SHE SUNDAY OKEGOrSIAK, PORTLAND; JAKT7AB.Y 13, 1895
Watered at the Postofflce at Portland. Oregon.
cs second-class matter.
REVISED SUBSCRIPTION' RATES.
By Mall (postage prepaid) ta Advance.
Dally, -with Sunday, per month.. $
3ally, Sunday excepted, per year .--....- 10
Dally, with Sunday, per year.. 12 00
Sunday, per year. ...... ..... 2 00
The "Weekly, per year .... . . 1 SO
She "Weekly, three months M
TO CITT SUBSCRIBERS.
3ally, per week, delivered. Sunday excepted..23o
Dally, per week, delivered, Sunday lnclnded..30g
DAILY METEOROLOGICAL HEPOUT
PORTLAND, Jan. 12.-S P. M. Mazimam
temperature, 57; minimum temperature, 47;
height of river at 11 A. M., 10.4; change In the
past 24 hours, 1.3; precipitation today. 1.17;
precipitation from September 1, 1804 (wet sea
son), to date, 1S.C0; average, 23.2G; deficiency.
4.C8; number hours eunshine Friday, 1:37; pos
sible number, 1:00.
Reports from the coast stations are missing,
towing to the stormy conditions prevailing on
the coast from Central California northward.
Rain Is falling at all places in Oregon and
"Washington; also In California as far south as
Red Bluff. Very heavy rain fell In the western
portions of Oregon and "Washington. Continued
3-alny weather must be expected, since there ex
ists an unusually low area of barometric pres
Bure, with Its center apparently north of "Wash
ington. WEATHER FORECASTS.
Forecasts made at Portland for the 24 hours
fending at midnight January 13:
Tor Oregon and "Washington Rain and nearly
fetatlonary temperature, with fresh southerly
.winds; gales on the coast.
For Idaho Rain In the northern portions, fair
"weather In the southern portions and warmer,
ilth fresh southerly winds.
For Portland Rain and stationary tempera
ture, with fresh southerly winds.
PORTLAYD, SUNDAY, JANUARY 13.
THE SPIRIT OP REFORM.
Never has there been so auspicious
a, time to reform the excesses, the ex
travagances and the multifarious
abuses that have crept into every de
partment of our government, from state
to precinct, as now. Never did the
needs of the country so cry for this re
form. The excesses have grown from
year to year, by little and little, till we
have come to have, instead of simple
and economical government, believed
by the founders to have been estab
lished, one of the loosest and "worst
plundered the country presents. This
condition has grown and existed by
sufferance when prices were high, prof
its large and taxes easily paid. But
the depression of the last year which
lias swept over the world has made
taxpaylng difficult with all, and im
possible with many, and the many are
Increasing. With every business and
every individual in the grip of hard
times, there is abroad in the land a
resolute determination that these abuses
and extravagances shall stop short;
that government shall cost no more
than It need, and that the hand of of
ficial cunning and greed shall be with
drawn from the long-time rifled pocket
of the hitherto patient taxpayer. This
Impulse will be felt by the Incoming
legislature and by the new members
of the state government, and by their
example extended to the counties, towns
and districts. If, under these, search
ing and sweeping reforms are not now
instituted, we may well 'despair of their
iver being accomplished.
The last legislature made some in
roads upon the fee system. They are
jwhat should be but a beginning. The
system is an abomination, and should
be cut up root and branch, legal and
Illegal. And it is a vice of the system
that more fees are taken without the
law or over it than are provided for
under It. The offices of secretary of
Btate, treasurer, and superintendent of
echools are fruitful fields for the knife.
JThose who know the new secretary of
etate doubt not that he will enter faith
fully into this work. Sheriffs, county
clerks and recorders have been made
salaried officers with more than ample
salaries, and yet some of them are left
with lucrative fees in addition that
should be at once and forever wiped
out Let there be no hidden emolu
ments, but let the salary acquaint the
public with the full amount of the com
pensation. And in view of the changed
condition of the country, many of these
salaries should be reduced, to take ef
fect from the passage of the act, not
at the end of the term of the incumbent.
No officer has vested right to office or
fee against act of the legislature.
There are sinecures in the state de
partments and in the county and city
offices ttf$ Should be abolished. The
acts under which state, district, county
and city officers are enabled to make
emoluments beyond the limits of com
pensation proper to the service and to
he times, should be reviewed by the
legislature, and all excesses should be
annulled or amended. The state con
victs should be put at work and made
'to earn their prison living. The asy
lum legislation needs thorough scan
ning and overhauling, to the end that'
no one should be sent there who does
not there belong; that large profits
ehall not be made in transporting pa
tients there, and that patients and
relatives with sufficient means shall
pay the expenses of sending and keep
ing. Officers of the state should be re
quired to pay into the treasury all re
ceipts whatever other than the salaries
named In the constitution. Bounties
to fairs and exhibitions should be dis
continued, at least until more prosper
ous times. Appropriations to normal
echools and state colleges must be re
stricted, as must appropriations for all
state institutions. There is not one of
the expenses which cannot be ma
terially reduced. A half score or more
of "homes" and "aid societies' have
sprung up over the state, some of which
seem to have been born principally for
the purpose of obtaining appropria
tions. The committee-clerk abuse and
scandal should be knocked on the head.
The state militia should be reduced to
a half dozen companies, properly dis
tributed over the state, and the out
rageous draw upon the treasury pro
portionately reduced. The expense of
the state printing can be reduced more
than one-half, by omitting wholly un
necessary printing printing of no value
to anybody except the printer. The
knife must be Inserted here, sharp and
deep.
Never before has an Oregon legisla
ture had such a summons to duty as
rests upon the one that will assemble
tomorrow. Our whole official system
has become honeycombed with prac
tices which to use no harsher terms,
are burdensome to the taxpayer and
destructive to the state. Offices are
sought for their emoluments and
"worked for all there is In them." Ex
travagance, looseness and reckless
ness of expenditure have prevailed in
legislative halls and department offices.
It should be the business of this legis
lature to reform these abuses, and put
the state upon a career of honesty and
economy such as honored its early
years. The voice of the people has
called it into life for that end, and their
eyes are upon it.
There is need of searching inquiry
and deep Insertion of the pruning knife
Into the administration of every of
fice. The general appropriation bills
have been made to carry extravagances
and jobbery, which could not be trusted
to separate bills, and, introduced at
the very heel of the sessions, have been
carried blindly through. The general
appropriation bill should be placed be
fore the legislature and the people at
least ten days prior to the end of the
session, so that its items may be
scrutinized. The legislature must not,
will not. fail the people now!
A VICIOUS MEASURE.
Vest's bill means the silver basis,
pure and simple. It retires gold and
silver certificates, national bank notes
and both forms of treasury legal tender,
substituting for them all an unlimited
issue of new treasury notes, nominally
redeemable in either gold or silver.
This would give us a government note
Issue of about $1,200,000,000, resting upon
less than $100,000,000 of gold and less
than $500,000,000 of silver. Can any one
suppose that these notes would have
more than the commercial value of
silver?
There is a pretense of gold redemp
tion in the provision that the notes
may be redeemed in gold at the option
of the holder when the gold reserve in
the treasury is above $100,000,000, and
that five-year 5-per-cent bonds may be
sold to replenish the gold reserve when
ever it falls below that figure. This
would be absolutely ineffective. It
simply perpetuates the present situa
tion, in which the public debt is stead
ily Increased to meet a steady drain of
gold from the treasury, with no effect
except to increase the annual interest
charge. Indeed, the Vest plan would
increase this drain of gold, and so in
crease the compulsion to sell bonds
by adding to the volume of notes press
ing for redemption in gold nearly $200,
000,000 in place of the present national
bank notes and an indefinite amount
of new treasury notes issued from time
to time against revenue deficiencies.
Gold redemption probably could not
be maintained for long after this bill
became a law. Redemption of the
new coin notes would be demanded in
gold by the indirect processes that have
drained the treasury for the last two
years, and constant sale of bonds would
be necessary to replenish the reserve.
These soon would exhaust the credit
of the government, especially as the
.question would be raised whether the
bonds were to be paid in gold or silver.
"While bonds could be sold the
wretched see-saw of the last year would
be kept up. Speculators in New Tork
and elsewhere would buy bonds with
accumulated gold, turn around and
draw the gold out of the treasury with
notes, thus reducing the reserve below
$100,000,000 and compelling a new sale
of bonds, which they would buy with
the same gold, thus increasing the
burden of interest indefinitely so long
as the credit of the government held
out.
"When this was exhausted and it
could not last long under such a strain
we should go to the silver basis with
a rush. The plan provides that when
ever the gold reserve falls below $100,
000,000, coin notes may be redeemed in
silver, the seigniorage to be coined for
this purpose. Moreover, it provides
for coinage of all silver brought to the
mints, the government to retain the
seigniorage, for use in current trans
actions. This would bring all the visi
ble supplies of silver and most of the
product of the mines into the mint
probably $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 the
first year, half of which would be
seigniorage. Soon the government
would be obliged to pay this out in
redemption of coin notes, there being
no discretion under the law, the mo
ment the gold reserve fell below $100,
000,000. The moment this was done, the mo
ment the treasury compelled any note
holder to take silver instead of gold,
the puchasing power of all the notes
would fall to the commercial value of
the silver named on their face. Gold
would go to a premium and disappeaH
from circulation. The value of half
the credit money of the country, from
$1,200,000,000 to $1,500,000,000 in all, would
bewipedoutat once and we should have
such a financial crisis as the world
never dreamed of. If we are to go to
the silver basis, it Is better to go at
once than after Increasing enormously
both our interest-bearing debt and the
volume of credit money to be affected
by it. Mr. Vest's bill would simply
make a bad job worse.
A VIGOROUS ARRAIGXMEXT.
"Shirley Dare," one of the most vigor
ous writers among the women who
contribute to current literature, recently
published an article upon what may
be called the popular follies of youth
that abounds in good sense and timely
suggestions. Among the latter is an
arraignment, in strong terms, of the
"friends and elders" for their share ini
the mistakes and follies of young peo
ple, through forcing and putting them
forward in lives beyond their legiti
mate sphere. It is argued in support
of this charge that though boys of 15
may be brighter than their fathers,
having had a much better chance, they
should not be set at men's tasks and
given men's responsibilities "before
their bones are set;" that, though the
ability to see and project may be theirs,
the ability to carry out is beyond them.
Every business man sees boys of 17 and
20 in their offices as special agents and
commission men, and some of them do
their work better than he could in that
line. But the strain on undeveloped
brains and bones that are still in
gristle tells on nerves and morals.
Overwrought nerves crave stimulus
and excitement; the boy is unsatisfied
until he is making money to spend
freely on the candy-boxes, the violet
bunches, the theater tickets and sup
per after the play, the swell suits, and
I the great athletic contests which de-1
moralize the business boy for two
weeks before and after. His brain
force goes to speculation before It has
time to curdle into cells. It Is weak
ness, not vice, that steers many a young
man straight for the penitentiary; and
for this weakness they must answer
who have made his whole boyhood a
rehearsal of men's duties and excite
ments. The undue proportion of relatively
young men, in all of our penal Institu
tions, many of whom went there direct
from the accountant's desk or from the
position of a confidential clerk or
trusted employe, is in evidence in sup
port of this arraignment. There is
not a city In the land scarcely a com
munity which has not been shocked at
the story of a young man, of good fam
ily and previously honorable record,
gone wrong, largely because of this
forcing process which pushed a boy
into a man's place before he had the
ballast jot years and the training of
subordinate lines of work to give him
moral equilibrium. Moreover, every
community has its full quota of com
monplace incompetent men, "rather
bright fellow" withal, who never get
beyond yearly rent and daily expenses
the victims of precocity that made
heavy overdrafts upon their energies
and left them bankrupt in the market
that is ruled by success.
A child in a child's place and a boy
in a boy's; a youth in a youth's place
and a man in a man's these are the
gradations of nature which, if followed,
give a sure formation for usefulness
in life, and such measures of success as
individual ability and Industry can
compass. It is well to remember that
"steadiness of nerve is a great help to
moral steadiness, and strength is es
sential for the long, tiresome pull that
makes or mars success in life."
THE rVDERGROUXD COXDUIT.
The bitter war waged in the Eastern
cities against the intrcduetion of elec
tric railways has not availed to keep
them out. The leaders, paragraphs,
and cartoons on the "deadly trolley"
have not so completely frightened the
people that they are willing to endure
horse-cars forever. They demand rapid
transit, and if they cannot have it
without danger attached, then they
will take It with the danger. Experi
ence has not shown the trolley to be so
deadly as to offset the great advant
ages of electric railways. Portland
people would laugh to scorn the sug
gestion that the electric roads through
the city streets and connecting them
with the suburbs were so dangerous
that a return to the horse-car system
was desirable. Even the occasional
dangling of a live wire, such as killed
a horse on the east side of the river a
few days ago, and has created tem
porary consternation on other occa
sions, is not sufficient to cause such
permanent alarm, though the deadly
nature of these wires and the possibil
ity of their coming in contact with peo
ple passing along the streets are well
known. This exposure is one of the
prices paid for the benefits of rapid
transit The price Is paid under pro
test, however, and just as soon as the
advantages of electric railways can be
fully enjoyed without the dangerous
and obstructing overhead trolley a
change will be demanded.
It is in stimulating invention to over
come this objection that the vigorous
war waged by the press of Eastern
cities has accomplished the most good.
The wide divergence between the
theoretical and practical is well shown
In the matter of devising a system of
underground conduits for electric rail
ways. There have been many inven
tions, but electric railway companies
still adhere to the trolley as being the
cheapest and most practical for com
mon use. Lines of undergound elec
trical conduit railways are in success
ful operation in Buda-Pesth, Hungary,
and Blackpool, England. "Washington,
D. C, has a line, and one is being con
structed on Lenox avenue, New Tork,
and another in St Louis.
It is claimed for these lines that they
are more cheaply operated than the
trolley lines, though more expensive to
construct. At a recent meeting of the
New Tork Electrical Society this mat
ter was extensively discussed, and the
general opinion was that the chief dif
ficulties in the way of the adoption of
the underground conduit system were
the expense of constructing the con
duits and the cost of a change of ex
isting lines to the new style. It was
admitted that the conduit system would
be cheaper of operation and more de
sirable. It is evident that much prog
ress has been made in the direction of
the abolition of the trolley. Eastern
cities granting franchises to electric
lines will, in the main, do so only to
conduit or storage-battery lines, and
Western cities now criss-crossed with
overhead wires and bristling with poles
will see that the new systems are good
and demand a change. The disap
pearance of unsightly poles and ob
structing and dangerous wires, and the
placing under gound of all lines carry
ing electric energy, are matters of time
only.
Timber-thieves, under the modest
guise of homesteaders, have, accord
ing to State Land Agent Hickman, of
Montana, gotten away with an enor
mous amount of government timber
in that state since 1S90. The plan pur
sued has been to file on a quarter-section,
valuable for timber only, and
much of it so steep that It is difficult
to climb, erect a small hut, call it a
homestead, and get the location noted
by the surveyor. After the filings are
accepted, the tenant at once commences
to strip the land of timber its only
value the object being to accomplish
this as quickly as possible. This done
he departs, in many Instances, for the
purpose of locating on other lands.
What the agents of the government
are doing while this open and wholesale
fraud is being perpetrated is not stated.
If there is no way to put a stop to
such proceedings and punish the al
leged homesteader for his spoliation,
his haste in securing the timber and
breaking camp would seem to be un
necessary. If there is a way, it should
not be impossible to find it, especially
as it is supposed to be clearly pointed
out by the government.
The most opportune and apposite
quotation recently made in congress
came the other day from Henderson of
Iowa. Holman of Indiana, who has
sat in congress thirty years, but was
beaten last November, has long been
known as the watchdog of the treasury.
To every proposal involving expendi
ture of public money he has been ac
customed to interpose his everlasting
"I object" unless the expenditure was
for some purpose in his own district cr
state. Recently one of those Indiana
jobs came along, and Holman as usual
batted his miser eyes and got ready to
reverse his waltz of economy. It wa3
an appropriation for a public building
one of that kind of appropriations to
which he has been an especial enemy;
but this one was for Indiana, and he
rose to plead for it. "Mr. Speaker,"
said he, T think this to be a very
meritorious measure." Henderson of
Iowa followed, quoting from Byron:
'Tls sweet to hear the watchdog's hon
est bark
Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw
near home.
The quotation, with its allusion or
application to Holman's methods and
to his coming retirement from congress
was so pat and apt that it produced an
immense explosion of laughter and
completely ruined Holman's appropriation.
To have the greatest effectiveness
and utility, a board of public works
should be wholly independent of the
council and responsible only to the
mayor. The grand secret of effective
municipal government is complete sep
aration of the executive and legislative
functions and strict limitation of the
council to the latter. If a board of
public work can undertake only busi
ness sent it by the council, it will be
helplessly dependent upon that body.
No public improvement can be consid
ered which has not gained the favor of
the council, and it will be difficult for
a board so helpless to block improper
schemes which have gained that favor.
It is certainly important that the
board should stand in some relation of
coherence and dependence "With the
rest of the city government, but it
should be united with the executive
rather than the legislative branch by
being made responsible to the mayor,
with absolute initiative, authority and
responsibility under his control. If the
board were to be made a mere depend
ency of the council, all the duties pro
posed to be laid upon it might as well
be done by council committees, as at
present.
A bill has been introduced in the
Kansas legislature providing $100,000 as
a loan to the farmers of the drouth
stricken districts of, the state for the
purchase of seeds and other supplies,
the same to be repaid in January, 1896.
These distressed people naturally catch
at any scheme that will insure even
temporary relief, and cannot be
blamed for wanting assistance, from
whatever source it may come. But the
question the practical legislator will
ask himself when called upon to vote
for this appropriation will doubtless be,
"Suppose the same dictricts are
'drouth-stricken' next year; how can
this obligation be met?" January,
1S96, sounds afar off now, but it will
present itself to the pinched debtor
with astonishing quickness, and more
especially if, as is likely to happen in
this case, he has sent good seed after
bad crops, only to find a return in the
latter. The only real and permanent
relief for drouth sufferers is through
immigration to some locality where
nature is bountiful in the distribution
of moisture.
The latest fad at the state university
is a business college, free of course,
like the rest of the group of charity
schools. There are two or three better
business colleges in the state than can
possibly be created a. Eugene, support
ed by their owneXertlons., These are
as much entitled' ibna state appropria
tion as the Eugene university.
The house may as well fiddle away
its time over private bills and pension
claims as anything else. It is incapa
ble of any useful legislation. The
country is waiting Impatiently for it to
die and cares little how it may waste
its last ineffective hours.
The bank surplus In New Tork has
increased nearly $6,000,000 by increase
of deposits and calling in of loans, but
it is a wholesome sign that all the in
crease is in legal tender notes.
TOO MUCH PARTIS AXSIIIP.
How Each Party Tries to Put the
Other "In the Hole."
PORTLAND, Jan. 11. (To the Editor.)
You quote Senator Vest as saying that
undoubtedly a majority of the senate
would vote to repeal the differential duty
on sugar if they had a chance. If my
memory is correct, only a short time ago,
upon reconvening of that august body,
they voted on the question of striking out
the differential duty on sugar, the vote
standing 23 to 27 against striking out such
duty. Of the 23 thus recorded against
the sucar trust, all were democrats ex
cept one Washburn of Minnesota. All
of the 27 except four Blanchard, Caffrey,
Martin and Roach were republicans, and
three populists. With such a record be
fore us, it may be pertinent to ask. Who
are favoring the sugar trust, the demo
crats or republicans? The republicans in
congress made It possible for this powerful
combination to get a foothold, and they
are the last ones to strike it down.
The handful of democrats who have
aided the trust deserve the universal
chastising that they have received. While
the rules and regulations of that effete
body are obsolete and obstructive, it is
simply puerile for the almost solid repub
lican delegation to seaek to escape re
sponsibility for failure to strike down the
gigantic monopoly. There will, no doubt.
be another opportunity for the Immaculate
senators, before the 53d congress expires,
to sneak behind the rules or absent them
selves and thus aid the trust. The repub
lican press cannot cover such action on
the part of their senators, and ingeniously
endeavor to shift all the responsibility of
the trust legislation to the democrats.
FRED B. HUGHES.
The republican senators ought to have
voted to strike out the differential. But
the reason they did net was the reason
so commonly observed in cases of this
kind, namely, that neither party is will
ing to help the other party "out of the
hole." The republican argument was
this: "The democrats have made their
tariff scheme. It is not our scheme, and
we shall not help them to amend it. When
we get power we will make our scheme
and be responsible for it Meantime let
the democrats be responsible for their
scheme." This is putting party policy be
fore the public good, but both parties do
it, and to an extent always will. The
most mischievous instance of it ever
known in our history was the steady
pressure of the democratic party during
many years to put the republicans "into
the hole" on silver. This forced the Bland
coinage act, and the silver purchase act,
and created a false sentiment on the
money question throughout the country
which it is difficult to hold down.
A Recreant Representative.
HEPPNER, Or., Jan. 12. (To the Edi
torsThe republicans of Heppner are very
indignant and have just grounds for
their indignation. Representative Booth
by was elected not for his ability or
statesmanship-, but for the position he
took on the financial question. Before the
convention which nominated him, he de-
i clared for an honest dollar, and for the
coinage of only as much silver as could
bo kept at a parity with gold, and at a
ratio making such parity possible. After
he was nominated he stated in a public
speech, delivered at the opera-house in
Heppner, that J. N. Dolph was good
enough for him, and that statement elic
ited more applause than any other that
he made during a speech of 40 minutes'
duration. While he did not positively
pledge himself to support Dolph, he did
pledge himself as against the free and
unlimited coinage of silver. The demo
crats and populists made their fight
against him on the ground that he was
a "goldbug," and he was elected on that
issue. If Mr. Boothby persists in voting
for a free-silver man for United States
senator, he will do so against the will
and wishes of four-fifths of his constitu
ents, and will find Morrow county a very
tropical clime on his return, especially
If he should ever again seek political
honors in this county. W. W. SMEAD.
COXFUSIOX OF IDEAS,
Growing Out of the Use of Loose
Terms Abont Money.
PORTLAND, Jan. 12. (To the Editor.)
Meeting two ardent republicans yester
day, in a conversation, they expressed
the opinion that Senator Dolph was a
"gold man," that is, he believed in a sin
gle gold standard. In a letter published in
your paper on the 17th of May last, Dolph
said:
"You are right in supposing I favor
bimetalism. I stand with the majority of
the republican senators, with the repub
lican party and upen its last national
platform. I favor the largest use of sil
ver and the free coinage of silver when
ever an international agreement can be
secured, under which free coinage of sil
ver would not drive us to a silver stand
ard." This Is the exact position of Benjamin
Harrison, Thomas B. Reed, William Mc
Kinley and William B. Allison, one of
whom will probably be the republican
candidate for president in 1S9G. What
sort of a spectacle will we present in
Oregon two years hence, if we take the
position now that the United States
should go alone into the free coinage of
silver? We would certainly go on a single
silver standard basis. The populists, with
Governor Pennoyer at the head, would,
and ought to carry Oregon for president.
President Harrison appointed as del
egates to the Brussels monetary confer
ence, in 1891, Messrs. Allison, Cannon,
Jones, Andrews and McCreary, all in fa
vcr of bimetalism; and every one of them
today stands in exactly the same position
as Dolph, except Jones of Nevada, who
has lately joined the populist party.
I totally disagree with The Oregonian
in Its position on the bimetallic question
It appears to believe in gold monometal
ism, which Is as great a mistake as silver
monometalism. But Mr. Dolph is not In
accord with The Oregonian. He is a bi
metalist, just as 95 per cent of the re
publicans of the United States are, and
this is the position that the republican
party will take in its next national con
vention. This communication is not written to
help any senatorial candidate. Hon.
Charles W. Fulton and Hon. Thomas
Tongue are both friends of mine, and good
republicans. If they are sound on the
republican view of the sliver question, if
they stand with Reed and McKlnley and
Harrison no man should object to them.
But it is utterly wrong to misrepresent
Mr. Dolph by saying he is a gold man.
He is nothing of the kind. He Is a re
publican bimetalist, and stands with
Reed, MclClnley, Hoar, Allison and Lodge.
The usefulness of a senatorial candidate
on the tariff or appropriations for river
and harbor improvements in this state
is of great importance to the people of
Oregon, but not so important as to
whether he favors the use of gold and sil
ver as money. With wheat at 50 cents a
bushel, beef down to 2 cents a pound,
and cotton at 5 cents, it is high time, if
we wouldn't all become bankrupt that
money is cheapened and values dearer.
J. B. M.
This writer is troubled with great con
fusion of ideas. Mr. Dolph Is a bimetal
ist, and so is The Oregonian; but neither
Mr. Dolph nor The Oregonian believes In
the contradictory fiction and utter im
possibility of "double standard." We
have the gold standard now, with large
use of silver in conjuncticn with gold, and
kept to interchangeability with gold by
limitation of silver coinage. We may
have the silver standard, and shall have
it if we enact free coinage of silver; but
we cannot have any such ridiculous im
possibility as "double standard," and if
we enact free coinage of silver, bimetal
ism will disappear, because there will be
no gold. The trouble with many is that
they are utterly confused by the terms
they use, and therefore don't know what
their opinions really are.
SAFES IX THE CITY HALL.
The Fireproof Vaults Snld to Render
Tli em Xcedless.
PORTLAND, Jan. 12. (To the Editor.)
I notice in today's Oregonian that the city
hall is to be encumbered with half a
dozen old safes, and bids are called for to
hoist them through the windows. The
new city hall building is furnished with
fireproof vaults, which are a better pro
tection against fire than any safe made.
This fact has been demonstrated time and
again. In the great Chicago fire, very few
safes protected their contents, but well
built vaults generally preserved the papers
Intact Would it not be better to store
the safes on the ground floor of the city
hall, or elsewhere, and offer them for sale
at such prices as the committee of whici
the mayor is chairman deems proper, or
store them with some safe-agent for the
purpose of selling? The burglar-proof safe
for the treasurer's vault,, is probably the
correct move, but the old safes parceled
around the city hall will not be in keeping
with its finish; therefcre will not add to
Its ornamentation, and can serve no visi
ble purpose nor meet any wants for record
protection, unless it be temporary, await
ing the arrival of the metallic fixtures,
which can be supplied with rough boards
at a less cost than the safes can be placed
upstairs, and avoid the damage to the
building, as well as realize from the sales,
Instead of drawing upon the treasury
these times for what seems to be an use
less expenditure. JOHN E. DAVIS.
PERSOXS WORTH KXOWIXG ABOUT.
Edison's great-grandfather died at 102,
his grandfather at 103, and one of his
aunts at 103, while his father is alive at
90.
Charlotte Fowler Wells was the first
woman publisher. She has been in busi
ness since 1S14, and is still at it in New
York.
The Critic's "Lounger" says that Mrs.
Burton Harrison received Vf cents per
word for her "Bachelor Maid." The 60,000
words thus yielded her $4500.
Purcel, the most extraordinary musical
genius that England ever produced, died
at the age of 37 from a cold contracted
by being locked out of the house by his
termagant wife.
James W. Osborne, who has been ap
pointed one of the assistant district at
torneys, is another Southerner in office
in New York. His brother is attorney
general of North Carolina.
Justin McCarthy, the Irish parliament
arian whose novels have been so widely
read in this country, is in his 62d year, but
even at this age it is no unusual thing for
him to sit up all night at work.
Mayor William L. Strong, of New York,
has been presented with a looking-glass
framed in old mahogany, which belonged
to Mayor Willard, the first mayor of New
York city, who was elected in 16C5.
With the publication of "A Mild Bar
barian," Mr. Edgar Fawcett's record In
point of number of books written and
published now stands at 43 a statement
which will probably surprise even those
who await with most interest the appear
ance of a new work from his hands.
MiSS Nellie Cushman. of Ariznnn. n tall
angular, dark-haired, dark-eyed girl, a
rapid talker, and a great reader, has the
reputation of being the only woman min
ing expert In the world. She Is a Kansas
girl, and began her work In examining
ore at Tucson, Ariz., nine years ago,
wnen sne was a gin or 17.
Bishop D. B. Knlckerbacker, of the
Episcopal diocese of Indiana, who died
on December 31. was a stamn oniietnr- nt
universal perseverance. He had collected
j,wu,wu or cancelled stamps which he sold
ior cnantame purposes, and had ac
quired one-tenth Of his second TnllUrm
when death put a stop to his energies.
A POLITICAL REMIXISCEXCE.
And It Is Illustrated "With an Excel
lent Story.
Yamhill Reporter.
This is substantially what Hon. Thomas
Tongue said In a speech delivered in this
city during the last campaign, or rather,
these are the precise words in which his
position on the sliver question was re
ported in these columns: "The country
does not neid more money. The people
need work, the opportunity to earn money.
Whatever will set the mills and factories
to humming and set the millions of Idle
mechanics to work earning wages will set
in healthy circulation the idle capital con
gested in the money centers of the coun
try. Free coinage of silver will not do
this. The only mission of free coinage of
silver would be to enable one class of citi
zens to defraud another by paying them
in depreciated currency." It was thought
to be pretty sound doctrine at the time,
and the vast majority of republicans con
tinue thinking that way. Nothing so sud
den and bewildering has occurred in a
long time as the about-face of Messrs.
Tongue and Fulton on the silver question.
Its only parallel is in a story that comes
from the wilds of Arkansas, which is as
follows: "A man went oat into the woods
to shoot bears, and seeing one standing
in the path In front of him, with open
mouth and glaring eyes, he put his gun to
his shoulder and blazed away. The ball
went into the bear's mouth, but so quickly
did the animal turn his tall toward the
hunter to run that the ball came out at
the other end of the bear and killed the
man."
COXEY IX SPAXISH.
WALLA WALLA, Wash., Jan. 11. (To
the Editor.) Last summer, during the
Coxeyite excitement, I was expectant that
among the many appropriate remarks you
made on the subject you would draw at
tention to the significance of the term as
revealed in Meadow's or any other good
Spanish dictionary. Hitherto I trink they
have been overlooked. They are, to-wit
as follows:
Coxa A prostitute, a strumpet, lewd
woman.
Coxcojita Lamely, haltingly.
Coxear To limp, halt, hobble, go astray.
Coxedad Lameness, limping, hobble,
halt.
Coxera Lameness, hobble, limping.
Coxijo Complaint of a slight injury, an
insect.
Coxo A lame person, a beast, unsettled
weather.
Coxlxo Small insect, grub, slight com
plaint. Coxin Cushion, large pillow, soft pad.
A Protest From Pendleton.
PENDLETON, Or., Jan. 12. (To the Ed
itor.) We protest against the statement
made by J. P. McManus! editor of the
Pendleton Tribune, to The Oregonian of
yesterday, as an unjustifiable insult to
the republicans of Umatilla county. We
are, and have been, loyal to our party.
We believe 95 per cent of the party in this
county favors Hon. S. A. Lowell, for
United States senator, and that It should
be their unquestioned right to do so with
out being vilified. Jas. A. Fee, circuit
judge; R. Alexander, ex-mayor; F. W.
Vincent, physician; T. C. Taylor, mayor
of Pendleton; B. S. Burroughs, county
clerk; T. P. Gilliland, county commission
er; Wm. Martin, county judge; John F.
Adams, county commissioner; J. T. Lam
birth, deputy county clerk; J. M. Leezer,
deputy county clerk; Fred W. Hendley,
recorder of conveyances; S. P. Gould, dep
uty recorder of conveyances; H. A. Fax
on, deputy sheriff; John W. KImbrell,
county surveyor; Wm. C. Kern, county
treasurer; J. E. Miller, attorney; J. H.
Parks, justice of the peace; Charles A.
Frazler, deputy sheriff; H. C. Guernsey,
with First National bank; C. B. Wade,
assistant cashier First National bank.
Money Does Xot Create Business.
HILLSBORO, Jan. 12. (To the Editor.)
The populist cry is that plenty of money
will cause good times, as during the war
we had plenty of money and never had
better times. This is the populist theory,
while the fact is that during the war
every branch of industry was pressed to
the utmost activity; there never was a
greater demand for labor and its product,
the payment of which, and also the ex
penses of a gigantic war, required a vast
sum. Gold and silver were utterly inade
quate, and our only resource was flat
or paper money, with a promise of future
redemption.
There never was so small a demand for
labor and 'ts product as today, and there
are no great war expenditures, hence no
great supply of money is required to meet
their payment. But the populist theory
still contends that plenty of money will
create labor and enterprise. The fact,
also remains that there is more money
per capita in this country today than
during the war, or at any other time, and
why doesn't it create labor and enter
prise, and, consequently, good times?
H. S. SHUSTER.
The Xew Year's Oregonian.
San Francisco Commercial News.
The New Year's issue of The Morning
Oregonian, published at Portland, Or.,
has been received. It is a splendid pub
lication of 40 pages, and contains, besides
the current news of the day, a vast
amount of information and statistics that
are valuable and interesting alike to those
who already reside In the Pacific
Northwest, and to those who may
contemplate investing there. The
special articles have evidently been writ
ten by men who are thoroughly conver
sant with the subjects they handle, and,
while the facts they present are very in
teresting, any one who knows the char
acter of the paper can feel assured that
they are equally reliable. Among the
most important articles are those headed
"The Port of Portland," and "Portland's
Shipping." The former gives an exhaus
tive account of the improvements made
in the Willamette and Columbia rivers
and details concerning the big jetty at
the mouth of the Columbia, while the
latter gives valuable statistics regarding
the shipments of wheat, flour, salmon,
hops, wool and other leading industries
of our sister state for the past year. The
Illustrations are as good as the articles
are ably written, and the New Year's issue
is one of which The Oregonian's publish
ers my well be proud.
Destruction of Money.
Yamhill Reporter.
If, as most people verily believe, free
coinage would precipitate the sliver coin
of 412 grains to its bullion value, nearly
half the purchasing power of the silver
now in circulation would be destroyed.
It would be necessary to coin $025,000,000
of additional silver before there would be
as much actual money in circulation as
there is now. Silver would pay debts at
its face value only to a very limited extent,
for in this state nearly all obligations are
written payable in gold coin of standard
value. It would take about $2 of silver to
pay $1 of indebtedness. Bankers and
money-loaners would be the smallest suf
ferers, because they are fortified against
loss by prudent foresight
XEWS OF THE XQRTHWEST.
Oregon.
Corvailis is preparing a car of provi
sions for Nebraska.
The hall used by the secret societies of
Sclo has been rejuvenated.
Yamhill county's Nebraska relief-car
will be shipped this week.
Sixteen men have been discharged from
the railroad shops at La Grande.
The sheep inspector of Baker county re
ports 24,000 in the county, all healthy.
A dog-poisoner is at large in La Grande
and valuable animals have been poisoned.
A railroad from Clatskanie to the Nona
lem valley Is being discussed by the resi-.
dents of that region.
Baker City, as a matter of protection
against bad characters, has decided to
close saloons at midnight
The Tillamook Headlight chides the
farmers of that county for not growing
onions enough for the home market
Grass valley, Sherman county, will soon
have a public hall, capable of seating 1000
persons. It will be 40x70 feet, and two
stories high.
Aaron Ross, the old Roseburg pioneer,
has offered to donate one-half the ground
quired for a schoolhouse In the southern
portion of the city.
Eddie Ness, an Incorrigible youth of
OIney, was committed to the state re
form school by the Clatsop county court
Thursday. The complaint was filed by his
father, Elier Ness.
C. A. Plummer, of Portland, has bought
the Jewett mine, on Old Baldy, five miles
south of Grant's Pass. New machinery
will be put in, and the mine will' be
worked night and day.
A Yamhill county-farmer has killed 50
hogs, averaging 409 pounds gross weight
Besides hams, bacon, etc., he secured 3350
pounds of lard. He says the hogs netted
him more than if he had sold them on
the hoof.
Plans have been drawn for rebuilding the
hotel at Medford for Captain J. T. C.
Nash. The front of the first and second
stories will be brick, and the third of
rol'ed steel. The Hotel Nash will be a
fine structure.
A city charity society has been organ
ized at Hlllsboro. The officers selected
are: President, Mrs. J. J. Morgan; vice
president, Mrs. Julia Dennis; secretary,
Mrs, E. C. Deichman; treasurer, Mrs. D.
K. Bill; soliciting committee, Mrs. J. C.
Lamkln, Mrs. R. Crandall and Mrs. W. E.
Thorn.
In the city election held at Newberg
Monday, M. Votaw was elected mayor, J.
G. Hadiey, recorder; N. C. Christenson,
treasurer, there being only the one ticket
In the field for these offices. The council
men elected were a3 follows: First ward,
Allen Smith; second ward, Matthew Ter
rell; third ward, E. D. Elwood.
The Arlington city election on the Sth
passed off very quietly. The election was
hotly contested, but the citizens ticket
was elected by the handsome majority of
33. L. C. Edwards was re-elected mayor,
C. S. Wenner, Ross Beardsley, Dal Reed
and A. C. Hawson, councilmen; F. T.
Hurlburt, treasurer, and S. G. Hawson,
recorder.
Boys pasturing cows on the old Watkins
farm, near Eugene, have In the past few
days found a great many Indian relics in
the way of ornamental beads about the
size of bird's eggs, and flint arrow-heads.
They found over 100 arrow-heads. They
are dark fiint and well made. The beads
were evidently obtained by the Indians
from the Hudson Bay Company.
Washington's birthday this year will be
observed by the faculty and students of
Pacific university as an arbor day. A
tree will be planted on the campus at
Forest Grove with some ceremony, an
oration on forestry will be delivered by
one appointed from each class, except the
senior class, whose representative will
take for his subject, "George Washing
ton." The Nehalem lumber mill has passed
Into other hands, and will start" opera
tions the last of this month. The par
ties who control it now expect to put in
additional machinery and make the mill
capable of cutting 60iCO0 feet per day. The
parties who are locating a large mill be
low Tohl's, expect to have their mill ready
for business by March 1. It Is also un
derstood that E. G. E. Wist will put in
a large mill at Nehalem.
Washington.
Troop C, at Yakima, will play "The
Confederate Spy," January 25.
A civil service examination will be held
at the custom-house at Port Townsend
January 30.
The Port Blakeley mill has begun run
ning at night Twelve ships are loading
lumber there now.
A new receiver Is asked for the Tacoma.
Grocery Company by F. S. Biatner, on tho
ground of collusion to shut out claims.
The treasurer-elect of King county, J.
W. Maple, has notified the commissioners
that he has been unable to secure suffi
cient bonds.
In an illustrated article on "Mount
Kalama Smokes," in the Kalama Bulle
tin, is a humorous parody on the recent
Mount Rainier volcano excitement and
expedition.
A weather prophet at Dayton, who has
kept tab on winters since 1862, says the
remainder of the winter will be mild.
He does not expect a pension from a
grateful country.
Three carloads of halibut were shipped
to Boston from Tacoma Friday, by the
Victoria Fishing & Trading Company.
The fish were caught in Hlcket straits,
500 miles from Victoria.
New Whatcom has a cheap fire depart
ment The chief receives $20 a month and
the assistant $15. The men, 90 in all, re
ceive $1 50 for the first hour at a fire
and 50 cents for each additional hour,
and $1 for a false alarm.
The Kalama Bulletin has been pur
chased by two young men, whose names
appear thereon as F. Ross Smith, A. B.r
managing editor, and T. H. Adams, A. B.
literary editor. Cowlitz county may safely
count upon the A. B., and perhaps the C
of "journalism."
PARAGRAPHERS' PLEASAXTRIES.
Uncle Do you say your prayers every
night, Robbie? Robbie Gracious, no; I
got everything I wanted Christmas, an
my birthday don't come for three months.
Inter Ocean.
He couldn't put Satan behind him,
No matter how hard he tried
For, spite of his earnest endeavor,
Auld Nick was still Inside.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Mamma The new little boy next door
is so nice and good I want you to go and
play with him. Son Pshaw! I don't want
to go if he's so awful disagreeable as
that Inter Ocean.
Wiggs Physiognomists say woman's
character is frequently Indicated by her
chin. Sinnlck Probably true. Her mouth
often tells a great deal about the charac
ter of other women Milwaukee Sentinel.
She I I think I like you, Mr. Trotter.
But I cannot marry you and leave my
twin sister alone. Wait until she is en
gaged. He Yes but er that's just what
she said when I proposed to her. Harlem
Life.
The fewer clothes the living picture
Takes herself to deck
The more of flannel on the morn
She wraps around her neck.
Detroit Tribune.
"I don't belong to any of those 'good
government' clubs," soliloquized the po
liceman; "but one of them belongs to me."
Then he sauntered up the alley and
whacked a hoodlum over the head with
it Exchange.
Mrs. Backroads (at the opera, looking
askance at the society women in the boxes
In pronounced decollete costumes) The
brazen creatures! How dare they show
themselves In that disgraceful condition?
Mr. B. (who has read all about it) Hush,
Maria! Don't' show your ignorance!
Them's the livin pictures we've heard so
much about Life.