fjrv
TPE MOUSING OEGONrAN,' MONDAY, tviAT 27, 1901.
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XORTLA-VD, MONDAY, 3IAY 27, 1901.
AJfdTHER. "WHITSIAX MYTH ESSAYIST-
There are persons whose nature is
Such that they must have heroes to
"worship or io 4eify. It is this class of
persons that adheres to the Whitman
myth. Plain facts of history do not
satisfy them. They want fables. For
plain facts are prosaic, and fables ap
peal to the Imagination, of which they
are the offspring.
Whitman was a veritable, though
merely ordinary, historical character.
He "was a pioneer of like quality with
others. The contention of his wor
shipers is that he "saved Oregon."
That is, Oregon would have been lost
to the United States but for his "Win
ter ride."
Nothing could be more unfounded.
Admit that the purpose of his journey.
and its sole purpose, was to Impress
on the Administration at Washington
a sense of the importance of Oregon
and of the urgency of action for main
tenance of the claims of the United
States. That "was not the sole purpose of
his journey, but only an incidental one.
But admit it was the sole purpose. In
fact, it was unnecessary, and the result
would have been the same had he never
made the Winter journey, and indeed
had he never existed. No candid mind,
without prepossessions, can study the
history and reach any other conclu
sion. There was an. American settlement in
Oregon which was strong enough to
assert the sovereignty of the United
States, and -which, during Whitman's
absence, organized the Provisional
Government The first large migration
to Oregon that of 1843 which had
been assembling on the Missouri fron
tier tor a. year before its start, was not
organized by Whitman, for he, in fact,
had nothing to do with it, and could
have had nothing to do with it, till he
overtook it on the Upper Platte, after
which time he was very serviceable to
it as an adviser and guide. But it
could have come through, and no one
doubts that it would have come
through, without him. This reinforce
ment confirmed the American ascend
ancy, which already had been asserted
In the country.
In the Homiletic Review for July a
son of Rev. Samuel Parker, who came
to Oregon the year before Whitman
came, is to publish an article which
will assert once more that Whitman
"saved Oregon." Advance sheets of
the article are already furnished. But
the effort is the fruit of the same fond
ness for myth, and of the same dispo
sition for hero worship so often manl
iest heretofore. Nobody questions the
historical p?Bc fiCWhitman among our
pioneers. He did important service;
but he didn't "save" Oregon. In fact,
there never was actual danger of the
loss of Oregon to the United States
Irom the time of the restoration of the
old status, after the War of 1812. The
only question was what the northern
boundary should be. It was the murder
of Whitman that furnishes the ground
for the myth which attributes so great
results to his work as a pioneer. There
Is a sort of people who worship the
man whose life is a sacrifice to an
effort or cause. With such, the Im
agination supplies everything necessary
to the apotheosis or deification.
aioxcr IX SHIPS.
There is great profit in ships, and
subsidies are not needed. The fact that
money is rushing into ship-building is
proof ,enough. The great steamships
are making large sums of money. Sam
uel A. Wood, in Ainslie's Magazine for
June, discusses the ocean steamship. as
a type of modern business. He pre
sents "valuable statistics as to capital,
expenses and profits.
The money-makers in the Atlantic
trade, he says, are the large carriers
of modern speed, such as the Hamburg
American liner Pennsylvania and the
Cunarder Ivernia. Vessels of this class
cost from., $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 each.
Such vessel earns $50,000 in a single
voyage, at a cost of $20,000. But it costs
$45,000 to run such a ship as the
Xeutschland across the sea; yet when
the passenger traffic is heavy the voy
age pays well.
Mr. Wood estimates that the cost of
all the passenger and cargo carriers in
service between Europe and the Atlan
tic ports of America is $250,000,000. The
wealth of the Hamburg-American
Steamship Company is represented by
ships .nd piers valued at $50,000,000. It
employs oh its fleet 7000 persons and
gives employment on land to nearly
9000. The White Star. Line pays New
York City $217,000 annual rental for
piers; the Cunard IAne, $120,000. and the
American Line. $SS,000. Of the ships
docking at New York, the estimated
value is hs follows: The Hamburg-
American Line, $15,000,000; North Ger
man Uoyd, $15,000,000; White Star, 512,
000,000: Cunard, $10,000,000: American,
Including: Red Star, $10,000,000; Atlantic
Transport, $10,000,000; French, $8,000,000;
Holland-America, $7,000,000. The Hamburg-American
iiine's fleet consists of
109 ocean-going craft, of about 600,000
tons. The North German Lloyd's ton
nage Is more than 500,000. The British
line, the Peninsular & Oriental, has 58
ships, of 313,000 tons. There are about
100 American steamships In the foreign
trade, at the port of New York, some
of them of high rank.
All the leading American shipyards
are crowded with orders. Subsidies are
not needed, and if subsidies are paid
the money will go to men and to com
binations already enormously rich. The
great subsidy bill is a shameless graft.
Tet it will be powerfully supported,
and there is danger it may pass.
THE BXGLISH NATURE.
Of the charming essay which Pro
fessor Brander Matthews contributes
to the June Harper's, the most dam
aging criticism that can be made Is,
perhaps, his curious choice of its name;
for while it purports to be a discussion
of the debt our English language owes
to good -King Alfred, it Is in reality a
thoughtful and illuminative study in
British and American ethnology. He
traces the source of these two allied
characters, In their laws, language, political-
and literary achievement, and
his conclusions are both interesting and
Instructive. Mr. Matthews takes his
text from that chief expositor of Eng
lish, Stopford Brooke, thus: "The poetry
of England has owed much to the dif
ferent races which mingled with the
original English race; it has owed much
to the different types of poetry It ab
sorbedGreek, Latin, Welsh, French,
Italian, Spanish; but below all these
admixtures the English jiature wrought
its steady will. It seized, It trans
muted, It modified, It mastered these
admixtures both of races and of song."
King Alfred is merely the convenient
hook on .which Mr. Matthews hangs
his contribution.
It is our essayist's task to develop
this process of original force persisting
through assimilations; first in Britain,
and then to extend the investigation
to America. There survive in both
these English-speaking races many if
not most of the characteristics which
Tacitus in a celebrated passage at
tributes to the Teutons of 2000 years
ago. Yet they have "been something
modified. The English Teuton has
taken on impetuosity and swiftness of
perception from the Celt, enrichment
from the Norman, strength from the
Scotch. And in America a similar amal
gamation has been going on. Just as
the Angles, Saxons and JUtes had min
gled in Great Britain to make the
Englishmen, and had been modified by
Celtic, Norman and Latin influences,
so "here in the United States the Purl
tan and the Cavalier, the Dutchman
and the Huguenot and the German, the
Irish and the Scotch and the Scotch-
Irish, have all blended to make the
American."
If we trace the English law and lit
erature from Alfred's noble beginnings
down through the Norman conquest
and then through QJmucer, we come at
length to the masterful period of Eliz
abeth, and it is interesting to come
upon Mr. Matthews' contention that
the true Elizabethans of today, in ven
turesomeness and Imaginative energy,
are not In Britain, but in America.
Here it is, he avers, the characteristic
energy of the English stock, most exub
erantly displayed under Elizabeth, has
gained In strength with its westward
migration, "since every native Ameri
can must be the descendant of some man
more venturesome than his kin who
thought best to stay at home." And
for defense against our lack of poetry
he quotes Lowell on the descendants of
the Puritans, to the effect that they
had enough of imagination, or they
would never have conceived "the great
epic, whose books are states, and which
Is written on this continent from Maine
to California."
This is not a place one would, exrect
to encounter the deadly struggle be
tween Darwinism and Welsmannlsm,
but here it is, in Mr. Matthews' Inter
esting inquiry whether what we call a
race nature is, after all, a real ihlng.
Is the organism the legacy of heredity
or the product of Its environment? The
fact Is, of course, that the extreme po
sition on each side Is modified by the
other. We shall not concede to the op
ponents of Welsmann that the charac
teristics of the Greeks or Romans, for
example, are not the results of any
native predisposition to art in the one
case or administration in the other,
but due solely to circumstances of cli
mate, of geographical situation and of
historical position; nor fully agree that
the Romans, had they been in the place
of the Greeks, would have revealed
themselves as masters of form, and the
Greeks, mutatis mutandis, would have
been warriors and lawyers. We shall
allow that too much stress has doubt
less been laid upon Inherent qualities
and too little upon environment; but
at the last we must recognize the wide
ly different racial natures of Teuton
and Celt, Roman and Gaul. And not
the least of the evidences is the per
sistence of theEnglIsh nature, which,
through all its admixtures, "wrought
Its. steady will."
A TRUST AGAINST PORTLAND.
.We find this in the Baker Republican,
a paper which Is friendly to Portland:
Portland seems to wake up once In a while
to the -necessity of a great smelter at hat
point, that will accommodate the great mining
belt surrounding her; but she soon falls
asleep again. She ought to give us the smelter
or decide we don't need It, and tell us so.
Suspense is painful.
Portland should have built a smelter
long ago. Nothing would have been
more beneficial to the mining industry
of the entire Northwest, especially "Ore
gon. There Is no reason why a smelter
at Portland should not be successful as
well as the plants at Tacoma and Ev
erett. The Tacoma smelter is being
Increased to 4"00 tons a day, and a cop
per and lead plant is being added.
When the improvements are made the
works will give employment to 600 men.
Tacoma treats ore from all parts of
Oregon, ore that should properly be
reduced at Portland.
The mistakes, mismanagement and
lack of enterprise of the past were se
rious enough, but just now we are
facing a worse situation. In the past
we wouldn't go ahead If we could; now
It appears that we couldn't if we would,
without placating the lead trust, oth
erwise the American Smelting & Re
fining Company. This corporation is
pretty .nearly the whole thing In the
smelting and refining business. It has
$50,000,000 of preferred stock and a large
Issue of common stock. It has paid
over $3,600,000 dividends on preferred
stock since its organization, of which
$359,000 has been paid thus far vin 1901.
Its policy is similar to that of the
Standard Oil Company. It ruthlessly
crushes competition in the transporta
tion and reduction of ore, but encour
ages the producers of the ore the raw
mafferial and permits them to realize
good profits. It has recently submitted
to the miners pf Colorado a schedule
of payment for silver-lead ores. It is
now negotiating for the consolidation
of the silver-lead producers of the
Coeur d'Alenes, Tvith a view to con
trolling them. The course it is pur
suing looks like a hold-up of the min
ing interests of the Rocky - Mountain
States, tiiough so excellent an authority
as the Engineering and Mining Journal
thinks not. The publication justifies
the trust because the price of lead has
been maintained "at a high level," re
sulting "In great profit to all the miners
whose ore has contained lead." That
Is, the trust pays the miner a little
more for his raw material as an excuse
to maintain the New York price of lead
at "a high level" and thus rob the con
sumer. J. K. Clark, of. Montana, brother to
United States Senator Clark, came to
Portland recently to look over the field
with a view to building a smelter. The
location satisfied him, as everything
necessary for the building and main
taining of a smelter can be had laid
down here on favorable terms. But
the lead trust gave him food for
thought. He found that a 200-ton
smelter would produce from 20 to 40
tons of lead a day. Now, the trust
owns all the principal refining plants
In the country, and it would like to own
all the smelters. It Is the only "pur
chaser of lead In considerable quanti
ties. Obviously, Mr. Clark must make
some deal with the trust if he is to
build a smelter in Portland with any
assurance of making money out of It.
The trust is preparing to build at Salt
Lake a smelter of 2000 tons capacity,
which will, doubtless, draw on the ores
of Oregon, Washington and Idaho
Portland's field.
Portland is not asleep on the smelter
enterprise. It is simply "up against" a
gigantic trust, which is this year pay
ing at the rate of 8 per cent on Its
$50,000,000 of preferred stock.
VALUABLE IMMIGRANTS.
Italians are coming to this country
by the hundred thousand, and are prov
ing a most valuable addition to the
population. They are hard workers,
abstemious, strong hardy and Intelli
gent. For the greater part they are
peasants, thoroughly skilled in tillage.
They have succeeded in winning a good
living from the hill pastures and aban
doned farms of New England. They
are crowding to this country at the rate
of 8000 a month, and Intelligent Ameri
can observers are glad that they are
coming, because there Is a place for
them in the ranks of our agricultural
workers, and our unskilled labor. Fifty
years ago our unskilled labor was
chiefly represented by the Irish peasant
immigration which poured Into this
country In a flood from 1846 to 1855.
There is no more athletic race in the
world than the Irish peasantry, and
their strong arms built all our railroads
and digged all our canals up to -about
1860. But the Irish Immigration Is not
nearly as large as It was In the years
following the famine of 1845-47, and the
Irish are an energetic, race who soon
get beyond the sphere of unskilled la-"
bor. They soon become small farmers,
mechanics, tradesmen, and their vacant
places have been taken largely in rail
road labor by the Italians.
The Italian has not so powerful a
physique as" the Irishman, and he is
handicapped at first by his ignorance
of the English language, but he soon
"picks up" our tongue; he Is hardy, pa
tient, industrjous and economical, be
cause he comes Jfrom a land where these
virtues are necessary to get 'a living.
It is doubtful If any field laborers this
side of India and China work so hard
for so little pay as the Italian peasant
is obliged to do In his native land. Italy
is taxed' to death to support a very
large standing army, and the Italian
peasantry of recent years have been
taking to flight by thousands. During
the last fifteen years the hardy, vig
orous Italian immigrant has made all
our railroad cuts and embankments.
His superior quickness and intelligence
will ultimately enable him to leave 'the
field of unskilled manual labor to the
Slav, even as the Irishman abandoned
it to the Italian.
The capacity of the Italian immigrant
for rapid improvement Is shown in the
Argentine Republic, where climate and
social conditions have favored his de
velopment, and where he has attained
the first rank in the industries of the
country. Italians own nearly half the
commercial firms in Buenos Ayres, with
a capital of $150,000,000, and more than
half Its workshops. Italian architects
have built the greater part of Buenos
Ayres; Italians have all 'the river carry
ing trade and two-thirds of the coast
ing trade; Italian peasants and men
of business own nearly all the corn
farms. The production of corn and ar
tificial grasses has been created by the
Italians, who' own rural property to the
value of $50,000,000, and one In every
eight Is a proprietor. The bulk of the
engineering and milling, the paper and
soap industries, almost all the hat and
tobacco manufactures, most of the ce
ment and marble works, a large part of
the tanning and tinned meat business
is in the hands of Italians. In wheat
growing they form the enormous ma
jority of the population. A Pledmont
ese proprietor plants 67,000 acres in
wheat; an Italian firm mows 12,000 acres
of temporary grasses; an Italian, the
foremost wine producer of South Amer
ica, has 2500 acres under vines. The
Italian vinegrowers of Mendoza and
San Juan and Buenos Ayres produce
every year 33,000,000 gallons of wine. All
this has been done by uneducated, pov- J
erty-strlcken Italian peasants In a few
years. The Italian Immigrants who
have performed this mighty work In
Argentina are identical In quality and
capacity with the Italian immigrants
that were formerly condemned in the
United States as useless or dangerous
paupers.
The popular prejudice against Italian
immigration rests chiefly upon a confu
sion of a genuine Italian peasant immi
gration with the comparatively worth
less, homicidal, mongrel, so-called Ital
ian immigration from Sicily and Na
ples. Sicily has been ruled In succes
sion by Greeks, Romans, Moors, Span
iards and Frenchmen; Calabria and
Naples have much of this mongrel pop
ulation. The difference in quality be
tween these Italian mongrels of Sicily
and the extreme south of Italy and the
fine peasantry that p'eople Middle and
Northern Italy Is shown by the fact
that while Northern Italy shows no
larger per cent of homicides than the
most civilized countries of Europe,
Southern Italy shows a very high aver-
age for homicide. The highest average
for h6tnlclde is found among the poor,
brutalized miners of Sicily, who are ab
solutely illiterate. Popular education
has almost eliminated homicide in the
Ticino, the ItaUah canton of Switzer
land, where sixty years ago homicides
were frequent and ignorance abounded.
The criminal associations, like the
Mafia, are confined to Sicily, Calabria
and Naples, and it is this quality of
so-called "Italian" immigrants that are
as prompt to use a knife murderously
in a trivial quarrel as an Anglo-Saxon
would be to use his fist.
The letter of Mrs. Dye's in the Sun
day papr has; besides many other
things of Interest, two points of testi
mony which will engage the .attention
of Oregonlans. She Is in the East, look
ing into the sources of Oregon history.
She has been to 3ee several members
of the Clark family, of which George
Rogers Clark, the noted Kentucky ex
plorer, and William Clark, who came
with Meriwether Lewis to the Oregon
region in 1805, have been famous repre
sentatives. In no case does the family
spell Its name with the suffixed "e,"
which many people stubbornly persist
in adding. If anybody wants final evi
dence of the fallacy of the suffixed "e,"
Mrs. Dye's letter affords It. The sec
ond point of testimony mentioned of
her letter will cause Oregonlans regret.
This is the ignorance in the East of
Lewis and Clark."" Even at thecenters
of culture and Information,, these great
men are almost in complete oblivion.
While some Oregonlans have, known
this, many more have not, and to the
latter the Information wili awaken a
sad realization. -The 1905 centennial
will eulogize and establish the memory
of Lewis and Clark. We begin now to
see how inadequate the celebration
would be as a mere memorial. The
means to revive the names of LewiB
and Clark is the American Pacific Ex
position. The memory of those explorers
will give the event significance, -and
the event will redound to. the .fame of
Lewis and Clark. The 1905 centennial
is the duty of the Pacific Northwest,
and every ma'n, voman and child in
the Pacific Northwest is in obligation
to share that duty. We, of this coun
try, are almost the only ones who know
or sound the names' jOf LewiB and Clark.
Here, then, is our opportunity to repay
the debt we owe these two great bene
factors of our prosperity.
The people of Vancouver, -It is said,
are not satisfied with the information
given out in regard tb the condition of
their closed bank, declaring that it is
not sufficiently explicit. The attitude
of the National bank officials seems to
be that they alone are entitled to full
Information In rbgard to matters that
led to the closing of that institution,
and that the depositors' Interests are
of secondary importance. Depositors,
on the contrary, feel that the losses,
whatever they are, are theirs; that the
money In the vaults, of whatever
amount, Ib theirs, and that they are en
titled to know all about existing condi
tions and how they came about. The
attitude of the Controller of the Cur
rency in the premises may be neces
sary, and.no doubt It is dictated by pru
dence; but it is, nevertheless, In a de
gree exasperating. Since, however, the
only thing to be done by depositors Is
to possess their souls In patience and
await developments, they will show
wisdom in so doing without making
useless complaint.
A man who has had personal experi
ence In marketing berries makes a sen
sible and timely suggestion In regard
to berry boxes, old and new. "Scald
the boxes in clean, hot water after
each using," says Mr. A. H. Buckman.
This is a practical, cheap and easy so
lution of a vexed question. Strict
compliance with It would leave nefther(
the Food Commissioner nor the con
sumer any just grounds for complaint,
and it would not be hard on the pro
ducer. Let a card bearing the words
"clean boxes" be tacked to each crate 1
containing .berries, and if investiga
tion proves the statement to be true,
that grower's troubles on the clean-box
proposition, and those of his dealer as
well, will be ended; provided, of course,
that he keeps up the scalding process
and markets his berries in clean boxes
throughout the season.
The procrastination of state officials
in the'pavis school money steal has
its compensation. We are spared the
sweat and fret and fever of sending
him to Jail. This may be one, of the
reasons he was allowed to get away.
But, perhaps, If DavlB were less of a
good fellow, there might have been a
few obstacles set to his escape.
That President McKInley may be
much too easily "worked" for pardons
by powerful political and personal in
fluences is proven once more by the
pardon of Alexander McKenzie's crook
edness in the court business at Nome.
Hanna, Hansbrough and others want
ed that pardon, and It was enough.
There is no probability that Senator
McLaurin will beat Senator Tillman In.
the contest In the Dembcratlc prima
ries, to be held in South Carolina In
November. But McLaurin shows a
plucky spirit, and no doubt has the
progressive people of the state largely
on" his side.
Wallowa Valley is reported at Wash
ington to be the most beautiful and
well-kept garden spot In the West. No
reason appears for the statement ex
cept the fact that It is true. Willamette
Valley farmers may take comfort, be
cause it was not meant to pique them.
It Is deduced from science that Ore
gon, geologically, Is very old. Oregon
has been Inhabited by white people for
nearly three-quarters of a century, and
although we confess the number of fos
sils here is large, such open ridicule
from science seems very ungracious.
There can be no reasonable doubt
that a very considerable portion of the
money lost to the State of Oregon
through the Davis defalcation found its
lodgment In the Radlr est'ate. The cir
cumstances point clearly that way.
The prose about Agulnaldo after
poetry Is that he has changed from a
George Washington into a common,
every-day Bcrub. Of course, this is en
ervating to the delicate natures 'of his
erstwhile American admlrerst
Our primary election laws are in
congruous and unworkable. It is well,
'therefore, to have judicial examination
of them before our people get into a
hopeless muddle In trying to apply
them.
CONGRESS MAY 'RESTORE CANTEEN
Washington special to Chicago Journal.
Reports which already have been re
ceived and are to be received by the
Government from the several Army posts
indicate that the canteen question will
be reopened in Congress next. Winter.
Accentuating the reports, from command
ers of posts are those 6f volunteer Investi
gators, clergymen for the most part; who,
since the canteen was abolished, have
been trying to find out whether the new
order of things Is working for or against
the common soldier.
In every case where a commanding
officer has respbnded to the request of the
War Department for advice concerning
the practical working of the anti-canteen
law, he has said with emphasis that the
change has worked the men untold haTm,
has started a carnival of lawlessness and
excesses in the groggeries -that have
sprung up like mushrooms on the borders
of every post, and made the task of main
taining proper discipline Infinitely more
difficult than it wa3 before. In practical
ly every Instance of careful and Intelli
gent Investigation by outsiders the re
ports of the post commanders have been
Indorsed.
A notable illustration of this harmony
of thought between men who, while, the
anti-canteen bill was pending, were as
far apart as the poles, Is found in re
cent public utterances of Chicago clergy
men, who formed a part of the volunteer
committee which visited Fort Sheridan
for the avowed purpose of finding out and
publishing to the world that the oft-repeated
tales of moral degeneracy as the
result of the wiping out of the canteen
were not true.
Against their will these gentlemen have
become convinced that the Army offi
cers and the War Department at Wash
ington were right last Winter when they
besought Congress to permit the canteen
to remain, and that their own precon
ceived, notions were bb valueless aB the
notions of mere theorists are nearly al
ways apt to be.
It was a contest last Winter between
tho tnr4&m nnd thft nrfletlcAl moh. AS
frequently happens, the former presented
wnat seemea to De a peneoi case, uuu
the experience and practical knowledge of
the latter counted for nothing against it.
But the inevitable reaction has set In and
appears to be making rapid headway.
Just what official form the matter will
"assume has not yet been determined. The
War Department is receiving "frequent re
ports fr,om post commanders regarding
the working of the new. law, and Is filing
tTnnm nRiv tny ftlftlro visec TnfmA renOrtS.
it should be B&ld, are be!n$ made in ac
cordance with the usual custom Iri or
der that the Secretary of War may have
reliable information regarding the condi
tion of the Army, and are nbt being called
for as the result of any preconceived pro
gramme In the department to attack the
new law. Obviously, however, should the
Tfi-nnrtn nenm tA luntlfv flUch a flteD. the
Secretary, when he communicates with
Congress; through the President, in De
cember, will give that body whatever in
formation he has, baaing upon u sucn
suggestions ahc recommendations as at
thnt tltnn irMiV Kfttn UtBO&f
i Whether the Secretary will In terms
recommend me repeal or me iuw, or wm
content himself with a me,re statement
of the facts, leaving Congress to make Its
own deduction, is not known: but that his
report, should the facts as a whole agree
with those already at hand, will in effect
amount to a severe condemnation of the
Ihw. no matter which method he may
adopt, Is generally admitted.
It is believed that the work of the
volunteer Investigators, all of whom are
Intense temperance and prohibition en
thusiasts, will help smooth the way to a
repeal or modification of the law; and in
this connection it is noteworthy that these
people are being encouraged to take up
their work wherever they care to.
The War Department thinks that there
has ben a substantial change in public
opinion regarding the canteen since the
bitter fight in Congress last Winter, and
that this change will become more marked
during the Summer and Fall.
CLEVELAND, M'KINLEY AND SILVER
"
Heavy Responsibility of Certain Her
publican Leaders.
Boston Herald, Ind.
Apropos of what has recently been said
concerning Messrs. Cleveland, McKinley
and the sliver issue, a correspondent asks
us if it is true that Mr. McKInley, when
Ih Congress, made a set speech denounc
ing President Cleveland's attitude on the
silver question. We are not aware that
Mr McKinley ever delivered a speech of
this kind In Congress, for, If our mem
ory does not deceive us, the present Ex
ecutive head of our Government was very
careful during- his Congressional career
not to commit himself too strongly one
way or the other on the currency question.
But It Is a matter of record that In 1888
Mr. McKInley was chairman of he com
mittee on resolutions of the National Re
publican Convention, which nominated
Benjamin Harrison as Its Presidential
candidate and as chairman of this com
mittee had thrown upon him. to an un
usual degree, the duty of drafting the
platform of his party. The currency
plank thus prepared and read by him to
the assembled convention denounced Pres
ident Cleveland in the strongest terms
.because he had dishonored and discredited
silver In our National currency system,
and had endeavored by this betrayal of
trust to place our country updn the basis
of the gold standard.
That the Republicans assembled from
all over the country In" Chicago, enthusi
astically Indorsed this sentiment, and
that their subserviency to sllVer was one
of the leading causes for the terrible
financial straits In which we were landed
five or six years later, Is a fact which
should be borne in mind, and, so far as
the historian Is concerned, will be borne
In mind In judging of and commenting
Upon the financial policy or our uovern-
ment. From the time oeiore nis in
auguration, In 18S5, that he wrote his let
ter to Mr. Bland, advocating gold as a
standard of currency, up to the time of
his retirement front- the office of President
In 1897, Mr. Cleveland was One of the few
of our public men whose views respecting
the place which silver should hold In our
currency system do not admit of criti
cism. The opinions which he entertained
16 years ago are those which the great
majority of the American people hold
today; but at that time It needed cour
age, as well as conviction, to announce
and to defend an unqualified gold stand
ard. But for Mr. Cleveland there can be
little doubt that our financial system
would have been completely demoralized,
and that the currehcy of the country
would have sunk in one form or another
to a sliver basis.
In the work of pushing sliver forward
and in denouncing Mr. Cleveland for his
stalwart resistance, a number of eminent
Republicans were aggressively active
Senator Hoar, for example, announced
himself as a blmetallst. and even went
so far as to assert that he knew no busi
ness man in Massachusetts who was not
of the same way of thinking. Indeed, to
say that one was a gold monometallst
that Is, that there was to be no standard
of monetary measurement except gold
was to range one's self alongside of -President
Cleveland In a so far as the Repub
lican party was concerned decidedly un
popular position. Thus, If Mr. McKinley
denounced Mr. Cleveland as a betrayer of
public trust because the latter would not
aid the sllverltes in debauching our cur
rency system, he was only for political
purposes echoing what was a sentiment
broadly entertained by the members of
his own party:
. 9 "
'Relations Witn Great Britain
Philadelphia Record.
Great Britain Is our greatest customer
for provisions and raw materials. The
total of her Imports from the United
States last year exceeded $600,000,000. s Her
trade Is worth more to us than Is that
of all Europe combined. We are vitally
Interested, then, in th maintenance of
her ability to buy, and this ability, how
ever great her earnings from her ship
ping Interests and foreign investments
may be, must be preserved by the en
largement of her market for manufac
tured products.
AMUSEMENTS.
Harry Corson Clarke, who is always
welcome to a Portland audience, delighted
a big one at Cordray's la3t night in his
new comedy "What Did Tomkins Do?"
which .has, undergone, a good many
changes for the better since Its presenta
tion here last winter. Clarke is- always
funny, but- something in the silver hair
and sunny temperament of old Colonel
Tomkins seems to fit him exactly, and
for three acts of a rather loosely Jointed
comedy laughter that rippled from parquet
to gallery and back to parquet again
showed how glad the old friends of the
comedian were to see him again. His
easy Btage presence, the perfectly natural
manner in which every speech, and gesture
is given, and the winning personality of
the actor enlist sympathy and Interest as
soon as he appears, and after that there
is nothing to do but laugh. The comedy
is not so Involved in plot that It does
not afford an opportunity for the intro
duction of a number of, brand new jokes
which were hailed with surprise and de
light, for new jokes are worth going a
long way to hear in these days of minstrel
shows that start from New York with a
last year's outfit and get here when their
stock has been used and discarded by
amateurs. But bright dialogue is not
needed to keep up the amusement, for
Colonel Tomkins' facility In getting out
of one scrape Is only matched by the ease
with which he gets into another, and
Clarke makes people forget that he Is
any one but Tomkins, and that the
troubles of that old reprobate are not
just as real to him as they are funny
to the outsider.
In the second act the actor gives abun
dant proof of his versatility In his imita
tions of Frank Mayo and of Henry Dixey
as Irving. In the latter he far outshines
Dlxey, and his make-up Is nothing short
of marvelous. He completed his specialty
bill with a typical song In the last act,
and in this act he also broke Into a little
pathos which was exceedingly artistic.
Ann Hathaway, a graceful and charm
ing younjr lady, did the little that was
given her to do as Daisy Plant in a
fashion which made her the star of the
support. Miss Hathaway is easy and nat
ural, and her scene with her lover in the
second act betrayed a talent which will
one day win a name for her. Max Stelnle,
always a favorite In Portland, appeared
in a German role which he made highly
amusing, and sung a couple of songs, the
first one cood, the second rather too old
to take very well. Rose Swain played
Violet Plant wkh much grace and spirit,
and used a sweet voice with good effect
in a "coon" lullaby. Percy S. Sharpe did
a good piece of character work as Hamil
ton Grimes, and the remainder of the cast
was fair.
"What Did Tomkins Do?" will be the
bill the rest of the week.
"Saar Harbor."
Portland theater-goers are manifesting
an unusual interest in the engagement
of Heme's play, "Sag Harbor," which
comes to the Marquam Grand Thursday,
May 30, for a three night's engagement.
The fame of this play In the East pre
ceded It here and as It will be the last
Important attraction of the season to
reach us from the East, the Indications
are that a succession of fashionable audi
ences will be in evidence throughout the
engagement.
"Sag Harbor" is said to be the moot
distinctly American play now before the
public. Eminent critics in the East pro
nounced It the best of . all the Heme
plays and this Is saying a great deal
when One remembers "Shore Acres,"
"Margaret Fleming" and "Griffith Daven
port." The sale of seats will open to
mortow (Tuesday) v morning at 10 o'clock.
Notes of the Stage.
George L. Baker, of the Baker City
Theater, has returned to his Eastern
Oregon home after a brief visit In Port
land. -
Manager John L. Cordray has returned
from a business trip to Salem. Mr. Cor
dray's portrait recently printed In The
Oregonlah, .was reprinted In the last
issue of the New York Dramatic News.
t. R. Roberts, who last year played
a short engagement at Cordray's, has
made a hit In New York, and has been
engaged by Jacob Utt to play In Mra.
Leslie Carter's new drama, "La Du
Barry."
Education West and East.
Chicago Chronicle.
D. K. Pearsons, of this city, who has
been giving away a fortune to build up
colleges East and West, has reached the
conclusion that the East .ought to build
Its own colleges and that he will here
after give hla money to Western Institu
tions exclusively.
The decision reached by Dr. Pearsons,
based on investigation of comparative re
sources and relative needs. Is logical.
The East has been amassing wealth for
centuries. For It to seek money In the
young and poor West, which has only
begun rearing Its Institutions, Is selfish,
grasping and unreasonable. Increase of
population entitles the West to all Its
own money and alt the East can return
of the money the West has earned for It.
The standard of education set up In the
West Is uniformly higher and more
authoritative than that Which character
ized the East In the corresponding period
of growth, numerical, industrial and so
cial. It Is not only relatively and uni
formly higher.
Nevr Zealand Census.
The preliminary returns of the census
enumerator of New Zealand give the
white population of that colony as 773.
440. This Is an Increase for the decade
of 146,780, or at the rate of 23.42 per cent
Thirty years ago. In 1871, the population
of New Zealand, exclusive of aborigines,
was 256,260, and these figures have been
more than trebled. In the recent census
more particular attention was paid to
counting the Maoris than ever before. It
Was generally supposed that they were
gradually dying out, but the return of
the native population Is now given as 43,
078, an actual Increase of 3228 over the
number Bhown five years ago, when they
were counted In April, 1896. This brings
the total population of the colony up to
516,518. New Zealand has an area larger
than that of Great Britain, while her
population Is only a little more than that
of the City of Glasgow.
Many Italians.
"Boston- Herald.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Ital
ians are coming to America by the thou
sands every month, the population of
that country has Increased 4.000.000 since
1681. It looks as If there would be steer
sjgfc passengers this- way for some time
'.o come.
From Lands Afar.
Frank L. Stanton.
r. .
Love cannot ease his hungering- heart to ay
If skies are dim or blue.
Nor waft one prayer from llpa you taught to
pray.
Sweetheart, to you.
n.
I look with longing o'er the hills and plains
I cry to the cold ekles
Far dashlnsr down their desolate white raini
Over 'your dreamlnr eyes.
lit
I rhtver in a world of bloom and llsbt,
Frontins a heaven above,
Knowlnff the night the dark dlvldln? night
Is over on t love.
IV.
And oh! the Mrfow and the wild unrest
Bitter, and dark, and deep!
I could not lay one flower on your dear breast
If God should whisper. "Sleep!"
V.
Tet till the last sad shadow veils the sun
To all eternity,
Dream still; and in your dreams may there
be one
Beautiful dream of me!
. JCOTE. AND. COMMENT-
One run In nine innings may be called
pretty fair ball.
The population of London is 6.573,784.
That is almost as many people as Chicago
claims.
The Scotch newspapers seem to think
that Carriegie is all right, but his money's
no good.
Now M. de Rodays is out of, a. job ha
ought to devote & little leisure time to
target practice
Now King Edward Is going to visit Ire
land. His Majesty certainly is fond ot
taking long- chances.
In abolishing typewriters from Turkey,
the Sultan makes prizefighting In his
domain practically Impossible.
'General Dewet Is anxious to meet Gen
eral Botha. He would also like to hear
from General Kitchener.
Germany Is going to get her troops
out ot China. When It comes to peace
making, your Uncle Samuel Is right at
the head of the class.
Whit la so rate as a day In June?
la what the poets s&y.
But we wish to risa to observe rltht now
There's nothlnsr the matter with May.
The announcement that the two -South
Carolina senators had resigned was- not:
accompanied by reports ot any Indignation
meetings.
Although 74 years old. Gideon Hawley.
of Erie, Penn., Is still running an engine
on the Lake Shore Ballroad. He began,
railroading In 1S46, and has been with the
Lake Shore since 1S52. A few days ago
Hawley was put through a severe exam
ination, the railroad officials believing that
It was about time he should retire. To
the surprise of the company, not a trace
of color blindness or dim vision or de
fective hearing could be found.
"One day," writes an American In
Havana, "I came- across an old Cuban
woman sitting disconsolately on a rock
hear Morro Castle. She told me in Span
ish thatfor three days she had had noth
ing to eat h"t a loaf of bread and coffee.
She -looked it. I gave her a Spanish
dollar, and then followed In her wake.
She entered the first cafe she came to
and bought a drink and a cigar. I coWdn't
help laughing to see her as she walked
along the street, puffing away at the weed
purchased with my money. She seemed
perfectly contented. The Cubans, even the
women, would rather smoke than eat.
They take only two meals a day break
fast about 10 o'clock and dinner at 4 In.
the afternoon."
Mirrors that one can see through are a
new Invention already coming Into use.
They are of so-called "platinized glass,"
beln backed with a compound made, of
95 per cent silver and 5 per cent platinum,
and, optically speaking, they are exceed
ingly curious and interesting. Looking
Into a glass of this kind one finds a first
rate reflection; it Is a mirror and nothing
more. At the same time, a person on the
other side can see directly through It.
For example, a glass of this sort placed In
front of Jhe prescription desk In an apoth
ecary shop perfectly conceals the pres
cription clerk and his apparatus. Thus
the privacy of that department Is secured,
while on his part the clerk Is able to
riurvey the shop and .see everybody who
comes In just as if the mirror were ordln,
ary glass. It Is transparent to him., but
Is like any common mirror from the point
of view of people in front. It iseaslly
seen that glass of this kind is likely to
be useful for a good many purposes. It
can be put in the doors of dark bath
rooms, or of any other rooms where pri
vacy Is desirable and light Is wanted.
PLBASASTRIES OF PARAGBAFHERS
The Kentucky tailor 'What slae will you
have these hip pockets pint or quart? Yon
kers Statesman.
"What Did He Mean? Biter Have you read
my last poem? Boeder I hope so. Philadel
phia Evening Bulletin.
Easily Recognized "Where's Mr. Schnorer?"
"He's In the next room." "Are you surer
"Yes. I Just overheard him taking a nap."
Philadelphia Times.
Encouraglnff Him. Mr. Tlmmld (reeling his
way) I wouldh't-er-dare think of marrying,
because I haven't enough money to ask a. girl
to become Miss Passay Couldn't you bor
row a little! Philadelphia Press.
He r sot that dressmaker's bill of yours to
pay. ana I paid It. It was $500, and took
every cent I had. She How good ot her! Oh.
I told her to divide the blU Into four quar
ters, and send you one at a time. Life.
His Ruling Passloft. Ida I wonder how Nan
persuaded him to propose? Ada Oh, she ftp
pealed to his vanity. You know that hatband
she gave him Christmas? "Well, the design
ing thing embroidered on It "Size No. 8."
Harper's Bazar.
X Practical Man. Head of Arm I can't
havti you arrlvlns- so late In the morning, sir.
"Where do you live? New clerk A-fLawnvIllo
close to the city. Bf23Tif firm Um! I see.
Well, moye further away, and come In on an
express train. New York Weekly.
Pure Carelessness. Mr;. Flskuff, (after con
versing with neighbor) Johnny, whose fault
was It that Tommy TufBn got a black eye?
Johnny Flskuff His own. Mr. Flskuff (Very
deliberately) Are you sure, now? Johnny
Flskuff Dead sure! Why, he left an opening
you could drive a band wagon through. Puck.
Hampson I hear that your engagement with
Miss Minks is broken off? How's that? Hill
Well, you see, that beast ot a parrot ot hers
was always yelling, "Oh, Charlie, you
shouldn't." Hampson But what difference did
that make? Your engagement was not a se
cret. Hill No; and my name isn't Charlie.
Glasgow Evening- Times.
One Man's "Wisdom. New clerk That young
lady in front wants to look at some r!ng4
exactly like she has onr. Says she Is thinking
of purchasing a duplicate for her sister. Old
Jeweler Huhl You needn't waste any time
on her. The ring she has is an engagement
ring, and she merely wants to find Out what
It cost. Chicago News.
Badinage Jack Miss Peehy's poodle is deadif1
Did you hear about it? Tom Yes, I'm going
up to call on her. Jack To condole with her.
I suppose? Tom No; to propose to her. now
that my rival's out of the way. Jack Ah!
You want to get In before aha takes up with
some other puppy. Philadelphia Press.
The maid Of course, mem, I'm awful sorry,
about your losing your husband, and I'd like
lo make things agreeable to you; but I see
you have set the funeral for Thursday. You'll
have to change It. The mistress Have to
change It, Jane? The maid You can't have
forgotten, mem, that It Is my day out. Boston
Transcript.
The Good Great Man.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
How seldom, friend, a good man Inherits
Honor and wealth, with all his worth anii
pains!
It seems a story from the world of spirit
"When any man obtains that which he merits.
Or any merits that which her obtains.
For shame, my friend! renounce this Idle
strain!
What wouldst thou have a good great man. ob
tain? "Wealth, title, dignity. & golden chain.
Or heap of corses which his sword hath slain?
Goodness and greatness are not means, but
ends.
Hath he not always treasure, always friends
The good great man? Three treasures lovo
and light.
And calm thoughts, equable as Infant's breath;
And three fast friends, more sure than day or
night
Himself, his Maker and the angel Death.
i4iL v.-X "-