10 THE MORXIXG OREGOXIAX. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1911. rOBTlAXO. OBEOOV. Entered a Pertlaad. Ont. Festetrlse M - Second -fla ftttr. Subscription Dun-Invariably la (BT MAIZ.I SraS&p tarlad.4. year. ri.j. Puflty le-)ucit, aix months . ... a3i lnr. SuRJf ln?lMjel, thr tnettis... VmAf. fcutxlar loclud, on tnoslh . . - -P? Vl . nltsout Sundar. JJ lUr. t-undr. moslkl .... " t;.. vutioai Sunday, tare nvosins... - Sunujr. eae saia.... J? HMklr. 7.x J -J" .4jr. on v..r ....... f J -ur Weekly, os rear.. (BT CARRIKX.) rif'r. Suee'sr rnetud -4. on ynr. ..... J Hew to Kirnll n4 PaetoOlce fnoacy rdr. HprMt erdcr r personal chcs ronr lncl Sank, stains. ola er eamfT r ai Hidifi rua. otve ptottf "r la Mil. Including Mwif u rtaca luiw 10 to 14 i mi: 1 o as t eats; 4 te o (! t So pes. cull. iNtill ls Son. rata. lnim oeixas v-err C" n ..w Tarn. nrunwlca ktuiUlae. Ca , t(r kitlldins. roi. Office .No. 1 Keat mm. . W iecdoo. rOBTULXD, ATTKDAr. UTT. t IflL JVwT BECACSB. Soma of the, rtuom why Canada rejected reciprocity will be found to bo Included In the following: Because Champ Clark mado a fool Uh speech about annexation. Because President Tart la not popu lar lu Canada. Because Canada thought reciprocity wou.d benefit the United States more than Canada. iiectuM Canada feared that any manifestation of friendliness to the United tttate would be a "demonstra tion of disloyalty to Great Britain. Because reciprocity was seen to be widely popular In the United Stater Because the manufacturers of Can ada believed their Industries vi(t In great pern. Because Canada could not see how both parties to a trade bargain could profit. Because of the purpose of a rival leader of the French element to up set Laurier. Because political thought and action la Canada are provincial, prejudiced and all'SUfnciant. Because a political reaction In Can a la was about due. Because Canada does not like us. CHAMP CLARK'S ACIIIETIMFNT. Through the valuable assistance of Champ Clark, the Canadian Conser vative have won the elections by a d-cL-lve majority. Reciprocity Is b-atrn. The vote was taken not so much on the question of reciprocity u on that of annexation. When the trrwnwnl was first Introduced In the H uw at the session which ended list March. Mr. Clark allowed his en thusla.wn to get the better of his Judgment. Ite said: t ia frf II. aarauae I hope to lha dav Bo lha Amtricti f!e will fol a.r .--- .14 -ar fit af ttia Xlrillari Nfrtfl American poaMMlnaa. claer lo lha North V l- Th-y ara pup of aur loo4. Thar our lanauas- Thalr iniiiruitcna r n:-:-i Ilk ourm. Tbay era IrslnaS la lha Stfu-ull art of aair-covarnmaat. at- )j.ln .nt u thai ir lha Ir.alr of sal a--r b- sbro-ata4. tha chancaa a (ia .iiatiin ot tha la cwuatn.a vwuid lia.a h.a murh sraatar tkaa thay ere soar. When reminded that these remarks might gtve offense to the Canadians, air. Clark said they were "semi-Jocular." but the majority of Americans fail.'d to see the Joke, although they are credited with as keen appreciation of a Joke as any nation on earth. The Canadians not only failed to see the Joke, but took the speech In desiiy earnest, and voted "no" to Its senti ments with grest vehemence. It Is urn-leas for Mr. Clark to plraj In his defense that President Tarts speeches had as much effect on Ca nadian opinion as his own and that corruption funds sent from abroad hsd more effect than both combined. 1 Those who know Canada and the Ca- I Those who know Canada and the Ca nadlana know better. As It was said of the second grneratlon of English settlors In Irrlen.l. that they would "out-Iri-h the Irish." It may be said of the Canadians that they "o'ut-Brlt-Uh the Brltl-h" In loyalty to the flag. Thmjth Mr. Clark proved his sym pathy with reciprocity by lining up his party In Its support, despite the fact that by doing aw he gave aid to a po!ltir-al enemy, he dealt It a most oVeJty blow by the bare mention of annexation. Kvery loyal Urlton In Canada wouM no sooner read that speech than he would Interpret reci procity as a first step towards annex ation, sing "Ood save the King" and "Rule. Britannia." and vote the Con servative ticket. There are three principal elements In Canadsj the descendants of early Kngllsh and riootch settlers, many of whoru migrated from south of the border rather than Join In the revo lution or forswear allegiance to King Oeorge III: the French. hj are con tented and loyal so long as their pe culiar customs and prtvlieavs are left untouched; and the reecnt Immi grants, who are almost ail English and Scotch and many of whom have chosen Canada In preference to the United 8'ates through loyalty to the British f'.ag. They believe they have the beet government on earth and are proud of being subject of the great est empire In the world. They regard a Tankee." as they rail all Ameri cana, with contempt an.) suspicion and eur National policy In regard to Canada Is Uoked upon also Uh the feeling which a amalt nation always has towards a big neighbor. The feeltng of ultra-British loyal'y caused Laurier to abandon the tradi tional Liberal policy of free trade whea he attained power in 11)1 an p vaa the British preferential tariff Laurier" s change of policy made the contest between parties a s truss: I a to outdo each other In cultivating both the national ar.d pro-British senti ments of the people. Borden was wal'.lnx fT Laurier to give him an opening that he might accuse Laurier of being false to Canada as a nation and to the empire. Reciprocity of fered him the opening, for It gave him an excuse to say that Laurier was turning aside from Ecg'and to seek rloeer alliance with the United States. Champ Clark's speech was his best ca.-npe.lm material. It appeared to Justify him la saying that reciprocity was but a preliminary C annexation, and he used It without stint. The reeult shows how this appeal to sentiment, passion and the vague fear ef annexation worked upon the Canadian people. They were deaf to all the reassuring speeches of Presi dent Taft and Secretary Knox about annexation and they ra'lled to the banner of Canadian nationalism and the close British connection. Mr. Clark might have known that the lewst tint at annexation at any stage of the negotiations or debate on reel proclty wouid act violently on Cra dlan puhlUi opinion, uoraen ana nj Torle.r, with a f:f'cen-year hunger for office, were wal'-in? for Just such a campaign cry It is a sad thing when a man like Mr. Clark Is so enamored of his powers as an orator that he djes not kmw when not to exercise them. The d-J.'eai of Ca.-ad.an reciprocity means that the opportunity is lost for many years to come. The difficulty has always been to find both countries In the mood to make a treaty at the same time. From 1S64 to 18(1 we had free trade In many natural prod, ucts. but In the latter year the treaty was annulled by the United States. Canada was wining to make a new treaty any time In the ensuing thirty year and at one time a lively agita tion to that end was kept up in this country, but the standpat element was supreme and was deaf to the pleadings of Plains and McKInlsy to cultivate the foreign market. Weary of waiting. Canada sought an outlet In British preferential trade. It seemed that the happy conjunction of such men as TaXt and Laurier would bring about the long-desired end, but the Canadians say they will have none of it. The Imaginary line which con stitutes the boundary must remain a real barrier. as orroRTi-yiTT. The Medford traffic bureau (a newspaper creation) appears to think It cught to Try the fat out of the Portland hog. To be sure, the trafflo bureau lf there Is a traffic bureau) Is not on record as u.!ng such an unpleas ant epithet; but the phrase Is quite common In Medford newspsper par lance when the rate situation Is dis cussed. We suspect therefore that the trafflo bureau entertains - like sentiments toward the Portland com mercial Interests that are thought there to be feeding well at the trans portation trouarh. The traffic bureau seems to be Imbued evth the Idea that It has a mission to perform In dis ciplining and rebuking effectively sec tional selfishness, commercial exclu-Ivtne-s and metropolitan aggrand izement. We do not object to any fair or rational presentation of the Medford contention. Fixing rates through the Initiative upon the bals of the Medford complaint Is. however, absurd and unthinkable. The stale will take the same view unquestionably when the time oomee if It comes. But we would not have the energies of thst traffic bureau wasted, nor Its trnjpathies with any nt-clected and Injured community In Oregon lrnor-. There Is a field wherein the traffic bureau can do nohie work. It Is In Curry County. Let the MoUford traf fic bureau make a visit there en masse and discover the draol-ulon and stagnation wrought upon a wormy and Industrious people throueh trie operation of a selfish and ruino law prohibiting fishing In the Rogue River "except with hook and line. commonly called angling." (See lnltl. atlve law No. 148-14). enacted 1)10) It was proposed solely In the Inter est of one element of the population ef one part of Oregon and enacted Isrgely as a result of their ceaseless agitation. It has done Incalculable harm to Curry County and has been of little benefit to Jackson. Josephine er Douglas. The Medford traffic bureau has a treat rportunl'y to rlirht a wrong, revive an Important Indus'ry and give employment to many deserving people ty devising a reasonable, measure for regulation of fishing on the Kocue River that will be fair to the lower river anl h upper river. rrvnLiTtoN or a rounnAM. The evolution of Woodrow Wilson from a college professors opposition to the Initiative and refi renJura Into a politicians aavocacy oi popular legislation Is being traced In Its usual joyful style by the New York Sun. The Sun has been looking ud the record. following thai Governors meeting when the Governor of New Jersey had a lively tilt with the Governor of Ala bama over modern Democratic ooc trtne. Governor O'Neal was against the Initiative and the recall and Gov. ernor Wilson, being now a Democrat with a little d. was for the Initiative and for the recall for administration offices. All of which, being brought to the notice of the Sun. caused that knowing Journal to produce a para graph from a speech by the New Jersey apostle of popular reform be fore the City Club at Philadelphia, November IS. 190. wherein he spoke slightingly of the primary, the Initia tive and the recall as follows: Our attacks u-on tha machlna are for tha moat part roil'-, hecaoaa tfcav ar1lnartlT take lha l"rm of stlil furth-r e.ahcratlon of procaea. V a Invent some now form of prl mai l. we Introduce ths fructlf ot "inlt.a liva end rofarar.dum." eraate tha privl l.a f "recall," and bfor wo are throush mm have ffvan tha votars o many thine- to S that th-y aaad tha aaaUitanca of prof-a-ator.aj sdvlaars In dclng tnera. and oan easily be outwt'.tad hy thse vary advisers In tha --rv yrca.aaa which w-ra meant to frae tharn from eontreL Soon the professor became a Gov ernor and then he had the Inestimable privilege of a call from our own Mr. CRen a visit thst was rich In re sults for Wilson and ITRen, for the Governor then and there saw what a great sinner against the people he had been and the Oregon lawgiver later had the pleasure ef entertaining his ready pupil In Oregon, Having now seen the light through the eyes of a real politician and candidate for the Prejldcncy, Governor Wilson made confession of his previous grave errors as a college profeseor, occupying the chair of political economy and govern ment, for on April 21. he told the Pewter Flatter Club at Nor-follc. Va.: FMr iwaety years I presrhM to the stu dr.ts ef rnnectrs that lha raferrrlMm e.n-1 r-ll vti nosh. I have sine lnv-Mr:-d and t want 10 ari;niri to thnae studn:a. It is lha safeuArd nf r-Altt.ra. It tak-a powar from tha koaeae ar.4 p:acs It In th hands af ihe r-ple- I want le say with ail my powar that I favor it. Being headed now exactly right. Oovernor Wilson came directly to Oregon to return the call of Mr. tTRen and to eo a few others. Some how he escaped while here the maiic ITRen Influence, for he began to hede and dodge and ralter about the recall, saying In Portland In May. mi. rela tive to the recall of Judpcs: I do n arprwve af It. os the thAory that or.a of tha frtael danyars with wh.ch wa ara bal in eur efforta to sacura fett-r sev- rastrnl Is lmr-tine-. Wa ara prone to u-a too -sack baste, la take loo many short Co J. 1 admit thai, leslosilv. It la unanowerahle that If wa alert Judy's wa hava tha rtrht ta r-cafl I nam. hut X tfaa't ear a pvpparcora tor loete. Nor consistency. Though perhaps eort-lsteney Is not worth a peppercorn. But why did not Mr. CRen. who is the great mentor of the New Jersey norit ate and the guardian angel of the Wilson movement In Oregon, stand around where Dr. Wilson could note and remember while the orator was en the platform? Then the Oovernor might never have slipped the recall leash. j v ix-k oRoescrr nmn nu. Judge Grosscup Is the victim of cir cumstantial evidence. When a Judge has been called upon to decide a num ber of a certain class of cases and the trend of his decisions has been uniformly in one direction, the pub lic Is to be excused for believing that he has a bias In that direction. Judge Grosscup has been called upon to decide a large number of Im portant cases In which the Interests of large corporations and the people were In oonfllct. His decisions have almost always been in favor of the corporations. How can people help beltevtr.g that he U biased In that di rection T All the facts tend to con Arm the suspicion. Judge Grosscup may honestly believe that he has been Impartial, according to his lights. Tha trouble with him is that his lights are dim. His legal training and practice had led him to give the first place In the order of Importance to property, though the Declaration of Independ ence puts life first. That Is the criti cism to be made on too many Judges and they can only ellenoe It by hav ing their mental vision corrected. Judge Grosscup denies that Wall street knew his Standard OH decision twenty-four hours before It was ren dered. Perhaps not, but It knew the general trend of his decisions and knowing that, considered it a safe bet that he would decide In favor of the Standard. When oiu. is familiar with the workings of a man's mind, one oaa forecast his actions In a certain con tlngency with reasonable accuracy. In that sense Wall street knew. eHAlX THK OREGOX LEAD? A copy of a letter whloh we have received from A. W. Neale seems to Indicate that he la much disturbed at the thought of the battleship Oregon leading the procession through the Panama Canal on the day of Its open ing. The original of the letter Is to go to the Secretary of tho Navy, we apprehend. We cannot for our part think of ary.more harmless and Inno cent employment for a battleship than to lead a peaceful procession. The prophet tei:s vlth Joy of a time when swords shall be beaten Into plow shsres. He sees nothing wrong in making an agricultural use of the Iron which has once been devoted to slaughter. How then can It possibly be wrong to consecrate a battleship to the opening of the canal? It would be one of the most signal triumphs ever beheld of the rplrit of peace over the fiend of combat. Happy Indeed would It be for the world If nil the battleships of all the nations were used for heading pro cessions and nothing else. There is Mr.jjulur propriety in chooslr.g the Oregon for this purpose Inasmuch as It once made the perilous trip around the Horn at unrivaled speed. Why not permit It to be the first vessel to experience a trip through the canal? Mr. Neale goes on to quote from Bernard Shaw some observations about the slowness of our progress in everything but the military art. "In the arts of life man Invents nothing, but In the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself. The peasant of today eats and drinks the same things as the peasant of 10.000 years ago. The house he lives in has not altered much In a thousand centuries," and so on. Thts sort of rsvlng Is easy enough. but It Is obviously mendacious. Man l continuously Improving the arts of llfo. To show that he Is not Shaw has to docry everything that we use In the modern world. It Is a simple trick Jo begin by denying that Inven tions ore of any une and then proceed to rail because we have made no use ful Inventions, but It is Rio profitless. The peasant of today neither eats nor drinks the snme things as the peasant of 10.000 years agt. His diet has al tered In almost every particular. Po tatoes, tea. peaches, apples, are but a few of the articles which have been added to It within 1000 or J000 years. Nor are houses today built as they were "a thousand centuries ago," or even 3000 or 4000 years ago. The change has been complete. Shaw can talk brilliantly about these subjects, because he has the gift of gab combined with colossal Ignor ance, but an Intelligent American cltl ten ought to know better than to take his rattle at Its face value. THE TAKla Or THE PASS. The Oregon Press Association has been In semelon In this city for the past two days. Truth to tell, there was not a very large number of mem bers of the press In attendance, for the mainstay of such meetings, the country editor, was conspicuous by his atsenoe. We use the term coun try editor In the sense of esteem and honor, for If there Is any one person on earth who la deserving the praise of his fellowmen It Is the country editor. We speak now of this great man In the concrete, not as an Individual, for there are so-called country editors who are not worthy to fill the high positions they occupy, men who are in the business as a business, as a means of making money (usually to fail), or to gain some selfish end. The real country editor the man who has done more for this country than any other, the man who has formed pub lic opinion, elected Presidents, made and unmade reputations and fortunes without end held his position be cause he loved the work and was fit ted for It. If he was not fitted for It he did not long survive. He loved the click of the type, for he was a handy man at the case, more than likely a skilled compositor. As a rule he could take a couple of fonts of gothle typo, a worn-out press, some home made Ink. a few sheets of coarse pa per and turn out a Job that would put some of the learned compositors ot toIay to shame. He could produce a sheet on his old Washington hand press that was a marvel of neatness, accuracy and clean printing. He could, and did, make his own rollers, do a fairly good Job of binding, ruling or engrav ing. Too would find half of his wood letters with a. letter cut on the ob verse end of the block. He never ran completely "out of sorts." for he was ready with Jack knife and file to meet any emergency. He could not buy brass rule, but he could make it If he could find a sheet of worn-out slno taken from under some set-aside stove, and there were always plenty of "leads" If there was an old tin pail or milk pan to draw upon. In a mechanical way the country editor or are we speaking now of lbs country editor of the old school? well, the editor of the old school . was a genius, and he Is by no means extlnot. There are many of him right here In Oregon. May his tribe in crease! May he. multiply, for. after all, the great strength and power of tho country editor lay still lies in his numbers. There are so many of him! His issue Is only perhaps six or bight quires, perhaps an average of say twenty tokens (some of the so-called editors may not even know how many a token is): but he Issued fifty-two times a year, and his ten thousand associates were doing the same thing. He was right close down to the people, with his ear to the ground. He caught every change In public sentiment before, long be-, fore. It reached the great papers of the city. If In his mind change was proper he fostered It; If he thought It not proper, he thwarted It. It was his duty to mould public thought, but he first got his Ideas from the oracle on the store box or the philosopher on his cobbler's bench. There are not many of him In Port land today. There were not yesterday; and why? Do you ask that as a ques tion to be answered? Well, what was It that made, after all was said and done, the country editor a man apart, a man equaling the high and mighty, a man envied of all? The railway pass! The little piece of pasteboard that came to him regularly every three months permitting him to travel free over the railway (and If more than one road came near him he had passes on them all). Now his pass Is gone. An unfeeling Congress took It away from him. re duced him In rank, placed him on the same basis as the banker, the mer chant and the manufacturer on the same basis with his readers! For this base act all must suffer. Very, very soop the country editor, as we know him and love and esteem him, will pass away, for he can no longer go Junketing around to get the feeling and not the beating of the public pulso. He has been sentenced to re main at home; for surely no self- respecting country editor would slnK so low as to pay railroad fare. Hence the editorial meeting was not largely attended. No such meeting will be until different alignments are made, until the newer members of the craft get used to the new ways. Time will come, no doubt, when those who conduct our country papers will see the benefits of such metlngs and attend as a means of furthering their business. But the old editorial meet lncs and editorial Junkets will pass with the old-time country editors will pass with the taking of the pass. William Hanley's plan practically to spread the Agricultural College all over the state by the planting of stu dente on demonstration farms An the Summer looks practical In the inter est of good farming. Let the students load up with book and laboratory and classroom knowledge In the Win ter and go out Into the state and ap ply It on demonstration farms in the Summer. Then let the farmers of the neighboring country visit the demon stration farm, learn how to farm scien tifically and apply the - knowledge themselves. The best advertisement for Oregon is successful farmers. Rich soil Is not enough. Its richness must be transmuted by skilled farming lr to good crops. The East Is hopelessly colonial. Not only Is It barren of Ideas In poll tics, but It cannot even contrive an original architecture. It has to ga to France and England for the plans of Its houses. The Long Island mil lionaire who Is going to tear down Tattersall Castle bring over the stones and reconstruct the building Just as It stood In England Is typical of his kind. The more servilely he can Imi tate the better he Is satisfied. It is not likely that Mr. Justice Hughes will ever be nominated for Prosldent. When he entered the Su preme Court he probably laid aside all his political ambitious and will not wish to resume them. We suppose he might have been "President If he had taken the tide of his political prestige at the flood, but he did not, and now It has ebbed too far to lead him on to fortune. The providing of dredges to deepen the channel of the Willamette and Co lumbia livers Is necessary to accom modate the deeper draft vessels which yearly come to this port. The action of the Port of Portland Commission In this regard Is to be commended. There is something pathetic In the dilemma of a man of 70, who cannot remarry because the Interval since di vorce Is two weeks short of the neces sary six months. It Is the beginning of the bad luck that follows postpone ment of the ceremony. The electric line up the Lewis River will bring another rich section Into touch with Portland. With such lines radiating Into the country In all di rections, he back-to-the-farm move ment ought to seize hold of the Idle rich and idle poor of the city. The thief who can steal ninety chickens and get away with them without disturbing the owner will not be caught. Such work must be classed with fine arts and hypnotism. The number of students excluded from the University of Washington la an Index to the high standard of those admitted. A university should aim at quality rather than numbers. The place for the Municipal Labor Bureau Is In the City Hall, not -In tenta Winter Is coming and Portland does not want an official pneumonia bureau. There is enough sugar In sight for world's requirements for a year, so the rise In price of 20 cents a hundred yes terday Is Just another squeeze. James J. Hill will drive the last pike In the Oregon Trunk. Mr. Hill has been much of a driver of spikes In the past fifty years. The girl who received a 120,000 es tate because her name is Jane can now change It to anything from Jen nie to Jeanette. The little county fair, with neigh bors In friendly rivalry. Is as good for the country as the big shows. When Pat Crowe got religion. It didn't take or he would not Indulge In "strong-arm" flirtation. Defeat of reciprocity will not affect marrying across the border. Charge It to the account of Champ Clark MILITANT METHODS DRFEXDED. Wanklulaa Womaa uf fracint Tells What Hoa Fight. SEATTLE, Wash, Sept, 22. (To the Editor.) I thoroughly agree with Gov ernor Shafroth. of Colorado, in his declaration that the Governors of Utah, Idaho and Washington "did not know what they were talking about when they condemned the methods of mili tant suffragists." Those three gentle men evidently share the lamentable Ig norance of the term "militant suffrag ist" that is deplorably prevalent throughout the United States, which has been caused by garbled or untrue English newspaper accounts of the militant movement in England. "Coercion and force" are no more analagous to suffrage militancy than to church militancy, to those having any knowledge whatever of real suf frage militancy. As a matter of fact, all American suffragists concede to the Pankhursts and their oo-workers most of the credit for the marvelous growth of the suffrage movement in our coun try within the last four or five years. If Governor Hay. of Washington, really approves of and believes in equal suffrage, and desires its adoption throughout the United States, he will not criticise the methods adopted by Washington suffragists, as he surely does when he attacks militant meth ods. Most of the suffragists In the Wash ington campaigns used so-called mili tant methods. Mrs. Hutton's Political Equality League in Eastern Washing ton, and the Washington Alkl Suffrage Club In Western Washington, the two largest organizations in the state, were both known as militant, and usually so designated. The warfare we waged against Ig norance and prejudice and corrupt op position was aggressive, constant and persistent. We used not bullets, how ever, but arguments; publicity and ad vertising, were our guns, and political maneuvering our tactics. However, as liovernor Hay was at no time identified with the suffrage -campaign In Washington, and In no way aided us, his lgnorancs of the methods adopted by us Is perhaps excusable, though deplorable when thus publicly displayed. So much misinformation has been disseminated concerning the Washington campaign, so many false, distorted and ridioulous accounts have been published of the way suffrage was won in Washington that outraged truth demands 'Justice. The real story is soon to be written by those who know the facts. Our methods were certainly militant, ac cording to the definition of militancy recognized among suffragists, and the two-to-one majority In favor proved the effectiveness of those methods, de spite Governor Hay's criticism. California suffragists have adopted our methods, at our advice, and are going to win. By the real militant methods adopted by American suf fragists. National suffrage Is to be ac complished In less than half the fifty years prescribed by Governor Hawley and concurred in by Governor Spry and Governor Hay. We-expect criticism from anti-suf-fraglsts. end bear it with fortitude, but we resent condemnation from those who claim to be our friends, yet damn us with faint praise. The Governors of Idaho end Utah may be excused on the score of Ignorance of the methods so recently used in Washington, but militant suffragists who won the cam-' paltrn in Washington will not aocept such a plea from Governor Hay. , ' MRS. OEOltOE A. SMITH. PRCIAL SESSION 19 OPPOSED Sir Morton Gives Several Reasons Why He Deems It Ill-Advlsed. HOOD RIVER. Or, Sept. 21. (To the Editor.) There appears to be quite an agitation at this tune as to the calling of a special session of the Legislature, more particularly for the purpose of enacting good roads legislation. Let us make some Investigations along this line: It has been about seven months since the Oregon Legislature adjourned, having passed some good roads bills' and that, too, after a bitter and acrimonious fight among the legis lators. Have we any assurance that there would not be a bitter contest at this time over this subject when we consider that the same body of men are to be called on to act on the same subject? Have we any certain, knowl edge that a majority of these men have changed their views and will agree or that they do agree before being called In special session? Would It not seem a little presumptous for the Governor to call the members or the Legislature In special session to act on matters vetoed by him only last February? There are many questions entering Into this matter of good roads legis lation. How many counties are there In this state that desire to bond for the purpose of building good roads? Not many. I believe. The matter of bonding a county heavily Is a serious thing to do and should not be done except In cases or great emergency, such as suppressing an Insurrection or repelling an In vasion, or matters of that character. Let us remember that If a county is henvily bonded, say for J500.000 or Jl,- SoOO.000, and this money is put into the hands of three men to spend, two of them a majority in saying where it shall be spent, there is grave danger of a great waste being Inaugurated in its expenditure. Three men with a barrel of money to spend; three men with the county by the throat ceiling on taxpayers to "caugh up" to the tune of a million or njpre! Does this look good to you, Mr. Taxpayer? Will we ever learn that we cannot tax ourselves rich 7 I am In favor of good roads, as I believe all other fair-minded men are In favor of better highways, but I am not In favor of good roads at a maxi mum cost. Our good roads should be constructed at the. least possible expense to the taxpayer and all money appropriated for such purposes should be properly safeguarded in every form. I believe the majority of the coun ties of this state are able to construct their own roads without bonding them selves individually or collectively, now or at any other time. Ppeaklng for myself as a resident and taxpsyer of this state. I am op posed to the ealllng of a special session of the Legislature at present and there by allow the subject to come up In due course at the next regular session. J. W. MORTON. Governor George L. Curry. PORTLAND, Sept 22. (To tho Editor.) In The Oregonlan re cently under the caption of "Fifty Tears Ago Today" Governor Curry is referred to as being the Gov ernor of Oregon. In a map I have which contains portraits of all the Gov ernors from Whlteaker to Chamber lain I do not find said Curry's, but Whlteaker la mentioned as the Gov ernor 60 years ago today and he is succeeded by Addison C. GIbbs. Where and how did Curry come in? He had a county named after him and besides that a street here, H. L. SMITH. Oovernor Curry was the fifth terri torial Governor of Oregon (1854-188.) Paris Professional Dinner Tasters. London Tit-Bits. Paris has a corps of professional din ner tasters, whose function it is to test and pass Judgment upon all food pre pared for banquets and similar oc casions of state. When they "O. K," a I dish It may be set before a king. IS MURDER TRADE TO FLOURISH f If Webb Case Oallesl for Mercy, What of Others) Asks Writer. PORTLAND, Sept 81. (To the Edi tor.) Many seem to see a meritorious act in the commutation of Webb's sen tence. Such persons would have us be lieve that "humanity" means tender ness, wall wishing, disposed to do good. But human beings have other feelings mare important than those. A feeling of the first magnitude is the desire for protection from Dlunder and- muraer. Many love an idea In the abstract, but get quickly over it when they them selves are the victims of its mater lallsation. Webb and his paramour, Mrs. Carrie Kersh. abandoned their homes and. for sook their marital responsibilities to become denizens ef the underworld. Mrs. Kersh had a room over a saloon and made men's acquaintance in the hallway as they passed to and from the bar. Webb was a frequenter of bars and anVobserver of men with monev. To use his own expression. when one displayed much money, - he was "fat." He was contented to have his paramour consort with Johnson while he kept out of sight and thought out the murder scheme. While Webb plied the victim with the bottle, his paramour went in search of chloroform and a trunk. No time was lost- What of a human life when it stood in tho r at J20007 With brutal haste they battered and crushed and stuffed John son in the trunk, dead, and had the trunk taken to the depot for shipment. The talr of vampires, well pleased with their sucoess, went Joy-riding, flashing their victim's coin to com mand attention and make a sensation and rioted In a drunken revelry. T T tt manv more deserving of grace than Webb and Kersh hai the State of Oregon hung? Will the state hang no more murderers? ir tne state n uu will continue to hang persons more de serving of mercy than these, why this partiality for Webb and Kersh? There are many duties far from pleasant. The hangman, no doubt, finds it an un pleasant duty to adjust the noose. That would not relieve him of his duty. If It hurt his oonsclencs he should have thought of that before accepting the office. Tears of the widow and the fatherless never cease. Hearts are ever breaking, but the works of Providence and of nature go on regaraiess. ai our Governor could not find it in his heart i..rmit OTehh to suffer under the law, he never can consistantly permit anyone to hang while he is Governor. There never will be a caBe more deserv ing of the hangman's art and there always will be some mother, some wife, Liio-hter or other relative broken hAortod to mead lor mercy. rt th wav of the transgressor Is to be made pleasant and the wages of sin to be an easy life; If murderers are to be marla heroes, their necks never in danger, but be petted and fought over and become the oojecr. er muon aun..i .ln tt rim the fair sex. It stands to reason the trade of murder must ein.,w.h anrl their breed multiply. It would appear to be the logic of our Governor that It Is prereranie ior nnci nrnhinl to lament ana w h hearthroken over the murder or husbands and parents for plunder than that the family or relatives of murder ers should have cause to grieve. That is the way it looks to me anyway. What Is the use ot trying a person for murder in the nrst aegree n mo findings of the Jury and the court are . b,maT We also hear so much nowadays about the law being enforoed and yet so many persoas. good souls that they are, cannot bear to see the law of their own state enforced. No doubt this expression of opinion will csuse many to call me a blood-thirsty scoundrel. DONALD ALLISON. 7?1 Alberta etreet. MeanriBg Star Distances. DUFUR, Or., Sept. 19. (To the Edi tor.) Could you please publish in The Oregonlan how astronomers measure distances to the moon .and stars? C E. COLLINS. It Is done by taking the parallax of the object This Is the angle at the vertex of a triangle whose base Is the earth's diameter or the major diameter of the earth's orbit and whose apex Is the star In question. When this Is known we have the base and one angle of a right angled triangle. The perpendicular distance can then be computed. There are other methods also used more difficult to understand. The parallax would always be suffi cient If It were always measurable, but for the fixed stars It Is often too min ute to be detected by the most accurate observations. Brooks' Comet In Sight. LINNTON, Or, Sept. 18. (To the Editor.) In an article in The Orego nlan today there is the headline, "Sky Search Futile." The statement is made that Brooks' comet has not yet been seen by anyone In Portland. With the aid of an operaglass it has been visi ble here any night during the past two weeks, when the clouds had drifted by Tonight at 8 o'clock the north star, the comet and the star on tha outter end of the handle of the big dipper form practically a right-angled triangle, the comet being in the angle, almost due west of the north star. While visible to the unaided eye, its ar.r.ea.ranca is that of a rather dim star. It shows no tall of light either with or without the aid of a glass, and Is not llkeljs to be recignlzed until a glass is used; it is then readily dis cernible from Its nebulous or hazy ap pearance. , E. C. M'DQWELL. Buyers of Colas. MADRAS, Or., Sept. 20. (To the Edi tor.) Please Inform me of the name and address of a reliable firm or party who buys old coins. I havs some old coins that belong to Europe, Asia and South Ameilca. SUBSCRIBER. Try Soott Stamp A Coin Company, New York. Country Town Sayings by Ed Howe (Copyright. 1911. by Gaorge Matthew Adams) A woman who claims that strange men try to flirt with her will sue a man for breach of promise, if given half a chance. Every time a story Is circulated that a man has whipped his wife, the women say, "Oh, I'd like to see a man strike me Just once!" The sweet gets out of so many things as you get older. Are you as careful as you should be about bothering other people? A great many men willing to work are greatly annoyed by Idlers, Ever know a man so mean you was not willing he should admire you? In one of the theatrical lithographs now In the windows, a contrite man is shown on his knees, taking an oath. "By the memory of my sainted mother," he says. "I will never drink again." A saloonkeeper looking on Is so mad that green smoke emerges from his nostrils. The smaller the town, the more its leading citizen struts. Every shiftless man is a liar; he ac quired the habit in giving excuses. After a man has been employed in the postotflce three or four years, he thinks he Is the Government FOOLISH SXEER AT TOE OREGON This Writer Objects to Battleship a Panama Canal. The Oregonlan has received the fol lowing letter, with the statement that it is a copy of a letter sent to the Sec retary of the Navy: "Dear Sir By the inclosed cutting from The Oregonlan this date it is stated" that the Navy Department wishes to test public opinion in re gard to the battleship Oregon leading the procession through the Panama Canal. "To be frank about the matter, L for one, am heartily in disfavor of a grim, murderous battleship leading the pro cession. In the new cycle that we are entering a battleship will be an ob ject of derision, irrefutable evidence of the base uses we made of our time, energy and substance in this passing barbaric age. In the new age, instead of building hideous vessels to fight imaginary foes, we will bend our ener gies toward conquering the real foes of mankind, ignorance, disease, pov erty, vice, superstition. 'I write these sentiments to satisfy you that the unwholesome clamor for a warship is not entirely unanimous; that there is at least ons dissenting bass voice. Where is the need of a battleship on a 'pacific ocean? How ever, if there must be a battleship In the procession, let It be placed at the end of the procession, where It will pass by after the tumult and the shout ing has died. It has been suggested that a white dove and Mr. T. R. Roose velt lead the procession. "A brief passage from G. B. Shaw's Man and Superman.' quoted herewith, is a strong argument against a war ship leading; " 'And is man any the less destroying himself for all this boasted brain of his? Have you walked up and down the earth lately? I have; and I have examined man's wonderful inventions, and I tell you that In the arts of life man invents nothing, but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and ma chinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence and famine. The peasant today eats and drinks what was eaten and drunk by the peasant of 10,000 years ago, and the house he lives In has not altered as much In 1000 cen turies as the fashion of a ladies' bonnet in a score of weeks. But when he goes out to slay he carries a marvel of mechanism that lets loose at the touch of his finger all the hidden mole cular energies, and leaves the Javelin, the arrow and the blowpipe of his fathers far behind. " 'In the arts of peace man Is a bungler. I have seen his cotton fac tory and the like machinery that a greedy dog could have Invented if it had wanted money instead of food. I know his clumsy typewriters and bungling locomotives, and tedious bi cycles; they are toys compared to the Maxim gun, the submarine torpedo-boat- There is nothing In man's indus trial machinery but his greed and sloth; his heart is In his weapons. Man measures his strength by his de structions. What is his religion? An excuse for hating me. What Is his law? An exouse for hanging you, What is his morality, gentility? An excuse for consuming without produc ing. What are his politics? Either the worship of a despot, because a despot can kill, or parliamentary cock-fighting.' " A. W. NEALE. Earth's Orbit and Star Composition. DUFUR, Or, Sept 19. (To the Edi tor.) (1) Why is the sun not In the center of the earth's orbit- instead of being a little to one side? (2) Why are the orbits of the planets oblong instead of an exaot circle? (8) What sub stances are the stars composed of? M. J, WIN SLOW. (1) It Is not. (8) Because New ton's law of gravitation makes an ex-, act circle Impossible. (S) The same as the earth In the past There are also unknown elements. GEORGE ADE'S LATEST HUMOR and Sir A. Conan Doyle's Deepest Mystery will be features In THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN Fables in Slang In "The 1911 Fable of the Treasure Locked in the Strong Box," Oeorge Ade reaches his climax in humor. Sherlock Holmes "The Ad ventures of the Stock Broker's Clerk," is an interesting story full of mystery at the beginning but very clear after Sherlock Holmes does some probing. This is one of Sir A. Conan Doyle's best. News SnapshotsThe camera tells interesting stories of tha world's recent important happen ings. The Last Trail A brisk tale of frontier life told by men who have been there. Buying Hats A story of how American women are beginning to give practical Paris the go-by. Crown Prince Rudolf's Death Long silenced story of ho the Prince met a tragic death, tcld by Franz Josef of Austria, who has the secret which puzzled Europe for years. s Music "Goo-goo Land," a popular song hit from "The Mid night Sons"; music and -words. Arming to Fight Air Dread noughts How the Government is building new style guns to cope with the development of aerial craft. A half page of interest ing descriptions and pictures. The Reading Public A tale replete with 'humor written by a librarian showing the peculiar literary tastes of frequenters of public reading rooms. Compensation Another chap ter of that interesting novel of Washington society. The Funny Men A half page of the latest wit and humor. Also the adventures of the Widow Wise and the comie sec tion with more fun by Mr. Twee Deedle, Sambo and others. (Order from your newsdealer today.) ,