Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, March 25, 1908, Page 8, Image 8

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THE MORXIXG'" O It EGOX TAX, WEIjXESnAY, MARCH 25, 1908.
2Sj (Bn$mnmx
.
SLUSCRJPTIOX KATES.
INVARIABLY IN ADVANCIL
(By UalL)
fJaily. Sunday included nm vMr. . . . .8 00
Ually. fcundar included, six months.... I-
ally, Sunday Included. three months.. 2.tt
Iallr. Sunday Included, on month. -To
Dally, without Sunday, ona year J 0
l'tily. without Sunday, six months S-o
xally. without Sunday, thres months.. 1-75
bally, without Sunday, ona month J
Funday, ona year J JX
weekly, ona year (Issued Thuraday)-.. J-J
Sunday and weekly, cno year - -
BI CAKKltB.
Dally. Sunday Included, one year 92
tally. Sunday Included, one month
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rOBTLANO, WEDNF.DAY. MAR. 2S. 1808
ROME IJWSO.NS FROM HISTORY.
In medieval times the church ex
lited much hostility by acquiring land
whenever It could and never parting
with an acre. Everybody could fore
, gee the ultimate result. The day would
come when the church would own all
the land in Christendom. An institu-
. j ion which constantly receives and
; never gives wilt necessarily end by
i owning everything, no matter how
low the' rate of acquisition may be.
There are observers who think they
discern a somewhat slmilor process In
operation with our Supreme Court.
, This tribunal, they say, is acquiring
not property, but power, and since
1 what It once gains it never gives up,
they predict that the Supreme Court
i of the United States will end by blos
; (oming out Into an oligarchy, not un
j like the celebrated Council of Ten at
' ' Venice, possessing absolute dominion
' over the legislative and executive de-
partments of the Government,
i What gives the Supreme Court Its
- fatal advantage is the guardianship of
the sacred writings. Readers will re
call many cases in history of priestly
hierarchies which became rulers over
Kings and Senates through their con
trol of some oracle or sacred volume.
' Being in a position to make the oracle
say whatever they chose or to inter
( pret the Bacred volume as they saw fit,
of course there was no limit to their
' power until -the faith upon which it
j rested began to decay. For many cen
turies the priests at Delphi were able
to dominate the policy of Greece by
their control of the oracle of Apollo at
: that place. All the Greeks believed
that the god spoke his will through
the mouth of the Pythoness, a half
sane woman who sat on a tripod In
the temple and answered questions.
Usually her answers were susceptible
of two opposite meanings, but some
times they were clear enough and this
was always the case when any policy
which the priests preferred was at
stake.
The priesthood at Rome had no ora
cle at their command as potent as
-Apollo's at Delphi, but they had the
Sibylline books and they conducted
the sacrifices of animals, both revered
sources of divine prediction. These
privileges gave them great power In
the state. The Jewish priesthood for
a long time dominated their nation
by keeping the sacred books in their
hands and permitting nobody else to
Interpret them. Those books' con
tained the supreme law of the Hebrew
people, and the priests c'uuld make it
read as they liked. Hence they were
lawgivers. Judges and executives all In
one. The priests of the medieval
Christian church acted wisely from
their own point of view in keeping
the Scriptures away from the massea
As long as the people accepted the
Bible for the word of God and took
ihe priests' version of It without ques
tion, there were no real limits to the
ecclesiastical power.
It will be seen, therefore, that the
exclusive control of an oracle or sa
cred book clothes its possessors with
a. power . which may easily become
overweening and dangerous. The
Constitution of the United States Is
not believed to be an inspired docu
ment In quite the same way as Jews
nd Christians accepted their Scrip
tures, but still It is highly revered and
the Supreme Court Is the only body In
the country which is authorized in the
last resort to say what it moans. By
virtue of this authority the court can
annul any law of Congress or the
states by eimply holding that It is con
trary to t'.ie Constitution, just as the
priests at Delphi could nullify any
Greek law by saying that it violated
the oracle of Apollo. It can also
. forbid any executive act it does not
approve by the same method. No in
junction against the President has yet
been emitted by the Supreme Court,
but at the present rate of development
of this last and highest power -in our
Government it would be extremely un
safe'to say that .none will ever be is
sued. .
In the Minnesota and 'North Card
Una cases, just finally decided, an in
ferior Federal Court enjoined all the
officers of these states from enforcing
laws properly . passed by the Legisla
tures. The sole ground for the prohi
bition was that the statutes were- un
constitutional, inasmuch as they would
work confiscation . of property. The
courts, did not deem It necessary to
wait and find out by experience
whether or not the statutes actually
did confiscate anything. It was suffi
cient that they might possibly do it.
The Supreme Court now upholds the
ruling of the lower courts. It has also
repeatedly annulled laws of Congress
on the ground of unconstitutionality.
Of course U follows Immediately that
the Supreme Ceurt may enjoin all the
officers of the United States, Including
the President, from enforcing a law
which It does not approve. It follows
also that both the other departments
of the Federal Government are subor
dinate to- the Judiciary. The exclusive
authority to interpret, the sacred bo.oks
may possibly work out in our polity,
therefore, much as it has in other
cases. Certainly " we have . already
made a fine start on that ancient and
well-traveled road, but something
may perhaps intervene to save us from
the tyranny of a judicial oligarchy. If
we must have tyrants, soldiers would
be better than judges.
The idea of controlling the Legisla
ture through the judiciary has. been a
development or evolution. Ilk so
many more of the features of our Gov
ernment. The colonists received their
legal system from the mother coun
try, and with It the same general ideas
of the powers and duties . of the
courts. .But the change In the form
of government from a monarchy to a
republic rendered necessary a change
in theory as to location of sovereignty.
By a fiction the judiciary, in our sys
tem, was made a co-ordinate depart
ment of government, while retaining
the judicial power that belonged to it
in England and the colonies. Never
theless, the Judiciary in practice often
becomes more than a co-ordinate
branch. As the final interpreter of
the law it -frequently comes near to
making the law and being the govern
ing power of the country.
This has been complained of, re
peatedly, during the course of our Na
tional history. The Supreme Court it
self has frequently shown a sensitive
ness to the criticism. The Legisla
ture, it has admitted, must be pre
sumed to have acted with integrity,
and so acting, deliberately to have
solved its own doubts, if it had any, in
favor of the constitutionality of the
act. "We are not at liberty," said
Chief Justice Chase, in a celebrated
case, "to inquire into the motives of
the Legislature. We can only exam
ine into its power under the Consti
tution." But in the present case it
assumes that the sufficiency of rail
road rates and' penalties for violation
thereof, fixed by law, are questions for
the courts, not for the Legislature, to
decided-stretching the right of inter
pretation to. the limit. The Judiciary
surely cannot know better than the
Legislature whether rates are confisca
tory or not; and all such questions in
any event must be left at last for so
lution to the intelligence of the peo
ple and to their sense of justice, di
rected by knowledge and corrected by
experience. It can hardly be supposed
that judges on the bench, who tan
have no practical knowledge of such a
subject, are fittest to render ultimate
decisions upon it.
RAILROAD TRAFFIC IS HEAVY.
The reassuring statement of Inter
state Commerce Commissioner Lane
that the decrease of earnings on
American railroads had been much
smaller since the panic of last Fall
than w;as generally supposed will come
as a pleasant surprise to many who
have laid too much stress on the
gloomy pictures painted oy railroad
men. In summing up the situation
Mr. Lane says:
There are no doubt individual instances in
which the revenues of roads have seriously
decllned during the past three months' over
corresponding periods for several yeara past:
hut' there are also Individual Instances in
which, singular to say. the last three months
have been a good aa any corresponding three
months In other years, and in one case, the
Oregon Railroad A- Navigation Company, the
commission haa been officially Informed that
the past three months have been the best In
th road's entire history.
This statement will prove particu
larly gratifying to the people of Ore
gon not because they have any hope
that these remarkable earnings dur
ing a period of general stagnation
elsewhere will be spent in giving us
the long-overdue and badly needed
transportation facilities to neglected
portions of the state, but because they
advertise to the world that we are liv
ing in a region where the effects of
the Wall-street financial cataclysm
were felt less than at any other point
in the United States. The figures of
Mr. Lane for the entire year show a
gain in net earnings in 1907 over those
of 1906 of nearly $14,000,000. The
Commissioner's deduction from these
figures, which cover all of the big
railroads in the United States, is that
the panic, "so far aa it affected the
railroads, extended but slightly beyond
Chicago toward the West," and that
"if we take the transcontinental roads
reaching to the Pacific Coast. we find
that every one of them increased Its
gross operating revenues during the
last half of the year 1907."
Viewed as a whole, the interesting
figures of the Commission might be
said to reflect a decline from abnormal
to normal conditions rather than from
good to bad, for the experience of
every railroad operative and shipper
in the country will prove that the
chaotic conditions which attended the
avalanche of business that over
whelmed the roads in the early months
of 1907 were abnormal In the ex
treme. There were not enough cars
and locomotives to move the freight,
and not enough tracks and sidings to
handle the cars and locomotives that
were in use. Labor was scarce, and
independent, and every factor in the
business was working in an unnatural
and abnormal manner, which, of
course, increased the cost of service
without accomplishing results de
manded by the dissatisfied shippers.
The railroads, like every other tine
of business In the country, were "go
ing too fast" in an effort to keep up
with the procession, and in the long
run it will undoubtedly prove of ad
vantage to them, as well as others,
that the halt was called and an op
portunity afforded to catch up with
the business and get back to an eco
nomical working basis. That the
Western roads have held their own
throughout the trying period of fail
ing banks and demoralized business is
highly complimentary to the region
from which they secure their reve
DIVERSIFIED FARMING.
A contributor whose letter is printed
today is at great pains to refute some
thing which The Oregonian has never
said. He quotes this paper as advis
ing the Willamette Valley farmers "to
do some one thing." Of this, absurd
ity we are not guilty. Mr. Yoder spoils
our good advice and makes it bad ad
vice by omitting, carelessly or inten
tionally, a single small but important
word. The Oregonian advised the
farmers "each to do some one thing
and do it well." That Is very differ
ent, is it not, from urging them all to
do the same thing?
They would follow our counsel if
one man raised apples, another pigs,
and a third went into dairying, pro
vided each specialized in his own field.
The Oregonian has always preached
diversified farming for the Willamette
Valley and still does so; but the di
versity should be obtained not by each
man trying to raise everything, but by
every man trying to raise what he can
produce to best advantage. Mr. To
dor's example of. hspgrowing Ui well
chosen to topple- over his man of
straw, but it has not the slightest bear
ing on The Oregonlan's position. The
world's demand for hops is extremely
limited. The market for them is dan
gerously speculative and can be over
stocked easily. -When we counsel
farmers to specialize we do not mean
to urge all of them to specialize on a
crop which is unsalable in some years
and risky in all years. A few Oregon
farmers can do well raising hops tak
ing good and bad years together, but
it many go into. the business all must
suffer. . . :
But there Is no danger-whatever of
glutting the market for. apples, dairy
products, pork, poultry or small fruit.
The world demands more of these
things than are likely to be produced
for many decades to come. It is en
tirely safe to specialize upon any of
them. The man who applies skill, sci
ence and experience in any of these
directions is reasonably sure of an
abundant reward. Diversified farm
ing is what the country needs, but no
one farmer should try to do the di
versifying. The rule for success here'
as everywhere else Is intelligent, con
centrated effort. The diversity must
be introduced by the various tastes
and abilities of different men. Mr. To
der's general idea of varied industry is
correct, but his method of putting It in
practice would prove disastrous in the
future, as it always has in the past.
WHISRT-PELLER8 ANT LAWGIVERS.
It 'is but Just that minors who have
attained the stature and appearance
of young men of 21 years of age, but
who are, in fact, from one to three
years younger, should share with the
saioon-Keeper, whom they deliberately
deceive regarding their age in order to
get drink which is forbidden tn ml.
nors, the penalty for violated law.
Moreover, it is a good thing for the
yourjg man himself to be caught and
punished for this turpitude, since the
process Is likely to take some of the
conceit Out of him. There is danger,
however, that the ordinance that has
been prepared by a committee of li
quor dealers for this purpose goes too
iar. indeed it is said that the ordi
nance, which will be submitted to the
Council todav. -virtnallv nmlnt. ma.
loon-keepers in all cases where liquor
is given or sola to minors. This the
public will not tolerate nor the state
law, which is superior to munlclnnl
law, permit except upon the interpre
tation or. tne criminal lawyer, who is
always on hand at the behest of the
lawbreaker, to turn the law asirln
from its legitimate intent.
For reasons that are ohvlnnn iha
Liquor Dealers' Protective Association
is not tne body to frame an ordinance
of this character, and the Council
should not seriously consider a meas
ure thus framed. That the retail li
quor dealers are highly pleased with
the proposed ordinance, declaring it
to be just such a law as they have
long desired, is sufficient reason for
its rejection.
HOMEBCTLDIKG AND ITS INSURANCE.
The suburbs of Portland, well served
as they are by electric railway lines,
furnish wide opportunities for the
homebuilder. -There are suburbs well
within the city limits' that invite the
mechanic or the laborer of small
means, with a wife who is a helpmeet
in the good, old-fashioned meaning of
that term, and with a family of boys
and girl, to build a "home of his own"
at small cost and in convenient prox
imity to a school the facilities of
which are equal to any in the dis
trict. There are other additions to the
widely expanded original plat of the
city that are guarded by building re
strictions which give assurance of sus
tained beauty in their surroundings
that are enticing to those who have
already many their way in the world,
so to speak, and can afford to put
money in a home without computing it
as an Investment in a financial sense.
Finally, there are country places within
the radius of a few miles that Invite to
the cultivation of small fruits and
family gardens and to poultry-raising,
while everywhere except in the busi
ness sections of the 'city roses grow
and bloom in profusion three-fourths
of the ordinary year.
Ownership of the home is the corner-stone
of patriotism, the incentive
to thrift, the surety of good citizen
ship. The anarchist never makes a
proselyte of a man who spends his
spare time in his garden or in efforts
to improve and beautify his home. As
the small farm, well tilled, is the safe
guard of agricultural prosperity, so
the suburban home, beautified and im
proved by care, labor and time, is the
safeguard of industrial prosperity.
The state that is making steady gains
along these lines is increasing in a le
gitimate and substantial way both the
individual and sum total of its insur
ance against disaster from sudden
panic in the financial and prolonged
depression in the industrial world.
The insurance fund of prosperity in
Oregon Is growing along both of these
lines In a degree heretofore unknown
tn the history of the state.
A hnv rmshnnrl a r-li!M vifA nr. A
their not more helpless baby of a few
months are in trouble in this city.
That is to say, the first-named factor
in this trianarle of human hlnl0KcnM
is in trouble and the others naturally
tan into line, rue boy or is with a
wife 'of lfi and their Vinhv wi r
from home and mother. That ts to
say. they were over in Aberdeen and
mother was in Portland. Being in
straits, they wanted to come home.
They had no money and could not
walk. The boy forged a check lor
S20 and -in due time the helpless trio
was housed under the maternal roof.
Not safely, however, as the sequel
proved. The boy was easily traced to
his retreat, arrested and taken back
to Aberdeen. It may be hoped that
the judge before whom he is haled
will regard the boy's desire to seek
home and mother at any cost in the
circumstances, as natural rather than
perverse, and let him off with a nomi
nal sentence. The case is one wherein
crime trod upon the heels of folly
the latter being of an honorable and
in a sense excusable nature. The
youth's desire to found a home and
family outran his ability in this di
rection a point at which older men
than he have often met defeat,
The bridges which will admit the
new North Bank road to Portland are
nearing completion, and the road will
shortly be in a position to haul wheat
into Portland. Before much of this
wheat from the new fields opened up
by the North Bank road will come to
Portland, however, it will be necessary
to equalize the present differential on
labor. Exporters can, on request, have
this wheat delivered at Tacoma or Se
attle at exactly the same rate charged
tp Portland. At present grainhandlers
wages are 10 cents per hour higher
in Portland than on Puget Sound. The
Chamber of Commerce and the rail
roads have spent considerable money
in abolishing a freight differential on
ships, but the existing labor differen
tial, if it is not removed before the
North Bank bridges are completed,
will divert more wheat to Puget Sound
than was ever diverted there by the
shipping differential. 'The matter is
one which is certain to have a most
Important bearing on the future of the
port. We cannot expect shippers to
do business here if we place a 25 per
cent handicap on them in labor alone.
Major Wise points with pardonable
pride to the fact that Astoria has been
a distinct gainer from a financial as
well as a moral standpoint by suppres
sion of gambling and dancehalls. In
an interview in yesterday's Oregonian
he said that the city is in a more pros
perous condition today than ever be
fore. While the city by the sea la not
the only municipality that has demon
strated that good morals are profita
ble, the effect of the change from the
old order is particularly noticeable in
the city by the sea. where there has
never been any surplus of labor seek
ing honest employment. Kvery gam
bler and dancehall hanger-on that
under the new order is forced to work
for a living not only contributes to
the general good of the city by his la
bor, but he also improves the eco
nomic system by removing temptation
from those who formerly wasted their
earnings over the green cloth or in he
dancehalls.
W. H. Barker, manager of the Brit
ish Columbia Packers' Association,
says that the Fraser River salmon
fisheries have been exhausted by con
stant fishing to such an extent that the
supply available the coming, season
will only, offer employment for two
out of the fifteen canneries owned by
his company. This unpleasant condi
tion of affairs Is a most effective ar-i
gument in favor of International regu
lation of fisheries on streams which
discharge on the borders of the two
countries. There has never been much
that resembled co-operation on fishery
matters between the American Gov
ernment and Canada. As a result, the
American fishermen put forth their
best efforts to get everything possible
out ot the stream and the Canadians
did likewise. Between them the fish
ery goose which laid so many golden
eggs seems to be In the last stages of
dissolution.
Students of the University of Ore
gon in past years who knew the cheer
of the home and sympathy of Mrs. J.
S. Luckey will hear with sorrow of the
death of this estimable woman at her
home in Eugene. Mrs. Luckey was
without children of her own, but the
quality of her womanhood was proven
in the abiding interest which she held
in young people, and especially In boys
away from home. Six stalwart sons
of the university, who are among the
many students, past and present, who
knew and loved her, acted as pall
bearers at her funeral and shared' the
sorrow of the community in which al
most her entire life was spent, at her
passing.
It would create an Interesting situa
tion in our politics if the Republican
candidate for the United States Sen
ate should obtain a plurality of the
popular vote in June, and the Demo
crats should have the luck to get a
majority in the Legislature which
might come about through Republican
dissensions and various local causes.
Then we should have a test of the
virtues and merits of Statement No. 1.
Multnomah County Is to elect
eighteen members of the Legislature
Senators and Representatives. For
these positions there will be fifty to
sixty candidates ton various Republi
can tickets In the primary. Eighteen
will be nominated, by small and
straggling pluralities. Then the effort
of all the rest and most of their
friends will naturally' be pooled to
beat them in the election.
The world ought to know why earn
ings of the O. R. & N. Co. the past
three months are the largest in Its his
tory. Wheat heaviest crop ever
raised in the Columbia River basin.
And most of it was marketed at Port
land. Stili another interesting situation
would be the popular vote for Cham
berlain for Senator and a Republican
Legislature committed to vote for
him. t In several directions there may
be fim ahead.
All hopgrowers agree that one-third
of the hops should be plowed up, but
each grower seems to be waiting for
his neighbor to do the plowing. We
shall likely have as big a crop in 1908
as in 1907.
- Mr. Johnson, of Minnesota, is mod
est about it. He is in the race for the
Presidency, but he admits that he
Isn't in very deep.
For further particulars, address
Walter Wellman, press agent for Ton
Tonson. - '
Mr. ITRen has carried the waV into
E Astern O'Regon. - '
DASGEBS OP SMOKELESS POWDER
Army Officers Say Tsey Dost Peel
Secure la Ftandllsa; It.
From Washington (D. C.) Letter to the
Brooklyn Eagle.
Army officers have no great sense of
security in handling smokeless powder.
While they do not fear the kind of ex
plosions which occurred on the Missouri
and other American warships, they are In
more -or less terror because of the con
stant danger of an explosion or other un
looked for happening with this treacher
ous material.
General Crozier explained to the mem
bers of the House committee on appropri
ations the other day that he is conduct
ing an inquiry in the hope of learning
something definite about the characteris
tics of smokeless powder, in order to
lessen the danger from its use. He pointed
out that the naval explosions were due
to flarebacks. and said fhat the chief
trouble he has experienced to date has
been caused by deterioration in powder.
"Old powder." he said, "is no more sub
ject to that than new powder; but there
have been accidents, notably two on for
eign vessels, which have not been ex
plained on ony other theory than the
deterioration of the powder. One was she
accident to the Japanese battleship
Mikasa, which was sunk in a Japanese
harbor within a year or two, and the
other with reference to the French bat
tleship Jena, which was blown up In dry
dock within a couple of years. There Is
no direct evidence that the powder in
either of those shfps had deteriorated,
and we have not been able to get any
direct evidence that the powder as we
make It does deteriorate, but there is a
suspicion resulting frorr those ships. That
has had an effect upon the method by
which we should contemplate the procure
ment of powder for war purposes:
whether we should manufacture it In
time of peace In large quantities and store
It for time of war. thus, perhaps, keep
ing it a long time, the time only being
shortened by the process of taking the
oldest powder for target practice, or
whether we should Increase the manu
facturing capacity and have a less re
serve and rely on producing it more rap
Idly in time of war. That would raise the
question of increasing tne manufacturing
capacity, snd as to whether such Increase
should be In the Government's or the pri
vate manufacturers' capacity."
INSISTS ON DIVERSIFIED CROPS.
Willamette Taller Farmer Shies at
"Apples Only" Propoattloa.
HUBBARD, Or., March 23. (To the Ed
itor.) I have been a reader of The
Oregonian for 30 years and s always
thought well of Its editorials, but I con
fess I find it difficult to agree with the
editorial in last Sunday's Issue, headed,
"The Unhappy Mossback," and to recon
cile it with The Oregonian's former teach
ing. For, were not The Oregonlan's pages
heretofore bristling with articles on di
versified farming and cautioning farmers
against carrying "all their eggs to mar
ket in one basket?"
How, then, shall we construe the
above with: "If the Willamette Valley
farmers will resolve to do some one
thing and do it admirably, that product
will enable them to buy everything else
they need?" We need only look about
us to see the- fallacy of following such
advice for we see any number of hop
growing farmers racing up and down the
land to gather in provisions for their
families or feed for their stock. Some are
even going to the limit, grubbing to pay
for the wood burned In drying their crop,
and haven't the experiment stations of
both Oregon and Washington been teach
ing "time upon time and precept upon
precept, that diversified farming is what
the country needs?" I, for one, agree with
them. i
As to -Mr. Davis' plea for wormy apples,
I don't want any of them and I agree
with The Oregonian that such aggrega
tions as his orchard (?) seems to be, are
a menace to better fruit. I have sprayed
my orchard each season, for the past
12 years, with varied success, but with
better results as the years went by.
Should the fruit inspector ever come into
this communjty, we would welcome him
gladly and if he could tell us anything
new. we would be glad to have him do so.
Apple-raising may be well enough for
Hood River, where apples seem to thrive
better than any other crop. But to make
a specialty of one crop only In this part
of the Garden of Eden siever! -
J. S. YODER.
Combinadoa
of Socialism.
New Tork Evening Post.
In general we note a growing solidarity
between the uppermost and the lower
most classes, as against, the patient and
undistinguished middle classes. We sel
dom hear of a Countess or Duchess
driven by disgust with her own caste Into
Joining the middle classes. Site always
becomes a Socialist. On the contrary, we
never hear of a Gorky or a Jack London
rising from among the submerged mil
lions to become a staid bourgeois. They
always adopt the manner of life of
Counts and Dukes including their palaces,
their yachts, and their need of large reti
nues. Such sympathy between the upper
and lower layers of society may possibly
be explained on the analogy of the Irish
man who built his fence wider than he
made it high. In case the wind blew it
over it would be higher than ever. So
a Socialist Duke, after a social revolu
tion, might still be a very conspicuous
person.
New Ships One Thonsand Feet Ixng.
Belfast Cable Dispatch in New York
World.
Harland & Wolff are building new slips
here to enable the construction of vessels
1000 feet long, preparatory to laying the
keel a year hence of a mammoth steam
ship for the White Star Company for the
Southampton-New York trade.
The new ship to be built at the Belfast
yards will be 1000 feet long over all, or
about 210 feet longer than the Lusitania
and the Mauretania, now the biggest
type of vessel afloat, and probably of
15.000 or 20.000 tons more registered ton
nage. According to Lloyd's, which gives only
the length between perpendiculars, the
Lusitania and the Mauretania are each
760 feet long. The Adriatic is 709 feet 2
Inches long. The new ship will. It is ex
pected, be ready in 1910. -
Robins Killed for Food In the Sontb.
Leslie's Weekly.
A million robins were killed in Louisi
ana during the Winter of 1907-8. the of
fenders being men and boys who shot
them for food. While they are protected
as song-birds in Northern States, it is a
common Southern practice to shoot them
for the table, and In some states the
hunters kill them In great numbers at
their roosting places. A Government ex
pert suggests that the eastward move
ment of the boll weevil has been facili
tated by the killing of robins. If that
is shown to be so, the cotton-growers
will not receive much sympathy from the
members of the Audubon societies.
I.sst of the Jelly .-
Detroit Free Press,
'lis the last Jar of Jelly
Left standing alone:
All Its Juicy companions
Forever have flown.
Crabapple and strawberry.
Raspberry, too.
We have eaten. I wonder
What now shall ws do?
Gone is the pineapple.
Put up with ctre:
All the shelves In the cellar
Are lonely and bare.
Ws hav eaten our way
Two hundred jars through;
Tls the last of the Jelly
O, what shall ws do?
Gone ara the nlckles.
The catsup aa well;
The Winter's not over.
And gone Is the Jell:
Tis the last Jar of Jelly;
Oar feasting o'er;
Enter aniline dyes
Vrom the grocery store.
MUST BE TRIE TO ITS FLEDGES.
Swobs' Dsctrlm Esaadsti By Gov
ern or- HBare.es.
From His Address to the New York City
West Side Republican Club.
We are all anxious that in the state
and Nation the Republican party should
be successful. So far as I am concerned,
as I have repeatedly said, I am desirous
only that the party shall express Its free
will and shall do what seems to it best.
But, my friends, if the Republican party,
&e a National party, is to have the suc
cess It desires and which it deserves, the
Republican party as a state party must
justify the confidence of the people of
this commonwealth; and I am most de
sirous that at thle time the representa
tives of the Republican party shall by
their conduct show to the people of this
state that Just progress may be in
trusted to their hands, and that the
measures which are approved by the
electorate ehall be carried into effect by
those who profess to have them.
I do not profess to approve of the idea
that because this Is a Presidential year it
is a time for inaction: because it is a
Presidential year It is a time for the
Republican party to show that the faith
of the people may be reposed In that
party. I have made a recommendation
with regard to the abolition of gambling
at the race-track. I am very glad to
believe t,ht the recommendation will be
acted upon. What a thing it would be
for the Republican party if they failed
the party of moral Ideals, the party that
came Into being because they espoused a
noDie cause think of a party ot that
sort sustaining the pretenses of gamblers
and those who profit by gambling
privileges and nullify the constitution of
the sta:e. My friends, the Republican
party could not stand under It. It cannot
bear a load of that kind.
What a scandal the method of admin
istrating the liquidation of failed banks
has been In this state! What fees have
piled, on fees and expenses grown, sim
ply to fatten patronage! My friends, this
Is a business community, and we must
have a scheme provided for a sensible
and economic administration of such
banks and trust companies as under
stress may prove unfortunate.
The' principles of government are so
simple and the things upon which we
should place confidence are so axiomatic
that if when you go upon the stump In
order to elect a candidate for office you
announce certain principles all you have
got to do Is to carry those principles
into effect after election and your party
will become invincible. We have no lack
of professions. There is no want of
splendid propositions in platforms: thpre
is very little to divide one American cltl
zen from another in his intelligent de
sire for competent administration; the
question Is. whether you will be true to
what you profess or whether you will
endeatwir by subterfuge to cheat the peo
ple. The Republican party can never
profit in that way.
PANAMA CANAL SURE TO PAY.
Not a Question at First of Dollars,
But of National Policy.
New York Sun, Democrat.
Will the Panama Canal pay?
It. will. We are as far from agreement
with Johp, F. Stevens' gloomy prophecy
of the centain financial failure of the
Panama Canal as we are from agreement
with John Barrett's radiant prediction of
Its financial success.
The value of tfie Panama Canal is not
determinable by debit entries of cost of
construction, 'maintenance and operation
and credit entries of toll charges. It is
not primarily a money making enterprise
the worth of which can be shown by a
statement, of receipts and expenditures.
Few have given any serious consideration
to that phase of the undertaking. The
returns are in any case uncertain and
profit or loss from operation will depend
somewhat upon cost of construction and
maintenance, both of which are as yet
undetermined Items. The possible traffic
which will pass through It and the new
business which will -ie created by It are
equally matters of guesswork. Its com
mercial uncertainties are no secret. The
possibility that it may not pay for Itself
within a few years and the fact that it
might not for some time after its com
pletlon show a profit on Its operation
have not dampened the ardor for its
construction. The American people want
the canal for various reasons, and the
American people are going to have the
canal. Their purpose has not been. Is
not and will ntt be affected by any ques
tion Of direct profits.
The American people are content to go
on with 4ie enterprise and are satisfied
with the prospect of Its advantages to
the country and to the world. Its com
merclal benefits to us are impossible of
any present estimate, and its social
political and strategic possibilities are
inestimable The Panama Canal will pay
A Prise Hard Luck Story.
Philadelphia North American.
Here is a real hard luck story:
Two months ago the 6-year-old son
of Frederick Levy, of 624 South Ameri-
j can street, fell in front of a streetcar
and had his- left arm severed at the
shoulder. Before the lad was released
from the Pennsylvania Hospital his
mother and three other children were
removed to the Municipal Hospital with
fever, and are still in the Institution.
Yesterday afternoon 8-year-old Fred
erick Levy, at home with -hie father.
ran from the house on an errand. With-
in a stone's throw of hltf home he
slipped and tell in front of a trolley
car. The left foot was taken off at
the ankle.
As he was being hurried to the
Pennsylvania Hospital the wagon in
which he had been placed collided with
another wagon at Fifth and South
streets. The driver, Armond Scherer,
of 936 North Eighth street, was thrown
to the pavement and hie arm was
broken. The injured lad was also
thrown out, and the loss of blood oc
casioned by the delay came near cost
ing his life.
Carnegie Net "In It."
Springfield, Mass., Republican.
Having examined repeatedly Senator La
Follette s list of loo men who control the
business of the country, one Is moved to
Inquire, "What is the matter with An
drew Carnegie?" For Mr. Carnegie's
name appeareth not. The luck of the
steel trust philanthropist and library dis
penser in escaping odious associations in
the malefactor class, or even among the
plutocrats. Is one of the wonders of the
day. Only one man in America. Mr.
Rockefeller, is presumed richer than Mr.
Carnegie, yet Mr. Carnegie does not even
tall the Wisconsin Senator's list of 100
who "own" America- Such standing is
so phenomenal that one Is tempted to
say that the shrewd old Iron master, not
withstanding his hundreds of millions,
might do- as the Presidential candidate
of the Independence League on its anti
plutocracy platform.
Appalling; Thought
Chicago Evening, Post.
"I believe,',' says the occasional philoso
pher, "that in heaven we shall not lead
existences of beatific idleness, but that
each shall be permitted to carry on in a
greater degree the work for which he Is
best fitted."
"My goodness!" exclaims the listener.
"You don't suppose there'll be anybody
there trying to sell sets of Dickens and
Shakespeare on the installment plan, do
you?"
Kansas Hoes ns Canal Diggers.
New Haven Ct) Journal-Courier.
The statistician of the Marion (Kan.)
Record" computes that if air th hogs
Kansas raised last year were rolled
into one. It could dig the Panama Canal
in two root and a half. Now let Mis
souri show us how long it would take
her helpful hen to scratch the big
ditch out.
IN PROHIBITION STATES
Cnattnnsocn Is the Oasis of Southern
Thirst Desert.
Dispatch to Chicago Journal.
CHATTANOOGA. Tenn.. March 20.
An effect of prohibition, complete in
Georgia and almost so in Tennessee
and Alabama, has been to reduce the
business of filling mall, orders for
liquor to an exact science. Dealers
have packages of all sizes and brand:
ready for the labels, and an office or
ganization that would make a New
York broker take notice.
The Southern Express Company has
enlarged its staff and facilities until
there is no chance ot delay. Both In
terests are alert to hear cries of dis
tress from the dry belt and to rusli
whisky forward like first aid to the
injured.
A special clerk of the express com
pany Is stationed at the office of the
biggest mall-order concern to make out
the bills, and the service has otherwise
been organized so that liquor ordered
from any town is placed aboard the
first available train.
Supplies are shipped Into the arid re.
glon from all the surrounding wet
territory. and money aggregating
thousands ef dollars a day is cent daily
to cities as widely separated, as Jack
sonville, Pittsburg, Cincinnati and
Louisville.
Chattanooga, however, occupies the
best strategic position, and la the main
oasis. It is not only centrally locatd.
but It has first-class railroad faciUtiei
and the most enterprising mail-order
liquor dealers. Their success lies in
far-reaching and skillful advertislnsr
to develop the field and tn the speedy
filling of orders. Chicago could not
excel them In working up business.
Since the drought struck Georgia
and parts of Alabama, the first of the
year, 25 new mail-order houses have
been established In thle city. One of
them is credited with doing a business
of 81,000,000 a year. Profits in that
line are reckoned at something like
83 1-3 per cent.- This Napoleon h.is
very large advertising bills to pay. but
even when they have been taken from'
the profits the residue is worth while.
His main warehouse burned one
night recently. Before morning he had
bought a distillery, and a stock of
finished product appertaining thereto
and had run a special whisky train
into Georgia from his Jacksonville
branch. Then he leasd the Chatta
nooga hippodrome, which is like sr
armory. Now the cellar of the hippo
drome presents a larpre vista of whlskj
barrels, and the main floor, with ar
area like a golf course, l filled with
bottling and hoxine: apparatus.
"Sent In plain packages" Is the as
suranco given In ads of the mail-ordet
houses. That is for the benefit o:
sensitive patrons who fear what the
neighbors might say. They are well
protected. They can get whisky that
looks from the outside like a corset,
or a box of crackers, or a barrel of
flour, or a jug of syrup. The latter,
however, is not a good disguise.
The president of one of the larges',
banks in- the city estimated that thii
mail-order business is bringing money
into Chattanooga at the rate ol
85,000,000 a year. A leading liquor
dealer placed the amount at $10,000, 000,
There has been no financial stringency
thi Winter.
Business men generally feel that the
traffic is good for the city. It bring!
in much ready cash, because shipment!
are paid In 'advance. They also say
that the great energy and enterprise
of the mail-order houses tend to have
a stimulating effect on men in other
linee.
Joy over the accession, however. Is
tempered by the fear that the business
is overdone. It haa made Chattanooga
conspicuous as a liquor stronghold, and
the guns of proh.'bltionists far and near
have been brought to bear upon It. All
the state is dry except Chattanooga,
Memphis, Nashville and a little city
named La Follette. There is danger
that when the Legislature meets next
Winter these towns may be. ordered to
put on the lid.
"Whisky and railroad interests have
run the Legislature for 35 years," a
political leader said, "but it looks aa
though whisky was about to s,tep
down and out."
Many liberals here 'would regret that,
because they have greatly restricted
the saloona and believe that Chatta
nooga has the model excise law of the
country. It reduced arrests for intoxi
cation 0 per cent. The saloons are
limited to a certain section, and there
t an be but one to 450 of the population.
Under the census of 1900, which gov
erns, there ar 7 saloons. Each pavs a
tax of $1500 a year. No card, pool or
billiard tables or chairs are allowed.
The houre for keeping open are from
5 A. M. to 10 P. M. The saloons are
closed on Sunday.
The law is mandatory that the li
cense of a saloonlst. convicted of,
keeping his place open when it should
be elosed. or of otherwise violating the
law, must be revoked, and he must be
prohibited from ever resuming business
in Chattanooga. The liberals believe
this regulation to be the best solution
of the liquor question.
The wets object to prohibition, not
only because It reduces the revenue,
but because, they say, it does not pro-'
hlblt.
"Millions of gallons of liquor are
pouring Into the dry territory yearly."
they eay. "If you don't believe that
prohibition is a farce, go to Rome. Ga.,
any Saturday and see the crowd of
men swarming to the express office
for their packages of whisky."
Legend of Lsw-Ablding Saloonkeeper.
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.
Brooklyn is said to have a saloon
keeper who for 25 years has not only
observed the strict letter of the law, but
has at all times refused to sell more than
three drinks to any one patron. He is
reported to be prosperous and happy. Had .
his brethren in the business in other
localities imitated his example, they
would. as a body, be much happier than
they now are and hardly less prosperous:
nor would the demand for the abolition of
the saloon have reached the sweeping pro
portions of today. It Is the lawless sa
loonkeeper who Is chiefly responsible for
this agitation. He sowed the wind; the
harvest of whirlwind is being reaned alike
by the law-abiding and the lawless, the
Innocent and the guilty. Incidentally the
political demagogue and the Pharisee are
making the most of the . opportunity.
Methsd In Chureh Attendance.
Baltimore News.
Evangelist J. O. Sheibourne, now work
ing at Milwaukee. Wis., has a plan to
find work free of charge for needv men
on condition that they bind themselves
to attend some church regularly for one
year.
The Mad Chauffeur.
New York Pun.
My head Is full of whizzing wheels
And wound with slender wires.
I cannot walk because by feet
Are shod with rubber tires.
A sparking plug Is In my throat.
A motor in my breast.
And night and day It beats away
And will not let me rest.
My arms are somehow turned to crank
And greatly bother me.
I must not crank them up too high
Or trouble there win be.
A motor horn In either ear
Keeps up a constant toot.
1 used to keep it going so
To see the public scoot.
Hot take away the cup of tea.
Yon ought to know my only 'drink
Bines on the day 1 chanced to meet
(O my unlucky star!)
A man In blue and brass who changed
Ms to a motor car.