THE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY IS, 1902. lie x;zgovticax Entered at the Po-tofflce at Fortland. Oregon, as seeoad-class matter. revised subscription rates. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Daily, with Sunday, per month $ S3 XiaMy. Sunday excepted, per year 7 60 lii.l . with Sunday, per year 9 00 Sunday. pr year - 00 Tie "Weekly, per year 1 50 The Weekly. S months B0 To City Subscribers Dally. pr -week, delivered. Sundays excepted.l5s Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays lncluded.20c POSTAGE HATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-page paper.. c Z to 2S-page reaper 2c Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Orogonlan should be addressed lnvarla b.y "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to adver tising subscriptions or to any business matter should tx? addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Ore-rordan does not buy poems or etorles Trom individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It -without solici tation. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. Eastern Business Office, 1Z. li. 45. 4. B. 49 Tribune building. New Tork City: 409 "The Rookery." Chicago; the S. C. Beckwlth special agency. Eastern representative. For itale In San Francisco by L. E. Lee. Fal tce Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter street; F. IV. Pitts. 100S Market street: 3 K. Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Pa ace Hotel: Footer .& Orear. Ferry newa fciand. For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 258 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 003 Sjirlng street.. For aale In Sacramnto by Sacramento News Co , 420 K street. Sacramento. Cat. For rale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 237 Dearborn street, and Chas. MacDonald, 53 "V a h tact on Mret. For sale in Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. IC12 Famara ktreet. For tal in Salt Lake by he Salt Lake News Cr , 77 V.. Second South street. Fur sale In New Orleans by A. C. Thelps. G9 Commercial Alley. For sale In Ogden by TV, a Kind. 204 Twcn tl -fifth otrt-et. and C. II. Myers. On nie at Charleston. S. C. In the Oregon ex hibit at the expedition. For sale in "Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett 31-ue news Ftand. For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kcndrtck. 900-012 Seventeenth street: Louthan & Jack-on Book & Stationery Co.. 15th and 3-a-ro;ctt Mreets; A. Series, 1C57 Champa ttrxvt. TODAY'S WEATHER Trobably showers; .ightly cooler; southwesterly winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature. M. minimum temperature, 4S; pre- ,-ltatioR. 0.3S Inch. PORTLAND, TUESDAY, FEHRUARY IS RIGHT TO THK Pl'KPOSR. The Outlook, widely known as a weekly review, conspicuous alike for nthe ability and conservatism, has this to say about the ship subsidy bill: Th prevent bill is rather a. measure to In crease th profits of the present owners and lu Iders of American ships than to increase the Fixe of th merchant marine flying the American itag and carrying our foreign trado. . It Is simply a measure to Iiolp the si '.p-butldere. who last year enjoyed the most TT ifltable season they have ever known, and t help the ship-owners, who nt this very t rae ar trying to effect n combination to ireent lower rates. This Is precisely to the point and pur j.nso Hut in spite of the attempt to fern combinations to prevent lower rates, we have lower rates, and no sub sidy either. .. The rates are now reasonable. The tendency of the freight market proves ncluslvely that no subsidy is needed t'i secure to the producers of the coun try cheaper freights. Subsidy would simply put more money, taken from the p "pie through taxation, into the coffers f .shipowners already rich. It would be In effect a guarantee of their business against the natural movements of the market, to which they, as all others, should justly be subject. Nuv. however, we may suppose, the argument for subsidy will take a new turn Last year it was contended that subsidy must be paid out of the Treas ury as a mwins of lowering the freight rate. Doubtless It now will be urged that the freight rate is so low that the jirtnr shipowner is entitled to payments from the Treasury as a means of mak ing up his losses. Any argument for subsidy will do, provided the Treasury can be opened by It. The esteemed Post Intelligencer, of Seattle, doesn't care which of these forms or directions the argument lakes. The subsidy's the thing, and the reason for it unimport ant. WELL AVORTH WHILE. The United States Senate yesterday, without division or amendment, ratified the treaty providing for the acquisition of the Danish West Indies. Since the decline of their sugar industry these islands have been of small value to Denmark. In 1SC7 Secretary Seward agreed to pay $7,500,000 for St. Thomas and St. John, but the treaty ultimately failed of ratification by the Senate. To day our Government pays but $5,000,000 fT the three Islands of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. We buy the islands largely as a naval station. Porto jRi has not a single port that can be compared with St. Thomas harbor in natural advantages for a naval station. The harbor of San Juan is deep enough, but the entrance is narrow, shallow and tortuius. No harbor outside of Cuba In the West Indies Is equal to that of St. Thomas. It Is a mile and a half wide, two miles long, would accommo date 200 merchant ships, and has rlenty of deep water. It is within con venient distance of the canal which we shall build at Nicaragua or Panama. The harbor of St. Thomas will be worth more to us than all the rest of the three Islands. The Island of St. John is of little importance In any sense. The large Island St. Croix Is the most pic turesque and fertile of the three. Its sugar planters have introduced modern machinery and modern methods for the production of raw sugar. In the belief that a great revival of the industry wnuld follow the purchase of the Islands by the United States, and they have also been planting cocoa, coffee and other tropical products to take the place of sugar. The inhabitants, white and black, for the most part speak English, and there is no doubt that we can make the Islands worth much more to this coun try lhan they cost. We sell the Islands today the food they do not raise, and nearly all the coal they sell to steam ships comes from this country, but Great Britain has hitherto sold them most of their cotton good" In the year 1900 the Islands exported to the United States sugar, molasses and distilled spirits amounting to ?5GS.93o. In the same time American imports aggregated 5625,000. St. Thomas is likely to become a favorite health resort for Americans who enjoy a tropical Winter. The cli mate is said to be quite as fine as that of Nassau, in the Bahamas. The people are intelligent, and number many cul tivated persons. When once a great naval station is built, there is little doubt that St. Thomas will become a favorite Winter health resort for Amer icans. The climate Is far better than that of Florida, which is little more than a sand bank and a swamp. Uncle Sam has made a good bargain from the naval defense point of view, and in St. Thomas we have an admirable health resort. There are no more earth quakes In St. Thomas than elsewhere in the West Indies. Near St. Thomas are the small British islands that are being strongly fortified, and. with a great American and a great British naval sta tion within close call of each other, there will be plenty of good society for Winter visitors. CONSTITUTIONAL INFIRMITIES. The vigorous arraignment of our mo nopolistic corporations, and incidental ly of the Industrial Commission's treat ment of them, brought by Mr. T. W. Phillips and printed in The Oregonlan yesterday, is fully justified by theCom mission's action, and by the further fact that, although the Commission had voluminous testimony before it as to the practice of the protected ,trusts In selling cheaper abroad than at home, it professes itself unworthy to reach any conclusion on that most important phase of the trust problem, and mus ters the temerity to recommend the creation of another body to pursue In quiries on that head. One can but con clude that this Commission, like our Congressional committees, stands in awe of the protected interests, and would fain leave them undisturbed by anything more pointed than glittering generalities and suggestions for contin ued research. It is to be feared the basic difficulty In our corporation problem, or rather the resource most readily availed of by influential campaign committees and corporation lawyers, arises through our awkward and antiquated fixed relation ship between the states and the Fed eral Government. Attack a trust in a state and it becomes a creature of In terstate commerce. Attack it in the Federal courts and you trench upon the powers reserved to the states. It is transparently wrong that a corporation should be liccrsed In New Jersey to do things in Minnesota contrary to the law of Minnesota. Business corporations are subject to the states. This was once well enough, because their operations were local. Now that their operations are National, the law controlling them should be Federal. This infirmity of the Federal Government is a sort of converse to the infirmity under which the states suffer in the arbitrary ar rangement which has given to Congress customs and Internal revenue devices which enable the Treasury to be over flowing at times when state and munici pal governments are sorely put to it for means to pay expenses. Instead of being a sacred thing re vealed by divine Inspiration, it is in many respects a stone wall across the path of progress. We have had to ab rogate it in practice in reducing the electoral college to an automaton, and If we could we would also override its clumsy and demoralizing rule for elec tion of Senators. The Inequity of Sen atorial and electoral college representa tion, bestowed to Insure the ratifica tion of the Constitution by the smaller states, has become a heavy burden. Representatives found unworthy now continue to sit in Congress for a year and more after their successors have been elected, and the man who takes his seat in December has to begin his campaign for re-election before the Winter is over. Yet there are many men who, when their crotchets are menaced, profess to consider the Con stitution as sacred as the ark of the Covenant. It is a wonder Senator Hoar has the courage to propose a change in the date of Inauguration day. How can he expect to share the fate of poor Uzzah at Nachon's threshing-floor? COLl'MIJIA AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS Newspapers at Puget Sound but per haps there is but one, only one at least that makes itself aggressive in the mat ter naturally desire to arrest develop ment of commerce through the Colum bia River. This is from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: The silly and only excuse offered by The Ortgonlan, in Its Juggling with the question of river imsrovement, for Its slaughter of up per river Interests, Is that the only place to begin the Improvement of a waterway Is at Its mouth. Until that h5 been completed, work on the upper reaches Is thrown away. The argument Is Imbecile, the facts directly contrary to the assumption. Suppose that no money had been appropriated for the Missis sippi until the Eads Jetties were finished. Scppose that New Orleans had dared to fight upper river appropriations until there was a deep channel from that city to the Gulf. And yet it is the Improvement at the mouth of the Mississippi, so that vessels may enter the river and reach New Or leansthis result it is that alone makes the Improvement of the Upper Missis sippi and its tributaries desirable, ad vantageous or possible. If large ves sels could not come and go at New Orleans, to and from the sea, navigation of the upper river would be practically useless. All the money expended on the Upper Mississippi was practically wasted, till the Eads jetties had been built and an outlet was had for com merce from New Orleans to the sea. In the case of the Mississippi It took two generations, or three, to prove the faK lacy of the notion of beginning to build the house at the top. The only im portance the Mississippi has as a chan nel of commerce it has acquired by con struction of the jetties at the mouth. The case of the Columbia is precisely the same. The upper river must also be Improved; but the first necessity Is a channel at the mouth, like that created by the Eads jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi. The matter is so obvious, so necessary to common sense, that the committee of rivers and harbors will entertain no other idea. Possibly the Seattle paper is honest In Its contention. If so, its stupidity is marvelous. Now and again American parents pro test vehemently against the official reg ulation that requires children to be vac cinated as a matter of public precaution before they are permitted to attend the public schools. While prudent people generally place the safeguard furnished by vaccination between their children and a disease at once loathsome and dangerous, and so highly contagious as to cause general alarm wherever a pa tient afflicted with it Is found walking abroad, there are many who, from scru ples of various kinds, and more who from carelessness, refuse or neglect to take this precaution. In Germany no such laxness as this Is permitted. Every child is and must be vaccinated before the age of two years, and revacclnated upon entering school. As a result of this requirement there were only twenty-eight deaths from smallpox In all Germany In 1900. An example of the value of vaccination often cited is found in the German and French armies. Ger many requires all of her soldiers to be vaccinated, while France does not make the matter compulsory upon her sol diers. When Paris was entered by the Germans, in 1871, there were about 100. 000 men in the army of occupation. While the French In that city lost over 23,000 by smallpox, the German loss was less than 100. Extending the com parison to our own country, It is said that in the City of Philadelphia the center of sanitary science more people die from smallpox In a month than Ger many loses In an entire year from the same cause. But, then, we must pay in some way for Individual freedom as against paternalism in government. That smallpox takes toll of this princi ple merely proves that not all Ameri cans have come up to the Ideal of per sonal liberty in government, which, to be fully realized, must be met by indi vidual responsibility. OCR L'NIIAPPV DEMOCRATS. There was not a man in the House of Representatives who wished to vote against the war revenue bill or who entertained the slightest hope of its amendment, even after weeks of de bate; and yet the minority declared in Impassioned tones that it was being de prived of its liberties. Wiat end could be served by a long debae? The only end that could be served was the desire of the antis to howl on the Senatorial plan about anti-imperialism. But for the cloture, we should have had In the House just such tirades as Tillman and Dubois have used to disgrace the Senate in exemplification of its dearly prized dignity and courtesy. Everybody knew what the repeal bill meant, and that no debate would change it. Everybody was In favor of it, for it was carried unanimously. As for discussion, the subject has been discussed for three years, and stands In no need whatever of oratorical buncombe on either side. The bill is commendable in principle, though iniquitous by Incident. Its wrong lies in the fact that the taxes that ought to be repealed are not in ternal revenue taxes, which are not bur densome, though the tax on tea Is un just, but customs taxes, maintained for the benefit of protected corporations. The bill is discreditable In the respect that It is designed to bolster up the tariff Iniquity and prevent concessions to Cuba and the Philippines. Yet it is entirely probable that the war taxes could be repealed substantially as this bill proposes and relief similarly be granted to most of the sufferers from unreasonable tariffs. Reduction of du ties on products of protected trusts would lower their prices, but with the possible exception of sugar, would not materially affect the volume of Imports and the proceeds of duties. In so far as reduction stimulated imports, cus toms revenues would be increased, for at present the trusts defy foreign com petition and keep out Imports through the tariff. War taxes can be repealed and customs schedules lowered simul taneously. Instant repeal of the war taxes, there fore, affords basis neither for Demo cratic umbrage nor for Republican Inac tion on tariff reform. As for cloture, the Democrats used it themselves on the Wilson bill. As for Democratic ab horrence of unrighteous tariffs, it need not be taken seriously. The Democrats have never shown that they would re peal them. They didn't when they had the chance. THEY HAVE ONLY TO BEHAVE. it was Alphon9e Karr, a witty French writer, who, when asked if he favored the abolition of capital punishment, re plied, "Yea, If messieurs, the assassins, will make it safe for us to do so." This Is the natural reply to the petition pre sented by United States Senator Hoar recently asking for an investigation by a Senate committee to the end of tak ing steps for the suspension of hostili ties and the "stopping of barbarous methods of waging war." The list of signatures Includes George S. Boutwell, 84; Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, SO; Rev. Edward E. Hale, SO; Colonel Higglnson, 79; George F. Edmunds, 74; Carl Schurz, 73; Professor Norton, 75; W. D. Howells, altruistic philosopher, and John Bur roughs, ornithologist and skillful mixer of bosh and botany. Of course, the sig natures of Ervlng Winslow and William Lloyd Garrison are appended to this petition. The humanity of these anti Imperialists seems about as ludicrously misplaced as that of the little girl who, on being shown a picture of the "Chris tian Martyrs Thrown to the Lions," ex claimed, "There is one poor Hon that don't appear to have any Christian mar tyr." The appeal to "end this barbar ous warfare" should be made to the Filipino guerrilla chiefs who habitually practice unspeakable cruelties upon their Spanish prisoners as well as upon Americans. These Filipino bandits have burled American prisoners alive; have cut them to ribbons with bole. These are not camp stories; they rest on the evi dence given before our military courts. Francisco Braganza, In February 1900, at Balluag, bound 103 young Spanish prisoners, led them into a grove and murdered them with knife, fcolo and club. This was done to save them from rescue by General Bell's troops, which were In pursuit. In April, 1901, Bra ganza presented himself as an insur gent officer and took the oath. He was recognized, arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged In Decem ber last. The last issue of the Army and Navy Register contains a letter from an enlisted man of the Ninth In fantry who was an eye-witness of the fearful massacre of three commissioned officers and forty-eight men at Balan glga by a mob of bolomen, who shame fully mutilated the dead bodies of the officers. A recent report from Bohol gives the details of a narrow escape from death of two officers of the Nine teenth Infantry, who, having occasion to search a suspected house, had hardly entered the main floor when they were precipitated Into a pit which bristled with sharpened bamboo stakes. Both the officers were Injured, and the native guide who accompanied them was Im paled on one of the stakes and died before he could be rescued. Another building was discovered whose main floor had been released from Its sup ports and balanced en a central pillar, so that the floor would tilt and thrust its occupants Into a cellar which was equipped with rusty bayonets and sharpened bamboos placed on end. The Army officers in the Philippines have been warned to guard against this barbarous method of warfare, so that today few houses are entered without a careful preliminary examination. The worst miscreants among the leaders of these Filipino banditti are men who have been village schoolmasters; one of the worst was a man of intelligence who had received the education of a priest And these are the kind of creat ures whose severe punishment excites the sympathy and obtains the protest of "the old guard" of anti-imperialism in America. "The great majority of the people of the islands," says Governor Taft, "desire peace. If it were not for these barbarous guerrillas they would be glad to settle down and earn a quiet living. The action of these barbarous insurgents is a crime against civiliza tion, and they have worn out the right to any treatment but that which is se vere and within the laws of war." North of a line drawn across Luzon through Manila complete order prevails. "An American can go anywhere through the country there, unarmed and alone.". An isolated region of dis turbance exists south of Manila, in the swamps of Batangas and about Laguna Bay, but even this district, according to the last report of Geenral Bell, has been substantially cleared of brigands. The Island of Negros is at peace. It has 500,000 population, and turned out the last year 106,000 tons of sugar. In Panay, which is densely populated, there is not a single village or large town where an American cannot go safely unarmed. ' Cebu and Mindanao are at peace. There Is some fighting In Samar, never held by Spain, save in two isolated towns, because we Insist on creating a condition of industrial or der and security. These are the facts of the present situation in the Philip pines. Our methods call for no more just protest than did the operation of our trooops during the twenty years that followed our first beginning of the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1SS6 to 1S77 we were obliged to punish the hos tile Indians most severely and force them to choose between peace and ex termination. The Filipino brigands are as barbarous and cruel a foe as ever were the Apaches, and both Senator Edmunds and Senator Hoar voted for appropriations to wipe out the Indian. A great movement is reported to be In progress to organize educational work in the South. It has attracted the at tention and obtained the support of a number of men of great wealth, like John D. Rockefeller and his son. Ac cording to the Atlanta Constitution, among the white people of the South there are as many Illiterate men over 21 years of age as there, were when the census of 1S50 was taken, fifty-two years ago. This Ignorance of reading and writing exists among the white men of the South who have come to full age since 1SS1. These figures do not Include the children of negroes. This condition of affairs, this Georgia journal says, is not explicable on any grounds that are creditable to the white people of the South. This illiteracy Is described as abnormal, and due to a false and vicious educational system which needs to be corrected, even at the sacrifice of much ornamen'al instruction and Imported "culture," so-called. We do not believe the South is too poor to educate Its people out of Illiteracy, and the At lanta Constitution is of that opinion, for it says that, making every allow ance for the Impoverishment consequent upon the Civil War, the South since 1S70 has had the opportunity and the means to Improve the educational status of Its white people far beyond the low stand ard of fifty years ago. The Joint committee of the New York Legislature recently refused to report a bill which recognized the practice of osteopathy as a distinct school of medi cine. This decision was based on the fact that osteopathy was nothing but massage-masquerading as an all-around school of medicine; that all there Is in osteopathy that is true is a matter of common knowledge and common usage In the regular schools of medicine. In Massachusetts the registered list of per sons authorized by the State Board to practice the healing art Includes the names of several osteopaths, for the only requirement Is that all the appli cants shall pass the general examina tion in medicine. The law specifically prescribes that there shall be no dis crimination against any system or school of medicine, providing the can didates pass the regular examination prepared by the board. This Is fair, and Is all that any osteopath could ask. The state says: "We do not care whether you are an osteopath, so-called, or not, but we do care whether 'you have a fundamental, scientific knowl edge of anatomy and physiology'." A mere masseur has no more title to hold a license as a genuine doctor than a good nurse has a right to hold a license to practice as a genuine doctor. At the recent Good Roads Convention at Albany, N. Y It was voted to rec ommend to the Legislature the appro priation of $1,000,000 for highway con struction during the ensuing year, and to urge the passage of a so-called "wide tire" bill, which will require the use of tires at least four inches in width upon heavy vehicles. The State Engineer and Surveyor, in his annual report, pro poses that the state Issue bonds to the amount of $10,000,000 for the construc tion of trunk roads to connect the prin cipal cities of the state. He explained that such an issue could be retired in seventeen years and would cost the citi zens of the state but $760,000 annually in taxes. With it, upward of 1250 miles of good macadam road could be com pleted in less than four years, giving the state, with what is now built, 1425 miles of good roadway. Behold the ravages of the accursed gold standard! Superintendent F. D. Kilburn has made his report showing the condition of the savings banks of the State of New York on January 1, 1902. The total resources of these institu tions are shown to be $1,131,564,624, which is an Increase during the year of $05,500,403. The amount deposited In creased $17,832,313, the aggregate depos its in 1901 being $2S6,155,S26. No report hitherto has ever presented figures ap proaching these In magnitude. It has been stated by the British War Office that of the 446.0SS horses bought for the South African War, 77,101 came from the United States and 11,364 from Canada. At the average price given of $140 to $150, American horse breeders have had a good time of It, but it has been death to the horses. And the end isnot yet. The pension bill as passed by the Sen ate Includes a provision prohibiting the collection of a fee or compensation for aiding in the passage of special pen sion bills. The Introduction of such bills has been largely Increased, the number introduced Into the House this session being between 4000 and 5000. "The principle of protection," says the Baltimore American, always a Repub lican and hitherto a protection paper, "is rapidly being made odious by Its unreasonable and unnecessary applica tion, and once the American people are impressed with this fact, they will delay long in getting rid of the law." RUSSIA'S DEVIOUS COURSE. Chicago Record-Herald. In an interview with a Washington cor respondent Count Cassinl said of Russia's course In China: Acting In concert with the other powers. Russia strove to maintain peace and good order throughout tho portions of territory placed within her Guardianship. It has been announced frequently and solemnly that Rus sia harbored no design to annex Manchuria. As peaceful conditions were restored vast con tingents of tho Russian forces have been withdrawn from China and Manchuria and the territory returned to Chinese officials. With regard to the first of these asser tions it should be said that no part of China was ever placed within Russia's guardianship. Russia simply assumed the control of Manchuria, and she stated the case in this way: "Incidentally to necessary defensivo measures on the Rus sian border, Russia has occupied Nlu Chwang for military purposes, and as soon as order is established will retire troops therefrom if the action of other powers bo no obstaclo thereto." It will be observed that the reservations In. this statement are its most Important part, and as an evidence of good faith Russia at once began to negotiate a sep arato Manchurlan convention with the Chinese, white taking her share In the general convention of the powers. This Manchurian agreement has been pub lished In its entirety, and it may be said in brief that It provided for the com plete domination of the Russians to the exclusion of other foreigners. Its char acter was such that the United States Government protested to China that while the peace negotiations continued it was not advisable for her to enter into sep arate agreements with any power, and this note had the approval of all the in terested nations, except Russia. The pressuro against Russia then became greater than the pressure for Russia, and China refused to sign the agreement. A Russian note on the subject, which was issued April 5, 1901, cisht months af ter the capture of Pekin. attempted to explain Russia's actions, and concluded as follows: "While the Russian Government maintains Its present organization In Manchuria, to pre serve order In the vicinity of the broad fron tiers of Russia and remains faithful to Its original and oft-repeated political programme, it will quietly await events. Tho organization was then Intact, the center of control was far south of the frontier, and Russia at once began to figure on another convention. The ne gotiations have been managed with great secrecy, but it is understood that a ritew treaty which has been framed provides for tho continued occupation of the prov ince by Russian troops, for the drill of native troops hy Russia and for divers exclusive privileges for Russia. It has been opposed by the United States, as well as by England and Japan, and Count Cassinl's utterances will hardly af fect the policy of this Government. The facts are too strong against him. JEFFERSON OR LIVINGSTON? "Who Should Hnve Chief Credit for LonlNlniin Purchase? Some think that too much credit is given to Jefferson for the Louisiana purchase. To be sure, the purchase was made when Jefferson was President, and it Is there fore quite natural that to him. the prin cipal part of the credit for the purchase should be accorded. The claim is made, however, that Jefferson was at first op posed to tho purchase, and that the prin cipal credit for it should be accorded to Robert R. Livingston, of New York, who was our Minister to France when the pur chase was made. In the National House of Representatives a few days ago Champ Clark, of Missouri, concluded a character istic speech with a rhapsodical glorifica tion of Jefferson for the part he played In effecting tho Louisiana purchase, and when he sat down Representative D. S. Alexander, of Buffalo, who represents the 33d New York district in the House, took Issue with Representative Clark and claimed that the credit for tho purchase belongs mainly to Livingston and not to Jefferson. Said Representative Alexan der: I think that the time has come when it should bo stated upon ..ho floor of the House that there was a man behind the President who will yet be recognized by all Americans as tho one of all others responsible for the Louisiana purchase. I welcome tho coming of the St. Louis Exposition If for no other rea son than that it will be the means of again bringing to tho attention of this country tho truth of history. It ought not to mlnlmlza the efforts of Thomas Jefferson In so far as such efforts were rightly spent, but It will certainly bring Into view the magnificent work of a distinguished New Yorker, Robert R. Livingston. MIn'ster to France, by whom and through whom the Louisiana purchase was made. Xapoleon announced his determina tion to sell whatever American territory ho had obtained from Spain, and without hesita tion Mr. Livingston took him up. agreed upon a prfce and reported the transaction to Mr. Jefferson, who at once assumed that he had no Constitutional authority to make the pur chase. He wen.t so far as to write Intimate friends, members of the United States Senate, urging that they look with disfavor upon the proposition, slneo It could not be approved un less a Constitutional amendment was adopted opening the way for Its purchase by the Executive and Its ratification by the Senate; but while Jefferson was urging Its uncon stitutionality Mr. Livingston completed tho bargain, secured the co-operation of the Bar ingswho negotiated a loan of S15.000.000, the purchase price and then sent a confidential letter to the President saying that unless the purchase be ratified at once, Xapoleon would change his mind. Upon the receipt of this lettor President Jef ferson dropped nls Constitutional objections, wrote his Senatorial friends to say nothing about It. and urged them to get together and confirm the purchase without delay. That. In brief. Is the history of the Louisiana purchase, and that history, wrought out In all Its details by the orators who will be heard at the St. Louis Exposition, should be written in let ters of gold and published from Maine to the Golden Gate, that the country may know that the man with the nerve, with the breadth of mind, with the foresight to make the pur chase and force its ratification, was not Thomas Jefferson, the narrow constructionist of the Constitution, but Robert R. Livingston, one of New York's greatest and foremost statesmen. I do not wish to depreciate tho part taken in that great historical transac tion by the President of the United State, whose name Is Justly honored; American citi zens should recosnlze the fact that the man to whom we owe the honor aifd the debt of gratitude for the Louisiana purchase 13 Robert R. Livingston, of New York, and not Thomas efferson. of Virginia. Another Cnrnesr'e Epitaph. New York Times. New York, Feb. 10. (To the Editor.) Here lies a man who was the possessor of millions. Tills money he gained by In domitable pluck, perseverance, great man aging ability, and principally by the pow erful .assistance of a high protective tariff. He was a great manufacturer of steel rails, and sent to Japan 10.000 tons of the same at a price of over 52 a ton less than what they could be made for in England. After he had made this colossal fortune, realizing that the United States had poured it Into his pockets, he very kindly and magnanimously. In the closing years of his life, gave back some of this money to the people. May all tariff-enriched millionaires and trusts follow his glori ous example! Requiescat in pace. A. D. We Shall Keep he Philippines. Atlanta Constitution, Dem. The archipelago Is the property of the United States and will remain such for all present purposes. It is folly to dis cuss whether we are to retain these islands, release them or retail them or wholesale them to another power. The temper of the people Is unmistakable. They mean to keep the Philippines. AMUSEMENTS. , After ,a wilderness of musical comedies masquerading as comic opera, of lyrics which are but variants of themes stale In old Ben Franklin's days, and of music positively gaseous in Its lightness, it is a pleasure to listen to such an opera as "The Princess Chic." which opened to a crowded house at the Marquam last night. Kirk LaShelle has written a book which blends sentiment and fun In a charming fashion, and Julian Edwards has set it to such music as one does not often hear grand opera music, translated into a lan guage that the ordinary theater-goer can ray he enjoys without crossing his fingers and winking at the truth. The company presenting it is all good. In a ca"st of a dozen or more there are no sticks. Not a singer inspires the auditor with a desire to hear the end of the song, and of the four comedians, it would be difficult to say which is the funniest. Such an opera, presented by such a company, costumed with a lavishness that makes reports of the preparations for the coronation look Insipid, has not been seen In Portland for many a long day, and it is not surprising that the audience speedily awakened to the fact that they were seeing and hearing a good thing, and applauded like little boys at a circus. Mr. LaShelle has taken the story of Charles the Bold for a subject, and out of It has built a real plot, with a Princess who assumes all kinds of disguises as the central figure, surrounded by a stal wart body of men, while a collecton of the prettiest girls one would care to see Is on hand ready to be soldiers, courtiers, damsels or anything that Is necessary to lively movements and gorgeous stage pic tures. There i3 abundance of merriment, skillfully contributed by four gentlemen of various conditions, and plenty of love making, mostly done by the Duke, the Princess Chic and a soubrcttc. who is ex ceedingly comprehensive in her affections. Maud Lillian Berri. as the Princess Chic, has the most singing to do. and she did it last night in a way that won her audi ence from the start. She has a sweet, clear voice, which she uses with consum mate art, and in two songs in the second act. "If" and "The Water Nymph and the River God," she displayed it splendidly. Miss Berri is withal a good actress, and her playing of the part could hardly have been improved upon. Dorothy Hunting Is another member of the company who possesses unusual vocal gifts, and her singing of "The Love Light in Your Eyes" was such as to cause disappoint ment that she was not heard again in a solo. Thomas Leary, Edwin S. Metcalfe, W. A. Lawrence and Neil McNeill con tribute all the comedy that is necessary, and do it well. Their last endeavors, a topical song, earned them something like a dozen recalls. Mr. Metcalfe, who has a voice of fine bass quality, also distin guished himself in a more serious effort, "War Is a Bountiful Jade," a swinging solo, with a men's chorus behind it. The crowning number of the opera is the quar tet In the last act. in which arc heard Miss Berri, Miss Hunting. Mr. Wllke and Mr. Knight. Edna Floyd Is a pretty sou brette; Hubert Wilke does some fine work as Charles; Frederic Knight makes good use of what opportunity he has to use his tenor, and the remainder of the principals are admirable. The company, which numbers 50 people (not press agent's fig ures), has been well chosen, and the work of the chorus was marvelous, being par ticularly effective In the magnificent finales. The scenery is sumptuous, and the costuming, as has already been said. Is something to go a long way to see. "The Princess Chic" will be repeated tonight, tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. COMING ATTRACTIONS. ClilcaRO Symphony Orchestra. The sale of seats for the Chicago sym phony orchestra, which comes to the Mar quam Grand Theater next Friday and Saturday night, will open tomorrow morn ing at 10 o'clock. The orchestra Is a star organization throughout. The four cele brated soloists that appear are all well and favorably known in the East. No orches tra seems to enjoy the popularity of the Chicago symphony orchestra, save pos sibly the Boston symphony. Unfvcraltr Glee Club. The University of Oregon Glee Club, which is now touring the Willamette Val ley, will appear In Portland on Friday evenlns of this week, at 'the Y. QT. C. A. Hall. The club Is composed of 16 voices, while i-everal specialists have been placed on th nrocramme. Professor S. M. Glen kwill appear as baritone soloist, and a number of the college boys win ao special stunts. The Oregon Glee Club has mado a number of successful tours. Its last ap pearance in this city being on January 1, 1S00. Under the training of Professor Glen the club has developed Into ono of the most popular musical organizations in the state. Tickets for the concert aro now on sale at the Y. M. C. A. office, on Fourth and Yamhill streets. VARIOUS ITEMS. The longest stretch of railway without a curve Is 211 miles, from Buenos Ayres to the foot of the Andes, on the now Argentine Pa cific Railway. A bequest of ?SO,000 from the estate of Henry Vlllard has been made to Columbia University for the establishment of a chair of Germanic languages. The longest bridge In 'the world Is the Lion bridge, near Sangang. in China. It extends five and one-quarter miles over an arm of the Yellow Sea. and Is supported by 300 hugo stone arches. The roadway Is 70 feet above the water and Is Inclosed tn-an Iron network. Thomas Hitchcock, who has stirred up so much criticism in New York through his de clining to give up his opera box to Prlnco Henry. 13 a man of wealth and culture and was known for many years as a financial writer over the pseudonym of "Matthew Marshall." Miss Forrest, who died at Jedburg, Scot land, recently, S4 years old. was accustomed to say that she remembered Sir Walter Scott speaking a few kind words to her when she was at play In Friars. Jedburg. At her fa ther's gunsmlthshop Sir Walter often onlled to have antiquities repaired. President Hnrper, of the University of Chi cago. Is making an effort to gain an accurate estimate of the expense Incurred by students during their siudy at that Institution. Ho has prepared a series of questions, called the "students' budget," covering every Item of expense from candy to tuition fees. Engineer RJevousky, of St. Petersburg, has Invented an electric motor plow which Is said to make a furrow 12 Inches deep, with a saving from 5 to T per cent in power as compared with the ony plow, with a shal lower furrow. It elicited great admiration at the electric congress Just held In Moscow. The Skeptics. Bliss Carman. "It was the little leaves beside the road." Said Grass, "What Is that sound So dismally profound. That detonates and desolates the alr4" "That Is St. Peter's bell." Said raln-wtse Pimpernel: "He Is music to tho godly. Though to us he sounds so oddly. And he terrifies the faithful Into prayer." Then something very like a groan Escaped the naughty little leaves. Said Grass, "And whither track These creatures all In black. So woebegone and pcntlnent and meek?" "They're mortals bound for church," Said the little Sliver Birch: "They hope to get to heaven And have their sins forgiven. If they talk to God about it once a week." And something very like a smile Ran through the naughty little leaves. Said Grass. "What Is that noise That startles and destroys Our blessed Summer brooding when wfre tired?" "That'3 folk a-pralslng God," Said the tough old cynic Clodr "They do It every Sunday, They'll be all right on Monday, It's just a little habit they've acquired." And laughter spread among the Utile leaves. X0TE AND COMMENT. Beef may now be bought retail at a wholesale advance In price. Lucky the milliner that gets the Job of building the coronation bonnets. There is still room for a few more choice names on the registration books. Perhaps Hon. Charles A. Tpwne may yet head the Wall-Street presidential ticket. A negro minstrel was lynched in Mis souri the other day. He must have tried to springs a new joke. At last accounts General Dewet was stil on tho other side of the kopje and about three laps ahead. Funston Is well again. The wide awake newspapers will immediately send their best reporters on his trail. Cuba didn's know thit the protection Congress talked about before the Spanish war was meant for the trusts. The signs of Spring are multiplying. Several loads of household furniture have been seen on the streets lately. People who have distinguished them selves by having the automobile face and golf eye must now get the German tongue to be in style. A case of an innocent man in prison has been discovered. As there are many guilty ones out of prison, however, he ought to be able to console himself. We call the attention of our readers to a poem by our esteemed contributor. Miss Tlllie Johnson, which might have been considerably better never than late. We have received a communication and six Inches of poetry from a sweet young thing who says her name is Met Rivers. It contains a theory as to the where abouts of Tillie Johnson, which would be all right If it wasn't all wrong, as sub sequent events have proven It. How ever, It shall not long be withheld from an anxious public, and will be published on the installment plan, one lino at a time until it is all in. When the poem is completed, a prize will be offered to the person who shall be able to gather It to gether and make a poem out of It. Mr. Editor, Dear Sir Irne glad yu ap preshlate ml potery an wood have sent yu sum last weak but I am studyin an prepirin myself for a moar eggsaltcl poslshun. Thare is a Man hear who sez he is goin to the leglslater next year an if my bruthers ole and Sven vote for him he will make me clerk when the leglslater meets In Salem. He sez I will only have to smlio an look purty an draw my silury. and i will meat all the most brllyunt men in the state such as senators and nuzpapcrs and grafters whatever tha are. I send you sum. potery Inspired by the acshun ov yure chamber of commerce. I never saw tho chamber but it must be as big as the dance hall at Detroit to hold so many men. THE CHINESE MUST GO. I red In your sood paper h0 sum Portland people want To bring inoro Chinee hoards to our fare land. How any one who knows them could think of such a thing. Is really more than I can understand. I dont know many Chlnee3 and dont want to know no more. And It I had my way I'd make them dance, I hate tharc nasty plgtales an thare little squlnty eyes. And the way thay ware thare shirts outside thare Th'ave the awfullest complcxshuns on them that wns ever saw. Thay must have yallow janders good and bad And If we could get rid of them forever ono an all. Your friend Tlllie Johnson, sweet singer of the Santlnm an expecting to be clerk In the nex leglslater would be Mighty, Mighty Glad. She means Detrolt-on-tho-Santlam. Trousers Is the word she would have writ ten here If she had more culture. Now that election tlmo Is approaching and tho Intelligent public of this stxto Is anxiously looking forward to the usual biennial treat of oratory and information, it Is proper to offer some suggestions In regard to the selection of speakers. Few politicians realize that in making speeches they discharge with their words a tor rent of bacteria and other microscopic organisms of different varieties, the harm ful or harmless character of which de pends upon the health of tho speaker. It can readily be seen what a capacity for spreading evil the unhealthy public orator Is endowed with. True, many of them sluico their mouths and organs of speech so often with some form of al chohollc stimulant and disinfectant that their breath is not so charged with deadly organisms as It might be; but it Is well known that the mouth secretions of healthy people frequently contain such virulent microbes as the staphylococcus pyrogenes aureus, and the dlplococcus Ianceolatus, while that diphtheria bacilli may be present In the mouths of people who aro not suffering from the dlseaso has been conclusively and repeatedly demonstrated is a well-established fact. If so much danger attends the speaking of healthy people, what must be the risk of listening to long-winded speeches from persons suffering from consumption, influenza, or any other disease which affects the air passages, and the worst of it is that the louder tho orator talks, and the wider he opens his mouth, tho greater is the number of bacteria bacilli, microbes and other organisms thrown out and the further they reach, and when such an orator coughs or sneezes no one in the largest hall is safe. It will, there fore, be seen that It is very advisable that election orators should talk as little as possible, and that the public should stay away from such speech-making as much as possible, and trust to the reports of Immune reporters who attend the meetings. PLEASANTRIES OF PARVGRAPIIERS Sympathetic. Daggs I'd have you know, sir, that my ancestors were blue-blooded. Dlggs Too bad: why didn't they take something for it? Ohio State Journal. Photographer Now I want you to look as If you were not having your picture taken. Customer Then you'd better gfve me back the deposit I mado-ln advance. Life. For a Rainy Day. He I don't see why a woman shouldn't lay something by for a rainy day as well as a man. She Why, they do. I have a lovely rainy-day skirt Philadel phia Evenlns Bulletlnj Gratitude. Mrs. Tunner My dear professor. I cannot thank you enough for thl3 absorbing course of lecturers. While hearing you speak. I have actually been able to entirely forget my sick baby. Brooklyn Life. Ahead of the Game. Miss Grasplt Oh. mamma, what do you think? Clara Upperten has eloped. Mrs. Grasplt How fortunate! Now we won't have to send her a wedding present. Chicago Dally News. Not a Great Drawback. Friend There's an amateur dramatic organization In your village. Isn't there?" Suburbanite Yes, but I usually mannge to find an excuse for not attending their performances. Brooklyn Life. "My dear," she said to her Invalid hus band, "you haven't forgotten that sealskin sacque you promised me. have you?" "How can you think of suh things." he protested, "with death so near to me?" "But, my gracious! sealskin Is quite fashionable Xor mourning." Philadelphia Record. h ,