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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1912)
TTTF, MOKMXG OREGOXIAX, . FRIDAY. MARCH 29, 1012. 10 ft? (Drr rvtmtan r it-r-.l at r ".-tlarnt. Urrjao. 'lo(Ilc a S "in1 -f Miftpf. tr.puoo taiw-lvrlb:y la A4tik isr MAIL) r'T. s-jn.T tn- al-.t. on yssr '112 I--.tr. sn,1ir lr"u.ll. .x month ... -J iNii:,. tirl4)r Include. Ihr mnths.. - ;3 J.i! hun-l-iir In. lud-d. en month I.I T. i-hnut .in.t. ono -r i r. ifh'ut Sun.iy. aim month 7 - li r. wri...ut hjn.ir. ftr m-.mn.. v. without Sundi;. on mor.lli. . . .. .. .a 7. on yr J -J luiii, on y-r ........ fuaMX nJ Wo-klT. n. y.r ; tBT I'AKKIGK.) nol'r. Sun-tir ln-!ull. ono ar "? lu. j. feurtiny ln;:udJ. no moin low to NmoII Pond r.'Otnfrico manor o 4r vip.-- orsIT or prwtnl chock oo your !.! bnk. stamps, roin or rurronry si IN --n.or'o risk. !ivo potrru. addroM la fu-. ln-(nlinc county ni stkio. ru Koloo 10 to 14 !. 1 oont: lo to 2S ?. a cnt: Jo lo pc. cnt; io b. ((. com. i'om poto. ttuublo roto. I'mtm Hnolaro. ttlre rr C""V Ha Now York. Iiriiniwlck bulilin. ini cao. otofor buildm. tmiM Odk-o No. 3 Rfsoat atrool. 8. I'ORTMND. KKIOAV. AKCH t. Bm,( IMHCtMlT OF TAIT. A sample t the misrepresentation which Is being circulated by the anti-Tart propaganda I series of pretended count In an Indictment of Tuft. They contain within themselves vlderce of the weakness of the insur ant caw. The first count rends: Flo ion hlo Almlnlotrllon with an al-J-mnrm with Cannon and Aldrtch. Cannon and Aldrlch were the elect ed leader of hi party In Senate and House, and It was Taft's duty to look to them for adoption of the measures he recommended. Rooeevelt did pre cisely the same thins when he m President, though he occasionally quarreled with theso leaders. Just as Taft has done, when they were unwill ing to carry out hi recommenda tion: Thi Is the'second count: food hli patron power to re-eleot Can roa a Syaar. with Tammany' aid. That charge Is unqualifiedly false. .Taft stood aloof from the Speakership fight, hoi. Unit that Interference would have been an Invasion of the consti tutional rights of the House. The third count reads: Htino.1 lh A Wtrli h-Parno tariff bi'.l ro ' wotnc ho tarl'r upward and commondod tl , a h boat tariff ovot. The Payne-Aldrrrh bill does not re vise the tariff upward, but make many reduction, the most important and moot extensive of which are due to his Influence. He procured the In sertion of provision for the Tariff .Hoard a the mean of bringing about scientific revision of the tariff and of 'taking the whole subject out of poll tic. In view of the reduction It makea and of this provision, the j IMne-.!drlch law Is certainly the J lr.t had ever, which Is probably what , Mr. Taft meant. Writing In The Out .look. September 17. I 10. folonel " r.rxi-evelt In effe t commended the " .me law at the best t.irlff ever. He ' o) id: " t think Iho prooont tariff llavno lw Is ' l--ttor than Iho at t iilncloy law anl ro. m .i.roM honor than tho ono boforo Iho it tMKinlov tao . but It has cortainly 'fo.iod lo alo Konoral aanafarllun Then t ome this charce: t'rovonlod fho adoption of an In mm o lak tin and auholitutod tho corporation fas Me prevented the adoption of an In come tax bill, because It would surely : have been declared unconstitutional. ! but he procured the submission to the states of a constitutional amendment maklrc such a tax constitutional. In the meantime he Induced Congress to o as far as the constitution now per mits, by Imposing a corporation tnx. which yielded a revenue of $30,000,000 last year. j The fifth count is: Kathor-d tho railroad a t of ahl. h l pasoo.l as draftrU would hut dotrood railroad rsu:ation. . The railroad bill of 110. If passed , drafted, would have lesalUed pool ' In; of traffic, which had been repeat- erlly recommended by Itooevelt; would have forbidden purchase by cne railroad of stock in another; 1 would have provided for physical val uation of railroads, which Is most vis. erously advocated by Senator La Fol , I"tte; anil would have removed the ! defect In the commodities clause of the act of 190. which rendered that clause practically a dead letter. The bill as drafted would have strength ened Instead of tlestrojtnn railroad regulation. The elimination of the provision mentioned weakened It e rlntiMy. New provision Inserted by Congress strengthened It In some par ticular, and Taft approved the bill a passed. A the sixth count the Roosevelt men say Taft Fafhorod the rommorre court to aunpond nd nuMlfr dortalona of the Interstate t'nm lrrro i 'omnt ipottin. Thi statement Implies that, but for the creation of the Commerce Court, no court would have power to suspend and nullify decisions of the Commerce Commission. The fact Is that uch , power has always been vested In the , federal courts and cannot be taken .away without amending the Constltu- lion. The law simply transferred thl Jurisdiction from the other lower Fed eral courts to the Commerce Court, with the effect of expediting decisions and of developing it bench of Judge who would be specialists on railroad litifratlon. The law provide for ap- ; peal direct from the Commerce Court to the Supreme Court, thus 'further expediting- decisions. The court was created not "to suspend and nullify." but to review decisions, and it ha af firmed many such decisions. Count No. 7 reads: Votood all tariff Mlta paaaod at the. extra aoaoion. looorma dutioa. ' calnncx Intolll. nt notion impoaatbia until tho Tariff com mission reporter. That statement Is true a far a it coes. but it Is only half the truth. The other half is that Taft had laid down a tariff policy, which provides for re duction where the facts, a ascer tained by the Tariff Board. Justify It. and that the vetoed bill conflicted with that policy and were full of blunders. That Taft Is sincerely In .ivor of tariff reduction Is proved by his message recommending sweeping reductions In the wool and cotton du ties In accordance with the Tariff Hoard's report. Colonel Roosevelt himself contro erted thi charge also before It was made by declaring in a speech deliv ered at Sioux Kails. la., September 3. 1910: "I am glad that the country seems to have awakened to the idea that tarilT commission offers the only solution of the problem which I both rational and Insures the absence of Jobbery'- Count No. 8 makes this charge: Nosotlatod In aecrot a pact "and forood It through I'onaroaa. for 1'anadian roctproelt. wt-hont a Ihouchc of asking th Tariff Com mission. How else was a treaty ever negotiat ed than in secret? Would the Roose velt men have treaties negotiated In mas meeting? Taft forced the reci procity bill through Congress because nubile opinion was overwhelmingly in 'its favor and the Iemocrat therefore dared not vote against It. He did not consult the Tariff Board on It provi sion, because such action was unnec essary, the fact relating to the duties toeing already known. He made one exception and obtained a report from the Tariff Board on the pulp and pa per Industry. On thl report the du ties provided In the bill were based. It was good policy to negotiate such a treaty at a time when the Canadian government waa willing, rather than to risk a change of government In Canada by delaying negotiation until the Tariff Board reported on all Its provisions. Colonel Roosevelt, whose managers now attack President Taft reciproc ity policy, spoke on thl question, too, at the LJncoln day dinner of the Re publican Club of New Tork. on Febru ary 13. 1911. He said: It should alwava ho a cardinal point In our foroian policy to establish tho closest and most friendly tolatlons ot equal respect and advantage with our sraat neighbor on tho north. And 1 hall the reciprocity ar rangement because It represents an effort to bring about a closer, a more Intimate, a more frlendls relationship of mutual ad vantage on equal terms between Canada and the foiled States. The ninth and last count reads: Advocated Oovernment-bullt and owned lines between this country and Panama: then changed his mind and abandoned tho policy, giving the railioads their Ilrsl great vic tory. The subject of steamship line to connect with the Panama Railroad was Inquired Into on behalf of the Cfovernment by Senator Brlslow during- the Roosevelt administration, and he recommended a c.overnment steam ship line on the Pacific, one having been already established on tho Atlan tic. President Roosevelt never recom mended action by Congress on that re port. Taft has never recommended the establishment of a Government steamship line on the Pacific, but he recommended another measure which would a effectually attain the same end. for In his message of December, 1910. he said: I cannot clos- this reference to the canal without suggesting as a wise amendment to the Interstate commerce law a provision prohibiting Interstate commerce railroads from owning or controlling ships engaged In the trade through tho Tanama Canal. That recommendation, if carried out, would effect the purpose of a Government steamship line, for It would Insure real competition with railroads. The House committee ha recommended such a law in Its report on the canal. The Roosevelt men sjiv these act of Taft "are diametrically opposed to what Rotisevelt denominated 'my policies and show clearly that Taft has deserted and betrayed Roosevelt not Roosevelt Taft. On the contrary, Taft' actions, truly stated and Inter preted, prove tht he ha adhered to the Roosevelt policies. In Ms treat ment of the trust he ha succeeded better than Roosevelt himself In car rying out those policies, but the In dictment I eloquently silent on that subject. He cannot have been false to Roosevelt' tariff policy, for Roose velt had none. If thl be the strongest Indictment the Roosevelt men ran make against Taft. they have a mlser- t! weak case. tait n "AiirTv. A current political article describe a reactionary a one who has stopped ami cannot start: and a radical as one who has started and cannot stop. Per haps it would be as well to aay that a radical I one who ha tarted some thing he cannot slop. Perhnp also It would be well to describe the Ideal citizen a a "conservative with a move on." Woodrow Wilson so spoke of himself to a group of hi admiring friends. President Taft Is another conservative going ahead at a sane and safe gait. President Roosevelt Jn 190 pictured Mr. Taft In these mem orable words: In Mr Tan we havs a clean man. who combine a'l theso dualities to a degree which no other man In our public life since th Civil War haa surpassed. ... To per. mit the direction of our public affairs to fall alternate) Into the handa of revolu tiooanos and reactionaries, of estreme rad icals of unrest and of bigoted conservatives who recognise no wrong to remedy, would merely mean that the Nation had embarked on a ' feverish course of violent oscillation which would be fraught with great tem porary trouble and would produce no ade quate good In ths end. The statesman who was neither rev olutionary nor reactionary wa then Colonel" Roosevelt" Ideal. But listen further to this deserved and heartfelt Rtvosevelt tribute: He would be aa emphatically a President of the plain people as Lincoln, vet not Lin coln himself would be freer from the lcast taint of demagogy, the least tendency to arouse, to appeal to class hatred of any kind. If President Taft four years ago was all that Colonel Roosevelt said he was, he I the sanie Just, fearless, upright, kindly and honest man today He ha not changed. But Colonel Roosevelt has changed, vastly changed. Both the country and Colonel Roosevelt are loser through the change. lICT-TOR. AMI KIM.H. Colonel Roosevelt' comparison of present-day King to a Vice-President for life, with the leadership of the Four Hundred thrown In. 1 true to life, but It would not fit a man who climbed to a dictatorship by successive elections to the Presidency. Such a man would more closely resemble the founder of a royal dynasty. He would have attained kingship by his own gen ius and force of character. Such men exercised all the power of kingship, and so would a dictator. Only their weak descendants, who gained the royal title without the struggle which prove their fitness or ability to rule, have sunk to the level of Vice-Presidents and leader of the Four Hun dred. The people would have a much to fear from the weak descendants of a strong man who fought hi way to the dictatorship. In case he made hi power hereditary, a from the first of the line. History shows that royal families degenerate, leaving the exer cise of power to ministers who commit act of tyranny in their name when their power la absolate. Should the first dictator not found a hereditary line of rulers, the country would gink to the condition of Mexico, one strong man after another seizing the reins by physical force. No man w ho has watched the career and studied the character of Roosevelt can Imagine him content to be so com paratively Innocuous a personage as a Vice-President or a leader of the Four Hundred. James Buoy died a few days ago at his home in Husum, Wash., at the age of $2 year, during sixty-two of which he had been sightless. His life I noted a an example of possible at tainment in Industrial ways under the serious handicap of blindness. With this misfortune he was stricken in early manhood, jet he secured a home, stead In the regular way and made many Improvement upon It. and pre ferred sawing wood to Idleness up to a few year ago. when failing strength compelled him to desist. His life was an example In patience, cheerfulness and usefulness. In the words of Helen Hunt Jackson, "Though blind, he never felt accursed." but walked humbly and patiently his shadowed way to the end. OATHS AM CHICKENS. No doubt the chicken which are to be laln In court next month to fortify the veracity of Chlnewe witnesses will bo given to the poor after they have served this more acred purpose. If there I any way to make w ltnesscs tell the truth, we favor it use. no matter though It Involves the slaughter of geese a well aa chicken. Experience seems to prove, however, that there Is no such way. Many human beings will say on the witness stand what they think will benefit the cause they favor and harm the one they oppose, and the law is powerless to prevent them from doing o. The truth-compelling power of an oath Is largely imaginary. Its princi pal effect la to give greater Impressive ness to, the falsehoods which are ut tered tinder It sanction. A "wrong story" told on a shoe box In the village store is apt to be Judged for what It 1 worth by the attentive neighbors. The same story told in court under the awful shadow of an oath g-alns a cer tain credence which It docs not intrln utoniiv Hoiorve. Taken for all In all. the Judicial oath Is perhaps the most ...iit-j. inc-ontlve to norlurv we have in oil cue court machinprr. a .eoo no rl of the effort of a C cer- os r. ' - - - i.in oioc. or ioo.-v.ru 1 to make oppos ing witnesses seem to be perjurers. Ever' witness Is sure to be called a liar hair a do7.cn times fore he gets through with laaiimnnv and lnce he has to bear be his the .. i n .,..- . . onlov the bene tit? Thus he reasons, and who shall say .Kr v.i inoii' lo not sound? If law yers would learn to treat witnesses with decent courtesy, they would help the cause of truth more than by the slaughter or many nens. A STKP IN TIIK IUiHT lllRrX'TlON. The bill proposing amendment to the homestead law by reducing tne time of residence in order to secure title from five years to three passed the House of Representatives Wednes day. Senator Borah, of Idaho, who is an earnest champion of the measure, feels confident that at no distant day we will have a three-year homestead law. Only those who are conversant with the facts Incident to securing a home stead by living" upon and cultivating 160 acre of land for a period of five consecutive years, can properly ap praise the value of thl reduction of time In the Interest of the settler, i ne homesteader who. without resources. file upon an area of wild land In re sponse to the desperate longing to se cure a home for himself and family represent courage that Is little short of sublime and purpose that I dis tinctly creative and consequently of alow development. ' The successive step of this laudable desire to own a honip and land sutll clent to support It are represented first by a little clearing In which a cabin or shack I erected to serve the tlrst need of the family: next, by a clearing about the home that will serve the purpose of a garden and dooryard; a few chickens and chicken coops, a plow. a borrowed horse, exchanging work for a day now and then with a neigh bor, shift and makeshift In every way to secure the first season seed; inter mittent work with ax and mattock and the firebrand to clear a space for meadow, oat Held-or orchard; the most pinching economy In the matter of clothing, groceries, shoes and scnooi- bonks for the children these are phase and Incidents of the first years of the settler's endeavor on the home stead. SatLsfied with his honest Intent at homebullding. the Government should make terms with the homesteader that would make possible the acceptance of It gift of land without wearing out himself and his wife and causing the growing children to hate farm work and hie early to the city. The amend ment pending la a step In the right di rection. PFKN'ICIOl'S ..AW-ttlVIXi. Perhaps omo worthy and needed reforms are proposed In the latest ef fort of Mr. I" Ren and a few associ ates to enact a new constitution, but If any obviously good changes are In corporated In the "cabinet amend ment" they are hopelessly Interwoven with new and untried schemes for whlch the writings of theorists the world over have apparently been combed. Without questioning the good Intentions of men vho walk with their heads In the cloud of theory and experiment, the latest ITRen produc tion may be fittingly termed a perni cious use by individuals of a reserve power granted the people. The Initiative was not adopted In Oregon with the remotest Idea by tlje people that It ever would be used as a means of proposing overthrows of es tablished forms of government. Among advocate of direct legislation whose opinions have weight with a no ticeable proportion of'the public there la hardly one In the Nation who pro poses or Indorse the Initiative as more than a supplement of or check upon the Legislature, to be used at the In frequent times when the lawmaking body neglects or refuses to respond to the will of the people. Moreover, the voter of Oregon have plainly ex pressed opposition to complicated and revolutionary measures. They possess an antipathy to amendments or bills that cannot be rea'dlly understood. They are firmly wedded. If results of the 1910 election are a gauge of sen timent, to the doctrine that It Is wisest when in doubt, to vote "no. But the CRen ' committee ' would override the Intent of the people. It would cast back In the face of the vot ers their refusal to countenance Initia tive abuses. It would go contrary to sane and progressive statesmanship. It would inflict an unnecessary and prof itless burden of study and expense upon the public. Some of the changes proposed by the committee were presented In ltlO In a long and complicated amendment. Chief among these was "proportional representation." In that proposed amendment "proportional representa tion" was not provided In the exact form now to be submitted, but In some of the essential It was the same. The amendment was defeated by more than 7000 votes. Several factors en tered Into the negative voting of the electors. One was opposition to ex perimenting with untried policies of government. Another was recognition of a plain attempt at Initiative log rolling in preparation of the measure. Another was objection to presentation of other than simple and easily under stood Issues. Still another was the Inability of the ordinary voter to give the measure the study necessary to train a clear understanding of Its pro vision. In addition many foresaw un desirable results from its enactment. In drafting a new constitution Mr. C'Ren and his committee have not sought to overcome the objections voiced to their other amendment. Good and doubtful feature are com- ' blned and thereby "Initiative logroll , Ing" Is again attempted- The new measure Is much more intricate tnan Its predecessor. It Is to a greater ex tent revolutionary. It Is far more visionary. A query may reasona bly be propounded to the fram ers as to whether they think it i a better plan than the one they presented In 1910, or believe It a scheme not so good. As herein stated, "proportional representation" pro posed now Is not the. same "propor tional representation" advocated In the last election. If we had adopt ed the 1910 plan, would it be neces sary to amend it now? If not, why not resubmit the 1910 scheme? The public has given that plan more or less study, and can votetupon it with bet ter knowledge. If the new scheme is better than the 1910 plan, is It the last word In "proportional representation" or Is "proportional representation" an untried experiment about which its advocates are themselves in doubt? This new constitution it is that in fact, although it is termed an amend ment Is submitted for discussion as the product of the executive commit tee of the People's Power League. In view of recent disclosures It may also be pertinently asked whether all the members of the committee who give It Indorsement understand its provisions. The Presidential primary bill adopted In 1910 came from the same source. A year later one of the committee de clined to construe the act on the ground that he had never studied the measure and did not fully understand It. Is this true of the "cabinet amend ment"? Has the committee turned the work over to Mr. ITRen? Or Is Mr. ITRen presenting his schemes un der a masquerade? But, regardless of its authorship, the proposal to wreck established forms of state and county government, re build them with untested material and decorate them with visionary ginger bread, deserves, in the light of what the voter have said about similar at tempts at governmental reconstruc tion, to be termed pernicious activity. To ask the voters to pass upon a meas ure that could not be adequately out lined or summarized in one and one half columns of The Oregonlan is pre suming on good nature. To present it at a (Ime when the people's thought is largely centered on a Presidential 'elec tion and the filling of county and state offices Is preposterous. To ask careful consideration of such a problem when forty or more legislative tasks for the reople are already In prospect Is ridic ulous. The postofflce committee of the House ha recommended experimental establishment of the parcels post on rural delivery routes only for two years, parcels to be carried only from one point to another on the same route. In the meantime. Inquiry is to be made Into all the problems Involved In establishment of a general parcels post. The committee estimates that the experiment, can be made at slight additional expense, as the equipment is already in service and will need change on only 15 per cent of the routes. It would seem that with the experience of nearly every nation, from Japan to Argentina, to guide us, such extreme caution is unnecessary. A church Is an odd place for men to fight In. but the Oakland pair of ene mies who chose one for that purpose might have cited many precedents. In olden times a favorite way of disposing of obnoxious Kings was to stab them while they were saying their prayers In church. The sacred edifice has been put to many other strange uses, such as stabling horses. The monastery where Leonardo's "Last Supper" was painted on the wall was made a stable hv French ravalrv In 1499 and a hole cut through the picture for a door. There can be no such thing as the "settlement" of an I. W. W. strike. The order frankly proclaims Its pur pose to call strike after strike until it has absorbed the entire profit of every industry". With bright prospects for peace in Great Britain, we will have mining troubles on this side in plenty, but warm weather Is coming and the suf fering will be light. If Mayor Rolph would drench the I. W. W. with the hose, the shudders with which they threaten tho whole world would be felt by themselves. Whv not rfin schoolchildren through a vacuum cleaner each day as they en ter? The rising generation must be protected from the germ at any cost. The Fort Stevena girls may be able oot alone- without mere man at a dance, but It is very convenient to have a man come home on payday. Men who fail to register have no right to feel disgruntled when the vote Is counted. There are jet ten days for dilatory people. Th. animal that rides in the Hu mane Society's automobile ambulance will have distinction above his fellows. Chronic drunks must have the for lorn feeling when they gaze on the dis mantled City Jail. t-.o of a Senatorial frank I not vio lation of the corrupt practices act. It is simple thrift. Community of interest may explain the Senate's unwillingness to unseat Stephenson. Veil no- Hiehhorn was foolish to com mit suicide, but too sensible to commit murder. Tuiimnnv shows everything came easy to the right men on Spokane's payroll. Tacoma mav now find an excuse to have the alleged census padding re stored. The pannier skirt is an Invention to demoralize the bulbous woman. Having kalsomined Stephenson, no less waa due Lo rimer. RATES DECLARED EXTORTIONATE Writer Compare New Schedule tcVlth I'rlcea Set by Mt. Hood Co. PORTLAND, March 28. (To the Ed tor.) Mr. Gaston has put forth a very strong showing against the P. R-, L. & P. Co. In Its pretensions of public benefit and prayer for consideration as voiced by Mr. Clark. The truth Is, that it would be difficult searching the world over for a more unblushing out rage against a people than this last attempt at extortion, promulgated in a guise as if we were being handed out a benefaction rather than attempt at highway robbery. This may seem a pretty stout statement and we will proceed to verify It. The Mt. Hood Railway. Light & Power Company offered power to me for constant use ' at 58 per horse per annum for 10-horse power. After July 1. 1912, the power Installation of moderate-size plants, say up to 30 or 40-horse power per new schedule of the P- R., L. & P. Co. is the first 4 per cent at 7 cents per K. W. hour of possible maximum; next 4 per cent at 5 cents per K. W. hour and excess over 8 per cent at 2 cents per K. W. hour. By reducing K. W. to horse power on this schedule, assuming that 12-horse power was contracted. It fol lows (in round numbers) that one-half-horse power (four per cent) at 7 cents, means $304; the next. half horse power (4 per cent) at 5 cents. Is $201; the balance of 11-horse power at 2 cents. $1441: total, 1946. This therefore averages $162 per horse power under the new schedule. The rate means the use of 12-horse power for one year of 24 -hours per day, as against the rate of $58 per horse power per annum offered- by the Mt. Hood line. - The enormity of this exaction is put in greater contrast to measure it by the average cost set for power in the City of Ottawa, Canada, where the average rate from a dozen competitive powers In that city is $10.40 per horse per annum constant use, a difference of over 1S00 per cent. Portland Is al most as favorably situated and with as abundant power at command as Ot tawa. The latter city brings over one half its power a distance of SO miles, while Portland brings about half 40 miles. Think of the puerility, the slavlshness, the Imbecility of nearly 250.000 people here who submit to such infamy. To move harmoniously with this ex tortion, we read of an increase of the mortgage bonds of the company that ex ploits us to $75,000,000. This, with their capital stock, must far exceed $100,000, 000 in stocks and bonds. It Is admitted that some $10,000,000 of these bonds are issued without present necessity, probably to be left to soak for a few years until the people have forgotten, and then saddled on their backs as part of legitimate capitalization. This company, which, by the recent accusation of the Government, is part and parcel of the waterpower combine which Is Interlocked and correlated with the big businsjss syndicate, of which Morgan is the head, seems lost to every sense of prudence In institut ing a rate over three times higher than for which power by steam in wood or coal can be manufactured, and over eight times higher than powesi can be make by the producer gas method. It advertised in The Oregonian less than a year ago that it had 170,000 horsepower of water Installation un der way; if this could be let out under the lowest rate named by them under the new schedule. 5 mills per K. W. hour, it would produce a rental of over $5,500,000. However, In order to put the matter In concrete shape, will say that I will bring 6000 horsepower of water to the city limits In 18 months from the time the contract is signed, for city bonds to the amount of $600,000, 80 per cent payable as the work progresses, the city to guarantee their sale at par. By this means it will he seen that the rental cost of one horsepower deliv ered at as above would be $3 per year lit the bonds bear 5 per cent), besides the upkeep and city Installation, which would be no more. This offer includes the waterpower and when 6000 horse power is absorbed will give as much more for $50,000 less. I am merely stating this to acquaint the general reader of what can be done under economical management without padding for the grafters and politicians, and would gladly make good if the opportunity was offered me. CHARLES P. CHURCH. Al'DITOR NOT AUDITOR IN FACT. Accounting of City Book Should Re I-eft to Independent Expert. PORTLAND. March 26 (To the Edi tor.) in the matter of the Incorporat ing into the proposed commission char ter the civil service as at present ad ministered and safeguarded, I notice that there seems to be some confusion as to the system or plan of audit of the accounts of the city. The difference of opinion appears to center around the office now commonly known as City Auditor. As I'understand the duties of the so called office of City Auditor, this of ficer Is in no sense an auditor, in the full meaning of the. word, but Is an administrative official who is at the head of this feature of the city's busi ness and bears a fixed responsibility as to the proper maintenance of all origi nal entries pertaining to the correct accounting of the business of the mu nicipality. Under a commission form of govern ment, the office should be appointive. This is the opinion of the best munici pal experts who have investigated the matter. The matter of a continuous audit of the accounts ox the city lias no relation to the office of City Auditor but should be In the hands of the commis sioners who would retain competent practicing public accountants of the City of Portland for the purpose of making a thorough independent yearly audit with the resultant complete fi nancial report, covering the full opera tions of the business of the city, to the commissioners at the end of the fiscal year. This selection of independent auditors could be made (as has already been suggested) by the commissioners from a list of accountants certified by the Clearing-house association or in the event of the Legislature enacting a certified public accountants law at the next session, the appointment could be made from th public records of regis tered accountants on file in the office of the Secretary of State in Salem. This matter should have the closest attention of taxpayers. The proper maintenance of the accounts of the city, county and state Is a very important matter, and too little attention has been paid to the same in the past, In any event the matter should be taken out of the hands of the politi cians. JOHX Y! RICHARDSON. Scotchmen and the Gallows. COOKS, Wash., March 25. (To the Editor.) To settle a mild question, will you please help me out, depending on your memory only? Wa ever a Scotch man hanged in the United States? I say no. P. J. CAHILL, The Oregonian, "depending on mem ory alone," agrees with Mr. CahllL. rent Brought to a Powder. Kansas City Times. According to a new Swedish method of using peat for fuel, tfie dried peat is first brought to a fine powder and Is then blown Into the furnace by an air fan. MAN'S PERSONAL. IDEAS PREVAll Conception of Christ Varies With the Individual Aaaie of View. PORTLAND, March 28. (To the Editor.) Mr. Wood's views of Christ may be likened to Theodore Tarker's "Views of Religion" inasmuch as they are personal ideas, although contain ing much instructive truth, and are well worth reading. Unfortunately a radical pen rarely fails to lack homo geneity and balance, therefore in Mr. Wood's article in Sunday's Oregronian one may expect a few decrials and eulogies planted about in a little Eden of sarcasm and wit. "Do you know who Christ was?" a fellow-worker once said to me, "Well, he was Just like one of those Socialist fellows, that's what he was. He 'cussed' the rich and told them to divide with the poor: he reviled tho priests and called them hypocrites: he cleaned out a den of thieves posing as business men, in the temple. That's the Socialist of today." And here, I believe, is the keynote of the whole matter. One glances at a thing or situation and one's ideas of the sub ject is immediately affected by his peculiar angle of observation. From William Archer and his cabal of parlor Socialists down to the humblest apostle of the soap-box in Portland, the idea persists that Christ was a prototype of the ideal non-individualistic man in whom the race stream of Initiative effort had branched into the truer channel of community life. And. in deed, many of his words and practices bear out the belief. "Sell all thou hast, give to the poor; the last shall be first; beware of the scribes; take no thoupht for tomorrow; provide neither scrip nor purse: consider the lilies, they toil not. neither do they spin," and a hun dred others are good Socialist gospel, but which the world singrularly has failed to adopt. And why? Even a philosopohical anarchist like Mr. Wood, whose Christ seems to be an obscure foreshadow with an Aramaic cast, of the fanciful lawless ideal of today, would scarcely quote the above scrip ture as an authoritative gospel of conduct. As Taine called Milton's Jehovah a drill sergeant so we may regard Christ in whatever attitude constitutes our dominant mental activity; Milton with Cromwell's iron ' face and shot-and-powder before him could scarcely help adjusting his theogony to the prevalent situation. Similarly to the Christian Scientist and Emmanuelite Christ is a magical healer and adjuster of a defec tive metabolism; to a Baptist, the chief inceptor of regenerative immersion in water; to James Martineau, the apostle of human brotherhood; to Thomas Paine, a free thinking Jew far too good, radical and plain spoken to let live; to Huxley, a half mythical per sonage possessed with delusions con cerning demons, angels and other su pernatural phenomena. In fact, he is whatever one wishes to make of him. To the vast majority of Christians he is a God and only the Theists and Unitarians regard him in the larger sense of the Great Brother of Men. He Is also that chimerical beckoning Ideal that urges one on to a better life, that restores equilibrium in the whirling nebulae of the moral world. Thus a man bearing a heavy burden of guilt is delivered, like Bunyan or Fox, or one who seeks spiritual expression in deeds of mercy is upheld as St. Francis or St. Vin cent De Paul. Why not formulate a real philosophy as to the nature of the spiritual world? An hour or two of pragmatic thought every week would set one right in a great many ideas of other and we hope better, conditions. Those we face from day to day are intolerable. It Is a small satisfaction to have fine linen while another has rags, it is true, but- we may have worked for our linen. Only an egotist believes any scheme of his is a divine solution for human ills. "In 12 months," said Confucius, "I could make a happy kingdom, but no prince will accept my principles." He died sorrowing over the thought. As a political philosophy Socialism may be an excellent thing, but a religion It is assuredly not. With Wil liam James 1 believe Christ was the first Christian mystic and by his methods anyone conscious of sin may he delivered and by conversion enter into a peculiar mystical communion with the divine, churches do not exist for a vague purpose. Their communi cants are struggling for higher lives. This, Christ evidently reveals to them. Onlv a few find it. C. A. OLSON. 628 Northrup Street. A baenee From Homesteads. BEND. Or., March 24. (To the Edi tor.) Has a single man who has a 320-acre homestead any right to go out and work four or five months of the Summer without a permit from the Land Office? Also, could any one contest the homestead in his absence, said home stead well improved? A SUBSCRIBER. A man has a right to go out and work for four or five months, provided he makes the homestead his home. He may go without a permit, but It is much better to secure one from the Land Office, then there can be no question as to his intent. If the offi cials at the Land Office say a permit is not necessary, then he can show, when he goes to prove up, that he ap plied for the permit, and can show he maintained his residence on the home stead. No one can jump his claim until he has been gone six months. Consider able trouble has arisen over these ab sences, persons residing on the land only once in six months, really having their residences elsewhere. A strict construction is placed upon the law now, so that It is necessary to com ply with it to the letter. New Special Features OF The Sunday Oregonian The Way of the Matchmaker An exposition by Laura Jean Libbey of the wiles of matrons who act as agents for Cupid. A full page, superbly illustrated. Americans of the Future They will beeome a super-race, says noted scholar, who presents a half page of remarkable interest. Man to Conquer the Amazon A page, illustrated with photos, on the wonderful Amazon Valley,-which is big enough to accommodate the population of the whole world. Playing the Game From the Bench Tenth of Christy Mathewson's stories of the big leaguers. April Fooling Nature A page on the capers Government men play on shrubs, plants and animals. Fables in Slang George Ade writes for Sunday's Oregonian three new fables with the usual Ade dash and fun. The pictures are by Albert Levering. Two Complete Short Stories; illustrated. The Jump-Ups They make the acquaintance of a "nobleman.' New Adventures by all the comic supplement favorites. MANY OTHER FEATURES. Order Today of Your News Dealer. Half a Century Ago From The Oregoninn of March 29. 862. Kelly, a Democrat of Clackamas County, has ordered his name taken from the names attached to the call for a secession convention. He sup posed that, when he signed the call, it was for a Democratic Union conven tion. He can't go the secesli. The Surveyor-General of Washington Territory has decided In favor of the Catholic mission claim to a large part of the plat of Vancouver City. This de cision will be subject to revision by the Commissioner of the General Land Of fice and after that the case may go into the courts. Amos E. Rogers, of Jackson County, has been appointed sub-Indian Agent for Oregon, and we learn his bonds are approved. The Church ville Gazette imputed the defeat of Zcllicoffer's army to the drunkenness of General Chittenden, and strongly intimates that "treason, treachery and cowardice" were connect ed with it. The Memphis Avalanche says that. Crittenden is charged with having sold the army at Somerset for $17,000. Many fires have occurred in Washins ton lately, which the papers there say are known to be the work of incen diaries. Marklett's passenger train left Yreka for the Salmon River mines on the 1 Uh, 12th and 13th. There were about 60 persons in this expedition. The road expedition, consisting of 40 men, went out previously. Mr. Henry Vanness. a gentleman who has had the misfortune of losing one of his limbs, has on exhibition in this city a fine collection of stereoscopic views, many of them taken from life. Anions them is a view of the battle ground of Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, etc.. and a life picture of Beauregard and his staff, and one of Jefferson Davis, resident of the Southern Confederacy, in whose hands is a large telescope, with which he seems to be uneasily watching the movements of some of our boys. A grand entertainment is offered to night at the Willamette. Mrs. Forbes and Mr. Beatty each appear in two characters. The beautiful nautical drama of "Black-eyed Susan" will be gin the performance, with Mrs. Forbes in her great character of William, Miss Lawrence as the lovely Susan and Mr. Beatty as Gnatbrain. "Don Caesar de Basam," a romantic and musical drama In three acts, will conclude the per formance with Mr. Beatty as Don Caesar and Mrs. Forbes as Maritana. Miss Lawrence will sing several of her best songs and with them "Ridin' in a Railway Keer." The Board of Common Council, at their meeting last night, passed an ordinance granting to William S. Ladd and associates the exclusive right to lay water pipes through the streets of Portland for the term of 30 years. As "Ed" Howe Sees Life A man can accomplish nothing, ex cept to get hungry, without effort. We no longer plow with a crooked stick, but politics Is the same old crooked stick it always was. Reform is as slow now as was plowing in the days of the crooked stick plow. About the most uninteresting thing is a bum social event. Believing foolish lies is almost as bad as telling them. In a fist fight the aggressor is always the larger man of the two; the little man fights In the hope that the crowd will pull the big man oft before he can do much damage. From ancient times riot and reform have alternated, the rioting always lasting longer than the reform. The farmers were meant when the term "workingman" was originally used: they are the real thing when it comes to working long Hours at low pay. Yet they have never struck but twice; the Populist year, and the Granger year, and the town men soon settled both walkouts. A good thing Is not better than it really is. and to say that it is, is a brown lie. The office of chief ruler was once offered to the highest bidder. The man who bid in the royal palaco, and the right to occupy it, proposed to raise the purchase price by taxation. One dissatisfied farmer asked the new king: By what argument do you Justify this action?" The new king pointed to tho armv. and replied: "My argument is 20,000 swords." The argument pre vailed: soldiers were the politicians in those days. "I have tried all things," old people say, "nd all is of little value." A Woman's Hair Brush. Louisville Courier-Journal. "A woman can't drive a nail straight." "Not with a hammer, possibly. But you give her a hair brush and she can drive a nail as well as anybody." Fat Boy aa Pioneer Houston (Tex.) Post. "And does this fat little boy belong in your crowd?" "No'm: we just use him to try the ice with before we go skatin'." f