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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1902)
THE MORNING OEEGONIAN,, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 190r. Eatercdnt the rostofflco at Tortland. Oregon. as second-class matter. REUSED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid. In advance) Dally, with Sunday, per month $ S5 Jr-1" Sunday excepted, per year $ Dally, with Sunday, per year 9 X Sunday, per vear.... . .. 2 00 Tho Weekly, "per year 1 The Wceky. 3 months 5 To City Subucrlbrs pally, per week. !ellvered. Sunday excepted. 1 Dally, per wcel:. delivered. Sunday lncluded.20e POSTAGE RATES. Vnlted States. Canada and Mexico: 30 to 14-pape paper... i. 1 to 2S-page paper k "c Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed Invaria bly 'TJdltor The Oregonlan.', not to the name' of any Individual. ' letters relating to adver tising, subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply ."The Oregonlan." Eastern Business Onice. 4.1. 44. 45. 47. 48. 40 Tribune building. New Tork City: G10-11-12 Tilbune building. Chicago; the S.'C. Beckwlth Special Agency. Eastern representative. For sale In San Francis"- " L. E. Lee. Pal nee Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bro3.. 230 Sutter street; F. W. Pitts. 1003 Market street; J. K. Cooper Co.. "46 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand; Frank Scott. SO E1113 street, and X. Wheatley. S13 Mission street. For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 250 South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 303 South Spring street. For sale in Kansas City. Mo., by n:-ksecker Cigar Co.. Ninth and "Walnut streets. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. B3 Washington street. For sale in Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1612 Farnam street; Megeath Stationery Co.. 1303 Farnam street. For sale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second South street. For sole in Minneapolis by R. G. Hearsey & Co.. 24 Third street South. For sale in "Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrick. 906-912 Seventeenth street; Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co., Fifteenth and Lawrence street; A. Series. Sixteenth and Curtis streets. TODAY'S "WEATHER Showers and cooler; south to west winds. YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem perature, CO; minimum temperature. 4Z: pre cipitation, none. PORTLAND, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 REPRESENTATION AT ST. LOUIS. Mra Montgomery's suggestion that Oregon should be represented In some special and notable way at the St. Louis Exposition is both important and time ly. Under ordinary circumstances this would be eminently proper, and under the special circumstances It is eminent ly necessary, since if an effective Impres sion Is made and a good relationship es tablished at St. Louis it will go' a long way In the promotion of our Lewis and Clark Fair. Within six months from the close of the St. Louis Exposition our Fair will open its doors, and if we go about the matter with any sort of diplomacy we can make the earlier and bigger show contribute greatly to the interr est of the later. The countries of the world are vying with each1 other in exhibits to be made at St. Louis: and when the great event there Is overawe ought to be In a position to make such selections from these exhib its as we want. We are in a situation, If we shall play our cards discreetly, to gain much at St. Louis which otherwise we ould only get at great labor or ex Tgne much, in. truth, which under or .idgjiry" circumstances we could not ex pectjat all. Bui to do thlswemust be on the ground and in relations which will justify us In asking the co-operation" of the St. Louis authorities. A word from them here and an introduction there, as they may be needed, in our favor, will be of the greatest service; and since this is so, we ought to spare no .pains to estab lish the right relations to "get next," so to speak. There is an easy way to do this, and it Is to be prompt and gen erous in our attitude toward the St. Louis enterprise. We ought, as Mrs. Montgomery suggests, to be among the states represented by a special building, in which our presence and our support of the Exposition shall be and appear to be a fact of special distinction and graciousness. By this means we shall accomplish two objects, one the wide advertisement of Oregon, and the other the establishment of such relations with the exposition authorities and with the exhibitors as will mightily aid us in the work of securing attractions for the Lewis and Clark Fair. The. managers of the St. Louis Expo sition fully understand the value of co operative effort of this kind, and have made it an Important feature of their promotion policy during the past two years. At both the Buffalo and Charles ton Expositions the St Louis Exposi tion, as a corporation, was represented by beautiful buildings in entire Inde pendence of the generous representation of the City of St Louis and the State of Missouri. It was professedly not only a compliment paid by one fair association to apother, but a means of exploitation for the coming event at St. Louis. A similar policy would greatly promote our Interests. The opportunity afforded by the exposition at St. Louis is one of exceptional good fortune, and we shall make a great? practical mistake if we fail to make the most of if And If we are to do this, it Is time we were about it. Other states and cities are selecting their sites, and those who come early are likely to fare better than those who wait until the last hour.- A GALLANT SOLDIER. General Alexander S. Webb, who "for more than thirty years has been presi dent of the College of 4he City of New Tork, has resigned, his resignation to take effect December 1. His salary has been $S00O, and his pension as a retired president will be $5000 -a year. Before General Webb became president of the college he had won an immortal name in history as the commander of the fa mous brigade of Gibbon's division of the Second Army Corps, that bore the brunt of the attack of the head of Pick ett's division at Gettysburg. On this occasion, General Webb, who was grad uated from West Point in the "class of 1855, led his brigade and was wounded. General Doubleday. who was an eye witness, says in his history ,of the battle that "it would have been difficult to lind a man better fitted than General Webb to meet The great charge which was now to decide the fate of the day." General Webb led the Seventy-second Pennsylvania Regiment against the enemy and posted a line of wounded men in the rear to shoot every man who deserted hfo duty. General Webb was a second time se verely wounded at Spottsylvania in May, 1864, while leading his brigade in a charge. He was promoted to be Major-General of Volunteers, and - suc ceeded Major-General Humphreys as chlef-of-staff to General Meade when Humphreys took command of the Sec ond Corps. He entered the Union Army at 26 years of age a Major of a volun teer regiment, and came out a Major- General of Volunteers with the brevet rank of Major-General in the regular Army. His father was General James Watson Webb, the once famous editor of the New York Courier and Inquirer, a brilliant man, who was always ready to fight a duel, and in one of these encoun ters was wounded and lamed for life. This fighting editor endowed his son with his fighting spirit, but he put it to a more rational purpose, for since 1869 General Webb has led as peaceful a life as. If he had been bred a parson Instead of a soldier. Able teacher he has been for thirty years, but the most Immortal thing he ever did was when- he and his brigade stood the brunt of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. INDIAN INSPECTOR REPORTS PROG RESS. The very prevalent belief that the In dians are dying oft rapidly appears to be without foundation in fact. Major J. E. Edwards, Inspector of Indian Agencies in the Dakbtas, Montana, Idaho and Washington, now on an offi cial tour of the agencies, Is authority for the statement that the Indian popu lation is increasing slightly instead of decreasing rapidly. The Northern Chey ennes of Montana, for. example, show an increase of thirty in the last year. He states that, as a rule, all the tribes are growing, though there are excep tions, as in the case of the Crows, whose ranks, are being thinned yearly by tu berculoma Taken as a whole, however, the increase in the tribes Is greater than the losses, and it is evident that the Indian question Is not In a. fair way to be ssttled by the exterminating power of civilization as applied to the red men. A more important fact than this is disclosed in the further statement of Major Edwards that the "Indian is progressing." He is going out into the world, and In so doing is proving his growing ability to take care of himself on a self-supporting Tjasis, thus lessen ing the number of the Nation's wards while his numbers are numerically In creasing. This is testimony for which the American people have long waited doubtingly, it is true, though with a degree of hopefulness. If the teaching and the care, the sequestration and the protection given to the Indians, have at last come to bear fruits meet unto civ ilization effects for which the Indian policy of the Nation has stQod for many years; if the Indian is really learning the value of self-help and has come to appreciate the dignity of self-support, there Is truly cause for rejoicing. If it is no longer true that the Indian, hav ing completed his course at one of the Government industrial schools, returns to his tribe, not to lapse Into his old ways, becoming a more pitiable dbject than when he left the agency years be fore, but, on the contrary, to become a factor among his brethren and an agent of civilization In his tribe, then at last the Indian policy of the Nation Is vin dicated by results. Those who in this part of the. Pacific Northwest recall the optimistic views and earnest, enthusiastic effort of Major M. C. Wilkinson, first superintendent of the Indian industrial school at Che mawa, which was first established at Forest Grove, will feel a natural regret that he not only did not live to see the fulfillment of his generous prophecy In regard to the Industrial progress of the Indians, but was himself slain by In dians whom he trusted as brothers. His prophecy that the days of the old chiefs and old superstitions would pass away, that the tepee would be replaced by the modern house, that gardens would be planted, fields sown and stock raising carried on systematically by In dians, and finally that the church would become a power for good on the res ervations, appeared In his day of a quarter of a century or more ago to be but the Idle dreams of an enthusiast. That these dreams are far from being fully realized we may well believe, the testimony of Major Edwards to the con trary notwithstanding. But one thing Is certainly true. Many of the old In dians have died and can no longer in terpose their supine, implacable stub bornness to the progress of their race, and young men trained In ways of In dustry 'have taken their places. Re forms among white people have often had to bide patiently this decree of Nature, and It Is not strange that the progress of the Indian, based upon the gospel of work, could not make head way against the stubborn Indolences and stolid unthrlft of the ages as repre sented In the old Indians who were The oracles of their tribes when the present Indian policy of the Government was formulated. THE ARMY. The President has ordered the reduc tion of the Army to 56,989, the mini mum authorized by law. The present size of the Army Is 65,000. Under the present system the President could In crease the Army to 100,000 tomorrow on his simple order. Secretary of War Root will ask Congress to create a gen eral staff modeled on the lines of simi lar organizations of the great military powers of Europe, and to enact the mil itia bill, which Mr. Root regards as a measure of the greatest Importance. His third recommendation will be that Congress grant authority to provide the necessary equipment for an Army of 250,000 men; that is, to have all the ad ditional arms, ammunition, tents and every other class of articles for field service ready to supply an Army of 250,000 men without the slightest delay, should any hostile emergency arise. Mr. Root will renew his recommendations of last year for a National military re serve to be called Into service by- the Federal Government in time of war. Since the adjournment of Congress a strong sentiment has been developed In favor of this measure among Senators and Representatives, and It Is now be lieved It has an excellent chance of being enacted. The contrast between the military bur densborne by theUnited Statesand those endured by Germany, Russia, France and Austria Is worthrecltlng. . With a popu lation of 57,000,000 Inhabitants, Germany maintains an effective standing army of nearly 500.000 men. With a population of 132,000,000, Russia furnishes annually 860,000 conscripts that are good for serv ice. In Austria the annual contingent of conscripts that are fit for service is 417,000. In Italy the annual contingent of men fit for service is 205,000. The un fit for service are In France 21 per cent, in Germany 37 per cent, In Austria 50 per cent, in Italy 27 per cent, and In Russia 19 per cent. Out of every 1000 men from the ages of 21 to CO there are In service in France 58.4 per cent, in Germany 48, in Russia 43. The figures show that France, in proportion to population, bears the heaviest military burden, and Russia the lightest. When we remember that with about 80,000,000 of people we support only an Army of 6.5,000 men, "which Is to be re duced at once to about 57,000, our peo ple have reason to be grateful that our young men are not tempted to expatri ate themselves to avoid conscription for a standing "Army. Nevertheless, our enormous annual pension roll of $13S,Q00.000 would go far toward sup porting a very large standing Army If we needed one. The Army of our living soldiers does not represent a very se vere burden, but the' startling Army of our dead soldiers, which Is pearly 1,000, 000 strong, is a heavy burden which can not be reduced by a general order from the President. THE ABSORBER AT LAST ABSORBED The Central Vermont Railroad Is now simply a branch of the Grand Trunk system of Canada In all essential re spects, and this fact is clearly estab lished by the election of Charles M. Hays, of Montreal, to the presidency of the Central Vermont, succeeding ex Governor E. C-Smith, by whom the Central Vermont was practically re garded as a bequest to him from his father, ex-Governor John Gregory Smith, who, beginning with the Ver mont Central and Vermont & Canada Railroads, managed before his death to own- or lease all the railroads In the state. It took a good many years of litigation before the courts and a deal of legislation to accomplish this. Every lawyer, large and small, carried - a free pass In his pocket; every member of the Legislature of either party had a free pass; all the Judges of the Supreme Court had free passea The managers of the Central Vermont were thus able to pack the State Legislature, which not only made the laws, but elected the Judges who expounded them. No man whom the railroad' designated for Judge of the Supreme Court could be defeated; no man whowas knowri to. be hostile to the railroad could be elected. No -man could be nominated for Governor k who was not approved by the "Central Ver mont ring." In a small 6tate of 350,000 people It is easy to see that the hand that .owned and manipulated all the railroads of the state was sure to become an evil, cor rupting Influence in business, society and politics. All Independence of thought and action vas extinguished. Every young man who desired to. rise honorably-in law or politics had to ob tain leave to exist of the Central Ver mont ring. Finally the Legislature, hav ing enacted all the demands of the ring, and the courts having granted all Its appeals, Its arch-engineer and archi tect was able to retire with the wealth he had won out of the railroads he had absorbed and leave the active control of the Central Vermont to his heirs and assigns. But the retirement, followed soon by the death of Governor John Gregory Smith, ' revealed the fact that superior brains for the successful management of men and things are not transmissible from father to son. and the structure that the original architect and engineer of the Central Vermont ring had built up with so much industry and skill began to fall apart. The leased lines, like the old Rutland Rail road, passed Into other hands, and were extended to compete with the Central Vermont. Gradually it became reduced to a mere dependency and feeder of the Grand Trunk, and this fact has now been bluntly confessed by turning down the third generation of the Smith fam ily as railway president to make room for the vice-president of the Grand Trunk. In other words, the Central "Vermont, originally the great absorber of Ver mont railroads, which extended its ad ministration from Ogdensburg, on the St. Lawrence, to New London, on Long Island Sound, from Boston to Montreal, has now finally become absorbed Itself by the Grand Trunk. The Triton among the minnows of the ancient railway pool of Vermont has at last been swal lowed by the muskalonge of the Cana dian waters. The architect of the Cen tral Vermont left a bow behind him which, like the bow of Ulysses, none of his blood relations could bend. History has only repeated itself. After Augus tus came Augustulus, after Napoleon the Great came Napoleon the Little. After Oliver Cromwell came his spine less son Richard, aften the victor of Aglncourt came the epileptic Henry VI. These Illustrations are a blissful re minder that men of dangerous ability for feathering their own nests at the expense of corrupting Legislatures, warping courts from the moorings of justice and debasing politics cannot be queath their brains with their spolls- to their sons and minor blood relations. Because of this fact the Central Ver mont Is now controlled by the Grand Trunk, which declines annually to seed down the state with free passes. It has no axes to grind In the State Legislature or the state courts, so that the editors and Judges and preachers and mem bers of the Legislature all have to pay their -fare. The generation of "free riders" Is gone never to return, and the professional politicians are therefore not enamored of the new railway dispen sation. But if the. change will clear the political atmosphere so that the people of the state can henceforth make and unmake Governors, Senators, Congress men, courts and Legislatures that are other than the mere creatures of a des potic railway trust, the practical ex tinction of this famous Central Vermont ring will Inure to the public weal. A small, poor state dominated by a ra pacious railway corporation that cor rupts politics and courts in order to do business Is a just object of commis eration. Mr. Lytle's suggestion that the peo ple of Oregon ought to buy out such rights In the Upper Deschutes region as have been established or acquired by private irrigation companies under the Carey act, where they interfere with operations which the Government is willing to undertake, Is both timely and practical. However much It Is to be regretted that private exploiters have gotten In the way of National enterprise, there Is still no wish In any quarter to deal with these exploiters other than in a perfectly fair way. That some of them have established rights and have In good faith and with legitimate pur pose invested considerable sums of money in preliminary operations Is un questionably true. It appears that If they were out of the way the Govern ment would step fn under its new Irri gation policy and do freely the work which they haVe undertaken as a specu lation. It is believed that, In view of the changed conditions and of the pub lic Interests Involved, the company which holds the most Important con tract under the Carey law, and which has expended the most money, would be willing to retire upon reasonable terms, and It Is possible' that the Irriga tion authorities would be willing to ac cept theprelimlnary work done and make an appropriation to cover its cost. Any discrepancy between the amount neces sary to be paid and the amount which the Government might be willing to pay ought without much difficulty to be made up by the people of a the state. There are, of course, a good many points to be settled before Mr. Lytle's. suggestion can be worked out, but they, are not of a, sort to. discourage the hdpe that the thing can be done'. Oregons share in the fund nqw In -the hands of the Irrigation authorities is approxi mately $1,000,000, and it would be a pity, truly. If this fund should b6 diverted elsewhere through the appropriation for private and speculative operations of the tracts which the Government would J gladly water for us out of its own free bounty. Deer are increasing in .Southern Ore gon rapidly through protection. It Is their, natural tendency. The deer have increased so rapidly in Canada, through protection that the w.olves have beqome a pest and a terror. More than fifty years ago the wolves had disappeared in the vicinity of Ottawa, but at Buck ingham, which Is about eighteen miles distant, the wolves have now Increased so rapidly with the Increase of deer, and have become S3 bold, that the farm ers' stocks of sheep, horses and cattle have suffered greatly. The settlers about Buckingham do not seem to he able to drive oft! the wolves, for their dogs fraternize with them and help kill the sheep. The same result probably could never take place In Oregon through the Increase of deer, because, there are too many men armed with rifles who know how to use them. In Vermont the deer have Increased so rapidly through protection that they have become a nuisance, for they are so tame that they eat all the. farmers' green vegetables and .all his. outdoor grain and fruit that suits their paiate, but the wolves do not seem to have re turned to . Vermont because of the in crease of. deer as they have In Canada. The suggestion of a correspondent made In The Oregonlan-yesterday, that it would be well to have a law enacted making the State Penitentiary the place for all legal executions, Is timely.. If there is a class who, more than any other, might be expected to profit from the presence in their midst of a gallows, that class may well 'be supposed to be confined in the Penitentiary. For an ordinary community to be confronted by a dead wall from behind which, upon occasion, the sound of -saw and hammer tells that a scaffold Is rising, "is both grewsome and unnecessary. People who do not shudder at the sight and sound regard the event which they fore shadow with a curiosity the exercise of which Is demoralizing in a degree, es pecially upon boys. There are sound reasons for the belief that too much Is made of executions for the public good. A process that tends to make martyrs or heroes of murderers should be dis countenanced, and in no way could this be done more effectively than by hav ing all legal executions take place in the lnclcsure of the State Penitentiary and made strictly private, as the law directs. Newsmongers are busy with matri monial possibilities that center in the White House. Now" they state on "un doubted authority" that Miss Alice Roosevelt's engagement will soon be an nounced, and again the statement Is au emphatically dfnied. Of course, it Is none of the public's business; one way or the other, only as Its agents, the newsgatherers. pry around and try to make It so. Sensible matrons and young women with a season or two to their credit In Washington society are of the opinion that the President's daughter will rot throw away her very rare op portunities as the "first young lady of the land" by becoming engaged and get ting married thus early in her father's first Presidential term. Whether Mls3 Alice herself will reason this way or not remains to be seen. The Chinese government's latest cen eus of the population of. China, proper gives the number of inhabitants as about 426,000,000 souls, which Is only 13, 000,000 more than the Chinese figures for 1842. The Chinese figures for 1882 were 380,000,000. China proper Is less than half as large as the United States with out Alaska, and yet It contains as many people as the whole of Europe, and near ly six times as many as there are in the United States. If the whole of the population of the United States and 40, 000,000 more were crowded into the State of Texas, the density of population would about equal that of the Tang-tse Valley and of the plain extending north and south between the lower courses of the Tang-tse and the Hoang Rivers. The chief opposition to reconstruction among the Cape Colony Dutch, accord ing to the terms of peace in South Af rica, is coming, not from the fighting patriots who have in good faith laid down their guns, but from the politi cians who never shouldered a gun. Herein history again repeats Itself. Pa triots who devote their energies In time of war to keeping out of range may usu ally be relied upon to make trouble when the political situation comes to be adjusted to conform to the terms of peace. x In the United States Consular report for October Consul , Mansfield, at Val paraiso, Chile, tells of the building of a branch of the Diamond Match Company, of the United States. In the suburb of Vina del Mar, and he deems it worth while to remark that "all the materials used In the construction of the buildings (except the timbers, which are of Ore gon pine) are" of Chilean production." What-would the world do without Ore gon pine? The total registration of New York City Is 592,308, which is 37.000 more than the total of 1898, and 21,500 less than the total for last year, when the -struggle to overcome Tammany secured a very full registration. The general testimony Is that so far as New York City is con cerned no deep Interest. Is shown in the election. Political apathy seems to pre vail in both parties. A more distressing domestic calamity than that represented by the disappear ance from her home of a timid young girl can scarcely be Imagined. - The pa rents In such a case are entitled to and receive the sincerest sympathy in the community, and to snich aid In their sore distress as energetic searchers can render them. Postmaster-General Payne says that President Roosevelt is In favor, not of tariff revision merely, but of tariff re duction, and will recommend In his next message to. Congress "a reduction of Im port duties on products fhlch no longer need protection." ( VIEWS OF THE SPECIAL SESSION Time an Important Consideration. Salem Statesman. ( If there is to .be a vote on the 1905 Ex position appropriation by the people of' Oregon, it should be taken as soon as possible, whether provided for by the Legislature at a special or the regular session. It Is important that the great undertaking should not be held up. Time Is an Important consideration In the en terprise. Flat Salaries to the Front. Newburg Graphic It begins to look as if a special ses sion of the Legislature might be called by Governor Geer for the purpose of put ting state officials upon flat salaries and doing away with the fee system. If the directors of the 1905 Fair had all of the "perquisites" of the last 10 years they would be able to do the handsome thing without any state appropriation. Didn't Hear The Oregonlan Speak. Hlllsboro Argus. x Banker Corltett Is out for an extra ses sion of tho Legislature, and It Is amus ing toeee how quickly the great Oregonlan pulls in its opposition to Geer's idea of making the calj. Corbett wants to see the Legislature walk into a good-sized appropriation for. the coming Lewis and Clark Exposition, and he wants to see things move before the legislative mem bers get mixed up is a general free-for-all on the Senatorial question. The Ore gonlan, so bjtterly opposed to an extra session, now keeps still and tacitly In dorses the Idea. Wonder what that paper would do In ca& the "old man" would shy his castor intthe Senatorial ring,? Take One, feat Not Both. Woodburn Independent. Two matters In particular are worrying Portland how to secure a $500,000 Legis lative appropriation and the United States Senatorshlp. Wouldn't It be easier work to have only one of these objects In view? Only one Portland man can be elected Senator, next Winter, and surely the ele vation of one Portland man to a seat In the United States Senate, instead of a can didate residing outside of Portland, is not so desirable as gaining the desired appro priation. Then, why should any one of the Portland aspirants make of himself a serious obstacle in the promotion of the cause of the Lewis and Clark Exposition? Let the Portland candidates get off the dump. A Movement of the People. Salem Journal. The fight for a special session has made great progress the past few days. The Portland papers are full of It, and as a purely people's movement it bids fair to win out It should be remembered that in many states special session are called to promote the Interests of the party or a faction or an individual. Here the movement comes from the people for the promotion of popular reforms, and It has not been given any support by any poli tician of any party, but has been opposed by them all. cither Ellently or openly. The fight Is for consideration of non-partisan reforms that the people of all parties vot ed for, and which once secured will Increase power In the hands of the people, and diminish grafts in the hands of the politicians. This movement is not understood by theSspolls element, but it is thoroughly understood by the taxpay ers who read any of the newspapers of the state that are printed without muz zles, and who have given any space to the discussion. It is an interesting fight, and If the people win out there will bej cause for rejoicing. J Portland's Benefit In Astoria's. Astoria News. The solid men of Portland, the Taxpay ers' "League, have Initiated a movement for a special session of tho Legislature. No doubt the real reason why Portland's rich men favor the special session Is to secure the appropriation of $500,000 for the Lewis and Clark Exposition. "But It is for Portland's benefit," say some. Let us grant the assertion for a moment. Yet if It shall benefit Portland In speeding her forward to commercial supremacy In this Basin and In the West, then it Is for the common benefit of this entire Basin. Mr. Harriman has decided to develop As toria as Portland's ocean port. This does not put Astoria In rivalry for Portland's commercial supremacy. It only makes of It still greater Importance for Astoria to build up Portland as the chief city, be cause thereby Astoria's seaport suprem acy with lowest grain charters and high est wheat prices for the Basin farmers must result. Besides, it gives all the people of the 'Basin a cheaper market in which to buy their goods. Is It for Port land's benefit? Be It so. The resultant benefit is for every man, woman and child In the Basin. Referendum on the Centennial. Eugene Register. If a special session is held, and If It has to be-held before the initiative and refer endum Is made the law of the state, It would be wise to submit to the people of the state the question of how. much shall be given for the Lewis and Clark Fair, and not let the special session take out of the hands of the people the very right the special session purposes to give them by making the initiative and referendum operative. If the special session Is for the protection of the people by putting Into their hands the machinery of the lawmaking power, it would be a big mis take to bar them from expression on so important a question as that of putting $500,000 of the taxpayers' money Into the big fair project. This scheme does not look good to us. It smacks of this .on the part of the Portland Taxpay ers' League: "We'll stand for a special session In behalf of'Geer's Senatorial am bitions if you will give us $500,000 for the big fair. In other words, we'll give you the Initiative and referendum In protec tion of Geer's method of getting before the people as Senator In the last cam paign, if you will give us the $500,000 for the fair without first giving the people the rlghjt to-the initiative and referendum on this question. If we're to have a special session, let us make It a square deal all around." Special Session for Senator. "Astoria Astorian. Multnomah County may Just as well un derstand now as at some future date that her delegation must act fairly with the outside delegations. The people of Oregon. Irrespective of -political faith, are practically .a unit In favoring a handsome appropriation for the Centennial. The Oregonlan has obtained expressions from members of the Legislature, and they have almost unanimously declared for the $500,000 asked by the fair board. What more assurance does Portland want? If politics will prove harmful In the matter of the fair appropriation. It will likewise be hurtful in Its effect on other matters of state Interest. Then why not advo cate the holding of a special session for tho election of a United States Senator? This would be much more reasonable and less expensive, for a special session could be convened the. day following adjourn ment of the regular session. Surely, If the political feature of the approaching session Is going to prove detrimental to the Interests of the state, two sessions will be necessary one for the transaction of business and the other for the election of Senator Simon's successor. The af fairs of the state at large are equally as Important as those of Multnomah County, and no. special ruling ought to be made for any particular section. The $50,000 which a special session will cost could be better used as an additional sum to the fixed appropriation for the Lewis and Clark" Fair.- If the Senatorial election must be kept apart from other matters, then let the extra session be held to set tle that question, and let the business features be acted upon at a business session. THE DESTINY OF NAMES. Kansas City Star. Judge Wofford who has earned a rep utation for quaint philosophy In Kansas City, asked the name of one of the girls of his probationary school. ''Marie," shq said. "Humph!- No wonder you stole,' returned the Judge. "You shoulA have' been named Mary or Jane. A girl with such a name as Marie hasn't a fair show." The Judge only stated In his emphatic way a curious fact which others have ob servedthat names, of children do influ ence their careers. Parents should be very careful what names they give their offspring, especially their boys. The par ticular Instance of "Marie" may appear to be far-fetched, but. It Illustrated one. phase of the general rule, which Is that not many names will bear transplanting. To limit the discussion to boys: Oscar or Adplph docs very well in Sweden or Germany, but neither will fuse very ac ceptably with English ideas. Occasionally an Oscar or Adolph In America becomes a leading citizen, but then there are white crows. Generally speaking a boy should have a one-syllable name or one that can be readily 'nlcked." A Reginald or Clarence hasn't near tho chances for the Presidency that a Tom or Bill has. There, again, there may be exceptions, though It must be admitted that a boy who wins under that handicap should be given espe cia.l credit. But perhaps the greatest offense that misguided parents commit against de fenceless Infants is In loading them with the names of great men, particularly the names of poets. It is difficult to imagine anything less poetical than a baby at christening time, and whether It Is sup posed that the poet's name will do to con jure with for the divine afflatus, or that It Is only In keeping with the seraphic character of the infant, the fancy is alike misled. If the child could have the bliss to die. Ere sin could blight or sorrow fade, there would be little harm done. Homer and Milton and Dante look well in mar ble. But for the flesh, no; they are tod well, too unfleshly. The child that bears .such a name becomes Impressed, If he gives It heed at all, with his responsi bility. It weighs upon him. He seems to be under a perpetual. Injunction to sing and the very fact makes the notes stick In his throat. It Is no cause for. sur prise that all of the successors of Milton have been "mute and inglorious." Who ever heard of more than one tuneful Ho mer? To the thoughtless observer It might occur that Dante Gabriel Rossetti disproved the sweeping dictum. But he didn't. He was not even an exception to the rule. His case may be accounted for by the singular .combination of nomen claturea sort of bl-nomlal theorem work ing along the lines of a double negative. It may be asserted with confidence that Dante Rossetti would have sold bananas In the streets of London. Gabriel Ros eettl would have peddled macaroni. But Dante Gabriel was too much for silence Any boy of nerve would have redeemed that name or done something desperate. Bishop Spalding; ns Arbitrator. Chicago Chronicle. Not In most ancient Palestine. Nor In the lightsome air of Greece, "Wore human struggles more divine. More blessed with guerdon of Increase. Take thou thy stand In the workers' band. Thus wrote Bishop Spalding when a strike was not pending. In his poefns and prose alike he has alwaj-3 been a. voice of labor. A model of Industry, abhorring Idleness, despising hollow pretensions of every species, he has lived mentally as well as actually In the mines not only. of coal but of every metal and ore, real and Ideal. His diocese contains bituminous strata whose workers by the thousand know him personally. John Mitchell enjoys Bishop Spalding's confidence, and has pondered familiarly the many pages written by him in defense of the honor and the duty of toll. There, Is manifest fitness In the selection of the Bishop as a representative of the miners in the Presidential arbitration of. the anthracite strike. No man. outside their ranks knows their lot better. Nor need the operators fear injustice at hl3 hands. He will examine coldly, weigh deliberately and decide judicially. "Fear," Bishop Spalding has written, "is our great enemy fear of the world, of wicked men and wicked tongues; fear of unpopularity, of loss of business or social standing." His constitutional cour age Is matched by an Independence of all transitory conditions. His judgment will carry the highest weight with his col leagues of the commission because of his intimate knowledge of the life conditions of the miners, because of his Isolation from and indifference to partisan politics and because he has no personal Interest In the result except the personal Interest a humane American feels In the welfare of all his fellow-countrymen. The commission as a whole Is well bal anced by whatever test tried, and in the Bishop of Peoria It possesses an idealist who Is the most utilitarian of realists in practical issues. Why One Trust Failed. San Francisco Bulletin. Leslie's Weekly attributes the failure of the American Bicycle Company to the belief on the part of its managers that the combination of the several companies under one management rendered the com bination independent of the public. Be fore the combination the several compa nies "were liberal advertisers, but when the combination was formed, there being no competition in production, a saving was effected by the elimination of ad vertising expenses. The managers did not realize that the withdrawal of the former communication with the public would cause a decrease In the demand for bicycles. They had made competition Im possible, but they could not provide against the waning of public Interest In the sport that competition had created. The bicycle combination has had an ex istence of about three years. When the organization was effected the prospectus promised a dividend in common stock of 20 per cent. It has never paid a dividend, and Ita default in interest on bonds threw' it into the hands of a receiver. It is prob able that the combination was effected at the culmination of the public interest in that class of sport This public Interest had been greatly stimulated by the rivalry of leading companies, and the public no longer appealed to, let its attention wan der to other forms of diversion. IVhj- Gnnts Dance. Pearson's Weekly. A correspondent noting what Is fairly well known among entomologists, that many species of flies congregate together to dance, says it Is well known that this is for a very utiliatrian purpose the selec tion of a mate. At the present moment there are thousands of so-called "Winter midge" (trichocera hlemalls) dancing at the end of his garden, and every now and again paired couples can be seen to separate themselves from the crowd. On the previous, day, when it was very windy, there were but few about, but three or four found tho shelter of a doorway, and after a lengthy dance, seen from a dark ened room against a twilight sky, a paired couple found a resting place on his coat sleeve. A Contemplation Upon Flo-rrers. Henry King. Brave flowers that I could gallant It like you. And be as little vain I Tou come abroad, and make a harmless show. And to your beds of earth again. Tou are net proud: you know your birth: For your embrolder'd garments are from earth. Tou do obey your months and times, but I Would have It ever Spring: My fate would know no Winter, never die, Nor think of such a thing. Oh that I could my bed of earth but view And smile, and look a? cheerfully as you! Oh teach me to see .Death and not to fear, . But rather to take truce! How often have I seen you at a bier. And there look fresh and spruce! Tou fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath Like youta may sweeten and perfume my death. NOTE AND COMMENT. Dr. Wise Is now at- the bat. "Attorney Lord . practices where he preaches. The bicyclists are rejoiced oyer the cement sidewalks. The book agents have heard that this is an open town. Mr. Kllner has retired to practice what he has been, preaching. The Law Enforcement League will again take amateur standing. The white dove of peace seems to still have a little coal dust on her wings. If the blanket franchise can cover the streets, it wiH savemuch unpleasantness. Mr. Morgan has been compelled to pre sent London with the freedom of the city. A preacher with an honest purpose Is sometimes more effective than a law yer with a fee. The Sphinx is hereafter to carry a parasol. This solves the century-long riddle of Its sex. Mr. Lord and Mr. Kllner are discour aged about Portland's morality. This Is the best sign yet Somebody tried to kill the Sultan of Turkey the other day. Reform Is getting to be world-wide. J Now that the stage Is fast becoming a dissecting-room. It Is quite proper for a physician to become an actor. When a man has his son, aged 11, ar rested for vagrancy. It does not neces sarily follow that the boy took after his father. John D. Rockefeller Is returning pecu niary thanks for being saved from fire. Some people think this more in the nature of precaution. Hohsan Sanjlro Shimizu, to whom has Just been awarded the Catherln ST White scholarship for excellence In the engineering department of the Armour Institute of Technology, Is a young Jap anese student who entered the Institute four years ago. He is to receive the de gree of bachelor of science next Juno and proposes to settle in this country for the practice of his profession of engi neering. Mrs. Marie W. VItt, a resident of Bal timore, recently secured a divorce from her husband and on Wednesday evening celebrated the event by hiring a hall and giving a "divorce party" to a large num ber of her acquaintances. The congratu lations showered upon her during tho evening were so sweet that she has de cided never to shatter tho pleasant mem ory by venturing on another matrimonial trip. She has five children. Baron Tauchnitz, the German publisher, has made an interesting confession. When the suggestion was made to him that his terms to writers might be improved upon he -answered by showing that the circula tion of books published by him Is much smaller than Is generally supposed. A sale of 3000 copies Is fair, and 5000 Is very good, while a circulation of 10,000 has been obtained only in six cases out of 00 In .the last. JO years. . -a . Judge Evans, of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has taken a practical step toward Improving the quality of Jurors drawn. He has addressed circulars to leading business men, of all kinds, asking them to send-names of employes compe tent to servo as Jurors. In explaining his movement the Judge says there is much room for 'improvement in the kind of men drawn for jury duty, and he believes that his method will also secure men who will make few applications to be excused. A setting of Ben Jonson's "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" was published recently by the Wa-Wan Press at New ton Center, Mass. In a few weeks there came a letter from a woman who had been a singer In light opera, but who quit the stage because she could make a bet ter living popularizing songs by singing them into the phonograph. She wroto from a .small New York town, addressing the letter to Mr. Ben Jonson, Newton . Center. It read: Dear Sir For $5 I will Includo your song, "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes." In my new catalogue of phonograph records, and will also send you a record of the same. The letter was answered by Arthur Far well, the composer. In this strain: Dear Madam As Jonson was a pal of "Bill" Shakespeare's, ho Isn't with us at the present time. In any case, he would not sanction this expenditure of a sum which might be so much more satisfactorily applied at the Mermaid Tav ern. We feel that the last three centuries hav ( sufficiently heralded his name abroad to maka It unnecessary to resort to the phonograph in the present emergency. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS "Josh bet Zeke that he could stay under wa ter two minutes." "Did Josh Win?" "Yep" Where la he now?" "Under thar yet." Phil adelphia Record. "I Intend to come and see your wife this afternoon. I haven't been able to sooner " "Thank 'ee kindly, miss. It'll bo, like a bottlo o" physic to her!" Punch. "Alcohol Is a good thing to preserve some things," remarked the Observer of Events and Things, "but It will not preserve order." Yon kers Statesman. "Is your, son gifted In any way?" asked the visitor "I should say he Is," answered Mrs. Corntossel. "About everything he has was give him by us." Washington Star. Hogan An' Is he a blooded dog, Mike? "Blooded? I sh'd eay he wuz. W'y. when ha wuz a pup th" doc had to Weed him to kape um from beln a bloodhound, faith!" Chicago Dally News. "Mercy sakes! "Why have you bought all this crape and black silk?" "Well. I had a chance to get It at a bargain, and my husband Is work ing on a- flying machine, you know." Chicago Record-Herald. Judge Yes. Rlchasmudde'declares that he Is a "self-made man." Fudge That's true enough; If he only had stoped there. "Indeed." "Now he's gone to work and made a fool out of himself bragging about It." Ealtlmore Her ald. "A Hoosler citizen hasn't spoken to a human being for 40 years, and all because a girl Jilted him when he was a callow youth." "Well, per haps that's a good deal, better than taking the lecture platform to air hl3 wrongs." Cleveland Plain Dealer. Weary Wiggles Lady, can't yer help a poor feller w'at de coal strike has knocked out of his llvln'? Mrs. Klndart Here, take this quar ter: and so you're a miner, eh? Weary Wig gles No, ma'am. I make a specialty of falling down open coal holes an suln' fur damages. Philadelphia Pres3. They raised his salary two years ago last Mayt The said Increase amounting to thirty cents a day, Since then they've raised the prices Of carrots and of beets. Of flour and of meats. Of corn and coal and fruits. Of babies' little boots. Of potatoes, milk dnd cheese. Of the product of the bees. Of hats and socks and coats. Of all that sinks or floats. He's paying out the money that he saved before his raise. But prosperity's upon us. and his heart Is full of praise. Chicago Post