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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1912)
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The Democrats Answer the question "When is an Income tax not n Income tax?" by snylng. "When It Is an excise tax." Taking a pretext the Su preme Court decision validating the corporation tax. they have passei through the ilouw a bill Imposing- a tax of I per cent on an nn i.n -ver $JnO of pthoii or partnership doing business In this country. They Interpret the phrase "doing business" to cover every "ind of occupation, from a Judge to a carpenter. Th-y expect this bill to Hand fire In the Supreme Court In the face of numer oiir decisions adverse to their theory. They contend that the decision validating- the corporation tax Justifies this assumption, although the court in that cane distinctly said that the tax was levied on the privilege of doing business In corporate form. They call their tax an excise- tax. although the very nature of an excise tax Is that It is levied on some business of which the law makes an exception, such as liquor-selling and tobacco-selling. Tho effect of the bill would be to treat the earning of an Income In ex reft of $5000 as a privilege. Does any ane man honestly believe it to be a privilege? Doing A business or pur suing an occupation means the appli cation of one's Individual Industry and ability, one's accumulated sai-lngs, to the earning of living. This Is not a privilege, it Is a right: more, it is a duty, the doing of which has made the I'nited States what It Is. But we are informed that this tax would reach not only income derived from active business, but that derived from Investments In real estate or other forms of property, provided the owner was engaged In active business. Thus a man who draws $1006 net In come from a candy store and $5000 from real estate would pay tax on $1000 under the bill. It la contended that the Supreme Court sanctions this by Its corporation tax decision, as it holds that Income on real estate owned by corporations is subject to taxation together with other income, though the court distinctly says that It Is the privilege of doing business and own ing property in corporate form which Is taxed and that a direct tax on real estate and personal property can only he levied In proportion to population, not In proportion to Income. To maintain IhaL lh. Sutirm Court Can he fooled by such word-Juggling la to write down Its members the nine most milllble men In the United Staes. But we are told that it is Just to tax '.he rich and to relieve the poor. True, but w ho are the rich whom equity re quires us to tax? Are they the men engaged In active business or profes sions as Individuals? Every man In his senses knows they are not. The men whom It is most desirable to tax are the holders of great landed estates like that of the Astors. the owners of great fortunes held In trust like that of Marshall Kiel J. men like Henry Phlpps. who distributed $10,000,000 worth of real estate among his sons to escape the worry of Its rare. Such fortunes would escape taxation under the excise bill, though they are held bv the Idle rich whom It is most de sired to tax. The Idle rich are of fered every Inducement to remain Idle. f"r. according to the sponsors of the bill, they would no sooner engage In some useful occupation yielding how ever small an income than their entire Income from every source would be tome subject to Ux.ttlon. When cornered on this point, de fenders of the bill make the excuse that It taxes all incomes of the rich that ran possibly be taxed under the Constitution as Interpreted by the Su preme Court, and they accuse Repub licans of striving to prevent Imposition f an Income tax in any guise. These centlemen have manrelousty short memories. It was a Republican Pres ident who proposed, and a Republican Congress which submitted to the states, a constitutional amendment empowering Congress to levy an In- ome tax on the Idle and active rich, the moderately and extremely rich, nlike. That amendment has been rati fied by thirty of the thirty-six states necessary to Its adoption, and A ma jority of those thirty states are Re publican. Only six of the eighteen states ahk-h have not yet acted favor ably are needed, and a majority of these eighteen are Republican. If the Democrats earnestly desired to Impose an equitable tax on wealth, they would defer action In Congress nn this Income tax in the gauxy dis guise of an excise tax and turn their f forts to promotinr the ratification ft the amendment by such Demo t ratio states as Virginia. Florida and Iulsiana. which have either not a te." or acted adversely. But they are more Interested In manufacturing bun combe, which will yield lawsuits In- "-tead of revenue, and In sending to the President bills designed to put him In a hole. If he approves this bill, he opens the way to endless lawsuits and --unctions the imposition of an unjust rfx: if he vetoes it. he exposes hlm--elf to the false charge of opooslnr 'is pretended purpose. MOW ORU.OX IS BLiM. The prevalence of the coal miners strike Is likely to turn attention to ther kinds of fuel than coal and to i ther means of generating power. On the Pacific Coast we are less affected ' jv such strikes than are the Eastern tales or European countries. We have abundant water power In every lltVUUWH rurwii, "111. iias ciinuiu i to substitute electric for steam power In almost all Industries. The ivaste of our sawmills is used as fuel in many cases where steam power stin survives. England and Germany are entirely and our Eastern States almost entirely dependent on coal for fuel and their sources of water power are so alight as to supply but a fraction of the power they must have. Thus It Is that, when a strike sun pen da operation In the coal mines. It stops all Industry and the whole nation suffers acutely. There Is no slabplle on which the English or German householder can draw to warm his hous, and with a much smaller average Income than the American he must pay famine prices for coal or freeze. The troubles of our neighbor serve to remind us how greatly wo are blessed In our fores and mountAln stremms. which remove us from dan ger of enforced Idleness or cold through lack of coal. THEM AD There la no raason why anyone In Jarkaon Count r ahoald TOta for Jar. Balling. Whan tha Medfr4 ?-laallon vlaltad Salem Mr. Balllae promlsad hla support to ha atr Lak road bill and afterwards violated this varoal promt glvan at a lunrhaon to half a dot.n Martrord men. Ha did not oppoaa tha bill on grounda of Ita unconstitutionality, but solely oa lha arounda of aconomy. Whfll ha saw lha bill waa roln to paaa daaplte hia oppnaltlon. ha ofarrd an araandmnt cutting tha urn In halt. Ha afwrwnrds sub scribed I10U to lha hlshway fund aa a aop to win tha good will of this section. Mad ford Mail-Tribune. Here Is an appeal to the local preju dice that would be contemptible enough if the statements on which It is based were true: but, since they are not true. It could only have been Inspired by an unscrupulous pur pose to go to any extreme of misrepre sentation to injure Mr. Selling. Sena tor Selling never'attended any'lunch eon given by Medford men; never promised to support the Crater Lake bill, and never opposed it on the ground of economy. He objected to the measure on the basis of its uncon stitutionality an objection afterwards completely sustained by the Supreme Court. Two years after the Crater Lake episode. Senator Selling as candidate for President of the State Senate re ceived the open support of this same Medford newspaper and the Sen ator from Jackson County. If he had offended greatly by his vote on Crater Lake, why the subsequent Indorse ment of Jackson County through Its Medford paper and Senator Von der Ilellen? Why this post facto hostility? There was gross stultification then, or is now. The Medford paper may de cide for Itself whether it was then or now. MHO' IX HK THE NKXTf Mr. Severson's generosity has en hanced the efficiency of three praise worthy Institutions. Willamette Uni versity, which has stood for advanced education In Oregon ever since the be ginning of pioneer times, is At last in a fair way to acquire an adequate en dowment. Mr. Severson's gift of $100,000 does not by any means com plete the sum which the university needs, but It helps materially. The donation affords no excuse for the friends of the Institution to relax their efforts and it will not be so under stood. On the contrary, it ought to be an Inspiration to renewed zeal. The Portland Young Women's Chris tian Association had no endowment whatever before Mr. Severson gave it $50,000. This is a noble gift. It is a worthy beginning to which generous donors will no doubt make additions from year to year. The meritorious work of this Institution is too little known. The good it does In an In conspicuous way is beyond all esti mate, while its lack of means hampers effort In every direction. Mr. Severson's gift of $50,000 to the Toung Men's Christian Association brings Its endowment up to $125,000, which may to some persons look like a large sum. but, compared with the money at the command of other In stitutions doing work of the same kind It Is pitifully small. At the Portland Toung Men's Christian Association about 1600 young men are receiving an education in many kinds of prac tical studies. From their own re sources they pay on the average 85 per cent of the cost of their teaching. Contrast this figure with what the student does at Tale or Amherst, In those heavily-endowed colleges the student pays but 15 per cent of the cost of his education from his own resources. The rest Is charity. The reader perceives, therefore, that the T. M. C. A. Is much nearer being self supporting than the great colleges of the East. But no educational Institution can be wholly self-supporting. The larger and better Its work the more money It needs. The students at the T. M. C. A. pay by far the greater part of what their education costs, but they cannot pay all of it. Like Willamette Uni versity and our other schools. It needs an adequate endowment. Mr. Sever son's generous gifts are no doubt an earnest of good things to come. There must be many quiet, unostentatious men of wealth In Portland who are watching the course of events and making up their minds what to do with their money. They should re member that It Is unwise to scatter gifts too much. Money must be con centrated In order to attain the best results with. "Give where. others have given before you" is an excellent rule to follow. What could not Willamette University do with a round million for An endowment? With the same sum the Christian Associations could win the whole of Portland to practical Christianity. No doubt Mr. Severson's benefactions will open the eyes of our men of wealth to the noble opportuni ties for doing good with their money which lie in plain sight before them. Til? l.HHIK BETWKF. TAKT AND RtXW. rvfcj.T. Colonel Roosevelt persists In his Attempt to obscure the issue between him And President Taft by misrepre senting the President's opinions. Tha Colonel reiterates that the President believes in rule of the people for the people by A part of the people, which he calls the bosses. The President has never said anything which would bear such a construction by any possible twist. On the contrary, the President has said: 1 balleva In popular government, but I balleve In popular govarnmeoi ordarsd by legtalatton and by law. The issue between the two men Is not whether the people sball rule, but how the people shall rule. As Mr. Taft said at Boston, the people do rule and have ruled. In so doing they have provided means by which their laws and constitutions shall be changed from time to time to con form to their wllL He proposes that they shall continue to use these means of constitutional amendment when they desire. The Colonel proposes that the people shall change the means; that, when a principle laid down in the Constitution is interpreted in a manner contrary to the popular wllL the people shall maJce an excep tion In that particular case by re versing the court's decision, thus cre ating a spoclal Instance. The Presi dent proposes. In effect, that, when the Interpretation of any provision of the Constitution is not in accord with the popular will, the people avail themselves of the means already pro vided to embody their will in the Con stitution; that they change the provi sion so as to reverse not only that one decision, but to lay down a new prin ciple covering All similar cases. That In the obvioua meaning of the Pres ident's words: "Popula government ordered by legislation and by law." The President's policy gives broader exercise to the popular will than the Colonel's. Exercise of that will by law would not merely reverse one court decision, but would lay down a new general rule for the guidance of the courts. Though the Colonel is loud In denunciation of special privi lege, hla policy wouI"d Inaugurate a new era or special privilege under the name of special Instances. The tone of the speeches of the two men Is a clear Indication as to which Is the safer leader. ' Roosevelt flatters the people with the catchwords: "Let the people rule," and invites them to carry that principle Into the details of interpretation of the law. Taft says: "By all means, let the people rule," but he courageously tells them they are too busy with their personal af fairs to attend to details. He advises them to lay down broad principles and then Intrust the details of carry ing out those principles to men elect ed by themselves. The Colonel's pol icy Is that of the demagogue, appeal ing to the people's vanity, the Presi dent's Is that of the patriotic states man appealing from their vanity to their reason. IW RKIKKI TO .IWlRrITV. Could any absurdity be more absurd than that phase of our criminal Juris prudence that permits and encourages a man who has confessed, giving all the horrible details, to a most revolt ing and unprovoked murder, to come Into court and plead "not guilty" to the formal charge? But now the pub. lie was shocked and horrified by tho confessions of George and Charles Humphrys of the attack upon, mur der and the disposal of the body of Mrs. Griffith, near Philomath. Now appear in court these confessed mur derers with the plea "not guilty" on their Hps and a lawyer asks a con tinuation of their case for ten days In orde.- that he may have time to ar range proofs of their innocence! Could absurdity further go? Could Justice be more Impudently mocked in her own temples? It Is common to deplore the fact apparent on every hand that the American public, and primarily Amer ican youth, have no respect for law. What, pray, is there In law as thus exemplified to command respect? Why, indeed, should not men of ma ture years as well as reckless youth mock at and deride the manner in which the law Is administered through shameless evasion? Every man, it Is said. Is entitled to his day In court. True. But the day In court to which these men were entitled should have been marked by arraignment and the passing of sen tence on the accepted plea of guilty, with declared penalty upon their own testimony of their guilt. This Is not in accordance with law, it is said. So much the worse for the law and for the society that It Is sup posed to protect and with which It should deal Justly. Why not have a law covering cases where guilt Is ad mitted by the guilty, upon the simple basis of common sense? Why all this verbiage and circumlocution and non sense? Why but to screen the guilty, give the lawyer his day In court and roll up costs against taxpayers? A KIHSTITCTE FOR KIUKEMPEARE. In one of the old French monas teries where girls were educated there used to be a rule that the pupils must not wash their arms above the wrist on account of the Immodest exposure that would be required If they should. This Is carrying delicacy to something like an extreme, but It goes not much farther than some of our literary purl tana would In choosing reading matter for the public schools. Prudery work ing In alliance with A dozen other sorts of prejudice will leave nothing whatever for the wretched scholars to peruse before a great while except tracts and Marte Corelll'a novels. The latter are unexceptionable on the score of purity both In language and senti ment. Marie can safely assert on her dying bed that she never has penned A word which the most hardened An thony Comstock of either sex would blush to read. She is far ahead of the Bible In this respect. The people who will not let their little girls read the "Merchant of Venice" because the Prince of Morocco exclaims "Oh hell." on A certain occasion certainly could not stand the story of Joseph. But there are other objections to the "Merchant of Venice." The schools of several cities have stricken It off from their curriculum because "It gives an unfavorable picture of a Jew." Old Shylock Is a disastrous caricature of his race. To permit an American youth to read what he says and learn what he does in the play is nothing short of A scandal. It Is A wonder that our fellow-citizens of Hebraic lineage have not long ago risen against the outrage. Similarly we may expect our English Immi grants to demand the exclusion of "Richard HI" from the schools be cause it portrays an English sovereign not only as a debased moral character, but as a hunchback. It would be dif ficult to treat a monarch with more contumely than Richard suffered from the pen of Shakespeare. Even Shy lock was spared the disgrace of a crooked spine, whatever his morals may have been. On the same princi ple the Scotch will presently rise in righteous wrath against "Macbeth." The way their ancient sovereign Is slandered In that play is simply shock ing to a truly alert patriotic sensibil ity. He commits murder by the wholesale, he consorts with hired as sassins, he consults witches, he sees ghosts. "Scots wha hae wP Wallace bled," are you, going to sit down un der this outrage Any longer? The Italians, too, have a Just ground of .complaint against Shakespeare. Think of that miserable Iago. what a fiend he was. There was no truth, no honor, no fidelity, no human kind ness in his black soul. And yet Iago was Shakespeare's typical Italian fully as much as Shylock was his typical Jew. It Is Idle to reply that neither one of them was meant for A type. The proper rule to follow In these matters Is that where offense can be taken by stretching a point It ought to be taken. Never give an author, not even Shakespeare, the benefit of any doubts. It Is Irrelevant to say that he did not deal In types, that his meas ureless dramatic superiority consists In his power to depict Individuals. Where it Is necessary to take a char acter as a type in order to afford an American school board an opportunity to play the ass It should by all means be done. Opportunities of this en gaging species come to school boards with such comparative rarity that none should be missed. We may add. to strengthen the case, that there is another ground of com plaint against "Othello." Iago is not its only slanderous character nor its most deplorable. The reader will readily guess that we are thinking of Othello 'himself. What a concrete calumny he Is against the entire col ored race! Is there a colored man and brother In this broad land who would treat a sweet, gentle, loving and innocent wife as Othello treated Desdemona? We trow not. If there is a public schooj which still permits this offense to our negro fellow-citizens to be read by the pupils we de mand its instant suppression in the cause of decency, or at any rate In the cause of piety. If it is sinful for the" Prince of Morocco to call upon hell it must be a great deal worse for Othello to Invoke the devils themselves. But he does It, Incredible as blind Shakes peare Idolators may find the state ment. "Whip me, ye devils," shouts Othello in an access of Impious rage after he has smothered his beautltful young wife with a pillow. Shall we tolerate language of this kind in our public schools? The lamentable .-tct Is that there is scarcely any respectable nationality on earth whom Shakespeare has not out rageously slandered. The unspeakable Monsieur Delgrado was a Frenchman. The Ineffective Hamlet, who was al ways talking and never acting, was a Dane. The rebel Fortinbras was a Norwegian, and, to make matters worse, he was a prince. And so it goes. It does not seem possible to read any play of Shakespeare's in the public schools without justly offend ing some of the numerous nationali ties of whom our population is com posed. Shall we prefer the fame of an old and useless playwright to the feelings of our fellow-citizens? The solution of this difficulty is j very simple. We wonder that nobody had the courage to propose it long ago, for it is so obvious that a great many school directors must have thought of it. Our plan Is to exclude Shakespeare entirely from the public schools. Then the Italians, the French, the English, the Norwegians, the Danes and the Jews can send their children to the house of learning without fear of their patriotic feelings being outraged. If we were a.ked what to substitute for Shakespeare's plays we should not hesitate for a moment for an answer. This is in tended to be a constructive article, not merely iconoclastic. Wo should intro duce In place of Shakespeare the writ ings of Marie CorellL She never slan ders any race of people and she praises every institution on earth ex cept the Catholic Church, which Is big enough and strong enough, we imag ine, to overlook her attacks. Wandering Wilhelm seems likely to peregrinate quite a bit among the isles of Greet'e, where burning Sappho loved and sung, before he goes back home. Having mingled his tears, with Victor Emmanuel's over the van quished splendors of Venice, he sails away to Corfu, which used to be Cor cyra in the days of Pericles. It was Corcyra which gave occasion for tho outbreak of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta. Here William will ponder over the glory that was Greece and plan to enlarge the majesty that is German. If one suffragette can stop the ma jestic current of Colonel Roosevelt's oratory for fifteen minutes, how many would It take to silence him forever? As soon as the suffrage clubs have worked out the answer. It Is hoped that they will set aside a sufficient number of their members to accom plish the great and goefd work. Du'.ce et decorum est pro patrta morl. New Mexico begins her bribery rec ord so early that she gives one an im pression of precocity. The young state Is almost an Infant phenomenon when It comes to expertness In corrupt poli tics. Apparently her Legislature lias pcthlng tc learn even from Illinois and Lonmer. The Multnomah County Fair at Gresham is an institution of merit and there will be no objection to appro priation of $2000 by the county to encourage Its best endeavor. The latest charter commission de cides to put the civil service blanket on all city employes. Under a free-for-all primary system there is no po litical machine that can use '.hem, for, once in, they stay put. Swindler Maybray, despite the crooked thousands he made during his career. Is A vagrant In Kansas City. There Is no sticking quality to easy money. If Senator Reed Is to be believed, the new style by which Stephenson was elected Senator Is no Improve ment on the old style by which Lo ri mer won his uneasy seat. A camel could as easily pass through the needle's eye as some trusts could be convicted of being trusts. The majority report says Stephen son did not make corrupt use cf money In his election. Necessity of such finding Is obvious. x It Is to be hoped the moving-picture man was on hand to shoot William and Victor Emmanuel as thev "em braced repeatedly." There is no danger of a potato fam ine In Portland. Wise growers, who stored their crop are unloading at good figures The Democratic House purposes to disinfect the Indian Bureau, this be ing housecleanlng time. Apparently In the interest of a bull ish market, the rackers are found not guilty. A "dead" volcano In California is smoking. Mount Hood must wake up. The straw hat is budding. MR. SELLING'S UPRIGHT POLICY. Some Objections to Hla candidacy Carefully Considered. Medford Sun. The only objections to Ben Selling in this neighborhood seem to be that he voted against the Crater Lake Highway and he sells more pants in Portland that anybody else. . As to the first objection it is only fair to Mr. Selling to remember that he was not representing Jackson County in the State Senate, and that he voted against the construction of the high way at the state expense, not because he did not favor such an Improvement but because In his opinion It was not constitutional. This position was up held by the courts. When some Medford citizens went to Portland with a subscription list for Crater Lake road It will be remember ed that Mr. Selling gave $100 out of his own pocket. Mr. Selling is not un reasonable when he claims that it would have been easier and cheaper to have voted for the bill and kept his $100, but he believed he had a right to give away his own money, but not the people's money, contrary to his oath of office. But In our opinion the best thing about Selling is that he opposes Sena tor Bourne. He is the strongest candi date that has appeared against the man who pays $2.44 In taxes In Oregon and spends a proportionate amount of time In the state he is supposed to represent. It Is high time that Oregon was repre sented by an Oregon man, who does not vote for a high tarlf on wool because he is a heavy stockholder In Massachu setts Woolen Mills, whose interests and sympathies are not Eastern but West ern, who Is progressive and hottest in his progressiveness, and who believes that if Oregon is good enough to repre sent It Is good enough to live In. But as to Selling selling pants tnai s a pretty difficult thing to Justify. We have heard they are good pants, that they wear well and look well and If they are made of shoddy Ben doesn't claim thev are made of wool, but this Hoosn't alter the situation. Nor does It change matters to call attention to the fart that If there Is any worthy cause. Ben Selling Is the first man to dip down into his own pants pocs-eis an, I heln that cause along. One might say that In our present civilization pants are as necessary as efficient public service. If Ben should flip flop and come out on a platform for a pantless proletariat well we doubt It. There seems nothing for Ben to do but admit the corn and let the Democratic press paddle his pant policy until the laat vote is cast. Perhaps you never can tell per hans Jonathan B. would not cut an Im pressive figure as an antl In such a campaign. What the other fellow nas to do should always be considered. In this raging political whirlwind. BROAdlER ADVERTISERS HIT. Aid Given by Them to Kffort to letroy Property Rights. PORTLAND, March -'5. (To the Kd Itor.) The Henry George Club of Port land, In conjunction with the paid Fels fund brigade, has flooded Portland with 60,000 copies of t single tax broacher. Investigation shows that political candidates at the primaries have paid about $500 in cash for advertisements In the broacher. Do these various can didates stand for the single tax? If noi why do they give such substantial aid in furthering its propaganda? Kvery man who is a candidate for any office should have studied single tax enough to know that It leads straight to state Socialism and Is destructive to the Inalienable rights of property as vouchsafed In the Constitution of the United States. Henry George, in his 'TrogreBS and Poverty," says on page 356: ..!.! . nrrtntit-tl In land IS a X I 1 a I , . - j bold, bare, enormous wrong like chattel slavery. un pase George further says: "It is not neces sary to confiscate land: it is only neces sary to confiscate rent." On page 435 of the same book Henry George says: "The simple device of placing all taxes on the value of land would be In effect putting up the land at auction to whom soever would pay the highest rent to the state. " Let not these publicity craving can didates who have used the single tax "broacher" reply that It was cheap ad vertising for them. They know full well they would not onena puunc upm lon by placing their pictures In the win dows of the most prominent and re spectable saloon in Portland, even though free space were given them. A man is known by the company he keeps. EDWARD BROWN. Consult a Lawyer. ALBANY. Or.. March 24. (To the Ed itor.) A purchases a farm in which transaction an error was made in the description of it; A now sells to B giving a correct description of same. Now we find this blunder, and also a right-of-way lease which Is to extepd a cortain time yet. The latter was a matter of record, which wasn't looked up at the time of said deal: but A promised their lease had expired, and also gave a deed warranting and de fending against all lawful claims what soever. Kindly advise us what to do. H. T. R. The Oregonlan cannot undertake to give Advice on Involved legal contro versies. Only elementary and simple question will be answered. THE BALLAD OP AXYMAX. By Dean Collins. I met a man in a cafe. Who o'er his coffee, vlllifled The evil lnt'rests that he said Were loose about the countryside. We should arise and get their goat By use of our untrammelled vote," Said he. I bit my rich roquefort And answered, "Even so, old sport." Again I met him at a stand Where smoking stuffs are put on sale Once more against the state of things i heard him paw the air and rail. "The ship of state's a sinking boat Unless we save her with our vote." He offered me a cigarette Which same I took, and said, "You bet." Weeks later by a swell buffet We hung about the gratis lunch, . And. still he said, "The state of things Is very bad, I have a hunch. A thousand evils I can note And we should fix them with our vote." I delved Into the pot of beans And answered firmly "By all means." Still spake he, when we met once more Within the club, of how the land Is In the grip of grasping greed From trusts and such, on every hand. "The lnt'rests have us by the throat. And we should club them with our vote." I dropped my ace upon his king And said. "Yes, that's the proper thing." Election day we met once more, "Are you a freeholder?" said he. "And wherefore." I replied to him "Is that of interest to thee?" He gave a sad and sheepish grin: "Kindly come help to swear me In: I've been so busy, as it were, I failed to go and register." j SEED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD Mr. Gaston Compares Portland Rates With Thoae of Other t itles. PORTLAND, March" 25. (To the Kdi tor.) Mr. C. M. Clark, of Philadelphia, speaking for the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company, recently con tributed a column to The Oregonlan that is entitled to respectful considera tion. Mr. Clark's first proposition Is that the payment of $450,968 annual taxes and $522,416 for paving, between the tracks is sufficient compensation for all franchise rights. The answer is that Mr. Cark's company does not pay those sums of money at all, but that they are contributed by the people of Portland entirely. The company's customers handed over to the corpora tion for fares and light $6,500,000 last year, and the corporation kindly passed back to the city $973,384 for taxes and track repairs. Mr. Clark insists on It that his com pany is In favor of a "square deal." Let us see how much so. The city compelled the abutting property owner to reduce the street to a general grade to receive the railway track, and then pave the street outside the railway track so the general traffic would not wear out or obstruct the railway track. Does Mr. Clark think the property owner ought to give the company the franchise and then build its road also? If not, why set up this item for street paving? But let us be liberal, and give the railway monopoly credit for keeping its own track in repair, and also accept $450,968 as a gift of the corporation out of its abounding generosity to the people. Then what becomes of the bal ance of the $6,500,000, contributed by the people? According to my arith metic (but I am very poor in figures) that balance will pay 6 per cent an nual Interest on over $90,000,000. Of course the operating expenses and in terest on bonded Indebtedness must come out. But right there Is where we need a lot of electric light turned on by an honest, conscientious public service commission. A great many tax payers In this town are wicked enough to believe that there is in this public service corporation, as in all others like it. a very large issue of capital stock that represents nothing as good as Bull Run water. For one customer I most heartily sympathize with Mr. Clark's desire to give every man (and the city included) a square deal. People who walk up to the company's office and pay their bill regularly don't like to be "skinned" out of even a few cents If it has the color of injustice in it. I know- people In this town who get their electric light (or half of it) for five cents per kil owatt hour, while other people whose money is Just as good are compelled to pay three times that price. I know the city of San Francisco furnishes its citizens electric light for two and one half cents per kilowatt hour, and the city of Pasadena, where wire and poles cost four times as much as in Portland, furnishes all its people electric light for five cents per kilowatt hour; and that In both San Francisco and Pasa dena, electricity is generated by steam power which costs six times as much as water power of Portland, Chr. The average householder of Portland gets water for his home for 75 cents per. month, but electric light for his home costs him four times as much. The water plant owned and operated by the city cost $10,000,000; the electric light plant devoted to furnishing light exclusively did not cost one-fourth that sum; so that water and light expense, as It affects the householder, costs 16 times as much for light as for water. We once had a Mayor, who urged the erection of a city lighting plant, saying the city has already In the city the water power, all we have to do is build the station, attach the turbines, and pay for the wires already in place. Why was not that public official sup ported In an effort to relieve the tax payers of a great burden? Why? The reasons would not look well in print. At another time and place the cost, franchises, "stub ends" and extensions and the gratuities given by the prop erty holders to secure the same, all of which I have seen and some of 'which I have helped pay for. may be consid ered. When I came to Portland, the town was all on Front street, with a rick ety plank road dodging along among the stumps, with mud holes here and there In which a team and wagon could be buried in their depths. It has grown quite respectably since, even without the aid of Philadelphia capital. For example, there was Amos N. King, Tyler Woodward, Bent Killin, and others who made money hauling people around with horses in primitive box . cars at five cent fares. AH became million aires; all gave their patrons the "square deal." JOSEPH GASTON'. Gun Law Opposed. PORTLAND, March 25. (To the Ed itor.) In regard to declaration made at Portland by State Senator Bean, of Lane County, that he would legislate the pump gun out of business In the state, I wish to corroborate the state ments In a letter recently published in The Oregonian, from A. G. Propst, that such a law would accomplish nothing toward the desired result of better game protection. At Sauvles and. Deer Islands, on the Columbia, where both types of gun are used, the "pump" and double-barreled, the comparison of destruction done is based on the methods of the shooter al most entirely. The type of gun used Is a minor consideration. I have observed also In other localities that a man in trenched In a battery or concealed in a blind can bring them down with a double-barreled gun in a way that will make his fellow-hunter with a pump gun turn green with envy. Any hunter will tell you that to shoot at random Into a flock of ducks or covey of birds will most generally net him nothing. After each shot an especial aim must be taken, and the time taken for that Is too great to allow more successful shots with either one make of gun. The ejection of the spent shells, done automatically by the double-barreled gun also, with the automatic ejecter, and snapping the gun together again after reloading is a matter of but a few semonds. It Is contended by the old-timers of the shooting fraternity, who adhere to the double-barreled gun, that they can "keep up" to the ones using the pump gun. which, considering the rare occa sions when a third consecutive shot can be made successfully, Is no rash statement. A hunter can often pack all the cartridges he needs right In the magazine of one of those old pump guns, if game is near at hand; therein Is the value of that type, of gun. Its convenient size and shape, and Its hard and never-failing shooting and its low cost. We need no such law preventing the use of the pump gun (not to be con fused with the "automatic") nor can the unlawful destruction of game be stopped merely by changing the type of weapon used. This view is shared by many others that I know of who have an interest In game preservation as well as a liking to get out "among them" when the season opens. J. FRANK BOONE, 301 Yeon Building. Baby and Mother's Vote. PORTLAND. March 25. (To the Edi tor.) In reply to the question of Mrs. Lena Hartwell Wallace, published in The Oregonlan Saturday, "What shall be done with the baby while Its mother goes to vote?" I wish to assure the anxious ones that we will leave the baby just where we left it while we want t( the Citv and Countv Treas urer's offices to pay our taxes. Very respcctiuny, iuhs. ai. i. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of March "7. 1S6 An intercepted letter from Charles ton. S. C, to a friend in Bordeaux. France, represents a frightful state of things in the rattlesnake emporium The writer says that "existence Is such as to become a burden. Butter, 50 cents' a pound; tea. $2.50 per pound; com mon calico, 50 and 75 cents per yard: the happiness of the people destroyed; commerce at a standstill; without money, without credit." Mr. Edward Huggins. agent of tlib Hudson Bay Company at Fort NIs qually. stated on Monday last that he did not think he woul t be able to save 1000 head of the company's sheep. It is well known that this company here tofore has- been the largest sheep owners on the Pacific Coast. On the NIsqually plains last Fall, they had about 7000 head, 6000 or more of which have already died. The Dalles. March 25. The remains of some of those unfortunate men who were lost between Deschutes and John Day's River have been found, but in such a mutilated condition as not to be recognized, in one instance only a leg and an arm were found, and an other body much eaten by wolves. The little old Wasco towed up about 100 tons of rails for the Dalles Ac Deschutes Railroad yesterday. This is the first shipment of railroad Iron in Oregon, and I might add that this will be the first section built of the great transcontinental railway. The world moves. Organization of the Oregon Tele graph Company, the whole amount ot stock, $75,000, is now all taken. The company was organized last night by choosing W. S. Ladd. president; S. G. Reed, secretary; H. W. Corhett, treas urer, and J. McCrake.il, superinten dent. The material for the line is al ready ordered from New York and is now on the way. A. J. Dufur and R. J. Wilmot are the delegates elected from Sandy Precinct to the Union County convention in this county. As "Ed" Howe Sees Life In pursuing big and impossible phantoms, many modest but excellent rewards escape you. The Good man who is always trying to benefit the people must hate to let them out of his sight over night. Don't ask your friends to do any thing they don't want to do; that will result in coolness. A woman's watch doesn't run very often, and when It docs run, it runs too slow. Every man. who says he is willing to die, if need be, to help others, is really very anxious to live to enjoy the notoriety he is getting with his selfish statements. The greatest thing in the world is plain honesty; yet how slowly we ad vance in this. The Big Questions of the day are often nothing more than foolish quar rels. A new idea is not enough: it must he good. There are plenty of new ideas that are worthless; millions of them. In trying to do better than you can, you are liable to make a fool of your self. Towage and Port Commissioners. PORTLAND. March 23. (To the Edi tor.) In The Oregonian, March 15, was a report of the regular session of the Port of Portland Commission, held on March 14. At this meeting the rights of the shippers were taken up in re gard to the closing of the new Steel bridge. The permit for the comple tion of the new bridge was extended to May 15. Here the question arose that if the bridge was not completed on May 15, How would the shippers above the bridge be protected in this event and also up to May 15? To quote the words of the article,- "Commissioner O'Reilly soothed all feelings when he said that arrangements had been made with the Diamortd O fleet to lighter cargo to and fro from points in the harbor, etc." Now, the point of my letter is this: Mr. O'Reilly, a member of the Port of Portland Commission, had arranged with the Diamond O Towing Company, of which he is president, and large stockholder to do this towing. This move of the Port of Portland virtually cuts off all outside competition. I be lieve that the system that allows such business as this is wrong. On the present Commission there is one other man. Captain Shaver, who is directly interested in towing, and since he has been a member of the Commis sion, the Shaver Transportation Com pany has made a great many vessel tows and has assisted the Port of Portland regular towboat Ocklahama in nearly every move. Now, is this right, that a member or members of the Port of Portland Com mission are given the power to Set business for their own companies? II. B. EVANS. ' A Good Roads Suggeatlon. PRINEVT.LLE, Or., March 21. (To the Editor.) I have taken a great in terest In good roads articles appearing In The Oregonian, and as the writers all seem to be floundering in the dark, thought I would like to contribute my mite to the general gloom. To cure an evil (bad roads are cer tainly an evil) It is first necessary to find the cause. What is the cause? Narrow-tire wagons. Every time a wagon with a narrow tire passes over a road, it has the same effect on the road that the disc harrow , has in the field, cutting the road into ruts ami' chuckholes. What Is the remedy? Pass a state law requiring 2V4-inch wagons to be equipped with a 2-inch tire; 3-inch wagons with 4-Inch tire, and 3 -inch wagons to have 6-inch tires, and other sizes in proportion. Give the implement dealers and other owners of wagons five years in which to accommodate themselves to the change, thus working a hardship on no one. Then we can roll up our sleeves and begin building good roads with a clear conscience, knowing our work will not be destroyed faster than we can build it. Every time a wide-tired wagon passes over a road It will then have the same effect on the road that a roller has In the field, smoothing and packing it, and the more travel over a road the better will the road become. GEORGE M. WYATT. Calling Out of Mllltla. CHEHALIS. Wash., March 24. (To the Editor.) There was in The Ore gonian recently an article which gives It as Mr. Wlokersham's opinion that the President of the United States has not the Constitutional right to send the National Guard to any foreign soil. Will you kindly inform me if the Presi dent is empowered to call out the mi litia or any part of It at all without the consent of Congress. SUBSCRIBER. The call for militia for use in repel ing invasion or for any service re quired by the Goverment must come from the President, who would not nec essarily need the authorization of Congress, although such authorization doubtless would be sought.-