THE 3IOEXIXG OKEGOXIAN, SATURDAY, JAITUARY 8, 1910- PORTLASD. OBECON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofnee a Second-Class Matter. Subscription 2i4tLea Invariably - In Advance. By Mall.) Daily. Sunday Included, one year S.OO ; Dally, Sunday Included, six month!.... 4.23 Xaliy, Sunday Included, three month-. 2.23 . Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... -75 Dally, -without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six months...; 3.25 Dally, without Sunday, three months... 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month.... .60 "Weekly, one year 1-50 F Tin day. one year.... 2.34) fiunday and weekly, one year......... 3.50 , (By Carrier.) Dally. Sunday Included, one year..... .00 Dally. Sunday Included, one month 75 How to Remit Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency ' are at the sender's risk. Give postofnee ad dress In full, including county and state.--Postage Rates 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent: 19 . to 28 pages. 2 ceats; 30 to 40 pages, 3 cents; O to 60 pages, 4 cents. Foreign postage double rata, Kastern Business Office The 8. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 48 SO Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-612 Tribune building. IORTLASD, SATURDAY, JA 8, 1010. ! PRESIDENT TAFT MUST DECIDE. Mr. Gifford Pinchot poses before the country as the corypheus of all who desire to preserve the natural re sources of the country for the good of all the people. His ambition has been to bring it about, so that the combat would rage around himself and contribute to his glory. He stands lor "conservation" of the public in terests for the public. No man is to have use of lands or waters or minerals henceforth, without payment of per petual tax to the United States the money paid in to go to the support of a great bureau in Washington and its horde of officials all over the United States yet not indeed all over the United States, but over those parts where there are still public lands and waters and minerals. In the old parts these were appropriated long ago, and are to be left in undis turbed possession of those who occu pied them, and who have developed them. This sort of thing has made Mr. Gifford Pinchot very rich. He i rests on the wealth of his ancestors, and has become "a reformer." He is a. whale, . as Burke said, sporting In the ocean of bounty, and' from his spiracles he blows out a torrent of brine against his origin. What Mr. Pinchot should do is to turn back to society all that his an cestors accumulated from it, and all he has Inherited from it. He should sell all he has and give to the poor. The attack on Ballinger, inspired by him, is based on the assumption and on complaint that arises from it, that Ballinger has construed the laws as they are and requires them to bu observed; while Pinchot substi tutes his own theories of conservation, unsupported by law and contrary to the whole practice and policy of the country hitherto, since the . occupa tion and settlement of the country be gan. For ages the land and waters .and woods of the Western country have been unused. In the Eastern parts of the continent they were ap . propriated and put to use long ago. We want our country developed; we desire the conversion of it3 natural resources to some use rather than let them run wild, as heretofore; we wish the Government to part with the lands and allow them to be utilized, and properties to be built up around the water powers and coal mines, subject to state regulation and to state, taxation. .Only so can there be any development. If the General Government is to be the proprietor, and everything is to be tied up by red tape at Washington, supporting a horde of officials, then no progress Will be possible. All the remaining resources, till the country Is stripped bare, will go to the support of of ficialdom. This la the protest of the West. On this basis the West will stand by Bal linger. against Pinchot. We want things done In this country; and they who put up their plea for a fanciful "conservation" should not be allowed to substitute their own notions for the general laws. Ballinger is the right man In the right place, and either he or Pinchot had to go. Taft would not be President had Pinchot remained. This individual has what the people, before they knew the fine term meg alomania, used to call the bighead. He is a theorizer; he has courted a kick down the steps that he might show his bruises. A' week hence his name will know no mention. HARD CONDITIONS IN JAPAN. It was known throughout the world that the peace between Japan and Russia, brought about by the inter vention of President Roosevelt, ' did not come a day too soon for Japan. This gallant and rising nation had made an effort seldom equalled In all the history of the world. Her sac rifices had been prodigious; and though she had gained great advan tages over an antagonist much greater .than herself, she needed peace. A'o nation, perhaps, ever needed it more. -Her great antagonist, all the world believes, must have worn her out, had 'the war been continued much longer. Confirmation of this is supplied since the war by the difficulties of the in dustrial and financial conditions ex isting in Japan. We find in the Literary Digest, the well-known weekly of New York and London, translations from several Japanese newspapers, which throw light on the situation developed in the country since the Russian War. While the war tfas raging the su preme effort necessary for it obscured tho consequences sure to follow so costly a war waged with a more powerful and more wealthy neigh bor. Japan, however, couragebusly took the risks, and by her sacrifices saved her prestige and her chances for the future. Otherwise Russia would A have crowded her Into her corner very soon. But her burden of debt is ex ceedingly heavy for her shoulders. 'She waged the war mainly by borrow ing money. AVe have this from the j. newspaper Kokumin (Tokio): t. The present financial condition in Japan . really resembles that of Oreat Britain a 4 generation aco. hut since then the latter has made good all her debts. But the heavy i debts of Japan are more than the nation can s, endure. It is true the Katsura government is engaged In formulating schemes for the redemption of the loans and Is making every effort to improve the credit of the - Empire on the Ruropean market. Meanwhile the people groan -under heavy taxation, and It Is urtred in some Quarters that taxes be t lightened on the land. In order that agri cultural and other activities may be en .; couraged and vivlned. In our opinion such a course should never be taken. If the taxes are not paid in full, the loans will fall in . arrears and the foreign credit of Japan re t. celvs a, serious blow. Even more gloomy is the statement of another journal of Tokio, the Hochi thus: At no period in her history has the finan cial condition of Japan been so deprest as it Is at present. Since the conclusion of peace with Russia, five years ago. the finances of the Empire have been going from bad to worse, and not a single new Industrial en terprise has been started. Most of the pop ulation are - groaning under the increased price of commodities of life and are clamor ing for a reduction In taxation. The men of capital keep their money idle and shrink from. Investing It in commercial enterprises. Should Japan remain in such a. state a few years longer, the fate of the- Empire is sealed. But it is a hopeful country; it is pushing hard for trade ascendency in Corea, Manchuria and China; and its statesmen endeavor to find encourage ment for their country by comparison with the exhausted condition of the British nation at the close of the Na poleonic wars followed, however, by a marvellous growth of England's commercial prosperity. Continuation of peace, for many years evidently Is a necessity for Japan. THE" SPECIAL MESSAGE. The recommendations of prime im portance in President Taft's special message relate to the proposed com merce court and the Federal incorpor ation act, which he recommends. The minor recommendations, pertaining to th.e routine work of the interstate Commerce Commission, are manifest ly excellent. It would -be a, good plan, for example, to give the Commission authority to act upon exorbitant rates without waiting for complaint from shippers. Nor can 'any reasonable person object to placing freight class ifications under its supervision "since classification is in reality rate-making. Mr. Taft argues soundly, also, in favor of giving shippers the right to select through routes for their goods where two or more are available. This ought not to be left to the arbitrary dictation of the carriers. Mr. Taft's severest critics can find no just fault with the economic prop ositions upon which he bases his recommendations. In discussing the causes which have made trusts profit able and possible he dmits any men tion of the tariff, and to some persons this will appear inexcusable; but, in truth, we should have had trusts just the same as now without any tariff. The President recognizes the great corporations of the country as public agencies rather than mere private in struments and in the most satisfactory manner he asserts the right of the Government to regulate and control them. . It is his zeal for the effective exerc-se of this right which leads him to advocate the establishment of the special commerce court. Outlined by himself, this proposed tribunal ap pears less objectionable than we have feared It might prove.- As Mr Taft describes It, the new court would be nothing 'more terrible than a modified United States Circuit Court Five of the Judges now in office are to be assigned to do its business, and when there is a lull In their work of hearing appeals from, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Chief Jus tice is to send them out upon circuit again. This varied employment might possibly save them from that complete entanglement in red : tape which is the bane of special tri bunals. The new court would be nothing worse, perhaps, than a judicial branch of .the Commission. After an order had been made by the administrative branch, which now alone, exists, It would' pass directly to the judicial Bide for confirmation or rejection. Re garded in this light, . the. commerce court, like all of Mr. ' Taft's 'specula tive proposals, has great merit.- The whole of his message reads more like a treatise on abstract political science than an executive document, though, possibly a lawyer's brief, is 'what it most resembles. His reverent atti tude toward the Supreme Court is proper enough, but in the . greatest executive office on earth it rather surprises one. Still, it is naturally difficult for the lawyer and judge to shake off the feeling that, the Su-. preme Court is about the sublimest affair In the universe. Probably as time elapses, Mr. Taft will realize more clearly the grandeur of his own position. President Taft desires "a National incorporation law for reasons which are rather elusive. In discussing the subject of "good" and "bad" trusts, the President follows pretty closely the opinion or the Circuit Court in the recent Standard Oil decision. A combination in restraint of trade is obnoxious to the law, not when or be cause it restrains trade, but. only when such restraint is it3 predominant pur pose. If a National incorporation act altered this rule, it would . certainly work grievous injury to the. public. If it did not alter the " rule! how would it enlarge the freedom of com bination which already exists? An attentive study of the message ) does rot convince one that JYlr. Taft has made his Intent and the reasons which underlie it as clear as. would be de sirable. GRANARY OF THE WOULD. Wheat . exports from the United States (flour included) for the first six months of the current cereal year show a decrease of 27,000,000 bushels as- compared with the same period in the preceding season. That the for eign markets have not been, suffering from short supplies by reason of this decrease can be understood by refer ence to the statistics on Russian ship ments. The new season in the land of the Czar opens August I, and .be tween that, date - and December .11 Broomhall reports shipments of 106, 3CS.0O0 bushels, a larger amount than has ever before been shipped in so brief a period by any country. These Russian shipments compare with 33, 544,000 bushels for the same period in the preceding season, and 41,348,000 bushels for the corresponding period In 1907.- The Russian increase of 73,000,000 bushels over the shipments of the preceding year has not only offset the 27.000,000-bushel shortage In Ameri can exports, but it has also made up for the shortage in the Argentine and a number of other countries of less importance. Russia is such an enor mous country' that accurate figures on the size of the wheat crop have al ways been difficult to secure. The high prices of the past two years have resulted, however, in bringing offer ings out of obscure districts that in the past have never figured In the ex port columns. The American exporter of wheat can already see the handwriting on the wail foretelling the end of his busi ness, but with an almost illimitable area of good land yet to be developed In Russia and the Argentine, not to mention Western Canada, it will be many years after this country ceases exporting before the European con sumers will be in danger of a bread famine. BILLBOARDS. 1 While the billboard ordinance, in troduced by Councilman Ellis, might not do everything toward ridding Portland of the nuisance which now defaces the city, it might do some thing. It might prove to be the' be ginning of . better things. Billboards are of doubtful utility as advertis ing agencies. Comparatively few people notice what is printed upon them and those who do are more than likely to be disgusted. The hideous blot upon the ecenery lends more or less' of its repulslveness to the article advertised and the loss of possible customers must overbalance the gain in the long run. Billboard advertising is nothing better than a bad habit. Dealers persist in prac ticing it, not because it brings them any particular benefit, but merely be cause they are accustomed, to it. . From the point of view of the cit izen and the traveler, billboards are an unqualified nuisance. What they need is not so much regulation as abatement. It would be a pity for the city to form the habit of drawing revenue from them, since a financial argument for retaining them would thus arise, which might prolong their undesirable existence. In. the most progressive cities of the country, the definite purpose in taxing billboards is to cause them to disappear. PUNK SOLDIERS. Those New York soldiers who mu tinied because they were ordered to march 15 miles must be beautiful specimens of the military caste. Doubtless their idea of warfare is to sit by a warm stove and play seven up. They would perish with indiges tion unless they had a ten-course din ner efery day and naturally they can not sleep without feather beds. Their soft and pampered frames could hever endure to lie on the bare ground at night as the Scotch Highlanders do. Those hardy heroes sleep sweetly and dream blissful dreams of home and mother with nothing over them but their plaids when the mercury is at zero and brush the frost crystals off their legs in the gray. dawn, with no thought that they have suffered any hardship. Gibbon draws a picture of the Roman soldier's daily routine which would make these New York butter boys howl with fright. - They had to march all day laden with their armor, heavy weapons, extra garments, .cook ing outfit and provisions. When night came there was no rest' for them un til they had built a fortified camp. Such soldiers as those amounted to something in a fight. But a man who mutinies rather than march 15 miles would probably run away at the first sight of the foe. . ' There are plenty of people who will set out and walk 15 miles just for fun. We know women who do it frequently and come home blooming like the Rose of Sharon. Away with such puny creatures as these men of New York. Are they the best that over boastful state can produce? - THE PLACE FOR WALNUTS. It may be questioned . whether Mr. M. A. Baker, of McMlnhville, is well advised in preferring bottom' land to the . foothills for walnuts. His argu ment is that the tap root can pene trate the soil with more freedom where the formation is alluvial. No doubt -this is often true, and since the vigor of the walnut tree depends greatly on the development of the tap root, Mr. Baker's reasoning pos sesses much cogency. It would be conclusive if we could eliminate the difficulty of early and late frosts. Mr. Baker is a man of tried experience and a trustworthy student of condi tions, but he probably errs In ascrib ing the injury which walnut trees suf fered last Winter to the cold weather. The safer opinion is that it was caused by early and late frosts. In the Spring of 1908 anuntlmely frost killed the foliage of young wal nuts on the bottoms and compelled them to waste energy in making an entirely new start. They grew vigor ously all Summer, but Fall found them with a great length of soft. Im mature twigs, and the curtailed grow ing season did not permit them to ripen. " They were then smitten by a succession of early frosts in the Fall of 1908, which frequently killed the wood - down to the surface of the ground. - Thus the mischief was done before the extreme cold of the Winter of 1908-9 came on. We understand that walnut plantings situated 300 or 400 feet upward on the foothills es caped these ruinous frosts almost completely. If that is true, there can hardly be any question which situa tion is the better. LIMITATION'S OF THE INDIVIDUAL. Investigation by a Coroner's jury of the fatal train wreck on the O. R. & N. Wednesday was followed by the arrest, on a charge of manslaughter, of the engineer of one of the trains. Testimony showed that the first train was passing through a "block" at slow speed, when a train run ning at high speed, and in defiance ef the danger signal shown at the en trance to the block, followed it into the block and crashed Into the ca boose of the first' train, killing two men and injuring a number of others. The. tragedy again discloses the de pendence which must still be placed on the train operatives, as well as on the remarkable accident-preventing equipment with which most of the roads are now provided. Beyond a certain point, individual responsibility holds as prominent a position in these matters as it did be fore the block signal, the- air .brake or any other safeguards were. invent ed. The block signal, flashing its red light, can warn the engineer that the block which he is approaching is al ready occupied by a train, but, being automatic and not human, it cannot prevent the engineer from running past the danger signal and causing a wreck. From a financial standpoint the railroad is always the heaviest sufferer by these disasters, and for that reason alone the greatest possible care is exercised in the selection of men. It Is a noticeable fact, frequently com mented on, that railroad accidents In this country are always more numer ous during periods of prosperity than when .business is at low ebb. Two fac tors, closely related, combine to pro duce this result. With a traffic which is taxing the facilities of the roads to -handle it, there is the increased liability of acci dents from overworked , eauUnxaartt and congested train movement, and also from the difficulty In securing a. complete working force of as high a standard of efficiency as is possible when employment is scarce and good men plentiful. To this latter feature more than any other is1 due the excel lent record made by the foreign rail roads, where the death rate is so re markably low. With the knowledge that there are hundreds of men fully as competent as himself awaiting his position, and the further knowledge that extreme difficulty " would be ex perienced in finding another position, the foreign railroad engineer takes no chances in running past signals or disobeying.orders. . The responsibility of the individual to the public is no greater in the case of the foreign engineer than it is with his American craftsman. -As it affects his own particular welfare, however, there is a much greater incentive for the exercise of caution on the part of the foreigner than in the case of the American engineer. The New York -Chamber of' Com merce, the greatest commercial organ ization in the New World, has refused to indorse any measures for the ..re habilitation of the American merchant marine to which is attached a pro vision for a ship subsidy. At the same time the organization adopted resolu tions "emphatically favoring the reha bilitation of the American merchant marine." New York handles vastly more business with foreign ports than la handled by all other American ports combined, and for this reason her Im porters and exporters may be expected to know what is best for the encour agement of trade facilities'1 with the rest of the world. No small portion of the credit fc'r the anti-ship subsidy sentiment in the greatest " city In the United 'States is due to the efforts of the New York Journal of Commerce, which, in season and out of season, has belabored the grafting scheme with telling blows. The more that is known about the ship subsidy the less it ap peals to good American citizens. What's this talk we hear about the decadence of English nobility? In the good old days when "might made right," opposition to the ruling classes was met with real resistance which added variety to life in an era when the nobility rode forth on lron sheathed chargers to harpoon . the enemy. Some of this - kind of blood must have been handed down to Sir William Bull, mem ber of the House of Commons for Hammersmith, a populous suburb of London. Taking objection, to some in terruptions made by one of the audi ence while he was delivering a speech Thursday, Sir William promptly hustled down from the platform and engaged in a stand-up fight with the man who entered objection to his re marks. Press dispatches do not state whether it was "win, lose or draw," but the incident certainly proves that now, as Well as "In days of old," some of "the knights are bold," when- the common people get gay with them. ''The New . Year's Eve Debauch," noted in nearly all our cities', is a sub ject of severe animadversion by the press of the United States. The Ore gonian now and hereby gives notice that if the like shall again occur in Portland the men and women claim ing respectability may expect to see a full account of "the proceedings" at all the various grill and banquet rooms of Portland, with especial at tention to the names of the women and of their behavior. The press of the country can break this up and stop the disgrace; and it must and will. At proper time, lest this be forgotten. The Oregonian will give further notice. There's a lot of buncombe in this of ficial inspection of milk business and each of the horde of officials smirks about it. Meanwhile the fond parent who wishes pure milk for a chlld'will use diligence according to the measure of his industry and common sense, without regard for inspectors and their deputies. Grant County, Kentucky, had its first legal execution in fifty years yes terday a negro hanged for criminal assault on a white woman in Novem ber. But to do so the Circuit Judge had to make a bargain with a mob that justice would be speedy in action. It was. "A soft answer turneth away wrath," said President Taft in his Salt Lake sermon last September, when trying to pacify the Ballinger Pinchot row, and he should have added "but grievous words stir up anger." Any pension plan for Government employes will have Its disadvantages and objectionable features. The best plan of all embraces life insurance and the savings bank, with a little invest ment In land. When Eastern folk think of taking up land under actual settlement laws, there is only' one way that of grub bing stumps and planting crops. A non-resident proprietor ought, to have no claim. - Is the whole United States to take toll on the streams and lands and for ests and minerals of the West?. That was one of the mistaken "conserva tion" ideas of Mr. Pinchot. The Kansas minister on trial for ab ducting a 16-year-old girl says she tempted him. The rascally reverend must be a descendant of Adam In the direct line. Zelaya Imagines somebody has been trying to assassinate him. He thrnks himself a big man and one of the worlda foremost rulers. There is prospect of a Methuselahtlc Marathon, 'for a 79-year-old sprinter in Eureka, Cal., has challenged Wes ton, the pedestrian. The cold weather wouldn't have have been so keen if the plumbers' bills and those of Santa Claus had not come in together. The Eastern Idea of fine weather has prevailed this Winter in Oregon long enough. The right idea is now back again. Eastern quotations on hogs are crowding the Portland figure, and this Is not much of a hog country. Not yet. ' Mr. Taft Is still P.resld.ent, Pinchot fount! .jxul as Mr. WHERE TO LOOK FOR THE COMET Kow Sooth of the Zenith, Soon Near Planet Mara. FOREST GROVE. Or., Jan. 7. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonian there ap peared recently a dispatch from New York to the effect that Halley's comet was visible. It was stated that, "Pro fessor Eastman of -Columbia University has been studying the comet without the use of a telescope. It is in the northeast, 20 degrees in length. "For two weeks It will be visible and will be plainly seen for several nights." There is certainly some mistake about this. Perhaps some other body than Hal ley's comet is referred to in the dispatch from New York. While it is true that the path of the comet cannot be predicted with the same degree of certainty as can that of the moon or the planets, for example; and its ephemeris? as figured out by one ob server does not exactly coincide with that made by another, yet the variance among astronomers of note is now very slight. The Rev. Father G. M. Searle, of New York,, is a recognized authority among these observers. He has recently re ported that the comet was seen on Christmas night with a six-Inch telescope and that very soon an observer with a four-inch glass and good eyes would be able to make it out. It is, of course), slowly brightening, but Fathor Searle ex presses the opinion tiiat the comet will not be visible to the naked eye for some weeks yet, perhaps not till after it has passed the trim about the middle of March. Its position now is high up in the heavens, a little south of the lenith at 8 o'clock. It Is moving towards the west, and about January 15 will pass very close to the planet Mars, which may be readily recognized by its red color. It should be looked for there by anyone possessing a small telescope. W. N. FERRIN. LIST OF UNDESIRABLE JURTHEN. Recommendations of Jury' Commissioner of Chicago Approved by Court. St. Paul Pioneer Press. It Is somewhat surprising to And good coming out of Chicago, but the Jury Commissioner of that city recently ob jected to, the drawing of certain classes of citizens for jury duty, and his objec tions to them were approved by the court. The original list prepared by the Com missioner is as follows: Actors, because they have no fixed abode. laborers and foreign tailors, because, as a rule, not or sufficient education. Bollermakerc, because or defective hear ing;. - Saloonkeepers and bartenders, because of their occupation. Train dispatchers and tower signal men, because they are doing a greater service at their regular positions. Medical and theological students, because they are exempt. Peddlers, junk dealers and scavenge for obvious reasons. The Commissioner also sought to ex clude all those persons who In pursuit of their daily tasks habitually accept tips. This list would exclude waiters, porters, barbers, cabmen and the like, but the court decided that the objection of the Commissioner was not sound in such cases, and refused to- bar men of that class from Jury service. The list finally barred, however, is worthy of considera tion by courts in all parts of the coun try. Most of the troubles arising from the operation of our system of judicial procedure in trial cases are based on the jury system and the difficulty, amounting at times to an apparent impossibility, of securing competent men for jury service. Certainly there would be less criticism of court findings if the Jury system were put on a higher plane than at present. Hindering Religions Progress, Churchman. Now that the church has almost eman cipated itself from the dead hand of reformation art and reformation theol ogy, there seems to be no reason why the principles of public worship should be tied down to the ideals of the 16th or the 17th century. Yet undoubtedly there is a mass of reasonable and unreasonable antago nism to change to be overcome where the public worship of the church is concerned. Denominationaiism by itself is an obsta cle that stands in the way of generous and needed improvements in ritual, as in so many other phases of ecclesiastical life. Churchmen dislike some things be cause they are practiced by Roman Cath. olics, and they dislike other things be cause they are practiced by various Pro testant bodies. The result is a loss of valuable spiritual experience, and, what is more, a practical hindrance to mis sionary expansion, both at home and abroad. A Representative Paper. California (Los Angeles) Cultivator. One of the up-to-date papers which come to our desk representing the great producing Interests is the Weekly Oregonian published in Portland. While it is a newspaper, it gives particular attention to the farm Interests of that state. The issue of December 16 con tains a most complete review of ad dresses made at the annual meeting of the Oregon Dairy Association, also of addresses made at the meeting of the State Horticultural Society held in Portland on December 6 and 8.' The extended quotations from these ad dresses, together with otner farm news, are most creditable. Thackeray's Dislike of Flattery. Westminster Gazette. The Hon. Sir E. chandos Leigh says: "I knew Thackeray pretty well. Thack eray perfectly abominated anything In the nature of flattery. I was with Thackeray one night when a man came up and for five minutes administered to the great novelist the most fulsome flattery. When the man had gone I said to Thackeray: 'Who is thatr Thackeray replied: 'He calls himself an artist, but I think he paints as much, in "butter" as he- does In oils." " i The Sweet T-'aes of Adversity. Life. You can wear out your old clothes. You are not troubled with visitors. You are not persecuted to stand sponsor. Begging letter writers will let you alone. Impostors know It is use less to try and bleed you. Tou can practice temperance. You are not fool ishly flattred. You save many a debt and many a headache. Finally, if you have a true friend you'll find it out. Incredible. Cleveland Leader. "What's the matter, old man?" "Oh, I've got an awful cold." "Tough luck. I wish I knew how you could cure it-" "Have you do recipe for be?" "No, I don't know a thing that'll help." "Shake you're a wodder. Have a, drigk." Can Yon Beat It T New York Evening Post. ' It was not the limit of the amazing that Cook thought he had reached the pole. Depew thinks be can be re elected. Divorce in Chicago. Chicago Journal. Just a. little millionaire. Just a. little wife. Mighty little happiness. Awful lot of strife. Juet some little lawyers. Just a little fee. Then a little evidence To .& referee. Juet a little courtroom. Just a whispered line. Scratching- of the Judjre's sen Anj. everything is fine. . HERE IS YOUR WORKINGMAN'S IDEAL ! N-tv Zealand, Plunged Headlong: Into Debt, Is Being: Steadily Abandoned for Better Fields by AH Who Can Get Away Work Scarce, Wane Poor, Living Hlecn. Eugene Guard. K. Leslie Webb, whose home is in New Zealand, is a student of the Eugene Bible University and Intends to return to that country when his education is completed. navlnft heard political anatra ot ew Zea- . land discussed frequently in America, and often . very ignorantly, Mr. Webb rwcenlly wrote to his friend. A. H. Gibson, a promi .nent resident of Wellington, New Zealand, to prepare an article giving the real con ditions there, for the Information of the American people through the press. Mr. Gibson complied -with the request and his letter follows: I am amused by the remarks of the professor - who lectured lately In your parts on New Zealand, which he de scribed as "the workingman's paradise." taslng his conclusions on that mislead ing book Issued toy the New Zealand gov ernment, which has induced so many to seek these shores only to be bitterly dis appointed. As one who has resided here over 30 years, has seen most phases of Colonial life, has prospered fairly well, and followed keenly the trend of polit ical life, I have some authority in the statements I am making. If by & work ingman's paradise is meant a country where by strenuous work, the worker, whether skilled or unskilled, can obtain a livelihood, then that ideal is obtained hern. But if the term is meant to in clude the enjoyment of luxuries denied to workers in other countries, . then I tjeny.ts application here. The average rate of pay of the unskilled worker here Is 8 shillings a day in the towns, and from 16 shillings to 1 per week (and found) In the country. His employment Is often precarious. Out of his 2 8 shillings a week a town laborer with a wife and four children will have to pay for rent 15 shillings per week; coal and fire 'wood 6 shillings; milk and butter 4 shillings, 6 pence; vegetables and fruit, 5 shillings; groceries (including bread), 16 shillings; making a total of 2, 5 shillings and 6 pence, leav ing the sum of 2 shillings and 6 pence for clothing, boots, shoes. train . fares, doctor's fees, medicines, etc. This is no imaginary budget, but can be confirmed on reference to any union in the Do minion. The skilled laborer ie In a rather better position, but here again the uncertainty of continuous employment Is a factor mititating greatly against his being able to make both ends meet. Carpenters and joiners are at present (November, 1909) a drug In the market. Hundreds have left for Australia, yet even now the supply is much in excess of the demand.- The same applies to bricklayers, plasterers and others. No man in his senses would advise any laboring man to came to New Zealand just now I have met dozens of immigrants from the Uni ted Kingdom who have anathematized the day they were deceived into believing tnis country a worklngman s paradise. Now as to the chance of a man's get ting on the land In this country. With plenty of capital any man can buy land here at a price varying from 2 per acre for uncleared brush land in the way- backs to as much as 65 and even 90 per acre for cleared improved land near a township. With the limited capital of from 25 to 125-the Immigrants (whose passages are partly or wholly paid by the government) have in hand on ar- r'.val, little can be done in the way of HIGH-WATER MARK FOR IMPORTS American Market More Attractive Than Ever to Foreign Producers. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. The country's foreign trade returns for November indicate that our business re vival is in danger of being overdone. It has marched along so far in advance of the European recovery from trade depres sion as to place the United States at a disadvantage in maintaining such a trade balance as will exclude heavy exports of gold. This will appear from the follow ing comparison of November merchandise epyi is auu imports: Excess of exports. $53,723,259 57.337,406 93,521.301 62.899,342 Xov. 1909. 19ns j 1907. 1906. 1905. 194.115.271 140,392.012 161.252.6S3 loa fiis ?i7 204.464.217 110.942.916 182.655,685 119,756,343 170,327,921 98,284.314 72.043.607 Last month's merehnnrli been two or three times exceeded at this or other seasons of the year; and but for the very high priced at which cotton is now being exported the November mer chandise exports would have made a much more unfavorable comparison. Imports, however, bave become of un precedented volume. They were last month over t20,000,000 above the highest previous record of the season, and soma $7,000,000 above the highest previous monthly record of any season. The usual tendency of the Import trade volume is to increase through the Winter months and culminate in March with the highest figures of the year. If this is to be the present experience, the actual balance of trade will have become heavily against the country by next Spring and will in volve a large export of gold. Notwith standing the fact that the tariff has been left by the recent revision at about as high an average level as before, the flood of foreign goods pouring in over it is the largest ever known. These high commodity prices which so agitate the country have evidently been carried too fast and too far above the European level plus the tariff protection. Thus the American market has become more attractive than ever to foreign pro ducers, and they are taking large advan tage of the situation. The necessary re sult of these trade tendencies, If they per sist, will be such a hardening of the American money market throufeh gold ex ports as to force commodity prices back into greater harmony with the European price level. A situation is presented calling for more conservatism in estimat ing the commercial possibilities of the future. FIXIXG XATE THEATERGOERS. The Cleveland Ordinance "Means Well," bnt It Probably Isn't ''Good Law." From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Cleveland has . passed an ordinance fining any theater manager ?100 who per mits a patron to take a seat while the curtain is up. Those who arrive after the first act has begun mast wait until the end of the act before taking their seats or the house will be prosecuted. We doubt If any substantial good will come from such an ordinance. The de cilsons of courts in the East have uni formly been to the effect that a theater is a private enterprise and not a public institution and that the managers may make such reasonable regulations as they please for conducting it. Doubtless the ordinance will be thrown out by the courts, but the incident cttlls attention to a growing evil. Most persons are very selfish in taking their pleasures. They forget how much their own copduct af fects others. Those who come in late at the theater or opera and compel persons already seated to stand and give passageway are guilty of social misde meanors. It took a long time to estab lish the custom of requiring women to remove their hats and it will probably take longer to make them prompt In at tendance, but 'tis a consummation de voutly to be wished. In the. meantime, we might revert to the old time "curtain raiser" to make the main play thoroughly enjoyable. Poor Sboir Anyway. . . Dallas Itemizer. There was some kind of a show at the Woodman Hall last night. As they did not patronize the newspaper, . we can safely conclude that their finances were at a,- low ebb and that the show was not of much account. acquiring land. All the best and avail able land has been long ago taken up. What is left Is either native land, and therefore (so far) inalienable, private tanns tor eaie at a. price far in advance of their real value, or government land for selection in places su far removed from a market. ,so Inaccessible, and of so poor a, quality generally, as to be prac tically useless. 1 except, of course, the little patches of land -bought periodically by the government from private owners, and leased or sold under the ballot svs tem. These are generally of good quality. But their area, in comparison- with the demand, is so limited that anyone man's chance of acquiring a section is almost Inappreciable. For 30 sections lately put up by the government under the ballot system near Auckland there were 1S3U applicants! Following upon a severe depression, during which the late Premier (Sir Harry Atkinson) placed the finances of the colony on a sound basis, came, an un precedented boom in land value?. The government of which the late Premier. Riclrard John Leddon, was head, had thn a great opportunity of continuing Sir Harry Atkinson's policy of careful financ ing. Instead it plunged into wholes.ild borrowing. It boomed up land values to Increase taxation. In every powlble way It sought to obtain money. While doubt less much of the borrowed money v. an needed to develop the resources of the country, much was wasted. Kxpenslve brick postoffices replaced wooden struc tures which would have for years served every purpose. Costly railway stations and railway offices were erected regard less of expense. Railways ware made in response to political pressure which could never hope to pay working expenses. Of fices were created and filled with polit ical sutjporters (no less than 930 employes in the civil- service have been lately re trenched by the Ward administration and 250.000 reduction thereby niado iu the estimates). The Budget just issued (November 11, 1909) by Sir Joseph Ward. Minister of Finance, bears on the face of it the reason for the dearness of living, the scarcity qf employment, and the des perate needs of the government for money. The increase of the public debt for the year is 4,484.637. From 1831 to 1909 the public debt increased .from . 830,350 to no less than 70,935. 5S4. an in crease of 32.108.184. equal to S2 per cent! True, the Premier estimates the increase of the value of private and public lands at 148,812,257, or an increase in the same period of over 121 per cent. But as much, of this value is purely speculative, de pending entirely upon the recent excep tional prices for our produce, much may at any time have to be written off. Is it any wonder, then, that with thn country mortgaged up to the eyes, its freeholds, parted with, or practically so, and the great bulk of the revenue (which is raised through the customs and there fore on the poorer people) required to pay interest on the national debt, employ ment should be scarce and living dear? i The wonder is that with such wildcat financing the Dominion has not before been brought to the verge of bankruptcy. That it has come to the point where oniy the most careful finance can hope to steer her clear of . the shoals of a financial difficulty must be apparent to all. NEW YEAR'S EVE DEBAUCH. It Is an Evil That Decent People MusC Discountenance. Chicago Record-Herald. Reports in all the newspapers indioata that the celebrations New Year's eve re sulted in a competition in drunkenness and in tho violation of rules of conduct that are ordinarily considered binding on society. Questions of law enforcement are Involved that could be determined, only on the presentation of speciflo charges, but we have no doubt whatever, that society itself must give serious; thought. to its responsibility for the cus tom that has grown up of late and for the scenes of unrestrained license. There are persons who have been led by curiosity to take part in or to wit-i ness the scenes and who have had their curiosity much more than satisfied. A single experience has disgusted them for! a lifetime. They vouch for the accuracy; of the newspaper reports, feel a sense! of personal shame, and have withdrawn, i themselves forever from the competi-! tlon. ; Naturally their influence is thrown very 1 strongly against the custom and we be-1 lieve that there will be large additions to their numbers each year. Feople of refinement and a proper self-respect simply cannot continue to give counte nance to such displays if it is .a fact; that they have constituted an appre-; ciable element in the crowds at these ; celebrations. There was a time at the height of the bicycle craze when there was much dis cussion over the appearance of women . in -bloomers and knickerbockers. The re sult of the discussion was a return to ! skirts. Only women with an unusual amount of bravado or with little to lose in the way of reputation showed them selves in the costumes against which the greatest objections were raised. But the facts in the case were of small import- , ance compared , with those that are pre sented now. We are told on good authority of young women in the most revolting stages of drunkenness, of the complete breaking . down of social barriers, of disgraceful exhibitions that suggest the worst feat ures of the notorious French balls. All this must lead to severe condemna tion, the imposition of a social ban and a very pronounced reaction. The cele-: bratlons will be left exclusively to the coarse and the vulgar, to the regular ; patrons of disreputable balls. Pointed Paragraphs. ' Chicago News. A white Christmas maketh a glad coal man. A poor excuse is better than none if it works. Too many eye-openers are apt to make a man see double. Great minds that run in the same channel frequently collide. - .The price of a woman's stunning gown may shock her husband, Give married women a fighting chance and they'll do the rest. Some local celebrities are famous and some others are notorious. " CURRENT SMALL fHAXCK. "The psychological moment counts f r much." "That's right. Almost any town coul-1 : be voted dry along about the first of Jan uary. "Louisville Courier-Journal. Irate Customer See here! That studnt lamp you sold me a week ago is no good. Dealer "Beg pardon, sir. I ousht to ha.ve told you it was a college student lamp. Puck. . - "Uncle Joe" told T. P. O'Connor that he was descended from a line of kiriijH. - It seems to us, however, that "Cncle .Toe" is acting as i though he were descended from a line of aces. Houston Post. Mrs. Neuricb Centering studlol You are the artist who paints miniature portraits. I believe? Ie Auber Yea. madam. Mrs. Neurich Well, what'll you charge for paint ing a life-size miniature of my daughter? Chicago Dally News. Modern Philanthropist My worthy friend, here is a ten-dollar bill which I will ffivo you Beggar Cunnerved with Joy) (iod bless y M. P. Give you on January 1 next, on condition that you raise a thous- ; and more between-now and tbat time. Puck. Stranger (In Drearyhurst is there any place ia this town where I can get some thing to drink? i:ncle We!by Gosh yes, : sir, onless you're mighty blamed hard to I please. There's four town pumps, a wul phur well an' half a dozen places where you kin git root beer. Chicago Tribune.