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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1907)
THE MORNING OH EG ONI AN, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1907. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. tT INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. Tl (By MalL) rITy, Eunday locluaed, on year $3.00 XJally. Sunday Included, sir months.... 4.25 Daily, Sunday Included, threa inontbs. . 2-25 Dally. Sunday Included, one month. -73 Dally, without Sunday, ona year Sally, without Sunday, Ilx months 8-25 I'ally, without Sunday, three montha. . 1.7 Dally, without Sunday, one month Sunday, ona year Stf Weekly, ene vMr nuufd Thursday) . . . l-0 Sunday and Weekly, one year. ....... BY CARRILB. Bally. Sunday Included, ona year.... Dally. Sundae Included. Mia month.. 3. JO 8 00 .7 HOW TO REMIT Send poatofflce money rder, express order or personal check on ycur local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the aender's risk. Glva postotflca ad dxtss in full. Including county and itaia. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon. Postofflca as Second-Class scatter. It to J 4 Pases J It to 28 Fae 2 0 to 44 Pases ? cenU 48 to 60 Pases int I Foreign Postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are trlct Newspapers on which pontage la not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination, EASTKKN BUSINESS OFFICE- The 8. V. B.rkwitb Special Agency New Tork, rooms 4a-50 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms .10-612 Tribune buUcUng. KKfT OS SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex. PostoHlco News Co.. 17S Dearborn street. 6t. Paul, Minn. N. at. Marie. Commercial Station. Denver Hamilton Hrndrlck. 008-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, fifteenth street; I. WeinsLein; H. P. Han sen. Kaunas City, Mo Ricksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, 80 South Third; Eagle News Co., corner Tenth and Eleventh; Yoma News Co. Cleveland. t James Fushaw. 307 Su perior street. Wanhinglon, D. C. Ebbitt House. Penn sylvania avenue. Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket office; Kemble, A. P., 37M Lancaster ave nue; Pcnn T.'ews Co. New York City 1. Jones & Co., Astor House;; Broadway Theater News Stand. Buffalo, N. V. Walter Freer. Oakland, Cal. W. K. Johnson. Four teenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley: Oskland News Stand; Hale News Co. Ogden D. I Boyle, W. Q. Kind, 114 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; &Iagcath stationery Co. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 43V K. street. Salt Lake Moor Book & Stationery Co.; Itosenfeld A- Hansen. Los Angeles B. E. Amoii, manager jeven street wagons. Kan Diego B. Tt Amos. Long Bench, Cal. B. K. Amos. Pasadena, Cal A. F. Horning. l'ort Worth, Tex. Fort Worth Star. ban Francisco Foster & Orear. Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L, parent; N. Wheatley. (inldlleld, Nev. Louie Pollin. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency. Norfolk, Ya. Krugg & Gould. Pine Beach, Vs. W. A. Cosgrova. I'ORTLANI), THIRSDAY. MARCH 2, 1007. 1'ORAK.ER AND TAFT. Mr. Foraker's statemtnt that he has bn too busy lately to think much about either Btate or National politics cannot be Implicitly accepted. That he has thought a great deal about both is evident unless the obvious interpreta tion of his public actions is the wrong one. His position In the discussion of the rate bill was chosen for political effect, and It was chosen badly. Mr. Foraker miscalculated the outcome of the struggle between the corporations and the law of the land, and in ranging: himself with the forces of plutocratic anarchy he made a mistake which very likely destroyed whatever chances he may have had to become President of the United States. He also took up the cause of the negro soldiers, whom Mr. Roosevelt discharged for the Browns ville riot, to make political capital for himself and to Injure the prestige, of the President. This was another mis take, since candid investigation has shown not only that Mr. Roosevelt was well within his legal authority in what he did, but also that the dismissed soldiers were guilty as charged. The result has not diminished Mr. Roose velt's prestige, but it would be a bold assertion to say that It has Increased Mr. Foraker's. Foraker's present term in the Senate will close March 3, 1909. He has therefore two years still to serve, and to the out side observer nothing yet appears to cast a doubt upon his re-election. Mr. Foruker Is a man of brilliant gifts and with a genius for popularity. The people of Ohio have given him their confidence for many years, nor is there any reason to believe that they will soon withdraw it. He Is master also of a beautiful political machine, which, in the absence of the direct primary, might well make him Senator again even were the people opposed to him. This has happened in many states and will happen again. Mr; Foraker's posi tion In Ohio politics is therefore very strong. He can return to the Senate if he wishes; but can he go beyond the Senate? Can he make the alluring transit from the upper legislative chamber of the Nation to the White House? Probably not. His attitude upon the question of controlling the corporations places great difficulties in his way, as we have. said, while directly before him stands the imposing figure of Mr. Taft like Apollyon confronting Christian on the road to the celestial city. Not that Mr. Taft in any of his characteristics resembles the doughty fiend of Buu yan's allegory, but he offers to Mr. Foraker's ambition an obstacle quite as difficult to overcome. There are two excellent reasons why the Senator from Ohio should wish to get rid of him as speedily as jxisslble. Taft could not. of course, go before the National convention without the in dorsement of Ohio; 'but so long as it remains In doubt whether that indorse ment will pass to him or to Foraker he Is a formidable opponent and he is like ly to become more formidable as time passes. 'He appears to be the favorite candidate 'of Mr. Roosevelt, which means a great deal just now. The peo ple's confidence, in Roosevelt increases every day. They are steadfastly deter mined that his successor shall be a man after his own stamp. He declares that Taft is such a man. He assures the country that the Secretary of War in the Presidential chair would carry out his purposes and pursue his ideals. -The more the people trust the President the more Implicitly they will accept what he says about Taft. The belief that Taft's administration would be, to all intents, a continuation of Roosevelt's is certain to grow, therefore, and it forms a constantly increasing danger to For aker. Hence his resolution to put the War Secretary out of the contest by definitely depriving him or the support . of Ohio. Rut there is also another reason. Al though . Foraker is likely to be re elected to the Senate, two years must pass before his term expires, and dur ing that time many things may happen. Among others, Taft's efforts to secure the Ohio delegation to the National con vention might well take the form of an effort to retire Foraker from the Semite. Taft is a man who dots unex pected things in politics, and who some times utters uncomfortable truths. To a man of Foraker's character he is dan gerous, no matter what ostensible end he may be working for. Should he de cide to preach a thorough reformation of Ohio politics and the complete abol ishment of boss rule, what would be left of Foraker, or Dick, either? On all accounts it is best to get rid of him. To this end Mr. Foraker. not without in genuity, has devised a plan. He proposes to cali upon the Repub lican voters of Ohio to elect delegates to a state convention at "direct pri maries." This convention is not only to nominate the state officers, but also to suggest a United States Senator and a President. It is to be noted that Mr. Foraker does not recommend a direct expression of the popular will upon these points, but leaves them to the convention. The convention will, in all likelihood, 'be manipulated by the ma chine, and the machine .belongs to Mr. Foraker. Thus Mr. Taft will be neatly disposed of if the plan succeeds. And it may succeed. To defeat it the Sec retary of War must stand in direct op position to Foraker both as Senator and as Presidential candidate, for the two questions are skillfully and inseparably Intertwined in the proposed primary election. They are also presented ob scurely, since the people are not asked to decide them dirctly, but only to choose delegates to decide them. , The name "direct primary," applied to such an arrangement, is not quite ingenuous. It has something of the aspect of an attempt to deceive the voters by seem ing to offer them a privilege which is actually withheld, but they may not perceive this until it is too late. It is difficult also to see how Mr. Taft could make an open and declared canvass for the Presidency in an election local to Ohio, while Mr. Foraker could well do it under cover of his candidacy for the Senatorship. Altogether, Mr. Foraker's scheme appears to be too shrewd to be honest and too unfair to a better man to win the good will of the country. Its temporary success might, after all, be the worst thing that could happen to his Presidential ambitions. IS THAW SANE? If Thaw is Insane, he ought not to be on trial for his life. He is not compe tent to choose his lawyers, make any plea -or conduct his defense. The law does not admit that an Insane person can execute a binding contract; much less can he defend himself against an accusation of murder. The presiding judge, in appointing a commission to inquire into Thaw's sanity,, meanwhile suspending the trial, has done what hu manity and Justice require. Mr. Jcrpme In asking for the commission has shown that he values justice above any mere forensic triumph. Too often the public prosecutor seeks for a convic tion regardless of right or wrong. In that powerful novel, "The Turn of the Balance," this proclivity is used with fearful potency to illustrate the wrongs which the law may possibly inflict upon the innocent. Again, if Thaw is insane, he ought not to be set at liberty, because his diseased mind is liable to experience another murderous impulse at any mo ment. He should be restrained until he has recovered from his affliction. It is natural, of course, for him to desire his liberty. His own plan of defense was to prove that he was insane when he shot White, but that he is now entirely sane. This, however, is a matter for expert physicians to decide upon. Clearly, Thaw himself is the last man in the world to settle the question of his own mental state, and his lawyers are little more trustworthy. There is no ground for condemning Mr. Jerome's request to have Thaw's sanity tested before the trial proceeds, while every consideration of humanity and common sense justifies it. RAILROADS AM) Hl'MAN LIVES. To secure a greater degree of safety for passengers, employes and the public generally is a problem of railroad oper ation in which the people are -taking an interest and have a right to take an in terest. It is of as much concern to them as any question of rates or re bates or car supply. In dollars and cents it is of less consequence, but In human lives it is of immeasurably greater moment. Much of the loss of life is due to inadequate precautions, which evil the people have the power to remedy to a large degree. Having this power, if they do not exercise it they are in a measure responsible for continuation of the slaughter of men and women and destruction of prop erty. The railroads cannot be expected to take kindly to any suggestions from the people, for their habits of thought acquired through a long period of years make it practically impossible for them to do so. No reader of the dally newspapers needs statistics of railroad fatalities to convince him that rail disasters are far too frequent, even if due allowance be made for all necessary risks of railroad operation. The total number of deaths and injuries has been shown many times and the figures are truly appal ling, but much more striking is the computation made by Carl Snyder, in the April number of Everybody's Maga zine, showing the rapid increase in the number of fatalities. He shows not merely that there has been an increase in the total number, which might be expected in view of increased mileage and travel, but that the ratio of deaths when computed upon the basis of passengers) per mile ' has doulSed in the past ten years. This shows retrogression of a most serious nature. In his discussion of the subject Mr. Snyder points out several faults and remedies, but mininMzes that defect in the present system which is probably the cause of half the fatalities. Instal lation of the block system of warning, and of the Kinsman stop, which makes it impossible for an . engineer to run his train past a danger signal, are remedies, but they will not remove the most serious defect in the present sys tem of operation. The trouble is that the railroads make rules which they do not expect the employes to observe and which are not ' observed, and ' there grows up a carelessness which eventu ally results in disaster. As an instance of this, there is a rule on one of the roads that an engineer must not run past a "clear" signal unless the light is burning. In order to ascertain whether this rule was being observed, officials of the road set a signal at "clear," thus giving the engineer right to pro ceed, but the light -was put out. Out of twenty-five trains which passed the sig nal while the officials were waiting, only one stopped to Inquire why the light was out. Now this shows one of two things either there "was no good reason for es tablishment of that rule or there was serious wrong in permitting it to be so grossly violated. In either case the of- Lficials of the road had encouraged that spirit of carelessness which must event ually lead to catastrophe. There is probably not a steam or an electric road in the United States but has rules which it does not expect its trainmen to observe. The rules are made more stringent than is wan-anted under the limitations of practical operation. If railroad men should observe to the let ter every rule, their work would be unsatisfactory to their employers. But the rules are there, and, when the ac cident happens, the managers can put the blame upon the engineer, dis patcher or other person who failed to observe a rule that is violated every day. Discipline is one of. the most impor tant needs of railroad operation. There should be no rule that is not to be obeyed strictly, and then the strictest observance of every rule should be en forced. No amount of automatic sig naling will be effective if a spirit "of carelessness permits the signal system to get out of order. In later years the railroads have pretty generally adopted the rule of not employing men who are addicted to drink, and this rule is prob ably more or less observed, but it has not served, as might be expected, to reduce the rate of fatalities. The rail roads have put upon their employes more work than they can do In accord ance with rules, hence rules must be disobeyed and a spirit of carelessness grows. The people through their lawmaking bodies, must insist upon the adoption of the most modern precautionary de vices and establishment of rules and enforcement thereof which will secure the greatest degree of safety. When twenty-four engineers out of twenty five violate a rule which all of them know, there is something seriously wrong with the discipline of the rail way system. LOBBYING IX THE OPEN. The young women school teachers of New York have evidently been taking lessons in practical politics, for they made a fight at Albany for salaries equal to those paid to men, and won. A delegation of 200 of them made a visit to the capital and conducted a sys tematic campaign in behalf of a bill that had been introduced providing that salaries should vary according to the work, but not according to the sex of the teachers employed. And the young women did not sign and present a long, formal petition. Not a bit of it. They appointed two young women to see each member personally. Probably the women had been carefully coached for the occasion, for it seems that they not only presented their arguments, but took occasion to mention the names of male relatives or friends who are influ ential in politics. iWhile the threat was not expressly made, the members of the Legislature were left to draw their own conclusions upon the view the aforesaid male relatives and friends would take of rejection of the demands of the female teachers. The bill has been favorably reported and will prob ably pass. Whether the teachers resorted to un due influence is a matter upon which opinions may differ, and probably will. Male lobbyists would have descended upon the Legislature in smaller num bers, and would have gone about the work in a. different manner. There would have been a few select banquets, cigars would have been handed around freely, more or less booze would have been dispensed, and this in addition to threats of political revenge and offers of political reward. Perhaps the men would have made up a purse to help Influence the opinions of those members who might not listen to other argu ments. And then the men, though en gaged in a laudable project, would very likely have failed. But the teachers used no money, no banquets,, no cigars, no booze. They used arguments, mentioned the names of friends influential in politics, and smiled. The smiles, we are left to in fer, were the overpowering influences brought to bear upon the members of the Legislature. And who shall say that smiling is an exercise of undue influ ence? Cigars and booze and money are man-made powers. The 'bewitching smile of a woman's face was designed in heaven, where also it was decreed that against "that smile man's heart shall have no power of resistance. The sparkling eyes, ruby Hps and dimpled cheeks so plentifully scattered through the Capitol at Albany when the school teachers made their raid had no cor rupting effect. From the contempla tion of the meaner things of earth, gold, position and vainglory, the minds of the 'legislators were turned to thoughts of angels. Jever before In the history of New Tork has a nobler and purer Influence been at work. The schoolma'ams have set new standards in political methods, for. what is essen tial in all honorable undertakings, they made their effort win. "SPEAK SOFTLY'! BEFOHM. "Speak softly," say a lot of patriots, whenever a graft or a steal on the pub lic is to be probed, , "lest you hurt the town. This voice was loud in San Francisco but the thieves have been ferreted out and that city will now enjoy a period of peace and honesty. It took a big war to make peace, just as In the Oregon landVfraud exposures, in New Tork, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Omaha and elsewhere. There are gumshoe reform ers, just like gumshoe politicians and thieves. They are the kind of patriots who abhor the lesser social evils and have been known to make war on them while robbing the people right and left. through franchise grabs and various "influences" on the people's lawmakers. The brlbe-glvers in San Francisco were good men, immune from vice, but they debauched the city's servants. Whenever franchise graft in Portland is mentioned, the gumshoe brigade rises up to protect the fair name of the city from scandal. Its members are kin and clacquers and hirelings of the set whose pockets have been lined with gold, plundered of the people. It mat ters not to them if street franchises, grabbed from the public through shady deals, are sold for millions of dollars. It is their opinion that the reputation of the city would suffer from expos ure. They deprecate investigation, on all sides. And their newspaper organ voices their sentiment the self-same newspaper that tells how good they are - and toadies to their wealth and pluto cratic pretensions. "Dark-lantern" reform is the name used by the Saturday Evening Post to designate the kind of "conservatism" that wants no exposure. That paper ascribes to it the recent defeat of re form in Philadelphia. Says the Post: This is the way truly conservative re formers would1 always proceed. They would wait until after sundown, pick up the abuse gently, tiptoe Into the back room with It, carefully shut the door and reason with it. They love reform, abhor noise and violence. They rely on moral suasion, always reform- lng the corrupt body from within. lf"lhe town's politics is rotten, work, they say. for reform exclusively within the old party organizations, wltich are the sources of the corruption. Whisper gently to the boss that there is graft. No doubt the news will as tonish him. If gentlemen seek to swipe the gas plant, drop them a note about It. marked Confidential." This noiseless method Is con siderably slower than the other, we judge being .unable to discover any data which would enable us to gauge accurately its rate of progress. But it injures no reputations. Graft is never exposed and cast out by gentle methods. It involves bosses of big power and men of wealth and honor, and they all light. Their toadies try to cry down the effort for expos ure. They call its supporters scandal mongers, muck-rakers, ghouls and what else. They use all possible meth ods to throw it Into disrepute. They did this in the Oregon land exposures and in the graft uncoverings In the big cities. They constitute a powerful ma chine. And they have been known to succeed in keeping their tracks cov ered. 'Let us have the facts," were the ringing words uttered by Rev. Frank Oliver Hall before the American News paper Publishers' Association in New Tork a few days ago. As shown by opinions expressed by him and pub lished in another place in this paper, he is not an advocate of "dark-lantern reform," . which requires, secrecy and covering up of crime, but he believes publicity is the most effective agency in driving out that class of cultivated scoundrels who prey, upon maidenly vir tue and gloat over success. He truth fully says "the greatest deterrent to vice is not the police, but publicity," meaning thereby that the crafty crim inal who has wealth and social position to protect him will continue to entice innocent girls Into the mouth of hell without fear of the police If he can only feel that he Is safe from exposure In the press. There are those in this country, of good intentions, too, who would have kept all the proceedings in the Thaw trial out of the newspapers. Such Is the policy of advocates of "dark-lantern reform." They would have hushed up the story ot the careers of Stanford White and Harry Thaw and Evelyn Nesbit, thus encouraging the Whites and Nesbits and Thaws in the social circles of every city to continue in their course. No evil was ever eradicated by concealing it. Vice loves darkness and there most easily flourishes. The news papers have brought it into light and made it appear in all its hldeousness. There has been no attempt on the part of the press to change the eternal prin ciple that the" way of the transgressor is hard. The decision of the Supreme Court finally putting an end- to all contro versy over the validity of the local option law is cause for general satis faction. Whether one approves the pro visions of the law or not, if he be lieves in the right of the people to rule he must feel gratification over a court ruling which upholds the plain man dates of the statute. Whether the law is fair or unfair, wise or unwise, is not a question to be fought out upon tech nicalities. If it is not a good measure the most effective method of showing that fact is by rigid enforcement. The man who opposes a law and violates its provisions is in no position to say that it is an improper limitation upon his actions. Whenever, under enforce ment of the local-option law, the people come to the conclusion that its limita tions are unreasonable, they will re peal it. They are not likely to do so at the instance of those who deliber ately violate 11. County Assessors are now at work throughout the state. It will be well for farmers, merchants, members of the Grange and commercial bodies to see that public-service corporations which enjoy special privileges are as. sessed upon the same basis as other property-owners. An equal distribution of the burden of taxation lightens it for those who have been paying an un due proportion. Fruitgrowers and packers must this year brand their boxes with their names and addresses. It will be well to prepare early for this, for the Per kins law is specific in Its requirements and severe in its penalties. If any poor fruit is to be packed, we shall know who packs it. It is said that 3.000,000 fruit trees have been sold by Oregon nurserymen in the past year. Unfortunately, they will not all be set out in Oregon, for a large part of the sales were for shipment to other Western States, to Australia, South Africa and South America. The March Issue of "Better Fruit" contains a picture of a Milwaukie, Or., packing-house with one day's pick of grapes, 570 baskets, stacked up in front. The picture serves to show what can be done, but there' should be more atten tion given to the grape industry. Eugene is to have a new fruit cannery- Put it near the railroad, paint it an attractive color and put a sign on It large enough so every man who rides through the town will know you have it. It will be a good advertiser; The man wh8 committed, suicide a few days ago because he lost his job was easily unbalanced. A man might better commit suicide because he can not accept all the jobs offered. Salem has decided to pave. One more move of that kind and other towns in Oregon will have to take back every thing they ever said about Salem being slow. This is a good time to begin train ing yourself to resist the temptation to pick up every, purse or package you See on the sidewalk. April 1 will soon be here. Ah electric line wants part of the Section Line road. The automobiles' will want part of it, and where is the poor farmer to get off? In the ditch? Bing, the originator of the excellent cherry known by that name, is a Chi nese. We are glad he was not excluded from immigration to this country. The Rocky Mountain bears would like ( - to have the Wall-street bears continue to occupy the attention of the Presi dent. It is good for their health. A shipment 'of Newtown apples sent from Medford to England brought the grower J2.3S a box on board the cars. That was not. so bad. Why not start a contest to deter mine upon the handsomest men in Ore gon to go on a trip to Jamestown? Are the wireless telegraph and wire less telephone to be followed by wire- Jjess politics? - . LET THE PIBLIC HAVE THE FACTS Publicity Stronger Deterrent Than Police, Say" Preacher. The following is a summary of an ad dress delivered by Rev. Frank O. Hall, of the Church of the Divine Paternity, New York City, at the recent annua! banquet of the American Newspaper Publishers' Asso ciation; The ultimate responsibility for the modern newspaper, good or bad, rests not with" those who make the paper, but with the public itself. If the papers are not what' they ought to be, we, the people are to. biame for it. Every time a citizen spends a cent or two for a certain kind of paper, he votes for the continuance of the par ticular type of paper he patronizes. We get exactly what we want and we want exactly what we get. And let me say on behalf of the public that I believe it is demanding a better and a still better type of paper every year. Ad mitting the truth of the many criti cisms pronounced against newspapers in obr time the daily papers of the city of New York were never better, never more wholesome, never better man- i aged or better edited than they are to day. Moreover, to touch upon a different phase' of he same question, I do not believe that a newspaper need be ashamed of making public what the public Is not ashamed of doing In pri vate. In a crowded community public ity is the strongest possible safeguard for public morality. In a great city the very crowd makes concealment easy. The nearer people are together the far ther they are apart. In a community where every house is separated from another by a mile of prairie land or forest everyone knows everything that his neighbor does or says or thinks. But In a community where families are sepa rated from each other only by an eight Inch brick wall they do not know each other's names, they live and die with in arms' reach and one does not know that the other is living and the other does not care when one is dead. In such a community vice is made easy. Now the greatest deterrent to vice is not the police but publicity. People are more afraid of "copy" than they are of the "cop." The fear of getting into the papers keeps many a man out of jail and many a woman out of fhe divorce court. Let us know the facts, even though they are not pretty. As long as one-half of the world does not knew 'now 'the other half lives they do not care how the other half lives, but when they do know then they begin to care. Let us have the facts. So fur from having printed too much about a cer tain matter in the past weeks the pa pers have not as yet printed enough. If it Is true not only that this city ha contained one man of wealth and genius and social position who made a pastime of enticing little girls into the mouth of hell, and then pushing them In with a laugh, but If it is true that there are many such emissaries of the devil still at work, and that the next victim may be your little girl or mine, let us know it. If the police are pow erless or Incompetent to remedy this state of things, let us know It. If there is no remedy in courts of jus tice we want to know that. If the So ciety for the Prevention of Vice Is powerless, let us know that. There Is force that Is not powerless and that should not be silent, and that Is the power that you represent here tonight. If everything else falls the press and tho pulpit have the power to create such a "brain storm" of Indignation that while the people do not literally go gunning for these cultivated scoun drels the latter may wish they had, for we can make life a good deal less In teresting and playful for them. My idea of an immoral paper is one that states as true something that It does not Ttnow to be true, or that 'it does know to be false. Let us have tho truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Other matter that Is emphatically unfit to print is such a presentation of vice as to make It seem attractive.' An immoral novel is not one that lets us know that vice exists. Dickens does that. He conducts us to haunts of vice and crime, but he brings us out at the other side sick with the hideousness of it all. The immoral book Is one that makes vice seem beautiful. The immoral paper Is not the one that presents the vicious facts, but the one which casts a glamour of beauty upon what is morally ugly and unclean. The power of the pulpit was once paramount. There was a time when tile preacher seated and unseated kings and determined the policy of nations. That time is past. . Preaching still has its office, but the real power today is not vested in the pulpit but in the press. It is you who are making and destroying rulers, making and deter mining public policies, building up and tearing down. Your power is ever augmenting. You must increase, we must decrease. I bring you the greet ing of the church, and bid you be faith ful to the trust which your power im poses upon you. , Berkeley Not Capital Y;et. PORTLAND. Starch 27. (To the Editor.) Which of the two cities is capital of California Berkeley or Sacramento? If Berkeley Is the capital, will you kindly advise me when the bill making it such became effective? LOUIS K. WOODFORD. The capital has not been removed to Berkeley, but the recent session of the Legislature passed an act submitting the question of removal to a vote of the peo ple. Because Berkeley has the advantage of San Francisco's large vote, as well as that of Southern California cities, it is pretty generally believed that the change will be made. For that reason many pa pers discussing the subject have assumed that Berkeley is to be the capital. y Geisha. WASCO, Or., March 18. (To the Edi torsWill The Oregonlan kindly indicate the pronunciation of the Japanese word "Giesha"? Will you also cite your au thority? L. H. B. "Geisha" Is pronounced as though spelled "Gasha,V with the long sound of the first "a" as In "gay." This pronunci ation is given by Japanese Consul Alba, of this city. Admiral Dewey's Address.' PORTLAND. Or.. March 26. (To the Editor.) Please state In your columns the address of Admiral Dewey. SUBSCRIBER. Washington, menu D. C, care Navy Depart- AMENDMENT CAISED CONFLICT Washington Legislator Exnlalna Di rect Primary Defect. VANCOUVER, Wash., March 27. (To the E-Jitor.) In an editorial in today's Oregonlan, under the heading "Candidates and Advertising." re ferring to the direct primary law enacted by the Washington Legisla ture, you say that "an inconsistency is contained In the two sections re lating to newspaper advertising in political campaigns, and. while nearly all the papers mentioned these sec tions, tney have invariably dodged the problem of reconciling the two pro visions. One section makes it a dis qualification for. office for any can didate to pay for any advertising in behalf of himself. The- other section permits a newspaper to take political advertising in behalf of the election of a candidate, provided It be conspicu ously marked 'paid advertising.' This is such a plain contradiction that it cannot have failed to attract the at tention of Washington papers. Yet they have for some reason best known to themselves failed to refer to it in any way." In regard to the provision prohibit ing a candidate from advertising in his own behalf, I will state that it was put in by the Senate after the direct primary bill had passed the House. While the House committee did not look with much favor on the provi sion, believing that the bill was al ready sufficiently stringent, we did not think it wise to endanger trie measure at that late date by further refusal to concur. . The- object of the proviso, as ex plained by members of the Senate committee, is to prevent any wealthy candidate from having any undue ad vantage in newspaper advertising over some poor competitor. It was urged that' patriotic, public-spirited supporters of a candidate might see fit to raise a fund in his behalf and advertise for him, as was done by the followers of District Attorney Jerome in New York. Like The Oregonian. I feel somewhat dubious about the actual effect of the provision, but per haps no harm will come from giving jt a trial, and thus satisfying some of its doctrinaire advocates. The bill in general meets with almost universal approval, and we hope that the weak sections are few and far between. After a two years' trial we can deter mine what amendments are needed to perfect the law. GLENN" N. RANCK. MR. HAItRIUAV AS AN "ANGEL." New Role for the Little Napoleon of Railroad Finance. New York Herald. There is no possible doubt that E. H. Harriman last night forgot all about Wall street. He is interested in an operatic company, and lust night at Sherry's It gave its premiere Fifth avenue performance in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, "The Gondoliers." Mr. Ilarrlman never misses a first night when that aggregation of talent appears, and he was well t..rj .i, fnont row. The production was by the Boys' Club, an organization composed of boys of the East Side, who gather w.c,r nouse, at io. 161 Avenue A. Mr. Harriman Is the president of the board of trustees of the nre-n i n..,. and Is proud of It. He is also one of the "angels" of the operatic company. If the young players ever started to tour the Western country they would never have to walk back if they were anywnere near the Union Pacific. It was largely through the Influence of the financier that "The Gondoliers" came up from Avenue A to Sherrv's tor last nights performance. The opera will re given tonight, too, and also at a matinee tomorrow, and the proceeds will go to the club. Willie Schmidt is the "prima donna." rie- nas an upper register which suf fuses, a genlrfi glow of admiration whenever be sings. His style is florid and so is his face after the make-up man completes his labor. William the fellows call him "Bill" is master of all kinds of cadenzas and such things, and when he appeared as Gia netta he climbed for the high notes and brought them down one after an other In quick succession. The sing ing and acting of the young amateurs, as well as the enthusiastic way in which they danced, brought down the house and came near having the same effect on the temporary stage. These lads are from 7 to 14 years of age. "Bill" is 13. They went through the performance, with Its act ing and its by no means easy score as though they were veterans of the light opera stage. The Duke of Plaza Torn of Joseph Ochsner was received with much commendation, and James Richardson and Frederick Strangio as the gondoliers elicited hearty praise. Mr. Harriman. from his place in the middle of the house, applauded vigor ously and in the intermission lie and some of his friends went to the Im provised dressing-room at the end of the corridor and chatted with "Bill" and some of the other members of the cast while they were changing their make-ups and wigs. Mr. Harriman went home laden with photographs and programmes, and the prima donnas, the danseuses and the members of the chorus returned to Tompkins Square. Snme Here. New York Herald. The woes of riding on a streetcar are suf ficiently harrowing in themselves without intensifying and multiplying them by the stench of nasty tobacco. Portland Orego nian. Now that our far away contemp orary has to fight against the smoker on the platform of the streetcar, we realize that civilization is far ad vanced in Portland and that The Ore gonian is a cosmopolitan Journal. IF TAFT SHOULD SUDDENLY SIT ON THE LID mA KJ From the Plttsburs Dispatch. CROSS MARKS THE SPOT WHERE FORAKEK WOILO GET IT. ' OFFICE!! DEFEXDS HIS MEN Lieut. Lavtrasou Gives Important Evidence onUrownsville Shotins. WASHINGTON. March W. Lieutenant George Carson Lawrason. who was in command of Company B. Twenty-fifth In fantry, on the night of the affray at Brownsville, was on the stand nearly all of today In the investigation by the Sen ate committee on military affairs. On practically all material points his testi mony corroborated that given by the men of his command and also that given by the men of Companies c and D. He was shown buliets taken from the walls of houses In Brownsville, but could not say whether they had been fired from the Springfield rifles with which the Twenty fifth Infantry was equipped, or whether they had been discharged from Krag- Jorgenson cartridges by Krag rifles or carbines. Lieutenant Lawrason told of having been awakened by the firing and of his effort to get the company formed amid the confusion attending the call of arms. He said he had posted his men along the wall In the rear of the barracks at the order of Major Penrose. senator Foraker asked the witness if the men could have cleaned their guns while standing along the wl. Lieuten ant Lawrason thought this would have been impossible, as they had no equip ment except that in the butt of their guns, and this was. he thought. Inade quate for the cleaning of guns for in spection, it the guns had been tired. According to his story on direct exam ination. Lieutenant Iawrason was with his -company along t,he garrison wall for about two and a half hour, when thcy were dismissed by the command of Major Penrose, who tlrst gave instructions to the witness to see that all of the company guns were locked in the racks and that all of the guns not in use were accounted for. The witness saw the guns placed in the racks and the racks locked, after which he had carefully verified the count. Tho witness detailed to the committee his examination of the arms cheats, which contained all of the reserve rifles as well as three comiwiny shotguns. All the guns, he said, were Insported next morn ing. He declared he satisfied himself that no guns of his company had been ued tho night before. The witness explained that all the shells pirked up on the ranyc , but two were saved and decapped and then shipped back to the arsenal. He said that at Fort Niobrara there was something wrong with Company B's de cappcr and the shells, more than a thou sand, were put in a box and shipped to Fort Brown to be decapped there. He did not know what had become of the box after the arrival of the company at BrownsviUe. but there was considerable property left on the rear porch of the barracks. The plain inference from Mr. Foraker's question was that this box may have been accessible to Mexican boys or others and that shells bearing marks that could be traced to Company B rifles may have been carried into the town and afterward thrown in the streets for the purpose of manufacturing evidence against the negro soldiers. XO MORE NEGRO TROOPS Government Has Filled Hanks and Will Send to Philiniiiner. HOUSTON. Tex.. March 27. Announce ment was made today at Che local re cruiting station that orders have been received from the War Department at Washington, instructing that no more negroes be accepted for service in the Army, also that negro- troops in the United States will be dispatched forth with to the Philippines. WASHINGTON, March 27. It was stated at the War Department that the reason for the order discontinuing further tc crulting of negroes is because the mili tary organization authorized by Congress is now filled to its maximum strength. The Department itself announced some months ago that all the negro troops with a small exception affecting some short time men and a few at Wist Point Acad emy, had been ordered to the Philippines. Make Practice March Attractive. SAN ANTONIO, Texas. March 27. Colo nel George Brown, Commander of Fort Sam Houston and the Twenty-sixth In fantry, today received Instructions from Secretary of War Taft to devote personal attention to' an inquiry into the manner of practice marches and make a report May 1 on meanp necessary to be employed to make the marches more attractive. Mr. Taft issued tt lengthy communication callT ing attention to the wldsespread discon tent among the soldiers now employd in these marches. Cattle Grazing on Reserves. WASHINGTON. March 27. The Forest Service today announces that 1.3SS.30O cat tle and horses and 4,SJ3.vJ0 sheep will be permitted to graze on Western forest re serves during 1807. of which 100.500 cat tle and horses and 731.000 sheep will be permitted in Oregon; 52,oCo cattle and 119. 000 sheep in Washington. Livestock which has heretofore regularly used the rani?e in the recently created reserves end four additions in Oregon will be permitted to graze free during the present season. Faculty Rebukes Miigoon. HAVANA. March 27. The directors of Havana University held a meeting today and entered 'a protest' against the recent action of Governor Magoon in licensing two American doctors to practice In Hav ana without first passing an examination in the University of Havana, as required by law. General Strike in Vaud Clinton. LAUSANNE, Switzerland. March 27. The general strike in the Canton de Vaud In sympathy with the strikers in a choco late factory at Vevey. is extending. AU trades are joining the movement.