THE MOBNING OREGOUIAN, THURSDAY, I)EGEMBER' '25, 1902,
tie (BxzQ&nianl
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TODAY'S WEATHER Occasional rain; cool
er during the afternoon; brisk and possibly
high, gusty south to west winds.
YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem
perature, 58 deg.; minimum temperature, 38
deg.; precipitation. 1,10 Inches.
PORTLAND, THURSDAY, DEC. 25.
Without disparagement of the assid
uity with which Postmaster Croasman
has labored to discharge the duties of
his office acceptably, it is yet to be said
that Mr. P. A. Bancroft may reasonably
be expected to give the city's growing
mail business a better administration
than It has had for very many years.
It is not necessary to review in ex
tended detail the history of our post
office appointments, in order to under
stand the gratification afforded by the
selection at length of a man whose busi
ness experience and success justify ex
pectation .of prompt and energetic per
formance of these most important
tasks. It is a fact that politicians use
this and other offices for the upbuilding
of their machines and the complication
of Mr. Bancroft's probable appointment
with politics no one would have the har
dihood to deny; but there comes a point
in a city's development where facilita
tion of Its business must be reckoned
with by the most v hardened political
manipulator. Portland has reached that
point. Its postofflce business has risen
to a volume of between $6,000,000 and
$7,000,000 a year, and in view of the
Lewis and Clark Centennial is certain
to increase rapidly. Its clerical and car
rier force comprises in the neighborhood
of 120 employes. The place pays $3600 a
year now, and in another year will
pay $3800 to $4000. In view of the vital
relations sustained by the mail service
to all business, the absolute necessity
of executive ability and business train
ing is manifest. These Mr. Bancroft
possesses in an eminent degree. Ball
road companies do not maintain incom
petents in positions of great responsi
bility and supervision over large bodies
of men. "We are persuaded that Mr.
Bancroft will make It his ambition to
give Portland an exceptionally able ad
ministration of Its postofflce, and of his
ability to realize such ambition there is
no possible doubt.
similar difficulties with other Latin
American states continue, the more
clearly will the necessity for anarchy's
suppression be manifest. Our old friend.
conservative and sentimental obstruc
tion, is destined to appear in a new face;
and whether Its present expression goes
down to history with a semblance of
heroism like that pertaining to Hun
gary, Ireland and Poland, or whether
the triumph of law and order is more
readily justified by surface evidences.
as In Egypt, Porto Rico and the Philip
pines, we must expect to thresh the
same old straw over and over again.
The one stubborn fact with which all
these past and future experiences must
be reconciled is that the economic de
velopment of the earth's surface and the
reign of the economic virtues of thrift.
honesty and enterprise will not be gain
said by incompetence and dishonesty in
any form or any place. "Whether civil
ized Ideas are pumped into Latin-Amer
ican rulers through the medium of gun
powder or efficient Americans or Euro
peans are Installed there In posts of
financial and commercial power, or
whether these counterfeit republics
themselves are suffered to exist under
some sort of American protectorate,
does not greatly matter. The end of
efficient government must be reached
somehow, and anti-Imperialist Heathen
must be suffered to rage in vain. The
strong will rule, the weak will go to the
i wall, unrestrained and unprotected by
polite impedimental fictions of national
and governmental dignities.
It is Idle to blink the widespread pop
ular apprehension that the Powers of
Europe have concocted a scheme for
utilizing the Venezuela episode to the
humiliation of the United States and the
possible disturbance of the Monrop Doc
trine. These fears may be dismissed as
groundless. The one thing that no Eu
ropean power desires today is the hos
tility of the United States. Their solici
tude is especially directed toawrd popu
lar sentiment in this country as distinct
.from the official circles recognized as
supreme at European courts. A prime
factor in this attitude is regard for the
profits of trade. Monarchy or republic,
democracy or autocracy, they are all
alert to the economic problems and ne
cessities of their people. Germany, to
take the extreme case, has no desire to
discourage our purchases of German
sugar. Jewelry, toys, etc., aggregat
ing $100,000,000 annually. The German
government can do nothing more likely
to embarrass itself with its people than
to incur American dislike which would
increase the business strain under which
German manufacturers are now strug
gling. It must also be remembered that
Germany as well as other powers, has
taken every precaution to assure itself
of American acquiescence and support in
its South American programme. It is
not beyond the bounds of safety to say
that Germany has been quite as solicit
ous for Washington's approval as for
vengeance on Venezuela. There Is not
the slightest evidence of double deal
ing or of ulterior purposes in. Germany's
proceedings, and if the United States Is
threatened with embarrassment In the
arbitration negotiations, the embarrass
ment Is nothing more than arises out of
the very nature of the case and Is im
posed upon us as the self-constituted
sponsor and champion of Irresponsible,
debt-repudiating, revolution-paralyzed
imitation republics to the south of us,
Ordinarily, if a man can't pay his debts
the creditors take whatever property he
has lying around that they can get hold
of. If we forbid Europe io take Latin
American land, it is a falrN question
what we do propose.
historical fact and philosophical judg
ment When we recall how faith in
supernaturallsm, the savage differences
over dogmas concerning the atonement,
the trinity, the resurrection, eternal
punishment, etc, Nnce made the earth
red with blood as "a cardinal's hat," we
can see that the superiority of Chris
tianity as a working humane force has
been a long and weary effort of evolu
tion before It reached its present form
of faith and practice.
Christianity, separated from medieval
superstition and theological dogma, is
simply the most recent but not necessar
ily the ultimate or final stride of moral
or religious evolution. Pastor Robinson
warned his Puritan flock, as they set
sail from Leyden, against thinking that
unto their religious teachers had been
lent "a light for all the coming days,"
orthat religious growth was limited by
Luther's dike or Calvin's dam. Before
this thought the mass of thinking men
care nothing about the cerements and
excrements of medieval eccleslasticlsm,
about the fate of a theology which Is
but a forlorn attempt to make Christ
walk and talk in the black robe and
cowl of a medieval metaphysician
turned monk. We know neither the day
nor the year In which Jesus was born,
and that Is of no religious or spiritual
consequence; but we know that he has
been with us and that his spirit is still
with us and grows stronger and stronger
every year. It Is of small consequence
In the light of Christ's life and thought
whether he wrought any miracles or
not, for Moses and Aaron and the witch
of Endor wrought quite as wonderful
miracles.
Historical skepticism may attribute
his miracles to the ignorant credulity
or pious falsehoods of his followers; sci
ence might give a plausible explanation
of them, but no skeptic, no scientist, will
deny or attempt to explain the vast,
overpowering, Immortal influence of
Christ's life and teachinga The vast,
overpowering, inexplicable miracle of all
he wrought was the miracle of his own
daily walk and talk from childhood to
the cross, the miracle of a life that loses
nothing of its human, potency by battles
about dates and petty wrangling over
texts. Christ's mission as defined by
himself implied no mystery beyond that
involved in supreme moral genius, for it
was to preach the gospel to the poor, to
heal the broken-hearted, to set at lib
erty them that are bruised, to preach
deliverance to captives, to heal the sick,
and in execution .of this simple scheme
he went about doing good. In the imi
tation of Christ and the application of
his simple creed to human society lies
the only hope of a better and less brutal
world than we have today.
All evil hearts
Grow gentle, kind hearts grow gentler, as. the
balm
Of that dlvlnest daybreak lightens the earth.
martyrdom a memorial park. The sug
gestion is a most happy one, and there
is little doubt that the Washington
Legislature will make suitable and lib
eral provision for it.
It is only just now that the people of
the Pacific Coast have come to under
stand that they have a history worth
cherishing. California is literally en
shrining the memorials of her occupa
tion by Christian missionaries; and re
cently she has set up a beautiful shaft
in memory of Marshall a one-time Ore
gonlan, by the way the discoverer of
gold. Oregon a little while back marked
suitably the spot where civil govern
ment wa3 first organized within her
boundaries, and there are movements
on foot to commemorate other events
and places associated with the founda
tion of civilization in the country. And
by these reverential acts do we signify
our own worthiness as the inheritors
and occupiers of a land won by manly
courage and maintained by heroism in
many forms.
Mr. Perry Heath rises to disown his
ambition for the Utah Senatorship,
though that ambition has been gener
ally regarded as forming an essential
part of the reason for his exodus to Salt
Lake from Indiana, Ohio and Washin
ton City. The most plausible explana
tion of his disclaimer Is that he and Sen
ator Kearns, who is believed to own the
Tribune and to father the Heath candi
dacy, have become dismayed at the dis
play of strength made by the Mormon
power in Smoot's behalf. The story
runs that the Mormons, from whom
Kearns obtained his election by a sat
isfactory bargain, not only resent his
opposition to Smoot, but have even re
solved upon the displacement of Kearns
himself two years from now, with a
loyal churchman. The Saints are not
content with one Senator, but want two,
and in this resolve, which is neverthe
less cloaked oy the protest that the
church is altogether out of politics, they
have aroused hostility in influential cir
cles at Washington. It is even said
that representations have emanated
from so high a source as National Chair
man Hanna, if not from the White
House itself, that the rr. -nothing
by Smoot's election, but would
lose much, as the apostle would be given
no chance for influence with Congress
or the Administration. This threat, it
Is needless to say, in view of the Rob
erts episode, could be executed, but the
Mormon church is reported obdurate to
reason, and insistent upon Smoot's elec
tion, whatever its result. The Saints
are further restrained by the tactical
disadvantage that if they compel Smoot
to withdraw they thereby admit them
selves to be in politica Should Smoot
be elected and the warfare on Kearns
continue, a probable reply of Congress
-would be an amendment of the Ed
munds law enabling the Federal Gov
ernment to proceed criminally, against
poly gam Ists.
THE DAY AND THE MESSAGE.
The Christmas festival in its dress of
today is an evolution of comparatively
recent date. A kind of base alloy of
paganism necessarily crept into the
early Christian holidays, because It was
their habit to make them replace a pa
gan festival, and the coarse barbaric
quality has always clung to it down to
our modern life of recent date. The old
English Christmas was a day of glut
tonous feasting and drunken jollity In
public and private. Walter Scott graph
ically describes this turbulent English
Christmas when the poor were drunk for
days at the experise of the rich. The
Christmas week In Shakespeare's day
was clearly a time of noisy sport, gross
feasting and deep drinking, continuous
reveling such as we find set forth in the
antics of Sir Toby Belch and Sir An
drew Ague Cheek in "Twelfth Night."
The old English Christmas was so
drunken and profane in its popular cele
bration that the Puritans would have
none of it. While Shakespeare clearly
had small sympathy with the Puritan
philosophy of religion and conduct,
nevertheless it is clear from the rever
ence with which he treats the name of
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT.
The Christmas legend will be recited
today in thousands of homes, and the
chorus "Peace on Earth, Good-Will to
Men," will be taken up by thousands
of voices in cathedral, church and
chapel. The old story of the Babe of
Bethlehem will be retold, and glad tid
lngs of great joy will be again pro
claimed to all who wUJ listen. It is not
necessary, indeed, to, listen to the telling
of the Christmas story in order to recog
nize the Christmas spirit that has for
many days been abroad in the land
Impalpable as air, yet real as life Itself,
this spirit permeates the very atmos
phere with happiness and good . cheer,
Sweet charity, wrought upon anew by
its Influence, seeks out the abodes of the
lowly and the distressed with the sea
son's message of good-will and the sea
son's bounty. Love, seeking Its own
ministers unto them in sweet sprprises
that have kept the heart aglow for
days. Sympathy remembers the sick in
hospitals and homes, and visits them,
GRAND JURY AND THE DEFENSE.
The argument in favor of a return to
the old grand jury system and a repeal
of the law which authorizes the District
Attorney to file an Information in lieu of
an Indictment, is based principally upon
a possibility of wrong-doing under the
new system. No one undertakes to say
that District Attorneys have used their
power to persecute the innocent or to
shield the guilty, but it Is said that too
great a power has been placed in the
hands of the prosecuting officer. This
power is not much greater, however,
than it was under the old system, when
the- District Attorney placed the testl
mony before the grand jurors and ad
vised them as to its sufficiency. The
District Attorney then exercised the
power without bearing the full measure
of responsibility; now the credit or cen
sure for results rests upon the official
who has control of the prosecution of
criminals.
It may be admitted that under the
present system a corrupt District Attor
ney could do great Injustice and con
duct the office for the advancement of
his personal Interests, financial or poli't
ical. A sufficient answer to this is that
the grand jury has not been abolished
and that at any time the Circuit Court
may deem such action desirable a grand
jury may be drawn. No very serious
lapse in official duty could occur with
out a protest being made which would
induce the calling of the grand jury,
As one of the Portland lawyers sug
gests, District Attorneys should make it
a practice to have a grand jury drawn
regularly at least once a year, so that
any one having a grievance might be
heard before that investigating tribunal.
With this practice established, there
would be very little opportunity for
abuse of power on the part of the prose
cuting officer.
Attorneys who represent defendants
can see in the old system some advan
tage for their clients for the reason that
under that system the defendants
learned more of the nature of the testi
mony against them and were enabled
the better to prepare for the defense,
Unless, however, there has been a con
spiracy to manufacture testimony
against a defendant,- there is no reason
wny ne snouia be informed of more
than the law now requires the nature
of the charge against him, the time of
the alleged unlawful act, the person
against whom committed and the names
of the witnesses upon whose testimony
the" charge is brought. An innocent
man can prepare his defense with that
information as a basis; a guilty man
needs more. The present law Is In the
Interests of economy and dispatch, and
it Is to be hoped that it may be amended
if necessary rather than repealed.
The figures showing that In the last
two years the school districts of the
flower-laden, and pity with veiled eyes Btate paid out over $28,800 for Insurance
MONGRELS OF MONARCHY.
Charles Laurent in the courrier aes
Etats Unis figures out the pedigrees of
the different reigning monarchs of Europe,
taken from the unanswered, and probably
unanswerable, statements of the opposi
tions, all going to prove that Kings can
lay little or no claim to race relationship
with the people whom they govern. Here
is the result of his Investigations:
1. The living Princes of the House of
Bourbon, or the House of i?Tance, ara
only one-sixteenth French, the remaining
portions being German, Spanish and Ital
ian.
2.. Prince Victor Napoleon Bonaparte
stands for only one-third In the French
family of his illustrious grand uncle, and
for two-thirds In the houses or vvuriem
burg and Savoy.
3. King Alfonso XIII or apain is lour-
flf ths Austrian.
4. Kintr Victor Emmanuel III Is more
Austrian than Italian on account of the
numerous crosslnss In his race, and -his
descendants will have Montenegrin blood
In their veins.
5. Emrjeror Francis Joseph and his pre-
6umptive heir are as much WIttlesbach or
Estes as they are Hapsburgs. conse
quently they are for a large part Bavar
ians and Italians.
6. The Klnc of Sweden and Norway is
of Bearnalso and French source by Ber-
nadotte, and of Southern French stock:
throueh the Clary family. He Is also re
lated to the Holstein-Gottorps and to the
Leuchtenbergs.
The King' of Greece Is a Dane.
8. The King of Servla Is hair ttussian.
9. The Prince of Bulgaria Is a Saxe-
Coburg-Gothan or a Bourbon, and has no
Bulgarian blood In him.
10. The Emperor of Russia Is somewnat.
Moscovlte and very much Danish or Ger- I
man. by reason of the marriage "of his
male ancestors. He descends from the
Schleswlck - Holsteln-Sonderburg-Giucks-
burg or the Hesse-Darmstadt quite as
much as from the Romanoffs.
11. The King of the Belgians is Saxe-
Coburg-Gothan and Bourbon-Orleans.
There Is nothing of the Belgian in him.
12. The Queen of the Netherlands is de
scended from the houses of Orange, Nas
sau and Waldeck-Pyrmont. Consequent
ly she Is as much German as Dutch.
13. The King of England is baxe-co-
burg-Hanover, Norman and French.
14. The Emperor of Germany is Jtionen-
zollern by his father, Guelfe or Brqns-
wIck-Lunoburg by' his mother, daughter
of Queen Victoria, and French by his an
cestor, Louise de Collgny, the daughter of
the creat Admiral married by Charles ia,
and married for the second time to Will
iam the Taciturn, of whom she was the
fourth wife. From this union there was
one son, Henri-Frederic of Nassau-Orange,
born at Delft on the 29th of Janu
ary, 1584. Hls daughter, Louise Henrlette,
born at The Hague, November 27, lbzt,
married In 1646 the Grand Elector,. Fred
eric William of Brandenburg. And there
begins the relation to the Hohenzollerns.
The son of Frederic "William of Branden
burg: and of Louise Henrlette of Nassau-
Orange was the first to take the title of
King of Prussia. It is from him that the
Hohenzollerns are descended. But the
strange thing about it is that the Hohen
zollern dynasty sprung from an assassi
nation committed In Paris 300 years ago.
When Louise de Collgny married William
of Orange she was the widow of Charles
de Telisny. The Vlcomte Charles de Tel
Igny was killed on August 24, 15i2, with
his father-in-law, the Admiral. Conse
quently If the King of France had not
massacred his Huguenot subjects on Saint
Bartholomew's day, the race of the Ger
man Emperors of the 19th and 20th cen
turies would not have sprung from Hol
land and France at the same time by the
marriage of the Taciturn to the daughter
of Collgny. Another curious detail, one
which gives to the origin of the Hohen
zollerns aomethlng oi fatality, lies in the
fact that the second marriage of Louise
de Collgny to the Statholder, the widower
of three wives, took place three months
before tho murder of that Prince by Bal
thazar Gerard, on the stairway of the
Delft Palace; so that the son of the Taci
turn and Louise de Collgny, Henry Fred
eric of Nassau-Orange, whose daughter
was destined to marry the Elector of
Brandenburg, was a posthumous son, born
seven months after the death of his
father.
All of this goes to prove that the only
countries in the world where the supreme
power Is really exercised by the natives
are the countries that have a republican
form of government.
LAW OF THS WIDE-OPEN POLICY.
Spokane Chronicle.
For years Seattle has held to the "wide
open" policy. For years Seattle has been
the headquarters for the toughs, the
bunco men, the panders and the thugs of
the Northwest. Notorious lawbreakers
posed as "bosses," to whom politicians
truckled; rival gamblers waged war with
the help of the police force; den3 of vice
multiplied; Immorality was protected If
not fostered by public officials; murders,
hold-ups, robberies came one after an
other; and the fame of Seattle's bad lands
spread across the continent.
It was the "wide-open" policy In its per
fectionthe practical application of the
theory that gambling must be given full
liberty, lust must be stimulated and en
couraged, drunkenness must be treated as
a delightful and gentlemanly art in brief,
that bold, open, flaunted vice Is far better
for a community than decency (not to say
virtue) Tjecause It "attracts fellows to the
city" and "gets people to spend their
money In the town."
Such was Seattle. A change has come.
Gambling has been closed. A grand jury
has been called. An effort has been made
to render the town unpleasant for some
of the most despicable wretches who fat
tened on the shame of women and the de
bauchery of men. It Is interesting to note
the progress of the experiment Interest
ing even to those who would have Spo
kane "wide open," for the same noble 1
reasons that were given by Seattle's busi
ness men the fellows who would trade
decency for dollars, risk the wrecking of
their sons' lives and honor to "put money
in circulation," and "to attract fellows to
the city," would make merchandise of the
virtue of their neighbors' daughters, If
not of their own. Read a few paragraphs
from the news columns of the Seattle
Times:
Thro is "nothing doing" below the line. The
barefaced hold-ups and robberies for the time
being have ceased. No more Is the public
shocked with blood-curdling tales of unpro
tected women and children being bound hand
and foot to chairs. House robberies are be
coming unknown, while stick-up men and those
with the "great strong arm" have quietly de
parted to Tacoma to wait the passing of the
storm.
Within the past week, for Instance, the Ar
cade Amusement Company, one of the largest
and at the same time most notorious joints in
tho new Tenderloin, has extinguished Us lights,
closed its doors and quietly slipped out of the
business world. The Creo, another Joint in
that district, ran Saturday night for the last
time. There was also a healthy rumor on the
streets that the Folly, a newly organized the
ater, was also to quit, although one of the
owners denied this.
The arrest of 10 Frenchmen who were re
sponsible for a great number of the French
women recently quartered below the line, and
their subsequent fine of $100 per man, has
driven them far away from Seattle. Along
the more quiet streets in the new under
world, where formerly women too low and
vile even for a cribhouse were wont to lure
their victims into rooms hired for that pur
pose, it is now almost safe for a decent man
to walk In broad daylight.
The crlbhouses In the new redllght district
that for weeks have been the nightly scene of
drunken revelry, are today almost deserted.
The depraved Inmates have fled to other cities
and it can truthfully be said that there are
fewer women of that character in this city to
day than there has been for months.
And yet in spite of the abandonment of
the wide-open policy in spite of the ruin
ous effects of approaching decency In
spite of the sudden blighting of so many
delightful enterprises that "put money in
circulation" and "attract people to the
city" In spite of all these things, Seattle's
bank clearings last week were $4,366,813.
an increase over the same week of last
year of 44 per cent.
looks down upon the unfortunate and
the criminal and comes fullhanded to
cheer and point them to the better way.
This Is the ideal view of the Christmas
time, dominated by the Christ spirit.
That it doe3 not represent a universal
fact is painfully apparent In the per
version In many conspicuous ways of
the Christmas Idea. But if It tempers
with self-denial the great mass of hu
man selfishness; brings pause for a brief
season to human greed; places gentle
restraint for a time upon human strife,
and ministers temporarily to human
suffering, It performs In. Its allotted sea
son a divine errand and one that can
not fall of generous fruitage.
The other side of the picture has often
been painted, and its petty details des
canted upon. The struggle to do more
In the way of buying and giving than
the circumstances of the individual Jus
tify; the"effort to make a show or gener
osity that the heart does not feel; the
and received only $6146 on account of
losses sustained makes a very strong
presentation In favor of the state carry
ing its own Insurance. Since the insur
ance was upen school buildings In every
part of the state, the losses In the last
two years may be taken as a fair repre
sentation of the losses that will ordinar
ily be sustained. The principle upon
which business men carry Insurance
does not apply In the case of the state
If a business man Is burned out, he
nvortrfrnln snrl the. ropiirlnpm PnrfMSQAfl
Christ, his life and death, that he felt in tne oft.repeaJd wish tnat .It was ali
over" with all of these things we are
nothing but disgust for the popular
drunken celebration of the great Chris
tian festival. His words of eloquent al
lusion have never been excelled for
beauty and suggestlveness.
The speech of Marcellus in "Hamlet,
the lines In "Henry IV," in which the
King speaks of "those blessed feet that
were nailed for our advantage on the
bitter cross," and, finest of all, that
peerless passage In "Richard II" de
scribing banished Norfolk, giving "his
pure soul unto his Captain, Christ, un
der whose colors he had fought so long,"
all show that Shakespeare's thought of
Christ and Christmas was far beyond
the best English thought of his time.
But the drunken English Christmas was
the rule for more than 200 years after
Shakespeare among English-speaking
folk, save the theocracjthat ruled New
England. The Christmas festival was a
day of gross feeding and heavy drink
ing In England as late as 1840, as we
can see from Dickens' "Pickwick Pa
pers," published In 1837. It was a day
of conviviality in New York and
throughout our Southern States up to as
late a date, and It was not until about
1840 that New England adopted from
Germany a refined and spiritual observ
ance of the day, and from this time
forward Christmas throughout the
whole English-speaking world has put
on its modern dress of charity and splr
ltual commemoration of Christ.
Christmas has become a day when all
men of peace and good-will, within or
unhappily familiar. It may be well thl9
morning to turn away from this picture
and view the brighter side of the Christ
mas seaeon the side illumined by love
and charity and human kindness; by the
eager joy of little children, the benedic
tions of the poor, the thankfulness of
the sick and sorrowing. So shall the
Christmas legend become gracious with
significance and instinct, though centu
ries old, with renewed life and light.
Every year the earth swings round
the sua makes the end of Castro regimes
T.atln-America more imperative and
their perpetuation more Intolerable. Per- without the churches, should renew their
aT1i the most imDressive thing about vows to imitate Christ. This is the
this whole South American problem, in spirit in which Christmas is increasingly
its fvorld-aspect, Is this pressing of eco- celebrated every year. Every year ln-
ncmlc necessity upon governmental In- tolerance and asceticism diminishes;
capacity-. Castro is just another Paul every year the ethical Christian unity
trepr or Emllio Asulnaldo or General of spirit draws men of all humane and
weyler or Soudanese Khallf or Egyp- sane faiths closer together. There Is no is, therefore, peculla
vycUx,D. nwnnvlnp nrofitlessly sane man of Intelligence today who dls- Washington should In
Irrvsi regions that civilization requires putes that Christianity Is not better than and permanent, way mark her connection
firta Trncx nnri develonment it is paganism In the social and moral evo- with- the events which gained and held
io. . n i v lntinn of the world. That is nnt tho this country for the American settler
and the unfit, therefore, that visionary question in dispute at all. The simple
vrresoondents of the antl-lmperlallst question between liberal Christians of
nnl now rally to the defense of Vene- all shades of belief and orthodox Bour
... .. I i , J V.
Tney apprenena correcuy tnai i oomsiu incite unit, vmmuj ui
THE WHITMAN MEMORIAL PRO
JECT.
The movement which has for Its pur
pose the purchase by the State of Wash
ington of the site of the Whitman Mis
sion, near Walla Walla, and Its main
tenance as a memorial park, Is one
which ought to enlist the co-operation of
all persons of liberal sentiment. No
other incident in the history of the State
of Washington has had or can have the
significance and the Interest attaching
to the career and death of Whitman
Dismiss from consideration all that Is
questionable In the Whitman story and
enough remains to make the name of
Whitman for all time the first in the
calendar of Washington's historic
worthiea Whitman's life and work en
title him to permanent fame, while his
tragic fate has attached to his name and
memory an almost reverential charac
ter.
While Washington shares with Oregon
the history of our earliest times she has
within her limits few of the places con
nected with early historic events. Van
couver, on the Columbia River, and the
Whitman Mission, near Walla Walla,
alone stand out conspicuously in the rec
ords of the settlement of the country. It
therefore, peculiarly fitting that
some emphatic
zuela.
the longer this Venezuelan difficulty or I supernaturallsm. This is a question of
and for the American flag. And In no
way can this be done with more propri
ety or grace than by creating tlpon the
site of Waillatpu at the place hallowed
by the blood of religious and political
"Taxes on Raw Materlnl.
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
An Interesting item in the Treasury sta
tistics for the last ten months Is the very
large Increase In the importation of ma
terials of manufacture, coupled with an
increase in the exportation of manufac
tured articles. The value of the crude or
partially manufactured materials Imported
In this period is 15 per cent greater than
the corresponding figures In 1901, the high
est previous record, and it is almost en-
loses all his property or Is so badly crip- .tlrely offset by the exports of manufac
pled financially that he cannot get on
his feet again. Not so with the state.
The total losses for two years were only
a little over S6000, or $3000 a year. These
losses could in no way cripple the state,
and it would seem that the margin of
$22,000 paid to the Insurance companies
for carrying the insurance might be
saved. Probably the same state of facts
exists regarding all insurance on public
property. The state carries insurance
on its normal schools, university and
public Institutions at the capital. Would
not -the . state be the gainer by placing
all the Insurance premiums In a fund
and drawing from the fund to pay any
losses that may be sustained? The in
surance companies place their rates high
enough to cover all the expenses of
agents and leave a safe margin of profit
after all possible losses have been paid.
Cannot the state afford to carry its uwn
insurance at the same rate the insur
ance companies carry it? There is cer
tainly an opportunity for a saving here.
BRAVER THAN CLEVELAND.
Jerry Simpson Is down in New Mexico
on a cattle ranch. Those who know him
best affirm that he will make a strenu
ous effort, when the time comes, to
round up the United States Senatorship,
Kansas repudiated populism before his
turn for Senatorial honors came, as he
had good cause at one time to think it
would come to him, and he was com
pelled to seek pastures new. In doing so
he incidentally went Into the cattle busi
ness In New Mexico, resolved to grow
up with the country. He Is there yet,
waiting his chance to wheel Into the
Senate when the bill converting the ter
ritory into a state passes. From pres
ent indications he will be on the waiting
list for some time yet,' as there are ob
stacles In the way of making another
sagebrush state In the interest of aspir
ing politicians.
tures, exclusive of agricultural products
and the products of forests and mines. In
six years the Imports of raw materials
have Increased 80 per cent and the exports
of manufactures have more than doubled.
Only to a limited extent is this a direct
exchange. Our chief exports of manufac
tures are from the products of our mines
and forests, and the raw materials wo
Import are mainly manufactured for homo
use. Nevertheless do these figures Illus
trate the Interchange which Is the essen
tial law of commerce and the necessary
condition of commercial or industrial ex
pansion. We must buy the materials we
need where we can get them cheapest or
we shall not be able to sell our own prod
ucts to the best advantage.
The Import tax upon raw materials Im
poses the only distinct limit upon the ex
tension of the foreign trade in American
manufactures. It Is a narrow policy that
has survived from a period long past,, and
only an unprecedented domestic growth
has enabled many industries to prosper
in spite of It. At the present stage of the
National, development this relic of barbar
ism Is not only a burden upon industry,
but a barrier to the commercial growth
for which all natural conditions have pre
pared the way.
The annual cost of maintenance of the
Oregon Insane Asylum Is about $125 per
capita. At a conference of the superin
tendents of the Illinois state asylums
recently It was decided that their ap
propriation of $140 per capita is insuffi
cient, and that $150 must be made avail
able. This Is one more evidence of the
relatively low cost of living in Oregon.
Socialists Burned Their Deeds.
Liverpool Letter.
In the course of an article on the
Doukhbors. a weekly paper points out
that on a 40-acre tract in a lonely part
of the Cotwold hills, England, there Is a
colony every bit as crazy as that of the
Canadian Doukhbor.
The first performance of the Socialists
who bought the land was to make a bon
fire of the title deeds. They consider that
no one has any right to private property,
The result of this extraordlnry perform
ance Is, of course, that the land has re
verted to the Crown.
The colonists, of whom there were
year or two ago about 20, hold all their
property in common. Each raises what
he can by spade labor. No one ever asks
his neighbor for any help, and, conse
quently, only such work Is done as one
man can do single-handed.
If a thief comes and steals their prop
erty, none of them ever resist. They may
reason with him, but use no force. Each
cqmes and goes as he pleases. They have
no law or order of any kind.
"This pardon business cannot have
any sentiment in it," says Governor
Stanley, of Kansas. "It must be han
dled as a cold-blooded business propo
sition. If sentiment controlled, there
would not be a convict In theJPeniten-
tlary today. That's why I will not even
Issue a Christmas pardon." And Gov
ernor Stanley is right.
Even the Parrots Are Dls&usted.
Boston Evening Transcript.
Just to show "how universally the coal
situation Is deplored, the .comment of
parrot who sits all day and in mournful
numbers says, Coal twelve dollars a ton,"
should be recorded. It is, or it may be, a
side light on the condition that will help
to Impress on the minds of future genera
tions the sufferings of their ancestors In
this Winter of distress, If they know that
even parrots joined In the widespread la
ment. Besides, true stories of parrots
those "human birds," as a visitor from
over seas calls them are always-in order.
And this is just as true as it is that coal
Is scarce.
Minneapolis Tribune.
We hear no public expression of doubt
of President Roosevelt's courage, because
he has played no such sensational part in
this Venezuelan difficulty as President
Cleveland played In that of seven years
ago.- Should any such .doubt arise, we
fancy that the President's friends will
meet It by citing another case In which
he has shown far more courage than
Grover Cleveland. Almost any average
American might dare the embattled navy
of Great Britain In the assurance of a
good cause and complete command of the
British food supply. But It takes courage
of an exceptional order to face a body of
crusading women, writing letters by the
thousand upon a matter that does not
concern them.
George Frederick Watts, the greatest
contemporary English artist, sent to the
Chicago exposition one of his most beau
tiful pictures, called Love and Life. It
represents two youthful figures, a boy
and girl, In the costume of the Venus of
Medici, but otherwise as free from any
Improper suggestion as the most saintly
Madonna and Child. Mr. Watts is too
great a painter to make commerce of his
pictures, and he presented this painting,
after the exposition, to the Government
of the United States, as he had given
many pictures to the British galleries for
public exhibition. It was hung In the
White House soon after Cleveland's elec
tion and Its marvelous beauty caused It
to be generally .photographed and en
i graved.
The Women's Christian Temperance
Union of New York has a so-called "pur
ity In art and literature" committee,
which makes it its business to demand
that wax models in show windows be
properly clothed and that statues on pub
lic, buildings should expose neither limbs
nor bosoms. This purity committee de
cided from the newspaper reproductions
that the Watt picture was Immoral, and
started a popular agitation to drive It
out of the White House. They got affiliat
ed bodies to write letters on the "chain" ,
principle, which Increases its geometrical
proportion until President and Mrs. Cleve
land were fairly burled under an ava
lanche of protest. The letters were
dumped into the fire without counting, but
the women say that 12,000 of them were
written. Mr. Cleveland could not stand
It. He surrendered at discretion and the
picture was sent to the Corcoran Art
Gallery.
There It hung; contaminating the public
Instead of Grover Cleveland all through
his administration and McKInley's, till
the White House was remodeled and re
decorated for Roosevelt's big family. The
Roosevelts know something about art, and
Mrs. Roosevelt changed the relative sta
tion of a lot of pictures. One of the
first things she did was to bring Love and
Life back from the Corcoran and hang
It In her private sitting room. The purity
committee iieard of It and the bombard
ment of letters has begun again, though
they are coming singly, as the multiply
ing chain has not begun to work. Most
of them have been sent to Mrs. Roosevelt
so far; but she has Inspired the announce
ment that she needs no advice as to the
decoration of her slttlng-room, and the
letter-writers have begun on the Fresi
rtont This has broucht the inspired state
ment from him in" turn that tho letters
will be burned unread and that the pic
ture will stay where It Is. We imagine
that nobody will doubt Theodore Roose
velt's courage after this.
Frauds In Land Scrip.
Oakesdale Cruiser.
A bill Is before Congress, to repeal the
timber and stone act on the ground that
wholesale frauds are being perpetrated
under these acts. There have been some
frauds, but to repeal these laws is to
irive that other and greatest fraud still
another cinch. We refer to the placing
of scrip on Government lands. The pres
ent law permits a working man to pro
cure a timber claim for the few hundred
dollars he has been saving and to make
ftnmp monev out of It. Scrip has been
given to big companies In many cases for
lands which have Deen loggeu uu, u.m
oiroin ninnori imnn timber land. If the
smell man ia eullty of not living up to
thf letter of the law there Is a great out
cry, but the big syndicate will continue
to steal from Uncle bam ana au wm navo
to submit.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Good morning! Merry Christmas!
Now, don't be cros3 because the chil
dren wouldn't let you sleep.
We live not by bread alone, but also
by kind words and loving smiles.
Little girl, don't, please don't give your
new dolly too much to eat the first day.
The old people, bless their hearts, can
beat the whole family In telling stories
today. White hair doesn't mean black
memories.
It is not necessarily a sign of change
on political faith when a man believes
in expansion after the sixth course of
today's dinner. .
The nutritious and exhilarating plum
pudding will bring delight to the small
boy's heart and It's useless for his mother
to warn him anxiously against It Even
experience Is not proof against its
charms.
A Portland miss, 7 years old, says she
does not think there is a Santa Claus
because she does not believe there la
any old man rich enough to give all the
children In the world Christmas pres
ents. But It's all true, lust the same.
The horrible fate of Jailer Johnson
should be a warning to all little boys and
girls. This unfortunate man's birthday
comes on Christmas! Could heaven devise
any more dreadful punishment for sin?
And Mr. Johnson is a good man, too, but
he makes the mistake of hanging "about
the City Jail. Wonder If this happens to
all men who go to jail? Horrors!
As General Corbln turned the corner of
Fifteenth street at F this morning, says
the New York World, a small boy who
was running away from his mother
bumped full into him and was sent skit
tering to the gutter.
"There!" said the mother, "now you
see what you have done. You ran Into
that gentleman."
"He ain't no gentleman," squeaked the
small boy. "He's a General."
"See my new dollle, mother?"
"Yes, dear heart.""
"She can wink her eyes, can't she?"
"Yes, dearie."
"Just like baby used to, mother?"
"Come here and let mother kiss dollle."
"Was baby a Christmas present to you,
mother?"
"Yes."
"And you losted her?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
"Ain't you sorry? Ain't you awful
sorry, mother dear?"
"Don't cry, mother dear. You can havo
my dollie part of the time. And you'll
be real good to mother, won't you, dollie?
'Cause she lost her baby."
In the carelessness of our age we for
get that anniversaries such as today
come a limited number of times to each
one of us. The greater part of those en
joying themselves today will see but few
more seasons. This Is not reason for
sadness, rather it should be tho cause
of passionate and wholesouled devotion
to all the joys that Christmas can bring.
To throw away Christmas Is to lose tho
most perfect jewel of the year. And In
every home In the city families will put
aside care and worry and pleasureless
memory and dread to taste to the utter
fullness the sparkling wine of life. In
other seasons we s'hall look back upon
this day as one of rest and happiness.
So even anticipation may lend its warmth
to the hour's gladness.
Yesterday afternoon at a late hour the
County Clerk had Issued 13 licenses for
Christmas weddings. The deputies In
the office, as the closing hour for the day
approached, and another would-be Bene
dict did not appear, discussed in sympa
thetic tones the hapless fate which might
overcome these unlucky 13 couples, and
prayed that another - marriage document
would be Issued before the clock struck
5, In order that the hoodoo would be
broken. One of the boys In his eagerneE3
to help the unlucky 13 out of their
trouble, even went so far as to muster
up courage to propose to ono of the young
women In the office,- with the under
standing that the license be made out
on the spot, but he lost his nerve at the
last minute for fear the girl might ac
cept. But just as the case seemed hope
less, two more couples seeking con
nubial bliss arrived and saved the day.
He stood outside the window of a Fifth
street store and gazed hungrily at tho
glittering things within. He had dona
this every night since payday on Sat
urday, only now he had but a dollar left
where the first time he was possessed of
20. It seemed to him particularly unkind
In heaven to give him so little for Christ
mas. Even now ho was thinking that
he would have to spend his remaining
coin for oil. And once started on this
calculation, he ended miserably in amass
of figures that apparently denied him a
dime to spend on anything for the next
year. Alter an nour s wuury jmuuis
back and forth, now blind wnth tears,
now smiling in boyish delight at hl3
dreams, he turned doggedly away and
trudged out Washington street. At tho
front door of his little house he halted
again. "Poor Nellie!" he muttered. "I
never was ablo to get her an engage
ment ring."
Inside the chilly house he took off his
overcoat and hung It on the tree. By
the scanty fire he found his wife asleep
and sat him down beside her. The long
hours crept silently away and she still
slept. At midnight there rang out the
chimes, and she stirred into wakeful
ness. When she saw her husband she
laughed softly and reached out her hand.
"Have you got my Christmas present?"
she asked lightly.
He bent over her and whispered. "Yes."
"What Is it?"
A bashfulness came over him and ha
dropped hu? eyes.
"What is it. Tom?" she repeated. Ho
could not say anything, but very simply
stooped and kissed her. And she un
derstood. "Mammy's Baby Coon."
George C. Marshall.
lar yo lays a-chucklln' an' a-hummln",
To' saucy lump o' choc-late-cul'ud fat.
w ,n!cnl! To Jes' heard you' mammy co
comln;
Stop bllnW dose big saucer eyes like dat.
Yo' looks jes' iikc a. im"
'Deed I hopes nobody steals ma lam away.
Ma goodness, ef he Isn't coin to blubbah.
Dat baby understand Jes' -what I say.
I wonder what yo'il be when yo gets biggah.
A mighty man like Roosevelt, perhaps.
I hopes yo' won't turn out a low-down niggah
An' spend all yo' time a-shootin' craps.
I wants to see yo Guv'ner or Pres'dent,
Livln' In de White House In gran' style.
In Washin ton yo'll be a high-toned res'dent.
Dat won't be none too good for mammy's
chile.
I'se gwlne to send ma han'some son to college.
So grow right up as quick now as yo' can.
I wants yo' for to learn a heap o knowledge;
Den mammy will be proud of her big man.
An' now I'se got to get yo' daddy's dlnnah.
So 'fore I co I'll take anudder peep.
Well, lordy, lordy, suah as I'm a slnnah,
Dat little coon am snorln' fast asleep.