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PORTLAND. THURSDAY. AfG. 19. 190.
JT9TICE TO JUDGES.
It Is not likely that the legislative
committee engaged in Investigating
Ihe Supreme Court of Washington
will find anything very terrible In the
co-called Morrow case. The evidence
which has been brought out, as re-
viewed by a competent correspondent
of the Spokesman-Review, may possi
bly point to another of Judge Milff A.
Root's indiscretions, but no other
member of the court Is implicated by
It. The gist of the Morrow case is
. that a speculator named Dr. Jordan
promised some clients of his to de-
, bauch the Supreme Court In their in
terest by making use of one E. B.
Palmer's supposed clandestine rela-
l tions with Judge Root. Palmer was
once Judge Root's law partner, and
i some people supposed. that the con
nection was not quite broken off when
the latter donned the ermine. What
1 Jordan actually promised his clients
was to obtain a favorable decision
i from the Supreme Court in a pending
; case strictly parallel to theirs. It was
known in lawyers' slang as the Dog
; Johnson case. Then of course their
own suit would be as good as won.
The Dog Johnson decision seems to
have been just about what Jordan de
. sired. It was written by Judge Root,
and a copy of it was circulated among
the interested persons some days be
fore the court had It published. This
looks amazingly as if some outside
person like Palmer really had a finger
in the pie, but there is a telling cir
cumstance on. tha other side. When
the court took up the Morrow case
the Dog Johnson decision was not fol
lowed. This might be Interpreted In two or
three different ways. It might mean
that Jordan deceived his clients when
he told them the Dog Johnson cn
was precisely like theirs. It rn'iit
mean, again, that the court thought
Judge Root's decision wrong and took
the first opportunity to reverse it.
Whatever happened behind the scenes,
it is impossible to discern anything to
blame the ourt as a whole for, ex
cept possibly come carelessness in al
lowing too free a Tiand to Judge Root.
The truth Is that, apart from moe or
less scandalous gossip, the only mem-
oer of the Washington Supreme Court
. whose judicial character bears the
faintest stain is Judge Root, and, to
be perfectly fair. It must be confessed
that against him nothing has really
been proved except his lamentable
complicity with Lawyer Gordon in the
Harris case. He has been accused, to
be sure, of allowing an outsider to dic
tate another of his decisions and sell
it for J2000. but one need not believe
everything he sees or hears.
In the Harris case, Gordon, who was
then attorney for the Great Northern
Railroad, wrote a decision for the Su
preme Court and sent it on to St. Paul
to be examined by his official superior,
who' returned it with his approval.
After being thus found agreeable to
the railroad in every particular, the
decision was presented to Judge Root
and signed by him. It was then pub
lished as the utterance of the court.
Although the amount at stake In the
Harris suit was not very large, the
railroad lawyers were eager to win it
because it had previously been de
cided against them, and the reversal
would both destroy an unfavorable
precedent and set up one which they
desired. One can imagine, therefore,
how pleasant it was for them to have
a judge like Milo A. Root on the
bench. Here again it goes without
saying that his colleagues trusted
Judge Root too implicitly. They ought
to have known more about the mo
tives underlying his judicial opinions
and the sort of argument he was likely
to find convincing, but it would be
pushing matters to an unwarrantable
extreme to accuse them of actual
wrongdoing.
t It is unfair to suggest that atl the
Washington Judges are corrupt be
cause one of them has been delinquent
and another talked about. It would
be Just as reasonable to say that a:i
ministers are hypocrites because now
- and then one of them falls from grace,
or all women unchaste because 'an oc-
casional matron goes astray. Even
when their purltv is absolute, courts
are subject to the ill-natured grum
blings of disappointed suitors. There
are always rumors In the air that
such a Jiwl.je is biased and 3uch a
,, one under corporation influence, and
so on. When j.tual misconduct is
proved agaln.it ar.v member of the
bench, then people jump to the con
clusion that all their suspicions are
confirmed, and that very floating ru
mor is true. Everybody shouts "I
told you so." This is one reason why
a judge's malfeasance is so much
worse than a common man's. It un
dermines confidence In the courts, and
when it comes to the pass that we
cannot trust the courts, what shall we
trust? A widejrpread belief that
judges were corrupt would cause a
, revolution in the United States. Hence
any of them who is proved to be dere
lict should be criticised with pitiless
severity, but. on the other hand, it is
a gross wrong to blame one for an
other's guilt. This is precisely what
many people have been doing, so far
as the Washington bench is concerned.
The sooner we recognise what the
facts really are and put an end to gos
sipy rumors the better for our own
self-respect and for the public weal.
It is well to reform the courts when
they need It, but not to slander them.
Long, long ' ago, when you were
much younger than you are now, chil
dren. Walter Wellman began flying to
the Xorth Pole. The entire alphabet
ical list of aeronauts, from Andre to
Zeppelin, has all come into promi
nence since we first began hearing of
the Wellman flight to the pole. The
Wright brothers had not yet made
Dayton famous, and while the French
were flighty, they had never tried It on
the English Channel. Season have
come and seasons have departed.
"Suns rise, and set. and. rise, sand yet"
the Wellman flight to the pole is
among the things to be. The worst
of It ail is that, while Zeppelin, Wil
bur, Orville and all of the rest of the
high-flyers are in close cable commu
nication with the rest of the world,
the Wellman stunt is still being pulled
off at the old stand, away up at Ham
merfest. Sangerfest. Blunderbust or
some "furrin" station, where the mov-Irsrg-plcture
man has not yet set his
films to working. Wellman ought to
make his annual flight from Coney
Island or the Oaks.
DISGRACE ITON THE MARINE CORPS.
The Sutton Inquiry brought out two
things chiefly: First, that young Sut
ton did not shoot himself with suicidal
Intent; second, that the Marine Corps
contains a lot of tough, rowdy,
drunken, bruising bloods, who need
lessons of right living and personal de
cency. The testimony has done no good to
the character of young Sutton, and has
brought discredit upon the Marine
Corps. The Marine Corps Is evidently
a body of gallants wherein gentlemen
must stand together... The verdict
surely shows them standing together.
All that the naval court determines
la that Sutton was killed by his own
gun. But that fixes blame nowhere.
Sutton was killed in a scuffle, or rough-and-tumble
fight.- He was set upon,
thrown to the floor, and beaten by
quarrelsome companions. He drew his
gun to shoot. In the tussle the gun
was discharged .and the bullet killed
Sutton. The naval cjurt shields the
participants to this deed. There may
be a way, however, of meting, out Jus
tice to them through Congress.
The Marine Corps is the main suf
ferer from .this inquiry. If young
bloods are trained at Annapolis to
fight, drink and bruise, there ought to
be an Inquiry Into this very important
phase of the Sutton tragedy. Worthy
members of the Marine Corps and
there are many of them should wel
come an effort to root out the unde
sirable element.
CANADA'S ANTI-CIGARETTE LAW.
A year ago the Dominion Parlia
ment passed a stringent anti-cigarette
law as applied" to lads under 16 years
of age. This law went into effect July
29, 1908, and the effect of it is noted
in the substantial decrease in the con
sumption of cigarettes throughout the
Dominion during the period covered.
For a number of years past the con
sumption of cigarettes had been in
creasing at an alarming rate in Can
ada, the annual Increase for the past
six years being almost 75,000,000.
Law is law in Canada, and this one is
enforced In the spirit in which it was
enacted that of protecting the boys
during the growing period, from a
habit at once seductive and deleteri
ous, physically, mentally and morally.
Whether Canadian lawgivers will take
courage from this showing and. In due
time, extend the .age linit below which
cigarette smoking Is forbidden to
twenty years Is a matter of conjec
ture. Washington legislators put cigarette
smoking under the ban last Winter by
the enactment of a very drastic law
against it.. The age limit was not ap
plied to its use and some ado has been
made about enforcing it, with results,
it is said, only partially gratifying.
Oregon legislators have not been un
mindful in the past of the pernicious
effects of cigarette smoking upon boys,
but have made repeated eoffrts to
frame a law that will protect this
thoughtless, irresponsible class from
this evil and its effects. A stringent
law covering this point is now among
our statutes, but It has not been strict
ly enforced, although half-hearted
efforts in this direction may have re
sulted in the decrease, to some extent,
of cigarette consumption in the state.
Judging, however, from the constant
and more or less open violation of the
law and the almost universal -use of
cigarettes by smokers of all ages, this
Is extremely problematical.
The Washington law probably at
tempts too much, essaying as it does
utterly and at once to abolish the con
sumption of cigarettes In the state.
The Oregon anti-cigarette law Is not,
for some reason not clearly defined,
enforced with any degree of stringency,
though it does not seek to control the
smoking ly?blt of men. The Canadian
law was not made to be broken. It
applies only to lads of Irresponsible
age whose habits can and should be
controlled in all matters of Importance
by their elders, either by means of
parental authority or by law. It bodes
ill for- the future of a nation when Its
men cannot, or do'not, think It worth
while to control its boys. Canada, ac
cording to the substantial decrease in
the consumption of cigarettes under
the law above cited is, presumably at
least, not one of these.
WATER COMPETITION ACKNOWLEDGED
Our interior friends, who 'find , it
greatly to their advantage to make use
of water competition in the shipment
of their freight from the East, are Just
at present having much trouble in
reconciling the actual fact that -water
competition does exist with the theory
that it does not exist. The Oregonian,
without awakening response or expla
nation, has called attention to the
paradoxical policy of the ' Spokane
Spokesman-Review in denying the
existence of water competition at a
time when it was actually using the
water route for the shipment of the
Ink that was employed in the dissem
ination of its untenable theory. In
consistency on this great question of
rates is not, however, confined to the
Spokesman-Review. None of the in
terior points demanding terminal rates
will admit that there is any merit to
the water-competition argument, and
all of them continue to ship their
freight' by water.
Denver is farther Inland than Spo
kane, but. regardless of the greater
distance, her merchants have found it
to their advantage to ship by way of
Pacific Coast ports In preference to
the all-rail route across the continent.
But, while the Colorado metropolis was
playing second violin to Spokane's
tuneful howl for water terminal rates
without having water terminals, Den
ver was also shipping over another
water route. The extremely low cost
of operation which enabled ocean car
riers to bring freight from Atlantic
Coast ports to Spokane by way of
Portland and thence by rail to Spo
kane at lower rates than the railroads
made for the all-rail haul across, the
continent also enabled Atlantic steam
ers to carry Denver freight from New
York down to Galveston, from which
point it was shipped by rail to Denver.
As the water haul was shorter and
the rail haul longer than that Involved
in the route from the Atlantic sea
board to Spokane, the situation was
naturally to a much greater extent un.
der the domination of the railroads;
but, according to a Denver dispatch in
vesterdav's Oregonian, until quite re
centlv "the ocean rate between New
York and Galveston has been low
enough to provide Denver merchants
an Incentive to bring their goods to
the Texas-port for shipment over local
lines to Denver, thus obtaining a re
duced rate. It is now charged that
the railways have increased the local
rate 'between Galveston and Denver to
a point where it is a matter of choice
whether goods are brought by sea or
entirely bv rail."
As It is a physical impossibility for
a railroad to move freight at as low a
cost as it can be moved by a water
carrier, the shipper at Pacific Coast
terminals can effect a considerable
saving in shipping by the water route
If the proportionate rail and water
service necessary were the same be
tween New York and Spokane by way
of Portland that it is between New
York and Denver by way of Galveston
Spokane would be deprived of the
benefits of water competition. Just as
Denver has been cut oft by way of the
Galveston route. But it is the combi
nation oi the long ocean haul at low
rates and the short rail haul at higher
rates that, added together, makes a
much smaller sum than the higher all-
rail charge. Interior cities play an
imnortant Dart in our economic sys
tem as distributing centers, but they
can never enjoy water terminal ad
vantages until they secure water con
nections for their warehouses.
BALLINOER'8 MTDDLE-COCKSE POLICY
The fight between Balllnger ana
Pinchot is a conflict between rival in
terpretations of the law the one con
servative, the other radical. This con
flict comes down through several
rlaahlnir vears. The radical element.
represented by Pinchot, has been
"holding up" the public domain, cre
ating reserves and denying applica
tions and patents most of these acts
being at variance with strict reading
of the law. Now the reaction has
cc.m nna President Taft. through his
Secretary of the Interior, is pursuing
a changed policy or administering tne
law as he finds it. This excites
the rival element which has 'been ac
customed to cast aside "legal techni
calities" when they stood in the way of
Its favorite method of "saving" the
public land and forest and stream
"to the reople." It asserts that the
vital question is not whether lands
were legally withdrawn from entry,
but whether the interests of unborn
generations are to be conserved and
greed of the- present generation is to
be curbed.
This plausible version of the law,
the functions of the public do
main and the privileges of the
present generation does very well
within certain bounds. But it can
easily go too far; lts. method de
pends on personal opinion, which Is a
variable quantity; it is something
that strict rules of justice and polit
ical safety do not allow. There are
hundreds of persons in Oregon today
yes, thousands whose valid claims
to land have been jeopardized by this
policy, their applications denied or
their patents withheld or cancel Id.
All this is the result of the Pinchot
method of administering the statutes.
It is not strict application of the law,
else the claimants would safely have
had their land long ago.
The new Administration is taking
the middle course between the old
regime, wherein fraud and greed were
rampant, and the Pinchot policy,
which, while being useful to the coun
try, has been pressed to the extreme
limit and done much injustice. Mr.
Balllnger has made plain that in this
"reaction" the designs of land and
water grabbers will be resisted by the
Government. But the Pinchot ele
ment nt once rises in wrath to de
clare this new plan works in the in
terest of great land monopolies anu
water power combines; and intimates
the Secretary of the Interior is in the
service of these interests, and that
everybody who sides with Balllnger
Is their tool.
It is not believable that the coun
try as a .whole will take this view.
There is much to do n great water
power undertakings throughout the
West. These enterprises will not go
forward while the Government retains
the power sites, nor so long as it Is
impossible for individuals to acquire
and dispose of the locations. It is
stretching the law to withhold them
from sale and use. The middle course
which Balllnger is pursuing is the ra
tional one In this matter. The Pin
chot faction will gain nothing from
charges of dishonesty and corruption.
If Pinchot desires to continue being
useful to the Government, his friends
will have to cease this talk, and he
will have to fall In with the Govern
ment's policy. '
GRAIN STRONG, STOCKS WEAK.
The grain markets, in' response to
strength in Europe and bad crop re
ports in the Dakotas, yesterday regis
tered a sharp advance in Chicago and
again passed the dollar mark on all
except the December option. - The
stock markets, on the contrary, all
showed substantial losses, the recent
leaders In the upward movement, like
United States steel and the Harri
mans. showing the heaviest declines.
This sudden change from weakness to
strength in grain, and -from strength
to weakness in stocks, as a factor in
the general trade situation is much
preferable to the reverse move in the
two commodities. This strong upward
movement in stocks began months ago
on the assumption that there would be
revival of business after the crop was
harvested and the tariff bill was out of
the way.
So certain were the speculators that
there would be a crop and that the
tariff bill would be passed that prac
tically all of the possible effect of these
factors was discounted before either
was much in evidence. The coming of
the big crop, however, was unaccom
panied by the usual large demand for
funds for crop-moving purposes. This
left large supplies of cheap call
money at the disposal of the specula
tors, and they continued artificially to
inflate the market on the assumption
that the people would overlook the
fact that prices were already at as
high a figure as was warranted by the
most favorable conditions that could
follow a big crop and a satisfactory
tariff bill. For the good of all legit
imate business it is to be hoped that
Wall street will recall what happened
two years ago and cease this overdis
couhting the prosperity that is coming
fast enough and strong enough.
Conservative estimates place the
value of the farm products this year
at J8, 300, 000, 000, which is 1900,000,
000 more than their value in 1907,
when the big crop and big prices gave
such an Impetus to" stock speculation
that a financial crash was precipitated.
Last year most of the damage from
the panic was repaired, and by pro
ceeding with caution the returns on
the 17, 800, 000, 000 crop of farm prod
ucts placed everything In fine shape
for vast business expansion this year.
This expansion is a certainty if over
speculation can be prevented, and the
increasing prices for our great staples
will hasten this prosperity. It can be
placed in jeopardy, however, almost as
easily as it was disturbed In 1907, if
the craze for stock gambling, with its
attendant enormous drain on the
money market is not checked. In
creased demand for money for crop
moving purposes and for the promo
tion of legitimate business enterprises
will shorten the supply for the stock
gamblers, and for this reason an .ad
vance in call money rates at this time
may be positively beneficial.
SENATOR CHAMBERLAIN, DEMOCRAT.
Senator Chamberlain's grand art of
humbug did much for him in Wash
ington, where he boosted for high du
ties in the making of the tariff bill
and then voted against the bill on pas
sage. His secretary. Just returned, says
he stood with seven "progressive" Re
publicans against passage, together
with the Democrats. This is meant
probably as a compliment to the
"progressive" Republicans in the Ore
gon Legislature who tied themselves
up to him, a Democrat, with State
ment One, and then were so grief
stricken that they walled loudly when
they elected him, saying they were not
responsible for what they did.
When the Senator started for the
National capital he promised to serve
both as. Republican and as Demo
crat. Evidently he did his best, by
helping Republicans out with the duty
on wool and lumber and then by sid
ing with the Democrats in their polit
ical vote Hgainst the finished bill.
Other Democrats like Chamberlain
helped boost the schedules for the:r
home states and then voted against,
i-assage, so that there are progressive
Democrats as well as Republicans.
These Democrats did one thing for
home consumption and another for
politics at large, relying all the while
on Republicans to pass the bill for
their home localities.
The Senator's secretary, arriving
home as advance messenger, 3ays:
"Senator Chamberlain co-operated
with the progressive Republicans and
a majority of his own party through
out. Senator Chamberlain's vote is
recorded with the majority of Demo
crats and Insurgents 67 times." How,
now, do Republicans of Oregon like
this? Isn't it a fine thing to have Re
publican majority voters in this state
represented in the Senate by a Demo
crat who co-operates "with a majority
of his own party"? Meanwhile it is
interesting to note that Oregon's wool
and lumber are protected by the vote
of the detestable Aldrich and his
crowd, instead of by that of Senator
Chamberlain. After the Senator's
eager effort to straddle the business,
that is the way he gets off. What
buncombe! ,
The steamer Geo. W. Elder and the
rebuilt steamer Daniel Kern, two
craft which have had long lives and
much trouble, met In the Columbia
River at an early hour yesterday
morning, and the Daniel Kern is again
at the bottom of the river, while the
Elder, bowed by her weight of thirty
five years, is nursing several fractures
of her ancient ribs and plates. This
collision did not take place because
the Columbia River-was of insufficient
size to admit or the passage of two
small steamers, but because the two
boats attempted to pass in a space
wide enough for only one. Fortu
nately for all concerned, the disaster
took place in the peaceful waters of
the Columbia River, instead of out on
the ocean, and iio lives were lost.
There is a very plain law of economics
which should be observed more care
fully by railroad engineers who try to
take their trains past other trains on
a single-track line, and by pilots who
attempt to pass boats on a "single
track" without changing course.
Mr. Harriman came out of his Ore
gon retreat at Pelican Bay last year
feeling much improved in health.
While there, he gained in weight and
expressed himself as feeling better
than he had felt for years. This year
Mr. Harriman is homeward bound
from another Summer resort, where
he has been spending many weeks in
the care of physicians, and, according
to the press reports, he has failed to
improve since he left the United
States. There may be a moral in his
1909 experience as compared with that
of 1908, and the difference In the
manner in which he was affected may
account for the report that Pelican
Bay is being hurriedly placed In readi
ness to receive him. 'Tis a very sick
man that cannot notice some improve
ment in his condition after spending
a vacation in Oregon.
Th Winston Bros, have secured a
contract for double-tracking a portion
of the Northern Pacific ttaiiroaa De
KniHma and TaComa. There
are the Wattis Bros, on the Natron
extension of the Southern Pacinc, ana
Twnkv Rros. and Porter Bros, in
the Deschutes, trying to build rail
roads in the Deschutes. Building
railroads seems to be a ramiiy joo.
nf or.nre Colonel Bryan is entltled
to a day at the A.-Y.-P. Exposition.
He is our greatest' American show.
u oht-ava draws. But perhaps by
this time he has learned that every
body who comes to see mm aoesn i
necessarily mean to vote for him.-
Refore accepting at' its face value
the story of the kiling of a,l5"00-
pound bear in Trinity County, Califor
nia, we demand to know whether it
was weighed on the buying or the sell
ing scales.
- i
A Tnlrlnlarht raid on fishtraps result
ing i a hmil nf $10,000 will give the
effete East some idea of the value of
the Pacific Coast salmon industry.
Heney a candidate for the down-
and-out club? Well, hardly. They
are Just beginning to get acquainted
with Heney down in California.
is hetween nubile and private enter-
i-iinmit at Seattle. Mr. Taft's prede
cessor would have reached a decision
without a moments delay.
The drowning season is at its height.
"Hang vour clothes on a hickory limb,
but don't go near the water," is bet
ter advice than it sounds.
Onnortunity now offers itself to Pu-
get Sound inventors for construction of
burglar-proof fishtrap,
DIRECT PRIMARY FAILURES.
Vcw Method la Fine Theory, nt Works
Poorly Wherever Used.
Chicago Inter Ocean.
The more experience we have with
the direct primary the more the aver
age man is driven to the conclusion
that it belongs in that large class of
political inventions which fail to be
come. Institutions because they cease
to work when tried.
Direct primaries were lately held In
Indiana. Maryland and Virginia. In
Virginia the Issues were, according to
newspapers advocating the plan, "such
as might be expected to call out a large
attendance at the polls." But they
didn't. Says the Boston Transcript's
correspondent:
In many counties not half the vote waa
cast, and In busy Danville the proportion
participating was the smallest on record.
Their decision was rhe verdict of a minor
Ity. The off Iceholdera are as strongly in
trenched as ever, and money. If It does not
"talk," works.
That the direct primary does not, in
the absence of some highly personal
controversy, such as we had a year ago
in Illlno'is, bring out the voters is the
uniform wtperlence. Nor does it bring
out the "better candidates" promised.
On this point the Indianapolis News
confesses;
Those who advocated the direct primary
including the News are much disap
pointed In Ita operations. Today we have
five candidates tor Mayor, not one of whom
measures up to the standard it was aup
posed we should reach under the direct
primary. The good, men' who it waa pre-dictod-
would "come out" do not. The ne
cessity of making two campaigns, of con
tributing to two campaign funds, of twice
submitting to the Importunities of "heel
ers," undoubtedly Increases the reluctance
of representative citizens to offer them
selves. The enormous expense of the direct
primary to the candidates or their
friends, with two campaigns, two elec
tions and "two large outpourings of
money," is further commented upon by
the Indianapolis News, with the con
clusion that:
It ia admitted on all hands that if the
new machinery Is retained we shall have
to do something to limit expenditures, or
else throw them on the public.
Of "throwing them on the public" we
have had costly experience in Chicago.
The Baltimore American gives another
illustration by showing In the reoent
direct primary there, in which about
14,000 voted, or a little over 13 per
cent of the registration, the cost to
the public treasury of getting each
ballot in the box was $2.85.
As to the character of the candidates
produced the Indianapolis Star offers
some further testimony. While depre
cating final Judgment, it points out
that "at least one tendency of the sys
tem may be positively recognized":
The tendency to which we allude Is the
encouragement given to cheap and unlit
self-seekert". and a corresponding discour
agement to men of character and sensi
bilities who might be Induced by combined
partv demand to accept responsible offices,
which under no circumstances would they
solicit by expenditure of money and brazen
exploitation of their own virtues.
The truth Is that under the direct
primary, when time and death have dis
sipatecf the political acquaintanceships
acquired under the old system, the
greater offices will be open to only two
kinds of candidates.
One will be the man of wealth who
wants public office as a social decora
tion or to increase a fortune already
large and is willing to spend freely In
self -advertising.
The other will be the kind so accu
rately described by The Portland Ore
gonian, published In the state which in
electing a Senator has managed to an
nul the Constitution of the United
States:
The man who can shake most hands,
make himself the best "mixer," communi
cate with the largest number by means of
empty speeches or fltmtiam circulars, or
make In any way the most touching ap
peal to the fancy of hobbyhorslcal citizens,
such as silver advocates, single-tax fa
natics, or other groups entertaining half
baked notions, will walk off with the nomi
nation. That Is. the direct primary in the end
confines us to a choice between the
shallow-pated demagogue and the man
of wealth whose notion of happiness
and success is to "buy what I want
when I want it," regardless of price or
manner of purchase.
No wonder the Indianapolis News
asks, "Has the delegate system been
fairly tried?" and its contemporary,
the Star, suggests as "a wholesome
thought" the direct primary's new proof
that "the hope of making officials able
and honest, or voters wise and vigilant,
by law, is vain."
Judged by experience, the direct pri
mary is merely another of those roads
to the millennium, down which some
men are always eager to be blindly led
by the blind, with the result that all
concerned go into the ditch.
Bottled Bait L,ursj Flah.
Wlnsted (Conn.) Corr. N. Y. World.
All piscatorial artists who enjoy bass
and pickerel fishing will be interested
in the way D. J. Coffey, a member of
the Winsted fire department, who lias
been putting in a week's vacation on
the Highland Lake fishing grounds,
managed to break all previous records
there for big catches. Here's how he
did it:
He placeu a number of shiners, or
live bait, and one or two small frogs
in glass bottles of two gallons capacity
and then suspenaea tne Domes in ueep
water from a small raft. As the big
bass and pickerel tried in vain to get
the little fish in the glass inclosure,
Coffey, who fished from a rowboat near
by, dropped his baited line close to the
bottles and the assembled fiBh were
caught as fast as they could be pulled
in.
Paine a Plagiarist f '
PORTLAND, Aug. 19. (To the Ed
itor.) Was Thomas Paine ever accused
of plagiarism? It seems to m uim
"Age of Reason" is almost a liberal
transcription of Spinoza's "Theological
Political Treatise," which preceded
Thomas Paine over 100 years.
GEORGE RUBENSTEIN.
Faine's biographers do not accuse
him of plagiarism. Spinoza wrote 100
years before Paine and his ideas had
become common property when "The
Age of Reason" appeared.
Weather Predictions.
New York Times.
By gum! "
Ain't the weather bum
Sometimes, and mostly so,
When you fix to go
Somewhere
And want it fair?
You turn In at night
Feeling all right
Because you have read
What the Weather Forecaster has said.
To wit: "Fair tomorrow and cooler;
I-iprht winds, northwest."
And you sink to rest.
By predictions blest.
And you dream
Of emerald valley and silver stream.
And over all the azure skies.
And you rise
Early the next day
To find the skies are ugly gray.
And you kick
And feel sick.
And you want to slug the forecaster
In the neck.
And put the whole darn weather bureau
On the wreck;
But you take a chance
On a meteorological circumstance.
And go anyhow.
Wow!
Will you ever forget
How draggly wet
You were beneath those azure Pkies
Of the weather bureau enterprise?
But. say.
It won't be that way,
Anv more! What?
Why will it not?
Because
The weather laws
Will hereafter be administered by youth
Which will always tell the reliable truth,
Ring out the old; ring in the new :
Ring out the false: ring in the true;
The oid forecaster's got to go
And let the young one have a show.
Now when you're told
Bv some knowing young fellow.
That the day will be fair.
Don't forget your umbreJJ
What!
. PIXCHOT VERSUS BALLIXGER.
Forester Wanta l.xr Strained to Fulfill
Hia Ideaa.
New York Times.
Mr. Gifford Pinchot, the savior of the
country's forests, is wrong. Unless he
rights himself speedily, he may cease
to become a member of Mr. Taft's Ad
ministration, despite his great serv
ices to tne Nation. If he does not dis
trust Mr. Taft in the Administration's
methods of dealing with, the Water
Power Trust, it is manifest from his
speech at Spokane this week that Mr.
Pinchot distrusts- the methods of Mr.
Taft's Cabinet officer, Secretary of the
Interior Balllnger.
Mr. Balllnger last April threw open
1,400,000 acres of the public domain
.which had been withdrawn by Presi
dent Roosevelt for the purpose of con
serving water-power sites, thus cutting
down the area of withdrawals to 154,
000 acres. The Geological Survey had
apprised Mr. Balllnger that Mr. Roose
velt withdrew townships where the
withdrawal of sections would have
answered every purpose. A recent
trustworthy dispatch to our neighbor,
the Tribune, declared that "the Presi
dent is in hearty accord with the policy
of Mr. Balllnger." Other withdrawals
of coal, oil and phosphate lands were
found to be illegal. With respect to
these tho Tribune of Chicago last month
defined the intentions of the President
and Mr. Balllnger as follows:
New York Times.
It Is the intention of Secretary Balllnger,
also, to prevent the monopolization of coal,
oil and phosphate lands, and he is prepar
ing to advise the President as to what rec
ommendations to this end ought to be sub
mitted in the first annual message to Con
gress of the Chief Executive. Both the
president and the Secretary realize that
their duty at this time is to enforce the
law as it exists and to prevent any abuse
of its provisions.
The clash in methods advocated by
Mr. Pinchot and Mr. Taft may be seen
in the subjoined dispatch from the
Washington bureau of the New York
Tribuno and" an extract from Mr.
Pirichot's speech at Spokane:
The president's View,
Mr. Plnchot'a View.
President Taft Is
Kluld construction
wholly unwilling that
the law shall" be
strained, or that the
members of his Ad
ministration shall ex
ceed their Constitu
tional and statutory
powers. In the effort
to prevent the monop
olization of water
power sites. He has
of the law works, and
must work, in the vast
majority of cases, for
the benefit of the men
who can hire the best
lawyers and who have
the sources or innu-
ence In law-making at
their command. Strict
construction necessar
ily favors the great
expressed himself en
ergetically In opposl
interests as against
the people, and In the
tlon to the proposi-llong run cannot do
tlon that "the end
Justifies the means."
and in the process of
making certain that
no executive act shall
be opn to the charge
of being without legal
warrant, a number of
these sites will Inev
itably be thrown open
to settlement under
the existing land laws.
otherwise. Wise exe
cutlon of the law
must consider what
the law ought to ac
complish for the gen
eral good.
That is. in Mr. Pinchofs view, the
Executive need have clearly in mind
only "the general good" and a hatred
of corporations. If the acts thus far
passed by Congress distinctly authorize
the exploitation of minerals and they
do while Mr. Roosevelt's orders set
ting aside ranger sites specifically for
bade such exploitation, Mr. Pinchot be
lieves that Mr. Taft ought to follow Mr.
Roosevelt without respect to the law.
Mr. Taft, on tho other hand, believes
that the law ought tirst to be changed
in the interest of a worthy Rooseveltlan
policy.
This is not Mr. Pinchofs first mis
take. No sooner had Mr. Taft become
President than the Chief Forester cir
culated among President Roosevelt's
illegally paid commissions the Roose
velt memorandum declaring that the
sundry civil act, which reiterates a
clause of the Constitution providing
that no money shall be drawn from the
Treasury but in consequence of appro
priations made by law, was "an inva
sion oj the Executive prerogative." Mr.
Taft and Congress saw the matter with
other eyes.
The present difference of opinion be
tween Mr. pinchot and President Taft
is Important, In that it Indicates with
clearness and precision tne ainerence
in methods between the present and the
nast Administration. It should never
be forgotten that Mr. Taft was a Judge
before he became President. As the
Nation's Chief Executive he still re
tains his respect for its laws.
BILLBOARD IS ATV ANACHRONISM.
If Local I. aw- Caa't Suppress Nuisance,
Call Congress, la SuKgeatlon.
Washington (D. C.) Star.
The District commissioners are to be
congratulated upon their firm stand in
connection with the billboard nuisance.
The advanced position taken receives
the hearty indorsement of. practically
all residents of Washington, ana tne
abolition of the billboard eyesores may
be the happy consummation of the not
distant future. The decision to carry
the matter to the courts Is to be wel
comed, as clearing the ground for ulti
mate action in the case. The ruling of
the court in this matter will show in
what respects, if any, present laws need
to be amended in order that tne nui
sance can bo legally abolished. And In
order to do this the case, when It goes
to the courts for adjudication, should
be made to cover every possible feature
of the controversy. If the present law
is not sufficient to remedy the abuse,
Congress can be depended upon to make
it broad enough to cover every emer
gency. The development of esthetic ideas in
recent years in America, particularly In
connection with the beautlllcation of
cities, has made the billboard an an
achronism, as Commissioner McFarland
declares. While nearly everything else
has felt the uplift, the billboard keeps
fast to its pristine hldeousness.
Not only is the day of the billboard
passing in the cities, but there is evi
dence that the smaller towns and the
countryside are awakening to the neces
sity of action in the way of either abo
lition or strict regulation. Railroads
are refusing permission for the erection
of billboards upon their right of way,
and when the thrifty Jersey farmers
are better educated perhaps a trip from
Philadelphia to New York will less re
semble a Journey through a tunnel of
horrors.
Come Again, Mlaa Vldo.
Silver Lake Leader.
We are under obligations to Miss Vida
Chrisman for a plate of choice home
made candy. Miss Vida, you are always
welcome to the Leader office, especially
when you bring such delicious candy.
A Challenge.
John Kendrick Bangs In Alnslee's.
tome. worry, let us walk abroad today;
Let's take a little run along the way:
I know a sunny path that leads from Fear
Up to the lovely fields of Wholesome
Cheer.
I'll race you there I'm feeling fit, and
strong.
So, Worry, come along!
We started on our way. I and my Care.
I set the pace on through the springtime air,
But ere we'd gone a mile poor Worry
stopped, -
Tried hard to catch his breath, and then
he dropped.
Whilst I went on
An easy winner of that Marathon.
And since that day when vexed by any fear,
When Worry's come again with visage drear,
I've challenged him to join me in that race.
And found eacb, time ae could not etaad
' th pace.
Life's SunnySide
Just as he was sleeping along about
40 miles an hour and never slowing "1"
for crossings. Dr. C. II Battles was
aroused by somebody firing a salute on
the telephone at the head of his bed.
The little clock on the dresser recorded
1 A. M.
"This is the municipal lighting plant,"
said a voice. "Would you mind looking
out of the window to see if the street
lights are burning there on your corner?''
Anybody but a doctor would have
slammed the receiver into place without
waiting to hear another word. But beins
used to getting out of bed at all hours
of the night, tho doctor went over to
the window end looked out. The lichij
seemed to be sticking to business same as
usual.
Having diagnosed the rase of the liehts
as practically normal, the doctor pit-a-patted
back to the phone to make his
report.
"They're all right," said he. just that
tersely.
"Very well, then," came back the voice,
"suppose -you blow 'em out!"
The next day the telephone man came
around and patched up the phone so that
it was just as good as new. Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
A number of Topeka printers at
lunch recently were talking of funny
fights. "Out at Garden City a funny thing
happened long years ago." said one of
the printers. "Garden was having some
sort of a celebration: Just what it was,
I've forgotten. John A. Martin was then
Governor of Kansas, and he was present
to open the festivities with a speech. A
parade preceded the affair, and Governor
Martin rode in a carriage with I. R.
Holmes, who was then Mayor of the
town. A big blacksmith insisted on driv
ing his horse in front of the carriage oc
cupied by Martin and Holmes. The latter
told him to get out of the way several
times, but lie paid no attention.
" 'Governor,' said . Holmes to Martin,
hold these lines a minute, please.' llo
stopped the horses, climbed out and ad
ministered a rattling good licking to the
disturbing blacksmith.
"Now, doesn't it strike you as funny
that the highest peace officer of the cltys
shoufd hand the lines to the highest
peace officer of the state while he gets
out to break the poaca?" Kansas City
Journal.
Captain Tracey, who lived down in
Kentucky, was a good old hard shell Bap
tist, who occasionally would tell a. story
at the expense of the brethren. Years
ago they were not so conspicuously ortho
dox on the temperance question as they
are in our time.
"On one occasion," said the Captain,
"the brethren in my region were about
to have a grand church gathering, nnd
all the faithful in the neighborhood werj
expected to exert themselves to enter
tain suitably and hospitably the visiting
brethren. Two of my neighbors met each
other Just before the grand gathering.
One of them said:
" 'What are you going to do?'
" 'Well,' replied the man, 'I've laid "in a
gallon of first rate whisky.'
" 'A gallon!' retorted his neighbor, with
a look of contempt, 'why, I've got a bar
rel, and you are just as able to sunpoit
the gospel as I am." Philadelphia Record.
Two Kansas farmers, one' of them a
Republican and the other a Democrat,
were quarreling over their polilicnl be
liefs. The more thoy argued the furth -r
apart they drifted. Finally they called ia
a neighbor to settle the dispute. This
neighbor was a man 'who seldom sail
anything, who went about his business,
was a good citizen and substantial i:i
every way.
"Well," he replied, after both had
stated their sides, "my son and I have
been hauling wheat nearly 40 years now
There are two roads leading to the mil!.
Oiie is the valley road and the other
leads over the hill. But never yet has
the miller asked me which road wc came.
He always askf: 'Is the wheat good?' "
Kansas City Journal.
m
"Do you think luck cuts much of a
figure In'fhe success or failure of a man
nowadays?"
"Yes, I believe it does. There's Bat;
shaw. for instance. What show would he
ever have had to live at ease and helonir
to clubs if he hadn't hhd the luck to find
a banker with a daughter who was so
homely that a large premium had to be
offered with her?" Chicago Record
Herald. Heirs of John Paul Jones,
Marietta, O., Dispatch.
One million acres of land near
Marietta, owned by the Ohio Company
in 17SS and deeded to Admiral John
Paul Jones in 1792, is now in litigation
here.
Attorney A. Dewey Follett has start
ed proceedings to gain possesion of cer
tain land, -which Mrs. Gomhault. of
Paris, France, an heir of John Paul
Jones, claims legally belongs to her.
She asserts she has a deed of trust for
the lands, given to her by other heirs
of John Paul Jones. C. A. Hereshoff
Bartlett, of Paris, former Judge-Advo-eate-CJeneral
of New York, represents
Mrs. Gombault ' and believes this con
veyance is not absolute, hut Is a trust
deed.
The records of Washington County
show that Jones once owned the land in
question, and it may still be the prop
erty of his heirs.
Poverty forced Mrs. Gombault to seek
title to the land and show the deed of
trust In her possession.
Found A While Snnllow.
Lenox, Mass., Dispatch to the New York
World.
George Parker discovered a white
swallow in an unused oats box in his
barn. Mr. Parker says the box had not
beep opened in two years. He thinks
the bird entered the box before the lid
was turned down in 197, subsisting on
the oats in the box, and that the con
finement turned its feathers white.
Girl Snved by Ifnlr of Her Head.
Baltimore News.
Alice Kinsey; 15 years old. saved Ger
trude Shant, 17 years old, from being
burled alive in quicksand in a woods in
Pennsylvania by holding her by the hair
as she sank in the bed of a small stream
and summoning help.
Table of lO.OflO pieces of Wood.
Pittsburg (ra.) Dispatch.
Levi M. Longenecker, of Marietta, Pa.,
has finished a table which contains iO.OfiO
pieces of wood gathered from all parts of
the state. The work required vil hours.
There are 110 different varieties of wood
used.
So Kny.
Chicago News.
So at last you're Fafely raged.
Being actually engaged!
How you marvel at your fears
And your anguish fringed with tears!
Now your skies are tinged with rose
Since you've clinched tho girl you chose.
Much you wonder that for days
Courage you could npver raise.
Couldn't find a word lo say
When she chanced to pass your way.
It waa chance, of cource, ynu thought.
Not design! Well, you've been caught.
If her thoughts you could have guessed.
Easy would have been the rest.
Tou would have been truly bold:
Aa It was your feet were cold.
How you stammered in your doubt,
With your courage oozing out!
When she whispered. "Yes. you'll do,
With prodigious courage you
Swelled up like a whole parade
Aa you murmured, "Who's afraid 7 . '