Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1909)
TIIE MORNIXG OREGOXIAX, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1909. 13 B( B?$omnn PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Orecon. Postofflce as . Second-Class Matter. Subscription Bates Inrariably In Adraaea. (Br Mail.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year 18.00 Daily. Sunday included, six months.... 4-23 Dally. Sunday Included, three months. .. 2.-5 Daily. Sunday Included, one month..... .75 Iiaiiy. without Sunday, one year....... 6.00 l'ally. without Sunday, six months...... IJally. without Sunday three months.... l-"3 iuilv. without Sunday, out month. ..... -oO 'kly, one yaar .. 1.50 Sunday, one year ........... 2-50 Sunday and weeklv. one year 8-50 (By earner.) Dnlly. Sunday Included, one year 00 Liailv. Sunday Included, one month..... 75 How to Remit Send poatoffice money ordr. express order or personal check on vour local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffice sd-dr-iis in full. Including- county and state Postage Kates 10 to 14 paces. 1 cent: 14 to 1:8 pages. 2 cents; 30 to 40 pages. 8 cents; 45 to do paces. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Business Offlre Tho 8. C Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 4H 50 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-512 Tnbur.e building. PORTLAND. FRIDAY VOX. It. 180. JiOMINArlONS IX THE PRIMARIES. A plan offered in a communication on this page for elimination of some of the principal objections urged against the primary law is worth at tention and study. It is universally admitted that the law. In Its present form. Is crude and defective. It was among the first essays in legislation of this kind: and all its various conse quences, developed through experience since, could not then be foreseen. The letter is an intelligent statement of some of the principal objections, and an attempt to offer a remedy for them. The principle of the direct primary, under strict regulation of law, will surely be maintained, since the pur pose is to give the body of the voters of each party, or of any considerable group, opportunity to make nomina tions for office, and to protect the op eration or process against abuses and frauds. We think the plan suggested by this letter would be a real improve ment. In that it would provide a way whereby plurality candidates of a party might receive through the can vass of votes and transfers of ballots on a closely prescribed system from the lower to the higher candidates, the sanction of majority nominations. How satisfactory it might be could be determined .only after trial. The plan is ingenious, and it obviates one ob jection made to the Washington law, which Invites candidates virtually to make it their chief effort and object to obtain second-choice votes; and it might have a tendency to bring a class of men more capable, efficient and worthy into candidacy for important positions. But how to meet the fundamental objection, most serious of all, the writ er does not attempt to explain. In deed, our knowledge rrom experience so far offers no remedy. This evil is the intrusion of one party Into the af fairs of another, for the purpose of controlling that other party's nomina tions. The basis of it is false state ment, deliberately made, at the time jf registration. Thus men of one party are able to stuff the ballot lists of the other. The purpose always Is political or partisan mischief. Without regard to the bearing of consequences on the general welfare of the state. In short. It is dishonorable citizenship. But what is the remedy? It Is the main defect of the direct primary system, as it stands now. THB MISSING LIVK. It was natural to expect that the new And of fossils in the river clays of Northwestern Texas would be pa raded as "missing links." The phrase has not lost quite all of Its old hereti cal and damnatory signification, and It adds, therefore, a distinct flavor of interest to a news item; but as a mat ter of fact almost any newly discovered fossil Is likely enough to be a missing link. In the series of animal remains which hove been preserved for us in the rocks, the gaps are innumerable. Geologists have managed to fill many of them by conjectures more or less speculative, but they habitually re joice to discover a fossil which fits in. A true scientist always prefers a fact to a theory, however plausible the lat ter may be. The importance of the find in Texas does not He In the fact that the fossils are huge. A little skeleton is as valuable as a big one to the investigator. These new remains seem to be of special Interest because they fit into the rather wide space which has heretofore separated the mammals from the reptiles. The succession of life forms on the earth has not been nearly so neatly regular as many people suppose. The geological ages cannot be chopped off into periods when all former animal species disappeared and new ones evolved. The species overlap one an other In a perplexing way. Usually geologists can make a shrewd estimate of the date when a new genus began to exist, but this never coincides with the annihilation of any other race. Throughout all time, just as they do today, many varieties of living beings have dwelt side by side upon the earth In more or less harmony and mutual love. But In succeeding periods one race of animals after another has been predominant. The conditions of soil, moisture and heat were In constant change, and they became particularly favorable first to one type of life, then to another. Consequently, we see the molluscs succeeded as a dominant type by the fishes, though even In the Devo nian age. when fishes and insects made their entrance into life, there were quite as many molluscs as there ever had been. Then came an Kgyptlan plague of toads and frogs In the car boniferous age, followed by the rep tiles, and finally by our own family, the mammals. The changes from one geological age to another were often made by up heavals of land or subsidences which drew great areas under water. Hence the last representatives of some spe cies were buried so deep that we never have been able to dig them up, or else they were uncovered by the weather nd vanished In the process of decay. It follows that in mapping out the de velopment of life we stumble every now and then upon a gap. Scientific men are convinced that evolution has been fairly continuous. It Is not de nied that pretty wide leaps, or muta tions, may have occurred, but they were not frequent. The rule has been a gradual flux of one species Into an other by variations almost Impercepti bly minute. This is the inference which geologists are constrained to draw from the facts as a whole, but he "missing links" impair Its validity somewhat, and for that reason there la always Joy In scientific circles when one of them is discovered. It cements I the evidence which the great hypothe sis of evolution by natural selection is j founded upon. In general, the trend of life from the beginning has been up ward. Geological history offers no warrant for the belief that life was originally created perfect in a blissful Eden.. On the contrary, it Is more perfect than It ever was before, and ' Is likely to continue improving for a long time to come. There never was i any "fall of man," but there has been a continuous rise from low beginnings. The "missing link" which has been most sought after by savants Is that which would fill the break between man and the apes. No person of re spectable standing In the world of sci ence doubts that human beings and the apes had a common ancestor, but the evidence for it would be more Im pressive to some Individuals if every step in our descent could be shown In fossil remains. Not that there is any very wide physical gap even now. The lowest human remains from the early stone age approximate closely to the higher ages. The brain pan is small. The Jaws protrude. The forehead is narrow and sunken. Still the mental difference, after minimizing it all we can, must have been great. These lowest types of men made tools and used them, a thing no mere animals have ever done. The evolution of in telligence, that most marvelous tri umph of the will to live, must have begun ages before the date of the ear liest chipped flints that have ever been found. When did It begin and where? The genuine missing link. If some lucky scientist should dig it up, will tell us. EXC&E'S COMET. An intelligent Chinaman who evi dently takes an interest in astronomy writes to inquire of The Oregonian about a comet which was visible In China in the seventh or eighth year of the reign of the Emperor Kwang Su. He says it disturbed the serenity of bis countrymen a good deal. They predicted all sorts of dire conse quences from Its pestiferous Influence, "but. fortunately," he adds, "their forebodings never came to pass." Such forebodings never do come to pass. Comets may be terrible things to look at, but they are mere bluster ers. They are the most peaceable and harmless bodies in the sky, when it comes to a showdown. As to the comet our correspond ent inquires about, we can prob ably discover Its name by a lit tle reflection. Kwang Su assumed the government of China in 1889, the year of his marriage. Hence the seventh year of his reign would bring us to 1896, which is just a little too late for Encke's comet. It ap peared at the beginning of 1895. We may, therefore, assume that our friend's memory is a little at fault, and that he Is really thinking of 'the sixth, not the seventh, year of Kwang Su's reign, and that the comet he saw was Encke's. This was discovered in 1818, and has a period of about three years and a third. It returns three times In a little less than ten years. It was not visible to the whole northern hemi sphere, but, according to this gentle man's account, it must have been con spicuous In China. The first time the comet returned after Encke calculated Its orbit. It was not visible at all in Europe, but was observed in Australia. GREEN CAPS. Among the laws enacted by the ad vanced students at the State University which freshmen must obey is one that prescribes green caps for their head gear. A freshman may prefer a hat to a cap, but that makes no difference. He may like a purple cap better than a green one, but law Is law, and If he dares to rebel against the mandate of his superiors he is to be "ostra cised." It Is said that the young women at the university are particularly active in this petty persecution of new students. If the charge is true. It supplies an argument against co-education. The remark has been made by some ob servers that In co-educatlonal colleges the women imitate the worst traits of the worst men they associate with. They become the most abject slaves to cruel traditions and monkish fetiches to be found In the student body. How true this may be we do not know, but If It Is not wholly false then one would bo compelled to believe that there are more wholesome places for women than co-educatlonal colleges. Girls are not cruel by nature, and surely the best education Is not one that makes them cruel. What Is there in the atmosphere at Eugene which "makes it impossible for the students who have been there a year or two to mind their own busi ness? What a freshman wears on his head is his own concern and nobody else's, so long as it is not Indecent. There is no rule of the faculty or re gents prescribing a green cap. There is no reason in the nature of things why a green cap Is preferable to a black derby hat. If a freshman de sires to crown his poll with a shiny stovepipe, it is his right to do so, and If he has the true American love of personal liberty, he will assert the right. In the land of Washington no man can begin too young to defend his Individuality against impudent inva sion. BAIXrXGER OR FIN (HOT? If the superintendent of a great railway system, enjoying the fullest confidence of the manager and direc tors, were to be continually pestered and misrepresented In the public prints by his subordinates, the services of the latter would soon be dispensed with. The good of the service, if nothing else, would demand that these subordi nates be rebuked for interfering with matters for which the superintendent, and not they, would be held responsi ble. A situation similar to this now exists in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Ballinger is the ad ministrative head of that department, and was selected In preference to Mr. Glavis or Mr. Pinchot, because it was believed that he was well qualified for the position. The unqualified vindica tion given him by President Taft, when the Pinchot attacks began, would indi cate that his services are appreciated by the President. From the beginning of his term as Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Baflinger has been hampered and misrepresented by Mr. Pinchot's friends. Pinchot is a theorist and a faddist, and, being a man of great wealth, which he inher ited, is naturally out of sympathy with the great West, where men are in the strictest sense the architects of their own fortunes. Pinchot and his aristo cratic followers In the East regard the great, unexplored . and undeveloped West in much the same light as the feudal barons of old regarded the lands of their Old World provinces. In their view, exploitation and develop ment must cease for fear of marring the natural wildness of the country. The poor man who happens to have a water power on his land must not sell It, for fear some man with a "swollen fortune" would harness the power and make It work. Ballinger, being a man of the West and for the West, naturally cannot re gard these matters ffom the same standpoint as Pinchot. He did not be lieve in the policy of keeping vast areas of public land from the people who wished to develop It and make it productive. Yet nothing in his offl cial career has shown that the Inter ests of the people have suffered by his policy. Mr. Pinchot was desirous that the Government should retain certain water rights along the, Owyhee River. Under the free hand given him by Roosevelt, he withdrew from settle ment vast tracts of land on both sides of the river. Mr. Ballinger recognized the neces sity for conserving the water rights of the Owyhee, but he protected the in teres ts of the Government and the people fully as effectually as they were protected by Pinchot, and at the same time cut down the Pinchot withdraw als to such an extent that hundreds of square miles of fine land were made available for settlement. The West needs capital and development more than it needs increased areas in its for est reserves or natural unhampered wildness in its water powers. There fore it needs Ballinger more than it needs Pinchot. DECREASING WHEAT EXPORTS. The Bureau of Statistics of the De partment of Commerce and Labor has prepared a very interesting statement Intended to explain the steady decline in the amount of American wheat marketed abroad. Although the 1909 crop is generally estimated as being more than 60,000,000 bushels greater than the preceding year's, the exports tflour included) for the nine months ending with September were 54,000,000 bushels less than for the same period last year. This decrease, as shown by the Government figures, is due more to Increased consumption at home than to any decrease in production. For the five years ending with June, 1899, the exportations (flour included) reached a total of 171,000,000 bushels, while the average crop yield for that five-year period was 512,000,000 bush els. The five-year period ejndlng with 1904 witnessed annual exportations of 192,000,000, the highest of any similar period In our history; but the yield for the five years averaged but 625,000,000 bushels. Since 1904 the decline has been rapid, the annual exports averag ing but 113,000,000 bushels, while the yield has increased to an average of 656,000,000 bushels, and this year is believed to be in excess of 700,000,000 bushels. So striking a change, and one which seems certain soon to place the United States outside the ranks of ex porting countries, would seem almost unbelievable were It not so accurately reflected in the local situation. Less than twenty years ago California pro duced an exportable wheat surplus of more than 40,000,000 bushels, or about one-fourth of the total amount export ed from the United States. So rapid has been the change in the situation that today California, Instead of being an exporter, is obliged to import annu ally from Oregon and Washington about 8,000,000 bushels of wheat for home consumption, and, despite a yield in the Pacific Northwest in excess of the total yield of the entire Pacific Coast region twenty years ago, the ex portable surplus is steadily decreasing under the increasing drain for home consumption. The Government figures show a large Increase in the per capita con sumption, but, as accuracy on this point is dependent to a considerable extent on the Government's crop fig ures, there Is more room for errors than is possible in the export figures. One, thing seems a certainty, and that is, the United States has reached its maximum of prestige as a wheat ex porting country, and from this time forward must give way to Canada, the Argentine and Russia, and a little later possibly to Manchuria. AN l"'IEVHI.OrRT) FOOD MINE. If we are to believe magazine writ era and railroad promoters and build ers, the wonderland of the North American continent lies in the Domin ion of Canada north of the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In Its vast extent, in the abundance of Its na tive resources and in its possible con tribution to the agricultural wealth of the world, the vast region skirt ing Hudson's Bay and stretching northward even to the Arctic circle and westward to Prince Rupert sur passes in its hidden wealth the most extravagant dreams of avarice. Upon Its millions of arable acres the sturdy yeomanry of Northern Europe will find in a few years home and plenty, and in tapping its mineral stores men will find a fulfillment of the wildest dreams of fortune. Cobalt, Ontario, the New Eldorado of this region, is some 850 miles from New York, and less than half that dis tance due north of Toronto. It was discovered, as stated by a writer in Harper's Weekly, by the "engineer's level" In 1902. The tremendous value of the "find" Is attested in the fact that in 1908 the cobalt mines pro duced nearly one-tenth of the entire silver output of the world, which is of ficially stated at 200,000,000 ounces; this year they will produce one-seventh. This is the story on the mineral side of the great middle empire of Canada, the exploitation of which was begun in the opening years of the twentieth century. Not less wonderful more wonderful indeed is the agricultural opportunities that have not yet ad vanced beyond the stage of discovery and promise, the development of which awaits the completion of the "All-Canadian Railroad," which has been in process of construction, in cluding the surveys, for five or six years. This line, when completed, will be 3600 miles long. It will constitute the "newest, remotest, shortest route across the . Western Hemisphere be tween Liverpool and Yokohama." The region traversed is simply Im mense, and at the present time It is mostly unpeopled. The new line leaves the settled sections of Canada In the provinces of Quebec and On tario to the south, invades the si lence of the great Hudson's Bay sec tion, runs westward through' the "rough country." with its mineral wealth: still westward through the northern clay belt, veering now to the north," now to the south, but always westward. It taps a great agricul tural basin of 16,000,000 acres, "to have found which is more than the equivalent of conquering and annex ing one of the small nations." "Ja pan," says a writer on this theme In Everybody's Magazine, "is overjoyed to have secured access for its colo nists to Corea, which is already thickly populated. Here is a tillable area a third as large as all Corea, and absolutely uninhabited." Here indeed is the "land of tomor row." Here is a food mine. of unde veloped wealth, the extent and pro ductiveness of which even in per spective are sufficient to dispel the ; gloomy forebodings of Malthus. To Insure the working of this vast mine this All-Canadian Railway . starts boldly out from Moncton, New Bruns wick, at the head of the Bay of Fundy, and makes its way westward and northward to Prince Rupert, on the North Pacific Coast. The feat is so stupendous as to baffle computa tion; so big In its resultant possibili ties as to stagger imagination; so bold in its conception as to put everything but engineering skill and human de termination to rout. From Boston comes news of a gigan tic railroad merger by which the Bos ton & Maine, the New York, New Ha ven & Hartford, the Pennsylvania and Santa Fe systems are to be amalga mated under one head. While the mileage of this vast combination falls somewhat short of that which was op erated under the Harriman manage ment, the roads concerned are nearly all old companies operating In terri tory where the traffic is much greater than on the Harriman lines.' ' An inter esting feature of the story is the state ment that the new merger will be in charge of C. S. Mellen, formerly presi dent of the Northern Pacific, and at present chief executive for the New York, New Haven & Hartford. Mr. Mellen's Western Ideas have brought big returns to the stockholders of the New England road, and he has demon strated that he is well fitted to handle the largest railroad proposition that can be got together. Incidentally it might be stated that his chief lieuten ant, Ben Campbell, a former Portland man, has more than "made good" in the East, and will naturally accompany his chief to the wider field proposed by the merger. , News dispatcjhes from Denver say that a clique of racetrack gamblers cleaned up about 50,000 on one of the Latonia races. Some of the local bookmakers at Denver are refusing to pay up, on the ground that the big winning was due to a skillful job of wiretapping, by which the odds, then 7 to 10, were raised to as high as 40 to 1. Whoever loses and whoever wins in this matter, the general public will feel the same languid interest that it would show in a contest between a "big-mitt" man and a "gold brick" seller. It is somewhat interesting to note, however, the frank astonishment of the Denver bookmakers at the spec tacle of a man making a big winning against their game by any straight gamble on one horse being faster than another. The race was fixed, the wire was tapped, or there was crooked work somewhere; otherwise the book ies would not have been hurt. That is not what they are in the game for. Washington has a law forbidding the smoking of cigarettes and penalizing the possession by any person even of the "makln's." Now comes the North Yakima Sheriff, who honestly tried to enforce the law, and announces that he will make no more arrests. The law Is absurd, and is universally dis regarded, and is therefore a dead let ter. Oregon has no monopoly of silly legislation. Friends of Governor Benson think he should be relieved of the stress and agony of pardons by a pardoning board. But what Is a man Governor for if not to face the troubles and re sponsibilities of the position? For a sturdy-spirited man the duties of the Executive need not he made easier. There are some assemblies that se lect and name candidates for primary nominations, and think no other as sembly can do so without violating the law and endangering the liberties of the people. However, this way of look ing at the matter is hardly consistent or rational. An officer has gone to Denver to bring Gus Lowit to Portland. What for? He says the failure of the Golden Eagle department store was due to the fail ure of the Oregon Trust & Savings Bank to supply him with more money. How could he have been to blame? A Kentucky girl has married a no bleman in consequence of love at first sight. As evidence of a love match it is offered that the girl did not have much money. This is conclusive, of course, of her lack of big fortune, but not of his possession of a title. ' - Puter, McHinley and others who were "let out" a while ago, now say they have no regret that Heney has been "let out," too. "One touch of nature," etc. Human sympathy mustn't be eliminated, or the world wouldn't be worth living in. The Rev. Mr. Larden says prayers won for him the $1000 reward for cap ture of young Meyers. But there were doubtless others who prayed Just as fervently yet who have not received their reward. President Taft left Washington City August 2 and got back November 10. Long time, yet about three-fourths of the country complains that It did not get a chance to entertain him. One factor that contributes to the apparent necessity for summary justice is that there is always reaay a lawyer to interpose technicalities for the glory of saving his client. Mr. "Rockefeller went to see Jim Jeffries and reports that he is a "great man, a fine man." Money talks, but In this case it doesn't cost anybody any thing. If it be a fact, as reported, that Mr. Harriman bought his stock exchange seat with his bride's dowry, the wife realized handsomely on the investment. Margaret Illington, the actress, at last has secured her divorce and is at liberty to darn anybody's stockings. The observation car to Cottage Grove was too rich for Valley blood and has been taken off. Mrs. Eddv's son has received the monev the actual coin, not merely a financial suggestion. NOMINATIONS IN THE PRIMARIES. Outline of a Plan to Seeore Nominations by Majorities. PORTLAND. Nov. 11. (To the Edl tor.i) Since the Oregon direct primary law was adopted, a very simple and successful improvement has been made elsewhere by which the successful can didate is always chosen by an absolute majority of the electors voting instead of a mere plurality. The new plan is effective at any election when there are more than two candidates for a posi tion to which only one person is to be chosen. By an absolute majority is meant more than one-half of all the electors voting. This improvement removes the three principal objections justly made by The Oregonian and many others against the operation of the Oregon laws, both for nomination and election. These three defects are: First, that the successful candidate is usually the choice of less than one half, and often less than one-thind of the electors voting. Second, that many H the most desir able citizens will not declare them selves as candidates. Third, that in many cases the most capable and efficient man who does de clare himself as a candidate Is not nominated or elected, as the case may be. . . By the improved plan - the voter marks the names of the candidates on the ballot in the order of his preference with the figures 1, 2, 3 and so on. In counting, all the ballots on which a candidate is marked first choice are placed together under his name. If no candidate is first choice on more than one-half of all the ballots cast, the person having' the smallest number of first choice votes is declared defeated, and the ballots on which he is marked first choice are transferred to the re maining candidates according as their names ane marked next in the order of their preference on the ballots. This process of cutting out the lowest can didate and carrying his ballots to his supporters' next choice Is continued up ward until one candidate is the choice on more than one-half of all the bal lots. The successful candidate is always one of the two or three who are the first choice of the largest number, of voters, so that no man dares to make his campaign principally for the sec ond choice votes, as unden the Wash ington state plan, lest he be eliminated on the 'count for the first choice votes. A few ballots may be Ineffective on the final count because the voters failed to mark their second, third, or addi tional preference among the candi dates. ' ' Suppose there are four candidates for Governor: Brown to drat choice o -i. .46.530 ballots Jones Is first choice on...... 39.810 ballots Smith is first choice on 15.270 ballot Wilkinson la UraC choice on 6.850 ballots An absolute majority is 54,231. As no candidate has a majonity of the fh-st choice votes, Wilkinson's bal lots are distributed to the other can didates in accordance with the voters' second preferences indicated on Wil kinson's ballots, as follows: To Brown, froir. "Wilkinson's first choice ballots 420 To Jones, from Wilkinson's first choice ballots i 4290 On 2140 of Wilkinson's ballots no sec ond choice was marked. The result of these transfers is: Brown, first choice ballots and second choice transfers from Wilkinson 46,950 Jones, first choice ballots and second choice transfers from Wilkinson 44.100 Smith, first choice ballots, no second choice transfers from Wilkinson 15,270 The absolute1 majority thus becomes 63,161. As no candidate has a majority, the ballots given for Smith are transferred in accordance with the voters' second or additional preferences, indicated on the ballot, as follows. To Brown, second choioa on Gznith's bal lots 13,100 To Janes, second choice on 8mith's bal lots 280 To Jones, from Smith's ballots on which Jones was marked third choice but which Smith received on the distri bution of Wilkinson's ballots be cause Smith was marked second choice 1.890 The result of tbese transfers Is: Brows. 60,060 Jones .46.270 Total ..106,320 Brown is therefore nominated by 13,780 clear majority of all the ballots on the last count, and it is done at one elec tion. Candidates would be put forth by pe tition by their friends or by conven tions or assemblies. Because the suc cessful candidate must always be the choice of more than half of all the electors voting, there is no possibility of boss rule or machine control under this improved plan. The principal change to ' adapt the law to the conditions in Oregon would be voting on two separate ballots. On one ballot would be the county and local candidates, with measures re ferred to the people, and these ballots would contain the names of candidates for state and district, offices for dis tricts of two or "more counties, and these would be counted at Salem. The above plan and illustrations are adapted from a bill introduced in the British House of Commons by Mr. John Robertson in July, 1906. It was adopted In Australia in the province of Tasmania and worked successfully at their general election last April. The adoption of the plan In Oregon would not be so radical a change as was our adaptation of the Australian ballot law to our conditions. If there is any real and general de mand among the Republican leaders and members of the Legislature for true majority nominations and elec tions, this plan can be easily adapted to Oregon conditions and made oper ative for the general election next yean. CITIZEN. Bor With nn Almanac Memory. London Dispatch. An Imbecile boy of 10 years with a most marvelous "almanac" memory has just been introduced in the Viennese Psychological Society. Armed with cal endars of various years and kinds, the scientists plied the boy with questions on dates covering, all the centuries from the 10th to the 20th. Without a mo ment's pause and always correctly the boy answered such questions as: When Is Easter Sunday in 1917? What day of the week did June 14, 1808, fall on? When Is Ascension day, 1923? How long is the carnival season in 1924? Carpets Being Made of Paper. London Globe. In Halmstad, Sweden, Pontas Holm strom is about to start a spinning mill for making yarn out of paper. Such' mills already exist In Germany and France. So far the manufacture of rugs and carpets seems to be the best practical use of this new paper yarn. It is said that people in Swe den, especially in the provinces of Ostergotland, are already making car pets with paper, weft. Narrow rolls ot paper tape are used, but this, of course, is not spun. Growth of News Paper Production. Kansas City Star. i The growth of the news paper produc tion shows an increase of 570 per cent for this year as compared with the output in 1S90. In that year the daily production of all the paper mills was 630 tons. It has been estimated that the average daily output for 1909 will be 4225 tons. One Notable Exception. Richmond Times-Dispatch. "We are a funny people," says the President. We are: all except Chancel lor Day. THE ASSEMBLY PLAN. Method of Selection of Delegates to Carry It Into Execution. CARLTON. Or.', Nov. 10. (To the Edi tor.) As the assembly plan is being dis cussed at considerable length of late by tlie various newspapers throughout the state, I thought that a few remarks upon the subject from one of the rank and file of the party' might not be inappro priate at this time. As arguments favoring an 'assembly have been so ably presented from time to time, there remains little more to be said upon that part of the subject. But as I have only in a few instances noticed any reference to the plan of selecting the delegates, it is upon this phase of the subject I am constrained to venture a few suggestions. In this connection, while I favor the assembly plan, yet I do not deem it good policy that the delegates to either the county or state assemblies be selected by the county central committees, as has been recommended In some instances for the reason, first, that it would be placing entirely too much power at the disposal of a few In each county, thereby en abling them practically to control the politics of their respective counties, and the state as well. In fact, they would be the "whole thing." To illustrate: -When they would meet at their respective coun ty seats for the selection - of delegates, there would probably be, in most cases, approximately, about as many delegates to be chosen as there are commiteerrren. Hence, each individual precinct commit teeman would, through courtesy, be per mitted to name one delegate to the State Assembly, and all the delegates from bis precinct to the county assembly. It would also be natural to suppose they would choose people in harmony with their own views, as to both candidates and policy to be pursued. Second: As county central committee men are elected at the general election two years before they would be called upon to meet and select delegates, entirely too much time would thus be afforded them, and especially the scheming ones, to form cliques and combinations. Be sides, all this time they would be a prey to designing and unscrupulous politicians from the outside, to say nothing of that class of Individuals within their own ranks. It can thus readily be seen what a grand opportunity would be afforded for the introduction and development of bosslsm. In the course of a few years conditions would probably be as bad. if not worse, than those complained of un der the old regime. In order, therefore, to prevent such a condition, let the Republican voters of the various precincts, first, meet and elect delegates to their respective county assemblies, .and said assemblies, in turn, elect delegates to the state assembly; and also suggest candidates for the various county offices. Only have the assem blies, both county and state, repre sented by a much larger proportion of delegates- than formerly. The number should not be too large, however, so as to be unwieldy. The state assembly should consist of, say, from 600 to 700 to 1000 delegates, and the counties in pro portion. Thus, that number of represent ative men, coming together publicly and suggesting candidates for the various state offices, would certainly be far more satisfactory and representative of the people than the m3de of procedure under the present system, where a little cote rie of three or four, or half dozen, can meet privately and suggest a candidate, start a petition and get him on the ticket; or, still worse, when one man alone can suggest htmself, and by the same proceedings can also get on the ticket. YAMHILL REPUBLICAN.- PLANS FOR A "CITY BEAUTIFUL." Usually They Are Made, and Then Nothing Doing. PORTLAND, Or.. Nov. 11. (To the Edi tor.) Much good may, and should, result from the proposed employment of an expert to prepare plans for beautifying and improving Portland. If nothing more, it may serve to promote esthetic ideas in connection with civic improvements. It would certainly be lamentable if the work of a landscape architect in Portland would prove of as little value as it has in some other Western cities. A short time before the San Francisco earthquake and fire, elaborate plans for remodeling that city were prepared at great expense. One of the leading fea tures of these plans was a civic center, where all public buildings should be grouped at a central point. As if to aid in making this plan a possi bility, the municipal buildings were de stroyed in the great catastrophe of 1906, but the people of the city refused to re build them in accordance with the sug gestions made, by Burnham, who had pre pared the plans for the civic center. The entire city has been built along the old lines, and the City Hall, Courthouse, Hall of Justice and libraries will be as widely scattered "as they were previously. Los Angeles was another city to go to the expense and trouble of having plans prepared for "a city beautiful," but, al though that was three years ago, noth ing of Importance has been done toward carrying out these plans. Honolulu, far out on the Pacific, was also stirred with the desire for a more beautiful city, and sent to New York for. a "city beautiful." That was four years ago, and. as far as can be learned, not a thing has been done toward carry ing out these plans prepared at great ex pense. C. X. JOSSELYN. Again the Race to the Swift. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. The writer of a news story in the New York Evening Post offers the sale at a recent auction of a hansom cab and har ness for 317. the original cost of the ve hicle having been 32000, as evidence of the extent to which the taxicab has rout ed the old order of things on the streets of the big city. The hansom te rapidly leaving New York, as it has practically disappeared in London. The hansom is of no value for private use, and its day as a public vehicle Is about over. Motor vehicles are largely superseding hacks as public vehicles, and once again the race is to tho swift. England's Best-Dressed . Debutante. London Dispatch. Lady "Vlnifred Gore, half sister of the Earl of Arran, 18 years old, enjoys the distinction of being one of the best dressed as well as one of the handsomest debutantes In London so ciety of the year. She lives with her mother, the Dowager Countess of Ar ran, at Queen Anne's Mead, near Windsor. Italian King as an Author. New York Press. King Victor Emmanuel will publish a book shortly on the history of numis matics. It is written by himself. The King has been a coin collector for years and has already written, a treatise on the subject, which was issued for pri vate circulation among his friends. Pearl Worth 3000 Found In River. Des Moines, Iowa. Dispatch. James Gray, of Washington, D. C-, has sold, at Terre Haute, Ind., for 33000 a pearl which he found in a White River mussel. The pearl weighed 34 grains, and was the finest, as far as is known, ever found in Indiana. Gray found two slugs a year ago which he sold for 3250. This Explains It. Augusta Herald. It i6 not strange that Minnesota is classed as the best governed State. More editors are elected to office in that State than in any other. The Human Cyclone. Los Angeles Times. When La Follette is not talking in the Senate he is talking on the lecture plat form. He is a continuous and ceaseless wind. Life's SunnySide Among Mr. Carnegie's innumerable Scotch stories is one about a caddie of Su Andrews. This caddie's wife so Mr. Carnegie's story runs was much troubled by her hus band's loose way of life. He could never have a good day on the links but he must end It with a wet night at the tavern. So, to cure him, the woman lay in wait on the road one evening, dressed in a white sheet. When her husband appeared she rose from behind a hedge, an awful white fig ure, with outspread arms. "Who the d'll are you?" asked the In temperate caddie. "I'm Auld Nickie,' said the figure, in a hollow voice. "Gie's a shake o' yer hand, then," said the tipsy caddie. "I'm married tae a sis ter o' yours. She'll be waitin' for us up at the hoose, an' nae doot she'll mak' ye welcome." St. Louis Globe Democrat. The minister was spending the after noon at the home of one of his members. The father told his little son to bring some apples from the cellar. The child obeyed, and In the kitchen found an espe cially large red one which had been brought up the day before, so placed it on the dish with the others. When they wero passed this was the apple the minister took, end feeling it so warm, remarked to his host that the cellar must be very warm. "Did you not bring these apples from the cellar, Ned7" "Yes, fatter, all but the one pastor has; it was in the kitchen.' "Why did you not tell me?" asked the pastor. "Well," with childish frankness, "I didn't think you would take the biggest one on the dish!" Delineator. In ante-bellum days Colonel Moore, of Kentucky, owned a large number of slaves. He was a kind master, and never punished with the whip. One day one of the field hands named Jupe was guilty of some negligence and was sent to the woods at once to cut down and split up a black gum tree, practically an Impossible task. Jupe cut down the tree and labored hard to split the tough wood, but in valn In the meantime a thunder storm came up and Jupe sought refuge under a brush heap. Directly the lightning struck a large poplar near by, splitting it Into kindling wood. After the storm had passed Jupe crawled out from his place of security and after taking a careful look at the remains of the poplar tree, which were scattered all over the woods, said: "Mr. Lightin', I wish you had Just tried yo" nan' on dis black gum. Any blame fool can split a poplar!" Cleveland Leader. The young Nova Scotia girl confided to her mistress, after a few days, some of the trials of her journey from her old home. " 'Twas an awful time I had on the boat, ma'am," she said dolefully. " "Twas that made me so pale-looking when first you saw me." "You were very seasick, I suppose?" said the lady. "Oh, no, ma'am, I was not seasick at all," said the pretty Lida; "but I lost my sleep. I read the card about how to put on the life-preserver, and I thought I understood it; but most likely I got some thing wrong, for when once I got it on me I couldn't find an easy way to lie down, 'twas so clumsy. And I never slept a wink all night, ma'am!" Youth's Com panion. a An Atlanta merchant has frequent oc casion to rebuke Ike, his darky porter, for his tardiness In reporting for duty In the morning. Ike Is always ready with a more or less ingenious excuse. "You're two hours late, Ike!" ex claimed the employer one morning. "This sort of thing must stop! Otherwise I'm going to Are you. Understand?" "Deed, Mistah Edward," replied Ike, "it wa'n't mah fault dis time! Hones'! I was kicked by a mule!" "Kicked by a mule? Well, even if that were so, it wouldn't delay you for more than an hour. You'll have to think of a better excuse than that." Ike looked aggrieved. "Mistah Ed ward," he continued, solemnly, "it might have been all right ef dat mule kicked me in dis direction; but he didn't he kicked me de odder way." Atlanta Jour nal. 1 The generally accepted belief that a person Is useful In proportion as he is busy is controverted by a writer who says: "I have a dog that's loaded up with fleas. In the Summer time, when the fleas are plenty, that is the busiest dog I ever saw; when he isn't biting at the fleas he's snapping at the flies. He never has a minute to spare, but when he is the busiest he is the least account for prac tical purposes. And there is a young fellow in my neighborhood who had a cheap watch and he smokes cigarettes. When he isn't winding his watch he is lighting a cigarette. He is a mighty busy young man, but he isn't worth two hoops in a water barrel." Rule (Tex.) Review. Two Necessities Higher. Kansas City Star. Your Thanksgiving turkey this year will cost more than ever before. And the same may be said of your Christmas stocking. IN THE MAGAZINE SECTION OF THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN HALLEY'S COMET SOON VISIBLE TO NAKED EYE First of a series of illustrated popular articles on the celestial prodigy which has returned to our sky after an absence of 75 years. This is the monster that in 1456 drove all Europe into a frenzy of fear. It may be seen without a telescope nest month. Every child of 12 years or over will be inter ested in these articles. PASSING OF THE OREGON CATTLE KING Boundless range of Ilarney and Crook Counties now under trans formation into varied agriculture. HUNTING A WOMAN'S JOB IN PORTLAND Miss Bond 's queer experience in certain private employment agen cies and others. LAND OF THE NEW RAILROAD Promised attractions for the set tler and the pleasure-seeker when the cars start running up the Deschutes. ORDER EARLY FROM YOVft . NEWSDEALER