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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1905)
6 THE SUNDAY OltEGONIAX, PORTLAND OCTOBER 8, 1905- Entered at the Postofflce at -Portland. Or as second-claes matter. SUBSCIU1TIOX BATES. INVATUABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mail or Express.) Dally and Sunday, per year Dally and Sunday, six months.., o.w Dally and Sunday, three months - Dally and Sunday, per month Dally without Sunday, per year. . Dally without Sunday, six months 3.0U Dally without S?mday. three months.... Dally without Sunday, per month -OS Sunday, per year '"Jj! Sunday, six months Sunday, three months... w BY CARRIER. Dally without Sunday, per week 13 Dally, per week, Sunday included .-U THE WEEKLY OREGONIAN. , (Issued Every Thursday.) "W eekly, per year "Weekly, six months "Weekly, three months " HOW TO REMIT Send poBtoWce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. 3SASTKRX BUSINESS OFFICE. The S. C. Beckwith Special Asreacy New York, rooms 43-50 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 310-012 Tribune building. KEFT on sale. Chicago Auditorium Annex, 3'ostofflce News Co.. 178 Dearborn street. Dallas, Tex. Globe News Depot, SCO Main street. Denver Jullu Black. Hamilton & Kend rlck, 000-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 Fifteenth street. Des Moines, Ja. Moses Jacobs. 300 Fifth street Goldfleld, Nov. F. Sandstrom; Guy Marsh. Kansas City. 3Io. Ricksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. "Los Angeles Harry Drapkln; B. E. Amos, 514 West Seventh street; Dlllard News Co. Minneapolis 21. J. Kavanaugh, 50 South Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw. 30 Superior street. "New York City U Jones & Co.. Astor House. ... Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnston, Fourteenth and Franklin streets. Ogden Goddard &. Harrop; D. X.. Boyle. Omaha Barkiilow Bros.. 1612 Farnam: Maceath Stationery Co., 1308 Farnam; 246 South 14th. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 420 K street. Salt "Lake Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second 'street South; National News Agency. Long Beach B. E. Amos. San Francisco J. K. Cooper & Co.. 740 Market street; Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter and Hotel St. Francis News Stand: L. E. Le. Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitt. 100S "Market; Frank Scott. SO Ellis; N. Whtatlcy Movable News Stand, corner Mar ket and Kearney streets; Foster & Orear. Ferry News Stand. St. LuuIk. Mo. E. T. Jett Book & News Company. 800 Olive street. Washington. J). C Ebbltt House. Pennsyl vania avenue. PORTLAND, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1905. AND STILL THE NEGRO. Senator Gorman, of Maryland, is an artful party leader, and as unscrupu lous as artful. In the absence of any thing of merit in the policy or purposes of the Democratic party, at this time, he has manufactured a bogus issue for use in the present political contest in his state. He pretends that the negro vote Is a menace to good government In Maryland though it forms but one eighth part of the whole electorate; and he holds up the bugbear of "social equality" for further appeal for negro disfranchisement. Of the former slave states Maryland is one in which the negroes are least numerous, and on the whole best es tablished in Industry and good behav ior. This crusade against them by Senator Gorman and his political coad jutors never -would have been attempt ed but as an expedient the only thing the fallen fortunes of their party of fered. It Ib pitiful politics, keenly ex posed by the trenchant utterances of Secretary Bonaparte, a native xf Mary land, a resident of the state all his life, and recognized everywhere as one of the foremost leaders of political re form. In the states where the negroes are most numerous and " least educated, where their ascendency would be most disastrous, the negro question has been eliminated already. That is, most of thecolored race has been deprived of the electoral franchise. There is not much disposition anywhere to complain of this. Probably Northern people, similarly situated, would do the same. But in so-called border states, where the negroes are comparatively few, and on the whole fairly well instructed in the duties of citizenship, there is no reason or ground for such action against them as that taken by the Dem ocratic leaders of Maryland. Senator Gorman wishes to unite the white vote cf Maryland, In support of his party, as the white vote in the states of the black belt has been solidi fied. It is bud politics. It establishes an oligarchy, by giving a few leaders supreme power. In the states where the negroes are very numerous, the issues as between the parties may be one thing, they may relate to the cur rency, to the tariff, to the Philippines, to the Panama Canal, to socialistic rev olution, or to a dozen other subjects. and the parties may take one side or the other; but no matter what side the Democratic party takes, it receives the solid vote. The South in fact was not for free coinage of silver, nor for Bryan but by its partisan support of what it didn't believe In it came dangerously near driving the country to disaster. The present action In Maryland makes It clear once more that the political leaders of tho South, the men who con trol the Democratic party, are deter mined that the negro question never shall 'be eliminated. There are many able and patriotic men In the South. even in the states where the negro question has been most acute; but the men who "do politics" are not alway to be found in that category. It Is true also of the Southern press, as a whole, that it is exceedingly reluctant to have the negro eliminated from nolltles. Reasonable, fair and Intelligent as to most things, it is frivolous, vindictlv and venomous as to this. The latest manifestation Is opposition to National regulation of the railroads, rf the ground that the equality of service and of rates that would be enforced would give the negro the same chance as the white man, and perhaps would cut out the Jim Crow cars. Southern politl clans say thy would rather submit ti railroad exactions and discriminations than incur a risk of meeting any shade or pnase of "negro equality." The negro question, so-called, is dim cult enough, especially in states where tne colored population is very larce. But to make it a scheme, of politics, for partisan advantage, In a state where the negroes constitute no more than one-eighth of the total population, is disreputable undertaking. Which is say that' it is quite worthy of Senator Gorman. It is impossible ' to protect a man against himself. This is especially true when he is an old man, -wealthy and recently bereft of his wife by death, and a relatively young woman joins -him un der.the show of affection, in the con splracy against his personal liberty and his bank account. The records of com munity life show many evidences of this fact. Some of these entries are ludicrous, some pitiful, and all witness the ultimate disaster that follows the combination between folly-stricken age and crafty, mercenary middle life. Captain J. H. McMHlen, the latest con spicuous victim of his own folly, in this community a mild-mannered, reputa ble man developed this streak of folly and its attendant stubbornness in his extreme age. His four-score and two years render him an object of pity, but they could not turn aside the conse quences of his folly. He walked delib erately. -and determinedly into the trap set for him, and was caught, held while he was fleeced, and then sent hobbling on his way. This is simply a new chap ter to an old story, the concluding-chap ter of which is not likely ever to be written. OUB POOR RICH FlttENDS. There Is ,"all gall" in the protest ,of the - Portland Consolidated Railway against the valuation of Its franchise" the use of the streets of Portland at 5600,000, for purposes of taxation. Only a few months ago this franchise was sold for a sum near 54,000.000, cash. The whole 'aluatIon of the system was said to be about S6.000.000. Through loans, represented by bonds, to the amount of two to two and one-half mil-' lions, the lines had been built. So the valuation of the franchise the use of the public streets was 54,000,000, or thereabout. For this sum, a clear profit or rake-off, the franchise was sold. ' All that it had cost was -management of City Councils, done in the name of re form. Of this fine scheme "the first families" of Portland were the chief beneficiaries. But there were some persons, having secondary interests, who made enough out of the deal "to enrich them beyond all their early -dreams of wealth. They, . with their entire families, are now off for Europe and -for a tour of the world. Yesterday's Oregonlan announced their departure from Boston. When the sale of the franchise that covers tne streets of Portland "was made, the organ of the local plutocracy boasted of it, hugged Itself over the achievement, threw bouquets at those to whoseIavors It owes Its own exist ence, -and declared that this sale of a franchise, covering the streets of Port land, was the most wonderful thing yet accomplished In the history of the city. But now. when the Assessor values this property, just sold for four millions cash, at 5600,000 for purposes of taxa tion, there Is remonstrance-and appeal. Yet other property throughout the city and county is assessed at its cash value. The protest or remonstrance is quite like the return of the Ladd bank, for assessment, under oath to the Assessor, at a valuatlon'of 5200,535.92. The Ore gonlan ventures to think the assets of the Ladd bank worth more. If they are not worth more, there Is mighty poor security for the depositors. Yet It has startled the general public to learn that the assessable value of the Ladd bank, returned under oath, is only the sum of .5200.5S5.92. It .appears from the return that the original capital of 5250,000 has been much impaired by loans to the Portland Flour Mills. Fur ther, it would seem from the return that the bank has no money, notes or ac countsassets on which other peopl.e are assessed only the capital stock and a small surplus, much reduced by loans to a flour mill. This, however, is apart from -the pro test against the assessment of 5600,000 for a franchise, just now sold for 54,000, 000 cash. Yet it is all In the same cate gory of "high finance." Our friends, we dare say, are by no means so poor as they profess to be. BROWNING. The thought of Robert Browning is like tropical forest. Luxuriant in growth, varied . beyond belief in the forms of life it contains, with flowers of surpassing beauty blooming every where, giant trees towering heaven ward and intertwined -with lithe and graceful creepers, while insects fill the atmosphere with gorgeous colors still through such a forest the traveler can not pass and likewise Browning cannot be read. It is idle to reply that he can be pored over and deciphered by toil some endeavor, like a treatise upon the conic sections. Such effort Is not read ing, and the only enjoyment that comes from it is the sense of labor .rewarded that one also gets from digging in the "Critique of the Pure Reason." There is beautiful poetry In Browning, as there are open glades In the densest tropical forest, but the poems, so-called, Wihlch exercise the intellects of the Browning worshipers are not beautiful. They are mines of thought, treasuries of philosophy, bibles of ethics; but they are not poems and they are not beau tiful. Browning had dramatic genius as he had an almost unparalleled Insight Into the equities of social problems; but he smothered the genius under a tangled growth of unregulated thoughts. Just as he overwhelmed the right lines of his ethical perceptions with floods and floods of blinding crossllghts. Great art is easy to understand. In propor tion as It is obscure it is not great. Homer appeals to all men. The Venus of Mllo has just as much beauty for the peasant as for Kings and philoso phers. Not every man loves to read Shakespeare, but every man under stands him. He has the simplicity of gravitation and .the clearness of star light. The greatest music of Italy is sung In the streets. The frieze of the Parthenon delighted all Athens, not merely a few elite. The whole popula tion of Greece acclaimed the history of Herodotus when he read it at the Olym pian games. Tennyson thinks as pow erfully as Browning, and his thought leads to the same goal; but with Tenny son we can air travel as Christian and Faithful walked through the Land of Beulah, with no mistaking the path and everywhere in sight of the promised land, while to try to read Browning is -to go tlyough darkness with a quag mire on "one side and a deep ditch on the other." Browning was lazy, that is the truth of the matter. He had not the patient industry to analyze his thought before he wrote it down, and he tries to ex press it by piling clause onclause in labyrinthine confusion lnstea of elab orating it in simple and lucfSTsentences. He should have written prose. The need for a rhyme continually seduces him from rectitude of expression. What Browningites take for profundity of thought is very often merely a stroll through the EnglJsh language after a rhyme. If Browning had written prose he would perhaps1 have written clearly and his productions would have had the interest of great works of ar.t Instead of puzzles, it Is only a question of a short time when his poems, which now excite tha tatbiuiasra X saystifled admirers. will be completely forgotten, while those that are clear, simple and direct will be remembered forever. For while Browning Is less great than Tennyson as an artist and far below Walt Whit man as a philosopher, nevertheless he produced whole poems and numerous scattered passages which could only be the work of pre-eminent genius; and if he had had the patience to wait upon inspiration and toil at the expression of his thought as his readers must now toll to understand It, he would have carried off the palm In modern poetry. JOHN St'JLOUOHLIN: A BIO GRAPH V. In his address on the life and charac ter, of Dr. Joint' McLoughlin, whom he calls the "Father of Oregon," Frederick V. .Holman has made a valuable con tribution to-the bibliography of Oregon. Part of it is published on page 39 of -this 'issue of The Oregonlan, and the re mainder will be given on the two suc ceeding; Sundays. The entire work will be printed in the Oregon Historical So ciety's .'Quarterly for December, 1905. It will make a small volume. If Mr. Holman had, done nothing more than collect and put- together In enter taining narrative, fashion all the facts connected with Dr. - McLoughlln's life and services, the biography would have been notable, 4for it Is a very human story,. ending with a. tragedy. But the biographer appointed himself counsel for defense in the case of the Hudson's Bay Company factor," and prosecutor "In the -case of the Methodist Mission. In his indictment of the men and the re ligious body who acquired McLough lln's claim at Oregon City, Mr. Hol man casts aside the judicial spirit of the historian and becomes strongly par tisan. ' To his way .of thinking, this was the only attitude he could take. He believes that Dr. McLoughlin was robbed, and says so in distinct terms, not hesitat ing to mention by name the men en gaged in the theft and the abler men In the conspiracy who engineered It. However, before he announces his opin ion he fortifies himself by a marshaling of fact that will successfully withstand disastrous attack. It is not often that an able man, out side the field of letters, takes times from a busy life to do a labor of love, such as Mr. Holman has just finished. He is a worshiper of McLoughlin, and appeals to posterity to pa y. the honors which were denied to the first and foremost pioneer. This biography Is likely to ac complish its purpose, for It is so rich in fact and finding that it probably will be accepted as the standard by stu dents as well as by future historians. ON BEING BOSSED. There is an evident distinction be tween loving to be bossed and loving a boss. Theologians long ago discrimi nated between what a- man does and the man himself. Certain religious weeklies have even drawn a subtle line between the man himself and what he Is, in the case of Mr. Rockefeller, dif fering in this from Touchstone, who held it established that that which Is Is. Perhaps it is going rather far to agree with the reverend doctors that a man is not what he is, but we may safely admit that he Is very often not what he thinks he Is, and sometimes not even what we think he Is. The distinction between the sinner and his sin is well1 established. All pious people love sin ners and hate their sins. The prohibi tionist for example, loves the barkeeper while he hates the beer keg, and the orthodox theologian loves the heretic while he hates his heresy. It is dlffl cult to smash the beer keg without bruising the barkeeper, and still more difficult to root out heresy without scorching the heretic, but these are matters of detail and do not affect the principle. Todraw a line between a man and his money is more difficult. It Is noticeable that those casuists who. like Dr. Abbott and divers other holy men, smell a sweet savor from Rockefeller's money, find the odor of the persecuted philanthropist himself not displeasing. To defend Rockefel ler's money and condemn Rockefeller himself may be possible; but It is noticeable that no preacher or college president has yet -done the stunt, and If anybody were equal to It surely they are the men. The radiant energy of the oleaginous money has been comxnun! cated to the giver, and, whether for this reason or .from the same cause that sets up a glow In decayed fish, the great and good monarch of kerosene has of late begun to shine with a faint but decided self-lumlnoslty. The hablllta- tlon of Rockefeller with Celestial gar ments before he ascends to his place In Paradise is one of those performances which devils laugh at and angelaweep at; but it is difficult for the recipient of a thief's money to see any harm in stealing. We may agree, then, with the distin guished Harvard psychologist. Profes sor James, that what a man has is part of himself; but no philosopher has yet Identified what a man docs as belonging to his personality, and we may still be lieve that one can hate bosses while nevertheless he loves to "be bossed. So far as women are concerned, they not only love to be ordered, around, harried and driven by a tyrannical master, but all novelists admit and proclaim the doctrine that there is no other way to win their affection. A trite proverb recognizes this great truth while some what extending its scope: A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be; and that tale Is not without ground in the nature -of the eternal feminine, told of a newly married wife in England found weep ing bitterly, who made moan that her husband did not love her because he had not yet thrashed her. Jane Eyre loved Rochester, because, he bossed her around, and for no other reason: " What is there in the form or -character of the gloomy and selfish hero of, that su premely greatnovel to excite affection? Nothing. JaneVas a woman and there fore loved to be bossed- That Is the root of the matter, as the" philosopher Job would say. And why, pray, did Xatherlne. the shrew, love Petruchlo? It was because he was .brutally domi neering over her, and Imogen followed after the wretched Posthumus because he deserted and slandered her and tried to murder her. President Roosevelt .in-his articleMh Scribner's notices how the dogs cringed to their bosses around the feed dish In camp. It .-is a universal,,, trait of men and- animals. Farmers know that a cow will stand in sight or the 'hay rack and starve to death rather than dare the anger of one stronger than herself. Soldiers love a severe com mander provided he gains victories, and scholars are fond of a strict teacher. Bees go crazy without their queen, and savages must have their chief. Grant Allen tells In "The Great Taboo" to what lengths the love'df being domi neered over goes with the cannibal .lalfcnders. The more1- bloody 'and sense- lessly cruel the, chief the more he is loved. It Is one of the scenes in "Rob Roy" most faithful to human nature where the Highland sons and their father sacrifice themselves one after the other out of loyalty to a worthless coward. No English "King has ever'had more devoted followers than the cruel and faithless Charles I, whom the Epis copal Church has bewailed as a martyr for centuries to the delight of the cynic and the wrath of Macaulay. And no English King was ever more loved than the false and licentious Charles IL Great emancipators have been asslssln- ated at least as often as great tyrants. The Russian Alexander who freed the serfs was dynamited. William the Si lent, who gave liberty to Holland, was murdered. Lincoln was shot. In religious affairs .men love to be bossed even better than In the secular. There has been no such devotion in modern times, as Brigham Young .had from his Mormons. Do'wle never lacks dupes, and millions of Americans hang upon the .mandates of Mrs. Eddy. What wonder, then, that the political boss flourishes? His profession meets a fundamental need of human nature. The only trouble with him is. that he fulfills "his", function badly." COMMERCTAL EVANGELISTS. Has Rev. Mr. v Wilson., of .Seattle, chairman of the evangelist committee of the Presbyterian Synod of Wash ington, now In session at Hoqulam, made a discovery? Gr has he been reading "The Philistine"? Since he can hardly claim that the statements in regard to paid evangelists which he made before the synod last Friday were original, the fair Inference is that he has been reading the RoycroftePs mag azine. Or, again, he may merely have been taking counsel of common sense, and have bluntly appraised the modern evangelist and his work at Its .Jtrue value. - . However this may be, Dr. Wilson made some very plain, not to say bold. statements In regard to evangelists who work for pay, or, as he puts it. In more dignified phrase, "for commercial gain." Pursuing the subject, he ex pressed his disapproval of some of the methods used by salaried evangelists to "reach the people," and crowning as sumptionsuggested that preachers do their own evangelistic work and thus do away with the reproach that is cast upon the church by "paid evangelists." Moreover, he suggested, not mildly but withlhe emphasis of conviction, that If preachers would eat less they would not be so lethargic and would thus be able to do more and better work of a spiritual ' nature among their flocks. Of course, there, are others besides Elbert Hubbard, and this apparently new disciple of his In the staid old Pres byterian fold, who know that religious revivals are carefully-planned business schemes. As a town resoris,to a street fair when business becomes dull, or per haps when it is goaded Into making an unusual'dieplay by the boastings which proclaim the business prosperity of a rival town, so when preachers become lethargic ,and the finances of the churches run low, a "revival," so- called, of "religion," becomes necessary to fill the pews and swell the contribu tions for church expenses. Every one knows how the street fair carnival Is heralded -In advanee;how the town Is canvassed .for, contributions; and, con-s. cessions; how carefully the show Is ad vertised; and Anally with what a simul taneous burst of noise the carnival Is opened "to seekers- after Its- promised" benefits.- Religious revivals, says. .Elbert Hub bard, are managed very much as are street fairs., He goes. on Jo say: If religion Is Betting- at a ToV ebb in your town you can- hire cne- Wilbur Chapman, . the revivalist Jut as you can ecurr the erviees of Farley, the etrike-breaker. In an eirientehcy that calls for th. exerclxe of his peculiar tal ent In business. Chapman and tils helpers so from to-n, to town and from j city to city and work up religious excltetneat as a bust ne. They are "paid for their servler a thou sand dollars a -week, or down to what they can get from collection. Sometimes, they work on a guaranty and at others on a per centage or contingent fee. or -both. Towns especially needing Mr. Chapman's asclstaccs will pleae send for circulars; terms and testi monials on application. No ouls saved, no pay. It Is plain that Dr. Wilson, of Seattle, must have given ear to some heresy of this kind, otherwise he would not have been so bold as to raise his voice in the Synod of Washington against the work of the evangelist, carried on for "commercial gain." It is true -he soft ened' his arraignment to some extent by saying that he believed In evangelical work, but, like the traditional cow that kicked over the generous pall of milk that she had given, he spoiled it all by the subsequent expression of the belief that If preachers would eat less they would be less lethargic and better able to fill the place-of evangelists to their own flocks. In -this, case he evidently believes that the plot and plan of the paid evangelist "to stampede the in tellectually unwary children -and-neurotic grownups Into the pen of ortho doxy" would not be necessary. The moderately-fed preacher would "be 're munerated, on .the .basis of the; state ment, which declares the "laborer worthy of his hlre" the expenses of dispensing the gosepel would be met legitimately and quietly and "all things would be done decently and' in order' CHILD SUICIDE. The suicide of a child betokens some thing radically wrong In his or her home conditions and training. It Is not poverts', for that is borne by children with unconscious -heroism that rarely makes more than timid and plaintive outcry. It is rather unchlldly wretch edness that takes from the morning of life the natural desire to live for today as well as for tomorrow. Hence the statement that suicide Is alarmingly. 'almost appallingly, frequent among the .school children of Berlin suggests a condition for which Hhe" government of imperial Germany first of all things ; paternal should, be able to provide a "remedy. A number of distressing cases of suiclde,r the .victims of which were children under 14 years of age, many of them much below the maxi mum given, nas aroused considerable discussion in educational and philan thropic circles In' the great and; gay German capital. The causes. Indeed, are regarded as extremely subtle. Socialists come for ward with the assertion that it Is due to the distressing .economic conditions Incident to the military demands of the government In the clerical view the cause is In the Increase of irreligious tendencies and teachings and the growth of materialism, whllet colder critics assert that children ' "in the schools are forced In study, not only beyond their comprehension of the top ics presented, but beyond their phys ical endurance. Jimited as the latter otten Is by meager or InnutrlUous diet. i It is notOnlikely .that each of -these' causes has to do with the Increase of suicide araftiy' school ""cfilldren that is' noted, not only in Berlin, but In the congested manufacturing centers of the German Empire. In Saxony, for exam ple, but seven children, under 14 years of age committed suicide in 1902; In 1903 the number rose to twenty-one,, while the suicides of adults Increased In the same time from 13SS to. 1427. As said before, the . figures showing the Increase of suicide among children are appalling. Whatever the cause, its operation shows- an 'abatement of the desire to live that can only be account ed for in conditions that sap the. vital ity and undermine the energy and .the hope of youth. In Germany, every en couragement is given to the natural in crease of the population. UnllkeAmer- ican citizens In this respect, German subjects must be born. We have come In this country to depend largely upon the operation of extremely lax natural ization laws for the increase oa citizens. In Germany the chief. If not the sole, dependence Is upon the birth-rate. This being true, official Germany will prob ably some of these years awake to the knowledge that It is not the number of children born, but the number who live to maturity, that count in the greatness of a nation. This knowledge came to the American people, but not until the graveyards of New England and- the great Middle West were strewn with little mounds that told of myriads of lives that did not survive the early mornlng of existence. The alphabet of this pathetic lesson has not .yet been" learned in countries In which child sui cide .is rapidly increasing. DOES IT REALLY PAY? Tom Lawson has done a great work if Lawson really did It by setting fire to the train of Investigation that has exposed the entire life Insurance graft. Now he wants the policy-holders of the Equitable. Mutual Life and New York Life to get together under his direction and wrest control from the present managers. That may or may not be a feasible scheme; but there are many who think It worth trying. There is one other labor that Lawson's publicity bureau might undertake that . would really be worth while. Let him find out, if he can, how many policy-holders are satisfied with the settlements by the companies at the maturity of their policies. There Is now a general as sumption that nearly all are, or have been, disappointed and dissatisfied. Is it true? And, if It is true. Is there good reason for It? There are thousands and even mil lions of Investors in life insurance who have undertaken to pay annual premi ums qn policies that mature ten, fifteen and twenty years In the future. Their expectations, based on the glittering talk of the agent, are, or wero high. They have many payments yet to make. What they would like to know Is some thing definite and authoritative about the experience of persons who. have been through the mill and have sur vived. TO EDUCATE A WORKMAN OR A MAN? A large audience jgathered at the Ex position on Friday to hear Elbert Hub bard discourse on "The Gospel of Work." All were Interested, pleased, amused. But whoever takes the re sponsibility of preaching a gospel must expect to have his message tested. The question Is, after all. Will the stuff wash? Elbert Hubbard has gained much notoriety, and some following, of late years, by putting out in his fre quent writings a succession of para doxes, based on - a cynical criticism "whlch.seems to bp his strongest literary characteristic He has originated, pre sided over and made successful the Roycroft shops, during all this time. There the work turned out, the results, do not depend for their acceptance by the world of purchasers on the continu ous, uneducated labor which would be involved in their production were this so-palled gospel their essential element. On the contrary, their high value Is the outcome of the educated sense of beauty. In line, form, material and In .the completed specimen, which Is evolved only from the very same scien tific, logical, historical study, made pos sible and effective by the exact charac ter of education which Elbert Hubbard in-words derides. Products of the Roy croft shops are too few, and far too co"stly. to supply the average buyer. They are the legitimate fancy of the rich, luxurious and educated class, which has no place In this speaker's Ideal world. Of course he would object to the term "educated" just used (we shall try to show Its rightful place In that. sentence): but meanwhile the word "cultured" may be substituted. It will be remembered that the. es sence of the Roycroft output Is that only Individual labor, not machine work. Is employed. The things made books, furniture, house fittings and the like are without question beautiful; be speaking excellence of design, material and handiwork. Shall a man gather I grapes from tnisties, or ngs rrom thorns? The work Identifies and clari fies the worker. Then brain, eye and hand of the workman must have been educated, in the sense of beauty, the ambition for ideal excellence, the per severance needed to attain It, the adap tation of materials to ends, the history of past achievements, and also In the exact knowledge of line and shape, based not on rule of thumb, but on the skillful use of the art of the designer, the draftsman and the toolmaker; In other words, on scientific and not on accidental and plcked-up knowledge. But this is the opposite of the prin ciple of basing labor on doing, not on knowing, which is the burden of Elbert Hubbard's song. This doctrine of his, like his Roycroft handiwork, has been outgrown by the Nation, as well as by the Individual, for these many years. The Ideal professor la this university of his. Of "hard knocks, difficulty and adversity," must be the celebrated Mr. Weller, who turned his. son Samuel Into London streets at an early age, for the sake of" the training- by hard knocks; or the equally- celebrated Mr. Squeers. who taught: his pupils "bottlnny" by sending them ...Into the garden to hoe cabbages; or the less widely known re gent of an Agricultural College who proposed to store baled hay In the li brary, lest the. students should waste their time In reading. This notion of despising college and high school training, because of a mi nority of ldfers, with more money than brains at the end of their course. Is a dangerous one anywhere, nowhere more so than In the American Northwest And this because nowhere else do op portunities to work fall earlier In a young man's path, and nowhere else Is the man who has made money, and lit tle else,- set higher In a youngster's sight. - I f Mr. "Hubbard truly says, that a young man. may pas3 through a college course without" having learned to think. But that talk comes most readily from any one who has not been there. A young man drilled in algebra, the higher mathematics, chemistry, electricity, physic?, mechanics, history, composi tion and the rest of It, through a four years course, who has not learned to think, may have acquired enough of the art of thinking by trying not to think to pass muster afterward. After all there are two ideals, one of which we may try to Influence the young generation to attain. One Is that which Elbert Hubbard sets up the ability to do things and for the sake of doing, and doing early, to forego all college training but that of hard knocks, difficulties and adversity. True, it may be that illustrative examples of graduates In that, school,- from Abra ham Lincoln to J. J. Hill, may be cited. Strange, though. It Is that every one, even of these exceptional men will, in quiet converse, regret, and regret deep ly, his lack of early teaching; and every one will secure, for his boys, the best and most thorough education he can procure. Their lives long will one find them striving, learning, to fill the blanks in the brain cells that they might have filled In their early days, had for tune favored them. The other ideal to be set up Is for the young man in his youth to learn to be rather than to do. Elbert Hubbard would havc the hand taught and trained. By all means, but the end of training Is development. And not lop sided development. Body, soul, spirit, was the ancient statement of the com position of a man. The analysis sur vives In fact. If not In word The sci ence of education this speaker sneers at. Strange Indeed it would be If the whole trend of the age, to apply science, or the art of knowing thoroughly, to every phase and side of life, should fall In this, the most vital of all. Plants we scientifically grow. Animals we scien tifically breed-and rear and train. Nat ural forces we sclentlflcall-y, restrain and cultivate. Yet are we to leave the young of our own race to the changes and chances of life at the most danger ous age? In education, as in arts and sciences, certain, absolute ground has been made, common knowledge has been gained, a standard has been reached. Who dares dispute the com mon consent of thinking and trained men Is either ignoramus or charlatan. Therefore we dispute this gospel of la bor and the authority of its apostle. The Woman's Relief Corps at Oregon City has read Us title clear by raising and contributing 5500. toward furnish ing cottages for veterans and their wives at the Soldiers' Home at Rose burg. This cottage plan, which takes in the wives of old soldiers who are In need of the refuge which the Soldiers' Homes furnish to their declining age, is one that appeals to the domestic side of life, and finds response In the American sense of justice which includes the wife In any scheme which provides for the comfort and maintenance of the hus band. The sqldler's wife, especially If she Is a "war wife," certainly needs a home If her husband needs one. If he Is not able, through lack of accumula tlon In his effective years, to provide himself with a home In his age, it is very certain that his wife if aged also Is not able to maintain herself. By common. If not unlversaj, consent. It is the province of the Government, state and National, to provide homes for old soldiers who need' them. Mayor McClellan is certain of re-elec tion - In New York, barring accidents. That Is the reason the fusIonIsts ar,e having so much trouble finding a can-' dldate to run against him. Lawyer Hughes has made a great reputation as a foe of the grafters in a very short time, and no doubt would be something of a Jerome as Mayor, which many peo pie of New York think they want, but more know they do not,, and McClellan will have easy sailing. The nomination of Mr. Hughes, if he accepts, throws the insurance investigation into politics, which will be bad for the Investigation and bad for Hughes; but he will proba bly decline, as he should. Meanwhile Mayor McClellan Is having remarkable luck for a Democrat as remarkable as jxn Oregon -Democrat's luck. It Is not true, as papers of Pendleton and Prlnevllle assert, that everybody In Oregon has been getting lands by methods of fraud, covin and perjury; that the public land offices have favored the system, and besides It was right anyhow. Nor-is it any excuse for those who have been caught up In the busi ness that they have only done what others have done. The wrongdoing of the one who has been caught Is none the less an offense, though the ninety and nlnewwho have done the same thing have escaped. . The suggestion of the Vancouver In dependent that arrangements should be made by the Portland Consolidated for right of way over the new Columbia River railroad bridge ought to be heed ed by the street railway company. The present service between Portland and Vancouver Is Inconvenient and unsatis factory. Vancouver shows a commend able spirit of nelghborllness in wanting to get nearer to Portland. Here Is something for the Portland Commer cial Club to work on. Elbert Hubbard has not yet entirely convinced us that East Aurora Is a place -and not a condition of mind. Nothing but a nightmare In full swing could have produced - that hair. There Is an Aurora, and it is here in Oregon, iut no East Aurora. None that we are sure of, at least. If it is a place. It Is simply the place that Elbert Hubbard stays away from. The Los Angeles scheme for leasing its saloon privileges to one corporation has "its advantages, which are mostly to the lessee. But It will continue to be understood that anybody can take any kind of a Jag cure he may elect. If you'll only look at It In the right spirit, the Insurance Investigations con vey a vast amount of comfort for the average policy-holder. He doesn't have to die to find out what became of his money. There is reason to believe that Chair man Baker will "pull the harmony meet" this week in great shape. Among Republicans of Oregon there Is general disposition to let bygones be bygones. Governor Douglas would not permit his name to go before the Massachu setts Democratic Convention for re nominatlon. This Is no 53.50 year. Greene and Gaynor .will now have a chance to reflect on the rare luck of Captain Carter, who was not able to es cape to Canada. The-McCurdy family seems to have monopolized all four mllkstools In the vicinity of the Mutual Life cow. COMMITTEEMAN ALASKA. OREGOfIAN NEWS BUREAU. Wash ington. Sept. 2S. The Alaska Delegate problem is very apt to be solved at the coming session of Congress solved ac cording to the Ideas ot Speaker Cannon and those other Representatives and Sena tors who visited the great territory this past Summer by the creation of a special committee In both Senate and House to consider and pass upon all matters relat ing to Alaska. Certainly, so far as the House- is concerned, this plan can bo adopted, for the creation of a new com mittee Is easy, and the nlltng of that committee can be attended to entirely by the Speaker. And in the Senate it would not be difficult to brlns about the creation of a committee on Alaska, for such a committee would be much more Important than many of the existing com mittees, and many Gcnctoru would scats at its table.. The Alaska Delegate question is not a new one In Congress. It has been brouKht up evcrj year In the past three Con gresses by Representative Cushman. of Washington, who takes more Interest !n Alaska than any other man - In either branch of Congress. Cushman has twice put a Delegate bill through the House but It has been twice defeated In the Senate, not on a vote, but by being smothered in committee. There Is Httl reason to believe that any different fat would await a Delegate bl'l In tho- n t Congress. There has been a wide differ ence of opinion as to the kind ot Dele Kate bill that should be passed. Cnshman has contended far an elective bill, and he has mapped out a plan of holding elec tions every two years. Many men In the House who think Alaska should have representation have advocated the author ization of an appointive Delegate, to be named by the President. But rather than deprive Alaska of representation, they have assented to the Cushman plan and voted for his bill. The Senate committee on territories, wihlch now handles Alaskan legislation, has been unfavorable to every Delegate plan, and especially antagonistic to the Cushman bill. Had that committee mad- a report. It would have substituted an appointive for an clectlvo Delegate, a 1 the two houses would then have been deadlocked. But the Cannon plan, which is apt to be substituted for the Cushman Idea. Is believed to be more practical and more beneficial. And It is apt to be more bene ficial to Mr. Cushman himself, for If a. committee on Alaska is created, thero Is good prospect that he may be made Its chairman, in recognition of his persistant labors In behalf of tho territory and his extensivo knowledge of Alaska. The committee plan has many advant ages over the Delegate. In the first place a Delegate has no vthe. and could merely speak In the House on subjects relating to Alaska. It Is to be presumed that a committee on Alaska would familiarize Itself with Alaskan affairs, and at least a majority of the members, when oc casion arose, could not only speak In be half of Alaska, but vote, and the votes of ten or a dozen members will be worth more to Alaska than the plaintive voice of a lone Delegate who has no vote. And what Is true of the House Is true of the Senate, savo that a Delegate has not .even the privilege- of speaking in the Senate. He must be content to sit on i sofa in the rear of the chamber and hear others talk. But that Is not why the Speaker and his associates favor the commute plan. After going over a part of Alaska and seeing Its varied resources, getting an Idea of Its great expanse, and some Idea of tho way Its population Is scattered, they became thoroughly convinced that a. Delegate would not be the thing. In the first place these men say It would be im practical to hold an election in Aluska. secondly they say that no ono Delegate could Intelligently and fairly represent all parts of Alaska. In their opinton there would have to be at least three Delegates, one from Southeastern Alaska, another from the Interior and a third from Nome There is not the -remotest chance that Congress wpuld allow Alaska three Delo gates . And there Is tho same general objection to- a Delegate appointed by the President as to a delegate elected by the people. The committee, moreover, did not overlook tho opportunities for fraud in Alaskan elections. The committee idea seemed to appeal to even member in the Congressional party, and it will be brought forward by the Speaker himself. If he puts his plan Into operation, the committees on Alaskv will take charge of all Alaskan legisla tion, will give hearings to persons front -Alaska, and will report all bills having to do with. Alaska. The chairman of each of these committees, having a recognized standing In Senate and House, will take personal charge of Alaskan legislation when Itvls up for consideration, and. as a recognized chairman, will be able to do more to further legislation than any in dividual member can expect to do. even, with the aid of a Delegate. There will be a protest against the abandonment of the Delegate bill, of course. Men who long to draw the $5000 salary, several thousands annually in mileage and other allowances, will be sore, and will enter a protest, but per sonal considerations will not have any weight with Speaker Cannon. STORTHING DEBATES TREATY Republicans In Hopeless Minority and King Will Be Elected. CHRISTIANIA. Oct. 7. In the Storth ing today the debate was opened on the Karlstad agreement concerning the dkwo lutlon ot the union between Norway and Sweden. The Republican minority, which . Is opposed to tho agreement and which Is supposed to number 20 votes, profited by the occasion to attack Premier Mi chelsen and Foreign Minister Loevland and other Norwegian negotiators. The discussion began In the morning and was adjourned late tonight. It will be con tinued on Monday and undoubtedly will result In the acceptance by an over whelming majority of the government's proposal. Norway will then await a correspond ing decision by the Swedish Riksdag, and the notification of the powers of the dis solution of the union before electing as King Prince Charles of Denmark. whUh la expected to take place the last weec In October. Mr. Preponsem. chairman of the spe cial committee appointed to report on th agreement, opened the debate. He said a definite result might. Indeed, have ben desired In many respects, but that tho public would serve the true Interests ot the country by adopting the agreement now. The spokesman of the minority party oatd that, if the' fortifications were razed. Sweden would b? able to develop an army and hinder -Norwegian mobilization and render Norway powerless. The mlnoritj. he added, had hoped to secure the inde pendence of Norway, but the agreement curtailed Independence to such an extent that the minority would rather retain the union. Premier MIchelsen said the lnurels won by the Swedish Chauvinists filled the Nor wegian Chauvinists with envy. It had been the object of Norwegian policy to repress this Chauvinism. The whole or the North was grateful to the Swedish Liberals for combating Chauvinism. All the powers, the Premier continued, had earnestly advised Norway to arrange tha relations with Sweden to which the gov ernment's efforts were directed, and addei that a majority of the experts? consulted were of the opinion that the retention ot the fortifications was not a vital question. M. Castberg attacked Premier Michel sen, accusing him of undue deference to Sweden, in disregard to the national honor of Nortfay. Rev. Mr. Erlksen. Socialist, proposed t. submit the Swedish'' conditions to The Hague tribunal for arbitration. This was opposed by Foreign Minister Loexiand. Minister bf Defense Oleson and Minister of Commerce and Industry Arclander.