6
THE SUNDAY OltEGONIAX, PORTLAND OCTOBER 8, 1905-
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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.