lO
THE 3IORXIXG OKEGOXIAN, TUESDAT, APRIL 5,- 1910.
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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