8
THE MORXIXG OREGONIAN. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1912.
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: PORTLAND, THURSDAY. SEPT. 19, 191.
j,1 COMMENT ON " MAINE'S VOTE.
Eastern . newspapers, are almost
of
nun m i n r that t Vi a ieaiilt- Af the Maine
4 i
"j state election presages victory for Wil-
i son In November. Republicans find
some comfort In their recovery of con
t trol of the state administration, of one
i : Representative In Congress and of the
, legislature, which means that they
! will regain one of the lost Senatorshlps,
! : but they see nothing before them but
j defeat in the dissolution of tha truce
J with the Roosevelt Progressives, in
view of the small majority they se-
, ; cured. The Roosevelt men rejoice in
i ! the election of Haines as Governor,
I and look forward with glee to the as-
; saults they will make on the Repub-
J llcan forces in the Presidential cam
J palgn. The Democrats pay small at
I tention to what they have lost in their
! joy over the certainty that the Repub
i lican split will give them the state elec-
1 toral vote In November, but are given
: some warnings that they have no walk-
-away. . Some Democratic Journals
agree with some of the Republican
f persuasion that the Republican party,
If united, would be stronger than has
' been supposed, that evidence , of a
Democratic landslide is lacking and
that Republican defeat will be due to
the Roosevelt bolt, not to the inherent
weakness of the Republican and
strength of the Democratic party.
The New York Tribune draws the
certain conclusion that there 1s to be
no Democratic landslide. -It exults
over the local and partial gains made
by the Republicans; says that, "if Wil
ton should carry Maine, he would carry
It at the candidate of a minority par
ty"; declares that "the Democratic
managers have been taken aback by
the ' outcome" and that, "if Wilson
wins, it will be only because Repub
lican dissensions have literally thrust
him into office." It finds in the Maine
returns evidence of no general demand
for Wilson's services as leader, but de
scribes them as "a startling commen
tary on the futility and superfluous
Bess of the third party movement."
The New York World attributes the
Republican truce to the "cohesive pow
er of 400 state jobs," and says that the
Republican vote, when consolidated,
is big enough to carry the state, but
that, when It is divjded, "each Repub
lican faction Is a hopeless minority
and Maine's six electoral votes will be
cast for Wilson." It places the entire
burden of the coming Republican de
feat on Roosevelt's shoulders.
While pronouncing it nonsense to
say that Maine's verdict "means that
the tide has set away from the Demo
crats and towards the Republicans,"
the New York Herald says that "to say
that It does not mean a red light on
the track for the. Democracy would
likewise be nonsense."
The Brooklyn Eagle ridicules Chair
man Hilles' prediction that the Maine
yote means Taft s re-election, and
tays:
As a matter of fact. If Roosevelt had
planned the sequence of the Vermont result
and the Maine result as an object lesson to
indicate that Republican division alone
makes the party outlook hopeless for No
vember, he could not hare Improved much
on the pertinency of the figures. There is
no reasonable doubt that in a three-cornered
fight like that Impending in November,
Wilson will carry the state.
, Conceding that the slim majority of
the united Republicans means certain
Democratic victory when they are di
vided, the New York Evening Sun says
It "shows that the expected landslide
to Democracy has yet to start" and
adds:
It gives a fair hint of what a close fight
there would have been had the Republicans
united on a candidate at Chicago. That
can be only vain regret, however, for the
Republlrana Yesterday's victory In no wise
contradicts the inferences drawn from the
Vermont election. The early signs all indl
cate that Governor Wilson will walk ti
victory through a divided opposition.
The New York Evening Post con-
i gratulates the Democrats on having,
Improved on their record of 1908
! though that was an abnormally favor.
I able year to the Democrats, and con-
i tinues:
1 It seems distinctly probable that, with
. yesterdsy's Republican vote divided between
, Taft and Roosevelt, the state's electoral vote
- will go to Wilson, in spite or any lurking
I possiouiues as to tne siay-ai-noxnea oi zep
I teraber who may go to the polls on Novem-
ber 8.
j Republican defeat In November will
) be certain If the old Republican states
1 generally make no better showing
; than was made in Maine, in the opin
i Ion of the New York Times, but It
j sounds this warning to the Democrats:
The lesson the Democrata may draw from
Maine is that from now on their campaign
must be consistently vigorous, aggressive,
and Inspiriting. If they take that lesson to
r heart and abandon the Idea that the spilt
In the Republican party assures Democratic
success, the Maine result will be of benefit
i to them. They have, to be sure, been more
! nearly victorious in Maine tnan they were
in the last Presidential year, when they
mad, great gains. But this is no time
t tfor overconfldence.
J 1 The Times sees no hope for Roose-
velt In the result.
- This is how the frantically Roose
veltlan. New York Mail views the re
sult: Having thoroughly trounced one side of
the conspiracy of the bosses. In defeating
the Democratic candidate tor Governor, the
eHate of Maine advances naturally and
easily to its task of downrng the other half
of the combination the Taft half.
The JBoston Herald says Maine's
.' vote "affords small ground for ex
' peeling Republican success in N6vem-j?-;ber,"
urges the party's supporters to
y "remit no energy to restore once more
J"'that coherence of forces by which Its
past -victories have been won" and
i makes a futile appeal to Roosevelt to
withdraw "in the interest of the -great
historical organization to which he
owes so much."
Comfort for the Democrats is found
- by the Boston Globe in the fact that
.""their vote "Is the highwater mark of
Hhe Mains Democracy In a Presidential
year." From the hoisting of 'the rival
cbanners of Taft and Roosevelt that
Journal draws this conclusion:
It surely looks as If the congratulations to
the Republicans of Maine should be mln-
gled with congratulations to tha Democrats
of. the country at -large. ..
The meaning . of the vote is thus
summed up by the Hartford Courant:
It was a very decent day's work, and a
normal day's work. rtoo. If personal ambi
tion and vindictive selftshness had not
thrown themselves Into our current politics
Wilson's chances would be nowhere. Re
publicans still have time to consider whether
they are willing to throw the country into
the hands of the Democratic crowd. The
result In Maine shows that the ultimate de
cision' really lies in Republican hands.
The Springfield Republican holds
that the election was fought on state
issues, that the attempt by the Demo
crats to inject National issues into the
campaign served only to drive the Re.
publicans together and that "there is
practically no barometric value In the
xviaiue result, w ue uypueu to me elec
tion in November.
The Indianapolis News cannot find
much hope for Taft. . It remarks:
With ruch a narrow plurality the Indica
tions are that, with a divided Republican
party, the Democrats may carry the state In
November. Though about all that can be
said of Maine Is that In recent years It
has become a very doubtful and uncertain
quantity.
Obviously the determining factor in No
vember will be the else of the Progressive
vote. Another question is as to the number
or Democrats wno will vote for tha Roose
velt electors. If they stand firm It will
not take much of a Republican split to
wipe out the slender plurality of yesterday.
Recalling that "the Taft Board of
Strategy refused to send either speak
ers or substantial aid to the Maine
Progressive Republicans," the Indian
apolis Star says:
It Is a pity the Taft men cannot share in
the Maine triumph over the Democrats.
- The Chicago Inter-Ocean finds two
or three circumstances which "make
the Republican victory encouraging
to the Republican party of the Na
tion and says of the predicted efforts
of the Roosevelt men who control the
Maine Republican organization to de
liver the electoral vote to Roosevelt:
We are Inclined to believe that common
political prudence. If not common political
decency. ' will restrain from a course so
treacherous. The Republican party Is not
going out of business In Maine on Novem
ber 5, and these gentlemen will need the
votes of Republicans on principle in the
years to come.
On the whole, the result In Maine Is en
couraging. It is another sign of a whole
some reaction toward American common
sense in politics and of a revival of faith
in American institutions, it is encouraging
if followed ud. With onlv Incidental effort
to present the great cause of orderly constl
tutlonal government the Republican party
has won back Maine. All that is needed for
las nepuoucan party to win la ue nation
is a real campaign.
After remarking that the result
signifies "that the scant majority of
the United Republicans must wholly
disappear with the Republicans di
vided between Taft and Roosevelt,'
the Louisville Courier-Journal says:
Under the unique conditions the results In
Maine are of interest In connection with the
National campaign solely because they snow
what might be accomplished If the Bull
Moose were not striving to disembowel the
eiepnant. incidentally tney can attention
to the sorriness of the role that is being
played by Colonel Roosevelt. It is not the
fart or the dog In the manger, because even
f there were no Bull Moose, President Taft
could not win the November election. . But
Insofar as motives and disposition go, the
Colonel has no advantage of the dog.
The Baltimore - Sun finds In the
percentage of Democratic gains in Ver.
mont and Maine the answer "no" to
the question:
SuDDOse bv some miracle the Bull Moose
ana tne regular nepuoucans snouia get to
gether before election day, could the com
bined forces win out over Wilson 7
But the Sun says the character of
Maine's answer should stimulate Dem
ocratic workers to a vigorous cam
paign, adding:
It Isn't sportsmanlike to stake everything
i the effects of a split in the ranks ox
tne enemy
TWO INCIDENTS. .
At the same hour that the Socialists
of Portland were meeting to Indorse
the infamous handbill on Roosevelt,
circulated while the ex-President was
here, Francis J. Heney and' Meyer
Lissner, shining suns of the Roosevelt
universe, were trying to break up a
Taft meeting at Los Angeles.
The two incidents have a singular
analogy. The Roosevelt followers and
the socialistic propagandists join in a
tenacious adherence of the right of
free speech for themselves and an
equally persistent denial of free speech
for others. Witness the disgraceful Ba
den-Powell episode in Portland. Wit
ness the Heney-Lissner invasion of a
Taft meeting. Witness tha intolerant
and turbulent spirit of the Roosevelt
partisans at Chicago, who listened at
tentively to their own speakers - and
uproariously interrupted the opposi
tion orators' by continuous outbreaks.
The Socialist organization' stands pat
on the anti-RooscA-elt libels. It gets
down to a low level. It is not sur
prising that the Colonel should be the
victim of such disreputable methods,
when he has set a bad example by his
bitter denunciations of all his antag
onists and by his constant and malig
nant personal abuse. Nevertheless, he
is entitled to fair play, though he so
rarely gives fair play. ' -
TrtE COMMISSION CHARTER.
tt is unfortunate in one respect that
the commission charter is to be sub
mitted to the voters of Portland .only
three days -before they will vote on
Presidential, Congressional and county
candidates, some state candidates and
thirty-nine state and local initiative
measures. Success of the commission
form of government attained elsewhere
has been due in part, and no small
part as a rule, to the Interest the com
mission charter campaign aroused in
the character of the men to be elected
to municipal office. . Demand for the
new form of city government is cre
ated not only by public recognition of
inefficiencies in the old system, but
by wider spread observance of the In
capabilities of . the men ordinarily
chosen for city office.
In centralizing responsibility, the
commission charter also centralizes
power and authority. While In elec
ting fewer officers we are likely to
get better ones, it must also be true
that if we choose the same proportion
of incapable officers under the new
system as under the old their incom
petency will be more potent and farther-reaching.
Sandwiching the com
mission charter in with so many other
political duties will almost certainly
fail to draw to it the interest it would
attract were it presented alone. Per
haps if it is carried, however, the pub
lic, before the dateof the first elec
tion to be held under Its provisions,
will awake to the fact that a change
for the better In the form of govern
ment is not of much avail without a
change for the better in its adminis
tration. . -
The charter submitted to the Port
land voters is distinctly a commission
charter. Under its provisions the vot
ers will elect a Mayor, "four Commis
sioners and an Auditor. All -other city
officers will be appointed by the Com
mission. Each Commissioner Is to be
the head of a department and the
present boards, which have Jurisdiction
over health, waterworks, qocks ana
similar matters, are to be abolished,
with the exception of the Civil Service-
Commission. The Commission may,
however, in its discretion, revive any
of these boards.
This is a brief outline of the offi
cial machinery provided by the char
ter. There are numerous restrictions
upon and powers granted the Mayor
and Commissioners that will be dis-j
cussed before the date of election, but
the charter may now be summarized as
a measure placing In the hands of five
men all the legislative and administra
tive work of the city.
The salaries provided in commission
charters are quite generally subject
for attack. In the charter proposed
for Portland the salaries of the five
Commissioners will aggregate $28,000
yearly. At present the salaries of the
Mayor and fifteen Councilmen aggre
gate $9300. We think there can be
no doubt that if we elect a Mayor
whose- services are really worth the
$6000 a year the charter establishes as
his salary, and . five Commissioners
who are really $5000 men all devote
their time to city duties, we shall be
less extravagant than we are at the
present time, when we pay each of
fifteen Councilmen $25 per month for
giving his spare time to municipal af
fairs.
Adoption of a commission charter
is a step in the right direction, but it
does not go the full distance. It will
not automatically relieve a city of
graft or incompetence. We should like
to see the prpposed charter discussed
and criticised. The more interest in
its fate the better. If the issue arouses
general interest . and the charter is
adopted, we are more than likely to
have a better, cleaner and more eco
nomical government for at least four
years, which ,is the term for which
the new administration would be
elected. ' -
HAIL, BULL MOOSE!
The Progressive party of Oregon is
now something more than a mere
Roosevelt makeshift, or near-Bull
Moose. It has nominated a state ticket,
and part of a Congressional ticket, and
the act of secession from the old par
ties is thus complete. The Salem con
vention, however, failed or forgot to
adopt a platform. But why cavil? A
platform might be a reminder of the
wicked convention or boss-ridden days,
and the Chicago National platform has
plenty, and more, for all the states of
tha Union. What the Bull Moosers
of Oregon want now are the offices.
I Principles may . safely be left to the
great fountain-head of all wisdom, the
third-term candidate.
The Salem affair seems to have been
a Titanic conflict between the warring
leaders (not bosses). There has been
nothing like It since the old Populist
days. Your Populist was nothing if
not an orator, and a Populist con
vention was a Kilkenny picnic. Yet
the outcome of the heat and thunder,
and occasional lightning, at Salem is
logically the only position a new party
has a right to take. No party can be
half in and half out of an old party-
half Bull Mose, half Elephant, or
Donkey. Yet that Is -what the so
called Progressives of Oregon long
tried to do, until their predicament be
came ridiculous and intolerable. Now
thay have taken ' the only honest
course, though, Indeed, they have cast
an anchor to the windward in the case
of .Kellaher, candidate for Presiden
tial elector. They nominated Kellahar
as a Progressive, though . he already
is a Republican nominee, and thus
they indorsed the petty and unworthy
scheme to deprive the Republicans of
the five candidates to which they are
in fairness entitled. But Kellahersays
he- will vote for Taft if Taft carries
Oregon a concession for which In the
circumstances Republicans ought to
be grateful. For they nominated Kel-
laher, and they must rely upon the
Kellaher conscience for results.
We" wonder how long till the Bull
Moose, weary of wandering after false
signals and mythical forage, will come
penitently back to the old pasture
WHERE THE LEAVEN EXISTS.
In deserting the Republican for the
Roosevelt Progressive party on resign
ing as Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
Robert G. Valentine says the Progres
sive party "carries the leaven, the
yeast, the true hope of the future,"
yet he admits that this yeast is still
in the Republican party and is still
working, for. he says further:
With Secretary Fisher and First As
sistant Secretary Adams In charge of the
Interior Department that part of Indian
affairs which passes through the Depart
ment Is safe.
Inasmuch as the President knows -the
needs of the Indian Service and the forces
of evil that are to be guarded against, I
need not refuse the can or auty mat. tne
PrnvrwulvA nartv nrocramme makes on me
through fear that the Indians will be - left
unprotected. On the contrary, I believe
when confronted with the necessity, the
President will appoint someone having the
standards of Miss x.athrop at the head of
the Children's Bureau, or Mr. Conant at'
the head of the Bureau of Corporations.
He admits that the Progressive
movement Is still strong enough with
in the Republican party to make his
ideals safe in the hands of Fisher and
Adams and to Induce Taft to appoint a
new Indian Commissioner such as Val
entine can approve.
Valentine ignores the fact that the
yeast began to work through such men
as La Folletta, Cummins,- Borah and
Murdock long before Roosevelt pro
claimed himself a Progressive, and is
still working through them. The
strongest leaven has not left the Re
publican party, and will not leave it,
but will continue to work long after
the Progressive has gone the way of
other third parties
HAUNTED HOUSES.
The exposure of Eusapia Palladl
nos gay deceptions nas rimer de
pressed the business of exhibiting spir
its and their performances for the
last two or three years. Still there
are determined souls in whom faith
burns with an ardent flame for all
that has haDDened to quench it The
more you prove their conviction base
less the more dearly Jhey hug It to
their bosoms. One meets men occa
sionally who still profess to have seen
tables "levitated." They have beheld
a' medium ascend two or three feet
into the air and stay there, serenely
indifferent to gravitation. They have
seen all sorts of wonders which noth
ing but the intervention of spirits can
explain.
.Such resolute believers in spirit
manifestations are not so numerous
as they -were a dozen years ago, but
they are not extinct by any means,
and now at last there Is a chance for
them to receive an earthly reward for
their perseverance under discouragement.-
A kindly, though we fear rath
er skeptical, society has been founded
in England called, ominously, "The
Facts Society." Its purpose Is to dig
down through rumor, mendacity and
credulity to the hard facts, if such
there be, concerning manipulations of
the supernatural. Levitation seems to
have interested the new society for
a starter, and it sets out brilliantly
and boldly with an offer of $25,000
"for one single case" of that particu
lar miracle.
' This is 8 golden opportunity for
the believers in spirit phenomena,
Those who have witnessed "hundreds
and hundreds" of levltatlons should
not hesitate to rush forward and claim
the reward, since they would naturally
experience little difficulty in produc
ing one more. The Facts Society im-
poses the condition that the feat must
te done "finder conditions which ren
der trickery of any kind impossible,"
but this is no real deterrent to a thor
oughgoing believer in the activity of
ghosts. In his Judgment, trickery Is
never possible. There ought to be
a multitude of claimants for the $25,
000 without -delay.
Eminent spiritualists appear to be
inclined to evade the test. Instead of
producing the levitatlon which would
win the money, they plead that the
society's offer is. frivolous, indecent,
blasphemous. "Psychic experiences,"
they say, "cannot be obtained by high
bidding." Alas, they surely tempt a
cynical world to reply that such ex
periences cannot be obtained at all.
And yet a high ecclesiastical dignitary,
Monslgnor Robert Hugh Benson,
nephew of the Psychical Research So
ciety's founder, believes that they can.
His faith inclines to haunted houses,
instead of levitation, but that is a
mere detail. A person who can swal
low a bed-chamber rhost can easily
swallow a floating medium or a soar
ing table.
Dr. Benson's views on the subject
may be perused in the Dublin Review.
He- was moved to publish them by a
statement of the Psychical Research
Society that every story of a haunted
house which they have examined has
proved to be a humbug. The society,
through its representatives, has tempt
ed the ghosts by every conceivable
allurement, from sleeping in haunted
chambers to keeping vigil by lonely
tombs, and not a solitary one has ever
shown itself.. But this does not feaze
Monslgnor Benson's faith. He accounts
for the society's negative results by
saying that their Investigations are
too coldly scientific. How can a ghost
be expected to haunt a person who
does not believe in him?
Dr. Benson, for his part, holds that
there are some kinds of things that
require for their perception a com
paratively unscientific mind." Evident
ly. ' Moreover, he , is persuaded that.
"as regards the - value of evidence,
popular and unscientific observation Is
in very many instances of more evi
dential value than the cold and cau
tious observations of a scientist.'
Armed with critical canons like these
a man may easily convince himself of
anything he likes, since "popular and
unscientific observation" always dis
cerns what it hopes or dreads, regard
less of the facts." One need only sit
through an evening with Raymond to
sea exactly what popular oDservation
is worth. Upon grounds like these,
Monsignor Benson swallows the popu
lar stories of haunted houses. Astdund
ing as it sounds, he swallows them be
cause they are popular. To help digest
them he has devised a theory that
whatever has happened in a room sets
vibrations going which 'may persist in
definitely and which may . Impress
themselves - upon a sensitive mind
Thus a receptive individual sleeping
In ' a room where murder has been
committed may be so possessed with
the vibrations as to see it all - acted
out before him. ,
There may ba something In this hy
pothesis, but is a vibration, after all,
quite the same thing as a .ghost :
Steffansson's discovery of white Es
kimo with Scandinavian features and
using Scandinavian words, is believed
to explain the mystery of the disap
pearance of white colonists of Green
land. The colonies date back to the
year 1000, and were settled on the
west coast of Greenland, occupying
the southern end of the island, while
the Eskimos were on tha northern end,
In the thirteenth century the colo
nlsts sent an expedition northward to
explore the Eskimo country. In 1379
the Eskimos attacked the northern
most settlement and apparently drove
the Scandinavians to the interior fiords
and creeks. Nothing has been heard
from the colonists since about 1450,
and Steffansson appears to have redis
covered the people who are descended
from those who were actually the first
white settlers in America.
The gyroscope has not proved prac
ticable for maintaining stability in the
aeroDlane. It goes to the other ex
treme, making the machine so rigid
that it collapses under wind pressure,
Belgian inventor has apparently
mproved matters by the device of re
volving wings. Fitted with these, the
aeroDlane rises directly from the
ground and obeys the steering appara
tus feadily. Its descent is also mucn
less perilous than under former con
ditions. Even if only a part of this is
true, it is clear that a great improve
ment has been achieved.
The fist fights which enliven the
Hungarian Parliament nowadays rath-
scandal ize decorous Americans.
Whatever one may say of our Con
gress; its sessions are usually- peace
able, but a harsh critic might perhaps
object that fcaace and quiet are not
the only tests by which we ought to
Judge a legislative body. Perhaps
events happen in the seclusion of the
committee-rooms now and then which
are fully, as Injurious to the public as
open fisticuffs would be.
Judge Gatens' advice to mothers is
counsel as old as the hills," and good,
yet every parent thinks the wrong
doing girl is some other woman's
daughter. The woman who never al
lows her daughter to remain away
from home at night, upon any pre
text, is the mother of "a girl who will
one day call her blessed.
Automobile makers have developed
a new shock absorber. Many candi
dates will need something of the kind
the second week in November.
With Wilson running for President
and Butler talked of for Governor of
New York, the college president is
having his day.
There are some points of resem
blance between the Hungarian Diet
and an Oregon Bull Moose convention.
Washington County is one of the
garden spots of Oregon, and the street
fair at Hiilsboro Is a demonstration.
A few more battles with losses such
as occurred Tuesday will end the war
between Italy and Turkey.
There will be an elegant collection
of brickbats in readiness for the cele
bration of Ulster day. '
Oregon will soon have ten thousand
automobiles, yet a good horse costs
more than ever.
There will be nothing wishy-washy
in the Republican National Commit
tee. The senior Senator from Oregon Is
gazing through a big hole in his fence.
The Hungarian Diet needs a differ
ent brand of health food.
Ulster should be changed to Ulcer.
MR. 1UOORES ON THE BILL MOOSE
Sharp Comment on the Third-Party
Convention at Salem.
PORTLAND. Sept 18. (To the Edi
tor.) The action of the Bull Moose
convention yesterday at Salem seems
to call for a little plain talk. The
Republican party 'in this state wishes
to prosecute a clean-cut campaign, free
from subterfuge or equivocation. Wi
do not deny the right Of any man to
follow the banner of any leader he
chooses, but it is time to end all this
cant and pretense about supporting
null Moose candidates for the Presi
dency and still claiming membership
in the Republican party. The party
nas today no more bitter and malignan
enemy than Theodore Roosevelt. The
day before it refused to nominate him
it was the greatest Instrumentality fo
the propagation and perpetuation of
great political reforms that ever ex
Isted. The -day after, it became a party
or husks and shells. Let it go at that
Now. having left the party, let him and
his Isolators attend to their business,
and let us attend to ours. As the
Journal, the Democratic organ of this
city, has well said:
The Taft people do not want a Roosevelt
man for their fifth elector. They want a
Taft man. and they are entitled to a Taft
man. If Mr. Kellaher and the Roosevelt
party deny them the tight to have a Taft
man as their fifth elector and at the same
time put Mr. Kellaher In the field -as a
Roosevelt elector, it will be a plain political
theft that the voters of Oregon will resent.
Yet this Is the very plan the "thou
shalt-not-steal-but-we-can" party has
adopted in Kansas, in Nebraska and in
California, and in this shameless po
litical thievery they have had the cor
dial and enthusiastic co-operation of
Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram John
son. Roosevelt is the self-confessed,
original discoverer and patentee of the
square deal. He is the gentleman who
loaned to Moses, for temporary use
only, the commandment "thou Shalt not
steal." - Moses assumed that it was in
tended for universal application, but
Teddy, having resumed possession of
it, -gives everybody to understand that
it does not apply to any man, or any
set of men, that follows the banner of
the Bull Moose.
' e
There was never a convention held
in the State of Oregon, in the palmiest
"days of the old machines, that showed
more conclusive evidence of being
manipulated by machine politicians for
their own personal advantage than did
the Bull Moose ' convention at Salem
yesterday. Senator Mulkey. a clean-cut
gentleman of - dignity - and character,
who has always been a progressive,
who successfully engineered Roose
velf s campaign In this state, who had
announced himself as a candidate for
the United States Senate and who was
entitled to that nomination, was
pitched overboard. Next to him no
man in this state was better entitled
to consideration at their hands than
Senator Bourne. Whatever may have
been his record in the past, he was
always a game sport politically and
no man has spent more time and
money in preaching the gospel of the
Oregon system. His admirers down at
St, Johns got. In this case, the same
kind of treatment that their candl
date, Senator La Follette, received at
the hands of Roosevelt last Spring.
We see here the fine Italian hand of
Dr. Coe. E. B. Colwell, the protege of
Dr. Coe, was three times named by
President Taft for reappointment as
United States Marshal, because he
thought he had made a good officer.
He stood by him as long as It was de
cent to do so. Mr. Colwell, for some
reason, is today supporting Teddy. Mr.
Colwell's confirmation was defeated by
Senator Bourne for the alleged reason
that ha and his partner. Dr. Coe, had
used every effort in their power in
the Legislature of 1909 to persuade
members who had taken Statement No.
1 to violate their pledge. Dr. Coe
and Mr. Colwell have at last got sweet
revenge.
This same convention turned down
Mr. Hawley, who has been one of the
most energetic and effective Congress
men the First District ever had. It
did not even spare the non-political of
fices of Supreme Judge, of Secretary
of State and of Railroad Commissioner.
No man has more .efficiently and in
telligently discharged his official du
ties than Clyde B. Aitchison. We
have seldom, If ever, had a more ef
ficient Secretary of State .than Ben
W. Olcott, and no more conscientious
Judge or cleaner-cut Christian gentle
man than Robert Eakin ever sat upon
the Supreme bencn of Oregon. There
has been no more earnest and con
sistent supporter of the Oregon pri
mary law tnan Ben Belling. ah oi
thia work Is unwortny or a political
party that has made such loud profes
sions of devotion to high political
Ideals. Its brief history shows that it
is nothing: but a harbor of refuge for
ambitious but disappointed politicians
and a political safety valve that gives
vent to a passing wave of hysteria and
emotionalism, which finds apt expres
sion in Darodies on the old camp-
meeting melodies that in the old days
so fascinated the neurotic negroes oi
the South.
Any body of men, any new political
party, battling for principle, however
misguided, is entitled to respect, but
any party that makes a travesty of
reform, as this does, is a legitimate
object of ridicule.
m w w
Here is a narty whose chosen rep
resentatives in its National convention
full-srown men march around their
contention hall for a full hour in hys
terical frenzy crying "We want Ted
dy" in a tone of voice that was com
bination of whine and squawk, unlike
anything outside of bedlam. Imagine,
if you can, the followers of Washing
ton. or Chief Justice Marshall, or Abra
ham Lincoln, or William Howard
Taft. or Woodrow Wilson vexing the
surrounding atmosphere with similar
cries for "Georgie." or "Johnnie," -or
Able." or "Willie," or "Woodie." -This
is the party which mutilates the old
Sunday school song by striking out
the name of Jesus and Inserting that
of Roosevelt, and then goes marching
on in a maudlin excess of devotion to
its political boss, singing:
Follow follow,
We will follow Teddy,
i Anywhere he leads us
We will follow on.
Before this campaign is over we may
yet witness the delectable spectacle of
Dr. Coe wobbling down Washington
street swinging his baton and singing
Onward, Christian Boidiers," witn
Georere W. Joseph, Ferdinand. Reed,
Julius Silvestone and Henry yank
wich and a contingent of "soldiers for
the common good from precinct no. io,
in the North End. where Taft was
beaten in the Republican primaries by
a vote of four to one, all marching
down to assist Perkins and Hanna and
Woodruff and Bill Flinn in .their
heroic battle for the Lord on the dis
tant and historic plains of Armageddon.
But all bv-Dlay aside, the Repub
licans of this state Intend to appeal
to the law which declares that no
man shall be. a candidate for more
than one office at any election. Mr.
Kellaher demands that his name shall
appear upon the ballot as a candidate
for Presidential elector, bearing both
the Republican end the Bull Moose
label, and that It shall also appear as
a candidate for Senator, with the Re
publican label. If there Is no remedy
In the courts, "we shall go over the
heads of the politicians and make a
direct appeal to all lovers of fair play
Democrats, Republicans and Bull
Moosers alike for their Judgment upon
the justice of our contentions.
CHARLES B. MOORES,
, Chairman Rep, State Central Com.
Method In Catching a HnsDand.
Cleveland Leader.
The woman who went fishing and
caught a husband will be in a pecu
liarly defenseless position if he ever
accuses her of doing the proposing.
DEFECTS SEEN IS HARMONY BILL
Bonded Indebtedness Authorised Is Too
, Great, Say Writer.
ST. JOHNS. Or., Sept. 18. (To the
Editor.) There) are 38 measures to
be voted for in the November election.
The "Information book" containing
these measures, together with argu
meats pro and con, has as yet not
reached all the voters, and when it
does, how long will it be before the
average voter will hava the time care
fully and critically to analyse each
measure so as to be able to determine
whether it is properly hedged about
with safeguards so no Jobbery can be
worked under its provisions, where.
larere appropriations of money are pro
vided for that criminal waste of the
publio funds cannot result?
And If a voter does not fully com
prehend from Its reading what can
be done under Its provisions or what
burdens will follow its enactment,
what other vote except "No" can he
cast and act the part of good citizen
ahinf
Take, for example, the so-called
harmony eood roads measure. How
many of the intelligent voters of the
state, after reading the harmony gooa
roads measure, would understand its
provisions alike, ior readily discover
what can be done under it, if it should
become a law? This Is an lmportan
measure and ought to be understood,
so let us be fair with the voter and for
once, at least, during this campalg
present to him a careful analysis
this measure, which, from Its name,
naturally appeals to 'every -voter
the state, for the reason that it is sup
Dosed to be a bill for good roads.
The measure is entitled: "A Dili tor
an act to provide for the construction
of permanent roads; to create a state
board . and defining the , duties and
Dowers thereof. . .. ."
Section 1 Is an attempted judicial
construction of the measure, at least
the terms thereof.
Section t provides for tha issuance
of gold bonds, bearing interest at
rate not exceeding 4 per cent pe
annum, payable , semi-annually, th
bond issue not to exceed $1,000,000 each
year, the bonds to run for 30 years.
Section 8 provides for tne creation oi
the bondlne: board and gives it autnor-
lty to arrange the form and terms of
the bonds and authority to sell in
bonds to the hiehest bidder, in sue
lots as the board sees fit; that is.
one bidder can take the whole issue
if the board so determines,
Section 4 pertains to the annual in
terest charge; while section 5, among
other things, provides for the creation
of a sinklne: fund by a tax levy, ana
authorizes the board to take the tax
monev and do what? Not pay off th
Dast-created Indebtedness, but to in
vest th name In other securities.
Section 6 provides for the office or
hisrhway commissioner and his helpers
at an annual charge to the taxpayer
of not to exceed J1200.
Section 11 provides for apportioning
two - thirds of the annual ii.oou.uuo
Isaun nmoner the counties of the -state.
to be expended, as the County Courts
mar see fit: only one-tnira or in
issue to be expended under state ai
rectlon at a cost of $12,000 per year
the other two-thirds to be used as an
inducement, held out to the people
tn inline to be issued two-thirds or
million more each year, or ,20,000,000
n nit the same also to be expended
bv the County courts ror gooa roaas,
as the County Court may direct. After
carefully reading this measure, now
many of the voters of the state will
discover that in case the counties
should refuse to bite at this tempting
halt to double their Indebtedness Dy
voting cotlnty money, that the first
il. 000.000 raised by the bond sale
could sleeD in the hands of the State
Treasurer for the full period or ine
SO years never used and draw inter
est continuously from tne taxpayers
at the rate of 4 per cent, payable
twice yearly? And how many of the
voters now know or will realize that
under the provisions of this proposed
measure the state can be plunged into
debt to the extent of 130,000,000 and
tho counties to an additional sum o
20,000,000 and that by the end of the
30 years the . total Duraen . or state
and countv indebtedness will amount to
over $125,000,000 estimating 4 " per
cent, navable semi-annually, to do in
annul nf 5 Der cent payable annually
and that the 'above burden Is possible
if the wealth of the state will permit
thn nntlftV?
There is no "uniformity" provision
in the harmony Dill. una county
might asphalt its roads, the next
might try to be more economical and
use dirt, while tne next one migni
use gravel, and the county that took
none of the state money would have
to bear Its tax burden Just the same.
There is no drainage provision in
tho hill, conseauently no way to dis
pose of the surplus waters in the level
regions, so tne gooa roaas runa woum
bring no rellex or oenent w me larur
ing- community.
There is no provision In the meas
ure against selling the entire amount
of each issue to tne nignesr. single
hldder. and this practically prohibited
opportunity to the would-be small pur
chaser, as against the combined wealth
f a-reat financial Institutions, .is
sufficient defect in the measure to
iimtlfv Its defeat.
T know much nubllo money has been
wasted under the ' Oregon system of
Toad building and that more would be
wasted under this proposed measure
that contains no mandatory provisions
or safeguards.
The objects of this bill are good, but
the frame of the measure worse tnan
bad. If carried, it will bring benefits
to two classes the automobile manu
facturer and to the bond purchaser
and burden to the poor.
A vote "No" is a safe vote. '
D. C. LEWIS.
BIG PROMISE OF MORE RADIUM.
lurrA Purchase of Deposits in V. S.
by Mme. Curie and Others.
Meeker (Col.) Dispatch to New York
Bun.
As a result of investigations by
Henrv Chagnoux, an expert in radio
active minerals, who is in Meeker on
behalf of Mme. . Curie, the discoverer
of radium, and on behalf of the Bank
of Radium in Paris, arrangements nave
been made lor tne purchase or tne
largest carnotite deposits In the coun
try. The papers, have been drawn up
and forwarded to Paris for signatures.
The consideration Is said to be large.
M. Chagnoux says that tne proper
ties are being acaulred solely in the
hope that radium will be found in suf
ficient quantities to permit of greater
researches by the French scientists.
Besides radium, carnontite ore, which
was named in honor ot president Car-
not of France, carries radium salts,
uranium and vanadium.
Peary's; "Snow Baby" la Now 19.
Washington (D. C.) Corr. N. Y. World.
Marie Peary "Anlgnito, the snow
baby" has Just celebrated her 19th
birthday. When her father. Rear
Admiral (then Commodore) Peary, was
laying the foundations of the chain of
explorations which ended with the at
tainment or tha jvortn pole, Anigmto
was born at Anniversary Lodge, the
Winter quarters of the Peary party
on Bowdoln .Bay,- and lived the first
few months of her . life in Arctic
darkness.
Liner' Completes 1,500,000 Miles.
New York World.
Completing her five hundred and first
trio across the Atlantic, the White
Star liner Majestic the one-time cham
pion of the ocean race course, came
Into port, her log showing 1,500,000
miles.
Treating a Drugrlst-Lover.
New York Globe.
Hazel Didn't Marian marry the
druggist? Mai No. She followed his
own advice and got soma one just as
good.
Solons and Sluggers
By Dean Collins.
I've seen conventions, one or two.
With factions fierce in conflict clash
ing; I've seen assemblies that broke up
With riot and near-window smashing.
I have heard speakers hooted down
By tha wild outcries of the rabble;
I've seen the Legislature's halls
In one grand comprehensive babble.
I have been told that there are times
When, after Congress had assembled,
Excitement waxed until th scene
A rough-shod "free for all' resembled.
But Hungary hath sent a tale
Which, when I fully think it over,
Leads me to "feel our solons' rows
Like breezes light in honeyed clover.
In Budapest, apparently
The rough-house . artists are tha
men it
Takes to conduct In proper way
Deliberations in the Senate.
The high-brow solon would not stand
. So fair a chance of safe remaining
TO solve the problems of the state
As one who had a gridiron training.
How sad the dope that Fate mixed up
When some of our most expert slug
gers Here -in America she. dropped
As common puglllstio pluggera.
Hew more appropriate it were
Had she been careful in ordaining,
Johnson, et al, as deputies
To Budapest to do their training.
Sooth when the cops broke in the doors
To quell the trouble that was brew
ing And- hale the deputies away
Believe me, there'd be something do
ing. But in our Senate, lackaday,
Where Is the vigor and the wlldness
Of those Hungarian rhapsodies
They are tha essence pure of mild
ness. I do compare the countries twain.
And marvel with great admiration.
Murm'ring the while I do admire
. Aren t we the peachbloom, peaceful
nation?"
Portland September 18.
Half a Century Ago
From The Oregonlan ot Sept. 19, 1882.
On Tuesday last Messrs. Keach &
Martin, with a Kanaka and an Indian,
started on a prospecting tour to the
head of Nisqually River, near the base
of Mount Rainier, where gold in large
quantities Is believed to exist.
Instructions have been received by
the Superintendent of Indian affairs to
make arrangements for negotiating a
treaty with the Nez Perces Indians for
their country on the Clearwater. Wil
liam H. Rector, Calvin H. Hale antl
Charles Hutchins are appointed Com
missioners. Cincinnati, Sept, 10. Pope's official
report of the movements of the Army
in Virginia, from the time he left
Washington for Virginia and until he
returned. Is published this- afternoon.
He attributes the whole disaster to a
failure of the Army of the Potomao
to co-operate when he was on the
Rappahannock. He presumed that tha
Army of the Potomac would protect
the section between him and Washing
ton. Its failure to do so caused him
to be completely flanked. If he had
turned upon the enemy from the Rap
pahannock, he ' could have had him
completely defeated.
Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania,
has called for 50,000 more men for im
mediate service to. repel rebel In- '
vaslon. . i
Cincinnati. SeDt. 12. Renorts state
that the . rebels, 15,000 strong, menace
the city, our rorces are numerically
larger, carefully selected n and forti-'
fied.
Legislative proceedings: Senate
Mr. Hovey presented memorial to Con
gress praying for . the establishment
of an assay office and branch mint
at Portland, which, upon motion of
Mr. Mitchell, was unanimously adopted.
House Mr. Haines introduced a bill to
tax Chinese, negroes and Kanakas. The
committee of the whole reported two
bills to organize Baker and Umatilla
Counties.
A dlspatcn from Salt Lake dated
September 11 says an arrival from
SnakeRlver reports that two trains
were attacked by Indians at Sublette's
cut-off. 300 miles north, on August 15.
Twenty persons were killed. The
Snakes, Shoshones and Bannocks are
well armed and bound to--prevent the
emigrants from going to the Salmon .
River country.
J. Stroble & Co. have opened a fine
billiard saloon in Raleigh's new brick.
corner of Stark and First streets.
EMPLOYER'S VIEW OF 8-HOUR LAW
Influx of Labor to Remain Idle in Win-
- ter AVonld Follow enactment.
PORTLAND, Sept. 17. (To the Edi
tor.) As an employer of labor I would
like to comment upon the initiative
bill, Nos. 332-333, which, according to
its title, is "to protect sub-contractors,
laborers, etc." Why it should be called
protection I do. not know, except it be
to mislead, like our "polltax" bill of
two years ago. It is simply an eight-
hour law and nothing more, as, so far
as I can see, It throws no further pro
tection around a sub-contractor or a
laborer than be now has.
But our conditions in Oregon may be
peculiar. At any rate I am at the pres
ent time endeavoring to keep men on
two jobs; one in the city; the other
close by the city. I would Very gladly
treble the force I hava at work if 1
could secure the men. I went ' into
the North End a couple 'of days ago
looking for men and found at least
one-quarter as many employers seek
ing men as I found idle men, and none
of those idle could be Induced by my
self or others to go to work. Even
the saloons were completely empty of
men, save the bartenders, and they
said the reason was that all the men
were -working. I have ho doubt that
every contractor would gladly increase
his force very largely.
Now, the eight-hour men say bluntly
that the reason for it is to make more
jobs, t It would seem that a decrease
of hours from nine to eight would
make one-ninth more jobs. 'But as a
matter of fact employers will tell you
that when labor has been enabled to
force this issue, it takes nearly a half
more men for eight hours' work than
for nine hours, because, feeling their
power, they do little work.
We are short of men now and if re
stricted further there would be no al
ternative other than the bringing in
of a great many more men.
But when the rains come there is not
work for the men here now. If the
hours were only four hours a day and
If employers had to Bring in large
numbers of additional men during the
rush seasons it would but act to In- .
crease the hardship when the long wet
season was upon us. The Increased
cost would fall on the owners, or those
who pay for municipal works, public
works, while the added hardship would
fall upon the wage-earner during the
long wet season.
And tell me, pray, who is the gainer
In the long run? Why abridge the
freedom of contract In a free coun
try? I will guarantee that the same
men: who desire to abridge the freedom
of contract 'are the same who are
standing for free speech. If so, is it
consistent and will, they not in the
end confound themselves?
EMPLOYER.