Morning Oregonian., January 29, 1902, Page 6, Image 6

V
THE MORNING OREQONIAN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1902.
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rORTLAXD, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20.
A DISGRACE TO HIS STATE.
Rising in the Senate to defend free
dom of speech, Dubois of Idaho pro
poses to throttle all criticism of the
Senate. Could anything be more touch
ing, more admiration-compelling, more
Dubolsan?
Nobody knows how much of the
Wheaton interview was actually spoken
by General Wheaton. But let that pass
admit he said it all. He did not criti
cise the Senate, anyhow, but only com
mented on remarks of President Schur
man. But let that pass admit he criti
cised the Senate.
The Senate of the United States is not
above criticism. Neither Is the Presi
dent. Neither is the Supreme Court.
It is a fine spectacle for a creature like
Dubois, who runs amuck through the
highways of sane thought and respect
able society, hitting a lick at every
thing he comes across, to stand tip and
cry on behalf of the Senate for immu
nity from criticism. He needs it. No
body ever stood in greater peril than he
stands, and has always stood, from log
ical comment on his own acts. The Sen
ate is subject to criticism, not only from
Generals in the Army, but from, the
humblest citizen of the Republic
The Senate, moreover, is not dignified,
except in Its own estimation, and the
reason lies in just such creatures as
Dubois, who sit there in sublime ignor
ance of and indifference to the facts of
history and the ideas of rationaj think
ing. He and many other Senators like
him have no knowledge. They prate
about the fine phrases of the Declara
tion, without knowledge, possessed by
every thinking mind, that Its utterances
about the natural rights of man and the
equality of all men are dreams of altru
ism and human perfectibility, aimed at
in the French Revolution Indeed, but
dreams that never were true, never can
be made true, and that they have never
been applied, even in the country or
by the very men that gave the Declara
tion to the world.
Dubois is not a man to interpret pub
lic opinion or sit in judgment upon the
policies of a nation or the actions of a
General in the field, a private In the
ranks, or a colored boy that gathers up
waste papers In his committee-room. He
only drifted into the Senate on the crest
of an idiotic craze, of which the people
of his state are now ashamed.
There are two choices before us in the
Philippines. We can enforce our au
thority and rule the islands, or we can
scuttle out of them bag and baggage.
and, in the expressive and apposite
phrase of the Senator from Mississippi,
"let them go- to the devil." We have
these two choices, and no third.
2VO OCCASION FOR ALARM.
The Philadelphia Press fears that un
less the shipping subsidy bill is passed
Great Britain will capture the coal trade
of the world. The Press says:
There Is no doubt that with proper aid -to
our shipping in tho foreign trade, so as to put
It on an equality with that of other nations,
our exports of coal, as well as of other prod
ucts, will enormously Increase. There Is a
market In South America alono for $20,000,000
worth of American coal whenever we are able
to transport It there at as low a cost as coal
Is now shipped there from Europe. The cost
of the coal in this country at the seaboard Is
less than the cost of the coal in Great Britain.
It Is entirely a matter of transportation, and
the shipping bill", as our British competitors
admit, will solve that Question, in bur favor.
The question seems to be pretty well
solved right here with this admission
of the Press. Coal is the greatest factor
in the operation of a ship. We can sell
it to the foreigner at our own seaboard
for less maney than It will cost him In
England. If the attraction of cheap
coal for fuel purposes will not bring him
here for our coal, we can also sell him
eoal .for the South American markets
cheaper than he can buy it in England.
This the Press admits, and as there are
no obstructive and antiquated naviga
tion laws which prevent the foreigner
from' taking American coal from an
American port down to South America,
or, for that matter, to any other port an
earth, will he not prefer this business
to that obtainable in a port where he is
forced to pay more for both fuel and
cargo coal?
With ocean freights on coal, grain
and every other commodity down to
such a low ebb that foreign steamers
have within the past few months been
carrying grain back and forth across
the Atlantic as ballast, it would appear
that the "matter of transportation" was
being pretty well regulated by the old
law of supply and demand. If the unfor
tunate coal mine owner is unable to find
a market for his coal, it is certainly not
due to a lack of transportation, for the
freight market, even in the Atlantic
port from which the Press hails, has
been in such a demoralized condition
recently that it was impossible for ves-
sels to secure cargo even at the lowest
rates ever known.
The shipping ' subsidy bill will not
j make business for ships when the sup
ply of tonnage is in excess of the re
quirements. It will not even regulate
freights. The subsidized French bark
La. Fontaine and the unsubsidlzed Brit
ish ship Falkirk arrived in the Colum
bia River a few days ago without char
ters. The last fixture prior to their ar
rival had been at 37 shillings, but with
the river full of chartered ships there
was no demand for tonnage, and rates
dropped with a crash. The French sub
sidy bill is practically the same as the
one which the millionaire shipowners
are endeavoring to foist on the Amer
ican people. According to the subsidy
theory, which we are asked to accept
as a fact, La Fontaine, backed by her
subsidy, would have taken a charter at
a much lower rate than the unsubsi
dlzed Falkirk. This, however, was the
ory only, for the two ships were char
tered at exactly the same rate, and La
Fontaine's subsidy went, not Into the
pocket of the producers, but Into those
of the syndicate of French millionaires
who are holding up the French Govern
ment. The American ship subsidy bill will
not make possible the export of any
more coal or any other product than is
now going out of the country. It will
not reduce freight rates, for Messrs.
Griscom, Rockefeller, Morgan and
other subsidy beggars are not in the
business for that purpose. The produc
ers of this country, whether of coal,
wheat, corn, stock, lumber or any other
commodity, have never yet experienced
any difficulty in securing transportation
for it, and this difficulty will hardly
arise now, at a time when the produc
tion of ocean tonnage has run ahead of
the demand, without the aid of a sub
sidy. A HELPFUL DECISION.
The United States Supreme Court's
sustention of the City of Portland in
the Amos N. King case sheds some light,
though not much, upon the perplexing
problem of local street Improvement.
The decision Itself was thoroughly an
ticipated in the one rendered by the
same court last May In the case of
French vs. the Barber Asphalt Com
pany. In this Xing case the former po
sition Is reaffirmed, the King case, as
we understand it, being already In pro
cess of appeal when the former decision
was handed down. The principle then
enunciated, and governing now, was
then stated by the Supreme Court in
these terms:
But the Legislature has the power to deter
mine, by the statute imposing the tax, what
lands, which might be benefited by the im
provement, are. In fact, benefited; and If it
does so. Its determination Is conclusive upon
the owners and the courts, and the owners
have no right to be heard upon the question
whether thlr lands are benefited or not; but
only upon the validity of the assessment, and
its apportionment among the different parcels
of the class which the Legislature has conclu
sively determined to be benefited.
That is to say, the Supreme Court
In two decisions has now unequivocally
upheld the courts of last resort of the
various states in deciding that the Leg
islature has power to Impose the cost of
improving streets upon the abutting
property, and that said assessments are
conclusive upon the courts and property-owners,
unless invalidated by
fraud or mistake. And the paramount
pertinence of the doctrine, as applied
to our local affairs, lies in establishment
of the validity of the Portland char
ter's provisions concerning street as
sessments. In the Portland charter the
Legislature has determined that abut
ting property shall pay the cost of street
Improvements, and this has been held
valid by the Oregon state courts. Thus
Portland has "an orderly procedure un
der a scheme of local Improvements
prescribed by the Legislature and ap
proved by the courts of the state as
consistent with constitutional princi
ples," and this is what is held valid.
Once for all, therefore, is set at rest
the vexatious and obstructive doubt
concerning the Portland charter method
of street improvements, and the ability
of unprogresslve property-owners to de
lay pavements Is signally curtailed.
The result is gratifying to the city and
to the attorneys who have so zealously
cared for the city's interests. With no
wish to reflect upon the present or pre
vious administrations of the city's legal
and judicial service, it may nevertheless
be said that a very potent cause of our
hackward condition as to streets lies in
the indifferent support the city's inter
ests have had compared with the vigi
lance and resourcefulness displayed in
behalf of property-owners who resist
Improvements when projected and es-.
cape payment on various technicalities
when they are made. There are law
yers in Portland, some of them power
ful advocates of good streets, who have
earned, in defeating pavements and
throwing the cost back on the city,
enough to pave Washington street from
the river to the City Park.
Another interesting thing is the bear
ing of the decision on the new charter.
In one aspect the decision helps the new
charter more than the old, because the
new charter proposes to bear down
harder on the clients of the aforesaid
lawyers. If will take 66 2-3 per cent of
opposition to defeat a pavement, and
the remonstrants, when in the hopeless
minority, will be levied on under the
present system. Tet in another aspect
the decision is of less importance to the
new charter than to the present one, be
cause the new charter proposes a larger
participation In street work by the gen
eral taxpayer. The difficulty about
pavements is almost Identical with the
difficulty about roads. The community
is too poor to afford such costly streets
as come easy to richer communities in
larger cities. Paving reform, therefore,
if, Its burden is actually to be laid upon
us, must benartly borne by the general
taxpayer. In crowded districts of rich
cities It makes little difference whether
a paving district Improves its streets
by a tax or by assessments. It comes
to the same thing in the end. But in a
small place like Portland It makes a
good deal of difference. The best as
phalt pavement, easily paid for along
Fifth avenue, New York, Is a grievous
burden on modest homes along Port
land's country streets. Therefore the
new charter applies to the city treasury
for aid. It recognizes that a paved
street, besides being an improvement,
Is also a thoroughfare.
President Roosevelt understands fully
that etiquette is the essence of diplo
macy, and that to gain consideration
that Is the Republic's due In official
functions In Europe our representatives
must be versed in its subtle delicacies.
He gave audience a few days ago to
General Wilson and Captain Clark, who
with Whitelaw Reld as principal envoy
will represent the United States at King
.awards coronation, the object of the
conference being to instruct these spe
cial ambassadors in a irenernl wnv no
to 'their duties. Detailed instructions
will be given later by the State De
partment, so no doubt these sterling and
worthy men will pass for what they are
worth upon this great state occasion.
Jeffersonlan simplicity was very well In
Jefferson's day. It fitted Into trie times
arfdmanners of the young Republic
admirably, while Franklin's Quaker
homespun and quaintness of speech
were elements of a personality born
of conditions which they served. Each
abode its destined hour and went its
way.
THE BUSINESS WOMAN.
A leading dry goods merchant of New
Tork City announces that so many
women today occupy the places once
filled by men that the number of men
who will be obliged to take to farming
will be Increased. The women who best
succeed in business are born of parents
or of a race whose lot was a continuous
struggle for the necessaries of life. The
Irish woman and the American-born of
Irlph parents, this merchant thinks, not
only outnumber but often excel the
women of other nationalities working in
this country- The least successful type
of business women he finds Is the Amer
ican born of American parents, who
never felt the spur of necessity, who
floes not begin her business career until
she is 16 or 18 years old.
Education in the sense of schooling
has less to do with a woman's success
In business than is generally supposed.
Some of the women who hold the most
responsible places in New York City
have had no schooling beyond a rudi
mentary knowledge of reading, writing
and arithmetic. The keynote of success
is ambition. The woman qnce wealthy
who la reduced circumstances chooses
a business career is the least satisfac
tory, and she finds difficulty In securing
employment. A millionaire manufac
turer whose business Is run almost en
tirely by women says: "The women I
prefer to employ are those who began
at the very foot and have worked up
step by step; for they are bound to be
useful in some capacity hecause of their
training, no matter how lacking they
mayMje in brains or education."
It is easy to believe all this, because
it is true of men who are desirable as
employes in business, and why should It
not be of women? In the world of busi
ness, where neither eex nor beauty
counts, why should not the same kind
of Industrial training and experience
bring success to a woman as to a man?
There is no man so helpless as a so
called educated man, whose early life
was financially easy and comfortable,
when he is suddenly obliged by neces
sity to seek employment. He soon finds
out that his scholastic education Is no
match for the discipline of difficulty, for
business qualities, habits and experi
ence, for acquired business tact, faculty
and adaptability! The great merchants,
great bankers, great railway managers,
great captains in all kinds of Industry,
have been by a very large majority men
of comparatively small scholastic educa
tion beyond what is necessary to trans
act the operations of business. Of
course, if a boy born to friendly cir
cumstances is given the same discipline
of difficulty and early training, he
might do just as well, perhaps, as a
more necessitous youth; but as a rule
the boy born to friendly circumstances
Is not given this discipline and training
for business. He" Is usually designed for
a, .profession, is sent to college to pre-,
paYe to become a doctor, lawyer, sci
entist or clergyman. If he finds he has
a love for his profession, he will not
perhaps greatly miss the early discipline
of difficulty and business training; but
If he discards his profession, speculates
with his money and loses it, eo that he
needs employment, he then finds his
lack of early business training and ex
perience handicaps him In obtaining
and retaining a desirable position.
The rule is the same with men or
women who succeed in business. Those
who have had the hardest discipline of
difficulty from boyhood, who have had
to begin at the bottom and stoutly and
steadily work their way, upward, nine
time-out of ten outstrip those who have
far more scholastic education without
any youthful discipline of difficulty and
severe business training, which begins
at the bottom as the shortest road to
the top. For this reason it is not re
markable that the annals of woman's
success in business should be identical
with those of men. Human nature is
about the same In the world of business,
whether the workers be men or women.
A fine scholastic education Is not to be
despised, but It Is not of first import
ance in business, and It Is not the secret
of success of either man or woman in
business. The spur of necessity, ambi
tion, harfl training from the bottom, are
the secrets of success.
"THE CHARITY BOY."
A more ignorant and self-convlctlng
remark was never made upon the floor
of the United States Senate than these
Mnnilsvr
I don't know who General "Wheaton is, but
he is probably some charity toy appointed to
West Point by a Senator or Representative and
since supported by" the Government.
In another article on this page we
have said what seemed necessary on
the subject of Senator Dubois In gen
eral, but It Is also needful o notice
more at length his ahominable and In
defensible insult to the Army of the
United States, both regular and volun
teer. General Wheaton Is not a graduate of
West Point He Is a graduate of the
Union volunteer Army. He enlisted In
an IlJInols regiment In April, 1861, and
fought his way up to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel,
and wears a medal of
honor today for distinguished gallantry
in the assault on Fort Blakely, Ala.,
April 9, 1865, leading the right wing of
his regiment, springing through an em
brasure against a strong Are of artillery
and musketry, the first to enter the
enemy's works, while serving as Lleu-tenant-Colone!
of the Eighth Illinois
Infantry. He was brevetted for gal
lantry at Vlcksburg, and also for gal
lantry in the Philippine Islands. There
is not a veteran of the Second Oregon,
from Colonel Summers down, who will
not testify to the ability and gallantry
of General Wheaton. He was made Major-General
of Volunteers In 1900 and
Major-General In the regular Army in
190L He has been In the regular Army
since July, 1866, and, counting his service
in the Union Army, he has been a sol
dier nearly forty-one years.
To speak of a veteran soldier who has
risen in forty-one years from the ranks
to be a Major-General as "charity boy"
is indecent and Inexcusable; for the
Army Register contains his full record,
and to call all the graduates of West
Point "charily boys" Is a. gross Insult
to a school whose graduates include the
greatest soldiers of both North and
South. There is nothing remarkable in
this indecency on the part of Senator
Dubois; it Is characteristic of
jjuuois, it is cnaractenstic of a man
who has learned the trick of reckless,
vituperative language, making Populist
and free-silver speeches In order to win
his seat in the United States Senate.
Senator Dubois has always been notably
brutal in his antl-lmperlallst harangues.
His Insulting allusion to a very gallant
and able soldier, who is nearly 64 years
of age and Is far enough away so that It
is safe to insult him. Is worthy of an
acrid apostle of Populism, free silver
and antl-Imperiallsm. A United States
Senator who confesses that he Is willing
to denounce General Wheaton and pre
tend that he does not know who he is
when he has only to turn to the Army
Register to find out, Is a disgrace to his
position.
Was General Wheaton "a charity
boy" when he answered Lincoln's call
for volunteers In April, 1861, and fought
four years for the Union? Was he "a
charity boy" when he accepted a Cap
tain's commission in the regular Army
at the close of the war as a tribute to
his superior service? Was he "a char
ity boy" when steadily he won his way
up from the rank of Colonel In 1S98 to
that of Major-General In 1902? If being
paid by the United States 55000 a "year
for public services of questionable
value makes the recipient "a charity
boy," Senator Dubois is a very worth
less Federal stipendiary compared
with Major-General Wheaton. General
Wheaton has rendered over forty years
of non-political, patriotic services to the
flag and the country for very small
pay, while Senator Dubois has already
rendered 6lx years of worthless political
service and is Just beginning a second
term that does not promise to be more
fruitful of patriotic statesmanship than
his first. His brutal, reckless vilification
of the leading officers, of the regular
Army and of the graduates of West
Point ought to insure him public con
tempt. For such service as the United States
requires of Its Army officers, their edu
cation at West Point and their subse
quent pay is but moderate compensa
tion. Napoleon was educated at Brl
enne and at the military school of
Paris. Would Senator Dubois describe
the hero of Austerlltz derisively as "a
charity boy" because he did not pay for
his youthful military education? Would
he describe Lee, Grant, Sherman, John
ston and Sheridan as "charity boys"?
Would he describe Nelson as "a charity
boy" because, the son of a poor curate,
he owed his appointment as midship
man to aristocratic patronage? There
Is a kind of Indecency that overleaps
Itself and overwhelms its perpetrator.
The chance of ultimate escape of a
criminal who commits a bold tand hein
ous offense against society is in this
day of telegraphic communication, rapid
transit and trained detective service
very remote. A fugitive, from justice
may evade detection and elude pursuit
for years, doubling upon his track and
hiding like a hunted animal, only to
be at length caught off his guard and
taken. The capture in Albuquerque,
N. M., of G. A. Bennett, a systematic
cattle rustler of Missoula, Mont, after
being In hiding twelve years, Is late
evidence of this fact. A prominent
business man of Missoula, in good cir
cumstances financially, and of excellent
family connections, he played a bold
game in cattle-stealing and slaughter
ing, was suspected finally, watched, de
tected, and to escape trial and certain
conviction he fled the country, dressed
In woman's attire. That was in 1889,
and all this time the officers of the law
have been on the lookout for him!
Their vigilance has at last been reward
ed by his arrest, as above stated. These
years of liberty have been dearly bought
by anxiety and fear of arrest, and It is
not Improbable that this criminal now
wishes that he had faced penalty as
boldly as he earned it, in which case the
twelve years of evasion would now be
to his credit on the penitentiary rec
ords, and he nearlng the completion of
his sentence Instead of just entering
upon It. The crime was a deliberate
,one, the chase has been long and- baf
fling, and the penalty will probably be
severe.
A print not a newspaper called "The
Portland Tradesman" so-called, it may
be supposed, because It has nothing to
do with the trade or business of Port
landin its Issue of January 25 has this
paragraph, for which The Oregonlan is
indebted to the "professional clipper,"
else It would have been as Ignorant of
this print as most others are:
It seems passing strange that last Monday's
Oregonlan or Telegram failed to print the most
sensational piece of news that has occurred in
this city for many monthsr news that would
have proven educational by reason of Its pub
licity. But, then, one must go away rrom
home to get the news. Portland's dally press
is not energetic enough In gathering Portland
news, seemingly preferring to see It In print
elsewhere before recognizing. Its Importance as
ral, live news.
Right The Oregonlan and Telegram
have nothing to do with "sensational"
that Is to say, with salacious, false,
immoral, prurient "news." The Orego
nlan never heard of "The Portland
Tradesman" before. It never heard of
the story to which that so-called Journal
refers. But It takes It for granted that
the story is a dirty one, and that "The
Portland Tradesman" If there Is any
such paper thinks a story of illicit sex
ual relations the only real, "live" and
genuine "news."
The railway management In Cassel,
Germany, directs that the use of Amer
ican petroleum shall be confined to office
lamps and signal lanterns, and that lt
shall be used then only In case the
Russian petroleum does not give suffi
cient light A similar order was re
cently Issued by a London railway, bar
ring American oil except where free
dom from smoke Is essential. These
exceptions are very complimentary to
the American product, proving as they
do its superiority in cleanliness and illu
minating power. The very small sav
ing effected by this order cannot long
prevail against the better oil on effi
ciently managed roada Yet those Inter
ested enjoy the compliment with the
assurance that because of the facts
brought out by it the order will In due
time be rescinded.
Good sleighing and skating give us
a hint of what Oron would be like If
we had real "Winters Instead of rainy
seasons. What the Willamette Valley
needs Is the, social activity of sleighing
parties, singing schools, spelling schools,
quilting bees, and the multitude of gay
etks that make life worth living In the
Winter. As It is, the rain and the im
passable roads destroy sociability. That
Is what alls us.
The Spooner bill we believe wise and
safe. Nobody can better be trusted to
make a sound and honest decision than
can President Roosevelt Upon this bill
the sincere canal advocates should be
able to unite. v
If you must buy a sled for your chil
dren, buy a good one. Then you can
ride on it yourself without breaking it.
THE NEW YORK SUBWAY.
The terrible explosion at New York
on Monday, In which several persons wero
killed and many others injured, directs
attention to the great subway enterprise
In connection with which the accident
occurred. This subway Is the greatest
work of its kind ever attempted any
where. Boston has a subway or aeries
of subterranean passages for street-cars
under the business part of the city, but It
la a baby affair In comparison with the
gigantic project which Is burrowing be
neath the surface of Manhattan Island.
The general plan of the New York work
is a single tunnel from the southern end
of the Island, at the Battery, up 'town to
Union Square, at Fourteenth street; from
this point two lines one up Madison and
Park avenues, and the other up Broadway.
Between these uptown brandies there are
to be several cross-tunnels. The eastern
branch is to end at Harlem, and the west
ern at the opposite point on the North
River side. The whole distance to be
burrowed underground Is a little more
than 35 miles, and the passage is to be
made wide enough for double tracks,
with easy room for working crews along
side. ,
This great work Is now well under way
at many points, and while as yet it is
wholly in the rough it Is probably one
third done. Its vastnesa as a mere engi
neering project is a fthing- almost beyond
conception to one who has not seen the
work In progress. It Involves the cutting
of a channel from 25 to 25 feet deep, and
from 12 to 15 feet wide through the streets
crowded with traffic, and thl3 cut is in
very large sections through solid .bodies
of granite. Everywhere the method la
by boring and blasting for New York is
literally founded upon a rock and as the
work goes o'n day and night the muffled
sound of discharging blasts Is hardly ever
out of one's cars.
The contract price for making this series
of tunnels Is In the neighborhood of ?35.
000,000, and the cost of the whole work by
the time the cars are ready to start will
hardly fall short of $50,000,000. This great
oroject Is being put through by a private
company, working under municipal fran
chise. It is in it3 progress a serious public
Inconvenience, since it has literally torn
up the city, and will keep it torn up for
at least another two years; but it is
submitted to with grace, since the creation
of some means of handling the street traf
fic of the island had come to be a pressing
necessity.
Ever since the larger development of
New York began, about 50 years ago. the
passenger traffic up and down the Island
has formed -a serious problem. It could
hardly be otherwise when the narrownesa
of the island is considered, with the fact
that its business district is situated at
the extreme lower point, and that the
residence districts are of necessity far
uptown. There came a time 25 or more
years ago when the surface horse-car
lines could not take care of the traffic,
and from this necessity was born the
Idea which gave the city an elevated train
system. This, It was fondly hoped, would
solve the problem for all time, but it was
not a year after the elevated trains start
ed before the traffic had grown to a point
where the embarrassment was as great
as before. About this time electricity came
-Into use as a motive power in connection
with street transportation, and was ap
plied not only to the old, but to many new
surface car lines, and for a time it again
seemed as if the problem had been solved.
But again the expedient proved tempo
rary, for with all forms of transport, from
the "elevated" and the "underground
wire" to the old Fifth-avenue stage, In
active operation on every street leading
uptown, the congestion Is more serious
than ever before. The limit of surface
and elevated carrying capacity has been
reached, and nothing remains to be done
but to dig under the city, as they are
doing. .
The Idea of riding In cars operated In
tunnels Is not a pleasant one, but the un
cannlness of it does not survive the first
experience. The underground tunnel Is
not of necessity the forbidding, dirty and
smoky thing which we are used to in rail
road travel; and, in fact can be made as
light and pleasant and even pleasanter
than surface travel. The Boston subway,
for example, is lined with .white tiling,
like a modern bathroom, and is as dry,
white and clean as one could wish. It
Is lighted beautifully by electricity, and
kept comfortably warm, so that the pas
sengers suffer no discomfort, and have no
unpleasant sense of being underground.
And when the great speed and positive
safety of the subway is contrasted with
the delays and hazards of the surface
road, It comes to be no wonder that the
former is given the preference wherever
the choice Is between them.
But great as the New York subway Is,
it is not the only nor the createst project
of Its kind. There Is already in motion
an enterprise looking to a railroad and
street-car tunnel under the East River and
a large district of tho city connecting
Brooklyn with a city station near Herald
Square, at the junction of Thirty-third
street and Broadway. Another great en
terprise has recently xbeen announced by
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
being nothing less than a tunnel from
its present station In Jersey City
to a point not far from Herald
SQuare. These are big things, bigger In
an engineering sense than anything eve?
yet proposed In this country," but they
are declared to be entirely feasible, pro
vided that money enough is In hand to
carry them out, and there appears to be
no question on that score.
A POINT FOR APPLE MEN.
There is one important point in connec
tion with the apple business especially
In connection with the foreign trade
which the producers of Oregon ought not
to overlook; and that- is the disposition
of tho buyer of fruits to Identify the
thing which ha3 pleased him and to seek
it again. We say that this Is especially
important In connection with the foreign
trade because It is especially the habit of
the foreign buyer when dealing in Import
ed goods to demand the specific brand
familiar to him. In the cases where
American irult products have found estab
lished place In the European markets
and especially in the markets where Eng
lish Is not spoken it has been upon the
bases of brands which a particular prod
uct may be identified, thus assuring no
disappointment in subsequent purchases.
This is the uniform testimony of those
who have looked personally Into trade
conditions on the other skte of the ocean.
It becomes desirable, then, that apples
or other fruit sent Into European mar
kets should be so marked that the buyer
can find the same thing again when he
wants it, and that means that the pro
ducers of any given district, or of the
whole state, for that matter, ought to es
tablish standards and symbols of quality
under some system of Inspection that win
assure the Identity aid Integrity of the
goods. This Is a work done by the state
in many European countries, as, for ex
ample, the stamp of the government
which certifies to the quality of certain
Swiss cheeses. This may not be practl
cable'or desirable here, .but it Is both prac
ticable and desirable that we should find
some unofficial system which will accom
plish the same end of giving Identity to
our goods in foreign markets.
This necessity might well make the
basis of some such co-operative associa
tion as that wlich has been formed
among the hopgrowcrs of Western Oregon,
and which Is proving a thing of practical
value. Without going into matters which
have proved the undoing of co-operative
fruit associations elsewhere, there is still
room for the doing of many things which
would help to put the fruit business of
the state on a better basis and to hold it
there. And nothing can be more certain
that without something in the way of
concerted action or. the part of those who
are Interested in maintaining the character
and the reputation of the Oregon apple,
neither Its character nor its reputation
will be preserved. Careless and dishonest
methods will creep in when there Is no
organized agency to detect and prevent
them.
WHY WE NEED THE CANAL.
The backset which the Nlcaraguan pro
ject has received through the Intrusion
of the Panama proposition has made a
situation which gives fresh opportunity
to those who seek to discredit the whole
scheme of on isthmian canal. Again, and
with renewed enegry, It is being urged that
a canal across the Isthmus will open a
way 'for the commerce of the Pacific
Ocean to pass by the natural ports of the
American states on the Pacific seaboard
and to find Its way directly to our Atlan
tic ports and to the great marts of Eu
rope. This Idea. Is steadily urged on the
Pacific Coast since it is believed by those
who seek to defeat any or all canal
schemes that a great point will be ac
complished If the pressure steadily put
upon Congress from these states should
be withdrawn, and especially If Pacific
Coast Influences could be brought to
array themselves on the side of opposi
tion. ' This effort to defeat the canal through
arousing the fears of the Pacific states
has often been dealt with In The Ore
gonlan, and It Is hardly necessary to go
again over arguments which have often
been threshed out It Is enough to say
now In this connection that no such ar
gument has ever been put forward by
anybody whose motives are above ques
tion. In every instance in the past, as
now, the objection to the canal as a
menace to the Pacific Coast Interest In
Pacific Ocean commerce has come di
rectly from persons engaged In the busi
ness of transcontinental transportation or
from those whose relationship to railroad
Interests is a reasonable Inference. No
Pacific Coast man, speaking from the ba
sts of established personal Interest, has
ever exploited or accepted this view of
the isthmian canal project. There has
been but one opinion and but one voice
from the Pacific, and It has from first to
last been declared in support of the canal
and In encouragement of those who have
been urging that work upon Congress as
a National opportunity and duty.
The instinct of the people of the Pacific
Coast sees In the isthmian canal the in
strument which, in the very nature of
events, Is destined to break the Isolation
of the Pacific Ocean, and bring It Into
the field of the world's active develop
ment Let It be conceded for the sake of
discussion, that some or many ships
which now rendezvous at American ports
would. If a passage were open to com
merce at the Isthmus, find their
way directly to New York or Eu
rope. What then? Would It matter much
to the Pacific States? We think not
From such business as merely unloads at
San Francisco, at Portland or at Puget
Sound and passes on eastward, there Is
small advantage to us. There Is some
thing In it, to be sure, but It Is a some
thing so small that its loss would not
disturb the profitable course of our com
mercial life. Our career in relation to
the commerce of the Pacific Ocean, If it
shall look no further than the entertain
ment of ships and the collecting of steve
dores' tolls, will be small so small that
if we had no larger purpose we might as
well abandon all Ideas of advantage from
our situation on the world's greatest
ocean. In truth our ideas take hold on
larger things on things so large that the
mere diversion of a few or many ships
by the isthmian route Is a matter scarcely
worth taking into account In truth our
hopes look to a share of the commerce of
the Pacific, but it Is to a commerce so
vastly developed that In Its volume the
diversion of part of it will still leave us
a very great business.
And we look to the canal as one of the
most effective agencies In the develop
ment of the future enlarged Pacific com
merce. This canal. In connection with
other forces now operating In the Pa
cific Ocean, will, we believe, lead to an
amazing growth of all the countries which
border the ocean, and will create a gen
eral field of commerce. In whose large for
tunes we are bound very largely to share.
It is not to a petty business of trans
shipment that we look, but to an interest
in a great field of trade which will mea
surably be our own.
Under the conditions of the Pacific
world as we see them there will be right
at our doors a market for all that we can
produce. Instead of sending, as we
largely do now, our products to vastly
distant markets, at great cost for car
riage, there to compete with the surplus
.of many other countries, we hope to find
for them a ready sale In the market of
the Pacific Ocean. Already we have some
experience in this market, and It has
promoted hopes for Its development A
very considerable of our wheat product
has of late years been sold In the form
of Hour to Pacific countries, and tne ef
fect has been that every wheat farmer
has gained from a fraction of a cent to
two cents per cental over what, he would
have got in the old markets. We have,
too. sold within the past few years large
quantities of lumber in the Pacific Ocean
countries, with the effect of revolution
izing our timber business and of giving
a new value to our great timber fields.
And from these beginnings we hope to
proceed to other forms of trade, and
through them to gain the profit which
comes from direct dealing tvit.i prosper
ous and growing countries relatively near
home and In whose markets we shall in
the nature of things have many advan
tages. Here, In brief, are the broad reasons
why the Pacific States want the itthmlan
canal, and the motives which make it
Impossible that the opinion and ambition
of the country should be cajoled into an
attitude of opposition and obstruction.
We want to see the Pacific world grow.
In order that we may grow with it We
want to see on the ocean which fronts
our side of the continent an independent
rieia or trade, in which we shall hold a
relation of natural and close partnership.
And we see In the canal project a means
of vastly facilitating this great movement
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Coasting accidents are beginning to fill
the hospitals.
Inventor Marconi seems to be having
the usual run smoothless engagement.
Chicago policemen have a protective as
sociation Most policemen rely on a club
for protection.
Perhaps Prince Henry will remain till
the Kaiser's yacht Is rigged and try to
lift the stein with her.
A mine of pure silver has been discov
ered In Montana. Is this preliminary to
renewed free-coinage agitation?
f It is rumored that Senator Hanna is to
retire from politics. The Senator, how
ever, does not believe in rumors.
Prince Henry Is bringing President
Roosevelt a gun. He has evidently been
reading the President's 6tory of the Rough
Riders.
Kubellk. the violinist. Is kissed by
many girls who hear him play. He is
thus able to keep his bow well strung all
the time.
Agu'.naldo still desires to come to the
United States. Perhaps he has heard
thero are more vacancies likely to occur
In the Cabinet
Charles M. Schwab has been paralyzing
Europeans by traveling around in special
trains. Mr. Schwab acts as If he expects
to go on the stage.
General Wheaton has been acquitted of
speaking disrespectfully of the Senate. His
utterances were probably confounded with
those of some paragrapher.
A syndicate story on the Hong Kong
junta going around the papers makes
Fox's "Book of Martyrs" look like tho
records of the rogues' gallery.
The London Illustrated News ears:
"That the design for the British postage
stamp should be 'made In Germany has
caused here and there a note of conster
nation; but in matters of art, at any rate,
we all of ue are, or ought to be, interna
tional In our tastes. Herr Fuchs has long
been known aa a designer for the mints,
and now he has work laid to his hand
at St. Martln's-le-Grand. Every point of
a postage stamp Is examined and can
vassed, not by collectors only, but by tho
public In general, as eagerly as a point
of law among lawyers, or thepolnta of a
horse among sportsmen."
A teacher In a Texas public school re
ceived the following letter the other day:
"Sir: Will you In the future give ray
son" easier some to do at nltcs? This Is
what he's brought hoam two or three nltes
back: 'If fore gallons of bere will fill
thirty to pint bottles how many pints
and half bottles will nine gallins of bere
fll??' Well, we tried and could make
nothln of it at all, aid my boy cried
and laughed and sed he didn't dare to go
bak in the mornln without doln it. So I
had to go and buy a nine gallln, keg of
bere, which I could 111 afford to do, and
then ho went and borrowed a lot of wine
and brandy bottles- We fill them, and my
boy put the number down for an answer.'
I don't know whether It Is right or not, as
we spilt some while doln" it- P. S. Please
let the next some be in water, as I am
not able to buy more bere."
Mr. Green, of Wichita, Kan., who has
Just celebrated his 96th birthday, waa a
neighbor of Martin Van Buren, whom he
disliked. He saw and talked with a man
who witnessed the famous ride of General
Putnam, and who said that Putnam did
not ride down the steps, but descended a
hill beside them. He knew Aaron Burr,
Admiral Decatur, President Jackson and
Santa Ana. His boyhood chum was a
cabin boy to John Paul Jones, the famous
sea fighter. "The last time I took a
drink," said Mr. Green, "was the day
Franklin Pierce was elected. Myself and
three others went to a tavern and I set
'em up. The round cost me 12 cents. In
those days whisky was gopd and It didn't
cost much. After I drank my Jigger I
turned around to the boys and said, 'That
Is my last drink." They laugh rd, but I
have kept the pledge ever since." Refer
ring Jo his dislike of Van Buren, he says:
"Maybe It la because I knew him so fa
miliarly. He looked too much like a wolf
to suit me."
Shakespeare and II In Works,
Punch.
Marred, murdered, misquoted.
Adapted, mistaken;
And volubly voted
The product of Bacon.
And prefaced with comment
Abridged, annotated.
By men of no moment
Curtailed and collated.
Sold, sold and resold.
Bound, bound, bound again.
With edges and tops of gold.
Or sprinkled or plain.
The poems In vellum.
The dramas In cloth;
And together they sell 'em.
Or separate, or both.
Recited and acted.
And bellowed and 'spouted.
Extracted, redacted.
By amateurs shouted.
And edited, edited
By old or new men.
And frequently credited .
With some acumen.
Rhymed, sonnct-cd, ode-d
In Immature verse
With eulogy loaded.
Or Just the reverse.
Tmltatcd. dissected
And parodied, too.
Essayed and selected
For some one's review.
Trimmed, twisted, translated.
To suit every tongue.
Pruned, cut. expurgated
(A Rift for the young), .
Explained, illustrated.
And turned Into prose,
Criticised, emendated!
And read? Goodness knows!
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS
Brown Tou never know the worth of a wife
until some great trouble befalls you. Merrlt
Yes, It's so nice to lay the blame on her. Tlt
Blts. The Billionaire's Parting Precept. "My chil
dren, bless you! And remember this: Lay
something by every year. If It Is OMly a few
millions." Life.
On Htm. Husband How long Is It since I've
been to church? Wife Do you mean to pay
you've forgotten our wedding day? Brooklyn
Life.
High. She They say pansles are "for
thoughts." I wonder why. He Well, this
time of year they make you think twice beforo
you buy them. Philadelphia Press.
Quite Correct. Teacher What zone is thl3
In which we live? Johnny Temperate. Teach
erCorrect. Now, what Is meant by a "tem
perate son"? Johnny It's a place whpre It's
freezln' cold in Winter an red-hot in Summer.
Philadelphia Press.
Composite. Dahaway Qullldrlver seems to
be a fellow of extremes one who writes awful
slush and sublime prose, and who Is at the
5amo time an Idiot and a genius. Clevcrton
Where did you get such an Idea? Dashaway
I've Just been reading the reviews of his latest
book. Harper's Bazar.
The Stamp of Poetry. "I don't Bee much
poetry In thin." he raid. "Don't you?" she
exclaimed. "Why. Just see. There Is me-
thinks and here is 'mayhap. and. let's sec
where Ii that, now? Oh. yes, here It Is
'haply why, it's one" of the poeticalest Mttm
X things I ever saw." Chicago Herald-Record