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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1901)
'T" " -qrtrp THE MOKNKNli UKUGUSIASr,- -WEDNESDAY, Jt'NE 19, 1901. &izrz& ww "jf"nr) tTT Entered at the Pottofflce at Portland. Oregon, as uecond-clasi matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Rooms iuC Business Offlce. .007 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Dally-, with Sunday, per month $ 83 Dally, Sunday, excepted, per year 7 50 Dally, with Sunday, per year ! 00 eunday. per year -. - 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 SO The Weekly, a months 60 To City Subscribers Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays excepted. 15c Dally, per week, delivered. Fundays lncluded.203 POSTAGE RATES. United States, Canada and Mexico: 10 to 10-page paper .....la 10 to 311-page paper 2c Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Orcgonlan should be addressed Invaria bly -Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name of any Individual. Letters relating to advertis ing, subscriptions or to any business matter ehould be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It without solici tation. No stamps bhuuld be Inclosed for this purpose. Puget Sound Eurcau Captain A. Thompson, office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 355, Tacoma Postoffice. Eastern Business Offlce-47. 48. 40. and 50 Tribune building. New York City; 4C0 "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., 23C Sutter street: F. W. Pitts. 100S Market street; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand. For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 100 So. Spring street. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1012 Farnam etreet. ' For sale In Salt LaTte by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 W. Second South street. For sale In OgJen by W. C. Kind. 204 Twen-ty-flfth street. On file at Buffalo. N. T., In the Oregon ex hibit at the exposition. For sale In Washington, D. C, by the Ebbett House newstand. For sale In Denrer, Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 900-312. Seventh street. TODAY'S WEATHER. Showers. possibly at tended by thunder. Cooler. South to wen t Inds. PORTLAND, -WEDNESDAY, JUXE 19. THE RETIRED LIST. The princlpjpthat' all men should, during the productive period of life, save from their earnings, whether in salaries or wages, for the time when the earning capacity Is abated or ceases from natural causes. Is as sound In po litical economy as In the ethics of self respect. Exceptions to this rule, whether In civil or military life, can only be made through favoritism, and when made they create a privileged class, contrary to the genius of our In stitutions and to the basic principle of a republican form of government. The general idea of old-age pensions Is held to be Impolitic for the very sim ple reason that It encourages men dur ing their years of productive Industry to live constantly up to their earnings by depriving them of all incentive to save. This is contrary to the plainest precept of thrift, which bids every man prepare for the Winter of life by hus banding the surplus of its Summer or earning time. Economy thus routed, extravagance and waste come In; the -virtue of self-denial is more than likely to be superseded by the vice of self indulgence and the sturdy principle of Independence becomes subordinate to a sort of a modified pauper Instinct that looks forward with complacency to the pension period, wherein, without per sonal care or exertion, all individual wants will be supplied. Ip strict justice, therefore, to the in dividual as well as to the Government, favoritism of this type should be dis countenanced and disallowed. Pity may be properly constrained to relieve the sufferings of the destitute aged, and it is so constrained In every civil ized community. But to create such destitution for the purpose of relieving it is a very different matter, and a most unwise proceeding. This is in ef fect the result of a policy that bids the man of middle age, in whatever sta tion, to take no thought of the Winter of life, since means for its comfort will be furnished, provided it is prolonged beyond a certain spah of years. Re stricted earning capacity from any unavoidable cause, the special type of incompetence commonly known as "bad management," and misfortunes in vari ous lives, are to be reckoned with In dealing with this matter. That they are generously taken into account and the debt of pity and sympathy that Is thus incurred duly acknowledged and conscientiously canceled, the Institu tions of benevolence, public and pri vate, that form a part of the political machinery of every state abundantly prove. This, however, is one thing: encouraging pauperism in age, under whatever name it masquer ades, or in whatever class it is en rolled, by a system that promises pay after service has ceased, is to say to men drawing salaries or earning wages, "There is no need for you to husband your resources. Go on and spend what 3'ou earn, and you will be provided for amply, according to your station in life, when your season of productive endeavor has passed." This Is an elab oration of the something-for-nothlng idea, the application of which to any station in life whatsoever should be dis countenanced as unjust and un-American, and discredited accordingly by all classes of American citizens as a pre mium upon unthrlft in lowly lines of life, and as creating a privileged class in higher stations. And yet there is -another view, and It is often presented with plausibility and force. It is remarked that in Army and Navy life a retired list of half or three-quarters pay ex ists in all countries of high civiliza tion, and the reasons for its existence are obvious. Military service is pe culiar, and cannot be measured by com parison with the ordinary pursuits of civil life. To induce a good quality of educated men to embrace for life the profession of arms, which in its possi bilities if not probabilities Includes ex ceptional hardships and perils, some inducements must be offered. The pro fession of arms requires a complete surrender of personal freedom. The soldier has no choice but to obey orders or abandon his profession. It is. of course, desirable that an offi cer should be encouraged to have a wife. No officer has any surety of any certain residence for any fixed period. The emergency of the service, or the caprice of the authorities of the War Department, compels an officer to make frequent and unexpected changes of residence from the Atlantic to the Pa cific Coast, from the Lakes to the Gulf, from the United States to Cuba or the Philippines. When the unexpected or der comes, the officer, who may have just furnished his quarters, say at Van couver or some other post, counting upon at least five years of stay, Is obliged to make a forced sale of his household furniture for a very small part of what It cost him. "With every change of station this sacrifice takes place, and unless an officer Is fortunate enough to marry a rich wife, his pay, even with economy, will not give him and his wife and children more than a decent support until he becomes a Ma jor, at an annual pay of $2500, and In time of peace such as we enjoyed, with the exception of Indian hostili ties, from May, 1865, to the outbreak of the Spanish War, a Second Lieutenant would not get his Majority until he was gray-haired. Hence it Is argued that, without some assurance that long years of faithful service would be rewarded by retirement on pay, few men of abil ity, education and energy would select the military profession for life. Yet we think this conslderatlpn Is not a controlling one in the minds of those who seek places In the Army or ,Navy. Most of these persons are placed In their youth Tn the military and naval schools by their parents; and the lead ing idea is to place their sons where they will not be obliged to struggle In the competition of the world, on their own account. It Is a wonder that we get, under this system, as efficient men as we have. Yet .doubtless it would be impossible to suggest a better. Still, It must be said that a system which, in its operation, affords a refuge for men who are," unwilling to engage in the competitive struggles of life, and which, moreover, notifies them that there is no real need of economic prudence In the management of their affairs, since the country will support them on pen sions after their period of efficiency Is past, leaves something for criticism. TWO MEX OP WATERLOO. Yesterday was the anniversary of the momentous battle of Waterloo. It Is a singular fact that the truth about the character of Wellington, the victor In this great fight, has seldom been told so unflinchingly as It is recited by Gold win Smith, a great scholar and writer, a thorough Englishman of birth and education. In the June number of the Atlantic Monthly. Goldwln Smith de scribes Wellington fairly, putting noth ing down in malice and yet saying nothing In extenuation of his serious limitations in Intellect and In charac ter. Of course, he does not pretend that Wellington was a man that approached Napoleon as a soldier, since his fine military talents fell far short of mili tary genius. Wellington himself, whose greatest virtue was his unflinching veracity, confessed that "Napoleon humbugged us at Waterloo," and he never pretended that the battle on his part was any more than a mere slug ging match, or that he would have es caped defeat If the Prussians had not assailed the right and rear of Napoleon at 4 P. M. To repel the assault of the Prussians the Emperor was obliged to detach from his army of 70,000 about 16,000, including nearly half of the splendid Infantry of the Guard. The entire plan of the battle was dislocated by the appearance of Bu low's corps of Blucher's army, which was made possible by Napoleon's neg lect to occupy the defile of Lasne early In the day. The Old Guard was there fore too weak for success In the final assault, and by somebody's blunder It was made to assault the strongest and not the weakest part of the British line. Napoleon was so ill In the whole -campaign that he lost the fruits of his victory over Blucher at Ligny, and made a series of tactical errors at Waterloo that the Napoleon of Eck muhl and Austerlltz could not possibly have committed. The assault upon Hougoumont by an entire corps was one of these blunders; the Infantry and cavalry did not support each other. Sir Shaw Kennedy says that if Napo leon had used his forces In proper sup port, one arm assisting the other, "Wel lington had been lost." The Prussian loss of 7000 men between 4 and 8 P. M. shows how desperate was Wellington's need of their arrival. If Napoleon had been himself, the battle would have been begun at daylight instead of wait ing until noon, and It was fought so badly that military critics believe that a commander Inferior to Wellington could have beaten Napoleon on the 18th of June, 1815. Wellington's confes sion that Napoleon had "humbugged" both himself and Blucher meant that he had as a strategist completely out generaled them by fighting their armies in detail before they could form a Junc tion. Napoleon's fine strategy was nul lified by his wretched battle tactics at Ligny, Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He could think, but he could not act and execute with his old-time energy and promptness. He was a sick man; his bodily energies were burnt out; he had become fat and sluggish In body, and a victim to chronic dyspepsia. To pass from Waterloo to Wellington, it Is interesting to note that Goldwln Smith Is not among his fervent wor shipers. He says that Wellington was a very able General; that his exploits were remarkable when we remember that neither Wellington nor any of his lieutenants had received anything but a mere smattering of military educa tion. His admirably written military dispatches prove him to have been a very strong man; he did not lack diplo matic tact In dealing with Spain and Portugal. As a statesman he was no orator, and he was a hidebound Tory, who worshiped the crown but had no love for Parliamentary reform; never theless, his great common sense led him at critical moments to counsel the House of Lords to yield gracefully to the Inevitable, lest their refusal should endanger their further constitutional existence. He was a man destitute of family affection, a man of libertine life among women, and was not religious. He opposed arming the troops with the new rifles in the Kaffir War, saying, "I won Waterloo with 'Brown Bess,' and such weapons are good enough today." The consequence was that when the Crimean War broke out, In 1854, two years after Wellington's death, the English Army was the worst armed and equipped of any of the great pow ers of Europe. Goldwln Smith evi dently does not think Wellington more than an able soldier, a man of veracity, but a man without much humanity, without much public or private sympa thy with his fellow-men; a man in tensely patriotic In his narrow-minded, passionate allegiance to the crown. Heine, the German poet, always de scribed Wellington as a wooden-headed bulldog, and Lord Byron does not herolze him. Wellington was not a man of genius unless consummate good sense deserves the name, but he never swerved from truth, never swerved from that which to him was the path always rather narrow and sometimes mistaken path of duty. He was a cool, wary, Indomitable, enterprising soldier, whose best talent was shown Jat Salamanca and the passage of the Douro. Goldwln Smith says that Wel lington was not responsible for the hor rors of Badajoz and St. Sebastian, but Wellington's dispatches show that he regretted sparing the lives of the garri son of Cludad Rodrlgo. He was nat urally a less humane soldier than even Napoleon. He stood up to the last for the brutal and degrading punishment of the lash In the British Army, and he denounced his soldiers as a pack of vagabonds who cared for nothing but drink and could be kept In order only by the whip. His soldiers trusted him In battle implicitly and cordially hated him In camp and on the march. THE EMPIRE STATE. The Increase In wheat acreage In Ore gon and Washington this year Is ex pected to be fully 100,000 acres over that of last year. Nearly all of this increase Is In new localities, which are being opened up by newcomers from Kansas, Minnesota and the Dakotas. The crop failure in those states last year sent large numbers of farmers to the West, and Oregon and Washington are profit ing by their coming. This year Kan sas is coming to the front again with, record-breaking crops of both wheat and corn, and with fair prices prevail ing the great storm center of Populism will show a creditable balance on the' right side of the ledger. But with the most favorable showing that can be made, neither Kansas nor the bleak Dakotas can ever win back the settlers who have once pitched their tent on the rich lands of the Pacific Northwest. Boom literature calling attention to the great resources of this country Is tame and insipid compared with the dally news In connection with our natural development. These news items ap pearing every day In the wSek tell a gieat story of marvelous. resources and growing development on diversified lines: In yesterday's Oregonlan an Albany dispatch told of the receipt In May of 21,658 pounds of butter fat at a single creamery In that city, a gain of 50 per cent over the corresponding month last year, and a greater amount than the entire receipts for the year 1895, when the industry was started. Prom Hllls boro came the hews that the Washing ton County wheat crop would be the largest In years. Oregon City reported the hop lice disappearing, and Portland dealers stated that the hop yield would reach 90,000 bales. Astoria made the pleasing report that the salmon run was Increasing, and big fish were be ing taken, also that the entire force of one of the big packing houses was at work curing sturgeon bladders, which1 command enormous prices, when prop erly cured. A Salem special gives the experience of Judge Davidson In grow ing from 140 to 160 bushels of corn per acre In Marlon County. The Grant's Pass correspondent sends news of the bonding of a Josephine County mine for $75,000, and the equipment of another with a five-stamp mill. An Interview with a Portlander 'just returned from Southern Oregon told how the Rogue River Valley farmers till the soil In the Summer and wash gold out of the hills In the Winter, when water is plentiful. Judge H. L. Benson, of Klamath Falls, away down on the southern boundary of the state, came out by way of Lakeview and re ports the Btockmen all so prosperous that they are In no hurry to sell their 1901 wool clip, although many Eastern buyers are on the'grotlnd bidding for it. Items about the establishment of sawmills In various parts of the state are of dally occurrence, and the one noted yesterday was from Forest Grove. A local Item stating that the Oregon strawberry crop Is the largest on record was corroborated by the no tice of a shipment of 1,000,000 berry boxes to a single firm. It Is the dull season In shipping, but the marine col umn had news of the dispatching of three big grain-carriers, with nearly 400,000 bushels of wheat, the arrival of a big Oriental liner, which after dis charging was to take out 35,000 barrels of flour and half a million feet of lum ber. In addition to a mixed cargo of other goods. The charter of a big ship for July loading was also reported. From the fruit district east of the Sandy River came the report that the cherry and prune orchards were all looking well, and a big crop assured. These are simply news stories from a single Issue of The Oregonlan, but In-, dlvldually and collectively they tell an eloquent tale of the wonderfully diversi fied resources of a wonderful country. No other state In the Union can offer such inducements to capital and labor, either or both of which, If properly directed, cannot fall of success. With so much to offer the immigrant from the fields of the Middle West, where opportunity Is limited, It Is a certainty that Oregon from now on will show a much greater and more rapid develop ment than ever before. WHAT AN ENGLISHMAN SAW. In the Nineteenth Century for June Mr. Frederic Harrison, the well-known English writer and critic, gives some account of his Impressions of America. He says he found a people more homo geneous than those of the United King dom; "from Long Island to San Fran cisco, from Florida Bay to Vancouver Island, one dominant race and civili zation, one language, one type of law, one nationality, American to the core." There iwas no state or city or large area with a distinct race of its own, as Ireland, Wales or Scotland, but everywhere one sense of nationality, "the consciousness of its vast expan sion and collective force filling the mind of American citizens as noth ing can do to this degree In the nations of Western Europe." Mr. Harrison had come "not so much to- another nation as to a new continent inhabited by a people soon to be more numerous than any two of the greater nations of Western Europe, with nat ural resources superior .to those of all Europe put together, and an almost boundless field for development In the future." To this observer It was a won der that in so short a time we had made over so many types of Europeans, a variant population, Into a homogene ous nationality, markedly" different from any other In the world. And yet, of course, It Is merely the result of the action, of man upon environ ment, and the reaction of environment upon man. Another thing Mr. Harrison says of which we take note, viz: "No compe tent observer can doubt that In wealth, manufactures, material progress of all kinds, the United States In a few years must hold the first place in the world without dispute. The energy of the people exceeds that of the British; their Intelligence is hardly second to that of Germany and France, and their social and political system Is more fa vorable to material development than any other society devised by man." 1 Finally, this" writer Admonishes his. countrymen of England that "the'uv dustrlal prizes must ultimately go to numbers, national unity, physical re sources, geographical opportunities, trained intelligence and restless arnbi-. tion." Mr. Harrison is of .those Englishmen who are out of harmony with the ex isting order in their own country. They find it too little democratic to fill the measure of their demand for an abounding national energy. But they ought to see that bounds are set by geographical limitations to the energy of all the modern nations of the Old World, save Russia; and that In Amer ica democracy Is so fortunate only be cause It has found a vast continent to bustle In. An advance In the price of fresh meat already phenomenally high Is now going on. There appears to be no good reason for this. The explanation of fered by the beef trust, which controls the market. Is that the farmers who supply the cattle are too busy harvest ing their crops to bring their stock to market. This obviously applies to only the small farmers, who keep a few cattle, Incident to the farming opera tions, and not to the big companies on the great ranges, from whose herds the wholesale meat supply of the country Is drawn. Besides, as retail dealers, who have to meet the burden of the consumer's complaint, 'admit, the same conditions prevailed in other years wheh prices were not advanced. "The plain truth," says the Philadelphia Ledger, "probably Is that the beef trust Is making a vigorous effort to capture the foreign markets and to do so must sell its goods therein at low prices. Losing In this venture, it must recoup itself by taxing the American con sumer." To this may be added the fact that the trust has the consumer at Its mercy. Ah Illustration of the tradi tional "ground-hog case" Is hereby brought home to every family In the land. The people "must have meat." The beef trust controls the market, and can charge what It chooses; the con sumer must pay or go without: Some people many, perhaps must go with out, but there are enough who can have and will have meat, at whatever cpst, to pay the exorbitant prices charged by the trust. The vegetarian, in the meantime, though lean and hungry-looking, should be and probably Is happy, as he Is clearly master of the situation. Elsewhere appears an interview with President Lusk, of the Cattlegrowers' Association. The fact concerning leases of range lands appears to be that the large owners have at length realized that such an arrangement can only be perfected by means of concessions sat isfactory to the small owners, whose protests thus far have been violent and effective. The great ranges are nar rowing, feed Is growing scarcer, and the struggle for survival gains yearly, al most hourly. In vehemence. Crimes and suffering are the Inevitable con comitants of this transition epoch, whose end must be the substitution of tame pasture and stall-feeding for the traditional nomad life. The Oregonlan hopes to hear from sheepmen and small cattle-owners with their views on Mr. Lusk's proposals. While the legislators of Washington were about It, they should have added an emergency, clause to the reconstruct ed law on capital punishment. Failing In this, murderers recently convicted will have a longer lease of life than is warranted either by humanity or pub lic economy. An Illustration of the de lay of penalty and the expense incident thereto Is shown in the case of Alfred Hamilton, tried at New Whatcom for the murder of D. M. Woodbury In Ana cortes a year ago last September. Con viction was secured and Hamilton was sentenced last Monday to be hanged August 16, whereupon his attorney ap pealed on the ground that there is no statute at present In the state to cover the case. Statistics dealing with the matter show that the consumption of sugar is steadily Increasing In the principal countries of Europe. In the United States such consumption rose from 2,078,068 tons In 1899 to 2,219,847 tons In 1900; Russia consumed about 20,000 tons more In the year last named than In the preceding year; Germany, 91,233 tons more: France 29,250, and England 46,100. From these figures It appears that the world has In recent years not only "cut a sweet tooth," but that saccharine dentition is a progressive process and withal a pleasing one, and bids fair to become enormously profit able to the sugar trust. British critics who affect to scorn American military skill cannot be greatly encouraged by the coincidence of renewed Boer activity with surren der of the last Filipino General with his command. There may be some things we do not know, but we seem to get results as well now as 120 years ago. m Portland Is acceptably honored In the selection of one of Its rabbis as repre sentative to the Vienna Grand Council of Zionists. Nor will American Juda ism have any abler representative than Dr. Wise. Increased duties will doubtless prove a more eloquent argument for with drawing discrimination against Rus sian sugar than all M. De Wltte's la bored periods. The tariff is mightier than the pen. Now is the t'me for the Oregon to furnish forth a Portland Fourth of July celebration. Is there Influence enough t among us to bring her here? The next time Uncle George Is Inter viewed on the St. Louis Fair he should put In a word for the Lewis and Clark Centennial. Two QucMtlonR. Chicago Chronicle. The question which Congressman Bab cock, Republican, is asking and which is giving the tariff-protected trusts much pain Is this: "What answer can we make when we are asked why we maintain duties on products thab our manufacturers are selling all over Europe at lower prices than they ask for them at their factory doors?'1 This query and Mr. Sugar Trust Havermeyer's flat assertion that the tariff Is the prolific mother of trusts ought to be kept together for purposes of public ob servation and reflection. The ImpoHKlblc. Detroit Journal. She read the letter again, and tears filled her eyes. "What noble, manly sentiments!" she exclaimed. "Oh, if only he knew better than to fill up the pages! consecutively Ah me!" ? She cried a little, in. a wQmanlsh fash Ion, and then resolutely wrote him telling him she could not be his wife. CRITICAL PERIOD FOR PORTLAND Pendleton Tribune. Transportation in Eastern Oregon Is the greatest need of this part of the state. We L have !or.g distance, broad plains and rug- Ee-c mountains, which make trave.lng du n'cult ar.d the carrying of produce ex pensive. Social and political relations are hindered. A large part of the proMts of industry are appropriated by freight ing companies, and resources remain unde veloped because of tne high rates for ship ping ores, livestock ar.d agricultural products. Eastern Oregon comprises a territory alrr.osr 230 miles square It extends, from the summit of the Cascades to the- Idaho line, and from California and Nevada to the Columbia. Every one of 15 counties has resources, topography and climate similar to all the others. They are by nature sisters. Their hopes and aspira tions vary but litt'.e, and whatever brings good to one benefits the others. The dreams of gold of the Blue Mountain counties are shared by Harney, Lake, Crook and Wasco, and the wheat fields of Umatilla, Union, Sherman and Gilliam supply bread for the cattle and sheepmen that pasttare their herds and flocks In every county. Two or three counties may be classed as wayward. Wasco has become identified in many ways with Portland, and the Valley and Lake and Klamath lean toward the Southern Pa cific and California. The remaining dozen, however, are as good friends as the al most slight acquaintance of the people can Justify, and when greater transporta tion facilities are provided, they will stand together for industrial, social and political ends, and Eastern Oregon will become much better known than It Is today. Wil lamette Valley will not then be another name for Oregon, but Eastern Oregon and the Inland Empire will become the Mecca toward which the Immigrants will jour ney. This vast territory has but one railroad of any consequence. The Oregon Rail road & Navigation Company's track lies along the extreme northern border for half its distance, and then cuts off all the northeast corner. The Northern Pacific has a 30-mile branch running into Pendle ton, and the Oregon Short Line meets the O. R. & N. at Huntington, barely touch ing the state. A small branch line runs south 30 miles to Heppner from the O. R. & N. main line, and the Columbia South ern has been built southward a short dis tance from near The Dalles. The Columbia and Snake Rivers are of no advantage as long as the dalles ob struct navigation, and Eastern Oregon has no other navigable streams. The extreme northern part Of Eastern Oregon, then, has transportation facilities, but nine-tenths of this great area never saw the smoke of a stfeam engine or heard the echo of ltfe whistle. Citizens travel hundreds of miles to the state cap ital. Cattle and sheep are driven from 20 to 250 miles to a railroad for shipment. Wool Is hauled similar distances at a heavy expense, and good mines remain un worked because the gold In the ores will not pay for shipment alone. It costs 12 cents a bushel to market export wheat, between one-fourth and one-fifth of the price being given up to the railroad com panies. This tax, allowing for a reason able rate, means a tax of a quarter of a million dollars annually on Umatilla County alone. In spite of these things, however, Eastern Oregon Is prosperous. The difficulties of transportation are over come In the best ways possible, but there will be a different story tto tell when the dalles are made passable and railroads are built Into the Interior. These are In evitable facts, that the future must bring. Grant, Harney. Malheur, Crook and others are now traversed by projected railroads, and the building of them before long is not a dream. Portland should become interested in this matter and endeavor to secure the trade of this region. If railroads are built southward into the interior from the O. R. & N. main line the channels of tirade will flow toward Portland; but If the Southern Pacific builds a line through Lake, Klam ath and Harney Counties San Francisco will capture a large share of this section. Portland should for the same reason labor for the opening of the Columbia to pre vent Seattle from securing much of the business of the northern half of Eastern Oregon. THE FRENCH PEOPLE. Not Latin or Celtic, bnt Probnbly Ibcrinn or Llrurlnn. Letter In London Spectator. In connection with the recent visit of the Italian fleet to Toulon, there have been many references In the European press to a renewal of the entente cordl ale between two "Latin" nations. It may be of some Interest to inquire In what sense the term "Latin" can be correctly applied to the French, whom, almost In the same breath, many people are apt to describe as "Celtic" people. One thing surely is certain, that In blood the French cannot be at the same time both "Latin" and "Celtic." Yet the inconsistency does not seem to strike people. I think that, although outside of Prov ence the French have little or no Latin i. e.. Italian blood in their veins, the ex planation of their being described as a "Latin" race Is to be found In the fact that their language and civilization are both Latin. It seems no longer permissi ble to hold that the French are mainly "Celtic" in blood, the view now being generally accepted that the bulk of the population In France Is of a pre-Celtlc, and probably of Iberian or Llgurlan stock. And this view seems to hold good also of Ireland and Wales. Mercy for Depew. New York Sun. Fortunately, everybody knows Senator Depew. Everybody knows the enthusias tic benevolence of his heart and the end less variety of his mind. With heart and mind overflowing during this, his vaca tion season, with philanthropy toward his fellow creatures, he would distribute hon ors and gratifications and titles and favors and saccharine largesse of all sorts as lavishly as Mr. Carnegie distributes library buildings. In such a mood, If he knew and liked a King he would nomi nate him for Emperor. If he approved of a fourth-class Postmaster, he would pro pose to quadruple his salary and give him a life tenure. He would elevate every amiable duck to swanship. He would make everybody happy to the best of his ability; and. If he thought a third term could add to the sum of human felicity he would forthwith confer it on his own responsibility, or a fourth term for that matter. We sincerely hope that President McKlnley will pardon Senator Depew. Up to the Cnbnns. Philadelphia Times. It Is for the Cubans themselves to de velop the opportunities thus opened to them. Their relations with the United States always must be Intimate, and if the future shall make them closer. It will be In the natural evolution of evpnts. The part which has been played by the United States In their liberation and advance ment Is one which all Americans can re gard with pride. Even the professional patriots of the Island must be convinced that the people and the Government of the United States have had no selfish purposes, but have been throughout the truest friends of Cuba Libre. TIic Lost Chance. Worcester, Mass., Gazette. It will not now be possible to test the Depew and Grosvenor notion that Mc Klnley Is more popular than Washing ton. Ground to Win On. Washington, D. C, Post. For a free trade party there Is no hope. For a war against the gross and palpable abuses of protection there Is a certainty of success. FRONTAGE ASSESSMENT UPHELD P.ecer.t decisions of the United States Supreme Court. In which the doctrine that Legislatures have not the power to au thorize the taking of private property for public use Without compensation Is apparently overruled, are conceded by Case and Comment, a law publication, to leave without remedy the property-owner whose abutting lots are assessed for street improvement. Case and Comment says: Two recent decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States will attract great attention because they overturn the doctrine declared In Norwood vs. Baker with respect to assessments for local im provements In excess of benefits. The court does not expressly overrule the Norwood vs. Baker case, but In all essen tials its latest decisions are diametrically opposed to the doctrine of that case, as three dissenting Justices clearly recog nize. Statutes of several states author izing municipalities to assess the whole expense of a street pavement upon the abutting lands In proportion to frontage, without reference to benefits, are upheld. Thl3 kind of assessment is precisely what was authorized and made under the Ohio statutes in the Norwood vs. Baker case. In that case the court clearly declared that 'the guaranties for the protection of private property would be seriously Im paired If it were established as a rulo of Constitutional law that the Imposition by the Legislature upon particular pri vate property of the entire cost of a public Improvement, Irrespective of any peculiar benefits accruing to the owner from such Improvement, could not' be questioned by him in the courts of the country"; and that "the exaction from the owner of private property of the cost of a public Improvement In substantial ex cess of the special benefits accruing to him Is, to the extent of such excess, a taking, under the guise of taxation, of private property for public use without compensation." But in the latest cases these doctrines are ignored by the opin ion of the court, which upholds the power of the Legislature to Impose the entire cost of a pavement upon abutting owners, irrespective of the amount of benefits they receive from It. The opinions In the late cases are written by one of the Jus tices who dissented from the decision In Norwood vs. Baker. He points out that the assessment in thet case was for the cost of opening a street. Including the amount paid for the strip condemned and also the costs and expenses of the proceeding, and that the same person whose land was condemned was the own er of the abutting property to be as sessed. He says this appeared 'to be an abuse of the law, an act of confiscation, and not a valid exercise of the taxing power." But the fact that one person. Instead of two or more, owned both the strip condemned and the abutting land can, of course, have no bearing upon the principle of assessment. The ract that the assessment wa3 for the open ing of a street rather than the paving of It does not seem to affect the rule on which the opinion of the court In the Norwodd vs. Baker case was planted squarely and unmistakably that an as sessment In substantial excess of the spe cial benefits Is, to the extent of such excess, a taking of private property for public use without Just compensation. That fundamental proposition seems to be now entirely abandoned. In lieu of that the court now adopts the doctrine that, if the Legislature authorizes the entire cost of a pavement to bo assessed on abutting property according to frontage and without reference to benefits, that is conclusive on the courts, and Is con stitutional. If the assessments must be based on benefits, they must logically be limited by the amount of the benefits. But a statutory rule of assessing the entire cost of an Improvement on abutting lots ac cording to frontage must in that case be based on a conclusive presumption that those lots are necessarily benefited to th amount of the total cost of the work. This presumption Is not only arbitrary and baseless, but is untrue as a matter of common knowledge, and so established repeatedly by legal proceedings In which abutting lots have sold for less than the assessments. If the taking of a man's property for public use without compen sation under an arbitrary assumption that Is demonstrably false constitutes due process of law, the Constitutional guar anties for the protection of private prop erty are not very valuable. If there Is no limit to the power of the Legislature to fix taxing districts In such cases, the Legislature can provide for the assess ment of the total cost of a street Im provement on any one of many abutting lots, and the unfortunate owner will have no remedy. But In that case he will be no worse off than many abutting owners are under the doctrine now established. There are two grounds on which the latest decisions on this subject are great ly to be regretted. In the first place, they leave many humble owners of subur ban lots at the mercy of reckless or cor rupt municipal boards, who. at the Insti gation of paving companies or of thobe who want to use the thoroughfare, may force upon the unwilling residents of a street a pavement which their lots must be sold to pay for. This hardship, al ready worked In many cases, will doubt less be repeated In many more. The more serious result, however, Is In the hu miliating and painful fact that there 1s left no Constitutional protection to a property-owner In such cases against the literal confiscation of his property. If this was the result of an erroneous find ing of fact only, It would be less serious, but It Is the result of a general statutory rule applicable to all cases without re gard to the facts. In the last analysis It Is the taking of private property for public use without compensation under authority of an arbitrary statutory rule which has no color of justice except by virtue of an assumption that Is demon strably false. One typical Instance of the working of the rule was an ordinance for the pavement of a wide suburban road leading to a fair ground, passed against the remonstrance of the abutting owners. whose lots were taken from them to pay the cost of a pavement for other people to use. Such undisguised robbery of the weak by the strong is for the present Con stitutional. " Rcq.nlrc Ice Treatment. New York Press. Probably Mr. Chauncey M. Third-Term Depew and General Charles H. Third Term Grosvenor are thanking their stars at present that the Ice which they re quire to soothe the throbbing of their heads does not cost a dollar a pound. We were afraid that the long, cold Spring, followed by a sudden burst of sultry Sum mer, would raise the deuce with some of the palpitant brains of the Nation, but fortunately the worst seems to be over. The country may now return to Its com paratively comfortable studies of the wheat, corn and cotton crops, and Senator Depew and General Grosvenor may be regarded as safe from brain fever If only they will keep out of the sun and stick to the ice treatment. ' Inevitable Good Fortune. Omaha Bee. The only Insurgent leader of Importance in Luzon who has not already surrendered has concluded there Is no use of fighting longer, and proposes to quit. With the trouble ended In Luzon It will be a short Job to finish up the disturbers in the minor Islands and then the development of the Islands can go forward. A few years of American push will suffice to convince the Islanders that they have fallen Into good fortune In spite of them selves. Example for Bryan. New York Herald. It would be well for the Democracy and for the country If Mr. Bryan would fol low this example by distinctly and defi nitely declaring that he will not for a third time i&ek a nomination by his party. NOTE AND COMMENT. - If you have brides to wed, prepare to wed them now. Turn about is fair play. We have been roasting the weather. Now Kansas has an epidemic of suicides. We might have expected it. The only safe course for a girl to pursue when she discards a lover is to shoot him on the spot. A Chicago minister cries "Down with, the decollette waist!" Insatiate man, is it not down enough? Nature Is standing In with the railroad companies. It is worth $3 30 to go to the seaside weather like this. The great American hobo Is consumed with fear lest the brakebeam trust put up the price of transportation. Comrade Mark Hanna will probtrtoly spend his vacation learning to sing "Marching Through Georgia." Will not the order making the purchase) of liquors for the army permissible only for use In the hospital largely increaso the sick list? If the Czar hasn't any ue for that daughter he might send her to America and give her e. fortune. She will be sure to get into a noble European family that way. Although we have been listening intently with our ear toward Lincoln, Neb.. have not heard Mr. Bryan say anything about not accepting a first term if It is offered him. Vassar College made a display of daisies on commencement day. It Is not unrea sonable to suppose that there was also a goodly display of peaches on that in teresting occasion. Hon. Grover Cleveland has written an article on the waste of money, but prob ably not with the expectation that It will exert any restraining Influence on the reckless extravagance of his friend, Russell Sage. A Marlon County young man of rustic culture entertained the notion that a mar riage license Is the great essential of a marriage contract. He therefore went to the County Clerk, secured a license au thorizing the marriage, and then gave his Intended the first Intimation of his plans. When she refused that sort of proposal, he wanted to go to law to enforce the rights he had secured under the license. His friends dissuaded him but he can't understand yet what good a marriage license Is If It won't compel the lady to marry him. It never occurred to him that It takes two to make a bargain. Ex-Speaker Reed does not forget the old days In Maine. The people of Cape Eliza beth were arranging a sort of fair, and they were anxious to get Mr. Reed's autograph as one of the attractions of the "memory table." Mr. Reed at one time taught the Pond Cove School, and was Interested In all the social gatherings at the Cape, and he sent the following words of kindly greeting: Dear Madam: I have your letter (asking my autograph for the "memory table"), and be? to assure you that 1 am not likely to forget the Winter 1 taught school at Pond Covt. or the friends I found thero who have been friends ever since. Hoping your entertainment will be worthy of tho old town and the old days, I am very truly yours, T. B. REED. Straw hats In countless numbers now appear unon the street. The dainty, white-gowned Summer girl looks good enough to eat. The hokey-pokey vender's bell clangs loudly all day long- The robin In tho leafy shade cuts out his dally song: White collars arc as hard and rough as bene fits forgot. In fact, there's Just one thing to say, and that Is, -Ain't it hot?" The Bagging asphalt pavement yields like tar beneath our feet; The iurly copper wearily patrols his scorching beat; The bicyclist rides languidly, and for the nonco omits To run down playful children and to rfrtnd them Into bits: The be drones dull and listless on the near by vacant lot. And everything In nature seems to say, ' Oh, ain't It hot?" Along the street tho Iceman comes, and on his Hsfnlng ear There beats a score of voices saying, "Iceman, stop in here!" His brow Is low and full of care; It much dis cretion takes To cat 100 pounds of ice In twenty ten-pound cakes. We find mint Julep and gin fizz go right straight to the spot. And as they cool our pnrching throats, we ask, Oh, ain't it hot?" PLEASANTRIES OF PAItAGHAPHERS The average Chinaman doesn't feel that he needs Christianity. He has excellent teach ings of his own which he doesn't follow. Puck. , f Cheaper NoddAro you renting a- cottage at the seashore this Summer? Todd No: I couldn't afTord It. I'm buying one. Brooklyn Life. Caller Now, my little man. what is your parents' genealogical chart for? Boy To hide a tear in the parlor paper, sir. Philadelphia Kecord. She There Is nothing like a good dinner to cho-r one uo. Is there? He (alarmed at her order) Well er It depends upon who pays for itt-Llfe. She I wonder. Harry, If you would marry again It 1 should die? He You little silly, don't you see that I couldn't marry again un less you did die? Boston Transcript. No Tangible Evidence. Police Magistrate You are accused of stealing a ride on the rail road What have you got to say about it? Goodman oGnrong You may search me. y'r honor. Chicago Tribune. Why He Doesn't Work. Mrs. Strongmind Why don't you go to work? Tramp Please, mum I made a. solemn vow, 0 years ago. that IM never do another stroke of work till women was paid th same wages as men. New York Weekly. During the Discussion. She But you must not believe ail these stories about the mission aries in China. They are helping your poor countrymen to save their souls. The China manMay be! Only thing poor countlymen have left! Puck. Purchaser -I want to ouy a pair of those braces you have hanging in the window, and labeled "The best in the world." Shopman Very good: they cost nlnepence a pair; but It you want something really strong and lasting. I would recommend you to take these here at elevenpence ! Tit-Bits. Life's Wayside Inn. Frank L. Stanton. In Atlanta Constitution I. Let us rest us from tho strife At this wayside Inn of Life; No remembrance of years Sorrows, or the fall of tears. Let us rest us from the throng Where the Silence Is a song. II. Let us rest. The twilight falls Soft on echoless. dim halls. Where life's withering blooms are shed Life of quiet comforted. Stormy was tho way, and long. But God's Silence Is a song. III. What were worldly hopes and fears? What were kisses what were tears? What the heart's cry In the stress Of Its unloved loneliness? After all the wrath and wrong Comes God's Sller.ee like a song. IV. Rest. O Heart! from storm and strlf. At this waMde Inn of Life! We shall fold above the breast Hands that need God's gift of Rest. Comes the Night: the Night Is long. But God's Silence is a song! A ,T -