THE SUNDAY OREGOJSflAN, POKTIAND, JANUARY- 7, 1900.
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PORTLAJTD, SUNDAY, JAN. 7,
MOODY AND BEECHER.
At a recent meeting of Plymouth
church, Dr, Lyman Abbott, who was
present for the first time since his re
tirement from the pastorate, said that
Mr. Moody was the greatest evangelist
of his time, and that he did more than
any other man to make people study
and stand by the Bible. Dr. Hillis, the
present pastor, announced that the fif
tieth anniversary of the beginning of
Henry "Ward Beecher's pastorate would
be the first Sunday in January, and a
committee at his suggestion was ap
pointed to arrange for its celebration.
Today, therefore, Plymouth church,
which honors the memory of Moody,
win hold formal services in memory of
Henry "Ward Beecher, who stood for
something that Moody was not, viz., a
very able and eloquent pulpit orator,
but not a great evangelist.
The difference between Moody and
Beecher was not chiefly one of educa
tion and training. It was a spiritual, if
not a moral difference; for Beecher
never rose even to the high level of
that highly educated preacher, Ph illips
Brooks, as a true evangelist In spite
of his very great and versatile talents,
Beecher was a comparative failure,
measured by the rare quality of such
men as "Wesley, Channing, Parker,
Moody and Phillips Brooks, because his
soul was never absolutely sunk in his
spiritual and ethical work. He could
construct a very powerful, impressive
and popular sermon, but that is some
thing that may involve purely intellec
tual, not spiritual energy- His rest
lessness under his pastoral burdens
showed this. He was willing to play,
in fact loved to play, the part of a
dramatic pulpit orator, but it "was re
pulsive to him to be a pastor.
"No man whose soul Is in his holy
calling, If his bodily health is not seri
ously broken, consents to separate the
preacher from the pastor. If Beecher1
had been a man of true evangelical
moral genius, like Wesley, Channing,
Parker and PhilHps Brooks; if he had
been a man with not only an intellec
tual, but a spiritual, title to stand in
the pulpit, he would have deemed the
pastoral work of his calling as noble
and worthy employment for his per
sonal influence and moral energies as
heating irons for every popular politi
cal or social watchfire from Maine to
Oregon. He was not a man with a
spiritual message in his mouth. His
nature was not, spiritually, as abso
lutely pure and unselfish as that of
Parker, Brooks or Moody, and there
fore those who speak in his praise to
day cannot truthfully claim Beecher
ever to have risen to their lofty level
of evangelical work and influence.
Beecher, to do him justice, was a
stronger thinker, a greater orator, an
abler theological controversialist, than
any of these men, but he was not so
great an evangelist. He would have
enjoyed the field of politics as heartily
as he did that of the pulpit, but the
evangelists we have named would have
behaved like fish out of water in any
other work than that oFthe self-denying
pastor and evangelist
It seems to us that this memorial cel
ebration of the fiftieth anniversary of
the beginning of Beecher's pastorate
"will only serve to obtain from the pub
lic press a reiteration of the judgment
pronounced upon Beecher's remarkable
career when it was closed by death in
1B87, viz., that he had lost the spiritual
confidence of the leading clergymen of
his own -denomination and of the fair
minded public slowly but steadily after
his famous trial in 1875 ended in dis
agreement of the jury. After that
event Beecher never recovered the con
fidence of that portion of the public
who do not go to church for amuse
ment; who do not regard a church as
a sort of sanctified theater or opera
house; who do not go to church to be
dazzled by a display- of pujjpit dramat
ics, but who go there-'for -humble and
devout worship, for spiritual illumina
tion and refreshsaent. The Rev. Dr.
torrs, the BV. Dr. "William M. Tay
lor and the Rev. Dr. Budington
were sincerely persuaded, of Beecher's
moral unfitness to stand in a Christian
pulpit, and they refused fellowship
with him from the day that the testi
mony of the great trial was given to
the public
Behind these clergymen stood a
tremendous force of public opinion.
Beecher -resisted his fate with a
courage, an art and an energy that
extorted admiration even from those
who believed him guilty, or at least
were doubtful of his innocence. As a
great actor who thrills a theater, as a
great orator "Who extorts applause,
Beecher was an 'unquestionable force to
the end of his days, but he missed the
support of those who had once valued
him in the confidential and delicate re
lation of a great pastor and spiritual
guide. After the trial of 1874-75, he was
nothing but a great ship wrestling with
a great storm; he fired his guns; he
sent up his rockets to the skies; he
displayed stout and skillful seaman
ship, but in spite of all his efforts his
church drifted nearer the breakers and
his strong hand was not able to make
her successfully ride the seas. While
his intellect was as efficient, his energy
as remarkable as ever, his influence
dwindled down to comparatively small
proportions. He "was kinsr only in the
local Lilliput of Plymouth church,
where once He had been -amongth?e,
most conspicuous of the nation's moral
and spiritual leaders.
A POSSIBLE SOLUTION.
The impressive thing about the
Gametree engagement, as with other
recent episodes, Is the withering, dev
astating, annihilating fire of the Boers.
Esprit du corps is comparatively profit
less when a brief display of it results
only in a massacre so frightful that
hostilities are suspended to facilitate
the labors of Bed Cross forces, while
friend and foe gather over the heaps
of lacerated corpses and still breathing
forms, to recriminate over the charac
ter of weapons and missiles used. The
possibility of speedy repetition of this
sort of thing is very distinct. If the
British forces are to persist in press
ing forward to Dadysmith, Kimberley
and Mafeking, they can only win after
just such decimating assaults as these
latest ones, indecisive where they have
not been worse. The Boers have the
three-fold to six-fold advantage of the
entrencheti defense. Their lines are so
widely fortified, and their mobility is
so great, that the approved device of
flanking seems to have lost any mean
ing it once bore. In order to have ul
timate victory, there must be more
Gametrees, more Modder Rivers, more
Tugela fords.
Nobody doubts that the British em
pire is abundantly able to keep up this
sort of thing; but contemplation of the
fearful price that must be paid for any
considerable forward movement will
certainly set public sentiment in Eng
land to thinking whether after all there
is not some-better way to Pretoria than
wading knee-deep in British blood.
Cessation of hostilities and mediation
would be one way, but it is obviously
not to be thought of, not because of
what the Transvaal is, but because of
what the empire is. A long delay, with
slow advance at length of overwhelm
ing numbers with superior artillery
would do, but not for this either is
British sentiment in any mood. There
is a way easy and decisive, and that is
through occupation and use of Delagoa
bay. This would almost end the war;
for it would afford an easy march into
the heart of the enemy's country and
it would draw the Bpers away from
their present fortified positions. The
wonder is that the coup has not already
been tried.
The relations between Great Britain
and Portugal are of the closest. The
latest treaty between the two powers
has never been officially promulgated,
but it is known to bind Britain to re
establish Portugal financially, as she
has already done with Egypt and Slam,
and to this end to administer certain
of Portugal's outlying estates, Delagoa
bay being one of them. It is even be
lieved in diplomatic circles that stip
ulations of the unratified treaty of 1879
were enacted, giving to England the
right to embark and disembark troops,
stores and munitions of war at Lorenzo
Marquez, an eitheirto keep fhemjthere
Gr else to convey them across Portu
guese territory to any point desired. It
is not difficult to believe that German
assent to and co-operation with this
treaty has been secured with Emperor
William, at recent conferences, inas
much as the Delagoa railroad line to
Pretoria is an altogether German en
terprise, and King Carlos of Portugal is
a'scion of theGerman sovereign house
of Coburg and comprises among his
titles the German one of Duke of Sax
ony. If these understandings of treaty
and German friendship are correct, the
most feasible way to end the Boer "War
is to occupy Delagoa bay in trust for
Portugal, and take the straight road
for Pretoria,
Why, then, hesitate? The most prob
able explanation is that the move
would precipitate hostile action else
where on the part of France and Rus
sia, for which England is not yet .fully
prepared. Lord Salisbury said last
spring that within eighteen months the
British public would be as familiar
with the geography of the Persian gulf
as with that of the English channel.
The Persian gulf is where Russia
craves a harbor, and toward which her
Afghanistan movements and plans are
directed. As to France, she will strike
wherever opportunity offers, when the
time comes, chiefly with a view to re
couping herself through Morocco for
losses in Egypt and the Soudan. Great
Britain went to war with the Boers un
prepared, but she will be ready before
she throws down the gauntlet to
France and Russia, Of the result there
need be no doubt. Continental coali
tions against England are easily
formed, but at the final banquet they
occupy, not the chairs at table, but the
platters on the board.
THE LIGHT CUBE.
The world always lends attentive ear
to the discoveries of medical science,
especially those that promise to eradi
cate all the ills to which human flesh
Is heir by new, cheap and heretofore
untried means. The blue-glass cure,
the red-room cure and the barefoot
cure, may be cited as recent and famil
iar examples of this fact. It is true
that all of these and many more so
called cures have had their day as fads,
to be abandoned even by the most cred
ulous, but the world still hopes for the
genuine panacea for all human ills, and
if not actually seeking, is ready to find.
The latest claimant to this eagerly
sought boon 4s Dr. Finsen, of Copenha
gen, who proposes to cure all manner
of diseases by the scientific use of light
natural and artificial. In proof of his
ablltiy to apply this "offspring of
heaven, first-born," to the eradication
of disease, he cites a multitude of
cases wherein he has applied it suc
cessfully. If we had nothing but the doctor's
word for it, supplemented by testimoni
als from those who profess to have
been "cured," we might pass the mat
ter by as illustrating the vagaries of
another crank and his dupes. But Mr.
LauritisS. Swenson, United States min
ister to Denmark, takes pains to vouch
for the respectability of Dr. Finsen,
and confirms the report of remarkable
cures effected by him, adding that emi
nent physicians in Copenhagen Indorse
the new discovery. The cure is based
upon the alleged wonderful medical
properties of light. By concentrating
the light rays upon the parts of the
body affected, it Is found that certain
changes are produced, and experiment
has led the Copenhagen doctor to be
lieve that he can fit the light in a
curative degree to every form of dis
ease. Some ailments require the white
light of the sun; others yield to the
scorching properties of electric light;
others are conquered by the color rays,
and so on. The discoverer claims to
have successfully treated smallpox by
the red light. More than 350 cases of
lupus vulgaris, he. says, have been
cured by the white and violet rays,
while there are other formula for treat
ing erysipelas, scarlet fever, etc., etc.
Many physicians believe in the- power
of light over disease, but the -recorded
cases of cures through its agency are
neither numerous nor startling. The
blue-glass craze of some years ago is
well remembered, butv as far as the
records show, no sick person was- ever
really cured by it. The memory of that
sensation, and of many similar experi
ences, will make the general public
skeptical of the light cure, though pro
claimed from and indorsed in high
places. The truth in regard to all of
these cures, when the truth has been
reached, seems to be that the persons
"cured" were of the large class of" im
aginary invalids whose relief was ac
complished by the simple process of
giving them something to think about
besides themselves. In other words,
there was nothing the matter with
them, and nothing, attractively named;
accomplished their "cure."
TRADE OF TWO HARBORS.
The government printing offiee at
Washington has just turned out a neat
little brochure entitled "Annual Report
of the Supervising Special Agent of the
Treasury Department for the Fiscal
Tear Ended June 30, 1899." This publi
cation contains some very interesting
facts and figures, touching on the rela
tive Importance of Portland and Puget
sound as importing points. By sub
tracting the net results shown by these
official figures from the Tacoma har
bormaster's "official report," it becomes
an easy matter to ascertain how large
a proportion of wind and padding is
contained in the figures which the city
on Commencement bay has been send
ing out to the world. The aggregate
receipts of the Puget sound district,
which includes Seattle, Tacoma, Port
Townsend and half a dozen other
smaller ports, for the fiscal year end
ing June 3&, 1839, were $330,655 23. The
cost of collection of this sum was 28.8
cents per dollar. The aggregate re
ceipts for the district of the Willam
ette, which consists of the port of
Portland, for the year mentioned, were
$403,513 93, and the cost of collection
was 14.2 cents per dollar less than one
half the expense attached to collecting
a much smaller amount on Puget
sound. These figures are a true index
of the commerce of the ports men
tioned, for they represent actual im
portations by the merchants of the
cities on Puget sound and at Portland,
and not the "in transit" shipments,
which have no further bearing on Pa
cific coast commerce than the few dol
lars disbursed to laborers who truck
the freight from steamer to car. While
the figures for the last fiscal year show
Portland well in the lead of all Puget
sound ports combined, even these
highly satisfactory figures will be ex
celled by those for the current fiscal
year, as the importations to date are
far ahead of those for a corresponding
date last year.
The exports from Puget sound ports
make a worse showing proportionately
than the imports. As no export duty
is paid on anything shipped foreign
from the Pacific Northwest, this mat
ter is not taken up in the special
agent's report mentioned. Some light
Is thrown on this matter, however, by
the West Coast Trade, a weekly com
mercial paper printed at Tacoma. In
its issue of December 28 this paper
printed on the first page, In big, black
type, a list of six steamers which had
sailed from Tacoma during November
and December. These steamers and
the value of the cargo accredited to
each were as follows: St. Irene, $327,
434; City of Dublin, $210,670; Brecon
shire, $200,887; Energia, $203,938; Ta
coma, $118,898; Glenogle, $218,817; total,
$1,280,644. The same issue of the paper
contains copies of the manifests of the
Tacoma and Glenogle, in detail, but not
of the other steamers. The total value
of the two cargoes mentioned is $337,715;
but, of this amount, the value of Wash
ington or Oregon products or manufac
tured goods is but $55,019, or 16 per cent
of the total value of the cargoes. The
remaining four vessels, whose mani
fests are not available, probably show
the same proportion, so that the actual
value of the exports manufactured or
produced in the Northwest, as shipped
from. Tacoma on six steamers during
the two months, was but $204,903 04.
Portland was hampered in securing
freight space on the steamers during
November and December, and the total
value of the cargbes of the three steam
ers, Monmouthshire, Thyra and Aber
geldie, sailing from this port during
that period, was but $405,106. In
strange contrast to the shipments on
the Puget sound line, however, the ex
ports of commodities produced in Ore
gon or Washington were valued at
$286,391 76, or more than 70 per cent of
the total value of everything shipped
on the steamers. In other words, but
16 per cent of the value of the exports
by way of Puget -sound ports is drawn
through the channels of trade in the
territory tributary to Tacoma, while 70
per cent of the value of the Portland
exports arises from Oregon and Wash
ington, making its influence felt in
every, branch of business. Of course,
the 25 or 30 cents per ton paid for load
ing on board the steamers the cotton
and iron from the East is felt to a cer
tain extent in a small place like Ta
coma, but it is insignificant when com
pared with the amount of money put in
circulation by the actual business of
supplying cargoes for ships, as well as
loading them aboard.
FROM THE BRIDE'S PARENTS, A
COW.
An industrious young rancher of Sur
prise valley, in Lake county, was re
cently wedded to a yqung woman of
Modoc county, California. The list of
gifts to the couple appears in the Lake
view Examiner, and is headed with "a
fine cow, presented by the parents of
the bride." This may appear a trifle
grotesque to young people of aimless
life, who have never earned a dollar
nor, engaged in a productive calling;
but to a couple just setting up foe
themselves, out on the frontier, where
work muBt be the pdrtion of both, the
gift of a good cow is better than jewels
or plate. (
It is a reminder, too, of the condi
tions in the Willamette valley fifty
years ago, when honest men and noble
women started in their married life un
der circumstances similar to those
which circumscribe the distant cabin
in Surprise valley. From those early
pioneer homes have come the influences
which have made the state of Oregon
its reputation for probity and stability.
Their hardy children, reared under
rude conditions which made them in
dustrious and frugal, have entered, all
the walks of life and. are effective fac
tors in the state's development. To
their callings they have brought re
spect ,for- the. dignity of work and re
gard for the obligations ot professional
life, which is likely to be unsurpassed
by men and women who have never
known the stimulus of want nor felt
the spus ot poverty.
From its- humbler homes the nation
has drawn its ablest presidents, great
est generals, profoundest statesmen.
The future will likely duplicate the
past. The highest places are still to be
conquered by energy and capacity. The
child of Surprise valley still has the
chance to rank the child of Gotham.
May happiness abide with the young
couple who courageously take up the
burdens of life on the frontier; may
theyrealize that there is no limit to tho.
station which children of America may
reach through ambition and endeavor;
may unselfish love make bright their
primitive home; and may they enjoy
to the full the common-sense gifts of
practical friends, who fitly aid them
with donations adapted to the needs of
a new country and industrious people.
RAILROADS AND TEMPERANCE RE
FORM. Temperance effort of the aggressive,
persistenttype, to which the mind com
monly reverts when reference is made
to the temperance movement, is wont
to credit itself with whatever change
for the "better is noted in the charac
ter for sobriety of men holding respon
sible places in the great world of work.
Without .detracting or seeking to de
tract from the results in this field of
endeavor of the painstaking, often self
sacrificing, labor that has been per
formed by self-styled, widely adver
tised temperance advocates, and the
movements that they have Inaugurated
and carried forward, thoughtful, ob
servant persons cannot fail to note the
practical value of educational work,
unadvertised as such, but broadly salu
tary that has followed along regular
business lines. Take, for example, the
educative work that has, unconsciously,
in connection with the specific duty
with which, they have charged them
selves, been done by the railroads in
the cause of temperance during the
past quarter or third of a century.
It is recalled by persons whose mem
ories go back to the railroad era in its
beginnings, that the first service on the
railroads was not seldom, performed by
conductors and brakemenand even by
engineers, more or less under the in
fluence' of intoxicants. The public
safety was, however, in the balance,
and the financial interests of the rail
road companies demanded the service
Of careful men, which means, first of
all, habitually sober men. About 1865,
or soon thereafter, the railroads began
to exact rules that no employe, front
highest to lowest, should use intoxi
cants. Hundreds of men, whose hab
its were fixed, were forced into retire
ment, and the men' stepping into the
vacant plaees knew upon what rule of
conduct their tenure of employment de
upended. The rule has been generally
enforced, so that now every road of any
importance in the country will prompt
ly discharge an employe who indulges
in drinking. Railroad service requires
dependable men; the drinking man is
like the mildly or periodically insane
man, in that it is impossible to tell
when he will become irresponsible for
'his conduct. His elimination, there
of orer from, the .working forqe of a busi
ness that holds such possibilities of dis-
aster to life and property became nec
essary. The educative force of this demand
upon American labor was of vast im
portance. It was temperance education
of the most radical and practical kind,
though it did not take up the cudgels
in the 'name of prohibition, or even of
temperance. The fact is conceded that
liquor-drinking disqualifies a man for
a position, however competent he is in
all other respects for the discharge of
its duties, in which his behavior con
cerns the public safety. Moreover, it is
an ecpnomic law, the force of which
is universally recognized, that a great
business corporation cannot afford to
employ even, moderate drinkers. It fol
lows that, if great enterprises are thus
compelled to safeguard their interests,
the lesser must do so; hence the elim
ination, practically speaking, of the
drunkard and the drinking man from
responsible, industrial life. Temper
ance effort in direct lines cannot do
more than this to reform, or, better
still, to form, the habits of a large and
growing class of American workmen.
Whether they have gone as far in this
direction is a matter of opinion which
since statistics do not bear upon the
subject it is unprofitable to discuss.
"LETTING OUT THE BELT.
mi. i- I- i j iitw,lrtJie "bimetalism" of Windy William
The Rev. Mr. Ackerman say tflgWqir , lM allwM. mmnmu
"the liberal church is one of the small
est in the country today." In the
technical sense that the Unitarian
or the Universalist church is not
large in numbers, Mr. Ackerman is
right, but in the sense that the old
time orthodox churches have been
obliged to "let out their belts ' a num
ber of holes, lie is altogether wrong.
Sixty years' ago a literal hell was uni
versally preached with all the fervor
if not with the eloquence of Jonathan
Edwards. The damnation of unbap
tized infants was preached from the
rustic pulpits of New England. Sixty
years ago there was no toleration of
such heretics as Professor McGiffert,
upon whose clement treatment the Rev.
Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke congratulates
himself.
Sixty years ago did the Protestant
Episcopal church tolerate the presence
of such heretics as Heber Newton, Rev.
Dr. Rylance, and. other prominent
clergymen of- New York city? Were
there any "professors" tolerated in
Methodist or Baptist pulpits or theo
logical schools who were directly or in
directly evangelists of the "higher bib
lical criticism"? The truth Is that the
pulpit' of the Congregational church
from Chicago to Boston, from Buffalo
to Baltimore, is more "liberal" in its
teachings than the Unitarian church
was when Dr. Channing was at the
height of his fame, from 1825 to 1840.
Fifty years ago it was a common thing
in the Congregational pulpit in New
England to hear solemn sermons, long
drawn out, against dancing; sermons
which their authors laugh at today.
The growth of the "liberal faith" is
found in the vast liberalization of the
old-time hidebound orthodox churches.
They have been obliged to choose be
tween death or letting out their doc
trinal and disciplinary belts a number
of holes. It was a choice between
larger religious liberty or denomina
tional death. The article of The Ore
gonian is: described by Mr. Ackerman
as a statement without argument; the
statement is true, and to that extent is
an impregnable argument.
The so-called orthodox: church lives
only because it has been sagacious
enough to let out its belt, and thus, re
tain its clientage. It was compelled
to breathe with more freedom or burst.
Is not the Congregational pulpit of to
day, which includes Lyman Abbott,
nearer Channing and even Theodore
Parker than it is to Jonathan Ed
wards, or even Lyman Beecher?
THE RECORD OF DIVIDENDS.
How the East draws its wealth from
the whole country, and very largely
from the West, is shown by publication
of the January dividends, in Eastern
papers. Here, for example, is the Hart
ford Courant. It presents this sum
mary of disbursements for January
dividends by corporations of Hartford:
Railroads S 167,500 00
Banks . 245.700 00
Fire Insurance companies CO7.5O0 00
Life insurance companies- 178,500' 00
Manufacturing' companies 205,408 74.
Miscellaneous 00,760 00
Total , $1,044,308 74
Hartford, be it observed, is but a
small city, and the dividends paid there
are but trifling compared with those
paid at Boston and New York, Smaller
cities, like Fall River, Worcester, Prov
idence and Newark; large cities like
Philadelphia and Baltimore, report div
idends whose totals are astonishing.
But, astonishing as they are, "they are
much smaller," says the Boston Her
ald, "than the actual payments on this
account." For, as the Herald explains,
there are a great many close corpora
tions whose disbursements on account
of dividends are not given out, and
which, consequently, do not figure in
the published exhibits.
Those January payments of which we
have a record represent the earnings
of the railways, the banking Institu
tions, the manufacturing and commer
cial establishments, and the great ma
jority of the corporations that . have
shared in the phenomenal prosperity
that has attended all the prudently
managed departments of business dur
ing the year Just closed. These pay
ments are the best possible evidence of
the soundness of the business situation
throughout the country. At the same
time they give an intimation of the ex
tent to which the industry of the whole
country, and especially of the West and
South, pays tribute to the capital of
the East, whose vast accumulations
control and direct the business of the.
continent. It is this vast mass of capi
tal, established in business, with profits
assured from connections with all parts
of the country, that renders it practi
cally impossible to start manufactur
ing enterprises, or industrial and com
mercial undertakings that 'require capi
tal, in the states where everything is
yet new, where there is but little ac
cumulation of capital, where population
is sparse and where knowledge of the
conditions necessary to success is.
wanting,, and can only be had. by ex
perience gained through tentative ef
fort, which will always mean waste
and loss before results can be gained.
NEVER WEARY OF BREATH.
It is still a cry of "Scissors! scissors!
scissors!" with Windy "William. Still
he shouts for "bimetalism" at "16 to
1." But each of these terms excludes
the other. It would be as rational to
cry for "hot Ice." A colored pie-vender
on the street was crying his wares
"hot pies!" A customer bought one
and found it frozen. "You rascal!" he
exclaimed, "you said this was a hot
pie." ''Dat's all right, boss," was the
answer, "dat's de name ob de pie." So
Windy William gives his 16-to-l pie the
name of bimetalism.
Once more it may be well to say that
when- the advocates of free and unlim
ited coinage of silver at 16 to 1, or any
other arbitrary ratio fixed by law, can
point to a single instance In history
where gold and silver ever kept com
pany with each other, except on the in
flexible rule of equality of commercial
value, it may be time to ask the people
of the United States to discard the les
son learned from the -experience of all
mankind, and accept their financial
theories. .
And once more it may be well to ex
plain what "free coinage at 16 to 1"
really means. It means that every one
who has a lump of silver that cost him
$16 In gold and Is worth that sum and
no more in the markets of the world,
shall have the right to take it to the
mint, get it made into thirty-four silver
dollars for his own benefit, and be au
thorized by law to "shove" these dol
lars in payment of whatever debts he
may have outstanding, and to cheat
his creditor out of more than one-half
the value. As the coinage of silver
would be free to all and the "shove"
general, money would fall to the silver
lpasis, saver oniy woum De cornea, ana
would be silver monometalism
Of course, Windy William knows this.
It is beyond possibility that he should
not know it. With men of his stamp
it is no longer necessary to have the
least patience, or to treat their utter
ances with even a frigid show of re
spect. For crucifixion of mankind on a
cross of gold, read crucifixion of Windy
William and his ilk on the cross of
public indignation with shameless in
sincerity. At a recent meeting of the school di
rectors of a Pennsylvania town, the
necessity of teachers keeping in touch
with current events by reading news
papers and magazines was earnestly
discussed. These publications are the
history of the hour, and at the rapid
rate at which history is being made at
the present time the trend of events
must be closely followed, if one would
be well informed. Governments are
changing, geographical bounds are
shifting, science and invention axe
working marvels, and the text-books
are no longer complete mediums of in
formation upon the matters treated.
In the very nature of things they can
not be. Those who instruct others
must, if they do their full duty, keep
themselves fully informed on events of
present moment. The matter of the
study of contemporaneous history
ought to be generally agitated. While
there are some teachers in our own
public schools who make it a matter
of duty to instruct their pupils in re
gard to current events or Incidents of
recent history, there is reason to believe
that relatively few take time to Inform
themselves and impart instruction
upon these topics. A few minutes
given each day in the higher grades
to the presentment of the more import
ant happenings in the political, geo
graphical, industrial or scientific world
would be time well spent As before
stated, some of our teachers give at
tention to this matter, and the eager
ness with which girls and boys inquire
concerning the morning's news, in the
hurried hour between breakfast and
school-time, in order that they may an-
swer questions which the teacher "will
be sure to ask," is Indirect evidence of
the interest which intelligent pupils, in
spired by energetic teachera, take in
"what is going on in the world."
"Down with fusion!" is,, the cry that
comes from the populists of Texas.
After an all-day session of the state
executive committee, held December 30,
announcement was made to the press
that the meeting was unanimously
against fusion of any kind for this
year's campaign, and that there was.
not one friend of William J. Bryan in
the meeting. They even barred out
Hon. Barnett Gibbs, of Dallas, who was
the populist nominee for governor of
Texas in 1898, because he declared his
intention of voting for Bryan next No
vember. They regarded Bryan very
unfavorably, because, while training
with fusion In Nebraska, he worked
with Tammany in New York and Goe
bel in Kentucky. The entire day was
devoted, to consideration of plans for
the coming, campaign, and it was de
cided to demand that the national com
mittee call the national convention at
least one month earlier than either the
democratic or republican convention.
Finally It was determined to place
middle-of-the-road tickets in the field
in Texas this year for state, congres
sional, legislative and county officers,
and vigorously to combat all efforts at
fusion. This will probably be satisfac
tory news to Young, Courtney, Luce,
Dr. Hill and other Oregon populists,
who labored strenuously two years ago
to ave their party from annihilation
and absorption, but it may not be very
gratifying to the silver-democratic
brethren, who have been cherishing-the
fond hope of securing the votes of the
flatists next June. Apparently the Hill-Luce-Young
element will receive much
more consideration in the state and
county conventions this spring than it
was. accorded in 1898.
F
The Salem, chamber of commerce is
endeavoring to secure the co-operation
of boards of trade in "Valley towns for
the purpose of raising money to send
a competent immigration agent through
the Middle Western states, to lay be
fore the people there the facts about
opportunities in the Willamette valley.
The expense is placed at about $200 per
month, exclusive of railroad fares.
Every city or town subscribing is to be
asked to prepare a statement of Its
needs and advantages, and landowners
who desire to sell farms are to be in
vited to list their property with the
agent. Endeavor will be made to have
"Valley towns contribute to the expense
in proportion to population, and it is
hoped to send the agent on his mission
In a few weeks. The effort may have
good results, if the agent selected un
derstands that quality in Immigration
is more desirable than quantity. A
score of thrifty, Industrious, self-reliant
families will be better for the state
than a legion of the roving, shiftless,
purposeless class, who wander from
place to place In search of competency
without steady labor and well-directed
effort Money Is not to be had here by
loafing in towns or idling on farms;
but no state promises surer returns
than Oregon for Intelligent investment
and good work. Much of the success of
this immigration movement will depend
upon the character of man who shall
have It in hand.
The populist central committee of
Union county is reported to be divided
on fusion, silver and expansion. It is
evident that the majority of the com
mittee favors a straight ticket and has
no desire to give silver the prominence
it has had in "reform" campaigns- of
the past few years. When the party
gets together in the spring, it will not
be at all surprising if the Independent
and self-asserting attitude of Jackson
county populists be taken by their fellow-partisans
in Union county. The
genuine populist has little more use
for silver than for gold as money.
What he wants is "scientific money,"
with only problematical power in ex
change. The less value it has, the
more nearly it approaches the truly
"scientific" idea of intrinsic worthless
ness. To him, the difference between
a goldbug and a silverloon is but a
matter of degree, and he has favored
silver only as an entering wedge to
split the hard-money vote. His millen
nium will not come till he has reached
the truly soft basis of flatism.. The
populists of Union, like all other mem
bers of political parties, should. Insist
on a plain and intelligible statement of
their desires and purposes. They will
cut a sorry figure if they drop to the
state of timidity and cowardice which
was once a characteristic of the repub
lican party's course on the money
question.
Livestock business is the greatest in
dustry of Kansas City. Receipts of
livestock at that place during the year
1899 reached the prodigious total of
116,374 carloads on an average thirty
trains a day throughout the year. Sales
of livestock amounted to $121,000,000,
and if resales were added, the total
would be vastly increased. There are
six great packing-houses In the city,
and a seventh will soon be in opera
tion. Corn is the basis of this enor
mous business corn, the perennial
source of wealth to the great Central
states.
The mines, of Oregon cannot fail to
act as a magnet to draw capital and
population to the state during the cur
rent year. Their extent and richness;
their location in or near the centers
of civilization; the advantages of a
mild climate and easy transportation,
must appeal to people who saw in op
posite conditions and environment in
superable obstacles to the ready devel
opment of the gold fields of Alaska.
The Beveridge resolution does not
find favor with the senators, and that's
to be expected. It is short and to the
point, grammatical, unstilted, and fails
utterly to darken counsel by words
without knowledge. This altogether
unfits it for senatorial consumption,
but that is just why it ought to be
passed In its present form.
The London Spectator makes this
sound protest: "Skirmishes are de
scribed as battles, petty defeats as dis
asters, ordinary movements as stupen
dous efforts, and unavoidable accidents
as shocking destructions of human
life."
Mr. Bryan lays down the principle
that "the dollar is all important, and
that struggling- humanity deserves no
consideration." Was he thinking of his
lectures for revenue only, or his. $50,000
in government bonds?
PUT" UP THE SWORD.
I .have sung of the soldier's glorx
As I never shall sins again;;
I have gazed on the shambles gory,
I have smelted of the slaughter-pen.
There to Wood in. the Inkwell clotted.
There- are stains on. the laurel, leaf.
And. the pages of Fame are blotted. .
With, the tears of a needless grief.
The bird Is slaughtered for fashion,
And the beast Is- killed for sport;
And never the -word compassion
Is whispered at Moloch's court.
For the parent seal In thewater
Is slain, and her child must die
That some sister or wife or daughter
Her beauty may- beautify.
And the merciful thought -we smother
For such is the way of man
As we murder the useless mother
For the "unborn astrakhan.
But a season ot rest comes never
For the rarest sport of all;
"Will His patience endure forever.
Who- noteth a sparrow'a fall?
' "When the volleys of hell are sweeping
The sea and the battle plain.
Do you think that our God la eleeplny.
And never to wake again.?
"When hunser and ravenous fever
Are slaying the wasted frame.
Shall we worship the red. deceiver.
The devil that men call Fame?
"We may swing the censer to- cover
The odor of blood in. vain;
God asks us. over and. over,
""Where 13 thy brother. Cain?"
James Jeffrey Roche,, in Century.
SERVICE.
There are no "ups" in life, there are no
"downs,"
For "high" and. "low" are words of Ilka
degree:
He who is light of heart when fortune frowns.
He Is a king though nameless ia the towns.
All things are good; all things Incur a, debt,
And all must pay the same, as soon or late.
The sun will rise betimes, but he must set;
'And man must seek the laws he would forget.
There are no mockeries in the universe.
No false accounts, n& errors -hat -will thrive
The worktwe do, the good things we rehearse
Are boons, of nature basely named a curse.
"Give us our dally bread!" the children pray.
And mothers plead, for them while thus they
speak.
But "Give us work. O Godl" we men. should.
say.
That we may gala our bread from, day to day.
'TIs not alone the crown that makes tho king;
"lis service done, 'tis duty to his kind.
The lark who soars so high is quick to sing.
And proud to yield- allegiance to the spring-.
And we who serve ourselves, whate'er befall.
Athwart the dangers of the day's, behests:
Oh, let'3 not shirk, at Joy or sorrow's call.
The service due to Cod who serves us alii
Eric Mackay.
TO A VIOLIN.
"What wondrous power from heaven upon. the
wrought?
"What prisoned Ariel within thee broods?
Marvel of human skill and. numan. thought,.
Light as a dry leaf in. the -winter woods!
Thou mystic thing, all beautiful! What mind
Conceived thee, what Intelligence began.
And out of chaos thy rare shape designed.
Thau delicate and perfect work of man?
Across my hands thou Uest mute and still;
Thou wilt not breathe to me thy secret line;
Thy matchless tones the eager air shall thrill
To no entreaty or command, of mine;
But comes thy master, lot thou yteldest all;
Passion and pathos, rapture and despair;
To the soul's need thy searching voice doth, call
In language exquisite beyond compare,
Till Into speech articulate at last
Thou eeem'st to break, and. thy charmed
listener hears
Thee waking echoes of the vanished past.
Touching the sources ot gladness and. of tears;
And with bowed!, head fie lets the sweetTwave
. roll
Across him, swayed by that weird power of
thine.
And. reverence and: wonder fill his soul
That man's creation should be-so divine.
Cella, Thaxter.
CAMPS OF GREEN.
Lo the camps of the tents of green,
"Which the day3 of peace keep fllllng. and the
days of war keep fllllng.
J With a mystic army (Is It too order' d forward?
Is It too only halting awhile.
Till night and sleep pass over?)
Now In these camps of green, In their tents
dotting the world,
In the parents, children, husbands, wives. In
them. In the old and young.
Sleeping under the sunlight, sleeping under the
moonlight, content silent there at last.
Behold the mighty vlbouac field,, and. waiting
camp of all,
Of the corps and generals all, ...
And of each of us, O soldiers, and of each and
all in the ranks we. fought.
(There without hatred we all, all meet).
For presently, O soldiers, we too camp In our
place In the bivouac-camps of green.
But we need not provide for outposts, nor word
, for the countersign.
Nor drummer to beat the morning drum.
Walt Whitman.
THEt OLI FLAG.
Oft with your hat as the flag goes by.
And let the heart have its say;
You're man enough for a tear la your eye
That you will not wipe away.
Xou're man enough for a thrill that goes
To your very finger tips
Ayl the lump Just then In. your throat that rose
Spoke more than your parted lips.
Lift up the boy on your shoulder, high.
And show him the faded shred
Those stripes would be red as the sunset 3ky
If death could have dyed thenx red.
Off with your hat as the flag goes byt
Uncover the youngster's head I
Teach him to hold it holy and high
For the sake of its sacred dead.
H. C. Bunner.
OUTSIDE THE TOYSHOP.
Beside the door they stand anear the pane
Tricked with toy-wares. It Is a dapple-gray
In smooth round wafers dlght and lifts alway
One prancing foot from grass-green board up-
ta'en.
An urchin he, oft met down alley and lane.
Half lost In his wide old rags; agrin today,
Because he still with fearful Joy dares lay
A stroking finger on. that furry mane.
He tastes his perilous pleasure like a bird
Of quick, small feet and wary eye, that comes
To peck strewu fragments, flown at breath
scarce heard.
Tou smile among the hedgerows. In the slums
Tou think; "When flits this child-glee, lightly
stirred.
Shall manhood's craving miss even these poor
crumbs?
-Tane Barlow. In The Academy.
AVE!
Bells upon the city are ringing In the night t
High above the gardens are the houses full of
light;
On the heathy Pentlands is the curlew flying
free;
And the broom Is blowing bonnle la the north
countrle.
We canna break the bonds that God decreed to
bind.
Still we'll be the children of the heather and
the wind;
Far away from, home, 0 It's still for you. and
me;
And the broom. Is blowing bonnle in. the north
countrle.
Robert Loui3 Stevenson.
THROUGH THE STREETS.
Through, the dim London morning
The soldiers rode away;
The crowd,. In. sable, round them;
The sky above, them gray.
Two strains of music played them
One mournful and one glad.
It was the- mournful music
That sounded the least sad.
BUa. Fuller Mainland la Thg Spectator.