TITE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1909.
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PORTLAND, OltfcUO.V.
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PORTLAND. MONDAY. AUGUST SS. 1309.
LET TKEKE BE KO MISTAKE.
Cooa Bay has the right Idea about
self-help In all matters of public con
cern; but It has taken up the wrong
method. The Oregonian thinks it
does not mistake the sentiment and
Judgment of the people of Oregon
when It says that they will not ap
prove the scheme of dragging the state
Into the railroad business. The con
stitutional amendment providing for
the state or district bonding plan will
probably not carry. It certainly will not
carry unless there shall be a very great
change in public opinion between this
time and the election next year. The
Oregonian feels sure, therefore, that
Coos Bay will have to look elsewhere
for support in Its laudable desire and
, purpose to have a railroad. Its peo
" pie are justifiably Indignant that they
have been sidetracked in the scheme
of railroad development for the state.
There can be no approval of the Har
riman plan of promising a railroad,
starting to build it, or pretending to
start, and suspending operations when
he (Harriman) was seized either by a
sudden apprehension that it would
not at once pay, or by a conviction
that he had successfully bluffed out
every other feasible project. Coos Bay
has great deserts, and has suffered
real wrongs. But it Is not wise nor
practicable to redress her wrongs by
taking taxpayers' money and in
vesting it in a railroad for her fcene
f.t. In the face of the disastrous and
costly experience of other states that
have tried the same experiment. '
Portland wishes Coos Bay well.
There is no doubt of it. The delegates
from this city at the recent meeting
of the Oregon-Idaho Development
League, at Marshfleld, were fully war
ranted in bearing to Coos Bay a mes
sage of good will and In encourag
ing them to fight for their rights with
every available weapon. But there
ought to be no mistake about Port
land's attitude toward the state-ownership
of railroads.
It was pleasant, of course, that in
the resolutions adopted by the con
Cress there was cordial and enthusias
tic recognition of the "aid given by
the business men of Portland, who
went in a. body before the Legislature
and insisted that the measure (the
constitutional amendment for owner
ship of railroads) be submitted to the
people." It was not done by "the
business men" of Portland, but by a
few business men of Portland, and
others. There is littie real sentiment
here for the state or district bonding
scheme, in The Oregonian's opinion.
It expects to see the amendment large
ly defeated.
The Oregonian sets forth the situa
tion now as it exists, -since it feels that
Coos Bay ought not to reply too surely
on support for the state railroad
scheme from Portland.- There will be
heavy and probably effective opposi
tion here, not at all based on con
siderations of local influence, or preju
dice, or benefit, but entirely on the
knowledge gained from the experi
ence of other states and communities
In similar enterprises. It would be
just the same with Portland and iwith
The Oregonian, if there should be one
or a dozen state-owned railroads pro
jected for Portland, as. Indeed, there
" Is likely to be, if the constitutional
amendment shall be adopted.
TANGIBLE EVIDENCE OF GROWTH.
Every day during the 13 hours end
ing with 8 o'clock P. M., fifty-two pas
senger trains arrive or depart over the
steam railroads centering in this city.
This is an average of a train every
fifteen minutes throughout the day.
Six other regular passenger trains ar
rive or depart after the hours men
tioned, and, as nearly all of the over
land trains run in two sections, and
specials are not Infrequent, it is prob
able that the monthly average will
show between sixty-five and seventy
passenger trains per day arriving and
departing by the steam railroads.
"With the Oregon Electric, United Rail
ways and Oregon Water Power Com
pany dally sending scores of suburban
electric trains out for Salem, Vancou
ver, Forest Grove, Oregon City. Esta
cada and other points, nearly all of
the business of the steam roads is in
overland traffic, or in traffic to and
from points from 100 to 400 miles dis
tant. No one who travels on any of these
trains, either electric or steam, will
question the necessity for the number
or will fail to note that a few more are
needed to handle the crowds. Some
of this remarkably heavy business is,
of course, traceable to the travel that
passes through Portland to or from
the Seattle exposition, but most of it is
regular traffic that Is steadily on the
increase, regardless of fairs or any
other unusual events.
This remarkable increase in the
railroad traffic in and out of the city is
only one of many industrial features
which reflect the tremendous growth
of the city. Even more striking is the
showing made by bank clearings. Four
years ago the Lewis and Clark Expo
sition drew, to the Pacific Coast, and
especially to Portland, large crowds of
people, and the prosperity due to the
presence of the fair was at Its height
In August. Bank clearings for the
third week of August, 1905, were
13.314,004. For the same week this
year the clearings were 7. 017, 424, a
gain of more than 110 per cent.
Real estate transfers and building
permits this year are running more
than 200 per cent ahead of those for
the Summer months of 1905. With
all of the activity that is now in evi
dence in railroad building and other
forms of development throughout the
entire territory tributary to Portland it
would be hard to overestimate the per
centage of growth that Portland will
show in the coming four years; but
there are very few, if any, in Portland
who do not expect to see the splendid
record of the past four years eclipsed.
ANOTHER DIRECT PRIMARY FIASCO.
Direct primaries, each place they
are tried, .xert disruptive influence on
party association and lead to political
absurdity latest in San Francisco
where Mr. Heney, Republican, was
nominated test week for Prosecuting
Attorney on both the Democratic and
the Independence. League party tick
ets. Although Mr. Heney has been a
defender of direct primaries and has
urged them on Oregon, even in the
face of unsatisfactory results in this
state, the outcome in San Francisco Is
so absurd that he is constrained to de
cline both nominations. Mr. Heney
sees that acceptance would violate
both the. spirit and the letter of the
law and complete the farce.
What could reduce direct primaries
to a nullity and defeat party will and
purpose more effectually than nomina
tion by one party of a member of a
rival party? This outcome has been
possible In Oregon ever since the di
rect nomination method went into ef
fect four years ago. Cake was named
the Republican candidate for United
States Senator by Democratic votes.
Republican ballots frequently have
been marked with the names of Dem
ocrats even for the highest and the
lowest offices, and Democratic harlots
have been marked with the names of
Republicans. Further, a Democrat
has been foisted on Republicans for
the highest political office in the gift
of the state. This proceeding is char
acteristic of direct primaries, when
they are unguided by deliberation
within the party.
The only method of deliberation is
that of the representative assembly or
convention a method extended to
politics that is used in all business and
religious associations of life. Many
kinds of congresses arc held in the
United States to consider trade and
"promotion" matters. Had there been
any such deliberation by Democrats
and Independents in San Francisco,
they would not have chosen to head
their ticket a man representing an
opposing political party. No group of
citizens can advance its political pur
poses by choosing for its candidate a
representative of a rival party". This
proposition is too plain for discussion.
So Mr. Heney Is impelled to repudi
ate the fruits of the nomination sys
tem he admires. The Republican par
ty, with which he Is now affiliated,
doesn't want him for a candidate.
Reciprocally, Mr. Heney will fight the
nominee of his party and try to defeat
him in the election. He tells his
friends he wishes to run Independent.
Direct" primaries, then, don't suit Mr.
Heney.
This Is quite to be expected. It is
typical of the failure of a fine-spun
theory. Recently the theory brought
disappointment In Indiana, Maryland
and Virginia. Wherever employed, It
thwarts the majority will in party, by
giving choice of candidaes neither
of whom the majority wants, yet one
of whom is forced upon the party, by
minority vote. Naturally, the major
ity refuses to support the minority
candidate. Mr. Heney already has de
clared opposition to his party's choice
for Prosecutlng'Attorney In San Fran
cisco. Still he expects-the support of
a majority of his party for himself.
Perhaps, later, he will admire direct
primaries even less. i
Direct primaries, when guided by
the advisory' convention, will reach
the best practical working basis. On
that basis it was established in the lat
est city election in Portland, and It
promises to be made similarly practi
cal for the state election next year.
PASSING OF A GREAT INDUSTRY.
A few brief sentences in the foreign
grain reports last Thursday gave final
notice to the world of the passing for
ever of the California export wheat
trade. These words, in the terse lan
guage of the market page, said that
quotations on California wheat car
goes were no longer posted and that
the state which for a third of a cen
tury was a great power in the world's
wheat markets was considered out of
the export wheat trade. Commerce is
usually a prosaic affair, but there is
something in the rise and decline of
the California wheat trade and the
attendant industries which it quick
ened into life that is of absorbing in
terest. That trade was to a degree the
outgrowth of the wonderful gold dis
coveries which drew to California ad
venturous spirits from all parts of the
globe. When the" unsuccessful gold
hunter tired of l.is quest for the yellow
metal and turned to agricultural pur
spits, nature was more kind in her
rewards and the fame of California as
an agricultural state soon spread
throughout the world.
Early in the '60s the wheat produc
tion of the state had increased far be
yond the requirements for home eon
sumption, and a new trade opened for
those wonderful clippers which made
tho American flag famous wherever
ships sailed. In 1860 the surplus was
sufficient to admit of the exportation
of 10,088 tons of wheat, and 68,926
barrels of flour. Ten years later it
had risen to 243,199 tons of wheat and
352,969 barrels of flour. For' more
than thirty-five years, beginning with
1867, there was an unbroken proces
sion of California grain cargoes cover
ing the round-the-Horn route between
San Francisco and the United King
dom. This fleet, at times when the
season drew to a close, dwindled to
but a dozen or two vessels, and in the
Winter months, when the bulk of the
crop, was afloat, there were nearly 200
vessels strung along between the Far
allones and Queenstown.
The Dreadnought, the Flying Cloud,
the Toung America and all the rest
of the famous clippers which had
raced round the Horn with the gold
seekers were again breaking records
on the run to Europe with wheat car
goes. The Argentine was an unde
veloped and an unknown factor In the
world's wheat markets, the Australian
crop was insignificant, the Canadian
Northwest was a wilderness and the
American crop east of the Rocky
Mountains provided an exportable sur
plus of less than 50.000,000 bushels
when California began to loom large
on the world's market horizon. The
exportable surplus rose steadily for
twentv years, reaching high-water
mark m'13S2, when It was 1,128,031
tons of -wheat and 919.85 barrels of
flour. The maximum ' flour exporta
tion was reached three years later
with 1,304.641 barrels; but wheat
steadily declined and in 1898 had
fallen below 500.000 tons. In 1902 a
big crop gave the statistics a slight
rally and they ran up to 483.611 tons
of wheat and 1,179,901 barrels of
flour. Since that date the decline has
been swift, and In the year ending De
cember- 31, 1908, the total exports
were but 7000 tons of wheat and 227,
448 barrels' of flour, and this was over
whelmingly offset by imports from
Oregon and Washington of more than
200,000 tons of wheat and flour.
While the final passing of this big
grain fleet, which twenty-five years
ago meant so much for California, is
not witnessed -without regret by those
who have viewed it as the foundation
of the over-sea trade of the Califor
nia metropolis, the lands which for so
many years supplied the European
markets with such a large portion of
their Imports are today yielding up
greater revenues for their owners than
were secured from the wheat crops.
The ' Oegon wheat," as the Willamette
Valley product was classified in the
foreign markets, came into prominence
about ten years' later than the Califor
nia product, but it vanished from the
foreign grain exchange quotations
nearly ten years ago Tho history of
the export trade in "Oregon" wheat
and California wheat will some day be
repeated in the case of "Walla Walla"
wheat, now grown so extensively In
Eastern Oregon and Washington, and
men now past middle age will proba
bly live to see the day when the last
export cargo from the Pacific North
west is set afloat
WHAT XEXT IN THE SUTTON CASE?
Better had Lieutenant Sutton lain In
his grave a supposed suicide than, as
now revealed, a trouble-seeking, quar
relsome, undisciplined product of Ore
gon and Annapolis. Better had the
Marine Corps opened the disgraceful
affair wide two years ago than have
shielded Sutton's fellow-companions,-who
were more than his equals as a
fist-fighting, carousing, hard-drinking
lot of sailor toughs.
The investigation can have brought
no comfort to the' Sutton family.
Hence, the more eager they are to un
cover the participants in the deadly
deed. Before they are done they may
convince Congress that Sutton's com
panions of that deadly night should be
dropped from the Marine Corps and
otherwise punished, and that the au
thorities of the Marine School at An
napolis should be taken to task for
failure to enforce proper discipline
and to maintain rigorous order.
Unsatisfactory as the Sutton family's
efforts to themselves may be, it is
bound to work for Improvement of the
Marine School and better conduct of
the Marine Corps. The lesson will be
taught that there is no place for
carousal and combat within the mili
tary and the marine service. That is
not the way for young men to prove
their brains or patriotism or bravery
or prowess, to say nothing of their de
cency and good breeding.
SENATOR CHAMBERLAIN'S STRADDLE
Persons who admire Senator
Chamberlain's tariff straddle are act
ing the antics of Jack-Be-Nimble to
explain why he voted against the
Payne-Aldrich bill that saves Ore
gon's duties on wool, hops and lum
ber. Senator Chamberlain Joined
hands with other pork-bar'l Senators
In framing the bill to give their locallr
ties a hook-hold, but when it came to
the finish and It was time to deliver
the goods, he voted no and let the
unspeakable Aldrlch gang of Repub
licans save tho duties on Oregon's
products.
"As a matter of reflecting the wishes
of his constituents." says the Senator's
Democratic organ in Portland, "it is
doubtful if Senator Chamberlain
could more nearly have voted the will
of a majority of the people of the
state than he has done." Truly, and
indeed? WThat do the wool men and
the hop men and the lumher men
think about it? Their products con
trol the sentiment of the State of Ore
gon, since they represent most of its
wealth production. These men wanted
the Payne-Aldrlch bill passed, since it
afforded them security from perhaps
severe reductions of the Dingley rates.
Of like opinion were their fellow-voters
of this state. For, although they
did not approve all the schedules of
the new bill, and would have framed
it much different if it had been given
to their hands, still the bill was the
best that could be obtained, and af
forded Oregon a share of the tariff
graft. Had the biil failed to let Ore
gon into the pork bar'l, then this state
would .have been opposed to It, but as
this state was let-in, it needs must ap
prove. Chamberlain knew this full well.
He took good care, to show himself
"right" In looking after the wool, the
hops and the lumber when the bill
was framed, and thus branded him
self as belonging to the ranks of ar
dent protectionists. Then, seeing that
his vote was not needed to secure
passage of the bill for Oregon's bene
fit, he exercised his usual straddling
faculty in order to make politics for
his National Democratic party when it
should charge Republicans with fail
ure to accomplish sufficient downward
revision. Yet Chamberlain stood with
other Democrats to defeat downward
revision for their home states; as for
Oregon's wool and hops, he used what
Influence he possessed to . prevent
downward revision.
The Inconsistency of which is that
Chamberlain, though acting the part
of a high protectionist and a foe of
downward revision equal to that of
the Republican supporters of the fin
ished bill, turned tail in the final vote
and acted the false role of a low-protection
Democrat. His conduct was
doubly false, because there is no such
character in American politics as low
protection Democrat.
Protective tariff Is not needed in thi3
country. It takes from one man's
pocket to put in another man's. It is
not rightful use of power of govern
ment. Besides it affords opportunity
for straddle and buncombe. Senator
Chamberlain proved himself a high
protectionist. He had no reasonable
complaint against the Payne-Aldrlch
bill. He should have been consistent.
He should have quit straddling when
he .left the Governor's office. He
should have supported the protection
bill in whose making he had joined.
' THE SPECIAL-AGENT JOKE.
The Government "special agent" as
a rule Is a Joke, so far as accomplish
ing anything of advantage to the "spe
cial" l!nof trade which he may be
investigating is concerned. As an ex
ample. Special Agent Davis, of the De
partment of Commerce and Labor, has
been spending several months on a
foreign junket for the purpose of in
vestigating the wheat and flour trade.
He has already officially deplored our
loss of flour trade in the Orient, and
gravely advised American millers who
keep men in the Orient year after
year what they should do to make the
Orientals eat mpre American flour.
Recently Mr. Davis continued his in
vestigations in Europe, and he found
that, while American flour is the best
that can be secured, the Europeans are
not using It in greatly increasing
quantities. Sir. Davis insists that what
millers must do to enlarge the con
sumption of American flour is "to rise
to the occasion by meeting the re
quirements of foreign markets and
further impress upon Europe the merit
which actually attaches to the Amer
ican product."
This has a pleasant sound, but who
will foot the bills?" The principal,
overwhelmingly prominent "require
ment" of the foreign market is that
the product be sold at as low a price
as the buyer must pay for flour made
from wheat grown in the cheap-labor
countries that are willing to sell their
wheat at a lower price than the
American wheat commands in the
United States. Special Agent Davis is
undoubtedly as good a man for the
business he is in as the Government
could secure for the meager salaries it
pays, but it is unreasonable to ex
pect that his investlgatidhs would be
of the slightest consequence to the big
American milling interests that keep
high-salaried men in foreign countries
the year round, studying conditions
and meeting foreign "requirements" in
everything except the price, in which,
of course, they meet their limitations.
' When wheat is scarce and high In
other countries and plentiful in the
United States, our flour trade in
creases. When conditions are re
versed, it decreases. The reason for
the changing .conditions are so obvi
ous that It is unnecessary to have a
special agent to point them out.
The report of the National Water
ways Commission, which is to investi
gate the canal and other water trans
portation systems of Europe, should
be a very interesting document. In
this country, and especially in the Pa
cific Northwest, there is deep ignor
ance regarding the actual cost of water
transportation as compared with rail.
We could not, of course, depend on
moving freight by water at as low a
cost in this country as it is moved in
the cheap-labor lands of the Old
World, but the Commission, If it care
fully studies the situation, can present
data of great value. It would be a
matter of great interest to Portland to
learn whether freight could be carried
by water from this city to Lewiston
and other interior points in competi
tion with railroad rates, and show a
profit on the transaction not with ar
tificial aid from the state, but simply
as a business proposition.
, Oregon has developed the lumber,
fruit, dairying and general farming in
dustries on such an elaborate scale
that less dependence is now placed on
some of the other great staples that
made the state famous. Wool attracts
less attention than formerly, but this
state is still one of the largest wool
producers In the United States, and the
reason for its prominence Is in a de
gree explained by our unrivalled cli
matic conditions. As a sample of .what
can be done in the woolgrowing line,
an item from Wallowa in yesterday's
market column is interesting. The en
tire clip of Wallowa County, amount
ing to more than 1.700,000 pounds,
averaged more than ten pounds per
fleece, and half of one large band aver
aged 13 pounds per fleece.
"I do not give up the fight," says
Walter Wellman, in announcing that
he has no intention of abandoning his
trade as a North Pole hunter. Mr.
Wellman should not be harshly criti
cised for this determination. He has
been engaged in the work of balloon
ing to the North Pole for so many
years that it would be cruel to deprive
him of the annual Junket to Hammer
fest It must be admitted, however,
that these attempts will be less attrac
tive, now that all kinds of airships are
flying around close at home, where
people can see them.
The disclosures now being made at
Montreal show that the regular rate
paid for fire and police appointments
was $200 each. This ought to make
San Francisco feel better, for under
the Schmltz- regime the tariff was
never permitted to fall below $500.
What a cheap lot of grafters those
Canadians must be!
It is a good thing for horticulture in
the United States that the Association
of Agricultural Colleges came in
personal touch at Hood River with one
of Oregon's incomparable apple dis
tricts. There is no reason why this
state should not teach the Nation the
best there is In the science of fruit
growing. Some one at the Trans-Mississippi
Congress wanted to move the National
Capital to Denver, "where any Jap
anese fleet could not reach it." We
hadn't thought of that; but why not
move It to Portland, where everyone
will guarantee that a Japanese ship
or army won't not can't reach it?
Reliable report has it that President
Taft has, by strenuous exercise at Bev
erly, managed to reduce from. 32 4
pounds to 306. The reliable report is
from a reliable reporter who saw the
President on his weigh after a golf
game.
The great need of the hour is a non
collidable automobile. Probably we
shall have it when the speed limit is
reduced to ten miles an hour. There
is no way to go fast and at the same
time decrease the hazard.
However, Mr. Schively ought to re
member that his grief is as nothing
compared with the copious buckets of
tears shed by the insurance companies
after he had made one of his grand
inspection round-ups.
Keep your eye on the blue cerulean
dome. You may see an airship at any
moment. Yamhill County has an avi
ator, and when Yamhill gets busy
there Is always something doing.
It has been arranged at last that
Taft shall have one day of golf and
peace at Seattle. Seattle can let a
President alone. If It must.
Pennsylvania's western penitentiary
is reported to have been robbed by
certain officers of $90,000. It takes
thieves to watch thieves.
History may truthfully record of
Wellman: He went straight up and
turned around and came right down
again.
The owners of Lone Fir ought to be
satisfied. The census there shows
many more than really live there.
The Agricultural College presidents
have put their "O. K." on Hood River.
They know.
UHENISM I?f FULL BLOOM.
Protest Against the Latest Scheme of
the Quack lawgiver. '
Dallas Observer.
Oregon's law doctor, W. S. TTRen.
has put his factory in operation again
and is grinding out a new constitu
tional amendment to be submitted to
the people under the initiative at the
next state election. Of all the freak
measures the great specialist has
ever prepared, his latest effort is en
titled to the medal. It is so revolu
tionary In Its character that even
U'Ren's populistic and v anarchistic
friends are afraid of it. The amend
ment proposed to be submitted is
nothing less than a provision to take
the election of county officials away
from the people and clothe the Gov
ernor with power to appoint them.
If this proposed amendment isn't
TTRentsm and damphoolism (which
are one and the same) gone to seed,
then there is no such thing as mad
ness and folly. And yet, it is only a
logical result of governmental tinker
ing and no more than the people have
any right to expect when they place
the almost sacred work of framing
their laws In the hands of a visionary.
Impractical dreamer a revolutionary
theorist.
"But," it will be argued, "such a law
will never pass. The people will not
stand for It." Let us not be too sure
about that. It must be remembered
Doctor U'Ren has been surprisingly
successful in getting his prescriptions
down the throats of his patients. The
voters make wry faces at his medicine,
6ut they take it. He prescribes the
direct primary the people swallow the
dose. He next pours out a spoonful of
official recall same result. Next, a
"foolish powder," commonly known as
the corrupt practices act it goes down
as if it were greased. Are we right
sure that we are not going to take
this latest and most nauseating dose
of all? Let's not get too gay about it.
Eugene Register.
What U'Ren cannot think of In Ore
gon politics Is not worth mentioning.
First he gives us a primary law with
a statement-one attachment by which
the voice of the people is supposed to
be heard in all elections, and then,
after having exhausted all the political
fads he can think of starts a new
regime, reversing himself by propos
ing a law empowering the Governor of
the state to name County Sheriffs and
District Attorneys which he is also
privileged to remove at will, making
of the Governor an autocrat, a mon
arch of the most pronounced type with
in what Is supposed to be a free gov
ernment. U'Ren's statement-one prlmarylsm
and its antithesis, governorship control
of county and district offices, shows
the two extremes to which a faddist
can go in his bid for ' recognition in
affairs of state. , '
Unhreathable Air In Sleeping Cars.
PORTLAND, Aug. 21. (To the
Editor.) In the crusade for pure air
and against the white plague. It Is curi
ous that nothing has been done to stop
a custom that deliberately throwV con
tamination Into the face of a long-suffering
public. Even the sweeping out
of a house has given place to the dust
collecting machine, so what shall we
say of the custom that holds sway
dally ' in our railway sleeping cars of
brushing oft passengers as they ap
proach the end of their journey? The
dust off one's own clothes may be re
moved, but in -exchange one gets that
of all the other occupants of the car.
and gets it not only in his clothing,
but in his eyes, nose and throat. Is it
expecting too much to hope that this
ridiculous and disgusting custom will
be put a stop to, and that either peo
ple be brushed off on the platform of,
the car, or that there be installed a
system of dust-absorbing machines,
such as are already to be found In the
most up-to-date barber shops? It
might interfere with the tip that the
brush-off is the preliminary to, but is it
not about time to Investigate the tip
evil also? On a recent journey I had
the experience of the air becoming ab
solutely unbreathable.
VICTIM.
Complaint of Inefficient Service.
PORTLAND, Ang. 21.' (To- tho
Editor.) Will you be good enough to
air a complaint which I have against
the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph
Company something that interests
Portland at large?
On Thursday of last week I put in
a long-distance telephone call at Day
ton. Wash., for a party in Portland, for
the purpose of ordering some goods.
A few hours later I was advised that
they had sent a messenger for my
party, but he had not returned, and
that was the last I heard of my call,
and that was five days ago.
The trouble lies in the inadequacy of
the wires. Tho Dayton business is
switched through Walla Walla, and
they get the wire when everybody else
is done with it. It seems to me a tele
phone commission would be a proper
remedy for this fault. The telephone
company is getting the money, and giv
ing nothing for it. I think this will ap
peal to every man who has occasion to
carry on business out of th'e city. The
telephone company does not give one a
chance to use any other method of com
munication once a call is put in, for the
reason that it promises results every
minute or so. GEORGE McCABE.
Praises Portland's Profcres.
PALO ALTO, Cal.. Aug. 19. (To the
Editor.) Mrs. Colby's letter in the Ore
gonian of August 8 has been sent to
me by a Portland friend, not the author.
I am glad to see so plain a statement
about the new club. I have known
Portland a good many years, but I was
greatly surprised to learn that it has
had no suffrage club for years.. Pos
sibly it is worth something to have a
clear field for an aggressive club, and
our club will look for news of the
meeting to be called in the Fall to
perfect the organization.
ALICE L PARK,
President Votes for Women Club.
Sunflower Philosophy.
Atchison Globe.
A man's sins will not find him out as
soon as his wife:
Millions of people still believe that
the saucer was made to drink out of.
It is as dlffcult to select the best au
tomobile as it is to select the best
cantaloupe.
Many a boy passes through life with
out hearing a kind word until some
woman starts out to capture him for a
husband.
Good Word for the Revolver.
Cleveland Leader.
"Don't chide me for carrying a re
volver. This little gun saved my life
once." ,,
'How exciting! Tell me about It.
"I was starving and I pawned it."
Beginning of the Romance.
Kansas City Journal.
"Was your first meeting with, your
wife romantic?"
"Extremely so. It occurred at a pic
nic I was eating a very ripe tomato
and some of it squirted Into her eye."
Church Members in United States OOpgOO
That the church members in the
United States numbered nearly 33,000.
000 in 1906; that there were a billion
and a quarter dollars Invested in
church edifices; that every day eight
new churches sent their spires sky
ward; that males formed considerably
less than half the total church mem
bership; that a larger percentage of.
Catholic males than Protestant males
were members; that In 16 states the
majority of the total church member
ship were Roman Catholic; but that
of the grand total of church members
reported for the United States, 61.6
per cent were Protestants and 36.7
per cent Roman Catholics; these are
the salient and conspicuous facts ap
pearing in tho proofsheets of a United
States Census Bureau bulletin, pre
pared by Chief Statistician William C.
Hunt, of the division of population of
the United S'ates Census Bureau.
The bulletin wljl be Issued this
month. It is In the nature of an ab
stract of the comprehensive report,
now in press, giving the results of the
fifth census of Religious Bodies in the
United States.
It Is stated that United States Cen
sus statistics of church membership
by sex were collected for the first
time in 1906. Of the total number of
members reported by the various re
ligious bodies and classified by sex.
43.1 ner cent were males and 56.9 per
cent females. Among the Protestants
the difference was greater, only 39. S
per, cent being males. In the Roman
Catholic churches there were relative
ly more males, the number forming 49.3
per cent of the total membership.
Fewer males . than females were
found among the Latter-day Saints,
the Lutherans, Disciples, Methodists,
Baptists, Presbyterians and Protestant
Episcopalians, the percentages of male
members decreasing in the order shown
and there being but 35.5 per cent male
among the Episcopalians. Among the
Christian Scientists, only 27.6 per cent
were males, and of the Shakers but
21.3 per cent; but in the Greek Ortho
dox Church 93.9 per cent were male,
as practically all Greek 'Immigrants
have been males.
Of the total estimated population of
continental -United States in 1906, the
church members formed 39.1 per cent, as
against 32.7 per cent for 1890, amounting
SOMETHING DOING IN OREGON.
Music-Lover Complains.
Eugene Register.
If the electric pianos at our nickel
odeons would only change their tunes
once in a while it would be a relief to
the music-loving public.
Wo Safety-Raior Epidemic Here.
Corvallis Gazette-Times.
It is said that three new. barber
shops will be opened here this winter.
Corvallis really needs six more barber
shops about like it needs three more
newspapers.
A Hustling Widow.
Harney County News.
Mrs. M. C. Libby, of Boston, arrived
in Burns Saturday. Mrs. Libby intends
to raise fancy poultry for the market
here. She is an expert stenographer
and typewriter and is an enthusiastic
booster of Harney County.
Never Too Lnte for a Honeymoon.
Corvallis Gazette-Times.
A placard on a trunk at the Union
Station today read as follows:
"This Saratoga belongs to a bride
and groom. Bride dashing. Groom
disfigured but still in the ring."
The great trunk belonged to Mr. and
Mrs. W. A. Wells, octogenarians (more
or less) starting on a trip to Seattle,
St. Paul and Kansas City. Mrs. Wells
is a demure' little woman as quiet as
she Is sweet and lovely, while W. A.,
though past 70 years, is a royal sport.
The National Game In Rabbltville.
Old Man Bennett In the OjStimlst.
Bunco cum home the yother morning
about 2 o'clock with his shirt front
all covered with tobakker spit, and
he told his wife he had been out play
ing poker, as he cood afford to tell
her, hawing won almost two $. which
he handed over to her. Then she sed.
"What forevver is the matter with
your shirt front?" And he told her
he had spitted onto it while playing
poker, and she sed. "Why dident you
turn around to spit?" and he- 6!l-71t
was danjerous to turn around with
them fellers I was playing with,. You
see we have sum experts in the card
line in Rabbitvllle.
Excitement in a Dry Town.
lone Proclaimer.
Over at the Proclaimer house the
other day a large snake ran along the
fence Just where the baby had been a
few moments previous. Well, there
cerlalnly was an exciting time there
for a few minutes. The wife, ran for
Mr King, while Audrey danced around
in the yard. About this time Mrs.
Race happened along and, seeing the
snake, told Audrey to get the hoe for
her and she would kill it. Audrey ran
out in the back yard and picked up
a mopstick, but by this time Mr. King
was there and killed It. We asked
Audrey why she didn't get the hoe,
and she said she thought she was get
ting it, but was Beared too badly to
see good.
Bud Spell in Umatilla.
East Oregonian.
Balow Is the list which proved too
difficult to the majority of the eight
who failed to make an average suf
ficient to entitle them to the papers
which would permit them to teach In
the county. The B0 words counted for
half the examination and they are as
follows:
Inflexible, insensible. Intersperse, In
terstice, intolerant, invincible, invisible,
italicize, laboratory, labyrinth, marl
time, menagerie, mercenary, miscreant,
misdemeanor, mnemonics, mollify,
monetary,' monosyllable, monotony,
necessary, nihilism, nullify, observance,
ominous, optimist, pessimist, ostracize,
pageantry, panacea, paroxysm. Penta
teuch, percussion, phosphorus, piquancy,
plagiarize, Pleiades, pneumatic, polyg
amy, preparation, pretentious, priority,
promontory, proprietor, rapacity, re
curence. redolent, relegate, reparation,
repartee.
Systematic Toping.
Houston Post.
"I suppose you are one of these men
who can drink or let it alone?"
"Yes, judge, when I has de price I
drinks and when I ain't I lets it alone."
Having a Bully Time.
Chicago News.
Mr Fairbanks found the latchstring
out in Japan and the buttermilk jug
brimming.
We Don Believe It.
Omaha Bee.
The best part of the Seattle exposi
tion is the view from the car windows
while passing through Nebraska.
tn Ri r,er cent more In 1906 than In 1 .
Of this 6.4 per cent increase, the Roman
Catholic Church is credited wun . p-i
cent, and the Protestants with 1.8 per
cent; the remainder being divided among
all other denominations.
It is stated in the bulletin that the
total number of members reported by the
various religious bodies for 1906 was 32 -936,445,
of which number the- Protectants
were credited with 20.2S7.742, and the
Roman Catholics with 12.079.142. Of th
Protestant bodies the Methodists num
bered 5.749.83S; the Baptists. 5.62.234 ; the
Lutherans, 2.112,4M; the Presbyterian,
1,830.555. and the Disciples or Christians,
1,142.369.
Of the total of 32.936,445 church mem
bers, 61.6 per cent were Protestants; 36.7
per cent Roman Catholic, and 1.7 per
r,t members of other religious organi
zations. The rate of increase shown for
the Roman Catholic Church is 94. o per
cent,, which Is more than twice that for
all the Protestant bodies combined. Tha
Methodists reported 17.5 per cent of all
Protestant' church members; th& Baptists,
17.2 per cent.
The total number of local religious or
ganizations In 1906 is given as 212.230, an
Increase since 1890 of 47.078, or 28.5 per
cent. The Protestants are credited with
an increase In this particular amounting
to 27.8 per cent; the Roman Catholic
Church, 21.9 per cent; the Jewish congre
gations! 231.9 per cent, and the Latter
Day Saints. 38.3 per cent.
The Methodists reported the largest
number of local organizations, 64,701; the
Baptists reported 54.8S0; the Presbyter
ians, 15,506; the Lutheran, 12,703, and the
Roman Catholics, 12.4S2.
Other Interesting features of the bulle
tin are those showing that the total seat
ing capacity of churches was 53,536,830,
an Increase over the 1890 United States
Census figures of 34-4 per cent; that the
rate of Increase was practically the same
for both Protestants and Roman Cath
olics and kept pace with the increase
in population; and that $1,257,575,867 was
invested in church edifices in 1906. Tho
total amount of debt was J108.050.948, or
8 6 per cent of the total value; of this
total the Prostestant bods owed 53.
301.254 and the Roman Catholics, -19,-488,055.
In 16 states a majority .of the
church members were Roman Catholic;
in 29 states. Prostestant, and In one,
Utah, Latter-Pay Saints.
SHAKESPEARE AND THE BIBLE.
Improvement Could Have Been Mnde In.
the King James Version.
PORTLAND, Aug. 21. (To tho Editor.)
The editorial in last Saturday's Ore
gonian on the genius and excellence of
William Shakespeare is, to my mind, one
of the finest ploces of prose writing
printed in a long time. It is what I
and many other readers of The Ore
gonian have thought, but have not the
power of expressing. I sometimes think
that a person must have a peculiarly con
structed mental faculty to digest, appro
clate and understand the man who -'was
not for an ago, but for all time." It
was said of tho late Mr. Gladstone that
he thought Milton the superior of
Shakespeare. If that is tru his mental
vision must have been distorted, or per
haps the anthem of "Hamlet" hadn't
Latin and Greek enough for the English
Premier.
Comparing Shakespeare with the Bihle
writers. It is hardly fair to the poet, tor
the Bible has had so many advocates for
so many years. So many have .been com
pelled to road it yes. and memorize
much of it that whatever in it is wortli
reading has had all the advantage that
tho church and state combined could
force upon the people, so that an oc
casional strong and beautiful passage,
rendered more so by being translated in
the English of Shakespeare, have become
fixed in the mind, and, being constantly
referred to or quoted, it is part and
parcel of the common language.
Shakespeare, on the other band, has
had ail the disadvantages of the Puritan
ical prejudice from the time of the first
quarto, about 1696, to the present time in
all the English-speaking countries on the
globe. It is a pity that the translators
of tho King James Bible (1611), when
Shakespeare had written most of the
plays, hadn't effected soma kind of ar
rangement with Burbabe, Hemingo &
Condell to hav incorporated those fine
passages we love so much to repeat and
think on in their version. It would. I
think, have improved the sacred Book,
wonderfully.
Again, the Biblo is the labor of many i
writers perhaps 30 or 40 while all. or
nearly so, of tho other is tho work of
one man. The 300 or more characters of
Shakespeare are creations; tho Bihlo
characters are the reflections or opinions
of the scribes. If there is no other rea
son for dismissing the Baconiun theory
of authorship, you have furnished
enough when you say that if one does
not understand Shakespeare it is becauso
ho is not broad and liberal enough. Ba
con was narrow; all sycophants are. Ba
con was so much so that the thick
skinned Elizabeth couldn't endure him.
Ho could not understand Shakespeare. It
seems that Hemlnge & Condell. the pub
lishers of the first folio, were fearful that
Shakespeare would not be understood
and appreciated as he should In hia own
age. but the Ben Johnsons. Miltni.s.
Davenants. Drydens. Popes, and their
kind, made amends for tho prevailing
Ignorance. "He seems to shake a lar.ee.
as brandished at the eyes of ignorance."
Heminge & Condell say: "Read him.
therefore, again and again and if you do
not like him, sure, you stand in some
danger not to understand him."
J. D. STEVENS.
Bathing the Currency.
Providence Journal.
Good luck to the Treasury authori
ties, who now propose to keep our pa- -per
currency clean or, at least, cleaner
than it has been. This currency is no
toriously inimical to the public health,
containing in some instances billions of
germs from the hands and pockets of
careless users; and If by means of a
chemical bath it can, as is said, be ren
dered fresh and innocuous, the sooner'
such a bath is established the better.
Would it not be possible, indeed, for
bills to be washed, according to Gov
ernmont formula, by local banks? This
would obviate the necessity of sending
them to Washington and save a large
amount of time and trouble. The bath
employed in the Washington experi
ments cleans the bills, hut does not re
store their crlspness, but even this pris
tine quality might be recovered by
some additional process. Why not lion
them?
Yea, and lllcht Mow.
New York Times.
Let us encourage the aviators all we
can. Let us glorify their triumphs as
navigators of the air. They are the
forerunners of a new era of great hu
man achievement. But. O brothers of
newspaperdom. let us drop likening
them to Darius Green and Icarus:
Sfo Escape for Hint.
Providence Journal.
Diamonds and cabbages arc both ad
vancing rapidly in price. Thus the ulti
mate consumer, from the highest to the
humblest, is pinched.