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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.