Morning Oregonian., January 08, 1902, Page 6, Image 6

THE MOBNING OBEGOSTIAN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1902.
l&kw (Steggonxcm
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us second-ciaes matter.
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TODAY'S WEATHER Showers, with south
to west winds.
YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tern,
perarurc. 61; minimum temperature, 50; pre
cipitation, 0.02 Inch.
POirriiATfD, WEDNESDAY, JAN. .
TO BE REMEMBERED.
The accursed gold standard, we were
told, would ruin the country.
January payments on account of In
terest and dividends at New Tork
reached the great total of $118,000,000.
This does not include Government pay
ments, bank dividends or corporations
other than those whose stocks are on
the market
To show what has happened in prac
tical result since the silver threat rose
and fell, these disbursements at New
York on securities having a public mar
ket are strikingly interesting, viz:
Total Interest and dividends, Jan
uary. 3805 A CO.105.714
Total Interest and dividends. Jan
uary. 1902 118,199.094
'Seven years' increase $ 49,003,380
Per cent Increase In return on cap
ital invested In securities of
railroads .and other corporations
having a public market, 7 years 71
Par value Mocks paying divi
dends, January. 1S9j $ 840,959.344
Par value stocks paying divi
dends. January. 1902 2.158.S55.041
Seven years increase 1.311iS93,C97
Par value bonds paying dlvfden6.
January. 1895 r2.454.lo2.5o')
Par value bonds paying dividends,
January, 1902 3,552.354.232
Seven years' Increase $1,003,201,072
Total Increase In seven years of
par value of securities paying
in January $2,410,097,309
It will be said, no doubt, that this
.gain in the value of securities Is no
sign of general prosperity for the coun
try. But it is, for our welfare and pros
perity. In all things, are Interdepend
ent The change observed within the
past few years arises from restoration
of confidence and re-establishment of
credit, which not merely had been
threatened, but almost destroyed, by
the attack on the basis of the money
that measures values.
Will this country ever again destroy
its prosperity through an effort to de
base its money? Will It again tolerate
the pretensions of those who made a
Bryan their prophet?
OREGON HEARD FROM.
It seems almost too good to be true
that Senator Mitchell, machine politi
cian and Administration eupporter as he
is, has introduced radical amendments
to the Philippine tariff bill, looking to
relief for the Islands and for Ameri
can producers from some of the worst
features of that oppressive and iniqui
tous measure. His decision seems also
to have Inspirited Representative
Tongue, who announces that he did not
vote for the House bill, and that he
hopes the Senator's amendments will
prevail.
Senator Mitchell and Representative
Tongue are entitled to a good deal of
credit for this independent stand, be
cause, so far as we have seen, their
action is not prompted by anything that
has been said or done by the commer
cial interests of their state or its cities.
If the Portland Chamber of Commerce,
or the Portland Board of Trade, or any
single member of either body, or any
corporation, partnership, firm or indi
vidual engaged In business here, knows
that the House of Representatives has
passed a bill carrying worse injustices
than were embodied in the Foraker act
for Porto Rico, making It more costly
for the Philippines to trade with us
than It is for China to trade with us,
laying greater burdens upon Philippine
sales here than upon Russian or Jap
anese sales here if any one of them
knows this, the knowledge hag been
concealed with marvelous effectiveness
and skill.
This town has been raked and
scraped as with a fine-tooth comb for
a month to find one man who knows
or cares whether there is any trade
with the Philippine Islands, whether
that trade is menaced, whether it Is
desirable there should be any such
trade, whether If there is any such
trads Portland would be any better off
to share In It In yesterday's Issue we
printed the results of these efforts to
sound public sentiment. The reporter
wrote the article himself out of his own
lead. Nobody had any suggestions to
offer, but as the reporter is a being of
perceptive faculties and not a merchant
prince, he wrote up what might be done
here but is not, on this wise:
American brewers ship thirty carloads
of beer a month to Manila, of which
Portland ships 0 carloads. The Oregon
hemlock' impervious to the white ant of
the Philippines, Is of great value there,
and of this product cheap and plenty
here, we shipped for the calendar year
ending December 31, 1900, no less than 0
cargoes, containing 00,000 carloads. No
dairy products to compare with those
of Oregon are found In the Philippine
market, or elsewhere in the Orient for
that matter. A little extra attention to
the details of packing will put our but
ter and cheese in position to command
the Philippine market. Our canned
fruits and vegetables can go as they
are. Oar meats may be handled In the
usual manner, but Oregon should have
more packing-houses In order to turn
the fat steers from the ranges Into com
mercial beef. All these things we might,
could, would or should 6ell to the Phil
ippines, but we don't It is easier not
to. There Is San Francisco, she Is doing
It There Is Seattle, she is always dip
ping into such things. "We haven't
time. "We are too tired.
Observe that Senator Mitchell's
amendments are directed at the rescue
of these lines of trade from the burdens
Imposed by the Payne tariff. His first
amendment proposes to place on the
free list all wood and other vegetable
materials, lumber, furniture and manu
factures of wood; also all meats, fish,
cereals, grain, flour, dried fruit and
vegetables and preparations of the
same; seeds and forage, and a variety
of other similar articles, all of which"
under the House bill are made subject
to the duty imposed by the Taft Com
mission war revenue act In addition,
this amendment intends to limit duties
on all other articles which are imported
into the Philippine Islands from the
United States to Just 50 per cent of the
duties levied by the House bill. The
second amendment is to limit the duty
on all articles coming into the United
States from the Philippines to 50 per
cent of the DIngley rates of duty, which
are levied by the recent Hou3e act The
third amendment strikes out the provis
ion levying a tonnage tax on all ves
sels coming into the United States from
the Philippines.
It means a good deal for Senator
Mitchell to take this stand against the
declared purposes of the Republican
majority in Congress. He seems to
think that a man may be a Republican
and yet stand up for Justice to the
Spanish Islands, for the Interests of his
section and for the future of Pacific
trade. He should receive Instant con
gratulation and approval from the
commercial interests of San Francisco
and Seattle, and of the other Pacific
Coast cities. If any, that suspect they
are on earth.
ISOLATION IDEALS.
We are under obligation to the United
States Export Association, of New York,
for a letter with enclosures, in spirited
advocacy of the subsidy bllL We dis
like to be addressed in such terms as
President Thurber, who signs the letter,
employs. He says we iave an un
broken record for intelligence and in
trepidity en the ocean, the while he
berates us for Idiocy and nervelessness
amounting to a National disgrace. He
says there is a difference in cost be
tween American and foreign construc
tion and operation, working to our
disadvantage, whereas sailors are hired
in the market regardless of a ves
sel's nationality, and shipbuilding
materials are cheaper here than any
where else. He points with pride to the
new French subsidy act in obliviousness
of the fact that its enactment stamps
the previous ones with unmistakable
failure. He attributes our railway de
velopment to subsidies. In which Impli
cation he is as disingenuous ae before,
and frames at least one of his sentences
In language no more grammatical than
this: "We have starved our merchant
marine until from 90 per cent of our ex
ports once carried in American ships it
has diminished to 9 per cent" If Mr.
Thurber Insists on writing letters to us,
we submit he should hire a competent
proofreader. But what we most seri
ously object to In Mr. Thurber's favor
of the 3d Inst Is this:
It Is as abrurd for us to rely on foreign
ships to distribute our goods as it would be
for one business house to depend upon the
wagons of a competing house to .make lta
deliveries.
Let us admit at once that if a busi
ness house entrusts its deliveries to a
competitor, the goods would be de
stroyed or lost It is a foolish suppo
sition, of course, because the thing is
ofn arranged, and any business man
who should undertake such a contract
would make' a special point of living
up to It But admit that he wouldn't
Can any parallel be drawn for the case
of the carrying trade? Why should
we fear to trust a British ship to carry
eraln to the" United Kingdom, or a
French ship to bring silks and wines
over here from Havre? Is there the
slightest danger that the captain would
burn the cargo or ocuttle the ship?
Take it another way. Take it that the
business house should do all its own
cartage forfifear somebody else will
make something at it Does a merchant
feel called upon to own every dray that
hauls his goods to dock or depot and
back, and the railroad trains that they
ride in hither-and thither? Verily not
The main point with him Is to get the
work done on time and at living prices.
And that is Just the way we are fixed
in this country as regards the carrying
tj-ade. Nobody here is losing any
money because British or Scandinavi
ans are willing to cart our goods across
the ocean more cheaply than we can do
It ourselves. Nobody here need worry
If Germany taxes herself to give us
cheap sugar or France to give us cheap
tonnage.
There Is a dangerous approach to In
accuracy in describing the carrying
trade as "distributing our goods." The
matter Is a complicated one. of course,
but It Is doubtful whether we can cor
rectly characterize our grain shipments,
for example, as "our goods." Maybe
they are the Britisher's goods. Maybe
he has bought them, and the reason
why his ships come here for wheat is
that he has to have It It Is nearer
to the fact to say that the foreigner
comes here, buys grain and takes it
away, than it is to say that the Amer
ican farmer hires a British ship to take
his wheat to Liverpool, and that he sells
It there himself. The American pro
ducer is not troubled about distribut
ing his goods. The foreigner has to
come here to get thm or else starve to
death.
As to our imports, the subsidy pro
moter certainly would not object to the
French or German using his own vessels
to "distribute his goods." If the dis
tribution theory were ,to prevail, every
nation would be bound to transport Its
own exports, but no imports, and busi
ness can't be .done that way.
Here is the whole thing: We mustn't
buy any foodstuffs abroad, grain, sugar,
potatoes or what not, but we must grow
our own. We mustn't buy any manu
factures abroad, we must make our
own. We mustn't let any other people
do our carrying trade, we must do it
all ourselves. It is as if every man
should resolve to grow his own food,
make his own clothes, build his own
house, print his own newepaper, build
his own railroad and fill his own teeth.
He mustn't let others do anything for
him, or sell him anything, for then they
would be making money he might make
himself.
By the clock It is the twentieth xen-
J tury, yet there must be some mistake,
for here In the greatest, proudest and
most enlightened country on the lace
of the globe there, are men seriously
proposing to advance Its trade ajid
profits by reducing to beggary the cus
tomers ihat now come here to buy and
take away a billion dollars' worth of
goods a year.
A WORLD WITHOUT TEMPTATION.
The letter addressed by a resident of
Portland to Governor Geer interceding
for commutation of the sentences of
Murderers Wade and Dalton Is so ab
surd that we suspect that it Is really
written as a bit of clever Irony and
satire, but the tail of this protest In
cludes the following:
We permit the sale of pernicious literature.
We pay no attention to the enforcements of
the laws regulating the sale of cigarettes and
liquor to minors. I am aware tela Is & trying
ordeal. My heart bleeds for the "bays.
If this means anything, it means that
the sale of dime novels, cigarettes and
alcohol is responsible for the multipli
cation of murderers and highwaymen.
This explanation Is frequently offered
as the solution of premature depravity
and precocious scoundrellsm, but It is
an explanation that has little founda
tion save that wretched philosophy of
life which inverts logic and outrages
common sense. Rum drinkers are pri
marily responsible for the multiplication
of rumshops. The dime novel Is not
responsible for youthful depravity and
scoundrellsm; the dime novel only feeds
the "long-felt want" of these creatures
for congenial, sensational fiction. The
vast majority of boys who read dime
novels do not become robbers or mur
derers. Every boy who Is sane knows
enough to comprehend that the dime
novel lies when It herolzes a criminal
and gilds a life of crime. He sees every
day people sent to prison, punished se
verely, robbed of liberty. No matter
how bad or Ignorant a boy is, if he can
read a dime novel he can read and
understand the dally record of crime
and tireless pursuit and stern punish
ment of criminals; he sees their hard
usage and knows their wretched fate.
The. boy who, knowing exactly what
the consequences of crime are, know
ing what the habitual use of alcohol
will do to him; the boy who cannot read
a dime novel without resolving to play
fool and knave all his days, this kind
of boy of course has small1 chance of
salvation simply because he declines
to save himself. He knows the better;
he chooses the worse with his eyes wide
open to the consequences, and then,
when he is crippled, cribbed, cabined
and confined because of his defiance of
the teachings of the object-lessons of
every-day life, the hard-working, pru
dent, self-denying, thrifty world has Its
ears vexed with stupid moral homl
letics concerning dime novels, alcohol,
opium, cards, women, etc, as responsi
ble for his. fate.
This world is not a Utopia. It Is a
world where virtue Is obtained through
self-control. In "Measure for Measure"
Luclo says of licentiousness: "It is a
vice of great kindred; It Is well allied,
but It is impossible to extirp it quite."
But the petitioner for clemency to our
Portland murderers pleads for it on
the ground that until we extir
pate from the world all visible
temptation we have no business to hang
anybody. This argument for clem
ency for murderers on the plea of hered
itary impulses and moral taints Is just
as good for. the Apaches who tortured
helpless Immigrant women and children
to death. It was their irrepressible
hereditary Instinct to be fiendishly cruel.
Speculations of this sort have no busi
ness to be pleaded In emasculation of
a penal code, whose function Is not to
reform or tame human tigers, but to
kill them; not to convert burglars and
pickpockets, but to send them to the
penitentiary. Nor do we morally Judge
these creatures as to their exact degree
of responsibility for their murderous
antics. Only God can do that, but we
are bound to protect society against
them as we do against animals and
birds of insatiable predatory Instinct
and habit Society never did stop,
never will stop, never ought to stop, to
consider the hereditary moral weak
ness oriental deformity of the Apaches
of civilization who cut their neighbor's
throat In, order to spoil his goods.
The petitioner for clemency to the
Portland murderers belongs to that
class qf people who are always dodging
the healthful doctrine of Individual re
sponsibility for evil and folly and
transferring the burden to the dime
novel, the saloon, the gambling-house,
the wine and the women. Men and
women are not educated to virtue by
Ignorance of evil. It Is knowledge of
good and evil, the choice between good
and evil, between right and wrong, that
stands for conquest not for negative,
colorless, cloistered virtue. We cannot.
If we would, expurgate the world of all
evil, of all vice and temptation. This
whole philosophy of education is ab
surd which expects to create a great
civilization out of men and women who
cannot be trusted to walk In the streets
until all -the world's life has been ex
purgated of all its evils, Its tempta
tions and its vice. Any man who is
sane enough medically to be legally re
sponsible for his acta deserves no mercy
for murder, for murder is the grossest
outrage of that golden rule of human
justice which even half-clvlllzed
heathens have always respected. Prop
erty may be regained, liberty may be
given back, but human life once taken
can never be restored. The world will
not stop In Its march to pick up Its
stragglers or drive its brutal marauders
Into the ranks of order and discipline.
The survival of the fittest, those who
are able and willing to keep step with
the living, not the dying, world, Is the
law of the world's growth and prog
ress. The kind of world that Is wanted
by those who plead for clemency for
murderers would be a Utopia without
any outlets of hell In It; a world in
which we would extirpate temptation
In order to breed saints, extinguish folly
in order to force our fools to behave
like wise men.
Every member of the Portland Cham
ber of Commerce owes It to himself and
to his fellow-members to attend the
annual meeting of the association In
the rooms of the Commercial Club, in
the Chamber of Commerce building, at
8 o'clock this evening. There should be
no absenteeism on the supposition that
there will be plenty of members on hand
to hear the annual reports and transact
the usual business in a perfunctory
manner. All should go and how by
their presence that they Indorse the
Important work which the Chamber has
laid out for itself for this year, and that
they propose to back up the organiza
tion in its undertakings to promote and
advance the public good. The nominat
ing committee has recommended an un
usually strong body of men for officers
and trustees,, and the thing for the in
dividual member to do is to be In evi
dence and make It known that he ap-
predates men who are. willing to sacri
fice valuable time to do a good turn for
the town. The Chamber of Commerce
Is to be commended for its great activ
ity under the presidency of Mr. Henry
Hahn, -and his immediate predecessors.
Mr. George Taylor, Jr., and General
Charles F. Beebe. There Is much to
do in this town of Portland for a rep
resentative commercial organization,,
and as the Chamber of Commerce is
willing to shoulder the burden, the peo
ple should stand by it
J
The letter addressed to Governor Geer
asking him to commute the sentence of
the law as passed upon Wade and Dal
ton "for their mothers' sake" is, If not
hysterical in tone, certainly Illogical
In its conclusions. These young men
have been anything but a comfort and
pride to their mothers in the past; and
to spare them to imprisonment for life,
or, worse stllL to cenflne them In prison
for a few years and then turn them
out, would be a lifelong sorrow and
anxiety to the mothers in whose name
this plea Is made. While the pity of the
pitiful is due. and is In full measure
bestowed upon these sorely stricken
mothers, the need for It would not be
diminished, but rather increased, by a
commutation of the death penalty In
the case of these young criminals, for
the simple reason that death ends, in
the only way possible, the maternal
anxiety and anguish which follow to the
end the lives of lawless sons. "For
their mothers' sake," therefore, not less
than for the sake of justice and the
safety of society, the sentence of the
law deliberately passed upon Wade and
Dalton will be promptly and unflinch
ingly enforced.
The Russian Government encourages
In every practical way the emigration
of the peasantry from the overpopulated
districts of the empire to Siberia. The
construction of the great trans-Siberian
Railway has made the population of
a vast area possible. Fourth-class cars
will carry a peasant about 100 miles
for 25 cents, and In cases of need the
government will lrad $50 to the emi
grant without Interest Land Is allot
ted to nlm lc ample area, and no taxe3
are laid upon him for three years. At
every railway station there. Is a public
medicine chest In charge of an official
somewhat skilled in prescribing; tea Is
also furnished, and food is given free
to children, to the sick and to the" very
poor. This eastward movement of pop
ulation promises in the course of yeara
relief from the recurrence of famine In
overcrowded districts, and is a scheme
of expansion within set Ikies and out
look beyond that are worthy of a great
and growing empire.
The Springfield Republican suggests
that the name Jefferson be given to the
new state to be made by the combina-
tlon of Oklahoma and Indian Territorlea
This tribute to Jefferson may well be
regarded as Just and long overdue. If
this suggestion is acted upon, the new
state will be but the second one in the
Union to recognize one of the founders
of the Republic In this way. Washing
ton was thus remembered, but not until
the star of empire pushed Its way to
the North Pacific Coast and the desig
nation was of general rather than spe
cial significance. To give the name of
Jefferson to the new state to be formed
from the Louisiana Purchase would be
of special significance at a time when
all the world Is Invited to Join in cele
brating that event
The- perfection attained by the United
States money order system Is attested
In the fact that Its transactions last
year Involved the handling of about a
million dollars a day, carried en at SO,
000 offices, and yet the loss to the Gov
ernment during the period covered was
but 5174. This loss was caused by the
payment of this sum to the wrong man,
who received and collected the order
meant for another of the same name.
The Increase of money order business
last year was over 5400,000 a substan
tial showing, which denotes at once the
business growth of the country and the
intelligent appreciation of a safe, con
venient and prompt system of exchange.
State Food Commissioner Bailey
stated a plain truth when he declared
before the Farmers' Congress at Salem
a day or two ago that creamerymen
are blind to their own interests who sell
short-weight butter. This Is not more
true In a material than In a moral a
personal than In a general sense. The
principle of business integrity denomi
nated fair dealing Is Involved In this
question, and It extends to the entire
creamery product of the state.
The President's willingness to take
up the -case of Admiral Schley, on ap
peal from the Navy Department, Indi
cates a change from his original deter
mination to close the case for good and
all. He has doubtless concluded that
to suppose the country Is against Schley
and with Sampson Is to misread public
sentiment He Is a pretty safe man
who is brave enough to correct an error
in full view of the world.
The preachers are none too early In
their protest against the town's being
fun on the "wide-open" plan throughout
the Lewis and Clark Centennial. Port
land has never been a prohibition town,
but It has always been a moral town.
At a time when It will be the cynosure
of thousands of critical eyes, it should
be specially careful to live up to its
traditions.
The plea for clemency for condemned
murderers Is as sentimental as the plea
for the prodigal son. Roscoe Conkllng
once said that he always "felt sorry
for the fatted calf, for It was the prod
igal, and not the calf that deserved to
be led to the slaughter."
It Is gratifying to see that at least
two members of Oregon's delegation at
Washington are seeking In the matter
of the Philippine tariff to do what Is
Just for the islands and at the same
time what Is expedient for our own
country.
Senator Mitchell makes a hit In his
proposal to amend the Payne Philippine
bill. It Is observed with regret that
Senator Simon makes no hits.
"What 311 Eh t Be Said of Sampson.
Des Moines (la.) Leader.
A strong bill of indictment might be
made against Sampson. His tardy and
ineffective cruise, resulting only In the
destruction of the Matanzas mule, was at
a slower pace than Schley's voyage from
Key West to Santiago. And It was a
positive fault that he took away the fast
cruiser New York without Justifying
cause at a critical time In the Santiago
blockade. In fact there has never been
a General or Admiral whose entire con
duct was free from all censure, or at least
In which critical experts could not find
flaws. Nelson's first renown came of dis
obeying the order of a superior officer.
GOLD STANDARD AND INVESTMENTS
Chicago Chronicle, Dem.
In his able report on coinage and bank
ing in the Philippines, Special Commis
sioner Conant "brings out some facts of
general interest going to show the effect
ot a monetary standard which Inspires
confidence to attract capital to a country
and develop Its resources.
After calling attention to the fact that
the Russian Government adopted the gold
standard In 1SS6 with the avowed object
of attracting capital, Mr. Conant says:
"The Issues of shares In joint stock
companies In Russia, which had been
l,rS5,21iO00 rubles during the entire period
from. 1799 up to 1S&3, or an average of
about 13.500.CCO nibles a. year. Increased to
232,040,000 rubles In 1S96, 239.321.000 rubles
In 1E97, 2.237,000 rubles In 1S3S, 4S3.5S5.C0O
rubles In 1S?9, and about 300.000.000 rubles
in 1900, making In this short period total
Issues of more than 1,450,000,000 rubles
($720 000.000)."
No doubt some allowance should be
made for the fact that the value of metal
lic money, whether gold or sliver, was
greater In the earlier years of the century
than It now Is. Allowance also should be
made for the all-pervading material prog
ress of recent years. In which Russia must
have participated to some extent under
any standard. After making all proper
allowances on these accounts, the forego
ing facts compel the conclusion that the
adoption of the gold standard by Russia
must have been more effective than any
other cause In Inspiring the confidence
which attracted more capital Into Russian
investments In five years from the adop
tion of that standard than was invested
during nearly an entire century before
that event
If the facts in the case of Russia stood
alone they would be convincing, but they
become altogether Irresistible when taken
In connection with other facts. Mr. Con
ant goes on to say that the capital In
vested In stock companies In Japan In
creased from 5134,000,000 (converting yen
into dollars) ai the close of 1S93. to J43S,
000.000 at the close of 1S29. -The most of
this Increase occurred after the change to
the gold standard, which occurred In 1E97,
had been determined upon.
In these two countries the capital wuich
ha3 been so freely Invested under the gold
standard is largely, perhaps mostly, for
eign. We see the same effect of the as
surance that the world's standard is to be
cohered to upon domestic Investment in
our own country.
For some years before the resumption
of specie payments in 1S79 there .had been
the most doleful predictions of disaster
If the attempt to resume should be per
sisted In. Just as soon as resumption was
fully assured, even before It had actually
taken place, capital began to spring from
its hiding places, and an era of prosperity
began, such as the country had not ex
perienced for many years.
Resumption, be It observed, was on the
gold basis, which had been our metallic
basis In fact for 45 years. The silver
dollar was still worth more than the gold
dollar, all the preparations for eesumptlon
had been made with reference to the gold
standard, and nobody thought of any
other. Prosperity continued and increased
until silver began to fall In gold value,
and all the cheap money cranks began
to howl for a cheap silver dollar. Then
investors began to take alarm.
From that time on confidence was fitful
and Investments were made with a timid
ity which varied In degree at different
times until after the definite adoption of
the gold standard In 1900. Confidence
was. Indeed, largely restored by the defeat
of the encap money forces in 1S95. and we
may date our Industrial recovery from
that year. It was not, however, until the
politicians had put away their hesitancy
and placed a law on the statute books
squarely planting the country on the gold
standard that the boom In investments
took on dimensions relatively comparable
to the booms In Russia and Japan.
The facts stated by Mr, Conant are
specially Important, of course, as indicat
ing the proper monetary policy for the
Philippines, but they are also Instructive
with respect to our home policy. They
demonstrate' pretty conclusively that the
politicians have nothing to fear from tak
ing the step which still remains to be
taken and putting It out ot the power of
any Secretary of the Treasury or Presi
dent to upset the gold standard by paying
gold obligations In silver or In any other
kind of Inferior money.
The facta prove how immensely Import
ant Is the standard, and should Impel us
to place it beyond the blasts ot dema
gogism. Must We, Too, Have a Panama ?
Chicago Inter Ocean.
The new converts of the transcontinen
tal railway lobby, which Is trying to kill
every project for an Isthmian canal, urge
three points in favor of the purchase
ot the Panama canal:
First The Panama Canal is shorter than the
Nicaragua Canal, and therefore will be of
greater advantage to American commerce.
Second The Panama Canal Is at sea level,
and therefore ivlll be more advantageous than
any other Isthmian canal with locks and dams.
Third If the Panama Canal Company will
sell Its property and rights on the Isthmus for
(40.000.0CO; a ship canal under American con
trol may be built on that route more satis
factorily than on the Nicaragua route.
To which the evident replies are:
First While the Panama Canal would bo
shorter than the Nicaragua Canal, the Panama
route for shippers would be longer. The Nic
aragua route between New York: and San
Francisco or between New Orleans and San
Francisco or between New Orleans and Ma
nila Is two days shorter than the Panama
route.
Second The statement that the Panama
Canal Is partially constructed at the sea level
Is false. The canal was planned and adver
tised as a sea-level cdsal. but In 18ST It
changed to a lock canal, and the dams con
templated by the engineers are more dif
ficult of construction than any on the Nica
ragua Canal.
Third If the Panama Canal Company would
sell Its property and rights on the Isthmus for
$1000. to say nothing of $40,000,000. It would
not be possible for the United States to con
struct on that route an American canal under
American control.
If the United States should purchase
all the rights and property of the Pan
ama Canal Company, our engineers would
stlil have eight years' work before them.
provided they could solve several prob
lems now regarded as unsolvable, and
meantime would not have a single con
cession giving this country control of
the canal.
However, the convincing argument
against the Panama project Just now Is
that It Is advocated most furiously by
the transcontinental railway lobby. This
lobby is against any canal. Therefore,
when It advocates the Panama canal It
gives the strongest proof that It knows
the Panama canal Is Impossible.
Yet this lobby finds newspapers to fool
the people for It Congressmen to shout
buncombe for It. Shame on such perfidy!
Must America, too, have Its Panama
scandal?
Gorman. Hill and Bryan.
Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.
Senator Bailey, in a letter to a friend In
Texas, urges the nomination of Mr. Gor
man for President on the ground that he
Is the most likely to defeat David B.
Hill. His opposition to Senator Kill Is
that "It would "be a fatal mistake for
our party to take as Its candidate in 1901
a man who did not support Its candidate
In 1895." It Is generally understood among
his friends that Mr. Hill did vote for
Bryan in '96, and spoke for him In 1500.
If Mr. Bailey's proposition hold? good a3
to Mr. Hill's alleged failure to support
Mr. Bryan In 1S95, what becomes of Mr.
Bryan's open espousal of Weaver In 1832
and refusal to vote for Mr. Cleveland?
He has twice borne the banner since then,
and If his refusal to support the nominee
In 1S92 has been condoned, certainly It
has not in the mouth of his friends to
make the point against others. ' Better
try to get together and not keep driving
in wedges to keep the split open.
AMUSEMENTS.
Frederick Warde and his fine company
delighted a packed house at the Marquam
last night with the b3t production of
"Julius Caesar" which has been seen In
Portland for many a long day. The three
great parts of the play, Marc Antony,
Brutus and Casslus. were In excellent
hands, while the many minor characters,
which are usually slighted, were in the
keeping of actors who did not allow them
to mar the evenness and beauty of the
performance. Mr. Warde has chosen for
himself the role of the wily politician
and eloquent orator, Antony, and so much
feeling does he throw Into the affecting
scene at the side of his murdered friend,
so fiery Is his delivery of the great speech
at the funeral, and so beautiful are those
last words over the dead Brutus, begin
ning. "This was the noblest Roman of
them all," that no one who sees him in
the part will question the wisdom of his
choice. Mr. Warde received continual
applause, and his curtain calls amounted
to a series of ovations.
Barry Johnstone, as Casslus, carried on!
the honors of the first act, his fine reading
bringing out the great strength of Cas
slus speech to Brutus, which Is the foun
dation for that noble Roman's defection
from Caesar. His acting matched his
elocution, and his performance through
out was without a flaw. The enthusiastic
reception given him at the close of his
scene In the first act showed that h.s
work was appreciated.
Charles D. Herman, who is admirably
fitted by nature for the part of Brutus,
played with much feeling, contrasting
the studious, prosaic Roman with the fiery
and impulsive but far more practical
Casslus as the poet evidently Intended
that it should be contrasted. His work
In the quarrel scene was particularly good.
James F. Fulton made an Imposing Cae
sar: Francis D. McGinn was sufficiently
sour and pessimistic for the role ot Casca;
Miss Antoinette Ashton was a gentle and
gracious Portia, and Miss Virginia Drew
Trescott made a queenly Calphurnla.
" The mounting and costuming was all
that could be asked, and the rabble
scenes were very well put on.
Original Creators of "Virgin I n.
Tonight Mr. Warde will present one of
his greatest successes, "VIrginlus." The
Roman tragedy of "VIrginlus" was writ
ten by the famous English author, Jamej
Sheridan Knowles, and was originally
produced at the Covent Garden Theater,
London. In May, 1S20. The first repre
sentative of the character of "VIrginlus"
was the great English tragedian, W. C.
Macready, to whom the author acknowl
edged his indebtedness for his assistance
In the production of the play. The men
who have made "VIrginlus" famous in
this country have been Thomas Abthorpe
Cooper, originally, and In the order
named: Edwin Forrest, John McCullough
and Frederick Warde. The latter gen
tleman was leading support to McCul
lough ("the noblest Roman of them all"),
playing Icillcs for several years to Mc
Cullough's VIrginlus.
0
Carlos Anomaly of Carrying Trade.
Boston Herald.
It Is a curious fact for which no ex
planation has yet been offered by our
shipping subsidy friends, that the Im
ports Into the United States are taken
much more generally, both relatively
and actually. In American vessels than
are the exports from the United States.
Of late years we have been sending
merchandise out of this country In value
to an amount nearly twice as much as
we Import, and yet American vessels have
brought In In value a larger quantity of
foreign merchandise than they have car
ried of American merchandise to foreign
countries. Thus, In the fiscal year 1900
about 7 per cent of the exports of the
United States went in American vessels,
but nearly 13 per cent of the Imports Into
the United States came In American ves
sels. Or, to state the case In a different
way, while of. our enormous export trade
only 590,000.000 went in American ships, of
our relatively small Import trade J101.
000,000 came In American bottoms. On
the theory that trade follows the flag, one
would assume that American ships would
be much more generally utilized In send
ing American-made goods out of the
country than In bringing foreign-made
goods Into the United States; but experi
ence, not of last year alone, but for the
last 20 or 30 yeaTs, proves just the re
verse, showing tnat, so far as its vol
ume goes, American shipping Is more In
strumental than foreign shipping In
bringing foreign goods to the United
States, and less Instrumental than for
eign shipping In taking American wares
to foreign markets. On the basis of this
commercial experience, the producers of
this country who are desirous of finding
foreign markets for their wares would
be fully Justified In advocating the pay
ment of Bhlpplng bounties to foreign mer
chant tonnage, since this has been, and
Is, more instrumental than American ton
nage In the development of this class of
trade.
Leisons of Modern War.
In Scribner's Magazine for January there
Is an article, which gives the impressions
made upon a witness (Count Sternberg),
of the early operations of the South Af
rican wan on the Boer side. This is his
statement of the lesson taught:
I do not attribute so much Importance to tho
rapidity of nsagaxlne Are as to the extraordi
nary flatness of trajectory and the distance
to which the projectile Is carried. The modern
weapon carries much farther than the field
gun did In 1370. The return from quantity to
quality la the necessary consequence. One
good marksman Is worth a company of bad
ones. Tne somier.is loaay noi oniy nunicr
but also game. He must therefore have the
hunter's skill with tho rifle and the hunted
animal's watchfulness and gift of conceal
ment. The soldier's training must be calcu
lated to make him enduring, active, obedient,
circumspect and a dead shot. Patlenco must
take the place of Impetuous courage.
Tho most Important thing In the training of
men and officers Is, therefore, to make them
as Independent as possible.
I mention one thing that those Europeans
on the Boer side who had the old military
tactics. s,o to say. Inbred In them, were all
either shot or taken prisoners without being
of any real use whatever.
Our first care must bo at maneuvers in
time of peace to pay attention to and reckon
with this effect of modern weapons.
The English army was drilled precisely on
the Continental model, and Its method of fight
ing In the disastrous first stages of the war
was Just that which we European armies all
practlco here at home.
Wo who have watcherd this war with strain
ing eyes know now that our modern European
tactics are antiquated pedantry, quite as much
out of date today as were tho regulations of
Frederick the Great In the Napoleonic wars.
Battles are not to be won In a day. They
must be begun as Wellington begun them, and
ended as "Lord Koberts ended them.
Captain J. Vaughan. of the Seventh
Hussars (British) 13 quotes as follows:
The Boers are very much better skirmishers
than our men. They are quick on and off
their horses. They talje cover rapidly. They
occupy ground more quickly. Twenty Boers
will occupy a kopje of half a. mile or more
frontage, and it Is Impossible to tell whether
they are 20 or 200 until you get around their
flanks or shell them out of It.
Uplifting.
Philadelphia Press.
"Now," said the Northern visitor, "If
there was a colored man in your com
munity who had proved himself to be a
law-abiding, sensible man, would you not
glvo him a lift ?"
"Well, suh," replied the Southerner,
"his chances of being lifted wouldn't be
so very strong. We don't generally lynch
that kind, suh."
Coacert at Seamen's Institute.
An attractive programme ha3 been ar
ranged by Mls3 Hazel Weldler to take
place at the Seamen's Institute tonight
at S:15 P. M. Among those taking part
will be the Misses Barker (violin), Goss,
Mayer (dance). Eliot and Goss (duet),
and Messrs. Cheal and McCraken. Do
nations of magazines, books or papers
will be welcomed by the staff.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
General Dewct Is now making plans for
a proper celebration of Coronation day.
The next thing J. P. Morgan will havo
to organize will be a political machine ia
Minnesota.
Marconi will not move against the cable
company till he has talked It over with
his wife. That's right-
People who are full of Idle curiosity are
wondering If Chaunccy had to give his
wife three sets of wedding presents.
A corespondent advises us that this rain
will never be mist. It occurs to us that
wo have heard, something like that be
fore. With Congress again In session the
haunting fear of dying rich does n'ot in
terefero so much with Uncle Sam's re
pose.
There are a few good men In Iowa who
have not yet been given Cabinet appoint
ments. But there may still be more resig
nations. A Frenchman can send 16 messages over
one wire. Hurrah! Our war cry In tho
next campaign will be the free coinage of
electricity.
A seat on the New York stock exchange
costs $S0,0ff). One could almost get an
orchestra seat at Mr. Grau's opera for
that money.
The Brooklyn navy-yard has not yet re
ported that 51 CT per day is not sufficient
to secure the services of an adequate sub
stitute for Maclay.
The President Is going to review the
proceedings of the court of Inquiry. The
President must be back at his old tricks
of looking for trouble.
Maybe the Kaiser's war on overcon
sumntlon of beer is waged merely for tne
purpose of keeping the size of steins
within reasonable limitations.
Perhaps If Senator Piatt would gallop
his Pegasus a few times over William
Allen White, that gentleman would not
be able to appreciate the humor of the
thing- so keenly.
There Is to be no Jester at the cor
onation. King Edward has wisely decid
ed that there Is no use of providing ex
pensive Jokes for an audience which
couldn't see them. '
A strong movement has arisen In tho
Virginia Legislature to appropriate $300,
000 for the pensioning of Confederate vet
erans. The Richmond Times opposes the
scheme as a bid by politicians for popu
larity. Lord Kitchener's record of Boer casual
ties and captures from 1901 shows a reduc
tion of the Boer fighting force during the
12 months of 21.SC0. These, figures com
pel the admission that the Cape Colony
Dutch have been filling the ranks of tho
commandoes.
Judge Davis, the president of the Board
of Children's Guardians, of Terre Haute,
Ind.. has granted to a Chicago hypnotist
permission to hypnotize some of the cMI
dren of the Home for the Friendless in
Terre Haute, for the purpose ot attempt
ing to reform them through the medium
of suggestion. The Chicago expert will
first operate on the children of depraved
parents, whose associations and environ
ments have been vicious. Through hyp
notic suggestion he will try to lead them
to higher Ideals. Judge Davis, In defense
of bis Innovation says: "I have conclud
ed It would do the children no harm to
try the experiment. On the other hand, I
am firmly convinced It may do them some
good. It Is worth the attempt, and tho
Chicago professor has my permission to
mnke the trial. No date has yet been set
for the test"
Judge Sterling B. Toney, of the Circuit
Court of Jefferson County, Ky., recently
rendered an opinion In a curious case. A
man was employed last July to sprinkle
parts green on potato vines to kill lady
bugs, and on account of the heat ho
opened his shirt, with the result that ho
was poisoned by the paris green. Ho
sued his employer, who entered a demur
rer to the petition, and the learned Judgo
sustained the demurrer for the following
reasons: The plaintiff had no right, in
foro consclentiae or In foro externo, to
make an indecent exposure ot his person
while engaged in killing lady bugs; tho
defendant exceeded the scopo of his em
ployment In sprinkling paris green else
where than on the potato vines, as his
special and exclusive agency was to kill
lady bugs basking In the shade of said
potato vines; the plaintiff's act in allow
ing the defendant's paris green to come In
contact with his flesh, instead of with tho
flesh of the lady bugs, was unauthorized
and ultra vires; the mental and physical
suffering of which tho plaintiff complains
was the result of his own wrong in mis
applying the defendant's parts green to
purposes other than those for which ho
was employed to apply It, and, besides. In
damnum absque Injuria; the plaintiff, in
opening his clothes and exposing himself
to the lady bugs and the paris green, was
guilty of contributory negligence; the
plaintiff knew as well as the defendant
that paris green was poisonous, and If he
did not know that paris green was a
poison, then this suit should not havo
been brought In his name, but by a com
mittee appointed to represent him.
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAFIIERS
Often the Case. "Do they keep a hired glrir
"No, they only hire them." Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin.
Tho trouble with most of us Is not so much
that we have a hard row to hoe, but that we
dislike hoeing. Puck.
"This makes the fifth time you've asked me
for a dance. Why don't you dance with soma
of the other girls?" "Well, you see. I dance
no badly I hate to ask them-" Detroit Free
Press.
In the Steam-Heated Flat. "John. I've Just
been to see the doctor, and he says I must
stay In the warmest and most evenly heated
room In the house." "Then get Into the re
frigerator at once." Life.
In the Gulf. Perhaps. Mrs. Nobblsh Tes,
she Summered at Newport, and now she's
Wintering In Florida. Mrs. Peppery You don't
say? Now, If she should decide to spring in
Florida. I wonder where shed' fall. Phila
delphia Press.
Reason Enough. "I see that a Western Con
gressman has Introduced a bill to provide for
a universal language." "What's the good of
It?" I guess you wouldn't ask if you had
to carry a district In which there were 17
distinct varieties of foreigners." Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
Point Generally Overlooked. "This." tho
salesman said, handing out another package.
"Is also an excellent substitute for coffee. It
Is very wholesome. It makes red blood."
"Haven't yc-a something." asked the young
woman with the earrings, "that makes blue
blood?" Chicago Tribune.
His Economy. Is your husband going to
make any new resolutions this year?" asked
the visitor. "I think not," answered the wo
man who had Just been reminded that It would
be" necessary to economize: "I am afraid he
will have to content himself with last year's
made over." Washington Star.