Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1900)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1900. Catered at the PestoAee at Peruana, Oresea, TBLKPHOKBS. Bdtterlal Xmm..1M I Business Office.... 687 REVISED SOBSCRIPTIOK RATES. Br Mall (postage prepaid), in. Advance Daily wtthmmear. per month.. ........ 83 Dally, Sunday excepted, par year.......... 7 SO Dallr. with Sunday, par year 9 00 Sundar, per rear 2 00 The Weekly, per rear 1 SO The Weekly S montiM. .......... ........... CO To City Subscribers Dallr. per week, delivered. Erniaara exepted.l5e Daily, par week, delivered. Sundays teetededec The Oregonian dees Bet bey poems er stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake te re turc any manuscripts sent to K without aoHdta tlon No stamps should tee iaotesed for tils Purpose. News -or dteoueslou Intended for peeHeattea In The Oragootan should be addressed invariably "Editor The Oregonian," sot to the same of any Individual. Letters rotating to advertising, subscriptions or to aar business matter Should b addressed simply "The OregOBtaa." Puget Bound Bureau Captain A. Thompson. Boe at llll Factnc avenue. Taeoma. Box 963. Tacoma poetoffioe, Buetera Business Offloe The Tribune bund ing New Tortc dtr; "The Rookery," Chicago; the S C Beckwitfe special agency. New Terk. rL081 te B by J. K. Cooper. ? Market street, near the Palaee betel, &sd at feldsmtth Bras.. 2tt gutter street. .,VZ " tor the P. a News Co.. SIT Dearborn, street. TCJOATS WSA.TXER.-FUr; wteds west to northwest. iPORTLAJSD, FRIDAY, FHBRTJART 23. XOMIRISTRATTOX" AWD "AXTI-AD-StlNHTRATIOX." A question to whether the Salem Statesman knows just "where It is at," when it makes these remarks, to-wit: The Oregontaa le preparing to take the aide er the aati-AdmtotoUaUoa forces struggling' for freer trade wttfc. Mr new posseesioBs, under the theory, advanced with actual or pretended, sin cerity, that ail peoples wider our government mast ha treated aJWta. These matters should be left to congress to settle. It seems to The Oregonian that some scrirnination te necessary here. Wfclcb. ig the Administration and which the aatl-Adtnintetratlott side of this question of open trade between the United Stated and our new insular pos eeaeione? Not that The Oregonian capes particularly, for it doesn't have to folow tb Administration, one way or the other; but It is indispensable to those who follow unquestkmingiy wher ever the Administration, leads the way, that they should know. And the Salem paper must be deeply embarrassed be cause it doesn't know, therefore. We know what the President's posi tion was a few weeks ago. In his an nual message he said it was "our plain tSuty" to grant Puerto Rtoo free trade. Has be chanced his mind since? If he has, what has caused the change? "What could cause it but the Influence of those who want to create commer cial monopoly? The speech of a Republican, member of the House (Bronrwell of Pennsyl vania) on Wednesday was a sarcastic comment on those who are trying to follow the President without knowing what the President's intentions or de sires are. There were persistent ru mors, Mr. Bromwell said, that the Pres ident was in favor of this bill for dis crimination against Puerto Rioo; yet the President was officially on record to the contrary. If the President bad changed his mind, on account of new Information, he ought to inform the Iwu&es of the fact. Original informa tion was wanted, not gossip or rumors. If the Salem paper knows which is the Administration'' and which the "antl Administration" side of this question. It knows a thine which members of Congress have not yet been able to find out. The probability, as The Orego nian supposes, is that the President, who said a while ago that it was "our I ialn duty" to grant struggling Puerto Kuo free trade, has been badgered by selfish protected interests into silent acquiescence in this bill. In the an cient day It was said, "There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, t air things that say not 'It is enough.' " In the modern day there Is a fifth. It is the "protected grafter." But the Salem Statesman says, These matters should be left to Con gress to settle." Therefore we may suppose that discussion of them by Iress or people is profanation. It r lght embarrass Ooneress, or the Ad ministration, you know! But Congress never settles anything tMl whipped Into it. The power behind Congress, the p w er that makes Congresses, is the pewer that "settles" things. There are many, indeed, who, if they can find, or when they do find, "what the Administration" wants, require a 'thing more; but they invariably get a rude jolt, after a while. AGRIOUITURAIi PROGRESS. The market for farm lands in the Pa (. c Northwest Is locking up, and tlowg indications of considerable aetlv ly in the near future. It is no uncom r -". thing to find, in newspapers pub 1 Vd in the distant counties of Ore F , Washington or Idaho, reports of t i s of agricultural or horticultural I....is, in all conditions, from unbroken e I to a moderate degree of cultivation, " li le in the older counties there are '-Aiuettt transfers of well-improved - -ms. A pronounced movement in the agri- c ural lands of the Northwest Is E itly to be desired. Oregon eepecial- ught to have Its rural population a ken up, and the large farms of the 1 amette Taller need to be divided tracts that will permit their own- . ip and cultivation by highly spe- zod agriculturists. The lands will orth vastly more to their owners, v ea.lt h of the State will be greatly tased, population wilt be much aug- ted. business will be of greater vol- and the general condition of the Jjitanta. viewed from both material , progressive standpoints, will be h better, when we have less of " atraising In competition with Ar- ina and Russia, and more of the reified Industry that has gotten a : in the State. e signs of a pronounced movement arm lands come from all portions V State, and In all localities there idences of change from old ideas. Southwestern Oregon, as in Coos it , apple-growing and dairying are ng into great prominence. In tdas. Jackson and Josephine, gtn horticutture Is gaining In area and In the Willamette Valley Coua prunes, apples, pears and small s claim the attention of many, and - must continue to be a great prod even though there be occasional year. Likewise there Is in the c an Incr sing number who de ' themselssas to afarlng, and the lng of eons, clover and roots, in - - of wheat. Which has, from long cropping, impoverished the soil of many farms. In Eastern Oregon, wheat counties, are making progress in horti culture, and in many places root crops are grown. In Wasco there is much fine fruit, and the same is true of Umatilla, Union and Wallowa, while neighboring counties make a fair showing. In the more distant counties to the southeast, graingrowlng is com ing on to supplement stockralsing, and there are some efforts at horticulture. These changes are due In a degree to shifting conditions, and In some meas ure to an infusion of new blood from older communities, where density of population and keenness of competition have forced the acquirement of knowl edge of economical production. But, whatever the causes, the changes are going on, and to the good of the State. The cities of Oregon are certainly not behind the agricultural and stockrals ing districts; in fact, the proportion of population and business in Portland Indicates that It is in the lead; and as town and country are lnter-dependent, there can be little further urban growth until there is more rural de velopment. The Increasing sale of ag ricultural lands, at .good figures, for cash, is an omen of added business, in dustry and prosperity, and the breadth of the demand Is an Indication of healthy and uniform growth. STATUS OP THE SEW POSSESSIONS. It has been well said that Senator Caffery, of Louisana, broke new ground In his speech against Philippine annex ation. "Turn the Filipinos loose as soon as we can get rid of them," was his argument. This policy followed to Its logical end would mean dissolution of the Union. The Philippines were ac quired by conquest and treaty, and ar ticle 6 of the Constitution commands that "all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land." In the case of the Amer ican Insurance Company vs, David Canter, the Supreme Court of the United States decided, in January, 1828, that the Constitution "confers abso lutely on the government of the Union the power of making war and of mak ing treaties; consequently that govern ment possesses the power of acquiring territory either by conquest or by treaty." In the same decision, Chief Justice Marshall held that If territory "be ceded by treaty, the acquisition is confirmed and the territory becomes a part of the nation to which it is an nexed." By the supreme law of the land, the Philippines are as much a part of the United States as Oregon Is. This government has as much right to turn the Filipinos loose as it has to give back Louisiana to France, Florida, Cuba and Puerto Rico to Spain, Texas and California to Mexico, Oregon to Great Britain and Alaska to Russia. It may be said this government could do it; yet it is morally impossible. Senator Caffery shows strange ignor ance of the Constitution and laws of his country when he says that the Fili pinos are "citizens of the United States, entirely, completely and absolutely," and that they became such by annex ation of the islands. In the Canter case, above cited, the Supreme Court held): "The treaty with Spain, by which Florida was ceded to the United States, is the law of the land, and ad mits the inhabitants of Florida to the enjoyment of the privileges, rights and Immunities of the citizens of the United States; they do not, however, partici pate In political power; they do not share In the government until Florida shall become a State. In the mean time, Florida continues to be a terri tory of the United States, governed by virtue of that clause in the Constitu tion (article 4, section 3), which em powers 'Congress to make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." As Florida was governed, so the Northwest Territory was governed under the ordinance of 1787. -So Alaska is being governed to day. So the Philippines will be gov erned, until they have a people capable of being trusted with full governmental functions. The United States, it is said, cannot under its presenst Constitution, acquire territory to be held as a colony, to be governed at Its will rnd pleasure. But it may, as was held i the Dred Scott decision, "acquire territory which, at the time, has not a population that fits it to become a State, and may govern it as a Territory until It has a popula tion which In the judgment of Con gress entitles it to be admitted as a State of the Union. . . . During the time It remains a territory. Congress may legislate over it within the scope of its constitutional powers in relation to citizens of the United States, and may establish a territorial govern ment." In line with this the Canter decision held-: "But Congress may, at Its discretion, disallow any territorial legislation and legislate directly for the Territory Itself so far as it shall deem necessary or expedient." The ultimate purpose of the govern ment Is to create new States out of all acquired territory. Arizona, New Mex ico and Oklahoma will eventually be States. So will Alaska, if It ever rises to the dignity of a sufficiently large self-governing population. Before any State can be admitted there must be a State ready to admit. It must have a Constitution and laws, and must oth erwise prove itself worthy of the faith and credit of the sisterhood of States, into which it comes. Above all it must have a self-governing population, so that it can proceed in the performance of sovereign functions. The Filipinos have not risen to the station of sov ereignty. They are entitled to the en joyment of the rights, privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, but they will not share in the government, nor will they be citizens "entirely, completely and absolutely" until they have State government, and this they will not get until they prove worthy of it In the meantime, Con gress Is not overstepping the Constitu tion in governing the Philippine islands as the "territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio" was gov erned more than a century ago. Con gress can legislate as It chooses for the Philippines, provided it keeps within constitutional limits. Every community should deal with its smallpox patients strictly and promptly, and without unnecessary concealment of the nature of the dis ease. The people of Grant's Pass have learned this lesson to their discomfit ure, and possibly to their cost. Hav ing hired, under pledge of secrecy, three tramps to bury the body of a victim of this disease who had died at that place, the wretched irresponsibies went to the nearest town, got drunk on the burial fund, and told of the manner in which they had earned it. They were, as a result, promptly returned by in dignant citizens to Grant's Pass to the care of those who were responsible for their being at large. In the present light of sanitary knowledge, there Is not the slightest excuse for an action that may spread disease among an un suspecting people. Let each community deal responsibly with the smallpox pa tient who. In the course of ordinary vicissitudes, finds his way into its midst, isolate him and care humanely for him while living, and bury him when dead, using throughout the pre cautions necessary to Insure the im munity of Its citizens from the scourge. ine process Is not a pleasant one, but it Includes a duty which Intelligent communities cannot honorably shirk. THEJ BRITISH SERVICE AND EX MSTED MEN. A correspondent writes Inquiring whether It Is possible for an enlisted man to secure a commission In the British army. It Is possible, but it Is even more difficult than It Is In our own regular army. Before Gladstone became prime minister, in 1868, com missions could be obtained by purchase In the British army, but since that re form administration, the abuse has ceased to exist, and It Is legally possi ble for an enlisted man In the British army to obtain a commission, but only by submitting successfully to the same severe military examination that would be exacted of a graduate of the Eng lish Military College of Sandhurst; and the number of enlisted men In the Eng lish army who would be officially rec ommended for commission on taking the required examination would be small, as in our own regular army. According to "Regulations of the Army of the United States," a soldier is not eligible for promotion who Is over the age of 30 years. A young man 32 years of age enlisted in the Fourth United States Cavalry last March. For bravery in action in the Philippines this young man was made a sergeant of Troop L, Fourth Cavalry. His only hope for a commission is to be apoint ed a Lieutenant In the volunteer army, for he is disbarred from opportunity for being examined for promotion to a commission in the regular army, be cause he is over 30 years of age. The probable reason for this age limit is that as the great majority of the West Point graduates on entering the army as Second Lieutenants are about 21 years of age, the admission of enlisted men upwards of 30 years of age to a commission is not regarded as favor able to social harmony, because of the difference of years. In event of a great war, like our Civil War, this age limit would doubtless be modified, so as to permit sterling soldiers of the regular army not more than 35 years of age to become candidates for a commission in the regular service. Regulations of this sort doubtless prevail in the Brit ish army, and doubtless, as in our army, but a small number of enlisted men is recommended for a commission, owing to the small number of vacan cies in the piping times of peace. There are many reasons which would make it difficult for a private soldier in either the British or American regu lar army to obtain a commission, but there are no legal obstacles in either army which will justify the statement that it is Impossible for an enlisted man to secure a commission. General Schwan, United States Army, served more than six years as an en listed man in the regular army (from June, 1S57, to November, 1S63), when he was commissioned Second Lieuten ant in the Tenth Infantry, and Colonel Chaffee, of the Eighth Cavalry, served as an enlisted man two years before he obtained a commission. Lieutenant Colonel Wagner served as an enlisted man from April, 1856, to February, 1863, before he obtained a commission. Colo nel Michael Cooney, of the retired list, served ten years before he obtained a commission, and Colonel Comba, of the retired list, served eight years In the ranks before he obtained a commission. Most of these cases date back to the Civil War, and it is not likely that there will be many officers in the reg ular army who have risen from the ranks at the end of the next twenty years, unless our regular army should become greatly enlarged or that we should become involved in a great war. Doubtless a careful examination of the English army list would disclose the names of some officers who served several years in the ranks, and on rec ommendation and examination "ob tained a commission; but the number is small, doubtless, for the same rea sons that make such officers few in number of recent years in our regular army, and for other reasons which rep resent social rather than legal obsta cles. It is certain that commissions are no longer obtained in the British army by purchase, as they were up to Glad stone's reform measures of his first ministry of 1868, and there is no legal obstacle to an enlisted man obtaining a commission, although, as In our own regular army, It is not easy to accom plish. The number of enlisted men who can possibly be recommended for commissions in our regular army is limited, the examination is very search ing and severe, and the moral and social standard exacted is high. After forty days spent in exploring the fossil fields of Wyoming last sum merliterally "forty days in the wil derness" the oarty of geologists, pale ontologists and botanists who went thither as guests of the Union Pacific Railroad Company returned to the East with about six tons of fossil remains of ancient animals. To the great dis appointment of the party (which dwin dled en route from sixty-six to fourteen men), no complete skeleton of a dino saur was discovered. The bones were cracked and broken Into innumerable pieces, many of them scarcely bearing even the most careful handling. To preserve them- it was necessary, there fore, to bandage and pack them in plas ter before removal weird surgery in which the geologist and paleontologist are special adepts. The Oregonian is compelled to sus pend the controversy in its columns between partisans of the belligerents In South Africa It calls for too much space; much of the matter is charged with personalities, more or less offen sive; a great many articles received are wholly unfit for publication, and the reading of the articles and the edi torial revision that many of them re quire, are burdensome. In many cases the writers of articles that could not possibly be admitted to the columns of The Oregonian have sent indignant in quiries to know why they have not been treated the same as others. We think now the best thing we can do Is to make proclamation of neutrality, and leave Boer and Briton to fight it out Of course, The Oregonian, as a news paper, will continue Its commentaries on the news and on the changing phases of th war, for that Is in its line of business: but it seems to it that there is good reason why it should de cline to permit race antagonisms and the contentions of personal and politi cal opinions, over this war, to be car ried on farther-through its columns. It submits that it has endeavored to be fair to all, In the publication of vari ous opinions; but inasmuch as it has on hand now not less than twenty let ters (and more coming with every mall), many of them long, some very badly written, and not a few vitupera tive. Its only available resource is to clear the table, through this announce ment There is similarity In the procedure on the present financial bill to the course pursued years ago in the "per petration of the crime of 1873." Now, as then, there is wide divergence of opinion in congress as to some provis ions of a pending bill. There were not less than twenty points of variance be tween the house and the senate on the act that became a law in-1873, and th conferees had great difficulty in recon ciling them. One point of difference was the sliver dollar the house con tending for a 384-grain subsidiary dol lar, equal in weight to two half-dollars, and the senate insisting on a trade dollar of 420 grains. Finally the house yielded, and the senators from the silver states secured what they de manded. Notwithstanding these facts, we heard, years afterward, the false hood, Iterated and reiterated, that the act "was passed surreptitiously" "went through congress like the silent tread of a cat." Now there is a like struggle between the conferees over the coinage bill, and daily sessions are'held in an effort to reconcile differences over the so-called "bimetallic agree ment" attached to the measure by the senate. Silver is a bone of contention, as in 1873, and all persons who take note of current events know that the delay In agreement Is due to an effort to "satisfy" senators from silver states without alarming the rest of the coun try; but, no doubt, twenty or thirty years hence, the fossil newspapers and statesmen of the country will learn that a coinage law was passed In 1900, and will raise a clamor about its "secret enactment" The tramp who declared his inten tion to marry, for the good and suffi cient reason that "a woman could al ways get work," Is no longer a myth. Witness the answer of a man in Spo kane p the claim of his divorced wife for alimony, in which he declares that "he can no more than support himself; that the plaintiff Is well able to earn good wages, being a strong, able-bodied woman, capable of providing for her own wants, and that In point of fact she did do so, both before and after their marriage." The wonder of wonders is why this respondent per mitted his supporter, protector and head to escape from the tolls of mat rimony in which he had, evidently with the lofty purpose of the afore said tramp, cunningly entrapped her. Prodigality is the result of profusion. This Is especially true of the bounties of nature. An abundance of timber re sults In a waste of stumpage; a wealth of native grasses in overgrazing; a profusion of fruit in decaying orchards; the rapid Increase In flocks and herds in carelessness, which permits their decimation by starvation or reckless selling. Prodigality has followed abun dance in all these lines in this State, and in every one its deleterious effects have been seen. Stockmen, It is said, have not yet learned their part of the lesson with profit, since, enticed by the high price of veal, they still continue to sell their heifer calves to the butcher and their stock cows to the cattle-buyer. Health officers in Manila are grap pling sturdily with the plague, and so successfully that with a population of 190,000 within the walled city people largely of mixed races and filthy habits but forty-two cases have been de veloped, with thirty-two deaths, one half of the latter being Chinamen. While even at this rate we may be thankful that many leagues of ocean Intervene between our insular posses sions in the far East and our conti nental ports, we may also gratefully recognize the rtign of sanitary Intelli gence that during many weeks of In fection has successfully prevented an epidemic of this scourge in Manila, the place of rendezvous of so many of our soldiers. Senator Hoar does not approve the Administration's policy in the Philip pines; but he thinks It would be pre posterous to elect Mr. Bryan to the Presidency, and he reluctantly concedes that the present Congress will deter mine our attitude toward our Insular possessions. His statement, printed elsewhere, is a straw to show that our most pronounced "antl-lmperlalists" understand that it boots them nothing to oppose the country's purposes. The Democratic National Convention will be held at Kansas City, July 4. The place was chosen because the geo graphical position of Kansas City is supposed to be the nearest available center of Bryanism. CONTRASTS IN MEN. Dcmncvosrues nnd KrcaltH Should Bo Sent to the Rear. New Orleans Picayune, Dem. There was once a time when the West the "Great West," as it was called waa represented by great men in the halls of Congress. There wereThomas H. Benton, Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, Salmon P. Chase and others whose names are not now recalled. They were statesmen. They had a due sense of the great public responsibility that rested on them, and when they stood upbefore the world and spoke, what they said was regarded with respect because it was the expression of men who truly represented a great nation of free people. But times have changed, and the Wst, still great in extent and welath, seems to bo poor in public men. Allen, of Ne braska; Mason, of Illinois; Peffer, of the long beard; "Sockless" Simpson, and others of that sort, have been sent to Washington to occupy the places once held by giants In comparison. Political cranks, freaks and demagogues, holding commissions from the people of the West, are daily heard and seen in both houses of Congress, declaiming their wild, Im practicable screeds about men and meas ures, and screaming denunciations against the nations of the earth with whose state policies these wild and woolly statesmen do not agree. These wild Westerners not only threaten to plunge the country into new wars, but they Incite to fresh resistance the rebel lious races which, but for their noisy rav ings, would long ago have subsided- Into quiet and submission. When the fierce and Incoherent declamations of such men are uttered in the halls of Congress, they are held by foreigners to be the real rep resentatives of the American people. Such utterances nave had the effect to make all the people in the world unfriendly to the United States. In Central and South America this country is dreaded and dis trusted. In Cuba and Puerto Rico the American people are hated. In the Contin ental countries of Europe the great dislike for Americans is but poorly concealed, if at all. and it is well known that the United States has no friends in any part of the earth, unless the English can be so considered. At any rate. England Is bound to this country, and the United States is bound to England by many ties of mutual Interest England is the Re publics best customer, and a business friendship for a nation is vastly more valuable than Is one based on mere sen timent, and yet these woolly Western freaks are doing all in their power to de stroy It Never was there a great nation that so much needed statesmen to the fore. Not only is the honor of the Republic to be protected and preserved from every as sault, but Its material prosperity and vast commercial interests require to be promoted and established. To do all this, the highest statesmanship and the moat devoted patriotism are equally necessary. Then let the freaks and frantic declaimers be relegated to the rear in every State of the Union, and let men who are ,able to understand the needs of the country and to appreciate the demands of Its honor and dignity be sent to the front to guide this great nation through the dangers to which It is exposed, to the grand destiny which should be Its goal. o SENATOR HOAR'S POSITION. Thinks the Administration's Poller Bad, But Bryan's Worse. Washington. Senator HOar asserted re cently that he would keep up his fight against the Philippine policy of the Admin istration, but tho idea that he would turn to Bryan for relief from the existing sit uation was preposterous. The Senator said: "I do not presume as yet to foresee the Issue of this business. But I have thought, as I have more than once said during the past 12 months, that unless the Republican party can be persuaded to desist from a policy of subjugation and to deal with the Philippine people as we are pledged to deal with Cuba, tho case is hopeless. The alternative of electing Mr. Bryan is not, in my Judgment, to be contemplated for a moment His election means, if he and his party can have their way, the destruction of our unrivaled prosperity, lower wages, a scantier employment tor our workmen, the debasing of our standard of value, tarnishing the national faith, the destruc tion of credit, the arraying of class against class, bringing into contempt the author ity of the Supreme Court, and undermining the security of property and values. Now some of our friends say that It Is better that all these thlng3 should happen than that this policy of imperialism should be persisted in. But that is not the question. It is not the question whether Bryan or imperialism be the worse for the American people. The question is whether anything that Bryan can be trusted to accomplish In opposition to Imperialism is worth attaining at the price of all these sacri fices. "For one, I can not see anything to ex pect In the way of a return to the an cient principles of the American people, and the ancient principles of the Republi can party, by the election of Mr. Bryan. We could have stopped the whole thing by defeating the treaty of Pari3, which would have compelled it to be amended by making the same provision as to the Philippines that we thought it right to make in regard to Cuba. That purpose, which would have ended the whole busi ness, prevented the war, prevented the ex penditure of a dollar of money, or the sac rifice of the life or health of a single American soldier, was baffled by Mr. Bryan. The defeat of the treaty, or, rather, its amendment, as I have indi cated, was assured, when Mr. Bryan came to Washington and by his personal influence Induced enough of his followers to vote for the treaty to Insure its pas sage with but a single vote to spare. It would have been defeated, as it was, If Justin Morrill had lived. I have no doubt that Mr. Bryan did this for the sole pur pose of keeping the question open as an Issue for the campaign. "Now, what can he do If he be elected? Congress will settle the question so far as the establishment of the government for tho Philippine archipelago is concerned, before the present Administration shall go out of power, and In all probability be fore the present session shall be over. Whatever may be the fate of the Presi dential election, the Republican ascend ancy in the Senate for at leaet four years longer Is assured. If it were not so, there are many Democratic Senators my infor mation is that there are at least nine who agree with that large number of Re publicans In favor of holding these Islands In subjection forever, or, at any rate, for a long and indefinite period. I suppose the same thing is true as to many Demo crats in the House of Representatives. "How will it be possible then, even If Mr. Bryan bo President, to undo and re peal what the present Congress shall enact? He must execute the law which he will find on the statute book, whether he llko it or do not like It, until a majority of both houses of Congress shall order other wise. What will happen at the end of the next Presidential term It Is impossible to predict with any certainty. Whether these people will continue a resistance like that which the Spanish people made to Napoleon, or whether they will ac quiesce In the government we establish there; whether the exrrlence of the four years will lead us to enlarge gradually their share In the government Into a com plete and perfect autonomy, are matters upon which the election of Mr. Bryan would not have tho least influence. If we can persuade the Republican party or a sufficient number of Republican? to adopt a sound and riphteous policy now, we shall have saved the American people from what I believe to be a great mistake and wrong. To that I shall bend my ef forts so long as there is a spark of hope. I do not see any spark of hope for this cause In the election of Mr. Bryan." o - An Irish Strategist. Philadelphia Inquirer. Two gunners, one a young Irishman un accustomed to handling a fowling-piece, the other a sharpshooter, were in quest of ducks in the marshes Just south of Marcus Hook. They had floated their decoys, and were patiently awaiting the coming of the game, 'when, on a sudden impulse, the disciple of the shamrock put gun to shoulder and fired both barrels Into tho midst of the floating flock of mimic ducks. In answer to an expostulation from his companion, the offender replied: "Its' yureself that hoz no sagacity at all. Faith, when th' birds see what a d bad shot I am they'll think you're no betther, an' it's a boatload av ducks we'll be afther takln' home, d 'ye molnd?" Trade Secrets. Baltimore American. First Shoo Merchant Business Is poor. Why, I marked my stock down to half price, and then didn't sell anything. Second Shoe Merchant You're foolish. I marked by stock down to half sizes, and sold everything in the house. o Not in Character. Chicago' Tribune. Photographer Look just a little pleas anter, please. Stranger (sitting for hl3 photograph) I don't want to look any pleasanter. I'm a delegate to the anti-trust conference. o No Engrossing- Pursuits. Washington Star, "You don't. seem to take life very seri ously," said the acquaintance. "No," answered Mies Cayenne. "There's no Teason why I should, I don't play golf or whlsti" THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. Our dispatches this morning are the first to clear up fully the history et the Brit ish campaign in the Orange Free 'State since the announcement that General Kelly-Kenny's brigade was reported as having ataeked General Croaja's laager on the 16th. It seems that on Sunday, the 18th, General Kelly-Kenny assaulted Gsn ereral Cronje's entrenched position, moving across an open plain to attack just as General Methuen did at Mod der River. The British loss was very se vere and the Boers confessed a toes of S00. The next day the British artillery shelled the Boer position so severely that General Cronje asked for an armistice. Oa Tues day Lord Roberts arrived at Paarde. which Is on the Modder River, about 3 miles from Jacobsdal, and personally re connoltered the enemy's position, decided it was too strong to be carried by assault and at once surrounded It with his artil lery, which has since been pouring late Cronje a ceaseless storm of shell. Lord Roberts then turned with his Infantry aad attaoked the approaching Boer reinforce ments and dispersed them. The Lon don war office seems to feel confident that Crcnje Is in a desperate situation, from which It will be very difficult te es cape. It Is evident from the facts that Gen eral Cronje did not begin his retreat from his lines at Magersfonteln, near Madder River station until probably the 15th, the day that General French entered Kinalwr ley. The British had two divisions over the Riet River on the 14th, and these troops caught up with Cronje retreating up the the line of the Modder River te his presnt entrenohed position at Paarde Drift, which is bstween Klip Drift aad Koedoc's.Rand, on the Modder River, 39 , miles east from Jacobsdal. The pursuing British infantry, which started for KHp Drift, on the 15th, struck the rear of Cronje's forced on the ISth, and fought a severe battle all day Sunday. It Is clear from these facts that either Cronje did not leave his lines at once after French cut them In his dash on Klmberley, or that for his own military purposes he has slowly withdrawn to his present position, which he hopes to maintain until heavy reinforcements arrive from Natal. His re quest for an armistice on Tuesday may have been a mere ruse to gain time, or it may have been a real sign of distress. The difference between a merely brave soldier and an accomplished general waa never better shown than In the difference between Lord Roberta and such bulldogs a3 Lord Methuen, General Buller and General Kelly-Kenny. One would suppose after the terrible object lesson of the utter fu tility of frontal attacks upon an en trenched position furnished at Medder River, Magersfonteln and Colenso that General Kelly-Kenny would have known better than to assault a rocky ridge in front. When Lord Roberts arrived he de cided by personal reconnolssance that the ridge could not be carried by assault, so he at once massed his artillery upon it and put hli3 infantry t work dispers ing the Boer reinforcements. This trait In Lord Roberts Is not due to lack of pug nacity, for he won the Victoria Cross in the Indian mutiny by his daring courage and skill as a swordsman in a charge under fire; but It Is due to the fact that Lord Roberts is a general not merely a fierce bulldog, but a man of brains. And that is what the British have lacked thus, far in Africa. They have lacked neither men nor courage but a general. This ab sence of a general has cost England over 10,000 gallant men thus far, 2738 of them prisoners. Lord Roberts has the universal hall-mark of a sound military mind. He massed his troops Instead of dividing them, he or ganized a strong mob.le cavalry . force, placed it under an able commander, broka through the Boer lines of communication and promptly followed in the track of General Cronje with hla Infantry. He ha3 made his army comparatively mobile, and he wins his battles with professional brains, not simply by washing and rubbing his hands in useless blood. He has all the best characteristics of Wellington, who was so able a tactician that when one of Napoleon's ablest marshals, Mar mont, committed a tactical error by ex tending too far from his marching flank, Wellington at once turned on him and won the great victory of Salamanca, In which, as Wellington put it, "an army of 48,600 French were hopelessly beaten In 48 min utes." The morning after two days' fighting in the Wilderness so terrible that under Burnside, Hooker or Meade, the Federal army would have retreated acroes tftie Rapidan. General Grant ordered his bat tere dtroops to "go forward by the left tered troops to "go forward by the left flank." "When it was reported to General Lee that Grant was moving forward, Lee said: "Gentlemen, at last the Army of the Potomac has found a General." The British army in South Africa has at last found a General. ' n o "Our Plain Duty." President McKlnley's Message to Congress. Since the cession Puerto Rieo has been denied the principal markets she had long enjoyed, and our tariffs have been continued against her products as when she was under Spanish sovereignty. The markets of Spain are closed to her products, except upon terms to which the commerce of all nations is subjected. The island of Cuba, which used to buy her cattle and tobacco without customs duties, now imposes the same duties upon these products as from any other country entering her ports. She has, therefore, lost her free Intercourse with Spain and Cuba, without any compensating benefits in this market. Her coffee was little known, and not In use by our people, and, therefore, there was no demand here for this, one of her chief products. The mar kets of the United States should be opened up to her products. Our plain duty is to aboMsh all customs tariffs between the United States and Puerto Rico, and give her products free access to our markets. A Resemblance. Chicago Chronicle. "There Is no sacrifice we are unwilling to ask of the Colonies if we think it neces sary to success," gallantly declares the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain. The heroism of the utterance Is second only to that of the late Artemus Ward, when he patriotically announced his willingness to sacrifice all his wife's relatives on the altar of his country. t "Money Power" Generally Available, St Louis Globe-Democrat. Under the financial law passed by the Senate, a town with less than 400 popu lation may establish a National bank with a capital of not less than $25,000. The "money power" can be distributed any where a popular demand exists for it ,l a Heroines. Kathleen Kavanagh. One woman bravely went afar To UtadB made desolate by war: She cared for wouaded, sick and dead. The naked clothed, the hungry fed. Another spent the whole of life Fulfilling duties of a wife And mother making- home a bright Chaste spot of love and sweet deMght. The first one died whole columns toid Her virtues and her deeds of gold, The other one day gently slept Her children and her husband wept. NOTE AX CQMHEXT. There are bo beads tn Ike Boer amy, hut it aoomc they know hew to face the muste, just the some. 'Fessate suffrage aemoa up at the; Jnse election. It bmt he that tnte eause is M years oH, hut it doesn't leek It Several EBghsfc psleoto are te the hos pital wh throat trowels. They tried ta prosouBce some of those Dutch Oregon Fopultote peeler Bryan for Presi dent; hut Mce the Dueek hey that get licked for swearing, they "ttnfcs eases. "Oh. mumr sattTLowien eeek te her mistress, "I've been out and Bought seen a lovely milk saucepan, sa4 if s aM Mned w4th Bsaaauel!" While the Brtttsfc cesser at Cane CMeny Is hotdiRg aonnothlng baex. the Beees are also trying te nupprooo seawtMng. K la the British array. It is dinleuR te ten whether the maste rotl carried by the pretty girl en the street contains a aoaota for a eeneert er a sausage for swpeer. A combine for the purpose of eentrettutff me output of eeeeratrae papers has been formed. Fig-stars of trusts can feel as sured that this eeneera will go te the waH. English omcers have had mash trouble in judging the distance to throw their mte sites, hut aeon as they get these Baetem Oregon borees. they wnt Sad eat ssece about the range. A New Yorker who was In Khnherley recently was cured of hois natcha etc by a familiar sight nothing else than an old Broadway horse-oar. still hearing the legend, "Battery to Ceateal Park." One Dr. HlUte in a recent sermon ha New York lauaehed what appears to as to he a somewhat eompWcatod nroneettton. HVa two-fold preoiamatkm was that "ha the first place there never was any sash man as Adam, and in the second ptaee he did not fall." But If there was ne Adam, what is the use of the assertion that ha didn't fall? A oorrsepondent wants The Orogenian to tall him who is Governor of Kentucky. A traveler rode up to tae doer of a cabin and found husband aad wife engaged in a rough-and-tusaole sorap. "Hello," said the stranger, "whore's the master of the house?" "Stranger." answered the man,. between blows, "that's jest what we' so tryin to settle." The Burns (Kan.) Ctttee stakes this reasonable exposition of Hs worth; "Our paper is not the best in the world, hut If you can show ue that it is not worth S cents, we will eat the next toouo. First, you read it, then you will spread it over something, then clean your hung with It and then use it te start the are, and If that doesn't make it worth 3 cents, at the present price of lumber, why, den't take it." City Auditor Garaeeil landed a chin hook on County Assessor Greenleaf the other day. Greenleaf wanting to heM a sheet ing of County Assessors, asked the Audi tor whether the CKy Hall would he heated in the evening. "Oh, yes," chimed Gam bell; "there has been plenty of heat around this building since you made your last assessment" It was GambeH's ftrst crack at Greenleaf for reducing Multno mah's assessment U,Me,800, and he could not let it slip. 14ie HHnets House of Cerseetten is about to try an interesting experiment m the reformation of women erhumals. Super intendent Sloan has hunt three large greenhouses, covering a apace of 4WO square feet, in which it is intended to grow roses, carnations and chrysanthe mums for the Chicago market The women. prisoners will work in the greenhouses, under the direction of an expert horti culturist and it is expected that contact with the growing plants will have a soften ing and regenerating effect oa the hard ened natures of the unhappy tamaioc eS the institution. A story is told by an employe of the Marquam Theater, which, hT true, 1b worth the repetition. It happened during the recent engagement of Frederick Warde. On Saturday morning, the last day of bkt stay, the company was rehearsing Rich ard HI for the evening performance. There was no interruption until In the last act, when Warde exclaimed with great ve hemence the well-known lines; "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a borae." Some thing just then caused the actor to hesi tate for a moment, and a stage hand, who was In front wesebing, the rehearse, thought he saw his opportunity, and yelled out: "Mr. Warde, wouldn't a donkey do?" But the brilliant star was toe euiek for him and exclaimed: "Why certainly; just step on the stage." The annual influx of gHh-tongued, leather-lunged- peripatetic peddlers o patent notions is beginning to arrive from the East and promises to increase consider ably the population of the State, tem porarily, at least These fellows can he heard bawling their wares, euffbuttons. cuff fasteners, lazor-ebarpening paste, blocks hung together by tapes, and many such notions, on every corner. They go on the principle that the more they talk the more sales they wHI make, and with out doubt they understand their business. They are, however, a rather undoolrablo class of immigrants, as the greater part of the stuff they sell Is the merest trash, just made to sell, and good for nothing else. It is a strange fact mat any one who will stand on a corner long enough and bawl loud enough is sure to attract a crowd, and no matter what he has -to sell, he is sure to find some purchasers among the company. It is ever thus, and always will be, world without ea; hut It is eueer all the same, The Magwamp Canal, H. T X. Eintofaacy has won the any It's aW it up to ns to say If that last protocol of Ba SbaH stand in de otwalHj. ART1CX.B I. We here acmimo a trust thatfe Mtga, To guard the Isthmian teamuaV Te cash the cheeks wtthoat a sign, Aad guarantee neattaNIS'. APncLB n. Two hundred mfluens! Oh, hew kind, Ta let print the hands and eS AapHanees and moans Mr Mnd Owaerree to aet-iron Jnrmuteef AKTICMI JK. Beneath a bushel here we mue Oar now Olinliilulied hoaata and. prJea, -Watte Bnrope lets aa hamhlr gttifr Tferewgn, as a mere aialiaEy. Aiancvm ir. TMssactteB. seems to inaieaie We must be qntett te rmelaato Our meekness te the srndtoata And dfer with gmat aUcsMy. Then dig. ye terriers, dig. lor Itote Has shews her tijlMstji aea "While Vaate gamuot pays the Sreigat And shows Ms rare etpiemaeyl A Portland, Fee. 2S. w J T- tiji J j,.,jjisji&A0jiAj..n. laCJaa frnrdlffini' ,- ..CTar'-rv -" -- --c '4Ai, niafc -OT" i t..