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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1902)
THE SUNDAY OBEGONIAN, POKTLATtfD, APRIL 27, 1902. Jte r0oxtton, Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as eecond-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid. In Advance Dally, -with Sunday, per month 5 Sally. Bunday excepted, per year 7 00 Dally. -with Sunday, per year J 00 Sunday, per year - Jr" The "Weekly, per year f The Weekly, 3 months w To City Subscribers Dully, per week, delivered, Sundays excepted-lCc Dally, per -week, dellered. Sundays lncluded.20c POSTAGE RATES. United States, Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-page paper 1 14 to 28-page paper 2 Foreign rates double. Xewa or discussion Intended for publication la The Oregenlan 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 6lmply "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 purpose. Eastern Business Office, 43, 44. 45, 47, 4, vj JTWbune building, New York City; 409 "The Rookery." Chicago; the S. C. Beckwlth special fcge&cy. Eastern representative. Toe eale In San Francisco by I. E. Lee, Pal 'aoe Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros.. 238 Batter street; P. W. Pitts. 100S Market street; 3, K. Cooper Co . 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. , 220 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 303 Go. Spring street. For sale In Sacramento by Sacramento News Do., 429 E street, Sacramento, Cal. ( For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co., Sl7 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald, 3 Washington street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1012 Sarnara street 1 For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Ox, 77 W. Second South street. For eale In New Orleans by A. C. Phelps, JS09 Commercial Alley. For sale In Ogdcn by C H. Myers. On file at Charleston, S. C, In the Oregon ex blblt at the exposition. ' For eale In Washington, D. C, by the Ebbett Souse sews stand. For aals in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 906-912 Seventeenth street; Louthan Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. 15th and SLAwrenoe streets; A. Scries, 1053 Champa street. TODATS WEATHER Showers; fresh south erly winds. YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem perature. 49; minimum temperature, 40; pre cipitation, 0.10 Inch. PORTLAND, SUNDAY, APRIL Z'. .ADDITIONS AXD EXPLANATIONS. The burden of Mr. Chamberlain's speech at Baker 'was his alleged rec ord as a saver of the taxpayer's money. He came out strong on this point. He eald that as Attorney-General of the etate he had conducted the affairs of that office upon the salary fixed by law. This he may well have done, since the office was and is an unnecessary one. It la an office for which the fram era of the constitution saw no reason to provide. Mr. Chamberlain drew the salary. It is really an unconstitutional office, like so many more. The Consti tution virtually excludes it, by the dec laration that the Prosecuting Attorneys of the several districts shall be the law officers of the state. The Attorney General Is an added taxeatcr. 31r. Chamberlain also said that since he had become District Attorney in Multnomah County he had saved the taxpayers $15,000 a year. Just before he was elected the fees of this office had been abolished and the incumbent was put on a salary. This has, in fact, saved a large amount of money; but Mr. Chamberlain Is not entitled to the credit of it The law cut off that big. 'graft" just before Mr. Chamberlain came In. Otherwise the old emoluments would be his: and it is not to be sup posed he would refuse them. He says further that no additional counsel has been employed since he cameintotheofflce; that he has done the work himself, and that there has been great saving to the taxpayers on this account. There is something in this, but It requires further statement. BInco he became District Attorney there has been much less litigation in which the county was concerned than iformerly. Mr. Chamberlain himself, before he became District Attorney, Saras promoter of much of this litiga tion, in which the county was defend ant. Then the county authorities ap pointed his friends Pipes, Cohen and Bernstein, who now are supporting him for Governor, to defend It, and paid them much money. These facts, if written out in detail, would cast a strong light on this whole matter of expenditure and saving with which Mr. Chamberlain deals. But Mr. Chamberlain, like so many more, prefers a sure thing in public office to the uncertainties of private en deavor. The Oregonlan. of course, is not blaming him, but is merely supply ing the explanations necessary to an understanding of the statements he gnade at Baker, and doubtless will make t many other places. IT IS "SCUTTLE." Mr. Chamberlain's utterances on the 5Eh!llpplne question, as expressed In his Baker City speech Friday night, are to no purpose. The report sent out may have been inadequate and incomplete on this hand, and, if so. The Oregonlan rwould be glad to have him define his position more closely; but on the Issue before the people he says nothing. He says that the annexation of the islands is a fact, and that they are a part of the United States, but he does not say whether they should be retained or given up. And just that Is the whole question at issue. The platform of the Oregon Democ racy says that the true policy is to pre pare the people of the Philippines "for self-government as speedily as pos sible, and, when so prepared, to GRANT THEM THEIR INDEPENDENCE." If Mr. Chamberlain did not at Baker City, or does not elsewhere in his cam paign, support this demand for aban donment of the Philippines, he is evad ing the question at issue. It is per fectly idle to waste words In saying that the Treaty of Paris conveyed the islands to the United States. He might as well defy any one to dispute the his toric Identity of Abraham Lincoln. The question is not, Arq the Philippines ours? but What are we going to do With them? Some of the Democratic papers throughout the state are offering the curious observation that the Democratic party does not favor abandonment of the Islands. It is a gratuitous perver sion of the plain record. "To grant them their independence" are the exact words of the Oregon platform, and the same idea Is behind the National plat form of 1900 and the proposals In Con gress. In both House and Senate the Democratic, substitute for the Philip pine Government bill" provides for the Independence of the islands. This is Jho contention of the Democratic speak- ers, like Teller, Rawlins and Carmack, who are day by day addressing the Sen- J ate. The issue is clearly defined, and It does not become Mr. Chamberlain to go about, either -directly or indirectly, professing,purposes contrary to the de mands of the party platforms on which he stands. The country Is not waiting for the voice of Oregon on the question w hether or not the Philippines are now Ameri can territory. It Is waiting for its voice on the Democratic 'proposal to scuttle. Evade and befuddle, dodge and misrep resent as he may, Mr. Chamberlain cannot affect the fact that every Vote cast for him is a vote for giving up the Philippine Islands, Pacific expansion and Pacific progress; a vote to throw away the results of the war with Spain and leave the field of Oriental trade to be divided between the nations of Eu rope. UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES. "When a state like1 Wisconsin, Michi gan, Nebraska or Kansas finds a man of Dr. Frank Strong's scholarly attain ment, educational talent and adminis trative capacity in Oregon and asks him to take charge of its university, it Is likely to get him. The State Uni versity Is a different thing there from what it is with us. Those lusty young commonwealths of the Northwest look upon their State Univeslty as the real thing. Here in this older state, with educational traditions largely based on the New England habit, it is only one of numerous pebbles on the college beach. There are some conditions here that tend to the making of a great univer sity, and there are some that do not Dr. Strong was attracted hither by the prospect of a career. The spirit with which he entered Into the life of the community, dug Into Its history and collaborated upon its hopes showed that he was in love with the University of Oregon, that he saw say, twenty five years ahead. "We shall have the people here, the wealth, the culture, the ambitious youth; but we shall not in all probability have a great university, be cause we are not willing to give it either the necessary advantages over our de nominational colleges. Theoretically, it is a doubtful ques tion whether It is wise to correlate the educational forces of a state about Its state university as a center. Practical ly It Is not doubtful at all, for the pro cess has demonstrated Its success at Ann Arbor, Madison, Lincoln and Law rence. The question whether we should have a state university at all, or not, is entirely distinct from the other ques tion, whether, having a state university, we should have a good one or an Ineffi cient substitute. A man will sometimes adopt an inferior plan for his dwelling, but upon the discovery he does not nec essarily paint It with ochre and make Its flues defective, less haply it surpass In excellence his neighbor's. It Is probably futile for Dr. Strong or any other man to plan and toll for a university at Eugene on the Nebraska or Kansas plan. we shall have no great university here, but a number of Institutions, mostly denominational, high In ideals, sound In culture, loyally local In purposes and atmosphere. "We are devoted to the small college. It ful fills Its purposes better than the great university, pould do, though the pur poses of the great university It cannot fulfill at all. One university worthy the name would be a good thing for the state. One great normal school would be better than the scattered Institutions, wasting energy In rivalry and troubling legislation. It would be cheaper and better for the state to pay the fare of agricultural students to Corvallls and home again than to build, as proposed, other agricultural colleges. Schools, as well as churches, need mitigation of the horrors of warfare. TEACH THE TRUTH ABOUT ALCO HOL. William B. Ferguson. Superintendent of Schools in Connecticut, has an article in the Educational Review on the sub ject of "Temperance Teaching and Recent Legislation." Mr. Ferguson says that in 18S0, through the pressure brought to bear upon the Legislature by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, a temperance education law was passed, under which temperance was to be taught in connection with physiol ogy and hygiene. Then the woman agi tators succeeded in persuading publish ers to revise their physiologies and in clude chapters on narcotics, in which the teaching was pushed beyond the limitations of truth as established by scientific demonstration. Statements were made that were utterly without scientific support, and a spirit of gross exaggeration pervaded the textjbooks. The agitators next demanded laws re quiring that the text-books should de vote at least one-fifth of their space to narcotics, and that temperance instruc tion should be given tdall the schol ars, from the lowest primary classes up to the High School. These laws were enacted In spite of the objections of state officers of schools, men of science and physicians of eminence. The School Superintendent of Con necticut found out that the pupils gen erally took no Interest In the subject, and, worst of all, very much of the little they learned about It was false, and that as a whole the Instruction did not promise to have any influence In after years In deterring the children from the use of alcoholic liquors and other nar cotics. The theory of these womarr'tem perance agitators seems to have been the puerile one that children can be made total abstainers by text-books which were filled with false and exag gerated teachings of the physiological evils of alcohol. The able- and honest minded teachers finally protested to the. Legislature against a law which denied them "liberty to teach the truth as the teacher understands it, and liberty to teach it in the way in which he can make it most effective." The vigorous opposition of the educators of the state was successful to the extent of securing the passage of an act radically modify ing the temperance education law. Professor W, O. Atwater, of the Wes leyan University, was a conspicuous op ponent of this false and unscientific teaching of the physiological effects of the use of alcohol. The worst effect of this temperance fanaticism, which proceeds on the vi cious theory tha the end justifies the means, is that sooner or later the pupil discovers that he has been taught to take much for scientific truth which is absolutely false, and then his faith is shaken in the whole matter of temper ance teaching from top to bottom. He thinks that If his so-called temperance Instruction is scientifically fals in one particular, it is probably false in all, and the young fellow naturally treats all temperance agitators with cynical contempt and views all temperance re- form movements with distrust as stand ing only for a collection of Jesuitical cranks and temperance demagogues. The plain, unexaggerated truth con cerning the disastrous effects of alco holic Intemperance is grim enough. It does not need to be debased with the alloy of fanatical exaggeration and falsehood. There Is not a school child that cannot comprehend the object-lesson presented In the repulsive spectacle of a drunken man; the children see that he is the object of coarse ridicule and contempt from the gutter-snipes; they see that he is not seldom the subject of public arrest and humiliating public ex posure and punishment; they see that drink soon brings him' to the ditch of poverty, squalor and hunger; they know that it not seldom means for him a violent death or an early 'grave. No child needs to be taught that there is neither worldly honor nor pecuniary benefit In alcoholism. In our judgment the remarkable ad vance In the practice" of temperance in the case of alcoholic stimulants owes nothing whatever to fanatical agitation, for temperance In practice Is quite as far advanced In those states where pro hibition Is without any political force as It Is In the few states where It has been enacted. In 1830, when the tem perance agitation began, the population of th& United States was less than thir teen mllllona In 1827 the great Dr. Channing, in his temperance sermons, did not go to the extreme of total ab stinence, but stopped at the use of spir its merely, and had a good word to say for the moderate use of good wine. But by 1840 complete abstinence began to be preached by Dr. Channing, and In four or five years the "Washingtonian movement had secured three-quarters of a million of signers to Its total absti nence pledge. To exhort men o ob serve total abstinence as the wisest and most prudent rule of life In our climate and environment Is a legitimate appeal of moral suasion and education, but to attempt to enact and enforce total ab stinence by prohibiting the sale of alco holic beverages Is not a cause or a principle at all; It Is only a means to an end that In practice has proved In effective and injurious in Its Influence upon the body politic, because It means "free rum" and the very lowest possible quality of alcoholic drink. A CHARGE AND THE RECORD. In the course of a sermon or lecture delivered before his congregation in this city last Friday evening Rabbi Wise made a statement concerning The Oregonlan which calls for comment. We cannot give the rabbl's-'precise words, but as nearly as they can be recalled by one who heard them attentively, they were as follows: "About a month ago there appeared In the editorial col umns of The Oregonlan an assault upon the Jewish people. I took It upon my self to- make reply, and did so upon my next appearance In tay pulpit. Wishing to make the refutation as wide as the original publication, I carried my ser mon to the office of The Oregonlan and tendered It for publication. Some weeks have passed, but I have not yet found my sermon In print. And now I say that this denial by The Oregonlan of the right of refuting a slanderous as sault upon -a people is arbitrary to the degree of dishonesty. And I say further that it ought not to be tolerated, and that It would not be tolerated if the spirit of this community were what it ought to be." These may not, we re peat, be the precise words of the speak er, but the quotation Is substantially accurate as to phrase, and absolutely so as to general signification and tone. The Oregonlan is charged, first, with printing in its editorial columns an "as sault upon the Jewish race"; second, It Is charged with declining to print an article tendered to It In behalf of the Jewish race. In answer to this alleged assault. It Is denounced as arbitrary and dishonest. Let us see what are the facts: In its issue of March 18, commenting on Dr. Wise's opposition to the Chinese exclu sion bill, then pending In Congress, The Oregonlan said: Dr. Wlee Is entitled to a great deal of credit for his championship of the Chinese, though It proceeds upon mistaken grounds and Insuffi cient Information. He belongs to a race wmen has known persecution, but which Is generally most ungenerous toward other creeds and races. It Is a rare thing to find a Jew who does not bate a Catholic as cordially as the Catholics hato the Jews. It Is remarkable and credit able, therefore, that Dr. Wise rises abovo race prejudice to speak a good word for tho China man. And If this were all of the Chinese question, one could follow him with zeal and delight. Prejudices of race and religion are among the rapidly dying embers of barbaric and superstitious fires that once burnt fiercely the wide world-over. This very general remark, based on simple historical facts known of all men, bearing In Itself no suggestion or tone of malice, applied directly not more to the Jewish race than to the Catholic church, used In connection with a subject under present discussion to illustrate a truth common to all re ligions and sects this It is that Dr. Wise misinterprets as "an assault upon the Jewish race." And now as to The Oregonlan's al leged refusal to print a "refutation,-?' "carried to Its office" and "tendered" in rebuttal of this alleged assault: A few days after the publication above quoted, within h3S9 than half an hour of midnight, after the editor and his responsible assistants had left the of fice for the night, at an hour when the preparation of all but the telegraphic pages of the paper Is practically cpm plete, there came a call to the telephone. Dr. Wise for he It was wished to know If The Oregonlan would like to have for publication a discourse, or some parts of it, given by him to his congregation In the early hours of the evening, "referring to what The Oregohlan had said about the Jews and the Catholics." If so, it could b had by sending a reporter to Dr. Wise's residence. It was not, he said, written out, but he would, if It were desired, dictate it substantially as It had been dellvefed, to a reporter. An assist ant to the city editor, to whom this message came, seeing no reason why an extraordinary ef fort should be made to print a sermon which did not, as the matter was pre sented to him, appear in any way un usual or significant, decline the offer with thanks to Dr. Wise for his cour tesy. The Incident was a very common one; It made so little impression upon the man at the desk that he thought nothing further about it. Neither the editor of The Oregonian nor any one of his assistants with au thority in matters of this sdrt ever heard of this "tender." Dr. Wise's sermon was never In The Oregonlan office. No member of The Oregonlan's responsible staff ever was informed that such a sermon was offered for publication, or even that such a ser mon had been delivered. This Incident occurred nearly a month and a half ago. Since that time Dr. Wise has had many 'opportunities of T presenting his grievance to the editor of The Oregonlan. He might have done so with assurance of," courtesy "and of generous treatment, for never In its his tory has this journal failed on the point of fairness or Justice In a matter of this kind. He has not done so. He has, on the other hand, talcen a public occa sion to utter against The Oregonlan a charge of unfairness and dishonesty. We have given the record. If It con victs Dr. Wise of misrepresentation, the fault lies not with The Oregonlan. We shall enter Into no dispute with Dr. Wise on the question whether the Jews are or have been ungenerous toward other creeds and races, or not, or whether Catholics and other Chris tians have shown hatred of Jews, or not, or whether Jews have- shown similar feelings toward Catholics and other Christians, or not. Appeal might be made to fifteen centuries of the world's history; but we forbear. The Oregonlan was simply referring to facts among the most prominent In the history of the human race. As for Itself, it has a rec ord of fifty years which proves that it ha3 never been IntoleVant In the least degree toward any people on account of race or religion. This record is known of all men. DANGERS IN IGNORANCE. Contempt for facts Is the earmark of the fellow who has a brain full of bats In zigzag flight. Every newspaper, large or small. Is full of preachments from fellows who undertake to solve burning questions of large social or po litical consequence without any knowl edge of the underlying facts that are essential to sound thought upon any question of public affairs. The Ignorant doctrinaire or dogmatic faddist compla cently publishes a farrago of specu lative nonsense which not seldom ob tains transient popular currency until Intelligent thinkers puncture with their incisive pens the bladder-head of these arrogant blatherskites. There has not been a vicious popular error that has obtained currency in this country that has not owed its life to a creature who assumed to think without knowledge, and felt safe to do so because his pub lic were for the most part as Ignorant, if not as impudent, as himself. Take the financial lunacies that have obtained disastrous popular support In this country. Not one of them had a historical Jeg to stand on. France had tested them to her bitter cost. Eng land "had exhaustively discussed them and exposed their unsoundness. Never theless, In face of the bitter experience and mature conclusions of Europe there never has been a time In our history from the foundation of the Republic when the champions of sound 'finance did not have to fight periodically long and hard in defense of the cause of honest money. Jefferson was a man of high intelligence and large reading; he knew the whole argument against illim itable paper money as set forth In. his day 30 ably by Talleyrand, and Ham ilton was an equal master of the facts of sound finance. Their thought was sound because it was bottomed on full mastery of the historical facta But we did not long escape the curse of Illimit able issues of paper money and "wild cat" banking that stood behind reck less speculation in Western lands. The people suffered because they accepted the counsels of men whowere either Ignorant of the history of sound finance or utterly indifferent to what might happen, so long as it did not happen to them. It was a case of an ignorant public following the lead of blind guides Into the last ditch of disaster. The experience which culminated in the crash of 1837 sobered the people without fully instructing them. They were like the burnt child, that fears the fire, but has yet to learn that one may avoid .playing with Are only to tumble into hot water. So when the fakers In finance began to preach "greenback ism" in 1874, and "free silver" in 1896, they found a hearing, because their public did not know the facts of the history'of the world's experience. The vagaries and visions of these dema gogues passed current with their public because their public did not know enough to contradict them. It was a question upon which there could not possibly be any sound thinking without absolute knowledge of the bottom facts, but the dishonest-money demagogue was safe because of the Ignorance of his public. It was not a sentimental ques tion, like that of the right of one man to own another like a chattel; It was a question of human experience and sci entific conclusion. The demagogue's public were as much at his mercy through their ignorance and credulity as an Illiterate sick man Is at the mercy of a fluent and audacious quack doctor. As soon as Intelligent thinkers massed their artillery of brains and knowledge against this "free-silver" craze its bladder-head was blown from Its shoulders. Illustrations might be multiplied, like modem spiritism, Christian Science, theosophy, all current fads that stand for false thought because they are not bottomed upon absolutely attested scien tific facts facts as authentic as those which we all bank upon In the conduct of worldly business and affairs. Igno rance of the facts, contempt for facts, is the fruitful parent of false thought. All bankable thought must rest upon absolutely well-attested facts In the physical world of human experience or in the moral and spiritual experience of mankind. Teachers of young men owe It to themselves to tell their pupils that there can be no sound thinking without mas tery of the facts. The young man who won the gold medal recently at Salem by his oration on "John Brown of Osa watomle" could not possibly have com pa're'd Brown's action to that of George Washington In joining In the revolt of the colonies and leading Its armies, if he had known anything about the facts. Washington leading the armies of the American Continental Congress, of the American people, against Great Britain might be compared to the revolt of the whole South against the Union and the march of Its armies under Lee, but the act of Brown has no more identity with the action of Washington than the ac tion of Cromwell leading the armies of the Parliament of England against the King has with the murder of the Duke of Buckingham by John Felton. A young man who says "Human law Is to be obeyed only so long as it accords with God's eternal justice" must not forget that the people of the North and South both agreed to the Constitutional protection of slavery, and that govern ments are not instituted and maintained to be defied because they do not satisfy every private conscience. If the people are with that private conscience, It will not need to turn pirate and assassin, as Brown did. If the people are not with that private conscience, resort to the "higher law" means an Inexcusable act of anarchy. If the private conscience finds our laws Intolerable and cannot convert people to Its views, as Lincoln did, let the private conscience and pi rate get out and stay out. Washington and Cromwell were military leaders of a vast popular revolt; they were no crazy land pirates. IS THE PAPER TOO LARGE? An old nd valued friend of The Ore gonlan sends In this complaint: As ono who has subscribed and paid for and read The Oregonlan for 23 years, I beg the privilege of registering my first protest. You have made your paper too large. Until within the past four months I have found time to read those portions that Interest me, and to skim over the remainder, and although my pri vate business takes no more tlmo than former ly. I find that I must now neglect many col umns of your message that comes to me every morning. A week ago I resolved to write to you. and then every day I tried to pick out what r should eliminate If I were conducting The Ore gonlan. but I found It a hopeless task. To your credit be It said that you publish nothing that does not Interest a considerable number of readers. You certainly print more news than a half busy man can read In his leisure hours. If you are going to continue to get out 14 and 10 page editions. It will result in the male popu lation of this country being obliged to re arrange their dally schedule of life. For my self I decline to rise earlier or retire later than has been my wont these 20 years past, and I cannot afford to neglect my buslnessj Therefore, without anger and In the- .friendliest spirit. I repeat: You have made your paper too large. v NATIVE SON. As the eld MIssourlan said; you must "skip from thar to thar." The Orego nlan will certainly not be smaller in fu ture, but Is likely to be still larger. Recent enlargement of the paper was not so much from choice as from ne cessity. This Is a general newspaper, and It must give publicity to everything that is clean and of human Interest In Oregon, Washington and Idaho. It Is also a composite class newspaper. That Is to say. part of its function Is to pur vey news "which interests particularly certain guilds. Unfortunately, Portland Is without class newspapers, and all classes look to The Oregonian to sup ply the deficiency. If, for example, there were published here a dally com mercial paper of high character, The Oregonlan might consider the advisa bility of devoting less space to maskets and shipping. If some one would es tablish an efficient paper for lawyers and litigants, courts might not be so fully reported. A mining journal con ducted on broad lines might relieve this paper of some matter interesting only to. miners. These examples could be continued to a column's length. It Is to be feared, however, that no Industry In The Oregonlan's field of circulation would relish the idea of being neglected. The Oregonlan does not wish nor intend to do less for the Pacific Northwest than it has done In the past. On the contrary, it will do more As the coun try grows, The Oregonlan grows. For forty years It has been In a large way the local paper for every section of the three states mentioned, to say noth ing of British Columbia and Western Montana. All these sections demand and are entitled to representation in The Oregonian. Their local papers have only local circulation. These peo ple wish their localities to be wider known, and the only agency for spread ing information Is The Oregonlan. This service will not be curtailed, but aug mented. Perhaps our correspondent has no ticed that The Oregonlan is given to the discussion of human affairs. Its views sometimes run counter to the views of many readers. Those who hold con trary opinions often demand public ex pression of them. Only through The Oregonlan can the public be reached, and there has never been a time when this paper refused reasonable use of Its columns as a forum for those who dif fered with It in opinion. This policy Is jiul Jift.ei il ue ijuciii&t:u. v, Incidentally It may be well to men tion that The Oregonlan will continue to publish all the news of the world that's fit to prlntV While The Oregonlan may be too large for "Native Son," no way suggests Itself, under existing conditions, for re ducing its size. To borrow his own words, without anger and in the friend liest spirit we repeat, "You must skip from thar to thar." A CHAPTER OF POLITICAL HISTORY And now The Oregonlan says: "In 1803 tho Simon ticket wa3 again recognized as the Re publican ticket, though the Mitchell men forced tho nomination of Geer for Governor." Considering that the entire delegation of Mitchell men from Multnomah County was ex pelled from the Astoria convention, what power they must have had In a body where they had not a single vote! Salem Journal. Nevertheless, It was the Mitchell men who forced the nomination of Geer four years ago. They didn't really want Geer, but they had taken him up in the hope of beating Lord with him.. JLord. they specially disliked. There were contesting delegations from Multno mah. The Mitchell men and the Geer men had power to seat one delegation or the other, or to divide the delegation; for the Multnomah delegation was sus pended and couldn't vote -on any of these propositions' that related' b Its own standing In the convention. In order to get the "regular" or gold standard delegation seated, to keep out the Mitchell contestants and to get a pronounced gold-standard platform adopted, It was agreed that If the con vention would seat the '"regular" or "anti-Mitchell'' delegation, there would be no opposition to the nomination of Geer. There was much reluctance to accept the sacrifice of Lord, but In the circumstances there was no help for It. The Mitchell men had It in their power to force the nomination of Geer; their tactics forced his nomination, and the friends and supporters of Lord had to content themselves with the adjustment above described. It was thought better to say nothing about it at the time, but It's ancient history now; so this plain recital can do no harm. The city's vital statistics for 1901, as compiled from the records of the Health Office, make a showing that Is exceed ingly gratifying to our citizens. A death rate of 11.43 per 1000 inhabitants Is remarkable as shown by comparison with that of other clties-of the country similarly situated as to latitude. It is remarkable further that with smallpox prevalent throughout the great North western section, and epidemic in many places, that but sixty-two cases oc curred In Portland during the entire year covered by these statistics. While the general healthfulness of the city Is due to favorable location as to drain age and a climate conducive to health, the fact that smallpox and other con tagious diseases did not gain a foothold here Is due to the vigilant oversight and prompt action of our health' officers. In, all cities, central In importance and therefore In hospital appliances in their respective sections, the annual death list Is Increased by tha names of a greater or less number of persons who are brought in for treatment. Deduct ing these from the death record of 1901, the number of deaths, based on a popu lation of 100,000, would be but little more than 1 per cent a showing that should at once place Portland at the head of the list of health resorts. To the extent that this would attract Invalids, how ever, this Is not desirable, since noth ing Is more depressing than the encoun ter at every turn of suffering human ity seeking relief from wasting diseases. It Is to men and women possessed of robust health, who value the boon too highly to place it in jeopardy by locat ing in an unhealthy city, and who be lieve In the prevention of disease rather than its cure, that Portland desires as accessions to its population. Of course (except in the matter of contagious dis eases), we would not be inhospitable to the sick who come hither seeking health, but It Is to well people possessed of the Intelligent desire and purpose to remain well that the most cordial wel come Is reserved. The Illness of the young Queen of the Netherlands continues to cause grave anxiety. With only her frail body and seriously menaced life between the king dom and a succession in whom they have no pride,, and for whom they have not the slightest affection, the Dutch people view the probable death of their 'Que&i with deep distress and apprehen- 'slon. Wilhelmina was brought up be fore their eyes to be their Queen, and she has endeared herself to them from childhood by her winning, gracious manners'. Her marriage was to them a matter of intense Interest, chiefly be cause It promised legitimate succession to the throne in a distinct line through an amiable, virtuous woman loyal to Dutch interests and traditions. Lying In her palace a physical wreck, largely through marital abuse, and with the possibility of death hovering over her, it is no wonder that her people are deeply grief-stricken. However, no one despairs of a typhoid fever patient while life remains, and there is still hope that Wilhelmina "will recover from her pres ent illness. An even more hopeless feature of the royal situation in Hol land Is the robust health of the stolid, brutal, unmanageable Prince Consort a man of the type that the most reck less dissipation kills eventually, but who lives, nevertheless, to old age. The tornado has trodden swiftly upon the heels of the April hot wave in the Middle West. Its record Is one of death, the destruction of homes and injury to crops. A redeeming or reassuring feat ure of disasters of this kind is found in the fact that the very worst is real ized in the onset of the elements. Later on, after the wind has passed, the rains have ceased and the floods abated, and the sun comes out, It is usually found that fright and confusion have magni fied the fatalities and exaggerated the property loss and crop injuries. It may be hoped that this will prove true in the present instance, and that the dam age from the tornado that swept por tions of Missouri. Kansas and Illinois last Friday afternoon is not as great as was at first reported. Whatever may be thought of Senator Carmack's views upon the Philippine policy in a general way, and few patri otic, well-informed people will indorse them, his declaration that "the Idea that the character of a race can be transformed by teaching its people to read Is the wildest, craziest, most fa natic dream that ever flitted through a lunatic's brain" is pretty generally approved. There are other Influences of civilization, however, that accompany the process of teaching individuals of a race to read that will have to be brought to bear upon the Filipinos for several generations before the talk about their "right to self-government" will be entitled to more than a respect ful hearing. V The adjournment of the Confederate reunion reminds us of the flight of time when we remember that the commander-in-chief. General John B. Gordon, is 70 years old. He was but 33 when he surrendered at Appomattox about the age of our own Sheridan. General Longstreet, the most famous surviving Confederate, Is 83 years old, and Gen eral Schofleld, the most celebrated liv ing corps commander of the Union Army, Is 71 years old- The Union and Confederate soldiers are rapidly joining the great encampment of the hereafter which is peopled by "ghosts of soldiers shouldering ghosts of guns." It may be hoped that the strike in the Oregon City woolen mills will speed ily be settled. Both employers and em ployes protest up to this time that they beareach other no ill will. This even tempered state of affairs will not long continue under prevailing conditions. One of the most deplorable of the re sults of strikes Is found In the spirit of hostility that is thereby engendered between the correlative forces of indus try. For this reason, if for no other, an early adjustment of differences be tween these employers and employes Is exceedingly desirable. The new Pension Commissioner from Kansas is reported as saying: "Every manjentltled to a pension ought to have it" No ,one can. object to that. That has always, been the simple creed of The Oregoplan, which has held that If the pension roll could be purged of un worthy claimants, the worthy claim ants would all throw up their hats In approval. Honest, worthy claimants get a mere pittance because they will not lie, while the Army shirk will swear to anything that is necessary to obtain a large pension. Today Is the anniversary of the birth day of Granfc, to whom thirty-seven years ago the 3th Inst, the gallant rem nant of the army of Lee surrendered. The fame of Grant grows larger and glows brighter with the "lapse of time. His ability in warand his civic simplic ity and integrity-Jn peace command to day the respect of both sections of our country. Patient of toll, serene amid alarms. Inflexible In Talth. Invincible In arms. It is to be presumed that the State University Board of Regents will not stand in the way of Dr. Strong's ad vancement. He is to be congratulated, therefore, upon his promotion, and Kan sas upon its accession of a university president of strength and resources. It seems fair to assume that Mr. VInlng's resignation formed a part of the consideration in the San Francisco strike settlement. Mr. Vining is a grand fighter, but something Is needed these days In a manager of men besides I valor notably diplomacy. SLKNGS AND ARROWS. Tlie Sons of the Hobo. Let J. P. Morgan travel In his million-dollar car. With beds, and bath, and bootblack stand, and barber-shop and oar; Let ocean greyhounds cleave the seaas bullets split the air. And automobiles frighten folk along the thor oughfare; Let Santos-Dumont Journey In his cllpper-'bullt balloon. Establish terminals In Mars and Venus, and the moon; When I go forth to see the world, I crave nc luxury: The brakebeam, swinging In the trucks, will do all right for me. For I have known the thrilling Joy of rocking to and fro. As bnnging. clanging, merrily the rattling brake-chains go. And I have known the XI tan tunes the scrap ing brake-shoes play. And I decline to travel In the ordinary way. The whirling eddies of the air that beat upon my cheek. The flanges on the mountain curve that music ally creak. The ties that speed by underneath proclaim convincingly The brakebeam. swinging In the trucks. Is good enough for me. And when the shades of evening fall, and through the Journal frame I look upon the western sky, lit up with gold and flame. And wrap ray legs around the rods, and listen to the song, The trucks are singing to the rails as fast they speed along; The clash and clamor of It all brings deep and grateful rest. And peace, of all our earthly boons the sweet est and the be3t. And as my senses sink to sleep. In calm se curity, I know the swinging brakebeam Is the softest bed for me. I've seen the East, and known the West. I've been both South and North, And never gave a sou-markee to travel back or forth; I've tried blind baggage, empties, tops, but never did I know The Joy of Journeys till I sought tho beam that swlng3 below. Repairers singe me with the torch, the braklea often think It highly humorous to beat my head In with a link. But still the gamo Is worth the stake, wherever I may be. The brakebeam swinging In the trucks, will do all right for me. Trouble at the Globe. "My Lord," asked Shakespeare, as he and Bacon strolled out of the Globe foyer and sat down in the box-office to watch tho treasurer count up, "why are my writ ings known as 'plays,' while yours are called 'works' T" "Give it up. Will," said Sir Francis, "unless it is because my writings always fit the case." "Nawl" sniffed the bard of Avon, "It's because you think they're stemwlnders." Annoyed at thl3 sally, Lord Bacon re marked that he didn't like to be hit by a ham, but Shakespeare retorted that a Bacon was every bit as bad as a ham, and more streaked; and not caring to hear any more samples of Globe repartee, the eminent statesman, to get even, went out side and told people that the show was fierce. The Penalty of Knowledge. From babj's tearful eyes have fled All promises of sleeping. He lies In his hygienic bed Disconsolately weeping. No more his rosy finger tlp-J, So delicately tinted. We dare to hold, and on his lips No kUses are Imprinted. The smile we once so loved to see About his sweet mouth playing. While et he slept, has como to bo Exceedingly dismaying. And when his face lights up with one Unto the lamp we speed him. Pry open wide his Jaws, and run For calomel to feed him. That pretty motion of his thumb Reeals that he's dyspeptic. And we must hasten forth for some Internal antiseptic . Before we give him any milk We carefully must thin It, Then strain It through three folds of silk. Until no taste's left In It. Ah! happy days of long ago When our dear babes we dandled Upon our knees, and did not know That they should not be handled I If knowledge keeps Its present pace. We'll find, a few years later. That we must rear the coming race Inside an Incubator! Literary Notes. Richard Harding Davis most recent work Is the cynosure of all I's. Richard Mansfield is said to be engaged In writing a book enttlcd "Actors I Hava Helped Off the Stage." "Ping Pong as I Have Found It" was not as has been generally supposed, writ ten by President Roosevelt. The "His" In General Funston's book, "In His Steps," refers to General Miles. Eugene F. Ware is a reformed poet. "Box-Stall Studies" will soon be pub lished In serial form In the Lincoln Com moner. A Methodist minister In Illinois says that the story of Adam and Eve was the first historical romance. The jury is being Im paneled for his heresy trial. Pressure will be brought to bear on King Edward to hang up a purse for a coronation ode. Longing:. I'd like to bo a engineer. With overalls, an' a pointed cap. An' say to the boys 'round the depot: "Here, Don't climb Into that there cab, young chap." I'd like to open the throttle wide An' say: "Well, here's fur th' road again. But 'f I wa3 a engineer, why I'd Never be a policeman, then. I'd like to wear a helmet blue An' scare the kids along my beat. An' do whatever I wanted to do. Fur I'd be the boss o my whole street. But If I was one, I could never be A bold an' darln' buccaneer, An sail around all over the sea. An fill the merchant ships with fear. An' 't I was a pirate on a ship. I couldn't run a trolley car. Or pull the lever that works the grip An stop her quick with a Jolty Jar. An' If t was runnln a street car, I Couldn't be leadin'a regiment. An see the bullets an' grapo shot fly An leave defeat where I had went It's mighty tryln' to decide Just what I ratherest would be, But I am certain sure that I'd Not be a little boy, like me. J. J. MONTAGUS Surgery in Kentucky, Sab.! Cleveland Plain Dealer. They laid the Kentucky gentleman on 'the operating table. His revolver was In his strong right hand. "Boys," he said to the assembled sur geons, "I know this Is goln to be a seri ous affair. But let me tell you somethin'." And he tapped on his revolver. "If I have to go I'll certainly want company. An' If you make way with me while I'm under the inflooence of your darned opi ates, I've got six sons at h.Tme who would be only too delighted to show you what they think of your lack of skill In case It does lack. And they'd be prepared to follow you around from King's bridge to Kingdom come until they even up things for the loss of their old dad. That's all. Cut away." Perhaps it is unnecessary to add that the operation was completely successful.