Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, January 14, 1908, SECOND EDITION, Image 8

Morning Oregonian., January 14, 1908, SECOND EDITION, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextTHE MORXIXG OREGOXIAX, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1708. s SIBSCRIPTIOX BATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Daily. Sunday Included, one year 18.00 Ually. Sunday Included, six months.... 4.2. fully. Sunday included, three mcntha. . 2.25 Dally, fiunday Included, one month 75 Dally, without Sunday, one year 00 Daily, without Sunday, six monthe.... 8-25 Dally, without Sunday, three monthe.. l.ii Dally, without Sunday, one month.... .80 Sunday, one year - -5J Weekly, one year (Iseued Thursday)... ISO Sunday and weekly, one year 3. SO UX CARBLER. Dally. .Sunday Included, one year '. Dally. Sunday Included, one month TS HOW TO REMIT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on yoor local bank. 6tamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffice aa dreas la mil. lncludlns county ana state. rOSTAOK BATES. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflca as Second-Class Matter. 10 to M Pages 1 cent Id to 28 Paaes.. 2 cents 0-to 44 Pages...:. . cents 46 to 60 Pages.: ceDt" Foreign postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict. Kewspapers on which postage is not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. . EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The 8. C. BecJcwltli special Agency New York, rooms 48-50 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex; Postoffice News Co.. 178 Iearborn street. est. Paul, Minn. N. SL Marie, Commercial Station. Colorado Springs, Colo. Bell, H. H. Denver Hamilton and Kendrlck. 906-912 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. S. Rice, (i eo. Carson. Kansat City. Mo. Rlckseckar Cigar Co rinth and Walnut; Yoma News Co Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh, 50 South Third Cleveland. O James Pushaw. SOT Su perior street. Washington, D. C. Ebbltt House, Penn sylvania avenue. Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket. Otlice; Penn News Co. New York City L. Jonee ft Co.. Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Uotallng Wagons; Empire News Stand. Ogdea D. L Boyle; Lowe Bros., 114 Ttveiity-nfth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Mageatb Stationery Co. IXs Moines, la Mose Jacobs.' Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento Nsws Co., 430 K street; Amos News Co. Salt Lake Moon Book ft Stationery Co.; Rosenfeld ft Hansen; Q. W. Jewett. P. O. corner. Lus Angeles B. E- Amos, manager ten street wagons , Pasadena, Cal. Amos News Co. San Diego B. E. Amos. Long Beach, CaL B. H. Amos San Jose, Cal. St. James Hotel News Eland. Dallas, Tex. Southwestern News Agent, 844 Main street; also two street wagons. Amurlllo, Tex. Tlmtnons ft Pope. Sun irancliK'o Foster ft Orear: Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel News Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agents. 14 Vs Eddy street; B. E. Amos, man ager three waguns. Oakland, Cal W. H. Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland News Stand; B. El Amos, manager live wagons (iuldfield. Not. Louie Follln; C. E. Hunter. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronlcla Agency; Eu reka News Co. PORTLAND. TUESDAY. JAN. 14, 1908. A CRISIS APPROACHING. Enlargement of the powers of the Port of Portland, or enactment of a new law on similar lines to the Port of Columbia act, which 'was defeated in the courts, is the most important question before the people of Portland today. Completion of the North Bank Railroad slves this city access to thousands of miles of territory from which we have previously been barred by lack of facilities for transportation. The new road, together with its great competitor, in fine physical condition, on the south bank of the Columbia, has provided us with matchless facili ties for bringing the products of the interior dow . to this city. There are. still vast regions to be opened up trib utary to the main line of the Harri man system, but with the coming of the North Bank road. In the main Co lumbia Basin, it will require more than a decade of most rapid develop ment for the traffic, to exceed the fa cilities. But on the lower division of the Co lumbia, from Portland to the sea, matters are not yet on. a permanent basis, nor will our position become im pregnable until it is possible for ship ping to get In und out of the river with no greater delay and no greater expense than Is Incurred at ports with which we come in competition. Dur ing the years when the O. R. & N. was tlio only road hauling freight down the Columbia River we regarded maintenance of our highway to the sea as sufficiently important to war rant expenditure of errough money to deepen ihe channel so that a 10,000 ton carrier has now no more difficulty in coming to Portland than was e countered by the 1000-ton carrier of twenty years ago. We have lopped off river pilotage, excessive crimping charges and other abuses which con tributed to making this port more ex pensive than some others with which we were in competition, and as a re sult there has been a decline of sev eral cents per bushel in freight rates from this port to Europe, all of this saving In freight going to the pro ducer. In this work Portland has had some assistance from the Government, but none from the rest of the state. While the state was spending J500.000 on a portage road which could not increase the traffic nor reduce the rates, this city, through the Port of Portland, was spending the same amount for deepening tho river, any improvement or enlargement of facilities on the middle river being useless unless there was an unobstructed channel to the sea. Just at present wo are on even terms with Pugot Sound, because the railroads have absorbed, the charge for bar pilotage, which arms not exist on Puget Sound, and the Pacific Bridge Company is removing ballast free. Both of those concessions are temporary, but the disabilities which they correct must be removed or ta.ken caro of by the Port of Portland or a similar organization for main taining our maritime prestige. Mr. Hill already has a line to Pu get Sound and Mr. Harrlman will soon be equally well equipped for business. Both would prefer to drop their freight at the most convenient poiat at or near Portland, but tho grades on to Puget Sound are easy and the dis tance not great, and ur'.ets we can keep the channel to the sea at a good depth, abolish bar pilotage and cut off other expenses which are unnecessary in ports with which we compete, we shall fail to profit by our otherwise matchless location at the root of a downhill haul. There is no sentiment about this matter. It Is strictly busi ness, and it Is highly Important that Portland be In a position to face the crisis unhampered by the influences which defeated the Port of Columbia bill and deferred the necessary reform at least a year. A DISPUTABLE PRESUMPTION. In denying; George Putnam tha right to prove the truth of his publi cations regarding the attitude of the grand jury in the Barnum assault case. Judge Hanna apparently ignored two plain provisions of the statutes of this state. One of these provisions, quoted In these columns Sunday', is contained in section 2170 of the.code, and declares that the defendant, in a criminal prosecution for libel may show the truth of his statements. The other provision Is subdivision 15 of secton 788. Section 787 defines what are conclusive presumptions. Section 788 defines disputable presumptions. The latter section says: 78S All other presumptions are satisfac tory .unless - overcome. They are denomi nated disputable presumptions, and may be controverted by other evidence. The fol lowing are of that kind: 15 That official duty haa been regularly performed. The grand Jury is an official "body and had official duty to perform. It is a presumption "that it did perform its duty, but that presumption is a dis putable one, and section 788 expressly declares that "it may be controverted with other evidence." Yet Judge Hanna refused to admit other evi dence and instructed the Jury: The fact of whether or not Barnum Is guilty of an assault was a fact to be de termined by the grand jury. They are pre sumed b'y law to have determined the mat ter rightly. If Judge Hahna's ruling is correct, then there are two sections of the stat utes of this state that might as well be repealed. They have, in fact, been abrogated by judicial decision, if the ruling of Judge Hanna shall stand. THE TRUSTS AND MR. MILLS. Like all the philosophical Socialists, Mr. Walter Thomas Mills has much to say In the way of criticism of present social conditions which no candid person would care to dispute. But mingled with the truth which this earnest and gifted propagandist utters there is more or less theory which is open to serious question. For exam ple, the statement made In one of his recent lectures that "In any In dustry where monopoly is possible competition is the - process by which monopoly Is achieved." The objec tions to this statement are that it Is too broad on the one hand, while on the other it omits a . very important factor in the formation of monopolies. Competition is npt by any. means the' only method of perfecting a monop oly. Some of our most tyrannical ones have been formed exclusively through the grant of special privileges by legislative bodies. Every franchise grant creates more or less of a monopoly. The monopoly of the National banks to issue paper money is established by legislation; competition has nothing to do with lt Even those thateful monopolies which have grown up under the shelter of the Dlngley tariff owe- more to the prohibitive duties than to competition. In fact, It Is pretty certain that mast of our combinations are not the result of competition carried to its inevitable outcome, but arise rather from agree ments made to evade competition long before its effects have become disas trous; and these agreements are made profitable in many cases by special privileges conferred by statute. Of course the position is unassailable that monopoly is the logical goal toward which competition tends through the destruction of the weak and the survival of the strong; but it is extremely doubtful whether that goal would ever be reached in prac tice were not the ellmlnatlve process helped on by legislative favoritism. The most damning economic charge against competition is Its wastefulness. Some authorities estimate that 70 per cent of the current cost of commodi ties is heaped upon them by unneces sary competition. This, of course, may be an exaggeration, but there is no escaping the. fact that the process Is often economically injurious, what ever its ethical value may be; and "on this ground we owe a debt of grati tude to the trusts for showing us how to escape from it without impairing the efficiency of production. It is idle to attribute the development of the trusts to any one' cause. They are the fruit of innumerable conditions which it would require an extensive analysis to state with tolerable accuracy; but after all, the most interesting fact about the trusts Is not their origin, but their existence. They are here with us in active, portentous life, and in some way they must be subjugated to the good of society instead of being permitted to suck the lifeblood from it, as they now do. It must not be forgotten, either, that every one of the trusts has eliminated competition al together within the scope of its activi ties. It follows, therefore, that if we would restore competition to its old place in the economic domain, we must begin by extirpating the trusts. This Is one of Mr. Bryan's fondest Ideals, but there are few thoughtful men of broad information who agree with him. The trend of economic thought, i not only among the Social ists, but also In such men as Judge Grosscup and President Roosevelt, Is decidedly toward preserving the trusts. There is much reason to be liove that the trust idea is one of the great economic discoveries of the age. and as soon as we have learned how to make Its benefits available to the human race, instead of allowing a few individuals to grab them, we shall have taken a long step toward the so lution of problems which have hith erto baffled statesmen, philosophers and prophets alike. -Mr. Mills has something to offer here. He thinks that the way to utilize the trust idea for tho common good is for society to become a gnyeral competitor with each trust as it is formed and thus drive it out of business. - "When a mo nopoly has been formed," he says, "so ciety must either consent to-be robbed by it or provide a competitor"; and he goes on to argue that the only effi cient competitor must be society itself. This, of course, is a. fiat contradiction of Mr. Mills' own theory that all so cial betterment must be attained by the practice of the golden rule. It is fighting the devil with fire. For this kind of competition there is no better economic defense' than for any other. It would be extremely wasteful, and, what Is worse, there Is no certainty that it would succeed. The" true solution of the trust prob lem lies in the authority of society to control its creatures. The state may, and probably must, assume the same power to control, direct and use cor porations which it assumes over indi viduals. Society does not hesitate to deprive an Individual of his property, his comfort, even of life itself, when the common good seems to require it. 'Much more may it exercise this su premacy over the corporations, which are Its own creatures. Control is, of course, an attribute of ownership. Any control, no matter how slight, is to that extent an assertion of ownership. Just as the state owns, the Individual and uses him for Its own ends, so it owns the trusts. How far control, or ownership, should be carried is solely a question of expediency, but that It should be carried far enough to extir pate the evils of monopoly and dis tribute its benefits to the whole com munity -cannot be doubted. It is quite likely that we shall see control pushed farther within the next few years than even radical reformers now dream of. For example, it would not be surprising to see workmen's wages made a prior Hen on the re turns of every monopoly like the steel trust. The law , may pos sibly forbid such combinations to dismiss their hands in ' order to enhance dividends. Why not, since every argument for protective tariff may be turned logically to this result? The discourse of Mr. Mills on the value of the home is a fine piece of rhetorical work; but neither himself nor any one can devise methods or means for practical development of the ideal. It Is mere rhetoric to say that "the great Industrial forces must be so ' adjusted that no man shall be required to build a pal ace for another man until he can have a hovel of his own"; that is, that great houses shall not be built until every workman shall first have ob talned a small one of his own. Nearly all the money expended in erection of great buildings is paid .out to work men, at one stage or anjther, either in the preparation of materials or In the process of construction. It is loose thinking to imagine that work ing people would be benefited by stoppage of these undertakings, till each and all of them had homes of their own. WHERE THE RESPONSIBILITY RESTS. A Salem correspondent refers, with cordial indorsement, to an editorial, "Mothers to the Rescue," recently published in The Oregonlan, but in sists that teachers have a responsibil ity equal to that of parents in the mat ter of suppressing the Greek-letter so cieties that have sprung up in the pub lic high schools of the country to their detriment. This is true in a limited sense. It is particularly true as re gards the membership of teachers in these sororities and fraternities, which, strange as It may appear, is not un known. It must be said, however, that teachers, working as they are un der higher authority, can do little to check the growth of these secret soci eties in the schools without direct or ders from the school board. That is to say, teachers can only work along lines laid down for them, to follow, and, lacking the backing of the school boards, can do practically nothing to prevent the organization of sororities and fraternities in the schools. Once organized, all the rest the clannish ness, the promotions of dull or indo lent pupils who are. "good fellows," by the assistance of the brighter or more studious members of these soci eties, the amateur politics played by them In class elections and other student-body functions follows. These Greek-letter societies, as they are known in our secondary schools, and especially In the high schools sup ported by direct taxation of the public. are un-American and un-democrattc In their inception and practice. That they should be dislodged and their re instatement interdicted is generally conceded. That this duty is an im perative one can scarcely be doubte 1, That local boards of education have the sole and ample power to do this is not questioned. THE EVER-READY REVOLVER. Colonel William Llghtfoot Visscher, a veteran of the Civil War with some reputation as a poet, and still more as a bohemlan of the type that flourished in the old days when a man's ability to absorb whisky was not' infrequently mistaken for genius of another nature, is in jail at Omaha. Colonel Visscher shot down & policeman who was at tempting to arrest him, and It Is still a matter of. uncertainty whether the charge will be murder or assault with intent to kill. Whether the man dies or recovers will not alter ttie fact that the tragedy was iri every way needless and preventable. Colonel Visscher, when in his right mind, is a harmless gentle old man, as careless and indif ferent to anything but the pleasures ot life as a five-year-old toddler, and he is also no more fit to be trusted with a revolver than the infant would be. ' But, on account of this being a free country, and there being a profit in selling firearnss. Colonel Visscher had no difficulty in securing a weapon for which he had no mdre use than the infant would have for the death-deal ing Instrument. "When sober and sane he would not be bothered in carrying it around; when drunk he should not have had It In his possession. When ever one of these revolver tragedies occurs the authorities have no dim culty in discovering where the firearm was secured. Any man with the price of a weapon can get one, and In many places children are equally successful There were fifty-six homicides in Ore gon In 1907, and, in nearly every case, a very large percentage of the trage dies was caused by Intoxication of an gry men shooting on the spur of the moment. . The number of deaths by poison was small in comparison with the deaths by revolver, and yet we make stringent laws against the sell Ing of poison and keep the ready re volver within the reach of all, .. "'t no restrictions on its sale. The sgrrow and expense attendant on these fatalities do nt fall on the victim or the murderer, but on the bereaved families and the community It would thus seem that a law to pre vent the indiscriminate sale of fire arms to drunkards or other irresponsi ble people might meet with great fa vor. If every intending purchaser of a revolver had to present the seller with a permit from the Chief of Po lice, Sheriff or some other officer, be fore he could buy the weapon, there would be a decrease In the number of murders committed.. It would not only reduce the number of killings, but it would also deprive a large num ber of thieves and hold-up men o their most effective stock In trade. Oregon City Is rejoicing in the pros pect of the installation, in the near fu ture, of another paper mill at the falls. It will give employment to sev. era! hundred men and lead to estab lishment of many homes of industry. Any enterprise that adds to the growth and prosperity of the old pioneer city is a matter of congratulation to a much wider community than that which dwells within sound of the falls was harnessed to Ihe wheels of proudly christened "the Lowell of the Pacific" for years before even a por tion of the tremendous power of the falls was harnessed to the wheels of industry, Oregon City can enjoy no manufacturing privilege or benefit that will not give pleasure to the older Oregonians. The wild beauty of the falls of the Willamette has for some years (except In times 6f extreme high water, when Nature comes again for a brief time into possession of her own) been but a thing of memory. Senti ment yielding to the demands of prog ress has seen the mighty cataract har nessed and made subservient to the needs of civilization. The first shock of regret at the passing of a grand and beautiful scene is over. Each new en terprise that draws life and energy J from the falls Is heralded, as the ad vance guard of a multitude of homes and an assurance of the wages of la bor to maintain them. We are pained to observe that Messrs. Ross and Aitchison, of the defunct Title-Bank, do not come for ward to meet the charges against them, but avoid, by alleging that the informations are illegal, -etc., 4n that they are based on testimony collected during the legal holidays, etc. It would seem that the main question is whether the testimony on which the informations were based la true; not when it was gathered, or -whether some person was present at the time who is alleged to have had no right there. The facts, about the doings of the bank, are what the public wants. It should delight these defendants to tell about them, at the earliest possi ble opportunity, making no question about the methods of the District At torney, as to when or how he got the statements which he presents as facts. Are they facts, or not? This Is the only pertinent question. It is a real disappointment to find Mr. Ross ana his associates unwilling to answer. The ' American wheat markets slumped more than a cent yesterday, with the foreign markets closing steady. Nearly four-fifths of the world's shipments last week were sent from the United States and Canada, the foreign markets being dependent on this country for supplies to a great er extent than ever before. The mar ket has been hanging around the dol lar mark In Chicago for so long that the crop has been marketed much more freely than usual, bub at no time during the season has the pres sure to sell been sufficient to give the foreign market more than a tem porary setback. In the Pacific North west comparatively cheap freights and good prices for cargoes have resulted n local prices being maintained on a higher average level throughout the season than has been in evidence in many years. It is not to le questioned that Taft is making apparent progress towards the Republican nomination. Wherever he makes speeches he awakens inter est. He is not a word-picker or phrase-maker, but shows that he 'has clear Ideas on important questions of the time. He usually prepares his speeches in advance, but delivers them without closely following the paper, and then has his secretary give them out for publication. For this reason his speeches "read well." But he is not what men call a "magnetic ora tor." It rarely happens that one whose speeches carry substance and weight has the actor's art, or power of stage display. The" Tacoma Ledger Is now running a dally scarehead knocking' port land. In Sunday's issue it made much out of the fact that Kerr, Gifford &. Co., of this city, are sending the steamship In "ra to Tacoma, and not to Portland. As the firm operates as extensively , in Northern Pacific and Great Northern territory-as along the O. R. & N., It is a heavy shipper from Tacoma as well as Portland. If the Ledger was disposed to be fair In this matter, it would state .that the reason that the Indra was being sent to Ta coma instead of Portland was because her charterers had seven vessels In port at Portland and only two on Pu get Sound. Those citizens who- spoke dis respectfully- of the Judge who held court on a moving train in order to listen to the arguments of railroad attorneys will probably apologize when they read that the judge held court In a farm wagon In order that he might listen to the arguments of farmers who want an injunction against confiscation of Hictr property through excessive freight rates. But they haven't read of this latter inci dent yet, and are not likely to for some time to come. From its own viewpoint the tobacco trust, is probably right in fighting any propositon that will open up American markets to the Filipino tobacco-grow ers, let there are circumstances which tend to show that the Filipino may be fully as good a citizen and en titled to the same rights as are grant ed American tobacco-growers. Up to date there has been no night riding and no burning of tobacco barns in the Philippines. a We don't hear any loud demand from the attorneys for J. Thorburn Ross et al. for a speedy trial. See the extraordinary motions filed day by his able attorneys. , yester- At the present rate of gain, the re gion where, according to jealous Cali fornia, "It rains thirteen months a year," will soon be the dryest section of the United States. Note that all over the State of Washington shingle- and lumber mills have resumed work on full time. Just as if nothing had happened. Two, or three, or maybe half a dozen, night watchmen seem to be needed in the Chamber of Commerce building. Curious how thugs, garroters and burglars choose neighborhoods close to police headquarters for their opera tions. Has any one observed the least ces sation of building operations lnPort land since the scare? The Fairbanks boom seems to have been struck by a fatal blizzard. SEARCHING FOR A CANCER CURE Resalta of Experiments at the Unlver altr ot Edinburgh, Scotland. Baltimore American. During the year Just closed the medical world became interested in ihe work of Dr. John Beard of the University of Edin-burg- for the production of a cancer cure. It Is now informed of the full scope of the experiments of this scientist to eradi cate one of the most mysterious of human maladies through the published account by a ' fellow scientist, Dr.- Saleeby, of his methods and results. From the conclusions of Dr. Heard it would appear that the cancer growth creates an independent organism in the human body. Taken from its dress of technical terms and stated in the barest form. It would appear that cancer in volves the operation of the various fer ments and the chemical principle of the asymetry of the carbon atom that Is, one set of atoms rotates to tne ngnt ana another set to the left, creating different kinds of. tissues. Since the promulga tion of this theory by Pasteur in 1860 and its development by various scientists It has been held that "humanity is com posed of dextro men and dextro women" that is, the atomic arrangement in the human body is that of rotation to the right. . Dr. Beard has seemingly established as fact that the opposite action of the atoms In the human body is not only possible, but this effect lies at the base of cancer, the weakening of the pancre atic fluid and other favorable conditions of the body, causing -the peculiar action In the tissues that develops the cancer substance. The discovery of a ferment that would eat the abnormal tissues with out Impairment of the natural tissues .would be destructive to cancer. Tin strongest of the digestive fluids, trypsin, has been seized upon by the Edinburg ex perimenter as the base of his cancer remedy. The conditions require a ferment that will absolutely aosorb the one class of tissue without detriment to the other. It would r.ppear thai all remaining for the compl ite success of the line of in quiry is t-j establish the amount of doses ar.d proper methods of administration of the remedy. Humanity will be unspeak ably blessed if this most difficult of human ills has Indeed been brought to the point of eradication through the em- bryologlc studies that have been made by the expert. WAR ON STRONG DRINK IN 190T. Alcohol and Opium Under the Ban Prohibition In Sonth. New York World, '. ' The year 1907 was notable for the pro gress made intemperance,. not only in the United States, but the world around. This was the year of the Chinese im perial edict against opium. Prohibition made great strides in the South, reclaim ing the States of Georgia and Alabama and winning a hundred counties of Ken tucky. It was seriously proposed as c Presidential issue for the Democratic party. Oklahoma entered the Union with a law forbidding the manufacture and sale of intoxicants. The Incident of the sewers of Oklahoma City flushed with 2300 barrels of contraband beer was suf ficiently novel. Two of the three counties of Delaware went "dry" at the November election. The bishops' Excise law was a leading issue in- the New Jersey cam paign. Chicago added a square mile to its prohibition territory. Yesterday thousands of employes of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad "took the pledge." '1 lie consumption of strong liquors' dimin ished in Great Britain. The government of Roumania is plan ning drastic measures to check drunken ness. The new bill regulating drink in that country makes the sale of brandy and whisky a state monopoly and gives municipalities control of Saloons. Bar keepers become municipal employes. Bars are limited as to number and may not remain open on Sundays or saints' days or after 8 at night. Intoxication is pun ished by line for the first offense and by a prison term for the. second. Habitual drunkards are registered, and barkeepers selling them liquor are subject to heavy fines. As incidental to this arlft toward tem perance, interviews with Salnt-Saens, Massenet, d'Indy, Sardou and Henri Lavedan represent these French authors and composers as depreciating the use of alcohol as a mental stimulant.. Lavedan and Sardou denounce it as a poison. The precedent of Baudelaire drugging himself Into delirium at forty-six and de Musset with his "brilliant future behind him", at forty because of absinthe and alcohol apparently no longer holds In France. Grip Caret Faith and Hot-Water Ran;. Chicago Dispatch In New York World. Bishop Fallows treated the sicli In body and mind In the chapel of St. Paul's Re formed Episcopal Church. In the hour before service he applied the principles or Christian Psychology" to BO men and women whose ills ranged from dyspepsia to suicidal tendency. A young man suffering from the grip drove to tire church in a cab and asked the bishop to heal him. - "Your ailment Is functional." said the minister, "and possibly I cannot -cure It, but I can help you. Have faith and use a hot-water bag." To a woman suffering from dyspepsia he said: "Be careful of your diet. Do not overeat. Consult a physician, and be lieve in the power of God to heal you." No Gossip (ln This Kaaaas Town. Baltimore American, "ine little town oi Aierriam. In my state,' said David C. Banks of Topeka. Kan., "has entered on an experiment that students of sociology all over the land will do well to watch. "The City Council of Merriam has passed an ordinance making it a finable offence for any person of adult years to retail gossip or tittle-tattle that could be construed as reflecting In juriously on any Inhabitant of the vil lage. ' "So far as I have been able to learn nobody has been arrested as yet for talking about his neighbor, but It . I: said that already the denizens of Mer riam are cultivating a conservatism in their speech hitherto unknown." ' A Horse Bis Enough for Taft. Bloomlngton (111.) Dispatch In New York Sun. A. T. EWing.- of McDonough County, lias sold his black saddle horse to a Chi cago horse-buying firm which has been searching for a horse for Secretary of War William H. Taft. The firm has been advertising for a horse large enough to carrv a man weighing 300 pounds. Tne animal was purchased a year ago In Mis our! by Mr. Ewing. It is 6 years old. weighs 1240 pounds, stands 16' hands high and is sound in every way. The horse cost Secretary Taft J1000. Days of Land Frauds Over. La -Grande Observer. These land fraud cases may as well cease. The Supreme Court has laid down the rule that any of us can speculate on Government land without being criminals. That. Is, we may file, first and then we have 60 days in which to find a buyer who will put up all the money before we have to make final proof. There will be no further land fraud in this country and those under indictment had better be dismissed and the entire matter dropped. Church Stove Fires Celluloid Comb. Milwaukee (Wis.) Despatch. Heat from a stove in a church at Bur lington. Wis., set fire to a celluloid comb worn by Mrs. William Runsler, one of the worshipers. Strauss' New Opera, November, 194)9. ' Berlin Despatch. Richard Strauss says his new opera, "Electra." will not be produced before I November, 1909.' EXPLODING THE CORTELYOC MYTH Oat of Office, Doubtful If He Could Ind a Popular Following. Springfield Republican (Ind.) The most curious phase of the affair I may be styled the great Cortelyou i mystery. Here is a man who never ! had the least importance In American I politics until President Roosevelt had nira maac .chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1904, and In that position he was understood to be the President's personal representa tive charged with conducting the cam paign ia rigid compliance with Mr. Roosevelt's plans and desires. Before then Mr. Cortelyou had been Mr. Roose velt's clerk and private secretary and a highly efficient one. The coun try was surprised when the 'President made him a Cabinet officer in 1903, as head of the -new Department of Com merce and Labor. When Mr. Cortel you returned to the Cabinet as Post master-General, after the 1954 cam- i paign, it was supposed that Mr. Roose- I velt's accomplished agent was receiv- Ing his reward. But the country was again surprised when the President made him Secretary of the Treasury, an office in which his fitness is yet to be demonstrated.. Through all these years of Mr. Cortelyou's rise in offi cial station and party management It is superfluous to say that he has had no popular constituency and that he has always borne the character of Mr. Roosevelt's official and political crea tion. At any moment, by driving him from Federal office the President could destroy this man at his side, so far as his political potency was con cerned For, out of office, where could Mr. Cortelyou find a popular following in the remotest degree commensurate with the figure that he has made and the shadow he has cast in the National consciousness the past year? Yet we are now regaled with the story, soberly put forth by the Wash ington corps of information-seekers, that Mr. Cortelyou, like a Macchiavelli, has been plotting against Mr. Roose velt's choice for the Presidential suc cession and seeKing to gain the Presi dency of the United States for himself. This, and nothing else, we are told, was the immediate cause of the Presi dent's Wednesday night announcement. The astute Cortelyou had been over reaching his master. Suddenly the master awakes to the situation. "Aha!" he cries. The stroke falls;, and the Nation is informed that Mr. Cortelyou is "smoked out." He can no longer plot against the Secretary of War. his open-hearted colleague, and corral Southern delegates in Mr. Roosevelt's name -with the design of having them finally vote for himself in the con vention. Is it npt a situation of ex traordinary mystery and vivacity? SHOULD BE PREACHER BRYAN. Snfflclently Sound la. Religion, but Vagarious In Politics. Charleston (S. C.) News and Courier. William Jennings Bryan delivered a lec ture in Plymouth Church Brooklyn, re cently to an audience which filled the house to the doors. His subject was "The Influence of Christianity on the People of Japan, China and India." He expressed the opinion that the Christian religion has made a far deeper Impression on the heathen than Is Indicated by the number of . converts the missionaries have been able to make. He was led to this view by the far-reaching effect this religion has had in America beyond -the boun daries of church membership. Exactly how, he did not say, and we do not know; but it is a pity that he did not show how our Christian civilization has Impressed the people of the Philippines where it has had free course since the American occu pation. It would probably be difficult to explain to our benighted subjects In the Far East tho special advantages of Christianity as compared with Mahomet- anism and the kindly creed of Buddha; but that Is another matter. We hope that the people of Brooklyn will not judge Mr. Bryan's religion by Mr. Bryan's politics. He is as sound as the Trust Company of America in mat ters of faith, and as little to be depended upon as copper stocks in questions of politics. There has been a great deal of discussion as to what shall be done with our ex-Bresidents, and it would be well to consider what shall be done with our candidates for President. Why not make a preacher out of Mr. Bryan? Our Foreign-Born Legislator;. Washington (D. C.) Herald. Of the 46 states In these United States, only six send delegations composed entire ly of native born citizens of -the states they represent. The states so distin guished are Louisiana, Maine, Maryland. South Carolina,' Vermont and Virginia. Three states of the Union are represented in the legislative branch of the Govern ment by 121 native sons. Of these 43 were born in NeW York, and 39 in Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. Thirteen of the 43 claiming New York as their birthplace, now represent other states In Congress; 11 of Pennsylvania's 39 hall from other Btates, while Ohio, the banner state In this regard, has given to the state, at large 17 of her native sons. Of the 147 Senators and Representatives from the Southern states, only six were born north bf the Mason and Dixon line; one in the District of Columbia, one in Iowa, one in Canada, and three in Ohio. Fourteen members .of. the House are foreign born, Cochran and McMillan, of New York. In Ireland; MoKinlay, of Cali fornia; Campbell, of Kansas, and Hughes, of West Virginia, in Canada; Kalin of California. Bartholdt of Missouri, and Kustermann of Wisconsin, in England; McLaehlan, of California, and Wilson, of Pennsylvania. lit Scotland: Sabath. of Illinois, In Bohemia, and Linbergh, of Min nesota, in'.Sweden. "No Divorce" Is His Flntform. Pit-tsburg Dispatch in New York World. With "no divorces, no affinities" as his platform, Robert E. Heath of this city Is to receive a Republican nomination for the Legislature 'in the Twelfth district, which is Republican and largely com posed of workingmen. Several trades unions are behind Heath, and the farmers in the country districts are also supporting him. The many re cent instances of wealthy Pittsburgers of humble origin who put away the wives of their early days through the lax di vorce laws of Pennsylvania Inspiied the novel political platform. "If I am elected, there will be Jiew di vorce laws in this state.' says Heath. "This indiscriminate putting away of a wife simply because she is not so hand some perhaps as some new affinity must be stopped. It has come to pass where it requires no more thought or trouble to get rid of a wife and take on a new one than It requires to make a, horse trade. It has come to be a disgrace to the state." Sonnet. (On a youth who died from a surfeit of fruit. Currants have checked the current of my blood. And berries brought me to be buried here : Pears have pared off my body's hardi hood. And plums and plumbers spare not one so spare: Fain would I feign my fall; so fair a fare Lessons not fate, but 'tis a lesson good: Gilt will not long hide guilt; such thin washed ware Wears quickly, and Its rude touch soon is rued. Grave on my- grave some sentence grave and terse, . That lies not. as It lies upon my clay; But, in a gentle strain of unstrained verse. Prays all to pity a poor patty's prey; Rehearses I was fruit-full to my hearse, Tells that my days are told, and soon I'm toll'd away! ONE THING AND ANOTHER it 18 well to remember that the days of the applc tree are not so ITmny-loss . pnHtinn , , anr, , t3 down: but the English walnut will bear for 300 years, more and better as time goes on If all delinquent subscribers of the Ore gon country press were to pay up this week, what a joyous experience meeting the association could hold. A cold spell Is due and coming to put a stop to the stories of raspberries and strawberries In January. This is not a tropical region. Very little dust moving, say the real estate men. Just wait till the March winds come. . The fireworks are due some months ahead of the Fourth. . When the campaign opens the new chairman of the Multnomah Republicans will belie his name. . . . The matter of small pay for the en listed man will he settled when war be gins. Patriotism has no money price. When Mount Hood looks clear and cold the plumber assembles his kit. i Somehow the Idea of "the office seek ing the man" reminds one of a row of girls In an intelligence office. m Visscher got vicious in Omaha. If the moon swore off New Year's she Is' forgetting it, for she is due to be full In a few days. The druggists, like the unions, will not stand for the "open" apothecary shop. How many people are saving clearing house certificates for curios? They make the matches In Springfield but have to cross the river to Eugene for divorces. A Hood River man has gone Into Mon tana to sell apple land by sample. It is hard to "beat those boosters. HOW A SEAGULL OPENED A CLAM Mr. Klnley Tel In a Remarkable Inci dent Which He Saja He Saw. Tacoma Ledger. Of the sea Diras aiscussea oy w. Finley, lecturer for the Audubon society. in the assembly-room of the Tacoma High School this week, the seagull is the one of which most of us have knowledge. The seagull is at home in our harbor and Is a companion of the ships that come and go. Mr. Finley bespoke for the seagull the protection which the- law of this state seeks to provide. The bird Is a great scavenger and is thus an aid to the health officers of a city. Mr. Finley did not say In so many words that the seagull reasons, but he related an Incident pointing to the pos session of that mental faculty.. He saw a seagull pick up a clam one day on the Pacific beach. The bill of the gull was not strong enough to crush the shell and get the edible part out. Did the gull give it up' as a bad Job? Not a bit of it. The gull took the clam In his bill and, "after ascending in the air some distance, let the clam drop. Then the bird descended, but finding the clam shell still tightly closed, picked It up and re peated the dropping process. This was repeated 15 times, Mr. Finley said, until at last the clam chanced to fall on - a rock and break, whereupon the seagull enjoyed the reward of Industry and in telligence. A great deal has been said about nature-faking since President Roosevelt criticized Dr. Long, and It has become the fashion to refer to such an Incident as Mr. Finley described as a nature fake. There is no reason whatever to doubt that Mr. Finley observed just what he described. "Women's Mi In en Are Restored. New York World. . By an order of Commissioner Bcnsel, "women's shines" are in order again on the Staten Island ferry-boats. Several weeks ago a committee of com muters, whose sensibilities could not bear the shock of silk hosiery and shapely ankles on daily display In the upper sa loon while women's shoes were being shined, waited on Mr". Bensel and asked that he confine the . hootblacks on the boats to the smoking cabins. Mr. Bensel did so, but rescinded his or der when a fair passenger showed him an invention which went into use yesterday. petticoats to boot tops in such .a way that the most hopeful rubberneck In' the world may as well return to the smoking cabin. Millionaire Captures School nia'nm. K'ew Vnrb tVorl1 . Informal announcement has been, made by the friends of the couple that Georjre. E. Slerry, .the millionaire coal operator, drug manufacturer and prominent Pres byterian, arid Miss Rebecca Blalkie, a are engaged to be married. Mr. Sterry is about 72 years young, end Miss Blalkie about 40 years younger. The couple have known each other a long time. Mr. Sterry is a widower, and his wealth runs up into millions. .Miss Blaikie Is a tall, stately brunette, has vivacious black eyes and a charming personality. The Hero. Gresham Herald. It takes a real man, a manly man, an unselfish man, a brave man to denounce evil and evildoers, because Just as sure as he. does so his reputation is sure to be assailed; he is sure to be lied about, frowned upon, sneered and scoffed at, bemeaned and besmirched upon every possible occasion, and of course It taes amoral coward to do that and a hero to .withstand it. On Wager, Eals Two Ounces Pepper. Baltimore Despatch. Irvinl H. Whaley. of Oalestown. Md.', ate two ounces of black pepper on a wager, but the services of a physician were needed immediately. Antlqoated. Naehville American. Cupid sauntered forth one day With hi bow and arrow, ThruuKh the sunny boulevard. Through the valleys narrow. Though among the rich and poor Patiently he hunted Every arrow that he shot Fell back dead and blunted. Every man who r-assed along Eyed him with siMpiclon Or perhaps scoffed openly At his tender mission: E-ery youth that Cupid thought Ready to be mated Turned his arrow like a ehlp Htaunch nd armor-plated. Little maiae In peekaboos For his dart semed ready. But he -ouldnt bring them down. Though hl aim was steady. With a laugh they ran away While he was pursuing. Crying. "Show hl bank account Or it's nothing doing." Cupid sighed: "Alas,-1 fear. I have missed my calling! Though I draw a skillful bow. Few. Indeed are falling. Nowadays the boys and girls Do uot feel thle trifle. If I'd bring the moderns down, a must get a rifle."