THE MORNING OHEGQKIAN, THURSDAY, EEBBOAKY 23, 1905.
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PORTLAND, THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 1005.
f
TERMS OF PEACE.
The dispatches reporting that Em
peror William had suggested terms of
peace to the Czar, and that King Ed
ward and the Austrian Emperor were
exerting1 themselves in the same direc
tion, tell, if reliable, the best news that
has come for many months. It may
te assumed that these high and mighty
plenipotentiaries would not have set
themselves in motion without, first, a
common understanding, and, second, a
lair prospect that the suggestions they
made would be seriously considered.
And they surel5r must have been ad
vised that Japan would limit hpr de
mands so as to avoid insult to Russia's
pride.
Probable points of agreement are
stated. Corea and the Llao Tung Pen
insula, with Port Arthur, are to go to
Japan, Manchuria from Harbin east
ward to be restored to China. Vladivo
stok is to be declared a free and open
port, and the Eastern Chinese Railroad,
connecting the Siberian Railroad with
Vladivostok as its port, is to be neutral
ized. The knotty question or money in
demnity .to be -demanded by Japan from
Russia remains. This will tax the skill
of the. negotiators, and the prudence of
Japan. Plainly it re more a question of
principle than of amount The finan
cial benefits that Japan must gain from
a.freehand in Corea,andJn undisputed
trade supremacy in Manchuria, are evi
dently of Immense value. The progress
of the war has shown that the nation
in command of those Eastern seas is
queen of the situation. The foresight
of Japan in devoting the Chinese In
demnity she gained at the close of the
Chinese war of 1895 to buying, building
and equipping warships enough to hold
her own triumphantly has been abun
dantly justified. But she will still go
on -to strengthen herself with ships and
guns, and men. until the fear of being
crushed by the Pacific squadrons of
any European power has passed for
good. "We may depend on it that she
will accede to no settlement which fails
to secure her the means of making ef
fective this natural ambition.
Although Japan has dropped her cus
tomary veil of secrecy around Port Ar
thur, and no details of her work toward
raising the sunken Russian ships are
allowed to escape, yet from hints which
have appeared it Is plain that she is
busily, feverishly, occupied with thou
sands of men in getting the ships' afloat
once more. It will be a proud day for
her if and when the standard of the
Rising Sun flies at the masthead of the
Sevastopol and her sister ships.
Success here willgo. some way to influ
encing Japan lo keep her indemnity de
mands within moderate limits. Possi
bly some further solatium might be
found at Vladivostok, where, if the
port is opened as a purely commercial
city, Russia would have no use for war
ships, guns, military and naval stores
and equipments. A new day will dawn
when peace is signed, and the East for
the Easterns will be the watchword.
Putting color line and prejudice aside,
it is' hard to see where American com
mercial interests can be losers by the
substitution of Japan for Russia as the
dominant power. Traders with China
and Japan seem of one mind in uphold
ing the word and bargain -keeping of
the Chinese merchant as an example
worthy to be followed by the commer
cial classes of Japan. Very remarkable
is the gradual prevalence of "Western
ideas of commercial honesty in Japan,
as the nation adjusts Itself to new rela
tions. Prior to the revolution of 1868
traders in Japan, and merchants of all
classes, occupied a very low place in
the national pyramid. One of the re
sults of that stirring of all -the constit
uents of the nation in the boiling cald
ron of revolution was that, under ne
cessity's pressure, many members of
the fighting Samurai class were driven
into the life of trade and commerce.
The common axioms of fair dealing up
der which commerce flourishes were to
them largely ah unknown tongue. They
have, .however, shown themselves quick
to learn. One of the results of the mag
nificent bravery with which the Japan
ese soldiery of the regiments forming
the first active army have devoted
their lives to their Emperor and coun
try has been still farther to diminish
the numbers of the Samurai class. Un
der new conditions, after the war is
over, we look for similar effort by the
Japanese after commercial success to
that which they have shown for military-supremacy.
And they will be as
quick" to adopt the rules for success in
the one world as in the other. No na
tion will gain more largely than the
United States from these revised con
ditions of Oriental commerce, for no na
tion will be more ready to meet the
new Japan and the rejuvenated China
on equal terms.
It is a really awful thought that if
these -warring nations are as near to a
settlement it should yet be deferred
until a mass of men to the number of
half the population of Portland must
first be killed and wounded in the
Kuropatkln and Oyama armies, so that
the pride of one or the other nation
should not suffer. The history of the
war indicates that the chances are all
against such a Russian victory as
would compel Japan to peace. On the
other hand, no pitched battle has so far
ended in anything like a complete Rus
sian defeat The probability is that
one more huge fight would end like the
others, and the relations of the coun
tries towards final victory or defeat
remain unaltered. But the thousands
of dead and wounded warriors would
cry to high heaven as the victims of
national pride.
FATE IS IN TILE BALANCE.
The House and Senate committees of
the Washington Legislature have
reached the parting of the ways on the
railroad commission bill, and, as pre
dicted In our Olympla correspondence
more than a fortnight ago, their differ
ences seem irreconcilable. Olympia ad
vices were yesterday that the House
committee members had withdrawn
from the joint committee and had in
augurated a fight on their own account,
independent of the acts of the Senate.
They have apparently determined to
force matters with the rather drastic.
Dill returned by the subcommittee a
bill naturally very unsatisfactory to
the railroads. This bill, for reasons set
forth at the time of its appearance, is
an unfair and dangerous measure, and
can only result In forcing the railroads
deeper into state- politics than they
have ever been.
The desire of a number of well-meaning
but perhaps timid House members
to placate a constituency which,
through skillful political legerdemain,
has been taught to believe that a rail
road commission bill is all that is re
quired to place them on the high road
to prosperity. Is undoubtedly at bottom
of the attempt to shake off the amend
ments with which the railroads loaded
down the bill as soon as it emerged
from the hands of the subcommittee.
The subcommittee bill, if it becomes a
law, would virtually result In placing
the roads, regardless of their solvency,
in the hands of a receiver, and that re
ceiver, or rather board of receivers,
would be under exclusive control of the
Governor, who is given power to re
move at will without showlnsr cause.
JThe Senate members who sought to
temper the bill by curtailing the pow
ers of the" Governor and permitting the
railroads to have some voice In the
management of their property will
hardly recede from the stand they have
taken, and, in lieu of the Till now be
fore the house, they will probably sub
mit something on the lines of the sub
committee bill as originally amended
by them.
The railroads have some strong
friends in both houses, and they are
exceptionally strong in the Senate.
Naturally these men will Insist on a
bill that is not harmful to their friends.
The commission forces have in both
houses a number of men who will be
satisfied with nothing short of a bill
that virtually amounts to confiscation
of railroad property. Between these
two forces, holding the balance of
power, is a large number of members
who will not vote for a bill that Is un
fair to either side. They would like to
vote for a, commission bill, not because
they have much faith In the measure,
but in order that the political clamor
that- has been raised over the Issue
might be silenced. They wilLnot how
ever, assist a measure that would ren
der easy the upbuilding of a greater
political machine than any yet con
structed in -the state. For these rea
sons it is within the range of possibili
ties that the Evergreen State will be
obliged to worry along for another two
years without this fifth wheel on her
administrative wagon.
Unless the temper of the . two houses
has been misgauged, the House bill will
fail to pass the Senate, and a Senate
bill would die in the House. A her
maphrodite bill even partly satisfactory
to both factions would accomplish no
good and be a source of heavy expense
to the state. Industrial enterprise in
Washington will not suffer if the bill is
killed altogether: and, if railroad com
mission sentiment should continue to
disappear, as has been the case since
McBridelsm reached a climax, two
years hence would find the politicians
and placehunters alone In their glory
in shouting for a c6mmlssion.
This suggests the thought that the
railroads can contribute to removing
this specter by recognizing to the full
est extent that their interests are iden
tical with those of the people whom
they serve. A broad-gauge policy on
the part of all the railroads would play
sad havoc with, some of the plans of the
narrow-gauge politicians, whose stock
in trade is an ability to magnify the
differences between the railroads and
the people.
CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS.
The Saturday Evening Post raises a
great cry because half of the children
of school age are not in school. On the
face of it that looks bad for the educa
tional Interests of this country, but the
conditions .are not so appalling when
one stops to think what is meant by
"school age." In this class are includ
ed all the children between the ages of
four and twenty years, the period
within which a child is supposed to get
his common-school education. Now, as
a' matter of fact a child does not ordi
narily enter school until he is six, and
if he attends regularly he will complete
the course by the time he is fourteen,
or, in the country, where terms are
fchort by the time he is seventeen. Af
ter a boy or girl has completed the common-school
course it is not desirable
that he continue longer In school unless
he enters the High School. Working on
a farm or learning some useful trade is
the place for the great majority of the
boys after securing a common-school
education. The brighter ones may go
on and pursue the studies of the High
Sfchool and college, but the greater
number must earn their livings by the
work of their hands, and the sooner
they prepare for it after getting a com
mon-school education the better for
them.
If, now, we deduct from the total
number of children of school age who
are not in school those who are too
young and those who Have completed
the course, and the further number
who, by unfortunate circumstances, are
compelled to work, for the support of
themselves and relatives, we shall find
that the showing is not at all disheart
ening. Practically all the children who
ought' to be in school are in school, the
exceptions being chiefly in the large
cities and the thinly-settled rural dis
tricts where schools are far apart.
RED LIQUOR AND THE COLONEL.
Buffalo Bill has been long in the pub
lic eye.. At the head of his ululating
Indians he has cut a dashing figure
before thousands of his countrymen
and before most of the crowned 'eads
of Europe. He has given joy to myri
ads of small boys and furnished copy
to hundreds of reporters. But never in
his buekjumplng, bullseye-hltting, hair
flying, ride-for-llfe, daredevil, houp-la
career has the terror of the plains ex
cited more interest than In the exhibi
tion now going on In Wyoming. Buf
falo Bill Is suing for a divorce from his
wife of a lifetime. In the testimony of
various friends of Mrs. Cody's and of
the Colonel's the world is given
glimpses of the hero In undress: the
"human interest" side Is given H3 due
prominence.
Colonel Cody, who appeared in
the Cheyenne court in a buff New
market coat, a black slouch hat
with a brim in keeping with Western
generosity, a loosely-flttlng black suit
and a flowing cravat in which a royal
scarfpin glistened, accuses his wife of
subjecting him to great indignities, of
attempting to poison him, of insulting
his guests and of a few other like of
fenses. Mrs. Cody denies all these ac
cusations, and asserts that she had to
support the family by sewing, while the
Colonel caroused. It is upon the "ca
rousing" question that most of the tes
timony in the case has so far centered.
Mrs. Boyer. a witness for the plaintiff,
was asked if the Colonel was generally
drunk when at home. "Oh, he came
home sober quite a few times to my
knowledge," she replied. Another wit
ness for Buffalo Bill rejoiced in the
striking name of Pony Bob, and he
fixed the date of his first meeting with
the plaintiff as the month in which he
got his front teeth shot out by an In
jun's arrow. Pony Bob. an authority,
declared that it required an expert to
decide when the Colonel was drunk, for
he could stand a powerful lot of liquor.
As to the poison said to have been
given the Colonel by Mrs. Cody, It ap
pears that the defense holds the potion
was something Intended to "sober him
up," an attempt so much resented by
the scout that he "grabbed a 'bottle of
red liquor off the sideboard- and took a
long drink, sayipg that the only way to
get along with such a woman was to
get drunk and stay drunk." Banker
McNamara, of North Platte, testified
that whisky was the only poison which
had made the Colonel sick. The occa
sion was the great banquet at North
Platte in honor of the Wild West show
man's return. During the festivities
the guest of the evening asked for a
cup of coffee, but the observant waiter,
deciding that a bracer was needed, gave
the Colonel some whisky in a cup.
These.are trifles, however. Pony Bob
is satisfied that Buffalo Bill is a tem
perate man.
Another revelation of the trial that
will shock thousands who hold the
great flcout as their exemplar is that
Mrs. Cody used to call her husband
"Willie." Think of it the mighty head
of a mighty show, the peerless West
erner, the long-haired friend of .royalty,
to be called "Willie." It must be that
Buffalo Bill was a mistake and should
have been Buffaloed Bill.
WORK OF GRAND JURIES.
The people of Minnesota have voted
to abolish the grand jury system and
the Legislature will pass an act carry
ing the wish of the people into effect.
This is going farther than Oregon has
gone, and Is probably an extreme
change which time will prove to be un-
'wisei In this state we have abolished
grand juries for all ordinary occasions,
and the Prosecuting Attorney has the
power to present informations with all
the force and effect of indictments.
There is. however, a sort of unwritten
law that a grand jury shall be sum
moned at least once a year, and the
Circuit Court has authority to call a
grand jury at any time in the year.
While we have placed In the hands of
the Prosecuting Attorney much greater
power than he had before the new sys
tem was adopted, we have not abol
ished that inquisitorial body, which was
created for the protection of the rights
of the people. There is always the pos
sibility that a Prosecuting Attorney will
use his power to punish his enemies
or to protect his friends. When by
some mishap the people have been so
unfortunate as to place such a. man in
office, there remains the protection of
the Circuit Court, unless also cor
rupted. No Circuit Judge in Oregon
would refuse to call a grand jury if
such action- were requested by respon
sible citizens seeking to promote jus
tice. A short time ago in this city there
was a great outcry against the grand
jury system because one fool "jury in
dicted an aged and respected citizen
whom public opinion did not condemn.
The agitation was so great for a time
that a bill was introduced in the Legis
lature requiring that whenever a grand
Jury undertakes to investigate a charge
the man whose acts are being inquired
into must be given a chance to appear
and defend himself. The passage of
such a measure would have been the
height of folly, and the judiciary com
mittee promptly killed the bill with an
adverse report Had the bill become
law, no forgery, burglary, rape or even
murder could be Investigated unless the
suspected person were given notice, and
thereby he might be- enabled to escape,
if not already in custody.
Though there are occasionally excep
tions to the rule, it may be generally
said that when five out of seven men on
a grand jury agree to indict a man
there is reasonable ground for their
action. The grand jury system has its
faults as well as its merits, but If the
people have due regard for their own
welfare they will not consent to Its
abolition. A possible grand jury may
exert a beneficial Influence upon the
acts of an unscrupulous Prosecuting
Attorney.
Something appears to have been the
matter with the Good Government
movement in Philadelphia. The reform
forces organized to flght the Republi
can machine. They made a terrific on
slaught on -Mayor Weaver and the Di
rector of Public Safety, who looks after
the red-light district They alleged an
immense number of damaging things,
and proved some of them. They
showed conclusively that there is a col
lusive understanding between the Re
publican machine and the Powers of
Vice. Gambling flourishes, dives are
run without regulation, there is a regu
lar organization for procuring young
women for disorderly houses, the "ca
det" system is winked at and coloniza
tion and registration of illegal voters
go on wholesale. The city election for
minor officers occurred Wednesday. The
Republican plurality was something
like 185,000. The Republicans elected
ten magistrates and the Democrats
Ave. The result would seem to prove
that Philadelphia is "corrupt but con
tented." Or perhaps the voters thought
the reformers could do no better. Or
possibly conditions are not so bad as
described. Or perhaps the machine had
the election machinery so perfectly
under control that it could make its
majority as great or small as it chose.
Royal immorality has left a good
many dark smudges on the family
escutcheons In Europe, and so long as
the present system of marriage contin
ues we may expect periodical scandals
in high life. London advices report
that Kaiser Wilhelm Is delighted over
the prospect of a marriage between his
daughter. Princess Victoria of Prussia,
and King AJphonso, of Spain. In this
country every fatherly instinct would
rebel at the mere mention of passing a
pure young girl over to the keeping of
such a lecherous young rake as AJ
phonso has proved himself to be. But
Wilhelm is pleased. It is, of course,
merely a sale of his flesh and blood for
a little more power, and the Princess,
like a dutiful daughter, will go to her
fate without a murmur. The victim
will not be of age for two years, and
this the cable tells us is, in the King's
opinion, an advantage, as he Is in no
hurry to marry. This is strange when
it is considered that nothing In his past
life, or in that of his ancestors, war
rants the belief that the marriage vows
will prevent him following his natural
inclination to go to the devil with a
rush.
Lamb tells of an old lady who in time
of trouble found, great comfort In the
mere repetition of the word "Mesopota
mia." The same rolling word heads
one of the latest Consular reports. Is
sued by the Department of Labor and
Commerce, Consul Ravndal telling of
the reclamation of the immemorial
country which has suppof ted the people
of four empires since the dawn of his
tory. Irrigation on modern methods Is
expected to work wonders, and the
whirr of American agricultural ma
chinery will soon be heard all over
Mesopotamia. Of railroad construction.
Consul Ravndal says that the Bagdad
line will run through one of the mo3t
interesting countries In the world. "The
railway will traverse the heart of Asia
Minor," he continues, "and will open
up the most ancient of the Bible lands,
seeing that it will set the locomotive
rolling all through the home countries
of Abraham and his patriarchal prede
cessors." The shriek of the whistle
will be heard In Ur of the Chaldees and
across the wastes once ruled by Nebu
chadnezzar. The son of an Okanogan squaw re
cently killed the white man who had
married his mother in order to secure
her allotment ot,Jand on the Colville
reservation. The" despicable and de
graded creature was brutally abusing
the Indian's mother when he put a
summary stop to the proceedings by a
well-directed blow that justified his
title to manliness. If there Is a human
creature whom it Is not murder to kill
it is the "squaw man" of the Indian
reservation, who lives only to create
discord among the Indians, steal their
lands and incidentally Inflict the curse
of existence upon halfbreed children.
The Indian In this case rode 100 miles
over a rough country In bitterly In
clement weather to give himself up to
justice. Justice will be subserved by
acquitting him on preliminary exam
ination and sending him back to his
mother's farm on the Okanogan River.
The Washington Legislature has
passed a law providing for the payment
of road taxes in cash. This is another
evidence of .the onward march of civ
ilization and a savage blow at a time
honored diversion which added to the
joys of life In the country. No more
will the patriotic citizen meet his fellow-man
on the highway under the
guise of working out the road tax, but
In reality for the purpose of relaxation
and yarn-spinning. Of course the
roads may show some improvement
under the new law. but the rural road
makers will keenly miss the opportu
nity of combining the business of re
ducing their taxes with the pleasure of
holding protracted social sessions on
the highway with their neighbors.
John H. Piatt, the doddering old Idiot
who gave Hannah Ellas, a negress,
$6So,000 and then sued for recovery ofr
the money, will fall to get "dem pres
ents back." The court has decided that
the money was secured without Illegal
pressure. This verdict will meet with
universal approval. The loss of the
money Involved is insufficient punish
ment for a lecherous old scalawag who
thus transgresses all laws of morallty
and decency, and it helps to make the
example stick, now that he has parted
with both money and reputation. Fear
of exposure is a strong preventive
against crime, and the experience of
this ancient rake may serve as a warn
ing to others of his kind.
A manuscript poem by Edgar Allan
Poe was sold at auction In New Tork
this week for 51000. This is a very sat
isfactory figure for poetry, but before
flooding the market with a new supply
lntending makers of verse should re
member that the price was not obtain
able until many years after the au
thor's death. Still, they might some
how be encouraged to continue to court
Pegasus if they will place their poems
on the market only long after their
demise.
Great is diplomacy. It is reported
that Russia -will ask France to ask
Britain to ask Japan to tell Britain to
tell France to tell Russia what terms
Japan would accept if Russia passed
the word along the line that she wanted
peace.
In the light of recent developments it
is well enough for the Senate to SDecIfv
just what "Senatorial prerogatives" It
demands that the resident shall let
alone.
Addicks has little money left, and his
political followers are - leaving . him.
Possibly a., mere coincidence.
, NOTE. AND COMMENT.
Been mentioned for Mayor?
If George Washington had come to life
yesterday he would have been anxious to
learn what sort of an unknown country
was this Oregon, where his birthday was
being celebrated.
Irrlgon now has a citizen bearing with
out reproach the grand old name of
Smith, and the Irrigator sounds like the
name of a saloon, but it's a paper re
joices greatly In the acquisition. Why a
Smith should be necessary to the happi
ness of a town Is not quite clear; isn't
Jones or Johnson good enough?
The Illustrated Sporting News this week
gives several interesting photographs of
fencing scenes. Two Radcliffe girls are
shown In one picture, and they are wear
ing very natty shoes with high heel3.
ext we expect to find fencing on stilts
has become popular.
To "Chadwick" a bank was a good
phrase once, but it has already been
much abbreviated. The New York Sun
heads a swindling story with "Casslcs a
Bank."
All this adulation of Luther Burbank is
sickening to a practical man. Of what
use Is a fadeless flower or a coreless ap
ple? Such things will only damage the
growers, for when everyone has a fade
less flower, no more will ever be wanted.
Right here in Oregon better work is be
ing done. John Hayduck, of Clackamas,
doesn't call himself the "Wizard of the
Vegetable World," but his experiments
have produced results of practical value.
Mr. Hayduck having observed the man
ner In which farmers lose many apples
through theft went to work on a plan to
prevent such loss In future, and by cross
ing his apple-trees with dogwood has ob
tained an orchard of trees with a deep,
hoarse bark which scares away robbers.
By crossing eggplant with chickweed" Mr.
Hayduck has assured a never-failing sup
ply of broilers. At present Mr. Hayduck
is experimenting with an incubator In
tended to hatch; out gooseberries.
A speaker is reported by the North
western Miller as declaring that "Health
foods, like the wart on a lady's nose, have
no valid reason for existence."
What this country needs is stricter im
migration laws with reference to statues.
Here is France sending us a statue of
Washington and Germany one of Fred
erick. There are enougb specimens of
home industry in this line without mak
ing this country the dumping ground of
Europe's misfits. An undesirable alien
dies off sooner, or later, but an undesir
able statue hangs on for generations, de
spite the well-meant efforts of occasional
patriots to blow it up with dynamite.
Chief Hunt very Justly says that sinco
no saloons are open after 1 A. M., it would
be impossible for him to have been in
side1 one after that hour.
So Old Man Piatt cannot recover his
56S5.O0O from the negress. Hannah Ellas.
For once both law and public opinion
unite in saying, "Serve him blobmln' well
right."
According to the Toklo correspondent
of the London Daily Telegraph, Admiral
Kamimura and his squadron are "in the
vicinity of the Indian Ocean." A nice,
definite locality that recalls Stevenson's
chart to Samoa as "the first turning on
the left after leaving San Francisco."
Seven indictments have been returned
against Mrs. Chadwick. She. must feel
quite senatorial.
It must be mighty unpleasant to be sued
for breach of promise by a woman from
whom one had previously been divorced.
It opens up the possibility of having to
pay alimony and also damages awarded
by a sympathetic jury in the second case.
Should such a consummation be reached
In the case now pending, Portland will
probably have established a record of her
own in this line. Courts arc getting re
markably expert in estimating the dollars
and cents damage done trusting hearts
by faithless wooers and husbands.
A Chicago woman who was injured by
a too vigorous hug sped for $5000 dam
ages. The jury, probably considering the
fun she had before her ribs gave way,
brought in a verdict for 51.
One thousand dollars has just been paid
for the manuscript of Poe's poem,"Ula
lume." Seven cirlta claimed blind Homer, dead.
Through which the living Homer be?sd his
bread.
The quotation -may not be made quite
accurately, but there's enough of it to
retain the sense.
Hoch doesn't like jail cooking. No won
der, after his experiences with home
cooking.
A member of the original "Florodora"
sextette is "hashing" In Seattle. While
the lamp holds out to burn, the giddiest
girlie may return.
Wnx. J.
Jottings From New York.
Chicago Journal.
NEW TORK, Feb. 10. Mr. and Mrs.
Bert Whistlelng are rejoicing in the
arrival of a bouncing baby boy at
their home, and not, as we reported
last week, .an 11 -pound girl.
Ye correspondent goes to the depot
to meet every train, but finds it im
possible to record the names of all the
comers and goers: suffice it to say a
good many are coming and going now
adays all the time, for there are cut
rates on all the railroads.
They are talking of building a trol
ley road in Jersey City. Good for
Skeeterville!
A murder has Just been reported in
Mulberry Bend, too late for this batch
of Items. Particulars in the next is
sue. Hired girls are scarce even at 53 a
week. 'TIs said that quite a number
of them have given up housework and
taken positions on the stage. Wc no
tice an Improvement In a number of
the plays that are now running here.
Ico harvest Is nearly over. Ono firm
has put up 100 tons. Guess they think
there Is going to be a hot time In this
old town next Summer.
Mr. Devery, who used to bf City
Marshal. Is again talked of for Mayor.
The boys long for the good old days.
The Herald has hired a new reporter
and Is taking the whole Associated
Press report. It is getting to be a big
paper.
Quite a number were In from Stam
ford yesterday. We couldn't get all
the names, but we noticed old Mr. Yale
among thft number. He says Grandma
Yale is quite poorly.
Hans Anderson celebrated -his 31st
birthday yesterday. Quite a number
were at his house, and all report that
a fine time was had. Many returns of
the day. Hans.
Willie 'White is quite sick with the
measles. Several other children on
Lexington avenue are suffering from
the same complaint, and there is a
good deal of croup In town.
Ed Sanderson has accepted a position
as fireman on the New- York Centrall
Ed has many friends in this town, who
wish him success. MORE ANON.
GRABBING THE UNITED STATES
How the Government Has Been DempoIIed of Vast Arena of Timber
Land Under Foolish and Impotent Law?.
(Arthur Ruhl In Collier's Weekly.)
S MOUNTAINEER went into the great
forest of Eastern Oregon in 1902 and
acquired title to a 160-acre timber claim.
The timber alone was worth at least 513
an acre. Under the timber-and-stone act
this man got the tract of land, timber
and all, by the mere payment to the
Government of 52.50 an acre. This did
not satisfy him. He wanted more timber,
or rather the lumber company that em
ployed him as a "dummy" did. As he
was entitled to but 160 acres under the
timber-and-stone act, he took up 160 more
acres, adjoining the first tract, under the
homestead law. To do this he was obliged
to swear that the second tract was more
valuable for farming purposes than for
its timber, that he resided and intended
to reside on his "farm" for the purpose
of cultivating crops; that he was, in fact,
a bona fide fanner. He was compelled,
of course, to He. The land was on the
top of a mountain, covered with deep
snow until June, making it Impossible to
cultivate anything but timothy and a few
hardy vegetables, even if the land was
cleared. This man never lived on the
land and never intended to do so. The
only pretence he made of complying with
any part of the law was- to pile together
a few logs into a rough shack, which he
called a house. In plain words, he and
his witnesses were guilty of perjury, of
conspiracy to defraud the United States
Government, and what he actually did
was to steal 160 acres of valuable land
from his benevolent country.
More than 3,000,000 of acres of timber
land, the greater part of it the magnifi
cent timber land of the Northwest, has
been practically given away by the Gov
ernment In the past two years. Prob
ably nine-tenths of this was grabbed
either by actual fraud or by violating
the spirit of an absurd and impotent law.
There is nothing particularly new in this
except that the land grabbed has been
particularly valuable, the destruction of
timber particularly ruthless. Respectable
citizens have always thought it proper
to cheat the Government. Were It not
that such men as Senator Mitchell, Con
gressman Binger Hermann, Surveyor
General Meldrum of Oregon, and Freder
ick Hyde. President of the San Francisco
School Board, are under Indictment the
blase East would not even now take any
Interest The West takes land-grabbing
for granted. The whole history of our
public lands is one of ruthless grabbing,
and still more of Idiotic laws and farci
cal attempts to enforce them. The man
ner In which the Government has given
away its public lands makes the dealings
of Mrs. Chadwick's bankers look like the
apex of conservative and astute finance.
The game of exchanging poor land of
tho forest reserves for good land outside
was developed to the point of fine art
in the operations of the Benson and
Hyde ring of San Francisco, the lead
ing spirits of which are now under in
dictment. They have fought bringing the
case to trial through every court, and
been defeated lc all, until they are driven
at last to the United States Supreme
Court, where their case is soon to bo
heard. Frederick A. Hyde, the principal
defendant, is president of the Board of
Education in San Francisco, and has been
a well-known citizen of that city for
the past SO years. John A. Benson, his
partner, is a wealthy man. who was
indicted in another lot of land frauds,
some years ago, but escaped conviction.
Diamond, a well-known attorney, their
lawyer; one Joost H. Schneider, of Tuc
son. Arizona, their practical man In the
field, and several Implicated with them,
are also under indictment Hyde and
Benson, with the assistance of Diamond
and Schneider, it is alleged, acquired
300,000 acres of forest reserve land in
California and Oregon, by the use of
dummy settlera, by employing fictitious
names, and securing the signatures of
bootblacks, laborers and other unsuspect
ing persons to applications and affidavits,
and by manipulating persons in the Land
Office. Their interest In the land was
purely speculative. Having obtained it
they exchanged their scrip for better
land outside of the forest reserves. It
has been asserted by the prosecution that
not a single acre of their enormous hold
ings was honestly obtained.
Senator Mitchell and Congressman Her
mann, whose indictment has fluttered a
bit the bored indifference of the East
to the land frauds, are accused of hav
ing accepted bribes to secure the Issu
ance of patents to land. Senator Mitchell
Is TO years old, his reputation In Oregon
and in the Senate has been good, and
whether guilty or not of the specific
charge brought against him. his Individ
ual role Is of trifling importance In com
parison with the vast business of land
frauds itself. Binger Hermann, however,
was Commissioner of the Land Office for
six years. He was appointed by Presi
dent McKinley In 1S37, and served until
February. 1003. when, under the pressure
of considerable gossip, ho resigned, hav
ing served, as he demuroly remarks in
his Congressional biography, "a longer
continuous period as commissioner than
any of his predecessors except two."
Having resigned, he ran for Congress
NO INCREASE OF INSANITY.
More of It Found in Small Communi
ties Than In Large Cities.
New York Herald.
Is Insanity on the Increase? Statistics
Indicate that It Is. The opinion seems to
prevail that this increase Is due to the
fact that registration is compulsory and
that more insane are cared for in asylums
today than In former years. .Most cases
of Insanity are hereditary. This Is ad
mitted by all experts. This startling fact
leads to a ramification of arguments for
a better marriage law. for a broader edu
cation on the duties and responsibilities
of the marriage state, for a more scien
tific provision for the future of the race.
The statement which many make that
tho nervous strain, the rush, the noise,
the confusion of city life, are great causes
of Insanity is contradicted, and the state
ment is made that there Is more Insanity
among the dwellers in small communi
ties than In large cities.
Consangulnous marriages bear the bur
den of much of the Insanity in our prov
incial towns, and are responsible for the
increasing number of idiots and imbeciles.
Excessive immigration is another potent
factor in the Increase of insanity, espe
cially In our crowded seaport towns and
cities.
The immigrant landing on American
soil Is loath to go out Into the great
open Western prairies and there build
himsolf a home in a sanitary environ
ment He prefers to remain huddled in
tho cities, where his already weak intel
lect falls easy prey to a hereditary taint
of insanity In his blood.
One brain expert makes the statement
that there are fewer cases of insanity
among the Russian Jews than among any
other race of Immigrants coming to these i
shores. He says, as a people, they are
immune to all kinds of hardships and de
privations, and that the brain, becoming
In a measure torpid, is a l?.3 fertile field
for insanity than that of the hardier
races.
Another statistical statement is rather
startling to the preconceived idea that
"when a man marries his troubles begin."
Tliore are fewer cases of Insanity among
married men than among single men. the
ratio being one to three. Statistics as to
the actual number of insane of foreign
birth in the hospitals, taking as an aver
age years 1902-3. also furnish some aston
ishing facts: Of Irish. S74: Germans. 618;
Russians. 237: English, 155; Italians, 16S;
Austrlans. 14S. Inthe last sixteen years
only eleven Japanese have been received
In New York Institutions for the insane.
to "vindicate" himself, and the Republi
can machine of Oregon, apparently to
show Western disapproval of the agita
tion against land frauds, obediently
elected him. In the Senate, recently Sen
ator Mitchell denied with tears that
he was guilty. Mr. Hermann made sim
ilarly strenuous denials without the tears.
As Commissioner of the Land Office
it was Hermann's duty to pass upon tv-
validity of claims. As a citizen of Ore
gon it was naturally his pleasure, ar.d
that of Senator Mitchell, to expedite the
claims of his own friends and fellow
citizens. The Government alleges that
this process of expediting reached th
point of bribery. The investigation which
resulted in their indictment after those
who accuse them of bribery had been
convicted, shows hundreds, perhaps thou
sands, of Oregon men were implicated
in frauds, the chief beneficiaries of which
were the lumber kings of Minnesota.
Michigan. Wisconsin, and other Central
Western States. One of the agents of
these lumber kings is said to have ob
tained 300,000 acres of timber land for
his principals within the last three years.
The case which was immediately Instru
mental in bringing about the indictment
or Mitchell and Hermann was that in
which the principal was S. A. D. Puter.
Puter and his accomplices filed a dozen
homestead claims, covering mountain
lands in the Cascade Forest Reserve,
none of the land being cultivable. Some
was covered with snow all the year
round, and much of it was so precipi
tous that nothing but a Rocky Mountain
goat could find footing thereon. Puter
alleges that after the claim had been,
held up for some time, he paid Mitchell
two thousand dollars, and that the next
day Hermann told him that he "thought
the matter could be fixed up." Three
days later, he alleges, patents were is
sued. Two years ago the President called the
attention of Congress, in the strongest
possible terms, to the necessity of doing
something to stop the depredations on.
public lands under the timber-and-stone
act. The Secretary of the Interior said,
at that time. In his annual report: "The
timber-and-stone act will, if not repealed
or radically amended, result ultimately
In the complete destruction of the timber
on the unappropriated and unreserved,
public lands." President Roosevelt
and his Secretary of the Interior re
Iterated their demands In 1903, and in
the last session of Congress the
Senate actually passed a bill repealing
this ridiculous law. The House pigeon
holed the bill, and at this writing it Is
still lying In that committee. In spite of
the President's earnest efforts to have
something done and In spite of the in
dictments which the Oregon grand Jury
continues to bring In.
In the two years that have expired sinco
the President called the attention of Con
gress to the timber-and-stone law. there
have been located under it over three
million acres of timber land, of
which the timber Itself, aside from
the land, was worth. anywhere
from 515 to 5100 an acre. In other words,
the Government has thrown away 570,000,
000 of the people's money in "the last two
years. If. as one competent observer hasr
remarked, some Ingenious person had
succeeded In tunneling under the United
States Treasury and was carrying oft?
nearly 5100,000 a day. people might wake
up to the fact that the time had come
for action.
As this is being written, the report of
the special Public Lands Commission, ap
pointed by President Roosevelt, is prac
tically finished. As to what specific rec
ommendations the committee will make
it la, of course. Impossible to state. They
will favor, however, the repeal of th
timber-and-stone act, and such amend
ments to the desert land and homestead
acts as shall make these laws "adapted to
the present conditions. The findings of
the Oregon grand jury, which Investi
gated the land frauds, are interesting in
this connection. These men, a number
of whom were farmers and stockmen, de
scribed the commutation clause of tho
homestead law as "a prolific source of
crime, whereby perjury and subornation
of perjury have become fine arts." The
desert land law, said they, had been "used
chiefly for the purpose of securing large
tracts for grazing purposes, and- not for
the reclamation of land for agricultural
purposes. It Is," said the grand jury,
"more of a burlesque than the late tim
ber culture law. The lieu land law." they
continued, "whereby worthless land with
in forest reserves may bo exchanged, acre
for acre, for the most valuable forest
lands outside, In such a flagrant viola
tion of the equities as to be indefensible
by any rule of justice." The Jurymen
recommended that a commission be ap
pointed carefully to classify all lands ac
cording to their natural resources and
value: that the commutation feature of
the homestead law be repealed, that lands
valuable for grazing be leased to actual
residents of a locality for a nominal rent
al, and that lands available for timber
be retained by the Government In Its
possession forever, to be leased to the
people under such laws and regulations
as Congress might from time to time en
act, for the salo and removal of ma
tured timber.
F0DR-CENT FARE TEST FAILS.
Cleveland Electric Line's Second Ex
periment Is Unsatisfactory.
Chicago Chronicle.
CLEVELAND. O. The experiment of
the Cleveland Electric Railway Com
pany with a 4-ccnt cash fare without a
transfer was ended at midnight Sun
Jay, and Monday the regular 5-cenfc
fare with transfer was resumed. The
president, Horace E. Andrews, said
Sunday that the test has been carried
on long enough to prove that the com
pany could not afford to carry passen
gers for a further continuance of the
test.
The 4-cent fare trial is understood
to have caused a loss approximating
25 per cent of the company's earnings,
based on a 5-ccnt fare.
The 4-cent fare experiment is the
second of the kind within three weeks
which street car patrons of this city
have undergone.
A two-weeks trial of a 3-cent fare
with a two-mile zone ended a week ag.)
with dissatisfaction general. The
4-cent fare for a full ride, but with no
transfer, was put on for one week, and
has given better satisfaction so far as
a large proportion of the passengers
were concerned, bnt President An
drews statement shows that it was
not satisfactory to the company. Tho
experiments are understood to be pre
liminary to a general extension of
franchises to tho Cleveland Electric
Railway Company1 when Its present
grants expire.
No statement has been given out as
to the actual result of the two-wocks
3-cent fare trial, and none probably
will be until the data for the 4-cent
fare experiment are also ready for
publication.
- Society Take3 to the Auction Fad.
New York American.
Society is developing the auction fad,
which 1.- so prevalent in England. Fol
lowing closo upon the sale of Mrs. Frrd
Nellson's household effects at 100 Fifth
avenue, where she has dispensed hospital
ity for so many years, comes the an
nouncement of the disposal by auction of
the furniture and appointments of Jamos
Henry Smith, former "home at 60 Wist
Fifty-second street, for which, sine ld3
acquisition of the late William C. Whit
ney's house on Fifth avenue, h.c has r.j
further use. The house with its. contents
has been thrown open for exhibition to
prospective buyers.