THE SUNDAY OREGONlA PORTLAND, MAY 24, 1905. 6 SUr6 t the Postofflce at Portland. Oregea. as second-clws matter. RE VISED EU3SCIURPTION KATES. 2allr. -with Sunday, per month PUy, Sunday excepted, per year.. iHUIy. with Sunday, per year -J goaaay, per year Thfi WH n nnntk't" ........ -SO Jlr. per -week, delivered. Sunday excepted. 15c HUr. pec week.. delivered. Sunday included.ZOo PO STAGS HATES. TT!f fit.., rim, on4 VirHM 0 to 14-page paper. to ao-p&ge paper r 8 to 44-page paper ...so ereign rates double. Xews or discussion Intended for publication Ja The Oregonlaa should be addressed lnvarla- Vly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name C-aay individual. Letters relating to aaver- ttelnjr, subscription or to any business matter bould be addressed simply "The Oreconlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories Zrom individuals, and cannot undertake to re- tsrn uv ninuisHnti cnt ta It without SOllcl- Satlaa. No stamps should be inclosed Xoc this SUTDOse. Eastern -RnnltiM. nnw 4 44. 4S. 47. 48. 49 aWbune building. New York City: 510-11-12 Tribune building. Chicago: the a C BecKwita pedal Agency, Eastern representative. Tar e&le in San Francisco by L. E. Lee, Pal- axe Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros, 238 Sutter street: F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market street: 3. K. Cooper Co., 748 Market street, near the Palace Hotel: Foster & Orear. Ferry news "tand; Frank Scott, 80 Ellis street, and N, .Wheatl sy, 13 Mission street. Elizabethan drama. The age we have come upon Is essentially one of criti cism. Colossal forms of religious, so cial and governmental life sprang Into being In the generations past and now we are at work on their classification. The poets and painters and prophets are dead; the historians and critics are busy all about us. In our public life the pioneer of original Initiative and dauntless port ha3 gone, and fn his stead we have a multitude of finicky people trying to imitate or describe or censure what the pioneer achieved. The courts construe Marshall; the prel ates expound the apostles and fathers; the platform appeals to Washington and Jefferson. Jackson and Lincoln. Where Grant struck blows Miles sits and whines. Where Jefferson bought an empire his followers split hairs over his own impressions of the act. The age of creation has gone; the age of criticism is here. Though every epoch may not have Its own peculiar creed, but one inherited from a more fertile hour, yet every epoch has its own beliefs. In these de generate days we modify the old creeds to ult our needs and call them the same. A thousand conflicting sects and three grand opposing divisions Greek, Roman and Teutonic profess the custody of the true message of Jesus. No political group in the United States Is too poor to claim Its intellect ual relationship with Lincoln. That Is For ulU In Lns Anreles br B. F. Gardner, iXXt South Spring street, and Oliver St Haines. 'StfVl Ennlh Cri.. For sale in Kansas City. Mo., by Klcksecker I to say, though every day has Its own Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut streets. religion stained, polished or painted, For salo in Chicago by the P. O. Iews CO., 'SIT Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. 3 Washington street. For sale in Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1612 Farnam street: Meseath Stationery Co.. 1303 Faraam street. For sale in Ogden by W. G. Kind, 114 23th street: Jas. H. CrockwelL 242 25th street. For sale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second South street. Fer sale In Washington. D. C by the Ebbett House news stand. x For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 006-912 Seventeenth street: Louthaa Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence streets; A. Series. Sixteenth and Curtis streets. TODAY'S WEATHER Fair and continued 'mild. Northwesterly winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 70 deg.; minimum temperature, 41 deg.; no precipitation. IORTLJLXD, SUXDAY, 3IAY 24, 1003. CREEDS XS ECLIPSE. While the General Assembly shows commendable spirit and facility In deal t Ing with the so-called new confession of faith, It is most transparently evident that the proceedings in ratification are purely perfunctory. This crop of prog ress was really sown and harvested about ten years ago, and the assembly Is merely certifying the returns after the nominee has been elected, qualified and inducted Into office. The Presbyte rians are busy with other things now. They want to forget creeds, seminary wrangles and heresy trials "as fast as they can. This Is the uniform mood of the re ligious world. Tour foreign mission sec retary talks today about hospitals and schools, and is readily pardoned If, in ihls anxiety for uplifting the heathens' moral and material condition, he neg lects the old word about their dying daily for the want of the vicarious atonement. Religious endeavor takes ftiifferent forms at different times, and ' this is one of the times when character is accentuated rather than creed. What ' a man professes Is not considered more vital than what he does, more neces- eary than what he Is. It Is a reassuring sign of the tunes. Nor Is the eclipse of creeds confined to the religious world. It prevails In politics and philosophy. Our National nlatforms are dragnets of platitudes (and promises on every conceivable prob , lem In government There Is very little 5 difference between the tariff-reform ' cold-standard Democrat and the gold tBtandard tariff-reform Republican. That ' is, there Is little difference in creed, t though each may be on fire with zeal for his own party and reprobation of the j other. The passion for doctrine as the toe-all and end-all of politics has abated. i We do not take our platforms so serl rously. We are interested in men more than In Issues, and especially In under- 'takings. The man who can get some 1 thing done for the advancement of his j church, his party and his state Is the real thing. What his views are does not greatly matter. It is so In philosophy. We have en tered upon an era of Investigation, of collecting phenomena and comparing 'Impressions. The old day of prophetic Dromulgatlon. exemplified in such names as Kant, Sir William Hamilton, 'Hegel, Herbert Spencer Darwin even (is gone. We have ceased to fight for i evolution, or against lt but content our selves with Its calm, light-hearted con templatlon. The Emerson centenary tflnds us In a temper not Irritable over ihls Imperfections or enthusiastic in ad herence. Undiscovered facts about him ,or relics of his life are of much more concern than the accuracy of his phll osophy or the truth of his message; and if In a general way we discuss his teaching, It Is rather to dellmlnate and estimate than to urge or condemn. It is Important to know what philosophers have taught and to apprehend their etrong and weak points, but it would not be good form at present to essay i the role of Sir -Galahad In their behalf. We are wont to say that no social or ganization,, political, religious or phllo sophlc, can hope for greatness or per- , rnanence unless It is bottomed on some creed. There has to be some fabric of belief, forged In the white heat of trial, to which devotees cling with passionate fondness. There Is the Judaic faith. only purified and revitalized by Klshl nef and resultant protests; there Is the Republican party, solidified by the Civil War; there is the Spencerlan philoso phy, enshrined in gifted and steadfast souls through fifty years of persecu tlon. But this truth needs one very important qualification. The social or ganism, like the solar system In Its sight through space, like the year through its recurrent seasons, passes through belts of variant mood. The creed comes In its own time out of the throes that give It birth, and its force eurvlves through very momentum long after the logic of its formulas has gone into the urns of oblivion. Denomina tions rally round anachronistic pro tests, and political parties thrive on the delusion that they are still bearing the sacred ark of corn-law repeal, or the rights' reserved to the states, or the perpetuation of the Union. Vestiges alL they are, surviving in the social frame, like the wisdom tooth or the buttons on the back of your coat For them, as for symbols of what they hold dear. men will fight but they are recognized as not the essential thing. The age is one of reflection, and not of creation. The great creed goes its way with the National epic or the birth of a new people, or the golden age pf Grecian sculpture or Italian art or according to its fancy the chances for a new religion or a new creed grow less and less. Education- reduces them, for Ignorance Is a powerful promotive of the sublime achievement in religion, politics or art Too often, alas! the Confession or the Declaration Is born of blind assurance and fattened upon credulity. What would the acute and conscientious critic have left to Homer of his epics, to' Herodotus of his his tory? How would the Bible have 'fared, Indeed If expurgated at the German universities, and would Shakespeare have been at all worth while if noth ing not gramatlcally, geographically, historically and scientifically correct had been allowed to pass the proofread er? It Is difficult to see, therefore, any ground to hope for a new creed that shall satisfy the honest soul any more nearly than the patched affairs we sub scribe to now. It will be time to look around for one when writing rises to the level of "Hamlet" and Mlchaelan gelo Is duplicated at Chicago. rank passages, like those spoken by Falstaff and his boon companions, make the Emersonian flesh fairly creep. Shakespeare was a full man of the world as well as poet He was man ager Of a theater, actor, poet social wit and courtier; a man of Infinite mental and moral variety. He did many things and relished much company that Emerson would not' have done and could not have enjoyed, so Emer son shuddered as he read and distrust ed Shakespeare. He felt his immense genius, and yet he was evidently fret ted with the suspicion, if not absolute conviction, that Shakespeare led a comparatively vulgar life. He distrust ed Shakespeare because the great dramatist seemed to him to rest with "the symbol, with the festal beauty of the world," and did not explore the essence of things and ask, "Whence, what and whither?" Shakespeare, Emerson says, was not wise for him self; he did not lead a beautiful life, but ate, drank and reveled and affili ated with all manner of persons and quaffed the cup of life with gusto and relish. Emerson did not understand Shakespeare's limitations, because Shakespeare was a poet, a man of Inspiring imagination and color, throbbing with passion; he was not a priest at all, while Emerson was a cross between a. poet and a priest If Shakes peare had been all that Emerson wished him to be, he would have been far less of a poet and far more of a mystic or prophet Emerson's limitations, are further shown when he says that Shelley Is never a poet, though he Is always poet ical In mind, and when he defines Byron as a man "who had nothing to say, but said it magnificently." This is a clever epigram, but it Is at best but a half truth, for Byron, as a descriptive poet has left behind him a mass of most ex quisitely beautiful w6rk which is sure to keep him In the first rank of Eng lish poets so long as England has a literature. Emerson's test of poetry Is not a true one; that Is, it is not a complete test,- since he finds fault with ltual genius, who never ceased to ex hort his fellow-countrymen to make America famous for some nobler Na tional traits than "avarice and sensual ity." Emerson was" a man of thrift who practiced the homely virtues he preached in his "Conduct of Life" as carefully and far more religiously than did Franklin; but, like Franklin, Emer son despised a man who became a mill ionaire by playing bandit In the world of business or the world of politics; wealth was to be respected If uprightly won and virtuously employed, not oth erwise. Emerson obtains honors at his country's hands after death, while Rockefeller, In spite of his mountain of gold, chjefly built out of plunder; ob tains no respect or reverence in -lire save what money can buy, and will get none after death, not even from the hungry pack of his heirs, who will begin to fight over the division of hl3 millions as soon as his will has been made public or as good as elsewhere. The Seet here Is very small, considering the sfcse- of the city and popularity of the sport "A SHAME OP CHRISTENDOM." Every one who possesses an ordinary sense of justice and who has heard or read the presentment of facts In. regard to the Russian Jew and his environ ment by Dr. Stephen 8. Wise must feel for this cruelly oppressed people an up rising of sympathy mingled with Indig nation against their cool, calculating, persistent persecutor, the government of Imperial Russia. The question to en lightened Americans is not one of affin ity for the Russian Jews. These people, by their environment of a thousand years, by their customs and language, are alien to us, and between them and American citizens there is little in com mon beyond the broad ground where justice and humanity meet and Inter change sentiments of universal broth erhood. The Russian Jew, as we see him today, cowering under the Iron rule of a despotic government the corner stone of whose despotism Is an Intol erant, un-Christlan, cruel creed, mis called religion, Is a human being who claims the pity of the enlightened na tions, and who receives It without stint. Byron's art because it did not seem in- albeit no nation may care to make place stinct witn any aennite moral purpose. ror the ODDressed multitude that he THE MEN WHO "DO THIKGS. Schwab's generosity has taken a much more practical turn than that of Car negie. That of the latter expressed It self In the gift of libraries; that of the former has taken the shape of an in dustrial school at Homestead, Pa., the seat of the most magnificent steel In dustry In the world. This school offers to every child In the borough-"an op portunity to learn atrade before gradu ating from the High School" a long felt want Indeed. Nothing could be more sensible or practical than this Idea worked to its sequence. It fits admirably a time wherein the tendency Is to overcrowd the professions, and encourages the broader and better trend toward indus trialism of the type wherein, the hand 13 trained to follow the brain. There are still all too many parents who are ambitious to push their children into the clerical and professional vocations, but these are giving place yearly to those who see In "captains of Industry" men whom they would have their sons emulate. The-men who "do things" are those who are prominent in the world's view today. The ambitious youth takes for his model the men of com merce and of Industrial achievement, and It Is to help him work out his model that states and Individuals are found ing and equipping Industrial schools. The awakened Industrial ambition means much to the Nation and for men. The library scheme Is useful In Its way. It seeks to make the leisure of the working community profitable. The Industrial school seeks to make the hours of labor prpfltable both to the workingman and the capitalist Time was when men "picked up" their trades and blundered through life with un skillful hands. But the time Is com ingand, indeed, now is when boys must learn how to use their hands if they would, as men, succeed In Indus trial life. mean War in 1854. When Qeen Vic toria ascended, the throne the debt was S853.O80.W0. Since then up to the out break of the South African War, in con sequence of the Crimean War, the. ter rible Irish famine of 1847, the purchase of the telegraphs In 188-9, the purchase of the Suez Canal shares In 1S76, and sundry and various small wars, a total of 177,000,000 was added to the debt Allowing for the 165,000,000 added to the debt by the South African War, there has been a net reduction since 1837 of 53,000,000, which does not In clude the Suez Canal shares, valued at 28,000,000, which were purchased for 4,000,000. Moreover, a lowering In the rate of Interest has lightened the an nual charges of the debt by 4,000,000 since 1869. Empire comes high, but we must have It There 13 a movement among the work ing classes In England to persuade Par liament to pay wages to Its members. The worklngmen now assess themselves to pay labor union members, and the Irish National League raises funds to pay wages to those of the Irish mem bers who cannot afford to serve with out remuneration. Great Britain's pres ent system of nonpayment of wages to her members of Parliament is a mis take, for It practically debars a work lngman from a candidacy, for he can not afford the necessary election ex penses, and he cannot afford to occupy his seat without a salary. Eight mil lions or more of English workmen have not more than a dozen representatives, while the land-owning Interest has some 200 qr more representatives. Our plan, which pays the public servant fair wages, and yet expects him to serve us faithfully, not because his stipend is large, but because he is a faithful soldier of the state. Is .sound, and will succeed wherever free government Is really prized by the people. The price of free government Is patriotic readi ness on the part of the best citizens to render their best service with honor and. without regard to profit THE LIMITATIONS OP EMERSON'. Matthew Arnold, the great English critical essayist, was a warm admirer of Emerson, but he frankly told his American audiences that the New Eng land sage was primarily a' poet of fine genius, not a philosopher; that his poetry was the best that had been written In America, and would be his permanent mark In our enduring lit erature. Emerson himself, as Trow bridge tells us in his "Reminiscences" In the Atlantic Monthly, always told his intimate friends that he believed his true place in literature was that of a poet; that if he had been born heir to a good income he would have written nothing but poetry; that the larger part of his prose lectures were "pot-boilers." Emerson said that he knew he lacked the poet's fine ear for the melodious m'echanlsm of. verse, but he still felt that he had the poetic Imagination and poetic temperament His best prose passes often Into high poetry, and even poetical form. These fine lines were originally written In prose: I heard, or seemed to bear, the chiding sea Bay, "Pilgrim, why so late and slow to comer' Emerson said of poetry that "it re quires a splendor of expression which carries with it the proof of great thoughts," and said of himself In 1835 T am born a poet, of low class, without doubt, yet a poet It Is my nature and my vocation. My singing, to be sure, is very husky and for the most part In prose." Arnold was correct wnen ne in slsted that so far as Emerson had genius It was the genius of a poet rather than of a philosopher. He can hardly be called a philosopher In. any exact sense. So far as Emerson had. any philosophy It was expressed in his as sent to Arnold's own creed, which de manded that a true civilization should be one of "sweetness and light" Em erson was a better exponent pf Arnold's creed than Arnold himself, for Emerson had a fine sense of humor, a keen, pene tratlng Yankee wit, while Arnold was utterly without humor. Lacking Emer son's fine sense of humor, Arnold was Emerson turned Anglomanlac; he was Emerson educated in an atmosphere of insular egotism. Emerson had sat at the feet pf Dr. Channing, and his so- called philosophy was but the irrepres sible evolution of a higher and nobler faith than that of hl3 fathers. Emer son, before he left the Unitarian pul pit, was a man of rare moral courage, who boldly uttered In a fine but keen, penetrating voice what Channing spoke in angelic whispers and lesser preach ers muttered in hesitating tones. The philosophy of Arnold and Emerson was the natural reaction from Puritan as ceticism in the pulpit It did not re quire high moral and spiritual genius to apprehend It, but It did require high moral courage to announce It When Emerson delivered his famous Phi Beta Kappa address in 1838, Edward Everett, at the commencement dinner, quoted a line from Virgil describing it "as three parts fire, three parts thirsty cloud. while all the rest was wind." Arnold was naturally an admirer of Emerson; he was, like Emerson, the son of an orthodox clergyman, and. like him, was a man of the moral pur pose and aspiration of a preacher joined to a fine poetic imagination; for. after Tennyson, Arnold was the finest poet of the Victorian age. Arnold was a masterly writer of English prose as well as poetry, and his judgment of Em erson may he accepted as sound that his permanent fame lies with his poetry rather than with his so-called essays and prose meditations; that he was a born poet rather than preacher or teacher; that he has written the best poetry that has yet been produced in America. Arnold appreciated and ad mired Emerson as a man of serene beauty of life and soul; a man who rendered great spiritual service to our day and generation; and yet there Is danger that Emerson will be oyer praised by those who forget that It Is not by being kept out of the world that the forces of life are tested. Em erson was the genius of quiet, spiritual culture rather than the genius of ac tion; he was a solitary thinker, not a powerful preacher and ubiquitous thinker, hero and martyr like Theodore Parker or Phillips Brooks. The tem peramental defect of Emerson was that he shrank instinctively from all practical, pugnacious experiences In life that were vexatious or repulsive to hlrnTNKe sometimes seems almost to shudder over Shakespeare, because his This standard would make Wordsworth a greater poet than Shakespeare, for Wordsworth has always something to say and was always didactic; but this fact does not make him a greater poet than Byron or Burns, who sang not because they thought it was right or because they thought it was their duty, but because they must sing, and, for this reason and chiefly for this reason, their songs to the common air continue to make their way. The enduring test of a poet Is not his didactic quality; it Is his success in endowing his own and suc ceeding generations with fresh modes of expression. Shakespeare surpasses all poets in this respect Milton comes next, and, after Milton, Byron and Cole ridge are the most fertile. Matthew Arnold, a far sounder literary critic than Emerson, places Byron at the head of all the poets of the nineteenth cen tury because of his "surpassing sincer ity and strength." Emerson's estimate of Shakespeare, of Shelley and Byron Indicate the limitations of his critical powers. Arnold fixed his true place In literature; he was essentially a poet not a philosopher, and who, as a poet touched our highest National mark of production. NO PCDLIO HONORS FOR PIRATES. The Rev. Dr. W. S. Rainsford, of St George's Church, New York City, re cently preached a sermon on "Money." Quoting the common remark, "Nothing counts here but money," he said, that It Is not true; that the things we cannot do without cannot be bought with money friendship, for example. Dr. Rainsford further said: The longer I see the superficial life which often goes with the possession of large sums of money the more I despise such a life. The people who make calls with you and go to the opera, with you may not be your friends at all. The more people seek to acquire and spend money the less real friendship are they capable of. Money Is not the only thing which goes. There Is much mushroom greatness and un healthy growth In the social life of this city, but there is not a single monument In this city to a man of money. Such men do sot make a mark, although they do make a splurge. Dr. Rainsford is right The monu ments that grateful states and great cities erect are not put up in honor of multi-millionaires. John D. Rockefeller is beyond doubt the richest man In the world of civilization and commerce. His wealth 13 growing so fast that the increase alone within ten years will reach a billion of dollars. His aggre gate Income for several years has been estimated at $75,000,000. His 560,000,000 of Standard Oil stock Is worth nearly $500,000,000 and brings him In about $40,000,000 annually; his Investments In railroads, mines, etc., yield him some $20,000,000, while his Income from real estate exceeds $1,000,000 a year. This Is Mr. Rockefeller's wealth. Now let any body 'who has read Ida M. Tarbell's wonderful story of "The Standard Oil Conspiracy," that has been running for several months in McClure's Magazine, a story most ably set forth and com pletely fortified by Its array of notorious facts, ask himself if ne believes there Is any danger that elthersthe country, the state or the city of sir. Rockefeller will be likely to erect any monument to his memory. Ida M. Tarbell Is far more likely to obtain a monument for the service she has done the cause of public 'morality In telling the story of the Rockefeller conspiracy, without fear or favor, than Rockefeller Is to be honored by an ad miring country for his shrewdness In holding up and picking the pockets de liberately of the small oil men of every dollar they contained. Rockefeller Is morally a great bandit In business, and If he had had his deserts would have been planted deep In the penitentiary years ago. The lightest mark that a man can make on the sands of time is to die a multl-mllllonalre. He cannot at death take his money away with him; if he takes anything away with him a death. It Is that moral and spir itual conquest over our worst passions and basest desires we call character; he cannot take his money with him if he has any at death; he can take his char acter with him if he has any at death. It is easjr to see that If the Christian scheme o salvation be sound, rich Mr. Rockefeller may feel dismally poor In the next world, for he will not have any treasure laid up In heaven. Giving churches and colleges and heathen mis sions a portion of his Ill-gotten wealth will not sanctify the Standard Oil con spiracy In face of the. terrible indict ment of Rockefeller that has been writ ten' In the Indelible Ink of truth by that exceedingly able woman, Ida M. Tar bell. Tomorrow the Intellectual and spirit ual civilization of America, without dis tinction of religious creed, will lift Its voice In words of memorial praise and honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Why? Not because he was a multl-mllllonalre. but because he was a man of rare splr- represents without Its own borders. Is this pity, then, to be merely wasted sentiment, an Impatient something which has performed its part when It turns shudderingly from the recital of the cruelties under which these people writhe through the years, and against which they cry out only when unspeak able atrocity Is added to the regular load which they are compelled by the government to bear? Is civilization limited in its measures of relief on these wretched, persecuted millions to the giving of alms In an unusual stress of brutality, or to the unsatisfactory at tempt to colonize these people In new and strange lands? Is the Russian con science so incrusted in miscalled Chris tian creed, so benumbed by the re morseless grip of a cruel priesthood, that it is impossible to arouse It? Is civilization, as represented by the na tions of Christendom, powerless to say to the successor of Ivan the Terrible upon the throne of Russia, "Thus far and no farther," and make good the Interdiction conveyed by these words against the oppression under which 6,000,000 Jews In Russia writhe? What 13 It that we hear now and again about this young monarch, the Czar of all the Russias? A grandson of kindly, humane King Christian of Den mark, allied by marriage to the royal families of England, Germany and Italy, an advocate of universal peace how t Is It possible to reconcile these facts with the other fact that he looks coldly on while 6,000,000 of his subjects are persistently, systematically perse cuted and robbed, and not Infrequently numbers of them are set upon with dire cruelties the least atrocious of which Is murder? Perhaps the nations of Christ endom, if they were to unite in a strong and earnest plea for these people, In the simple name of justice, might receive respectful audience at St Petersburg. This is doubtful, however, since In Rus sia it is the church against the Jew, and the orthodox church Is the most potent well-Intrenched, despotic power In the empire. This is the barrier behind which atrocity works against the Jew In Russia, unchallenged by the civilized forces of the empire. A fortress Im pregnable to reason, manned by cruelty, guarded at every approach by unre lenting despotism, It can only be Invested by processes of growth which have slowly but surely moved humanity on ward and upward through the ages, leaving yet some of the advance posts of cruelty to be taken. General Benjamin Viljoen, ex-Asslst- ant Commandant-General of the burgh er forces In the Boer War, should be, and no doubt Is, well qualified to judge of the industrial capacities and home- building qualities of his people. When, therefore, as told In a recent dispatch, he arrived in New York a few days ago to complete arrangements with the Mexican government by which 83,000 acres of the best land of that country have been 'secured for a colony from South Africa, it Is but reasonable, to suppose that he knows what he Is about and that the 1000 families of the Trans vaal which will in due time come over will find prosperity and contentment as well as homes In the beautiful, fertile strip of land known as Santa Rosalia, In the State of Chihuahua. The ad vance contingent of this colony Is al ready at work plowing and planting corn on the lands secured. General Vil joen sailed on his return to South Af rica on the 17th Inst, and will bring fifty families out Immediately. The others will follow In detachments from time to time as prudence dictates and funds will allow. While the great body of the Boers chafe at the changed con ditions that have made them subjects of Great Britain, the wiser among them have withdrawn open opposition to the new order of things, but they have not abandoned the hope that somewhere a country that shall be their very own awaits their occupancy, and that some time In the near future they will find and possess It As said by General Vil joen, the Boers are practically a peo ple without a home, and when he adds, "We hope to find one in the new coun try," he voices a wish that It Is char itable for a free people to echo. It may be-further hoped that these people have learned In their extremity some of the lessons of progress, and that they will apply them to the conditions that they will make for themselves In their new home. Stagnation of development with which they were satisfied and for which they fought In the Transvaal, may be possible for a while In Mexico; the Iso latlon which they desired may also be possible, but If they seek stubbornly to exclude the element of growth, except as it applies to corn and cattle, from their new surroundings, their settle ment in the New World will In time be beset with difficulties, even though their environment secured Is the most nonprogressive of any that exists on the North American Continent The Providence Journal finds In the wording of the recent fast-day procla mation of the Governor of Maine a de sire for a clean conscience stronger than a wish to conform to the require ments of good taste. The following language of this Instrument seems to justify this mild conclusion: Wholly contrary to good sense, and in spite of my own convictions, I do now appoint a fast day, hoping nobody will observe It, feel Ing sure that It la a mockery and a farce and wishing with all my heart that It might be abolished and thus enable me to keep a clean conscience. The Idea of a fast day has been so long outgrown that It Is surprising that the institution as such has not been abolished long ago. While It Is no doubt true that the American people eat too much, it is folly to suppose that total abstinence from food for a day conduces to a humble and contrite spirit, and It Is ridiculous, at least, to act upon the supposition of proclaiming a legal fast day, which makes those who observe it eat more ravenously the next day, but which common-sense people generally disregard even with out waiting for the Governor to exhort them to do so. The arrest in the City Park Thurs day of a harmless old fanatic who es chews the bath, carries his Bible In his hand when he walks abroad, and, so far as he has any political opinions. leans toward socialism, as a "suspi cious person" Is not surprising. Ex perlence has demonstrated that per sons of this type or appearance are not always as harmless as they look, and prudence, as developed by the dastardly murder of more than one President of the United States, errs, if it can be called an error, on the side of safety when such a person is quietly locked up until the Presidential procession moves on. The pathetic side to the picture Is afforded In the fact that Mr. St Francis Is a great admirer, almost worshiper, of President Roosevelt, and has looked forward to seeing him as a red-letter day In his lonely and almost sad career. It Is a pity that at least one of our long-haired insufferables was not locked up with him and given the choice between thirty days and a bath and haircut HOW TO TRIAT REPORTERS. Victor Smith, In New York Prese. One of the leading reporters in this city was Introduced to' a Wall-Street brok er, a- man of considerable consqueace, but much puffed up with bis success aa an elghths-and-quarters go-between. Tha Introduced had neglected to mention that ho was a reporter, and the conversation was general. Later on the Identity of tho gentleman was exposed, whereupon tha broker threw up his hands, exclaiming: "Good God! A reporter! I'm ruined. Why didn't you say so before you Intro duced him?" The situation was slightly strained. The .reporter said quietly: "Don't let that worry you. In the first place, I am not here for news, ideas or suggestions. In the second, what you know is not worth publishing. .In the third, nobody outside of this office ever heard of you; therefore, what you might Bay would bo of no newspaper .Interest In the fourth, I carry more Wall-Street secrets in my memory than you ever dreamed of secrets of big mn and great institutions. You are perfectly safe. Good morning." In less than two minutes that broker, frightened ao badly, sent a friend to tha reporter, begging him to mention an af fair In which he personally was deeply Interested. He Is one of a numerous class affecting to be holler than reporters until needing a write-up, then groveling. Suc cessful men in public life, almost -without exception, rely upon the reporter as a stepping-stone to high ofiice. They will take him Into their confidence, steer him safely between the devlf and the deep sea, help him to earn his salary by load ing him up with news, and Incidentally prosper their own cause. A combination of reporters could ruin any man in this country. Owners of papers, editors-in-chief, managing editors and city editors cannot possily get in so close touch with the average man as can the reporters, the ofiice representatives, whom they send out to hunt for facts in the market place, the palace, the hovel, the prison, the church, the wide, wide world. I should like to propose a high school for the education of all men on the sub ject of "How to Treat a Reporter." It would end all friction. Let the puouc first understand that the reporter is bound to have the news at all risks. It he cannot get It at first hand he will take it at second, or third or tenth, tio is not going back to his editor with a hangdog look and say he has iauea. Never! He will take fake first ana taKe chances of being caught or vindicated. On reputable papers, if caught faking, he soon loses his Job. No reporter in his right senses wants to fake. He wants the truth every time. Then why hlae it; Why Insult him? Why increase bis labors a thousand fold? Why keep him out on the still hunt all night when by treating him In 'a common, sensible manner you could set him right in a second and have early copy for the composing room? Many persons look down on reporters as If they were inferior creatures. They forget that 99 times in 100 the newsgatn erers are of higher caste than those from whom they seek information. Reporters are not looking for anything good about people, for the public wouli never stop to read it They want all the bad about men and women they can dig out and It Is the bad things about bad people that make the newspaper interesting. Through long mingling with the evil classes reporters become contammatea, and It must not be wondered at if there should be an occasional fall from grace. I do not know any reporters who are angels, and I do know some who are devils with painted wings, but take them all in all they are the best set of ieiiows In the world, working like mad for theli employers, spending liberally, living mer rily and ever eager to do a favor ana forget It WHAT'S WITH THE MATTER YACHTING? Portland's lovers of aquatic sports are at last awakening to the fact that the Willamette River affords great op portunity for this kind of outdoor ex ercise. The yachting club and the row ing club have both been struggling along with indifferent support for some years, and why this should be Is a question not easily answered. This season, however, ' even early as it 13, has developed a keener Interest In the sport and with both organizations on firm financial basis Portland Is In for a season of aquatic sport such as has never been enjoyed in the city's history. While the Interest in yachting is not what it should be, considering the natural resources, the Rowing Club is flourishing In the most approved fash ion. This club has a membership of over 200, and on its rolls are some of the best amateur oarsmen in the coun try, and without undue boasting fours could be selected from the half dozen sets In the club which. If they were to go East, would rank close to the crack3 of that section of the country. On the 30th of this month the crack Junior four of the University of California will race with a select four from the Port land Rowing Club. This will be the .first of many races which the club will take part in this season. The Willam ette River affords a natural course which is openthe year round. During the Winter months and early Spring the current Is very swift making row ing difficult, butr in spite of this the various crews of the club rarely miss a day. This battling with swift cur rents fits the members of the local club for fast racing and makes them form idable opponents, not only on their home course, but on any other that they might be called to row upon. Before the season closes the Rowing Club will have a new clubhouse.- The new building will be handsomely equipped and In every way will be a credit to Portland. This will create renewed Interest In the sport and will also permit the club to become one of the social features of the 'city. Just why yachting Is not more popu lar Is not known. It Is not because the river does not afford ample space and sufficient wind, nor is it because yachts cannot be built hers as cheaply. A unique as well as beautiful and striking feature of the President's pa rade in this city was the moving hu man flag, with its undulations of red. white and blue. The happy faces that shone above the National colors In which the children were clad showed the patriotic and personal Interest that each child felt In the day and occa sion. Neither the fatigue Incident to the exacting drill that had preceded the display, and to the march of many blocks with military precision, nor the rain that fell in the late afternoon. clouded the happiness, of the living fac tors in this pulsating "Star-Spangled Banner." After being disbanded, the flag children broke up Into bands and wended their way homeward, wet and mud-bespattered, but happy still, as their cheerful voices and merry laugh ter testified. It Is safe to say that this feature of the Presidential parade will be described to listening and delighted children In many homes In future years, over which the laughing little girls of today preside as matrons and moth ers. The Idea embodied In the Hying, moving flag was a quaint and happy one, and Professor Krohn 13 to be con- gratulated upon the manner In which It was carried out and the school au thorities in general upon the perfect discipline demonstrated. A provision in the agricultural ap propriation bill passed by Congress at Its last session, and which is now a law, is very stringent as a preventive of the importation and sale of adulter ated, Impure, falsely labeled and dele terious drugs and articles of food and drink. The purpose is rigorously to exclude all such products, and the power to do so Is placed In the hands of Government officials. While- this power will not be used unfairly or ar bitrarily, It Is but human to suppose that It will be In a measure retaliatory. A great deal of the food, wine, drugs, etc.. Imported into this country Is adul terated, some of It harmfully and some objectionably without being positively. Injurious. Since some foreign nations have gone aside to discriminate against American products as unhealthful merely to cut them off, they will have no cause to complain that our Gov ernment has decided to scrutinize their products on this basis a little more closely than It has done heretofore. Persons who feel that their talents do not at present declare a large divi dend ought to find some consolation in the fact that five of the leading jockeys have been engaged at salaries ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 for the season. An eminent actor makes more than twice as much as the most successful author, and so does a popular dancer. and probably a successful prizefighter makes more money than a popular actor. The only man of brains that seems to find a market for his wares Is Flnley P. Dunne, the popular hu morist, who Is reported to have made an engagement to write for the Har pers for a salary of $40,000 a year. O. P. Austin, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, finds by comparison that the United States imported between seven and eight tlme3 as much medicinal opium in 1902 as was imported- in 1898. Specifically, a total of 72,287 pounds of this drug was Imported In the earlier and 548,674 pounds in the later year. Compared according to values, the Im portation of morphia and salts rose during the five years covered from $33,- 629 to $96,559, those of cocaine and salts In the same period from $59,660 to $254,- 704, and those of morphine from $989,690 to $2,549,421. The suggestion behind these figures is appalling. Of course, It Is Impossible to determine how much of this enormous Increase in consump tion is due to and chargeable against physicians who are all too prompt In prescribing these drugs and how much to the ignorance and carelessness of the victims themselves. It is sufficient to say that between the two causes the effect is something to make humanity shudder. On March 31 last the national debt of Great Britain was 800,443,38, as com pared with 635,040,965 on March 31, 1S93. From this It can be seen that the Boer War added in round numbers 165.000.000 to the debt The total debt today is higher than It has been since I8C9, when It was 804,458,000, and Great Britain now owes only ,&0,GG6 less ihan. it-did at th outbreak of ihe Crl- Whlle It Is natural that Jews should repel with Indignation the statements of Count Casein! In regard to the Rus sian Jews, It Is not surprising that the statements should have been made. His master's servant the Count could not remain silent when confronted by the Klshlnef tale, by which his govern ment was arraigned before the broad open court of humanity. Nor could he speak without attempting a defense of his government His attitude i3 that of a politician sLt bay, of a man upon whom devolves the difficult task pf making the" worse, appear 'the better- reason. WHERE THE ROMANCE LIES. Kansas City Star. From one Dolnt of view the JJewLs and Clark expedition, which started up tha Missouri 99 years ago, was a tnorougniy romantic affair. The explorers were ioi lowlng a strangely attractive yet treacher. ous river Into a land where no white man had ever trod. For -months they were to wander in the wilderness. They were to lose themselves in the continuous woods where rolls the Oregon, and - hears no sound save his own dashings." It was a journey to delight a poet's soul. Yet from another standpoint the trip was a very nrosalc enterprise. There was plenty of rough work ahead of the ex plorers. They were to travel several tnou- sands miles in boats ana on loot. j.ney were to be drenched with rain, chilled by cold, tormented by mosquitoes and worn with rowing and climbing. For months they were not to see a man of their own race. Lewis and Clark themselves, while they doubtless looked forward to the trip with zest, as young and vigorous men should, probably never thought of it as an heroic or romantic undertaKing. After all. the romance of a thing lies In the point of view. It Is thoroughly sub jective. The old Illustration of the falling tree on the deserted island applies nera. The atmospheric waves do not constitute sound unless there Is an ear and Drain to transform them, and all the elements of romance may make a vain appeal to the prosaic mind. Most persons have enough of the emotional about them to see the romantic aspect of things when once some poet has pointed It out But where they have nobody to guide them they stumble about blindly. That Is why KIp llne's McAndrew appeals for some Robbie Burns to sing the song of steam. The song of the scythe and' the gleaner has been ' sung of tenenough. But the modern reaper and steam thresher, though as romantic as their ancient prototypes nave wen neglected and declared to be unpoeticai. Their seer has not yet come. Thousands of Dersons have wandered along the Arkansas River and seen only a commonplace stream, witn sanaoars no hinsr the slucrelsh current It took a man of Ingalls quality of soul to write to Major Inman he of "The uia oama ne Trail" "I shall read your book and see if you have caught the subtle romance of the mysterious and lascinaung river, -wnu the sandhill cranes flying over its soli tudes." From the standpoint of the freighters the trail itself wa3 a mere road over which they drove their wagon trains. But to a man like Noble Prentls It was 'transformed into a strange highway, as romantic as ever the ram heat upon, ao most persons a daisy Is hardly more than weed. But woraswortn saw it witn other eyes. The city or town or country oiten iooks monotonous enough to the person who sees It day after day until suddenly his atten tion 13 called to some aspect of It which gives it a new meaning to him. The poe try was there an along, DUt ne naa Deen blind to It before. The man or woman who longs for the opportunity that came to Lewis and Clark has Just as large a field of romance on every side if he but knew it The Valley of the Missouri' Is no less fascinating and mysterious now that It is crowded with towns and cities than it was In the days of the mastodon or when the "dragons of the prime tore each other in their slime." But the" ro mance belongs to the person who feela it not to the river valley. The YoHHg May Moea. Thomas' Moore. Tho young- Hay moon Is beaming:. love. The glow-worm's lamp is gleaming; love; How sweet to rove Through Morna's grave. When the drowiy world Is dreaming, love I Then awake! the heavens look bright.' my dear. 'TIh never too lata for delight, my dear; And the best of all ways To lengthen our days i Is to steal a tew hours from the night my dear I Now all the world Is sleeping, love. But the sage, his star-watch keeping-, 'love; And I, whose star More glorious tar; Is the eye from that casement peeping, love, Then awake! till rite ot the sub, my - dear. The sage's glaa we'll hws. say dear: Or. la watchlsg the Sight Of bodies oe light . . He ssigbt happen to tafca thee- toM,jsy dMct