THE 3IORXIXG OREG ONIAX, MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1910.
PORTLAND. OREGOX.
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yOBTLAND, MONDAY, MARCH 28. 1910.
INLAND WATER TRANSPORTATION.
Ray S. Reid. Waterways Commis
sioner of Wisconsin, published last
year a statement of his observations
on conditions of transportation on
European rivers and canals. He made
the trip to Europe by authority of the
Legislature of Wisconsin, for the pur
pose of collecting information on
traffic conditions on inland water
ways, traversing the navigable por
tlons of the Rhine and Seine, the Elbe
and Moldau, coursing the Danube
from Budapest to Regansburg, visit
ing the Rhone and its main tribu
taries, examining all the navigable
streams of England. Scotland and
.Ireland, and inspecting the principal
canals of Western Europe. The re
port throws discredit on -the proposi
tion to make a deep channel through
out the course of the Mississippi, on
the ground that it is not necessary,
and that the cost would be in excess
of the benefits; but the writer sas
that if modern methods of operation,
such as are in use In Europe, were
employed on the rivers of our coun
try, we should be able to develop on
our streams In their present condi
tion the most economical means of
transportation for much of our traffic
that we could possibly have.
His plan, following that which he
observed on the larger rivers of
Europe, would be the employment of
towboats, carrying no freight them-
selves, but towing large fleets of
v barges. The writer seems to overlook
-the fact that this system has been In
,use a long time In America, especially
'.on the Mississippi River and its trib
utaries. On the Rhine and Elbe he
.remarks what most other travelers
;have noted, namely, that it is diffi
cult to get out of sight of fleets of
Ibarges, even in seasons of low water,
;towed " by steamers. Depth of three
to three and a half feet suffices. But
methods of handling and of distribu
tion would he too expensive for our
country, where all things. Including
labor, command much higher prices.
The bulk of inland traffic in Ber
'.many, Austria and Hungary is car
ried on the rivers. Traffic on the
canals is of little importance. The
3best canalized river, this writer re
ports. Is the Seine, from Paris to the
sea, but the sea traffic through the
river is limited to a few small vessels.
The Manchester canal in England,
though of great benefit to the city in
many ways, has not been deemed a
satisfactory financial investment. So
as to the Caledonian canal in Scot
land. But concentration of population, in
all the leading countries of Europe,
the presence of many old and large
cities on the rivers, comparative
cheapness of labor, and low general
cost of operation, make boating much
less expensive there than in the
United States.
The somewhat singular argument is
presented that, since the great bulk
of our traffic must be carried by rail,
there is no general economy but. ac
tual loss in putting a great deal of
money into our waterways. The ar
gument is put in this way: "Owing
to governmental supervision the day
of railway competition now Is past.
Every railroad Is entitled to a- rate
that will pay a reasonable profit, and
every dollar of profit taken from a
railroad by water transportation must
necessarily be added to the tonnage
actually carried by It; and it follows
'that every ton of freight that is car
ried by water transportation at a
"cost exceeding that of transportation
by rail is a loss to the public." It is
not probable that this argument will
be accepted by people In the United
States who live on or near the water
ways for a long time yet. If ever.
But the suggestion is full of Interest,
even though the Inhabitants and pro-'
ducers of our river districts certainly
will not deem it sound.
- UNLAWFUL PROCEEDINGS.
The people of the United States
think they have taken good care, In
their constitutions and laws, that of
ficials of government shall not wield
.despotic power. They have declared
themselves in numerous bills of rights.
Theyhave sought to make their gov
ernment one of laws instead of offi
cials. They have limited to the min
imum the discretionary and arbitrary
powers of officials over individuals.
They have provided courts to which
outraged citizens may appeal for jus
tice over the heads of executive offi
cials. And, so far as practicable, they
liave ordained that the- officials shall
be held amenable to popular will
through elections every two and four
years.
But not so with the forest reserve
domain in western states. Pinchot
officials can browbeat and drive set
tlers out of homestead lands in re
serves where the laws have given set
tlers the right to enter before the
Pinchot officials came. Homes on
reserve lands, which, though more
valuable for agriculture than for tim
ber and therefore under .the law ac
cessible to settlers, these officials can
forbid. The same officials can deny
citizens the law-given privilege of
taking for homesteads land elsewhere.
iwhich the officials may decide to be
more valuable for timber than for
homes, and then, when the settler
wishes to claim his chosen tract un
der the timber laws, the officials can
put up the price to a prohibitive ap
praisement this too In violation of
the law which allows claimants to
take up timber lands at $2.50 an acre
and which Congress has refused to
repeal.
Now these are powers that Pinchot
officials are wielding to the flmit In
the Western country in the false
name of conservation. They are des
potic and tyrannical powers and
moreover unlawful. More than one
fourth of the best area of Oregon is
thus held under the sway of an abso
lutism which is not amenable to any
will of the people here and which
suspends the laws of the people of
the .United States. ( An army of be
tween 400 and 500 minions of this
despotic power, nearly all of them
sent hither to do the Pinchot bidding,
and few with any abiding interest
here, rules over large part of the
Staues of Oregon, Washington and
Idaho, and keeps it wild. .
The laws forbid this business, but
the laws are held as of no account
by the Invading hosts of Pinchotism.
WHAT SHIP SUBSIDY IS.
Ship subsidy, like every kind of
protective tariff, is a plan to take
money from the mass of the people,
through the Government's power of
taxation, bestow it on a few, and thus
create "prosperity." Prosperity, how
ever, for the few only.
The argument that calls for ship
subsidy is based on complaint that the
freight rates paid for transportation
of our products over seas are too low.
Foreigners do the work so cheap that
our people can't make money In the
business.
The New York Tribune, of recent
date, publishes what U calls a "sub
vention section." It is devoted to the
purpose of showing that the sea serv
ice rendered by other countries is so
cheap that our people who would like
to engage in the business can make
profits only by obtainment of regular
grants of money from the treasury.
There are those, however and we
think they are a great majority of
the American people who are will
ing to get cheap freight rates for car
riage of their products, and who
would prefer not to create another
great trust by subsidies from the
treasury for further enrichment of a
few who are rich already.
For only rich men have ships, or
could build or buy them, and obtain
thereby the advantages offered by the
act. And, since the complaint is that
freight rates are too low now, who
but the beneficiaries of the subsidy
would obtain benefits from this act
of paternalism?
It is merely a form of taxation of
the whole people for benefit of a few,
of which the country ' has something
too much already.
THE OREGON-STREET BRIDGE.
It is perhaps not necessary to make
long argument to convince people of
Portland of the advantages they will
derive from the public deck of the
railroad bridge at Oregon street and
from the city's contribution of small
parts of two streets for a pier site for
the East Side approach to the upper
deck of the viaduct. Tet at the risk
of being tedious, pertinent matters
will here be reviewed again. The
public advantages are obvious to per
sons who study the matter dispas
sionately. Without scrutiny of the facts,
citizens ought not to give credence
to the assertion commonly heard that
the city will pay excessively for use
of the upper deck, and that the O. R.
& N. will cheat taxpayers, under its
bridge franchise granted by the Port
of Portland. This assertion is cer
tainly unwarranted; it starts from
men who are excited by prejudice or
hysteria. The bridge franchise was
fought out a year ago, when It was
under consideration by the Port of
Portland Commission, and as finally
granted, was considered fair to all
parties concerned. Now the city au
thorities have granted 100 feet of Ore
gon street and 100 feet of Adams,
where the two avenues meet, as
a site for a pier, and have refused
much larger concessions to the rail
road in the same vicinity, until return
privileges shall be granted the muni
cipality by the railroad, chiefly for
Broadway bridge. This pier conces
sion by the city will benefit the pub
lic Just as the other by the Port Com
mission. This assertion is made with
due regard for the interests of the
city in its streets and for the natural
desire of the railroad to get all it can
for itself. The public interest in this
matter is first and foremost. It has
been well conserved in the dealings
with the railroad for this new bridge.
The vacated parts of Adams and
Oregon streets are equivalent to two
city lots in area, and are worth not to
exceed $10,000 or $15,000. This
amount of land, and this only, the
city is contributing for the public deck
of the bridge. A small amount of
land to grow hysterical about. Isn't It?
And this land, let it be remembered,
is to be used wholly for the conven
ience of the river-crossing public. It
was not necessary, of course for the
city to vacate this land, Just as it was
not necessary for the railroad to build
the upper deck; the railroad preferred
not to build the upper part of the
structure, but was forced to it by pub
lie demand. Now that the railroad Is
compelled to bullet the upper deck,
some noisy citizens say It should not
have the land neecled for a support
ing pier.
Thi3 matter Is Insignificant, how
ever, compared with the fmportant
question whether the city will have to
pay excessive charges for use of the
bridge. The assertion has been made
by an East Side club that the Ity will
pay not only the cost of. the upper
deck, but also 5 per cent interest In
definitely on $800,000, the club's
estimate of the cost of the upper addi
tion to the viaduct, besides cost of
operation and maintenance the
whole amounting to more than $75.
000 annually.
Even if the city were obliged to
pay this annual sum, it would be get
ting a new bridge at a much cheaper
price than it could provide and main
tain an equivalent bridge of its own.
But truth is, the cost to the city will
be much less than $75,000, .as any per
son can ascertain for himself. And,
if the city should not wish to use the
bridge. It need not do so; then the
railroad could obtain an insignificant
revenue from tolls, in competition with
.the free bridges. It is clear .the com
pany will have to come to whatever
terms the city may deem reasonable.
Should the city agree to take over
the upper deck, it would then pay,
under the most stringent terms al
lowed by the franchise, three separate
charges to the railroad: First, 5 per
cent annual interest on the cost of the
upper deck, which the chief engineer
of the O. R. & N. estimates will
amount to $400,000 half the sum es
timated by the East Side club; second,
cost of operation and maintenance,
which would not exceed $12,000 a
year; third, an annual sum for de
preciation, which, compounded semi
annually at 4 per cent, would amount
at the end of twenty years to the cost
of the bridge. This third annual pay
ment for depreciation would be about
$15,000, not $25,000, as alleged by'foes
of the new viaduct. These three
charges added together make a total
of $47,000 a year, considerable part
of whichr would be returned to the
city in streetcar tolls, probably be
tween $10,000 and $15,000.
This annual charge would be far
less than the annual cost of the pro
jected Broadway bridge, which the
city is about to build at a cost of not
less than $2,000,000, and probably of
a much larger sum. Interest, depre
ciation, operation and maintenance
of the Broadway viaduct will amount
to between $125,000 and $150,000 a
year, of which $80,000 will be for in
terest alone. The new railroad bridge
will be seventy feet wide and offer
better transit facilities than any struc
ture now spanning the river. The city
will not have to sell bonds nor use Its
credit to secure it. And while at the
end of twenty years the city will have
paid for the cost of the upper deck
In the annual depreciation payment of
$15,000, It is likely that the bridge will
then have to be replaced with a new
one, just as the present railroad
bridge, built some twenty years- ago,
is now to be replaced. The city has
already put up money for two of its
own bridges, which it has had to tear
down. Yet the city is still paying In
terest on those two bridges, besides on
the new ones that are in their place.
These matters should receive the
deliberate, hard-headed consideration
of taxpayers. The men and the
women "who are to pay for this new
utility will find it cheaper to them
than any project the city could devise
for a, bridge of its own. This, after
all, is the main consideration.
THE COUNTRY KEEPS PACK.
Portland real estate transfers, for
the week ending last Saturday,
reached a total of $777,656. Building
permits, issued during the same six
days, totalled $549,215. Both these
Important evidences of Portland's
growth are record-breakers . for the
last week In March, and they still
further increase the lead, that 1910
has to date, over any previous year.
Figures of this kind cannot be other
than gratifying to Portlanders who
feel a pride In the remarkable growth
of the city. But along with these
figures of unparalleled urban growth
and development, there appeared in
yesterday's Oregonian notice of scores
of transactions in farm lands in va
rious localities in the Pacific North
west country directly tributary to
Portland.
Thee transactions involved farm
property of all descriptions, ranging
from five and ten-acre fruit farms to
an 18,000-acre wheat ranch in East
ern Oregon. Each of the smaller
transactions means that room is be
ing made by subdivision of tracts for
support of from five to ten families
on farm areas which in the past were
so poorly developed that each pro
vided sustenance for not more than
one family. Even from old Polk and
Yamhill Counties, where the day of
the big farm is supposed to be gone,
comes the news of the sale of a num
ber of farms for subdivision, while
Southern Oregon, Hood River and
every other prominent fruit district
report numerous sales at record
prices.
What this coming of the small
farmer means to Portland and to the
entire Northwest can be understood
by a casual notice of what is taking
place just outside of the city limits.
In the Gresham district, in Eastern
Multnomah, it is estimated that there
are 1000 acres of new land, which
this year will produce the first crop.
Practically all of this new land Is in
small farms ranging from five to
twenty acres, and it has been repeat
edly demonstrated that a five-acre
farm, intelligently handled, will pro
duce enough to maintain a family.
This kind of development helps the
city in many ways. . It aids in keep
ing at home large sums of money that
are now sent out of the state for eggs,
butter, vegetables and meats. It also
provides a place for those who prefer
farm life and who in the cities would
compete with workers in the con
gested centers. On a different scale
this economic advantage of the small
farm is noticeable in the sale of the
big Woolery holdings in Morrow
County. The late J. A. Woolery had
added farm after farm to his hold
ings, until at the time of his death he
owned more than one hundred quar
ter sections of wheat land. Farmed
by hired nomadic labor, or leased to
wandering renters, this vast tract,
naturally, has never had an oppor
tunity of reaching its maximum pro
duction, and its breaking up and sale
to small farmers will be of inestima
ble benefit to Morrow County.
There can be no dispute about the
economic advantage of one hundred
farmers with one farm each over a
system where one farmer owns a hun
dred farms. So long as this breaking
up of the large farms and clearing of
new land for small farms continues,
no fears need be felt that Portland is
growing too fast.
FOR AN OPEN WILLAMETTE.
The Albany Commercial Club and
the Albany Merchants' Association
have sent out a call to the commer
cial organizations of twenty-four of
the most prominent cities in what
might be termed the "river belt" of
the Willamette Valley. These com
mercial bodies are asked to be repre
sented at an open river convention in
Albany next month, for the purpose
of enlisting aid of the Government in
improving the Willamette River as
far south as possible. The advisa
bility of building and operating an
independent line of steamboats is
also to be considered. A steam road
on one side of the river, and an elec
tric line on the other, for a consid
erable part of the distance between
Portland and Salem, have perhaps
made the problem of river competi
tion more difficult than before the
electric line entered the field against
the Southern Pacific.
And yet it is not clear that there
is not a good field for steamboating
in a small way if the Government will
clean out the river channel. Steam
boating on the Willamette is not un
der the overwhelming handicaps of
rocky, treacherous rapids, high-priced
fuel, and a costly portage such as
makes the navigation of the Columbia
above The Dalles an economic failure,
and for nearly the . entire year the
stream carries a sufficient volume of
water, if it were properly controlled,
to enable light draft carriers to reach
Albany and Eugene. For fast freight,
or commodities in which time is an
Important element, the steamboat line
would be comparatively useless, but
there is an immense amount of
freight moving, in which the addi
tional time required by boat as com
pared with the train. Is Inconsequen
tial. The entire country, on both sides of
the river, is undergoing a remarkable
development and, besides through
traffic between Portland and the head
of navigation, there would be consid
erable local business available for
steamers that could run the year
round. It has been nearly forty years
since Captain Scott, with the old
steamer Ohio, placed Eugene on the
map as a river port, and since that
time the railroads have never entirely
succeeded in , killing the steamboat
business. Lack of Improvements, how
ever, have prevented a- regular serv
ice, and this, more than anything else,
is responsible for the very light river
traffic. If the river could be im
proved so that nothing but an unusual
stress of local business could prevent
a boat's maintaining a schedule, it
would be difficult for the railroads to
get, rid of such competition, provided
the people who are demanding river
transportation would stand by the line
after it was established.
Sixteen hundred and ninety appli
cations were made in the land office
in Los Angeles, Cal., for the 173 farms
of the Yuma reservation, soon to be
awarded to settlers. Some of these
were filed upon as high as 50 times
in a single day. Disappointment and
in hundreds of cases destitution will
follow this latest land speculation
with the United States Government in
the title role. Perhaps the plan pur
sued is the best that the Government
Is able to devise for the management
of its land openings. To a disinter
ested observer, however, there seems
to be little difference, as far as re
sults are concerned, between the first
rush across the border of Oklahoma
in the feverish . desire to get there
first and the long line of waiting men
and women that, gaunt from hunger,
weak from sleeplessness, and worn
with anxiety, has stood before the
land office In Los Angeles. The out
right gift of land fettered by such
conditions would be land dearly
bought, even if each waiting appli
cant were certain of receiving a prize.
As it Is, with but 173 farms to near
ly 17 00 applicants, the transaction
stands out boldly as a gambling ven
ture enticingly baited and largely ad
vertised. The Anglo-Saxon, as a rule, is a
better worker than the yellow or the
black man. For that reason, he al
ways commands higher wages, and
when the Hindu, the Chinaman or the
Japanese is employed at reduced
wages, it is because he cannot deliver
as much work in a given-period as the
white man. Yet there Is another
phase of the racial struggle which
broke out at St. Johns last week. Ac
cording to the St.' Johns Review,
"white men have been tried time and
again on the rougher work, and the
management never knew whether they
would be back at work next morn
ing or not probably not. There
were three shifts one coming, one
going and one at work. As a last
resort to keep the mill going, the
black men were employed." There
will be a great many industries halted
and much suffering throughout the
land if we ever reach that stage where
men who will not work themselves
can exercise without limit the power
to prevent others, black, white or yel
low, from working.
The railroads have reduced the
grain rate between Portland and As
toria from $2 per ton to 90 cents per
ton, thus complying with the Inter
state' Commerce Commission ruling.
The' reduction is quite a liberal one,
and will materially aid the Astoria
dealers. When compared with the
cost of 6 to 10 cents per ton, at which
grain is moved in the holds of big
vessels over the 110-mile stretch of
water between the two cities, 90 cents
per ton still seems a high figure. Any
railroad that attempts to haul freight
over the route In competition with
these ocean carriers will be merely
paving the way for a receivership. To
this fact was due the refusal of the
Interstate Commerce Commission to
compel the railroads to meet the
ocean carrier at Astoria, instead of at
Portland, the point farthest inland at
which the transfer from car to ship
could be made.
The people of Portland can have
no interests to protect, against them
selves, in the matter of erection of a
bridge for their own use at Oregon
street. The city, therefore. Is not
vacating the land for the pier of their
own bridge, but turning it to use for
themselves.
A "contract" widow in St. Louis,
.deserted twenty-seven years ago, is
just now seeking a divorce because
she has learned her husband had
other wives of similar standing when
she made the contract. She seems to
be very particular for that kind of
wife.
Between the new committee on
rules and the old one there is no spe
cial difference, except that the
Speaker is left off. But this the in
surgents think is a good deal of dif
ference. The Democrats think it
little.
"The Forest Service," says the As
sistant District Forester of the Port
land office! "has been built up by the
earnest co-operation of the men with
In It." The truth of this statement
is unquestionable.
After reading many of the reasons
offered by persons seeking divorce, one"
is led to wonder there are any per
fect and happy marriages after the
glamor of the honeymoon Is gone.
A Forestry officer read a paper In
Portland telling of large sales of tim
ber in reserves. But no settlers bought
the timber; only rich men and cor
porations.
There was no Easter rain, but do
not make light of the forecaster who
predicted showers. He is a mere
man, with a man's contempt of mil
linery.
That Vancouver man who retains
his wife's estate of $3000 if he remains
single puts on cheap shackles.
. If Georgetown fails to annex, Se
attle still can have recourse to the
graveyards.
Buffalo Bill's press agent is at work
early. There has been a reconcilia
tion.
Volcanoes are like humanity. Mount
Etna is breaking out this Spring,
WHO IS Till; DEMOCRATS' MOSESt
What Can They Do With a Victory
-When They Win It t
Louisville Courier-Journal.
The Democrats have been burning
black smoke so long that they are apt
to over-estimate any good fortune that
may come to them. The triumph in
the Lower House of Congress which
they owe to the insurgent Republicans
starts the braves to shouting "wake,
snakes, day's a breakin'," when It were
perhaps fitter for them to murmur.
small favors thankfully received." It
is a long way from the overthrow of
Cannon, who in the course of nature
had not long to stay, and the election
of a Democratic President in 1912. Very
many things are likely to happen be
tween now and then. The victory in
deed may prove more seeming than
real.
In the first place it is yet to be seen
how far the Insurgents will go along
with us. If they are to make a scape
goat of Uncle Joe, redress their lines
and claim for a Republican merit a
bogus reform movement, they may get
an arrest of public judgment and hold
us off yet another four years, our vi
tality growing less and less' the longer
we wait. If they are to rally about "the
Man from Africa," and recover the
popularity lost them by the case-hardened
Cannon and the iron-clad Aldrich,
to say nothing about the blundering
Taft, the country will again be fooled
to the top of its bent. Democracy the
victim of what the gamblers call the
double-cross. That Theodore Roosevelt
was able to steal so much of the Demo
cratic apparel as suited his fancy and
seemed likely to attract the voters, and
to foist such a man as his successor
upon us, is alike discreditable to him
and the people. Can he do It again?
, That will depend a good deal upon
the leaders of Democracy. In case they
show themselves true and wise, that is
self-denying and self-poised, we may
snatch the brand from the burning; for
wresting the Government from hands
that have held it so long amounts- to
that. It may be that the Republicans
will split wide open on Rosevelt. If it
be , the determination of himself and his
friends, heralding him as the only hope
of Republicanism, to make him the
Presidential nominee in 1912, they will.
In that event the road before us will be
broader and straighter. But, in any
event, we must shape our course to
meet' the popular demand for a general
house-cleaning felt by everybody to be
the crying need at Washington as else
where. Tins can be alone effected by a
change of parties and If we are to ' e
intrusted with this the issue must not
be obstructed by any side issues, or
doctrinal quibbles, or theoretical hair
splitting. We must find a nominee
suited to the work to be done and hav
ing gained the confidence of the coun
try. The party must gather about this
nominee loyally. - If any man proposes
to lug in any "paramounts," kick him
out. If any man breathes a word
about "1896" shoot him on the spot,
as a famous Secretary of the Treasury
once said.
In the meautime. the Courier-Journal
stands up on its hind-legs and says in
its artless way "Uncle Joe, you has our
sympathy! They done you dirt they
sure did! Stand up, you magnificent old
reprobate, whilst we salute you and,
amid the cowardly clamor and the
ribald Jeers, we render you the homage
of a life-long foeman! You fit a good
fight. You held out long and well.
Except that you are an old man, they
would not have dared but, even at
that, you made them play ball! Now
they want to unload on you the sins of
the Republican party; to find their
expiation In your slaughter; to make
that a virtue In Roosevelt and Taft
which they find a crime in you; In
short, to personalize their own system
as Cannonism, and having cast out
Cannonism, to reappear as good as
new, as sinless as doves, as stainless
as snowflakes,- you, after your 50 years
of service, to pay the forfeit, they to
get the reward! Ah, Joseph! Joseph
dear old Uncle Joe! It is true enough
that parties, like republics, are un
grateful! At least you told them no
lies! You stood to your guns, which,
until there came a fire in the rear,
were their guns! The young may die.
The old must. Your time had come.
Uncle Joe. Better to go down with
colors flying than peter out in a long
drawn agony of hope and fear! We re
joice that the system with which you
were allied no more than the others
who went before you which was no
more Cannonism that Reedism, or
Crispism, or Carlisleism or Blaineism,
for it was practiced and ' illustrated
more or less by every Speaker of the
House has gone down with you; for
it was a bad old system, quite elimin
ating the spirit of representative gov
ernment! The proposed change will
prove good for the country and not ill
for the House! It will lead to other
reforms until high Parliamentary
methods prevail in Congress! Mean
while, as to you. Uncle Joe, here's
'how!' We looks toward you, Joe!
There shall still be cakes and ale!
Join us, old enemy, join us, in singing
that good old song. 'Never say die
till the sea goes dry; we'll git over
double trouble in the sweet by aid
bye!" "
As for the insurgents, just a word;
are we peers, or are we vassals; are
you in with us, or Just a lot of bunco
steerers; if you be for a reduced tariff.
Join the Democrats; if you be for a
cleansing of the Augean Stables, join
the Democrats; but. if you be only
monkeying to hold your places, get ye
gone for a pack of cheap-john poli
ticians! The trick won't work twice.
The voters will say in reply, "you
fooled us with Taft. That was your
fault! If you fool us again, it will be
our fault."
The plot thickens. At least a Demo
cratic House seems now assured. After
that, we shall see what we shall see;
but, from now onward with Democratic
newspapers and Democratic party
leaders, the word should be, close
ranks, and down with the doctrinaires
and theorlzers!
HiRh-Priccd Pork.
Prairie City Miner.
Austin Bradford has been having
trouble with a cow and a pig. He has
a first-class milch co-tv which suddenly
failed in her milk supply. Mr. Brad
ford began an investigation and dis
covered the pig sitting on his haunches
sucking the cow.
The Deadly Parallel.
Lebanon Criterion.
If any one will taRe the trouble to
look over the names of Republicans
who are opposing the Republican as
sembly and compare the list with the
old-time Populists, the similarity in
names will surprise him.
REFLECTIONS OK AN OLD FOGY,
Some women can live on love and $14 per
week in print.
Pittsburg can now redeem itself by im
porting 14ayor McCarthy of San Francisco.
Reform in Oregon is an avocation which
reforms working for a living.
Those cartwheel hats and "pay-aa-you-enter"
cars can settle it between themselves.
Tbe Insurgent 'Congressmen might send
for Dan Kellaher or leave the committee
on rules to the pages and janitors.
No, Senator Bourne is not interested in
Colonel Roosevelt. He's trying to conserve
a leaky lot of patriots with pamphlets on
li'Rett J. H. M.
DOLLARS AND HEALTH AT HOME.
A Plea to Grow Kitchen Vegetable on
Bark Lota; Make the Boys Help.
SANTA BARBARA. Cal., March 24.
(To the Editor.) In all that has been said
touching upon the greatly increased cost
of living today, there has been little or
no reference to the humble kitchen
garden.
Traverse our city, or any other, and
note the neglected vacant lots and blocks,
unsightly and uncared for. There is sel
dom the least attempt toward practical,
profitable gardening. There Is not a 50
foot lot in Portland that could not be
made to yield fresh vegetables, sufficient
for the needs of an ordinary family four
or five months of the year. This asser
tion presupposes the house and conven
tional front yard. It is a great pity that
gardening as an avocation by the city
dwellers should be so nearly a lost art,
if one may term so simple a phase of
outdoor life. We are not all millionaires,
nor can every family sport a motor, but
in the humble kitchen garden many a
business or professional man will find at
once health, pleasure and profit.
Parenls of healthy, growing boys are
perplexed each Summer to find for them
a healthy avocation. Boys are store
houses of energy. Body and mind n.'jst
have occupation. Too often does the
close of a Summer vacation bear witness
to wasted days gone in an effort to have
a "good time." Barring an intermission
of four years, when the writer worked
by day and slept at night in a drug slore.
he has from early boyhood "put in'' and
worked a garden. By experience and by
every test of health and dollars he knows
It pays. He has seen boys, once their
interest was aroused, make the little
garden, which they cared for. the begin
ning of a life's good work. What a fool
ish waste is this where the entire door
yard is devoted to lawn, and fertilizer
bought each year to replace the grass,
which a man is hired to cut and carry
away. Now is the time to start the
garden. Hire the initial spading to ne
done it is the one and only part of the
task which the hack of the average man
or boy won't stand for. As for the rest
of the work, there is' no lad of 10 who
cannot, beginning now, convert .1 space
of 50 feet square into dividend property,
with an hour's attention each day.
Many who garden, essay too much too
many varieties. Lettuce and radishes,
dwarf and tall peas, snap beans, sown
as successive crops, two or throe hills
of cucumbers and Summer squash, liaif
a dozen tomato plants trained igainst
a back fence -where the sun strikes in
furnish the variety which can be, most
easily cared for. Don't buy tomato
plants which the dealer scoops from a
jungle-like mass. Get the single plants
each in a pot or box, paying a trifle
more, and secure a crop which will rlp-'n
in August.
Then, there is another use for a back
fence than merely a stage for feline
conceits. A 50-foot stretch will take two
each, evergreen and Lawton blackberries
and loganberries. "Toms" and "Tabbies'"
have a proper dislike for these thorny
intruders and will promptly transfer
their vocalizing to other locations.
Most men look upon gardening as "too
much like hard work" and involving a
degree of expert knowledge attainable
and possessed only by those gentlemen
from Italy or China whose calls at the
kitchen door grow Increasingly expen
sive. To these doubters let me say: try
out a small garden this season, or start
the boy with a kindly word and the
price of tools and seeds', then, as our
beautiful Summer draws to its close,
there will be an answer written which
will spell "worth while."
WILLIAM F. WOODWARD.
Of Portland, Or.
OREGON COLLEGES CRITICISED.
t'arnenle Report Snyn Dual Function
of O. A. C. and I", of O. la Waste.
ALBANY, Or., March 27. (To the
Editor.) Educational conditions in
Oregon come in for severe criticism
in the annual report of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, which has just recently been
published.
The report charges that in Oregon,
as well as in other states where the
college of agriculture and mechanical
arts is separate from the university,
that an unwholesome rivalry has grown
up between the two institutions, which
in some instances has become almost
laughable. In nearly all cases the
school of agriculture and mechanical
nrts has developed into more of an en
gineering school than a school of agri
culture, thereby duplicating tne worn
of the university in that respect. More
over the two schools In their rivalry
for students, have almost invariahiy
been tempted to underbid the univer
sity by lower standards. the result
is that two standards exist in the same
state for an engineering education.
Oregon is cited as a glaring example
of such abuse, where the engineering
school in the college of agriculture and
mechanic arts Is recruited by means
of low standards. To ctuote: "Students
are drawn from strong high schools)
like that of Portland to these sub
freshman classes. The chief reason in
all such cases is the desire for num
bers and the wish to impress the Leg
islature. In Oregon there are nine so-
called colleges and universities within
mo miles of each other, all of them
in the Willamette Valley. Among these
are the two state institutions, the uni
versity of Oregon and the Oregon Ag
ricntural College, about 35 miles apart
each engaged in the development of a
school of engineering. Could anything
be more useless than two schools of
mining engineering, for example, .50
miles apart in a sparsely settled state?"
This report will not be a surprise
to those who are familiar witn eauca
tional conditions In our state. The sad
fact is, that it is only too true. Here,
then, is a splendid opportunity for the
Board of Higher Curricula, provided for
at the last session of the State Legis
lature, to correct thjs evil. What can
be more senseless than for the State
of Oregon to nialntala two separate
and distinct engineering schools 35
miles apart, and moreover, with two
different standards.'
Of course, any attempt to unite the
two schools would meet with severe
opposition, as would an attempt to
adopt the metric system of measure
monta in the United States over the
more cumbersome English system of
feet and Inches; yet eventually both
must come. The University has the
advantage of higher entrance require
ments, while the' Agricultural College
.as the advantage of buildings ana
laboratory equipment.
That a high standard of graduation
in the school of engineering should he
romitred is self-evident. No man should
possess a broader or more complete
education today tnan me iruitoiujii
engineer. He is constantly involved in
legal tangles, business transactions, as
we'l as a maze of technicalities. If the
colleges fall to equip him with the
fitness to meet these ever-increasing
demands they are failing in the pur
pose for which they were createci.
R. E. S.
Rest Count an Iron ruddier.
Baltimore American.
Count Michael von Mourik de Beaufort,
who recently began an apprenticeship in
the works of the Columbia Tool Steel
Company as a day laborer, has now been
promoted to puddler at rioO a day. In
view of his recent rise in position he will
move next week with his wife, formerly
Miss Irma Kilgallen, daughter of M. H.
Kilgallen, to a little cottage on Chicago
Heights.
Oregon Losing Population.
Santiam News.
Mrs. Hay, with the noted triplets,
who have been seen at the Scio fair
the past two years, has now gone to
Vancouver, 'where she arrived with her
family safely. Mr. Hay is working in
an ice factory In that cit-
LIFE'S SUNNY SIDE
Simeon Ford said the other day, apro
pos of whiskers:
"I have shaved off my whiskers and it
makes me look younger. People now eye
me more appreciatively than they used
to do. I, unlike poor Tom Angus, have
gained by this facial change.
"Tom Angus was an architect of Tomb
stone. When they expected Mrs. Lang
try in Tombstone. Tom was appointed to
decorate the railway station and the
streets. He did so, and he made a good
job of it, and after the Mayor had con
gratulated mm. he said:
Well, Mr. Mayor, since vou like mv
work, introduce me to Mrs. Lanetrv at
the banquet, will you?'
Sure I will,' said the Mayor, 'but vou
must knock that spinach off your chin
first. Mrs. Langtry is a lady, and she
could never stand for a rusty alfalfa field
liKe yours.
' 'But,' stammered Tom. 'but. Mr.
Mayor, the King '
tut down the alfalfa cron.' the Mayor
Interrupted, 'and I'll introduce you. Vice
versa," he added very decidedly.
oo torn removed his rich whiskers.
and that night among the banqueters his
white, nude chin was a conspicuous ob
ject. "But the Mayor didn't introduce him to
the beautiful Mrs. Langtry after all. Be
tween every course and all through the
speeches Tom kept winking and nodding
to tiia Honor, but it was to no purpose.
He didn't get introduced.
"And the next day, after Mrs. Langtry
was gone, the Mayor, when Tom re
proached hlnl, gave a loud laugh.
" 'Was that you?' he roared, nodding
and winking all last night? By Jove. I
didn't recognize you, Tom. without your
whiskers!' " Philadelphia Record.
The little daughter of a clergyman
stubled her toe and said "Darn!"
"I'll give you 10 cents," said her father,
"if you'll never say that word again."
A few days afterward she came to him
and said:
"Papa, I've got a word worth half a
dollar." Everybody's.
A story is told of the late Cardinal
Francesco SatolU's visit to Scranton, Pa.,
on the occasion of Right Rev. Bishop M.
J. Hoban's consecration. During his stay
in the upstate city he inspected the Cath
olic college there, and after addressing
the boys, gave them a blessing, holding
his right hand aloft, in the manner of
churchmen, with thefirst and second fin
gers extended. ,
"Now, boys," he said, on concluding the
blessing. "I am privileged to announce
that you may have a holiday."
A quick-witted Celt, observing the two
fingers still extended, smilingly piped up:
"Two, Cardinal Satolll?"
"Yes, two." laughed the cardinal, catch
ing the idea which prompted the boy to
put the query, but at the same time low
ering his hand. Philadelphia Times.
Rev. Dr. Boynton, a Congregational
minister of Detroit, talked one evening
at a meeting of worklngmen held In the
Detroit opera-house.
The next morning two Irishmen met on
a streetcar.
"Och, Pat," said one, "ye should ha
been out last night to hear Father Boyn
ton. .
"Father Boynton!" replied the other.
He's no father at all, at all. He's a mar
ried man with seven children." New
York Press.
One of the New Jersey Representatives
in Congress, very much addicted to ap
parel of the variety kuown as "loud,"
was on his way to the Capitol one day
when he encountered Senator Depew. "If
you're going to the Capitol." said the
Senator, "we might as well walk to
gether. "I'm not going there just yet,"
said the Representative. "I must first
stop to see my tailor about a new over
coat." "The tailor!" exclaimed Mr. De
pew, in mock astonishment. "Why. Jim,
it has always been my understanding that
you wer,o clothed by a costumer!" Cleve
land Leader.
A young Concord, X. H.. lawyer had a
foreign client In police court the other
day. It looked rather black for the for
eigner, and the Concord man fairly out
did himself in trying to convince the
magistrate that his client was innocent.
The lawyer dwelt on the other's igno
rance of American customs, his straight
forward story, and enough other details
to extend the talk fully 15 minutes. His
client was acquitted.
In congratulating the freed man the
lawyer held out his hand in an absent
though rather suggestive manner. The
client grasped it warmly.
"Dot was a fine noise you make." he
said. "Thanks. Goo'hy." Concord (N.
H.) Monitor.
"French Republic (orrupli Man.
Paris, France. Dispatch.
The Duke of Orleans, in a manifesto to
the Royalists of France, apropos of the
scandal arising from the liquidation of
the religious orders, said that republican
institutions are responsible for the cor
ruption of man. The Duke announces
that he is ready to come to Paris the
minute there is a real chance of overturn
ing the present rule, and he concludes his
statement by saying:
"Popular disgust indicates that the time
is almost ripe."
"Increment" In the Country.
Ashland Tidings.
The sale or the W. G. LOstep orchard
near Talent to L It. and H. B. Hous
ton, of Jamestown, N. Y., is reported,
comprising 35 acres for the handsome
sum of $40,000. This property is a por
tion of the old Pellett orchard and in
cludes eight acres of 16-year-old Bart
lett pears, eight acres of 16-year-old
Newtown apples, the remainder In
young trees. Mr. Estep purchased the
place two years ago ror $12,000.
Moral i Read the Xfwpaper,
Philadelphia Record.
Harvey Hldley. 51, a painter of Read
ing. Pa., read in a newspaper several
days ago that his aunt, Mrs. Mary Uline.
had died In Troy, N. Y.. and left hltn
an estate exceeding $100,000. Hldley. who
has been employed in that city for a
year, wrote to a law firm in Troy and
found that the newspaper article was
correct.
Whlnky, Tobacco and Long Life.
Indianapolis News.
William Carroll Reed, who was born in
Vicksburg. Miss., March 15, 110, cele
brated his 100th birthday by registering
to vote in Bakersfield, Cal. Somebody
asked him to what he attributed his
health and vigor. 'To the fact that I
drink only the best whisky and smoke
only the best tobacco," Mr. Reed an
swered. ' POLITICAL COMMENT,
Whatever happens to Cannon and noth
ing can be too bad for the wickedest Man
in the World "Cannonism" remains a
somewhat sturdy, however offensive, fact.
The Democrats have yet to batter It down;
and if they can and do they may find them
selves homesick for at least its parliament
ary variety. New York Sua.
Theodore Roosevelt may not present to
the English and the Egyptians just what
a former President of the United States
ought to be. but he can show himself as
a type of the successful American politi
cian with demagogic ways. Montgomery
Ala-) Advertiser.
In the name of all that is good and prof
itable let Bryan and Bryanism and all that
It stands for be not only set aside, but dis
tinctly repudiated. It never was sound
Democracy, and can never be dressed up
so as to deceive the people into believing
that It Is the real thing. Mobile Register.
Besides, what good would it do Champ
Clark to be Speaker. If he could not do In
his way and according to his lights the
mighty works old Joe Cannon has wrought?
A Speakership shorn of its power would not
be worth having. Richmond Times -D-la-