J '" 4 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1901 'if' "3 "TY-xvy .to? rjegomcra Entered .at the Postoffice it Portland,' Oregon, fts second-class matter. ItEVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Dallr. with Sunday, per month $ ST. Daily. Sunday excepted, per year 7 SO Dally, with Sunday, per year 0 00 Sunday, per year .. 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 CO The Weekly, 3 months 60 To City Subscribers Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays cxcepted-15o Dally, -per week, delivered. Sundays lncluded.20c POSTAGE RATES. United States Canada and Mexico: JO to 14-page paper... ..........lo 14 to 28-page paper 2c Foreign rates double. JCewa nr discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name of any Individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscription or to any business matter should be addressed almply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems -or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscript sent to It without solici tation.. No stamps should oe Inclosed for this purpose. Eastern Business Office, 43. 44. 43. 47. 48, 49 Tribune building. New York City; 463 "The Rookery." Chicago; the S. C. Beckwltb special agency, Eastern reprcsentatU-e. For sale In San Francisco by L. E. Lee, Pal ace Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter street; F. W. Pitts-. 100S Market street; J. K. Cooper Co., 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear, Ferry news stand. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, 258 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 100 So. Serine street. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1012 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. ,20 Twenty-fifth street, and by C. H. Myers. On file In the Oregon exhibit at the exposi tion, Charleston, S. C For sale In Washington. D. C, by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale In Denver. (Colo, by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 1)06-912 Seventh street. TODAY'S WEATHER Partly cloudy, with occartonel small shower?. Variable winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature. SO; minimum temperature. 45; pre cipitation. 0.14 inch. rORTLAXD, MONDAY, XOVEJIBER 18. THE ARID LAXDS. Representative Newlands, of Nevada, at the last session of Congress, intro duced a bill to reclaim arid lands, which he is reported as saying he has reason to believe will have a good chance to the coming session. President Roose velt will make some recommendations of a general character on this subject in his coming message. The Newlands bill provides that, "the proceeds of the salos of all public lands, amounting to about 53,000,000 annually, shall go into a fund to be expended under the direc tion of the Secretary of the Interior, In providing storage reservoirs for water in the arid 6tates, to make the lands available for settlers. The en tries under the act must be in eighty acre tracts. The cost of each enterprise is apportioned among all the acres capable of reclamation by it. Settlers will pay for the lands in ten annual in stallments. This provides that the fund shall be kept good and be a revolving fund to be constantly increasing by new sales of land and installment pay ments." The Newlands bill would do for a be ginning. The General Government alone is able to deal with this subject; and, though it might not get back, di rectly, all the money it might expend in supply of water for arid lands, the in direct advantages would far exceed the value or amount of any direct expendi ture. Millions of acres of arid lands may be converted into lands as highly productive as the best In the United States. But private capital will not be embarked in it upon a sufficient scale. The National Irrigation Association makes these recommendations, viz: 1. The annual appropriation for the hydro graphic division of the United States Geolog ical SHrvey should be Increased from $100,000 to $260,000, for irrigation Investigations and surveys, and for sinking deep test wells. 2. An appropriation should be made In the rivers and harbors bill of at least $1,000,000 to bulM two reservoirs In Colorado, one on the Arkansas River and one on the Platte, and also, as provided In the Senate amendment to the last rivers and harbors bill, two reservoirs In Wyoming- and one at Lake ICampeska, in South Dakota 3. An appropriation of at least $3,000,000 should be made to build the San Carlos reser voir and canal in Arizona, the St. Mary's Lakes diversion canal. In Montana, and a res ervoir in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, In California, with canals to bring the water to public lands in Nevada. 4. An "arid-land reclamation fund" should be created by setting apart for that purpose the proceeds of the sales of public lands as a constitution fund In the Treasury of the United States, to be expended by the Secretary of the Interior in the construction by the National Government of storage reservoirs and main-line canals to bring water within reach of settlers on the arid public lands, all such lands to be reserved for actual settlers only, under the homestead act, the cost of works built by the Government to be borne by the lands reclaimed and repaid in annual Installments. In Eastern Oregon, in Eastern "Wash ington and in Idaho there are vast tracts, now barren through aridity, which may be converted Into highly productive lands; and the water supply, if rightly husbanded, will be abundant and unfailing. Let us have a beginning by the Government, and an "arid land reclamation fund." The suggestions of the President will be awaited with in terest in the states Interested in the subject. The district that would be af fected by the legislation is equal in ex tent to one-third of the area of the United States. RESCUE FOR FOREST RESERVES. The new Bureau of Forestry, in charge of Professor Flliburt Roth, of Columbia University, ought to do much to extricate our forest reserves from the confusion into which they have fallon. The idea behind these reserves is in every respect commendable. Cer tain mistakes have been made, how ever, in putting this Idea in concrete form, and it is time special attention were given to the matter of correcting mistakes, so fax; as they are still subject to correction, and inaugurating a ra tional policy with respect to this im portant part of the National heritage. Merely to reserve forest areas does not complete the duty of timber preser vation which the Government bas as sumed. Nor is it sufficient that the Government protect the reserves from Injury by fire or by sfteep or cattle. This is important, it is true, but the timber reserves will, never confer their full measure of benefit until provision be made for commercial use of ma ture or dead trees, the removal of rub bish and the renewal of the forest. Here is a field for scientific study and practice. It Is. a task that will require all the. talent and energy of such well equipped men as Professor Roth and Professor Allen, the latter of whom has long been Identified with agricul tural and forestry work, and is now made Forest Inspector In the new bu reau. News that radical changes in the ad- ministration of the forest reserves has been, determined on comes as evidence that the "Washington authorities are fully aware of the need of Improvement. This may be said without unkind criti cism of the work already accomplished, for our forestry policy is new, and as yet hardly settled. President Roose velt's hand may be seen in the crea tion of the new bureau as a step toward putting: our forestry on a scientific and practical basis. Politicians have dealt with it long; enough. The experimental stage has been passed. There is just demand for changing the present, treat ment of timber reserves as National in stitutions, and this change should go to the extent of eliminating the gross in justice of the Indiscriminate lieu-land feature. The exchange now permitted operates as a premium on dishonesty. Considering the origin of the new bu reau and the crying need for reform In our forest-reserve policy, there is great hope In this new move. It is a work that should receive every encouragement. TAKE BROAD VIEWS. Nearly all the petty devices of tariff tinkers fall a long way short of their goal. It becomes Increasingly doubtful how much virtue lies In Consuls and Custom-Houses, and how efficacious. the statesman's keenest lance and stoutest armor are to cope against good old Hu man Nature, doing business deep down in the general heart of man, below the reach of winds and waves blown about by Congress and Reichstag. The primer class In political econ omy could tell us how much Great Brit ain or Germany would add to Its com fort by refusing to buy American meats or grain. A blow would fall upon the Dakota farmer and the Texas rancher, but these, at least, would not perish of starvation. The bitterest cry would come from the worse sufferer whose rations were cut off. And so, if In this country we should blockade our ports against coffee from the South and tea from the East, seals from Alaska and silks from France, not all or perhaps the most complaint would come from the country of export. Here at home the outcry would wreck any political party that took protection or agrarian ism so seriously. In England once they tried to make bread dear for the farmer's benefit; but in the agitation thus engendered the corn laws were swept away like a bouse of cards. In Germany they sup port the beet Industry with bounties; but the rich reward goes across the Channel In the form of cheapened sugar. In France they pay enormous sums for subsidies to ships; but the bounty-fed vessels scurry hither and thither in alien ports, giving to France no added commerce, but carrying the Oregon farmer's wheat more cheaply to Liverpool. In Spain they levy heavy toll on American meat, but workingmen complain bitterly of their stinted and unhealthy diet Our rich men buy rich relics of art and literature abroad, and keep them there because of our high tariff. The discontented ones are not those who view them In Europe, but those in this country who are denied the boon. "Where, then, can we draw the line and say, This import is a bles3lng and that a calamity? It looks like folly to us to sec them making costly or Impos sible the enjoyment of good American flour and meat in Germany; but is it any the wiser for us to punish those who would adorn their bodies and de light their souls with the silk and wine of sunny France? If Liverpool does not take our wheat, others will, and prob ably we shall see the day when all the wheat from west of the Rocky Moun tains will go across to Asia. If we deny ourselves Irish linen and Italian marbles and Persian rugs and dyes from Central America and diamonds from Klmberley, others will take them gladly. "We talk proudly of reciprocity, but reciprocity is not an Inducement; it Is a penalty. It Is at best an overture to spare the rod In case certain of our demands are complied with. It is a scheme to pick out certain complaisant peoples with whom we will trade, and certain other benighted ones with whom we will quarrel. But suppose we suc ceed? Suppose we apply such "duties to stubborn Germany as will forbid her wares to enter here, the while making easy by preferential arrangements the import of similar wares from France. With France, doubtless, we shall do some business, though how much more than now is problematical. But what shall we gain from hostility with Ger many? Is it not at bottom the old fal lacy that he who buys is ruined, and he who sells Is blessed? Trade will come where It is welcome. Every cargo coming In means a cargo going out. A generous Invitation here, through lovjer tariffs, for all Europe to trade, will bring us imports and orders for ex ports. It is to our profit to buy as well as to sell. Perhaps It Is time to go after trade with the smile of welcome instead of the bludgeon of protection. Vinegar never catches files. UNWRITTEN LAW. When domestic wrongs are arbitrated by the pistol In America It Is always pleaded In defense of the man who shoots the invader of his home that there is an unwritten social law pro foundly rooted In public opinion which holds the civil law Inadequate to the punishment ot offenses against women and the family, which justifies recourse to private justice to supplement It. This "unwritten law," It would seem, cannot successfully be Invoked In behalf of a wife who shoots the female wrecker of her domestic peace, for on the 5th Inst., at Somerset, Ky., Phoebe King and Nancy Hanley were found guilty by a jury of manslaughter and sen tenced to five years each In the peni tentiary. The two women killed Mrs. Epsey Sellers on August 14, 1900. Mrs. Hanley charged "Mrs. Sellers with alienating the affections of her husband. Phoebe King is Mrs. Hanley's daughter, and the mother and daughter were convicted of having shot Mrs. Sellers to death. In their case "the unwritten law" as the recourse of women was, of course, as rightfully pleaded as It could be In the case of a man shooting the de stroyer of his home, but the Jury de clined .to. sanction a resort to it on part of a woman, while doubtless they would have justified it in a man. This pro ceeding is the reduction to absurdity of this wretched plea of "unwritten law" in defense of the arbitration of domes tic wrongs with the pistol. If there is any natural justice or equity in it, such a plea ought to be as good a defense for a wife who shoots her husband's married paramour as it is for the husband who murders hie wife's paramour, for If a married i woman may be seduced fzom her duty by the insidious advances of a man, why may not a married man be cor rupted by the wiles of an artful, un principled woman? The plea of "se duction" may be worthless' In either case, but if it may be fairly urged in the one case it Is Just as good in the other, and if a married man's plea of "unwritten law" is a good defense for shooting the "seducer" of his wife, the same plea ought to be just as good for a wife who shoots the married woman that angles for her husband's affec tions. There cannot be any "unwritten law" that is a good defense for murder in a man which ought not to be accepted as an equally good defense for a woman. There Is no such law, written or "un written," which can rightfully be pleaded in defense of murder, and the refusal to grant a woman any benefit of this "unwritten law" so often suc cessfully Invoked in defense of a man, exposes the wretched absurdity and de pravity of this vicious plea. TIIE MAN FOR THE HOUR. In the beautiful old book of Esther is a touching passage that has formed the theme of many a sermon. It is the appeal with which Mordecal, the Jew, concludes his supplication to Esther that she would .go In before: the King and try to save her people. "Who knoweth," he pleads, "whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Many is the moral, fitted to varying time and place, the pulpit has pointed from this' time-honored text. And yet another application may be found In the good news that comes from Wash ington whenever the new President an nounces a determination upon some new 'policy. Theodore Roosevelt ha9 come into the kingdom at a good time, and his resolves, as they are from day to day disclosed, only serve to light up the dark places In our politics, to which we have grown Indifferent through very familiarity. A man of mannerisms that are disquieting, or at least surpris ing, not accomplished as a statesman, and not profound as a schqlar, he has an honest purpose that covers and wise ly directs a multitude of eccentricities. It is a portentous list, this catalogue of things that need deliverance. There is the civil service, weighted down with idleness and incompetence; there is the Army, crlppjed through favoritism; there is the Navy, torn with jealousy and intrigue; there Is the Federal Ju diciary, the prey of spoilsmen; there Is the tariff, the victim of clashing pri vate interests; there is the public do main, fast melting away under the ra pacity of corporations and perjurers. To all of these the ' new President comes with promise of aid. The Army is to have promotions on merit; the in terests picked out for sacrifice by the Kasson treaties will discover a friend at court; the places wrung by spoilsmen from the classified service will be re stored and others added; the judiciary will be lifted whenever possible out of the mire of partisan politics; the Navy can expect treatment commensurate with its needs. The salutary effects that are likely to flow from the new regime in the Forestry Department are treated more in detail In another article on this page. The new hope for the public lands Is rosy with promise. In this reclamation of a great resource from the sway of corruption and Igno rance one of the most disgraceful and costly scandals of our history is to be brought to an end. The explanation of these phenomena is very simple. There Is a man in the White House with two qualities that are rare In politics. He has moral fiber and he has Intellectual convictions. In every address the President makes will be found somewhere tucked away a recognition of spiritual truth and feeling. He "preaches," as he himself says. He does it openly, for he is not ashamed of It. He does It creditably, for what he preaches he practices. The strenuous life of. rugged endeavor is not only his theory but his conduct. In the elevation of such men as Roose velt and Low to high office there Is more promise for the Republic than In all the balances of trade of our pros perous years, or all the victories of the Spanish War. It is worth a great deal, also, to have the highest example in the land set by one who loves to find out what is right and true "for its own sake, and sets out to da It, rather than to submit every question to the changing test of parti san expediency. It is a discouragement to the whole tribe of trimmers and weathervanes, and it is an encourage ment to every man who likes to think that what is best is worth having, and what is right is worth fighting for. The lot of every American youth is some thing brighter, and his future more ra diant, every time one of these inspir ing announcements of honest policies comes from the White House. It Is upon such careers that must be fed the heroism of every age. 'SUBSIDIZED 'EXPANSION. The Philadelphia Press, one of the most ardent advocates of the shipping subsidy graft, has interpreted Commis sioner Chamberlain's annual report, and from the figures contained in that docu ment makes some astonishing deduc tions. In the remarkable growth of the coasting shipping trade, the Philadel phia paper sees that "no better proof could be furnished of the beneficial ef fects of protection in the shipping In dustry." Naturally, the remarkable increase in the demand for iron, steel, coal and lumber could have nothing to do with this Increased business. With the whole world making demands on America for iron and steel products, lumber, grain and other commodities which are produced In the region tribu tary to the lakes, where the greatest growth has been made in American shipping, no additional tonnage would have appeared, had It not been for the protection afforded. This Ib the worst kind of rot. The industrial development of the lake re gions and of the entire United States .has been so great in the past few years that no power on earth could prevent the shipping business from growing along with other Industries. The lake shipping was Inadequate for the de mands made upon it, and the big roll ing mills and steel works, In order to protect their own business, were forced to build hundreds of new craft to carry ore and coal from the mines to the factories. Business was good all over the world, and England, Germany and France were using more American steel plates In the construction of steam and sail vessels than ever before. Not only did the lake ores find their way out of America In the form of steel plates and other manufactured products, but a great many of the steamships which h&a been built for the lake trade were I taken through the canals and out on the ocean to compete for the trade of the world. Some of them made the long trip around the Horn, and are now engaged in Pacific Coast trade. They have carried coal between Brit ish Columbia and California ports In di rect competition with British, German, Austrian and Norwegian ships, and have never bankrupted their owners in the trade. Regarding the increase in the construction of vessels fdr the for eign trade, the Press says: That Increase Is altogether due to the pledge of the Republican party to pass a bill to aid our merchant marine lngthe foreign trade, and the confidence of shipowners that the party will redeem that pledge. All of the large vessels under construction for that trade, wKh two or Hire exceptions, owe their existence, according to their owners, to tho belief that Congress will pass a bill to carry out the party pledge on this subject. Considerable Pacific Coast money has been Invested in foreign shipping en terprises within the past few years, and it was not Invested with the expectation of depending on the United States Treasury for returns. It was invested because Americans were quick to see that the unsubsidlzed ships of England, Germany and Norway were paying their owners net profits of 25 to 40 per cent per year. As a business enterprise, and not as an object of charity, has the American merchant marine been grow ing, and as a business enterprise It will continue to grow and expand, in keep ing with other Industrial enter prises. All of the materials of which a ship is constructed are cheaper In America than In Europe, and the cost of manning the vessel is so near the same under the same circumstances with all nations that this does not cut much of a figure. Even if the wage dif ferences were great enough to affect the situation seriously, Congress could not consistently vote a subsidy for the millionaire shipowner, and refuse to ex tend similar aid to the wheatgrower, who is forced to raise wheat In competi tion with the pauper labor of' India, Argentina and poverty-stricken Eu rope. If Morgan, Rockefeller, Griscom and their friends are entitled to Gov ernment aid, doubly so is the producer who supplies the freight which they will carry to market. The President's appointment of N. S. Stranahan to replace George R. Bid well as Collector of the port of New York City Is significant of a possible political coldness between the President and "Boss" Piatt, who strongly urged the reappointment of Bidwell. On the other hand, Governor Odell, of New York, and his political friends, have warmly protested against Bldwell's re appointment. The Civil Service Reform Association, so far as appointments to office is concerned, has found Collector Bidwell fair and just, and has not been able to criticise his discharge of me appointed under former adminis trations, but the association objects to Mr. Bldwell's use of his official position to control political movements. Mr. Bldwell's position, as a district leader and cQmmltteeman is not considered compatible with his position in the Federal service. The Washington cor respondent of the New .York Evening Post recently quoted the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association as saying that Mr. Bidwell had violated that portion of the civil service law which warns all heads of departments against the exercise of their Influence In the manipulation of political primaries and nominating conventions. The ap pointment of the new Collector before Congress meets gives the President the advantage over "Boss" Piatt, for the new appointee will be at once installed and will hold over till the end of the long session next Summer, even if his nomination were held up Indefinitely. The only way that "Boss" Piatt could make a point against the President would be by procuring from the Sen ate an out-and-out vote to reject, which he probably would not do. Dr. Mary Walker, the eccentric woman suffragist, whose advanced ideas on the subject of woman's rights caused her to adopt man's attire many years ago, will not lose her pension be cause of her alleged utterances regard ing the assassination of the late Pres ident. Commissioner of Pensions Evans says that, even if it could be proved that Dr. Walker uttered the sentiments Imputed to her, there is no law under which she could be deprived of her pen sion, which she obtained as the widow of a Union soldier. An Important chapter In Oregon his tory Is treated In Mr. Thomas N. Strong's articles In yesterday's and the preceding Sunday's Issues of The Orego nlan. All' who take Interest and pride in the state should read the articles and preserve them. The day is coming when the materials of Mr. Strong's In dian lore will be of priceless value to the historian. For once Multnomah County Is In luck. Potatoes are high, and the poor farm, for almost the first time in its his tory, has raised enotlgh.of this very es sential vegetable to feed its accredited paupers and their keepers through the Winter and Spring. Every man designated for service on the organizing committees for raising the fund for the Lewis and Clark Cen tennial Is expected to be present at the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, 246 Washington street, this (Monday) even ing at 8 o'clock. The reason why the proposed dredge, fireboat and drydock vill seem to cost so much money Is that building of them has been so long put off. Interest on time wasted will be found to amount to more than Interest on money hoarded. London Is making fun of the "Modern Reader's" Bible, because it comes out of Chicago. If London could turn out a better one, which she cannot, the criticism would He more becomingly In her mouth. Mr. PInchot's Investigations in West ern forestry problems- have bonne un expectedly early fruit. The new For estry Bureau is the joint product of his wisdom and the President's discern ment. The Biers have given Kitchener so much trouble that It would not be sur prising If he has decided to extend his time limit from September 15 to Decem ber 25, so as to enjoy a Christmas din ner. Secretary Wilson's -boost for the Lewis and Clark Centennial reminds us that his heart Is always In the right place. He Is a good friend of Oregoa The number of hungry applicants for the position of County Clerk Indicates that times are as hard as ever. SIZE IS NOT EVERYTHING. San Francisco Call. From" statements made by the officers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be held at St. Louis, it appears to be their intention to make a bigger exposi tion than any ever before held. All their talk Is of bigness. We hear nothing about quality. Wether the exposition Is to be beautiful. Interesting, Instructive, does not count. The one thing to be achieved is to make it In every respect a "mam moth aggregation of stupendous details." as the circus posters have It. The Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, occupied C66 acres of ground, but the St. Louis people have set apart 1200 acres in Forest Park for their exposition, and now the managers are asking for 200 acres more, so as to have 1400 for what they call their "colossal fair." To provide enormous stuctures for the huge area they have already raleed more money than Chicago had to begin with, and ttisy expect much more. For the Columbian Exposition Chicago raised $5,000,000 by public subscriptions, ?5,CO0,0C0 by municipal bonds and $2,750,000 more was obtained from the Federal Govern ment, making a total of 512,750,000. St. Louis has raised $5,000,000 by public sub scription, $5,T)00,000 by municipal bonds, $5,000,000 from the United States Govern ment and $1,000,000 from the State of Mis souri, making a total of $16,000,000 to start with. The total cost of the Columbian Exposition Is estimated at $18,322,000, and the St. Louis officials estimate the total cost of their enterprise at $30,000,009. One of tho big features of the exposi tion will be the building designed for the exhibit of agriculture. The structure Is to cover 32 acres, and it Is said It will be the largest exposition building ever erected. One of the officials, in describing it in a recent Interview, said: "It will be 700 by 2000 feet in dimensions.' There will be room in it for a mile racetrack." There are to be other huge record-break, Ing structures. Among them will be the manufacturers' building No 1, COO by 100 feet; transportation building; 6C0 by 1200 feet; mines and metallurgy building, 600 by 1200 feet; the United States Govern ment Building will cover 100,000 square feet. Other buildings, all the largest of their kind ever used for exposition pur poses, aro the electricity, the liberal arts, the education, the social economy. The total co3t of these buildings has been estimated at $7,000.000. . In one respect the St. Louis enterprise will fall below the magnitude of that at Chlqago the art department will not bo soarge as that at the Columbian Expo sition; but the St. Louis official who ad mitted the defect was prompt to add that the quality will be much, finer. Then the St. Louis Exposition expects to prove su perior to all predecessors In the extent to which It will be a live show. Thus we are told: "There will be the cotton mill in operation There will be the pork packing house in operation. There will be tho cheese factory In operation. There will be the zinc, lead, coal and gold and silver mines and the smelter in operation. Everytlhng will be 'on the move.' " Flnaffy, St. Louis Is to have a big thing in. the way of a novelty, bigger than the Toar Eiffel, or the Ferris wheel. It is to be an "aerial globe," built of steel and glass, witn a circumference of 1000 feet and a capacity to hold 25,000 people. It Is to be chuck full of amusements from bottom to top, and we are told: "There will be room for thousands to enjoy an a la catte evening meal while feasting their eyes upon semi-tropical luxuriance of plants and flowers in all their glory, and ever and anon looking upward at the awe-Inspiring steel arches. 175 feet high, and eight in' number, which will rise from the edge of the garden and meet at the extreme top of the globe under the obser vatory tower room, 570 feet above the ground." Really, St. Louis seems determined to push bigness to the limit. Pcsslbly sne marks the end of that kind of extrava gance. After the big thing has been seen wo may hope there will be a return to reason among our people, and that ex positions hereafter will aim not at mere magnitude, but at something of artistic exc'ellence. Already there are many Amer icans who would rather not see so much than have to see so many things that are not worth, seeing. France's Expensive Subsidies. New York Times. The French Ministerial project aimed at the revival of a French merchant ma rine found expression in the Chamber or Deputies the other day, when M. Mllle rand, the Socialist Minister of Commerce, in defending the merchant shipping boun ties bill, described the law of 1893 as an outrage on common sense. He said that It had encouraged sailing vessels at the expense of steamers, and that last year It cost the state 25,000.000 francs. From 1881 to 1892 French vessels carried 30 per cent of French trade, but last year they car ried only 20 per cent, whereas English ves sels carried 68 per cent of English trade, and German vessels carried 57 per cent of German trade. M. Mlllerand scouted Admiral Rleunler's Idea of a surtax on foreign vessels entering French ports, for that system, which was attempted In 1871, had speedily to be abandoned, and it would give rise to reprisals. The only remedy for the decline of the mercantile marine, declared M. Mlllerand, was to give inducements to steamers and withdraw them from sailing vessels. The bill would give French-built vessels a bounty of 65 francs pei ton, besides 27 francs for machines, 133 francs for navi gation, and 2 francs for customs duties, making altogether 227 francs per ton. The average coat of construction being 450 francs per ton, this would be a protection rather over 50 per cent. A Key Note. Providence Journal. Some Senators favor reciprocity, they say, but favor it only In articles that we do not produce. Can we concede tariffs on articles already on the free list? What tariffs are they willing to lower? The Modern School Teacher. 'Twan Saturday night, and a teacher sat Alone, her "task pursuing; She averaged this and she averaged that, Of all that her class was doing. She reckoned percentage so many boys, And so many girls all counted, And marked all the tardy absentees, And to what all the absence amounted. Names and residences wrote In full, Over manv columns and pages; Canadian,. Teutonic. African, Celt, And averaged all their ages, Tho date of admission of every one. And coses of flagellation. And prepared a Hot of graduates For the county examination. Her weary head sank low on her book, And her weary heart still lower; For some of her pupils had little brains. And she could not furnish more. She slept, she dreamed, It seemed she died. And her spirit went to Hades, And they met her there with a question fair, "State what the per cent of your grade Is!" Ages but slowly rolled away, Leaving but partial traces. And the teacher's spirit walked one day In the old familiar places. A mound of fossilized school reports Attracted her observation. As high as the statehouse dome, and as wide As Boston since annexation. She came to the spot where they buried her bones And the ground was well built over; But laborers digging threw a ekull Once planted beneath the clover. A disciple of Galen, wandering by. Paused to look at the diggers. And plucking the skull up, look'd through the eye And saw It was lined with figures. "Just as I thought," said the ypung M. D. "How easy It Is to kill 'em! Statistic ossified every fold Of cerebrum and cerebellum." "It's a great curiosity, eure." aald Pat, "By the bones you can tell the creature!' "Oh, nothing strange," said the doctor, "that Was a nineteenth oantury teacher." , Chicago Tribune. AMUSEMENTS. "The Convict's Daughter" opened a week's engagement at Cordray's last night to a crowd so large and enthusiastic that it broke most of the glass out of one of the doors while It was trying to get into the theater. Nor did Its enthusiasm les sen after It got inside. Every appear ance of the hero was hailed with cheers well qualified fo make the welkin ring, while the villain was energetically hteacd every time be perpetrated a particularly black piece of rascality, and on one oc casion when he had been taking an un fair advantage of the heroine he was openly denounced as a brute by an Indig nant gentleman In the gallery. "The Convict's Daughter" Is billed as a melodrama, and It 13 a melodrama. There can be Ho mistake about that. The hero happens to be a tramp, but you can hear the beats of his noble heart thumping in. his manly breast, and he even so far for gets his hobo estate as to eat with his fork and wash his hands once in a while. Enter this tramp upon a happy family In Kentucky, consisting of a Colonel, his wife and a tender innocent maid of some IS Summers, who thinks she Is the daugh ter of the family. She Is mistaken. Her mother, the wife of an innocent man who has just been called to a long sojoarn In the penitentiary, turned her over to tho Colonel at the early age of one day, the Colonel's wife having just lost an infant daughter. The babies were swapped, the live convict's daughter being sub Itutea tor the deceased offspring of the Colonel, and Mrs. Colonel, who was In a trance at the time, being none the wiser. Enter, as before stated, this tramr. who, by a curious accident, is the girl s real father, although he little dreams of It. He Ids spotted as an escaped convict by the villain, a nephew ot tne Colonel's. James Blackadder, is threatened with death unless he claims to be the girl s father and take her away, and accedes, although he knows all the time that he 13 not acting strictly on the square. When the daughter Is removed to the shack Mr. Blackadder assigns to the tramp, he makes overtures to her with a view to marrying her (for her money, of course, but her heart is still true to the sweet heart from whom she was torn when she wa3 taken from the Colonel's home, and she will have none of him. The villain is about to enforce his claims with a threat to send her father to the "pen," when the father comes In. discovers that the Kin reany is nis uaugnter says u iew , .. . . . . .i i ucruic inings, ana ueues u:e viutuu, iui which heroism he is rewarded by a speedy return to prison. Of course, he escapes, dodges a fusillade of bullets from the guards, boards a pass ing express train, and turns up In the last act Just In time to get the old Colo nel out of a hole In which his nephew has put him, and to cause everyone to live Jiapplly ever after. W. R. Ogden, who Is an actor of ex cellent ability, gets a great deal out of the part of the tramp, relieving the more strained situations with a genuine com edy, and using a good voice to advantage in the heavier lines. He was warmly ap plauded throughout, receiving curtain calls with unfailing regularity. Nelsen Levin made so good a villain that he was publicly proclaimed as such by one of the audience and was hissed earnestly on every possible occasion. Alberta Lee was sufficient as the convict's daughter, and Elsie Palmer made a good housemaid. The remainder of the company were equal to their several parts. The play was well mounted, the prison scene with the pass ing railroad train being a masterpiece of realism. It will be the attraction all the week, and will undoubtedly play to big houses. Last Performance Tonifrlit. "King of the Opium Ring," which has been playing to unprecedented business at the Metropolitan all the week, will be given Its last performance tonight. Two crowded houses saw the play yesterday. The house will be dark the rest of the week In order to permit extensive Im provements. Rise of Oar Merchant Mnrlne. New York Journal of Commerce. In number tho shipyards of the country Increased very slightly during the past decade,' but as the number exceeded 1C00 when the former census was taken It evidently consisted for the most part of very small concerns, boat-builders or mere repair shops. The number of shipyards of Importance probably does not exceed 50, and most of these are very recent creations, or have been ex panded out of such small beginnings that they may not improperly be called crea tions. The census bulletin on the sub ject shows this fact indirectly by stating that the capital Invested In shipbuilding and repairing has increased 181 per cent; nearly $50,000,000 has gone Into this business In the decade, and the greater part of that In four years, it Is safe to say. The amount of wages paid and the value of the product have nearly doubled. Work and the Cost of Living. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. There has been an upward tendency to prices until now the family must pay $97 74 for what could have been bought a year ago for $91 29, and in 1S97 for only $72 43. General commodity prices for this period of four years of business revival are now at the highest point. The cost of living Is a third higher than it was. Nevertheless, present conditions are plainly more satisfactory to the masses of the people than were those of the low price period. Their votes show It. There Is more work and steadier employment for large numbers of wage-earners. The employer or capitalist class gain most from boom times and suffer most frcm hard times. Thl3 Is pre-eminently their day, and there seems to exist among the employe class little disposition to be grudge them their good fortune; for it Is to be recognized that the brunt of the loss from business reaction, whenever It comes, will fall upon the employer class. Our Shipping? lloom. New York Journal of Commerce. So many shipbuilding plants have been established In the last two or three years that It has sometimes looked as If the business were likely to be overdone. But there Is now an announcement of still another yard, which will be at Norfolk, j and which will cost at leastUl.000.WJ, and the most significant part of this announce- j ment Is that the plant is being established by three existing shipbuilding concerns. wnc ui iuwc iitt...-u wic iwW -"' pany, ol Richmond, one of the latest and best-equipped of our yards; the other two are said to be In Philadelphia and Bath, and aro conjectured to be the Cramps and the Sewalls. That the owners of three yards should associate for the creation of a fourth yard Indicates that they are not only busy, but that they expect to be busy for a long time. Sometime, Somewhere. Robert Browning. Unanswered yet? the prayera your lips have pleaded In agony of heart these many years? Does faith begin to fall, Is hope departing? And think you all In vain these falling tears? Say not. the Father has not heard your prayer; You shall have youp desire, sometime, some where. Unnnswered, yet? tho' when you first presented This one petition at the Father's throne. It seemed you could not wait the time of asking. So urgent was your heart to make It known. Tho' yearn have passed since then, do not despair; The Lord will answer you sometime, some where. Unanswered yet? nay, do not say ungrantad. Perhaps your part Is not yet wholly done. The work began when first your prayer was uttered. And God will finish what He has bgun. If you will keep your incense burning there. His glory you shall see, sometime, somewhere. Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered, Her feet were firmly planted on the rook; Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock. She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer. And cries, "It shall be done." uomatime, somewhere NOTE AND COMMENT Spain ls having its som-weekly Cabinet crisis. Philadelphia contlnuos to b the black sheep In the family of cities. Everything comes to him who waits, even trouble with hte employers. The County Galway will soon be tho Mecca -of the peripatetic war oerreepona ents. Congress will be in session soon, but we will have much to be thankful for anyway. Preparations for the next prlza fight are without doubt well under way in San Francisco. This will be such a hard Winter that even the New York ice trust will be frozen out. Ruhlin Intended to go on the stage If he whipped Jeffries. Jeffries deserves a medal for elevating the stirge. At all events, our naval officers are loving and gentle when compared with the officers In the British Army. It has been raining lconld in South ern California. Now, who will dure to call that section the land of eternal drouth? The coal man Is now preparing to turn both cheeks to be smitten by the parc graphcrs. It's all free adverting for him. Emperor William has juat, returned from a hunting trip. The way these forcl-jn potentates ape President Reesevelt is something astonishing. Why doesn't China get SacUvHIc-Wcst or De Lome to represent her In this coun try? Neither of thrm would be guilty of Minister Wu's offense. Mrs. Bradley Martin is going to wtar a $1.000.0SO diamond tiara at the ceronu ation. She evidently wants to make the crown jewels look like rhlr.t stones. The attitude of genius Is aptly de scribed In a letter fr.n Joaquin Mlhe-, an American poet, to Walt Whitman. "You and I," he consolingly wrote, "rra over the nead of the rabble. We stand f a an eminence of our own making. .r 1 look down on the world. Ir a word, v J know we are great, and if other ptopio don't know it Is their own fault." "I never tax my memory with thing3 unnecessarily," says one of the propri etors of a department store. "A postal card only costs a cent, and I alwr.;3 carry a lot of them around with me. 21? end of the business calls me away fro.x the store a great deal, and no nuutcr where I may be riding on a street-car. walking, or In one of the numerous places of business which I frequent when an Idea occurs to me that requires in attention I jot down a memorandum of it down on a, postal card, addreaa It ta myself and drop it in the nearest letter box. Some days I will send a dozen postal cards to myself, and the next morning they are on my desk awaiting me. I hkve been doing thlg for 'two or three years, and I think it is a prttty good system." "The wedding was an artistic success," wrote a correspondent for the Galveston News. "The bride particularly evinced unmistakable talent. She trembled with all the technical accuracy of an asp n leaf and the emotional Intensity of a startled fawn. Her trembling, indeed, was Irreproachable. If she cast down her eyes with something of amateurish gawklshneas, the fact is easily attributa ble to her inexperience this being hir first wedding rathor than to an essen tially defective method. She was fairly well supported. The bridegroom rose from his knees tyo soon and had to bo knocked down by the preacher, but other wise the affair was au fait. Not a bottlo was broken, slxshooter pulled, or deck of cards taken from an overcoat pocket dur ing the ceremony." A New York newspaper tells a pathetic story of a man In that city who has a. very dark complexion. The unfortunate man. It is said, is generally mistaken for a negro, and the consequences of that mistake are anything but pleasant. Ho found that In the North, where tho friends of the negro all live, it Is not wholesome to be even suspected of being a negro. "Real etate men." this un fortunate person declared, "refused to rent me houses until I explained to them that I was, a white man. and even then I have been refused in a ercat many In stances. In a great many ways I am subjected to the annoyances that usually bother a negro who tries to mingle with white people. About a year ago my neigh bors taunted my wife about living with a negro and she left me. I threw up my postltlon here and started West, anl when too late found that I could not se cure the employment I desired, being continually taken for a negro." PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGIIAIMIERS Mr. Botts I think, my dear. I have at last found the key to suce-m. Mrs. Botta Well, Just as like as not jou'll not be aWe to find the keyhole. Yonkers Statesman. Must Be Lovely. "But none of the other girls seem to admire my new dress." "Is that so? Turn around. I didn't realise It was so pretty as that." Philadelphia Evening Bul letin. Bridegroom I don't see anything of your father's 510.000 check. He promised Ir. didn't he? Bride Yes; but he saw that year father had already given us one, and. he knew wo ! ..... nreb , hnw av (,HoHcate urgent.- I Tnilladelnhla. Record. Too Early. Mrs. Hornblower There Is Gen eral Ledenhall over there, one of oar most distinguished soldiers. Mrs. Daley Cutter In deed? What battle has he been In? Mrs. Hornblower Oh, not any yet. He has only Just been appointed Briaadter-General. Judgf. Little Jeannette's mother found her one day with her face covered with Jam from ear to ear. "Oh, Jeannette," said her mother, "what would you think If you caught me looking Ilka that some day." "I should think you'd had a awful good time, mamma," said Jeannette, Wt face brightening. Tit-Bits.. Easy Indifference. "Whj' did we arrive lato and leave before the opera was over?" a&ked the youiget daughter. "It was very enjoy able." "Of course. It was," answered Mrs. Cumrox, "but. my dear, we had to show peo ple that we didn't care whether we got our money's worth or not." Washington Star. Victory Has Its Drawbacks. "You are cer tainly elected!" hte friends cried. "Yes." si I the successful candidate, and he gritted V.--. teeth hard. "What is the matter?" they de manded, in surprise. "Do ea not feel sure jour lctory?" "Yes, but I am alao sure t u-t a band will come to serenade me." Philadel phia Prees. The Art Preservative. "The art of printing, sir." exclaimed the Fervid Optimist, "la In Its Infancy! My grandson, and possibly my son, will one day have his Sunday nwsjpai --r brought to him in 2S handy quarto volumes, substantially bound, profueely illustrated. In a pcflshed oak bookcase, all for 5 eents! Yes, sir!" ruck. Just Supposing. "Suppose now," said the artist's wife, "that we had $1000 In the house, and you heard a burglar crawling through th.3 "window what would you do?" "Oh. fudge, darling," the artist replied, "why look on the dark side of things? Let's suppose we had $1000 In the house and stop right there." Chicago Record-Herald.