10 roBTtxm oEieos. ImtrH at rwrtTaml. Orsn, Pas8 aucruua i.i-lmilrtll ta Ail. a aaa BT Hi".)- rIT. Snadar lne:oie4. am ? .....- r:ir. Sunday tuciu,lHl. ail " rM tal. iBtr nacliidaal. thrae masUia... I ally, aurvdar is-iudd. aaa "oa I without Sunday, ana r-r- E)ai;jr. wttbaut Inir. ala month. . . -- t,..I. wttnout Similar, tnraa "JJ I-au.r. without Saiada. ae naoaia. .aa.a. ya .'iIt. aaa yaar. .. ja Suada. aaa 7aar. " aaa fcoaaar o4 aakl7. year.....a ' (SI CARTUIR). IITt. Bandar Inaladad. mimt... t, t. lnO lcldd. aaa '- How to aaaall -Sen rwotaca "J lacJ kaak. lux ' r70i ar. at laa a.adara rlaa. Ola ?tV? UdM la full, ntcludlaa- eawnir IWae Kala. 1 ta 1 Hf 1 '"'.,." ta 11 l4aa 1 caaia; te oaa-aa. ta u paaa. 4 casta, farata ' asbta rata. limn iihiin OfBraa Tarraa CLV l!a w Ijia. nniuakk aulidlA. aaa. acr tuladla. t rofcTUt.XUTlltK.iDAT. ir.c. a, THE H.tLUX.IJt ITNWXi. Seven R(mbn of the Balllnger In vestigating commlltet, a majority, re turn the expected report vindicating tho Secretary or the Interior. Kour Ivmocrwnc member have persuaded IhrmvlvM that It Is their duty to thlr party and presumably to the country to Ond against bim; and one jn.mlx-r. a Republican, stands apart from the majority and the Democratic minority in his own strange view of the cast. The lone member I the In. argent Madison, of Kansas, who car ries his Insurgency Into a grave public ut. where no clement of partisan rancor or atom of political predilec tion ahould have entered. So appar ently In some degree with all other m-mbrrs of the Investigating commit tee. The division of the committee Is on political lines throughout, be cause. It may be supposed. Bulilnger la a political Issue. If the Republican member of the committee have been Influenced In their decision by the fact that Ballin grr la a high officer of a Itepubllcan Administration ami doubtless they have been the Democrat have been to the name or a greater extent In spired by a reprehensible purpose to m.ike capital against that Republican Administration. Mr. Madison's course would Justify the assumption that his Judgment hu been colored and his action largely guided by the peculiar views of his 'radical constituency. The Investigation ends about where It began, though clearly the Judgment of the courtry must be that the case against Balllnger Is not sustained. The report of the majority, despite It apparent political bias. Is a fair nd Judicious finding of the facts and a. deserved exoneration of a bitterly wronged public official. Not In recent times has any man been pursued by the wolves of hate and envy with such malignity and ferocity, and none has been more industriously and heart lessly slandered. No credible or defi nite testimony was offered that sup ported the many charges, which re solved themselves at the end into the one declaration that he was "unfaith ful." There were, as the President said, only "shreJs of suspicion." and these were, all based on Innocent and proper acts but such acts as made It obvious that Balllnger was not Our field's nor Ptnchot's creature. There fore the calumnies and libels and wholesale charges of "Infidelity." Balllnger was Indicted by Plnchot solely because of the ex-forester's supposition that he represented and would carry out the Western Idea of conservation, and by llartleld because, he got the place Garfield wanted. lie Is attacked by Democratic partisans on the investigating committee for purpose of pure, or Impure. pnrtlan politics. He Is upheld by the Repub licans because his cause has made It necessary that ha should be upheld, and there was no other worthy way. Ft KUf rMH'K MTKM. Now that the public dock elephant has formally passed Into the hands of the. Portland taxpayer, w ith a 11.500 00 fund to support it. the matter of spending the money Is becoming a burning Issue. It has frequently been stated, and will sHn be demonstrated bv actual experience, that not more than 10 per cent of the water-borne commerce In and out of the port can under any circumstances be diverted to a public d-k. The other SO per cent will continue, as at present, to move In and out of the port over the private docks of thos.- who manufac ture, bny. sell or transport the freight. It la from the remaining possible 1 per cent that the public dock mut -cure Its business, and to locnte It In the beat possible point for this busi ness the Dock Commission must pro ceed with caution. As it wus the Hast Side that sup plied the voles that loaded down the taxraer with a JC.JOO.OOO bond Issue. It Is. of course, proper that the Fast Side should have the docks. Rut even among the Fast Slders w ho were so liberal In voting nonds In i-.oU0. 000 chunks there Is a difference of opinion as to where the docks should be located. The Fast Side Business Men's Association wants the public dock located at Fast Couch and Fust Gllsan streets. The Fast Side Civic Council assure us that such a loca- tlon "would l-e too far north anJ would not be satisfactory to the Fast Elde." The secretary of the Civic Council states: "In my Judgment the Fast Side docks ought to be between the Morrison and Hawthorne bridges." In support vT this demand for a pub lic dock north of Morrison street the secretary sa that "one paving firm alone Is seeking dockage for 10.000 sack of cement for next year." At the proposed rate of 8 cent per ton. which has been suggested for the pub lic dock charge, the cement business thus assured would pay about US. which, of course, would help some what. But neither of the sites men tioned would be of any advantage to the street contractors who are doing work north and sooth of the locations mentioned, and to accommodate them as they are now accommodated, nu merous dock would necessarily have to be built between Sellwood and Al Wna or St. Johns. The West Side pur veyors of dock site have not yet been heard from, but It will add to the gay. ety of the problem, when It become necessary to convince a South Port land man that North Portland Is the best location for a public dock, or to convince either the North Portland or the South Portland taxpayer that Mr. Teal' dock at the foot of Oak street 1 eligible for public dock honor. Mayor Simon, has appointed an, ex cellent commission to look after the matter, and If. with their selection of a site, they can please one-tenth of the taxpayers, they will nave accom plished, a notable triumph. Portland has had a surfeit of theories regarding ....hllA Acka and la about to be Con fronted with soma real facts on the matter. rxx JOE. Just eontemDlate for a moment the serene contentment of Uncle Joe Can non as he looks around him on the wreck of political world. Disaster k.tf . n,l iiuureont. but T . U hUU.'U... . ha ahonr up smilingly at the ahort session of the sixty-first Congress with the approval of his constituent at the recent election, the assurance that nothing untoward will happen for the remainder of hla term as Speaker and with the certainty that neither regular nor Insurgent Republican will take the gavel away from him In the next Congress. It can naraiy oe cniieu a vindication for Cannon or Cnnnon lam to have a Democratic majority In the House; but It takes a world of wfo and worry from the old man's shoulders, nevertheless, to be licked by his enemies and not by nut rrienas. Th rocorri shows that Joseph Gur- ney Cannon has been continuously a member of all me congresses the forty-third to the sixty-first (ex- ,. fKfv.aacond ). 'He was Speaker of the fifty-eighth, fifty- ninth, sixtieth and aixty-iirst; " will. If he lives, be a high private In the front rank of the sixty-second. n .Ithnnl red blood In hi veins, brains In his head and valor tn his heart could have made sucn a ,.nr.t We hardlv think Champ Clark will last so long, fight so hard. or die so fearlessly and denanu. The procession withal has gone d Mr. Cannon. He Is more than a ..anHnattar' there t.S lUStlCC In thC complaint that he Is a standstiller. It was time for the gnxxiea oia wr--t a.nn nut Tet who in America does not admire a fighter? Who else could have rorced tne nouse id uo business? WHY rORFJiM:KS IK SOT BIT. The remarkable decline In the Ori ental flour trade has been one of the most striking features of the Pacific Coast commercial situation. This business, which reached hlgn water n..,i. in tha aeason of 1906-07. when more than 4.100.000 barrels were shipped from Portland ana 1'ugei Sound, has declined until for the twelve months ending June 30, 1910. the total shipments were but 1.237. nnn hrnls. This decline hns been so great that It has at last attracted the attention or consui-wenerm jvh derson at Hongkong, who writes of the causes that have produced the change. These causes are stated to be the high prices for wheat and flour In the United States and the low exchange value of silver. Mr. Anderson conclude his explanation with the statement that "low prices for flour In the United States will at any time result in an Increase In the trade here and high exchange here at any time will have the same result." Summarized, the situation Is thnt the flour trade declined because prices have exceeded the limit of the purchasing power of the Orientals. This Is a situation that, since the de cline began, has been thoroughly un derstood by the Pacific Coast flour dealer who control the Oriental flour trade. It Involves itn essentlnl point that has particular bearing on all foreign trade. Foreigners do not buy from us anything they do not need or ennnot afford, and neither ship subsidies nor any other artificial methods of forcing trade can displace certain fixed economic laws. Just at present there Is a decided Improvement In the Oriental flour trade, but any advance In wheat on this side of the Pacific will be the sig nal for a slackening In the flour trade. There Is very little sentiment In any business, anywhere, and probably less of It In dealing with the Oriental race than with any other people. When the United State cannot make prices and quality to suit the foreign buyers, all of the representatives we can send over will not help us. tHT THE not RFJi TU.I. The average number of vo"tes, "yes" and "no." received by each measure submitted In the recent election was j.04:. On the basis of 117.690 votes cast for candidates for Governor this wus but 72.3 per cent of the total vote cast In the election. It might be supposed that, as the people become more accustomed to studying Initiative and referendum measuresf a higher average would be Indicated In each successive election. Hut the reverse Is true. In 190S the averaice total cast on each measure was 74.1 per cent of the total number of votes east In the election; in iut It was 76.6 per cent: In 1904 It was 7S.& per cent. It Is here shown that In exces of 6 per cent more voter expressed their opinion on legislation in 1904 the first year of application of the Initiative and referendum than In 1910. In figure the difference 1 more striking. In 1904 an average of zi.:. of those who voted for candidate .for ottlce failed to vote on each of the measure ubmtttea. in ism an av erage of S2.64S did not record views on each bill or amendment. The number of measures has in creased with each election. Two were proposed in 1904. eleven in 1906, nine teen In 190S and thirty-two in uiv In other word, the number presented in 1910 wa exactly equal to the total number pree nted In the three preced lug elections. The figure cry out a strong argu rnent for legislation that will cure abuses of the initiative and referen dum. Multiplicity of local and unlm portant measures on the ballot un doubtedly last month caused many voters to despair of arriving at any conclusion concerning all. and created a disinclination to study even the more important ones. When a large percentage of the electorate decline to vote on meas ure presented for Its approval or re jection, then becomes possible the enactment of statutes framed and advocated hy shallow think ers, special Interests and support ers of revolutionary doctrines. The approval of the pernicious tag amend ment, with Its well-concealed single tag Joker, was gained by the affirma tive votes of JS per cent of those w ho voted In the election and was made part of the constitution by 36 per cent of the registered voter of the state. And probably 76 per cent of those who marked, crosses In favor of tbe amend TIIE MOIMOXO OKEGOXIAX. TTTCTR SPAY, 1JCCE3IBEK o, ment were won solely by the unneces sary inhibition against the polltax and knew nothing of the other provisions. t.OVKRXMKST BOOe MILK-S A WAV. President Taft is tenacious of his opinion that home rule for Alaska Is not desirable or necessary for the ter ritory's best development. The Pres ident has had experience with Amer ican colonies or dependencies or pos sessions, and he has demonstrated his own great capacity for direction of their affairs. But Is Alaska a colony or a depend ency or a mere territorial possession? Does It merit mere absent treatment In the way of government? Or Is It entitled to hse Its resource devel oped. Its Interests conserved and Its Industries promoted like other Ameri can territory? It is peopled altogether by a bold, enterprising, adventurous and patriotic citizenship. They have a great aspiration to be an American state. There are no traditions or re membrances or heartburnings over sundered ties with any foreign power. Alaska is not Russian, or Indian, or Ksklmo, or Canadian, or Spanish; It Is American. Full self-government, owing to vast distances, migratory population and conflicting Interests. Is perhaps not now to be thought of. But govern ment by Washington bureaucracy, six thousands miles away. Is even more out of the question." Why not a Uov- rnor and a council with power to act on the ground? Otherwise Alaska will be throttled by red tape. Just as It Is being starved by a false conserva tion. Till: GOVKKNMEXT AND TlfB TKISTS. The true nature of the action which the Federal Government has begun against the sugar trust does not seem to be understood thoroughly In some quarters. From an Illuminating ar ticle upon the subject in the Boston Evening Transcript it Is gathered that the Government has not asked the courts to dissolve this monopolistic combination. The case differs essen tially In this respect from the suits against the Tobacco Trusr and the Standard Oil Company, which. It will be remembered, are pending In the Supreme Court. The decisions have been delayed on account of the va cancies In the court, but Inasmuch as President Taft'a new appointees .will take their places before a great while. It is not likely that the country, will have to wait much longer to iearn the precise standing of these colossal ,-omblnatlons before the law. The decisions of the lower courts have been against them disastrously of late, and If the same views should prevail in the tribunal of last resort, great changes in business methods may follow. The Government has so managed its recent suits against the trusts that a mere reorganization after an adverse Judgment may not suffice to ward off the consequences. As one writer puts It, all they hnve to do after previous orders to dissolve and the like has been "to change their clothes and go on as before. Now. as he adds, the only garment w hich will be suitable to their condi tion will be a coffin. But they will need a coffin only If the suits go against them, and it Is by no means certnln that this will happen. The defensive ingenuity of their lawyers Is little short of the miraculous, and among the Judges there Is a good deal of feeling that the Sherman anti-trust law, under which the suits are brought, is an unwise measure. Federal Judge La combe, of New York, has spoken his mind against it In the plainest terms. But or course It Is a Judge's business to apply the law as It stands, no mat ter what he may think of Its wisdom, and unless some new and surprising interpretations are brought out In the Supreme Court we may make up our minds that tho great trusts stand today In a more parlous situa tion than ever before. One of the December magazines, commenting upon the situation, remarks editorial ly that Mr. Taft and his Attorney General differ from previous antag onists of the trusts In knowing exactly where to strike them in order to hurt. The blows of laymen are often woe fully misdirected. The parts which appear to them to be vital are often verv far Indeed from the seat of life. The suit against the Sugar Trust, as we have observed, differs notably from the others. The Government has asked the court, not to dissolve the combination, but to declare that certuln of its alleged acts have been "In rstralnt of trade." If this is es tablished, then an Injunction against the- nets Jn question will follow in short order and the trust will appar ently be pretty effectually tied up. If It thinks it worth while to obey. Some trusts have found It more to their advantage to disregard Injunc tions than to heed them, but possibly we may see a change in this respect as time" passes. In proceeding against the sugar monopoly the Government labors under one decided disadvan tage. It began a suit against tho trust a number of years ago which lawyers speak of as the Knight case. This came up to the Supreme. Court and the Government lost It on the ground that the various firms includ ed In tho combination were simply manufacturing concerns. Since the court could not perceive that mere manufacturing was interstate busi ness, it necessarily held that the com bination did not fill under the ban of the anti-trust law. which applies only to Interstate commerce. The new suit against the trust, we under stand, has been assiduously fortified In this weak quarter. The Federal attorneys will try to make it clear to the court that a monopoly of manu facture Involves a monopoly of the market and thus directly passes into an absolute control of interstate com merce. An encouraging !-tor In the present case Is the novel willingness which our higher courts have lately exhibited to take some account of industrial and social facts to which formerly they paid little attention. The enemies of the trusts seem to think that they have at last brought the monsters to bay and that the fight which is now on In the Supreme Court wrtl end In their extinction. Other observers are somewhat . less enthusiastic. According to their view It will make no difference In the long run how the suits against, the sugar and tobacco trusts and the Standard Oil Company may be decided. The utmost that can be hoped or feared from the cases Is some temporary embarrassment to the monopolies. The combinations. It Is argued, have been formed In response to the urrencr of an Irresistible social ten dency. Their form may be altered by legislation and court decision, but not their essesntial nature. This win reassert Itself In spite of everything, and instead of trying vainly to destroy the trusts, we would be vastly wiser to occupy ourselves in seeking to con trol them for the public good. Still others remind us that the owners of trust stock are now very numerous. Including many widows and orphans. Any serious blow against the pros perity of the monopolies would bring misery upon the heads of these Inno cents. Nor should It be forgotten that the prices of trust-controlled staples have risen but slowly In comparison with those which are still produced and sold competitively. This fact, among others, warns us that the de struction of the trusts might not after all prove to be an unmitigated bless ing. The more one studies the sub ject the less he is disposed to believe that it can be settled once and for all by a single decision even of such a tribunal as the Supreme Court of the United States. Atwell. Secretary- Power and a few other enthusiasts who guaranteed expenses was due tne r,r thA Annie Show. For many weeks the first-named gentlemen have given time and labor a-pienty to mano tho'uiTnir a anccess. without remuner ation, or at best but slight recom pense. Now that the roruana appio v, I. ,,v h an nnnual event, there should be provision to secure the services of at least one executive oin cer under proper pay. His office would at once become the clearing house for reliable information to pros pective investors, distinct from the or dinary real estate office, and because of lack of personal pecuniary interest more reliable. Oregon has two horti cultural organizations, the State Board and the State Society. One is enough. ' The money that spreads rather thin over the affairs of both would do much good with either. The fruit Industry Is now In the seven-fig-tire class and will soon exceed JlO. 000,000. A number of people have a little responsibility and get a little pay. Let those who have the doing of It trim the personnel and concentrate the remuneration, for if some action of this nature Is not taken, the Indus try will ere long get away, by sheer force of growth, from those who are handling It. In his efforts to retain all the pres ent supply of coal and timber for pos terity, Mr. Pinchot is meeting with the approval of the Japanese who are more interested in the present dime than in the future dollar. The Jap anese are already -selling coal in Alaska and at other points on the Pacific coast, and, according to a Washington dispatch, they are non cutting in on our lumber trade. The Department of Commerce and Labor has been advised that the Japanese last year sold in the port of Tientsin alone 100.000.000 feet of Yalu River lumber, compared with sales of but 13,000,000 feet made by Americans. The untaught Japanese know so lit tle about conservation of the Plnchot brand that they are deliberately clearing their land and selling the timber at lower prices than can be quoted by the Pacific Coast mills. As the United States Government nas ;,. hn .Tnnnnese a market for their coal and as they are developing their lumber Industry at the expense or tne Pacific Coast mills, they are in a fair wav to greatly Increase their wealth before Mr. Pinchot can get a hearing. t Bandon are anxious for direct steamer communication with Portland, and there Is no ques tioning the value of such a connection i,t,i-.,.n this citv and the rich Coqullle region. San Francisco has for years enjoyed a practical monopoly oi nt thnt territory and will con tinue to do bo until Portland secures regular transportation, home ann culty might be experienced In secur ing profitable cargoes at the start, but with a steamer making regulur sail ings it would be but a snort time De fore a profitable business could be worked up. ' To save confusion among new resi dents it should be stated that there are two Mount Hood Railways which get into the news columns, one from the City of Hood River Into the in terior and one from Portland to Mount Hood. The first is in opera tion, the other promised within a year. Portland has no worthier Institution than the Boarding Woman's Home, a well-conducted place for self-respecting working women. For nearly a quarter of a century It has proved Itself. The present movement for a larger building should appeal to all who are Inclined to philanthropy. Having disposed of Pullman car rates in a way that pleases nobody, the Interstate Commerce Commission ought to get busy on the proposition of the company paying porters' wages instead of putting the burden on the traveling public. In view of the extraordinary cir cumstance of Congress beginning the .i.iv'. work without the customary In vocation, it may be asked whether the present legislative body isn t De yond the reach of prayer. Through the agency of the Post office Department, Uncle Sam orders that Baker City. Oregon, hereafter be Baker. This goes with The Ore gonian, for The Oregonian always follows the flag. Oregon' average annual gain in population for ten years was six per cent. Every one who has observed present development believes the growth for the next ten years will be much larger. With our Fall rains dally softening the soil of Western Oregon, any and all movements, public, private or community. looking toward good roads are timely, not to say important- Homer C. Atwell is right about it. The system of organization that pre pares the apple for market should be extended to Its sale. Extinction of the Individual means profit for all. When all the employing printers of the Pacific Coast meet in Portland next February, some one should read a paper on the advisability of turning out a Job at the time promised. Those Pasadena girls were fully Justified In refusing to dance with Japanese naval officers; their legs are too short. ' WHAT ME DOXT LIKE AS GIFTS Christmas Preaent 1 usually Cauae . .Breaking Iteaolutiona Not to Swear. Most of the Christmas magazines de vote a good deal of attention as to what shall be gven for Christmas. In the December Good Housekeeping Magazine Is a very Interesting collection of pro tests from men, telling what they do not want. Some of the suggestions are, how ever, constructive In telling what would be acceptable. The general drift of the expressions Is summed up by one of the writers, who says: "There Is hardly a man In the country who has not secretly violated his last New Year's resolution not to swenr when he has looked over the things Santa Claus has been so kind as to bring hltn." Gelett Bursess expresses himself In this wise: "If presents must be piven. let them he money or kisses! When you wish nie a Merry Christmas, do not let the embossed paper label seal a potion that will poison my freedom! Use gold cord about your package if you will, so you do not tie me up into a mood of Impossible gratitude for an un wished gift. I hate silver, for one ming: this I now Inform my friends; but how can I catalogue my abhorrences. They are infinite. From silk-knit ties to nttie boxes devised to hold six matches, 1 loathe everything that money can buy unless I have houpht it myself! And so. If I have any friends left, tell them this: if they would Klve me a Christmas pres ent, let it be that truest, rarest, blessed- est of gifts, nothing!" Burges Johnson claims a special dis like for "Calendars that crowd my tables; ribbon bookmarks with my name; silver-plated suitcase labels: any small gilt picture frame: notebooks that don't fit my pocket: bedroom slippers with no heel (gem-set key-ring?" 1 would hock It!) all these thinsrs make no appeal. No. I've nothing much the matter. But I struggle now and then 'gainst those things described In caterlogues as 'dain ty gifts for men.' " Another writes: "I don't want slippers hand embroidered; a smoking jacket bound In red and white: a briarwood pipe, with girl's head, hand-carved: a large china cup with gilt-ege mustache screen, marked "Friendship's Offering:' a box of assorted neckties (prefer to make my own selection): toliet articles of any kind: box of collars, size 16W A fond father contributes this: "I don't want a set of triplets. Not that I do not love children, but because I received a pair of twins last Christmas. One was a girl, and the other was a frlrl. That made two girls. And before that I had one girl. That makes three girls three of the sweetest, prettiest girls I ever saw In my life. If I should receive triplets this Christmas, and they should be girls, that would make six girls, and while I love girls, I don't want the girl business overdone. I have to draw the line at triplets for this Christmas. I don't want the stork to get the habit. One girl was all right, and last Christmas two girls were all right, but If he should bring me three girls this Christmas, and I pretended to be pleased, there might be no stopping him." Here are some of the other expres sions: "Cigars, as a rule, or smokers ar ticles selected by a woman any little dinky thing with ribbons' this last the ladies are most prayerfully begged not to get. Not anything embroidered, or cases for tollrt articles. Not stickpins. "I believe gifts are chosen best by those who know us best, and the order of successful choosing begins with the mother, and then wife, children, friends, and lastly, by relatives-ln-law." "I am a business man. and though ribhon-tled calendars, fancy pen rests, convenient (?) little stamp boxes and other ornate desk articles are old ac quaintances. I cannot. In truth, call them old friends. Also I prefer not to receive articles of wearing apparel, particularly such accessories as neckties, gloves, etc. I acknowledge a very Imperfect taste nevertheless it is my own." Protest Agatoat F.ast Side Demands. PORTLAND. Or.. Dec. 7. (To the Editor.) In the last few days we of the West Side see all of our hopes for the starting of a boulevard dwindling. Not satisfied with having JcOO.000 of the tl. 000.000 voted for parks and boulevards, expended already on the East Side, and wanting 1100.000 more for improving the parks already pur chased, our brothers on the East Side now wish to take over a cemetery, and improve it so as to make a city park of it I suppose it is their idea to have It' taken over before the tracks are lowered on the Mount Tabor carline, when the city will have to pay for the concrete retaining wall. It now appears that the Mount Tabor Improvement Association Is asking for an additional S10.000. making $io.000 in all for the Improvement of Williams Park at Mount Tabor. Last, but not least, our East Side brothers, while denouncing the idea of our acquiring 57 acres for a goat pasture" in South Portland from the - . a re now neeotiat- lng with that despised "waterfront Brabblng" corporation tor i i Its land at the end of the Rose City carline for a menagerie and monkey farm, after buying which they propose to spend from $25,000 to ,100.000 for the erection of animal cages, and -monkey houses." "Oh, you Carusos! Stop your kidding." v ' A. GOATHERDER. amber of Christian Scientists. PORTLAND, Dec. 5. (To the Editor.) I was somewhat surprised .i read in The Oregonian your statement that there are about 1.000,000 adherents of the late Mrs. Eddy. It has been my impression that the Christian Scientists ranked in numbers among the smaller religious bodies, with rather less than 100.000 mem bers. ' It would be very unusual for the adherents of a demonination to exceed twice the number of members. I shad appreciate it very much if you will give me the authority for yu estimate. H. M. RAaioLi. Nearly all religious bodies take a cen su's of membership at stated times So with Christian Scientists. But more are many who believe in the teachings of Mrs Eddy, or followers, or adherents cr whatever you choose to call them who are not church membtts In ihe sense that they are enrolled. Christian Science churches have been established in every civilized country on the Jtlobe. These have uniform services and are branches of the Mother Church in Boston. The Oregonian think, that a million believers or adherents or fol lowers is a moderate estimate. No rec ord of foreign countries is kept by the Mother Church. She Xlckanmed Piatt. New Yorla' Herald. Mrs Antonio Martinez, who before her marriage was Winnie Horn, the new. cirl who w as credited with having nick named Senator Piatt the "Easy Boss." died from asthma at 206 East Ninety seventh street recently It was ten years ago that Vi innie Horn reached the height of her fame as a newsgirl. The stand from which she and her sisters sold papers was located under the elevated stairway at Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street. Among n-.rt Senators Piatt. Hanna ner uauufl - and Depew. and Governor Odell. . There were five Horn sisters, all of whom at times sold papers, but it was Winnie and her sister Sadie who most frequently appeared in the newspapers through their aggressiveness and deter mination not to be ousted from their corner. Senator. Piatt took an especial interest inthe girls' welfare, and sev eral times saved them from eviction. It was at this time that Winnie Horn called him the "Easy Boss," the name that clung to him until his death. "THIS LIFE ALL, SATS EDISON Xoted Inventor Declares Thnt Golden Rule la Best Religion. Xew York Cor. Chicago Tribune. Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, who recently was attacked by the Rev. Charles F. Aked and by Henry Frank and others for what they called his "atheistic views." has replied to their criticisms. "That's It," he said. "I'm an atheist now, am I? These people who call me to account do not even read what I have said. I am not an atheist, never have been, and never said I was. I believe in a supreme intelligence, but I have grave doubts as to whether you and I and all the other good folk of this earth are going to be roused from our graves to go to some beautiful, shining place up aloft. 1 "1 do not see it. and cannot under stand It. and neither do these ministers of fashionable churches. They do not say what they think. Often they do not T. td 11 kuainoaa ta-tth 'em. "Thev tell me I am heading straight for hell. Maybe I am. But I'll take my chances with the fashionable minister, and if there is such a spot as heaven I 11 bet I get there first yes, even before Dr. Aked. "Now, here is a sample of what these rich and fashionable and dignified min isters will do. A poor reporter came to me one day for an Interview. He is a clever fellow and writes well, but he is handicapped by having had his leg shot off in an engagement in which he was a war correspondent. "I gave him an interview because his paper wanted it and because I wanted to help him. A certain clergyman made some comments on what I had said in the interview, and the man who had seen me asked him to let him Interview him on the same subject. Now what do you think that man of God answered? He said: 'Yes. I will be willing to give you my opinion, but I shall expect to he na'id J200.' . There is a Christian churchman for you. "The only religion needed In this world Is the Golden Rule. If every one prac- j i. .v, hp rn mora trouble llUfU 11 U1C1C .J u.i-. J - or poverty or unhapplness. It is a per fectly practical proposition. not be hard for most of us to follow if we got a little encouragement from our neighbors. And those who refused . , , i J r,tr trio to keep it snouia ue imu w 3 - ii tm Tint everv one in Jail who wouldn't do unto his neighbor as he would have his neignoor uu hini. TAi!o'fnn 'hereafter. what do these ii..r. know shout it that I do not? I wonder how many of them have seen ... h.l. rtone at the tne luiriKs - Rockefeller Institute, where they cut off a leg, put it in cold storage for a week .u. it on -oin and it knits aou liicii c t v. and heals and feels and Is alive Just like any other living iimo: "I believe implicitly the time is not . j.. . . ,v,av will he able to lar UIHLHI1L "lie" put a man In cold storage for six months or so and then warm mm ui' v,o hnsnitHl alive and kicking. Why, the other day they took a dog s heart out ana put oih -tni-niM. and left them there week. Todf.v that dog is running around the laboratory. I Eaw him my self. His heart Is back In place and he . . x, 1 leeis cuippci au "Every thing is material. T e have no thoughts. They are simpiy """'""'V' ; ;., nntsode. Our brains .a- that talrA imnresslons are jute icuutuo . - . . . from our environment. We get nothing from within. . T never have created anything. I get Im pressions from tne univeim -work them out, but I am only a plate on a record or a receiving, ow- wnat you win. , ... . T . vaiioitA a mans mind live, after him. His work lives after him, but his work is a material thing. "The Golden Rule is all that is needed. I'm dead five hours every night, and when I die and decompose I shall live only in phonographs and tickers and storage batteries. I shall not be playing a harp or boiling In oil .or haunting any one. I shall be dead. "But I am willing to take my chances ,. nanT,ia wfirried to deatn Wltn ail Llieao ucvjfc.v, .... arhn Write me about tneir preacni ii i.. that fill ud my mail bags and worry my clerks. I'll take my chance. ENGINEERING COST OX ROADS Error Asserted to Be In Fl cures uoted f nm!nv Prom J. J. Donovan. one A -ITU 'iHrOTTA. Dec. 3. (To the Editor.) In view of The Oregonlan's acknowledged reliability and authority on statements of fact, I would respect fully call attention to an editorial in today's Issue on "State Aid for County Roads." in which J. J. Donovan is quoted as placing the engineering cost of state aid roads in Washington at 96 per cent of the total cost . under Mr. Snow,, and 75 per cent under Mr. Bowlby. and-that vou correct these figures by placing the decimal point before the second figure in each instance. The writer does not know from what source wou obtained your figures, but assumes the error to be merely typo graphical, as Mr. Donovan, both in the good roads convention at Walla Walla and in the published report of the in vestigating commission, imi im. tlve percentages at practically the same htined bv the insertion of the deci mal in both instances, i. e., at 9.3 per cent under Mr. enow anu m " 8 per cent under Mr. Bowlby. Great prejudice against state aid hav ing been occasioned by exaggerated fig ures coming from interested Quarts it is highly important that there should be no unmerited criticism aroused through an error on the part of The Oregonian. with its well-earned reputa tion for honesty and fairness. -ggpY. . The extract from Mr. Donovan's re port was taken from a purported copy published in an Eastern Washington ex rhanee The Oregonian confesses that U was puzzled by the high percentage figures shown, but finally decided that Mr. Donovan had meant that the indi cated percentages were of the total ex pended by the state in addition to the county share on completed and uncom pleted roads. The figures on any other basis seemed out of all reason. Vote on Tax Amendment. TROt-TDALE, Or.. Dec. 6.-(To the Edi tor piease give the vote in City of Portland on the labor tax amendment at recent election, also t"'0 and obl'ge. A FARMER. The vote In Portland Is not segregated from the county returns. Multnomah County voted on labor tax amendment in 1910 yes. 12.6S5: no. 10.695. The same Sea.nr. wa. not presented In 1908. but on the single tax amendment then pre sented the Multnomah vote was, yea, 10,S2S; no, 11.311. That Suggestive Name. ANTELOPE, Or.. Dec. 2. (To the Edi tor Through the columns of The Ore eonian would you kindly enlighten me as to why you think the name "Owen Moran" Is "suggestive?" Suggestive of what and why? I refer to your comment on "Bat" Nelson In The Oregonian un der the date of December 1. Very re spectfully yours, D. K. KELLOG. The expression was used simply as a short way of saying that Bat Nelson met In contest an Irish opponent whose national extraction was a guaranty pf his pugnacity and staying qualities. Who Knows the Difference! Washington Star. "That sunrise effect is all wrong," said the stage manager of a New York musical show. Whads the difference? replied the scene painter. Nobody who goes to a musical comedy in this town knows what a sunrise looks like." Life's Sunny Side Dr. Francois de la Rnf, st the recent sanitary convention in Des Moines, said: "The disposition that we make of our sewag9 is very dangerous, very absurd, today. There will come a time when we shall dispose of sewage wisely. But our present nanoung in il uriimivia ma of a witticism of my old father. "Once when I was a little cnap, 1 saia to my father: " 'Papa, where does the barber put the hair he cuts off your head?' "And my father, without looking up from his newspaper, answered: ny, down your necK, oi courto. St. Eouis Globe-Democrat. i lie iitw Bcimmr iruui nvi. un'n. . T nrn" VA,,nr- nuatroa a aniiarA ripal. He starts out so advertised as a man of few words that he will find it diffi cult to live up to the advance notices. The first story that goes out from Wash ington pictures ioionei x oung as oems a man who bites his sentences into bits and swallows all of the superfluous word. James Preston, superintendent of the press galleries, is quoted as tell ing how Colonel Young secured admis- -I . tl.A C.,n.,a Dollorirl U'hpn BlUll lO 111.3 fjunm " " the rules fight was at its height last session. The Washington correspondent is nere quoted : "Excuse me. said rreston, as no blocked the way. 'Certainly, ' replied colonel oung. 'Anything I can do for you?" asked Preston. "Nothing." "Want to see someone?" "No." "This gallery is reserved for newspaper men." said Preston. "I know it. "Are you a newspaper man?'" T am." "What paper?" "Des Moines Capitol." "What name?" "Lafe Young." " ,1 P,arlnn "VOU HlUSt be saving up the English language for atM.r nv-rt Rtnnrf-nat editorial. Come in. Louisville Courier-Journal. na thICA a,tllffV HltVS last WCek a heavy lee wagon drew up near Chat ham Square and the man in charge went In to see wnat tne uiuei- TirkllA v.- -De trnna KftVPral children clambered on the rear step and began to fish for small pieces. One little girl had Just scooped out a handful when the Iceman returnoa ana cuaot-u i.d.ii ..ontu wnrth nf Ire. OleaSC OCII Illt3 U V"a- a. v ' said a well-dressed woman who wore a . -.a., a i i eAan thu little eirl wnue rioDon mm imu ... " crying from disappointment. The man weighed a tair-sizea p. true m wrapping it in a newspaper, handed it to the woman. "Here, little one. Is a nice Dig pic of ice," said the woman loud enough to he heard bv every one of the small crowd that had collected. "You needn t cry any more. Take tins home to umuic and the sick sister." The child. Instead of drying r.er tears, cried more and made no attempt to take the ice. ' , .. "It's too b-b-big," sobbed the child. "Too big, and what did you want to do with it, my child?" "We were goin' to put It down the blind man's back," replied the girl, bursting into tears again. New York Sun. At a social evening at the home of a local merchant recently the conversa tion turned to the subject of "breaks made In downtown churches, where the members of the congregation never be come fully acquainted with everybody else. The story was told of a Lowell clergyman who upon one occasion ex horted his parishioners to be more cor dial in greeting strangers In the church. At the 'close of the service one of the members turned to another member of the congregation and said cordially: "I am glad to see you here this -morning, and ' hope that you will come again." . , "I expect to," was the reply. I have been coming here for 40 years." Lowell Courier Citizen. It was the weather clerk's first Satur day in the department, therefore he took it as a Joke when the pastor of a West Side church telephoned down for prognostications on Sunday's weather. Thofc no loke." said an old clerk. "You will have to answer a dozen ques tions like that before 12 o'clock. Preach ers who are getting ready to write to morrow's sermons want a forecast of tne a. ' a.. .kndn a text. That weamer ucimc a...a....n - doesn't mean that if we prophesy rain they will hasn up an lmenui v " .' , to serve out to the handful of the faith ful. In most cases the fiercer the storm the stronger the sermon. A talk that would hit the bullseyc on a sunshiny day would miss the mark in a storm. A man who has it on his mind to launch a few thunderbolts in regard to eternal damnation ought to do It on a gloomy dav. The congregation would ba more seriously impressed. I know a minister who has had that kind of a sermon prepared for eight months but the weather has been too mild for its delivers-- He is holding it back for a bliz zard. The first Sunday the wind threat ens to blow the roof off I am going up to hear it." New York Sun. Somewhat of Flttlit at Warren. Cleveland Leader. Ex-District Attorney John L. Sullivar was the principal speaker at a reunion of old soldiers a few years ago. He had all of his wonderful command of pathos and eloquence in full working order that day, and as he concluded his oration tears glistened in the eyes of many of the veterans. One of the old boys ; in blue came up to Mr. Sullivan, pressed his hand and said: "Your description of the scenes on the field of carnage during a fight was beautiful. You must have been in the thick of a battle some time. TV here did you have your most thrilling experi- eD"At Warren," replied Colonel Sulli- VaAt Warren? Why. I never knew there was any fighting there?" -Probably not," replied Colonel Sulli van, "but if you had been behind the bat for Warren the day we beat Youngstown 1 to 0 you would have known you were in a fight and a mighty warm one, too," and the Colonel extended his gnarled and twisted fin gers to prove his assertion. Cloth Made From Pine Wood. Harper's Weekly. The discovery of a means of makin cloth from the pine tree of Northern Europe and Canada has led English welvers to experiment with the Russian nine with a view to introducing it as a textile. Pine cloth Is regarded as the possible competitor of cotton cloth. Pine threads are as lustrous as cot ton threads; they .can ,be mingled to advantage with woolen threads; they bleach and take dye equally well. Pos s wy the time is coming when pine cloth will be used in place of cotton for underclothing, while pine and wool mixtures will compete with heavier goods for outer garments. Pine cloth will be as cheap as cotton cloth, what ever the cost of manufacture, because the raw material of pine cloth is con siderably below the price of raw cotton. Standing Room Only. Success. The regular umpire was sick and a kind old gentleman from the country agreed to do the best he knew how. All went well until the fifth inning, when, with the bases full, the pitcher got wabbly and put over four wide ones and the batter started to take his base. "What will we do with the young fel ler?" asked the old man of the pitcher. "We ain't got no place to put him."