Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1910)
lO THE 3IORXIXG OKEGOXIAN, TUESDAT, APRIL 5,- 1910. f POBTIAND. OKEOON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflce as Fecond-CJlasa M &ttwr. Subscription Kates Invariably la Advance. fBY MAIL) D-aily, Sunday Included, on year $8.00 Iaily, Sunday Included, sirs months. -. 4.25 Uatly, Sunday included, three month.. raily. Sunday Included, one month..-- -J Iaily, without Sunday, one year..... o-OO Iaily, without Sunciav. six- months... . 3. -.5 Iaily, without Sunday, three months raily. without Sunday, one month..... Weekly, one year - .... ipj Punday. one year SuLday and weekly, one year... . . . . . 8-oO (By Carrier. Dally, Sunday Included, one year..... 9.0 Daily, Sunday Included, one month.... ."5 How to Kemlt Send Postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin, or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postofflce ad dress in full. Including county and state. Postage Bates 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent; 16 to 2a pases. 2 cents; 80 to 40 pages. 3 cents; 0 to 60 paes, 4 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Hastrrn Business Office The S. C Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 4ft 60 Tribune building. Chicago rooms G1O-012 Tribune building. 2"ORTLANl, TT"KH1AY. AJPKIXj 5, 1010. GEORGE H. WILUA1S. s The first citizen of Oregon, a man ' of Kreat and simple nature, yet of intellectual powers the highest, haa ' paxsed on into history. His services, throughout a long and eventful life, both to the State of Oregon and to our common country, the United States, have been of highest distinction and value. In him -personal integrity, in tellectual sincerity, intuitive percep tion of the leading facts of every im portant situation, quick discernment and faculty of separation of the im ' porta nt features of any subject from its incidental or accidental circum stances, with clearness of statement and power of argument unsurpassed, marked the outlines of his public character. He was a man who never lost hts equipoise, nor ever studied or posed to produce sensational or start ling effects. In his private life and demeanor there was the same simplic ity of character, evenness of judgment and temper and unaffectedness in ac tion. His Immense powers, of which he himself, never seemed unaware, were always at his command. His public career began at the early age of twenty-four, when he was elected a Judge in Iowa. This was in the year 1847. In 1852 he was chosen one of the Presidential Electors of Iowa, and in 1853 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Territory of Ore gon. .After four years of service in this position, in which he did much to lay down the principles of our ee.rly jurisprudence, he declined a reap pointment and took up the practice of law at Portland. Elected a mem ber of the constitutional convention, he was made chairman of the judi ciary committee of that body, and bore a leading part in bringing the constitution of the state into its di gested and settled form. Approach of the Civil War drew his attention largely to' politics. A man of national scope of vision, and an anti-slavery man from the beginning, he threw all his force in favor of the war for maintenance of the Union; and his ability and earnestness brought him the natural reward of election to the Senate of the United States. In this position he at once obtained national recognition. Besides his constant and great services to Oregon, he rose at once to a most important place in the direction of national affairs; he originated many of the measures employed' In the reconstruction, of the Union, including the Fourteenth Amendment, most important of all. But, owing to the advent Into Oregon of great numbers of people, mostly from the South, following the Civil War, the Republican party in the state was for a time overborne; and of course a Democratic party majority In the Legislature would not re-elect him. He was, however, immediately after the expiration of his term, ap pointed by President Grant a member of the commission to frame a treaty for settlement of the Alabama claims. In dispute with Great Britain. In this position his counsels were of high value. A little later President Grant made him Attorney-General of the United States; and in 1874 presented his name for the great office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The miserable contention that arose over this nomination was due to sectional and social jealousies. Though the confirmation was delayed, it was known that it would carry; but Judge Williams, with a magnanimity that ever was one of his characteristics, caused President Grant to withdraw his name. In the electoral contest of 1876-77 the counsels of Judge Williams were of greatest value. He sent to the Washington Star an article which outlined the expedient and policy of an electoral commission, and which was adopted with but little variation from his tentative plan. After retir ing from office at Washington, he re turned to his home in Oregon, where, these past 30 years, he has been an active participant in all affairs of a public and semi-public nature, win ning and holding the esteem and af fection of all, by his qualities of mind and heart. He became Mayor of Portland, not for the reason that it could add anything to his dignity or to his fame for he thought as little of false dignity and mere fame as any :nan who ever lived. His greatness, like all true great ness, was rooted in his unconscious ness of it. All the mistakes he ever made were due to the simplicity and trustfulness of his nature. Himself without guile, he never imagined It even to his latest day in others. If this was a limitation, it was a fault that leaned to virtue's side. George H. Williams is beyond praise or blame of men. In him there was intellectual ability the rarest, on one side, and there was unselfishness the rarest on the other. The life of such a man is a heritage of the world and an inspiration to it. Every great career must be estimated by the con ditions In which its work is done. They are carpers only shallow car pers who say. on review of events, that a great man has made mistakes, and should have done something else this or that. The something else he should have done to what would it have led? Great men, though, in a way, they direct events, yet must ' accommodate their efforts to the sit uations In which they find themselves. All are subdued, in a general way, to the element they work in. Upstarts now and again will pretend to say In what ways and for what reasons great men have failed. The fact is. if this narrow criticism is to get attention. every great man has failed. Yet his work remains. Great actions, in great crises, decide everything. For great actions, in great crises, great abilities are necessary, large comprehension of affairs, and powers of mind fit for the momentous occasion. Our first statesman of Oregon had abilities that rose to every one of these re quirements. Tet he was the least self-assertive and most unselfish of men. Nothing he did had any refer ence to his own fortunes. Thfs qual ity was a hindrance to him, doubtless, on many occasions; yet in the long run it brought him respect and honor from all who knew him. The simplic ity of his nature made him credulous and trustful on one side and unselfish on the other. But was it a real fault? Only eight days before he passed away a dinner was given tp Judge Williams, on his eighty-seventh birth day. It was attended by a large number of the citizens of Portland, who were anxious and eager to pay this tribute to one whose life has honored us all, and has shed lustre on the State of Oregon. The speech he - delivered on that occasion, for feeling, beauty, simplicity, grasp of our history and of the life of our state and common country, with addition of it appropriateness to such an occa sion, was a marvel to all who heard it.- A report of it was printed; but the reported copy fell infinitely below the impression it made on those who heard it. Such a speech, but a few days ago, from lips now forever silent! Whence are we, and what are we? But a great man is a seed. Hi3 life, his character,-his influence, cannot be erased from the sum and soul of the world's life and history. Though lost from the daily walks of men, the beneficence of such a life as that of Oregon's greatest man will be an ex pansive force forever; and its influ ence hereafter, even to those not brought directly within Its recog nizable sphere, will be a moving in spiration by its indirect and resultant power, forevermore! TUB rERILOUS MOTORCYCXS:. The dangerous accident to Roy Hamilton on the Base Line road em phasizes the care which ought to be exercised in. riding the motorcycle. This vehicle is so swift that a person mounted upon it easily falls under the delusion that he can outstrip every thing on the road. It is at the same time so Insecure that even a slight accident may dismount the rider and expose him to sudden peril, as it did Hamilton. It is fairly safe to say that the motorcycle is the most dangerous road vehicle now in use. To the in stability of the bicycle it adds a tre mendous speed which in case of an unforseen obstacle propels the rider like a projectile and leaves him but scant hope of escape from death, or mutilation. Its use ought to be allowed on the public roads only under strict regula tions. For one thing racing should be forbidden under heavy penalties. A race between an automobile and a motorcycle, such as Hamilton seems to have been riding when his accident happened, ought not to be permitted and if a person is caught breaking the law in this respect his license should be canceled. Conditions have become unneces sarily dangerous for footmen on the streets and on country roads since motor vehicles came into use. The ac cidents which are constantly happen ing show that the danger to the riders themselves is as great or greater. The whole subject is one which sadly needs Judicious regulation. A BREACH OF MAJTNER8. It is to be hoped that everybody in the United States will follow Mr. Roosevelt's advice in discussing the misunderstanding between him and the Vatican. The occasion, as he says, is not one for rancor or bitterness, and whatever is said about it should be uttered In a calm and judicial spirit. On the other hand, it is im possible to agree with Mr. Roosevelt that the incident is "merely personal." At the present time, though, it may not be for long, the ex-President stands before the world as the repre sentative of American civilization. Ho embodies the prestige and dignity of the most powerful Nation in the world, and whatever slights may be put upon him are, in a very acute sense, put upon the United States. The exchange of notes between him and the Pope was not therefore be tween private individuals on either side. The Pope stands for a great historical church and is acknowledged by everybody to be the most exalted ecclesiastical dignitary in the world. Perhaps, for the moment, it is not too much to say that Mr. Roosevelt, in asmuch as he represents the United States in the eyes of civilized man k'nd, is the most considerable politi cal and civic figure In the world. It seems a pity that any Jar should have prevented a harmonious meeting be tween these two conspicuously inter esting individuals. No doubt there are many good rea sons for the sensitiveness of the Vati can authorities with reference to the Methodist college in Rome. It en croaches on a preserve which for many centuries belonged exclusively to the elder church, and even though its methods be unimpeachable, still it must naturally expect to stir up hard feelings. But Mr. Roosevelt is in no way responsible for either the good or the 111 which the Methodist college has done in Rome. He is not himself a member of the Methodist church any more than he is a Catholic. The assumption that he would speak at the college was purely gratuitous on the j-art of Cardinal Merry Del Val, and the additional assumption that, if he did speak there or anywhere, he would not do It "tactfully," was some thing worse than gratuitous. It verged upon the insulting. In dealing with a man of Mr. Roosevelt's temporary standing before the world the Vatican committed a breach of good manners by trying to impose upon him any conditions whatever in regard to his antecedent or subsequent conduct. It should have been taken for granted that Mr. Roosevelt would maintain the pro prieties of his conspicuous position. To "suspect" that he would Insult the Pope in word or deed, before or after enjoying the favor of an audience, implied a further suspicion on Merry Del Val's part that Mr. Roosevelt is not a gentleman and that he is unaware of the responsibilities of his representative character. It is diffi cult to understand how the proverb ially tactful diplomats at the Vatican could have fallen into such a patent error of judgment. The only plausible explanation seems to be that, in their intense absorption with the affairs of the future world, they have to a cer tain degree lost touch with events and values in the present one. Americans of all denominations will commend the course Mr. Roosevelt took in the affair. His personal con duct, as he says, is a matter for him self to regulate, and if he makes mis takes he must bear the consequences. In the present instance 'he has made no mistake. The error with all that may result from it is entirely on the other side. TRAINING THE BOY. The recent plea of an attorney for the discharge of boys charged with stealing milk in bottles from back doors, on the ground that the milk should not have been left in an ex posed place to tempt them - was promptly disallowed by Judge Cleland and the predatory lads were remand ed to the Juvenile Court for sentence. This was a wise and will doubtless prove a salutary decision. Boys can not be too early trained . to resist temptation. From the mother who ties the gate of her village dooryard to prevent the straying away of her 4-year-old son, to the attorney who seeks to excuse boys of 10 or 12 years for stealing milk because it was left where they could get it, the plan of making it impossible for children to do wrong by removing temptation from their reach is a pernicious one. It panders to moral weakness where moral strength should be developed. In the first case the boy will bid defi ance to authority as soon as he is able to climb the fence, and his irate mother will be after him with a rod; in the second he will lay hands upon the berries in the neighbors' garden, or anything else that attracts his fancy after the milk bottles are put under lock and key, and fall into the hands of the Juvenile Court. The lesson that is needed is to stand against temptation, and if it is prop erly impressed upon the boy at home he will not need an attorney to plead an excuse for him for petty thievery before the court, by casting the .blame upon the milk vendor, or householder, or anyone else who left temptation in his way. CONSUMPTIVE TEACHERS. A special duty devolves upon boards of education In regard to the campaign against tuberculosis that is being con ducted in the name of educa tion throughout the state. Briefly stated this duty consists in re fusing to consider any application for the employment of a teacher who is manifestly suffering from this disease even in its earlier stages. Sympathy is the just due of those thus afflicted but it should not be made to extend to a menace to the health of children in. the school room. Moreover, it is misdirected sympathy that permits a teacher who is suffering from daily Increasing weakness incident to the subtle encroachment of this disease upon her vitality and her physical comfort to continue yet a little longer in the exacting duties of the teachers' vocation. Humanity and prudence alike pro test against the continuance of per sons thus afflicted in the active duties of the teachers' profession. The cam paign of education that does not elim inate consumptive teachers from the public schools certainly falls in one of the first principles of its mission. In telligent sympathy should find means of providing for teachers thus af flicted in some more helpful and safer way than by allowing them to drag out. perhaps the latest year of their lives, in the school room under the stress of financial necessity. ADVICE TO MISS GAZZAM. One almost fears that Miss An toinette Gazzam is wasting her money by employing Pinkertons to seek out her wandering love. Not that they cannot do it. Very likely they can find hundreds of adorable youths who will conform in every particular to her description. But their bills for the service will be heavy. An advertise ment in two or three newspapers would have brought Just as good or better returns at vastly less expense. Miss Gazzam must learn to husband her funds better or', rich as she Is. she will die in the poor house. Her capital error lay in not making sure of the beautiful object of her longings on that happy day when she beheld him in the parlor car. Any one of Boccacio's heroines would have im proved the shining moments during the ride and have taken him home and married him without a day lost. Evi dently Miss Gazzam does not under stand yet how to manage these little matters, but no doubt she will learn. Advice bestowed upon Antoinette is probably wasted. Nevertheless, it is impossible to refrain from a warning word. The experience of her sex has proved pretty clearly that beauty in the male is not invariably a sign of quite all the amiable and faithful qualities. The radiant vision she saw in the cars, blue eyes, classic profile and raven hair though he possessed, may, after all, have been a drunkard who has a meek little wife at home I and who beats her. It is quite likely that Antoinette would live far more happily with some homely young man who dwells next door to her than with her Adonis, though, of course, nothing but sad experience could make her think so. GRAVITY RAO. ROUTES. Actual performances on the North Bank road continue to demonstrate why that famous gravity line was con structed at a time when the owners of the road already had two lines lead ing to tidewater on the Pacific Coast. Last Saturday a freight train of 130 cars was pulled into Vancouver by a single engine, a feat that would be possible on very few railroads in the United States. This train included a train which had been abandoned in accordance with the law which pre vents a train crew working more than sixteen hours, but no difficulty was experienced in pulling it into Van couver with one engine. The 100-car train has already been hauled over almost the entire length of the North Bank road and were it not for the strain in starting, when some of the lighter-built couplings give way, trains of this length would be the rule In stead of the exception. There are so few railroads in the United States on which such enormous loads can be pulled by a single engine, that most of the equipment is not strong enough to stand the great strain which comes on the cars im mediately behind the engine when the train is started. The economic ad vantage of moving such large trains with, a single crew is quite obvious; the- actual saving on every 100 cars moved to tidewater by the North Bank line, as compared with the same number lifted over the Cascade Moun tains, is enormous.- It is this ad vantage which can never be overcome that has made Portland the greatest railroad center in the Pacific North west. The prestige is steadily increas ing. The Harriman line down the Columbia has for years set the pace for a low operating cost, and the pres ent plan for building a line down the Snake River canyon will add hundreds of miles to the rail trackage out of Portland over a water-level grade. Another extensive arm of the gravity system of rail lines will draw traffic to Portland when the two roads to Central Oregon are completed. With feeders of these two big main lines down the Columbia following the branches of that stream into the most remote regions of Oregon, Washing ton and Idaho, it is not difficult to understand the tremendous advantage which this port has over any other port in the Pacific Northwest. It is by reason of this matchless location that Portland is today commanding the attention of the railroads tor a greater extent than ever before. Secretary Nagel appeared before the House ways and means committee Saturday and stated that he was hope ful of arranging a treaty with Japan by which the sealing now carried on by Japanese sealers in Aleutian waters would be prohibited. This "hopeful ness" of Secretary Nagel is much the same as that which has been expressed every year since the men of Nippon began reaping a harvest in the waters from which vessels of other nations were excluded under the terms of the modus Vivendi. Japan has never been a party to any of the sealing treaties and as both American and Canadian sealers were making bigcatches on the Japan coast long before any Jap anese schooners crossed the Pacific to engage in poaching, it is not clear why Japan should be expected to come into the protecting game at this late day. The coyote bounty law passed at the last session of the Legislature is said to have been, the means of reducing the coyote census.to the extent of sev eral hundred animals during the past twelve months. Hunters are still fol lowing the animals relentlessly, and the race may be exterminated. This would be a good thing for the stock men who lose young animals which are killed by the coyotes in large num bers. The killing of the coyotes, how ever, will be followed by a great in crease in the number of Jack rabbits, and a corresponding decrease in the amount of alfalfa and garden truck that can be got under cover before the jack rabbits eat it up. The coyote is not exactly a desirable product of the Eastern Oregon country, but as a reg ulator of the jack rabbit supply he still has his good points. Another French aviator met death while making an exhibition with an aeroplane, Hubert Leblon, formerly a noted automobilist, falling from a considerable height after his machine became disabled. Considering the comparatively small number of men who have engaged in the work, fatali ties already charged up against aerial navigation is large indeed. The bulk head on a steamer saves lives when the vessel is In collision at sea, and the air brake prevents railroad wrecks. Up to date, however, whenever any thing happens to the aeroplane when It is in the air, the occupant of the machine immediately becomes a very poor insurance risk. He cannot even put on a life preserver and swim out in the hope of being picked up. The Hood River Apple Growers Union states that the 1910 apple crop of the far-famed valley will reach 350,000 boxes. It is also stated that in four weeks there will be required from 2000 to 4000 men to thin the fruit. By the time this work Is completed, there will be work for more thousands picking and packing strawberries. The Hood River Valley, as well as other fruit-growing sections tributary to Portland, steadily Increases in im portance as a factor in the industrial and commercial growth of the coun try. One fruit farm of a few acres gives employment to a larger number of men and yields larger profits than many of the big wheat farms, ten to twenty times as large as the fruit or chards. There are no strings on T. R. Not if he knows himself, and he thinks he does. He is not in Rome as a Protestant or a Catholic, a monarch ist or a Republican, but as an Amer ican citizen abroad his only pass port to public favor, the dignity of American citizenship. He respects the head of the great Catholic Church as a man and scholar, but refuses to recognize the Pope's right to control his movements while in the Eternal City. The appointment of four women to assist in the direction and supervision of the park play grounds designed by the city administration is wise and timely. Women properly chosen, and especially women who have brought up children, should, and doubtless will be, valuable members of this play ground commission. No argument is needed to support this statement. It is a self-evident fact. If the "hoorah over Roosevelt" makes Senator Tillman sick already, what agonies he must endure between now and next' June. What has hap pened thus far is nothing more than the dawn, as it were, of the glorious sunburst which is about to illumine the universe. If Mr. Roosevelt wants to see the Pope and goes as an ordinary Amer ican citizen, he can see him. But. Mr. Roosevelt cannot go anywhere as an "ordinary" American citizen. With sturdy Westerners invading the Canadian Northwest and the pro lific Canuck, of Quebec, repopulating New England, the United States is not a loser. Local ministers are planning union open-air services, but perhaps they mean "closed air," for the Ministerial Union is a tight little body of its own. Now it is clear that Gifford Plnchot invited himself to Europe. Roosevelt will see him, of course, because Pin chot asks it. Why not? Now if Mr. Taft were to visit the Vatican, that smile would pass him at the family entrance. Aviation at 6000 feet is becoming as risky as automobiling on the surface. CALIFORMA POLITICS A'D OVRS. Imtemtlic Situations of Rival Fac tion. Democratic "Conference. PORTLAND, April 4. (To the Ed itor.) Having spent the last five or six weeks in California. I was quite Interested in the political siuation there, as compared with the situation in Oregon. The Republican party in California is divided along somewhat the same lines as it is in Oregon. That is to say, there is one crowd who claim to be the only true and real friends of the direct primary and denounce the others as "the machine," etc. They are commonly called the Goo-Goos. I suppose this name originated from the fact that they called themselves the Good Government League, but some say that it started from their being known as the Goody-Goodies. How ever that may be, they make the same claim that some of our Oregon Repub licans do, that the machine, as they call it, is against the direct primary and that they are its real friends, and the truth is that the regular Repub licans, as they are called, did accept the direct primary with a great deal of reluctance, while the Goo-Goos were its eager champions. But notice the difference in the methods of the re spective factions in California and Ore gon. . The California Goo-Goos first decided to do away with all machine rule and insisted that every candidate should stand upon his own merits and appeal directly to the people. Then they re considered this matter and decided to have their executive committee ap point a state convention of 431 mem bers, to save the people the trouble of electing them. After discussing this matter a while, they concluded that this would be too much trouble for the people, and that it would be better to have their executive committee name the Goo-Goos ticket for the primary. They called the committee together, and 20 members met in San Francisco and nominated a state ticket, headed by Hiram Johnson for Governor. They left two places on .the ticket. United States Senator and Lieutenant-Governor, to be filled by the members of the executive committee of Los An geles. These are three in number, Lee C. Gates, Marshall Stimpson and A. J. Wallace. The three members from Los Angeles put Mr. Wallace on the ticket for Lieutenant-Governor and John D. Works for United States Senator, and the ticket is now complete. The indi vidual members of tae California Goo Goo Republicans hadn't any more to say about the ticket than the man in the moon; but nobody seems to object to it and so far as I could ascertain the members' of the party, with the excep tion of a few who thought they ought to be put on the ticket, are satisfied and are going to support this ticket at the primary enthusiastically. On the other hand, the "ring" or "machine" Republicans took the grout.d that there are three or four candidates for Governor who have been regular Republicans, and they fear that it might make hard feelings if they were to indorse one of them, and so they are going to run it through without any assembly or an indorsement of anybody. The Goo-Goos confidently ex pect that their ticket will be nomi nated because of the divisioin in the ranks of the regular Republicans, and it is not unlikely. Our Democratic brethren, who in Oregon tear their hair at the very id-a of an assembly, have called a conven tion of the Democratic party to meet in Los Angeles April 11 to indorse a ticket for the Democrats to support in the primary. I believe they do not call it a convention, however, but a con ference. It aeem. n little nloKiilar that If our Democratic brothers and oar Oregon Goo-Goo are ao absolutely rircht in tbelr position with reference to the assembly, their pure and undented com patriots in California could be so wrongr. ' A very amusing thing, at least to me, occurred at the meeting of the Lincoln-Roosevelt (Goo-Goo) Club in the Thirty-ninth Senatorial District of San Francisco, which illustrates the idea of party loyalty held by that fac tion in California. In order to under stand it, it should be stated that at the city election in San Francisco last Kali, under the operation of the direct primary law, a. Mr. Crocker was nomi nated by the Republicans for Mayor of San Francisco. He is a retired busi ness man of unimpeachable character but not personally a good mixer. Imi club met for the purpose of indorsing a candidate for State Senator for nom ination on the Republican ticket from the Thirty-ninth Senatorial District. There were two candidates whose names were presented, the present State Senator (whose name I have for gotten, but I believe it was Mahoney) and a member of the Lower. House of the Legislature, whose name was E. J. Callan. Before the baljot was taken charges were preferred against Mr. Mahoney (if that is his name), to i...e effect that he was not a proper per son to be supported because he had supported the Republican nominee for. Mayor in the election last Fall, and this was enough to defeat him. It was stated that the club had given orders that its members should sup port the Democratic nominee and that he had been unfaithful to the club in not obeying its orders, and the other man, having given ample evidence that he Jiad been true to the club, was nom inated. If anyone has any doubt about the real purpose of Pinchotism, otherwise known as forest conservation, he ought to visit the mountains of Southern Cal ifornia, say Mount Lowe, Mount Wil son and the' surrounding country. It is all in a forest reserve. The trails cut by the forest rangers are marked in various places and directions over the mountains, notices are put up warn ing people what to do and what not to do, and forest rangers are required to travel over tnose trails at stated intervals. There . isn't enough timber on a million acres of it that, if cut into lumber and laid down in Los An geles, would sell for enough to pay the wages of a forest ranger for a month, and there never will be. The sides of the mountains are very steep and rocky and the rainfall is so slight that there will not be any timber there if it is kept for 100 years under the care and supervision of forest rangers. It furnishes jobs for a few men. and no one can blame them for accepting the positions as long as they are open. But that it is a farce is apparent to anybody who will take a look at it Great is humbug. S. B. HUSTON. Presidential TaIklnK. Des Moines,' la.. Register and Leader. President Taft seems to have formed the unfortunate notion ' that he must travel about a great deal and talk dowp to the people. That is the pri mary offense of the inexperienced. It takes a pretty able man to talk up to the people, in the Presidential chair. The people have some high ideals for that office and they can tell quickly enough whether the President is meas uring up to them. It ahould be enough to jar the con sciousness of any President to find himself relegated to the back pages of the daily newspapers. W'heir the President of the United States speaks and it is not of enough importance to justify a first-page position he is jcot speaking to any useful purpose.. Judge Williams' Public Career Began Early Lawyer at 21, He waa One of the Flint Juriftts of Iowa la That State's Infancy 1b 1S47 Oregon' "Grand Old Maa" of Welsh Stock, Parenta Sett tin? la Connect lent la i Colony Days. George H. Williams was one of Ore gon's foremost men and a talented and honored pioneer. He was born in Co lumbia County, New York, March 26, 1823. His father, Taber IX Williams, was born In Connecticut. The family is of Welsh origin and came to New England in the early days of the Colonies and settled in Connecticut. Judge Williams inherited a strong loyalty to the Government. His mother's father, Noah Goodrich, fought for Independence from the Battle of Bunker Hill to the surrender of Corn wall is. His father's father, Edward R. Williams, served as a valiant soldier in the Continental Army, par ticipating in its many battles and en during manfully its hardships and privations. Although born in Columbia County, Judge Williams spent his early youth in Onondaga County and received his education at Pompey Hill Academy. Afterwards he studied law with Daniel Gott, one of the prominent men of New England in the early MOs and a member of Congress. In 1844, when 21 years of age. Judge Williams was admitted to the bar and he then moved to Fort Madison, la., where he com menced his career as a lawyer. Judge In Iowa in 184 7 In 1847, the then new State of Iowa held Its first election and the young lawyer was chosen as judge of the first judicial district- He served in this capacity five years and was again of fered the position but declined it. In' 1S52 he was one of the Democratic Presidential electors-at-large from Iowa and prior to election canvassed the state for Franklin Pierce. After Pierce was elected and inaugurated as President he rewarded the efforts of Judge Williams by appointing him Chief Justice of the then Territory of Oregon. Judge Williams first settled at Salem, where he remained during the five years he served as Chief Justice, President Buchanan, on succeeding Pierce, reappointed Judge Williams, but the latter remained on the Oregon bench but one year longer, when he resigned and moved to Portland to take up the practice of law. This was in 1858, the year before the territorial government ceased and Oregon became a state. Judge Wil liams was chosen as a member of the state constitutional convention and served therein as chairman of the judiciary committee. Eloquence Barred Slaves. At that time Judge Williams was affiliated with the Iemocratic party and Oregon then was strongly Demo cratic. Many leaders in the party in the constitutional convention were in favor of making Oregon a slave state, but through the eloquent opposition of Judge Williams decided ground were not taken by the convention and the issue was submitted to a vote of the people. During the succeeding campaign the voice of Judge Williams was heard throughout Oregon in opposition to slavery, and largely through his in strumentality the pro-slavery element was defeated. Trying times succeeded in the Dem ocratic party. Southern sympathizers controlled the organization, but there was a large element that remained loyal to the Union. This element, how ever, was not willing to unite with the "Black Republicans,' as the rad icals in the opposing political organi zation were then termed. But in 1862, Northern sympathizers In both parties conceived the idea of forming a new Union party. Judge Williams was one of the Democrats who signed the call for a Union convention. The Union party therein formed was successful in carrying the state election and in 1864 Judge Williams was elected to the United States Senate.. His Bill Harmonized Sonth. He took his seat In the Senate in the closing days of the Civil War. His at tainments were at once recognized by his associates and when a joint com mittee from the two houses of Con gress was formed to examine and re port on matters pertaining to the re construction of the Union, Judge Wil liams was named as one of the Senate members. While this committee was attempting to reach a conclusion. Presi dent Andrew Johnson was proceeding, independently of Congress, to reorganize the Southern states. The joint committee failed to present a measure, but on March 4, 1S67, Judge Williams introduced in the Senate the reconstruction bill entitled "a bill fpr the more efficient government of the states lately In rebellion." This bill, with some amendments, was passed by' both houses of Congress, but was vetoed by President Johnson. The bill was then passed over the President's veto and the Southern states, under its provisions, were ultimately restored to harmonious relations with - the Government. Judge Williams term in the United States Senate closed in 1871 and soon after his retirement he was appointed as one of the Joint High Commissioners to settle by treaty with Great Britain the claims growing out of the deprada- tions on Northern commerce during the war of the privateer Alabama. Largely through Judge Williams familiarity with Northeast conditions the San Juan con troversy, also a matter of issue, was amicably settled and the San Juan group of islands were saved to the United States. Ku-Klux-Klan Routed. In December, 1871, Judge Williams was appointed Attorney-General of the Uni ted States by President Grant. As Attorney-General, Judge Williams found himself confronted by the Ku-Klux-Klan problem in the South, and his vigorous measures adopted' for the suppression of outrages in the Southern states brought him the hostility of those opposed to the Administration. In 1873 President Grant, appreciating his ability and service to the country, sought again to honor him, and upon the death of Chief Justice Chase nominated him for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Wil liams discovered, however, that there was opposition to his confirmation in the Senate, aroused by those he had antago nized in the reconstruction period and while Attorney-General. He, therefore, asked President Grant to withdraw his name, which was done, Portland's Mayor in J9CM2. After attending to some legal business in Washington, Judge Williams returned to Portland and resumed the practice of law. In 1903 he was elected Mayor of Portland and served in that capacity until 1905. Sine, then he had been prac ticing law as a member of the firm of Williams, Wood & Llnthlcum. His last notable service to his state was as Presi dential elector, to which honorary post he was elected in 1908. Judge Williams was married in 1850 to Miss Kate Van Antwerp, daughter of General Verplank "Van Antwerp. They had one daughter, Ellen. Mrs. Williams died in 1861, and some years later he married Mrs. KLate George, daughter of Ross B. Hughes, of Iow-a, also now de ceased. Judge Williams built a handsome resi dence in Portland at Eighteenth and Couch streets, where he resided in recent years. He was interested in various finan cial enterprises, public undertakings and charitable institutions. Anecdotes Tell of Kind Deeds by Dead Jurist Cottage Ordered Moved to Save Widow Trouble Patriarch Ukcd Sports for "SlugiclMh Blood" Flag Cover Bed at Taf1 Call Tender Heart e-dneas Marked Trait of Ore moun Late DistlD gulf bed Sob. "I sincerely trust you are never elected Mayor," said one of Judge Williams" warmest friends to him when he was making his campaign for the Mayoralty of Portland. "And why, sir?' demanded the veteran Jurist. "Because, Judge was the reply, "if any old woman came along and told you a policeman had ordered her to move a pile of cordwood off the sidewalk, you would spend the whole day seeing if you could not fix things so she would not be worried." That was the human side of the Judge's character and it is the side that was, perhaps, most narrated where men gathered to talk over the virtues of their departed friend. During his incumbency as Mayor, Judge Williams was visited by a poor and aged widow, the supporter of two children and the owner of a tiny cottage built on an Bast Side lot she had leased. On the expiration of the lease she desired to move the cottage, her only home, to another lot she had been able to pur chase. The cottage was surrounded by elec tric light, telephone and other wires and the poor widow had no means to pay for heir cutting and repair, which would be necessary to move her house. The lessor ordered her to move the cottage before, morning or it would be razed. In her dilemma the widow visited Mayor Williams- She told her story. In the gruff way he assumed when deeply moved, the judge told her to stay In his office. He went out but returned soon. Then the Judge was called to the tele phone. "Madam," said the Mayor-Judge, "your cottage Is now on your own lot. I hope your troubles are over. While the widow waited, the Mayor had engaged electricians, who had cut the various supply wires, and men had moved the house immediately. The widow did not have to pay a cent. This was but one of the reminiscences recalled yesterday. Judsre Ixved Sports. In Portland the Judge was best known as a follower and an ardent supporter of all kinds of sport. When in health he was the warmest fan in the stand at the ballgrounds. Many and many a time has some unlucky player felt his ears burn at the caustic words of admonition, fol lowing some poor play, that emanated from the aged jurist. "The principal reason I followed the game was so that by yelling at the play ers and exciting myself I might stir my sluggish blood," was the explanation the Judge gave one of his friends who quer ied him on the subject. He was a regular attendant at all of the sporting events of the Multnomah Club. In his youth the Judge had been an expert wrestler. "The old style wrestling," he used to call it, alluding to the Cornish type of grappling. "Are you going to see the Jeffries-Johnson scrap?" he was asked but a few days ago. The Judge pondered. "I would like to." he replied. "but well. I don't think I shall, although I'll tell you what 111 read all about it in the papers the next day." Although conscious of his failing physi cal powers, neither Judge Williams nor his legion of friends believed he would not live to see that memorable Fourth. When Judge Williams shifted from Democracy to become a staunch Repub lican, he naturally incurred many ene mies. One of the most distinguished of these was sent to the Insane Asylum at Salem and in a lucid moment expressed a wish to see Judge Williams. The Jurist at once acquiesced. Not until the man's death did Judge Williams tell the story. Even then he confided it to but few. As it was retold yesterday. Judge Williams said: Inmate Bogs Pardon. "That man had maligned me, he had tried to ruin my good name, he had vili fied my wife and family, but when he sent for me I went. I saw him a wreck of a man. As a boy I once saw two men chained in a hut. They were insane. Then the wreck of what were once hu man minds impressed itself upon me and when my one-time enemy In the asylum sent for me, I determined if there was anything I could do to help his wrecked mind I would. "He told me that what he had said of me had been in the' height of political controversy and' had never been meant. He said he could not die happy if I did not forgive him. I told him he had been forgiven years ago. That man was happy and when he died we were the warmest of friends." V During his residence in Washington the life of Judge Williams, who later earned the title "Nestor of the Oregon bar," was embittered by enmity shown his family by some of the" Senators. Judge Williams wife was a beautiful and accomplished woman. Many wives of Senators living in Washington became jealous of Mrs. Williams and when her husband was nominated by President Grant as Chief Justice of the United States Supremo Court, a storm of opposition was raised that later developed into vilification-, of the Judge and hv wife. For his wife's sake Judge Williams withdrew his name. A few days, later the President and the judge met at Long Branch, N. J. "Who would you suggest for the Chief Justiceship?" asked Grant, Judge Williams suggested the name of Justice Miller, then a member of the Supreme Court, end gave a number of reasons to back up his choice. Grant heard them all and commented there was an unwritten law that no member of the Supreme Court should ever be elevated to the Chief Justiceship, for fear of creating jealousy. Judge Williams then suggested the name of M. R. Waite. Man Judge Names Wins. "Waite is en able man," -said the Jurist to the President. "He is an attorney in Mansfield, O., but he was. one of those having a great deal to do with the settling of the affairs bordering on the Geneva treaty. Judge Williams was then told by the President to telegraph Waite in his own name, asking him if he would accept the nomination. Waite was delighted and when his name was presented to the Senate there was practically no oppo sition. At the time of this conversation Grant told Williams he was confident he could be confirmed, and it was only at the earnest' solicitation of the Attorney-General of the United States that President Grant withdrew his name. It was not until long afterwards that Judge Will iams told the story of how he nominated Waite. Only a few minutes prior to the Presi dent's visit the judge heard that Taft was to call on him, as the visit was not "on the programme. He Insisted on being washed and made spruce. Then he de manded that a gigantic United States flag be spread over his bed. This was done. The hum of the arriving autos was heard outside. The Judge took one last look around. "Quick, move those flowers outside," he told his nurse, "we murt have nothing to obscure our view of our President." His command was obeyed. While in the hospital Judge WMHIams told with a quiet humor how President T-aft had entered the room in front of those accompanying him and calmly closed the door in their faces. "My . friend, the President," the judge told proudly, "knew we would like to be alone together." The Judge would not give any of the details of that interview. A