THE MORNING OREGOSIAN, FRIDAY, JDNF 20, 1902.
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OREGO.V IX BAD COMPANY.
The Oregonian fully recognizes and
has repeatedly pointed out the futile
dishonesty of nearly everything that
passes under the name of reciprocity;
3 ft it does not approve the course of
those Senators from the Pacific Coast
and elsewhere who have joined hands
with the Oxnard trust to defeat the
Cuban programme of the Administra
tion and the Republican, leaders. It Is
a strange attitude for this wealthy and
powerful Nation to assume toward a
little island and an unfortunate people,
that, having taken possession of their
Island and at length relinquished to
them the shadow, not the substance, of
independence, we decline to accede them
profitable terms of entry into our mar
kets, their natural markets, and markets
they prefer on grounds of sentiment
as well as of convenience. The "insur
gent" ranks comprise erne Senator from
Kansas, Michigan, Illinois, Washington
and Maryland, and two Senators from
each of these seven states:
California
Oregon
Net ada
Nebraska
South Dakota
Minnesota
West Virginia
The merits of the beet-sugar conten
tion we have so often discussed that It
is useless and undesirable to consider
them again at this time; but does It not
argue a strange weakness in the justice
of the Oxnard contention that it has
failed to enlist the support and sympa
thy of a single Republican Senator out
side of the few we have named? If
the Cuban proposals are so iniquitous,
unjust, ruinous and unwise as the in
surgents say they are. how Is it that
they retain the adherence of such men
as Lodge and Spooner, Hoar, and Haw
ley, Cullom and Beveridge, Foraker and
Frye, Hale and Proctor?
"Who are these men with whom our
Oregon Senators have allied themselves?
There are Mason the clown and Welling
ton the renegade; Gamble and Kltt
redge, Dietrich and Millard, nobodies;
Elklns and Burrows, trimmers on great
questions and buccaneers in politics. Men
"who had the courage to stand out
against the pressure for Injustice to
Porto Rico two years ago are now found
with President Roosevelt In his appeal
for justice to Cuba. Senator Simon,
-ho dared to stand out against the
President then for justice to Porto Rico,
is afraid to stand with the President
now for justice to Cuba, and in Senator
Mitchell's action with the insurgents.we
have the best possible proof that that
past master of "Washington diplomacy
never expects to plead that he lost caste
with the Administration because he
voted on Cuba just as Simon once voted
on Porto Rico.
"When Porto Rico was dealt her cruel
blow, Oregon had one "vote for "plain
duty." Today she has none for "plain
duty" for Cuba. And the consumers of
sugar, whose concern Is not for high
prices, are left without representation
from the Pacific Coast.
THE "ACTUAL SOOXEnS."
The Department of the Interior should
have had experience enough with land
openings by this time to be able to con
duct one without injustice either to the
old settlers on reservation lands or to
newcomers who desire to file, in regu
lar order, upon these lands for home
stead purposes. It ssems. however, that
there has been serious lapse of pru
dence if not of justice in arranging for
opening the Port Hall Indian reserva
tion to settlement. Persons who have
long resided upon certain sections by
sufferance, which is considered tacit
permission, of the Government, and who
have made valuable improvements
thereon, were not granted the protec
tion that they felt they had a right to
expect from the Incoming thtong of
"sooners" and seekers, and many of
them are threatened with the loss of
the accumulations of half a lifetime,
though now perfectly willing and even
anxious to comply with the terms of the
opening. Trouble upon this score was
avoided when the Kiowa reservation
was opened, and it was logically sup
posed that the same rules would gov
ern at Fort Hall, but this seems not
to have been the case. If there is one
thing in the way of a business transac
tion that more than any other will put
fight Into a man of mild temper and in
cite a man of fiery blood to make deadly
use of a gun upon a fellow mortal, that
thing Is ruthless encroachment upon his
land holdings. "Whether the Invader be
a neighbor who disputes a boundarx
line for a few feet or rods of ground, a
claim-Jumper who catches the owner off
guard, or a reservation rusher who
ruthlessly files on land regardless of the
technical rights of the man. who has
built houses and barns thereon and cul
tivated and perhaps planted it to trees
and shrubbery, depending upon the
Government to give him first chance
when the time" comes to file upon it, the
spirit that the invasion excites la that
of bitter resistance, even if. It involves
murder. It Is the regret and frequent
ly becomes the scandal of a rural neigh
borhood when the land in dispute in
volves but a. few acres. It Is therefore
not surprising If the involvement of
large areas, including Improvements
that represent the labor of years, should
assume the proportions of a tragedy,
calling for the Interference of state and
even National authority. Trouble upon
this score should be avoided by all rea
sonable means, as Its Implacable nature
is well known.
THE SPIRIT OP THE MOB.
These Paterson riots should serve as
a warning to the peace officers of every
community where labor troubles are at
hand or impending. Their lesson is so
plain that their reproduction anywhere
else would be without excuse.
What makes a labor riot? Not the
employers, who are so often charged,
falsely, with conspiring to goad the
workingmen to overt acts. Not the
strikers, who have learned woll by this
time that violence only loses them the
sympathy of the public. Not anarchists
always, for, though anarchists have
been active in this Paterson strike, they
were not at all in evidence at Chicago.
"The riot is caused by a mob. And
a mob has no right to exist. It never
should be permitted to gather. The
men and women who constitute It have
no business at the scene of the trouble.
They should be kept away. Very little
excitement will transform any closely
crowded assemblage of human beings
Into a, mob. .&. word or gesture, when
the air Is freighted with suppressed ex
citement, may light the potential fires
of crazy passion latent in all of us,
like the flame of the electric spark In a
magazine of powder. The genius of the
mob it may itself unsuspect, but It is
there, terrible and all-devouring In un
reason and intensity. The way to keep
it from rising is to keep the crowds
from gathering. There will be no riot
If every unconcerned person Is at his
own business.
The most peaceable man in the world
may become a fiend, once the spirit of
the mob possesses him. The kindest
woman In the world may forget herself
in the hypnotic spell that passes over
multitudes when they are laboring un
der suppressed emotions of fear or
wrath. How often do we see this exem
plified in the case of a fire alarm at a
theater or a panic among factory girls!
It has been so in armies. Panic struck
the Federal troops at the first battle of
Bull Run. Panic ruled the Parisian
commune in the revolution's bloody
hours. Panic has killed and crippled
hundreds of theater-goers who might
never have been harmed if the spirit of
the mob had not seized upon them.
Panic makes the mobs that blacken the
annals of our labor difficulties. It is a
case where an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.
IS THIS AX EXAGGERATIONS
There has seldom, even in former
years of mossback farming and farmers
In Oregon, been so strong an arraign
ment of the Willamette Valley farmer
as a non-progresslve,.pessImlstlc. selfish
individual as that made by a corre
spondent over the signature of a "True
Friend of Oregon," published in The
Oregonian a few days ago. While ad
mitting that in former years the Wil
lamette Valley farmer was not as
thrifty as he might and should have
been,, the plea of Isolation and lack, of
market was urged In extenuation of his
slack ways, and of late years we have
been glad to believe that, these- causes
having been to a great extent removed,
the worthy, non-progressive pioneer and
his descendants were rising to meet the
situation and now may be found gen
erally in the van of progress. Hence
we are amazed at the picture drawn by
our correspondent of the "son of the
pioneer with straggling beard, un
combed locks and slouching gait, who
meets newcomers who are in search of
homes in the Willamette Valley with
words of discouragement which his un
kempt appearance and uncouth lan
guage emphasize."
Now we insist that, whatever may be
truly said of the slack ways, and even
of the slatternly appearance, of the na
tive Oregon farmer, and his venerable
forbears, the charge of disloyalty to the
soil, the climate and the productiveness
of Oregon cannot justly be numbered
among his shortcomings. Is It possible
that the belief In the Grange as an edu
cator is not well founded? That con
fidence In the passing of Isolation from
the farming districts, as an element of
civilization. Is misplaced? Has not the
log schoolhouse or the no schoolhouse
given place to the modern country
schoolhouse In, the rural districts gen
erally? Do not church buildings lend
a Christian air to every village? And
has not every neighborhood Its contigu
ous village and postofflce?
That the farming districts of the Wil
lamette Valley are still too sparsely set
tled is true. The heritage left by the
old donation land law is still perpetu
ated in many Instances in farms the
area of which Is too large for the-own-ers
to cultivate. Yet relatively very
few of these large Individual freeholds
remain intact, or have descended to the
sons of the original owners thereof.
There may "be doubtless there are
farmers, so-called, In the Willamette
Valley who scout the idea that the in
sect pests of orchards and hopyards
can be held in check or destroyed by
spraying and cultivation, but the truth
remains that spraying Is very geperally
practiced, and that moss-grown, worm
eaten orchards have been in the main
destroyed. Is this a supposition or a
fact? Let some member of the State
Board of Horticulture answer this ques
tion, and, if possible, refute the state
ment put in the mouth of one who is
proclaimed a typical Willamette Valley
farmer that "time was when Oregon
raised good apples, pears and so forth,
but the worms and bugs and scale and
scab have done up the fruit job."
Again, is it true that the Willamette
Valley is not getting its just proportion
of the homeseekers that" have come Into
the state this Spring? If so, there must
be a reason for this fact that is not
justified by natural conditions, and that
should he removed by intelligent effort
If it is left to Ignorant, thriftless per
sons, who are In the state but not of
it, in any appreciative, progressive
sense, to meet and answer the questions
of homeseekers, it Is but just to expect
that these people will be met with mis
statements and turned back in discour
agement. But we are fain to believe
that the example cited by our corre
spondent Is, if not purely Imaginary,
at least one that has been rarely met,
and that there are Intelligent farmers
In every rural community not only in
Eastern Oregon, but in the Willamette
Valley as well who In the true spirit
of hospitality and state pride will tell
the truth about the climate, soil, prod
ucts and general advantages of their
section to all strangers who may come
thither seeking.
DEATH AT THE CAMERA.
Mr. Henry Harris, reporter on the
Paterson (N. J.) Call, who lies at the
point of death from wounds received
In the discharge of duties to which he
had been assigned, deserves honorable
mention In the day's doings. He was a
hero in unfamiliar role, but of a type
that is universal in every walk of life.
The man whom fear of death cannot
deter from duty belongs exclusively to
no calling, nation or time. Paterson,
poor, brute-ridden Paterson, where fac
tory girls are decoyed to death by lib
ertines and whence anarchists go forth
to terrorize the courts of Europe, pro
duces also the man who will cover his
assignment despite the fury of a mob.
When the great dramatist frames his
heavy tragedy, he does not make his
hero out of the fellow who goes out
armed with pencil and camera to bring
in ''stories" and "snapshots." Probably
there are few minds In which the task
of Henry Harris would assume the as
pects of the heroic But to him at least
It seemed worth doing. It was a task
he had been hired to do and had ac
cepted. It was a task for which he
had received or was sure of receiving
his employer's money. He concluded,
therefore, that It devolved upon him
to carry out his end of the contract.
The trust might be small, but it was
big enough In his eyes for him not to
betray. So when the mob made going
hazardous, he added a revolver to his
equipment and went to his post. How
the mob set upon him and leffhlm for
dead the dispatches have already told.
His camera was In place and his hand
on the slide until the ruffians brought
him to the ground.
It is a common fashion In these days
to sneer at the man who stands at his
post In the hour of danger. Young
dandles assure us that if they had been
at the messenger's post in the express
car, or In the cashier's place in the
bank, the robbers might have helped
themselves at will. They say that no
trust committed to them Is so great as
to justify them in Imperiling their
lives; and they say all this with an
air of smartness that is apt to pass
current for wisdom and discernment.
Against this modern philosophy of Fal
staffian valor, let us adduce simply the
story of Henry Harris, of Paterson.
It was not a very great matter, perhaps,
whether the Call had the liveliest story
and the best pictures of the riot; but It
was a great matter to him whether he
did his duty or deserted his post at the
first sign of danger.
Heroism often lies so near us that we
pass it by. The lazy and the cowardly
never give the race the traditions It
loves to sing about and tell for their
Inspiring Influence upon the young.
Wherever this reporter's story Is told
It ought to stimulate somewhat the
desire of those In however humble lot
to do the best of which they are capa
ble, without slighting and without fear;
and it ought to temper somewhat the
blustering tone of those who proudly
boast their highest ambition to be to
save their own skins from harm, at
whatever sacrifice of obligations they
have been eager to Incur. There are
too many watchmen who watch only
for their own safety; too many Sheriffs
who are brave In drawing votes and
salaries and backward In catching crim
inals. BRITISH ZOLLVEHEIX I3IPRACTI
CABLE. Twenty-five years ago Canada and
Australia asked Great Britain to estab
lish a 5 per cent preferential in favor
of colonial products. Great Britain re
fused to give the proposition serious
consideration. If Great Britain had
given timely heed to this prayer of her
great colonies, Australia could have
produced a large proportion of the meat
needed by England and Canada could
have produced the bulk of the bread
stuffs; but it Is too late today to wrest
the business of furnishing England
with her food supplies from the Amer
ican meat packer .and American grain
dealer. Should Great Britain now de
cide to favor her colonial products by
preferential tariffs, it would be at such
a cost that no political party would
dare stand responsible for the measure.
This is the view of able Canadian as
well as British political economists. The
Halifax Mdrnlng Chronicle, in a very
vigorous article, recently said that the
demand for preferential tariff treatment
comes not from the Canadian people,
but merely from a section of the poli
ticians and traders of Canada, and that
it had small support from the Cana
dian people.
If a preference were granted to Cana
dian breadstuffs in the British market,
British manufacturers would Insist
upon the admission of their products to
the Canadian market free of duty; in
which event the Canadian revenue now
derived from the tariff would have to
be secured largely by direct taxation.
This thoughtful Canadian, editor does
not believe that the proposal that the
Canadian and Australian farmers shall
be protected in the British market
against their American competitors will
ever materialize In legislation. If Cana
dian grain is given preferential stand
ing in the British market, similar treat
ment could not be denied Australian
meat and wool, and ultimately the pref
erential tariff system would embrace
the whole line of important colonial
products. Under free trade Great Brit
ain now imports annually from foreign
countries products valued at $2,005,000,
000, while from her colonies she im
ports products valued at only $550,000,
000. We are asked to believe that, in
order to favor the colonial producer.
Great Britain will seek to reduce the
volume of tils enormous foreign trade,
invite retaliatory legislation and " In
crease the cost of living to the masses
of the people that Inhabit her great
cities. The British country dweller
lives largely on British products, but
the bulk of the population In the large
cities of Great Britain live almost en
tirely on imported breadstuffs and
meats. Out of these congested centers
of population, which are dependent on
foreign food supply, would come the
boisterous cry of discontent, when
prices for bread and- meat rise through
preferential -treatment of colonial prod
ucts. The new bread tax has already
excited discontent, and will be used by
the Liberal party to their advantage.
Sir Robert Glften, a distinguished
British political economist, agrees, al
though an-imperialist, with the views
of the Canadian editor. In the May
Nineteenth Century he says: "Such
suggestions as the-zollverein scheme in
volve the certainty of Injury to both
colonies and the mother country, "With
the uncertainty of any advantage what
soever." Sir Robert GIffen holds that
a customs Union for the Brltleh Empire
is impossible, owing to the immenss
variations In the economic interests of
the widely scattered parts; separated
by enormous reaches of ocean. The
popular opposition to this scheme Is In
dicated by the recent Bury election,
which was carried by the Liberals for
the first time In many years on the
Issue of the bread tax. Mr. Chamber
lain will be beaten In this scheme; the
loaf is dearer already, and the British
workingmen will never vote for a
scheme that means not only dearer
bread, but dearer meat.. But If Cham
berlain should carry through his
scheme, he will surely lead his party
to defeat- It Is too late In the day for
Great Britain to attempt her experiment
of preferential tariff treatment with
her great colonies. English manufac
turing Interests lnthe markets of the
world will surely decline In competition
with their great rivals if the English
artisan and operative is forced to pay
more for his bread and meat to benefit
the producer of food and raw materials
In Canada and Australia.
Great. Britain will never adopt any
pollcy that means serious war upon the
trade interests of the United States, for
in event of war between the two coun
tries not only would England be de
pendent on the United States for her
supply of bread and meat, but for her
annual supply of 1,800,000,000 pounds of
raw cotton. Trouble with America
would mean not only shortage of food,
but stoppage of cotton shipments,
which would close the British mills and
turn the operatives over to Idleness. For
these reasons, if for no higher motives
of sentiment, England will not tempt
her colonies Into a zollvereln and thus
adopt a policy hostile to the United
States, for the moment we feel the shoe
seriously pinch we are In a position de
structively to retaliate. It .Is Incredible
that the British. Conservative party
seriously contemplates the adoption of
a policy that means a higher price for
beef as well as bread.
When bloodhounds were first called
for from Walla Walla to Salem to track
Tracy and Merrill, the opinion was
quite prevalent that the State of Ore
gon should own and keep In leash and
training at the Penitentiary animals of
this class, in order that the escape of
eloping convicts might thereby be ren
dered Impossible. The experience of
the past ten days has, however, dis
pelled this view to a great extent. The
convicts In this Instance, fully aware
that the dogs are on their trail, have
cleverly contrived to throw the brutes
off the scent now by making reprisal
upon ranchers for change of shoes and
clothing, and again by Impressing
horses Into their service. Bloodhounds
are sagacious brutes, phenomenally
keen of scent and wonderfully swift
on foot, but the cunning of this brace
of criminals has overmatched the in
stincts of this brace of dogs. Tales of
the great "Dismal Swamp" of slavery
days lose something of their horrible
significance in the presence of this lat
est attempt to take human beings with
bloodhounds.
There Is more than the bitterness of
death to the mother of the young
woman of Medford, Or., who committed
suicide In San Francisco Tuesday night
of this week. Infatuated with a sol
dier, this foolish young woman followed
him from her home to the Presidio, and,
deaf "to the pathetic appeal of her aged
mother to return and assist her In the
battle of life, finally made an end to
her existence. How Insignificant seem
the ordinary trials and common vicissi
tudes of life over which the multitude
groans and under which It chafes when
confronted by an Incident like this!
Well may the caretaklng, hardworking
parents of virtuous daughters and up
right sons exclaim, "Poverty is noth
ing and hard work, is nothing; even
sickness Is nothing, and death Is not
the gravest of Ills. Only filial ingrati
tude and neglect, the waywardness of
children and resulting disgrace can be
ranked in the dark catalogue of trou
ble." Members of the Pioneer Association
and the attendance upon the annual
reunion of that body, like the Govern
ment pension list. Increase from year
to year. And this notwithstanding the
fact that pioneers and old soldiers are
rapidly dying off. The explanation of
this seemingly Incongruous state of af
fairs is simple. Coaxed from their re
tirement by sympathy and apprecia
tion, our venerable state-builders ap
pear In Increasing numbers In public
year after year. While their numbers
I are In reality decreasing somewha,t rap
idly, the ranks of the association are
fuller than ever before. Many pioneers
with a little timely assistance have
found themselves of late. Thus is the
apparent Increase In their numbers, as
shown by the attendance upon the an
nual reunion, accounted for.
A mob of the striking silk dyers of
Paterson, N. J., has set upon and
wrecked to a greater or less extent
some of the mills of that city. Violence,
as an argument, has never yet advanced
the cause of labor. On the contrary,
public sympathy that Is almost uni
versally enlisted In the Interest of strik
ers, the showing of whose cause Is even
approximately just, suffers immediate
revulsion when rioting begins, and the
strike is lost from that hour. This les
son Is as old as strikes, and Its sequel
Is ever the same. No one at least no
property-owner thinks for a moment
of .the element of Justice In a conten
tion that rushes upon property to de
stroy It. The only thought at this crisis
la to put an end to the strike.
King Edward Is greatly fatigued, and
his coronation is still ten days off. His
physicians have prudently retired him
and are carefully grooming him for the
final struggle. If His Majesty survives
the fatigue and excitement of the pres
ent month without collapse, he may be
considered Immune from the modern
.disease known as "nervous prostra
tion." Geer's Pipe Drezua.
Lebanon Criterion.
Governor Geer professes to believe that
the vote ho received for United States
Senator Is an indorsement of him by the
people for that position." Had Fulton,
Tongue. Hewitt, Moody or any of a
dozen or more of Oregon's prominent men
been placed on the ticket in a like man
ner, they would have received equally as
flatterlntr a. vote. Cicnr -ma nnuoi. in
dorsed by the Republican convention for
'that nosition and stands nn rhannn -tvtmt-
over of being ejected, to ail It ,
THE ANNIHILATION OF DISTANCE,
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The time across the continent by rail
Is about to be shortened further. It
takes In thc neighborhood of four days
and four hours now to make the trip be
tween New York and San Francisco.
Four hours of this time is to be cut oft
through a quickening of the .speed be
tween Chicago and New York by way of
the New York Central and also by the
Pennsylvania. There are suggestions
both in New York and San Francisco to
shorten the distance, and the time still
farther by leaving Chicago off the line
and by taking a more direct course be
tween the two coasts. It la calculated
that about 200 miles of distance could be
saved in this way, and this would mean
a further shortening of the time by about
foUr hours. In these days a shortening
of time of a few hours counts for more
than an abridgment of that many days
did two-thirds of a century ago. How
the present time schedule would make
the transcontinental travelers of the earli
er days marvel I Lewis and Clark, who
took a ear and a half to make the jour
ney between St. Louis and the mouth of
the Columbia a little less than a century
ago, never dreamed of any four days' trip
across the continent.
Said Asa Whitney, one of the first. per
sons who advocated the project of a
transcontinental railroad, in a memorial
to Congress In 1&5 In aid of the scheme,
"A railroad connecting the Atlantic with
the Pacific Coast will bring the world to
gether as one nation, allow us to traverse
the globe in 30 days, civilize and Chris
tianize mankind, and place us In the cen
ter of the world, compelling Europe on
one side and Asia and Africa on the other
to pass through us." . Time has estab
lished the truth of that prediction, though
most of Whitney's countrymen at that
time, especially In Congress, were skepti
cal. When Oakea Ames, Collls P. Hunt
ington and their colaborers brought the
rails of the Union and the Central Pacific
together at Ogden, In 1S69, the first part
of Whitney's forecast was fulfilled, and
the great work which he had been urging
for a quarter of a century was completed.
but not by his methods or Instrumentali
ties, although he was still living. The
continent has been spanned by four other
lines sincq then, and the time consumed
In making. the trip between the two oceans
Is only half as long today as It was when
Leland Stanford and Thomas Durant
drove in the last spikes at Promontory
Point's demostration 33 years ago.
When Nathaniel X- Wyeth, the Lees,
Marcus Whitman and the. rest of Oregon's
pioneers of two-thlrda of a century ago
made the trip across the continent four
or five months was considered quick time
to travel from the Mississippi to the vi
cinity of the Pacific California's argo
nauts of a decade or two later .found the
trip still longer. Several circuits of the
globe could be made in that time today.
Moreover, the more ultimate consequences
which were predicted by Whitney from the
transcontinental railroad have already ap
peared. The malls from some of Eng
land's Asiatic possessions are being car
ried through the United States to and form
the mother country. The shortened dis
tances give the United States a vast ad
vantage over Europe in the trade with
Asia, which Hill, Morgan and other rail
road men are turning to account by the
establishment of fast lines of steamboats
to connect with their railroads In carry
ing passengers and freight to and from
across the Pacific. It will soon be not
only quicker but cheaper for England,
France and Germany to communicate with
Asia by way of New York and San Fran
cisco. Portland or Seattle than through
the Suez Canal. The United States Is now
the world's center In as direct and em
phatic a degree as the Italian peninsula
was In, the days of Caesar and Trajan.
The Rank of Lieutenant-General.
Kansas City Journal.
The action of the House committee on
military affairs In refusing to make a
favorable report on the bill to retire Gen
eral John R. Brooke with the rank of
Lleutenant-General will be approved by
the country. General Brooke has a cred
itable record as a soldier, but his claims
are not great enough to justify the pro
motion asked for. It was withheld even
from George H. Thomas, "the Rock of
Chlckamauga." and the victor of Nash
villeone of the greatest Generals of the
Rebellion, and the only one of whom, it
may truly be said that he annihilated an
entire army in one night.
The consideration that prevented cer
tain Generals of the Civil War from being
made Lieutenant-Generals wero.walved In
the case of General Miles, the only man
who has held tho rank since Sheridan.
Neither his services nor his abilities were
sufficiently distinguished to entitle him
to it. Congress gavo It to him in a fit of
maudlin sentimentality. The country has
had good cause on several occasions to
wish Its unwisely bestowed preferment
might be recalled. Doubtless the case of
General Miles Influenced the House com
mittee when considering that of General
Brooke. The rank of Lleutenant-General
should not be revived, after it expires
with the passing of General Miles, unless
In some future war an American soldier
appears who Is worthy to bo mentioned
In history' with Washington, Scott, Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan.
Corporations That Won't Arbitrate.
Chicago Record-Herald.
A new absolutism which is as unrea
sonable end tyrannical as the absolut
ism of Kings expresses Itself through Wil
liam H. Truesdale, president of the Dela
ware, Lackawanna & Western railroad,
who says':
The coal operators will not auhmlt to arbitra
tion or Interference of any kind.
That is intended to pass as the Impres
sive ultimatum of a man who is standing
on his rights, but It is evidence only of
the Insolence of the power of monopoly,
and 4t becomes the less impressive the
more attentively Mr. Truesdale's position
Is considered. The power which he Is
pleased to exercise Is derived from an il
legal combination of the interests which
he represents. This combination which
rests upon an illegal foundation pursues
illegal methods systematically and per
sistently. Its conduct of Its business is a
mixture of force and fraud. Thus after
crushing out competition, it manipulates
railroad rates in such a way as to perpe
trate extortion at the expense of the entire
public
Doalitfnl Declinations.
Boston Advertiser.
A more careful examination of the lp
slssima verba of Mr. Bryan's declination
to be his party's candidate for Governor
of Nebraska will perhaps explain the
doubt whether he means It. That the
doubt exists is shown by the refusal of
leading Democrats in his state to take
"no" for an answer. 'Mr. Bryan said: "I
am not and cannot be a candidate for Gov
ernor' Those are" very nearly the exact
words In which Horatio Seymour declined
the Democratic nomination for the Presi
dency In 1S68. ''Your candidate I cannot
be," said Mr. Seymour to the National
Democratic Convention which assembled
in Tammany Hall on July 4 of that year.
Before the close of the convention he
was its candidate.
The -Cuban Amnesty Dill.
Providence Journal.
President Palma, of Cuba, has signed
the amnesty bill, which frees from im
prisonment all Americans convicted of
crime in the island during the American
occupation and those awaitjng trial. Thus
Rathbone and Neely. of Postofflce fraud,
notoriety, obtain their release, together
with other Americans less conspicuous In
Cuban criminal annals. President Palma
eays: "It Is Just another evidence of our
gratitude and good will toward the United
States and the American people." Inso
far as It shows Cuban good will this action
is all right, but few Americans will con
template with excessive pleasure the free
ing of men Whose names stain the record
i of our insular administration.
"IMPORTANT" AND 'TRIVIAL."
Kansas City Star.
In a curious essay In the current Atlan
tic on "The Newspaper Industry" direct
ed ostensibly against newspapers, but real
ly against the policy of expansion Mr.
Brooke Fisher exclaims:
Think what It means that the Congressional
debates are no longer a feature of the dally
papers. All through the recent exciting" debates
In, the Senate on. the Philippines touching on
the very foundation principles of the Republic,
the dally Congressional report, except In the
case of the TlUman-McLaurln episode, was less
than half a column la length on the average.
This specific accusation has been made
and answered so many times that it need
not receive attention now. But In its
generalized form that newspapers neglect
the important and exploit the trivial the
charge Is worth considering. Very many
persons would yield a ready, though per
functory assent to it. In fact, they would
consider Its truth an axiom. "Dear me.
Isn't it shocking" the conventional form
ula runs "the space the newspapers give
to gossip, to news of crimes and accidents
and other trivial affairs. They almost
never print sermons or political speeches
In full, or the debates In Congress, or ad
dresses at public or scientific meetings.
In fact, they seem to avoid sctIous and
profitable Instruction. The press has de-,
tenorated since Che-day of Horace urceiey
and the 'great editors. "
That 13 the current criticism from which
few persons would venture to. dissent.
Yet, like many another creed. It Is dented
dally by the deeds of those who profess
it. There are a few a very few news
papers in the United States that are con
ducted approximately according to this
Ideal. But for some reason their circula
tion Is extremely limited. Now, If the
correctness of the criticism is admitted,
the disagreeable conclusion Is inevitable
that the vast majority of people sin
agalnut the light daily in buying the "In
teresting" as opposed to the "instruc
tive" newspaper.
The ordinary newspaper frankly admits
that It is a newspaper and not a cyclo
pedia. It does not pose as a reform
agency. It holds, with Charles A. Dana
though with certain reservations for de
cency's sake that what Providence per
mits to happen it Is not too proud to re
port. It does not try to usurp the func
tions of the pulpit. It prefers live news
to moral essays. Undoubtedly It gives
the people what they want, but It does"
not believe that what It prints is less im
portant than the fervid sermons of Gree
ley. It would be an oddly made world
If the things that most interest the great
mass of intelligent people were really of
no consoquence to them.
"Important" Is a relative word. What
may be Important for one generation may
be -trivial for Its" successor. The modern
press prints plenty of matter that even
our grandfathers wduld- have considered
Important. But It adds a vast amount
of. literature calculated to throw light
on human nature. It is concerned with
persons rather than with theories. In the
growing complexity of modern life, man Is
even more a proper study of mankind
than he was In the days of Pope.
It Is as stupid to censor newspapers for
preferring Items of "human Interest" as
they are technically called to dull con
gressional debate as It would be to censor
Millet for painting 'The Angelus" In
stead of a French court scene.
A few days ago the Star printed a col
umn article about Judge Wofford's conver
sations with prisoners he was about to
sentence. Now the Insight which this ar
ticle gave Into motives and character was
far more important for any one except
a recluse than several Issues of the Con
gressional Record. Yet Mr. Brooke Flsh
.ct would probably regard the article Jn
question bs beneath contempt. A story
of a little girl and her dog, of a man
who decorates his mill with Bible texts,
of a woman who has a fad for collecting
halrpjns, may be trivial In one sense, but
in another It Is of Importance In giving a
better comprehension of the main springs
of human conduct. It is quite conceiv
able that a good description of a Fourth
of July picnic crowd would be more im
portant than a full report of Senator
Hoar's Independence day oration.
The development of what newspaper men
call the "human Interest story" in re
sponse to pdpular demand Indicates a
growing anxiety of men to understand
one another. This is at the bottom of
their intense curiosity, although they
may not have analyzed the feeling. He
would be a bold man who would assert
that anything that vitally concerns human
character is trivial.
Roosevelt and the People.
Brooklyn Eagle.
Truth to tell, the people have not yet
been heard ;from. There has not been
time. The press has not had time yet to
dissect out the mixed case presented by
Presidential appeal, Republican division
and Democratic pettifoggery at Washing
ton. The President has done right with
in his limitations. The beet moiiopollsts
have solidified against him with a de
fiant confidence or desperation. The pid
dling Democrats, Instead of holding up
his hands, are trying to trip up his feet
The country is making up its mind. Re
publican state platforms so far have
"generalized" expression on the subject
Republican party organs are in the main
doing the same. Democratic party or
gans are taunting their opponents in
stead of monitoring their party leaders.
Independent papers alone are heartily
upholding the President for starting to
ward a go-it to which he Is loth to go the
whole way.
Ho Is for tariff revision a little. We
who know that his little would have to
mean more are for him to his limit, and
for the cause far beyond, his limit The
effect of the humane and moral consider
ations involved must be awaited. They
appeal to the National heart, rather than
to the political head. It is to that heart
Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland and
William McKinley at times effectively ap
pealed. Theodore Roosevelt's appeal to
It Is opposed by Influences and interests
as Insolent and as united as any that
confronted his predecessors. We shall
be surprised if he does not overcome
them as they did, though we must admit
that the Immediate situation reveals a
dangerous proportion of his party that
would like to beat him and would, but
for th,e apprehension that thereby they
might beat themselves, too
Alabama Lynchers.
Buffalo Express.
Only four men were ever sent to prison
In Alabama for lynching and the Gover
nor has pardoned three of them on the
ground that they were deceived as to the
nature of the offense which the lynched
man had committed. So the Alabama
Governor holds that lynching Is not a
punishable offense when the man lynched
appears to deserve It? ,
t
Hester.
Charles Lamb.
When maidens such as Hester die
Their place ye may not well supply.
Though yo among a thousand try '
With vain endeavor.
A month or more hath she been dead,
. Tet cannot I by force be led
To thlnlc upon the wormy bed ' (
And her together. ,
A springy motion In her gait.
A rising step, did indicate -
Of pride and Joy no common rata i
That flush'd her spirit:
I know- not by what name beside
I shall It call; if 'twas not pride.
It was a Joy to that allied
She did Inherit
Hef parents held the Quaker rule.
WUch doth the human feeling cool:
But she was traln'd in Nature's school.
Nature had blest her.
A waking eye, a prying mind.
A heart that stirs. Is hard to blnd;v
A hawk's keen sight ye cannot blind,
Ye could not Hester.
My sprightly neighbor! gone before
To that unknown and silent shore.
Shall wc not meet, as heretofore
Sqnie Summer morning "
"When from thy cheerful eyes a ray
Hath struck a bliss upon the day, '
A bliss that would not go away.
A sweet orewaxnlnsc?t
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Maybe -the Portland baseball team can
play marbles.
Maybe the Portland baseball team can
phy ping pong.
It is the open season for convicts, but
the" game is scarce. . "
Maybe the Portland baseball team can
play drop-the-handkerchief.
Mount Pelee is determined to magnify
fame's little day as .much as possible.
Up to a late, hour last night the out
laws were still leading the procession.
.Paterson, N. J., taken for all In all, is
about as unhealthful a place of residence
as St Pierre.
' Everj man thinks he was intended by
nature to put up a screen door until he
tries the job once.
It begins to look as If a thermometer
race might be made one of the features
of the Fourth of July celebration.
Every once In a while a tank of gasoline
forcibly demonstrates that It was . not
meant for a metropolitan existence.
Perhaps the convicts will try- to climb
Mount Rainier and fall down a crevasse
in a glacier. Then we shall have the
villains. Ahal
Personal Harry Tracy and David Mer
rill, two former residents of Salem, are
now sojourning In Cowlitz County for the
benefit of their health.
The wreck of the Maine Is to be re
moved from Havana harbor. It ought to
be donated to Spain and erected in
Madrid, lest the Spaniards forget
One thing Is sure, and that Is there will
be enough troops in London to prevent
any uprising which may occur while the
coronation ceremonies are in progress.
' Roosevelt and Van Sant and an anti
trust platform would form a combination
that might succeed even without drawing
on M.A. Hanna & Co. for campaign
expenses.
Grover Cleveland te willing to give the
Democrats the benefit of his political
knowledge, but will not give up any of
tho secrets by which he catches so many
black bas3.
Ingram, the brave convict who saved
guard Girard from the bullets of the es
caping assassins, has been pardoned, but
the state cannot restore his missing leg.
It can, however, prevent another out
break by taking proper precautions. Now
Is the time to begin.
A dispute recently arose at a beer table
In Germany between a group of unlve,rslty
men as to- which science was the oldest.
A representative of the law declared that
Jt was jurisprudence, for this science must
have been known In Paradise, seeing that
Adam and Eve wero evicted therefrom.
"Why," said a graduate of medicine,
"medicine Is certainly of older date. Just
think of the operation that Adam had to
submit to in order that a rib should be
obtained for Eve!" "No, no, gentlemen."
retorted an electrotechnician, "for before
anything was created God said, 'Let there
be light!' " Then came the theologian,
who said: "I do not wan to appear pre
sumptuous, but I think that precedence
belongs to theology, for before it was"
light it was dark!"
"This year," said a Philadelphia young
man, who haunts the theaters, "there
doesn't seem to be any one popular song
that has caught on, to the exclusion of
others. This condition of affairs is really
remarkable, when you come to think of
it Of course, the Summer is young yet,
and It may still come, but tnecondltlons
are against It In previous years, where
ever you would go, you would be sure to
hear the popular song of the day, played
by bands in the various parks, whistled
on the streets, sung by the colored boy
quartets that make night hideous and
ground out on street pianos. We had lots
of good musical comedies during the past
season, with lots of good songs, but no
one seems to have just caught on to such
an extent as to be 'it' "
Representative Lacey, of Iowa,, has con
tributed to the Congressional Record the
following essay on the buffalo:
The buffalo was the noblest of all the
wild animals that Inhabited this conti
nent when America was discovered.
The ages In which this wonderful creat
ure was evolved into his peculiar form
and size are Inconceivable in duration.
How admirably he was adapted to Ufa
upon the Western plains. When he had
fed xhe traveled with his fellows in long
lines, single file, to the favorite watering
place. The herd did not spread abroad
and trample down ard destroy the grass
la such journey, but in long and narrow
trails the journey was made, and when
the drinking place was reached and thirst
was sated the buffalo never defiled the
pool In which he drank.
He was a gentleman among beasts, Just
as the game hog Is a beast among gen
tlemen. 9
Havana Lottery Revival.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Cuba is contemplating the establish
ment of a National lottery as a means for
raising revenue. Of course there is no
possible question, so far as the United
States is concerned, of the right of the
new government to do as it pleases in
this regard, but It could scarcely do any
thing In the way of internal administra
tion that would make American citizens
generally sorrier that the American occu
pation hadn't lasted somewhat longer.
The Havana lottery was a detriment to
Cuba and a nuisance to this country when
Cuba was under Spanish rule, and will be
so again under the republican regime. The
Cuban authorities will not show much
wisdom by taking a step, inimical to
sound policy aqd public morals, that will
tend to lower the American people's esti
mate of Cuban fitness for self-government
and seriously embarrass the postal
relations between Cuba and the United
States.
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS
Head of Firm (to new office boy) Can you
do anything, else but whistle and loaf? "Yes,
sir. I can play craps." Life.
Startling. Strawber Did anything 'happen
while I was out, James? James Yes, sir. Nc
one called to collect a bill. Life.
Classifying It "Is that poetry or verse?"
"Verse, of course. "Why, you can understand
what It means." Chicago Evening Post.
An Experienced Angler. Ethel Would you
consider Percy Monckton a good catch? Mailgi
Certainly If all the others got away! Puck.
Envy. Scene Miss Semple and Dawbet
standing near his picture. Miss Semple Why,
there's a crowd In front of Madder's plctural
Dawber Some one fainted. I suppose! Punch.
The clergyman's little boy was spending thi
afternoon with the bishop's children. "At tht
rectory," ha said, "we've got a. hen that layi
an egg every day." "Pooh!" said Master Bish
op, "my father lays & foundation-stone once a
week." Tlt-Blts.
.A Very Good Day's Work. Weary Willie 1
Jes put In a good day's work In 30 minutes.
Frayed Fagtn Explain yerself. Weary Willie
Well, I put In six pies, a pan uv doughnuts,
an' four Jars uv preserves. Dat's a .good. da-i
work f er any woman. Judge.