'
THE MOBNING OEEGONIANi MONDAY. lJUL& 2S, 1900.
foz rgflomoit
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PORTLAXD, MONDAY, JULY 2, 1000
OUR POLICY AS TO CHINA.
We wonder whether our Bryan
brethren will raise exclamation against
co-operation between the United States
and Great Britain to prevent the par
tition of China? Neither of these na
tions wants to share in the partition;
and it would be best for their interests,
best for China, best for the peace of the
world, if their influence should be ex--erted
against' partition. They probably
would draw Japan with them, and Ger
many might be expected to co-operate.
Details of the course to be pursued
must depend largely on circumstances;
but it would seem to be certain that
the Congress and people of the United
States will approve the outline of policy
announced by Secretary Hay; in sub
stance as follows:
First The United States will under no cir
cumstances join in the partition of China
firing the powers.
Second The United States will use all its
lnfuence, to the utmost extent, short of war
with European nation, to prevent dismember
ment of the Chinese Empire.
Third The United States proposes to have
a. veritable settlement of the Chinese troubles,
anJ its voice will over bo raised against spolla
t3n and in favor of preservation of China's
territorial and governmental entity, along the
Uses set forth in Secretary Hay's note to the
powers, dated July 3.
Fourth The United States will not declare
war upon China on account of the showing of
la-t?, no matter what othor powers may do.
Firth The United States, acting Independent
ly and for itself, will co-operate with the
other powers in restoring order in China, in
Vanishing all officials, high or low, found
guilty of crimes against human life, and in
retting up a stable government that may give
guarantees of security of life and property
aci freedom of trade.
Here is the safe course for the United
States. It will keep us out of entan
glement with the powers of Europe; for
we cannot tell how they may yet divide
on the Chinese question, and if we were
engaged with them, which of the na
tions would be our allies and which
would become our enemies. Our pres
ent duty is simple. It is now, as hereto
fore, to act concurrently with other na
tions in opening up communication with
Pekin and rescuing the American offi
cials, missionaries and other Ameri
cans who are in danger; secondly, in af
fording all possible protection every
where in China to American life and
property; thirdly,- in guarding and pro
tecting all legitimate American inter
ests, and fourthly, in aiding to prevent
a spread of the disorders to the other
provinces of the empire and a recur
rence of such disasters. It is going to
te difficult business to use a pro
gramme like this for support of a cry
of anti-imperialism raised for a merely
partisan purpose.
TIIE REFORMER'S VIEW.
Candidate "Woolley accepts the nomi
nation of his party as Prohibition
nominee for the Presidency, not as he
declares, as a "leader of a forlorn hope,"
Jbut as "the color-bearer of the next and
l-flgreatest forward movement of human
ity." This is the reformer's view, what
ever the special cause that he cham
pions. To the representative of the
"Universal Peace Society, the abroga-
jrtlon of war, to which sentiment he Is
pledged, is always the "next and by
far the greatestjttnbvement in human
affairs." In the 'estimation of the for
eign missionary his course leads all
others in importance; the advocate of
"woman suffrage is certain that her
! Mclalm represents liberty Itself, and will
be the "very next" to receive the Just
indorsement of mankind. The White
Uibboner is abroad declaring that the
abrogation of the social evil, looking to
social purity, is the greatest and "next"
duty of those who love their fellow
men, and so on through the entire list
of reforms which well-disposed but im
practical individuals champion as of
paramount Importance to the welfare
and, indeed, to the preservation of the
2iuman race.
The mistake of these people is that
they utterly fall, or persistently refuse,
to take human nature for what it is.
They appraise mankind as a whole
job lot; so to speak and insist upon
levying equal tribute in temperance, in
religion, in morality, in conception of
political questions, upon all. Govern
ment should and must, in their view,
run its citizens in similar grooves of
thought and of conduct, and by arbi
trary decree keep them there. No devi
ation from certain well-defined paths is
to be tolerated in individuals. Because
; one man cannot take wine with his
-dinner wjthout supplementing this rea
sonable indulgence by an orgle that
! distresses his family, shocks his friends
and absorbs his week's or month's
wages, all men must be forbidden to
take wine with their meals. -
To talk of liberty In conjunction with
such, a proposition is nonsense. The
crying need of the times is not to
curtail but enlarge the sum of personal
I responsibility; to inculcate the virtues
of self-control and of respect for the
iuman body as the temple of life. The
wise mother does not supplement the
command to her young child "not to go
outside the gate" while at play by lock
ing the gate, thus making obedience
compulsory by means which the boy
will easily circumvent as soon as he is
able to scale the door-yard fence. The
whole scheme of compulsory morality
is based upon false premises.
There Is no such thing as compulsory
temperance except as it is inculcated
in the growing mind of the child or is
impressed upon the matured under
standing of men. In other words, com
pulsion in morals must come from
within and never can be successfully
applied from without. Detestation of
the vice of drunkenness is a prime
requisite in the reformation of the
drunkard. This Is the verdict of all
experience, and from it there is no ap
peal. Hence he who leads the prohibi
tion movement In the name of temper
ance reform leads a "forlorn hope,"
If hope, even with this dreary prefix,
It can be called.
THE DOOR AJAR FOR ISHMAEL.
"When the Democratic party suc-
cumbed to socialism, a great light failed
in the firmament of time. Fate had
been' kinder to it in ideals than in
achievements, but for almost the entire
organic life of this Nation it has stood
for principles and aspirations to which
high-minded men of all parties have
turned in hope, even when they could
not indorse its immediate plans. For
almost the entire organic life of this
Nation the Democratic party has stood
in the thoughtful mind for resistance
to encroachment of government upon
the individual man's freedom of thought
and action. In the balance of antago
nistic forces in the political cosmogony
it has been the centrifugal, as Its op
ponent, Whig or Republican, has been
the centripetal tendency. The Nation
with the big N, that should do, all things
for all men, and regulate all things in
all relations of life, was the Democ
racy's greatest abomination, a useful
and honorable ideal that was specific
ally embodied in opposition to govern
ment currency, to a "protective" tariff,
to a pauperizing pension system, to
Federal control of state elections, to
Federal participation in transportation
and commercial enterprises. The Re
publican viewed with alarm a weak
central government, the Democrat
viewed with alarm a central govern
ment strong and meddlesome.
All this has passed away. The Kan
sas City platform is a candid revela
tion of the transformation undergone by
the once stalwart custodian of the
rights of man against aggrandizement
pursuing government. It proposes to
set the Federal machinery in operation
to spy upon, publish and regulate the
affairs of business corporations; to con
trol the transportation business of the
country, so that no individual or com
munity shall get the worst of a bar
gain; to restore and maintain "a bi
metallic price level"; to take care of
silver; to abolish free banking in favor
of government banking; to prevent em
ployers from reporting undesirable em
ployes to one another; to Increase the
Federal obligation by creation of a de
partment of labor; to improve the arid
lands of the West. This imperfect sum
mary of the objects the Bryanized
Democracy believes the Government
should take care of testifies to the vast
distance between it and the ancient po
sition that the man Is best governed
who Is least governed.
Well, is the star of historic Democ
racy only dimmed by a passing cloud,
to reappear in serene effulgence on
some brighter scene? The hope is one
that should be shared by every man
who wishes for his country the best and
noblest destiny within its reach. But
the signs, it must be owned, are not
reassuring. To come at once to the
concrete, what consistent champions of
the old Democracy are coming back to
leadership? Alas! few, perhaps none.
The Injury of 1896, which could be
passed off as aberration, becomes, in
its studied and insistent deliberation,
mortal Insult In 1900. Some are return
ing to the fold, but others, and the best,
are announcing themselves as hence
forth Republicans. Those that are re
turning have in- that very return of
fered irrefragable evidence of suplne
ness. The conservatives speak with ex
cusable indignation of 16 to 1, but that
was a hard hit the prodigals got from
the elder brother who said the other
day that a consistent leader like Bryan
is worth a tribe of "trimmers like Hill
and Stevenson." Is very much in the
way of reconstructive statecraft to be
expected" from men who announce their
allegiance to silver today though events
have fully demonstrated the iniquity of
free coinage and the falsity of every
Bryanlte prediction?
It really begins to look as if the Re
publican party, with its impaired capi
tal of heroic memories, with paternal
istic notions of its own, with
little leaders and platitudinous vap
orings of impossible principles, is
to be the only refuge of the
uncorrupted Democrat. For the roost
part his sensations there will be
those of the cat in a strange garret. If
the tariff issue should ever reform a
Presidential campaign on old- lines, he
could go home with a clear conscience.
But what is more likely, in view of the
complete conquest of his party by so
cialism, is that he will be compelled to
act, however undemonstratlvely, with
the Republican party. Aifd if it is to be
the abode of the defenders of individ
ualism and foes of paternalism, the
dwelling must be modified somewhat to
accommodate the new boarders. Space
must be found for their free trade pic
tures on the walls and free banking
rugs on the floors. Through their aid
at last some worn-out furniture of the
place may be bundled off to the attic
Through their aid, maybe, we shall get
rid of protection, subsidies and spoils,
and get fair trade, honest pensions, effi
cient civil and consular service, fiscal
economy and old-fashioned statesman
ship. Only in this way, apparently, if
at all, can be preserved the precious
seed of manly independence which the
old ark of the Democracy has borne
across the years.
TSI AS AND LI HUXG CHANG.
If it shall transpire that IA Hung
Chang conspired with Tsl An to bring
about the massacre of foreigners in
China, it may be safely said that his
yellow jacket and three-eyed peacock
feather will not save him from the Just
wrath of the nations when the time
for reckoning comes. The rumor to this
effect probably has no graver founda
tion in fact than that promulgated by
a foreign correspondent working under
Instructions to send news, even if he
has to make it, who some months
ago declared that Li and Tsl were mar
ried or soon would be, and would pro
ceed to rule the empire after the man
ner in which England was ruled dur
ing the life of the late Prince Consort
That is to say that, though unknown in
the Government Xil would direct its
policy.
Tsl An is still a dowager and appears
to be running things at Pekln accord
ing to her own remorseless will and the
silly romance long since dropped out
of that story. Whether the graver po
litical significance of the last report
will drop away as harmlessly remains
to be seen. The story is extremely
Improbable .from the simple fact that
Li Hung Chang has been abroad, and is
far too astute not to profit by the les
sons in the power and progress of West
ern civilisation which travel presented.
If, however, it should prove true that
he is or was pledged to the anti-foreign
policy of the dowager, this can be ac
counted for in his human desire for
power, together with an old roan's ca
pacity for making a fool of himself
when he becomes stricken with the ar
dent desire to marry.
Tsi An was, if we may believe re
ports to that effect, exceedingly come
ly, as Chinese maidens go, when she
was young. But that was long ago.
Still she is probably as handsome as
LI, and beauty aside, might well be
considered an excellent "catch" by the
first statesman of the empire. It would
be a matter of rejoicing to the mis
sionaries, who are held accountable by
many for this outbreak in China, and
of profound disgust to the rest of the
world If it should prove that a love af
fair between two aged Celestials, in
volving mutual confidence and a desire
to please, was the inciting and guid
ing spirit of the most stupendous and
far-reaching political outbreak of the
age.
THE PROBLEM OF THE EMPTY BAG.
The municipality is like a family In
that some thing3 it must have in order
to maintain an organized existence;
other things it can do without and
still maintain comfort and respecta
bility. Among the things that the city
must have are fire and police protec
tion and a reasonable degree of light for
the streets. The name of the things
that it may do without, but which In
terested individuals insist that it must
have, is legion. They are in evidence
chiefly In salaries paid right along and
in deficits Bummed up at the beginning
of each successive administration. It
is as Impossible now as it was in the
time of Poor Richard to make an empty
bag stand upright Hence the scuffle
and the strain to procure "filling" for
the municipal bag as often as its ap
palling emptiness is explored. This
filling must come in the shape of
taxes, special and regular. If property
valuations fall In response to the groans
of overburdened taxpayers and the sup
ply is thus diminished, the shortage
must be made up by reprisal levied
upon business In fact, "upon every
thing in sight. The blanket is applied
and the sweating process begins.
It may be said of the new Council
that it shows a commendable desire to
make equitable adjustment of the spe
cial tax levy so clearly necessary, but
being given an empty bag to hold a.nd
confronted upon every side by demands
that must be met and old scores that
must be settled from its cavernous
depth, it is forced to give its first and
most earnest attention to raising
money. It will succeed, of course; it
has got to succeed, since in no other
way can Interest on municipal bonds
be met, old accounts with the fire and
police deparments be squared and these
forces maintained in their present de
gree of efficiency. These are among the
necessities of municipal housekeeping;
additional deputies in the various of
fices may be needed to pay divers and
sundry political scores, but the proba
bilities are that the public will be as
well served without them.
It is not always in the power of plat
form committees, though they sit up
all night and dragoon Hawaiian dele
gates, to determine the issues of the
campaign. It would please Chairman
Hanna if the money question were
principally discussed, or perhaps pros
perity. The Kansas City aggregation
preferred neither of these, but staked
Its chances on "anti-lmperlallsm" as the
"paramount issue." But not politicians
shape the Issues, so much as circum
stances. That events are conspiring to
bring the silver Issue to the front is
shown in two utterances, from widely
different sources, printed on this page
today. The Denver News, ardently
Bryan, and the New York Financial
Chronicle, uncompromisingly gold
standard, agree that the election will
have a practical significance on our
finances. This is the all-Important
point The protestation of Bryanlsm
has been that Bryan's election will be
powerless to affect the standard of
value or the stability of the currency.
As my teeth have been broken off and
my claws extracted, says the silver fox,
you may safely trust me in the hen
coop. But the Denver News sets the
stamp of disapproval upon this pretty
pretense. "The gold standard can be
forced off the country by a silver Presi
dent" it says, regardless of the com
plexion of Congress. There is, unfor
tunately, reason to fear the News is cor
rect If so, the business world will
know enough to scent the danger and
act accordingly.
So much hostile criticism of athletics
proceeds from unworthy sources that
one is pleased to apprehend in the ac
tion at Corvallls last week a motive
springing from desire to conserve the
cause of true sport The regents of
the Agricultural College, who have
forbidden students there to participate
in inter-colleglate contests, are con
vinced that more harm than good, even
from an athletic standpoint results
from these contests. Feeling runs high,
gambling is indulged in, and the fatal
blight of professionalism finds fertile
soil. Perhaps a way may be found to
correct these gatherings without their
entire abolition, but meanwhile the Cor
vallls school, at least will take no
chances. It is earnestly to be hoped
that the cause of athletics may be ad
vanced by this step, and if support of
the measure has proceeded in any quar
ter from desire to discredit physical
culture among our youth, the desire
may meet prompt and decisive disap
pointment Opponents of athletics are
three In kind those who hate them as
Byron hated the waltz, because he
couldn't dance; those who are moved to
anguish by the sight of human beings
in a state of enjoyment and those who
denounce college sports as a cover for
their passion for the brutalities of the
prize-ring. If any such are among the
regents of the Corvallls Institution, their
Joy should be short-lived.
One of the most Inexplicable things
in recent journalism is an article in
tho Bankers' Magazine encomiastic
of Senator Wolcott of Colorado. The
Colorado sport's walk and conversation,
private and political, are sufficiently
well known to need no extended -description.
But what shall be said of a
reputable and usually trustworthy pub
lication, descending to apply to Wolcott
such terms as "a man of logical na
ture," "energy and ability," "refusal to
stultify himself," "a man of such emi
nent ability," "an honor to the state,"
"maintenance of his own convictions,"
etc.? It would be Interesting to know
whether the Bankers' Magazine has
ever seen Mr. Wolcott or ever observed
the phenomena of his career, or
failing in this, whence it has obtained
the Information upon which its pen
picture is based. A painful surmise, but
one that cannot be banished is that the
Senator owes his writeup to Influences
exerted by some of the great corpora
tions he so brilliantly and unscrupu
lously serves.
Several Bryan papers in Oregon and
Washington have complacently printed
the statement that "Colonel Thomas, of
Cincinnati, has organized a dub, re
stricted to Palmer and Buckner voters
in 1896, who are pledged to support
Bryan and Stevenson this FalL" The
number of Clnclnnatians who are en
rolled in this club is variously stated
one paper getting it up to 3000, and
another printing it as low as 353. Un
questionably the Bryanltes find the
news a pleasing exception to-the reports
that come from the country generally.
The item has but one fault it is lack
ing in truth. Cincinnati did not cast
3000 votes, nor 353, for Palmer and
Buckner. Their total vote in Hamilton
County of which Cincinnati is the seat
was but 191. McKlnley beat Bryan in
the county by 15.5S4 votes. A decrease
of the majority to 15,393 is hardly worth
the Jubilation which the Bryan papers
have accorded the prospect
The Denver News, now perhaps the
leading silver organ, will not have it
that Bryan, if elected, could not over
throw the gold standard. It says, on the
contrary, his election would surely over
throw it:
It Is not true that be Senate is an impreg
nable stronghold of the money ring; It lo not
true that the allied silver forces cannot capture
the House; it is not true that Mr. Bryan as
President would be helpless unless he had
Congress with him. By carrying for silver
only those states which voted for it in 1890
the gold majority in the Sena to would be re
duced to two. The gold standard was forced
upon tha country by a gold-standard President
in the face of & Congress opposed to It, and it
can be forced off the country br a silver Presi
dent, even though Congress be opposed to him.
The more truth there is in this ut
terance, the greater the menace involved
in Bryan's election.
The tremendous power of the heat
upon persons of low vitality is shown
in the frightful mortality among young
children in New York during the past
few days. Forty little bodies awaiting
sepulture in the morgue at Bellevue
Hospital at one time presented a record
of infantile suffering, happily ended,
the pathos of which the suffering, not
the end makes shuddering appeal to
human sympathy. The intensity of
heat that has caused wholesale pros
trations and many deaths Is not unpre
cedented in. the cities, American and
European, where they are now re
corded, but on the Pacific Coast it i3
practically unknown.
It Is to Chairman Hanna's credit that
he has incurred the odium of Quay or
gans in Philadelphia by his studious ig
noring of the Pennsylvania boss. It is
evidence, also, that the astute chair
man does not regard Quay as the heroic
figure and indispensable factor in Na
tional politics his friends conceive him.
The National committee will be stronger
through Quay's absence from it and
Mr. Hanna will move up a notch in
popular estimation.
This is the way the New York World
is "supporting Bryan." The extract is
from the issue of Tuesday, July 17:
Is there not, as the World has said, "a
e&rdonio humor, a preposterous paradox in
politics, in tho fact that the Democratic party
risks its very life and puts in peril tho Integ
rity of our free Institutions upon an issue
not desired by Democrats and not involved
in the election, but forced upon it to please a
small and contemptible faction of Silver Re
publicans" who, it appears, to add to the
grim Irony of the situation, refuse after all to
be pleased?
Nebraska affords a striking illustra
tion of the effective work of Colonel
Bryan is building up the Democratic
party. Under his capable leadership,
hi3 party is so nearly eliminated in his
state that it gets the politically unim
portant office of Attorney-General in
a fusion with the Populists, who take
the important places on the ticket be
cause they have reduced the Democracy
almost to a reminiscence.
The Oregonian is not afraid of "Im
perialism," and it thinks those who are
shouting about It are not afraid of it
They are merely in want of a campaign
cry. Nobody, in fact, believes that
through retention of the recently ac
quired islands we are in danger of "los
ing our liberties," or of "drifting Into
an imperial despotism." To be silly and
ridiculous, and yet be serious, is a hard
matter.
This is a bad season in Eastern Wash
ington for the hobo. Farmers in the
Palouse country are reported to be hir
ing not only every available man who
comes along, but are watching freight
trains to rout the "tourist" from box
car and breakbeam with an offer of
enticing wages to work in harvest
fields and help save the wheat crop.
Among prosperity items is the report
that "Wheat Chart" Jones' has an offer
of $10,000 a year as attorney for a Spo
kane corporation. Some of his admirers
express doubt that he will desert the
plain people for the ranks of plutocracy.
"Bryanarchy" is a term coined by
J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska; Presi
dent Cleveland's Secretary of Agricul
ture. He defines It as the anarchy that
Is attempting to do business under the
name of Democracy.
The Silver Menace.
The New York Journal of Commerce
follows Professor Loughlln ln-tiot being
satisfied that tho Nation Is. by the late
currency law, fully protected against dan
gers from silver. It calls to mind that
tho Senate amended the measure objec
tionably when it came to that body from
the House. The Journal of Commerce
says that:
Tho now law in effect makes the
United States notes and the Treasury
notes gold certificates, but it provides for
the substitution of silver certificates for
the Treasury notes, and it provides no
means for keeping the silver dollars at
par In gold. There have been colneo.
90.000.000 silver dollars. Of these 15.O0Q.000
belong to the Government and (37,000,000
are In private hands. The remaining
OS,000,000 are stored In the Treasury, and
represented by certificates In circulation.
Mr. Bryan is pledged to the payment of
Government obligations in silver. He
would have, as the Treasury now stands,
J15.O0O.O0O to begin with. But In the fiscal
year 1KJ9 the Government received $666,
49,0(1 In silver certificates, and paid out
$71,072,273. It need not have paid out tho
certificates; it might have disbursed the
dollars. It is true that the recipients
might have redeposlted the coin and
taken out certificates, but they could get
no gold, or notes redeemable In gold, if
they demanded them. The Treasury
would exercise It option of paying in
silver. The redemption department might
be redeeming1 United States notes In gold,
and even selling bonds for gold to main
tain the process, if a sllverite Attorney-General
and Secretary of the Treas
ury could find no way out of this, but the
fiscal department would be refusing gold,
and refusing United States notes so long
as It had legal tender silver dollars to
pay out What do the sdund-money men,
who imagine It la perfectly safe to Vote
for Mr. Bryan, suppose would be the re
sult of1 such a management of the Treas
ury? THE BRYAN DOLLAR PERIL.
Probable Effect of tbe Election of
the Xebraslcnn to the Presidency.
Matthew Marshall In New York Sun.
Hitherto we have been able to keep at
par with gold the 606.000.toO of silver dol
lars already coined, because they are re
ceived by the Government at par in the
payment of customs and public dues.
Probably, too, we shall be able to main
tain them at par after they reach the
volume of 610,000,000, but if by the elec
tion of Mr. Bryan with a sllverite Con
gress at his back, the mints are to be
opened to the coinage of as many more
dollars as the silver In the world will
permit. It will be Impossible. Tho sur
plus production of the world's silver
mines, even at the present low price of
the metal. Is 150.000,000 ounces a year, ana
both Germany and France 'have on hand
large stocks of It which they would be
quick to exchange for our gold at the
ratio of 16 to 1. That we should be
swamped with silver, until by the pro
cess gold had gone to 200 and over, Is
therefore a dead certainty.
This result would come the sooner. If,
as is probable, a sllverite Administration
should enact the issue of silver certifi
cates directly against deposits of sliver
bullion, without waiting for It to be
coined. This measure was proposed In
1S31, and was defeated only by the strenu
ous opposition of the financiers of New
York and other centers. Its purpose,
then, was to secure at once the seignior
age on the silver purchased under the
Sherman act, and though Its evil ten
dency was overrated, it might have dono
considerable mischief by the alarm it
would have caused. If adopted now. It
would be sure to Increase our silver
currency as fast as the, Treasury presses
could work, and tho suspension of gold
payments would follow almost Immediate-
My.
Herein consists the peril with which
the country Is threatened by the Demo
cratic party. They propose to reduce, as
in the twinkling of an eye, by more than
one-half, the value of all contracts for
the payment of money not specifically
payable In gold. The wages of labor, and
the thousands of millions of savings of
the industrious and thrifty poor would
suffer the same fate as tho accumula
tions of the rich. The rich, indeed, would
not submit to be despoiled without re
sistance. As soon as It became known
that on March 4, 1S01, Mr. Bryan would
be President, and a Bryanlte Congress
could be called together In extra session
to pass an unlimited sliver coinage act,
even holder of securities liable to be paid
In silver would hasten to turn them Into
gold at the best price obtainable, and a
monetary panic would ensue, more vio
lent than any which the country has ever
experienced.
Reaping the "Whirlwind.
Philadelphia North American.
England and Germany have been selling
rifles, cannon and ammunition to the Chi
nese and teaching them the trade of war
for several years, and European engi
neers, mechanics and military experts
have established arsenals and arms facto
ries, built fortifications, installed artil
lery and trained the Chinese to do these
things for themselves. Commerce has
been promoted, and England and Ger
many havo made a big profit out of their
industrial and military missionary work.
It Is not improbable that some enterpris
ing American business concerns have
turned an honest penny now and then
by patriotically supplying the Chinese
with cartridges and repeating rifles.
That was "business," but it was amaz
ing Idiocy and sowing of the wind, and
now comes the reaping of the whirlwind,
and after all the harm has been done and
all the Infamous profit made tbe powers
solemnly agree not to sell any more mu
nitions of war to the Chinese. They will
have to watch their arms and ammuni
tion merchants like hawks to make their
agrement effective, for the ethics of trade
are so fearfully and wonderfully defined
that a business man Is not deemed a trea
sonable villain for supplying an enemy of
his country with war material prior to
formal declaration of hostilities. Ap. Eng
lish firm In which the .Chamberlain fam
ily is heavily Interested sold powder to
the Boers up to the opening of war, but it
has not been suggested that tho Cham
berlains should be hanged.
The Inane In n Nutshell. '
New York Financial Chronicle.
What we desired to suggest was that
the 16-to-l idea as offered to the public
today calls for a complete revolution In
our currency system without a show of
reason for doing It We are thereby con
fronted, at a moment of great prosper
ity, by the ridiculous proposal to make
a change In our monetary arrangements
under which, as they now exist we have
enjoyed, and are enjoying, a period of
prosperity scarcely ever before equaled,
and to accept and substitute another sys
tem of which tho very best that can bo
claimed for It by any one Is that It Is
experimental. That is to say, we are
celled upon to risk the buoyancy and In
dustrial progress now so manifest upon
a desperate and blind venture. The real
situation is, of course, even worse than
that We were speaking of this risk
from the standpoint of the silver advo
cato enlightened as to our gold currency
by tho last two years' experience. From
the sound-money status tho free coinage
of silver means a wide catastrophe en
gulfing for a cycle of years, and until
our gold standard Is reinstated, all our
Industries. Hence the venture becomes
deadly, however viewed, the country be
ing in the position of tho victim accept
ing the proposal of the sharper, made
something after the fashion, "tails I win;
heads you lose."
ThnnkH, Gentle Critic.
Catholic Sentinel.
The Sentinel Is radically opposed to
Tho Morning Oregonian, so far as its
political policy as well as other things
as enunciated In Its editorial columns Is
concerned, but like thousands of readers
of all political faiths it approaches its
nows columns without fear of taint or
deception. During tho two great conven
tions the big dally had Its managing ed
itor in attendance as a special represen
tative, and his dispatches showed that
he had the full confidence of both the
Oregon delegations Republican and Dem
ocrats a confidence that he did not
abuse, every intelligent reader will ad
mit The point is this, that honesty Is
the best policy In all things, cleanliness
Is better than dirt, and when both paper
and man can command such confidence
from political opponents and others, they
are not Immodest If they lay claims to
success.
Piatt Something Like Gibbon.
New York Evening Post
"The greatest care is to be taken in
the nomination of candidates for the
Senate and Assembly." This Is an official
announcement as the ukase comes from
Piatt himself. He will relieve the various
conventions of all needless vexation by
naming the candidates for them. Every
lesser Republican may go away for a
long vacation with a clear conscience,
certain that on his return In September,
the ticket for which he is to take off
his coat and help roll up a big majority,
will all have been kindly arranged for
him by the boss. There will lurk In some
minds, however, a suspicion that the
"care" which Piatt is taking in the selec
tion of his next Assembly and Senate
does not relate strictly to the public ln-
terest Of course, it has . now become
difficult for Piatt to distinguish between
his own Interest and that of the state.
Walter Bagehot said' that Gibbon con
founded his own personality with that of
the Roman Empire; and It would not be
strange If Piatt when he takes oath to
see that the Republic suffers no harm,
thinks he will piously perform his vow
If he takes care that he does himself no
harm. At any rate, the "care" he Is now
exercising In determining the nominees
who are to bo named by the respective
conventions In due time with great spon
taneity and enthusiasm, Is fair warning
that he expects a great deal of "political
business" to be transacted by the next
Legislature. What with the Franchise
Tax to be repealed or eviscerated, and
other legislation to be provided for be
forehand. It Is obvious that he will need
a body of picked men. He Is now doing
the picking.
Support of Bryan.
New York World, Dem.
In his heart Mr. Bryan doubtless knows
that New York cannot be carried for cheap
and dishonest money, and that whatever
chance the Democrats had to carry it on
the issue of Imperialism Is destroyed by
tho worse than Imperial bosslsm- of Cro
ker In this city and the Tammany taint
In the odious Ice trust Taking this view
Is It not possible that even on the plane
of practical politics, Mr. Bryan may be
wise In dismissing with disdain the Idea
of trying to carry New York under such
circumstances, and In looking for elec
toral votes elsewhere?
"Was It an Error?
San Francisco Wave.
At a time when every man, woman
and . child In Colorado Springs was In
vesting In mining stock and almost every
roan, woman and child had been badlv
bitten, It happened that a certain ml.v
owner and stock manipulator died sud
denly. Tho local paper held the press to
put In an i,count of his death, headed,
"Death Lovus u. Shining Mark," but when
It came out the people with whom he
had had his business dealings were sur
prised and pleated to read, "Death Loves
a Mining Shark."
Want a Rest.
New York Press.
A stalwart Republican making pur
chases In an uptown dry goods store
happened to met Mike, the porter, and
the political microbe In the air tempted
him to ask: "Mike, how do you feel about
the election?" "Bryan, for shrue!" said
Mike. "But Mike, are you going to vote
for Bryan?" "Shrue I am, sor." "Why,
are you going to vote for Bryan, Mike?"
Mark tha sage reply: "Oh, begorra, I have
had work for four years, an' I want a
rest"
A Southern Declaration.
Memphis Commercial-Appeal, Dem.
Tho Democratic party Is not In favor of
abandoning territory that came to us as
tho legitimate spoils of a war which tho
Democratic party forced upon the coun
try, or territory that came to us by treaty
and purchase which were recommended,
ratified and indorsed by Democratic lead
ers The Cose Exactly Stated.
Richmond Times, Dem.
In vain will the Democrats seek to
make Imperialism the "paramount Issue."
Imperialism, so far as the Republican
platform Is concerned, a3 an assumption;
free sliver, so far as the Democratic plat
form Is concerned, is a positive declara
tion. MEX AND WOMEJf.
Senator Depew's success as a young lawyer
was speedy. In the second bIi months of his
practice ho made $000.
Professor Vambery, tho celebrated authority
on Oriental subjects, has received an invita
tion from the Sultan Abdul Harold to pay a.
visit to Constantinople.
George C Boldt, proprietor of the Waldorf
Astoria, has been ill in London with "neuritis,
and has been under treatment by Sir William
Gower. He Js rapidly regaining his strength,
and expects to leave for the Continent in & fow
days.
Tho Octogenarian Association of Iowa re
cently had a picnic in Union Park. Dcs
Moines, which was attended by 60 members.
X. A. Bacon, of Dos Moines, the oldest mem
ber Of the association, is in his 101st year.
J. O. Schmldlapp, of Cincinnati, bos made
on offer to the trustees of the Cincinnati Art
Museum of $100,000 to build a wing to the
museum as a memorial of his wife and daugh
ter, who wero killed in a railroad accident last
Spring near Kansas City.
Captain W. Bado Dl Wismar. the well
known explorer, is organizing an expedition to
start next month for Franz Josef Land, to seek
traces of Andree. and to obtain intelligence of
the Duke of Abruzzl. Comello Manzl. the
Italian writer and traveler, will accompany
tho party.
A Kansas City baker, Arcangelo Defeo by
name, has brought suit against Mrs. Sila
Abbondanetto for $2000 damages for spreading
a report that he kneaded his bread with his
feet, which Mr. Defeo regards an slanderous.
The defendant says that at the trial sho will
put in bread with footprints en tt.
Professor Max Muller, in a recent Interview,
said: "I lost very little time on novels before
my illness. Now I delight in them. Not that
I read them extensively myself. They are
read to me. The old novels are very good.
I am never tired of Sir Walter Scott, but mod
em Action is mostly Tery poor stuff."
Julia Marlowe Indignantly denies tho truth of
a paragraph going the rounds of tho press,
and which represents her as saying that she Is
tired of the goody, goody dramas, and that
sho intends to play the "Saphos," tho "Zazas"
and the "Becky Sharps." Sho says she is ut
terly at a loss to Imagine the source from
which this paragraph emanates, as sho is tho
last person to give expression to such ideas,
and that her intention Is rather to present the
higher forms of the classic and poetic drama
to enter a field In which sho haa never sought
recognition. She assures those interested in
her work that her futuro productions will be
made with the best hope and highest purpose
of tho stage in view.
Tbe Village Blaclcnmltb.
Henry W. Longfelaiw.
Under a spreading chestnut trea
The village smithy stands.
Tho smith, a mighty man is he.
With large and sinewy bands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black and long
His face Is like the tan:
His brow is wet with honest sweat
He earns whate'er he can.
And looks the whole world in the face
For he owes not any man.
Week In, week out, from, morn till night.
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge.
With measured beat and slow;
Like a sexton ringing the village bell.
When the eening sun is low.
And'children coming home from school.
Look In at tho open door;
They love to see tho flaming forge.
And hear the bellows roar.
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Llko chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to tho church.
And sits among his boyj
Ho hears tho parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice.
Singing In the village choir.
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him llko her mother's voice.
Singing In Paradise!
He needs must think of her one more.
How In the grave sho lies.
And with his hard, rough hand ho wipes,
A tear out of hl9 eyes.
Tolling rejoicing sorrowing.
Onward throurh life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin.
Each evening sees It close;
Something attempted, something done.
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at tho flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must tte wrought;
Thus on its soundlns anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
There will be no danger of an attack;
on the Chinese In Tacoma. t
Stevenson will seek the bauble reputa
tion even In Bryan's mouth.
Mr. Hearst's new Chicago paper haa
plenty of local color, especially yellow.
We do not like this sample of Eastern
weather. Let's try some more of our own
kind.
Anyway, we needn't worry because tha
man next door won't shovel the snow oft
his walk.
No, Muriel, Brussels carpets are not
made of Belgian hairs. You have mixed
geography and zoology.
Somebody was wounded In a duel with
Prince Castellane the other day, but it
was probably only in his feelings.
To bow to sraven images.
The Chinese Queen delights.
Because, like other women, sho
Must have her woman's rites.
The men who were mentioned for the
"Vice-Presidency are now sleeping In dull,
cold obscurity, where no mention of them
more must be heard of.
So many specimens of bugs, worms,
files, etc, supposed to be Insect pests,
havo been sent to The Oregonian for Iden
tification this season that the young man
who has been acting temporarily as bug
ologlst Is beginning to see things crawl
ing over his copy paper, and although
strictly temperate, sometimes Imagines
he Is "getting 'em." The last shipment
of this kind which has come to hand con
sists of a number of handsome and plump
worms or caterpillars Inclosed In a small
vial, which contained only a homeo
pathic dose of air for them, and conse
quently they are dead. They are labeled
"clover worms," and their well-nourished
condition speaks well for the clover they
fed on. They are member of the great
army of worms now progressing through
several sections of the Northwest, and
are, therefore, to be designate as army
worms. They should make excellent bait
for fisherman, but perhaps might not suit
the fish. It Is to be hoped that the day
of Insect pests of all sorts will soon come
to an end.
The bicycle has ceased to be a novelty,
and has come Into such general use that
some prejudiced persons consider It moro
In the nature of a nuisance. This, how
ever, does not affect the general result
as all sorts of people ride it
and use It for all kinds of pur
poses practicable. Some have bi
cycles arranged for carrying heavy loads,
some for carrying a woman behind tho
rldr or a child before, and they are
used for many strange purposes, but an
old citizen, who was out In Washington
County a few evenings ago, saw a girl
scorching about In a pasture on a bicycle
and rounding up a herd of cows to drive
home, and he thinks that the strangest
use he has seen a bicycle put to yet
When a boy he says he used to have to
drive home the cows every night from a
New Hampshire pasture, but he had to
race around on foot to get them together,
and the perverse brutes were generally
scattered all over the pasture, or, if
most of them were near the "bars," ono
contumacious old beast would be suro
to be away at the further end. He used
to wish for wlng3 to help him get around
after these cows, but he never dreamed
of a bicycle. When he first reached
this Coast, he was somewhat astonished
to see the lamplighters, pig-drivers and
newspaper-carriers following their occu
pations on horseback, but none of these
things struck him as so funny as did
the sight of the barefooted farmer's
daughter herding cows on a bicycle.
When you're kind o gettln tired of tho hot
an' dusty town.
When tho mercury's a-ralsln an the sun's a-
beatin' down.
You can shet your eyes and listen for a voico
that's in the air.
Glvin' you an invitation to git up an' go
somewhere.
Seems to float on all tho breezes, seems to
come from every tree,
"Juat forglt the sticky het-up town, an coma
away to me."
You kin sea them, when you shet your eyes, the
shady, woodsy nooks.
You can hear the tinklin' music of the purlin
mountain brooks.
You can hear the birds a-chlrpln when they
snuggles down to rest.
And the sun, a blaze o glory, paints tho moun
tains in the west.
An" they all Jlne in together, fur to sing to
you on' me,
"Leave the hot olo town behind you, an Jus
co mo away to me."
Or perhaps you'll hear a-beatin on tha ehinln
sandy ihore.
The drummln' of the ocean, an you'll listen
to its roar,
Whllo you pee the gleamln breakers throwhV
rainbows at the sun.
Or curlln' in to strike tho shore, an'smoshin'
one by one,
An' you listen to their chorus, while you hear
the gray oIp sea.
Say, "Jus leave tha drled-up town behind,
and come away to me."
You can hear 'em all about you, voices stngln
in tho air.
If you shet your eyes an listen, you will
know that they are there;
From the woods an from tho mountains, from
the rive-, from the shore.
Comes the whispered invitation, not to stay
in town no more;
"Don't stay tied up In tho city, throw tho
chains off an' be free.
For there's nothln that will cheer you till
you como away to me."
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAFHERS
The Other Variety. Freddie Why does a
runaway automobile cut up such capers? Cob
wlgger Because, my boy, it hasn't any horse
sense. Judge.
"I wonder," mused the shoe clerk boarder,
"who gets up all those Chinese dispatcheaT"
"I think his namo is Wun Heap LI," said tho
Cheerful Idiot. Indianapolis Press.
Ho Must Be. "Yes, he boosts that ho haa
lived nearly 70 years without ever having been
inside of a bank." "What is he? A bank
director?" Chicago Times-Herald.
"Oh, you will fight then?" gleefully cried tho
fire-eater; "namo your weapons." "Swords,"
replied the timid man. "Very good, sir."
"At twenty paces." Philadelphia Record.
"You look very bored. Bobble. Can't you
think of anything to do?" "No. I wish I
could. If I could think of something I ought
to do, and wasn't doing it, I should feel much
better.' 'Punch.
Even in Days of Yore. "Where is tho elec
trician?" yelled Noah, as he groped his way
toward the engine-room. Thus, even In tho
days of yore, was there much commotion when
the arc lights went out- Brooklyn Life.
Something Worse Jonson What do you
know about the horrors of war? Bronson I
know a lot. Jonson You don't know a thing;
you stayed at home. Bronson I know I did,
but I had to read tha yellow Journals every
day. Detroit Free Press.
Strength of Character. "Ho is a man of
great strength of character and self-control,"
"How do you know?" "Ho stopped smoking
for two weeks once without referring to tho
fact eftener than 18 or 20 times a day."
Chicago Evening Post.
Tho First Step. "What we want to do,"
said ono of the benighted nation's wise old
men. "Is to get civilized." "I know," an
ewered tho chief, "but how shall wo go about
It?" "Well, I suppose tha first step is to milt
killing people by hand and learn to us m-
1 chlnery." Washington Star.