THE XfOlWTNfl- OTfEfifVWTA'W i?Tm a v rpupn a t tt on mnf
r - " i. MiuAA) XiJUUUn.lkX Vj
Entered at the Postofllee t PortUna, Oregon
as stcond-dasa matter.
HEV16ED SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
By Mall (postage crenald. la advance)
tilr. with 6unlay. per month 83
5ilr. Sunday excepted, per year 7 80
Dally, with Bundir. ur Tear 9 00
Sunday, per year 2 00
2? SCklr. per rear 1 80
T? inonthi W
subscribers
Jjr. por week, delivered. Sunday excepted.!!"
. weea. aellvered. Bnnaay inciuoea.wo
POSTAGE RATES.
.United States. Canada and Mexico:
10 to 14-psge paper 1
14 to SS-page paper 3a
foreign ratea double.
News or dUtcuiilon intended for publication
to The Oregonlan ahould be addressed Invaria
bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the came
iy IndlviduaL Letters relating to adver
tWng. eubacrlptlon or to any business matter
should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan."
The Oreronlan doea tint hnv rumi or stories
from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re
turn any manuscripts seat to It without solici
tation. No stamps should be Inclosed (or this
purpose.
Esatern Business OBee. 43. 44. 45. 4T. 4S. 49
Tribune building. New Tork City: 510-H-l
Tribune bulldlnc. Chicago: the 8. C. Beckwlth
Jjwciaj Agency, Eastern representative.
For sale In Ean Francisco bv "L. E. Lee. Pal
ce Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Brest. 238
Butter street: P. W. Pitts loM MarVet street:
J. 5C Cooper Co.. 749 Market street, near the
i"aice Hotel: Foster 4 Orear. Ferry news
stand: Prank Scott. 80 Ellis street, and If.
Wheatley. 813 Mission street.
For sale In Los Anreles bv n. r. Gardner.
9 South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines.
sua Eouth Spring street.
For sale la Kansas City. Mo., by Rlekseeker
wear o.. ninth and Walnut streets.
For sals !n Chlcaeo by the P. O. News Co..
S17 Dearborn street, and -Charles MacDcnald.
a Washington street.
For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Brosw. loll
Farnam street: Megeath Stationery Co, 130S
arnam street.
For sale. In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News
Co.. 77 West Second South street.
For sale In Washington. I). C by the Ebbett
nous news stand.
For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton
Kendrlek. DOS-912 Seventeenth street; Louthan
i Jackran Book and Stationery Co, Fifteenth
and Lawrence streets; A. Series. Sixteenth and
.urtls streets.
TODAY'S WEATHER Showers; southeast
rly winds.
YESTERDAYS WEATHER Maximum tern,
perature. 58; minimum temperature. 25; pre
cipitation, none.
POIITLAXD, FIUDAY, FEDUCARY 20,
GOOD SEHVICK FTtOJI DEPEW.
An argument for the statehood bill
has appeared from ao unexpected quar
terthat mirth-provoking son of Mo
mus, the Junior Senator from New York.
It la the fear of Mr. Depew, so the dis
patches pay, that the admission of new-
states might swell the demand for pop
ular election of Senators. He Is there
fore moved to resist their entrance to
the Union.
This is the first meritorious appeal we
have seen on behalf of Arizona and New
Mexico. The others are nothing. It
has been said that their Senators will
be unobjectionable; but this does not
signify, for four men in ninety-six
would not constitute- a majority of very
grave menace to our lnstltutlona
Doubtless the Senators from Arizona
and New Mexico would be as progres
sive as Hoar, as self-sacrificing as Gor
man, as high-minded as Quay, as wise
on great questions as Piatt of New
York.
Mr. Depews expedient Illustrates the
extremity of the opponents of state
hood: for if the un-American character
of the territorial population falls to
move the Senate, certainly the partisan
danger can have little weight. Inasmuch
as the new states are pretty certain to
find their Interests aligned with Repub
lican rather than Democratic policies
by 1908 if not in 1901. A desire to keep
Quay and his associates from making
money is not sufficient motfve for polit
ical action, and is measurably offset
by the palpable fact that railroads and
development work generally will soon
put American capital and settlers in
Arizona and New Mexico so that they
will be fit for statehood if they are not
now.
That is to ay, it has never yet been
shown that the statehood question af
fects us nationally. Neither the Quay
boodlers nor the Quay haters, neither
the specter of new Democratic Senators
nor the menace of un-American popu
lations in Congress- and the electoral
college, has risen to the proportions of a
serious consideration. Senator Depew
leads us to infer that possibly after all
there is a National bearing to this con
troversy. If the new states will help
bring direct election of Senators to pass,
let them be admitted at once. Nothing
is more important for the country than
the subetitution of men in the Senate
for corporation lawyers, patronage-brokers
and rich nobodies.
TOE SPECIAL. PEXSIOX FRAUD.
The Kansas City Journal takes the
following special pension bill, which,
having been read twice, is jiow in the
hands of the Senate committee on pen
' elons, with every prospect that it will
be reported favorably for passage, as
a. text for a sound and logical sermon
on the vice of the special pension sys
tem: Be It enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives ot the United States ot Amer
ica in Congress assembled. That the Secretary
ot the Interior be. and be Is hereby, authorised
and directed to place on the pension roll sub
ject to the provisions and limitations ot the
pension laws, the name ot Martin O'Connor,
late ot Troop H. Second United States Cavalry,
and Sergeant, general service. United States
Army, and pay him a pension at the. rate ot 72
per month, in lieu of that he la now receiving.
This bill seems Innocent enough upon
Its .face, but the following letter, re
ceived by one of the bureaus of the In
terior Department, written by an old
soldier whose1 name for obvious reasons
is not given to the public, throws what
may be called a high light upon It. "We
quote:
This applicant for Congressional pension is a
clerk in the Treasury Department at a salary
of $1300 a year. In the first session of the pres
ent Congress he waa given a pension of fso a
".month. He found it so easy that he cow asks
$72 a month for blindness. This blind clerk has
eyesight enough to fill a clerical position under
the Government. Congress It Is that Is blind
blind as a bat and the fraud Is not O'Connor's
but the Senators' and Representatives' who en
act such thieving legislation.
The bureau to which this letter was
sent verified the statements therein to
the' extent of finding that Martin
O'Connor holds a $1200 clerkship in the
Treasury Department. Comment would
seem to be unnecessary upon the case
here presented. Unfortunately it is not
an Isolated case, or one that occurs In
frequently. It is typical rather of an
abuse that from small beginnings, in
judiciously permitted, has grown to the
proportions of a gigantic fraud.
It is plain that this pension claimant
has either received $50 a month and
7asked for $22 more under false pretenses
or else that he is kept upon the Treas
ury rolls as a clerk although wholly
-without ability to perform the simplest
duties of the office. A man presumably
able to earn $1200 a Year, since he is re
ceiving it unquestioned, has already by
special legislation been given $50 a
toonth, and, still retaining his position j
as clerk, aeks a further allowance for
"blindness. Truly, says the Journal
above quoted, "it would be hard to
Imagine a more conscienceless outrage
upon the principle which underlies the
pension system of our country.
It is not that this case is worse- than
others, or that the recipient of such
favors from Congress and the Govern
ment Is guilty of fraud. In a legal sense.
But it can emphatically be said that
the circumstances of this case are fraud
ulent. And the worst of It is that there
is reason to believe that much of the
special pension legislation enacted is
not more worthy. The general pension
laws of the United States are so ex
ceedingly liberal that there Is no excuse
whatever for maintaining a special pen
sion system. Let claimants "measure
up" to the requirements of the statutes
and the department. Otherwise let
their claims be disallowed and dis
missed. Old soldiers who are honorable pen
sioners of the Government owe It to
themselves as well as to the country of
which they are patriotic and loyal citi
zens to insist, through the voice of the
organization which especially repre
sents them the Grand Army of the Re
publicthat the special pension system
be entirely abolished, since It clearly
represents favoritism based upon polit
ical influence, and not upon honorable
service in the ranks or upon disabilities
sustained by reason of ouch service.
The Kansas City Journal, it may also
be said, is a consistent and unflinching
Republican paper.
ARMY LEGISLATION.
The rejection by the House of the
conference report on the Army appro
priation bill because of its provisions
for the retirement of Civil "War officers
at an advanced grade Is to be regretted,
for these veterans of the Civil "War are
all of them at least 60 years of age. and
in view of their long service and their
having passed the age of efficiency in
the field, their retirement with an "ad
vanced grade at three-quarters pay Is
In the line of public Justice and Army
efficiency. The four years service dur
ing the Civil "War was of exceptional
and continuous hardship: the Indian
wars which followed the Civil "War were
incessant and severe for fifteen years:
the service In the Philippines has been
of a trying character, and the retire
ment of these few surviving veterans
of the Civil "War at an advanced grade
is but a simple act of Justice. The dif
ference between the full salary of their
present-rank and the three-quarters pay
of the next grade Is not an extravagant
acknowledgment of long and arduous
service of over forty years.
These officers make room for younger
men and increase the present working
efficiency of the Army Instead of wait
ing some three years until they reached
the age limit of active service. The
Senate, in Justice to the officers of the
Civil "War already upon the retired list,
has passed a bill advancing one grade
all retired officers below the rank of
Brigadier-General. This Is but Justice,
and deserves to became a law. very
likely, however, this desirable legisla
tion will be defeated, for It is most dif
ficult to enact desirable Army reforms.
Army .reform has to encounter in our
Congress the opposition of the economic
Jingo, who Is playing the antl-extrava
gance, "bulldog of the Treasury act
to his constituents, as well as the oppo
sition of the Demo-Populist demagogue
who never loses a chance to make the
ghost of militarism walk to the sound
of his blatherskite music
The wonder is that we have succeeded
in adopting any measures of salutary
Army reform. "We would not had It not
been for the fact that since the out
break of the Spanish War In 1S9S we
have been forced by striking object-les
sons of military Inefficiency to con
struct a better fighting machine, both
by sea and land. "We found out that
the Spanish regular was a better armed
and better disciplined soldier than any
of our Army of volunteers. "We escaped
defeat In Cuba by good luck, and we
were able to put a volunteer force of
Improved quality in the field In Luzon;
but altogether our Army reform was
accomplished through the pinch and
pressure of necessity and the lessons of
experience. Had we confronted the sol
diers of any first-class power of Europe
in Cuba or Luzon, our wretched extem
porized volunteer Annyk eked out with
a few thousand fine regulars, would
have been soundly whipped. Secretary
Root has lost no opportunity to purge
the Army of the veterans of the Civil
War who have passed their years of
probable efficiency in the field. Napo
leon said that while brave soldiers kept
their courage far into old age, no man
was fit to command a large army well
at 60. Of course, there have been a very
few exceptions to this rule: but It Is
true that after 60 a general officer can
not endure long hours in the saddle and
exposure to the weather, so it Is safe to
say with Napoleon that 60 Is about the
end of a General's usefulness in the
field.
Of course in the "War Office, away
from the hardships of the field, an able
soldier could still continue to render
important and valuable service; but It
should be the policy of every govern
ment to eliminate from Its active list all
officers who are not equal to the hard
ships ofsevere service in the field. This
has been the purpose and policy of Sec
retary Root, and he has been able to
achieve considerable success because the
times have been propitious for his un
dertaking. Not much further in the
way of Army reform can be rationally
expected. The pressure of necessity has
become relaxed, and further reforms
and purification are likely to be resist
ed. This has always been our experi
ence since the days of our struggle for
independence. "Washington only with
the greatest difficulty and most inces
sant remonstrance was able to persuade
Congress to reform the American Army
and convert It Into something like a
respectable fighting machine. "We had
the same experience in 1S12-H until the
humiliation of defeat and the pinch of
necessity persuaded Congress to drill
and discipline our raw levies and create
an Army that could defeat British reg
ulars at Lundy s Lane and Chippewa.
"We rushed Into the- Mexican "War so'
comnlctelv unDrenared that we nar
rowly escaped destruction at BuenJf
Vista, where nothing saved our Army
but the professional skill and valor of
a few "West Point artillerists, who re
deemed the day when nearly lost by
our volunteers. Bitter experience at
Buena Vista made Congress willing to
let General Scott drill and discipline
his forces of mixed regulars and volun
teers into an efficient Army.
The Mexican "War found us without
the percussion lock, the Civil "War found
us with the obsolete paper cartridge
and smooth-bore Springfield musket;
the Spanish War found us with obsolete
muskets and black powder in the hands
of 200,000 volunteers. In our whole mili
tary, history. WCi have a aver attempted
In peace to prepare for war. We have
never bestirred ourselves until wo were
roused from apathy by the lash of pres
ent emergency and necessity. It will
always be so under our form of gov
ernment, for we never cease to be par
tisans until war, knocking at our doors,
compels us to be patriotic soldiers. Sec
retary Root has utilized his opportunity
for Army reform as much as possible.
and our Army today is a better organ
izatlon than It has ever been before In
the history of the country. Something
of this good work will be destroyed the
moment the Democrats obtain control of
both houses of Cngress and elect the
President, for the bugaboo of militarism
Is -always employed by the Democracy
to stir the people Into needless alarm.
WEnSTEIl OX SiCLLIFlCATIOX.
In the recently published "Letters of
jjamei weDsier. eailea oy c h. van
Tyne, his speech on the conscription
bill-, delivered on December 9, 1SH.
snows mat ne at that time advocated
a doctrine hardly distinguishable from
nuiiincauon. Among otner things Web
ster sum on mis occasion Is the follow
lng:
tlonal and Illegal ought to be prevented by a
resort to other measures which are both consti
tutional and lersl. that ! (a h.
tlon. It will be solemn duty of the state gov-
cl ut'iuiu uj protect ineir own authority over
mimia. ana to Interpose between
their citizens and arbitrary power. These are
among the objects for which the state govern
ments exist, and their highest obligations bind
them to the preservation of their own rights
iuc uucrues ot tneir people.
Websfer WrOtf-' hln ?irrt hpr- -KVotrlal
that he had decided not to publish this
speech on the conscription bill. It has
rL-mumeu unpuDiisned until now. At
that time John C. Calhoun mil TTr.n-
Clay were warm supporters of the war
iKmcy ot iresiaent Madison's Adminis
tration, and all Its
Jackson's first term, " when Calhoun
maae a powerrul argument for nullifi
cation. Webster answered It, sustain
ing President Jackson and Ignoring
what he himself had said In 1S14. In his
speech of 1S48 Webster bitterly de-
accession as worse than nulli
fication, because more Insidious and be
cause it assjrts that this Union may
be severed without breach of law. In
this speech Webster expressed regret
that Calhoun should
possibility of secession. Peaceable se
cession Was ImDOSSlble? roulllnn
, - M4U
revolution might come from the oppres
sion of a minority by a majority, but
icatcttuie secession under our form of
government was unthinkable. Th wh
ster of 1848 was clearly not the Web.
t.icr oi .isti, reaay ror nullification and
secession in his furious opposition to
the ConscriDtion bill. Tt VL'U Q en Virtu wVtfa
time that James Russell Lowell wrote of
veDeier mat "me saddest sight this
world has to offer is that of great facul
ties debased from their legitimate func
tions and frittered away In the base
uses of the world. of genius given and
knowledge won In vain, of the eagle
turned buzzard, and claiming only a
buzzard's Inheritance In that sky where
he should have soared supreme." Web
ster uvea to repudiate his nullification
views of 1814 in 1K3?
antl-lmperlallsts of today may live long
enuugn to Decome expansionists and
Justify our acquisition of the Philip
pines. .
Though not taken
of humanity, the effort to secure the
enlargement and improvement in vari
ous ways of the United fitntoo nrit, o
McNeil's Island, in Puget Sound, is dis
tinctly numane as well as practical. Tho
disclosures in regard to the total inade
quacy of tho Drlson hulldlnim ar, rf
fenses for the purposes for which they
are usea, when some months ago a num
ber of prisoners escaped and were re
turned to prison, are remembered as
shocking to humanity and a disgrace
to a penal institution ot the Govern
ment. The action Of Senator Vnalor- In
bringing the needs of this prison before
Congress, though somewhat tardy In
view of all the circumstances, is com-
menaaoie, as is also mat of Senator Si
mon In recommending the appropriation
of $75,000 for the Durnoses lndlmti t
rely upon weak and even crumbling
walls for the detention of desperate men
ana men, when they "dig out" and are
retaken, to confine them by way of pun
ishment for many conseoutlv dm on
nights in quarters too small to permit
tnem to lie down, is wholly without ex
cuse in Government policy or decent
economy. McNeil's Island is an im
portant prison station. The number of
prisoners confined there has frequently
been and doubtless now Is In excess of
the reasonable capacity ot its buildings.
The United States Government has out
grown through enlightenment the prison
appliances of a past age, ot which the
Institution at McNeil's Island Is a
wretched survival. This appropriation
'cannot become available too soon,
i " 1 -
"The worthy Door" of the etv nt j
Paul are beneficiaries under the will of
me late airs. Cornelia Wilder Appleby
to the extent of about $1,000,000. The
bequest Is to be dispensed Independent
ly of organized charities, hospitals or
other institutions, to the class desig
nated, "without regard to color or re
ligious belief," through an administra
tion from which politicians and public
Officials must be ricldlv p-rr-lnrton-
While the Intent ot the testatrix in this
lence, it is not Improbable that she
made a mistake in attempting to dis
pense so large a charity on an Inde
pendent basis. The type of charity that
Daunerlzps Itn rpclnlcntn la Vi-t n-Vilnh
gives indiscriminately. To determine
who are the "worthy poor" Is tho first
duty of the almoner of so large a
bounty, and to do this will require a
great deal of time and a solid endow
ment of plain common sense properly
infused with humiuilrv. ThU ia 4t
business and this the endowment of or
ganized, charity.
An Irish landlords' conference was
held last month. In which representa
tives of the Nationalist party and of a
majority of Irish landlords took part.
The landlords Included Lord Dunraven,
chairman of the meeting, and Lord
MayO, while Mr. John Redmond. Mr. T.
W. Russell and Mr. William O'Brien
represented the tenants. The conclu
sions reached by the conference were
unanimously adopted, and the recom
mendations have been laid before the
government. It is proposed that the
landlords shall receive no less than
thirty years' purchase of their rentals.
as last fixed by the Land Commission
Courts, whereas the average price ot
agricultural land in Ireland at the pres
ent time is about twenty years pur
chase, the .landlords to receive about 50
per cent more than they could now get
in open market. The spokesmen for the
tenants expressed the opinion that the
welfare of Ireland demands that the
present landlord class should continue
; , , . 1
to reside In the country and identify
themselves with its social and Industrial
life, and the conference agreed that the
landlords should continue to enjoy all
sporting rights over the lands they sell.
The tenants may become peasant pro
prietors on payment of terminable an
nuities In lieu or rent, which shall be
from 15 to 25 per cent less than the ex
isting "fair rents' last fixed by the
Land Commission Courts. Under the
agreement of this conference the land
lords are to get more than the market
price and the tenants ore to give less
than the market price. The difference
will be paid by the British taxpayer.
In return Great Britain will get some
thing through the large reduction that
will be possible In the cost of the 12,000
Royal Irish constabulary that now are
required to police Ireland.
Ireland Is entitled to some equivalent
for the Increased Imperial tax she will
pay for elementary schools in England
under the new education law. Finally,
Ireland has for many years been gross
ly overtaxed, and the excess ought to
be In some way repaid. The leaders of
the extreme landlord party are hostile
to thl3 agreement reached at this recent
Irish landlord and tenant conference
and are" seeking to upset the existing
better understanding between landlords
and tenants.
The Montana Record urges the Legis
lature now In session at Helena to enact
a law which makes holding up, rob
bing or attempting to rob a train within
the limits of that state punishable, upon
conviction, by death. It cites in sup
port of such a law the fact that two
trains have been held up In that state
within a few months, the engineer of
one being killed and a mall clerk on the
other wounded. While It Is conceded
that the murderer of the engineer will.
If captured, be dealt with properly by
the pJesent law, which makes death the
penalty of murder, it Is cited that the
tralnrobbers now In custody In Butte
can only be convicted of assault with
a deadly weapon or assault with intent
to kill, or perhaps tralnrobbery, whereas
they were In Intent equally as gullty
of murder as If they had killed Instead
of merely wounding the man who re
sisted their bold attempt to rob the
mallear. Following this line of argu
ment, the Record says:
What la wanted Is a law that will act as
preventive as well as punitive; a law that will
make the penalty for tralnrobbery. or even
attempted tralnrobbery, so severe that hobos
and thugs and robbers will be afraid to ply
their vocation In this state. The conviction of
any criminal of the crime ot robbery of a train
or attempt to hold It up and rob It should be
followed by a death sentence. If the robbrra
do not commit murder In the commission of
tneir robbery. It Is not thrpugh any virtue of
their own. but because the robbery Is submit
ted to without resistance. The man who will
hold up a train for the purposes of robbery will
not hesitate to shoot any one. trainman or pas-
enser, wno inteneres witn nia programme,
lie should be considered as a murderer from
the moment he embarks In the profession of
trainroDoery. and the penalty should be such
as to deter him from any attempt to practice
his chosen profession.
The facts.in this statement cannot be
questioned, and the Inferences there
from are legltlmaet. The Montana Leg
islature, not having a United States
Senator to elect this session, may per
haps get down to business and enact a
law sufficiently stringent as to penalty
to make tralnrobbery in that state. If
not a lost art, at least of relatively In
frequent occurrence. As an experiment
at least such a law would be worth
while, especially If it Included malicious
tralnwreckers In the category with
murderous tralnrobbers.
The Virginia Legislature la convinced
that the time has not come when it
would be wise to present a statue of
General Lee to Congress for Virginia's
vacant niche in the Statuary Hall in
Washington. The friends of General
Lee at the South as well as the North
would do well to remember that there
Is such a thing as crowding the mourn
ers. Let the dead on both sides con
tlnuo to bury their dead, to deck their
graves and keep their memory green.
without recantation of faith between the
sections that fought to the last ditch
and settled finally by arms a question
too burning to be patiently settled by
debate. The Civil War was a very sin
cere, bitter battle on both sides, and It
Is exceedingly stupid to attempt to de
nationalize the political significance of
the Issue of the war for the Union by
making Grant and Lee play Damon and
Pythias on the stage of recent American
history. Grant ana Lee in private life
were both worthy ot respect, but we
suspect that they would be disposed to
look down from the clouds and mock
us If we pretend to believe that "God
only knows which was right" from Sum
ter to Appomattox.
Booker Washington, at the opening of
the Tuskegee Negro Conference on
Wednesday, intimated that there are
many things left within reach of the
negro whoso attainment would- not be
affected by the loss of political suffrage.
James H. Tobert, assistant principal of
the Industrial school at Fort Valley,
Va., In reply to the question whether
the experiment of trying to uplift the
negro by means of the franchise had
failed or not, recently said:
When the white race prevents our race from
buying and selling amoirg ourselves, from lift
ing ourselves up from within, then they will
have persecuted us. It they prevent none ot
these things, they prevent no progress.
This is sensible talk on part of these
negro teachers, who see clearly, what
some of the Southern political leaders
do not yet see, that in the long run
"aristocratic barbarism Is no match for
economic and industrial civilization.
Abraham Lincoln In 1864 wrote Gover
nor Hahn, of Louisiana:
I barely suggest for your riivsle considers.
tlon whether some of the colored people may
not oe let in as, xor instance, the very intelli
gent and especially those who have fought gal
lantly In our ranks. They would probably help.
In some trying time to come, to keep the Jewel
of liberty within the family ot freedom.
The abstract of mllltla returns sent to
the House of Representatives by the
Secretary of War shows that In the
United States, Including the territories
and Hawaii, at the end of 1902 there
was a total ot 118,259 officers and men
of the organized mllltla, and that 10,
853,396 men belonged to the "unorgan
ized mllltla" that Is, were capable of
military duty. Of the 118,253 there were
1059 Generals and staff officers, 1045 en
gineers, 4951 cavalry, 2828 heavy artil
lery, 4707 light artillery. 92 In machine
gun crews, 101,537 Infantry. 834 signal
corps men, and 1206 In the hospital
corps. There were 8921 officers and
109,338 non-commlpgioned officers and
privates.
Up to' the time that the case was
submitted to the commissioners, the
Coal Commission had cost $750,000. As
the public, and especially that large
portion thereof known as coal consum
ers, are seeking consolation at this time,
and in point of fact really need it, we
will add that of this sum the coal oper
ators will have to pay $500,000.
RE-EXSLAVISG THE NEGRO.
New York Evening Post.
A Republican committee of a Republi
can. Senate devoted Lincoln's birthday to
the shutting of one more door of hope
In the face of the slaves whom Lincoln
freed. Dr. Crum has be,en pronounced
unfit to hold Federal office simply be
cause ho Is a black man. It Is agreed
that his character Is above reproach and
his ability out of the common. He is
the typo ot those "very intelligent" ne
groes upon whom Lincoln wished to con
fer tho suffrage, long before his party
was ready to, and upon whom he would,
by necessary Inference, have been glad
to bestow office. Lincoln could not havo
failed to sympathize with Sumner's later
position namely, that a fit colored man
in a proper office was a "constant testi
mony and argument" for equal rights.
No wonder that our latter-day recreancy
to the principles of Lincoln should have
called from Archbishop Ireland in Chi
cago yesterday the Indignant words. "To
announce that the citizen who is black
must not aspire to a political life, must
not approach tho ballot-box. is to war
against American Institutions."
The two things go together. Disqual
ification for office means, for the negro,
disfranchisement. The New York Sun
is bold enough to speak out openly what
many are saying privately. It would have
tho ballot taken from the black man. To
have given it to him at all was. it says,
a blunder. Senator Hoar tells us of a Re
publican colleague who goes further, and
maintains that It was a mistake to have
abolished slavery. That is logical, for
the movement to deprive the negro of his
political rights Is really a movement to
recnslave him. People talk glibly about
preserving to him his "civil rights" tho
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness after his political rights are
extinguished, but this is to fly in the face
of history. Have we got to argue over
again the Reconstruction debates of 1S67?
Must some new Sumner arise to tell us
that "a righteous government cannot bo
founded on tho exclusion of a race"?
Disabilities cannot be effectually re
moved except by conferring privileges.
There Is no half-way house between a
slave and a citizen. Every attempt to
stop short In the process of freedom Is
a confessed failure. Look at Catholic
emancipation In England. It began with
the removal of positive stigma, of po
litical pains and penalties Inflicted upon
Catholics as such. But for a long time
tho disqualification to hold office re
mained. Against that lingering injustice,
humane lovers of liberty had to contend.
To say that Catholics had all their civil
rights, yet could not hold office, was felt
to be an absurdity. "What have you
doner asked Wllberforce. whose sym
pathies for the oppressed knew no whito
or black. "You have let them out of
prison, but you still compel them to
wear prison garb."
. Herein lies the portentous Importance
of Dr. Crum3 case. In him the preju
dice of casto strikes at his whole race.
His rejection confirms Secretary Root's
description of the mighty question that
is soon to confront this republic The
South, with an alarming amount of aid
and comfort from the North, is deter
mined to drive colored men from office,
and to rob them of the ballot. A mem
ber of a Republican Cabinet stands up
before the veterans of the Union League
Club and tells them that negro suffrage
Is a failure. No outcry follows, no pro
tests are heard. No champion of the
black man arises In Congress to make a
flaming appeal to the fundamental prin
ciples of democracy, or to the memories
of our heroic .nge. It is left for a Cath
olic prelate to tell these conspirators
against tho negro's political rights that
they are striking at the heart of this na
tion. Negro suffrage a failure? So, with as
much evidence. Is Irish suffrage In this
country a failure, or German, or Polish,
or Italian suffrage. But does any one
propose to take the freeman's weapon
the ballot from the men who have
come to 'us from foreign lands? Munici
pal suffrage as a whole might be said to
be a failure In this country. But for
this are we going to disfranchise cities?
That Is not the democratic way. That
Is not the patriotic, tho Christian, the
truly enlightened way. If any class of
tho electorate Is Ignorant, it is our busi
ness to see that It is educated. If It Is
a prey to designing politicians, we must
not throw up our hands, confess that
trickery Is too much for honesty, and
call for the disfranchisement of voters
whom opportunists can debauch, but
whom we are too lazy to persuade. Wa
get down to the fundamentals of democ
racy. In this business. "We must teach
our masters to read." said Robert Lowe.
when the extension of the suffrage In
England was carried In 1867. That Is
the secret of democratic progress; of tho
cumulative amelioration of conditions.
The reason why this country has been, as
Goldwln Smith has said, a vast hopper
into which all sorts of races have been
poured and come out citizens of tho re
public. Is that there has been this con
stant appeal to the Intelligent classes to
defend themselves against tho ignorant
ana tne degraded by educating and ele
vating them. Strip the black man of his
political rights and you cut the nerve
of negro education.
Yes, and why educate him at all. If the
natural fruits of education are to be de
nied him? Dr. Crum of Charleston Is
admitted to be ah educated gentleman.
He stands head and shoulders above the
people of his own race. He represents
the colored man who has risen, as the
disfranchlsers say they would like to sea
all negroes rise. But hoV can they be
expected to want to rise when they see
the ordinary recognition nnd reward of
ability and character withheld from a
man who has risen, simply on account of
the color of his skin? We Involve our
selves In all sorts of embarrassments and
contradictions tho moment we depart
from the plain democratic principle of
opportunity and a career open to talent
irrespective of tho accident ot birth. If
wo will not let men freely rise, bo they
black or red, tho only alternative Is to
keep them In slavery, or to thrust them
back Into it if they have temporarily es
caped from its miseries.
It is a tremendous Issue that 1b forced
upon us In this new oppression of the
negro. It Is big with the fate of parties
and of the nation Itself. We can only
allude to tt today, but it looms large on
the horizon as the question which. In the
next few months, will be a supreme test
of the Republican party, and will show
whether tt has Indeed turned its back
upon Its founders and martyrs.
Benefits of Rural Delivery.
President Lynch, In Typographical Journal.
Rather an Interesting contemplation Is
the effect that wireless telegraphy may
have on tho printing Industry, as related
to the newspaper field. If a message can
be successfully flashed across the ocean,
then even though the system may not
bo perfect now. Its development for com
mercial purposes Is assured. The cheap
ening and betterment of means of com
munication spells more and better news
papers, which in turn will call for tho
services of printing trade artisans. The
rural free delivery system. Improved and
perfected with the passage of time, as
sures a greater Held for tho modern dally
newspaper, and the wider tho territory
the more keen will be the competition
to All tho needs of tha newspaper reader.
It may interest tho casual observer to
know that farmers in a territory repre
senting 300,000 square miles of the United
States havo their mall delivered and col
lected by carriers. This area contains a
population of about 7,000.000 people. More
than 11,000 carriers are required In the
service. The rural citizen In this terri
tory can now have his favorite paper de
livered dally. Wo aro Interested, it would
seem to me. In wireless telegraphy and"
rural free delivery.
Objectors Silent.
St Louis Globe-Democrat.
Occasionally it has been said that the
United States spends too much money on
naval construction. The remark was not
Indulged In at the beginning of the war
with Spain, nor Is It heard now. :
OREGON'S GOLD OUTPUT IN 1902
Ban Francisco Mining and Engineering Review.
The estimate of the gold output of
Oregon by the Director of the United
States Mint for 1902 is $1,860,463. This is
so much below the actual output of the
state that it will bo necessary to enter
Into details to show what the state's out
put has probably been.
The following figures of production
gathered In Southern Oregon are very
nearly correct, and In this section alone
tho gold output was almost equal to the
amount which the Mint Director credits
the entire state with. The district em
braces but two counties, Josephine and
Jackson:
Althouse mining district $ 50420
Waldo mining district 100.000
Williams mining district 100.070
Gallco mining district 120,100
Briggs-Soldier Creek district lEO.Ono
Grant's Pass district 50,000
Mount Reuhen-Northern Josephine
districts 200.000
Grave Creek district -WO.OOO
Lower Rcgue and Curry districts.. 50,000
Cow Creek SO.Wi)
Gold Hill district 200.000
Western Jackson districts 50.000
Other Jackson districts 23.000
Total n.5S0.tt
In Eastern Oregon there are 57 quarts
mills with .iS stamps in operation, and
there are a number of placer mines oper
ating In the Summer months.
The North Pole in the Sumpter dis
trict Is owned by the Barings of London
and Information is hard to obtain, but
from miners who hive worked at tho
North Polo and who are now engaged
elsewhere enough has been learned to
state that the mine produces at least
$100,000 In bullion and about $20,000 in con
centrates monthly.
Tho Red Boy has produced an enor
mous amount of rich ore and Is now In
operation, having declared a dividend
last month.
The Virtue, another big mine near
Baker City, is now producing from $20,000
to $25,000 monthly, and it produced for a
long time nearly double that amount.
The Whito Swan, an old producer, is
again on the list of producers. The mill
Is now running on low grade ore taken
from the old workings, and a great deal
of high grade ore from new ground Is
being stoped so that next year it will help
swell the production.
Much of the ore from tho mines of
Eastern Oregon is shipped out of tho
state to smelters at different points and
altogether a safe estimate of the produc
tion, of that section for 1S02 would ba
$4,000,000.
In tho Bohemia district In Central Ore
gon there are several producing mines,
and $o00.000 is a low estimite of the gold
production last year In that district. Ono
mine, the Helena, paid last year $129,500.
Besides tho sections named about $100,
000 came from the Santkim. Blue River
and Trout Creek district in Crook County.
These figures are lower than the es
timates of well-informed mining men In
the several districts of the state, so that
a careful and conservative estimate of
the total gold production of Oregon for
1902 is as follows:
Southern Oregon ! $1.5S0.29O
Eastern Oregon 4.000.000
Central Oregon 500,000
Santlam. BlueRIver, Trout Creek
and other sources 150,000
Total $6,230,230
Discomforts of Prosperity.
Rochester Democrat and Chronlcle.
Tho latest cause of agitation in Bos
ton and other Eastern towns is a flour
famine. There Isn't any famine yet, but
stocks of flour are running low and con
siderable anxiety prevails lest bread be
come as scarce as coal was a few weeks
ago. The trouble Is due to a lack of
freight facilities, tho railroads being short
of cars and engines and unable to pro
euro new ones as fast as they are wanted.
Ralls for tho repair and extension of
tracks are ako difficult to obtain. The
fact is that the business of the country
nas outrun its transportation facilities.
Goods cannot bo moved as rapidly as ther
are onereu, although, tne roads have made
neroic enorts to make their equipment
sufficient for all demands. These evi
dences of industrial expansion are grati
fying, but if the people of any part of
tne country nave to go wrtnout so abund
ant a commodity as flour they will nat
urally conclude that prosperity has Its
discomforts. At the worst, however, any
Bucn deprivation can no of but snort du
ration.
The Telesrram jryatery.
Philadelphia Ledger.
It is no new thought to force tho nass.
ago of a debated measure by proclaiming
mat some unpopular power is opposed to
It. The cloud raised in tho present case
seems intended ratner to create an exag
gerated sense of the importance of legis
lation rhich bears the general aspect of
Insincerity. If there were a disposition to
wage an actual and effective war against
the "bad trusts." it would show Itself In
a movement for the reduction of monopoly
protecting duties. Then the monopolists
would not be content with telegrams of
questionable authenticity. Their attar
neys would swarm In the lobbies and
committee rooms, as they have always
done, and without disguise, and we then
should have something like a test of the
sincerity of party protestations.
VEIISES OF THE DAY.
An Ail-Wool Potentate.
New York American.
(The Saltan of Johore Is soon to visit the
united States. News Item.)
Hurrah! An all-wool potentate la coming to oar
snore.
A monarch worthy ot the name, the Sultan of
Johore I
Jfo brother of an Emperor, no ruler's eldest son.
But. signed and sealed and certtfle, a genuine
Dig gun.
He comes to see the blessings of the country of
the free.
And loumeys clear from far Johore. wherever.
mat may De.
Let democratic eagles scream, let canm
boom and roar.
Let citizens make haste to hall the Sultan of
jonore.
Rather Dlaaed.
Baltimore Herald.
"This country's going to the dogs!"
Is always on his lip.
"This weather Isn't fit for hogs.
With cold rain's steady drip.
Mad people fill this foolish ball.
And everything's 'ncath funeral pall"
But you mustn't mind his talk at all.
He's the man with the Crip!
Grip!
Grip!
An Admirable Chap.
Baltimore News.
There's a chap we're admired
While others have frowned
Ha Is boosted by us
When by others he's downed:
Wa have Jollied his game
When the world cut him dead
He's the Man with the Clr- his Head.
cu- In
lar Saw
Worse Tlinn the IJnrher Shop.
Washington Star.
The man with wealth to give away
Is sore perplexed:
So many crowd about and say
"It's my turn next."
Deplorable.
Washington Star.
Great thoughts are oft allowed to pass.
And scarce a mortal notes;
While dollars are the things, alas.
That sometimes get the votes..
An Impossibility. . ,
Washington Star.
I do not trust to luck, ha said;
To thus accuse me la unjust.
I never can be thus misled:
I have no luck to which to trust.
A Speculative Cnas.
St. Faul Dispatch.
He was somewhat In doubt
As ha came to expire:
The future looks bright.
But It may be the firs. '
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Theoretically the telephone is instan
taneous; practically but profanity is not
printable.
Just as we do get a few nice days
Messrs. Ward a and James come along
with their "Tempest."
Improvement is the order of the hour
and somo of Portland's streets look as If
a ballast ship had Just finished discharging
In them.
Old maids, male and female, may rest
with contented mind In Idaho. The State
Legislature has just smothered a bill to
tax them.
It is doubtless merely a coincidence, but
simultaneously with tho opening of
Alaskan navigation comes the report of
a remarkable gold find.
One faction of the Montana Legislature
accuses another of cutting the light wires
to suppress debate. So much noise that
one cannot hear himself think Is common,
but whoever heard of it being so dark that
a man can't see himself talk?
Professor Mommsen, the German his
torian, whose flowing white locks caught
fire at a gas Jet In his library a few days
ago. Is S3 years old. but has lost little of
his physical and none of his mental ac
tivity. Twenty years ago he was almost
cremated when the valuable library in his
house at Charlottenburg waa destroyed
by fire. In the more recent accident his
face was somewhat scorched and the pro
fessor remarked whimsically: "It Is all
over with my beauty."
A negro who had had the misfortune
to mistake a polecat for a house cat,
and thereby was temporarily ostracized
by his fellows, took his troubles to his
master.
"Wha wuz de mattah wif dat cat,
massa?"
"Your cat waa a skunk."
"Wha foh'd he fro out dat unobstruss
ful puffume?"
"You must have scared him; It was his
instinct of preservation.
" 'Stlnct ot prlsuhvatlon dat was It,
massa, and it's de most powahtul smell
at evuh wuz."
POOR LO. ,
Behold In me. so rack'd with woe.
The fallen chief. Brown Buffalo.
For know the same
Waa once the name
Of him. whom Bostons call Poor Lo.
I'm dead broke now, an' Just tum'd loose
From the big city calaboose;
Too old to go
To Idaho
To hunt the buffalo an moose
Look to the East the Bostons own
The land an on It crops axe sown.
The grass Is gone.
An" hogs root on
The swales where camas once was grown.
Look to the South behold the same
Ia a graveyard for slwash game.
An' slickens All
Each sparkling rill
Of times before the white men came.
Look to the North No room up there.
For King George men claim everywhere.
And from that breed
Came the great greed
To which the Boston man fell heir.
Look to the West Ah t there's the sea,
Too wide across for me to nee,
No fairy boat
Have I to float
To soma Isle where I would be free.
A slwash Is no angel, seef
No wings have grown on such as me.
So I can't fly
Up to the sky
To argue with tho Great Tyee.
Down In the earth somewhere below
The Boston books say hell's aglow.
Then woe Is me.
For I can't see
Where a dead-broke slwash can go.
OLD MAN ODT OF A JOB.
February, 12. 1003.
Docs a person get sick or ill? That Is
a question that Is now raging from New
Orleans to Manchester, N. H. A young
man writing In tha New Orleans Times
Democrat says he prefers "sick" because
It is the stronger word, and because "III"
has such a broad range. "Its synonymic
relation to other words Is extensive. 'Bad
poor, 'wicked.' low and other simple
words are synonyrnlcally related to 1W
Beside. 'Ill" Is variously used as a prefix
to other words, as "Ill-conduct, ill-bred.
Hl-mannercd,' and It has even been used
as a prefix to 'health-' If '111 Is ore
ferablc to "sick would It not be better to
apeak of a man's "sick-health? Health
can as easily become sick as It becomes
1!L '111' when used as a prefix, means
bad bad health, for Instance, which, by
the way. Is worse English. Health can
not be bad." This view of the matter Is
approved by tho Manchester Union, to
which it suggests the- thought that other
honest and serviceable w(rds are fading
from polite vocabularies. It proceeds in
this wise:
It was not so very long ago that women were
not supposed to have legs (at least, they were
not distinguished In speech from arms, but
called "limbs"), though they managed to move
about with a fair degree of freedom. "Belly
ache" Is a word by the use of which Young,
Hopeful risks rebuke, yet the chances are that
he has what he says, and not a pain In his stom
ach. "Belly" ts a good old word which we
cannot afford to lose. Anff there are others.
There Is hope, however. Nowadays, when a
woman meets with an accident we, are seldom
left In doubt as to whether she Is carrying her
arm In a sling, or, let us say. restricted to her
apartment, and as legs have come back, per
haps we can hopo that other useful words will
be recalled from their banishment.
Women should give credit to the blcycla
for the recovery of their hpnest legs as
well as for the acquisition ot much other
good bealth.
PLEASAXTItfES OF PARAGUAPHERS
"I don't see anything tunny about that sup
posedly humorous book of his: do your" "Why,
yes; It's funny how he found a publisher."
Philadelphia Bulletin.
"I am trying." said the poet, "to make the
world happier and better." "Oh." replied the
cynic "Have you quit reading your verses to
peoplef Chicago Record-Herald.
Lady Caller (to old family servant) Well.
Bridget, did Master Arthur shoot any tigers In
India? Bridget Of coorse he did. Shure we
have the horns and the craythurs hung In the
hall! Punch.
Glggs Don't you think you can hear excep
tionally well In the new lecture hall 7 Biggs
It ought to have some redeeming feature: you
can't sleep In a single seat without being seen
by the lecturer! Harvard Lampoon.
Uncle John I'm glad to hear you say yon've
got such a nice teacher. Willie Tes, she's tha
best ever. Uncle John That's right, Willie
Yes, she gets ,slck every other week or so. an
there ain't no school. Philadelphia Press.
The d&y Isn't far distant when the man In
the flying machine wllL look down upon the
automoblllsC said the prophetic soul. "And
let us hope, too." replied the weary pedestrian.
that he 11 fall down on nun." Philadelphia,
Press.
Grasplt Yes. I'm a self-made man. Cynlcus
Well, I must say you are entitled to a great
deal ot credit for your charitable act, Grasplt
What charitable act? Cynlcus Relieving tho
Lord ot the responsibility. Chicago Dally
News. t
Can't I sell you an encyclopedia?" asked
the affaable agent of the short-haired woman
who meets him at the door. "I believe not."
she answers, slowly closing the door: "I be
lieve not. I am President of our Culture Club,
and I have heard all there Is in all the ency
clopedias several times over." Judge.