OBEGONIAy, FRIDAY, 3IARCH 2,. 1906,
ranxt, or. th HrrMnm tthfr I TIITT CTT.rCn
Entered at the rostofflce at Portland, Or.,
as Second-Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION KATES.
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now TO REMIT Send postolflce- money
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are at the sender's risk.
EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE.
The S. C. Beckwlth Special Agency New
York, rooms 43-80, Tribune building. Chi
cago, rooms 610-512 Tribune building.
KEIT ON SALE.
Chicago Auditorium Annex. Postolflce
News Co., 178 Dearborn street.
St. Taul, Minn. N. St. Marie Commercial
Station.
Denver Hamilton & Kendrlck. 300-S12
Seventeenth street; Fratt Book Store. 1214
Fifteenth street; I. "Welnsteln.
Ooldflrld, Ner. Guy Marsh.
Kanas City. Mo. Rlcksecker Clgw Co.,
Ninth and "Walnut.
Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, SO S. Third.
Cleveland, O. James Pus haw. 307 Superior
street.
New York City I. Jonea & Co., Astor
HoUfe.
Oakland, Cal. "VT. H. Johnston, Fourteenth
and Franklin streets.
Ogdea D. L. Boy I.
Omaha Barkalow Bros.. 1612 F&rnam:
Mageath Stationery Co., 1308 Farnam; 240
South 14th.
Sacramento, CaL Sacramento News Co.,
439 X street. ,
Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co.. 77 "West
Second street South; Miss L. Levin. 24
Church street.
Lo Angeles B. E. Amos, manager seven
treet wagons; Berl News Co., 326 H South
Broadway.
San Diego B. E. Amen.
Santa Barbara, Cal. B. E. Amos.
rM'drna, Cal. Bcrl News Co.
San Francisco J. K. Cooper & Co.. 746
Market street: Goldsmith Bros.. 236 Suiter
and Hotel St. Francis News Stand; I E.
Lee. Palace Hotel News Stand: Frank Scott.
tO Ellis; N. "Whcatley Movable News Stand,
corner Mat Vet and Kearney streets; Foster
& Orenr. Ferry News Stand.
Washington, D. C Ebbitt House, Pennsyl
vania avenue.
PORTION!). FRIDAY. MARCH 2. U06.
MOULD LIKE TO SELL OUT.
The srns company, through its prcsi
drwt, says it is willing to sell to the-
ctty. Of course it would sen to me
4ty. If it could turn a transaction sim
ilar to that of lost Spring, when tho
ame franchise-mongers sold out the
Portland Consolidated Hallway. But
the gas company will not fcll to Xhc
city not now for the city will not buy.
Whether the City of Portland "w III
onter Into the production of light, no
one can -say now. It is a very largo
question, and demands much consider
ation. The city could not stop with
pas. It would be obliged to undertake
electric lighting, also. And then prob
ably the service of electric power. And
then no doubt the street railways. All
these public-service industries may be
undertaken by the city. Many citizens
have no doubt they will be. But care
ful Inquiry and preparation will first
be necessary.
"Without doubt the gas company, see
ing the trend of opinion nnd of events,
and foreseeing results, would like to
sell out. upon Its own valuation, to the
city. But the property never will be
taken over by tho city at any value
comparable with that which the com
pany may set upon it. The simple fact
is that this properly, or large part of
it. has been created by money collected
through high charges for gas from the
people of Portland, during the past
llfty years and a great deal more
money besides, which has been spent
by tho beneficiaries of the franchise
in luxurious living all uaken from the
gas consumers of Portland.
Should Portland desire to go into the
gas business It will follow the precedent
it established when it undertook the
problem of water supply. The repre
sentatlves of tho city went to repre
eentatives of the water company with
an offer of a specific sum. deemed all
the property was worth, adding for the
information of those whom it might
concern that if the offer were not ac
cepted by the company the city would
at once proceed to create water works.
de novo, for itself. The offer of the
city was accepted. Should the city de
cide to go into the gas business, it will
proceed in the same or similar way.
There will be no graft, and the city will
not pay franchise-grabbers anything
for right of resumption of its own fran
chise.
WHALE AND PLUTO C RAT.
A philosophic observer of men and
things has remarked that our trust
magnates, railroad potentates and gas
dukes swim about 1n the ocean of
American life like whales. Pursuing
his ingenious idea, he goes on to say
that as the whale swlmB with its capa
cious mouth wide open to engulf what
ever small fish come In its way, so the
plutocrat swallows down lesser men by
the score or hundred, often making a
financial dinner off a whole shoal of
wriggling victims. He points out also
that the whale has its cavernous mouth
lined with baleen, whereby it strains
its multitudinous prey from the water
and entangles them beyond the hope of
escape; and to this beneficent device he
sees a wonderful resemblance in the
network of injunctions, rules of evi
dence and dilatory pleas in which the
plutocrat enmeshes his victims and
leaves them to pickle, as it were, -until
he Is ready to dine.
Had our philosopher pushed his
thought a little farther, however, he
would have discerned a notable differ
ence between the estate of the whale
nd that of the plutocrat. The differ
encc arises from their diverse relations
to the shark. In the briny deep the
shark is the enemy of the whale, while
in our ocean of economic life the shark
has entered the service of the adipose
cetacean. In the guise of the corpora
tion, lawyer the man-eater loyally de
votes himself to his master's appetite.
As Aladdin's genie was the slave of
the lamp, so the corporation lawyer
may be called the slave of the paunch
since & whale 1s reaify, apart from hfs
fishing net of aleen, little more than a
paunch in a thick cushion of blubber.
Perhaps it is in this respect -that the
oceanic monster most closely resembles
the plutocrat whom the Roman poet
described as "paunch et praeterea
nihil," but they are also strikingly
alike in the -way they act when they
are caught.
When the whale feels the harpoon in
his vitals ho falls into "flurry." as
sailors call It. He thrashes the water
intofoam -with his enormous tail, hurls
his huge -weight of blubber above
the waves and spouts streams of
gory foam high into the air. Thus
also Is it with the plutocrat, when
he is made ast to an investigating
committee's whaleboat, Throw the har
poon of a pertinent question into any
one of these huge and ungainly mon
sters, disporting themselves in their
ocean of franchise bounty and special
privilege, and forthwith he will tem
pest the sea with his rage, spout Niag
aras of bloody brine through his spira
cles and smash the committee-room to
6pllntera with his flukes and tail.
Sometimes the whale In his flurry
tears loose- from the harpoon; some
times he sinks the whaleboat and swims
away free, to resume his career as a
wholesale fisherman. But this does not
often happen. For the roost part the
harpoon holds, the boats escape and the
ad'enture ends with the cetacean's de
mise. Just now the American people are
making a voyage after plutocratic
whales. How will it end? Will the
leviathans smash the boats and drown
the sailors, or,wlll the ship of state
come home to port with nil hands safe
nnd tho blubber stowed in the hold?
Prophecy is gratuitous folly, but it may
guide those who wish to bet on the
event, to remember that the oceanic
whale is practically an extinct species
of mammal.
BEGAN TO VIM FY.
In his statement Wednesday night.
Mr. Adams, of the gas company,- said:
"'Along about last May, when they (The
Oregonlan) began to vilify Will Ladd, I
made up any mind that, so far as the
gas company is concerned, they would
get no more from us." -What Mr. Ad
ams meant by the phrase "they would
get no more from us," he may know.
The Oregonlan doesn't care It is
the first part of his remark, quoted
above, that we now pay attention to.
"About last May The Oregonlan be
gan to vilify Will Ladd." The results
of a certain great franchise abuse came
out at that time, through the sale of
the Portland Consolidated Railway
Company. The Oregonlan criticised the
transaction. This caused renewal of
the outbursts of Mr. Ladd's newspaper
upon The Oregonlan. For two years
and more Mr. L.add, through his news
paper, had been making most venomous
attacks upon -The Oregonlan. its editor
and -owners. It was a steady stream of
vilification. But The Oregonlan took no
notice of It.
However, when it was continued with
increasing venom, after the sale of the
street railway franchise. The Oregonlan
though with great reluctance con
cluded to give Mr. JLadd a drench of his
own medicine. It resolved to let Mr.
Ladd and those about him know that it
could say something, too.
The Oregonlan did not begin the vilifi
cation, nor did the vilification begin
last May. It began fully two years
earlier, and by Mr. Iadd himself,
through his newspaper, and it was con
tinued by and through bis newspaper
till The Oregonlan concluded that for
bearance on its part was no longer re
quired. But it scorned to attack or re
tort on Mr. Ivadd's hired men. It dealt
with Mr. Ladd himself.
EXPENSIVE DISCRIMINATION..
iPortland bidders can hardly be ex
pected to make much on an effort to
secure the big grain and forage con
tract which the Government is bout to
award for the Philippine service In
order to get on even terms with the Se
attle bidders they must make allowance
for the local rate front Portland to Se
attle on all freight shipped from this
city to fill' the order called for. There
Is tributary to Porlland more grain.
hay and lumber than Is tributary to
Puget Sound, and it can be secured to
better advantage at this port but the
officials who have cltarge- of the pur
chasing and routing of Government
freight in the Pacific Northwest persist
ently Ignore the opportunity to save
vast sums of money on these contracts
When the millionaire owners of the
Boston Towboat Company lobbied
through Congress a bill compelling the
shipment of Government freight on
American vessels, they failed to secure
a. withdrawal from the ocean of the
Government transports. These craft, if
they wore 'not In the hands of fossil
ized devotees of red tape, could handle
the Government freight fully as eco
nomically as it could be handled by uny
other American steamer but the oppor
tunity for them to do so Is not forth
coming.
Forage and stores will not be received
at Portland because there is no vessel
here to recolvo them, and there will
be no vessel at Portland because for
age and stores wjll not be received
here. Portland scoms to have practl
cally given up hope of breaking
through this "heads-I-win-lalls-you
lose" system; but it is not at all clear
that an opening may not be forced
from another direction. When the Bos
ton Towboat Company's powerful lobby
departed from Washington after forc
ing through the bill which gave them a
monopoly of Government freight ship
ments from North Pacific ports to the
Philippines, freight rates shot up from
J4 per' ton the rate at which a vessel
was then loading at Portland for Ma
nila to $5.50 per-ton for the first en
gagement made with the Boston Tow
boat Company under the new law.
Since that time the Government has
been paying from J1.50 to J-2 per ton
more for all the freight it has shipped
to Manila than was exacted of commer
clal shippers.
By this nefarious system not only
does the Government suffer a loss
through the increased freight rate, but
the exclusion of Portland from compe
tltlon greatly enhances the cost of sup
plies. This excessive freight and ex
cesslve purchase price on a cargo of
hay and oats,, such as was formerly
sent from Portland not Infrequently,
will amount to more than $10,000. Ap
parentis impressed rlth the great
wealth of the Government, the Pacific
Coast employes of the Quartermaster's
Department make no serious effort to
stop ibis wholesale graft and dlscrlm
Inatlon. On the Atlantic seaboard the
case is different The men In charge
of the Quartermaster's Department
seem Imbued with the belief that Uncle
Sam should buy his supplies and tho
freight space for shipping them at as
low a rate as is granted any other shlp
per who pays cash on demand.
Acting on this belief, they have Jg'
nored the law passed in the Interest of
the Boston Towboat Company end are
still shipping vast quantities of supplies
from New York to the Philippines on
foreign Tessele, for the most excellent
reason that those vessels quote a lower
rate "than can be secured from the
Americans. Andrew Weir & Co., Brit.
lh. fcibifpinw, hA s&rrled. large .quail
titles of Government freight from
Portland to Manila before the embargo
was laid against us, are still carrying
Government freight from New York to
Manila on the identical vessels which
formerly carried. It from Portland. Here
is an opportunity for the Chamber of
Commerce, Senator Fulton and others
J-who have the Interest "of the port at
heart to demand fair play. "What we
would like to know is why the Pacific
Coast is discriminated against In this
matter. On the low freight rate which
the foreign steamers make by way of
the Suez, there is bound to be a diver
sion of business, which, if It 'followed
its natural channel, would flow to the
Pacific If the law is inoperative on. the
Atlantic Coast, it should also be Inop
erative on the Pacific Perhaps if some
of the employes of the Quartermaster's
Department, who purchased entire car
goes of rotten oats and have repeatedly
discriminated against Portland, were
transplanted and their places taken by
4hc business men who seem to be in
charge at New York, there would be no
further fattening of the Boston million
aires' wallets at the expense of the Gov
ernment and Portland bidders -would
have an opportunity to do business on
business principles.
REPEAL OK TIMBER AND.KTONE ACT.
Yesterday's dispatches recorded the
refusal of the public lands committee
of the House to allow the bill prepared
In acocrdance with the recommendation
of the Public Lands Commission for the
repeal of the timber and stone act to
have a show for its life in the House.
By repetition of last year's tactics the
bill has been killed for this session also.
This will be glad news to many a man
who has his eye on a quarter section.
that he can buy from the Nation for
500 and then sell to . syndicate for
51000; also to those speculators who, by
ihfs means. ha'c a chance to round off
their ownership and pick up some leav
ings from their last gatherlng-In.
It will administer yet another snub
to the forestry officials, who have been
trying to establish a wise and rational
forestry system, of which the founda
tion should be the ownership by the
Nation of the land on which the Umber
grows, the sale of the timber, as it
ripens, at something like Its real value,
and the chance to reforest the lands.
And the Reclamation Service will see
another proof that Its teaching, on the
function of timber lands in conservation
of water supplies, has fallen on deaf
ears.
So the weary work has to begin
again. The deciding Impulse In the
Wyoming Congressman's mind seems
to be that because in his own suite
there is no timber land worth preserv
ing, therefore no other state shwll have
a chance to have Its forests protected.
OUR MILITARY ARM.
The United States Is essentially a
peaceful Nation. It has not during all
the years of Its existence, until recent
ly, maintained more than a nucleus of
;ut army. Yet within the period of Its
National life It has expended upon its
war establishment, including .the pay
ment of pensions, the enormous sum of
$3,500,000,000. Tills fact Is shown in a
tabulated statement included in an in
tcresting and instructive article by Mr.
F. L. Huidekoper, In the current num
ber of the North American Review.
Mr. Huidekoper, In discoursing upon
our military methods and history,
agrees with the opinions of General
Emery Uptpn and other writers who
are accepted as nuthorlties upon the
abject. He contends that our system
is wrong and thnt the price we have
paid and which we shall continue to
pay If that system is not changed, is
reckoned in billions of dollars and hun
drcds of thousands of lives, much of
this vital expenditure being needless.
Our military system, in his view. Is
based" upon a general misconception. In
support of this view he says:
Animated by the deeply rooted Anglo-Saxon
repugnance- to a large standing- army nnd
anything which unack f miHtarinn In the
ritchtest drcrrf. w as a. peP cling with
smtenlsfelng tenacity ta the ridiculous fallacy
that a citizen with x muyke Is fully equal.
If not superior, to the tralmrd uAHtr. both In
courage and efficiency.
R Is the purpose of Mr.x Huidekoper
In this article to show what it has cost
the Nation to cling to this idea.
Whether it will or will not be convlnc
lug to the army of readers that It has
found, it well repays ierusal. It Is,
moreover. Just now particularly timely
in view of the recent submission by
Secretary Taft of ten important meas
ures for the improvement of our mili
tary establishment.
One of the costliest mistakes of the
old system has been in placing raw re
emits under the command of civilian
officers (too often merely sons of their
fathers), who were little or not at all
familiar with their work or their duties.
The new system seeks to obviate this
mistake by making the National Guard
a training school for mon who will in
some measure be qualified to answer a
call for officers In an emergency like
that which confronted the Nation at
the outbreak of the Civil and later of
the Spanish War. But the regular ser
vice Itself needs a housecleanlng, as
shown by the number of minor officers
who went from the political to the mil
itary camp without earning their shoul
der-straps.
A careful, Intelligent and Just system
of promotion Is necessary If the efil
ciency of the Army is to be maintained
at a high standard. This is the puzzle
which military authorities have set
themselves to solve, and It Is sC perplex
Ing -one. Promotion only by seniority
is a mistake that has been too often
demonstrated; promotion by selection is
largely open to that personal and polit
ical favoritism which has been apparent
in recent years. It Is recalled that this
system recently made General Adna R.
Chaffee an officer on the staff of Leon
ard Wood; that It makes brigadiers of
the line out of doctors, as In the case of
Wood; out of commissary officers, s In
the cases of Bliss and Weston; out of
ordnance officers, as in the case of Cro
sier, and out of captains of cavalry, as
in the cases of Bell and Mills, while
trained soldiers of forty years only at
lain that rank as In the recent case of
Butler Price by .depriving the Army of
their services.
AH experience proves that an efficient
army depends upon efficient officers. It
Is urged, therefore, that in the im
provement of our military establish
ment promotion must depend not upon
seniority or personal favor, but upon
efficiency. The new Taft bill proposes
"promotion by elimination" as the
proper way by which the difficulty may
be surmounted in this case. This would
compel the officer next in line of pro
motion to pass a rigid examination In
order to determine his fitness for a
higher rank. If he falls he is to leave
the service without Increase In rank or
pay and the next man inthe order of
. seniority, ateps up. lor. f ranalnatioa, yyt
cancles are filled at the bottom either
from West Point or from civil life
This system offers prospect of promo
tion to all, without unfairness to any.
By it the Incapable nnd Inefficient are
eliminated" and inferior soldiers are
not Jumped over the heads of better
men.
Secretary Taft. In letters accompany
ing the proposals recently submitted.
refers to the present system of promo
tion as "bad how, but certain to become
Intolerable unless a cure is applied.'
Mr. Huidckopers article Is opportune,
since it cannot fail to call further at
tention to conditions to which the Sec
retary' of War refers.
Of course, our foreign trade lan
guishes for want of ships in which to
send our wares abroad. Every subsldy
shrieker who gets over the boundary
line immediately sends back a doleful
report of the lack of American ships
and attendant. loss of trade. In the
midst of this chorus from the begging
brigade it is refreshing to note an hon
est statement of conditions as they ac
tually exist. Edward C. O'Brien, United
States Minister to Uruguay, sends the
department a detailed list of ail steam
ship lines running to the River Plata.
Of the British lines ten run from Eu
ropean ports and nine from the United
States. This majority of one Is more
than offeet by threerof tho lines from
New York having a weekly service and
three a fortnightly service, while only
one of the lines from European ports
has a. weekly service. The next time
that the Hon. John Barrett goes to
South America It Is to-be hoped that he
will communicate with Mr. O'Brien and
thus avoid the necessity of sending
back word that it Is necessary for him
to travel to Europe in order to reach
South America from the United States.
Real estate transfers In this city for
the month of February reached o. total
of 52.069,150.67, an average of more than
$100,000 for every business day of the
month. These gratifying figures were
scored without including the true valu
ation of more than 23 per cent of the
property which changed hands. Nearly
all of the heavy buying that was done
by the railroads, appears In the trans
fers at the nominal figure of $1. From
a statistical standpoint this method of
hiding the truth Is even more mislead
ing than the prevailing system of tak
ing out building permits at from one-
twentieth to one-tenth the value of the
building involved. All of our slow
coach efforts to keep our light under a
bushel are unavailing, however, and the
new blood that is surging In Is making
Its presence felt. Among these new
arrivals are people who actually be
lieve that it Is creditable to the city to
have a $10,000 permit taken out for a
$10,000 building.
Dr. Andrew D. White made an ad
dress to Cornell students recently. In
which he said that "the number of
homicides in the United States, that arc
punished by lynching, exceeds the num
ber punished by due process of law."
It Is probably true. More than proba
bly; because Dr. White is noted for ac
curacy of statement, and he must
have made the necessary inquiry. It
proves two things. First, that there
are too few executions by due process
of law; second, that in consequence
there arc too many lynching?.
The reign of grace among1 the insur
ance companies is about over. Stuyve
int Fish has' been turned out of the
Mutwil Life's investigating committee
because he wanted to Investigate, and
it is said that Standard Oil will punish
him further for his audacity by forcing
him out of the presidency of the Illi
nois Central. IX this keeps on, Mrs
Fish may become the wife of the Pres
ident of the United States in spite of
herself.
Tho Hart. Oregonlan uranln an, Kajnern Ore-
Rrti roan for Eastern Oregon. It unt Eajt
cm Oregon ropl? to stand, firmly for such a
candidate. If Portland will not voluntarily
yield a dr.-rrrO and Jot har of the honors.
then let Eawt Oregon "take the bit In her
teeth" ami forcibly take rc3Jea of he:
own. Pendleton East Oregonlan.
Yet the East Oregonlan, as a good
Democratic newspaper must and
should and will support Hon. John M.
Gcarln, of Portland.
The notion that foreign Immigration
promotes crime gets a setback from
Massachusetts statistics. In the last
ten years the population of that state
has increased 20 per cent, mostly from
immigrants, while the number of prison
Inmates has decreased. The Springfield
Republican attributes the advance in
morality to the public schools.
Should Taft become President of the
United States, he would be the first
Yale graduate to attain that distinc
tion. Yale alumni cannot lack political
glory as long as Chauncey Depew sur
vives, but It would be soothing to their
pride to see one of their number In the
Presidential chair especially one who
would fill It as well as Taft.
The orthodox Russian Church has a
pleasant future In store for Tolstoi.
His eternal abode Is .to be a white-hot
iron pot with a tight lid, where he is to
fry to the -songs of rejoicing devils.
As for Pobledonostseff and the Czar,
their harps and wings are all prepared.
Such is orthodoxy.
To swell its figures of the cost of gas
production, the Portland Gas Company
figures "depreciation" of plant at about
$50,000 per year, or U.45 cents per thou
sand feet xt gas produced. Perhaps
that Is the explanation of poor gas the
plant depreciates sorApidly.
In Portland and throughout Oregon
we shall have rather strenuous times,
till we shall have brought the franchise
operators and the franchise mongers
under control. But they will be brought
under control.
Colorado is making an organized ef
for to attract immigrants. Its most at
tractive move would be to bring Its
civil war to a close. Immigrants as a
general thing prefer to locate in peace
ful communities.
The more pertinent question now
arises. Would the New York Legisla
ture be willing to entertain a bill for
the kllllng'off of the morally Incurable?
A sum In the rule of three: If Mc
Curdy's $150,000 salary was fourteen
flfteenths steal, how much of Paul Mor
ton's $1M,0W salary is honest?
Be patient -when the gas burns livid
red and green and smells like a broken
sewer. President Adams may be using
the main for a speaking tube.
There Is a crying' need for a more
open game In the" prlzering, too, appar
ently, : w
THE SILVER LINING.-
By A. jr. Ballarrf.
Vers De Soclete.
I little thought, as in I passed.
Bowing to her among the rest.
That I should leave the room at last
With an arrow In my breast.
Little did I understand
She never from my mind would go.
And when I touched her soft, whits
hand
I wondered why I trembled so.
But when I looked Into her face.
And when I listened to her songs,
I pondered. "I have run my race
And here Is where my heart belongs"!
Never hedge. Stay with your convic
tions.
Philosophy is tho mind trying to find
out Its own little game.
Definitions.
(Tips on the Race of Life.)
KISS something a woman gives with
pleasure) and a man reluctantly. It is
better to purchase them in the open mar
ket. They arc cheaper that way. One
given with pleasure" sometimes coals hun
dreds of dollars In the end.
ROOM A space bounded by four wall
a celling and a floor that have neither
cars nor tongue.
JOKE A word used to denote the hard-
est klad of labor next to prison labor.
GIRL A possession really possessed by
the other fellow.
EYES Daggers ted skillfully by fe
males la all civilized countries.
HAND A convenient appendage to a
woman which, when held firmly, is equiv
alent to holding her entire self on your
lap. It generally remains quiet, has a
gentle disposition and will stand without
hitching. But sometimes It scratches.
CAT Generic term (almost obsolete) for
certain kinds of human beings who wear
skirts.
PETTICOAT A garment that prevents
the nothlng-undcrneath effect.
STOCKING A curiously shaped keg
mado of soft material and worn by
pchoolmarms to keep the feet warm and
other purposes. It may be mado attrac
tive when Intended to be seen.
SHOE The modern sandal used to de
form the human foot.
TAILOR A perpetual creditor.
SWEETHEART The prettiest word In
the English language. It usually repre
sents tho only really sincere feeling of
affection of which anyone is capable.
Thore Is no doubt that this city Is go
ing to bo liberally supplied with banks.
The best part of It Is that the people
have plenty of money to put In them.
The surest help to a woman's pain
Is the magic phrase, "Let's have cham
pagne."
T know that my deceiver llveth.
God said "Let there be light"; and
Adams Immediately produced it.
Adams charged too much at the. very
beginning, so they compromised on using
the sun for general purposes, the garden
of Eden inclusive.
The Adams family have been monkey
Ing with lllumlnants at high rates ever
since.
a
Of all sad words e'er" written by man
The saddest are these. "He also ran."
The most acceptable person In the world
Is the woman who admires you. Every
man down In his soul knows that ho Is
no good; but he Is always tickled beyond
measure when a fine woman begins to
believe In him and praise him.
ThonRlit for the Day.
A little money, less or more.
Records the days as they pass by.
Day and months and years galore;
Why do we worry, you and I?
A llttlo money, more or less.
That Is all that can be said.
Let's cultivate God's tenderness;
The sun will shine when wa are dead.
Ecclesiastical Billingsgate.
Baltimore Herald.
That the art of heated and incandescent
Invective Is not confined to politician?.
dray-drivers and longshoremen 13 shown
by the following extracts from a Phila
delphia clergyman's published tribute to a
fellow ecclesiastic:
"Yodferoua and pwlmUHe cur."
"A desperata pamphleteer."
"Unlike the gentleness and humility of tha
dumb asa,"
Th! Inflated pmrllHt."
"ETen when the Lord appears the cond
time. It would be Jnst lite, this small animal
to rear up and baric at the sound of the
trumpetr. as It to say: 1 will not at low
It,'"
Slf -centered. Inane, mechanical. Illiter
ate and. mad ranxellit.'
Has been smitten with the stupidity of a
Judicial blindness."
"A mongrel Catvlnlst."
This calumlnator."
"Stands self-convicted either of Intellec
tual Imbecility or of serious moral depravity,
or possibly both."
"A notable exhibit of obtustlcated cere
b ration.
"His chronic habits of malignant innuendo
and mlareprsstntatlon remind one of th no
torious I ago."
Here we have a master of the art of
making loud and unseemly noises. In the
dead city of Philadelphia he Is lost. Were
he In Mississippi the grateful and admir
Insr ncoulaco would make him Governor.
Were he In South Carolina he would be
come a Senator of the United States.
Hero Worship and ilaps.
St. neholas-
Hero worship, too, has had a hand in
the making of maps. We have postofflces
bearing the name of every President down
to and Including Mr. Roosevelt. Only
two of his predecessors are lacking In the
list of counties. Naturally, the favorite
In the naming of towns and counties Is
Washington, and he Is the only President
for whom a state has been named. But
others than Presidents enjoy these hon
ors. Successful soldiers, sailors, states
men, editors, authors. Inventors, the
heroes of ancient history and mythology,
and even popular actors and athletes
share a like distinction. Our list of post
offices is a long one, and contains names
from almost every language, living and
dead, and chosen on almost every con
ceivable principle or Impulse. Two coun
ties In Kansas present a curious associa
tion of Ideas: Greeley County has for Its
capital a town called Tribune, and Ulysses
Is the county seat of Grant. New sta
tions were to b named along a Western
railway some years ago. and they were
named after the members of a profes
sional baseball team that happened Just
then to win the championship.
What Wo Are Coming To.
Baiter City Herald.
When Baker City gets pavad streets
our millionaires will be rtdjng in auto
mobiles and our millionaire daughters
will be eloping In automobiles and our
millionaires' dogs will be biting our
poor, unworthy legs to beat the band.
T&ja'i.,wkat w are cpjxln to,.
NEW YORK'S GAS WAR.
Eight Per Cent on Capital Actually
Employed Is a Fair Return.
New York Press.
ALBANY. Feb. 25.-Governor Higglns
wants an S0-cent gas bill passed by the
Legislature. There was no mistaking the
meaning of Governor HIgglns tonight
when he said It was the duty of the Leg
islature to pass an SO-ccnt gas bill for
New York City without delay.
The Governor expressed the opinion that
the announcement of S-cent gas for Man
hattan made today by the State Commis
sion would. If put into force, stand the
test of the courts. He was sure the Leg
islature could specifically delegate Its pow
ers to the commission, but he feared liti
gation would follow and keep the users of
gas from obtaining relief. Now that tho
commission had declared for an. SO-cent
rate, the Governor was sure the Legisla
ture could find no good reason for oppos
ing confirmation of 'the State Board's
work. The Governor was asked If the de
cision of the Gas Commission was expect
ed by him.
"They brought to me." he replied, "the
detailed figures on which their decision Is
based. I therefor knew In a general way
of their conclusions. I tblnfc that am 8
per cent retarn to the? earn company 01
the amount of Its capital actually em
ployed la It bunlaess la a fair return.
The reduction in price should Increase the
consumption, and with the economies to
be brought about to the Consolidated Gas
Company by the establishment of the
plant at Astoria, there should be an In
crease In the ratio of profit to the com
pany from Its sales."
"Do you regard the order as confisca
tion?" he was asked.
"I do not."
The State Commission of Gas and Elec
tricity In fixing the price at 80 cents today
saia tnat "on the evidence it is question
able whether the v.onsolIdatcd Gas Com
pany has franchises of any considerable
value. The commission believes that these
franchises, granted by the people without
compensation, should not be capitalized
against the public, thereby compelling the
public to pay a profit upon the value of
the favor granted by it. The seeming
injustice of requiring a corporation to pay
taxes upon a franchise and at the same
time refusing to allow the capitalization
of that franchise Is sophistical, not real.
The franchise tax Is paid by tho corpora
tion, but charged against the public as an
expense of operation, and In reality is
therefore paid by the consumer, not by
tne company."
The commission find that tho Consoli
dated Company Ib earning at least S per
cent on Its watered stock. In the findings
against the Consolidated Gas Company
mere is trie promise that a reduction will
soon bo ordered in Brooklyn and The
Bronx. The members deny that they
were forced to act because of the bill bv
Senator Stevens legislating them out of
office. In the present condition of the
Legislature, with virtualh- no leadership
it is impossible to say whether Governor
HIgglns will have his way on an SO-ccnt
bill.
The Maligned Newspaper Reporter.
Everybody's Magazine.
A. common charge brought against
newspaper reporters Is that they are
heartless, that they revel In laying be
fore the world the closely guarded se
crets of Individuals. It constantly "nap-
pens that a reporter must do unpleas
ant things because others have been
guilty of those violations of custom, law
or convention that make news. Tho op-
proonum tnat belongs to the real of
fender Is not infrequently heaped upon
the Innocent reportor. There Is no work
a reporter detests so much as that inrolv
Ing a social scandal, and there Is no
story that a large percentage of readers
will devour more eagerly. There isn't a
good reporter living who has not been
guilty of that blackesjt, least-forglvabte
or. all journalistic crimes, 'throwing down
his newspaper, to protect a helpless per
son Innocently Involved In a legitimate
news story that Is a matter of public
record. On the whole, the news-gatherers
are a tender-hearted folk and generous,
and that which-often passes for cynicism
Is an Intense hatred and contempt for
shams. If they appear suspicious It is
because long experience has taught them
that they must constantly guard against
deception. There Is no walk of life a
good reporter is not compelled, sooner or
later, to Invade, and his position is the
trying one of being compelled either to
gain the confidence of or outwit those
he meets there. .
The First Artificial Tire.
St. Nicholas.
In the course of time a man somewhere
In the world hit upon a plan of kindling
a fire without having any fire to begin
with; that Is to say, ho hit upon a plan
of producing a fire by artificial means.
He knew that by rubbing his hands to
gether vers hard and very fast he could
make them very warm. Then he asked
himself the question: Can a fire be kin
died by rubbing two pieces of wood to
gether, if they are rubbed hard enough?
He placed upon tho ground a piece of
perfectly dry wood and rubbed this with
the end of a stick until a groove was
made. In the groovo a fine dust of wood
a kind of sawdust was made by the
rubbing. He went on rubbing hard and
fast, and behold, the dust in tho groove
began to glow! He placed some dry grass
upon the embers and blew upon them
with his breath, and the grass burst into
a flame. Here for the first time a man
kindled a fire for htmaelf. He had in
vented the match, the greatest Invention,
perhaps, in teh history of the world.
The Reasonable Interpretation.
Arlington Record.
If the Republicans have a majority in
the Legislature and vote for their nom
Inee as the law contemplates there will
be no contest over the Senatorshlp in the
Legislature. If the Democrats or any other
party elects a majority of tho Legislators.
thfcy are presumed to elect the man for
Senator who received the plurality of the
votes for Senator of the party they rep
reeent. No other reasonable construction
can be put on the law.
Pictures in tho Smoike.
Pack.
No sentimental poet I, to wring; the heart
Trtth ivoa
Or call up sad allcnions to the I .and, of Long
Ago.
I leave such work to Riley. Tt him Induce
tear
With poem of the yesterday and Joys of
Otne. liar 1
Tst -what afflatus hi In me comes aurrlnsr
from afar.
"Wtit time 1 -puff the azure clouds from out a
big- clear.
Tho Muse of Optimistic Thlnry I Joyfully In
voke And conjure tip the pictures the pictures In
tha smoke.
So sn-etheartit of the Might Have Been are la
- thos dreams of mine;
No Gwendolyn or Margaret, no Kate or Caro
line;
Xo "dear old- Home," no promises that ehlld
lshlr I rowed.
Come In that vap'roua picture In that blue'
tobacco cloud.
Nay! Nay! I dream of luxurle that I am
going to get '
By aavlng up the coupons o a. certain cigar
ette. .
O ye that acoff at sentiment and deem ro
mance a Joke.
Came gaze with me at pictures at pictures In
the smoke.
An aulomoMie ! I save four million tags of
that;
Fer seven hundred thousand baada or thl a
famished sat:
JL irtor yacht for smoking thirty thousand
toe of daptt;
A toothbnsih for Inhaling fumes of twsnty
rallea of rope;
"A -woman's but a. woasan" but a good cigar
la mora
Than Just a smoke, dear Rudyara. If you strike
the proper store.
Tvn got tobacco heart, a lung is gone, and I
am broke.
But I have looked at pictures at pictures In
OREGON IS 0N THE MAP.
Wall Street Summary.
Prom Manitoba comes an announcement
that .there are at present m the Canadian
Northwest not less than 200,000 Americans,
or about one-third of its entire population.
This Is the section to which reference ha3
been made as the "wheat belt," and whdie
tracts arc now exclusively settled by res
idents of the United States. In 1SS6 only
0 homesteads were allotted to Americans:
In 1S97, 1000 were apportioned; In 1S33. 2$.-
000; In 1900, 33.000. and last year, more than
50.000 took up their habitation under the
Dominion government. This year SO.000
Americans are expected. i
This tide of emigration from the United
States is a matter of vital interest, be
cause It tends to depopulate our own agri
cultural sections, and. moreover, the .
transfer to Canada of much wealth and
farming experience. The majority oftour
citizens who cross the border are skilled
in farminsr pursuits, and are said to bring
with them, on an average, 5100O each man.
If this be correct, we have lost by this
movement money running far Into the
millions.
The cause of this exodus Is attributed to
the speculator. In 1900 It was noticed that
the homesteads in our various Western
States were practically exhausted, and
that the tracts in Minnesota and the Da
kotas, which had formerly been sold to
farmers by the Northern Pacific, had.
likewise, come to an end. To supply the
new fields for American conquest, specu
lators came to Canada. looked over the
ground, purchased millions of acres for a
mere song, and are now living In clover
on the profits of their enterprise.
This, while highly beneficial to Canada.
Is an irreparable Injury to the United
States, particularly to the railroads. Here
tofore emigrant traffic has been worth
about $1,000,000 a year to the railroads, and
on the authority of President James J.
Hill, of the Great Northern, every new
family settling along its line Is worth ?100
a year In freight profits. On this basi3
the diversion of 30.000 inhabitants, averag
ing five to a family, means the loss to the
railroads of Jl.COO.OOO annually, and the
consequent gain of that sum by the Cana
dian railroads. And as this movement is
likely to continue, a still greater loss may
have to be encountered as time passes.
That this tide cannot be turned Dixie-
ward is a condition to be greatly deplored:
and more particularly in view of the re
cent conference at Chattanooga, when
ways and means were discussed bv the
Governors and representatives of 13 South
ern States to induce emigration South
ward. The opportunities for agricultural
and industrial development of a most di
versified character below the old line of
Mason and Dixon are equal. If not supe
rior, to those of Canada or our own
Northwest, and this would hav.e been
more generally understood If the channels
of publicity had been earlier invoked. As
It Is, much valiant scrviec is now bcins:
done by the press of the South, and as. it
Is true, one of its prominent exponents
preaches that "the development of the
South is the enrichment of the Nation.'
before it be too late we should take steps
to save to our own country its citizens,
with thcir experience and wealth, by a
counter transfer movement Southward.
What the Country Needs.
Ashland Tidings.
Prospective settlers from tho East
and Middle West are pouring into Ore
gon by the'hundreds and thousands, en
couraged by the existing- favorable
railroad transportation rates. South
ern Oregon is getting- a share of them
and many are finding their way to
Rogue River Valley. It Is gratifying
to note that many of them arc people
of considerablo means, and come pre
pared to buy an orchard or farm or to
Improve unimproved lands which re
purchase. This is encouraging. The
Rogue River Valley towns dj
not need so much people to en
gage In mercantile and similar busi
ness enterprise to compete in a field
already well crowded, nor people with
out at least small means and a will to
work but producers arc needed to fill
up and. develop the surrounding- coun
try; people who will produce something
of use to themselves and tholr neigh
bors at home or abroad, farmers, fruit
growers, stockgrowers. dairymen, poul
trygrowcrs. More development of our
mines and water powers and general
wealth of natural resources Is called
for. Most towns could, spare a news
paper or a store and not suffer, but all
need additions to their payrolls.
His First Bribe. J
McAlister (Indian Territory) News. '
Tho editor of this paper begs to ac
knowledge receipt for the first bribe of
his editorial career. Somo days ago w
mado inquiries of one of our society
young ladles concerning a news item anil
elicited the following reply: "Yes, it's
true, but ple-e-e-ease don't print it in
the paper. If you leave It out. I'll give
you a nikel's worth of peanuts."
We are not passionately fond of pea
nuts, but gallantry Is our long suit. Thar
"please" would have separated us from
our overdraft at the bank without a
single regret. So we omitted the story.
It wasn't anything very startling, any
way. v
This morning a Scnegambian gentleman,
preceded by about six Inches of pleasant
smtle. wafted into the editorial sanctum
with a package -under his arm about the
size of a week's washing.
Peanuts! The whole family will be
kept busy for a week eating up the out
ward and visible manifestations of our
venality. "v7e begin to appreciate the joys
of being a boodler.
Keep It to Themselves. '
Olympla Olympian.
Portland Is deep in a fight- for cheap
er artificial gas, which Is accompanied
by the usual amount of discussion as
to the actual cost of manufacture. The
actual cost of gas. by the way. is a
matter about which the gas men are
not In the habit of speaking publicly.
It Is Information that they much- pre
fer to keep to themselves.
An Echoed Honr.
W. D. N. In Chlcaco Tribune.
Laflt night, when I was dozing, half awake
and half asleep.
And the silence all about me was so myatlcaliy
deep.
Then 1 sought tho path to slumber as o old
I ueed to seek
"With my hand upon the pillow, flattened -underneath
my 'cheek;
And the strangest fancies hurried to" my
dimly drowsy mind;
I was let across the borders of the land I've
left behind.
It was night the hush of twilight and I
heard the low refrain
Of the singing of the crickets In the meadow
by the lane:
And the owl called in the thicket, and th
whlppoorwlll gave cry
To its hollow, mournful measure, and the-
trees began to sigh:
And my eyes came halfway open and again
upon the wall
"Was the flicker of the ahadowa from the candl
in the hall.
And the walU changed In the magic to the
walls I used to know,
with the olden pictures on them, and the cell
ing bending law;
And the breeze came through the window,
trailing jasmine odors on
"With the spice of honeysuckles, as it did in
the days agone;
And th sky was as a curtain flecked with
gem or golden light
And I lisped, "Now 1 lay me." as I used to
to the night.
Then I thought not of the morrow, with the
carta that It might brine.
Nor of the sorrow that awaited with- its
goads that sear and sting:
For T knew naught of tomorrow nor of somber
sorrow, then
And I drifted Into dreamland as a careless
boy again.'
And I do not understand It, and I do not want
to know
Piw It was that 1 was giyea thJ one hour of
ioax. ai . - w.
L .
n