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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1905)
THE OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1905. ' ted at the Postoffica at Portland. Or., as second-class matter. SUBSCKIPXIOK RATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. ITtv M!l or 'ET'nresfl.l lllw anil Ritnriiiv rvor VPUr . . .19.00 Elly and Sunday. lx months K.00 wr ana aunaay. tnree monins illv nnd Cimilov TiAr month. ......... .85 Illy without Sunday, per year ". flly without Sunaay, six xnonins Ily without Sunday, three months... 1.85 lly without Sunday, per month .63 Inday, par year, .............. pday. six months. ...... ............. 1.00 Inday, three months -CO Uly without Sunday, per week. .13 Jy. per week. Sunaay inciuaea THE WEEKLY OREGONIAN. (Issued Every Thursday.) eekly. per year... ............ ....... i.su eekly. six months...... sekiy. three montns - IOW TO REMIT Send postofnee money Ider, express order or personal check on fur local bank. Stamps, cola or currency at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. fi. n. iwUirith Knocial Arency New prk, rooms 43-50 Tribune bulldlnc. Chl- 5sq. rooms 510-512 xnoune duwuidk. :F. KEPT ON SALE. Icaco Auditorium Annex, Postornce Co.. 17S Dearborn street. Kias, Tex. Globe News Depot. 260 Main lreeL 8A Antonio, Tex. Louis Book and Cigar 6,821 East Houston street. Denver Julius Black. Hamilton & Kend di. $08-912 Seventeenth street; Harry D. tt. 1563 Broadway: Pratt Book Store. 1214 ihefenth street. Colorado Springs, Colo Howard H. BelL !; Moines. Ia. Muses Jacobs. 309 Tilth ItreeL Goldfield, v. C. ilalone. Kansas City, Mo Rlcksccker Clear Co., lnth and Walnut. Los Anseles Harry Srapkln; B. E. Amos. 14 West Seventh street; Dlllard News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanauch. 50 South 'hlrd; L. BeEclsburger, 217 First avenue :outh. i Cleveland. Oi James Pusbaw, 307 Superior r-fet. Ifew Xork City L. Jones & Co.. Aator fqse. Atlantic City, N. J 11 Taylor, 207 North Wmor. eve. . OaJJand, CaL W. H. Johnston, l"ourteenui fend Franklin streets. Orden F. R. Godard and Meyers & Har op. D L. Boyle. Omaha. Barlcalow Bros., 1612 Farnam: blRgeath Stationery Co., 130S Farnam; 246 Boutb 14th; McLaughlin & Holtx, 1515 Far Lam. Sacramento, CaL Sacramento News Co., H20 K street. Salt Lake Salt Lalce News Co.. 77 West Eecond street South; National News Agency. Yellowhtone Park, Wyo. Canyon Hotel, Long- Beach B. E. Amos. San Francisco J. K Cooper & Co., T40 aturket street; Goldsmith Bros., 236 Sutter ind Hotel St. Francis News Stand: L. E. Lee. Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. PlUfe. 1008 Market; Frank Scott. SO Ellis; N. IVnttt'ey Movable' NWs Stand, corner Mar ket and Xcwrneyt8treets;, Foster & Orear, Ferry News Stand. St. Louk, Mo. E. T. Jett Book & News Company, 806 Olive street. Washington, D. C P. D. Morrison. 2132 Pennsylvania avenue. IPORTLAND, SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1003. THE PERFECT POLICY-HOLDER. The action of those policy-holders In the Equitable Life who have petitioned the Federal Court for a receiver and an accounting comes little short of insan- Ity. They may be merely victims of ig norant panic; they may be tools of .some designing genius of finance who Is plan ning to ruin a great property and en rich himself from the wreck. In cither case they are Invoking calamity upon themselves g'd others. It is a sad eTiaraets1sa& of folly that it Is con tagious. "What these policy-holders ttiai'e attempted others are likely to at tempt; their blow at the Equitable will be imitated, should it succeed, by the weakminded or the knavish against other companies and with fair chances of destroying them all. The Equitable company is not insolvent; It is so far from insolvent that the epithet is ludi crous. An Insolvent has not the means to pay his debts. The Equitable has oeen embarrassed with too much money, not with too little. Whoever drew up the petition for a receiver has Cost, through panic or knavery, .his sense of what words mean. The business of life Insurance is more dependent than any other upon the un stable sentlmerjts and resolutions of -Treat masses of people. Much time, much: argument and much money have been spent to establish in the mind of the common man something like a knowledge of its benefits and something Like confidence in Its results. No form bf investment has suffered so much from fraud In the past; but none is Boupder, none brings such abundant hnd timely returns to the Investor when the business is conducted scientifically jind honestly. A blow to life Insurance Is a menace to those habits of persever ing economy upon which civilization Is based. It Is useless to deny that the scandals In the management of the Equitable have caused a general unrest lind Joss of confidence among investors Bn life insurance, no matter what com panies carry their policies. To appoint k receive for the Equitable would mag nify this unrest to a panic. Unless facts transpire which nobody E reams of now, the Federal Court will, f course, refuse to appoint a receiver; nd it is unlikely in the extreme that there is much more to reveal about the tnalfeasance in the management of the Equitable Company. Were secrets of liny consequence still hidden, which ac cident or intent might uncover. Gover nor Hlgglns would never have allowed I he New York Legislature to appoint an investigating committee. No well-in formed person has the least confidence n the purpose of the ability of this '.ommlttee Its members are ignorant f the elements of the problems which hey are supposed, to be going to attack, nit that is not the worst of the matter. They are from the Legislature of New pork, a body which has just acquitted he notorious Judge Hooker in shame ess 'disregard of evidence and contempt or public opinion. This Legislature nay be too dull to perceive the dlstinc lon between right and wrong, or It nay despise the distinction; in either rase, to ask for public confidence in a ommlttee of its choosing to Investigate natters like the Equitable frauds, vhere high finance and subterranean politics are both Involved, Is a singular iisplay of impudence. The object of his committee may be to whitewash ertain politicians. It may be to check nate Mr. Jerome; but beyond question t Is a serious menace, to the policy holders of the Equitable Society. En lightened, opinion in New York has rteadily opposed Its appointment. The f ountry will watch its course with mis givings which will not be lessened by he consideration that Paul Morton is resident of the society. None denies Mr. Morton's distin guished ability as an executive officer, ut he has not the confidence of the lerlcan people. Millionu of his coun- rymen today believe that Mr. Morton jught to be standing trial for breach of Federal statute. They may be yrongt ut their opinion k a it is, and to the fortunes of an Insurance company opin ion means everything. Investors would prefer somewhat less ability in the president of the Equitable and a more pronounced character for resolute obe dience to the law, if both qualities could not be fouua united in their' highest degree in the same man. This mas sound Hke cant, but beyond all question It Is a, fair statement, of the present trend of public opinion. The people simply will not trust a man with Mr. Moxton's record, no matter who vouches for him or what his abilities may be; J and It Is useless to ask them to do so. 'It is best to state the plain truth about these matters, for nothing else will re store the waning confidence of the pub lic in life insurance Investments. And when all these disagreeable facts are admitted. It still remains that no policy holder in the Equitable Society has any thing to fear except from .his own folly. A reasonable degree of patience, a. calm and resolute reliance upon the logic of facts, are all that the circumstances re quire. Resort to the courts is both ab surd and dangerous. WHEAT PLENTIFUL. TONNAGE SCARCE. The farmers of Oregon, Washington and Idaho are now harvesting what promises to be the largest wheat crop in the history of the Pacific Northwest As no threshing returns are yet availa ble on Spring-sown grain, it is impossi ble to make anything like an accurate estimate at this time; but, roughly speaking, there appears to be a crop of from 45,000,000 to 50,000,000 bushels In the three states. By Including the carry over from last season. It is reasonably certain that there are 50,000.000 bushels of the cereal to be taken care of. Cali fornia is already making heavy de mands on the comparatively scanty supplj of old-crop wheat, and is also making liberal arrangements for faking an unusually large amount of the new crop. But the California demand at its best can hardly be expected to absorb more than 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 bushels of wheat in the current season. Feed, seed and home consumption will take care of about 11,000,000 bushels, leaving approximately 34,000,000 bushels available for" shipment foreign or East by rail. At this time there Is nothing in the situation to Indicate that the East ern business will this year attain pro portions of consequence. There will be the usual demand for some of our strong wheats for cereal food purposes, but, unless there should be a marked Improvement in prices in the East, or a further decline in Europe, our market for something over 30,000,000. bushels of wheat must again be found across the sea. The prospective Oriental business Is more difficult to estimate than usual on account of the disturbed conditions of American trade across the Pacific. Under the circumstances it would hard ly seem safe to figure on any increase over the shipments of last season. In wheat measure, the Oriental flour ship ments last year required about 10,000. 000 bushels. If these figures are correct, and they are the best that can be obtained sx early in the season, there will be about 20,000,000 bushels of actual wheat for which the Portland and Puget Sound exporters must supply tonnage between now and next season. Taking the average-sized gralncorrler of the sailing fleet. It will require nearly 200 ships to move this surplus. Thus far, the en route lisC together with the list of -easels in port, ainounts to but forty-four vessels about one-fifth the number that will be needed to move the sur plus. Even this small fleet is spread out over such an 'extended period that some of the vessels cannot noselbly reach here before January, 190G. If there is anything like a normal movement- of wheat to market within the next six months, it will be Impossible to secure a sufficient number of sailing ships to move the wheat, and It will be come necessary to charter steamers to carry It away. Steam tonnage cannot be secured ex cept at much hicher rates than are exacted for sail tonnage, and. as the freight charges are all paid by the wh.eatgrower, this will mean a corre sponding decrease In the price of wheat. Sail tonnage at 27s 6d, the present rate asked by the shipowners combine, is very low in comparison with the average- for many years, but it is so much higher than last season's quotations that there is much hesitancy on the part of exporters in taking hold of it. In former seasons the exporter as sumed the risk by chartering the ships when he thought they were cheap and taking chances on buying wheat for them. This year the wheatgrower must take the chances, and, unless there Is an unexpected demand for shipment East, or farmers decide to hold their crops, ocean freights out of Portland and Puget, Sound will be much higher than the rates now quoted. A LAND LOTTERY. Provo, Utah, is the scene of a scram ble for Government land on the lottery plan employed for securing homestead tracts to settlers In a limited number on ceded Indian reservation lands. Land hunger Is one of the most viru lent phases of the "get-somethlng-for-nothlng" fever, so prevalent as to be almost epidemic in these days of gift enterprises and bargain -counter baits. This somethlng-for-nothing scheme at tracts an eager crowd all a'ong the line of endeavor, from the seeker after a homestead of 1C0 acres of land to the shopper who buys goods that she does not need in order to get "free" a cake of soap, a gaudy print or a pair of shoe laces without money and without price. The lands of the Uintah Indian reser vation comprise about 6000 acres all told, and are not essentially different from other lands in the semi-arid belt. As stated by W. A. Richards, the Gov ernment Land Commissioner, who will supervise the registration of intending settlers and later attend to the drawing of claims in Provo, there is considerable good land in this tract, but much of it is mountainous and dry. and no better than other public land that can be ob tained in the Tegular way, -without the excitement attendant upon a "rush." Yet here we have an army ol? men, several thousand strong, presumably farmers, neglecting the business of the year in harvest time,. congregating In tents under the burning sun of midsum mer in a semi-arid region, each and all intent upon early registration and the chance that it will give them In a lot tery for 1W acres of land from a tract of 6000 acres, a large part of which is worthless for agricultural purposes. The element of chance in this land deal is its most attractive feature. Not only do these people expect to get some thing for nothing, but they each expect to draw a prize quarter section. One man's chance, they assure themselves, is as good as another man's And with the .gambler's hope feeding the gam- jTbling fever that runs riot In their blood they press forward in the eager quest, an elbowing, pushing, hungry, thirsty, dust-begrlmed crowd, each Intent upon winning a stake. Further comment upon an event that has grown familiar through many res ervation openings in the West is, per haps, unnecessary. The potency of the element called "chance" -Is well known and receives In a situation of this kind an impetus that sends simple-minded folk quite out of their wits for the time being, while It gives the cool, calculat ing speculator, the gambler by profes sion, as are all men. more or less, by nature, an opportunity for which he Is ever on the alert, to manipulate a "deal" to his own advantage and the discomfiture of the unsophisticated. It was to thwart the. purpose of the spec ulator and give the unsophisticated man his chance that the Government entered Into this lottery scheme, and it Is but fair to say that this purpose has been to some extent realized. WAS NOBODY TO BLAME? A wretched human creature, suffering from acute alcoholism, is an object at once of revulsion, and of pity. While death Is the most merciful ending of such a creature's misery, it is a reflec tion upon common humanity even of humanity that has been hardened by daily contact with the seamy side of life when no effort Is made to alleviate his sufferings. Samuel Schwartz, whose miserable, worse than useless life went out in the terrible throes of delirium tremens, alone and un cared for in the "drunk cell" of the Cltj- Jail, Thursday night, was not. cven'In his abandoned moral and physical condition, beneath the pity of the pitiful. That an effort was not made to save his life Is not fo reprehensible as that no effort was made to relieve his terrible sufferings. Of course, "nobody was to blame" for the plain disregard of official duty and common humanity in this case. But the fact remains that somebody is paid to give attention and such relief as is possible to men taken to the City Jail suffering as was this man. It is. no doubt, true that there "is no fit place at the jail for a man fn,.hls condition. But the City Physician might at least, upon Inquiry, have been told that the suffering and dying man was there in need of such relief as he was able to give. It is the old story of divided re sponsibility, the universal verdict of which is "nobody to blame." FRUITS OF THRIFT. Against disclosures in high finance; against the cry of tainted money, and the proclaimed extravagance of a great life insurance company; against the bold measures of the trust and the fraudulent practices of land-hungry politicians, the thrift, the economy and the resultant accumulations of the plain people stand out brightly and with striking effect. The annual review of a single field of the savings and invest ment of this class, as made upon the occasion of the late convention of the United States League of Savings and Building Loan Associations, furnishes conclusive evidence upon this point. We have here a record of savings ag gregating $600,342,568, a net Increase for the year or nearly $21,000,000. It is of Interest to note further that this amount represents the Industry, econ omy and careful planning of 1,631,046 persons an industrial army silently, persistently Intrenching itself in homes and providing means to secure them from disaster. Other fields in which the plain people toil are similarly produc tive, the whole presenting a guarantee of prosperity that is the safeguard of the Nation. ARIDITY AND IRRIGATION. Harper's Weekly recalls an article by Mr. E. W. Hllgard, professor of agri culture In the University of California, published some years' ago, in the North American Review. In which it is ex plained, elaborately, how soils are formed primarily by the physical and chemical disintegration (weathering) of rocks, and how these processes continue in the soil mass. Tliey result In the formation of a certain proportion of water-soluble compounds, chiefly of sodium and potassium, but also of cal cium and magnesium. Wherever abun dant rains occur more or less regularly throughout the year, these water-soluble conipounds are leached out of the land, passing into the sub-drainage, and thence through springs, streams and rivers into the sea. But where the rainfall is scantyor where there is no adequate artificial Irrigation this leaching can take place only partially or not at all; and then we frequently find during the rainless season the salts of potassium, sodium and magnesium ap pearing as a superficial "bloom," or ef florescence on the land surface, being brought up by the evaporation of the follrmoisture sometimes in such amounts as to prevent the growth of ordinary vegetation, and to permit only that of "saline" plants. For, with the useful nutrient substances correspond ing to the nutritive solutions artificially compounded for the purpose of growing plants experimentally), useless or in jurious ones, such as common salt and sal-soda, are left In the land. Of these so-calle'd "alkali" lands, the "sage brush" region of the interior of North America is a familiar example. Al though, however, an excess of these salts Is injurious to useful vegetation, it Is obvious that where such excess does not occur, or can be minimised, there must be formed in the soils of arid regions accumulations" of plant food -which may render it possible to defer for a long time the need of arti ficial fertilization. The fact explains the high productiveness of irrigated land In arid regions and the dense population supported within a compara tively limited area In ancient Babylonia and Mesopotamia. What was the rule in those regions 3000 or 4000 years ago is now exemplified in our irrigated dis tricts, where from ten to twenty acres constitute the soil-unU offered to a fam ily. Instead of the forty to 160 consid ered needful in the humid portion of the United States. Announcement comes from San Fran cisco that the Southern Pacific Com pany has set aside a fund of $100,000 to be expended in the next six months advertising at the East the Coast rail way routes extending from Portland to Los Angeles. This Is welL The Invest ment is certain to pay good dividends, but just at this time It seems to the Interested onlooker as if a part of the $100,000 would be more advantageously applied by taking better care of 'tfie multitude now on the Pacific Coast who are eager to witness the mountain scen ery and behold the many fertile val leys to be seen along this 1300 miles of "God's country." At best travel by rail in Summer is attended with discomfort. Overcrowded cars and Inadequate din ing accommodations do not serve as effective advertising. A tourist seeing the Pacific Coast under favorable con ditions is the very best advertisement, because he exploits its charms among those who are in the notion of going. His praise brings Immediate results. Those whom he Influenced upon their return home, do just what he did. This is what agents call cumulative 'adver tising. Every visitor attracted by the Lewis and Clark Fair, who journeys south, would be a walking advertise ment for the Southern Pacific if normal accommodation were provided. All previous records for Immigration to this country were broken during the year ending June 30 last. In the twelve months. 1.027,421 aliens entered the United States, and of that number near ly one-half were from Austria-Hungary and Italy. The latter country, for the first time In six years, dropped Into second place with 221,479 Immigrants, while Austria-Hungary was first with the enormous total of 275.603. Of all this vast horde, less than 10,000 found their way Into the country by the Pa cific Coast ports. New York alone receiv ing 7SS.259. while at Boston 65,111 en tered, and at Baltimore 62,314 were ad mitted. These figures speak eloquently of the cheap labor markets of the At lantic Slope, and also explain the grad ual disappearance of the Yankee from the rocky New England farms. The latter Is being forced out West, and this Is about the only gain the West derives from this enormous Immigra tion. Japanese emigration companies ob ject to sending laborers to the Panama Canal on account of the unsatisfactory sanitary conditions and the lack of fa cilities for caring for the sick. A gen eration ago such reasons, coming from the half-civilized Japanese of that era, would have been regarded as absurd. Sanitary precautions and care of the sick are the natural accompaniments of civilization, and It Is probable that the conditions will be so remedied at Pan ama that the loss of life will be much smaller than In any previous attempt at canal digging in a tropical country. Perhaps there Is not. and in the na ture of things cannot be, an opportune time for' a telegrapher's strike. Cer tainly the present strike on sections of the Northern and Great Northern rail ways Is most inopportune. It may be hoped that the differences between the contending forces will be speedl'y ad Justed, to the end that normal condi tions of travel at best, scarcely suffi cient to accommodate the demands that are being made on account of the Lewis and Clark Fair may be restored. The Puget Sound salmon are again demonstrating the truth of the fourth-year-run theory. After three years, of poor runs and corresponding light packs, the sockeyes as well as other varieties are coming Into the seines and traps in such numbers that it is taxing the facilities of the canneries to handle them. The season promises to he a highly profitable one for both fishermen and canneries, and the money distrib uted will have an appreciable effect on Fall trade on Puget Sound. International yacht races ylth Ger many and America as contestants are now proposed, and Emperor William is reported to be taking a keen Interest in fhe matter. As the Kaiser has no tea gardens, he can hardly be accused of entering the game for advertising pur poses. The American yachtsmen will undoubtedly bring home his cups with the same degree of ease that has ac companied their former efforts with those captured from Sir Thomas LIpton and his Shamrocks. Secretary Wilson yesterday issued a statement denying that the employes of the forestry service had written arti cles for magazines prior to the publica tion of the matter In public reports. Nothing In the statistical information collected by Secretary Wilson would in dicate that he was'a busy man. but the denials and explanations that he has been making for the past month cer tainly indicate that he is very much overworked. 3Ir. Harriman has visited the Omaha shops and approves the gasoline motors .Introduced by Vice-President Mohler. He ought to do a lot more visiting while he Is out West. There Is a vast territory In Oregon that he ought to eae from an automobile or a buckboard. Closer acquaintance with us cannot helo but profit his railroads and the re gions they imperfectly .ramify. Monsieur Witte says quietly but firm ly that he did not come to borrow money, but to make peace. Yet It Is hard to say which. Russia needs the most. The Chicago Tribune succinctly re marks that another step toward mu tuallzing life insurance companies should ha the reduction of.premlums. And Senator Piatt declared last Win ter that it would be fatal to the inter ests of the Republican party if Depew was not returned to the Senate. The city detectives' pay has been raised to $115 per month. Wp hope "raised" is the right word. Mr.Brya"n is going around the world. He wants to confirm his suspicion that somebody else owns It. The New York Legislature intends to whitewash the Equitable. Well, some body's got to do It. One of the chief troubles of New Or leans is that she didn't clean house often enough. The waters, of Crook County continue to be salubrious for several kinds of "big fish." People Who Blush. New -Orleans (La.) TJmes-Dcmocrat. The habit of Mulshing Is almost In variably a cause of great annoyance to Its possessors. Very frequently it serious ly hampers them in the ordinary affairs of life, for blushing is accompanied by confusion of mind, nervousness and hesi tancy. The two main points in the treat ment of shyness, which Is the great cause of blushing, are, first, open-air exercise, and, second, the society of others. Open air exercise is good for all morbid disor ders, such as excessive shyness, while the social life makes for self-control and that savior faire we all seek to attain; for the latter enables us to go through life without betraying awkwardness and timidity. Abnormally sensitive people may find the cure a lengthy one; but if they persevere 'the very mental effort which Is put forth to accomplish the remedy .Wlj .aid them jn acquiring control over their tell-tale bittthe. 0REG0N0Z0NE A New Prize Poet. One of the Eastern magazines has pub lished the result of a contest for ten prize poems magazine poems, of course. Among the winners Is a poefnew to fame magazine fame. His name should carry him along; it Is Kalfus Kurtz Gusllng. Mr. G.usling'8 surname suggests guzzling, but we are not inclined to insinuate such things- at this distance. That he Is Intem perate, however. Is proved by his lan guage. In his prize poem called "Posses sion," wherein Is celebrated his fierce pas sion for somebody presumably a female who, he declares. Is his to have and to hold, without a let-up for a single mo ment. Here Is one of the lines In the prize magazine poem of Mr. Kalfus Kurtz Gusllng. which most of us married folk are apt to think we have heard some where before:" - "With all my worldly goods I thee endow." " The Unofficial Autocrat. "It occurs to me," says the Unofficial Autocrat, ."that our tastes In smoking are becoming entirely too hlfalutln. When I was a boy I was willing to smoke a grapevine. If nothing else presented It self for the sacrifice; and a comsilk cigar ette was a luxury. But I soon got to smoking stogies the three-for-a-nickel kind, strong enough to Hfr the ltd of Hades or take the hair oft the back of a porcupine. Then I got up to the 5-cent cigar, and that was my old stand-by for many years. "But as I increased In prosperity the 10-cent cigar dldnt seem so far off as the north star or the aurora borealls, as It had seemed when the 5-center was my limit. It got so that I could smoke a 10-cent cigar without going home and contributing a dime to the conscience fund my wife's pin money. After a while the two-for-a-quarter kind caught me: ray conscience kicked Just a little and had a sort of dying spasm, and then I gradu ated to the 15-cent straight. Thus I went on from good to better as to the cigars and was willing to smoke a 25-center whenever any kind friend passed me one with a modest remark concerning the price. When I had paid for a few twen ties myself It occurred to me that I might as well make It an even quarter, so I Jumped into the two-bits class. A friend of mine (or maybe he wasn't a reai friend) boasted one day that he never smoked anything less than a 50-cent cigar, and In spite of my deadened conscience I began to worry. "You see. smoking is a cultivated taste. You may begin at the bottom, burning a rope, but If you keep up the habit you'll reach the top some day and incinerate cigars so delectable that the flavor would tempt an angel In Paradise. And In smoking .you can't go backward; you must progress; and when your taste gets cultivated up to the two-bits brand and your aspiration reaches out to clutch and conquer the 0-conter, you are In a bad way, unless you are a Rockefeller. "If you happen to sit down soma quiet evening on your boarding-house porch and figure. up your smoke account, you are In danger of being startled to the point of heart failure. After you have smoked up a house and lot, with Eerslan rugs on the floor and marble tiles In front of the fireplaces, your conscience will be quickened Into life again If you are a manly man. You can't ease ott gradually by going down the Inclined plane to the stogie or the rope; you must quit. Do it now!" Russell Sage reached his SOth birthday yesterday. The ruling passion is still strong with Uncle Russell. Even his doc tor is named Munn. John Richardson, a Government official at Louisville, Ky., has discovered a new way of making money. Recently, he took out an accident insurance policy and went to his country home, where he was butted by an opportune billygoat. He was laid up for two days, and the Insur ance company paid him $12. SO for his loss of ttme. It was like falling over a piece of money and nndlng It. The difference between a lawn party and a garden fete Is largely a matter of locality. President David R. Francis, of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Is coming to pay an official visit to President H. W. Goode. of the Lewis and Clark Expo sition. It Is hoped that this will not seriously affect the price of photographic dry plates. When you learn to pronounce It "vud vull" you have almost arrived. The Wichita Eagle reports that George E. Laughed has started for the Lewis and Clark exposition. Let us hope that Mr. Laughed may have a jolly time. Governor Folk, of Missouri, with six Generals and nine Colonels of his staff, will be among the glittering generalities Of the Exposition early In September. he Governor should bring along at least one private. Just to show us that Mis souri's fighting strength has not all run to epaulettes and gold lace. And If the private has had military experience he should be placed In command of the party. ROBERTUS LOVE. TAXATION OF FRANCHISES. New Law Will Be Proposed Under the Initiative. SALEM. Or.. Aug. 3.-(To the Editor.) During rpany years past the common people and ordinary taxpayers have sought in vain relief through the Legis lature from the Intolerable conditions ex isting in this state, particularly in the matter of equitable taxation. They have seen rich men, of TfIous pretensions and corporations owning valuable franchises for operating railroads, street railways, telegraphs and telephones, paying nom inal taxes, while business men, manu facturers and farmers havo been com pelled to contribute practically the whole expense of government. The Legislature having failed to afford relief for obvious reasons not necessary to enumerate or now consider, it Is now proposed to enact a law by means of the Initiative and ref erendum amendment to the constitution to correct. In part, the unequal and un just assessment of corporate property, such as franchises, etc.. and to compel railroad, street railway, express, tele graph and telephone and other corpora tions to bear their just proportion of the public burdens. At the last meeting of the Willamette Valley Development League, held recent ly in this city, I was appointed chairman of a committee to draft a pill to be sub mitted, by means of the initiative and referendum amendment, to the people at the next election in June, 1SC6. to regulate the taxation of franchises and other cor porate property so that some relief. If possible, may be given to the tax-eaten rarmer, producer and manufacturer. In order to draft such bill, the commit tee asks the advice and assistance of all good citizens. The object of this commu nication is to request all persons to as sist the committee In Its work. All friendly assistance and advice will be cordially received, juua A. uaksuk. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE World's Work (Lewis and Clark Exposition Number). A distinguished student of geogra phy and of men has declared that' the Northwest meaning Oregon. Wash ington. Idaho, a part of Montana and a part of Canada Is likely to be the home of a better stock of men of our race than has "yet been developed else where in the United States, or in Eng land, or In any of the British colonies. The arable parts of this region are so fertile that they will sustain a large population perhaps 50,000,000; and yet they will live on a high elevation where snow falls; they will live in the presence of great constant aspects of nature for, however much man may change the valleys, he cannot change the mountains; and they will live within reach of the sea. Ocean, stream, mine, forest, farm all these have en during variety and abundance of wealth. This country -invites to an outdoor life more kindly than any other land of the, same altitude or lati tude. You cannot study this region long without feeling the probability of such a prediction. Surely there Is nothing extravagant In it; and every Important fact about the land makes toward the truth of it. Not the least Interesting hint of such a destiny Is the universal belief In It by the people themselves who live there. They- are sure that they have for a home the most advan tageous part of the earth; and this feeling Is not mere local pride such as you will find almost everywhere. It is a well-reasoned conviction, based on study and on personal experience. It crops out In their dally conversation: it shows Itself In their actions. They have planted their lives on it. The miner, the farmer, the fisher man, the sailor, the town-builder and the railroad-builder every primary and productive man sees before him an endless chance of profitable work for himself and for his successors, un der favorable conditions that nothing can change. And everywhere the call Is for men more men. They do not fear competi tion: they rest securely In the belief that every desirable newcomer adds to the total wealth and benefits every body. The best evidences of the high destiny that these men look to. and of the cheerful work toward It which they are doing, are such brief glimpses of their towns and Industries and careers as I shall now write. If they seem scrappy as you read them, they all at least support the prophecy of a masterful type of man In a home that fits him for mastery. Elsewhere very brief descriptions are published of Portland. Seattle and Tacoma. as the largest seacoast cities, whose growth has been natural. But the Inland city of Spokane Is a sort of miracle. It began Its existence, be ing inland, as a pretty tough town, such at? you would expect to find In "the West." A visitor this year, who had last seen It ten years before, walked the clean streets of solid busi ness blocks and asked what had bo come of the "tough" settlement of hl3 earlier visit. Nobody remembered It. A beautiful, prosperous city it now is beautiful, mind you. In spite of its newness. The people are prosperous because of tho rich mines near by (the Coeur d'Alene among them), because of the even richer wheatflelds. because of the lumber and the fruit, because (and this Is a late discovery), of the marble, because of the waterpower and tho mills. In the Palouse wheat region they tell the story of a farmer driving about in his sulky-plow, meeting an nother farmer, also in his sulky-plow, and the first farmer says: "Have a cigar. John?" The cigar was a 25 cents perfecto. They have published In a local magazine the photographs of checks given to farmers for their wheat crops checks for $35,060. for $24,000. and for somewhat lesser sums. In Clarkson. Wash.. I said to a man who makes wlndow-sashcs. doors and such things that if he wasn't careful he'd be a millionaire In a little while. "Just five years." said he. The farmers in part3 of Illinois, of Iowa, of Missouri and of Kansas have perhaps reached as high a level of ef ficiency as men have reached on any large agricultural area. Taking their efficiency as a standard, there is much evidence to show that the farmers of Oregon and Washington have made a distinct advance over the men in these states of the Mississippi Valley. There are several reasons for this. Where the soil Is rich at all In these Pacific states it Is almost Inexhaustibly rich. The climate is milder. The ntimber of profitable crops Is greater. More Im portant than all these facts, perhaps. Is the difference In methods. Except In tho great wheat fields and on the large cattle ranches, agriculture in Washington and Oregon is more in tensive. The best land is in relatively small areas, a valley here and a valley there, with mountains between. Farm ing, therefore, has to be intensive. It Is fruit culture or the growing of vege tables. Every foot of land Is valuable. Or, It Is an Irrigated valley, every foot of which is still more valuable. Under such conditions men cultivate it with more enre and with greater skill. Thus. In addition to the great fertility of the soil, is the hotter culture than Is common or possible In the Mississippi Valley. For these reasons agriculture has rally become here a scientific and profitable pursuit. The expense and personal trouble that the enterprising men and active commercial bodies In Portland, for ex ample, put themselves to for the public good would be Incredible In an Eastern city. If you wish to find out fact3 about anything in Oregon, you can for the asking get accurate information that has cost many thousands of dol lars, wliich have been spent simply for the public 'good, subscribed anfl spent by private Individuals. The helpfulness of the people is as note worthy as the richness of the land. And It Is a genuine public spirit not the activity of land boomers. Every visitor to the Exposition at Portland this year who uses his opportunities to talk with men whom he may naturally meet there, will have his faith In American character and kindliness made stronger. This spirit is an im portant part of the resources of the Pacific Northwest. It makes men broader. It makes them better neigh bors and associates hotter citizens. A normal man will find a more normal development in a community of such men than In communities where life is a harder struggle. Portland and- the smaller cities of Oregon offer the same sort of chances that Washington offers, except they have no Puget Sound. There Is. how ever, the great Columbia River, which Is both an economic and scenic treas ure. There are the Willamette Valley, the Hood River Valley, and many other valleys, the fertility of which matches the fertility of any other parts of the Northwest. Most of all. Oregon has the beautiful and well-developed City of Portland, whose hospitality thous ands of strangers will enjoy this year. Largo parts of Oregon are yet without railroads; and a great population will flock there as fast as these areas are made accessible. Tho strongest Impression made on one's mind by.two months' observation and study of this whole region is the effectiveness of these people as build ers of cities, of towns, of communities: They have local jealousies. They have grievances against the railroads, in a word, they are human. But every city, town, community and railroad has the same mind about bringing new men to help in the common task. This public spirit and this temper of helpfulness at tract good men and make them good. PUBLICOPINION. Its Overwhelming Power the Chief Lesson of a Great "Kick." From an editorial in the August Century. The most crying, shaming, and at tho same time Inspiring lesson of the re form movement In Pennsylvania is tho revindication of the power of public opinion. We all know, academically. mat puDiic opinion ruies me worm the whole world not only the civilized, but the seml-clvillzed and barbarous world: tnat It rules absolutely free communities, such as the American, the British, the French, and also where tho monarch has groater power than In Great Britain: that it rules essentially ln Russia. India. China and Abyssinia. Of course its rule Is more free and evi dent In freo communities; but recent events in Russia have shown that tho most absolute monarchs in the world, have to give way when their peoples change their opinion about them and about things in general. The effect of the tremendous kick re cently administered by public opinion in Philadelphia to their local system of political graft seems to have surprised the beast that was hit not more than, the great dead-in-earnest, though not unhumorous. public that administered the punishment. The event proves that there was a storage battery of indig nant protest right on the spot and ready to be charged: and that It might havo been charged and made to do Its vigor ous work at any time these many years back. ' This, ' however, is not the time for blame for what was not done, but of congratulations upon the glorious things that have been done, and upon the still more fundamental reforms that are now In the way of accomplish ment In the redeemed city and In tho state at large. But let every community in tho United States that has not yet revolted against corrupt local government take botn warning and encouragement. Let It realize fully that if It remains cor rupt It is its own fault. For nothing sn earth can withstand the besom of an aroused and intelligent public opinten led by disinterested men against forti fied corruption and hardy cynicism. WHAT WOMAN CAN DO. Immense Service They Perform in Cleaning Up Cities! American Medicine. It is strange how slow men are to rec ognize that In all matters of practical hygiene the women are necessary. Wo shall never have clean cities until they undertake the Job. nor shall we kow how to be good National housekeepers until the private housekeepers of tha Nation extend their hereditary function to public needs and duties. Every tlmo the women are given a chance to clean up a dirty city, carry on a . crusade against public disgraces and Immoralities, they are successful hnd there is at onco a new order of things. In one state tho men. the eaters of meat and mRkera at laws, legally allowed the butchers to carry on their work in such a diseased and disgusting manner that the health and morals of the whole people were affected. One woman alone reformed and cleaned up the whole abuse and made the slaughter-houses of the state models of hygienic order and decency. Here Is another Instance: In a Michigan city. Kalamazoo, the women grew tired of filthy strets and disregard of law. and they got permission to clean one street for a while, on the same conditions as the contractor had not cleaned It. They aid the work, forced slumbering ordi nances to wake up. demonstrated to the city that cleanliness Is as easy and as cheap as filthiness. and now the men and politicians of Kalamazoo say they havo learned their lesson and that they will carry out the reform in all streets of the city. The movement was Instituted by Mrs. Caroline Bartlett Crane, who also did such marvelous work in tho Michigan slaughter-houses. There should be a women's civic club or city Improve ment league In every American city and town. THE NEED OF CONCORD. ! Eugene Register. Every Oregonian of the Republican faith Is convinced of the necessity of patching up old estrangements and presenting a solid front. As a party we cannot afford to further hazard our success by internal differences and keeping old soras pea. Shortly we shall bo In the strike of an other campaign and we must be well groomed for the fray. We are saying nothing we expect to be taken as origi nal, but so long as nobody seems Inclined to "suggest a means of solidifying tho party, the Register Is willing to take th Initiative and offer something which bos obtained good results In another state and which there is no reason to doubt weM prove beneficial In Oregon. In the Sucker State (Illinois) the Stato Central Committee adopted a plan some years ago for bringing together prior to a state or National campaign, the leaders of the party, farmers, business men aad professional men of the Republican per suasion. In a general conference calculat ed to bring the different wings of tho party Into closer communion and to weed out differences and promote a feeling of need for concerted action. At those times, the State Central Committee holds an offi cial meeting to arrange for matters per taining to the campaign. ThLs meeting Is termed a "Love Feast." and the results obtained In this manner have been grati fying In every instance. The attendance Is always large, as the convention Is held at a time when most people can absent themselves from home without Injury to their personal Interests. Topics of gen eral Interest to the party's success aro discussed by able speakers, factional prejudices are laid aside, everybody en ters into the spirit of the occasion and all return heme persuaded that the meet ing has been productive of much good. These meetings are held some time dur ing the fore part of January. Oregon Republicans would find thl-i plan a decided advantage as an ante campaign help and the Register submits It In the full belief of Its efficiency in the present dismal outlook. It Is a matter worthy the attention of the Republican press and we hope It may receive careful consideration. Increased Equine Labors. Puck. Farmer Jonas Is your hoss afraid of autos? Farmer Heckbin Wal. yes; he's had tho Job of hauling 'em to town so often when they break that he fairly shudders when he sees one a-comln! A Pacific "Lid" On. London Globe. (Liquor prohibition belnsr enforced In.jtlia Cook Island?, the natives have taken to crlnr lag Florida water at $i per bottle.) " " In the blue and bland Pacific. , Where ons tblret gets quite terrific; And on liquid all one's money Must be spent. ' Things are In a sad oondltien - ' Jj Through a Hquor prohibition And the natives are reduced-to Drinklnz scent. It's "Push about the brilllantlne! Don't let the bay runt stop. Ho. circulate the eau do Nil. And drain It, every drop. "What matter though twice two.and-stxV Goes bans at every pop?" If a fellow meetss a crony. , Then with water from Cologne fc Fills a beaker, aye. and drains It With a wlIL Not a man the local doc. shuns; "They don't care that such concoctloas Must before an hour's flitted Hake them 1H i
