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WAT OCT FLAXS.
Completion by the official charter
commission of Its work ta time for
submission to the voters on the date
heretofore set. If completion shall be
accomplished, will afford a war to
arold a generally acknowledged dan-
s-r.
It la not questioned that a majority
of the voters of Portland deadre a com
mission form of city sovernment. But
U Is Admitted than the voters who
make up this majority hare different
Ideas of what A commission charter
should contain. This difference Is nat
ural. It la A matter largely of prefer
ence. The main thins; 1 A commis
sion government. If offered two chart
era each voter will express his prefer
ence by voting ainrmatlvely on one
and probably not necessarily by vot
1ns; negatively on the other. Voters op
posed to commission of any kind will
vote against both.
Let anybody who la In doubt take
Any reasonable combination of rates
And figure out for himself the out
come of this assumed method of vot
lnc on the Issue. If. for example, one
fourth of the voters oppose both chart
ers, those who favor some kind of
charter must divide between the two
charters In A ratio exceeding two to
ons In order to carry either. Defeat
of both If two are submitted Is more
than probable, although A worse thing
tnay happen. That worse thine Is the
Adoption of both.
That both charters should carry Is
entirely possible If Attorney-General
Crawford's construction of the law ts
correct. Eutrnt Is to vote on two
charters and the Attorney-General has
given ons of the Eugene committees
an opinion that the voter may law
fully vote affirmatively for each
charter, although they differ in ma
terial respects. Adoption of two
charters would mean that "the one
for which the greater number of
votes was cast would prevail In all
respects wherein there Is A conflict."
What A wonderful compromise of
charters such a result In voting would
Achieve! What A topsy-turvy Jum
ble of laws we would obtain fT the
vital Instrument of the city's govern
ment: What a time the courts would
hire In determining what was con
flict, where conflict began and where
conflict left off!
The dangers of. submitting two
charters In the same election are so
apparent that there need be no hesi
tancy In the msnner of Its acting on
the part of the Council If the problem
Is flnaHr presented to that body. The
situation seems to be this: A further
effort Is to be made by the official
and volunteer boards to compromise
on on Instrument. In the event this
effort falls the official board will en-
deavor to submit Its proposed charter
In time for an election on January .
There Is strung probability thst It
will succeed. The volunteer board
Acknowledges its Inability to complete
Its proposed charter In time for the
flection and has asked postponement
of I or 40 days. The way out of
the dilemma thus opens of Itself.
If the two boarda can Agree, post
ponement will do no harm. If they
cannot agree the thing to do la to
holl the election on January to
submit the charter that Is then pre
pared. There Is no need and can be
no excuse for enu-ring Into probable
disaster at the behest of A commit
tee that Is self-constituted and wholly
Independent of official sanction.
THE COM I NO Kr.HMOX.
Probably the first subject to come
before Congress when It meets on le
cember wl.l be the wool tariff. The
report of the Tariff Hoard on that
subject Is to be submitted on Decem
ber 1 and will no doubt be accom
panied by A message from President
Taft recommending action on that
section. He hw ntrea.ly expressed
the ortnlon that the wool tariff should
be reduced and may be expected to In
dicate the degree of reduction he con
siders Justified by the facts which the
board reports.
Accompanying or quickly following
the wool report will come A report
from the Tariff Hoard on cotton, on
which the ITcsidont Is also likely to
recommend action. Thcso two sub
jects Are cloeely related, as Cotton Is
more and more used a A substitute
for wooL The Wmot-rat leaders In
the Howe have been gathering data
on these schedules Independently of
the Tariff Hoard and will probably In
troduce bills boused on these data and
reducing other tariff schedules as well.
If they can renew the alliance with
ths Ir-ourrunt Senators and keep their
own rar-ks Intact, they can pa their
bills throuk-h the Senate, it wll de
pend on how nearly their new iK-hed-
M't harmonize wltn the flndincs of
the Tariff Board whether the Presi
dent will arrrove th oo! and cot
ton bills, but his vetoes of the bills
parsed at the last s'Siton Indicate that
he will veto any other bills dealing
with schedules cn which the Tariff
Itoard has cot reported.
The President Is expected to renew
his recommendation of Federal Incor
poration and supervision of Interstate
corporations. The Insurgent Senators
rr.ay make reenmmenJut.or.s of their
on. though It Is probable that they
will await a report from the commit
to) on Interstate and foreign com
merce, which has been making an ex-
' hsusMve Investigation cf the respective
merits of competition and combina
tion a prlnrlplcs on which businivs
should be conducted. 1'1-ifP of Min
nesota, an Insurgent. Is chairman of
this committee, and Oummirs of
J jwa. another Insurgent. Is a member.
Third In Importance of the subjects
' to com before Congress la the re-
vision of the land law, especially with
A view to leasing coal and phosphate
deposits and wAterpower site- This
will bring up the whole Alaska con
troversy and the creation of a gov
ernment for that territory. A strug
gle of long duration may be expected.
The President will Again attempt to
secure the establishment of A parcels
post In the face of opposition from the
express companies and the country
merchant. The British And French
arbitration treaties will occupy much
time In the Senate and will have to
overcome the opposition of Senators
who are over-Jealous of the preroga
tives of their chamber. The report
of the National Monetary Commis
sion will be presented, but action At
this seslon Is scarcely likely, as pub
lic Interest has been centered on other
subjects and the publlo will not have
had Ume to digest the report on so
Intricate a problem before the session
ends.
HEAPING XT CTS THt FAKWF.lt.
A writer who recently disposed of
A farm In one of the so-called single
ax provinces of Canada tells In The
Oregonlan today of receiving A tax
statement calling for the payment of
1ST taxes on this farm, which was
valued for taxing purposes at IJOOO.
This Is At the rate of 29 mills. Nor
was the valuation of 13000 A low one.
as Assessed values go. The farm re
cently sold for $5600. ths price pre
sumably paying also for Improve
ments. Ths fArm was assessed, there
fore. At t.S per cent of Its true value.
What do the farmers and city lot
owners think of this example of how
single tax shifts the burden to the
s peculator T
The man In Portland who owns A
house and lot worth $5800 now pays
on A valuation of about $3300 and at
the rate of 12 mills. In Portland,
with all Its delightful amenities, with
Its educational advantages and Its
household conveniences and luxuries."
the owner of a $5600 house and lot
pays $73.(0 taxes. On the "bald, bleak
prairie" of sinicle-tax Canada. the
owner of a $5500 farm pays $17.
It Is probable that some one of the
alias band of Fels-pald writers will
reply that no province In Canada has
resl single tax. Of course, we un
derstand that. Canadian tax Is only
single tax when prospsrity Is men
tioned. It ts not single tax when the
results are questioned. Moreover, sin
gle taxers are not proposing the Can
adian system for Oregon. They would
g further and heap more taxes on
land than even the Canadian western
provinces do. What the prairie farm
would pay under the Pels plan can
only be conjectured.
xirw LAW aCTERXLT TZSTCIX
The recent disaster In the powder
works at Chehalls wtll put a severe
test on the practicability of the new
compensation law of Washington At
one of its weakest polnta As hereto
fore explained, haxardous employ
ments are classified and where pos
sible grouped under this taw. Each
class or group as A whole bears the
cost of compensating Injured employes
of the Individual members.
Obviously some employers who have
had no accidents among their work
men will in some years have to con
tribute to compensate workmen In
jured through the carelessness of
other employers. It h '-s been con
tended that this charge Is not likely to
prove more burdensome than ordinary
indemnity Insurance, but on the other
hand It has been asserted that where
A group or class la small In number of
members heavy burdens may be shift
ed by careless employers onto careful
ones.
There Are probably not more than
two or three powder works In Wash
ington, and powder works are grouped
with no other haxardous employments.
Each powder factory Is assessed 10
per cent on Its yearly payroll. The
ChehaUs factory has paid In $710. In
dicating a payroll of $7:00. The Du
pont works near .Tacoma objected,
prior to the explosion, to paying Its
assessment 0n the ground that the
Chehalls plant was extraordinarily
hazardous.
It has been estimated that the Du-
pont Company's 10 per cent assess
ment would be about $3500. Its pay
roll Is apparently about II times as
great as that of the Chehalls plant.
The compensation to be paid the rela
tives cf the girls killed at Chehalls
111 approximate $10,000 and If divid
ed between the two companies ac
cording to size of payrolls, the Tacoma
factory would pay In excess of $9000
of this amount.
The law. however, seems to have
rrovlded In pert agnlnat this appar
ent Injustice by giving the commis
sion authority to raise the rate of any
factory found to be extra hazardous.
Some partly equitable distribution of
the burden may therefore be worked
out. but apparently there Is a weak
point In the law that must be cor
rected . If It has been construed as
news reports Indicate. It would seem
that Justice to the hazardous Indus
trie but sparsely represented In the
state would require a new grouping
so that the burden of the larger dis
asters might be distributed In a way
cot to cause financial embarrassment
or unusually heavy losses to factories
that have by dll:rence and care kept
themselves free from accidents.
GFK.MAXT DRIVES A BAD BAROAIX.
Germany has been decidedly worst
ed In the settlement of the Morocco
dispute with France. Plssenslons In
the Cabinet, caused by the terms. In
dicate this, even before one examines
tne terms, tor ino colonial aiimsier
has resigned to express his dissatis
faction. Germany gives up all her claims on
Morocco and concedes to France a
protectorate over that country, pro
vided the other powers which signed
the Alreclras convention consent.
They will naturally do so. for Ger
many Is the or.ly power which has
been unwilling to grant France a free
hand in Morocco. Germany Is given
none of the special rights she claimed
In Morocco. France only renewing the
pledges of economic equality and com
mercial liberty given to all the powers
In former treaties.
In return for this final abandon
ment of her shadowy claims on
Morocco. Germany Is given the least
desirable part of French Congo. This
Is 250.000 of the 450.000 square miles
of area, but obviously the most
sparsely peopled part of the colony.
for the ceded portion contains only
1.000.000 of the (.000.000 Inhabitants.
It comprises a narrow strip bordering
on the Girman colony of Kamerun
and extending southward probably to
the equator. From the Atlantic
Ocean It reaches eastward to the
Congo, taking In from four to seven (
miles of the bank, then extends north- I
ward aloes; the M bangs River, a tnb- J
utary of the Congo, and onward
to Lake Tchad. Germany now has
half of the south shore of Lake
Tchad Included In Kamerun and ap
parently gains the other half. The soc
iinn nt i-vnh fnntrn between the
j ceded territory and the British Sou
dan, extending through the neart oi
Africa to the Sahara desert, into
which France Is creeping from the
north by way of Algeria, remains to
France. This strip and the Belgian
Congo combine to prevent the realiza
tion of German)-', dream of a trans
African railroad from cast to west, all
on German territory.
ITti n it u rlear title to an
i undeveloped empire of Immense
wealth, close to her own snores, in
exchange for a comparatively worth
less strip of tropical land which she
does not particularly desire and where
It Is Impossible to establish a perma
nent white colony. She will now have
a continuous coast line In the western
half of North Africa from Cape Bon
in Tunis to a point on the Atlantic
opposite the Canary Islands. She re
tains the most valuable part of French
Congo, which borders on the Congo
P.lver.
There will be bitter complaint In
Germany and general satisfaction In
France over this bargain. The satis
faction will extend through Europe
In England because the Kaiser Is
worsted In the game of diplomacy and
war Is averted. In other countries be
cause a source of danger to the gen
eral peace Is removed.
A TRIBrTB TO CAKRIK IfATtOM.
The memory of Carrie Nation,
whose death occurred within the year,
was fittingly honored by ths women of
the National Christian Temperance
Ur.lon recently In session in Milwau
kee, Wisconsin. As the name of
this militant temperance worker of
troubled life and much adverse criti
cism was called, every woman In the
conventlor. reverently bowed her head
In silent homage to a co-wor'.ter who
had the courage of her convictions,
and who. when legal appeal was vain,
went about, trusty hatchet In hand,
wrecking saloons that defied the law.
This silent homage of the women
of a great organization whose chief
weapons against the liquor traffic are
prayer and protest should not be In
terpreted as an Indorsement of the
warlike methods of Carrie Nation In
fighting the liquor traffic. It was a
tribute rather to an earnest, perhaps
misguided, but fearless, woman who
was ready to dare all and do all In be
half of temperance, according to her
Interpretation of that principle. What
ever may be thought of Carrie Na
tion's methods, however sincerely her
tactics In opposition to saloons may be
deplored; though futile as measured
by results, her onslaught with her
hatchet proved her slngloness of pur
pose and the moral and physical cour
age with which she pursued It com
mand respect. The battle which she
waged single-handed was replete with
Incidents before which a coward
would have taken flight. Prison doors
closed upon her; ridicule and con
tumely were her portion; a plan was
formed while she was in London the
purpose of which was to capture her
end force whisky down her throat
until she was Intoxicated and turn her
out upon the streets In this condition.
The cheap wit of the press assailed
and pulpit venom pursued her. Her
husband forsook her and friends eyed
her askance. Finally, spent with
physical exertion and mental unrest,
and without money, she went to a
kindly retreat, where, after a few
months of the only quietude she had
known In years, she died, among her
last wordsTielng: "I did what I could
for humanity according to the light
given me." Who, Indeed, has done
moreT
It Is In view of this fact, without In
dorsing possibly while regretting as
unwise the methods by which Carrie
Nation sought to prevail against an
unscrupulous traffic that the dele
gates of the Woman's National Chris
tian Temperance Union bowed their
beads In silent homage when her
name was called In the memorial
service of that body of gentlo, prayer
ful temperance workers. Who shall
say that the homage was undeserved T
TUB FASSCCO OF IDA IfWTS.
On October 14, in the golden and
crimson glow of October, Ida Lewis,
for . fifty-four years keeper of the
Lhne Rock Lighthouse on the Rhode
Island shore, finished her work,
folded her hands and passed serenely
out upon the great uncharted sea
that all must sail. She was born In
Rhode Island on February 25, 1842,
and therefore lacked four months of
completing her seventieth year. When
she was 15 years old. a block-eyed
elfin child, alight but strong, her
father was appointed keeper of Lime
Rock Light. He soon thereafter be
came a paralytic, and, though light
house keeper In name It was his In
trepid little daughter who cared for
the light and effected rescues.
Ida Lewis had long been familiarly
known as the Grace Darling of Amer
ica, A rating which her friends resent,
saylns; Instead that "Grace Darling Is
the Ida Lewis of America." Specify
ing In the matter of her right to the
reversed tltlo. It Is cited that Grace
Darling saved five lives "from the
dread sweep of the down-streaming
seas," while Ida Lewis saved eighteen.
She was the first woman to hold the
position, the duties of which she dls
chargfd with faithfulness and cour
age for more than half a century.
It was not, however. In the dull
routine of lighthouse keeper that the
fame of Ida Lewis wos acquired. It
was as a llfesaver In which, breasting
tho n-rcest gales of Winter on a storm
beleaguered coast, she repeatedly drew
benumbed, half-drowned men out of
the water aud by skill and dexterity
with the onrs safely landed them.
During all this time of stress and
peril Ida Lewis was acting roe part
of mother to her brothers and sisters,
all of whom were Invalids, and as
nurse for her paralytic father and
feeble mother. Death came frequent
ly to the Lime Rock Lighthouse and
rils coming to brothers, sisters, father
and mother was In turn mot with
course ani hepe by the steadfast
woman. She wns married late In life
to a man named Wilson, but the mar
riage was not a happy one and the
break that It made In her life routine
soon passed. '
The walls of the room which she oc
cupied so many years, and in which
but now she died, were hung, with
medals attesting her valor as a life
saver and with testimonials of appre
ciation and admiration of her work.
Among these la a Congressional gold
medal; tho Cross of Honor of the
American Cross of Honor Society: a
gold medal from the State of Rhode
Island and A silver medal from the
American Llfesavlng Society. In the
midst or all is a neatly rramea lec
ture of her English sister llfesaver,
Grace Darling, and of her grave on
the English shore.
Thickly strewn with pathetic Inci
dents is the life story of this brave
woman of the sea. Tet withal her
life was one of Abounding cheerful
ness and ever-present hope. Her pic
ture In her little boat, taken many
years ago. Is that of a smiling but
earnest-faced young girl, holding her
oars with practiced hand; her latest
picture is that of a woman early old.
yet with serene face and eyes sugges
tive of the backward look that be
longs to thoughtful age. From a slim
girl of 15 to a septuagenarian of ma
tronly proportions Is a far call. The
eyes In the first look upon life, fear
less, shy and questioning. Those In
the last are the retrospective eyes of
experience. The Interval which sep
arates these two pictures Is dim with
the shadows of half a century of
patient, strenuous service in behalf of
family and humanity. Tet woven In
and out through the warp of the
years Is the bright woof of brave
deeds, ready service And unquestion
ing obedience to the coll of duty.
Brave and kind Ida Lewis! Her life
la as A tale that Is told a tale that In
review Is Illustrated by acts of hero
Ism that would try the courage of the
bravest among men, and with tender
ministrations that adorn womankind.
Seventy years! What a brief span In
which to write the record of a Ufa
so full as hers I
imo rtnarh m. vonna Portland XI
paperman who went East several
years ago, ts making good as A maga
zine writer. The November Every
body's publishes an article by him en
titled "Just Wops," which brings out
most forcibly the Indifference to
human life shown by the contractors
of great enterprises and industries.
"Wops" Is a slang term for Immigrant
laborers. They are killed and Injured
at their work by wholesale, robbed by
their employers and boarding-house
keepers, and their heirs are robbed
by casualty companies and under
takers, no record even being kept of
their death. In Pearson's Mr. Dosch
has "Des Moines Beats the Middle
man," telling of the signal success of
that city In reducing the cost of liv
ing by establishing a public market.
Both articles are well written, full of
concrete facts and well worth reading.
When Kyrle Bellew and Mrs. Potter
ret out to play "Cleopatra" together
they advertised the ilesh and devil
part of the drama more than Its other
beauties. The response was edifying.
Their audiences were large and the
attention was. seemingly rapt, but
there was no applause. When Cleo
patra made those unqueenly exhibi
tions of her person which she and
Bellew had artfully arranged the
spectators may have been blushing for
her. They acted as if they were.
Americans are often entertained by
Indecent plays but they usually have
the grace to be ashamed of them
selves for It.
Man Is a mere amateur In crime
compared with a woman who sets
about It resolutely. Lucretla Borgia
murdered so divinely well that she
not only disposed of her victims but
she has won many modern historians
to aver that she was an angel of In
nocence. Most of the wholesale
murders we read of were done by
women, or at any rate with their
connivance. Mrs. Vermllya, of Chi
cago, Is the last, but certainly not the
least, on an Illustrious roll.
A woman who can manage A family
of twenty-one children, serve on A
Jury And have time to spare for a
campaign of education among the fu
ture women voters of California Is
worthy to be called a captain of In
dustry. Mrs. Borskey comes near to
being a superwoman.
The Vassar woman Investigating
economic conditions says Los Angeles
women are poor buyers. If she will
defer her visit until the "sales" season
she will not say that of Portland
women.
Mr. Rehkopf Is, of course, to be
congratulated on his potato record,
but where else than at Murphy, Or.,
should a man be able to raise 200
pounds of "murphies" from three
pounds of seed?
If John Davis should be convicted
of forgery and If Patrolman Hyde
should. have a chance to act as guard
over him at Salem, Hyde might get
compensation for splitting that cord
of wood.
People who never get south of tho
capital will be surprised to learn that
Medford has over seventeen miles of
paved streets and this season laid six
miles each of water and sewer mains.
Tho person who steals plants from
a cemetery held the low record for
depravity until crowded up by the
thief who stole her patrons' clothing
from a washerwoman's line.
Vale calls Itself "the last frontier,"
which Is Inconsistent with possession
of the largest Esperanto club in the
state and litter cans on Its street
corners.
The people of God's Valley, in Tnia
tnock. are asking for a postoffice And
will not wait for Hitchcock's aerial
delivery of mall.
Tho Lane County Apple Show last
week again proved that when It comes
to apples the old Willamette Valley
has tho goods.
If the salesmen succeed In destroy
ing the tipping system at hotels, they
will have earned the gratitude of all
who travel.
Sitting on the edge of his own grave.
Champ Clark has a vision of Taft in
his. Champ Is becoming altogether
too spooky.
Foreign noblemen who marry
American women seem to be short of
either money or morals and rarely
havo both.
Reciprocity between the Portland
Rose Festival and the Seattle Pot
latch would promote the success of
both.
The commercial travelers can stop
the tlpvlng nuisance and they have
the nerve to do so.
Taffs turkey is being fed on chest
nuts at Westerly, R. I., and. may have
An effect oo th meanaa-e,
CALIFORNIA PLAN UNDESIRABLE
Writer Believes Amendment at Recall
Should Eliminate Polities.
PORTLAND, Oct. 6. (To the Edi
tor.) The writer cannot refrain from
expressing his unqualified approval of
the editorial appearing In The Orego
nlan October SL In reference to the
Innovation in the recall system adopted
i by the State of California At Its recent
eleotlon.
It Is. indeed, a vicious measure,
wholly depriving the lnoumbont, or
person sought to be recalled, of a fair
opportunity for vindication. It places
the lnoumbent at an obvious disad
vantage and unfair position with re
gard to his opponent. Under Its pro
visions he cannot be a candidate to
succeed himself but must stand or fall
on a majority vote for or against his
recall. In the event he does not re
ceive a majority the candidate among
the opposition forces receiving the
greatest number of votes will be elected.
Therefore the candidate opposing the
official to be recalled needs only to
secure a plurality of the opposition
votes to be elected, while the official to
be recalled must receive a majority vote
in order to retain his office. It Is,
therefore, apparent to anyone that if
the question at issue were purely a
political one, which would be the case
99 times out of a 100, the Incumbent
would stand about as much show of
retaining his offloe as the proverbial
snowball In the tropical hereafter. Such
a condition would be cream for the op
position, and the recall In the form
provided would serve as an Incentive to
the trumping up of almoBt any charge,
regardless of faots; the opportunity to
do so being unL...pered, inasmuch as
the sufficiency of the grounds for re
call Is not to be questioned. It would
serve as a bludgeon In the hands of
the minority for clubbing the majority
into submission.
It would be the height of folly for
Oregon to follow In California's foot
steps, but there are political doctrin
aires who would have us do It. if for
no other reason than simply to bring
about a change and stir up agitation.
Oregon better call a halt and try out
Its present political experiments be
fore It emasculates any of Its present
untried Innovations for the accom
modation of the theories, of other or.m
monwealtha The writer Is a belluver
In the Oregon system, that Is, In the
principles of that system, but he Is not
so blind that he cannot see that It con
tains obvious defects, which time and
experience alone can remedy.
The Oregonlan has the right Idea
when It contends that the recall Issue
should be tried out without under
taking to elect a successor to the offi
cial under fire, sad also when It says
that It would be well to appoint the
successor to the ousted official. We
should be more ready to trust our pub
llo officials than we seem to be. While
we have had corrupt and unscrupulous
publlo officials. In the past, have them
now and will always have them, they
are vastly In the minority. A spirit
of confidence In our publlo servants
should prevail. We can trust the ap
pointive power. This procedure would
obviate the calling of another special
election and the expense attached
thereto. If the ousted official were the
Governor, then the duties of his offloe
should devolve upon his successor as
provided for In the Constitution In case
of removal, resignation or death. We
trust the appointive power In filling
vacancies occasioned by removal
through Impeachment, resignation or
death. Why not in cose of removal by
virtue of the recall! The appointment
of a successor to a recalled official will
serve to prevent the recall being re
sorted to merely to make possible a
scramble for office and Its emoluments.
It might be well In this connection. If
possible. In amending the present city
charter to provide for commission gov
ernment, to Insert in the charter a pro
vision for the election by the commis
sioners of a vice-chairman of the com
mission to act as Mayor during the
absence or Inability of the latter to act,
who should become the successor of the
rea-ularly-eleoted Mayor In case of his
removal, resignation or death. Spe
cific provision should be made to in
clude In his removal, removal by the
recall- Then the commission could
proceed to select the new member of
the commission, the new commissioner
and Mayor to serve until the next
regular city election. In other words,
the vice-chairman should act in a capa
city similar to that of the present
president of the City Council.
In all oases, state and municipal. It
should be provided that the successor
of a recalled official should not serve
out tne unexpireo wnu . "
cassor If a regular or general election
Intervenes between the time the new
official assumes offloe and the expira
tion of the term of his predecessor.
If we cannot trust the appointive
power, then hold a separate election on
the subject of the recall of an official
and a separate one to elect his suc
cessor. GEORGE L. MYERS.
CAXADIAX S-AIUI IS HIGH TAXED
Former Owner of Prairie Land Tells
How Georm-e Theory Works Out.
PORTLAND, Nov. 4. (To the Edi
tor.) The chief argument of Oregon
elngle-taxers seems to be that Canada
has single tax and Canada is prosper
oua Naturally the slngle-taxer Judges
his readers by himself, offering them
the sort of reasoning which appeals to
his own Intelligence. Our self-esteem,
therefore, should not take offense at
the quality of his argument.
It Is true that Manitoba. Saskatche
wan and Alberta farmers pay no taxes
on Improvements or on personal prop
erty. It Is true also that Saskatche
wan and Alberta are making more
rapid growth than any state In our
Union. Mr. ITRen and his co-advocates
appear to attribute this abounding
prosperity to Canada's single tax. But
why single tax alone? Why not Import
Into Oregon some other of Canada's
prosperity-making lawsT For instance,
the law by which a man may sell his
single-taxed farm, and all of his tax
exempted improvements and personal
property, including his wife's bed and
her cook stove, without even the form
ality of informing her of his Intentions.
Canada la prosperous under her present
laws, good and bad. She has laws
well worth copying, laws that would
make for the prosperity of any Nation
for example, her most excellent bank
ing law. She has also atrociously
bad lawa 61ngle tax is a small cog
in Canada's vast machinery. The Ore
gon slngle-taxer's contention that it is
the whole machine. Is puerile, silly.
The Canadian farmer tolerates single
tax In common with other unjust Can
adian laws, because he Is a slow-mov-iLg
entity, with a pronounced predilec
tion for letting well enough alone. He
made a grand demonstration of this
i a twmnw from the tArmln-
ology of the Christian Scientist.
We have yet to learn that any one
of the Oregon single tax advocates has
practical knowledge of the workings of
the single-tax law. We pay taxes In Can
ada. We have Just received the tax state
ment for a farm which we sold a few
months ago for $5500, time. For the
past six or seven years Its assessed
valuation has been $3000. The taxes
this year are $S7. Is there a $5500
farm In Oregon taxed $87, including im
provements and personal property? We
have paid taxes In four states of the
Union, but we never knew how bur
densome taxes could become until we
found ourselves paying taxes In single
tax Canada.
Portlanders grumble not a little
about their taxes. Let them wait un
til they get a taste of single tax. We
do not pay taxes as high In proportion
In Portland, with all Its delightful
amenities, with its educational ad
vantages and its household conveni
ences and luxuries, as we pay on that
bsad. bleak piece of prairie.
MARION B. CLEVELAND.
1 WHATS DOL1U I-" UIWW.l lAJt.i a I 1
ttlaws for Tart's Flak Course.
Astorlan.
An niinolsan has provided an 185
pound pumpkin for President Taffs
Thanksgiving dinner and it Is now up
to Astoria to send him a 60-pound
Royal Chinook Salmon In a cake of ice,
to go with ltl
Deer Was Fearless.
Eugene Register.
Sunday afternoon S. E. Stevens and C
C Myers drove to their farm near
Elmlra on a short outing with Mr.
Stevens' auto. They got out to look
about and while wandering about near
the spring, they noticed a fine doe come
walking leisurely across the meadow
toward them. It came to within a few
rods of them when they stepped out
from behind a fenoe which hid them
and the pretty creature stopped and
looked at them an Instant, then
turned and bounded away in the direc
tion It came, waving the white flag
of peace aa she ran.
Waere tbe Editor Is Remembered.
Brownsville Time.
The Times was presented this week
with a sample of dried prunes from ths
$0 -acre prune orchard of C J. Lawson
near Shedd which are the finest we
have ever seen. Mr. Lawson ploked
3000 bushels of prunes from the. $0
acres and will realize a neat little for
tune from the sale of the dried fruit.
The sample was brought In by J. N.
Fruit,
The Times was presented this week
with a number of heads of cauliflower
from the Goble farm east of town.
Never have we seen so large and splen
didly developed cauliflower as these.
The Times acknowledges with thanks
a liberal supply of delicious oake from
the Carlson-Louden wedding.
Held a Deer by the Tall.
Hlllsboro Argus.
W. O. Jacobs and Dick Hundley went
to Patton Creek, Sunday, on a deer
hunt, and took to the hills with Bert
Russell, a brother of the game deputy.
The boys entered a little basin that was
oompletely filled with fallen secor.d
growth, and found two does In the en
closure. A little dog which was with
them the dog was not chasing deer,
however Jumped at tho doe and she
made a lunge to get out of "the sticks,
nearly knocking Jacobs down. He
punched her away with the end of his
gun, and the deer made back into the
timbers, when Jacobs caught her and
held her by the tall for fully two
minutes, according to his own story,
and in this he Is corroborated by the
two companions.
HOW TRUSTS MAT BE HANDLED
Writer proposes Government Control
Only of Monopoly's Prioea.
PORTLAND, Nov. 6. (To the Edi
tor.) In The Oregonlan the question
of competition and monopoly has re
cently been discussed. Would It not
be possible to provide a system com
bining the benefits of each system of
Industrial procedure, and avoiding as
far as possible, their evils a system
of supervision by the Government un
der regulations laid for the various In
dustries to operate upon charters to
be Issued to each and to remain in
force so long as they comply with the
conditions therein T
No system can of course succeed
without the proper men and officials
at the head of the governing bodies In
such matters. Whatever the ultimate
policy to be adopted, few will dissent
from the proposition, that where a
company, corporation, union, "trust"
or other so-called body of Individuals
has secured a monopoly of the manu
facture or production of any commod
ity or article of common necessity, said
combination becomes a matter of pub
lic Interest and public or semi-publlo
Institution and the people, or govern
ing power, has a right to see that It
Is conducted In such a manner that it
will not Injure the publlo welfare.
What powers of regulation suoh
should Include Is a matter for experi
ence and time to determine, as the
system. It may be readily seen, would
affect the people In a moral and men
tal as well as a material sense. Civi
lizations are gradually modified, dif
ferent habits, appliances and wants op
erating In a divergent manner with
different people and races. What
might today suit the Japanese or Afri
can races might be detrimental at this
stage of existence to the Aryan or
white or possibly some other Asiatic
races.
In case the Government takes over
an extended system of supervision new
methods will probably be necessary.
Experts will be needed with suffi
ciently broad powers, and under such
tenure of position that they will have
time to develop new plans and to
devote their whole time and Interest
to such service.
It Is obvious that such regulation
may require regulation of prices as
well as other matter when cotmplalnt
Is made by the public as to ltustlce
In the same. Any price of any com
modity where same is controlled by a
corporation becomes, or should be
come, a matter of inquiry at onoe, as
competition being eliminated or prac
tically so, the publlo has no recourse
or law Including the law of supply or
demand to Interfere with the will of
those In control of the industry or
product concerned. It Is also obvious
that the Government In such case
should be under obligation to protect
the rights of the manufacturer as well
as of the publlo and, where any price
has been fixed In case conditions
change, to Increase the Bame if neees
sary to secure a fair profit.
JOHN a DAVIDSON.
pins? Ponst Is Revived.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
T notice the arrival at Hankow of
Admiral Ping."
"Qolng to consult with General Pong,
no doubt."
"TAPS FOR THE TWO BY FOUR."
By Ort Overs.
The old mill by the log pond stands
Gray-grown, dismantled and forlorn.
Deserted by the discipline of hands
Which 'round Its gracious lap were
born;
Bereft of all Its brighter days
Of prowess great have known.
It clamors not, but mutely lays
Its sorrows down and stands alone.
Majestlo relic, scarred and torn,
A stout old pioneer you were;
Tour duty's done, your burden's borne.
Their memory strange emotions stir;
And If your form Is bent and spare
Still In Its faded outlines He
Bold traces of a sov'relgn air
Which sunsets seem to sanctify:
The rythm of your saws has flown.
Perished their need of poise and
skill:
With moss and rust and filth oer
grown Disfigured shapes your shadows fill;
And vermin nest and silence falls
Where once of old life reigned com
plete And mingled with the bustling- calls
Of your fair morning clear and
sweet:
A shapeless pile of crumbling wood
Will soon in sad demeanor lie
Full o'er the soot where once you stood
And braved the forest's dark defy
Where once of old your challenge rung.
Resounding full In fearless note
Where once your might with clangor
swung
And on the forest fastness smote.
Portland. October SO. 1911.
N.Nitts on Spook Witnesses
By Dean Collins.
Nesclus Nltts, he whose cerebral pan
Held thoughts that astonished the Pun.
klndorf clan.
Looked long at a bug on an empty oil
can
And nailed It with nicotine Juice as It
ran.
And then a long talk upon spirits be
gan. "The oourfs of the land has a curious
way
Of turnln' loose somethln' plumb new
every day;
And the newest of all Is this Frisco
affair.
Where sperrlts Is beln called in from
somewhere
To prove whether one Dr. Howland
may be
O'er Mexico's line, or In eternity.
"It seems that the sperrits themselves
has some doubts
Anent D. Howland's exact wherea
bouts; Which might be explained, or so It
"pears to me.
By fact that some sections in Eternity
May simulate Mexico's nature almost
Exactly, thus somewhat misleadtn' a
ghost.
"However, my lnt'rest is mainly con
cerned With future results. If the oourts has
shore turned
Their 'tention to raldln' ethereal places.
Subpenaln' sperrlts to witness In cases.
Jest try and conceive how plumb curi
ous It looks
To 'magine a habeas corpus on spooks.
T shorely objects to this new-fangied
plan.
Imagine now, how you'd feel, if you
can,
Bupposin' you'd shuffled this here cage
of clay.
And donned your new wings, and was
twangin' away,
On a new golden lyre, and some angrel
should fly
Down onto your cloud, with this sort of
a cry:
" 'Jest lay by your robe an 1 your harp
fer a spaoel
You're wanted as witness In Hlgglns
hawg easel
They figured your ghost could give
some sort of clew!
The medium's sent a subpena fer you!
Jest say what you llke I maintains
that this ain't
No way fer our oourts to be treatln' a
saint."
Portland. November 4.
Half a Century Ago
From The Oreronlan, November 6. 1861.
It is understood that the proceedings
on the death of Colonel Baker will
take place on Saturday next at tho
Methodist Church, commencing at 1:S0
o'clock. Rev. Thomas H. Pearne has
been designated as speaker on the
occasion.
We dont trouble ourselves to frlre
the report of the, elections in the East
for they are all one way Union.
It has become a common occurrence
for the Columbia River steamers to
bring to Portland large quantities of
gold dust. These amounts, now larre,
will probably be quadrupled next sea
son. The Julia brought down $30,000
In dust Monday night.
On the afternoon of October 27 In
Jackson County an affray ocourred on
Sam's Creek In which Orville P. Scott
was killed by a rifle shot by Robert
Wilson. From evidence given before
a Coroner's Jury It appears that Wil
son aoted In self defense. The diffi
culty originated from a political dis
ousslon. Scott was a Secessionist. His
parents reside In Yamhill County.
A charitable ball will be given In
aid of the school that Is under tha
charge of the Sisters of Charity on
Wednesday, November 13, In the Gym
nasium Hall. Committee on arrange
ments: S. J. -McCormick, J. D. Cremen,
Jaoob Meyer, James Ferrell. J. P. Den
nlson. M. O'Connor, W. P. Burke,
Thomas E. Byrnes, M. F. Gallagher, J.
Webber. A. Farg-Aly, P. Crane.
Conntry Town Sayings by Ed Eowe
When people abuse you unjustly,
they are usually praising some other
man more than he deserves.
The women's magazines may do a
great deal for mother and the girls,
but they sure make a great deal of
trouble for pa.
Whether people View With Alarm or
Point With Pride, they delight in exag
geration. Doing something for others has be
come a passion with Americans; but the
oold facts are, we n:ant the Lord and
the railroads to do it, and give us the
credit.
Every very slow man is pretty apt
to be called "Hurry" by somebody.
I sometimes doubt that a man work
ing his way through oollege Is entitled
to the praise and admiration usually
attaching to It.
If you had the power to Injure your
Opposition as much as you cared to,
without being known in the affair
Honestly, now, how hard would you
hit him?
Instead of loving your enemy, treat
your friend a little better.
WILLAMETTE VALLEY IMPRESSES.
Minnesota Visitor at Omaha Land Show
Resolves to Come to Oregon.
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 31. (To the Edl-.
tor.) Having recently planned, with
some other families, to locate in the
northern part of California or Ore
gon, I have been much interested in
all that was displayed or depicted from
the Far Western section at the Omaha
Land Show, Just closed.
To me and my friends who attended
the travalogues, the most convincing
logical and reasonable statements were
In regard to the Willamette Valley
from Portland up as far as Eugene by
D. C Freeman.
The seetlng forth of the points whloh
appeal to those like myself, who seek
such normally equitable and mild oli
matlo conditions as were described, was
most interesting. The Willamette Val
ley had the best exhibit and it made
a great impression because of the won
derful diversity of resources and the
fact, as emphasized, that irrigation In
that section Is not Indispensable.
An almost confusing mass of Infor
mation about Irrigation or Irrigable
sections was seen and heard and, so
far as I can recollect, the Willamette
Valley was the one district that stands
out different from all the rest exhibit
ing there as not really needing to be
irrigated and still producing very ex
cellent crops. I am not seeking fur-
.1 i.,rt,i.,lfmi That wnnrict-fnl vfll-
iii a i luiuiui-.."-. . - . -
ley is in my mind and we will certainly
. . I . T T3 Ii Ml I'l'I'H'
DO QUI XO seta i l- 0. duuiiiiu.,.
"Mnrphles" From Mnrpby.
MTJRPHY, Or.. Nov. 3. (To the Edi
tor.) Just recently I read in The Ore
gonlan that Claude' Nutter had
harvested 190 pounds of potatoes,
having planted six pounds. He did
well, but this year I planted three
pounds "Pride of .Multanoma" pota
toes and raised 200 pounds of potatoes.
Can any one beat this for a potato
profit T AUGUST EKHffOPI1.
A
I
t