Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, June 07, 1913, Image 8

Morning Oregonian., June 07, 1913, Page 8, Image 8

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Newspaper Page Text8 THE MORNTXO OREGOXIAy. SATURDAY, JTTXjE 7, 1913 PORTLAND, OREGON. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postofflce as econd-rlaas matter. 'Subscription Rates Invariably In Advance: (BY MAIL.) Dally, Sunday Included, one year ..98-00 Daily. Sunday Included, six months.... 4.25 'Dally. Sunday Included, three months.. 2.23 Dally, Sunday Included, one month 75 Daily, without Sunday, one yeax 6.00 Daily, without Sunday, six months 3.25 Dally, without Sunday, three months... 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month..... .60 "Weekly, one year -.. 1.50 Sunday, one year 2.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year 3.50 (BY CARRIER) -Dally. Sunday Included, one year 9.00 Dally, Sunday Included, one month 75 How to Remit Send postofflce money or der, express order or personal check on your 'local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postofflce address in full. Including; county and state. Poet aae Rates 12 to 16 pages, 1 oent: 18 to 32 pages, 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3 cents; 50 to 60 pages, 4 cents: 62 to 76 pages. 5 cants: 78 to 92 pages. t cents. Foreign post, age. double rates. Eastern Business Offices Verree A Conk lln. Xew York. Brunswick building. Chi cago, steger building. Sao l .i'ii-' Office R. J. Bldwell Co., 742 Market street. European Office No. 3 Regent street 8. W., London. PORTLAND, SATURDAY. JUNE 7. 1918. THE FBSTTVAl, AND THE FUTURE. The Rose Festival promises to be more beautiful than ever this yeax. With every garden in full bloom there will be no lack of flowers. The incom parable weather invites visitors from all quarters and they are coming In by thousands in automobiles, by train and . no doubt also by those more primitive methods which country pleasure seek ers know and practice. A few days of recreation In the city affords an agreeable break in the monotony of rural life. The Rose Festival comes at a season when the farmer has time to look around him. The crops are in and the harvest has not yet hegun. The work of the farm is not pressing and health as well as in clination invites the husbandman with his family to make merry. Naturally there will be many visitors from other cities, for festivals as well devised as Portland's cannot fall to attract those who love the beautiful and enjoy dramatic spectacles. The success of a pageant like the Rose Festival de pends much upon the dramatic ele ment. The more It is interfused in all the shows and processions the more pleasing they are likely to be, for hu manity always goes back to the drama in some form for its permanent enter tainment. Modern pageantry like the Rose Fes tival is descended from very ancient originals. We read In the classics of annual processions to which the peo ple flocked -by the thousand. In me dieval times the miracle plays were open-air spectacles full of life and movement. The show as it was given in England was acted on a platform which was carried about the town dur ing the festival week. Many cities in continental Europe have performed similar pageants regularly for many centuries. Nuremberg, Siena, Bruges and dozens of other cities have their annual spectacles which the people would not miss for any price. Time only endears them to the spectators. Most of the shows which descend from medieval days are more or less intimately connected with religion as the English miracle plays were. But some of them grew out of mythical events. Coventry in England, for ex ample, has celebrated an annual pa geant since 167 8 which depicts the innocent sufferings of the Lady Godiva, who, in all probability, never existed. But that fact does no harm to the pageant which is as beautiful and dramatic as if she were a historical figure Instead of a charming Action. The modern pageants which have become so widely popular in Great Britain are not the same as their me dieval predecessors. They are not di rectly connected wth religious feel ing. Their main purpose Is to illus trate the history of the place where they are performed. The first of them was celebrated at Sherborne. It was conducted by Louis N. Parker, who deserves great credit for originating this most desirable form of popular recreation and instruction. For a well ilevlsed pageant does not stop with ' pleasing the eye. It also improves ' the mind. The best ones do not stray from purely local Interests. The char acters are all represented by people living In the place where the pageant I is performed. The costumes are made at home and If there is poetry to be recited or songs to be sung local genius is depended on to produce them. Everything from the outside is exclude cd. The central idea of a good pageant is some event in local history which is produced with as much fidelity to truth as possible. Costumes, speech and acts all contribute to keep up the verisimilitude and the fact that no foreign help has been asked of course makes the illusion all the more satisfactory. Portland is enviably sit uated in regard to material for good pageants as well as in the floral and scenic setting for them. We have the surrounding hills, a river whose beauty Is almost urtvalled and a wealth of roses in full bloom at the festival sea son. But best of all, perhaps, we have in the early events of Oregon history dramatic material almost without limit which can be used to lend perennial interest to the festival. Everybody must have remarked upon the wonderful popularity of the Pendleton "Round Up." A good part of Its charm comes from its resolute fidelity to historic situations and local character. People are never tired of looking at the costvimes of the cowboys and Indians and seeing them perform their deeds of marvel. The old days in the Willamette Valley are full of his toric material Just as fascinating. We had Indians here, too, and if there were no cowboys there were pioneers who were fully as romantic and ad venturous. Moreover the French Canadian voyageurs lived here then and no characters in the world were . ever more romantic. Tragedy and comedy abounded in the happenings m inose oygone aays. n e need only look back to them to obtain unlimited treasures of dramatic pageantry to delight the sightseers who flock to the Rose Festival. It Is pleasant to think that more use will be made of the Ideal beauties of the Willamette this year than heretofore. Its broad surface gives room for the most elab orate displays, while its natural set ting Is lovely enough for any scene that imagination can devise. When the river is lined with massive quays and Imposing buildings it will ofter a still more pleasing stage for pageantry. Think of standing on the loft' Broadway bridge while an llluminat- - ed procession moves upon the waters below. Fairyland could present noth .ng mode alluring. We should feel it safe to predict that the Rose Festival will become more characteristic of Oregon's peo- pie and history every season. Of course it has now become a permanent institution and it will take a more vig orous hold on the affections of the city and state In proportion to Its local fidelity. Indians, pioneers, voy ageurs and historic characters like Mc. Loughlln, Joe Meek and Joaquin Mil ler will surely be the predominant figures in the Rose Festival pageantry before many years have elapsed. SAME OLD BARGAIN AND SALE. "This (Wilson) Administration," complains the North Yakima Republic, "seems to be about as willing to trade a principle for a job as any other." But it manages at the same time to clothe the traffic with the dress or superior virtue. The occasion of the North Yakima paper's remark Is the delay in appoint ing Stephen J. Chadwick a Federal Judge. He has been recommended by the United States Attorney-General, but the voice of a single Senator (Poindexter) Is potent to stay the President's hand. Judge Chadwick will not get the Job if Poindexter can help it, and probably he can. The offense of Mr. Chadwick is chiefly that he remained a Demo crat and Poindexter did not. There is no animosity so bitter as the apos tate's. Yet Poindexter, who can re main faithful long to nothing in a po litical sense, after his desertion of the Democracy and election to the Senate as a Republican, and his subsequent abandonment of the Republican party and his espousal of the Progressive cause, is now supporting a Democratic tariff bill. President Wilson needs Poindexter'a vote. A few days after he entered the White House he paralyzed the office seekers by saying he would turn them all over to his Cabinet officers. He wanted nothing to do with the pat ronage. It was sordid and trouble some business, no doubt, and he would get rid of it. The country applauded his noble resolve and admired the great man who refused for any pur pose to use the patronage club. But now we find President Wilson trading and bargaining, just the same as the ordinary politician, with the very cheap politician who represents Washington in part in the Senate. His own Attorney-General has no influence with him to get him to deal with the Chadwick case on its merits. OPEN DOOR PRISON POLICY. There Is Just one redeeming feature in the freeing from the penitentiary of thugs and murderers under long term or life sentences. It decreases the likelihood of mawkish sentiment prevailing over the commor.-sense ne cessity of capital punishment. Here is Blodgett, self-confessed author of premeditated murder, his victim a woman, his own previous life degraded and immoral, turned loose presumably because he has cultivated in a little less than five years of restraint an aptitude for raising chick ens. All that seems to be necessary to gain speedy liberty from the peni tentiary is for the convict to profess an interest In some clean occupation. The moral effect on .others of his lib eration is not considered; his sincer ity is a matter of speculation; Justice may not have been served by inflic tion of adequate penalty; only the convict, himself, Is considered. The Blodgett case was one in which something beside reform of the mur derer was involved. If sudden piety and turning chicken fancier propiti ates murder at the end of five years and gets a man a $100 Job besides, im prisonment as a deterring Influence to crime Is bound to fall. Therefore, we fancy the public will be content to pre vent murderers, as far as possible, from coming under the 'benign and susceptible control of an administra tion which pardons or paroles slay ers of defenseless women and turns loose thugs who shoot citizens in the back from ambush. They will prevent It by continuing the death penalty and demanding its enforcement when jus tified. OLD TIMERS. A citizen of Seattle was killed at that city in an automobile accident the other day, and the papers referred to him feelingly as "an old resident of the state." It transpired that he had lived in Washington fifteen years; yet he had acquired the sobriquet of an old-timer. If one may be regarded as a pioneer by residence In a commu nity for a brief decade and a half what is a newcomer? When does the tenderfoot throw off the habiliments of strangeness and become a fixed unit of the permanent population? There are fashions in pioneers and in tenderfeet, to be sure. In Oregon one has to produce the record of his arrival and settlement In the state when it was a mere territory (prior to February 14, 1859), or he Is an out lander, so far as the Pioneer Society is concerned. No man or woman is offi cially an old resident In this state un less he shall have lived here fifty-four years. Yet in Washington he may acquire that distinction (in the news papers) in fifteen years. Twenty-four years ago yesterday the great Seattle fire occurred. Yet it Is an event dim to the memory of many there and unknown to the great majority, so far as actual experience goes. For In 1890 Seattle had but 42,837 Inhabit ants If the census takers were hon est and in 1900 it had 80,671. In the following ten years the city made the astonishing leap to 237,1 94 people. So that some 200.000 people five-sixths of Its Inhabitants came to Seattle after the fateful June 6, 1S89. No wonder the man who has been there for fifteen years, and has died res pectably, is looked upon by most of the others as an honored pioneer. FIRST TRIAL OF PREFERENTIAL VOTING. The asinine objection is made to the workings of the preferential voting system that no candidate for Mayor or Commissioner received a majority of the total first, second and third choice votes. The more asinine inti mation is made that if every voter votes three choices that desirable end a majority of the first, second and third-choice total may be registered for some candidate. Yet If every voter registers three choices this the oretical "majority" Is mathematically Impossible of attainment. If each of the 45,205 voters who went to the polls Monday had voted three choices, the total of first, second and third-choice votes would have been 135.615. A majority of 135, 615 is 67,808. But as no voter could cast more than one choice for any one candidate, the highest possible total vote that could have been acquired by one candidate, counting all choices, would have been 45.206. or 22.603 less than this ficti tious majority. The true majority un der the preferential system is a ma jority of the first choices, for that is a majority of the voters. It Is the majority as the charter defines it and as common sense sees it. A unanl- mous vote for one candidate could not give him the other "majority" under a complete working of the preferen tial system. The total number of voters partici pating in the election of Monday was 45,205, according to unofficial figures. Of these 26,967 voted for Mr. Albee. Some voted one choice; some another; but each of the 26,967 voted for him once. He thereby received 4364 votes in excess of a majority of the voters participating more than an actual majority of the voters actually voted for him. Mr. Daly was also elected by a majority of those who voted for Commissioner. Mr. Barbur received not pnly a ma jority of first-choice votes, but a ma jority of the total of all choices. He acquired the latter majority because his supporters, generally, "single-shot" him, while the supporters of other can. didates gave him substantial numbers of second and third-choice votes. The less "single-shooting" there Is the less likely Is a candidate to receive a ma jority of the total of all choices. The Oregonlan is pleased over the working of the preferential system in the last election. It is not so enthusi astic, however, as to believe that th'e system will run of its own accord and always turn out good officers. It was successful because the majority inter ested in good government went to the polls and gave it a fair test. Its suc cess will not be repeated if the well- meaning citizens stay at home or it is not utilized in good faith. It is mere machinery that works poorly or smoothly according to the intelligence and intent of the hand that controls and guides it. DIKBCT PRIMARY WAR IS ON. War is on in New York State be tween progressives of all parties and the united machines of the two old parties. War was declared by Governor Sulzer when he vetoed the Blauvelt direct primary bill and the proposl tion for an early constitutional con vention, both fathered by the bosses. He is supported by the progressives of both Republican and Democratic parties, and Colonel Roosevelt is rally ing the third party to his support. The Blauvelt bill would have con firmed the bosses in control of both old parties by Increasing the number of signatures necessary in some dis tricts for designation of candidates for nomination. It retained existing pro visions of law allowing a party ma chine to use party funds and the party emblem for factional rnds, even against the will of the majority of the party's voters. It left In the hands of the machine power to divide Its op ponents. It was denounced by the Governor as a fraud, enacted in bad faith. In its place the Governor recom mended a bill of his own, similar in many respects to the Hughes bill, but without some provisions of the latter which experience proved to play into the hands of the bosses. Under the Sulzer bill all party candidates except those for town, village and school dis trict offices would be nominated di rectly by the party votes. The mem ber of the county committee from each election district would be elected by the party voters. So also, the state committeeman from each assembly district would be elected by the party voters of the assembly district. Use of party funds and the party emblem to forward the nomination of any candi date would be forbidden. Voters would be required to mark the name of each candidate and would be forbidden to make one mark for a group of candi dates. The number of signatures nec essary to designate a candidate for nomination would be reduced so as to facilitate the placing of names on the primary ballot. Provision would be made for direct election of United States Senators. The platform would be adopted by a party council com posed of the state committee, candi dates for the assembly and in guber natorial years candidates for the State Senate and state offices. In other years the places of the latter would be taken by party members of the Senate. The general lines of the bill are very similar to those of the Oregon law. It seems to be the only means of prevent ing such men as Murphy and Barnes from retaining control of the party organization and dictating nominations without regard to the will of the party majority. The plan for adoption of a party platform Is a decided im provement on the Oregon system which allows each candidate to build his own platform Irrespective of. and often in conflict with, the principles of the party. The Governor's veto of the bill call ing an election of delegates to a con stitutional convention this year is ap proved by progressives of all party stripes, because the election would give no time for popular discussion of the issues involved and confuse those issues with the purely local ques tions involved in municipal, assembly and county nominations. The Gov ernor's friends hold, with him, that delegates to a constitutional conven tion should bi elected next year at the same time as Congressmen and state officers, when National and state offi cers are to be elected, and after due time has been given for study of the state's needs. There is probably another reason for the divergence of sentiment on the time for holding the convention. Mr. Sulzer has called an extra session to consider his primary bill and hopes to drive that bill through. Should he succeed, he would then have a better prospect of securing the election next Fall of an Assembly in harmony with his. which would provide for nomina tion of candidates to the constitu tional convention under the direct pril mary. A convention composed of men thus nominated would be more likely to draw up "a progressive constitution than would one composed of creatures of Barnes and Murphy nominated under the present law. The standpat ters, feeling the growth of progressive sentiment, realize that this may be the last year in which they will have an opportunity to fasten upon the state a constitution to their taste. Hence their haste" to get the convention elect ed while they have a chance to con trol its composition. The eyes of the country will be on New York this year, for that state Is the last and greatest stronghold of machine rule, and the political giants of both sides will be contending for supremacy. New York mail-order houses have offered suggestions for the improve ment of the parcel post, most of which have merit, but one of wbich is not likely to be adopted without another struggle. That is that the zone sys tem be abolished and a flat rate es tablished. The zone system is one of the means adopted to guard the coun try stores and the merchants In small towns against the competition of mail order houses in the large cities. It Is based on equity, too. A flat rate is all very well for a small country like Eng land, where cost of transportation cannot vary so greatly as to make a great difference in total cost when added to expense of collection and dellver", but in a great country like the United States the variation is too great to be ignored. COME FARTHER WEST, COLONEL. Colonel William A. Lytle, of Worces ter, Mass., has returned after a tour of the country with the opinion that, if New England was exploited to 50 per cent the same extent as is the West, "we wculd have so many visitors that it would interfere with business." He continued: "The West hasn't much to boast of for scenery. If one of our lakes were dropped there, they would never cease talking about It." Of course the West owes much to exploitation, but in order to succeed it must have something to exploit and men who know how. The men who know how have generally left the ruts of New England for the West. But Colonel Lytle's remark that "the West hasn't much to boast of for scenery" moves us to wonder how far West he came. If he came no farther than Denver, as his interview in the Boston Transcript implies, he came only to the edge of the land of scenic beauty; he did not see the Rocky Mountains except in the distance, nor the bewil dering gandeur of the Grand Canyon, nor the wild beauties of the inter mountain country, nor the forest-clad, precipitous Cascade range, with its snowy peaks, nor the majestic rush of the Columbia River, nor the grand panorama of mountain, forest, rivers, lakes and sea which Is spread before him at Portland or Seattle. As to the New England lakes, if one of them were dropped here we should never notice it. What would be one little New England lake to a country which has Crater Lake, Klamath Lakes, Lost Lake, Wallowa Lake, Spirit Lake, Lake Washington, Lake Whatcom, Lake Chelan, Lake Cres cent, Lake Cushman, to say nothing of numberless smaller lakes set deep in the bosom of the mountains? If Colonel Lytle had seen some of these lakes, he would never mention a New Kngland lake again. His remarks serve only to expose the depth of his ignorance about his own country. New England doubtless has beauties all its own, but they do not compare with those of the West which the Colonel has never seen. Let the Colonel come again and come farther, to the farthest west. Then he will return an ad mirer of the land on which nature has lavished her riches of scenery and op portunlty with a prodigal hand. ine London Standard warns the Japanese that England would not view with indifference any disposl tion to attack the United States. This may be meant as a reminder that the Anglo-Japanese alliance only relates to certain areas in the Orient, where the allies have identical Interests. It was perhaps prompted by the knowledge that opposition to Asiatic immigration Is as strong In Australia and WTestern Canada as In the United States. In such an improbable contingency as war between the United States and Japan, England, so far from aidlm Japan, would have difficulty in re straining these colonies from aiding tne united States. The New York Tribune congratu lates the Empire state on the quality of its juries. True, Juries have done good service lately In convicting Beck er and his gang, the other police gratters and the grafting Senator Still, well, but New York was sadly in need of some first-class convicting juries It needs more of them. The much-kissed Captain Hobson Is a candidate for United States Senator. If the unklssed Gladstone Dowie had been a citizen of Alabama, we might nave nad kissing as a campaign issu But there is now a Mrs. Hobson, who might raise objections. Secretary Bryan told the graduating class of a New Rochelle school that it easy to whittle down a big head runciure would nave been a more correct term, not "whittle." One doe not whittle a balloon; one simply sucks a pin in it. A flood in Portland is one of the few situations in which an appeal for out side help. Is never made. In fact high water here is an added attraction which Portland has to furnish visitors Now they accuse Marshall of being a gumshoe man. Not long since vol leys of abuse were being poured it on him for his excessive talking. Ver By, the lot of a Vice-President is hard What a slander on the women of Indianapolis is the police order requir ing them to wear undergarments with the split skirt! The idea! For what ts the pattern evolved, anyway? The high price of meat has raised the cost of living In the zoos. We might save money in two ways by eat ing the lions, tigers and other car- nivori. Half a dozen important diplomatic posts have Just been filled. The post of Minister to Dahomey was still va cant, however, at the hour of going to press. Japanese are now colonizing Brazil. What was that the wiseacres told us about. Japan being fully occupied In Manchuria with her surplus popula tion? A bond issue of $300,000,000 by the Southern Pacific for Improvements will put much money into circulation in -regions wfiere it will be helpful. The happiest successful candidate will be the mother whose babe wins a prize at the baby show. The Rose Festival river parade will be three miles long and can have all the width It wants. Congressmen beat newspaper men In a spelling bee. It would be different in a thinking bee. L. W. Hill having denounced the Reclamation Service, it is pretty near unanimous. Will Kellaher show the white feather by resigning? Well, hardly. The water never gets Into the milk in the island dairies these days. The "literary fellers" Presidential recognition. are getting The weather is getting in practice to behave itself next week. Thursday was Ministers' day at the Capitol. Picked your June bride yet? NO SHORT CUT TO REGENERATION. Woman Suffrage. Thinks Writer. Will Not Speedily Cure Social Vice. PORTLAND. June 5. (To the Ed itor.) After reading your editorial on the prospective disappearance of the soclel evil from the cities of the world, one wonders how women, merely be cause they have the ballot, are going to bring it about. Don't think I am opposed to suffrage. I simply refuse to regard It as a fetish. It Is only an in strument that registers something else, namely, the capacity for Independent thinking. If much good can be done with the vote because it gives power to women, much harm can also result unless we are willing to study and learn. If women think that merely because they have the vote they cart regenerate the world in the course of several elec tions oy setting up a lew more prohibi tionists and suppressions, they are go ng to be keenly disappointed. So also are those good-natured but mushy sen timentalists who think women are really better than they are, and who are Just as much of an obstacle to woman's emancipation as those bigots who think women are worse than they really are. What the majority of both men and women need to learn Is that In handling these social problems there are no panaceas and no short-cuts. We ought to formulate for ourselves a so cial philosophy that Is based broadly on carefully ascertained facts, a ra tional world-view and a spirit of toler ation free from empty but very pre tentious dogmatism. In no matter is such a social philos ophy more necessary than In handling prostitution. Herbert Spencer gives an illustration of this fact in the case of an iron plate with a hump, or cockle. In it. He asks: "How is this plate to be made level?" An ill-informed but well-meaning bystander says: "Take a hammer and hit the protrusion." Very well," says Spencer, and he hits It two or three stiff blows. What happens? "Notice," says Spencer, "that the original hump is still there. Also you have now warped the edge of the plate until it is no longer straight. In stead of curing one defect you have added another. A skilled planlsher would have attacked the evil Indi rectly by striking careful blows around the hump, but never on it. So much for your obvious methods. Is human society less complicated than an Iron plate?" Detention homes are a good thing. doubly so if medical examination and treatment are afforded. But what are you going to do with the women who refuse to be rescued? There are many such. The morals court in Chicago has already discovered that. Every rescue worker knows it. The government of ficials of Germany never register fallen women without giving them ample op portunity to quit the life. Havelock EI .is cites authority for saying that in a given period of 3000 women regis tered only nine availed themselves of the opportunity to reform. Does your social philosophy contemplate taking such recalcitrant women and "detain ing" them permanently, as Mr. Rocke feller, Jr., suggests that Is, Imprison ing them for a long term, perhaps until they havo passed the menopause or onger? Such women are not all men tally defective, either. At any rate. they have a lively appreciation of the freedom that is theirs, which they could never have as underpaid mill workers or as overworked married drudges. Would it not be much better to adopt the Scandinavian method of discourag ing brothels which exploit women, while leaving prostitution itself free, so long as no offense against public decency is committed? Denmark, Swe: den and Norway have made more real progress In handling the two evils of prostitution and venereael disease than any other country In the western world. It has been done by establishing a sys tem of notification of diseases which are regarded, not as a Just punishment, but as a misfortune, the same as any other disease with compulsory treat ment thereof for both men and women. and with severe penalties Imposed for both sexes If other persons are Infected. For the rest, the police have to keep their hands off the problem, so there is no extortion or blackmail. Educa tion is regarded as the chief corrective factor. A very similar plan is advanced in Havelock Ellis' "The Task of Social Hygiene." One chapter in that book is of especial value. It is entitled "Im morality and the Law." Every self appointed moralist who thinks his or her Individual preference or personal temperament Is the ultimate standard to which all human society should be made to conform, could read that chap ter with profit unless so far gone that all considerations of reason and fair ness are of no avail. Having the ballot induces women to take an interest in these social ques tions. I hope it will be a progressive, enlightened and constructive interest, and not based on mere traditional prejudice. RUTH VERNON MAYNE. ROSS ISLAND AND HIGH ' WATER. Sountllnex Show North Half la Sub- merged t wo to Seven Feet. PORTLAND, June 6. (To the Edi tor.) Wednesday I rowed out to Ross Island to determine for myself the truth or untruth of the rumors about Ross Island overflowing, and for this reason being a pqor investment for the city to buy for municipal purposes as set forth by Mayor Rushlight. I found the Island overflowed almost entirely. The north half of the Island is from two to seven feet ("by actual measurement), covered over with water. The center of the island on the south half is four feet under water. The banks of at least three-fourths of the island are submerged. In several places, the banks are five feet under water. Huge logs and trees are floating over almost all of the island. When Mayor Rushlight was appealing to the uninformed voter about the value of Ross Island for municipal purposes, a civil engineer examined the island and estimated a cost of about $1,000,000 to put an embankment around it to fit it to place buildings upon. I am somewhat familiar with this kind of construction, and I am of the opinion that such an embankment would cost in the neighborhood of $2,000,000. Th hifh water that we are having at pflesent would practically destroy any Improvement we could put on Ross Island. ROBERT W. BEMIS. Women Who Command Regrlments. Le Cri de Paris. The Emperor of Germany delights to surround himself at the grand parades with four "colonelles." These noble warriors are the Empress, his daughter, the Princess Victoria Louise: the Princess of Sehaumberg-LIppe and the Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt. Accompanied by these four Amasons, the Emperor passes before the regiment and the crowd gives voice to its admiration. The "colonelles" are, In fact, superb attractions In their striking uniforms. The Princess So phia of Prussia, sister of the Emperor and wife of King Constantlne of Greece, shares the military taste of her sister-in-law, the Empress, and has retained her title of colonelle of the grenadier regiment of the Prussian guard. The Empress of Russia, born Princess Alix of Hesse, is chief of the regiment of Uhlans and of the dragoon regiment of the Prussian guard; Prin cess Marie of Rumania is "colonelle" of the Rochlori regiment, and the queen mother, Marguerite of Italy, does not conceal her pride that she is chief of a battalion of Prussian chasseurs. thai of Plum I'ndealrable. London Tit-Bits. Gibbs It costs more to live than it did a hundred years ago. Dibbs All the same. I wouldn't like to be one of those who lived then. LAW IS BLOW TO COAST'S WELFARE Japanese Quotes Statistics to Show Mutualit? of National Interest. PORTLAND, June 6. (To the Edi tor.) Owing to the limitation of in dividual thought and observation, the great sum of one's knowledge must be derived from the experiences of oth ers. Even the greatest thinkers add to their knowledge by drawing upon the vast resources of the world's knowl edge. So a nation's civilization grows broader and higher as she comes in contact with other nations. The adapt ability of the Japanese to the great Western civilization is the main cause of Japan's progress. The United States has begun to take that commanding position in the in ternational business world which we believe will more and more be hers. Because of the overflowing abundance of her own natural resources and the skill, business energy and mechanical aptitude of her people it Is of the ut most importance to the United States to develop foreign markets, especially In the Orient. Indeed, the United States is a veritable beehive of industry, lead ing tne wona in production. Manu facturing Is Increasing at such a rate that very often farmers cannot secure the labor necessary for properly har vesting crops, much goes to waste, and grain and fruit are left to rot In the field or on the tree. The wealth of the Paclnc Coast states is as enormous to the Nation as the wealth of New England, New York and the Southern states. In San Fran cisco. Portland and Puget Sound there are the homing places of the great steamship lines, which in connection with the great railroads are doing so much to develop the Oriental trade of the United States. According to the statistics of the customs-house of Port land the exports of the United States through the port of Portland to all foreign countries in 1312 exceeded the Imports by $8,115,672. The exports to Japan exceeded the imports from Japan by $961,286. In 1907 exports from Port land to Japan totaled $2,250,000 and imports from Japan to Portland were $1,00.0,000. Therefore Portland owes no. small part of her future greatness to the fact that she Is thus doing her share in acquiring for the United1 States the dominance of the Pacific. Under such conditions it would be most unwise to cramp or to fetter the tnighty strength of the Nation. On the other hand. Japan, shaking orr the letnargy or centuries, has now entered the stag of cosmopolitan poli tics, and stands as one of the greatest powers of the world. No longer is she a hidden light. Her position cannot be ignored in the future politics of the East. The United States Is the greatest power of the Western Hemisphere, with a noble Idea of liberty. Justice and peace, and the Flcwery Empire of the East is the power of .he Orient, with the prin ciples of Just'ce and peace. These tv o nations must Join or even form an alli ance to protect commercial and In dustrial Intercourse and promote mutual beneft, and in so doing, they will perform a great service towards the maintenance of their mutual wel fare on the Pacific waters. They are conveniently situated for this purpose one in the vast American continent and the other In the Orient. Considering these things, it is indeed deplorable to be startled by such movements as the enactment of the anti-alien land law In California. The spirit of the anti-alien land law Is simply discriminative. The agita tion of the peopfe of California against the Japanese is a blow to the welfare of the civilized world and to the cause of liberty. For our part, we are con trolling our Indignation simply for'the reason that America has been the most friendly Nation to us during the last half century and she is also the patron of our civilization. The Japanese in California have made many a substantial contribution to the development and general prosperity of the state, especially the truck gardeners and the farm hands engaged in various agricultural Industries. The Japanese Is absolutely necessary in the California orchard, vineyard and field if these vast Industries are to be perpetuated and developed. Hitherto what Is called morality existed mostly for the American peo ple, and they alone were considered able to understand the meaning of righteousness. Therefore, Americans were classed as rational people. Now justice and humanity' are the founda tion of the American idea. This prin ciple of the universal brotherhood of man Is the foundation of liberty. But race prejudice still exists, as is shown by the enactment of the anti-allen land law In California. Our people are In suited and oftentimes restaurants and laundries opened by our people have been invaded by hoodlums. Suppose that in Japan our people should treat the Americans in the same way, what would the people of Cali fornia say against Japanese? To dis criminate against any one on the ground of race is to be behind the times. In this age of Justice and morality, prejudice should cease. For our part, nothing is more deplorable than this unhappy Incident. But we know that the Japanese have many warm sympathizers among the people of the Pacific Coast. We rely on the ever increasing sympathy of the American people towards our country and its people, and the humane feeling and sound common sense of the California people of the better class. Not only for the sake of the unhappy Japanese, but also for the sake of civilized humanity we hope that the question will see 8 happy solution. D. TAKEOKA. ANY EASY JOB IS ACCEPTABLE. Applicant for City Position Is Strong for Corporal Punishment. PORTLAND. June ft. (To the Ed itor.) I read In The Oregonlan that our Mayor - elect and Commissioners have met, to lay plans for ruling this city. I want to get In In time with an application for any old position they have to dispose of, provided said po sition has a good salary with but little to do connected with it. My qualifi cations are these: I didn't vote for any of them. I al ways vote for the under dog; have voted for Republicans, Democrats, Greenbackers, Populists, Prohibition ists and am now a Bull Mooser, with Socialist tendencies. I favor hanging all murderers who are convicted of first degree murder, and tarring and feathering all attorneys who try to clear criminals on technicalities. I believe in a restricted district for all women of the underworld and be lieve in giving them a chance to save a part of what they make so they can reform. As a step in this direction I would not allow them to pay $20 a week for a den that Is not worth $5 a month. The man who lives off their earnings I would put on the rock pile for 90 days and dress his hide weekly with the cat o' nine tails. Any one con victed of abusing little girls. I would tan hip hide every Friday for six months and then hang him. I would prohibit divorce except in county and state where marriage license was is sued. Also I would make our judges work eight hours a day and try crim inals InBlde of 30 days after crime had been committed. That's all I think of at present. T. C. WILSON. 1190 East Main Street. Mourning Worn for Her Doc;. Paris Correspondent. Mrs. William Moore, formerly Miss Kate Robinson, , of New York, is in mourning for her favorite dog, which for many years had the distinction of being a welcome guest at the annual fetes in honor of the late King Ed ward. The dog's remains shortly are to be transferred from its temporary grave In Mrs. Moore's back garden to a private tomb. A sculptor has been engaged to design a monument, and a poet may be hired to write an epitaph In memory of the dear departed. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonlan of June 8. 1563. The Lewlston people were greatly rejoiced last Tuesday at the arrival of a party from Boise, bringing $59,000 worth of gold dust, who came through from the mines in 46 hours traveling time. They reported good roads, free from Indians, and that there was no necessity for keeping guard at night over pack animals. The citizens of Lewiston held a meeting, raised. $2000 Immediately and appointed a committee to construct a good road to Boise. The committee have selected H. D. Sanborn, Esq., to head the expedition. New York, June 2. Port Royal ad vices say the British blockade-runner, in trying to get out of Charleston, was discovered on May 20 and sunk before it could reach the bar by the Powhat tan. The officers and crew are sup posed to have perished. On the 23d an other steamer was discovered and fired into. She crossed the bar under a heavy fire and sunk in the main channel off Morris Island. New York, May 31. Letters from headquarters near Vicksburg say our loss is 2500 killed and wounded in the repulse of our assault on the forts. No second attempt to reduce Vicksburg by assault will probably be made. The city will probably be taken by ap proaches. New York. June 2. A dispatch In the New Orleans Era, dated Port Hudson Plains, May 22, says yesterday Auger's whole division was engaged in a nine hours' fight at Port Hudson Plains on the Bayou Sara road. The enemy were thoroughly whipped. The Era says Banks moved to Port Hudson, where he united his forces with Auger's. The mortar fleet opened on Port Hudson on the night of the 24th, silencing sev eral of the enemy's guns. Port Hudson Is now hemmed in. There was a large audience to witness the great Indian tragedy of "Neck of the Woods" Saturday night. Twenty-five Years Ago From The Oregonlan of June 7. 1SS9. St. Liouis, June 6. The Democratic National convention broke the record for the greatest display of enthusiasm ever witnessed in a similar body, when Grover Cleveland was renominated for President. Ritzvllle, W. T., June 6. Rltzvllle burned at 4:30 I'. M. Ten business houses, the hotel and a law office were destroyed. Salem. Or., June 7. Fire broke out In Thomas Holman'a electric light works and fanning mills this morning at 1 o'clock and tjoe entire building and contents were burnec.. The loss is about $75,000. Salem, June 6. The Republicans are having a jollification meeting tonight. Olympia. W. T.. Juno 6. Much Interest was manifested last evening in the. laying of the cornerstone of the Odd fellows' new temple on the corner of Fourth and Main streets. Blnger Hermann's majority advanced to about 7000 yesterday. The Republi cans will have a majority of about 70 on joint ballot In the Legislature. S. H. Knowles. Jonathan Bourne, Jr., and C. W. Knowles sold their celebrated Cracker Creek mine in Baker County to a St. Louis syndicate for $1,000,000. Mayor De Lashmutt yesterday ap pointed the following committee to ar range for a Fourth of July celebration: F. E. Beach, W. W. Spaulding, J. B. Kellogg, Arthur Kohn, B. B. Tuttle, George E. Watklns, F. R. Mellis, W. S. Harris, Emanuel Meyer, Captain F. S. Bosworth, Thomas J. Jordan, W. P. Olds. E. A. King, Samuel Heitsbu and M. A Qunst Women Did It. PORTLAND, June 6. (To the Ed itor.) The city election is over and everybody Is happy. No question women saved the day and proved themselves worthy of the great trust and responsibility thrust upon them. I make this statement, using the words "forced upon them," for at least 50 per cent of the women in the city did not want the franchise; but after it was given them, felt it their duty in protecting their homes' best interests to register and to participate in the selection and election of city officers. I consider that each dollar in the city has Increased 10 per cent In value, largely from the fact of fairness and intelligence shown by vote on the amendments, proving beyond question that the public intend to give contracts entered into and capital invested in the city a square deal, besides a gen eral housecleaning. I take off my hat to women. W. M. KILLINGSWORTH. FEATURES SUNDAY Pink Whiskers J. Hamilton Lewis' brilliant hirsute luxuri ance is commonly reputed to have made him, but the Senator gives an interview in which he denies that all there is to him is those pink whiskers. Champion Office Holder He has been holding down public places for 55 years and is to re tire only because he can 't sit in a judicial chair any longer. Unknown Republic Found Rus sian explorers, in. the heart of Siberia, come onto strange gov ernment, peopled by descend ants of early Russian convicts. An unusual feature. Are Men Chatterboxes? Laura Jean Libbey asks this question and proceeds to give a most in teresting answer. The Messengers A love story by RICHARD HARDING DA VIS. Schools at Sea How the "United States Navy will be utilized to give finished educations to thousands of young men. Death and the Millionaire A short story by Alfonse Court lander. Nature the First Inventor Many great patents are in fringements on Nature's plans. Gibson Pictures The widow is disturbed by a vision which ap pears to be herself. Theodore Roosevelt He writes the eleventh installment in his autobiography. Don't Swat the Ply! That's the newest health cry. The thing to do is starve the fly. NUMEROUS OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES Order today of your newsdealer.