THE MORXIXG OEEGONIAN, FRIDAY. AUGUST 17, 1906.
Entered at the Postofflce at Portland. Or.,
as Second-Class Matter.
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PORTLAND, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17. IMS.
WHAT I"KXN IPLKST WHAT DOC
lRJNESf The Democratic convention of Mr.
Bryan's state declare that "the prin
ciples and doctrines' of their party
"have been boldly appropriated" by
the Republicans. What principles?
What doctrines? For two generations
the Democratic party has had no prin
ciples or doctrines that the country
lias wanted. Which is the reason why
the country has not wanted the Demo
cratic party.
Mr. Bryan has twice been the candi
date of his party for the Presidency;
both times tremendously beaten. The
country wanted neither him nor his
principles nor doctrines. Then the
Democratic party, thinking it time to
make experiment with a candidate di
rectly opposite to Bryan on doctrines
and principles, nominated Parker; who
was beaten even more tremendously
than Bryan had been.
When Bryan was the candidate, in
1896 and again in 1900, there was a ein
gle question before the country. It
was free and unlimited coinage of sil
ver, at 16 to 1. Nothing else was talked
about. In this issue the question was
presented whether the standard money
of the country should be changed from
gold to silver.
All the principles and doctrines of
the Democratic party were centered in
this one effort, to rescue iihmanity
from the oppression of the gold stand
ard. We think there is no reason to
aswert that the Republican party has
"boldly appropriated" the Democratic
platform of those times.
So discredited had Bryan become, so
hopeless was it deemed to put him in
the field a third time, that he was
dropped ty common consent. The
managers of the party resolved to shift
Its basis; and, to assure a radical
change from "the principles and doc
trines" which Bryan had stood for,
they nominated Judge Parker, of New
York, selected by, the money power,
or that portion of it which had been
attached to the Democratic party and
had controlled it tijl Bryan carried it
off Its feet by the rhetoric of the crown
of thorns and cross of gold.
So ridiculous, however, did it seem to
the country that a great party should
face right about In such a manner that
Parker was defeated more signally
than Bryan had been, and the parity's
new stock of principles and doctrines
was more deeply discredited than the
old one. Now, the party is turning to
Bryan again.
It does not appear, therefore, that
the Democratic party has or. ever had
any stock of principles or doctrines
that it could 'be very desirable for any
other party to appropriate. During its
career of fifty years the Republican
party has taken its own initiative,
formulated its own policies, declared
Its own principles and doctrines, and
submitted them to the judgment of the
country; and on the whole the judg
ment of the country has approved.
During recent years the attention of
the country has been turning toward
measures necessary for control of cor
porations, trusts, transportation prob
lems and great combinations of capi
tal. In this work It has taken the Ini
tiative and held it throughout. When
the Democratic party had -complete
control, after Cleveland's second elec
tion, what did it do in this direction?
Nothing whatever. It didn't even dis
cuss the subject. Under Republican
administration, especially since Roose
velt became President, the work
against unlawful combinations of cap
ital and against their operations has
been pursued with constantly lncreas
lng vigor. The laws have been
strengthened, to give the executive
more power, several of the great trusts
have been broken up, and most of the
others are on the grill.
There has 'been no appropriation of
Democratic principles and doctrines
here, for that party has had none. It
has shifted its position from the prai
ries of Nebraska to the brokers' of
fices of Wall street, and back again.
It has become proverbial that this
party can be depended upon for no lni
tlative, for no direct or purposeful pol
icy. It oscillates between socialism
and plutocracy now swinging in one
direction, now in the other. The coun
try knows it can place no dependence
upon It. Now and then it has, indeed,
been permitted to win an election; but
that was merely In the way of admin
Isterlng discipline to the Republican
party, not because the country had
any confidence in the Democratic
party.
It may be supposed that no party
has a patent on control or restraint of
trusts and lawless combinations of
capital, which Is the subject that has
the special attention of the country
now. On that subject or any other the
Democratic party has no principles or
doctrines that any other party could
wish to appropriate. It may claim,
however, a patent right on "16 to 1,"
and fall back to that position for its
new effort under the leadership of
Bryan.
FOR COOS BAY.
Coos Bay comes forward with her
request for consideration. It Is more
than a request. It is a demand. Coos
Bay must get the attention to which
her Importance and her position enti
tle her.
It would not be necessary to make
the claim for Coos Buy as a har
bor, if the situation did not en
title It to the claim. But Coos
Bay holds a position on a coast line of
hundreds of miles, where there is no
other harbor. Moreover, Coos Bay is
the port of a vast country, full of all
natural resources. There is coal; there
Is timber in quantities immense; there
Is agriculture, and Immense possibili
ties of it. And there is the port for
southwestern Oregon and Northwest
ern California, and for the vast in
terior of both states, adjacent and 'on
parallel lines.
Coos Bay is now to have a railroad.
The work has begun. It will be pusned
as fa at as possible. This important
part of the State of Oregon is now to
be redeemed from its isolation. Within
a few years Coos will become the sec
ond county of Oregon. Other railroads
will seek Coos Bay. Southwestern Ore
gon has room and resource for a pop
ulation to the number of a million and
more.
Improvement of the entrance and
harbor of Coos Bay is required to meet
this development and to assist. The
statement and petition we publish to
day bring forward this reasonable de
mand. It must have recognition. Ore
gon's strength must be thrown
upon it. Part of every effort for Ore
gon, henceforth, must be obtalnment
of this recognition for Coos Bay, which
is in Oregon and of Oregon. In no way
can the State of Oregon be advanced
more rapidly in the line of progress
than by this help for Coos Bay.
KLKAS.
Providence seems to have a grudge
against Philadelphia. No sooner is
that city rid of its grafters than a
plague of fleas besets it. The latter
pest is more numerous than the for
mer, perhaps, and attacks in a manner
somewhat different; but it requires no
very active imagination to conceive
that the woes of the city are not essen
tially altered.
The grafter is a kind of flea. A par
asite on the body politic, he sucks the
blood like his agile prototype, and too
often, when the finger of Justice de
scends to grab him, he hops gleefully
away.
The grafter, or human flea, thrives
wherever public business of any sort
is transacted. He is on hand when a
building Is to be erected or a ship con
structed. He feeds on the supplies to
the Army and fattens on the food of
soldiers. Three thousand dead in the
Spanish war died of the bite of the
human flea. He swarms about State
Legislatures and appears in capitols in
diverse forms. Now he is a sweet
young lady clerk;, now he is a suave
lobbyist; now he is a member plunder
ing the chamber of stationery and fur
niture, as he sets out for home. A flea,
fine, fat and large, which particularly
affects ca.pitols is of the lobbyist vari
ety. Swept away, he hops back again
as lively as ever. Crushed, he flattens
himself out and escapes unhurt. He
seems to be immune to insect powders
and no spray has been Invented that
will kill him. ' '
There Is another variety of flea that
infests the " public schools. He grows
fat on contracts for furniture and
books. He nibbles at the salaries of
teachers and gnaws into the perquisites
of janitors. He is always on hand
when a building Is to be erected, and
grows noticeably rotund before it is
completed. The school flea assumes
various engaging disguises. Sometimes
he looks like a director, sometimes like
a teacher, sometimes like a superin
tendent. His tricks for diverting the
public funds into his stomach are
many and ingenious. He has been
known to gnaw a large hole in a fund
voted by the taxpayers to raise teach
ers' salaries. He has been suspected of
swallowing a pile of wood.
Wonderful was the work of the Lord
when he' made the human flea, and
marvelous was the foresight of the
prophet who wrote "The wicked flea,
when noman pursueth but the right
eous, Is as bold as a lion." Verily, he
has reason to be bold; for what right
eous man ever got the better of a
grafter? v
AN OVERSOLD WHEAT MARKJET.
The Chicago wheat market yester
day touched the lowest figure reached
since 1903, and for- weeks has been
fairly swamped with the large offerings
which have poured In from the Middle
West and Southwest.' The drastic sell
ing movement in the Eastern markets
has resulted in a net decline of more
than 15 cents per bushel, since the new
wheat- began moving. With the mar
ket so completely at the mercy of the
bears and farmers apparently panic-
stricken in their desire to get rid of
their wheat, it would be unsafe to pre
dict waien the bottom will be reached.
The most prominent factor in this pan
icky slump has been the Government
predictions of a record-breaking crop.
The Government does not indulge In
quantitative statements so early in
the season, but gives out percentages
on conditions. Using these percent
ages with the actual yields of former
years for a base, the New Tork Pro-:
duce Exchange estimates the 1906
wheat crop at 772,000,000 bushels, an In
crease of 80,000,000 bushels over the
crop of last year and 24,000,000 bushels
over the record crop of 1901.
Chicago prices at the present time
are slightly lower than at a corre
sponding date In 1901, and the bears
are apparently assuming that an est!
mated excess of 24,000,000 bushels over
the 1901 crop is sufficient justification
for a further raid on prices. This
might be a logical assumption If they
were to overlook the fact that the pop
ulation of the United States has in
creased nearly 8,000,000 In the past five
years, which would mean an Increased
consumption of approximately 40,000,000
bushels. This consumption has also
undoubtedly been Increased materially
by reason of the general prosperity
and enlarged purchasing power of the
people, so that a crop of 772,000,000
bushels in 1906 Is far less formidable
as a bear factor than the 748,000,000
bushel crop of 1901. But, -regardless of
trje Juggling of the Chicago wheat-pit
operators, who are aided by the fright
ened haste of the farmers of the South
west to dump their wheat on the mar
ket, there are limitations to the
changes which can be wrought 4n the
American market without contributory
aid- from Europe, which In the end reg
ulates the price for the world.
The European demands have been
fairly well met, with abnormally heavy
shipments from Russia and from India,
while the Argentine is still dumping
Immense quantities of the largest crop
on record, long after its surplus would
ordinarily be disposed of. But there is
en end to all things, even to a big crop
of wheat, -and eventually European
buyers must turn to America for sup
plies. If they can secure enough to
meet their requirements at the present
low level of prices, there will be no
advance, but if there is an' insufficient
amount of cheap wheat offering they
will advance prices. The statistical
position In the United States, with such
a large crop impending, is, of course,
weak, but it is stronger In Europe, and
while there is no hope for the dollar
wheat mark for which the American
Society of Equity has Issued a demand,
It Is probable that the present period
of weakness and drastic liquidation
has about run its course.
One of the most singular features
developed in this remarkable situation
is the relative price of wheat In Chi
cago and at Portland. Cash wheat in
Chicago sold yesterday at 7071o
per bushel, and 70 cents per bushel was
offered in Portland. The freight rate
from Portland to Liverpool is 18 cents
per bushel, and from Chicago 9.9 cents
per bushel. Based on the European
market, the wheatgrower in Portland
territory Is, accordingly, receiving 8
cents per 4ushel more than the less
fortunate farmer in territory tributary
to Chicago. The greater part of this
difference is due to the higher . price
paid in Portland for milling purposes.
The Oriental flour trade hras not yet
reached proportions where it requires
all of the wheat available for export
from this port, but in the early part of
the season It is of sufficient Import
ance to keep prices at a much higher
level than Is warranted by the' Euro
pean markets.
11 GUT ON PRIVILEGE.
Reading the account of the flogging
of the young girl In St. Petersburg by
the soldiers, most Americans will con
gratulate themselves that such a thing
could not happen in this country. Of
course it could not. Still, privilege is
much the same thing in one country as
in another, and what it does in Russia
it would do in America, if it had 4he
power, and the occasion should arise.
Privilege In Russia is fighting for its
life against the rising democracy, and
therefore exhibits its true mature with
less disguise than elsewhere In the
world. It has also more power there'
than in any ether country, so that
what it desires to do it does, unre
strained by the fear of consequences.
But history proves that privilege is the
same everywhere- and always, and re
sorts to the same measures to preserve
itself from destruction or to enforce
its authority.
Women have been whipped in Amer
ica as cruelly as the Czar's, soldiers
flogged the girl in St. Petersburg. They
were not white women, but the men
wbolaid on the lash were white, and it
was done for precisely the same reason;
that is, to hold an Inferior class In sub
jection to' its heaven-appointed superi
ors. To privilege, color is a matter of
no consequence. To enforce Its author
ity a privileged order would as readily
flog a white woman as a negro, and
one kind of privilege would defend it
self In that way with as little hesita
tion as another.
The trolley employes on the Coney
Island road threw women off the cars
as violently as men. The beneficiaries
of the Dingley tariff work women and
men in their mills with indiscriminate
brutality. Privilege knows no distinc
tion of sex or age. The standpatters,
who howl for the Dlngley tariff be
cause it dignifies labor, work little chil
dren to death without a scruple.
So far as it dares, privilege conducts
Itself in the same way everywhere.
The only code of ethics it recognizes is
its own interest. It knows nothing of
chivalry or decency. It cures nothing
for the opinion of the lower classes un
less that opinion threatens to become
effective in deeds. Then it will suppress
the opinion by law, if possible, and 1f
not, it will try to "educate" the masses,
as.lt did in the case of the rate bill.
Since the education which privilege
bestows is always in its own interest,
it is necessarily false. The attempt is
to Induce the public to believe to its
own undoing. Privilege cares no more
for truth than it does for justice. If
falsehood conduces to profit, falsehood
is right. Everything . is right which
seats privilege more securely in the
saddle. Everything Is wrong which op
poses it.
Privilege has no religion, although
it uses all religions as it does all polit
ical parties. Of convictions it knows
nothing except to turn other men's con
victions to its own profit. It belongs
to all churches and to tooth Republican
and Democratic parties, so long as it
can control them. The church or party
which It cannot control it .anathema
tizes. Privilege loves all men whom it
can use and destroys the others if it
can. The only law which it obeys Is
that of self-preservation. The only
things in the world which it thinks Im
portant are its own existence and
emoluments. To these . it is always
ready to sacrifice everything else in
heaven or earth.
t Privilege makes, its own god, moral
ity and religion. It believes In no
rights except its own, and shuns no
wrongs which will Increase its profits.
The happiness of the lower, that is, the
unprivileged, classes is a matter of no
consequence. They are born to serve.
Their feelings do not count. ' Their
opinions have no weight. Privilege is
absolutely cruel and utterly unscrupu
lous. No law blnds.lt. No conscience
restrains it. Therefore, in the past
privilege has been the dominant force
in human affairs, and while it has kept
the majority of mankind miserable it
has kept a small class supremely
happy. Earth and, its Inhabitants have
hitherto existed for the holders of priv
ilege. No wonder, then, that a girl
who dared to laugh at her heaven-appointed
superiors should be made to
feel the lash. Her laugh was a sign
that the bond of superstition, which
makes privilege possible, was break
ing. The she-wolf fighting for her
cube is merciful compared with privi
lege fighting for Its life.
The venturesome motorman, think
ing he can "make the next switch"
ahead of the car approaching from the
opposite direction, has not yet been
eliminated from the problem of mod
ern transportation. No one can tell
how numerous he Is nor how often he
"makes the switch" without accident.
It is nly when he fails and collision
follows, with more or less disastrous
results, that his disobedience of orders
Is noted and he Is punished by dis
missal from the company's and the
public's service. This is to toe regretr
ted, but there seems to be no way to
help it. The necessities of suburban
travel require the services of a multi
tude of men. It is not possible to pick
and choose each one of this multitude
from the ranks of responsible, prudent
men. That the majority Is trustworthy
is witnessed in the fact that tens of
thousands of passengers are carried
over suburban lines daily without acci
dent. That the Irresponsible element
Is still in the ranks Is shown by the ocr
casional collision which could not have
occurred if orders had been obeyed, or
if the' violation of orders, when acci
dent has not followed, had not been
winked at or placidly overlooked.
The question of what to do -with a
Chinese, perhaps a leper, who exists
by begging and lives In a miserable
shack on the western outskirts of the
city, is a iperplexing one, It is clear
that the wretched creature should not
be permitted to run at large, yet where
and how to confine him and by what
means to provide for his few wants is
a maftter not easily decided. Here is a
case that illustrates the wisdom of ap
plying to human beings the means of
release from hopeless suffering that is
unhesitatingly bestowed upon a creat
ure of the brute creation, similarly
situated. In this suggestion lies the
only way out of such a quandary as
the City Council finds itself in in this
case. Unfortunately, this suggestion Is
rejected as not applicable to a human
creature, though he be slowly rotting
of a loathsome contagious and incura
ble malady. The theory that to pen
this Chinanwan up and. let him starve,
or, being fed, die by inches, is humane,
while to give him painless exit in a
few minutes by simple means known
to science is barbarous, is wholly with
out basis in humanity or wise public
policy. It is one of the idiosyncrasies
of intelligence yet to be outgrown.
Mr. Cannon may be the candidate of
the Republican party for the Presi
dency. But we think he will not be.
Were he younger in years, there would
hardly be any question. He is young,
indeed, in feeling and purpose; yet at
70 Nature is apt to be inexorable. Mr.
Cannon has the qualities; he has the
spirit; he is close to the people; he Is
for them and with them and of them;
he has superaboundlng common sense.
But the years he carries will tell
against him. It will be thought that
age makes him too conservative, leaves
him too little hospitable to modern
ideas, deprives him of the flexibility
necessary to the requirements of the
modern time. Yet if he were President
we should have a great, good, sound
administration. As a man of the peo
ple no one stands above your uncle
Joe Cannon. Illinois doubtless will pre
sent him as her favorite son. Tet we
shall not expect his nomination. There
would be no question, however, were
he ten to twenty years younger.
That angry gentleman of the Far
East, commonly , known as the Mad
Mullah, is again on the rampage. It is
not yet a year since the Mullah experi
enced one of his periodical deaths, but
he has been killed so often by cable
that in the iecuperative vitality he
displays he has the poor cat, with only
nine lives, so badly distanced as to toe
hardly worth mentioning. The Mad
Mullah celebrated his latest return to
life by an rattack on the forces of the
Sultan of Mijertain. As he succeeded
in killing 700 warriors and nine near
relatives of the Sultan, the latter gen
tleman is also mad; so much so that at
last reports he was pursuing the
brigand of the angry cognomen with
fair . prospects of again killing him.
There Is a fortune in store for the en
terprising Individual who can round up
the Mad Mullah and get him on the
lecture platform with a discourse on
"Lives I Have Lost and Regained."
Engineers are in the field locating a
route for the Tillamook extension of
the Astoria & Columbia River Rail
road. This extension, like the line al
ready under construction to Tillamook
by Mr. Lytle, cannot pass through any
unproductive- territory, as there is
nothing of that descriplton in any part
of the country which Is to be opened
up. The tangible results of Mr. Ham
mond's enterprise as a railroad-builder
along the Lower Columbia are so very
much in evidence that there will be no
question as to the success of his latest
undertaking. His road caused the
building of new towns In Clatsop and
Columbia Counties, and the doubling.
trebling and even quadrupling of the
population of some of those which
were in the infantile stage when the
road was begun. That his enterprise
will be similarly rewarded along the
Tillamook extension is a foregone con
clusion. Comparative prices of ice in North
ern and Southern cities show that the
charges in most places in the North
are much higher. At Hartford 100
pounds of Ice costs 50 cents; at Mem
phis 35 cents, and at Savannah 25
cents. Again, the artificial ice, used In
the South, is much purer than the nat
ural ice used in so many Northern cit
ies, which is cut from ponds or water
courses into which the washings of the
country, or sewers of the towns, are
poured. The Hartford Courant, quot
ing the price of ice in its own town.
says: "This is higher than the price
in any Southern city that we have
quoted, and the Ice is well, what is it?
To the pure all things are pure, ana
you should take your ice in that spirit
unless you take spirit with your ice."
The Hartford Courant says that
"compulsory swimming should be a
part of the common school course. It
is more important than nine-tenths
of what is supposed to be taught.
and there ' can be no shamming
in this study; either the fellow
can swim or he cannot, and when
he has learned it he has some
thing valuable for all his life, and like
ly for the lives of other folks, top."
To meet this demand it would be nec
essary to keep the schools open . in
Summer, or at least for public author
ity to keep hold of the children and
give them Summer lessons under swim
ming teachers, and provide at the pub
lic expense proper places to swim in
In the semi-arid districts it might be
combined with the irrigation system.
The pick-pocket is a higher order of
being than the embezzling banker.
They are both thieves and both
sneaks, but the latter robs his friends,
an act to which the former would not
stoop. When decent society ostracises
the bank wrecker as it does the pick
pocket and punishes him according to
the magnitude of. his crime, there will
be less suffering among those frugal
people whoi. work hard, save their
money and deposit it for safe keeping
In a bank.
Sealskins often have nvade. trouble
for Americans at home and now have
almost made trouble for them abroad
this time with Japan.
Thfl nmnls rtf PittshurBT million
aires must have converted Carnegie to
his die-poor doctrine.
POOR aRB LOOTED IX BANK RCIN
Saving's of Loos Thrift and Self-Denial
A-oat Dy i.n w a iaxneas.
Chicago Post.
The failure of the Milwaukee Avenue
State Bank promises to be one of the
most pitiful in its circumstances. Out of
all proportion to the financial importance
of the collapse is the suffering involved.
Twenty-two thousand depositors are
said to have put their faith and their
funds into the Milwaukee Avenue State
Bank, but this fact means little until one
strips .to consider the circumstances of
the depositors and the conditions under
which their small hoardings were accu
mulated. Men and women who toil daily and eke
out of earnings barely enough for exis
tence a pittance to put by, are the ma
jority of depositors in this bank. Im
agine then what it means to lose in a
night the Iruit of years of spartan ttintt
and self-denial. These pitiful small sav
ings are in many cases the only barrier
against the ever-imminent disasters of
illness, disablement, loss of employment,
against the ever-present and inexorable
misfortune of old age, against destitution
and pauperism.
There is something sadly out or Joint
when thrift and Industry are so penalized.
There is something that needs drastic,
prompt and effectual reform when, with
out warning, such disaster Is precipitated
upon -a deserving class. Many of the
State Bank's patrons come from countries
where, if an institution bears the name
of the state, the state sees to its regula
tion and to the protection of those who
rely upon that fact. Many, doubtless,
relied solely upon the reputation of Pres
ident Stensland. But whichever the
grounds of their faith, it is plain mis
fortune and ' injustice has been done
through the mismanagement of a puttie
Institution.
Why was the Milwaukee Avenue State
Bank permitted to develop the conditions
now exposed?
Why was not Its condition discovered
in time to force measures for the pro
tection of the depositors from the results
of absolute failure?
We have a public official known as
State Auditor. He appoints deputies to
examine state banks.
What of the character of these depu
ties? Are they appointed for political
reasons, or because they are competent
and reliable?
If competent and reliable, are there
enough to do the work? Do the laws
sufficiently empower them to make
searching and frequent investigation? Do
the laws require them to do so?
Certainly there is crying wrong in the
failure of the Milwaukee Avenue State
Bank. It is the duty of the reputable
business community to address itself to
its cure if not as bustness men, then as
public-spirited citizens and humane fellow-beings.
The Indispensable "Well."
London Chronicle.
Across the club luncheon table a man
looked up from his grilled sole and pro
claimed that no man In England can car
ry on a conversation without saying
"well." The usual bet was made. For a
week the two friends glared at each
other, knowing that "well" Is the begin
ning of most casual sentences. . . .
You may not have noticed that! Dumb
ly they parted day by day, with a hand
shake, and the word "well " frozen on
their lips. After a week one of the two
had to confess that the language had
got the better of him. "Well," he said,
"I'd rather drop a sovereign over that
dinner than choke that 'well. I can't
talk without it!"
Stealing Sea Water
London Mail.
A very curious case has occurred at
Paris Plage, near BouIogne-sur-Mer. A
woman who drew two buckets of water
from the sea in order to give her children
a warm sea water bath, as ordered by
the doctor, was threatened with a fine
for doing so by two passing customs offi
cers. She was obliged to write on a sheet
of paper what she wanted the water for,
and obtain permission of the authorities,
before she was allowed to take water
from the sea.
It appears that In the reign of Louis
XIV a decree was passed forbidding the
people to take sea water without special
permission, lest they should extract the
salt from it, and so defraud the revenue.
A Natural Ice Trnat.
London Tit-Bits.
The largest mass of Ice In the world is
probably the one which fills up nearly the
whole of the interior of Greenland, where
it has accumulated since before the dawn
of history. It is believed now to form a
block about 600,000 square miles In area,
and averaging a mile and a half In thick
ness. According to these statistics tne
lump of ice Is larger In volume than the
whole body of water In the Mediterran
ean, and there Is enough of It to cover
the whole of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland with a layer
about seven miles thick.
It Was a Mlsunderstandln'.
Chicago Chronicle.
Tarantula Tom Why did Bill plug the
tenderfoot? :
Lava Bed Pete It all come o' Bill's
dtstressln' Ignorance o' legal terms.
T. T. How 'uz that?"
L. B. P. Well. Bill owed th' shorthorn
some money an' was sorter slow about
payln". Bo the ptranger writ him a let
ter sayln': "I will draw on you at sight."
An' Bill thought that meant a gun play.
So when he meets up with the stranger
he draws first. It was a mlsunder
Btandin'. , In the. First Class.
Indianapolis News.
You've heard before that the Japs were
imitators? Well, now, they've got a
canned "meat scandal.
PUTTING IT
mini "K
Iff nirJm
TRl'STS CURBED BY ROOSEVELT
Haughty No Loniter, They Yield to the
Force of Public Opinion.
Philadelphia Press.
Five years ago. when the Steel Trust
was organized with its Jl.500,000,000 of
capital, It was a wide and general im
pression at home and abroad that rail
road and trust together could override
the law, control legislation and dominate
the situation, as far as the consumer
was concerned.
When the Republican party began a
year later, under the Inspiration of Theo
dore Roosevelt's speeches and his leader
ship to demand that corporations should
be brought under full control of the law
many disbelieved and more scoffed. A
large crop of cartoons showed "the
trusts" treating any regulation of cor
porations by the Republican party as a
huge and incredible joke.
No trust has that view today. No rail
road doubts that the law is supreme.
No head of any great trust or railroad Is
treating public opinion as something that
can be neglected or met by buying up a
Legislature. The entire National horizon
gives proof of the new power and
potency of law in regulating corporate
action.
No coal corporation this year cared
lightly to force a strike. After one set
of ice dealers had faced the penitentiary
In Toledo the various ice combinations in
our large cities stopped advancing the
price of Ice. Railroad rebates to trusts
have stopped, after the convictions and
the legislation of the Spring. Seventeen
suits were begun last week for failures to
provide safety brakes. Every railroad
employe has a new right to sue for dam
ages when Injured through the negligence
of a co-employe in Interstate commerce.
The Beef Trust is seeking and accept
ing a drastic inspection. Even the
Standard Oil Trust has become apolo
getic and Issues a statement once a week
appealing to public opinion. The big in
surance companies are under the curb of
law. All around, thanks to Roosevelt's
Republican policy, the great corporations
are under a new legal control.
LIFE IS THE OREGON COUNTRY
Kman but One Inarredlent.
Newberg Graphic.
It Is a fact as stated in an exchange
that lemon Juice is better for stout peo
ple than any anti-fat medicine ever made
up." We have used It with good results
for several years.
When the Smelt Ran.
Corvallls Gazette.
The smelt are running now at Yachaats
and the excitement is great among visit
ors as they wade Into the water and
throw the little fish out on the sand,
there to be hastily gathered up. wet and
squirming, and placed in sacks by the
women folKS.
Oregon's Original Tnekhammer Man.
Salem Journal.
J. P. Jones, traveling passenger agent
for the Southern Pacific Company, who
owns a farm about seven miles north of
the city, has been spending his vacation
running a threshing outfit. He wears a
linen duster, and has straw In his hair
and chaff In his pockets, and looks like
the real thing.
Even Affected the Old Boys.
' Corvallis Times.
The sick kitty passenger on the Sunday
excursion trains from Newport Is not so
much In vogue as formerly. How young
sters of 16 to 20 sat on each other's laps
and chewed each other's gums with a
dying calf look on their faces was
sketched In the Times recently. Of late
true love has not seemed to have so
mellifluous effect on the youngsters as
formerly. They have mostly been con
tent to sit up straight with nothing more
serious than a surreptitious holding of
hands and an occasional sly glance Into
each other's eyes. Last Sunday night,
however, a batch of seven of them in one
car got the mania and fell to with an
abandon that would have mortified to
death anything else than a bunch of the
exceedingly sick-calf variety. Seven of
them, about three youths and four
youthesses, sardlned Into one double seat.
They all had that kind of love that abso
lutely refuses to have a lid on It. Frank
Durbin, the old Sheriff of Marlon, and
ex-Governor Geer and wife sat across
the aisle and looked on at proceedings
In dumb astonishment. -At last Mr. Dur
bln got his breath and remarked that
"Superintendent Gardner ought to come
along and gather in that bunch for the
Boys' and Girls' Home; what do you
think of 'em, Geer, eh?" The ex-Governor
took one swift glance at the outfit
and remarked: "If Mrs. Geer were not
along I would take a hand in the mix
up myself."
Not In the Julian Calendar.
Puck.
Once more the Senate pressed about
Caesar, offering him the crown, and once
more he thrust it away.
A Voice All hail! (Everybody hailed
violently.)
A Voice Now, Julius, If we hail, you
ought to be willing to reign.
This was some 44 years B. C, yet
the Joke was deemed too ancient, even
then, to be spread upon the official
minutes.
Cheap Reputation.
New York Sun.
Solomon had Just ordered the baby cut
in half.
"How much simpler," we murmured,
"to have given it to the woman who
didn't have the dog."
This just shows how some men can
build up a reputation for wisdom on pure
bluff.
IN PLACE
- ,.
From the Chlcaro Inter Oceaji.
WILL XOT SHOW SKELETONS
Census Director Lulls Alarm About
Statistics of Divorce. '
WASHINGTON. Aug. 16. (Special.) The
Census Bureau is fretting under Intima
tions that its large force of women In
spectors sent out to large cities to gather
divorce statistics will expose family skel
etons to an alarming degree. William S.
Rossiter, acting director, in an interview
today denied emphatically that there is
anything sensational in the inquiry now
in progress.
"It is merely a routine matter with us,
he said, "and the public will never be any
wlser as to Individual cases when we
have finished. We would not think of
giving out any information in that way.
in fact, our records will not even con
tain the names of the divorced persons
when they are completed. It is block
statistics the Government is after, and
nothing else.
"We are simplv sending a corps of men
and women clerks from our offices in
this city, as we do continually In collect
ing various kinds of statistics, and they
are being installed In the courthouses of
20 large cities, where, under the direction
of a man of the bureau, they will go
through the divorce records of the past 20
years hurriedly and in a businesslike man
ner, and take out certain cold facts which
may never have any personal significance
to the public.
"It will take about a year to complete
the collection of divorce statistics through
out the country. The present work Is
merely preliminary. Later, every county
in every state in the Union will be visited
and the court records gone over. At
present, there are 30 clerks from this of
fice In Chicago, 20 in New York, ten In
Philadelphia, 12 in Boston and four in
Baltimore."
WILL REVISE LAWS OF NAVY
Board of Officers Will Overhaul
Those Governing Personnel.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16. Before
leaving Washington yesterday for his
vacation, Secretary Bonaparte signed
the order creating a board to consider
existing laws affecting tne commis
sioned personnel of the Navy. On It are
Truman II. Newberry, Assistant Secre
tary of the Navy, president; Rear-Ad-miral
Charles H. Stockton, Captain
Charles E. Vreeland, Commander Harry
H. Hoaley, commander Albert Gleaves,
Lieutenant-Commander William S.
81ms and Lieutenant-Commander Emil
Theiss.
The board will consider existing laws
affecting the commissioned personnel
of the Navy and recommend such
changes as will, in the Judgment of
the board, tend to promote efficiency
and economy and be also consonant
wltij an equitable regard for the in
terests of .those affected. The report
will form the basis of recommendations
as to changes in the annual report of
the Secretary to Congress. The board
is directed to submit its recommenda
tions In the following separate reports:
First A report of recommendations
affecting the officers of the line of the
Navy only.
Second A report of recommenda
tions affecting officers of any one or
more of the staff corps of the Navy or
of the United States Marine Corps,
whether the same do or do not affet-t
officers of the line.
Third A report of recommendations
affecting the organization, powers or
duties, as now fixed by law, of any t
bureau or office of the department or
commander of the United States Marine
Corps whatever might be the other or
further effects of said recommendations
if adopted.
The second and third reports are to
be submitted not later than November
9. 1906; the first not later than Novem
ber 19.
Frauds by Coffee Importers.
NEW YORK. Aug. 16. Collector of
Customs Stranahan conducted an exam-,
lnation today in relation to the com
plaint toy Scott Truxton, Government
agent of the Porto Rico Commercial
Agency, that a firm here had maile
fraudulent declarations of a clearance
of coffee from New York to Porto Rico.
It developed that the declarations were
made by a boy, who, In manifesting sev
eral hundred bags which contained cof
fee as "choice red beans," ommitted the
word "coffee." Mr. Stranahan told the
firm In future each manifest must be
made out by a "member of the firm. It
was charged that certain firms had been
in the habit of buying low-grade Bra
zilian coffee, shipping It to Porto Rico
and reshlpplng it In other packages as
Porto Rlcan coffee.
Northwest Postal Changes.
OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU, Wash
ington. Aug. 1. Rural carriers ap
pointed: Oregon Hillsboro, route 4, Walter
E. Thomas carrier, Fred S. Thomas sub
stitute. Washington Spokane, route 2.
Hartvig Eliertson carrier, Benjamin II.
Daily substitute.
Roby W. West has been appointed
postmaster at MacKay, Wash., vice G.
A. Jones, resigned.
Seeks to Solve Fishing Dispute.
ST. JOHNS. N. F., Aug. 16. Senator
Redfield Proctor, of Vermont, who has
been here for ten days, started homeward
yesterday. It is understood he has been
studying the latest phases of the fisheries
disputes between the United States and
Newfoundland. He has met the Gover
nor and other public men. He said he
thought It unlikely that the bond-Hay
treaty would be ratified unless it were
modified.
Sentence on Tricky Navy Surgeons.
WASHINGTON. Aug. 16. The Navy
Department today approved the find
ings in the case of Assistant Surgeon
Harry L Brown, who was sentenced to
be reduced 15 numbers in his grade on
the charge of manipulation in his ex
amination papers, when ho was be
fore the board for promotion. The case
of T. N. Pease, who was implicated with
Brown, has gone to the President, as
tho sentence was . dismissal.
Another Crank After Roosevelt.
WASHINGTON. Aug. 16. Mrs. Ida
May Morse, a St. Louis aotress. who
came here for the alleged purpose of get
ting President Roosevelt to surrender. to
her the 125.000 voted to him by Congress
for traveling expenses, was today given
Into the custody of relatives, who prom
ised to care of her In St Louis.
v
Japan Will Make No Protest.
TOKIO, Aug. 16. It is confidently as
serted that the Aleutian Islands incident,
involving the killing and capture of a
number of Japanese seal poachers, will
be amicably settled without any compli
cations. New Postmaster at Stanwood.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16. The Presi
dent has appointed C. Pearson post
master at Stanwood, Wrash.
Montesano Will Clean House.
MONTESANO. Wash., . Aug. 16. (Spe
cial.) This city Is going to have a mu
nicipal housecleaning day, the committee
on civic improvement appointed by the
recently-organized Boosters' Club having
set apart next Monday. August 20, as a
time for every property-owner to clean
up his premises and to remove the grass
and weeds from the streets, alleys and
drains. The project has met with popu
lar favor and nearly every resident will
do everything possible to make the city
yet more attractive. ...
n