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POBTLAXD, TCEPDAT. AlO. IS, 1808.
PROBLEMS FOR LAWYERS.
Uniform divorce legislation for all
the states of the Union is one of the
important topics which the American
Ear Association will discuss at the
meeting In Seattle, but It Is not the
most Important by any means. The
"divorce evil." as It Is called, is but
one phase of a disease which has be
come epidemic In many parts of the
country, and whose symptoms are
various. This disease shows Itself now
as restlessness under legal or cus
tomary obligations, now as contempt
for the law and disrespect for the
courts, and too often as bold defiance
of regular authority.
A uniform divorce law throughout
the country would relieve many incon
veniences which innocent persons now
suffer and would prevent a great deal
of injustice, but It would hardly touch
the root of our National disease of
lawlessness. If the American Bar As
sociation can discover the cause of this
disorder and remove It, the divorce
evil need give us comparatively little
worry- Of course the United States Is
not In a condition of anarchy. The
great majority of us obey the laws and
respect the courts. If we have suf
fered wrong we either obtain Justice
through legal process or go without It.
Still there are facts in ominous mul
titude which seem to show that here
and there In this country society has
almost disintegrated.
In Kentucky, for example, there are
the tobacco rioters, who burn build
ings, torture their enemies and take
life very much as the wild Indians did
In Daniel Boone's days. Parts of
Kentucky are still dark and bloody
ground. The anti-negro riots in
Springfield, which the Illinois militia
has just quelled with some difficulty,
show how lightly the duty to respect
life and property sits upon the popu
lation of the city w here Lincoln prac
ticed law. If the veneer of civiliza
tion is so thin in the capital of Illi
nois, how thick Is it in the outlying
sections of that and other states? Be
sides these egregious Instances where
whole communities rise In defiance of
the law we . must remember that
crimes of violence are more numer
ous In the United States as a whole
than In any other civilized country
except Russia. Some say this is be
cause of our numerous low-class for
eigners, and perhaps it Is; but why do
they commit so many more crimes
here than they did at home?
More ominous than the actual num
ber, of offenses is the apparent inca
pacity of the courts to punish them.
The law Is like Gulliver on the shore
of Liliput. It is bound and swathed
and pinned to the earth by technicali
ties as by a million strands of fine
thread until it is almost helpless. To
say that the conviction and punish
ment of a criminal is a rare exception
Is to reiterate a notorious truth. Cases
of lawbreaklng are seldom disposed of
upon their merits, but almost always
upon some trifling point of scholastic
logic when they reach the appellate
courts. Future historians In com
menting upon our time will quote
some of these Supreme Court decisions
as monuments of Incredible folly.
They will -wonder how grave Judges
could deal so childishly with Justice.
There can be no doubt that the
demonstrated tmpotency of our legal
machinery accounts for a good deal of
lawlessness. Virtual immunity from
punishment tempts men to commit
crime. When instances like the fa
mous strap decision of the Oregon,
court, the release of Ruef in Califor
nia and Judge Grosscup's discharge
of the Standard Oil fine are continu
ally occurring, it Is useless to hope
that all ordinary people will respect
the law. When the courts grant men
of wealth and Influence the privilege
to be a law unto themselves, they
must expect others to assume the
same privilege. The increasing de
lays and expense of litigation are an
other Incitement to lawlessness. Men
find It cheaper to seek Justice with a
gun than to litigate. There is a dis
tinct tendency in the legal profession
to discourage email suits. This, of
course, encourages crime. A Federal
Judge of great eminence was once
heard to say that "the law was the
worst remedy a poor man could
choose when he was wronged." What
a comment on our administration of
Justice! It Is a trite maxim among
country" people that a man "who goes
to law loses even if he wins his cause."
Naturally men who think thus resort
to primitive means of righting them
selves. When the courts abdicate, lynch law
is the only alternative. Society has
been engaged for centuries in devising
ways to make men submit their differ
ences to the courts. Now the courts
say to the poor, "Your petty troubles
are of too little consequence for us to
bother with.". Thus the masses are
thrust back toward savagery by the
very men who ought to uphold the
law as the universal umpire for great
and small alike. The feeling is stim
ulated that courts are a luxury for
the rich instead of a necessity for
everybody. To this we must add the
unpleasant truth that some tribunals
have fallen Into the practice of treat
ing state laws as of slight obligation.
They are set aside on insufficient pre
texts and with slight ceremony. When
Judges contemn the law, who shall
honor It? If It is flouted in its own
temple, will It be revered in the market-place?
Clearly, therefore, the great task of
the legal profession is to make Justice
speedy, certain and reasonably cheap.
To check the growing belief that the
courts are class tribunals and re-establish
them as universal arbiters.
And toward this goal the first step la
to set merit above method in every'
cause. Scholastic logic must give way
to common sense in the courts, or else
law will , fall before anarchy In. the
country.
J A GRATTFY1XG REPORT.
Americans forget big things unless
the newspapers Jog their memory. We
know, of course, that the United States
Is building a canal at Panama; at any
rate, we started to work on it a few
years ago. Unlike Mr. Harriman's
railroad to Coos Bay and Mr. Lytle's
Tillamook line, we hadn't heard that
operations were suspended. This co
lossal enterprise, each day one step
nearer completion, lacks the element
of news until suddenly announcement
will come that the great work Is done.
Press agencies don't take time simply
to report progress. It will not be long
before the Pennsylvania Company will
be running trains into New York City.
Then a few of us who keep close track
of affairs may be , reminded of the
greatest and costliest terminal work
ever undertaken by a railroad.
It must gratify every American, in
cluding the most rabid anti-expansionist,
to read the report of the special
committee which inspected the canal,
made public . yesterday. Figures on
millions of cubic yards excavated
every month during the Winter mean
nothing to the layman, but every one
understands that yellow fever has
been exterminated, and he rejoices. It
Is no small achievement to convert a
pest-breeding and deadly region into
a healthful habitation.- Colonel Goet
hals has an army of 26,000 men at
work, satisfied with their wage, their
food and their sleeping accommoda
tions. Besides that, they are on the
best of terms with their employer.
Note this comment by the commis
sion: "From the outset we were
strongly impressed with the spirit of
good will and loyalty of the employes.
. . . This spirit of loyalty and in
terest in the work was evinced on
many occasions, and should be count
ed as an asset of the highest value to
the Government in the accomplish
ment of its colossal work."
At the outset the supply of human
labor was the -most difficult problem
that the Government faced. Happily
this has been solved. The canal is
going to be built as fast as men and
money can do it; then watch the Pa
cific Coast grow.
CIRCl'B DAY.
For the elephant now g-oe round.
And the band begin to play.
And th boy around the monkey cage
Would better keep away.
Old Song.
When the poet wrote of "bow dear
to his heart are the scenes of his child
hood" he may have been thinking of
an old oaken bucket, but If he had
taken thought No. 2 it is a safe ven
ture to say its object would have been
the scenes of circus day. From the
time of Noah, who ran the first me
nagerie, to Van Amburgh, Phineas T.
Barnum and the Rlngling boys, circus
day has all others "faded to a frazzle."
Bright boys are good when a Sunday
school picnic is in sight; they are bet
ter when Christmas approaches:
nothing but the superlative degree will
describe them when the circus bills
decorate the boards. It Is an inherit
ed trait, from the time "dad" got up
at daylight to watch the little old one
ring show trail into town over the
pike to the present day, when half a
dozen trainloads are hardly enough to
hold the aggregation of wonders that
threatens to make a man cross-eyed
and wall-eyed in his endeavor to see
the whole performance.
Bverybody wants to go and every
body should go. There Is relaxation
of the mind in watching the acts and
there is relaxation of the nether ex
tremities in leaving the board seats.
The circus Is the great democratic en
tertainment of the age, and is run spe
cially for parents and children. The
child who misses it has a bitter mem
ory all his life, and the father who
does not take his boy Is an old grouch.
TrMK TO CALX, IX THE ASSESSOR.
News dispatches from Pendleton
convey the information that the peo
ple of that city are considerably agi
tated because a water and power com
pany has filed on all the water of
Umatilla River just a few days before
the city Intended to locate a diversion
point for municipal purposes. Ac
cording to the view taken by the Pen
dleton people, this gives the power
company the upper hand and the city
must get permission from the com
pany to take water from Umatilla
River.
' But if Pendleton really wants water
from Umatilla River, this Is no time to
acquiesce In the claims of any rival
approprlator of water. This is the
time to get your fighting clothes on
and go after what you want. Take a
big stick along. The policy of lying
down and asking permission doesn't
pay. It Is one thing to file notice of
an appropriation of water, and quite
another thing to get the water. It is
one of the fundamental rules of law
In the appropriation of water that the
water must be put to a' beneficial use
within a reasonable time, and what
is a reasonable time depends upon the
circumstances of each particular case.
If the power company has actual use
for the water upon which It has filed,
there is no need to question its right
nor to ask its permission to take
water. If there is more water than
the power company needs for its own
use, Pendleton has a right to take it
without asking the power company's
permission. If the power company
has water to sell, or give away, that is
pretty good evidence that it has more
than it needs, and other appropriators
have a right to it. The law of appro
priation does not recognize any right
to seize water for speculative purposes.
Use is the measure of the right.
But, assuming that the power com
pany has use for the water, what
then? There are several things a good
fighter can do, but there is only one
course for a quitter. The quitter must
pay the price. The fighter can bring
a suit to condemn, and when the
owner of the water right places a val
uation upon it, the Assessor can be
quietly notified of the astonishingly
large addition to the value of taxable
property In the county. A good fighter
will manage to catch them either
a-coming or a-going, and. perhaps
both. If a water right has a high
value when the public wants to buy it,
it ought' to have a high value when
the public wants to tax It. The peo
ple of Oregon have been altogether
too slow finding that out, and some of
the Assessors and Boards of Equaliza
tion are so stupid they haven't found
It out yet. Perhaps some of them
never will.
A few years ago, it will be -remem
THE MORNING OREGOMAN, TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1908.
bered, the State of Oregon engaged in
litigation over the right to take a
small quantity of water from a ditch
at the state prison. The owner of the
ditch put an enormous valuation upon
the water, but a few months later,
when the Assessor listed the ditch at a
fraction of the valuation placed upon
it by the owner, there was a protest
and a vigorous contest. At various
times the state has been compelled to
buy land for its state institutions, and
almost invariably it has paid many
times the amount for which the prop
erty was assessed. There Is no sense
in such methods of doing "business.
If Pendleton wants to buy sdme
body's water right and wants to know
the value, don't send the Mayor or a
committee of the City Council around
to inquire what the property is worth.
Send the Assessor. That is a plan that
may well be commended to the favor
able consideration not only of Pendle
ton, but of the boards of trustees of
the State University, the Agricultural
College and other institutions that are
in need of additional land.
RADIATING DARKJiKSS.
Dr. Straton's theme at the White
Temple Sunday was the Bible,
and in elaborating It he seems
to have taken great pains to discredit
the results of modern scholarship and
enlightened research as much as he
possibly could. What any Christian
denomination has to gain by obscuring
perfectly well known truth It is diffi
cult to conceive. For example. Dr.
Straton undertook to defend the
moral character of the Jehovah of the
Pentateuch. Of course that tribal
deity needs no defense, since he was
precisely what he had to be In the
conditions of the people who adopted
him. It rs Just as wise to defend the
binomial theorem or the law of grav
itation as Jehovah. These things
should be explained, not defended.
To defend Jehovah or any other
tribal deity implies that we ought
still to conceive of the Almighty as
the primitive barbarians did. We
must renounce all those attributes of
love. Justice and mercy which we have
enshrined In the modern concept and
return to the being who hated every
body but the children of Israel, who
delighted in slaughter and who spared
neither old nor young in the fury of
his vengeance. The deity of the mod
ern church is a very different person
from this. Not even the Jews them
selves would think of picturing the
ruler of the universe as he appears In
the Pentateuch, for those progressive
people are hospitable to scholarship
and their religion moves with the ad
vancing world.
One cause of the weakened Influence
of the churches is the reluctance of
many ministers to accept demonstrated
facts. They cling to errors as if there
were something sacred about them.
Once a mistake Is made in forming a
creed or interpreting the Scriptures,
these deluded leaders seize upon It
with avidity and never give it up.
Surely, as Dr. Aked has so well said,
we must change this mental attitude
if we wish the church to retain its
proper place in the world.
THE FILL DINNER PAIL AT SALEM.
"The full dinner pail is not in evi
dence," complains Colonel E. Hofer,
edtior of the Capital Journal, whose
perpetual grouch must find expression
some way or other. . It is possibly
worth while to inquire just what the
"Colonel's" special grievance is and
upon what basis It rests.
When he says that the full dinner
pail is not in evidence he certainly
does not speak of his individual dinner
pail. An examination of the' issue of
his paper In which this complaint is
made shows that the business men of
Salem give him most liberal advertis
ing patronage. Salem has certainly
tried heroically to keep the Colonel's
dinner pail full, and its enterprising
citizens, it would seem, are entitled to
expressions of gratitude rather than
censure and complaint. When a man
has been given as much advertising
business as is indicated by the columns
of this one issue of the paper, it woujd
be absurd to say that his full dinner
pail Is not In evidence. The conclu
sion is inevitable that the Colonel was
not speaking of his own pall. It Is
full, surely.
Since the Journal is a local news
paper, making a survey of only a por
tion of the local field. It can scarcely
be assumed that he has gone out seek
ing evidence of a full dinner pail of
National 'prosperity. That Is out of
the question, so he must have been al
luding to the conditions In his own
Immediate locality or In the State of
Oregon. And yet it Is difficult to be
lieve that Hofer spoke thus of his
community dinner pall. The facts are
directly opposite to the declaration
quoted above. The full dinner pail Is
In evidence in the locality in which
the Hofer paper is published, and the
Colonel will so acknowledge If he will
cheer up a bit and look around him.
If news dispatches have told the truth,
Salem and Marlon County are exceed
ingly prosperous, and it is almost a
slander upon the enterprise and busi
ness sagacity of the people of that sec
tion of the state to say that the full
dinner pall is not In evidence.
Has not every man In Salem got
work If he wants it, and at wages
scarcely any lower than when It was
Impossible to get help enough a year
or two ago? If any man is out of
work in that part of the state, is it not
his own fault? Is it not a fact that
real estate transfers have been larger
and more numerous in Marion County
in the last few months than they have
been before for twenty years? Is not
Salem undertaking more public Im
provements now than ever before in
Its history? Is not every residence in
Salem occupied, and is there not a
clamor for more houses for the peo
ple to live in? Are the owners of
store buildings complaining that they
cannot find tenants? During the panic
last Fall was there the least doubt as
to the stability of Salem banks, which,
it was reported at the time, paid every
depositor all the money he wanted?
Has there not been more railroad con
struction work In progress in Salem
and vicinity in the past twelve months
than ever before, and has not the new
road done a paying business from the
day it sold its first through ticket and
accepted Its first carload of freight?
All these questions, it seems certain,
must be answered In such a way as to
discredit the assertion that the full
dinner pail is not in evidence up in
Salem. Nor does It appear that there
Is Just cause for complaint as to the
fullness of the more extensive dinner
pall of Marion County. Crops have
been immense and prices are reason
ably high for all products except. hops,
and. as everybody knows, the price of
this commodity may take a 'boom at
any time. There have been no recent
reports of foreclosure of mortgages on
Marion County farms, nor do the
names of Marlon County farmers or
business men appear In the recent rec
ords of the bankruptcy courts. On
the contrary, a number of Salem capi
talists have found their dinner pails
so full that they came down to Port
land and Invested money in city real
estate, with the result that . they
doubled their money and took the
profit back home with them.
In view of all these circumstances,
one must take Issue with the state
ment that the full dinner pall is not in
evidence. It is in evidence. The first
intimation to the contrary Is the as
tonishing declaration on the speckled
editorial page of the Hofer paper.
But if it were not in evidence, would it
help matters any to go about the
country parading that fact? Would it
bring new settlers or encourage the
investment of new capital? Cheer up;
smile a little; boost, don't knock. It
is only Imagination that makes you
think your own dinner pail is not full.
It is full, notwithstanding your desire
to add a piece of pie in the form of a
Gubernatorial salary.
Hard-surface streets are not an un
mixed blessing. They don't always
furnish a foothold for horses. In such
weather as prevailed here yesterday
many animals were terrified when
driven on roadways having a slight
grade. At every step they slipped.
Some of them fell. . After a short sea
son of dry weather, the firs!, rains fall
ing on a layer of dust make a paste,
and the surface of the street is as if
oiled. Horses can scarcely stand. It
is Impossible for them to draw a load
uphill or. to sustain it downhill unless
they are shod with long calks and
these not worn smooth. Driving a
horse with flat, worn shoes on such a
pavement may not be cruelty to ani
mals, within the meaning of the stat
utes, but it is painful to the spectator
and involves unnecessary danger.
Proper shoeing of draft horses to meet
new conditions is a timely subject for
the Humane Society as well as the
owners of teams and managers of
transfer companies.
When the donkey engine superseded
the ox team as -a motive power in
dragging logs from the forest, the cost
of producing logs was materially re
duced. Now we have the donkey en
gine in use in clearing land from
fallen trees and- stumps. The engine
not only pulls the dead trees together,
but piles them up so that they will
burn easily. This is work that men
could scarcely do with any number of
ox teams. Tillamook has apparently
been the first section of the state to
use . the donkey engine in clearing
land, but there should be general
adoption of that method wherever
there are extensive acres to clear. In
Tillamook, and in all the coast coun
ties, logged-off land, even though the
stumps be left, produces an abundance
of pasturage the year round. It is
worth while to clear the land of logs
even if it be used for nothing but
pasture.
The rattlesnake warns its intended
victim before it strikes. The hyena
snarls in defiant tones before It makes
an attack. The untamed Indian ut
tered his war whoop before he
sprang upon his enemy with toma
hawk in hand. But Peter Cooper
Hains and his brother stole unawares
upon their victim and shot him as he
stood helpless In a canoe, unarmed
and unable to grapple with his assail
ants. One of them had not the cour
age to go alone on the murderous er
rand. They planned the killing care
fully, taking pains that they should be
well armed, and their victim stripped
to a bathing suit. There is not the
slightest indication of insanity. All
the evidence points to a depravity
which places these murderers a little
lower in the animal world than the
rattlesnake, the hyena and the savage.
When Thaw was on trial the court
held that whether the stories his wife
told him were true or not was Imma
terial to the case. The fact that she
told them and that they had an influ
ence upon his mind was what made
the evidence sufficient. Now, quite
likely, we shall see a repetition of this
ruling In the Hains case. Mrs. Hains
made a confession, so it is said.
Whether she was any more true In her
confession than she had been in her
past life will not be material.
From her sick bed over in Seattle
the discarded wife - says she has
suffered so much herself that she has
no desire to make others suffer; so she
probably will not prosecute her faith
less husband. It is a good thing to
live in an orderly town like Portland,
where the people- let the law take its
course instead of taking summary ac
tion against a man who thus wrongs a
woman.
Bryan ought to.be able to write a
book on the "Third Battle," for it Is
so different from his "First Battle"
that there would be plenty of ma
terial. It might bother him to get as
much per word for it as Roosevelt is
to get for his stories of African Jun
gles, but if it should sell as well as the
"First Battle" it would not be a bad
venture.
T. Jenkins Hains, who wielded one
of the revolvers at the murder of An
nis, is said to be a novelist, but he evi
dently has not worked at It success
fully enough to become known as
such. Perhaps he figured that it would
help the sale of his stories If he Jellied
some one. But it won't.
' It is argued with all seriousness that
if the restricted district be abolished
and the inhabitants driven out the
city would become unsafe for decent
women. How would it do to put hal
ters on a certain class of men and tie
them up?
They are going to break the news
today as gently as possible to Candi
date Kern. It is generally believed in
Indiana that he will accept, for he has
never been known to dodge anything
but a barber.
Bill Squlers has lost that world'B
championship again. However, Bill Is
doing very well for a pugilist that
never had a championship or won a
fight.
Mr. Bryan won't speak at the Syra
cuse (N. Y.) fair 'because they are go
ing to charge an admission fee. Now
we know he isn't the same Bryan.
That Eugene bull was unquestion
ably a most valuable animal. No
otber kind ars run over by trains.
WOMEN ON-THE STREETCARS.
Thl Writer Says They Are Uniformly
Courteous.
PORTLAND. Aug. 24. (To the Editor.)
With a heart yet warm with gratitude
for spontaneous expressions of sympathy
for weakness, extended by women of
Portland to an unknown member of their
sex, I am impalled to enter a protest
against our wholesale condemnation by
THe Sunday Oregonlan editorial, "A Phase
of Feminine Selfishness."
The gentleman from Willamette Heights
was indignant at what he saw, which
was. certainly, an unfortunate exhibition
of thoughtlessness and indifference on the
part of gentlewomen. He stated facts
as they occurred, hoping for improve
ment upon their presentation, . and left
the matter there. But the subject must
certainly have touched a sensitive spot
in the editor's mind, for. devoting two
thirds of a column of space to express
ing his sentiments, he just includes the
entire female population of Portland in
one class and gives them all a good
scolding.
I doubt not but It will do us good, and
we will try to improve, but I must af
firm that that occurrence of the woman
with the baby in her arms .being allowed
to stand in the streetcar is a most un
usual incident .for Portland. I have many
times seen men and women give .heir
seats to women with babes, and to men,
too, without it being considered an un
usually creditable thing to do.
I am defending a large portion of Port
land women against what I feel to be
unjust denunciation because of my own
experience. Having lately, through a
minor accident, been compelled for a
time to use a crutch, and to use the
streetcars also, I have been greatly im
pressed with the protecting care and sym
pathy extended me both by the carmen
and the passengers.
Upon entering a car. the ladies do not
wait for the gentlemen to rise when the
seats are all taken; I never passed
through the door once, with my crutch in
hand, before some daintily-gowned, sweet
faced young woman or girl sprang to her
feet and beckoned to me. I have been
deeply touched at this constant action,
and feel that I must pay this tribute of
love to the gentle hearts of our young
women. In some instances, perhaps, some
of us deserve the scathing rebuke of the
editor, and it will help to improve our
manners, but there are many, many
women in Portland I believe a large ma
jority of those usually called "represent
ative" who do not deserve one word of
the editor's severe censure.
ONE WOMAN.
It only needs to be added that the writer
of this communication Is a very well
known woman, who "doesn't want her
name used," since It will call attention
to her misfortune. Isn't It Just possible
that that fact, viz., her wide acquaint
ance,, may have a little to do with the
great consideration and courtesy every
where extended to her by women" and
men? ,
Where Hide the MnckrakcraT
Des Moines Capital.
Where are the jaundiced irresponslbles
who some time ago sought to defame the
fair name of William B. Allison through
yellow magazine articles by picturing him
as one who had fattened financially
through opportunities afforded In Govern
mental service?
We note the following paragraph in the
New York Globe:
"During the heyday of the muckrakers
one David Graham Phillips in his series
on 'The Treason of the Senate' featured
the late Senator Allison as a multi-millionaire
who had amassed his wealth
while in public life. The will of the de
parted Senator was read yesterday; and
it appears that his estate was worth less
than $100,000 a few pieces of real estate
and odds and ends not a dollar in the se
curities affected by legislation in which
Senators are represented as trafficking.
And 25 years chairman of the Senate
committee on appropriations. Senator Al
lison disbursed ten billions of money.'
The foregoing is a sample expression of
sentiment which may be found in nearly
every newspaper in the country Just now.
The people who a year or so ago were
wont to give ear to the space-filling sensation-mongers
in their malignings of the
best men in our public service are realiz
ing today that they were listening to a
pack of as conscienceless liars as ever
disgraced American Journalism.
Within five years the journalistic muck
raker will be the object of universal con
tempt. Toy Railroad for the Csar's Son.
. Chicago Inter Ocean.
A pretty story relating to the recent
meeting of President Fallieres and the
Czar- of all the Russlas at Reval has
just become public.
The Czar's son, who accompanied his
imperial parents, quickly made friends
with the President, and on discovering
what a magnificent present M. Fallieres
had brought with him the lad was elm
ply delighted.
It was an electric railway, with sta
tions, tunnels, viaducts and engines and
trains, all worked by means of an in
genious electrical device. This toy cost
more than $1500.
The little Prince went up to the
President and. taking off his hat, said:
"Mr. President, I do not know how to
thank you sufficiently for your mag
nificent present, and I hope that when
I grow up ray father will allow me to
come and see you.".
Sight of Ambulance Ciirfi Him.
Pottstown (Pa.) Dispatch to Chicago
Inter Ocean.
Driver Klrlin. of the Good Will Fire
Company's ambulance ran Into a peculiar
experience when he was called out to
take Isaac Bauerman to the hospital.
Scarcely able to walk from threatened
blood poisoning, resulting from stepping
on a rusty nail. Bauerman got one
glimpse of the ambulance as it stopped
In front of his home, and then all his
physical disability disappeared. With a
bound he reached the door of. his home
and locked it. All the persuasion of
neighbors failed to get him to open the
door.
He had mistaken the ambulance for an
undertaker's wagon, for he said that he
did not want to be buried until he was
dead.
Bryan "Feels the Need."
Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
As the campaign advances, Mr. Bryan
seems to feel the need of making some
little political capital out of the panic.
Had the conservative Democrats con
trolled the party and named the candi
date, the panic and the hard times
would have been their strong suit. Re
publican responsibility for' the business
smash-up would have been thundered
from every political stump. Mr. Bryan,
however, exonerated President Roose
velt personally from all blame, and
in so doing he wag consistent. Inas
much as he had claimed to be the
original exponent of Mr. Roosevelt's
policy.
New Railroad of Twists and Turns.
Kansas City Star.
On the new extension of the St. Paul
road through the Northwest, in one sec
tion, in a stretch of 117 miles there are
tl6 bridges, the line going from Fergus
County, Montana, into Yellowstone' Coun
ty 59 times and returning to Fergus
County 58 times. ,
Smugsled CMunn'i Neckties Betray.
. Washington (D. C.) Dispatch..
Ten Chinamen, smuggled from Canada
into the United States via House's Point,
were betrayed because each pair wore
neckties of the same pattern and color.
In order, it is said, to be identified as
relatives by other Chinamen.
STORED-IP WATER FOR ARID LAND
Favors New I, aw Creatine; Reservoirs
Distant From Water Supply Source.
PENDLETON, Or., Aug. 24. (To the
Editor.) From time to time The Ore
gbnlan makes editorial mention of the
need of a revision of the irrigation and
water laws of Oregon.
It seems that there is one needed
change or addition to the water code
of Oregon which should be made by
the coming- session of the Legislature,
and which so far The Oregonlan has
not mentioned. This is a provision by
which stored water and reservoir sys
tems might bo utilized in declaiming
the arid lands which are situated at
some distance from the source of water
supply.
As It is, we have laws regulating the
turning of the usual flow of water out
of streams, transporting it by canals
and ditches to the land, but we have no
law by which water may be stored on
the upper rivers and transported down
the channel to the property of those
storing it. To illustrate:
Suppose A, B and C own 1000 acres
of land at the mouth of the Umatilla
River, but there is not enough water in
the ordinary flow of the river to re
claim this. The entire amount of water
in the river has been filed upon by
prior rights, and A, B and C cannot
secure an inch from the ordinary flow
of the stream. The result is their arid
land remains arid; Instead of being
worth from $500 to $1000 per acre as
fruit land, it is worth nothing, adds
nothing to the taxable property of the
county and is a menace to settlement,
because it harbors weeds, thistles,
squirrels and other pests.
Suppose that Oregon had a law al
lowing A. B and C to go to the head
waters of the Umatilla River, where
hundreds of square miles o mountain
surface sends down millions of Inches
of water to waste each year, and build
a reservoir to hold water for irrigating
their 1000 acres 30 miles below. Sup
pose they were permitted by law to
measure Into the channel of the Uma
tilla River 1000 inches, or 6000 or 10,000
inches to be diverted by them at their
headgate'30 miles below, regardless of
Intervening water rights, headgates or
ditches. They would simply use the
channel of the river to transport their
stored water from the mountain reser
voir to their land and would not Inter
fere with the ordinary flow of the riv
er. They would turn in 10,000 inches
and allow say 10 per cent for evapora
tion, seepage and waste, and would
then turn out 9000 inches as their own
property, 30 miles away, where their
arid land is situated.
If Oregon had such a law. It would
reclaim hundreds of thousands of acres
now lying idle. But as it is now, every
drop of water running in the channel
of a etream belongs to the vested
rights on that stream. There Is no pro
vision for storing and transporting
water through the channels of streams.
Under the storage law, hundreds of
reservoirs could be bullded In the high
mountains to catch the waste water of
Winter and Spring, and then as this
water was needed by its owners below,
they could measure it out into the
channel of the stream, transport It 10,
20 or 30 miles to their headgate. and
turn It on their land. This would not
interfere with vested rights along the
streams, but would be an actual benefit
to the adjacent lands by keeping a flow
of water in the stream at its low
stages, when ordinarily it would be
almost dry.
In all of the Eastern Oregon counties
are hundreds of sites for reservoirs
high up . in the mountains, where im
mense quantities of waste water might
be stored in Winter and Spring. If
this water could be transported to arid
lands below, It would work a revolu
tion in the agricultural development
of the state. It would give individuals
and companies the right to pool to
gether and store this water of the flood
seasons and transport it to needy land
In the dry periods, and thus transform
many of the idle tracts into homes and
verdant fields.
Another benefit of this storage law
would be that It would prevent floods.
With the gates of reservoirs open to
catch any unusual flow of water, the
most threatening flood might thus be
dissipated and distributed into the
waiting reservoirs, and thus become,
not a menace, but an instrument for
the development of the country.
There could be no objection to this
law permitting the storage of water,
from any interests, in existence. It
would not take from vested rights one
iota of their privileges; it would not
divide up the flow of any stream; it
would not take a drop of water from
any man, company or municipality, but
It would allow land-owners to go into
the watersheds of the mountains and
create a new supply. This new supply
would be the absolute property of the
owners. It could be measured Into the
stream by" Inches and measured out
again, Inch for Inch, under state con
trol. It would not hinder or affect the
operation of any ditch, canal, headgate.
power plant or any other river prop
erty. It would simply give the people, of
the state the right to store waste
water, hold It as their property and
use It as they saw fit, using the nat
ural channel of the river to transport
It to their land.
1 hope The Oregonlan will give this
careful consideration and urge it upon
the coming Legislature. It is even
more important to the people of Oregon
than Statement No. 1.
BERT HUFFMAN.
Dos; Wins His Own Case.
New York Times.
At a recent reception in New York,
Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor, was pre
sented to a well-nown society woman.
The latter looked at him hesitatingly for
a moment, then said.
"Yes, I am certain. I am very glad
to see you again, Mr. Borglum."
"I haven't the great pleasure of re
membering." replied the sculptor.
"Yes, it was in Los Angeles." said the
woman, "and you were the defendant in
a police court case."
Borglum was flabbergasted, but man
aged to stammer out that he was never
In a police court In his life.
Then the woman explained. It seems
that Mr. Borglum. whe- in pr-'m-" i' -fornia.
owned a magnificent English mas
tin. The dog was amiable, but the chil
dren of the neighbor were frightened
by its great, size, and so. one morning
the dog's owner was arrested on the
charge of allowing a vicious animal to
run at rarge. The JudRe ordered the ani
mal to be brought in, and the great beast
gravely marched down the aisle to the
bench, and, putting a huge paw on the
Judge's knee. looked solemnly into his
face. The case was at once nonsuited.
Mr. Bryan FIntters the Printers.
Philadelphia Enquirer.
"If I am not a printer myself." ex
claimed W. J. Bryan at the banquet of
the Lincoln (Neb.) Typographical Union,
"I have given printers more work to do,
I think, than any other man in the United
States."
Mr. Bryan's boast would be unimpeach
able If he had not left one little word out.
No man in the United States has had the
distinction of supplying the printers of
the country with three "bootless"
speeches of acceptance as nominee for
the Presidency of the said States. .
Walter Refuses to Accept Tip!
Baltimore News.
When Honus Muller, a waiter in a
restaurant in New York, refused to ac
cept a tip. the walking delegate of the
Walters' Union threatened to call a strike
unless Muller were Instantly discharged.
The matter is under discussion.
MR. TAFT AND THE METHODISTS
Dr. Cllne Ssys It Isn't So Then "Goes
After" Unitarians and Catholics.
PORTLAND, Aug. 24. (To the Ed
itor.) Just why my good friend
Dr. Dyott, in his sermon published in
this morning'e Oregonlan, should. des
ignate the Methodists as being dissat
isfied with Mr. Taffs religious predi
lections is not easy to understand..
About the only expression thus far re
ported on the matter was from a negro
convention and an Eastern Chautauqua,
where a big crowd at the latter, not
more Methodists, perhaps, than others,
responded enthusiastically to an ex
pression of regret by one of the speak
ers that the next probable President
refused to accept the divinity of Jesus
Christ
Dr. Dyott likewise, In showing the
favorable attitude of the Presbyterian
Church toward the Republican nominee,
failed to mention the fart that at a
great Methodist missionary meeting In
New York ity not long ago, pub
lished in the Associated Press dis
patches, Mr. Taft was one of the prin
cipal speakers. It Is taken for granted
that Dr. Dyott, by some means, failed
to have knowledge of that occurrence.
A second reading of the sermon
synopsis, however, leads one to think
that the speaker set out. among other
things, to eulogize Unitarianism, not
a difficult task, by the way, for a Con
gregationalism as the two denomina
tions have been good backdoor neigh
bors a long time. In this connection it
may be noted that the Congregational
School of Theology at.Andover has Just
gone over boot and baggage to the
Unitarians at Harvard.
It is not surprising that everything
in relation to a candidate for the Presi
dency should be brought out. It has
always been so, and it is no secret that
Mr. Blaine's Interest in the Roman
Catholic Church cost him the Presi- ,
dent's chair. And Mr. Taft may expect
that what most people regard-as grant
ing that church the big end of a sharp
bargain in payment for church claims
in the Philippines and Porto Rico will
not be overlooked at the ballot-box in
November. An ecclesiastical hierarchy
that has proved a menace, to good gov
ernment in Germany, Italy, France,
Mexico and every other place where It
has had the right of way, may expct
to be watched in a republican form of
government like ours. In the opinion
(which is worth but little) of this '
writer, a man's church affiliations
should not enter Into the consideration
where his whole character is most ex
traordinary, like that of Mr. Taft. Nor
is it well, on the other hand, to at
tempt to pummel honest, plain men,
Buch as marched out at their country's
call In 1861, and now are many of them
in the evangelical churches, into some
thing or anything they do not and will
not like. They are mostly, with their
descendants, a hardhearted lot. Only a
small percentage are Methodists. Re
ligious convictions, right or wrong, are
hard to Jostle. Tirades from the pul
pit, as well as ironical editorials In
The Oregonlan, will prove futile.
C. E. CLINE.
SNAKE RITES A FRUITGROWER.
Varlely of Accidents Happen to Fred
Morgan, Near Ashland, Or.
Ashland Valley-Record.
Fred Morgan was bitten by a rattle
snake this side of the Tyler plaL-e on
the Ashland-Klamath Falls stage road
last Friday and badly poisoned. Mr.
Morgan was taking a load of fruit to
Klamath Falls and at the creek stopped
to let his horses drink. A large rattle
snake was on the scene for the same
purpose and Mr. Morgan felt the time
worn instinct creeping into his blood and
proceeded to get down off the wagon
and bruise the serpent's head. The
rattler was seemingly retiring to a
clump of brush when Morgan grabbed
at a piece of board in the vicinity of
the rattler's tail and was startled with
the rapidity with which the Rattler
fronted and socked his three-ouartei-lnch
fangs Into the middle linger of
his right hand, clean to the bone with
both strikes and discharging Its load
of poison into the flesh.
Morgan's companion soon dispatched
the rattler, which measured five and
one half feet in length, and was as
thick as a man's arm and had his tall
ornamented with eight rattles and a
button.
Unexpected and unavoidable circum
stances developed In -his arrival in Ash
land, and it was five hours before
Morgan arrived at the Southern Ore
gon Hospital with his arm tightly ban
daged to obstruct the passage of the
poison through his system. His finger
was cut to let the poisoned blood run
out and three pints of whiskey in his
stomach and one pint injected fail to
make him drunk. One-thirtieth of a
grain of strychnine every two hours,
All night, was administered to help the
whiskey undo the work of the rattler's
stock of goods. Mr. Morgan was un
conscious and had a close call before
being brought through, his . critical
poisoning..
Mr. Morgan had only been out of the
hospital a brief time, as Just a week
to the very hour he met with an ac
cident at the C. C Fisher place near
the Normal School, that came within
a moment of sending him to his etern
ity for a reckoning with the powers that
be. While employed sinking a well.
Morgan had lit a fuse and the horse
had drawn him to the surface with a
rope tied around his waist. As he was
placing his hands on the curbing, on
the top of the well, the rope broke and
he went down 35 feet and struck the
back of his head such a stunning blow
that It required several stitches to
bring the wound together. Though
badly stunned, he was Just conscious
enough to gather himself together and
extinguish the burning fuse a second
before the deadly discharge was pre
pared to take place.
Insists That Eve Was Negress.
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rev C. F. Choolzzll. B. S.. M. A., grad
uate of King. College, Oxford, Trinity
College, University of Berlin, special ec-,
cleslastlcal envoy of King Menelek of
Abyssinia, and descendant of a ine of
ecclesiastical priests of Abyssinia 300
years old. is visiting here. He is telling
the blacks that Eve was a negress. that
Moses was a negro, that Solomon was a
negro, and that Homer was a negro.
His present business In this country
is to tell the blacks to go back to Africa,
where he says they belong. He bases
his assertion that Moses was a negro on
a Biblical story to the effect that God
told Moses to put his hand in his bosom
and that when Moses drew the hand out
it was white; therefore he must have
been black.
CONJUGAL COMMENT.
The bride Just think of it. dearest, fifty
year from yesterday will be our golden
annlverary. Brooklyn Life.
Mrs. Benham Death love a shining
mark. Benham 1 wish your mother had
more pollBh. The Bohemian.
Mr. Bacon Now. I want you to act natu
ral when we are In church. Mr. Bacon
Don't be lUy! How am I to act natural
when 1 can-t talk? Yonker Statesman
... v nn n,l,t,li " Snlri TtlfkS.
wwn -- ...
angrily, a he tried to eat one of hi wire
biscuits, but couian t. i wish jou wr,,
returned Mr. Hicks. "I'd get a few featn
ers for my hat." Globe.
Wife Cwho always look on the cheerful
Bide of thins, to- husband who has put the
lighted end of hi cigar in hi mouth) How
lucky you were. dear, to discover It Imme
diately! London Opinlcn.
Mr. Newlywed My husband admire
everything about me my voire, my eyes,
my form, my hanls! Friend "And what do
you admlro about him? Mrs. Newlywed
Hi good taste. Philadelphia Prea.
(