X
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JULY 21, 1901.
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TESTERDAT-S WEATHER-Maximum tem
perature, 82; minimum temperature. 52; fair.
TODAY'S WEATHER Showers; cooler;
south to west winds.
'-
.PORTXAAD, SUXDAY, JULY 21, 1001.
'r-
!THE METHOD OP PHILAXTHROPV.
Those multi-millionaires -who have
(sums of money to give away are re
minded by the New York Press that
there are in this country colleges, uni
versities and libraries sufficient for all
present needs; but that there are not
enough habitable and comfortable
homes in the cities" for families who
want no charity, but are willing to
work and to pay for what they get.
Improvement of the conditions of life
for these vast numbers of people would
not be a charity, but philanthropy in
deed. The scheme might be made self
supporting, under efficient and honest
administration.
And the Nebraska State Journal pre
sents a further practical suggestion.
These men who do not know what to
do with their millions might, it well
says, put in reservoir systems at the
headwaters of our mountain streams,
for irrigation of the great arid coun
try on the slopes of the Missouri, the
Platte and the Columbia. Such a work
would call into existence a new popu
lation of many millions, to occupy and
till a vast country now practically un
inhabitable. It would furnish them
with opportunity for healthful life and
self-support the greatest boon that
man can bestow on his fellow-man.
, On the other hand, the way in which
Carnegie and Rockefeller are giving
away their millions will not reduce the
congestion of population in the cities,
nor open new opportunities for self
helpful subsistence in the country. It
will not relieve the pressure of the
struggle for life, but will aggravate it
since It will merely intensify existing
conditions. It is mockery to offer uni
versities and libraries to a people who
have small opportunity or none to earn
their bread. But give them a chance
to earn their bread, help them to make
conditions under which they can attain
to healthful existence through their
own labor, and they will then find
ways to get' education, through individ
ual effort, through public organization,
or both.
We fully believe these great univer
sity and library schemes, Instead of
being helpful to the masses of the peo
ple, will have the effect of drawing the
line of separation more widely between
classes, of widening and deepening the
chasm between them, of dividing those
who may be able to make pretensions
to education and position still further
from those who are forced to toil in the
lower walks of life. There never ought
to be a school, a college or a library
that has not been called Into existence
by a spontaneous want. Help, indeed,
may often be received by such with
advantage, but every one in this world,
ithe individual or the community, ought
to work forwhat it gets. To help one
to help himself Is the fundamental law
of a sound philanthropy; and to create
conditions under which a people may
help themselves and pay for what they
get is the only wuy to offer them means
of real improvement. There is noth
ing that requires so much considera
tion, as to its wisdom, as any scheme
of benevolence, large or small; and
there is more to be done for the human
race through works like those recom
mended by the journals we have quoted
than by creating universities and
libraries in places that are supplied al
ready, or for those who do not need
them. Make conditions, or assist in
making them, under which a people can
work and live, and that people will do
the rest
The tragical death of John C. Leasure
ends a life of great activity and per
sonal ambition, combined with a sin
gular lack of steadfast purpose. Cover
ing a space of forty-seven years, it
represented many vicissitudes of for
tune and unbounded but to a certain
extent purposeless energy. Not natur
ally of a despondent nature, Mr. Treas
ure's self-inflicted death represented the
climax of utter despondency. With an
ardent love of home and family, he
drifted from place to place without se
curing a permanent foothold. Essaying
politics, he failed to reach his desire,
and thereafter seemed to lose his moor
ings to his profession, and in a degree
to abandon his activities. The sketch
of his life as written by himself is the
plain, unvarnished story of one who as
boy and man was possessed of a rest
less spirit, boundless energy and every
thing necessary for success in life ex
dept fixity of purpoe. The lesson con
veyed by it Is one that boys and young
men may scan with profit, since the
industry and ambition so simply de
picted therein are worthy of emulation,
while the wreck of his hopes in the
political maelstrom, leading to despaif
and death, conveys a warning which
they may 'do well to heed.
SCRIPTUUAIj ADAPTATION.
It is a familiar ethnic dogma that the
Jewish people have no mythology. The
idea has been developed with especial
pains and attractiveness by Ernest
Renan, with his customary solicitude
for brilliant effect, and consequent im
patience of exactness. To a certain
extent the doctrine is undoubtedly true.
That is, we have not in Hebrew literature-
the .array of gods and goddesses
that furnish forth the history of old
Greece and Rome. There is a sharp
line of distinction between the best of
men, Abraham even, Moses, Elijah,
and the supreme figure of Jehovah,
who, however he upon occasion ap-
peared upon the mount or In the burn
ing bush or chasing Moses through
the streets, never descended to the fa
miliar and often discreditable relations
sustained by pagan divinities to the
children of men. Doubtless Renan is
correct, also, in ascribing this Hebrew
peculiarity to the exalted religious na
ture of the people and their superior
spiritual discernment.
Nevertheless, so uniform is human
nature in its constitution that the dis
tinctiveness of Hebrew development
may be exaggerated, and as knowledge
widens and deepens, racial histories
once accounted miraculously differenti
ated are seen to approximate. And if
we take mythology In its broad sense
as the record of a people's myths, we
shall find evidences already, which time
will undoubtedly multiply, that the
similarity between creation and deluge
legends of Babylon and Judea, for ex
ample, extends also to the field of
mythology and especially of allegorism.
Some useful Prints on this score are sup
plied in an interesting article on "alle
gorical interpretation," contributed by
Dr. Louis Glnzberg to the "Jewish Cy
clopedia," the first volume of which has
just issued from the press of Funk &
Wagnalls. Dr, Glnzberg resents the
Imputation that allegorism was strictly
Hellenic; and in his demonstration to
the contrary he uncovers a vast array
of evidence, which, rationally inter
preted, goes far to establish the natural
rather than a miraculous formation of
the Scriptures.
The origin and reason of allegorical
interpretation, as it has distinguished
all literary peoples, consist, accord
ing to Dr. Glnzberg, in this: When
ever the literature of a people has be
come an inseparable part of its intellec
tual possession, and the ancient and
venerated letter of this literature is in
the course of time no longer in conso
nance with more modern views, to en
able the people to preserve their alle
giance to the tradition, It becomes nec
essary to make that tradition carry and
contain the newer thought as well.
Allegorism is thus in some sense an in
cipient phase of rationalism. As soon
as philosophy arose among the Greeks,
Homer and the old popular poetry were
allegorized. There being scarcely a
people which underwent such powerful
religious development and at the same
time remained so fervently attached to
its venerable traditions as the Jews,
allegorism became of necessity a prom
inent feature, in the history of their
literature.
How allegorism In its simplest form
has fastened on the minds of the pres
ent generation can readily be recalled
by the most casual observer of Biblical
criticism. The days in which God made
the world are imagined to be epochs
of time. The 900-odd years of Methu
selah are Interpreted as 'figurative ex
pression of some more credible lifetime.
Allegorism te probably all that saved
Solomon's song from being thrown out
of the canon, and the violence that has
been done to the fine, old fairy tale of
Jonah and the whale is of contempo
rary activity. This method of inter
pretation, however, Dr. Glnzberg shows,
is very old. Hosea seems to have begun
it when he explained Jacob's bout
with the angel as an affair of mental
gymnastics; that is, of prayer. No one
need doubt that the original story had
In mind an actual physical encounter.
The book of Daniel supplies another
instance, when it interprets Jeremiah's
prophecy of the seventy years of exile
as seventy weeks of years. In order to
give hope of redemption from the con
temporary tyranny of the Greeks. The
Alexandrian Jews early established a
school of allegorical interpretation, In
order to defend themselves from the
derision of the Greeks at some of the
crude Bible narratives. As the Greeks
read the philosophy of Pythagoras and
Plato into the pages of Homer, so the
Alexandrian Jews, with exemplary
zeal and ingenuity, uncovered Athen
ian philosophy also in the hexateuch.
These instances could be multiplied al
most indefinitely from ancient times all
through the Middle Ages until today.
The book of Hebrews is continually
seeking for mystical interpretations of
Old Testament passages St. Paul tells
the Galatlans that the story of Sarah
and Hagar Js an allegory, designed to
teach the difference between spiritual
freedom and bondage; John's gospel
constantly puts Scriptural passages to
allegorical use, and Justin Martyr alle
gorizes the Old Testament entirely
away, while holding to the New as ab
solutely historical.
Let the thoughtless smile, if they will,
at these laborious contrivances of religious-zeaL
The purpose behind them
and the good they do cannot be under
stood without comprehension of the
burden laid upon the serious soul and
the solemn pressure of duty upon the
prophets and apostles of all ages. The
fire of truth and eagerness to serve
that burned in Tyndall, Darwin or Vol
taire, destroying old errors, "is the same
that sent Moses to the deliverance,
Isaiah to the backslider, Paul to the
Romans, the Jesuits to the Iroquois and
Livingstone to the heart of Africa. Not
for deception or for amusement did
priests write out the law, or prophets
tell of terrors to come, " or psalmist
sing or scribe write down the remnants
of old masques and liturgies, or Peter
tell of the transfiguration or Mary of
the risen LordI
Never from lips of cunning fell
The thrilling Delphic oracle. '
What underlay this allegorical inter
pretation of old stories, once believed
literally, was a consuming desire to
save -the present generation from its
error and its sin. The need pressed
upon the devout soul with awful real
ity, and he struggled to supply the an
swer to that need, the dream for the
mystic, the creed for the reasoner, the
code for the man of action. In the light
of modern discovery and criticism we
are apt to think of those heroic labors
as pitiable delusion, or with the arro
gance of materialism to condemn them
as wicked inventions. But the wise
man knows it is not so. He sees in
them all that same devotion to the race
that today the man of science shows
in his strife with error and his endeavor
to lift man up from depths of ignor
ance and superstition. The rude be
ginnings of allegorical interpretation as
far back as the days of Hosea were
one in purpose with our highest Biblical
scholarship. Then began to be recog
nized, what we are even now so slow
to see. that It Is the letter which killeth
the spirit that maketh alive.
WEAK SPOTS IX THE PORTLAND
PUBLIC SCHOOL counsE.
The question of text-books for the
public schools of Oregon has again been
settled, for a term of years, and this
time, in the main, as it seems, satis
factorily so to those vitally concerned.
The changes involved render, it is said,
a revision of the course of instruction
in the grammar grades of the Portland
schools necessary; hence it is proper at
this time, to call attention to some of
the weak spots in the course of study
that the pupils of these schools have
been pursuing for some years past.
Perhaps with the text-book material in
hand the City Superintendent has done
as well as he could in the arrangement
of the course in past yearsJ but It is a
notable fact, and one easily verified by
a comparison of results, that pupils in
the public schools of some other locali
ties go over ground in six years that
it requires eight years for the pupils
of the Portland schools to cover. More
surprising than this fact is the further
fact that even at this leisurely pace
many topics are "cut out" of the grade
work that are treated in the text
books. This is notably true in arith
metic, mental and written; so lament
ably true, indeed, that the drill in men
tal arithmetic is conspicuously weak,
as any one can prove who cares to put
the average pupil who has "passed the
grades" to simple tests. .As to the drill
in written arithmetic, ask any pupil
"ready for the High School" to work an
example in bank discount, and he will
reply, "We skipped that"; ask him to
find the difference in time between
Portland and New York, and he will
answer. "We skipped longitude and
time"; ask him to extract the cube root
of a number, and he will probably re
ply, "Oh, I will learn that when I take
up algebra in the High School."
It will be remembered that at the
competitive examination held in this
city a few weeks ago for admission to
the Naval Academy at Annapolis
eleven condldates entered. Of these,
three were from schools outside of
Portland and eight had attended the
schools of this city. As everybody
knows, the boy sent down from the Ba
ker City High School was the successful
candidate, while the lad who took sec
ond honors was from the Woodstock
school. '
Running over the list of questions in
written arithmetic we find that there
was one problem given in each of the
rules above cited as having been
"skipped" by pupils in our grammar
schools. That is to say, no boy whose
knowledge of mathematics had been
gained solely In the grammar schools
of Portland could have passed the ex
amination in arithmetic which these
candidates were required to take, for
the simple but all-sufficient reason that
he could not even have stumbled at a
solution, of three of the problems given,
having nad no Instruction whatever in
the principles involved.
Then in the matter of geography.
Pupils who have passed the grammar
grades of the Portland public schools
know so little about this science that
they may be said to know almost noth
ing about .It. The reason is not far, to
seek. They have not had competent
text-books upon this very essential
branch of common school education,
while the study of such as they have
had has been dropped midway in the
prescribed course and has not been re
sumed. Fancy the utter humiliation of
bright boys who took this examination
in not being able to make a respect
able showing in geography! There was
but one excuse, but it was a valid one
"I never heard of those places," said
one, referring to the requirement to lo
cate certain cities and islands; and
"We never had anything like that In
our lessons," said another who "stood
high" In geography as it was taught,
but was mystified when confronted by
a simple question In regard to the
"rainless regions of the earth."
Is It not sufficiently clear from these
citations that some of the prime essen
tials' In a common school education
have been tripped over lightly in the
Portland public schools? Is it not ap
parent also that boys from these
schools were handicapped in the com
petitive examination to which reference
is above made by glaring deficiencies
in the course of study prescribed for
them therein? The Oregonlan refers to
this matter at this time In specific
terms, not in a spirit of fault-finding,
but with the earnest desire to promote
the best Interests of the very large
class of our youth whose educational
opportunities are confined to attend
ance upon the public schools. It seems
that opportunity to remedy these de
fects has come through the change in
text-books rendering necessary the re
construction of readjustment of the
course of study in the public schools.
This being true, the above specifica
tions are believed to be timely.
HIS HUMOR KEPT LINCOLN SANE.
The recent death in obscurity of R.
H. Newell, who under the pen name of
Orpheus C. Kerr satirized the incom
petency of General McClellan in his
"Letters From the Mackerel Brigade,"
recalls the fact that among those who
found momentary relief from the terri
ble burden of the Civil War In the
perusal of the rough ground humor of
that day was Abraham Lincoln, who
shocked Charles Sumner, Richard H.
Dana and the, majority of the visiting
clergymen by reading to them passages
from Orpheus C. Kerr and Artemus
"Ward. Humorists were scarce in those
days, and the few we had were little
read save by earnest men like Lincoln,
who suffered so much night and day
with anxiety that they felt it necessary
to mental sanity to laugh, to whistle up
their spirits in the awful graveyard of
American soldier dead that grew wider
and wider every day of the long and
dreadful conflict. Lincoln, like all men
of. deep sensibility, was a genuine hu
morist, a man of wit and wisdom, of
sense and feeling. In all great and seri
ous things he was a man of grave
mind, and yet he never lost a chance
to mingle wit with his wisdom. His
saving common sense was always
warmed and tinted with feeling; the
logic of his head was married to the
moral sweetness and light of a heart
that was at once tender and true. Lin
coln was a powerful reasoner and an
acute logician, and yet he had much of
the soul and temperament of a poet
and a humorist. In such men mirth
and melancholy march side by side,
and when they do not, madness casts
not seldom the grim shadow of its not
far distant approach.
Absolute self-repression is not good
for gifted men of great natural sensi
bility, a.nd Lincoln doubtless felt it was
not good for him, so he told stories and
read jest books when his great heart
was ready to break, and intense ego
tists, utterly destitute of humor, like
Sumner, and Intensely aggressive, im
perious administrators, like Stanton,
never understood that Lincoln often
smiled to call attention from the fact
that his dark, deep-set, melancholy
eyes were full of tears; that he laughed
and jested In public beqause events
were too solemn to be wisely commu
nicated by solemn looks and words of
despair. On one occasion at a Cabi
net meeting Lincoln read out loud an
extract from one of the "Letters From
the Mackerel Brigade," the famous de
scription of McClellan's game of check
ers, during which his admiring friends
were promising a wonderful move that
would redeem and win the game, when
it seemed hopelessly lost. Lincoln's
laughter over this description of the
military checker-player who is always
promising a decisive move and finally
makes it only to give away the whole
board, enraged Stanton so much that he
poured forth a torrent of profanity
subsequently in his private office over
the imbecility of a man who was able
to "laugh at a funeral." A friend told
Lincoln of Stanton's language, and he
said in substance, with great gravity
and earnestness of manner:
"Yes, they all, from Stanton down,
I say that I am a shallow, heartless
cynic, because I tell stories and read
these humorous sketches of Orpheus C.
Kerr and Artemus Ward, but I tell you,
my friend, during that terrible Winter
of 1862 and the Spring of 1863, which
include our awful repulse at Freder
icksburg and Hooker's costly defeat at
Chancellorsvllle, I seldom closed my
eyes at nlgh't, thinking of the suffering
and sacrifice- of our brave boys in the
Army, and the grief and anxiety of the
people behind the Army. So severe was
the stress of my feelings, because of
my great responsibility and because of
the gloomy outlook of the dreadful
Winter and Spring, when it was black
defeat at the East and bloody, barren,
blundering victory at the West, that I
believe I would have become a-helpless
victim to melancholia, to the point of
mental paralysis, had it not been for
my native sense of humor, which en
abled me to find occasional relief and
distraction for my surcharged sensibil
ity and intense anxiety. They made me
laugh in spite of myself, and helped to
maintain the fleeting serenity of mind
and tottering sanity of my aoul."
This was the substance of Lincoln's
explanation and defense of his habit of
taking refuge in humorous anecdote
and mirth-provoking satire from the
gjoomy pressure and stress of terrible
events. Poor Newell never fulfilled hls
early promise; he became the husband
of a beautiful and gifted woman of
irregular life, the actress Adah Isaacs
Menken, and his married life was short
and unfortunate. Since the Civil War
he had done nothing worthy of his first
fame, and fpr many years had lived in
obscurity. His memory will only be
rescued from complete oblivion because
it is part of Lincoln's history that he
found relief from sorrow and mental
health for; disaster in reading the
"Mackerel Brigade" letters of Orpheus
C. Kerr. Compared with Dooley of our
day, Newell was utterly inferior in
keenness of wit and subtlety of humor,
but a Dooley would have been lost in
L those days of Civil War, for the people
were in too grim a mood for ' such
work. We can laugh with Dooley over
a small, distant war like' that with
Spain and in the Philippines, but in a
great civil war that came home to our
doors we would not tolerate a Mr.
Dooley with any more patience than
we endured the brutal cynicism of
Brick Pomeroy, who wrote of Lincoln's
murder that "Old Abe went up like a
rocket and came down like the stick."
SUICIDE AND SANITY.
An officer in an Austrian Hussar regi
ment has killed himself because of hu
miliation at the loss of his ear, which
a drunken brother officer had slashed
off with his saber. This sudden act of
self-destruction was not due to insan
ity, for the suicide had just proved his
sanity by shooting twice with .his re
volver at the cruel, drunken fool who
had so heartlessly mutilated him, He
took his life probably because he had
been educated in a school of "military
honor" which made it impossible for
him to hold up his head among his fel
lows after enduring such an Injury.
The Incident is of Itself trifling, save
as an illustration of how slight a thing
may provoke one apparently sane man
to take his life, while other natures
could not be driven by any degree of
mental or moral torture to an act of
self-destruction. The difference of de
cision under such circumstances would
largely turn upon a question of tem
perament, early education and environ
ment. While It Is difficult to conceive
of an officer of the American Army de
liberately slashing off a brother offi
cer's ear in a fit of drunken bravado,
it is still more difficult to think of an
American-bred man being driven to
suicide in consequence of so gross a
mutilation.
An American officer very likely would
have shot his assailant to death on the
spot; suicide from humiliation he cer
tainly would not have committed, even
if he had spared his drunken comrade's
life, but In foreign armies there seems
to be a code of military etiquette which
educates an officer under certain cir
cumstances to suicide. So much Is the
capacity to commit suicide a matter of
temperament that the suicide of a Fred
erick of Prussia, or of a Napoleon, un
der adverse circumstances, would not
excite any surprise. It would be the
logical thing for a man of utterly self
ish ambition, who had risen very High,
to do when he had fallen very low with
no hope to rise again. But the suicide
of a Hampden, a Cromwell, a Wash
ington, would be a surprise. It would
be so much the unexpected thing that
we should suspect genuine Insanity,
for all these men stood for something
far higher and nobler than self, and all
was not lost if defeat, capture or death
ensued. But to men of low aim, selfish
purpose and unscrupulous personal am
bition suicide would be the natural
thought when defeated, because with
the material prizes of life gone, life was
no longer worth living. They are like
misers parted from their gold, and sui
cide Is the natural refuge of such fell
spirits.
There may seem to be small choiqe in
suicides, but it is neither logical nor hu
mane to treat with comparative ten
derness the memory of a person who
committed suicide because of loss of
property and worldly honors and then
to sneer at a suicide as especially con
temptible because he died of grief for
a woman. To a man of refinement and
reflection, while a decent, sober young
fellow who died because he had lost his
best girl would in no sense be a hero,
nevertheless, other, things being equal,
there would be a greater feeling of ten- 1
derness for his memory than for the
fellow who took his life, yelling like
Shylock chiefly for his lost ducats. The
man who weakly dies for so impalpa
ble a thing as the lost love of a woman
is probably at least as humane a per
son as the man who dies Just because
he has lost his dollars. A dollar can be
won that is quite as good as the dollar
lost, but one woman unfortunately is
not just as good as another to many
men not otherwise weak, wlckeu or
worthless. England's greatest naval
hero made a fool of himself for a
worthless, vulgar woman, and probably
would have promptly committed suicide
if he had lost her In time of peace. In
war time his passionate patriotism and
intense thirst for glory might have di
verted his mind from self-destruction.
Montaigne, a great French writer of
the sixteenth century, defended suicide,
and even so calm and judicial a mind
as Goldwln Smith In our day does not
distinctly argue that suicide Is a sin
but rather that it is a great weakness
and folly. But the greatest moral phil
osopher of antiquity, Socrates, and the
greatest moral philosopher of modern
times, Shakespeare, always speak of
suicide as a sin. a transgression of the
divine law. Sentimental writers of both
sexes idealize the suicide not seldom as
the world's crippled, wounded and
beaten
Whose youth bore no flower on Its branches;
Whose hopes burned In ashes away;
From whoso hands slipped the prize they haa
grasped at;
Who Btood at the dying of day
Unloved, unheeded, alone.
But this Is not the philosophy of the
grand old Greek who held suicide to be a
transgression of the divine law of our
moral being which forbids any man to
dodge his duty by committing an act
of the grossest moral cowardice. Soc
rates deemed suicide a sin "because we
are placed on earth as soldiers at a
post, and we ought not to quit our sta
tion without permission from the gods."
The obligation to make the best of
himself within the possibilities of moral
conquest, endurance and accretion we
call character Is felt by all men of con
science, and suicide is the violation of
this obligation by the evasion of the
burdens, discipline and responsibilities'
of life. Socrates and Shakespeare both
felt that suicide was a sin, since It Is
in violation of the divine voice within
we call conscience. Shakespeare
makes the desperate, love-distracted
young Romeo "shake the yoke of In
auspicious stars from this world-wearied
flesh," but he makes the sober
minded Brutus talk of suicide under
protest, saying:
I do find it cowardly and vile,
For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
The term of life; holding myself with patience.
To stay the providence of those high powers
That govern us below.
"Our Imperiled Sabbath" was one of
the themes presented yesterday to the
consideration of the "Leaguers" now in
convention in San Francisco. It was
conceded by the minister who presented
the theme that the churches are los
ing ground upon this point, and he
Urged every one present to make "Sab
bath observance one of the distinguish
ing marks of Christianity." Since
doubtless all present, except perhaps
press reporters, were strict observers
of the Sabbath, the appeal will be as
bootless as are the stereotyped exhor
tations of the good women of the W. C.
T. U. to their members in convention
assembled to lives of temperance and
sobriety. The Salvation Army improves
upon , this method of reform endeavor
by carrying whatever message it has
to people who need it. That is to say,
"it calls not the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance."
A movement has begun in Italy for
the restoration of the death penalty for
murder, which is now punished by soli
tary confinemnt of the most cruel de
scription. The punishment of solitary
confinement has existed in Italy for ten
years, and the general opinion is that it
is infinitely worsp than death. Official
figures show that of every 100 convicts
so punished 17 commit suicide and 19
go mad. Previous to the abolition of
capital punishment only 22 of every 100
murderers condemned were actually
executed. Of the three anarchist assas
sins who attempted the life of the late
King Humbert and were sentenced to
solitary confinement, two are maniacs,
while the murderer of Humbert has
committed suicide.
Norman J. Cdlman, Secretary of Ag
riculture under President Cleveland,
says the drouth has caused more losses
to the farmers of Missouri than "all of
the devastation, the burning and sack
ing and pillaging of the four years of
the Civil War." He says that in all of
his fifty years of residence in Missouri
he has "never known such, deplorable
conditions among the farmers through
out the state as exist at this time."
Might It not be possible to induce a
goodly number of the people of Mis
souri to turn their faces from this
black picture to the blooming fields and
prosperous conditions of our Northwest
Pacific States?
The Philippine Commission shows
the highest wisdom In relegating back
to military rule such portions of the
archipelago as have proved themselves
unfitted for civil government. Having
seen their mistake, the Commissioners
are prompt to correct it. But neither
their frankness nor their wisdom will
attract the observation of the anti. All
he can see in the news will be occasion
for hilarity that the Insurrection Is not
over, and that with good luck the ban
dits will be able to kill a few more
Americans.
At Duncansvllle the non-union miners
sent word to Shaffer asking if they
shouldn't strike. The answer was that
they might if they were organized, and
their immediate prayer was for some
body to come over and organize them.
All of which casts a somewhat, lurid
light upon the pious pretenses of the
trust magnates that all they were con
tending for was for protection of the
non-union men against the emissaries
of organization.
Mr. Morgan avows that the only basis
of the strike lies In sentimental reasons
of the strikers. 'That Is. they want their
union recognized. But Is it a sentimen
tal or other sort of, reason that Impels
the steel kings to deny that recogni
tion ?s Sentiment, Mr. Morgan, has
played a not Inconspicuous figure In
more than one war, political as well as
Industrial. It is a thing, however for
eign to trust circles, not to be reckoned
without.
Bryan is determined to force a third
ticket in Ohio, which means, In all
probability, Republican success. It
tends to corroborate the wild tale that
Bryan has always been In friendly un
derstanding with Hanna. If Bryan
really wants to do the best thing for his
party and himself, he will come out for
the Columbus platform and narmony,
and profess a willingness to serve In the
ranks.
WHERE ROLLS THE OREGON.
Once in a while we hear It dropped In
charter discussion that we cannot In jus
tice bind the future with franchises more
than a generation long. But if long
franchises are not advisable It Is for rea
sons of expediency and public economy.
The notion that one generation has no
right to bind a succeeding one Is about
as old as Mount Hood, and like that
mountain has spent Its volcanic force.
Although Jefferson shared in the notion,
the Constitution of the United States haa
been the fundamental law for several gen
erations, and will be for many more.
Although the generation which framed
the Oregon constitution has nearly passed
away, we govern ourselves by the same
instrument. The Magna Charta, the
charters of the Stuarts to the American
colonies, the Petition and Bill of Right,
and many other instruments all bear a
strong Influence on the present. The gen
eration which founded the City of Port
land tied It down to this one spot with
out consulting us whether we wanted It
a mile more to the north or south. It
prescribed that we should travel by the
lines of Washington and Morrison streets,
although we might have chosen easier
grades. We have left to our descendants
the legacy of a city hall and water deht.
Our grandfathers have left to us in his
tory the laws of nations and the greatest
facts of science, which we must accept
whether we would or not. Most impor
tant of all, they have bound us to express
ourselves according to certain rules of
grammar and by recognized words and
Idioms. If it is not right to bind the
future our fathers and ourselves are un
just and history Is a tale of Injustice of
one generation to another. We agree,
however, that legacies from the past are
positively prizes, else we should have no
steam engine, no electric battery and no
means of Interchanging Ideas. The char
ter now In framing will be a product of
experience, just as all things grow out
of the past. It will be granted by the
state to the corporation of Portland for
an indefinite period, and If wisely made
will be binding on future generations. If
It Is economic and expedient for the city
to Issue a franchise for 50 or 100 years, it
Is wise, whether Rousseau lived or not.
But It Is probably not expedient, and
for this reason the term of franchises will
be made much less.
Certain socialists think that desire of
honor Is a greater passion than greed of
gain. In their political system they would
make the first distinction the sole re
ward of superior talent. The most ra
tional of the socialistic school realize
that the Inefficient many must be dlrecjed
by the efficient few, and that the few
must be distinguished for merit. They
think that greed is losing its power, and
that the institution of wealth therefore
may be supplanted. As evidence they
adduce the many public benefactions of
rich men. The flaw in this evidence Is
that greed is satisfied only by the getting
of wealth, and the more a greedy man
gives away the more ho gets and will have.
Carnegie's greed is more Insatiate from
his gifts. He prefers to get the money
before he gives it away, and not to give
It to his- steelworkers In wages, because
then he would not get It. The value of
Carnegie's service to the steel Industry Is
unchallenged, nor Is it doubted that his
workmen have been benefited by him.
But those people who find enjoyment In
libraries are a select few, and the steel
workmen are victims of Injustice In hav
ing to contribute to the pleasure of those
few. Besides, part of what Carnegie
gained from a tariff he Is giving away to
a foreign country. It Is unfortunate for
the present political system that his greed
Is so Insatiate. Yet this is no argument
for socialism. Socialists yet have to
prove that Carnegie's rare powers would
have been called forth by mere rewards
of "honor," that his compensation Is out
of proportion with his service; that his
workmen have not received benefits from
his prosperity; that they could get along
better without him; and that his achieve
ment Is so commonplace that It can be
repeated on and on Indefinitely. They
have also to show that medals and pieces
of ribbon are more potent means to at
tainment of honor than is wealth, for un
less they do so, socialists, by making hon
or a motive, Introduce Into their own sys
tem the necessity of wealth. Wealth Is
simply a means to power and distinction,
and would be equally so in socialism. Thus
far Carnegie and other rich men show by
their conduct that only the reward of
wealth can engage their talents.
The assertion has been thrown out sev
eral tlnies In charter meetings that cor
porations are abundantly able to care for
their own Interests. This declaration has
happened In discussion of franchise ques
tions. The statement may have truth,
but it Is beside the point. The rights of
the people are "sacred," to be sure, but
equally so are those of corporations. Quite
projper is it that privileges of capital
should be hedged, yet our zeal should
not overreach Itself. When we are put
on our guard against greed or capital It
is by reports from the East. When we
are persuaded into the notion that street
car companies are abusing the public It Is
by examples from Eastern cities. Chi
cago and St. Louis companies may not
have done their functions with conscience,
but this does not argue that Portland
companies misuse or will mteuse their
franchises. Besides, Portland companies
will not have the opportunities of East
ern companies for many years to mis
use the public, and even If they should
do It on a rplatlve scale, the public would
not be put to corresponding Inconvenience.
Ours Is a far Western city, and in the
Eastern view Is hardly more than "little
potatoes.'' Eastern capital has thou
sands of other places of Investment be
sides Portland. ' Every loyal citizen rec
ognizes that we must encourage capital
to come here, even though the public may
suffer some inconvenience. When this
city has accumulated large amounts of
capital and has become thereby Indepen
dent and self-sufficient as are New York,
Chicago and Philadelphia, then will be
time enough to apply severe checks and
balances to corporations. We are now
In no danger of suffering from corpora
tions, and If we were we should be glad
of It. Capital may be as able to conserve
Its rights as are the people to conserve
theirs, but this Is not a matter for agi
tation at present.
Now that we are about to undertake a
project for free swimming bathe, It may
be in place to point out one or two diffi
culties. This is done, however, without
the slightest desire to hamper the enter
prise. Free swimming baths will in
crease the number of swimmers, but prob
ably will not decrease the number of
drownings. It Is granted that the baths
must be In one place, either in the city or
the river. Wherever they may be the
location must be near the center of town,
for If elsewhere they will not be accessi
ble to outlying districts. But $5000 will
not go very far toward the project, if the
baths are established on shore in the
heart of town. A bathhouse several years
ago was built In the river. If this prece
dent Is followed a serious objection, will
arise. The river in the city is so con
taminated by sewage In Summer that
many parents will be unwilling to let
their children bathe In It. If the baths
are established In South Portland, where
the river is pure enough, North Portland
and Alblna boys will hardly ever
go to It. Any -man who has been a
boy knows that boys will not go any dis
tance under a torrid sun for a swim when
other water is nearer. Indeed, it is rea
sonable to say that wherever the baths
are boys on a warm day will go to their
own place. As said above, these difficul
ties are suggested not to obstruct the
bathhouse project, but to encourage thor
ough discussion of the enterprise.
The Governor of Kansas set apart July
21 as a day of prayer for rain. Does this
prove or only indicate that the Lord did
not want to be bored July 21?
SLLXGS AND ARROWS.
The Knocker.
Tou may put your whole soul In your work
if jou will.
But the voice of the knocker will follow you
still;
Tou may labor from dawn till the stars rise
at night.
You may try to treat every one Justly and
right;
Tou may fray out your nerves doinr that
which you ought.
But the knocker will bring all your efforts to
naught.
What you have accomplished will give him no
pause.
With an eye microscopic he'll pick out tho
flaws.
If you've painted a picture that's won you
fair fame.
The knocker will 'point at a scratch on the
frame;
If you've written a story that's brought you
renown.
At its length or its brevity he's sure to frown;
If you've been piling bricks; with a manner
elate
He'll tell your employer you've not piled them
t straight:
If you quietly give to the needy and poor,
He'll say that you seek notoriety, sure.
He always is busy with others' affairs.
Your errors to him are the gravest of cares.
And whatever omissions he happens across
He'll hasten to tell to the ears of the boss.
The moat In your eye he so often has shown
He's completely forgotten the beam la his
own;
And he never can see. for his eyes are eo small.
It's himself he Is knocking the hardest of all.
At the Ball Game.
"Yes," said the one In the white hat
with the large blue pompon, T know all
about the game, for Tom explained It all
out to me the last time he took me, and
I'll tell you all about It so you can know
when they make the plays."
"What is It they call the diamond?" In
quired the one with the blue sun um
brella. "It Isn't the diamond; It's the diamonds.
The diamonds are these cunning little
squares on the programme we Just bought;
you see they're shaped like diamonds. You
make oil kinds of funny little signs In
them and all around them to show you
which side is winning and how they aro
doing It. Tom is going to teach me about
it when he has a few days off, he says."
"Is that the umpire, sitting there on tho
bench?"
"No, the umpire is the man here in tho
little box In the grandstand. He holds a
very dangerous position, Tom says, for
when one side loses a game through his
fault they are very likely to shoot hJm.
He Just puts marks down, and when they
make an inning he puts & round circle
down."
"Well, who Is the man who keeps shout
ing 'Strike one' and other things like
that?"
"That's the captain; he shouts that way
so as the umpire will know what to put
down. He'll go out there In the center
of the yard pretty soon. When he gets
to shouting the wrong way, Tom says, the
catcher will hit him if he can reach him,
so when he isn't telling the truth about
the strikes and things he goes out into
the middle of the yard, where the catcher
can't reach him."
"Which is the catcher?"
"He's the little fellow in knickerbockers
who runs up and catches the bats when
the players throw them away. He's a
very Important player, for If ode of the
bats touches the ground, the striker Is
out."
"What do you mean by out?"
"Why, out Is when he does something
that keeps him. from playing any more
In the game. When three men are out
a side Is out, and then the game has to
stop, or else they have to choose up over
again and begin a new game."
"Does that often happen?"
"No, not often, but sometimes it does.
Tom says that when a game Is out that
way the audience Is out, too. but I don't
just exactly know what he means by
that."
"Why Is that man running so hard?"
"He has to run, or they'd throw the
ball at him. When a man Is on one of
those bags they can throw the ball at
him whenever they want to, and so he
just watches them, and when he sees the
man In the middle of the yard, who has
the ball so much, start to throw It at
him, he runs as hard as he can.""
"How do they make a score?"
"You mean an inning. An Inning is
when a man hits the ball and another
man catches it. and then throws It to
this man down here, and this man throws
It to that tall man, and the tall man
throws It to the man up close to the
grandstand, and he makes it bounce to
the man over there. It's awfully easy to
understand when you have It explained
all out to you."
"What are they cheering about?"
"They do that to encourage the umpire.
Sometimes In the middle of the game he
gets afraid that the players are going to
make trouble for him, and stops umpiring.
They cheer him that way so'b to keep his
spirits up, for Tom says they couldn't
have any game without the umpire."
"It must bo awfully nice to know so
much about the game, but I should think
It would be dreadful to remember it all.",
"Oh, It's easy. I've only been to one
game, and I know all about It, you see.
You just watch a while and you'll be
able to understand It, too."
As the man who overheard them walked
away ho wondered If Ananias could get
another Job when Tom went to his Just
reward.
A Lullaby.
Tou go to sleep, young feller.
This ain't no time of day
To set up straight an' solemn.
An' stare around that way.
. Them moonbeams on the carpet
Ain't nothln' you can git.
Them's Just to. show the angels
Has got their candles lit;
Tou want 'em? Well, tomorrow
I'll git 'em, ef they keep.
But now It's nearly mornln'.
So you Jus' go to sleep.
No. sir! Tou can't be hungry,
You needn't Jerk an fret,
I'm certain sure It wasn't
An hour sence you et
There now, I ketched you smilln'.
You little rascal. Shame!
To try to work your daddy
With such a low-down game.
No, never mind explorln";
You ain't no call to creep;
You stay here an' be julet.
An' try an go to sleep.
Tou see them stars out yonder!
Well, all o them Is eyes
That b'longa to little angels
Way up there In the skies.
An' all them little angels
Ain't cot a thing to do
But Jus' set up In Heaven
An' keep them eyes on yon.
They'll see your eyes wide open.
An starln. when they peep
In through the window at you,
Tou better go to sleep.
I don't know what you're cayln',
Your lingo's Greek to me.
But you know what I tell you.
That's easy fur to seo;
An I'm Jus glttin' tired
O rockln" you all night.
An talkln while you listen,
A smilln' with delight.
I KOt tq work tomorrow.
An 'taln't fur you to keep
Me up all night a trytn'
To make you go to sleep.
There, there, now, don't feel that way,
I Jus' soon do it. Gee!
I know there ain't nobody
To love you 'ceptln' me.
Tou set up all you want to.
You needn't close an eye,
Fur dad is mighty sorry
He made his baby cry.
You need your ma. pore feller.
But she's a lyin' deep
Beneath the trees out yonder:
There there, now go to sleep.
J. J. MONTAGUE.