THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 11, 1900.
t&iw xzQoxaw&
Entered at the Fostofflce at Portland, Oregon,
as escond-class matter.
TELEPHONES.
Editorial Rooms .-166 I Business Once. ...COT
REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance
pally, with Sunday, per month.. ..-..-. ...$0 S5
Dally, Sunday excepted, per year.-.. ....... 1 50
Dally, with Sunday, per year - 8 00
Sunday, per year .......................... 2 00
The Weekly, per year .....-....- 1 W
The Weekly, 3 months...........- - 60
To City Subscribers
Dally, per -week, delivered. Sundays excepted.l5c
Sally, per week, delivered. Sundays lncladed.2Cc
The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories
from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re
turn any manuscripts sent to It without solicita
tion. No stamps should be Inclosed for this
purpose.
News or discussion Intended for publication In
The Oregonlan should be addressed Invariably
'Edltor The Oregonlan," not to the name of
ny Individual. Letters relating to advertising,
subscriptions or to any business matter should
be addressed s'mply "The Oregonlan."
Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson,
office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 953,
Tacoma postofllee.
Eastern Business Office The Tribune build
ing. New Tork city; "The Rookery." Chicago;
the S. C Beckwlth special agency. New Tork.
For sale In San Francisco by J. K. Cooper,
76 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and
lit Goldsmith Bros., 236 Sutter street.
For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.,
17 Dearborn street.
TODAY'S "WEATHER. Occasional raln;,falr
in afternoon; southerly winds.
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, MARCH 11.
BAXKS AXD THE PEOPLE.
In certain political quarters where,
perhaps, such thing Is to be expected,
attack Is made on the new currency
hill, on the ground that it will afford
new or additional facilities for bank
ing. This, to some extent, may be a
result; though many are in doubt about
it, and, as statements made by local
bankers through Interviews published
in The Oregonlan have shown, it is
altogether questionable whether the
new act will effect 'any important
change in banking conditions, beyond
the new security given by it to the gold
standard. But if it should create con
ditions under which there would be ad
ditional facilities for banking, why
should that condemn it? Banks are a
useful, not to say indispensable, agent
of modern civilization, like railroads
and telegraphs. But they are a prod
uct of civilization as well as an aid to
its advancement, and like other agen
cies and Inventions they are the out
growth of a need. The right granted
to a class of banks to issue notes is
the thing against which complaint is
mainly directed; but the object sought
is a substitute currency which will do
the work of money without requiring
the treasury to maintain conditions ot
redemption, and at the same time to
supply notes that will always be per
fectly sound. The profits of note Is
sues, it has often been shown, are too
small to make it an object to the banks
to keep up the amount to the limit, and
it remains matter of conjecture
whether there will be any increase of
bank notes under the new law.
There are a great many more farm
ers in this country than bankers; there
are a great many more mechanics.
Some of the farmers and mechanics
have been talked into the notion that
the bankers are their natural enemies.
There were demagogues before Andrew
Jackson's time, who, for their own pur
poses. Industriously cultivated that no
tion. The field missionaries of Bryan's
party are Industriously cultivating it
now. It Is wretched nonsense, never
theless. In the United States of Amer
ica all classes of citizens engaged in
honest callings are useful to each other.
It takes all of them to make that great
co-operative enterprise known as the
American people. The idea that the
banks would like to make hard times
for the men on the farms and in the
mills, and actually do it when they
can, is a very silly idea, and the propa
gation of it is one of the lowest phases
of our oolitlcs.
The greater part of the capital em
ployed by the banks of the country Is
the property, not of the banks, but of
the creditors of the banks. These cred
itors are people of all parties, classes
and creeds, and of all conditions ex
cept those of thrlftlessness, Idleness
and extreme poverty. At the recent
meeting of the American Bankers' As
sociation it was shown that nearly
E.400,000 depositors own over $2,000,000.
000 deposited in the savings banks of
the country; and that, while the capi
tal of all the banks amounts to $991,
000,000, the deposits amount to $5,700,
000.000. That Is, the "plutocracy" own
ing most of the money handled by the
banks is very democratic, and it owns
nearly six times as much of the money
which goes to supply the needs of bor
rowers from the banks as the bankers
own.
Such facts, as has been pointed out
very often, prove pretty conclusively
that the bankers, so far from being
the remorseless blood-suckers that
cheap agitators declare them to be, en
Joy the confidence of the masses of the
people who Intrust the bankers with
their money, as well as that portion of
the public which is employed in carry
ing forward the activities of our indus
trial and mercantile life. They show,
too, that the people fully believe that
the bankers on the whole deserve the
confidence they enjoy as custodians and
managers of circulating capital; else
certainly they would not be trusted
with everybody's money. And under
the safeguards provided and enforced
by the national banking system, the
failures are extremely few and the
losses small.
Under the new act we shall get uni
versal recognition of the gold standard
and provision of means for maintain
ing it. Our banking and currency will
then be on unassailable foundations.
General Buller's forces are reported
at Helpmakaar. As the Boer are in
trenched at Biggarsberg, south of Glen
coe Junction, the movement of the
British is probably to turn the left of
the Boer position in the Biggarsberg
Mountains. Helpmakaar is about fifty
miles east from Ladysmith, and about
thirty-five miles south of Glencoe. The
Boers have intrenched in this position
in order to prevent the important rail
way pass of Glencoe from falling into
the enemy's hands. The natural move
ment to turn the Boer line would be
to move down the Rorke's Drift road
from Ladysmith and the road which
connects it with the main road, from
Greytown to Helpmakaar. General.
Buller naturally seeks to repossess him
self of the railway from Ladysmith to
Newcastle, from which he could
threaten the Transvaal. From Lady
smith, General Buller, with the rail
ways in his possession, could quickly
threaten the Orange Free State on the
left and the Transvaal on the right.
"The Boers have intrenched south of
Glencoe, at Biggarsberg, because it is
the strongest position from which they
can hope to stop Butler's occupation of
the railway line from Ladysmith via
Newcastle Into the Transvaal.
AX ABLE STATESMAN.
In the death of E. J. Phelps in his
78th year, the country loses a very
able lawyer, an eminent diploma'tlst
and statesman, a man of versatile
scholarship and literary accomplish
ments and unblemished personal and
political integrity. When we remem
ber that Mr. Phelps In all his busy life
had been a man of intense political con
victions, but never in any sense a party
politician; that for the best years of his
life he was bitterly disliked by the
republican party and dreaded even by
the democracy when he sometimes
acted with them, it, is high testimony
to his great ability and high personal
character that he has been honored
highly with the confidence of both par
ties. Mr. Phelps was born and bred in
Mlddlebury. VL His father was chief
Justice of the state supreme court;
was for sixteen years United States
senator from Vermont, a man of great
ability as a Jurist, a devoted political
and personal friend of "Webster, who
deemed him the strongest mind In the
senate. United States Senator Phelp3
was a man of intellectual courage of
conviction, and defied the anti-slavery
sentiment of his party In 1S50, standing
stiffly by Webster through good report
and evil report.
This quality of Intellectual courage
and devotion to his honest convictions
In defiance of his party, which was so
marked a quality in the leonine char
acter of United States Senator Phelps,
was inherited by his able and accom
plished son, who, at the close of a long
and busy life, could fairly say that he
deliberately threw away the highest
political honors In the gift of his state
in order to be true to his honest per
sonal convictions. "Vermont, from the
formation of the party, had always
been a whig state. New Hampshire
was early converted to democracy, but
Vermont was stiffly whig, even as late
as 1852, when the democracy swept the
country, or, as a bitter Vermont whig
put It, "took a pollywog out of a New
Hampshire mud puddle and made-him
president." Not only was Vermont al
ways a whig state, but it was anti-slavery
whig, and on the organization of
the republican party following the great
whig defeat of 1852, 90 per cent of the
leading whlgs became republicans.
Among the few able and accomplished
New England whlgs who refused to
accept the republican party, with its
platform of non-extension of slavery,
was E. J. Phelps. He had been second
controller of the treasury at Washing
ton in President Fillmore's administra
tion; he had become the personal friend
of Thomas F. Bayard, afterwards
United States senator, secretary of
state and minister to England, and
through Mr. Bayard he became strong
ly Southern In his personal associa
tions and political sympathies. He had
sat at the feet of his very able father
foi many years, and accepted his po
litical philosophy. So E. J. Phelps,
when the great mass of New England
whlgs became republicans. In 1856, re
mained a Webster whig and voted for
Fillmore; and In 1860 he was still a
"Webster whig," and voted for Bell,
and so stubborn was he In his tenacious
political prejudices that even after the
firing on Sumter and all through Lin
coln's administration Mr. Phelps was
opposed to the prosecution of the war
between the states, and neve. hesitated
In public or private speech to express
his contempt for Lincoln's personality
as a statesman as well as his hostility
to his policy.
It was a very bold thing to do at that
time in New England, and no other man
of equal ability and personal character
dared do it. There were plenty of
"illustrious obscure" copperheads in
New England who sulked in their
tents, but the only man of great abil
ity and culture and high personal char
acter In New England who signed his
own political death warrant by openly
espousing the cause of the South from
1861 to 1865 was E. J. Phelps. The sac
rifice made by Mr. Phelps of his per
sonal political career was clear to him
nt flint fllTIP lint Via lallhm-ntAltr'inai'a'
it in order to be true to his convic
tions. He was a man of fine personal
presence and address; a man of culti
vated and refined manners; he stood in
the first rank of his profession at 33
years of age, in 1S61; his family history
linked him to finest Connecticut stock,
the famous founders of Litchfield, from
whose blood so many eminent men
have sprung. His state was proud of
him, and when he refused to join the
republican party, and even when he
lashed the noble Lincoln with vitriolic
tongue, his state viewed his attitude
with sorrow rather than anger, for it
recognized and respected the intellec
tual and moral courage of the man
that would make so great a sacrifice
for the sake of his convictions.
After the civil war, Mr. Phelps, as
the bitterness of the memories of the
war abated, became himself calmer In
political views, finally changed some of
his old-time opinions, and confessed
his change of heart with the same cour
age that had prompted him to defy the
public opinion of his section in 1861-65.
He was always a conspicuous cham
pion of honest money and a contempt
uous denouncer of Bryan as a charla
tan. In his fine oration delivered at
the Vermont centennial, at Bennington
in 1891, Mr. Phelps quoted the fact that
in November. 1777, when a slave woman
and her child fell into the hands of
Captain Ebenezer Allen, a brother of
the famous Ethan Allen, that original
abolitionist gave her a writing to set
her free, and in the same noble ora
tion Mr. Phelps eloquently eulogized his
state for having sent 34,000 of her 350,
000 people to the defense of the Union,
and congratulated her that she was the
first to constitutionally prohibit human
slavery. Thirty years of observation
from 1861 to 1891 had convinced Mr.
Phelps that he was mistaken when in
1861 he sided with Vallandlgham, Hen
dricks, Voorhees, Franklin Pierce, Fer
nado Wood and George H. Pendleton.
Mr. Phelps did not need to make his
confession of change of faith In 1891,
for he had nothing to make by it. He
had already served as minister to Eng
land with great ability under Cleve
land's first administration; he subse
quently was appointed by President
Harrison one of the American counsel
to present the question of our sealing
rights before the Paris tribunal. When
Mr. Cleveland issued his Venezuela
message, Mr. Phelps, with character
istic intellectual honesty and courage,
took issue with, him in. a memorable1!
article contributed to the July Atlantic
for 1895, holding that Mr. Cleveland
had stretched the Monroe doctrine
wantonly beyond the views of Webster,
Clay, John Quincy Adams or Calhoun.
Mr. Phelps was the ablest and most
accomplished man that Vermont has
contributed to public life in her whole
history. In versatility, solidity and
breadth of intellect, in historical and
political learning. In legal acumen and
impresslveness as an advocate, Mr.
Phelps had no peer among the public
men of his state, and he had no su
perior in all New England.
Tnn CAXAIi TREATY AMENDMENT.
The wording of treaties between
great powers is an unsatisfactory and
often an unprofitable object of study.
Turns of a phrase, over which anger
may rise and bloodshed seem imminent,
often appear in time of no moment
whatever, and on the other hand, ex
pressions used without serious thought
may in a distant generation form the
subject of controversy and even war.
When the British and Russians negoti
ated the Alaska boundary they under
stood their purpose of guaranteeing
Russia a zone parallel with her ports
so perfectly that they neglected to
make their purpose plain, and on that
neglect is based the Canadian claims.
Who could imagine today that if the
future had been foreseen by British
diplomats, the conventions with the
Transvaal would have been left so sus
ceptible of dispute? The power of
words to control men or races, how
ever, is limited at best, and so it has
often proved. So it may prove regard
ing the controversy now on at Wash
ington over the Hay-Pauncefote treaty.
It is easy to understand the reluctance
of the Administration to see a work
of which It is justly proud taken up and
patched; but, aside from this, there
does not seem to be any adequate rea
son for opposition to the proposed
amendment.
The amendment has been misrepre
sented in the dispatches, for it is not a
direct provision for fortification of the
canal. It stipulates concerning Nica
ragua just what Is stipulated in Egypt's
favor concerning Suez; that is, that
nothing In the treaty shall apply, pro
.hlbitlvely, ""to measures which the
United States may find it necessary to
lake for securing by Its own forces the
defense of the Interests of the United
States and the maintenance of public
order." This would need a strained
construction to authorize fortifications
on the canal, especially in view of the
plain language of article 2 of the Hay
treaty, which says: "No fortifications
shall be erected commanding the canal
or the waters adjacent." The natural
interpretation of the amendment, in
deed, would be as explanatory of the
clause in the Hay treaty immediately
following the one just quoted, which
provides that "the United States, how
ever, shall be at liberty to maintain
such military police along the canal
as may be necessary to protect it
against lawlessness and disorder."
The fact stands out that the foreign
relations committee of the senate,
which includes Davis, Frye, Cullom
and Lodge, Is desirous of safeguard
ing xn tnis matter tne present inter
ests and the future rights of the United
States. Mr. Hay is able and acute In
diplomacy, but so are these. We are
on friendly terms with Great Britain,
but the day may come when our rela
tions with her will be unfriendly. It is
well to treat her with courtesy and
justice, but it Is well to remember also
our own interests and rights. Friendly
as she may be, she will not look after
our welfare. That we must do for our
selves. Just this, apparently, the for
eign relations committee has sought,
through this amendment, to do. It is
hard to see now what material benefit
Is likely to be secured through the
amendment; but time may demonstrate
the wisdom of the precaution. The de
fense of the canal Is a necessary means
to its neutralization; and as for our
enemy in war, it is upon the sea that
he must be met and overpowered. The
neutralization of the canal is the great
achievement of the Hay treaty, and
this 'the amendment does not disturb.
The portion of the committee's report
that touches this aspect of the treaty
is admirable and unanswerable, em
phasizing, as it does, the fact that an
open canal may some day in time of
war prove the salvation of our coast
.wise trade. .
THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRACY.
There is a great deal of malignant
criticism lavished by ignorant or un
scrupulous folk upon what Is termed
England's aristocracy, but intelligent
men know and truthful men confess
that England's aristocracy has for at
least a century been recruited from the
ranks of able men, who have conferred
great honor upon their country by their
services in war, in statesmanship, or
have won great eminence in law, sci
ence or literature. Lords Lyndhurst,
Erskine, Eldon, Stowell, Mansfield,
Brougham, St. Leonards, Beaconsfleld,
Macaulay, Tennyson, Kelvin.1 Playfalr,
were none of them hereditary aristo
crats. With the notable exception of
Wellington, who was the younger son
of an Irish peer, few of the great sol
diers and sailors of England of this
century have been hereditary aristo
crats. Lord Clyde was of Scotch peas
ant parentage; Lord Nelson was the
son of a poor country curate; Sir Henry
Havelock was of middle-class parent
age; and so were Sir Henry and Sir
Jqhn Lawrence. Sir John Moore, Sir
Ralph Abercromble and Sir Henry
Hardlnge were not of aristocratic stock.
The famous heroes of Indian warfare
from 1840 to 1857, Sale, Pollock, Neill,
Chamberlain, Edwardes, Outram,
Gough, Rose, were all men who had
won their way up to military fame and
title by distinguished services as sol
diers and military administrators. The
father of Lord Roberts, General Sir
Abraham Roberts, won his title by
nearly forty-seven years of distin
guished service, and owed nothing to
family influence, and his sou. Lord
Roberts, earned his title by over forty
three years' service in India, Afghanis
tan and Burmah.
The best stuff in the so-called British
aristocracy has been recruited from the
ranks of law, statesmanship, literature,
science and war, during the present
century. The report that Lord Roberts
Is to be made a Duke f6r his recent
brilliant services recalls the fact that
since the days of Marlborough no Eng
lish soldier has won his way to Duke
dom, save Wellington, through his mili
tary services. The Duke of Cambridge,
who commanded a division in the Eng
lish army during the Crimean war, was
a Duke through his royal blood, being
a grandson of George. HI and first
omiK'n tn Oueen VIctor!n Frnir nt
the British ..Dukes are descended irom
the natural children of Charles U, and
to this fact alone owe their dukedoms.
Lord Roberts, measured by his military
brains. Is the best soldier England has
produced since Wellington, for he Is the
only English soldier who has won fame
fighting a well-armed, scientifically led
white foe of notable courage and skill
in the use of the modern magazine rifle.
A DRAWBACK IN SALARIES RE
SENTED. The persistent attempt of the Board
of Education of Philadelphia so to su
pervise the earnings of teachers of the
public schools that these persons will
not be left destitute when old age over
takes them doubtless comes from
praiseworthy motives. Notwithstand
ing this, however, the compulsory
beneficiaries strenuously object to the
proposed supervision of their earnings
in this interest, preferring, like other
responsible people, to manage their own
affairs.
The first attempt In this line was
made through a Teachers' Annuity
Fund Association, but it was found
impossible there being no compulsion
in the matter to attract thereto as
members one-fourth of the great army
of public school teachers. Hence the
association speedily found itself in ur
gent need of funds wherewith to sup
port Its title, and It became clear that
the Idea of pensioning teachers as pro
posed after a stipulated number of
years' service must be abandoned, or
some scheme, not wholly voluntary, for
raising funds must be devised. In- this
stress the ways and means committee
appointed by the Board of Education
recommended that the teachers' sala
ries be reduced 3 per cent and the
amount thus scaled from their pay be
put away as an old-age annuity fund.
The first plan was received with Indif
ference and treated with neglect by the
Intended beneficiaries; the second was
met by a storm of indignant protest,
the fervor and extent of which will, no
doubt, cause the committee to consider
farther before coming to a final conclu
sion. It might be a good thing for the
teachers if all of them could be brought
to join cheerfully, in the effort to in
sure them from want when they be
come superannuated, but it in plain
that compulsory methods are neither
wise, just or legal. Every teacher who
does not subscribe to the plans devised
for their benefit presumably has a rea
son for not doing so. It may be a good
or a bad reason, but It is an Individual
reason, and as such Is entitled to rule
the actions of the individual. There
are those who think that teachers, be
ing an intelligent body of people, should
be at least as capable as other wage
earners of disposing of their savings in
a manner that will provide against
want or pauperism when their work
ing days are past. There are numerous
devices, soundly based in finance,
whereby this can be done. To suppose
that teachers do not know this Is to
discredit their intelligence; to suppose
that they wllf not apply thls'knowledge
to their own possible needs is to dis
credit their prudence. That they con
sider the well-meant efforts of the edu
cational authorities in Philadelphia to
supervise their savings as an Imperti
nence Is evident both from their atti
tude toward the annuity fund and their
protest against a 3 per cent bold-back
on their salaries to feed this fund.
Teachers are not different from other
wageworkers In their ability or oppor
tunity to provide in their productive
years for the winter of life. There Is
no reason, except In the clamor about
pensioning them, to suppose that they
as a class are not as considerate In
this regard as are other intelligent la
borers. This being true, they may
justly resent as an Impertinence all
attempts of educational boards to with
hold a percentage of their earnings for
an old-age fund.
A GENERAJL IS AS OLD AS HE FEELS.
The fact that Lord Roberts Is 68
years of age has renewed the discus
sion of the comparative merits of old
men and young men in war. It is true
that the vast majority of great soldiers
have won their brightest laurels In their
youth, but this is due, we suspect,
rather to the fact that old soldiers who
have won great fame by middle life do
not care to resume their armor even
when their old age is like a lusty win
ter.. Men who have won great wealth do
not care to surrender the evening of
their life to the tireless pursuit of busi
ness that absorbed the best energies of
their youth and maturity. An old sol
dier, who Is sound in body and .mind,
can' make war as ably as he did In his
prime, perhaps, but, like an old man
whose youth and maturity were sur
rendered to the successful pursuit of,
wealth, he does not hanker after active
service. Napoleon was wont to say
that "at 60 a General was no longer
good for anything," but Turenne, whom
Napoleon voted the greatest soldier of
France, was considerably over 60, and
was at his best when he fell In battle.
The Russian General Suwaroff was
an aged man when he beat Moreau,
Macdonald and Joubert at Cassano,
the Trebbla and Novl. The Russian
General Kutusoff, who proved himself
at Borodino a formidable antagonist,
for the' victory cost the French 30,000
men, was an aged man. The Austrian
General Melas, who surprised Bona
parte at Marengo and fought with ex
traordinary energy and ability during
a hot summer's day, was a very old
man. Massena, the oldest of Napo
leon's Marshals, was by far his ablest
General. Lord Clyde won his famous
campaign of Lucknow when he was
over 65; Lee was 68 when the Civil War
ended, and Joe Johnston was 56. Albert
Sidney "Johnston, who was mortally
wounded leading a charge at Shlloh,
was 59 when he fell. General C. F.
Smith, who led the victorious charge at
Fort Donelson, was about 56; Von
Moltke was 66 at Sadowa and 70 at Se
dan, and Blucher was an old man at
Waterloo, but a terrible old man in his
fiery courage and bodily energy.
On the other hand, Sheridan was but
33 when he won Cedar Creel?; Grant
was 40 at Shlloh, and Sherman 44 when
he began his Atlanta campaign. Napo
leon was 27 when he. .won his first great
Italian campaign, and Wellington was
but 34 when he won Assaye, where he
utterly defeated the Mahratta army of
50,000 at a cost to himself of 2500 killed
and wounded out of his little army of
but 7000 men. Marlborough won all his
fame when he was between 55 and 60,
and Vlllars won a great victory when
he was 80. The truth Is, Napoleon felt
old, and he was old at 46, for he was
clearly Impaired In body and mind, but
where the Intellectual qualities of a
great commander remain unimpaired
there Is no reason why an old General
should not be better than a young one.
In other, words, a General,is always as
old as hV feels. Lord Roberts is evi-
dently a well-preserved man In mind
and body; a man of that short, sturdy
physique, and iron constitution that
characterized Wellington, who lived In
good health until he was past 83. Our
own soldiers, Scott and Taylor, were at
their best when considerable past 60.
Preliminary steps in the organization
of the fruitgrowers of the Northwest
have been taken by a considerable
number of men engaged In this indus
try. An -earnest effort will be made to
secure the membership and co-operation
of at least 75 per cent of the fruit
growers of the section covered, as nec
essary to the full success of the organ
ization and its purposes, protective and
otherwise. The men who have taken
the initial steps in this matter are rep
resentative men of the industry, and
they proceeded in the task with much
care and deliberation in the Interest
of harmony and justice, without which
associated business enterprise cannot
succeed. The fruit Industry in Oregon
is of yearly Increasing Importance. The
extension of our markets beyond the
seas and the growing demand from the
mining regions to the .north and east
will make demands which can only be
met through an Intelligent comprehen
sion of conditions of growing, picking,
drying, packing and shipping fruit. To
learn all these things Individually,
through experiment, is wasteful of
time and resources. Indeed, In very
many instances this course Is not to
learn at all, but to blunder through
years of discouragement and finally
reach the settled conclusion that "there
Is nothing in raising fruit in Oregon."
There Is, without doubt, profit in thi3
industry, if properly handled in Its
various details, beginning with soils
and their proper adaptation to the
fruits which it is desired' to produce and
ending with marketing the product in
such shape that inquiry for it will bo
developed. The steps being taken to
secure intelligent, co-operative effort
must, if persistently followed, lead to
the desired results.
The public deconstratlon In London
Thursday, caused by the appearance of
the aged Queen, clad in black, heavily
veiled, and accompanied by two of her
black-robed daughters, was as touching
In Its spontaneity as it was suggestive
of the loyalty of the British people to
their aged sovereign. Viewed from a
standpoint of cheerfulness and of con
sideration for her subjects, the Queen
should have passed unveiled., through
tho streets, as at best a woman
swathed in crape is a most melancholy
looking object, and thousands of the
British people are heartsore just now,
even though rejoicing in victory. Vic
toria, however, has lived to an age at
which few people take a cheerful view
of life. She is, moreover, a mourner by
habit, having clung tenaciously to her
widow's weeds for nearly forty years
and burled in the interval several chil
dren and many relatives. Her fre
quently expressed hope that England
would not have another war during her
lifetime suffered bitter disappointment
in the breaking out of war in South
Africa, and, though the responsibilities
of government do not rest upon her in
the slightest measure, she is anxious
and troubled In a degree that, consider
ing her age, is pitiful. A little bunch
of"a woman, bearing not the slightest
resemblance to the petite youn Queen
of sixty years ago, she yet holds a
warm place in the hearts of her people,
and the prayer, "Long may, she reign
over us," is voiced not less sincerely
now than when her reign was young
and she in her girlish beauty was a
familiar and unveiled presence in pub
lic places.
Rev. J. F. Ghormley and the First
Christian Church in this city accepts
the invitation of the Christian Scien
tists to hear expounded at the Mar
quam today the "religion of Jesua
Christ," interpreted by Mary Bakci
Eddy. In doing so, he Invites Christian
Scientists to come this evening to his
church and hear him present "Christian
Science not the religion of Jesus
Christ." The controversy will develop
a multiplicity of words, but it is not
likely to conduce to the public enlight
enment. Religion is too much a mat
ter of tradition and opinion to be dog
matically placed as a fact or catalogued
as a "science."
It was erroneously stated In The Ore
gonlan that the plague-Infected steamer
Nanyo Maru, detained In quarantine
at Port Townsend, was a vessel of the
Nippon Tusen ICalsha Steamship Com
pany. The Nanyo Maru has no connec
tion with that company, or ever had.
The vessels of the Nippon Yusen Kal
sha Company are those of the Great
Northern Railway connection, to which
the Nanyo Maru does not belong.
Tomorrow a School Director will be
elected. The interest Mr. D. P. Thomp
son has taken in the public schools of
Portland is part of their history. His
ability In the work is well known. It
should not be necessary to say more.
The Boer collapse may not be so
panicky as depicted. It will be money
in the pockets of the burghers to give
up soon and let peace resume her sway.
Perhaps this is the method in their ap
parent madness.
The Puerto Rlcan Question.
The Chicago Tribune's Washington spe
cials say that the opinion Is gaining
ground that the Senate will ultimately
voto for free trade between Puerto Rico
and the United States, and that the House
will back down, accept this and admit Its
blunder as gracefully as possible. The
Tribune's reports say, further:
Not only at the capltol, but In the executive
department the reports received are all of the
same general tenor. Trusted members of the
Administration have come from Chicago, from
New York, from Boston, and other cities, and
the eentlxnent, as they find it. la all one 'nay.
The. people, they say, do not care much about
the constitutional question, and do net care
whether Puerto Rico does or does not bscome
a precedent for action. In regard to the Philip
pines. They merely declare that, 'as Puerto
Rlcans received Miles' army with flowers In
stead of with bullets, they must come Into the
Union. If at all. "on the ground floor."
c
The President and Puerto Rico.
New York Times.
Our readers are aware that we have
not been grudging In toe credit awarded
to the President for many acts of cour
age and wisdom. Nor have we hesitated
to make all possible allowance for the
difficulties by which he has been sur
rounded, or to give him the benefit ol
doubt due to insufficient information.
We have thereforfc the right, and we feel
It to be a duty, to say plainly that his
course in this matter cannot be explained
on the known facts In a way creditable
to him, and consistent with the standard
of conduct that he has himself set up.
So . fary as his pergonal reputation, is In-
Ivolvod, it is a small thing compared with
the honor of the Nation, which is directly
affected. It Is a misfortune, a very grave
misfortune, that the high purpose pro
fessed by the President in the name ot
tho Nation can be exposed to suspicion by
such substantial contrast between' pro
fession and performance.
a
NOW OR NOVBJTBER.
Apparently No Other Alternative for
Republican Party.
Chicago Times-Herald.
Senator Davis, of Minnesota, has raised
tho true standard of American obligations
to Puerto Rico around which ail Repub
licans can rally for the salvation of the
party from the amazing blunder of the 15-per-cent
House compromise with our duty.
Mr. Davis' free trade amendment to tho
Senate bill comes not a day too soon, nor
goes a step too far, to save his party from
the direful consequences of that unaccount
able aberration from tho straight path of
National justice and honor.
There Is one thing our Representatives
In Washington should understand. The
American people are not sitting up nights
studying whether the Constitution applies
In whole or In part to territory coming
Into our possession by conquest or treaty.
They have seen the TJnltedi States grow
from the original 13 by "purchase," by
"annexation," by "cession" and by
"treaty" against every sort of constitu
tional protest, and In splto of every terri
ble prophecy of constitutional collapse and
National disaster.
Tho people of the United States have
the highest veneration for tne Constitu
tion, which they believe was ordained to
"establish Justice," to "Insure domestic
tranquillity," "promote the general wel
fare" and "secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity." And they
have never hesitated to extend the bless
ings, security, liberty and Justice they en
joyed under that Constitution to peoples
less capable of appreciating them than the
Puerto Rlcans or to territories further re
moved in timo and distance from the Na
tional capital than the Island we have res
cued from. Spanish misrule and extortion.
The Constitution did not forbid our
pledging American faith and tho advan
tages of American citizenship to the Puer
to Rlcans, and the Constitution will not
prevent our redeeming our pledges.
From every section of the Union Repub
licans have called upon their Republican
representatives to undo the great wrong
contained In the tariff provision of the
Puerto Rico bill.
We In the great West know that that
demand Is almost unanimous throughout
the Republican party In this section. We
know, too, that if it is complied with if
the Republicans In Washington act upon
Senator Davis amendment promptly that
In two weeks' time the mistake will be for
gotten in thankfulness that It was rem
edied. But if that wrong Is persisted In if the
Republican party in Congress, through
false pride or In obstinate servility to the
mysterious power behind the House bill,
enacts its Puerto Rico tariff Into law. It
will become the overshadowing Issue In
the Presidential campaign.
Wo do not know what they think In
Washington would be the result of such a
campaign. But hero In the West we know
that such a tidal wave of popular Indig
nation would sweep across the prairies
that the Democrats would capture the
House of Representatives, even if they
did not defeat President McKInley.
o
False and Dangerona Position.
Chicago Tribune.
As it is evident that the people prefer
some other mode of raising revenue for
Puerto Rico than that devised by the
House and favored by the Republicans
on the Senate committee. It will be politic
for the latter to return to their first love
and vote for free trade between the United
States and Puerto Rico. There Is no ques
tion of principle Involved so far as they are
concerned. They need not feel ashamed
to bow to the wishes of their constituents,
and by doing so rescue their party from a
false, dangerous position.
t a
When March Winds Blow.
Indianapolis Journal.
"Pa, why Is Spring called Spring?"
"Don't bother me, Johnny."
"I know, pa." '
"Well, why Is it?"
"Soze folks won't go round thlnkin'-it's
Winter."
o
Not Enough Pin Money to Go Round.
Chicago News.
Ostend Pa, I want a dollar to buy a
set of tenpins.
Pa Well, you Just don't get It! It's all
I can do to keep your mother in pin
money.
o
Th Cnlpahle One.
Tonkers Statesman.
Church Who Is responsible for most of
the mistakes which appear In the newspa
pers? Gotham The weather man, I think.
mi
Great Social Forces.
Atchison Globe.
We believe It will be found that, next
to electricity, flattery la the greatest force
In the world.
t c
A Massacre Averted.
Denver Evening Post.
Every face vrss streaked with war paint.
Every eye with hate was gleaming.
Every red hand grasped a weapon.
As the devil-featured warriors
Swarmed around their startled chieftain
Clamoring for blood and carnage.
Crying out that he must lead them.
Gainst the unsuspecting palesfclns
Dwelling in the fair Durango,
To ange a deadly Insult
Blood alone could blunt the eting oft
One of them of highest standing.
Known as Jlm-That-Never-Washe.
Had been steered against a tln-hora
In a quiet game of poker.
And had bet a half a dollar
On a pat queen full of deuces.
And had been quite neatly beaten .
With a flush of bobtail species
And an overgrown six-shooter.
William Penn Groundhog, the. chieftain.
Was a man of peaceful habits,
For the paleeklns gave him whisky
And the white squaws gave him dougbnuti
And the bread they spoiled In bakng.
Now he faced that angry tumult.
Told the warriors to scatter.
Begged them to corral their passion.
Even quoted Scripture to th?m.
But they only howled the louder.
Blood alone could satisfy them,
Blood in bucketful, yet steaming
With the warmth of those who'd shed It.
Round the chief they danced the war dance.
Did the dreaded battle cakewalk.
And hla red heart sank within him
Till It crouched down In his stomach.
For he knew that all his pleading
Could not save tho doomed Durangans
From Involuntary baldness.
Mid the din of the commotion.
'Mid the savage songs and warwhoops,
Freckle-Nose, the chieftain's daughter.
Standing on an empty soapbox.
Called the house to come to order.
Then, with bow preliminary.
She began to entertain them.
Ees which erstwhile widely gUstened
With the Are of hate grew frightened.
Naked backs were turned toward her.
Ears were stuffed with thumbs and flngero.
But her keen voice never flickered
Till the mob In abject terror
Fled precipitately from her.
All their hostile passion smothered.
And until the last red nigger
Had hot-footed from her presence
Freckle-Nose kept on reciting ,.'!
Kipling's "Absent-Minded Beggar.'
MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE IV
"Two Lights Arc Put Out" Thackeray
"Vanity Fair."
That second-floor arch In a London
house, looking up and down the well of the
staircase, and commanding the main thor
oughfare by which the inhabitants ara
passing; by which cook lurks down before
daylight to scour her pots and pans In the
kitchen; by which young master stealthily
ascends, having left his boots In the hall,
and let himself In after dawn from a jolly
night at the club; down which miss comes
rustling in fresh ribbons and spreading
muslins, brilliant and beautiful, and pre
pared for conquest and the ball; or Mas
ter Tommy slides, preferring the banisters
for a mode of conveyance, and disdaining
danger and the stair; down which the
mother Is fondly carried, smiling. In her
strong husband's arms, as he steps stead
ily, step by step, and followed by the moth
erly nurse, on the day when the medical
man has pronounced that the charming pa
tient may go down stairs; up which John
lurks to bed yawning, with a sputtering
tallow candle, and to gather up before
sunrise the boots which aro waiting him
in the passages that stair, up or down
which babies are carried, old people are
helped, guests are marshaled to the ball,
the parson walks to the christening, the
doctor to the sickroom, and the under
taker's men to the upper floor what a
memento of Life. Death and Vanity It Is
that arch and stair If you choose to con
sider it, and sit on tho landing, looking
up and down the well.
The doctor will come up to us, too. for
the last time there, my friend In motley.
The nurse will look in at the curtains, and
you take no notice and then she will
fling open the windows for a little, and
let in the air. . Then they will pull down
all the front blinds of the house, and
live In the back rooms then they will
send for the lawyer and other men In
black, etc. Your comedy and mine will
have been played then, and we shall be
removed, O, how far, from the trum
pets, and tho shouting, and the posture
making. If we are gentlefolks they will
put hatchments over our late domicile,
with gilt cherubim, and mottoes stating
that there Is "Quiet in Heaven." Your
son will new furnish the house, or per
haps let It, and go Into a more modern
quarter; your name will be among the
"Members Deceased," in the lists of your
clubs next year. However much you
may bo mourned, your widow will like to
have her weeds neatly made the cook
will send or come up to ask about dinner
the survivor will soon bear to look at
your picture over the mantelpiece, which
will presently be deposed from the place
of honor, to make way for the portrait
of the son who reigns.
Which of the dead are most tenderly
and passionately deplored? Those who
lovo the survivors the least, I believe. Tho
death of a child occasions a passion of
grief and frantic tears, such as your end,
brother reader, will never Inspire. Tho
death of an infant which scarce knew
you, which a week's absence from you
would have caused to forget you, will
strike you down more than the loss ot
your closest friend, or your flrst-born eon,
a man grown, like yourself, with children
of his own. We may be harsh and stern
with Judah and Simeon our love and pity
gush out for Benjamin the little one.
And If you are old. as some reader ot this
may be, or shall be old and rich, or old
and poor you may one day be thinking
for yourself. "These people are very good
round about me; but they won't grieve too
much when I am gone. I am very rich,
and they want my Inheritance or very
poor, and they are tired of supporting
me."
The old man clung to his daughter dur
ing this sickness. He would take his
broths and medicines from scarcely any
other hand. He loved her with more
fondness now, perhaps, than ever ho
had done since the days of her childhood.
One night when she stole Into his room
she found him awake, when the broken
old man made his confession. "O, Emmy,
I've been thinking we were very unkind
and unjust to you." he said, and put out
his cold and feeble hand to her. Sho
knelt down and prayed by his bedside,
as ho did, too, having still hold of her
hand. When our turn comes, friend, may
we have such company in our prayers.
Perhaps as ho' was lying awake then. hi3
life may have passed before him his early
hopeful struggles, his manly successes and
prosperity, his downfall in his declining
years, and his present hopeless condition
no chance of revenge against Fortune,
which had had the better of him neither
name nor money to bequeath a spent-out,
bootless life of defeat and disappointment
and the end here! Which. I wonder, broth
er reader, is the better lot, to die prosper
ous and famous, or poor and disappointed?
To have, and to be forced to yield; or to
sink out of life, having played and lost
the game? That must be a strange feel
ing, when a day of our life comes and we
eay, "Tomorrow, success or failure won't
matter much; and the sun will rise and all
the myriads of mankind go to their work
or their pleasure as usual, but I shall be
out of the turmoil."
Yes. I think that will be the better end
ing of the two, after alt Suppose you aro
particularly rich and well-to-do, and say
on that last day, "I am very rich; I am
tolerably well known; I have lived all my
life In the best society, and, thank Heav
en, come of a most respectable family. I
have served my King and country with
honor. I was In Parliament for several
years, where, I may say, my speeches wero
listened to, and pretty well received. I
don't owe any man a shilling; on tha
contrary, I lent my old college friend.
Jack Lazarus, 50 pounds, for which my
executors will not press him. I leave my
daughters with 10.000 apiece very good
portions for girls; I bequeath my plate and
furniture, my house In Baker street, with,
a handsome Jointure, to my widow for,
her life; and my landed- property, be-
sides money In the funds, and my cellar
of well-selected wine in Baker street, to
my son. I leave 20 a year to my valet;
and I defy any man after I am gone to
find anything against my character." Or
suppose, on the other hand, your swan singe
quite, a different sort of dirge, and ycu
say, "I am a poor, blighted, disappointed
old fellow, and have made an utter fail
ure through life. I was not endowed
either with brains or with good fortuno,
and confess that I have committed a hun
dred mistakes and blunders. I own to
having forgotten my duty many a time.
I can't pay what I owe. On my last bed
I He utterly helpless and humble; and I
pray forgiveness for my weakness, and
throw myself, with a contrite heart, at the
feet of the Divine Mercy." Which of these
two speeches, think you, would be the
best' oration for your own funeral? Old
Sedley made the last; and In that humble
frame of mind, and holding by the hand
of his daughter, life and disappointment
and vanity sunk away from under him.