THE 3IOKXIXG OEEGONIAX, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1910.
6
PORTLAND. OREGON.
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PORTLAND, MONDAY. FEB. 28, 1910.
THE ATTACK ON M"R- BALLINGER.
Mr. Pinchot's accusations against
Secretary Ballinger are these, name
ly: That Ballinger entered his office
with clear determination to reverse
the policy devised by the Roosevelt
Administration for protecting the wa
ter power sites on the public lands;
that he did reverse that policy, and
restored the power sites, or many of
them, to entry, and lastly, that he de
ceived the President by giving him an
explanation of the matter that was
essentially false.
If these accusations are true, it
should be possible to prove them. If
they are true, undoubtedly it will be
possible to prove them. Should they
be proven, of course Mr. Ballinger
will be a discredited man, and must
be retired from office.
The first question is, how does Pine-hot
know, and how will he prove,
that Ballinger entered his present of
fice with determination to reverse the
policy of withdrawal of power sites,
and to surrender them to monopolis
tic control? It would seem that, as
an interpreter of Mr. Balllnger's in
tention, Mr. Pinchot is very liable to
error. Pinchofs own phrase discloses
an animosity on his part towards
Ballinger, conceived before the latter
became Secretary of the Interior.
How could Pinchot have known, or
assumed to know, with what "deter
mination" Ballinger entered his pres
ent office? Here is a revelation of
animosity on Pinchofs side against
Ballinger, preceding the latter's ap
pointment to the office of Secretary.
A short review .will make the matter-
clear.
Garfield was Secretary of the In
terior. Ballinger was Commissioner
of the General Land Office. Pinchot
was Chief of the Forest Service a
division of the Department of Agricul
ture. But Pinchot was continually
intruding In the affairs of the General
Land Office, and Garfield permitted
him. In fact, Garfield was only in
a nominal way the Secretary of the
Interior. Pinchot's influence over
him. in matters relating to lands and
forests, -was great. Friction therefore
naturally occurred between Ballinger
and Pinchot: since Pinchot insisted
on "running" the business of the
Land Office. Neither of the Secre
taries (Garfield and Wilson) required
Pinchot to mind his' own - business
and Ballinger declined to take or
ders from him and resigned. Wilson
was' continued In the office of Secre
tary of Agriculture; but Garfield was
not reappointed Secretary of the In
terior, though the Pinchot clique ex
erted itself to the utmost to that end.
Taft, however, appointed Ballinger
To Pinchot this was the most distaste
ful of all things. Pinchot could not
now intermeddle with the affairs of
the Department of the Interior, or
hector the officials of the General
Land Office.
So now Pinchot, by his line of in
solent conduct, including hi3 insub
ordinate letter read in the Senate
having brought about his own dis
missal from office asserts that Bal
linger entered the office he now holds
with Intention or determination to
sacrifice the water power sites owned
by the people to monopolistic con
trol; that he has done so by restor
ing former withdrawals to entry, and
has lied to the President about what
he has done.
It Is true that since Ballinger be
came Secretary very considerable
arc as of public lands, withdrawn be
cause of their adjacency to water
power streams, have been restored;
that is, the reservations have been
partially withdrawn. But it is as
serted in reply that only such lands
as were not required for ' improve
ment and use of water powers have
been so restored; that, on the con
trary, an increased number of actual
water power sites have been reserved,
and that the lands that have been
restored to entry are not contiguous
to power sites, but in most cases at
distances from them. Diagrams of
lands- and streams, recently drawn
and published, show that many town
ships, thousands of acres, were with
drawn for water power conservation
though miles away from the streams
The Owyhee River in. Oregon pre
Bents a. conspicuous example. The
plats, printed in colors, show that the
former reservations have been nar
rowed in many localities by many
miles, by withdrawal of broad reser
vations, but that the stream and
strips on either side are still re
served throughout. Secretary Bal
linger has professed his readiness to
show that, though he has released
much land, formerly- reserved, yet all
water powers in those reservations
have been retained, and more be
sides. Recrimination by the parties or by
their friends, in this matter, is use
less. The Issue must be decided on
the plain facts; and the country will
Boon know them all. That Mr. Bal
linger has taken. lawful and reason
able care of the interests of the
country all who know the man fully
believe. He Is not a theorist, riding
a hobby, but a man of sense and
Judgment, who preserves a balance
between an extreme sort of conserva
tion on the one hand and . waste of
resources on the other. Conserva
tion of late has become a much
abused word. ; As employed by ex
tremists, it represents a policy that
would lock up most of the great re
sources of the newer states and re
tard Indefinitely the general develop
ment.' One thing the people of the
newer states would like to know Is
this, namely: How is it that the
method of opening our part of the
country to settlement, and to the
development of an industrial activity
that has been pursued elsewhere so
long, and under which the -country
has made an unparalleled progress,
has now so recently been found in
iquitous, unjust and destructive?
The simple Interpretation is that
the theorist and the faddist, borrow
ing ideas from old countries, appli
cable to their political and social
condition, and to the stages of de
velopment reached in the oldest of
present civilizations, have brought
their irrelevant bookishness to bear
on a -wholly unlike situation here.
The lands and timber and water pow
ers of our country can be used with
advantage in our further develop
ment only on the same general plan
and system as heretofore. Our great
natural resources cannot be retained
In ownership or control of the gen
eral Government and yet developed
and used with advantage to our
states or their people. As to" Alaska's
resources of coal and timber and
metals, whatever they may be and
their extent and- what real profit
may be in them are yet unknown let
the Government put them all under
lock and key. If It will: for that great
territory Is not an attractive place of
residence, and nobody goes there ex
cept to get at the natural resources,
which, however, never will be worth
anything unless they are opened and
used. Yet if it will satisfy "the book
ish theorlc of conservation" to shut
that country up. so be it. But we
want a chance In these undeveloped
states of our Union to use the re
sources for homes and families and
industries, under the general policy
thus far pursued in all the states.
That is, the Government should
continue to dispose of the lands, and
to give the people a chance to build
up industrial communities, under the
laws of the states. Has the policy
thus far been ruinous to the coun
try? On the contrary, has it not
been the very source of its life and
growth? Had this new policy of re
striction and false conservation been
introduced at the first and pursued
till now, there would not today be
twenty' millions of people in the
whole United States.
At the mere suggestion of the word
monopoly, even in a connection where
the thing cannot exist, a lot of blath
erskites pour out their torrent of
rant, fudge and inanity. There is no
more danger of a monopoly of the
streams and water powers of Amer
ica than of a monopoly of the air; and
not a sign of movement or effort to
create "a water power trust" has
there ever been. Mr. Pinchot's per
sistence on this subject reminds one
of the continual recurrence of that
mildly demented gentleman, Mr.
Dick, to his memorial on King
Charles's head.
THE GOOD, KIND PLUMBERS,
'Twould be very fine news, and
best proof that no trust exists, if
wholesalers would sell plumbing sup
plies to builders and owners of houses
and plumbers would install the sup
plies. That would be the acme of
Joy and square deal. Now let the
wholesalers and the master plumbers
and the Journeymen plumbers pro
ceed to show the public that no trust
exists. Builders will buy supplies in
wholesale quantities at wholesale
prices; master plumbers will not put
the ban on such goods; and Journey
men will not refuse to handle mate
rials that fail to bring big retail
profits to the masters;, all hands, will
go to the City Hall and induce the
Council to repeal the ordinances that
specify expensive requirements in
plumbing; and the plumbers' union
will not fight non-union men who
can save builders money in cheaper
wages.
All these unselfish relinquishments
of graft will ease the terrific burden
of plumbing cost a burden that
staggers everybody who putsr up a
new building or improves an old one.
AH citizens will then be happy and
contented and it will not be necessary
to sue for $75,000 worth of justice in
the courts. Best of all, tongues that
charge trust and graft will then be
silenced.
We implore the accused parties
thus to clear themselves of all sem
blance of greed. Just men certainly
do not like to live under continu
ous accusations of selfish intent to
"squeeze," through concert of whole
saler, master, plumber and City
Council. We commend the evident
desire of wholesalers, masters and
plumbers for fair play for the "ulti
mate consumer." It manifests a
kindly human nature that we sup
posed was wholly absent.
OIR IMG BATTLESHIP.
Secretary Meyer of the Navy De
partment is not at all modest in his
views as to what a navy should be.
None of the ordinary Dreadnoughts,
Invinclbles, Terrlbles, or other high
sounding, far-shooting, and swift
speeding battleships will meet the re
quirements of the present Administra
tion, in the Navy Department. For
a beginning on a navy that will break
world's .records unless the German,
British or Japanese builders pay union
rates and work nights and Sundays
to beat us to it Secretary Meyer pro
poses to build at a cost of $18,000,
000 a battleship of . 32,000 tons dis
placement. Quite naturally a craft
of this size and cost will be largely
in the nature of an experiment. There
is nothing to indicate that it would
not keel over and sink under the
puncture of a few well-directed tor
pedoes .administered by a cheap torpedo-boat.
Nor is there any accom
panying guarantee that some other
nation, more in need of battleships,
would not build at 34,000-ton ship
before the gun bearings should be
worn smooth on our record-breaker.
No serious objection might be
entered to construction of this costly
advertisement of our prestige as the
greatest Nation on the earth. If the
$18,000,000 represented approximately
the amount that must be expended in
order to make the rest of our naval
equipment fit this standard. In order
to prepare us for what may happen
in this direction, Washington dis
patches say that "The Secretary said
that plans for enlargement of all the
drydocks of the country, as outlined
to the committee some weeks ago,
were made in contemplation of the
great enlargement of the battleships,
and he wanted the docks built to ac
commodate ships of great size." Any
one at all familiar with the snail-like
pace at which all kinds of Govern
ment work proceeds can readily
understand that, long before we shall
have rebuilt our drydocks to fit the
record-breaking battleship, some of
the other nations that through neces
sity make a specialty of costly Dread
nought peace offerings to the. war god
will have a larger, faster and more
costly craft ready to reduce our $18,
000,000 record-breaker to sorap iron.
. There Is another point to be con
sidered before we invest the cost of
18,000 farms In a single ' battleship.
This Nation is carrying no chip on its
shoulder. It has no far-flung posses
sions on which the sun never sets.
The flag is quite freely furled on our
domain and our morning drum does
not beat half way round the world.
We have heretofore been content to
leave to the over-populated, fully de
veloped countries of the old world
the work of breaking records on ex
penditures for war purposes. It Is,
of course, well to be prepared for
emergencies, but why abandon our
time-honored policy of attending to
our own business, and keeping the
war chest well supplied with funds?
Why not let the pace be set by some
of the old-world countries instead of
"butting in" and establishing a stand
ard which will force them simply to
go "one better"?
Viewed from either a geographical
or an economic standpoint, it is quite
clear that, if a 32,000-ton battleship
is a necessity for the United States,
Germany, Great Britain, Japan and
some of the other countries In which
warfare is one of the industries of the
people, must Immediately build some
34,000 to 36,000-ton ships. A Can
adian patriot, when asked for his
views on the propriety of Canada's
building a battleship for England,
said that what Canada needed was
"boxcars, not battleships." Perhaps
$18,000,000 worth of boxcars, or other
Industrial appliances, might be corre
spondingly useful in this country.
THE LOGIC OF THE "EW MOVEMENT."
The brethren who Issued the
namDhlet containing proposals for
revolutionizing the Constitution and I
Government of Oregon, spoken of a
few days ago by The Oregonian pro
posals which they intend to submit
to the electors In November were
not careful to make their work con
sistent in its various parts. "But that
could hardly be expected in the pro
duction of their socialistic crazy
quilt.
The "plan" proposes an entire
revolution In the Government of Or
egon a revolution in all its features,
legislative, executive, administrative
and judicial. If adopted it will prac
tically wipe out the existing Consti
tution altogether. Articles four, five,
six and seven, containing all the vitals
of the instrument, are to be cut
out, and the vast vacuum is to be
stuffed with populistlc bran and
sawdust.
It is curious, however, to note that,
though these people propose to ex
enterate the old Constitution com
pletely, and to stuff its skin with
contents as mixed and uncertain as
those of a bologna sausage, they are
greatly opposed to a constitutional
convention; because a convention
might make cjhanges that would raise
new questions and disturb existing
court decisions!
The present Constitution, say these
pleaders, "is well understood and has
been construed by the Supreme Court
as to substantially all the property
and most of the political rights of
citizens. Comparatively few cases in
the Supreme Court now turn on
constitutional questions." Again: "A
new Constitution will be followed by
many years of uncertainty as to the
meaning of its provisions. The Judi
cial settlement and the construction
of these doubts will result in a great
deal of protracted and costly litiga
tion. The property and political
rights of the citizens will be in a
state of uncertainty for many years."
And yet these people propose to
annihilate this Constitution, in all it
material features and functions, and
to introduce changes, by substitution,
more revolutionary than ever pro
posed for any constitution In Amer
ica, since constitutions began to be
written!
No man could tell what his rights
were, under the new constitution of
Babel and Bedlam; all or most of the
existing decisions of the Supreme
Court would be superseded and fifty
years wouldn't suffice to bring order
out of the chaos, unless what is
most probable the people should
much sooner repudiate the whole
thing and go back to the principles
of the old Constitution and common
sense.
THEORY AND FACT.
"The truth is, the railroads can
profitably put the ocean carriers out
of business whenever they have the
carrying facilities to do it," says the
Spokane Spokesman-Review. Disre
garding Spokane theories and opin
ions on this matter, let us consider
one plain fact: "Ocean carriers" are
now bringing coal from points on
the Atlantic seaboard to North Pa
cific ports at $2.83 per ton. Years
ago, before the railroads came, the
old sailing vessels were satisfied with
$6 per tori and not infrequently
carried freight at $4 and $5 per ton.
It would be interesting to know the
dimensions of the "profits" which the
railroads would make after putting
the ocean carriers out of business at
these rates.
Naturally higher rates are being
charged by the regular liners at this
time, and the steamers are perhaps
making more than a reasonable
profit. They can, however, continue
to make large profits 'at rates so low
that it would be impossible for the
railroads to meet them.
CHANGING WOOL INDUSTRY.
The Woolgrowers of Western Ore
gon will meet at Corvallis next Friday
for the purpose of organizing an as
sociation of sheepgrowers in the Wil
lamette Valley. The vast ranges of
Eastern Oregon have for so long been
the home and the headquarters of this
great industry that the advantages
of the Willamette Valley as a sheep
country have been almost forgotten.
That there can be a profitable revival
of the industry west of the Cascade
Mountains is a certainty. Sheepmen
who have grown wealthy by running
large bands of the wool-producers
over the vast stretches .of Government
land in the West profess to see in the
breaking up of the great ranches the
ruin of the industry. So far as the
handling of Immense bands of sheep
is concerned, it is quite probable that
the end is. near at hand.
Oregon, one of the greatest wool
states in the Union, has probably wlt-
l nessed in the passing of the Baldwin
sheep and ranch property an end to
the prestige we formerly enjoyed as
having the largest sheep ranch in the
world. The Increasing interest shown
in the Industry in the Willamette Val
ley, however, offers good reasons for
believing that even the break-up of
the big ranches and the lessening of
the size of the herds will not mean
that we have reached the maximum
as a wool-producing state. The high
prices of wool and mutton have made
the sheep business much more profit
able for the small farmer than it has
ever been before. In time, it may no
longer be possible to find one breeder
with 10,000 sheep, but we may find
the same number of sheep in the
hands of a hundred or a thousand
farmers. Thus in the care exercised j
in breeding and in looking after the
animal after it reaches a wool-producing
age, there will be a decided
improvement over the present meth
ods on the range.
Large bands of sheep disappeared
from the Willamette "Valley many
years ago, but there is an increasing
number of small flocks, and, with a
continuation of present high prices
for sheep and wool, the number of
these small bands may Increase
throughout the state sufficiently to
offset the loss by the disappearance
of the big ranches in Eastern Oregon.
An Interesting programme has been
prepared for this week's meeting of
the Western Oregon woolgrowers, and
it Is expected that an organization
may be effected that will be fully as
important in this field as the original
Oregon Woolgrowers Association has
been in the field east of the Cascade
Mountains.
Governor Hay, of Washington, has
been advised that the Industrial (Jaw)
Workers of the World are arranging
in the coming Spring to gather volun
teers from all over the United States
to resume their fight against Spo
kane's laws. This is quite a tribute
to the advantages of Spokane as a
Summer resort. These industrious
jaw-smiths, who toiled not, but talked
much, and blockaded the streets of
Spokane, ceased defying arrest last
Fall and vanished before the chilly
winds of Winter. In the Spring, to
escape the heat of the Southern clime,
they will come thronging back and
make another attempt at the martyr
game. Of course Spokane is not ex
tending a "welcome to our beautiful
city" to the Weary Willies, and there
is no law compelling them to go to a
city where the people insist on proper
observance of the law. Still, if the
army of Industrial Never-Works will
return in force, Spokane should be
provided with a plentiful supply of
balls and chains, hard rock and ham
mers, and continue the good roads
movement. By this method, some
good may come from an Industrial
Worker of the World.
A twelve-dollar-a-week bank clerk
in Boston has succeeded in stealing
about $160,000 from the institution
by which he was employed. It is
Incidents like this, together with the
avidity with which Boston people
hungrily grabbed the "Yukon Gold"
brick offered them by Citizen Tom
Lawson, that cause the great uncul
tured West to entertain the treason
able thought that perhaps the won
derful Bostonese is a much easier
proposition than he is generally sup
posed to be. The wild and wooly
West may lack some of the over-refined
traits that have made Boston
famous, but the business methods
here are not so slack that twelve-dollar-per-week
clerks can embezzle
$160,000. At least not often.
If any undue disturbance is noticed
around the last resting-place of the
late Marcus Daly, it might be due to
some spiritual communication that
may have reached the deceased cop
per king, relative to the proposed
marriage of his daughter to a fortune
hunting Hungarian Count. The price
Miss Daly is to pay for the Count Is
not announced, but as a starter there
are debts of $800,000 to be settled.
As the "increased cost of living" has
permeated all classes of society, it is
not Improbable that even the prices
of Hungarian noblemen have also adr
vanced..
Pinchot, besides being a faddist, Is
a sensationalist; and Just now he has
the ear of the public through sensa
tional journalism. When a man In
high place is attacked this always
occurs, whether the accusation is
well-founded or not. President Taft
has a judicial mind, and will sum this
business up, when all is done.-
Dr. Matthews knows Secretary Bal
tnger and testifies that he is an up
right man. So say all others who
have had occasion or opportunity to
observe the Secretary's career. But
character and good name do not
count with your muckraker.
Will the people of Oregon accept
the monarchical form of government
proposed now by initiative, and allow
the Governor to appoint the other
state officers and most of the county
officers, cutting off their own right
to elect? Probably not.
Those supply dealers and master
plumbers will of course proVe to you
that there is no combine among them
If you will call around and try to buy
a few plumbing accessories which y.u
purpose yourself to put in your house.
Because they needed some spending
money those youthful taxicab high
waymen went out and held up two
road-houses. The state will now
doubtless see for a 'number of years
that they have no need of money.
Promoter Garland's chief capital
was several letters from Important
financiers declining to take a yacht
ing cruise with him. Garland had
no yacht, but he had what served as
well a dark blue oceanic nerve.
The visit of the ex-President to
Rome will differ somewhat from the
visit of the ex-Vice-President. Mr.
Roosevelt has a way of his own,
which foreigners must, perforce, ac
cept. Nobody in Oregon, so far as heard
from, wants that extraordinary bill
of Senator Bourne's, permitting ap
propriation of arid lands by non-residents,
to pass Congress. Now, who
does want it to pass?
After all, Mr. Carnegie was kind to
that old friend In California, to whom
he gave an eloquent pamphlet on
economy. He might have given him a
library.
A ninety-foot whale Is ashore at
Clatsop Beach. Ho for an off-shore
breeze the coming Summer.
There is one comfort. The ocean
Is big enough to hold all of this rain
the soil does not need.
WORTH REPUBLICATION.
Remarks by Rev. Dr. Matthews, of Se
attle, on the Attack on Bnlllnjrer.
Yesterday The Oregonian printed the fol
lowing statement by Rev. Dr. Matthews, of
Seattle, about the attack on Secretary
Ballinger. No doubt the statement was
read by thousands yesterday, but is worth
re-reading today.
I know Mr. Ballinger, and I know
the man to be above the despicable ac
tions now being charged against him.
but aside from that interest, I heartily
Indorse the fight The Oregonian is
making on Plnchotism. . . . Ballinger
Is above wrongdoing, and the men
who have been attacked with him are
far superior In every respect to their
traducers. C. J. Smith, H. C. Henry,
John H. McGraw, ex-Governor Moore
and the others associated with them in
this attack not only did no wrong, but
would not countenance wrong in others.
Their characters are unimpeachable.
Laying aside the personal attacks
that have been made and if there were
no Individuals involved. Plnchotism
means the stagnation of this country.
If you are going to prevent men from
harnessing the waters, opening the
forests, developing the mines and
bringing this entire country to a
higher Btate of perfection, civilization
and development, then It la impossible
for us to Invite to this country men of
brain, brawn and money. There I
enough water power in Washington, if
harnessed, to light the United States;
but no individual can harness all the
water, nor can any number of Individ
uals exhaust the resources God - has
stored away for the development and
benefit of" mankind. It Is time the East
was learning that the West is not filled
with thieves, land-grabbers and mo
nopolists. The men, who are here, are
here for the purpose of building an
empire and making the West con
tribute to the welfare of the whole
country. Let us encourage men" to
come and aid them In every way pos
Bible in the development of this great
country.
WANTS THE RECALL ABOLISHED
This Correspondent Believes It to Be
tlie Worst Law 'In Oregon.
PORTLAND, Feb. 26. (To the Edi
tor.) A recent editorial in. The Ore
gonian, denominating the Oregon "re
call" as a "tool of personal spite and
political revenge," is worthy of the
profoundest thought on the part of the
people of Oregon. The recall, sup
posed to be a remedial agency in ex
treme cases of official crookedness, is
destined to keep the State of Oregon
in a state of political strife until the
end of time, unless the recall law i
repealed. The instances cited in The
Oregonian are but the beginning of
what is to follow. The editorial re
ferred to, however, omitted the fact
that the house of the Mayor of Union
Or., was burned by incendiaries, as a
fitting climax of the recall election in
that town. The smaller cities will
suffer most from the operation of this
detestable piece of legal tinkering, as
there are always two or three petty
factions In small cities that will resort
to almost any method of "down" the
other fellow.
The "recalling of the Mayor of Es-
tacada was the result of a certain fac
tion's ambition to dominate municipal
aTfairs. Charges can be trumped up
easily enough, and there is a certain
element of humanity always looking for
a "get back at him" either public or
private. A. following Is usually ob
tained from this class for "recall" .pur
poses.
The recall in Oregon is worse than
a failure. It is an instrument of sedl
tion and strife worthy of the Dark
Ages. Under this law, a man isn't
really elected for a term of office at
all. He may be recalled at any time
a few agitators may be able to get a
sufficient following by malicious mis
representation, to order a recall elec
tion. Such measures as this tend only
to keep the best class of citizenship
out of public life. No man with a
proper conception of his duty to him
self and the public wishes to be the
subject of eternal strife, and that's
what an office-holder Is Oregon is get
ting to be. The ret-all is to blame.
I talked with W. S. U'Ren of Oregon
City, at the time he was campaigning
for the passage of this law. He thought
it would be a remedial agency.
doubled its expediency but did not ac
tively oppose it. Experience has taught
us that it is one of the worst pieces of
legislation the people ever passed. Im
mediate steps should be taken for Its
repeal. GEORGE W. DIXON.
Aiwa j a With the Democratic Party.
PORTLAN jJ, Or., Feb. 26. (To the
Editor.) I am surprised to learn from
The Oregonian that any person who
has been a member of the Grange does
not know that the Grange of Oregon
is now and always has been nothing
but a sideshow for the Democratic
party. They can meet in assembly, con
demn the Republican party for con
templating calling an assembly, and
one that will differ from the Grange
assembly for they always meet In se
cret. The Republicans meet in open
assembly, where their acts are an open
book, but no matter what the Repub
licans indorse or what principles are
set forth, the Oregon Grangers would
see some great and dangerous objec
tion. It has ever been thus. The Grang
ers always line up the same way, but
strenuously deny any party affiliation
Yet keep calamity howling, "resoloo-
ten" against assembly, -Joe Cannon
John D. and the cruel gold standard
As proof of these statements. Just
watch how these Grangers vote in the
next Oregon election.
C. B. LA FOLLETTE.
' High Heela Upheld In Court.
Kansas City Journal.
The Kansas City Court of Appeals re
cently affirmed a judgment of $2500 given
Emma N. Rose In the Jackson County
Circuit Court against Kansas City. The
woman sued for damages for injuries al
leged to have been received when she
stepped from a car Into a hole in the
pavement. The city contended that the
woman was careless In stepping from the
car, and In wearing shoes described as
being very high and tapering to only an
I inch In width at the bottom. "We do not
feel Justified, said Justice Allison, who
wrote the opinion, in declaring that
wearing such character of shoes was
negligent as a matter of law." He said
whether the shoes constituted negligence
as a matter of fact was for a jury to
determine.
Lincoln's Limitation.
Charleston News and Courier.
Saturday was the birthday of Abra
ham Lincoln, one of the most promi
nent Southern men since the establish
ment, of this Government, and barring
his politics and his political associ
ates and his political errors, one of
the ablest and finest men the country
has ever had.
Connubial t ' o n Krrn t u I a t i o n.
Corvallis Gazette-Times.
It is something for a man to live 50
years with one woman, and it is even
of arreater moment that a woman should
have been able' to stand one man that
long.
Clergrymen Drop 'Reverend Title.
Indianapolis Dispatch.
Clergymen In one of the counties of
Ohio have voted to drop the title of rev
erend. They say that the title does not
occur In the Bible, and that they can see
no good reason why they should use it.
BILL IS SIMPLY NO GOOD."
General Denunciation of Bourne Pro
posal to Grab Dry Lands.
Portland Labor Press.
All over the State, of Oregon the
press Is publishing the proposed bill of
Senator Bourne regulating homestead-
Ing of Government lands, and provid
ing that residence shall not be neces
sary to acquire title. All that is re
quired is cultivation, and during the
five years that crops to the value of
$1500 have been produced.' The bill is
simply no good. It will never be enact
ed while Bourne Is Senator, but if it
was enacted It would simply enable the
speculators to gobble up what remains
of the public lands by dummy entry-
men, the same as the timber lands have
been sequestered by speculators. The
sagbrush plains of Eastern Oregon have
been overlooked by the speculators, and
new railroads indicate that these lands
will be valuable. There could easily
be found thousands of men to file on
homesteads they did not have to reside
upon.
Woodburn Independent.
It looks to us as if residence is the
essential part. What would become of
a new section if the large majority of
entrymen were living out of it? Such
a section would need towns, but who
would there be to support these towns
If the entrymen lived, say, in Portland?
It takes people to make a country. Cul
tivation alone will not do it. All that
cultivation would accomplish would be
to give the holders a chance to specu
late. The tracts or claims would not
be homesteads, in the full meaning of
the word, but speculative opportunities.
There are about 100 men in Woodburn
whom the passage of this bill would
please. They prefer to remain In this
city, but are anxious for homesteads,
and such a snap as Senator Bourne
proposes would be eagerly seized by
them. The bona fide homesteaders
make a new country, not Portland
clerks proving up homesteads in East
ern Oregon on a non-residence basis.
People's Press (Portland).
As for the People's Press, it feels, in
common with some of the more sensible
editors of the state, that the Bourne
bill Is a menace. We feel that it is a
measure of expatriation, so to speak. It
will enable Mr. Weyerhaeuser, or any
body else, to have a dummy "settle"
upon any Oregon homesteads that he
desires and put some pne in to improve
the land. Presumably any income from
the homestead will be taken out of the
state, and will not do Oregon any good
at all.
Privileges of Friendship.
Life.
To be given the small room In the
attic so that the spare chamber may
be ready for possible but unexpected
company.
To hear the completion of the family
quarrel that he wishes his arrival had
Interrupted.
To hear both sides of the family
quarrel separately.
To agree with both sides of the fam
ily quarrel when heard separately.
To walk from the station In rainy
weather because It Is so bad for the
family horses to be out in the rafn.
To stay at home and take care of
the children while the other guests are
taken driving.
To make himself t home in the
library without having been given the
key to the book shelves.
To be joked about his personal ap
pearance. To be reminded of his youthful flirta
tions In the presence of new and en
tertaining young women.
To be told when to go home.
To be told when to stay home.
In short to be treated exactly like
"one of the' family" without the in
alienable family right to say what he
thinks of it.
Royal Kinship.
CENTRALIA. Wash., Feb. 26. (To
the Editor.) For the benefit of a class
in history, kindly state in what manner
Czar Nicholas is related to the royal
family of Great Britain: also give
name and family of the Czarina: and
the names of the parents of the Queen
of Spain. L.
Edward VII, of Great Britain, mar
ried Princess Alexandra, eldest daugh
ter of King Christian IX of -Denmark.
The present Russian Czar's mother is
also a daughter of King Christian.
Therefore, the Czar of Russia is nephew
of the King of Great Britain.
The Czarina's name is Alexandra
Feodorov-na, and she is the daughter
of Ludwlg IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
Princess Victoria Eugenie (now
Queen of Spain) Is the daughter of the
lite Prince Henry of Battenberg and
Princess Beatrice (daughter of the late
Queen Victoria of Great Britain).
Palladino, the Medium, Breaks Contract
Boston Herald,
lime. Eusapia Palladino. the Italian
medium, who has been receiving the at
tention of the scientists and psychical
research students of Europe and Amer
ica, has broken away from her American
managers and refuses to fulfill her part
in the contracts they have arranged for
her. That sums ranging from $1000 to
$1750 have been paid for an evening of
table-tipping, strange rappings, mystic
communications from the spirit world and
similar phenomena, under the direction
and control of Mme. Palladino, is as
serted by "Charles Stanton Hill, of Bos
ton, lawyer, psychical student and In
vestigator. It Is said that her share
ranged from $125 to $150, leaving a com
fortable margin as managerial commis
sion. Finder of flSOO Gets a t'lKSr.
Springfield, Mass., Dispatch.
Joseph Mclnnis. driver of an ice wagon
in Boston, received his first shock early
in the day. when he found a wallet
containing $1800 In cash. The second
shock followed a few minutes later,
when the owner of the wallet turned up,
received his $1800 and, as a reward, gave
Mclnnis a 5-cent cigar.
CURRENT SMALL NOTES.
Illiterate Nurse, Doctor, what must I do
with a patient who is in a catamose condi
tion? Humorous Doctor That calls for a
dogmatic course of treatment. Baltimore
American.
Mrs. Backdoor If you 'chop that wood
I'll Rive you your dinner. Rollingstene
Nomoss I'm sorry, madam, but I've mis
laid me card in de Woodchoppers' Union,
and I don't wanter take no chance. Phila
delphia Record.
Ma. the critic in his account of the
musicale you and pa went to night before
last 'says the fiddler played with elan. Did
you notice it?" "No unless that wu
the name of the woman who accompanied
him on the piano." Chicago Record-Herald.
"It certainly is tough that we can't have
beefsteak." sighed the man who was read
ing about the cost of living; soaring higher
every day. "Oh, cheer up." laughed the
optimist, "it would be tough if we could
have it. so what is the use to worry."
Chicago Daily News.
"What we want is harmony." said the
statesman. "Yes." replied Senator Sorg
hum, "it makes me think of a glee club
I used to belong to. Every fellow's idea
of harmony was to pick his own key and
sing so loud nobody else could be noticed."
Washington Star.
Truth, crushed to earth, was rising, but
with exceeding slowness. "Why should I
hurry, anyhow?" said Truth. "The poet
says the 'eternal years' are mine." "With
which lame excuse she also justified her
self for never quite catching up with a
fugitive Lie. Chicago Trlbuns
ASQUITH RECOILS.
Tbe Difficulties of the Situation Too
Great for His fours are.
T. P. O'Connor's cable letter, in The
Oregonian of yesterday, was interesting;
to all who follow the course of British
politics. The letter is a practical ad
mission that Asquith is doomed to fail
ure. He cannot unite the elements of
a discordant majority. A test has come
already before which he recoils. The
New York Evening Mall gives the solu
tion In the statement that he Is too
much a Unionist at heart one may say
he is too much an Englishman to adopt
a parliamentary policy of which one of
the earliest results will be home rule for
iteland.
If the truth be told, the English Lib
erals axe glad now, and always have
been glad, to have the Lords possess
their legislative veto in order that with
It they may block Irish home rule. The
Liberals have been willing to play Irish
home rule in the Commons, . and carry
it right up to the gales of the House of
Lords, feeling comfortably assured that
the Lords will throw the bill out as
often as it comes to them.
That is as far as the old-fashioned
Liberal cares to go in favor of granting
legislative autonomy to Ireland. He
docs not want it at all: but for purposes
of politics, he is willing to offer it to
the Irish party so long as the Lords
are there to veto it.
But if the Lords are deprived of .their
veto, one of the earliest consequences
will be Irish home rule. A Liberal ma
Jot ity in the House of Commons cannot
rciuse it long, because It cannot long
operate with Irish opposition.
Confronted with the demand of the
Irish party to make the abolition of the
Lords' veto his first and primary de
mand before the new house, Mr.
Asquith recoils and refuses. The Irish
party withdraws its support. It is alto
gether unlikely that Asquith will yield.
His refusal to yield will mean a new
election, and a second parliamentary
campaign, fought much more distinctly
along the line of national union.
It may be too early to prophesy, but
it is hard to see how the Liberals
could welcome such an appeal to a
wearied electorate, which would be
quite disposed to charge up all Its
troubles to the party In power, unless
they were quite willing to accept defeat
as a foregone conclusion, and leave the
Tories to solve the difficulties of the
preseut- situation.
All this means that the successors of
Charles Stewart Parnell. and the up
holders of his policy, have driven an
other governmental majority into a
corner, and once more asserted their
power to disorganize British politics.
MERELY INTEMPERATE MOUTHING
Itinerant Evngell" It Was Who
Denounced the Unitarian Church.
HOOD RIVER. Or.. Feb. 2. (To the
Editor.) The man whom The Oregonian
quotes as saying recently that he "would
rather have a saloon come to town than
to have a Unitarian church come," is not
one of the ministers of Eugene, as has
been said, but an evanselist who Is there
today, and will be somewhere else to
morrow. I doubt if any minister of any
church in Eugene. Or., indorses the ut
terances of Mr. Oliver, "the great evan
gelist." Such a statement given above
astounds men who think seriously, and
the man who uttered it must have been
under the "influence of some strange
spirit" at the time.
We. who are called "evangelical" and
are rigidly orthodox, believe in the great,
fundamental truths which the Unitarian
church affirms in common with others:
the fatherhood of God. the brotherhood of
man. the highest culture of the mind and
soul, the development of character, and
Christian philanthropy. But we have no
sympathy with the negations of Unita
rian philosophy the denial of the divin
ity of our Lord, the personality of the
Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the Holy
Trinity, the forgiveness of sins and sal
vation through faith in the atonement of
Jesus Christ. We do not go to such
lengths, however, in denouncing those
men who do not think as we think, but
who are "casting out some demons" as
well as we. and I think we ought not to
"forbid them."
I know Mr. Sargent, who recently went
to Eugene. Or., to take charge of the
Unitarian Society, and lie is a gentleman
above the average In intelligence, of
kindly disposition, and industrious. Ha
will visit the sick, the poor, and those
in distress, and minister to their com
fort, and those who associate themselves
with him In philanthropic works will sup
port him. Who will avow as much, or
anything other than evil of the saloon?
The people of Eugene, Or., have the same
privilege in the matter of the Unitartan
church which they have in other matters.
They can let it alone, and if they do, it
will soon "fold Its tent" and disappear.
But the saloon, when voted out, will not
let them alone.
Evangelical Christianity is not helped,
but hindered, by such extravagant state
ments as those attributed to Mr. Oliver.
T. to. FORD.
The Proposed Hudson Klver Bridge.
The Interstate Bridge Commission of
the State of New York, appointed in
1906 to act jointly with a commission
of the State of New Jersey, in consid
ering the project for a bridge across
the North River at New York City, has
made its third annual report, recom
mending that a bridge be built at One
Hundred and Seventy-ninth street.
This is about six miles north of Sixtieth
street, the point which has been the
New York" terminus most frequently
considered In previous proposals. At
One Hundred and Seventy-ninth street
there Is high rooky land on both sides
of the river. The main span would
not have to be over 1400 feet long and
no long approaches would be necessary.
The estimated cost is $10,000,000 for
a bridge to carry a highway and to
carry trolley cars at high speed. It
Is estimated that at any point farther
south the cost would be three times aa
much, and a crossing farther north would
be out of the question on account of the
increased width of the river. West One
Hundred and Seventy-ninth street is near
ly on a line with the Washington bridge
across the Harlem River.
Forefjcn Students Thronst to I'srla.
Westminster Garette.
The number of foreign students at the
University of Paris increases by leaps
and bounds. In 1SS9 there were only 4ST of
them: in 1S99 there were 1174: now, accord
ing to a return Just issued, there are no
fewer than 3326. The Russians (135t) are
the most numerous, and after them come
the Roumanians (233). the Germans (231).
the Egyptians (165), the Austrians (139).
the English (115) and the Americans
(107). There is also a sprinkling of stu
dents from China, Japan, Mexico and the
Republic of Panama. All together, in
fact, the university seems to be becoming
as cosmopolitan in its constitution as it
was in the middle ages, when scholars
wandered at their leisure from one seat
of learning to another.
Where to Apply for Wheat Lands.
WOODMERE, Or.. Feb. 27. (To th
Editor.) Please inform me how I can
obtain information concerning wheat
lands either in this state, or Alberta,
Canada, either by homesteadlng or pur
chase outright. H. HATTON.
Write to the Registers of the Land
Offices: at Burns, La Grande. Portland,
Roseburg and The Dalles. Or.
For information concerning Alberta
lands probably the most direct and
effective way would be to address Hon.
G. 11. V. Bulyea, Lieutenant-Governor.
Edmcnton, Alberta-