THE MORXIXG OREGOXIAN,
MONDAY, APRIIi 23, 1910-
PORTLAND, OREGON.
Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postoffice as
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PORTIAND, MONOAY, APRIL, 25, 1910.
TH K WriJJEKNKSS SIIOII.O BE TAMT21.
Forest lands of the public domain
In the West are closed to homestead
entry, because, say conservation radi
cals, they are more valuable for tim
ber than for food and because, more
over, when they were open to home
steaders, they were "Guggenheimed"
meaning- "grabbed" by speculators
and monopolized by syndicates. Ad
vocates of this policy profess to see
Jn the homestead land law one of the
great sources of loss to the Nation.
This talk comes from shallow
minds who know little or nothing' of
the pioneer history of the West. It
reflects the kind of intellect that
wishes to send Bill Hanley, of Har
ney County, to prison, because, as
other pioneers always have done, ho
cut scrub junipers from public land
to use as firewood.
Homesteading of public lands in the
"West is the product of the Nation's
wisest statesmanship. This system of
land bounty populated the West with
the most sturdy citizenship. The peo
ple who were induced by it to under
take pioneer hardships and subdue
the country performed a National
service that was worth far in excess
of any benefit they ever received from
the land. Even now, were the law
allowed by conservation officials to
continue in operation, it would be the
means of adding large areas of
wealth-producing land to the re
sources of the country. There was
fraud under the law, but that was the
fault of negligent officials. This Gov
ernment should be strong enough to
see that a beneficent law is enforced.
Its fear of fraud is a confession of
weakness or negligence, or both.
The homestead law is an outgrowth
of the donation land law, which was
first urged on ''onress by Sen
ator Lewis F. Linn, of Missouri, some
70 years ago. The donation act gave
land to Americans who would go forth
to the wilderness and bring distant
lands into the sisterhood of states and
Add new strength to the sinews of the
Xation. "This is enough to. perpet
uate the memory of Lewis F. Linn to
remotest generations," says -Clinton A.
Snowden, in his recent History of
AVashington. "The world will yet
remember him."
The settlement of.AVestern lands
under the homestead law is called by
some conservationists and busy
Pinchot officials, "robbery of the peo
ple." This is an extravagant habit of
language that in time will be cor
rected. This Western country needs
return to the homestead law for tam
ing of its wilds, expulsion of wild
cats, and conservation of its re
sources. Where forest crops will sup
port hundreds of Inspectors, food
crops will sustain tens of thousands
of homeowners.
ABIXKS OF TEOPI.E'S ItUUS."
Constitution reformers swarm Ore
gon in many places. Kach reformer
declares his purpose to promote the
"people's rule" and the "people's
choice," through some initiative and
referendum improvement. Eachasserts
his scheme, more than any other, will
enable the people to govern them
selves, to cast off the yoke of boss
and to ordain their untrammeled will.
But so many of these improvements
have been presented that a call has
gone up from promoters of several of
them for suppression of the others
this, too, In interest of the people and
for protection of the people's right to
rule without annoyance from agita
tors who are deemed reprobate.
The people must not be. allowed to
decide for themselves, then, but must
have a body of select reformers to
pass upon Improvements that are good
and bad. So that, one step back of
the new deal, the people are to be no
freer than they were before and
bosses of another sort are to judge
what works are good for -the electo
rate to vote upon and what statesmen
are worthy of the public confidence.
This much for the sham.
In truth, . however, the people of
Oregon have been ruling ever since
the commonwealth was created and
since its constitution has been in force.
They have been able to do everything
that they have wished to do, as the
public conscience has Awakened to
one' thing and another, and to put
down one set of bosses after another.
They have elected good men and
others to office, but never have found
it impossible to get rid of the others.
This old constitution is the product
of best experience in the progress of
people's rule. Yet now come single
taxers and grangers with theoretical
schemes of tax improvement; U'Ren
and his alleged foes of boss rule with
a reform Body of law that would give
despotic powers to Governor and so
called inspectors. Socialists and pub
lic ownership cranks with a project
that would authorize the state to build
railroads; Prohibitionists with a fanat
icalidea of stopping consumption of
liquor. Each of these invokes- the
right of the people to rule.
Ru,!e of the people is a hackneyed
phrase of every brand of agitator and
of all together. They know that these
are the charm words that win popular
attention r.nd sanction. But it is com
ing to a point where voters of Oregon
will not take up with so-called re
forms of the constitution just because
their promoters promise more power
to voters. The new power accrues to
cranks and agitators, not to the whole
people. In fact, each of these changes
lessens the power of the people to
hold ag"itators in subjection.
This state will do well to hold on
to the remnants of its old constitution
and reject all these so-called reforms,
for they will not improve the condi
tion of the body politic. It will be
safe to cling to established principles
of equal and uniform taxation of all
property: of representation in law
making bodies; and, of freedom of in
dividual conduct;- also to adhere to
restrictions against Government con
struction and maintenance of rail
roads. These' manors have all been
fought out before this and it ought
not to be necessary to travel again
the thorny paths of experience.
Likewise, old methods of determine
ing people's choice are proved best.
They are the methods of deliberative
choice by representatives- of the peo
ple in assembly. Citizens of Oregon
are coming back to the people's rep
resentative choice. Republicans will
hold assemblies this year and Demo
crats will hold banquets and confer
ences both to select candidates and
policies for the people's choice in pri
maries and election. . .
THROl'OH ORECOX
The Portland Business Men's Ex
cursion, scheduled to leave tonight on
a four-days' journey through West
ern and' Southern Oregon to Klamath
Falls and return, is assured of a cor
dial welcome at every place along its
itinerary. It is altogether an im
portant event, and it will bear im
portant results.
Portland has no special message to
bear to the state at large by this en
terprise except of its good will and
good cheer.
The definite design of the Portland
business men is thus to show their
interest in the progress and develop
ment of the various parts of Oregon.
They want to know by personal in
quiry and examination just what the
outside places are doing, and they want
to know also what would be done
here to help along the general ad
vance. It is a good thing for
business men to get acquainted with
business men everywhere in Oregon.
Portland has no hirh-board fence
around it. All roads in Oregon lead
here, and there is a way out over
them for Portland as well as a way
in for the rest of Oregon.
It is a get-better-acquainted ex
cursion .by some members of the
great Oregon family to other mem
bers. The household is harmonious
and reasonably happy now; but it can
never be either too harmonious or too
happy. Therefore Portland is start
ing out today to pull the latchstring
on many welcoming Oregon doors.
V.'JtAT OK the i n I hi:?
If Portland hopes or expects to
maintain its present prestige as a ship
ping port and compete with. 6ther
ports in the Pacific Northwest, it is
necessary that there be an end to the
continual trouble along the water
front. Nearly all day Saturday two large
Oriental liners, operating under time
charters of more than $200 per day,
with this particular expense doubled
while they are in port, were unable to
load or discharge freight on account
of a strike of longshoremen: It was
not a matter of wages that caused
this tie-up. It resulted from the dis
charge of three men who left their
work and visited a saloon several
blocks away. The misguided foreman,
unable to convince himself that thb
steamship company was paying fifty
cents per hour for men to engage in
the pastime of beer drinking, dis
charged the men on the spot. Then
followed the sympathetic strike.
Portland has removed some of the
handicaps that in the past have driven
shipping away from the port. Some
of the greatest of these handicaps still
remain. They should be removed.
VOICE OF THE M-niBINO TRUST.
Cost of plumbing makes a mighty
big tax on property owners. When
they seek opportunity to reduce it, a
mysterious influence interposes. Now
that cemeit , sewer pipe can be bought
at half the cost of terra cotta tubes,
the influence begins its work and City
Plumbing Inspector Hey declares the
cement pipe porous and unsanitary,
against the testimonial of City En
gineer Morris that it is neither. Pos
sibly Mr. Hey is unconscious of the
influence. If so, he should wake up.
The plumbing trust has powerful
hold on builders in this city, through
manufacturers and jobbers, boss
plumbers and journeymen. The or
dinances are popularly believed to
have been framed at behest of these
interests, so that specifications are the
most expensive possible. All this
makes for profit of jobbers, who sell
supplies at wholesale prices; bosses,
who sell them at retail; and members
of the plumbers' union, who sell
"time," on which . he bosses collect
also a handsome bonus.
Cheaper soil pipe will cut into
profits of the plumbing combine and
of the terra cotta trust. The latter
fixes prices without competition and
with a piratical greed that makes big
prolits for its promoters. Now if Mr.
Hey is free from this power and is
attached first to the interests of hi3
employers in this case taxpayers
he is not taking the plain course to
prove it.
Mr. Hey should make himself right
with the men and the women who
pay his salary. In view of the City
Engineer's assertion, and of ordinary
commonsense, he is wrong. Cement
pipe should not be porous nor unsan
itary and its cheaper price commends
it to the citizens who pay the bills.
YAXCEY.
The name "Yancey," which ap
pears in connection with the huge
cotton frauds that have spread con
sternation through both hemispheres,
is one that has Ion- been honored in
the South. There was a Yancey who
made a great stir at the time of the
outbreak of the Civil War and had his
finger in that pie more conspicuously
than any other Georgian, with one
or two exceptions. This family Is
one of many in the South which be
gin with the letter T. In the North
we have few such. There is Young,
of course,- but not many more. Yates
belongs more to the South. The only
well known man of that name in this
country was a Kentuckian.
The Yancey of Civil War fame was
born In Georgia, but soon took up his
residence in Alabama, which state
sent him to Congress and made him a
member of the convention which re
ported its secession ordinance in 1860.
He was sent to Europj as one of the
Confederacy's agents, but what serv
ices he rendered the cause history
does not proclaim vigorously enough
to be heard distinctly. No doubt his
deeds arc celebrated in the annals of
his family.
The Yancey who has fallen into
cotton troubles doubtless belongs to
the same stock. Until proof to the
contrary is at hand, the world will
believe that the Yancey whose cotton
house is in trouble was immoderately
speculative and inclined to rush madly
into rash ventures. This may not be
true at all, but the name Yancey im
plies things of that sort. It snarls
and twists the mouth in utterance
Just as the character of its owner
may be supposed to depart from
straight lines. There is much in
names, notwithstanding Shakespeare's
opinion to the contrary. Most men
try consciously or unconsciously to
live up to their names, and, if the
sound by which they are known is
harsh, their natures oftentimes acquire
from it a tinge of unnecessary cruelty.
One involuntarily hopes that Mr. Yan
cey is better than the sound of his
name.
COXIX'SIXC SALMON LAW'S.
Never a fishing season rolls around
but brings along many examples of
the perplexing, confusing and wide
spread absurdities of our laws for pro
tection of salmon. The spectacle of a
force of county officers in hot pursuit
of a force of state officers who inter
pret the laws entirely differently from
the manner in which they are under
stood and declared by the local courts
is an incident that should be as un
usual as it is unnecessary. It should
not be necessary for an officer en
gaged in enforcement of the law to
flee like a thief with his booty, for
fear of arrest at the hands of another
officer acting for citizens who radic
ally differ with the fish warden as to
the meaning of the law. -The seizure
of a lot. of fish caught in the Willam
ette River seems still further to have
"localized" our badly demoralized fish
laws, for the seizure was resisted in
consequence of a decision rendered by
the Circuit Court of Clackamas
County.
We have never yet succeeded in per
fecting an international fish law or
agreement by which fishing in waters
dividing this country from Canada
can secure the protection it needs. We
have been similarly unfortunate in
failing to perfect mutual laws between
states, so that observance of the law's
requirements would be insisted on
from both shores of the stream. As
a grand finale it would now appear
that we have been unable to enact
laws that would be mutually oper
ative between Portland and Oregon
City. This is a situation that can
hardly reflect very much credit on the
intelligence or intentions of persons
most interested in fish legislation.
.To the average layman, it would ap
pear that a law that permitted Wil
lamette River fishermen to work, and
denied the same privilege to Colum
bia River fishermen, is very poor law.
If the impending legal struggle will
more clearly establish and demon
strate the confusing and conflicting
nature of our fishing laws, it may 'be
of material aid in bringing about cor
rection of the evil when the next Leg
islature meets. The reform in these
laws should run through the entire
system. We cannot prevent salmon
from swimming from one county to
another, from Oregon waters into
those of Washington, or from Ameri
can waters into those of Canada. It
thus becomes imperative that concur
rent legislation be enacted that will
protect the fish for the mutual and
permanent benefit of all the' people,
regardless of which side of a fine
imaginary line they may dwell.
THE BIBLE IV fOIXECE.
Young college men seem no longer
to deserve the rtproach that they are
ignorant of the Bible. Some years ago
it was a common observation that they
knew rather less about the Scriptures
than about anything else, which was
saying a good deal, but, according to
an article in the May Century, start
ling reforms in this particular have
been initiated and indeed carried out.
Nothing is now more common in col
lege than for the students of all
grades to unite In classes for the study
of the Bible. It is possible to win
almost as much fame by eminence in
Scriptural research as by prowess in
football, and it is said that a skillful
expounder of difficult texts ranks next
to a speedy sprinter in academic glory.
All this Is well, though the value of
Bible study depends somewhat upon
the way it is done. The mere propa
gation of ancient and baseless tradi
tions about the Scriptures is not espe
cially beneficial to youths any more
than to adults. If the college boys
are learning facts and sound critical
opinions about the incomparable liter
ature of the Hebrews, one would be
disposed to praise the new departure
in their fnterests without stint. If
they are merely committing to mem
ory certain historical errors, some
reservations must be made.
In any case, these Bible classes will
bring the youths into intimate rela
tions with the English Bible, which
in Itself is a piece of good fortune not
to be despised. No doubt the ac
quaintance they will gain with the un
paralleled beauties of its style will help
chasten their crude literary taste. It
may be guessed that some of the ex
ecrable college English of which so
much has been said lately may be at
tributed to the sad forgetfulness of the
Bible into which the last generation
permitted itself to lapse. The conse
quence was not merely a sinful race
of men, but, much more regrettable to
some persons, a race which could not
write its mother tongue without hor
rible blunders.
COTTON" AT CLOSE KA.VGE.
Long-range views on any subject
must necessarily lack the accuracy
possible only where a close-range
study enables proper consideration of
all the details and conditions affect
ing the issue. To this fact is largely
due the general misunderstanding of
the ship subsidy project at interior
localities,' where knowledge concern
ing it is all theoretical and opportuni
ties for observing the practical work
ings of the scheme are missing. Some
what similar is the misconception on
which the periodical attacks on deal
ing in futures is founded. Every year,
some whining "shorts" in. cotton, after
selling large quantities of the staple
which they never possessed, set up a
cry over "manipulation." It is but
natural that the New England cotton
manufacturers should sympathize
with these professional shorts, . for
both parties have the same end in
view, towit, depression of prices in
the raw material.
This year the efforts of the "bear"
contingent in cotton have proved so
unsuccessful that they have rushed to
the Federal authorities, asking prose
cution of the men who, they claim, are
responsible for the high prices of cot
ton. New Orleans is the great cotton
center of the world. It is at that point
and. in the adjacent territory that an
overwhelming proportion of the
world's supply of raw cotton is mar
keted or financed. In such circum
stances it is-but natural that the New
Orleans papers should be exceptionally
well informed on all phases of the
subject. Both the Picayune and the
Times-Democrat, newspapers of un
questioned character, have repeatedly
denounced the efforts to abolish trad
ing in futures; and both papers are
severe on this latest attempt to pun
ish the "bulls" while the "bears" are
to go unmolested.
The Times-Democrat recalls the
tremendous slump in the price of cot
ton a few weeks ago, when thousands
of "bears," taking advantage of high
prices and great speculative interest,
flooded the market with "short sales"
contracts and hammered prices more
than three cents per pound before a
better understanding of the actual sup
ply and demand checked the down
ward movement. The New Orleans
papers would like to know why an ef
fort is being made to punish the
"bull" pool with no mention being
made of the "bear" pool.
"Is it a crime?" asks the Times
Democrat, "to form a bull pool, but
no offense to form a pool on the op
posite side? If this be so, giant spec
ulators in cotton must be 'bears' If
they want to keep out of jail, and the
South must expect to see speculation
always arrayed against its chief com
modity." Thus far the only effect of
any of these periodical attempts to
regulate practical matters by theoret
ical and impracticable methods has
been to increase the opportunities for
unscrupulous speculators to "rig" the
market on the strength of the reported
prosecutions.
Portland gained something more
than a new gravity route down .from
the rich Inland Empire when Mr. Hill
built the North Bank road. Admis
sion of this city into trade territory
from which it had previously been
barred was the first direct tangible
evidence of the ' benefits " to follow
completion of the road, but indirectly
the gain has been even greater. The
Hill lines, for the first time in their
history, are this year engaged in a
publicity campaign;- in which Portland,
in most cases, is given precedence over
all other ports in the Pacific North
west. Not only has this newcomer in
Portland's railroad field undertaken
to exploit on an extended scale the
resources of the great Central Ore
gon region, but it has also been tell
ing the world of the wonders of the
Portland Rose Festival. No better or
more effective publicity work has ever
been undertaken than that in which
both the Hill and the Harriman rail
systems -are making known the re
sources of the Pacific Northwest. Good
results from this work are inevitable.
Vancouver is the Jatest of the Se
attle suburbs to be drawn on for
names for the census taker. Mrs. Hig
gins, of Clark County, visited Seattle
for the purpose of accompanying her
two. children to their home after a
term at the Washington State Univer
sity. This, of course, offered suffi
cient excuse for the enrollment of the
three names in the Seattle census
lists. A fjjv- days ago, the Olympians
were objecting because Seattle insisted
on. counting the crew of an Olympia
steamer as residents of Seattle. As
Vancouver is nearly 100 miles farther
away from Seattle than Olympia, it
will be observed that the protest of
the Olympians was entirely unwar
ranted. In view of the methods em
ployed, it seems strange that Seattle
would stop counting with a paltry
300.000 on the roll.
"The mills of the gods grind slowly,"
but they move like Halley's comet
when compared with some of the
movements of this great Government
of ours. When the steamship Czarina
pounded to pieces in the breakers at
Coos Bay last January, there was
much unfavorable comment regarding
the action of the life-saving crew at
that point, the general opinion being
that a life-saving crew should save life,
providing it had the proper equipment.
After a lapse of more than three
months, the Government has at last
decided to investigate, and a special
agent is on the way from Washington.
If the life-saving crew, accused by
the Coos Bay Board of Trade, do not
all die of old age, they may some day
be reprimanded or discharged.
Your insurgent like Poindexter
doesn't want to do anything the Ad
ministration or the Republican party
organization wants him to do, but he
wants all the Federal Jobs the Admin
istration has to give. Possibly the
Administration may prefer to follow
its own method of giving.
"Going fishing," says Mr. Hill when
asked about his forthcoming trip to
Oregon and the Northwest. "Jnst get
ting away from my office," says
Banker Steely "Educational purposes,",
says Banker Baker. Come on to
Oregon and no questions will be asked.
"If Seattle does not reach the
coveted goal (300,000)," says a Se
attle letter in The Oreg-nian, "it vlll
be because the people are not here."
If Seattle does mark up its figures
to 300,000, it will also be because the
people are not there.
Colonel Roosevelt will be criticised,
of course, for uttering a lot of highly
moral platitudes before the French
Academy. But shall the most obvious
truths be forgotten or ignored because
some one fears the mob will cry
"chestnut?"
A partner in the Morgan banking
firm is cominj out to look ov.r Ore
gon with James J.- Hill. Yet nobody
here appears to be fric'ttened over
the prospect of his investing a few
millions in Orepin.
Murderer Wezler "doesn't know
why he did" it.'" Then he shouldn't,
have done it. The law ought to ar
range It so he cannot suffer hereafter
from similar homicidal aberrations.
Now people and potentates of the
Old World understand that the seven
years of Roosevelt were i o false
alarm.
Mr. Bryan is extremely careful,
amid the growing Democratic pomp,
about finding the next paramount is
sue. Peary Arctic Club says it won't get
the South Pole this year. No hurry.
South Pole can wait awhile.
Democrats are very happy. But
they ought to think of the fights they
will have over the spoils.
Senators Aldrich and Hale defeated
the people. They quit without giving
the people a chance. '
PEOPLE'S RULE BY MOB IS DEAR
They Rule Wisely Only "When Or Kan
laed and Directed.
The Dalles Optimist.
Not many years ago there was some
trouble in the City of Pittsburg; the
authorities were put to rout, the clty
was sacked, many millions of dollars'
worth of property 'was burned, chaos
reigned but ""the people," represented
by a mob, ruled that day in Pittsburg.
And that day will, long be remem
bered there, for every year when the
taxpayer goes to pay his assessment
he finds he is still paying a portion of
the expenses of that ill-fated day when
"the people" ruled for the courts, from
the lowest to the highest, said that
the city should reimburse the property-owners
for their losses, for the
officials had allowed "the people," rep
resented by the mob, to rule for Just
one day.
Not many years ago "the people,"
represented by the mob, ruled for one
day in New Orleans, and for a short
season "the people," represented by
the mob, ruled in Cincinnati. Indeed
we can point to hundreds of cases
where the officials have allowed "the
people" to rule.
There is no such thing as the rule
of the people except through orderly
and decent proceedings, and, to main
tain that "the people" can, will or
ever have ruled for the good of them
selves or the good of the community
save by chosen loaders, elected in an
orderly manner, is to By in the face
of all the precedents of the past.
What did "the people's" rule, the
rule of the Commune, mean in Paris?
What did it mean in New York during
the days of rioting In 1864? What has
it ever meant when "the people" took
the place of authorities?
Are we comparing the people of
Oregon to a mob? Not at all. We
are simply pointing out that for the
Republicans of Oregon to elect the men
they want they must act in an orderly
manner through chosen leaders, and
not as a go-as-you-please mob. Noth
ing for good was ever accomplished
by a mob, nothing for good ever will
be. Corrupt governments, corrupt
court's; have been overturned in that
way, but the cost was too great to
contemplate, and the same results
could and should have been accom
plished through peaceful methods.
LIFE IX THE OREGON COUNTRY
Didn't Look Good, KhT
Echo Echoes.
-The Bank of Echo received $2600 of
new 1910 20'gold pieces last week. They
look, funny. 1
- I I-tt-Iatt- Fanning.
Polk County Itemizer.
It will not be long until every farmer
around here is using road autos. as they
are found serviceable for so many dif
ferent things applicable to ' farm life.
Bob Cannon Ge( Help.
Mitchell Sentinel.
Bob Cannon. the cattle king. of
Wheeler County, spent Sunday in town.
He ha3 bought a new talking machine
and God knows we don't think he
needed it.
Pre-Nupttal Try-Out.
Baker City Herald.
It has been suggested for the benefit
of the young girl who's only ambition it
is to get married, to get used to a hus
band. Try sleeping with a beer keg
and some stale tobacco. You'll get used
to the smell.
Youthful Notions of Humor.
- ' Castle Rock (Wash.) Advocate.
Some enterprising students decorated
a portion of the rooms of the high school
building with skunk cabbage and lim
burger cheese last Friday morning, and
while the effect was beautiful, it is said
the aroma was almost enough to drive
a person to hard drink.
Rabbltville Saves) Its Money.
Rabbitville. Cor. The Dalles Optimist.
A feller was hear trying to raze mun
ney to put a fence around the grave
yard, but Me and the leading citizens
refused to put up a cent for such a
useless expense. Them that is berried
there can't get out. and us fellers what
is out don't want to get in. So whyfore
is a fence needed?
Democrat) All Oppose It. .
Amity Standard.
That the assembly plan of nominating
Republican candidates for tho coming
primaries is the only logical way of se
curing an equitable expression of party
preference is borne out in the united
opposition of all Democratic papers in
the state to the plan. It would surely
shut out the Democrats who are wont
to go into the primaries and call for a
Republican nomination ticket and help
in selecting the candidates they are to
vote against.
Twain and Hla Critic.
PORTLAND. April 24. (To the Editor.)
So Mark Twain had his critics? I will
not criticise his critic, but mention two
of many things which entitle Twain to
the Christlike forgiveness of all his sins
and immortality: The exquisite inter
pretation of Christian Scienee, and the
epitaph on his wife's tomb, who, by the
way, was the delight of his life and his
soul, own true mate and helpmeet:
Warm Summer sun. shine kindly here;
Warm Southern winds, blow softly here;
Green sod above, lie lifjht. He light,
i4od nitrht, dear heart, good nipht. good
night.
LOUIS GREEN M UN FORD.
Honorable Mention.
Chicago Record-Herald.
"I always have the profoundest re
spect for any man who is earning his
own living and not complaining about
it."
"Yes. a man who does that undoubt
edly deserves- a lot of credit. Still, a
public office-holder who isn't always
setting tip the claim that he is sacrific
ing his private interests so that he may
serve the public deserves honorable
mention too"
Milk In tbe Coronnnt.
Lebanon Criterion.
The truth is, there is no valid objec
tion to the assembly that Democrats,
Populists, Socialists and other ists are
complaining about. They want to en
deavor to keep up some kind of strife
in the Republican party, in the hope of
getting an office.
Truthful Peddler.
Boston Transcript.
Mrs. Byers All the big berries are
on top of this box, I suppose?
Peddler No, mum; some of 'em are
on the top of the other boxes. .. .
Things I Still Believe In. .
The same old courtin', the same old kiss.
The same old weddin', the same old bliss.
The same old blue in the same old skies.
The same old yell when the baby cries.
The same old dinners, the same corn bread.
The same old prayers on going to bed.
The same old Bible, the same old truth.
The same old hickory we felt in youth.
The same old mother, the same old love.
The same old hope of meetlncr above. '
C. JE. CLINE.
V'SE IS BEST CONSERVATION.
John L. Wilson Says State Control Is
Better Than Pinchot Disuse.
From an Address Delivered at Chrissto
, pher. King County, Wash.
I remember attending a. dinner in New
York, when the Governor of that state
spoke with pride of the. fact that his
state had established a forest containing
1.000,000 acres. I replied that I could take
him to a National forest In Idaho in
which ho could place the entire Empire
State and then walk around it and not
come in sight of it.
It is right and proper that the people
should conserve their natural . resources,
but I am more interested in the man
who is alivo today, rather than the man
who may be living a hundred years from
now. I want to see him settled on thesa
fertile acres. I want to see the 640.000
acres of school land In the reservations
given back to us. The railroad land in
the reservations now unsurveyed pays no
taxes. I want to see that land surveyed
so that it may bear its part of the bur
den of maintaining the state.
Nature has supplied the West bounti
fully in the matter of water" power. If
my memory serves me, the Government
reports show that in the Columbia River
water shed, which includes part of Mon
tana, Idaho. Oregon and Washington,
there Is more than 39,000.000 horsepower.
If we should develop 10,000 horsepower
every year for 2400 years we should not
reach the nd of it. And the water
power developed would be just as good
at the end of that time as it is today.
It does not wear out and the best way
to conserve our coal supply is by using
water power.
I want to see our resources conserved,
but I don't want to see the proceeds of
the bounties given us by .Nature go into
tho coffers of the Federal Government.
Our water power belongs to the State of
Washington, and any plan whereby the
revenues from that resource go to the
Federal Government is illegal. The Fed
eral Government cannot tax water power
in Indiana or Connecticut. Why should
it take the water power in this state?
I hope to see the day when every house
between Seattle and Tacoma is lighted
by electricity cheaper than any we have
ever known.- Every kilowatt of electri
city used which has been produced by
water power saves its equivalent in coal
and kindling.
A few years ago a tax was placed on
sportsmen who hunted and on the men
engaged in taking fish in nets for com
mercial purposes. The proceeds from
thesa licenses was used to establish
hatcheries and to protect the game.
V ashington ' has more fish hatcheries
than any other state and the last report
of the Fish Commissioner shows that the
product of our fisheries last year was
valued at $13,500,000. while only a few
years ago It was worth only $r00,000. That
is the sort of conservation that pays.
MR. TAFT AS A MAKER OP NEWS.
More Happening In His Administra
tion Than In That of Roosevelt.
'Washington. D. C, Cor. Boston Ad
vertiser (Rep.).
One of the surprising features of
the Taft Administration so far has
been the great quantity of news con
cerning it that has been made in
Washington, p. c. At the end of the
Roosevelt Administration, In view of
the many and varied activities of Mr.
Roosevelt, it was thought that by con
trast Mr. Taft's term would be dull.
Indeed, from the news point of view,
and the active correspondents looked
ahead with some doubt. "I suppose in
a month or two the most exciting
thing we will hear about will be inci
dents that would interest a Judge,"
said one correspondent. "We will be
writing about .writs of certiorari. Our
pens will be plagued to make those
Interesting."
But nothing- of the kind has hap
pened. In fact, there has been more
news In the first year of Mr. Taft's
Administration than In any of the
Roosevelt years, inclusive of the last
and" especially of the final months,
when the President seemed to lie
awake nights so as to figure in the
headlines. There has been the same
varied happenings as of yore at the
White House and there has always
been occasion for the stories writers
like to wire. It has been a bit dif
ferent to be sure. There is now no
Ananias Club, no "Dear Maria" letters,
no big stick swinging, no malefactors
to be hanged. And so on. But there
have been other thrillers. Pinchot and
North, insubordinate subordinates of
the Government, have been decapitated.
The Ballinger inquiry, with its cam
paign of inference and insinuations,
has kept the stage for 12 months. The'
tariff made exciting tales, and the in
surgency in the House was a revolu
tion the like of which at no time oc
curred in any immediate previous Ad
ministration. There is this difference
between the Taft and Roosevelt Ad
ministrations: The latter rather mo
nopolized attention, but In the Taft
Administration the President has per
mitted or has been compelled to allow
the other end of the avenue to figure
In the limelight. The Taft legislation,
too, has been of the utmost import
ance and is still before the people, so
that all in all the newspaper corre
spondents find at present more to do
than ever they dreamed possible 15
months ago. In fact their pens have
not been so busy in many years.
Opposed to Nesmith County.
Dallas Observer.
The promoters of the scheme to di
vide Lane and Douglas County and cre
ate a new county to be called Nesmlth
are flooding tho state with circulars
and pamphlets containing argument In
favor of the proposed county. Their
latest circular is a sketch of the life
and public career of the late Colonel J.
W. Nesmlth. This is purefry a senti
mental appeal, and the thousands of
voters who were friends and support
ers of the Illustrious statesman in his
lifetime should not permit themselves
to be influenced by it. The question
for the people of 'Oregon to decide
next November Is whether it is neces
sary or desirable to create another
county in Oregon at this time. The
question is one of business, and should
be settled on its merits not on mere
sentimental grounds. The Observer is
among those "who have long believed
that the people of Oregon would honor
themselves by erecting a statue to the
memory of James W. Nesmlth, but it
has extreme doubts as to the propriety
of giving the name of the dead soldier
and statesman to a county with boun
daries as zigzagged as a scrap in a
crazy patchwork quilt.
How a Juror Was Lost.
Kansas City Star.-
In a Southern county of Missouri
years ago, when the form of question
ing was slightly different from now,
much trouble was experienced in get
ting a Jury in a murder trial. Finally
an old fellow answered every question
satisfactorily; he had no prejudices,
was not opposed to capital punishment
and was generally a valuable find.
Then the prosecutor said solemnly:
"Juror, look at the prisoner; prisoner,
look upon the Juror."
The old man adjusted his spectacles
and peered at the prisoner for a full
half minute. Then, turning to the
Court, he said:
"Judge, durned If I don't believe he's
guilty."
Feminine Bnrsrnln Hunter.
Brooklyn Eagle.
"Is it legal for me to marry htm on his
deathbed?" a woman asked a Chicago
lawyer. When he said "Yes," she mar
ried a man who died within an hour
leaving jier $300,000. Then the lawyer
had to sue for his fee. We owe much of
our humor to femininity.
CRITIC ARISES IN MICH WRATH
Objection Made to Mrs. Larone'a Eatl- m'(
mate of Mark Twain.
PORTLAND. April 24. (To the Editor.)
Such statements as those published in
The Oregonian of last Thursday in the
form of an interview with Mrs. Nina
Larowe, a member of the Quaker City
narty made famous by Mark Twain's
"Innocents Abroad." cannot be over
looked or forgiven by a slight retraction
in the next issue of the paper. I be
lieve hundreds of people who read these
remarks have felt them an absolute in
dignity. Women from time immemorial
have been accused of having no sense of
humor, but.it passes the bounds of com
prehension that any woman should live
so devoid of humor and literary appre
ciation as this most respectable woman
lady who, on the very day of his death,
slandered one of the grea.tet-1 and best
loved men whom America has ever pro
duced. Despite the '"magnificent- and almost
inconceivable glory of the fact that the
Emperor and Empress of - Russia set up
the tourists in a row and cave them tea
I to drink, I wonder how far or how long
this tr1p of influence" would have shod
its glory without the undying illumina
tion of Mark Twain's "Innocents
Abroad." If the woman referred to who
was a member of that rarty has any
claim to notoriety, it is not because her
trip cost her $12o0; it is not because' she
was introduced and vouched for before
being allowed to Join; It Is not because
the Henry Ward Beecher church got
up the trip; it is simply and solely
because , of the presence of that
one man whom Mrs. Larowe is pleased
to stigmatize as "absolutely no good."
How, may I ask, did this man who
was "not respectable"; this man who
"knew nothing of Eastern society"; this
man who was "absolutely no . good"
how did he worm his disreputable way
Into a party of people who had to bo
introduced and vouched for and known
to be respectable? How did he manage
to grossly Impose upon and deceive
Henry Ward Bcecher's church? How did
he manage to pass himself off as a
member of Eastern society? this man
who would stoop so low as to attend a
prayer-meeting to meet his future wife?
After all, should not a Christian spirit,
instead of holding bitterness and resent
ment, rejoice that Mr. Clemens did in
some unexplained manner slip in? Was
it not perhaps the very influence of such
generous and Christian respectability as
displayed by Mrs. Larowe in her inter
view which made of this man who was
absolutely no good, who was "nobody
and resented that no attention whs paid
to him," a man loved, honored and cele
brated not in America alone, but; through .
all the world?
What is there that this drear old world
can give, as fine as a little laughter to
lighten the cares? Where, far or near,
can we find another man who has given
to the world the wealth of hearty laugh
ter which Mark Twain has given through
his books? It is not often that the world
is made richer by a Mark Twain a man
with all his sterling qualities, and his
power ,to do good, not only by the cheer
ing influence of his humor, but the sound
wisdom of his philosophy and the mag
nificent example of his . own beautiful
and human character.
We may lose without universal grief
our millionaires, our politicians and our
statesmen, but somehow the whole world
seems a little emptier, and there Is one
gap in the ranks which can't be filled,
when a man like Mark Twain lies dead.
HARRIET OXER.
GERMANY'S MAN OF THE HOI It.
Herr Baltiu, IMebian and Jew, Is the
Kaiser's Friend and Adviser.
Philadelphia North American.
Hamburg is very proud of the fact that
Herr Albert Ballin, Jew and plebeian by
origin, the managing director of tho
Hamburg-American Steamship Company,
Is, next to the Kaiser, the most inllucn
tial man in Germany. Herr Ballin is
now the Kaiser's otaosen adviser and con
fidant, his guide, philosopher and friend.
Herr Ballin frequently travels to Bor-
lin or Potsdam to meet the Kaiser, who
seeks his advice on current affairs of
state. When Herr Ballin is at Hamhurg '
and the Kaiser in one of his two resi
dences, intercourse between monarch and
shipping director Is curried on by use
of the telephone, and very frequent are
the occasions on which Herr Ballin, on
putting his ear to the receiver, heats the
Emperor's stentorian, martial .voice.
The Kaiser has offered various minis
terial posts to Herr Ballin, who has re
fused them all, partly because as manag
ing director of the Hamhurg-Amerika
company he earns an income twenty
times as big as that of tho imperial
chancellor, and partly because he real
izes that he has more effective influence
as the Kaiser's unofficial adviser than
he would have in office. It is improb
able that Herr Ballin will ever take of
fice under the crown.
Through Herr Ballin the Kaiser can
learn'more about the real state of public
opinion than he has ever been able to as
certain in his seclusion In court circles.
Moreover. Herr Ballin, as a man of
business, is a man of peace, and his In
fluence is exerted to maintain peace.
Herr Ballin is working hard to create
a feeling In Germany in favor of an un
derstanding between Great Britain and
Germany, and he tries to lessen the
friction between Germany and France,
and to smooth over all international
difficulties.
His exceptional influence at court has
excited the keen jealousy of the aristo
cratic, bureaucratic, military and other
exalted groups who formerly command
ed the Kaiser's car. They recognize in
Herr Ballin not merely a menace to
their own personal Influence, but also a
sign and token of the new- order of
things. Strenuous efforts havo been made
to encompass his downfall and to bring
him into disfavor, but without success.
Hist:
Louisville Courier-Journal.
Lest we forget, a quiet, unostenta
tious, self-effacing, publleity-bhurining.
shrinkingly modest, unknown, unpho
tographed, unsmiling, noise-hating, ret
icent, secretive lion-hunter contem
plates approaching these shores clan
destinely and surreptitiously, slipping
unnoticed through tho crowd at the
pier, to seek the solace of solitude and
Indulge in pious, patriotic meditation.
Poor Ananias.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"This' said the guide as he led his
little band of tourists about the odor
iferous byways of Damascus, "is the
home of Ananias."
"That's funny," said the thin Connec
ticut man from Danbury. "I s'posed old
what's-hls-namo lived in Pittsburg. But
mebby this is his Summer home."
The guide shook his head.
"His Summer home is n?t mentioned
In ears polite," ho said and passed on.
In Behulf of Smith.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
If they put Pocahontas in the- noble
' hall of fame.
Let's hope her carven tablet will dis
play no brand of shame;
'Twould be a grievous scandal to pro
nounce the maid a myth
Remember what she did to save the
mighty race of Smith!
Bachelors, Take Warolifr.
Boston Transcript.
Hobbs Alienists say tha: si:ir,le n.en
are much more liable to inyanit" th-n
married.
Dobbs Sure they are! Sinerle men
are always in danger of goir crasy
over come woman.
Poker In Texas.
Houston Post.
"Can he play poker?"
"I guess so. Nobody seems to want
to play with him."'