Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, January 30, 1909, Page 8, Image 8

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rOBTLAXD. SATURDAY. JAN. 0. 1909-
a.
THE ETERNAL IXUEHMlE.
The whole debate about "What
Jesus Would Do" springs first from
historical and Intellectual misconcep
tion of Jesus In the world; further,
from the ecclesiastical Idea, that since
his time has grown up, which attrib
utes to him the "whole progress of
humanity since his day. Perhaps It
would be more correct to say that the
growth of the ecclesiastical Idea, and
of the . theological Idea that has at
tended It the one Idea reacting on
the other has produced the historical
misconception of the true piaffe of
Jesus In the world. The statement
opens an Immense subject, whose
literature exceeds the range of any
other. A newspaper can say but a
word.
The Jesus of history is a personage
and a character about whom there Is
little or no debate. The contention
rages around the Christ of dogma.
Jesus was a high idealist. The
Messianic idea, was prevalent among
his people. In his moments of spirit
ual exaltation It occurred to him that
the fulfillment might possibly be in
himself. Tet he was uncertain. Bal
ancing in his mind the various ideas,
conceptions or imaginations that cen
tered on the Messianic dream, he
asked his disciples, as he went into
the towns of Phillppi and Cesarea,
"Whom do men say that I am?" One
said "John the Baptist," others said
"Ellas"; but Peter said, "Tnou art the
Christ." Then "he charged them that
they should tell no man of him." It
was a dream. There was suggestion
of an idea that he was not yet pre
pared for; nor was the idea fully
worked out till long, very long, after
his death. It was worked out through
development of the Holy Catholic
'Church, from the authority of which
Protestantism Is a departure that
marks the first stages in decry of a
great ecclesiastical and theological
system.
Upon this text, "Thou art the
Christ." and upon the other text,
Thou art Peter, and on this rock I
will build my church," Chrlstjanlty as
an ecclesiastical and theological sys
tem, with all Its dogmas, was estab
lished. The true exponent and cus
todian of the system Is the Roman
Catholic Chnrch. To Protestantism.
"Whom do men say that I am?" and
"What think ye of Chrlst, are ques
tions that can issue only in what is
.called rationalism. . '.
Of course these persons, of our; own
time, these persons' round about us,
who are asking. "What would Jesus
do In cur time?" have little or 'no
comprehension of the problem they
state which indeed Is. cot a practical
or rational problem at all.' But you
never will rind persons who speak for,
or In the name of, the Holy Catholic
Church asking such questions. The
higher authorities of the church speak
in the name of a spiritual Idealism;
the humbler clergy and laymen follow
a general Instruction. . The genius or
spirit of the Holy Catholic Church
worships the name.: never makes it
the subject of cheap arid sensational
discourse.
On this subject The Oregonian is not
expressing opinions. It is 6lmply try
ing to slate a condition as It exists in
the modern time a condition that
proceeds from historic conceptions
evolved in the progress of the religious
nature of man. The absolute truth is
yet far distant, probably never will be
reached; and the last word in answer
to the question, "What think ye of
Christ?" will not be spoken yet for
many, a day. But it will be spoken.
What men call religion is the most
permanent element of human nature;
but no attempt to define it, no formula
through which it endeavors to ex
press itself, can abide forever. The
Jesus of history will last forever; but
the Christ of dogma, every one sees. Is
subject to widely variant opinions and
Interpretations, which finally will pre
cipitate the idea into the general mass
and result of human thought, on
which further theories or conceptions
iwl!l be built or founded. This process,
indeed, is going on all the time. For
the religious idea, like everything else
that pertains "to man. never can be
fixed In any system for all time. The
modern debate on "What Jesus Would
Po" is itself a mighty proof of this
truth. Of course Jesus could do noth
ing, in a world of affairs, like the
present world. His realm is that of
man's spiritual imagination. Say
rather, he -Is a creation of it. a sub
jective conception; and as .the sub
jective conception changes, so will the
object It creates. All there Is of
Jesus Is expressed in his own saying
to , men. "The kingdom of God Is
within you."
COMMONWEALTH DAY.
The semi-centennial of Oregon's
statehood approaches. The day Is to
be observed February II a. day dear
to every loyal American citizen as the
anniversary of the birth of Abraham
Lincoln, and this year the centennial
of his birth.
A type of man that is produced "But
once in all a people's years." came
Into existence in a cabin home, low
liest of the lowly, in the Western
wilderness on that day now a century
old. lived a life of almost Inconceiv
able hardship and privation, undaunt
ed by obstacles swept on to a grand
fulfillment of its destiny and went out
by the hand of violence with a smile
of serene and holy peace upon the
face by which if was known to all
men. Eulogy has been exhausted In
dealing with the name and fame of
Abraham Lincoln; romance has no
story that compares in wonder and
pathos with the plaia facts and inci
dents of his life. The purpose as ex
pressed in a communication from
Professor F. G. Young, of the. Uni
versity of Oregon, annually to observe
this day under the name of "Common
wealth day" is a fitting tribute to the
memory of the- greatest American of
the world's greatest century, and an
honor to the State of Oregon, whose
birthday, fifty years later than that
of Lincoln, it will duly commemorate.
The plan as outlined by Professor
Young is dignified and appreciative,
and if carried out off lines of "earnest
helpfjjlness toward the people at large
In all their vital interests" it will re
flect credit upon the commonwealth of
Oregon through the university that
bears its name, stands for its advanced
Ideas upon education and is main
tained by its generosity.
AN rSTEEUSO WORLD.
Pound and Just and right is Gov
ernor Chamberlain's declaration that
he will veto all bills that provide for
the increase of an official's salary
fluring his term of office. From the
veto the seekers probably will not ap
peal. Then., when they find the salary Is
not to be increased during their terms
of office, they will lose Interest in the
subject. They are not rushing to the
Capital to get larger salaries for their
successors, but for themselves.
It is not probable that any of these
seekers of larger salaries will resign,
if they fail to get the advance. For
they know there are so many more
good men who stand ready to step
Into their shoe
When these poor men, who protest
against the Injustice of being' required
to serve the state for Insufficient pay
were candidates, the salaries "looked
good" to them. They labored and
struggled for months to get them la
bored and loafed and whooped It up
and spent their money and were inex
pressibly happy to "get on the ticket."
They knew, every man, what the sal
ary was. It was surprising what amount
of talent that salary would attract
and did attract. Then the pursuit
was exciting; now possession is taste
less because the official wants
"more."'
Well, they won't get more; but here
Is opportunity for a noble and lofty
altruism. Some" increase may be al
lowed here and there, for their suc
cessors In office; but will these breth
ren stay at Salem and pay their own
expenses and work for the office
holders of the future time? On the
whole It would look better for them to
come home and attend to the arduous
and crushing labors that they have
found time to escape from by going to
Salem to lobby for "more." Besides,
such is human nature that men after
a while become weary of sowing for
others to reap rock me to sleep,
mother, rock me to sleep.
A SENSIBLE DAIRYMAN.
The Oregonian prints today a letter
from Mr. George Moore on the rights
and duties of dairymen. On Janu
ary 27 It printed a letter from Mr.
George Pope on the same subject. It
strikes one that Mr. Moore kno.ws a
thing or two which Mr. Pope has not
yet learned, and from all appearances
is not likely to learn very soon. The
latter gentleman takes the same atti
tude in regard to producing clean milk
which the antique mossbacks do with
regard to first-class apples. The sum
and substance of their plaint is that
It is . too much trouble to produce a
first-class article and therefore they
are content to produce something In
ferior, and receive for it an Inferior
price. Mr. Moore is a man of a dif
ferent type. He Is ambitious and pro
gressive. He is willing to take all the
trouble that is essential to the pro
duction of high-grade dairy products,
and he has the good sense to perceive
that the price he will get will reward
him abundantly.
The purpose of the dairyman's bill
now before the Legislature is not to
compel dairymen to market clean milk
and wholesome cream, but to teach
them how they may do It if they wish.
It also seeks to excite the wish by
proving that It pays to sell high
grade goods. Mr. Pope's wail "about
rising at 3 o'clock in the morning and
scrubbing udders with icy hands is all
nonsense. Just as a man ought to
have no more apple trees than he can
keep in flrst-claus order, so he ought
not to own more cows than he can
attend to comfortably. No man ought
to get up at 3 o'clock as a regular
habit unless he sleeps long enough at
other1 times to make up for It, and no
man needs to do so to produce clean
milk. If cows are properly bedded
In wholesome stalls, they do not
accumulate much filth. It can readily
be removed , with a damp cloth and
the improvtnent in the grade of the
milk more than repays the trouble.
On the whole The Oregonian com
mends the tone of Mr. Moore's letter
and wishes he may find many sympa
thizers. INLAND IGNORANCE OF SHIPPING.
Ship subsidy sentiment is now
worked up with extreme difficulty in
the actual seaports of the country,
where the subject is thoroughly un
derstood. 'The declining Interest in
the graft at our seaports is due to the
oversupply of shipping which can be
secured at very low rates to carry
American products to any port on
earth where our exporters care to ship.
Further objection to the subsidy graft
Is caused by the persistent refusal of
the Government to permit Americans
to buy their ships in the same markets
that are open to the foreigners. But
farther Inland, where the merchant
marine question is discussed from a
theoretical standpoint, there is still a
demand that the American producers
and shippers be mulcted for a large
sum In order that the millionaire ship
owners shall have a subsidy.
The Merchant Maritime League, of
Cleveland, which now seems to be the
chief publicity Instrument of the
Grlscom-Morgan-Rockefeller interests,
the chief prospective beneficiaries of a
ship subsidy, is now pointing out that
the Panama Canal will be compara
tively useless to the United States un
less we have American ships to use it.
The Kansas City Journal has been
caught by this latest vagary of the
Cleveland subsidy camp, and soberly
comments on some of the silly state
ments. "Every civilized nation. Including little
Japan, gives handsome subsidies to its
merchant marine," says the Journal,
"and we must do likewise if we ex
pect to get our Just share of the
world's trade." "Nothing could be
farther from a necessity, for we are
not only getting our share of the trade
of the world, but we are making seri
ous inroads on the share formerly held
by other nations. The Journal men
tions South Amerlcw as one of these
fields vheie it is Inferred we are not
securing the business that rightfully
belongs to us. Yet, as we have often
explained, a ship subsidy would have
no effect whatever in Increasing trade
with South America.
British shippers are continually
complaining, and not without cause,
hat British ships carry American
goods from New York to South Amer
ica at lower rates than are exacted
for carrying British goods to the South
American ports. With this advantage
In our favor, we are rapidly increasing
our business with South American
ports; but until ve can use the wheat,
beet, corn, hides and other great sta
ples of that country, the increase will
be slower than It would otherwise be.
The Journal asserts that "with-a mod
erate subsidy our skippers can defy
the competition of the world." This
Is buncombe. We cannot defy the
competition of the world in any line
of effort until we get on even terms
with them in the first cost of the fa
cilities. Every other nation except tho
United States is permitted to go Into
the open market and buy ships where
they are the cheapest. This right Is
denied the United States, and In lieu
thereof we are asked to pay a sub
sidy to some millionaire shipowner for
carrying our freight to market In an
American ship, when the ocean carri
ers of every great nation under the
sun are begging for the privilege of
taking it without a subsidy, and at
rates so low that for the present at
least all vestige of profit has been
eliminated.
DISPOSAL OF RACETRACK GAMBLERS.
Barney Schreiber.a racetrack gam
bler, who has followed the game for.
more than twenty years, In speaking
before the legislative committee at
Sacramento Thursday said there were
2500 people ei-.ployed at the Emery
ville and Arcadia racetracks. Protest
ing against the bill which is Intended
to put an end to the iniquitous
"sport," Mr. Schreiber asks: "If you
legislate us out of business, what will
become of these people?" The con
duct, profession, general habits and
chief characteristics of "these people"
are such that no self-respecting citi
len cares, or need care, much what be
comes of them. If they would all Join
hands and circle down to the San
Francisco wharves and Jump over
board, decent society would be no
loser, except for the Coroner's ex
penses in case some of their worthless
carcasses drifted ashore.
" Yet there i3 another alternative.
"While the light holds out to burn
the vilest sinner may return." To at
tempt to make an honest citizen out of
the human vultures who have been
following the races long enough to be
come thoroughly steeped in the Ini
quity of the game is, of course, a mon
umental task; but if Mr. Schreiber's
retinue really prefer work to starva
tion or suicide, something m4ght be
done with them. The demand for la
borers in the California vineyards and
orchards is always very heavy, so
heavy, in fact, that it has been neces
sary for farmers and orcliardlsts to
import thousands of Japanese.
The faot that these racetrack follow
ers are, by' training and profession,
better adapted to the worl- of picking
pockets than picking fruit does not
place them beyond the pale, for If the
opportunity for picking pockets In the
racing game were no longer available
they might turn to fruit picking. Mr.
Williams, king of the racetrack gam
blers on the Pacific Coast, says the
horsebreeding industry Is doomed if
gambling Is suppressed. . As the breed
of men would be improved by the
change, it is well to. make the sacrifice.
THE PROBATION SYSTEM.
In an editorial commending the pro
bation system of dealing with minor
offenders the New York Evening Post
qualifies Its approval by pointing out
how dangerous the system might be
come in the practice of a political
judge. No such danger has attended
it in Portland, nor is it likely, what
ever may happen in New York. The
new view of a Judge's duties is that
he should seek to prevent crime and
reform criminals rather than brutally
and stupidly to measure out punish
ment, and it Is sound to the core. So
ciety gains nothing by taking life or
by shutting a man up in prison,
though both of these expedients are
admittedly necessary. On the other
hand, to prevent a youth from be
coming a confirmed criminal is a dis
tinct gain. So is it to reform a per
son who has already committed crime.
The probate system does not try to
apportion nice degrees of guilt. It
inclines to hope for the best from
offenders. It stretches a point to give
a man a chance and particularly to
give a boy a chance.
The new opinion is that crime re
sults largely from the influence of en
vironment upon conduct. Change the
environment to something better, and
the ,pdds are that you will turn the
potential criminal into a good citi
zen. Crime also results from distorted
views of what law, government.
Judges, signify. To many in the low
est walks these Institutions appear
through a hostile mist. Kindness from
a Judge is something as unexpected
as it is welcome, and it happens again
and again that a kind word from the
bench, where pitiless condemnation
was expected, makes a new man of an
offender.
The new opinion also takes note of
the relation between lack of employ
ment and crime. Men are driven to
commit offenses against the law to
save their families from misery. How
often this happens only a Just Judge
like Lindsay, of Denver, or Cleland, of
Chicago, knows. The God who tem
pers the wind to the shorn lamb sees
nothing on earth which he loves bet
ter than that understanding of crime
which seeks to leave the criminal
some hope.
LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
If the Oregon Legislature desires a
little' more time for the consideration
of legislation which may be needed.
It might ouletly but firmly lay away
by "indefinite postponement" a few 1
bills which have been or win De in
troduced to change present satisfac
tory laws for handling the sailor ques
tion. The cost of shipping sailors
from Portland under the present law
Is lower than at any other port on
the Pacific Coast, and the exporters
and charterers of ships have the as
surance of the licensed sailor boarding-house
people that further reduc
tion in rates will be made. Aside
from the sailor, there are but two
nurtles vitallv Interested in this sailor
question. One is the exporter who
charters the ships and the other is the
shipowner. All other Interests are
subservient to these. If the Portland
rate is higher than the San Francisco
or Puget Sound rate, the shipowner
protests, and his protest is first felt by
th exnorter. from whom a higher
rate of freight is demanded.
The exporters who have in the past
taken the leading part In securing
necessary sailor boarding-house regu
lations are making no demand for
passage of any of the bills now before
the Legislature.. Their bitter experi
ence in the many years preceding the
passage of the present bill was of a
nature that has made them reasonably
well satisfied to "let well enough
alone." and, so long as the work is
handled as satisfactorily as it has been
under the present law, there will be
no demand for its repeal from the
people most directly interested.
Another sailor bill more pernicious
than any yet introduced is slated for
appearance next week, and It is re
ported that Andrew Furuseth, the pro
fessional Jawsmith from San Fran
cisco, will be at Salem to urge its
passage. This bill is intended to re
peal the law which prohibits crimping,
and its passage would mean presenta
tion to the sailor boarding-house men
of a license to steal sailors from ships
that come here with crews shipped for
the round voyage.
The same bill was introduced two
years ago under a misapprehension by
Representative Campbell, of Clacka
mas County, who on learning the per
nicious nature of the measure,
promptly aided in killing it. The
Identity of Mr. Furuseth's friend who
will introduce it at Salem this year has
not been disclosed, but "the measure
should be speedily and effectually put
to rest as soon as It appears. There
is enough needed legislation to be at
tended to at Salem without Interfering
with matters that for the present are
quite satisfactory.
"Bills granting American registry
to the Andromeda, wrecked on the
California coast, have been laid on
the table by the House committee on
merchant marine," said a Washing
ton dispatch yesterday. .Quite natural
and proper. If we should get the
habit of taking in these foreign-built
ships and granting them American
register whenever they applied for it,
we would In a very short time have a
merchant marine of such -proportions
that a subsidy-seeker would be
laughed at for applying for Govern
ment aid in building up a merchant
marine. It is strictly In accordance
with our policy to lay such measures
on the table or throw them In the
waste basket. It might also be well
to pass a law preventing these foolish
Americans from attempting to in
crease our merchant marine by any
such sensible methods as those which
are used by our chief competitors on
the high seas. '
Republicans of Illinois want to elect
a Senator but they don't want Hop
kins, the plurality candidate of a
minority, whom there is an attempt
to force on them through a primary
machine, that isn't supported by the
Republican vote of the state. The
spurious pretense that twice has been
forced in Oregon isn't accepted in
Illinois; nor in Wisconsin, where the
protest is loud against a primary',
run by moneybags. But it succeeded
in Missouri, where it elected Stone,
the machine boss, and beat Folk, the
genuine reformer. By worst juggle
of all, it elected in Oregon a Demo
cratic Senator, against an overwhelm
ing Republican majority in a state
that had just declared for Taft by a
vote exceeded "in proportions by hardly
any state of the Union. But Wiscon
sin and Illinois show that this fraud
has fallen In with hard sledding.
The extreme modesty of Portland's
business men is again disclosed in the
filing of the real estate transfers in
the big North End land deal. The
actual price paid for the lands for
which deeds were recorded Thursday
was more than $1,500,000, but so few
of the deeds were recorded at the
actual amount paid for the property
that the total sum appearing on the
record was less than $250,000, or
about one-sixth the actual amount in
volved. Imagine a Seattle real estate
dealer overlooking an opportunity of
this kind.
Cashier Van Auker was a faro
player, and the Federal Court holds
that that fact alone was sufficient to
justify suspicion that he had embez
zled the bank's funds and to warrant
his arrest. There is a disposition in
some quarters to poke fun at the Ep
worth League, or the Christian En
deavor, or the Y. M. C. A. mefnber;
but it has never yet been legally de
termined that belonging to either of
these organizations warrants suspicion
of criminal wrongdoing.
An Olympia special say's: "Howard
Cosgrove today demanded the resig
nation of Adjutant-General Ortis
Hamilton, of Spokane." From this it
seems quite clear that even the indis
position of the new Governor has not
left the state without an acting Gov
ernor Cosgrove. Indications are that
Lieutenant-Governor Hay will not be
burdened heavily with the cares of
state even though Cosgrove pere
should remain 111 for an indefinite
period.
Old man Stephenson bought the
Senatorship, but the goods are not be
ing delivered. "Madame," 6ald the
chairman of the vigilance committee
to the weeping widow, "we have
hanged your husband by mistake. Tho
Joke is on us."
Well enough that the Legislature
rejected Beach's bill to establish the
voting machine. The new primary
law, with the holy statement, makes
all the voting machine necessary for
present purposes and then some
more.
Should Dr. Owens-Adair's steriliza
tion bill pass, and be enforced in our
official life, it would put out of busi
ness all such adventuresses as Mrs.
Waymire, of Portland.
There' are to be five Supreme
Judges, not three, if the Oregon Sen
ate has its way. What's the constitu
tion when it is In the way of a good
Job for somebody?
It is said that twenty-five hundred
persons will be thrown "out of work"
if the California anti-racetrack gam
bling bill is passed. Work!
Occasionally some misguided person
arises to defend Tillman. The pitch
fork, alas! has lost Its sting and can
not stand alone.
You see Senator Chamberlain now is
fixed for six years, and he can afford
to "stand the boys off" who want their
salaries raised.
Van Auker should sue his other
bank the faro bank. . . .
POOR. CREAM AND BETTER SCORED
Mr. Pope Scolded for Ilia Criticism of
Bill for Pure Milk Supply-
TURNER, Or., Jan. 28. To the Editor.)
I noticed in lost Wednesday's Oregonian
George Pope's communication on "Pure
Milk Legislation." I doubt if Mr. Pope
attended the last session of the Oregon
Tair5-nien's Association, at Salem. It
would have been demonstrated to him
that it is becoming more and more neces
sary to stop the supply of contaminated
cream, which will not only make poor
butter but contaminate that which it
comes in contact wrth. The dairymen at
the convention not only voted to ask for
this appropriation of $6000, but subscribed
J1S00, providing the $6000 was appropriated
by the Legislature.
Mr. Bailey stated if he had three more
deputies to go among the dairymen of
Oregon, not to compel, but to instruct
them as to more profitable and sanitary
dairying, that more cream would be pro
duced, so that the Oregon butter would
not be Inferior," as it is today, to tae
Eastern butter that is shipped here.
When the time comes when we are pro
ducing more butter than we are consum
ing, and have to ship to some other mar
ket, we won't have to take second or
third price, but the best price, and the
words "Oregon butter" would resound
throughout the world for Its appetizing
flavor and palatableness.
Then again, if Mr. Pope will keep his
cows in clean stalls, probably he will not
have to do so much washing as he spoke
about, which only needs a damp cloth
and a good rubbing to do the work. Also
he would not have to rise .until 4 o'clock
A. M.. Instead of one hour earlier.
I wonder how Mr. Pope would Ilka to
have his head stuck between two two-toy-fours
and bis head stuck in his plate, all
night We would soon see him building
new stalls. I wonder if Mr. Pope would
want to buy butter where the milk has
been separated In the barn among the
stock of the farm.
Mr. Pope goes on to say: 'IMake it a
misdemeanor for any man who does not
stable his cows in such a manner that no
filth can attach to the udders, and that
each cow has not less than 400 cubic feet
'of air space." That might work, but who
Is going to compel the farmer to do these
things, unless there are inspectors?
If I go to the expense and work to fur
nish my creamery men a good and sani
tary cream, and the next man doesn't,
and this cream is made Into butter in
the same churn and sold as a second
grade article, then the dairymen who are
furnishing poor cream are keeping me
from getting the profits which are due me.
And now who will say if there are any
dairymen who won't try to advance? If
he won't, compel him.
GEORGE MOORE.
STATE COLLEGE CENTRALIZATION
Eliminate Institutions at Corrallls and
Eugene, for Bis; University Here.
WALLOWA, Or., Jan. 28. (To the Edi
tor.) I congratulate The Oregonian for
Its recent editorial on "A Utopian Sug
gestion." It is too bad that our state
has spent so much money in Eugene and
Corvallls, and In a half dozen normal
schools, when our entire educational re
quirements could be met with one large
institution situated within the Incorpor
ate limits of Portland, or Its suburbs. It
is too bad that our lawmakers cannot ex
ercise a little business Judgment and a
little thrift in the management of the af
fairs of our state.
- Why we need an agricultural college at
tempting In many ways to duplicate the
studies of the university, and why a uni
versity duplicating In many lines the
studies of the- Agricultural College, is a
question that no one can satisfactorily
answer. That we have blundered for
years in the management of our-educa-iional
institutions no disinterested per
son can deny. But why continue to blun
der? Why not cut the Gordlan knot by
beginning, even at this late date, by
grouping our university and Agricultural
College and locating them at the most
central point In the state, as far as the
majority of the people are concerned,
which is Portland, and have one really
great educational Institution in Oregon?
Of course, the adherents of Eugene and
Corvallis would feel badly enough if such
a scheme were adopted, but Is It not time
that our state-'s affairs were managed a
little bit in the Interest of the majority
of the people rather than to develop or
boom any particular locality? If this lo
cating of new state Institutions continues,
we may expect a branch asylum, experi
ment station and normal school located
In every county In the state, and is it not
time that this kind of business should
cease? Maybe The Oregonian's sugges
tion Is Utopian, but I venture the asser
tion that were the plan submitted to a
popular vote, that it would be heartily
approved by the majority of the people of
our commonwealth.
C. T. M'DANIBL.
Poaer: City Engineer's Department.
PORTLAND, Or., Jan. 29. (To the
Editor.) In this morning's Oregonian
I see that an appropriation of $140,000
was made to defray the expenses of
the department of the City Engineer.
I and a large number of property-owners
In Portland are anxious to know
for what purpose this large sum is to
be used. In Multnomah Addition I
have two lots, and against these two
lots there Is an assessment of $15 for
engineering. I understand that for all
engineering done for the improvement
of streets and other work for which
the property must pay, 6 per cent of
the cost of the work is added for en
gineering. Why then is it necessary
to add 6 per cent, or any other sum,
now that the City Council has made a
large appropriation for the Engineer
ing Department? Will you kindly
answer why this 5 per cent assessment
Is "piled on" to the cost of the street
Improvement, with the $140,000 on the
top? Where does the 5 per cent go?
Who gets it? The City Engineer or
the city? Who7
J. F. M'CARTNER.
Rock 'Pile for Salaried Paupers.
NEWBERG, Or., Jan. 28. (To the Edi
tor.) I am pleased to see the able man
ner in which The Oregonian treats the
pauper question. These people who are
too lazy to work and eager to assert
that the world owes them a living, are
entirely too numerous. They want an
easy Job and then they want someone to
do the. work, with a raise In salary to
meet the cst of clerk hire, and a little
more for cigars, etc. Is there any won
der that politics are getting demoralized?
If we have to keep these salaried pau
pers, let us send- them to the poorhouee,
or rather, the rock pile. There are get
ting t6 be hundreds like me, and there
will be a change soon.
J. SMITH.
Refuses J.TSOO for a Persian Cat.
Boston Dispatch to New York Herald.
Miss Ava Pollard, of Elizabeth. N. J.,
has refused an offer of $3500 for her
Persian cat. Miss Mid, which received
championship honors at the Boston cat
show. This offer was raised from $2600.
Miss Pollard said that the cat is not for
sale.
High prices also figured at the Boston
poultry show. Adolph Anderson, of Bris
tol, Conn., sold a Cochin for $1500. At
the New York show an effort was made
by Mrs. Paderewski, wife of a pianist,
who became greatly interested in the An
derson Cochins, to buy some of them. She
was willing to pay any price for them,
but the special ones that pleased her
fancy had already been promised and
were sold for $1000 each.
Woman Runner Beats Horse's Speed.
Pittsburg (Pa.) Dispatch.
Mrs. A. M. Brode, of Altona, Pa., out
shopping and Incumbered with pack
ages, hearing her house was on fire, dis
tanced the horses hauling fire engines in
a race to the house.
OStT DEMAGOGUE! NOT DEMI-GOD
Sljjnor Ferrero Declares Caesar Was
Merely a Cheap Politician.
Chicago Tribune.
That Julius Caesar was a famous man:
With what hla valor did enrich his wit.
His wit set down to make his valor live-;
Death makes no connueit of this con
queror. No! Not death, but another, with
whom Shakespeare, with a pardonable
lack of foresight, failed to reckon, took
the measure . of the subjugator of Gaul.
Caesar fooled his contemporaries ab
solutely. They called him a demi-god
and erected statues to him as such.
He fooled all subsequent ages into ac
cepting "Caesar" as a synonym for
"Emperor." He fooled Shakespeare.
But after 20 centuries of undiluted
homage and admiration his muckraker
has come.
Slg. Gugllelmo Ferrero, of Turin,
psychological-economic historian of the
year of our Lord 1909, ruthlessly ex
posed him to an astonished audience at
Manilel Hall, at the University of Chi
cago, yesterday afternoon.
Death, far from "conquering" the old
Roman, merely brought him a martyr's
crown, but his compatriot from Turin,
ably aided by the 20 intervening centuries,
has exposed his "inspiration" as
accident and his "marvellous foresight"
as political chicanery. In his address
on "The' Development of Gaul," he
plucke. one-by one, the leaves from
the laurel wreath of the conqueror and
pictured him a demagogue rather than
a deml-god.
All of which was of most especial and
particular interest, slnoe Professor
Ferrero has .announced himself struck
by a marvelous resemblance between
Theodore Roosevelt and Julius Caesar.
He drew no odious comparisons yes
terday, but he did say of Caesar:
"Caesar has been idolized and con
stituted a demi-god not only by his
contemporaries but by historians. He
has been pictured as having wonderful
foresight In his Gallic policy, as having
begun it through Inspiration and car
ried it out in the furtherance of a
vast, wise, consistent plan. He Is given
credit for understanding that the con
quest of Gaul was of the most vital
consequence to the future of the em
pire. "In reality, the idea of the conquest
of Gaul originated In the brain of Quln
tus Metellus Celerus, who, in the year
69 B. C, was authorized by the senate
to make war on the Helvetians. But
before ho could carry his plan into ef
fect he died. Caesar took up his work
only as a means to, an end. the end
being the temporary effect of his sol
diering on the Internal politics of
Rome, not a great plan for the develop
ment of a rich province and the salva
tion of the empire.
"As Caesar received his opportunity
by accident, the death of Metellus, he
used It merely to further his political
aspirations. Gaul was then regarded
by the Roman world as a gloomy, sav
age country, of swamps and forests.
Caesar no more thought of Gaul's vact
future than Columbus thought of the
United States or, Argentina when he
sailed for India. His actions were the
result of a sequence -of political acci
dents, and his far famed 'commentaries'
wet-e merely for political effect."
Following up the development of
Gaul the professor hastened to give
Caesar's successor, Augustus, credit for
understanding the importance of Gaul.
The first person to really appreciate
the enormous possibilities of the coun
try, he said, was a freedman, Licinius,
who held a high official position, and
used it to extort from the Gauls enor
mous wealth. He thus became the
first piomoter and captain of industry
of Gaul.
Gaul, the lecturer, declared, was an
ancient prototype of the Germany and
the United States of today, and was
the only thing that prevented for three
centuries the dissolution of the empire
and the subordination of Rome to the
Orient.
"In the Slimy Meshes."
Oregon Observer, Grants Pass.
And what is to be said of the sorry
spectacle In the Legislature on Tuesday
of last week, when the vote for Senator
was being taken, and men desiring to do
right luul to apologize for casting a vote
that they protested to be wrong? They
were In the slimy meshes of the net put
out by Populist U'Ren, fortune teller and
political faker, and his little clique of no
account aspiring legislators, who concoct
absurd and onworkable laws for sub
mittal to the people, and seek to govern
Oregon as though they were ordained by
Divine right. Behold the distressing
spectacle of some 25 Republican members
of the Legislature, of good Intentions,
caught in this disguised net, and seeking
to redeem themselves by acting the lie
and proclaiming the truth. It Is better
forgotten, if it can be. But there is a
lesson in it all. It Is a homely saying
that "no one should allow himself to be
bitten by the same dog twice."
Dream About War.
Japan declares war against the United
States during the present year, captures
the Philippines, crushes the American
battleship fleet off the coast of California,
lands an army of 500,000 men in Eastern
Oregon and at the battle of Hilgard,
Union County, Or., defeats an American
army consisting of 110,000 men, and of
fers peace proposals by which Japan an
nexes tho .Pacific Coast states and re
ceives an indemnity from America of
$2,000,000,000. Then the boot is on the
other foot, when another battle Is fought
In Eastern Oregon In which the Japanese
army Is defeated, and the American
Army, under the command of General
MacArthur, wins a sweeping victory. All
this, and other fiction, will be found in
a book review of "Banzai," by Parabel
lum, appearing in tomorrow's Oregonian.
New Airship Without Propellor.
Norfolk (Va.) Dispatch.
At Kill Devil Hills, N. C It Is said
that the Wrights, through mechanics,
are making preparations there for experi
ments with an improved aeroplane re
ported to be far in advance of the ma
chine which they are now using. It is
said that the machine will be without a
propellor. certainly without one such as
Is now used, and marvelous things are
spoken of it. When the Wrights left Kill
Devil Hills last Spring they said they
would "probably return some day." At
Kill Devil Hills the combined aerodrome
workshop and living apartments of the
Wrights Is still intact. It is believed
Orville Wright went to Europe to hasten
the conclusion of business deals there so
that the experiments at Kill Devil Hills
may be continued.
Bis Toiacot Kills Bulldosr.
Lenox (Mass.) Dispatch.
A bulldog weighing 25 pounds owned
by Thomas Fielding, of Lenox, was killed
in a fight with a big tomcat. The cat
tore and bit the bulldog frightfully and
in the tussle the cat sustained a broken
back and had to be shot. This is the
first time that a Berkshire tomcat ever
killed a buildog.
New Kind of Flsta-Denler.
Baltimore News.
Fishermen of Great South Bay,. L. I.,
not scientists, seeing the wagon of a
local fish dealer having on the outside
In big gold letters the words "ichthy
ologist" thought the man was a competi
tor selling a new kind of fish.
Woman Drives Spirited Fire-Horse.
Hartford (Conn.) Dispatch.
Mrs. Ann Anthony, housekeeper at the
Putnam firehouse at South Norwalk,
Conn., adjusted the snap harness and
drove the spirited fire-horse "Put" to her
home and extinguished a fire before the
department arrived.
CHILDISH FARM JOYS A MYTH.
Dr. Woods Hutchinson neaps Ridicule
on the Sentimental Tradition.
' Chicago Tribune.
"Childhood's happy days down on the
farm" is a mvth. fostered and kept
alive by sentimental literature. That
was the statement made yesterday by
Dr. Woods Hutchinson, of New York, at
the conference of the National child
labor committee. Dr. Hutchinson shat
tered some of the sentimental notions
about child life on the farm and showed
that nowhere is the child subjected to
more drudgery for so. little 'pay as in
the country.
Dr. Frank Billings, who presided at
the afternoon session, squirmed at the
picture of life on the farm drawn by
Dr. Hutchinson, and afterward took ex
ception to some of the statements, de
claring that he himself was brought
up on a farm.
"Of course, son good men have come
from the farms, said Dr. Hutchinson
in reply, "men litve Dr. Billings and my
self, but what I said was true, never
theless. Dr. Billings seems to forget
that two-thirds of our population comes
from the farm, so that it ought to have
a large proportion of our great men.
I know llfo on the farm myself. You
get up In the morning in a room that
has the temperature of a refrigerator,
break the ice off a tub of water before
you can wash your face, then hustle
into a dirty barn to milk cows. No
wonder the country boy rushes Into the
city as soon as he is old enough to run
away from the farm."
Dr. Hutchinson declared that child
labor w&3 the most ruinous of all forms
of labor and the money from It the
greatest blood money that goes Into
public or private treasuries. He paid
the remedy was to rationalize and mod
ernize the school system.
"We must change our Inherited, an
cestral system of education, which was
designed to educate gentlemen and
idlers," he said. "We must cut down
the school hours of children. The book
schoolroom must give way to the life
room. The child must be taught to do
things rather than commit them to
memory."
LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG SPEECH.
Undying Words of the Grest President
Spoken on I lie Battlefield.
Four score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth on this Continent
a new Nation, conceived In liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all.
men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great Civil
War, testing whether that Nation, or
any other nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are
met on a great battlefield of that wnr.
We have come to dedicate a portion of
that field as a final resting place for
those who here gave their lives that
that nation might live. It Is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do
this.
But, in a larger sense, wo cannot
dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can
not hallow this ground. The brave
men. living and dead, who struggled
here have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract. The
world will little note, nor long remem
ber, what wo say here, but it can never
torget what they did here. It Is for us
the living, rather, to be dedicated here
to the unfinished wprk which they who
fought here have thus far so nobly ad
vanced. It Is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining
before us, that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion to that
cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion, that wo here
highly resolve that these dead shall
not have' died In vain, that this Nation,
under God. shall have a new birth Of
freedom, and that government of the
people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.
PEARSON'S HORESBACK RIDE.
In 88 Days He Went I7B0 Miles, tho
I,aat In Sensational Time.
Letter in New York Sun.
President Roosevelt's recent hoi-sebacK
ride of 9S miles In one day recalls the
most remarkable horseback ride ever
made in America of which there Is an
authentic record. This ride was made In
the Summer of 1S55 by W. H. Pearson, a
native of Philadelphia. The facts con
cerning it are found In the report of the
Governor of Washington Territory. Isaao
I. Stevens, a graduate of West Point Mili
tary Academy, who as a General in tne
Union Army lost his life upon one of the
Virginia battlefields.
Pearson rode 1750 miles, from the Bit
ter Root Valley to Olympia and back to
Benton, in 28 days, during some of which
he did not travel.
The 260 miles between Fort Owen and
Fort Benton Pearson made In less than
three days, without change of horse and
without any other food than berries and
a few fish at one meal.
Governor Stevens described Pearson as
"hardy, bold. Intelligent and resolute."
Governor Stevens' son. Hazard Stevens.
In his biography, where tho report is
quoted of Isaac Ingalla (Houghton, Mif
llin & Co., 1900). says of Pearson that
the young Philadelphlan was of small
but well knit frame, with muscles of
steel and spirit and endurance that no
exertion could break down; that he had
a refined, InteUigent and pleasing faca
and the manners and bearing of a gen
tleman. A Far Abend Look.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The Republican State of Oregon will
be misrepresented in the Senato for
the next six years by a Democrat, on
account of a freak proposition in its
primary by which many Republican
members of the Legislature were vir
tually tied down to tho choice of a
man of the opposite political faith.
But it Is a fortunate circumstance
for the Republicans that they can
spare some seats in the new Senate.
They have a vote of 60 in that chamber,
as compared with 32 for the Democrats.
Not since reconstruction days has tho
Republican lead in the Senate been so
long as if wiir be in tho chamber
which enters with Taft, except in the
present body. Yet it would please the
Republicans of the country butter to
see a solid delegation of their party in
tho Senate from Oregon than to have
one of that state's seats occupied by a
Democrat. It is pretty certain that the
queer proceedings by which Chamber
lain gains his election will cause Ore-
.i n nm, aorimii thinking re-
gOIl W D'i"- '
garding the propriety of changing its
mode of choosing oiiiciais ucionci.
In tho meantime Mr. Bryan may see a
possible rival for National leadership
"where rolls the Oregon."
Autos Horses Asses.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
If Mr. Taft wishes to ride in automo
. y,a frtiirtli of Alnrrh he will
ones unci hid . w . .
have to pay for them out of his own
pocket, although tne senate is wuims
to provide horses for him out of the
public funds. He can also have the.
: nlnfV Ct DMPq In hotll
serviueo
houses of Congress If he should earo
to pay for them out oi me puouu pat
ronage. Aneut the Illinois Tie-up.
Chicago Tribune.
How far primary elections, caucuses
and conventions should bind thoBe con
cerned with them is a much-mooted
question. . . . The Tribune Is not
sure that the direct primary experiment
is a wise innovation In representative
government. It supported the experi
ment in deference to an apparently
sincere demand from the people for
such legislation.