THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY.- APRIL 30, 1904.
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PORTLAND. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1904.
PROHIBITION AGAIN.
No person Is bound In morals, or
should be forbidden by law, to abstain
from the reasonable and proper use of
a thing because some other person may
abuse it To attempt such prohibition
Is exercise of a meddlesome and tyran
nical spirit. Here is the just basis of
opposition to all prohibitory liquor laws.
The attempt may be disguised by the
statement that sale only is to be pro
hibited, but this is disingenuous and in
sincere. The object is to prevent pur
chase and use, by forbidding sale. It
proposes to make a crime, by law, that
which is no crime in fact; to "regulate"
and constrain the citizen as to the hab
its of his personal, private and social
life. Including those of his table; to sub
ject to espionage and intrusion, and
even to break open, his house on sus
picion of enemies, intermeddlers and
fanatics, and in general to Inaugurate
and maintain an eternal war against
the privacy, peace and liberty of the
citizen.
Such is the prohibitory law. It as
sumes further that the citizen is In
competent to direct his own life, amdng
his friends or at his table, and that
government must do it for him. It as
sumes that since now and then some
few, of unrestrained appetite, get
drunk, liquors therefore ought not to
be procurable at all by anybody; and
it proposes extreme measures to make
it impossible to get them.
At present prohibition, rejected some
years ago by the people of Oregon by
a tremendous majority, Is proposed and
urged, in the guise of a drastic local
option law. Now, of course, if nobody
in a community wants to buy liquors
none will be sold there; and "local
option" enforces itself. Nobody is go
ing to offer any commodity in a place
where there Is no demand, or but very
slight demand, for it But this bill pro
poses that whenever ten per cent of
the voters of any county or precinct In
the state, or any subdivision thereof,
shall file with the County Clerk a peti
tion calling for a vote, the County
Court must order an election to be held
to determine whether prohibition shall
be adopted in that county, precinct or
subdivision, or not This would enable
the prohibitionists to call an election
in any precinct every year, or indeed
many times each year. But if the elec
tion result In favor of prohibition In
any precinct or subdivision of a county,
no election can be held in that precinct
again for at least two years, except an
election for the entire county, and when
a county has declared for prohibition
no election on this question can be held
in any precinct of the county there
after, until prohibition shall have been
defeated subsequently in an election
held for the entire county. All these
are one-sided provisions.
Prohibition, in these ways, by sub
divisions, differs not at all in principle
from prohibition by the state at large.
The fundamental objection to all pro
hibitory laws is the assumption that the
state must be called in to take charge of
the personal conduct of the citizen. It
proposes to cut out the principle of in
dividual self-government and individual
responsibility, and to govern the people
after the fashion of the United States
in dealing with the Indians that Is, It
proposes to surround us all with the
limitations of the Indian reservation
system, and to put intermeddling, self
appointed "reformers," and Informers,
in authority and control censors of
morals and conduct as the agents of
the Government
The central idea of personal self
government, founded In Nature and
confirmed by experience, builds on the
development of the Individual man. It
puts him on his own responsibility and
gives his personality a meaning. It
does not regard him as a ward of the
Government, but as an Individual, re
sponsible man. This idea of self-government,
as embodied in our political
and social system, follows the method
of the highest religious teaching, which
also puts man on his own responsibility
and makes the appeal to his reason and
to his conscience that is, to the person
ality of the man the instrument of his
moral growth and the agency of his
regeneration. In the domain of pri
vate morals and personal conduct this
is the only right method. The social
and political principle of self-government
and the religious principle of
man's personal accountability, are alike
perverted by the sophistical effort to
coerce personal conduct through public
law, under pretense of promoting mor
ality and religion. Man must be shown
for himself, through precept and ex
perience, what will promote his own
personal well-being; and that class of
our "reformers" who are continually
attempting to effect the regeneration
or redemption of mankind by putting
j3tatutoryenactmeats into the constitu-
s
tion of society, instead of helping man f
to put amendments into his own con
stitution, are as disloyal to the leading
principle on which true moral reform
must be pushed as to the political Idea
of self-government, which also depends
on sense of personal responsibility. It
is an error Into which men of practical
judgment do not fall. The Oregonlan
does not question the sincerity of the
effort; and yet it must say that among
eminent thinkers in either hemisphere
prohibition has no advocates. It Is a
moral and political mistake, not less
mischievous because it is sincere.
It Is probable that this prohibition
proposal will get a majority in several
counties, and no doubt in some whose
leading agricultural Interest Is hop
growing. These counties should destroy
their hopyards. Of course, the prohibi
tion hopgrower, as a conscientious man,
will see his duty and act upon it He
will not continue to furnish material
for manufacture of "the dark beverage
of hell."
"Do you pretend to say," demands
the prohibitionist, "that the prosperity
of the state depends on the liquor
business? Do you Dretend to say that
the liquor business is so great an inter--
est that destruction of It would seri
ously Injure the prosperity of the
state?"
It is not asserted that -the liquor busi
ness is an Interest of so great magni
tude, in itself, as to be indispensable
to the progress and prosperity of the
state. It is widely correlated, however,
with other lines of business, and with
various agricultural and manufacturing
industries. Yet this is not the essential
point It Is chiefly the animus of pro
hibition, the spirit that makes it, that
does Injury to a community. It is the
narrow, meddlesome, fanatical and In
quisitorial spirit that stands behind
prohibition, that so many detest. They
want no espionage by officials and
spies; they wish to be free from the an
noyance and insult of domiciliary visit
ation, and from the bitter and ceaseless
contention which prevails wherever
prohibitory laws prevail. No state can
afford to lose this great class, of peo
ple; no state can afford to say that it
does not want such class to come and
live within It This Is one reason why
our prohibition states are unprogres
sive as Vermont, New Hampshire and
Maine.
The liquor traffic everywhere re
quires regulations peculiarly fitted for
It So does traffic in many other com
modities. Manufacture and sale of
liquors are specially adapted, more
over, to taxation, and the revenue to
the United States and to the states is
Immense, Loss of it, were such loss
possible, would paralyze government
National and municipal, wipe out great
manufacturing enterprises, cut off a
vast market for agricultural products
and seriously hurt the Interests of
transportation. But It cannot be sup
posed that practical considerations like
these will have weight with those who
have their fixed idea of prohibition any
more than practical considerations had
weight with those who got the fixed
idea of silver propagandlsm.
OUR GOOD BARGAIN AT PANAMA.
The dispatches leave little room to
doubt thatMr. J. P. Morgan has gone
over to Paris to superintend personally
the transfer of $40,000,000 from the Gov
ernment of the United States to the
Panama Canal Company. He is easily
the best man for the job, and his selec
tion is in keeping with the whole vig
orous and businesslike policy of the
Administration in advancing the canal
project without unncessary delay.
Democrats who feel Inclined to sneer at
the Administration's choice of the first
banker in the land for a banking er
rand, instead of a blacksmith or a shoe
maker, may with profit reflect upon the
act of Grover Cleveland In negotiating
the celebrated bond sale to Mr. Morgan
In the dark days of 1894.
The payment of $40,000,000, even in
these days of large transactions, might
easily be so badly managed as to cre
ate serious disturbance in the money
markets of two hemispheres. Under
Mr. Morgan's careful handling this peril
will be avoided. The safety of the
funds will also be secured by the reten
tion of their ownership in the United
States until the moment of their trans
fer In the Bank of France. All these
precautions are in line with the policy
of care with which the canal negotia
tions have been conducted. Although
speed has been such as to scandalize the
Democrats and canal opponents, yet
every step has been taken with circum
spection. The United States has in
reality driven a very good bargain, and
the title obtained Is fortified In advance
by the decision of the French courts.
What we get for this $40,000,000 Is con
siderable. The property turned over In
cludes 30,000 acres of land, about 2500
buildings, a quantity of machinery,
maps, drawings and records, and a con
trolling 'interest in the Panama Rail
road Company. But the price paid rep
resents mainly the value of the excava
tion already accomplished by the com-i
pany or its predecessor, the old Panama
Company, of which It Is the heir. The
Isthmian Canal Comnilsslon, appointed
in 1899, estimated the value of the ex
cavation work at $27,474,033, the value
of the railroad stock at $J5,S50,OO0, and
the Value of the maps, drawings and
records at $2,000,000. To the total of
$36,324,033 the addition of the customary
10 per cent to cover omissions brought
the price for the property tip to $40,
000,000. The commission made no allow
ance for the buildings, for the land
which the company held, or for the
machinery, but as the land Is compara
tively valueless and as the buildings
and machinery are in a rickety condi
tion the canal company was satisfied
to consider them covered by the 10 per
cent set aside for omissions.
"With the payment of this $40,000,000,
or perhaps more strictly, with the pas
sage of title already consummated, the
Panama Canai Company will virtually
cease to exist It has been bankrupt
since 18S9. When the money payable
by the United States is received in Paris
and distributed among the stockholders,
the dissolution of the company must
speedily -follow. In spite of the scan
dals that have become part of its his
tory, the company laid upon the Isth
mus of Panama a foundation for canal
construction which should be worth
considerably more to us than the price
we have agreed to pay for it The
French surveys and plans will be some
what modified by our own engineers,
but the main features of the completed
canal will embody French ideas. The
debt of this country and of the world
to De Lesseps, a debt already great
through the opening of a connecting
waterway between the Red Sea and
the Mediterranean, will be Immeas
urably Increased by the ditching of the
Isthmus of Panama and the joining of
the Caribbean and the Pacific on the
lines laid down by him. The transfer
of the canal to American hands is a
recognition of our hegemony In this
hemisphere, but It is quite as pertinent
in testifying to the passage of financial
preponderance from France to the
United States.
IMAGINARY TIIILIPPrNE DIFFICULTIES.
Another curious attempt to straddle
the Philippine question Is made by the
Chicago Record-Herald in these lines:
The sovereignty of the Islands Is actually
reposed In the voting population of the United
State?, which acta In Its own affairs as a
democracy. And while this electorate la very
jealous of Its own rights, much alive to Its
own Interests, and thoroughly well Informed on
the subjects that Immediately concern It. there
Is no prospect that It can ever fully compre
hend a strange people removed from It by
thousands of miles. In other words. If the
Filipinos are generally Ignorant from lack of
schools; we, their governors, are now and aro
destined to be exceptionally ignorant as re
gards them from lack of contact and lack of
racial sympathy.
In a determination to find some fair
and just position between the unquali
fied, indefinite retention of the Philip
pines and the cantankerous mood of
the antls, the Record-Herald has fallen
into some specious and mischievous fal
lacies. The difference sought to be
established between the Democracy
here at home and a colonial regime in
the Philippines does not, as a matter
of fact, exist We do not act as a
democracy in our "own affairs," but as
a representative government The peo
ple know just as much about Philip
pine administration as they know about
the diplomatic, fiscal or military under
standings at Washington, and partici
pate quite as directly "in them. That
is to say, they delegate their powers to
men in whom they have confidence and
whom they approve or reject at every
succeeding election. Governor Taf t was
carrying out the will of the American
people as directly and faithfully at Ma
nila as Secretary Taft is now doing at
Washington.
There is Infinite confusion about the
difficulties of distance, race, etc., Im
posed upon us in our Philippine admin
istration. What does distance, for ex
ample, really sfgnify? We are in close
connection with the islands by cable,
we are within three weeks of them by
steam, and our representatives, civil
and military, are there to execute or
ders as promptly and effectively as if
they were in Alaska or Porto Rico or
even in Arizona. How little distance
signifies may be gathered from the fact
that less than half a century ago Ore
gon Territory was administered from
Washington when the shortest time It
could be reached was six months.
But the Filipinos are "a strange peo
ple!" Then no tropic races, not English-speaking,
can be administered
by Great Britain or the United States.
Then the whole theory of control of
the tropics by effective civilizations
must fall to the ground. But this will
not occur. The only hope of backward
regions like the Philippines, India,
Africa and South America lies in their
intelligent and just administration by
self-governing Northern races, combin
ing industrial leadership with the sense
of moral accountability. This must be
done, as It has been done, in spite of
superficial obstacles of language, color
and temperament The answer to fears
of distance and strangeness is supplied
In the present condition of the Philip
pines, compared with their unhappy
plight under nearly four hundred years
of Spanish tyranny-, and native an
archy. CAMPAIGN FORECASTS.
The Washington correspondent of the
New York Evening Post reports that
"sagacious Republican leaders, wholly
desirous of their party's success pri
vately express the opinion that If Par
ker should be nominated he will give"
Roosevelt a very close run." The cor
respondent of the Post, however does
not share in the opinion that the Re
publican party "may be on the edge of
a volcanic eruption just as It was In
1S92." The elements are different today
from those that existed In 1S92. Presi
dent Roosevelt has a vastly stronger
hold upon the public, West and East,
than had Benjamin Harrison, and the
Democrats could not name today a can
didate of the strength with which Mr.
Cleveland entered the campaign of 1892.
There Is no indication today of a great
political overturn which has always
been foreshadowed by the steadily
growing vigor of the opposition. In
1876, when the Republican party would
have been beaten severely had It not
been for the presence of Federal bayo
nets in South Carolina, Florida and
Louisiana, defeat was foreshadowed by
Democratic victories in Republican
states like Massachusetts In 1874; by
the capture of the House of Represent
atives by the Democrats.
The signs of a great reaction against
the Republican party were so many In
the elections of 1874 that Republican
defeat was freely predicted in the Pres
idential campaign of 1876 by the most
sagacious Republican leaders of the
party In the Empire State. In the
Presidential campaign of 1876 the vic
tory of Tllden was predicted in New
York State by the strongest champions
of Hayes, and had there been no "bayo
net rule" at the South, Tllden would
have won. There were ominous signs
of Impending defeat when Blaine was
nominated In 18S4. The Democracy had
captured the House in 1882, just as they
Mad in 1S74, preceding the Presidential
election of 1876; the Republicans had
lost heavily in the state elections pre
ceding the Presidential election of 1SS4,
even as they had In 1874. Several of
the strongest and ablest leaders of the
Republican party were disaffected
toward Blaine, like Conkling, Edmunds
and Curtis. The leaders of the "Inde
pendent vote" In New York State, who
had supported Garfield heartily, were
bitterly opposed to Blaine.
Defeat was in the air In 1884, for dis
satisfaction with the candidate includ
ed not only Republican partisans, but
Republican civil service reformers and
"Independents," or free lances, like
Carl Schurz. So defeat was in the air
for Cleveland in 1SS8; the previous state
elections showed the drift of the time
was against his re-election. So de
feat was in the air for Harrison In
1892. The state elections of -18J50 had gone
against the Republicans; the Democrats
had captured the House and displaced
Speaker Reed with a Southern Demo
crat So the elections of 1894 pointed
to Democratic defeat in 1896, for the
Republicans captured the House and
were victorious in the state elections.
There are none of the signs of coming
woe this year that were In evidence In
1892. Then the Democrats had elected
in the preceding state elections the Gov
ernors in ten Northern States, including
New York, Pennsylvania, Massachu
setts, Iowa, Michigan. Wisconsin, New
Jersey and Oregon. Today the Demo
crats have Governors in the Northern
States of Rhode Island Nevada, Mon
tana and Oregon. In Rhode Island and
Oregon the election of Democrats was
due to exceptional local causes, which
signify nothing as to the result of the
Presidential ballot
The United States Senate on the day
of Mr. Cleveland's nomination in 1S92
contained 47 Republicans out of a mem
bership of S8. Today It contains 57 Re
publicans out of a membership of 90.
Such Northern States as Illinois, Indi
ana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and
Wisconsin had one or more Democratic
Senators. Today these great states are
not represented by a single Democratic
Senator. In the House of Representa
tives the Democrats In 1892 had 235
members to 88 Republicans; today the
Republicans have a majority of about
34. The Democrats were strongly in
the majority in the Congress preced
ing each of their great contests of 1876,
18S4 and 1892. The Democrats went into
the Presidential contest of 1892 in full
possession of the outworks of the cita
del.. Today they are in possession of
nothing of particular importance except
p. very bad reputation obtained In the
National campaigns of 1896 and 1900.
Nothing favors the Democratic candi
date today, whether he be Parker or
some other equally able and respecta
ble candidate.
There Is no real division of opinion in
the Republican party, as there was In
18S4, when Blaine was seriously dis
trusted by eminent Republicans of all
shades of opinion. There Is no real di
vision of the Republican party, as there
was In 1892, when Harrison was bitter
ly hated by the Republican leaders In
New York State, bitterly hated by Quay
in Pennsylvania and bitterly hated by
Speaker Tom Reed. There Is no spe
cific hostility of the labor vote for the
Republican party, as there was In 1892.
On the contrary, the most powerful
leaders of the labor party are friendly
to the nomination and election of Presi
dent Roosevelt in 1904 because they
learned to trust him in his action of
forcing the matter of the great anthra
cite coal strike of Pennsylvania to arbi
tration and settlement. The "Independ
ent" vote of New York State, which Is
at least 50,000 strong, a vote that can
not be bought or terrorized by either
party, Is not a unit tdday for either
party. The New York Eveplng Post
"has always detested and fought David
B. Hill.
If It believed that Judge Parker stood
for the political tool or fool of David
B. Hill, we think the Post would pre
fer Roosevelt, whom It does not rate
as the tool or fool of any corrupt poli
tician. Roosevelt was for many years
a leader of the Republican "independ
ents" and civil service reformers. His
zeal was so conspicuous that at the Na
tional Convention of 1884 he not only
opposed Blaine, but he opposed Arthur
and voted for Edmunds. His sincerity
was so clear that President Cleveland
has always spoken of Roosevelt's atti
tude as one worthy of all respect These
facts illustrate that Roosevelt will en
counter no division of Republican
unanimity such as Blaine met In 1884
or Harrison in 1892. There is not a Re
publican of any influence today who Is
not for Roosevelt There is no "labor"
crusade against the Republican party
as responsible for "tariff barons," as in
1892. The only possible doubt about
Roosevelt's success in New York State
grows out of the fact that New York,
outside the "independent" vote Is a
Democratic state. In 1890 the Demo
crats carried 23 out of the 3i Congres
sional districts of the state. ' If the "In
dependent" vote soes for Roosevelt he
will isarry New York, bub even if It does
not he will be elected President
The Oregonlan believes that the city
authorities are making a serious mis
take in so highly estimating the value
of the desired street railway franchise
Into the Peninsular district A coterie
of our flne-theoried statesmen, running
wildly on about public utilities and
other pressing topics like the thingness
of the near and the whichness of the
was, have built up a stupendous fab
ric of great value in street franchises.
Portland's street franchises will un
doubtedly have great value some day;
some of them have an appreciable value
now, and the people's right in them
should be conserved. But the proposed
franchise to University Park has little
If any value, and will not have much
for twenty-five years. What Portland
needs now Is to encourage the invest
ment of capital, not to scare it Into
hiding or departure by heavy burdens.
If some certain stocks of goods were
assessed at nearer their true valuation,
the city would not have to levy for Its
support a tax upon suburban develop
ment. "The present trust-breeding tariff
law." Thug a Democratic paper of Ore
gon. But it Is not forgotten, nor will It
be forgotten, that when the Democratic
party had its Innings and Grover Cleve
land was President, It enacted so iniqui
tous a tariff law, a tariff law so op
pressive to the country, so "trust
breeding" in its Intents and conse
quences, that President Cleveland re
fused to sign It, and declared it "an "act
of perfidy and dishonor." That bill be
came a law 'without his signature, and
the Democratic party was turned down
upon it, with an emphasis that has
lasted these ten years and Is not likely
to be forgotten for another twenty.
The Democratic party is trust-ridden;
hence the call for Parker, Wall street's
candidate. Parker is presented as the
man for the trusts, against Roosevelt,
who has worried them.
The- duly authorized committee will
start out this morning to solicit funds
for entertainment of the National
Grange. We have so often commended
this enterprise, and elaborated upon
its possibilities of benefit to Portland
and the entire Pacific Northwest, that
it should suffice at this time to urge
upon all the most prompt and hearty
co-operation. Let us make the response
to this meritorious appeal one to reflect
credit not so much upon Portland's lib
erality as upon its business common
sense. The subscriptions to this fund
will be a good investment
The release of the two Japanese ser
vants who were taken on an American
newspaper dispatch-boat doubtless fol
lows the discovery by Russia that they
were innocent menials and not the spies
they were feared to be. The responsi
bility for their presence in Russian
waters rests entirely, therefore, upon
the correspondents, who took them in.
Perhaps the warning will not be lost
upon Japanese soldiers who might be
Inclined to ship as servants In disguise.
There is no man on the Republican
ticket In Multnomah who is not worthy
as any other man and every other man
on It So there Is no reason, if one be
lieves In the Republican party, why he
should not support allthe Republican
candidates.
At Walla Walla they propose Hearst
and Turner. That would be fine. Turner
after Hearst! Is this what Turner has
contended for? Is It for this that he
j has abased and debased himself,7
STATE OWNERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA
Minneapolis Tribune.
It will be remembered that most of
the colonies of Australia suffered a dis
astrous financial panic some years ago
as the result of over-extension of credit
for railway building and other purposes.
It will be remembered also that this
panic was worst In New South Wales,
where over-building of railroads by the
state under pressure of public demand
and their extravagant operation at the
bidding of labor unions to furnish em
ployment for everybody at high wages
had exhausted capital and strained
credit most seriously.
Since the creation of the common
wealth, all the ctates of Australia have
been slowly struggling back out of panic
conditions by retrenchment In the public
service and economy In operation of pub
lice Industries. New South Wales, It
appears, is still In worst case of all, be
cause there the hold upon government of
the Socialist element that demands spend
ing of public money for the benefit of
the working classes Is hardest to break.
After all economics, there was a deficit
of $2,000,000 in the state railroads of New
South Wales last year, and the rapid In
crease in the number of state and mu
nicipal employes is regarded. In the
words of a recent letter, as "a serious
menace to sound finance.-"
It appears that the principle of state
industry has been extended also to muni
cipal transportation In New South Wales,
with similar results. The City of Syd
ney has taken possession of the tram
ways, as it Is proposed that Chicago
shall take possession of street-car lines.
Some "of the results are highly satis
factory. Electricity has been Installed
everywhere. The lines have been liber
ally extended in the suburbs and the
service Is said to be excellent But the
financial results are disappointing, in
spito of a- reduction of working expenses
per mile of over 60 per cent
Extensions have been made and ser
vice has been Improved; not for business
reasons, but to meet demand for bring
ing new residence property Into the mar
ket and to increase employment for la
bor. The municipal government of Syd
ney Is entirely In the hands of the labor
organizations, which dictate the man
agement of the car lines. The fiscal
result Is a deficiency of $100,000 In the
earning of interest last year, while no
provision has been made for a sinking
fund. Of course, the property of the city
will have to bo taxed to make up the
deficit In Interest, and ultimately to pay
the enormous principal of the debt cre
ated to Install the system.
At the other extreme we find the old
fashioned cable system of Melbourne In
the neighboring state of Victoria. This
Is owned by a private company, whose
franchise has twelve years more to run.
The service is not as good as in Sydney.
The company hesitates to install elec
tricity on so short a franchise, and has
left to subsidiary companies the booming
of suburban property by unprofitable
lines. Nevertheless the company paid
15 per cent dividend last year, after pay
ing all Its Interest and setting aside
$123,000 for resorve and renewals. The
happy mean of the best service that can
be given without running behind finan
cially may be found In Melbourne when
this franchise empires; either In a new
franchise more favorable to the city or
In more prudent municipal operation than
that of Sydney.
Wall Street's Candidate.
Woodburn Independent
Tho sincerity of the Democratic party
of Oregon is certainly to be questioned.
The platform, In the face of President
Roosevelt's antagonistic attitude toward
the trusts, says: "The Republican party,
entrenched behind the corporations and
trusts of this country, not only refuses to
abide by tho will of the people, but at
tempts to nullify and destroy -the laws
enacted in the past for the protection of
popular government and the privileges in
cident thereto." What did Grover Cleve
land do, when he was President to throt
tle the capitalistic combines? He is today
a Wall-street pet His choice for Presi
dent Is another Wall-street sympathizer
Judge Parker. Hearst has fought the
trusts. In his papers and in the courts, but
we find the Oregon State Democratic
Convention throwing Hearst down and
electing a Parker delegation! The action
of this body belles the words in a plat
form Issued only for cyclonic purposes.
Dying for One's Country.
Now Bedford, Mass., Standard.
President Roosevelt makes a natural
and reasonable comment when he notes
that the men killed on the Missouri,
while they were fitting themselves to
fight effectively in case of need, "died
for their country as much as If their
ship had been in action against the en
emy." The criticism of all such observa
tions Is that they seem to imply that a
man who dies In any other way than as
a member of the Army or Navy does not
die for his country. Take; for instance,
the case of tho diver who risked his life
and lost it the other day in a work of
great public utility. Didn't he die for his
country? He died In the performance of
duty, at any rate, and why Is not that
for the country as much as dying In a
gun turret? Or those other divers who
came near death in trying to retcue the
comrade. Why was not theirs a de'ed
with the element of patriotism, In that
It was for a noble end? Or Is there a
distinction between dying for one's coun
try and dying for humanity, and, if so,
which is the superior?
The Primary Law Vindicates Itself.
St Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press.
The primary law has again more than
vindicated itself and proved Its popular
ity. It Is not without defects, but tho
defects are rather in tho nature of omis
sions than of unfortunate arrangements.
Its popularity Is shown In the heavy per
centage of votes polled and Its value is
shown in the judiciousness Xvlth which
the voters exercised their choice. There
are probably few who would not like to
make some substitutions in the tickets,
but on neither ticket except in one or
two cases where there was no contest
have tho voters selected any distinctly
vicious candidates. The Assembly tickets
are particularly satis factory, and In the
various aldermanic contests the fittest
men, all things considered, seem to have
won.
From A to 2.
Frank Roe Batchelder, In the Smart Set
A -wondrous thing, the alphabet.
As doubtless jou'll agree,
No honey from the B we get,
No -water from the C.
The J has never built a nest; ,
No pod enfolds the P;
And there Is nothing to suggest
A beyond the D.
No oyster has the It to sell; "
No pupil has the I; ,
No house adjoins the modest Ij;
No question asks the Y.
The X Is never crce3; and O "
From debt Is wholly free;
And cockney H you'd only know
By Its apostrophe.
No type Is measured by the M;
No sugar spoils the T;
No Dutchman fashions dykes to stem
The Inrush of the Z.
No lambkin tags behind the U;
The U no wool has she;
No Chinaman upbraids the Q.
No Scottish tears sheds E.
The F is sharp, if not acute;
And A Is flat, it's true;
While G and N and K dispute
The ownership of Gnu, New, Knew.
The S Its $ counts for naught;
But W, to me
Suggests that for these r farcies I ought
To get a doublo "X.
U,
"" DANGER IN GREAT WEALTH.
Baltimore Sun.
Mr. Andrew Carnegie has founded free
libraries In the United States and in
Great Britain. He has endowed an In
stitution for scientific research in Wash
ington. He has given many millions of
dollars to establish a technical school in
Pittsburg. He has donated $10,000,000 to
promote university education in Scotland.
Many more benefactions oould be set
down to his credit if space permitted. It
is a matter of record that a few years
ago he offered to buy Independence for
the Flhponos, a transaction which, he
estimated, would cost him $20,000,000 the
amount Uncle Sam paid to Spain for a
clear title to the archipelago. That Mr.
Carnegie is an all-around philanthropist
Is indisputable. And there is no end to
his philanthrophy. He is ever on the alert
for opportunities to make a hole in his
capital to reduce his surplus. If we may
believe our esteemed contemporary, the
Boston Advertiser, Mr. Carnegie, rather
than "disgrace himself by dying rich,"
Is even willing to finance a Presidential
campaign. A day or two ago the Adver
tiser, which Is a straight-out Republican
Journal, published the following dispatch
from its Washington correspondent:
Andrew Carnegie has sent word to President
Roosevelt that he need not worry over the
rumors that the moneyed Interests of Wall
street are not disposed to chip In to the Re
publican campaign fund. The founder of li
braries says he stands ready to contribute any
reasonable sum up to $1,000,000, If neccesary,
to offset any defections by the rich Wall-street
men.
It Is respectfully submitted to Mr. Car
negie that there are grave doubts con
cerning the propriety of any scheme of
philanthrophy which draws party lines.
His libraries are open to Democrats and
Republicans alike. His Institution for
scientific research encourages genius
without respect to political distinction.
The young men for whom he has es
tablished a technical training school may
acquire knowledge at Mr. Carnegie's ex
pense, regardless of their views on the
tariff. Imperialism, constitutional con
struction and the race question. Why
should the Scot-American multimillion
aire be less liberal when It comes to en
dowing a Presidential compalgn? Shall
it be said of him that in politics the
Universal Benefactor was a mere parti
san, just like the ordinary run of mor
tals? Perish the thought! Mr. Carnegie
must be saved from a folly which would
topple him off his pedestal and reduce
him to the level of a vulgar political pro
moter. If, In his desire to die poor, Mr. Car
negie decides to enrich the campaign
ches,t of an aspirant for exalted politi
cal honors, let him do the square thing
and the tactful thing and open his purse
to all parties and all candidates. Then
it never could be said of him that he Is
a narrow-minded, prejudiced man, who
could see only one side of a political
question. He accumulated an Immense
fortune largely through the operations
of the protective tariff system, and nat
urally he feels grateful to the Republi
can party, which permitted him. to ex
tract enormous profits from, his Iron
and steel business-. It may be true that
ho owes his party a substantial return
for its kindness to him and that a check
for a million dollars would be a reasonable
expression of his gratitude. But Mr.
Carnegie should reflect that the Democrats
of the United- States, who constitute
more than half of the white population of
the country; the Prohibitionists, the
Populists, the Socialists and various
other political sects were taxed to the
same extent as the Republicans to put
Into, his purse the hundreds of millions
of dollars with which It Is now bulging.
Mr. Carnegie's gratitude for past favors,
if it has a logical foundation, cannot
rightly exclude from Its operations the
15,000,000 American voters of all shades
of party faith who, In the capacity of
consumers of his products, transferred
from their pockets to his the bounty
which our tariff laws extort from the
public
If Mr. Carnegie is going to be a politi
cal philanthrophist he must not be a
bigoted, hidebound partisan. His treas
ury must be open to all parties or to
none. He must finance the "outs" as well
as the "Ins." He must send checks to the
Democratic, Populist and Prohibition
campaign committees as well as to the
Republican managers. Thus he would
prove himself a political philanthrophist
of broad gauge and without reproach.
He should get financially into all the
party bandwagons, and not limit him
self to a front seat In the Republican
chariot He should provide fodder for
the Democratic donkey whenever he
pitches hay into the stall of the Republi
can elephant Then he will make him
self solid with all the voters and poli
ticians In tho land. He will be on the
winning side, whichever candidate may
receive a majority of the votes. Tho
doors of the White House will swing
open to admit the man who made his
"money talk" for all tho aspirants to
the Presidency, and thus contributed to
the purification and elevation of Ameri
can politics. Furthermore and finally,
if Mr. Carnegie really wants to die in a
"dead broke" condition, hero Is his op
portunity to qualify himself for tho
almshouse.
Mexico and the Paper Trust.
Springfield, Mass., Republican.
Mexico also has a paper manufacturers
trust and as well a customs tariff to as
sist It in making monopoly prices. The
Mexican publishers have appealed to the
government to reduce or abolish tho duty
on Imported paper. They have no diffi
culty In discerning a relationship between
tho tariff and the trust "In so far at least
as concerns the efforts of the trust to
lift prices and keep them lifted.
i
Robert Burns.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
I see amid the fields of Ayr
A ploughman, who. In foul and fair,
Sings at his task.
So clear, wc know not If It Is
Tho laverock's 6ong we hear, or his.
Nor care to ask.
For him the ploughing of those fields
A more ethereal harvest yields
Than sheaves of grain;
Songs flush with purple bloom the rye,
The plover's call, th curlew's cry,
Sing In hla brain.
Touched by his hand, the wayside weed
Becomes a flower; the lowliest reed
Beside the stream
Is clothed with beauty; gorse and grass
And heather, where bis footsteps pass,
The brighter seem.
He oings of love, whose flame Illumes
The darkness of lone cottage rooms;
He feels the force,
The treacherous undertow and stress,
Of wayward passions, and no less
The keen remorse.
At moments, wrestling with his fate,
His voice Is harsh, but not with hate;
The brushwood, hung
Above the tavern door, lets fall
Its bitter leaf, its drop of gall
Upon his tongue.
But still the music of his song
Rises o'er all, elate and strong;
Its master-chords
Are Manhood, Freedom, Brotherhood,
It3 discords but an Interlude
Between the words.
And then to die so young, and leave
Unfinished what he might achieve!
Tet better sure
Is this, than wandering up and down
An old' man In a country town,
Infirm and poor.
For now he haunts his native land
As an Immortal youth; his hand ""
Guides every plough;
He sits beside each Ingle-nook,
His voice Is In each rushing brook.
Each rustling bough.
Hte presence haunts this room tonight,
A form of mingled mist and light
From that far coast.
Welcome beneath this roof of mine'
Welcome! this vacant chair Is thine,
Pear guest and gnostl
NOTE AND COMMENT.
S'pose It's All Right.
G. G. Boydsun came in from Juniper Moun
tain Sunday. He will lamb on the Rim.
Lakevlew Herald.
Walk, you East-Sider walk.
The Japs sink, but don't shrink.
"Meet me at St Louis, Louis."
Ex-Chief of Police Robertson gets an
other deal.
Young-Mait-Afraid-of-HIs-Shadow Is In
the city jail. Ho should bo scared to
death In such a shady place.
The wireless system used" aboard the
Russian vessels Is known as the Popoff.
Their mines seem to be built under the
same patent
A mouse started a panic in a Philadel
phia theater, but ono of the actors sur
prised the people so much by making a
joke that they forgot to stampede.
In Copenhagen an electrical machine
has been installed for the purpose of
thrashing men convicted of wife-beating.
Denmark is fully abreast of tho times.
In Wales there Is a village which ap
pears In railway timetables as Llanfalr
P. G. Its name In full Is: Llanfalrpwll
gwynghnghllgogerhchwyrndrobwllllandlsll logogogoch.
A woman In Paris makes a specialty
of renting out automobiles for elopements.
She furnishes a fast machine and a trust
worthy chauffeur. Probably she- supplies
scented gasoline, also.
The Southern Pacific detectives declare
that they are on tho trail of the Copley
bandits. Pretty soon they'll be quite
homesick If taken off a trail to which they
have been so long accustomed.
t
Rockercllers Bible class will be greatly
edified by learning from Lyman J. Gage
that great individual wealth Is not rob
bery. The boys will now be able to go
ahead and "emulate their teacher with
clear consciences.
If Hill Is "It," -
And Brayn's "Nit,"
And Parker does the running;
Can Willie Hearst
Drop back from first.
And for V.-P. go gunning?
Irrlgon Irrigator.
Ask Brisbane.
The following dispatch, from St Peters
burg should prove a valuable suggestion
for Cyrus Townsend Brady: "Apraxin,
author of blood and thunder novels,
turned the war into a literary quarry that
promises to make him a rich man if peace
is long delayed. Apraxin Is writing a
novel in daily installments In which the
war bulletins are cleverly interwoven. Tho
hero is on tho staff of Viceroy Alexleff,
tho heroine is a prisoner on Admiral
Togo's flagship; she risks her life daily
several times by informing her swain of
the Japs moves. Of course Togo in
forms the heroine of all his intensions and
permits her to use his megaphone."
Ex-Senator Mason, of Illinois, was
seated with a party of friends In a Wash
ington cafe one evening when the circle
was joined by the son of a big Western
capitalist whose main aim in life seemed
to bo a continuous jubilee, says the Troy
Times. Ho was of that class inelegantly
known -as "butters In," and it was soon
evident that his presence was distasteful
to the Senator. "My old man doesn't
put up a cent for me," said the young
man, displaying a fat roll of greenbacks.
"I'm, on my own resources."
"How do you manage It?" asked ono of
the party. "You must havo some sort
of a 'snap.' "
"This Is my 'snap,' " and the gay
spendthrift, impressively touching his
head.
"And there's not a softer 'snap' In the
world," assented Senator Mason.
Repartee as practiced by dignified
solons In the New York Legislature takes
on somewhat of a Bowery complexion at
times.. One day last week the Houso was
considering a certain measure, when Mr.
Cook, of Erie, said courteously: "Tho
gentleman who has spoken In opposition
to this bill is a plnhead." He referred to
Mr. Cox, of Buffalo, who In his politest
manner replied: "Tho gentleman who
favors this bill," of course referring to
Mr. Cook, "has a vacuum where his
brains ought to be." Whereupon As
semblyman Lynch hastened to observe
cordially: "Mr. Speaker, It gives mo
great pleasure to find that, for the first
occasion since I have served In the Legis
lature -with them, I can agree with both
Mr. Cox and Mr. Cook. I agiee with
what Mr. Cook said about Mr. Cox, and I
indorso what Mr. Cox said about Mr.
Cook." Then the bill was passed.
OUT OF THE GINGER JAR.
"Colonel, did jou ever know the office to
seek the man?" "YeSj. sir an' It stumbled
over him an' hurt Itself." Atlanta Constitu
tion. Her Father Tou expect me to support Julia
indefinitely. Her Husband Well, I hope you
may stand from under very gradually, sir.-.
Puck.
Young Doctor He has discovered over 80
different germs. Old Doctor I shouldn't think
that would bo as hard as naming them.
Cleveland Leader.
"You're a broker, are you not, Mr. Stocks?"
"Yes. I'm broker now than I was last
month, but next month I'll be brokest"
Princeton Tiger.
"13 your husband an Inventor?" "I should
say he Is. You ought to hear some of the ex
cuses he Invents when he comes home late at
night." Chicago Journal.
"It 'pears," said Unlcle Eben, "dat success
Is sumpln' what you alius has to work hand
foh an' what some other feller gets by jest
beln lucky." Washington Star.
"Nobody Is ever so badly off that somebody
else is not In a worse condition." "I don't
know about that. Look at the Emperor of
Corea." Chicago Record-Herald.
An Atchison man hasn't a tooth In his head,
but eats as well as anybody. "How do you
manage It?" he was asked. "I have corns on
my gums," he replied. Atchison Globe. ,
Sara Just think of the dumber of American
girls who go tuft-hunting abroad! They who
return as Countesses are so few! Jack And
those who don't are countless. Princeton Tiger.
Then he cursed her. "You will eat your
heart!" he cried. She shivered. But in tho
next moment she was angry with herself.
"I am a vegotarianl" she said, with serene
confidence. Puck.
"Dai's lots o' folks," said Uncle Eben, "dat
doesn 'predate de value of money. Soma
shows t by glttln rid of it careless, an' some
by holdln' on so hand dat dey doesn' git no
benefit fum It." Washington Star.
"Yes," said the dentist, "to Insure painless
extraction you'll have to take gas, and that'a
50 cents extra." "Oh," said the farmer, "I
guess the old way'U be the best; never mind
no gas." "You're a brave man." "Ohl it
ain't me that's got the tooth; It's my wife."
Philadelphia Ledger.
An Irishman and an Englishman were re
counting feats of physical prowess. The Eng
lishman, by way of showing his strength, said
that he was accustomed to swim across the
Thames three times before breakfast every
morning. "Well," said the Irishman, "that
may be all right, but It do seem to me that
your clothes would.be on the wrong side of tha
JL river all the time3" New York Times,