TTTE MOT? XING . OREGOXIAN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1G. 1911. 6 PORTLAND. OREGON- 1 FntrJ t rnrtland. Oral on. Poatofflca Pcond-Claaa Matter. Eubacxiption Katca Invariably In Aavaaca. CRT HAIX-) tl,. Fundi Included, on year I'ai.v. FundaT Included, alx month. ... LallT. F'ndny Included, thraa month. l'aiiy. Surdajr Ineludad. on month. I'al J, althout Sunday, ona year without Sunday, els months.. pally, without Sunday, three monlhl... pai. without Sunday, on month. Weekly ooa year f uoiUy, on year. fcuaaey and weekly, on year. 1BT CARRIER.) ;j a 25 .75 6 00 2S 1 TS ."0 1.60 Z.OO .60 t'at, PunrJay Included, one yr J? I-aily. Sunday Included, on month How to Remit Band PoatnfBo money a-d-r. txpreN ord-r or pexeonal caeca- oa roar local bank. Elampa. coin or currency are at the erndrr'a rik. liiv poatofnc addreea la full. Jncludlo- county and state, PnetaaY Rate 10 to 1 pu. 1 cent; 1 o Jt pagea. 2 casta; 10 to o par. rente; 0 to paaea. canta. orela poatas tfouble rata. fcaateva Balar OfBtta Voire Cnk 11 n brw Tork. Hniuakk building. Chi cago, Steier bulldlna. Enroreaa Office .NOl Resent (treat, B. w". London. rORIXAVDL MONDAY. OCTOBER 1. 11L. OREf-OX- CAMPAIGN FOR TAFT. The Republicans of Oregon are favorable to the. renomlnatlon and re election of President TafL A full and lair expression of sentiment among them would. In the opinion of The Ore. fronUin. rveal a definite and em phatic purpose to support the Presi dent in the coming April Presidential preference primary and In the ensu ing November election. Confidence In President Taft. and a genuine and obvious satisfaction with his person ality, his policies and hi administra tion, are confined to no single ele ment or body of Republicans. He has r.ot adopted the extreme views nor met the radical expectations of the so-called Insurgents; nor has he heed ed the let-us-alone admonitions of the reactionaries. He Is a progres sive Republican who has been Influ enced In the formation of his admin istrative plans by no consideration of Ills own personal or political fortunes, but by an unwavering purpose-to pro mote the common benefit. He has elienated friends among the insur gents and the regulars; he has made enemies among the- factions and trroups that have their own reasons for supporting other men and other measures: but he has steered an even and straightforward course and has wrested from unwilling mouths the commendation that he has striven Jioncstly itnd fearlessly and has done well. The appointment of a Taft cam paign committee of prominent Oregon cltlsens who will undertake the work of carrying on the Taft cam paign for the forthcoming Presiden tial primary ! a sign of the times. The committee Is made up of well known citizens who are all Republi cans without any prefixes. If they have had differences of opinion as to the desirability or practicability of this or that party policy, they have none as to the Importance and even the necessity of bringing about the re-election of a Republican President and of the merits and availability of Mr. Tft as a candidate. They are for Taft. They believe In him. They appreciate his great abilities, high character and honest worth. He Is entitled to the country's confidence, end It should be made manifest In Oregon next year. The hearty and united response offered by the mem bers of the Taft committee to the In vitation to direct the campaign Is gratifying evidence of the enthu siastic interest felt In the Taft can. rlidacy by all members of the party whom the committee so conspicuously represents. The Oregon plan of direct nomina tions provides that there shall be an outright vote in the respective party primaries for candidates for President and Vice-President. The Republicans and Democrats of the state and per haps other parties on April 19, 1912. will express their preference as to the men to fill these great offices. The open primary gives the voice of the party free opportunity to declare whom Its delegates shall support in National convention. Each delegate 1 firmly bound by oath to carry out "to the best of his Judgment and abil ity, the wb-hes of his political party expressed by the voters at the time of his election." It Is Inconceivable that any delegate should seek or wish to violate his official pledge. It Is not important, then, who may be elected delegate to any convention: for the principal question the names ft the nominees for President and Vice-President Is determined by the voters themselves; and the delegate 2ms no alternative. The prime Issue being the candi dacy of Mr. Taft In the Republican primary, the Taft committee will doubtless devote Its effort to a cam paign of education and organization throughout Oregon in his behalf. It is announced that committees will be formed In the various counties. They will serve the general cause there, in conjunction with the central body. The naming of the Portland group Is but a preliminary step In the general scheme. The Taft campaign in Oregon has been successfully launched. It la to be carried forward by men who are known to be disinterested, who have no axes of their own to grind, who are embarrassed by no entangling alli ances with any political machine and who will be zealous In performing a public service for the sole reason that they think it should be' performed. MTCKKAKIMt RVNfl ITS COVRSK. Reform for revenue only, which is a fairly correct definition of muck raking, has been found by the maga zines not to pay- Some of them are being absorbed by others: still more are being sold to syndicates, which are torlng them down to the point of making them harmless, respectable and dull mere purveyors of Inferior literature. They completed the work of self-discredit by organizing a trust on the lines of those very trusts they had been denouncing and thereby fell foul of the very law for the enforcement of which they had been t lamoring. The history of magaxine muckrak ing Is the history of a good work car ried to extremes. When a few of the magazines branched out into the dis cission of the evils of missovernment. of boss rule, of business Influence In politics, of trusts and tariff, the inno vation was welcomed and these maga zines built up surprising circulations. Put these pioneers, while not hesitat ing to state plain and startling truths, were careful as to facts and reason ably moderate In tone. Their success encouraged imitators who atrovo to : attract attention in the growing crowd of muckrakera by violence and Intem perance In language and statement and by carelessness as to facts. They throve mightily for a while, but the public tired of their hlghly-splced dishes and turned to more homely fare. The public began to class yellow magazines with yellow Journals and conceived a distaste for both. Their circulation dwindled, they ran on financial rockj and combined to raise .-1 w TKo m f a n . r f salvntinn llOt proving efficacious for the imitators, they combined in syndicates with other publications. No longer direct ed by the strong personality of a ingle, though misguided, individual, they are now under the timid, color less rule of a board of directors hav ing regard only for the selling power of the output. The quality of the fiction and general literature they published has deteriorated to such a degree that, the market for their muckraking articles having died away, little excuse for their existence remains except In the desire of those who only want "something to read," no matter whether it be good or bad. This la not to say that there is not a field for magazines of the type of those which first took up the work of reform before It degenerated into muckraking. A magasine canlnves tlgate public questions with a thor oughness which Is not possible for a newspaper; It can secure readers for an article the length of which would cause It to be ignored If published In a dally newspaper. But in order to fill this field it must have a strong directing personality, who will take up a good cause because it Is right, not solely because there is money In It; who will not distort facts to pander to prejudice; who will live up to a stand ard of good literature throughout his pages, not "feature" one or two sen sational articles and fill in with trashy short stories. The person who wants "something to read" will enjoy it all the better If it is good literature and will cultivate a taste for more of the same kind. The editor who as sumes that he must publish tranh merely because a certain number of people will read it must remember that a hungry man to whom dry bread is offered would like it better if it were spread with butter. IDITAROD HARKS BACK. Return to use of gold dust as money take one back to the times when every merchant had his scales and weighed the uncoined gold and silver given in payment for his wares and tested then as to purity. Aa the Id it a rod miners are accused of mixing black sand and brass filings with their gold and the merchants are accused of spilling some of the- gold and ap propriating it. so tricks were played In ancient times which led merchants to stamp pieces of gold with declara tions of their weight and fineness. Thus were the first coins made, but there was such J confusion In the size, shape and purity of privately minted coins that the state tooji upon itself the duty of coining money. The scarcity of coin and paper currency at Idltarod has taken that town back to conditions which existed in ancient Greece before the time of Herodotus, but by sending to the United States its gold in exchange for coin and cur rency, Idltarod can quickly return to the 20th century. It is by such forced recurrence to first principles that we are reminded of the real nature of money and the hazy ideas born of centuries of cus tom are blown away like fog. If we would recur to first principles In other things, as circumstances have forced Iditarod to do, and would adhere closely to them, many of the complex problems of civilization would be come simple and we should frequently avold wandering from the right path. RAILROAD TERMINAL NKEDS. The great trunk railroads of the Kart find themselves confronted by an expansion of their traffic beyond the capacity of their terminal facili ties to handle It. The New York Cen tral, while building a 110,000.000 pas senger terminal at New York, has proposed the construction of a new freight terminal to cost 15.000.000. The Pennsylvania had not completed Its New York terminal at a cost of $113,000,000, Including tunnels, when Chicago, Philadelphia and New York began making demands for enlarged terminals. In fact. American cities are grow ing too large to carry on all their traffic by rail unless they introduce extensive economies In the use of the area they now occupy, by which It can be made to handle more traffic. Pos sibly this was one point which L. D. Brandels had In mind when he said he could show where the railroads could save 1. 000. 000 a day. Mr. Hawley may have indicated one way out of the difficulty when, instead of enlarging his St. Louis terminals, he substituted a trolley system for trucks In loading and unloading freight cars nd thereby increased the number of cars handled on a given mileage of yard track in a given time. The railroads have been the means of Increasing their own troubles. They have stimulated the growth of great cities, which has vastly in creased the volume of their traffic. This Increased traffic has created a demand for larger terminals, which necessitates the purchase of great tracts of land in or near these cities. But the growth of the cities stimulat ed by the railroads has Increased land values so enormously as to tax the financial resources of the railroads. The railroads may find that the only escape from this dilemma is to encourage the development of greater use of waterways. With our rivers deepened and locked and connected by canals and adequate water termi nals constructed on their banks, the great volume of heavy freight which pays the railroads low rates could be transferred to the water. Such freight as building material. Iron and other ore, coal and steel, could be carried more economically by water. The rail roads would be left free to carry only the higher-class freight, which would pay them a higher rate per ton per mile. The blockade in their terminals would be relieved by the elimination of whole tralnloads of heavy, low-class freight and the higher rate received by the high-class freight remaining would offset the constantly-growing value of the land occupied on which railroads must earn Interest. Such a policy would be in line with that of the owner of city real estate, who tears down a two-story .building and erects one of ten or twelve stories in order to earn Interest on the en hanced value of the site. Waterways have long been regarded as the means by which shippers may escape the exactions of the railroads. Tbey may vet be regarded by the rtUl- roads as their salvation from the de mands of a traffic which is growing beyond both their physical and finan cial capacity to carry. Sl PREJIB JISTICE HARLAN. In the death of John M. Harlan the United States Supreme Court loses one of its strongest figures. Even though one may not agree with his dissenting opinions, one must admire the Independence and courage which led him to dissent. What the people desire in their highest tribunal is not only deep legal learning, but the com bination with it of sound common sense, independence of thought, and a degree of statesmanship which will interpret the law and Constitution In harmony 'with the spirit of the times and with economic conditions. In the exercise of these qualities the court needs to be animated by a single minded patriotism which will rise high above bias, prejudice or personal or political advantage. tSuch qualities were displayed in general by Judge Harlan. The selection of a successor to Judge Harlan gives President Taft an opportunity still further to make over the Supreme Court. His own Judicial experience, his sympathy with popular aspirations and his proved soundness of opinion on current prob lems were displayed In the selection of Justices Lurton, Hughes, Van De vanter and Lamar and the elevation of Justice White to be Chief Justice. His Judgment has been sustained by the trend of recent decisions on im portant cases and by their approval by all except extremists. That he will show equal wisdom in selecting Judge Harlan's successor we con fidently believe. President Taft enjoys the unique distinction of having the appointment of a majority of the Supreme Court. Of the nine Justices he has already appointed four and the appointment to fill the present vacancy will make the fifth. Mr. Taft and his predeces sor, who have been committed to certain policies involving litigation be fore the court of most vital Im portance, will have filled seven of the nine places on the bench. Mr. Taft has also placed the seal of his ap proval on the appointment In 1894 of Justice White by making him the presiding Judge. The remaining one of the nine is Justice McKenna, ap pointed by President McKinley in 1897. The death of Justice Harlan re moves the oldest membeV of the court. Of the survivors, the oldest is Justice Holmes, aged 70. Chief Jus tice White and Justices McKenna, Day and Lurton are in their 60's. Jus tices Van Devarter and Lamar' in their EO's, and Justice Hughes, the youngest of all, is 49. As supreme judges go. It Is a youthful bench. NEW YORK'S SWOLLEN TOPVLATION. New York State Is steadily becoming a state of cities and towns where the only use for the country is to fill up the intervening spaces. Of the total population of 9.113.614 in the year. 7,185,494 lived In cities and towns and 1,928,120 In the remainder of the state: that Is, 78.8 lived in the cities and only 21.2 in. the country. How great is the drift from country to city Is Illustrated by the, difference in per centages of increase in 1910 over 1900. While the Increase for the whole state was 25.4. that for the urban terri tory was 34.3 per cent, and that for rural territory .e per ceni. .-sew ion City, that enormous hive of Industry, misery and luxury, increased 38.7 per cent, but other places of over 100, 000 gained only 22.4 per cent. The smaller cities of 25,000 to 100.000 are growing faster, their rate of increase being 33.8, and those of 2500 to 25. 000 have a slight advantage, their percentage being 24.8. Of the state's total Increase in population less than one per cent was contributed by rural territory. Of the 61 counties. 46 have in creased their population, the smallest increase being .4 per cent In Cattarau gus and the largest. 88.3 per cent, in Schenectady. Fifteen counties show a decrease, which ranges from .1 in St. Lawrence to 11.6 In Hamilton. Rural population decreased in 38 counties, urban population In only five coun ties. How great Is the influence of New York City on every feature of the sta tistics fci apparent. It contains more than half the population of the state and almost two-thirds of the entire urban population. The increase In the proportion of urban population Is al most wholly due to that city, the ratio for the combined urban population outside New York City being almost stationary. New York City has in creased In population about one and one-half times as rapidly as the state as a whole, and contributed almost three-fourths of the state's entire in crease during the last decade. Cities having between 25.000 and 100,000 population Increased about one and one-third times as fat as the whole state, while those of 100,000 or over, exclusive of New York City, Increased a little lest rapidly than the state as a whole. A study of these figures will convince the most casual reader that there is ample room forathe back-to-the-farm movement in New York State and ample explanation for the high cost of living. When four-fifths of the people of a state move into town and leave the other fifth to pro duce food for them they must expect to pay more or goi without some things. ANOTHER TRIST T1IROTT1 JJ1. The decree dissolving the electric lamp trust will have the effect of destroying a network of trusts .tan gled together as close as a bunch of snakes, and will deal a deathblow to the practice of fixing the price at whtch an article is to be sold all the way from manufacturer to retailer, which has been Increasing in vogue among the trusts. It will also stop the practice of using a patent to serve the ends of monopoly. The electric lamp trust shut out competition by compelling manufac turers of Its supplies to refuse to sell to any other lamp manufacturer. It continued Its monopoly In the a!e of certain articles long after the patent had expired by refusing to sell a dealer patented articles unless he bought his entire supply or the first mentioned articles from the trust. It forced dealers to sell its goods at prices dictated by it under penalty of being driven out of the business. Its tyranny thua reached all along the line from the producer of raw mate rial to the consumer of the finished product, its object being to create a monopoly and to . obtain . extortionate prices for its products. This far-reathlng combination has v-close. parailtsl la the plumbing busi ness of Portland, which is ruled by three trusts bound together In a triple alliance. The supply men contract to sell only to members of the employ ing plumbers' association, who in turn agree to buy only from the sup ply trust. On the other hand, mem bers of the employing plumbers' as sociation agree to employ only mem bers of the plumbers' union and mem bers of the plumbers' union agree to work only for members of the em ploying plumbers' association. By this means the public is compelled to pay three prices for plumbing. If the truth were known, It has prob ably been paying three prices for electric lamps. Trust magnates have been very ready with-explanations of the high cost of living, their favorite scapegoat being increase in consumption out of proportion to increase in production of the necessaries of life. This cause may be responsible for part of the Increase In prices, but when Attorney Oeneral Wickersham has completed his present campaign against the trusts we shall know better to what extent high prices are due to trust manipulation 'and to what extent they are due to economic law. . The movement to provide suitable and adequate quarters for young women In attendance upon the State University at Eugene Is commendable. It Is under the auspices of the Epis copal Church, and an effort will be made to provide at moderate cost Ideal living arrangements for all out-of-town women students who do not care to assume the responsibilities of sorority ritualism or who may not have an opportunity to do so. A sim ilar hall, but one totally Inadequate to the number of young women who attend the university, is maintained by the state, but for years past many young women have found It praoi tically impossible to secure accommo dations suited to their needs and cir cumstances In Eugene. The state has been remiss In this matter. It has housed the young men who attend the university in a suitable and adequate dormitory, leaving the young women, in the main, to get such boarding and rooming accommodations as they could find in city homes. The process is all wrong. The action of the Epis copal Church, as above noted, comes In response to the request of many mothers who hesitate to send their daughters to the State University, be cause they are by no means certain of finding for them suitable and pleasant places to live while pursuing their studies. The building contem plated will add greatly to the popu larity and prosperity of the State Uni versity as a co-educatlonal institution, in which the interests of young women are properly guarded. The census report on Irrigation in Oregon in 1909 takes the ground from under the feet of Director Newell of the Reclamation Service, who said that land wa not put under cultiva tion as fast s irrigated. The capacity of all Irrigation plants in the state in 1910 was 830,526 acres and the area under irrigation In 1909 was 686,129. acres, a difference of 144,397, from which must be deducted the new acreage put under irrigation in 1910. If Mr. Newell will supply the water, farmers will be forthcoming to put It on the land. Yellowjacketa are more plentiful. It Is said, than for many years past. At least they are more persistent In their raids upon the fruits of orchard and vineyard. At this statement the hoary prognosticator rises up and with wise wagglngs of the head de clares that this is an unfailing sign of "a hard Winter." A few yearn ago bonanza farming in the Dakota seemed remarkable, but the industry in the Inland Empire gets into the commonplace. For that reason the sale of part of the Drum heller crop of bluestem wheat for $82,500 receives passing notice. Klamath Falls, with possibly 5000 population, has three dally papers. Anywhere else this would be a great strain on commercial life, but Klam ath Falls business men believe in ad vertising. One man won all the cash prizes on potatoes displayed at the recent Linn County Fair. That Is the kind of man Oregon needs. As Puddinhead Wilson said, "he puts all his eggs into a basket and watches that basket." No sooner does- the housewife fin ish preserving fruit for the-Winter and reduce her demand for sugar to the minimum than the price of sugar goes down. What's the use of cheap sugar when you don't use much of it? If the Chinese revolutionists carry out their intention to make their government, like that of the United States, will they Include all the mod ern Improvements woman's suffrage and all? It Is In harmony with the Portland 6plrit that the new Public Library is to be built without outside aid and largely from the increased value of the present site, just gold. The depravity of the Hill murderer is almost equalled by that of the boys who conspired to fasten the crime on an innocent man for the sake of the reward. Resources of the banks of the coun try are .reported to be a billion dollars greater than a, year ago. but that is little comfort to the man with a proposition. There always seems to be direct connection between divorce proceed ings and women who have pictures taken very much decollete. Old John R. Walsh, out of Jail. Is renorted aa intending to go into busi ness again. If he does, he will be a mighty sane banker. Baseball fans will about have laid their rooting voices up for repairs when football fans get theirs in work ing order. With 33,000 acres near Prineville restored to entry, there will be some thing doing in Crook County by and by. r ' ' To keep out bubonic plague. Seattle orders alleys to be paved. This ac tion is rough on rats. The Taft campaign committee of Oregon Is made up of men who get results. Iditarod appears to be money t move ..the crop, short of REPLY TO MR. HENRY IS MADE W. S. t'Ren lurjnt, Vanconver Tax Sys tem Promotn Growth. OREGON CITY, Or., Oct. 14. (To the Editor.) I beg to submit an answer to the letter by Mr. Henry on the single tax In Vancouver In The Oregonian of October 12. Single-taxers claim that the exemp tion of personal property and Improve ments from city tax has been an im portant factor In causing the wonder ful growth of Vancouver. B. C, and in forcinar Victoria last year to allow j the same exemption. They believe that mis exemption tenas to inauue mi,.- ers to build on their property in Van couver who otherwise might continue ! to hold It unimproved. Mr. Henry does I not evoress an nnlnion on this Question. I suppose everyone who has paid any attention to tjie subject knows that British Columbia tries to tax every- j thing for state purposes. Just as Oregon does. As to Mr. Henry's doctor who has $200,000 in loans: Instead of demanding that men pay taxes In proportion to their ability to pay. or In proportion to the protection they receive, why not require them to pay taxes in propor tion to the value of the opportunity the government furnishes them? That is the principle on which Mr. Henry rents his buildings. The doctor he speaks of is well able to pay 100 times as much rent as some of the tenants are paying, but llr. Henry would not think of asking him any more rent for an office than he would ask the poorest young doctor in town. One man may be able to pay a thousand times as much as another for a street car ride, but the company demanils ex actly the same price from each, thoiiKti in one cace it may be the mans latt nickel. Many a cripple needs and re ceives from the government very much more protection than Mr. Henry does, but he does not pay 1-1000 part as-much for it In the form of taxes. The owners of the old shack fire traps adjoining Mr. Henry's beautiful building on Fourth street are using a lot, the value of which is created by all the people, and it is worth as much as the lot he uses. Suppose Mr. Henry is paying J5000 tax on Ills lots and building and they are paying $3n00; would it hurt Mr. Henry, or anyone else. If the tax on huiidings was abol ished and his neighboring shack own ers were compelled to pay $5000 tax Instead of J3000? Would that encour age them to put up a safe and decent building? Or, if only JS00O revenue is needed, would it be wrong to reduce Mr. Henry's tax to J4000 and increase the shack owner's to the same amount? The city is not furnishinar his $2000 doctor any opportunity that any other city would not furnish. If Portland In sists on taxlns his money he will either move It away or make the borrower pay the tax. W. S. U'REX. MRS. . Ul'NIWAY CIIEKHS KRI lO.MJ.S No Cause for Alarm Seen tn Anti-Suffrage Movement In California. PORTLAND. Oct. 11. (To the Edi tor.) The rape of our Los Anseles friends, the enemy, who threaten to prepare an appeal through the initia tive and referendum, to repeal th re cent triumph of the equal suffrage amendment In California, need not cause the patriotic women of Oregon any uneasiness. Should thnt little hand of master-ruled "antis" succeed In get ting their petition to a vote in 1912 tile battle would not he one-sided as be fore, for the women would have an equal chance with the men. and would surely vote them down. These "antis" are like elephants In captivity whose masters train them to ensnare, and if possible, enslave their more numerous classes of the free Junprle. The enfranchised women of six free states are wiser and warier now than the women Voters were in Washington Territory in 1S8B-87 when their poli tical masters succeeded in driving them into a one idea embrosrlio which cost them their right to vote on the eve of statehood but didn't "feaze" the enemy they attempted to assail. We still remember the futile at tempts of a few out-voted women of Oregon, who. in 100R. under the whip of their masters of the ruling sex, en deavored to switch the equal suffrage movement onto a side track. Let the large majority of the wo men of Oregon, who are anxiously awaiting their enfranchisement at the November election of 1912, possess their souls in patience. A few money mad "antis" will ncain attempt to overrule the votes or our patriotic brethren In the interest of their masters, hut they will only help us to victory, as they did in Washington and California. As a railroad could not move it's wheels without friction, so our cause could not proceed without opposition. It requires but little ef fort to place obstructions on a railroad track, but there are- always reserve forces ready to clear the way. There are mighty unseen forces at work for equal rights for women of which the average obstructionist little dreams. "It must needs be that offenses will come but woe unto them by whom they shall' come." So salth Holy Writ, and so echoeth the spirit of liberty, whose vibrations are filling the Oretron air. ABIGAIL SCOTT DUNInAY. Ciood Seen In Tax Anltatlon. PORTLAND. Or.. Oct. 14. (To the Bditor.)-HavtnK attentively read Mr. Wilson's letter on the editorial page of The Orettonlan. I want to hoist my sig nal of warning to Mr. Wilson: Unless he throws out" his anchor he surely will slide into the sinsle-taxers' ramp. He already concedes that money should not be taxed, because, being improduc- tlve in Itseir, it canton ut La.ir.... v. only attempted to be taxed when and wherever It is employed. Mr Wilson favors "the working of capital." hut he wishes to tax the banker and the merchant. As an old bookkeeper I. can inform Mr. Wilson that banker and merchant have in their ledger a tax account and do not care a tig how much they are taxed, as long as their patrons or customers will "stand" for It. All this tax agitation revolves round the question: , Shall the producer or consumer pay the taxes? If you put them on the former, he naturally wants to shift the burden onto the latter, and vice versa. Let the fight proceed: some good will come out cf it. It was only a short time since the "best people" looked upon slavery, as the "correct thing." Public opinion has changed and will change In spite of established privileges. In spite of slaveholders or land speculators. "E pure si muove" is as true today as when pronounced several hundred years ago. C. BIRCHER. Courts and Congress. NEHALKM. Or.. Oct. 13. (To the Edi tor.) Can you tell me which of the Supreme Justices presides over the dis trict Oregon is In? How many states and parts of states are in the district? How many Representatives will be in the House at the next session? A SCHOOL GIRL U S. Supreme Court Justices do not preside over districts. The U. S. Circuit Court Judges for tlie district in which Oregon is located are William B. Gil bert. EYskine M. Ross and William W. Morrow. Oregon Is in the Ninth Dis trict, with Alaska. Arizona. California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Washington and Hawaii. The House membership In the next session will be 391. The reapportion ment does not become effective until the election of 1912, after which the mem bership will be 4SB. assuming that Ari zona and New Mexico complete their admission as states. MUCH CREDIT DUE GOV. BENSON. T. J. Randolph Denies Clatina of Gv. West to Institutional Improvements. ROSEBURG, Or., Oct. 13. (To the Editor.) Studied efforts upon the part of certain Democratic newspapers at tempt to credit Governor West with all the recent Improvements in ana about the various state Institutions at Salem. According to news reports pub lished in these organs after the recent visit of the Portland Progressive Busi ness Men's League to Salem. Governor West is resoonsihle for about all that is good at the various institutions and there is a constana reflection upon the policies of h!s predecessors in office. I had the honor of being a personal friend of the late Governor Benson and from personal observation, I know that the various institutions were hrought to their present high state of efficiency largely through his efforts as well as the efforts of the different superin tendents. It was during the Benson administration that the new receiving ward, the central heating plant, the laundry building, the magnificent dairy barn and numerous other structures were built at the Insane Asylum. It was during the Benson regime that the new chapel was built at the Peniten tiary, new shops erected, old buildings renovated, old lamps discarded and each cell provided, with an electric light. The Benson administration also supervised the erection of new build ings at the State Institution for Feeble Minded, the new home for the School for Deaf Mutes, the State Tuberculosis Hospital, and the various improvements in and around the Capitol building. All of these improvements were made long before Governor West and his "Man Friday" Ohott assumed the duties of the offices which they are now fill ing. Governor West's apologists would also make it appear that the policy of self-support for state institutions orig inated with him. As a matter of fact, tlie Penitentiary, Asylum and other In stitutions have for many years raised their own grain, vegetables, fruit and garden truck. During the Benson ad ministration, convicts were worked at tlie brickyard, fair grounds, asylum and other institutions. - About the only "reform " which Governor West has es tablished is his "honor system" for convicts, hut the "system" has not been in operation long enough to have final Judgment passed on it. Sentimental writers have filled news papers and magazines with articles showing the cruelty that was practiced at the Penitentiary before Governor AVest's regime, but the prison record show that there have been no flog gings or other unusual punishments since the advent of Governor Chamber lain in 190.1. Throughout the entire adminstratlon of Governors Chamber lain and Benson the convicts were treated humanely and were given such liberties as. In the judgment of the Warden, seemed proper. In fact, under Governors Chamberlain and Benson the Oregon State Penitentiary was generally regarded as one of the best conducted prisons in America, and there is not a particle of truth In the stories about the "awful condition he fore West became Governor." Such stories spring from the fertile brains of sensational writers and henchmen of the Governor. It Is not my purpose to discuss Governor West's convict policy, but merely to explode some of the bogus claims that are con stantly put forward by the Governor's friends at the expense of his predeces sor in office that capable official and splendid man. Frank W. BenRon. THOMAS J. RANDOLPH. RATES AND THE PANAMA CANAL, Biff Ditch Will .Shorn- l"p Hallrmid Ab surdities, Relieves Writer. PORTLAND, Oct. 13. (To the Edi tor.) In Mr. Teal's elucidation of the state and interstate freight-rate con troversy, and The Oregonlan's able edi torial substantiation of it, another ab surdity looms up if the railroad conten tion is sustained, "that no freight or passenger rate can be proposed by state or Federal legislation that Infringes on a reasonable return on the cost of the system, and that the courts must protect it by prompt Injunction." This contention is now pretty well established, so that corporations swol len with watered stocks, bonds and mortgages to an extent from two to five times their actual cost, repose un der court protection and continue their enforced exactions safe in the arms of the law. The absurdity of this situa tion becomes more apparent when It Is known to a certainty that with the oncoming of the Panama Canal and the cheaper freight rate that will prevail from ocean to ocean, the seven or eight transcontinental roads now doing that service will be superfluities so far as the bulk of their present carriage Is related. What will happen then? Will the Federal courts enjoin carriage ot freights at less than the railroads can carry It without bankrupting them? Freights that now average $25 per ton across tlie continent will be not over $5 unless interdicted by the courts. Ahd when palatial steamships will desire to sail from our harbor with 3000 or 4000 passengers from here to New York at a rate not to exceed $30 each, will the courts under the present construction of the law enjoin them, as the railroads cannot carry passen gers to the Eunie termini for less than $100, and to permit it would deter the railroads from making proper earn ings? Likewise if four or five corporations, over-capitalized as Is the custom, are constructed and find that their lines from here to Salem, for instance, are not producing sufficient revenue, will the public be ordered to give them patronage even though they would pre fer to travel by automobile and ship freight by the river? The situation Is surcharged with such leads In one direction, court dictum seems to tend the other way. It will not be very long, however, before we shall see some ground and lofty tum bling over this matter. C. P. CUHRCH. Give and Take Fels-men. PORTLAND. Oct. 12. (To the Ed ditur) A neer as I can figger it out, there are two kinds ov single taxers them that wish ter give, an' them that wish ter' get! Since ye can't recall sum peepul like dogs and jedges, ain't there amy law ter shut a clothes pin on their tonsues? JOSH SWILLINGS. Guenm Wliof Thirteen Thousand Miles, Thirteen Thousand Smiles. Anil never once said "bully"! Four And Twenty States; Open Were The Gates, And never said "dee-lighted": Friends, Big, Little The People Laughed, Cheered, . Questioned, From street, spire and steeple. And not one was called a "liar!" William F. Fenton. N. NITTS ON UNREST By Deaa Collins. Xesclus N'itts, whose deep mind, at it best. Kept Punkindorf Station for j eai plumb impressed. Made pause in his chewing to let hf Jaws rest. While a nicotine stain down his shit front progressed; Then spake on the general state c unrest. , "By seannin' the papers with diligenc we see Tlia world, for a week past, has bee1 plumb uneasy; No sooner does one thing subside fo Than somethin' bcerins somewhere els breakln' loose. ' And so from the East clean around t tlie t-t It 'pears there's a general Etate c unrest. "In fact, things in general ain't bee: appealin' To me with sech general unrestfu eel In" Since 'fore '6t- or since maybe 'fore tha T can't scarcely see where we're comlr out at. This here Public Eye. of which oftei I've read. Must he fairly whirlin' around in it head. "There's strikes on tlie rallro.iils; th- Turks and the Dagoes Is startin' a riot, most everywhere the: goes; Down there in the South, these her- women, they win The vote, and then starts to repeal 1 agin: Baseball situations, they keops us li motion A-watchin' the scoreboards from oceai to ocean. "And China's revolted, and we have go that fuss To drive everyone, on a run fer ai a this, To learn to pronounce, in an uneon cerned way, Sech names as Kiangsu or Foo Yat Mov Hay All this right on top of the pains wr has spent. To learn how the 'Talian and Turke: names went. "Alaska, that once stood as firm as rock. Is changln' her map ev'ry hour by th' clock, 'Till most ev'ry morn, we must look t observe If she's got her coal lands still there t' conserve. Why 'most ev'rythlng in tlie whoh blamed crc.itlon Has got plumb unrestful 'cept Punkin dorf Station." Portland, October 11. KUMATH LAWYERS MAKE DEM.VI District Attorney's Office Defendei Agalnat Published Charges. KLAMATH FALLS, Or.. Oct. 13.-T' the Editor.) In The Oregonian Otfto her 11 there appears an article, date, at Klamath Falls, under the headln; "Kuykendall Under Quiz." which con tains statements Intended wholly t' of the firm of Kuykendall & Ferguson Had tlie writer of the article desirei to be fair and ascertain the truth, i was an easy matter for him to havi secured a statement of the facts a. they exist. He could easily have discovered tha' the court terms for Klamath County a established by law are in June am December of each year." He could alsi have ascertained that the rnurderei who was not In jail and whom he say was under special guard at a cost o' $1S0 a month was all of the time unde: the care of physicians and receiving medical treatment for injuries indictee upon himself In attempting to eommi suicide, and that it was on this ac count that he was not confined in jail lie could also have discovered tha many witnesses on behalf of the Stati of Oregon have bepn suhpenaed to ap pear before that body on December 4 and that their present whereabouts ar unknown to the District Attorney an that some of the members of the gran, jury, not expecting to be called unti that date, were not within the county and could not be found hy the Sheriff. He could also have ascertained tha' Mr. Ferguson resigned from the officf of Deputy District Attorney for . th, reason, as stated by him, that he pre ferred to resign rather than try th criminal cases without an opportunit of presenting all of the evidence on be half of the state, and for the furtho' reason that civil matters were demand ing his attention at that particular time. He could further have ascertainer'. that Attorney O'Neill never made an such statement in open court or else where as the article charges him with making. KUYKENDALL & FERGUSON. Sugar antl School Law. MEDICAL LAKE, Wash., Oct. 13. (To the Editor.) (I) What is the cause of sugar being so high? Some say it the trust: others say it is the scarcity. (2) To what age does the law compe! children to attend school in the Stato of Washington? C. BON JOUR. (1) Probably both. (2) The Wash ington law requires children who aro between their Sth and 15th birthdays to attend school, also those between end 1 who are not regularly engaged In some useful and remunerative occu pation. ... Napoleon Davis for Harmon. Napoleon Davis has sent to The Ore- i ...Un V. r. ,Tocf.,.lhnu a an nnan letter. it ronows. Portland, Oct. 14. Hon. D. M. Watson: Referring to our recent con versation, permit me to say that in my opinion Governor Harmon Is the man for the Democrats to nominate next year for President. Very" respectfully, NAPOLEON DAVIS Half a Century Ago Friim The Oregonian. October Irt. 1H1. We see it stated that Colonel Dryer was in bad health at the latest dates from Honolulu. Letters from his fam ily are silent on the subject, from which we suppose his illness was not serious. The Washington County Fair was to take place on yesterday and today. Our friends there have had bad weather. Fairs should not be held In October. On October 7 Oregon apples were sell ing In San Francisco at from 2 to cents per pound; pears at from 5 to 3 cents. M. B. Burke, of I'olk County, hns cultivated "Syrian wheat." a small quantity of which he . first receive.! from the patent office. It is a heavy, flinty wheat and yields large crops. It docs not make good flour, but it makes a fine meal, which very much resembles but is superior to corn meal. Mr. Stephenson has been progressing finely 1n making the road going soutn from this city. Persons who have sub scribed for this work may be assured that their money had been properly ex-