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OPOItTLAXD, THURSDAY, ATJGCST 13.:
"BALANCE OP TRADE."
One would think that enlightened
men were done, had long since been
done, with the medieval philosophy of
"balance of trade." This term has been
commonly used to express the dlffer
ence between the value of exports from
and Imports Into a country. The bal
ance was said to be favorable when
the value of the exports exceeded that
of the Imports, and unfavorable when,
the value of the Imports exceeded that'
of the exports. Long time this was'
profoundly believed to be a funda
mental principle of economic science.
It was based on the notion that gold or
silver was the only real wealth that
could be possessed by Individuals, or
nations; and, consequently, that a "bal
ance," expressed in gold or silver, was
the result to be contended for in com
merce. Though long exploded, frag
ments of this fallacy remain, and it is
curious to see one of them presented as
a truth in a recent address by the Sec
retary of Agriculture. One might sup
pose that a man fit to be a member of
the President's Cabinet should be too
Intelligent and too honest to indulge In
any of the old fallacies about "favor
able balance of trade."
But Mr. Wilson, in a recent address
In New Hampshire, said we ought to
foster every kind of industry in our
country by "protective" laws, because
it is by this policy that "we, keep the
balance of trade in our favor." But
the truth is, the policy Is a wasteful
one, because strength and energy are
employed under It, In the effort to de
velop many kinds of industries at home
in circumstances not favorable to them,
or not so favorable as elsewhere; while
those in which we might excel are often
passed over or neglected. Thus we at
tempt to make our profitable industries
support unprofitable ones, which is the
real waste of our so-called protective
system.
The truth Is, the actual wealth of a
country and the profits it makes are
measured, not by the excess of exports
over Imports, but rather by the reverse
rule. The most advantageous com
merce in the world Is that carried by
the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland. In the United Kingdom
the value of the Imports exceeds that
of the exports by nearly two to one;
and It Is out of this difference that the
wages of the country are paid and the
enormous profits of the British factors
accumulated.
Restriction, however plausible the ar
gument may be. always Involves a fal
lacy. "When labor and capital are free
to move where they desire, commodities
will be produced in those places where
the absolute advantages for producing
them are greatest. The localities that
offer the greatest advantages will be
come the exclusive seats of production
of each commodity. Each country will
invest its labor and capital so as to
make the best of the advantages It pos
sesses. Our own country can produce
many commodities at rates practically
beyond competition; but other com
modities, again, can be produced more
advantageously in other countries; and
It Is our interest, as well as theirs, to
make the exchange. Nations that trade
together render themselves a reciprocal
service; if one has an interest in buy
ing, the other has an interest In sell
ing, and all commercial transactions
are founded on mutual need.
To the erroneous notion of the "neces
sity of creating and holding a "favor
able balance of trade" a very large pro
portion of the restrictions on commerce,
maintained throughout our history, is
due. Unless we are to-be gainers by
it, we shall Import nothing; whyT then,
suh apprehension of Impoverishment
by importation? "Oh, but we must keep
the money in the country!" Gold Is
nothing but a commodity; only by part
ing with it can we obtain any of the
"objects of actual utility or desire, and
it Is alike our Individual and National
interest to exchange it in the market
where we can get most for it. "We want
other countries to take our exports, that
we may bs able to take Imports from
them. place there could be no motive to
expptV any species of produce, or gold
ei)4er, unless'that which It is Intended
10 import in exchange were of greater
'value.
If these things are academic, they
are none the less fundamental, "Bal
ance of trade, as the term has
lcg been used and still Is used,
though long since exploded embodies
-sot a truth, but a figment to truth op
posite, since an excess of exports over
Imports, bo far from being any criterion
of aa advantageous commerce, is di
rectly the reverse, and must appear so
to every mind open "to the facts The
jjreat French "economist, J.B. Say, wrote:
"Almost all the wars fought during
the past one hundred years, in the four,
quarters of the earth, have been for a
balance of trade which does not exist;
and whence comes the importance at
tributed to that pretended balance of
trade? From the exclusive application
that has been made of the word capital
to gold and silver." Besides, reduction
of our imports, for the sake of a "fa
vorable balance of trade," would have
the effect of reducing the ablljty of for
eigners to take and pay for our produce
and manufactures. It would be a sorry
condition for trade If trade could not
triumph, to an extent, over the obsta
cles Imposed upon It by misdirected legislation.
. SAUXOV SEAS OX LOXO ENOUGH.
How ardently the Astoria fishing In
terests are consumed with a desire to
see the salmon get up to the headwaters
and spawn was in evidence a week or
so ago, during the unusually heavy run.
Traps were packed so full that the fish
stood endwise in the water, with their
tails sticking out. Gillnets almost burst
with their burdens and horses could
hardly haul the seines, so full were they
of fish. Now, did the Astorians turn
these supernumerary fish back into the
river, so they could go to the headwa
ters and spawn? Not they. Every man
in town carried a thirty-pound salmon
home on his shoulder for dinner. "What
couldn't be sold were given away, and
what couldn't be given away were used
by the boys for baseball bats.
Again the river Is full of fish, and
there Is some chance for the salmon to
get up to the hatcheries and headwaters
and spawn. The close season will be
here In three or four days, and there
will apparently be a good run for breed
ing purposes. But the only effect of
this prospect Is to bring out again the
proposal that the season be extended.
No responsible salmon Usher or canner
should, lend countenance or support to
the suggestion. The open season is long
enough now. There Is reason, Indeed,
to believe It Is too long. Marshall Mc
Donald used to say that the fishing sea
son, should be strictly limited to the
months of May, June and July. "We
already run over to the 15th of August
'as' it 'Is, and the Ashing should be
stopped short when the season ends.
This Iniquitous proposal In the selfish
interests of a few case-hardened can
ners Was broached once before some
years ago, but it no sooner met the
sober second -thought of public opinion
than it was frowned down, as it de
served to be. Just this should be Its
fate this time. The law was made to
be obeyed, arid not to be nullified at the
whim of avarice. No official has the
slightest warrant of authority to set
aside the law. There is too much dis
position to treat the law as a mere con
venience, to be used or violated as pri
vate ambitions require. Bight here Is
-a good place to give It a set-back.
' THE AGE OP RETIKE31EXT.
The Washington correspondent of the
Charleston (S. C.) News and Courier in
sists that the statutory retiring age of
64 is entirely too early; that nine-tenths
of the Army officers at that - age are
still, mentally and physically, as capa
ble of efficient work as ever In their
lifetime; that the date should be de
ferred to 68, and quotes General Miles
recent horseback ride In Indian Terri
tory as an object lesson on this point.
The statutory retiring age of 64 might
occasionally find a man as fit physically
and mentally for the field as he ever
was, but the exception would be so
rare as only to prove the soundness of
the present rule. Napoleon's judgment
on this question ought to be conclusive.
He said that few Generals were at their
best when past 50; that a General who
had reached 60 was not physically com
petent, and therefore not mentally com
petent, to endure the hardships of a
severe campaign and meet the dread
responsibilities of a great battle. He
attributed much of his own military
success to the fact that, with the excep
tion of Massena, all his leading Mar
shals and division commanders were,
like himself, young men. Napoleon
said that Massena failed in 1S10 and
1SU. against Wellington because at 53
he had become too rheumatic to un
dergo the hardships of the field. Wel
lington and all his leading subordinates
were young men; that is, none of them
exceeded 45.
The experience of our Civil War .sup
ports the conclusion of Napoleon. The
first year of the war found a number
of men past 50 in the Union and Con
federate armies In command of army
corps, divisions, brigades and regi
ments, but if the roster of the armies
on both sides be examined. East or
West, for the Summer and Autumn of
1863, it will be seen that, neither in the
armies of Meade, nor Lee, nor Grant,
nor Bragg, were there any "old men"
left in Important commands. The disas
trous battle year of 1862 was so destruct
ive to the reputation of menof the age of
Sumner, Keyes, Helntzleman, Casey,
McDowell, Abercromble, McCali and
Hunter that when Meade fought Get
tysburg he had but one old General, a
brigadier of 62 years of age. Few of
his other Generals exceeded 50 years of
age, and the majority of them were men
from 35 to 45 years of ago- Meade was
about 47 years of age; Humphreys was
something over 50; Sedgwick was about
50, but they were among the oldest ofr
fleers In the Army of the Potomac at
.this date. .At the West, Grant was but
41 and Sherman about 44; Rosecrans
was about 42, and Thomas about 45.
Two years of war had winnowed out
the old officers, both East and West,
and in 1864 the presence of young men
in the prime of life in high commands,
like Warren, Barlow. Brooke, Sheridan.
Merrltt and Mjles, was noteworthy.
Sherman's subordinates in his -Atlanta
campaign were none of them over 45,
and the best of them all, McPherson.
was. but 35. General C F. Smith, a gal
lant old man at Fort Donelson, died
soon or disease. The same story is told
by the records of the Confederate army.
The besom of war in 1S62 swept out
of Lee's army old men like Huger,
Holmes, Toombs and Magruder.
There were no Confederate Generals
who rose to distinction that were over
50 when the war broke out, save Lee
and Joseph E. Johnston. Sidney John
ston was considerably over 50, but he
was a "military failure at the time of
his death. There were no Union Gen
erals who rose to distinction who were
over 50 when the war broke out, save
Humphreys and Emory- When we re
member that our Civil War lasted four
years. Its records are convincing that
Napoleon was right when he said that
after 50 years few men were mentally
and physically fit for war; that at 60
about all were worthless for the hard
ships and responsibilities of the march
and the -battlefield. It is true that both
Scott and Taylor were over 60 when
they won their laurels in Mexico, but
the Mexicans were an easy mark, and
Scott had the flower of the young offi
cers of West Point under hlm. It is
true that some English Generals' have
won victories hi India when, over 60, but
the native troops of India are not a for
midable foe, and Lord Clyde was a man
of exceptional endurance. The. rule is
the other way, as Napoleon pointed out.
Napoleon did not say that an officer
was not mentally and physically fit for
many military -duties; he only said that
the combined physical hardship and
mental responsibility of a great cam
paign were more than the average Gen
eral officer of 60 could bear with credit
to himself. The laws which regulate
armies are like the ordinary laws which
govern civil life In this that they can
not always be adjusted to individual
cases.
The retirement today of Army officers
at 64 undoubtedly puts out of active
service men whose mental powers are
unimpaired; men who are competent
for pen-and-ink work for some years to
come. In event of war, these men could
be used for the pen-and-ink work of
military business, as they were in our
Civil War, when they acted as superin
tendents of recruiting, disbursing offi
cers, etc. In our war with Spain, Lleu-tenant-General
Schofield, of the retired
list, was a member of the Government's
Board of Military Strategy. While
these men of 64 can still he of service
when necessary as military Instructors
and professional advisers. It Is doubtful
If many officers of 64 would he physi
cally and mentally competent for an
important command in a severe cam
paign. To ride a horse day after day in
a severe campaign, in all kinds of
weather, Is a very different thing from
the ride taken by General Miles for
pleasure, when his mind Is charged
with no responsibility of life and death.
Furthermore, to ride three days as you
please is not like riding three months,
when your sleep Is broken at night and
you ride without sparing yourself
whenever the bugle call of duty sum
mons you to your saddle. Exceptional
men may do an officer's best work on
the battlefield after 64, but the average
officer, as Napoleon said, cannot do it,
and the law of retirement Is made for
the mass of men, and not for the ex
ceptional soldier.
MINISTERS SOyS.
The Paclfip Churchman quotes a num
ber of names of men of literary distinc
tion who. were "ministers' well-trained
sons, abiding witnesses that -ministers'
sons turn out well." The Churchman,
among other things, says:
Dugald Stewart, Re! 4, Abercromble and'Ben
tham were parsons' eons.
In general literature we And multitudes of
ministers' eons Swift, Macaulay, Thackeray,
Klngsley aad Matthew Arnold were clergymen's
sons.
Dugald Stewart was not a minister's
son; neither were Macaulay, .Bentham
and Thackeray sons of ministers. This
is a matter of small consequence, but
the absurdity of such articles becomes
evident when we recall the names of
several ministers' sons who' turned out,
but did not turn out well in moral
worth. Goldsmith, who was an Invet
erate gambler, a rake, a hard drinker,
a past master In all the vices of the
vagabond Bohemian, was a minister's
son. The famous Admiral Nelson, who
deserted his excellent wife for the cor
rupt wife of Sir William Hamilton, and
was the father of an Illegitimate child,
was a minister's son. Aaron Burr. was
a minister's son, and his mother was
the daughter of that famous minister,
Jonathan Edwards. Stephen Bur-,
roughs,,! famous criminal of New England-origin
and career, was a minister's
son, and Gray, a famous forger and
check-raiser of Wall street some thirty
years ago, was a minister's son. Robert
G. Ingersoll was a minister's son, and
so was Hazlltt.
Physical characteristics seem to be
not seldom hereditary traits, but spir
itual virtues and moral worth are not
always among the hereditary gifts to
children. Very commonplace men have
been the fathers of great sons, and
great men not seldom have been the
fathers of very mediocre sons. Men emi
nent for all the virtues have been the
fathers of sons distinguished for noth
ing but the grossest depravity. Why,
then, should ministers be expected to
escape the misfortune of discreditable
offspring?- Some ministers' sons have
marched true to their father's flag, and
some have spurned It. Just as other
good men and true, who were not min
isters, have had sons that were not a
pleasant memory to their sire. Minis
ters' sons an? very like other good peo
ple's sons sometimes they do honor to
their father's memory, and sometimes
they are conspicuous moral degen
erates. You can bequeath a child money and
landed property, but you cannot endow
him with virtue or brains. It may be
possible to breed a good colt with com
parative certainty, but we can never be
sure that the son we get will become
a good man. Speed and endurance may
be bred In an animal, but the spiritual
and moral endowments that make a
man are too subtle and elusive for sure
hereditary transmission. Stlrplculture
might assure bone and muscle, physical
beauty, but Is no assurance of the
breeding of beautiful souls.
OPULEXT INVALIDS.
The news as It has been disseminated
from day to day for "some time indicates
that the great captains of finance are,
as the Kansas City Journal expresses
It, "hardly as well as usual." Specify
ing, we find that Mr. Rockefeller con
tinues to suffer from indigestion; Mr.
Schwab appears to be suffering from
some mysterious disorder which calls
for seclusion and special treatment;
Mr. Morgan does not feel as robust as
he did before the late shrinkage In
stocks; John W. Gates Is a sick man,
practically worn out with the load that
he has long carried, and even the Iron
nerves of Uncle Russell Sage show un
mistakable signs of the erosions of care.
These opulent lnvallda are entitled to
the sympathy that Is the invalid's due
whatever his station in life. The tradi
tional "worst enemy" would hardly re
joice in the physical suffering or dis
ability of his foe. He might, upon
provocation or opportunity, take his ad
versary's life, but he would still be far
from wishing to have him stricken by
disease. The man who Is deprived of
the boon of sleep, or he who la unable
to eat, enjoy and assimilate food, is one
to whom wealth can bring no pleasure.
He- envies, and well may envy, the
humble toller who is only conscious
that he has a stomach when he gets
clamorously hungry, and who sleeps
from 9 o'clock P. M. until 6A.iL with
out awaking. The opulent Invalid sees
here something priceless, something
which money cannot buy, and, taking
a backward glance at the years that
have brought him wealth and deprived
him of health, he probably thinks the
price paid an exorbitant one.
Ncr are reflections based upon the
declaration, "Whatsoever a man sow-
eth, that shall he also reap," calculated
to soothe his perturbed spirit or cause
him to take his legitimate crop of
aches and alls philosophically. Looking
back to the sturdy, striving years when
he was poor, he no doubt recognizes
the recklessness with which he staked
health for wealth. While careful to
keep his credit good at bank, he over
drew upon his fund of vitality, against
the timer when he could afford to rest
and recoup. The time has come, but
long-banished rest refuses to be lured,
even by golden bait, and the opulent In
valid can only wait as does the Im
pecunious Invalid the release that puts
them upon the same footing and haply
relieves all from suffering.
The New Orleans Times-Democrat,
referring to an article in the Chicago
Chronicle written in warm praise of Will
H. Thompson's noble poem, "The High
Tide at Gettysburg," recently stated
that Mr. Thompson did not write the
following verses of this eloquent battle
lyric:
They fell, who lifted up a hand
And bade the sun In heaven to- standi
They sicote and fell, who set the bars
Against the progress ot the stars;
And .stayed the march ot Motherland!
They stood, who saw the future como
On through the fight's delirium!
They smote aad iood, who held the hope
Of nations pa test slippery slope
Amid the cheers of Christendom!
God lives I He forged the Iron will
That clutched and held that trembling hill.
God lives and reigns! Re built and lent
Tbe heights for Freedom's battlement
Where floats her flag la triumph still!
The Times-Democrat said that the
late Charles A. Dana was assured by
Mr. Thompson that these verses were
not written by him, but were added by
an unknown hand. A letter from Seat
tle Informs The Oregonlan that this ar
ticle in the Times-Democrat has started
an endless chain of Inquiries from dif
ferent parts of the country, to all of
which Mr. Thompson has replied that
the Times-Democrat is in error, and
that he wrote the whole poem. The
verses referred to Include the highest
poetic mark reached In these splendid
verses, and to rob Mr. Thompson of the
credit of their authorship would be like
robbing Shakespeare of the authorship
of "Hamlet," The whole poem, signed
Will IL Thompson, was published in
the Century on the twenty-fifth anni
versary of Gettysburg.
A petition for the use of the streets
by another telephone company is to he
presented. It Is. a convenience to the
public to have a single telephone serv
ice, not a double, triple or quadruple
one. And there Is less obstruction of
the streets. Moreover, a new telephone
system, In order to be serviceable, must
have wide extension and strong finan
cial backing. And then the double serv
ice will cost the users more money, and
the annoyance of finding some of those
whom they wish to, call up on one line
and some on another? At last the com
petition between the two, if carried far,
will force a combination, and again
there will be one. The two may hurt
each other very much, and the public,
too, for, If the combination shall be
very strong, most persons will be com
pelled to have both phones; but finally
the competitors will get together, be
cause they must. There Is no other line
of business that presents quite such
conditions as. these. The outcome of
telephone service is monopoly, or a sin
gle system. It cannot be otherwise.
Combination is at the end of every
vista. There is no need of -sympathy:
with any of the parties In this business
except the public Are the streets to
be occupied with additional lines of
poles and wires, or torn up again for
an additional underground system? Are
those whose business requires them to
use the telephone to be compelled to
support two system? And to what re
sult? Combination at last, for that Is
Inevitable.
Ex-Governor Lubock, of Texas,
wealthy and In his SOth year, is about
to marry his third wife, a young woman
of a third of his years. Perhaps the
vanity of the nonagenarian is flattered
by the consent of a young woman to
become his No. 3. It is possible, indeed,
being past the reasoning age, that he
thinks she has fallen a victim to his
overripe charms and Is marrying for the
love of him. It Is a pity that some
friend has not come to his rescue with
a recital of the incidents of the old-age
marriage of Cassius M. Clay. Though
possibly this would have been useless
as against the winning smile of the
young charmer at his elbow. The con
soling fact In such a case Is that at
most the marriage of a man of 90 can
not be followed by many troublous
years. Nature, kinder than human be
ings sometimes deserve, will step In
and take care of that.
Secretary Cortelyou's idea that Ore
gon's new sailor boarding-house law
puts it in the power of the commission
to withhold licenses to undesirable ap
plicants is attractive on Its face, but Is
now Ineligible by reason of the Circuit
Court's-interpretation of the law. We
understand the court to hold, also, or
at least to intimate, that no such pur
pose was contemplated In the act when
framed and passed. It Is possible that
the decision might have been otherwise
had the question at Issue been more
specifically the one Mr. Cortelyou has in
mind, Instead of the legality of the
commission's frankly avowed determi
nation to be guided by, the desires of the
shipping community. As it Is, how
ever, and if the Circuit. Court's decision
stands, there is no hope of purifying
the service through, the commission.
The Secretary will have to guess again.
Now the City of Portland would do
well to proceed to the construction of
a fireboat at home. Owing to the un
fortunate loss by fire of the Wolff &
Zwicker establishment, -a steel boat
cannot now be built at Portland, but a
substantial wooden boat can be built
here, which will last 25 years, or In
definitely. Upon such boat less-, .proba
bly, will have to be expended for re
pairs than would have been required on
the light steel structure offered at Seat
tle. The best thing we can do now Is to
go on and build the fireboat here. The
steel craft offered by the Seattle build
ers would be but a slight and frail one,
with extreme thinness of shell and light
throughout. A substantial wooden boat
might be as good, or much better. Let
us now build the boat at home.
General Joshua L. ChamberlaSn, de
partment commander of Maine, will not
be able to attend the National grand
encampment of the G. A. R. at San
Francisco on the 17th Inst., because of
renewed trouble from the wounds he re
ceived in the Civil War. He was wound
ed six times, and one of his wounds left
him with a permanent Injury from
which he has suffered more or less
acutely for nearly forty years.
THREE STAGE THEMES,
My purpose Is to add to the recognized
number of. the nne arts one other, the art
of acting that art which Voltaire spoke of
as the most beautiful, the most difficult,
the most rare. The great bulk of think
ing and unthinking people accept acting
as one of the arts. It Is merely -for a
formal and official recognition of the fact
that I ask.
Where, then. Is the proof that acting Is
not one of the sister arts? What is there
la It that disqualifies it from, holding a
place among them? To assert such a
thing Is to assume the attitude ot Cin
derella's sisters .In the fairy tale.
Let me offer a suggestion in the shape
of a logical problem. Hogarth painted a
picture of David Garrick at a moment of
his life and In such a way that all who
ever saw him recognized the prototype of
a certain historical character. No one de
nies that this Is a work of art.
Now, Shakespeare wTote a play In. which
Richard III is a character. Can any ono
deny that this Is a work ot art? Garrick
In his- playing appeared on the stage in
such wise that those who saw him knew
that the man before them was the man
Garrick. while at the same time he seemed
by many signs and In many ways to bo
the Image, copy, what you will, of Shakes
peare's Richard HI. though Garrick gave
his Shakespeare adulterated with Clbber.
Yet Garrick's work In producing this im
pression was, we are to be told, not. a
work of art. Why It was not so I leave
to those to say w4io assert that acting
Is not an art.
The eyes of the sculptor and tho painter
beheld at some time the elements of the
beauties which they produced. The archi
tect found his Ideals In the rising stems
and tho sweeping branches of the forest
aisles, or, mayhap, in the piling up of
sunset clouds. And music, every note of
it, is to be found in nature's choral forceg,
that mighty gamut of creation which rises
from the tiniest whisper of whirring
wings, through the sighing of the night
wind, the crackle of swaying corn, the
roar of falling water and the mighty voice
of the sounding sea, up to the hls3 of the
lightning flash and the crash of the thun
derbolt. Now. as to endurance of expression, is
it to be seriously put forth by any one
as an argument that art ceases to be art
because Its works do not endure?
Acting may be evanescont. It may work
in the media of common nature; it may
be mimetic liko the other arts; it may
not create any more than does the as
tronomer or the naturalist, but it can
live and can add to the sum of human
knowledge In the ever-varying study of
man's nature by man, and Its work can,
like the six out of the seven wonders of
tho world, exist as a great memory.
SIR HENRY IRVING.
Among other charming people in Paris
I had the privilege of meeting that most
noble of actresses, Mme. Ristori. Her
manner was warm and unaffected, and
there was a genuineness about her which
put one immediately at ease.
It is a fallacy to believe that all players
must of necessity act off as well as on
the stage. Many of them do, I admit, but
most of the famous ones aro extremely
simple in real life.
I remember once, in an animated dis
cussion on the theater with bis Eminence
Cardinal Manning, citing many excellent
examples to prove that his theory that
all actors must eventually grow Into
"shams" was not true. This was after my
retirement (which event, he Informed me,
he had prayed for), and he saw that I
spoke dispassionately. He listened, at
tentively to all I had to say upon tho
subject, but was not In the letAt con
vinced. - '
. His prejudice against the stage was
deep-rooted. "From our cradles, he said,
"we all have a tendency to act. Small
boys pretend to be men, soldiers, any
thing but what they really are. Tiny girls
play at being mothers, cradling their
dolls. The so-called art of acting In
creases this tendency in those who wit
ness it almost as much as in those who
practice it, I cannot conceive how the
latter can escape being led in time to .an
unconscious iVrvelopment of artificiality
or exaggeration In their thoughts, and. as
a natural result, In their speech and man
ner."
His dislike for the theater was so
marked that he could see no good in it.
To quote his own words, "Its tendency is
downward and pernicious."
He was not to be moved, from his con
demnation of the effects of play-acting,
and repeatedly congratulated me upon es
caping tho stage before age and habit had
made Trie a slave to it.
Among other things, he said that when
those under hi3 tkirection asked if he for
bade them frequentmg theaters his In
variable answer was. "I wish I could!"
In saying that acting does not necessar
ily produce affectation, I mean In those
whose characters are already formed. I
do not allude to the young and undevel
oped, who arc wrongly taught the mere
outer semblance of the art.
MARY ANDERSON.
With regartl to the art of acting, who
shall say it is better or worse today than
It was CO or 100 years ago? "The old play
goer" always tells us that It was better.
But Is not the "old ,play-goer" simply the
young play-grower grown old still Im
bued with his first Impressions his fav
orite and most lasting ones, and with a
jealouse desire never to have those first
Impressions disturbed?
If one talks of the actor of today, the
playgoer of a past generation speaks of
Macready, Charles Kean and Phelps. Peo
ple living In the times of, those three great
actors would surely hark back to the
Kembles and Mrs. Siddons, and when
these great artists were in their prime,
they no doubt underwent disparagement
at the hands of veterans who had sunned
themselves in the great art of Garrick.
But Pope, friend and admirer of Garrick
as he was, lauded Betterton to the skies.
"I ought to tell you at the same time."
he candidly admits, "that In Betterton's
time the older sort of people talked of
Hart being his superior, just as we do of
Betterton being his now."
In this way we could keep going back
ward until If we believed contemporary
critics at all points of stage history we
should find that the first actor presum
ably the serpent was the best that ever
trod the boards.
Stage progress Is not to be gauged "by
the Little-less of the electric light or the
Little-more of half a yard ofaccuracy.
I close my eyes and I see a stately pro
cession of great men and women march
ing through the years. I see Edmund
Kean, John, Charles, Philip and Fanny
Kemble, Mrs. Siddons, Liston and Charles
Matthews I see Charles' Kean, Ellen
Tree and Mme. Vestris; I see Mrs. Keeley,
Mrs. Stirling and Helen Fauclt; I see
Macready, Phelps, Robson, Buckstone.
Webster and Fechter; I see Tom Robert
son, Tom Taylor; Charles Reade, Dion
Boucclcault and Planche; and I see the
gifted authors of "Richelieu," "Ion" and
"Becket."
These all smile at me from the other
side of the bourne; and I see the noble
and friendly faces of those workers who
are with us still, and who keep bright the
path that their departed brothers and
sisters have gloriously trodden. With
Bacon, who paraphrases tho prophet, one
only asks: That we make a stand upon
tho ancient way. and then look about
us and discover what Is the straight and
right wa and so to walk in. lt"
MRS. BEERBOHM TREE.
Thin Is "Sorkasnu" .
New York Sun.
The very first section of the very first
article of the Texas constitution of 1S76
recorded this elementary principle of an
American commonwealth's existence:'
Texas is a free and Independent state, subject
only to the ConsUtuUon or the United States.
What a mockery that proud description
will become if it is ever so amended as
to read:
Texas Is a free and' Independent state, subject
only to the will of tbe labor unions concerning.
the right of citlzens-to bear ansa In defense ol
the state and the United States.
No state is free and Independent when
that condition and confession of subjec
tion is interllneated.
IS MATTER ONLY MOTION?
Minneapolis Tribune.
Scientific men seem to think that they
aro trembling on the verge d a great
discovery. This Is connected with the
ultimate form of matter, and seems to
be growing slowly out of discoveries In
relation to vibratory rays, made through
the Roentgen ray experiments and the
revelations of the properties of the new
metal radium. These fit on to earlier
fragmentary knowledge of the electrical
emanations of the -cathode ray, which
are not considered vibratory, and of the
novel form of wave discovered by Hertz
and used in wireless telegraphy.
The phenomena of the new discovery
are curious and Interesting enough, such
as taking photographs In the dark or
through opaque objects by dark rays
from radium, or the making of "a nasty
blister" on Sir William Crooke's leg by
a tiny bit of radium carried In his pocket.
The new scientific theories beginning to
be built on these, of which the magazines
have been full and which are beginning
to get Into the newspapers, are not very
Intelligible to the vulgar; but the, funda
mental Idea of them seems to be within
grasp.
This Is not so very unlike the old Idea
of Tyndall's time; that every ultimate
item of matter might be a sort of tiny
cyclone of perpetual motion. This pri
mordial motion was imagined by the
poets ot science to be the origin of all
the energy In the world, as the lowest
form of vital -cell In the ocean ooze Is
tho origin of all life.
Tho new Idea seems to bo that
the ultimate atom. Instead of a
tiny cyclone. Is a tiny electric
battery " mado of two germs ot
positive and negative attraction, coupled
together and giving rise to energy by their
reaction. There Is Increasing agreement
on the name of ions for these ultimate
atoms; so that pretty little word seems
to be a good thing to commit to memory.
Probably laymen will not begin to under
stand the new theories for a generation;
but all c,t us can learn the new name to
astonish our friends with.
The Situation at Folsom.
Minneapolis Tribune.
Tho San Francisco Argonaut, which is
a better authority on California affairs
than any dally paper, traces the astonish
ing outbreak of convicts in the Folsom
penitentiary to - the mistaken tenderness
with which prisoners have been treated.
It says that there Is a mawkish sym
pathy with convicts In California, and
that4prlson wardens influenced by It have
nursed convicts for murderous outbreak
by overfeeding, liberty of action that
gave opportunity for conspiring together
and laxity In guarding them. For one
thing, It appears that the prison is with
out walls and that those in command of
armed guards are too soft-hearted to or
der them to fire on rebellious prisoners.
The nature of tho prison delivery gives
some color of probability to this theory.
Is , it not possible that modern scientific
penologists have overdone the fad of
prison reform? You may coddle an irre-
clamablo criminal to such a degree that
ho will have far more power to Injure
society than before, and no less dispo
sition. There is a new story of a con
spiracy in the Ohio penitentiary to kill
tho superintendent and bring on a general
outbreak with a lot of arms stolen from
a storeroom some time ago and success
fully concealed. What kind of discipline
must there be in a penitentiary whose in
mates havo enough freedom to plunder
storerooms, conceal a supply of weapons
and plan an outbreak almost as extensive
and elaborate as a revolution In tho
Balkans?
He Will Be Thorough.
Kansas City Star.
President Roosevelt Is not satisfied with
any half-way housecleaning. The Post
office Department, which is being thor
oughly renovated. Is only one apartment.
.as it were. The custodian bt tho Govern'
ment establishment proposes to ..go'
through 'the whole place and put things
m order. Already investigations are un
der way in the Interior, Agricultural,
Treasury and Judiciary Departments, all
of which are based on more or less seri
ous charges. Some of these departments
may be found in good condition, but the
experience of those who have conducted
the postofflce investigations would Indi
cate that there has for years beert a sad
degree of looseness, to say the least. In
several of the departments at Washing
ton. So far as these derelictions apply to
the present Administration, they seem to
be the continuance of systems originated
years ago, but until now not taken In
hand by the administrative head. Some
of them go back to or beyond the last
Cleveland Administration, and, for this
reason, the irregularities cannot be
charged wholly to one -party or tho other.
The only thing that could make them a
strict party Issue would be to Ignore the
charges or "smooth them over," now
that they have been made or are being
made. President Roosevelt will find In
the task of department reforms a fitting
culmination of his career as a civil serv
Jce Puritan.
Fined for Plnckinp; Live Chickens.
Philadelphia North American.
Thirty women, all neighbors of Ferdi
nand Wolfron, followed him in triumphal
procession recently to Magistrate Pul
llnger's court, where Wolfron was ar
raigned on a charge of cruelty- to chick
ens. Wolfron. who lives at 2414 Ridge avenue,
has a pleasant custom, tho near-by resi
dents say, of plucking chickens before he
kills them.
When he declined to abandon tho prac
tice at .their solicitation notice was sent
to- the Pennsylvania Society for the. Pre
vention of Cruelty to Animals. Agent
Lepper arrived at Wolfron's houso in time
to see him denuding a living fowl of
feathers.
"Why do you treat fowls that way?"
the Magistrate asked ot Wolfron.
"It's a shame that a man can't do what
he pleases with his own chickens," re
plied the prisoner.
"I'll fine you 512 and costs," was the
Magistrate's judgment.
"Good. Serves him right," commented
tho women spectators, who set up a cheer.
Swimming Time.
El Comancho In Field and Stream.
Other day we went a swlmmhV. me 'n Tom 'a
Bill.
Down to th deep hole In th crick right by
Slmpklns' mill.
Gee! We had a pile o fun a layla la th
sand
'X buryin one 'nother where th' sua was
hottest and
Then we'd run. Jump Jn again headfo'mos'
like a frog!
D you ever do that?
Tom says "Way to learn to swim Is not to fool
eroun'
"Where y kin touch, but go right out where
y gotta swim 'r drownd."
I tried it other day 'n sunk Juss 's quick. s
lead
'N- third time I was gola down Tom got me
out 'n laid,
" F-1 hadn been here you'd a drowned "a
what you'd a done." '
'O you ever do that?
Ma says Just th' yuther day, "It's coraln' dog
days" time,
Tou stay at home frm swlmmin now for th
crick Is all green slime."
I don't see why a feller can't go swlmmin'
while It's hot.
But Ma says. If X do ril git plzened like as
not.
So I doa't stop to ast no more, but Jus go
down n ko In
D you-ever do that?
Tbther day Ma says t' me when she see my
hair all wet.
"What you been a doln' now? Swlmmin'
azala VU bet!"
JCen cee! I ketched It! '2T now I dry m'
hair all good.
X oomin' home I Juss stop n split -up a little
wood
Out 'n th shed so Ma.ll think I'm sweatln'
ccs If a hot.
D you ever do that?
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Tn& face.of Paris clears or- clouds as
quickly as April's.
Miles has not yet exDressed his renret
at Root's resignation-
Portland's postoffic has cause for nrlde.
It is to be -renovated Instead of Investi
gated. Nellie Dove, of ToDeka. Is sulne wniinm
Dove for divoixe. Marriage seems f n hnvn
made her turn turtle.
Some readers may remember that a. lall-
break occurred at Folsom this year. The
convicts have not yet returned.
The Pittsburg Dispatch heads its meteor
ological statistics "Official Weather," but
says not a word, of the unofficial brand.
Fifty prisoners in a Missouri jail went
on a strike lately. Strangely, there was
no trouble over nonunion convicts; tho
row was caused by bad grub.
Hearst having been Indorsed for the
Presidential nomination by the National
Building Trades Council, It Is unlikely that
his papers let themselves bo scooped on
the story.
PORTLAND, Or., Aug. 31, (To tho Edi
tor.) Since It seems to bo the proper
thing faithfully to record the college yells
and swear words of educational Institu
tions. I herewith hand you an accredited
sample of tho 3203 vintage from Wellesley
College, the noted Institution for young
women:
Darn, darn, double darn.
Golly, gosh, gee whizz.
Hang devil down by the jumping: hind leg of
a craw-faced cricket,
I'll bo Jlm-pam-saulsxled If I care a continental
By gosh, by gum. H.
If "H." can furnish satisfactory assur
ance that tho above collection of broken
words is tho production of a Wellesley
girl, and not of somo male relative, then
we are thoroughly In favor of co-education.
Before this intellectual tour de force
came to light It always seemed . that
women were mentally so Inferior to men
that it was folly to mako a pretenso of
educating the sexes together. Tho In
feriority of women was principally Indi
cated by the fact that none of them had
ever been known to Invent, evolve, pro
duce, achieve, or whatever may be tho
correct expression, a college yell, although
the deslro of co-eds and of girls In exclu
sively girly colleges to do so was very
strong, as evidenced by the way they
adapted or Imitated the males' war cries.
The Idea was mistaken. With the Welles
ley yell emblazoned on their shields, out;
college girls may boldly charge with tho
van of tho battle array.
The Xevr Photography.
. This advertisement in tho Sioux Valley
(la.) News seems to hint at the use of
X-rays:
I am prepared to tako both Insldo and out
side views at reasonable prices. Robt. illch-
aelis.
Faro's Fearful Pane.
You may have taken Kitty to tho restaurant -or I
' show
To And that In your hurry you clean forgot
your dough;
You may have put your signature on some
slick swindler's note.
Or sunk your hard-earned money in a scheme
that wouldn't float,
But oh, the awful feeling, that you. can't ex
press In song,
When you've called tho turn correctly and tha
cases pan out wrong I
You may have met a robber Just after getting;
rr trtort tn hull thn ma'r&ei. .when tha bears
1 wentTrat torald;'' -
You may have had four sixes sent sky-hooting-1
by four eights.
Or may have met with all of these exceeding
bitter fates,
But none of them are markers to the subject I
of my song
To call the turn correctly and. to find tho cases
wroncl
You may havo been a- miser and have saved up I
all your dust.
To lose it by the thousand when your chosen!
bank went bust;
There are lots of things to hurt us la this
world of grief, I know.
But one alone that fills us with. an. everlasting I
woe.
And It may be down In hades It will happeaj
right along
That we'll call the turn correctly Just to and I
the cases wrong.
Another State Song.
Colpnel John Quantock, of Breathitt
County, Kentucky, has forwarded a state I
song for entry In Gorge Wl Lederer's $5001
competition. In reading tho stlrrlngl
verses. It Is necessary to study atten
tively the accompanying notes if a clear
understanding la to be gained of the man-
ner In which tho song camo to bo written.
The state of all states Is Kentucky,
Where whisky and grief are at feud.
And delusions are nothing but moonshine.
In which half the state Is imbrued.
The Bourbon Is cheerful aad Joyous (1
No doubt for; the man with tho still.
But It's fatal to hopheads that buy It,
And at forty rods certain to kill.
I'm In favor of strict prohibition,
Aad as for the man with the gun (2)
I hope that he'll get all tha Quantocks,
And may I be there when It's done (3).
Notes (1) Colonel "Walter Hardguesa, who
'began the song, was shot by Colonel Jamesl
Quantock, leader of the opposing feudist fao-l
Uon, before he could complete his work.
,(2) Thomas Hardguess, who was unfortunate
enough to spend- his early life In New England,!
was a prohibitionist, and was heartily hated I
in the county. Jew therefore regretted his
death at the hands of a dlvekeeper.
(3) Colonel Joe- Hardguess, a boy of 15, tb
last survivor ot tbe family, was shot from am
bush by Colonel John Quantock, who courte
ously complied with hjs enemy's dying re
quest to forward the poem trf Mr. Xiederer.l
and to devote the $500 to practical Instruction
in pistol shooting.
PLEASANTRIES OF FAItAGRAPHEltS I
"My pa's got so much money he don't knov
how to spend lt" "That's nothing. My pa's
got so much money that ma can't spend it."!
New York "World.
"Lemme once git my han' on de chickor
wld a Straight road befo' me." says a Gttargla
darky, "en I'll settle de race problem so qulc
It'll make you" head swim." Atlanta Constl-j
tutlon.
Muggins Men live faster than women. Dug J
gins That's right. My wife and l were- the
same age when we were married. I m
now, and she has only turned 30. Philadelphia
Kecord. t
Church They say that It Is no use for
person to try and signal a atreet-car in New-j
ark. N. J., wltp his hands, uotnam No;
suppose the conductor would think that he
wa3 only brushing away mosquitoes. ionker
Statesman-
"That drug clerk is a chump. I kept wiak-l
ing my eye for a 'stick' In the soda." "Did
he give it to you?" "No. He said therd
must be something tho matter with my eyetj
and directed mo to the optical department.'
Chicago News.
Uncle Reuben says: "If we could go bac
an' lib our lives ober again none of us would
make de mistakes we hev. We'd simply makfj
others Just as bad. Pact Is. Natur calkerlate
on a man plckln up a bumblebee by da wrong
end now an den." Detroit Free Press.
"Photography is a strange profession," muse
the young man. "Because it develops negai
lives?" ask3 the young woman with a- knowlnd
look. "Not that exactly. Boc, as an example
the other day. I had my picture taken In. m-Jt
riding togs-riot on a ' horse, you know, bui
Just standing, in my riding outfit, with my cro;i
held in my hand. And today she photograpbe-j
i writes me that the pictures are ready for ma
TJ and that they are all mounted." Judza. " !