THE MORXIXG OREGOXIAX, MONDAY, JULY 19, 1&09,
6
(Drrtrnitiatt
PORTLAND. OREGON.
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PO RTL AN D, MONDAY, Jt LY 18. lSO.
THE PRESIDENT TAKES A HAND.
Evidently President Taft deolded at
the beginning of the session of Con
gress that the proper, and Indeed the
best, course for himself was not to in
terfere at all by an expression of opin
ion about the details of the tariff bill,
but to leave the two houses to debate
the schedules and approach their own
conclusions. Then, if it should appear
necessary, he would speak. It has at
last seemed necessary, and he has
spoken. The houses appeared to be
nearing a conclusion without having
provided the reductions that the Presi
dent feels the country expects. So now
he takes a hand.
The reductions upon raw materials
that he will be able to enforce are im
portant; but we want to see how far
he will be able to induce Congress to
reduce the duties on lines of finished
goods, that reduced duties on mate
rials ought to bring down. There
will be no Justice in cutting down the
duties on ores, wool, lumber, coal,
hides, etc.. unless reductions be made
also on the finished products of these
and other materials. Revision of a
great many schedules, throughout,
ought to be made, to correspond with
reduced tariff, or abolition of tariff, on
the materials of manufacture.
No outline of the extent of the
President's plan or purpose has yet
been presented to the country. What
he has said has not been delivered
thus far in any formal message, but
only in talks to members of Congress.
The position in which President Taft
is placed is precisely similar to that In
which President Cleveland found him
self in his second term, when Congress
framed a bill, against the warnings of
the President, and the President un
dertook to stop it, but failed. But
President Taft may not fall now. If,
however, great concessions shall be
forced on raw materials, without cor
responding reductions on finished
products of manufacture, the next
election will tell a tale little advanta
geous to the Administration and the
Republican party.
We shall see whether President Taft
can.tccompllsh in his quieter way re
sults that President Roosevelt swung
the big stick with whoops to get
and then wasn't always able to get,
ither.
WHERE F V!L EXCELS RAIL.
In selecting October as the time for
the hearing of the common-point case
In this city the Interstate Commerce
Commission will be favored with ex
ceptional facilities for studying the
actual conditions which have made
Portland the natural and logical point
at which the exchange of rail and
water traffic should take place. Tear
by year there is a steady gain In the
number of vessels coming to this port
with cargo. These vessels make low
rates on the round voyage from Eu
rope to Portland in order that they will
not be obliged to make one portion of
the voyage in ballast. This, of course.
Is of decided advantage to the con
sumer of the commodities brought to
Portland for distribution, and also to
the wheatgrowers who supply the out
ward cargo. When the Commission
meets here in October the shipping
season will be on at full swing, and
with ample opportunity for a close
ringe study of actual transactions hav
ing a direct bearing on the common
roint rate, it will be unnecessary to
depend on theories or hypothetical
cases.
The British ship Matterhorn, now
discharging general cargo from Ant
werp and under charter to load out
ward with wheat, is the first of the new
crop fleet to arrive since the season
opened, July 1, and may very properly
be considered as an example. The
Matterhorn on her last previous out
ward voyage from Portland carried
32 76 tons of wheat, and will carry the
same amount this season. This, with
her inward cargo, will make a total
of approximately 6500 tons which will
be carried on the round trip. The
charge for towage and pilotage for the
round trip between Astoria and Port
land on a vessel of the Matterhorn's
tonnage is $210. This amounts to a
fraction less than 3li cents per ton
for the 100-mile haul between Port
land and Astoria.
The consumers of the inward cargo
and the wheatgrowers who produce
the outward cargo quite naturally are
not anxious to increase the cost of
moving their freight, and they, in ask
ing a common-point rate for the
mouth of the Columbia, of course de
mand that the railroads move this
freight in competition with a rate of
3 ls cents per ton. It does not require
a very great knowledge of railroad op
eration to understand that it ls a physi
cal impossibility for any railroad to
carry freight 100 miles for 3 "4 cents
per ton. except at a heavy loss.
Neither the Interstate Commerce Com
mission nor any other agency for The
regulation of traffic can force the car
riers to handle business at a loss.
The matter of handling ocean freight
between Portland and Astoria ls purely
an economic proposition. Prior to the
time when Portland, at an expense of
several millions, had perfected a chan
nel from this city to the sea. which
made possible the present economical
movement of tonnage, there might
have existed slight excuse for making
the transfer between ocean carriers
and railroads at a point nearer the
mouth of the river. No such excuse
can now be offered with the river in
Its present excellent condition, and to
force the railroads to haul freight 100
miles farther than was necessary
would only prevent the shippers .and
consumers from securing a reduction
which must shortly be made in rail
rates between tidewater and Interior
points.
Such reduction cannot legitimately
be asked for. or expected, if we insist
on burdening the railroads with an
entirely unnecessary haul of 100 miles
past the natural and logical point at
which they can best exchange traffic
with the ocean carriers. This subject
Is one in which the practical workings
ever before us most effectually dis
pose of ail of the theories that can be
advanced for a change In the system.
WATER ADMTN1 STRATION.
The meter rate for water charged by
the City of Portland evidently ls not
high enough. Increase it. and the per
sons who use or waste large quantities
of water will pay more, as they ought
to do. "Then make as low a flat rate
or faucet rate for private houses as
may be practicable and fair. But it's
worth 76 cents a month to have sup
ply of water in any house. It cannot
be called for anybody an excessive
charge. Two and one-half cents a day
for water delivered In a house is
cheapest of all necessaries. But a
meter at every house will, in the first
place, cost the city a large amount of
money, and the meters will have to be
renewed at frequent Intervals; while
an army of inspectors and clerks will
be required to read the meters and
keep the accounts.
The meter system, for private dwell
ings, is not general in our cities, be
cause it ls not economical. The right
policy ls to make a low rate for pri
vate houses, based on the number of
faucets or taps, and attach meters at
nil i-i-p -a-herA there is more consid
erable consumption, and wherever hose
ls used for lawns.
There ls no need of any. fanciful
theory about this business of water ad
ministration. It is just a simple and
plain matter. Don't stint the private
family, and compel the city to pay out
money for meters. Inspectors and
clerks, to enforce the stint; but re
quire all who use water In larger quan
tities to pay for what they use, and fix
the rate at a fair balance of all in
terests. Including accumulation of a
surplus or reserve fund for extensions.
This is purely practical, not theoreti
cal, business. It Involves no mysteries
and calls for no invocation of the gods
or rhetorical declamation
THE KEGRO IX THE SOCTH.
Hilary A. Herbert, for many years
a Representative In Congress from
Alabama, Secretary of the Navy un
der President Cleveland, was one of
the arbitrators In the issue between
the Georgia railroads and their strik
ing firemen. The main question was
whether negroes should be permitted
to work as firemen. Mr- Herbert has
published an elaborate opinion to the
public on the subject, maintaining the
right of the negro to work as a fire
man., and the right of the railroads to
employ him. Delegates had been sent
nAAfcria fmm fhlrAcro and Toronto
to Insist, on behalf of the Brotherhood
of Firemen (white men), mat tne
noOT-n hnnM ha ruled out. To their
arguments Mr. Herbert addressed him
self. tv. tKA acQorttnn that the negro was
not competent for this service. Mr.
Herbert answered that for many years
many of the firemen on the Southern
vaUrnoHa h a d hAAn neSTTOeS. aild the
question as to their competency had
never before been seriously raised,
lmin there Are larre numbers of ne
groes in the country, mostly In the
South, where they must remain; and
they must support themselves by their
labor. It appeared from the testimony
that white engineers had often asked
for negro firemen, whom they had
fnnnii trt rw rnmnptcnt. and Mr. Her
bert Insisted that every avenue of
strenuous labor for which the negro
was fitted should be left open to him.
If he ls a menace at work, he is a
greater menace In Idleness. ir, said
Herbert, "the negro ls not competent
to do the duties of a fireman, under
the Immediate supervision of a white
engineer, what ls he' fit for? What
arA WA to do with the ten millions of
negroes In the South? The negro ls
here to stay with us." Then tne ques
tion a nut. "What ls to be done
during the long future that ls before
us and our posterity?
This representative Southern man
took occasion to say that the negro
had been eliminated from politics in
the South, but could not be eliminated
f.nm tha Industrial nvstem. "Verily."
says the Augusta (Qa.) Chronicle, "it
ls a lesson which should sink deep into
the hearts and consciences of the
Southern people; that they may not
soon again be led Into the awful mis
take of impulsively following even to
the point of violence the lead of self
ich and Hesicninsr labor a&ritators and
of insincere and reckless politicians
that class of nolltlclans who invariably
seize upon every passing prejudice and
passion or tne masses tm me ul
mean nf attaining a place and power
which nature has not ordained to
them."
SrPFt-V AND DEMAND.
The law of supply and demand ls
automatic in Its workings. When a
commodity for which there Is a uni
versal demand is scarce, the price will
advance. When it is plentiful and
the demand ls light, the price will
decline. This is one of the simplest
problems in economics. Under the
ti riranvht nf artificial conditions.
I this immutable law of supply and de
mand may occasionally display erratic
movements. The moment, however,
that these artificial conditions are re
which are strictly
natural, nothing problematical remains
beyond tne actual aimcnsiuua . -i-
...nni-. nd demand of the Dartlcular
nTnmnditv involved. Notwithstanding
that this is the basic principle in nearly
business, there Is ever in eviaeui-e
.nn-A nnrf nf the WOrld. With 801116
commodity, an effort to set aside this
old and time-tried economic law.
The attempt of the State of Sao
Paulo, in Brazil, to set aside the law of
rsr.iv- and demand bv the creation of
artificial market conditions has been
previously commented on. Recent ad
vices from that country connrm me
-at wne nredlcted for the coffee
valorization scheme and the situation
daily becoming more complicated.
,Mvu hAo-an when a number of
A HO llvuwm ' (7
years of good crops, with no corre-
ondlng Increase In the demand, leu
- c. ranln rnffee-irrowers with a
large and rapidly accumulating surplus
on
out
hand. Instead 01 curtailing mo
tput. cutting the price to a figure
... , v. a aurnlii- could be moved, and
whe
thus naturally restoring equilibrium.
the
coffee planters Induced tne govern-
ment to take a hand In the business.
Bonds were Issued and the government
took charge of the surplus of 7.000.000
bags of coffee, placed a high selling
limit on all coffee and endeavored to
get rid of this surplus by liquidating
500.000 bags per year along with the
regular annual production.
With the government as a partner
to finance that which could not be sold
In the world's markets, there has been
a remarkable Increase In the produc
tion of coffee, and it ls no longer possi
ble to reduce stocks by the liquidation
of a paltry 500,000 bags per year. In
stead of adopting the only practical so
lution of the difficulty, which is to get
rid of the surplus at Its actual value,
as based on supply and demand, the
government proposes to levy a 10 per
cent tax on the growers In the form
of an export duty. . This duty may be
paid in coffee, and in order to relieve
the situation, the 1,000,000 bags per
year which the duty Is expected to
yield will be destroyed.
Meanwhile the coffee planters of
other countries are profiting by the ar
tificial prices made possible by the Sao
Paulo valorization scheme, and long
before the big surplus can be disposed
of the supply from these outside coun
tries will have displaced Brazilian cof
fee to a certain extent. Paternalism
is an admirable trait in the govern
ment If it is not carried to too great a
limit. In the case of Sao Paulo it
would seem that the only means of res
cue from the present predicament was
an Immediate abandonment of this at
tempt to create and maintain artificial
conditions, and a return" to strict ob
servance of the law of supply and de
mand. WOMAN . AND MAN.
Susanne Wilcox writes In The Inde
pendentx about "The Unrest of the
Modern Woman." The main state
ment ls in these words, to-wlt:
A mere glance over the great majority of
modern women convinces one that the plain
housewife ls rapidly disappearing, and la
being superseded by a conspicuous minority
of restless, ambitious, half-educated, hobby
riding women on the one hand, and by the
submerged majority of sober, duty-loving
women on the other, who are nevertheless
secretly dissatisfied with the role of mere
housewife.
The statement doubtless contains
much truth. The article throughout
ls good as this specimen, which, how
ever, ls not very good. Is woman dis
satisfied because she ls a woman? Is
not what this writer describes a fact
that all see more or less clearly a
condition in which man participates as
much as woman? For, after all,
woman is very much what man makes
her. One great reason why there are
so many dissatisfied women grows out
of the fact that there are so many
worthless men. Hence woman tries
for herself; and if she misses her ob
ject, at least she makes the effort.
Thjs estimate of woman, by a wom
an, could hardly be more severe had
It been written by a man, a woman
hater, after perusal of passages In such
authors as Euripides and Milton, and
many more of repute. We recall this
passage In "Paradise Lost," spoken by
Adam:
O! why did God.
Creator wise, that peopled highest Heaven
With spirits masculine, create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of Nature, and not fill the world at once
With men as ange,ls, without feminine;
Or Bnd some other way to generate
Mankind? Book X. 8SS-8M.
This was immediately after Adam
had eaten the fruit of the forbidden
tree, for which lapse he blamed his
wife, as men are prone to this day
to do, when things go awry. But after
all Is said, women would not be what
they are were men not what they are.
The social body Is one.
CRTTL CAKE OF INSANE.
Cruel and brutal treatment of the
Insane, once universal, now we are fain
n KiiauA thA Avfpnrinn in lustlv re
garded with horror throughout the civ
ilized world. While It is altogether
probable that many helpless demented
creatures of the more violent type are
still subjected to 111 treatment by the
coarse and brutal attendants Into
whose hands they fall through the po
litical system of official place-giving,
without regard to the fitness of the in
dividual, it is not probable Jhat the
brutality which has been disclosed in
connection with the treatment of the
Insane in Steinhof Asylum the largest
Institution maintained for the care of
the Insane in Austria could find In
the present day its counterpart In any
Insane asylum in the United States.
Investigations set on foot by the
shocking brutality of a keeper have
disclosed a state of affairs In this sup
posedly model retreat for the insane
noa- Vienna that have horrified all
Austria and caused the civilized world
to shudder at the display thus given
of man's inhumanity to man. Palli
ating circumstances if these can be
held to exist in connection with the
awful crimes that have been brought
rt licrht in steinhof Asvlum are sug
gested by the fact that the keepers of
these Insane people are, irom over
work and loss of sleep, scarcely less
wretched than are the mindless creat
ures over whom they are set as care
takers. Chosen In the first place wlth-
tha amalleat re eft rd for their fltneSS
for the work; Insufficiently paid and
kept on duty for from ten to twelve
hours consecutively, they become
nraarv tn the nolnt of exhaustion. Irri
table from loss of sleep, and Irrespon
sible where the highest degree of re
sponsibility ls required for the reason
ably adequate discharge of exacting
and disagreeable duties.
Steinhof Asylum is the most thor
nuirhtv Anninrted retreat for the in-
aanA in thA vast. ermDlre of Austria.
The government pays annually 31.800,
000 for Its support, and until now was
serene in the belief that every part of
this Immense sum was niceiy anu nu
manely applied for the benefit of the
insane river-confidence In the fidelity
and humanity of caretakers of the
helpless of any class ls the rock upon
which many an unfortunate human
being, unseen by pitying eyes, has
met his death. It ls the center of a
maelstrom from which the mindless
hriir nf thA insane now and again
arise, only to be stifled; a sickening
pool overbrooded Dy tne ieeDie wan
of helpless infancy and not less help
i... aa-a Wherever the helDless of
either sex or any class are housed In
the name of charity, It has sooner or
lata-haen made a shield for abuses of
greater or lesser degree. Vigilance is
the only safeguard against its iair
pretense. .
$
Mrs. Potter Palmer and Mrs. John
W. Mackay. two bright and shining
iirhu in American dollardom. each
gave a party on the same evening in
London last week. Mrs. Mackay spent,
a paltry $10,000 for musicians and en.
tertainers. and Mrs. Palmer badly dis
tanced her by paying 312,000 for sing
ers and $2000 for flowers, while a tem
porary extension to her house cost
$4000. This pleasing affair was pulled
off In a city where it is estimated that
an average of 500,000 people are never
free from the Danes of hunger and
where every day in the year are re
ported numerous suicides of people
who are unable to stand the fearful
struggle for a bare existence. To the
everlasting credit of some of our rich
American women, notably Mrs. Rus
sell Sage and Helen Gould, it may be
said that such vulgar flaunting of
wealth In the face of poverty and mis
ery ls not an American characteristic.
As a promoter of socialism, one such
exhibition as that of the parties men
tioned is more effective than all of the
unwashed loafers that ever, aired their
Ignorance In street-comer speeches.
It Is disbelieved by the Prineville
Review that any railroad will be built
In the Deschutes Canyon. Mr. O'Brien,
It Insists, doesn't intend It. "No rail
road man with a modicum of brains
would ever select the Deschutes route
for penetrating Eastern Oregon so long
as any other route remained open."
The reason is "there is no business in
the canyon for 110 miles, and never
will be." Yet some think there will
be business In the country near by, on
either side. It could be wished the
joad could reach Prineville, but that
town Is not upon the line it must take.
However, even though it may miss
Prineville, the road will get into Mid
dle Oregon by a grade not exceeding
twenty feet to the mile, anywhere.
The canyon, so reviled. Instead of be
ing an obstacle. Is selected for the fa
cility it offers just because it ls a
canyon. The object, however, ls not
so much the traffic 6f the canyon as
to reach the great plateau of Middle
Oregon by easy ascent. The Orego
nian has reason to believe the road will
be built in Deschutes Canyon.
Union Pacific in the New York stock
market Saturday climbed op to within
less than two points of the 200 mark,
and if Mr. Harriman's health continues
to Improve, it may cross that "double
par" line this week. There is still a
fair degree of uncertainty as to
whether our approaching prosperity or
a manipulated market is responsible
for such extraordinary values. If
these prices can be maintained after
crop-moving demands and a resump
tion of industrial activity takes up the
cheap money that is now so abundant
in New York, they will offer pretty
strong evidence that railroad earnings
are much larger than are necessary.
No other transaction in the history of
finance has approached so close to the
miraculous as Mr. Harriman's feat in
lifting Union Pacific from the depths
of bankruptcy to Its present remarka
ble prosperity. He has, however, been
well paid for his wizardry, and it might
be a good time to cease cutting "mel
ons" and begin cutting rates.
Count Bonl de Castellane's "confi
dential" story that he is to marry Miss
Marjorie Gould, the beautiful young
daughter of George Gould, may be all
right for his credulous creditors. In
this country it will hardly find believ
ers. There are many here who believe
in that theory of the sins of the fath
ers being visited on the children to
the third generation, etc.- But Mar
jorie Gould is the daughter of a man
whose business end social life has been
at such variance with that of the dirty
little French rake who has dragged
the name of Gould In the mire of half
the Old World capitals that it ls incon
ceivable that he would submit to this
crowning infamy. George Gould has,
on more than one occasion, proved
himself a pretty good American, and
he will probably rise to the occasion
and do his fluty as a father if there
EhnniH he anvthincr serious in the Paris
story that Count Boni was to bring.fur-
ther disgrace to the name or tiouia.
Multnomah County will have "a
mighty Courthouse when the building
shall be completed on the plan pro
posed; and It will take a small army of
Janitors, engineers, stokers, elevator
tenders, and so forth and so on, to
"run" It. It will be a gorgeous house,
but a mighty expensive one to keep.
It will not be built for $800,000. as es
timated, either, nor furnished for less
than $300,000. That's "going some."
But what the public pays for costs no
body anything. The building will be
unnecessarily large, luxurious and
elaborate. Of course, with so many
courtrooms and so many office rooms,
we shall have to elect men to occupy
them.
Speaking of the donations of Rocke
feller and Carnegie, the Milwaukee
(Wis.) Sentinel says: "If this be an
age of gross materialism, it is also and
pre-eminently the age of unrivaled and
unparalleled philanthropy." But will
it ever be right to overlook or condone
the terrible system of piracy by which
men like these sharked up their Im
mense fortunes?
They surely are very bad men who
have "tried to weaken Senator
Bourne's Influence" at Washington.
Perhaps the Senator is too sensitive on
this subject. ' It Is really Incredible
that anybody should try to do this
thing. ' "'
Heney has cost Uncle Sam a pile of
money, but it was worth a pile of
money to get rid of the corrupt polit
ical machine that long dominated Ore
gon. However, the machine has been
broken up several years.
They say the President has made a
point of it to cultivate Senators and
Representatives, and now he has got
a lot lined up, away from Aldrich and
Payne. Which seems to.be true, and
Is pretty good politics.
When the crowd returns from Seat
tle we shall have a volume of opinion
on the disputed question as to whether
the A-Y-P Exposition excels in beauty
the Lewis and Clark Fair.
To The Oregonlan It seems most Im
probable that Hill Intends to enter
railroad construction in Eastern Ore
gon. But that he should do so were
devoutly to be wished.
To Mayor Simon and a big bunch of
his constituency who will be in Seattle
tomorrow: Beware of pickpockets
and the seductive real estate agent.
What a long wait the Wright broth
ers had for their flight. In Portland
they could have made It any day the
past two weeks, any time of the day.
In spite of all the fools that fall into
the snare of running after the wrong
woman, we suppose there are more
fools on the way.
Pendleton leads with a proposition
for a "Straw day," when county roads
leading to the city will be strewn to
make travel easier.
Hay that Is damaged for food will
make good bedding and go back to the
soil.
DR. SAJIIEL JOHNSON ON GOLP
Tne Great Critic Telia Boswell What He
Thinks of the Sport.
London Truth.
On the fourth day after leaving London
Johnson and I arrived in Edinburgh and
put up at the "Blue Post" in that city.
We spent the next day In seeing the
principal sights of modern Athens, at
whose many fine .buildings he expressed
facetious surprise, asserting that he had
never dreamed to find these handsome
streets and shops in the remote capital
of so barbarous a country. While we
were thus engaged the following conver
sation occurred:
Johnson" Sir, it was always my belief
that your native savages lived in burrows,
like the iernes of Munster, and that their
sole articles of commerce were haggis
and whisky.
Boswell You will have your Joke at the
expense of my nation. But let me tell
you that we in Caledonia have as nice
a taste in architecture and as wide 'a
range in commerce as is possessed by
any people In the world.
Johnson Then, sir, you must have got
it from England, as you have got your
money, and whatever else makes you
deserving of consideration. ,
Presently by what intermediate chain
of topics I forget the conversation came
round to our national Scottish games, and
in particular to golf, for which he ex
pressed unmeasured contempt,
Johnson Sir, It ls a diversion for Im
beciles. . Boswell Have you ever seen it played?
Johnson Why, no, sir; I am happy to
say that I never have. But I have heard
one of your barbarian compatriots de
scribe it, and his description sufficed.
Sir. It ls a lamentable reflection that any
sentient being, presumably possessing a
soul and having some rudiments of In
telligence, should discover a fascination
in propelling a spherical bundle of feath
ers with a bent stick info a succession
of terranean orifices?
Boswell But the propulsion is not so
simple or so foolish as It looks. For the
orifices are small and the intervals be
tween them are long, so that it demands
no little strength and adroitness to play
the ball from the one to the other.
Johnson Sir, it may be as you say.
Nevertheless, the fatuity of the proceed
ing Is not thereby at all diminished. For
assuming that any object whatever ls to
be gained by depositing the ball suc
cessively in a number of orifiees, that ob
ject would be most rapidly and efficiently
achieved by carrying It in the hand from
orifice to orifice, rather than by propel
ling it laboriously and often, as I under
stand, erratically with an egregious in
strument ridiculously ill-suited to the
purpose.
Boswell It ls the difficulty of the meth
od that constitutes its charm.
Johnson Sir, no one but a natural
would ever think . of pursuing his
end by a lengthy and circumambient
route when a short and direct road was
open to him. It Is as if I should essay to
proceed from Bolt court to the "Cock" In
Fleet street by way of the Oxford road
and Tyburn.
Boswell Yet if you- did so essay, there
would be no harm in It.
Johnson (contemptuously) Sir, . if I
should choose to shave myself with an
oyster-shell instead of with a razor, there
would be no harm In It; but it would be
none the less the height of imbecility.
I must confess that I felt, not a little
mortified, by Johnson's contemptuous
Analogy the more so as our Royal and
Ancient game, so far from being a pas
time for Imbeciles, has long afforded
rational diversion to many of the wisest
and most learned men In Caledonia. Nor
could I refrain from pressing this upon
him, until, at length, he brought our
discussion to a peremptory close In the
following terms:
"Sir, we have had enough of this! The
cause and the advocate appear tobe.well
matched. I find it difficult to determine
whether of the two is the more nonsensical."
CHANCE FOR SINGLE TAXERS.
Quit I.oaflnK the Cities- Take This
Cheap Land and Go to Work.
PORTLAND, July 18. (To the Editor.)
In the Coeur d'Alene district in Idaho and
other points in Washington and Montana
about 3000 homesteads are being virtually
given away by the Government. Here is a
magnificent chance for the single-taxers
who want free land. If they will go there,
register and deny themselves e. few of the
luxuries of city life, they can become
bloated land monopolists. Many a poor
man with a grub sack and a kit of tools
Is taking chances there now, who in fu
ture will be damned as a monopolist and
'an oppressor of the landless poor.
The chief argument of those who would
destroy private ownership in land is that
land should be common property; that it
is a product of nature, and its "unearned
increment" should be turned back to so
ciety, which created it. Who creates" the
value of this land? The hardy pioneer
who braves the hardships of a wilder
ness and builds up social Institutions by
giving the best that is in him to service.
Shall the man who eats free lunch and
sleeps in the shade of the public parks
go into this society and claim the "un
earned increment"? What reward would
be. In store for a man if such a social or
governmental system were in existence?
Oregon today has thousands of men who
have accumulated comfortable fortunes
by devoting their energies along the lines
I have indicated, 'rney have not been
afraid of work. They have labored with
their hands and with their brains while
the calamity howler was damning the
Government that protects him.
A great many postage stamps are be
ing wasted by the single-tax advocates,
sending out circulars explaining the pur
pose of the "Joseph Fels fund." Fels is
the, millionaire manufacturer of -is
naphtha soap, and if he could get out of
paying taxes on his great plants and ma
chinery he could soon quadruple his for
tune, which has been wrung fro. the
washerwomen of America.
If the single-taxers expect to put their
ideas into law they will have to produce
stronger arguments than are contained in
the socialistic Bible, "Progress and Pov
erty." The subject would become more
Interesting if they could produce a single
sound argument in its favor.
GEORGE W. DIXON.
JONATHAN'S "SPEECH."
The Dalles Optimist.
That was a wonderful speech that
Bourne made in the Senate, which he
ls sending broadcast over the state. The
only trouble Is that he forgot to mention
that he made It in his mind and not on
the floor of the Senate. The Idea of
Jonathan making a speech is too funny
to consider during this hot weather.
Telephone-Register (Yamhill.)
Bourne has just made his first speech
in the Senate, from type-written copy,
of course, dictated presumably by Aldrich
the dictator, who has been so active in
revising the tariff upward to a prohibitive
figure on articles of trust manufacture,
and in defeating the proposed income tax.
The text of Jonathan's speech was that
he thought this or that was the correct
way, because "Mr. Aldrich believed it was
right." From advocating a "second elec
tive term" for Mr. Roosevelt such a space
back, to his present antics to wriggle
into the good graces of the administra
tion. Oregon's senior Senator is solving a
difficult problem in gymnastics. It is
said concerning him. however, that when
ever any legislation pertaining to the wel
fare of Oregon has been voted for Mr.
Bourne was absent playing golf. When
Aldrich or the sugar trust wants htm
he is present.
Different With Women.
Baltimore American.
Henry VIII was musing philosophi
cally In the royal study.
"A man," he muttered, "can stand the
marrying habit, but It certainly does
make a woman lose her head."
THIS MAN IS HIS OWN PRIEST.
Says He Wants Nobody's Theological
iyatem Between Htm and Almighty.
PORTLAND, July IS. (To the Editor.)
Your correspondent. Mr. Eustis, works to
put his readers Into a system. The sys
tem has a name. There are many sys
tems with as many names. Be sure the
system has the proper label and you are
all right.
Such has been the message of prist
hood in all ages. Now and then a great
teacher appears to free the minds of men
from bondage. He appeals to the individual-
to find the guide within themselves
and follow it. The priests have always
smothered this inner guide for authority
without. Listen to somebody else. Let
another guide you, hold your conscience
and determine your life and fate.
No great teacher has ever emphasized
a historical fact. They have emphasized
a philosophic necessity man, being weak,
needs strength, and that strength is
brought about by personal cultivation of
valor and mutual helpfulness, but not in
terference. They have also taught that
whatever of the divine there is in man
does not come about by ceremonies, and
systems, but by cultivating the mind and
by aspiring towards the best felt within
each heart.
Instead of pawing tbe air about a myth
ical historical basis, why don't Mr. Eustis
and his comrades tell us something about
the teachings of this god?
That teacher Jesus, while he taught
nothing new, instructed the rabble with
a number of easily understood parables.
Nothing historic In them, but full of good,
homely virtues. He taught the select or
elect or chosen (his disciples) a little
more of Oriental mysticism still nothing
new, but good old philosophic truisms
known since antiquity. Now, instead of
putting these teachings into practice,
priests, lay and ordained, are busy with
their labels. Let me stamp you, let me
brand you, let me tie you, let me work
you into some one or other system, where
you won't have to think and feel and do;
or at least where you ought not to do so,
unless we order It or pass upon it. God's
spirit could not touch you, you heathen,
you infidel, you agnostic, unless it comes
through our system or its agency. True,
the grass grows, the seasons come about,
he tides ebb and flow without our sys
tem, but you, being a human being the
crown of creation are so much further
from divinity that you can't reach it ex
cept through our relay station. And how
these, operators at the station have re
dated the message:
To point to big men is nonsense. And
it is contrary to the teachings of their
God. He only pointed to the Father. Mr.
Eustis points to Gladstone. Between Je
sus and Eustis, I side with Jesus as be
ing safer, saner and more profitable. A
man may become famous In the world for
some successful effort. And the point Is
that his fame should not induce us to
adopt his theologic system. Darwin, Cur
rie, Harvey, Edison, Beethoven, Columbus
and Alaric were great men. Not one of
them ls great enough to get between me
and the judgment seat.
The sunlight as it Is on land and sea Is
good enough for me. If too strong. I'll
get under a tree or into a grove. I don't
want any person or set of persons come
between. One fellow wants me to take
comfort under his red vestments; one un.
der his green canopy of envy: one fellow
wants me to sit under his Sabbatarian
blue screen and enjoy myself In solemn
piety, and so on through the whole spec
trum. Away with the whole rubbish. The
aurora borealls ls fine finer than the
color effects in the variety theater; but
even the aurora is not the light by which
one can do his best. I am not sure, but
it would be better to allow a generation
of youngsters grow up on Crusoe's island,
far away from the appalling dead weight
of all past generations pressing us to
earth dead weights solely, additions to
our natural burdens, shades that obscure
the light, chains that limit our efforts,
labels that alienate us from the whole of
humanity, Joys that must be learned by
rote, like the multiplication table and de
void of all life and spontaneity. How long
until the fog departs?
ERNEST BARTON.
SOUTHERN lABOB O.T7ESTTON.
Dlsraealon of Recent Railroad Strikes
in Georgia.
Ex-Secretary Herbert on Negro Labor
in the South.
The negro Is here to stay with us;
there is nowhere to send him, and no
money to transport 10,000.000 of them,
even if we could find for them a home.
Can we then satisfy the fears of Jef
ferson and Calhoun and Lincoln, and
live peaceably with the negro all over
the South, in the black counties and in
the white counties, during the long fu
ture that is before us and our poster
ity? The experience of the last ten
years seems to show that we can, if
only hereafter we continue as hereto
fore, to be Just to the negro, and allow
him to work in callings for which he
is fitted, and where he can get employ
ment". We will not be doing justice to
the negro If we allow one labor union
to come down from the North and ex
clude him from railroad work, then
others to come and exclude him suc
cessively from carpentering and biack
smithlng and sawmilling and mining,
etc., until finally we shall have organi
zations interfering with even domestic
service." We all approve labor unions
when they confine themselves to their
proper spheres. They have undoubted
ly accomplished much good, but it is
difficult to see how public opinion at
the .South can approve their course
when they come down among us to stir
up strife between the races. The white
man of the South has nothing to fear
from competition with the negroes, as
we all believe. When idleness and
crime are Justly complained of against
the negro, it is strange that thoughtful
men should aid in a movement V de
prive him of work he ls fit for.
Is the white farmer the only white
man In the South with whom the negro
is to be allowed to compete? These
white farmers and their friends, when
appealed to for sympathy with these
labor unions, who wish to drive the
negro out of other occupations, should
take notice of what all this means. For
one, I should be glad if we never had
a negro in America. He has been the
cause of unspeakable strife and blood
shed. He 'came: yet it was not his fault.
He was brought here against his will,
and he served faithfully as a slave, es
pecially during the Civil War. During
reconstruction days he played a sorry
part. He was ignorant and credulous,
and bad men, playing on his hopes and
fears, pitted him against us In a con
test for social equality and political
supremacy. The white man won out,
of course, and now the pity of it all is
that those of the two races who grew
up in the midst of that conflict: became
so bitter against each other, that the
young white man, with his superior in
telligence, often finds it difficult to
take a dispassionate view of the situa
tion before him.'
Intelligent public opinion at the
North is, at this writing, so thoroughly
with us that there Is now no longer
any danger' of interference with us
from Washington, either legislative or
executive, so long as we do not, by
hard or unjust treatment of the negro,
now at our mercy, alienate the sym
nathies of the majority section of our
Union.
Jack Matthews, Tonrist.
Harney County News.
Only the comparatively few here who
know him personally were aware that
the one-time boss of Portland and Ore
gon politics was a visitor in Burns
several days the past week. Walter F.
Matthews, known best to his intimate
friends and his old-time enemies as
"Tov MarthAws. was here with
Colonel Wood, and was as unobtrusive
and retiring as usual-
Life's Sunny Side
Irate Barber (to customer as he seats
him in chair) You see that guy going
out the door?
Customer Yes. What of it?
Barber He's the meanest man on
earth.
Customer What has ,he done?
Barber Why, the scoundrel sat In
my chair for half an hour and never
told me he was deaf. Everybody's.
"Where do you get your papers, little
boy?"
"I bv.y 'cm from Jimmy Wilson."
"And who is Jimmy Wilson?"
" 'He's a newsboy he buys 'em at the
newspaper office."
"How much do you pay him for
them?"
"Two cents."
"How much do you sell them for?"
"Two cents."
"But you don't make anything at
that."
"Nope."
"Then why do you sell them?"
"Oh, Just to get to holler." Harper's
Weekly.
Son Yaas, guv'nor, at college I could
lift more than any other man in my
Father Well, jest you take off yer
coat, an' try yer hand at liftin' the
mortgage we put on the farm tew send
ye tew college. Chicago News.
a
"Isn't there a great deal of water In
the cellar?" asked tbe prospective ten
ant. "Yes," answered the agent, proudly.
"We really ought to call it a nata
torium and charge extra rent for it."
Exchange.
Little Marion Our family Is very ex
clusive; Is yours?
Little Florette No, Indeed; we have
nothing to be ashamed of. Philadel
phia Record.
' Miss Oldgirl Do y6u sell anything
to restore the complexion?
Chemist Restore! You mean pre
serve, miss. (Deal to the amount of
$4.25 immediately executed.) Tattler.
s
A young man who persisted In whis
pering loudly to the girl who accom
panied him to a Bymphony concert,
telling her what the music "meant,"
what sort of a passage was coming
next, and so on, caused serious annoy
ance to every one of his immediate
neighbors. Presently he closed his eyes
and said to his companion:
"Did you every try listening to music
with your eyes shut? You've no Idea
how lovely it sounds."
Thereupon a listener who sat in a
seat in front of the young man twisted
himself about and said gravely:
"Young man, did you ever try listen
ing to music with your mouth shut?"
Manchester Union.
.
Bobby's father, who was' a minister,
asked his little son if he could tell him
how God knew that Adam and Eve had
eaten the apple from the "tree of
knowledge of good and evil." This was
a hard question for such a little fel
low, and after thinking for some time
he replied, "I don't know, papa, less
'twas by finding the peelings." The
Delineator.
e e
Customer Bring us two hot-dog
sandwiches.
Waiter Certainly, sir. Do you want
dachshunds? They're more expensive;
but they're long." Judge.
A New York broker of convivial hab
its fell In with an old school friend
who had gone on the road.
"Whenever you're intown come up
and bunk with me," urged his friend, as
they separated. "No matter what old
time it is. If I'm not there just go
ahead and make yourself at home. I'll
be sure to turn up before daybreak."
Soon after this the salesman arrived
In town about midnight, and, remem
bering his friend's invitation, sought
out his boarding-house. There was
only a dim light flickering in the hall,
but he gave the bell a manful pull.
Presently he found himself face to face"
with a landlady of grim and terrible
aspect.
Does Mr. Johnson live here?" he fal
tered. "He does," snapped the landlady.
"You can bring him right In." New
York Press.
AN ESSAY IN PROPHECY.
With Comparison or Parallel In His
tory for Illustration.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
Protectionism, a purely tentative and
provisional expedient, has reached the
doctrinal stage; just as the secession
leaders vociferated slavery, the Repub
lican leaders have been vociferating
protectionism; and, even as we heard
in the fifties and the sixties of the
aristocrats of the South living in lux
ury on blood-money wrung from the
Negro, do we hear now of the pluto
crats of the North living In luxury on
special privilege, had at the expense of
the labor of the lowly and the poor.
The slaveholder would listen to
nothing. The manufacturer will listen
to nothing- Coming disaster casts Its
shadows before as surely in the one
case as It did In the other.
The editor of the Courier - Journal
does not expect to live to see any po
litical organization honestly arrayed
in favor of a tariff for revenue only.
He can not hope to see the Democratic
party other than the monster without
a head and the empty bottle with a
label, which it now appears to be. But
as certainly as slavery rent and broke
up the Democratic party,' will protec
tionism rend and break up the Repub
lican party.
journalism and Literature.
Lord Morley on "Literature and Journal
ism" at Imperial Press Conference,
London.
Journalism Is, and must be. In a hurry;
literature to not. Literature deals with '
the permanent elements of human things.
A Journalist has to take the moods and
ocoaslons of the hour and make the best
of them. But literature more or less de
scribes the attitude of a Judge; the Jour
nalist, dealing with what are called live
issues, has to be more or less of an ad
vocate. Literature deals with ideals, the
Journalist ls a man of action. He is not
a student, but a man of action, and he is
concerned with the real.
Surprising; the Doctor.
London Tit-Bits.
An old lady of great wealth has just
died 'at Fontainebleau. Her will, which
was opened on the day of her death, con
tained the following clause:
"I bequeath to my doctor the entire
contents of the old trunk in my dressing
room, the key of which will be found in
the mattress of my bed."
Great excitement among the relatives, .
who imagined the treasures of the de
ceased to be escaping from their clutches.
At last the doctor ls sent for; the trunk
ls opened and found to contain, intact
and uncorked, all the drugs and mixtures .
that he had prescribed for her during the
last 30 years.
Hat Mistaken for a Flower Pot.
Baltimore News.
A woman at Pine Bluff, Ark., return
i - wAino. t . hat neanh-
1U8 a. wcu.i.s. ....e, ---- -------
basket hat over a jardiniere In which
were some small terns ana wnicii nem
i. ; -j j In a rnrtlPT of the
front porch. Later another woman
sprinkled tne hat in watering u i"u,
thinking it was a collection of flowers.