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THE SUNDAY OEEGONIAN, PORTLAND, JANUARY 19, 1902.
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TODAY'S "WEATHER Cloudy, with occa
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YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem
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cipitation, 0.09 Inch.
rORTLAA'D, SUNDAY, JAS. 10, 1002.
THE PRESIDENTIAL "DISPOSITION."
In the President's attitude In the mat
ter of the United, States Marshalship
for "Washington, as set forth In a spe
cial dispatch printed yesterday, there is
manifest not only his native independ
ence and manliness of mind, but an ef
fect of his experience in the Civil Serv
ice Commission. By temperament and
conviction, Mr. Hoosevelt Is just the re
verse of the political spoilsman. In his
own heart he has no patience "with the
practice which parcels out the offices
In every state among personal adher
ents of one or another Senator, or one
or another faction. True, he Is In a
way accepting the inevitable; he Is not
attempting impossible things; but his
mind persistently reverts to the natural,
proper and legitimate course in connec
tion with executive appointments. He
barkens to "what our political practice
calls "reason" that is, he takes council
with those who by their representative
character are entitled to be heard but
he insists In every case upon satisfac
tory answers to a few simple and di
rect questions. Is the man competent?
Is his character clean? Does he com
mand public and private respect? Sim
ple as they are, these queries search
deep, and they are calculated to estab
lish new conditions and standards In
connection with the nomination of pub
lic officials.
The case of the Collectorship at Sitka
Illustrates another phase of the same
general disposition. This office has long
been a mere political favor, given out
to somebody who some Senator has
wished to reward for personal or polit
ical service. The local conditions have
rendered it not only a sinecure, but an
obstacle rather than an aid In the gen
eral administration of Alaska. When
In the usual order the time came round
a few weeks back for the appointment
of a new Collector, the usual personal
and political demands were made, but
Mr. Roosevelt passed by the politicians
to look into the situation from an ad
ministrative point of view, and his con
clusion was that, under the conditions
of the country, the Collector ought to
represent not merely the revenue-collecting
branch of the Government, but
Its general administrative purpose as
,welL He concluded, furthermore, that
the Collector ought to be in a position
to move about the country a thing
which no man can do in Alaska who
has not a steamship at his disposal.
And the final determination was to take
the Sitka Collectorship away from the
politicians and give it to .the active
head of the revenue marine service on
the Alaska Coast. Lieutenant D. H.
Jarvls was therefore made Collector,
and will attend to the duties of that
office in connection with his former
duty of commanding the revenue cutter
stationed in Alaskan waters. It is In
evitable that many advantages will re
sult from this arrangement, which pro
ceeds from Mr. Roosevelt's downright
propensity for doing the right thing,
even though, as inhls case. It may
break a personal slate or damage the
picking of the political plum tree.
In the case of the United States Mar
shalship for Washington there .is a
wrangle among the Washington poli
ticians over the appointment of a
successor to Mr. Ide. Those who,
as Washington's representatives, are
entitled to be heard find it hard to
agree or to stay agreed upon a man
for the place. "The President Is be
coming vexed," says a special dispatch
to The Oregonlan, and intimates that
If the Senators cannot come to an un
derstanding, and In very short order,
he will resolve the contention by reap
pointing Mr. Ide, who has distinguished
himself by efficiency In-his past term
of service. The thing implied here Is
In direct accord with what the Presi
dent has done elsewhere, namely, to
give the official representatives of a
state opportunity to recommend a man
competent and suitable, and, upon their
failure to do this in reasonable time, to
take the .matter out of their hands and
to proceed upon his own initiative and
upon the basis of private inquiry. In
the case of the Washington Marshal
ship, there is a special motive in the
fact of Mr. Ide's high personal record
and In the President's disposition to re
ward good official service by extension
of tenure.
Here is a disposition not wholly new
in the White House, but more ag
gressively manifest than In recent
times; and It is a disposition calculated
largely and wholesomely to Influence
the public service. When every ap
plication for an appointment is certain
to be met by questions which expose
the truth about the candidate's quali
fications and character, and certain to
be "turned down" If a fair bill of moral
health cannot be given, there is likely
to be more care in the matter of Sena
torial recommendation than there has
been in times past. And when it is
I1 generally understood that if the dele
gation of a state cannot promptly make
up its mind about official nominations
the President will proceed on his own.
motion, and upon the basis of the merit
system, there isllkely to be developed
a more expeditious if not a better habit
of harmony.
A TEXDEXCV IX JOURNALISM.
Mr. Kohlsaat's retirement from the
Chicago Record-Herald Is an event of
considerable significance. It comports
With a tendency away from individual
toward colorless journalism that Is
manifestly hardening.
The man behind this- change is Vic
tor F. Lawson, of the old Record and
the News. He Is a signally successful
and an Immensely rich newspaper pro
prietor, who puts dependence wholly
upon the news columns of his papers,
and seeks to make the editorial page,
as far as possible. Interesting and un
objectionable to readers of every school
of thought. In 1896 it was Impossible
to tell whether the Lawson papers were
for Bryan or McKlnley, so studiously
did they gain and keep the narrow way
of neutrality. Mr. Lawson covers the
universe with his cdrrespondents and
special writers. He wants to have every
thing in his paper that everybody or
anybody needs to know, and as for
opinions, let the reader have his own.
xIn the field of comment, nothing must
be said to offend the general reader.
Let him be entertained, interested, even
Instructed, but let him not be aroused.
On the contrary; Mr. Kohlsaat- News
Is something else to him ihan items
by the river's brim and nothing more.
Every occurrence Is a lesson, every in
cident a text. He looks upon the world
of readers, and he covets not merely
to give them Information, but to form
them in correct views. He would not
stop at telling what Is going on in af
fairs, he would be himself a force In
them through his editorial page. It
concerns him to find out what things
are doing, but equally, and perhaps
more, to do things. He wishes to bring
to pass what seems to him best for his
city, his state, his Nation, and man
kind. He will help what he thinks
true and helpful, and strike what he
thinks erroneous and harmful.
It Is impossible not to feel a tinge of
regret at the passing of the old type of
journalism Greeley's, Dana's, Watter
son's and the enthronement of the
new that of Lawson, Ochs, Noyea
One was a profession, the other is a
trade. One was a study, the other Is a
counting-room. The worst of it is that
this change is an inevitable one, and
Involves not only the crossing from the
intellectual and emotional activities of
the 19th century to the economic as
cendence of the 20th, but it also in
volves a phase of our universal devel
opment up from the independence and
belligerence of more primitive social or
ders to the urbanity, polish, self-Te-stralnt,
moderation, equipoise, of high
cultivation. The editor descends from
hortatory address to the dead level of
conversation among equals. He loses
something In sincerity and force, but he
gains Infinitely In politeness and amia
bility. The fighting newspaper Is going
the way of the duello and the pugilist.
PRINCE HENRY'S VISIT.
Those who are Imagining that back
of the visit of Prince Henry of Prussia
to this country there lies a deep polit
ical significance exhibit n. very pro
found knowledge of the ways of the
modem world. There was indeed a
time when the comings and goings of
Princes, their interchanges of courte
sies, their fallings-out and their mak-Ings-up,
were matters of political ac
count, but that Is a time long past. The
personal equation or, to be more pre
cise, the princely equation has ceased
to hav& any great value In anything
excepting the "society" game. The mo
tives of the world's politics now rest
upon another and very different basis,
and they have in the strictly modern
countries about as little regard for
the divinities and the dignities of
Princes as have the rains that fall or
the winds that blow.
The coming of Prince Henry to Amer
ica is unquestionably intended by his
brother, the Emperor, as an interna
tional compliment, and It will, properly,
be so accepted. And we shall by the
courtesy of our greeting and entertain
ment of the royal visitor illustrate our
good feeling towards his country, our
hospitable habit and our sense of posi
tion In the political and social organ
ization of the world. And that is the
whole of it. In the strictly political
sense. It will signify nothing at all.
There is not the slightest reason to be
lieve that It will In any way alter the
motives of imperial Germany as related
to South America or the world's trade;
and nothing Is more certain that that
it will not affect the integrity of the
Monroe Doctrine, nor weaken the spirit
of this country in its enforcement.
Nor will this visit, or anything grow
ing out of it, seriously affect the rela
tionship of the United States and the
German Empire. We are en good terms
with Germany we are in sympathy with
many aspects of her social life. But
politically speaking, between the two
countries there Is a great gulf fixed.
Government In the United States Is a
popular thing. Here, as In England,
government is by opinion operating
through a representative system. In
the Kaiser's realm government is a
thing of force, supported by military
organization. Here are oil and water
which will not mix. Social and kindly
feeling there may be, and there is, be
tween the American and the German
peoples, with, mutual appreciation and
sympathy in matters intellectual and
moral. But their political systems rest
upon different and upon .antagonistic
principles. The two peoples may live
side by side; amity and courtesy, let it
be hoped, will always mark their rela
tions. But there can be no fixed and
permanent affiliation between their gov
ernments. Government by opinion, gov
ernment by bayonet these are forces
which cannot .march together.
There is no more curious whimsy
among our several National illusions
than that which popularly assumes a
traditional friendship between the
United States and the military countries
of Prussia and Russia, and, on the
other hand, a traditional and necessary
enmity between the United States and
England. Recent events have glossed
over the deep-seated Anglophobia which
has always prevailed here, but they
have not done away with It. That It
exists as a profound and almost a Na
tional sentiment Is undeniable; and It is
most pronounced among those who are
ne.ver weary of discussing an imaginary
"traditional friendship" between us and
the Continental military natlona It
takes just now the form of an angry
display of sympathy with the Boers.
It resents the slightest reflection of
English taste in social manners and
customs; and it may easily be feared
that it would fall Into paroxysms were
the preparation now making to receive
Prince Henry designed Iristead for some
sprig of British royalty. Nothing could
be more Irrational than this anti-British
feeling. We have a thousand mo
tives of political sympathy with Eng
landnot to mention the sentiment of
family relationship and we have none
at all as related either to Prussia or
Russia. The English system rests ap
proximately upon the same basis as our
t)wn. The two countries call similar
things by different names, to be sure,
and England has the aristocratic tradi
tion. whlcbwe have not; but In Eng
land as here the popular will opinion
Is the foundation of authority and the
essential force in government. Those
who fail to see that, consciously or oth
erwise, we must stand in general co-operation
with a -country thus governed,
are blind Indeed. And equally blind are
those who fancy that there are affini
ties, traditional or other, between our
Government and those governments
which rest upon the divinity of Princes
and the might of the sword.
HOW WE CONTROL Til ESI.
Such control of the tropics as finds
favor with the majority of American
statesmen was never thought of by a
certain philosopher whose views on the
topic have afforded him much copy,
fame and revenue. Mr. Kldd conceived
the equatorial regions of the globe as
susceptible of stupendous development
and enrichment both for tlremselves and
for the temperate belt which must con
trol them, but he proceeded entirely
upon the hypothesis that the tropics
were to be administered for their good.
Such consideration as his first small vol
ume and subsequent expanded studies
devoted to the methods of Spain, for
example, was Indulged rather for ex
pressing his disapproval of their dras
tic and disastrous operations than for
any less invidious design.
At diametric variance with the benev
olent purposes contemplated by Mr.
Kldd are the theories which the Ameri
can Congress Is preparing to put In
effect. In our eyes the tropics we con
trol do not exist for development, but
for exploitation; not for progress, but
for stagnation; not for prosperity, but
for spoil. It was Mr. KIdd's idea that
the tropics should be cultivated and
made to bring forth their teeming treas
ures for the enjoyment of the temperate
zone. It Is our statesmanship's Idea
that they should be humiliated and
taxed, lest perchance they should fur
nish something that might find a mar
ket here.
The products of Cuba and the Philip
pines, hemp for our grain, tobacco for
our solace, sugar for our tables, silks
and dyes, spices and, rare woods, are
not sustenance and embellishments that
we should desire, but calamities that
should be averted If they cannot be de
stroyed. Not a man In White House or
Cabinet, not a man In either house of
Congress, has dared to breathe a sylla
ble to indicate that in all the countless
helpful and comforting products of our
tropic possessions there Is a single arti
cle that for our selfish wants we should
desire, to say nothing. of the responsi
bility we cannot evade among the na
tions of wisely administering the lands
and people that have come into our
care.
Let us get away from our panic over
tropic competition a moment and try
to think how history will look upon
these desperate struggles to keep "Cuba
and the -tPhillppInes from prospering.
History will dwell with pride upon our
exploits in the war with Spain, upon
the generous diplomacy of the Paris
settlement, and upon the promises of
good will and friendly aid extended to
the islands by President McKlnley and
his advisers in Cabinet, on Commissions
and In the Army. But when it comes
to the fulfillment of those rosy prom
ises, It will have to record that suppli
ant Cuba and the helpless Philippines,
pleading for rrarkets, were met at the
door of Congress with a frowning face
and thrust back into the same state of
.unhappy despoilment from which we
valnglorlously wrested them.
History will have to say that as a Na
tion, 75,000000 strong and the wonder of
the ages lnwealth, Inventive genius and
productive capacity-, we shook in terror
at the rivalry of these backward and
unhappy islands, asking for nothing
but a chance to sell us their tropical
products in exchange for our flour and
manufactures. We have our tropics,
and we shall control them. We could,
If we were wise enough, bind them to
us with hooks of steel, not through gen
erosity, but through simple justice. Yet
we elect to bind upon them burdens
grievous to be borne, the while we look
for praise, like the Pharisee In the tem
ple, and thank God we are not like
Spain and Germany.
GOVERNMENT IN KALEIDOSCOPE.
He who should have looked with mis
giving upon 'the outcome of the Im
passe In the Pan-American Congress
would have grievously -erred through
Ignorance of the bottomless resources
of the Latin-American mind. Chile had
a plan of arbitration that must be
adopted or her delegates would with
draw. Peru had an antagonistic plan
of arbitration which must be adopted
or the Peruvian delegates would with
draw. It looked like a conflict of the
irresistible with the immovable, when,
lo! a way was opened. Each plan was
adopted, the. contending powers were
satisfied, felicitations were exchanged
and all was serene again until the
next session.
Equally noteworthy Is the news from
Venezuela. General Mafos, the revolu
tionary leader, is "master at sea," be
cause the government forces do. not
dare to attack him. On the other hand,
his operations are nullified because the
government prevents the landing of
arms and ammunition. Matos is in
vincible, but he can't operate. The rev
olution cannot progress, but the gov
ernment can't squelch It Without
arms and ammunition, the rebel lead
ers are nevertheless defiant and un
touched. Meanwhile Colombia is not idle. A
bloody and decisive "battle was fought
at Dibullo last week. The government
forces divided so as to approach the
rebel army from two opposite sides.
The movement was admirably executed
and the outflanking forces closed in on
their victims. After a desperate battle
of four hours. In which neither side
appeared to have gained any. advan
tage, notwithstanding the loss of 18
killed and 63 wounded, the command
ing General discovered that the two
wings of his army were fighting with
each other, the enemy having made its
escape betimes before the action be
gan. This exploit has not been sur
passed for interest and diversion since
one of the political 'parties in Cuba
withdrew early in the Presidential race
and positively refused to play.
It is a great country to the south of
us, and inhabited by a wonderful peo
ple. Colombia seems to be the. banner
state for rapidity of action and diversl-
ueu government. Perhaps that Is why
some of our statesmen think It is the
only proper place to invest 5200,000,000
in an isthmian canal.
HISTORY BY KNACTMENT.
Hard upon the heela of the Southern
women who demand suppression of
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by statute, tread
the Kentucky Legislature and a portion
of the Maryland Legislature, declar
ing that Schley Is the hero of Santiago
and that the court of Inquiry was
wrong. No one has ever questioned, we
believe, that the pronunciation of Ar
kansas as Arkansaw, established by the
legislative decree ta that state, was.
thus fixed beyond appeal, but the en
trance of legislative enactment upon the
field of historical authority Is another
matter. Orthoepy Is at best an affair
of usage and opinion, but history, pre
sumably, at least, is entitled to some of
the consideration we tender to the exact
sciences. Whether an event happened
or not, at least outside the sphere of
eccleslastlclsm, should be referred to
evidence rather than emotion.
If Legislatures are to settle the facts
of history, what shall become of the
historian's "calling and occupation"?
Thither we shall have to repair to as
certain, not only the facts about Schley
and slavery, but about Tyler's Inde
pendence nnd Jackson's democracy, the
merits of McCIellan and Fitz John Por-
ter, the historical stature of Lee and the
quality of Mr.Austln's verse. There we
shall have to learn the Identity of the
Man With the Iron Mask, the author
ship of Junius and the real discoverer
of America. "Be It enacted" must set
tle once and for all the part that Russia
played In our Civil War and the facts
as to British attitude in our war with
Spain. Contingencies such as these are
calculated to renew Representative
Watson's Inquiry where we are at and
Mr. Slenklewlcz' query whither we are
tending.
It Is well enough to remember, how
ever, that the historian Is a human
being after all, with human nature's
frailties of prejudice and affection. No
one, from the very nature of his author
itative" position, needs occasional jogs
to his sense of justice more than the
historian needs them. How Gibbon
hated the miraculous and Froude the
Irish and Burke the regicides and Pres
cott the Spanish, Is as plain as Irving's
love for England and Fiske's passion
for evolution. Nowhere else, moreover.
Is the historian so likely to find and
respect these jogs to his sense of justice
as in these technically Irrelevant but
potentially effective protests from vari
ous social organizations. Legislatures
cannot make history, but they can make
It very uncomfortable for those who
would pervert history- Women's clubs
and school boards cannot write text
books, heaven be praised, but they can
effectually arrest the attention of pub
lishers and through them that of au
thors, by agitation and an approach to
the discredited boycott.
Nobody Is going to print school books
that can't be sold, or histories that are
forbidden half tmj libraries in the coun
try. Popular protests of this sort, there
fore, need to be apprehended as one of
the true sources of modern history. They
are not to be lightly esteemed, for pub
lic opinion, sifted and corrected through
discussion, will have Its will in ttilVfleld
as in others. The duties of court cshsor
are not neglected with us, as we are apt
to think. The difference is that they
are discharged by the people them
selves. The historian no more than the
lawmaker Is independent of the popu
lar will.
TRADITIONS OP THE STAGE.
Actors, as a rule, play the characters
of Shakespeare according to the tra
ditions of the sta"ge, which not seldom
violate the text of the play. Hamlet,
according to the text, is "fat and scant
of breath"; he is a Dane, and presum
ably fair-haired, but on the stage Ham
let Is dark, spare and atrabilious. Ac
cording to the text of the play, Macbeth
is naturally a gallant, generous, loyal
servant of his King, whose ambltlcn
gets the better of him; that Is, he Is a
good man naturally, who goes wrong,
even as Bollngbroke does when he con
spires against Richard II. Lady Mac
beth, who as a wife thoroughly knew
her husband, says of him:
Glamls thou art. and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy
nature;
It Is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be
great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The Illness should attend it: what thou wouldst
highly.
That wouldst thou bollly; wouldst not play
false.
And yet wouldst wrongly win.
This Is clearly a picture of an ambi
tious man, but not naturally cruel,
heartless or false. Nevertheless, Sir
Henry Irving insists on violating the
plain suggestion of the text and con
ceives Macbeth not to have been natu
rally a good man who goes wrong, but
a bloody-minded, dissembling devil, like
Iago, from the start a man born for
treachery and murder at the first op
portunity. Another stupid tradition of
the stage in making Hamlet, who is the
first gentleman of his court, a scholar
and a soldier, stalk to and fro upon
the stage with the old conventional
stride that was laughed at by the
Roman satirists. No Prince ever stalked
about like an Indian warrior, and yet
Mr. Booth always played Hamlet with
the stage stride. Fechter showed Booth
how a Prince should enter a room by
walking like a cultivated man of the
world. Booth, when he played Romeo,
went over the balcony to reach Juliet
with all the care and precision that an
amateur athlete would exhibit at a
gymnastic exhibition.
Actors are not born Shakespearean
critics any more than great dramatic
critics, like Lamb and Hazlltt, are born
actors. A man may be a fine actor and
a very dull critic, even as a fine critic
might make a dull actor. An actor is sel
dom a severe student of the text of a
great play. He Is content to play the char
acter according to the traditions of the
stage, which may be In gross violation
of the clear letter of the text. An actor
finds out that he can do better business
by playing the character at variance
with natural reading of the text, and
if he Is a brilliantly successful actor he
fixes the tradition of the stage for that
character. So great was Garrlck's abil
ity and influence that he played Hamlet
with the gravediggers left out and the
character of Osrlc omitted. The ques
tion of Hamlet's madness and Lear's In
sanity presents no difficulty to an at
tentive reader of the text of the play,
but on the stage great actors have
rested their methods of playing Ham
let upon the question as to whether he
was really ever Insane, or only feign
ing Insanity all the time. For their own
purposes, or to gratify their vanity.
great actors In the past have from time
to time added to their so-called tradi
tions of the stage. As bits of genuine
Shakespearean criticism, these tradi
tions are worthless, for very few emi
nent actors have been careful students
of the text of Shakespeare. The elder
Booth, John Kerable, Macready, Daven
port, Forrest, were careful students of
the text, and so In our day are Richard
Mansfield and Sir Henry Irving, but
none of these actors would have hesi
tated to extort an unwarrantable con
ception of the character from the text
if they could make a point with trfe
audience, even as Sir Henry Irving has
done in his presentation of Macbeth.
Fechter played Hamlet differently
from Booth, and dressed the character
differently. No two great actors ever
play Shylock alike, and generally both
of them will violate Shakespeare's con
ception of the part as interpreted by
Hazlltt, Lamb and other famous critics.
There Is no objection to these traditions
of the stage, provided they are not ac
cepted by the audience as true readings
of Shakespeare's thought and concep
tion. A great actor must not be accept
ed as an Inspired Interpreter of
Shakespeare's text. He Is generally
nothing but the volcer of the stage tra
dition of how the part should be played,
or he Is an Ingenious or Impudent innovator.
SENTI3IEXT UNDER SIEGE.
Whoever, if any, has accused the
German mind of dull or heavy faculty
In diplomacy will be undeceived by re
flection on the operations now directed
upon our National good will. A force
Is to be enlisted for mutual concessions
more powerful than armies or tariff
bills; and no one need be surprised If
it drives into oblivion all complaints
over sugar bounties and American food
stuffs. Prince Henry, brother to the Kaiser,
Is coming over with a royal train. He
brings a German band, loaded with
Sousa as well as Strauss, and in his
own hands a present for Miss Alice
Roosevelt, daughter of our President,
whose name has been signally honored
by Imperial decree. At the launching
of the Emperor's yacht, built by Amer
icans, In American waters, our high
officials will participate and give a
naval welcome. Americans In gala
dress and beaming faces will swarm
on the Imperial yacht Hohenzollern,
and Kronprlnz Wllhelm and the new
Meteor. The West Thlrty-fourth-Street
pier, in New York harbor, has
been put at the disposal of the guests.
The German Society will give the
Prince a dinner, which President Roose
velt will attend. The royal band will
give concerts ashore, the German and
American sailors will jubilate with
aquatic sports, and when Prince Henry
gives his banquet on the Hohenzollern
the occasion will be graced with nearly
a- thousand pieces of silver heirlooms
from the Emperor's own priceless col
lection, one of the richest In all the
world.
Only rashness would scout the effect
of these amenities upon the course of
history. Who shall say how much
American sympathy In the hour of Vic
toria's death furthered British willing
ness to withdraw from Joint control of
the Nicaragua Canal, or how hostile
Senators were by mourning signs in
England last September brought to ac
cept a treaty once rejected with scorn?
The relations of great powers are
formedafter all, by mere men,, with
human feelings and weaknesses. How
much we shall give to Germany, or
Germany to us, will depend upon the
temper of the negotiators, and ultimately
upon the temper of the people behind
them. Sentiment, rather than self-Interest
or any actual service, rests below our
friendship for Russia, and the kindness
we feel for France grows out of mem
ories of Franklin and La Fayette more
than out of any deduction from present
concessions, which are hard to find. He
who reckons without sentiment and
prejudice In the conduct of affairs ig
nores two of the most profoundly mov
ing forces of human nature, and it is
with human nature that history chiefly
concerns Itself.
It has long been known that certain
members of the Isthmian Canal Com
mission, Mr. George S. Morison. an en
gineer of experience and repute espe
cially, have favored the Panama route,
cost and facility of acquisition being
approximately equal. It Is reasonably
certain that they have purposely set to
work to secure a reduction in its price
by the very course that has now' re
sulted in the reduced offer. They are
largely Influenced by the feeling that
the Panama Canal Is more of an engi
neering certainty than the one at Nica
ragua. It Is the opinion of The Ore
gonlan, however, that the commission's
report will be considered by Congress
as only one of the factors In the prob
lem It has to solve, and that the Nica
ragua route will finally, be adopted. The
canal may cost more,' but It will be of
greater ultimate value to us. In the
Americanization of a considerable re
gion In Central America. The canal has
other aspects beside Its function of a
mere passage from ocean to ocean.
Wade and Dalton deserve the same
fate, because both were guilty by con
federacy In crime. Both were armed.
Of course both would not shoot the
victim, because It would create need
less alarm. As to who would be se
lected to fire the shot, that was purely
a matter of accident or temperament.
If the victim had carried $500 on his
person Instead of 26 cents, Dalton would
have claimed half of the spoil. If two
men plan to rob a house and one of
them keepsj watch while the other col
lects the plunder, the law treats each
as equally guilty. Dalton knew what
was Intended, for he, too, carried a load
ed pistol. He consented to the crime,
was privy to It. It is a matter of not
the slightest consequence "who fired the
fatal shot. fIf Wade had missed his
aim, probably Dalton would have fired
his gun. too.
There never will be satisfactory pilot
service at the mouth of the Columbia
River so long as the service is con
trolled at Astoria, ddmlnated by the
obstructive spirit that rules there, and
Is used as the Instrument of a political
clique as a factor in politics.
You never suspect that reciprocity Is
sincere when you lcok at Its advocates.
They never reciprocate except 'for their
own gain and at somebody else's loss.
Dictionaries vk. Usage. ,
Boston Herald.
It Is something refreshing to find so ac
complished a philologist as Professor Ed
ward S. Sheldon, of Harvard, warning his
phllologic brethren against regarding the
dictionary as infallible. Good colloquial
usage Is good enough authority for Pro
fessor Sheldon, despite dictionaries and
school text-books, and It ought to be-good
enough for the average person, who, how
ever, is as fond of sticking to hl3 dlc-
I tionary as If It were Holy Writ.
EACH MAX'S A THIEF.
Twenty-eight hundred years ago there
lived a wl3e man a very wise man. He
declared there was nothing new under the
sun.
Even then, plagiarism was at worlc.
Even then there were petty spies, whose
object In life was to pick out Intellectual
thefts. This Is a steady old world. It
does not change much In 2SO0 years, either
in ways or wisdom.
We have many Hjterary detectives just
now. They are mostly a reckless folk,
whose chief delight Is that of finding
parallelisms and coincidences among
authors. Their fault is that they have
been so little to school that they cannot
distinguish plagiarism which Is a theft
from plagiarism which Is a loan. Orig
inality of material, which Is Impossible,
they confuse with originality of form
and method.
Ideas and thoughts are common prop
erty, open to every person. Method of
treatment belongs to the Individual, and
passes into the common stock after it Is
used. When that stock Is drawn, upon
and stamped with an Individuality, the
transaction Is a loan. When the stock is
used without adaptation it is a theft. A
discreet man will be slow In declaring
the theft, for otherwise he may make
every author a thief or himself a fool.
Literary detectives- therefore need to be
careful, for it does not profit a wise man
to utter vain knowledge or to fill his
belly with the east wind. .
The latest victim of literary spies is the
Rev. Dr. Newell Dwlght. Hlllls. of the
Plymouth Church, of Brooklyn. The Rev.
P. E. Holp. of Chicago. Is dogging him
hard, and has discovered In the latest
book of Dr. Hlllls striking similarities with
expressions in the works of David Swing
and Henry Ward Beecher. Many people
are gorging themselves with gossip. The
parallelisms are so apparent as to show
that Dr. HIUIs has done some free bor
rowing. Several are as follows:
Hlllls Never wasl Beecher The Bible 13
there a book so be-lthe most bethrnshed
thrashed and berub-.book In the world,
blshed. Coming to ItjComlng to It through
through commentatorsjcommentaries Is much
ha3 been like looking like looking at a land
out upon the sunjscape through garret
through a window ovorlwindowa over which
which spiders have generations of unmo
spun webs, festooned) lested spiders nave
with thick dust. jppun their webs.
Hlllls Today, with! Swing A French wri
the great -scholar, welter living In the time
may well exclalmtiof Louis XIV says:
"Calvin and Edwardsr'Bourdaloue In his ser
make me fear andjmons astounds me.
tremble; Bishop ButlcrlMasslllon frightens me.
makes me to be
Bossuet makes me Be
lieve, Fcnelon makes
me to hope and love."
amazed; Llddon and
Beecher make me be
lieve: but Jesus Christ
makes mo hope and
love."
Hlllls In our school
days, the historian as
tonished us by the
story of the hired Per
Swing Behind the
mercenary Persian
troops went the driver
with his whip, a man
with a whip behind
each squad, and the
victory came not from
love of country, but
sian troops who went
Into battle rollowed by
officers with whips.
The mercenaries con
auercd. not througn
from fear of the
scourge. The words
love of a noble cause.
but through fear of a, spoken Indeed to Chris-
cruel scourge. Thusftlans do nevertheless,
all columns of -socletylonnounce to all man
are Journeying upwardkind the ruling passion
not because they areiof the g09pcl. Its great
fleeing away from the! spectacle Is not a Sinai
thunder of Sinai. butbut a Mount Zlon. not
becauso they are al-a flend devouring men
lured upward by the j but a Savior ana is
beauty of Calvary. iHeavenly Father
reaching out the arms
iof Infinite love to gath
jer In us children.
Of course, the sensation-mongers are
waxing fat. Jiut to a fair-minded court
the above quotations do not prove plag
iarism. Dr. Hlllls has done nothing more
criminal than any author has done from
Homer to Tennyson. The spies themselves
are creatures of plagiarism. If Dr. HUUs
Is not original he has put more originality
into the above passages than his detrac
tors have put Into their criticism. Lit
erary buzzards are so old that their very
.name speaks plagiarism, of themsSlves.
Tn a certain sense there Is no such
crime as plagiarism. All knowledge Is
common property, and no two persons can
use It In the same way, even if they de
sire. Therefore, It is more dangerous to
charge than to commit the offense. The
world Is so full of people that one of our
greatest mysteries Is not the similarity
of characters, but the variation. Therefore,
no matter how closely a person may bor
row. It Is doubtful whether ho can com
mit a literary crime- The charge Is very
llkcly to show a nature without charity
and common sense. , Common sense tells
that all things under the sun are old,
and original according to the new form
in which they are put. And without char
ity, though we speak with tongues of men
and of angels, wc are become as sounding
brass or as a tinkling cymbal.
Even nature Is not new. Can we be
more perfect than nature? She reproduces
the same rose year after year. If repeti
tion Is a crime, only the first creatures on
earth wore free of sin, and history Is a
long tale of wickedness, theft and plag
iarism. Is the bee sinful because it rob3
flowers? Is tho apple tree a plagiarist
that produces Its fruits from the nourish
ment of the sun and soil? Is the rain
bow, that steals Its colors from the sun?
Is the sun, that robs the vast sea? If
you have encountered the same literary
expression before, sa has your eye often
met the sight of Mount Hood. Are you
less original because you write your
thoughts with pencil and on. paper that
others have made, or because you do not
cook your own food or make your own
shoes? Are you less original because you
do not contrive your own alphabet?
The test of merit Is not originality, but
power of adaptation. The person who
uses what materials he finds and merely
gives them the stamp of his Individuality
is no plagiarist. The tree of life Is rooted
In what has gone before. It blossoms out
of what has been, and Its roots take nour
ishment from the loose detritus of ages.
Our mouths feed upon the bones of an
cestors, and our minds upon their wis
dom. Our speech Is the best of what they
have said. Law, morals, wisdom, science
are the treasures of ages of accumulation.
There never was absolute Initiation. Edi
son and Marconi had predecessors. Their
individuality has given old Ideas a new
application, the results of which are pub
lic property.
The man who would be original must
Insulate himself from the world, forgetting
what time has given him. He must be as
dumb as the Sphynx. He must close his
eyes, his nose and his ears. The mummy
of Rameses has been Isolated for ages. It
Is a type of as perfect originality as there
can be.
The best thoughts are but the faded
thoughts of others recolored. Gonlus is
always a borrower. Homer, Virgil, Dante,
Shakespeare and Milton were plunderers.
Shakespeare took so much that Greene
declared him an "upstart crow bedecked
with peacock feathers." Gray, Shelley,
Cowper, Pope, Byron, Bacon, Scott, Arn
old and Webster stole ideas, figures and
even words. Morse caught his secret from
Volta, Galvanl and Priestly. The mechan
ical force of steam was observed 20CO years
before Watt. Movable types were sug
gested by brick stamps of the Egyptians.
"Every man's mind Is modified by all the
objects of nature," says Shelley; "by every
word and every suggestion which he ever
admitted to act on his consciousness." Vol
taire ridiculed absolute originality. Heine
denied the possibility of literary theft.
Goethe held originality Impossible.
The crime plagiarism Is committed when
an author falls to turn his material iu
the lathe of his own Individuality. Dr.
Hlllls has not taken the materials of
Beecher bodily. He may not have Im
proved his model, but he has adapted
what he borrowed. Dr. Hlllls does not de
serve the bastinado, of public criticism.
When we Judge a writer's merit we look
to the merit of his method. The same
materials will make all kinds of houses,
the same colors all kinds of paintings. A
hut or a palace, a signboard or a Ma
donna, differ not so much In their mate
rials as In the way they are formed.
SLIXGS AND ARROWS. -
Yc Advisors of Ye Presse.
Sing hey! for ye good Editor. & eke his hap
pye Lotte.
Although he llttel seems to knowe ye Snappe
yt he has gotte.
Te Lawyer & ye Doctor, & ye Plumber, as Is
known,
Must each his Busyness conduct, unaided &
alone.
Ye Carpenter must saw & plane, ye Husband
man must plow.
Sans any klndlye Companye of Folk to tell
them howe.
But luckye Is ye Editor, for doth he not pos
sess An ever-present Stock of wise Advisors of ye
Presse?
Let him but write a Statement down. & In
will forthwith blowe
A Contradiction of It from Pro Bono Publico.
& Old Subscriber will chirp uppe to sette ye
Hatter straight,
& eke ye Meaning will Fair Play with Force
elucidate.
While Constant Reader carefullye ye Subject
will review.
& Veritas. & Truth. & "X" will touch upon
it, too.
The sixteen Issues following will every one
cxpresse
Ye Thoughts of all ye wise and great Advisors
of ye Presse.
When yt ye Paper enters on a fierce and hotte
Campaign.
Forth comes ye klnde Communicant to make
Its Pathway plalne.
If It shall err a single mill about ye Price of
Oats,
Some Friend to showing Its Mistake a column
full devotes.
If on Religion It mayhap shall get off slightly
wrong,
Yo Letter-writing Brethren will turn out an
Hundred strong,
& Copy by ye Wagon load shall speak for
Righteousness.
Which subject Is a pette ono with Advisors
of the Presse.
Full happye Is ye Editor, nor has a Moment's
doubt
Where he maye get ye Stuffe with which to
gette ye Paper out.
Nor yet where he may And out what "Ms uppe
to hlmc to saye.
For barrels of gilt-edged Advice ye Mall brings
every daye.
Ills only Dutye 13 to kill ye oft encroaching
News,
Which threatens sometimes to crowde out yo
Letter-writers' views,
& thus of Care he takes no Thought, and
heartily doth bless
Those always wlllinlg Helpers, ye Advisors of
yo Presse.
The Victory of the Local Editor.
(From the local page of the Smalltown
Gazette, January 2.):
Hon. William Snooks, whose thorough
bred mare, "Comet," has been on the mar
ket for several days, brought the beau
tiful animal to the city yesterday, and
put her through her paces on Main street.
A cleaner limbed, more graceful and
promising young equine It has never been
our lot to see. The fortunate purchaser
will no doubt enter her at the fair next
Fall, and we predict that ho will take
away a hatful of winnings. She's alt right,
Mr. Snooks.
(From the editorial page of the Small
town Gazette, January 9.):
Bill Snooks, of Boomville, brought his
weatherbeaten, spavined, rlngboned, wind
broken old skate Into town yesterday,
and led her limping back and forth on
Main street. Instead of coming like a man
to the Gazette office and paying up the
57 50 he owes us for back subscriptions.
The editor of the Gazette hereby disclaims
responsibility for the three-story "puff"
Snooks bought of its local editor for a
couple of beers and a 5-cent cigar. It was
a cute dodge, Bill, but It don't go with
us.
(From the local page of the Smalltown
Gazette, January 16.):
Hon. William Snooks; who was rocently
In the city with his speedy mare, "Comet,"
was met in the Bacon House yesterday,
and said that he was displeased with a
mention he received In this paper last
week. We hasten to assure Mr. Snooks
that the local editor did not write ttra
objectionable article. Mr. Snooks says he
has a prospect of selling his great trotter
for $75. Wo can well believe It.
(From the editorial page of the Small
town Gazette, January 23.):
For the second time that dead-beat
horsetrader from Boomtown., Bill Snooks,
a man without honor and without repu
tation, has broken Into our local columns
with his decayed old plug of a horse, by
giving cheap cigars and drinks to the
local editor. We write this to Inform Mr.
Snooks that there Is a law In the land,
and we havo been seriously thinking of
Invoking It to collect the long overduo
account he owes us. We shall further
state that while we are good natured and
appreciate hustling ability In a local edi
tor as well as any one, we shall not tol
erate another offense of this kind, even
If the offender turns In a column of new
ads every day. Get next, you who need to.
(From the local page of the Smalltown
Gazette. January SO.):
Hon. William Snook reports to us the
sale of his famous trotting mare, "Comet,"
for J2G 50. The mare Is a valuable animal,
and wo congratulate her new purchaser.
Mr. Snooks Is a gentleman and a scholar,
and treats the boys right.
From the editorial page of the Bmall
town Gazette, February 6.):
This Is to Inform the public that George
Hatch, late local editor of this paper,
has been succeeded by Francis Hender
son. Please pay Mr. Hatch no money,
either for ads or subscriptions.
(From the editorial page of tho Small
town Gazette, February 13.):
We advise the public that George Hatch
has resumed his duties as local editor.
George is a good boy, and we think per
haps we were too hasty in his case. Fran
cis Henderson will be found feeding the
press, as formerly, and Mr. Hatch Is au
thorized by us to solicit ads and subscrip
tions, and collect money for the same.
Ivlpllnpr.
'E's a trekkln' through the Transvaal Jus' to
see w'at 'e can see,
'E's a studyln' the horflcers an" men;
E's a readin' of the people, an a dreary book
they be.
For to And a flttin subjeck for 'Is pen.
But as far as Is reported 'e ain't been inspired
yot.
An the only thing e s found worth while
to tell.
Is a list o 'glowln' battles that was won by
one Dewet.
Which he makes a text to give 'Is country
fits.
E's a wastin of his patience an' a rlskln of
is 'ealth.
An 'what's worse 'e ain't projuced a single
pome.
E'd been farther on tho roadway Jeadln out
to fame an wealth.
If 'e'd 'untcd Inspiration nearer ome.
For thcroaln't no T. Mulvaney splnnln' yarns
down Transvaal way.
There never lived but only one of Mm,
An there ain't no sun a-risln on no road to
Mandelay:
There ain't nothln' only kopjes,- bleak an
grim.
There was times, an well we knows 'em.
when whatever met Ms heye
Was a pome w'en the paper come to band;
There was subjecks In a plenty, an 'e found
a fresh supply
In almost ev'ry foreign town an land.
But a wrltln. wrttln', wrltln. always wrltin
somethink new
Ain't so easy as perhaps you think 'twould
be.
An' 'e'd done a whole lot better (this Is Just
between us two)
If 'e'd stuck to 'Indoostan an' Soldiers Three,
J J. itONTAOTIia.