Morning Oregonian., March 16, 1914, Page 6, Image 6

6
THE MORXIXG OREGONIAN, MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1914.
PORTLAXD, OREGON.
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PORTLAND, MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1914.
INJURING THE CAUSE OF PEACE.
The good purposes of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace
are not being served, but ,are being
) hindered, by its propaganda for repeal
of the coastwise exemption clause ot
the Panama Canal law. Had the
United States refused to listen to any
arguments against this clause; had
: the United States insisted upon appli
cation of its own version of the Hay
: Pauncefote treaty against the protest
' of Great Britain or any other na
I tion, then international peace might
have been endangered, and the Carne
. gie Endowment cou'.d,most appropri
ately have molded public opinion in
favor of a more reasonable attitude.
But no man has proposed that the
United States stand pat for exemp-
tion and refuse to negotiate the ques
tion, even at the risk of war. Presi
. dent Taft proposed to Congress that
' any foreign ship-owner who believed
himself wronged and the treaty vio
lated by the exemption clause be given
the right to sue in the Federal Courts.
Those who favor, anU very many of
those who oppose, exemption recom
mend that the question be arbitrated.
The Oregonian has repeatedly made
that recommendation. Holding that
The Hague tribunal was drawn al
jnost entirely from nations which are
as greatly interested in the question
as Great Britain, The Oregonian has
urged that the arbitrators be taken
" from Switzerland, an inland nation.
The same recommendation is made
by Mr. Bunau-Varilla, an opponent of
exemption, and for the same reason.
The alternative, therefore, is not be
tween repeal of exemption and war
or strained relations with the nations;
it is between repeal and arbitration,
The Carnegie Endowment has ad
vocated repeal on the assumption that
the treaty is capable of only one in
terpretation namely, against exemp
tion and that any other course than
repeal dishonors the Nation. This as
sumption is based on a superficial
reading of the clause. The contrary
interpretation, that exemption does
not violate the treaty, was held by
President Taft, Secretary Knox, Secre
tary Stimson, all of whom are law
yers; by Representative Underwood
also a lawyer, and by a great ma
jority of Senators and Representa
tives of both parties in both houses
of the Sixty-second -Congress, when
the canal law was passed. ' It is held
by ex-President Roosevelt, during
whose Administration the Hay-
Pauncefote treaty was made. It was
approved by the National conventions
of both the Democratic and Progres
sive parties, which polled 70 per cent
of the votes cast for President in 1912.
It was upheld ly President Wilson
in his campaign speeches. The same
opinion is held by Richard Olney, who
was Attorney-General and later Sec
retary of State under President Cleve
land. Senator O'Gorman, in a state
ment of the case for exemption to the
New Tork American, says:
If he (President "Wilson) will read the
London Law Review he will learn that even
English lawyers have conceded that the tolls
exemption Is in harmony with uur treaty
obligations. German and other continental
writers have expressed the same view.
Thus it is not self-evident, as the
Carnegie Endowment has assumed,
that exemption would violate the
treaty. On the contrary, it is a de
batable question. A far greater serv
ice would be rendered the cause of
peace and arbitration by submitting
this question to an impartial tribunal
than by yielding a right we have as
serted, in response to pressure from
Great Britain growing out of other
diplomatic entanglements. Yielding
. under such conditions would surely
create resentment in the minds of
Americans which would rankle for
many years, wh"e if we were to lose
in arbitration there would be no more
ill-feeling than followed the Geneva
award. That event marked the begin
ning of cordial relations.
- It is suggested that the Carnegie
. Endowment has agitated for repeal of
exemption as an aid to the formation
of an Anglo-American alliance. If
that be true, the policy Is mistaken,
even if the end be desirable, which
we do not concede. Having once as
serted a right which England dis
putes, the United States should carry
it to arbitration. Then if we lose, the
ground will be cleared for future co
operation between the two nations. If
we win and" then voluntarily surren
der the right, after having established
it, we shall get credit for far greater
generosity than we should by surren
dering a right which is in dispute.
There is a further serious objection
to the Carnegie Endowment's propa
ganda. It is calculated to create prej
udice against any similar institution
which may be founded by a rich man
for ostensibly philanthropic or altru
istic work. The agitation against toll
exemption is tainted by the mercenary 1
motives of Canadian and American
railroads and of British ship-owners.
Mr. Carnegie's former connection with
railroads and those who finance them
is such that he lays himself open to
the charge of having prostituted an
institution founded for unselfish work
in the cause of humanity to the self
ish interests of those who view all
international affairs from the stand
point of dollars and cents. The Car
negie Endowment is exposed to the
charge of - hypocritically using the
1 cause of peace as a disguise for an
international capitalist lobby. Let that
impression spread, and its usefulness
in promoting peace will be greatly
impaired, if not destroyed.
The United States Senate has
' passed a self-denying ordinance
which outrivals -ny similar measure
In history. Out of pure kindness of
heart and respect for Mr. Tillman's
love for pure air, smoking has been
forbidden -at "executive sessions," as
they are called, meaning the constitu
tional secret sessions. During these
solemn rites the doors and windows
are sealed up and the smoke Is dense
enough to cut with a knife. Senator
Tillman could not bear it and his
fellow-members have taken pity on
him.
NOBODY BUT C'BES KNOWS ANYTHING,
In Oregon City there is a newspaper
which has a profound contempt .for
the Legislature. It is red hot for abol
ishment of the law-making assembly
As a beginning it would decapitate
the Senate. Last week it discovered
a distressing display of ignorance on
the part of the last Legislature. That
body had actually undertaken to en
act a tax law when a constitutional
amendment adopted in 1910 provide
that no bill regulating taxation should
become law until approved by vote of
the people.
For not knowing about this amend
ment the members of the Legislature
were called "muts" plain "muts"; the
law was characterized as "kids' work,'
and the legislators were likened to the
fool who rocks the boat and the boy
who didn't know the gun was loaded
But after this comment was in type
and when, apparently, it was too late
to stop its publication, the newspaper
discovered that the oversight was its
own, not the Legislature's. So a note
was appended acknowledging that the
amendment which the Legislature had
ignorantly ignored had been repealed
by the people before the Legislature
met. The comforting information
is given that "the .people, not the Leg-
islature, were the fools.
Through ignorance of the voters and
prejudice against URen the taxpayers
were made to kill the measure that
was their own protection."
The situation Is certainly depress
ing. The Legislature is -uninformed
and careless. The people are ignorant
and prejudiced. Even a shining' light
among molders of opinion makes mis
takes. Plainly there is but one thing
to do. Both Legislature and the peo
ple's power must be abolished and the
Government turned over to U Ren.
WHO PAYS?
There is a surplus in the water
fund. Expenditure of the money does
not affect anybody in the least in a
financial way. Nobody is called upon
to pay a higher rate of taxation and
not one cent of taxes Is used to pay
the bill. This is an argument in favor
of general meter installation presented
by a correspondent today. Moreover,
so we are informed by the same au
thority, the water that wastes over
spillways skims the impure surface
water off the reservoirs and that which
runs to waste into the river cleans
the sewers on the way;
We are stunned. We never knew
before that water could be purified
by skimming the top. We had a faint
Impression, too, that Bull Run water
did not need purifying. We also had
an idea that water "wasted" at the
kitchen sink, at the bath tub, at the
motors, at the hydraulic elevators and
indeed, that the weeping of the skies
ran off through the sewers. We are
disconcerted to learn that such water
does not clean the sewers as would
water preserved for wasting purposes
at a cost of$500,000.
But we are quite certain that the
surplus in the water fund need not
be thrown away. The charter author
izes its use in the purchase and re
tirement of water bonds. It may also
be invested in city and improvement
bonds. Five hundred thousand dol
lars Invested in bonds at 4 per cent
would yield to the water fund $20,000
a year. Water rates could be reduced
to the equivalent of that amount and
also to a basis that would prevent the
accumulation of anth r tempting sur
plus. Most taxpayers are water con
sumers. If the taxpayer pays less for
water he will have more money with
which to pay taxes.
No, brother, the water fund is not
dug out of snow-banks or caught with
butterfly nets. It comes out of the
pockets of the people. Every saving
in the water department is a financial
gain to every consumer and every ex
travagance is a drain on his resources.
HARRY THAW'S APPEAL.
The appeal of Harry Thaw for im
munity from, further punishment for
his crime, or from further confine
ment as a precaution against further
crime, is an appeal 'to that sentiment
which only too often goes out to the
murderer instead of the murdered. It
is also an appeal to the law to confess
defeat in its struggle with a maniac
whose ingenuity is aided by money
and influential relatives. It is, how
ever, a confession that his journeys
through the labyrinth of the law are
about to end in his return to the
asylum.
Thaw's appeal fastens attention on
one Inherent weakness of American
administration of the law the subor
dination to sympathy for a morally
weak, offending individual of that
fidelity to the public interests. which
should be the guiding principle of all
public servants. The father who kills
the fatted calf for the returning prod
igal, the mother who lavishes her
fondest love on her wayward son, may
be pardoned for such frailty, but the
man who Is chosen to guard the wel
fare of a whole state or a whole coun
try should be made of sterner stuff.
He is in the position of trustee, bound
strictly to the terms of his trust His
duty Is to hold each individual strictly
accountable for his acts and to see
that the law takes and punishes each
offender. His sympathy must go out
to the whole state, which is wronged,
not to the idividual who does the
wrong. Tet the individual appeals to
him through the tears of a weeping
mother, wife, sister and children, while
the sympathy which the state feels
for its slain sons, the anger which it
feels over its outraged laws, are so
impersonal and diffused as to be little
felt by men of sympathetic mind, as
our public servants are too apt to be.
Lawyers who defend criminals are
well aware of this weakness in the
machinery designed to bring their cli
ents to justice and they make the most
of it. They know that, if they can but
delay final disposition of a case until
the horror inspired by a bloody crime
has passed away, sympathy will turn
to the downcast prisoner. There is
none to speak for the law except the
prosecutor, who is depicted as a ruth
less bloodhound, for the people have
become mere spectators of a perform
ance. The criminal lawyer, however, keeps
the sorrowing family in the public
eye, softens the enormity of the crime,
brings into strong relief every miti
gating circumstance and dextrously
plays upon the heartstrings of the
people until the many who are sus
ceptible to a sentimental appeal rally
around him and besiege a perplexed
executive with their pleas.
When one man, Who has been more
or less carefully picked for Governor,
so often yields, we need not wonder if
the many, who have been more or less
carelessly picked for legislators of
rew Tork, and who are rendered irre
sponsible by division of responsibility,
should yield to Thaw's appeal. There
need be no wonder if the outcome
would be that Thaw goes free, free to
murder another object of his insen
sate rage, which with maniac's cun
ning he has suppressed in order to
gain his end.
KEEP AFTER ALASKA'S TRADE.
The first steamer of the Portland-
Alaska steamship line is now on its
return voyage with a good cargo and
two more steamers are about to start
north with prospects of being well
loaded. Portland should not relax its
efforts in behalf of this strictly home
enterprise. To make a good beginning
is not enough; continuous support and
unremitting work are necessary to
maintain the new line as a permanent,
established success. Experience has
proved that there is business in Alaska
for such a steamship line and for the
merchants who patronize it. It re
mains to hold what we have w6h and
go after more, that p-.ore and larger
steamers may take full cargoes north
and come back loaded.
Though much business might have
been done in Alaska during the last
twenty years, the real development of
that territory is about to begin, by
comparison with which the work al
ready done is but prospecting and
exploration. Hitherto Alaska has been
mainly a country of camps, charac
teristic of a migratory population de
voted to mining and canning. Con
struction of the Government railroads
will open a new era, in which, as In
other countries, the farmer, cattle
grower, manufacturer and ' town-
builder' will follow in the footsteps of
the miner to populate' the country
permanently. The agricultural, graz
ing, timber and fishery resources of
California and the Northwest were not
discovered until gold lured thousands
to them, but the mining days were
the prelude to the period of real de
velopment which has produced the
splendid commonwealths of today.
So will It prove in Alaska. The
miners have spied out the land and
made known Its riches. The railroads
will make it accessible. The 67,000
scattered people who wander from
camp to camp will swell in a decade or
two to a million, and men now in their
prime may live to see the day when
Alaska will have a . population equal
to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Fin
land and the Russian Province ot
Archangel combined, as Secretary
Lane has predicted.
Alaska will always be a good market
for the products of the temperate
zone. We have just entered the mar
ket; let us keep our hold and expand
our trade there as the field develops.
CIV1I. WAR DRAWS NEARER.
If the Ulster Covenanters insist on
the permanent exclusion of Ulster from
self-governing Ireland, the Asqulth
Cabinet may withdraw its offer of
compromise and press to final passage
the bill establishing one Parliament
for all Ireland. Ulster seems deter
mined to accept no compromise, but
to rely on its 90,000 armed men and
on the sympathy of a large section of
the English, Scotch and Welsh people
for defeat of the entire home rule
scheme. No other Interpretation can
be placed on the assertion of the more
radical among the Covenanters that
exclusion from the Irish government
of only the four counties which have
a Protestant majority would be deser
tion of their comrades in counties
where Protestants are in the minority
and that therefore the whole of Ulster
must be excluded. The same reason
ng wrould apply to every county in
Ireland, for every county has a
Protestant minority, though it is larger
n some than others.
According to the census of 1910 the
percentage of Catholics in the nine
counties of Ulster was: Donegal 78.9,
Cavan 81.5, Monaghan 74.7, Ferman
agh 56.2, Tyrone 55.4, Armagh 45.3,
Londonderry 45.8, Down 31.6, Antrim
0.5. In only the two last-named
counties are the Protestants in a strong
majority and Ulster as a whole sends
seventeen Nationalists to Parliament
against sixteen Unionists. Taking into
account the number of Protestants
who favor home rule, probably Down
and Antrim alone would vote deci
sively for exclusion.
The Covenanters have carried their
threat of armed resistance to the In
clusion of any part of Ulster in auton
omous Ireland so far that they have
put compromise out of the question
and they have only two alternatives
to fight or to surrender. Acceptance
of Mr. Asquith's offer would show
their demands to be inconsistent with
the principle of majority rule on
which they profess to rely. They show
no disposition to surrender. It re
mains to consider the consequence,
should they fight.
The traditional upholders of law
in Ireland would then become rebels.
Possibly the British government would
hesitate to resort to armed force
against them. It might place an em
bargo on all intercourse v ith the re
bellious counties, but could it prevent
civil war in Ireland? The example of
the Unionists in arming and drilling
has been followed by the Nationalists.
They have organized the Irish Volun
teers in imitation of the Covenanters
and this body is recruiting throughout
Ireland, having begun in Dublin with
forty companies. Its leaders 'Object
to the sending of British troops to
suppress the expected Ulster revolt;
they desire to -settle the question for
themselves. They would for the first
time In Irish history turn the tables on
the Unionists, for they would be fight
ing for the law against rebellion. Mr.
Asquith might restrain them while
he tried more pacific measures against
the rebels, but, once hostilities were
formally begun, their aid could not
well be refused, and Ireland would
be torn by civil war embittered by
religious Intolerance.
STOCK EXCHANGE DEFENDED.
The New Yerk Stock Exchange has
an able defender in Charles A. Co
nant, who has published a pamphlet
describing its valuable functions in es
tablishing the market value of secur
ities, providing a ready sale and
regulating their price in relation to
the demand and supply of capital.
Well inanaged, the Stock Exchange
would, as Mr. Conant says, give the
smallest and weakest Investor,
"through the medium of public quo
tations, the combined "judgments of
the biggest and strongest of the kings
of finance."
But the Stock Exchange which Mr.
Conant describes Is an - ideal from
which the organization in New York
falls short. Wash sales and short sell
ing do not aid in establishing the
value of securities. A code of ethics
whereby the me unpardonable sin of
a broker is failure to exact his full
commission and whereby hypotheca
tion of a customer's securities is coun
tenanced does not conform to this
ideal. If the market were not
"rigged" to boost or depress the price
cf certain stocks, it might be that the
rise and fall of prices of securities
would correspond to" the. increase and
decrease of profits of particular rail
roads and iraustries, but how often
have stocks gone up or down wiuiout
regard to their dividend-earning
power? A lailroad official who, be
cause he knew his road's earnings
were growing, inferred that its stock
must advance in price would be-very
apt to find his margin eaten up.
. Criticism of the Stock Exchange is
not aimed at its obvious, legitimate
uses, which are beyond dispute, but at
its, abuses, which have caused many
to regard it as a crooked gambling
game profitable only to the dealer
and his employers and confederates.
There is a -kind of speculation which
Is legitimate and which, as Mr. Conant
says, "Implies that the purchaser of
the speculative securities is willing to
contribute a certain amount of his
available capital to an' enterprise
more or less experimental." But the
Stock Exchange countenances specu
lation which is merely betting the
margin that a certain stock will go
up or down.
There are serious objections to
placing stock exchanges under the
control of the Postmaster-General
and to giving him the power to ex
clude from the mails those which in
cur his disapproval. That official
could not master the intricacies of
the subject, and, with many other du
ties to occupy him, could not give
prompt and close attention to con
crete cases such as the nature of the
business requires. But -some govern
mental authority, state or National,
should insure the adoption of rules
which would hold - the exchange to
fulfillment of those useful functions
which Mr. Conant describes and
should insure enforcement of those
which - have brought the exchange.'
into aisrepute may ue prevcuicu. aiic
immediate control of the exchange
should be left to its governors, but
these officials should be subject to
legal penalties for not punishing of
fenders among the members.
The Indianapolis News tries to
score a point for the new tariff by
showing that President Woody -of th
American Woolen Company, has
changed front. It says that in Febru
ary, 1911, Mr. Wood declared, sched
ule K well balanced and that he pre
dieted dire results to the industry
It
then quotes from his recent annual
report this statement:
We are going ahead with confidence In
our great equipment and broad resources
in the efficiency of our macbin
ery. In the ability and loyalty of our per
sonnel, and in the superiority of the woolen
goods which the company makes over the
mass of foreign goods of a similar ae
scription.
When he gets his raw material duty
free and has a duty of 3o per cent on
his finished product, he may well go
ahead with confidence. But how
about the woolgrowers whom he
thrw overboard, while caring for his
own t ranch of the industry.' can
they go ahead with confidence?
When Governor West sent his secretary,
Miss Fern Hobbs, to clean up Coppertleld,
Or., he did or rather she d-id a better Jo
than anyone would have anticipated. After
Miss Hobbs closed the saloons so many peo
ple left that the Oregon Short Line closed
Us station. The former ticket agent says
there are only 50 peoole left, and they are
nlanninir to leave as soon as possible, borne
people would say the moral of this story is
that reform can be accomplished if tne re
formers only work hard enough at it. Others,
curiously enoush. In spite of the Indubitable
fact that Copperfied is now dry, would
araue precisely the opposite that you can
not reform people until they are ready lor
it. Chicago Evening rost.
But have the people who left Cop
perfield gone dry or have they only
gone elsewhere to pursue their wicked
ways ?
Come out, Mr. Groundhog; crawl
out. Your time is up and your fame
as weather prophet has vanished. You
are a false alarm. The six weeks of
continued Winter forecasted by the
vanishing flirt of your tail have devel
oped into a period of sunshine and
Summer weather, .and the swelling
buds on tree and bush proclaim you
a prevaricator.- You do not belong to
Oregon and you are relegated to the
discard. Spring has been here for a
month and tomorrow is the day to
begin planting potatoes for the early
crop.
According to a Chicago judge it is
not unlawful to cut off a feather or
plume that jabs you in the face. We
shall bear that in mind the next time
we are jammed into the corner of an
elevator and tickled half to death.
More power should be given the
Municipal Judge in punishing certain
cases. A fine of a few dollars is not
enough for a man who drilled holes
in a cow's nose to sweeten her dis
position."
It Is absurd to think ordinary pas
sengers who paid fare on the Sunset
Express had rights over a private
Vanderbilt car, yet such is the fact.
Of what avail are power and privilege
any more?
The Umatilla grand jury is to be
commended for scaring the tinhorn
element from Pendleton, if no better
result is attained.
Professor Taft's real reason for
declining the presidency of Delaware
College is that he is too big to be in
Jerkwater harness.
Governor West has dared E3 Rand
into running for re-electiop, so to
speak. A true Baker man never turns
down a dare.
Eastern people are looking at Ore
gon farms and the bad roads that
lead to them. . The result Is not satis
fying. '
There will in a few months be lands
for the landless In Central Oregon,
but, let us hope, little for the specu
lator.
If it should cost Queen Mary 310,000
every time she undresses, the British
nation will stand aghast.
The best man in the community
will be candidate for the Legislature.
If you doubt it, ask him.
. Will' the Mothers' Club at Albany,
in uplifting the home, confiscate the
latchkeys ? '
Why not let Strahorn build the
Alaska railway and develop the terri
tory? We may have to tear out a page
from our Ambassadorial service.
Picked out a man yet for your
June wedding?
Register!
TITLE IS AN IMPLIED CONTRACT
Government In One Party to It and
Receives Taxes for Protection.
CORVALLIS. Or, March 14. (To the
Editor.) When, the head of a great
department of an imperial governmen
UKe ureat Britain makes remarks lik
the following, It is time for commo
folks to sit up and take notice:
"There is one great, deep, underly
ing principle of all sound. Just and
beneficent land laws in every land.
mat tne land in all countries was
created by Providence for the benefit of
all those who dwell therein, and that
any privileges, rights, or interests at
tachlng for the time being, ' whatever
their origin may be, "to the ownership
or land that are Inconsistent with thi
great purpose ought in the interests
of the community to be ruthlessly over
rKsden.
It has always seemed to me that
persons who inhabit a country and
acquire the ownership of land therein
have entered into an Implied contract
with the Government of that country
that their ownership of this land shall
De protected by that government, and
mat in return for this protection th
persons will pay such or .whatever
taxes may be necessary to keep the
government in a position to protect
tnem.
The deed to a tract of land which
John receives from Henrv is of little
value unless the government over that
land backs up John's title to the land.
Henry's deed with nothing but Henry
behind it would not go far in th
protection of the property If there was
no strong government behind the trans
action. That is the very reason why
we pay taxes.' ir taxes come inordl
petely high we try to find the exces
sive charges, but we never try to throw
off the burden of taxation. What
avail would It be to own land without
a strong government backing up th
title?
When a man like Chancellor Lloyd
George throws down the gauntlet as
in the language of his Glasgow speech
. far.t '., int
above, does h
of water on
the wheels of socialism? Or possibly
on the wheels of the single tax?
How can a nation ruthlessly over
ride the titles to land acquired
some time or another for an adequate
consideration? I have in mind a lady
who owns 2000 acres as fair as ever
the sun shown on. She inherited th
land and her ancestor paid about $5 an
acie for it. It is now supposed to b
worth around-3100 an acre. She is as
sessed probably $60 an acre for th
land, and that makes her taxes con
sume practically the entire incom
from this land. She is in fact a ten
ant without use. Renters use the
land, they pay rent; she pays this
rem for taxes. This is perhaps an
exaggerated case, but I doubt not that
in the Willamette Valley there are
many in a similar fix only not quite
so much of it. Under . tne Ldoya
George doctrine . she would have to
vield uo her land to others at tn
behest of some spasm of governmen
because 2000 acres are denied th
peasantry. We have pheasants in thi
country, but no peasants. Every man
is king. Every woman too.
I object to the doctrine laid down
by Lloyd-George. When a person
ccmes into a community he comes
acknowledging all prior . rights and
titles. There can never be a point in
the subseauent settlement of that coun
try at which the government acquires
any right ruthlessly to override the
existing rights and titles. xne in
habitants have taken the soil, have 1m
proved it, have paid the taxes there
on. and in every way met the require
ments of the government over this
land, and then for the government to
turn and rend them, tear this land
away which it has impliedly contracted
tn nroteet so long as the owner lives
up to his obligation Is simply to violate
the obligations oi a comram uu
every one knows what the constitu
tions all say about tnat.
J. rl. wilisu.x.
THING TO ABOLISH IS U'REJTISM
Correspondent Attributes High Tares to
Irresponsibility In Present System.
GRANTS PASS. Or., March 12. (To
the Editor.) We . are constantly re
minded that the last Legislature was
the. most extravagant one ever held in
the state, and the sole cause of the high
taxes that the people have to pay
Now, the fact is, all the appropriations
made at the last Legislature amount
to about a 6-mlll tax for two years or
at8-mlll tax per year; but the taxes are
very much more than this.-- Why? Local
conditions, bonds for municipal im
provements, bonds for schoolhouses,
bonds for roads, bonds for everything
else, bearing interest. Is the Legisla
ture to blame for this? Not at all.
We are told that a remedy for high
taxation is to abolish the State Sen
ate; others say abolish both houses,
then "the people" can legislate for
themselves.
The era of high taxes began with the
U Renle system" of government called
by some the "Oregon system." Now,
instead of abolishing the Senate, why
not abolish "U'Ren" and go back to a
system of tfarty responsibility, with a
convention that will select competent
men to fill the various offices?
Any unsophisticated person can eas
ily see the direct connection of "high
taxes" with the "U'Renic system," as all
who have anything to say about it go
back to the time before adoption of this
system to make comparisons, then why
not abolish "U Ren."
Dr. C. J. Smith is for law enforce
ment, so are we all; which law Is he in
favor of, martial law or civil law?
If the good people of Florence find
it necessary to have some thugs leave
their town in order to protect their
property and business, is he in favor
of putting the town under martial law?
He complains that a law to allow the
Governor to displace the officers elected
by the people" at his own pleasure
was amended so that the accused offi
cers should have a fair hearing. Is he
in favor of a despotism and abolish
ment of a government "of the people,
for the people and by the people?"
J. C. SMITH.
Spring Fever Germs
By Bean Collins.
With flowing languor crawls my blood,
My mouth seems only made to yawn,
Though lively branches swell and bud
And grasses spring up on the lawn
The school may keep, or it may not;
Tis nil the same to me, I wot,
For in my veins, as days slip by.
Spring fever germs do multiply.
Stern duty's voice is faint and low.
Ambitions taken to the wood,
Zeal is a thing I would not know
If it came round my neighborhood;
The sky is just so blue and deep;
It lulls me to hypnotic sleep,
And all the tfme, as days slip by.
Spring fever germs do multiply.
Would that I were some mossy stone.
Unvexed to He upon the hill.
With grasses tall about me grown.
Just lying still and still and
still-
Letting the -warm breezes tickle me,
And growing . grasses prickle me.
These dreams across my fancy fly
Spring fever germs do multiply.
L'Envoi.
Prince, there be serums, so they say,
That put a crimp in any germ;
And science may find out some day
The serum that can make these
squirm.
But though they find and prove it sure.
I would' refuse to take the cure.
love these loafing moods, that's whylterest of morality and economy
rirr fvr BTArm Hn miiltinl-o- I MPS .TrQtTPHTTSJW TJ GU A
Spring fever germs do multiply.
i
WASTE HELD TO BE GOOD THING
At Reservoirs It Skims Off Impurities,
Therefore Install Meters.
PORTLAND, March 15. (To the Ed
itor.) Why does it concern the people
of this city if the Commissioners see
fit th install meters for v the purpose
of keeping check on its water supply?
It is no experiment and has proven
itself in a satisfactory way.'
The city is financially able- to buy
meters out of a surplus water fund
now in Its treasury. This expenditure
does not affect you in the least in a
financial way. You are not called upon
to pay a higher rate of taxation, as not
one cent of your taxes Is used to pay
the bill. --'-.
They are to be bought . and paid
for out of the "water revenue. There
will be a revenue so long as water
runs and the people use it.
How much more satisfactory to pay
for what you use than to be disgrun
tled on a flat rate, when your neigh
bor with a meter pays 75 cents per
month, while you pay 31. I am a meter
user and appreciate its benefit to me.
It is theonly way of serving its cit
izens and make an equitable charge
for the amount used.
Yes, there is water going over the
spillway. What a waste! O myi There
are bubbling fountains in numbers of
places throughout the city, where the
water runs night and day, where man,
bird and beast may satisfy their thirst
at all times. Now, take off your hat
and put your hand up to your fore
head in a meditative sort of way and
think of what becomes of all this
waste. The water going over the spill
way skims the surface of the reservoir
and keeps the water clean and pure.
This great waste you talk so much
about goes into the sewers and helps
to keep them clean a necessary waste.
The reservoirs must be kept full to
running over for emergency sake, and
maintain the desired pressure. If peo
ple pay for what they use, according
to meter register, there is no danger
of any waste in that direction and the
city in general will be benefited.
I believe we have a good conserva
tive, energetic, conscientious, intelll-1
gent set of business men at the head
of our city government men who rre
working hard to conserve the interests
of the people. All matters wherein the
interests of the city are concerned will
be safeguarded to the best interests
of all its people if left unhampered
in tneir execution.
Why continue to stand in your own
light as a menace to men who are
putting forth every effort at all times
to the best of their ability, after
thoughtful investigation, to work for
tne city s Interests and yours?
JOHN H. HUTCHINSON.
352 East Fifty-seventh street.
WHERE DISCRIMINATION RESTS
Free Tolls Will Cause Higher Rates on
Other Ships, Says Writer.
PORTLAND, March 15. (To the Ed
itor.) The most amazing thing in
these days is certainly the prevailing
tendency towards reckless extrava
gance at the expense of others.. Under
this head should be set down the ex
emption from tolls of American ships
engaged in coastwise trade through
the Panama Canal. And men of com
mon sense and business abilitv are to
be found among those whose lack of
economic understanding prompts them
to push the thing along. And vet noth
ing is simpler than the fact that ihe
exemption of any portion of property
irom taxation etrects a corresponding
increase in the taxes or assessments
which the remaining property must
furnish for the glory and satisfaction
of the tax eaters, no matter whether
the property be real estate, telegraphs,
telephones, railroads, banks or canals.
But the credit for the latest follv in
the world's madhouse does certainly
belong to Senator O'Gorman. Indeed,
it is his wonderful brain that made
the strange and startling discovery
that there must be some relationshin
between the universal peace movement
ana the tolls to be charged for use of
the Panama Canal, and in this most
wonderful discovery he was and Is
so ably seconded by Senator ReeC!
And, as Mr. Carnegie has contributed
a certain fund for the promotion of
universal peace, he is the man to be
cnargea with all or the troubles of the
American ship owners who r lliroiv
to be deprived of the prerogative of
making free use of the canal at the
cost and expense of other people.
.But, trora present indications this
Is not all; the talented and resourceful
Senator O'Gorman will no doubt see
to - it that the library endowments of
air. Carnegie receive proper attention,
since libraries, like the printing press
might play some part in the disspm.
ination or the terrible sbeech -of Spn-
ator Root against making other people
me ouis or tne American ship
owners, and in violation not only of
common honesty, but also of solemn
treaty obligations! . Indeed, with such
wonoerrul opportunities for Kanntnr
O'Gorman, there is no telling what
greatness there Is In store for him
ana nis co-laborers. yf, h. G
PARK BLOCKS AS PLAYGROUND
Reasons Presented Why Tracts Should
mot Be Given to School Purposes.
PORTLAND. March 15. (To the Edi
tor.) As it is the desire of the School
Board in the selection of a new site for
tne Shattuck School to locate sam
facing one of the Park Blocks with in
tention or utilizing said Park Block
in rront of the school for nlaveround
which is foreign to what these blocks
are intended, therefore I desire to sub
mit the following- facts:
In the first place these blocks were
given the city for park purposes. They
extend from Salmon street to the foot
or the hill, through a strictly residen
tial part of the city, where no other
park is available. The pronertv own
ers have expended large sums of money
depending upon tne desirability of such
surroundings to Justify the investment.
These parks are needed and used bv
targe numoers or persons who have se
lected that location by reason of said
paras.
A public park belongs to all the Deo
pie and Is not and never should be
made or used strictly for a playground
by any one institution. As parks they
are open at all times to all children
and all the people of all classes, where.
as a school playground makes them un
desirable to all but a comparative few.
Most of the peope who use the Park
Blocks and all of those who own prop
erty nearby are taxpayers who help
support the public schools and should
have a voice as to whether the money
thus acquired should be expended to
their financial loss for anything so
noisy and unsightly as school play
grounds on any of these Park Blocks.
E. G.
Lights Instead of Policemen.
PORTLAND, March 14. (To the Edi
tor.) A common complaint in the sub
urbs is that when an officer is needed
the sufferer must telephone, and an
fficer is dispatched from headquar
ters to the scene. The offender is never
obliging enough to wait.
After a moments reflection every
one will realize the folly of the sys
tem of stationing patrolmen in the
uburban districts. A person contem
plating an act in violation of law will
wait until the particularly desirable lo
cation has been passed by the "cop."
which Is usually "good night."
We pay a policeman, say $90 a
month. An arc light is $4.50 a month.
One policeman costs us what 20 lights
would. Lights ire steady sentinels
and barriers to culprits. Dark corners
invite crime. Therefore we urge the
nnllov of renlacinar nnllnATnen wlt-h
i lights, believing this to be in the in-
MRS. JOSEPHINE R. SHARP
Twenty-five Years Ago
From The Oregonian of March 16. li9.
Washington, March ' IS Telegrams
are pouring in upon President Harrison
asking the appointment of ex-Governor
Watson C. Squire to be Governor of
Washington Territory.
Tacoma, March 15. The Naval Com
mission has decided on what they con
sider the best location on Puget Sound
for the proposed Navy-yard. There is
reason to believe it Is either near old
Fort Nesqually, close by Steilacuom, or
on Quartermaster Harbor. -
Seattle, March 15. Residents alon
Port Orchard, directly across from Se
attle, are much stirred up over the
action of the Naval Commission in se
curing options on about 2000 acres of
land in that vicinity.
Albany, Or.. March 15. Tonight con
tracts were signed whereby a bonus of
125,000 will be raised by the citizens
of Albany and the Brownsville Woolen
Mills will be removed to this city.
Salem. March 15 J. M. Martin, of
Martin & Co.. over 23 years in the gro
cery business in the same storeroom
here, sold out today to W. S. Baggs, re
cently from California.
Chico, Cal.. March 15. The smoker
of the Oregon Express left the track
and rolled down an embankment to
day. J. P. Wager, of Pendleton, and
Charles Mesbury, of Portland, wen
among the injured.
Charles H. Dodd finished his term as
school director yesterday, and Hon. M.
C. George, his successor, took the oath
of office.
The Council committee on commerce.
Messrs. Hoyt. Schwab ar.d Fliedner, had
a conference with the committee of the
Board of Trade, consisting of Messrs.
Dodd, Sibson and Osborn, in regard to
repairing the city dredge and removing
the obstructions to navigation. It is
probable that the city will bear half
the expense and the Board of Trade the
other half.
The East Portland city authorities
have started out in the right direction
in compelling the city guests to work
for their board. A large crowd was
collected at the corner of L and Fourth
streets yesterday to view the perform
ance of a gang of prisoners who had
been set to work to clean the Etreet.
J. E. McLaughlin, of the Klamath
River Lumber & Improvement Com
pany, leaves this morning for the
Klamath to begin construction of a
sawmill.
C Leinenweber, of Astoria, died yes
terday. J. M. Adams, better known as "IV"
Adams, from his occupation of chirop
dist, died yesterday.
The census of Portland school dis
trict contains the names of 3907 males
and 4239 females, a total of 8146 per
sons. Half a Century Ago
From The Oregonian of March 16, 1S64.
Washington, March 13. General
Grant will return here in 10 days. He
will reorganize the Army of the Po
tomac and accompany in person its
first movements.
New York, March 14. A Hilton Head
letter reports that the firing on Sump
ter at Charleston had ceased. On the
11th, schooner Alice E. Turner, a small
blockade runner, ran ashore on Tybee
Island and was captured by our troops.
' Washington. March 14. In the House
McBride, of Oregon, Introduced a bill
granting land for the railroad from
Salt Lake City to the head waters of
the Columbia.
New York, March 15. The court of
inquiry into the battle of Chickamauga
has reported that General McCook did
his entire duty in the battle proper
but made a mistake In going into Chat-
tanooga. General Crittenden is held
entirely blameless. The court speaks
in commendatory terms of his conduct.
General Negley is also exonerated.
Although Portland claims no big
thing in the way of lumber mills, such
as our sister In the State of Maine
can boast, or even such as exist on
Puget Sound, yet to our facilities the
quality and quantity . of lumber will'
bear comparison with any other part ot
the country. The mill of Harbaugh &
Stitzel is capable of cutting 200,00'i
feet of lumber per month and 8000
laths a day.' During the past year they
have sold over 30,000 apple boxes. This
company furnished nearly 2,000,000
feet of lumber for use in this city dur
ing the year 1864. The mill of Estes &
Stimson, at the upper end of Front
street, during the past year furnished
1,600,000 feet of the lumber consumed
in Portland and 150,500 lath.
We were yesterday shown the first
silver bar f-om our new silver mines.
It was made at the office of Tracy &
King from the two kegs of rock re
cently sent by Walter- R. Davis from
the Oro Fino and Morning Star lodes
in Owyhee. This rock was crushed
and melted by D. J. Sydon. and vields
a bar weighing 21.32 ounces. Value of
the gold. $88.14; silver, $20; total,
$108.20, from about 70 pounds of rock.
Mr. Case, of the firm of H. Case &
Co., of Canyon City, and Mr. Steen yes
terday exhibited to us some specimens "
of gold from their claims at Canyon
City, one of which weighed 32 ounces.
The firemen were out in full force
yesterday and did considerable hard
work in pumping water for a cistern
on Fourth street.
A barn belonging to a Mr. Pelton. 12
miles east of this city, with one horse
and hay, was destroyed by lire Monday.
The Are in the woods was still spread
ing and consumed the barns and other
property of Jackson Powell in Powell
Valley to the value of $1500.
A Word About
Spring Suits
Have you been reading the ad
vertisements in The Oregonian about
the new Spring suits all ready for
you to step into
Have you noticed the advertise
ments of the tailors or dressmakers
who are prepared to make your suit
to order II you prefer, buying it In
that way?
If you have not thought about
your new suit, it is high time for
you to begin thinking!
The shopkeepers and tailors and
dressmakers of this city are all
ready to fill your order. They have
been preparing for Spring business
for some time and theyi tell you
through the columns of The Ore
gonian what they have to offer you.
Read their advertisements at once
and make your selection while
stocks are at their freshest and be
fore the worst of the rush is at hand.
A week of mild weather makes
every woman hurry off to stock up
her wardrobe. You know the warm
days are coming so be prepared for
them when they get here. Save
yourself the discomfort of haste by
reading carefully The Oregonian's
advertisements and making up your
mind where and how you wish to
place your order. Adv.