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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1902)
' r-jlt- -p- r - y "-wafv r -J'TWfB'VS- ja-M SST Wfti'' s-gy ; JT - THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 23, 19(55. prr &v"(fmr vmW wjw'tp r Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as eecond-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES Br Mall tDostace Drepald. in Advance- Daily, with Sunday. per month 3 Xauy, eunaay excepted, per year.... Dally, with Sunday, per jeer Snnday, per year The "Weekly, per year The Weekly, 3 months 7 50 0 00 2 00 1 SO DO to city subscribers . Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays excepted-loe Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays lnduded.20o POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-page paper Jc 14 to SS-p&ge paper ........ Foreign rates double. Kewa or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It -without solici tation. No stamps should be inclosed for this Duroose. Eastern Business Office. 43. 44. 45. 47. 43. 49! Tribune building. New Tork City; 4G0 me Rookery," Chicago; the S. a Beckwlth special agency. Eastern representative. For sale In San Francisco by L.. E. I-ee. Pal aoe Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Butter street; F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market street; J. K. Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear, Ferry news stand. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. - 250 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 305 Bo. Spring street. For sale in Sacramento by Sacramento News Co., 420 K street. Sacramento. Cal. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. - 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald, 63 Washington street. For sale in Omaha by Earkalow Bros., 1012 .Farnam street. For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News "Co., 77 W. Second South street. For sale in New Orleans by A. C. Phelps, $309 Commercial Alley. For eale in Ogden by W. C. Kind, 204 Twen-fcy-flftb street, and C. H. Myers. On file at Charleston. S. C. In the Oregon ex ibibit at the exposition. For sale In Washington. D. C, by the Ebbctt T House news stand. For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & 4 Kendrick, 000-912 Seventeenth street; Loutbah 1 & Jackson Book & Stationery Co., 15th and ILawrenc streets; A. Series. 1C53 Champa .gtreet. - TODATS "WEATHER Occasional rain, with brisk to high southerly winds. TESTERDAT'S "WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 43; minimum temperature, 39; pre cipitation, 0.11 inch. . PORTLAND, SUNDAY, MARCH 23. THE PRICE OP DEaiOCRAOr. The real complaint of General Miles and his partisans, assuming it to be wholly sincere and disinterested, is not against his superiors, but against our system; and his natural and logical dis content must be borne, for it is an In evitable part of the price of democ racy. Government in the United States suf fers, throughout all its forms, from school district to Nation, from the en thronement of the amateur. Office, -with all its responsibility, authority And power, is continually passing from the trained to the untrained, from experi . ence to ignorance, from the skilled and ' competent to the unskilled and incom petent Novices are in control of every thing, from White House to Road Su pervisor. It Is unfortunate In many ways costly, humiliating, and product ive of frequent scandals when trusted men develop weakness or venality through new and severe trial; but there Is no help for it The democracy Itself must rule. The offices must revert to the people. The Army is at the mercy of unpro feesionals. The President is at best a volunteer soldier, generally he Is not a soldier at all; the present Secretary of "War is a lawyer. Now, it seems to the Lieutenant-General of the Army, and to the Army as a -whole, little short of monstrous that the actual direction of our military affairs, in war as well as in peace, devolves upon civilians, -without "whatever wisdom and capacity ac crue from lifelong study and experi ence In the profession of arms. So in the Navy Department the entire force of trained Admirals, Commodores and all down the line and staff are to be put under the control of a Mr. Moody, who, ip to seyen years ago. had been simply ja practicing lawyer of Haverhill, Mass. Tet there is no other way. The re sponsibility is vested, under our system, jwith the President, and the authority must be his, to exercise it through sub ordinates of his own choosing. There fore, Army and Navy must be unques tionably at his disposal, under the Con stitution and the acte of Congress. It is as impossible for Miles to be running the Army on the prans which he out lined to the Senate committee, as It would be for Dewey to be cutting the cables behind him on a cruise about the Pacific In war time. The verdict of a popular election must be reflected In the executive work of the Government end the permanent establishment of the dArmy is powerless to compass that re flection. It can only be reached by elective officers, who, as the embodi ment of National power, must return to the people at stated intervals for ap proval or rejection. The local campaign now on in Oregon reminds us how closely this principle applies to the lower walks of politics. (We shall soon have men without ex perience running for offices in which lack, of experience is a heavy handicap. "We shall have men In the Legislature who never sat in the Legislature, never made a speech or drew up a bilL We shall have a State Printer who never was State Printer in his life, and a Sheriff who was never Sheriff, and Councilmen who never saw an ordi nance. By the time a manhas been in an office long enough to master its de tails, everybody is down on hjm as a perpetual office-holder, and out he goes to make room for a novice. Perhaps the most painful consequence of all Is the disturbing influence the chance for office exerts upon men who might be contented and useful behind a counter or holding plow-handles, but become wrecked in the maelstrom of political strife. Nothing In this world Is perfect Every rose has its thorn, and the things we have just been considering are in reality but the briars that surround the fair flower of representative gov ernment The rose of democracy has Its thorns, but it is worth all its perils and annoyances. We could gelt a perma nent official class and the ripest experi ence In every office by taking a mon archical form of government with its privileged classea We could have def erence to officials by establishing lese majeste. We could have a more per fect Army by adopting Germany's won derful military organization, with all Its paternalism and Its iron rule. But we do not, and we shall not And we are far better so. Public life ruins some .weak men, but enables others to orna 'ment and elevate the society where they axe placed. These young men en our Legislative ticket are preferable every sr&K tray beards whose experience has become a standing joke. Charlie McDonell had rio experience, but. he made a good Assessor. Funston never saw West Point, but he captured Agulnaldo. Experience is a good thing, but there are things more important Honest Industry is flt for almost any office to which it may aspire, and mis takes are easily corrected. No political machine can save the discredited SenaJ tor. There is no tribunal of expert ex aminers above the popular vote. Whom" the people want they must have; and In the long run they will do well. Every device for reaching more directly and accurately the popular will advances the cause of good government That Is why the Australian ballot and the pri mary law are measures of true reform. The proof Is always in their fruits. THE OXIiY WAY. The throes of a Senatorial campaign again Temind us how urgent is the ne cessity for the change in the method of electing Senators. There Is no more reason why a United States Senator should not be compelled to go before the people for approval than there is why a State Senator should not or a Governor, or the President of the United States. Conservative as well as popu lar opinion, as voiced in such journals as the New Tork Financial Chronicle, New York Evening Post, Chicago Trib une, etc., join in the demand. Its oppo nents are reduced to a single ground, recently outlined by Senator Hoar, which we wish briefly to notice, and from it to Infer a conclusion as to the necessary mode of procedure to reach the reform. The objection to which all opposition to the change eeems to have been re duced is that thus we should run coun ter to the Constitution's theory that choice of Senators must be removed from the stress and peril of popular crazes. The theory found expression, not only In the Indirect election of Sen ators, but in the indirect election of Presidents. But, as we all know, -the selection of Presidents has long been removed from the indirect method pre scribed in the Constitution, and still formally -observed in the Electoral Col lege. If the Presldect and the whole policy and patronage of the National Government may be safely left to the verdict of universal suffrage, Is It not folly to fear danger In Invoking that verdict for the less Important office of Senator? Why, then. Is It not possible to sub stitute at once the system of conven tion and popular election used in con nection with the Presidential office for the Legislative method of choosing Sen ators? The answer is that what holdB the members of the electoral college to their trust is the fact that the whole perpetuity of their National party or ganization depends upon it If the Pres idential electors were to exercise their free choice as contemplated in the Con stitution and disregard the nominees of their party, 'the National party organi zation would fall to the ground. No such penalty attaches to Independent action by members of a State Legisla ture. Consequently no programme of united action has been able to hold them. The Presidential election, more over, Is a National event consummated at one time, while Senatorial elections are isolated in time and place. The party as a whole is unaffected by the divagations of members of State Leg islatures on Senatorial choices. We may see from this the reasons why state nominations and popular votes of preference for United States Senator, as attempted upon occasion in Illinois, Ne braska and probably other states, have failed to make any lasting Impression on the practices of polities'. Perhaps more potent than any of these reasons Is the simple fact that members of the Legislature are responsible to their own Representative or Senatorial districts for their votes, and not at all to the state at large or their party conven tions. So long as the law puts the re sponsibility upon the individual State Senator or Representative, he is bound to exercise his own discretion. Neither a bad man wishing to escape from a good nomination nor a good man dis satisfied with a bad nomination will be bound by the action of his state con vention. Tet nothing is clearer than that the Senate itself can never or not for a long time be brought to approve the House bill for the Constitutional amendment necessary to bring the change about. So many Senators believe In the legis lative machinery as the source of their own power and the means of its perpet uatlon that they regard, the move for popular election as Inimical to their own political existence. Whoever would move them must reckon with nothing less potent than the instinct of self preservation. The bill Is as hopeless as the reform is necessary. The only alternative left is amend ment of the Constitution through the State Legislatures. This can be ef fected without other than perfunctory action of Congress, which article V of the Constitution makes mandatory. Two-thirds of the states through their Legislatures can call for a National Lconventlon to propose amendments; It Is the duty of Congress to execute the call, and three-fourths of the states can ratify the proposed amendments through Legislature on convention. A concerted action of some sort ought to be undertaken to secure this conven tion call from two-thirds of the states. Violently as some Senators are opposed to the change, there are hardly enough of them to resist successfully this de mand in sixteen of the forty-five states. It would be a deserving act of public spirit for some-one" to start an organized movement, with representatives' in the various states, looking to concerted ac tion on the subject in the Legislatures of 1903. AS TO POPDLATIOX. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says: "The total registered vote of Portland, at the time the books closed for the recent primaries, was 16,634, almost pre cisely identical with the registration for the recent city election In Seattle." The books at Portland were not "closed for the recent primaries." They will not be closed till May 15; and meantime many thousands of additional, voters will be registered. "Very little of the Democratic vote of Portland was registered before the re cent primaries, for there was no con test in that party, and only about 800 Democratic votes were cast But the Seattle paper adds: "The fact that Portland has registered as many voters as has Seattle does not indicate that Portland has as large a population as Seattle has at the pres ent time.' Just wait till Portland's registration shall have been completed, In May next But in fact, If Portland's registration of voters were no greater than that of Seattle, It would still be true that Portland's population was greater; for it is families that make population, not a herd of men without families such herd as fills the streets of Seattle, begging, dead broke, going to or returning from Alaska, living no where, but picked up by- political bosses and registered for elections. Resident population is made up of families and school children, not "vagroro, men." AX ABSURD LIMITATION. Mr. Carnegie recently said that he would bar from libraries fiction less than three years old. This seems to us an absurd .limitation. There is a stand ard of decent nerit In fiction which does not need a mere popularity or es teem of three years for a novel to reach. The real worth of a book devoted to historical or scientific Investigation could not be so quickly determined as the merit of a work of fiction. Whether a work or fiction has humor, eloquence, imagination, dramatic quality, power of character-drawing and moral decency is promptly settled with Its first appear ance. To illustrate, .take "Audrey," Mary Johnston's latest work. It is easy to crit icise it for quite frequent lapses from strict grammatical accuracy, just as It is easy to find fault with Byron's po etry t which Js full of grammatical transgressions. But while Byron was guilty of bad grammar, he was so elo quent and powerful a writer that no man of Intellect and Imagination thinks long about Byron's grammatical loose ness of style. He confesses that By ron Is not a j5oet's poet, but he feels that he was a man of powerful mind and noble Imagination. So with Mary Johnston's "Audrey." The "split in finitives" are forgotten in the delight we feel in reading what is a most beau tiful story. Its tragically sad. ending deeply moves you; you feel there is genius in it; that the imaginative qual ity Is of a fine, rare art It shows greater Imagination than even Marie Corelll's "Thelma," All the fine novels of rriodern life made a speedy Impression at once as to their Intellectual and moral quality, even If they did not at once prove to be popular, quick-selling books. We do not remember a standard work of fic tion that did not at once obtain and retain an excellent reputation, which time only served to confirm." Fielding, Jane Austen, Scott, Bulwer, Dickens, Tnackeray, George Eliot, Charles Reade, George Meredith, Charlotte Bronte, Anthony Trollope, Charles Lever, J. M. Barrie, Conan Doyle, Anthony Hope, Fenlmore Cooper and Hawthorne all se cured their public at once and held It To wait until a novel is three years old before you admit it to a public library may test its popularity, but it does not settle Its merit upon any sounder basis than it occupied three months after publication. "The Crisis" is a popular novel; It is entirely decent In its tone, but it is no more fit to be compared with "Audrey" in its beauty or Its art than Is "Thad deus of Warsaw" with "The Mill on the Floss." "The Crisis" makes the grand historical figure of Abraham Lincoln the tail to the kite of a very cheap love story, but there Is no such "blacksmith" work in "Audrey," and this conclusion would be reached at once by any Intelli gent reader. Rut under Mr. Carnegie's absurd limitation the public library would be without either "Audrey" or "The Crisis" for three years after pub lication. TUB-THUMPERS ON THE PLATFORM. Fifty years ago the lecture platform was among the popular forms of public entertainment, and sometimes, when the boards were trod by a really able, solid man. of public Instruction, every coun try town at the East or Middle West of 5000 Inhabitants had a lecture asso ciation. Railways did not then so com pletely cobweb the country; great met ropolitan newspapers were not so wide ly circulated In the rural districts; magazines were not nearly so numer ous nor so cheap, so the dull country towns were eager to hear lectures from men reputed to be wise or eloquent Horace Greeley told what he "knew about farming," which did not take him very long, and what he knew about pro tection, with him an exhaustless theme. Emerson, Theodore Parker, Oliver Wen dell Holmes, Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapln, the famous Unlversallst preacher; Thomas Starr King. Henry Ward Beecher, John G. Saxe and Wendell Phillips were some of the best drawing cards of the coun try lecture field. From about 1850 to 1875 the public lec ture was in good demand. Theodore Parker, whq. was not an eloquent man at all, was In great demand East and West because of his extraordinary ca pacity for weighting his thoughts with a vast variety of facts drawn from po litical history and the world's litera ture, both sacred and profane; his anti slavery argument was not sentimental, but industrial and economic Emerson was not an eloquent man, but was an admirable speaker because of his dis tinct, simple, natural method of speech; he had 'a certain Tankee dry wit and humor, and he was in great demand East and West Oliver Wendell Holmes was a very attractive speaker, but was in no sense a man of eloquence; his bright wit and humor gave to his utter ances their charm. Beecher was a pow erful speaker; but not a noble orator in any high sense, like Rev. Dr. Chapln and Wendell Phillips. After the war the lecture field gradually declined, al thoughPhillips and Beecher continued to hold the platform successfully as late as 18S0. Since their passing away the lecture field has not been In large popular favor outside of some man like Robert G. Ingersoll, who was an at tractive speaker to many who cared little for the subject-matter of his dis course. With the exception of men like John Fiske, whose historical lectures always commanded a good audience, the lecture field has been compara tively worthless to home speakers dis coursing on literature, morals and man ners, compared with Its productiveness between 1850 and 1875. Today, however, there seems to be a revival of popular interest In the lec ture platform, if we may judge from the extraordinary success obtained by the Englishman, Professor Edward Howard Griggs, who recently lectured on "Carlyle" at the Tremont Temple, Boston. This Englishman has packed Tremont Temple In a forenoon lecture which was not free, as are the Lowell Institute lectures. The report of the lecture on "Carlyle" published in the Boston Herald tells nothing of the great Scotchman's career and quality that Is" not perfectly familiar to any reading man of fair intelligence. Nevertheless, all Boston Is going to hear Griggs, just as it did Henry Drummond a few years ago. Griggs Is about 32 years of age, is an English college professor, and his popularity is probably due to the fact that he has become a kind of literary fad with the social circle represented by the Twentieth Century Club. It is easy to understand how In a country village or town far from the great centers one can be eager to hear lectures. But It 19 not easy to understand how, unless peo ple have plenty of time to spare, they care to go to lectures In a great city when they have opportunities to see art hear music, witness a good play and read a good book. It Is worth while to hear a fine orator or to see a man who is really remarkable, a great light in his generation or to attend a course oi lectures on art, architecture, history or travel. Illustrated with pic tures, for that gives us something we could not get in books. It was worth while to hear Thackeray, Dickens, Her bert Spencer, Froude, Huxley, Tyndall and Matthew Arnold when they lec tured In America, because they were among the famous men of the nine teenth century: but unless a man Is a fine orator, or a memorable . man In some way, it Is not worth while to put out time, strength or money to hear him lecture on religion, philosophy or liter ature. Unless the lecturer Is something wonderful, it Is hard to understand how vigorous, young or middle-aged people should want to do It If they are per sons of fair education. Of course, for hard-working people of limited opportunity and time for read ing it is a fine thing to have a lecturer give them In a clear and entertaining form things that are new to th"em, but this is not the kind of audience that goes forth at 11 A, M. to hear Griggs lecture. If he were a man worth seeing, like John Bright or Gladstone, or our own Phillips Brooks, his drawing power would need no explanation. It was a pleasure to see Phillips -Brooks because of the expression of his face, and despite the fact that his utterance was too rapid and too monotonous. It was a pleasure to see and hear Emer son, Theodore Parker and Wendell Phil lips, and It was worth while even to have heard Robert G. Ingersoll, for, while he was not a great man, he had a certain gift of public speech in a re markable degree. But why Griggs? There does not seem to be any sound reason why an educated American should go at 11 A. M. to hear Griggs talk about Carlyle, or Tennyson, or some other of England's stars that set In the nineteenth century. The only explanation of the Griggs fad in Boston would seem to be that his lectures are probably like those which Andrew Lang describes when he says "they are vast popular preachments, rich in the taw dry rhetoric of the tub-thumper. We know why popular preachers are popu lar. These novelist pulpiteers have their gospelling to do. and do it with foolish noise. They have a vogue, as Tupper and Montgomery had a vogue, and great are the uses of advertisement, whether applied to soap or pills or works of Action. There is no mystery about the causes of such successful ap peals to the emotional mental middle classes,'" "INSIDE CIRCLE" ADMINISTRATION. Current events in connection with events past are suggesting to many minds the desirability of such general overhauling of both the Army and Navy Departments as will stop the talk about rings and cliques. That there is an "inside -circle" in both these depart ments is to state gently the popular be lief. Everybody familiar with the situ ation knows that the nominal heads of the Army and Navy are mere figure heads, and that the real powers of the two departments are and long have been in the hands of men who have lit tle or no nominal responsibility. Events of the past few days plainly demon strate a bad situation in the War Of fice; and the conditions in the Navy Office are, If anything, worse. The Intrigue against Schley is only one of many incidents which go to Illus trate the general arbitrariness of the naval administration. For example. Congress, acting in line with the wish of the people, gave to Admiral Dewey the headship of the Navy. He is the highest officer on the list, and he is nominally in active service. It is be lieved by the public generally that Ad miral Dewey's position in the Naval Department is one of real Importance; that he has something to do and some thing to say about the administration of the Navy. This Is the theoryi but it Is very far from the fact Upon his return from the Orient, Admiral Dewey was something of an embarrassment to the little ring which runs the Navy. At first there seemed no way to get out of It, and there was some disposition to accept the Inevitable and make a place for him In some sort corresponding with his rank and reputation. But when It was found that he was not a man who asserts himself and fights for his rights an easy way was found to dispose of him and to reduce him to a position of no actual authority. Today Admiral Dewey has not even a personal office In the Navy building, for It was not desired to have him too close at hand. His office is across a wide street from the department build ing, above a cheap-John shirt store clean out of range of everything in the way of department administration. Admiral Dewey has absolutely no say about the disposition of the Naval forces, no part in the administration of the service of which he is presuma bly the head. He Is, In truth, the dis regarded fifthx wheel of the Navy De partment, with less real authority than many a. Junior Lieutenant Intrigue, red tape and the malice of the Inside clique have practically retired him from the post to which a grateful coun try acting through Congress assigned him. ELECTRICAL PROGRESS. The old observation that scientific dis covery proceeds along parallel lines and that Its results come In groups finds Interesting, Illustration In connection with the development of wireless teleg raphy. Marconi, it appears, is by no means the only experimenter along wireless lines. The Scientific American announces that Ducretet, the well known French electrician, has recently made some remarkable experiments In telephonic transmission by using the earth as a conductor Instead of the so called Hertz waves of ether employed In the aerial system of Marconi. The transmitter, as it is described in detail by the American, consists of a micro phone and a few battery cells ''con nected directly to two earth plates of considerable surface and burled six feet below the ground." For the receiver the Inventor uses a well sixty feet deep. "An insular conductor descends Into the vertical well andxbtings a metal sphere three Inches in diameter in contact wrlth the sqil at the bottom. This wire, 'on coming out of the ground. Is fixed to one end of an ordinary telephone receiver." It is claimed that by use of these de vices all the vibrations of the voice are carried from the transmitter to the re ceiver with surprising distinctness. The spirit of Incredulity rises la con nection with these 'reports dealing with matters so far beyond ordinary compre hension, but in view of the wonders of the past few years it Is the part of dis cretion to reserve one's doubts. Noth ing that Is suggested by the experi ments either of Marccnl or of Ducretet Is les3 believable than the familiar marvels of the long-distance telephone. It Is true beyond question that signals can be carried Immense distances both by employing the earth and the air as media, and, the principle being thus established, there Is every reason to hope for such development of means and methods as will make It practically serviceable. A high authority has re cently declared that In his belief the time will soon. come when any man may with such a "plant" as he may easily carry In his vest pocket call up the ends of the earth and talk as freely as we now do over the telephone. This, of course. Is a thing beyond comprehen sion, but intrinsically it is scarcely more marvelous than that a signal should be transmitted through the air across the Atlantic Ocean. An Interesting .minor fact In connec tion with these recent discoveries Is that they are the work of very young men, and most commonly men without formal education. A certain Ideality, which belongs only to youth; a certain boldness of conception, which come3 only to those without the limitations of formal schooling, appear to be the essentials of successful effort in the higher departments of electrical work. All the great discoveries have been made by persons scarcely out of boy hood. Edison seems to be the exception to this rule, but in truth he is scarcely an exception, for his work for many years has been more in the line of ap plying to commercial operations princi ples already demonstrated than the dis covery of new principles. Who can re call anything wholly new discovered by Edison during the past ten years? Mr. Edison has become, in fact, a man of business, and in doing this he has prac tically ceased to be a discoverer of elec trical secrets. Tesla, whose brilliant discoveries a few years back in connec tion with the alternating current revo lutionized long-distance transmission of power, is still a very young man, but already a "back number" in his profes sion. His work now, in so far as it is maintained, is In connection with com mercial applications of electricity. He has abandoned the field of discovery to younger men. It Is not likely that the President will undertake seriously to retire General Miles from the Army in punishment for his unrestrained speech before a Con gressional committee. General Corbln may urge it, but surely the President is not so lacking In justice or diplomacy as to urge a proceeding so unusual and cruel. It is certain that the public would not approve It, and It Is doubt ful If It could be done. General Miles Is not greatly loved by the people of the United States, but he Is respected as a soldier, and there has been a good deal of sympathy for him In connection with the ungenerous treatment he has found &t the hands of the War Depart ment during the past five years. Gen eral Corbln, who is presumed to be at the bottom of all the trouble, Is not himself a likable man. He Is a con ceited, arbitrary, self-seeking politician, and has made headway in the military service not because of high personal merit, but through a cheap capacity for Intrigue. He has not, like Miles, a bril liant record as a soldier to back up his pretensions, and is distinctly an un pleasant figure In connection with War Office gossip. The public will regard any effort to deal harshly with Miles as 'Inspired by Corbln. and will resent it in a way that may make surprise at Washington even in the White House. The President ought, unquestionably, to have at the head of the Army a man In reasonable sympathy wfth himself, but there are ways of accomplishing this without dealing harshly with a sol dier whose service has at least made him deserving of considerate treatment. The acquittal of Stewart Fife, who was arrested In North Taklma some weeks ago and returned to Savan nah, Mo., for complicity In the RlchardBon murder that took place there Christmas eve, ends a most sensational prosecution, supplemental to a mysterious crime. The case Is one of those In which domestic Infelicity and possible infidelity contribute to make murder of more significance than at taches to the simple fact that a human life has fallen a. prey to violence. The trial of the wife In this case preceded that of the young man, and both were acquitted without hesitation. The only fact that remains after tills legal sifting of evidence is that Frank W. Richard son, going unexpectedly to his home on Christmas eve, was shot and killed upon entering his bedchamber by a per son unknown. The man, being of dissi pated habits, made the conditions that surrounded him, whatever they were, and It can only be said of him, pitying ly, In passing, that he "died as the fool dieth," whether by his own hand or that of another. The appointment of a committee of Congress to inquire into the disfran chisement of negroes in the South is useless and silly. It can produce no other result than p'artlsan strife. The South will not be ruled by the negro, and where the negroes are very nu merous their votes wllltbe nullified. On this subject there has been a mighty lot of experience during the past thirty five years, and It Is useless to challenge repetition o' It Mr. Carnegie is spending his millions chiefly to afford a lot of trifling minds a chance to revel In fiction. Few per sons use public libraries for works of real value, and those few could easily borrow them of professional men who would be glad to lend them. Returns from primaries all over the state this morning Indicate that some body will be nominated for Governor and somebody else for Representative In the Second District Anything more specific readers will have to figure out for themselves. Judging from the press reports, poll tics In "Venezuela is thoroughly Bryanlc. There is no consent among the. gov erned and everybody is agin' the gov ernment Four men have declined the post of Assistant Postmaster-General. The Presidential ax will have to take a rest soon for want of substituting material. Mr. Dillon's manners are almost Senatorial. A VANITY OP VANITIES. "A long -while ago the world began," sings somebody In Shakespeare. Likewise, a long while ago reform began. Reform in English spelling has been gois on from very early times. They who rail against modern spelling, therefore, see they are in a business that is hoary with the frosts of ages. "What a dust do I raise," said the fabled fly. on the axle of the chariot. "What a dust do we raise." say the s'pell ing reformers. This genus homo Is a strenuous, vociferous lot. Its members stamp up and down, raising a dust around themselves, which they imagine covers all the plain. They are really very cock-a-hoop. They bawl at our system of spell ing as a device of the devil, made to tor ture us from the cradle to the grave. The grammar reformers are their close kin. Both have set about to free the language from its "burthens." Silent let ters and the subjunctive mood are, by mutual effort, castigated as fiendish and satanic. And all this, although a stran ger from another world would hardly be lieve that the English language for hun dreds of years has been a failure. Seml-occasionally the spelling reformers pars resolutions. This is what the cook ladies of Chicago did some time ago. But. although the two purposes are analogous, they have no further parallel. The cook ladles want a reform In wages and work ing hours. They may succeed. But no person or body of persons has ever suc cessfully laid down arbitrary laws to reg ulate language, or any part qt it, either spelling or pronunciation, not even if the lawmakers were the wisest that ever drew vital air. In the past quarter of a century "spe cialists" have been strenuous in their de mand for reform. But of late years rad ical proposals have fallen Into disrepute. It Is recognized that a system, advocated as pre-eminently simple may not be so simple as advocated. The old way has not been excelled by any plan yet con sciously designed. A few; words have 'been simplified to advantage. Among the ones commonly reformed are: "Tho," "hypo crit." "fonetic," "thoro," "thru," "thru out," "program." "esthetic" and "cata log." But the agitation for reform has gone so far short of its object that," In comparison with its aim. It has made hardly any progress at all. The present agitation for reform gets its animus from the scientific spirit of the time. Science predicates certain positive or probable facts. It is granted to be es tablished on defined or established principles. Now, this la just what spoken or written speech is not. Thero Is no science of pronunciation, and con sequently none of spelling. There is, of course, a general science of language, but it Is not a basis for spelling reform. The reason Is that pronunciation is the most whimsical of human phenomena. It has no law save that of its own caprice. Everybody knows the variety of pronun ciations given to the common words of life. Indeed, the accent of words and sounds of vowels follow the Individuality of a community or family. Persons differ on such frequent words as "won't," "peo ple." "spoken," "evil." nor has the accent of many words a common authority. The rhymes of the poets show the caprice of words a3 to their sounds. Falstaff makes it appear that "gravity" and "gravy" once had the same vowel sound. Dr. Johnson made the vowel sound of "great" like that of "meet." Chesterfield gave it the sound of "state." The "gh" In "daughter" and "laughter" once had the same gutteral sound. Among the greatest English authors "either" was "ayther" or "eelther." And today we do not agree upon the first word of our being. "God." These random examples are used only uto indicate the impossibility of setting up an established sound for words, ana, therefore, of "fonetic" spelling. Yet bevies of "specialists" have attempted to fly over usage on the wings or science. They have laid down certain "laws" ot pronunciation. They have, for example, fixed the accent of "exquisite," but many people are exquisitely oblivious of It. The so-called sovereignty of science in language belongs to usage, in writing and In speaking. And. whether usage is con sistent or inconsistent legitimate or Il legitimate, it is the might that makes right. Nor is there a real connection between written words and their signs. The signs are arbitrary, not scientific, just as were the Ideograms of the ancients, who used a picture of a crow or a horse to repre sent an idea. Therefore, the good people who set up a principle of pronunciation or spelling prey upon their own credullty. They do so for the very good reason that there Is no such principle. They are under the fallacy that language is a combination of signs. On the contrary, language is a combination of sounds. Signs are meant to suggest the sounds, not to express them. To be sure, speech is ""modified by signs, but. in relation to the purpose of spelling reformers, language is Independ ent of signs. Nothing is more absurd than the pro posal to conform speech to writing. Yet this is what some "reformers" offer to do. Writing might be conformed to speech, but it would serve only today and part of tomorrow. Writing ceases to be an exact sign of sounds the moment after a word Is reduced to letters. MEMBERS of Oregon Assembly. No. L TJnlt Sciencc, therefore, does not seem td make good reformers, after all. The logic of analogy evidently servos a poor pur pose. "In the vulgar eye.pf logic." says P.uskin. "what Is man? An omnivorous bi ped that wears breeches." Wearing of breeches has made spelling reformers. They fret themselves how certain letters shall be pronounced. Instead of how cer tain signs shall be expressed. The greatest argument of reformers Is the travail that English spelling imposes upon the youth. Learning to spell is not easy, but It Is as easy as, and easier than, many other branches of knowledge. The study belongs to childhood, and requires memory and small exercise of reason. There Is no reason why spelling should be learned with little effort. Many people go to their graves unable to speak gram matically. People probably make more errors Jn grammar and the logic of ex pression than they do In spelling. Some persons never learn to speak readily or to pronounce certain sounds. Can we ex pect to get universal proficiency In spell ing when we cannot get it In speech? In arithmetic, each sign has a more constant value than any letter would have In any of the "reformed" alphabets. But Is It not just as hard to learn the multiplica tion table. or-"flguring." as spelling? If spelling is so hard, how are grammar and arithmetic so simple? It may be put down safely that spelling will always have to be learned. And It will always be the first travail of the youth, because It will be the first school lesson to learn. This may be said confi dently, in eplte of that eminent gentle man Dogberry, who said: "To write and read comes by nature." Undoubtedly, spelling will be simplified as time goes on. It is admitted that there Is room for Improvement. But as for elab orately devised systems of spelling, they .are recognized as doomed to failure. There are always three generations liv ing at once, and they so merge into each other that a sudden change Is not possi ble. The "specialists" who vociferate for Improvement have spent their voices In vain, for the humble people, who use language as an organism, have refused to make It an instrument, and Io! our spelling plods on as before. As a sugges tion, spelling reform is good. As a pro posal, it is a vanity of vanities. SLINGS AND ARROWS. The Story of a Kicker. Morton Montmorency -Melton Montelth. On the earth, up above or the waters beneath. Could simply and nothing to eat or to drink. To wear or to ride in. to talk or to think. To buy or to have, or to hold or to do. To know or admire, possess or pursue. Which seemed to his mind to be quite up to snuff. The whole world for him was not half good enough. He boarded awhile at a high-priced hotel. But found It. ho said, not sufficiently swell. Hl3 neckwear was Joyous, his raiment visa glad. His kicks and his tile were the best to. be had. But he'd gaze at them sadly, and mournfully moan, Because they seemed shockingly lacking In tone. And he'd say: "It strikes me that It's all-flrcd tough, That one can't purchase clothes that are halt good enough." He married a wife who was charming and fair. But complained at her eyes, and her voice, and her hair; Found fault with her clothes and growled at her tv ays. And groaned at her hats when they flashed on his gaze. His children, were handsome, and Jolly and bright. But somehow they never Impressed htm just right. Their manners were bad and their conduct was rough. In fact, they to him -were not half good enough. He worried considerably through his career. Reflections on paradise filled him with fear. He said: "They will hand mc a halo that's old. And I don't think the streets will be 14-k. gold." But this sort of fretting was all thrown away. He Journejed from earth by a different way. But he calmly continued his long-practiced bluff. And complained that the sulphur was not hot enough. A Campaign Speech. Ladles and Gentlemen: I stand before you tonight to speak for our glorious rarty. Never in the history of our proud country has there been a time when tho eternal principles which we so well rep resent have been so widely diffused, so broadly scattered, so enthusiastically re ceived throughout this grand country. From the rock-ribbed coast of Maine, where the hardy fisherman embarks In his frail smack and breasts the elements, to the sunny shores of San Diego, where the iridescent flying fish leap from the waves of the blue Pacific; from the coral keys of Florida, where the gently undu lating billows of the balmy Gulf stream, lap the free and Independent shores ot emancipated Cuba, to the fir-clad hills that rise like silent sentinels above placid Pu get Sound, the name of the party la known, honored, respected, hailed with the cheers of the enthusiastic multitude and blessed in the fervent prayers of thanksgiving that rise like the smoke from happy hearthstones from a pros- porous, a happy and a reunited people. Today the glorious bird of freedom, soar ing far Into the amethyst clouds, through the low-hung mlst3 that wrap the tall mountain peaks, under the radiant beams of the pale moon, beyond the sight of mortal man, today that glorious bird, looking down from those dizzy heights heights unreached and unknown save by the stars themselves today that mig"hty symbol of a great and grand Nation, that 1 strong-winged, piercing-eyed bird, whoso wings sweep the air like tho rushing of the cataracts, whose scream resound3 through those vast and unbroken silences, aloft almost in the ether of heaven, where for years and years no sound has been heard save the song of the spheres, where the clouds them selves seem to sink to the low-lying earth, where the planets seem but distant as the day Is distant to the night, where every star twinkles down its reverence and respect for the liberty that has been conferred by the blood of our grandfathers and the toll of our fathers on a great, a glorious and a powerful people today that bird, up there With the kind permission of our readers, this eloquent address will not be continued. We thought we were going to be able to get that bird down again, but the fact Is that he flew rather higher than we had anticipated, and when wc began to feel around for the string wo had on him, we found he had got aw ay. Some of the Slgnau Now an then a sunbeam Drops from out the sky. Llghtln' up the hillside Where the road goes by; Sniffs o" Spring are blowln Up the cans on trail; Hero an there you see a Fljln' cotton tall. All of which '11 tell you 'Thout the need o' rhyme, That It's gettln' mighty Close to flshln time.' Jnst n. Suggestion. Several sizes of our little folks having apparently been overlooked in the prize essay competition of the Oregon Humane Society, we submit the following list of subjects, prizes to be awarded by the so ciety: For children from 3 to 5 years old "The Correct Mental Attitude for an Icthyosaurus." "Darwin's View of Corporal Punishment as Applied of Bull Terriers." "The Effect of Vivisection on the Off Hind Foot of a Pterydactyl." For children from 1 to 2 years "How a Pet Crocodile Should Be Fed During Lent." , "The Jnadvlsablllty of Correcting thal ct..i.v..nr.oci: nt n "VTuTo tVlfh Anntloil Tlv. 'I namlte." For children from 6 months to a year "The Expediency of Using Street-Car Horses In Place of Locomotives." "The Inhumanity of Flaying Muskrats Alive." "The Code of Ethics of the Clam, and Its Advantages Over That of the Lob ster." As Horace Greeley, according to com mon report, was writing editorials for the NCw York Tribune at the age of 11 months, we feel that we have not gone beyond the limit of intelligence of the children for whose consideration these suggestions are offered. Dirge. Past tho green hills the calm river Is flowing. Placidly flowing to meet the sad sea. Zephyrs of springtime are cheerily blowing Tossing the flowers that bloom on the lea. Out. In the meadows the blackbirds are calling. Up In the treetops the glJ robins swing. All through the orchard the pink blossoms fall ing. Cover the ground with the carpet of Spring. Children are shouting and cattle are lowing. Sunbeams are dancing the morning away. People are coming, and people are going. Smiling and laughing, light-hearted and gay. And yet In our hearts no chord is responding. No strains to the chorus of Nature attune, We sip bitter beer, distracted, desponding. For Jack, our old pal, will be married In June. v Time was when his Judgment was clear and undarkened By counsels ot Cupid, that mocker of men. Time was when he sat at the table and heark ened To the wisdom embraced in our limited ken. But Joys such as ours can be never enduring. And Fate, In sheer envy, destroyed them full soon. He yielded to blandishments, soft and alluring. And Jack; poor old Jack, will be married In June. -J. J. MONTAGUE.