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PORTLAXD, OBEQOK,
Entered at Portland. Oraroa, Foatoiflca
ffeeona-ciaaa jaattar.
Subscription Ratea Invariably In Advance
1BT HUU)
P!.T. rrr.deT Included, on
A
I 'any. Fundtr inciuaea. six
Dally. Sunday Included, three montna.
Dlrr. Snndav Included, one montn....
Dally, without Sunday, one year.
nlly. without 8u!-ay. ala month.....
Dally, without Sunday, three raontna...
Daily, without Sunday, on montn."
Weekly, one year. .............
Sunday, one year...
aunday and Weekly, one year
(BY CARRIER.)
Dally. on day tneluded. on 7r'
, .oo
a 23
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local bank. Stamp, coin or eurre "7,
at the MndeC rl.k. Give poatofflee aar
are
in lull. Includlnic county
roataff urnte w w l'- - - r. n ts
to za par, a cenia; K
0 to 60 paces. 4 cent. Forelsn poetae.
double rata. . -w.
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European OMJee No. S. Recent atrwm.
W., London.
POKTLAXD. aATTKDAY. DEC. 11,
PEOPLE'S
tSTERFST IX
MONETARY
There are many men so steeped In
prejudice against bankers that sup
port of the bankers for any public
measure is a signal for their opposi
tlon. Such men assume that public
advocacy of a financial measure by
the tankers Is inspired by an opinion
that bankers alone are interested and
that the rest of the people should
hare nothing to say on the subject.
When a man has incurred popular
hostility and has been branded as a
servant of the interests, any measure
bearing his name is straightway con
demned without consideration of its
inherent merits or demerits.
We maintain that such an attitude
of mind Is not only unjust to the men
thus sweeplngly condemned, but is
injurious to the Interests of the very
men who assume it. Financial legls
latlon affects the interests of the busi
ness man and the workingman far
more vitally than the interests of the
banker- The banker can adapt him
'..if tn nv system, no matter how
vicious, and still make money, in bad
times as in good. But a vicious sys
tem keens the business man in con
stant. danger of ruin and produces
panics which drive him into bank
ruptcy. A vicious system causes prices
to rise faster than wages in good
times, but in bad times it deprives
many workingmen of employment
anil causes want and privation. The
mass of the people not only have the
deepest interest in sound finance, but
they must decide by their votes now
it shall be secured.
In considering which monetary and
banking system is best, the people
should give ear to what bankers say
as experts on the subject, making due
allowance for the degree to .wnicn
personal or class interest Influences
opinion. They should consider ine
effect of proposed financial measures
on their own Interests and should
bear in mind that bankers have In
terests largely Identical with theirs,
for general prosperity redounds to
the interest of the banker, enhances
the value of his investments and im
proves the security for hisloans.
Prejudice against ex-Senator Al
drich is so strong and with such good
cause on account of his manipulation
or the tariff that the National reserve
scheme propo.ed by . the National
Monetary Commission was no sooner
named the Aldrlch scheme than it
was condemned by most of the men
who have come into political collision
with Aldrlch and by many who never
even, read the scheme. But it is not
the Aldrich scheme, save from the
fact that Aldrich is chairman of the
commission which devised it. It has
the unanimous support of a commis
sion composed of both Republicans
and Democrats. One of the latter is
" Representative Pujo, chairman of the
committee which is conducting the
money trust inquiry- No man who
has read what the financial Journals
say of Mr. Pujo would suspect that
gentleman of excessive love for the
bankers. The mere fact that Aldrlch
is chairman of the commission and
had a hand In' drawing up the Nation
al reserve scheme should npt of itself
condemn that scheme, though it
should Justify rigid scrutiny.
The Monetary Commission does not
propose a central bank. It proposes
a federation of banks, in which the
small, country banks would have a
voice greater in proportion than their
capital; in which the West and South
would have control, though the pre
ponderance of banking capital is in
New York and New England; in
which the business and agricultural
interests would have a voice; of which
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Sec
retary of Commerce and Labor and
the Controller of the Currency
would be ex officio directors. The bill
provides that no member of any Na
tional or state legislative body shall
be a director of the National Reserve
Association or of any of Its branches.
The National reserve plan proposes
to do the very things President-elect
Wilson has pronounced Just and nec
essary, namely, to provide a means
by which "any man anywhere and
at any time should have a loan in
'legal tender.' if he can produce good
indestructible security therefor on a
thoroughly safe basis for the accom
modation." The country banks are required by
law to carry a certain proportion of
their reserve in a reserve or central
reserve city. New York is the princi
pal reserve city and is usually pre
ferred for several reasons- One Is that
the amount of business all banks have
In New York as the financial center
requires them to carry a deposit in
some New York bank. Another is
that New York, being the speculative
center where money can be lent on
call at high interest with stocks and
bonds as collateral, pays the country
oanks nigh interest. Although the
panic of 1907 locked up the money of
the country In New York, desire for
profit causes continuance of this
practice. -
The National reserve scheme would
remove the motive for lending money
on call by forbidding the association
to rediscount notes "secured by stock
and bond collateral, by rendering our
currency elastic and by allowing re
duction of reserves below the legal
limit in emergencies.
The Oregonian is no admirer of Al
drlch. but is not so blindly prejudiced
as to be unable to see any good in any
work in which he has ft hand. The
prejudice against the National re
serve plan is so strong and so general
on account of his part in it that there
Is no probability of its adoption, but
any other scheme which accomplishes
the same general purposes will have
the approval of The Oregonian,
EXCUSING ABUSES.
Two or three Oregon newspapers
are, in the face of established facts,
still repeating the nonsensical conte
Hon that Inefficiency of the Legislature
Is shown by the large number of bills
submitted to vote of the people an
that each bill is the outgrowth of som
legislative folly discerned by the peo
pie. Therefore, It Is argued, the initia
tive and referendum system in Oregon
has no faults that need correcting and
the Legislature Is wholly to blame for
overuse of the people's power. 1
But the initiated bills and those re
ferred do not always or even generally
spring from the people. They come
from a minority of the voters. This
has been indisputably proved by th
defeat in the last two elections of
large majority of measures submitted.
We might choose a Legislature from
the flower of the land; it might work
Industriously and intelligently for ten
hours each day of the forty in the see
slon; yet, even so. a small minority o
the people of the state, without
doubt, would think some worthy thing
had been neglected or that something
had been done improperly. How small
this minority may be and yet harass
the voters with unnecessary legislatlve
duties may be realized when it is re
called that only 8 per cent of the vot
era may rebuke-the fancied folly of
omission and only 5 per cent resent
the chimerical sin of commission.
If inefficiency of the Legislature
can, be measured at all by the volume
of direct legislation, it cannot be done
by counting the number of bills sub
mitted, but only by counting the num
ber of initiative bills adopted and the
number of referred bills defeated. On
these, and these alone, does public
sentiment reflect indirectly against the
assembly.
Of the eleven measures adopted last
month, only five were within the au
thority of the Legislature to enact.
One of those had already been passed
and was approved by the people on
referendum. To the other four may
be added the two referred bills which
were defeated, and thus by no stretch
of Imagination or sly turning of argu.
ment can more than six measures out
of thirty-seven on the ballot be
deemed protests by a majority of the
people against legislative Inefficiency.
As long as human nature remains
unchanged and men are permitted to
think for themselves, so long will
there be dissatisfaction' by a minority
with the action of the Legislature, no
matter how complete or how worthy.
That this minority should be re
strained from pernicious activity by
some means that will not impair the
proper use of the direct legislative
power is so plain that only dema
gogues or hard-headed members of a
purposeful minority will dispute It,
PARDON OF JOHN II. HALL.
The people of the state will approve
the action of the President in granting
a pardon to John .. iiaii, iormer
United States Attorney for Oregon
Hall ought never to have been convict
ed; he ought never to have been tried;
he ought never to have been indicted;
he ought never to have been accused;
he ought never to have been required
to rest for eight years without a final
adjudication of his case. He has been
a much-wronged man.
The case against Mr. Hall was that
as United States Attorney he obstruct
ed public Justice through his failure
or refusal to prosecute criminally
certain persons charged with fencing
unlawfully Eastern Oregon lands. The
law gives the District Attorney the
option of bringing either criminal or
civil action in such cases, and lj
seemed expedient to District At
torney Hall to do the latter.
Special Prosecutor Heney caused his
summary removal from office on
the general ground that he (Hall) was
not sufficiently zealous in the Govern
ment's prosecution of Senator Mitchell
and Congressman Hermann; and later
Instituted the Hall prosecution on the
specific charge of non-enforcement of
law.
If Mr. Hall was in the way of the
Government prosecution at the time,
it ought to have been sufficient to re
move him from office. That he was
not in accord with the purposes of Mr.
Heney, and could not be relied on to
support the Heney methods, is doubt
less true; that his attitude or previous
actions Justified measures so harsh
there are few or none now to declare.
The charge against Mr. Hall, If true,
was fundamentally technical and es
sentially trivial; if not true, it was
unwarranted from any standpoint. In
the state of the public mind at that
time and with the practices of Mr.
Heney. It Is not surprising that Mr.
Hall was convicted.
The Hall pardon is the belated close
of a painful incident in Oregon af
fairs. It is a tardy effort to right a
wrong done eight years ago.
WHERE RELIEF SHOULD GO.
AVithout a doubt the motive of the
people in creating a public utilities
commission was to obtain better serv
ice for the price paid public corpora
tions, or a lower price for the service
rendered or perhaps both. It was the
Impression that the companies were
obtaining unduly large returns from
their investments and it was believed
those profits ought to be reduced -for
the benefit of their patrons.
But comes Mr. Kellaher, friend of
the common people and friend of Kel
laher principally Kellaher and pro-
popes that the supposed excessive
profits of the streetcar company be
turned over to the city for the bene
fit of the taxpayers. In other words
Mr. Kellaher seems to believe that if
the company is getting an excessive
Income by compelling the workingman
to stand up In traveling to and from
Montavllla, the workingman should
continue to stand, but Mr. Kellaher
should be relieved by the company of
some of the taxes on his East Side
grocery-
It may be a matter of dispute as
to whether the Portland Railway,
Light & Power Company is deriving
excessive profits from its business, but
If it is those profits should be turned
back for the benefit of the patrons, in
the form of better service or lower
rates, not in taxes. The largest pa
tronage of the streetcar company
comes from people in moderate cir
cumstances and a large percentage Is
from those least able to pay taxes.
It would be profitable for the auto
mobile owner who pays nothing to the
company, for the business block own
er, for the investor in lands and for
the wealthy in general, to 'have the
great mass of ordinary citizens con
tinue to pay excessive profits to the
streetcar company if the same wealth
ier class could divert those profits In
the form of taxes. If we had no pub
lic utilities commission the tax meth
od might be the only way to get back
even a portion of the supposed extor
tion for the benefit of the public.
But we have the commission. If
L rates, are -excessive - or. service .not in
accord with rates, or both, the com
mission can compel correction. Th
people voted for relief to the patrons,
not to the taxpayers, and that Is where
relief ought to go.
JURIES AND THE DEATH SENTENCE.
The penalty for first-degree murder
in Oregon murder with malice and
premeditation and without provoca
tion or the excuse of sudden impulse
or temporary passion is death on
the gallows. The opponents of capital
punishment contend that Juries are
frequently loath to convict because
they are reluctant to hang; and there;
fore Justice Is as likely as not to be
defeated by the very severity of the
law.
It is doubtless true that no Jury
which has what Dogberry described
to be a "convicting look," otherwise
a convicting mind, will . hesitate ' to
bring in a verdict for manslaughter
when a first-degree result is impossi
ble; yet the inelastic mandates of the
law afford an excuse for disagree
ments; and disagreements occur, and
man-slayers who richly deserve pun
Ishment escape.
A correspondent today 'calls atten
tlon to the fact that a large number'of
states have statutes that place with
the Jury the discretion of capital pun
ishment or life imprisonment for mur.
der; and other states leave the option
with the Judge.
The Oregonian has repeatedly sug
gested that the laws of Oregon should
be amended so as to accord, with the
enlightened statutes of other states,
reposing with a Jury the right to de
termine whether a murderer should
be executed or imprisoned for life. It
prefers to lodge the responsibility with
Jury rather than with Judge, so as to
give full opportunity for discussion
and agreement, and to remove any
possibility of a split caused by doubt
or apprehension as to the subsequent
act of the Judge. We have never in
sisted that all persons convicted of
murder should die; we have protested
against tying the hands of justice and
the law so that none could be made
to suffer death.
AN ASSAULT ON GRAMMAR.
Professor Lounsbury, of Yale, has
occasioned a terrible rumpus among
the lovers of grammar in its purity
by his heresies. He Is quoted in favor
of the tabooed expression "It is me.
If that were the worst of his sins he
might possibly be forgiven. But in
fact it is the lightest. What shall we
say of a college professor who sanc
tions "Between you and I" and teaches
that it is proper to say "Who do you
mean?" Surely nothing but black
ruin awaits the English language if
he is permitted to go his direful way
unchecked. "It is me is perhaps not
so bad as it might be. As The Ore
gonian has frequently pointed out, this
usage accords with the analogy of
other languages. The French say it
habitually and so do the Norwegians.
The latter people are entitled to great
consideration nowadays, inasmuch as
they stand with their kinsmen, the
Swedes, at the very front of modern
literature. But Professor Lounsbury
makes the point that neither "It is I"
nor "It is me" has much etymological
standing if we care anything for the
history of speech. The genuinely cor
rect expression is "It am I." Chaucer
uses it in ."The Knight's Tale," where
any reader can find it for himself.
The passage runs, "I am thy mortal
foe and it am I," and so on.
This strictly logical usage has
dropped out of English, but it is re
tained in German. No countryman of
Goethe would dream of saying "Es 1st
ich." On the contrary he always says
"Ich bin es," Just as Chaucer did in his
day. Even in English, the most illog
ical of tongues, this excellent idiom
persisted until the end of the four
teenth century, when it began to drop
away. Professor Lounsbury, for all
his gallant defense of "It is me," con
cedes that the rival phrase, "It Is I,"
will probably prevail in the long run.
but we do not feel quite convinced of
it. The deep analogies of spoken lan
guage have a way of gaining victories
over the literary precisions and they
may do it in this case. "It is me" is
preferred by the common people be
cause of Its sonority. It is actually
easier to utter than "It is I," which
follows a hiss with a diphthong and
presents serious difficulties to every
tongue but a pedant's. It may turn
out that the law of least resistance
will be obeyed In this Instance as It Is
in almost every other. In a century
or two the grammarians may- find
themselves rebuking careless speakers
for saying "It is I."
There is not so much to be said for
Bel-ween you' and I." "Between" 1b
a preposition and it is the invariable
usage of English to follow prepositions
with the objective case, or what
pasnes in our chaotic .grammar for an
objective. If we say "Between you
and I" we may with equal propriety
say "Between I and she," which,, we
suppose, would shock tne most in
durated despiser of grammar. To be
sure, there Is a famous verse of poetry
which runs, "Let thou and I the battle
try," where a transitive verb is fol-
owed with a double nominative, but
we must not forget that poetry is priv
ileged to take liberties in English and
this particular liberty has not received
unanimous approbation even from
the poetic guild. We doubt if it can
be matched in the language. In one
Instance at least Shakespeare uses the
ery expression. "Between you and
," which Professor Lounsbury has
been reproved for favoring. Antonio
says to Eassamo, ah debts are
cleared between you and I." It seems
then. If Shakespeare's authority Is
good for anything, that the culprit
phrase must be allowable. The trou
ble is that Shakespeare's authority is
worthless when it comes to modern
usage. We are apt to forget that he
lived a long time ago, much nearer
to Chaucer than to us, both in lan
guage and sentiment.- Neither Shake
speare nor the King James Bible is a
suitable guide as far as current usage
goes. They are full of expressions
which the pedants stigmatize as un-
grammatical, a term which usually
means nothing worse than that a par
ticular form of speech has dropped
out of common use.
A moment ago we said "Neither
Shakespeare nor the King James Bi
ble is a suitable guide." We might
have, said, had we possessed a little
more courage, "Neither Shakespeare
nor the King James Bible are suitable
guides," with every confidence of suc
cessful defiance to grammarians.
Hooted at as this locution is by all the
textbooks, it . Is nevertheless in per
fectly good usage, and, unless our cur
rent reading misleads us, it is gaining
ground. The correlatives "neither,
nor" are not always disjunctive. They
very often are as truly connective as
and." An author who feels this sense
and wishes to express it Is perfectly
Justified in writing a plural verb after ,
two singular subjects joined by nei
ther, nor." After all, the principal of
fice of language is to express the
writer's meaning, or the speaker's, an
any rules of grammar which interfere
with that primary duty are In danger
of obliteration. Some of our purists
trouble themselves a ood deal over
collective nouns.
Are these unhappy creatures singu-
uar or plural? They are both. They
dwell in a debatable region where the
ordinary rules of grammar exercise
but a shadowy sway. Evidently th
mind may regard a bunch of onion
as a single object securely tied up
with a string, or it may fix upon the
separate vegetables, and "the devil of
it is," if one may quote Sir Lucius
O'Trigger, that the mind wavers from
one point of view to the other as it
Droceeda in a train of thought. Our
pedants naturally seek to 'compel us
to choose' one way or the other of
looking at the bunch and stick to it
through thick and thin, but it can
be done. The English, especially
English orators, permit themselves the
widest liberty In handling collective
nouns. They would say "A bunch of
onions are luscious" without a tremor,
Habitually they say "The Government
are a set of traitorous wretches," or
"angelic patriots," as the case may be
We dare say grammar will never con
quer the collective noun. It Is a born
rebel and will prove incorrigible to
the end.
The New York suffragettes who set
out to march to Albany for the good
of the cause ought to have counted
the cost before they started. Two out
of every three wearied and fell from
the rank3 the first day. Talking agrees
rather better than marching with
good many-of the more belligerent
suffragettes and perhaps, upon the
whole, It serves their cause about as
well. We do not see exactly how out
landlsh conduct can bring the day
of votes for women any nearer. A
cause is seldom helped by making it
ridiculous.
The operation of Milwaukee trains
Into Portland was inevitable from the
time constructon of the Western fix
tenson was begun. The Milwaukee
road could not avoid coming to the
traffic center of the . North Pacific
Coast. Portland will gain as- much by
the arrangement made with the O.-W.
R. & N. Co. as it would have gained
by the construction of an entirely in
dependent line into this city, for it will
have direct traffic relations with the
whole territory traversed by the Mil
waukee road.
To the citizens of Prineville at their
city election it looked odd to see worn
en going to the polls "leading one or
two children by the hand." It Is so
much more usual to see a ward boss
going to the polls leading one or two
voters by the nose. But 'in time we
shall get accustomed to the changes
resulting from suffrage. They will
not 'be limited to the appearance of
women and children at the voting
places, but will penetrate to the
depths of public life.
Miscegenation continues at Vancou
ver. A white man married a negress
a day or two ago. This is not so bad
as when the sexes are reversed, and
anyway, the groom may be color blind
Greek and Turkish commanders ex
changed Jokes by wireless during the
thick of "battle." It must, be that
even the active participants see the
humor of their alleged warfare.
The wise sayings of J. P. Morgan
will- rank with the wisdom of Solo
mon in the opinion of the worshipers
of Mammon, for they regard him as
the high priest of that god.
Peode enjoying prosperity must
remember their juvenile friends, who
will expect something and otherwise
get little. A desultory Christmas makes
the world awry amd gloomy.
If Boreas and Pluvius will do a lit
tle team work, many a boy and girl
will get a proper gift at Christmas.
The sled is the thing for the hilly
streets of Portland.
The cause of suffrage Is merely in
jured by the spectacular stunts of ill
balanced suffragettes who try to break
the long-distance walking record in
midwinter.
That French banker who got away
with $30,000,000 must not be allowed
to land in this country. He might own
the hemisphere in a year.
Perhaps the native "Austryiian,"
knowing not otherwise, enjoys his
Christmas in midsummer, with the
mercury at 122. .
With the thermometer at 122, A us
tralla is having seasonable Christmas
weather for the Antipodes.
Th movement for a sane New
Year's reauires almost as much cour
age and optimism as a movement for a
sane insane asylum.
The Tillamook squaw who died at
the age of 109 might have lived to a
ripe old age had she followed the rules
of hygiene.
A rain. It snowed in Portland. All of
which would never have been suspect-
i but lor tne weatner Dureau reports.
... , a u.-f. ' --
we nave wurucu ah u ngmu.
17...ntaMir tVl. MpYipftnS TT1 ft V rpfUSft
even ,to receive our empty warnings.
President Taft is no "spug." As
dispenser of Christmas pardons his
gifts have real value.
When each power gets a seaport
the waters over there will be cut up
into lanes.
ShoD early and be patient. Only
three buying days to Christmas.
It would be mean to inquire as to
the population of Warrenton.
All eyes will be on Multnomah to
win today.
CHILDHOOD.
you happy children,
Playing in the sun,
Ere the cares of Life and Men
Truly have begun.
Feet a-dangling, toes a-squirming.
Little legs a-stronger growing;
Chubby arms outstretched in play.
Nothing all of sorrow Knowing.
oes the milkboy on his round,
Goes the trafnc, goes tne pleasure,
Go the thousand ways of Life,
Still your Joy is brimming measure.
Oh, that any time should come.
When you leave your happy Home;
When you leave your happy play.
For the cruel strife or aay.
W. J. HUGO.
BRYAf, AND HIS HIRT( FRIENDS
Kebraakan Wants to Go Into Cabinet
for Republic's Good.
PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi
tor.) If The Oregonian is not con
BCious of having offended the friends of
Brvan. we have but to refer you to
P?our cartoons and editorials of the past
month. If you wish us to be more spe
ciflc your cartoon of November 30 will
serve as one illustration, and one of
December 8 another. Here Mr. Bryan
is represented as a bigoted, selfish
demagogue. Is this your "Impartial
and intelligible" Interpretation of cur
rent events? Aren't these rather the
imaginations of a very prejudiced
mind? Space does not permit us to
enumerate the many editorials ana car
toons all in this vein.
The friends of Bryan, ask nothing
more of The Oregonian, but that it
give Bryan time to Justify its poor
opinion of him before it anticipates
his thoughts and plans.
Indeed the Bryan cult Is a psycho
logical curiosity Inasmuch as it ex
pects him to be as useful to Mr. vvu
son as he shall need him to be, to
step forward or backward as will help
the most to further the Administration,
not for his own glory or Wilson's, but
for the advancement and glory of tn
Republic. We think of Bryan as
very disinterested person, one who
sacrificed his own ambitions for an
other, and Judging by past deeds and
not by what is going to happen, w
think he will sacrifice himself again if
the country and party desire it.
STANLEY CHARETTE.
Such friends of Bryan as were of
fended by The Oregonian cartoons o
Bryan wear their feelings on thei
sleeves. One represented Bryan as
receiving with obvious consternation
the news from Bermuda that Mr. Wil
son would "rely on no single person's
advice," and the other was of similar
tenor. If Mr. Charette failed to see the
humorous intent of the caricatures he
ought to take treatment for his pon
derous and excessive solemnity. The
Oregonian has through about two
decades had full opportunity to form its
opinion of Bryan. It does not antici
pate his thoughts and plans. It knows
them. If the appeal to give Bryan a
trial had been favorably heard in 1896
few doubt now that the result- would
have been overwhelming disaster. Why
now if not in 189S? So far as he is
the same Bryan, the country may well
object; in sofar as he is another Bryan
it regards him now with respect and
a certain degree of confidence.
GIVES THE JURY PULl DISCRETION
Suggestion Tending to Make Conviction
of Mnrder More Certain. .'
PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi
tor.) It is asserted by all writers on
the subject of criminal law that pun
ishment should always be more certain
than severe. It is well understood, and
our dally observation teaches us that
It is true, that the more severe the
punishment the less likely juries will
convict. They generally seek for some
escape from finding- a verdict In such
cases; therefore, it would seem the
part of wisdom on the part of our law
makers not to make the punishment for
crimes so severe and unbending as to
deter a Jury from meting out reason
able- punishment.
The people of Oregon, at the recent
election, by large majority, pronounced
against the repeal of the death penalty
for crime, but this does not seem to
satisfy those people who are opposed
to capital punishment; hence the ques
tion is still being agitated and will
be continued until we have some
change in our law upon that subject.
In many states of the Union, to-wit,
Alabama, Arizona, California, Indiana,
South Dakota, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa,
Kentucky; West Virginia, Tennessee,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma
and South Carolina, laws are in force
imposing the death penalty in cases of
murder, but giving to the Jury discre
tion to add to their verdict, where one
is found, that the person be confined
in the Penitentiary, and it Is made the
duty of the court to sentence him to
life imprisonment.
In Minnesota, New Mexico, North
Dakota and Texas, the same discretion
given to the juries in the states men
tioned is conferred upon the court, and
it seems to be the same in Utah.
This provision of law in states men
tioned seems to have given reasonable
satisfaction to the people thereof.
In cases of horrid, cruel, brutal mur
der the jury may impose the death
penalty, but In cases of premeditated
and deliberate murder there may ap
pear to the Jury extenuating or ap
parently extenuating circumstances
which in their opinion, and out of their
tenderness for human life, and con
sidering its weakness and frallitles, are
unwilling to impose the death penalty,
yet are willing to impose a life sen
tence in the Penitentiary.
It is not probable our Legislature,
soon to assemble, will at all consider
the repeal of the present statute im
posing the death penalty for murder,
but It might be induced so to amend
or modify the law as to vest discretion
In the jury as above indicated and to
lower the penalties prescribed for sec
ond degree murder and manslaughter.
LAWYER.
MARIE TAKE NOTICE.
My dreams Marie are all for you.
And I am dreaming most the time.
It seems no matter what I do
Out shooting ducks or writing rhyme.
My thoughts are sure to find a way
To your sweet race ami eyes or Dlue
And while at work or while at play
My dreams Marie are all for you.
My dreams Marie are all for you,
And Oh I dearly love to dream.
It makes a cloudy sky turn blue
And worldly woes not what they
seem.
My motor boat that chugs along
With gaso-cough, the waters tnrougn,
rhapsodize to perfect song,
My dreams Marie are all for you.
My dreams Marie are all for you.
The mundane eartn is poor indeed.
The pork chops that I one day slew
Are now a mediocre feed
To warm this new celestial sense,
I come to know they will not do
For fear the vision may get dense,
My dreams Marie are all for you.
My dreams Marie are all for you
I bubble o er in cnaste delight
hear your sweet lips bill and coo,
I feel your arms about me, tight.
And so I barter on: my sins
Tobacco 1 11 no longer chew
For baby cabs and rolling pins.
My dreams Marie are all tor you.
GLENN IORBREY PLEASANTS.
"Stnna-," But Not Pessimist.
PORTLAND, Dec 20. (To the Edi
tor.) I have been keeping tab on the
letters in The Oregonian for some time,
and enjoy them very much. But was
more than usually interested In one
who was stung. He is not the only one
tune. He sain in his letter that if
there is one th - that will make an
nnappy nome ... a. anniting woman.
think a drinking man ditto, as I have
had a good hard trial myself.
After giving the best years of ,my
life- to my husband, helping in every
way to make a nice home, and after
getting it to see it all go in dissipation
and drink. Oh, the horror of it! I
often stop to think, after all the years,
what a lottery marriage is, after alL
It seems one or the other so often gets
stung. I was surely stung, but It does
not make me believe there are no good
men, for I am sure there must be a
few. So, one who got stung, must deep
down in his heart, have just a faint
belief that there are some good, honor-
ble women left in this city.
WIDOW.
DIVORCE PERMANENT INSTITUTION
Ita Over Activity Curable by Proper
Instruction of the Youns.
PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi
tor.) The letters signed "Old Maid,"
"Grouch" and others, upon matrimonial
matters,- are growing Intensely in
teresting and have prompted the writer
to a few reflections.
In the minds of all these writers
divorce Is a great evil. I do not agree
with them, as a careful analysis of
the question shows that both the mar
riage and divorce ceremonies are crea
tures of law. Marriage is a contract,
divorce its legal annulment. In the
administration of the affairs of all well
regulated communities, the one is as
important as the other. Marriage, how
ever, is such a contract that the state
becomes interested when children and
property are involved. Nevertheless,
the state is equally interestd and af
fected when the parties to the contract
make themselves, their children and
the community wretched, unhappy and
miserable, and asserts and protects
itself by providing the divorce tribunal.
The marriage contract is entered into
by people presumably of sound mind,
and its annulment is arrived at when
these same people have had a chance
to think over their grievances, and a
dispassionate and disinterested judge
assists in reaching a conclusion as to
what is best for all concerned, includ
ing society. Therefore, there is a like
lihood of fewer mistakes in the divorce
proceeding than in the marriage cere
mony. One is no more sacred than the
other. To err, is human, and as it is
no reflection upon a business man's
moral makeup when he makes a mis
judgment, neither should it be if i
man or woman makes one or even
several mistakes in the important mat
ter of selectirfg a life associate. It Is
very easy for the clergy and the church
to sit behind closed doors and theoreti
cally pass upon the question, but as a
matter of fact it is a difficult thing to
know all the evidence in any case and
suspend judgment upon another's
troubles.
One thing is unmistakably certain
concerning the contract or marriage,
and that is, as a pure matter of con
tract If nothing more, the sole con
sideration must be unquestioned, abso
lute love; otherwise the contract fails
sooner or later, falls as the lawyers
say, for a lack of mutuality and failure
of consideration. History, poetry, so
ciology and every science and all ex
perience recognize and confirm this
statement. The futile attempts of
ancient and modern knights to substi
tute a dominating lordship and control
where love has been driven from the
home, is an evidence of weakness of
those employing such means.
Equality of woman in every sphere ot
life, including mental equality, is now
recognized, and to maintain the mar
riage relation, his lordship man must
know that sympathy, honesty, candor,
reason and temperance in all things,
alone find an audience with any self
respecting woman. Without these no
man has a right to expect the splendid
flower of love to bloom Emerson says,
Feeble souls do not desire to be lovely
but to be loved." Men who do big
things are not in bondage to their
bodies. Right thinking men. are
gradually learning to control their
tempers, desires and their imagination.
Right thinking is also fast dissipating
the two standards of conduct so long
defended, and no real modern knight
who can boast of being equal to wo
man now dares fix a higher concep
tion for his wife's conduct than he
finds in his own ideal code for him
self.
Divorce is with us to stay, has be
come a part of the institution of so
ciety, and the tendency of the times
as Indicated by the reports of the Vice
Commision, shows that the legally con
stituted authorities are more and more
entering into the social questions, and
the divorce tribunal will be guarded
and protected by all thinking people.
The clergy and courts should not dis
sipate their energy in denouncing
divorce as an institution, but should
constantly endetvor to point out to the
voune- and ill-advised the true condi
tions making towards such manhood and
womanhood as will make possible a
calm and careful survey and analysis
of the meaning and import of the
ceremony at the altar. This will de
crease the activity of divorce and firmly
fix and establish the sacredness of the
marriage tie. FELIX.
NOTICE TO READERS AND
LETTER WRITERS.
The Oregonian welcomes let
ters from its readers comment
ing on matters of timely Interest,
but to receive favorable consid
eration they must be brief.
Letters should not contain
more than 300 words. The Ed
itor reserves the right to con
dense communications. Those
who object should so state in
their communications.
Addresses of correspondents
will not be supplied to Inquirers,
nor will letters be forwarded to
them, nor will this page be per
mitted to become in any way a
medium for exchange -of personal
correspondence.
The Oregonian will not under
take by mail td supply statistics,
addresses, information to settle
wagers, references for debates,
data of similar character. Ques
tions that deal with subjects of
general interest may be an
swered from time to time in its
columns when space permits.
Letters are more likely to be
published if signed by the true
name of the writer. If, in the
judgment of the editor, a nom-de-plume
Is used for an ulterior
purpose, or when so signed the
letter would be without weight
or Interest, the communication
will not be published.
Divorce nnd SInrrlngre.
PORTLAND, Dec. 20. (To the Edi
tor.) My observations of the divorce
columns show that about as many
divorces arise from friction caused by
the relatives on both sides of the family
as from the wife not being an old
fashioned girl.
It doesn't appear to me that It is
as much the old-fashioned girl or the
ew style girl that men are looking
for, as it is the girl of true devotion
nd considerable tact. Men as well as
the public prefer the wife that is more
than all domestic. Most men are better
satisfied to have a little excess in the
cost of living than a wife too econo
mical and one that knows better how
to save her husband's money than she
oes how to spend It.
All homes are not peopled by the
wife's relations instead of little .chil
dren: all wives are not humiliated by
bringing a good-sized family among
her husband's relations. There are still
true homes, good men for husbands
and enough for all the good girls pre
pared to claim them. Self sacrifice as
often as frivolity is the girl's obstacle.
Both bachelor and maid will find
generally they have made their own
condition and deserve their titles, and
until they remedy themselves needn't
offer excuse or plead for sympathy in
this broad, liberal land.
A WIFE AND MOTHER.
Split Electoral Vote.
PORTLAND, Dec 20. (To the Edi
tor.) Please state if it Is possible for
two Presidential candidates to get- elec
toral votes but of the same state. If
so, how? READER.
The electoral vote may be split In
the same manner that the Multnomah
County delegation In the State Senate;
for example, may be divided between
two parties. Electors are voted for as
individuals. The voter in Oregon, if
he likes, may vote for two Republican,
one Democrat, one Socialist and one
Prohibition elector, or In any other
combination.
The Mo iey Trust '
By Dean Collins.
Morgan tells us: "Why he fussed
'Bout a fancied Money Trust?
Why wax serious and hot
Over something that is not?
For though all the banks should be
After some monopoly.
Striving fiercely,-with control.
Of all money for their goal, '
I insiBt to every one
It can't be done; It can't be done."
II.
Mr. Morgan, if you must
Say there is no Money Trust,
Lest your claim be held as phony.
Let me add my testimony.
Though I am a simple guy
And my balance Is not high
In the bank; and vain you look
For my name in Bradstreet's book;
By experience I am won
To your view it can't be done.
III.
Once, when payday came to me.
Did I bank my salary.
Thinking, in my youthful crust,
I would start a money trust?
That was years and years ago.
Did my little trustlet grow?
Nix! For as I put cash In,
I must check It out agin'.
Shining shekels, bones and clinkers.
For my coffee, eggs and sinkers.
Now. the while I sadly look
At the figures in my book.
And I see the smoke and dust
Raised about a Money Trust,
Thus my deep reflections run
"It can't be done; it can't be done!"
Portland, December 20.
Half a Century Ago
Headquarters, Army of the Potomac,
Dec. 13. The battle, long anticipated, is
now progressing. General French's di
vision, which was supported by General
Howard's troops, advanced to the en
emy's works at 11:40 A. M. on a brisk
run. The enemy's guns opened upon
them with a rapid fire at the base of
the ridge. The rebel Infantry who
were posted behind stone walls and
some houses on the right of our men,
and they fell to a small ravine. When
our troops arrived at the first line of
rebel defenses, they double-quicked and
with fixed bayonets endeavored to dis
lodge the rebels from their hiding
places, but the concentrated fire of the
rebel artillery and Infantry was too
much for them. The center gave way In
disorder, but was afterwards rallied
and brought back. General Franklin,
on our left, met with better success.
He succeeded after a hard day's fight
in driving the rebels about one mile.
At one time they advanced to attack
him, but were handsomely repulsed
with terrible slaughter.
The Auburn correspondent of the
Mountaineer speaks of much sickness
prevailing at that place.
The citizens of Oregon City have held
a preliminary meeting with a view to
organize a company to engage In the
manufacture of woolen goods. W. C.
Dement, L. D. C. Latourette, D. P.
Thompson, J. L. Barlow and A. Warner
have been appointed a committee to as
certain the terms upon which the use
of the waterpower at Willamette Falls
and the necessary ground for the build
ings could be obtained.
No New Road Lawn Wanted f
EOLA, Or., Dec. 18. (To the Edi
tor.) According to the public press the
indications are that the Legislative
Assembly will bring forth many road
bills to wrangle about Why cannot
the members represent the people and
stand by the people's decision?
The vote cast upon road bonding and
taxation bills seems to me should be
conclusive proof that a vast majority '
are opposed to bonding and increased
taxation in any form, and are satisfied
with the present system of building
roads. The only change voted for is
In using convicts and other prisoners
upon our roads, and such acts provide
ample authority for the proper offi
cials to act. Hence, there Is no demand
for road legislation at present, except
by a minority.
Now should the Legislature represent
the majority of people, or the minority
because it happens to be composed gen
erally of the wealthier class?
If the Legislature does not see nt to
represent the wishes of the majority
of the people, as expressed at the No
vember election, then the people will
use the referendum and possibly there
call later. The Legislative members
as well as others should realize that
laws do not create roads, and that roads
can and are being made under present
laws. GEORGE C. M1TTY.
Loganberry Culture.
NEWBERG. Or., Dec. 19. (To the
Editor.) Please publish in The Orego- '
nian the views of some experienced
loganberry grower as to the proper
method of cultivating the same.
L. B. S.
Write to the Oregon Agricultural
College experiment station. Corvallls.
ROOSEVELPS
HUNTING
TALES
A Colorado Bear Hunt The
second of Theodore Roosevelt's
hunting stories deals with a thrill
ing bear hunt in Colorado, in
which a number of fine specimens
were bagged. It is told in Roose
velt's graphic style and occupies
a full page, with illustrations.
Our Fierce Little Pirates We
have a large number of them and
they cause ns endless trouble in
the Philippines. An illustrated
page, which includes the stirring
account of an exploit in which
several brave soldiers won the
medal of honor.
The Winning of Oregon The
second and concluding page in the
outline history of the State of
Oregon. The conquest by the
.wlite man and the establishment
of the first Government are de
scribed. An Army Christmas A Christ
mas short story, profusely illus
trated. Close to Death Second in the
series of adventures of an Ameri
can war correspondent. lie is
wounded by Mexican rebels and
narrowly escapes with his life.
"Rock Sand" A page account,
in colors, of the departure of the
great race horse for foreign
shores, never to return.
On the Beach at Dieppe A
playlet from the French of Henri
Lavedan. Complete Sunday.
MANY OTHER FEATURES.
Order Today From Your
Newsdealer.