8
SITE 3IORNINO OREGONIA1T TUESDAY, MAY SO, 1916. "
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1' RTI. A I , TCESDAY, MAT 80, 1916.
JAMES J. ERl, KIXO OF PIONEERS.
In the person ot James J. Hill death
has removed the greatest power In
the development of the Northwest.
"When he arrived at St. Paul a boy of
18, the entire country to the north
and west of that city was a wilder
ness, dotted at rare Intervals with
email settlements. In the subse
quent growth of the states beginning
with Minnesota and extending west
ward to the Pacific, also of Manitoba,
he has been the principal moving
agent. He was famous chiefly as a
builder and operator of railroads, but
he was great also as a farmer and a
steamboat man, and he remained in
the front rank among farmers and
water-carriers to the day of his death.
He threw his great energy and genius
Into every undertaking for the up
building of the country on the pros
perity of which hung the success of
his vast enterprises.
He was a living example of the
truth that a youth of hard work and
poverty is almost a necessary prepa
ration for a career such as his, for
the death of his father sent him forth
to earn his living at the age of 14.
He began his connection with trans
portation four years later and he laid
the foundation of his fortune in th3
steamboat business on the Red River.
The fifteen years he devoted to that
and to the fuel business gave him op
portunity to acquire a thorough
knowledge of the agricultural and
mineral resources of the Northwest
and of all the facts about transporta
tion. Thus he became equipped for
his great lifework construction and
firm' establishment of the Great
Northern Railroad.
That road is an evidence of what
business genius can accomplish when
Inspired by Imagination. It has de
veloped from the bankrupt little St.
Paul & Pacific road, running from St.
Paul Into the Red River Valley, which
Mr. Hill and his associates bought In
at 40 cents on the dollar. He had
learned the traffic-producing possibil
ities of that valley and he extended
the road and for Its length as far as
Winnipeg he provided many feeders.
He made good with the investors, be
ing aided by the stream of settlers,
whom he in turn aided with low rates,
blooded stock and good seed, -and thus
he was enabled to raise capital for an
extension westward through North
Dakota to the Missouri, then across
Montana to Great Falls and finally
to the Pacific at Seattle. Fortune fa.
vored him In the beginning of - the
final extension, fqr It was undertaken
when the development of Washington
had taken a great spurt and the
money had been secured on the eve
of the Baring failure In 1890.
Then came the times which tried
the mettle of the man. The Pacific
extension was completed and put In
operation in June, '. 1893, the very
month the panic began. Though the
road paralleled the Northern Pacific,
It ran through a very sparsely settled
country, and the panic checked the
flow of settlement on which he had
counted to build up traffic. The coun
try yielded little besides such raw
products as grain, cattle, wool and
lumber. The bulk of traffic flowed
westward and most of the cars were
hauled eastward empty. Two con
secutive . crop failures In the inter
mountain country diminished traffic
still farther. Unlike the builders of
earlier roads from the Missouri to the
Pacific, he had no subsidy of either
land or cash from the Government.
The road must depend on its own
slender resources to escape the bank
ruptcy "which was engulfing all its
competitors.
Mr. Hill met the emergency with
characteristic energy and determina
tion. He went over the road, cutting
expenses ruthlessly. He discharged
every man with whom he could possi
bly dispense. He drove his officials
and lashed them with his tongue for
spending a dollar needlessly. He cut
wages to the bone and early in 1894
provoked a strike by the newly formed
American Railway Union, which em
braced the entire operative force. For
three weeks he could not send a tele
gram over his own wires, which were
used by the strikers to conduct their
fight. Public opinion was against
him. The citizens of St. Paul called
upon him in public meeting- to yield
or arbitrate; He held out for several
days against them and. the committees
which they sent to him, storming
against their pleas. But he finally
realized that the loss caused by total
cessation of traffic was greater than
that which would result from with
drawing the wage reduction, and he
yielded.
Still he economized at every point.
Seattle was demanding fulfillment of
a promise to build a palatial depot;
he stood the city off. A division su
perintendent's office was an old ca
boose which had been used as a
boarding-car in construction times.
One story goes that on one of his re
trenchment trips a superintendent
saved a section gang- from discharge
by telegraphing- the boss to hide his
men in the woods till Mr. Hill's train
had passed.
He won his fight. Aided by his un
sparing economy, the earnings of the
prosperous eastern end of the road
not only paid interest on the bonds
of the entire system through the har
rowing four years from 1893 to 1897
but paid the usual dividends. While
the Pacific extension was being built.
one of Mr. Hill's officials had offered
to bet a doubter that within three
years "he would drive the Northern
Pacific Into receivership and buy con
trol of it. The prediction was ful7
filled, for in 1894 the receivership
came and in 1896 Mr. Hill and J. P.
Morgan secured control.
The gTeatness of Mr. Hill as a build
er and operator of railroads was dem
onstrated by his insistence on low
grades and . light curvature, by his
economical pp.er&tlen, ajia tsz adopiian
of larger engines and cars as a means
to that end. It was shown by his
policy In building- up traffic. In the
effort to balance the movement of
freight eastbound and westbound he
fostered the lumber industry to a point
where he turned the scale and was
compelled to haul empty cars west
instead of east. This caused a return
to his first love the steamship busi
ness and he built two gTeat vessels
to carry Oriental traffic originating In
the East and South.
But he was great also as a financier.
Every dollar of capitalization In his
roads represented a dollar of value,
and the never-failing Interest pay
ments and dividends kept Great North
ern securities above par and enabled
him always to raise more money for
further extensions and for new ven
tures. Thus he was able to buy the
Burlington road,- to make the famous
fight with Harrlman for control of the
Northern Pacific and to carry through
his later purchases and extensions.
One would suppose that the terrible
four years' struggle- he made in the
'90s would have cooled his ardor for
new ventures and for pioneering, but
it was but the beginning of his great
achievement. Having reach ad the
Pacific, he made the Great Northern's
rival its second track, extended north
east to Chicago with the Burlington
and south to the Gulf "with the Colo
rado Southern, of which he bought
control. The optimism of the pioneer
was strong in him to the last. He had
an instinctive aversion to seeing good
routes unoccupied and great stretches
of country undeveloped. He built the
North Bank road along the Columbia
River, both to capture the traffic of
that harbor, in which he had un
bounded faith, and to relieve the pres
sure on his two lines over the Cascade
Mountains. When John F. Stevens
laid before him the opportunities of
Central Oregon, he seized upon them
and built the Oregon Trunk, entering
with zest into the fight with Harrl
man for the Deschutes canyon. He
bought the Oregon Electric and ex
tended it and bought the United Rail
way to feed the rich traffic of the
Willamette Valley into his main lines.
He reached San Francisco with his
steamers from the Columbia River
and would probably have reached
there with his rails, had he lived
through the period of construction
which now seems about to open. His
faith in the future of Oregon was deep
and "would have been shown by his
works had he lived on.
In more than one respect he was
unique among railroad chieftains. He
remained at the head of his road from
the beginning until his voluntary re
tirement, a period of forty years, and
he handed over the reins to his son,
while the Vanderbilts, Goulds and
other chiefs lost their power. He
built the only unsubsidized road to
the Pacific and the on!yone which
never d-efaulted in its interest nor
knew a receiver. Though gTeat as a
railroad man, he saw the wisdom of
developing- the Nation's waterways
and urged that policy while others
of his class were opposing- it. He not
only poured riches into the pockets of
his associates, but he brought in the
train of his advance thousands who
made prosperous homes with his aid,
not only general but personal. Hav
ing achieved success by his own ef
forts, he lent a hand to any who were
willing to help themselves. Without
him many a space on the map of the
West would have been blank. Jnd his
best monument is the empire which
he built.
ME GREAT SACRIFICE.
Fifty-one. years ago the American
Civil War was brought to a close, after
four years of bloody conflict and the
loss of many thousand men more
than, two hundred thousand for the
Union cause alone by death on the
battlefield, by wounds and by disease.
An event so momentous and tragic,
though remote from the lives and
minds of the present generation, is yet
present in the constant love of and
reverence for the heroes of the war,
and in the mighty fact of the Union
preserved and restored.
Every year public honor is done to
the patriots who fell in battle, or who
have since joined their comrades, by
the observance of Decoration day. It
is a day for many flowers, some tears
and great pride; for the sacrifices
made by the men who shouldered their
guns and "went to battle, and by the
mothers who stayed behind and kept
the home fires bur,nng, are not for
gotten. Shouldered their guns! They did,
indeed. The country was in peril, and
they were not "too proud to fight."
Nor did they think that they should
let their ''erring brothers depart in
peace." Nor were they deceived into
the false belief that a "house divided
against itself" could stand. Nor did
they falter when the great patriot who
was President showed them that the
hour had struck for the "irresistible
conflict" between slavery and freedom,
between union and disunion. Nor were
they in doubt about the way to act
so that "government of the people, for
the people, by the people, should not
perish from the earth." -
The saddest reflection of today is
that many lives lost In 1861-1865 were
needlessly wasted. It was the inevita
ble and inexcusable penalty of unpre-
paredness. i our long years of terrible
war migfht have been averted, billions
of money saved, thousands of lives
preserved, if a well-trained and well
officered army of 100,000,men, or even
less, had been available to the Union
in 1861. The war would have shortly
ended. The brave boys of 61 might
speedily have returned to their homes;
and most of the bitter fruits of pro
tracted and sanguinary struggle and
practically all of the evils of recon
struction days might and doubtless
would not have been realized.
Tet there are men today who close
their eyen to experience and shut the
pages of history and say that what has
always heretofore happened can never
again happen.
SPEAKERS, BEWARE!
In an address delivered before a
bankers' association last week, a
speaker condemned multiplicity of
laws, cited concrete instances where
enterprise had been driven from the
state and suggested specific amend
ments and reforms.
The noisy "friends" of the Oregon
system are touchy as well. If some
one points out defects and suggests
corrections, they ignore the definite
text and whoop 'er up for the "pee
pul." They accuse him of saying: some
thing else and (whale him for it. They
say nothing, but make a big racket.
And so it happens that the banker
who spoke is berated for his temerity.
It' matters not that multiplicity of
laws, which he condemned, has also
been condemned by. the newspaper
which unjustly rebukes him for at
tacking the Oregon system. The
things It offers, the arguments it
makes, are based upon the following
auealio&sire, which, & jkJU b& ob
served quite conforms to Its boasted
honesty and fairness":
"What legislation Is discouraging
capital? Is It widow's pension law?
Is it the minimum wage law? Is it
the workmen's compensation law?"
As everyone ought to know, the
mothers' pension law, the minimum
wage law and the compensation law
are not products of the Oregon sys
tem unless their adoption by the Leg
islature may be traced back to the
direct primary which provided the
original sifting of candidates for the
assembly. But of course the latter
idea will be rejected by Oregon sys
tem's faithful newspaper "friend." The
Legislature, it has often informed us, is
controlled by bosses, lobbyists and
thimbleriggers.
So it must be that bankers should
be seen and not heard. Heretofore
Republican candidates and members
of the Legislature have been the main
targets of innuendo and misrepresen
tation. Now, it seems, it is to become
dangerous to express an honest opin
ion in public
IX SEEMORIAM.
On this day when the memory of
the living turns in sadness to those
who have preceded them into the val
ley of the shadows it is appropriate
to dwell upon the glorious dead who
fell In the Nation's wars. Their de
votion to the cause of freedom and
equality, the unselfish patriotism
which yielded their life's blood to high
principles these things lie at the
foundation of the country. The boons
and privileges which the living enjoy
today were born in the death agonies
of the country's patriots. But for the
sacrifices of those who fell In battle
there could not wave today over the
greatest Nation of free men in the
world that starred and striped symbol
of the greatest good for the greatest
number.
America's gigantic industrial life
slows down today while tribute is paid
to the memory of the honored dead.
Communion Is had with the unknown
land through the medium of petaled
messengers which transmit tender,
loving messages tinged with an in
finite sorrow. It is well that in those
moments given over to sentiment liv
ing Americans should search their own
hearts and ask, each of himself,
whether he is capable of the greater
sacrifice should this haven of liberty
be menaced by the iron heel of in
vasion. In the answers to such a ques
tion repose the security of the Na
tion., OX THE FIRST BALLOT. '
The New Tork Sun, commenting
upon the organized plan to stampede
the Republican National Convention
for Colonel Roosevelt, reminds the
stampeders that for twenty-four years
it has been the uniform and uninter
rupted practice of Republicans to
make their Presidential nomination on
the first ballot.
In 1888 Benjamin Harrison was
nominated on the eighth ballot.
In 1892 Benjamin Harrison was re
nominated on the first ballot.
In 1896 William McKinley was
nominated on the first ballot.
In 1900 William McKinley was re
nominated on the first ballot.
In 1904 Theodore Roosevelt was
nominated on the first ballot.
In 1908 William H. Taft was nomi
nated on the first ballot. '
In 1912 William II . Taft was re
nominated on the first ballot.
The nature of the pre-conventlon
struggle has made no difference for
a quarter of a century. The contest
has been fairly well settled when the
convention met.
Now the mind of the Republican
party is well set upon Hughesr- Not
long ago it was generally thought the
"break" would not come till the sec
ond or third ballot. But the real
question now seems to be as to- the
first ballot.
SATED I ROM THE PORK B.VRKF.TL.
A startling and significant feature
of the Senate vote against the rivers
and harbors bill is that it Includes
the names of both Senators from
Idaho Borah and Brady and one of
the Senators from Washington Jones.
The bill carries considerable appro
priations for the Columibia River and
other Northwest projects; yet three
Senators from this section are unwill
ing to be enrolled among the greedy
host of pork-grabbers and pie-hunters
who Infest Congress.
The other day, in the Senate, Till
man of South Carolina declared his
unyielding opposition, and he was
joined by Taggart of Indiana. The
country has not heretofore looked
upon - Taggart as an enemy of graft.
He is a shrewd and observing politi
cian, and, if he has no higher motive,
it may be set down as fact that Tag
gart has noticed the direction In
which the anti-pork-barrel wind is
blowing.
It is freely predicted that this is
the last of the pork-barrel bills. We
have heard that before. Your pork
barrel statesman unless he happens
to be as keen and bold as Taggart
never forgets the old ways and never
learns the new. Probably the system
will not be discarded until there is
an outright defeat.
It is fortunate that the Columbia
River, and other Northwest projects
have been so welt cared for in present
and past legislation. On their merits
they have received, and must receive,
favorable consideration by Congress.
But they have had more than one
narrow escape from their association
with the dishonest schemes of pork.
hunting Congressmen.
BARGAINS IX FA IXTLN'GS.
So much sympathy has been excited
by the spectacle of the great Blake
lock spending the best days of his
life in a madhouse following a break
down caused by dire poverty that ar
tists and patrons of art may organize
to demand new laws regulating the
sales of paintings. It will be recalled
that Blakelock sold a painting for a
few dollars to escape starvation and
that this canvas since has brought"
$20,000. The tragic incident recalls
the experience of Degas, who dis
posed of a -painting for J 100 under
stress of poverty. He lived to see
that same work sell for $200,000. Thus
the greatest profit of masterpieces Is
saved for dealers in paintings which
is calculated to stimulate the selling
but not the producing side of art.
A law providing that an artist must
receive from 1 to 20 per cent on all
later sales is proposed. If a rising
Blakelock Is compelled by want to
eell a painting for J 100 that after
ward changes hands for $20,000, a
commission of from $200 to $4000
would, be paid the painter. This,
it is contended, would be wax
ranted quite as much as the issuance
of copyrights to authors whereby they
receive a fraction on all sales.
It need hardly be said that legisla
tion of that sort is Impracticable and
inadvisable. Artists, to be sure, are
ajj. abused. Aaopi.sk XxiaY. receive, J&tle
consideration In these harsh days.
Since they invariably are an improvi
dent lot there ought to be some way
of protecting them. But society can
not recognize them - as children and
hedge them about with special safe
guards. After thinking the matter
over the artists themselves would re
sent such an attitude. They must
learn business methods and cultivate
shrewdness in their barterings. If the
poverty of their growing days Is taken
advantage of by hard and mercenary
dealers let them refuse to sell and turn
to some other means of earning a
livelihood until their art matures and
their market smiles.
The notion that temporary work In
another field will destroy their art is
foolish. Every artist, every poet,
every professional man has his day
of trial and hardship unless born with
a silver spoon in his mouth. The
young lawyer takes a case for $100
that later would net him $1000. The
young doctor does for $5- what he
later would expect a much larger sum
for doing. If our young artists and
artisans must face hardships, are they
not the better for it, after all? Does
it not give them a deeper Insight into
life, a closer sympathy for fellow
mortals? Who could be a great poet
or a great artist without having suf
fered? As for driving an occasional
one into' the madhouse, it must be
borne in mind that there are those
who disintegrate under the strain of
life. If one dire incident does not
bring on a tragedy another will. It Is
quite possible tftat If poverty had not
driven Blakelock mad some other ex
perience would have accomplished
that end.
The Bulgarians seem bent on goad
ing the Greeks into war. Kavala, on
which they are now advancing, is the
port concerning which the contest was
fiercest in the negotiations at Bu
charest which ended the second Bal
kan war. In his campaign for inter
vention Venizelos will make good cap
ital of this Bulgarian act of aggres
sion, and we need not be surprised
to see him at the head of a war Cab
inet. Why the labor unions oppose pre
paredness is a problem. Members are
all fighters along their labor lines.
In their country's stress they will not
be backward in her defense. More
than likely they are simply letting the
alleged , leaders express themselves,
knowing they easily can squelch them
upon occasion. The labor leader is
mostly a man of straw, anyway.
The Oregon, woolen industry has an
opportunity to get well established
while the mills of Europe and the
East are making clothes for soldiers.
It need only make the goods for which
there is a demand all the time and
which others are temporarily neg
lecting. In view of fhe bad treatment which
they gave their Baltimore platform,
the Democrats would do well not to
make many promises at St. Louis. If
they should, the voters would inquire
what became of the last batch-
Skip the mail delivery that day and
let the carriers parade. The organ
ization of the men in gray is a Port
land institution and everybody wants
to cheer his carrier as he passes.
With' the foreign ministers of the
belligerents carrying on the debate by
means of newspaper interviews, there
Js no cause to complain of secret di
plomacy at present.
How shocked that ardent Prohibi
tionist, Bryan, must be atthe spectacle
of Secretary McAdoo gloating over in
creased revenue from the liquor traf
fic. The French charge that the latest
U-bbat operations violate German
pledges to America. But note how
quiet America is keeping about it.
When a man meets with accident
while autolng with his wife, there is
melancholy comfort; but It's different
when it is another woman.
When the Texas militiamen have
become acquainted with real military
discipline, they will be In a fair way
to become real soldiers.
The half-million fire at Vancouver,
B. C, is called "mysterious," and it
must be so, with all the German bus
pects interned.
Great Britain's answer to Wilson's
peace speech is that she Is ready for
peace when Germany sues for it, and
not before.
The allies are said to be indignant
over President Wilson s peace talk.
Have they no saving sense of humor?
James J. Hill made It all from a
standing start; yet many young men
assert they have no chance."
The Republican platform will be
brief and to the point. In a word
a new and real Americanism!
If $1 will keep ten Armenians alive
for a week, how about the next week
and the weeks that follow?
Waite says he wants no appeal made
from his conviction. He should have
his own way in the matter.
The weather man promised us warm
weather and sunshine yesterday but
failed to deliver the goods. -
Did the Austrlans bombard Elba to
pay off the grudge against it for shel
tering Napoleon?
A Spokane fisherman dropped dead
on hooking a huge fish. At any rate.
he died happy.
The forecasters at Washington called
the turn. The weather is becoming
normal.
" All the belligerents would welcome
peace, but they have a bull by the
tail.
Peace twaddle, for pre-convention
effect, merely irritates Europe.
Give the Grand Army man the sa
lute today. He Is passing.
Did the children take you to the
circus over your protest?
One by one the great empire build
ers of yesterday pass.
The homeliest girl wears the- short
est skirt.
Remember the neglected grave to
day. Go ahead planning the picnic.
Haia oil when, Ja.. flag ji asses.
Gleams Through the Mist
By Dean Collins.
THE PREPAREDNESS PARADE.
They may talk about disarmament, and
pluck the beard of Mars;
They may send the dove a-flylnz from
the earth unto the stars;
They may cry, "Peace! Peace!" what
though there be no peace at all;
They may blind them to the thunder
bolts that be about to fall;
But I'll shut my ears anew
to the babble of their crew.
And I'll join the swinging columns
after all the talk Is through.
For marching for preparedness, when
all Is said and done.
I am marching with the minute men
who fought at Lexington.
They may talk of cosmic brotherhood
as glibly as they please;
They m.y disregard the lawless hands
that smite us on the seas;
Tiny may spin extended theories about
the wastes of war;
And say, "The international's the state
we're seeking for."
But. "My country," full and strong
Is the burden of my song.
"My country!" and "My country 1"
and "She never may be wrong!"
As I swing into the columns that go
tramping through the square
Sure, I feel that brave Decatur's rub
bing elbows with me there.
They may rail against preparedness
that It invites attack.
And ignore the slinking bandit crews
that strike us In the back;
They may argue inconsistencies un
endingly, and then
I w-11 swing into the columns with ten
thousand otaer men
Who aie marching on, marching on
With Monroe and Washington,
And the minute men who rallied when
our liberty was won.
They may write me down a jingo and
may smile dlsdainfuly.
But If I err, I'm erring in the best of
company.
"Sir," said the Courteous Office Boy."
pausing beside my desk and eyeing me
with quiet dignity, "may I borrow your
patent non-skid razor?"
"But, my boy," I cried scrutinizing
his quivering lip, "you have no call for
it as yet."
"True," admitted the C. O. B., with a
blush," but one must follow the spirit
of the times, and I desire In one fell
swoop to ally myself with two move
mentspreparedness and safety first."
"As in football," I remarked dryly,
"you desire to be prepared to get first
down."
"And why not?" snapped the C. O..B..
"If there are eleven on each side."
But I had hurled him out into the
hall before he could continue the con
versation. '
THOSE FAVORITE VICES.
'Tis very rude to pick your teeth;
I like it:
It merits tombstone and a wreath;
I like It;
The toothpick is an Implement
For strictly private uses meant;
Who picks in public Is no gent;
I like it.
Contrib'd by R. W. H.
'Tis wrong to gossip, spreading scandal;
I like It;
It brands one as a soulless vandal;
I like it;
Who steels one's purse we should not
blame.
But curst the man who knocks one's
name:
It is an everlasting shame;
I like it.
THE SHORTEST POME.
"Jay Aitch Jay" comes back in an
effort to produce the shortest pome,
with the following, which we will give
.credit for placing him in high rank as
a diagram me r, but not as an atomic
pote:
"Ewe-ewe! (You, you!), the sheep's
answer to her admirer's love question
reveals the shortest pome.
When I thought the shortest pome was
E Z.
I thought I would no longer trouble
you;
Please let all the troubles be In D C;
' It's the abbreviated double U.
UU or W.
Signed Jay Attch Jay."
A real spark of genius flames up,
however, jn the contribution of W. C.
Belt, the w. k. Newport contrlb, who
sends In, "A Woman's Way."
?
Which is diagrammed:
Interrogation
Quotation:
But the only one who has cut under
the double dot rhyme of Kilpatrlck a
few days ago is Dale B. Slgler, of Port
land, who addresses us as follows:
"To the Editor: I have read that a
certain pote once made the word
peaches' rhyme with "she aches. With
this as a precedent, it is not overwork
ing poetic license to give the pronun
ciation 'hak-mah' to the word 'comma,'
thereby producing a perfect rhyme;
hence X submit the following shortest
pome:
A pause
Signed Dale B. Slgler."
Pretty close, we say again.
If they keep on getting closer some
one is going to guess It in a day or so.
COCERMXO NAMES.
Rufus has long auburn hair
That shimmered with a sunset glow;
He had it cut and, I declare
There was a shingled Rufe, you know.
I wooed Beatrice, but was stung.
For Beatrice rejected me.
'Twas a false hope to which I clung,
for well I knew she was a Bee,
Nathaniel Is six feet high.
And with abundant girth abounds;
'Tis very seldom one can spy
A Nat that weighs three hundred
pounds.
OUR OWX GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETV.
Willard Shaver, the gentlemanly fish
and game editor, is hereby elected to
membership in the "International
Thumbnail Geographical Society," and
issued license Number 1. ,
Here is what he got in on:
Although to roam I've never gone.
Far from my native home;
With deep regret, I can't forget
I've never been to Rome.
Lore Still In Fashion.
Pittsburg Post.
"Everything has got to be improved
right along these days." "Not at all.
Take love making. There hasn't been
any improvement for years, and yet it
la tlU la fashion,"
Our Memorial Day
By James Barton Adams.
Fall in! Fall in! Dress up the line.
Right face and march away;
Step reverently, comrades mine.
On our Memorial day.
Sweet floral gems, by Spring dews
kissed.
Bear to the silent camp.
Where dear ones have been laid to rest
From life's long, weary tramp.
In columln march with reverent tread
Ou to the bivouac of the dead.
Unfurl our banner overhead.
In beauty let it wave.
The flag yon 'comrades lying dead
Once battled hard to save.
Lift up your eyes, ye veterans old.
As in the days of war.
And bless each gently waving fold.
Each sacred stripe and star
The flag we bore with zealous care
When death held revel in the air.
Again our thoughts go winging back
to stirring scenes of war.
The rifle's sharp and vicious crack.
The cannon's angry roar,
Th e moans of those in grasp of pain,
Struck down in field and wood;
The upturned faces of the slain.
The flow of patriot blood
These pictures come as on we tread
To reverence our silent dead.
Bear Spring's most lovely floral gems.
Plucked fresh from Nature's breast.
And crown with flowery diadems
The mounds 'ueath which they rest.
Above them bend while holiest tears
The honored graves bedew,"
As memory lifts the veil of years
That we again may view
The battle ranks in which they stood
With us on many a field of blood.
And as we reverence the dead.
Our silent hero braves.
And, filled with fond remembrance,
spread
These trlbutets o'er their graves.
Let each old comrade's heart expand
With prayer to God on high.
That he may guard with loving hand
The boys we bade good-bye.
And that, when taps for us shall sound.
We'll camp with them on hallowed
ground.
MR. CLARK POINTS WAT TO I'MTY
Progressives and rrorrrulvM Should
Confer at Chicago.
PORTLAND. May 29. (To the Edi
tor.) There is an unselfish, patriotic
desire on the part of all elements to
find a basis for common action to the
end that, united on one platform and
one candidate, a contest may be waged
for policies deemed essential to Na
tional safety. This sentiment is the
result of a growing conviction that
there is now presented a very great
crisis In our National life, and that
political animosities, nonessential dif
gerences and personal ambitions should
all be laid aside, in the face of the
grave situation we are called upon to
meet.
The issues of the coming campaign
have already denned themselves. The
American people will be called upon
to say whether or not they favor ade
quate economic, military and naval
Preparation, to protect our soil from
foreign invasion, our sea commerce
from unwarrantable impairment or de
struction, to defend the lives of our
citizens rightfully in foreign lands, and.
when traveling the highways of the
seas, and to enable us to discharge
the self-imposed duty of maintaining
the Monroe Doctrine, the continuance
of which is at once as essential to our
National safety as to our National
honor. The problems of the two Chi
cago conventions will be to write into
their platforms a clear statement of
these issues, and to nominate a can
didate for the Presidency best fitted
to present them to trie American peo
ple, and if elected, best fitted to carry
them into execution.
It Is too obvious to admit of debate
that disagreement, that two nomina
tions, means defeat of both nominees.
The nomination of Mr. Roosevelt, un
less it carries with it the approval and
support of substantially all elements.
or the nomination of Mr. Hughes, or
the riomlnatlon of any other man, un
less upon like conditions, would be an
idle ceremony. This fact is so uni
formly and so keenly realized that it
will have a very sobering effect upon
candidates as well as delegates.
The Progressives, as well as a con
siderable body of the Republican party,
strongly favor the nomination of Mr.
Roosevelt, believing him best fitted to
lead the fight. If the prevailing sent!
ment of the delegates favor him he
should be nominated, regardless of the
wishes of some of the reactionary lead
era. If, on the other hand, the pre
vailing sentiment favors Mr. Hughes
and he Is nominated, upon a platform
which reasonably represents the ideals
of the progressive elements, there is
no good reason why he should not re
celve the hearty support of all. What
we should strive for is unity, and if a
good man is nominated on a satis
factory platform, there is no reason
why unity should not be accomplished.
It seems to me, however, that some
plan should be worked out to bring
both conventions together, not neces
sarily in Joint meeting, but In reach
ing a common purpose. This might be
done through a conference committee
representing both convention bodies.
Unless some such plan is worked out
and put into operation each convention
is likely to go Its own way, and reach
results that may not be reconcilable.
A. E. CLARIC
WHY XOT AN OCCASIONAL RIRDf
Why Deny Cats Privilege That Humans
Assert f Auks Writer.
SALEM. May 29. (To the Editor.)
I wonder if Mr. Finley had more birds
to feed last Winter than I did; and I
had three cats also. The feeding place
under the trees was full of birds from
early in the morning until dark. This
Spring we have had more birds than I
ever saw here before arid we have one
more cat. He came to our back door
one evening, nearly starved, and In
stead OT turning him out to feast on
birds we took him In and he has been
paying his board by bringing in mice.
God made cats and he made birds
and I can't think it any worse for a cat
to catch one now and then than it is for
people to eat the flesh of chickens or
of the Innocent little lambs and calves,
never even thinking of the suffering
caused to those in shipping and han
dling by cruel butchers.
I love birds, cats and all animals and
if we could administer a good spanking
to the small boy with an airgun, to the
big boy with his rifle, and punish the
hunter who goes out for birds and all
kinds of game for sport or for speci
mens, then e might turn our attention
to the cat. Until then let us not expect
more intelligence from dumb animals
than we show ourselves. Give the cat
a chance. MRS. W. H. H.
B la Right.
PORTLAND, May 29. (To the Edi
tor.) Please settle an argument. A
owes a gas bill. He has owed it now
for over a year and a half. A says he
does not have to pay it now as It is
outlawed unless he makes a payment
on the bill, then it becomes due again
and they can sue him. B says they
can collect It any time.
OLD SUBSCRIBER.
The gas company has six years in
which to collect.
Individual Limit Is Family Limit.
ASTORIA, Or., May 28. (To the Ed
itor.) Is a man and his wife each en
titled to two quarts of liquor under
Oregon's dry law? Very trulv yours,
J. L M'INTOSH.
The two-quart limitation on impor
tation of spirituous liquors applies to
"families." Husband and wife must
get edous, SGlth, iw-o auarta for. 2S (Lays.
In Other Days.
Half a Century Ago.
From The Oregonian of May 30, I860.
A number of the young men of this
city who are fond of athletic sports
met on Monday evening last for the
purpose of organizing a baseball club.
A second meeting will be held to de
termine the plan of organization.
The river stood yesterday 20 feet and
4 inches above low water mark. A
repetition of the high water scenes of
'62 is expected. All the streams south
of Portland are uncommonly swollen.
The grand military and civic ball to
be given by the Washington Guard and
the Fourteenth Infantry Band will take
place tonight at Oro Fino Hall. This
win be the formal dedication of the
finest hall north of San Francisco.
New Tork. May 25. The trial of
Jeff Davis will probably be postponed
until August or September. Much ani
mosity prevails in Virginia against the
memDers or the grand Jury who re
turned the indictment and. until the
popular feeling somewhat subsides, the
Attorney-General thinks it best to de
lay the trial.
New Tork, May 26. Garibaldi has ac
cepted the command tendered him by
tne xcanan government.
Twenty-Five Years Ago.
From The Oregonian of May 30, 1S91.
Consolidation now and forever! Down
with bosslsm and the pap suckers! Re
form in municipal government! There
was a grand consolidation rally at the
Tabernacle last night and these were
the sentiments expressed and cheered
with a mighty cheer that threatened to
lift the roof off the building.
Bridgeport, Conn., May 29. A daring
attempt to steal the body of P. T.
Barnum, the dead showman, was made
about S o'clock this morning. The
watchman scared the ghouls off.
Berlin, May 29. The renewal of the
triple alliance is confirmed. France
has been thwarted in her efforts to
keep Italy from entering the bargain.
Washington. May 29. Nearly all the
persons who accompanied the President
on his recent tour through the South
and West were entertained at dinner
tonight at the executive mansion by
the President and Mrs. Harrison.
New York, May 29. Speaking of his
flying machine, which is to travel 100
miles per hour, Hiram S. Maxim, head
of the furnishing house of Maxim &
Nordenfeldt. says it is awaiting his re
turn from England for trial.
SOCIALIST HAS CHILDISH DREAM
Industry In Hands of Workers Would!
He Paralysed, Says Writer.
PORTLAND. Or.. May 29. (To the
Editor.) C. W. Barzee's letter in The
Oregonian May 28 should be read care
fully by workingmen and working
women. Mr. ISarzee. unlike all other
prominent members of the Socialist
party, has scorned the protection of
mists and fogs and, stepping out into
the light, tells us boldly, plainly and
consistently where he 'stands.
We learn from his letter that the
state committee of the Socialist party
may indorse some fundamental princi
ple that the party itself rejects.
Mr. Barzee divides the Socialist move
ment into three different schools of
thought, and invents for each school a
name to suit himself. He does all this
o no authority but his own.
Mr. Barzee thinks that the workers
are industrially organized at present
and that all we need do Is to inform
them of that "fact" and let votes do
the rest.
This is a childish dream and an
archistic to the last degree. It is the
capitalist class, not the working class,
that are organized industrially. They
are organized to carry on production
and distribution under capitalism only.
If the capitalist class should hand
over the industries and all other means
of life to the workers tomorrow or, say
next election, it would be the greatest
calamity that ever befell any nation.
Production would come to a standstill
and anarchy would reign supreme.
The ballot is certainly a civilized
method of settling disputes. But we
must have the physical force, that is,
the industrial might, to enforce the de
mand of the ballot, without which the
ballot would be simply so much moon
shine. ,
The I. W. W. Is a false and ridicu
lous industrial organization composed
of a crowd of child-minded and un
educated men who rely on physical
force alone, repudiating the ballot.
These anarchists are admitted as mem
bers to the Socialist party, where they
fill the highest offices, serving on the
state .committee and in the National
executive board, and have almost suc
ceeded in getting the party to indorse
their peculiar brand of industrial union
ism. Falling In this, they tried their
disruptive tactics, at which they partly
succeeded.
When will the Socialist party learn
to guide itself by the light of science
Instead of drifting with the winds and
currents of sentiment on the breakers
of a lee shore?
PATRICK OIIALLORAN.
2304 Burnstde Street.
"Goody-Goody" Krmp'per Caught.
Banks Herald.
The bragging of the Portland Jour
nal as to how it holds its columns
open "to all sides, all comers and all
candidates in current controversies,"
etc., must appear contemptible to those
who know anything about the Jour
nal's methods and how much at va
riance they are with what it claims.
Recently The Oregonian showed how
Senator Day's letter was "deliberately
mangled, excised, emasculated and blue-,
penciled" by the Journal before it per
mitted It to appear, but there are local
people who learned something of the
same kind about the Journal's methods
only recently.
A resolution on the land grant bill
was adopted by the local Farmers'
Union recently, in which consideration
for the settler was urged. The Journal
in publishing It again deliberately
emasculated It by eliminating all ref
erence to criticism for the Chamberlain
bill. It was not In line with the Jour
nal's policy.
The Journal as the goody-goody
hypocrite of Journalism is without peer
or parallel.
quality of China.
Baltimore American.
"Is that china of yours. Mrs. Come
up, old Chelsea?" "No, indeed. It isn't.
It is all brand new stock."
At the Club.
Boston Transcript.
"I see a bore coming."
"That augurs badly."
Women Are Not in
Rut!
They are naturally progressive
quick to seek and see the new.
That Is why they so readily re
spond to advertising.
And women also are newspaper
readers. They find the dailies keep
them posted In the thingsthey want
to know.
Advertisers with a message to
women find quick response and each
response begins a new circls of
friends, for one wom n tells another.
Most of the great mercantile suc
cesses are founded on the appeal to
women.