THE MORXIXG OREGOXIAX, ' FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1908.
lO -
I-OBTLAND, OREGON.
Entsred at Portland. Orecon. Postoffloe as
econd-Claae Matter.
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Eastern Buidorsa Office The a. C. Beck'
with Special Agency New York, rooms 48
C0 Tribune bui.dlng. chicafo, rooms 610-613
riDjot DUlMling.
rOKTLA.NI. FRIDAY, SEPT. IS. 1SOS.
MERELY A PHOTOGRAPH.
. The modern man Is a civilized be
ing:. He may live under conditions
widely variant. He may live as a
"citified" person, where they force the
search of the heads of your children
with the fine-tooth comb before they
can enter the schools, or as a pioneer
In the wilds, where no city or village
ordinances or other vermin of clvili
zation trouble, and you go out and
kill your deer or catch your fish for
breakfast, and make a kitchen-midden
in your back-yard. One may live in
the city where they require pavements
and the owner is forced to tear up
the old pavements which are perfectly
good forced to tear them up because
the paving; company wants a Job and
levies on property which it thinks so
valuable that it can be compelled to
pay; while mud-holes everywhere in
and around the city, are left undis
turbed because the grafters know
they mustn't go too far. They can't
make much money out of cheap, yet
sufficient pavements; so they insist
ou tearing up, and paving, over and
over again, the streets that already are
sufficiently paved, and with slight re
pairs would last another ten or twenty
years. So of your plumbing and your
lighting. The city directs everything,
in the name of the pu'jllc health, but
chiefly in the interest of grafters, in
search of jobs. You may live In the
country and be free, or measurably
free, from all this; but if you insist
on living in the city or towns, or
village, you must make the drainage
of your house conform to regulations
that will pay a profit to the grafters,
who have the business so "arranged"
that the work will cost you two or
three or four prices, and who have
such combinations with the dealers
that you can't even buy a "T" or a
"washer" for your water pipes, but
you must pay four profits to multi
tudinous Intermediates to have them
put in. Tou pay enormous prices for
the Improvement of your streets and
for "smooth-surface" pavements, that
the automoblllst may speed over them,
while you are in fear of your life as
you dodge him; yet you have no auto
mobile, and. because you maintain the
street and pay your debts, can't afford
to keep one.
Perhaps you have a house or two,
which you let to tenants. Tou put the
house in first-class condition, and let
it as you suppose, to civilized beings.
But the people, most likely, never
lived in a decent house. They wreck
It. destroy the glass, locks and faucets,
let the water from the pipes, mingled
with their own slops, run over and
through the ceilings and down the
walls, and make a nuisance In the
back yard. Then the Inspector for
the city physician will come and tell
you that you are responsible for the
filth of your tenants. Tou would
have been rid of them gladly, long ago,
but they defy you. The law protects
them in their tenancy; you can't force
them out till after a long and tedious
and costly process and when finally
you do get rid of them they are away
behind In their rent, which of course
you will never get, and the house Is
in such condition that you must spend
a great deal of money on it before
anybody, even of the class who left
It, will enter it again.
Such Is the "civilization" of the
city. But these hogs are specially
coddled and protected by the ordin
ances of the city and the laws of the
state. And so are the grafters, who
work the paving and plumbing and
lighting and other contracts. Ail of
which explains why it will not pay to
build dwellings for rent in the town
or city, and why the country, where
decent people may, to an extent, have
their own way, is a good place to live.
Thirty thousand people, who live in
suburbs of Portland, in their own
homes object to annexation to the
city, for these and similar reasons.
They are unwilling to be held up.
04MkI ADVERTISEMENT FOR PORTLAND
In securing a drydock Job at a fig
ure approximately $14,000 lower than
the best bid submitted on Puget Sound,
the Port of Portland drydock has given
this city some world-wide advertising
that cannot fail to be beneficial to the
port. The coming of the steamer
Beechley to Portland for repairs after
an unsuccessful attempt to have the
work done at a reasonable figure on
Puget Sound is a valuable Indorsement
of the new policy of the Port of Port
land regarding drydock fees, and will
enable the port to win back some of
the prestige lost In an effort to earn
large dividends when the dock was
first completed. The drydock was
built more for the purpose of attract
ing shipping to the port than in the
belief that there would be a large
profit in its operation.
Prior to its construction a great
many shipowners either refused to
send or were very much averse to
sending their vessels here. Their pref
erence for ports provided with drydock
facilities was in some cases notice
able in demands for increased freight
rates, while underwriters demanded
higher insurance rates than were
quoted at ports where there were fa
cilities for repairing damaged vessels.
The drydock has removed many of the
objections that were made to the port,
but at no time since its construction
has it received the patronage that its
location warranted. That this was
due to unreasonably high rates was
shown by the sending of the dredge
Chinook to San Francisco for docking,
and by the loss of the business of
other owners who had given the dock
a trial.
The old policy of high rates was
detrimental to the interests of the
port, not only because it prevented
shipping from coming here to dock,
but the 'fixed charges" against the
dock were running on whether it was
earning anything or whether it was
idle. The Beechley is the first large
vessel to come here since the new rate
schedule was placed in effect, but the
terms are so satisfactory that in the
future the dock will probably be in
use nearly all of the time.
TI.S A PERVERSE WORLD.
They say the cost of living con
stantly Increases. No doubt it does,
with great numbers; in many or most
cases it is because the style and man
ner of living are more costly. All
who can afford it and many who can't
live in better, higher and more costly
style than aforetime. They have many
things now they didn't have, and bet
ter things. Of course the cost is
higher.
But passing this by, if the cost of
living, the cost of staple articles of
food and clothing, are greater, who is
to blame? Who makes the exaction?
Who gets the money? The farmer
doesn't think it out of the way to get
best prices he can for his wheat, po
tatoes, eggs, poultry and apples. He
feels indeed that he doesn't get
enough. Workers in the cities can't
get cheap produce without oppression
of the workers in the country; and the
farmer, paying the wages he must pay,
usually has little or nothing left.
On the whole Mr. Bryan, with all
his fine oratory, will not be able to
satisfy everybody on this subject. High
wages and cheap living never will go
together in this perverse world.
A CHECK TO "EARLY MATURITY"
The Oregonian would suggest as sup
plementary reading for high school
students a sketch found in Colonel
Richard Malcolm Johnston's "Dukes
borough Tales," published in 1871, en
titled "The Early Maturity" of Mr.
Thomas Watts. The swift transition
from "Tommy Watts" to "Mr. Thomas
Watts," beginning with his ardent
love for his schoolteacher, a young
woman twice his age. and the
sudden revulsion caused by the
vigorous application to his anat
omy of the maternal slipper
upon the discovery of his state of
mind by his mother, might convey a
salutary lesson to High School boys
who in their own estimation have sud
denly become men. It would also
support the opinion of bedeviled Chi
cago educators that certain recalci
trant "frats" of that city "ought to be
spanked."
Maternal exhaustion from the exer
cise imposed by the vigorous applica
tion of the strap was fast approach
ing, so runs Colonel Johnston's story,
when Tommy declared that his mother
would kill him If he didn't stop.
"That," she answered between breaths,
"is what I aims to do if I can't git it
all all, every spang passel of it
outen you." Tommy, breathless, de
clared "It was all gone."
"Is you a man, or is you a boy?"
asked the panting but still determined
mother.
"Boy, boy, mammy," cried Tom.
"Let me up, mammy, and I'll be a boy
as long as I live."
The efficacy of this treatment in
checking too early maturity as evinced
by defying control during school days
cannot be doubted. The trouble is
that parents neglect to apply it at the
right time and in the right place.
POPl'LAR ORATORS.
The campaign news thus far, is
mostly Bryan news. Every day The
Oregonian prints extended reports of
the movements a-nd campaign speeches
of Bryan and his suppbrters. It Is
supplied mainly by the Associated
Press, which always is strictly non
partisan, and handles the news of
parties and the news of party activi
ties as it may come along. In the
Republican campaign there has been
little doing thus far; nothing in fact.
But activity is promised from the be
ginning of next week.
In his former campaigns and espe
cially in 1896, Mr. Bryan was active
from the very beginning. He traveled
in all directions, through many states,
and addressed great crowds every
where. In free coinage of silver he
had a most "taking" appeal, and his
unusual talent for stump speaking en
abled him to make the most of
it. On the Republican side the
campaign was almost silent till about
September 20. Then it began with
great vigor. In 1896, as now, The
Oregonian was loaded with reports of
the Democratic campaign long before
the Republican campaign began.
Whether an effort so vigorous will be
made on the Republican side this year
may be doubted; but activity in one
party begets the like in another, and
the Bryan forces may now by their
activity be awakening a latent energy
in their opponents that could not
otherwise be roused.
Bryan is an excellent popular
stumper; Taft is not. The popular
orator pleases the miscellaneous audi
ence, yet Bryan never says anything
of importance. He does his work as
an actor. And in oratory, "action is
eloquence, and the eyes of the multi
tude more learned than their ears.
Probably the greatest popular speaker
our country ever knew was Henry
Clay. His charm was unequalled. It
captivated all who heard him; and the
matter of his speeches was better than
Bryan's. But he failed, though often
nominated, to reach the Presidency.
Those who heard hjm were not con
vinced. It may be that the times
have so changed, and that severity of
thinking has been lost with change of
the times, that Bryan now may accom
plish what Clay never could. But
hitherto the "vox et praeterea nihil"
has not sufficed to convince the people
of the United States, or to prevail
with them. Taft makes good and
sound speeches, but he Is not an ora
tor. All the better, however. Is he
for that: for never yet was a popular
orator who was a man of judgment
in affairs. Greatest of thinkers and
statesmen who have spoken English
was Burke; but he was no orator at
all. His orations are immortal in
print, but he never could hold or
please an audience. The thinker never
is a popular speaker and the popular
speaker never can be depended on as
a practical man of action.
Whether Taft will gain strength
by going out on the speaking tours
he proposes may be doubted. He will
talk sense, but will not deliver it in
the manner of a spell-binder. He will
not carry the average audience into
realms of imaginative delight, where
the real facts of life appear in an In
verted order. It Is not his gift to make
audiences drunk with ecstacy, and to
make them think they see the things
that are not. Nor was It the gift of
Abraham Lincoln. His speeches were
plain and quiet, yet direct utterances.
Merely as an orator he was no match
for Douglas.
Thus far, our people have not been
greatly moved, certainly they have not
been controlled by campaign oratory.
As Clay and Douglas were unequalled
in their time, so was Blaine. And so
is Bryan. Following the analogies,
we should suppose Bryan would not
prevail. He has not prevailed
hitherto. But we do not say the
times have not changed, and that he
may not find success now. Oratory,
however, mere oratory, the trick and
skill and gift of speaking in public for
electrification of audiences, has not
hitherto prevailed in the United States.
AN IMPOTENT EFFORT.
Few persons would dissent from the
opinion that such performances as the
digging up of the new pavement at
Twelfth and Alder streets indicate a
serious defect of some kind in the
plan of the city government. There
may be men so wedded to their idols
that they believe our present plan of
government to be perfect in spite of
the fact that it permits such outrages
as this upon the taxpayers, -but such
blinded worshipers of precedent cannot
be numerous. Granting that a defect
is indicated, what is it? Whatever it
may be it is something which encour
ages lack of forethought in those who
administer the city's, affairs. The man
who ordered the Twelfth-street pave
ment to be torn up might just as well
have put the fire hydrant in place be
fore the hard surface was laid down.
Why did he not do so? Because the
system of "checks and balances" under
which we live makes nobody definitely
responsible for indifference and neg
lect; it gives no stimulus to fore
thought; it falls to co-ordinate the
work of the city. Each official plans
for himself without reference to what
anybody is doing. The Water Depart
ment and Fire Department say notice
was not given, in time to enable the
work to be done' in. advance of the
paving.
In these cases and they are of con
stant occurrence there is no respon
sibility anywhere, because there is
no superintending authority . over all
the city's affairs. Tet such authority,
compelling co-ordination and co-operation,
would be entirely practicable
and easy. In fact, however, no proper
correspondence now exists between
various branches of the city govern
ment. Every man in charge of a de
partment "goes it on his own hook."
There is no superior with adequate
authority to call him to book and
stimulate his industry. Under our
system Indolence is encouraged, thrift
less hand-to-mouth methods thrive,
and capable energy is virtually for
bidden to be exercised. The effect of
the famous "checks and balances" is
to extirpate capacity from every de
partment of the city government and
replace it by shifty timeserving. There
is nobody to plan the business of the
city and therefore it Is not planned.
It goes on in a helter-skelter, htippy-go-lucky
manner, piling up wreck,
ruin and waste. The lawyers rejoice
because it makes fees for them. The
officials rejoice because there is no
body to chide their incapacity and
the taxpayers mourn because their
money is wasted.
And the lawyer influence, that
makes money out of these conditions,
appears to be ascendant In the new
charter committee, fighting for the
"checks and balances" that make
strife and expense and Impotence In
the city's affairs. Better let the charter
remain as it is, till this Influence can
be eliminated from the effort to amend
it. The lawyers are all working for
future litigation.
MR. HILL'S BIRTHDAY.
James J. Hill has lived out the
three score and ten years which is
supposed to be the usual allotment of
time afforded mortals, and with the
seventieth milestone passed. Is appar
ently still full of vigor and energy. The
banquet tendered him Wednesday by
his old employes, many of whom had
spent most of their lives in his serv
ice, was a notable affair, and the ride
from St. Paul to Minnetonka behind
the pioneer engine William Crooks
must have awakened strange memories
in the minds of the guests. The in
tervening years since that pioneer en
gine first ran over the rails of the
Great Northern have witnessed the
transformation of the great Northwest
and the Far West from undeveloped
wilderness and plain into one of the
greatest wealth-producing regions on
earth.
In that comparatively brief period
Jim" Hill, the humble freight clerk
on the St. Paul docks, has become
one of the most commanding figures
In the industrial and financial world.
With tireless energy which seemed to
thrive and develop under the stress of
adversity, Mr. Hill, without any kind
of subsidy or Government aid, grad
ually pushed his railroad across the
continent, and where his surveyors
drove their grade stakes in virgin soil
and hewed their way through virgin
forests, fine cities and towns, farms
and orchards, now line the track from
the Great Lakes to the Pacific. All of
this has' been accomplished within
the lifetime of one man still hale and
hearty, and to a great extent by the
efforts of this one man who early in
life learned to
Breast the blows of circumstance
And grasp the skirts of happy chance.
This is an age of wonders and the
world Is moving so rapidly that the
comparatively obscure railroad man of
yesterday may be in the king row to
day. There may be greater railroad
builders and greater railroad finan
ciers than James J. Hill, but this coun
try has not yet produced his equal as
a man who, almost entirely by his in
dividual efforts, was able to finance,
build and operate a transcontinental
railroad. Much criticism has been
showered on Mr. Hill as well as on Mr.
Harriman. his chief competitor In the
railroad world, but the fact remains
that he is easily the most commanding
figure in railroading in the Pacific
Northwest, and so long as ha lives the
world will listen with the deepest in
terest to anything he has to say on
railroad or industrial matters.
James J. Hill, with his railroads,
made history in the great West and
Northwest, and the thousands of peo
ple who have earned innumerable mil
lions in money through the develop
ment of the West by his lines will all
hope that the seventieth milestone,
which he passed on Wednesday, is a j
long distance this side of the final sta-
Hon. In the lottery of life the world
does not draw many such prizes as
James J. Hill in one generation, and
there is accordingly a universal desire
that when we are favored with one he
should be spared for as many years
as possible.
The wisdom of protecting a fool
from the effects of his own folly has
always been questioned by some peo
ple, but the humane side of the case
has always appealed with sufficient
strength to win at least sympathy for
the victim. That Is the reason why
the gambler, and not the victim, and
the saloon-keeper and not the drunk
ard, come m for public condemnation
But the most hardened gambler that
ever ran a brace game, or the most
degraded saloon man that ever plied a
drunk with liquor, Is in many respects
an honorable citizen In comparison
with the Shylocks who prey off the
small-salaried men and cash their
warrants at such exorbitant discount
that the families of the foolish wage-
earners are forced to suffer. Port
land "has had many flagrant cases of
this pernicious form of graft, and
something should be done to prevent
these "brokers" from robbing their
clients in the shameless manner in
which they have been carrying on
their games in the past.
The steamer Lusltanla, which ar
rived at New Tork last week
brought a thousand steerage passen
gers, the largest number arriving on
a single steamer since the panic of a
year ago. This incident would seem
to have quite an Important bearing on
the Industrial situation, for it is the
first intimation received that the turn
of the tide in immigration had set in
One thousand immigrants on a single
steamer would not be a large number
when the movement was on at full
swing, as It was a year ago, but when
It is noted after the movement has
been to the eastward for months, it
serves as a kind of an industrial bar
ometer. Indicating .that the foreigners
believe that the skies are again clear
ing in this country. The demand for
alien labor will not soon get back to
its former proportions, but business is
reviving so rapidly that a few thou
sand of the better class of emigrants
will be welcomed.
There was a pronounced slump in
the New Tork Btock market yester
day and Wall street will probably re
gard it as evidence of unfavorable
business conditions elsewhere. As
usual, Wall street will be wrong.
There has been a decline in stocks be
cause Wall street, aXter a protracted
period of manipulation, ran prices on
a number of securities up to heights
that are not warranted at this time.
The law of gravitation is noticeable in
stocks as well as elsewhere, and if the
Wall-street contingent would learn
that the prices which appear on the
ticker are not always the actual value
of stocks, there would be less occa
sion for these hysterical changes
which not only affect the business of
stock gamblers, but to a certain extent
have an unsettling effect on legitimate
trade.
Brother Bryan, It seems, is Increas
ing his claims as an heir and legatee.
Not only Is he "next of kin" to Roose
velt, but is to attend a banquet Oc
tober 7, at Dixon, 111., where he will
claim to be the heir of Abraham Lin
coln. He Is In no wise dismayed by
his failure to get in as a legatee on
the Bennett estate at New Haven, to
the amount of $50,000. Mr. Bryan
comes out especially strong as an
heir and legatee.
Lewis S. Chanler, Democratic can
didate for Governor of New Tork, Is
immensely wealthy, a plutocrat of the
first rank, but doesn't believe in
"Sunday-school methods" in legisla
tion or government, and is a bidder
for the votes of all who are fighting
the reforms that Governor Hughes
has pushed during his term. Chanler's
backers expect the solid support of
the "sporty element" and may get it.
And yet he might not be elected.
Just fancy how that New Tork
Democratic platform would have made
the empyrean ring with shrieks of dis
gust and roars of denunciation if the
Republican convention had turned
down Governor Hughes. But now the
Democrats view with alarm and de
plore with sadness unspeakable the
"faHure of the Hughes administration
to carry out its reform promises."
Some thirty Washington newspaper
editors, according to Judge Balllnger,
are united in a great philanthropic
scheme to raise a Republican cam
paign fund for disbursement In neigh
boring states. This statement was to
be found in the news columns yester
day, but it is here repeated to give it
the widest publicity.
Mr. Taft won't go to Chicago to he
exhibited Jointly with Mr. Bryan. Mr.
Taft has somewhere acquired the old
fashioned notion that a Presidential
candidate should not regard himself
as a circus.
Bryan is pleased over the news
from Maine, which he knows he can
not carry, and Taft over the news
from New Tork, which he thinks
Hughes can carry. Now what do you
think of that?
The Washington State Historical
Society will endeavor to preserve the
Indian geographical names. A glos
sary showing the pronunciation would
help.
Mr. Bryan may extend his speak
ing tour to the Pacific Coast. Hardly
necessary. Hasn't Hon. Milt Miller
got Oregon tied up in a neat package
all ready to deliver?
Forty or fifty thousand dollars for
admissions to the State Fair this
week should put the Board on the
sunny side of Money Row.
Now two of Ruef s lawyers have
been indicted. Ruef, too, has been
a great many tmes indicted. But
that's about all.
The amazing feature of that Pitts
burg story Is that a Pittsburg million
aire gave away a lot of money to his
own family.
Flying through the air isn't yet en
tirely safe.
Jim Hill is 70. He "goes like sixty.'
MRS. EDDY . BLAZED OWN TRAIL
Had No Prfdemior la Christina Sci
ence, Says Mr. Codwerth.
"PORTLAND. Sept. 16. (To the" Ed
itor.) Your issue of the 13th contains
a short article, the sub-heading of
which is "French Wizard Who Blazed
Trail for Mrs. Eddy Is Dead."
The history of the Christian Science
movement and of its leader plainly
shows that she alone had to blaze the
trail for herself, relying solely upon
the guidance of the Scriptures and the
teaching and demonstration of Jesus
the Christ In giving this Science to
the world..
Faith healers have appeared from
time to time, wrought miracles, and
disappeared, together with their works.
Christian Science, however, founded as
it is on an exact and demonstrable
principle, has nothing in common with
such ephemeral phenomena of human
belief, but gives to its beneficiaries,
not only the physical healing which
they seek, but also a working knowl
edge of its principle, which they can
In turn apply for themselves and
others in the healing of sickness, sin
and all discordant human conditions.
The deduction that the refusal to
take fees for healing Is a proof of sin
cerity, is not well taken. This matter
of compensation ha been fairly and
broadly dealt with by Rev. Arthur
Reeves Vosburgh. C. S. B., in the Sep
tember number of the Midwestern Mag
azine, from which the following ' is
quoted:
"Mrs. Eddy has been rendering a su
preme service to humanity In estab
lishing and enforcing the recognition
that, in Jesus' words, 'the laborer is
worthy of his hire,' as an essential of
Christian teaching. No one can or will
question but that All service, all effort,
by which any man serves his fellow
men, should be duly recompensed. And
In a general way it is recognized that
the higher the order of service, the
greater should be the recompense. But
at the point of the highest service of
all, the ministration of noble thoughts
and Ideals, the world has a long, black
record of . letting its choicest lights
spend their years in unrequited toll,
and the recognition of the worth of
what the philosopher, the artist, the
poet, the prophet, has wrought, is given
by the generations that follow. Mrs.
Eddy has believed in her teachings and
in her work; and she has consistently
insisted that a respectable price should
be paid for her books, and for the serv
ices of Christian Scientists. In all this
she has been establishing the precedent
and inculcating the doctrine which,
honestly applied, will make It impos
sible for the world's benefactors to be
allowed to face poverty and neglect.
And so, by her success, she has brought
nearer the day when to every one who
serves, from the lowest to the loftiest
order of service, from the one who digs
ditches because the world needs
ditches, to the one who brings pome
great message of Joy and beauty, to
each one his fellow mf.n shall render
the recompense of a generous wage,
not grudgingly nor of necessity, but as
a Joyous human privilege."
LUTHER P. CUDWORTH,
Christian Science Committee on Pub
lication for the State of Oregon.
EDITOR GEER'S BUSY DAY.
Can't Aimer Certain Inquiries Which
We Hope He Didn't Himself Write.
Pendleton Tribune.
The editor of the Tribune is in re
ceipt of a personal letter from a man
In New Tork making some inquiries
concerning political conditions in Ore
gon, which this writer at once recog
nizes as presenting a difficult front
and rear. Aiso a. puzzling middle.
The Inquirer is evidently a man of
some activity In New Tork politics,
and Is dabbling to some extent In na
tional matters as they affect the pend
ing campaign. His principal question
is couched in these words:
As I do not know very much concerning
the public men of Oregon, I would like you
to inform me whether or not the following
men have been or are good public servants,
or are members of the corrupt machine of
Oregon: William P. Lord. Zenaa F. Moody.
Senator Bourne, Joseph Simon, Charles H.
Carey, Oeorge W. McBrlde, George A. Steel.
Ralph E. Williams and the candidates for
Governor In 1903 and 1907.
If this were not our busy day the
answer to this inquiry would be taken
up at once and given that considera
tion Its importance unquestionably de
serves, but the press of business makes
It necessary to let it lie on the table
until it comes up In its regular order.
It Is generally understood that a di
rect primary law smashes all political
machines which may have been creat
ed and fostered by the majority party
in the state which adopts It, and ex
perience shows that It IS at once super
seded by a similar machine In the in
terest of the minority party.
There is no political machine in Ore
gon now except that controlled by Gov
ernor Chamberlain, a non-partisan
Brvan Democrat, who places country
above party at such times as he is in
the field asking for Republican votes.
There is no other political machine
in Oregon at present, the. Republicans
working without organization, leaders,
plans or special hopes.
As to the distinguished gentlemen
named by our New Tork correspond
ent, the Tribune 'is not competent to
decide the momentous Inquiry pro
pounded. The names constitute such
a heterogeneous aggregation of diverse
and conflicting political emotions In the
bosom of this writer, and their puonc
careers in retrospective present to the
mind's eye, as well as that of the
memory, such a kaleidoscopic pano
rama of whirling schemes, plans, slates,
ambitions, defeats and massacres that,
unless pressed, this writer would pre
fer to pass it up.
If these few lines should coma be
fore the eyes of any man in Oregon
wno happens to possess definite infor
mation as to the past political status
of the men whose names are included
in the foregoing list, especially as to
the candidates for Governor in 1903
and in 1907." the columns of the Tri
bune are indefinitely elastic as a means
of presenting the facts to a hitherto
puzzled and uninformed public.
HARRIMAN PLANS A SCHOOL.
May Edoente Poor Bora at County
Estate.
Middletown (N. T.) Dispatch to New
Tork Tribune.
E. H. Harriman, the - railroad king.
who has a 20,000-acre estate on which
he is building a costly house, at Arden,
Orange County, is contemplating estab
lishing a school for poor boys on the
estate. It Is stated on good authority
that he will at first educate 100 boys.
giving them a trade and academic
course of study, and that if this school
Is successful he will build and endow
a large Instlutlon for the free educa
tion of boys. Mr. Harriman has con'
suited the school authorities, and while
his plans are not matured, it Is expect
ed that he will make a definite an
nouncement of them when he returns
from the West in a short time.
One Auto Experience Enough for Him.
Camden (N. J.) Dispatch.
Samuel Griner. a farmer near Ewing,
N. J., having been knocked off a load
of hay by an automobile, refused to be
hauled to the hospital in another auto,
saying one experience with motor cars
was sufficient.
Leper Usher Works in Theater.
Washington (D. C.) Dispatch.
John Mouton, a leper, who' escaped
from the leper home at Iberville parish.
Louisiana, was found selling tickets in
a nickel theater in New Orleans
PORTLAND COMMERCIAL UNION.
Supports Suga-estion That All Public
Trade Organisations Be Merited.
PORTLAND, Sept. 17. (To the Ed
itor.) Mr. Muller's suggestion in last
Sunday's Oregonian of a consolidated
Board of Trade absorbing all commer
cial bodies, strikes me favorably.
Just now there are as many public
associatior.a as there are churches.
Competition may be the life of trade
but it is death to a municipality. It
Is only by united action that progress
can be made. The business man who
identifies himself with all the present
public bodies invites disaster to his
time and purse. A city is like a big
business it thrives better with one
board of directors than by a conglom
eration of doctors and boosters. Now,
the members of one board look askance
at those of another, and It Is where a
measure is initiated and not the merit
of the propositions which often deter
mines its fate.
'Way down East, in the Nutmeg
State, there existed a small town con
sisting principally of one etreet, which
had an East End, a West End and a
central section called "The Flat." Riv
alry grew so keen that, although all
were living on Main street, the resi
dents of the East End would not visit
the Flat or the West End, and the West
End inhabitants would not trade or
even affiliate with the other two sec
tions. Three separate postoffices were
established, one in each section, as no
one would cross the dividing line for
letters. Churches, families and gov
ernment were split asunder by the con
tention. Finally, the better sense of
the community asserted Itself, and di
viding lines were wiped out. Now this
town is one of the most prosperous in
New England.
Let us stand for a Portland commer
cial union, in which all trade, trans
portation, maritime and social features
can be embodied under one general
management. Annexation, consolida
tion, is the order of the day. Senti
ment may say "keep on as of old."
But progress says "combine."
H. B. KING.
THE SECOND CHOICE PROVISION
Does Not Work Well In the WaslilaB
ton Primary Law.
Spokane Spokesman-Review.
While the incomplete returns from
Tuesday's primary election are some
what unsatisfactory as a basis for an
alyzing the workings of the new nomi
nating system, there is every Indica
tion that the unique second-choice fea
ture of the new law has failed to ac
complish the purpose for which it was
intended.
The purpose which this provision
was intended to accomplish was to
guard against the nomination of a
candidate representing evil political
influences by a small minority of
electors when running against a num
ber of rival candidates representing in
fluences which are honorable. As it
has actually worked out In practice
the law appears not to have accom
plished this result.
Returns from many counties when
analyzed Indicate, that a great many
Indifferent voters, or voters having a
definite first choice, but indifferent as
to their second choice, gave their sec
ond - choice votes to the candidate
whose name appeared last on the list
of those for the office in question. In
almost every Instance the successful
candidate for offices for which both a
first and a second choice vote were re
quired have been those whose names
appeared last on the ballot. In al
most every case the second-choice vote
of the candidate whose name appeared
last on the official ballot was all out
of proportion to the flist-choice vote
given to that candidate. In this re
spect the law has resulted in the nom
ination of the candidates whose names
appeared, through design or through
accident, last on the official ballot.
Mr. Roosevelt's Hat and Shoes.
Oyster Bay (L. I.) Dispatch.
Congressman W. W. Cocks, of West
bury, L. I., who represents the Presi
dent's own Congressional district, drove
over here to return to the President a
hat he had taken by mistake on his
previous visit to Sagamore Hill.
Mr. Roosevelt wears a black slouch
hat. Mr. Cocks, who is a great admirer
of the President, affects a head piece of
the same description. After last week's
conference, in which all the leaders of
Nassau County took part, Mr. Cocks, In
his hurry to get away, picked up the
first hat he came across. He says he
did not find out his mistake until later
when he happened to look Inside the
hat he had taken away and found the
Initials "T. R." Hitching up, he drove
from his home to Sagamore Hill.
"Here's your hat," said Mr. Cocks,
carefully handing it to the President.
"I hope you filled It capably," said
Mr. Roosevelt.
"It fitted perfectly," returned the
Congressman politely. "But I hardly
think it would-be so easy to fill your
shoes."
Sunday Under Charles I.
Kansas City Journal.
Sunday may have been an easy day in
the reign of Charles I. though there were
stringent regulations as to the Sabbath in
the seventeenth century. It was illegal to
take a walk in England's thoroughfares,
but, judging by the emptiness of London
on a Sunday In this early twentieth cen
tury, it is a custom that still clings. The
cause is different, that's all; now every
body leaves London on Saturday if he
possibly can, for the Sabbath over there
is the sad day of the week, though no
better kept than when the -Puritans
fought with cavaliers. "I never saw such
a dreadful day as Sunday In London." ex
claimed a young Western man just re
turned from his first visit there. "Why,
it's worse than a Boston Sunday!"
Whereupon his listener promptly called
him down, and then made him eat his
words at a favorite club not a thousand
miles from Beacon Hill.
It la Gratifying, Certainly.
Colfax (Wash.) Gazette.
Portland, Oregon, is to be congratu
lated. It is said that the largest grain
fleet ever assembled on the Columbia
River for September loading is now
receiving cargo there. The largest
grain dock in the world is nearlng com
pletion, and the largest packing-house
plant west of the Rocky Mountains Is
well under way. The amount of rail
way mileage now under construction
or definitely planned for early con
struction in the state Is the largest In
the history of Portland. All of which
is gratifying to note.
Date of First Klsbenev Massacre.
PORTLAND, Sept. 17. (To the Ed
itor.) Regarding the Inquiry In yes
terday's Oregonian as to the date of
the first Kishenev massacre, I beg to
say that it commenced about 5 o'clock
on Sunday. April 19, 1903, and con
tinued on Monday, the 20th, till 5
o'clock, when an order was received
from St. Petersburg ordering the po
lice to stop the excesses, which was
done. N. MOSESSOHN.
Csar Planning- a Foreign Trip.
Chicago Record-Herald.
The Petit Parisien of Paris says the
Czar will make a European tour short
ly. He will meet King Edward in the
Isle of Wight and subsequently Em
peror Franz Josef at Darmstadt, thence
going to Naples.
Tomatoes S17 Per Ton la New Jersey.
Philadelphia Dispatch.
Around woodstown, N. J., the price
of tomatoes is $17 a ton, and a higher
figure is expected.
W. J. BRYAN, THE CIRCUS STAR
Astonishing; Characterisations From
Hla Old Friend Hearat.
From Mr. Hearst's Atlanta Speech.
I have come to regard Mr. Bryan as
a trickster, a trimmer, a traitor.
Do you think that Mr. Bryan is a
statesman advocating permanent poli
cies based on eternal truth and justice?
I say he is a very ragpicker of poli
tics, who, with his little forked stick
of self-interest, picks up this policy
here and that policy there, without re
gard to their source or their use or
their ultimate disposition, without re
gard to their fitness or even their
cleanliness, and slaps them Into the
basket on his back he calls his plat
form. He is a political shoplifter who takes
feloniously and surreptitiously the pol
icies that belong to others and then
rushes frantically forth shouting stop
thief after some unconscious wayfarer
who has not stolen anything.
I said in Indiana that Mr. Bryan was
the fearless prestidigitator of modern
politics, who makes his principle! dis
appear and changes his policies In full
view of the audience a showman at a
county fair executing a shell game
with his political fingers.
But Mr. Bryan is more than a show
man he is the whole show.
He is the astonishing ventriloquist
who throws his voice there and an
other voice there, and another voice
there, and all the time Is sitting In a
different place with a different natural
voice and a different natural character.
He has no mustache with which to de
ceive, but he deceives you nevertheless.
He Is the marvelous contortionist
who bends forward and backward with
equal convenience, and walks upon his
feet or upon his hands with equal
facility.
He is the astonishing juggler who
keeps the whole of the surprising col
lection of conflicting principles in the
air at the same time, but balances Bel
mont, the union labor breaker, in ona
hand, and Gompers, the union labor
leader, In the other.
He is the human ostrich, who swal
lows his own words In regard to bosses
and who is able to retain upon hla
stomach even the Taggarts and the
Roger Sullivans of politics.
He is the world-renowned loose skin
man, who can reverse himself in his
own integument, so that you cannot
tell whether he is coming or going.
Boy's Dream Discloses Lost Ring.
Bedford (Ind.) Dispatch to Indianapolis
News. ,
Mrs. Frank Bridnell recently lost a
gold ring valued very hljrhly on ac
count of its being a keepsake of a
dead relative, and all efforts to find it
failed, although it was positively
known to have been lost In the yard.
John Trueblood, the 7-year-old son of
E. E. Trueblood, a neighbor, while vis
iting in Campbellsburg. south of here,1
with his mother, dreamed of seeing
the ring in the grass In the Bridnell
yard, and the dream so Impressed his
mind that on his arrival home he told
Mrs. Bridnell his dream. She laughed
at the child's earnest face, and went
with him to please him. They found
the ring Imbedded in the grass just
as the child had dreamed It was, al
though the spot had been raked over
several times in searching for it.
Honey-Roys In Father's Footsteps.
Salina (Kan.) Journal.
A couple of boys down at Fort Scott
were arrested recently, charged with
making and attempting to Bell a manu-;
factured article which they called;
honey. In court It was learned that the1
older boy hod escaped from the reform"
school, and that his brother should be.
In that Institution also. But the un
usual feature of the case Is that when
the Judge before whom the lads were
taken questioned them concerning their
life, parents, etc., the boys gave the
occupation of their father as a "graft
er." That is. he was a "grafter" when
he was alive. He was dead now, and
the mother had married again. They,
couldn't get along with the stepfather,
and so "took to the road," and decided
also to be "grafters," as their father
had been.
Oklahoma's lp-to-Date Matrimony.
Baltimore News.
In Beggs. Okla.. a minister marrying
a negro couple, asked the woman: "Do
you take this man for better or for
worse?" She explained: "No, judge, I
wants him jest as he Is. If he gits any
better he'll die, and if he gits any wuss
I'll kill him myself."
Canada Smoke Dims Boston's Glory.
Chicago Dispatch.
Smoke from the great forest fires In
Canada, many miles away, was so
dense, one day recently, in Boston that
the sun was almost obscured.
IN THE MAGAZINE
SECTION OF THE
SUNDAY
OREGONIAN
NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO
IMPROVE FARMERS ' LIVES
Personnel of President Roose
velt's commission and the complex
problems they will undertake to
solve.
GRAND OLD MEN
OF EDUCATION
Eliot of Harvard and Angell of
Michigan, who have been univer
sity presidents longer than any
other living men, and other famed
educators.
SHORTY McC ABE
AND THE STRAY
A Primrose Park episode in
volving a boy and two parents
who found each other out.
HARRY A. GARFIELD, NETv
PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS
Murdered President's svn soon
to be the head of his fathers and
his own alma mater.
"THE RICH WILL SUFFER
FROM EXPOSURE"
says the Hotel Clerk, who makes
a few remarks concerning Ameri
cans who are overburdened with
wealth.
JULIA WARD HOWE AT 89
Author of "The Battle Hymn
of the Republic" tells how it was
inspired 58 years ago.
ORDER EARLY FROM YOUR
NEWSDEALER