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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1901)
THE MORNING OREGONLAN, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1901. frs vzQomc&u Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as second-class matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Rooms IOC I Business Office... CO" REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By ilail (postage prepaid). In Advance Dallj. with Sunday, per month .....$ S5 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year 7 50 Dally, with Sunday, per year 9 00 Sunday per year ........................ 2 00 The1 "Weekly, per year 1 JO The "Weekly. 3 months " To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered, Sundays excepted.lOc Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays included. POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 16-paee paper 1C to 32-page paper - Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan," not -to the namo of any Individual. Letters relating to advertis ing,, subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It without solici tation. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. Puget Sound Bureau -Captain A. Thompson, office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 9H, Tacoma Postofflce. Eastern Business Offlce VI, 48. 40 and D9 Tribune building. New York City: 403 "The Rookery." Chicago; the S. C Beckwlth special agency. Eastern representative. For sale In San Francisco by J. K. Cooper, 74C Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Gold smith Bros.. 230 Sutter street: F. "W. Pitts, 10OS Market street; Foster & Orear, Ferry news stand. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 100 So. Spring street. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street. For sale In Omaha by H. C Shears, 105 N. Sixteenth street, and Barkalow Eros., 1612 Farnam street. For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 W. Second South street. For sale In New Orleans by Ernest & Co., 115 Royal street. On file In Washington. D. C., with A. "W. Dunn, 600 14th N. W. For sale In Denver, Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 000-012 Seventh street. TODAY'S "WEATHER. Occasional rain; fresh and probably brisk southerly winds. PORTLAND, TUESDAY, MAltCH 2G. It is to be feared that our "antl-im-perlallst" friends are doing themselves great injustice in Ignoring the illus tration concerning "consent of the gov erned" offered by the Administration and Its sympathizers from the history of our own Southern States. Certain points of resemblance between their case and that of the Philippines should be explained away or else they will continue to embarrass the contention that no man Is .good enough to gov ern another without that other's con sent. The South rebelled because It wanted to go it alone. It -wanted self government. It wanted independence, It didn't like the new President, But the Nation's answer was a negative. It regarded continued union and rebuke of dismemberment as better, not only for the North, butfor the South. It set the seal of disapproval forever upon the doctrine of secession a seal that can only be broken by some such xnlsgovernment as justified the rebellion of the American colonists from Great Britain. The North proved to be the stronger. It overbore the demand of the South for self-government, just as we are overbearing today the demand of the Tagals for "self-government," The point seems established, therefore, that the desire of a portion of the United States for self-government has no historical standing for recognition. Our title to the islands is on all hands confessed to be genuine. They belong to us as much as Florida does, or Ore gon. They are In rebellion, and what ever becomes of them will be decided without regard to the abstract proposi tion that self-government is the inalien able right of every segment of a great Nation. Another analogy Is likely to be developed in the sequel. The South is glad today that it did not triumph; and the Philippines are showing In creasing satisfaction with American sovereignty. Mr. Dellenbaugh's new volume on "The North Americans of Yesterday" affords cold comfort to believers in Asiatic origins of our Indians and in voyages of Asiatics to our shores. The reasons for his skepticism are varied, but the principal one is supplied by the glacial epoch. Up to comparatively re cent times, that Is, to within 1000 years or so, travel from Siberia to North America was practically a physical impossibility. It is doubtful If Alaska permitted human life, even of the Es kimo order, before the discovery of America. It is Mr. Dellenbaugh's belief that all the tribes of the Northwest migrated thither from the south and southeast, and not within recent geo logic time from the Asiatic direction. The congestion of life in Mexico and Central America is explained, In fact, by the Intense cold that up to recent times pervaded the now temperate re gions. If migration had been by way of Behring Strait, the wanderers could hardly have made the southward Jour ney without leaving some traces of their art, but no pottery has been found between the Yukon and the Humboldt. Languages show no connection, and as for the maritime theory, Mr. Dellen baugh dismisses it as "more absurd than the other." Vessels were frail and did not venture far from the coast. The adventurous Northmen crossed the At lantic, but this Is' a different matter from supposing the conservative Mon gols to have braved the far wider Pa cific "The more the Amerinds are studied," he says, "the more homogen ous do we find them, and the more isolated from Old World Influences." It is probable that America shared in a general dispersal of the race, when land connections were far more exten sive than now but this occurred at any rate before the Ice period, which en dured from 10,000 lo 20,000 years, and prevailed on this continent as far south as the Ohio and Columbia Rivers. According to the biennial report of the Secretary of State for Oregon, 678 cor porations filed articles in his offlce at Salem in the two years ending January 31, 1900, with total capital stocks amounting to $127,283,450. Compared with four years ago, this shows an In crease of nearly 100 in the number of corporations formed, and much more than a doubling of the amount of cap ital Invested. The O. R. & N. was in corporated in July, 1896, for $35,000,000, but If we leave this single Item out of the calculation, Secretary Klncald's re port for 1895 and 1896 shows a total of 392 corporations with a capital stock of $53,000,000. This is an excellent Illustra tion of the way in which capital Is go ing Into corporations. Many of these corporations have no tangible real or personal property at all commensurate with their Income from the commufftty or -with their profits. Other states are finding- ways to reach these activities and make them bear their just propor tion of the public burdens, but no such effort is being made in Oregon. The Missouri Legislature, for example. Is now perfecting, under advice and pres sure from Governor Dockery, a measure which will tax franchise-owning cor porations upon either a fixed value of their franchise or else a percentage on their gross Income. It Is not easy to decide between various methods of tax ing corporations; but some method should be put Into operation, for the simple reason that -wealth, which under the simpler business arrangements for merly in vogue -was represented "by vis ible property, 'now escapes taxation -when Invested in the stocks and bonds of corporations whose property con sists largely In franchises, and In es tablished arrangements that enable them to do an immense business -with very little property available to the Assessor. But we must discriminate. A corpo ration Is not to be taxed merely because it is a corporation, instead of a part nership or an Individual. A railroad, or a street-car system, or an electric lighting system, or a gas plant, or a telegraph system, or a telephone sys tem, should be taxed its Just propor tion, if it Is owned by a partnership not incorporated, or by an individual. There Is one basis of taxation for the public utilities that enjoy franchises, and another and smaller basis of taxa tion for the Joint stock companies -whose special privileges under the law are perhaps" confined-to limited liabilities. Take a street-car company doing busi ness on the streets of Portland, or a telephone or gas company how large a proportion of the wealth of such a con cern consists of the franchise It enjoys, which cost it nothing originally, but which Is now of great value and is cer tain to become In time of immense value? Upon this Important part of Its assets and earning power it pays no tax whatever, notwithstanding the great benefit it derives from the public, and the large revenue the city could derive fr6m such franchises if it were to take possession of them and hire them out for annual rentals. A moment's reflec tion will show that In this escape from taxation may be found a profound cause of the heavy -burden under which- both real and personal property struggles in its effort to provide as it always used to do the revenues of state, county and city. Of the various meas ures proposed, taxation of gross receipts is doubtless the most equitable, for capital stock might be far over or un der the concern's earning power. It Is no defense to such a law that a con cern Is not making money. Unprofita ble real estate and unsuccessful busi ness houses have to pay taxes, and the Incomes of profitless corporations are rightfully no more exempt. INTELLIGENCE FALSE TO ITS DUTY". The other day a negro was promptly lynched in Tennessee when the jury failed to convict him, and a negro woman In another part of Tennessee about the same time was taken by a mob and shot to death on suspicion of being an accomplice In a small theft. This unrestrained habit of mob murder 'at the South has grown fat on what It has fed. and from lynching negroes ac cused of rape and murder It has come to be a common thing to lynch a negro accused of a small offense. Negroes have been murdered by a mob for whipping a white man in a fair fist fight; they have been murdered for re fusing to disclose t,he hiding-place of a friend the mob was seeking to mur der. They have been murdered when identification with the guilty not only utterly failed, but was solemnly denied by the victim of the assault The able negro editor of the New York Age, Thomas F. Fortune, is right when he says that the lynching habit has be come a disease whose contagion is re sponsible for the Increase of lynching in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; is responsible for the negro riots in New York City. There Is only one remedy forthls frightful disease. The representatives of intelligent public opinion at the North and the South must resume the natural leadership that they have abdicated. There are hundreds of Intelligent Influential men at the South who are responsible by their indifference for the multiplication of mob murders. These men can stop this practice of mob murders if they wish. So. too, at the North. The crim inal indifference of the natural leaders of public opinion to mob murders has made them possible. It is a trite but sound saying that in the long run moral outrages are economic errors. History Is full of proof of It Slavery was conceded to be a viola tion of moral justice not only by Lin coln and Henry Clay, but by Robert E. Lee. Has it not been proved by the awful object-lesson of our Civil War to have been a terrible economic blunder, whose evil consequences are not yet abated? The moral outrage of human justice by tyrants has always been In flicted at terrible ultimate economic dis asters. The price that the world has always paid In the long run for Inflict ing or permitting moral outrage to be wrought Is the price that we shall surely pay If we continue our indiffer ence to the growth of the lynching habit at the South and the North. We shall finally be worried to death by the same pack of howling dogs that we suffer the mob to turn loose on the ob jects of their fury. In no very long time we shall have the same prevalence of mob law that exists in Sicily, where, under the rule of the Mafia, Individuals take the law Into their own hands with the approval and connivance of their neighbors. The Mafia stands for the primitive social instinct of dislike for law and order, opposition and hatred for those In authority. This Sicilian Mafia substitutes for the lawful courts the execution of the decrees of a body as secret and deadly as the Holy Vehme of the Middle Ages. From lynching an accused negro for murder the Southern mob has reached a point where white men are victims of Judge Lynch. Ne groes are now lynched for petty thefts where once they were lynched for only capital crimes. Of course it is easy lo say, "I don't care what happens, so long as It doesn't happen to mc." But just there lies the trouble, our easy-going friend. It does really happen to you; It does really happen to us all, when ever the mob becomes satisfied that they, with impunity, can doom men to death, to loss of liberty or property, without due process of law. If the intelligent, intellectual leaders of society through selfish, seu&eless in- dlfferentism continue to permit mob murders to multiply, some day we shall have a Jack Cade ordering some one robbed of life or liberty or property because he has become odious through his wealth or his political opinions. Cade hanged a clerk because he could read and write; and he beheaded Ix)rd Say because he could speak French, had erected a grammar school and a paper mill, and introduced printing. We may be sure that in due time the mob we have permitted to work Its evil, ferocious will on the negro will subvert the state. We shall have a Mafia prac tically all about us like an atmosphere, and when the white bulldog has worried the life out of the poor, miserable black sheep he will have acquired a taste for free mutton, whether under a black or a white pelt, and he will hunt some other flock that Is defenseless, so finally your sheep-kllllng dog will be the an archist dictator to well-bred society of the price of its life. The negro may be ground down to the earth through this ferocious per secution by land pirates; he may disap pear, even as the Indian has, In North America, and the Polynesian In the islands of the Pacific, but even then we who, in defiance of our best lights, have permitted mob law to work Its cruel will, will not escape dire punishment; for the ferocious elements that have been permitted to hang and burn the negro without due process of law' will sooner or later make the natural lead ers of society who have winked at mob rule to deplore their lndlfferentlsm In the sackcloth of repentance and the ashes of disaster and defeat. Economic retribution followed the mordl outrage of slavery; and we shall surely pay a bitter price for whistling down the wind the moral injustice of suffering 'the mob to shoot, hang and burn a negro on any pretext with Impunity. The wretches who rule these mobs may yet make an atmosphere In which equal rights under law will not be secure, even for white men. JEFFERSOXI-AN SIMPLICITY. The Woman's Tribune says: Did you ever read about the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson? How President Adams left Washington that day, and Jefferson rode on horseback over from Montlcello without es cort, and unattended went to the Capitol to take the oath? The Woman's Tribune ought to know better than to repeat this story, which is a fabrication composed years after Jefferson's induction Into office. Here Is what the Philadelphia Aurora of March 11, 1801, said about the Inaugu ration: , A discharge from the company of "Washing ton Artillery ushered in the day, and about 10 o'clock the Alexandria company of rifle man, with the company of artillery,' paraded In front of the President's lodgings. At 12 o'clock Thomas Jefferson, attended by a num ber of lils fellow-citizens, among whom -were many members of Congress, repaired to the Capitol. His dress was, as usual, that of a plain citizen, without any distinctive badge of offlce. He entered the Capitol under a dis charge from the- artillery. ... As -soon as he withdrew a discharge of artillery was. made. The remainder of the day was devoted to purposes of festivity, and at night there was a pretty general illumination. John Davis, an Englishman, who wrote a book of travels about the United States, was the author of the tale that Jefferson rode all alone to the Capitol, went In unattended and began his duties. Davis declared that lie was an eye-witness of the scene, but it has been proven that he was not In Washington at the time. Jeffer son was anything but a man of sim plicity of character or demopratlc hab its. His habits at home were luxuri ous; he dined off silver plate; gave fine dinners and lived most expensively. He spent 5S000 for Madeira wine alone dur ing his eight years of life In the White House. He was.a man of Parisian pol ish of manners; was never at loss for a well-turned compliment when a hand some woman was presented to him at his Presidential levees; he was the best read and most cultivated man of all the leading politicians of his time. , "Jeffersonlan simplicity" Is a political myth. The only inauguration that was marked by any democratic simplicity In any of Its coincidents was that of Andrew Jackson, in 1829. When Jack son read his address to the 10,000 peo ple assembled, in order to restrain them from embracing him It was necessary to use an Immense chain, which kept them back from the portico of the east front of the Capitol, where he stood. The festivities which followed at the White House were notable for the In vasion of a vulgar crowd of hungry, thirsty, "half horse, half alligator" admirers of Jackson from the South and Southwest, who ate and drank like pigs, smashed chinaware, glass and fur niture, swilled champagne from large water 'goblets, and In general behaved In a scandalous manner. The crowd was too great to be .accommodated In the house, so great tubs of whisky punch were placed in the yard to sat isfy the thirst of the outsiders. Jack son Tilmself was a man of dignified manners and courteous address, a man of sobriety, who made, so excellent an impression on Daniel Webster that he wrote his wife coricernlng him in terms of very high respect, but Jackson's con stituency unquestionably represented, from some parts of the West and South, a very rough school of American life and manners. ''Democratic simplicity" had no real existence In Jefferson's day, but it did put in a most picturesque appearance when Andrew Jackson was inaugurated. GROWTH IX "WHEAT ACREAGE. That vast region of but partially de veloped wealth, somewhat vaguely known as the "Inland Empire," "East of the Mountains," or the "Upper Coun try," Is right In line, with the rest of the Pacific Coast In the expansion pol icy. The early settlers In that favored region naturally selected the best lands obtainable for agricultural purposes. These lands, even under the most care less and slipshod methods of farming, have made fortunes for many of their owners; afforded a good living to oth ers, and have proved disappointing to but few. As these select lands were appropriated, the later comers were forced back on second choice, inferior quality not always Implied by this term, but more remote locations ren dering the lands less desirable. " The wheatgrower In the less favored portions of the San Joaquin Valley, in California, considers eight to ten bush els of wheat per acre a good crop, and there are many localities In the bleak Dakotas, and even In Kansas, where similar results are considered satisfac tory. Under such circumstances It is but natural that there should be a growing demand in the Pacific North west for light lands, which, even ir the poor years, are almost certain to turn off a crop of tweive to fifteen bushels to the acre, and during a year when moisture Is plentiful, as wa3 the case last year, may increase this amount to forty and fifty bushels to the acre. There are still hundreds of thousands of acres of idle land In Oregon and Washington, adapted to wheatgrowlng, and it Is not at all Improbable that the present production of 30,000,000 to 35,000, 000 bushels per year will be increased to twice that amount. Heavy sales of lands are reported In what Is known as the Horse Heaven country, lying between the Columbia River and the main line of the North ern Pacific Railroad. Up to a short time ago these lands have generally been regarded as unsuitable for the production of wheat, on account of the scarcity of moisture. It has been dem onstrated, however, that there Is a much greater amount of moisture through that region than there is In many portions of the San Joaquin Val ley. It has. In fact, produced wheat running as high as twenty-seven bush els to the acre. This year the wheat acreage In that section will be Increased several thousand acres, and there will also be an Increase in the light lands in other portions of the Northwest. It may not be possible for the wheat grower In the Pacific Northwest to pro duce wheat as cheaply as It can be pro duced by the Californlans who work the light lands of the San Joaquin on an extensive scale, but even the poorest land that will be worked in Oregon and Washington will turn off so much better crops than are secured by the Calif ornians that there Is a margin of profit In the operation, and we can ac cordingly expect a steady increase In the amount of the cereal grown In the Inland Empire. This increase will more than offset the loss In the wheat yield occasioned by the increase In diversified farming in the Willamette Valley. Wheat Is still king in the Pacific North west, and every additional acre of It adds to the general prosperity of the two states so vitally Interested In its production. Nicholas, Emperor of all the Rus sians, is In daily, perhaps hourly, dan ger of his life. Though a mild-mannered young man, of kindly and sympa thetic nature; earnestly desiring the good of his people and the advancement of his empire, he is hated by a fac tion of his subjects because he Is their ruler, and by a multitude of malcon tents throughout Europe because he was born to Imperial station. The spirit in which the inoffensive Elizabeth, Em press of Austria, was hunted to her death, and that which struck Humbert of Italy down, is as malignant as un reasoning, and men possessed of It haunt the monarchies of Europe today, insane with the desire to kill their rul ers. To temporize with this spirit 13 folly; to eradicate by force, Impossible. The heritage of ages of oppression, it has come down to Russia from the times of Ivan the Terrible and those of the remorseless Catharine, and to Ger many from that of the irascible and im placable Frederick William L It may we"ar Itself out through the passing years, but in the meantime monarchs must look to their safety without ever being sure of it, and pay for pomp and power the fearful price of unrest, dan ger and possible death by violence, fixed upon It by their ancestors 'and perpetuated from generation to genera tion by the unreason of hereditary hatred. The Czar, more fortunate than his grandfather, may die in his bed; but If so, it will be due to the unre mitting vigilance of his attendants rather than to any favor he may win as a just ruler from the 'socialistic, an archistic, nihilistic class that will be satisfied with nothing less" than his death by violence. R. R. Poole, Commissioner of Agri culture for Alabama, Is authority for the statement that many colored men of that state, who have heretofore been tenants only, are becoming owners of their own homesteads. This is in line with late assurances of Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee Institute, whose endeavor Is to bring his race up to the. self-respecting, self-supporting status that can only be reached by de velopment along Industrial lines. The negro problem cannot be settled by Statutory enactment or Presidential proclamation; it must be solved by growth, properly directed and patiently encouraged. Negroes need to acquire homes and own lands; It Is not neces sary or desirable at present that they carry elections. It may be hoped that the cowardly murderer who killed a man by a shot through a window while at supper at Hood River Saturday night will be promptly apprehended, tried, convict ed and hanged. The criminal Is be lieved to be a resident of Washington. Cowlitz County, of that state, has a recent record of prompt dealing with an assassin of this type, which Skamania County will be fortunate if able to du plicate. Of all the murderous sneaks that cupidity, jealousy or personal spite has developed, he who shoots a man through a window Is the most despica ble. It is in the Interest of law and or der, as well as of community safety, that such a criminal be brought to Jus tice with the least possible delay. Queen Victoria .has been dead but little more than two" months, but thanks for condolences that continue to be received at intervals from her suc cessor seem to refer to an event of long ago. Events crowd upon events so hurriedly as to make the records of recent yesterdays seem like ancient history. It Is thus that the thanks of King Edward conveyed to the Ca nadian Society cf New York the other day for condolence upon the death of the Queen have been outdated by the happenings of the brief interval that has elapsed since the close of the reign of Queen Victoria. A correspondent In Tien Tsin speakB of General Ballloud (French) and Gen eral Lorne-Campbell (English). By this happy use of the parenthesis all doubt as to the nationally of a commander Is cleared up, and the reader Is likely never to confuse General Elsenheimer (German) with General Kvinoschovltch (Russian) or General O'HoolIhan (Irish). Governor Pennoyer does not have to defend himself of the Harrison incident in 1891. No President has a right to go gadding round the country- Why should a President not attend to his business as well as a Governor? England and Russia will settle that Tien Tsin fracas by diplomacy. Thus, although the matter will never be set tled. It will always remain a closed Incident THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROFANITY New York Tribune. Professor G. T. W. Patrick, of the Uni versity of Iowa, recently read a paper on "Profanity" before a scientific society In Lincoln, Neb. A good deal of it was couched In technical language which can not easily be translated into popular phraseology. And some of the Ideas which he advanced will probably not receive unanimous approval from those who have studied human emotion and its expression with care. Nevertheless, the topic Is one In which a great many people besides scientists are interested. What Professor Patrick set out to do was to answer two questions: Why do men swear? And when they swear why do they use the words they do? In the first place, the variety of cir cumstances In which profanity is indulged In is pointed out. It Is characteristic of anger, a failure to find adequate expres sion in ordinary language for an emphatic statement, and an effort to stimulate workmen and horses to extra effort. And the use of oaths Is accompanied, by a pleasant feeling of relief from some plaln ful stress. On this latter point Professor Patrick quotes a sentence of J. H. Camp bell, concerning the physiology of the emotions: "The shouting and gesticula tion which accompany an outburst of pas sion act physiologically by relieving nerve tensfon, and, indeed, as Hughlings Jack son has suggested, swearing may not be without Its physiological justification." The lecturer at Lincoln elaborates the Idea still further by remarking that in the primitive and natural form of combat the whole muscular system comes into lively action, and any restraint that Is put upon this form of activity creates a necessity for other outlets. "Men In anger may perhaps be obliged to repress every overt act and every expression of emotion ex cept facial movements or some form of vocalization. Profanity Is therefore a safety valve. ... If the man did not swear he would do something worse. It may be likened to the engine blowing oft steam." Professor Patrick Insists, however, that this theory is not altogether satisfactory to him. He raises both psychological and physiological objections to it, some of which will Impress the average reader as a trifle abtruse. But he also urges that swearing is more than a mere expression of emotion. It Is designed to proauce an effect on somebody else. He traces Its origin back to the animal Instinct to fight or fly when attacked. In a primi tive stage of existence the creature would. In the former Instance, show its teeth, get its back up and spit or growl. All of this behavior, would be intended to put the enemy to flight, says. Professor Patrick, who adds: "The human analogue of the growl or roar of anger Is the profane oath." One can easily recall situations to which this explanation does not seem to apply. When a man's collar button rolls under the bed or the bureau, for Instance, and he Indulges in unparliamentary language, It can hardly be Imagined that he delib erately alms to intimidate the elusive bit of metal. Still, it may be that the Iowa professor is referring only to the evolu tion of the swearing Instinct in man, and does not intend that his theory shall ex plain each particular manifestation of It. The hypothesis advanced to account for the habit of swearing leads naturally to Professor Patrick's, explanation of the form of men's oaths, the reckless use of the names of the Deity, the saints and sacred things. Assuming that this mo tive is or was when the practice origi natedto shock or startle, It would be hard to find a better way to accomplish the object than the practice which Is for bidden by the third commandment. Here, again, the theory falls to cover all the observed facts, however accurately It may fit a few. There are some oaths the precise significance of which Is obscure. But, on the other hand, there are many which distinctly call down the curse of Heaven upon the person addressed, and are meant to do so. And It Is probable that a good deal of the swearing that Professor Patrick has in mind Is made up of contractions from what were orig inally well-defined maledictions, the most emphatic form of expressing a wish that evil, bodily or spiritual, might befall some body. There is more lp an oath of this kind than shocking the sensibilities of the subject. SLAVERY STILL IX VOGUE. Convict Leaiie System Abused In Sontli Carolina. Chicago Times-Herald. Investigation of abuses growing out of the convict lease system In South Caro lina has revealed the existence of a traf fic In negro laborers that presents all the elements of brutality that belonged to the days of slavery before the war. So far as enforced servitude under cruel task masters Is concerned, It Is even mora shocking than the slavery which was wiped out by the proclamation of Presi dent Lincoln. In response to the. demands of Judge Bennett, of Anderson, S. C, the grand jury of that county made an investiga tion of the system of bondage that was believed to be in lorce in that section of the state. The report of the Jury makes a disclosure of horrors that are astound ing to those who Imagined that slavery was abolished as an Incident of the bloody four years' struggle for the Union. The Jury found that negroes had been bought and eold; that they had been seized on the highways and kidnaped and sent to the stockades, or prison pens, where they were bound and shackled and warned that death would follow any effort to escape. Negroes sent to these stockades were sold or leased to farmers and planters, and In many Instances were brutally whipped to the point of In sensibility tor no offense whatever. Con tracts with planters stipulated that the- negroes should be worked under guard and locked up at night. That such practices could exist in any 'section of the Union In the beginning of the 20th century without attracting pub lic protests taxes credulity to the ut most. It Is easy to trace the growth of the conditions which have led to these amazing disclosures, however. The pa rent of the South Carolina prison pen or stockade Is the infamous convict lease system in force in that state. So highly did the farmers regard the plan of leas ing convicts from the state that private stockades were finally erected, and when convicts could not be obtained from the penitentiaries a price was fixed on the head of every negro who could be kid naped and thrown Into "bondage under the lash. The convict lease 6ystem is a reproach to our civilization and a disgrace to the commonwealths which tolerate it. If the states will not abolish It the Federal Gov ernment should not hesitate to resort to drastic measures to wipe It off the conti nent. Christian Barbarities in China. Savannah News. Before the invasion of China by the allies China and Japan had an exalted idea of Western civilization and respect for the Christian religion. Japanese statesmen frankly confess they have been pro foundly shocked by the conduct of the European soldiers in China and If the Japanese were shocked must not the Chinese be more firmly convinced than ever that they are much further removed from barbarism than the Europeans? Sensible Conclusion. Washington Post. After deliberate consideration of the matter, Mr. Bryan has decided that it would be undignified for him to carry Chicago for Carter Harrison. In view of last year's result In that city, it would seem that Mr. Bryan does well to permit Carter to wrestle with he Chicago voters without his assistance THE BLESSINGS OF P0YERTY. Chicago Times-Herald. The usual commonplace homilies on the "blessings of poverty" by those who are struggling strenuously to get away from the "blessings'' are of little interest to the public mind. The only person who Is competent to dissertate upon the "ad vantages" ' of poverty is he who has turned these advantages Into a large ac cumulation of Industrial stocks or the coin of the repubHc The man who has some thing to show for an early Investment in penury is assured of respectful atten tion, especially If he Is suddenly flashed before the public eyes as the head of a colossal steel trust. When Charles M. Schwab, president of the United States Steel Corporation, tells us how early poverty Is essential to suc cess and how little he could have accom plished without It, the young man with nothing but brains and brawn and good health pricks up his ears and takes a fresh start. He begins to realize that there may be something in the "poverty argument" after all, notwithstanding its temporary discomfortsand inconveniences. And the rich man's son begins to wonder how he can overcome the obstacles of Inherited wealth. Commenting on early poverty asman aid to his own success, the great steel employer says: "The rich man's son enters life's 'race with a handicap. Not only the handicap which a fortune is, because it deprives him of the necessity to progress and ex pand, but the handicap of never being able to appreciate what he has. For everything In life that Is worth while is ten times more worth while when we climb for if. "The first great blessing In my life was being born poor. The fundamental prin ciples that founded my character were the lessons wrung out of early hardships and privations and self-denials. I would not give up the experience of a boyhood barren of luxuries and paved with ob stacles for any amount of money. It would be like pulling the foundation out of a building." It would be Idle to deny the force of such testimony as this. The average boy Is prone to take these sermons upon the beauties and potencies of poverty cum grano sails. The example of Mr. Scwab has been multiplied so numerously In this country, however, that the young man does not need to listen to sermonizers. He has but to look about him to see hun dreds of Schwabs somewhat lower in the financial scale. It is true In his own town. It requires no profound study of analy sis of human nature to discover the cause of the impelling power of poverty. Want and desire are the stimulus of en deavor. It takes an extraordinary man to accomplish anything if all his wants are anticipated and provided for. The hardships, inconveniences, discomforts and embarrassments of poverty stir a young man to action. His desire to pos sess the things of which he has been deprived by the accident of indigent par entage fills him with energy and determi nation, and hence poverty becomes the foundation of success. Fortunate Indeed is the young man who Is dowered with magnificent poverty." "Annnins Stood Forth." New York Tribune. Richard Stuyvesant, of Spokane, Wash., In speaking of local affairs in his home city at the Hotel Imperial yesterday said: "About 10 years ago, when Spokane's boom was creating excitement, H. H. Kohlsaat, now proprietor of the Chicago Times-Herald, began a newspaper enter prise out there, and stood sponsor for a paper called the Spokane Spokesman. Joseph French Johnson, now professor in the Columbian University at Washington, and of economics and Journalism In the University of Pennsylvania, was Installed as managing editor. Charles B. Dilling ham, at present a theatrical magnate in New York, was the city editor, and Har old C. Boke, who Is in Secretary Gage's office In the Treasury Department at Washington, was writing editorial para graphs and was conducting what he used to say. If it was regarded through friendly lenses, might be termed a funny column called SlIckens.' Among the city's offi cials was a virile character for whom the Spokesman conceived a tremendous dislike. The Spokesman believed him to be dishonest, and set out to expose his methods. Johnson arraigned him in edi torials of 'learned length and thundering soun'd.' Dillingham had with damaging Ingenuity played up the news features of his City Treasury raids, and Boke aimed his shafts at any vital spot which he saw exposed. The attack was hot and well sustained, and the Spokesman party thought they had him well on the run, and so did the people of Spokane. In fact, the success of the attack was becoming town talk, when on fine day the city offi cial turned on those who sought to harass him, and at one fell swoop he upset them all. He was a member at this time of the City Council. Addressing that body, he said: 'Gentlemen, I have long been a student of the Scriptures, but never until recently was I able to fathom the meaning of the statement, "And Ananias stood forth." But now a great light has dawned upon me. Now I know the mean ing. Joseph French Johnson comes first, Charles Bancroft Dillingham comes sec ond, Harold Boke comes third, and An anias comes fourth. The Councilman had a volcanic manner, and this explosion so convulsed the Council that It adjourned in confusion." Wise Ruling-. New York Mail and Express. Secretary Root's stout resistance to the demand for the appointment of civilians as Second Lieutenants In the Army will be heartily approved by every supporter of the merit principle in the military serv ice. The Army reorganization bill express ly provides that In making such appoint ments preference shall be given to men who have served In the volunteer service since the outbreak of the Spanish War. but notwithstanding this fact Mr. Root Is overwhelmed with applications from civil ians whose persistence Is discreditable to themselves and embarrassing to the Gov ernment. The sooner these ambitious can didates for commissions get it into their heads that nearly, If not quite all, of the vacant Lleutenantcies in the regular army will be filled by promotions from the volunteer service, the better for them selves and everybody else. France's Xcyv Hero. Josh Wink In Baltimore American. Now. sins no song of the shining sword. And lilt no lay of the lance. But a paean pipe to the pistol ball Of Castellane of France. To the pistol ball that slowly curved, In the swerving: scheme- of chance. Till it came to rest with a wicked zest. And tore De Rodays' pants. For years and years have the duelists. In the land of the fleur do lis. From shocks and Jars, and battle scars. And wounds, been etrancely free. But Castellane. with his mighty arm. And, too, with his trembling knee. Broke through the mold of the custom old, And shot most wickedly. So, a glad refrain to the Castellane, Whose rage no worda could stem With his coronet all proudly set, With Ire In each bright gem. And some words of praise for poor De Ro days, Who has sore need of them. "I am shot." cried he, "Just between the knee And G o'clock A. M." Now. Hit no lay of the luring light. That leers, on the lifted lance. But praises 'pipe to the pistol ball Of Castellane of France, To Bonl. too, of the dainty airs. And the modest, shrinking glance. Who proudly raged and his wrath assuaged And tore De Rodays' pants. NOTE AND COMMENT. This seems to be March. a sort of Wagnerian Carnegie Is singularly free from compe tition in his latest enterprises. The Czar Is apparently In need of a new peace conference. The last one didn't take. TMs Is not the most pleasant weather Imaginable, but it discourages the shirt waist man. Any agreement In Morocco certainly ought to be binding, even If the Sultan doesn't think so. It begins to look as If th'e Commoner would have to offer Mexican dollars as premiums for new subscribers. Now doth John Jenkln3, gentle man. Eternally repose. Because he, thinking Spring had come. Put on Spring underclothes. There has been a mutiny in the Kan sas penitentiary. The poor convicts want ed to get outside and have a go at the strenuous life all around them. The voluntary enlistments for the Boer War are not equal to the demand. For a country which has been thdroughly sub dued, the Transvaal seems to reaulre a very large army. An Oshkosh preacher has announced his belief that good beer is better than bad water. In a day or two his front hall will be full of newspaper reporters wait ing for Mrs. Nation. Here are some answers to school exam ination questions in England: One lad. In answer to the question. "What Is a limited monarchy?" wrote thus: "A lim ited monarchy Is government by a King, who, in case of bankruptcy, would not be responsible for the entire national debt. You have the same thing in pri vate life In limited liability companies." A boy not as conversant with American as with English history wrote In answer to the question. "Who were the Pilgrim fathers?" "They were the fathers of good young men who went on the crusades to the Holy Land." "Molasses" was defined as "the American word for the little mules used to carry provisions up the Andes mountains in California." A well-known Philadelphia artist tells this story about his granddaughter, a lit tle girl of 3: The little girl, of course, says her prayers every night before she is put to bed, and Is usually, to quote her grandfather, very "long-winded" about It. First she has to say the Lord's Prayer, then the one beginning "Now I lay me down to sleep," and then comes, "Cod bless grandpa, and grandma, and papa and mamma, and Unkle George and Unkle Charlie and Aunt Kate." and so on, ad In finitum, until all the members of the family are Included. Then she says "Amen." and quickly adds: "And God bless Mary." After she had finished the other night her mother asked her why she said "amen" first, and then always added: "God bless Mary," as though it were a postscript. "Well, you know, mamma," replied the tot, "I didn't want to get her mixed up with you ladies'" It may bo unnecessary to add that Mary Is the nurse maid. Senator Cockrell, whose proud boast has been that he never came out second best In any kind of a swap met his Waterloo at the hands of a Washington faker not long ago. He had some little folks from Missouri, visiting him for the inaugura tion, and he thought It would please them to carry home some souvenir. Mr. Cock rell meandered forth, expended about $1 39 with a curbstone merchant, and carried back an armload of silver and bronze me mentos. The Senator's daughter looked at them and burst Into laughter. The Senator be came curious and demanded to know what was the matter. Then, taking up his purchases seriatim. Miss Cockrell showed him that the souvenirs were com memorative of events reaching as far back as the Centennial, but that not one of the Inauguration was in the lot. "The only consolation I had,' said the Senator afterward, "was that the medal ordered struck off by Ferdinand-and Isa bella In honor of the discovery of America was not in the collection." PLEASAXTRIES OF PAIUGItAPHEHS Not Generally. "Has your engagement been announced?" "Only Informally, to a few ene mies." Puck. High Praise. Penelope That was a fine masquerade ball, wasn't It? Perdlta-Wasn't It? I never saw you look so well in my life. Detroit Free Press. The Question Nowadays. Friend I under stand your receiving teller has skipped? Bank President (sadly) That's what! Friend-Did he leave much? Puck. Tompkins I'm afraid we haven't much for dinner today; but such as it is Cheerful Friend Don't make any excuse, old chap. Ke member, I've dined at your house beforo. Tlt Blts. His Status. He Look here, my dear. I can not afford to entertain on such a scale as you have Indulged In of late. She John. I really believe you are Just the kind of man who would be perfectly happy It you lived within your Income. Life. Something New. He I saw our old neigh bor. Mr. Skinner, today. She-Did you? What Is he doing now? He-He's Interested In ono of these wild-cat mining companies. She The ideal I never knew you had to mine for wild cats. Philadelphia Press Unnecessary Preliminaries. "I can't under stand all this preliminary talk about that duel, those Frenchmen are to fight," said the emi nent pugilist. "As I understand it, the event isn't to be pulled off under the auspices of an athletic club, and there Is to be no gate money to divide." Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph. With a Grievance. I understand you whipped my boy this morning." the angry father said, striding into the schoolroom after the children had been dismissed. "Yes. sir. I did." the terrified teacher answered. "But I did not whip him severely." "That's what I'm kicking about," he rejoined. "You didn't hurt him at all. Now. look here, sir, I'm one of the largest taxpayers In this school dis trict, and my boy Is entitled to as good a whipping as you give any other boy. Under stand that! If you slight him again, you 11 hear from me In a way you won't like. Good afternoon, sir." Chicago Tribune. A Mother's Love. Boston Journal. . When a boy Is far away from home. What pleases him the most? Whr. H'8 wh'en a letter comes to hint From mother thro the post! No matter If the silver hairs Appear upon his head. He's still his mother's boy as when Hl3 hair was carrot red! Tho' thirty years have left their marks And seared his careworn face. In mother's eyes he's yet a lad Without Time's telltale trace! Her letter thus begins: "Dear boy": It sets his heart athrlll To think that mother knows him as ' A little shaver still. A mother's love is as a charm The sesame of youth! One feels that age has naught to do With Love or Life or Truth, Whene'er he gets a letter from ' His mother far away. Who see3 naught but the guileless child. Behind the man grown gray.