8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY,' JA-NUARY 27 1904. Entered at the PostofSce at Portland, Ore cos, as second-class matter. BSVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. 3r mail (postage prepaid In advance) 2allr. with Sunday, per month.. $0.S3 Daily, Sunday excepted, per year 7.50 Sally, with Sunday, per year 9.00 Sunday, per year 2.00 The "Weekly, per year 1.50' The Weekly, 3 months .50 Sally, per week, delivered. Sonaay excepted.ISc Sally, per week: delivered. Sunday lndudetLSOc, POSTAGE KATES. tJnltef States, Canada and llexleo 10 to 14-page paper - - ..1c IS to SO-page paper... .............. .....2c 22 to paper 3c Foreign rates double. EASTEEN BUSINESS OFFICES. (The S. C Beckwlth Special Agency) Uew York: Booms 43-49. Tribune Building. Chicago: Booms 510-512. Tribune Building. KEPT OX SALE. Chicago Charles MacDonald. 53 "Washing ton St., and Auditorium Annex; Fostofflce News Co.. 178 Dearborn. Colorado Springs H. K. Holderman. Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & Hend jick, 906-012 Seventeenth St.; Louthan & Jackson, Fifteenth and Lawrence. Kansas City Blcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Los Angeles B. F. Gardner,. 259 South Spring; Oliver & Haines, 205 South Spring, and Harry Drapkln. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, CO South Third; L. Begelsbuger. 317 First Avenue South. Jiew York City L. Jonas & Co., Astor House. Ogden W. C Alden. Fostofflce Cigar Store; F. R. Godard; W. G. Klndr-iU 25th St..; C. H. Myers. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam; McLaughlin Bros., 210 South 14th; Megeath Stationery Co., 1306 Farnam. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co., 77 "West Second South St. St. Louis World's Fair News Co. Son Francisco J. K. Cooper Co.. 740 Mar ket, near Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear, Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros., 230 Sutter; L. E. Lee, Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitts, 1008 Market; Frank Scott, 80 Ellis; N. Wbeatley. 83 Stevenson. Washington, D. C. Ed Brlnkman, Fourth and Pacific Ave., N. W.; Ebbltt House News Stand. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 43 deg.; minimum temperature. 33 deg.; precipitation, trace. TODAY'S WEATHER Cloudy, with pearly stationary temperature; variable winds, most ly easterly. PORTLAND, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27. TOO MUCH FRANKLIN. . The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Proverbs x:4. Seest thou a man diligent In business? He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs xxli:20. It Is the perennial charm of the book of Proverbs that It supplies in quaint and concise form, endeared to the mem ory o the English-speaking races for 300 years, a sententious- bit of philoso phy for every situation of common life. Thus, in spite of the texts we have quoted, it says in Proverbs that wis dom is the principal thing, bet&r than rubles, and that the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge and the in struction of wisdom. Perhaps It would be too much to say that the Hebrew people have dwelt too much upon the thrifty admonitions of Proverbs and less than they should upon the more spiritual counsels of David, of Job and of the prophets; especially If we re member the artificial pressure which Europe has brought upon its Jews to keep them from the learned professions and drive them into trade; and yet there are many Scripture texts which indicate that avarice was a besetting sin of the Hebrews from the earliest times. As to our modern proverb-maker, however, there, need be no doubt what ever. The principle upon which Frank lin largely formed the American every day philosophy Is faithfully expressed in the proverbs at the head of this arti cle. The central thought of Franklin's teaching was worldly prudence. Al ways taking out of the meal bag and never putting In, soon comes to the bottom. He who buys what he does not need will need what he cannot buy. It is hard for the empty bag to stand upright. He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing. Lying rides on debt's back. They have a short Lent who owe money at Easter. The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Seest thou a man diligent in business? He shall stand before Kings, he shall not stand before mean men. But It is not the highest ambition in' life to ,be rich; nor is the presence of Kings the most desirable plate where one may stand. And it is an impressive commentary on Franklin's philosophy that Philadelphia, where his statue is prominent and where his influence most abides, is today pronounced the most corrupt city in the .world. It is rich and respectable, wise and diligent; but its officials collect $20,000,000 a year In blackmail; Its annual election records from 40.000 to 80.000 fraudulent votes; Its franchises, worth millions, are un blushlngly sold for a song to corrupt bidders by corrupt officials ; Its princi pal men are notoriously criminal in their prostitution of office for private gain, sometimes arrested and tried, but never punished; its City Hall has al ready absorbed 520,000,000 and continues to be the repository of Jobs Innumer able; It spends 51.000,000 biennially to corrupt the Pennsylvania Legislature, until' It has been estimated that the tax payers have been robbed, within the last few years, of -5100.000,000. It is not strange that Albert Shaw avers that "Philadelphia must stand as the colos sal type of corrupt administration, not only for the United States, but forvtbe world," or that the ICorth American pronounces it "the most plundered mu nicipal corporation on earth," or that Gustavus Myers, writing In the current National Review, calls It "the most cor rupt city in the world" a conclusion he emphasizes by reminding us of the occasional periods of virtue that mark New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Minne apolis and other ring-ruled cities, but to which Philadelphia is and always has been a stranger. The American people need, perhaps, to be rich; but far more they need the virtues and graces of the spirit; the august rectitude of Washington; the solemn humanity of Lincoln, the devo tion to civic righteousness, in defiance of wealth and of class hatred alike, that is shown by Roosevelt. The merchant princes of our proud career we do not 1 need to emulate so much as the fine flower of spiritual strength and grace exemplified by Emerson, Bryant, Long fellow, "Whlttier, Lowell, Holmes. It Is better for our youth to be fed upon "Thanatopsls" and "Evangeline" and "Snowbound" and "The Autocrat" than to learn how to rise from b'rakeman to the presidency of the road. It is bet ter to do justice and love mercy, to be faithful in friendship and kind to the distressed, than to own a palace on Fifth avenue and a seat at the Stock Exchange. Franklin Is good to study and to profit by. In many respects he is our greatest American; but as a guide he Is unsafe and as a former of character he is one-sided, because to him the spiritual life was a thing to be tolerated ofilyfor Its contributory aid to material success. If the American people are Justly charged with too great fondness for wealth and Its display, the corrective Is to be found in the Ideals held by our great poets, scholars and teachers, who saw the transcendent verities of the higher life. Only the actions of the Junt Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. THE MAN GIIURLVN PERIL. It is certainly a dismal picture which some of our agitated publicists drawbf Manchuria under the fostering hand of Russian development. Settlers are pouring in there, large tracts of 'fertile land are coming, under the plow, and flour mills are springing up on every hand. The result Is "looked upon with foreboding, for will not the Russians thus supply their own population there with flour and shut off the American supply? One hardly knows whether to indulge the more terror at this dread outlook or at the equally ominous spectacle In volved in Russian supremacy of the sort that stifles all development and makes of the land a barren desert. The main thing, evidently, is to view with alarm, and it makes little differ ence whether the cause of fear be a good Russia or a bad Russia. In either case we are to tremble with affright and move to the aid of Japan. The idea that a teeming and pros perous population is a menace to its producing neighbors is very old but very persistent. The same spirit that dreads Manchurian development now was abrqad two hundred and fifty years ago and vehemently opposed the colo nization of the New World, on the ground that its crops would drive Eu ropean farmers to ruin. It was seen again in this country when Eastern farmers and statesmen opposed West ern development. Europe has subsisted and grown rich off the New World, Just as the .East has subsisted and grown rich off the West. So it will be with Asia, once West ern enterprise makes the most of its latent resources. It used to be the fond belief of Europe that it could raise its bread, but that day is forgotten. And even in the United States the percent age of exportable wheat surplus to the total crop Is growing continuously smaller and smaller. The trade now looks forward with certainty to the time before many years when the United States will consume all its own wheat and import to supply a deficit. What wc need in Asia, what all the world needs in Asia, Is a great and prosperous population buying of us freely and selling to us freely. The idea that we should be happiest and best if all our neighbors could be re duced to a howling wilderness Is un worthy of intelligent men. There Is no menace to the United States in the de velopment of backward regions. There is only the certainty of better things for us. IMMENSE SHIPPING OUTPUT. In view of the fact that the year 1903 was one of the most disastrous that shipowners have ever experienced, it is somewhat surprising to learn by the official returns that the amount of ton nage put afloat lost year was practi cally the same as In 1902. The annual review of the Glasgow Herald, which Is accepted the world over as strictly au thentic, shows the number of vessels launched In all countries last year to be 2441, compared with 2393 In 1902. This slight Increase In the number was more than offset by a decrease in ton nage, for the craft launched In 1903 ag gregated 2,679,531 tons, compared with 2,715.670 tons in 1902. The United King dom continues to lead the world In ship building, more than half of all the ton nage put afloat being constructed at the yards of England, Scotland or Ire land. The ascendency of the steamer and the increasing tendency toward higher speed, even in the tramp steam ers, is reflected In an increase in the horsepower of the vessels launched. With a decrease of 38,139 In the ton nage, the indicated horsepower of the vessels launched last year was 335,231 greater than that of the fleet of 1902. Perhaps the most wonderful feature In connection with these statistics Is the showing made by a single Scottish yard, which last year launched eight vessels aggregating 110,463 tons. In cluded In this fleet was the monster Baltic, the largest vessel afloat, with a tonnage of 23,673. Next in size to the Baltic last year were the Minnesota and Dakota, of 21,000 tons each, which. J. J. Hill is building at New London, Conn. Following these In size come a couple yet unnamed of 16,780 tons, at the yards of Harland & Wolff, and the smallest of the six big vessels of the year, the Republic, registers 15,378 tons. The addition of this enbrmous amount of tonnage to the available supply for moving the world's commerce will un doubtedly prevent a very marked ad vance In freights for at least another year, and perhaps longer. When it Is considered that the greatest decline ever experienced In ocean freights came at a time when there was world-wide prosperity In nearly all lines of indus trial activity, it can be understood to what an extent the business of ship owning has been overdone. Had the world's shipyards last year shown a marked decrease In their output, the natural increase In trade on shore would have been sufficient to afford re munerative employment for all the ves sels which would now be available. As it Is, these new modern-built craft, constructed with a view to very eco nomical operation, will have the prefer ence at the low rates obtainable, while the more ancient and more expensively operated carriers will hang like a dead weight over the market, ready to fall in at the first advance that will enable them to make operating expenses. With all of the tonnage now available, however, it Is a certainty that rates have reached the bottom, and any change must necessarily be for the bet ter from a shlpownlng standpoint. The past year has witnessed the retirement of large numbers of vessels which were unable to make expenses. These ves sels will not come back Into the mar ket until there is an improvement that will enable them to make expenses. Then, with the memory of a long period of stagnation and low rates, shipowners will be slow In placing or ders to replace their fleets and meet a trade that is ever growing but at a rate that makes it Impossible accurately to gauge Its requirements until they must be met. The pendulum always swings & little too far. no matter which direc tion it moves. It swung too high in 1901, when Portland exporters were forced to pay 52s 6d for grain ships to Europe. It swung too low last year, when the shipowner was forced to carry grain from Portland to Europe for 15s 6d. A happy medium would be more satisfactory for both freight producers and freight-carriers, buf a system for preserving this medium, has never been perfected. BIRTHDAY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY President Roosevelt has been invited to visit Jackson, Mich., on July 6, the date of the semi-centennial anniversary of the Republican convention, which at Jackson fifty years ago nominated the first state election ticket known trader the name of Republican. The question about the first state convention of the Republican party has been recently raised In the New York Tribune by William Barnes, of Albany, who holds it happened at Saratoga, N. Y., on Au gust 16, 1854. But Francis Curtis, of Springfield, Mass., writes the Springfield Republican that the primacy belongs to the state convention held at Jackson, Mich., July 6, 1854, when the platform adopted had this plank: Resolved, That in view of the necessity of battling for the first principles of republican government and against the schemes of an aristocrary the most revolUng and oppressive with which the earth was cursed or man de based, we will co-operate and be known as Republicans until the contest be terminated. This antedates the Saratoga conven tion by several weeks, and the latter did not contain the word "republican" in Its platform, and Myron H. Clark, Its successful nominee for Governor, was not known as a Republican In 1854. The New York Evening Post points out that while Michigan was first with her mass state convention, Wisconsin was the first to suggest the name. What was to be the first Republican conven tion of Wisconsin was planned to as semble in June, 1S54, but it was deferred until July 13, the anniversary of the ordinance of 1787, which dedicated the Northwest Territory to freedom. So Michigan was first with her mass state convention, but the Wisconsin Idea of the name was obtained from a letter written by Horace Greeley in which he said that he had been advised that Wisconsin would adopt the name "Re publican" on July '13, and suggesting that Michigan anticipate her sister state on the 6th. The name was first suggested to Greeley by Alvan E. Bo vay, of RIpon, Wis., as early as 1852, when he predicted the overwhelming defeat of General Scott and the dis appearance of the Whig party to make room for a new party, which would rally the scattered anti-slavery ele ments. In February, 1854, a meeting was held at Ripon, Wis., to consider the organ ization of the new party, and another in March. Early In June the news of the Kansas-Nebraska bill reached Ri pon and Bovay wrote Greeley again, urging' him to call It "Republican," and on June 24, 1854, appeared Greeley's indorsement of the new name. In our judgment the Republican party sprang full armed Into formidable political life because Stephen A. Douglas proposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 in his Kansas-Nebraska bill. Abraham Lincoln said: "I was losing interest In politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again." Lincoln was a natural leader of the conservative anti-slavery masses of the North, and as it took the Kansas and Nebraska bill to arouse him out of a state of political apathy, It is safe to say" that from Douglas dates the birth of the Republican party of 1854. Without such a radical measure as the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 It is not likely any new party would have arisen. The old Whig party could .have enlarged its girdle and in time have become the conserva tive anti-slavery party. When Lincoln In 1855 was asked where he stood, he answered that when he was aRepre sentative In Congress he voted for the Wilmot proviso forty times, and that "I now do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The Wilmot proviso was Introduced In Congress by David Wilmot, of Penn sylvania, August 8, 1846, as an amend ment to the so-called "two million bilL" It declared It "to be an express, and fundamental condition to the acquisi tion of any territory from Mexico that neither slavery nor Involuntary servi tude should exist therein." Besides Lincoln, such conservative Whigs as Webster and Robert C. Wlnthrop voted for It, and such Democrats as Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, and A. G. Thurman, of Ohio. The desire to resist the fur ther extension of slavery as a great social and economic danger . was strongly felt by both Whigs and Demo crats as early as 1846. Webster and Clay, both anti-slavery men, framed the compromise measure of 1850, and went to their graves in 1852 fondly trusting that the evil day of civil war and disunion had been put off for at least another generation. Had Doug las stayed his vandal hand, it is quite possible that the day of civil war and disunion would have been delayed for a good many years. So from this point of view Stephen A. Douglas forced the Republican party Into organization and agitation and was the real precipitator of the Civil War, which Henry Clay's compromise measure of 1850 might have averted or at least postponed for many j-ears. Of their own motion the South ern men had never dreamed of de manding the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The Republican party took its plat form from the old "Liberty party" of 1840-44, which under the lead of James G. Blrney was not an abolition party, but a party opposing by constitutional resistance the further extension of slave territory. Douglas forced Into life and labor the great party which made his election as President Impossi ble and that of his great rival, Lincoln, sure. It was the iconoclastic hand of Douglas that drew Lincoln out of his political retirement. The new party gathered its" recruits from the Seward Whigs, from the Hannibal Hamlin Democrats, from the Salmon P. Chase Free Soilers. It was defeated in the National election In 1856, but it was strong enough to elect Lincoln Presi dent in 1S60; yet It is quite possible, had it not been for the Civil War, that the Republican party would have been de feated by the Democracy in 1S64. The moment civil war began the Republican party was sure to be sustained by every loyal Whig or loyal Democrat until its close, and long after Its close the Re publican party lived on its "war" cap ital and the Democratic disposition to play with fireworks, finance and cheap money, with repudiation and illimitable greenbacks for twenty years after the restoration of the Union. The capacity of the Democratic party Invariably to do the wrong thing at Just the right time has helped the Republican party to maintain a vigorous life, despite Its many serious mistakes in policy and action, The objections of parents to the mar riage of a willful daughter to a pre sumably unworthy man, when pushed to extremes, can only result in parental discomfiture and humiliation. The young man who has a loyal ally in a love-stricken daughter has his case al ready won against the practical father and apprehensive mother of the damsel who with mature vision see only dis aster or passive unhappiness for her in an unsuitable marriage. W. J. Bryan showed a knowledge of human nature which was creditable to him when he withdrew active opposition (which no doubt was well based) to the marriage of his daughter last Fall, so far as to Insist that the marriage take place at her home. Frank T. Wall, the wealthy rope manufacturer of New York, was less politic or prudent In his opposition to the late marriage of his daughter to Jules B. Neilson, and made himself ridiculous before the country in trying to retain his daughter In his home after she was the wife of Neilson. These wayward marriages sometimes turn out happily, that of General Fremont and Jessie Benton being an example In this line, but usually, or at least very often, they result In the return in a few years of a penitent young woman to her father's house after a suit for divorce has been filed against her husband for abuse of some kind, or for general worthlessness Incompatible with the so lution of the bread-and-butter problem for two or more persons. Disappointed parents, whose advice in such matters Is Ignored by willful daughters, make the best of a very trying situation by allowing them to marry at home and depart In peace. The wound will ran kle, but It will not be subject to cruel thrusts of alleged wit or open taunt from the outside world. Barbers may "barb" hereafter in this state without let or hindrance. That is to say, they may open up shops whenever and wherever they see fit, choose their own hours and fix then own prices, without regard to the dic tates of the State Board of Barber Ex aminers. Is a profession to be thus lev eled to the grade of a business, and are those who choose to engage In it to be permitted to manage it? Are energetic ypuths who aspire to be tonsorial artists to be allowed to Vlearn the busi ness" as quickly as they can, and to put the knowledge that they acquire in three months to practical use, instead of waiting three years, more or less, before they can legally "open shop"? The answer to these questions and oth ers that might be asked along the same line depends upon the Indorsement of the Supreme Court, or the refusal of that body to Indorse, the opinion of Judge George In the case of the State of Oregon against H. L. Briggs. This Is the man who defied the authority of the Board of Barber Examiners and opened a barbers' school, the motto of which was "Barbering quickly learned," or words to that effect. The Board Is as yet undecided whether to make fur ther effort to clip the wings of Its op ponent's ambition or to let a useful and honorable profession go to the bow wows. The School Board shows commendable dispatch in beginning-preparations for the new schoolhouses that 'it has been authorized by the taxpayers of the dis trict to build this season. A" modern schoolhouse cannot be constructed in a few weeks, and to delay all preparation for building until the beginning of the Summer vacation, well on toward July 1, as has been the custom in years past. Is to have the new building in a state of unreadiness in September, which hampers the work of the schools in that part of the district for weeks or months as the case may be. Not only is this Inconvenience and handicap suffered by pupils and teachers, but valuable time is lost In the Spring, when worklngmen included in the name of "housesmlths" are eager to begin work and the build ing industry Is less likely to be ham pered and delayed by strikes than Is the case later In the season. Delay In this matter has been a source of surprise and even of Indignation In times past, and, as before said, the promptness with which the board has taken up the building authorized for the present sea son Is gratifying. Having criticised freely the dllatorlness of the board In former years, it is but just to note and commend Its present promptness In grappling the building question for the district The pirates who roamed the Spanish Main In the old days and who now re appear on the comic opera stage were a bold, bad lot, and have always been supposed to be about the worst ever. Cyrus Townsend Brady and other chroniclers of pirate deeds have not lessened the reputation for nerve and daring that some of the old-timers of the Sir Henry Morgan type enjoyed, but for the real thing In pirating up to date the Chinese are entitled to the medal. Advices from the Orient by the steamer Korea report the capture of a Chinese warship by the pirates whom the vessel had been sent to capture. The merry men of the sea, after captur ing the vessel, looted, her of all valu ables, and then, tying the crew hand, foot and pigtail, ran the craft ashore and escaped to the woods. The soul of Captain Kldd must have been marching on, and In the course of Its rambles stopped to turn a trick in the Canton River. "War Is certain," says the master of a steamship which arrived at Tacoma yesterday. "It does not look so much like war," said the master of a steamer arriving at Portland the day previous. Both" steamers left the Orient at the same time, and both masters had equal facilities for securing the latest news up to the time of sailing. With such testimony from men who are direct from the scene of the prospective hos tilities, It Is not to be wondered at that some of the high-priced news that is received by cable is of a decidedly con flicting nature. There may be war in the Orient, but there is such a large and varied assortment of "ifs" to be considered that it is not surprising If steamship captains .as well as corre spondents hold widely divergent views as to the present status of the case. The bears made another raid on Mr. Armour's 90-cent wheat yesterday, and in the first flush of their success they crowded the price down nearly 3 cents per bushel. The Armour sack is a deep one, however, and vsupport" of the kind- that moves worlds was soon forth coming and pushed the price back well up toward the point from which it started. Meanwhile the long line of wheat Is not becoming very much shorter by the forcing of the new wheat king's hand every time he attempts to unload a few million bushels. Harper's Bazar is authority for the statement that "hand-painted stockings are now worn by the best-dressed women." "Truly feminine vanity has a tendency to go to extremes In personal decoration. It is well known that hand-painted faces have long been in vogue. V BRYAN AS A BOLTER. Chicago Chronicle, Denx. From the Populistic faction of the so called Democratic party comes the re Iterated assertion that no man shall be nominated at St. Louis who was a bolter In 1S9S or 1900. This Is supposed ,to be sweeping enough to exclude as candidates most of the conspicuous Democrats from Mr. Cleve land down who did not hall with joy the programme of repudiation and revolution set forth at the Coliseum in Chicago in the year first mentioned. Yet the convention of 1S36 nominated a bolter In the person of Mr. Bryan; he was renominated four years later at Kansas City, and, if words and actions mean any thing, he is a bolter even now. Mr. Bryan and his Populists in Ne braska: bolted Mr. Cleveland in 1S9 and Mr. Bryan came to Chicago four years later as a member of a bolting delegation. It is true that he and they have since then set up the claim that they voted for Weaver, the Populist, in 1892, In order to deprive Harrison of the electoral vote of Nebraska, but it will require only a glance at the returns from that state in that year to show the fallacy of this assertion: Harrison ...... 87,227 Weaver . 83,134 Cleveland 24.943 If Mr. Bryan and the other Populists who admit that they voted for Weaver had been particularly In earnest in their professed desire to deprive Mr. Harrison of the electoral vote of Nebraska they could have done it easily by voting for Grover Cleveland. The fact is, of course, that Mr. Bryan was not then and Is not now a Democrat. He would bolt Mr. Cleveland today Just as he bolted him in 1S92 In favor of Weaver, and the probability is that he and his Populistic following will bolt any nomination made by St. Louis that Is not strictly Populistic Wise politicians will see in this situa tion the futility of attempting to recon cile tho irreconcilable. The political parties going in opposite directions cannot be successfully fused. A real Democrat may be nominated with the certainty of losing the Populists. A Populist may be nominated with the cer tainty of losing millions. of Democrats. A straddling, meaningless nomination will suit nobody. So far as bolters are concerned, how ever, Mr. Bryan should bo the last man on earth to complain about nominating one ot them. All that he is or has been In politics may be attributed to bolting. If he had remained a Democrat he would have fared no better in the folly and madness of 1S2S than any other Dem ocrat did. Mr, Beverldge Has Ability. Chicago Tribune. To those people who yet regard him' askance, as insufficiently mature, we re spectfully commend a perusal of Mr. Bev eridge's book on "The Russian Advance." This book Is a masterpiece of observa tion, comprehension and divination of ultra-Oriental conditions. It does not treat merely of Russian advance, but also of the whole Far Eastern question. This subject has been treated by many writ ers, prominent among whom are Henry Xorman, British M. P.; Lord Beresford, British Admiral; Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, but In our estimation no other cog nate book remotely approaches In interest or value "The Russian Advance." The Englishmen have emphasized the politics of the situation, and have treated even the politics generally. They have swung mouth-filling phrases about, but they haven't written as If they had been as Indeed they were on the spot. Beverldge goes Into the minutiae of the matter. He tells of the trade conditions, the hours of work, the way to catch the Chinese buyer, the standard of living In Siberian cities, how the coolies working on the Russian railroads feel, why, America lags behind in China. After reading the .book one feels that the author knows his subject and knows It well. Practical men like practical men to man age their affairs. In the Senate the lead ers, for the most part, are not men of great talent. They are shrewd, sagacious, common-sense men. There are a few Sen ators, however, who are endowed with at least a spark of the divine fire. One of them is John C. Spooner, of Wlsconsinr and the other is Albert J. Beverldge, of Indiana. Irritating the Raw Spots. Springfield, Mass., Republican. Mr. Roosevelt gets Into a fever over Senator Hanna and what he may do. His undue anxiety is communicated to others. Then things are said that were better, from every party point of view, left un said. Mr. Hanna's friends retort in kind or take the initiative toward more mu tuality or irritation. The fever of specula tion as to all sorts of possibilities of ac tion on Mr. Hanna's part grows and spreads. Irritant factors are ever present. Raw spots are kept inflamed. It all tends to cloud the Republican situation. If any thing could make Mr. Hanna contest the party nomination with tho President the tactics employed are calculated to. He is Indignant with the overzcalous friends of the Administration. These would not annoy so aggressively If Mr. Roosevelt were less eagerly anxious over his nomi nation. It is the strenuous temper set ramifying in everwldenlng circles that plays the mischief with the peace of mind that ought to prevail. Here Is the secret and the source of the trouble. A Republican Blast. New York Press. Senator Hanna could not be President If he were In fact able to defeat the nomination of President Roosevelt- No se lection of the Hanna bureau could be. The voting Republicans and tho voting Amer ican people wbuld not touch a Hanna bureau ballot with a ten-foot pole. Not Senator Hanna, nor any man for whom Senator Hanna, by the grace of the trust power, would sanction or indorse. The voting members of the Republican party want the nomination of President Roose velt and they will accept no other candi date in his place. All that Senator Hanna can do, therefore, and all that the agents of his $10,000,000 bureau can do with a con tinuation of their efforts to drum up booms against President Roosevelt is to work harm to the Republican party by embarrassing, baiting and reading the only genuine Republican movement in the United States the movement of the party's millions on millions of voters to nominate Mr. Roosevelt as their candidate for President! Tales From Home. New York Sun. Ulysses was off for the wars. "I do hope," murmured Penelope, "he won't get mixed up irr that Japanese-Russian affair; he doesn't speak anything but blank verse Greek." Anxiously unraveling- the shroud, she' awaited the extras.. Achilles was bemoaning his vulnerable heeL "It's the only part of you tha steps on a tack In the dark," -he explained be tween yells. Tenderly extracting the Instrument, he hopped back to bedon the other foot. The Services of the Fathers. New York Sun Benjamin Franklin had 'just driven his bargain with France. "tinerel" he exclaimed proudly: "I think they ought to put my face on the trading stamps for that." . Like all genlusest however, he was un appreciated, being relegated to the 1-cent rural local drop-letter. Thomas Jefferson was advocating the use of decimal currency. "Just think." be exclaimed, "how mucb easier it will be to borrow J 10 than 2, 1 shilling; 1 penny!'" With a joyous whoop. Congress surren dered to the argument. A NEBRASKA FOLK TALE. New York Sun. An Energetic Young Goat was interested in the problems of -Impact, Resistance and Rebound. Planting himself firmly In front of a Stone Wall he bleated cheerily: "I will butt that Wall down. At the end of that butting the Wall was standing; but the Butter had a Sore Head. The Energetic Young Goat fed on Sil verberry for four years. H& was still de voted to the problems of Impact, Resist ance and Rebound. "By the Horns of the Silver Moon," he swore, "I will butt that Stone Wall down." At the end of that Butting the Wall was healthy and the Butter had a Sore Head. The Energetic Young Goat browsed through Eleven Counties and had inter views with BIgbugs and Blgtoadslnthe puddle. He went back to his native Teth-erlng-place. The neighbors said: "This Goat has learned Sense by this time, we doa't think." One Morning Mr. Fox saw Mr. Goat whetting his Horns and gnawing a File. "Ah. still studying Impact, Mr. Goat? rm a little surprised to find that you are still resolved to be- a Wallflower. Tee, hee!" For Mr. Fox was bilious and en Joyed the misfortunes of his friends. "Mr. Fox," said Mr. Goat sternly "You are an Opportunist. I am a Ultlmatlst, I may not butt down that Wall, but I de serve to." So Mr. Goat kept on chewing Silver berry, gnawing Files and sharpening his Horns. For he was a believer in the Ulti mate and the Ultimatum: Mr. Hanna's Candidate. New York Times. William. H. Taft, son of a Secretary of War, and himself soon to be Secretary of War, for threa years Judge of the Su perior Court of Ohio, for eight years a United States Judge in the Sixth Circuit, and Civil Governor of the Philippine Islands for more than two years just past, would be beyond question the strong est candidate the Republican party could put in nomination for the Presidency. Able, pure, a .man of energy, yet emi nently level-headed. Governor Taft stands very high Indeed in the opinion of the American people. He would receive the entire Republican vote. If the Democrats make mistakes at St, Louis, he would get many thousands of Democratic and inde pendent votest Senator Marcus A. Hanna would be a weak candidate. Pretty much everything for which the Republican party Is dis trusted and attacked Is typified in the person of this Ohio Senator. But while he would be a poor candidate, he is one of tho best living judges ot American politics. Ambition may beset and beseech him, but to his clear and acute mind It must long ago have become evident that if Mr. Roosevelt is to bo sot aside. Sen ator Hanna is not the man to take his place at the head of the Republican col umn. The prediction may be ventured that If Mr. Hanna decides to break openly with the President and to seek his defeat In the nominating convention, the Hanna candidate will prove to be Governor Taft, He Is an Ohio man and he is a strong man, two circumstances which are not likely to have escaped the observation of the Senator. Sliakespeare Revised. New York Evening Post. Chorus of citizens (Heath, Tyner, Drlggs, Beavers, Dietrich, et al.) The foxy Hanna is ascended; silence! Hanna Politicians, office-holders and grafters! hear me for our cause, and be wary, that we may win; believe for your own good, and follow me, that we may win; do not censure me In your wisdom, but awake your senses that you may the better dissemble. If there be In this as sembly any dear friend of Roosevelt's, and If that friend demand why Hanna rose against Roosevelt, this is my answer; not that I loved Roosevelt less, but that I loved myself more. As Roosevelt loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I envied him; as he was valiant, I bowed before him; but as he was devoted to civil-service reform I undermined him. Who is here so foolish that would be a bondsman and give bonds? If any, speak; for him I have no regard. Who Is here so coy he would not be an office-holder? If any. speak, for he belongs not In this company. Who Is here so foolish that he would make not money out of the Gov ernment? If any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. All None. Hanna, none. Hanna Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Roosevelt than you will do to me Jf you have the opportunity. Senator Hanna's Position. Kansas City Star. Whether Senator Hanna is the leader or the instrument In the movement to dis credit President Roosevelt among Repub licans, it may be accepted that this move ment would be most inconsequential if Mr. Hanna would come out strongly against It. Therefore, the most vital fac tor In the political news of the day Is speculation as to Senator Hanna's wishes and purposes. The latest Intimation Is that he will seek to prevent the nomina tion of Roosevelt not by announcing him self as a candidate, but by putting for ward some other candidate. It is said in Washington that Secretary Hay and Sec retary Root have both been approached and that both have declined to consider the proposition to come out against the President. It is also rumored that Mr. Taft, tho new War Secretary. Is being considered, but with little hope that he would enter a campaign for the nomIna-j uuii. xuiiuwiug uicac icpui u cum imuiiii- tlons a belief has been expressed that Senator Hanna really believes that Pres ident Roosevelt cannot be elected,, and that he would not be- opposed to him if be had confidence in his running power. Joints in Hanna's Armor. Pittsburg Dispatch. Senator Hanna has never yet submitted himself as a candidate for the direct votes of tho people. He has won his successes as the campaign manager for two friends, one of the widest National popularity and strength, the other of hardly less standing in his state. But if after gaining reputation by the victories of McKlnley and Herrick he should be put up for the suffrages of the people for the highest po sition in the land, the fierce light that beats upon a Presidential candidate would begin to pry into his personal political achievements. His acquisitions of South ern delegates In 1896, over which charity has heretofore cast a veil, would be dragged Into publicity. The veracity of his platform, "there are no trusts." would be tested. The value of the proposition to "stand pat," when neither trust promo ters, stock fluctuations nor the wages of labor will consent to stand pat, would be questioned. His relations to the feast of the spoils hunters carried on under the protection of his Influence by his next friends, Heath, Beavers. Rathbone et al., would furnish literature that would make the Blaine campaign seem as mild as new milk. Alaska in Congress. Minneapolis Journal. Alaska has not yet had any authorized representative at Washington. There have been delegates self-appointed and bear ing credentials from local organizations, but their influence has been of little ad vantage because they have often antag onized each other and left members of Congress In doubt as to what were the real needs and interests of the district. It Is high time that Alaska had an author ized, "capable spokesman at Washington. An incident in Syracuse. New York Sun. Archimedes- rushed out, yelling "Eu reka!" The Indignant people rejoined: "You're another!" and rushed him back to don bis bathrobe. X0TEAND COMMENT, - i ' . "Here goes nothing," said . a Seattle bartender as he blew his brains out. Did you ever buy any underwear that fitted like tho suits In the ad pictures? The Emperor of Corea must be a pro tean personage, judging from his pic tures in the newspapers. If certain sulta are successful there will be no quicker way of making money than by losing it at faro. Machen will appear to give his. side of the Postoffico case. It will surprise most people to learn that he has a side. A man may be able to juggle knives on the vaudeville stage and still trip over his neighbor's feet in a street-car. A Boston preachor returns his salary to the church. As a mark of appreci ation, the church might increase his sal ary. If all the war correspondents that are on their way to tho Orient were to or ganize a corps, it would be strong enough to hold the balance of power. Anyone that has met a book agent will sympathize with the Sultan ot Morocco, who told a World's Fair agent to tako 550,000 and tell President Francis to stop writing letters. Panama starts off with very admirable resolutions. Gambling is to bo prohib ited in the republic, for Instance. The authorities might as well prohibit the tide from rising at Taboga Island. Papers in Japan are discussing the ser vant question, which seems to cause as much talk In the Orient as it does in the Occident. The merits ot Chinese and of Japanese are being discussed in such a voluble way that it Is evident we may change the skies we live under and still have the same subjects for gossip. The stupidity of the British postofflce Is a favorite theme for English writers, but now and then some of the clerks show flashes of intelligence. A letter was posted at Canterbury this season addressed with one word Dolg. This name was written In a rectangle of which one side was omitted. The letter was duly delivered to the goalkeeper ot the Sunderland As sociation Eleven. A letter with the name Lajole written inside a diamond would probably be delivered with equal celerity in this country. Empress Emily Brown, of Corea, Is a myth. So says the Kobe Chronicle. And this after many American and not a few English papers had devoted columns of space to her romantic story. The origin ator of the story described the fair Emily Brown as tho daughter of a missionary from Wisconsin. The Emperor was smit ten with her charms and offered her a job as Empress-ln-Chlef at a salary of $10,000 a year. It Is too bad that such a pictur esque figure should be of the stuff that makes dreams. When a school girl goes home, and announces that she has to write an es say on Sebastapol, there is a sensation, says the Atchison Globe. Her brother wants to know if It is a new game, and her sister asks her if it is something to eat. Her father has forgotten Sebasta pol In the worry of earning- a living, and Sebastapol has had the same fate In her mother's mind in the duties that attend the running of a home. The girl cribs it out of a book, and the house Is hushed while she does it Every member of the family Is Impressed with the heavi ness of the girl's brain, and Sebastapol becomes .as familiar a topic at table as If It were a cheese. In this way, educa tion seeps out, and a family picks up something. Interviews are proverbially ticklish things. A reporter named McBulloch, of the Melbourne Age, obtained a good in terview from Sir John Madden, Chief Justice of the colony. Among other things, Sir John was quoted as saying that all Intelligent foreigners were struck by tho vulgar and unintelligible chatter of Aus tralian women and by their graceless car riage. When this was published there was naturally no end of a howl from the Vic torians, and Sir John wrote to tho Age repudiating the statement. The Age pub lished his letter, adding In a footnote its regret that the reporter had "misappre hended" the Chief Justice, and McBulloch was fired. He brought action against the proprietors for wrongful dismissal and for libel. He had In court a number of newspaper men who swore that it was a common practice among public men to allege misreporting when they had cause to be sorry they spoke. Although Sir John stuck to his repudiation through a severe cross-examination, McBulloch was award ed a shilling for the libel and 7 for the dismissal. WEX. J. OUT OF THE GINGER JAR. "Well, Johnnie, did you have a good time at the children's party?" "You bet. I was sick for nearly a week." Chicago Record Herald. "Brer Williams don't need no coal in Winter time." "How come?" "Wy, he all time dreamln dat de devil got hlml"At lanta Constitution. He She doesn't like me. I attempted to kiss her once. She How foolish of you! Why didn't you attempt to kiss her twice? Philadelphia Ledger. Physician Don't be downcast; you're not dead yet. Patient That's what bothers me. If I were dead I shouldn't have to trouble myself about your bill. Boston Transcript. He So your husband has given up smok ing? It requires a pretty strong will to accomplish that! She Well, Td have you understand that I have a strong will! New Yorker. "The Chinese have a custom of paying- all their debts on the first," said the creditor. Insinuatingly- "Yes," answered the debtor. The Chinese are mighty hard to civilize." Washington Star. "Maud said something awfully clever about that rich Chicago uncle of hers." "What was It?" "She said he was born with a silver pie-knife In his mouth." Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Have you ever heard Paderewski?" in quired the patron. "No," replied1 the musi cal barber. "You don't suppose I'd patron ize a man who wears his hair that way, do you." Philadelphia Ledger.' A contemporary, in speaking of a fire, says "it ate its way up:" The case must be a parallel one to that of the goat in the bag gageroom that swallowed his destination tap. Baltimore American. She Woman's weapon Is the pin. It Is mightier than the sword. He You are right. The hatpin has become almost as formidable in public as the rolllng-pln is in the home. Kansas City Journal. Tom But do you think you can support a wife? Dick Of course. Why, I've been engaged two years- Tom Well? Dick Well, if I can buy flowers and candy for a fiancee for two years and not go broke. I can surely support a wife- Philadelphia Press- "There's one thing that I can say about my- daughter." said Mr. Cumrox. "She has a fine disposition." "Have you known her to meet any severe tests?" "Yes. The way she can sit and listen to herself playing the piano shows that she must have extraor dinary patience." Washington Star.