lo
THE 3I0KXING OREOOXIAX, TnUKSDAT, APRIL 16, 1908.
Sl'B8CRIPTtO( RATES.
INVARIABt-T IM ADVANCB.
flr Hall.)
Dstly, Pundftr included, on ys.r....
Inlly. iiululsy Inciutl.d. sir month...
ljatlv. fnnrtav tni-lu.ld three month.
.1100
. 15
. Hi
lJslly. bundaj Included, on month..
Dally, without Sunday, on yar
lJally, without Bunday. six month....
Dally without bundny. Hires month.
Lully. without ftunday. on month....
8 00
25
1.73
0
J 50
Weekly on yax isini"-d Ttnirsdsjr . . J
BV CABK1EB.
ta!ty. Bnnflav Included, on yar..
00
usiiy. Sunday Included, on moutu .... - - -
71
BOW TO REMIT d pononic
fder. fiprtM order or personal checK on
Tour local bonk Biampi. coin or currency
r at th Mnder-i rl.k. Olv portodlc ad-
la full, including county aoo vt.
i-OSTAOB BATKA
Ent.rrd at Portland. Oruoa. roatoSlc
&cond-Clara Matter.
JO to U Page I ;
16 to 28 Fare J ""
E0 to 44 f.Hfl
to fO Fun
PVreij-n poftnir. doubl ratea
IMPORTANT The postal law ar. '-New-pfipcr
cri which postage is not fully
prepaid ar not forwarded to deatlnatloo.
EASTERN BUMNfcM OltlCK.
Iba S, C. Hrckivlth Special Ar7 New
York, room 4S 50 Tribune bunding. l-ni-caao,
room olOHia Trlbun bulldin.
KEPT OS BALE,
f hlr.ro. Auditorium Anne; PoatolTlce
ries Co.. 178 Dearborn "treat; n-mplr
Ftand.
nt. Paul. Minn N. St. Marie, Commercial
fetation.
ilorndo Spring. Colo. Fell. H. . H.
Denier. llnml.ton and Kendrtck. Uu 9J
Cevenleenta street; Pratt liook Store. J " '
Fifteenth street; H. i: Hansen. 3. rues,
(iturffe Carson.
Kansas ( Ity. Mo. rtlcksecker Cigar Co..
Ninth and Walnut: yoma Newa Co.
Mlnnrnpolla M. J. Cavanaugh. SO South
Third.
Cincinnati. O. Tom News Co.
Irvrlanil, Jame Pushaw. SOT -
terK.r bticec
IVashineton. 1. C KSbltt House. Penn-
yUarua atomic; Columbia Now Co.
Pittsburg. la,-Fort Pitt Now Co.
Philadelphia. Pa. nyan T neater Ticket
Orru-c; i'enn News Co.; Kemble. A. P.t S'J
Lancaster ivtnue.
New York City Hotallngs newstands. 1
Park How. 3fith and Hroadway. 42d and
tlrortdway and Uroadway ano lth. Tele
phone tutH. flngle coplea delivered: I
Jones & Co.. Astor house; Broadway The
ater Now Stand; Empira New dtand.
Ogclen. D. L Boyle: Dow Bros.. HI
Twenty-fifth street.
Omaha. Barkalow Pro.. TTnlon Station;
llageath Stationery Co.: Kemp Arenson.
Un .Moines la. Mose Jacoba
1-resnO. Cai. Tourist Newa Co.
eiacramento, Cal. Sacramento New Co..
430 K. street: Amos News Cc.
Salt Lake. Moon Book Stationary Co.;
Kooenreid Ik Hansen: O. W. Jewett, P. O.
curlier; atelpeck rtros.
Ding Beach. Cal. B. SI. Amos.
Pasadena. Cal. Amos Now Co,
elan IHrgo. B. B. Amos.
fan Jose. Emerson W.
Houston, Tea. International News Agency.
Dallas. Tex. Southwestern New Agent,
144 Main street: also two street wagon.
ft. Worth. Tel. Southwestern N. and A.
Agency.
Amarllla. Ter. Tlmmona A Pop.
6nn Francisco. Forster A Orear: Ferry
News Stand; Hotel St. Francis New Stand;
L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel
News Stand; Amos New Co.: United New
Agency. 14 Eddy street; B. E. Amos, man
ager three wagons; Worlds N. 8.. 2020 A.
fcutter street.
Oakland, t'.il. W. H. Johnson. Fourteenth
and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland
New Stand; II. E. Amos, manager Ave
wagons; Wclllngham. E. O.
(.oldlleld. Set.-Louie Follln.
Eureka. Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu
reka News Co.
POKTI.ANf. THtRSDAV, APKJI. 1. I90S
MISTAKEN PREIiKTIONS ABOIT MR.
BRYAN.
In t ho course of sumo melancholy
reflections upon Mr. Bryan and his
sins the New York World opines that
"If Mr. Bryan be nominated the Demo
cratic party will be more disordered
and disintegrated than ever, while the
Jiepubllcan candidate, whoever he
may be, will receive the full vote of
his confident and aspiring party." This
is not precisely nonsense, but Is hardly
anything else. One could easily men
tion half a dozen Republican candi
dates no one of whom would "receive
Ihe full vole of his confident and as
piring party." Were Mr. Fairbanks
to b'c the nominee a large secession of
Republican voters would ensue. They
might not vote for his Democratic op
ponent, but they would certainly with
hold their ballots from the Indiana
statesman. Similar consequences
would flow from the nomination of
Mr. Cannon or Senator Knox. Even
Mr. Taft. who Is incomparably
stronger with the rank and file of the
party than any of his rivals, except
Mr. Hughes, would have to face a dan
gerous schism. The negroes' show de
termined hostility to him and the
loyalty of the labor unions is prob
leniatlc.
The World remarks with truth that
party loyalty has been the rule among
Kcpublicans hitherto, but we live in
(hanging times. It is unsafe to take
the past as a sign of what the future
will be. Political independence has
ljcen growing rapidly of late in both
parties. Men will be likely to vote at
the next Presidential election with
less regard to party ties than they
have for many years before. But so
far as one can judge from surface in
dications, Mr. Bryan's nomination
would not create nearly so much dis
card in his party as Mr. Tat't's would
among the Kcpublicans. The Ne
braska candidate never has been very
popular in the Kast. but it is probably
mi error to say that he is more dis
liked there now than formerly. Very
likely the contrary is- true. When he
returned from abroad there were signs
that Mr. Bryan had been gaining favor
ill New York and New England. His
ttiitative proposal for Government
ownership of the railroads frightened
the "conservative" Democratic press,
which forthwith took to railing at him
lind has kept It up ever since.
The subtle intrigues of Mr. Hearst
have been sedulously employed against
Mr. Bryan lit New York, but one can
scarcely notice that they have accom
plished much. Mr. Hearst has passed
his perihelion." Ho is not the figure
in politics that he was a few years ago.
He will never be as much of a figure
again. Without a great deal of gen
uine merit and with surpassing de
merits, he has been seen through and
judged by tke American people. Work
as he may, he cannot cause a danger
mis defection from the Democratic,
ranks. The supposition that Mr.
Bryan has lost ground in the East is
probably a figment of the Imagination
stimulated by the wtsh that it might
be true. Besides, he never occupied
any ground there worth mentioning.
Nor Is there much solid reason for
supposing that Mr. Bryan is not as
strong in the South as he ever was.
Several newspapers oppose him with
more or less rancor, but so they
always have. From many sources the
conclusion ts forced upon one that
Southern newspapers often fail to ex
press public opinion. The same is
true of Southern literature. The vocal
clement In that region seems to differ
widely from the people In opinion both
upon the negro question and upon
politics. Those who know the South
do not believe that there has been
much, if any. defection from the
Itryan standard. There is no nuestlrm
up just now that excites so much en
thusiasm as free stiver did, but the
.r irlt of the Southern voters Is about
the same as it was eight years ago.
In the main Mr. Bryan's principles
please them and his personality is un
deniably attractive.
In trying to reach correct views of
these matters one must not forget that
there have been wars and rumors of
wars In the South between the states
and the railroads. The result of these
troubles has been a decided defeat for
the people and victory for the cor
porations. It has apparently been
demonstrated that the railroads with
the Federal courts back of them are
more powerful than the states. This
is not a circumstance that pleases the
South. It has (riven wide currency to
the opinion that If the railroads are
too big to be controlled It Is time the
Government took possession of them.
Recent investigators find that the feei
ng of the Southern voters Is not by
any means so hostile to Mr. Bryan's
Government ownership Idea as It was
before North Carolina and Georgia
had to lower their pride to the
haughty magnates.
.1 he only disintegration ana demor
alization" that Mr. Bryan's candidacy
seems likely to cause in his party
would be confined to the Democratic
newspapers in New York. Elsewhere
the dissentients In his party would be
too few to be worth counting.
rXIVF.RHITT AND WHOOIA
In Mr. Walker's letter upon the
State University, printed today, there
Is one sentence which can not be read
without a pang of regret. It Is the
sentence where he compares the
school funds of Oregon and Washing
ton. The latter state by Judiciously
holding and marketing Its school lands
has ' accumulated an enormous fund
for the perpetual endowment of pub
lic eaucation. jrertiaps it is nut quite
150.000,000, but it is very large. Ore
gon, on the other hand, made haste to
turn its school lands over to a greedy
herd of speculators at a trifling frac
tion of their market value and the
great endowment which our schools
ought to have had Is now enjoyed by
kites and cormorants.
If education in Oregon had not been
robbed of its heritage there would be
no present occasion for controversy
over the support of the State Univer
sity. There would have been no un
seemly scramble between the univer
sity and the district schools for the
scant pittance which we can 'afford to
spend for the instruction of youth. But
these regrets are vain. Our school
fund has been given to the dogs, and
now our children must beg for bread
unless we are willing to make the
sacrifices necessary to their proper ed
ucation. It is useless for the friends of the
University to try to obscure the truth
about this matter. Sacrifices are nec
essary. The higher education Is by Its
very nature expensive. Comparisons
between the relative cost of teaching
a boy In the primary grade and
youth in the university are silly. Of
course, the latter costs many times as
much and the results are many times
as valuable. All this should be frankly
admitted. It Is idle to expect that
scientific laboratories, great libraries,
learned specialista and highly trained
investigators can be provided at the
same rate as primary teachers. The
cost of education increases in geo
metric ratio as one goes upward.
The saving fact is that the fruit of
education also increases In value as one
goes upward and in a ratio vastly
greater than the cost.
Mr. Walker and all his friends are
beside themselves when they argue
that the university Is not an essential
part of the common school system.
There never was yet a decent system
of common schools which did not
draw its vitality and strength from
universities where original thought
went on. Without perpetual renewal
from higher sources common schools
prways- become arid, sterile, mere
formalism and dead ceremony.
There I,' money enough for both the
higher and the primary education.
Oregon has enough water power still
belonging to the public to produce a
royal endowment for all her schools
if It were husbanded and sold instead
t f being frittered away like our school
lands. This state Is just as well able
as others to support education, but to
do so comfortably wo must begin to
practice economy of resources instead
of waste. '
MR. HARRIMAN'8 IjATEST.
Regardless of the charges, well
founded or ill-founded, that have been
made against E. H. Harriman, the
writer, of twentieth century industrial
history will fail to find any more In
teresting or Imposing figure than thi
railroad wizard, who for ten years has
been continuously' In the limelight as
central figure and controlling genius in
the most colossal aggregations of
capital the world has ever known.
Time after time, during the reign of
this greatest of the American railroad
kings, has the story gone forth that
he had been shorn of his power and
was to be retired. Always, following
closely on these reports, has come the
news of another Harriman coup, a
iittle more daring, a little more spec
tacular, and a little more far-reaching
in Its effects than any of his previous
sensational exploits in railroad finance.
In his rescue of the Erie Railroad
from bankruptcy, Mr. Harriman seems
tj have achieved the greatest success
of his long and successful career, for
he has not only achieved that for
which all of his great rivals and
I redecessors have sought a line from
ocean "to ocean but he has secured
it In a manner that has actually won
the plaudits of those who In the past
have reviled and censured the man
and his methods. No one, of course.
suspects that Mr. Harriman saved the
Erie Road from a receivership or
bankruptcy proceedings from any mo
tive of pure phtiantnropy. with him
It was a business proposition, and the
opportunity for securing the last link
In what is now the greatest railroad
system on earth was worthy of un
usual effort. But results are what
appeal to the American people, and.
when Mr. Harriman hauled the Erie
hack from the brink of bankruptcy,
he not only enhanced the value of that
road, but he performed a service of
inestimable value In checking the
spread of distrust regarding all rall-
rcad properties.
"It Is the kind of act." says the Bal
timore American, "that will stiffen the
weak railroads the country over and
help to transmute the pervading dif
fidence into the gold of confidence.
The Erie Railroad has never quite
emerged from the difficulties Into
which the late Jay Gould plunged It
through over-watering the stock and
issuance of art excessive amount of
bonds. It is today In practically the
same condition as the Union Pacific
was when that wonderful road fell
into the hand3 of Mr. Harriman, and
there seems to be a general belief tha, I
under the guidance of the "wizard,"
there is yet a great future before the
l.ing mismanaged road.
The New York Journal of Com
merce, which In the past has delivered
to Mr. Harriman more savage "roasts"
than he has received from any other
reputable paper In the United States,
speaks most encouragingly for the
ruture of the property under Harri
man management and as portion of "a
vast transcontinental system with a
trunk line from New York to Chicago,
a transverse reach from the lakes to
the gulf, and at least three Western
extensions from the Mississippi Valley
to the Pacific Coast." Continuing, the
Journal of Commerce savs:
What more likely than an ambition to
achieve one more great combination which
shall clasp the continent In band of Mori,
with one etrand from New York to Chlcaao,
one from Chlcaro to New Orleans and others
over the mountain to IjO Angeles, San Fran
cisco and Portland? Is Harriman designing
to open A new "chapter of Erie" which shall
be a contraM to that of Jay Gould?
No one can foresee what the future
of the Erie will be, but to all It Is
plain at this time that Mr. Harriman
has accomplished one of the greatest
coups of his career, and has Incident
ally done much to stop the calamity
howling that was threatening to drive
other roads and other industries into
receiverships or bankruptcy. Mr.
Harriman as a philanthropist may be
appearing in a new role, but. In the
case of the Erie deal, the part fits him,
and, from the tone of the Eastern
press, he Is receiving due credit for it.
BASELESS PRIDE.
The Wall Street Journal finds occa
sion for proud rejoicing In the re
hearsal of the following facts:
Provider of Nation Is the name which
might aptly be applied to the Vnlted States,
on account of the vast amount of exports
which It supplies to the manufacturing na
tions of the world. The two main clafecs
of commodities are materials for manufacture
and foodstuffs, by which the Industrial pop
ulations are maintained-.
The Oregonian is glad, of course,
that we can sell food stuffs and raw
materials to foreign countries since we
can do no better, but it Is a subject for
humility rather than pride. The pro
duction of crude food stuffs is a very
humble occupation In the economy of
the world and not one that is espe
cially profitable. Our farmers feed
the European Industrial population
and supply it with strength for its
work. So far. so good. But the Euro
pean capitalist employs that strength
in creating profits for himself and
those profits are vastly greater than
what our farmers make from their
crops. Feeding the world has never
been a highly paid occupation. The
rich returns go to those who exploit
the labor power which the food gener
ates. So long as we permit these re
turns to be gathered in Europe, we
have nothing In particular to boast of
Industrially.
Nor can we watch the exportation
of our natural resources with un
mingled Joy. The coal, kerosene, cop
per, lumber and Iron which the Lord
gave to the United States for its own
use we are shipping to Europe as fast
as we can for the use of foreign manu
facturers. Nothing comes back to us
for them but money, and this money-
Is too often spent in England and
Paris, the net benefit which we obtain
from our resources being the bare
wages of the workmen who prepare
them for export. The Europeans to
whom we ship turn them into finished
products and get the profit of the
manufacture. This profit Is enor
mously greater than anything that we
ourselves realize from them.
The final result of this process will
be a cotfntry stripped of those natural
resources of which we boast so much,
while the accumulated capital arising
from their use will be owned and en
joyed In other lands. America will
be left in the position of the foolish
young man who squanders his patri
mony and has then to face the b"e
nlgnant smiles of those who have
wheedled him out of it. In this pro
cess we do not perceive much to be
proud of. It does not teem with that
foresight and wisdom which we like
to think are characteristic of this
country. Among the baneful effects
of the system of prohibitive protection
probably the worst by far Is the wreck
of our natural resources, which It has
stimulated. It has prevented the de
velopment of rational trade with for
eign countries and confined our com
merce largely to food and raw mate
rials. Had we exported only finished
products our raw materials would
have gone a great deal farther, future
generations would have enjoyed a
share of them and our net profits
would have been immeasurably larger.
The only sensible thing for the
American people to do in the premises
Is to put an end to the tariff which
Is stripping the country of the very
basis of national life and try to build
up a system of trade which will bring
us as much as we send away.
nKCIJNB IN IMPORT VAI.IES.
Supply and demand. In spite of the
exactions and interference of the
trusts, still have a pretty firm grip
on price regulation. The decreased
purchasing power of the American
people since the financial disturbance
of last Fall Is reflected In heavy de
creases In imported goods, as well as
in a lighter demand for those manu
factured at home. Nearly all of the
articles Imported for use In manufac
turing In this country show heavy de
clines in price as well as quantity.
So Important a staple as India rubber
declined in the import price from 80
cents in February, 1907, to 63 cents In
February, 1908. and even at the great
ly reduced price there was a decline
of 25 per cent In the' amount Im
ported. The February price statement
of the Department of Commerce and
Labor shows that these decreases were
pretty general throughout the list of
articles imported, and the same au
thority also shows that there have been
substantial gains in the prices of arti
cles and commodities which were ex
ported from this country during the
same period.
The export price of corn is given as
13 cents per bushel higher in Febru
ary, 1908. than for the same month
In 1907, while wheat was 19 cents per
bushel higher, and flour 90 cents per
barrel more than last year. Steel and
steel products were higher all round,
the advance In steel rails being S3 per
ton. and In structural steel more than
$4 per ton. Beef and beef products
were higher and cotton also showed a
slight advance. Viewed from the
standpoint of the political economist,
who always sees In the "balance of
trade" such an encouraging condition
of affairs, we should be pleased to ob
serve that we are selling our products
to foreign buyers at higher prices than
prevailed a year ago. and at the same
time are paying less for the imports
which we are taking from the for
eigners.
But It should be remembered that
fr.r everv bushel of wheat that is sent
from this country more than three
bushels are consumed at home, and as
the foreign market regulates the hems
price, our great army of consumers
will also have to pay this Increased
figure. Thev will also be obliged to I
pay the higher price for cotton goods
that must naturally follow an increase
In the export price of the raw material.
About the only comfort that appears
n the situation for this great army of
consumers Is the lower prices at which
some of the foreign staples are coming
In, and even for these their purchasing
power has been curtailed by reason of
the extravagant prices at which every
thing produced In this country is being
held.
Even In the present unsettled situa
tion It is not at all clear that we
would be any worse oft if our people
were permitted to buy sugar, coffee,
cocoa and other staples and luxuries
without being obliged also to pay the
Increased cost of 'our extravagant duty
on such Imported commodities.
The Spring fishing season on the
Columbia River opened yesterday, and
an Astorlj. dispatch announces that all
canneries and cold storage plants
operated last year will be, run again
this year. This is the usual pro
gramme, and offers direct evidence as
to the difficulty of exterminating the
salmon. Every year the public Is re
galed with tales of the iniquitous
manner In which the gillnet men, the
trapmen or- the wheelmen are ruining
the industry. Also, every year, all
the canneries and cold7 storage plants
are running and the fishermen and all
their followers and friends seem to
get enough out of the business to en
able It to hold Its attractiveness as a
calling, so that they stay with it year
after year, despite its hardships and
uncertainties.
A bantamweight boxer of the Spo
kane Athletic flub Is endeavoring to
make that organization pay for a set
of teeth which he ordered, to take the
place of a few which were knocked
out in a contest before the organiza
tion. The question is a new one, and
the club is studying legal authorities
before paying up. A hasty settlement
might establish a precedent In other
directions. Some other boxer might
think that if a man who lost only a
few teeth, could make the club pay for
them, It would be only right for a man
who lost a reputation while boxing
under club auspices to present a claim
for it.
If It is unsafe for a battleship to
come to Portland, it is unsafe for a
cruiser. None of the pilots would
have any more hesitancy about bring
ing the largest battleship in the fleet
to Portland than they would have
about the smallest cruiser. It would
be an insult and a reflection on the
port, if a cruiser were sent here be
cause some one in authority withheld
permission to Send a battleship here.
Feet and inches are Just the same on
a battleship draft, as they are on a
tramp steamer. ,
Republicans are not fit to choose
Oregon's next United I States Senator,
so they will refer their party's choice
of tomorrow's primaries, to the Jun
election, so that the Democratic-Prohibition-Socialist
"people" may ratify
or reject it. But that's all-right all-
right, too.
The German car In the internationa
automobile race Is expected to make
a new record for an automobile be
tween Portland and Pocatello. It is
coming from the Idaho City on a flat-
car attached to one of the regular
trains of the Harriman system.
The latest directory of Seattle gives
an estimated population of 276.462,
reached by the convincing process of
multiplj-ing the number of names bv
two and one-half. Portland's greatest
need Is apparently a different direc
tory, or a higher multiple.
Stamp sales at the Portland post
office this month broke all records,
the gain for eleven days being $4470.
We trust that fostmaster-General
Meyer will note how our direct pri
rnary law helps toward reducing his
deficit.
Linn County has a Republican voter
whose name is George Chamberlain
Ho would cause all kinds of trouble
for the Democratic George Chamber
Iain if he took a notion to run for Sen
ator as a non-partisan candidate in
June.
Within forty-eight hours no small
number of hopeful Portland "poli
ticians" will learn that the "hollerin"
me near on cigar-store corners
doesn't materialize in the ballot box.
balem s Courthouse Is 50 miles
nearer the Penitentiary than Port
land's, but Banker Ross Is glad for
the change of venue. That shows
continued faith In Providence!
If tjie city Is to pay for firemen sta
tioned in the various theaters, then it
should pay for the special policemen
performing duty at the same places.
When the Hon. "Fingy"Connors re
marked the other day that Johnson
would get New York's vote, he prob
ably knew what he was talking about
If the Marquam recovery suit were
sent to Salem on change of venue,
Judge Galloway could preside while
Judge Burnett is trying Mr. Ross.
In the use of the short and ugly
word. Citizen Sharkey seems to be
making a fairly even break with Mr,
Heney, of California.
The German Alliance evidently
thinks its members as good and repre
sentatlve citizens as those of the Mu
nicipal Association.
A lot of candidates will be sorry to
morrow that they wasted their cigars
and shoe leather.
If you mark a sample ballot today,
will save time in -the booth omorrow.
After all. good looks are not the
"whole thing" in running for -office.
COST OF SCHOOf.S PER Pl'PIU.
Una County Kranare Fficitrea n S for
Finch Child am Ihe Rolls. '
ALBANY. Or.. April 14.-(To the Edi
tor.! I am glad that Hon. C. N. Mr
Arthur, of Portland, and also of the
alumni of the State University, has replied
to my article of April 3, for it opens the
way for me to present some facts that I
could not then give without claiming too
much of your very valuable space.
The fault-findings of the University of
Oregon alumni against the arguments
of the Grange committee of the Linn
County Council P. of H.. constrain me to
apply to the former gentleman the reply of
Job to his friends when they were "haul
ing him over the coals:" "No doubt but
ye are the people and wisdom shall die
with you," Job xil-2.
I wish that Mr. MeArthur had given
all that I wrote to that Baker County
man. I did not keep a copy of the letter.
so give from memory. The gentleman
spoken of wrote to me for advice re
garding his son. soon to graduate from
he Bilker City High School. I told h.m
that Pacific University, being in a sense
my alma mater, would be my first choice
for his son, but having been born at
Whitman's I had a warm heart for Whit
man College.
My advice would be that young people
raised In Bastern Oregon's dry climate
would be better off at school there, or
east of Cascade mountains, than to come
to Western Oregon with its wet Winter
climate.
I based this opinion upon the record I
kept at the Warm Springs Agency from
the beginning of what is now the Cnema
wa Indian Training School, near Salem,
up to 11512, some 10 years, viz., that of 66
Indian children sent from that reserva
tion 22 had died, moat of them of con-
umptlon. The children were not used
to so much confinement and also did not
realize the necessity for taking better
care of themselves in a wet climate. In
y letter I named the University of Ore
gon and Eugene as a ro-llcense city,
but stated that locnl pride prompted me
to recommend Aibu::y College; and I
rfterwards gave President' Crooks, of that
college, the gentleman's name, so he could
correspond with him.
Now. about tho support of our public
schools:
Mr. McArthur's figures I will not rtis
pute as to total sum expended, since
they were given him from trie State
Superintendent's office; but. as I said in
my previous article, the sums raised by
towns and municipalities for their com
mon and high schools have nothing
to do with our referendum facts.
I was for a number of years a director
ot a school near Albany, that this Sum
mer will erect a two-room up-to-date
school building, and my grange (Grand
Prairie Grange No. 10) last Saturday
voted to Join with the school district and
build over the school-room a hall and a
kitchen adjoining, both taken together
to be 32x64 feet, the size of the school
house.
During my term as a director I failed to
find out how the school funds were ap
portioned, so It may be of Interest to
others to give the manner of procedure
taking I.inn County as an Illustration, the
facts having been learned since becoming
a truant officer: Our last census gave us
6568 children of school age. The last
Legislature fixed the rate per scholar to
be raised by the counties at fl. Multiply
ing BbSM ry 57 gives J46.97G.
We have 130 districts. First allow each
district VA makes tmno. Deducted from
above leaves :!9.976; divide this by number
of children, 6568. gives about J6.10. To
this add about $1.57 State funds fro
interest. Irreducible school funds and with
the $V to each school makes an average
or a nttie over the 8.O0 we contend is be
ing the sum our common schools receive.
Ex-Governor T. T. Geer, in an article
In The Oregonian the other day, replying
to some criticisms against him and other
Oregon Governors, as to the sale of school
lands at low prices, states that xashlng-
ton htate has e.ono,O0O irreducible school
funds, while Oregon has but from $5,000.
000 to $6,000,000. This being true. Washing
ton can wen appropriate $o00.00u (as we
are told) lor her university, for she can
from Interest-bearing funds support her
common schools without burdening her
taxpayers, as Oregon s are now burdened
almost to the very limit of endurance.
CYRoo H. WALKER..
OITLAWS I.IQIOR TRADE.
Ontllnea of Oklahoma's Ner Prohibi
tion Enforcement I, aw.
From a Prohibition Circular.
l ne new law enforcement measure
called the Billups law, which has Just
been placed upon the statute books by
tne Oklahoma legislature, has been vio
lently distorted and misrepresented In
the news dispatches sent all over the
country. It has been stated that the bill
Is practically a repeal of the prohibition
law, and that the Legislature has played
the part of traitor 4o the people and
forced upon the state a dispensary system
as bad as that which Tillman foisted
upon South Carolina.
There Is absolutely no truth in these
statements, and on the contrary the law
will provide the most efficient means
possible to aid the enforcement of the
prohibition amendment as adopted at the
polls last September. The Billups law,
among other things, provides a state
agency to supervise "dispensaries." which
will sell liquor only on a physician's cer
tificate. The doctor who gives a fraudu
lent certificate shall be subject to a fine
of $1000 and 30 days' in Jail, and upon a
second conviction his license to practice
medicine snail he revoked.
The Governor appoints the dispensary
agents. It is made a felony for a local
agent to sell liquor other than according
to law. it is unlawful to sell more than
one package in one day to the same
party. The law prevents clubs being used
as dispensers of "booze." Full search
and seizure provision is made. Propertv
owners who rent places used for the il
legal sale of liquor are made subject to
heavy fine and the fine is made a Hen
upon the property. There shall be no
property right in any liquor, bar fljttures,
etc. "Joints" are declared to be nui
sances. Railroad companies are forbidden
to transport liquor except as provided by
law. Wife, child, parent, guardian and
employer are given the right to recover
for damages by the sale of liquor. Th
Governor may appoint a special attorney
to enforce the law, who shall have all
the powers of a county attorney of any
county In the state for the enforcement of
this law. Fifty thousand dollars is ap
propriated to carry the act Into force.
The dispensary section will be presented
to fhe people of the state as a proposed
constitutional amendment, to be voted on
at the general election next Fall.
"Four times as many Minnesota towns
have gone 'dry" as hare gone hack to Ii
cense," Is the way the results in th
Spring election in that state are sum
manzed.
Twenty-five fireiiteat Men.
FOREST GROVE, April 14. (To the
Editor.) I wish to ask The Oregonian
If the heading of the piece enclosed
should not be "The Greatest Twenty
five Men," not "The Twenty-five
Greatest Men?" as It seems there could
be only one greatest man. The Ore
gonlan Is a great paper, and If this I
an error, In the future should he cor
rected. C. L. LARGE.
It is correct enough to speak of "the
twenty-five greatest men." Some of
them may be Inferior to the "others of
the group, and yet each greater than
any one outBlde the group. In tha
case they are literally the twenty-fiv
greatest men. It is not true that there
can be but one greatest man; we have
a greatest musician. greatest poet
greatest philosopher, and so on as far
as you like.
Didn't Deserve It.
"Mamma, have I got to take a bat
tonight?"
"I'm afraid you have, my dear."
"But I haven't done anything ail the
weet to deserve it. ' JJie.
A FEW WORDS FROM A REFORMER
What Kind of a fiame la Politic la
These Latter Day. Anywayf
PORTLAND. Or., April 15. (To the
Editor.) I don't know Senator Fulton.
or the great prosecutor Heney. Don't
attend their oratorical contests. Would
rather go fishing down at Yoncalla.
Think I could trim the wick of the lamp
f reason with better results at the shore
end of a fish pole than cramped In be-
weon a bunch of .WO or 4"0 brainstorms.
The Senator will pardon my familiarity
when I say: "Charley, old boy. you may
have fell from politjral grace, hut sitting
In the platonlc environs of the Senate
you can look around yon with a Tongues
Point grin and say to the Togas, vener
able and unvenerable, that surround you.
let one of you old moral mongers who
have ever been up against the game
hrow the first brick." '
And as to Frank, or Francis, or Franky.
I would ask. "What could you do with
the manners and the times of the age
when Charley aspired to the dignity of
a Senator? Would you deliver a Philippic
the array of coin-grippers? Would
you, six years ago go to Salem with a
Bible or a sack? Would you In the
days of old, in the days of gold open
headquarters in the Methodist Church?
Perhaps, but you would come back home.
not a Senator, but an E Z Mark with
more morals than brains. If you should
happen to escape the bug-house. States
men would survey you sadly and good
men would mournfully opine that you
were suicidally honest but nuts."
Every age has Its wheels and the sins
of one age will follow a Senator of an
other age, even unto the second term. T
am a reformer myself, but I hold with
the late Senator Ingalls that the golden
rule or the decalogue has no place In
party politics or politics without party.
I am a reformer myself, rubbing up daily
against that incomprehensible thing
called man. At the present writing he's
going to send saints to the United States
Senate custom made by his own honest
hands. He's made a good start already.
St. Jonathan hasn't done a thing since
his canonization btit pray at the shrine
of Teddy's feet. Now Charley would be
saint, too. If he could, but how the
devil can he? Tf he was to get up in the
Armory and say, "Forgive me brethren,
for I have sinned!" the other saints would
say It was a pure and malicious fabrica
tion and Frank would prove it by an
affidavit. And then some of the brethern
might say. "well. Saint George and Saint
-Harry never sinned. So there you are.
It seems the undesirables must go and
the desirables take their place. So b
It; but what will become of Link Steffens
and Collier's muck-rake Connelly and
even Frank himself. Are we considering
the. price we are paying? But hope
springs eternal in the human breast, man
never is, but always to be blest! Per
haps the sinless desirables never heard
of Pat Bruin. Pat was a reformer of
purest ray serene, a moral diamond of
the first water, but Holy Roller Pat
Sullivan went one serener ray better and
brought Bruin back to earth again. It
will be deodorized day when Link and
Connelly can't fill up their laundry wagon
with dirty Ttnen. Pardon the diversion.
am a reformer, but not of
"That canting crew.
So smooth, so Godly and so political too.
Who armed at once with muck-rakes and
with whips.
Gail on their tongues and scripture on
their hps:
Spectaculars by faith, sensationalists by
text.
Make this campaign hell and thoughtless
of the next."
M. J. MURNANa
HIGH PRICE FOR DAIRY PRODtCTS
Butter Fat SHU Better In lft07 Than
In 1A06.
From a Government Bulletin.
There are approximately 6000 cream
eries In the United States, making a
total of 500.000,000 pounds of butter
annually. The average net price per
pound patd farmer for butter fat
ranged from 4 to 5 cents higher in
1907 than In 1906. This would indicate
an increased return of 20 to 25 million
dollars to the patrons for the year
just passed.
An interesting thing about the
creamery business is the fact that 1800
of the 6000 creameries are co-operative
plants, and the number of co-opera
tive creameries Is constantly growing.
The greater number of creameries that
have gone out of business for one rea
son or another in the past few years
have been the individual creameries,
owned bv individuals or corporations.
Something over a thousand creameries.
mainly in the Middle Northwest, have
reported the results of the past year's
business to the Department ot Agncul
ture. These reports are nearly all from
sections where the local creamery (either
co-operative or individual) predominates.
Careful estimates have been made from
these reports which show that the net
price paid farmers for butter fat at these
creameries averaged between 2R and 29
cents for the year 1907. The lowest price
paid was in June, when the average was
between 24 and 25 cents.
These prices are true only for the local
creamery, which receives tts cream or
milk direct from farmers' wagons, where
there is neither commission to pay for
buying cream nor freight or express
charges for transporting it to tne cnurn
Ing plant. Commission and freight aver
afire from 2 to 3 cents per pound. Farmers
selling cream to agents who have to ship
the cream to distant churning points may
expect to receive 2 to 3 ccn t3 less per
pound for butter fat than prices paid by
local creameries.
The United States Department of Aerri
cultur is desirous of getting, additional
information concerning the net returns
farmers are receiving where, by reason
of their location, they are obliged to sell
through cream-buying agencies rather
than to a local creamery.
It !s requested that all farmers willing
to assist the Department of Agriculture
In securing information on this point will
mail to the Department at their earliest
convenience a report of the net price
per pound received by them for butter fat
for each month during 1907. If original
statement si tps gi vi n g price per pound
can be forwarded, these will be copied and
returned upon request.
Correspondence should be addressed to
the Dairy Division, United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
TO MOUNT HOOD AT EVEX.
Imperial Hood! thou art grandest of
mountains.
Thy ghostly-white pinnacle toucheth
the sky.
Fair Queen of the Northland and
mother of fountains.
The thirsty plain drinketh thy con
stant supply.
Thou sittest enthroned 'neath that ar
ras eternal.
Whose figures are wrought with
such magical skill.
In e'er changing fabric of beauty
supernal.
It seemeth to darken or fade at thy
will.
When loometh thy coverlet darkly
above thee,
Envelling thy pale brow in vesper
tine mist.
Ah! then, 'tis, fair pak. that most
fondly we lore thee.
Thy chasteness and contrast we can
not resist.
And though othr thoughts oft engross
us in living.
Thou rulest supreme over life's bet
ter part,
For we turn from drear moil aad care
and misgiving.
And grant to thy beauty, in homage,
our heart.
X. H. SEFTON.
SILHOUETTES
BY ARTHUR A. ORREXB.
In a few months we will iook hack upon
the candidates' promises and conclude
that by comparison dicers' oaths are 11k
a young girl's coy confession of her first '
love.
The following is from the news columns
of a country exchance: "Ijou Prathfr was
married at Portland the other day. We
did not learn the bride's name." All of
which is very fine for t,ou but a little
tough on the bride.
"Doctor" Munyon, the old orisinal pub
lic benefactor, was recently married for
the second or third time. The eminent
Doctor Is approaching 70. but the brid
is only 24. "There 1s hope!"
A Drink Inn Song.
The world has a thousand beers:
For me there's only one.
One, only one, my dear, 1
For all the money on which I hold a lease
Is one nickel, one five-cent piece.
And Money talks.
Money talks, hut she can't speak
.bove a whisper some parts of the week,
nd although her voice is gone.
Still there Is cheer.
For one nickel coin is good
For one large beer.
One beer, one flowing amber bowl
From which ardent lover-lips
Do take their toll;
'Til tumbling down
To warm a lonely heart,
I and my nickel do ?o haply part.
Mr. Heney and Senator Fulton seem al
ways to find each other, like the milk
sickness, just over the next hill.
It must be hard for Wesley Ladd and
De Witt Connell to stay in thr offices
since it has been discovered that trout
are beginning to rise to flies.
Fate will catch up with a number of
eminently ambitious gentlemen tomorrow
and will place a large blue kibosh on their
cherished desires.
' Will someone kindly reach over and
turn out the light-switch on the Fair
banks Presidential boom?
He who has never committed follies can
never become truly wise.
The man who places himself on a pedes
tal while he Is alive stands a poor chance
of having monuments erected to hinvafter
be is dead.
A woman is like a violin. She has a,
graceful body and many frets, and a
beau is required to produce proper tone
effects. '
If Shapespeare, Chopin, Milton or Byron
were alive, today they would have no
show at the loan department of a bank
against any prosperous saloon-keeper.
Friendship.
NO evil doth it think
And false report no credit doth it give.
It Is the one great tribute that we uve
From day to day.
There is no high, inspired feeling mor
divine,
"So faithfulness of trust and hope anl
charity so fine
As this one splendid attribute that makes
The brotherhood of man to man.
It Is a sad commentary on human na
ture that we admire great fools and great
criminals, and that mere mediocre virtue
finds few to do him honor.
'
Each conquering hero who returns in
triumph hears some flat notes in his
paean of praise.
What do we care whether or not the
fleet comes to Portland? The Bailey Gai
zert Is again in commission.
IN THE MAGAZINE
SECTION OF
THE SUNDAY
OREGONIAN
MESSAGES FOR
EASTER MORN.
Notable Sermons writtpn at the
request of The Sunday Orejronian
by
Very Reverend Alexander Chris
tie. Archbishop of Oreson.
Rifrht, Reverend Charles Scad
dins, Episcopal Bishop of Orepon.
Kev. Luther K. Dyott, D. D.,
pastor First Concrecational
Church.
These messages reflect the mod
ern religious views of the resur
rection. THE EMILY EMMINS PAPERS.
First of a series of b r e e z y.
cheery, witly letters by Carolyn
Wells, telling of a trip to Europe.
They combine the brightness, the
cleverness and the literary quali
ties that explain Mis. Wells' wide
vogue.
These letters will run 12 weeks.
Each is complete in itself, but
begin with the first.
PORTLAND TELEGRAPHS
NOW WITHOUT WIRES.
Among the attractions this sea
son on Council Crest will be the
new wireless telegraph station.
C. H. Williams writes an enter
taining story of the latest elec
trical development. It is so sim
ple that a child can comprehend
the subtle workings, and yet it is
full of human interest.
EASTER CHEERS
THE HOTEL CLERK.
Irvin Cobb indulges in some re
flections on the spirit, of the sea
son that cannot be classed as
reverent.
IN THE EAST SIDE HIGH
SCHOOL RESTAURANT.
Lilian Tingle tells all about the
gustatory and social features of
the noonday meal provided for
several hundred hungry youths.
ORDER EARLY FROM YOUR
NEWSDEALER.