The Sunday Oregonian., July 22, 1900, Page 6, Image 6

V1' J" ""Hr-STS" - T -
em. r v.
-sT,T; j.
-"-'Mpr5f
attrT wy-t
-sr-r- -""' V J
Mf
THE SUNDAY OEEQONIAK- POBTLANIJ, TOLl J, 1900.
-Entered at the PcetoOce at FortJensS. Oregon,
as second-class matter.
TELEPHONES.
Sdttorial Rooms.... 166 Business Office., ..SeT
REVISED SUBSCRIBTION RATSS.
w Br Mail (postage prepaid), to Advance- -
fcllv. with Sunday, ner month... ? ??
Dally, Sunday excepted, peryttr-. .
Daily, with Sunday, per year ...
Sunday, per year -
The Weekly, per year -.
The Weekly, 3 months.. -.....
T 00
00
2 00
1 SO
60
To Qty Subscribers . . .
Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday xofP,iS2
Dally, per week, delivered, Sunday lncludd.3W
POSTAGE RATES.
United States. Canada and Mexico:
30 to 16-page paper i
10 to sz-page paper ....
Foreign r&tea double.
New or discussion lntended'f or publication to
The Oregcnlan ihould be addressed invariably
'Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name of
any Individual. Letters relating to advertising,
subscriptions or to any business matter should
be addressed almply 'The Oregonlan."
The Oregonlan does not buy poeme or stories'
trom Individuals, and cannot undertake to re
turn any manuscript sent to It without solicita
tion. No stamps should be Inclosed for this
purpose.
Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson,
office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box W8,
Tacoma poetoffioe.
Eastern Business Offlce The Tribune Tt-uild-Ine.
New Tork City; "The Rookery." Chicago;
the 8. C. Beckwlth special agency. New Torlc
For eale In San Frandsco by J. XC Cooper,
746 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and
At Goldsmith Bros , 23G Butter street.
For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.,
21T Dearborn street.
TODAT8 WEATHER Fair and not so
warm; winds mostly northerly.
PORTLAKD, 3U7TOAT, JPLT 32.
SECULARIZATION
OP THE STATE.
Modern government began when the
state -withdrew from its long alliance
with Christianity. Nowhere, until the
last part of the eighteenth century, had
the state been separated from the insti
tutions of religion. The religious lib
erty for .which our ancestors came to
America waB simply liberty to make
their form of religion a law of the com
munity, directed by the state, with
power to put down "heresy," or
to cast it out. The state, as an entity
separate from an organized and estab
lished religious and ecclesiastical sys
tem, was a conception that bad then
scarcely entered the human mind. In
England the Puritans had fought
against episcopal, the Republicans
agalnBt royal tyranny, and the Church
of England men against Puritans and
.Republicans; but all were ready to bind
the commonwealth to one form or an
other of national religion.
But there were forces at work which,
by the time we had come to the forma
tion of a national government for the
United States, had put the old alliance
of state and church into the back
ground; and the founding of govern
ment with us had fallen, fortunately,
upon the time when best advantage
could be taken of the new freedom.
The leaven had been at work in Europe,
and in natural course of events its
effect was felt in America,
" Lowell says. In one of his later es
says: "The most subtle influence on
America was exerted by him to whom,
jnore than any other man, we owe it
that we can think and speak as we
choose today." And who was this?
Start not at the name. Voltaire's in
fluence was by far the greatest of all
forces that contributed to that secular
ization of the state which distinguishes
government in America from all other
governments, ancient and modern.
There always has been an enigma in
Voltaire; which, however, modern criti
cal Inquiry Is at last clearing up. Per
haps the best statement yet presented
is in an essay by Du Bois-Reymond.
"When we compare," says this writer,
"the immeasurable fame of Voltaire
during the eighteenth century a fame
which at last raised him to be a genu
ine power with .the slight appreciation
of him during the first half of the pres
ent century, there Is presented a two
fold problem of highest Interest in
the history of literature and culture.
We have to Investigate the reason for
the change, and from the standpoint
of today to place anew on a firm foot
ing the genuine worth and totality of
the influence exerted by this extraordi
nary man. That his poetry is anti
quated, that his theory of art Is very
limited, that his philosophy is shallow,
that the weaknesses of his character
have been published to the world, all
this will not explain why most of us
came to regard him as so unimportant,
and with such indifference. Paradox
ical as it may sound, the real cause of
this Is that we are all, more or less,
VoltairiansVoltairians without know
ing it, and without being called such.
For we are such only as that which
was eternally true, in Voltairism, and
it is only (as Voltaire himself has finely
remarked) the adherents of a disputed
doctrlnfe Who are named after its orig
inal author. We have been so thor
oughly Imbued by him that the Ideal
benefits for which he strove during a
long life, with passionate devotion, with
every weapon of intellect, above all
with his terrible mockery that tolera
tion, spiritual freedom, human dignity,
justice, have become, as it were, an
element of our natural life, like the air
we breathe, on which we bestow a
thought only when we are deprived of
it. In one word, whatever once, as it
flowed from Voltaire's pen, was the most
audacious Thinking, is a commonplace
today."
The service rendered by Voltaire, to
mankind, in secularization of the state,
has not been exceeded in importance
by that rendered by any man, in any
age of the world. His phrase, "Ecrasez
l'lnfame," was formerly misrepresented
in its meaning and purpose; sometimes
perhaps honestly misunderstood. It
was not an attack on Christianity, or
on religion as such; but on state re
ligion, with its measureless' abuses, on
privileged and persecuting orthodoxy
in general. What Voltaire' meant by
"IInfame" was religion claiming su
pernatural authority and employing
the power and resources of government
to enforce the claim. There htrs been
no other tyranny on earth comparable
to this. It was the most ancient and
powerful of all alliances, that of the
medlclne-man and the chief with mod
ern means and appliances 'to assist
both. It was religion with the Bastlle
and the rack at command. It was the
worst thing that ever was In the world.
That we in America are first and chlef
est heirs of the benefits that have fol
lowed deliverance from It, Is due, as
Lowell has so strongly put it, to no
' other Influence so much as that of Vol
taire. .
It must cause a bitter pang to Bryan
to have to come out In favor of assert
ing 'American rights and dignity in
China. As a rule, the fact that the Mc
Klnley Administration is doing any
thing is sufficient evidence to the Bry-
anite mind that the exact opposite
should be done. Many of the Bryan
organs insist on conformity to this rale
of .action, even with the Chine. Im
broglio. It is to Mr! Bryan's credit that
now, as on occasion of the Paris
treaty's pendency in the Senate, he has
risen higher than his own creed and in
dorsed the course to which the Admin
istration was necessarily committed. He
sets an example worthy of emulation
by a lot of his more consistent and
less crazy followers. Public disap
proval will take care of them, and as
for him, all there la to say is that the
acknowledgment wrung from him muBt
prove a cruel blow.
A MESSAGE FROM KWAK.
There Is nothing surprising in the an
nouncement that Kwan, the war god of
the Boxers, has commanded them to
destroy the foreigners, root and branch.
Precisely this has been done by the
gods of every age and zone. The super
ficial view of this message from Kwan
would be that the Boxers are a precious
set of rascals In this as In other
things, and that the so-called command
is a mere pretense of theirs to cover
their crimes. Researches of the his
torian and the anticuary, however, show
us that in this, as with most things
else in life, evil is mixed with good, and
the actual workings of ihe human
mind, savage or civilized, make up an
obscure and difficult problem.
Deception there is, undoubtedly, in
the oracles of every race, but It is
mostly Tight-lntentioned self-deception,
and with it is mixed much sincerity
and true religious feeling. Chance, and
not artifice, has been the controlling
factor in the divination practiced from
earliest antiquity until the present day,
not only in Asia, but by California
"mind-readers" and Boston mediums.
This was especially true of the mechan
ical device, vaguely hinted at under
the name of "urim and thummlm," but
to this day never satisfactorily ex
plained, with the aid of which the an
cient Hebrews obtained the decision of
Jehovah as to Important plans under
contemplation. Priests carried the vari
ous machines about, and consulted
them upon occasion, when the clock
work or dice, or whatever it was, would
signify one or the other of two opposite
answers that were open to It, though at
times the instrument, for some unex
plained reason, failed to work when
resorted to. It Is impossible to doubt
that fraud was sometimes employed by
the manipulator of the machine, for a
record has been left of at least one case
where a priest, so solicited, refused to
comply.
In ancient Europe, the most celebrat
ed methods of eliciting the wishes of
Deity were the .Greek oracles and the
Roman augurs. At Rome the flight of
birds and the inspection of slaughtered
animals were highly regarded, but from
all over Europe the Greek oracles, es
pecially the one at Delphi, were con
sulted on questions of national mo
ment. No conaueror approached the
Adriatic or Aegean without finding ac
cess in some way to the Delphic ora
cle, and, after propitiating it with gifts,
awaiting In suspense the laconic and
often mysterious responses brought
back by the trusted messengers. Here,
too, evidences of fraud cannot be set
aside; for the ancient writers them
selves, whose faith in the oracle is
strong, indirectly impeach its rectitude
by accounting in unworthy ways for
responses secured by the enemies of
Greece against her welfare.
Setting aside the undoubted In
stances of fraudulent oracles, we come
to the real nature of the revelations
that all nations have received from
their tribal gods, and stumble at once
upon a psychological problem of great
obscurity. The facts are established
that both oracle and suppliants were
sincere, and, what Is more remarkable,
that Impressions were borne In upon the
mind of the prophet or priestess none
the less real because in whole or in
part they were the product of the wait
ing mind Itself. They are thus analo
gous to the phenomena of ordinary
miracles, and the demonstrations of
modern spiritualism, some of which
have run the gauntlet of the London
Society for Psychical Research.
The unsolved part of the problem Is,
of course, whether there Is any actual
communication with the human mind
from 'the realm of the unseen and un
known. It was Bmerson'S view, It will
be remembered, that these manifesta
tions are producta of Nature, working
In a legitimate way;
Never from lips of cunning feO.
The thrilling Delphio oracje.
Out of the heart of Nature rolled.
The burdens of the Bible old.
Christian scholars are writing books
today to prove that In the influence of
the unseen world upon the mind is
found a scientific demonstration of im
mortality, and that the career of Jesus
was possible because he was in perfect
touch with the world of disembodied
mind and reached both mind and mat
ter without the interposition of mechan
ical agencies. The truth of the matter
doubtless lies somewhere between the
dogmatic claims of materialistic philos
ophy and the equally arrogant dicta
of the old mystics. It is interesting to
remember that the storm-center of phil
osophical discussion is now in the dis
coveries and hypotheses of the new psy
chology, which is pursuing paths prob
ably undreamed of by its great
founder, Mr. Herbert Spencer. In this
region of "knowledge we are passing
through a transition stage, in which
some ancient landmark is moved al
most every day. Perhaps the only
thing absolutely certain is that as the
mind conquers one field of knowledge,
or comes to an Insurmountable wall in
one direction, some other vista opens up
new and fascinating and apparently
endless regions of thought and investi
gation. It takes a long while for the
finite to catch quite up to the Infinite.
A RAY OP HOPE.
There is a persistence about the op
tlmislfc reports from Pekin that is cer
tainly very reassuring. Evidence of
the authenticity and especially of the
recent date of the dispatches leaves
much tobe desired, but if it is true
that the Chinese Government has the
Ministers under efficient protection, the
worst should be over and their safoty
should be assured for an Indefinite
period.- If the Ministers have actually
escaped, their salvation is primarily
due to the splendid resisting power of
the British legation. The mere shell
ing of this place of refuge by Chinese
guns will not compel speedy surrender,
so long as provisions hold out. The
British artillery was able to do small
mischief to the intrenched Boers of
Cronje's army, and the Foreign Minis
ters include more than ope educated
soldier, while the Sikh escort of the
British legation is, of course, com
manded by an educated British officer.
The British legation Is a- stone inclos-
I ure, and is capable of military defense.
Furthermore, It Is clear that the For
eign Ministers are not without powerful
iriendB -in Pekin among the Chinese
anti-Boxer faction.
The theory that Li Hung Chang goes
to Pekin to Join the ranks and councils
of the insurrection is open to grave
question. He evidently has the entire
confidence of the British authorities at
Hong Kong, by whom he was received
with' the highest public honors. The
fact that he obeys the summons to
Pekin shows that it comes from the
regular Imperial Government, from
which he received his appointment. To
Prince Tuan as a rebel he owes no alle
giance, and his summons he would not
obey. The Imperial Government natur
ally desires his presence as a mediator
and negotiator in advance of the ap
proach of the foreign armies and the
ultimate occupation of Pekin. Nothing
is more natural than that the Pekin
Government should desire the presence
at this time of an able and intelligent
Chinese diplomatist, who has the confi
dence of both his own government and
the foreign powers. Nothing is more
natural than that Li Hung Chang
should feel obliged to obey this sum
mons. He takes his life In his hands,
for he Is in danger of losing it at the
hands of the Boxer faction, if they
triumph, or at the hands of the Im
perial Government, should he prove
disobedient or disloyal.
LI Hung Chang Is not a Manchu; he
is a Cantonese Chinaman, loyal to the
throne, but not a Manchu factlonlst.
The behavior of our Government during
all this crisis in China has been admira
ble. The policy resolved upon Is so
sound and sensible that It is sure to be
adopted by all the other powers; by
Great Britain, Germany and France
because they sympathize with It; by
Russia because she cannot do other
wise. It Is almost unthinkable that the
dispatches announcing the safety of
the Ministers should be sent out know
ingly by the Chinese Government for
the purpose of wanton deceit.
SPOILED CHILDREN.
George E. Woodberry, In his "Makers
of Literature," in his essay on 'Coleridge
says that "his character was of less
consequence than his temperament,"
and he analyzes his temperament as
"one of diffused sensuousness, physi
cally, and of abnormal mental moods
moods of weakness, languor, collapse,
of visionary imaginative life, with ft
night atmosphere of the spectral, moon
lit, swimming, scarcely substantial
world." But it Is quite probable that
Coleridge's so-called "temperament"
was largely created by the use of
opium, which he commenced to take as
early as 1796 for relief from rheuma
tism, and never wholly abandoned un
til bis best productive power was
wrecked. Furthermore, Coleridge, like
Byron, was a spoiled child. His lnflrm-
I ltles are not Infirmities that are peculiar
to men of genius; they are the Infirm
ities of a "spoiled child." Byron never
knew a father; his mother was a pas
sionate, arbitrary, capricious woman, of
the kind that beat their children un
justly and brutally one day and treat
them with foolish fondness and Indulg
ence the next. So with Coleridge. His
unfortunate early environment made a
"spoiled child" of him, and a "spolle'd
child" he was to the end of his days.
Had Byron had such a devoted father
and mother, such, blessed formative In
fluences in the plastic years of child
hood, as had William Pitt and John
Qulncy Adams; had Coleridge's father
been such a parent as the great I?r.
Thomas Arnold was to his children, we
should have much less to write today
concerning the. Infirmities of genius In
connection with these two great poets.
Byron was an affectionate, hlgh-splr-ited,
sensitive boy, who was sure to be
SDoIled by such a mother as he had,
and to carry the marks of her evil early
formative training with him to the end
of his days In his utter lack of self-
restraint and self-conquest
Coleridge was sent to a boarding
school when he was only 9 years old.
He was a dreamy. Indolent lad, deficient
in will power, the kind of boy that spe
cially needs the support of domestic
affection and guidance; he was wonder
fully precocious intellectually, and ec
centric His father, who was a clergy
man, used to carry him about from
coffee-house to coffee-house when a
mere child, and make this vain, mar
velous creature spout and recite from
books far beyond his years, when he
ought to have been playing with
healthy children of his own age. Nat
urally he grew up self-conscious, indo
lent. Introspective and physically defi
cient In very-day hardihood at a time
when all healthy boys, properly brought
up. are full of physical energy and
outdoor aggressiveness. He wanted to
be a cobbler's apprentice when he was
a schoolboy, and from Cambridge Uni
versity he enlisted as a dragoon and
served two months. He was so ignor
ant of practical affairs that he was
obliged to hire his comrades to care for
his horse and his equipments. Then he
wanted to found a Panti-Socratic Utopia
in Pennsylvania; was a sort of Brook
Farm Bellamylte. He began in religion
a Unitarian preacher; then from an
extreme Radical and Socialist became
an English Tory, a Trinitarian, a thorough-going
believer in the established
church, and a theologian. His whole
life was a record of neglect of his du
ties as a husband, of promises unper
formed, of failure to keep his engage
ments, of alternate fits of Indolence and
activity. He was always a genteel
mendicant and a lifelong user of opium.
He began a vaA deal, and as a rule left
nearly everything unfinished, a fact
due to his use of opium, which kept
him dreaming, irresolute, when he
ought to have been doing.
Coleridge was infinitely more of a
"spoiled child" than Byron, for Byron's
vast energy of mind and body saved
him from sloth, and his "gin and water"
was better than Coleridge's opium
habit, Byron, like Shelley, and totally
unlike Coleridge, was never a weather
cock In his convictions. He was capa
ble of noble disinterestedness and per
sonal self-sacrifice for principle. He
would impoverish himself to rescue a
friend from a debtor's prison, while
Coleridge always abused his friends
when they declined to lend him money.
Coleridge is the worst case of "spoiled
child" in the history of literature, but
the right kind of father would have
made a man out of the dreamy. Indo
lent, vain, cowardly clilld Coleridge,
and the right kind of a mother would
have made a splendid man out of the
brilliant, Impetuous, affectionate, sensi
tive, energetic boy, Byron.
In a less degree De Qulncey and Shel
ley in boyhood were injured by the
stupid treatment of their parents or
guardians. Evil environment, with
foolish early training, mokes spoiled
children, whether the child be a creat
ure -of genius or merely of talent. Col
eridge was, measured by his Yost na-
tlve endowments arid: literary acquire
ments, a failure, btcause'he had been
educated from a child, 'to be selfish,
self-indulgent. Indolent and irresolute,
the kind of man tha't Is always an easy
victim to opium or alcohol.
If Coleridge's father 'had devoted
himself In hs domestic , circle to thd
constant -correction 4md training of his
gifted child, as conscientiously and pa
tiently as Lord Chaiham did to make
a man of his gifted child, or as old John
Adams and his wlft did to the early
training of their grati son, the author
of "The Ancient Milliner" would have
gone through life and left It with a
better record than that of bavlng sur
rendered to morphine what was meant
for mankind. Daniel Webster's first
wife was a beautiful wpman of fine
mind and pure heart, "but his son,
Fletcher, never received from hlB
father any proper attention or training
In childhood, and, although a man nat
urally of good parte, Fletcher Webster
never rose to any distinction until he
died gallantly at the head of a Massa
chusetts regiment at Becond Bull Run.
Nothing in his life became him like the
leaving of it. Environment and train
ing in the plastic years of 'childhood can
no more be Ignored In the formative
influences over inch's character and
conduct than can inherited traits of
blood or stock.
TUE SHIPOWNERS LUCK.
With all of the great nations of the
Ncarth chartering fleets, of steamships for
transport service, and drawing from
merchant trades an Immense amount of
tonnage, it is not surprising that ocean
freight rates are sodrihgrup near to rec
ord figures. All owners of shipping
property are reaping a 'golden harvest,
and every shipyard of any Importance
In the world Is cr6wded with orders,
some of which are booked two years
ahead. Ancient hulks whose days of
usefulness were supposed to be over
have been hauled off the beach, patched
up sufficiently to keep out water, and
are now earning money faster than ever
before In their careers. Some of this
prosperity on the 'hlgH seas can be
traced directly to the, great trade ex
pansion that has taken place within the
past few years; butother causes are
contributing in a large measure to the
shipowners' profits,' and excuse their
seeming rapacity in ''cinching" the
traffic for all It will', bear.
Three years ago the new-season
grain fleet from Portland was led by
a ship which was chartered for 20 shil
lings per ton. Tljls-yearthe first vessel
of the fleet received 40 shillings, and
many which follow her will receive 45
shillings per. ton. An advance of 100
per cent In frelght'rates in three years
indicates an unnatural , condition of
business. It shows that rates were
either too low three years ago, or that
they are too high now," -both views of
the matter being correct Freights
were at low ebb all over the world three
years ago. Then came big crops and
big prices. All first-class shipping
property on the Atlantic and the Pa
cific found employment at highly profit
able rates, and when the Klondike ex
citement commenced a large number of
old, discarded steamships, like the
Pennsylvania, Ohlq Indiana, Morgan
City and similar craft,' paddled round to
the Pacific and Joined the rush to the
far north.
This business was overdone In short
order, but fortune .favored the owners
of these and scores .of, other ancient
ships. The Spanish War was on, and
every available steamship was pressed
into the transport? service at prices
which made the rates earned In mer
chant trades seem insignificant The
lumber-shippers a.nd wheatgrowers,
who had been waiting for the Klondike
excitement to subside m. order to get
cheap freights, grudgingly paid the ad
vance demanded, and waited for the
war to close. Long' before the most of
the transports were released, Great
Britain took up something like 200,000
tons net register prom the merchant
marine, and has been 'keeping most of
It busy in her South African war serv
ice since
Now, as a crowning factor in the
strength of freights, comes a war of
world-wide proportions, which promises
to require the services of all the avail
able steam tonnage that can be spared,
from the merchant service. No more
fortunate or remarkable train of cir
cumstances ever uhlted to enrich the
shipowner at the expense of the pro
ducer, and the fortunes that are being"
made in the business can have but one
result that is, capital will flow to ship
ping Investments in such a stream that
with the restoration of peace, there will
be more tonnage than can be used to
advantage, and rates will go down In
obedience to the same law of supply
and demand which is now carrying
them up to dlszy heights.
IS PROPERTY TO BE PROTECTED T
. Business instinct often negatives Bry
anlte sentiments. ' A windy Popocrat
may rail loudly against wealth and its
owners, for political purposes, but ho
Is apt to want the wealth In his com
munity or in his pocket The Bryan
man who "runs a paper" may boast his
hostility to men who have ability and
means for promotion of great industries,
but along his practical side he Is prone
to beg the consideration of the men
he has reviled. Here is the breezy
Times-Mountaineer making an unusu
ally violent outburst against wealth,
yet Inviting men of capital to put then
money Into Industries at The Dalles.
It makes its frenzied appeal to the
prejudice of the sectlon-hand" against
the "railway -magnate"; it prates of.
unequal and specfal laws; it boldly of
fers a defense of anarchy, and encour
ages the lawless spirit of the vicious by
babbling of government by Injunction;
it panders to class prejudices by tell
ing the producers o weajth (now get
ting better returns than ever before in
the history of the world) that "com
bined wealth" puts up the prices of
what they buy and beats down the
prices of what they sell; and Anally it
charges the prevailing anarchistic spirit
to the avarice of the wealthy and their
alleged special privileges. Adjoining
Its Insane outburst is this rational par
agraph: The visit of Dr. Grant and party to The
Dalles is of no small lmpertance. The gen
tlemen of the party represent vast wealth, and
If favorably Impressed with The Dalles and
Its surroundings, may direct capital to this
section for Investment. And, of course, this
will be welcome, for outside money la needed
to develop our latent resources.
It may be suggested that the "men
of wealth in Dr. Grant's party" are not
likely 'to be "favorably impressed" if
they accept the paper's political fan
faronade as an index of the commu
nity's feeling 'towards persons who
bring in capital for the development of
Wasco's latent resources. Men who in
vest capital and devote their energies
to establishing successful enterprises
have aright to expect returns, and they
may also be expected to fight shy of
a town whose newspaper Indulges In
Bryanlstio maundering against them.
They will not be inclined to Invest their
means where they cannot feel sure of a
community sentiment for law and or
der. Men who put money Into manu
facturing industries or transportation
lines have a natural desire to be able
to appeal to courts to restrain Irrespon
sible persons who threaten to do lawless
acts. The man who has accumulated
something does not wish to be at the
mercy of those who have not, and he
would prefer that anarchists be kept
from destroying his property, rather
than attempt to secure their punish
ment after the deviltry of devastation
Is done. An Invitation to "outside
money" to come to a country for in
vestment Is ludicrous when made In the
same breath with rage against enforce
ment of laws to protect the invited
person's money and investments. The
Dalles Is distinctively a law-abiding
city, where property rights are secure
and citizens reasonably conservative;
but one of its newspapers would lead
men of capital to infer the contrary.
Preachment of the Isms of Bryan and
Debs is not conducive to the develop
ment of any region's latent resources.
Wo have no more right to send troops to
China than Queen Victoria, has. to send her
soldiers to St. Louis. If Englishmen's Uvea
are Imperiled la rlota there. Philadelphia
Times.
If Englishmen were being murdered
In St Louis by gangs of native "Box
ers"; If anti-foreign feeling were so
high In America that Ministers of
treaty powers were slain or besieged;
if aliens were cooped up and defending
their lives as best they could; and If, In
these circumstances, the Government of
the United States were so Impotent and
Bryanlc as to be unable to afford pro
tection to the persons and property of
Englishmen here under treaty guaran
tees, the Queen of England and her gov
ernment might think it advisable not
to say a bounden duty to send troops
to protect the lives of loyal subjects,
Just as the President of the United
States finds It a duty to send soldiers
to the rescue of American citizens who
are menaced in China.
Men who make a failure of every
thing they undertake and employ their
talents to best advantage In harangues
on street corners, have been telling us
these many years that a Board of Pub
lic Works would sound the death knell
of our liberties. Perhaps they are right
but there Is some consolation In know
ing that we are to have a fair test of
the principle. The board has been com
pleted by appointment of Mr. William
MacMaster, a man without superior in
business probity and estimable private
qualities. As a whole, the body Is rep-J
resentatlve, capable and responsible. If
It fails, there is no use in trying to
have a Board of Public Work3 in Port
land, for a better one could not be ex
pected. Boards of Public Works suc
ceed in other cities, as experience has
abundantly shown. If the device does
not approve Itself here. It will show
only that local conditions and habits
unfit us for its use.
Colonel Klttredge Hasklns, who has
Just been nominated by the Republi
cans of the Second Congressional Dis
trict of Vermont to succeed" General
William W. Grout, Is a lawyer of Brat
tleboro, a man of ability In his profes
sion, and a vigorous speaker in debate
and on the stump. He has seen many
years of service In both houses of the
state Legislature, has been Speaker of
the House several terms, and has been
United States District Attorney. Colo
nel Hasklns was an officer of a nine
months regiment In the Civil War, and
did creditable service at the battle of
Gettysburg. He Is about 65 years of
age. General Grout, the retiring Rep
resentative, who has served eighteen
years In Congress, will be a candidate
for United States Senator before the
Vermont Legislature, which meets in
October.
The pilots who send their boat to
Puget Sound to bo repaired are cer
tainly to be commiserated for their lack
61 loyalty, but they have the excuse of
precedents in more ambitious quarters.
Superior activity gets Government
transports for rival cities, numbers of
Inhabitants were missed In Portland for
want of funds to aid in the work of
enumeration, we seem unwilling to bid
low enough on military supplies, and
an influential portion of the commu
nity is strenuously engaged In an ef
fort to move our maritime business to
Astoria. Nature has done a great deal
for Portland, but there Is a limit, it
seems, to her field of operations. A
point is reached in development where
a community must do something- for
Itself.
"A Regular Soldier," stationed at
Bulacan, Luzon, writes an interesting
letter to the Army and Navy Journal.
He says there Is no serious fighting
in Luzon nowadays. The rebels travel
In small bands, robbing their own peo
ple, and once in a while attacking some
Corporal's guard on escort service.
"They will not fight our troops simply
Are one volley and run, shooting wildly
in the air as they go." This Irritating
state of things neither war nor peace
will last our regular thinks, as long
as the present gentle policy of the Gov
ernment lasts. "It is beginning to be
felt by all that it will be necessary that
power be given to commanding officers
summarily to execute all guerrillas and
ladrones (robbers) on the spot"
An irritable little Bryan paper wants
The Oregonlan to "tell its readers, as a
matter of news, that the New York
World and the Louisville Courier-Journal
are supporting Bryan." But It Is
very doubtful that they are giving him
support Quotations from their columns
Indicate, rather, that they are damn
ing him with faint praise.
Demo-Populist politicians of Linn
County have tendered an "elegant ban
quet" to Milt Miller, one of their num
ber, at Lebanon. But why should they
not? Free sliver has been kept down,
and they are prosperous enough to af
ford the luxury that could be indulged
only by plutocrats four or five years
ago.
Why does the brake of a street-car
always work except when somebody Is
in danger on the track ahead of it? We
ought to get better brakes or more
trustworthy motormen.
There was a great peace conference
a. little while ago, but nobody seem3
to remember it; and wars, on an In
creasing scale, have, been In progress
ever since.
SLINGS AND ARROWS.
Day
When the
Thermometer's 100 ""
It Is hot; and
Don't you lose
Tour surplus
Dough In bet
Tlnr It Is not.
And when it
Drops toward 80
It Is not a
Mortal cinch
You'll freese
To death, al- -
Though It
Still toes
Lower inch by
Inch. When it
Arrives at 80
You can go
To work ones
More; when
1 1 reaches 70
You don't feel
Quite so sore.
But still full
Eagerly you
Watch the tl
Nx oolumn
Creep, net 1 1
It gets to 60
When you get
A chance to
Sleep. And
After that
You do not
Care, but let
The old thing
Drop, until
The snow re
Mlnds you
That It don't
Know when to
Stop. It keeps
On going down
And down; swear at
It though you will, you
still obserre the air out
aids la stricken with a chill.
Two late you aee the mercury
the place marked "aero" pass,
and vanish like s spirit
In the bottom of
the glass.
It Lesifeed.
The shades of night were falling fast
When down his weary length he cast
Upon the sofa; when he rose
He found in wads upon his clothes
Excelsior. Travelers' Guide.
Can any city please a manT
Well, we guess yes, Topeka Kan.
A half score of charms again.
You'll And right down In Memphis Tean.
And If all these don't fill the bill.
You'll likely like Chicago HI.
But take care as you Journey on.
Don't get fllmflammed by Hartford Conn,
But Journey to this Western shore
And blow jour coin on Portland Ore.
We're After Then.
Full many a gem. of purest ray serene.
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear.
And some day we will get a submarine
Torpedo-boat, and go and hunt down there.
Exploded Myths,
Barbara Freltchie's work is o'er.
And the rebel rldos on his raids no more.
And soon the critics will explode
The myth that the rebel ever rode.
On a Party Line.
We got a party telephone.
To home In our front hall.
The kind you have to count, the rings
So you can know your call;
An' lots C folks, all over town.
Is on the same line too.
An' hear Just everything that's said
When people talk to you.
They don't let on that they are there,
Nor never give no sign.
But you can't keep no secrets whea
You've got a party Una.
A lady called my ma, on day.
An' said that Mrs. Brown
Was gettln talked Shout, because
She went too much down town.
My ma said she didn't like
That sort o' thing;- no slrt
An Mrs. Brown passed by next dso
An wouldn't speak to her.
But ma. she said she didn't oarf
In fact, she liked It fine,
Because she'd found that Mrs. Branra
Is on our party line.
Our servant girl, when folks Is cut.
An' she Is all alone,
She likes to call her fellows trj
Across our telephone.
An' yesterday a caller told
My ma she'd better heed
A rumor that my sister Bus
Was fllrtln' with a Swede.
An ma she thought the story Sot
Was some mischief o mine.
Till she remembered that.tho girt
Talked on our party line.
Our coming Ins and coming; cots
Is known to every one;
Tot there's some things wv got t say
Across that telephone.
The uelehbora And out evry day,
Just how my sister feels.
They know what clothes my ma has mads,
An what we hsv for meals.
They know what company -we hav.
An' who comes hers to dine;
You cannot have no secrets whea
You've got a party line.
Answers to Correspondents!.
Ag-ldo Ton have the record. A cat has
only nine lives.
Alfred A The word month Is not a
very good subject for a rhyme; but do
not bo discouraged. A man who can dig
up a rhyme for Mafeklng can do any
thing. Popular Song" Writer Destroy the meter
and take out the sense and your song will
make a hit
General Wh-l-r-There is a good ppen-
ing for a game young fighter in China.
Richard Cr-ker We know of several Ice
pick manufacturers. Enclose 10 cents In
stamps and we will give you their ad
dresses. W. J. B. Never in a thousand years.
In the Game Aamin,
Oh. rra the original hisjn Chlue.
Of that there is never a doubt;
When the Queen Is in trouble shs sends for me.
They never can leave me out.
They take away
My feathers gay.
And pass me up now and tbea.
But it's not for long,
Vor I soon get strong
And they give them all back again.
The King, Kwang Hsu,
If I want him to,
Will throw down the Boxer gang;
For I am the man
Who can scheme and plan,
Ths original LI Hung Chans.
They told me that I was a lot too oil.
To hold down a statesman's Job.
They thought they would leave zae out la the
cold.
And put In my place some snob,
BUt the Boxers bold
Got the under-bold,
And the kingdom was going- to smash.
And soon they saw
That their work was raw
And that turning me down was rub.
And so. you see.
They sent for me.
To run the whole shebang.
Sien war's in line
at's where I shine.
The original LI Hung Chang.
I've been a smooth Chinee from my birth,
I'm the wisest of them all;
If ther don't like me they get off the earth.
And I never will worry at au.
For forty years
Their swords and spears
Have played the gams for me.
And now once more
They'll play It for
The smooth old high Chine.
The Mausers snap
And the bullets slap.
.And the cannon go boom and bang;
It's fun for. me,
The high Chinee,
The original LI Hung Chang.
-J. J. MONTAQUB.
MASTERPIECES OF LITERAIDRE-SM
" ' Stanzas Frorrr'Mn-Mcmoriarru?
Alfred Tennyson.
I held It troth, with him who sines.
To one clear harp In divers trass.
That men may rise on stepplnr-stonss)
Of their dead selves to higher things.
But who shall so forecast the years
And find In loss a gain to match T
Or reach a hand thro' time to cstrh
The fax-ofl Interest of tears T
Let Xove clasp Grief lest both be drowara.
Let darkness -keep her raven gloss;
Ah, sweeter to bo drunk with toss.
To dance with death, to beat the grscad.
Than that the victor Hoars should sccta.
The lonr result of love, and boast.
"Behold the man that loved and. test.
But all he was Is overworn."
VL
One writes, that "Other friends remain."
That "Loss Is common to the race"
And common Is the commonplace.
And vacant chaff well meant for grain.
That loss Is common would not make
My own loss Bitter, rather more;
Too common I Never mornlns; wot
To evening, but some heart did break.
O Father, wheresoe'er thou be.
Who pledgest now thy tUant son;
A shot, ere half thy draught be done,
Hath stlll'd the life that beat from thee.
O mother, prayinr God will savs
Thy Bailor, whllo thy head Is boVd.
His heavy-shotted hammock-shroud
Drops In his vast and wandering grave.
To know no more than I who wrought
At that last hour to pleaso him well;
Who mused on all I had to tell.
And something- written, something thought;
Expecting still his advent home;
And ever met him on his way
With wishes, thlnkinr. here today.
Or here tomorrow will he come.
O somewhere, meek unconscious dove.
That tiltteat ranging golden hair;
And glad to find thyself so fair.
Foor child, that waitest for thy level
For now her father's chimney glows
In expectation of a guest;
And thinking "this will pleasa him best,"
She takes a riband or a rose;
For he win see them on tonight;
And with the thought her color feurnst
And. having left the glass, she turns
Once more to set a ringlet right;
And, even when she tum'd, the ourse
Had fallen, and her future Lord
Was drown'd In passing thro' the ford.
Or klll'd In falling from bis horse.
O what to her shall be the end?
And what to me remains of goodt
To her, perpetual maidenhood.
And unto me no second friend.
30CVTL
I envy not la any moods
The captiv void of noble rags.
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the Summer woods;
I envy net the beast thtt takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetterd by the sense of. crime,
To whom a consdoncs never wakes;
Nor, what may count Itself as blest.
The heart that never plighted troth.
But stagnates In the weeds of sloth.
Nor any want-begotten rest.
I hold it true, whato'er befall.
I feel It, when I sorrow most;
'Tls better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all
LTV.
0 yet wo trust that somehow good
Will be the final goal of fiL
To pangs of nature, sins of wtS,
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;
That nothing walks with aimless feet -That
not one life shall be destroy'd.
Or cast as rubbish to the void.
When God hath made the pile- compUtS
That not a worm Is cloven la vsinj
That not a moth with vain desire
Is shrivell'd In a fruitless firs.
Or but subserves another's gala.
Behold, we know not anything;
I can but trust that good shall tall
At last-far off-t last, to all.
And every Winter change to SprJn.
LXXJLVU.
1 past besiOs ths reverend walls
In which of old I wore the gown.
X roved at random thro ths town.
And saw the tumult of the halls;
And beard once more in college fanes
The storm their hlgh-bullt organs mslr-
And. thunder-musta, rolling, shake
The prophets blazon'd on the panes;
And caught once more the distant shcreV
The measured pulse of raclnff oars 1
Among the willows, paced the shores
And many a bridge, and all about
The same gray flats again, and felt '
The same, but not the same; and last
Up that lone walk of llmea I past
To see the rooms In which ho dwelt.
Another name was on the door;
I llnger'd; all within -ass noise
Of songs, and clapping hands, and boys
that crash'd the glass and beat the fioorj (
Where once ws held debate, a band
Of youthful friends, on mind and. art.
And labor, and the changing- mart.
And all the framework of the land;
When one would aim an arrow fair, '
But send it Blackly from the string;
And one would pleroo an outer rlnj,
And one an Inner, here and there;
And last the master-bowman, he,
Would cleave the mark. A wllllnx ear
We lent blra. Who, but hung to hear X,
The rapt oratlon'flowing free j
From point to point, with power and jrrao
And muslo in the bounds of law.
To those conclusions when wo saw
Tho God within him light his face.
And seen t lift the form, and glow
In arure orbits beavenly-wlso;
And over those ethereal eyee
The bar of Michael Angela.
XCVL
You say, but with no touch of scorn.
Sweet-hearted, you, whose light-blue ejesTj
Are tender over drowning flies,
Tou tell me. doubt Is Devil-bom.
I know not; one Indeed I knew
In many a subtle question "rersed.
Who touch'd a Jarring lyre at first.
But ever strove to make It true;
Ferplext In faith, but pure In deeds,
At last he beat his muslo cut.
There lives more-faith In honest douM, Z
Bellsve me, than In half the creeds.
He fought Ms doubts and gatbsr'd strecgtSi
He would not make his Judgment blind.
He faced the specters of the mind
And laid them: thus he came at lengta
To find & stronger faith his own;
And Power was with him in the night. r
Which makes the darkness and the HgX, I
And dwells not In the light alone.
But In the d - and the cloud.
As over Sinai's peaks of old.
While Israsl made their gods of rofeS,
Altho the trumpet blew so loud.
CVL
BJns out, wild bens, to ths wild sky.
The flying cloud, tho frosty light;
The year Is dying In the night;
Hlntf out, wild bells, and let him die.
Rlnr out the old, ring In the new.
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year Is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in tho true.
Ring out tho grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Bins; out tho feud of rich and poor.
Bins In redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause.
And ancient forms of party strife;
Rlnr in tho nobler modes of life.
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring- out the want, the care, the sin.
The faithless coldness of the times;
Rlnc out, ring out my mournful rhymes.
But ring the fuller minstrel In.
Bing out false pride in place and blood.
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shaped of foul disease;
Rlnr out the n&rrowinr lust of gold;
Ring out tho thousand wars of old.
Ring In the thousand years of peace.
Ring In the valiant man and free.
The larger heart, the kindlier hand.
Ring out tho darknrsa of the land.
lJUns; In ths Christ that-Is te be.