10 - Tirn !ronNTN-o okegoxtan, "wedt:sdat. February 28, 1913. fOBTXAXD. OBEOO. nera4 at Portland. OmojL Poatofflaa ana-iHa Hiliar. ataarlpuoa Hataa Invariably A"1 fBT V1II.I rTr. mT tnrluaxt. ana rear. ..... I'al'r. vui!ar Inrludad. six manth.... rJ!r. Imidf Included, tnraa month. J X'i:r! without SundAf. una Tr. ...... IW I'alijr. without Sunday. ! montha..... X-aily, without Sunday, threa months.. - I "r. without Huadajt, month...... .JO Wt.klr. an yj- Sunday, aaay. ar auadajr lad ftMklr. m aaar. ......... ' " (BT CARBJIB.) PafTv. Pntif tnrlnlod. otia Tear...... rally. Bandar Included, ana month. .... Maw tat Itawtlt Hnd Poatofflen maaey tf -r. asaraaa order or peraonal check on your fecal LtBK. stamps, coin or riui' i I I the aandafa na. Give poatoflica fuX tn-ludtn co an t y ul atala, rwun Maim. la to la caaaa. t aeat: 1 to H aa.aa. 2 eaata: ta - paaaa. contat ao to no pacaa. a eauta. rorla poataaa. Aanbia rata. n N.w Tart tirnnawlcM bulldlBC. Cbl- caro. aiecer butldln. Kaiapiaa Ukl .Na. Recant auaa. W Laadoa. PORTLAND. WEraXKSDAT. mi. U. 1U. I JtOMlXATTJTO RmfB ONE ELSE. Colonel Roosevelt says that ho will hiva na unkind words for the Taft Ad- KH1 r liai."i ,i v... .v.. v. til . V- . following hi hat ha proJcted mm- ...... T-ia?, r w a-v iib. i i v iiviurr v i aiw i voiuum , rlor. Theso are but different chapters of the- same tory. that of the retreat of the red man before th white from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Northern Lake to the Southern Gulf. The atory la not without path on. Shadowed here by injustice, there made lurid by the torch; again written In blood. Its general trend la ever and ever the name, It voice 1 already that of echoes, far away, and another century of a scarcely moving show will complete the tale. The scepter of ab original power and the sword of con quest will rust together, and the long battle of civilization on the American continent will be gvon. There la a story In It that never will be fully told. In the nature of things this ta Impossible. Tet here and there all along the years an Incident, or a chapter of this story, quaint and wild and far away, will break through the mists of time, a tift In which Is made by the mention of the death ef some actor In the far-away drama, the an nouncement of which recalls the for gotten fact of his existence. self Into the ring. One may with near safety expect the Republican Presiden tial nominee to be either Taft or Ronimelt, but there must remain the palbiUty that one or more other can Otdatea v.111 find themselves In posses sion of the balance of power. La Fol lette will go to Chicago with at least tae Wisconsin delegation supporting htm. Cummins. It Is hardly to be doubted, wi'.l have a solid delegation from Iowa. The two together, perhaps one alone, win muster a force that the two stronger candidates may have to deal with. It Is therefore perhaps not wholly Idle to speculate on the outrome of a deadlock In the convention. If leadership of the Ttoowvelt movement remains In It. present quarters, the prospect of a getting together of tho Taft and Roose velt del. cations is not bright. One or the other must have sufficient strength of his own to win. It would seem that neither could eitpect aid from La Fol lette. The turbulent Wlaconaln Sena tor has rone out to b-at Taft. lie was g;vrn encouragement Implied, per hap, but conitrued as encouragement by Ronsevrlt to seek the nomination La Folletto has supreme eon.idence In hjnwlf. With his old supporters fall lr. frm him he will not give up. Llt t.'e likelihood 1 there that he villi later aid the man who has edged him out of t.le race. As for La Kollctte himself. It Is not conceivable that Republican traders would turn to him as the one ho could heal party differences and bring about Republican success. But v. hat of Cummins? In the remote contingency of a dead lock th Ipwa Senator's now dim po tentiality as a candidate of the party xn'cht be expected to grow brilliantly and his ultimate choice would not be wholly out of the question. Cummins. It Is said, was graduated from the post ef attorney for a big railway system Into Insurgent politics of his own voli tion. This happened when the "Iowa Ura" on the tariff question was young, i:ut whether he was educated up to progressive Ideas after he left the rail road's employ or discovered their value while In corporate employ Is a matter of small moment. At any rate, he got 'he Iowa worklngmen solidly behind htm by advocating changes In the rail, road laws for their benefit. lie was i long time on the road to the Senate. spending seven years as Governor of the state, between the time when he '. rt became a Senatorial possibility i.r.i the day of his election Thre is nothing in Senator Cum mins Iowa rerrd that would need dls urb party leaders and much that .-oiiIJ commend him to the voters. He made and unmade numerous laws af tectlng corporations, always with an re to Justice toward the people. While lie has criticised and bombarded the rtandpat wing In Congress, his attitude lias been more argumentative than In-'oU-rant. He has not made so many t-nd such bitter enemies as La Kol- : -tie has. and has acquired a greater i umber of warm friends. An accusa tion that he would smn-'h the i arty If he could not lead It would not : against him as It would aga'.n-t La ''olleite. He has perhaps been as ml- f-roscoplc In searching for Taft's ml tskes and as blind to good lit his Ad :nlm.traUon as other Insurgents have. but has not been so loud about it. In other words, Cummins is soroe- vhat of the type of Borah of Idaho. Ho I a steadfast progressive, but has not ben ofT'nslvely factional. IlecouIJ hardly be Imngtnrd .is leading a party split, for he has confined his tactics to an attempt to win his party to his way of thinking. He has not hammered or bultld. or threatened, or sought to tear down. He ha, withal, main tained the confidence of rtie progres sives, who would undoubtedly follow Ihttn In solid jtrencth. Cummins, how ever, could probably not gt the regu lar strength unless the nomination rame a the compromise of a deud kv'k. That I to say. a coalition of the Roosevelt. I -a Follette and Cummins delegates on the Iowa Insurgent and against Taft would not produce a united party. Rut If his nomination came as a general compromise without humiliation to any element In the con vention. Cummins could probably go farther than any dark horse yet men tioned In cementing dlfTerence In the party at Iare. to whether or has made good. Rut the entire basis of the Roosevelt candidacy is the assumption by Colonel Roosevelt, and the declaration by his friends, that Mr. Taft has not made good. Else why Roosevelt for Presl dent in 1912, third term or no third term, Taft or no Taft T We are a little troubled about the Republican platform for It 12 if Roosevelt shall be nominated. It will be a grand document, saying a great many things, but meaning about the following: RaaoWea. That wa point with pride to and view wtth aattafartlon tha many gran htvmnta of tha Anmtnlatratlon of KepubHcan Praaldwnt. Hoaornbla Wlllti Howard Taft: tharafora ba It K-aotTd. That wa nomlnata for that ex alted ofsca aome one ;aa In tha perenn of our biuvei ex-rreeider.t. Monorab.a Theo dore Kooeeveit. Running" a Republican campaign on a platform of rejection and repudiation of a Republican President will not ba an easy Job. a the riu-xiiKvnAi, ntEmcxcx LAW. The Presidential primary act Is the law of Oregon. It Is a part of the Oregon system, which. In its funda mental structure, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Oregon Ian will not Join In any undertaking to upset the Presi dential primary law; nor does It ap prove the attitude of certain members of the Republh-an state centra com mittee who refuse to be reconciled to the new order of thing. They may as well take their medicine. They will take It In time, willy-nilly, The Oregonlnn has heretofore said that there ought to be no objection on anyone's part to an Immediate ap peal to the State Supreme Court for an authoritative and final Interpret tlon of certain features of the law. It will be recalled that the original an nouncement by members of the cen tral committee of their purpose to go to the Supreme Court was accompan ied by a specific disclaimer of any plan or desire to attack the primary law Itself or to Interfere :n any way with a full, fair and complete expres sion by the members of the several parties of their respective choices for President. Is It possible that the com. mlttee has receded from that correct nd laudable position? It Is well enough to know whether the unusual limitation placed upon the Individual voter In the act per mitting him to vote for one candidate for National delegate and one candi date for Presidential elector is valid. There Is grave doubt about It and it ought to be cleared up. How many members of any political party will defend It? It is not at all the sole concern of the Republican central committee. It affects the right and opportunities of every voter In Ore gon. For that reason the appeal to the State Supreme Court ought to be Joined by the managing committees of every party in Oregon. If the other parties decline to Join, the Re publican committee should drop the agitation. It Is a serious matter for any Republican voter to be partly dis franchised If he Is disfranchised by the law; but it Is not so serious as the prejudice and suspicion that are aroused by constant attacks on the primary laws. lines; the demand of charity and philanthropy upon her are also greater. For these and other reasons that will readily suggest themselves to thoughtful minds, the teachers' rainy-day fund grows slowly, if at all, while every year after twenty-five years of steady strain and endeavor subtracts substantially from her use fulness and shadows her enforced re tirement. For these reasons a retirement fund for superannuated teachers Is a wise provision. Such a fund Is in the nature of a trust fund and should be carefully . safeguarded. The rules governing its handling and Investment should be plain and rigid, without the possibility of exactions in the way of Increased dues or possible assess ments. The Interest charges for de ferred payments, etc., should be mod erate and equitable and no- specula tion In the funds should be permitted. In brief, the simplest rules of finance should govern it, and its equities should be unimpeachable. Honestly administered, absolutely without fa voritism and with a fine sense of Justice that holds comradeship with philanthropy, the fund which this or ganization pledges should, and doubt less will, be a blessing to many in life's late afternoon, whose long years cf labor would otherwise be followed by other years devoid of ease and comfort. This is the material side of the question. On the ethical side we find that the man or woman who has taught thirty years In the public schools is entitled to a recognition for the services rendered that a moderate pension from the school fund suggests. A MXXICAX RETXRJE. Of course the annexation of Mexico to the United States Is nothing more than a dream. Many persons call It a bad dream, and perhaps they are right- Still It is sometimes interest ing to consider a proposition which Is a mere vagary of the mind. Even If Mexico never can become incor porated with this country, it Is per missible to speculate upon what the consequences would be If such a thing ware to happen. What should we do if It never rained again or If all the politicians should die suddenly? Topics like these present a certain attractive ness to the intelligent mind. We like to dwell upon them In moments of reverie. In the same way we may In nocently divert ourselves with the question how Mexico would fare as a part of the Union. It Is also Just as well to ask how we might fare as bed fellow with Mexico. The difficulties In the way are no doubt Insurmountably great. We do not speak the same language. . Our hereditary laws and customs are dif ferent. Mexican national pride Is very substantial thing. It could not tolerate the loss of Independence without severe pangs. Still national pride does harm as often as good. Peoples have sometimes allowed It to direct them to their se rious Injury. Perhaps pride Is as likely to mislead a nation as a man. Ity join ing the Union the Mexicans would se cure free trade with us. which would be an Inestimable advantage to them and to us. The imaginary line which separates the two countries is a very appreciable barrier to international commerce, while, of course. Industrial Interchange of all sorts goes on less freely than It would after the union. Americans would acquire the right to help make laws for Mexico, but on the other hand the Mexicans would help make laws for ns. Their country would carve up Into several magnifi cent states, each of which would bo represented in Congress and have an equal voice with the others. We might sometime have Mexicans on the Su preme bench, k'r even a President of that nationality. The possible results of the union would be numerous and far-reaching, but we see no reason to be afraid of them. Mexico would gain a great deal, but we could hardly lose much. must be obeyed by fraternal order as well as by the stars. Originally It was supposed that life insurance, both cheap and safe, could be procured by the simple device of an assessment upon the survivors as often as a mem ber died. The contribution from each one would be small and deaths would be so infrequent that nobody would be burdened. This was the theory and It looked extremely attractive. As , long as the average membership was composed of young and vigorous men It worked well. Deaths occurred but seldom and assessments came only at long intervals. But time wrought dis astrous changes. Inevitably the average age of the membership Increased and with this Increase of years came a growing death rate and more frequent assess ments. The old belief that' enough new members could be brought Into the order to counterbalance the Inroads of age proved to be fallacious. It could not be done. The consequence was that the burden upon the surviv ing members became too, heavy to be sustained. In the end few new mem bers could be obtained and the vari ous orders were threatened with fail ure. Some of them did fall, to the dire loss of their members, who. In many instances were past the age when they could obtain other Insur ance. The orders which survived were obliged to modify the assessment plan. Often a regular monthly payment was substituted for It. In any case a load ing was provided for to, counterbalance the increasing old-age death rate and the payments began to be computed according to the mortality tables. At first the fraternal orders supposed that they could safely ignore these tables, but sad experience taught them better. But there were still difficulties rh the way. Even after it had been de cided by many fraternal orders to compute Insurance rates by correct mathematical rules It was almost Im possible to persuade the members to raise the payments to the safe and proper limit. The cheapening effect of the fraternal principle was exag gerated. It required a new danger of bankruptcy to overcome this reluc tance. Some orders never did over come It and their end needs no com ment. Tho Modern Woodmen have fortunately taken the bull by the horns before it was too late and set tled the question once for all in the only possible way. A rise of almost BO per cent In the rates will appear severe to many members, but when they contrast It with the total ruin of the order, which has been avoided, they win find no good reason for complaint. Naturally the new dispen sation favors the older members in many ways. This, of course, must be done at the expense of the younger members. Besides the loading of the rates which would compensate for their own old age. they are required to submit to something more for the benefit of their comrades who have borne the burden and heat of the day. It Is believed by the leaders of the order that the fraternal principle Is strong enough to stand this strain. No doubt they are right. Even with this slight disadvantage, fraternal Insur ance Is still so cheap and, under the new rules, so safe that It has every prospect of competing successfully with the old line companies. ROOSHVELT PLAX KOT FAVORED Writer Believes Recall of Deelaloss Strikes at Fundamental Principle. LEBANON. Or, Feb. it. (To tha Editor.) The" statement of Colonel Roosevelt In his address to the Ohio constitutional convention last week on the recall Is the most remarkable, It seems to me, which that versatile gen tleman has uttered In recent years. I am not an advocate of, nor a believer In the recall In any event. The offi cers In that state and, in fact. In all the states are chosen for compara tively short terms. In this state no officer Is elected for a term longer than six years and these are limited to the Judges of the Supreme Court and Circuit Court. All other officers, state, county and municipal, are chosen for one, two or four years. I believe the people can and do and will choose of ficers whom it is safe to permit to remain In office for a single term, and then. If they have not proven capable, efficient or worthy, to eliminate them at the ballot box is far safer and surer than any recall, and would be much more economical than any recall sys tem. The people will use more care and Judgment In the selection of of ficers if they know they are to remain in office for a fixed term than If the officers elected can be turned out at will by a vote. So I would take Issue with the Colonel on the recall in gen eral and In particular on the recall of court decisions. The theory of Mr. itoosevelt to have a recall 0.1 judicial decisions instead of the Judges themselves I deem go ing the limit and is the most danger ous of all, as It affects the funda mental principles of government. The recall of a Judge now and then might not be of great concern, but the recall of a judicial decision at once strikes at the very foundation of safe and sta ble government and the security of life and property. - The decisions of the courts of the land are , the bulwark upon which the business of the country and the rights of the people have rest ed for more than a century. It seems to me to offer a system by which these may be questioned and set aside by anybody and everybody is little less dangerous than anarchy. I am ready to admit that now and then Judges of the higher as well as of the lower courts render erroneous decisions, which may and sometimes do great Injustice) to a few Individuals, but such may be expected until human judgment and action Is perfect and man can do no wrong. A few cases of error and wro-g which occur now and. then are not to be compared with the ivils which might and could come from a system which attacks practices and systems which have endured among all people of all nations since human rights and civil courfs and governments have been es- 1 tablished among peoples of the earth, j Such an utterance and system, com ing from a Fels. U'Ren or even a Hen ry George, might go as a passing com ment, but. coming from Roosevelt, gives It a different significance and makes it the more dangerous. Such a svstem. would give to the discontented and malcontent the power to overthrow the mature and studied Judgment of the highest and ablest courts of the land, whether right or wrong, and at one fell sweep would endanger the fundamental security of life and prop erty. N. M. NEWPORT. Half a. Century Ago GOOD AUTHORITIES CLAIMED. The Oregonlan has received a letter from Mr. John Jones a suspicious but prudent citizen whose real name Is to us unknown suggesting that one of the reasons why The Oregonlan sup ports President Taft Is the "enormous mall subsidy from the Government re ceived by The Oregonlan." This mall subsidy matter Interests us extremely. In view of the fact that The Oregonlan sends a large part perhaps tho great est part of Its papers to its out-of-town subscribers by express. Will Mr. Jones let us hear from him again, with more definite details? He appears to know something about the mall service that has escaped the attention of all others, Tho Oregonlan Included. . ixrinrvr ix ax oia story. Fur many years Feo, the Insane chief of the Unvttllla Indians, has been confined In the Federal asylum far Indians at Canton. South Pakota. He t spoken of as aged, though but seventy-five year old an nr at which, according to popular tradition, an Indian brave who wa born and who lived until past m'JJIe life, out of door, should be still vigorous and m-.in-ely past hi prime. However this may be, Umatilla Pro Is harmless and In response to the r'"a of Ms daugh ter, who live upon the Umatilla res rratlon, he has been allowed to re turn to his native heath to spend his remaining years. The name of Chief Peo and hi achievement in early life belong to the traditions of a vanishing rare. Hi story. If written, would doubtless be one of courage and adventure, hair breadth escapes and blood-curdling horrors. It has perhaps been told In dup'l.Mte a thousand time between the time of Massnsolt. King Philip and Tev'iinis,-h. ard that f Sitting Hull, the Sioux; Mnsrs. the Ncx Perec; Ge yonlmo. the Af ache; Spokane Gary and pe-pu-mox-mox, the Taklma war-j the TrAcirms k.aixt pat fund. The teacher of Multnomah County have carried out a long-cherished plan that of organizing for a retirement fund for those of their profession who shall have taught school for thirty consecutive years, ten of which shall have been In the Multnomah County district. Ry the terms of agreement which 350 teachers have signed and hlch have been authorized by the state Legislature, the funds for ear ning out the provisions for this an nuity shall be provided by a monthly tax compulsory upon the members, to gether with 1 per cent of the county school fund a assessed yearly. A fund of 150.000 will be raised before any annuities are due or payable. The maximum annuity will be SS00 a year. to be paid from the date of the an nuitant's retirement. The scheme has long been cherished by the older teachers of Multnomah County. Quite a number of these will be eligible to pension under this agreement as soon as the volume of the Tund will permit. Naturally the younger teachers are not so devoted to the idea as are the older ones, yet quite a number of these have Joined the ranks from a sense of loyalty to or from a fee'.ing of philanthropic in terest la- their seniors In the profes sion. The provision made by the organ ization will, as time goea on, relieve the teachers' dreams of the stalking ghost of old-age penury, which often haunts them. It will Insure comfort to the year of enforced retirement that follow the active year of teach ing, which cover a third of a century. and permit the faithful teacher to rest serenely upon his or her hard-earned laurels. Figure that have been carefully compiled show that It is a practical Impossibility for the average teacher upon the average wages or salary of the short school year to live and ac cumulate a competency during effec tive working year. The woman teacher Is perhaps eight times out of ten the bread-winner for others. The cost of her living, even If she has only to provide for herself. Is greater than that cf womea worker 1a manjr other 1 KRA TERN AX, INSURANCE. The new Insurance rates which the Modern Woodmen of the World adopted at their Chicago meeting will no doubt place this fraternal order on sound financial basis. According to the actuaries, the rates which have been supplanted were only about 63 per cent as large as they should hive been. It follow that the new pay ments are, upon the whole, almost double the old ones. Concessions of many desirable sorts are made to older members. Various Insurance plans are placed at their disposal and some of them are even permitted to charge a third . part of their monthly pay ments ngalnst their final settlement with the order. But the fact remains that necessity has forced an increase of almost SO per cent In the rates. A threatened deficit of $270,000,000 In the treasury of the order has brought home the obligation to act to the most conservative and reluctant members. That something of this kind must be done sooner or later has long been foreseen. As early as 195 W. A. Northcott. of Springfield, Illinois, who was then head consul of the order. tried to secure an Increase of the rates, but shortsighted members thwarted hi efforts. It was not at that time as well understood as it Is now that fra temal. or assessment. Insurance does not differ essentially in its mathemat les from old line Insurance and that it must be g4ded by the same princi pies. It was supposed by many that the Influx of new members would for ever free the orders from the neces sity of "loading" rates to provide for the growing proportion of death as the average age of the membership increased. This, of course, was a fal lacy, but It has taken years to con vince the fraternal orders of Its In validity and some of them are not yet convinced. Fraternal Insurance may well be cheaper than the old line be cause It can avoid certain expenses. Agent need -not be employed with their heavy bills for service. The ma chinery of administration can be sim plified and economized In many ways. Moreover It Is well known that old line Insurance loads the rates more than is really necessary In order to build up an imposing surplus. These and diver other useless expenses fra ternal insurance can dispense wtth and thu cheapen the rates. But there Is a limit below which the cost of insurance cannot fail with safety to the policyholder. To Insure a person with a certain expectation of life cost a certain sum of money. What the cost Is has been accurately ascertained by the experience of many generations of actuaries. This basic cost Is the same for fraternnl as for old line Insurance. Any order which tries to go below it in figuring out monthly payments Is predestined to bankruptcy. The law of ma thematic The preacher-Mayoi of Hoqulam, Wash., has aroused great indignation among the citizens of that city because he officiated at the marriage of two denizens of the under-world. While this man and woman are not Ideal candidates for holy matrimony, the morals of each seem to be on par wtth those of the other and It Is supposed to be the duty of the state and the clergy to encourage marriage as against law less cohabitation. Hence It is dlflicult to see what all this row Is about. Is an old man Justified In killing his young wife and her companion when they attend a theater after he has for bidden her to go? That fs the prob lem at Tacoma as culmination of fam ily trouble between a man of 64 and wife of 23. The husband pleaded guilty of murder, but court and the publics were disposed to be a little easy on him. The age of th other man was 38, and in that fact lies the moral of an unmoral affair. Aatt-Vacrlnatlonlnts Defend Statements of Callfornlans. PORTLAND. Feb. 27. (To the Ed ltor.) W have not seen the circular of the California Anti-Vaccination League, which Is the subject of your editorial this morning, and it may contain mat ter quite Incredible: but if the worst is contained in the statements you quote, then, it seems to us. It is more reliable and susceptible of verification than are the counter-statements which you of fer. For examplo. Dr. Barney. Whether he is correctly quoted or not by the circular, he is nevertheless a Brooklyn doctor who tlyee or four years ago made some strong statements relative to vaccination which were widely pub lished at the time In the press of the Enst and Middle West. Then there is Lieutenant - Colonel Henry Lippincott, deputy surg:eon-gen-eral and chief surgeon of the Eighth Army Corps in the Philippines. He was gentiine enough and Important enough to figure to the extent of 20 pages of report in the report of Surgeon-General Sternberg for 1S99, which is contained in our library. We do not possess the report for 1900, which con tains the figures to which you object, but in a pamphlet addressed as an "open letter" to Dr. J. A. Egan, secre tary of the Illinois State Board of Health, the author, Alexander r. Scott, a Chicago lawyer, gives a table of smallpox statistics, which he states he obtained from the War Department, and the following Item occurs: "Philippines, 1900, 246 cases, 11J deaths from smallpox." ' Here Is a statement In a pamphlet which has had a wide circulation, and which has never been questioned not even by the health official to whom It was addressed. It can be verified with out much trouble by any one doubting Its authenticity. On the other hand, will you kindly Inform us where you find authority for your, -statement that "in the good old days before vaccination was discovered, it was common enough for entire com panies of troops to perish of smallpox"? HEALTH DEFENSE LEAGUE. From Tha Oregonlan of Fabruary 28, 1S62. Immediately on the receipt olf the new of the belligerent attitude of England in relation to the Trent dif ficulty, the United States steam frigate Lancaster, then lying in the harbor of Panama, double-shotted her guns to be prepared for an emergency. On be coming aware of this fact, the British war steamer Tartar, which was lying off the harbor at Taboa, Just within reach of the Lancaster's guns, the lat ter vessel being out of her range, double-shotted her guns also and draw up within fighting distance of the Lancaster. Fortunately the next in telligence brought assurance of a peaceful nature and the hostilities were indefinitely postponed. The Sacramento Union of the 12th inst. says that their overland telegraph dispatch In the issue of that date was transmitted from Chicago at 10:45 A M. and received in that city at 9:05 A. M. on same day. making a gain of one hour 40 minutes on time. This Is said to be the quickest time yet made in telegraphing from the East. We noticed some miners yesterday bringing in a fine large buck, which they had killed In the adjacent moun tains. These California miners seem to have a correct idea of killing time while waiting for the river to break up. They fish, hunt, dance, boat it on the river and have all manner of ways to enjoy themselves. G. W. Vaughn has commenced suit against the City of Portland for dam ages In the sum of $17,000, which he alleges he sustained by the removal of a frame building from his wharf in the year 1859 by the then city au thorities. Sheriff Starr served the papers on Mayor Brech yesterday. Potatoes are selling in this city at $4 per bushel. Much dearer than ap ples. The plledrlver Is now constantly busy driving piles along the city's front. The Chinese journals are filled with accounts of the capture of Nlngpo by the Talping rebels, whose advances the allies were said to be on the point of uniting to put down. From Japan we learn that some dif ficulty had occurred in regard to the opening of Yedo to foreign trade. Sev eral additional ports were soon to be opened. s Mr. Chnrch Extends Sympathy. PORTLAND, Feb. 27. (To the Ed itor.) In the recent past you have con tributed so much to soothe the troubled spirit of Democracy on account of a diversity of candidates for the Presi dency on our side, taking us tenderly by the hand and Inclining us to sit de murely at the feet of Governor Harmon as our very best, who would shield us from the malign influence of Bryan, Wilson and Champ Clark. It would be sadly amiss in the present juncture on your side of the fence, in the Intrusion of Teddy the Terrible on the scene. If no one rose to condole with you. If you will permit It, I am sure I am voicing the desire of 19 out of 20 Democrats that there should be a re spectful complimentary return of woe strain. That Roosevelt should at this untime ly hour Intrude himself on the peaceful outlook In which our President was moving In placid calm to an Insured renomlnatlon must provoke the elect to rise on their haunches and cuss in tedious iteration the mischance that some of the African Hons strangled and swallowed In his forays had not swal lowed him. But little can be said to mitigate a grief that must pervade an ardent fol lower of the G. O. P. at this unfortunate intrusion. Had not Gipsy Smith wrought a change in cussing propensities, I would write in some towering anathemas commensurate with the occasion, but, as it Is, knowing that nothing can avail, I can only unite In sentiment with the German at the battle of Gettysburg, who, as the balls came thick and fast, threw down his gun and started to run, exclaiming: "D n Christopher Columbus: he discovered America!" C. P. CHURCH. Fashions in Cars By Dean Collins. BT PEAS COLLINS. All satiate with mushrooms, fried, And rarebit I might not digest, I hied me to my humble cot And sank to an uneasy rest.. In anguished dreams I 'writhed and beat The air, and flnily with my feet Upon the pillow. Bnored I on And dreamt that many years had gone. In future years methought I stood Upon a curbstone, gazing far Adown the busy, teeming, street And waited vainly for a car. An aged man paused by ray side. "When comes the car, good sir?" I cried. Full dolefully he shook, his head; "We don't have cars no more," he said. "How so? And why?" I queried then. "No cars? Forsooth it is a shame." He pulled his grizzled beard and sighed; "The women's fashions are to blame. For years the railways kept In chase Adapting cars to fashion's pace. 'TIs 30 years agone," said he. "Since they went into bankruptcy." ' "First, ev'ry car step was let down Until It wellnlgh scraped the dirt. In deference to fashion's laws Which made the narrow hobble skirt. Next Spring tall hats were all tha rage. And carpenters must they engage To model all the cars once more. With a high roof and slender door. "Hats widened out next year. The oars Were changed again. The doors were flared Wide at the top, so any maid Could enter freely. If she cared. Lo. to what malice fashion stoops Next season, maids were wearing hoops. All cars were hurried to .the shop Because their doors flared at the top. "Thus change on change came in full fast; Fashion each year essayed some feat That, In a stroke, made all the cars Of the past season obsolete. Thirty years back, the company Was driven into bankruptcy," Full dolefully he shook his head; "We don't have ears no more," he said. Country Town Sayings by Ed Howe Probably you know a man who does petty things "just for meanness." Let rr.e make a prediction about him: ha will gradually become bolder, and land in Jail. y man going through bankruptcy Is another case of a man trying to come back. What mothe would a home be lace curtains? Prominent religionists of California have undertaken to bombard . high heaven In the hope of opening some of it closed window so that rain can come through. Since they have deter mined to keep the bombardment up until rain falls,' they will doubtless in due thne claim that their prayers have "availed much." n the meantime the heavens of California are as brass and coffers at 'our gentle, humid Oregon climate are properly rebuked. A misguided Roosevelt shouter, said to be a foreigner, in a Pennsylvania steel mill was carved by his country men, said to be Taft partisans. If this be the way the defl attacks the Import ed talent, the natives will need special guidance. The order to the Sneed Jury to pray for wisdom in reaching a verdict IS asking divine guidance at the wrong end of the affair. Sneed needs the prayers. Eastern brewer are again raising the price of beer. Increasing the hard ship where the water is bad. The Octopus President. SALEM. Or.. Feb. 27. (To the Edi tor.) After the death of the whale President, there came a bitter cam paign for the Presidency between the Octopus and the Crawfish. The Craw fish lost because he was a mere fresh water fish, and because the Octopus could hand out Juicy bribes eight ways at once. After the Inauguration all seemed to go very smoothly until suddenly the Secretary of State was seen to wither up and become lifeless as a statue In his chair. Then the same happened to the Secretary of the Treasury, and then all the rest of the Cabinet, and It was discovered that the Octopus had his tentacles on all of them and had bl 1- them to death. bearing that the same thing might happen to them, all the member of Congress rushed In a body to the Ex ecutive Mansion and, forcing entrance, cut the Octopus in pieces, when, be hold! before their very eyes each piece became a full-grown Octopus! And each Congress fish was seized by an Octopus and his life-blood taken from him! But after that It wasn't so bad. When the supply of politicians ran out all the new Octopl simply died of starva tion. If It wasn't for trust-owned politic ians and favorable legislation many of our trusts would simply die of starva tion. Z. M. CHASE. A Wonderful Kgff Record. CORBETT, Or., Feb. 26. (To the Ed itor.) That it is not the special breed of hens, but the special care they do re ceive, what makes them lay. This truth seems to be proven beyond the least doubt by Mrs. C. Manthey, of Corbett, Or. Mrs. Manthey does not trap-nest her hens and cannot say for that reason what each hen does in the matter of laying eggs, 'but sh knows what all her hens are doing in this matter, as she writes carefully the number of eggs in a book which she gets from her flock. each day. She has her chickens penned up the whole year round on a small place, about 50 by 50 feet, and takes care of them herself. Her flock of 22 hens consists of so- called mongrel chickens of mixed blood and all kinds of colors, and from these 22 hens of unknown breeds and some even of unknown age, as a dozen are still among them which she originally bought a few years ago when she came from Dakota, she harvested the last year 4576 eggs, or In the average Just 208 per mongrel hen, which seems to indicate "that she has surely more than one 250-epg hen among her mon grel stock." Surely, a very interest ing show of good care for chickens. L. FERDINAND FLOSS. without a A million good Jobs will be given out next month. Are you In the way of promotion, or is the boss thinking that maybe he can get along without you? There is enough that is known to be true to occupy the attention of anyone. Why fool with any theory you can't demonstrate? Why be a Mystic? Why not be a Carnegie? Why Is Sir Isaac Newton a great man because he discovered that If you throw a stone in the air, it will fall to the earth? Didn't people know that be fore? When a man says: "I know a secret I can't tell," he knows a mean story he Is dying to spread. Where one man hasn't enough to eat. a thousand have dyspepsia from eating too much. A compliment la usually because it isn't the truth. pleasant. TAXATION AXD REPRESENTATION. Verse, a Commercial Line. Judge. "For years and years I have wrote poetry," remarked the affluent-looking stranger. "I wrote It until I was forced by cold and hunger to take up a commercial line." "What was that?" "Writing verses." How la It at Yonr Hornet Boston Transcript. Heck Does your wife get angry he is Interrupted while talking? Peck How should I know? If Writer Would Limit Right to Rata er Revenue and Appropriation Bills. PORTLAND, Feb. 27. (To the Edi tor). In reading the report of Judge Carey's speech on single tax, made a few days ago, I note that he suggested that taxpayers should make the laws relating to taxation. Our American forefathers fought for the principle, "no taxation without representation." It seems to the writer that a good slo gan for these days would be "no repre sentation without taxation" in tax mat ters. Why would it not be a good plan to use our Oregon system and let the voters of our good state vote on a con stitutional amendment limiting the right to vote on any initiative or ref erendum proposal relating to raising revenue by taxation or to spending the revenue so raised to such persons as are actual taxpayers and on the tax rolls as such? If such a proposition were written into our laws the question of single tax would probably not be one which we need fear as confiscatory, for the reason that the people who have to pay the taxes could not pile up such unreasonable or unnecessary taxes as would result in taking away land from private ownership and vest it in tho state, which seems to be the ultimate goal of our present active single tax advocates a result that every person who owns real property, be it he with the farm In the country, the suburban homeowner or the man who owns val uable city property of any kind must consider with at least some degree of apprehension. J. H. MIDDLETON. Information on Australia, PORTLAND, Feb. 26. (To the Edi tor.) There appears an Inquiry for Information concerning Australian lands, products, etc. If Constant Reader will send me his address I will send him full in formation concerning the opportuni ties of Australia. I have literature sent me by the West Australian gov ernment and have their authority to distribute and give information con cerning their lands. GEO. IAN MAXWELL. 171 Thirteenth street. The Chinese republic is making a brave start with a chip on Its shoulder at Batavia. . The Colonel has begun defending al ready a bad omen for a Republican candidate. He 1 a highly moral policeman who arrest a woman for trying to flirt with bim. Snperheater Makes Engine Power. Philadelphia Record. The Pennsylvania Railroad seems to be getting Important - results from a new device called the superheater, which turns wet Into dry steam and Increases the power of the engine. It has made it possible on steep grades to do away with the helper engine. A fee. of $7500 for securing $22,600 in an escheated estate is easy moiey. Ron-in-Law Nick 1' for the other man. This 1 nareucai, out xoxy The Purchasing Ponnd'a Fall. London Tit Bits. Statistics ' of the Increased cost of living In England show that while one pound sterling would have purchased 80 pounds weight of family groceries in 1898, its purchasing power was re duced to 7 Hi pound la 1810. 1 Don't say that advertising in the daily papers won't benefit your busi ness until you have tried it. Many a mrchant has tried advertising for a three months test just to see if it would do him any good, and has been so pleased with the results that he has made ad vertising an integral part of his selling plan. That is the way advertisers are made. And mer chants who once advertise for a sufficient time never stop advertising. No retail business can grow to large propor tions in this day and age without the assistance of news paper publicity. The Oregonian is the most influential newspaper in the Pacific Northwest Therefore it follows that your advertising in its columns will receive more atten tion than in any other paper. The greater the weight the newspaper carries with its subscribers the greater the value of your advertisement in that medium. 0 t