lO
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1910.
(Bvegvnxm
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POBTLA ND, SATURDAY, MARCH IB, 1910.
THE UPROAR IN CONGRESS.
Too much prosperity brings injury
to the Republican party and threat
ens it with National defeat. It lacks
the cohesion that a powerful opposi
tion would supply. Dissension in
the party of too great strength is
the natural consequence. The Re
publican party not only has too much
strength, but too many statesmen
for its own good perhaps far the
good of the country. The quarrel in
Congress - is the natural outcome of
such a situation. 1
Cannon was protected at the be
ginning of the special session by
Democratic high-tariff advocates, who
were afraid to trust others than Can
non and his supporters with the or
ganization and the formation of the
committees, lest "the principle of
protection" should suffer in the new
tariff legislation. That danger now
tided over, the Democratic members
are again a solid body, and are eager
now to take the committee n rules
and order of business out of Can
non's hands. Some thirty Repub
licans, more or less, show a readiness
to unite with the Democratic mem
bers for this purpose. Undoubtedly,
if they can get a majority, they not
only may take the rules and order
of business out of the hands of the
present organization, but even rhay
depose the Speaker and elect another.
The rules are substantially the same
now as during-many preceding years,
under both Republican and Demo
cratic speakers. They were put into
this form, in order that there might
be some government and order "in the
direction of the business of the House.
The system does, indeed, put great
power into the hands of the Speaker.
The member from Buncombe, who
wishes to bring forward his own great
measures, and is to astonish the coun
try by his flights of eloquence, is not
able to obtain the consideration which
he deems his due. He is an "insur
gent," therefore, and speaks against
"legislative tyranny." To promote the
interests of their own party, the Dem
ocratic members stand to a man be
hind these Republican "Insurgents."
and urge them on. The coalition
probably will succeed.
And perhaps it ought. The present
may -be as good a time as any !for
dlsbandment of the- Republican party,
at least for a season. Let the coali
tion put "Uncle Joe" out and try to
run the House without rules. From
every point of view, and especially
from the newspaper's point of view,
the spectacle would be enjoyable.
QUKEIt ARXTJ3LENT.
The New York Times', which em
phatically represents the huge bank
ing interests of New Tork, consistent
ly opposes postal savings banks, but
it is hard pressed to discover respect
able reasons for its opposition. The
experience of the leading European
nations conclusively proves that postal
savings banks are an excellent finan
cial device from every point of view.
Even the bankers are benefited by
them, unwilling as they are to admit
it. Still many bankers of the United
States take the ground that the
finances of the country belong to
them by divine right and that it Is
little short of a crime for any person
to lay up money except through the
channels they see fit to provide. If
they do not provide any channels at
all, then it is a sin unpardonable for
anybody to save anything.
The New York Times puts the cli
max upon its absurd opposition to the
postal savings banks by the remark
In a recent editorial that "the bill,"
now before Congress, "provides for
the mingling of savings deposits with
commercial deposits," which, in the
opinion of the Times, is a very bad
thing. In reply there are various
things to say. For example, it is not
true that the postal savings banks will
mingle commercial deposits with sav
ings, for they will refuse to receive
any commercial deposits. Not having
any. they cannot mingle them. Again,
it certainly is a bad thing to mingle
savings with commercial deposits and
subject the little economies of the
poor to the hazards of competitive
business. This is admitted by every
body who has studied the subject,
and it is one of the principal reasons
why postal banks are so exceedingly
necessary.
By far the greater number of our
so-called savings banks at present are
merely commercial banks which have
opened a special ledger which they
devote to small accounts. It Is a
pleasant fiction to call these institu
tions savings banks. They are noth
ing of the sort. The country as a
whole is utterly destitute of - savings
banks, and that Is the fundamental
reason for the Insistent popular de
mand that Congress shall provide
them. They are -as much an es
sential of civilization as common
schools are.
Rear-Admiral Reginald H. S. Ba
con, of the British navy, has emphat
ically Indorsed the American idea of
building larger and faster battleships
than existing types. He even raises
the limit suggested by our own naval
officials, by proposing Dreadnoughts
of 40,000 tons or more. Considering
the "splendid isolation" of Great Brit
ain, and the vital necessity of its
maintaining an immense fleet of im
mense ships. It is not to be wondered
that the head of the British navy
should offer such theories. It should
be remembered, however, that Just be
cause Great Britain is rapidly drifting
toward bankruptcy by reason of ex
cessive and burdensome naval craft,
this Is not a good reason why the
United States should follow in her
footsteps. This advice from a British
Rear-Admiral recalls the fable of the
fox that lost his tail in the trap, and
on his escape argued long and earnest
ly with his fellow-foxes on the use
lessness of tails and the peculiar ad
vantages of not having them. Eng
land has lost a goodly portion of its
tail in the big battleship trap, and
probably yearns for company in Its
misery.
BELATED "CONSCIENCE."
The Oregonian, speaking for a peo
ple who have known something
through experience about the tasks of
taming a new and wild country,
holds In slight esteem any and all
of the fanciful schemes of "conserva
tion" entertained by theorists; and it
doesn't approve even the policy of
Taf t . and Ballinger. It is literally
true that the old East knows nothing
at all about actual conditions in the
new West. When the President says
"there are those who ook at the ques
tion of conservation as they might
have looked at It twenty or thirty
years ago," he says truth; for the
question In our new states Is, in the
main, just what it was twenty or
thirty years ago, and with us Just
what it was a much longer time ago
in the older states. Our people wish
to occupy the country, subdue the
land and turn the resources to use.
We wish to get settlers on the land.
How does it happen that the "con
science" of the East was never awak
ened on this subject till all the lands
there were occupied, and the story
arose that there were still some re
sources in the West which were "na
tional property," and ought to be kept
out of the hands of pioneers, who
might desire to use and develop them?
But how can the old policy, which has
made the older states what they are,
be so wrong in the new states?
However, Mr. Taft in his Chicago
speech made it very clear what his
opinion of Mr. Pinchot was and is.
That has some bearing or4 the con
tinual squabble over "conservation"
and the effort to injure Ballinger.
But it is said the object is not to
obstruct the use of the resources, and
that the policy , now in course of en
forcement will not obstruct the use.
Yet it is notorious that an agent or
spy of the new bureau dogs the heels
of every person who wishes to make
a land entry and bluffs him out if
he can. Conditions, moreover, are
made which render use or develop
ment next to impossible.
HERE IS A HX, INDEED!
The Santiam News fully believes
that "no sane man can object to an
assembly of the people for the pur
pose of advising as to ways of polit
ical procedure, stating what issues are
paramount and naming for office men
who would be most likely to carry
these purposes Into effect"; yet if there
should be a Republican assembly, to
carry these principles into effect. It
will be "an illegal body of. men, and
its action will be a plain violation of
the primary law." Besides, "it will
make the breach in the Republican
party wider than ever; it will result In'
two Republican tickets being placed
in the field, and the Republican party
will lose much of its power-in Oregon
politics, if the assembly plan shall be
adhered to."
Here is "a fix." indeed! But what
power "in Oregon politics" has the
Republican party without assembly,
when it can't elect anybody under
direct primary to any important of
fice? "it can't do worse, certainly,
with assembly than without it.
JUSTICE AND CRIME.
Statistics show' that fully half the
time of the police of the United States
is devoted': to the single function of
arresting drunken men and conveying
them to the station. In San Fran
cisco, for example, there were 30,851
arrests made by the police in the year
1909. Of these, 15,704 were for
drunkenness. Of the 77,763 arrests
during the same year In Chicago, 40,
796 were for drunkenness, and about
the same proportion holds for most of
our larger cities. This information is
gathered from an article in The World
Today, which undertakes to discuss
the prevalence of crime in the United
States and analyze its causes. Evi
dently one of the principal causes lies
in the fact that our police forces are
so occupied with attention to drunk
ards that they have no time left to
devote to criminals. When we re
member also that another important
fraction of their working houi Is de
voted to watching, saloons and houses
of ill repute, the subject stands in a
light still clearer. '
The explanation Is not complete,
however, not by any means. Euro
pean nations have as many drunkards
as we have, though our American sa
loon is a treasure which we may call
unique. Germany, France and Eng
land have also the social evil to deal
with. But in spite of these facts their
police forces, after arresting all the
drunkards and . watching the fallen
women as closely as Is necessary, have
ample time to pursue and arrest crim
inals. In the United States out of
each hundred homicides committed
less than two are ever punished. Ger
many punishes 95 out of every 100,
and even unprogresslve Spain suc
ceeds In punishing 85. The best we
can do is to hang or imprison two
man-slayers out of every 100. The,
comparison looks discreditable. There
must b some other reason for our de
linquency besides the fact that our po
licemen are busy taking drunkards to
the station and attending to the
daughters of Joy. In the law itself or
in the administration of it there must
exist some fatal defect.
The existence of such a defect be-,
comes more apparent when we notice
other facts which the writer in The
World Today sets forth. He cites us,
for example, to the comparative num
ber of homicides for every million of
population in the United States and in
European countries. Georgia, to
quote only one or two from the many
parallels he draws, has more homi
cides yearly than the entire British
Empire. Chicago's homicides outnum
ber four to one those of Paris and
London combined. This startling fact
cannot be due to the greater freedom
of speech in Chicago, for anarchists
and rabid street orators are under
stricter restraint there than in Paris
or London either. In the capital of
the British Empire a man may say
pretty nearly what he pleases, but he
is, under notable restraint as to what
he may do. Here we hamper the
tongue, but leave the pistol free. Very
likely it is useless to extend these fig
ures. They have' been published
lately until everybody is weary of
seeing them In print, and pungent
comment has accompanied them In
abundance. Judge Amidon has char
acterized our criminal administration
as a menace to civilization. President
Taft has said that it is a National dis
grace. If talk could cure the -evil, it
would have been cured long ago, but
the discouraging truth is that it gets
worse every year instead of better.
Each twelvemonth sees the number of
homicides in proportion to the popula
tion Increasing and the number of con
victions smaller. It has long been
comparatively safe to kill a man in
the United States. It will not be a
great while until students of society
will class homicide among our less ex
citing sports. It will become a spe
cies of diversion suited only to molly
coddles. There will not be danger
enough ln it to attract a virile sports
man. Upon the whole, it is today
more expensive and risky to shoot a
duck out of season than a man at any
time.
The preoccupation of our police
forces with .comparative trifles is not
the whole secret of this amazing con
dition. There are other reasons for
it. We are beginning to realize that
we are a nation of people who sys
tematically despise the law. It is
needless to recur to the fact that our
great moneyed interests in some cases
employ legal talent for no other pur
pose than to evade the law, but it Is
interesting to compare this with the
parallel fact that the organized pick
pockets of the country also indulge in
the luxury of a general counsel to de
fend their interests. Some of the
courts set an example of contempt for
the law by the cavalier way they have
of annulling legislation and modifying
it to suit particular exigencies. If the
judges look upon the law as an ob
stacle easily set aside what must we
expect of the people? A heavier bur
den of guilt lies upon the legal pro
fession. If lawyers refused to play
tricks with the law no tricks would
be played with it. If there were no
attorney willing to serve the organ
ized pickpockets they could employ no
general counsel. Corporation could
not creep round the statutes unless
lawyers showed them how to do it.
Thus we discover at least two excel
lent reasons why 4crime flourishes in
this country as it does nowhere else
In the civilized world. In the first
place, the officers whom we employ to
prevent crime and arrest criminals are
too i much occupied with other mat
ters. In the second place, the funcj
tionaries whose duty it is to adminis
ter Justice are too much occupied in
promoting injustice. Those who ought
to be helping convict criminals are
aiding them to escape. Such being
the case. It is not much wonder that
murder thrives and property is insecure.
TAMPERING WITH JURIES.
It would be interesting to know
definitely whether the corruption of
Juries which we hear so much about
nowadays is a reality or only a piece
of fantasy. In criminal trials the
Jury is literally the fountain of jus
tice, granting that there is any such
fountain at present, and if It is poi
soned all Is tainted. Wihtout a pure
jury there can be no such thing as a
fair trial. All the boasting about the
value cf the Jury system as a bulwark
of Justice and a cornerstone of
democracy goes for naught if under
our present arrangements juries can
be corrupted. The suspicion now
floating about is that many of them
truly are corrupt and that something
like an. organized machinery for
reaching and seducing Jurymen exists.
It is whispered that there is a com
pany m the United States which for
a suitable consideration will under
take to insure to any person under
prosecution that at least one juror
selected to try him shall vote "not
guilty" to the last extremity. Very
likely this is an exaggeration. Per
haps there is no foundation for the
report. One can only hope that there
is none.
If systematic means for corrupting
Juries exist and are regularly applied,
then there is some ground for the
complaint so often heard that the
criminal classes govern the United
States. If they can predestinate the
outcome of their owx trials, it does
not seem to be of much use to bring
them into court. It would be cheaper
to buy them off as the Scotch farmers
formerly did the border mosstroopers.
In course of time, by paying the crim
inals .their price, a modus Vivendi
might be established, and under it
life and property might be safer than
they now are. Certainly they could
not be much less safe without entail
ing the dissolution of society. The
charges of jury tampering which are
In the air ought not to be dismissed
as idle until we know that they. are
groundless. At present there is only
too much reason to suspect that in
some Instances at least they are far
from groundless.
. RUSSIA'S RECORD WHEAT CROP.
One of the most remarkable feat
ures of the commercial and financial
situation is the record-breaking ship
ments of wheat that Russia has been
dumping on the foreign market almost
continuously since the 1909 crop be
caxrie available, last August. Since
August 1, 1909, these shipments have
reached a grand total of more than
150,000,000 bushels, compared with
42.664,000 bushels for the same
period last season, and 45,168,000
bushels for the corresponding period
in the season of 1907-8. As these
shipments have reached proportions
far greater than the most liberal esti
mates made earlier In the season,
some curiosity has been excited as to
the possibility of the business being
forced and unnatural. It is not im
probable that Russia, in urgent need
of gold, has hastened the exportation
of this wheat on a much more exten
sive scale than ever before. There is
not only the need of gold as an incent
ive, but the abnormally high prices
prevailing undoubtedly prove a con
tributing factor in swelling these ex
ports. Russia has never before produced a
crop approximating in size to that of
last year, and that it came on the
world's markets at a time when that
other great source of supply, the Ar
gentine, had a short crop, alone pre
vented prices soaring to much greater
heights than have been reached.
With Russia for more than six-months
providing from one-third to one-half
of all of the wheat taken by the
world's importing countries, and these
requirements being so urgent that the
price has steadily advanced since the
opening of the season, it is easy to un
derstand what a bread famine the Im
porting countries of the Old World
would now be facing had that im
mense empire produced only a normal
crop or had the prospects of war ne
cessitated its retention at home. The
United States, with the second largest
crop on record, has been unable to ex
port one-half the amount that has
gone to foreign consumers in some
previous years of big crops, and there
Is little to Indicate that . the 1910
crop will be any larger, if it Is as large
as its predecessor.
Under such conditions, and with the
great Improbability of Russia again
this year repeating the record-breaking
yield of 1909, there is presented a
great field for speculation as to what
might happen if the United States
should fail to trail in with a big 1910
crop, to lap over on the Argentine
crop, which is now coming on the
market and which is known to be
from 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 bushels
smaller than that of last year.
Whatever criticism the World may
have at some of the railroad policies
advocated by James J. Hill, no one
questions his ability as a level-headed,
far-seeing business man. Neither is
there any questioning his ability to
place his deductions and observations
before the public In .plain language
that is eloquent in its economy of
words. "We are living in an ago of
world-wide financial delirium,"" said
Mr. Hill in his address before the Min
nesota conservation convention. He
further declares that "the addition of
uncounted millions to billions to the
aggregate wealth of the ' world has
stimulated the spirit of mankind. Its
availability has lulled to sleep natural
yrudence, and quieted the alarm of
moments of sanity In the spendthrift's
life." Summarized, "the charge Mr. Hill
makes against existing conditions is
that easy money induces extravagance,
and he urges a conservation of our
capital and credit by "individual and
public economy." Mr. Hill's speech
which appeared Jn part -in yesterday's
Oregonian is one of the most valuable
contributions yet made on that vexed
question, the higher cost of living.
It is Just as well to remember that
Cannon is in his present position be
cause the ultra-protectionists among
the Democratic members of Congress
wouldn't permit change of the rules
and allow the Republican insurgents
to name the Speaker. The Demo
cratic members wouldn't trust, be
cause they felt they couldn't trust, this
insurgent gang, who have no princi
ples whatever, but merely strive for a
kind of notoriety, in lieu of fame,
which is beyond their reach. There's
a great lot of these little creatures In
Congress. Party has made them what
they are every one of them, yet
they declare themselves independent
of party. Very well; but the Demo
cratic members, 'led by Champ Clark,
are not independent of party. Put
the government Into their hands, and
these "insurgents" will be heard of no
more. It might be the best thing to
do.
- The Sugar Trust, In Its annual re
port, announces a deficit of J 1,3 95,
850 in the year's business; The re
port explains the presence of the defi
cit as due to the numerous suits in
which the company was involved, and
In some of which it was obliged to
pay heavy fines. A trust balance
sheet showing gros3 and net earnings
is always such a fearfully and won
derfully made affair, that the public
which supplies the profits can secure
only a hazy idea as to the extent of
financial loss Involved in a trust bal
ance sheet deficit. As the Sugar Trust
has for many years fixed prices by
the old Huntington railroad system of
"all that the traffic will bear," It is
possible that this seeming deficit
might be converted into a gain, If
there were not such a large amount
of watered stock on which it was sup
posed to be necessary to pay dividends.
As the tale unfolds in the celebrated
Maybray trial now on at Council
Bluffs, la., it becomes glaringly ap
parent that the foolkiller has been
strangely remiss .In his duty. The
eagerness with which men who were
sufficiently endowed with intelligence
to enable them to get together con
siderable sums of money journeyed
across the continent and dumped their
thousands of dollars into the sure
thing game of Maybray and his "pals"
has never been equaled by the victims
of any other "skin game" yet exposed.
Legitimate enterprises frequently lan
guish for lack of capital with which
to carry them on, but the supply of
fools with money for investment In
all kinds of questionable gambles
seems to be inexhaustible.
It is not true that the lands em
bodied in the grant to the Southern
Pacific in Oregon 3,000,000 acres
give a striking example of an abuse
that calls for enforcement of "Pin
chot conservation." It is not true,
because land grants are things of the
past. This particular one was made
40 years ago, when the people of Ore.
gon were glad of the opportunity to
get a railroad. This day is past; it
passed long ago. But the, day is not
past for Invitation to men and women
to come to our new states and settle
down and use the land, the timber
and the water, and .make the most
of them, as heretofore. It is the pol
icy that has made the older states
what they are.
The housefly is a nuisance and an
evil. It is a disgusting thing, too, and
it is believed often carries the germs
of disease. Clearly, what w want In
these days when the state is to do
everything, is a state official bureau to
suppress the housefly. The state fly?
killer should get $10,000 a year, and
he should have a corps of deputies
and inspectors In every county. Our
initiative system will suffice to put this
reform also In motion. For state fly
exterminator we nominate but hold!
It would be treason to the primary
law to name any one in advance.
A municipal boarding-house, with
free meals and lodgings for tramps
and vagabonds, would mighty soon
become the most frequented hostelry
in the Northwest.
Seattle spectators who missed see
ing the airship are about to sue for
their money. The Portland plan la
best, after all.
The Umatilla grand Jury is doing
effective Spring cleaning. Sixty-eight
true bills have been found.
With the opening of Spring the
grower with proper vision can see 30
cent hops this year.
Orcharding at Hood River seems to
be a gentleman's Job. There are no
hired men to be had.
The Oklahoma House committee
used the lime spray on Governor
Haskell yesterday.
Will they spike Uncle Joe?
TAFT AND CLEVELAND MEASURED
A Curious Parallel, bat President Taft
Better Equipped of the Two.
A. (Maurice Low in the Boston Globe.
There have never been two Presidents
who more nearly resembled each other
than Grover Cleveland and William How
ard Taft. Physically, mentally and tem
peramentally the parallel holds. The
country, as yet. has not taken the meas
ure of Mr. Taft. Mr. Cleveland was little
understood in his first term, and W3S
the victim of party passion in his second.
The years that elapsed brought knowl
edge of the real nature of the man Ills
rugged honesty, his inflexible adherence
to the right,- his contempt for petty poli
tics, his disgust of self-advertisement, his
profound belief in the vindication of his
tory, his almost lofty disdain of ephe
meral popularity. A study of the alms,
the aspirations and the methods of Mr.
Cleveland will throw a powerful light
on the mind and character of the present
occupant of the White House.
The careers of both men afford another
curious parallel. Both were educated as
lawyers, both had for the law a peculiar
veneration. Like Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Taft
is essentially a lawyer. Mr. Taft had a
Judicial experience which was denied Mr.
Cleveland; Mr. Taft received his execu
tive training in the departments at Wash,
lngton. and Mr. Cleveland his in the
smaller sphere of municipal government.
Mr. Cleveland's field expanded when he
became Governor of New York, and na
tional expansion made Mr. Taft a colo
nial administrator.
Mr. Taft came tq the Presidency bet
ter equipped, with a riper and broader
mind, with a larger stock of experience,
with a greater knowledge of men and af
fairs, with a more enwidened vision than
his predecessor, who, at the time of his
first election, was almost parochial in
his thoughts, whose experience had been
limited, and whose life had been spent
amid6t surroundings that geographically
and intellectually were narrow. Allow
ing for these differences, there was much
In common between the two men.
Suppose a man of weak character had
succeeded Mr. Roosevelt. It is easy
enough to see what would have hap
pened. Determined to be no less popu
lar, 'he would have been even more spec
tacular. He would have taken counsel
of himself, studied Mr. Roosevelt's meth
ods, applied himself diligently to win pop
ular favor; and In six months Mr. Roose
velt would have been forgotten, for the
public Is fickle and likes novelty, or he
would have made himself ridiculous, be
cause what in one man was natural in
the other was merely a cheap Imita
tion. Mr. Taft must realize that he has noth
ing to hope from the insurgents, not even
neutrality. They did not want him iu
the first place, but accepted him because
they could not help themselves, and they
sought a pretext for a quarrel. They do
not want to be conciliated; they prefer
to bring about a situation which they
hope will make It necessary for Mr. Taft
to retire.
Mr. Taft being a man of character
and having his own self-respect to
maintain, must be himself and not any
man's copy. Assuming for the moment
that he saw the wisdom of gaining
popularity by taking the short -cut
of the spectacular and the unusual,
Mr. Taft could no more follow that
path, than he could walk a tightrope
or run a Marathon. Physically no less
than temperamentally he is not built
that way.
IN SINCERITY MARK ON MAGAZINES
They Have No Fixed Opinion Cater to
Popnlar Whims and Follies.
The Lounger, In Putnam's.
The Evening Post, of this city, had an
Interesting editorial not long ago on
"Standardized Magazines." It accuses
the magazines of more or less yellow
ness and decided, unoriglnality. Whatever
one .magazine does that is sensational,
the other magazines imitate. There is
more or less truth in this, for it is a
fact that editors do watch each other
almost more than they watch the publici
One of the most succesful editors in
this country, who publishes a magazine
with an uncountable circulation in another
city has said that New York magazine
editors watch out for the ideas of other
editors rather than take the trouble to
invent new ones; As for him, he hardly
ever looked at any magazine but his own,
except by way of entertainment. In the
San Francisco Argonaut I find a rap at
magazine editorship, which is quite In line
with' the Post's editorial. The writer
says :
The magazine is the most shameless of all
the purveyors to the popular whim and folly.
It has no policy that cannot be changed
over night, no course that cannot be al
tered between Issues, no party that can
claim an unprofitable allegiance, no guide
or destination but the dollar. It is not for
the magazine to throw stones at the news
paper, prone as it is to that form of self
laudatlon. The newspaper has Its faults,
and sometimes they are appalling. It is
often venal, cringing, cowardly, inane, inde
cent, but the local character of its audience
compels from it & certain consistency, a cer
tain loyalty even to a. losing cause, some
definite policy to be sustained, some party
to be supported. Harlotry is not its only
trade,, and its definite clientele demands
at least some pretense of honest partisan
ship. But the magazine, to be successful,
must reach beyond the limits of personal
contact. Its only stock in trade is to be
interesting to the greatest number, its only
policy Is. to spread its sails so as to catch
the greatest volume of wind. It has not
even the restraints of a party loyalty. It
has neither a fixed opinion, nor m. definite
aim, - nor a consistent advocacy; of course
this does not hit all magazines by a long
shot, and the writer did not intend that it
should; but it does hit some right in the
bullseye.
Etiquette of the Prussian Court.
London Standard.
The ligidness of Prussian court eti
quette .is again illustrated by particulars
which have Just been made known of an
estrangement which exists between the
houses of Hohenzollern and the Ducal
Court of Saxe-Meiningen. On the occa
sion of tbe recent marriage of the reign
ing Grand Duke of Saxe-Meninlngen the
Emperor did not attend the wedding.
The conspicuous absence of his Majesty
was due, it is said, to the circumstance
that the Baroness von Heldburg, the
wife of Duke George II, of Saxe-Melnln-gen,
is a former actress and was born a
commoner. A curious feature of the
case is that the Kaiser's own sister. Prin
cess Charlotte, married the hereditary
Prince Bernard of Saxe-Meiningen and
meets the. Baroness as the wife of her
father-in-law, Duke George, who Is now
84 years - old, but who is umable to e
sure the full recognition of his morgan
atic wife's position, and at the recent
wedding the Baroness von Heldberg
walked alone at the rear of the royal
procession into the chapel, following
many younger princes and pricesses. In
stead of walking beside her husband, who
headed the procession.
A Matter of Salaries.
AMITY, Or., March 16. (To the Editor.)
I ask these questions: (l)'What are the
salaries of United States Senators? (2) Of
Representatives? (3) What is the salary
of the President of the United States?
A SUBSCRIBER.
d) $7500 per year, and Congress each
session votes an appropriation of 30 cents
per mile for traveling from and to seat
of government; (2) $7500 per year, and
mileage of 20 cents per mile each way. (3)
The 60th Congress decided that the Presi
dent's salary be fixed, at tTC.OOO per year,
and at the first session of the 61st Con
gress an appropriation of $25,000 was
made for traveling expenses.
In Hta 60th Year Turns a, Handsprtaur.
Boston Dispatch.
George A. Cane, a leading business
man of Keene," N. H., went into the Y.
M.- C. A. gymnasium there on his 60th
birthday and turned a handspring, in
his ordinary clothes and with shoes and
rubbers on.
PINCHOT AN EXPLODED HERO.
Shams and Frauds Exposed and Hys
teria Disappearing.
Lewiston Tribune. '
The refusal of . the United States Su
preme Court to confer the force of law on
the regulations made by the Forestry
Bureau appears to knock pretty nearly
the last prop from under Pinchotismv so
far as the past high-handed and auto
cratic performances are concerned. What
the courts and his superior officers have
not already done in exposing and defeat
ing Mr. Pinchot's purposes and plans, he
has managed to do himself by his own
acts and by his testimony before the Con
gressional committee. The telegraph has
not been able adequately to report and
portray his testimony there, but verbatim
extracts from the record show how utter
a fiasco he has made in the effort to dis
credit Secretary Ballinger as a means of
vindicating his own methods and policies.
The comment of the informed press is
that he has made himself the most thor
oughly exploded man in the public eye
in this country today, taking a good second-place
rank along with,' Dr. Cook.
The aggravating fact brought out in the
Investigation is that Mr. Pinchot had
planned and determined upon seizing
everything left as a public resource within
tho United States, upon one excuse or an
other, and administer the same without
law or let or hindrance whatever, at the
same time expending the funds appro
priated for his bureau in the manufacture
of public sentiment that would make him
secure and Immune in his practices. "Con
servation," of course, was his keynote,
and through starting panicky scares, first
over water-sheds and denudation, then
over timber, then coal, then water power,
phosphates and what-not, he purposed the
establishment of a power such as the
world had never heard of before.
He Justified his proceedings before the
committee with the utmost naivete, par
ticularly the expenditure of the public
money for the creation of sentiment fa
vorable, to his designs, and altogether
manifested on effrontery entirely in keep
ing with his entire previous proceedings.
The report of the committee regarding his
charges, his proofs and his statements
ought to prove highly Interesting, but un
fortunately or fortunately this can be
pretty well foreseen in advance. The in
surrectos (Roosevelters) and the fool
Democrats of the committee will stand
with Pinchot, while the veteran Repub
licans, those educated in an earlier and
better school, will give Mr. Pinchot the
sort of dressing down of which he is so
badly In need.
Of course, the committee may, as It
should, return an unanimous report ex
culpating the President and Secretary
Ballinger from the slurs and stigmas cast
upon them In furtherance of the Pinchot
conspiracy, hut there will probably be
"ifs" and "buts" atached by the faction
alists with a view of exonerating their
favorite and carrying on the idea of pre
venting and restricting the development
of dormant potentialities into useful In
dustries. But meantime a great change
has come ove the spirit of the country.
PIXCHOT-OABFIELD CABAL,
These Men Resented Balllnser's Ap
pointment and Are Angry Yet.
Cincinnati Enquirer.
It begins to look as though thera
were really very little more than a
difference of opinion and of methods
involved, growing out of difference of
temperament and of training. Mr. Pin
chot and Mr. Garfield had grown ac
customed under the last administra
tion in carrying out policies the bene
fit of which few question, to regard it
as within the general scope of their
authority to do pretty much anything
which in their Judgment appeared to
be. for the good of the people. If it
was not absolutely prohibited, and they
thought It ought to be done, that made
It legal. It was their fond wish that
this condition of things should be con
tinued, and had Mr. Garfield retained
his position, such would doubtless have
been the case, except for Presidential
restraint. Garfield went out with
much undisguised reluctance and evi
dent bad grace, and his removal was a
special grievance to Mr. Pinchot. It
was at the time, and has frequently
since been intimated that his retention
had been promised, and that the re
moval was due to a purpose to give the
interests a free hand in Alaska and
the West generally. It Is a matter of
general rumor that Mr. Garfield has
been instrumental in stirring up and
precipitating the present controversy.
Contrary, as has been said, to the
ideas of those lately in control, Mr.
Taft and Mr. Ballinger believe them
selves to be1 restricted in what they
can do by the law of the land, and
will under no circumstances, no matter
what benefits are promised or evils
avoided, proceed outside of it. That
this is the only tenable position for an
executive officer to take, no one with
any regard for a government of laws
can question.
The controversy, so far as Is appar
ent up to now, having grown out of
antagonistic opinions and methods
simply, with possibly a touch of per
sonal pique to stimulate it. It is en
tirely possible to believe that the prin
clpals are both honest, patriotic men,
looking at the situation from such dif
ferent glasses that they must clash.
Plnchot-Garfleld Righteousness.
New York World.
Ex-Secretary of the Interior Garfield
has overruled both Mr. Taft and Attorney-General
Wickersham. Their lgnor.
ance of the law horrifies him.
There is no occasion, he says, to issue
bonds for reclamation work in the West
In the place of the scrip he authorized.
When Attorney Wickersham holds that
the use of the scrip Is Illegal he is mis
taken. Mr. Garfield knows, because he
Invented it. It is called "Garfield
scrip." Besides, there was a way for
the Government to make It legal by
paying cash for It.
Apparently if the Taft Administration
would throw all its law books over
board and devote Itself to studying the
revealed law of the prophets Pinchot
and Garfield, It might work out its'
salvation. They were guided by the
Inner light and could do only right
eousness, but the Administration that
came after them is lost because .It
clings to statutes and court decisions.
Ballinger Still on Top.
Aberdeen (Wash.) Tribune.
If Secretary Ballinger should resign
It will make a hero of him throughout
the West, and particularly In his own
state. Ballinger stands for the Idea
that most of the inhabitants of Wash
ington and other Western states believe
in the idea that a little utilization of
the resources of this great country by
the people who are developing the
country Just as sane as the Idea of
"conservation" of these resources for
coming generations. If this generation
is to "conserve" all the resources of
the country, why will not the same rule
hold good for the next generation and
the next, and so on until Gabriel blows
his horn?
Yet it will not be the first case of
a good man becoming a martyr to a
Just cause, and Ballinger is not through
by a long shot, yet.
The Pinchot Idea Boiled Down.
Tacoma Ledger.
Pinchot's plan to make a fish pre
serve of Pacific Coast waters is Just
one of the results of his notion that
the West belongs to the Eastern States.
Masrnet to Ilrtw Nails From River.
Indianapolis News.
A huge electric magnet Is being used to
draw 13,000 kegs of nails to the surface
from the botom of the Mississippi River
near New Orleans, where they were lost
when the barge that was carrying them
sank. So far 1600 kegs have been re
covered, and it is estimated that it will
take two months to complete the Job of
getting all of them.
LIFE'S SUNNY SIDE
A quiet, bashful sort of a young fellow
was making a call on a Capitol Hill girl
one evening not so very long ago, when
her father came Into the parlor with his
watch in his hand. It was about 9:30
o'clock. At the moment the young man
was standing on a chair, straightening
a picture over the piano. The girl had
asked him to fix It. As he turned the old
gentleman, a gruff, stout fellow, said:
"Young man, do you know what time
It is?" .
The bashful youth got off the chair ner
vously. "Yes, sir," he replied. " I was
Just going."
He went into the hall without any de
lay and took his hat and coat. The girl's
father followed him. As the caller
reached for the doorknob the old gen
tleman again asked him if he knew what
time it was.
"Yes, sir," was the youth's reply.
"Good-night!" And he left without watt
ing to put his coat on.
After the door had closed the old gen
tleman turned to the girl.
"What's the matter with that fellow?"
he asked. "My watch ran down this aft
ernoon, and I wanted him to tell me the
time so that I could set It." Denver
Post.
m
A story by Rudyard Kipling was lately
running through an American magazine.
By tome means It became known that
the price paid for that story was at tho
rate of a shilling a word.
Hearing this, a young American thought
he saw an opportunity of taking a rise
out of the author. He, therefore, wrote
him a note in a somewhat sarcastic vein,
and inclosed an order for a shilling. The
note ran thus:
"Hearing that wisdom Is being retailed
at a shilling a word. I send a shilling
for a sample."
Mr. Kipling kept the shilling and sent
the goods. When the recipient received
the reply he found a sheet of notepaper
Inclosed, on which was written the one
word. "Thanks." Pittsburg Chronicle
Telegraph.
m m m
J. Curtis Sturtevant, at a dinner at
Palm Beach, Fla., Illustrated with a story
the modesty of children.
One warm February morning here In
Florida," he said, "I was motoring with
a young lady, and by a stream we got out
to gather flowers. After a while a boy
came up and said:
" 'Hey, Mister, is that your girl over
there?"
" "Yes, I suppose so,' said I.
" 'Well, tell her to go home.' said he.
'Us fellers wants to go in swimmln'.'
"I told the young lady of this odd re
quest, but she had not yet finished her
bouquet, and she said, with a laugh. I
must tell the boys she wouldn't look.
She'd shut her eyes.
"This they were duly told. And they
considered gravely on It. Then the spokes
man returned to me and said:
." 'The fellers says they dassent trust
her.' " Philadelphia Record.
When it Is a matter of doing journey
man humor, Irvin Cobb has all the rest
of the fraternity hereabouts clinging to
the life raft. He accounts for the fact
himself by declaring that he was born
in Paducah, Ky, and has been grinning
ever since to . think that he got away
in time. One of the stories told of Cobb
has to do with his early and as yet largely
unpublished life In Paducah. A large
brunette person had been sentenced to
be quite liberally hanged, and Cobb. Im
bued with Innocent curiosity, determined
to be among those present. It developed
that the Sheriff could not read or write,
and It was needful that some one read
the death warrant to the doomed man.
Mr. Cobb volunteered. He threw all the
horrifying pathos and tragedy he could
into the lines, and when he got through,
dashing the tears out of his eyes, he
looked up to' see the negro regarding him
with a pleased smile.
"I suah do take dis mo' kind ob you,
Mistah Cobb." said the man. "You
'membah when I used to work foh you
all's father? We sehtalnly did hab good
times then. Mistah Cobb. I sehtalnly
think this is a real favor, you comin' to
read my las' words to me dls way."
Mr. Cobb made a suitable reply. He
had hardly conquered the emotion which
reading the death warrant had aroused
within his own breast. As he started tq
leave, he said: "Jim, have you any mes
sage for me to take?"
Jim thought for a time, earnestly. Then
a long forgotten text drifted dimly
through his mind. "Yas, sah. Mistah
Cobb, yas, sah," said he. "Dis here is de
message: 1 go to prepare a place for you
also.' "jcew York cor. Cincinnati Times
Star. "Explorers hate to take back or amend
anything they have written." said F. S.
Dellenbaugh, of the American Geographi
cal Society. "They are like the Waldo
editor there.
"A man entered th Waldo editor's
office and shouted angrily:
" Tou said in yesterday's paper that
I'd been hanged. It's false. I've never
been condemned, let alone hanged.'
" 'Well, my friend,' said the editor,
'It's our policy never to issue direct con
tradictions. They shake the confidence
of the reader. But I'll tell you what
we'll do for you. We'll say you wera
cut down before life was extinct.' " New
York Press.
Umbrellas on Ilorse-bacic In Prance.
London Chronicle.
The late Due de Sagan set many a
fashion among French dandles, and
among others was that of wearlg a sin
gle eyeglass with a very wide black rib
bona practice followed for many years
by Parisians who wished to look smart.
In one respect, however, the most falth
fui admirers refused to follow the duke.
This was when he took to carrying an
umbrella on horseback He first In
dulged in this eccentricity at a race
meeting. When a shower came down and
the leader of fashion was seen to be
holding an umbrella over himself and
his horse, the sensation was immense.
Grand Opera In the Dark.
Pathfinder.
The London women of fashion are com
plaining about the new grand opera
"Elektra" because the performances are
conducted with the auditorium of the
theater entirely dark. What's the use of
going to the opera, they say. if their fine
clothes and Jewels are not to be seen?
Of course. A fashionable audience would
prefer an opera without musio to one
without light.
Rajse A Pig-
If you wish to own an auto that will travel
fast and far.
Raise a pig: . , ...
If you have a dear desire for a splendid
private car.
Raise a pig: . , , , ,
If your daughter yearns for Jewels that will
make a lurid blaze.
Or your wife would be a leader where soma
other matron sways:
If you wish to give up tolling and in com
fort spend your days.
There's a way don't overlook It
Raise a pig;
If you're sick of serving others and are
longing for a change.
Raise a pig:
If you wish to gaze at wonders that are
far away and strange.
R&lse a pig:
If your son would like to squander money
on a chorus girl.
If you ream to own a castle having walls
inlaid with pearl.
If your darling daughter wishes to b mar
ried to an earl.
There's a way don't overlook Ik
Raise a pig: -If
within the- Senate chamber you would
like to hold a seat.
Raise a pig:
If you wish to be untroubled by the rising
price of meat.
Raise a pig:
If you wish to get from under the big
burdens which yftu bear.
If you wish to go to 'Wall street and create
a furor there.
If, In short, you have a longing to become
a millionaire.
There's a way dont overlook it
Raise a pig.
8. E. Kaiser In Chicago Record-Herald.