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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1908)
8 THE 7.I0RXTXG OREGON! ATf. TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1908. t &tc$fmxm Bt BUCRUPTlON KATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (Br Hail.) Welly. Sunday included, on year 8 00 rlly. Sunday Included, tlx months.... -25 tiaily. Sunday Included, three months. . i-iiS pally. 6unday Included, one raoaLa. . -7s pally, without Sunday, one year JO without Sunday, six months 25 Dally, without Sunday, three months. . 1.73 pally, without Sunday, one month 60 Sunday, one year X-50 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1-60 unday and weekly, eao year BI C.iRKII.K. Dally. Sunday Included, one year 2 Dally, Sunday Included, one month.... -75 HOW TO REMIT Send poatofflce money order, eapress order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, ooln or currency re at the sender's risk. Olve poet office ad reaa la full. Including county and state. POSTAGE BAIL Entered at Portland, Orecoa. Poatoffto a Second-Clasa laatter. 0 to 14 Pases 1 eent IS to as Paces oenta 0 to 44 Pagc-a centa to 60 Panes cents Forelim postaje. double rate a IMPOKTANT The postal laws ars atrlot Newspapers on which postace Is not fully Prepaid are not forwarded to destination. tASTtBN BUSINESS OMlCli. The g, o. Hockwith ftpecial Agency New Tork. rooms 48-00 Tribune building. Chl aaao. rooms 010-013 Tribune bukldlns. K.i:iT ON SALE. Chicago. Auditorium Annex; Fostofflee News Co.. 17 Dearborn street; Empire News, Stand. bfc Paul. Minn. N. St. Marie. Commercial Elation. Colorado Sprints, Colo. Bell. H. H. Denver. Hamilton and Kendrtck. K08-91J Seventeenth, street; Pratt Book Store. 12 fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. S. Klce. tjfcorge Carson. Kansas City. Mo. Rlrksecker Clrar Co.. Ninth snd Walnut; Yoma Newa Co. Minneapolis M. J. CaTanaush. 60 South Third. t iswlnnatl. O. Toma News Co. Cleveland, O James Pushaw. SOT Bu- Verier Mi-eet. Washington, D. C. Ebbttt House. 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Worth. Tex. Southwestern N. and A. Auency. Ainurilla. Tex. TImmons A Pope. Sun Jtrancieco. Forster & Orear; Perry Ncv. s Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; I Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrniount Hotel Nev.4 Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agency. 14 Eddy street; B. B. Amos, man ager three wagona; Worlds N. S.. 2925 A. buvier Mtreet. Oakland. CaL Wi H. Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland News Stand; B. ni. Amos, manager nvo wagons: Welllngham. K. O. (...l.llielil. Net. Louie Follln. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu reua News Co. I-ORTLAjrn, TUESDAY. MAIM II 1. 1908. TIIK TAX AMENDMENT. Ilu. alnvln.tar n H !1 1 CM nhn Would throw the entire burden of taxation on land, arguing that its chief value is an unearned increment, to which the present possessors have no right or tillo In Justice, fall to observe that Innumerable parcels of land have been changing owners ever since the first settlement of the country, many of them at constantly Increasing values, and that buyers every day are pur chasing lands and lots and paying for them full market value, and in some rases probably more. Who, in these cases and they are innumerable has the unearned increment? And how re we to get It away from the man who has it, and do Justice to the man who paid the money and now has the land, which is to be taxed to an extent that would confiscate its income? The query will apply to farm lands as well us to city lots. What has made real estate in Port land valuable? Continual exertion, by lils owners, to improve their property, push the growth of the city, establish lines of communication and transpor tation, and build up a commercial and manufacturing center here. These ef forts, begun sixty years ago, have been sleailily continued; they have drawn hither a constantly increasing stream of people who have Joined in the work; they have attracted large num bers who have come because they could get wages here, and new capi tal because It could find employment and make new opportunity here. Hun dreds, and thousands, of wage-workers have taken their place among the owners of real estate, and more are taking that place every day. They do pot think their substance should be cut from under them by a measure that would cast the whole burden of taxation on land. Some, indeed, do1 yet hold land out of use and fall to Im prove It; but the spread of the city in all directions, and the growth of sub urban homos, show rapid diminution of this class. Nor Is It merely in the district round about' Portland, but it is In oil parts of tho Oregon country which now can be reached, or which there is hope soon of transportation, that this1 movement goes on. The population that is doing this work, either in city or country, is putting into the land and Its Improvement, or hHs put in during past years in pur chase, labor and. taxes, about all that tho land and improvements are worth, and in many cases much more. Yet they are told they are not entitled to the value. No man who owns a foot of land or expects ever to own a foot of land can vote for this confiscatory proposition. But the Increase of the value of property In an owner's hands no matter what the species of property U not a curse to society, but on the contrary a benefit to the community, a well as to the Individual owner. It is only through private effort that property will grow, and neither civili sation nor government Is possible without property. It Is, moreover, of highest Importance to the state that individuals shall be encouraged to ac cumulate property; for possession both pives a kind of Independence and en forces some degree of responsibility in the citizen. The man who has something to lose Is sura to have an Interest in the welfare of society. All these people who rail against the un earned Increment could, at some time in their lives, have opportunity to ac quire property which would grow in value: and the more of such who take advantage of opportunity, or, better still, who make opportunity, to obtain property and have some of the un earned Increment for themselves, the better for them and for the country. K'tv la thi unmrnad tnermanf saIa. ly In land. Greatest of all the steady sources of it is in domestic animals, without which even land. In country or city, would be comparatively worthless. Great fortunes, In all ages, have been made from the smallest beginnings In cattle, and always will be; and the progeny of cattle prop erly cared for, even on rented land as a beginning, will increase in value and afford more unearned increment than five-sixths of the land Itself. But It requires some intelligence and skill and purpose, and long perseverance. Even the output of the poultry of the country is immense, and the unearned Increment very large. There must be unearned increment everywhere, or wages cannot be paid. All profits in business are unearned Increment as much as the growth of value in land. No man can pay wages unless he has what the Jargon of the times calls un earned Increment to pay with. Land, under our present system, since land Is always in sight, will be forced to bear the greater part of the taxes. It now bears the greater part of them. Other property, easy of con cealment, cannot be made to bear as much tax as it ought; but this is no reasonwhy it should be wholly ex empt. Most manufacturing establish ments are owned by stockholders, many of them of large wealth. It' is not apparent why such establishments should be exempt, nor herds of sheep and cattle, great or small. The Swift packing plant will be but a manufac turing .-establishment; The Oregonian newspaper the same. Our great com mercial orchards, too, the profits of which are the subject of so much glorification among us, would fall within the exempted list; that Is, an orchard that would sell for $500 an acre would pay merely on the value of the naked land. But without the land what would the trees be worth, or the land without the trees? It is not prob able this new scheme of taxation will get much favor, or serve any purpose except the excellent one of showing by an additional specific lesson how greatly the new method of tinkering constitutions and making laws may be abused. . . THE LABOR I1 k it: k kxti a l. The Chamber of Commerce and the railroad companies, working In unison, by the expenditure of several thou sand dollars and by assuming the bur den of free pilotage, succeeded about a year ago in the removal of a freight differential of 30 cents per ton levied against this port and in favor of Puget Sound. The removal of this handicap was followed by an increase . in the amount i of grain tonnage headed in this direction. However, recently there has been but few ships added to the list for Portland, while Puget Sound, for the first time this season, last week showed a larger amount of tonnage en rdute than was headed for Portland. . Some explanation for this drift of business away from Portland is found in the statement of the exporters that the wages of gralnhandlers at Tacoma and Seattle are 30 cents per hour, at Everett 25 cents per hour, while at Portland the wages are 40 cents per hour and 60 cents per hour for over time. As the same exporters are han dling the business at each of the port3, it is easy to understand that they will divert as much wheat as possible to the ports where It Is handled the Cheapest. Ten cents per hour straight time, or 30 cents per hour overtime, is not a large amount for an Individual case, but when it is levied against the port by hundreds of men it becomes a matter of sufficient importance to turn away business which properly be longs here, and which under equal conditions with Puget Sound ports would come here. It would seem like a shortsighted policy for Portland to spend large sums of money to improve the river and otherwise equalize conditions to meet the competition of the Puget Sound ports if we are to retain a labor differential that. If continued, will drive from the port the last vestige of grain trade that it is not actually nec essary to handle at this port. All other conditions in connection with the handling of grain are equal at the two ports, and it accordingly is a very easy matter to understand the dimen sions of the handicap thus placed against the port, should a prolonged attempt be made to continue a higher scale of wages here than prevails on Puget Sound. EFFECT OF RATE CHANGES. The reduction In freight rates which It is reported will be ordered by the Oregon Railroad Commission, whether It Is challenged by the railroads or not, may make some important changes In the commercial map of the Pacific Northwest. Portland's pres tige as a distributing center rests on her admirable location on tidewater, where the influence of ocean transpor tation has always been the governing factor In the making of rail rates. The Interstate Commerce Commission, recognizing the futility of regulating or fixing rail rates where water com petition was in evidence, has held that railroads had the right to meet that competition. This ruling automatic ally Axes the' rate to interior points as the sum of the through rate to tide water, plus the local rate back to the interior, the ocean carrier fixing the rate to Portland or other Coast ports and paying the local rate into the in terior and the railroads meeting this rate. With this for a base, it is quite clear that any change In the local rate from the coast port automatically affects the through rate, as the freight brought In by ocean would be distrib uted under the same rate as that brought In by rail. This system, which, of course, makes the long haul cheaper than the short haul, has al ways been objectionable to the in terior Jobbing centers, as 'it places them at a disadvantage in certain ter ritory where the coast jobbers were admitted by the through rate based on the water-haul rate plus the less-than-carload rates back to the interior. A reduction of the local rate, bringing with if automatically, as it must, a re duction in the through rate, may re sult in shifting the center at which water competition is met from the coast terminals to some Interior point. For illustration. Baker City, approxi mately S60 miles from Portland, must now on a great many commodities pay the through rate to Portland, plus the local rate back from this city. By this process the railroad meets the competition of the ocean carriers at Portland. But a reduction of rates may make it more advantageous for the railroads to meet the ocean com petition at Baker City, thus saving the long haul to Portland and return, and enabling the road to earn as much j (whatever the rate may be) by carry- HIS ireiguu lu xjaa-er iLy as it uuw i earns by carrying it tbrough to port land and back to Baker City. What is true of Baker City is also true of other inland cities, and a rate reduc tion would not only enable consumers to get their goods at a lower cost, but it would enable Eastern jobbing houses to establish branches at these j points. This shifting of the dlstribu- j tive business from tidewater points to the interior will undoubtedly , take place as soon as the Panama Canal is completed, for it is a certainty that through rates will then be forced be low present tariffs. If the reduction ordered by the Railroad Commission is respected, it may prove more advantageous to the roads to fall into line now and grace fully accept the inevitable than to wait until the canal forces them to meet water competition in the interior in stead of at' tidewater. - The situation is fraught with great possibilities. The enormous earnings of the Harrlman lines in Oregon offer indisputable evi dence that rates are too high, and a reduction must be made. It Is the far-reaching effect that will follow this reduction which makes the problem Interesting In the extreme, and trie course of the railroads and the Com mission will be closeiy followed, not only by the people of Oregon, but of all other Jobbing centers In the Pacific Northwest. A -WORK OF SUPEREROGATION. Again the question as to what shall be done with our ex-Presidents has been brought to the attention of Con gress. Representative Coudrey, of Missouri, is sponsoj for a bill now pending which provides that all ex Presidents shall become honorary members of the. United States Senate for life, and as such members shall re ceive a compensation of $25,000 per annum. The proposal to make a highly priv ileged class, even if- a small one. In this country is distinctly un-American. In this case it is also meddlesome, since It carries the Idea that it is necessary to provide for our ex-Presidents a suggestion that is imperti nent and entirely foreign to the truth. Ex-President Cleveland seems to be fully able to do for himself and his family, and certainly no one doubts President Roosevelt's ability to order his life along lines of successful en deavor or dignified labor according to his own choosing. Both of these men have been highly honored by their fellow-citizens. They do not need "help" or direction. Why not treat them like the honorable, responsible, self suporting citizens that they are, and quit trying to "place" them? BRYAN AND PARILER. , The report that Judge Alton B. Parker will head the Democratic dele gation from New York City to the Na tional Convention at Denver is proba ble enough. That he will oppose Mr. Bryan's nomination is still more likely. This prospective adventure of Judge Parker in the realm of politics is worth some attention, although the in terest of his expedition to Denver at the head of a set of Tammany and corporation delegates is psychological rather than political. He cannot pre vent the nomination of Mr. Bryan, but he can amuse the public with more of those displays of his own querulous ness and arid reactionism which he has exhibited from time to time since he was defeated. It maye necessary to remind readers that Judge Parker ran for the Presidency in 1904. The fact is pretty well forgotten by this time, and comparatively few persons paid much attention to it during his campaign, but his stupendous defeat accounts for much of his sour and bit ter criticism both of Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Bryan since it occurred. The Eastern newspapers which op pose Mr. Bryan upbraid him with hav ing brought disaster upon the hosts of militant Democracy, but both of Mr. Bryan's defeats lumped together would fall far short of equaling Judge Parker's one in completeness and ig nominy. No candidate in recent times has been so emphatically rejected by the people, and for reasons so excel lent. The plain truth is that Judge Alton B. Parker's political debacle was one of tho most fortunate events that ever happened for this country. Nur tured in servility to the corporate in terests and mlllionalrepirates of Wall street, he would have directed the power of the Presidency for their ex clusive benefit. The great National policies of Mr. Roosevelt were then In their infancy. Approved by the peo ple from the beginning, still they had not yet conquered the interests ad verse to them In Congress, where the amiable and somewhat flaccid tradi tions of the McKinley Administration still guided legislation in respect to the corporations and trusts. One term of Judge Parker would have seated the oligarchy of wealth so firmly in the saddle that it could have been ousted only with extreme difficulty, and perhaps not at all. One may Imagine, not without some semblance of truth, that had Judge Parker served as President something like the Oligarchy which Jack London de scribes in "The Iron Heel" might have gained control of the Government ant! kept it for generations. All this was happily averted by his defeat and we now look upon London's books as an extravagant flight of fancy, terribly real as its descriptions might have been had Mr. Roosevelt not been elected. Since his stunning defeat by the in telligence of the American electorate Judge Parker has. kept himself more or less visibly before the public by a number of reactionary speeches. In one of them, which was delivered while the rate bill was under discus sion, he asserted that no such legis lation was necessary. All the power needed to regulate the railroads was included, he averred. In the rules of the common law, which he went on to laud as the perfection of reason and the acme of human wisdom. We have nothing to urge against the com mon law. It was the slow growth of a barbarous age and its procedure was one of such incredible ferocity that the English Judges had to mitigate it by a set of Ingenious subterfuges en tirely outside the law. Such gleams of humanity as it displayed among its barbarous maxims were plundered without credit from the civil law of Rome. This common law has now been radically modified by civilized legislation in England, but Judge Par ker, with the genuine zest of a reac tionary for what Is ancient, outworn and barbarous, harks back to it and belauds it. There are three reasons why Judge Parker detests Mr. Bryan. In the first place, he is consumed with envy at the sight of the Nebraskan's popular ity. Himself perhaps the most un popular man who ever ran for high office in this Republic, it is gall and wormwood to him to behold the in flexible loyalty, the unswerving devo tion, the tireless fealty of Mr. Bryan's friends, who are numbered by the million. Again, Judge Parker honest ly opposes all that Mr. Bryan stands for.p Shallow In his judgment, unsta ble in his purposes, and somewhat of a demagogue withal Mr. Bryan may be, but for all that he stands for the forward movement in American civili zation. He is for liberty, justice and ' the equality of all men before the law. On the other hand. Judge Par ker stands for special privilege. In durated to servility toward the unscru pulous men and corporations that he has been bred to adulate, he sees no justice except in that which increases their power and he scorns equality' be fore the law because it curtails their revenues by cuttin" off the right to plunder. In the third place. Judge Parker Is opposed to Mr. Bryan be cause the men he serves are opposed to him; and they hate him for those high and manly qualities which are the ground of his potent influence with a great body of ' the American electorate. The ready revolver in a somewhat unusual role played the star part in a tragedy on a Seattle slreetear yester day. A disinterested passenger on the car Interfered in a row between a con ductor and a motorman. This to a certain point is commendable, ,as the assaulted man was no longer young and could not protect himself" from his powerful assailant. But, unfortunate ly for all hands, the passenger was one of those individuals, who habitually carry a revolver for "protection," and in the excitement of the moment he pulled the gun and began-shooting at the belligerent motorman, who soon fell dead. Of course he Is awfully sorry, and perhaps always will be, but that will not remove the blood from his hands. Incidentally it might - be stated that it will not prevent the next fool from doing likewise so long as firearms are at the command of every irresponsible individual who has the price. The Immigration Department is making an active campaign in the East against the undesirable bomb throwers and other criminals .who have become unduly promiscuous in attempting to institute reforms in this country. With the deportation of a few thousand of these criminals, and stricter requirements of citizenship from the new immigrants, the TJ. S. A. may yet be a safe place of residence for an American citizen. The constitution of this state guar antees the indicted officers of the Title Guarantee & Trust Company a trial "without delay." Why don't they in sist upon their constitutional right? Why should they permit a doubt to exist as to their Innocence when the fundamental law of the state secures them the right to have the facts pre sented under oath in open court? An" Ogden dispatch announces that orders have been issued for the re sumption of work on the grade for the Harrlman line down the Snake River from Huntington to Lewiston. Per haps after work is under way or com pleted in every other portion of the country which is already served by a road a beginning will be made in the Central Oregon territory. Who was it that said but now that the range-finders and the man behind the great guns of our Navy "could not shoot"? The scores being made at Magdalena Bay conclusively refute the statement of this would-be alarmist. The report is simple, direct and con clusive: "All of the ships have been doing splendid work at the targets." The Government evidently does not intend to be a respecter of persons when it comes to disposing of land grants to speculators. Should ' the Oregon & California grant be taken away from the speculator now holding it, the land will not be turned over to the hundreds of speculators who have filed applications for it. It doesn't seem to occur to many people that members of the Legisla ture have anything to do but elect a United States Senator. Whether a man be a signer of Statement No. 1 or not, he should not be sent to Salem to make laws unless he Is qualified to perform that duty intelligently. It must be gratifying to Governor Chamberlain, General Killfeather, C. B. S. Wood, Harry Lane and others to learn that "Fingey" 'Conners and Tammany Murphy, who control the Democratio party, are owned by that distinguished patriot and friend of tAe plain people, Thomas F. Byan. April 4,' business at the Fifth-Avenue Hotel, New Tork, will be discon tinued. The building will be razed immediately and a very great office structure of the modern kind will be erected on the site. The change marks the uptown movement of a class of office business in New York. Senator Bourne didn't get the worth of his money when he paid $1000 for that prize essay. He could have written a much better one himself; nay, Indeed, he has written many a better and talked off many a better to reporters. Reliable reports are that hopgrow ers are cultivating their entire acreage again this year, notwithstanding the surplus and low prices last year. Per haps they are growing hops for their health. That , second-elective-term idea stands about one chance in a thousand of winning. But if It should prove to be the victor well, who wouldn't envy the man who took a "long shot" at it? The people of Portland have an in alienable right to all the Bull Run water they need now or in future for domestic purposes. Let those who would interfere beware. March promises to make its exit in a temper different from that which marked its entrance. Westward the course of Portland's department stores takes Its way. WATTERSON ON PROHIBITION. "Moral Idiots and Rrd-Noard A nereis," He Calls "Dry" Advocates. (It is worth the while of every reader to know what manner of flffht the Lonieville Courier-Journal is raaklnc against prohlhitinn In Kentucky. Here is one of Mr. Watter son'a most vehement and Aery articles, under the heading- "Hate and Fraud Gone Mad.") The disposition to question the mo tives of those who are not of our way of thinking in matters of faith, political and religious, seems an Inherent failing of frail humanity. It commonly in creases in violence in the' proportion that it has some concrete object to fasten upon. Thus the newspaper opposing the : extremism and intolerance of the cheats and bigots who have, united to Tecreate Kentucky in the dread image of Maine and Kansas by constitutional amend ment, or act of Assembly the bigots be cause of a mistaken sense of moral duty and the frauds to trade on and profits by this is stigmatized as the organ of the whisky ring, the servant of the beer trust, the friend of intemperance. Such denunciations have no terror for the Courier-Journal. For the proscrlp tive religionaries who Indulge it we en tertain the disdain which conscious rec titude must always feel toward the fa natical and the ignorant. For the red nosed political angels who are out for votes and office, we have only defiance and scorn. For the foul bird of alleged newspaper plumage, who dnties his nest to make favor with the others, we shall deal out the measure of contempt and disgust which the jackal equally with the buzzard and the maggot Inspires. The would-be Mohammedans of Geor gia are beginning to have a taste of the real scoundrellsm of the political fabric they have lately set up. To keep "Ilcker from the nigger," they have abolished liberty. In Maine thc have had 60 years of this. Pharisaism, smuggling, extor tion, adulteration, political wire-pulling, bulldozing and corruption no diminution of the drink habitconstitutes the snm total. To tljis complexion would religious hysteria and political vllllany reduce Kentucky. e - e The Courier-Journsl interposes three clear, conclusive, unequivocal objections: first, that prohibition does not prohibit; second, that It corrupts whatever it touches: third, that it is not only an in vasion of private rights with respect to drink, but is the forerunner of every manner of tyranny and oppression with respect to all rights, done under tho sanc tion of law and In the name of God and Morality. . Time out of mind, the whole world over, sumptuary attempts to legislate re ligion and morality Into tbe masses of the people have had the same story to tell ; begun In bigotry to . end in crime. We do not need the great Haeckel to tell us that "Intolerance has never been known to advance the cause of truth," nor Boyd Winchester, philosopher and scholar that he is and Democrat to the marrow of his bones that "persecution aids rather than hinders proscribed doc trines." because that truism is a part of the general truth that legislation often does indirectly the . reverse, of what it directly aims to do. It is diffcult, if not impossible, to enforce laws designed to make one class of citizens order their lives in the way that another class thinks would be best for them. Laws forbidding a man to drink urge him to drink in de fiance of law. If for no other reason than to show his independence i "forbidden fruits" have a proverbial 'fascination, whilst the proverb tells ua that "Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten In secret is pleasant." In short, the more trouble law makes It for a man to gratify his desire for drink, the harder he usually strives to get it. e e e Just so long as persons crave, need or desire stimulants, just so long will they, as experience proves, attain their object, lawfully and honestly If they can, but if not, then illegally and dishonestly, at the expense of every remaining principle of manhood. Every people have believed themselves capable and entitled to de termine what they shall eat, drink and wear. This instinct of self-government is strong in every man's heart and he re volts inevitably against intrusion upon his right of private judgment and selfT controL More than a century ago Adam Smith denounced as "the highest im pertinence and presumption, in Kings and Ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to re strain them by sumptuary laws." Yet, here in Kentucky, a riff-raff of moral idiots , and red-nosed angels propose to change the laws both of political econ omy and nature. We propose to fight this crime to the hitter end. If the good people of Ken tucky really wish to make Kentucky "as dry as Maine," which Is not dry at all if they really wiih to duplicate the pre posterous conditions already existing in Georgia If they propose to annihilate hundreds of millions of dollars expressed in property values. Industrial values and tax values and in the twinkling of an Act of Assembly to change the habits, traditions and character of a century of glorious history it Is their right to do so. But they shall not do so blindly, their eyes closed to the actual facts. They shall know whither they are tending and what they are doing. We shall give each assailant blow for blow, meeting fanaticism with facts; bigotry with reason: prohibition with lo cal option and horre-rule; pbarasaism, personal and political, with execration; the remedy for all ailments of the body politic. Democracy, Unterrified and Un dented! Woman's Halrpla Starts Trolley. Millville (N. J.) Dispatch in New York World. A trolley car was stalled midway be tween Millville and Vineland, and was only moved by the use of a hairpin lent by a passenger. The trouble was found in the air pump. Conductor George Hund worked in vain for some time, and as a lust resort borrowed the hair pin from Miss Mabel Corson, of Mill ville. It completed the circuit and the big, heavy car ran on to Vineland with out trouble. He Made Good. Everybody's Magazine. - "What's become ob dat little chameleon Mandy had?" Inquired. Rufus. "Oh, de fool chile done lost him," re plied Zeke. "She was playln' wlf him one day, puttin' him on red to see him turn red, an' on blue to seem him turn blue, an" on green to see him turn green, an' so on. Den de fool gal, not satisfied wlf lettin well enough alone, went an put him on a plaid, an' de poor little thing went an" bust himself tryln' to make good." Transmutation. Elizabeth whiting- In tho April Century. See. dear. I burn upon this April hill The letters I have treasured for so Ions;. Tho day runs over with tbe bluebirds" song;; The buoyant wind blows delicately chill, Twisting; the olean, bright namoa that have their wiu. On our hearts' record, whirling for a "" breath . Gray wraiths of paper whereupon in death Waver the worda that shake my spirit stiU. Herein I prove me worthy of your trust, Leaving our letters not to mold and dust. Nor, after me, ravished of alien eyee; But changing them through fire and the Spring's wift alchemy into fair, growing things. So have tho heart's frustrations made mo wis. STATE POLITICAL DISCISSION. Remarks on Chamberlain's Candidacy for the Senate. Harney County News. Governor George E. Chamberlain, twice elected to the executive chair -by Repub lican votes, has announced his candidacy for the United States Senatorship on the same kind of a "non-partisan" platform by which he has succeeded in the past. We do not know exactly what the result may be. - While known as a pronounced Democrat upon every question involving political identification, he repudiates the Demo cratic party and comes forth as a "non partisan" an insult to the mass of his own party who have bowed with unfail ing devotion at his feet for several years. Of course he can bank upon their blind allegiance almost to a man and he has that much of an asset to begin with, but the basis of his real hope of success is a burning insult to Republicans. It as sumes that they can be deceived and hoodwinked into forsaking their party principles and voting for man who rep resents the bitterest' prejudices of South ern Democracy to stand for Oregon in the highest political office within the gift of Oregon voters. How many of the Republicans can George deceive in his latest move? That is the serious question. He has behind him the only political machine in Oregon today the best organized, the most abject and servile. Emanating from the execu tive office in Salem, formulated by the Governor himself and put In shape by a force of clerks under pay by the state, inspired articles will be sent out from now until the June election to spread dis content among Republican voters and to Instil the Idea that Chamberlain's guard ianship is necessary to protect the peo ple's interests. Chamberlain hopes for success through his declaration of love and respect for Roosevelt, yet he will support Bryan and the entire Democratic ticket. He' asks for non-partisan support, yet he expects every Democratio vote in the state from party reasoning. Was there ever such a mixture of gall, hypocrisy, deception and chicanery? How will the people treat it? We hope they will give it the treat ment it deserves and we believe if the intelligent Republican newspapers of Ore gon do their duty, the danger of dem agogic success will be averted. Remarks on the New Klsh Warden and the Reasons for His Appointment. Daily Astorian. It ia erenerAllv admitted that H. C McAllister, the new Fish Warden for Oregon, is a "good fellow"; but, that lie knows anything of fish, except to eat it when he wants it, there are none to acclaim. He has sold tons of canned fish for the wholesalers whom he has, from time to time, represented on the "road," and this may have been interpreted as a starter in the accumulation of technical information as to fish nature, fish cul ture, hatching, handling and care, but it does not satisfy this community which stands first in the great Industry of the Northwest, as to fishermen, packers, plants and commerce. What has Mr. Mc Allister ever done to compel recognition as an expert in the mysteries of propaga tion of salmon? Where has he acquired special training for the responsibility he has taken over? What intimate knowledge has he of the practical side or the theo retical side, of the great business? There is no doubt about his being a good fellow and a brilliant representative of the T. P. A. (and perhaps, some other P. A.s) hut that he is a typical fish man, by way of education, experience or-even chance familiarity, we are forced, at this writing, to deny. And denying it, we protest against tbe imposition placed upon the people of Oregon for purely political reasons, chief of which is that Governor Chamberlain may retain the interest and influence of the Travelers' Protective Association, the dominant factor in his earlier campaigns. Astoria puts up practically three-fifths of the money that goes to maintain the hatcheries of Oregon and her people are peculiarly representatives and influential in the $5,000,000 industry; she has the right to protest against the appointment of Mr. McAlllBter, or any other incompetent. She has not a single, simple fisherman that cannot give the new State War-den more off-hand Information on the things he is supposed to know about fish (and does not), than -he can acquire in years dawdling around a Portland office and carrying an undeserved and picturesque title. ' We know, of course, the protest will go unheeded at the Capitol. Astoria realizes how non-essential she is to the Chamberlain "dynasty" save at quadren nial periods; and knowing it, resents the removal of Mr. Van Dusen upon the sole hypothesis that he was not en rapport wjth the Democratif programme of the season, and the setting up of a political "specialist" more in harmony with tho hour and its opportune demands. The thing were laughable were it not that what must come later must be worse for our people and the huge commercial Industry she stands for numerically and financially. There were 15 candidates for the place of State Fish f'arden, and the most inept man of the lot was chosen by the Portland wing of the Commission, not for what he knew about fish, but for what he could achieve in the way of Chamberlain votes next June. IS THIS MERELY "FREE SPEECH?" Anarchy With Dynamite Proposed By New Jersey Paper. The right of free speech and a free press la a fundamental right, and really the greatrt boon of liberty. Real freedom Is impoeolble without It; but let every one read the follow ing from the Paterson (X. J.) anarchist pa per, which President Roosevelt excluded from the malls, and decide whether articles of thia description and the speeches of Emma Gold man, which are very similar, should be pro tected under the liberty of free press and free speech: , Seventy-five per cent have a knife in the house which will only cut onions. It will be a good thing for everybody to have a gun. When we are ready, the first thing to do is to break into the armory and seize the rifles and ammunition. The next thing to do is to get hold of the- police station, and when the police see that they are not strong enough, the chief of police will ask for soldiers. Even at that, the dynamite is easy for us to get. Twenty-five cents worth will blow a big iron door down. We don't want to forget that tho dynamite will help us to win. Two or three of us can defy a regiment of soldiers without fear. Show no sympathy for any soldier, even if they be the sons of the people. As soon as we get hold of the police station it is our victory. The thing Is to kill the entire force. If not they will kill us. When we are ready, we must set fire to three or four houses in different locations on the outskirts, which will bring out the lire Department and all the police. Then we will start a fire in the center of the city. This will be an easy tiling to do. as the police and fire men will be on the outskirts. Father Gets Something. Chicago Evening Post. Among the most satisfactory of the divertisements of the Abruzzi courtship is the fact that Father stands a show of getting something. Usually the bridal parent in an inter national alliance is only given the priv ilege of paying all the bills. But our good Steve Elkins is authoritatively said to be slated for high honors by the King of Italy. He may be made Conte del Wheeling or Marchesl of West Virginia. He is sure to be decorated with the "Order of the Neck Chain." We rejoioe with Steve. We are glad that he is going to get something. And we heartily wish tiiat He did not have to get part of it in that unfortunate locality described in ancient geographies as the exact spot "where the chicken got the ax." ' v STUDENT RAPS THE FACULTY Docrner, Stanford Man. Says Clark Was Unjust in His Ratings. SEATTLE. Wash.. March 3rt. (Special.) William Doemer. captain of the Stan- - tora university football team of 1?07, is in the city on his way to Alaska, where he is to take a position with a mining company. Doerner would have been grad uated within six weeks had he not been suspended as a result of the recent dis turbances at the University. Doerner asserts that there was no ques tion of -drunkenness entering into the sus pension of the atuuents. and that reports that have gone out have done tho stu dents a great Injustice. "The students' affairs committee." said Doerner, "'is composed of men who are out of touch with the students, and the chairman of the committee. Professor A. R. Clark, who Is responsible - for the wholesale expulsion, is not fitted to ad minister his position with the proper sense of Justice. The men expelled were punished for parading on the campus and vlBiting Professor Clark's home to protest in an orderly manner against a letter he had made public stating his position to ward the studentB. The letter stated that he would not wait until a student had been guilty of Intoxication before recom mending his expulsion, but that any stu dent seen taking a drink would be ex pelled." STATE BOARD HITS A SXAG Riparian Owners Make Trouble for Bpilding Trustees at Salem. SALEM, Or., March' 30. Special.) The Board of Trustees of the projei t ed home for the feeble-minded today encountered a serious problem involv ing the law of riparian rights. After deciding upon a location for the insti tion and taking options on several farms which the board purchased, a deal was made by whtch the state se cured a deed to a tract of land on which is located a perpetual spring of clear, cold water. The flow of water is barely sufficient for the needs of the institution. Today two farmers residing in the vicinity appeared be fore the board and asserted that the water from that spring has beecn flow ing over their lands ever since the country lias been known by white men, and probably much longer, and they want it to continue to flow there "'un diminished in quantity and unimpaired in quality," In accordance with the law of rtparlan rights. As a supply of pure water is an absolute essential, the board has a troublesome question before it. Superintendent Bickers was instructed to interview J. W. -Carson, from whom the spring was purchased. SXEEZES TO DEATH IX HOTEL Seattle Guest Seized With Parox ysms, Which Prove ratal. ' SEATTLE, Wash.. 'March 30. (Spe cial.) Nelse Waldahl, of Colby, Wash., sneezed to death in a room at a local hotel this morning. Before retiring last night, Waldahl complained of a slight cold. During the night, the manager of the house, in the, next room, heard him coughing and sneezing violently. It con tinued, and the manager entered Wal dahl's room, finding him seated on the bed and sneezing so violently that he was unable to answer questions. Finally he managed to ask for a glass of water. The manager left the room to get the water, but he had hardly stepped out of the door when the paroxysms began again. When Manager Heron returned, he found Waldahl lying on the bed, shak ing violently. He died within a few min utes, and without being able to drink the water Heron had brought. CONFESSES RECENT ROBBERY James Funkbauser Admits Guilt and Goes to Jail. OREGON CITY, Or.. March 30. (Spe cial.) James Funkhauser has confessed to the robbery of the Williams home at Clackamas Station Friday night. He was apprehended by the Multnomah County authorities the following night while at tempting a robbery at Fulton. Last night Mr. and Mrs. Williams and their daughter positively Identified Funkhauser as the masked man who held them up Friday night at the point of a revolver, robbing them of $5 and stealing a horse that he abandoned on the county road near Mil waukie, which was found next morning by Williams. Funkhauser is known to Williams as the man who, one month ago, bought a horse from Williams, making a deposit of $5, taking the horse on a few days' trial and falling to return with tbe animal. Funkhauser will be held to the April term of the Circuit Court. KORIXG FOR OIL AT MADRAS Portland Capitalists Interested In - Crook County Exploitation. MADRAS. Or., March 30 (Special.) Machinery has been ordered for making a thorough test of the oil prospects In this section, and the local comnany organized fop the purpose of prospecting for oil an nounces that it will begin drilling within 60 days. Tills company Is said to be hacked by Portland capital, and claims to have ample funds to sink a number of wells to a depth of several thousand feet Leases have been secured on more than 14."j00 acres of land within a radius of IB miles of this place, these leases pro viding for a royalty in case oil is found, and carrying an option on the land at prices averaging $100 per acre. The drill ing machinery was ordered from Brad ford, Pa. Stork Spoils Acrobatic Show. TACOMA, Wash., March 30. Mrs. Elea nor Florenz. wife of George Florenz, of an acrobatic company at Pantages The ater last week, is the mother of a bright baby girl under peculiar circumstances. Announcement was made from the stage Saturday that, owing to an accident, Mrs. Florenz would not appear. The fact was that Friday Mrs. Florenz worked aa a pedestal In an acrobatic act requiring great strer.Gth and skill, doing the after noon and the first show at night. At 9 o'clock she left the .theater, and at 2 o'clock Saturday morning was the mother of a baby girl, which has been named Eleanor. Tho company will likely cancel Its dates for two weeks. Seeking Coal, Near Dallas. DALLAS, Or., March 30. (Special.) Hon. W. C. Brown will begin the work of drilling for coal on his property in the northern part of this city within a few days. Several good specimens of lignite coal have been found in recent excavations, and the contour of the land at that place indicates the pres ence of a large deposit. Mr. Brown is convinced that the project will pay, and will lose no time in making the preliminary excavations for sinking a shaft. Probably Jarred Him Some. SPOKANE Wash., March SO. B. D. Lynn, who fell from the sixth story of the Paulson building, is not believed to be seriously hurt, according to reports from St. Luke's Hospital. He is only very sore. Those who ran to his aid after his fall heard htm say when he got Into a sitting posture: "Now. wouldn't that frost you?" Ordinarily a fall of that distance, about 73 feet, would kill a man, but the force of Lynn's tumble was stopped by three dif ferent projections.