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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1905)
s THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 15, 190S. Zntered at the Postofflee at Portland. Or., as econd-clou matter. SUBSCKIPXIOX RAXES. I NVAHIAB LT IN ADVJLKCE. (By Mall or Express.) Daily Bad Sunday, jr year J9.00 Bally and Sunday, six months. ....... COO Dally and Sunday, three months... .j.. S.55 Dally and Sunday, per month .... .83 Dally without Sunday, per year - 7.50 Dally without Sunday, aix months 3.00 Dally without Sunday, three months... 1-85 Dally without Sunday, per month 63 Sunday, per year 2.00 Sunday, six months 1.00 Sunday, three months 6 BT CARRIER, Daily without Sunday, per week 15 Dally per week. Sunday Included...... -20 THE WEEKLY O REG ONI AN. (Issued Every Thursday.) Weekly, per year.......... 1.50 Weekly, alx months 75 Weekly, three months 30 HOW TO REMIT Send poetoffice money order,, expiess order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. EASTERN' BUSINESS OFFICE. The 8. C. Beckwith Special Agency New Tork; Rooms 4S-50. Tribune building. Chi cago; Rooms 510-S12 Tribune building. Tlie Oregonian docs not buy poems or stories from Individuals and cannot under take to return any manuscript sent to It without solicitation. No stamps should be Inclosed tor tbio purpose. KEPT OX SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex; Postofnee News Co., 378 Dearborn street. Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & Ivend- rl k. 306-912 Seventeenth street, and Frue nuK Bros.. COS Sixteenth street. Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Los Angeles Harry Drapkln. Oakland, CaL W. H. Johnston. Four teenth and Franklin streets. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh. 50 South Third; L. Rogelaburger. 217 First avenue South. New York City L. Jones t. Co.. Astor House. Ogden F. R. Godard and Myers & Har rop. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1C12 Farnuam; Mageath Stationery Co., 1808 Farnam. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second street South. San Francisco J. IC Cooper & Co., 746 Markot street; Foster & Crcar, Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter; L. E. Lee. Palace Hotel News Stand: F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market; Frank Scott, SO Ellis; N. Wlieatley, S3 Stevenson; Hotel St. Francis News Stand. Washington. D. C Ebblt House News Stand. , ' PORTLAND, SUNDAY, FEB. 1?, 1003. IT IS THE END. It does not become The Oregonian to say very much at tills time about the disclosures made through A. H. Tan ner's confession yesterday, in Judge Bellinger's court. There needs no hom ily on the moral effect of this confes sion on the position ' and fortunes of John H. Mitchell. Almost alone during many years. The Oregonian was a rrltlc, accuser and opponent of Mr. Mitchell. Many thought it was censur ing him without just cause. These per sons now such of them as survive may be disposed to revise the harsh opinion of The Oregonian which they entertained at that time, and for long afterward. The wisest thing Mr. Tanner could havedone was to tell the truth, though it involved a most humiliating confes sion of. misconduct and guilt, on his own part. "When a man is wrong the proper thing for him to do is to get right at the very first moment he can, regardless of everything else. The proofs in the hands of District Attor ney Honey were decisive. Mr. Tanner knew what they were; and it was cred itable to him as a father that he re fused further 4lb imperil and to dis grace his son. But though the part and place of Mr. Tanner are important in the develop ment of this remarkable drama, he is but a minor figure in it. The chief fig urethe man in high place whom this confession involves, and who now can make no defense let no one now name him but with pity. It Is such a. fall! Superfluous It is to say that such a career and such a fall point the most "mpressive moral that the biston- of Oregon has known. To think of that speech of solemn denial, made with amotion and tears, and of the denun ciation and defiance, in the Senate, less than one month ago, and then fo have this revelation! But The Oregonian cannot pretend to surprise. It has read ers by thousands who know why . The Oregonian could say much. It will say little. Tt rojoices in no man's downfall. Enough now to say that Sen ator Mitchell was. He still is Senator -nomlnnllybut that title to him lis not even the shadow of a name the name that has dominated the politics of Oregon nearly forty years. The only wonder Is that this exposure has been delayed so long. MATING HEARTS. February, which Henley has called "the moon of half-candled meres" a description particularly appropriate to Multnomah County Just at present is chiefly notable for being the month wherein occurs "Valentine's day. Half way through February the birds begin to mate, according to the old belief, so it is entirely fit that at the same period the young man's fancy should lightly turn to thoughts of making him self solid with his best girl. Tour lover is only too anxious to find some excuse for a visit, or. If that is impracticable, for the sending of a missive to the ob ject of his affection. It is easy then to see how the practice of sending val entines became so popular that today we have even postal cards especially designed to facilitate this delightful duty on the part of the young man who would "fleet the time carelessly, as they did In the golden world." It must have been of Valentine's day that Henley, who is now dead Jo the influences of Spring, thought when he sang: The nightingale has a lyro of gold. The lark's Is a clarion call. And the blackbird playa but a boxwood flute. But I lovo him best of all. For Itis song Is all of the Joy of life. And we In the mad. Spring weather. We two have listened till he sang Our hearts and lips together. But of course such a pretty custom us that of selecting a valentine for the ensuing year, one whose colors might be worn upon her knight's helmet, as it were, could not go without burlesque, and so It comes that today we have val entines of all sorts, from the somewhat antiquated ones of pierced hearts and tender sentiments to the unadulterated "comic," of which the only apparent object is to insult its 'recipient as much as possible. The latter are meant, so far as their meaning is ascertainable, as a lesson to the person who receives them, a dose of unpalatable truths that will cure the faults which prompted them. The comic valentine should chasten the spirit of him or of her to whom It is sent, to the end that there may be a reformation of character. Valentines of this sort, however, are not valentines. As Lamb had a list of books that were no books, so all true lovers will class anything but an ex pression of the deepest devotion as mere trifling with a serious subject. "When Angelina opens her letters on Tuesday morning she will find one from Edwin, and It will say, In the ages-old lan guage of the lover, that his heart is pierced and bleeding. Angelina will single out Edwin's missive for a place with her other like treasures, and will subsequently do her best to stanch the flow from the wounded heart. This Is the true use of Valentine's day, and all that has enabled it to survive in this prosaic age, when Cupid is an outcast and civil marriages are the rule. It is a little tribute to Romance, a wild flow er blowing in a chink of the paved street, and long life to St Valentine Is wished by all who have souls beyond curt letters of business. TWO ANNIVERSARIES. On this day in well-nigh every lan guage used by civilised' men and In nearly all almanacs which profess to recall dates of interest, these names will be seen Abraham Lincoln, born February 12, 1809, and Charles Darwin, born February 12, 1809. Both, were un noticeable for any accident of birth. Both lived through long years of ap prenticeship and preparation before being called to prominent service for men. Both wrote their names large in the history of our race. The one was robbed of his full reward by the assas sin's bullet at the pinnacle of his career, the other rounding out a long life of arduous work by the full appre ciation of his services to thought and knowledge. Though a continent apart in birthplace and surroundings, sepa rated as widely in the orbits in which tbey moved, each one born on the same day, they would doubtless be set In the small group of the greatest men of their century, possibly as the two greatest for character and achievements. "Whether in the world of National, po litical and social life, or in the world of thought and pure knowledge, certain currents may be recognized, more or less effective at any given moment. No great world change or consummation, no great discovery, no great invention stands alone as the product of one man, but will be found to be resultant from surroundings operating on many men. In other words, the individual, with whose personality the mighty event i forever connected, who stands out as the hero of the movement, is the em bodiment, the representative of the en vironment In which his place has been set. Abraham Lincoln, born and raised on the border land between North and South in this Republic, nurtured amid poor surroundings, where the needs of food, clothing and schooling during childhood and early youth pressed hard ly on him, was yet storing in character the seeds of patience, persistency, in dependence, modesty, courage and faithfulness. Such qualities would have adorned a cottage and created the at mosphere of love and happiness in an unnoticed home. So graced were the careers of thousands born and placed as he was who lived unnoticed lives. How came it, then, that this one emerged, and lived to represent the Union of this great Nation? As he came to a late maturity amid the awkwardness and roughness of that backwoods social life, other men, other minds, met him. He entered on the new environment. As he studied the thoughts of the Nation, its history, its heroes, its struggles, its ideals, the is sues of political life became the reali ties of his being. As the man thinketh so is he. His soul was as the Marconi pole, gathering, receiving and respond ing to the electric currents in the free air. But the currents were there. He became thenceforth the central point round which were grouped the forces which in the end sustained and con firmed the fabric of the Union of the United States. So settled is this fact that the then impending war was won before the first shot was fired, won when Abraham Lincoln was chosen President of this Nation. For he stood for the winning principle, the free life of a united people. He saw clearly, as few men have done, he had the great endowment of clear expression, and he fought through to the end for his ideal. The story of Lincoln's life and death should bo familiar to every schoolboy and needs no retelling here. "When the stage was set. the scenes prepared, the, part learned, the other actors ready for their parts also, the star appeared. All the fine qualities of his nature served to adorn, but the force lay in his faith fulness, his truth, his patience, his patriotism. " On the same day, Charles Darwin was born, a doctor's son in a provincial English city. In no way was he re markable as a child, but as a schoolboy making acquaintance with the crea tures of field and wood and burrow. He began the study of his life at the University of Edinburgh, and owing much to the natural science teacher he found there. Thence going to the Uni versity of Cambridge, and there study ing specially entomol ogy and geology. Just as .he was about to leave the uni versity the Invitation to join the sur veying ship The Beagle, then being prepartd for a five years' cruise, came to him. A place was ready for a young naturalist to the expedition, and, by the good offices of Professor Henslow. who knew him well, Charles Darwin had the chance to fill it. His father was averse to his going, but promised his consent if the son could find one sensible man to advise it." Charles Darwin tells us in the autobiographical sketch printed in the Life by Dr. Frank Darwin that he, disappointed', went to stay with his uncle, Joslah "Wedgwood, and told him ithe story. This uncle, recognized as a sensible man, drove twenty-seven miles to Shrewsbury to advise Dr. Darwin to let the young man go. And he went. Here was a time when mighty issues on little causes hung. For five years the little brig Beagle sailed along the shores of the South American Continent; anchored here, drifting there, now in this harbor, now in that, the deep-sea dredge bringing the molluscs and crustaceans from ocean's depths, the ravines and river beds of the coast exposing the bones and relics of the monsters of the past, the wide-open pampasjtnd plains bring ing to the naturalist the animals of to day, the forests the insects, the rivers the fish, all were collected, noted, de scribed by the young observer. Pa tient, untiring, courageous, thoughtful, he was the best example of the advice he afterwards gave, "Collect copiously, record accurately, and do much think ing." The human race on that conti nent was also carefully studied. The savage races of TIerra. del Fuego were noted as examples of unrestrained feel ing, used many years afterward In that most Interesting book on the "Expres sion of the Emotions in Men and Ani mals." "When Charles Darwin returned to England in 1825 he brought shat tered health, having been a constant sufferer from sea sickness during the long voyage. During all the remainder of his life he was a most weakly man. and his life work was fought through only by the most careful observance of minute laws of health- The first thoughts of the ddctrine of progressive life were suggested to him from the points of resemblance and difference be tween existing races of animal life and those of which he found the relics from pant ages in the rocks, gravels and mud of the ancient river beds and ocean coast -benches of South America? between 1831 and 1836. For twenty years he refrained from publication of the observations and deductions, accu mulated, pondered over, revised, and re drawn, until suggestion had been in his mind replaced by deduction from an ever-increasing mass of fact. Cautious and repeated experiment on forms of life underselected breeding and rear ing served to sustain the conclusions he had reached. The wdnderfully parallel discoveries of Alfred Russel "Wallace in the Malay Archipelago hastened the disclosure. "When the "Origin of Spe cies" at last saw the light, men stood In wonder at the simplicity and novelty of the theory which it had taken twenty years to formulate and support by proofs often disputed, never subverted. The overturning of established -bo-llefs made Charles Darwin thencefor ward a mark for daws to peck at. The most modest, careful and self-restrained of men became an object of bitter at tack from most of the pulpits and many of the journals of the so-called orthodox faith. Calm in conviction, serene and unmoved under fire, his only defense was: "I seek facts, I study Nature, theology is outside my province." His life was one of continuous industry. In private life he was the most loveable of men. "When he died in harness on universal tide of respect and admira tion swept over the civilized world. His place was set, an enduring title, the man who, not Invented, but discovered the law of progress by survival of th fittest, as governing the world. In th life and work of Charles Darwin Is seen another illustration of the preparation by many minds and much labor of th& conditions under which one representa tive, one might almost say, one Incar nation, of the spirit of the age stands out for all time to come. IvROJt THE BOTTOM TO THE TOI A few days ago the "Washington Leg islature elected to the United States Senate a comparatively young man, who, but a little more than 20 years ago, was digging ditches, building roads and performing other labor of the com monest type. This new Senator. Sam uel H. Piles, will take his place in that exalted circle of lawmakers a poor man untainted by such scandals as have so frequently accompanied the election of some men to high oilice. Last week E. E. Calvin, for the past year general" manager of the O. R. & N. Co. and Southern Pacific lines in Oregon, was promoted to the position of general manager of the Southern Pacific system, with Its vast mileage extending from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico and with extensive branches leading north and south throughout the entire distance across the southern part of the United States. And yet Mr. Cal vin, who has -been placed in charge of this great property and the army of employes, is just past 46 years of age, and less than 25 years ago was a tele graph operator at obscure stations in various parts of the "West. Mr. Calvin succeeded C. IL Murk ham, a man who rose from the humble position of section hand to that of gen eral manager of the Southern Pacific and left the latter position for one still more remunerative. These instances are only a few of many with which ail are familiar. There are A. L. Mohler, ex-fireman and brakeman, now at the head of the great Union Pacific sys tem; Ben Campbell, fourth vice-president, and In full charge of all traffic on the Great Northern, and J. G. "Wood worth, general traffic manager of the Northern Pacific. They were all poor boys once, and all began at the bottom of the ladder, and they started the up ward climb not so long ago but that their beginning is still a matter of gen eral knowledge and an example worthy of the emulation of all young men. There were no such vast aggrega tions of wealth, nor such princely sal aries, in the railroad business a quarter of a century ago as are "now In evi dence, but It Is not difficult, to hark back that far, and hear the wall of the pessimist who then, as now, asserted that there was no longer an opportunity for a poor man. But the poor man has been steadily coming to the front We find him today Just as eager and will ing to "Breart the blows of circumstance And grasp the eklrta of happy chance." as he was- a quarter of a century ago. The expansion on industrial lines has steadily widened the field for the tal ents of the poor but brainy man, and today those talents command higher figures than ever before. Nothing in the history of the past, or In the out look for the future, can warrant the be lief that the time will ever come when energy and brains will fall to command promotion ahd the financial emolu ments which accompany It. Knowledge Is power, and such It has been since the world began and. so It will continue so long as the march of civilization Is toward a higher plane. All over this broad land today, in tele graph and freight offices, in locomotive cabs and In other obscure positions, are the poor young men who a quarter of a century hence will be managing the vast railway systems of the land. Burn ing the midnight oil and working at any kind of labor that will supply them with food, is another .class of poor young men from whose ranks a gen eration hence will come our Senators. Congressmen, jurists and others high in the councils of state. A new race of industrial and political leaders must graduate from the school of experience to take the place of tlie men who not so many years hence will lay down their burdens and pass on to their re ward. We heard the wall of the pessimist, the Socialist and the anarchist, a gen eration ago; we hear it today; and those of us who are, still alive will hear It a generation hence; but so long as the spirit of ambition - and emulation fires the good red blood of the American cit izen, there will he plenty of men of the type of Calvin, Piles, Markham, Mohler and others of similar worth, who will turn a deaf ear to all preachers of the socialistic doctrine of equality in man. As It was in the beginning' and as It will be to the end, "some must follow and some command," and out of the ranks of industrial, literary, political and other workers will continue to come an endless procession of graduates who will prove by example that poverty is no bar to greatness and that there is always "room at the top." UNEARNED INCREMENT. The other day one of the minor lights in the Standard Oil galaxy went out. His name was Charles Lockhart, he lived at Pittsburg a quiet and unobtru sive lire. He started in, after the usual fashion of the modern millionaire, as ia boy at 12 cents a day, or 75 cents a week; he lived an uneventful life, and his fortune at his death was represent ed, perhaps, by the receipt of an income from Standard Oil of 518,000,000 a year, or "f57,508 per day. These figures are taken from a reputable Eastern jour nal, which details them In a simple ahd straightforward fashion. Nothing is said or apparently known against this man. He was just a mi nor star In the Rockefeller cluster, and took what was coming to him by virtue of his investments in that mine to which Golconda was a desert. Consoli dated Virginia a peanut stand. Of course, such a growth anureturn is un natural and wicked. But the question is how, rightly, to correct the condi tion which made it possible. Submitting the pages written by Miss Tarbell, and the thunder and lightning of Thomas "W. Lawsou, to calm reading and liberal discount, is It not clear that the unrighteous railroad contract, the secret rebates, the cruel discrimination, were the keys that unlocked the doors to this unlimited wealth? Let the dead past bury its dead, but destroy forever the chance of future accumulations by such means. SCHOOL IN THE OLD DAYS. "The Old Red Schoolhouse," a sketch by Eugene "Wood in the current num ber of McClure's Magazine, means much to those of a passing generation who alone will read it understanding. The writer, who, in reminiscent mood, details the sports and recites- the Inci dents of which the country schoolhouse of three-score yeara ago was the center; who, "merely as a matter of taste," de fends the quality of McGuffey's school readers against all comers; who pic tures the excitement that reached to the uttermost corners of two rival dis tricts upon the occasion of a "choosing up and.pelllng down" between the pu pllB of the respective schools; who tells of "speaking pieces," the dread of which exercise in due time turned to assurance and made us a "nation of orators"; of "reading in concert," of ciphering upon slates, and the surrep titious use of these now discarded aids to mathematical calculation for the game of tit-tat-toe an Indoor sport "entirely inimical to the studw of the 'joggerfy' lesson" such a writer is sure of a multude of readers whose eyes grow misty behind their glasses as the successive chords of memory are touched by the recital. The reflection and the thrill that come with if that "at this very hour all over tht3 land a living tide Upbearing, the hopes and prayers of God only knows how many loving hearts the tide on which all our longed-for ships are-to come in is set ting toward the schoolhouse," are shared by hundreds of thousands of men and women who know the "little red school house" only as an illustration of a quaint and amusing story. Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, A ragged beggar sunning; Around it jstill the sumachs crow. And blackberry vines are running. Sang "Whittier in tenderly reminiscent mood, more than a third of a century ago. The word-picture that follows these lines has opened the floodgates of memory many a time, and still repre sents a reality to the rapidly receding number -who learned to "read and write and cipher" in the "Old Red School house" of the past. IN NEW ENGLAND. The Fall River cotton mills strike, which began last June and was ended early In January, through the inter vention of Governor Douglas, present ed, among other things, a condition of self-restraint among a class of Idle laborers, 26,000 strong, that was highly commendable, and, Indeed, under the circumstances, little less than wonder ful. These people were Idle half a year at a los3 of $200,000 a week in wages, and a cost of $1000 a week in strike relief, yet the records show that the arrests from August 1 to December 31, the time that covered the most dis tressing period of the strike, were only 1315, or CSS less than in the correspond ing period for 1903. Strong in the justice of their conten tion for a living wage; striking against a cut of 12 per cent In pay that -had already within the year suffered a 10 per cent reduction; holding out "firmly In the face of absolute want In their homes, and meeting only from week to week the Inexorable determination of the mill companies not to recede from the demand against which they struck, these men and women, who knew noth ing but work in the mills, and the pinching economies that it provided, refrained throughout the entire period of stress and anxiety from noisy or riotous demonstration. And after all they went back still without threat or Invective, practically on the mill treasurer's terms a 12 per cent cut beyond the 10 per cent decrease In which they had already acquiesced. The only gain was a provision secured by the intervention of Governor Douglas for a sliding, scale which may mean an increase In wages later on. Economic questions Involved in this strike of New England workers, who are among the most patient, self-respecting, economical plodders in the world, have been widely discussed, with tills long-drawn-out struggle 4is a text. The situation is one not readily com prehended. It ha3 indisputably the two sides that belong to every conten tion. As stated by Charities: "It is part of one of those industrial adjust ments -which deeply react upon com munities of workers. But regardless of the purely industrial side of the question, of'the economic relations be tween Northern mills within reach of the market and 'Southern mills within reach of the cotton fields, between Northern capital in Northern mills and Northern capital in Southern mills, and of rivalries between individual mill owners, there are social -factors In the situation which demand attention." Mlsa Gertrude Barnuih, secretary of the "Woman's Trade Union League, who worked throughout the strike period In behalf of the mill girls, makes the fol lowing .presentment of the social and domestic conditions of this community of American workers who have been brought up-in the mills of New Eng land. Presaging that the conditions" of work are the conditions of life for these operatives. Miss Barauni says: The entire family of the operative U obliged to work with him in the mill to meet family expenses. His old mother and father are still working as sweepers and dorters until too decrepit for even these humble tasks. His wife "asks .out" only lone enough to boar and wean her children. His 13-year-old daughter too often wears glasses and coughs. hU 14-ycar-old children have bidden farewell to play and sunshine for ever. All together this family starts out In the gray morning, jtfter a hasty break fast, to their respective alleys la the mill By the artificial lights they prepare their work for the moment when the wheels shall begin, to roar at 0:30. The noon hour la en croached upon by more cleaning and prep aration at the machines. All day the work ers breathe cotton lint and listen to the noise, which Is so great that no shout can be heard abova It. At C o'clock at night they leave the steamy air. and plunge into any kind of weather for the return tramp home. The principal meal has been the hot dinner served In tin palls for $1 per week, and eaten from the floor of the mill. A few families own their own little wooden cottages; more of them live In tene ments: far too many of these are shock ingly overcrowded. The mill girl still has spirit enough to Indulge In the $1.08 picture hat, in the $2.48 silk waist, whether or not she can afford proper underclothing and shoes. For amusement she occupies the- gal lery seat at the cheap theater. What woman is more entitled to finery and recre ation than the woman who earns her living? The men are often- driven to drink by the conditions of their childhood and of their working life. The cheap piano In the home, the baseball game, and the 10. 20, 30 shows are the only Influences which rival the temp tion of the saloon. These are conditions that would seem to justify "race suicide," since they are conditions that intelligent parents should certainly hesitate to perpetuate through the medium of their own flesh and blood. That, when in open pro test against lowering wages that per mit even this meager subsistence and modest style of living, these people have refrained from violence either of speech or action. Is, as before said, surprising. It shows a degree of self control among them that may properly be assessed as one of the most substan tial virtues of good citizenship. One does not have to become a champion of the one side or the other In this great Industrial contest to appreciate and admire the self-restraint of these people under the trying circumstances in which they found themselves. Those who see in this evidence that the New England mill towns have been proba tionary schools for large bodies of in dustrial Americans, and that the stand ard of each new Influx of workers has been advanced by going through mills, BUggest that this strike may yet prove a substantial gain to the operatives by oushinc- them out into higher lines of work for which they are fitted. Thi3 Is an Ideal rather than a practical view, however, -since work In the mills fits the masses only for mill work. ANALYSIS OF IRRIGATION BILL. A substitute for the irrigation bill (House bill No. 51) was on February 8 Introduced in the Oregon Legislature by the committee on irrigation. It con tains hut fifteen sections, but is per haps the most vague in its wording and far-reaching in Its effects of any bill yet Introduced with any admitted idea of its passing. It is to be hoped that it will be carefully revised and amended before being placed on its passage in either house. Its main object was understood to be to facilitate, as far as the State of Ore gon could do so properly, the work of the United States In carrying through Irrigation works In Oregon. The hill sets about this In wholesale fashion. Section 2 authorizes the appropriation by the United States of all Oregon wat ers which the Government officers may fancy to be intended to be utilized (pur pose not Btated). To effect this ail the United States officer has to do Is to file In the office of tip State Engineer a notice of intention to "utilize" certain specified waters. Thenceforward all Oregon must sit by for three years for the filing In the same office of final plans for the works, and wait further to see If the'Unlted States "authorizes the construction of the proposed work." This last operation is final. No. date is set for even the-commencement of -the works. The intention may be good, but ? It appears also that the func tions of the State Engineer, as Ore gon's only representative in the trans actions, are to have a room somewhere, to receive the United States officer's notice. "What then? Is the state to have nothing to do but to sit by and have the use of Its waters tied up for good and all without either a voice to tell if the "plans" to be filed by the Government are satisfactory, or to say for how long the waiting process shall last? If it is to be only a question of receiving a notice from the Govern ment, probably the janitor at the State House would do that as safely and not cost the state quite so large a salary and expenses. The rights of the pres ent and future generations of the citi zens of Oregon In the waters of the state should not be quite so lightly and thoughtlessly handled. Take up then section 4. By this some duties, beyond the reception of notices, are laid on the State Engineer. Here he is not to wait even for a notice from the Government officer, but on his own motion he is to go to work and make a "hydrographlc survey" of any stream system where "construction" (of what?) Is contemplated by the United States under the reclamation act. He is to hand an abstract of his survey, and of all data necessary for the determina tion of all rights to waters In the stream system to the State Attorney General. Then the Attorney-General and the District Attorney are to pro ceed, diligently, mind" you, to deter mine the rights to the waters by a final adjudication, the suits to be on behalf of the State of Oregon. "What is to become of the rights afterwards does not appear. Possibly they are to be acquired by the United States under the power of eminent domain. Or else the rights would remain in the owners unless tho state were to purchase them, for which end there is neither power given nor appropriation made. That this conclusion Is not mere reasoning and deduction Is made abundantly clear by section 6. The decree stating who owns the water rights is to he copied by the clerk of the court, without charge (how economical we are), and the copy filed with the State Engineer. Reception of yet another document by him provided for what will he do With it? Now for the duties of the State En gineer: In the first place he, his assist ants and his office expenses.- are to. cost the state 55000 a year. In addi tion $3000 for hydrographlc and $5000 for topographic surveys to be made by him are appropriated- annually, con ditional on the United States Govern ment spending equal amounts for sur veys within the state. Then this State Engineer Is to make surveys- ahd Inr veetlgations of every stream system and source of water supply within the state. It is an Immense undertaking. The moneys mentioned will not go far. The effective and reasonable object of the bill is found in section 3, which confers on the United States the right of eminent domain in Oregon, and so to acquire for public use any property and rights within the state necessary for the application of water to bene ficial uses. Similar proceedings would have to be followed in the state courts as are applicable when railroads need Tights of way. This is all eminently right, as preventing a selfish and in terested opposition to a public good. The hasty drafting of the bill Is shown In section 1, which professes to deal with the appropriation of water. This directs the posting of certain no tices at points of diversion of streams, the filing with the County Clerk of a duplicate within five days, and a copy of that duplicate in the office of the State Engineer within 30 days, with maps, field notes and plans of the works proposed. There it stops. The consequences to follow, the rights to be so gained are not stated. It is to be hoped that some patriotic member of the Legislature will submit as a substitute for this substitute a short bill embodying section 3, with the right of eminent domain, for the United States, and there leave it. So far there will probably be a consent of opinion, and from that results may be ex pected. Let U3 all remember that words are like sharp tools which may cut the fingers of the careless or unin structed user. If Guglielmo had been properly and promptly executed for the wanton and cowardly murder of his young country woman some months ago,' because she refused to marry him, it is probable that Amelia Siriannl would not today be lying in the morgue, the victim of a like jealous and ungovernable passion. Low. cowardly, vengeful criminals of the Gugllelmo-Fiorebello type are still entitled to their day In court. But that Is all. After a fair trial and conviction they should be given short shrift and long rope. The attorney who delays penalty by hook and by crook of legal scheming In such casea Is, to put it mildly, an enemy of law and order. No wonder there was hot talk of lynching in the Italian quarter when this last murders-cold-blooded and fiendish was committed, since there seems little chance of bringing a criminal of Fiore bello's type to Justice by civil process. The fact that "catching is before hang ing" intervened, however, to save the city from the disgrace of a possible lynching to meet perhaps the delayed disgrace of a long-drawn-out trial, ap peal, postponement of decision and what not, during which time the mur derer whose guilt no one questioned was maintained at public expense. Such processes are calculated to make the Ignorant and degraded foreign element among us feel that they can violate law with Impunity. "While It Is not practicable, even if it were prudent, to make the city jail a retreat furnished with "clean beds and warm blankets" for common drunk ards, it is both practical and' decently humane to give these wretched wrecks of manhood a warm room with space sufficient In which to lie down when they are "run in" on Winter nights. It Is always possible, .moreover, to ascertain whether a man who falla upon the street is simply drunk, or whether he has received some Injury that renders him unable to arise. Fail ure to do this Is a serious offense against the commonest instincts of hu manity and should receive such offi cial reprimand at police headquarters as will prevent Its recurrence. An In jury that did not prevent a man from standing In a crowded cell all night long, beating the door at intervals and calling for release, might or might not have resulted fatally under more fa vorable circumstances. The chances should at least have been taken on the side of humanity In the case of G. W. Smith, who died from a fractured skull in the morning, after passing the night as above noted. If Senator Foster should be success-' ful in securing the removal of United States Marshal Hopkins for pernicious activity in the recent Senatorial fight, some interesting results would follow. The President is noted for his fairness in such matters, and, having removed Hopkins, he could not consistently re tain in office any of the rest of the "Federal brigade" who had taken part in the Senatorial fight at Olympia. This would necessitate the appointment of a new set "of federal officers throughout, and would cause more widespread' dis tress than that which followed the un successful attempt to tap the Sweeny barrel. The Army transport Sheridan -is com ing to Portland with troop3 from Ma nila. If the Government would con tinue to recognize the existence of Portland there would be less complaint about the manner In which the trans port service was handled. In view of past transactions, It Is somewhat- sur prising that the Sheridan was not sent to San Francisco or Seattle, and the troop3 forwarded to "Vancouver by rail. Now that there has been a break in the system, Portland may secure her rights. "Daredevil Edwards," the Ioop-the-Ioop performer who had a number of hairbreadth escapes in this vicinity, is reported dead at El Paso, Tex., as the result of Injuries received in perform ing his dangerous trick. As it is not In evidence that Mr. Edwards accumu lated a fortune in the work he was engaged in, It Is not clear why the ordi nary methods of suicide failed to appeal to him. The Montana Legislature has refused to license gambling. It need not be Inferred, however, that the land of the cowboy, the jackpot and the high-rolling Senatorial contests will be deprived of an opportunity to guess which shell the little pea is under, or purchase the gilded brick from the Indian. The railroad commission bill which is expected to become a law at Olym pia next week is locked la the safe of the Attorney-General. If that official could keep It there for a couple of years he would save himself some work and the state considerable money. Facsimile letters have appearedher? tofore InYFhe Oregonian. There Is noth ing new fender the sun. SOTE ANI COMMENT. One Mrs.- Leigh, wc read, has Just brought from Paris a gown intended to startle the Britishers at the King's first court. "It Is of the richest moonlight blue satin, cut like a picture, with the fuU folds of the heavy klrt worked In the loveliest designs of butterflies in full flight, sparkling with silver and diamond?. The effect at night Is gorgeous and Is en hanced by a train of the palest sapphire blue panne, over which are flights of but terflies composed of brilliants and sap phires." v To complete the effect, Mr3. Leigh will wear a new necklace of large sapphires with a slender pendant com posed of a large bluestone encircled with diamonds. Sapphire brooches and brace lets will add the last touches. It Is not often that the description of a frock ap peals to those who are not connoisseurs In millinery, but this one is a poem, and worthy of attention from all lovers of poetry. There i3 just one thing that seems to demand explanation: "Cut like a pic ture" what picture? Even at a drawlng room some pictures would be barred or the Lord Chamberlain would have to yump his yob. The "poet ranchman" of Texa?, Larry Chittenden, has written some versea on the Alamo. The first stanza, which strikes a high note, is as follows: Grim Gettysburg and Waterloo Survivors from their carnage knew. Thermopylae had one! But on the Lone Star's gory field The Texans-bled. but would not yield: The Alamo left none! Harper's Bazaar says that "the excla mation point, in conversation or In life, betrays emotional lack of balance and wuato of energy." Another magazine congratulates the world upon the pass ing of italics, and proudly remarks that woman nowadays does not emphasize every second word in a letter. Away with this dull linotypo uniformity. It Is bad enough in newspapers, but in the letters written by fair hands it is monstrous. Let there be underlining galore In such letters. "Who wants primly-written wcrde, evenly spaced and arranged In painfully straight lines. The word that is heavily underscored makes up a little for the lack of the conversational exclamation point, which fortunately holds its own despite the assaults of Harper's Bazaar and other magazines. "What is wanted in woman Is "emotional lack of balance" and all its accompanying exclamation points. A fight is now being made by some members of tlie "W. C. T. LT. against such exclamation points as "Fudge!" Abolish "fudge" by all means if a substitute is provided, but don't reduce conversation to tho spirit less level of the modern printed page, sans italics, sans accents, sans capital lotters (almost), sans ' everything that would burst tho shackles of the monster machinery. In obtaining a divorce a St. Louis man testified that his wife bad not spoken a kind word to him in seven years. Ho should have become accustomed to It by that time. The deadly cigarette has been doing its Satanic stunts again. Twelve months ago a girl in Sharon. Pa., told the young man who had just proposed to her that sho would marry him if he could glv6 up smoking cigarettes for a year. The time was up a few days ago, and the young man was accepted. Gleefully, he went for the marriage license, and, so hnppy did he feel, that he returned smok ing a cigarette, whereupon the girl "threw him down." The license was re turned. Surely anti-cigarette' peopla should erect a statue to this outspoken "girl. But what a chump tho man was not to wait until after the wedding. Students of tho University of California are to give a travesty on "Hamlet," and the San Francisco Post Is moved to pro test against such sacrilege. The. Post suggests that somo other play be trav estied, "Mizpah," for instance. "ECIa "Wheeler "Wilcox Is one of the authors of Mizpah.' " says the Po3t, "and sha is quite as well known in California as is Shakespeare." "Hamlet" will probably survive any burlesque attempted by a bunch of sophomores, but lt3 selection shows a lack of Invention on the part of students. It is too easy to burlesque "Hamlet." Just as the rattlepatcs select the grave and stately diction of tho Bible to use In telling some fool story the con trast between 3tyle and matter furnishing the amusement so those lacking ingenu ity take "Hamlet" as the basis of a bur lesque. Down in Iola, Kan., the other day, a man was arrested for beating his wife. He admitted that 'he was accustomed to whipping her when he was angry, but stated that always, when he cooled off. ho said to her. "Excuse mc; I am sorry." It takes a Kansas man to be really po lite. Miss Helen Gould has instituted a cam paign against tattooing in the Navy. "We should have considered that the one abso lutely harmless skin game. Germans may now drink toasts irr non alcoholic liquors, according to a recent pronouncement by the Kaiser. It will look funny, all the same, to see a toast being drunk in buttermilk or ginger-pop; and, as for water, to drink a person's health in water Is considered a very un lucky thing to do. Toasts are an an achronism where the flowing grape is barred, and should be done away with holus bolus at teetotal festivals. Representative "Walmsley declared in the Missouri Legislature that the Kansas City Horse Show was nothing but "a parade of mutilated horses and half naked women." On being questioned by another Representative, Mr. "Walmsley admitted that ho had never been to tho horse show. However, the House passed a blii prohibiting the docking of horses, although it did not venture upon any action regarding the other count of the Walmsley indictment. "WEXFORD JONES. An Acute Critic. Milton Eagle. The passing of a vote of confidence in Senator Mitchell by the Senate was the signal for an hysterical outburst, by The Oregonian, which calls upon the Legis lature to do whatever It can to "rebuke the infamous course of the National Administration in prosecuting Oregon's trusted statesmen," and advises withhold ing "the electoral vote of Oregon from an administration that shows so little appre ciation of hi friends." Brother Scott should learn to keep his excitable tem perament under better control. Let us not be too hasty to condemn an adminis tration that has done more to inspire con fidence in its. Justice and honesty ot pur pose than any other since the days of Abraham Lincoln. "Wait till the evidence is all in. and then It will be possiblo to render an opinion in accordance with, tha facts. The Wise "Third House." Albany Democrat. The third house, with all its foolreso- lutions. did not have' a single one compar ing with the. Mitchell whitewashes in the regular session.