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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1908)
FOKTLAND. OBICOX. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Foetoffica a Fecrnd-Claae Matter. fcuhecripUoa Balm Iniariablj IB Advance. (By Mall.) r!lr. Sundar Included, one year. ?? Daj.j. hund.y e.x months . ... Drfiic. suwy Incmded. three mun.nn.. -lidilr. Sunday included, one niou.B-..- ' I;iy. without Sunday, one yJ J Daily, witnuui Sunuay. aix monsna..... Daily, without Sunday, three ni'Jiitna. . Daily, wltaout buaday. one monia Weekly, one year... ( 1 Sunday, one year ' J . fcunuay and Weekly, one year a-"" (By Carrier.) Billy. Sunday Included, one year...... Dal y. BundiT Included, one mouth How to Kemlt send postott ice "n eruer. exprew oruer or xev.o.nml crhecK your local bank. Stamps, com , are at the .ender". r!k. Give P"'?fl'; d djtae in full, including county and elate. Ft.se Batea 10 to 14 pages. 1 " to im".. -J cent.; so to .i w' ce,"-l 46 to 60 pages. 4 centa. Foreign poajug. Cj'ul.le rat--. .taster. uine Office The S C .th special An.y .v.. ork. room. 44 to Tribune building. Chicago, rooma ulu--l Tribune building FORTLANO. TH1 IWIAV. .NOV. 12. I"- KIXMIXATIOS OP SECTIONAL POLITICS. I In ll the Southern States where the negroes are numerous, in proportion to the white, the neproM have been practically eliminated from -politics. Jn the whole circle of states, from Virginia to Texas, conditions have been established under which the ne gro cannot vote. One in one hundred may break the barrier, but thl.s one pwiil scarcely try. It cannot be won dered that in states where the negroes are very numerous this course has been taken, because the white people will not be ruled by the negroes. Hut since the South has suppressed the rifgro vote. Is it to remain solid for trer. for one party, because of the now useless fear of negro domination? The border states" have all but QUt Missouri. Kentucky, West Vir ginia. Maryland and Delaware and the idea that moves them is extend ing farther South. Journals of Louis iana say the Industrial future of their state lie 1n extension of the produc tipn of sugar and rice, for which they want and mean to have protection; and Alabama, Georgia and the Caro lina, rapidly developing their native resources and increasing their manu factures, are. at heart opposed to tariff changes that will reduce the degree of protection which has been their share. The whole South was pre pared to fight for protection, even had Urvan been elected. ' in the Atlanta Constitution two days lifter the election an article appeared of striking import. "In Tuesday's election." says the Georgia Journal, the Southern States began the writing of their National history of independ ence. The result means that the time Jihs passed when a resident of one of these states must buy his social security, often, perhaps, at the price of his political convictions. Many business men. the South over, most of them adherents of the Democracy all their lives, dared to support hopefully and openly the candidates of the Re publican party because their convic tions led them that way." .The Constitution takes care to say that they were right, in its judgment, only in giving material expression to their true convictions." but adds that "the Southern vote which wrencHed it self away from Southern political tra dition, and it was a large one, was significant." It would be a boon to the country to get rid of sectional politics, by which it has been racked since 18 50. At bottom of it all was the race ques tion and the status of the negro. As far as the status of the colored race tan be fixed by law, it has been es tablished. The rest must depend on local interests and the general cus toms. If the South, having delivered 'itself from the fear of negro domina tion, rah now begin to forget the negro question in politics, and to per mit active division and contention on political questions, as In the North, the advantage to both sections and to all parts of the country will be great. Elimination of sectional poli tics Is the chief need of the country. FECOKD-BKKAKISO ACTIVITY. ' The steel trust is the most colossal aggregation of capital that has ever been massed for a single industry. Its output is so vast and the Held reached by lis salesmen Is so large that there Is hardly a country in the civilized world, that is not using its product. The Uniled States is essentially a land tf big things, notably in the monster combinations of capital known as the "trusts." Whether in tobacco, sugar, copper, or any of the great staples that aiave been brought under control of combinations of capital, these "trusts" easily exceed in size those of any other country. In this land of big things the steel trust, from an industrial or a financial standpoint, is easily the greatest. As such it is to a degree a retiex of conditions in all other lines of industry. When money tightens and the work of building railroads, bridges or steel frame structures is suspended, the ore carriers cease running, furnaces be come cold and the payrolls show a shrinkage of thousands of names. Whatever its iniquities may be, the steel trust is such an enormous em ployer of labor, and Its prosperity or ndverslty extends over such a wide range of territory, that hundreds of thousands and even millions are af fected by the changes which affect it. For this reason the announcement that this greatest of all corporations has already begun making arrange ments for breaking all existing records with its output for 1909 will be re ceived with pleasure, not only among the ranks of steelworkers, ore-freighters and coal-miners, but in other lines of Industry. In the Pittsburg district alone there are piled up 10.000.000 tons of ore, and every available carrier on the Lrikes has been pressed into service to bring down as much more as can be handled before the cold weather closes navigation. There is not very much of the ele ment of chance In this great activity, for the preparations are being rushed at a time when practically every line of industries that uses steel products is being swamped with new orders. The railroads of the country are in the market for vast quantities of steel rails and also for bridge steel and pressed cars, and from every big city in the country there is a demand for steel for stroctural work. The country at large will, of course, profit by the distribution of these finished products, as well as by the work of converting the raw material Into them. There must be ties and timbers for the railroads and bridges and lumber for finishing the buildings. Thwse new railroads and new bridges wiH lead into new countries, which will in turn become producing centers for more txaf3u for more railroads. The entire industrial fabric of the TTnited States is so closely interwoven that it is diffi cult for any particular part of it to be affected without all of it sharing in the change. For that reason there will be general rejoicing at the news that the greatest of all American indus tries will break all previous records for output, for the activity indicated by this feat will be communicated to a thousand other Industries. IXtTXITC FOr-lBIIJTIES. So Oregon, having thrown 62 per cent of her votes for Taft. is to send a Senator to Washington who repre sents 32 oer cent of her votes to I oppose Taft on all vital matters dur ing his whole administration .' i nis is the way "the will of the people" is to be fulfilled. Or Is it a bunco game? Isn't It a mere Juggle? If it isn't a bunco game, where will you find one? If it isn't a Juggle, has the word jugSle any standing in lexicography, any place in the protest for moral ideas, or any meaning synonymous with fraud and covin, with pretense and indirection, with equivocation and falsehood, with Imposture and deception? Oh. well! Of course, all "games" In politics are fair. Lying, deceit, per jury, false registration and acknowl edgment of it by the vote that counts in the election all these things are instruments and agencies of "reform." Old-Dr. Johnson, in wrath one day at the false use of the word patriot ism, defined it as "the last refuge of a scoundrel." Somebody later, who hated hypocrisy as heartily as even Johnson did. said that the old man, when he defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel, clearly had overlooked the infinite possibilities of the word reform. IPWARD OR DOWNW ARD The first day's session of the House committee on tariff revision discloses the fact that "the interests affected by Schedule A of the Dingley tariff do not desire anj- changes in the rates of duty now operative." Future ses sions will disclose that the interests affected by Schedules B. C and so on to the end of the alphabet feel exactly the same way about it. They are all satisfied, or. if. not. they can be made to feel satisfied by the addition of ten or fifteen per cent to their present pickings out of the consumer's pocket. If the Interests affected by the Ding ley schedules were the only Individ uals who had the right to demand consideration from Congress, what a heavenly situation it would be. Com plete satisfaction such as reigns among these worthies Is to be found else where on earth only among a flock of vultures after they have finished pick ing the bones of a band of sheep.' The complacent assumption by the tariff barons that the consumer is not worth attention, and that his interests merit no consideration from Congress, is ex asperating in the extreme; but there Is good reason for it. , For many years the consumer has sat like a patient ass under the bur den of the Dingley tariff, soothing his miser' by the fantastic consolation that the more taxes he paid the richer he would grow. It passes belief that an entire nation could be fooled by such a patent piece of imposture for more than a generation,' and yet the fact Is Indisputable. More than that the sly manipulators who really profit by the tariff tax fully expect to keep on fooling the country for a genera tion to come. Their line of action at the session of the Congressional com mittee signifies nothing else. To them Mr. Taft's assurances of tariff revision mean that it will be revised upward, imposing new burdens on the consum ers and heaping still higher the hordes of the tax swallowers. If they have their way -the platform promises of the Republican party will all be repu diated, and an orgy of plunder will be the sole fruit of the agitation for low er taxes. To convince himself of this one need do no more than glance over the proceedings of the committee's first day's session. A beautiful specimen of what the interests desire may be seen in the case of quinine. This Is probably the most useful drug In the whole do main of material medicine. It is the only one which is Indisputably a spe cific for a clearly defined, disease. Quinine will check the ravages of ma laria, and it is the only drug which will check them. Moreover, malaria is one of the most common of all dis orders and its wasting effect upon the human race is Incalculable. Here, then, behold the chance of the tariff freebooter. Human misery Is his op portunity. Tears ago he succeeded In Imposing a tariff upon quinine, and his pocketbook waxed fat upon the proceeds of unrelieved disease. Then decency for a time prevailed against greed and the tax upon quinine was repealed. It illustrates the spirit of the protected interests, we repeat, that at the very first session of the Con gressional committee a representative of the drug manufacturers demanded ,o' have quinine put under a duty of 15 per cent. The respect of these same interests for facts is Illustrated by the state ment which one of their representa tives made that tariff-burdened goods are not sold cheaper in foreign coun tries than at home. To make such a statement in the face of common knowledge requires some little impu dence, but that quality has never been deficient in the barons of Dingley lsm. Everybody knows well enough that the Canadian Pacific F.ailroad has been able to buy steel rails from the Steel Trust at a lower price than Mr. Hill could get them for. American-made watches are sold so much cheaper In England than in New York that a man has made a business of purchasing them In London, paying the freight back home and still under selling the watch trust in Its own mar kets. Facts of this sort are like the sands of the sea for multitude, but Mr. Archbold has tagght us what value some of our protected trust attach to truth telling. Another inadmissible demand of the protected interests is that the Dingley rates shall be made the minimum In any agreements with other countries for maximum and minimum duties. The obvious result of this would be to raise the duties against every coun try which failed to make a reciproeity agreement with us. By blocking all reciprocity treaties in the Senate, as they have so easily done hitherto, one sees without difficulty what desirable results the trusts would work out. The practical fruit of reciprocity would be heavier taxes for the American consumer. The time has come In our history when disingenuous jugglery with the tariff should cease and the schedules should be fixed with regard to the consumer as well as the manufacturer. Our manufactures are important, but they are not the whole thing. The country demands more equity jn indi rect taxation, and there will be no cessation from agitation timMI 1t is ob tained. Business conditions will never TITE MORNING OBEGONIAN, THUltSDAY, be stable until tariff agitation Is at rest, and it will not be at rest until the duties are fixed with, some sem blance of fairness between those who pay the taxes and those who profit by them. The expectation that this would be done speedily was one of the most important reasons for Mr. Taft's election. It was supposed that he could secure revision downward, be cause he would have both houses of Congress with him. If now with a Republican President and Congress the tariff 'goes upward instead of downward, what may the Nation just- , ly think of Republican promises when the time comes for fulfillment? HUMANITY' AND FIRE. The Intelligence of the horse la greatly overrated in popular estima tion. Every time a barn burns with its inmates we are reminded how stu pid and liable to panic he really is. The news that a barn near Colfax, Wash., was consumed yesterday with fifteen horses is but a specimen of what happens almost daily. When fire breaks out the animals lose their heads completely. They refuse to be led from their stalls, and even when dragged from the barn they return if possible and miserably perish In the flame-s. Humanitarians have sought to devise some method of building barns which would make It easier to remove horses when fires occur, but of course a better way to solve the problem would -be to make all places where horses are kept fireproof. Fire proof construction is more talked about, however, than practiced. Experts say that there are in Amer ica a few buildings which are better safeguarded against conflagration than any others in the world, but that by far the greater part of our structures are sheer firetraps more or less skill- . fully disguised. For this carelessness the insurance companies suffer finan cially, humati beings almost daily per ish by fire, and helpless animals die In torment. At present concrete is said to be a cheaper building material for barns than wood is. It is certainly in- CI.- . 1 ,, i-'i Kl ,1 anil KafAP niiNIJtiiaui.i iuuic u..v. .... The use of concrete in country build ings would not oniy db a great snu for humanity, but farmers would find it beneficial to their pockets also. rROGKKSMVK MIXLAMKTTB VALLEY. In point of attendance and enthusi asm aroused, the Southern Pacific farming demonstration train, lately touring the Willamette Valley, of fers a gratifying contrast to the O. R. & N. demonstration train which went through Eastern Oregon a few months ago. In the small stations at which it stopped the O. R. & N. train was enthusiastically greeted by the farm ers, but at the larger stations there was a noticeable lack of attendance or enthusiasm. In the valley every com munity turned out In force, and the enthusiasm ran high wherever the Southern Pacific train stopped. .The reason for this apparent difference in the manner of reception accorded the two trains seems to have been a de sire on the part of the people who have already had some experience with scientific farming and diversified farming to lnarn more regarding it. In this respect the people of East ern Oregon, who have got away from the old system of growing grain ex clusively, and have experimented with the system taught by the experts who accompany the demonstration trains, are fully as much Interested and are as appreciative as their Willamette Valley brethren. Pendleton. In the heart of the wheat belt, where the wheat kings come to town In big auto mobiles, and where small farming is practically an unknown quantity, turned out an audience of about 60 people to listen to the demonstration train experts, while in the Willamette Valley the smallest point on the sched ule turned out more than 100 strong. But the people of Eastern Oregon who have broken away from wheat farm ing are not different from those of the Willamette Valley. Less than two hours' run from Pendleton, and In the same county, at Milton, an audi ence of nearly 600 enthusiastic farm ers greeted the train, and nearly all of them had abandoned gralngrowing for the more remunerative small farming and fruitgrowing. The tangible value of the new sys tem over the exclusively graingrow Ing system was plainly apparent in the relative value of the land, for while the best wheat land in the county would not sell for more than $100 per acre, and much of It could, be bought for about half that figure, the land around Milton, where dem onstration trains and the farming methods they taught were welcome, ranged in price from $200 to J1000 per acre. The same feature Is noticeable in the Willamette Valley, for the largest crowds have been attract ed in the localities where the' price of lands was the highest and where the values were fully warranted by the crops produced. It is perhaps unfair to criticise the judgment of the wheat barons who decline to be in terested in anything smaller than the bonanza farming which in the past few years has made such great returns with so little effort, but the time is coming in the Eastern Oregon country as it is already here In the Valley, when diversified farming, fruitgrowing and demonstration train methods of farming will be adopted and the entire state will be a gainer by the change. When a change in methods makes 150 wheat land, such as lies around Milton and numerous other points In the state, worth J1000 per acre, it is certainly the part of wisdom to adopt such methods and encourage the agency that is promoting them. THE ANNUA!. "CIARTX UP ' SPELL." An annual inspection of railway tracks, stations and grounds by high officials of a company is a good thing and the medals given for superior work and care are justly prized by employes who are fortunate enough to receive them. The clearing-up pro cess, however, preparatory to this yearly Inspection relates in a marked degree to that which Is inaugurated in state institutions prior to a visit of a legislative committee, or of other state authorities whose duty it Is to look into the management with a view to the protection of the inmates from careless or Inefficient servants. It is the practice of such visiting bodies to make their calls unan nounced, in order that the conditions of every day may be presented at the time the call is made. A grand jury, wishing to ascertain the true state of affairs in connection with a prison, a eoorhouse or other county Institutions, the inmates of which are made com fortable or miserable by those in charge; or the legislative committee, netting out to visit similar state in stitutions for the purpose of finding out the truth about prevailing condi tions and management, would defeat the purpose of the inspection if no tice were given of It several days in Advance. The premises would, of ourse, be cleaned- up and put in Koliday garb, so to speaK, lor ine in spection. What is necessary, It an inspection inspects in any practical sense of the term, is for those charged with the duty of making it to make their vis t,o ..nannnnneeri This is true whether the inspection is of railroad stations, factories, prisons, orpnan ibjiu, hnsnttnls for the insane, poorhouses or baby homes. Let the management in any one of these Know mat me mi nrr,T,r and the servants are set to work with broom and mop and brush and rake to make the place pre sentable. As a result, the railway offi cials found, on a duly announced mur of inspection, waiting-rooms clean, that for months have been vile with et travel: station yards swept and garnished that for months have been strewn witn nxier, ana wm-hfia-ttt and flean that have long been dim with dust and smoke. Handing out medals for cleanliness, they pass serenely on their way with the virtuous consciousness of a public well served through their watchful ness, and of duty to thrifty employes well done. The public is, however, to be con gratulated upon this annual inspection since it Insures that everything will be ehip-shape on the line once a year, even as me inmates of state and county institutions may look forward with pleasant anticipa tion to the Inspection by officials that gives reasonable promise of clean beds ar,A a o-rwiri dinner once a Quarter or a year, as the case may be, always providing it is known wnen tne in spection in to take place. This type of inspection is well known ail along the line of public service. And the public accepts and Is grateful for it on the principle perhaps that an occasional "cl'arin' up spell" is that much, at least, to be thankful for. Mr. Hill, in a speech at Seattle, Tuesday, ventured the prediction that the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line, now under construction, would be the last transcontinental line to be built. The efforts of the future, he declared, would be directed to building branch lines to develop country al ready tapped. There is, of course, a much greater need of branch lines and feeders than of more through lines, but the West is still at an early stage of development and no man can safely predict the limits of that development. The Rocky Mountains and the Cas cade Mountains offer two serious bar riers to the progress of railroads, but eventually the ramifications of branch roads will gridiron so much of the in tervening territory east and west of these barriers that it will not be easy to distinguish when a network of feed ers ceases to be a connected transcon tinental line, even though it be part of a system previously completed to the Pacific Coast. County Commissioner Lightner says that the members of two successive grand juries were prejudiced in favor of Sheriff Stevens In making a report on the old trouble between the Sheriff and the eourt. If this be true about two-thirds of the voters of the State of Oregon are also prejudiced in favor of the Sheriff; for they took the same view of the matter as was taken by the two grand juries and cast their votes accordingly. As a last resort in settlement of this seemingly unending controversy, the County Court might try the expedient of obeying the law, which quite clearly defines the duties of both Sheriff and Commissioners. After all. is there any reason why women should be forbidden by law to enter places where men are permit ted? What is all the din about, any how? We are not speaking of mi nors, of whom the state must be the guardian, when their parents' are worthless, but of men and women. Should men ever be licensed to do things which, on moral grounds, are forbidden to women? If so, why? On the social side it is a different thing, and women of sensibility naturally avoid "men's resorts." But it Is a matter of social life and usage, not of law. Dr. Withycombe has looked up the records and finds not one girl graduate of the Oregon Agricultural College who has figured as complainant or de fendant in a divorce proceeding. The credit goes to the domestic science branch of the Doctor's excellent school. The young woman who is taught how to do it can keep the male brute in good humor, and that is all there is to it. We assume that female graduates of the Agricultural College get married like other women. Mayor Lane suggests putty for mending cracks in defective work of city contractors. That might do also for mending holes in brand-new pave ments, cut to admit a late fireplug, by city employes. Tale's registration is greater than ever this year. Taft Is from Yale, and all the boys when he was there yelled "Hello, Bill!" Are all the boys in the race for the Presidency? Some Democrats are anxious lest Republicans, now refusing to turn the United States Senatorship over to the Democrats, may turn the state over to them next election. One wonders what the bonded debt of Portland will be when all the push clubs shall have obtained what they want. Probably in the neighborhood of $200,000,000. The Reichstag is firmly of the opin ion that Emperor William had no constitutional right to "butt in." But he did. What Is the Reichstag going to do about it? What Uncle Joe may have said about the Panama Canal, one way or another, is of no consequence. The Panama Canal will go on, all the same. Wouldn't Sellwood and Portsmouth also like the City of Portland to go further in debt to build $2,000,000 bridges? Bring on the initiative. It makes no difference to anybody on earth if the Kaiser talks too much, but a subject or a newspaper must keep a bridled tongue. "People above party," shouts the patriot who has striven with all his might for a defeated party.' What is all this we hear that a can didate would rather carry his own pre cinct than be President? Few American girls would be trifled with like Miss Elklns by that Abruzzi fellow. - Carmack's slayer is sorry but too late. v NOVEMBER 12, 19Q3. NEW SPIRIT IN OLD YAMHILL. Record of Achievement fop the Moat Famous of Oren-OB fount lea. Old TamhiU is again to the front, her latest success being an elaborate publi cation in pamphlet form containing a resume of the agricultural and horticul tural possibilities of Yamhill County. The book Is a revelation. Even old Oregonians have not appreciated the great resources of the Willamette Val ley, of which Yamhill County is A rich and representative section. This latest publication, which Is one of the most ar tistic of many publicity pamphlets re cently fcsued, gives striking evidence of our unfamiliarity with economic condi tions In our own state. Yamhill Coun ty Is but typical of the whole Willam ette Valley, and when that county-boasts that she Is the champion cherry-growing seetion of the world, that she produces the finest apples in the world, that the world's champion herds of Shorthorn cattle, that the champion Cotswold, Shropshire and Southdown sheep and the largest establishment on the Coast de voted to the breeding of draft horses are in her borders, we, begin to sit up and take notice. When the recital, contin uing, shows that In this typical county great results are obtained from small acreages of raspberries, of strawberries, of onions, of asparagus, of peaches, of melons, of other fruits and vegetables; when we read further of the marvelous expansion of the dairy industry Induced by the establiahment of milk condensers; tlmt the growing of alfalfa has been as sured by recently discovered methods of cultivation; and of bonanzas In the rais ing of bogs; and of cloverseed: of the profits In small poultry establishments and In the culture of bees, we are amazed that a country with these possibilities of record production should be at our very door. This striking Yamhill County booklet draws persistent attention to the fact that the average Willamette Valley farmer Is attempting to do too much with his land. He is farming too many acres. These vast acreages should be subdivided if we would develop to the utmost their wonderful resources. This is the one great need of the rich Willamette Valley. Home-buildors chould be attracted, the farming population vastly increased by immigration, so that more Intensive meth ods of handling land might produce rec ord results over the whole Valley, In stead of In the few situations that now receive extra attention. The many lines of Industry that might be made to produce extraordinary results In the Willamette Valley are so various that this section Is in a class by itself. It has not only the adaptability of other sections to the production of their spe cialties, but is equally rich In an amaz ing number of other lines. All the prod ucts of the temperate zones are at home In the Valley, and by. subdividing.its large farms and applying expert attention to their .culture, this single valley could be made to supply the wants of a nation. The most recent record of these possi bilities issued by the Yamhill County De velopment League is so artistically illus trated and so convincingly written that it should be In the hands of every home seeker In the United States. L. RESULTS OF DIRECT PRIMARY. Same Aspects la Indiana as In Oregon. Tndianapolls Star. So far as it goes'the experience under our new direct primary law Is of the same tenor and in the same direction as the result reached in Oregon after sev eral years of operation. This Is the demonstration that this form of nom ination does not command party support any more than the convention system. In Oregon the result has been to de stroy party unity entirely. It -was ar gued there that voters did not feel bound by the acts of conventions, be cause of the feeling that nominations were machine-made; but that they would feel tiound by the action of a free and open popular primary, where any man who so desired might contest for the nomination with his rivals; and It was confidently expected that after such a preliminary tryout the defeated candidates and their supporters would accept the popular verdict cheerfully and set to work loyally for the party ticket. Exactly the opposite proved to be the fact In Oregon, and so far as we can Judge, has resulted in Indiana. Instead of supporting the successful nominee, the defeated candidates set about to knife and defeat him. In Oregon this has resulted in electing Democrats to important offices all over the state and the final flower and fruitage of the system may be seen In the action of Republican voters who were outvoted at the primaries In choice of party can didates for the United States Senate at the April primaries and who thereupon turned around and voted for the Demo cratic Senatorial nominee at the June election, giving him an overwhelming mandate to the State Legislature, not withstanding the fact that the state is Republican by 25,000 and has been Re publican for 40 years. On a test between a Republican and a Democratic representation in the United States Senate, the state would go heavily Republican, but under the direct primary system the campaign before the primaries engenders such rancor that the defeated candidates combine against the successful one, to his destruction. This has been true In this Marion County (Ind.) election. The tendency is there, and It will cause all who value decency, honor and order in politics to inquire seriously whether this new departure In the direction of pure democracy Is preferable on the whole to our historic use of the repre sentative system as expressed in Con gress, In the Legislatures and In party conventions. His Severest Defeat. New York World. In 1896 Mr. Bryan was defeated by a popular plurality of 601.854. In 1900 he was defeated by a popular plurality of 849.790. This year the popular plurality against him runs upward of 1,100,000. Mr. Bryan said in the formal state ment issued yesterday: "If I could re gard the defeat as a purely personal one I would consider it a blessing rather than a misfortune." The defeat was so largely personal that Mr. Bryan need not hesitate about regarding it as a blessing. The returns Indicate that there are not half a dozen states In which he has not run behind the Democratic candidate for Governor. While Mr. Taft's popular plurality is more than 1.100.0D0, it is estimated that the combined pluralities against the Democratic state tickets are little more than 400,000 a difference of 700, tOO against Mr. Bryan personally. pralae for The Oregoolan'n Sewn. Drain Nonpareil. It was a most remarkable feat for The Oregonian to give the people of Oregon almost the complete election returns throughout the entire country the next morning after election. It was a great treat to the people of Southern Oregon to be able to thus learn the election news, msny thousands of them, before break-fast. TAFT IN HIS FRESHMAN DAYS I SomethinK Had to Give Way When He Came Alonn:. Ralph D. Paine in Outing. There being no pressing inducements toward an athletic career, young Taft gained his college prominence by virtue of his mental prowess and his uncom mon capacity for winning the respect and affection of all who knew him. When called upon to, make strenuous use of his 225 pounds he was not In the least re luctant, the first occasion being in the "rush" between the freshmen and sopho more classes at the beginning of the Fall term. The faculty has long since abolished this cyclonic and wholesale en counter; indeed, the class of '78 sets up the claim that it fought and won the last of the genuine old-fashioned class rushes at Hamilton Park, the athletic arena used by the college In the dark ages be fore there was an elaborately equipped Yale field and an athletic association with a surplus of $100,000 In Its treasury. It was the brave custom of the days of Taft for the freshmen to march from the campus to Hamilton Park, the larger part of a mile away, in as solid a body as possible, the sophomores maintaining a skirmish attack en route. Once Inside the field there ensued a rough-and-tumble scrimmage. " When '78 as fresh men charged to the fray, the mighty figure of "Bill" Taft was in the front Tank, and the effect of his onslaught was singularly like that of the "steam rol ler" which he was charged with oper ating at the recent Republican Conven tion at Chicago. A sophomore who was luckless enough to get In Taft's way on the trampled sod of Hamilton Park In the height of the rush lately declared that the sensation was like that of being plowed over by a landslide. It is truth fully recorded that the doughty fresh men drove the sophomores back, won the rush and fought their way back to the campus minus hats, coats and shirts, but chanting songs of victory. President Arthur T. Hadley, of Yale, was in the class of '76, a Junior when Taft was a freshman. . He made the acquaintance of the beefy youngster on the night of the rush, and as one of the upper classmen in charge of the fray acted as judge of the wrestling bouts between picked meri of the opposing clans. "I saw Taft strip and get Into the ring," said he. "and I knew from the way the sophomore smote the earth that something had happened to him. Taft must have made him think a house had tumbled on him. After the performance I shook hands with the victor and con gratulated hinr. inwardly thanking my stars that I had not been the other fellow." WHAT NEBRASKA DID. And the Varioun' Rraaom IVhy She Did It. Alf. Sorenson's Examiner (Omaha). And why did things come that way In the grand old Nebraska? In the first place. Doc. Vic. Rosewater announced in his personal and official or gan that Bill Taft really didn't need Ne braska, and taking the word of the boss of the Nebraska G. O. P., many a Repub lican cast his vote for the Farmer of Fairview as a matter of state pride. In the second place numerous Repub licans, some of whom have confided in me, voted the Democratic ticket straight because they were tired of Rosewater dictation, and because they desire some other leader-of the Nebraska G. O. P. In the third place, the local option ques tion cut the biggest figure in the election. The vote shows that the people of Ne braska wish to put an end to prohibition agitation, and to let the Blocumb high license liquor law remain undisturbed. It's good enough for anybody. The best ever. The Personal Rights League, which stands for personal liberty within reason able bounds, has much to do with the landslide which put the Democrats in power in this county and state. It was currently rumored and generally believed that Governor Sheldon was inclined about 45 degrees towards local option. This be lief, together with his known inclination towards the Democratic plank of guaran tee of bank deposits, contributed largely to his knockout. Requiescat In pace. You'll find this quotation from the dead languages in the tall end of Noah Web ster's International Word-book. In the fourth place the Democratic plea for home rule caught on favorably, and added to the landslide. Much, moreover, of Mr. Bryan's popu larity in- this state may be attributed to Republican fears of what victory for that party might mean in the crowning of its state leaders. There Is no possible doubt that the fear of seeing one indomitable Nebraska politician elevated to the posi tion of patronage dispenser led hordes of Republicans Into exasperated mutiny. PRIMARIES IN OREGON. Observations on Their Method and Reanlts. ' San Francisco Argonaut. It was the claim of those who promoted the direct primary system in Oregon that It would enable the "people to rule." We see In the case of Mr. Bourne's election how the performance matches the plan. It gave to a self-nominated candidate, who in the primary election had only a pitiful minority of the votes of all the electors and only a minority of the elec tors of the party which he claimed some what dubiously as his own. a "nomina tion" equivalent to an election. To sum marize: It first eliminated all the names associated in the public mind with the Senatorship. It then threw the election into a scramble where the advantage lay with the candidate who had money to spend in his own exploitation. It so di vided the vote of the dominant party among a large group of candidates as to enable a man whom nobody really wanted to come out of the scuffle with more votes than any one of the other candidates. It practically gave the election, not to the "people's choice," for there was no peo ple's choice, hut to a desperate political gambler, who was willing to pour out money like water literally to buy an "election" which practically was on sale In the open market. Whatever may be said for the direct primary In the form In which it has been adopted in Oregon, it has small claim to credit as a mechanism for determining and enforcing the "people's choice." This was sufficiently Illustrated In the election of Senator Bourne, and it has other and even more notable illustrations in more recent incidents particularly In the pledge under which a Republican Legis lature now stands to elect a Democrat Chamberlain) to the United States Sen ate next January. Bryan May Never Ran Again. Lincoln Special to New York World, November 4. Having received a bigger total vote than he ever got before, Mr. Bryan proposes to use it as a lever and go to Washing ton, putting his proposed reforms up to Congress, one by one. He will continue to advocate them in speeches and lectures. But he will issue a statement, probably in a few weeks, declaring that he never will run again for President. In the fu ture he will spend his time writing and talking for his reforms, devoting a great deal of his time to advocating legislation at Washington. Louisiana Bryan. Hartford Courant. An election dispatch from.New Orleans says: "Bryan swept Louisiana today." Where does this leave Louisiana? So far as the judgment of that state is con cerned Bryan is a mere name. He has discussed nothing in Louisiana this year, and nobody has discussed anything on the other side. If Bryan had been a monkey, which of course he is the furthest possible from being, and as such had secured the Democratic nomination at Denver, Louisiana would have been "swept" by the monkey all the same. In the ordinarily intelligent use of words Louisiana has had no Presidential elec; tion this year, nor for many years. SHA1X, LEGISLATURE "BUB IT INt- Suggentlon That Chmuherlaln Be Erected to Tnnt End. 'ASHLAND. Or., Nov. 10. (To the Editor.) I have been a constant, and I believe a consistent and appreciative reader of The Oregonian for more than the third of a century. Everybody ap preciates it as a great and uplifting force in the rapid progress of the Pa cific Empire. I find myself nervous when my Oregonian happens to be de layed. 1 do not always agree with the propositions put forth, but the edi tor does not expect it, for he recog nizes the growing thoughtfulness of his readers. Apropos to the long continued dis cussion of Statement No. 1, I feel lik making a suggestion: that the Injection of such a requirement in the law was and Is an absurdity and has always been a conviction with me. I was solicited to run for election to the Legislature at each of the two preceding elections, but refused, chief ly because I saw that a certain hysterical condition prevailed. " demanding such a pledge. In each of these elections I was asked to give my opinion to candidates as to the propriety of signing such a pledge; on each occasion I did not hesitate to say that if I were the candidate I would sign no pledge, or if I did. It would be to vote for the Republican having the highest number of votes at the primaries. This is what the Repub lican candidates did In this county In the last June election, and they were beaten, yet Taffs majority in Jackson County is 500. This shows that a large number of Republicans voted for the Democratic candidates because of the Statement craze, and I have no doubt that such was the result in other coun ties. While it Is true that the pre tended law contravenes the constitu tion oi tile state ana tne i,nnea niates, and also true that It has been used to humbug the people In the interest of a party in hopeless minority, yet. while it remains on the statute books, it seems to me that In the Interest of more sanity In the politics of the fu ture, and until It has been annulled by the courts or repealed by the Legisla ture, It ought-to be obeyed, that the people may feel the full force of their blunder. Grant once said that "the best way to secure the repeal of an odious law is to enforce it." Therefore, unless the so-called pledgees, who call themselves Republicans, see fit volun tarily to disregard their crazy pledges, I would have them elect George E. Chamberlain, and immediately there-, after repeal the law that has enabled the whole country to give the Repub lican party, with Its 23.000 plurality, the "horse laugh." Then If enough adherents to that abortion can be found to invoke the referendum on the repeal another vote thereon by the people will dispose of it forever. Otherwise It will remain to plague us. This would give our No. 1 Republicans In the Legislature a chance to amend their foolish act by a worthy one. and give those who required the pledge a full dose of the medicine they mixed. . C. B. WATSON. STATUS OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE Never Actually Meets How Its Votes Are Counted. New York Times. Electoral College, we have all fallen In the habit of saying. . but each state has its own college. Thfc colleges never have a Joint meeting. Tie whole body of Electors never comes together. By the provisions of the Cclnstitution the Electors of several statesmeet at the state capitals on a specif ied day and vote by supposably secret ballol. for candi dates for PresMen- nt ha tViIted States and VicerFresident, only onV of whom may be a citizen of the sanW state as the Electors. A list is madelof all the votes east and this, after it) has been signed by every Elector and (luly certi fied, is sealed in an envelnpel and sent' to the President of the United States Senate. It is one of the Constitutional duties of this officer to open tVese en velopes, on a specified day. in uhe pres ence of the Senate and House of Repre sentatives in Joint session. . The Elect oral votes are then counted. If tiere Is no choice, the House of Representatives elects a President. The law specifies the second Monday In January after their appointment as the day for the meeklng of the Electoral Colleges. Congress counts the Electoral vote the seaond Wednesday in February.- i The framers of the Constitution clear ly had In view the election of Chief Mag istrate by the Nation's ablest and wisest men Tint the President and Vics-Pres- ident have always been named for the Electors. The theoretical authority of the Electors is great, but they exert no actual authority. If the successful can didate for President or Vice-President should die Derore tne secona Aionaay in January after an election, the Electors would be empowered, under the law, to vote according to their judgment. Tnat contingency has never arisen. No suc cessful candidate has ever died before the meeting of the colleges. No President-elect has ever died. If a President elect died between the second Monday of January and the second Wednesday in February, the colleges would not be re convened. The House of Representatives would have to bear the burden of respon sibility. In 1876 Oregon had an Electoral squab ble which might have caused serious trouble. According to the returns Tilden had 184 and Hayes 185 of the Electoral votes. J. W. Watts, one of the Hayes Electors In Oregon, was discovered to be a Federal office-holder. He was post master in the town of Lafayette, and the Constitution prohibits Federal office holders from serving as Electors. The Secretary of State refused a certificate to Watts and gave one to E. A. Cronin, the Democratic Elector having the larg est vote. Watts, however, resigned his postmastershlp and received a certificate, and the matter was fought out before the Electoral Commission. Clearly Hayes was the choice of the majority of the people of Oregon for President, and the Commission accepted Watts' vote. This incident, more than any other In our history, indicates the dangers of the system. It is clearly useless, yet there has never been any serious concerted action to substitute a simpler system. Employer May Dincbarg. HOQUIAM, Wash.. Nov. 9. (To the Editor.) Do the Unions object to the dis charge of a union man in a closed shop If the employer has sufficient cause for such discharge, providing that the place made vacant is filled by another union man? Will you kindly answer this question in the next issue of your paper? JOEL PRIDE. The union rules usually read that an employer "may discharge (1) for incom petency. (2) for neglect of duty, (3) for violation of office rules (which shall be conspicuously posted.") A FEW SQUIBS. Cora She haa such keen percefctlone. Dora And auch a blunt way of conveying them. Puck. Blobba I hear you have been up in Maine ehootlng. Have any luckT Slobba Great luck. A fellow shot at roe for a deer and. mitaed me. Philadelphia Record. "There U a terrific amount of energy exnended In a Residential campaign. Quite ao. I often wonder if It affecu th result any." Louievllle Courier-Journal. The papers BT." ! Ir pidraatle. "that Mr. Robinson d'o'i Intestate.' hy. replied her hoslese, "there must be ..m mistake about that. I heard ho died in New Jersey." Chicago Record-Horald. The lecturer Uad been de-rrihlng aonie. of the .Ignis he had seen abroad There are some apeotaeles." he said, "that one Jever forgeta" "I wish you oould tel me where 1 can get a pair of them," efcclaiined an old lady 1n the audience. Tm always torgtting mine." Chicago Dally Mcwa.