raaiflffPIFWS f BswTT-Tr-w- vfffpilWP
THE .MOKMyi tllWW.IAX. THTOSnAY,. 3IAY Iff, 10Q1.
V r f?if-s "-.neffgn mtw'i W r,W?"1'ri!'?1"v
3atered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon,
as second-class matter.
TEXKPHOXES.
Editorial Hooms.....lGtf J Business Office. ..6G7
REVISED SUBSCRIPTION KATES.
Sr ilall (postace prepaid). In Advance
Daily, -with Sunday, per month...........? SS
Dally, Sunday excepted, per year
Daily, -with Sunday, per year 9 00
Sunday, per year ........................ 2 00
The Weekly, per jear ................... 1 JO
The Weekly. 3 months "
To City Subscribers
Daily, per -week, delivered, Sundays excepted.lS
Dally, per week, dclltered. Sundays lncluded-30c
POSTAGE RATES.
United States. Canada and ilexlco:
10 to 10-page paper..... ................... "lc
2C to 32-pas paper.......... ........ ...." "a
Foreign rates double.
Newi or discussion Intended for publication
In The Oregonlan should toe addressed Invaria
bly "Editor The Oregonlan." jjot to the name
of any Individual, Letters relating to perus
ing, subscriptions or to any business matter
should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan."
The Oregonlan does not buy poems or storle
Xrom Individuals, and cannot -undertako to re
turn any manuscripts cent to It without solici
tation. .No stamps -should be inclosed tor this
purpose.
Fuget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson,
office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 353,
Tacoma Postoroce.
Eastern Business Office 47. 48. 49 and 50
Tr.bune building, New Tork City; 4C9 'The
Rookery," Chicago, the S. C. Beckwlth special
agency. Eastern representative.
For sale In San Francisco by J. K. Cooper.
740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Gold
smith Bros., 230 Sutter street: F. W. Pitts.
1008 Market street: Forter & Orear, Ferry
Dews stand.
For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner.
VZ'J bo Spring street, and OIU er& Haines, 100
fco Spring street.
For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co..
237 Dearborn .street.
Tor sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1G12
Farnaro street,
Forjsale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News
Co 44 W Second South street.
For sale In Ogden by TV. C. Kind, 204 Twen
t -fifth street
Cn file in Washington. D. C.; with A. W.
Dunn. 600 14th N. W.
On file at Buffalo. N. Y-. in the Oregon ex
hibit at the exposition.
For sale In Denver. Colo., toy Hamilton &
Kendrlck. 000-912 Seventh street.
T DATS WEATHER. Showers and cooler;
fculh to west winds.
PORTLAND, THURSDAY, MAY 10.
THE FACTS ABOUT MRS. M'KIXLEY.
The President of the United States
has been obliged to abandon his pro
posed visit to Oregon and other states
on account of the Illness of his wife.
Of course, the President of the United
States cannot be expected to do other
wise than abandon his public tour when
he is accompanied "by a wife who be
comes seriously sick, or even sick
enough to demand as a matter of per
Sunal devotion his presence at her bed
side. The situation is one of disap
pointment to the people of Oregon, who
had made careful preparation to give
the President and his party a warm
ar.d heartfelt welcome, and the situa
tion ought to be one of disappointment
not unmixed with embarrassment to
the President, who is responsible for
the situation by his decision to make a
public tour of this Coast accompanied
by a wife who is a chronic invafid in
danger of a breakdown at any moment,
and likely to compel the President to
cancel his public engagements.
Such a trip would be a severe test
of endurance for a -woman In good
health, and it certainly was not a wise
venture for a woman who is a chronic
invalid to make. If the President of
the United States chooses to travel as
a private citizen, as he not seldom does
between Washington and Canton, the
sickness or health of his wife Is no em
barrassment to the public; but when
the President, accompanied by a Pres
idential party, travels as a public func
tionary, whose route and -all the ar
rangements for his reception, with the
nature of the public ceremonies at
every stopping-place carefully ar
ranged beforehand with his private sec
retary and published in advance of his
setting forth, under these circumstances
the President owes it to the public not
to take an ambulance with his excur
sion train.
In other words, it was not good
judgment on the part of the President
to subject his public trip to the proba
hle risk of sudden termination, to the
disappointment of the people, by taking
his invalid wife with him, and it was
net good sense on the part of Mrs. Mc
Kinley to expose the President's trip
to abrupt curtailment and her own
delicate health to the severe trial of a
long and exciting journey. A President
on such a trip should start as free as
possible from all probable embarrass
ments that could be provided against
when he decided to accept and acknowl
edge public welcomes and receptions
along his route, and allows" them to be
arranged before him and advertised
after submission to his secretary for ap
proval. The public has the right to ex
pect under the circumstances that the
President's promised visit will not be
called off because of an embarrassment
that ought not to have heen invited
by the presence of a chronic invalid
woman -who would have been a great
deal more .comfortable at home and
have been spared the risk of an ex
hausting journey under exciting cir
cumstances. The President should have stripped
himself of all incumbrances for such a
public trip, just as an Army on the eve
of a rapid advance orders the sick and
-all non-combatants to the rear. The
success of the trip was In the very out
set weakly exposed to a needless and
very obvious risk of failure at any mo
ment. The risk of Mrs. McKinley's
presence ought to have been avoided as
carefully as the President would have
felt obliged to avoid it had he been
making a thirty days' speechmaklng
campaign years ago for Congressman
or for Governor of Ohio, or through the
whole Middle "West in a -National cam
paign. USE OP OPIUM IX VERMONT.
Dr. A. P. Grinnell, for many years
dean of the medical faculty of the Uni
versity of Vermont, has been making
some investigations as to the consump
tion of narcotics in Vermont, with
startling results. He states that "in
the regular drug stores and in 160 of the
172 general stores in the State of Ver
mont there is sold eveny month 3,300,000
doses of opium beside what is dispensed
in patent medicines, and beside what
the doctors dispense, which gives 1
doses of opium to every man and
woman in the state above the age of
1 years every day of the ye"ar." By dose
I mean one grain opium, one-eighth
grain morphine one-half ounce pare
goric and 2 drops laudanum. The
amount consumed each month means
a half-dose for every man, woman and
child in the state every day of the
year.' In one place, so small that it
scarcely shows on the map, 3 pounds
of gum opium, six ounces of morphine,
five pints of paregoric, five pints of lau
danum and three ounces of powdered
quinine are consumed in a month. In
another town, where there are two drug
stores, one store alone sold three pounds
of opium, one gallon of paregoric,
three-fourths gallon laudanum, five
ounces powdered quinine and 1000 two
grain quinine pills. Another store situ
ated cot many miles from Burlington
sold only five ounces opium, two ounces
morphine, eight quarts laudanum and
six paregoric This was a retail. drug
store.
There is nothing incredible in these
figures. Since 1840, when the great
"Washingtonian" temperance revival
swept over New England, the consump
tion of opium, morphine and laudanum
has steadily increased. Thousands .of
old topers took the pledge in 1840, and
supplied the place of alcoholic stimu
lants with opium and Its various prep
arations. "Women are more prone to
the opium or morphine habit than men,
because it is a noiseless vice which may
escape detection by the general public
for many years. In Ireland, after
Father Mathew's total abstinence cru
sade, the drinking of ether became so
terrible an evil that a law was passed
prohibiting any sales of ether except
on a physician's personal or written
order.
Cocaine is a far more dangerous drug
than alcohol, and Its utterly hopeless
victims are relatively more numerous
than are found in the same number of
users of alcoholic intoxicants. Over
worked farmer women In the small,
dull towns of New England are prone
'to opium or the morphine habit, and
lonely old women are given to It. Not a
few women of wealth and intelligence
In large cities and towns learn how to
use the hypodermic syringe, and soon
become hopeless votaries of the mor
phine habit ,
' ENTERPRISE IX PORTLAND.
To refurnish and equip the Bailey
Gatzert for tourist travel on the Upper
Columbia is a commendable piece of
sturdy enterprise, and may remind
complaining people here that side by
side with difficulty to get adequate fa
cilities there exists in Portland an en
ergy and vim that often outrun the
willingness of the community to keep
pace with the facilities provided. In
stances might be multiplied indefinitely.
Here is the O. R. & N., putting on im
mense trans-Pacific steamers, although
their ability to earn profits commen
surate with their size Is problematical.
Here Is the Southern Pacific, promoting
creameries along its route until their
operations are actually menaced by in
adequate number of cows to supply
milk. Here are all three of our trans
continental railroads, running three
trains a day out of Portland. Here is
Mr. Hammond, running four passenger
trains a day, with Pullman and express-cars,
on a route already covered
by boats. Here is the O. R. & N. Co.,
again, setting on foot immense devel
opment and colonization schemes In
Eastern Oregon, maintaining special
ists In agriculture, spending money
freely for Improvements at Long Beach
and facilities to get there.
It Is probablp that the railroad sys
tems are not doing nearly what they
could and should do to develop "West
ern Oregon, especially to bring people
in. The average Middle "West farmer
doesn't --plan to change his location.
doesn't even know he is discontented
where he Is, until some railroad or Im
migration agent visits him with the
requisite Information. But aside from
this, the railroads are doing more for
our people than our people are doing
for themselves. "We have merchants so
disloyal to their home Interests as to
import Asiatic wares by way of Puget
'Sound and menace the Portland steam
ship line. "We have those who discredit
and Interfere with the success of Mr.
Hammond's enterprises, merely because
he is a stranger, and they fancy, ap
parently, that the. rule of hospitality
must be reversed. And so there are
those to whom the opening of the Co
lumbia River to luxurious travel, at
this most favorable time of the year to
view its sublime scenery, will not ap
peal. They have never seen the lordly
river, just as they have never seen the
Pacific, or Mount Hood from Cloud Cap
Inn. But let them cease complaining
that there is no enterprise in Portland.
Enterprise In providing facilities for
traffic here Is In advance of enterprise
in making use of facilities provided.
SPORT WITH A PROFIT.
The great ocean race from the Colum
bia River to Queenstown between the
four big ships, Muskoka, Ardencralg,
Herzogln Sophie Charlotte and Marlon
Iiightbody, attracted a great deal of
attention In the British papers. All of
the illustrated London newspapers
printed pictures of the leaders in 'the
contest, and the daily press printed
long accounts of the wonderful per
formance of the Muskoka, which won
the race. The event divided honors for
a few days with the coming challenger,
Shamrock II, and brought back mem
ories of the old days when clippers
raced round the world for money as
well as glory. The interest awakened
in this race, If properly nurtured,
might result In some contests on the
high seas which would be nearly as
interesting and vastly more profitable
than sailing a racing machine over a
course of a few miles.
It is reported that the Shamrock II,
ready to race, will cost her owner about
$300,000, and it is hardly probable that
the defender under the Stars and
Stripes will cost her owners much less.
Two and perhaps three big clippers of
the Muskoka type can be built for $300,
000, and when they are ready to race
they can carry a cargo which at present
rates will pay one-third of the cost of
the ship. The rich men of the East are
loudest In their shouting for aid for
American shipping. Some of them
might join hands and build a few Mus
kokas, and in that way start the busi
ness of restoring the American flag to
the high seas. One of the Sewall
ships, the Kenllworth, crossed the At
lantic in steamer time a few days ago,
and ever since the American flag has
supplanted the British banner at her
masthead she has beaten everything in
her class. The Dreadnaught, Young
America. Flying Cloud and other sim
ilar record-breakers gave America
greater prestige on the ocean than she
ever earned with racing yachts, and
all of the time they were breaking rec
ords they were making fortunes for
their owners.
The Muskoka on her recent 17,000
mile race covered 334 miles In a twenty-four-hour
run a speed which would
have sailed the average tramp steamer
hull down in less than a day. So long
as shipbuilders can turn out such ves
sels and men can be secured with the
skill to get such results from them, the 1
trairip steamer will, neyer drive the.
sailer from the ocean, and a perform
ance of this nature reflects the highest
credit on the flag under which the clip
per sails. The Muskoka is one of Eng
land's unsubsidized freight carriers,
but her voyage from Portland to
Queenstown brought returns of $40,000
in freight money to the owners. It may
perhaps savor of mixing profits with
patriotism, or of putting sport on a
financial basis, to advocate substitut
ing ocean races between big ships in
place of yachting contests. As an in
spiring spectacle, however, the sight of
a big four-master racing through two
oceans, her masts bending under a
cloud of canvas and hercrew keyed
up to a notch in keeping with the sit
uation, is not to be lightly regarded.
No one appreciated the pleasures of a
victory won by a merchantman any
more than the late Arthur Sewall, and
the glory attendant on a record-breaking
passage of one of his ships had
more than a money value to him, al
though his work of a lifetime demon
strated that there were both glory and
j money in American sailing ships. We
have made a fine record as cup defend
ers, and many Americans would no
doubt be pleased to see their country
taking a more active part in the big
ocean races between the merchant sail
ing vessels. In this connection it might
be mentioned that America's cup de
fenders are sailed by Maine men, and
j Captain Crowe, of the Muskoka, re
ceived his early training along the coast
of Maine.
A PROHIBITIONIST ALWAYS A
BIGOT.
Napoleon said, "Scratch a Russian
and you always find a Tartar," and as
a rule It is safe to say, "Scratch a Pro
hibitionist and you find a bigot." Re
cently a committee of clergymen ap
pointed by the Ministers' Association of
Chicago visited Fort Sheridan for the
purpose of studying the canteen ques
tion. The committee was mostly com
posed of Chicago clergymen, but was
headed by the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, of
New York City, a minister alike notori
ous for his sensational methods and his
bigotry. Colonel "William M. Van Horrie
met the committee. Among other
things, Colonel Van Home asked Dr.
Parkhurst If he ever stated that Army
officers had received champagne and
other liquors "without bills attached,"
a statement recently made by John G.
"Woolley. The clergyman denied mak
ing any such statement. Captain Ely
and the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst had a dis
pute on the question of temperance.
Among other things, this colloquy Is
reported, when Dr. Parkhurst refused
to credit some of Captain Ely's state
ments regarding the canteen:
"Do you- refuse to accept ray word?" asked
Captain Ely.
"No," answered Dr. Parkhurst, "not so far
as jour own experience goes, but I do not be
lieve you know all about It."
"Then you are the flrst man I ever saw,"
returned the Captain, "who takes the word or
a man on he street, unknown even bj name,
and refuses to accept the wo"d of an officer
In the regular Army. AVhen jou say so ou
Insult the offlceis of the Army."
"I see," said Colonel Van Home, "that you
are perfectly blind. Dr. Parkhurst, to any
thing we can say to jou. I still insist you
are unfair. You are cocked and primed and
blind. You came here with your mind made
up."
Captain Morrow made an address favoring
the canteen, and Colonel Van Home said that
95 per cent of" Army officers' belleed It to be
the lesser of two eil9.
"You do bplieve It to be an evil, then?"
asked Dr. Parkhurst.
"Liquor may be an evil,' returned the
'Colonel, "but which is greater the saloon out
side or the canteen Inside?"
A member of the committee said something
about the "Woman's Christian Temperance
Union, and at this Colonel Van Home arose. ,
"In my forty years In the Armj," he said,
"I neer saw a W. C T. U. woman come to
an Army post to make an Investigation. They
know nothing about it."
Captain Morrow tried to get Dr. Parkhurst
to promise that he would Indorse the canteen
if he found it was not a detriment to the
Army, but the clergyman refused to do any
thing so liberal, adding, "I object to having a
saloon run by the Army."
Colonel Van Home was right when
he said that Dr. Parkhurst and his as
sociates came cocked and primed, not
desiring to obtain the truth unless it
shall be on their side of the case, for
they swept aside all the statements of
Army officers and enlisted men with
Dr. Parkhurst's remark employed when
expressing his objection "to having a
saloon run by the Army." As a matter
of fact, It Is not "a saloon run by the
Army" at all; it is a post exchange,
which endeavors to do for the enlisted
men what the officers' club, the com
missary and the sutler do for the offi
cers; it gives the enlisted men an op
portunity to indulge their undoubted
right to social recreation within the
limits of the garrison with economy
and comfort, free from vicious environ
ment and demoralizing coincidents.
The attempt to impose prohibition upon
the Army will fail; it has failed outside
the Army; It is a relic of medieval
legislation that has completely spent
itself In Europe, so that It has no
standing there with any church or any
men of eminence as political econo
mists or sociologists. Several years ago
Joseph Rountree, author of "The Tem
perance Problem and Social Reform,"
visited this country for the purpose of
examining our prohibition legislation as
It exists in Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont His published conclusion
was that it does not exist In the urban
centers of the states where It is nomi
nally maintained. Earl Grey, In a re
cent interview, says:
No modern temperance advocate -willing to
take a practical view of the liquor problem
any longer believes In prohibition. It has
proved a failure In the United States as well
as m Great Britain. Regulation Is the only
weapon with which we, here In England at
least, fight the trade Intrenched behind 20.
000,000 ($100,000,000) of annual net profits.
The notion that prohibition is any
thing but a burnt-out rocket In the
domain of sound thought is without
foundation. In the Middle Ages Ed
ward IV, in England, attempted to
limit by law what should be the ex
pense of the table in families of a cer
tain rank and income; to prescribe the
material and cut of the clothes they
wore; the prices of food, fish, game,
beef and mutton. In Scotland, ale
houses were once proscribed by bigots
and burned down hy the law. Sir Rob
ert "Walpole once imposed so high a tax
on beer that It amounted to prohibition,
and the common people, who had been
comparatively sober, became drunken
because gin imported from Holland was
cheaper than taxed ale; for a penny a
man could buy gin enough to "get
drunk as a lord." So In France when
the phylloxera destroyed the wine
crop, the common people, not being
able to afford wine, drank cheap, vile
spirits made from potatoes and other
vegetables. The Prohibition bigots
have extinguished the canteen and re
mitted the soldier to the low groggeries
wuicu tiiwiiya uuuiuu in uc ti-j . i
an army post when there is no canteen. 1
The Prohibitionists have robtei the sol
dier of his "canteen"; that is, they
have robbed him of its coincident com
fort and decent environments, and
have forced him when he cares to drink
to resort to the noisome saloon. The
enlisted men consider they are being
treated like children In having the can
teens abolished, and they naturally re
sent It as the imposition of a clump
of temperance cranks.
The assertion that there Is "nothing
new under the sun" does noJt apply to
industrial life in any of Its modern
phases. This thought Is suggested by
the appointment by the French Gov
ernment of a commission of inquiry
whose duties are described as follows:
"To examine" all orders from railway
companies and take measures to ward
off the metallurgic crisis now threat
ened; to urge on French Industry mod
ern methods, modern tools and fresh
energy to meet foreign competition."
The remarkable part of this appoint
ment Is that It was made in response
to an appeal for help from French
manufacturers of railway rolling stock,
who, being unable to handle the heavy
orders recently placed by French rail
way companies, asked the government
to devise some means to prevent Amer
ican competitors from carrying off large
contracts which they are unable to fill.
The government Is a heavy owner In
the railways of France, and it has a
power that will tend to confine all or
ders for material to French factories.
It Is plain, therefore, that either the
railroads of the nation "must suffer for
equipment and the people for the con
veniences that growing traffic demands,
or French Industry must adopt modern
methods and modern tools and develop
fresh energy to meet or turn aside for
eign competition.
The bitterest opposition to the in
crease of the regular Army was based
on the ground that on the specious pre
text of needing a large Army for'' the
Philippines the country would be loaded
down With an Immovable load of mili
tarism; that the Republican party de
sired a large standing Army to overawe
labor strikes In the Interests of capi
tal. This argument" has received Its
deathblow In the official announcement
of the "War Department that the total
Army would be but 77,287 men, the en
listed strength being 74,04 men. Or
ders have been issued for the reduc
tion of the Philippine Army by 25,000
men. Under the terms of the Army act
passed at the last session of Congress
an Army of about 100,000 men was au
thorized, but the Government, in the
exercise of its discretion, has reorgan
ized the Army on the basis of an en-
listed strength of about 75,000 men, and
will reduce the Army in the Philippines
to 40,000 on the return of the volunteers.
The collapse of the Law Enforcement
League's campaign of prosecution
against the gamblers and the general
reopening of the games have left the
city In a very unenviable situation.
"While there are doubtless radical per
sons who would prefer a system of
blackmail to the monthly fines collect
ed last year, most will question If
the time has not at length arrived
when the arrangement put into effect
last year by the District Attorney,
Mayor and Chief of Police should be
restored. It Is a matter on which the
officials, concerned should take counsel
carefully and act bravely, and on which
the Law Enforcement League itself
should look with a spirit of thoughtful
and dispasisonate inquiry. Matters will
not be helped by idle threats of im
peachment for men who are trying to
do their duty.
Housekeepers will be pleased to note
that a protest against "strawberries In
old boxes" has been entered thus early
in the season. Nothing is more un
sightly than a discolored, corroded
berry box with the mold and grime
of successive seasons of service In the
hands of many different gangs of pick
ers and dealers clinging darkly to its
surface. Food Commissioner Bailey
says that these old boxes are great dis
tributers of fruit diseases a statement
which may well be believed. The ban
ishment of such boxes from the trade
should -not be difficult Let housekeep
ers utterly refuse to receive berries
transported In them, and they will
speedily find co-operation among deal
ers that will bring such growers as
need the lesson to terms.
Ex-Secretary Alger is reported to
have said that he could have captured
Agulnaldo and, thus ended the war In
the Philippines two years ago. Is It
possible that he had some of his pe
culiar kind of beef contracts in reserve,
the products of which, had he had the
opportunity, he would have sent to
Manila and out among the Insurgents,
thus compelling them to a quick re
sult? The list of victlmE of the City of Pa
ducah disaster has diminished daily,
and Is now reduced to five. This
nearly equals the record of the army
of -"GIneral Garcia," which, as de
scribed by Mr. Dooley, started out
500,000 strong and landed at its des
tination composed of "GIneral Garcia
and the other mon.''7
"With his own party demanding that
he stand up and face the music, and
the opposing party clamoring for his
resignation, Governor Dole, of Hawaii,
is beginning to understand what It
means to be an American statesman.
Here's, hoping that the steamship
Alaskan, launched by the Union Iron
"Works at San Francisco yesterday)
will have better luck than her name
sake, Whose bones lie buried off Cape
Blanco.
The Mrs. Edith Thomas, who killed
herself in New York Tuesday night, is
not the same as Miss Edith M. Thomas,
our greatest American female poet, evi
dentlyand fortunately.
Sanderson Reed's election as secre
tary adds both dignity and efficiency
to the Charter Commission. If the rest
of Its work is as well advised, the char
ter will be all right.
Tacoma will be glad that the Presi
dent isn't going to Seattle, and vice
versa-
"We- didn't want to see McKInley,
anyway. "
Too Many Tips.
v St Louis Republic.
There is something- decidedly tiresome
in the tales about butlers, cooks and their
friends becoming rich through the tips of
their employers.
CONTROL OF .FRUIT TRADE.
New York Journal of Commerce.
A virtual confession of the Imposaibll
ity of controlling the dried fruit trada is
made in tTie address of the managers of
the Raisin Association to the raisin-growers:
"The association must obtain control
of the raisin crop of the state or go out
of business. If wfe have control any
board of directors of ordinary business
ability can run it successfully, but -with
25 per cent on the outside the best finan
ciers and business men of Europe and
America cannot do so."
"We believe the association may be use
ful to the growers even If It does. not
control the entire raisin crop. If three
fourths of the growers co-operate they
will accomplish a good deal for them
selves; prices will be higher and more
uniform than if all growers were in com
petition with each other. The association
has some IniVience upon those who re
main outside of it.
But the Idea or the directors Is that
nothing Is worth while unless the associa
tion has a corner upon the entire crop
and can fix prices arbitrarily. This is
their fatal mistake. What they aim at Is
Impossible, and if it were possible It would
endanger their ultimate success as much
as the competition of the outside grow
ers does now. For these directors seem
to be imbued with the idea of the dl
footnTB nT the Prune Association, that
their product is a necessary of life and
that the consumption or necessaries o
life Is a fixed quantity: they have simply
to fix the price, If they control the goods,
and the public Is bound to pay.
Neither of these things is true. Prunes
and raisins are not necessary to anyone's
existence, and even the consumption of
wheat and sugar, which are as necessary
as any articles, is restricted by high
prices or, reduced earnings of the people.
These directors show only too plainly
what they w.iuld have done If ithad not
been for the cuUIde competition; they
would have held their prjees high. Had
they done so 'hey would very likely have
found that the people bought prunes In
stead of ral3lns, or raisins Instead of
prunes, or evaporated apricots Instead of
either, and they would have been left
with- a surplus at the end of the year.
They are looking at the wrong end of
the business. Tney set forth that It was
estimated at the beginning of the season
that the raisin crop would be 3500 cars:
but the association has already handled
3500 cars and the outsiders have mar
keted 1090 cars at cut prices. What
occupies the attention of the directors Is
the cutting of prices, on these 1000 cais
of raisins, but the vital point is that the
crop was 1000 cars more than the esti
mate. They do not pay any attention to
this little error in calculation, but the
whole situation turns on It. The outsiders
are as eag-;r to get good prices as the
members of the absociatlon. They are
cutting their prices no more than is
necessirv to market their goods. The
association held on to prices and as a
result It has held on to 1403 cars of fruit,
whioh i nno mnn than the normal con
sumption for tne remainder of. the season.
This surplus, it will be observed, is al
most identical with the amount that tne
crop exceeded the estimates. We have
twn Inrirntinn that the cron was 900 or
1000 cars above the ordinary consumption
and an absolute, monopoly wouia not nave
hpinp fho rlirr-eto?K to market the stock
at the price? they started out with. The
crop would have broken the market or
left a stiBO.vs on hand whether It was all
controlled by tin association or not
The Ilea of the directors that a monop
oly would have enabled them to market
any quantity, no matter how great, at any
price they chos. to fix, and that without
a monopoly nothing could be accomp
Ilshprl. ii thf ide.r of irrowers wholly un
familiar with the mercantile problems In
volved, xtic association can ao a great
deal to abate competition among pro
ducers and to put the goods on the market
gradually, not throwing too much on at
a times, but it could not do what It aspired
to even if it were a perfect monopoly.
The id'a of a monopoly is chimerical.
If it could be accomplished among agri
culturists anywhere It could be accomp
lished among the fruitgrowers of Cali
fornia. But even of them there are too
many inhvlduals for more than 75 or 80
per cent to be ever brought permanently
together into one combination. These
fruitgrowers need to put the marketing
of their products Into the hands of mer
chants, who will get as good prices as
they can. Both in prunes and raisins the
crops were large and an absolute monop
oly could have maintained prices only by
carrving large stocks over, which is the
preefse thing that is now happening.
The Texas Oil Fever.
Chitago Tribune.
There is no abatement In the oil fever
In Texas. Uninfluenced by corn deals In
Chicago or stock manipulations In New
York, it Is steadily increasing. The Gal
veston News prints a list of no less than
224 oil companies which have filed char
ters at Austin since January 1, and up
to Sunday, May 5. The smallest capitali
zation Is $5000 and the largest $5,000,000,
the larger number be&; capitalized at
from $300,000 to $500,000. One company, the
Hoo-Hoo, of Houston, has a capital of
599,999 99, and another Houston company,
vith a capital of $1,000,000, offers a limit
ed amount of stock for development atx6
cents per share, par value 10 cents. Pur
chasers of ofi stocks will have noi diffi
culty In finding accommodation at prices
to suit themselves, and as new "gushers"
are announced almost dally sellers have
no difficulty In finding purchasers. Of
course some day there will be a crash, but
those who got In on the ground floor will
probably be out by that time.
i
For the Best, Perhaps.
New York Times.
It may be assumed that the speculative
fever which was checked by the convul
sion in Wall street would have gone on
increasing In intensity as long as prices
continued to rise, and would have ab
sorbed a much larger share of the avail
able funds, and drawn more heavily on
the available credit of the country. The
reaction was bound to come. As the com
parative prices show, it has begun before
there was an extravagant Inflation of
nominal values. If, as may be assumed,
this reaction shall cool the fever and
leave the country in a steadier and more
rational mood, it Is well that It has oc
curred. His Hated Rival.
Chicago Tribune.
Editor Bryan Is now engaged In view
ing with alarm a proposed trip Westward
which the friends of David Bennett Hill
are arranging for that gentleman. "It
will be interesting to know," says Ed
itor Bryan, darkly and mysteriously,
"whether Mr. Hill will undertake to per
suade the Democrats to oppose fusion,
and thus aid the Republican party, or
whether he has become a convert to those
policies which have led to the triple al
liance." From all the data at hand we
think Mr. Hill does.
4
The Voice From Nebraska.
Chicago Chronicle.
A hoarse voice from Lincoln, Neb., de
clares that, in spite of all that may be
said to the contrary, there Is nothing to
do but to "let democracy and plutocracy
fight It out" The principal trouble about
this Is that whenever democracy has a
clean shirt and enough energy to fight
at all It la making a very creditable effort
to join the plutocracy, if that is what
getting on In the world Is called. The
attempt to divide the people politically
on Unci, of personal fortune or ill fortune
has not been a great success In the past
and it is not likely to be In the future.
0
Neighborly Amenity.
Kansas City Star.
Admiral Dewey has acquired a" bakeshop
in Omaha through the foreclosure of a
mortgage. This property could doubtless
be transferred by the Admiral, even to a
member of his own family, without cre
ating any comment, unless it might call
forth an expression of surprise about
the possibility of giving away property
in Omaha.
MORALITY OF f HE " CORNER."
New York Evening Post
Recent events have shown that sales
by a foreign security-holder on this mar
ket Involve the borrowing of the stock
by his New York agent for delivery,
until the European stock arrives by
steamer. This is a perfectly legitimate
operation; it Is, indeed, the only way
in which instant sales from one market
to another can. b& made. But such tran
sactions are small compared with sales
of stock which the seller does not own,
and which he expects to acquire at lower
prices. Not very much sympathy, wc
presume, will be tendered to him In a
cornered market The "bear" hxs his
uses In the stock exchange system: as a
moderator of excessive price advances,
he Is Indispensable, and equally so as a
brake on panicky declines. But he takes
his chances, and we do not know that
he deserves much more pity, when
causht in a. Wall street corner, than the
"bull" speculator gets when the public
"unloads" on h'.m.
As to the conduct of the speculator or
combination of speculators who. under
such conditions, exact their pound of
flesh without mercy or forbearance, we
fancy there will not be much difference
of oninion. It may be that the require
ment of a 50 per cent, cash payment as
was demanded yesterday afternoon for
the mere privilege of borrowing North
ern Pacific shares for temoorary deliv
ery, or the exaction of this mornings
price of 1000 from actual purchasers,
falls on shoulders able to endure the
consequences. We hardly think that
this improves the morality of the cor
ner operation, though it may, and doubt
less will, serve to mitigate popular In
dignation, It Is much to be feared. In
deed that the public's wrath is chiefly
inspired by the fact that its own mad
dance of "bull" speculation has been
thus rudely Interrupted, and that the
general stock market which it had
thought could never fall, has already
collapsed 20 or 40 points.
The gravest objection to a corner In
securities, aside from the dlsreDUtable
practices incidental to It. Is the disturb
ance into which it throws the entire sit
uation. Itself an abnormal element In
the market-?. It dislocates with the ut
most violence the rest of the financial
system. A commercial panic always
places the credit and solvency of a pan
of the community at the mercy of acci
dent: a corner places It In the hands
of an Individual, and usually of an un
scrupulous Individual. In a large de
gree, such a person has the financial
situation In his control. He may,-as the
Ingenious Mr. Jay Gould once did. in
vite the unhanpy "shorts" to his office,
and Inform them, after the fashion of
kindly freebooters in the davs of more
open plunder, that he would only ask
for a sight of their cash accounts. In
order to assess the ransom according
to their means. He may drive them Into
actual bankruDtcy. with the consequent
shaking of affiliated houses. But this he
will hardly do, for the obvious reason
that a bankrupt will not pay the pen
alty, and that the courts to which he
appeals will look much askance at con
tracts held by manipulators of a corner.
CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS BAD RISKS.
Hove Shall the Infatnnted Be Con
verted to Common Sense?
Brooklyn .Eagle.
The mutual Insurance society known
as the Royal Arcanum, In New Jersey,
has declared that people who believe in
Christian Science are a "bad risk." And
it does not want any more converts to
that faith to Join the order. Of course
they are a bad risk. They are suicides.
A man who has pneumonia, or diph
theria, or a shot wound, or a cut throat,
o Tuhn rpfuRPs to emDlov a physician,
but sends instead to some old woman of
the parish to mutter incantations, In
vites death. Death in his case Is so rea
sonably certain that to insure a man be
fore the fact would be as foolish as to
Insure him after it. Men do not so in
sure against fire. The man who em
ployed powder and dynamite about his
premises, and habitually smoked and
threw matches on the floor, could not
obtain a pennyworth of Insurance on his
shops, or on his life. Why, then, should
he be allowed to insure when he admits
danger of death by means as sure, and
Invites prayers instead of surgery? If
a houseowner believed that he could put
out fire with prayer, Instead of water or
carbonic acid, not a company In the
world would advance a dollar of protec
tion on his house. And If he was sin
cere in his belief he would -not ask It.
for he would need no Insurance, since he
could always put out a fire by believing,
that there wasn't" any.
Christian Science, carried to Its ulti
mate, 'denies death Itself, since it denies
the existence of the means of death. Dis
ease causes more deaths than anything
else, and If one can 'successfully believe
that he is not ill, he need never die. And
why, in such a case, will he ask to be
Insured? Faith Is not decried. Many
diseases can be cured by It because they
are diseases that exist In the mind.
But the person to whom faith Is the only
cure for Injury and defect and lapse in
health Is not to be trusted to himself.
By refusing medical attention he con
signs himself to death, and they who are
mulcted to support his widow and or
phans have the best of reasons for ob
jecting, since by the exercise of sense his
life and usefulness might have been pro
longed for years. Deaths through neg
lect have been so common of late, and
nronirb TOnnrtprinir about the land with
contagious diseases have so endangered
the healthy, that the law has stepped in
as a defense. The age of miracles has
passed, yei. we hope for one more won
der: the conversion of the stubborn and
Infatuated to common sense.
Qualified as Candidates.
New York Tribune.
Not many, days ago a professional
niroi- rproiveri fatal lniurles in a contest
before a noted sporting club In London.
He was rourtn in a series oi kiovc Haul
ers who diediafter they had been battered
nrt rimiKpri in the fierce encounters with
in the walls of that clubhouse. Members
of our State Senate and Assembly wno
voted against the bill to protect tame
nicronna from cruel butchery ought to
apply for honorary membership In that
"sporting organization. ro aouoi mey
would be accepted and acclaimed with
all the honors.
,
Carmen Animnlcnlam.
New Tork Press.
We're gentle bacilli
Of shy berl-berl,
Of Bombay and Chile.
Of Cape Town and Said.
Just watch little Willy,
Go derry-down-derry!
Oh, living is merry
Aa long aa you're fed!
There's the Malay and fellah,
The brown and the yellow.
The Boer and the Briton,
The Hottentot, too!
The Sepoy, the Coolie,
We'll tackle them duly!
We're fine as a kitten
Too-rllly-boo-roo !
'We're centle bacilli
Of shy berl-berl.
We're here wllly-nllly.
We don't know our dad!
You're fit as a Ally
For crossing the ferry!
We're feeling so merry.
We hope you are glad!
There's the Hindoo, the fakir.
The Parsee, the Quaker.
The Dane and the Digger,
The Sikh and Chinee, r
The Kaffir, the Zulu
They're only our boulu!
Ju8t wait till we snigger
Too-rllly-too-ree !
We're gentle bacilli
Of rtir berl-berl.
Like daffy-down-dllly
We bloom and are sped.
We knock the cat silly ,
That ate the canary. .
Oh, living Is merry
Until yoo are deadi
.NOTE. AND C031MEXf. ;, , ,'
Why didn't we have a battle-ship to
launch?
At all events. Hon. John Barrett la
coming to Portland.
Never mind. McKinley's the one who
ought to be disappointed. .
Someone ought to write to GroverCleve
land and ask him If he ever tried spit
ting on his bait
The Gila River has gone dry. Strangelr
We never heard that It flowed through a?
prohibition state.
The French Parliament Is In session
and the yellow journals are hurrying;
their war correspondents to Paris.
The man who knows all about yachts
will now succeed the ls-lt-hot-enough-for-you
fiend as a Summer nuisance.
In spite of the rumors that J. P. Mor
gan's health Is bad. It Is not generally i
believed that Mr. Morgan Is la Europe
for It.
Not to be outdone by wireless- te!eg-
raphy and horseless carriages, the scien
tists of Lick Observatory have discovered
a tailless comet.
It Is said that a United States Sen
ator lost his entire fortune, consisting of
$75,000. gambling In stock. We can. se
his finish as a Senator.
Certain occupations do not lend them
selves easily to terse description In tak
ing the English census. Add to this the
lack of practice In definition and curious
results may be postulated from the cen
sus returns. At the last census one word
was found In the column marked "occu-'
patlon" which puzzled the authorities not
a little. It was "gosakokling." After a
while It dawned upon the officers that
the man earned his living by gathering
and selling cockles he "went-a-cock-ling."
A jeweler In Yokohama sends this card
to prospective English-speaking custom
ers: "Jewelry Maker- A finest in town.
Whiskyboy. No. 17 Aiolcho Itchome, how
this card to Jinrikshaman. Our shop Is.
best and obliging worker that has every
body known, and having articles genu
ine Japanese Crystals and all kinds oC
Curios. Gold or silver plate in electro
plate or plain mending. Carving in Laid,,
work own name or monograms or any
designs according to orders we can work
how much difficult Job with lowest prices
Insure, pleace try, once try. Don't for
get name Whisky!"
A few years ago a committee of angry
Low Church men visited the Bishop oC
Oxford, the late Dr. Stubbs, to complain,
of various ritualistic excesses of their
rector. They were especially excited over
the fact that the parson wore a red hood.
Instead of the blue one to which he waa
entitled as a graduate of Trinity Col
lege, Dublin. "He carries a lie on his
back!" they cried. As a matter of fact,
the accused priest had an Oxford de
gree, as well as an Irish one, but tho
Bishop did not argue the matter. "A
He," said he, with a comical smile, "is
a hard word. Suppose you call It a false
hood." And the committee laughed and
withdrew.
When Chief Justice Furches, of North
Carolina, took his seat recently, after the
failure of Impeachment proceedings
against him. he made the following state
ment "The cause of my absence from. .
court so long a time will fdrm a page ""
In the history Of North Carolina; As to
that 1 have nothing to say, but I deem
It proper I should say that those who
have been my friends In matters which
have transpired during my absence are
too generous to expect anything of me
that they do not think Is right and jU3t
As to those who were not my friends I
wish to say that so far as any business
transactions they may have with this
court are concerned they have nothing to
fear from me, but that in all such mat
ters they and the Interests they repre
sent shall receive the same attention and,
consideration from me as If they had been;
my frelnds. This is due from me as a
public servant, and I could not afford to
remain upon this bench unless I should .
so act."
PLEASANTRIES OF PAHAGBAPHERS
In Chicago. "Sir. I would like to have your
daughter for a wife." "Have, you any recom
mendations from your former fathers-in-law?"
Life.
Too Late. He Your father ought to know
what I have to say to him. I have, been com
ing here so long. She I an afraid he haa
given up all hope. Detroit Free Press.
Smelton I say. Fred. I suppose you don't
want to lend me a fiver?" Brabrook Smelton.
you ought to set up as a clairvoyant. The
way you read another's mind Is simply mar
velous. Boston Transcript
"Why Is Justice pictured as a woman hold
ing a pair of apothecary's scales?" "I don't
know, but It would be iHah'fiwHy -tiSurd to
represent her as an Icema'n with an Iceman's
Bcales." Philadelphia Times.
How To Tell. "Are these your clothes or
mine?" asked the athletic man of his wife.
"Look in the hip pocket," was the reply. "It
It's smelling of salts they're mine; if It's
brandy they're yours." Leslie's Weekly.
Brain Best. "What 13 It you like so much
about golf. Mr. Noodler?" "Why, you know.
It makes me think of something to talk about
you know without having to think up some
thing to talk about you know." Chicago Record-Herald.
Might Borrow One. "Poor old Habuln. he
hasn't a single relative In the world under 20
years of age." "I don't see as that's so sad."
"You don't? Why, what's he going to do for
an excuse to go to the circus?" Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin
Widowed Father (to his 10-year-old daugh
ter) Do you know. Minnie, that your gov
erness Is going to get married? Minnie I'm so
glad to get rid of the hateful thing I 'waa
afraid she was never going to leave us. Who
Is she going to marry? Widowed Father-Mo!
Tlt-Blts.
A Serious Complaint. "What made you leave
yyour place wlf dat gemman?" asked Ml9
Miami Brown. "DIdn' he pay you right?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Erastus PInkley. "H
paid fus rate. But his clothes was so out o
style dat I was almost fohced to keep out o
society." Washington Star.
Tried to Pleaae Her. MIstress-I'd Just like
to Snow what was the meaning of all that
loud and angry talking downstairs last night.
Domestic That was Just me and me husband,
mum. "Your husband? You told me when
you came that you were not married." "I
wasn't then, mum; but you complained about
havln' so much love-makln In th kitchen, so
I married one of 'em." New York Weekly.
Coffee And You!
Atlanta Constitution.
I.
Ah! life had been lone and uncertain.
Of violets dashed o' the dew.
But it still led the way r
To a beautiful day
To coffee quotations, and you!
IL
Your eyes how they twinkled that mornlnr
And how Love obeyed your commands!
Your gold hair supreme.
And your lips like a dream.
And the grace of your glittering bands!
IIL
Oh. the silvery sunlight! the singing- J
Of birds to a heaven o blue,
That morning in May,
When Love led the bright way
To coffee-o.uotatlonsr and you!
' !