Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, July 24, 1901, Page 6, Image 6

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    he rggomatt
Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon,
as eecond-clan matter.
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News or discussion Intended for publication
In The Oregonlan should be addressed invaria
bly "Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name
cf any Individual. Letters relating to advertis
ing, subscriptions or to any business matter
chould be addressed simply "The Oregonlan."
The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories
Xrom individuals, and cannot undertake to ro-
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purpose.
Pugct Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson,
office at 1IU Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box UM,
Taeoma Postofllce.
-Eastern Business Office 43, 44, 45, 47, 43, 40
Tribune building, New York City; 400 "The
Rookery," Chicago; the S. C. Beckwlth special
agency. Eastern representative.
For sale la San Francisco by J. K. Cooper,
70 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Gold
smith Bros.. 230 Sutter street; F. W. Pitta,
1003 Market street; Foster & Orcar, Ferry
news stand.
For sale in Xcs Angeles by B. F. Gardner,
259 So. Spring street, and Oliver &. Haines, 100
So. Spriar street.
For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.,
217 Dearborn street.
For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1C12
Farnam street.
ForJjale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News
Co-. W. Second South street.
For sale la Ogden by W. C. Kind, 204 Twenty-fifth
street.
On fll at Buffalo. N. Y.. In the Oregon ex
hibit at the exposition.
For sale la Washington, D. C, by the Ebbett
House newstand.
For eale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton &
Jvendrlck. 000-012 Seventh street.
TODAY'S WEATHER-Falr; slightly warm
er; northwesterly winds.
YESTERDAY'S WEATHER-Maxlmum tern
Jterature, 75; minimum, temperature, 00; pre
cipitation, 0.00.
PORTXAAD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 24.
FUTILE SYMPATHY.
For the malfeasance of men there
Should be pointed and fearless criti
cism, regardless of party, regardless of
wealth and power; but the logic of
events and the resistless march of civ
Ilzation there is little use in arraigning.
Along such lines there is little for the
critic to accomplish but the making of
himself ridiculous. The Philadelphia
Public ledger, for example, is old
enough to know better than to say any
thing like this:
Possibly more sympathy would be shown for
the negro in his grievance by Northern Re
publicans, but for the novel policy to which
tne country seems converted of ascribing to
the Anglo-Saxon rights and powers withheld
iroin the Latin races, as well as from the
mixed races of our colonies.
Who is withholding rights and pow
ers from the Latin races? Nobody but
themselves. Nothing is withholding
empire from Spain and sanity from
France, and solvency from Italy but
their own incompetence.
Who is withholding rights and pow
ers from the mixed races of ILatln
America? Cuba and Porto Rico are at
present under our protection as a se
quence of their delivery from Spain;
but all Latin-America outside of these
two islands is pursuing unrestrainedly
its own sweet will, through revolution
disorder and bankruptcy of high and
varied plcturesqueness. In addition to
the rights and powers of independence
and wide-open politics, they have the
noteworthy privilege of calling upon
the United States occasionally to help
them out, as we did with Venezuela,
ior example, in 1834.
The Ledger and those who think or
rather growl with It seem Incapable of
-seeing that what ails the Latin races
and the mixed races of our dependen
cies and the negro in the South is not
so much suppression from without as
It Is incapacity from within. Tou can't
,make a man a self-governing creature
'by law any more than you can make
nim a scholar and a gentleman by mere
act Of ConETPSS nr nrrw.lomon- ,.. iu.
President. The Anglo-Saxon Is what he
is, politically, if we take the Ledger for
.it, because of certain rights and pow
jers ascribed to him, and the negro or
jthe Filipino Is what he Is, politically,
uecause me ngnts and powers the
Anglo-Saxon claims for himself are by
the Anglo-Saxon withheld frnm htm
jNothipg could be more perverse or more
' Self-government is not a boon tn hf
J given at will. It is a stage of nrocress.
of development, of canacltv. to Tip nt.
Jtained by gainful stens and cin-nr
growth. The dogma of special creation
Is hard to eliminate, it armears fmm
J the realm of political -thinking, how
ever thoroughly science has dispelled
(it from other fields. Numbers still af
fect to believe that fiat can create a
. self-governing community Instanter
though every other quality and capa
city of the- race lfi rpnnirnlofl -jo Tiniilnr.
htocome up from small beginnings
tnrougn great tribulation.
If a child doesn't know the use of
a razor, is it the part of wisdom to
give it to him to play with and go off
ana leave nun? if a people do not
Icnow or understand the use of self
government, is it right to leave them
alone with it to work their own de
struction? Now. the-fact is that neither
the Filipino nor the negro can be en
trusted with government anv mow
safely for his own good than you can
trust a 10-year-old boy with a locomo-
ive. The use of tools has to be lparnd.
id self-government is a tool who;o
mplexity requires loner tutelar for
is safe employment. The Anglo-Saxon,
eaning by that the British and Amer
ican peoples, has learned self-government
in a thousand years of ann'ren-
ticeshlp, and very gradually, step by
itep, ne has taken on more and more of
he functions of government, leaving
ess and less to the ruling class, inher
ted frdm the day when the ruling class
way was nt to rule.
The reason why the North does not
lse up to put the negro in power over
e Southern white is simnlv thai- it
eallzes at length that the negro is not
t to govern. His unfitness is not nhvs-
il, but mental. His incapacity dwells.
ot in the color of his skin or the habit
f his hair, but in his intellectual status
f ignorance and Insufferable Insolence.
M people who are flt to rule are going
endure to be governed by those who
re unfit to rule. Negro domination in
ie South is an unbearable ienomlnv
'he negro is a good workman, when
tight, an estimable citizen when prop-
iy governed, and a servant without
iperlor when fitly, trained. But as a
iperlor officer over Americans h 1b n
ost conspicuous misfit and unmiti-
,ted nuisance. The deference that Jjies. of Massachusetts, said in Congress
belongs to him in, his proper place be
comes Intolerable arrogance and mis
chievousness when he Is raisea above it.
It Is time we had done with these
pious hypocrisies about the poor Fili
pino and the poor negro. Not a moth
er's son of these hysterical Northern
editors would consent, if he was "In
business in Manila, to have its gov
ernment turned over to the Tagal ban
dits and blackmailers. Not one of
them would consent, if he lived in the
South, to have a big, insolent buck
"nigger" dragging his wife and daugh
ter Into court as witnesses or radiating
his insufferable airs as toastmaster at
the Mayor's banquet. There is too
much horse sense In the country for It
to be longer aroused to partisan fury
or maudlin tears by such senseless and
dishonest appeals. Some time, maybe,
the Filipino and the negro will be as
fit for governing himself and others as
the Anglo-Saxon is. And when that
time comes he will be doing it. Mean
while the order of the parade will not
be broken up. The weak will not rule
the strong. The flt will not be governed
by the unfit.
A NEW MUNICIPAL TRIUMPH.
In Oregon there are very few places
where mosquitoes abound. There Is lit
tle stagnant water in the Pacific States,
and our mountain streams and lakes
are too cold to permit the eggs to
hatch. But still we have a mosquito
here and there, and now nnd thor Ti
ls worth while, therefore, to note what j
a. winer in tne maepenaent nas to say
about the mosquito.
This writer is N. T. Barton, Mayor
of Winchester. "Va. His town was
greatly annoyed by this irritating in
sect, but he says he has Tid it of the
pest How he did It he thus describes:
We apply kerosene to the breeding pools, Ex
periment shows that about an ounce (a tea
cup full) of kerosene to each 15 square feet
of water surface on small pools will effectual
ly destroy all the larvao and pupao in the
pool, and that the adult female who comes to
tho pool to deposit her eggs will either go
away, or If she alights, will dlo and her eggs
will perish with her. Nor need this inexpen
cive application of kerosene be renewed more
than once a month. It need not bo sprinkled.
If Simply poured Into the pool the oil will
reach all parts of tho water's surface.
Mr. Barton says that he has "dab
bled In entomology in an amateurish
sort of way," and so was led to take
an Interest in the habits of the mos
quito. He found that the female lays
eggs to the number of two hundred
to four hundred in a mass, depositing
them on still pools of water, where in
warm weather they hatch In little time.
The female mosquito is the buzzer, and
the biter also. The male Is an insignifi
cant Individual, reminding one of the
"An," In Bulwer's "Coming Race,"
Whose function is wholly suhnrrilrmtA
to the "Gy."
When Mr. Barton first proposed his
remedy to the Common Council of Win
chester, there was a storm of ridicule.
Agitation of the subject, however, re
sulted in the adoption of an ordinance
providing for the systematic applica
tion of kerosene to all the breeding
places of the Insect People who had
rain barrels were required to keep them
covered. The result of these measures
is thus described:
In many parts of the city the pest wholly
disappeared, and in all parts It was greatly
reduced in virulence; nets were taken down;
and piazzas and lighted rooms at night agam
became comfortable and habitable. It was very
evident, too, that the continued existence of
the mosquito In a few parts of the town was
duo to the failure of tho residents there to
obey the ordinance. Where It was observed
the mosquitoes were practically annihilated.
But the degree of success attained
was so considerable that an amended
ordinance has been passed, with pen
alties for non-observance; and what
was taken as a joke in the beginning
has now passed into a municipal policy,
that nane undertakes to gainsay. Our
socialistic brethren may be congratu
lated on the addition of this municipal
function to their list of "public utili
ties." It strikes us as the most ra
tional thing we have seen, In this line.
SETTLEMENT OP OREGON.
The Whitman enthusiasts would have
the world believe that their hero of the
midwinter journey across the continent
organized and directed the great im
migration of 1843 which gave the Amer
icans the preponderance of population
in the Oregon Country, and was an im
portant factor in the settlement of the
boundary dispute in favor of the United
States. No argument could be more
Indefensible. Oregon was settled and,
It might be said, saved, by the pioneer
men and women, "sooners," as we
would now term them, who gathered on
the frontier xf civilization in Western
Missouri in the Fall and "Winter of
1S42 and rushed to the Pacific with the
opening of the Spring of 1843. Whit
men was with them and his advice and
experience were of benefit to them be
cause he had made the trip before.
But he did not lead the immigrants,
for they were on the frontier before he
retraced his steps from Boston, and
had their minds set on Oregon. They
would have come whether he was with
them or not.
From the time the Aryan race began
to leave Its cradle in Asia the migra
tion of Its sturdiest stock has been
towards the West It swarmed over
Europe and built empires and repub
lics. Next We find it in Ihp "NTpw Wr,rld
hugging the coast line and resrardinc-
the vast interior with dread mixed with
superstitious awe. For over a century
after the founding of Jamestown the
beautiful Shenandoah Valley was un
known to the Virginians. "It was still
part of the unmeasured wilderness,"
says Fiske, "that stretched away to
the remote shores whfch Drake had
once called by the name of New Al
bion." Spotswood, who was Governor
of Virginia, crossed the Blue Ridge at
Swift Run Gap, about eighty miles
southwest of Harper's Ferry, In 1716,
and opened the way for the Scotch
Irish who flocked into the Shenandoah
Valley, beginning in 1730. Spotswood's
merry Knights of the Golden Horse
shoe proved the Western country to
be habitable. From the Shenandoah
it was but a step to the Valley of the
Ohio, then to the Mississippi, and then
over the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean.
The settlement of Oregon was but a
part of the great Western movement
of the Aryan race, a movement which
still continues, though the boundless
Pacific separates it from its ancient
home. Floyd of Virginia, who was
tireless in his effort in behalf of Amer
ican occupation of the Columbia River,
said of the immigration which It was
proposed to direct this way: "At most,
it is only acting upon precisely the
same principle which has directed the
progress of population from the mo
ment the English first landed In Vir
ginia." He might with equal truth have
said that it was acting upon precisely
the same principle which has directed
the progress of the Aryan since he
began to migrate. Hon. Francis Bay
the ORsriyq
in the early stages of the Oregon ques
tion: As we reach the Rocky Mountains we would
be unwise did we not pass the narrow spacj
Which separates the mountains from the ocean,
to secure advantages far greater than the
existing advantages of all the country between
the Mississippi and the mountains. Sir, our
National boundary is the Pacific Ocean. The
swelling tide of our population must andwlU
roll pn until that mighty ocean limits our
territorial empire. Then with two oceans
washing our shores, the commercial' wealth of
the world is ours, and Imagination can hardly
conceive the greatness, the grandeur and the
power that await us.
Few migrations in the history of man
may justly be compared to the com
ing of the pioneers of 1843. John Minto
said in his address at the nlnneor re
union of 1876 that the men, women and
children of 1843 "crossed an unsettled
country covering twenty-eight degrees
of longitude,- every part of the way
liable to attacks from savage foes."
Of all the movements of man, Mr. Mlnto
thought the journey of the Israelites
from Egypt to Canaan offers the clos
est parallel to the immigration of 1843,
the Israelites "being encumbered with
their families, but there the distance
was hundreds of miles while this was
thousands." Spotswood was the path
finder of the Alleghanles and Lewis and"
Clark were the pathfinders of the Rock
ies. The Irish-Scotch pioneers who
filled the Shenandoah Yalley were the
predecessors and, to a certain degree,
the ancestors of the "sooners" who
came to Oregon in 1843.
PINGREE GARDENS.
The "PIngree garden" represents one
of the most simple yet practical chari
ties of recent years. That it has
helped hundreds of families to help
themselves, both Industrially and sub
stantially, is a well-known fact.
Women and children have been Im
portant factors in carrying out the Idea,
and organized boards of charity have
been practical as well as generous In
supplying seed for planting and means
for plowing the vacant lots upon which
these family truck- patches have been
planted. There are many people, of
course, who are lazy as well as poor,
the latter condition in these instances
being contingent upon the former.
There are others who, having been
bred in the narrow surroundings of
"poverty row," know 'nothing whatever
about seed time, cultivation and har
vest. To the former class the Pingree
garden proposition does not appeal;
members of the latter are frequently
eager to learn, but their instruction and
supervision require an outlay of money
which may easily go beyond the value
of the vegetables which they raise.
In this case, however, there is a decid
ed gain, for those who receive instruc
tion in planting and cultivating accu
mulate txiereuy a iuna or simple, prac
tical knowledge that will stand them
in good stead In the future. Children
especially trained In the art of mak
ing things grow are much less likely
to make demands as men and women
upon organized charities for help than
if they had not received such instruc
tion. Auxiliary to this is the fueling of
self-dependence that honest earnings,
nowever small, engenders. Thus, while
the PIngree garden, as a fad, has
passed, it still exiats as an industrial
factor, representing self-respect and
self-dependence, among a considerable
number of the industrious poor In sev
eral cities, notably in those of Chicago
and Detroit. It Is said that in the
first-named city over 200 families are
raising their Summer vegetables upon
otherwise waste places In the city's
area, while some of them -are looking
to a surplus of cabbage and potatoes
for Winter use.
If the fame of the late ex-Governor
Pingree as a "friend of the poor" a
title to which he aspired, whether from
political or philanthropic motives it is
nut iiow pertinent to inquire is held to
rest upon the Pingree garden idea, it
must be conceded that it has a fair
foundation. If he who makes two
blades of grass grow where but one
grew before is a benefactor of his race,
surely the man who has made the
waste places of cities produce tons of
vegetables to feed the poor, utilizing
in the process a store of latent energy,
the before undiscovered capital of the
beneficiaries, may he regarded as a
dispenser of practical benevolence of
no mean order.
Yesterday's election of new dlrecto'rs
for the Northern Pacific Railway Com
pany indicates what progress has been
made in the process of harmonizing the
control of transcontinental lines. It
shows that the new policy has already
attained to a more Important status
than was supposed. In the new board
not only are the Great Northern, the
Union Pacific and the Pennsylvania
lines represented in the persons of
Messrs. Hill, Harriman and Rea, but
the Northwestern has one .of its active
directors, Mr. Twombley," who Is a
brother-in-law of William K. Vander
bilt and represents Vanderbllt Inter
ests In general, and the Milwaukee road
gets representation through William E.
Rockefeller, who is a director of Mil
waukee and a very large holder of
stock In that corporation. It is paid
that he was the man who frustrated
the deal by which the Milwaukee was
to have been tied up with the Northern
lines as the Burlington has been. The
new Northern Pacific board affords evi
dence that the Milwaukee has been
"harmonized" with the transcontinent
al as effectually, probably, as the Bur
lington, and the Northwestern is also in
line. Beside the direct Northwestern
representation on the new board, Mr.
Vanderbllt is made the general arbi
trator of disagreements among the
other interests. Of those who go out
of the Northern Pacific. Mr. Adams is
the most prominent railroad man, and
he is suspected of having played into
the hands of the Harrlman-Schiff peo
ple last May, when the struggle for
Northern Pacific stock was in progress.
His partisanship then made him offen
sive to the Hill-Morgan combination,
and he was dropped in tho interest of
harmony. The most notable thing
about the new Northern Pacific board
Is the evidence It gives of the vast ex
tent to which the new policy of har
monization has already reached.
State railroad ownership is increasing
in Europe, owing to the example and
experience of Prussia In this direction.
The German States have followed Prus
sia and now pretty much all Europe
save .England. In Austria 6300 miles
are owned and operated by -the
government; in Hungary, 8150 miles.
In 1897 the Russian Government
owned 15,780 miles out of a total
of 24,300 miles, aside from the gov
ernment railroads In Finland and
Siberia. The Servian. Roumanian and
Bulgarian railroads are owned exclu
sively by the government. Norway's
roads are all government, and Sweden
operates 2303 miles on public account
against 4387 in private hands, which the
oregonian, Wednesday,
government is making efforts to ac
quire. Denmark has 1167 miles of gov
ernment road, and 525 miles of private.
Switzerland's government, by gradual
purchase, v will soon own all the rail
roads. Belgium owns the whole of the
Belgian railway system. Holland and
Italy adopted the plan of buying up
all the railroads and letting them out
to private companies, but the results
are less satisfactory than full public
ownership and operation. France has
at present a comparative small public
railroad mileage, but the private roads
all revert to the government In the last
half of the present century, according
to present arrangements. "England and
the United States are the only great
countries whose railroads are exclu
sively in private hands, but England
owns and operates all the telegraph
lines as part of the postal system.
The recent trial of Lord Russell by
the House of Lords recalls the fact
that Lord Ferrers was tried for the
murder of his steward by the House of
Lords In 1760, was convicted and
hanged. Ferrers tried to kill his wife,
and when she brought a suit for sep
aration the steward swore in her favor,
whereupon Ferrers murdered him. He
was the last peer to be hanged. Lord
Byron, the wicked ancestor of the great
poet, was tried in 1765 for murder by
his peers, having killed his brother-in-law.
Mr. Chatsworth, in a duel, but he
was acquitted. The Duchess of Kings
ton was tried for bigamy in 1776, and
Lord Cardigan was tried by the House
of Lords in 1841. The hearing by the
House of Lords In 1820 of the applica
tion for divorce of King George IV
from his Queen, Caroline of Brunswick,
whom he charged with adultery, Is
commonly known as "the trial of Queen
Caroline." She was defended so ably
and eloquently by Lord Brougham, and
commanded such general popular sym
pathy, that the bill was suddenly
dropped by the prosecution after reach
ing the third reading.
If only the people of the Middle West
could know the difference between the
fierce heat that is scorching them day
and night and withering their crops in
the fields and the balmy airs, cool
nights and thriving vegetation of the
Pacific Northwest, every Immigrant car
that could be mustered by transconti
nental railroads would be on the rails,
speeding westward, packed to Its full
est capacity, Inside of a month. There
never was a more auspicious time than
the present for the dissemination of the
truth about Oregon's climate and agri
cultural resources and possibilities. Our
citizens at the Pan-American Exposi
tion are doing all they can In this line,
but there is room for work looking to
an increase of our population by legit
imate advertising much farther wes"t
than Buffalo,
The hot wave is still in the record
breaking business in the Middle West.
One would be disposed to think that
"the very hqttest day ever experienced"
in so many sections was an estimate
extorted by present suffering, which is
prone to be greater than any that has
preceded it, but for the fact that the
records of thirty years are consulted
In verification of the statement. Hence,
while enjoying to the utmost our balmy
Pacific Coast breezes, we are forced
to accept the record of "hottest days"
in other sections. We can but instinct
ively mop our brows in sympathy ivltrt
our less fortunate brethren In the Mis
sissippi Valley, and hope with and for
them relief may soon come to them.
The bill by which Colorado restored
the death penalty has become a law.
Colorado Is the second state to return
to capital punishment, as Iowa abol
ished hanging In 1872 and returned to
It in 1878. There are now only four
states where capital punishment is not
resorted to Rhode Island, Maine, Mich
igan and Wisconsin. Practically, how
ever, capital punishment is not resorted
to In Kansas, for the law there requires
the Governor of the state to sign the
death warrant of every convicted crim
inal, and this the Governors refuse to
do. The alternative is commutation of
sentence."
The inexplicable propensity of deaf
persons to walk on railroad tracks
around curves causes many deaths
which In one sense can scarcely be
called accidental, every year. The lat
est of these victims in this state was a
boy of 8 years who was walking on
the track near the summit of the Blue
Mountains, in Union County, a few
days ago. and. unable to hear the ap
proach of a freight train which swept
upon him around a sharp curve, was
killed. The Incident Is peculiar only in
that It was a child instead of a man
who took this risk, with the usual .re
sult. In Chicago women found drinking at
tne bar of a saloon are arrested. In
Colorado, where equal suffrage pre
vails, the courts assert the right of a
woman to enter a saloon, to call for any
drink wanted, and to drlpk the same
either standing at the bar or sitting at
a table. If the woman calling for the
drink and taking It were open to no
charge of personal misconduct, it Is not
easy to understand why her rights in
this respect are not exactly alike, both
in Chicago and Colorado.
The average Sunday attendance at,
the Pan-American Exposition at Buf
falo has been nearer 10,000 than 20,000,
against a dally week-day average of
over 30,000. It Is suggested that the
slim attendance on Sunday Is due
largely to the fact that the midway
features of the exposition are not open
on Sundays as they are on other days.
As popular drawing cards, the midway
overtops all other exposition features
combined.
Perhaps if the steel trust will assist
Mr, Shaffer to secure a high tariff on
all workmen coming Into the country,
he will be willing to call the strike off.
Of course, the trust would have no dif
ficulty In obtaining the required legis
lation. Secretary of War Root has directed
that the graduating class at West
Point shall each year visit some one of
the great battle-fields of the Civil War,
the strategy and tactics of which have
formed a part of the school curriculum.
The telegraphic news is full of indis
putable evidence that Oregon is the
country which the Lord made for man
to live in.
The baiting of Cokmel Watterson Is
not so popular a pastime as It was be
fore the Kentuckyeditor began to talk
back.
Concerning .the free RWimminer hth-J-
i,now is tne time to subscribe.
july 24, 1901.
AN ABLE SECRETARY 0FtWAR
St Paul Pioneer Press.
Whether this country has been burdened
with too many Secretaries of War who
have not understood the needs of the
Army, or whether the experience of the
past three years has opened the eyes of
the public to the necessity for a more
thoroughly equipped and more efficient
regular Army, the fact is that from the
Civil War down to the. advent of Secre
tary Root the standard of the Army was
never as high as it ought to have been.
The Spanish war showed that, while re
liance can be placed upon a prompt re
sponse to a call for volunteers to bring
the forces or National defense up to a
strength adequate for almost any emer
gency, time is needed to make the volun
teer force efficient for active service.
The small regular Army, with its corps
of trained officers of the line and with Its
well-organized staff departments, was
overborne to a large extent by the num
bers of volunteeers. The commissary,
quartermaster's and medical departments
were unable to meet the demands upon
tnem, not because they were not Indi
vidually efficient in most particulars, but
because they had suddenly had dumped
upon them over a hundred thousand
volunteers who had much to learn of the
methods of securing supplies and as to
camp sanitation. Had the volunteer offi
cers all understood their duties, and had
the men understood better how to take
care of themselves, there would have
been, as the experience of certain effi
cient regiments proved, but little trouble
in securing supplies and no serious epi
demics. But to say that the Ignorance of
the volunteeers in military affairs
was to a great extent the cause
of the difficulty is nqt to relieve the War
Department of all responsibility in the
matter. The trouble was aggravated by
the fact that tho War Department was
administered by a politician of litttle ex
ecutive ability, who connived at appoint
ments made more for the "pull" than for
merit. The staff departments were ham
pered by inefficient civilian appointees,
and. perhaps, most important of all, there
was a lack of co-ordination hstwAdn" th
staff bureaus and an immense amount
of red tape, both of which were the
growth of the long period of peace and
the infusion of politics into the Army, es
pecially In the matter of staff appoint
ments, by Secretaries of War who were
not jealous to protect the Army from this
destroying element. Nor were the secre
taries who understood the weaknesses
of the Army and the importance of cor
recting them able to do much In the face
of tho apathy of Congress and the public,
who had lost sight of the regular Army
in the overwhelming . numbers nr -volun
teeers during the Civil war, and who did
not appreciate that in any foreign war
the regular Army would be the essential
nucleus of the forces of defense.
Fortunately, today there is much less
likelihood of a breakdown in case of a
sudden call to arms than there has been
for several decades. The credit for this
belongs more,, to Secretary Root than to
any other one man. In spite of tho fact
that he has been burdened with heavy
responsibilities in connection with the
administration of civil affairs both In
Cuba and the Philippinens, and has had
to supervise the conduct of the cam
paigns In the latter Islands, he has ac
complished reforms in the Army that oth
er secretaries have been unable to effect.
His sound judgment, great tact, keen in
sight into the nature of the defects in
the organization and Into the character of
the men with whom he has had to deal,
and his insistence upon efficiency have
shown him to be as capable an adminis
trator as he Is a lawyer. He has under
stood the military problem of this coun
try, ana is in a fair way to solve it. He
is, in short, one of the greatest Secre
taries of War that the country has had.
That military authorities appreciate the
work of Secretary Root is Indicated by
the following extract from the Army and
Navy Journal:
Since assuming the position of Secretary ot
War, about two years ago, tho work accom
plished by Mr. Root for the good of the Army
has been truly remarkable. His bills for
the reorganisation of tho regular service
marked the beginning of a new and better
epoch for the Army of this country. Placed
upon a more secure footing In every respect.
It Is now In a far better position to meet tho
emergency of a foreign war than probably
ever before In our history. Not only has tho
present Secretary of War obtained legislation
for the good of tho commissioned and enlist
ed personnel of tho Army, but every detail
pertaining to equipment, armament and gen
eral management of affairs has shown an Im
provement as the result of his efforts. Them
aro still several details connected with tho
organization of the Army which It Is Mr.
Root's Intention to tako up with Congress
during the coming session. Together with his
able assistant, Mr. Sanger, he is working out
a scheme which looks to the establishment of
a military reserve, composed of the militia of
tho various states. Qultely, but none tho
less effectively, the Assistant Secretary of
War has been sounding the militiamen of the
states In the matter, and it has developed that
there Is a substantial unanimity of opinion
among them as to the practicability and utility
of such an organization.
The tribute Is deserved. A thoroughly
organized staff at Washington, able to
act promptly and efficiently when called
upon, a regular Army thoroughly organ
ized and equipped for defensive and offen
sive campaigning, a corps of regular of
ficers fitted by study and practical ex
perience to whip a large mass of vol
unteers into shape, and, still more, a
greater number of men in each state
who understand the handling and care
of men in camp, and who by their knowl
edge will assist instead of hampering tho
regular Army in organizing the National
force, present the best practical so
lution of the problem of National de
fense. With such an organization tho
problems of prompt mobilization would not
bo difficult to solve, and the scandals and
the disease that marked the Spanish war
and the early days of the Civil war would
disappear. The co-operation of Congress
as well as of the National Guard is needed
to make such an organization possible,
and it is to be hoped that Congress will
take more Intelligent thought for the mor
row in this regard than it has some
times displayed when dealing with pro
posed military reforms. In getting Con.
gress to act Secretary Root will put his
ability to the severest test it has yet
had.
Turn About In Fnlr Play.
Kansas City Star.
According to the call for a National
convention, Issued by the chairman of tho
National Populist Committee, the Bryan
Democrats are to be invited to reciprocate
for the fusion of the "Pops" in 1S90 and
1900. On the principle that "turn about
is fair play" something ought to come of
the Invitation. The Populists did all they
could to elect Bryan, so why shouldn't
the Bryan Democrats, who will find them
selves alienated from the regular organi
zation, turn in and help their former al
lies? It may well be argued, however,
that the Bryanlzed Democracy met the
Populists more than half way, both as to
platform and candidate.
Coal Trust and Labor.
Rochester Herald.
The coal Interests of the country within
two years have united to advance the
price of anthracite and bituminous coal to
a height which has seldom been ap
proached since coal came into common use
as fuel and at which tho price was never
before sustained for so long a period. Of
the great sum which is thus extorted from
the consumer by the coal combine how
small a fraction reaches the pockets of
the coal workers may be inferred from
tho wages and hours of the firemen.
Twelve hours constitute a day's work and
$1 70 a day's pay.
Prayer and Tree Planting.
Philadelphia Record. '
In the rainless parts of the corn -belt
disputatious persons are debating whether
or not there Is scriptural warrant for pray
ing -for rain.. If they want to put serious
nressuro on the raln-dl.qnpnslni- nmrnn
Ithey should plant trees,
A DISGUSTING RECORD.
New York Times.
It is well known that most members of
Congress of either party look on the sys
tem of appointments to the public servico
for merit with cordial animosity. They
are generally ready at all times and in any
way possible to evade or "beat" the sys
tem, where they can do so without too
obvious offense to the sense of decency
among their constituents. A report made
at the last session of the House, the sub
stance of which is published by the Civil
Service Reform League, throws light on
the reasons why so many members of the
House have "poor opinion of the law."
The Houso employs 357 persons at an
average annual compensation of , $100,000
for all, or $1120 a year each. The pay
would be very good even if the service
were constant and as exacting as that of
ordinary employes of the same class In
private business. The actual service,
however, is for not more than one-half
the time of each Congress, and the aver
age payment per month of such service
is something like J200, a very high rate
indeed. For that pay the House should
get the faithful service of the very best
men, and could enforce the strictest dis
cipline. As a matter of fact, it gets much
very poor service, and from a considera
ble number of its nominal employes it
gets no service whatever. If we ask why
It is that the House, as a Government
body, pays heavily for poor work or none,
the answer is that the pay is really given
to the appointees of the members of Con
gress, who demand in return sometimes
the political aid of tho beneficiaries, and
sometimes release ' themselves from the
obligation of supporting those dependent
on them. The larger part of the sum
taken from the Treasury to pay for work
for the Government is thus diverted for
the advantage of members of the House.
Those members are engaged In a rather
petty and wholly contemptible conspiracy,
through the abuse of their authority, to
benefit thfmsflvf: In nnplrnf nr nthprnrlan
It Is a system of elaborate pilfering, and
is not In the least on a higher level
morally than picking the till of the Treas
ury or me pocKeis oi tne taxpayers.
Tho fact that the members of the House
divide up among themselves the appoint
ments of employes who are overpaid and
underworked Is shown by the following
testimony of the doorkeeper:
Q. That Is to say. In order to remain In
the service of the House, speaking generally,
a man has to have behind him the Indorse
ment of sorno member?
A. Yes. sir.
Q. The effect of this Is, of course, the
House officers become responsible for the
work of their subordinates without any
power of selection?
A. Yes, 8r.
Q. Tho effect often Is to lose a man who
has gained experience and become efficient
and to replace him with some other?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Can there bo under such a system as
that, under anyone's administration, any
successful service?
A. T fin nnt trllnlr tliim pan V na Kiirnj-
ful as If men were selected for the exact du
ties they are to perform. (Testimony, special
Investigation of House employes. Page 63.)
Now see how this works in practice.
One O. M. Enyert Is appointed House tol
egrapher, for which he receives in all
$1600. He performs none of the duties ot
the place, but spends his time In the
House library, where he seems to be en
gaged in compiling the Biographical Dic
tionary of Congress, a work of no public
utility whatever. Meanwhile, one J. J.
Constantine is employed as telegrapher,
and paid out of an appropriation of $900
carried in the legislative act as for "hire
of horses and wagons and cartage for the
use of the clerk's office." Then still an
other man is hired at $40 a month as
teamster, and the money is contributed by
other employes. Here la a total of $2980
a year paid for servico for which $1200 is
regularly appropriated, $2500 by the Gov
ernment nnrl $480 hv emnloves. These lat
ter evidently are taxed fn this way to
suit the demands of members. Again,
Winthrop C. Jones is paid $1440 a year as
"locksmith," while he acts as messenger,
and another man is paid $75 a month dur
ing the session to do the work of lock
smith, though he is on the doorkeeper's
roll as a session folder. Jones himself is
not a locksmith at all. He was ap
pointed at the demand of the Michigan
delegation, and was absent from Wash
ington for eight months of the year.
One very natural effect of this system is
absenteeism. An employe goes away
when the member who appoints him needs
him at home for political or other ser
vice. The law requires that he shall be
present at least for the signing of the pay
roll, but this is arranged for him, so that
he can leave monthly receipts and have
his checks sent to him. Another effect,
equally logical, is that these favorites of
the Congressmen are frequently called on
to divide their pay with others who have
not so "soft a snap." This 13 done quite
shamelessly, sometimes the Congressman
himself taking the money, and, presuma
bly, distributing It Contributions for en
tirely undefined purposes are frequently
made, and no accounting for them Is re
quired. Men who hold their places and
draw their pay by favor cannot either re
sist demands from their backers or ask
too closely what Is done with their money.
We have given only a feflr instances ot
the facts brought out in this report. The
abuses prevail mostly among the members
of the majority, but they are not confined
to these by any means. A certain share
in the common plunder is allotted to the
minority, who are thus silenced as to the
practices of the majority. It is not nice.
It is calculated to make a self-respecting
citizen hold his nose when he thinks of a
member of Congress. But the case Is not
hopcleBs when a committee of the House
is found willing to make such a report.
That Is the first step in an appeal to
public opinion, and public opinion, once
aroused, will lead to reform.
Step In KlRht Direction.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
The Alabama Constitutional Convention
has agreed on a provision making It the
duty of the Governor, when a Sheriff al
lows a prisoner In hla custody to bo
lynched, to institute impeachment pro
ceedings against the officer, and to sus
pend him pending trial. Alabama seems
to be In earnest. This Is the first really
adequate measure against lynching yet
adopted In any state.
Onr Two Opinions.
Eugeno Field.
Us two wuz boys when we fell out
Nigh to the age of my youngest now;
Don't rec'Iect what 'twur about.
Some small decfTrence. I'll allow.
Lived next neighbors twenty years,
A-hatln' each other, me 'nd Jim,
He havln' his oplnyln uv me
'Nd I havln my oplnyln uv him.
Grew up together 'nd wouldn't speak.
Courted slstere 'nd marr'd 'em, too;
'Tended samo meetln-house oncct a week.
A'hatln' each other through nd throughl
But when Abe LInkem asked the West
F'r soldiers, we answered me 'nd Jim
He havln' his oplnyln uv me
"Nd I havln' my oplnyln uv him.
But down In Tennessee one night
Ther" wuz sound of flrln' fur away,
'Nd the Sergeant allowed ther 'd be a fight
"With the Johnnie Bebs some time nex day;
Nd as I wuz thlDkin uv Lizzie 'nd home
Jim stood afore me. long 'nd slim
He havln his oplnyln uv me
Nd I havln' my oplnyln uv him.
Seemed like we knew ther' wuz goln to be
Serious trouble f'r me nd him;
Us tw6 shuck hands, did Jim 'nd me;
But never a word from me or Jim!
He went his way 'nd I went mine.
'Nd Into tho battle's roar went we
I havln my oplnyln uv Jim
'Nd he havln' his oplnyln uv me.
Jim never came back from the war again.
But I hain't forgot that last, last night
When, waltln f'r orders, us two men
Made up 'nd shuck handi afore the fight
'Nd, after It all. It's soothln to know
That here I bo 'nd yondera Jim
He havln' his oplnyln uv me
'Nd I bavin' my oplnyln uv him
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Has it ever occurred to Carnegie to float
his barrel over Niagara Falls?
King Edward Is picking and choosing a
title as It he were a new play.
Again it is given out that the Boer
War Is near Its end, and again the in
quiry arises, which end?
If the man who goes around talking
about the hot weather worries you, read
the news from Kansas City.
The weather man at Indianapolis has re
signed. Unruly elements and gibing para
graphers made too hard a combination for
him.
The ghoulish glee with which the yellow
Journals discuss sensational murder trials
has at last been suppressed by an upright
Judge.
When the president of Stanford Univers
ity begins to tell fish stories, muffled
sounds are heard from the grave, where
reposes all that is mortal of the late
Ananias.
Emperor William has made 916 speeches,
which does not even put him in the Depew
class, say nothing of enabling him to get
a place in the running with the editor of
the Commoner.
Professor Koch has discovered that the
prowling microbe which has its abiding
place in milk is harmless, but as water Is
a great disseminator of typhoid, his dis
covery does not exactly benefit the milk
man. The report that an Eastern poet com
mitted suicide because an editor declined
his poem Is probably exaggerated. If an
editor wants to make a poet fall dead.
he should accept his contribution, not de
cline It.
Here is a modest little tribute to a
BritJish Columbia caravansary from the
pen of the owner, who, as he Ingenuously
admits. Is also tho owner. He evidently
fears to .claim too much for his tavern.but
still is unwilling that tho traveling public I
shall escape without having their atten
tion directed to it in a quiet way:"
This splendid and well-located building Is
the property ot the proprietor, Mr. . It
represents the present Hotel, the logi
cal outcome of 22 years' careful catering to
tho public. Ranking as the largest house la
the great Provlnco of British Columbia, the j
management Justly claim to have placed It
first on the list of hotels In regard to conven
ience of design, magnlflcenco of furnishings,
and adaptation to the purpose for which it Is
Intended.
Its pre-eminence In popular favor is largely
duo to the foregoing facts, and equally to tho
rnnnltnt' nollinr ett i mnnflffmnt. wMrh t
so directed as to deserve. If not command,
success.
As Labouchere tells the story in Truth,
the most servile and abject worshipers of
kingship have often shown themselves
plus royallstes que le roi. This has hap
pened once again over the question of tho
King's chaplains. "In the late committee
on the civil list I moved for a reduction
In the preposterous number of these func
tionaries. I did so not solely In the In
terests of economy, but also because It
appeared to me that to assume that 36
chaplains were necessary to the King's
spiritual welfare was the reverse 'Of flat
tery to His Majesty, for it implies that
he Is, spiritually, In a very parlous plight.
The committee would not listen to any
proposal of reduction; but the King him
self has now taken my view of .the matter,
and reduced his 36 chaplains to 12. In this
he shows, If I may respectfully say so,,
that sound common sense which has
marked all his domestic reforms since ha
came to the throne."
To n Mosquito.
Thou shrill-voiced tenor of the Insect choir.
With all a choir tenor's quarrelsomeness;
Provoking men to bursts of savage Ire,
For which thy death affords but scant re
dress; Thy evil ways grave Bryant once did mark.
And chid thee gently In smooth-flowing verse.
But penitence awakened not in thee.
And yet in still night watches mortals hark
To thy dread song, and breathe a fervent
curse
Upon the water thou dron'st unceasingly.
But yet bo warned, O minstrel of the dank
And slimy marshes where the bullfrogs sing,
And where among the grasses, growing rank,
Thou learn'st to whirr thy thin, transparent
wing;
For science now has marked thee for her own.
And In the very swamps where thou dost
breed.
She lies In wait for thee, to bring about
And compass thy destruction, so take heed.
And where thou sniff'st the deadly coal oil
strown
Among thy haunts, look out, thou pest, look
out!
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHEIIS
Merchant (to new boy) Has the bookkeeper
told you what to do In the afternoon? Youth
Yes, sir; I am to waka him up when I seo
you coming. Tlt-BIts.
She I love this excessively hot weather!
Don't you. Mr. Boerham? He No! I can't
stand it. I shall go away If It continues! She
I do hope It will! Punch.
On the Ground Floor. First Politician Do
you think we'd better take tho publlo into
our confidence? Second Politician Oh, we'll
tako 'em In, all right! Brooklyn Life.
Good Advice. "I'm thinking of doing a lit
tle speculating." said the lamb. "What's the
best thing to put your money In?" "A safe
deposit vault," replied the old bird. Phila
delphia Press.
At the Funeral. Rlgg Poor old Mudge. Ho
doea'nt look like the same man. Tlgg No.
And Just listen to that eulogy. It doesn't
sound as If It wero for the same man, either.
Baltimore American.
Keeping Busy. "Why are you so pensive?"
"No reason In particular," answered Willie
Washington. "I didn't have anything else to
do, so I thought I might as well look as If X
wero thinking." Washington Star.
The Chip Off the Block."! can tell you one
thing, Maria. If Johnny Is like me. he will
have good staying qualities, anyhow." "He
has them now, John. He'd stay in bed till
noon every day If I'd lot him." Boston Trav
eler. Hard Lines. Drummer It Is pretty hard to
get a drink In this town, Isn't It? Landlord
(Kansas hotel You bet. Why, you can't even
work tho snake-bite racket any more unless
you carry tho snake to the drug store and let
him bite you In the presence of a committee!
Puck.
Tn Ta fTnnjiffitpnt- Von "RIiiTTier Th doctor
thinks I ought to go on a fishing trip. Mrs.
Von Blumer But of course you don't believe
him. Von Blumer Why not? Mrs. Von Blu
mer Well, you didn't have any confidence In
him when he told me I ought to go to Europe.
Harper's Bazar.
Reached the Limit. Maud Your finance
called on me last night. Mabel Indeed? Maud
Yes, guess what he said to me. Mabel I
haven't the least notion. Maud He said, "I
wish that I dared to kiss you.' Mabel (con
fidently) But he didn't do it. Maud How do
you know? Mabel (sweetly) There are limits
even to heroism. Town and Country.
Questionings.
From "Lucretius.'
What! Shall the dateless worlds In dust be
blown
Back to the unremembered and unknown
And this frail thou this flame of yesterday
Burn on, forlorn, lmmcrtal and alone?
Did Nature In tho nurseries of the night
Tend It for this Nature, whose heedless might
Like some poor shipwrecked sailor, takes tho
baba
And casts It, bleating, on the shores of light?
-W. H. MUlock,