lO
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATTJRDAT, FEBRUARY 26, 1010.
PORILASD. ORECOS.
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PORTLAND, SATURDAY, FEB. 26, 1910.
KEW EFFORTS OF TILE -WRECKERS
By a group of persons whose, ob
ject Is overthrow of the remainder
of the Constitution of Oregon, a largo
pamphlet has been printed and sent
Into circulation, containing a further
scheme of innovation and revolution,
to be offered to the citizens at the
general election In November next. It
contains propositions designed for
nearly complete substitution of vari
ous wild projects for the principal ar
ticles of the Constitution of the state.
(The general drift of the scheme is
socialistic. Take a rapid glance at
Some of them.
The plan proposes overturn of
equal taxation, the necessary founda
tion of all just government. It advo
cates a constitutional amendment ex
pressly designed to carry the state
Into construction of railroads, would
burden it with heavy debt, probably
carry it into bankruptcy and certainly
create an Immense class of official
Bmployes; it proposes a revolutionary
change In the executive authority of
the state, conferring upon the Gover
nor powers hitherto unheard of, ex
cept in absolute governments; it asks
for withdrawal from the people of
their right to elect nearly the whole
body of the officials who are to serve
them, and bestowal of the power on
the Governor to appoint sheriffs and
district attorneys, the secretary of
state, state treasurer, state printer,
superintendent of public Insruction
and "a state business manager," and
the governor and his "cabinet" are
to have seats on the floors of both
houses of the legislature, and the
right to introduce bills and push leg
islative measures.
Another amendment proposes to up
tet the old and customary methods
of county administration and to put
In a board of three directors, with
a county business manager, in each
county of the state. The judicial sys
tem and jury system are to be revo
lutionized, and In civil cases three
Tourths of a jury may render a ver
dict. What Is called "proportional
representation' in election of mem
bers of the legislature is to be insti
tuted; there are to be no representa
tive districts, but each and every
voter in the state is to cast his vote
for every senator and every represen
lative, up to. the required number.
The people may recall the legislative
assembly at any time and elect a new
one. Each member of the legislature
Is to receive a lump sum of $360 for
each session, which will greatly in
crease the expense of that body of
the people.
The scheme throughout Is a scheme
of projectors worthy to be classed
with those whom Gulliver found giv
ing laws in the Kingdom of Laputa.
The ballot, to carry it all, cannot be
less in size than one of our legal and
official bed-sheets, six feet by nine
bigger. Indeed, because other groups
of theoretical statesmen will he out
with their various programmes. This
particular brochure emanates from
W. S. U'ren, C. E. S. Wood, H. E.
McGinn, E. S. J. McAllister, Jonathan
Bourne and a few more; and It is said
that the leaders of. the state federa
tion of labor have "indorsed" parts
of it.
Since this most peculiar crazy quilt
is going to the electorate, it will be
necessary for the voter to give some
attention to it. It is inconceivable;
however, that so wild and revolution
ary a scheme could receive any euch
number of votes as to bring it within
sight of adoption. . The document Is
the product of political theory run
mad. Men can scarcely formulate a
thing of this kind "without first putting
all knowledge derived from experience
in the organization of states . behind
them. It is believed the people of
Oregon will decide that the -Constitution
has been "tinkered" enough for
the present and some time to come.
THE KANSAS CROP SCARE.
It has only been a few days since
the prophetic rwoodchuck emerged
from his hole and retired again for
his beauty sleep; but the breath of
Spring is in the air. To be more ac
curate, it is being carried through the
air toy telegraph, for he it known to
all men that once again the annual
Spring crop scare is with us. As
usual, this sign of Spring has made
Its first appearance in Kansas, and in
the Chicago wheat pit yesterday the
bulls and the bears who hung around
the ticker listened to weird tales of
Winter-killed wheat all through Kan
sas and the great Southwest. To be
sure, there was not much variation
in these tales from those which come
out of the headquarters of the Krop-Killer-Klan
every year; but the mar
ket gave them the fullest credence
and prices went up with a rush.
It will be more than a month before
the snow Is off much of the Winter
wheat, and it will be two months be
fore some of the Spring wheat which
will figure in the 1910 crop yields Is
planted; but these facts, which are
only facts, will have small bearing on
the work of the experts who keep
Kansas on the map as the home and
headquarters of the early-rising crop
scare, which germinates and matures
a month or six weeks before the wheat
peeps out of the snow. But the crop
scare, like the Farmers' Union, is not
without its advantages. It comes
along and slides a prop under a sag
ging market just at a time when Bus-
sia, Australia, the Argentine and India
are dumping vast quantities of the
cereal on the foreign markets. As the
telegraph carries the news of this
crop scare through the air and under
the ocean, tho farmers from the -Antip
odes and the pampas of the Argen
tine to the frozen steppes of the Rus
elas will all Join in' a paean of praise
for the Kansas crop scare, the "one
best bet" of the men who are boom
ing the wheat market.
Later In "the season the chinchbug,
the aphis, the greenbug and other in
sect factors in the making of wheat
prices will trail In, but none of them
receive the same cordial greeting that
the farmers and the speculators ex
tend to the annual crop killing that
takes place In Kansas..
A STREET-RAILWAY EXPERIMENT.
The experiment in the city of Cleve
land (Ohio) on streetcar fares Is not
yet settled, nor is likely to be for a
considerable time further. At present
it is in this state, to wit: By popular
vote a twenty five years' franchise
has been granted to the Cleveland
Railway Company, with provision that
it shall give a 3-cent fare for
eight months, and as long thereafter
as this rate shall appear to admit of
a 6 per cent profit on a new capitali
zation based on estimated cost of the
property. The cost value is estimated
for the city by its own engineers. It
is a fair guess, however, that the re
turns of the experiment of eight
months will fall to show the 6 per
cent profit. The bookkeeping Is In
the hands of the company.
If, after eight months, the profit
shall not appear, at the 3-cent rate,
then the rate for each passenger on
a single line Is to be 4 cents, and ah
extra cent for transfer to another line.
But this additional cent will be re
funded to the passenger when he gives
up his transfer ticket. This arrange
ment is adopted! as an expedient to
prevent misuse of the transfer, which
has been complained of in many
places as a source of great abuse and
loss. From the Cleveland experiment
much is likely to be learned, in one
way or another, by other cities. On
a heavy vote Cleveland adopted this
plan by 8000 majority. The city was
weary of the agitation, and hoped this
w-ould end it. Yet probably It will
not.
EXPLANATION DUE FROM MR. JONES.
Now, of course, it was to be expect
ed that exoneration would be the re
sult of the Investigation by the School
Board Into the charges, such as they
were, made by a discharged employe
against Director Beach. Mr. Beach is
a straightforward man, with a repu
tation for probity that altogether
precluded the idea that he would
stoop to any petty graft. It trans
pired that his accuser had no knowl
edge, and professed to have none, that
any of Mr. Beach's actions had been
irregular in the matter of having pri
vate work done at public expense.
Mr. Beach paid for; the work, and
had no notion of charging it to the
school district.
But the matter should not be al
lowed to drop here. No candid per
son can be favorably Impressed by
the actions or obvious motives of Mc
Leod, the carpenter; yet the whole
affair 13 serious enough to require an
explanation from School Architect
Jones. Let Jones come forward now
and explain some things that by all
means require explanation. If Beach
paid Jones and it appears to be set
tled that he did and Jones paid Mc
Leod, it still remains to be determined
why McLeod was also on the public
payroll, if he was. If Jones did not
pay McLeod, what became' of Beach's
money? The man of the hour in this
little emergency is School Architect
Jones.
MR. MAGOON ANO THE MONROE DOC
TRINE. It Is far from certain that intelli
gent opinion in the United States
would accept the Interpretation of the
Monroe Doctrine which Charles E.
Magoon proposed In his Boston speech
on Thursday. His language was that
the Monroe Doctrine "means and al
ways has meant the .domlnancy of the
United States in the western hemis
phere" and, consequently, he infers
that "the United States must see to it
that the governments of this hemis
phere discharge their duties to their
citizens and their international obli
gations and k p pace with the prog
ress of the wrld." This is very fine
language, but the reflective reader
cannot peruse it without misgivings.
Most governments heretofore have had
quite enough to do to discharge their
own "duties to their citizens." The
task of seeing in addition that some
score of other governments- perform
the same duty appears fairly over
whelming. Is Mr. Magoon quite cer
tain, upon calm reflection, that we
are prepared to undertake it?
The task of compelling our sister
republics "to keep pace with the prog
ress of the world" strikes one as stilV
more difficult and even vague. What
does Mr. Magoon mean by "the prog
ress of the world?" If he means pos
tal savings banks, the parcels post,
wise conservation laws, honest gov
ernment of cities, we have not kept
pace with it ourselves. Should we
try to impose these blessings on the
other nations of the continent, they
might Justly urge us to practice our
own preaching. Mr. Magoon enumer
ates three requirements which the
United States must make of its neigh
bors in order to carry out the Monroe
Doctrine. Two of them, as we have
seen, are of such a nature that no
sane government would ever think of
making them. The third stands on an,
entirely different basis.
When Mr. Magoon says that in con
sequence of the Monroe Doctrine this
country must compeV the other Amer
ican "nations to fulfill their interna
tional obligations he speaks reason
ably, though not with full warrant.
jio responsible statesman has ever in
terpreted the doctrine quite In that
way. When Germany and England
had a grievance against "Venezuela, in
1903, this government merely de
manded assurances that they would
acquire no territory and left them to
exercise compulsion themselves. This
was in strict accord with the modern
acceptation of the doctrine. It for
bids any European nation to acquire
a new establishment In the western
hemisphere either by conquest or
treaty and, naturally, it does not shun
the consequences of the prohibition;
but to say that "the Monroe Doctrine
means and always has meant the
domlnancy of the United States in the
western hemisphere" displays a lam
entable contempt for history.
There Is nothing whatever which
the Monroe Doctrine "always has
meant." Its import has changed al
most continually ever since it was
enunciated. From Monroe's pen its
first statement referred to the trian
gular boundary dispute between this,
country, Russia and England. Then
It took, til e tone-of a. joint- declaration.
in which the . United States seconded
England's warning to the European
Congress not to Intermeddle between
Spain and her American colonies.
Gradually, since 1823, it has developed
its present signification. From the
beginning, however, one must concede
to Mr. Magoon that the Monroe Doc
trine expressed a National aspiration,
for the complete exclusion of Euro
pean Influence from this hemisphere.
"Our first and fundamental maxim,"
Jefferson ' wrote two months before
Monroe's message appeared, "should
be never to entangle ourselves in the
broils of Europe. Our second, never
to suffer Europe to Intermeddle with
Cls-Atlantic affairs."
We can conceive of only one con
tingency In which under the Monroe
Doctrine it would be the duty of the
United States to compel another
American country to "fulfill its inter
national obligations." If some Euro
pean government with a genuine
grievance against that country had
tried all means of obtaining redress
short of conquering territory and
failed to secure it, then the United
States would be in honor bound either
to allow the Monroe Doctrine to lapse
or else force the recreant republic to
do Justice to the complainant. Fairly
Interpreted the doctrine imposes Berl
ous obligations upon us. There is
nothing to be gained, and much to be
imperiled, by rashly expanding its import.
FACT AND FICTION IN GOVERNMENT.
Since the days of the Stuart Kings
the House of Commons, of the British
Parliament, has claimed, practically,
the right to rule. And yet the House
of Lords Is an obstruction. Wonder
is that the House of Commons does
not reassert the doctrine it proclaimed
In Pyms time, that if the Lords and
the King would not Join the Com
mons, then the Commons would pro
ceed alone to save the nation.
Americans find it hard to under
stand this system of rights and of
powers, as between the two Houses
of the British Parliament. Most
Americans are disposed to inquire why
the House of Lords should exist at
all. " Every effort seems to be taking
the direction of a purpose to wipe it
out of existence. Yet elimination of
the Lords is not (not yet) a demand
of the so-called popular party. In
deed, it is less so than it was in the
day of Puritan England, nearly three
centuries ago.
Yet undoubtedly the Lords and the
King are only the ornamental parts
of the British political system. In
our country we should go directly at
the business and wipe them out en
tirely. Yet our Senate is a more com
pletely conservative body. In fact,
than the House of Lords Itself. Every
thing, in one country and another, de
pends on the situation and point of
view.
The House of Commons rules, but
isn't quite willing to announce its su
preme authority. It admits a decent
reverence for old usages and for es
tablished forms. It is willing, indeed
desirous, that the House of Lords
shall continue in nominal existence,
but Is unwilling that it shall have any
power ovr legislation.
The House of Commons certainly,
in many respects, is an extraordinary
assembly. It Is not only the leading
branch of the . legislature, the imme
diate organ and purse-bearer of the
people, the jealous guardian of the
constitution, the chosen temple of
fame, as Its fervid orators have called
it, and the main avenue, moreover, to
honors and power, but it is especially
the great touchstone of talents for
public business. A man may often
deceive himself or mislead others on
the real extent of his abilities for such
employment, but he can rarely im
pose upon this body.'Few know what
they are capable of when they enter
it, and few come out without having
found their just weight in the politi
cal balance. It does not, therefore,
merely serve to make a man great,
but, if he be really deficient in the
qualltles'of , a statesman, It Is sure to
render him little. Because of the
supreme position of the House' of
Commons, leadership In It Is more
difficult than in our House of Repre
sentatives. Yet, in either body, a dull
man will soon be neglected, a super
ficial one seen through, a vain one
laughed at, an Ignorant one despised.
Now here you have, a basis for judg
ment of Speaker Cannon. He Is not
a commonplace man.
The two systems are not so very un
like, though they may seem so. But
in our country the Senate appears to
be more firmly rooted than the Lords
are in England. Still, you can't tell.
The most venerable Institutions, all
of them, yield, after a while.
OCR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.
There Is no stronger guarantee of
continued rural and sub-rural devel
opment In the Willamette Valley than
that furnished by the extension of
the electric railway systems that con
verge In Portland. The old day of
teaming In conjunction with market
supply has retired into the shadowy
but once useful domain of things that
were. It was a long day full of in
cidents that attested the persevering
spirit of our early settlers in the face
of difficulty and discomfort. Roads
of the most primitive type were -the
sole avenues of trade in those days
roads that were seas of mud In Win
ter, uneven and dusty In Summer and
that at all seasons made the hauling
of heavy loads over them a slow and
tiresome process.
Wheat was the staple forty bush
els the load for a heavy wagon and a
strong span of horses. The farmer
living in- the vicinity of McMinnville,
for example, took two days to make
the trip to Portland and1 return. With
him on his last trio, in the Fall went
his wife and two or three of the
younger children always the baby In
arms; beneath the seat was the dinner
box, and on top of the load the sack
of oats to feed the horses. Accom
modations over night were sometimes
secured in the house of a settler by
the roadside; sometimes the farmer
folk Blept on an Improvised bed
spread under the wagon. Great fun,
wasn't it? And yet these are the
farmers of early Oregon at whom we
are wont to point as mossbacks. -'
They had their day and It was a
long one. As far as those whose farms
were contiguous to the single railroad
that has traversed the Valley on each
side of the Willamette River for a
third of a century are concerned, this
era has long been of the past. But
for those whose lands lie miles away
from the railroad on either side, these
conditions between field and market
prevailed to a greater or less extent
until the electric railway came, but
now, to cancel them.
Perhaps no enterprise in this state
certainly none representing the
same or a similar amount of capital
invested has "helped the country"
to the extent that the electric line to
Salem and its feeders have done. And
what has been accomplished is but
the beginning. Already, the public is
told, ' prospects for extension of these
lines from Salem to Albany and from
Tlgard to McMinnville are favorably
considered. That from Forest Grove
to North Yamhill will come le.ter, to
be in due time followed by extensions
out into other more or less isolated
portions of the Willamette Valley
counties.
"There Is greater need in this coun
try for men who are willing to work
with their hands than for men who
want to live by their wits," says Pro
fessor Stelner, of Iowa College, in a
lecture in New York, In which he
made a plea for unrestricted immigra
tion. The professor also said that
"most of the money taken abroad
goes Into the wallets of the Yankee
tourists, expatriates and heiresses
who are married into the nobility."
The term "unrestricted immigration"
covers almost too broad a field, but if
there could be some system devised by
which we could exchange the street
corner loafers and orators who rail at
this country and are apparently much
dissatisfied with it, for sturdy, hard
working foreigners who would learn
to regard this country as having de
cided advantages over the one they
left, the economic situation would be
greatly improved. It will be noticed,
however, that all of the foreign trash
of the Emma Goldman type that Is
forced on this country to live by their
wits never permit such wits to lapse
sufficiently to Induce them to leave
this land which they revile.
With live hogs selling for $10 per
hundredweight In the markets of the
Pacific Coast, as well as In Chicago,
it is apparent that other influences
beside a conspiracy of the packers are
at work to increase the cost of living.
So far as known, the American Society
of Equity, which fixes, or attempts to
fix, the price at which wheat and
other farm products shall be sold, has
not established a minimum figure at
which hogs may be sold. This fact
would be sufficient to prevent the so
ciety from being made an accomplice
in the case in which the American
consumers are being held up for ex
travagant prices. If the inquiry as to
the Increased cost of living gets
around to breaHstuffs, it might be less
difficult to prove that the Society of
Equity was engaged in a conspiracy
which had in view the same ends as
were sought by the packing trust.
It is childish, more, it is ridiculous,
to assert that the assembly, whose
function is limited to presentation of
candidates for consideration at the
primary election, will set aside the
primary itself. Nothing can Bet aside
the primary law but a direct vote of a
majority of the people. The assem
bly, in every particular, will adhere to
the primary law. The candidates It
may offer must go to the primary, in
every ' case. The assembly is a
method of party organization and co
operation of party members. There
are those who are afraid, however,
that it will be a means of uniting the
Republican party. Hence these per
sistent yawps about the overthrow of
the primary law by assembly. Ob
serve, once more, that nothing can
set aside the primary law but the di
rect vote of the majority of the peo
ple, of all parties, in the state.
The Nicaraguan government has at
last scored a notable victory over the
Insurgent forces and put the rebels to
flight in such disorder that they left a
large . amount of- ammunition, 600
rifles and their baggage and wound
ed on the field. An Interesting feat
ure of the conflict is the fact that the
artillery of the insurgents was in
charge of an American officer. Re
ports from the sceneA of battle would
Indicate that the American escaped
without injury. Should he be cap
tured, however, it is altogether prob
able that he would meet the same fate
as that which overwhelmed Groce and
Cannon. The calling of a "soldier of
fortune" is attended with great risks,
and the men who accept them should
expect to pay the penalty when they
are caught.
In the State of Washington the
main Issue in the political effort of
the present year will be a protest,
from one side of the state to the other,
against tying up the resources of the
state by false conservation, keeping
people out and preventing develop
ment. It will be the main Issue In
the election of Senator and of all the
state's Representatives in Congress.
It Is high time that citizens of Port
land, owners of property, taxpayers,
householders and water-users, should
begin to get together on some rational
plan for extension of water mains and
assessing the cost thereof, and forer
stall the work of theorists, cranks, so
cialists and all 'shades of bogus re
formers who are trying to combine ir
rational projects together.
ThoDreadful Dutch, after "licking"
the Durable Dane, declines to fight
any Nervy Nigger. It has been proved
that the championship Is not too good
for a black man. .
When a $12-a-week bank clerk can
get away with J160.000. it is time the
clerks joined the Federation and
raised the scale in the interest of hon
esty. Women In Hawaii do not care for
general suffrage, but do want to vote
on the liquor issue: Women, after
all, are alike the world over.
The best eggs in Eastern States are
said to come from a land no farther
away than Europe; but that may be
putting It mildly.
A safe and proper dance needs no
reform, so why talk of reformng a
dance that is bad? Or dancehs-lls
that are evil?
The Detroit woman who eloped
with the husband of her daughter may
now be working off her mother-in-law
wrath.
Not the city's interests are nerving
the fight against the new Broadway
bridge, but selfish personal interests.
Ten dollars for live hogs In Portland
in February Is but a suggestion to
plant corn this Spring.
The Ideal citizen languishes not for
Springtime, because he carries it in
Ziis spirit.
PIJfOHOT.BALLI5iGB3l SQUABBLE.
ExF"ortstter Intent on Ills Fad No
tions, In Violation of the Law.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
When a publio officer transcends the pow
ers with which the Constitution and the
laws clothe him he becomes a menace to
popular rights and to all the safeguards
surrounding them. Secretary of the In
terior Balllnger at Williams College.
Mr. Balllnger speaks out a great
truth, to whose disregard by men in high
place in Washington for several years
past we owe the present, unfortunate
situation in the Interior Department
and the Forestry Bureau, the loss to the
public service of Mr. Pinchot and the
scandalous assaults upon Mr. Ballinger
himself.
No brief is held here for either Mr.
Pinchot or Mr. Ballinger in the 'deplor
able controversies of which their offi
cial positions have made them the cen
tral figures. We confine ourselves to
the admitted facts.
' Why did Mr. Pinchot become so
insubordinate and rebellious against
every rule of discipline that his con
tinuance In the public service became
Impossible? And why is Mr. Balllnger
suspected and accused when all that in
advance of the investigation he Is
known to have done we disregard im
putations as to motive of which there is
no proof was simply to stand on the
laws as they are and refuse to usurp
powers which they do not clearly con
fer? With every respect for Mr. Roose
velt's good Intentions, and with due ad
mission of the great need there was to
do something, for some years past ex
ecutive power has been strained to the
limit and beyond it with regard to the
creation of new forest and other reser
vations out of the public domain.
This statement is not the opinion of
The Inter-Ocean. Nor does it rest on
the assertions of any opponent of Mr.
Pinchot. It was made publicly by the
President of the United States several
months ago, when Mr. Taft was seeking
to end the controversy and keep Mr.
Pinchot In the public service.
Few will deny the competence of
William H. Taft as a lawyer and judge
to declare what the law is. And with
all hiB desire to go on with Mr. Roose
velt's policies, Mr. Taft was obliged to
say just that. He said it in general
terms and without personal censure, of
course, but his meaning was unm-
takable.
We see now the results of this tran
scending of the powers with which the
laws clothe a public official this usur
pation of powers not clearly conferred
by the laws.
The example of it so warped Mr. Pin
chot's judgment that he became unable
to see that the end, no matter how
laudable, does not justify unlawful
means to attain It, and so resentful of
efforts to keep him within the law that
his Insubordinate conduct made his re
tention of office impossible.
Again, this example has so befogged
and confused the public mind that with
many the admirable public official is
the one who, in the popular phrase,
"does things," no matter with what
disregard of the law, so the things done
be popular or deemed beneficial.
' The truth is that we have had in this
country for several years, under pleas
of good intentions, the setting up of
government of men in the place of gov
ernment of laws.
And when a free people once sinks
Into tolerating government of men in
stead of government of laws their liber
ties are in danger, and the process of
getting back to government of laws, as
get back they must. Is 'painful and is
marked by such deplorable situations
as we now have.
EDITOR WATTKHSO.V AX AGE OF TO
His Arteries Still Filled With Good Red
Blood and the Vigor of Youth.
Baltimore Sun.
A man, according to Dr. Osier, is as old
as his. arteries no less" and no more. If
that be true, we must rank Colonel Henry
Watterson, of the Louisville Courier
Journal, among the liveliest of American
youngsters, despite the fact that he cele
brated his 70th birthday on Wednesday,
for his arteries are still filled with good
red blood and the vigor of youth la yet
apparent in his pulse beat. Thero is a
hearty vivacity about the Colonel which
mere years cannot dampen. He is always
a bit younger than the average man a
bit more alert, a bit more brave, a bit
more Impatient, with solemn platitude and
ancient Idol.
But though he is thus for progress al
ways, no doubt he looks backward, now
and then, as well as forward, and when
he does so It must give him no little
pleasure to review the work of his life.
For more than 40 years he has been one
of the great editors of the United States
an earnest believer in the Democratic
Ideal, a shrewd Judge of men and meas
ures', a courageous leader of public opin
ion. Right or wrong, he has invariably
fought gallantly and honestly. He Is no
office-seeker, and has never been one.
He is today the archtype of the Independ.
ent editor the chief of that valiant and
none too numerous clan.
A good way to Judge a man Is to seek
the opinion of his rivals. By that test
Colonel Watterson is proved to be of no
ble stuff. There is no editor in the coun
try today with greater influence among
other editors; none whom tho whole fra
ternity regards with greater affection and
respect.
Science Not Sentiment.
New York Press.
"Vegetarians are sentimentalists, but
sentiment and science are far apart as
poles. Science is not even logic, be
cause science is facts, and facts and
bullets prove themselves and are their
own logic. Vegetarians will say. "Look
at the robust peasants of Europe. Be
hold, how little meat they eat." But
when these bulky peasants, Norwegians
and Swedes, for instance, bring their
vegetarian habits of life with them to
New York, London or Chicago, their
lungs melt away like Ice cream in hun
gry boys. These big, fine Swedes were
protected at home by isolation, fresh
air and slow, lifelong habits.
Why There Are No Fresh Eggs.
New York Press.
We are aware that when fresh eggs
come rushing from the farms in enor
mous quantities they are promptly shot
Into cold storage just as they come,
while the stale eggs, already in. stor
age, are put out to the customers. The
fresh eggs are whisked out of sight,
so as not to "break the market." There
is an abundant natural supply for the
season, but because it is withdrawn
from the consumers the artificial
shortage Is maintained, with relatively
high prices and for stale eggs In the
fresh egg season.
Traps for the President.
Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
The Administration tangle over the
corporation tax law Is bad enough, but
a tangle quite as bad seems to be de
veloping around the postal savings
bank measure. The President has set
his own trap here, and his chief reli
ance In the Senate. Mr. Aldrlch, will
no doubt manage to force him into it,
as he did In the case of the income tax
trickery. Yet no doubt the Rhode
Island Senator will continue to be first
at the White House conferences. It Is
a sorry spectacle and costly It is likely
to prove for both the President and his
party.
Leslie's Weekly.
The following are to be found in the
catalogue of Squantum Corners Public
Library:
Bacon; Its preparation.
' " on Inductive Reasoning.
Lead Poisoning.
" Kindly Light. -r'- -----
-2 "
SIX BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
This Sam Represent the Assets of J.
Flerpont Morgan's Companies.
New York World.
Conservatively estimated, with no
account of corporations Irr which J. P.
Morgan is only moderately or sympa
thetically Interested, and with no. ref
erence to the four Morgan banking
houses of New York, London, Paris and
Philadelphia, the principal Morganized
or partly Morganized institutions to
date are as follows:
LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES.
Assets.
Equitable Life Assurance So
ciety $ 402,000.000
New York Life Insurance Com
pany 857,000,000
Total $1,019,000,000
BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES.
First National Bank $t;i.0rt.OO0
National Bank of Commerce.... 2:15, ,"itm,0Ot
Mercantile Trust Company 5S.473.O00
Equitable Trust Company 3. 800. 000
Guaranty Trust Company........ SS. 950.000
Astor Trust Company 15.'J0,000
Bankers' Trust company 3,lOO,00t
Chase National Bank 1O7.280.0OO
Mechanics National Bank 61.KH0.O00
National Copper Bank 42,:!1K.00
Liberty National Bank 24.7OO.0OO
Fifth-Avenue Trust company.... 10.100,000
Standard Trust Company 1S.45O.000
Total $917,025,000
INDUSTRIALS.
Storks. Bonds.
IT. 6. Steel Cor. . .$ 86S.S00.O0O $ 593,231,000
Haggin - Morgan
Peruvian Cop
per Mines .... 25,000,000
United lry Goods
Oompany ...... M.OOO.OOO
Inter national
Harvester Co. . 120,000.000
Totals . ..
. .$1.0tH,SOD,000 $ R9S.2:!l.OO0
1.XV,S09.000
Grand total tl,."8.040.0OO
RAILROAD AND TRANSPORTATION
COMPANIES.
Stocks. Bonds.
Southern Rv. $ 179.0oo.OOO $ 22S.101.000
Int. Mer. Marine. 12O.00o.00o 72.tlS4.0O0
Northern pacific. 247.0O5.OOO 2-S2.449.ooo
Great Northern.. 274.129.O0o 97.955.0oo
Reading Co. 14O.OOO.0OO loo,5.-.4.orM)
Central of N. J... 27.4:01.000 52.S5I.OOO
Lehigh Valley .. 4n.441.0OO S1.0:'.9.000
N. Y., N. H. & H. 100.OO0.OOO- 50.H40.O0O
Boston & Maine. :ii.:194.ihio :ui.:'73.ox
Hocking Valley . 2rt.ooO.ooo 19.912.000
Chic. Great West. fi7.oi5.ooo 2x.ooo.ooo
N. Y., O. & V 58,113.000 27.173.ooo
Hudson & Man 00.000.000 57.1)20.000
Totals
.$1,353,333,000 1.143.210.OiH
i,:to.:i.'i:t.ooo
Grand total $2,496,433,000
MISCELLANEOUS COMPANIES.
Anglo-American Nitrate Syn
dicate in Chile 12.500,000
North American Company 29.779.0OO
Total $ 42.270.000
RECAPITULATION.
Railroads, etc $2.49rt.543.OO0
Industrials 1.O5N.O40.OHO
Banks, etc itl7.K25.OoO
Life Insurance companies 1,019,000.000
Miscellaneous companies ...... 42.270.OOO
Grand total . .
$(i,133,4S7,000
WHY MEN GO TO CONGRESS.
With tt Word or Tt-ro About Their
Secretaries.
From Washington Letter to the Cleve
land Plain Dealer.
When you ask why this or that rep
resentative is here, there is less chance
for mistake in the reason given. With
mighty few exceptions members of the
lower house are here because they had
a chance to come. The pay of Repre
sentative Is $7500, and able as this or
that Representative may be, $7500 Is
pretty good for an Ohio lawyer.
Also each Representative draws $125
a month with which to provide him
self a secretary. The. Representative
draws It, you notice, not the secre
tary. There was one Representative
from the West who made no secret of
It that he lived on the $125 a month,
being his own secretary, and salt'ed
down the $7600, untouched.
The Representatives when they draw
this $125 a month sign a statement
that the money Is to be used as pay
for their secretary. This Is mentioned
merely in passing. Most of the secre
taries get the full amount drawn by
their Representatives or a good many
do. Yet the secretaries would like to
be on the pay-roll for this amount,
payable to themselves, and they have
been trying for .years to get there.
If they get on the pay-roll and Con
gress has never consented to put them
there they would be sure of getting
the $125 a month they are supposed to
get. Clerks of Senate committees (and
each Senator has a committee) are on
the pay roll, and they get an extra
month's pay when Congress adjourns,
an extra month pay which comes in
very handy when the long Summer Is
just begun. This Is another reason
why tho secretaries would like to get
on the pay-roll.
Make It a Penal Offense
Christian Register.
In a recent election in the city of
Boston a candidate for the mayor's of
fice reported, as election expenses paid
J by himself, over $100,000. There has
been no hint of bribery of any kind in
the spending of the money. The can
didate could afford to pay a high price
for the privilege of serving his fellow
citizens. His character is good, his
reputation unblemished; but the fact
remains that after spending more than
$100,000 he was not elected to office.
The fact also remains that the com
mon opinion is emphasized, and illus
trated in this case, that no poor man
need apply for office, and that men will
be put forward as candidates in vain
unless they are willing to pay a high
price for the luxury of good govern
ment. Now for the relief of candidates
and to give everybody a square deal
and a fair show, why Is it not desir
able to make the payment of money by
a candidate a penal offense? There are
a few. but not many, legitimate elec
tioneering expenses. Most of the mon
ey expended by rival parties would do
the public quite as much good If It
were dropped Into a manhole in the
nearest sewer. Most of it goes, in
many cases, Into moral sewers where
it breeds corruption.
CURRENT SMALL NOTES.
"Sir. I heard you using the word 'jack
ass. Did you apply It to me?" "No, sir. Do
you think you're the only . Jackass in the
world?" Cleveland Leader.
"We had an African explorer at" the club
last evening. He talked of progressive
Abyssinia." "Sounds interesting. How do
you play It?" Louisville Courier-Journal.
"How did they manage to get such a fine
thumbprint of the burglar?" "The house
had been painted that day and he Just
Wouldn't resist the temptation to feel the
paint to see if it was dry." Houston Post.
"No." said Mrs. Lapsllng. "we are not
eating any meat at our house now, except
on Sundays. It's frightfully expensive. Be
sides, during Lent I think one ought to
practice as much self-exasperation as one
possibly can." Chicago Tribune.
Tourist in Holland "I suppose, my good
man. that mill has ground out your living
for. a good many years?" Gentleman of
Marken, "Bless you. no. The old shack
hasn't run for 20 years. I make a better
living renting it as a model to American
artists." Judge.
"Your wife is quite hospitable." said the
friend. "I don't know," answered Mr. Cum
rox. "Mother and the girls used to be glad
to see folks that dropped in off-hand. Now
they send out invitations, and seem more
tickled to get regrets than acceptances."
Washington Star.
'See here." said the irate customer as
he entered the clothing store. ' "you said
this pair of trousers would wear like iron.
I've worn them less than six weeks and
now look at them. Do you call that wear
ing like iron?" "Well, why not?" rejoined
the proprietor. "Aren't they rusty enough
to suit you?" Chicago Dally News.
City Editor "One minute, Jones." Re
porter "All right." City Editor "I don't
know whether it is absentmlndedness on
your part, or an expression of your views
on matrimony, but I'd rather, when you
have occasion to write about a wedding, not
have you say that Miss Smith and Mr.
Brown 'underwent' a marriage ceremony."
Ufa.
LIFE'S SUNNY SIDE
When Private John Allen was mak
ing his first run for Congress in' Mis
sissippi he stayed overnight with an
elder and went to church on Sunday
morning.
During the service the preacher
turned suddenly to a stranger who
somehow had got into the amen corner
and said:
"My brother, when were you predes
tinated to eternal salvation or eternal
damnation?"
The stranger, terribly embarrassed,
answered hesitatingly: "I don't adzact
ly remember, parson, but I think it was
befo' the wall."
"There would be less divorce." said
ex-Governor Pennypacker at a dinner in
Philadelphia, "If there were fewer men
like William Windle.
"William Windle embarked on an ex
cursion steamer for Point Breeze, and a
few miles out, as he paced the upper
deck and drank in the bracing ozone,
he spied his friend Jackson.
" "Why, Jackson, how are ye?' he ex
claimed. 'Are ye out for pleasure, or is
yer wife along?" " Washington Star.
" At a dinner in Bar Harbor a Boston
woman praised the wit of the late Ed
ward Everett Hale.
"Walking on the outskirts of Bos
ton one day," she said, "he and I in
advertently entered a field that has a
'No Trespassing" sign nailed to a tree.
"Soon a farmer appeared.
"'Trespassers in this field are prose
cuted," he said in a grim tone.
"Dr. Hale smiled blandly.
"But we are not trespassers, my good
man," he said.
"'What are you, then?" asked the
amazed farmei;.
"'We're Unitarians," said Dr. Hale."
Collector l.oeb, at a dinner in New
York, praised a certain customs in
spector. "His success," said Collector
Loeb, "is due to his knowledge of hu
man nature. He is like a boy I used to
know in Albany. This boy got vaccin
ated on the rixht arm, and the doctor
gave him a rod 'I've-beon-vacclnated'
ribbon to wear on his coat sleeve. But
the lad proceeded to tie the ribbon on
his left arm. 'Why," said tho doctor,
'you are putting the ribbon on the
wrong arm." 'No,' said the urchin: "you
don't know the boys at our school.' "
Providence Journal.
A darky minister in a Southern town
was much moved by the grief of a wom
an whose husband had Just been interred.
"My sister." came In solemn tones from
tho clergyman. "I know dat dis is a creut
grief dat's overtaken yo". All do same,
though, you is compelled to mourn do
lotss of dis one who was yo' companion
an' partner in life. I consoles yo wif do
assurance dat dere is anudder who sym
pathizes wif yo' in de arms o' unfailin'
love."
The widow looked up at him through
her tears. '"Who is he?" she finally
askoa. Harper's Weekly.
"Of course." said the very talkative per.
son on the back pUufomi, "no man ever
is a hero to his valet." "And what is
much more to the purpose," said the sour
faced Individual In the doorway, "no
woman ever was a saint to her hired
girl." Cleveland Pain Dealer.
.'
Speaking of the fads and foibles of th
sweetsome sex the other day. Judge John
G. Horner, of Mount Holly, related a lit
tle incident which shows that at least
one poor old married man is wise to tho
ways of wlfey.
Some time ago, the Judge said, a friend
of his who lives in a suburban town was
asked by his wife to get her a ready-made
shirtwaist while he was in this city, and,
instead of raising a majestic yelp, kick
ing the kloodle through the door of the
crystal closet and knocking down the
stovepipe, he meekly replied that he
would be happy to oblige.
The noon hour fmmd hint in a depart
ment store, and after locating the counter
where female toggery is sold, and waiting
for his turn at the bat, he gently re
marked to the saleslady that he would
like to hove a shirtwaist for his wife.
"Here are some very pretty ones," said
tho salaslady, haulinc" out 9S or lesp.
"What color do you prefer?"
"'It doesn't make any difference," re
plied the husband.
"I believe she would like this one," re.
turned the saleslady. "What size do you
want ?'
"It doesn't make any difference,"
was the surprising answer of the pur
chaser. (
"Doesn't make any difference!" ex
claimed the wondering saleslady. "I
should think that It would make a
whole lot of difference:"
"Oh, no. It doesn't." Insisted the wlsa
hubby. "No matter what color I got
her. or what size I got her, I would
have to come back tomorrow and havo
it exchanged anyhow." Philadelphia
Telegraph.
Railroad Men Count Instead of "Cuss"
Buffalo News.
An anti-swearing club has been organ
ized among the hundreds of employes of
the New York Central in the railroad
yards at Dewitt, and already has sev
eral hundred members. The club hits no
constitution. by-laws or officers. The
only requirement Is that when a rail
roader feels called upon to "cuss" ha
shall first stop and count ten.
Tlay the String Out. '
Washington Herald.
"Either you aren't able to own the roof
over your head .or it leaks." observes the
New York Press. Or there isn't any
roof. If one must be a pessimist, he
should play out the string!
THE
WIDOW WISE
NEW ILLUSTRATED
FEATURE IN THE
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' Bog-inning; tomorrow and continuing-
for an indefinite period. The
Sunday Oregonian will present a
brand-new feature,
The Widow Wise
Clever lines by Paul West, draw
ing's by
Prince Troubet- E. M. Ashe
skoi V. H. Loomis
Modest Stein K, V. Nadherny
(iordon fJrant Wallace Morgan
Georsre Wright
Charming creations by these ar
tists, printed in four colors, will
be eagerly watched for.
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