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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.