THE MORNING OREGONTAN,' THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1910. (Dregxntinn JPOBTLASD. OliEGOX. ; Entered at Portland, Orogon. Poatofllce a cond-Class Uattnr. Subscription Bates Invariably In Advance. (BT MAILJ Dally, Sunday Included. on year. ... ,..$8-00 Dally. Sunday Included, six months. . . . 4.25 Dally, Sunday Included, thnee month. . 2.25 Dally. Sunday included, one month... .75 Dally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, nix month. .... 8.25 Dally, wtthoat Sunday, thr montbl... 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month. .... -60 Weekly, one year. ........ . ......... 1.50 Bunday, on y (.r ....................... 2 IS') Sunday and wekly. one year.. S.oO By Carrier.) Dny, Bunday Included, o?ae year. 9.0O Dally. Sunday lnoluded. one month. .... .75 How to Remit Send Postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Clve postoftlce ad dress In full, including county and state. Postage Rates VO to 14 nmcM. 1 cent; 16 to 28 pages, 2 cental SO to 0 pages, 8 cents; 40 to 80 pases. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rata. Eastern Business Office. The S. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 48 BO Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-61S Tribune bulldlne. PORTXAND, THURSDAY,, MARCH 3, 1810. "THE THIEVES OF THE WEST." I It Is perfectly clear that people of the Eastern States, Who see us using, natural resources, even as they or j their ancestors have msed them, think us "thieves." Chief apostle of this notion Is GifCord Pinchot a mere theorist, a man -who 'knows nothing about conditions of life and growth in, a new country, where pioneer work -must be done; but talks of old coun tries, and of Germany In particular the most absolute of old monarchies as examples for our country. Ger many must be our model for conser vation. This la the fallacy of "a priori argument," when applied to govern ment and to conditions In one coun try and another. It is a mistake to suppose that wliat Is good for Ger many, and what Germany approves, could toe good for us situated and conditioned as we are. It ex hausts patience to . find, In our day and time, such misconception of conditions, such sophistry In treat ment ctf the details of public affairs. Each and every great nation must have Its own policy, in internal af fairs, conditioned . upon its national life. All the main follies of modern government in our states arise from the rigor of this a priori argument, Germany has a system suited to her self. "We must follow it! In1 Oregon we are advised to take 'Switzerland and New Zealand for our models. It is the greatest absurdity in the world. Our country has Its own policy, based on its history, its character, its development; and must pursue it. Most of the disturbances, most of the -evils, that arise In modern government and society spring from the effort to force application of the a priori arguunent. The fallacy pursues ways more sub tle than the positive example. Even the speculations of Rousseau and the reveries of Condorcet, the vagarious ideas of Karl Marx and the notions of Henry George, have been deemed by large numbers, now and again, as a sufficient gospel. In every age there is a great lot of people who take to hobbles and ride them; who expect to introduce some vagrant Idea, bor rowed from somewhere or nowhere, as the governing idea of their own country. A class f this sort of peo- i pie is very active now. "Conserva tion" is their theme; and they hold that those who would use the re sources of the country for the develop ment of states, as always heretofore, are spoilers and thieves. But the spoilers and thieves are those who set up and establish an immense official system, which checks and hinders the development of the country, and devours, meantime, in salaries and expenses, sums tenfold greater than all the value they con serve. The system burns the candle at both ends; it stops the development of the country and lays heavy charges for its own expenses upon the public treasury. It is a result that always will fol low theoretical notions carried by in novators into the administration of public affairs, Here in the remote West we are politically weak; and, therefore, -we shall be compelled to submit to the taunt that we are "thieves," because we object to change of the historic policy that has made the older states great. But, until we are deprived also of the right of free speech and free press, we shall still have a word to say. "We have among us here a few shallow politicians and Journalists, who know nothing of the West, and who, therefore, approve the policy of strangulation. But they are contemptible. There are Judases everywhere. The one thing in the course of George Chamberlain, Sen ator from Oregon, that meets highest and practically universal approval, is his stand for his state and for the whole West on this question. STEAM SUPPLANTS SAIL. Announcement is made of the estab lishment of a regular line of steam ships between Antwerp and . other European ports and Portland, the service to begin with sailings every six weeks. There are two features of special interest in connection with this announcement. ; One is the fact that Columbia River territory is thus drawn much nearer than ever before to the markets of the Old World; steamship service facilitates trade to the advantage of both buyer and seller. The other feature of special interest is the substitution of steam for sail on one of the few remaining trade routes of the world where up to the present time the sailing vessel has succeeded in holding its own. For many years after the tramp reamer had driven the sailing vessel from the North Atlantic and from .the Far Eastern trade, the grain trade of the Pacific Northwest and the nitrate trade of the west coast of South America continued to be the special preserve of the sailing ship. Steam ers have been breaking into the nitrate trade for the past five or six years, but it is only quite recently that they have made their presence felt in the North Pacific. Regular lines al ready ply out of Puget Sound ports and San Francicso to European ports, and , the establishment pf a regular line between Portland and these ports will put Columbia River terri tory on even terms with other ports. We have already had an opportu nity of Judging of the value of this rapid communication with the- Old World ports by the "service of the American-Hawaiian steamship line. European freight sent to Portland by way of the Tehuantepec route now reaches Portland in less than one-half the time formerly consumed, but the necessity of trans-shipment at the Isthmus has tended to hamper ship ment of Oregon products to Europe. The new line will remedy this disad vantage and will undoubtedly shorten the time and reduce the cost of serv ice to such an extent that in a short time the slow-moving sailer will be entirely displaced. "JfOTHUfO DOING." Newspaper controversies are profit less. The Oregonlan has no desire to enter a controversy with any news paper. It studiously avoids every thing of the kind. It now quotes thi3 from an Oregon journal, not from any desire of controversy with it, but to open a way to make plain a matter of public interest: The insistence that the Pinchot conser vation policy is destructive of development Is belled by the unparalleled conditions of growth and enterprise In Oregon, where the exact spirit of the conservation policy was made statute law by the last Oregon Leg islature. The whole opposition to con servation is based either on ignorance of what real conservation means or on wilful misrepresentation of the facts by those who know better but Incorrectly state the case for private reasons. There Is steady development in Ore gon, but not under the water power act passed by the Legislature of Ore gon, at the last session. That act provided that all water, hitherto un appropriated for power purposes, should be subject to certain close regulations, and pay fees to the state. Even if the stream were on one's own land, the owner could not use it for power purposes without compliance with burdensome conditions imposed by this law. But this law does not affect nor can it apply to power water rights or use of them. There is activity under these,, but nothing doing on the water powers affected by the new act. Nor likely to be. HATE WE- A CIVILIZATION ? The Bprlngfield Republican seems to be a little out of patience with the habit of saying that everything which happens in this country. If it is wicked, is a "blot on American civili zation." In its distaste for the ill conditioned phrase, the Republican raises the question whether there is any such thing as American civiliza tion, and, after a discussion more or less adequate, answers it in the nega tive. There are many local civiliza tions, it thinks, but no National one. The too-numerous murders which all Europe holds up its hands in horror at and unanimously declares are a "blot on our civilization" are, accord ing to the Republican, "the direct re sult of the abnormal social and racial conditions in the South." This con clusion is so comforting to our Na tional pride that we wish it had some Justification fn fact. The sad truth is, however, that while murders are more numerous in the black belt than else where, similar crimes exceed the number which decent sentiment ought - to tolerate in most of the Atlantic States and through out the West. The negro is not a factor in the affairs of Oregon, but we have many more murders here in proportion to the population than any of the progressive European na tions. The evil of reckless disregard for human life Is a National one, and any explanation of it which begins by denying the. facts is worse than none at all. . So far as the prevalence of murder goes, the Republican is certainly not Justified in saying that "America, far from having one civilization, has many." The plain truth is that we have a pretty uniform civilization throughout the country in that partic ular, .but not a very high one. Pass ing to the subject of divorce, which is another of the "blots," the Republican finds that it is merely a local trouble, after all. The Southern States have very few divorces and South Carolina none. Hence we have no truly Na tional evil of that kind to deal with. Our contemporary finds the reason for the Southerner's dislike of divorce in the reaction of the white taste against negro looseness. Perhaps this plays a part in the matter, but we fancy, when the subject comes to be anal yzed searchlngly, it will be found that the South has fewer divorces than the North simply because the economic reasons which cause them here have not yet begun to act very strongly there. Southern women are still in economic dependence upon their men. The desire for . self-support and the ability to carry It out are compara tively rare among them, and in conse quence they submit to outrages from their husbands which would drive a Northern woman to the divorce court. Divorces increase in number every where in proportion as women become Individualized by earnjng their own living, by taking part in public af fairs, or by any other independent ac tivity. Hence it cannot be said that Southern civilization is essentially different from the Northern and West ern in this respect, but only that it has as yet felt the modern impulse less keenly. - Such difference as exists Is evanescent. What the Springfield Republican wants is to localize our various mis chiefs and hold each section responsi ble for its own sins. Thus it tries, without much success, to shoulder the evil of murder off upon the South and divorce upon the West. Just where it would locate municipal mis government It does not specify, though that Is by far the most interesting of all our psychological disorders. But the question whether the various ills which afflict us can be localized or not is really trivial. Even If" each one could be strictly set off by itself and assigned to a single state or county, it would still be a "blot on the civiliza tion" of J:he whole country. The di verse parts of this country are so closely united by commerce. National feeling and a common language that they are much like the members of the human body. Nobody would think of calling a man healthy who had an Incurable ulcer on his leg, even if his face appeared ruddy and his arm was strong. There Is something wrong with his system or the ulcer would heal. So it Is with our murders and divorces. Grant that most of the kill ings are in the South and most of the divorces in the West, and what fol lows? Simply that the Inner poison of the body politic works out wher ever conditions permit, taking one form here and another there. The effect which our various "blots" produce on the minds of observers in other parts of the world is pretty well summed up In the phrase, which is becoming common, tiat America is a misgoverned country! The reproach is often made more poignant by. add ing the remark that the United States is the only badly misgoverned democ racy in the world. France has a pop ular government, more democratic than ours In some respects, but life and property are safer- there than here, while domestic morals are not so badly threatened by divorce. Eng land Is also a democratic country, but It has escaped some of our worst troubles. It is not afflicted ' with the murder mania, nor With an excessive numbrr of-divorces, nor with munici pal corruption. Many other critics would answer the question, "Is there an American civilization?" in the neg ative, as the Republican does, but In a different eer.re. The Republican thinks we have many local civilizations, they think we have none at all. BELFTN'O THE BOYS. It is impossible to praise too highly the motives of the men who have pledged themselves to act as "big brothers" to the delinquent lads of the city and help them t lead worthy lives. The bestowal of personal serv ice is the most Christian species of help and the only kind that is of much avail in the formation of character. Next to abating the need for help to delinquent boys by lessening their number, this enterprise Is the most humanely beautiful that could be Imagined. Perhaps the notion that more' boys between the ages of 10 and 20 years go astray than Is absolutely necessary is but an idle dream. Most aspira tions for genuine Improvement In things seem to be more or less dreamy when they are critically examined; but we have a suspicion that there is some connection between the curriculum of the public schools and the fact, as stated by Judge Bronaugh, that "there are 400 boys under parole in this city." Between an antiquated and un practical course of study in the schools and bad boys on the streets, there may possibly exist a relation of cause and effect. Suppose the public schools were doing for the little boys who attend them what the Y. M. C. A. does for the big boys who frequent its courses? The old maxim that an idle brain is the devil's workshop states a partial truth, as most maxima do, but not a whole one. The devil works with an idle hand quite as willingly as with an idle brain. The failure of the schools to hold the interest of the boys is acknowledged by everybody who has studied into the matter, and the reason for it is also perfectly well known. It is because they deal with abstractions Instead of realities. They seek to educate directly through the brain, while it is as certain as any thing can be that to educate a boy you must reach his brain through his hand. If the public schools should begin tomorrow to teach real" things to the boys, what would be the effect upon the number who need to be haled into court and paroled? Would not the schoolteacher make a better big brother, or sister, all things con sidered, for these boys than even the most kindly amateur? TOLL, OF THE 8TORM. Not since the coming of the rail roads have the elements played such havoc with the transportation lines of the Pacific Northwest -as during tho piest-r.t storm. For loss of life a-id destruction of property a nw record has been established, and it will oe weeks before the extent of the disas ter can be fully determined. It is for tunate, indeed, that only once in a generation, or longer, do these wiid orgies of. the elements levy heavy toll on life and property, for there is no precaution that will prevent them leaving such a wake of destruction behind them. The most distressing part of this -widespread storm is, of course, the heavy loss of life. Rail road grades can be rebuilt and buried towns will emerge from the ava lanches which overwhelmed them, but the loss of life is irreparable. Flood damage, unlike fire, Is never covered by Insurance, and is absolute and complete. Nominally it Is borne by the railroad companies that are called on to repair it, but In the end it becomes a fixed charge against the in dustries of the people who support the railroad. In the present storm all of the railroads seem to have suffered to a greater or less degree, but the physical damage inflicted on the Mil waukee road has been the most severe encountered by any of the lines, al though the preat Northern loss Is also very heavy. The Milwaukee, being a new line, was 111 prepared for such un usual conditions and was placed out of eommlslon long before the older and more thoroughly seasoned lines began to suffer seriously. That the storm was unexpected and of unusual severity is plainly shown by the fact that in the twenty years during which the Great Northern has been crossing the Cascades there have never before been any signs of dan. ger near the scene of the present trag edy. All of the precautions 'Which man can take against the forces of Nature will not prevent occasional disasters, but it is noticeable in the present trouble that the lines which suffered the least were those which followed the Columbia River down through the gorge at the Cascades. AtL COMPETITNON ELIMINATED. In the language of James J. Hill, in the current number of The World's Work, "The principles of rate-making laid down In the Interstate Com merce law and the decisions rendered under it absolutely prohibit compe tition." The great railroader dis cusses at length his big problem, which has cost the railroads millions for attorneys' fees and court expenses. He states emphatically: "The asser tion by the state of control of the rate making power, in the slightest degree, at once logically destroys the possibil ity of competition, for universal com petition can exist only where prices are absolutely free to go up and down without regulation or limit, until the competing concerns and the public that they serve meet on the level of the cheapest service that is consistent with a reasonable profit, or until some competitors are forced to the wall." In his defense of the consolidation movement, Mr. Hill cites the fact that in the twenty-five years covering the period in which weak -roads were be ing absorbed by the strong, the aver age receipts per passenger per mile dropped from 2.42 cents, in. 1883, to 2.01 cents in 1906, and the average freight rate per ton per mile dropped nearly 40 per cent from $1.22 to 77 cents. Mr. Hill contends that the dis solution of the Northerns Securities Company has resulted In a loss to the public of advantages which the simpler plan of operating the consoli dated properties would have afforded. while the only difference it has made with the owners has been "merely the Inconvenience of holding two cer tificates of stock of different colors in stead of one and of keeping track of two different sets of securities." While Mr. Hill finds fault with the restraint placed on the railroads by the present laws, he is emphatic in urging correction of the evil of over capitalization, terming it the simplest, most effective regulation to be ap plied to modern business. The article throughout quite naturally leans to the side of the railroads, but It Is filled with wisdom, and Its criticism of the results that have followed the ef forts of the Interstate Commerce Com mission Is 'to a considerable extent Justified. The Senate has passed the bill au thorizing an issue of $30,000,000 worth of certificates of indebtedness to complete existing Irrigation proj ects. This is a measure that will not only hasten the date when thousands of settlers along the uncompleted projects can begin getting their land into productive shape, but it will also enable the Government to realize on its investment, which will - remain worthless until the lands are provided with water. Very few projects for which the Government appropriates money will make as large returns on the investment as will be secured from the various irrigation projects which can be completed in a very short time, if there Is no further delay in securing the necessary funds. Aside from the financial part of the deal, the Gov ernment is under moral obligations to many settlers who have bought land in the irrigation districts with the un derstanding that .there would be no unnecessary delay in securing the needed water. Opposition to assembly is simply opposition to party organization. That, and nothing more; that, and nothing less. But how can rational men 'expect to do anything in direc tion of public affairs without combi nation and action through party? Has any other way ever been discovered? Note the closeness of party division in England now. Likewise in Ger many and France where, however, the conditions are such that action through parties is within limits less distinctly defined. Where there Is free debate, and opinion controls, men must act In parties, 4f they expect to accomplish anything. Assembly, debate, conference, consideration as to candidates for presentation for elec tion, are necessary to party organiza tion and party action. Are men to act a -separate and disconnected part, and accomplish nothlng, or to unite to gether on principles on which they are agreed, for accomplishment of their objects? The possibilities of "wireless" are great. Thus far, the principal use of the new agency for spreading news has been the summoning of aid to sinking ships, but something under the head of new business is reported In a Newport (Or.) dispatch in The Oregonlan yesterday. The cook on the steamer Alliance fell down the hatchway and was severely, injured while the vessel was fifteen miles off shore, and, there being no physician aboard, a wireless message was flashed to Taquina asking a physician at that port to prescribe for the injured man. Whatever may be the merits of the dispute between Secretary Wilson and ex-Forester Pinchot as to the former's sanction of . the famous Dolllver let ter. It is clear that Wilson never saw it until after it had been read in the Senate. Why did not Pinchot sub mit the letter to Wilson for approval? Because he wanted to take no chances of his disapproval and he expected to claim afterward that Wilson told him to go ahead. There is no other interpretation of Pinchot's course to be made. It is dishonest and con temptible. "We look," says the Independent (New York) "to see a tery large share of town taxation paid by utilization of town power." That Is, by utiliza tion of power of streams flowing through towns or near them. But we look for nothing of the kind. The multitude of officials and expenses of administration, under management professedly for "the people," . will leave the people in debt, every time. It can't be managed under our politi cal and electoral system. Wouldn't all railroad trains. better quit the route over the Cascade Moun tains, to and from Puget Sound, and use the Columbia River route? It is evident that the North Bank Road was and is a necessity and was not built too soon. The assembly does not "fight the direct primary." The direct primary is the law for all parties and for all the people. The assembly's function will simply be to submit the names of candidates for consideration at the direct primary. . A" Seattle-Portland train was lost temporarily from sight yesterday, somewhere on Cowlitz River. For some of the passengers It might have been a pleasant resort from flrst-of-the-month bill collectors. There need be no fear of Japan, If our false conservationists should have their way, because the Japs would find on the Pacific Coast only a wil derness. Is it fair for Pinchot men to declare themselves the only foes of land fraud and to condemn persons who oppose their schemes as .frnds of fraud? The plumber works the hold-up by day and the "gun man" by night, but the effect on the victim Is much the same In either case. According to Mr. Plnchotjl Idea, as revealed In his testimony, there is only one 'conservation" and Pinchot is its prophet. These warm chinook storms are pretty hard also on the dealers who sell higher-cost-of-livlng fueL The last Winter month i3 February, by the calendar, but some persons ex pect too much all at once. When plumbers fall out, honest men may get their dues. And the equinoctial storms are still in store. THE EAST AGAINST THE WEST. All Are Tnlevea and Llnra bat Pinchot and Glavls. Tacoma Tribune. The Balllnger-Pinchot controversy has been attracting wide attention all over the country for months, yet there may be many people who have only a very hazy Idea of what it is all about. They know, in a general way, that the people of the West support Bal linger, and the theorists of New Eng land and the great "interests" support Pinchot; but because of the very ex tensive press bureau maintained by the Pinchot administration, which is still turning out tons of literature, at the public expense, and at the behest of Pinchot, the public is kept con fused as to the real issues. Perhaps the Cunningham coal case will serve, as well as any, to show the lineup. Cunningham and some other prospectors found coal in the Copper River country. It looked promising and Cunningham Induced C. J. Smith, perhaps one of the best known coal men of the Northwest, and H. C. Henry, a prominent banker and contractor, to grubstake him to make further prospects. The field looked better. To carry on the work, they took in Miles C Moore, of Walla Walla, and several other live men who had money and were willing to risk it for the development of the mines. About this time overtures were made to the Guggenhelns. who were proposing to build a railroad up ln,to the country, to sell them the find at a handsome profit; but, after taking an option, the Guggenheims allowed it to lapse, subsequent events indicating that they expected an easier way of getting control. - Pinchot, hearing the prospect was worth something, sent in his men to secure evidence, or make it, to pre vent these prospectors from getting the coal, in order that after they were driven off the find might be made by those in the favor of Pinchot, not know ing that Smith and Moore and Henry stood for anything more than any com mon tenderfoot that would be easily bluffed when the "Government" got after them. When they saw the. fight was on the locl men "got together" with other strong men in the Northwest to pre pare for the coming fight. Senator Borah, Carter, Congressman Mondell and other leaders of the Northwest took a hand, and the tissues of lies and accusations by" which the "Govern ment" had been accustomed to drive out Western prospectors and their backers is laid bare. But Pinchot. with his head up and eyes flashing, boldly denes them all and declares they are all thieves and liars and he is the only good and true. MOST INSOLENT CITT ON THIS GLOBE F. Hopklnaon Smith's Harsh Criticism of Greater New York. New York Times. F. Hopkinson Smith, artist, author, and engineer, told the 700 members of the New York Southern Society gathered at the annual "Dixie dinner" at the Hotel Astor last night that New" "Fork is "the most Insolent city on the face of the globe." Mr. Smith was introduced by William G. McAdoo, president of the society and toastmaeter. and his hot Southern blood seemed in the ascendant when he rose to speak. "All here tonight have a feeling of exile," said he. "People are kind to us here, but It Is because they want our brains to lead them on to success. It is hardly 25 years since the Southerner was considered as lazy, and quixotic. He had a reputation for not paying his debts some of which ought not to have been paid. When, however, the old type of Southern gentleman passes away who will teach the present generation manhood? We live In the most Insolent city on the face of the globe. That if a hard state ment to make, but it is true. Hardly a streetcar conductor or a policeman gives one a civil answer. Thousands are cour teous here, but It Isn't in their blood as It Is in ours. My father took off his hat to the man he met on the street, not from courtesy's sake, but because he was a man and a gentleman. Let us keep alive our old traditions, for we are the custo dians of the records. "People are too busy here. Materialism Is rampant. If we meet a man on the street can we stop to take our hat oft to him? Not at all. When he wants to see us he makes an appointment at his office with a stenographer on one side, a type writer on the other, and a messenger boy waiting outside. When all is over In life, what Is accomplished? ' What's be come of the cheerful chat over the old Madeira, the warm handclasps and the real friendships? What's it all gone for? I tell you, the accumulation of money and a large-sized bank account. Let's get back to our traditions, let's De courteous to women, true to our friends in a word, the Southern blood." Mr. Smith's remarks were received with enthusiasm by men and women whose homes were formerly in the South. XJmrm of Poetry. From an Old Scrapbook. A girl said to me a few days ago of a friend of hers, "I never in my life knew anybody who had such a flow of language as she has. She is never at a loss for a word of comparison, or an appropriate quotation. How in the world does she do it?" Well, I asked her, and this Is what the good talker said: "When I was a very little girl my great delight was to read and study poetry. I learned poems by heart to recite at school, to say to my mother and my brothers. I have always kept up that habit,, and every day as I am dressing. I have an open book on my bureau and learn something by heart, even if It Is only four lines. I have never given drawing-room recitations, for I know I should simply bore peo ple, but I have gained a great deal of pleasure myself from the habit, and I believe ' It has done more to give me a good command of words than any thing else." An Obstacle to Sucecaa. Los Angeles Times. Senator Klkins, deploring at a din ner in Washington the dishonest meth ods of one type of business man, said with a smile: "It all brings back to me a dialogue I once heard in a Southern school. " 'Children.' said the teacher, 'be dili gent and steadfast, and you will suc ceed. .Take the case of George Wash ington, whose birthday we are soon to celebrate. Do you remember me telling you of the great difficulty George Washington had to contend against?" " 'Yes, ma'am,' said a little boy. 'He couldn't tell a lie.' " All the Comforts of Home. Chicago Record-Herald. Charles Frohman announces that he is to hae a theater on the steamship Mauretania, It will soon be possible while at sea to do about everything one does at home except shovel snow from the sidewalks In the Winter and mow the lawn In the Summer. Overdoing; the Historical Picture. Jiew York Evening Post. Of course, there will be a "national welcome" to Roosevelt next June, but isn't It a little cruel to ask President Taft to Join In it? If we remember, Louis XVIII was not requested to go to melt the other man irora Elba. A WORKING, NOT TALKING CABINET President Tart's Advisers Sawing Wood Steadily All the Time. Washington Letter to Boston Adver tiser. Now one hears knocking that Presi dent Taffs Cabinet is unsatisfactory and that it is not the equal in ability of those that have gone before It at all events Seeming to lack conspicuous achievement and timber. This Is com ment read from outside, and seems curious to Washington, which has been thinking that the Cabinet has been do ing finely. People- seem to be very impatient. The critics appear to want things accomplished in one year that it has taken others four and even seven years to do. President Taft Is himself expected to accomplish in the first year of his term more than his predecessor in the seven years of his two terms. Knox is thought not to be as great as Root, MacVeagh as Cortelyou. and so on. But this is a working Cabinet. Not for some tlirfe have the members been such responsible heads as these of to day. They are not mere clerks. Cab inet meetings mean something. They last for several hours instead of less than an hour. Not for a long time has the State Department had such vex ing questions before It, and it is ac complishing wonders between the na tions and ourselves. The Central Amer ican situation has- to be tenderly handled, and the China question is a large one. Things cannot1 be done in a moment In diplomacy. Mr. Knox has not been able to go about the country making speeches. Ho has been too busy and is Interested in his work. Secretary MacVeagh Is introducing business methods In the Treasury and has made some good addresses. The application of the tariff has to be closely studied. Never before has the office of Attorney-General been so busy as today, and Influential In legislation, but here, too, some ritlcsi would not wait for results. The War Department is now so well established In all Its poli cies and working -so smoothly and cer I tain of the governments to the south of us behaving so well that sensations cannot be seized out of that depart ment, and the able Dickinson, who has been Journeying about familiarizing himself with his vast duties, is put down as "colorless." Hitchcock, as Postmaster-General, is giving close attention to the Immense bu&iness proposition his department is and some politics. But he never did own a megaphone, and so therefore In the opinion of some outsiders, he must be a failure. Ballinger is proving him self a most efficient working Secretary of the Interior, and Nagel Is also am bitious to make his Department of Commerce and Labor successful in a business way. and Meyer is hard at work over his problems to make the Navy really efficacious. Perhaps "after a while the members of the Cabinet will have time to go about the country becoming "conspicu ous" by making speeches, but mean time they are serving their country by staying in Washington doing real and great service. Their deeds when round ed out will speak for them. Meantime it may be believed they will willingly worry along under the accusation of being failures because they -do not spring a sensation every day in the year. Secretary BulIInKer. Philadelphia Ledger. The Secretary, of the Interior is be having very strangely for one who Is supposed to be an "enemy of conserva tion." ' His wlthdrawls of land from settlement are even more frequent and quite as extensive. In the aggregate, as those made by his predecessor. The difference appears to be that under the former administration these with drawals were made in mass and with out discrimination, whereas the . law authorizes such action only in regard to certain kinds of land and, for epe-. clal reasons. This applies especially to -mineral lands. The Secretary 1ms asked for additional legislation to regu late the great mining privileges, and pending this has temporarily withheld from entry many large tracks in Alas ka. The special advocates of conserva tion ought to Join In perfecting and passing the legislation required Instead of exhausting their energies in abuse of Mr. Ballinger. Sentence Sermons. Henry F. Cope, in Chicago Tribune. Saints seldom suffer from a sense of superiority.- Unity of aim Is more than identity of appearance. You can never pray for another with your lips alone. A good man is never blind to the good In other men. The best pride of ancestry Is to be a light to posterity. Faith does more than defend old facts; it makes new ones. He can never know men who will not stop to know children. Some men come near proving the devil when they argue on their god. Anxiety tries- to see the mountains In the way and trips us up over a pebble. He who sets his sails to the winds of applause steers with his back to the future. A present annoyance will try out saint hood much better than a prospective martyrdom. Suitable Honor. Birmingham Age-Herald. "I once found a Pullman porter who was a perfect Chesterfield. He fur thermore looked after my wants with as much care and consideration as if he had been my personal servant. When he had given me the final brushdown and I was about to leave the car, I merely thanked him and did not hand him a tip." "What did the porter do then?" "He smiled, and said: 'Don't men tion It, sir. It's a pleasure to wait on you.' Honestly, I " "Hold on! Hold, on!" "What's the matter?" "I'm going down town and call a special meeting of the Liars' Club to elect you president for life." Pointed ParaKraphs. Chicago News. People with the complaint habit invaria bly slop over. A lazy man is always whining about his tough luck. You hear a lot about "blushing brides," but did you ever see one? The man who dislikes you nearly al ways likes those you dislike. Many a man who knows himself is for that reason suspicious of others. Anyway, a girl looks better in an au tomobile than she did on a bicycle. The meekness of a sleeping-car porter is conspicuous because of its absence. Usurer Rebuked. New York Sun. Shylock was bargaining for his pound of flesh. "Nothing doing," answered Portia, "we are on the yegetable wagon." Not understanding the terms. Shake, speare wrote up a different version. Can Do It Alone. Philadelphia North American. A row was caused in the Reichstag be cause a member said the Emperor ought to have the power to send ten soldiers and shut off the debate. Now, in free America, one man can do it any time. Ask Uncle Joe. Is It Possible? Chicago Record-Herald. There are In the United States Senate several men whom we are almost sure George Washington would disapprove of if he were here now. INCREASED COST OF" LIVING. "AlI-the-Trafric-WlIl-Bear Spirit Re nnonnible for Most of It. SALEM. Or.. March 1. (To the Edi '"") The reasons advanced for the al leged Increased cost of living are le gion. The Oregonlan of March 1 says editorially: "The enormously Increased cost of government with all the multi tudious methods employed through the agency of commissions and local boards Is among the chief causes of the in creased cost of living, if not the chief! est cause." Preacher Mathews, of Se attle, says it is "Joy rides." wine and similar wickedness. A Portland man thinks it is because we patronize street cars and do not shine our own shoes and scrape our own chins; and all that kind of economies. What carfare has to do with the price of eggs, or shoes blacking with the cost of onions, but ter or potatoes, is too deep a question for me. Many unite in asserting: that It Is because we spend too much for whisky and cigars, but as the price of bread, butter and "bran mash" for breakfast is just the same for temper ance crank and toper alike, this ex planation does not explain. Others join In laying the blame on all kinds ot extravagances, and each and all think they have "touched the center of the raw." I will add my individual opinion to the long array of those already offered, for I do not think the main cause haa yet been even hinted at. The average workman Is not taking any Joy rides," drinking champagne, or even blowing In his seldom dollars on contributions to spectacular revivalists who pose as makers of long-haired epigrams, and use long-eared arguments to keep in the lime-light, and yet it is his class upon which the burden of high-priced food products falls heaviest. The Ore gonian's reason accounts for a consid erable portion of the increased cost, for the tax (collected always- indi rectly from the consumer) now con sidered necessary for carrying or. the government. National, state and local, is- pqmething enormous, prob ably amounting to $20 a year for every man. woman and child in the United States, and to $75 to $100 a year for each ablebodied male Inhabitant. This cuts some Ice. but there Is stllj another thing that Is the main cause for high prices, and that is the com mercialism of the age that has brought our business standard down to the basis of "all the traffic will bear." To illustrate: The Oregonlan of February 22 had a local story to the effect that the storm raging at that time, together with the Weather Bu reau's statement that it was general and might continue for some time, caused the dealers to Jump the price of eggs several cents a dozen, and to also lift the price of butter. Now the eggs and butter were already In stock In Portland and were, no doubt, being sold at a satisfactory advance on the price paid for them before the storm suggested ralBe. The price was jumped, not because the articles were worth more, but because the storm might cause a falling off in the supply, hence the wide-awake dealer jumped the prices In advance of Increase in the cost at the sources of supply, and, in fact, collected this Increased price from the consumer, when indeed there was not at the time, or since, any Increase In prices by the producer. The latter got nothing from this increased price, while the consumer got it in the neck, and the dealer got his In his pocket. This is' the custom, not in Portland alone by any means, nor is this in tended as a slam at the Portland deal, ers, for It is the "American spirit;" perfectly legitimate, highly commend able, and an evidence of the business sagacity of the dealer. The consumer is simply the victim of the system of "all the traffic will bear," everywhere and all the time. It Is not the cost of living, however, that alone has advanced. The medical gentlemen who superintend the "for ladles only" functions when the em bryo consumer is ushered into the world, have advanced their prices un til the Increased price of being born would undoubtedly deter the future consumer from arriving at all if it was a matter of choice with him, and he had to pay the bill himself. As It is, as soon as he arrives the increased cost of living fastens on him with a grip that will never loosen during his life. When he gets his first bottle, the glass, milk and rubber trusts each take a whack at the artificial bosom from which he draws his pabulum, and to balance things, the cotton or linen trusts' levy toll on his diapers, while the wool trust gets in its work on his little shirts and the swaddling bands around his little tummy. The leather trust chivalrously refuses to jump on him until he Is big enough to wear shoes and walk. As soon as he starts to school the book trust de mands a rakeoff before he is permitted even to learn "a-a-b-a-a, black sheep," and while his pretty little Sunday school teacher is inculcating in his un suspecting mind the duty of helping the heathen, the same book trust helps 'itself to a percentage on the Sunday school library, for the trusts, like a ! mortgage, work Just as hard Sundays as any other day, and then it is safer to take your rake-off yourself, Instead of waiting for contributions as the uneducated heathen have to. And it is not only for the things of this earth that have gone up in price, but high salaries and the fact that the modern minister gives us only about 10 per cent of religious doctrine and 90 per cent of advice as to worldly things has so diluted the Teal religious in fluence of the pulpit that salvation has almost got beyond the 'reach of the common people, while the undertakers' combination and the florists' union have made death almost a luxury. Sure it costs much more, whatever the reason, to live on this good old earth than it did our ancestors, but considering how they lived and how little they had to do with, it is' per haps worth the price and much more. J. H. CRADLEBAUGH. He Did. Housekeeper. Tommy came out of a room in which his father was tacking down carpet. He was crying lustily. "Why. Tommy, what's the matter?" asked -his mother. vp.p.p-papa hit his finger with the hammer," sobbed Tommy. "Well, you needn't cry at a thing like that, comforted the mother. "Why didn't you laugh?" "I did," sobbed Tommy, disconsolate. Current Newspaper jokes. "This Is Lent." said the footpad. "I know it." said the pedestrian. "Well, what are you going to give up?" Louisville Courier-Journal. "How did they manage to get all -those facts about the Milk Trust?" "In the nat ural way. I suppose." "How -was that?" "Purrped the witnesses." Baltimore Amer ican. Kind Lady (at the kitchen door o you were in the Army during the war with Spain?. What was your capacity there ? Hungry Hobo Trouble rations. ma'am. Chicago Daily News. "Have you been married, Bridget? "Twlcet. mum." "And have you any chil dren?" "Yis. mum I've three. One be th' third wife ov me second husband, an' two be the second wife av me first." Cleve land Leader. "Wouldn't a railway increase the popula tion of this village?" asked the enterpris ing person. "Dunno's It would," replied the native. "It 'ud be a constant tempta tion to a lot of us Inhabitants to get away." - Washing-ton Star. Young Professor's Wife I.ysander, you nave explained to me several times how the overproduction of gold causes high prices, but somehow I can't get it through my head. Young Professor Oh, yes you can: the passage from one ear to the other seems to be entirely unobstructed. Chicago Tribune