8 THE MORNING OREGONIAX, THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1910. i ; i! i PORTLAND, OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon, Postofflce as 8econd-Class Matter. Subscription Kates Invariably In Advance, (Br Mall. Dally, Sunday Included, one year 8.0O Dally, Sunday Included, atx months.... 4.43 , Dally, Sunday Included, three montha. . 2.23 Dally, Sunday Included, one month.... -75 Dally, without Sunday, one year....... 6.00 I Daily, without Sunday, six months..., 3.25 Daily, without Sunday, three months... 1.75 j Dally, without Sunday, one month.... .60 i Weekly, one year 1.50 ( Bunaay, one year - a.au Bunday and weekly, one year &-50 (By Carrier. Dally. Sunday included, one year..,.. S-Oo Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... .75 How to Remit Send postofflce money 'order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffl-e ad dress in full. Including: county and state. Postage Rates 10 to 14 pares. 1 cent: 16 to 2d pages. 2 cents; 30 to 40 pages. 8 cents; eo to 60 pases. cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Business Office The S. C. Beck wlth Special Agency New York, rooms 48 50 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. PORTLAND. THURSDAY, JAN. 6, 1910. P08TOITICB AM PEOPLE. A complaint against the Postofflce Department la that It costs more than It brings In. But who knows? In terms of money It shows a deficit. In deed; and last year a greater deficit than ever before. But the function of the poBtal service Is essentially educational. How far Is it to be meas ured in terms of money? Business principles and economic methods should,, undoubtedly, be em ployed, as far as possible or practi cable, and kept constantly in view. The postal service must not be pushed regardless of cost or income. It Is known universally that the postal business of the principal centers of population and activity produces a profit. But the result of the whole service Is a" heavy deficit. Last year the deficit was $17,479,770 the heaviest on record. The Postmaster General says It arose from rural free delivery, and second-class mall. Rural free delivery Is the one ac tivity of Government which touches the general mass of our country peo ple. To support of the Government they, contribute immensely, by pay ment of duties and excises,-, and get little back. Postal service is their only sure or apparent compensation. Rural free delivery therefore is 'due to the people in the. country to do its work as necessary also to city as to country- life-. It never will be reduced or shortened; it always, will be main tained, and steadily increased as the demand shall warrant. Second-class mail: consists of newspapers and maga zines, mainly, and this class of matter goes largely to ' the people through free ; rural ' delivery. It cannot-be cut off. ; It carries advertisements, which burden the mails, but, newspapers and magazines cannot .be published with out the help of advertisements; and the Intellectual life of the country de mands the newspaper and the gen eral variety of the magazine though both may be sneered at by a professed superior culture, not up, however, to the level of the object of Its criticism. Rural- free delivery, carrying not only letters; but newspapers and magazines that ' the people want, is but partial compensation to ' the country for the exactions made upon the country, the tariff and excise systems. The educational literature carried into the country by the free delivery system is immense. Much of it is light, undoubtedly; but it Is entertain ing, or it would not be wanted. Be cause it Is wanted the opportunity is seized great masses of advertise ments with it, which increase the weight for the mails. But the pub lications could not exist without the advertisements as a source of Income or revenue; nor would the subscriber value his newspaper or magazine so highly without its advertisements. TJhey have something always of Inter est and value to them. Much of the increased "activity of the -Iff e of the -country, and - of the city, too, since all forces are correlated, is due to the stimulation produced by the establish ment of quicker and surar means of --communication from the centers 1 to wards the circumferences and out posts. Of thi3 activity the Postofflce - has become the main agent. Contrast its present efficiency with that of the postal service in the days when the weekly mall, consisting only of letters perhaps including a meager weekly newspaper was carried by man on Toot, sometimes on horseback, for dis tribution through the country post offices. Truth is, the -country never before obtained for an equal amount of money such 'benefits as it receives . through rural free delivery ' of the malls. The parcel post, on a proper 'basis or system, will much inprove it. It has been said that the object of -the postal function Is essentially edu cational. In other words, the idea is to acquaint the people with the affairs of their kindred, their friends and business associates, to disseminate , publications of Interest, to carry par- " eels In exchange between them; and, fcy maintenance of such intercom- . munlcation, to make life worth living. Use of free rural delivery and car riage of second-class matter consist ing of publicattons--which the people .want for their information or enter tainment, is the most important of the modern agencies that contribute to " these results. " We shall spare many other things tiefore we part with rural free mail ' delivery and the transmission of second-class matter through the mails. The country will regard this an un thinkable method of economical re form. Mr. rockefeller in tt-bi-Ic urs. There Is no reason to doubt the younger Mr. Rockefeller's .sincerity in declaring against the white slave traf Tic. The infamous business is abhor- -'" rent to every person who is not utterly depraved, and Mr. Rockefeller Is far from depravity of any sort. That he Li beset by an absurd moral compla- '"' cency may be admitted, but humanly speaking he is a good man who truly . prefers to serve God rather .than the tlevil. It is not fair to charge htm "With his father's sins. If he is dis posed to serve the public, his labors ought to be accepted with thankful- - ' ness that he does not prefer dissipa tion. - . There is room in American public life for a large number of men who are rich enough to be '"above pecula j ..tion. If they belong to the second 'generation of w-ealUi and, -like the ( younger Rockefeller, have lost the J Impulsion of competitive greed, so J' much the "better.. Their services will . bo all the more disinterested. We sadly need an Infusion of public men who are too rich to steal and too proud to fawn. Perhaps, if a schol arly observer -were to be asked what quality is most desperately needed in American politics, he would answer "pride." A genuinely proud man may turn traitor sometimes, but he will not sell himself to whoever bids high est. Neither will he comply and serv ilely cringe to power. An influx of men like Mr. Rockefeller into our public life would necessarily be ex ceedingly wholesome both for them and for other politicians. It would be highly edifying to see a base, com pliant rogue of current politics brought face to face in a Kampfum's Dasein with a scornful aristocrat whose multiplied millions made him independent and utterly fearless. THIS MILK-AND-HOXEY LAND. " One of Oregon's grandest objects of fast growth is the officialdom that stands guard over the public health. This fine body of office-holders knocks all preceding, records of progress into a cocked hat. Just now tile chairs-of two new milk officials have been cre ated in the City Hall, at salaries of J125 each, and right away $1000 is to be appropriated to defray their "necessary" expenses and to establish a laboratory for detection of germs in milk. Of course, in due time furni ture will be added to the, laboratory in the shape of chemists and bacteri ologists. All of which is certainly very fine, and taxpayers who pay for all this grandeur in order -to save consumers the bother of looking after the dairies and the markets that supply them food are rewarded with "figures" and "sta tistics" ' prepared by office-holders, who are convinced that the good health of the community Is their own making. Nature, air, sunshine and pure water as guardians of health cannot compare with the officials who prepare the statistics and draiw the salaries. . Just to show what a thrifty bunch of "patronage" is fighting "germs and making figures in Portland, gaze at this: iisf; - .. . United States Bureau Animal Industry. Vnited- States' Pure - Food Laboratory. State Board of Health. , State Health Officer and Clerk. State Veterinarian. ; State Bacteriologist - State Dairy and Food Commissioner. Kour Deputy commissioners. County Board of Health. County Physician. .. I City Board -of Health. - City Health Officer. Deputy Health Officer. . . City Physician. City Bacteriologist. Assistant Health Officer. Market Inspector. Sanitary Inspector. Clork to City Health Board. Pour School Inspectors. School iNurse. Pest-House Nurse. City Milk Inspector. Two Deputy Milk Inspectors. Plumbing Inspector. Three Deputy Inspectors and one clerk. Harbor Master. Knglneer to Harbor Master.- -Crematory Superintendent. Foreman and eight laborers. . "Building Inspector. -Six Deputy Building Inspectors. Lest the list stretch out too long, we omit the several State Board3 of Med ical Examiners, Barber Examiners, Dental Examiners, Pharmacy, Optom etry, "Veterinary . Commissioners, Sheep Commissioners and Domestic Animal Commissioners. We mention th-ese latter only to keep them from feeling that their worth and value have been slighted.' This home industry of officialdom is one of the proud products of Oregon soil. Members of it are so ambitious In their quest for public health that they sell their service privately. on the side, like State and City BacterioloT gist Matson and City Physician Zieg ler, but such acts are viewed as evi dences of their unusual zeal. In ad vertising the resources of Oregon, mention should be made of. the many tax-paid individuals who have found .Oregon the land of milk and honey. SAME WOLF, NEW SHEEPSKIN. . Congressman Humphrey, of Wash ington, has launched his . ship subsidy bill. Some of the- most obnoxious' features of former bills have ' been" removed. The enter ing wedge used by the subsidy seekers in previous - attempts to break into the United States treasury proved too large and blunt, and the present small er and thinner wedge in the shape of the Humphrey bill will probably be driven in to make an opening for a larger one next year. Mr. Humphrey is distressingly frank in his reasons for the admission, under certain re strictions, of free ships. In his opinion "Free ships will not give us a single vessel in the trade to South America, to Australia; to China or Japan the places where we most desire them." Mr. Humphrey and his friends have also taken good . care that, the free ship bill will give us no ships for that vast traffic that Is now handled be tween the Atlantic and the Pacific. The "free ships" of the foreigners are carrying coal from the Atlantic sea board to Puget Sound for $3.83 per ton; they would carry merchandise to the Jobbers and consumers of Se attle, Portland, San Francisco and the entire Coast region at the same rate, if Mr. Humphrey and his friends would stand aside and let us have free ships "where we most desire them." No railroad on earth could compete with these rates, but they are denied us. Mr. Humphrey's generosity in thus providing for free ships is ac cordingly on a, par with, that of the California Railroad Commission, whose policy -was reviewed in the late Frank Norris' novel, "The .Octopus." The commission reduced grain rates in the redwood lumber districts, where no grain was produced, and lumber rates- out of the San Joaquin grain district, where timber was not produced. Ap parently believing that there will be no free ships, Mr. Humphrey is will ing we should have them, under cer tain restrictions. - The increase In the tonnage tax will bring in about $1,000,000. According to Mr. Humphrey, "every dollar . of this amount will be paid by., foreign f-hips." It has of course escaped Mr. Humphrey's attention that the "for eign ships" whose owners are neither philanthropists nor fools will simply add that $1,000,-000 to ' the freight charges paid by the dear deluded pub lic. Mr. Humphrey drags in that old chestnut about the $200,000,000 per year which we pay the foreigners for carrying the freight, and Insists that It is for them that "we maintain our lighthouses, improve our rivers and harbors -at-an expense of $50,000:000 per year," etc. Mr. Humphrey esti mates that, in carrying 95 per cent of our foreign commerce in 1910, the foreign ships will be "taking from American labor for construction and operation $1,000,000 per day." - - This would indeed be a calamity if the producing and consuming public were not receiving a greater benefit In cheap freights than labor (.dear to the heart of the millionaires who are be hind the ship subsidy movement) could possibly receive from a ship sub sidy in practice. Unwittingly per haps Mr. Humphrey offers a .practical illustration of the advantages of this plentiful supply of foreign- tonnage, when he asserts that "A few days ago a vessel came into Seattle harbor from Europe. She brought a cargo -for $1.25 per ton. She refused to take j a cargo over tne same course for less than $6.90 per ton." - Diligent inquiry among all of the Importers who -handle ships at Seattle has failed to reveal the name or any i knowledge of a ship that brought I cargo from Europe for $1.25 per ton. I Still admitting it were true, the American consumers profited to the j extent of several dollars per ton' by the extraordinary low rate. The out bound rate of $6.90 per ton for a 14,-000-mlle voyage was also low, con sidering that Ajnerican ship-owners hold the Government ' ud for $8.50 and $9.00 per ton for carrying coal over a similar distance between the Atlantic seaboard and Pacific stations. Would the consumers of Seattle and tributary territory, or the producers of the wheat which the ship carried Bway be any better off If American rates of $18.00 per ton for the roumd trip were charged instead of the $8.15 charged for the round trip by the vessel? , The Humphrey subsidy bill is the same old wolf with a slightly- Im proved fit ,of the sheep's clothing In which it Is masquerading. DKAIJXU IX rUTVKES. "Dealing in Futures" is a topic which bobs up with greater regular ity than any other feature. of our com mercial policies and practices. 'This time the. National Administration is reported to be considering the possibil ty of making laws that will check the gambling features of the practice without interfering with the legitimate functions of the "future." The effect of any attempt of this- nature will be the same as the surgical, operation which was a "perfect success" but was followed by the death ofthe pa tient. No one questions the great evils which arise front gambling in futures, but it should be remembered that the cards used In dealing a "brace" faro game are exactly the fame as those used in playing -casino or "old maid." No one has ever attempted- to legislate the playing-card out of existence simply because gam blers make use of it. Dealing in futures is & legitimate and useful practice made necessary by the tremendous Increase in the pro duction, distribution and consumption of many commodities for which there Is a universal . demand. It has been drafted into general use in nearly all branches of business for the same rea son that the storied farmer, by divid ing ' the grist, supplanted the stone formerly used in one end of the sack to balance the grlBt in the other. The system enables the miller to purchase wheat for delivery over periods of many months and to make flour con tracts accordingly. There Is a great saving m thus being in a position to handle a large business without the necessity of keeping a large amount of capital tied up in stock that may not be required for many months. It also enables the producer to have a steady market for his products the year round. He can determine to a nicety just what he can receive for his crop delivered six months or a year hence. The recent flurry in cotton was the immediate cause of this sudden. outcry against trading in futures, but the fact that a few gamblers . made considerable money in buying " and selling cotton on a margin has no bearing on the Legitimate buying and selling for future delivery by men who will later be obliged to handle the real cotton. Goods manufactured from cot ton are distributed throughout the world, although the United States sup plies the bulk of the raw . material from which they are made. ' By rea son of this wide distribution, It is ab solutely necessary that the manufac turer quote prices to buyers in re mote quarters -of the earth many months before the goods will be ready for delivery. To hedge against these future sales the manufacturer must buy his raw material far enough ahead to enable him to meet his or ders when they must be filled. Mod ern business cannot be satisfactorily handled without dealing in futures. It is not easy to determine how gambling in futures can be suppressed without seriously damaging legitimate trad ing, which must make use of the "fu ture" contract. COMETARI PERILS. The singular situation which as tronomers predict for Halley's comet next May is one which may well in spire superstitious excitement and ig norant alarm. About the middle of that month the comet will plunge throngh the plane of the earth's orbit "downward," which means in the di rection of the South pole. When this interesting episode comes to pass the earth will be but 14,000,000 miles away from the diving wanderer, and It is said, with more or less approach to truth, that for a few hours the earth, the comet and the sun will be in the same straight line. Conse quently the comet -will appear to us to move directly across the face of the sun Just as Venus does in its rare and Interesting transits. This will be a beautiful spectacle, no doubt, but there Is small likelihood that It will- resemble a display of fire works in the' heavens. The comet at that time can hardly be much brighter f.han the moon, sino it Willi be at about the same distance Jrom the sun, which is the source of all its light and heat. While traversing the sun's disc, therefore, it will look like a black spot if it is visible --at all. Comets are not very substantial bodies and this one may be so thin and spec tral that the sun's rays will slip through it without perceptible loss- of Intensity. In -that case Halley's comet will be invisible during- its transit. But considerations like these will seem but slightly interesting to the average citizen in competition With the prob ability that on or about May 18,, next Spring, the earth will pass through the comet's tall. The tail always points away from the sun, and consequently its direction on that day will be straight toward the earth. Hence If It is long enough to reach us we shall enjoy the experience of sailing through it and bathing in its -balmy or bane ful surges. According to the astrono mers it will reach us and extend some six million miles farther. What will happen to the earth dur ing those fateful hours? In all prob ability the same thing will happen as on other occasions "when we have passed through comet's tails and that Is simply nothing. The earth has re- T Deated 'this dire adventure, several I times. Usually nobody knew anything I about it until all was over. There was nothing extraordinary to see, hear, feel or smell. The truth is that a comet's tall is a good deal of a false alarm, to borrow a phrase from the poetic pro letarians. In. spite of the pompous spread it makes in the sky, it could be imprisoned with Hamlet In a walnut shell, and have plenty of room to spare". Savants allege that a comet's tail is the most attenuated form of matter they know anything about. The chances are that It is not matter at all in the ordinary sense, but some form of emanation comparable to that whicli comes from radium. Very likely ometa consist of highly radiant matter and the tail Is 'composed of emanations which are all driven to the side remote from the sun. At any rate. the appendage is so exceedingly thin, so tenuous and rare, that it can exercise no imaginable influence on the earth. Superstition has always In vested comets with a multitude of ter rors, but never in a single instance have any of the dreadful things it predicted come to pass.' If we were as safe from terrestrial monsters as we are from the heavenly bodies we might slumber and sleep in unbroken security. Daniel Willard, the new president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad be gan his railroad career as a track la borer thirty years ago. He served for a long time under Frederick D. Underwood, who Is now president of the Erie Railroad and who egan railroading as a. brakeman . about twenty-five years ago. Yesterday's dispatches state that Mr. Willard was landed in the presidency of the Balti more & Ohio by Union Pacific inter ests. These "interests," it is now pretty well understood, are controlled by Judge Lovett, who was carrying water to the laborers on a railroad down In Texas about thirty years ago. Thirty years is not so very long ago, nd a good many of us can recall that even then there were . numerous disciples of discontent who lugubriously assert ed that there was no longer any chance for a poor man in this coun try. Despite the rantings of the Jawsmlths and the Indolent Workers of the World, there is at this very moment, plugging away among track laborers, brakemen and water boys on our American railroads, another crop of Lovetts, Underwoods and Wil lards. They are wasting no time on the street corners, however. Postal authorities at Washington say that $76,622,629" was sent out of the United States by foreign laborers during the year Just closed and that the total sent abroad since 1890, is $840,640,817. In a country of such wonderful resources and recuper ative powers as the United States, this drain is felt less tnan it would be elsewhere, but the amount Is of suf ficient proportions to have some bear ing on bur own ' financial condition. Had that money remained In this counrty, the most of It would have bean kept lit use, and in being fre quently turned over, it would have paid debts and financed undertakings many times greater' than the actual sum shown by the postal authorities. We cannot stop all of this foreign flow of funds but some means should be devised for strengthening the faith of our foreign element in American financial institutions. Perhaps a Postal Savings Bank would serve " this pur pose. " Real estate transfers suffered a very heavy slump in Seattle last year.. According to the Seattle Bul letin, there was a decline from $72, 926, 1S6 in 1908 to $27,642,000 in the year just closed. On account of the numerous high-priced structures for the fair, building permits at Seattle ran ahead of those for the preceding year. It-will be noticed that real es tate transfers," while less than half as large as those for 1908, were still about $1,000,000 in excess of those for Portland. This Is easily under stood when it is recalled that Port land, as usual, footed up a number of big transactions with the stereotyped $1 consideration. A single transfer, the Laurelhurst tract, involved more than $1,300,000, an amount sufficient to bring the Portland figures ahead of those for Seattle. Unfortunately, the consideration named In the deed was $1,299,900 less than the amount paid for the tract. A correspondent wishes to have the opinion of The Oregonian on the point whether "the fallacies of the new system in our state" have not nearly run their course. Don't know. All possible methods of going wrong may not have been exhausted yet; and it is a fashion of democracy not to go right till It has exhausted, all possible ways and expedients of going wrong. A sensible man who has a sensible wife would not exchange her opinion about the goodness of the milk sup piled to the family, for that of all the official experts In the employ of state, city, county, and General Government. A Chicago woman wants divorce because the courts won't let her plant her cold feet against her husband's back. If women had votes, no judge wouia De so hold as that. Now the National Geographic So ciety is going to examine Cook's rec ords. Mere curiosity to see what an explorer who never explored has to say. no doubt. Idaho waoIgTo.wers, like those of Oregon, have "resolved" in defense of the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill. There, now. Who says the tariff bill is with out' friends? ' Zelaya and Diaz are having a fine time together. They seem to under stand one another's methods of gov ernment perfectly. : - Heney says Binger Hermann never was in a hurry for trial. But we'll wager Binger wishes it had been over long ago. Now they are blaming the Pacific Northwest for the cold wave that Is sweeping East. No way to prove an alibi. - This weather was a fine thing to look forward to during the hot days of last Summer. - Mayor ' Gaynor's tribute to Boss Murphy was touching but unconvinc ing.. When you greet a plumber, wish him a happy New Tear- THREE IX THE FAMILY MARRY. u Toolc K-ht for the Charivari, bnt the Boys Succeeded. Bunker Hill Cor. to Stayton Mall. Great excitement was caused in this neighborhood Wednesday, when the re port came ffom Albany that six local young people were married there. Miss Vera Overholts and WU1 Dart, Miss Nel lie Iart and George Sandner. Miss Free da Dart and Will Hirans, were the fes tive sextet. ' , The boys Immediately got busy sending Wireless messages, and by 6 o'clock there were at least 160 men and boys hiding in the buehes and fence corners, and behind rock piles, and some even got under the house of C. W. Dart, preparing for an old-time charivari, but, lo.! and behold! only one couple, George Sandner and wife. returned from Albany that night. George accidentally met the crowd in the road before he got to Mr. Dart's house, where he intended staying over night, so he changed his mind and concluded to give the boys the slip. Just stopping long enough to notify the folks where they in tended to go, he proceeded to drive like the wind. One of the local boys was dispatched on George's trail on horseback, but the afore said, young man proved to be too slow. He soon lost the trail, so Mr. Sandner and wife arrived safely at Howard Montgom ery's and stayed through the night, un known to any of the charivari crowd. After the crowd had run down every available clew, they returned home at S A. M. - But lo! and behold! the boys' luck changed by the next evening. v e placed competent men in the field early and they searched the country thorough ly. By night all three couples were lo cated Will Hirans and wife .at their home near Shelburn, George Sandner and wife at C. W. Dart's, where George's gray pony gave, him away. . Will Dart returned home and, seeing tne boys hidden In the fence corner, became alarmed and concluded to eat a hearty supper. Then he and ms wile ssuppea out as Sandner had done the evening be fore. As he . proceeded to. leave home, Robert Darby appeared on the scene riding little Cheyenne. Louis Geisler, our famous detective, was on the Chicago police force three years, and was, never known to lose a trail, lit out afoot ana soon came by hie own home: decided to saddle Old Prince (his favorite steed), who has been across the continent and once around the world; started out again and was soon in sight, so, after tne Doys chased Mr. Dart and' wife up hill and down, through brush and around curves, circling the largest part of Linn County (for about three hours), and going alto gether about 224 miles, finally chased him to the home of A. Overholts, where one of the boys -watched while the other re turned to the home of C. W. Dart and notified the crowd, whereupon they pro ceeded to charivari. George Sandner and wife then went from there to Mr. Over holts' and charivaried Bill Dart and wife, and from there all went to Shelburn and charivaried Bill Hirans ana wiie. and after wishing them all a long ana happy life the boys returned home at 6 o'clock in the morning, a little footsore and tired, but feeling well paid for their night's work. ' . - BU)iG" IX BRITISH POLITICS Tbe Liquor Question One of tbe Leal lax Issues. Washington Post. "Bung" is the comprehensive slang title for the whole of the liquor trade, from the multimillionaire brewer down to the humblest proprietor of a way side inn. The liquor trade is so Im portant in Great Britain that It is known simply as "the trade." It is wealthy and highly organized, and ere now has made and marred ministries. In recent years one party, that stood up for the curious combination of the church and "the trade," was successful at the polls, and was wittily and alllt eratively, if somewhat irreverently, de scribed by its opponents as floating into power on beer and the Bible. There are elements in the liberal party that have forced it into an attitude of uncompromising hostility to the liquor interest. From the liberals that inter est thinks it has nothing to expect but onerous .taxation in' the immediate, and, in the end, absolute confiscation for any portion that may perchance sur vive. The liquor organization is, therefore, fighting for the torles with its back to tne wall. It is a supreme effort, a mat ter. of life and death. An eminent Brit ish publicist, himself a liberal, who was here recently on a visit, made the statement that every saloon in Eng land has been turned into a school for the propagation of tory doctrines. And the saloonkeeper in England, be it re membered, is a man of mark in the community. He is often a highly-respected citizen, and elected to honor able public positions. To many of his numerous customers he Is guide, phi losovher and friend. The influence of such a class on the doubtful voter can not be easily overestimated. - ' 7 Mr. Edison Learns What Not to Do. The Book-Keeper. Thomas A. Edison is also still busy with his new storage battery, which, he asserts, will solve the tractionques tion. This, too, has ben scoffed at from the beginning; it Is a long time since Mr. Edison began Investigation in this direction, but when a successful port able method of storing electricity is de veloped another industrial revolution will be accomplished. This leads up to the point to which Bpecial attention is directed. In his ex periments with these batteries. Mr- Edi son has had men at work for years with a patience unparalleled. More than a half ton of reports on experiments with batteries have been made. Two of his best men had tp give up the work because of its unending monotony to save themselves from a nervous break down. The work was- -continued night and day for more than three years, and more than' 9000-- experiments were made without obtaining the results which Mr. Edison" wanted. A visitor to whom this was told, exclaimed: "Then all those experiments were prac tically wasted?" - . - . "Not at all," said Mr. Edison; "I now know 9000 things hot to do" all of which indicates that it is as Important to know what not to do as what to do. Closed Up In the Rear. Mitchell Sentinel. Billy Meyer, with a broad- smile and a military gait left for Shamiko with his team Monday morning. ( THE KJTOCICER. T. T. G. I have listened to the knocklngs of the knocker. And have marveled at the man with frigid feet; I have heard the oratorical flapdoodle - Of . the socialistic howlers on the street. I have doffed my hat with wonder ts the skate Who could laugh and cry and curse with single breath. While the ordinary man will - thank his stars ' That he's won the fight so far with prowling Death. But the man has reached the limit who goes yelping Hound the country 'cause it rains and rains and rains. Loudly shouting that the Easten Win ters suit him. -Where the mercury the lowest point attains. Tet this noisy and contrary old galoot, When It freezes up and coal is awful dear. Is the first to raise an everlasting clamor - - , ays he hoped to rind a milder cli mate here! I - - . ' Practical Necessity Orz-nnlxatloa Indispensable In Government by Man la Justified in Adhering to Ilia Minor Issues. From a recent ' book. "The Hindrances to , Good Citlxenshlo." hr Won. Inm.. tj ! British Ambassador to the Vnited States and author of "The American Common wealth." Party has been a practical necessity and I am not now speaking of the natural human tendencies that develop and shape It, but of, the political cir cumstances that call it into being he cause in a large, free community, where each man has his own affairs to occupy him, there must 'be some means of bringing current questions to the knowledge of the citizens, of ex plaining their meaning and pur port, of presenting and advocat ing particular proposals for han dling current issues. The larger the community grows, the greater need for this. Accordingly, those who think together and wish to act together must organize; and their-organization be comes a party. Furthermore, in a large community the sreat bulk of the citlsena do. not and hardly can know who are their best men, the fittest to think, to lead, to be selected for office. When persona have to be chosen by vote to hold office, tftere must be some means of recom mending; them and getting the electors, some of whom will be remiss, or heed less, or Ignorant, to come and vote for them. Where the community is a very large one, or where the structure of Sdblety does not Indicate particular per sons as prima facie fit men for office, there must be some means of select ing particular persons to be candidates, else voting; will be all at random. A party organization supplies the ob vious means. This function of nomi nating candidates increases not only the range of its action, but its power, because ambitious men become forth with eager to control it and to develop it for their own purposes. There are endless instances to show that the spirit of party may be so di verted from its original character of an attachment to certain principles as to become a mere instinct of loyalty to a leader, or to a name, or to a set of catchwords. Recognizing this liability to perver sion which inheres in Party Spirit, let us see how it may become a hindrance to good citizenship. Suppose an ordinary honest citizen to be considering how he shall vote on' Borne public issue. Presumably he be longs to one - party, and prefers to , continue to support that party. If he finds his own opinion . on the question, be JJne question that of a Legislative ' proposal or that of the t election of a particular person, , to coincide with his party's opinion, , al is simple. If, how ever, "lie differs in opinion from his party1, what is his action likely to be and what ought it to be? In four cases out of five (perhaps more) the Average Man will simply follow his party, not troubling himself to examine the matter. The party has done the thinking and made the de cision; that is enough for him. t, however, being a somewhat more active or conscientious citizen than is the Average Man, he examines the issue for himself, and concludes that his party is wrong, the question fol lows whether he shall be ruled by his own opinion or subordinate it to that of the party. Let us distinguish the case of the conscientious citizen who is only a private in the party army, having NO AMERICAN CARDINALS, ;NOW. Tea -of Them Likely to Be Appointed, but 'oae In This) Country. ' New York Post. In the College of Cardinals there Is an unusual number of vacancies, and sev eral American archbishops have been can didates for a red hat. But they are likely to be disappointed, if we may be lieve the . well-informed Vatican corre spondent of the Corriere della Sera. He gives it as the semi-official opinion that, of the nine or ten new cardinals to be created about the middle of January, not one will be American. Bound by the concordat with Portugal, Pius X will bestow the purple on Mons. Bello. Patriarch of Lisbon. At least three Italians will be chosen Granito di Bel monte. Papal Nuncio at Vienna, almost surely, and two workers, like Mons. Lu gari; assessor of the holy office, and Mons. Glustlni, Secretary of the Congre gation of the Sacrament. France, whose normal supply of cardinals ie seven, has now only three. Mons. Amette, archbish op of Paris, is slated for one of the hon ors, although hie opinions have not been sufficiently ultramontane to satisfy the Jesuits. To offset him, Mons. Cabrieres, Archbishop of Montpellier aristocratic and a thorough-going reactionary, may be selected. Mons. Jabiilard, Archbishop of Chambery, is the third possibility among French prelates. One red hat is to go to a Spaniard and another to an Austrian. Finally, Mons. Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, Is to receive the honor which is long overdue. The death of Father George Tyrrell, ex Jesuit and ablest of all the modernists, has brought a lull in Dr." Bourne's Juris diction, so that the Vatican can promote him without misgivings. Yet. as the Italian motto runs, "a cardinal is only a caprice of the Pope," the Cisatlantic Monsignorl may continue to hope until Pius X speaks in the consistory. His Introduction. : Cleveland Plain Dealer. , "A hundred years ago we were sat isfied to travel ten miles an hour." "Yes." ' - "Fifty years ago we thought 15 miles an hour was going some." . "Yes." "Ten years ago 60 miles an hour was considered the limit of speed." "Yes." "Now we are hitting up nearly a hun dred miles an hour." "Yes." "And it won't be long before 120 miles an hour is slow." "Well, what are you trying to get at?" "I'm going to prove to you the neces sity of accident insurance, as I repre sent " But the other man was walking away at the rate of six miles an hour. ' " When 20-Cent Pieces Were Coined. ' ILWACO, Wash.",. Jan. 3. (To the Edi tor.) Please let us know what years the CTnited States made 20-cent silver pieces. We found one tonight, the first we ever knew of. ' C. E. K. Twenty-cent silver : pieces were coined by the United States mints from 1874 to 1878, both dates inclusive. "Jack Sheppax-d's" House Comes Down. Indianapolis News. The historic old "Six Bells," out Wil lesden way, England, the inn referred to by Harrison Alnsworth as the haunt of Jack Sheppard, 1b to be pulled down. Thus another ancient landmark Is swept into oblivion by the unsentimental mod ern builder. The Mayora Touch. Skamania County Pioneer. J. A. Cowan, the honorable Mayor of the city of Camas, Wash., presented the editor of this paper with a box of cigars on Christmas, for which he' has our most sincere thanks. His Mayor ship, knows how to touch the right spot of the average newspaper- man. of Political Parties T e m fMTM -r Conscientious Party, Though He may DlaaKK on nothing -to -do but cast fcis vote, from the case of the prominent conscientious citizen, .who is an officer, perhaps a colonel, or even a general in tnat army. The conscientious citizen, who is what I call a private, will usually hesitate to desert his party. He is bound to it by habit and by a preference for its leaders over those of the other side. It is unpleasant to support by his vote those whom ie has hitherto' opposed, and he hates to to raarded by his party associates as a deserter. Never theless, the voice of duty seems 'to re quire him' to obey his convictions. He may, and if the Issue is an important one, he probably will, being ex hypothesi conscientious, and in this instance convinced, ultimately follow it. But he has not been, and cannot be, a detached and impartial judge in the matter. Other considerations come In to con fuse the issue. A man prominent in his party .may think that the good he can do by remaining in it and trying to back it up. so that it may fight effectively in other then pending ques tions, outweighs the harm he will do by voting on this particular instance against h-is own conviction. Or he may value so highly the influence of his party on the welfare of the Nation, and may so much fear to weaken it by helping to expose it to defeat on thfrs particxilar issue, that it wlil in the particular case seem right to do what would otherwise be wrong for the" ake of the greater good to follow from keep ing the party in power. . Tltough a politician may of course use such arguments as these to de ceive himself and justify any line of action his interest prompts, still they are arguments which have their weight and worth, and deserve to be consid ered by men who seek to do right. Much depends on the gravity of the particular issue. - It it is one pro foundly affecting the National welfare, the statesman must at all hazards fol low his conscience. If it Is of passing aod secondary consequence, ' he may feel It his -duty to forego his own views for the sake of the party. Most cases He between these extremes. They are not easy even for - the ordinary voter who has nothing to lose or gain, while for the political leaders they are far harder, not only because his personal Interest is involved, but also because he sees more of the general condltiens of party government and can survey the whole field of politics. Independence is a good thing; con science a vital thing. Politics would soon become rqtten if the citizens did not exercise their own judgment and keep in check that instinct of associa tion which make the strength of Party Spirit- But one must also beware of magnifying small differences, of in dulging the habit and exaggerating the tone of Independence, into which there may possibly, enter a spice of vanity and self-importance. Nations may err, as individuals err. Majorities, so Carlyle and others have said, are just as often t wrong es are. minorities. Sometimes a quite smafl minority turns out -to have been right. Still there is. In the long run, a wis dom in the whole people greater than the wisdom of any man or groxip. No leader, no party, no legislature, can ever ruin 'a state while the great body of Average Citizens, the better educated and the less educated taken together, continue to maintain a high level of public spirit and practical good sense. CONGESTION IN AMERICAN . CITIES J New York Seeks Relief In Tunnelstl Chicago In a tyJopw District. 1 Wnshlnirtrm (Tt. C.t Herald. With the completion of the tunncla to New Jersey and . Long -Island. Man hattan has both spread out and become more restricted. Better means of com munication denotes greater concentra-. tion at the foci. When a busines mart can have his home miles 'away, as la ' now possible in New York, the loca- I tion of his place of business gravitates toward'the most favorable location. When New York was forced to go by trolley, or by ferry there was a limit to the number who could crowd lower Manhattan, but with better means of ingress and egress the skyscrapers will not be sufficient to take care of those seeking advantageous locations. Hence the acquisition of suburban homes tends to centralize -business. Chicago is rapidly learning the dis advantages of concentrating busines activities. That section known as th "loop district." about one-half mil' wide and three-quarters of a mile lonp has worked a hardship on those lo cated both within and without the fam-l ous loop." A merchant whose place of business is within the loop pays sucJ him of profits. The merchant withou the loop, whose rent is less than one fifth that within the loop. has n" customers, and consequently ther are no -. profits, owing to lack of trade. Chicago has for some years been planning to demolish the loop system, and thereby increase the size of its business district. By run ning through cars many of the unfor tunate features of the present situation will be avoided. New York and Ch cago must solve these problems as best they can: - - QvUeen of Italy as a Reader, New York World. Queen Margherita of Italy has a weak- I 'ness for the books of American and English novelists. She also reads Eng lish and American magazines, and it is her opinion that the American school of short-story writers at present is the best in the world. 'icaraa-ua. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. "What are the cables flashing for?" the correspondent cried; "Diplomacy, diplomacy," philander K. r- .plled. "What makes you send the shins to sea?" the correspondent cried; "I'm merely going to call their bluff," Phi lander K. replied. -- For they're stirring- up the- devil just north of Panama; When they start to trettlng- haushty they go. a bit too far; It's time these kid republics received a mentis iax. ' So- we're gdrig- to spank Zelaya In tne mora-. ins. "What makes the jingoes smile with glee?" the correspondent cried; They hope there'll be a bloody war," Phi lander K. replied. "But do you really mean to fight?" the cor respondent cried. "Some one has got to fight or crawl." Phi lander K. replied. The1 Buffalo Is headed south from pinche- J -lin-iue Bay, The Bennington's at" Greytown, a fchip's near Managua. The Prairie's left League Island there'll be the deuce to pay When we start to spank Zelaya In the morn ing. - rwnst makes the nations smile?" -the cor- respondent cried: "They see new-crops of heroes," Philander k rennea. "Therl there'll be . some', more Rough Riders V the correspondent cried; "Not on your life! Not on your life!" Phi lander K. replied. In seven years of Roosevelt we siirely go our nil, - We're living- in the J-eritaffe he hande down to Bill: So, If. we've got to have a war there'll bel no ban Juan i-' ill When we start to spank Zelaya In the morning.