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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1904)
THE MORNING- OREGOIffAy, 'TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 190. Entered at th Postoffie at Portland. Or., as second-class xn&ttter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By mall (postage prepaid In advance) ally. with Sunday, per month $0.85 Oally. with Sunday excepted, per year 7.30 pall, with Sunday, "'per year........ 9.00 Sunday per year 2.00 e!y' Per yeaj" 1-30 The Weekly, 3 months 50 Bally, per week, delivered, Sunday ex- ePtl 150 Daily, per week, delivered. Sunday in cluded 20o POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico ?2 5 2ipae P&Pcr lo 18 to 30-pat e pape ja 82 to 44-pago paper....:.. So Foreign rates, double. EASTKBN BUSINESS OFFICES. Tb 8- C. Bcckrrlth Special Agency) New York; rooms 43-50. Tribune Building. Chicago: Rooms 510-512 Tribune Bulldlnc. Xb Oreconian does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot under take to return any manuscript sent to It without solicitation. No stamps should be Inclosed for this purpose. KEPT ON SALE. Atlantic City, N. J. Taylor & Bailey, Sews dealers, 23 Leeds Place. Chicago Auditorium annex: Poetoitlce News Co., 178 Dearborn street. Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & KJend rlck. 906-812 Seventeenth street Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co Ninth and Walnut. Ios Angeles B. r. Gardner, 258 South Bprinr, and Barry Drapldn. Mlnaeapoll M. J. Kavanaugh. 60 South SThlrd; L. Begelsburger. 217 First Avenue Uouth. 2few Tork City L. Jones & Co.. Aotor House. Ogden V. R. Godard. r Omaha Barkalow Bros.. 1612 P&rnam: 2cLauchl!n Bros., 210 South 14th; Hegeath Stationery Co., 1803 Farnam. Bait Lake Salt Lake Neva Co 77 West Cecond South street. St. Jjoxsls World's Fair Kews Co.. Joseph Copeland, Wilson & Wilson. 217 N. 17th st.; Geo. L. Ackermann. newsboy. Eighth and PUve ets. 8a Francisco J. K. Cooper Co.. 746 Mar ket, near Palace Hotel; Poster & Oreor. Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros., 286 But ter; L- E. Lee. Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitts, 1008 Market: Frank Scott. 80 Ellis; N. Wheatley, 83 Stevenson; Hotel it, Francis News Stand. Washington, D. C. Ebbltt House News Stand. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 68 degrees; minimum temperature, 54 degrees. Precipitation, .03 or an Inch. TODAY'S WEATHER Cloudy and unsettled, With showers at Intervals; south to west winds. - 1 jPORTXAND, TUESDAY, SEPT. 27, 1904. THE DIRECT PRIMARY MUDDLE. It Is necessary to discriminate sharply between the natural and rea sonable reading: given the direct- pri mary law by Judge McBride or Attorney-General Crawford, and the Inter pretation put upon it by persons who have ends to serve. It will not escape the average citizen's attention that at the first sign of difficulty under the new law they who opened not their mouths against it while it was pending now muster up courage to belittle or attack it. Thus we have the assertion from Senator Fulton that the law is uncon stitutional and assurances from ex Senator Simon that the bosses will be just as powerful with it as without it. Mr. Fulton is too sagacious a politician sot to fear for the power of the polit ical "organization," and he speaks out with characteristic bluntness and vigor while Mr. Simon, with the same purpose In mind, pursues the more diplomatic course of discouraging popular regard for the law by promoting the Idea that it is of no serious Inconvenience to the bosses anyhow. "We have a good deal of respect for both these gentlemen's opinion In any question of practical politics. Neither of them won his notable triumphs In the political arena by talking through his hat; yet In this case we attach little Importance to their utterances because they are obviously made for a purpose. It Is not Mr. Fulton's concern for the constitution or for the outraged rights of the Independent voter that moves him half so much as it 1b the problem of a direct primary vote for Senator; and the opposition of every machine politi cian to the primary law is Irreconcila ble with Mr. Simon's contention that the machine can rule things as effect ively now as heretofore. It is possible that the courts might set aside the law on Mr. Fulton's con tention that the voter's prescribed dec laration of his party is an unconstitu tional restriction on the suffrage; but the courts will not do this, in face of the popular demand and ratification of the law unless the point is absolutely clear, which it does not yet seem to be to many persons outside of Clatsop County. In practice, moreover, It has been the contention of the politicians, wherever party declarations have not been required, that it is unjust to per mit Democrats to vote on Republican nominations and perhaps control them. If the law should be amended at the coming Legislature so that voters could mark a blanket ballot indiscriminately, they who now complain of the party declaration would be the first to com plain of the other arrangement Noth ing can satisfy you if you are deter mined not to be satisfied. We have little doubt that courts and people alike would approve and justify an arrangement for conducting munici pal elections under the old law or even for conducting them under the new law with party declarations waived. But it is necessary to reckon also with a powerful element In the community not so much concerned about getting at the popular will as about foisting its own will on the people. " It Is very like ly, therefore, that this element can "bring such resources of legal acumen into requisition as to compel an amendment of the law at the coming legislative session. Once amendment begins, there Is no telling where It may stop. A provision should be made for the Portland municipal election next, year, and possibly the decent thing to do would be to eliminate all reference to a ballot for United States Senator, which is rendered inoperative anyhow by the Constitution of the United States. It is impossible for any one to say with posltiveness at this time whether the direct primary will succeed in Ore gon. Many political devices succeed in some places and fail in others. Of all sorts of difficulties and embarrassments predicted for the law's operations, some may come true. But it Is certain that no attempt to repeal or nullify the law should be countenanced until it has had a fair trial. The heavy majority In Its favor gives it authority which should be respected. There is uncertainty enough .about 4ts application to our city election to justify an amendment giv ing it that application in definite terms; but any change made should only be to strengthen and perfect the law. It is very doubtful if an amendment to meet Senator Fulton's objections would serve any good purpose, least of all to pacify the opponents of the law. THEY HAVE HIS MEASURE. Judge Parker Is for tariff reform, but it must be done "prudently," without harm to established business interests. He is for Philippine independence, but not till it is "prudent." He is for do ing things honestly on the isthmus of Panama, but he does not point out a single thing done there that he would proceed to do differently. He Is for avoiding entangling alliances with for eign nations, but he does not specify what nation if any we have allied our selves with improperly. He says he believes in the gold standard, but he does not say whether his present views are consistent or Inconsistent with his views in 1896 and 1900 when he voted for Bryan. It is perfectly clear that If Judge Par ker has any definite knowledge or firm convictions on any subject except the general .proposition, on which he In vites all to unite, that "a change of men and measures at this time would be wise," he keeps them strictly to him self. He talks-as a Judge talks on a case that he may be called upon some time to try. He doesn't want to say anything that will embarrass him sub sequently or disquiet the litigant on either side. Perhaps he thinks that the people will prefer a man of no convic tions to a a man of positive and avowed convictions; and if he thinks that, he is likely to find out that he has made a mistake. But perhaps the true so lution of the enigma was offered by Mr. Littleton, who nominated Parker at Bt. Louis; If you auk me why be has been silent. 1 will tell you It le because he does not claim to be .the master, but Is content to be Ita servant. If ypu ask me why he has not outlined a policy for this convention, I will tell you that he does not believe that policies should be dictated, but that the sovereignty of the party Is In the un trammeled Judgment and wisdom of Its members. If you ask ma what his policy will be, If elected, I tell you that it will be that policy which find expression In the platform of his party. We are all familiar with the type of public man thus described by Mr. Littleton. Such men naver have an opinion on any subject until their party has declared on that subject. They put party loyalty abcve personal convic tions. They do not care anything about gold or silver, protection or free trade, except as they are Issues thought de sirable by th.e party as votegetters; then they are ready to get up and fight for what the party declares. It Is the limitation of these men that they never rise to great heights of statesmanship because they are not leaders but fol lowers. The man who is big enough to be President has become identified with certain principles which he puts forth and adds to his party'B equipment and attitude. The servile follower Is a use ful man; but he will never be a Blaine or a Cleveland or a McKinley or a Roosevelt. Nothing could stamp Judge Parker more indelibly with this limitation than tne frenzied appeals made daily to him by his advisers. They are constantly engaged In pulling and hauling him about. He must go on the stump and then he must not govon the stump. He must go to New York or he must stay away. Hhe must come out strongly for gold, or for free trade, or for anti-imperialism, or against the trusts. He must rebuke Hill, or send Taggart away. He must speak out so and so on this and that and In general he must do differently from what he is doing. The obvious reflection this discordant advice carries upon the conduct of the campaign It is needless to point out nor is It requiiste to remark again upon the hopeless confusion of the gen erals In the Democratic camp. The subtler and more1 momentous fact we wish to emphasize here is that Parker's advisers have taken the measure of their man. They show it by their shrieking at him to do this or not to do that They estimate him, and no doubt correctly, as one who is to be guided by a double-leaded editorial in the morning paper. They got the gold brick telegram in this way, they got the Milburn letter on the Philippines, and they feel assured that they can move him easily enough by merely pulling the string. You can see very clearly how seriously the Parker camp regards its leader. Could you imagine these complaining Parker organs bellowing and scolding in this way at Samuel J Tllden or Grover Cleveland? IRRESPONSIBILITY YOKED WITH BRU- XAJJTl, The recent arrival at the receiving home of the Boys' and Girls' Aid Soci ety in this city of a family of five chil dren from Coos County and the recital of their sad story revealed a tale of parental cruelty and neglect that is shocking to the dullest sensibilities Motherless by reason of the father's systematic brutality, .beaten and bruised because of their utfef helpless ness, four little girls and one boy, the latter and one of the former dulled In intelligence through their father's cru elty, and all of them In utter ignorance of what is taught in schools, these chil dren constitute an Indictment against their father so serious that one could almost wish he had taken a short step further In violence to the end that he might have been visited as he deserves, with the extreme penalty. Unfortul nately, the law does not take cogni zance of murder inflicted by the alow tortures that the mother of these chil dren endured until death cants to her relief, and as a result a criminal of the most merciless type escapes just retri bution and indeed penalty of any kind, having even to be relieved for mercy's sake of the custody and support of his children. This case further brings be fore the community in a striking man ner the broad, humane and beneficent place that the Boys' and Girls' Aid So ciety holds in the humanities and the wise economies of the state. Parental irresponsibility of the pas sive, do-nothing type is exasperating enough, and bad enough. But when to the neglect that follows this type, pro moting Ignorance, abetting criminality and burdening thrift, is added an active brutality that would disgrace a savage, and of which savages are not guilty against their own, tho sin of omission becomes a crime of commission that calls for the infliction of severe penalty upon tho human brute who, in becom ing a father, has inflicted a curse upon his offspring and placed a tax upon the community, as unjust as it is exasperat ing. The man is not the enemy of the race, but its friend, who would restrict par entage to men and women of sound bodily arid mental health, and to men capable of making a living for their children. It would be well indeed were race suicide pushed to the limit by means known to intelligent surgery In extreme cases, of which this Coos County rancher is a representative. The time will come when society will pro tent ItRPlf fmni IfrotmnnclVila ngnntnir& both of the passive and the active type, and in so doing will contribute to the welfare of the race and specifically to that of the community that must levy a tax upon itself tc ;ay the piper that these- creatures, besotted in sensuality, dominated by brutality or steeped In ignorance and indolence, may dance. The doctrine of the survival of the fit test shoulo. and eventually must ba pushed against creatures of this mold by means that can be depended upon not oply to correct but to eliminate the maniiold evils that, in their case, follow reproduction. SQUEEZING OUT THE WATER, The extrication of the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, from the wreckage of the Shipbuilding Trust is another Important move toward the re organization of the plants on a business basis. Mr. Schwab, who was to a large extent responsible for the swamping of these concerns,, in the vast amount of water with which he loaded down their stocks, i3 taking an active in terest in the reorganization. Beginning with the Bethlehem Steel Company about a month ago, he has since added the Crescent yards, the Moore & Sons yards and the Canda manufacturing plant at Elizabethport, N. J.; the East ern Shipbuilding Company, at New London, Conn., and the Hyde Windlass Company and Bath Iron Works, 4at Bath, Me., and the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, which were bought in yesterday. The only remaining big plant to be disposed of is the Harlan & Hollingsworth works, at Wilmington, Del. The latter plant will be sold on the first week in October, and the work of reorganization will then begin In earnest. All of the plants that have- been sold have passed under the hammer at prices far below the figures at which they were put into the United States Shipbuilding Company. This fact indi cates that the reorganization commit tee Is determined to squeeze enough water out to a.t least give the plants an opportunity to earn fixed charges on their actual worth. The -shipbuilding combine made an effort to sell stock In these plants on a widely inflated valua tion. The failure of the public to nibble at the bait was responsible for the re ceiverships which followed as soon as it was demonstrated that there would be no dividends nor even fixed charges on such an extravagant valuation as had been placed on the property ab sorbed by the combine: The prices at which these plants some of them be ing the best In the United States are now going under the hammer seem' to be very reasonable, and if they are op erated economically and kept free from the malign Influence of stock jobbery they will undoubtedly resume the pay ment of dividends, which was inter rupted when they were overwhelmed with water. The greatest asset of the reorganized company, which will be known as the Bethlehem Steel & Shlnbulldinir nnm. Kpany, Is the Bethlehem Steel Company men aione or. all the properties put in the trust two years ago was able to stand the Inflation of values and still show a profit. It Is Mr. Schwab's In tention to make a strong effort to se cure Government contracts for war vessels and armor-plate. This has been costing the Government about $400 per ton, and It Is stated that It can be pro duced for about one-half that sum. The business at the present time Is largely in the hands of the United States Steel Company, from which Schwab was recently ousted and for which he has no great feeling of love or admiration. Mr. Schwab and his representatives, in buying in these plants at their true value, are simply taking back some goods which the stockbuylng public refused to handle at the prices demanded. The reorganization of the Puget Sound salmon combine is a similar case, and the effect in both industries wlli be beneficial. It has taught the finan cial thimble-riggers that any enterprise that is entitled to the confidence of the business community must be conducted on business principles, and with some regard to intrinsic values. Mr. Morgan, with his salmon combine organized on a safe basis of actual values, will prob ably make money. Mr. Schwab, oper ating his fine shipyards on the same strictly business lines that wee fol lowed by the Cramps, the Union Iron Works and others engaged In the busi ness prior to the Morganlzlng era, will also make money. The field Is wide and growing wider, but it will never again stretch to a point where the plants can pay dividends on stock that holds 75 per cent of water. STATUS OF THE CAMPAIGN. Delay, delay and again delay, has been the feature of the Russian cam paign up to the present time, and will apparently continue to be so for an In definite time to come. As Captain Mahan points out In his review of the war in the current number of the Na tional Review, It Is the sparring of the strongerbut unorganized power against the weaker but ready. This is the only point Captain Mahan makes in twenty pages of his peculiarly redundant writ ing, and he holds that the retention of Port Arthur by the Russians was good strategy, although frequently con demned as a mere piece of gallery play and a weak concession to sentiment. Port Arthur has held a large number of Japanese from aiding Oyama, to whom they would be immensely useful. It has kept Togo's fleet employed, al though the only gain accruing there from has been the release of the Vladi vostok squadron, of which the raids can have no effect beyond irritating the enemy. Kuropatkin has followed out the policy of delay. Klulienchen was fought to gain time. The Incessant skirmishes and minor engagements that culminated around Liao Yang were fought with the same end in view. The .Russian commander might have sung, in the words of the old windjammer chantey, "Oh, give us time to blow the man down." At this stage of the campaign the general situation becomes of Interest, as showing the results of the two op posing policies. Port Arthur is still in Russian hands and still shelters the undestroyed vessels of the Russian fleet, although the fall of the fortress must be regarded as inevitable. The latest advices Indicate that the Japan ese are slowly t advancing, taking fort by fort, and that they are now in a position to cut off the garrison's supply of water. The importance of this power is evident, when reports regarding a shortage of coal are borne in mind. With a diminution in the output of the condensers, upon which Port Arthur is said to rely mainly, the garrison may be brought face to face with the Irre sistible enemy of thirst. Even should Port Arthur fall In the immediate fu ture, It. will have materially aided the general cause by having tied up so large a body of Japanese troops for so long a time. As to its effect upon the Japanese navy, not so much can be said. Admiral Togo, thanks to wireless telegraphy, has been able to blockade in a fashion never before possible. In stead of lying in the offing of the port, exposed to harassing attacks from tor pedo craft, the Japanese commander has kept his battleships in a sheltered harbor In the Elliott Islands, sixty miles from the port he was blockading. George C. Kennan has described the harbor in an interesting article In the Outlook. Fifteen miles of a boom of heavy UmberB, reinforced with a wire cable, effectually protect the harbor from torpedo attack, so that the wear and tear upon the ships and men of the blockading squadron has been trifling. The time gained by" Port Ar thur's defense has been of no avail to the Russians, so far as sea power Is concerned. The Baltic fleet should have been dispatched at any cost long ago. Now it is hardly a menace. In the north the Russian position is not bo strong as might reasonably be expected after nearly eight months of war. Kuropatkin has extricated his army from the enveloping movements of the Japanese, and has conducted his retreat northward skillfully enough to foil their most carefully planned and most daringly executed attacks. He Is now within measurable distance of Harbin, the limit Russia has evidently set upon her "advance backwards " The retreat, however, must be but thei preliminary to an offensive movement In overwhelming force, if Russia Is not to admit herself beaten, and there Is not the slightest sign that Kuropatkin will be in a position to take the ag gressive for many months to come, even should he succeed in holding at bay the oncoming Japanese. Yester day's dispatches announce that Russia will send 300,000 additional men to the front, together with 600 guns, under the command of General Grlppenberg. The Grand Duke Nicholas Is to be commander-in-chief, for the excellent rea son that his ancestors set the example. It may be that the Japanese respect for ancestors in general will influence them to let the Grand Duke down easy. This new army, St. Petersburg an nounces, will be in the field within three months, ready to undertake a Winter campaign. Now the greatest number of men that arrived daily In Harbin when reinforcements were being poured in there at the time Kuropatkin was fall ing back on Haicheng was 1500, the average being much nearer 1000 as reported b; a reliable correspondent After making allowance for the com pletion of the railroad around Lake Baikal, It is evident that no such force as 300.000 men can be sent to Harbin within three months, or possibly six. And the Japanese, with the completion of a light railroad from Antung to Liao Yang, will be able to pour in men by two lines of rail and by wagon road from Yinkow. As the situation now is the Japanese have the advantage and should an early capture of Port Arthur release the seasoned army in the Liao Tung: Peninsula, their advantage is "kely to become so great that Kuro patkin will be thoroughly defeated long before Grlppenberg appears with his second army. The demand for admissions to the Dolliver-Falrbanks rally at the Armory Saturday evening is greater than any one could have imagined, and It Is cer tain that only a fraction of those desir ing to attend can be accommodated by the great capacity of the building. This Is a situation which reflects credit upon Chairman Bakers ingenuity in stirring up Interest, but bids fair to embarrass him now by the plenteousness of the harvest. He has therefore determined to reserve seats for those who have been Invited from a distance, but to play no favorites here at home in Port land and Multnomah County. This Is obviously the only course open to him It would be -an unthinkable discourtesy to permit those coming by Invitation from the Btate at large to be crowded out of the hall; but for -Portlanders the just and fair rule Is "first come first served." This is also the method, as we see from the Eastern papers, in other cities where Senators Fairbanks and Dolllver appear. There Is little doubt that this meeting will be the greatest political rally in the history of the state, and It would be Impossible for any two buildings in Portland to hold the crowd that would like to at tend. The invitations extended out of town, as we understand it, are only to members of the state party organiza tion and officially due to be present. The perfect control which the specu lative element has over the Chicago wheat market was again demonstrated yesterday, when, in the face of a stronger foreign market and generally bullish statistics, there was a decline of 3& cents per bushel. "World's Ship ments" -were smaller than for the week previous, "Quantities on Passage" showed a decrease of 1,280,000 bushels, the "American Visible" showed a smaller increase than for the same week last year, the French markets were firmer and English markets high er, and yet the market slumped. The violent fluctuations of the past month show quite plainly that the market is not in the hands of "pikers." Fractional advances or declines in a day are no longer noticeable, but there must be a move of from one to four cents per bushel in-order properly to trim the lambs who wander among the bulls and bears, who are just now enjoying rich picking on the Chicago Board of Trade. A three-cent moye generally shakes out the unfortunate nonprofessionals, and accordingly a reaction is due today. Meanwhile men with the actual wheat for sale might do worse than to accept present high prices. - The passing of Senator Hoar, which seems near at hand, or may. Indeed, be said to be progressing gently from day-to day, is not likely to be marked by any strenuous protest of mortality against the decree of Nature. Having finished his life work, the aged man has wrapped the drapers of his couch about him and lain down to pleasant dreams, from which he is not likely again to awaken in this world, at least. An ideal passing, truly, unless its move ment is too slow and the lingering of the traveler on .the last stage of his journey becomes pathetic. If, as stated, the water supply of Port Arthur has- been cut off, the crucial point in its Investment has been reached, and the stronghold will fall Into the hands of the besiegers without further heavy fighting. Russian Gen erals will hardly attempt to keep up a fight without an element, essential to the life of man under any and all circumstances. THE NAME OF 0REG0S. New York Globe. The citizens of Oregon, no doubt take a comfortable pride in feeling that their beautiful state is as beautifully named, and it is a little hard that they cannot say where the word came from. In "A Short History of Oregon" (A. C. McClurg & Co.) the compiler, Sldona V. Johnson, frankly admits that it is an embarrass ing situation. "In that state," she says, "even a tenable theory will be warmly welcomed, and an ' untenable one not wholly neglected." The name first appeared in print In Captain Jonathan Carver's account of hlB travels, published in 1778, in wfcich he spoke of "the Oregon, or "River of the West," meaning, of course, the river that was later named the Columbia. But no body knows where Captain Carver got the word or whether he invented it. Arch bishop Blanche t had an Ingenious theory that It came from the Spanish orejon, meaning big ear because the Indians of the region were so blessed. But our com piler Interposes the historical objection that in 176S. when Carver was out there, Spaniards had never seen those Indians to know whether they had big ears or not. Likewise, "the theory that early Spanish explorers bestowed the name be cause of wild marjoram (Origanum), found along the coast, is quickly dis pelled in the light of the fact that the name Oregon had appeared in print before the Spaniards had set foot on the coast" Mr. Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Port land Oregonlan, believes that the name might have been left mysterious and Im potent In Captain Carver's book, had not William Cullen Bryant, who must have read the narrative, taken a fancy to the pretty word and embalmed it in his "Thanatopsls" in the lines In the continuous woods Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound Save his own dashlnga. The region that evidently appealed so Btrongly to Bryant has evoked many a poetic fancy since his day. There are, for Instance, In the October Metropolitan some stanzas by Helen Hay Whitney, daughter of John Hay. A SONG OF THE OREGON TRAIL. How Ions the trail! How far the goal! Last year the moons might come and go Like dancing- shadows on the enow; My heart was light, my heart was strong, I cored not If the way be long; But now the end Is you my soul I I fear the dark, I fear the dread White frost that hovers round my heart; The cold high sun, and wide apart Frozen still pitiless stars above So far, so far from my true love. And, ah! I fear, I feftr the dead! I fear their flngcra, grasping, pale I did not fear the dead last year! But now! the kisses of my dear. The breast of her, so kind and warm Ah, Heart! I must not come to harm. How far the. goal! How long tho trail! ARMY OFFICERS AND MARRIAGE. Brooklyn Eagle. The suggestion of General Corbln that Army officers be forbidden to marry until they have obtained permission from the Secretary of War Is not liable to meet with wholesale approval. The General insists that the pay of a junior officer Is not sufficient to admit of his meeting hl3 ordinary expenses of equipment and uni form plus those entailed by the posses sion of a wife, and, possibly, the pos session of a family. Well, the United States Army has done pretty well so fat by leaving officers of all grades to judge for themselves when matrimony Is pos sible without too severely taxing their incomes. We pay our Junior officers bet ter than officers of corresponding rank are paid In any other army In the world. Beside, the American subaltern, even though he be married, can live within his pay In any regiment, no matter whero it may be stationed, which Is nrdre than can be claimed for the subalterns In Eng lish, French or German regiments. For example, an officer In any one of the crack English regiments Is compelled, when stationed In London, to spend any where from $5000 to $15,000 of our money to meet the expenses of his mess and his tailor and to maintain the con tributions the entertainment fund that are expected of him. No such strain Is put upon tne American officer, and he has allowances over and above his salary that make It quite possible for him to marry, provided he bo willing to live eco nomically. What General Corbln says about officers not being allowed to marry unless they swear they are free of debt is also unnecessary advice. Officers who multiply their financial obligations by taking wives will eventually eliminate themselves from the Army. When they find they cannot support families and creditors on their pay they will resign and seek more profitable employment in other fields. In any case there are safeguards enough in the Army to prevent demorali zation of the service through the unre stricted marriage of officers. Extremes of paternalism In Army administration can never be made agreeable to Ameri cans. In some matters Government will do well to let well enough alone. DUNBAR, POET, DYING. Has Consumption and Cannot Live Longer Than a Month. DAYTON; O., Sept. 20. Paul Law rence Dunbar, the Afro-American poet. Is critically ill of consumption at the home of his mothor in this city. Tho doctors say he probably will not live longer than a month. On May S he con tracted pneumonia while in New York, and It developed Into tubercular trouble. Dunbar has written a number of poems that bear on death, but perhaps his best effort In this respect is his fa miliar "Death Song," which is as fol lows: Lay me down beneat de willers in de graw. Whah de branch'll go a-rtngln as It pass. An' w'en I's a-layln low, . I kin hyeah It as it go Blngln', "Sleep, my honey, tek yo res' at las'." Lay me nigh to whah hit meks a little pool, An de watah stan's so quiet lak an' cool. Whah de little birds in Spring Ust to come an' drink an' sing. An' the chlllen waded on dey way to "school. Let me settle w'en my shouldahs drops dey load Nigh enough to hyeah de noises in de road; Fu' I t'ink de las' long res' Gwine to soothe my sperrlt bes' Ef I's layln' 'mong de things I'e alius knowed. Dunbar was born at Dayton, on June 27. 1872. He was educated In the public and high schools. He published his first volume when he was turned 20, and since then ha3 brought out a large number of books and contributed freely to the magazines. In 1897 Dunbar re moved to Washington to take a posi tion In the Congressional Library. His verses and prose works have been high ly commended by many of the leading critics of the country. The Modernization of Japan. Thomas R. Ybarra. The Japplsh merchant goes No more In kimonos Unto his office heaps of gold to earn, He sits before his desk And won't look picturesque Despite the walls of poor Lafcadlo Hearn. The Jap chauffeur breaks laws In auto-mo-rlckshaws. And pays his fine in dollars, not in yen, While Sousa's "Stripes and Stars" Is beard on soft guitars. And "Sammy" sounds upon the samlsen. In Tokio, if you please. They don't use snickersnees 'Tls difficult to buy one-lf you do Tls ten to one the blade In Birmingham was made, And then exported for the likes of you. And geishas up to date v Can all negotiate Tho newest Broadway stunts and. by the way. My correspondent writes They're going to dance in tights Oh, where's the fair Japan of yesterday ? J A NEGRO BANKER SPEAKS. Brooklyn Eagle. One of the most interesting Incidents of the Bankers' Convention just closed In this city, was the Impromptu speech of John ..Mitchell, Jr., president of the Mechanics Savings Bank, of Richmond, Va. It is somewhat of a surprise to people not in timately familiar with the progress of Southern negroes In busings that there is such a bank, but Mr. Mitchell stated that there were ten negro banks, with a capital of $230,000 and deposits of 5300,000. He added thathe came to the convention on the advice of his white friends at home and that he would not have come otherwise. Of course, he spoke of the condition of his race in the South and he bore eloquent testimony to the value of the doctrine of work and competence which Booker Washington has preached to his people so long and so fervidly. These sentences throw light on the path of progress for that race which Mr. Wash ington and Mr. Mitchell represent: The colored man is respected just in pro portion as he respects himself. That Is so in tha South, as It is elsewhere. We have found that the way for us to reach success and respect Is through finance. Nowhere in the domain of business have found tho white man other than ready to help us up ward. Therefore I expected a welcome when I came here among you. The negro loafers are the only block to our advance. We'd like to run them out, to throw them into the trash heap. There is no fight between the intelligent white man and tho Intelligent negro. When you hear a white man get up here and talk about the negro with a future to solve, he means tho loafing negro. He don't mean the negro of our kind. We are Just as much against the other kind as he is. I want you to know that. sir. . The promise of progress for the nogro in this speech was reinforced by the en thusiastic welcome extended to the speak er, in which the Southern bankers were prominent. Colonel Robert J. Dowry, a leading citizen of Atlanta, said: I am delighted to hear from my Southern brother. There Is no fight, no hostility, be tween his class and my race in Georgia or anywhere else. I am glad to hear this gen tleman from Virginia. I am a Southern man bred and born, but I love one Dart of this country as well as another. The gentleman Is right in what he says. While the success of Southern negroes like this bank president and Booker Washington shows the possibilities and the way out. the race problem is still a long way from solution. The class whom Mr. Mitchell calls "negro loafers" Is still a large majority. The minority of Ignor ant white is also large and the possi bilities of race friction and violence be tween those elements are constantly be ing realized. The number of men on both sides of the line, who, like Colonel Dowry and Mitchell, can meet on a common ground of achievement and capacity Is small. But the fact that when the negro demonstrates his capacity the Southern whites give him a free field for its exer cise, maintains the open door to progress a thousand times more effectually than political action can ever do. MISDIRECTED DRAMATIC CRUSADE New York Press. Our dramatic gods promise a play that will permit nobody to" go out between the acts and yet see it. This will be done by having no "between-the-acts," only a quick fall and rise of curtain. Presum ably the Invention comes from a mind which beholds in the custom of leaving the seats at tho Intermissions the worst evil of the theater. It is a sad fallacy. There are some plays It would,, be cruel to force one to sit out. In Buch cases the going out and coming back between acts la a compromise between not going out at all and going out but never coming back. The play at which the experiment Is first tried would better be a certain success or the reform movement will come to grief at the outset. Perhaps the going-out-and-comlng-back fashion at the theater derives most of its unpopularity not from the essential evil of It, but from the incidental grievance It occasions. If, like in some of the most modern theaters, there were room enough between seats to let the restless ones emerge and enter without using neigh bors as carpets, the despised criminal who dares- to escape from his evening's Im prisonment would not be the object of general scorn. There la too much of the odium on the patron and none on the real author of the nuisance the architect who tries to put three rows of seats where one ought to be. Yet why fight such a windmill when there are real foes of theater-comfort abroad? Before punishing the already downtrodden man who seeks momentary relief from superheated auditoriums or a depressing play, or both, why not aim for bigger and better game? Squelch the speculator and expose the manager who secretly divides his loot with him. Be labor the practice of taking a dozen cur tain calls, for advertising effect, at tha expenso of a disgusted audience, which often does not want a single encore. Ex pel the boor In the next sea whose jab ber spoils what good there is In the en tertainment. Discourage the practice of pushing a play on the public that 13 written around a title or a "comic opera" whose chief assets are a brigand, a "song-hit" and a press agent. Scourge tho impresario who hires a gallery chorus to whistle a bad musical comedy Into popularity on the strength of a "coon" song that presently the hand organs shall play to death but oh! to such a long and lingering death! Kill all these nuisances before you hound from the theater the poor wretch who slinks miserably out between the act3 on his hands and knees amid Jeers and smothered swear-words for a mo ment's surcease from the sorrows of the modern theatergoer. America's Stock of Gold. Chicago Tribune. Ellis H. Roberts, Treasurer of the United States, says the world's stock of gold is approximately $5,500,000,000, of which this country holds $1,342,000,000, which is over one-fifth. Of the Ameri can gold the Treasury holds $700,000, 000. These figures seem . more impressive when one looks back to 1S96. The world's stock of gold then was roughly estimated at $4,280,000,000, of which the United States held $599,000,000, be ing a Httlo less than one-seventh. Ab solutely and relatively the gold hold ings of this country have increased greatly In eight years. In the Summer of 1896 there was In the Treasury $150, 000.000 In gold, or a little more than one-fifth of the present stock. It Is not to bo wondered at, with the Treasury and the banks overflowing with tho yellow metal, that occasional shipments to Europe, which would havo excited alarm eight or nine years ago, pass unnoticed now. The shipments would have to be large and continuous to attract attention in any quarter. As the gold production of this country Is $30,000,000 a year out of a total for the world of about $300,000,000, it can ex port considerably more than It Imports, and yet bo adding steadily to Its stock. The predictions of 1S96 that if the United States stuck to the single gold standard it could not get enough of that metal to do business with because of the world's struggle for It sound ridiculous now. when it holds $1,312, 000,000, or more than $16 per capita. Electricity. Washington Star. More wondrous than Aladdin's slave Who searched the mysteries of the earth. And all Its fairest treasures gave .To gratify his boyish' mirth As subtle as tho rainbow's gleam. Tet mighty as an earthquake's throe; Strange as the wizard's fondest dream. Most generous friend, most wicked foe Man's genius brings you to his feet And bends your service to bis will. Each night you blase across the street To advertise a patent pill NOTE ANDC0MMENT. Russia has lots of men but lacks a man. Parker's letter in four words: Keep the country bottled. We have no Vesuvius to spout over here, but we have campaign orators. Sherlock Holmes might drop around and try his hand on the Breuer murder case. So -Portland's park system is "more unique" than any other In America. Oh, Mr. Curtis! If Port Arthur's water supply is cut off the garrison will have to drink theirs without chasers. Speaking of fish stories, what a time Jonah must have had trying to get any one to believe him. Better hurry up the peace conference before the rest of the powers are drawn Into the Oriental scrap. Henry Gassaway Davi3, we learn, pro nounces his middle name Gozway. Later he will pronounce it Dennis. Great Britain probiibly regards the in demnity from Thibet as a good-will of fering from the spanked to the spanker. One good thing about a crown made of iron: King Peter doesn't wake up every morning with a start, thinking someone has swiped it. War news lately has been something like the training reports in the racing papers "Kuropatkin went two miles at half -speed this morning," and so forth. The party of six that is reported to have taken 6000 trout out of Beaver Creek In three weeks must contain some, good specimens of what an Eastern magazine calls "game hogs." Kuropatkin, emulating the small boy who stands In front of a window and de fies his opponent to hit him with, a brick, might camp on the sacred tombs at Muk den and defy tho Jap3 to shoot. One of the most charmingly alliterative names we have heard of for some time is "Roughhouse Ruth." which 13 borne with blushing modesty by a San Francisco girl in honor of her pugilistic abilities. It was certainly a shame for Policeman Taylor to hold up the two highwaymen before they held up him. He should re member how Japan was criticised for doing much the same thing last February. A novel kind of music hag been discov ered in Wisconsin. The Antlgo (Wis.) News is credited with this Item: Miss Maudo Aucutt gave a dinner to a num ber of her young friends on Monday evening. After partaking of the good things the evening was spent in social chat and vocal Instru mental music Talk about tough luck! What could beat this? "While Dade Peters was eat ing a sandwich Saturday." says the Pee Dee (Mo.) Patriot, "he bit his tongue badly. But what made Dade madder was to1 have a cur dog come along and eat the sandwich which he had dropped." Two men were recently sentenced to imprisonment In Durban for defrauding Zulus. The fakers told the guileless na tives that they (the natives) had snakes in their stomachs and ants in their heads, and obtained money on promising to rid the sufferers of their internal guests. It should not be concluded from this that the Zulu is a bigger fool than the Amer ican. Portland's street corners prove the opposite. A. pitiful story from Kansas. At Cor rey a young woman went to the postofflce. wearing a new hat, the pride of her life. Getting a letter, she stooped over the counter to read It and her hat came into contact with a cigar-lighter and began to blaze. A gallant Kansas youth snatched the burning hat from tho girl's head and stamped on It in the mud to put out the flames. Naturally this treatment "did for" the hat, and the fair owner now refuses to speak to the chivalrously dis posed young man who ruined it. A small boy entered an office in New York the other day very early in the morning, when the merchant was read ing the paper. The latter glanced up and went on reading, says the Kansas City Star. After three minutes the boy said "Excuse me, but I'm In a hurry." "What do you want?" he was asked. "A job." "You do? Well." snorted the man of business, "why are you in such a hurry?" "Got to hurry," replied the boy. "Deft school yesterday to go to work, and haven't struck anything yet. I can't waste time. If you've got nothing for me. say so, and I'll look elsewhere." "When can you come?" asked the sur prised merchant. "Don't have to come." he was told. "I'm hero now, and would have been to work before this If you'd said so." WEX. J. OUT OF THE GINGER JAR. "Didn't the new play go off all right, dear boy?" "Go off! Why. cerfnly. Dead off." Philadelphia Bulletin. First Scorcher (speaking of rapidly passing motorcyclist) Call that exerclse-f Second Scorcher No. I call It sitting In a draught. Punch. "I saw Henpeck today and ho said he was so homesick." "Why, he's at home. Isn't he?" "Yes. that's what he meant." Philadelphia Press. The Girl I gave the horse a piece of sugar, and he put his nose up to my face to kiss me. What do you think of that? The Man I think that's horse sense. Tonkers Statesman. Tramp Yessor, boss, at one time I had a big following. Boss How's that? Tramrj I uster lead the lockstep gang at Jollet Prison. Chicago Journal. Stubbs After all. this shooting at clay pig eons Isn't o exciting as firing at live ones. Twist No, there's little fun shooting at things that can't feel It when they are hit. Boston Transcript. "It Is getting to be a problem with me." said the noisy politician, "how to keep the wolf from the door." "Stand on the steps and make one of your stump speeches when you see him coming." Detroit Free Press. She Gracious me! How dreadfully the wind does howl tonight! He Yes; it prob ably has the toothache. She The tooth ache? Ho Yes. Have you never heard of the teeth of the gale? London Snap Shots. "I am filled with amazement," eaid the good deacon as he met his neighbor walking un steadily home. "Bet you the drinks you ain't half as full's I am, an' I ain't had nothing but old rye," was the genial reply. Cincin nati Commercial-Tribune. We have been asked If marriage Is a failure. We have not found it so. We don't know what our better half thinks of It. Our opinion Is that only when a man marries avsealekln wo man on a coonskln-income does le find mar riage a failure. Hardeman Free Press. "Mrs. Guechley remarked to me that It must be pleasant to be married to a clever man," eajd Proudly's wife. "And what did you say?" queried Proudly. "I told her. of course, that I didn't know; that I had only been married once." Philadelphia Catholic Standard. Mrs. Upmore How is your experiment of liv ing in the country suceeding? Mrs. Hyems It Isn't so bad as you might expect. It costs us more, of course, to have our butter and fresh vegetables brought out to us from the city, but we don't have to entertain nearly as much company. Scottish American.