KSE STOJDAT OEEG035IA2T, POBTLaTD FEBE.TTAET 10, 18&5
man
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pose. DAILY METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.
PORTLAND, Feb. 0. 8 P. M. Maximum
temperature. 4S; minimum temperature. 33;
height of river at 11 A. M., 2.C; change In the
past 21 hours, 0.3; precipitation today, .00; pre
c ipltatlon from September 1, 1601 (wet season),
to date, 19.04; average. U9.0S; deflciency. 10.34;
number hours of sunshine Friday, 3:15; possible
number, 10:0..
WEATHER SYNOPSIS.
There has not been a great change in the po
BiUon of the area of low pressure oft the Cali
fornia oeast. Fresh to high easterly 'winds,
.which have been blowing on the ooast, together
With a slowly falling barometer, are evidences
of a. storm off the coast. Sinee the barometer
5s reading high over British Columbia, the
weather will likely continue fair. Snow is fall
ing In Nevada, Utah and Eastern Montana.
WEATHER FORECASTS.
Forecasts made at Portland fcr the -1 hours
lending at midnight February 10:
For Oregon, "Washington and I4alK Fair
weather and neatly stationary temperature,
v. ith fresh to brisk easterly wlwls, high on the
coast.
For PortlatMi Fair weather and nearly Ma
llonary temperature, with fresh easterly winds.
B. fi. PAGUE, Local Forecast Official.
PORATLAXD, SCXI1AY, FEB. 10.
THE TEST HAS COME.
How serious is this demand that there
shall he no reduction o taxes in the
city of Portland and county of Mult
nomah? Not very serious, but vory dishonest.
!A.mendment of the charter of the city
of Portland is necessary to reduotion of
expenditure. Either charter, the one
recommended by the Committee of One
Hundred or the one prepared by the
Multnomah legislative delegation, would
effect a large saving or reduction. But
the Simon charter, as the latter is
called, would be more economical for
the city than the charter of the One
Hundred. The Simon charter would
make a direct saving of more than 560,
000 a year, over and above the saving
in street-cleaning, management of
bridges and parks, public lighting and
other Important things. It would save
certainly not less than 5100,000 a year;
;we think a good deal more.
Senate bill No. 1, McGinn's bill for
regulation of the offices of district at
torney fbr Multnomah vcounty and
justices of the peace in the city of
Portland, would save the taxpayers
probably not less than 530,000 a year;
certainly not less than $25,000. At the
same time, those- officials would be ade
quately paid. The incumbents of these
offices then would still make much more
than they could make in private occu
pations. Will any one say why the taxpayers
of the city of Portland and the county
of Multnomah should not have this re
3Ief? These are the very objects for
which the Committee of One Hundred
Sias been contending for a year past
and more. Our members of the legis
lature were elected under the direct
pledge that they would carry out these
reforms, execute these demands; and
they are trying to keep their pledges.
iTet now, because they try to keep
their pledges and to give relief to the
people, they are opposed and denounced
us a vile, odious and oppressive ring!
Can any one say why the district at
torney should havo so much? "Why
the justices of the peace should have so
snuch? Why the sheriff should be per
mitted to make hundreds of dollars
every month through contracts for
iboard of prisoners? Why the members
of the common council might not be
expected to perform the duties devolv
ing on them without salary, just as the
nchool directors and the fire commis
sioners do, and just as the board of
public works will do, should one be
created? Are we to have, no public
spirit, no civic virtue, nothing but sor
did littleness, in the administration of
these departments of the municipal
government? Are we to continue the
Offices of superintendent of streets and
of city surveyor, with all their super
fluities and redundancies, merely for
the behoof of officials, when we may as
well simplify the whole business and
the whole system and introduce efficient
management at less than one-half the
expense?
For whom is this system maintained,
anyway? For the people, or for of
ficials? We can as well as not reduce
the cost of county and city administra
tion in Multnomah by 5250,000 a year.
Shall we not do it? Who says we shall
3iot? Who but the beneficiaries of this
extravagant official system, which ab
sorbs beyond the needs of the public
service this sum of $250,000 a year? Is
taxpaying, then, so easy? Are officials
still to be pampered in the midst of
public distress?
The delegation which Multnomah
county has sent to the legislature is
endeavoring to fulfill its pledges to the
people. It is confronted by cheap am
bitions, factious littleness and infinite
greed. Men are contending without
shame for their privilege to continue
preying on the public in a time of gen
eral distress. This is the meaning of
the opposition to the legislation neces
sary for reduction of the public bur
dens, and of the outcry against "the
ring," wliose offense consists in the ef
forts of members of the legislature to
cut off useless official expenditures and
excesses of taxation. All the clamor
1. inspired by those who are so lost to
the sense of decency as to be trying in
this time of public distress and general
poverty to smell their particular from the
general weal!
A PERSOX OF SO MPORTAXCE.
. The great fact of historical develop
ment, of which the very moderate esti
mate put upon the value of Thomas
Palne's work by modern scholars is a
subordinate element, is that criticism
and analysis of theological dogma did
not reach a solid basis of phj'sical
knowledge and literary and historical
criticism until long after Palne's death.
Paine was an unbeliever of the type of
Voltaire, who assailed theological
dogma upon Instinct and made war
upon the cherished beliefs of mankind,
not only without offering it anything
better, but without supporting his in
dictment of theology by citation of es
tablished and unquestioned laws of the
physical world, and laws no less sure
and unchangeable of the human intel
lect These laws were not known as they
are known now, when Paine wrote.
Rational interpretation of the scrip
tures and modern questioning of the
veracity of theological dogma rest
upon the results of three separate but
kindred evolutions of human knowl
edge. The advance of physical sci
ences, notably geology and biology,
has wholly upset the cosmogony and
anthropology of the bible, discovering
the absurdity of all Its teaching as to
the creation of the world and the
origin cf man. This enlargement of the
field of human knowledge began, it is
true, with Newton and Kepler, but in
the time of Paine it had not gone be
yond establishment of certain great
and fundamental laws of astronomy.
Geology was in its infancy, and the
theological myth of creation held its
ground against the abstract reasoning
of rational probability. Lamarck laid
the foundation of the science of biology
in the time of Paine, but the world
waited iftty years for Darwin to demon
strate it and prove the scriptural ac
count of the origin of man a beautiful
myth.
Still more recent are the two kindred
sciences of philology and historical
criticism, which find the record of
human history and achievement in the
imperishable traces of primitive lan
guage, and place ancient documents
and written tradition on trial with the
evidence of their own internal struc
ture and comparative relations. These
had their origin in Germany some fifty
years ago, and inspired the better
known French and English examina
tions of the veracity of the scripture
narrative of Renan and Colenso. On
whatever side the subject is ap
proached, it is only within the last half
century that theological dogma has
been rationally assailed and successful
ly overthrown. The history of scien
tific research of these matters, of ra
tional free thought, does not begin till
long after the death of Paine. This Is
why he is a figure of no importance
In the history of religion, of science, or
of the human intellect. He left no
more Impress upon the thought of the
world than the shallow and obscene
demagogue Wilkes, and far less than
the obscure chemist Priestly, who was
hooted as an atheist because he began
to glimpse the mighty truths of science.
THE' HERITAGE, OF,SELF-RESPECT.
The fact that indiscriminate giving
has sapped the foundations of self-dependence
In thousands of Individuals
during the years of free-handed pros
perity that have waited upon thrift
and enterprise is apparent in the in
crease of mendicancy in manj- sections
of the country. Honest, proud-spirited
poverty, that scorns alms and
sets itself to work at the earliest op
portunity to cancel an obligation in
curred through misfortune, is the her
itage of self-respecting ancestors,
whose stern social creed contained no
stipulation more binding upon respect
ability than that which enjoined upon
all able-bodied persons the duty of
paying their honest way in the world.
This stipulation, though binding still
upon tens of thousands of the common
folk of rural communities, and extend
ing to the lives of other thousands of
industrious craftsmen in the cities, has
been sadly weakened In myriads of in
dividuals, first through the unwisdom
of promiscuous "help," and afterward
by the pernicious doctrines of social
ism and populism.
The fundamental principle of the first
(if that can be called a principle which
sets individual Independence of spirit
at defiance) is that the world owes
every man a living; that of the second
is that the government owes a like ob
ligation to every citizen. Indolence
and envy are the handmaidens of these
two influences, and impudence is not
slow to join them in giving voice to
their complaints and demands, the
whole forming a trio that mocks at the
simple limitations of an individual in
dustry, that counts itself successful in
life If, by uniting with economy, it is
able to pay its cheerful, self-reliant
way and accumulate a modest fund
with which to meet the demands of
that inevitable, non-producing season,
the winter of life.
It has been the custom to regard
thrift and independence of this type as
almost exclusively; in this country, a
New England product, which does not
thrive in the transplanting. That it
exists in relatively a greater degree in
New England than in the West is no
doubt true. The New Englander who
visits relatives and friends who have
lived in the West some years is not in
frequently shocked by the absence of
the small economies in the homes of
working people and farm tenantry,
wherein, according to the ingrained
theory of New England life, the closest
scrutiny of the outgo should be main
tained. On the other hand, the resident
of the West, if not equally shocked at
what he considers the parsimony of his
Eastern relative, is not infrequently
disgusted with the latter's close calcu
lation of expenses. These things are,
in fact, the rule, and the terms, "New
England parsimony and Western prodi
gality," "New England thrift and West
ern shlftlessness," are used to desig
nate them. Representatives of the first
economy's most unlovely type are
described by Whittier, himself a thrifty
son of self-reliant New England
parents, as those who
"Save, as shrewd economists, their souls
and winter's pork"
With the least possible outlay of salt and
sanctity.
While those who sacrifice the homely
comforts of life to its tawdry trappings
present In the second the most pitiful
object lesson of prodigality.
The chasm between these two ex
tremes is a wide one. and of the many
stepping-stones that form the bridge
across it. self-reliance furnishes the
firmest foothold for a competency. He
1 who, when overtaken by misfortune.
grasps gratefully the hand that is ex
tended to aid him to get upon his feet,
and relinquishes it as soon as that ob
ject is accomplished, represents a
sturdy type of manhood that is not pe
culiar to any locality. Whether he
belongs to and is a part of a community
of rural New England, where a little
counts for much, or Is one of a com
munity in an isolated section of South
eastern Oregon, the half of whom was
swept away in a Christmas holocaust,
he represents a type of sturdy Ameri
can character that cannotbe undermined
by almsgiving, since It is fortified
against almstaking by a self-respect
which is its heritage.
AX EXCEPTOOXAIj OPPORTUNITY.
Should Oregon refuse to return Mr.
Dolph to the United States senate, it
would sacrifice a greater opportunity
for securing attention to its wants than
it ever had before or is likely to have
again.
Mr. Dolph has served twelve years
consecutively. His own abilities and
diligence, seconded by a rare combi
nation of circumstances, have given
him a foremost position in the senate;
so that, when committees are made up,
he will be entitled to positions and will
receive positions which no new senator
could obtain. Such, indeed, is his po
sition in the senate, and on the Impor
tant senate committees, now. As Sen
ator Frye of Maine remarked the other
day, Mr. Dolph's position on the sen
ate's committee of commerce Is worth
the senatorship to our state. No new
senator could get it, for seniority very
largely controls, and the new senator,
whatever his abilities, goes, so to speak,
to the foot of the class. Senator Frye
has visited Oregon and knows its pe
culiar wants; and what such a man
says on such a subject is a suggestion
of too much value to be dismissed with
out consideration.
Mr. Dolph has been very efficient in
securing legislation for our commercial
interests, and his position, if re-elected,
would give him opportunity to do more
than ever. Virtually, there is a line of
promotion in the United States senate.
It has its grades, and new senators
enter under the disadvantage of a usage
that has become the senate's unwritten
law. The new senator virtually is sub
jected to an apprenticeship, through
which he seldom passes in a single
term, and, unless the circumstances are
favorable and his own abilities excep
tional, often not in two. But Mr. Dolph
has overcome these hindrances, has
surmounted these obstacles, and now
stands in a position to render Oregon
better service than any senator hitherto
has had opportunity to perform.
The changes in the senate resulting
from the movements of parties have co
incided with the opportunities of Mr.
Dolph to come to the front in that body.
Division on party lines In the senate is
nearly equal, and Mr. Dolph stands in
the foremost rank on the republican
side. That place cannot be taken by
any new man sent to the senate. Sen
ators in continuous service from other
states would come to the front, getting
the positions of opportunity that only
Mr. Dolph can at this time command for
Oregon. Such an opportunity as Ore
gon now has, California or Washington
could not be induced to sacrifice, but
if Oregon should not return Mr. Dolph,
the senators from those states, among
others of longer service, would be en
titled to the positions of precedence
and opportunity which Oregon had
thrown away.
The election of a senator should be
considered only in the light of the pub
lic interests. It is but perfectly fair
to say that no one could at once take
Mr. Dolph's place in the senate. It is
no disparagement of the abilities of
others to say that they would be com
pelled to wait for and earn that oppor
tunity to serve the state which he has
won and holds. This consideration
alone should cause his re-election. We
are not saying that Mr. Dolph is the
only man able to represent Oregon, but
we are saying that he is the man who
now has an unusual and exceptional
opportunity to serve Oregon, and that
it is an opportunity that circumstances
may not again produce, and certainly
will not again produce for a long
period.
Mr. Henry Watterson is never so en
gaging as when he enters the confes
sional to recant his economic heresies.
In a late number of the Courier-Journal
he declares that for ten years he
has honestly and incessantly sought
to rehabilitate silver. But it has been
of no use. "Silver went steadily down.
Mistaken as we were from first to last,
our purpose was for the best, and we
have no reason to regret the earnest
effort we made. But we have reached
a point where, in our judgment, to go
further is to invite ruin. All that the
president says is well and truly said;
particularly what he says about silver.
If a free-coinage bill could pass into
law, it would expel gold from the coun
try. It would Mexicanize our currency.
It would not make money cheap, but
dear. It would not make money plenty,
but scarce. In a very little while its
authors would be engulfed by popular
odium." Mr. Watterson is a little in
advance of a great number of persons,
who would learn nothing from history
and experience; who could be convinced
only by the course of events. Mr. Wat
terson is the last of three editors of
considerable papers In the Middle West,
who thought they could temporize with
the silver craze, to learn his mistake.
Mr. Medill and Mr. Murat Halstead,
who were in the forefront of the silver
movement fifteen years ago, saw their
error in the practical operation of the
Bland law, and opposed not only free
coinage, but further extension of the
use of silver as money. Men like these,
with Intellectual standing and a consid
erable following, have done more in
jury to the national credit and to busi
ness interests, through their support of
false notions, than brainless fanatics
like Bland or selfish speculators like
Stewart, sfhey misled more than they
ever will be able to lead back to the
right course.
It does not seem possible that peace
In the Orient can be much longer de
layed. The Chinese, relatively poorly
equipped with fighting gear in the out
set, are rapidly being reduced to a state
of helpless barehandedness, which can
not stand for a moment before Krupp
guns or modern army rifles. The
ablest generals and admirals of the
army and navy have been beheaded by
the order of the emperor because they
allowed the army and navy of the "bar
barians" to defeat tham, and the emer
gency has brought forth no man from
among the empire's millions to direct a
wiser policy of defensive warfare. Some
fighting stuff has been discovered by
the sharp stress of battle, but no ade-
quate controlling force has been de -
veloped. Without! a navy, the entire
coast line of China is at the mercy of
Japan; without a well-disciplined, well
equipped army, the triple-walled city
of the emperor is at the mercy of the
plucky, victorious Japanese. As is
usual in all petty quarrels that develop
into fierce fights, the original cause of
the war is lost to sight, and if China,
now defenseless before her conquerer,
does not soon come to her knees with
a sincere plea for peace, she will be
thrown upon her face and rendered in
capable of rising. If the Universal
Peace Society has a mission in the
world, it should exercise it in the en
deavor to stop the useless carnage that
attends China's stubborn, hopeless re
sistance to the inevitable.
News comes from Washington that
many senators are competing for
Dolph's place on the committee on com
merce, which will become vacant should
he fall of re-election. Dolph is near
the head of this committee, and prob
ably would become chairman with the
succession of Frye to the chairmanship
of some more important committee
upon the reorganization of the senate
by the republicans two years hence.
This position is of more value than
any other in the senate to a young
state seeking federal appropriations
for improvement of waterways. No new
senator can aspire even to a place on
the committee. If Oregon shall reject
Dolph, the state will throw away an ad
vantage it has taken years to gain.
This Important position, with the in
fluence that goes with it, will pass to
some other Pacific coast state.
The annual conference of negroes at
Tuskegee, Ala., will meet under the
management of the Tuskegee normal
and industrial institute on the 20th of
the present month. The Tuskegee
school carries out the principles of
General S. C. Armstrong in regard to
the development of the negro race, and
embodies hi3 ardent and practical hu
manity. All the states of the "black
belt" will be represented at the confer
ence. An epitome of the progress made
by individuals of a race held so long
in bondage, which this conference will
present, will furnish gratifying evi
dence of the possibilities that the entire
race may realize through the patient
application of General Armstrong's
philosophy.
Large and somewhat obscure changes
are going on in the reserves of the New
York banks. The most considerable
change noted In the statement this
week is decrease of deposits, legal ten
ders and loans. This is connected with
the condition of the treasury, in which
legal tenders are piling up to take the
place of gold. But the gold does not
reappear In the banks. Clearly, it is
hoarded to be sold to the government
and then drawn out again with more
legal tenders.
We have meetings in Portland to con
sider all sorts of subjects; but a meet
ing of taxpayers to protest against re
duction of taxes is ahead of anything
yet. It is the height, the very top, the
crest unto the crest, of impudent pre
tense and factional effort.
The overdue steamers are coming into
New York one bygone. Modern marine
architecture is,adEa.tph for the severest
storm. Nothing but accident can over
come it
It seems that it is not possible to get
up much of a meeting in Portland to pro
test against reduction of taxes.
SOME CLERICAL ITE3IS.
Clerkships Xot Floating: Around iu
the Atmosphere.
Correspondence Pendleton Tribune.
Both of the daily papers of Pendleton
have accused me of holding a clerkship
at Salem. I am charitable enough to be
lieve that the statement was published in
good faith. Nevertheless, it is with con
siderable hilarity and a sawed-off lead
pencil that I refute the bold charge. I
have not a clerkship at Salem, never had
a clerkship at Salem, and have no desire
for a clerkship at Salem. If any one will
produce a clerkship of mine at Salem or
elsewhere I will gladly pay for the ex
pense of putting hobbles on it so it can
not get away. Clerkships are not floating
around in the Salem atmosphere so that
any one who wishes can knock one off
with a club. They are as evasive as a
will-o'-the-wisp , One great reason why
clerkships are ro scarce, and at the same
time so undesirable, is all on account of
the legislature having had a. spasm. Some
of the members thought that the clerks
ought to be hired at a rate of $2 50 to $3
per day. Now, when it comes down to
paying boys $2 50 per day for sweeping
out committee-rooms, cleaning spittoons,
etc., that wage may be all right, but a
great, big healthy ambidextrous clerk of
good moral reputation ought to be worth
more. Hence, the legislature, after back
ing and filling a number of times, put a
fair schedule for clerk hire into force,
and the work is being done satisfactorily.
There is more or-less odium attached to
having anything whatever to do with
some legislative assemblies, which will
be my excuse in this Instance for pranc
ing so gaily Into leaded brevier to allay
any suspicion that may have become in
trenched in the minds of Pendletonians
or others that I am now avariciously
grasping, or in the future will attempt to
enthusiastically grab at a large per diem
sinecure in the shape of a measly commit
tee clerkship. Yours, in pretty good spir
its. CHARLES A. MASKREY.
Whose Cleric Is She?
Jacksonville Times.
The story is out that Representative Jef
frey, who is chairman of the house com
mittee on rules and joint rules, has sup
plied himself with a female clerk, al
though there is nothing for her to do in
the ordinary line of business. It is also
reported that he had promised the posi
tion to a lady residing in this county,
who made things rather tropieal for
Johnny for awhile when she discovered
that another had captured the coveted
position. In justice to our representative
it Is said that he was given his chairman
ship upon the promise that he would ap
point a certain person as clerk of the
committee, which he did.
A Difference iu. the Morning:.
Toledo Ledger.
Some very funny things happen. Many
of our people remember the speech made
in this place by L. H. McMahan. of Seat
lem, and how he scored the clerks, and
particularly the lady clerks, of the last
session. Well. Mrs. aioaianan is a com
mittee clerk this session.
Time Frittered Away.
McMinnvllle Reporter.
But two weeks more remain of the leg
islative session. Little of consequence
has been accomplished, and perhaps there
would not be much to regret on that ac
count if the legislature should adjourn
tomorrow. But the danger Is that the
usual amount of legislation will be rushed
through during the expiring days, with
out proper consideration. The senatorial
squabble has ruined the prospect of any
very valuable legislation. There is no en
couraging prospect of getting that ami
cably settled, either. The factious minor
ity have shown utter Inability to agre
upon a candidate of their own,
and tney
! refuse to support a man who represents
the views of the majority. Whether they
will keep up their opposition to the extent
of denying the state representation in the
"United States senate, a few more days
will determine.. In that event it would
be another case of biting off the nose to
spite the face.
WHY SKCTEEX TO OXE?
Some or the A'airnries of the "Brevet
Populists Considered.
Tillamook Advocate.
The brevet populists are much put to
for an appropriate name for their creedal
idea, if it be an idea. They want some
thing catchy and yet not too long. They
tried "free silver" and caught a lot of
people who wanted silver bad enough,
with the idea that the precious metal
would be free like salvation. But the
reaction came, the dupes were disgusted
to find that free silver did not mean
money for the poor man, it meant cola
age for the mineowner.
"Then "free coinage of silver" was tried,
but we soon learned that this was an
entirely deceptive name, for no one can
ask for coinage to be more free than it
is at present, and no one objects to all
coinage being at the same nominal charge.
Next was "free and unlimited coinage of
silver," but this did not answer as a
rallying crj'i because no one cared wheth
er coinage was limited or not so long
as there are hundreds of millions of un
used silver dollars lying at the mint that
cannot be put in circulation.
"Now we have "unlimited coinage of
silver at a ratio of sixteen to one." That
displays the milk in the cocoanut; it is
the ratio of the silver value which con
cerns those who have silver to sell. All
the other talk was a mere blind. The sole
object of the movement is to enhance the
value of the product of the silver mine
owned by half a score of speculators.
These men can well afford to employ
writers and speakers to create a fictitious
sentiment in their favor; to rant about
the crime against silver, which is a high
sounding, but absolutely meaningless
phrase; to manufacture statistics to order
and to put assertions in the place of
proof, in order that their gains may be
increased.
But when our friends have finally set
tled on the fact that it is the 16-to-l ratio
for which they contend, let us inquire
why the value of silver should be fixed at
that point? Is an ounce of gold equivalents
in the market to 1G ounces of silver,
or is it more or less? For if silver is
worth that much, there is no law needed
on the subject, and if it is not worth that
much there is no law possible to make
it so.
The great rage just now is a little anon
ymous volume, with tables and statistics
by fictitious authors, which asserts and
pretends to prove that silver Is today In
trinsically worth more than 1-16 part of
gold. Now, Is it possible that there is a
man in the world who believes that sil
ver Is intrinsically worth about a dollar
and a quarter in gold per ounce and that
there is no mineowner nor a speculator
in the world that handles It at more than
half that rate? Either the men who pro
duce silver and sell It for GO cents are
fools, or else the men who prove it to be
worth $1 29 are very badly mistaken.
These missionaries of cheap money do
not appear to think silver is very valua
ble when they descant on the prosperity
to flow from having plenty of cheap money
for the railroads, factories and mills to
use in paying off their hands, but in the
next breath they will tell you that but for
the act of "demonetizing silver" it would
now be worth one to 154 or less.
Now, there never was an act of con
gress "demonetizing silver," No man can
find a word in any law which prohibits
or forbids silver being made into and
used as money. But on the contrary,
.since the passage of the law falsely called
by that name, the United States mints
have coined every year more silver than
had previously been coined in any 10
years in the history of the country.
Again, the mere fact that it is deemed
necessary to fix a ratio of value, shows
the futility of the position taken by the
"friends of silver." No one asks to have
the ratio of copper, tin or iron to gold
fixed by law of congress. These things
are regulated by the law of supply and
demand, and can be regulated in no other
way. But if it be contended that an act
of the legislature can raise the propor
tionate value of silver from 1-30 to 1-16,
why stop at that? He who can raise
the value of this important article, and
believes the people will be benefited by
doing so, has no excuse for stopping at
1G. He should go on to ten or eight, or
still less. Nay, the man who fails inten
tionally to raise the price of silver until
it equals gold is not a true "friend of
silver." Why should it be beggarly 16
to 1?
PERSOXS WORTH KXOWIXG ABOLT.
M. Barthlemy St Hilaire. who will be
90 this year, has just completed the biog
raphy of Victor Cousin.
Judge Geiger, a Kansas official in Phil
lips county, sentenced his son-in-law to IS
months in the penitentiary for burglary
recently.
The original deed for Harper's Ferry,
W. Va., is owned by Thomas B. Preston,
of Weverton, Washington county, Md.
The tract covers about 28 acres, and is
known in the deed as "Dear Bought"
Professor Telix Adler says that the art
of self-government is still in its infancy
among us, and he does not believe we are
In a position to trust the vast powers
socialism contemplates to those advanced
to office by popular elections. Socialism, if
workable, he holds, would be dangerous
to personal liberty.
Albert Chevalier, the London character
singer, has hitherto resolutely refused all
offers to render his songs in a private
house. When Lord Rothschild offered hira
60 guineas to sing a couple of ditties in his
drawing-room, he declined, and even when
Princess Louise sent a special messenger
to endeavor to secure his services for a
party at Kensington Palace he felt bound
to excuse himself.
Mrs. J. Pierrepont Morgan is interested
in several societies that labor for the
welfare of working girls, spiritually and
morally, and has personally been instru
mental in accomplishing a great deal of
good among them. Once a year Mrs. Mor
gan has them meet and socially enjoy
themselves at, her residence, on Madison
avenue, and, when she is not abroad, at
her beautiful country seat on the Hudson,
near West Point
An English officer (Lieutenant Homfray)
describes the appearance of Port Arthur
shortly after it was taken by the Jap
anese. "The scene in the town Is very
weird," he says. "Every house has been
broken into and smashed up. Every
thing worth taking has been taken, and
one sees Japanese soldiers and coolies
wallting about in Chinese shoes, with
loot in their hands. Horses, mules, don
keys, pigs and dogs are running about
the streets with no one to care for them,
the Japanese amusing themselves by
killing the pigs for ther food and riding
the horses, mules, and donkeys, for some
thing to do. The only Chinamen to be
seen alive are prisoners being made to
clear up their own dead and burn them.
Only CO Japanese have been killed and 230
wounded out of 10,0000."
THIS SEEMS TO BE ''SARKASM."
OLYMPIA. Feb. 0 (To the Editor.)
The editorials in the Fcst-Intelligencer in
dicate that upon financial questions it is
In line with the majority in all parties
In this state.
Events since the republican convention
at Spokane show that the leaders were
laggards and that The Oregonian and Se
attle papsr ware mistaken as to republi
can opinion upon free coinage of "Ameri
can" silver. Upon this question there is
practical unanimity In Washington.
In the same issue is a quotation with
out credit to other source roughly demand
ing the defeat of a senator In Oregon fa
voring an increase of gold liabilities. As
this can only tefer to Senator Dolph, it
Is not shared or approved by "silver" re
publicans here. The belief Is general that
the only hope of relief on financial ques
tions Is through the republican party, led
by the man from Maine, and that Senator
Dolph will represent the people of Oregon
and vote their sentiments upon finance
when he is fully advised what is desired.
A pledge to this extent only should be ex
acted from him, and will doubtless be
cheerfully given.
But if ho should decline to make pledges,
it should not prevent his election; as the
silver sentiment is now represented by
three member from Oregon, and It is
probable that until The Oregonian ac
quiesces in the Inevitable one-fourth of
the Oregon republicans will worship at the
golden shrine.
J. N. Dolph has been a credit to Oregon
in every station of life, standing up stur
dily for convictions, and only the assertion
made by himself would convince his
friends here that he would knowingly
misrepresent his state upon this great
issue. DANIEL GABY.
A XOSEGAY OF QCESTIOXS.
ALBANY, Feb. S. (To the Editor.)-I
should like to ask the following ques
tions concerning advanced education, the
cost of which seems to you to be an un
justifiable outlay, trusting they may be
coisidered rather pertinent than imperti
nent: Why should the rich man's son have
the only chance of its advantages? for
he only can afford to help his son to the
higher education at a distance from home.
What is the accident of birth that the
poor man's son should not be allowed
equal chances for his future in the bat
tle of life?
Is this inequality an American principle?
Why should not Oregon have this priv
ilege of glorying in her own sons, instead
of turning them adrift to win their laurels
In other states?
It is the instinct of a good father to
do all he can for the future welfare of his
children. Should it not be the province
of the state to help him in this endeavor?
ThegreatFrenchman Voltaire used to de
scribe some petty economies, as of "candle-ends."
Does not this state-economy
look like the same kind?
Is not the light (be it physical or men
tal) the first desideratum of life? Is it
therefore wise in a state to stint her sons
in the light of knowledge?
Sir John Lubbock ssys that to a na
tion "money spent on schools, libraries
and museums is rather an investment
than an expense"; would it therefore be
wise, from an economic point of view,
to shut down on advanced learning?
Oregon thinks herself able to afford
many expenditures far less for the gen
eral good than the few thousand dollars
asked to supplement and extend the re
sults gained for her by the appropria
tions of much greater amount made by
the general government
It seems to me that the theory of state
education should be to facilitate in all
possible ways the progress of the most
industrious and promising of the pupils
through the public schools, into the stato
institutions of the higher learning which
may be best adapted to the special bent
and qualities of the student. To regard
the functions of the state as stopping at
the limited and short course of the public
school is, in my idea, to decapitate the
structure we are all alike interested In
building up. L. A. N.
The sound theory of state education
limits its effort to the provision of com
mon school instruction for the children of
all the people. Whenever this limit is
transcended, the bounty of the state Is
enjoyed by a limited number, growing
smaller with every advance of grade un
til, in the state university, the recipients
are reduced to a very small privileged
class. This is rank state favoritism.
. CKEDAT JUDAEUS APELLA. .. -
PORTLAND, Feb. 9. (To the Editor.)
As a personal friend of ex-Mayor Mason
(but opposed to him politically), I desire to
respectfully protest against the assertion
contained in the leading editorial of this
morning's Oregonian, wherein it is inti
mated that he promised, when elected
mayor of this city, he would not accept
the salary attached to the office. To my
personal knowledge, these are the facts:
While mayor of this city, Mr. Mason,
through personal inquiry in relation to
such cases, and during a period of gen
eral business depression, came iu contact
with a large number of needy families
of the pcorer class, residing among us.
At great expense to himself, he privately
distributed large quantities of provisions
and groceries among them, and as is well
known to our citizens, publicly donated
a carload of flour for distribution among
the poor.
It was owing to these demands upon
hit private purse that he drew his salary
and disposed of it according to his in
clination In the bestowal of charity. God
bless him! He neither "kicked" at reduc
ing his salary, nor asked that it be raised.
BEN L. NORDEN.
And yet The Oregcnian can see no good
reason why the firm of Mason, Ehrman &
Co. should protest against charter amend
ments necessary for reduction of taxation,
and head with its name, at the solicitation
of members of the common council, a pe
tition for a meeting to give voice to such
protest. If we are to ask the consent
of the officials, there never will be reduc
tion of salaries and taxes. We shall not
discuss the ex-mayor's charities.
A VERY CLEAR DIFFEREXCE.
For consistency The Oregonian is a
jewel. That paper is now going into hys
terics over the action of certain republi
cans in bolting the caucus and opposing
Senator Dolph's re-election. Twelve years
ago tills winter this same paper denounced
the caucus and commended the bolters in
their opposition to John H. Mitchell, who
had received the caucus nomination, the
result of the bolt being that J. N. Dolph
was brought forward and elected United
States senator and Mitchell was defeated.
It makes all the difference in the world
with H. W. Scott as to whose ox is being
gored. Oregon City Enterprise.
This could have been written only in
the spirit of intentional misrepresentation.
The members who opposed Mr. Mitchell
12 years ago never entered the caucus,
and held the position from the first and
throughout, in which they were supported
by The Oregonian, that they could not
be bound by a caucus which they had de
clined to enter. The present case Is wholly
different. All the members entered the
caucus, participated in it, did not dissent
from the result; and good faith required
them to abide the result Only upon the
principle cf men keeping their engage
ments can thsre be any such thing as
faith, co-operation and human society.
SHOULD BE IXVESTIGATED.
PORTLAND, Feb. 9 (To the Editor.)
For years, and particularly during the
last three years, it has been commonly
talked that those engsged in public gam
bling in this city were receiving "protec
tion" from the officers of the law. Some
persons ventured to even state the amount
of the monthly stipend received for this
"protection," and yesterday Senator Mc
Ginn is reported to have said that "the
district attorney receives 520,000 a year,
and a part of thi3 meney he last year
received from the gambling trust of Port
land." Here is a direct charge against the dis
trict attorney, and it is a very serious
one and should receive attention and be
investigated. This Is Infamous, if true.
And the charge is Infamously made, if
untrue. And if it is true, it is very easy
for the district attorney to meet his part
of the expenses necessary to maintain an
army of workers at Salem.
J. P. CANUTE.
SETVS OF THE XORTHWEST.
Oregon.
There are five cases of diphtheria in
Forest Grove.
Newton Syron committed suicide at
Balls ton Thursday.
A movement is on foot at Eugene to
build a good courthouse.
The sawmill at Moorcsville, after an Idle
ness of ceveral months, has resumed work.
The new gymnasium of the Willamette
university at Salem was dedicated Friday
night
Two young men at Talent have been
fined $5 each for placing red pepper on a
stove.
Friday the number of patients in the
state Insane asylum reached 1001 for the
first time.
Four hundred Eagle valley cattle were
shipped the past week from Baker City
to Seattle.
Lincoln county and the citizens of Elk
City are jointly rebuilding the bridge at
the latter place.
A petition Is being freely signed at
Huntington to have that town annexed
to Malheur county.
Centerville and Greenville have been
engaged in a rivalry for a creamery, and
the former ha3 been successful.
The residence of James Newport, at
Hllisboro, was burned Tuesday night
The alarm caused a panic at the opera
house that came near being disastrous.
W. W. Masterson. of Cottage Grove, has
sued the Southern Pacific for 55000 for not
stopping the train at Henderson station,
compelling him to jump off. fracture his
wrist and otherwise injure himself.
On Friday night of last week the store
of A. L. Cornwall at Woodburn was
broken Into and rifled of two gold watches,
10 gold rings, four gold chains and six
charms. Entrance was effected through
the back door by taking out a panel and
removing the night latch.
Landlord Price, at Newberg, would like
to know something of the whereabouts of
the stranger Stevens, who was in town
last week claiming to have the ready cash
with wheh to buy just such a tract of
land as he wanted. Just enough to settle
his board bill will satisfy Mr. Price.
William N. McCulloch, familiarly known
as Grandpa McCulloch, died at his home
in Ten Mile, Douglas county, Thursday
morning, aged SG years and 10 months. He
was a. native of Tennessee and came to
Oregon in 1S33 from Iowa, raising a fam
ily of 11 children, seven of whom survive
him and are respected residents of this
state.
Wiutliineton.
The commissioners of Whitman county
have scaled down the salary of deputies
in the county offices 20 per cent
A petrified toad has been found imbedded
in a ro;k S00 feet below the surface of
the ground in the Newcastle coal mine.
The divorce mill at Seattle ground
through a grist of seven cases Friday
without breaking any of the machinery.
There have been two highway robberies
in the vicinity of North Yakima lately,
and the robbers are being looked for dili
gently by the officers.
Word has been received from Jay
Graves and P. H. Winston, in New York,
that they have practically succeeded in
placing the Ellensburg irrigation bonds.
Senator F. G. Deckebach says he will
shortly form a company to work the newly-patented
machines built to extract the
gold from the black sand on the Gray's
harbor- beach. The first machine has
worked to his satisfaction, separating the
gold at an expense of IS to 20 cents per
ton of sand. Th- sand contains from 25
cents to several dollars' worth of gold
per ton.
The Yakima tribe of Indians contem
plateholdingan election in the near future
for the purpose of chocsing a head chief.
Young Kodian, son of the late Kotiakin,
will probably be chosen. He is 22 years
of age, of good size and carriage, and
wears his., blanket like a prince of the
royal blood. Indians s&yxif at. 'iPiiBiB ae"
lected, the coming- pom-pom, dances will
be' conductsd" with unusual vigor and
pomp.
Gilbert Landre is trapping around Per
ley's place, 13 miles up the Cascade river
from Marble mountain. Starting to a
string of his traps a few days ago, he
came upon a man's tracks, which he fol
lowed for some miles, until he came to a
bare spot on the mountain, where the
footprints W3re lost. The tracks led
around in such a manner that he came to
the conclusion that the person was either
lost or dem2nted. He came down to make
inquiries, but there was no person missing
from this side, and on being told that
William McKeever was missing from his
cabin on the other side of the range,
Landre at once concluded that the tracks
were made by the missing man.
PARAGRAPHERS' PLEASAXTRTES.
Policeman Move on, now! Street Boy
(after reaching a safe distance) Yer
needn't a-beea scared. I wasn't watchin
yeh. Street & Smith's Good News.
Farm3r Oatcake (in hotel) D'ye call this
'ere rope a fire escape? Bellboy Yassir.
Farmer Oatcake (resignedly) Waal, I
s'pose hangia is an easier death than
burnin. Harper's Bazar.
Little Regie I don't b'lieve the Lord
cares a cent for gooa boys. Fond Mother
Horrors! What put that idea Into your
head? Little Regie He hardly ever makes
good boys strong enough to lick bad boys.
Good News.
Deacon Grabhard Rev. Du Goode says
he doesn't believe in raising money by
church fairs, ruppers, concerts, and lotter
ies. Deacon Pinchpenni Hum! He's alto
gether too conscientious for a minister.
New York Weekly.
A dry goods merchant in town gets a
good trade because he charges laces and
ribbons on the dry goods bills as red
flannel. Husbands will pay red flannl
bills without a murmur, and wives know
it Atchison Globe.
Mrs. Minks Have you filled the. parlor
lamp? Domestic I guess it don't need fill
in', ma'am. "The parlor was in use last
evening until nearly midnight" "Yes,
ma'am, but your daughter's young man
was the only caller." New York Weekly.
The new woman is now. to be found every
where. At least that is what we are told;
But it isn't quite new, go to the ballet
and you
Will find all the women still old.
Buffalo Courier.
The Weather Man Are the people on the
streets dressed as though they were pre
pared for a mild day? His Office Boy
Yessir. The Weather Man (chuckling)
Then just reach for that cold-wave valve
and send her down to 15 below. Chicago
Record.
Mrs. Spritt (vigorously shaking her
sleeping spouse) John! John! There's a
burglar in the house! Mr. Spratt (protest
ing) See her, Jianda! If, Instead of
shaking the life out of me, you'd go and
shake that burglar, you'd be doing some
good. New York Weekly.
Little Johnny I prayed for good skating
and we got plenty of Ice, but it has
snowed just enough to spoil It Little
Sthel That's too bad. Little Johnny It's
a outrage. I'm goln' over to the coastin
hill to lick the boy that prayed for snow.
Street & Smith's Good News
She caught his eye in passing, that
woman sweet and shy,
He found it most harassing
Wnen his eye was caught in passing;
'Twa3 the ferrule of her 'brella that had
caught him in the eye.
Harper's Bazar.
A Golden. Fnd.
Riddle Enterprise.
Since Cow creek has receded, it has be
come quite a fad of the ladles of oui
town to take the gold pan and shovel on
these bright days and wash out gold from
the crevices in the bedrock along the
creek. Our compositors took a half-day
off this week and came in with several
fine colors. Thus far, Mrs. C E. Bogue
and Miss Annie Bogue have been the most
successful, having securedvabout 25 cntj
on one occasion. Some 1t the dust ob
tained is as large as a kcrnal of wheat