2
THE STODAY OREkoyiAS, PORTLAND, MAECH 16, 1902.
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TODAY'S TTEATHER-Partly cloudy, with
possibly occasional local rains; south to west
winds.
YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem
perature, 48; minimum temperature, 35; pre
cipitation, 0.10 Inch.
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, 3IARCH 10.
t '
YESTERDAY'S PRI3IARY ELECTION.
It was a very quiet primary election
yesterday, the quietest Portland has
ever known. This was due to the pri
mary election law.
Apparently about 75 per cent of the
registered vote was cast There was
very little Democratic vote. Many of
the Democrats who appeared at tha,
polls voted the Simon ticket, for one
reason or another.
But the Republican independents have
carried a majority of the county con
vention. It is a result upon which pub
lic congratulation is due; for it was a
contest waged against a powerful or
ganization, strongly Intrenched in office
and poer, and it was carried on ab
solutely without money. Not a dollar
was paid to organizers or workers.
The only object The Oregonlan has
had in this business was and is to ex
tend and enlarge the party basis, so
that the party -would be a party, and
not a faction or ring. The Oregonlan
believes it no good policy for a party
to exclude from Its councils, a large
part of its Voters. Against such nar
row policy The Oregonlan has made its
protest In doing so it has drawn upon
it all the concentrated venom of an
arrogant opposition. But it can stand
it The result justifies the effort
The victors In this contest must now
act with prudence and moderation.
There must be no narrowneso in their
action, no proscription of those -who
hitherto have been opposed to them.
Let us see now if we cannot have such
breadth and such fairness in party ac
tion as will unite all Republicans In
the commoh cause for which their party
stands. Let those who now are to be
responsible for the party pursue such a
course as will justify their protest
against the policy which hitherto has
been pursued, and which has caused
bo much dissension. Through a wise
end liberal course all this henceforth
can be avoided.
HE WON'T REJOICE.
We have long had it from his stead
fast admirers that Mr. Bryan is a great
man. To his greatness there Is almost
no limit social, mental or moral. It is
fit to point out, therefore, that he is now
Jetting slip by one of the finest oppor
tunities any man ever had to attest
true greatness.
Mr. Bryan has long been a most con
Btant and agitated fearer of the trusts.
Hhey haunt his harassed days and be
set his nightly dreams. As he wandered
over the land in 1900, every poor apple
grower moved him to tears because he
couldn't be a trust magnate, and every
Jworklng woman filled him with regret
because she couldn't enjoy a luxurious
home at the seashore. In addition to
grief at the manifest anomaly that the
poor are not rich, Mr. Bryan was sorely
concerned at the spread of the trusts
and the Indisposition of officials every
where to call them to account
Aiiother noteworthy activity of the
Democratic demigod has been his fath
erly solicitude for President Roosevelt
Ever since that belligerent gentleman's
inauguration, the Commoner and its
editor have overflowed with advice for
the new President They wished him
well, and especially they hoped and
prayed that Mr. Roosevelt would not
be taken Into camp by the trusts and
the Money Power. The truculency
(Wheeler) of the McKinley Administra
tion to the said iniquities was well
known, and the Commoner and its edi
tor fondly hoped that under Roosevelt
something different and better might be
enjoyed. v
"Well, Mr. Bryan has been in "Wash
ington for some days. The air Is full of
talk about President Roosevelt's dec
laration of offensive warfare against
the trusts. But while Mr. Bryan has
held receptions in the Senate and House
lobbies and consulted with leading Dem
ocrats and furnished considerable copy
to the amiable and accommodating
young men of the newspaper world, he
has unremittingly overlooked the Pres
ident's action and assiduously neglected
to record the joy he must feel at the
delivery of the Administration and the
country from the malign influence of
the trusts.
Among all the trusted and disinter
ested worshipers of the Nebraska
great and good, there will not be one
eo unreflecting, we take it, as to sup
pose that the Presidential programme
has escaped Mr. Bryan's attention. He
knows about it and he-has some reason,
satisfactory to himself, for concealing
the patriotic joy that possesses his soul.
Be "Will keep it to himself, and the said
devptees will never think of ascribing
his silence to ttie tactics of a self-seeking
politician, who will say nothing In
praise of an opponent's actions that
might make It harder for himself to be
nominated and elected in 1904. "When
Thomas Paine wrote the "Age of Rea
son" he fancied that the days of super
stitious Idolatry had passed. But Coday
he would have seen ample evidence of
the reign of blind faith In the trusting
devotion with which thousands of Bry
anltes follow about, with vows and in
cense, a certain wooden-headed and hollow-hearted
idol of sixteen lo one and
scuttle.
ENOUGH SENATORS, SUCH AS THEY
ARE.
Senator Penrose seems to be a bold
man, for his proposal to increase the
membership of the Senate by giving
additional representation according to
inhabitants is certainly as radical a
piece of legislation as has startled Con
gress for many a day. Of its present
and perhaps its permanent futility no
one need doubt For many minds, and
especially for the Senatorial mind, a
sufficient reason why anything should
be done in the future is that it has been
done in the past Therefore it is that
Nevada and Delaware "seem likely to
be as potent, numerically, in the Senate,
as New York and Illinois, on to the end
of let us siy the existent constitu
tional era for this Constitution may be
supplanted some day as it supplanted
the old Articles of Confederation.
The effective answer to Mr. Penrose's
proposal has been already anticipated
by Senator Hoar, who said the otfier
day. in reference to election of Senators
ty popular vote: "This Is a proposition
to. change a principle upon which the
Constitution is founded, and It Is a mat
ter of historical fact that without the
incorporation of this principle the Con
stitution never would have been agreed
to. The solemn pledge was given to the
states, small and great, that the equal
ity of the states never would be de
stroyed -without the consent of every
one of them The adoption of the reso
lution could not be accomplished with
out a breach of the National pledge."
Senator Hoar's sense of historical per
spective must be very defective. If he
-supposes that tne bargain consum
mated in the adoption of the Constitu
tion was binding upon all future gen
erations. Amendments have been made
by time and change. Some of them
have been incorporated in the document
and others have not Others will be
made as they become necessary, and the
least of the controlling factors in the
result will be the motives that influ
enced the ratifying statea Doubtless
the Constitution could never have been
adopted at all if certain states had un
derstood that 'the Union thus formed
was to be indestructible. They under
stood otherwise, but the Civil War over
turned the bargain and there is none
to mourn its overthrow. The great
basis of controversy, upon which the
compromises of the Constitution were
negotiated, was slavery. The South in
sisted that slaves should be counted as
inhabitants for representation, but not
counted for basis of taxation. A com
promise was reached. A compro
mise "was also reached as to the
power of Congress over the slave trade,
and the Constitution says that the slave
trademust not be prohibited before 1808.
Time and change have set aside these
curious bargains, but they are just as
binding today as is the bargain by
which the small states" were 'Induced,
through equal Senatorial representation,
to ratify the Constitution.
Yet the Penrose proposal Is a matter
of no great concern; for the fears of its
opponents are not more visionary than
are the hopes of Its advocates. In the
ory it Is an awful thing for Nevada
and Delaware to have as much voice In
the Senate as New York and Illinois;
but in practice there Is little danger.
The rise of party government has done
much toward elimination of geograph
ical boundaries. Intensely fought ques
tions ar usually treated on party lines.
Our small Rocky Mountain States, for
example, caused us some uneasiness on
the silver issue. But in the Senate'we
had Silver Democrats from New York
and "Virginia as well as from Colorado
and Idaho. California does nop control
Nevada any more certainly than New
York controls New Jersey and -Delaware.
The Senate has become odious
through South Carolina, Illinois and
Maryland as much as through Idaho,
Rhode Island and Arkansas. There is,
in fact, nothing to show that the cause
of good government would be advanced
by increasing the Platts, Quays,
Hannas, Masons, at the expense of
states that have built history and orna
mented humanity with their Bayards,
Grays, Morrllls and Edmundses.
The Senate is In need of repairs; but
its defects appear to He more In the
direction of quality than quantity. The
crying need of the Senate as of our pub
lic life generally Is a higher type of
character and capacity. He would have
a ssrious task who should undertake to
prove that this improvement is most
likely to come from the great states
and great cities with their colossal and
arrogant corporations and their power
ful political machines. The men that
New England gave us In the old days
apd the men that rose out of the leisure
and libraries of the Old South are not
likely to be duplicated today in the
crush of metropolitan life. It Is a far
cry from Depew to Conkllng and from
Money to Lamar. Mr. Penrose's pro
posal Is Irrelevant.
TOO GLOOMY BY FAR.
The great actress, Elonora Duse, not
long ago spoke disparagingly of actors
as a class, and now, in announcing her
forthcoming American tour as her fare
well to the stage, she has to say of her
professional associates:
I must escape from the slavery of stage life.
That Is no Ufo at all. I assure you It Is hell
downright helU Of many of my companions
on the boards I cannot think but with feelings
of loathing and suspicion. Most of the players
X meet ore a contemptible Jot
The famous actress, Fanny Kemble
Butler, a niece of the famous Mrs.
Sarah SIddons and of the great actor,
John Kemble, always in her autobiog
raphy spoke -of the. dramatic profession
as demoralizing upon Its members. She
thought the decent stage was good in
Its influence upon the audience, but in
the "long- -rim demoralizing upon the
players, because men and women who
dally for years personate the various
passions of human nature, noble and ig
noble, gradually become cold and heart
less and come at last to think that all
the world's a -stage and that all are
players, whether on or off the boards.
Mrs. Kemble Butler held that a woman
cannot simulate love In various forms
and situations for years and retain
much capacity to feel or inspire true
love, for she will become skeptical and
cynical on the subject. She has "played
love" so often that she suspects that
the world at large plays it, too, but J
with unprofessional, and inartistic awk- T
wardness. So with the Other noble pas
sions of humanity. They come at last
to seem flat, stale and unprofitable.
Mrs. Butler believed that the actor who
is constantly obliged to fool with the
best feelings of the human heart ulti
mately suffers moral and spiritual de
terioration. Fanny Kemble in the prime of her
youthful genius and beauty married
Pierce Butler, a wealthy Georgia
planter. Her . marriage was very un
happy, and after twelve years of plan
tation life she left her husband, never
to return, and went back to the stage
as a dramatic reader. Her unhappy
marriage made a deep Impression upon
her, and she became a pessimist in her
views regarding conjugal love. Her
views regarding the profession of an
actor as hardening to the human heart
are more specious than sound. Too
many actors have led excellent lives and
made very happy marriages to justify
the acceptance of Fanny Kemble But
ler's view. Macready. Charles Kean,
Mrs. SIddons, John Kemble, Helen Faw
cett, Miss O'Nell, Ellen Tree, were all
persons of admirable domestic life, and
In this country Mrs. Mowatt, Julia
Dean, Joseph Jefferson, Mrs. Farren,
Mrs. Barry. Mrs. G. H. Gilbert, John
Gilbert William Warren, Clara Morris,
Julia Arthur, Mary Anderson, Mrs. John
Drew, Julia Marlowe. Maggie Mitchell,
Modjeska and Ada Rehan are some of
the leading names in a long roll of
actors whose private lives have always
been of good repute. If Mrs. Kemble's
view Is sound, then no man could be a
jury lawyer of large practice without
klosing all sensibility to crime, and -to
proper distinction between right and
wrong.
A DIVIDED RESPONSIBILITY.
The Brooklyn Eagle, one of the most
reputable newspapers in the United
States, recently found text for a strong
sermon, which It proceeded to preach
with all the power of plain speech, in
the death In a hotel in New York, under
circumstances that called for police In
vestigation, of a youth of 20 years, the
son of reputable -parents. The young
man went to this place, called by cour
tesy a hotel, but which In other civ
ilized communities is called an assignation-house,
and a little later was fQund
there dead, with a bullet-hole behind
his ear. His companion, a girl some
what younger than himself, had disap
peared when the body was discovered,
but later a young woman who had fre
quented similar places with him was ar
rested, and an old story full of sicken
ing details Is being compiled of "evi
dence" that doubtless will in due time
be given in serial form to a shuddering
public.
In fixing the responsibility for this
crime, the journal above quoted deals
heavy blows all' along the line that
leads up to murders of this charac
ter. Men who for the sake of making
money without work serve as ministers
to the unspeakable In the ownership
and control of these "hotels"; men
charged with the preservation of the
manners and morals of the city: po
licemen who know full well what is
Indicated by a hotel register upon
which from the top to the bottom of
the. page the name of "Jphn Smith and
wife" Is repeated guests who travel
without luggage and skulk away In the
night; parents who, unmindful of their
duty, allow the boys and girls to drift
away from home restraint before they
are 'men and women; ''pandeA, police,
city officials, state legislators' and for
the last responsibility, thus people are
arraigned in vigorous language as ac
cessory to crimes of this character.
The subject Is so vast that to take
up every count of this Indictment and
pursue it to a logical sequence Is Im
possible. The defense, or such defense
as is essayed, is as old as the story.
Such things have alwaysc existed, it Is
said, and, it Is added, "they always will
exist," and here a large proportion of
those indicted rest their case and the
infamy goes on, mysterious murders are
committed, arrests are made, disgust
ing details are brought out In trials,
now and then an execution takes place
as a sort of by-play of Justice, the di
vided responsibility sits easily upon all
concerned, and the shameful story goes
on and on.
But dismissing the wider view, there
are those more closely implicated who
may well be arraigned as accessory be
fore the fact, to the gross Irregularities
of youth that lead up to murders of this
character. We cannot shut our eyes to
the fact that there exists, In the midst
of so-called respectable society In this
city, as elsewhere, a sort of vicious
youth of both sexes, whose presence Is
a serious menace to public decency.
The Cycle Park tragedy, with Its blast
ing details, as brought out In the tes
timony of young fellows about town,
eager to save the neck of their accused
comrade. Is still fresh In the memory of
the people who at the recital turned
away In disgust and horror. But what
Is the underlying fact? Is It not that
youths who are not yet men, and girls
who are not yet women, are allowed
to live outside of parental control or
knowledge and to deprave one another
according to their lawless Instincts? It
Lis admitted that family life in a city
Is hard to maintain, but Its breaking
down Is a thing too shocking to con
template. "God's and Nature's will,"
says the article referred to, "is that the
young man shall be subject to the rule
of his father's household until such time
as he becomes the acknowledged head
of a household of his own, and that the
young woman shall be under the kindly
but watchful oversight of her mother
until she comes to the house of her hus
band." This, Of course, refers to peo
ple In the reputable walks of life, who
have well-ordered homes, but from
which, alas! so many vicious youth go
out to shame the community.
What as a matter of fact, do the pa
rents know of the movements of these
vicious boys and street-walking girls?
The police could tell them much, but
that Is considered beyond the line of
official duty. Suggestion ot parental
control would no doubt be regarded as
a fine Joke or a fine impertinence by
the juniors, but others are concerned In
the matter. This Is not a country in
which people can do as they please,
and If the parents who brought these
young persona Into the world are not
aware that society holds them respon
sible for the manners and morals of
their offspring, some stern reminders
are In order. It is the business of
every father to know where his boy Is
and what he Is doing. The boy may
not like the restraint, and the father
may not like the trouble; but what of
it? If, quoting again, "the father know
the youth to be vicious, and if his vice
bring harm to any member of the com
munity, the father Is really as respon
sible as if he had permitted hla dog
which he knew to be rabid to run at
large and bite his neighbor's child."
What can be said of the mother who
allows her daughter to come and go day
and night at such hours and with what
company she chooses? Those who man
age boarding-houses for young women,
otherwise homeless, know better than
this, and insist that girls shall be cir
cumspect In the matter of the company
they keep, and punctual as to hours.
Should mothers be less careful in the
supervision of their daughters than are
the matrons of working-girls' homes?
If a boy left to his own vicious Im
pulses meet his death at the hands of
a girl similarly abandoned lo her fan
cies, or vice-versa, who Is really the
murderer? The boy was "headstrong"
and the girl "wayward." . Of course
they were. This is precisely the reason
why society had a right to expect that
those who are responsible for them
should have looked after them. "We
have information," says the Eagles
"warranting the statement that there
are scores of eminently respectable pa
rents In Brooklyn who would be simply
horror-stricken if they knew what their
own children were doing. They do not
know because they do not take the
trouble to know, and because custom
has fixed a false standard of liberty for
young persons." Is the same true In
a relative degree In Portland? Do not
the records of .crime In this city and
the well-known misdemeanors of an
army of vicious young people of both
sexes warrant an affirmative answer to
this question?
AN INTELLIGENT EFFORT.
The question of securing better or
more nearly adequate pasturage for the
Increasing flocks and herds of the Mid
dle West is attracting serious consid
eration and engaging careful experts In
experiment The Federal Government
has taken It up and experiments look
ing to this end are now being carried
on in Harper County, Kansas, for the
purpose of determining what can be
done toward making buffalo grass grow
thicker on the pasturexland of the state.
Buffalo grass Is the most nutritious of
the native grasses of the Western
plains, but it does not sod like blue
grass, growing Instead In bunches and
spots. In the culture of alfalfa It has
been discovered that the use of disks
which cut and stir the top of the soil
separate the roots and bring out the
alfalfa thick and strong where It had
before been thin and weak. A sugges
tion that this method be applied to
buffalo grass was made to. the Govern
ment, and upon It a number of experts
are now working. It is stated that
these experiments have proceeded far
enough to demonstrate the feasibility of
the plan, the. success of which. If It Is
successful, will be of Immense value to
cattle-owners throughout the prairie
regions of the West Deterioration of
the ranges from wasteful and careless
grazing during the past twenty-five
years has become a menace to the stock
Interests of the country. It has set the
cattle and sheepmen at war, and Inaug
urated a crusade of extermination
against range horses that, during the
period of depression In the horse mar
ket. Incident to the boom with which
the electrical age came In, were allowed
to breed ' and roam at will over the
country. It now requires a much larger
area to pasture a given number of cattle
or sheep than formerly- To restore Na
ture's bounty In respect to the native
grasses Is greatly desired, since In many
of the more arid regions these grasses
only can be depended upon to furnish
pasturage Irrigation and cultivation
Insure enormous yields of alfalfa and
other forage plants, but, as far as the
pasturage of the great ranges Is con
cerned, the native grasses are those
upon which the stockman depends for
grazing.
Some months ago Secretary Wilson, of
the National Department of Agricul
ture, in passing through the Oregon
grazing region east of the Cascade
Mountains, noted the poverty to which
the ranges had been reduced by incon
siderate herdsmen, and stated in plain
terms that a remedy the great remedy
of rest must be applied to these ranges
If the stock Industry is to continue to
thrive on the grazing basis. Since then,
though little has been done In lines sug
gested toward the rehabilitation of the
great table lands with their native
bunchgrass, many experiments have
been carried forward under the direction
of the O. R. & N. Co. In the produc
tion of forage plants suited to the con
ditions of soil and climate of that sec
tion. The purpose to make two blades
of grass grow where but one grew be
fore, when successfully carried out. Is
held to make the demonstrator a bless
ing to his race. In this view all such
purpose, supplemented by Intelligent
effort. Is laudable, whether undertaken
by the Government through the Board
of Agriculture, corporations under the
direction of practical men, or Individ
uals with private holdings of land. The
work of the latter class, of course, must
be within relatively narrow limits, but
it Is commendable still.
Man. when he comes In touch with
Nature's bounty. Is proverbially a
wastrel. The denuded pine forest areas
of the country; the practical extermi
nation of black walnut and hickory
timber; extinction of the buffalo and the
impoverishment of native pasture lands
all tell the same -story that of care
lessness and greed In handling this
bounty. It Is encouraging, therefore,
to note that the spirit of reparation Is
abroad, seeking to make good as far as
possible, on a commercial basis, the
losses induced by this willful waste, be
fore It leads to "woeful want"
If we cannot have direct popular elec
tion of Senators, it is a comfort at
least to have found an approximation
to it in the primary law that was tested
yesterday with such satisfactory re
sults. It is true that no choice of a
Senator was made or contemplated yes
terday, but It Is also true that a Sena
tor went before the people for re-election
and was effectually defeated. We
can see now the reason for the Inade
quacy of primary elections heretofore.
They were not real elections. When the
voter comes to understand that votes at
primaries are counted and recorded, the
primary will be a true election, and a
very close approximation can be had to
direct election of Senatora
Some surprise Is expressed that Postmaster-General
Payne, who went Into
office with the reputation of a practical
politician, should have taken fourth
class postmasters out of the spoils sys
tem and put their tenure on the basis of
good behavior. There is no just ground
for surprise, for the President called
Mr. Payne to the place of Postmaster
General simply because of his excep
tional fitness for the position. The
President wanted an exceptionally able
man of business; he wanted an abso
lutely loyal' personal and political
friend, and he secured them in Mr.
Payne. If the President had been seek
ing to construct a Cabinet that would
be In a subsidiary sense a machine tc
help secure his renomlnatlon In 1904, he
might have hesitated to Invite so force
ful a leader of a Republican faction to
enter his Cabinet but the President is
not trying to make his Cabinet a polit
ical machine, but a very efficient busi
ness machine for the administration of
his executive duties. From this point
of view It was of no sort of consequence
whether Mr. Payne was a "practical
politician" or not; he was a man sure
not to misunderstand what. the Presi
dent wanted; he was sure to give the
country such reforms in the Postofflce
Department as the President desired;
he was sure to obey the man behind
the gun.
ThevMIsslssippI Legislature has passed
a bill making such radical changes in
the method of conducting primary elec
tions and nominating candidates for of
fice in that state that the Governor Is
being petitioned to withhold his signa
ture on the ground that the bill Is un
constitutional. According to the terms
of the bill, all nominations will be made
at primary elections. Even United
States Senators must be nominated In
the same way. The primary elections
are to be governed by the regular elec
tion laws of thj state, the county ex
ecutive committees of the different par
ties having the functions of the county
election commissioners and appointing
the officers to have charge of the pri
maries. Participation In a party's pri
mary "elections is restricted to voters
who have affiliated with that party for
two years, or who are admitted by the
terms of the Btate committee. The ex
penses of these elections are to be borne
by each party, and the printing of bal
lots, deceiving the vote and making re
turns are carefully guarded by strict
regulations. State conventions are to
be held only once In four years to name
delegates to the National conventions
and choose electors. Bills to effect the
same purpose of taking primary elec
tions out of the control of parties and
placing them under the control of the
state and county authorities are before
the Massachusetts and New York Leg
islatures. District Attorney Jerome, of New
York City, replying to the question why
the law against the selling of liquor on
Sunday cannot be enforced just as well
as the law against larceny Is enforced,
says that the law against larceny is
enforced because the great mass of peo
ple regard the commission of larcen:
as an Invasion of the property rights
of all. an Immoral act, and want to
see It punished, while there are hun
dreds of thousands of people In New
York City who do not consider the sell
ing of liquor on Sunday as a crime, and
who will not sustain any attempt to.
punish men for such selling. Mr. Jer
ome Is right, and this is the difficulty
with the prohibitory liquor law wher
ever It Is enacted. There Is no selfisl
human Interest that Is arrayed In favor
of Its enforcement; there Is a good dea
of selfish human Interest arrayed
against It, and so It soon becomes a
dead letter. When the people prohibit
murder, theft, rape, they mean.wha
they enact, but when the people pro
hibit the sale of liquor they do not
mean what they say. It Is an eas;
matter to force a law through a Legis
lature, but unless there Is some vigor
ous human Interest behind that law, It
Is sure to die for want of breath.
"Modern Eloquence," In ten volumes,
Is a book that Is having large sale. It
has been advertised extensively in The
Oregonlan during the past six months.
The editor is Thomas B. Reed. So great
Is the range of matter that falls under
the title of "Modern Eloquence" that
selection becomes an Imperative neces
sity; and a committee of selection, at
the head of which Is Edward Everett
Hale, has gone over the matter and
designated the pieces that these vol
umes are to contain. The list embraces
all the noted names In modern Eng
lish and American literature, and many
of the pieces indeed all the more im
portant ones are given without abridg
ment. For those who cannot possess
books and there are few who can the
collection Is one of very high value. It
contains, besides, many fugitive pieces
of great excellence, which the reader
will not easily find elsewhere. More
than one thousand sets of these volumes
have been sold recently In Oregon and
Washington, and the satisfaction of
purchasers Is attested by their prompt
payment on delivery. It is.a series of
permanent Interest and value.
The existing disaffection toward the
Conservative Government of Spain Is
due to bad faith. When Silvela came
Into power In 1899 he promised the peo
ple of Valencia an administrative divis
ion of Spain Into cantons, each having
Its own local laws. Valencia began
to Issue cantonal postage stamps, but
soon found out the Conservatives had
no intention of keeping their promise.
Catalonia today clamors for autonomy
with a provincial Legislature of its own.
General Weyler is said to favor the
demands of the Catalonlan autonomists.
It is predicted in Europe that a new
political party will soon appear in
Spain headed by General Weyler. who
will seize the government and with the
support of the army proclaim a repub
lic Weyler is an able soldier. Is a very
wealthy man, and Is said to have al
ways been a republican In his personal
political opinions.
Another death Is recorded in this city
as having resulted from lack of proper
medical care. The victim In this In
stance was a devout young woman who
depended upon the healing power of
prayer to save her. and the disease was
pneumonia. While we are disposed to
pity the credulity of the person who ex
pects to overcome material conditions
by protest and pleading, let us he char
itable. This Is a free country, and Chat
was her way of looking at things. Much
depends upon the point of view.
The Cabinet harness dojs not fit Sec
retary Hitchcock. He neither works
well nor rests easily In it, being, It Is
said, by nature unfitted for the work
which It3 wearing necessitates. This
being true, the sooner It is adjusted to
a man who does not ehafe In the traces
the better for all concerned which
means a vast multitude whose Inter
ests are In one way and another In
close touch with the Department of the
Interior.
The new primary law seems to have
worked satisfactorily, and with remark
ably little friction, considering the utter
newness of the whole process. Actual
test of the law indorses Us framers and
approves the confidence expressed In It
by the courts.
Now there will be some show for en
actment of the new charter.
OPPORTUNITY IN A REPUBLIC.
The thing in America that attracted the
most serious attention of Prince Henry
of Germany was the prevailing mood of
optimism in tle people. The average man
looked hopeful. If not absolutely content,
while the prevailing expression of the
European masses la that of Hstlessncss.
If not open discontent. Prince Henry sees,
If he did not confess, that under our popu
lar Institutions native nobility has a
chance to get upward and succeed that is
practically denied them in Germany. Ger
many's military forces are with few ex
ceptions children of the aristocracy, the
gentry or the well-to-do middle class.
There is scarcely a representative ot
the poor peasant class, from which Web
ster, Lincoln and Sh.eridan sprang, amon?
the great statesmen 'and soldiers ot Ger
many. The parents of our great soldier.
Sheridan, were i poor Irish Immigrants.
Does anybody suppose that the same
child of the sturdy peasant stock would
have ever had a chance to rise to the
pinnacle of military fame at 34 years of
age had he been born of peasant
stock In Germany and sought distinction
In tho German Army? Of course, the
paths of literature are always open to the
humble-born man in any country in Eu
rope, even as they are to women with a
gift for letters or art, but the public life
of a statesman or soldier offers no sucn
chance of quick rise to distinction to the
humble-born man m Germany, or even in
England, as it does in America. That
thi3 statement is true of Germany is
confessed by an able and scholarly Ger
man, Wolf von Schlerbrand. In the cur
rent number of the North American
Review. This writer says that the la
boring man, the mechanic, the small shop
keeper, the farm hand, has never been
able to acquire what the same class of
tho population has acquired since the
great revolution In France, In England
on social and political lines, during the
19th century, and what has been the
birthright of every man in our American
Republic since Its foundation.
Except the political and social awak
ening, for which the Socialist party Is
responsible In Germany, there has come
no other to the lower masses of the peo
ple, and because of this fact they are
behind their fellows in countries more
favored politically, so far as self-respect
and sturdy Independence are concerned.
These reasons explain the remarkable rise
Of Socialism as a political power In Ger
many. This German writer further points
out that Germany is a country where class
legislation prevails to a remarkable de
gree; that the poorer classes are In many
ways discriminated against in the matter
of taxation. The tax and revenue sys
tem of Germany rests heavily on the
backs of the poor. The Import duty on
cereals, petroleum, coffee, lard, cotton
goods, meats, rice, salt herrings, cheese,
tea, eggs, cattle and sheep, butter and
oleomargarine, table fats, etc., greatly en
hances In price articles for the poor
man's consumption. In the matter of In
ternal revenue taxes three of the prin
cipal ones rest on tobacco, sugar and salt;
home-made spirituous liquors are heavily
taxed. The government raises the price
of nearly every foodstuff the poor require,
but encourages the distiller, who Is nearly
always owner of a big rural estate, in
every possible way. The anti-strike laws
are severe; justice Is continually stayed to
the Injury of the poor, the laws
render marriage so difficult for the poor
man that In Bavaria the Illegitimate birth
rate Is 26 out of every 100. Antiquated
contract laws are enforced In a one
sided manner against the rural and city
laborer. To this class legislation, which
discriminates against the poorer classes.
Is "due the remarkable rise of Socialism
as a political power in Germany.
In 1S78-T9 the Socialist vote, under Bis
marck's repressive measures, was but 312,
000 for the Reichstag electors, but at
the last general election, that of 1S3S. it
was 2.107,000. The Socialists today In point
of number are by far the largest party,
and at the next election they will reach
2,500,000, and -possibly exceed It In 1S93
In a total vote of about 7,000,000, the
Socialist party represented two-sevenths
of It These facts Illustrate why the pop
ular masses In this country look hopeful
and contented to Prihce Henry, compared
wUh the poorer classes In Germany, who
are in a mood of natural Insurrection and
discontent, because of class legislation
which Imposes upon them an undue share
of the public burden.
Knowing these facts. Prince Henry must
have smiled to himself when Dr. Butler,
president of Columbia University, at the
dinner of the "captains of Indus
try" attributed to the German Uni
versity "the great Impulses which, faith
fully followed by Americans, have led to
the wdndrous scientific and material ad
vances made In the United States."
This Is utterly without foundation. Long
ago Wendell Phillips truthfully said:
"Two-thirds of the Inventions that double
the world's sunshine and make Old and
New England the workshops of the world
did not come from colleges or from
minds trained In the schools of science,
but from the irrepressible Instinct of nat
ural power. Her workshops, not her
colleges made England for a while the
mistress of the world." How poor and
mean the German universities seem today
when we remember that In spite of all
the schools ot philosophy the German
masses cannot today wring their birth
rights from the strong hands ot wealth
and learning. No, America owes nothing
of her greatness to any Impulse that
dates from Goethe, or Kant, or Hegel, or
Flchte, or Carlyle; she owes It to states,
manshlp and scientific intelligence that
goes back to Franklin. She owes It to
a long line of Inventions that range from
Ell Whitney ,to Edison; to a long line of
statesmen from Hamilton and Webster
down to Lincoln. What pedantic nonsense
Is the glorification of the German uni
versities, whose Intellectual and spiritual
influence have left the German masses
robbed of the right to a fair chance they
get In America. The German schools,
from the days of Goethe, have been dis
tinguished for nothing so much as their
political subserviency.
We aro a great people, a great country,
but not because of any Ideas that Ger
man university philosophers have given
us. German philosophy soon Inspired Lin
coln' "to marshal the conscience of a Na
tion to mend its laws," and it did not
Inspire Bismarck to do anything of the
sort Germany today, so far as the rights
of her masses are concerned. Is behind
every great country. In Europe, for her
rulers continue to make "the fear of one
class the measure of the rights of an
other." America owes nothing to Ger
many, but the struggling German masses,
protesting against class legislation which
discriminates heavily against them, owe
something of the inspiration to Insurrec
tion to the example of America.
We have shown Europe how to make
and manage better railways than there
are in Europe; we have anticipated Eu
rope In the most admirable application ot
the powers of steam and electricity to
the work of the world, and we have set
Europe an example worth more than are
the learning of her schools In creating
a free state where the humblest man Is
tho possessor of equal rights under law
to life, liberty and property. No wonder
the American people look hopeful and con-
1 tent, compared with those of Europe.
SLLTGS AM) ARROWS.
The Microbe.
I fling defiance at plodding science.
And slap my thighs In glee.
To see It grope, with a microscope
In a culture tube for me.
Though sterilized and Pasteurized,
X am still at the same old stand.
And despite every cure that Is safe and sure,
I always am right on hand.
The learned M. D.. with an extra degree.
Conferred from some prominent college.
The chemist profound, with a large stock ot
sound
Information and accurate knowledge.
Pursue me with serum, but little I fear 'em,
For. though they take every care
To isolate me, like the vanishing flea.
When they nab me, I never am there.
They strain me through satin, apply to me
Latin
Appellations ten syllables long.
But whenever they try to persuade me to die
They get ofT Invariably wrong.
In some fleeting shape I will make my escape.
Founding numerous fam'lies the while.
And when they pursue me Intending to do me,
I hand them the fare-you-well smile.
I scatter disease on the whispering breeze.
That breathes of tho Joyous June.
And the lover who sips of the Innocent lips
Of his sweetheart beneath the pale moon.
Sips also of me, and la likely to be
Laid up with dtptherla soon.
The scent of the rose carries me as It goes
To tell the sweet message of Spring,
And to the perfume of the violet's bloom
I find It convenient to cling
Until I may meet some child, pure and sweet
To whoso lungs I do not do a thing.
I lurk In the walls of the parlors and halls
Of the mansions of opulent wealth.
And steal forth at night like an uneasy sprit
To advance the great cause of 111 health
In the ml3ts that arise to the darkening skies
When the sun slowly sinks In the "West.
I load up the wings of the Insect that sings
The song that lulls sleepers to rest.
I am the bug that defies probe and drug,
That science hunts down all In vain.
I dwell everywhere. In the sea, in the air.
In the forest, the desert, the plain.
Though doctors may strive to destroy me I
thrive.
And they stand for my work willy-nilly.
No serum can drown, no treatment can down
Myself and my brother bacilli.
Over the 'Phone.
Hello! Is this The Oregonlan?
What have you heard about the elec
tion? Is that so?
No! Are you sure?
Is It possible?
How did the steenth precinct go?
Are you sure of that?
Are you very sure?
Are all the returns in?
Well, how can you tell who won If they
aren't?
Yes; I suppose you ought to know.
Who did you say was elected United
States Senator?
Why, yes you did.
You certainly did, and you said he car
ried the steenth precinct.
Yes, I live there.
No; of course I didn't vote, but my
husband did.
I can't ask him, because he isn't here.
How do I know where he is?
Who was elected Governor, did you say?
You don't mean to tell me there wasn't
any Governor elected?
Well, wasn't there any election today?
Well, what Is a primary election?
Yes. ot course, I know what a kinder
garten Is.
I'll do nothing of the kind. You'd bet
ter attend one yourself, Mr. Smarty!
Good-bye.
Lament of Uncle Sam.
It appears to me. Columby, we've been llvln
too durn plain;
"What we want Is this here splendor of our
dear friend William'3 reign;
"We should like them decorations fur to orna
ment our chest.
An' to hev folks take their hats off when we
travel east or west;
"We should like to hev them call us "your most
gracious Majesty."
An to prance around the country for our sub
jects all to see.
"We should like to say "Bong Jure, muzzlr,"
off-hand like, or "Vee gates."
It's mighty hard. Columby, Just to talk United
States.
It seems to me. Columby, that there ain't
quite anything
In the world so satisfyln' as this thing of be
In' King.
"We should like a coronation, an' a scepter, an'
a throne.
An' a bunch of abject subjects we could boss
around and own.
This here German Prince's visit makes us
yearn to put on style.
An' to be a reg'lar monarch like the Kaiser
fur a while.
This here humdrum way o llvln's got to be
almighty flat.
"What we want's to put a crown on, an' to be
an autocrat.
Answern to Correspondents.
K-ng Edw-rd Ceneral Funston Is at
present employed by the United States,
and we doubt If he could be Induced to
enter your employ.
Gladys Yes; there was an election yes
terday. B. R. T-llm-n There are plenty of open
ings for good lawyers In Oregon, but the
politicians generally are a pretty husky
lot.
Seaside Hotelkeeper Yes; $100 per day
would probably be considered excessive.
J. P. 11-rg-n We have Investigated the
matter, and learn that the Pacific Ocean
Is not at present for sale.
Miss Al-ce R-sev-lt Up to the present
only 16 have been named for you In this
state, but things like that are happening
every day In Oregon.
Pr-nce H-nry Yes, we shall bo glad to
see you. Come by way of the Nicaragua
Canal.
Lucky Foets.
Now poets bid a long farewell
To blizzard, grip and plumber.
And with rekindled ardor tell
Of thing3 of Spring and Summer.
Tho coal man's bill Is laid aside.
The ground hog's abdicated.
The breezes have already sighed,
The birds already mated.
No longer dim and sickly burns
The $90 heater.
The Iceman Into verse returns.
As also does the skeeter.
And now the bards who blithely told
How fiercely It was snowing.
Speak out in meter strong and bold
To say the lawn needs mowing.
Ah. happy wielders of the pen,
To have both rhyme and reason.
To uie the same old Jokes again
With each returning season.
For thus without a thought of care,
Or worry, or endeavor.
They take their scrapbooks out and then
New songs go on forever.
J. J. MONTAGUS
Rest.
Best is not quitting
The busy career;
Best Is the fitting
Of self to one's sphere.
'TIs the brook's motion.
Clear, without strife,
Fleeing to ocean.
After this life.
'TIs loving and serving
The highest and best;
'TIs onward, unswerving.
And this Is true rest.
Goethe.
The March "Wind.
Mad the wind of March Is blowing,
'Cross the fields and down the lane.
As tho It were bent on showing
Us that Winter's come again.
Still another fancy takes me.
That the wind of March doth play
Tho It seizes me and shakes me
Ju3t a prelude to the May.
Anonymous.