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THE MOTWrSTG OEEGQNTAN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 19Q1.
he vg&omaxu
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TODAY'S WEATHER. Cloudy to partly
cloudy, with probably occasional showers; fresh
southerly winds.
PORTLAND, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
The promise of statehood was not expressed
In annexing Alaska, Hawaii, and the lately ac
quired Spanish Islands. These omissions are
without legal significance, but, excepting
the peculiar cane of AInxkn, an Arctic
desert bought to at once oblige a friendly au
tocrat and bow him out of this hemisphere,
tbey are of deep political Import. They mark
the first significant refusal to contemplate
statehood as the destiny of annexed territory.
"Law and Policy of Annexation," by C. F.
Randolph.
Mr. Kandolph is at one with the other
leading lights of anti-imperialism. An
nexation, they say, to be defensible and
permanent, must Imply statehood. That
Is what Harrison said at Ann Arbor,
that is what the Porto Kico claimants
argued before the Supreme Court, that
is thejegal ground upon which, aban
donment of the Philippines is urged.
The fact of statehood's inevitability,
they say. is established by our uniform
practice. Then they recount Florida,
Louisiana, California, Oregon, etc, al
ways excepting "the peculiar case of
Alaska." Now what is the force of an
exception in a case of this kind? The
square of the hypothenuse of a right
angled triangle Is equal to the sum
of the squares of the other two sides.
But suppose we found one right-angled
triangle, only one, whose hypothenuse
squared was either greater or less than
the squares of the other two sides
what would become of the rule? "Why,
it wouldn't stand for a moment. "We
have a rule that the man who gets a
majority of electoral votes is declared
elected and then inaugurated. But sup
pose the future historian found one case
where a man receiving a minority vote
of the college was declared elected and
inaugurated--he would be obliged, of
course, to formulate a new rule from
the circumstances that would cover all
cases. Or, let us say that after 1872 no
President has ever been re-elected at
the expiration of his first term. It
works all right till we strike McKinley,
and then it fails. The rule Is absolutely
worthless. The force and pertinence of
a rule arise out of Its uniformity. If
statehood was not compelled in the case
of Alaska by previous practice, no
more Is it compelled in the case of the
Philippines.
It is imperfect knowledge or superfi
cial reasoning that enables the Louis
ville Courier-Journal to say:
A city is entitled to exactly the fort of gov
ernment Its people want, and so is a state.
Any attempt on the part of the state to direct
the city is a blow at republican Institutions
more dangerous than the degradation of the
city boss. This Is a patent fact, and yet e
are constantly presented with the spectacle of
legislatures undertaking to regulate the most
vital affairs of the cities, with little knowl
edge of the different conditions that prevail In
town and country.
The idea is, evidently, that the coun
try members of Legislatures blunder
ingly go to work to frame city charters,
without information and advice from
the cities, whereas the people of the
city. If suffered to do so, would go to
work en masse and make a perfect
charter of their own. The facts are
opposite. The charter is passed by the
Legislature, it is true, but upon the
recommendation of the interested dele
gation, for one very natural reason if
for no other, that the Legislature is the
lawmaking poWer. The men who rep
resent the city in the Legislature are
the same men, in qualifications if not in
name, who would frame the charter if
It were framed by the city. "The peo
ple" do not frame charters any more
or less In the one case than in the
other. Charters are framed by a few
dominant efficient individuals, and it
makes little difference what the system
Is. A little difference it does, Indeed,
make; and that is enough to render
home manufacture of charters desira
ble. That is. it helps legislation to take
the work off the Legislature and com
mit It to other hands. "Wisconsin, for
example, has adopted a constitutional
amendment forbidding Legislatures to
enact city legislation. Cities and towns
have to do their own incorporating. The
result is that the total number of laws
passed has been reduced 25 per cent,
and the session laws have been reduced
In bulk more than 50 per cent. Illinois
has an arrangement greatly similar.
Even here in Oregon the general in
corporation act Introduced by Repre
sentative Ford, of Marion County, in
1893, and pushed successfully to pass
age by him at that session, shows signs
of doing the work it was intended for.
Incorporations under its provisions,
without recourse to the Legislature,
have been made by:
HoodRUer "Wasco
Beaver Hill Sumpter
Ontario lone
Antelope Granite
John Day
Drewsey
Grass Valley
Toledo
Cottage Grove
Tet if any of them got any better
charter than they could have got from
the legislature, we have not heard of
it. On grounds of economy this move
ment should be widened. In the Ore
gon session laws of 1S99 the general acts
occupy 247 pages, and the local acts 867.
Lord Lansdowne's reply is all that
could be desired by the able and sincere
friends of the Nicaragua Canal, who
wish it constructed in the time and
manner approved by the transconti
nental railroads and their British stock
holders. It Is obvious that to create a
point impassable it is important to con
centrate British opposition upon the
very. contention which is certain to be
insisted upon by Congress. Through
the help of Lord Pauncefote, and possi
bly through the help of Secretary Hay,
the British Foreign Secretary has been
enabled to locate the Irreconcilable dif
ference with remarkable discernment.
Congress Is In doubt about the Clayton
Bulwer treaty, so he makes little of
that. What Congress Is determined
about, as Its temper has clearly been
revealed in recent discussions. Is that
the United States shall have military
privileges at the canal which shall be
denied to Great Britain. If we are go
ing to build the canal, we must have
the right to protect it and to defend our
interests thereabouts. The purpose of
Congress in this respect is unmistak
able. "Whether it is right or not,
whether the provincial idea, of a canal
that Is part of the American coast line
is comparable with the grander view of
a great international highway, open to
the commerce of the world, in peace or
war all this is aside from the ques
tion, and profitless for discussion In
view of the deadlock created by the
best brains of two hemispheres. But
the fixed determination of Congress be
ing known, the course of Great Britain
Is clear. She must insist on just ex
actly what Congress will never grant.
She must ins'st on the canal's being
unimpeded in peace or war, and kept so
by the power or powers responsible for
Its control. She must expressly scout
a "one-sided arrangement" under which
the United States would enjoy greater
privileges in and near the canal than
Great Britain enjoys. She must ex
plicitly rule out even such general ad
vantages as Congress contemplates,
such as, to quote Lord Lansdowne's
exact words, would enable us "to take
any measure . . for the purpose of
protecting their National Interests."
All of which is excellent, and to the
point It would be sufficiently effective
for all practical purposes, even If we
hadn't Morgan's unfailing fund of
words In the Senate, and even IE no
one had bethought him of further clut
tering up the situation by revival of the
project at Panama.
One of the welcome events of the
year Is the annual "review of political
and municipal legislation," given in the
"Annals of the "American Academy of
Political and Social Science." For a
number of years (five, we think) this
work has been done by Mr. E. Dana
Durand, but this year the name signed
to the review is Robert H. Whltten.
The new man's work Is disappointing
in one respect, and that Is the insignifi
cant results reached by his Investiga
tion of municipal affairs. From Mr.
Durand's work it has always been pos
sible to derive trustworthy indications
of the tendency of municipal legislation.
That tendency, as everybody knows, is
in the direction of increased entrance of
the municipality upon business func
tions. Mr. Whltten'sT exhibit points the
same way, but It is very scant. He
finds that Iowa has authorized cities
and towns to establish heating plants,
Louisiana has authorized municipalities
to expropriate private gas and electric
light plants, and Texas has made it
unlawful for cities and towns to lease
or sell water systems except by vote of
the electors. A law of New Mexico giv
ing municipal power to regulate water
and light rates has been set aside, Iowa
has appointed a commission to revise
and codify municipal laws, a municipal
code bill failed to pass the Ohio Legis
lature, and New Tork has its customary
legislative wrestle with a Greater New
York charter. No exception can be
taken to the extension of lighting and
water authority to cities, reported by
Mr. Whitten. but we are aware from
other sources that the absorption of
business functions by municipalities is
going on apace. In a sense this Is dan
gerous, but it need not be so if It is
held within proper limits. That is, we
must have closer supervision and con
trol of quasi-monopolistic municipal
corporations, and we must find ways to
exact revenue from use of franchises.
The business way for a city to handle
such things is not to go Into telephone
and street-car enterprises on its own
account, but to safeguard the interests
of the public in duration and taxation
conditions of franchises. If this duty
were better discharged, we should hear
less of municipal ownership.
HAPPY IX THEIR. CHAINS.
The Russian students are natural
breeders of political sedition and riot.
Given poverty, associated with schol
astic Intelligence under an absolute
form of government, and you are sure
to have discontent and disturbance.
Over 60 per cent of the student body
in Russia are miserably poor, being
wholly or partially dependent on char
ity or educational endowments for sup
port. On the 20th of February, 1899,
the rector of the St Petersburg Uni
versity threatened its 3700 students
with the police if they should be disor
derly in celebrating the university's
"speech day," which occurs on that
date. The students tried to break
through the cordon of Cossacks be
tween them and the heart of the city,
and were beaten back with whips. An
educational strike followed all over col
legiate Russia, The government ex
pelled some of the most unruly stu
dents and imprisoned the most incen
diary. Since that date the agitation has
never really subsided, and on the 27th
of January last a disturbance occurred
in St. Petersburg, during which M.
Bogolllepoff was shot and mortally
wounded. The students are all satur
ated with the eccentric economic, po
litical, social and religious views of
Tolstoi, and are radical socialists to a
degree that would make them danger
ous members of any well-ordered so
ciety. From the ranks of students and
educated army and navy officers have
in times past been recruited the nihil
ists of Russia, Their crimes, however.
have never done any good, for the mere
killing of a Czar or a Czar's Minister of
Police does not mitigate the absolutism
of the government. Another Czar in
stantly succeeds, and the wheels of ab
solute government are not arrested for
a moment. The Russian peasantry
worship the Czar living, mourn him
dead, and rejoice in the execution of his
murderers.
Unfrocked priests, broken-down act
ors, briefless barristers, bankrupt news
paper scribblers, doctors sulking over
their lack of patients, discharged sol
diers, were represented among the lead
ing spirits of the first French Revolu
tion, because that was really a popular
uprising, and its volcanic upheavlngs
threw all sorts of men to the surface
of society and politics. Danton was a
lawyer, Robespierre an advocate. Ca
mllle Desmoulins a clever journalist,
Marat a doctor and Talleyrand a
priest. But In Russia there never can
be any such thing as a genuine political
revolution until the Ignorant, sodden
Russian peasantry ceases to worship
the Czar, not only as an Emperor, but
as the highest pontiff of the Greek
Church. In the French Revolution
there were soldiers enough In the serv
ice of the King, but they fraternized
at the first firc with the Insurgents.
In Russia the cities swarm with sol
diers, who take as much pleasure In
beating a crowd of rioters -with their
whips as a cowboy would in lashing the
flanks of a vicious Texas steer. The
student riots; the revival of nihilist
plots against the Czar, will end as they
always -have heretofore. In several hun
dred young fellows of Intellect and In
telligence being sent to Siberia to labor
In the mines or burled ror years In the
grave of the terrible dungeons of the
fortress of the Neva. The drafting of
rebellious students Into the army Is a
terrible punishment to an educated,
high-spirited young man, for the Rus
sian army Is not like our own. In which
no officer can with Impunity inflict per
sonal violence upon the soldier. The
methods of discipline in the Russian
army are very severe when pushed to
the limit of military license, and it is,
of course, easily possible under the
guise of military punishment and dis
cipline to make a veritable hell of a
private soldier's life.
There is no hope for successful polit
ical revolution in Russia until the
masses of the Russian peasantry sym
pathize with and support the insurrec
tion, for out of the peasantry Is re
cruited the army, and its Ignorance and
superstition assures its inflexible, in
corruptible loyalty. Revolutions that
are successful never begin at the top of
society. If the plain people, the tillers
of the soil, the working masses, rise In
revolt, victory Is probable, but In Rus
sia there is no hope, for the masses are
not discontented nor rebellious, so that
If the top of Intelligent Russian society
should declare lor constitutional reform
tomorrow it would be utterly without
popular support. The average Russian
peasant has no aspiration beyond his
present condition. The student is
equally poor, but his Intelligence makes
him malcontent with his misery, and
his desperation makes him a reckless
conspirator.
FROM 11IRNEY TO LINCOLN".
A correspondent, whose letter Is pub
lished In another column, Inquires
whether "the Republican party was
founded by abolitionists." The Repub
lican party was organized through a
fusion of anti-slavery men of all types,
save the abolitionists, who accepted the
creed of Garrison and Phillips, refused
to vote, described the Constitution
as a covenant with death and an
agreement with hell, and therefore
pleaded for disunion between the
slaveholdlng and non-slaveholdlng
states. The real John the Baptist
of the Republican party was James
G. Birney, of Kentucky, the candidate
of the so-called "Liberty" party, that
polled 7000 votes in 1840 and over 62,000
in 1844. Birney was born and bred a
slaveholder, was an able lawyer, who
had risen to distinction in both Ken
tucky and Alabama, where he had
passed thirty years of his life. He in
vain tried to have Kentucky adopt the
plan of gradual emancipation, but, fall
ing in this, he pleaded within lines of
constitutional agitation against the ex
tension of slavery Into new territory; he
was not a disunlonist. like Phillips; he
believed in the ballot. He was easily
the brains of the sane anti-slavery
men of the North. The famous Wllmot
Proviso, passed by the House In 1846,
for which Daniel Webster voted, was
nothing but the voice of Birney; the
free-soil platform of "Van Buren In 1848
and of John P. Hale In 1852 was noth
ing but Birney's principle of opposition
to the enlargement of the domain of.
slavery. The Kansas and Nebraska
bill, which carried with it the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise of 1820, com
pelled men of anti-slavery sympathies,
who were opposed to the extension of
slavery, to join hands for a common
purpose of constitutional resistance to
the further enlargement of slave terri
tory. The Republican party drew to its
standard not only a great many of the
old-time anti-slavery Whigs, but thou
sands of anti-slavery Democrats, like
United States Senator Hamlin, of
Maine, and Governor George S. Bout
well, of Massachusetts. Not only the
abolitionists did not "found the Repub
lican party," but they were its brilliant
enemies In 1860, for Wendell Phillips
unceasingly stigmatized Lincoln In that
campaign as "the slavehound of Illi
nois" because Mr. Lincoln had distinct
ly approved of the compromise meas
ure of 1850. which included the fugi
tive slave law. Our correspondent's
question, "Did the Republican party in
1860 demand the Immediate abolish
ment of slavery?" is answered by the
terms of that platform. In which is dis
tinctly disavowed any purpose to Inter
fere with slavery where It existed. The
abject compromise measures passed by
the Republican party to conciliate the
South; the language of Lincoln's in
augural, show clearly that the Republi
can party stood simply in favor of the
policy of non-extension of slavery Into
new territory, and of non-interference
with it where it existed in the states.
The slave states seceded, not because
they were afraid for the perpetuity of
slavery, but because they were dragged
out of the Union by a successful con
spiracy of secessionists. The ordinance
of secession was not submitted to a
popular vote in any of the states, and
the whole movement was dying of inan
ition until the conspirators, seeing that
it was necessary to save it by "sprink
ling blood on the face of the South,"
fired at Sumter, and when that shot was
returned the pride and passion of sec
tion on both sides ruled the hour; every
man reached for his rifle, and the war
went on with varying fortune until its
last ditch at Appomattox.
The vast majority of the Confederate,
soldiers were poor whites who owned
no slaves and were really impover
ished by slavery, but the moment se-
cession shrewdly drew the fire of
Sumter the whole South jumped to
Its feet musket in hand, not to save
slavery, but to vindicate and defend
their seotion. If they had not seceded,
slavery might be in full existence to
day; if they had not seceded, it Is quite
probable that the Northern Democracy
would have composed their quarrel and
Lincoln's successor In that event was
likely to have been a pro-slavery Dem
ocrat. So far "as "bounty for the
slaves" is concerned, Lincoln, at the
famous Hampton Roads conference,
offered the South $400,000,000 for Irs
slaves Lincoln said: "Stephens, let
me write 'Union' at the top of that
page and you may write below It what
ever you please," which was really of
fering the South the same blank sheet
of paper on which to write Its terms of
peace that was extended before the war
In the shape of the Corwln compromise.
As for the historic attitude of Wendell
Phillips and the abolitionists who fol
lowed his counsel, refusing to vote and
shrieking for disunion, it is very ably
and accurately set forth by E. Warner
in another column. Not only Mr. Phil
lips did not do any good, but he did a
great deal of harm, for in his speeches
he always forgot that the people of the
North were as responsible for slavery
as the people of the South; he was an
anarchist bf the sort that is illustrated
by the Chinaman who, desiring to eat
roast pig, set fire to and destroyed his
barn in order to cook his shoat.
So Phillips was ready to burn the
fabric of the Union over our heads to
get rid of slavers'. Sane folk looked
forward with Lincoln to the day when
the whole people would be willing to be
taxed to remunerate the South for its
slaves If they would voluntarily abolish
it or consent to adopt a plan of grad
ual emancipation. It is not true that
Mr. Phillips won the anti-slavery fight;
It was begun on sound, broad, consti
tutional lines by James G. Birney, be
fore Phillips' day, and on the lines laid
down by Mr. Birney, the leader of the
"Liberty" party, the Republican party
was founded; on these lines of no more
slave territory and constitutional re
sistance to the encroachments of the
slave power, the Republican party
fought and won the battle. To this
victory Phillips contributed nothing but
Jeers and' sneers at far wiser men than
himself, who refused. In order to smoke
out slavery, to burn the fabric of
the Union over our heads. From Bir
ney dates the sane opposition to slav
ery voiced by Greeley, Chase, Sumner,
Seward, Hale, Hamlin, Thad Stevens,
Wilmot.. Corwln. Lincoln, Andrew.
Phillips was as brilliant, as erratic and
as useless a political Ishnjaelite as
John Randolph, of Roanoke; he had no
fellowship for any sort of an anti-slavery
man except he belonged to his own
little vituperative cult of non-voters and
dlsunlonlsts. He was fairly described
by Bob Toombs as "an infernal ma
chine set to music."
The findings of the New York courts
in the libel cases against the German
ship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse for
services rendered at the time of the
big dock fire have been made public.
The court awards $20,000, to be divided
among 2S tugs, the largest share
amounting to $2000 and the smallest to
$30. This award Is about one-tenth the
amount asked for. and will have' a
tendency to discourage such reprehensi
ble conduct as was engaged in by the
human hogs in charge of some of the
tugs at the time of the fire. Few If any
of the tugs attempted to save the lives
of the unfortunates who had thrown
themselves from the burning ships Into
the water, and had one-half of the fleet
of tugs which made a rush for the
costly Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse di
verted their efforts to the three less
valuable ships, scores of lives might
have been saved. Human life Is about
as cheap in New York City as it is any
where in the world, but in this case
the courts have equalized the matter
somewhat by lessening the Incentive
for the crime which was committed by
the tugboat harpies last June.
One of the calamities against which
no thrift can provide and which no fore
sight can turn aside is the "funnel
shaped cloud" bearing down upon the
earth, Instinct with destruction and
moving with resistless power over the
habitations of men. Thus far this men
ace of disaster charged at once with
portent and execution has not crossed
the Rocky Mountains to the westward,
nor has It wrought special ruin In the
Atlantic States. The South and South
west and the Middle West as far north
as Iowa are the districts that have suf
fered most severely by the tornado.
Birmingham, Ala., Is the latest victim
of the cyclone's violence, and, looking
about her streets and suburbs today,
she can only be thankful that her dead
do not number more than twenty-flve
and her scores of wounded In most
cases were more seriously frightened
than injured.
There seems to be a slight Inconsist
ency In the religious belief of Mr.
Flower, of Albany. While engaged in
building an ark on which to float out
of a second deluge which he believes to
be due, he left his offspring In care of
the angels. If the angels were to be de
pended on to fulfill a task which has
now fallen to the-Boys' and Girls' Home
at Portland, It would seem like a waste
of labor and timber to build an ark to
escape a Spring freshet According to
generally accepted belief, angels In the
role of life preservers have no choice
of weapons, and would be fully as will
ing and ready to pick a Flower out of
the flowing tide as they would to feed
and care for his neglected children.
Mrs. Nellie Brown, of Hood River,
lives to congratulate herself that she
escaped with her life from an unwise
entanglement looking to marriage with
a man of such fiendish instincts as
those developed by the murder of Ed
son V. Benjamin. She will not be
quite sure of her life, of course, until
her whilom lover Is brought to justice,
since he is one of a class of ungov
erned and practically ungovernable
men whom a woman, unwise enough
or unfortunate enough to entertain for
a time as lover or husband, can neither
live with nor escape from.
After all. Castellane is worth a few
less shucks than Manchester, and It
may be that the Zimmerman girl got a
worse son-in-law for her papa than
Anna Gould got a husband for her mil
lions. What does Bryan mean by wanting
renomlnatlon? No aspirant for Presi
dent however good, Is entitled to three
consecutive termi.
TRUTH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS.
OREGON CITY, March 23. (To the Edi
tor.) There is one feature In the oration
of Mr. Minchln which has not been no
ticed, so far as I am aware, by any of
his critics. It is the falsehood embodied
In his basic or central Idea. In one para
graph it reads, "Wendell Phillips was
a born fighter, and he fought to win.
. . . He fought the whole united Gov
ernmentand he won!" Mr. Phillips did
not fight for the abolition of slavery un
der the Government'. He fought or con
tended for a dissolution of the Federal
Union because of the existence of slavery
In the Southern States and he did not
win. He and Garrison and their followers
took for their rallying cry. "No Union
with slaveholders." The United States
Constitution, they said, was "a cove
nant with death and an agreement with
hell"; therefore, the non-slaveholdlng
states should "come out and be separate."
The main burden of their lectures and
writings, as set forth in the columns of
Garrison's Liberator, the anti-slavery
standard and the anti-slavery bugle, was
to argue the pro-slavery character of the
Constitution and to clamor for a peace
able dissolution of the Union a withdraw
al of the North from the South thus vir
tually leaving the slaves to their fate
under their taskmasters.
Strange as it may seem today, one meth
od to accomplish this dissolution was to
refrain from voting. All who voted under
the Constitution were partakers in the
crime of slavery. Garrison and Phillips
made this proinjnent In their writings and
speecnes, ana it was ecnoed ty tne gim
tongued lecturers sent out by the parent
society to do missionary work In the
great Middle West north of the Ohio
River.
Another method of these dlsunlonlsts
was to make war upon all the religious
sects and benevolent and secret societies
of whatever name "that did not come out
openly and denounce the Government un
der which they enjoyed protection and the
privilege of existing. To fellowship a
slaveholder in church, lodge, or social
club, or to strike hands with any who
did thus fellowship with him, or to de
liver a public address upon any subject
without ringing :n the question of slav
ery was counted as one of the deadly
sins, and no sarcasm was too bitter, no
denunciation too strong to fall from the
"silver-tongued orator" upon the heads
of those so sinning.
It was thus that Wendell Phillips made
of himself a "social outcast." There
were men in Massachusetts as well born
as Wendell Phillips, holding a3 high a
social position as he ever held, and his
peer in every respect, excepting only his
gift of oratory, who were anti-slavery,
were never backward in expressing their
condemnation of the system, and yet they
never lost social cast Charles Sumner,
John G. Palfrey, Horace Mann, and
others, were as noted for their hostility
to slavery as was Phillips. But they never
exaggerated, never overstated their case.
ana, instead of suffering social ostracism,
they were exalted 'by their constituents
to positions in the councils of the Gov
ernment where their great abilities were
of practical benefit. And had Wendell
Phillips stood with those men Instead of
using his splendid gifts In measuring out
to them envenomed and personal abuse.
It might be truthfully, as It is now falsely,
said of him that "he planted the flag of
freedom on the ramparts of slavery."
In reviewing the history of the anti
slavery agitation we look in vain for a
practical effort on the part of Phillips
and his co-workers for the emancipation
of the slave, or for the amelioration of
his condition in any manner whatever.
How, let us.ask, could the process of non
voting have helped the slave? How
could the withdrawal of the free from the
salve states have brought freedom to the
latter section? And how could the class
ing together as a "brotherhood of thieves"
the churches, the benevolent orders and
the voting anti-slavery men. and denounc
ing "Washington and the framers of the
Constitution as the dire foes of freedom
how could all this tend In a single de
gree to loosen the bands of the oppressed?
And yet this was all and singular of the
Phillips and Garrison agitation. Only this
and nothing more. It was a vast amount
of wild energy and brilliant talent thrown
to the winds. It spent Its force mainly
against such antl-'slavery voters as saw
the subject In its true light, and as has
been aptly expresed by another, "saw It
whole."
Those who remember what the general
sentiment was at the outbreak of the
rebellion know that the war was not car
ried on by the Government for the over
throw, of slavery, but solely for the pres
ervation of the Union. It was so de
clared more than once by President Lin
coln. Not one soldier In a thousand en
listed for any other purpose. Lincoln had I
to wait ior tne creation of sutncient puo
Hc sentiment to back him up before he
ventured to Issue his emancipation proc
lamation "as a war measure," and so
scrupulous was he to keep within legal
and Constitutional bounds that he except
ed from his declaration of freedom those
states and parts of states of the South
that had not declared for secession. The
Constitution, as all know, was amended
at a subsequent date, so as to make
wholly free every section of the country.
It was all accomplished under the lead
ership of men whom Wendell Phillips,
"with his marvelous gift of rhetorical epi
gram, had struck and stung without
mercy." "It was the one weapon with
which Nature had endowed him," and
In its use he wrought hate and all un
charltableness without the slightest ad
mixture of good. His blows weighed not
so much as a feather in thrlklng off the
slaves' shackles. Had the leaders of the
South refrained from inaugurating the
rebellion, the slave would be In his chains
today for oil that Phillips and Garrison
and their brood of followers did or could
have done by the methods they taught
and practiced.
If the brewers of malt and spirituous
liquors, and those Interested in their sale
should combine today to force their entry
Into all places where their sale Is now
restricted, and the Government was forced
to destroy all the distilleries and all
the liquors It could reach before It
could quell the uprising, It would be
Just as consistent to name "Brother Wool
ley," Mrs. Nation, or some other Im
practicable temperance -agitator as the
chief factor In suppressing the sin of
drunkenness as to name Wendell Phillips
as the great leader who won a victory
over slavery. The cases would be paral
lelone as true as the other, and both
ridiculous. " '
In writing this I am not censuring Mr.
Minchin. If censure should fall anywhere
It should be upon his teachers. It was
his misfortune to glean from fiction, sup
posing It to be fact It seems to me his
case was rightly decided by Judge Will
lams, and there It should rest It Is no
light matter to crush a young man with
savage criticism, even though his ambi
tion may have led him to violate the rules
laid down by literary censors. It Is, how
ever, a duty we owe the young to use
whatever ability we have to make cor
rections when we see so much that Is
both false and pernicious passing Into
history as fact E. WARNER.
England Cannot Grow Tobacco.
Baltimore Sun.
In nearly all European countries to
bacco Is cultivated and manufactured
under state supervision and as a leading
source of public revenue. It Is a state
monopoly in Franco, Austria-Hungary,
Italy and Spain, and In other countries
it is subject to state regulation and
heavy excise duties. It Is a curious fact
that in England the cultivation of to
bacco as a crop is prohibited by a tax
so high on every acre sown with to
bacco seed that no Englishman could
afford to grow It, except as Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain grows orchids as an ex
pensive fad. The origin of this prohibi
tion is still more curious. It originated
in the reign of Charles II, when Parlia
ment passed a law forbidding the growth
of tobacco In England for the express
nuroose of encouraging trade with the
new colony of Virginia.
PRESIDENT'S GROWING POWERS;
Chicago Times-Herald.
It "is a popular notion in this .country
that the President is merely the servant
of the people, chosen to execute the de
crees of Congress, and having none of
the autocratic powers exercised by Con
gress. This popular notion Is correct so
tar as the Constitutional functions of the
President are concerned. At the same
time there Is much apprehension among
students Of our political system concern
ing "the growing powers of the Presi
dent" In adjusting some of the problems grow
ing out of the recent war we have seen
Congress practically abdicate in favor of
the President. The framers of the Con
stitution rightly appreciated that in a
republic the popular branch of the gov
ernment must be paramount. We have
recently seen the President become the
autocratic ruler of hundreds of thousands
of people In Cuba and of millions of peo
ple in the Philippines. He has appointed
and removed officials without asking the
consent of the Senate. The laws promul
gated by the Taft Commission In the
Philippines declare that they were en
acted "by the authority of the President
of the United States" not Congress.
Of course everyone understands that
the President Is exercising this authority
under the all-embracing phrase of "war
power." In the March Forum, however,
Henry Litchfield West, of Washington,
shows that the power of the President is
growing through causes which operate
dally, and which are not accidental and
extraneous, like the sudden and unex
pected acquisition of territories beyond
the seas. Mr. West discovers the secret
of this executive power in the "golden
stream" which flows through the White
House to the remotest corners of the Re
public This stream has Its source in the
National Treasury.
The extent of this stream which the
President Is able to divert Into the pock
ets of his supporters Is given by Mr. West
as follows:
State Department
318 Consular and diplomatic ap
pointments ? 1,000,000
Treasury Department
743 customs, revenue, marine
hospital, etc 617,355
Postofflce Department
4015 Postmasters 6,931,000
Interior Department
747 pension officials, land office
agents, etc 1,997,640
Department of Justice
Judges, attorneys, marshals, etc. 1,126,000
Total ?U,671.99o
This list is by no means complete, as It
does not include the War and Navy De
partments, owing to the difficulty In as
certaining the exact number of commis
sions Issued. Making a conservative esti
mate, however, it is safe to say that the
President annually offers to his friends
and supporters the sum of 520,000.000, a
total distribution of 580,000,000 during his
term of office.
Instances of the all-prevailing potency
ot this "golden stream" In shaping legis
lation and promoting personal political
advantage are too well known to need
recalling at this time. Grant and Gar
field triumphed over cabals and factions
through the use of this power, while Har
rison secured a renomlnatlon at Minneap
olis through the work of office-holders.
The golden prize is dangled above the
heads of legislators, and they readily
cringe and bow before the Executive.
Congress has bent its neck to the yoke of
the President upon numerous occasions
within the last four years, notably In the
case of the Porto RIcan tariff bill. Mr.
West believes that American statesmen
will soon be compelled to undertake the
task of devising some means to curtail
the President's growing power.
The only remedy appears to be through
the extension and enforcement of the
merit system.
'
Republican Purty and Phillips.
SANDY, Or., March 22. (To the Editor.)
Please be so kind to answer the follow
ing questions through The Oregonlan:
Was the Republican party founded by
abolitionists, or what caused it to be
founded? Did the Republlcin party in
1S60 demand the immediate abolishment
of slavery? If npt. why did the slave
states secede? If they had not seceded,
would there not have been good prospect
for granting them at least 10 years' time
for the abolishment of slavery, and for
getting a bounty by the Nation therefor?
It seems to me that, if the abolitionists
did anything towards furthering the abol
ishment of slavery In the United States,
it was by teasing tlje South Into rebellion,
through the non-success of which the
masters lost their staves.
Oratory, like poetry. Is always Inclined
to overdraw the "picture" of Its hero.
That Wendell Phillips was not a very
wise min may be concluded from the
fact that he was a "greenback man,"
and was an admirer of Dennis Kearney.
When the sand-lot orator was stumping
the State of Massachusetts for Ben. But
ler In September. 1S78, Mr. Phillips said
In an article, published in the Irish World,
that "the Republicans are laughing now
and trying to make fun of Mr. Kearney:
but they shall soon laugh the other way."
That there always Is a character behind
eloquence Is true. But that does not
necessarily prove It to be Impossible to
tell a He with eloquence. If It does, then
we are more equally born than I thought
T. H. ANDERSEN.
Glad to Be Morgancercd.
New York World.
In true Mark Tapley style the London
Spectator Is positively cheerful, almost
enthusiastic, indeed, over the prospect
that the British steel trade will be "Mor
ganeered" out of existence.
It remarks that "In so far as Mr. Mor
gan' corporation provides our engineers
with cheaper steel." it will mitigate the
severity of all competition in finished
products of steel. But all these consol
ing reflections, It will be noted, are based
on the strange assumption that If the
whole nation Is benefited the closing out
of a few Ironmasters Is not of vital Im
portance. What Abont the Hired MnnT
Baltimore American.
They talk about the servant girl, suggesting
this and that
To make her life more happy In the mansion
or the flat.
They say to teach her music, and to cultivate
her mind.
And never, ner apeak to her In voice that
is unkind.
But
What about the hired man
Hired man tired man
Frequently the fired man
What about his life?
No one ever sighs for him;
Books nobody buys for him.
Or Intimates that pies, for him,
Should never know a knife.
The ladles sip Young Hyson at the Esoteric
clubs'.
And weep about the hardships of the maid
who bakes or scrubs.
They advocate a. fashion plate upon the kitch
en wall.
And "higher aspirations" they propose for one
and all.
But
What about the hired man
Hired man tired man
Soon or late the flred man
What about hid lot?
No one ever thinks of him.
Or sends out fancy drinks for him.
Or talks of fashion's kinks for him,
Or gives to him a thought.
They write to all the papers on the "servant
question," now.
And Mrs. Talkso Tellum-Whott gets up and
makes a bow.
And shows the. ladles how to act, the servant
girls to suit,"
And all her hearers vow that her, remarks are
"awful cute."
But
What about the hired man
Hired man tired man
After while the fired man;
Who's concerned for him?
He-must keep his hustle on.
And toll and tug and ni'rtle on.
With work to test his muscle on.
Or else his chance Is 'slim.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
' " -
Editor Bryan seems to be determined
to keep down his end of his railway trans
portation contracts.
No paragrapher has yet had the hardi
hood to remark that England has Seen
Botha's a good deal lately.
A suit to recover 5 cents has been In
stituted In Rochester. It was not known
before that Mr. Sage had any interests
there.
Happily, the people who commit mur
ders to show how much they are In love
usually include themselves In their list
of victims.
People wo have been mistaking Min
ister Wu for a laundryman should be In
formed that he will not wash any more
than will some of his statements.
Personal. General Nelson A. Miles will
not accompany Adjutant-General Corbln
on the latter's trip to the Philippines.
People who want to know why should ask
him.
Mr. Carnegie has so far mnnaged to
keep out of politics, for which happy cir
cumstance he can thank the Fates for not
marrying him to a sister of John R. Mc
Lean. There Is no hurry about the Nicaragua
Canal, anyway. It cannot be built till
the dove of peace comes down to liberate
the mules who are now carrying on divers
and sundry wars.
The Jeffries and Ruhlin fight is to take
place at San Francisco. Why did not this
occur to the promoters of the fight be
fore they went up against so many cities
in which there is a sentiment against
prize-fighting?
Mining item, St Petersburg, March 26.
The discovery of a mine under the Im
perial palace has created considerable
excitement, but it Is not expected that
there will be a rush to the vicinity for
the present, at least
One of the most ludicrous mistakes
made by the telegraph was caused by the
loss of a single dot In a telegram from
Brisbane to a London news agency. As
it reached London it read: "Governor
General twins first son," which the news
agency "edited" and sent around to the
papers in the following form: -'Lady
Kennedy, the wife of Sir Arthur Ken
nedy, Governor-General of Queensland,
yesterday gave birth at Government
House. Brisbane, to twins, the first born
being a son." The telegram arriving in
the small hours of the morning, there
was no time to check It or refer to De
brett, and It was published by most of
the newspapers In London and the prov
inces, and caused an unexpected sensa
tion. Sir Arthur's friends pointed out
with conclusive force that some one had
blundered, as there never was a Lady
Kennedy, Sir Arthur being a bachelor.
The repeat message, which followed, read:
"Governor-General turns first sod," re
ferring to a railway ceremony.
Officers of the White Star line were
scouring New York recently In search of
Rev. Thomas Aldred, of Nashville, Tenn.,
who arrived on the Oceanic with a lurid
tale of depravity at sea. He made accu
sations regarding gambling for high
stakes In the first cabin, flirtations In
the second cabin and Sunday-night dances
In the steerage. Robert Bruce Ismay.
head of the White Star line, happened to
be a passenger on the Oceanic as well.
Mr. Ismay la credited with Ordinary per- -ceptlon,
yet he saw nont of the strange
things related by the Nashville clergy
man. Therefore he sent a number of
company employes through the hotel dis
trict In an effort to locate the minister
and hear his allegations in detail. It
seems to be an unwritten law on ship
board that flirtations are not barred, so
long as the other passengers make no
protest Still, if Rev. Mr. Aldred can
bring proof that he saw two cabin pas
sengers of the opposite sex kissing each
other In public, the White Star officials
will probably post a prohibitory notice,
which will put osculation In the same
class with professional gambling.
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS
Ada Jack says he wouldn't marry the nicest
girl Irving. Dolly Pshaw! As If I'd hae
him! Tit-Bits.
Taking a Liberty. Kerrigan We're thinking
av naming him Garge Washington. Casey
Have yer got Kelly's permission? That's th'
name av his goat! Puck.
Innocent. The Father My daughter, sir,
must have the same amount of money after
she Is married that she had before. The Suitor
I wouldn't deprive her of It for anything.
Brooklyn Life.
Gas Bills. Campaign Manager Here's a bill
of ?200 from one of your speechmakers during
the campaign. Candidate Very well, put It
Into the drawer marked "Gas bills." Ohio
State Journal.
Advice. Ranter We're getting up an ama
teur theatrical society and we're looking for a
good motto; something appropriate, you know.
Banter What's the matter with "Think twice
before jou act" ? Philadelphia Press.
The Viewpoint. "Golf." said the ex-bicycllet.
"Is a fine game, but it doesn't amount to much
In the way of exercise." "Golf," remarked
the x-gambler, "is splendid exercise, but It's
an Infernally poor game." Chicago Tribune,
Our Berlin correspondent telegraphs that in
the obituary notice or the late Baron von
Stumm-Halberg In the Times of the 11th Inst,
the expression "political pariahs." used with
reference to the ex-Court Chaplain Stocker,
should read "political parsons." London
Times.
Bertha I do hate that Mr. Poller always
making remark about one's dress. Edith You A
silly! He saM your gown was a perfect dream.
I don't see why you should be mad at that.
Bertha I had been wearing that gown three
days, and that was the first time he notlcod
It. Boston Transcript.
Coincidence."! ain't making any Insinua
tions," said the Cornfed Philosopher, "but I
have noticed that the man that sees the first
bluebird every year Is the same man that once
owned the fastest horse In the county and had
the smartest dog and prettiest wife, and all
that sort of thing." Indianapolis Press.
9
The Children Are Lonj? Awny.
Frank L. Stanton In Atlanta Constitution.
I set here. In the evenln'. by the old-time fire
place, I see the firelight flicker, Ughtln' my
wrinkled face;
An I say I say to the old man as I've said
for many a day:
"The children hae left us lonely the chil
dren are long away!"
Well, he gives ma n word of comfort strokln
my thin gray hair.
An' he sas: "The flowers are bloomln' still,
an the birds sing cerywhere!"
But I feel the teardrops fallln. an' ever I
algh an" say:
"The children have left us lonely the children
are long away!"
The same sun rises each mornln' an brightens
the sky above.
The brlzht green on the meadow, the violets
speak of Love;
An' the love o' the Lord Is with us In the
darkness an the day;
But ever I'm mlssln' the children: They are
so long away!
We never can keep 'em with us In the home
their lovt has blest;
When the birds are fledged, forever they leae
the mother nest.
An' so, as the shadows gather, forever I sing
an" say: h
"The- children havp left us lonely thechlldrea
, are long away!" J