10 THE MORNING OKEGON'IAX, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1907. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. ' INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Pally. Sunday Included, one year $8 00 Daily, Sunday included, six months.... 423 Dally. Sunday included, three months.. 2.23 Dally, Sunday Included. --.e month 75 lally, without Sunday, one year 6 00 Daily, without Sunday, six months.... 3-2j lally. without Sunday, three months.. 1.75 Daily, without Sunday, one month AO Sunday, one year 2.50 Weekly, one year (issued Thursday).. 150 Sunday and Weekly, one year 8-5 BY CARRIER. Dally. Sunday Included, one year 9.00 Dally. Sunday Included, one month 75 HOW TO REMIT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal cheek on your local hank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffice ad dress in full, including county and state. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postoffice bs Hecnr.d-Class Matter. 10 to JJ I'ages 1 cent 16 to 2S Panes 2 cents JO to 44 Panes 3 cents 40 to (10 pages '. 4 cents , Foreign postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage is not fully rrepald are not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The S. C. lieckwith Special Agency New York, rooms 4S-f0 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postoffice News Co.. 178 Dearborn st. St. 1'iiiil.VMmn N. St. Marie. Commercial Etatlon. Colorado Springs, Colo. Bell, H. H. Denver Hamilton and Kcndrlck. 900-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store. 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. S. Rice. Geo. Carson Knnsus City, Mo. Ttlcksecker Cigar Co Ninth and Walnut; Yoma News Co.; Harvey News Stand. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh. 50 South Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Su perior street. Washington, XV. C. Ebbitt House. Penn sylvania avenue. I'hlliiflelpliia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket office; Penn News Co. . New York City L.. Jones & Co:, Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Hotaling Wagons; Empire News Stand Atlantic City, N. J. Eli Taylor. Ogrien D. I- Boyle, W. G. Kind. 11 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Mngealh Stationery Co. Ies Moines, la. Mose Jacob. Sacramento, Cal. Sncramento News Co., 4.1H K. Street; Amos News Co. Salt I.nke Moon Book A Stationery 'Co.; Rosinfeld & Hansen; G. W. Jewett. P. O. corner. I.os Angeles B. E. Amos, manager seven street wagons. Snn Diego B. E. Amos. Long Beach. Cal. B. E. Amos. San Jose, Cal St. James Hotel News Stand. Dallas, Tex. Southwestern News Agent. Kl Paso, Tex. Plaza Book and News Stand. l'ort Worth, Tex. F. Robinson. Amarlllo, Tex. Amarlllo Hotel News Stand. New Orleans, La. Jones News Co. San Francisco Foster & Crear; Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel News Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agents. 11 Eddy street. Oaklund, Cal. W. H. Johnson. Fourteenth find Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland News stand; Hale News Co. (.oldtield, Nev. Louie Follln; C. E. Hunter. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu reka News Co. J-ORTI.ANO. FRIDAY, SEPT. 20, 1907. A MAGIC NUMBER. There is direful maple in the num ber thrte. Were we to elect the same man President three times running, everybody Is convinced that something awful would happen. Nobody is quite sure what the calamity would be, but there would be a calamity and It would prove most frightful. Of this we are all sure. Perhaps the hens would lay addled eggs. Perhaps the cows would give bloody milk. The most common fear is that by electing anybody three times we should make a Diaz out of him, who would do for the 'United States what that flre breathing dragon has done for Mexico. Diaz made himself dictator by aid of the army and retained power as long as he liked. Everybody knows that this could not happen here. Our almost Imperceptible army, which Congress alone can enlarge; our enor mous territory inhabited by an armed and intelligent population; the vigilant Btate governments jealous of their rights; these and many other con siderations show how absurd is the Idea of a usurpation. And yet this vague, shadowy, impossible dread con tinually haunts us. "'Do you believe in ghosts?" asked somebody of Mad ame do Stael. "No, but I am afraid of them," replied the witty French woman. Our mental attitude toward executive usurpation is much the same. Mr. Roosevelt is the first President we have had in many years who exer .cises a respectable fraction of the con stitutional power of his office. He does some of t ie things he was elect ed to do. though not all by any means. Hut It is enough. It has set a multi tude of ti d souls, and some who are not timid but who have felt the un accustomed lash of the law, shrieking that "Roosevelt is trying to imitate Diaz. He wants to found a dynasty." Whether it is his purpose to make Kermit his successor, or Mrs. Long worth, Is not specified. AVe do not ourselves discern how Mr. Roosevelt can be a candidate again without self stultification. We do not believe that he has the faintest wish to run again. He has pledged his word not to be a candidate, and we give him full credit for knowing his own mind and ex pressing it honestly. Nor do those politicians seem to us to pay him much of a compliment who assume that he can be induced to break his solemn promise by the blare of syco phantic trumpets. But. omitting these matters, why should not Roosevelt, or any other 4 President who serves the country well, j be elected three, or four, or ; dozen times? The reason why Is not ground ed in present fact or inference. It is an inherited superstition. Just as a horse is scared by a piece of paper fluttering in the road, so we are afraid of our Oovernment. Both fears are perfectly senseless, but both descend from ancestral times, when they were necessary in the highest degree. The revolutionary fathers were saturated with dread of centralized power be cause in all modern history up to '.heir day power had been set over against the people as a separate, un ?ontrollable. and hostile entity. In all English, French, German and Spanish ?xperience, centralized power had been employed to torture, rob and op press. It was not half so baneful as :he decentralized powers which it had replaced, but this the fathers did not icoow, and if they had known it their minds would not have altered. One Df their great bugaboos was a strong central government, and one of their many defenses against the monster was a brief term for the President. Washington in declining a third term made their fears a part of the inher ited mental constitution of the Ameri can people. We live in a perpetual passion of hatred for centralization, although, in spite of ourselves and by a necessity which we cannot escape, we are centralizing everything under the sun. When the process is com plete and we are experiencing the beneficent results, we shall all look back and wonder why we resisted such a desirable change. Our dislike of a third term for the President is, therefore, but part of a general, hereditary dislike ' of strong government. In cherishing this senti ment as If it were something tncon testably wise and precious, we forget two important facts. . The first is that government is no longer a thing apart from the people, set over against them in hostility to rob and oppress. It belongs to the people. It originates in their consent and exists by their permission. It is their servant, the minister of their desires, the executive agent of their decrees. Consider, then, the insensate folly of the s-ying that "the best government governs least." One might as well say that the best servant shirks most of his duties. Who would choose a rheumatic, para lytic, broken-spirited worKman rather than a buoyant youth in the glory of his manhood if he had a weighty task to accomplis' ? Government has tasks to accomplish of tremendous weight; yet there are those who would tie its hands and sap its strength. AVe forget also the other important fact that the most abjectly miserable periods of history have been when governments were weak. Impotence in the central authority is the oppor tunity of the robber, the commercial highwayman, the pirate whether by land or sea; but it means woe to the common man. There are no excep tions to this rule. It is only the pred atory classes in the United States who desire a weak government. Honest citizens want all the protection they can get frrni a strong one. MASTERY OF THE PACIFIC. Some unknown philosopher, taking mild liberties with the generally ac cepted usages of the English language, once said that "the way to reach a man's heart Is through his stomach." There was more than a modicum of truth in the observation. A late illus tration of the potency of an epicurean spell is noticeable in an article from the pen of Samuel G. Blythe in the latest issue of the Philadelphia Satur day Evening Post. Under the title "Mastery of the Pacific," Mr. Blythe writes very entertainingly of the Rose City, beginning with a tribute, not to our magnificent scenery, our admirable trade location or that stream of com merce which flows through our port to the uttermost ends of the earth. Samuel got around to most of this in the course of his two-page article, but he apparently received his first im pressions of the Rose City in a craw fish parlor, for he starts off with a tribute to the famous Portland dainty that is equal to anything printed about that delicacy since Baron Schlenk brought in the first catch from John son Creek a number of years ago. After Samuel had filled up' on craw fish he was apparently in condition td appreciate the roses, for he tells in glowing language of the beauty and profusion of the flower that has made the city famous. He, alludes to the rose show at the Exposition as the "most marvelous exhibit of the entire show. Half a million roses, you love lorn youths who mortgage your future to get half a dozen a week." But while Blythe learned a great deal more" about Portland crawfish than is known by the most of the Portlanders, and received a ood impression of our roses, he was a little careless in his comment on the rain, although he ad mitted that "it is a nice, gentle, friend ly sort of a rain that drops in casually just to see that things are going all right and quits when it is satisfied the foliage has enough of a bath." Mr. Blythe paid an eloquent tribute to the commercial greatness of the city, told of our record-breaking lum ber and wheat cargoes, and of the vast amount of industrial development-that is under way. He found that we were "growing more rapidly than any other city in the United States," and de clared that "there is no other city that has the beautiful setting that Portland has. All in all, with her flowers, her rose gardens, her green trees and greener lawns, her mountains and her sparkling river, the city is as pretty as a painted one." All this and much more was told in this highly compli mentary tribute to the Rose City, and, taken in part or collectively, it dis closes Mr. Blythe in a most amiable frame of mind and with a vivid im pression of Portland which seemed to have got its start in a crawfish parlor and grew brighter .as the memory of the Baron's famous dish lingered with him. Portland people do not eat craw fish to a serious extent but, now that we have a practical illustration of the effect that they have on visitors, a more intimate acquaintance with them should be cultivated. AX EXISTING EMERGENCY. The eight-hour day on Government work is proving a most expensive proposition in connection with the jetty work at Fort Stevens. The greatest difficulty with all measures in which the Government has any con nection lies in the red tape entangle ments that can never successfully be eluded. "A pint's a pound the world around," declared the ancient com mercial axiom, and a similar rigid and idiotic adherence to hard-and-fast rules is noticeable in all Government regulations. As a result, we find a large force of men at Fort Stevens working eight hours per day, regard less of emergencies which arise. These men are employed in unloading rock, which is dumped around the piling of which the jetty is constructed. AVhlle the men are only working eight hours of the twenty-four lit placing the rock around the piling, the active teredo is worki.io the full twenty-four hours in eating holes in the piling. The effect of this will be noticeable when the AVlnter storms begin break ing off some of the piling around which it has been Impossible t dump enough rock for protection. The rock is brought down to the jetty on barges, and if . only a few tons remain at the close of the eight-hou- day, the barge which is needed for another cargo up the river is held over until the next day. This delays the work at the quarry and leaves the men at the jetty with plenty of waiting time on hand after the few remaining tons are un loaded. The Government has passed what are known r.s "emergency" ap propriations for the jetty improve ment, and what is now needed above everything else in connection with the work is an "emergency" amendment to its eight-hour law which will ad mit of an enormous saving in expense and at the same time hasten comple tion of the Jetty. It is very doubtful If the men en gaged would have any objection to working a few minutes overtime, pro viding they were paid for if, and it would certainly be the part of econ omy for the Government to pay hand somely for the small amount of over time which would be needed, rather than have the expensive plant remain idle for so much of the time. The jetty is too important an enterprise to be subjected to such dilly-dallying work as results from a rigid enforce ment of the eight-hour law. OREGON STOCK. The races at the State Fair are all very well. Clean horse racing is a noble sport, bad for heart disease in the spectators, as The Oregonian re porter ; agely observes, but otherwise altogether delightful. Even a little betting made on the spur of the mo ment between neighbors In the heat and thrill of a grand spurt of speed is perhaps a venial sin. The racing at the fair has been clean and it illus trates again, what was already well enough known, that there is no neces sary connection between trotting and poolselling. But, after all, the racers with their excit. ment do not really count for so much as the kindly, patient, docile draft horses which do the heavy work of the world. It is the draft horse that will replenish the purse of the Oregon farmer. He is easy , to rear; our grass and climate are perfectly adapted to his growth; and he always sells at a good price. In exceptional cases a farmer may breed trotters profitably, but not as a rule. The common result of experimenting with them is financial disaster. Leave the trotters to the plutocrats and cleave to the staid Percheron, the hardy CIyde,and the gentle Shire horse. The records of the fair show, as The Oregonian has insisted, that our breeders need not continue to go abroad for sires. Those of home pro duction are superior to the foreign stock. AA'hen we have mastered the breeders' knack a little better we shall find that this holds true for both horses and cattle. If we live up to our posssibilities the day will come when France and Great Britain will import breeding stock from Oregon. Perfec tion in this matter is difficult, arid it takes time, but it is worth working for. DEFECTIVE SCHOOL "CHILDREN. A committee of teachers and others who have investigated the health con ditions of children in New York, Chi cago, Boston and other cities estimates that some 12,000,000 of the pupils in our public schools are physically de fective. In New York the defectives include more than two-thirds of the whole number. Some have bad teeth; others abnor mal breathing. In many the eyes or ears are defective. Large numbers are Ill-nourished, and it is, at first sight, amazing to learn that there are more cases of mal-nutrition from wealthy families than from poor ones. Still, we must remember that children are treated with little sense in vast numbers of homes, both rich and poor. They are fed to tickle the palate and not to nourish the body; and since among the rich there are more oppor tunities for this kind of folly, natur ally there' are more cases of mal-nutrition. . The bad teeth are due to improper food and lack of care. The food can be improved by teaching parents what to buy for the table and how to cook it if anybody cares to undertake the task. The care of the teeth requires chiefly a brush and a cup of cold water. It is proposed by the commit tee to deduct some of the time now de voted to gymnastics and pedagogic ballet dancing in the schools and use it to teach the children how to take care of their teeth, one fancies that the change might prove beneficial. Most, teachers know that the sup posed "stupidity" of many pupils is caused by defective eyes or ears. The children cannot hear what is said to them; or they cannot see the printed words in their books. ' Hence their seeming lack of intelligence. To pun ish such pupils for idleness or per verseness Is sheer cruelty. Yet it is often done. The movement to take measures to cure defective school chil dren is sensible and humane. Still more humane would be a movement to put the schools in such condition that they would not make pupils de fective. STRONG WHEAT MARKET. The British ship Conway Castle Is in the sjtream ready for sea with the first cargo of grain to go forward from a North Pacific port this season, and, within the next thirty days, one of the best reasons in the history of the port will be at full swing. Despite some damage by reason of wet weather, it now seems reasonably certain that Oregon, AVashington and Idaho will this season market the largest crop of wheat ever grown in the Pacific Northwest. Not only is there more wheat to sell than ever before, but it is commanding much higher prices than were ever be fore realized in a big crop year. With such a combination of favorable cir cumstances most of .the people of the Pacific Northwest can view with equa nimity the generally accepted esti mates that the crop of the - United States will fall short of that of last year by more than 100,000,000 bush els. The September crop report, which was made public last week, did not give a quantitative statement on cereals, but, by estimating from the average condition, acreage, etc., trade experts figure out a crop of Spring and AA'in ter wheat ff 631,764.000 bushels, com pared with 735,260,970 bushels har vested in 1906. But, while the crop of the country as a whole is more than 100,000,000 bushels short of last year, the yield of the Pacific Northwest is anywhere from 5,000,000 bushels to 10,000,000 bushels greater than that of last year, and the price is about 20 per cent higher. In the Middle AVest and Northwest, where the shortage in yield is noticeable, the prices are also enough higher this year to offset the shortage in the crop. Based on yes terday's Chicago quotations for De cember wheat, the present crop has a value of $625,000,000. Last year's crop of 735,000,000 bushels, at the quotations of September 18, 1906, would yield but 551,443,000, .or ap proximately $75,000,000 less than that now coming on the market. The best feature of the price situa tion lies in the fact that the strength , is almost wholly due to the strength of the foreign mancets. The United ! States, with a very heavy carry-over from the preceding crop, has an abun dance of wheat for all home require ments, and if Europe could this year secure stocks from the same foreign sources as were available a year ago our own short crop would of necessity sell for much lower prices. But even the apparent strength of the foreign market should not be regarded as per manent, for while low prices for an other year are practically out of the question, the top figures may be near at hand. AA'hen wheat sells above $1 per bushel in Chicago It is costing the foreign consumer a figure that sug gests retrenchment and curtailment in consumption. This curtailed consumption will in time be reflected in available supplies, and, in this age of steam, wheat can be brought to Europe from almost any part of the world in a very few weeks. Despite the short crop in the United States, this country has sent out since July 1 35.592,000 bushels, compared with 28,450,000 "bushels for the same period last year, and Europe has received from the principal ex porting countries of the world nearly 4,000,000 bushels more than she re ceived in the same period last year. There Is, of course, nothing especially bearish in these figures, but it should be remembered that if the foreign buyers can tide themselves over a few weeks longer the first shipments of the new Argentine crop will begin, reaching them. As that Is a crop that moves with a rush, it may prevent the necessity of further advances in the price in this country. In the Pacific Northwest most of the growers are not inclined to tempt fate by waiting for excessively high prices, and the move ment is heavier than usual for so early In the season. Studies have been resumed in Pa cific University, Forest Grove, with a large enrollment of new students. This pioneer college has turned many Well equipped young men and women out into the wider life of the state and every note of Its success finds response in many hearts -loyal to its traditions and purposes. Inseparably connected with the name of "Marsh," it is this year for the first time in Its history without a member of the faculty that bears that name. Proressor Joseph AV. Marsh retired at the close of the last college year from the chair of Latin, which he had held for forty years. He will long be held In affectionate re membrance as a helpful, .earnest, ca pable Instructor. The State Fair was seen in all Its glory yesterday. No mud, no dust; the air balmy as the breath of Spring; the exhibits at their best; the speed con tests exciting; the blooded stock show ing off for all that it was worth, and a multitude treading each other's heels in. eager procession, full of wonder at the display and of enjoyment of the occasion surely nothing more could be asked in the way of pleasure or at tractions for "Portland day." . That Dewey house and lot in AVash ington, presented to the Manila hero by sentimental Americans, has been rented to a millionaire clubman, while the Admiral has found a larger resi dence. It is safe to say that heroes of the Jap war will not receive such gifts from the American people. No wonder the "woman in the case" now on trial before the State Circuit Court in this city fainted after she had been confronted by her "love" letters. Perhaps, in the light of subsequent events, she herself wonders how she could have written them. The fruit exhibit at the State Fair is fine, with strong emphasis on the ad jective. It shows what cultivation, spraying, intelligence and industry are capable of producing In conjunction with Oregon soil and climate in the realm of horticulture. Bryan having promised to write the platform and name the candidate, thus relieves the party of all responsibility except putting up a man for A'ice President next June. And that is hardly worth while calling a conven tion for. AVhen we read that the executive head of the Standard Oil Company loses $40,000,000 In a railroad venture and has to sacrifice gilt-edge securities to make good, we get a searchlight on the latest bears' raid in AA'all street. Field Marshal Rogers, of Standard Oil. separated himself from forty mil lions trying to build an opposition rail road. A loss of that size would give any of us nervous, prostration. The profits of the Standard Oil Company surpass the dreams of av arice. Or they would, were any one but Rockefeller In the role of dreamer. If Bryan is the candidate next time, Mr. Parker's little skit will inject a rich streak of humor into the cam paign. Should Japan again need a national loan, it might do worse than hire Mr. Lowit, late of the Golden Eagle. Never mind. Next year we can all go to the Salem fair by trolley. Glnd Units for Gnu' Admirers, Portland Advocate (Colored). If Joe Gans had failed to win his fight with Jimmy Britt. very few if any new raglans and Haymarket overcoats would have been worn by the colored gents, as well as a host of white admirers who had staked their roll upon the cham pion, but as it is Portland sports may be seen dressed In the very latest fashion for some time to come. AVIplnK Out the "North End." forest Grove Times. ' A trip to Portland reveals more new buildings going up on every hand and more buildings In contemplation. The general trend of building operations seems to be drifting northward and we may sefely predict that, what is now denominated the "North 4,nd" will In a few years be one of the best business districts in the city. . The Suspicion of a Hint. London Punch. A'icar "I am so glad your dear daugh ter is better. I was greatly pleased to see her in church this morning, and shortened the service on purpose for her." Mother of dear daughter "Thank you. Vicar. I shall hope to bring her every Sunday now!" ' The Little Run-Son. New York Sun. We are not all weak or wicked. Chicago Inter-Ocean. Perhaps; but what philosopher can view without alarm the great and increasing number of malefactors, mollycoddles and nature fakers? EFFUSION Directed at 'the Prohibition Movement In Kentucky. Louisville Courier-Journal. The editor of the Courier-Journal had a dream the other night. He dreamed that he died and was whisked off to the regions below. Old Nick met him at the outer door and extended a most hos pitable welcome. "We've been looking and i waiting Impatiently for you,"' says he. "Some of the boys were -beginning to be afraid that you were not coming, but that they would keep you in the shop above; but I told 'em to cheer up! You see .1 know that sometimes they take pity on us and send us a good man. Why! your frlends'll be truly delighted." "Who's here?" was timidly asked. "They are all here," said Satan. "There's old Grover and 'John G. Car lisle and Teddy, and " "Got any Kentucklans?" "Plenty of 'em! There's Governor Beckham and Colonel John Whallen and Aaron Kohn and Richard Knott why. bless you! when I get tired of whooping: of 'em up and want a little recreation, I leave Dick in charge, and feel perfectly safe the fire won't go out till I get back." Then We entered. The place was fitted up elegant just like Buckingham The atre, with a Summer garden attach ment, which they called the Red City. Lum Simmons stood at the gate taking tickets, and when he saw the newcomer he cried "hooray," and said, "You pass in free." It was a fine sight inside. All sorts of people and politics and Tellglons, Demo crats and Republicans, and Methodists and Presbyterians and Episcopalians. From every bough swung a crook 'or a thief. Some were marked "jouisvllle" and a few "Fusionlsts." "Here," says Satan, "we reverse the earthly rule. We honor perfidy and Pharisaism above all things, because they are so energetic and send us so many re cruits. Common politicians we string up to dry." , "But, your satanic majesty, where is Mayor Bingham?" was asked. "Oh," says Satan, "he's a Baptist." "AA'hat has that to do with It?" "Don't you know," says he, with a kind of awe in his tone, "that the Baptists are a very exclusive congregation and don't like to be mixed up either in their drinks or their damnation with other denomina tions? Come with me and I'll show you." Then he led his wondering visitor through a long dark corridor, which he said was called the Vale of Prohibition, to a small, well-lighted vestibule hung round with portraits of Lorenzo Dow and Tom Watson and Hoke Smith and Carrie Nation "She's a Kentucky girl," he said triumphantly as we passed her and then he lifted up a trap door and pointed to a pit blazing with light "There are the Bapists," says he solemnly, "in close communion." We looked.' and sure enough it was as he said; there they were holding a long run convention, every man of them a red nosed angel with Dr. M. P. Hunt pre siding, the Rev. James Van Arsdale in the act of offering a set of resolutions, the purpose of which ran. We'll make Kentucky as dry as hell and Maine." SO RETREAT WILL EVER BE MADE. Mr. Roosevelt Haa Placed Republican Party on High Ground. Philadelphia Press. President Roosevelt has landed the Re publican party upon advanced ground. In the general regulation of corporations and in the adjustment of their relations to the people, six. years have witnessed an immense forward movement. While there may be differences of opinion about details, there ought to be no serious dif ferences about the cause in which the President has enlisted his party. Several truths can be set down about which there can .be no dispute. 'First, there were serious abuses to correct. It is not necessary to recount them, for they are still fresh in the public mind. Sec ond, the President, backed by his party in Congress and elsewhere, inaugurated the movement to correct those abuses. Third, many of the evils which existed to the humiliation and great discredit of the American people, have been, elimi nated. In other cases the machinery has been set in motion which in time must wipe out the remaining instances of cor porate abuse. It is foolish and totally misleading to term the great trend under Roosevelt as trust-baiting. AVhen the ordinary of fender is made to obey the law it is not a case of citizen-baiting. More over, when new laws are created to prevent individuals from doing harmful things, it Is not citizen-baiting. Now the people see and know what has been done. As stated before, while here and there may be found honest differences about the methods of procedure or about the wisdom of this or that detail, it is still true that the overwhelming mass of the citizens of the United States approve what has been done in their behalf. The result of this wide approval means that there can be; and will be, no retreat. The things that have been won are of too great consequence to be yielded UP merely to allow the whinings of those whose profit under the old order of things has disappeared, or to satisfy the notions of honest but mistaken adherents of the President's general policy. AVIint Mr. llarrlmnn Intend!. La Grande Star. The action of Mr. Harriman at the Sacramento Irrigation Congress, In declar ing that the 3.000. ono acres of railroad land donated to the Southern Pacific by an Indulgent "Uncle Sam" was in the nature of a gift to be held In reserve by the company for supplying railroad ties, shows very plainly this individual intends to keep the lands out of the hands of actual settlers. His contention Is absurd on the face of it. Prize Corncob Pipe Smoker at 77. . Baltimore News. At Indianapolis, smokers of corncob pipes had a contest, and Samuel Stoop, aged 77 years, won a $5 prize. Some of the judges were- women. THE CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE. Fay. Can't you guess , What's making a mess Of everything today? Politics in a plight. Morals a sight. Money tight. Business getting the blight Prosperity taking flight. Crime at Its height. Courts and trusts in a fight. The Big Stick showing its might. And nothing really risht? No? Oh. Take another guess. Don't confess You don't know When the heavens show Just what it Is That's handing out the universal pazzlz. Look uo and see. What's knocking us so hard Without regard To whether It Is coming to us or not. What ? It's the comet! Sure; And It's got us on its. skewer. See It US' there In the nebulous air. ciwishing its sinuous tail Through the misty morning's pale And flickering light? Ain't it a crewsome. sight? And Its dull and deadly eye Like a blister on the sky; Oh. my. That's why - Disasters dire Are piling up higher Every day. And say, By thunder. There's no way For us to stand from under. It's on top. for fair. And wll remain thers Until It is tnrough With what It cama to do. See? And we? We're all to the comet. Dom it I W. J. LAMPION. A COLONEL, WATTE AN AXTI-CANTEEN' ROORBACK. "Why There are Fewer Drunkenness Courtiuartlal Convictions. New York Times. The text, "He that is first in his own cause seemeth just: . hut his neighbor cometh and searcheth him," may be laid to heart by the writer of the letter which appeared in the Times on Monday, at tacking its statement about the effects of the Army anti-canteen law. We repro duce the communication: To the Editor of the New York Times: My attention has been called to your state ment, under the heading-. "The Army Can teen Report." that the annual report of the Judge Advocate-General of the Army snows how the elimination of the canteen has In creased llquor-drlnklng and dissipation among enlisted men. It shows nothing of the kind, but exactly the reverse. Here are the' figures as given by the Judge Advocate-General: 1111)11 General courts-martial, 6fiS0; drunk enness, 1645. tool General courts-martial, 0O65 ; drunk enness. 14iiS. mo:: General courts-martial, 3311 ; drunk enness, OHO. 1IH:i General courts-martial, 527."; drunk enness. Sll. 11104 general courts-martial. 44B- drunk enness, 016. 1IHKV General courts-martial, 4S00; drunk enness, 508. HMMi General courts-martial. 4506; drunk enness. ott. In justice to your readers, will you not publish them? They tell their own story. W. P. WHITE. Philadelphia, Sept. 7, 11107. Figures cannot lie, but they can be manipulated. Inquiry at the office of the Acting Judge Advocate-General In Wash ington discloses the fact that the table of fgures presented by AV. P. White, be he a male citizen of the prohibitionist stripe or a female of the AA'. C. T. U. persuasion, is both inaccurate and dis ingenuous. The Times' AVashington dis patches yesterday said: The fact is that since the passage of the act of March 2, 1901, by which the power of inferior courts was extended so that they could punish by forfeiture of pay and confinement for three months, instead of for one month, as formerly, there have been practically no cases of drunkenness tried by general court-mar-' tial. Furthermore, it is authoritatively esti mated that "in 90 per cent of the cases before general courts the defendant pleads drunkenness as an extenuating circumstance. If not as a defense," and drunkenness "is the charge in the great majority of them." AVhlle full figures have not been compiled, these are ascer tained: In 1004. three years after the abolition of the canteen and the pasasg of the Summary Court act. the number of con victions by summary and other inferior courts was 40,80:1. In 190ft tnere were 45.000. and this does not Include the num ber In the Department of California, ths records of which were destroyed at the time of the earthquake. Thi year the figures were about the same. 44,:i05. The figures given by Mr. White, showing only 504 drunkenness courts-martial in 1001. are so absurdly incorrect that it seems to Army officers here to show willful misrepresenta tion of facts to use them In such a way. They represent, in truth, considerably Icbs than 2 per cent of the cases of Intoxication of that year. TART'S HOMEWARD JOURNEY. How the Secretory of AA'ar AVIII Travel as the Guest of the Czar. Washington Letter to the Brooklyn ' Times. Royalty. in its traditional purple, would not bo able to command more elaborate and elegant accommodations than have been provided for Secretary Taft for his trip from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg In the course of his return to America from the Philippine Islands next November. That trip will be one of the most notable that ever has been taken by an American citizen. It will be not only superb in all of its appoint ments, but because of Secretary Taft's position as Secretary of War and candi date for the Presidency, it will focus the eyes of the world upon him. It is expected that Secretary Taft and his party will arrive at A'ladlvostok, Manchuria, on the 11th of next Novem ber. The next day they will start on their long railroad Journey to St. Peters burg. The trip will occupy practically 10 days, including a stop of two days at Moscow. The arrangements for the journey, which were completed in a tentative way before Secretary Taft left AVashington. have been placed In the hands of the international sleeping-car company of Paris, which operates the trains de luxe on the Trans-Siberian railroad. A special car has been provided for the Secretary and his family. In it will be every con venience and comfort of a well-appointed home. It will be elegantly fitted and furnished. divided into compartments and provided with every facility known to modern travel. There the Secretary may rest or work, as may suit his fancy. The other members of the party will be provided for equally well. The train will consist of three sleepers, a dining-car and an observation car. The entire train will be beautifully and elaborately equipped. It will be In personal charge of a prominent official of the company which operates the line, who will see to it that the Taft party has every desire anticipated. The first important st n on the journey from A'ladivostok to Moscow in fact, the only one of consequence will be at Irkutsk, the finest city in Siberia, not far from Lake Baikal, across which the Russian Soldiers marched on the Ice en route to Manchuria during the Russo Japanese AVar. and S.v miles from Mos cow. According to the schedule of the train, a stop of only two hours will he made at Irkutsk, but an arrangement has been made by which Secretary Taft. may prolong his sojourn there If he de sires to do so. The city of Irkutsk is the center of the Russo-Chlnese tea trade, has a population of 60.000. includ ing 5000 exiles, and is an admirably ap pointed town. , The scenery along the Trans-Siberian road is wild and interesting and the views from passing trains are magnifi cently picturesque and beautiful. At the various brief stopping points Secretary Taft's train will be supplied with fresh fruits', vegetables and other provisions. Throughout the long journey, the Sec retary will be the guest of the Czar of Russia, and every Russian official, at anv point en route will see to it that nothing is left undone that would add to the comfort and convenience and interest of the trip. On arrival at St. Petersburg Secretary Taft will continue as the guest of the Czar and will be accorded tho most notable distinction. Pity the Sorrows of the Rich. Life. The well-to-do are as yet the chief suf ferers from the money-pinch. The papers report very extensive relinquishment of automobiles by owners who are suffer ing from fiscal disabilities, and are going back to roller-skates. Persons addicted to fashionable life tell of severe embar rassment among their acquaintances, es pecially those who have been cut down from easy circumstances to incomes of about $50,000 a year and have had to change their habits. . They are not jok ing when they say this. To families that have been ustd to live on $5000, $10,000. $15,000 or $20,000 a year, a $50,000 income looks like affluence, but when a house hold has adjusted Itself to an annual ex penditure twice or thrice as great as that, it seems a poor, awkward sum, overlarge for picturesque simplicity, and not big enough for real style. Fifty thousand a year is the income of only about $1,000,000. When one considers how moderate a fortune that is considered In these days to be. the pinch of the $50,000 incomes can be easier understood. BOOfS AMERICAN literature received a cold water bath within the past few days from which it will emerge with difficulty. The husband of Mrs. Mary E. AA'Il-kins-Freem.'in, the novelist, who has im mortalized New England life, has been ar rested at Metuchen, N. J., charged with backing one Jnme A. Duane against two negro "sports" in a gambling game known, as craps. . And. incidentally. Dr. Freeman has been held in $500 bail to await the action of the Grand Jury. Poli tics has been Dr. Freeman's undoing, for it was in furtherance of his desire to cap ture the Republican nomination at the primary election for Mayor of Metuchen that Dr. Freeman began to hunt for voters and wandered into the vicinity of the crap game. As Mary E. Wilkins, Mrs. Wilkins Freeman wove the delicate fancy bf her genius around New England, particularly so in "A New England Nun," wherein she painted the peculiar joys of a spinster's life and the indifference of the spinster to the doubtful state of matrimony. Indeed, It was hinted at the time that Miss Wil kins loaned her own dignified personality in "A New England Nun." Then she met Dr. Freeman, and January 1, 1902. site married him strange to relate at Metu chen, N. J. The cold facts In Freeman's case axe: In his hunt for votes. Dr. Freeman wan dered into a resort where his supporter, Mr. Duane, was playing "craps" with George Hopkins, a negro, and he literally stuffed Duane's pockets with bills. The bets arose from 50 cents a corner, until the limit of $100 was reached. The negro won all the stakes, and. when Dr. Free man hinted that the dice were loaded, a row arose. Next day, Marshal Formett, one of the Freeman party's political op ponents, heard of the crap game, and Dr. Freeman's arrest followed. It is under stood that Dr. Freeman had difficulty in explaining matters to the satisfaction of his wife, and that Mrs. AVilkins-Freeman, who had intended to immortalize New Jersey as she had New England, now re gards her projected New Jersey idea rather coldly. Vermont, which Kipling is said to have called "that great sapphire of a state." is the scene of "A Turnpike Lady." by Sarah N. Cleghom, which will be Issued this month. The author gives a humorous and pathetic picture of daily life in a Arer mont village in pre-Revolutionary days. In his 89th year, the death of William Crosby," a well-known Boston publisher, snaps one of the links of tho past bind ing the public to such literary stars as Longfellow and Lowell. Mr. Crosby was head of the publishing house of Crosby & Nichols, and shortly before his passing away he told a friend that he remembered when Lonprfellow and Lowell had diffi culty in getting publishers. In fact, the firm refused to publish Longfellow's lit tle volume entitled "Voices of the Night." containing these prizes poems: "Hymn to the Night." "A Psalm of Life." "The Reaper and the Flowers," "The Light of Stars," "Footsteps of Angels," "The Be leaguered City." and Midnight Mass for the Dying Year." The author offered it with the stipulation that he bo given a position In the publishing house. But It was his partner, Nichols, according to Mr. Crosby's revelation, who thought there was no sale for poems: and a Cam bridge man, John Owen, brought out the volume, and said Mr. Crosby in a melan choly tone, "thus we lost Longfellow's work." Other reminiscenses of Mr. Crosby are as follows: Ixwell's books were a kind of drug on the market until the Uiglow paper gave him his great fame. When I was with Otis. Broadus & Co. they brought out a volume of the poems of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, hut the edi tion was not rapidly exhausted, and it was not until more than 15 years later, when J. T. Fields had begun to push the works of Holmes, Emerson, Longfellow and others, that a secon dedltlon was called for. ' A new biography of Dr. John McLough lin, from the pen of Frederick V. Holman, of this city, may be expected within a few days from a publishing house at Cleve land. Ohio. The biography will be found Interesting, both from the standpoint of student and ordinary reader. Portraits and illustrative documents complete the account. London people are joyful over the rumor that Rudyard Kipling is to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature for 1907, with $40,000 In cash to keep it company. The Stockholm Tidningen is authority for the statement that the contest for the prize lay beween Mary Twain and Kipling, but it now concedes that Kipling has un doubtedly won. The most recent English photograph of Kipling is one in which ha and Mark Twain are shown, and it Is noticed that Kipling wears a bored ex pression and Is vainly stifling a yawn. Kipling has not been very much In the literary limelight of late, and has been in South Africa, searching for color. His latest work. "Puck of Pook's Hill." pub lished serially in the Strand Magazine and issued as a novel this Summer, and his poem on the "Burdens of Martha." pub lished by the ljondon Standard, are the only two things he lias done in some time. There are occasional rumors as to his bad health as an excuse for paucity of output. It is said, however, thnt he has been hard at work for many months on a startling novel, the scenes of which are laid in London and South Africa. This will not likely be Issued until beginning the new year. An old schoolfellow of Kipling's has just unearthed whatv he calls Kipling's first literary work. In these days. Kipling was a Browning wor shiper, and after heading his poem "By jt t B g." be called It "The Jam pot." Here are the lines: The Jampot -tender thought. I grabbed It: so did you "What wonder, while we fought T'fcether. that It Hew In shivers," you retort. You should have I'Kise.l your hold One moment: checked your ftM. Rut as It was too bold. You grappled and you missed. (More curtly, you were sold.) "But neither of w shared The dainty" that's your plfa? I answer i.t me see How have your trousers fared? Francis Lynde, the author of iha rail road novel. "Empire Builders," recently reviewed in this paper, was. during a con struction track battle in the Rocky Moun tains, in charge of the transportation of helpers. Finding himself at the track layers' camp one bitter night. 15 miles above his base of transportation supplies, he borrowed a construction engine, and with the Irish camp watchman for a helper, started down canyon after a string of empties. The night was black dark; the un surfaced track was as rough as a' corduroy road: and tho grades and curves were heart-breaking. Very early in the game the substitute fireman lost his nerve. Staggering across the cab, he shouted huskily into the ear of the pro tein poro engineer: "Arrah! Misther Lynde, 'tis a foine run ner ve are entoirely. and I'm sorry to bej throublinn' ye to stop her." "What's the matter, Mike? Are youi i "Divvie a wan bit am l scared, but think I'll have to be walkin' back along'! I did be l'avin' me pipe up yonder at till' camp, and I'm that near dead for a schmoke!" . .