THE MORNlKa OREGOITCAN, TUESDAY, AUGUST 12. X902.
Entered at the Pestofflee at Portland. Oregon,
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TODAVS- WEATHER Partly cloudy, un
ettlod weather; cooler. South to west winds.
YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem
perature. 82 dag.: minimum temperature,
deg.; no precipitation.
PORTLAND, TUESDAY, AUGUST 12.
CUBAN EMBARRASSMENTS.
whon rnhn was turned over to the
rnhnno than three months ago. her
n..hiiP flnnnpps vjprp. in wholesome coo-
dition. In spite of the chaos, in which
we found the affairs of the island, ana
rmtwithtandinir the extraordinary ex-
penses of making a start on a new and
more efficient basis, the lsiana revenues
reckoned for the whole period of Amer-
lean occupation more tlrtn supported
the system. The total expense during
thf four vears of our administration,
was S55.370.000. The total Income for
the same period was $57,200,000. The
difference between these totals, close j
it., sonnnnnn was turned over to the
Cuban Government when our officers
retired from the island in May.
This was less than three months ago,
and already the new government is in
financial distress. Its revenues have
fallen off by more than one-half, ex-
penses have Increased, scandals have
developed in some branches of the ad-
ministration, business is flat The new
government finds itself unable to pay its
way on the basis of its immediate re-
rints nnri nn ton of this it has taken
upon itself as a means of maintaining
the political peace of the island a lot J
of outworn military claims dating from
the revolutionary period before the
"United States took a hand in Cuban af-
fairs. It Is proposed, too, to help out
the distressed sugar planters, who no
longer have oanKing credit, Dy loans
direct from the island treasury. If this
loan which the Cuban Congress has al
ready authorized shall be negotiated,
$3,000,000 will go to pay the debts of
the revolutionary junta, $4,000,000 will
go to the sugar planters, and the re
mainder will be paid to the men who
served in the revolutionary armies.
They got no pay while they were fight
ing the Spaniards, and it has been tacit
ly understood that the new government
would do something for them. Indeed,
it Is necessary to do something, since
they are a strong political force, and if
they are not placated, will make things
unpleasant not only for the present gov
ernment, but for every other which
shall succeed it until their demands
are paid.
American financiers are fearful that
Cuba cannot In her present condition
carry the Interest upon the proposed
debt and at the same time keep up her
current expenses. That she Is not doing
it now is certain, and until the sugar
market Improves there Is small prospect
that times will be better with her. And
"in this situation it is Intimated that the
United States may step in to prevent the
creation of the debt The Piatt amend
ment, which is part of the compact be
tween Cuba and this country, pre
scribes that the Cuban Government
'shall not assume or contract any pub
He obligation to pay the Interest upon
which and to make reasonable sinking
fund provision for the ultimate dis
charge of which the ordinary revenues
of the Island of Cuba, after defray
ing the current expenses of the gov
ernment, shall be Inadequate." Under
this compact the United States clearly
has the right to prevent Cuba from as
suming a debt which is beyond her visi
ble power to sustain. There are no In
timations of President Roosevelt's view
in the matter beyond the general cer
tainty that It will be prompted by a
wish to help the Island government
through Its dilemma. His faith In
the financial and general future of
the Island is very great, and he
will probably be less fearful than
the financiers of the ability of the Cu
ban Government to meet Its obligations,
Including those which it is proposed to
create for the purpose of wiping out the
revolutionary claims and relieving the
distress of the sugar planters.
The sudden financial shortage of the
Cuban revenues may to some extent be
occasioned by the distress of the sugar
planters, which our Congress refused to
relieve by the reciprocity scheme, but
the root of it lies deeper than this. The
real difficulty is that as matters now
stand in Cuba there Js no general com
merclal confidence In the immediate fu
ture of the Island. The one essential
condition of Cuban prosperity is a close
connection with the United States, with
free entrance into our markets. With
out this privilege there Is no way by
Which the island can take care of itself
on the basis of its existing ambitions
and pretensions.
The logic ot tne situation is very
plain. The Cubans will weary of an
"Independence which binds them to
poverty and which stays the progres
sive movement so handsomely begun
Under American rule. They will soon
see, what all the rest of the world al
ready sees, namely, that they will be
better off In every way under the eagle's
wing and they will ask to be let In
The late United States Senator Mc
Millan was but a little' more than 64
years of age, but he was a very rich
man, who during his thirteen years of
life at "Washington entertained company
with a liberal hand tind accepted en
tertainment of like character. He led a
sedentary life in a very trying climate;
he was a hard-working man of business
on his committees, and it is not surpris
ing that he died of heart failure. He
lived high, he took little or no exercise,
and he worked hard at the sedentary
labor of his committee. If he was nat
urally of full-blooded temperament,
weakness of. the heart would naturally
follow his method of life. He died very
much as did Governor Flower, of New
York.
ATTITUDE OP THE' EMPLOYERS.
The great Pennsylvania coal strike
has now lasted three months. People
in New Tork Citywho must have coal
are now paying from $S to 510 a ton for
it It is certain that, coal will command
very high prices through the Winter.
The Civic Federation committee has
never lifted a finger to promote arbitra
tion in this particular contest, although
it includes Grover Cleveland, ex-Secretary
Bliss. Archbishop Ireland, Bishop
Potter, Charles Francis Adams, Presi
dent Eliot, Charles M. Schwab and John
D. Rockefeller, Jr. The idea of this
federation was through the voluntary
action of philanthropic citizens and
eminent men of business to secure a
general application of the principle of
arbitration as a preventive of strikes.
Nevertheless; outs!de of Mr. Hanna, not
one member of this Civic Federation
has urged the operators to arbitrate or
denounced their refusal to arbitrate.
The usefulness of the Civic Federation
is ended through its conspicuous inac
tivity. The present situation Is peculiar and
without precedent in this, that the em
ployers reruse to attempt tne operation
of their minea The price of coal has
gone up to very high figures every
where, and even after the settlement of
the strike the cost of coal is sure to be
kept above the normal rates throughout
the Autumn and Winter. Everybody
who uses coal will suffer because of this
labor controversy In the coal regions of
Pennsylvania.
The poor in the great
cities of the East will suffer the worst.
and upon the public will be entailed
the discomfort consequent upon the sub-
stitution ot sort coai.
The New York Evening Post makes
these palpable facts the text for the
uiscuesiun ui u. sjcw qwsuuu j
the existing situation. Briefly stated,
the essence of the argument of the Post
is that coal is a necessity in so many
kinds of business and in so many homes
that a coal strike is not a matter of
limited concern, for the suspension of
Its production means hardship to a host
of people. A franchise to a street-car
line always requires the holder "to run
cars over it If .a strike breaks out the
company is legally bound without delay
to hire new men and set them to work.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Is bound by
statute to transport passengers between
Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and if its
whole force should strike today tne pud
lie would Insist that trains should be
run. The conclusion of the Post Is that
the mining of coal in Pennsylvania Is of
vastly more Importance to the people
of the United States than the running
of street-cars in Philadelphia or the
operation of passenger and freight
trains between that city and Pittsburg.
Millions of people in New Jersey, New
York and New England are dependent
upon Pennsylvania for their supply of
anthracite coal. These users of one of
the great necessities of. life are at the
mercy of these Pennsylvania coal op
erators, who at present seem to be able
to defy all legal pressure to compel
them to resume production on the best
terms they can make with whatever
men they can employ. These men not
only refuse to grant the demands of
their former employes, but they refrain
from trying to work their mines with
new men.
The purpose of these mine operators
Is plain enough; they evidently think
they can. make more money by keeping
the mines closed, starving the strikers
Into surrender and breaking up the
union organization than they could by
continuing to work the mines with such
men as they could obtain. They are
open to no legal Interference in their
action, but the Post warns them that
they cannot afford to defy public opin
ion In this matter. Public opinion will
insist that the mining of coal should be
resumed; that the mines be worked as
fully as possible by the employing of
all fit men whose services can be se
cured. The authorities are bound to
furnish them with all needed protection.
The mine operators will do well to heed
this word of warning, for the American
people will not long permit a group of
mlneowners to stop the production of
one of the prime necessities of life, to
proauce an arunciai scarcity ana a
period of extravagant prices for fuel
to serve the selfish purposes of a greedy
corporation
These mine operators would do well
to remember that they cannot afford to
incur public odium by their policy, for
public hostility will surely make them
feel the pinch of obstructive laws. Fur
thermore, these mine operators would
do well not to forget what the loss of
public sympathy and the burden of
public hostility cost the railroad cor
porations in the Pittsburg riots of 1S77.
If at this late date the mlneowners
should undertake to operate the mines
with such workmen as they could ob
tain, doubtless destructive riots would
take place, and to avoid these riots the
mlneowners have probably refrained
from working the mines. But when the
strikers begin to feel the pinch of pov-
erty they are quite as likely to be In a
savage, destructive temper against
those who have starved them Into sub
mission as they would be at the spec
tacle of the resumption of coal mining
today. If It should come to a serious
riot, the mine operators would find small
support In public sympathy, for they
refused to arbitrate and they have re
fused to work the mines; they are hated
not only by the strikers, 4iut by the gen
eral public, whose pocket they have
picked.
Noting the extensive preparations
that are being made in Washington to
care for the old soldiers who will at
tend the annual encampment of the G,
A, R. in that city, one is Impressed
with the folly that urges Infirm and
aged men to undertake the fatigues of
such an occasion. Among the arrange
ments necessary to provide for them Is
an army hosp'.tal, where they will be
cared for If stricken with Illness, over
come by fatigue or disabled through
accident Incident to overcrowding, to
the display of fireworks, etc. Old men
In the ordinary walks of life prefer the
safety and quiet of their usual abiding
places to the fatigue, the Jostling and
the dangers of overexertion and over
crowding. It is not too much to sup
pose that the wiser among the host that
bear the honored title of Grand Army
veterans share this very natural prefer
ence of age for quiet and needful rest. J
There 13. however, an army manyjthou
sand strong that attends these annual
encampments, and for these In their age
and weakness the Government has gen
erously and thoughtfully provided lodg
ings In the Government printing ofllce
and In hundreds of tents. The chief
pleasure In old age, after all, is in doing
what the Individual wants to do, even
If he faints or is crippled in the effort.
AX EPOCH IX FREIGHT RATES.
President Stlckney, pf the Chicago
Great Western Railway, has Issued an
Illuminative statement touching the re
lations between the packing-house in
terests of the country and the trans
portation companies. He can afford to
do this because he has closed a contract
with the packlng-hous'es whereby his
railroad Is guaranteed a certain share of
their traffic at rates 15 to 20 per cent
higher than have prevailed during the
past fifteen years, and the business Is to
be done openly and above board, and the
rates are to continue unchanged
through a period of seven years. The
revenue which the Great Western Rail
road will receive from these contracts
is estimated at J14.000.000 If the volume
of packing-house traffic shall remain
unchanged, and If the Increase shall be
proportionately great as It has been
in the past seven years the contracts
will bring the Great Western about
S20.000.000. With this transaction con
cluded in accordance with the fullest
statutory requirements. President Stlck
ney can afford to speak candidly of a
matter that has long vexed the indus
trial and commercial world.
The story that was brought out in evi
dence before the Interstate Commerce
Commission several months ago was
never before made so clear as Presi
dent Stlckney puts It He makes no
pretense that the law was ever .obeyed
In good faith 60 far as the shipping of
packing-house products was concerned.
The rates published when the inter
state commerce law went Int6 effect
were much higher than the business had
been adjusted to, and they could not
be collected. After a brief attempt to
hold up to tariff, secret cuts, rebates
and agreements became the rule again,
and they continued up to the time when
the Injunction writs were served last
Spring. This put an end to the "misery
of living in the shadow of the Peni
tentiary," as President Stlckney puts It,
and not only presented an opportunity
for adjusting matters on a news basis,
but made It positively necessary to do
so. Then carriers and shippers got to
gether. The packers showed that the
average of their payments between the
Missouri River and Chicago for a period
of fifteen years was a trifle less than 16
cents per 100 pounda They expressed
willingness to pay a rate 15 per cent
higher, provided It could be made uni
form and stable. The 18.4 cents would
have been acceptable to the carriers,
but the livestock rate was 23 cents, and
the Interstate Commerce Commission
had made a ruling that the rate on live
stock should not be higher than that on
packing-house products. So finally the
23-cent rate was fixed for both, and it
has been In effect since July 1. This i3
an advance of 50 per cent In the rate on
packing-house products so great an in
crease that it would seem to Justify the
conclusion of President Stlckney that It
would hold only until there should be
devised "some Ingenious subterfuge cir
cumventing the Injunction of the court""
Taking time by the forelock, he made
the contracts which are believed to
mark an epoch in transportation affairs
in this country.
It is Interesting to note that bothldes
had become weary of the old situation,
and the packers themselves volunteered
to pay an advance of 15 per cent for
uniformity and stability. The expense
of getting as low rates as anybody else
In the field was a considerable burden
to the packers. And then they were
never sure that competitors did not en-
Joy even more favorable rates. From
every point of view it was unsatisfac
tory, as much to the carriers as to the
shippers. But they; could not free them
selves from the bonds that a fierce com
petition had wrought about them. It
required the summary process of a
court to do this. And now it Is found to
be comparatively easy to deal on a
basis of stability that was hardly
dreamed of before. The new contracts
absolutely fix the price of transporta
tion on packing-house products for a
term of seven years. The Great West
orn contracts are enforceable regardless
of terms that may be arranged between
the packers and other railroads. The
packers are bound to deliver a certain
proportion of their output to the Great
Western Railroad for transport, and
the railroad is bound to perform the
service on the terms stated. The con
tract rates are open to the public, so
there will be no discrimination. They
mean business stability, and the result
of their operation will be watched with
unusual Interest If the plan shall work
out according to design, a long step
will have been taken toward putting
the transportation business on a proper
barls and the first Important step In
months not In the direction of direct
Government control of the railroads.
A SIGXIFICAXT COMBIXATIOX.
The combination of two great news
papers of Philadelphia the Public
Ledger and the Times Is significant of
the change that is going on In the jour
nalistic world In sympathy with the
business, educational and Industrial de
velopment of the age. This change
represents a consolidation of Interests
that are Interwoven with the vital prin
clple of growth that makes a commu
nity a representative one In prosperity.
purpose and Influence. It says plainly
that the day of small things has passed;
that economy and usefulness In the
widest as well as the subtlest sense are
served by concentration of effort As
fset forth in the manifesto published by
both Journals in their last separate Is
sues, ""both are .devoted to the same
ends, and represent the same ideals and
purposes In Journalism." Purchase had
brought them under one ownership, and
obviously they could not follow differ
ent Ideals or maintain divergent views
without discrediting the sincerity of
both and "degrading journalism to
mere commercialism, fatal to Its char
acter."
It needs no argument ta support
the statement that the public Is bet
ter served by a few strong, well-sustained
newspapers, each filling its own
chosen field, than by a larger num
ber whose competition must be often
unprofitable and harmful. The state
ment but presents a self-evident fact
though proof has often been unneces
sarlly adduced through unwise at
tempts to controvert It
A significant feature of this comb!
nation Is the innovation upon the tra-
dltlons of the Public Ledgef by a Sun
day Issue of the combined Journals.
Representing through tncJong years of
Its publication the older views of the
community; speaking to the conserva
tive element and maintaining inflexibly
the highest Ideals In journalism ac
cording to standards approved by tra
dition, the Public Ledger has not until
now responded to the demand for the
Sunday newspaper. It" was the last of
the great dally newspapers of Philadel
phia to discard the "blanket" form; the
last to admit pictures of men and events
to Its columns, and among the last to
recognize the Sunday Issue as a legiti
mate feature of American Journalism.
Having done nothing hastily; having
grown with the growth and strength
ened with the strength of the age, the
Public Ledger wheels, into line with
other great journals that have respond
ed somewhat more promptly In the past
to the demands of time and change than
it has done, and In its consolldatea
form will Issue a Sunday edition that
will be "a, clean and decent dignified
newspaper, upholding all that is good
and true and honorable, and all that
makes for the betterment of mankind."
The stubbornness of tradition has sel
dom yielded more gracefully than In
this Instance to the calm, persistent.
always persuasive principle of growth.
Recognition of Sunday as a uay of rest
and general cessation from usual pur
suits Is declared; reverence .for the day
as aa admirable American Institution
that It is manifestly to the general ad
vantage not to Ignore, is maintained.
but Sabbatarianism in its narrow sense
is dismissed in the interest of public
and journalistic progress. The slgnn-
cance of this change need not be fur
ther pointed out The most cursory
ohserver will readily see and Inter
pret It .
Farmers and others In Eastern Oregon
and Washington who are always as
serting that the grain lands of. that re
gion are "Inexhaustible" would do well
to give heed to the dispatch in yester
day's Oregonlan setting forth the con
ditions which overculture of the wheat
fields of Western Oregon have' wrought
The long-cropped lands no longer turn
off the great crops which made the
country famous, aiid even under the
Summer-fallow system of culture re
turns are disappointing. This, bear In
mind. In a region where sixty bushels
to the acre was not uncommon for a
long period. andwhere it was presumed
during many credulous years that the
soil was "Inexhaustible." There never
was a soil yet nor a bank account
that was Inexhaustible, and there never
will be; and whoever goes upon the the
ory that there Is will some day find out
his mistake. Nor Is there any reason to
be surprised if the Summer-fallow de
vice In course of time falls to produce
results. The practice of Summer-fallowing
Is helpful to crops because t
permits chemical action operating
through exposure to release certain
qualities of the solL But It adds noth
ing to the soil. The deterioration, of
the wheat quality In the long-cropped
lands of tjie Willamette Valley Is no
hardship, because It prompts farmers to
other and more profitable uses of their
lands. It will tend to expedite changes
which are needful for the good of the
country; to bring about the rotation
of crops, and the practice of cattle and
eheep-keeplng, to which Western Ore
gon Is especially adapted, but which
have been measurably delayed by the
unwillingness of many farmers to turn
their energies Into new channels.
The presence in Oregon of Mr. Newell,
chief engineer of the reclamation serv
ice, and his active and manifest Inter
est In the Oregon Irrigation field, are
facts of very considerable significance,
for It will largely rest with Mr. Newell
to determine where the efforts of the
Government are to be expended in the
matter of National Irrigation enter
prise. The reclamation service will nat
urally wish to make a good beginning
In the great work which has been as
signed to it and there are conditions
here which might easily determine the
choice of place for a first large effort to
fall to us. Mr. Newell's suggestion that
the situation Is one properly appealing
to the-ambition and energy of our com
merclal bodies can hardly have been
made carelessly. We shall do well to
take It seriously and present to the au
thorities at Washington such sugges
tions as may jconfirm whatever report
Mr. Newell may make favorably to Ore
gon Interests. The Oregonlan commends
the matter to the Portland Chamber of
Commerce, and suggests that It Invite
Congressman-elect Williamson, an en
thusiastic Irrlgatlonlst and a resident
of the seml-arld belt, to co-operate In
preparing Its presentment.
The consolidation of the Philadelphia
Publlo Ledger and the Philadelphia
Times Is not the only recent Incident of
the kind in the newspaper world. It Is
only a few weeks back that the Des
Moines Register and the Des Moines
News, both old and successful papers,
united under one ownership and one
name. The tendency, where the wish Is
to maintain Journalism on a high basis
Is to eliminate rather than to promote
competition. And there Is good reason
for this, since competition among news
papers operating in the same field is
essentially demoralizing. Its effect
to limit the Independence and courage
upon which the character of a news
paper depends, and to promote the
"wide-open" policies which appeal to a
wide If not a discriminating circle of
readers. In a city notable for the num
ber of Its newspapers, the quality of
the papers Is always sure to be bad, for
the methods to which they must resort
In the fight for circulation tend surely
to their common vulgarization This
fact is illustrated at San Francisco, at
Denver and at every other place where
there are many newspapers, and. no
one among them all which is not a dis
credit and a reproach.
The President of Cuba and possibly
the President of the United States as
well would be well pleased to see a lib
cral Issue of Cuban bonds held In the
United States In the hope that It might
have a stimulating Influence upon
American sentiment towardo Cuban
reciprocity and other proposals looking
to tariff concessions cn our part
Just how Senator Piatt Is going to
carry on a mixed Congressional and
state campaign In New York without
reference to the National Issues it is no
easy to see. Furthermore, the honora
ble Senator ought to know that the Re
publican party did not win Its place and
will not maintain It by an. issue-dodging
policy.
Whether Bryan is to be a candidate
or not Is not certain, but It Is plain that
no candidate will be named over his
protest.
"IMMORAL AND SACRILEGIOUS."
ta..a liAAn Anf hv n. moral I
a t Ausnist U. re- I
ti,,.M.rrv Vlnn Mark
Twain's Ktorv of boy life on the Missis-
.ti -Di,.., -Trfiidea from the
"t" - - I
Denver Public Library on the grouna
that it i. immoral and sacrilegious."
Many men -when theyread this will won
der whether their boys are already past
redemption, and the boys will probably
decide unanimously that Denver Is in
Kansas. To think that good old Mark
Twain, the man of the corncob pipe, the
man who always comes out sooner or
later with the exact statement of what
we have thought all along, the man who
has lightened our sorrows and added
piquancy to our Joys that he of all men
should fall under the ban of a mountain
municipality. What microbe ot reform
can have Infected the city that dwells
lovingly on Its wicked past, that adver
tises Its climate. Its modernnesn, Its pro-
gresslveness? Is It possible that the high
altitude extends even to the moral realm?
Somehow with a boy it seems a neces
slty to do a certain amount of what he
ought not to do. Even the man who feels
that to break something Is a cry of his
inner soul may find solace In the story
of "Huckleberry Finn," and so be sat
isfied without paying a fine. And boys
whose homes would be overrun with ex
uberant viciousness read the nutritious
tale of Mark Twain, and their families
are spared the expense ot a- funeral.
That Is what a humorist Is for to turn
our Impulses Into the mild, channel ot
harmless fun.
There Is a notice on the front page of
the tabooed book which covers the of
fense of the Denver Public Library. It
reads: "Notice! Persons attempting to
find a motive In this narrative will be
prosecuted; persons attempting to find, a
moral In it will be banished; persons at
tempting to find a plot In It will be shot
By order of the author, per G. G.. Chief
or . Ordnance." Sir Walter Besant, the
famous English novelist and reformer.
said that the Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn was the best book he had ever read.
A thousand other men of note will testify
to the fact that It Is a classic fit to be
In the' hand of any boy. and all the
protests of Denver will fall on the stony
ground of American common sense.
Miss Isom. chief librarian of the Port
land Public Library, when informed of
the action of the Denver library, was
err much amused. I cannot unaer-
stand it," she said. "What there Is 1m
moral or sacrilefflous about it I cannot
conceive. Of course, there Is always the
question of what should be handed out
and what should not In this library. we
draw the line at the- work of the de-
adents. I would not allow a book like
Sir Richard Calmady to be generally
and Indiscriminately circulated, for I do
not believe In the spirit of it That Is
the deciding point often the spirt in
which things are treated. Occasionally
we come upon a book which many peo
ple might consider hardly fit to be read.
et It Is a classic, and as such must bo
Included In a complete library
Inquiry among various men about town
made It plain that every man and boy In
Portland who reads at all has read
"Huckleberry." At the mere mention of
the book, a reminiscent smile creeps
around the corners of the mouth, and
tender twinkle comes Into the eyes. It Is
worth while sometimes to stop and take
stock of what people read, and one will
not have to go far to see that Mark
Twain Is the most universally loved and
read' of all the writers of this country
To be sure, there are men of lofty Ideas
and literary prudlshness who scorn this
sort of writing. But they usually are the
first with their encomiums when the writ
er Is gone, and we may be sure that when
Mark Twain goes which may It be long
hence they will step forth from their
literary rookeries and join In the unlver
sal acclaim. But Mark himself deprecates
posthumous fame. He has said again
and again that to be alive Is better than
to be' dead, arid it would be well if the
upland districts of Colorado would make
the same preference. If the directors and
trustees who banished "Huckleberry
Finn" will remove their black mitts and
lay aside their green reticules long
enough to peruse the story, perhaps they
would find that the wholesome fun of
our genial Twain Is worth an oceanful of
the toothbrush maunderlngs of Mary
MacLane. whose book, according to reli
able reports, Denverltes read with avid
Ity
The end of chapter 33 of "Huckleberry
Finn" reads as follows
So we poked along back home, and I -warn't
teellng so brash as I was before, but kind of
ornery, and humble, and to blame, somehow
thoueh I hadn t done notnmr. iiut mai s
aiwavs the war: it don't make no difference
whether you do right or wrong, a person's con-
science ain't got no sense, ana just goes ror
him anyway. If I haa a yaner aog inai aian i
know no more than a person s conscience does.
I would poison him. it taices up more room
than all the rest of a person's lnsldes, and yet
ain't no good nohow. Tom Sawyer, he says
the same.
So do we all of us when the conscience
Is that of the Denver Public Library.
Henderson n,nil Reed
Detroit Free Press.
Perhaps It Is better on the whole that
the Snenkershlp should do nuea Dy a man
of the Henderson caliber than by a man
of the Reed caliber. The Hendersons will
the sooner discredit the arbitrary rules ot
the House and enable that body the sooner
to resume Its former deliberative charac
ter. Only a man of conspicuous ability
could have fastened the Reed rules upon
the House. They are a weapon tor -giants.
not for pigmies. While they have accom
nlished the ourpose for which they were
Intended, they have also achieved results
that even Mr. Reed did not foresee. They
have made the House a mere machine
for recording the will of the Speaker.
They have destroyed debate and made all
discussion purely perfunctory. They have
thrown all the power and all the respon
sibility for legislation into the hands of
the Senate, the body which the framers of
the Constitution Intended only as a check
on the possible excesses of the direct rep
resentatives of the people. The Reed
rules have shriveled the lower house, and
transformed ltg members Into mere pup
pets.
Times Changed.
Baltimore News.
"But before we were married," she
complained, "you used to give me beau
tiful -presents."
"Yes, but a dollar looked like a dime
then, and now er a dime looks like a
miracle!" N
The Rhotlora,
ON BEING ASKED. WHENCE IS THE
FLOWER.
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
In May, when eea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhoaora la me wooas.
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook.
To please the desert ana me siuggisn orooic
The nurple petals, ranen in me pool.
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhocora! If the sages ask thee why
Thla charm Is wasted on the earth and sky.
Tell' them. dear, that If eyes were made for
seelnr.
Then beauty Is Its own excuse, for being:
Why thou wert there. O rival of the rose.''
I never thought to ask, I never knew:
But. In my simple Ixuorance. suppose
The self-same Power that brought mc there"
brought you
BRITISH FOREIGN TRADE.
Chicat?oIlecord xicraia.
The commercial department ot me on
isn Doara ot traoe nas rcucueu
elusion that Great Britain cannot expect
to maintain her past commercial suprem-
. .t, at rrnr
acy, at any rate wiiuum s""""3
and careful, energetic improvement it.
business methods.
It does not require all the detaU of the
department's report to compel assent to
such a proposition, since Its truth Is ob
vious 'from a mere statement ot the
growth ot population In Great Britain, tne
United States and Germany, to which the
report refers. These countries all have a
high development of commercial ana in
dustrial skill, but the United States now
has nearly double the population of the
United Kingdom, and a united Germany,
which has come uo out of chaos In the
last 30 years, has a third more people. And
while the United Kingdom contains oui
120.974 sauare miles the area of Gennany
Is 255,8:0 square miles, and that of the
United States exceeds three million square
miles. That Great Britain should main
tain forever the tremendous lead which
she had when this country was still In the
pioneering stage and Germany consisted
of numerous separate, discordant and bel
Ugerant states Is of course Impossible.
The nre-cmlnence will gradually disap
pear, but the population Is now doing and
will continue for many years to do a for
eign business that Is out of all proportion
to Its size. This assertion may be Justified
by reference to the trade returns for the
calendar year of 1901. In that year the for
eign trade of the United Kingdom
amounted to S3.905.523.S64. divided a3 fol
lows: Imports, $2,541,476,021; exports. Sl,36o,-
047.813. During the same time the figures
for Germany were: Imports, S1.S51.017.234;
exports, S1.H2.125.04S; total S2.464.142.2S2.
And for the United States: Imports. $SS0,
421.036; exports. S1.438.CS3.590; total. $2,318.
505.046. This means that the foreign trade
of Great Britain was about four-fifths as
great as that of the other two countries
combined, and that 42,000,000 people.. living
on' a very restricted territory, relatively
speaking, are carrying off this proportion
against 130.000,000. And as the figures are
the largest In the history of the Nation,
except for the year 1900, they are hardly
indicative of a decline, no matter how
fast Britain's commercial rivals are over
hauling her.
Reconstruction of the Transvnnl.
New York Tribune.
General Pleter G. Steyn. of the staff of
ex-President Steyn. of the Orange Free
State, has contributed to the current Is
stfe of Collier's Weekly- an extremely In
teresting article upon the question of
reconstruction In South Africa. It car
ries additional weight with it as General
Steyn will head the" reconstruction con
gress of the Transvaal. The General's
paper Is practical In Its nature and is de
voted to industrial conditions, with the
purpose of showing what the Boer needs
and how he will resume the processes of I
development which were Interrupted by
the war.
It Is assumed at the outset that the
mlneowners can take care of themselves,
as they have such abundant capita to
draw upon, and the mining property has
not specially suffered from the ravages
of war. With the agricultural Interests
the case Is widely different While the
Boers own the land, their houses and
outbuildings have been mostly destroyed,
and they have neither Implements, cattle,
nor horses with which to do their work.
So far 3P cattle are concerned they will
be brought from Australia and Isew Zeal
and, but General Steyn Is of opinion that
the United States and Canada will have
to supply thousands of horses, as horses
from these parts are best fitted for work
In South Africa. The Boers will also look
to this country for plows, agricultural
machinery, wagons, and barbed wire.
Immense quantities of which will be need
ed. As to the planting and raising of crops.
General Steyn affirms that there will be
no difficulty in securing farm labor. The
Kaffirs who worked for the Boers before
the war will work for them again. He
describes their methods of labor as fol
lows: A Kaffir family Is engaged, and the mora
members this family has the better. It usually
consists of the husband, the wife, wveral
grown-up sons, two or three grown-up aaugn-
ters, and a string of children. The female
members of the family work In the farmer's
house as domestic servants; all the sons who
are old enouch to work spend their time In
the nelda; while the Kaffir father of this fam
ily simply sits at home and does nothing but
eat. sleep and enjoy himself. The farmer
usually auDolIes the laborers with food an
easy matter, for the Kaffirs live almost entire
ly on what Is known in the United States as
cornmeal and corn bread. In the matter" of
payment, one arrangement Is to pay the Kaffir
in stocK, ne. in lurn, oreeaing uie came ior
-his own profit: another arrangement Is to pay
him by the year, say about $30 or $33 as his
cash compensation for 12 months. The extra
hands hired at shearing or reaping time are
paid a shilling a day.
It Is evident from this that the Boer
country will supply all Its own farm labor
and that things to labor with rather than
laborors are what will be needed there,
though General Steyn Is confident that
there will be plenty of work for skilled
mechanics at good wages, and that while
there will not be a boom In trade until
after reconstruction Is complete, in five
years from now exports irom tnis country
to Africa, will be double what they were
in the first year of the war. in the mean
time, iron and steel for structural work.
machinery for mining operations, materi
al for bridges, and roiling stock ror rail
roads will have to be supplied by the
United States.
It la a cheering sign of the rapid recon
struction and future prosperity of South
Africa that men like General Steyn, now
that adverse fate has compelled them to
lay down the sword, are promptly accept
ing the new situation and devoting them
selves to the rehabilitation of their coun-
try-
It shows that the Boer Instead of
being dull, phlegmatic and unprogresslve.
Is alert, wide awake and far sighted.
Carefulness Her Undoing:.
Onlooker.
A story that Is now going the rounds Is
laid to the .door of a piquante and dainty
little French lady who was more or less
In evidence at such places as were visited
by the Rochambeau Embassy. The humor
of the situation lies In the extreme diffi
dence of the Frenchwoman. She Is sensi
tive to the point of a double nervousness,
and realizing the liability to err In a for
eign tongue, she was generally careful to
make selection of each Individual word.
Wherefore she was but the more amus
ing when one evening, feeling moved to
remonstrate with a gentleman upon the
chilliness of our northern May, she said:
"Reely ect ees so cold here all ze time
sat I have sat all ze day weeth my feet
over ze transome."
All for Love.
Lord Byron.
-Oh talk not to me of a name great In story:
The days of our youth are the days of our
glcry:
And the myrtle and Ivy of sweet two and
twenty
Are worth all your laurels, though ever so
plenty.
What are garlands and crowns to the brow
that Is wrinkled?
'TIs but as a dead flower with May-dew be
sprinkled: Then away with all such from the head that Is
noary
What care I for the wreaths that can only
give glory?
O Fame! If I ere took delight In thy praises.
'Twas less for the sake of thy high-sounding
phrases.
Than to see the bright eyes of the dear one
discover
She thought that I was not unworthy to love
her.
There chiefly I sought thee, there only I found
thee;
Her glance was the best of the rays that sur
round"1 thee;
When It sparkled o'er aught that was bright
in tot story.
X knew It waa love, and Z felt It was glory.
NOTE AND COMMEt
Success
Is the nucleus ofiy
failure.
Must we send
to come back?
Tracy Is dead,
money keeps on.
for Lewis Clark
but the ru the
How does Gardiner expect t the
Tracy, reward? Why, he hy a
Sheriff!
Every rule has exceptions, flight
have been, a hero had he not jd to
talk It over.
They don't know what they vhen
they fail to elect each one ofgirls
Queen of the Carnival.
The Democratic party finds lVith-
out funds for a campaign. Wever
get rid of the money question'.
Uncle Sam has a medicine tc the
South American republics frorap
plng. It Is benevolent assimll
A town In Haytl has been dest and
nobody knows whether the (ylng
agent was a revolution or a vo.
Although the Lewis and Claiard
has all the time there is. it netore.
What a pity there are only 24 s Ih
a day I
If Bryan had learned sooner he
doesn't want to be President, aps
he would not have been so longsnd
Ing it out
The sun spots are said to bcon
slble for every ailment on earthhen
we know what's the matter vthe
1905 fair site.
If Explorer Baldwin had beentea
as well as baffled he would not hany
thlng to lecture or write mine
articles about.
Some converts had their sins led
away In the Willamette. We tniielr
sins are not yet in the river. Wint
to go swimming.
A volcano down in Central A lea
is growing. It desires to lnforthe
world that other Industries are wn
there besides revolutions.
The oracles- were false which deed
King Edward would reign but woulot
be crowned. King Edward showsiat
man is man and master of his fate.
Perhaps even if we should decicto
begin prsparatlons for the 1E05 faiwe
shouldn't know how to start it Sot's
wait until we've forgotten how ncto
start.
Attorney-General Knox got Int a
fight with some trust hirelings. 'fey
didn't know his name until they felt
what it stands for and then It jTed
them.
Bryan says he will not be a candato
for President in 1904. The man ideed
has some modesty. Nobody ha yet
asked him to be a candidate and et he
refuses.
If we should report to the Irprove
ment Association all our nusances.
would It be worth while living tsether?
After all, living togeth'er Itser Is a
nuisance.
The Democrats of Washlngt-n don't
know whether they are for c against
the railroads. They will makeup their
minds after the Republicans hrve had a
whack at the question.
President Roosevelt has toil Bingcr
Hermann that he very' much desires to
visit Oregon. He has told the sane to
the Hon. John Barrett, who is alo one
of his particular friends. TJie President
seems to have lots of friends.
The Civic Improvement Association
should go after everybody ex:ept us.
Everybody but us scatters gems. No
danger comes of our spittln? on the
sidewalks. Our carpets. bea.en In tho
streets, don't .breathe off merobes; Its
our neighbor's carpets. Our swill barrel
doesn't breed disease; It's the woman's
next door. We are In entte sympathy
with the association, only ve want it to
let us alone.
"What we have done In Cuba." Is the
subject of a work by the Bureau of In
sular Affairs. And what have we done?
Have we loaded upon tht Island a struc
ture of government too elaborate for her
resources to support and have we threat
ened her with annihilation if she docs
not support it? Have we. by refusing
reciprocity even taken from her th
means of supporting tlut structure? "You
take my house when you do the prop
that doth sustain my house; you take
my life when you do take the means
whereby I live." Are we a stlffneckcd
people?
A New York mai In London was ad
judged insane for saying he owned all
the yachts in thi world and was tho
Savior, Just arrUed from Heaven in a
flying machine. An Indisputable proof
of his Insanity was the fact that If ho
was the owner of all the yachts in tho
world he was a bigger man than Plerp.
Morgan. Howerer, In the realm of
fancy, he was Just as big as Morgan,
and fancy really answers all practical
purposes. Dreams are true while they
last, and do we not live In dreams? Al
though the man declared himself tho
Savior no evidence was adduced to.
prove that he wa not. any more than
was done by the benighted people 20CO
years ago. There are some nice dis
tinctions In this modern day between a
liar and a lunatic and some of them aro
so intangible that they can't be touched.
PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS
Nearly Perfect: Dolly Have you learned to
manage your "auto" yet? Daisy Very nearly.
I can do everything, but stop It and steer It!
Puck.
In Old Kentucky. Basil Did old Stiller leave
his family anything when he died? Zeke
Yeas, sah. He left a mortgage an two feuds.
Chlcaso Dally News.
How Frlghtul! Beryl Were you much em
barrassed when he kissed you? Sibyl No; I
was frightened, though. "How so?" "I told
him to stop, and for & moment I thought he
was going to 1" Baltimore Herald.
Tess So Mr. Grocsum really proposed to you?
Jess Yes. While we were strolling In the
cemetery we came to their family grave, and
he asked me how I'd like to be burled there
some day. with his name on the stone above
me. Tit-Bits.
His Opinion. "Do you believe In woman's
suffrage?" "Well," answered Mr. Meekton.
"sometimes I think It would be a convenience
if the ladles could go to the polls themselves
Instead of giving us Instructions and taking
chances on mistakes." Washington Star.
Peckham (reading) "Lost or stolen, blooded
fox terrier. Reward If returned, and no ques
tions asked." Poor man! I fel sorry for htm.
Mrs. Peckham Why do you say "poor man"?
Perhaps the advertiser Is a -woman. Peckham
Nonsense! Doesn't It say "No Questions
asked" 7 Philadelphia Record.