.ugh' lightness Is not one of them, for Bokhariot history relates that the army of the emir once crossed the Oxus dry-shod during a march against Khiva on a bridge made of these carts. They are certainly more mobile than pontoons. Sometimes there would be half a dozen women bundled Into the cart, while the horse which drew It was bestrode by the big Bokhariot who, according to Abdul, was the husband of them all, this being the manner of giving the family an outing. The men of the Bokhariot fam ilies were dressed in the gayest of striped and figured silks, while their women were bundled Into black and gray robes utterly shapeless and deftly calculated to conceal every possible charm of person. Many of these family parties were Tiding home on the backs of their donkeys instead of driving. In that case the husbands rode over tho shoulders of the patient little beasts, which were harrtiy tall enough to keep the feet of a full-grown man from dragging on the ground, wnile the wives, sometimes two of them, were perched be hind, clinging os best they could. Eleven gateways give access to the city OVER THE ROOFS OF THE HOUSES OF BOKHARA. of Bokhara through the buttressed and crenellated walls. These walls, built of brick and plastered with mud, ore some thing more than eight miles In circum ference, ten feet thick at the base and about 30 feet in height. It Is said that the first wall was built more than 1000 years ago, in the year 830, but the pres ent wall dates only from the 'reconstruc tion of the city after it was razed by Chlnghlz Khan In the early part of the 13th century. These gates are closed after the evening prayers by the watchmen of the gates, who live In holes in the walls, and after that hour no orie Is permitted to enter or leave the city. In fact, from that time no one Is permitted to moVe abont within the city, watchmen patrolling all night with clattering rattles to enforce thelaw. When morning prayers, are said at sunrise the gates arc opened again and the busy traffic of the city Is resumed. No .Annoyance to Foreigner. We passed into the city through one of these gates, to find that our"progress was no longer at the will of uur driver. The narrow streets stand as they have-stood for many centuries crooked, confined, rough. The Tartar driver shouted con-I tlnually to clear the way ahead, while 1 Abdul leaned back In the cushions look- big bored, and I leaned forward, glad I that more speed was difficult. Usually It Is Impossible to require the drivers to go slowly through the most Interesting sights. Much to my surprise, I saw no sign of resentment of the Inconvenience we caused. Other travelers have written of the sour looks and the surly remarks offered them in Bokhara by the fanatical Moslem people of the city, but nothing of the sort came under my observation. It may bo that Abdul's position as dragoman of the Russian embassy had something to do with the exemption, but I do not think so. It seemed rather as if the Bokhariots have found that the few foreigners who comedo -them no harm and have no de signs on them or their religion, so the labor of being resentful is so much wasted effort. Be that as it may. camels, don keys and men in throngs were elbowed to one side, pushed into courtyards, and byways, and interrupted In their own af fairs to let us pass. Some were frankly curious, and others were dlgnifledly Indif ferent, but no one was annoying. The chief evidence of the strict observance of Moslem rule was In the concealment of the women. Even Andijan was outdone. The women we met were not only heavily veiled with the peculiar fabric of horse hair used for the purpose, but they turned their faces away when we met squarely, or whenever it was possible withdrew Into doorways and faced the wall till we had passed. The historical remains and ruins of Bok hara do not begin to compare with those of Samarkand as. a whole, though there ore some notable ones that are worthy of the highest admiration. The oldest of these is the palace of the khan, which is said to have been built by the Persian king Alp Arslan more than 1000 years ago. or at the time of the construction of the first walls of the city. It Is situated In the ark or citadel, standing on a conical emi nence In the center of the city, but stran gers are not permitted access to It. The great entrance to the citadel and palace Is flanked on either side by round towers. Over the arch Is the dial of the town clock of Bokhara, which was made by Giovanni Orlandl, an Italian slave, who was put to death by the late emir In 1851 because ho would not change his religion. The reghlstan, or great square of Bok hara, Is the center of Interest and ac tivity, according to the custom In the other cities of central Asia, and the en trance to the palace and citadel I3 hore. Tho most noticeable edifice facing the square, however, and the most famous, is the minaret of Kalian. This is the chief feature of the principal mosque of Bok hara, tho Mesjld-I-Kalian, which was built by Tamerlane. This mosque, with its dome about 100 feet in height. Is not as large as some of the ruined one3 In Sam arkand, but the minaret is by all means tho most splendid In central Asia. It is taller, larger and more elaborate in its architecture than any of the many in Samarkand, and for some reason remains In almost perfect condition, while all the works of Tamerlane In the city which was his capital are more or less falling to ruin. The minaret of Kalian Is more than 200 feet in height. It is faced with glazed tiles of white and blue, placed in curious designs. The minaret gained its greatest fame because it was for many years the Bok hariot place of execution. The poor wretches sentenced to death were taken to the top of the tower and thence hurled to the flagstones In the great square be low. Until 10 years ago no European, ever had been permitted to ascend this min aret, no exception being made In favor of the Russian officials at the embassy. Since that time, however, a few as cents have been permitted, though they ere still very rare. I tried in every way to make the ascent, but it was very difficult to induce Abdul to Intercede, and when he did not all his blandishments had any effec on the at tendants. He must have told them some dreadful tales about the eminence of the applicant, for they were more than re spectful In the deference they showed, but It was all of no use. Admission to sev eral of the more notable and pretentious mosques was refused with equal polite ness and equal emphasis, so altogether the city maintained its reputation as the stronghold of Islam. It Is claimed, how ever, that In deference to the sentiments of the Russians, who were distressed by the shocking sights, criminals' are no longer cast to their death from the sum mit of Kalian, but are executed in sdme less public fashion. Cruelty, filth and fanatical Mohammed-1 1 si 1 1 v 1 '& anlsm. seem to have been distinguished characteristics of Bokhara for a long time. The three methods of capital pun ishment in vogue until the Russians used their influence to discourage them ware throwing the criminal from the highest minaret, cutting, his throat in the reghl stan and handing him over to the rela tives and servants of his victim to be tortured to death. Mr. Dobson relates a notablo instance of the latter sort. The murderer of one of the ministers of the emir some ten years ago was delivered over for vengeance of this kind. The wretch hod his eyelids cut off. his limbs broken and hacked away, and when the relatives and menlal3 of the murdered minister had done their work the muti lated body was t tied to the .tail ot a donkey and dragged through the streets, to be thrown to the dogs outside. At that time the Russian embassy was lo cated In the city, and many who knew the circumstances cast severe blame upon the diplomatic resident for seeming to countenance such an atrocious system of execution. If Russia's representative, they said, had no Immediate power to prevent such a savage kind df punishment he should have quitted the town with all his staff during Its Infliction, by way of showing hla decided disapproval. Even to this day the emir employs several executioners. Hardly less cruel than the executions themselves are tho forms of Imprisonment practiced on the unfortunates who com mit crime in Bokhara. The prison 13 a veritable chamber of horrors, dark, crowd ed and filthy. Chains and torture are an accompaniment of the confinement, and virtual starvation as well, for the prisoners are allowed only one thin cake of bread daily as their ration. To supple ment thl3 commissary, at no expense to the emir, two prisoners are permit ted to stand in the street, chained to gether, begging food and alms Irom the charitable. What they gather in alms may be divided among those confined in the Jail, who take turns performing tho duty. In the center of the dark cell of thl3 Jail Is the slab which covers the entrance to the dungeon made notorious by the torture9 of Captain Conolly and Colonel Stoddort. It is said to be sealed and .closed forever. In deference to the de mands of tho Russians. When the late emir died tho cell containd 110 prison ers, one of whom told the Russian agent when they were released that no Inmate had been known to survive confinement there for more than three years. TRUMBULL WHITE. MAHAN ON THE PHILIPPINES Our Na.vnl Authority Ha So Sympa thy With, Policy of Shirking. Chicago Times-Herald. Captain Alfred T. Mahan has an article In The Independent which sums up tne arguments for the retention of the Philip pines In a way to confuse the antl-expan-elonlsts. First, he says, "as regards the civilized nations of the world, the United States holds tho Philippines by the unim peachable title of successful war, con firmed by subsequent treaty with the previous unlmpeached possessor." Now In this connection it Is a note worthy fact that no foreign power has ever raised a word of remonstrance against our claim upon the Islands. Ap parently the thought of doing such a thing has never crossed their minds. They have considered the Philippines to be as com pletely under the sovereignty of this country as any state In the Union. In their opinion the rebels are rebels, nothing more, and they feel that It would be highly Impertinent to offer to mediate between us and Agulnaldo's followers. Secondly, Captain Mahan says, as re gards the inhabitants of the islands, the United States "finds herself confronted with the grave question of her technical possession, and of political rule, trans ferred to her by treaty." Then he adds. "It Is a miserable measurement of the question, by advocates or by opponents, to regard It merely as one of interest, although questions of Interest are lawful and necessary parts of the general con sideration. But Interest is not the first thing. The great question before us is one of responsibility and duty." Everyone must admit that the technical possession, the political rule which passed to us from Spain, does give us some sort of relation to the islands which ia differ ent from that of other nations or from the ono that wc sustained toward them before the war. This relation compels us to evince some concern for their future. It implies both a responsibility and a duty, devolves the problem of their government upon us, and certainly forbids us to aban don the Inhabitants to the game of cut ting one another's throats. With all the talk we hear ahout govern ment by the consent of the governed we know, and Europeans know, that the al ternatives now are control by the United States or anarchy, and that If the former were withdrawn the latter would continue until some other foreign power inter vened and established Its authority. Though the policy of the anti-expansion-Ists is supported with many high-flown phrases, it is In fact no policy at all, but a contemptible shirking of a plain obli gation. IT. S. Grant Club Smoker. The entertainment committee is pre paring an excellent programme for the U. S. Grant Club smoker, which will take place tomorrow evening In Gruner's hall. East Seventh and Stephens streets. The hall may be reached from the City & Suburban railway, at the corner of East Seventh and East Harrison streets, and from the Oregon City line at Hawthorne avenuo and East Seventh, the hall being five blocks south. The Invitation to all republicans is general, and a large at tendance Is expected. One of the feat ures of the evening will be the matter of registration and the need of getting every republican in the eighth ward to go at once and register. At this meeting a committee on registration will be ap pointed. There will be one or more ad dresses on that subject. While the pro gramme is not completed, there will be short talks by T. C. Devlin, R. E. Sewall, Councilman George Cameron, General Summers, Waldemar Seton and others. The Southern Pacific brass band has been engaged to discourse music. The Society of German Composers as serts that about 150,000 persons in Ger many earn their living in connection with music. DOCTOR JPIIIP&- SPECIALIST 881 Third Street, Opposite Chamber of Commerce Hours OA.JI.toCP, M.j cTBUnr, 7 to j Sundays, 10 t i GAIN IN ISLAND COMMERCE OUR TRAIB INCREASE WITH LAXDB OF THE PACIFIC. Dutch Bast ladle Supply One-Trir4 Ike Sugrar We Import New Field. for Our Bsperts. WASHINGTOJT, Fob. 7. American aom. meres with th island and countries of the Paelne shows & greater gain in tho year 1810 than that with any other part of the world. Our total exports Increased $89,000,600. and our exports to Asia and Oceaniea alone increased over 5W,000,000; our total Imports Increased $161,000,000, and $48,400,000 of this increase wag from Asia and Oceaniea. Exports to Asia and Oceaniea Increased 27 per cent, while im ports from that part of the world in creased 49 per cent. Of this increase of $M,6ttMtt) in exports to Asia and Oceaniea. over 96,000,000 went to British Australasia. $4,600,000 to the Ha waiian islands, $4,000,000 to China, and the remainder distributed to the various countries &nd lstande of that part of tho Western Pacific while of the imports from Asia, and Oceaniea, $12,009,000 were from the Dutch Sast Indies, $11,000 000 from Japan, $4,909,000 from the British East Indies, $7,600,000 from China, and $6,000,600 from Hawaii. Of the increase in exports, the large proportion was in cotton, eotton goods, machinery and other manufactures of iron and steel. The increase In our ex ports to China was largely hi manufac tures of eotton, and that to the Ha waiian islands and Australia, manufac tures of all kinds, the large proportion, however, being machinery and general manufactures of iron and steeL Of the Increase of $4,00e,00 in Imports from the countries of the Pacific, raw silk, tin, flbers and sugar were the most Important items. From. Japan the importations of raw silk Inoreased $8,000,000, and there waa also a considerable Increase hi matting. From the great tin mines of the Straits Settlements there was an increase of $5,000,000 worth of pig tin for use in man ufacturing tin plates, and from British East Indies there was an increase in jute and jute bagging and other productions of this character. From China there was an Increase of over $6,000,000 in raw silk for use in manufacturing. From tho Philippines, an Increase In hemp and other articles, and. from the Hawallm Islands a small Increase in sugar; while the most important and suggestive In crease from the Pacific countries is that of sugar from the East Indies, chiefly tha Dutch East Indies, which amounted in the year just ended to 1.486,489,670 pounl?, against 880,7,7S4 pounds in 1818 and 533. 237,708 pounds in I8S7, the value of the sugar Imported from the East Indies in 1809 being $80,8M.4f9, against $18,039,642 In 1808, and $,9M,19 in 1887. This rapid Increase of our imports from the Dutch East Indies suggests a new field for our exports tions which have been to that particular spot very light up to to present time. The French consul at Ba tavia, Java, in a report which has just reached the treasury bureau of statists 3, suggests that the Dutch East Indies offr an especially fertile field for those des r ing to make sales of agricultural machin ery and Implements which at present ha says, are of an extremely primitive charac ter in those islands. Most of the imple ments used in small farming come frjm Germany and England and are in many particulars unsatisfactory; the handUs of the sickles are not properly fastened to Tie blade, while agricultural machinery, prop erly so-called, Including machinery f-? planting, reaping, binding and threshing, are practically unknown. Even sugar-cane plantations have as yet mads little prog ress in the adoption of modern machinery. The difficulties which have been enc u, -tered In attempts to introduce agricul ar.u machinery are: First, the cheapness of manual labor, second, the climatic cor 1 -tions under which articles of iron and steel grow rusty and unfit for use In a. short time, if exposed to the open air anl third, the fact that the white ant deatro 3 nearly all kinds of wood except Uak, which is therefore pucowmrily used in the construction of machinery for use in the islands. The fact, however, that them are in Java and Sumatra 280 sugar fa" tories which supply one-third of the sa gar imported into the United States, a .4 that the total Imports of the Dutch Eu3t Indies average $88,000,080, and our own ox ports to them less than JJ.0W.000 annua.!, while our Imports from them in 1899 were over $82,000,000, suggests valuable and Im portant trade possibilities in that direction, if properly cultivated. In parte of India, eakes of tea. and la China of silk pass as currency. Oxen still form the circulating medium among many of tbe Zulus and Kaffirs. No flags but Turkish are te be seen lar Constantinople. ears What a luxury Pears' soap is! The cheapest soap in all the world be sides. Ask Your Druggist for a generous Trial Size.... Ely's Cream Balm for CATARRH Cream Bairn ptacti Into the nostril, apreada over ts aaemerane and Is absorbed. Belief IS Immediate, and a eure follows. It Is not dry Ibs does not produce imexln. Large size Sue. at druggists' or by mail. Trial size. 10c, by mail. ELT BROTHERS. K Warren Street. New York. DeYOUNG The Acknowledged Leading and Most Successful Physician and Surgeon The -world has ever known for the treat ment of all private and chronic diseases of both male and female. The following are among the troubles which he will treat with skill, and guarantee a perfect and prompt cure of all curable diseases. ta treat tbe following diseases with a spe cial treatment, which is purely medical and scientific: PPIVATF 8"let, gonor 1 - - rhoea. tenderness, swell ing, quickly cured without paht or deten tion from business. I AHIFS yn a1" a apathy, in-i-iliikj dMfersuce. nervous debility or diseases peculiar to women, eaa consult Dr. DeYottBg. Y