Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, December 02, 1908, Image 8

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Morning Oregonian., December 02, 1908, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextTIIE 3I0RXIXG OREGOXIAX, WEDNESDAY, DECE3IBER 2. 1303. 8 PORTLAND, OKEI.OX. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Poatbfflce a gecond-C'.aa Matter. Sobeeilptlon Kate InrarUbly In Advance- (Br Mall.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year. Daily. Sunday Included, nix month".--. L-aur. Sunday Include, three month.. -- Dal.y, Sunday Included, one monta iwiir; without Punday. one ' " "-s Dally, without Sunday. x m' ; :!? Daily, without Sunday, three month. . 1 i Kelly, without Sunday, one month Weekly, on year J"50 Punday. one year - t ... frunday and Weekly, one year IBy Carrier . Dall-r. Sunday Included, one year.. S ' Dally. Sunday Included, on month. Mow to Remit Send pntofflce moMJ e-rder. expree order or peronal cck on your locil bank. Stamp, coin or currency irTat the aendef. risk. Give postofflc. ad dresa In toll. Including county and atata. Postage Rate 10 to 14 page. 1 cent: 16 to 3S pige. 3 cents; 30 to pac. centi. 4 to page.. . centa Foreign poalage double rat. Ta.tern Buslne OtTtee The S. C. Tieck Wltt Special Agency Sew Vork. M Tribune building. Chicago, room OlO-jl-TMbun building. 3 PORTLAND. WEDNESDAY. DEC t. IMS, BON DA FOB EYEBTTinNO. To a letter on municipal lighting, offered today. The Oregonian will make a few remarks In reply. Into details of cost of lighting and profit from contracts at one price or another The Oregonian des not en ter. But It suspects that if the city should undertake the business all the estimates of experts would fall short of realities, and the taxpayers of the city would find Increasing sums to pav. to make up always increasing deficits. It Is the universal history of this sort of business. Hydraulic and electrical experts furnish seductive figures; the. politicians exploit the business, and the taxpayers hold tho bag. "In view of these facts." says Mr. Cunningham, meaning the statements he furnishes, "the writer wishes to disagree most decidedly." etc.. with the remarks of The Oregonian about municipal ownership. Now the fun damental question is whether the statements are "facts." That Tacoma is to vote on a bond Issue of $2,000, 000 for a municipal lighting plant cannot be conceded as a settlement of the question. Tacoma has her ex perience yet to gain. Seattle Is hav ing hers. now. Thus far the result la disappointment for Seattle and more bonds. Here Is a further question ad dressed to The Oregonian: "Is there any logical reason why. If municipal ownership la successful for sewers and water works, it should not prove suc tessful for a lighting plant?" There la confusion of Ideas here. Owners of property directly benefited are obliged to pay for sewers, as for street Improvements. The city superintends the work as a necessity of sanitation. And forces the owners of adjacent property, or property of the sewer dis trict, to pay the bill, by direct assess ment. But -water supply stands on its own basis; It is different from any Other function of city government, for the need of it Is absolute, and sanita tion requires that It be directed by the city, even as to plumbing in pri vate houses: but the user has to pay (or everything, and now tor the lay ing of mains In new districts. But tvater supply differs in an economic sense from light supply, since our Bull Run system practically operates Itself. Scarcely any machinery is re quired, and but few men. It Is all simplicity, as compared with electric or gas lighting, or with the operation of street railways. All cities lind It comparatively easy to deal with their problem of water supply; none yet has p.ad success In dealing with these fther problems though success In some is pretended for a while. "Monopoly" is named, of course; but monopoly Is no more In evidence here than in other great and compli cate functions that require large cap ital and special skill In management. The telephone is now as indispensable as light; so are street railways, and tnore so; the great railroads perhaps most of all. But in these things there is distrust of public ownership and administration, since It Is notori ous that public service can seldom or tiever be as efficient or cheap as pri vate administration. A troop of po litical hangers-on, moreover, attaches to every function that local govern ment undertakes, and politicians who ;know least about the business usually have most to say in direction of it. The management of our bridges la 'anything but successful, either for .efficiency or economy. A favorite expedient with many is to "sell bonds" for everything that la wanted. Most of these people never '.think of the burden of bonds or of - .payday. More prudent persons, how ever, do. It remains to be seen which description is the more numerous In the City of Portland. Already It Is complained that the expected pre miums on city bonds are not forth coming. It Is a sign that prudence well understands. The affairs of no city are conducted .on business principles. Portland is unable to maintain even a cremation establishment. for disposal of its garbage. The fewer things a city, in its public or municipal capacity, en gnges in, the better. There is no branch of business In Portland that wouldn't be ruined in two years by public ownership. AV ANALYSIS OF MILK. An article in the December Mo Clure's calls attention again to the supreme Importance of a pure milk supply in cities. The lives of young children are completely dependent upon wholesome milk. -They will thrive upon no other food. Contam inated milk may not kill them all. In deed, if it did. the rising generation would speed to an early grave, for. outside of one or two cities, there is no such thing known In American municipal experience as pure milk. The stuff we call milk is a sort of brew or soup made from manure, disease germs and the real article In various proportions. Let a glas of milk pro cured almost anywhere stand for an .hour or two and you will find a de posit in the bottom of It. This de- posit Is a film of scales from the cow, 'dirt from the milker's hands, filth from the walls and floor of the barn, and occasionally scabs from sores on '.the cow's udder or the hire3 man's thumb. It is a weird and awesome fluid that we call milk and feed to our babies under that title. That it does not kill them all Is the strongest confirmation there is of the intervention of a merciful Provi dence in the affairs of men, and It does kill multitudes of them. The in troduction of clean milk reduced the death rate among young children in Copenhagen about 23 per cent at ono stroke. In these days of race suicide the fourth part of the annual tribute to death is worth saving. The civilized world sneers at our milk supply just as It does at our pos tal facilities. To put the matter plainly, it is barbarous. PREACHER OF THE OLD 8CHOOI. The combined mental and physical breakdown of Rev. C. C. Stratton. as reported from Coqullle, Coos County, recalls the wonderful Industry and effectiveness of Pr. Stratton as itin erant preacher, presiding elder and educator, manifested in connection with his work In the Oregon confer ence of the Methodist Church for a long period of years, beginning with his graduation from Willamette tni versltv more than half a century ago. Dr. Stratton 'Is one of the few.mem bers of the Oregon conference of that era who now survive. He was a contemporary, though somewhat . younger, of 'r bur Roberts. Gustavus and Harvey K. r,-. Dc-no Miller. Flynn. the Gar- risons. Farrish and other men who "rode tho circuit.- conaucteo. r . .oarhoit in school-houses. mepinife., i" - , officiated at weddings and funerals, instituted churches and organized Sundav schools, in that near yet lar-away time wherein "our yet voung str.te was younger jci. He was in his prime one of the most eloquent, fervid and forceful minis ters of the Methodist Episcopal Church. .-r-i rt tv,at erari us. maims ana mars us" has left "track and trench" upon the mind and body of Dr. Strat ton, and In the serenity ana simpii of second childhood he awaits the end. ROMK OF OCR DEBTS. ' A frten1" n d "constant reader" .ih The Orceoninn to look up and to report on the origin of tho piano forte. It is not difficult. me oest. dictionaries give the bases or tne i--no,inn t.iva so many other things, and indeed all other thing3. the pianoforte is a development. n two words of the name are opposites and at cross purposes. They, were put together by the Italians, in com bination to express a composite Idea neTo., nnri loudness together. The harp, touched by the fingers, was the basis of it an; men me nisi.ru, mont r-ailed the dulcimer. In which the strings were struck by hammers operated by keys. This was aevei oped Into an instrument whose chief peculiarity was that its tone might be made either loua or son. at mo player's will. The earliest of these instruments seem to have been made at Padua, about two centuries ago. The first record or tne instrument, in trmrinnri seems to be that of a play bill of the Covent Garden Theater, London, dated May 16, not. inn Vvtii oftor nAttlnir forth the perform ance of the celebrated "Beggar's Opera," by John Gay, contemporary r pnnA .nntnina the following noti fication:'. "End of Act First, Miss Brickler will sing a iavonte song from 'Judith,' accompanied by Mr. Dlbdln, on a new Instrument called Piano-forte." The first manufac turer in England is believed to be a German named BacKers, since xnere la still in existence the name-board of a piano Inscribed "Amencus Back ers. Factor and Inventor, jermyn Street, London, 1776." It Is certain, nevertheless, that tne Atnn" na anmn of OUT DeODle are SO fond' of calling the Italian, first pro duced the instrument, inn nlnn won id be Droof of the fact. This "dago," observe, as some of our people who know nothing or tne nis tr.rv nf piilturn call every Italian, gave us nearly everything we have In art and science. A "dago" aiso was the discoverer of America. "We should he aavasres vet but for the dago. And also but for the Jew. A PROSPERITY UNPARALLELED. November commercial statistics are bo strikingly at - variance with those for the corresponding month last year that Portland may well be pleased with the situation. Not only have the bank clearings, building per mits, real estate transfers and prac tically every other feature of our commercial life scored remarKaDie gains as compared with the same month last year, but the increase over November, 1906, when the whole country was floating on the crest of the wave ot prosperity, Is also quite pronounced. The reason for this prosperity is not far to seek. To an overwhelming extent It can be found in the market quotations on farm products. The great economic rule that the city cannot prosper unless the tributary country is also prosper ous Is as old as civilization Itself. It is from the soil that all of the wealth from which our cities are bullded comes first, "Whenever the blight of poor crops and low prices Is felt In the country, the city suffers to an even greater extent than the country. Grain and lumber are for the pres ent the leading exports of this city. The November figures on these com modities alone show why Portland, at the gateway of the greatest timber and agricultural region on earth. Is prospering. Water shipments alone of grain, flour and lumber for the month reached an aggregate value of more than Jl, 850,000. or approxi mately 160,000 per day. Including Sundays and holidays. These figures mean that every hour of the day and ertry day In the month grain and lumber were placing in circulation newly-created wealth to the amount of more than $2500. This vast sum of money, distributed through the various channels of trade and Indus try, which are dependent In varying drgrees on the grain and lumber busi ness, was easily turned over several times during the month, and in the aggregate paid debts and promoted trade to the extent of several times the actual amount originally received for the products. It is perhaps Inadvisable to dwell too seriously on grain and lumber; for the fruit and dairying, livestock and truck-farming industries are ell com ing to the front and aiding In increas ing the per capita available for circu lation in city and slate. Portland and Oregon, for It must not for a moment be forgotten that Portland will always be dependent on Oregon for. her commercial greatness, have made this remarkable recovery from the depression of last year without the aid of any new capital, aside from that which was forced In to pay for the products for which the whole world was offering a market. Now all this Is changed, and capital from other parts of the country is again flowing Into the state in search of in vestment. More railroad building is planned for Portland territory during the next two years than at any previous time In the history of the Pacific North west. The opening of the North Bank road, with its connections leading through thousands of square miles of territory from which Portland has previously been barred, will add enor mously to the business of the port. The extension of the Elgin branch of the O. R. & N. will open up a new wheat and dairy country of great ex tent, and that vast empire in Central nimn nrill within two vears be pour ing out millions of bushels of wheat. Oregon has been slow in many re spects, but her progress has been sure and safe, and at no time in our his tory has the future seemea so prigni. November, 1908, was a record-breaker inflnsf rial activity In Portland; but unless there is a remarkable change In industrial conamons throughout the United fctates ana throughout the world. November. 1909, will show a volume of business that will . make last month's seem small by comparison. HAYTL The perpetual revolutions which distract the Island of Haytl originate In the hostility between the full blooded negroes and the mulattoes. The former compose nearly 90 per cent of the population. The latter, though numbering less than io per cent, nevertheless possess pretty near- lv the whole of the education .ana in telligence of the country. The mulat toes are usuaTly educatd in France and have the same habits and Ideals as other civilized people. The negroes of unmixed blood are commonly ig norant and their customs smack strongly of primitive barbarism. In deed, for the last hundred years, it Is said by travelers, the Haytlan ne groes have been gradually losing such elements of -civilization as tney ior merly possessed and reverting to the religion and mode of life which were practiced by their Arrlcan ancestors. The savage voodoo worship prevails among them, at least in sections of the island, and at some of their fes tivals they secretly practice cannibal ism. Naturally there is bitter hatred be tween these retrograding blacks and their mulatto fellow-citizens. When either party obtains power tie other is discontented and this unrest gener ally increases until It breaks out Into open rebellion. An almost constant condition of civil war hinders the proper development of the resources of the Island. It is a rich country so far as resources go, having a fer tile soil, much valuable timber and mines of unknown value, while the climate is one of perpetual Summer on the coast, with cooler areas In the high mountains of the interior. Haytl has received most of her social cus toms, her language and code of laws from France, and that nation con sumes the greater part of her exports. These are by no means varied, con sisting almost entirely of coffee, which is cultivated in the islands by the most primitive methods. The United States furnishes about 60 per cent of the im ports of Haytl, but buys very little from her. This might be thought by some to confirm the absurd theory that America can continually sell to other nations- without purchasing their goods in return, but it does noth ing of the sort. The balance between us and the islanders Is kept even in directly by our Import trade from France. The intimate relations between Haytl and France date from long ago. The Island was one of those first discovered by Columbus and the Spaniards held it for two centuries after his voyage, working the native Indians to death in cruel slavery, as they did everywhere else In the New World where they had the power. To supply their place, negroes were brought from Africa, By the treaty of Ryswick, at the close of the seven teenth century, Haytl fell to France and was ruled by that country for a hundred years. Thus the Inhabitants became pretty thoroughly French In their habits and modes of life, or the civilized portion of them did. The rest, who form the vast majority, speak a barbarous dialect of the French language and retain their gross African customs. Slavery pre vailed In Haytl until the time of the French Revolution, when the national convention abolished it, though not till after the negroes had risen in re bellion under the great leader, Tous saint L'Ouverture, to assert their free dom. L'Ouverture was the only truly great man whom the negro race has ever produced without an interming ling of white blood. Both his par ents were slaves of pure African stock, and yet he was a commander of con summate skill, a statesman of high ability end a philanthropist of the loftiest Ideals. Had he been permit ted to complete the work which he began for the Island of Haytl, its sub sequent history woufd have been dif ferent and less blood-stained, but he fell a victim to the power of Napo leon and perished In a French prison instead of living to establish enduring institutions of freedom in his native land. Since early in the last century the island has been independent of foreign dominion. Divided into two so-called republics, it has been at lib erty to work out Its own destiny, but what it has accomplished does not cast much credit upon the political genius of the negro race. Its his tory Is a tale of needless bloodshed blackened by savage cruelty. Each faction, when It temporarily obtains control, avenges itself upon the other by Indiscriminate slaughter. The re sources of the Island have not been developed. The cultivation of sugar, which once flourished, has almost dis appeared; the timber stands uncut; the roads are as bad as In Morocco, where one can .travel only on horse back, and in the whole country there is but a single railroad, and that is only sixteen miles long. The only practicable method of 'going from place to place is by water. The sys tem of free schools which "was estab lished a century ago exists on paper, but scarcely anywhere, else. Prop erty Is unsafe everywhere In the Island and the lives of foreigners are frequently endangered by the endless contentions among the natives. Were the foreign warships withdrawn, the whites living in Haytl would not be safe for an hour. The Inhabitants of Haytt have en Joyed an abundant opportunity to de velop a stable government if they had possessed the ability, but the clear verdict of history is that they do not possess It. They are farther from civilization than they were a hundred years ago. The world may tolerate anarchy and slaughter in this un happy Island for a few years longer, but it is only a question of time when some civilizing power will step in and compel the people to give up per petual fighting for peaceful industry. What nation that will jje can perhaps be surmised from recent events in Cuba, The Madison Square Garden is about to be sold. Its site probably to be occupied In the near future by a nui office hnlldinfr which will add another striking minaret to New York's world renowned "skyline." The Outlook deplores its passing as a loss to the city; a loss on the ar tistic side, for the Garden has for eighteen years been one of the not able architectural features of New Tork, and a loss more widely felt as a place of public entertainment, since the city has no other hall of any thing like the same size. "It Is a commentary upon the youth of our people," continues the Outlook, "that we are prepared to mourn' the loss nf q r.iillriinB' less than a score of years old, as the loss of a landmark." But the building, popular as it is, artistic as it is, with Augustus Saint Gaudens' Dlajia as a crown to its tower, and necessary as it is as a place for great gatherings upon great occasions, it has never paid a divi dend to Its owners. Its site has be come too valuable to be occupied by a building of restricted earning power. This is a commercial age and New York is the pivot around which it revolves. "The young land mark" must go, even as the old land mark (historic in a New World sense), the Fifth Avenue Hotel, has gone. The Harriman invasion of Hill ter ritory on Grays Harbor has reached a point where right-of-way Is being purchased, and an official in charge of matters at Aberdeen makes posi tive announcement that work of grading will commence within ninety days. This, of course, may have no direct bearing on the belated an nouncement that the Northern Paclfia would place a through coach for Grays Harbor on the train leaving J this city; but the news -will be wel come Just the same. Portland needs more than one railroad into the Grays Harbor and Puget Sound coun try. The coming year will undoubt edly bring with it an era of railroad building that will open up more new territory in the Pacific Northwest than has been developed in any pre vious ten years. The. Census Bureau, In its tabula tion of the causes for divorce shows that drunkenness was the cause upon which the pica was made by the wife in but 5.S per cent of the cases brought between 1887 and 1906. This statement would stagger belief, but for this supplemental explanation: "In many cases In which drunken ness or intemperance was . not rec ognized In .the decree of the court as a ground, for the divorce. It appears to have been present as a contrib utory Influence." This sets matters straight without reflecting too heavily upon the bibulous propensity which Inspires the cruelty upon which the complaint for divorce was lodged in 27.6 per cent of. cases entered by wives. The Canadian Pacific Railway has filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission a new export and import tariff which becomes effective this week. As the American portion of any haul which the Canadian" Pacific would make on freight bound for the Orient is comparatively insignificant, that road Is In position to cut under any of the American roads for the Oriental business, and still hold Its American portion of the through rates up to the figures maintained on local business within the United States. By this system the Oriental tfnfn Inrmprlv handled bv the trans- ' Pacific steamers operating out of American ports will all be transferred to the Canadian line. Another Immense sawmill is planned for the peninsula near the mammoth Swift . packln plant. There Is plenty of room for all, and until Portland has upwards oi l.uuu, 000 population, there will be a vast supply of raw material on which to draw. By the way, tawmills and other manufacturing enterprises of varying degrees of importance are coming along so numerously that they no longer occasion the surprise that formerly greeted their an nouncements in Portland. Some brother says: "We are fight ing for a principle In Statement One. Down that and the people in their wrath are liable to elect a Democratic majority in the Legislature next time." And suppose they did? Could It do any mora than elect another Democratic Senator? For what pur pose are Republicans or Democrats in the Legislature? There will never be an end to the sensations In the San Francisco graft prosecution. Just when public Interest begins to wane, it is revived by such an incident as the Heney shooting or Blggy's tragic death. Per haps It was suicide. No one will ever know, probably. Mystery is the most interesting feature of any tragedy. The moral squad is to be reduced In numbers because it cannot find anything to do. Strange, when there are many Portland citizens who Jus tify suspicion from . the mayor's sleuths by nestling In the bosom of their respective families every night. It may be a trifle uncertain as to Just who voted for Coffey for chair man of the Multnomah delegation, but somebody did ten somebodies. Everybody appears to be satisfied that the returns ere authentic. A New York preacher was pre sented with 140,000 in checks (real money) - on his seventieth birthday. Which proves, that preaching pays, if the preacher manages to escape starvation until he is seventy. The Country Life Commission will find that the Oregon farmer will be able to devise many ways for the gen eral uplift as long as wheat remains at $1 per bushel and apples $2 per box. Chamberlain In Washington will doubtless be hailed as the most won derful non-partisan the Democratic party has produced. His Democratic brethren should study him closely. The state might add to Its institu tions for criminals, insane and feeble minded, an establishment for the many who make gun threats or carry concealed weapons. . In Italy they think the Abruzzi Elklns episode very unpleasant. They are right; it was the most unpleasant affair in America, since the Gould Sagan tie-up. Finch's lawyers would find an ideal Jury for their purposes In those twelve denizens of murderers' row. General Simon (first name not Joe) appears to be having things his own way down in Haytl. POST HOC MEMORANDA. There Is Krenuw In Thto Artlele, and It In Worth "While to Read It.. New York Evening Sun. The TV e-nderlng Voice, hushed for a few brief days by the anesthetic of a large popular vote, has struscled out again,. and now rings true as a Mexican dollar from Aldamas. the green home of Southern waterfowl, and the contiguity of shade in which the .statesman is resting until his head cools off. He has been trying to put his finger on the exact cause of his recent defeat, for he has at last conceded that fact After a cursory glance at the money question, the attitude of the newspapers, the iniquity of corporate employers and such contributory influences, he professes to come to the point, to the exact reason why; but It will be seen that in the very moment of his definition his protean char acteristic works automatically, and he, the beaten Bryan, changes into the beaten Democratic party. That is, himself and the Democratic party are interchange able terms, as he sees them. And in the last snalvsta he finds the secret, poisoned drop in Democracy's cup. which stretched It stark and eilent (except for his own automatic speech) to be Democracy's lark of the Federal offices. In his own words: It (the Demooratlo party) has eeen num ber of lt polices taken up and Indorsed by the Republican party and It will con tinue to be an educational Influence until it become strong enough to ecure control ot the office. In other words, all Is now lost save the honorable function of the school master. The Democratic party must go on In the simple austerity of its teacher's garb, trudging through the mire of un favorlng circumstances, splashed by the wheels and choked by the fuming gaso lene of the passing band wagons of. the Republican party, a simple scholar, con tent with Its crust of economic truth, and patiently waiting its chance to overtake one of the aforesaid band wagons per haps standing unguarded In some tavern yard while the Republicans carouse at table and then to leap into the driver's seat and run its own machine. The offices the sheltering offices, the ease and dignity and comfort of the Ins these always have the strongest possible appeal to the Outs. But it Is not always, in recent years, that the offices have been so definitely named by the party's spokesman as the sine qua non the es sential cause of the unsuccess of assault upon the citadel, the first foundation stone of a party's chance of winning. Our modern statesmen have been mealy mouthed about them, but Mr. Bryan goes back to the wisdom of the Jacksonian fathers. Without the offices the party cannot hope to gain full control. Obvi ously, tho first step In getting hold of all the offices Is to get one office. The proper person to get the first office is, naturally, the party's leader. And so Mr. Bryan should be sent to the Senate. What? Anybody say that Mr. Bryan Is not the actual, natural, perpetual and unquestionable leader of the Dem ocratic party? Oh, you can never get Mr. Bryan to oeueve tnau nc win nnim.A Docnmo bin nwn leadershin until the party smites him so hard not with appeals, tor ne is aeat; nm -j t v. Uirti. fnr hn 1 hpmiiRpd and self- hypnotized; but with the heavy blud geon of caucus votes. it ne can uo felled at the beginning the party may be rid of its incubus. But If he is al lowed political life as a Democrat he will continue to organize Democracy's defeat. Extraordinary Women. New York World. The Dowager Empress of China, like Catharine I of Russia, was a chapter out of the Arabian Nights. Neither would have been possible except in an Oriental environment. One was the daughter of a starving Cantonese who sold her into slavery. The other had a serf for a mother and presumably a Lithuanian peasant for a father. The one fell Into the hands of a, Tartar general in command of the troops in the province, and eventually passed ino the harem of the Emperor of China as a concubine of the-third class. The other fell into the hands of the Russian general who captured Marlenburg and became the mistress of Peter the Great and his most trust ed adviser. The former established her son on the Chinese throne and as Dowager Emoress ruled nearly 400,000,000 sub jects for almost a half century through two puppets called Emperors. The latter Induced Peter to marry her and to -proclaim her Empress. After his death she ascended the throne of Rus sia in her own right. Two great romances, of two great empires, vet Tsu Hsl was even a more striking figure than her Russian pro totype. She deserves comparison not with one Catharine but with three with Otetharine I, whom she resembled in the manner of achieving sovereign ity; with Catharine II, whom she re sembled in mental vigor and admini strative talent, and with Catharine de' Medici, whom she emulated In cruelty, in genius for Intrigue and in unbending opposition to liberalism and progress. Bryan and he Frraa. New York Evening Post, In his latest analysis of the causes of his defeat. Mr. Bryan finds that the Re publicans had most of the large metro politan newspapers on their side. Appar ently, they offset the great influence of the Commoner and the Staats Zeitung, with the half-hearted support of the World. But if Mr. Bryan would only take time to think a little more deeply about this press situation, he might per haps recall that in 1876 and in 1SS4. and in the later Cleveland campaigns, the pick of the independent press cordially supported the Democratic ticket. No Pres ident ever had better or more influential American newspapers behind him than Grover Cleveland. But ever since the ap pearance of Mr. Bryan, this newspaper support has generally gone to the Re publicans. Why, Mr. Bryan should ask himself, did newspapers like the Times, the Evening Post, the Springfield Repub lican, the Baltimore Sun, and a host of others of this type refuse to support the Democratic party In 1906? Tile answer is the same that must be given when anybody examines frankly the causes of the Democratic defeat because Mr. Bryan was the candidate. So long as he is at the head of the party it will regu larly be defeated, and will as regularly repel the valuable newspaper support it could regain by choosing a stable, trust worthy and statesmanlike leader. MlKhty Smart, Thla I" I but Still We Hare the Islands. From Life. 1. We fought for them with Spain and got them by conquest. 2. We bought them from Spain. 3. We fought for them with the Fili pino patriots and got them by conquest. 4. We bought a large part of them from the pope. 5. We gave them back to the Pope and other private interests for purposes of benevolent assimilation, forcible Chris tlanizatlon and commercial exploitation. $.In consideration of our generosity in giving them away, we continue to pay all bills of administration, pacification and subjugation. Question. Have we the Philippines oij have we them not? Plays "William Tell" Act and Dies. London (Eng.) Dispatch. Herbert Lee, a music hall performer, is dead in this city from the effects of a wound on the, head received during a -recent performance of a "William Tell" act at a local hall. Lee held a ball on his head, at which Mine.' Clementine shot at a distance of 50 feet. Mme. Clementine surrendered to the police. Lee had given this act for. 18 years without having met with an accident. What the'Tarmers' Uplift Commission" Is Doing Wide Inquiry Throuuhout Alt the Stnte. Show. Alraoat 1 nanlmoua Demand for Poatnl Snvlnaia Bank. nd Tarcela Poat, All Clni of Persona Ten dering: Information. William E. Vurtla- Washington Letter to I Chicago Record-Herald. Henry Wallace, of Des Moines, Iowa, is here with the "Farmer's Vplift commission appointed last August by the President, and I asked him what he and his colleagues are doing, and what they expect t accomplish. Before answering the question. Mr. Wallace sounded the keynote of the investigation by summarizing Presi dent Roosevelt's letter of Instructions which called for fact and opinion on which to seaure better business meth ods and better living on the farm; more comforts and wider advantages; tho bringing back of children to the farm; to educate country children to be contented on the farm; to make life richer and more attractive for wives and daughters: to secure co-operation in buying, selling and borrowing, to the end that farm life may be made more profitable as well as more com fortable. "With this in view." said Mr. Wal lace, he appointed what he has called "a commission on country life.' of which Professor L. H. Bailey, of New York State College of Agriculture is chair man; President Butterfield, of Massa chusetts Agricultural College, Gifford Plnchot, director of United States For est Service, Walter li Page, of North Carolina and myself are members. He has since added Charles S. Barrett, of Union City, Ga., and W. A. Beard, of Sacramento, and has asked us to make an investigation and report before the end- of next (this) December what can be done to secure greater efficiency and attractiveness in farm life. "The first thing we did was to send out about 500,000 circulars of inquiry to farm ers and persons who are familiar with farm life in different parts of the country. These circulars contain 12 questions for the purpose of drawing out Information on the general economic, social, educational and sanitary conditions of the farm homes in this country and the persons to whom they are sent are requested to state what, in their judgment, should be done for the betterment of country life. "The various phases of the subject have been assigned to different mem bers of the commission," continued Mr. Wallace, "and each of them has sent out supplementary circulars making specific inquiries upon the lines of the investigations. For example, I have sent out 20,000 circulars asking what per cent of the land Is worked by the owners; how much Is rented; how much for cash and how much for shares: and the amount of shares? I have asked for Information as to the Incomes of the farmers who own their land, compared with those of tenants and the landowners. I have asked about wages also, and the cost of living, and whether there has been any Increase in rents or in wages. What proportion of hired farmhands ultimately become farmers? What proportion of the tenants become land owners? What proportion of the ten ants drop off and become laborers and what proportion of the farmers lose their land? a "We get the names of the persons to whom these circulars are sent from the banks In the small towns and vil lages, from agricultural colleges, from newspapers and from associations of various kinds, and we are confident that we have reached the representa tive intelligent farmers of every sec tion - of the country. We have also sent circulars to country ministers, doctors, educators, business men, rail road men, and others who come into contact with farmers and have an op portunity to learn of the conditions and needs of country life. The interest taken by the farming community in this inquiry is indicated by the fact that we are receiving between 5000 and 6000 answers a day, 'and many of them are of the greatest interest. Country ministers and priests have GHOSTS ARE PROBABLY UNHAPPY President Hall, flnrk University, Soya It'a Borenome to Be a Spook. New York Press Service. WThile doubting the existence of ghosts, Professor G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University, the Institution which recently offered a cash prize for the capture or authentic proof of the ex istence of a spook, has startled tele pathists and Investigators generally by announcing that if ghosts do exist they are undoubtedly unhappy what Huck Finn would call a "poor lot." After investigating hundreds of cases. Dr. Hall is more than ever unconvinced of the existence of ghosts and in an explanation of his attitude which he contributes to Appleton's Magazine cites reasons for his position. "No ghost was ever seen to do or say anything Important," he says, "but all their re puted acts and words are so trivial as to intimate that such a life aa they lead must be boresome. The president of the ghost-seeking university, In answer to the assertions of persons who declare that they have seen ghosts makes the novel retort that plenty of persons who have been struck on the head have seen sparks, without the sparks being in any 'way real. "Till comparative recently," says he, "the whole world believed that the sun went around the earth, but this con sensus does not add an iota to the probability that it ever did so." "Likewise," says the university presi dent, "it is not logical to believe that ghosts exist simply because some peo ple believe in them. The list of once universal superstitions is a long one, but It does not prove ' anything. It is hard to realize that our Intimate friends, especially if they died sudden ly and afar off. so that we did not see the corpse or the interment, are really dcud, and this has a good deal to do with the cases of those supposed to return to earth." The chief result of years of Investigation, however, leads Dr. Hall to conclude that by their mani festations, even if such manifestations be accepted, ghosts must be a sorrow ful lot, a statement which shows the possibilities for the formation of a society for the amelioration of the con dition of spooks. He Catches 'Em A-comln' and A-gwlnr. New York Evening Sun. Hittorv once more repeats lteelf. Miss Ida Tarbell's "History of the Standard Oil Company" was sold, with other books by its publisher, Mr. A. to Mr. B., another publisher. Mr. B. is at present publishing Mr. John D. Rockefel ler's personal reminiscences and receiv ing (we suspect) quite a large sum of money for those altruistic outpourings. But observe the recurring benediction of Fortune upon the aged philanthropist. He Is now getting paid, in part, by the money earned by Miss Tarbell and her useful history. That is. he is once more getting a rebate on the shipments of a competi tor. And nobody not even Mr. Kellogg could say it was his own fault. If only he stands with his cap out, is he to blame if everybody's hapence falls into it? Airabipa. Emporia (Kas.) Gazette. I hold it true, with him who sings, to one clear harp in divers tones, that men who'd fly. ere they have wings, are apt to break their blooming bones. The birds may think it fully worth their while to soar from tree to tree; but while I live this, good old earth is plenty smooth enough for me. written a surprisingly large proportion of the replies and their suggestions show a broad and intelligent grasp of the situation. Schoolteachers, su perintendents of schools. country bankers and commission men who deal in farmers' produce, have also given us some exceedingly valuable Information. "There are several replies from or dinary farmhands, men who work by the month, which show a degree of intelligence and Judgment that was not expected. Some of them show a com prehension of the subject that would do credit to a political economist. "All of these replies are boing tabu lated and briefed at the census office, and when the returns are all in copies will be furnished to each member of the commision for them to study and form their conclusions upon. In the meantime we are having hearings. We have already visited College Park, Md.; Richmond, Va.; Raleigh, Athens, Ga,: Knoxvllle, Tenn.; Spartansburg, S. C: Lexington, Ky., and several other places. From 1 to 200 gentlemen snd ladies appeared before us at each of these places and gave us their opini ons and the information we required. Several white women gave exceedingly valuable testimony of several parts of the South, and we heard many In telligent practical farmers of both races. Several superintendents of schools, physicians, sanitary officers and other gentlemen who are especial ly well qualified opened up their hearts and talked with the greatest frank ness. They agree on certain things, some of which are as follows: 1. They need better schools every where in the rural districts, particu larly in the South, better schoolhouses, longer terms and better paid teachers. 2. They need better roads and they want the National Government to make them. 3. There Is almost unanimous de mand for postal savings banks. 4. The farmers everywhere are ex ceedingly urgent in their demands for a parcels post system. 5. Everybody thinks that agricul ture might be made more profitable nnd various suggestions were advanced to secure that desired end. . "We are going to visit every state in the Union. We go next to Texas and then on to Arizona, California and Oregon, where the commission will di vide into two parts and do double duty so as to complete our work with in the time stated by the President. We will all get together again at Omaha at the National Corn Exposi tion on the 9th or 10th of December, where we have Invited many farmers from the surrounding states to meet us. Then we go to St. Paul and Min neapolis, and after that will visit the universities at Champaign, III.: Madi son, Wis.; Lansing, Mich.; Ithaca, N. Y., and Boston, to see what the agri cultural schools are doing. We expect to get back to Washington about De cember 20 to make our report." "I have heard it suggested that this is a Socialistic movement?" "That is a mistake. There is no drift toward Socialism whatever. The President's idea and our purpose is to discover how country life can be re organized and elevated to a higher plane Just as city life has been. The Government does not intend to do this, but Is hoping to be able to show how it can be done, and encourage those most deeply Interested to do it. Our work does not contemplate Congres sional appropriations for the benefit of anybody, except to educate the farmers of the country through the Agricultural Department, the experi ment stations and other ' agencies to help themselves. We want to teach them not to depend upon the Govern ment, but to help themselves; how to co-operate with each other: to make the best of what they have; and to encourage self-help is the very oppo site of Socialism." ARMY RATIONS FOR ONE DAT What Soldiers of Various Countries) Have While on March. London Special to New York Times. Herman Senn, the organizer of the Universal Cookery and Food Exhibi tion, which has Just been opened here, has received, as one of the most inter esting exhibits, specimens of the Ideal army rations of the leading countries of the world. The exhibits present a day's rations for men on tho march, and nearly every country is represent ed. The Japanese dietary scale is tha most frugal, and is as follows: Ric 5 Meat J-"5 OS- Fish (which may be had Instead of meat) -, ?' Cabbage Or other vegetable 6 -3 oz. Biscuit 20 2? '1 OZ- Great Britain's soldier gets In one day: iii tT Fresh moat J Or. preaerved meat, J Bread Or bicult or flour 1 y- Tea "' Jam gsr. 'n - pepper . l- Freah vegetables . .: Or dried vegetable 2 f Or preerved fruit Lime juice twlth Ji o. .ugar on day whun frenh vegetable are not lBued xr? ' Rum ;vvii-::v 14 Tobacco (per or. The' scale'of Germany is as follows: Booui-::::::::::""::::":j'-; earmuiion::::::::1 :? St ,?br..:::::::::::::::::::::: j Barley or groat.... ? Or peas, bean or Hour - or. toc :::::::::::::::;:. ST Coffee ( roasted )' I or. The French soldier on a march getsi per day: Meat without Done ....-.." Bread . . .35.30 OI. Or biscuit ..... .26. SO Dried vegetable JJt, "' : J: Coffee The Belgian dietary scale Includes concentrated bouillon. Prunes, tomatoes and apples are among the American soldier's rations, and the Dutch army's diet includes horseflesh. Hla Conaolatton. r Atlanta Constitution. Possibly pottscrlp to the Rockefel ler autobiography: "I was once h court and heavily fined. In the sum of $29,000,000; but I knew I should not have to pay It having never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg ging bread." Chair of Forgetfnlnesa. Washington Star. "What I want," said the fretful mag nate, "is to find some way of forgetting my troubles." "That's easy," answered Mr. Dustin Stax. "Get them to put you In the wit ness chair during a trust investigation." Not Exceptional. Kansas City Journal. "I see that a New York dame claim that a woman needs $70,000 a year for clothes. I s'pose hers is an exceptional CR,'5:ot at all. Every woman needs that much. Only they don't all get It."