THE MORNING OREGONIAN. THURSDAY, 'APRIL' 21, 190 "
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PORTLAND, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1904.
THE DEMOCRATIC FIREFIGHTERS.
The Democratic party of Oregon, be
holding itself as in a mirror, finds noth
ing to condemn hut everything to
praise. Such evil and mischief as may
"be found abroad are the merest syno
nyms for Republicanism; and no good
thing exists in all the universe but was
called into 'being, is still sustained and
consciously looks to be preserved by
the Democratic party. In view of the
abiding Democratic faith in the com
mon people, it is almost incredible that
lor so long a time the common people
have labored under the prepossession
that the Nation's safety lies in the di
rection of keeping the Democratic party
out of power. But enough of generali
ties. Let us come to the grounds, viz:
We Insist that but a casual reading of the
history of the past and observation of the
present conditions should convince the peo
ple that the Democratic party is the shield
and buckler that must protect popular gov
ernment from tho flres of Radicalism on the
one side and the grasping greed of the
money power upon tho other.
We are inconsiderately left In doubt
whether a thorough examination of his
tory would confirm the Impression
gained from a casual reading; but this
Is not so striking as the Democratic
attitude toward, the fires of Radicalism.
Merely a casual reading of the plat
forms of 189C and 1900, on the subjects
of free silver, free riot, abolition of
bank notes, etc., show how thoroughly
Radicalism is abhorred of all true Dem
ocrats. "With Tom Johnson's aggressive
socialism in Ohio and Hill's demand for
Government ownership of mines In. New
Tork, the resolute Democratic stand
against Radicalism is as plain as the
reluctance of Mr. Bryan himself to stir
up class hatred and disturb the exist
ing Democratic harmony.
Yet all this is nothing to the signal
adaptability of the means the Demo
crats offer for extinguishing the flres of
Radicalism. In this dread conflagra
tion the Democratic party offers itself
as a shield and buckler. Now the ser
viceability of the shield, the buckler,
and especially the shield and buckler
combined, in extinguishing flres of all
descriptions is attested from a high an
tiquity. It is recorded that when Rome
was burning the legions at length put
out the flres by fanning them with their
shields; and Homer relates that ancient
Troy was kept from destruction by the
noble Hector, who cast into the flames
a number of well-oiled leathern buck
lers. It Is better that the Democrats should
offer to put out the flres of Radicalism
with leather and old iron instead of
turning on the hose. That is, it is more
honest. They will fight the fires of
Radicalism just as hard as shields and
bucklers will do it. And no harder.
TRUE FRIENDS OF THE TICKET.
And now it Is said that the Demo
crats have hopes of defeating Mr.
Lightner for County Commissioner. At
flrst they were only going to elect the
Sheriff. Then they advanced to the
District Attorney. Then they claimed
two or three places on the- Senatorial
ticket Now they have embraced the
Commlssionershlp also, and in a few
days more they will announce an as
sured victory for Clerk and Coroner.
The trouble with the Democrats is
they don't know when they have
enough. For punishment they are per
fect gluttons. At first they figured
that by concentrating on one nominee
for the State Senate they could beat
the Republican low man. But why de
feat only one when thej' can just as
well defeat all? So there you hare a
Senatorial ticket composed of four good
men and true, each of which is a bet
ter statesman and shiftier vote-getter
than any of the rest.
Now, it is perfectly clear that this
growing comprehensiveness of the Dem
ocratic ambition can only work mis
chief to the Democratic cause. By
spreading themselves out all over crea
tion they will fail to accomplish what
might be achieved through concentra
tion. They want so much they may not
get anything. Before they arrive at the
feast they resolve to select one thing
and make sure of It Once there, how
ever, In sight of the festal board, appe
tite overcomes discretion and they pick
out every dish on the table.
"We do not know how this growing
Democratic programme will appeal to
the Republican majority in this county,
but it may at least cause Republicans
to reflect upon the questionable wisdom
of waiting for the Democrats to select
a certain spot on the ticket for special
assault and then assisting them to
break It down. A blow at one plaoe on
the ticket is felt all along the line.
A very good way to meet this elective
method of Democratlcyhxttack is to
double up defenses at tj points men
aced. Isn't it a good year to elect a
complete ticket, for once, just to show
what can be done? He Is not a very
good Republican who works hard for
the nominees that have a walkover and
joins the Democrats In trying to defeat
the man who has the hard row to hoe.
Only the friend in need is the friend
indeed.
A VOICE OF THE NEW SOUTH.
Henry "Watterson, whose lecture on
"Abraham Lincoln" has just been deliv
ered in Portland, has for many years
been the ablest and most penetrating
voice of what Is termed the "New
South"; that Is, the South that has
turned her back on the broken Idols of
a civilization that was hopelessly shat
tered by the Image-breaking hand of
civil war, and bent her brains and
heart bravely to the work of making
the best of a new situation. Mr. "Wat
terson was, of course, not the only able
man at the South who refused to play
the part of a morose political Bourbon
and bltter-tongued Irreconcilable; but
by his position as the Influential editor
of the Louisville Courier-Journal he had
a great pulpit to preach from and put
In circulation his strong political com
mon sense and manly eloquence. As a
Southern man born and bred, as an ex
Confederate he commanded the confi
dence and respect of the Old South, and
he has never hesitated to speak his
mind with a frankness and fearlessness
that the Old South would never have
tolerated or heeded from a Northern
journal. He has never hesitated to set
his face against political quackery,
whether It was practiced at the North
or the South; he has always declined
to "play to the galleries" in his public
discourse, North or South.
Northern men of ability are prone to
indulge In this vice of political quack
ery more than Southern men, and yet
some gifted Southern men, like the
late Henry Grady, of Georgia, have
been prone to "play to the galleries" in
talking to a New England audience;
but Watterson has had the courage of
his convictions, whether he spoke to
Kentucky or Massachusetts. More than
twenty-five years ago "Watterson treat
ed with just contempt the popular pre
tense that the battle of the Civil "War
was the battle between a people of Cav
allerancestryand a people of Cromwell
ian forbears. He shotfed that even in
Virginia there were very few families
of Cavalier ancestry; that 95 per cent
of the people who settled the North
and who settled the South were of
farmer or artisan ancestry; that the
so-called Scotch-Irish who settled
Maine, New Hampshire, "Western Penn
sylvania, settled Virginia, the Caro
linas, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and
Arkansas. There were a few Hugue
nots who settled in New Tork and the
Carollnas; a few Swedes who settled in
New Jersey; a few Germans who settled
In Pennsylvania, and a few Dutch who
settled in Manhattan Island, at Albany
and along the valley of the Mohawk;
but the great fighting forces of the war
of the Revolution and of our Civil "War
were on both sides. North and South, of
Scotch-Irish ancestry.
The names of our fighting men In the
Revolution betray their origin, as do
those of our Civil "War. This stupid
historical, sentimental bubble Mr. "Wat
terson pricked by saying bluntly that
the Northern Yankee and the Southern
man were of the same original stuff,
tempered and colored, however, by a
difference of social and political envi
ronment Mr. Watterson's own hero,
Lincoln, illustrates his argument If
Lincoln had remained all his days in
Kentucky, he would hardly have been
a more radical anti-slavery man than
the slaveholdlng Henry Clay; perhaps
he would have been more conservative
than Clay. If John C. Calhoun had
emigrated with his family in his child
hood from South Carolina to Illinois, It
Is quite probable that he would have
become, like Lincoln, an anti-slavery
"Whig. Calhoun was as honest, as able
and conscientious a man as Lincoln
was, and it is quite probable that un
der other than pro-slavery environment
he would have been an anti-slavery
man. Mr. "Watterson points out, to en
force his argument of environment, the
fact that the most resolute and unbend
ing champions of the South and slavery
were Northern born and bred men who
did not settle In the South until they
had reached manhood. This was true of
Sargent S. Prentiss, of John Slidell and
of Albert Pike.
On the other hand, some of the most
resolute champions of the North,
whether soldiers or statesmen, were
men of Southern birth and breeding,
who, after reaching manhood, had en
joyed exclusively Northern environ
ment Mr. "Watterson more than twenty
years ago punctured this nonsense
about the quarrel of the South and the
North having been nothing but the nat
ural hereditary battle between Cavalier
and Puritan civilization. He showed
that there were few, if -any, Cavaliers
even in Virginia; that the Scotch-Irish
farmer and artisan ancestry was com
mon to both sections. It overflowed
from "Western Pennsylvania and Vir
ginia into Kentucky, Tennessee, the
Carollnas, Georgia and Alabama. The
same stock settled up Arkansas. There
was Frenph stock in Louisiana, and
Oglethorpe settled some Highland
stock In Georgia, but the vital fighting
force on both sides in the Civil "War
was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, farmers
and artisans. The South had kept Its
stock pure, unmixed with any subse
quent stream of immigration; It had
retained Its agricultural habits, and
for thlB reason its stock was more war
like; all its men and boys could shoot
straight and ride fairly well.
Mr. Watterson did history a service
and he took some of the snobbery and
conceit out of both sides by bluntly
saying that with a mere change of so
cial and political environment Lincoln
might have been 'holding up the hands
of Calhoun or Calhoun throwing up his
hat for Lincoln. Mr. Watterson has
done other good service. He has de
nounced lynch law without qualifica
tion; he has expressed his detestation
of negro burnings and kindred barbari
ties; he has denounced the fallacy and
the fraud of cheap money In all Its
forms; he "has spoken with ringing voice
in favor of humanity and strict justice
for all colors and conditions of human
life. His voice has never been senti
mental In Its accents, but It has always
proclaimed that equal justice belongs
to every man, not as a matter of privi
lege, but as a birthright, like the air
we breathe, like the right, as Lincoln
said, of every man to eat In security
f from molestation the bread he has hon
estly earned by the sweat of his brow.
Admiral Skrydloff, the new commander-in-chief
of the Russian fleet in
the East, has roughly outlined his plan
of campaign in St Petersburg. It is his
Intention, he declares, to preserve his
ghips jealously "for some great occa
sion." Admiral Skrydloff admits he has
doubts that the Baltic fleet will arrive
in Oriental waters in time to be of any
use, for he thinks that the march of
events will have rendered Its presence
useless even before the ships are ready
to sail. From these two statements it
Is apparent that the new head of Rus
sia's navy in the East gpes to his post
convinced of his country's hopeless po
sition upon the seas. His doubts re
garding the value of the Baltic squad
ron are probably based upon his knowl
edge of the difficulties that await it on
the journey. As a sailor, Admiral
Skrydloff Is aware of the almost unsur
mountable obstacle that more than 12,
000 knots interpose between Kronstadt
and Port Arthur. Admiral Camara
abandoned a similar voyage at Suez.
The Russian Admiral' attempting It
might reach Bizerta, but he would be
lucky to get through the canal. When
Admiral Skrydloff speaks of reserving
his ships for a great occasion he prob
ably contemplates a Japanese Invest
ment of Port Arthur and the use of his
fleet In a final struggle that will decide
the fate of the fortress.
TWO SOUTHWESTERN STATES.
The purpose of the House Republic
ans In passing the joint statehood bill
admitting Arizona and Oklahoma is
transparently partisan. They hope that
Republican New Mexico will overcome
Democratic Arizona, and that Repub
licans so predominate in Oklahoma as
to render Impossible any Democratic
Representatives or Senators from Its
union with Indian Territory.
It is impossible to defend this action
on high moral grounds; and yet In
practice the injustice Is likely to be
small. Arizona, for example, is Infi
nitely better off as half a state than
as no state at all; and It would be diffi
cult to show that any material Interest
of Its people will be neglected or In
jured through the Republicans It will
have to put up with at Washington.
There must be three or four Repub
licans, even In Arizona, physically ca
pable of occupying seats at either end
of the Capitol and thoughtfully en
dowed by their creator with the gift of
speech. Nothing is so bad in this world
but it might be worse. If the Arizona
people will take time and think it over
calmly, they will likely discover that
this greatly dreaded cloud has 'a lumin
ous silver lining. The state will be di
vided some day, as others have been.
Life is full of awkward place's where
we have to take what we can get.
Equally In vain seem to us the pro
tests of many excellent people against
the admission of these territories in any
form. The new State of Arizona will
have some 320,000 people more than the
population of Delaware, Idaho, -Montana,
North Dakota, Utah or Wyoming,
more. Indeed, than states like Colorado,
Florida, Oregon and Rhode Island had
In 1880. The population of Oklahoma
will reach 700,000, and while these are
not all Websters or Llncolns, yet num
bers of them are as well qualified for
suffrage as the slumdwellers -of New
York City or the 907,000 blacks In Mis
sissippi's total of 1,500,000. The census,
indeed, tells us exactly how this mat
ter stands; for It gives us the white
males of voting age as follows:
Arizona 34.011Indlan Territy. 77,805
New Mexico.... 50,804 Oklahoma ....101,543
Total 85,7151 Total 179,408
Now the fact Is that there are six
states in the Union whose white males
of voting age are fewer In number than
those of the proposed State of Arizona,
and thirteen states with fewer than
those of the proposed State of Okla
homa, thus:
Delaware 45.502 Rhode Island.. 124.001
Florida 77.002 South Carolina. 180,375
Idaho 50,328 South Dakota. .107.353
Montana 04.873 Utah t... 05,205
Nevada 14.052 Vermont 108.027
North Dakota. 03,237 Wyomlns 30.2C2
Oregon 131.201
It would be easy to bring an equally
hopeful deduction from the statistics of
illiteracy, of children in school, of peo
ple engaged in various Industries; for
in all these things the new states if
created will compare favorably with
many others that regard themselves as
the salt of the earth. There are more
white babies In Oklahoma than In
Maine, more farmers than In North
Dakota. There are ten times the Illiter
ate whites In Indiana that there are In
Arizona, and fifteen times as many In
Missouri as in .Oklahoma. There are
more homes In the new State of Okla
homa than In all Connecticut or Louisi
ana, and there are more domestic ani
mals there than In any one of thirty
two other states In the Union.
But the real test of the dangers
feared Is, after all, in the acts that
may be committed by Senators and
Representatives In Congress Inimical to
the, general peace, honor and safety.
This is a line of demarcation where all
the virtue and wisdom do not fall on
the side of the great and wealthy states
by any means. If Arizona and Okla
homa add to our National eminence
among the nations as New York has
done with Hill, Murphy and Piatt, or
Pennsylvania- with Quay and Penrose,
or Maryland with Gorman and Welling
ton, or Illinois with Mason, or South
Carolina with Tillman, then the East
and Middle West and South, at least,
will have no cause of complaint. The
man the farmers of the Southwest send
to Congress will be the equal In patriot
Ism of Cockran and In statesmanship
of Hearst They will make their cities
as pure as Philadelphia, Minneapolis
and St Louis, and they will value the
elective franchise as highly as it Is val
ued in Delaware and Rhode Island. And
when the Nation calls for men to bear
its arms against a foreign foe, they will
stand as firm as the Seventy-first New
York in Cuba or the Massachusetts
dudes in Porto Rico.
The American Grocer estimates the
total retail drink bill of the United
States in the last fiscal year at 51,451,
633,379, or $160,000,000 more than the an
nual average of the last five years. The
average outlay for stimulants was $90.75
per family of five, or $18.15 per Individ
ual. In twenty-three years the aver
age quantity of stimulating beverages,
notably alcoholic beverages, used has
grown from 10.50 gallons to 19. 9S gal
lons per citizen. Coffee, too has grown
from 8.25 pounds per citizen In 18S1 to
10.79 pounds In 1903. Tea, however Is
less used. As one-fourth of the popula
tion uses alcoholic beverages, the aver
age annual outlay of "drinkers" is
$62.16 a large sum for tho Indulgence
of a dangerous appetite. The propor
tion of coffee to alcoholic drinks is as
$2.61 to $15.54. The use of spirits stead
ily Increases, being 1.46 gallons per cit
izen in 1903, against 1.12 gallons between
1S94 and 1900. Prosperity seems to pro
mote the use of stimulants. The cost of
alcoholic drinks In 1903 was $1,242,943,
118; of coffee, $156,690,261; of tea, $45,
000,000; of cocoa, $7,000,000. As regards
volume, the order Is different: Coffee,
1,566,902,614 gallons; beer, 1,449.879,952
gallons; tea, 450,000,000 gallons; spirits
and wines, 157,130,628 gallons. The total
alcoholic drink bill was $727,042,245 for
beer, whisky (exclusive of that used In
art) $417,915,513, wines $97,955360. The
t
Government's revenues from spirituous
and malt liquors was $179,501,328 an
average tax of $11.20 per family. "It is
gratifying," says the Grocer, "to note
that the milder stimulants are most In
favor, but unfortunately represent a to
tal business and exert an Influence in
comparably less than that involved in
the manufacture and sale of alcoholic
beverages."
It was not until the election of 1832,
when Jackson was chosen a second
time, that conventions were held for
the nomination of candidates. In Sep
tember, 1830, a National Convention of
anti-Masons was held at Philadelphia,
at which delegates from ten states and
one territory were present It was then
voted to hold a second National Con
vention In Baltimore on the 26th of
September, 1831, to be composed of dele
gates chosen of people holding anti
Masonic views, equaling In number the
representatives in both houses of Con
gress from each state, for the purpose
of making nominations for the offices
of President and Vice-President. The
convention met and nominated William
Wirt, of Maryland, for President The
next National Convention was held in
Baltimore on December 12, 1S31, when
Henry Clay was nominated as the can
didate of the National Republican or
anti-Jackson party. Six states were un
represented in this convention. It
adopted no resolutions, but issued an
address to the people -severely criticis
ing the Jackson Administration. By
recommendation of this convention a
National Assembly of young men met
at Washington in May, 1S32, and adopt
ed a series of resolutions, the flrst plat
form ever adopted by a National Con
vention. The Democrats also met In
convention for the same election May
21, 1832. Every state but Missouri was
represented. The two-thirds rule was
adopted, and Martin Van Buren was
nominated for Vice-President Jackson
was renominated for President by ac
clamation. The Interest of the French people In
the success of Russia In the present
war is very intelligible, apart from the
Russo-French alliance, when It Is con
sidered how much French money is in
vested in Russia. According to the re
port of our Consul at Frankfort, Ger
many the French hold $1,158,000,000 of
Russian government bonds, the value of
which would be greatly impaired by
defeat In the Far East The recent
panic at Paris gave holders of Russian
securities a foretaste of the disaster
that would follow Russia's exhaustion.
Besides government bonds, the French
have $169,000,000 Invested In Industrial,
banking, mercantile and other enter
prises in Russia, all of which would be
Injured by national misfortune, the to
tal of French Interests in Russia
amounting to $1,334,800,000. For years
Russia has been paying interest on her
borrowings out of the sums borrowed.
This cannot be kept up If defeat causes
Russia's prestige to be seriously Im
paired. Germany also has a large in
terest In, Russia's solvency, .the hold
ings of Russian bonds In the Fatherland
being very considerable, though by no
means equal to those of France. These
Investments represent Influences that
may some time be enlisted to bring the
war to a close, If It promises to last
very long.
The military correspondent of the
London Times thinks the Japanese are
about to commit a great blunder by an
invasion of Manchuria with Harbin as
Its destination. It will not be easy to
credit this assumption that Japan will
be guilty of so serious a mistake In
strategy, and the fact that Japan keeps
pounding away at Port Arthur would,
justify the conclusion that she seeks
by its capture to secure control of the
Llao Tung Peninsula and to use her sea
power to the best advantage. Holding
Port Arthur and the Corean Peninsula,
Japan might possibly resist the impact
of the Russian army of assault and In
vasion, but to attempt to push an army
to Harbin, which is some 400 miles dis
tant from either Wlju, on the Corean
Peninsula, or Nlu Chwang, would mean
an abandonment of the advantage of a
near marine base for a long line of dif
ficult land communications. Of course.
If Harbin falls, Vladivostok cannot hold
out; but even should Harbin fall, the
Russians would only have to fall back
to some point east of Lake Baikal and
organize a succession of fresh armies.
The chances are, however, that the Jap
anese would find Harbin a Moscow and
be obliged to withdraw In ruinous de
feat The directors of the Open-AIr Sana
torium for Consumptives, to be estab
lished on some eminence near Portland,
are now ready to receive subscriptions.
All necessary legal steps have been
taken to acquire property and the di
rectors will select officers at an early
day. It Is proposed to raise $5000 for the
flrst building. When $3000 Is subscribed
the work will proceed. The sanatorium
commends Itself to every lover of his
race. Its mission Is to aid patients in
the early stages of tuberculosis, to fur
nish a comfortable abode for those
toward whom the hand of death Is
stretched, and to protect those In health
from contact with the dread disease.
The very high personal and profes
sional character of the men and women
who have volunteered to manage the
institution Is sufficient guarantee of
skillful supervision and economical and
honest administration. Subscriptions
may be made by mail or in person to
Mr. A. L. Mills, Dr. Wood3 Hutchin
son or Dr. Andrew C. Smith. In no
form of charitable endeavor has Port
land ever been found wanting, and The
Oregonian has no doubt that the fund
needed for the sanatorium will speed
ily be subscribed.
The Burlington & Qulncy affair has turned
out a Frankenstein whose mischievous activ
ities have nowhere had more deplorable con
sequences than for its authors. New Tork
Evening- Post.
Frankenstein was the student, not his
contrivance. It is a pity the Post Itself
made this error, for now we shall be de
prived of the fine exhibit In scorn It
would have given In showing up the un
pardonable offender.
Attention is called to the article on
direct primaries reprinted in another
column from the Chicago Tribune. The
conservative and prudent policy of the
Tribune lends to this utterance a
weight of Influence that cannot be dis
regarded. It .discusses the objections to
direct primaries along lines that must
have occurred to all thoughtful men.
The flrst number of the Blnghamton
(N. Y.) Press Is Issued with every pros
pect of continuing success. Willis
Sharpe Kilmer, the publisher, is a man
equally prominent in newspaper circles
and In other business affairs, and the
combination of editorial and business
ability In the proprietor should insure
for the Pres3 a permanent success.
OBJECTIONS TO DIRECT PRIMARIES
Chicago Tribune.
The peripatetic picnics which have been
chasing the Gubernatorial candidates of
Illinois from county to county for the
last three months have massed their
conservative political sagacity against
that dangerous and oven seditious Inno
vation, the direct primary. Any direct
primary law passed by the Hllnol3 State
Legislature would probably contain the
provision that all state primaries should
be held on the same day. Thl3 provision
would not only bo a repudiation of the
wisdom of our forefathers, but would
amount to a confiscation of property
without due process of law. The gentle
men who are always among those pres
ent at the peripatetic picnics would find
their means of livelihood suddenly with
drawn from them. Today they form one
of the most Industrious and contented
elements in the whole population. They
move across the Illinois scrub with as
much expedition and &s much enthusiasm
as the soldiers showed in the Philippines.
The Central Committee of each county
fixes tho day on which that county shall
elect delegates to tho State Convention.
There are seldom any unfortunate coin
cidences. The political picnicker, hiring
himself out to one of the candidates and
securing the concession of a political
pink lemonade stand, Is able in the course
of tho campaign to visit almost every
county in the state and to assist the
natives in choosing their political bev
erages. Sometimes tho picnickers are
the only people who know just when con
vention day Is coming. Tho natives are
kept in Ignorance until suddenly the bell
for tho last call Is rung. This prevents
tho natives from ruining their business
by an excessive attention to politics. It
also assists the picnickers to become the
vocal chords for tho hesitating voice of
the people. If primaries were held
throughout the state on tho same day
the people, except In some one county
where the picnickers might congregate,
would have no imported vocal chords
and would experience great difficulty In
uttering their sentiments.
The People Instead of the Boss.
Shoulder to shoulder with the picnick
ers who believe that a consolidation of
primaries would restrict employment
and deprive the people of a great deal
of ambulatory political wisdom stand the
city machine politicians who believe that
If the peoplo voted for candidates In
stead of for delegates there would bo no
opportunity for the machine to Instruct
the party in its choice of leaders. There
would be no convention. There would be
no chance- to give the delegates an edu
cation In political principles. The people
would do all the nominating themselves.
In the Sixth Ward In the last election the
will of the people in the nomination of
a Republican candidate for Alderman was
frustrated by tho superior intelligence of
Mr. Jamleson and of Mr. Braden. Read
ers of the Tribune will remember that
when the Republican primaries were held
in the Sixth ward the Tribune warned
the voters against sending delegates to
the ward convention unlnstructed. The
Tribune's apprehensions received full
justification from subsequent events. The
unlnstructed delegates went to the con
vention and wero completer overcome by
the thought waves emanating from the
organization. In primary districts whero
the people had produced their own
thought waves and had given their dele
gates specific instructions it appeared
that the popular choice for Alderman was
Holland. Tho unlnstructed delegates,
being relieved of all obligations to the
people, voted for RIngor. Ringer was
nominated. Under a direct primary
system this defeat of the vl3hes nf tho
people could not have been accomplished.
What Kind of Change Is Coming?
Down on the South Side there is a
Direct Primary Club, which for some
years has carried its primary district
agrinst Mr. Jamleson mainly on. the di
rect primary issue. Thi3 club is in line
with the general direct primary move
ment which seems to be headed In Illi
nois toward the accomplishment of two
reforms. First In certain elections, o.
g those for Alderman, the Republican
or Democrat who goes to 'the primaries
shall vote not for convention delegates
but directly for party candidates. Second,
the primaries for any given election shall
all take place on the same day. Are
these reforms practicable? Here Is a
question which must be Included In any
forecast of Illinois political weather. It
is on the horizon in a shape already as
large as a man's hand, and It seems
likely to grow. Tho present Guberna
torial campaign has proved the absurdity
of making the county conventions a kind
of grand circuit for political touts. Re
cent Chicago elections have proved with
equal force the equal absurdity of sup
posing that ward conventions supplement
the wisdom of the peoplo with anything
but Intrigue and chicanery. The people
are likely to demand a change. Just
what that change will be and Just haw
far it will go cannot be foreseen until
the discussion of it ha3 become more
clearly crystallized. But this at least is
certain: The people are making up their
minds that neither by tho device of
stringing county conventions through
half tho calendar of election year nor by
the dovlce of herding irresponsible dele
gates in conventions of any kind shall
the popular choice of candidates be
turned into a Constitutional fiction.
Judicial Lobbyists.
Boston Advertiser.
Judges of the New York courts have
demonstrated their ability to play the part
of lobbyists when the occasion demands.
The bill to pension all members of the
judiciary when they have reached 70 or
have been compelled to retire at the
age of 65 owing to physical disability, has
passed. The Judges suspended sittings
of court In order to buttonhole Assembly
men and Senators Such an unjudicial and
undignified practice would be a vindica
tion of professional ethics In this state.
Yet in New York those who were the most
active In lobbying are complimented as
shrewd men.
Hearst In Kansas.
Kansas City Star.
The Heartst forces have been utterly
routed in the Wichita convention. There
are always some men in politics who can
be approached through the methods em
ployed by Hearst, but they are neither
numerous enough nor influential enough
In Kansas to control a party In that state.
And when It comes to importing boomers
to take charge of a convention Kansas
draws the line. If there Is one place on
earth where the politicians want to run
their own affairs It Is Kansas.
Dirge of the Unpronounceables.
Wallace Irwin.
I can't pronounco his Russian name.
But hlB deeds full well I know.
The general who bled for fame
Before his country's altar flame
And fell at So-and-So;
Tet I will praise, whate'er befall lt
Brave What's-HIs-Name of What-You-Calllt.
Ho led his troops to You-Know-Where.
Twelve versts along the border.
"Brave Umpty-TJmp. the Jap. stands there
Get ready for to do and dare!"
Out poured his fearless order.
Then Death descended like a mallet
Round What's-HIs-Name of What-You-Calllt.
The hordes of Umpty-TJmp stood pat.
All ready for the hablc.
Till General Something, fierce and fat.
Stood rorth and thundered, "Thls-and-Thatl"
In pure but forceful Slavic.
Just then a dreadful cannon ball It
Struck What's-HIs-Name of What-You-Calllt.
'They burled noble What's-HIs-Name
Far leagues from war's percussion.
And on his tomb they chiseled "Fame"
And Something Else. (It Is a shame
I never studied Russian.)
His deed Is done, but after all it
la not forgot at What-TQu-CalUt. .
COL. WATTERSON ON HEARST.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
It was safe to assume that the nomi
nation could not be bought, like a bill
of goods, directly out of hand but in
case it could be, as the result of mori
bund party conditions an election was
out of the question. In the end, Mr.
Hearst would have both the outlay and
the discredit for his pains, Under the
circumstances surrounding him, there
fore, what would a sane man, having a
fortune and a seat in Congress, but no
record in public life that might be
clealy called his own, proceed to do to
give his unusual opportunities their best
fruition? Assuredly, he would not an
nounce himself a candidate for Presi
dent of the United States?, and, Instead
of taking the field himself, sent out a
body of fiscal agents to buy up tho va
rious state delegations to the National
Convention. He would not make pub
lic proclamation of his purpose. He
would not put his bar'l on exhibition.
Such things indicate the workings of an
unsound mind, if not a depraved na
ture, and those who knew the father
and mother of this young man, refuse
to believe the son of George and Phebe
Hearst Is pervert. Yet In pursuing these
phantoms of a disordered fancy, he de
liberately invokes tho rays of a search
light Into matters, which, however de
fensible may be the facts, cannot be
explained without that which a sensi
tive and sane man would regard in
many ways humiliating. There is bound
to be a screw loose somewhere.
The Hearst newspapers, in spite of
their, grotesque features, havo been
conducted with a certain logical, if rep
rehensible force. They preach a cer
tain consistent gospel and sometimes
they preach it with eloquence and pow
er. Unfortunately for Mr. Hearst's
pretentions, this gospel Is not Democ
racy. It is Socialism. How much Mr.
Hearsthas to do with tho actual edit
ing, the thinking and the writing, ' no
body can tell because nobody is per
mitted to know Mr. Hearst He is per
sonally a stranger on the floor of the
House of which he is a member. He is
personally a stranger to the social life
and in the busy marts of the city which
he calls his home. He has no official
training in public affairs; no visible
aptitude for political Intercourse; no
distinct individuality outside his check
book. That such a man should propose
himself for President of the United
States and spend great sums of money
in the work of organizing a campaign
resting solely upon money, can be if
not the shrewd advertising scheme of a
Barnum or a Munyon the emanation of
a distempered mind. Such a bubblo was
bound to burst Every one must see
that It has burst
The Courier-Journal, which has only
good will, certainly no ill will, for Mr.
Hearst, was not at the outset impressed
by a movement of whose impendency
it had been long advised, and, as it has
progressed, we have seen no reason to
change our opinion with regard to it
It never had any real vitality. At one
time it looked as though by the aid of Mr.
Hearst's money, Mr. Bryan might be
able to secure a third of the convention.
The most sanguine friends of tho Ne
braskan began to realize that this hope
is now quite dissipated. If Mr. Hearst'3
name goes before the convention and he
gets more than a hundred votes we shall
be greatly surprised. A vote for Mr.
Hearst Implies too much and will prove
too retroactive to tempt many even of
the more insensible and mercenary of
those who are In politics for what they
expect of its emoluments; because no one
can give an intelligent reason why ho
favors such an aspirant for such a place
except that he has his money in his
pocket
Hill's Egregious Altruism.
New York Globe.
Mr. Hill thus discloses himself as a
Northwestern patriot of tho purest
quality, and shows that thought of mak
ing money for himself and his stock
holders was a motive in his mind sub
ordinate to a larger altruistic one. What
ever may be true concerning other largo
operators, Mr. Hill Is free from guile and
greed, and is a humble worker In the
vineyard of Northwestern advantage.
The spectacle of such extraordinary un
selfishness In such an unexpected quarter
Is calculated to move even the most
cynical. Now that the Northwest is in
formed that Mr. Hill Is a veritable
Horatius at the bridge, and that if he
Is overthrown Harriman and his allies
will sack the region, doubtless tho good
peoples thereof will abate their anti-Hill
prejudices and join with him In creating
a public opinion which may reach and
control the courts. He has identified
their cause with his own, and if they
permit the railroad properties which ho
has sought to band together for their
w'elfare to fall Into other and ravening
hands, it cannot be said hereafter he
did not give due warning.
How to Honor Jefferson.
Chicago Chronicle.
The best way to have celebrated Jeffer
son's birthday here and elsewhere was
to have encouraged orators whose minds
and hearts are full of the subject to say
what every Democrat In the country
knows to be the truth, that tho best, the
quickest and the surest way to restore
the Democratic party In its integrity is
to call to Its leadership the one man.
who, as a candidate, would put an end
to the miserable cowardice which has
stricken the party like a plague. Grover
Cleveland Is the strongest Democrat in
the country today because he stands for
something. A party that nominates him
must stand for something. Ho would rally
to tho Democratic standard every real
Democrat In the land and a million of
Independent Republicans besides. What
Is of even more Importance, he would
drlvo off forever the small mercenary and
disreputable factionlsts whose impotent
threats appear to have made nearly
every other Democrat in the country
speechless.
Burton and the Senate,,
Hartford Times.
Two days, at the most. Is a sufficient
tlmo for him to hand In his resignation.
If he delays action he should bo expelled
without further ceremony. If the Kan
sas man is too dullmlnded to perceive
his own duty in his present situation, he
should have no further consideration from
the members of the body wtibse honor he
has abused.
a
Bryan's Unlucky Number.
Boston Herald.
Bryan will begin to think that $50,800
Is his unlucky number. He twice tried
to obtain a position that carries that sal
ary and failed.
The Tiger.
William Blake.
Tiger. Tiger, burning bright.
In the forests of the night.
What Immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or fikles
Burned the Arc of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the Are?
And what shoulder, and what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread band formed thy dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare Its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their epear3,
And watered heaven with their tears.
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger. Tiger, burning bright.
In the forests of the night, .
What Immortal hand or eye
Dare frama thy fearful symmetry? ""
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Smoot gets a J. A. R. from the D. A. R.
The wireless telegraph systems seem to
be tripping most all the governments.
Quite a number of citizens will discover
they have business at Vaughn and Twenty-third
today.
Japan will have to capture Port Arthur
outright If she wants to attract any at
tention in Portland today.
There may be forgiveness for the man
that murders or steals, but none for the
man that call a dog "a canine."
Joe Chamberlain was greeted with cries
of "pig tail" by the Irish party. It is a
point on which the honorable members
are authorities.
They were having a lovers' quarrel.
"You are false," she hissed; "false as as
the bottom of a strawberry box." Both
knew the last word had been said.
Admiral Skrydloff says that his visiting
cards bear two addresses Port Arthur
and Vladivostok. He will try to bo at
home In whichever piace the Japs call.
Why wouldn't it be a good thing for the Rus
sians to place a whistling buoy over each of
their mines? Seattle Poat-Intelllgencer.
Skrydloff might try Hearst as a whis
tling boy.
Russia had a fine squadron at Port Ar
thur. She has a fine squadron in the Bal
tic. If sho sends the latter abroad, the
past tense will have to be employed
twice.
At last the police had found a clew.
"You may expect an arrest within 24
hours," they said. However, they had In
mind the circumstance that 24 hours occur
every day.
There Is something smug about Carno
gle's statement that his "hero fund" is
now his "favorite philanthropy." It
sounds something like a man's talking
about hl3 favorite food.
Rena Johnson died a few days ago in
Sioux Falls, as the result of a piece of
bologna lodging in her throat. Pretty
hard luck that a girl friendly enough to
eat bologna should bo choked by It.
After one Senator had been gloriously
vindicated and another sent to Jail, tho
latter made moan, says the New York
World. "I acknowledge my error," he ad
mitted. "There can be no doubt that I
hired the wrong lawyers."
Having thrown a bomb, an anarchist
was asked to give a reason for hl3 act
"The bomb was about to explode," he ex
plained. "Would you expect me to hold It
and lose my fingers?" Manifestly the an
archistic mind Is not wholly wanting In
logic. ,
The most derided poet should tako
heart. The worso he is, the more likely
Is he to be quoted in Congress by a
member who has to deliver a eulogy of
some departed colleague. And the de
spised poet's words, desiccated In the
Congressional Record, may outlive tho
"purple - patches" of those whose horns
are exalted by the critics.
Prince Pu Lun is making a good start
in his study of America. Soon after land
ing In San Francisco, his anxious host
took him behind the scenes at tho theater
where Anna Held was playing. Pu In
stantly bocamo an admirer of th6 plump
and pulchritudinous show girl, and we
may presume that his illustrious course
across the continent will be heralded by
the popping of champagne and marked by
"dead soldiers." When Pu goes home he
will Include in his book a chapter on the
American girl, based on his experiences
behind the scenes. "The American Girl,"
he will say, "in the evening dresses In
pink tights and paint She drinks nothing
but fizz and is very fond of Princes and
other lobsters." And Pu will probably be
no more astray than some American
travelers that havo descanted upon Jap
anese women after ten minutes talk with
a geisha.
Tho Gem, which sparkles In the town of
Granite, in the County of Grant, appeared
last week printed on wall paper of chasto
design. Faithless trains failed to bring
sufficient white paper for the Gem's use.
and the resourceful editor bought up the
town's stock of wall paper. As but one
side of tho paper was used, the. green and
gold and silver flowers and scrolls shone
In undiminished splendor, so that the sub
scriber might obtain the news of the day
from his Gem and then use it to decorate
his room. Tho purchase of a few extra
copies would have provided enough paper
for tho wais of the best room in the
house. There might be an Idea in this
for publishers. Announce that the Dally
Whirligig will bo printed on wall paper
of exclusive design, and that a subscrip
tion for thre months will furnish material
enough to cover the walls of an ordinary
house. No wastel Follow the war and
beautify your homo! Look at our pic
tures and turn their faces to tho wall!
But one would bo In a dilemma If it be
camo necessary to consult the files. A
hole would havo to be scraped through
the wall from the opposite side, or the
appearance of the room must be ruined.
On second thought therefore, it seems
advisable to buy newspapers and wall
paper from separate firms.
WEX. J.
OUT OF THE GINGER JAR.
"This tusk." said the Jersey commuter, "I
dug up in my garden. It's all of four feet
long. Remarkable, Isn't it?" "Yes. It's very
probably the bill of a prehistoric mosquito."
Philadelphia Ledger.
Deacon Jones In that better land I fully be
lieve there will be no classes, but all will be
on the same level. Mrs. NIf tie Mercy. Don't
you think that would be perfectly disgusting?
Nobody to look down upon? Boston Transcript.
Sho (bored) No, Mr. Lytely, I can never love
you. I honor and respect you. I am sure you
would make some other woman a good hus
band. I He Well er give me a letter of
recommendation to my next place? Tlt-Blts.
"Pshaw!" she exclaimed, impatiently, "I'm
sure we'll miss the flrst act. "We've waited
a good many minutes for that mother of
mine." "Hours, I should say," he retorted,
rather crossly. "Ours? Oh. George!" she
cried, and laid her blushing cheek upon his
shirt front. Philadelphia Press.
"That was a splendid back fall you made In
your death scene last night." re
marked a young member of the company to
the eminent tragedian. The latter looked at
the flatterer with a suspicious glare, "res,"
he said, "and I'd like to lay my hands on the
blithering Idiot who soaped the stage floor."
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"Have you ever heard Brown tell about
the time he got half way up Mont Blanc
with one of his little nephews and no
guldo?" asked one man of another. "How
long ago did he tell you about It?" was
the evasive reply. ".Last October, when
he'd Just got home," safd the flrst man
"Well," said the other. "In the Ave months
since then he has climbed the rest of the
way, succored a fainting guide and sus
tained a snowstorm on the summit, accumu
lated two benumbed strangers on the way
down, and guided tho whole party to tho
foot, where a group of frantic relatives wera
waiting." Tlt-Bltr