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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1901)
3ngr - THE MOKNiXCi ()I?E".h'lAX, ITESDAt, .Tt'LY 10, 1901. Its regomcm Entered at the Postofflce at Portland. Oregon, as second-class matter. TELEPHONES. editorial Booms ICO I Business Office.. .C67 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By Mall (postage prepaid), In Advance Daily, frith Sunday. ter month .. S 85 (Dally, Sunday excepted, per year T BO jjaiiy, wim tsunaay, per year u w eunaay, per year .. 2 w The Weekly, per year 1 GO The Weekly, 3 months W To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered, Sundays excepted. 13c Sally, per -week, delivered. Sundays lncluded.20o POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 16-page paoer. . ................ ........lc 1G to 82-page paper ....2c Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oreconlan should be addressed Invarla- I' bly "Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name of any Individual. Letters relating to advertis ing, subscriptions or to any business matter should b 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 sollcl ' tatlon. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. ' Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson. , efflea at 1111 Pacific avenue. Tacoma. Box 035. Tacoma Postofflce. ' Eastern Business Office 43, 44, 45. 47. 48. 40 . Tribune building. 2s'ew York City; 469 "The It Hookery," Chicago; the S C. Beckwlth special agency. Eastern representative, i For sale in San Francisco by J. K. Cooper. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Gold- Ettmlth Bros., 236 Sutter street; F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market street: Foster & Orear, Ferry For sale In Los Anreles by B. F. Gardner. 1 1 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 100 Bo. Spring street. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street. Por sale- In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam street. For sale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 W. Second South street. For sale In Ogden by W. C. Kind, 204 Twenty-fifth street. On file at Buffalo. N. T., in the Oregon ex hibit at the exposition. For sale-in Washlngtonr-DrC.; by the Ebbstt House newstand. For sale in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 000-012 Seventh street. TODAY'S WEATHER-Showers; southwest to west winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER-Maxlmum tem perature, 74; minimum temperature, 55; pre cipitation, trace. PORTLAND, TUESDAY JULT 10, 1001. TARIFF SEED OF PACIFIC TRADE. Corrected flgur.es for the fiscal year ended June 30 are out, and their most striking- demonstration is one of disas ter In Pacific trade. Although our ex ports as a whole have grown to $1,487, 000,000, an increase of 593,000,000 over those of last year, and an excess over the record of any previous year in our history, our exports to Pacific countries have witnessed a decline, thus: 1000. 1001. Europe 901.091.184 1,004,052,600 N,orth America 100 782.810 170,374,100 South America 33.208,040 41.1C0.077 Asia 00.S41.123 43,511.4b5 Oceana ...... 40.603.071 33.007.54S Africa 17,521,091 23,878.161 Considerable effort Is made to abate the force of these figures by pointing out that Hawaii and Porto Rico, last year grouped with countries to which we export, have this year been, elim inated. The explanation, however, does not explain. Porto Rfco, evidently, "belongs neither to Asia nor to Oceana. It is true that to most of Oceana our exports have Increased. There went $3,000,000 more this year than laBt to British Australasia, and $1,300,000 more this year than last to the Philippines. But to Asia there Is a clear decrease of $17,000,000, partly accounted for by the Industrial depression in Japan and also to some extent by the disturb ances In North China, for whose provo cation and, prolongation our Govern ment must accept a share of respon sibility, together with Europe. Yet when we reflect that over against this worse than dubious showing stands a clear gain of $100,000,000 In our sales to Europe, another of $10,000,000 In those to Canada, and another of $6,000,000 to poor, harassed Africa, and another, of $6,000,000 to South America, it Is pain fully manifest that something is wrong with our Pacific trade. Facilities are plentiful, both of 'sail and steam. Time and expense both assist us in the con test with Europe. Yet while China im ports annually $150,000,000 worth of goods and Japan $138,000,000 worth, we sold all Asia in 1901 but $43,000,000 worth of merchandise of all sorts. The prime trouble with our Asiatic trade is the tariff burden under which it groans. To the already high duties we are adding more upon every occa sion. The DIngley law not only in creased the duties on Chinese and Jap anese silks, but qtapped a duty on Jap anese mattlirefawnicfti commodity, com ing in free, had aided our trade ma terially in supplying return cargoes for vessels carrying our Wheat, flour, lumber, cotton and manufactures of iron and steel. The war revenue law struck a powerful blow at Asiatic trade in its imposition of a tariff on tea, and though numerous other taxes, of no special onerdusness to business, have been repealed, the tax on tea stands without abolition or even reduction. Unfortunately, there is little hope for amelioration of these difficulties. There is considerable agitation In favor of tariff reform, both .by advocates of reciprocity 'treaties wlth Europe on the one hand, and on the other 'hand by those who would curb the trusts bV enacting: free trade in their products.. These two projects are supported at cfqsspurposes, and in their antagonisms both may fall. Neither, moreover, would achieve much of anything for trade with Asia, as the purview of their operations would prac tically be confined to European compe tition. "What Pacific commerce needs most of all Is tariff reduction carefully devised to the express conditions of the import and export trade. This it is ex tremely unlikely to get. The fact that there is no suitable or really safe place along the river front for boys to learn to swim, added to (fie well-known fascination that the water possesses for the small boy on sultry vacation days, emphasizes the state ment made by a prominent citizen that Portland needB a "public swimming bath-house." Swimming Is more than an accomplishment since Inability to swim Is vers' liable, at some time In the life of every man, to result disastrously to himself or to some one else in dire emergency. . Reasonable .opportunity given, all boys and "many girls will" learn to swim. Prudence requires that boys, at least he given this opportunity under such conditions as safety de mands. A bath-house, properly con structed and. supervised,, would furnish this opportunity, and the proposition to construct one, with a guarantee of $500 as a basis for the necessary build ing fund, should appeal to the pocket nerve of parents of small boys, even those in very moderate circumstances, with a force that will insure a pledge of the amount required without delay. The proposition, backed by a very apparent need, is "up to" the parents of the city, especially the parents of irrepressible small boys, rather than to philanthro pists, and they should take steps im mediately for the construction of a public bath-house, as proposed. OOCCLTATIOX OF BRYAN. Ohio is not the only place where the Jtamp of unmistakable disapproval is being set upon the further aspirations of W. J. Bryan. Not long ago he was studiously and pointedly rebuked at St Louis, in the election of a Gold Demo cratic Mayor over his protest. His recent general order commanding all who dis believe the Kansas City platform to stay out of party councils and conven tions has been greeted with shouts of dissent if not derision. Just now, Mr. R. G. Rosing, chairman of the Demo cratic State Central Committee of Minnesota, who has been flitting about through the Eastern states for some time on a political mission, comes out flat-footed in the assertion that Bryan Is no longer to be considered a Demo cratic possibility for 1904. Opposition to Bryan we have long been familiar with to an extent almost tiresome. This sort of thing was com mon in 1899 and the early part of 1900. Carter Harrison, or McLean, or Gor man, or Croker, or Hill, would utter a note of discontent Then the young Nebraskan would go to Chicago or New York and make a speech, and in the din of applause that followed all oppo sition to him would be hushed to si lence. Mr. Rosing, however, offers some sign of a real uprising against Bryan. He .has been an enthusiastic Bryan man for years, and was at Ka'n sas City a year ago, whooping it up for Towne. But now he says it is time for the Democratic party to become conservative and to seek issues upon which It can win, rather than ideas that have been exploded as thoroughly as last week's firecrackers. It is clear that the Democratic lead ers have enough of Bryan. But can they handle the rank and file? It ought to be not an, easy matter to revolutionize the masses of the Democ racy In a day and teach them to love what they have but now abhorred. How shall their trusting souls be con vinced that he upon whom they have been taught to look as a matchless leader and peerless statesman is after all but a stuffed prophet with sounding brass and tinkling cymbal? Can they be Induced at will to turn their backs upon the sacred cause of 16 to 1, and forget the crime of '73 and bow re signed to the sway of the accursed gold standard? It is most gravely to be feared that precisely this will come to pass; that the rank and file of the Democracy will be as joyous and as fully persuaded and as religiously zealous for the conserva tive platform of 1904, Ignoring silver, as they were for the Populist platform of 1900, extolling 16 to 1 as the one thing needful. When It comes to a question of winning the election, the convictions they have so long cherished will not be allowed to stand In the way. In the South, we may be especially sure, they will vote whatever ticket goes up as cheerfully as they voted for Bryan in 1900. though they wanted sound money and expansion for their cotton trade. Few of us take our political convic tions too seriously. The same men who have been for William McKinley and Mark Hanna and protection and the home market, will be in 1904 with Will iam McKinley and Mark Hanna for reciprocity and the markets of the world. We know what we believe as soon as the platform is made. We know who is the best man for the Presidency as soon as the party nominee is put up. If there are any who hesitate or think differently, they are flt only for con tumely. Such men are not true Repub licans or true Democrats. Such news papers are not true party organs. GRATUITOUS SLURS AT PORTLAND. The Seattle newspapers are appar ently very much distressed over the publication in the annual review of the San Francisco Commercial News of a lot of misleading rot about Tacoma's position as a seaport. The San Fran cisco paper, which studiously avoided any complimentary mention of either Portland or Seattle, inserted in its an nual "next to pure reading matter" the statement that "for years Tacoma has been the wheat-shipping port of the North Pacific Coast," and that "the busiest port on the Pacific Coast out side of San Francisco, Is Tacoma, In the State of Washington." It also said: "In manufactured lumber product Ta coma is the leading port of the Const During the year Tacoma manufactured 200,000,000 feet of lumber." There are a number of other equally misleading and grotesque statements In the annual review, but the protest should come, not from Seattle, but from Portland. Last year the "annual" di vided its North Pacific compliments be tween Seattle and Tacoma, leaving Portland alone in her obscurity. The Seattle papers at that time handed out the usual praise over the excellence of the San Francisco sheet, and seemed to think there was nothing wrong in the intentional slight put on Portland. As to the above statements, the Com mercial News is fully aware that Ta coma is not "the wheat-'shipipng port of the North Pacific Coast," or, if it Is not aware of the fact, it can quickly learn how silly the statement sounds by consulting the Custom-House records, or any of the San Francisco wheat ex porters who are operating In the north. Portland is, and for the past three years has been, not only the shipping port of the North Pacific CoaBt, but also of the entire Pacific Coast, the shipments of wheat from this port being greater than from any other port on the Pa cific Coast This fact probably ac counts in a large measure for the stu dious efforts of the News to avoid any thing like a complimentary mention of Portland. A "has been" in any par ticular line of business Is not expected to entertain the friendliest feeling for the competitor whtch has distanced It in the race. In the year 1900 the Portland mills manufactured 244,000,000 feet of lumber, and yet Tacoma, with a cut nearly 20 per cent smaller, becomes, in the words of the Commercial News, "the leading lumber port or the Coast" The Com mercial News contains a fair amount of statistical information that is of value, but the San Francisco hatred and jeal ousy of Portland is ever cropping out, even in thiB statistical matter. For ex ample, we find the names of ships from Portland which reached their destina tion months ago still carried in the sta tistical tables of the News as "on the way," the extraordinary length of the passages bringing the average of .those which are posted as "arrived out" up j dldate wns nominated. Profesaor Gun to figures which do not make as favor- I tonsays that he was an eye-witness to able a showing as would be made by a true statement of the matter. The news columns of the paper also seem quarantined against' the name Portland. In Saturday's Issue appeared the fol lowing: The British steamer. Monmouthshire has ar rived at Antwerp with a cargo of 67,382 cen tals of wheat. The Pak Ling: and Klntuck will probably load grain for Europe, sailing from Tacoma. and going via the Suez Canal. The Monmouthshire sailed from Port land, and not from San Francisco, and the Pak Ling was charterd over two weeks ago to load at Portland, and Is in this port at the present time. On Thursday the News printed the follow ing in its list of recent charters: Strathgyle, British steamer, 32S4 tons, lum ber from Puget Sound to Manila 52-6 char tered by the Charles Nelson Company. It has been over six weeks since the Government chartered the Strathgyle to load at Portland, and every shipping man on the Coast knows that she will load at this port The News would do well to return to its old business of printing facts as It finds them, and cease lending or selling its columns to town boomers. REIGN OF THE GRAFTER. Abandonment of the pneumatic tube mall service has caused a great deal of expense and Inconvenience to the busi ness men of the large cities in which it was for a considerable time in use. In Philadelphia the distress has taken the form of an urgent and pointed pro test to the President and Postmaster General. The petition sets out that whereas with the pneumatic tube they could make the train with their mall in ten or twelve minutes, with the old horse and wagon method, now rein stated, it takes them fifty to sixty min utes. This Is not the worst of it, be cause it 60 happens that the former arrangement enabled, them to catch the Eastern malls with their day's busi ness, while the new arrangement shuts them out. The Bpeclal delivery mall for Boston, for example, must now be In the postofflce by 11:30 A. M., which Is, of course, too early for report of the day's business. The market In the Philadelphia Bourse closes at 2:15 P. M. With the tube the merchants were privileged to mall their quotations .as late as 2:45 P. M., when their station was connected with the pneumatic tube to catch the 3 P. M. train for Boston. The petition concludes: Feeling ns we do that we are justified In asking for the best possible mall service, be cause It Is from such cities as our own that the revenue In the postal department Is re ceived, we cannot help feeling the justice of our request for this service after the strong Indorsement of the commission of Investiga tion eo recently appointed by your postal de partment. We desire to know If there Is not some way of having the discontinued sen-Ice reinstated; and we request that you make it an early Issue for the next session of Congress to have the service permanently established and extended throughout pur "city, according ta the recommendations of our Postmaster. Why have the merchants of Philadel phia and other large cities been put to this loss and inconvenience? The Gov ernment, of course, Is abundantly able to continue the pneumatic tube serv ice. There was, indeed, no objection to it per se. But Congress refused to make the necessary appropriations for its continuance, simply because the bill In its favor was impaired by the pres ence of extravagant and, it was feared, corrupt provisions. Nobody objected to the proper and economical conduct of pneumatic mall service; but nobody was willing to consent to the consum mation of Improper and costly jobs for new and unnecessary service. There is a close parallel here to the situation of rivers and harbors situ ated, as the Columbia is, in urgent need of development work. If the river and harbor bill at the last session of Con gress, or at any previous session, had been strictly limited to feasible and profitable improvements like that of the Columbia between Celilo and the sea, It would have passed without serious op position. But it became necessary, In order to gain votes in its favor, to In clude an immense array of Impossible improvements and undisguised jobs on Internal streams that are not now and never can be fit for navigation. In nu merous Cases appropriations are includ ed for portions of streams midway In their course connected, with no other Improvement above or below a most palpable waste of public money. The interested member merely desired this appropriation ,to be spent in his district, without any regard whatever to the re turns from the expenditure. It is far easier to apprehend this abuse, its moral enormity and Its In dustrial mischief, as reflected in mall service and waterways, than it Is to point out a remedy. If we could at once remove the scamps, both from clamorous corporations and from Con gress, the thing would be done. This, however, is doubtless impracticable in a popular government with human na ture unregenerated. Some amelioration will doubtless grow out of the Increas ing need of the various sections for men in Congress of character and abil ity. In a conspicuously business age it Is strange to see how long industrial communities are content to be repre sented by "brilliant orators," without brains, force or conscience, instead of by business men who can bring things to pass. Some way must be found to facilitate the ability of the efficient and sagacious to bring to naught the machi nations of the grafter, whose trail Is over everything. This way Is apt to be found as the necessity for it grows more and more urgent A SUAVE STATESMAN'. The editor of Gunton's Magazine, in a recent Issue, referred to President McKinley as cne who "seems to have no moral strength to resist discreditable and discredited corrupters. This is be coming manifest in so many ways that the people are losing faith in the Ad ministration." A reader challenged Mr. Gunton to specify some ways in which Mr. McKinley shows his want of moral strength. Replying to this chal lenge, In trie current Issue of the maga zine, the editor refers to a matter that came under his personal observation last Fall. In the Fourteenth New York Congres sional District there were two leading candidates for the-Republican nomina tion. One was .favored by the Platt Qulgg machine, and the other by the antl-PIatt faction. Collector BIdwell, pf the port Of New York, was the champion of the machine candidate. Befdre the assembling of the district convention the antl-PIatt faction had an apparent majority of 30 among the delegates, but Collector BIdwell, It Is charged, used the coercive power of his-J public office upon office-holding dele gates with such effeot that an adverse majority of 30 was turned into an, actual majority for the machine when the con vention met, and the Platt-Bidwell can- this coercion in one instance at least, and that the evidence of its employ ment in other cases Is conclusive. He further says: All these facts were laid before President McKinley on the 4th of October at Canton, O. At his request no exposure was made be fore the election, he promising to deal ade quately with the outrage after election, whether re-elected or not; expressing, more over, Implicit belief In the facts as reported, and his Indignation at such conduct by Fed eral office-holders whom he had appointed. On the 4th of Decembor the facts were again laid beforo the President In accordance with his previous request. In writing. Instead of carry ing out his ante-election promise, he reap pointed this corrupting official, two months before his term hatf expired, as a mark 01 special approval. The President thus know ingly gave his official support to the corrupt methods of politicians by conspicuously re warding the corrupters. The remonstrants were all friends and supporters of the Administration, the New York Press, an Administration or gan, printing and vouching for the truth of it all in sum and detail. There is nothing Incredible In this statement by Professor Gunton; It is but a repeti tion of the same evasion and indirection that have been manifested by the Pres ident In the notorious case of the post master of Philadelphia and many other Federal office-holders who have system atically violated the civil service rules as deliberately and defiantly as has Col lector BIdwell, of New York City. Mak ing gracious promises to the ear and then serenely breaking them to the hope is the most conspicuous vice In Mr. McKInley's personal and political character. In the w6rds of a very able member of the National-committee, who for many years has voiced the most in telligent and influential public opinion of one of the best states of the Middle West, "Brother McKinley in politics is a horse that cannot be trusted to stand without hitching." In his overamlabll ity and urbane Inconstancy, the Presi dent recalls Pope's famous portrait of Addison, who was "so obliging while he ne'er obliged." The prospect of a repetition of the famine of three years ago in several densely populated provinces of Eastern Russia Is appalling, even at this dis tance. The wretched "hunger food" that then sufficed in many instances to keep base life afoot, and in many failed, even In this meager mission of doubtful mercyt is unknown to us ex cept through a description of its vile ness, yet .this description, though filtered -under leagues of sea and re mpved by many thousands of miles from sight and smell, causes a shudder of disgust. And when even of this vile compound there Is not enough to ap pease the hunger of the ignorant, famine-smitten multitude, the resultant misery is of quality and volume too great to estimate. Ignorance and help lessness, it is said, rule in the threat ened provinces. Though two severe famines have visited the people in the last ten years, they have learned there by neither prevention nor remedy for such visitations. Death Is the least of the evils that result from this condi tion, the more pitiful features being suffering that manages to evade death and debilitated bodies and enfeebled minds that glVe promise neither of use fulness nor Improvement In coming years. Tho BQers--as a people have never mingled with the negro. If Is no emillpratsfs to the Dutch character to recall that Hoere ana Anglo-Saxons are the only colonists that have kept their blood pure. Monthly Review of Re views. This statement Is not true In the sense that the Boers did not In the past prac tice miscegenation quite as freely as the whites did in the South during the days of slavery. One of the commonest sights In the Transvaal is a pious old Boer farmer who is the father of a large number of illegitmate children by Kaffir women. In the novels of Rider Hag gard, which deal with life In the coun try of -the Boers, the villain in more than one of the "stories Is a halfbreed, the son of a Boer farmer by a Hotten tot or Kaffir woman. Rider Haggard served for many years as a soldier against the Boers, and he served after wards with the Boers against the Zulus, and he doubtless drew a correct pic ture of their domestic life. Our people will breathe a sigh of re lief In sympathy with citizens of the superheated regions of the Middle West who have been suffering from Intense heat and drought for several successive weeks, at the partial respite afforded by slight rains In some places and heavy thunder showers in others within the past twenty-four hours. Of all at mospheric conditions, the most trying upon human courage and endurance Is that of Intense heat, unrelieved for days together by rain or cooling breezes, and aggravated by the sight of Withering vegetation and perishing stock. Unseemly rains and even the bitterest cold are as nothing to this fierce extreme of heat. Let us hope that the worst is over, and that the crops in the long-sweltering area have not been entirely destroyed by the un usual "hot spell." The Hon. Hoke Smith, of Georgia, in a recent speech to the striking machin ists of Athe Southern Railway, bitterly denounced those students of the State School of Technology who had taken the vacant places, and declared that no state Institution "should tolerate within Its walls as students supported by the state" such young men. Mr. Smith must be an arrant labor dema gogue, for he of course knows that the right to labor Is as sacred as the right to strike. The right to choose your em ployers, or your employes, as the case may be, Is one of the fundamentals. If the students of the State School of Technology wish to work on the terms offered by the Southern Railway, It 13 their own business. What should be the limitation of a street franchise? The Oregonlan thinks twenty-five years quite long enough. If made fifty, or even forty, It will be about the same thing as perpetuity. No man now interesting himself in street franchises will be here to trouble himself With the subject, even twenty five years hence. They who are con tending for very long franchises want for themselves advantages that belong to future times. The steel trust's sole Interest in the strike, it says, is protection of its non union workmen. Since when has the welfare of their men grown so dear to the hearts of the steel kings? Some parodist of the methods of Rev. Charles M. Sheldon seems to be trying to run Kansas as Satan would run It If in 'need of a light Summer recrea- ( tlon, Joint the Charter Commission. an" independent food supply St. Paul Pioneer Pre?. If Secretary Wilson was co roctly re ported, his enthusiasm rather got the bet ter of his judgment when he said that within a year the United States and Its new possessions will be producing prac ticably everything we use. His own words as reported were: There M no doubt that this country within a few months will be In a position to Ignore every other nation on the globe In the mat ter of food products. We shall produce within our own domain everything that goes upon our table and upon our backs. We shall then be. commercially and Industrially, almost Inde pendent of the other nations of the world. Hence any trade combination which may be effected against us will ..ount for nothing. Whenever we get rendy can come pretty near starving any other nation. Therefore an effectlvo combination against us will be an Impossibility. If he had said that this country and Its possessions had the resources to produce every article of food we use, provided the resources were developed, he would have been not far from the truth. Yet as a matter of practical fact it i3 not in the least probable that even the formation of a European coalition against us would force such a development It Is still less probable that this development will occur without compulsion within the, next two or three decades. Nevertheless It would not be beyond the limits of possibility, provided we assume that Cuba is to be come an American possession within that period. The following list of the thirteen arti cles of food imported In excess of Jl.uGO. 000 in 1900 gives, some idea of the extent! to which we depend on other countries for foods: Sugar S101.100.000 Coffee 52.400.000 Fruits and nuts 10.lC0.00o Tea .... :.. 10.C00.00u Wines ...., , 7.400.00O Cocoa 5,700,000 Animals 4.C00.0OO Spices 3.4O0.OCU Vegetables : 2,000,000 Provisions 2.300.000 P.lce 2.3O0.0OU Malt liquors ..". 1.7C0.0( Distilled spirits 3,000.000 Of the sugar imports $98.000 000 repre sents the value of the unrsfined sugar imported, and of this $14,000,000 worth was German and Austrian beet sugar, and the rest was cane sugar. Of the cane, $20,000,000 worth came from Ha waii, $24,000,000 from the Dutch East In dies, $1S,000,000 from Cuba, and $11,000, 000 from the British West Indies, Santo Domingo and Porto Rico. This year, with greater prosperity in Cuba, the rela tive position of that source of supply and bf the Dutch East Indlrs is reversed. From Hawaii there is likely to be no great lncreoae In the supplv, but Cuba and Porto Rico, with methods of cultiva tion as scientific and thorough as those of Hawaii, are capable of producing all the sugar needed In this country. This de velopment is not at all Improbable, for Cuba alone in 1SD4 sent us $03,000,000 of sugar. But with coffee the case Is somewhat different. Of the $52,000,000 worth im ported, $34,000,000 worth came from Bra zil, with Venezuela, Mexico, the Dutch East Indies and Guatemala and Costa Rica following with contributions to the supply ranging from $3,500,000 down to $1.3CO.o:o. Porto Rico crtalnly and the Philippines and Cuba without much doubt are capable of producing good coffee, "but they would be hard put to it to produce enough to displace the Brazilian product. The fruit and nut Import conlsted of $3,900,000 of bananas, over half of which came from the British West Indies and Costa Rica, but only a few from Cuba and none from Porto Rico: $3,700,000 of lemons, almost all from Italy; $1.0S7,041 of oranges, over half of which were from the British West Indies: of raisins from Spain 'and Turkey: of currants from Greece: of dates prepared and exported by England; of. fig's from Turkey and of prunes and plums from France. Undoubt edly the fruit Industries of California and the islands will some day produce enough to render most of these Imports unneces sary, though it' is not at all likely that the Imports of daf1?. prunes, figs or of preserved fruit" would cease. All of these fruits can be raised on American soil, but only by careful attention to curing and packing would the home product drive out the established trade. Of the principal imports of nuts over half the supply of almonds comes from Spain, with Italy-and France contributing most of the rest. Of the cocoanut supply the British West Indies and Colombia supply over half. The Philippines already produce enough cocoanuts to supply our demand, and the almond could unquestionably be culti vated to a much greater extent than it is. As to tea, there is no doubt that so far as soil and climate are concerned the United States could produce the entire supply, practically all of which now comes from China and Japan. These countries also supply over half the 'rice Imports, but with attention the Philip pine rice fields could be made to yield enough for this market. Nutmegs, pepper and the other spices come principally from the East Indies through Holland and Great Britain, with the British West Indies contributing largely. These industries could also be transplanted to Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines. Coco'i preparations are also In" this class of tropical products which are prepared In Holland, Great Britain and Germany and sold In this country. The Imports of wines and of spirituous and malt liquors are the result largely of a demand for special brands, with the growth of the American wine Indus tries and with the development of skill. some of this demand Is likely to disap pear, but It is not likely to be entirely displaced, for as the provision imports show, even Ameilcan cheeses and meat products have not ben able to stop the Importing of special foreign brands that are considered delicacies. The Imports of the onions and the potatoes of Bermuda, of the beans and the peas of Austria, France and Germany, and of British pickles, which compose most of the Im ports of vegetables, are also the result of a special demand. The anlmil imports are largely from Canada, and arc the natural outcome of proximity. It is clear from the preponderance of tropical or semi-tropical products In the I above anu from experiments wun iruns and wines in California, with tea In South Carolina, and with coffee and spices. In the -dependencies, that the United States, with Cuba, could make itself absolutely Independent if It wanted to. But that It will want to veryjsoon Is not likely. The development of these Industries is slow even under the best of conditions a coffee plantation, for Instance, not beginning to produce until the fifth year. Further more, unless these things Can be pro duced as well and" as cheaply on Ameri can soil as thev aro being produced else where, there would be no use ui trying it. But most of them, with the excep tion of coffee, can be advantageously produced, and there Is no doubt that under proper direction the old Spanish Iplands will contribute a much Jarger share of these tropical products to the world's markets than they have hereto fore. What they are capable of under proper management Is revealed in the heavy exports of the British and Dutch islands of the West and East Indies when compared with the comparatively Insig nificant exports of such islands as Haiti. With proper attention the fruit, nut. spice, cocoa and chocolate, rice, tea and sugar Industries might easily be eo devel oped on American soil that we need re sort to no Imports to get the best that there Is In the world. Whether it would pay to do so Is another question to be determined in each case In the usual way. All Plntocrats Now. Omaha Bee. Bryan Is among the prospective pur chasers of an issue of Lincoln municipal bonds. With Towne, Hogg and other apostles of calamity becoming oil mag nates and Bryan a bloated bondholder, the party of distress Is certainly in a hard way for duly qualified leaders. AMUSEMENTS. It is in the Summer months, when new plays are being made ready for Initial productions in the Fall, and old ones are being overhauled ready for another year s run, that the theatrical press agent is busiest. As a rule his is not a very 'fer tile or a very active Imagination, but he is usually possessed of an unlimited amount of energy and a surprising fund of what Is known on the streets as "nerve." Regularly every week he com piles, causes to be printed or typewritten and distributes to various newspapers throughout the country items of all sorts and lengths, each containing some fact or fiction of alleged Interest about the actor, actress, or company in wnose in terest he Is employed. To Insure the news paper which he hopes will use his "mat ter" against the embarrassment lnciaeni t0 printing an article on the same day it appears in a contemporary of the same town, they print at the head of their "copy" the reassuring legend "Not dupli cated In your city." Much of the material they furnish is of legitimate news value, and Is. printed for that reason, but more of It is of no Interest whatever, and is only intersetlng as a study In the nature of the press agent. One of these gentlemen recntly lifted Mark Twain's "Jumping Frog" story and sent It broadcast over the country as hav ing happened to an obscure actor, whom he cast for the part of the stranger who loaded the frog and won the bet from the Jim Smiley. Another recorded the re trieving of a $5 bill by a bull terrier be longing to an actress, said terrier having hunted In a gutter till he found the bill, and then brought it joyously to his mls- tress, who happened at that time to ue she is to oroduce next season. The dla- mond and divorce stories are now by com mon consen shelved, but countless oth ers take their places, and, with a few exceptions, all of them, are either old or pointless. Actors who are spending their time and money In New York are located in Maine by their press agents and made to catch trout as big as salmon. Others are either just golne; to Europe or have just returned from there, while still others whose names not long since have ap peared in the bankruptcy columns are spending the Summer on their "estates" In England. Actresses are constantly being enter tained at dinner by women who have probably never seen them, and between meals they are injured in automobile run aways or lose fabulous sums playing the races or the roulette wheel. Of course, all this sort of thing is ex pected to pars as news, and news of the most startling character, and the press agent would be deeply pained and sur prised if he knew that at least some of his stories were regarded by their recipi ents as just a trifle "tall." Notes of the Stnire. The Augutin Daly musical comedy com pany, in "San Toy." will open Its season at the Harlem Opera-House September 23. Rehearsals of the company to appear In "Ben Hur" next season will begin at the Broadway Theater August C, under the direction of Ben Teal. Andrew Mack will make his initial ap pearance in "Tom Moore," his new play, at the HeraldrSquare Theater August 31. He will spend the next four weeks at his Summer home at Buzzard's Bay, Massa chusetts. Klaw &. Erlanger have engaged Aime Lnchaurne as director of music for Harry B. Smith's new musical comedy, "The Liberty Belles." The scenery will be painted by Ernest Albert, and special properties .will be provided by Edward Seldel. of the Metropolitan Opera-House. Frank McKee has engaged Frank Lane, once a prominent member of the Hoyt forces, to play a leading part In support of Peter F. Dalley in Augustus Thomas' new comedy. Mr, Lane has been off the stage for three years, and has been really missed a very complimentary circum stance. William Harris, of Rich and Harris, managers of Louis Mann and Clara Lip man, have received from Paul Potter, who Is in London, the manuscript of the new play In which these artists will star next season. The title has net yet been definitely selected. Mr. Mann and Miss Llpman sailed for London June 20 to con sult with Mr. Potter in reference to scen ery, costumes and the details of staging the new piece. Llebler & Co. are congratulating them selves upon the acquisition to their forces of Mr. Benjamin Howard, a young actor of commanding presence and attractive prrsonallty, whose rarely capable work in stock has attracted their 'attention for como time past Mr. Howard was Induced to sign a contract with Llebler & Co. the past week, and has been assigned the Important part of Don Juan of Austria, in support of Miss Viola Allen, who will tour the larger cities of the country next season In her past season's success. "In the Palace of the King." Mr. Howard will be remembered by Portland play goers cs a former member of the Nelll company. PRAYING FOR RAIN. Prayers Sure to Be Ansirercd, Be cause Jiuln Im Snre to Fnll. This has its piace m the news columns of the day: JEFFERSON CITY. Mo.. July 15.-No rain has fallen here and In different parts of the state since April 17. and crops of all kinds excopt wheat aro almost complete failure. CSovernor Dockery, who had received many requests to Issue a proclamation calling upon the people to observe a certain day In fast ing and prayer, that the drought might be broken, today set aside July 21 on whlcn "the people are requested to asemble at their usual places of worship to Invoke the bless ings of Almighty God." Tho moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on; nor all your Pity nor Wit Shall lure It back to cancel half a line. Nor all your tears wash out a Word of It. And here are two stanzas from Omar Khayyam. FltzGerald's version: And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, Whereunder, crawling, coop'd. we live 'and die, Lift not your hands to It for help, for It As lmpotently moves as you or I. But it will do the people of Missouri and Kansas who want to pray for rain no harm to pray for rain; and since rain Is sure to dome after their prayer scon or late they may put In the familiar argu ment "post hoc ergo propter hoc," and be satisfied. But there will still be doubters, whether the operations of Nature are to be controlled by human supplications. Slnucliter of the Timber. St. Louis Poat-Dlspatch. While we can, let us sit in the shade and consider t'ae statement that In the United States every 24 hours 25,000 acres are denuded of timber. Tlie Old Fashioned Boy. Detroit Free Press. Oh, for a glimpse of a natural boy A boy with freckled face. With forehead white 'neath tangled hair And limbs devoid of grace. Whoso feet toe In, while his elbows flare; Whoso knees are patched all ways; Who turns as red as a lobstsr when You give him a word of praise. A boy who's born with an appetite, Who seeks the pantry shelf To eat his "pleco" with resounding smack Who Isn't gone oh himself. A "Hobtnson Cruso ' reading boy. Whose pockets bulge with trash: Who knows tho use of rod and gun. And where the brook trout splash. It's true he'll sit In the easiest chair. With his hat on his tousled head; That his hands and feet are everywhere. For youth must have room to spread. But he doesn't dub his father "old man," Nor deny his mother's call. Nor ridicule what nls elders say, Or think that he knows It all. A rough and wholesome natural boy Of a goad old-fashioned c!vy; 4 God bless him. If he's still on earth, i For he'll make a roan some day. NOTE AND COMMENT. A toreador was gored to death in a bull fight In Omaha. Encore! The July crop of brides seems to bo nearly equal to t'he June output. In the distribution of war medals. King: Edward has very unkindly overlooked the Missouri mule. Go on your vacation early, or you will not have recovered in time for the Fall rush of business. What a pity that some of our pota do' not while away these dull days by com posing a little something about the Ore gon grape. Topeka has a barber shop which i opened with prayer every morning. Hero Is the first fruit of the seed sown by Brother Sheldon. As Andrew Carnegie refuses to go into politics, people will begin to entertain some doubts as to the sincerity of hi3 desire not to die rich. An unknown man has given $1,000,000 to establish churches In Chicago. Whoever he Is, he seems to know where his money will have the most room Jo do good. A college education enables a man to read a menu In French, but it doesn't always enable him to supply the price , necessary to the placing of an order. Concerning the weather we have tho following to say: There can De no saloons in the newly opened Indian lands till some time after their settlement. This Insures the district against the blighting presence of Mrs. Na tion. The pessimist who asserted that the world has but a few thousand more years of existence before it has filled trne Brit ish with the fear that they will not ba able to end the Boer war in time for the final shake-up. The fines collected In New York police courts last year amounted to $78,957. In 1S99 the total was $100,637. Prior to tho establishment of the present board of city magistrates the average annual collections were from $30,000 to $43,C00. In 1893 the to tal collections from fines amounted to $37,135. Pending the general institution of wire less telegraph systems, a pigeon-post is doing good service between Los Angeles, Cal., and Avalon, on Santa Catallna Isl and, In the Pacific, 50 miles away, a dis tance that the pigeons cover In an hour. Messages by the bird route, however, cost from 50 to 75 cents each. A clergyman named Redheffer has cooled off his congregation by appearing: in a shirt waist In the pulpit, but hla action was hardly necessary. The name Redheffer suggests so many thoughts of green pastures, still waters and spreading1 trees under which to chew one's cud that it would hardly be possible to gaze on a man so named and not be cool. It is not usual for a ship on t'he high seas to elect to cast anchor on the deck of a passing steamer; but that Is what a. four-masted schooner did recently In tho Atlantic. The two vessels grazed In thef fog, and the "catted", port anchor of tho schooner caught In the steamer's deck "by a fluke." It fastened to an engineer'3 stateroom in such a manner as to bar his exit, but fortunately the chain parted Just as the room was being ripped into frag ments .The schooner followed the steamer to Its destination to recover her anchor. A few days ago when the heat In New York broke all records, and man and beast ' vere dropping upon every hand under the terrible rays of the sun, women ventured forCh as usual and crowded the depart ment stores. In the majority of tneso places the heat was so Intense as to be al most unbearable, but still the women crowded about the bargain counters. As a result at one t'ime In one of the depart ment stores on Sixth avenue, 12 women were stretched out on the floor from tho effects of the heat Two of them wero able to be taken home, eight were taken, to hospitals, while the other two unfortu nates were taken to the cemetery. When the hrolllng sun Is blazing In the hot and cloudless sky. And you're singed by every sultry brees6 that rustles scorching by. With what weet and gentle sympathy comes science to the fore And shows us' that our suffering will very soon oe o'er. For from figures and statistics she has gath ered. It apnears, That the sun will be much cooler In about 10.000,0X) years. -( .-.1 i "What a golden bow of promise thus Is stretch ed before our eyes! How Hope rises up to cheer us and we stifle all our sighs! And a glowing happy future, when the sun, no more hall blaze. Like a furnace comes, to lighten these hoc suffocating days; And we hall the glad announcement with a burst of Joyous chaers That the sun will be much cooler In about 10.000,000 years. Then we'll hear In hopeful silence all the hot waves as they como, though complaints arise within us. yet our nyuths shall still be dumb. For we know that though the sunshine Is Just now a little strong. Such a torrid state of Nature cannot last so very long; We can well afford to swelter when the rut urn has no fears. For the sun will be much cooler In about . 10,000,000 years. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS She They say his business Is a great suc cess. He Yes; the firm paid him S10.000 a year to stay away from It. Town and Coun try. No escape. Prospective Boarder You ad vertise 'homelike surroundings? Country Farmer Yep; we've got a janitor from tha city fer hired man. Brooklyn Life. So Say We All. McJIgger You Won't mean to say you believe In divorce? Thingumbob Well, I do In the caw of the man who Is wedded to his opinions. Philadelphia Pres. The Matt of the House. "Did you havp a . good Fourth, Jlmmle "Yes. sirree; pa wusn't home an I had f Are oft firecracker for ma an gran ma an my three aunts." Detroit Free Press. The Fireworks Corps "How do you clebrate the Fourth of July?" "Well, we -take care of the Jones children half the day, and the Joneses take care of our children the other half." Chicago Record-Herald. Her Opinion. "There were no actresses in Shakespeare's day," remarked the trite person. "Well," answered the eminent emotional star. With a toss of her head, "there are mighty few of us now." Washington Star. Darkena His Life. Asklt Why does Wrltem, the great author, wear such a look of con stant fear Telllt He wrote the class song when he graduated, and his enemies are con stantly threatening to make It public Balti more American. The Bos If we are to retain your services, Mr. Lambkin, you must take more care of your appearance. You look as If you hadn't shaved for a week. The Clerk But, sir, I am growing a beard. The Boss That's no excuse. You must do that sort of thing out of business hours. Glasgow Evening Times. U&H 4anita