Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, August 07, 1907, Image 8

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Morning Oregonian., August 07, 1907, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextTHE MORXIXG OREGOXIAX, WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 7. 1907. SUBSCRIPTION BATES. INVAK1ABLT IN ADVANCBL (By Mall.) Dally, 8undar Included, on rear $8.00 Daily, 6unday Include six month!.... 4ii Dally. Sunday Include, three month.. 2.23 Dally, Sunday Included, one month TS Dally, without Sunday, one year. ...... 4.00 Dally, without 6unday. six montha.... 8.25 Dally, without Eunday, three months.. 1-73 Dally, without Sunday, ona month.... .60 Sunday, one year -fi0 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday).... 1.60 Sunday and Weekly, one year .60 Bx CAKKIKH. Dally, Sunday Included, one year 00 Lally, Sunday included, one month. ... .To " HOW TO KEMlt Send postotflca money order, express order or personal check oa your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoftlce ad dress In full. Including county and state. FOSIaUE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Poetoffloe as beeond-Cass Matter. 10 to 14 Pacw 1 cent ' 14 to 28 Paces ....3 cents so to 44 Pases ............ -B cents 0 to 60 Pases. .........4 cents Foreign postage, double rates. IMI"OKTA T The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage Is not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EAHTEKN BUSINESS OFFICE. The 6. C. HecKwith, Special Agency New York, rooms 48-60 Tribune building. Cut rago. rooms 610-612 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex. Postotflca Kewi Co., 178 Dearborn at. v St. Paul, Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial Station. lM-nver Hamilton & Kendrlck. 806-l Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Bansen, 6. Rice. Kansas City, Mo. Ricksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut; Sosland News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh, 50 South Third; Eagle News Co., corner Tenth and Eleventh; Toma News Co. ' Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 807 Su perior street. Washington, I). C. Ebbitt Rouse. Penn sylvania avenue. Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket office; Ponn News Co. New York City I Jones A Co., Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Hotallng Wagona Atlantic City, N. J. Eli Taylor. Ogden D. U Boyle, W. Q. Kind. 114 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Uareath Stationery Co. Dee Moines, la- Mom Jacob. Sacramento, CaL Sacramento News Co.. 4S8 K street; Amos News Co. Salt Lake Moon Book & Stationery Co.; Rosenfeld & Hansen. Los Angeles B. E- Amos, manager seven street wagons San Diego B. E- Amos. Long Beach, Cal. B. B. Amos, Santa Barbara, Cal. John PrecheL San Jose, CaL St. Jamee Hotel News Stand. . El Paso, Tex. Plasa Book and News Stand. Fort Worth. Tex. F. Robinson. Amarlllo, Tex. Bennett News Co. San Francisco Foster A Crear; Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel News Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agents, 11 U Eddy street Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnson. Fourteenth and Franklfn streets; N. Wheatley; Oak land News Stand; Hale News Co. Goldfield, Sev. Louie Pollln. Eureka. Cal Call-Chronicle Agency. Norfolk. Vs. Potts Roeder; American News Co. Pine Betarh. Vs. W. A. Cosgrove. PORTLAXDWEDNE8DAY, AUG. 7, 1807. RAILROADS, STATE ANT) NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS. In Alabama, as In North Carolina, serious troubles have arisen between railroads operating In and through those states and the state authorities, Beeking to bring their rates under con trol, through recent state laws. It is becoming a more serious question than was at first supposed, since It is likely to produce a conflict between state and National authority, throwing upon the Supreme Court of the United States the burden of a decision against which there will be protest and complaint either way it may go. The outcome would seem to depend an the Supreme Court's findings on these points, to wit: First, whether North Carolina and Alabama have a right to -"bring the resisting corpora tions to terms" by annulment of their charters, granted by those states the corporations being engaged also In in terstate commerce; and second, whether xthe establishment of a rate by state statute for traffic within a state, vhen that traffic is a part of inter state commerce, "is within the state's constitutional powers. Over traffic conducted wholly within "the bounds of a state, there should -)e no question as to the power of the itate unless rates and regulations are Imposed which would amount to the confiscation of property, thus depriving the owners of the equal protection of the laws. It must be assumed that the states do not Intend this, and it would be necessary for the owners of the property to prove that such was or would be the consequence. It is the Interstate feature that is troublesome. A writer in the New York Evening Post shows that decisions of the Su preme Court of the United States, made heretofore, throw light on the as- . pects of the cases that arise under the interstate law; first, in the case of Smith vs. Alabama, decided in 1887, and confirmed in the case of the Pos tal Telegraph Company vs.' Adams de cided in 1894. In these jases it was laid down that "a state cannot exclude from its limits a corporation engaged in Interstate and foreign commerce, either directly or Indirectly, by the imposition of inad missible conditions which would neces sarily imply the abrogation of its char ter or of contract obligations entered into in pursuance thereof." Further, "the power of the state to im pair the usefulness of such a corpora tion as an instrument of interstate and foreign commerce in any manner Is expressly denied in the Northern Se curities case (193 U. S. 197), decided in 1903, where it was held that 'a state may not give a corporation, created under its laws, authority to restrain. Interstate or international commerce, as against the will of the Nation, law fully expressed by Congress " Again, "while the doctrine that Con gress has no power to interfere with the police regulations of a state affect ing commercial transactions occurring wholly within its borders has been steadily adhered to by the Supreme Court of the United States ever since Its first announcement by Chief Justice Marshall, in the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, (9 Wheaton, 1) in 1824, the ap plication of the principle upon which the doctrine is based has been much restricted, in recent years, and it is now the accepted rule that a state may do no act, in the exercise of Its police power, which would, in effect, amount to a regulation of, or impose burdens upon interstate and foreign com merce." It was formerly the practice or rule that, in the absence of Congressional legislation, the state might regulate the rates to be charged within its bor ders "even though in so doing it might operate on commerce outside its im mediate Jurisdiction," (Munn vs. Illi nois, U. S. 113). Yet the state would have no power to legislate on the sub ject after Congress has acted and es tablished a National rule, as it has done in recent interstate commerce legislation. ' Questions of many kinds will arise. under present laws,, and more ques tions will arise under the extended legislation, which will be Increasingly necessary. Congress will be compelled to enact laws covering all phases of interstate commerce, for the grant of power to Congress by the Constitution is specific and it Is plenary. - ' Through National legislation only I can commerce between the states be regulated After a while there will be definite rulej, covering all cases. , The state of Washington Is preparing Ques tions which must go to the Supreme Court of the United States for decision.; as the effort now making under state law to compel a particular railroad having its branches in Washington and its main line in Oregon to deliver over to a rivaf road, for transport wholly within Washington, the traffic col lected by the Oregon road for carriage over its own main line. It Is, In ef rect, an effort to prevent traffic which originates In Washington, from being carried out of the state towards the West. It will scarcely be held rea sonable, on adjudication. It is a habit of the railroads to play state and Fed eral laws against each other, whenever they think an advantage may. be gained, either way. But for interstate traffic Federal regulations must. In the long run, prevail. - Yet we are glad to see certain states pushing their action for regulation of roads within their borders. The end will be proper defi nition of the rights of the roads, the National Government and the people the strong hand for regulation on one side and for protection on the other. PORTLAND'S SUPERIORITY ACKNOWL EDGED. Gratifying in the extreme is the high compliment the Puget Sound lumber men are paying to the Impregnable commercial position of Portland. It is belated, to be sure, but none the less Interesting and well, merited. Sum marized, the complaint of the Puget Sound lumbermen, who are seeking to appropriate Portland's transportation facilities which are needed' by the Port land shippers, is . as follows: "We made a mistake in locating our saw mills on the wrong side of lofty moun tain ranges, and are now unable to ship to as good advantage as the mill men in Oregon, who located on the water level routes made by nature. As It is impossible for us to move the mountains and we have our money In vested here, we must now have the same facilities as our more fortunately located competitors in Portland ter ritory." No more ridiculously unjust appeal was ever made than- that of the Puget Sound shippers, whose lack of fore sight caused them to build mills on Puget Sound at a time when they could have secured sites on this much sought water level route to market. The opening of the Portland gateway to these short-sighted" shippers would be nothing more or less than penaliz ing the sawmill men who came into Portland territory and developed the business here. These men are en titled to recompense for their work here, at a time when the men who are now complaining of their poor loca tions for doing business were rushing to Puget Sound. Under the most fa vorable conditions existing any tim witnin the past two years, it has been impossible - for the shippers In Port land territory to secure a sufficient number of cars with which properly to handle the business originating right here In Portland territory. In their final appeal to the Interstate Commerce Commission, the .Washing ton lumbermen will show by elaborate tables that in order to reach the mar kets that are now available to the Oregon lumbermen, it is necessary for Puget Sound shipments to travel many miles farther than the Oregon ship ments, and while en route It must be lifted over mountain ranges varying from an altitude of 2852 feet at Stam pede tunnel, to 5342 feet at Silver Bow. Compared with this handicap, which nature has placed on the Puget Sound country, the lumbermen Insist that the Portland gateway offers a water level route to market. All of this is, of course, quite distressing, but it comes with a very poor grace from men who should have exhibited sufficient fore thought to provide against such a handicap, by locating where nature had paved the way for the superior fa cilities which Portland enjoys. There are still plenty of good mill sites tn Portland territory, and the coming of the North Bank Road will improve the facilities which the Wash ington ' lumbermen seem to think are already far superior to those available on Puget Sound. As an unanswerable argument in favor of Portland's com mercial supremacy In the Pacific Northwest, this latest appeal of the Washington lumbermen to the Inter state Commerce Commission could hardly be equaled. It should be given the widest possible publicity as a frank admission from a vanquished com petitor -who has been made by sheer force of circumstances to realize that the lines of least resistance offer the best inducements for commerce. SEA BEACH TRAGEDIES. The surf at North Beach has claimed another victim, the second this sea son. Despite the . horror and gloom that these Summer tragedies cast over the thousands of beach visitors. It Is unusual for a season to pass without their happening. The list of those who have been claimed by the sea at the Oregon and Washington resorts Is a long one, and in not a single case is it possible to class them as unavoid able accidentB. The sea is treacherous and dangerous. It has shown these awesome traits to all who have ven tured near it, and they are so well known that carelessness alone is re sponsible for most of the tragedies. The unfortunate victim of yesterday's drowning at Long Beach lost his life in an attempt to save his son, - who quite naturally was dearer to him than life. But the boy's life should never have been placed in danger. Proper cau tion on the part of those responsible for the safety. of a young boy at the beach would have kept him close enough to shore to have rendered it unnecessary for others to risk their lives in his behalf. Life-lines are now quite numerous at the various beach resorts, and if bathers keep well within reach of them there is , very little danger of the treacherous undertow's securing sufficient hold on them to drag them out to sea. Perhaps the most potent, agency in inducing weak or inexperienced swimmers to get be yond their depth at the beach resorts Is the presence of some foolhardy In dividuals who, with a desire to exhibit their prowess as swimmers, go out beyond the breakers. An item in yesterday's papers men tioned the presence at Seaside of a couple of this class of notoriety seek ers. They are said to have swum out beyond the breakers and for-a long distance down the' coast and their ex hibition "caused surprise and admira tion from all who saw them." Had their exhibition occurred at a time when a good strong undertow was twisting and swirling along the coast, the sensation created would have been other than "surprise and admiration." The timely launching of a boat, or the presence of an expert, familiar . with the movements of the currents along the coast, in the past twenty-Jive years has brought in a number of these ex perts more dead than alive, and some of them never came in. The ease with which a good swimmer can, under favorable circumstances, get out beyond the breakers, has a ten dency to belittle the dangers of surf bathing, and- the novice, unfamiliar with conditions, observing the fool hardy bathers, recognizes no danger In going out as far as he pleases. This needless sacrifice of. life could be stopped by the enforcement of strict regulations governing the actions of bathers, both experts and novices." MR. HEDGES AND GAMBLING. Mr. Glldert L. Hedges is a public servant employed by the people to do certain things for which they pay him a salary. Among the things for which he is paid la the enforcement of the law. Being a public servant, his plans and policy are matters of legitimate Interest to the public. It Is not impertinent for the people to inquire whether Mr. Hedges' salary Is a good investment or not; nor is his "policy" a matter which concerns himself alone. The public is entitled to know what his policy 13 and to make suggestions for improvement if it is defective Suggestions of this character seem to be very offensive to Mr. Hedges. It exasperates him, apparently, that the ministers "and churchmembers of Ore gon City venture to express opinions upon his official conduct. And yet these people are among the most in telligent of his constituents and some of them pay heavy taxes. Mr. Hedges' notion of his office seems to be that it is a piece of freehold property and that suggestions from those who elected him are Impudent meddlesomeness. If not actual trespass. He is not alone in this conception of his official duties. It is common, but much lees common than it was ten years ago. At that time most, public servants proclaimed that their "policy" was nobody's business but their own. It was nobody's business if they had no policy at all. The sense of responsi bility to the public Is of slow growth in elective officers, but numerous severe experiences have stimulated it recently and It has become a sturdy plant which is not likely to wither. Mr. Hedges is not without company in his disregard for the sentiments and wishes of his constituents, but the pose is no longer fashionable. It Is not even safe. The people, meek as they are under snubs from their servants, oc casionally get up "dander. enough to stop their pay. Of course nothing of the sort will happen to . Mr. Hedges for he is a wise man too wise to need any suggestions, even this one. Mr. Hedges will recover from the re sentment he feels from public senti ment "forcing" him to act. He could have acted ahead of the present public demand for cessation of gambling, but did not. He could have acted simul taneously with it, but did not do that, either. He has moved after the de mand is expressed. Naturally, it puts him in the attitude of being compelled to act. Some men there are, who, unless initiating a policy or plan them selves, will not accept it from others, no matter how good, until they must. Such men's dignity doesn't last long. EPIDEMICS OF CRIME. At all times, crimes of violence are more frequent In America than they ought to be. Russia and Southern Italy are the only two parts of the Christian world which rival us in their annual crop of assaults and murders. Every large city can be counted upon all the year round for a certain dally average number of crimes, some of which no precautions could prevent. But many of them are attributable to corrupt municipal conditions, inade quate police force and futile court pro cedure. As a rule we accept this daily aver age without protest, taking it for a normal product of our Institutions; but sometimes the number of assaults and murders suddenly rises above the aver age. There will be half a dozen at tacks upon children reported in a sin gle day, as in New York the other morning; or five murders within twenty-four hours, as in Chicago last Monday. Then everybody is horrified and frightened. The staid citizen won ders whether we are falling Into an archy. Panic stricken mobs see crime in the most innocent acts and the police are hard put to it to save their prisoners from destruction. The public excitement tends actually to multiply the crimes which It rages against.. More often than not a mob, being perfectly senseless, turns its fury upon some harmless unfortunate and lets the guilty man escape; and while it howls in the street, a person can easily commit a murder a block away and disappear unnoticed.' But this is not the worst of the matter. When everybody fixes his mind upon a cer tain crime and continually reads about it and discusses it, that strange and fatal effect is produced which we call "suggestion." The deed is held per sistently before the Imagination. It is repeated over and over in thought and at each repetition the person Is urged more strongly to realize his thought in action. It makes no difference though the deed is something that he abhors. The fascination may be all the stronger on that account. In this way men of uncertain character or weak will are driven by the suggestive power of popular excitement to commit ghastly deeds in spite of themselves; and we can understand why it is that epidemics of crime are usually limited to one particular sort. No city, for ex ample, is likely to experience a mania' for murder and assaults upon children at the same time. The Intense and unrelaxing excite ment at the South over negro attacks upon white women, is one of the main reasons why they can not be checked. The horror of the deed and Its fright ful punishment fascinate the Imagina tion of the primitive African and drag him to his destruction, The Vardaman theory that "social equality" has any caustlve Influence upon the crimes is absurd. Equally absurd Is the opin ion of Mrs. Nannie Curtis, National organizer for the W. C. T. U., that they are Incited by pictures in saloons. Some very wise people attribute epi demics of crime to the exciting influ ence of newspapers. This seems rea sonable at first; but not quite so much so when we remember that in the days when there were no newspapers these epidemics were more furious and fre quent than they are now. We must admit that the press exercises a sug gestive influence by presenting details of crime to the imagination; but this is more than counteracted by its tonic effect upon the general Intelligence. The present maniacal Impulse to at tack children In New York" rages among ignorant Italians who never read newspapers. It is quite likely that the yellowest paper in the country wields, upon the whole, a salutary in fluence over its readers and tends to inhibit, rather than stimulate, criminal impulses. The growth of intelligence, the enlightenment of conscience, are our only sure protection against epi demics of crimes and the mob spirit which stimulates them; but these ends cart be greatly hastened by adequate police forces and the adoption of a ra tional criminal procedure in the courts. " In the overthrow of Stuyvesant Fish from control of the Illinois Central, Mr. Harriman Is said to have committed a grievous offence. Great as the offence may have been, however, it now ap pears that the punishment will be in keeping with the crime. The first stag gering blow has already fallen, and while it did not land fairly on the shoulders of E. H. Harriman It must have caused a shudder to sweep over his weazened and seasoned frame. Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and Mrs. Ogden Goelet were the victims on whom vengeance has begun its deadly work, and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish is the avenging angel. The husbands of the two women were quite prominent aids to Mr. Harriman when he overthrew Mr. Fish and Mrs. F"ish has decreed that neither of them shall have any part in the entertainment of the Swedish Crown Prince who is to spend five days at Newport this Summer. This is a terrible penalty to inflict on helpless women, and had Edward Henry Har riman foresaw the awful consequences of his act, "Stuyve" would probably still have control of Illinois Central. The bitterness and antagonism en gendered by the Civil War have died slowly in the South. In fact, for years. they seemed to gain in intensity and kept the people Just below the fighting point. Lately, . how ever, there are indications of progress in this direction that are most gratifying. In this line Is noted the falling off in the number of camps of Confederate Veterans, nearly 400 of such camps having dropped off in 1906. Against thia decrease are shown but 41 charters for new camps, or a little more than 10 per cent . of the number lost. This Is gratifying, as showing that a progressive and intelligent peo ple are giving thought to matters more profitable and timely than those that were fought out nearly half a century ago. In ninety-six engineering schools In the United States giving adequate courses in electrical engineering, in 1906 there were enrolled, 8929 students In various stages of 'preparation. From these schools 1358 graduates were sent out, to fill responsible positions. There have been, since applied electricity became a science and these schools were founded, about 11,000 young men graduated as electrical engineers. This number is somewhat formidable, but In the view of the Electrical World it does not suggest the probability of an over supply in this profession, since there is a wide field for the electrical expert outside of that of the tech nical specialist. The income from the Marshall Field estate for the year ending last month, was nearly $20,000,000. Of this amount, all but $575,000 was distributed In ac cordance with the provisions of the will, thus settling the greater part of the legacies, and leaving the vast prin cipal to accumulate and turn back upon itself In future years. It will only be through the grossest misman agement or the most reckless waste that the law of "three generations from shirt-sleeves to shirt-sleeves" will be fulfilled, in regard to the heirs of this colossal estate. The demands for peace are at last belching out of the muzzles of the French cannon, and the Morrocan trouble will soon be over. From the news reports, the affair at Casa Blanca yesterday was the nearest approach to real war that, the followers of Ralsull have yet encountered. With the French reducing the population of Mo rocco, and six thousand Turkish sol diers bucnlng, plundering and murder ing through peaceful Persia, the Hague Conference can hardly be without a theme for discussion. All lovers of the drama will regret to learn of the serious illness of Richard -Mansfield, and. will join his Intimate friends and family in the hope that his present condition does not presage his permanent retirement from the stage. He Is a painstaking, forceful Imperson ator, a thorough student and a polished gentleman. The American stage can ill afford to lose Mr. Mansfield in what may well be said to toe the prime of his power. The main reason why Georgia has enacted prohibition, they say. Is the desire and hope of keeping liquors away ' from the negroes. It Is not seriously expected that the law will keep liquors away from enterprising white persons who may want them. A discriminating police will know how to "pull niggers" and wink at white men. The fact that Colorado could elect a man like Governor Buchtel, by a great majority, in opposition to the Western Federation of Miners, and in fierce de fiance of it, shows what Colorado thinks of the Western Federation after its long experience with that organiza tion. While everybody knows of the tra ditional friendship . between the Czar and the Kaiser, renewed once more this week, no one expects it to be used for another Damon and Pythias story. - Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish turning down Mrs. Vanderbilt socially beiause Mr. Vanderbilt stood in with Harriman on a business deal. Is a deliclously humor ous bit of vicarious punishment. Even the perennial Joy of life at the seashore Is not without painful phases. The big circus is coming one week be fore the folks will get back to Port land. Well, if the railroads shut down on our lumber rates we shall keep our lumber for enrichment of our people, In future ages. HESITANCY 151 PARTY PLATFORM Democracy and Mr. Bryan Not Agreed oa a Suitable Slogan. " Washington (D. C.) Post (Ind.). It Is a rather healthy sign, the dis cussion among Democrats, as to what the National platform of 108 shall de clare. As a general proposition, the candidate is the platform, and it Is always so when the condidate is the most consplcutous man of his party, as were Jackson, Clay, Grant, Blaine, Cleveland in 1892, Bryan in 1900, and Roosevelt In 1904. Nobody paid the slightest attention to platforms when these . men were on their respective tickets. Suppose Roosevelt were renominated? Who would think of the platform, ex cept as it would be incarnate in Roose velt's personality and Interpreted In Roosevelt's administration? Platforms are mere dragnets for votes. ' Every Republican platform declares, in effect, that Mississippi is a Republican state, and of right should return a Republican majority. That is for our colored fellow-citizens who vote at the North; but it is a dead letter the day after election, as the Hons. Crumpacker and Keifer can testify. And so if Mr. Bryan should be the nominee of hl& party, a Democratic platform would be a perfectly useless and absolutely worthless piece of paper that might as well be written In San scrit. Nobody would read it. In the first place, and if anyone should dis cover curiosity enough to examine it, he would throw it aside as so much poppycock. Mr. Bryan and Mr. Bry an's speeches would be the platform, and it would be the most voluminous declaration of political principles the world ever saw. - Whatever Mr. Bryan stands for the party would have to tote, because, next to Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Bryan is the most conspicuous" American now living, and as the nominee he would be absolute autocrat of his party. If our Demo cratic friends are serious in making a platform a real platform like those of 185 and 1876, it might be well enough for them to get a lantern and go about looking for a candidate. From what appears on the surface, the Democratic platform makers Insist on a strong states' rights plank, but Mr. Bryan indorses the Beveridge child labor bill. They also demand a strong tariff plank, declaring for revenue only, but Mr. Bryan has decreed a sub ordinate place for the tariff. The Treachery of Stubbs. Chicago Post. Why retire on a paltry $100,000? That is what this age of prosperity wants to know of Robert Stubbs, ex butler. Stubbs, after a really brilliant ca reer of buttling for the Hon. Levi P. Morton,- has suddenly discovered that his fortune is estimated in six figures. Whereupon he chioken-heartedly cries enough, and seeks the seclusion of private life, free from business wor ries. Shades of Jeames Yellowplush! What splash can Stubbs make on Broadway or at Newport with so tiny a pile in his orotund trouserings? How can he support himself in the style to which even a gentleman's gentleman is ac customed? The devoted band who courageously continue to buttle till the modest mil lion is in bank should make uproar at this traitorous and horrid example. DubStubbs! Sacramento's City Commission In 6S. PORTLAND, Aug. 6. (To the Editor.) I have Just read The Oregonian's inter esting account of city government by commission on the Galveston plan. An equally successful city commission was operated in Sacramento, Cal., In '62, Just after the big flood which did a good deal of damage. Sacramento was then In as bad a plight as Galveston It was either do or die. - The Legislature passed a bill placing the city government in the hands of three trustees. The first trus tee was Maybr, the second trustee had charge of the city water works. The tax was on a pretty stiff valuation. They had to raise $600,000 to build levees or run the risk of the remainder of the city being carried: away by the next high water. The trustees placed the grade at four feet above the highest water, and then the fun began. Any wagon by which dirt could be hauled was placed In service. Fortunately the American River had left a large bar in front of the city, and dirt was free, house-raising was the or der of the day. AN OLD CALIFORNIAN. Thinks City Should Sell Firewood. PORTLAND, Aug. 8. (To the Ed itor.) The fuel trust can be smashed Just the same as Portland encashed the water trust and the bridge trusts In this city. -In 1880 Portland people paid $3 per faucet to the water trust for the privi lege of drinking Willamette River wa ter. Now we pay 50 cents and 25 cents per faucet to drink pure Bull Run water. It is not many years ago since Portland people paid the bridge trust and the ferry trust 5 cents every time they crossed the Willamette River. The city employes that are helping to run the business now are getting more pay and working less hours than when they worked for the water and bridge trusts. The city can take over the fuel trust. Just as It took over the local water and bridge trusts. J. LANDIGAN. Family's Help to American History. Allentown (Pa.) Dispatch In New York Sun. The first specimen of the new ten dollar yellow-backed Government gold certificates that came to Allentown has Just gone to Henry HUlegas, the great-great-geat-grandson of Michael HUle gas, the first Treasurer of the United States, whose portrait is on the note. The family has a proud record of de votion to the United States. Michael Hillegas give his fortune to George Washington to advance the cause of the Revolutionary War. His grandson fought in the War of 1812. Henry Hill egas and his five brothers fought In the Union Army during the Civil War, and their father was in the Mexican War. Loves Dog; Better Than Her Child. Philadelphia Dispatch in New York World. a Distressed by the mildness of the penalty for dog-stealing, Mrs. Frances Rhein, aged 70, exclaimed In Magis trate Fitzpatrlck's office: "Why, T loved the dog better than my child. He has been my constant companion and I cannot live without him." Mrs. Rhein had caused the arrest of James Alexander on the charge of stealing the dog a Great Dane. Alex ander was held in $400 bail. No Fashion Change In 2300 Tears. Louisville Courier-Journal. As the fashions in women's clothes in Japan have not changed during 2500 years, there is no reason why the men of that country should not have the most serene countenances known among civilized people. District Attorney Jerome and f ISO. Baltimore News. District Attorney Jero.me, of New York, according to a New York paper, won $180 at the Brighton Beach race track. New Matron for Yakima School. WASHINGTON, D. C, Aug. 6. Mrs. Agnes C. McElery, of Monroe, was yester day appointed assistant matron of the Yakima Indian School. REFORMS MADE IN COREA Ito Justifies Japan by Telling What She Has Done. WASHINGTON, Aug. 6. The Far Eastern malls, just arrived, contain a pamphlet issued from the- Japanese Residency-General of Corea. entitled, "Administrative Reforms in Corea," de signed to vindicate the work of the Japanese in the hermit Kingdom, under the authority conferred by the Japa-nese-Corean agreement of 1904, where by Japan was constituted adviser to Corea. The document treats of the financial difficulties that confronted Marquis Ito at the outset, owing to the inadequacy of the Corean exchequer to bear the cost of reform. He succeeded in rais ing a loan from the Japanese Indus trial Bank of ten million yen, guaran teed by the customs receipts, bearing interest at 6H per cent, and sold at 90 yen per 100 yen. The money realized was distributed in the reconstruction of roads, in building waterworks, es tablishing an educational system, the creation of banks and erection of hos pitals. It Is said the Corean roads were totally unfit for horse and carriage travel, so that it became necessary to allot 1.600,000 yen to laying out four great roads to traverse the regions of best promise, and connect the best har bors and railway centers. Prior to the residency there was In vogue a Confucian educational method, whereby a village dominie called about him the children of the neighborhood and taught them the rudiments of read ing and writing. There were 10,000 of these schools, and at Seoul an Institute of higher Confucian learning. A pri mary school ordinance, promulgated in 1905, was a dead letter, and the middle grade schools In Seoul, with the excep tion of one In foreign languages, ex isted in name only. An entirely new system has been established, first place being given to disseminating common education under Japanese Instructors. The existing hospitals, defective in management and deficient In accommo dations and equipment, have been con solidated Into the "Great Corean Hos pital." The police department, which had really been In triplicate, has been unified. Of the remarkable attempt at purifi cation of the Imperial Court, the, pant' phlet, after painting a striking picture of the corruption and sloth that existed, describes the reform measures adopted and says: "In court circles, there were no doubt some who at first felt alarm at this radical turn of affairs, but the sterling sincerity of the Resident General's so licitude becoming gradually better known, the force of resentment has since slackened, until no voice is now heard in active opposition. "The way in which justice had been administered in Qorea," it is stated, "is too revolting to all sense of decency to be told In detail. The country has not yet attained that stage when the executive and Judicial departments are important, so the system, of Justice Is regarded as a thing to be farmed out; bribery Is general. Innocent people are convicted, and their property confis cated and the guilty are liberated." All this, says the pamphlet, is being reformed by the Japanese. In conclusion, the pamphlet says the Japanese have provided the Coreans with a code of laws regulating the development of native mines, provid ing for-the protection of Immigrants, and encouraging the development of productive industries. TWO BURNED IX TRAIN WRECK One Recovered From Debris of Wrecked Southern Cars. RALEIGH, N. C, Aug. 6. Two bodies In burning debris and one body recovered from the wreck. 11 freight cars burned and several passengers slightly injured are the results of a head-on collision on the Southern Railway nine miles east of Raleigh tonight Straus' Speech to Japanese. HONOLULU. Aug. 6. Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus, in address ing a deputation of Japanese journalists today, said that ideal conditions in Hawaii would be brought about by not too great a preponderance of any one race but by the maintenance of an equilibrium of races. The Japanese Consul will give a dinner in honor of Straus and Congressman and Mrs. Longworth. . Shot Because He Ended Debauch. LOS ANGELES. Aug. 6. Because he would not go ahead and "make a night of it," Philip Gonzales last night, shot twice and moratally wounded his friend, Joe Puerposa. The men had been drink ing and Puerposa wanted to go home Gonzales grew abusive and, after de riding his companion, drew a pistol,, say ing: "You would make a good target.' He then fired five shots, one piercing Puerposa's abdomen and the other his hip. Gonzales fled from the police and escaped. . Pays Up Shortage to State. LOUISVILLE, Aug. 6. W. J. Semenln. the former clerk, who according to the report of State Inspector HInes, was In arrears to the state In the sum of $45,000, tendered certified checks for the amount to the County Court Judge this afternoon. thus settling his accounts. Punishment Swift After Crime. RUNGE, Tex., Aug. 6. Tom Hall, a negro living at Golian, was arrested last night charged with an attempted assault upon two young whits women. Today his body was found hanging to a tree in front of the jail. WHAT IS A V JAPANESE DEFENDS STOESSEL Man Who Received Surrender Lauds Port Arthur General. PARIS, Aug. 6. Captain Tsuneda, the Japanese military attache here, who while upon the staff of General Nogi, conducted the negotiations for the surrender of Port Arthur, in an open letter today defends General Stoessel, the defender of the fortress, upon the eve "of the latter's trial by court-martial for surrendering to the Japanese. - All the Russians food was exhausted and the 20,000 Russians under arms were, he said, in no condition to fight. General Stoessel, according to the Japanese officer. might have held out for a fortnight longer, but the result would have been an Inevit able massacre, in which it would have been difficult to distinguish combatants from non-combatants. Captain Tsuneda said: "If others forget it. we remember Port Arthur lost us 60.000 lives by the gun fire alone. We dug 40 kilometres of parallels and expended 30,000.000 rounds of ammunition. European history chronicles the glorious capitulation of Port Arthur, and It is so considered in Japan. That is why the Emperor of Japan instructed General Nogi to treat General Stoessel with all the honors due to' a gallant soldier. His own country should treat him likewise. TIGHTENS GAG OX THE PRESS Russian Police Forbids Comment on Trial of Conspirators. ST. PETERSBURG. Aug. 6. Drach Isvsky, the perfect of police, has issued an order notifying all editors that they render themselves liable to a fine of $1500 or three months' Imprisonment by publishing, without permission, anything about the Emperor or the members of the imperial family or any comments upon a trial before the rendering of the verdict. This order is Inspired by fear of public criticism that might be made during the coming trial of the persons accused of being implicated in last month's plot against the Emperor, the Grand Duke Nicholas and Premier Stolypin. Anti-Clerical Riots Worrying Pope. ROME, Aug 6. Persons who have seen the Pope lately say that he Is suf fering from mental anxiety caused by the outburst of anti-Clericalism. Like almost every one else, he believes that most of the charges made against the Clericals, on which the movement Is os tensibly based, are false, while others are shamefully exaggerated and the church is being made to suffer for the misdeeds of a few black sheep. Two of these his Holiness has publicly un frocked. They were rectors of parish churches in Rome. Fined for Rocking Rowboat. CHICAGO. Aug. 6. A man and a wom an accused of rocking a rowboat in which they were rowing in Washington Park Sunday afternoon yesterday were fined by Municipal Judge Lantry. The woman, Mrs. Annie Finn, was fined the court costs, amounting to $7 and the man, George Morris, was fined $25 and costs. Both paid the. fines and promised never to rock a boat again. e Albert Finds Admirers Fickle. PARIS, Aug. 6.-.Martelln Albert, leader of the recent revolt In the Midi, who was released from Jail on Friday, received a cold welcome upon his arrival at Mont pelier. His late admirers reproached him for not returning sooner after his release and hooted him until he entered his house, where he shut himself, in. Suicide Astounds Antwerp Crowd. ANTWERP. Aug. 6. A sensational sui cide has occurred here. M. Jacques Si mon, a silk merchant, in the presence of a crowd that thronged Cathedral Square, jumped from the second gallery of the cathedral tower, a distance of more than 200 feet. Death was instantaneous. ' Earthquakes at Valparaiso. SANTIAGO DE CHILE. Aug. 6. An earthquake shock was felt at Valparaiso. TRIESTE, Aug. 6. The instruments in the marine observatory recorded heavy earthquake shocks this morning about 2500 miles distant. Two More Victims of Monte Carlo. NAPLES, Aug. 6. Mr, and Mrs. Buck ingham committed suicide by taking poi son at Castellamare today. The reason for the act was that they had .sustained serious gambling losses at Monte Carlo. Spend Hair-Million In Art. LONDON, Aug. 6. Buveen Brothers, of London, today purchased for $500,000 the famous collection of pictures and art treasures of the late Rudolph Kann, the Paris financier. Czar Sails for Home. SWINEMUNDE. Prussia, Aug. 6. Em peror Nicholas sailed for home today on board the Russian imperial yacht Stand art, escorted by a squadron of warships. Cecilia on Maiden Voyage. BREMEN, Aug. 6. The German Lloyd steamer Kxon Prinzess Cecelia left here today on her maiden voyage to New York. ' Saint Gauden's Body Cremated. CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 6. The body of Augustus Saint Gaudens, tha sculptor, was creamted today. DEMOCRAT? From the New York Mail.