THE .MORXIXPr OUEGONUX. THURSDAY, APRIIi 28, 1910. J POBTLASU. UKEGOS. Kntered at Portland. Oregon, Postofflos as Second-Class Uattur. Subscription Kates Invariably In Advance, i CBT MAIL.) talty, PundaV Included, one year. . .. Pally. Sunday Included, six months... 7t Ially, Sunday Included, three month. . ' Emily, Sunday Included, one month..-. '; taily. without Sunday, one year ni I'aily. without Bunday, six months.;.. 3.9 rally. without Sunday, three month l.io I-ally. without Bunday. one month , 'eekly. one year ..... Sunday. one. year. ...J ....... 0 $ur.day and weekly, one year 8.6O By Carrier.) Dariy. Sunday Included, one year..... - I'aily, Sunday included, one month a i How to ltemit Send Postoffice money rder. express order or personal check on your lorAl bank. Stamps, coin or currency re at the sender's risk. Give postoffice atl firess in full, including county and state. f Postage Rates 10 to 14 pages, 1 cent: 18 to as pit Ees. a cents; 30 to 40 pages. S cents; 40 to 00 paces. 4 cent. Foreign postage clouble rate. I East era Business Office The S. C T,erM- f'lth Special jppney New York, rooms 48 0 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 01O-512 Tribune building. rOKTLANO, Tlmt.SIAY, APRIL 28, 1910. tID CON'STITUTIOX TISXBI AN'1 TRUE. "Could a railroad or other great business corporation be run success fully in this slipshod manner?" asks the "Please Read" pamphlet of the U'Ren oligarchy, in an argument ask ing voters to enact the U'Ren measure as a cure-all for present extravagances of government. Certainly not, nor would all the people elect the officers, if govern ment were conducted like a business corporation. The managers would be appointed with view solely to their fitness and would hold office during the reriod of their fitness. There would ho no recall nor proportional representation nor initiative and refer endum, nor one-man-one-vote rule of Buff rage It boots nothing to make this kind pf comparison. Popular government cannot be judged on a commercial basis, because in no event cart it be conducted that way. The people Would be unwilling for it to be so conducted. Obviously government Is the most wasteful of human agencies, a Jr does popular government lessei the economic waste, much os it may have achieved in other directions. The new U'Ren project puts the state government under a Governor whose autocratic powers- would ex feed the Kaiser's in local administra tion; tinder people's inspectors of gov ernment, who in some way are to be the perfection of human kind, free from personal bias and from ambitions of aggrandizement; and under a "busi ness manager," whose chief qualifica tion to manage business, of course, will be his facility in shaking hands and making speeches. The Governor s to appoint sheriffs and district 'attorneys; to sit in the Legis lature, and to name the head of ficers of the State that are now fleeted by the people. County legis lators are to be subject to the State wide electorate as to recall. They are to hold office six years, in accordance with propotional representation, and lo meet annually. A Marion County Jury Is to have authority ta say whether any act has been passed by ."undue influence" and to order the 'act suspended pending referendum of the people. AH this improvement and much more are contained in the "U'Ren programme, bills for which are to be submitted to electors of the State for enactment under the Initiative next November. t Frequent mention of this pro gramme is proper, in spite of Its ab surdity and the prospect of its prob able rejection at the hands of the voters, in order that -electors may liot neglect to inform themselves about this plan for their pretended betterment. . Though professing to let .the people think for and rule themselves, the sponsors of this radical overturning of the State constitution, to the nura ijer of nineteen sijners, advocate a fjto&s plan of Government, with Im mense possibilities of boss rule, and moreover, undertake to boss the peo ple into accepting it. Local county government would be subject to the supreme -authority of the Governor, and County representation in ' the Legislature to the recall authority of the State electorate. Voters of Oregon will do well to cling to the remnants of their old constitution. They are tried and true. TOO 311X11 POWER. The railroad till is causing as much trouble in the House as it caused in the Senate. From present indications, there will be very little of the original measure left if it ever gets through Congress. The measure is one of the most important and far-reaching pieces of legislation ever before Con gress, for it contains certain provisions which, if enacted into law, would place in the hands of the Interstate Com merce Commission, rate-making power that would be perilous alike to rail toads and to shippers. Section 9 of the bill, the special feature for which Senator Cummins fought so valiantly in the .Senate, Is especially dangerous. Under the provisions of this section if It became a law the Commission would Jiave authority to pass upon any filed Schedule affecting any ra,to or any Classification, before it takes effect, and to suspend its talcing effect, pending a hearing and decision, for sixty 'days beyond the time at which it would otherwise go into effect. As thirty flays' notice must be given on all schedules filed by the railroads ""bef ore they are effective, this new provision Vou'd1 give ninety days within which (She Commission could order in any fate it saw fit to make. v . In effect, it would give the Commis sion power to determine for any in terstate railroad Its schedules of rates ?nd classifications, If it chose to exer ise it within ninety- days oX the tiling of the schedule. The absurdity as well as the danger of placing such unlim ited power in the hands of a few men can. be understood when it is noted that the making of new cchetrules and classifications, even by the most ex pert railroad men, is an operation at nil times attended by the chance that hey will not stand the lire of a prac tical test and will need changes to tneet requirements and conditions that t-annot be thoroughly understood in f dvance. Experience of the Commis sion has fully demonstrated that it is frnly when a rate is actually in effect lnd Its working can be observed that Jts merits can be determined. ! The Interstate Commerce Commis sion, siritng as a court and hearing videnco as to the effect of freight rates and classification, has accom plished some excellent results. The same body, acting as experts formulat ing rates and classifications, without any practical tests of their merits, would hardly prove satisfactory either to shipper or railroads. Aside from this, it is apparent from the number of cases now pending that the Com mission has its time well taken up without the addition of any extraordi nary duties, such as are provided In section 9 of the amended bill. DEMOCRATIC VIEW IJl INWAXA. Xote that the flower of the Demo cratic party in Indiana rejects, for the election of successor to United States Senator Beveridge, what is called in Oregon the "people's choice."' The brethren think the party candi date in Indiana should be nominated, not by direct primaries, but by con vention. Democrats of Oregon shout for Statement No. 1 and people's choice 5md direct primaries and rail at Re publicans for planning to hold a con vention. They declare convention in this state will undo the people's will and the people's primaries, whereas, in truth, it will correct shortcomings of the primaries, without invalidating them in the least degree. But primaries without advisory convention are disrupters of the party that uses them. That is why Demo crats of Oregon Insist that Republi cans should not have convention and it is also why Democrats of Indiana refuse to dispense with convention. In the two states there is further dif ference than this... however, because in Indiana the convention choice for United States Senator will not be sub mitted to the approval of the people In the primaries as will be done in Oregon. Opposed to direct primary, for nom ination of United States Senator stand the heads of the Democratic party in the hoosier state Governor Marshall, United States Senator Shively, Na tional Committeeman Lamb who by the way is candidate to succeed Bev eridge and State Chairman Jackson. Then Bryan last week declared him self in favor of nominating Che party's candidate by convention. On the alleged side of the people stands Tom Taggart, the notorious ex boss, whose misdeeds have made the Democratic party grievous trouble in the past and who has been the most disreputable boss in the boundaries of his State. The Democratic powers ol Indiana know that the direct primary method of nominating a candidate for the seat of Beveridge, would expose them to the cut-throat politics of both their Democratic enemies and their Repub lican rivals. They think- they can control the election In their state and will not risk failure through disorgan ization and nomination of a candidate from whom the majority of their party would revolt. TRIBUTE TO AN AMERICAN. Perhaps Mr. Watterson is placing undue stress upon the wonderful per sonality of the returning hunter who is now receiving homage from the mightiest rulers on earth. No one questions Colonel Roosevelt's ability as a politician, and there is of course evi dence of a studied attempt for the spectacular in all of his movements. A less forceful American might not hapre attracted the same attention in the old world capitals that is now being shown our militant ex-leader, but it should be remembered that this country today looms larger in the world's current history than ever be fore. The United States is no longer the puny nation which a few genera tions ago was so lightly regarded in. European capitals that Franklin, Jef ferson and Jay who were sent abroad were slighted and slurred in the very capitals which are now showering royal honors on Roosevelt. It has taken time to heal the wounds caused by the American revolution, but most of them have vanished, so that a representative American abroad today, is today received in a manner in keeping with the prestige of his great country. There is hardly a vil lage or hamlet in all Europe, that has not sent some representative to the "States," and directly or Indirectly, there have been wafted back to the old country marvelous reports as to the overwhelming greatness of this new world. No other country on earth has built railroads or perfected in dustrial enterprises on such a colossal scale as is in evidence In the United States. In no other country have so many immigrants who came over in the steerage risen to seats with the mighty In finance, politics and other callings. Mr. Watterson. in his various warn ings against imperialism, with Colonel Roosevelt in the role of dictator, has not fully explained how much of the credit for this Back-f rom-Elba parade is due to the fame and prestige of the United States, and how much to the personality of Colonel Roosevelt. It should not be forgotten that Mr. Bry an, the frequently defeated candidate for the presidency, has also been re ceived in royal state by some of the greatest of the earth's rulers. This simply because he was an American citizen of note. The honors shown Roosevelt are not so much greater than those shown Bryan than the rela tive positions of the two men should warrant. HIDDEN TREASURE. There is material for a good novel of the old-fashioned sort in the way the Moss heirs discovered the treasure which their avaricious grandmother hid before she passed to a presumably better world than this. The gran Ism, a student of Columbia, by the merest chance stumbled against the base of a statue while he was prowling around the house seeking the concealed valu ables, and, happening to touch . secret spring as he fell, he disclosed the lurk ing place of part of the inheritance. No doubt the rest of it lies :n nooks and corners and will be found In course of time, ' The search for it and the gradual discovery of the treasure would muke as pretty a plot as a romancer cauld wish, though it has been rather over worked already. One writer brought his heroine to dire straits and then made her tear off the cushion from her last rocking chair to pawn for food. It ripped open and out foil a stream of gold hidden there by a stingy grandfather fifty years befors. Of course the beautiful girl not only had a good supper that night, but she was duly married the next day. Another author had the money con cealed in the bedpost. The hero was of robust figure, and It sometimes happened that the bed fell down with him in the night. When his fortunes were reduced to the lowest ebb and the lady of his love was about to for sake him because of his penury, tite bed most luckily collapsed, splitting open the hollow post and revealing the fortune he needed. If Grandma Moss hid any of her jewels in the bedpost it is to be hoped that young Beverly Kator is heavy enough to bring the structure down to the floor at the right moment. A good way to find concealed wealth is to consult some person who is intimate with spirits. In this way a widow who was a friend of Swedenborg gained possession of important papers which her husband had left concealed when he died. The great religionist applied to the ghosts and was told exactly where to look. The business of finding hidden treasure is one that will flourish par ticularly well when e become more skillful In communicating with the in habitants of the other world. Seeing how long the earth has been inhabited, it stands to reason that one could find money almost anywhere if he knew exactly how to search for it. nn-ORTAXCE OF COTTON CROP. Heavy damage to the cotton crop 3f Southern States from cold will mean a loss whose effects will be felt more or less throughout the Nation. While the price market of the staple Tuesday did not react to the reports of disastrous crop damage of the day before, still the situation is anything but satisfactory. Owing to high price of raw cotton, the manufactured product has been forced above the normal consuming market, and half the spindles of thd South have been Idle and also 20 or 25 per cent of the spindles of New England. American cotton as the chief article of Southern prosperity and of National export has very important bearing on the world's market. Our Southern States produce normally more 'than two-thirds the' world's yield, and half of the crop is exported, in unman ufactured condition. Among agricultural products Amer ican cotton ranks in value with wheat and hay, after corn. The Bureau of the Census shows the value of the cotton crop to have ranged in the last few years between $650,000,000 and $721,000,000. The total value of corn has ranged from one billion dollars to more than a billion and a half, and wheat between $500,000,000 and $600,000,000. Reports of heaviest damage to the cotton crop come from the largest producing states Ala bama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, which five of the thirteen cotton-producing states yield about half the total. It will be seen that the activities based on cotton production and export and manufacture are of very consider able importance and that their indi rect bearing on other conditions of the Nation's prosperity are of large mo ment. It is the growth of ' cotton manufacture in the South that has contributed to make there an en larging demand for protective tariff and therefore to exert new influence in National politics. THE CENSUS IN SEATTLE. A letter from Seattle, printed by The Oregonian today, declares that, even after the most strenuous effort to boom and boost the census there, "It looks as if Seattle will have hard work to show even 225,000 popula tion." Exactly. It will have hard work, because there are not over 225,000 people in Seattle. Any count that runs higher than the very liberal figure of 225,000 will be a sheer gift of the census enumerators and volun teer counters. Some time ago The Oregonian de clared that Seattle would show barely more than 200,000, and asked the people there and here to stick a pin in that statement. The reason for that assertion is that all proper tests of the city's population viz. the reg istered vote and the school census justified no' greater expectation, on the most generus calculation. Now, of course, we don't believe that there Is any great scheme for a bogus return In Seattle. It is in credible. The town cannot afford to do it, and won't do it, for It has honest citizens and decent people, just as Portland has. That is the reason that there will be no count there above 225,000 and it is likely to be less since it will be on its face obvious and demonstrable fraud. There will be no need, or desire, perhaps, to inves tigate too closel;- any figure up to 225,000. v WASTE IN RECLAMATION SERVICE. Disclosures that have been made in recent months show a most amazing succession of blunders in the Govern ment Reclamation Service blunders that are extremely costly and that have piled up an enormous debt against the Reclamation Bureau. Some of these blunders are in a meas ure excusable on account of the new ness of the vast schemes of irrigation which were of necessity pushed for ward without precedent or experi ence as guides. But that there has also been serious lack or lapse of judg ment in ordering some of these very expensive projects is all too apparent. "The first few years of any Irrigated community," as stated by Director F. H. Newell; of the Reclamation Serv ice, "are necessarily those of more or less disappointment." While this is often true, it does not excuse the fact that millions of dollars in Government funds have been sunk in uncompleted irrigation projects scattered over a wide area and regardless of the fact that in some instances the sites of reservoirs were so poorly chosen that there has not' been available water to fill them, though some of t'.iem h;tve stood on arid sites for years, absolutely useless for the purpose for which they were at great expense constructed. Secretary Ballinger denounces the common policy of irrigating tracts which contain practically no public lands. Quoting from his report: I do not believe that the reclamation act ever contemplated irrigating purely private lands, unless the tract served contained a large proportion of public lands. Such matter Is consideration for private en terprise. An Inspection trip made by. the Sen ate Committee on Irrigation and Rec lamation of Arid Lands found that in two projects in New Mexico, for ex ample the Hondu and the Carlsbad containing ten thousand and twenty thousand acres, respectively there was no public land of any consequence. Of course, this means that these proj ects were not engineered for the ben efit of settlers, but for that of great private corporations. The engineers estimated that the Carlsbad project would cost $400,000. Up to the date of the committee's investigation $705, 000 has been allotted to this reservoir and the end is not yet in sight. All this would not be so bad if the Hondu River, from which water was to be taken, furnished a steady flow of wa ter, but it is a flood stream; that Is to say, its flow depends entirely upon rainfall and tlrcre are years together when this is not sufficient to fill the reservoir. This magnificent structure has been completed since 1906, but, owing to scarcity of water, it has not been opened to service. "Here, there fore, we have as one item in "water wagon waste" $362,000 tied up in a reservoir which thus far, and as far as can be seen, is useless. In the mean time land owners, within the irriga tion area which it was contemplated to cover by this project, are under contract to the Government to repay the expenditure of $362,000 by a lien upon their homes. How they are to cTo this without water to irrigate their farms is an unsolved problem. They live in hopes, of course, but of all hopes that which consults a brazen sky during season after ' season of drouth for promise of fruition is the most trying. These things are faint indications of what the Senate investigating .com mittee on the Reclamation Service will have to tell of its findings. This report will without doubt show that estimates have been greatly exceeded in the Reclamation Service; that cost ly mistakes have been made in con struction and location, and that, be fore settlers come into possession of water necessary to render their 'lands productive, and thus enable them to Iny off the liens now upon them, it will be necessary for the Government to make a still farther large advance in money. In a communication from Mr. Ceder bergh, printed in The Oregonian yes terday, tho Norwegian consul takes exception to some Oregonian comment on the scarcity of sailors. It was sug gested by The Oregonian that the present would be a good time for some of the theoretical reformers, who en deavor to secure the passage of un worthy and impracticable sailor legis lation, to rustle up men for the many ships now lying idle in port awaiting crews. When these men importune the Legislature to change the present system which is satisfactory to the shipping interests that know by ex perience what is best for the port, they always give out the impression that it is an easy matter t- secure sail ors. The present situation offers an excellent opportunity for Mr. Ceder bergh to put his theory into practice. Shipmasters here and at Tacoma will gladly pay him a much greater fee than the $10 which he believes would be .sufficient for the work, if he will now supply some of these sailor men who are sadly needed. There may never be another such-an opportunity to. demonstrate that men can be se cured for a $10 fee, when it is im possible to secure them with a $30 fee. Portland grain shippers , have de clined to advance the wages of the grain handlers. The rate now paid in Portland is higher- than the rate paid on Puget Sound, and any advance would of necessity increase the handicap against Port land to such an extent that prac tically all of t'.ie grain would be ship ped from Puget Sound. Prior to ex tension of the Harriman service to Se attle and Tacoma, this city had what might be termed a "cinch" on all of the grain originating in O. R. & N. territory, and for that reason there was always businets to be handled at this port, cv?n with a labor handicap against us. This year both the Harri man and tho Hill systems are in a po sition to deliver wheat on Puget Sound if the exporters direct its shipment to the Sound ports. For that reason, a settlement of the difficulty hinges, not on the higher cost of living or any other condition, except meeting of the competition of the Puget Sound ports. Another Zeppelin airship has dis played the imperfections of that type of vessel by becoming a total wreck in a storm which blew it away from its moorings. The disaster is said to fore shadow the abandonment of this type of airship, and the substitution of a non-rigid frame. This will be a se vere blow to the pride of Zeppelin, who has long enjoyed the friendship of Emperor William, but it will not lessen the fame which will always be his as one of the first men to awaken government interest in aerial naviga tion. Had it not been for the encour agement given Zeppelin by Emperor William, it is doubtful whether the future of the business would appear so rosy even for the non-rigid balloon builders. Meanwhile, the aeroplane is steadily gaining on the lighter-than-air machine, and may yet render valueless further experiments with the latter. The boys who think it "great fun" to catch live snakes and put- them in tho rural letter boxes, near Ridge field, Wash., are fit subjects for a reprimand from Uncle Sam that will frighten them irto a respect for the dignity of the United States postal service. Boys cannot be too early taught to discriminate between harm ful mischief and harmless fun. There is no means more efficacious than the maternal shingle- or the paternal birch well laid on. :xls method, or some other equally efl'icaciojis. Is overdue and should.be applied in this case be fore serious consequences result through fright to women and children who are thus unwittingly brought in contact with, reptiles that, though otherwise harmless) might easily cause fright to be followed by results disas trous and. even fatal. Rates of wharfage and dockage in Portland never have been complained of as excessive and a irw .lopoly would have to corner all the wharfage sites between this city and Astoria; yet the city, according to some citizens, ought to add several million dollars to a bonded municipal debt that already is within reach of $15,000,000, in order to buy and build public wharves and docks. If the project is needed, in or der to create more offices, at expense of taxpayers, other arguments can be adduced to show that it would impose unnecessary additional burdens. Cement sewer pipe, though cheaper than terra cotta pipe and just as good, is o; posed by the plumbing trust and The Journal newspaper. However, the chief owner of the newspaper Is head of the terra cotta sewer pipe trust. When people at last shall see the comet, they may be ashamed that they tried to shift to it the blame for some things that have happened. By' asserting that quantity of gold money has raised prices. Mr. Bryan seems to have put himself in bad on the tariff issue. FRANTIC TO SWELL. THE CENSUS. Seattle 1'uXinji; Forth Amsilng Efforts to Get More Than a Full Count. SEATTLE, Wash., April 27. (To the Editor.) There Is every probability that the census returns will show an amazing loss of estimated population for this city. Instead of the proud boast of 300,000 peo ple living within the corporate city lim its. It looks as if Seattle will have hard work to show even 225,000 population. There are some conservative men hers who estimate that if the census be prop erly taken without Juggling In any way, the Queen City will prove to have not over 200,000 in the count. Never since the first days in the his tory of this self-boosted town has there been such an effort put forward to se cure every single name to add , to the list. Never since the early days when old man Yesler sold the first house lot near Pioneer Square have the people of Seattle realized that the whole city seems to be up against a bad condition of things In every line. It looks as if the population figures are going to prove a mighty shrinkage. This will be a sad blow to the pride of the ones whose interests demand that Se attle shall have something to boast about seven days a week. When It is consid ered that Seattle has recently annexed .the neighboring town of Georgetown in order to swell the census roll, and that, in spite of this achievement, the count will probably fall far short of what the lowest guessers estimated, it will be seen that there is genuine cause for alarm. It would seem as if the rather exten sive collection of enumerators which the Chamber of Commerce bureau hired could be depended upon to get around the 14 wards of Seattle and complete the count within the required two weeks, but such apepars not to be the case.' as outsiders see it; the -whole town is well coated with a crop of appeals for help. -Yes, literally appeals for assistance. That is what- the erstwhile proud and haughty Seattlers have come to. Every streetcar is bedecked with a sizeable Bign, Inscribed with this pitiful appeal in large, black lettersr "Help Seattle. Be sure you are counted in the census." The fever to arouse interest in the big count extends to billboards and valuable space in newspapers. On top of a brick block fronting toward the Totem pole Is a huge sign eight feet high and 40 feet long lettered as tall as a man, entreating and demanding, persuading and commanding Seattlers to hustle up and get counted The Chamber has se cured several stands around town and has hired men to attend to these stands, passing out census blanks and listing names. The beauty of all this Is that quite a few men are being counted several times over ,and this may be the means of swelling the total. If a man gets Into the count by reason of hia wife telling the regular . U. S. census enumerator at the house, and he, in his honest desire to help Seattle, obtains a free listing blank from one of the downtown Cham ber of Commerce census bureaus and counts himself all over again, who cares? It counts another one for Seattle. In some instances, well-meaning men have been enumerated as plain John Smith when their legal names are probably John F. Smith, so the mixed count will tally two Smiths instead of one. With billboards decorated with piteous appeals, and streetcars emblazoned with adjura tions, tops of business blocks surmounted by frantic commands, 15 free census bu reaus maintained by the Chamber of Commerce, agents persistently circulating about office buildings so as to catch the so-called John and John F. Smiths a few times over it surely Indicates that Seattle is going to be counted. E. K. JONAS. Will Bryan Unite Republicans f New York Sun. Already Democrats are talking of the, traveler returned, of Bryan with his olea ginous smile, of 16 to 1, and all the rest of the short cuts to prosperity and the higher statesmanship. Upon so slight a base they build the hysterical structure of their restoration. It is "Hark away!" and full flight for the fleshpots. A Democratic victory this year will be an injury to the Democratic cause. It will arrest and sober the Republican contest ants and realign the party upon the sig nal of danger; and if the Democrats, in toxicated by misunderstood successes and feeling sure of further triumphs because of rainbows in the sky of smoke which so gracefully curls or any other imma terial and evasive thing, should take vic tory in 1M2 for granted and return to their old love with his barren platitudes and prophecies, his manifold croaks and his misleading admonitions. Republican feuds will be called in and independence of action eliminated in the presence of a common menace. River and Harbor Reform. New York Tribune. The defect of the system of river and harbor legislation which the two Houses are now only gradually outgrowing was that appropriations were looked upon too much as gratuitirs to be shared among the states and sections. In order to keep the balance even much work was au thorized which had no justification. It Is time to shake off the traditions of that system entirely and to look at river and harbor enterprises as Investments made with an eye to National rather than local benefit. If they help the country as a whole, they are worthy; If their pri mary purpose is to put Government money into local circulation, they are a survival of "roaring Klshiminetas" days and ought to be barred out under a stat ute of limitations. Bryan Again Looking Pert. " Brooklyn Eagle. The chances of the Democrats are always pood. William J. Bryan. Not always. Frequently, they could not be Improved upon until a paramount Is sue comes along, when It is different. Often they have been most alluring until the votes were counted and the returns from Texas showed that state to be more Texan titan ever. At this particular time the chances are promising enough, but Mr. Bryan does not explain for what Later on, he will. Meanwhile, he would like to see another William J. elected President, which is an evidence of pres ent generosity. Next year he may not bo so gracious and the year after that well. If the people should demand, etc Chief Anions; Amerloana. Springfield (Mass.) Republican. The record of Samuel Clemens fs that, being a true, honest, sincere and faithful husband, father and friend, he was also a man of rare genius, which he exercised with honor in literature and life and so took rank as one of the chief citizens of America. Newssary Qualifications. Philadelphia Record. Wigg Guzzler has Joined the Yaho Yacht Club, and he never sailed a boat in his life. I wonder what his qualifica tions are? Wagg He owns a yachting cap and an unquenchable thirst. probably Roosevelt Knew. Boston Transcript. And yet people wondered why Roose velt avoided touching the tariff. ROYAL. SPADES IX BRIDGE The Make Reirarued as Retrular and Honors Counted Accordingly. - H. W. L. In St- Paul Dispatch. There seems to be some misunderstand ing about how to count, as well as when to make the royal spade trump In bridge. There was a comprehensive explanation of the royal spade made in the New York Sun not long ago, and It seems to me one could not carefully read that article and then practice what it teaches without be coming a convert to the fairness of the make, as well as to the Increased interest of the one additional trump to the game. I say an additional trump make, for an ordinary j-pade make with a count of two for a trick and four for simple honors. Is one thing, or trump and a royal spade with 10 per trick and 20 for simplehonors Is another. Royal spades takes rank next to no trump, so takes second rank and above hearts. The rules are Just the same as 1n other trump makes, and either dealer or dummy can declare royal spades and either opponent can double. The count In royal spades Is as follows: Each trick above six, 10 points. Simple honors, 20. Four honors, -40. ' Five honors. 60. Four honors in one hand. SO. Four honors in one hand and one in partner's, 90. Five honors in one hand, 100. You see the same rule applies to value of honors as In other trumps. This article prefer to states in conclu sion that while opinions differ as to the Interest in the new game, the dissenting voices seem to come entirely from those who have not tried it, and that many of the best bridge players in the country are insisting that there are some things which are self-evident, and one of these things is that royal spades was a neces sity demanded by the anomalous position of the spade make. LOW DOWN TRICKS I IV BASEBAI.lt Bis Mike Donlln Tells How Games Were Won Before They Began. New York Sun. Mike Donlln, sometime heavy hitter on the Giants, while passing through town the other day, discoursed on the psychology of baseball. "I recall three or four important games I've -won all by myself." said Mike, "and in each case I won them before the game had begun at all. How? Easy. Just stroll over toward the fence where the opposing pitcher is warm ing up before the game starts. Have a couple of players with you to nip anything rough before it gets a start. At the right moment ask the pitcher what the blank he means by going around and saying so and so about Matty and Bugs Raymond and a few others. The pitcher, of course, gets sore and swears he never said such a thing, which he didn't. Then you run over the names of all the rest of the New Yorks and quote them as your authorities. A moment later that pitch er steps Into the box with his mind made up to sink the ball into the head of yourself and every man you've quoted. The result is he can't pitch at all. "And there's another thing that ought to encourage the bush league boys, and that is when even the best teams some times need a poor player very much. It's this way: Pick out a poor player and send him out to play for an in ning. After a few minutes the bush leaguer, following instructions, picks a quarrel with a star man on the other Bide. Then the umpire throws them both out of the game and so you've weakened the other crowd to the ex tent of one star man." CALIFORNIA'S AIGRETTE" LAW Officers Seize Forbidden Millinery From a Shop Window. Los Angeles Examiner. No longer an unrealized dream of the reformer, but an actual fact with which the fashionable milliner must reckon, the "aigrette law," passed last June by the California Legislature, will be enforced to the full extent of the letter. Los Angeles dealers have had their first real object lesson on the subject this week, in the confiscation of an aigrette trimmed hat In the millinery shop of Mrs; Coy on West Eighth street. Game War den W. B. Morgan and Mrs. Harriet W. Myers, secretary of the state Audubon Society, discovered the "creation" and caused it to be removed without the for mality of a purchase. Not only is the snowy Heron, the life of which has been in Jeopardy by reason of the aigrette's popularity, now to be protected, but Mrs. Myers has determined upon a vigorous campaign in the interest of all California birds that may not law fully be used for millinery purposes. Frightened by the confiscation of the aigrette hat in the Eighth-street store, and having it brought prominently to their attention that the penalty for vio lation of this law is from $2." to $100 fine with imprisonment, the transgressors have been asking with bated breath, "Will they stop women on the street and con fiscate their hats, or march the wearers off to the station house, because for bidden goods are found in their posses sion?" Everybody's I'rlend. Baltimore Sun. It will be many a day before the peo ple of the United States forget Mark Twain, the man. Since far back in the 70's he had been one of our Na tional celebrities, and perhaps tho greatest of the clan beaming, expan sive and kindly: a star at all great public feasts; the friend of Presidents and millionaires, or archbishops and actors, welcome everywhere and al ways In good humor; a fellow of In finite jest. As the years passed his picturesque figure grew more and more familiar and lovable. Every town of any pretensions knew him. He was In ceaseless motion, making a speech here, taking a degree there, and always dripping fun. The news that he was to be present was enough to make a success of anything, from a bacchanal of trust magnates to a convocation of philologists. How to Be Popular. Minneapolis Journal. The way to be popular has been ex plained by one of the marshmallow maga zines which Inflates itself with the idea that It is directing modern life. "When you shake hands with a man," runs the recipe, "grasp the hand as though you were glad to see the owner, look him In the eye, and give him a smile from your heart." This is a sure-enough recipe. It has been used a million times from Alci blades down to day before yesterday. It has been worked by some of the greatest frauds In Christendom to sub serve their own ends. The man who is seeking popularity, posing for It. angling for It, usually doesn't deserve it. Keep your admiration for men who show you their real selves, who, when they are bothered, or worried, or mad, or glad, make It manifest by appropriate facial expression, and who are not constantly standing themselves before the mirror. Venus, Friend of Comet-Seekers. Western Oregon Leader. If you want to see Halley's comet to the best advantage, get up with the early worm about 4 A. M. and look to the east while Venus combs her hair. This Is the latest astronomical dope. By May 1 the comet's tail will begin to assert Itself. Better Occapatlon. St. Joseph Gazette. Now that the baseball season has opened we may find enough to occupy our attention without the necessity of finding fault with our neighbor, who refuses to conduct himself according to our Idea as to bow he should. "PLATITUDES" AS FIT TEXTS Roosevelt Tells Ased Truths Which Yet Make Novel Sermons. New York Independent. What Is more of a platitude than that murder is wrong and to be con demned? That is one of Mr. Roose velt's platitudes. And yet is it a plati tude always and everywhere? Was it a platitude In Egypt, where Mr. Roose velt, in a speech to young Egyptians, told them that it was a wrong and a blunder to kill a man they did not like? Somehow they did not all take it as a platitude: some of them were very angry. They knew for he ap plied the platitude to a late case of political murder what was their own sympathy with that murder. Hundreds and thousands' of them thought that murder right. To them condemnation of murder was not a platitude, for they approved it and lauded the mur derer as a patriot. Right there, and to them, face to face, Mr. Roosevelt uttered what seems to most of us a platitude, that killing people because you don't like them is bad policy and bad morals; and they did not like it, and 200 of them marched before his hotel shouting cries meant to show their disapproval and rejection of hia platitude, and their approval of politi cal murder. F'rom our point of view it was a platitude; but in Egypt it was no platitude, and we judge it would not be in certain circles of Great Brit ain, by the way some people and jour nals blamed him for speaking his mind freely on tho matter of murder. And there are other countries where this is no platitude. It is not in Rus sia, where great parties believe in mur der, and they kill as they can get a chance. Indeed, in our own country there are thousands and millions who approve of murder, and in half our states', nearly, this last year crowds of people, mobs of them, joined in com mitting murder, because they have not been educated up to the platitude. What is true of the wrong of murder applies to a multitude of other popular errors. What could be more of a plati tude than that bribery and graft are wrong? And yet we hear of "honest graft." What attempts have we seen in Albany and in Pittsburg and in other cities to shield these evils? That means that those who defended the wrongs and thousands defend them have no sharp twinges of conscience against these evils. They will condone them, and would take or give the bribe If they had the chance. What our whole public needs 13 to feel the compulsive truth of such platitudes, and for this we need to hear them constantly re peated. Give us more men who will re peat more ethical platitudes, put mora emphasis on them, and give us Roose veltian applications thereof. MULTITUDES AT KITE i FLYIXCi I. oh Angeles Children Exhibit Variety of Winged Birds. Los Angeles Herald. Very plain kites, exceedingly gro tesque kites, dainty little flyers, and great unwieldy ones, kites of all col ors, kites that soared almost out of sight, and kites that would not fly at all were seen recently at the fourth annual kite tournament of tho Los Angeles city schools. Between 3000 and 4U00 children ran over the hig field and delighted themselves in the kite carnival. The crowd gathered at 2 o'clock with kites of every imaginable shape, but lack of breeze prevented the start of the contest until 3:30 o'clock. A number of odd conceptions were in evidence which showed their relation to some of the craft of the Los An geles aviation meet. Many new ideas were brought to light, ideas from which the oldest aviators might profit. At 4 o'clock the sky was filled with hun dreds of the silk and paper winged birds. Los Angeles is probably the first kite city in America. For four years she has been famous for her tournaments. The new Impetus lent to the amusement by the city's recent aviation meet has produced among the children kite mak ers who are not outclassed by the chil dren of any nation of the world. tin Danger In Alaska. Tacoma Tribune. To those muckrakers who are fearful that the "Gugs" will own Alaska and make a feudal barony out of it, it might be well enough to call attention to tha fact that the "Gugs" have spent some thing like half a billion dollars in tha preliminaries to tho opening up of tha Copper lUver country and have not yet taken a dollar out of it. It will he time enough for the highbrow muc-kraker to holler when he is shut out of Alaska: where there is hardly any chance that he would ever have even gone on nn excursion if it hadn't. been that somebody went ahead and mada something out of the country more than, . desert wastes. Polk and Taft. Chicago Record-Herald. From the diary of James K. Polk, November 2, 1847: "I am 5- years old today. I havo now passed through two-thirds of my Presidential term and most heartily wish that the remaining third waa over." From the ruminations of William IL Taft, April. 1910: "I was 52 years old last September. I have now passed through one-fourth of my Presidential term and it's me, too, to poor Polk." Refleftlous of a Bachelor. New York Press. Love letters ate certificates of Imbe cility. Mighty little comes of trying to do too much. Good fellows in the crowd are bad providers in thv family. A big family can keep a man out of most other temptations. The first thing a man gets over when he marries a woman is making love to her. Homeless Evlalrs. New York Herald. The credit system has been abolished, in Vassal- College restaurant, and girls will have to eat on the pay-as-you-enter plan now. This will deprive many a worthy chocolate eclair of a good home. Significant. Kansas City Star. The homage shown to Mr. Roosevelt everywhere in Europe is a reminder that the simaro deal is a doctrine that is just as popular in the Old World as In tha New. (VBRBST NKWhPAPKR, JESTS. What did you find particularly shock ing at that play?" "The people I (a In the audloncn whom I hnd hitherto recardrd as sedate and conservative people." Wash ington Star. Trills Are you aware of the fact that there 'may b mtllions of germs on a dol lar hill? ''Yes. sir. 1 hat's one reason why I prefor hills of a hlKher denomination." Chicago Record-Herald. Village Organist (to new vicar showing keyboard) We must 'ave summut done to un, zlr. When I do play the Aniens that ther note do han? on to "un till T have to prize "un up wr a zhut knife." Punch. "Farmers can't pet farm hands no more." "flo to the crowded cities. Take some moving: pictures of life on the farm and ex hibit them." "How can we take movlm? pictures of life on the farm? We can't ketch the hired man In motion." I.ouis ville Courier-Journal. "You have an enviable collection of post cards, haven't you?" said the caller, look ing through the lot. "Why, what's this one "all blank on one side?" she added. "That? That's a tiovernment postal card a rara bird -these days." the owner said, after con sulting nor catalogue. Buffalo Express.