6
THE SUNDAY OBEGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY 21, 1906.
m
Entered at. the rostofflce at Portland. Or
as Second-Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION BATES.
CT INVARIABLY IX ADVANCE. a
(By Mall or Express.)
DAILY. SUNDAY INCLUDED.
Twelve- months f-,2
Elx months
Three months 'Zr
One month
Delivered toy carrier, per year-- Jfs
Delivered by carrier, per month
Leaa time, per -week - rij
Sunday, one year - - : f.f!
Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)...
Sunday and Weekly, one year ""
HOW TO REMIT Send postofflce money
brder. express order or personal check on
your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency
aro at tho Bender's risk.
EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE.
The S. C. Beck with Special Af-ency New
York, rooms 43-50. Tribune building. Chi
cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building.
KEPT ON SALE.
Chicago Auditorium Annex. Postotfice
JCews Co., 17S Dearborn street.
St. Taul, Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial
Station. .
Denver Hamilton & Kendrlck, 806-01-Scvcnteenth
street; Pratt Book Store. 12H
Fifteenth street.
(oldfleld, Nov. Guy Marsh.
Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co.,
C"inth and Walnut.
Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, 50 S. Third.
Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Superior
Etreet. ,
Nerv York City L. Joncrr&'Co., Astor"
House.
Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnston, Fourteenth
end Franklin streets.
Ogdcn Goddard & Harrop; D. L. Boyle.
Omaha Barkalow Bros.. 1612 Farnam;
Mageath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam; -46
South 14th.
Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News -o..
439 K street. .-.
Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co.. .7 vesi
Second street South; Miss L. Levin, -
Church street.
Los Angeles B. E. Amos, manager eve?
Ftreot wagrns; Berl News Co., S2G South
Broadwa .
Ssinla Barbara, Cal. B. E. Amos.
J'nsadcna, Cal. Berl News Co.
San Franclhco J. JC Cooper & Co.. 0
Market street; Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter
und Hotel SL. Francis News Stand: L.
Le Palace Hotel News Stand; F. VI. Pit".
100S Market; Frank Scott. SO Ellis.
Whcatley Movable News Stand, corner Mar
Vet and Kearney streets; Foster & Orear,
Ferry News Stand. ,
Washington. 1). C Ebbltt House, Pennsyl
vania avenue.
PORTLAND. SUNDAY. JANUARY 21. 1000.
NEW OREGONIAN 'PHONE.
The Morning Oregonlan and Evening Tcle
feram have stalled ft private telephone ex
change, Main 7070. If anyone desire to
communicate !' plume with any drpart
jnent of The Orcgonlan or Evening Telegram,
let him call Main 7070. The office operator
nvlll make the proper call. I'or example. If
on desire the rlty editor of The Oregonlan.
Vail Main 7070. The operator responds
Oregonian and Telegram." Then ask for
'City Editor Oregonlan."
.1ACOU RHS AS A TROPHET.
Mr. Jacob Riis, the New York phil
anthropist, is meritoriously known to
Americans for high achievements of at
Jeast four different sorts. A poor young
snan and a foreigner, he has attained
distinction and moderate wealth toy his
own efforts. This we all admire. WTe
do not always withhold our admiration
when the wealth exceeds all possible
fruits of honest endeavor and the self
made man who gains it has failed to
endow himself with any striking qual
ity except swinish greed; but in Jacob
RHs' case we may ipralse without reser
vation both the man he has nfalle of
himself and the deeds he has done. A
benefactor of his kind, he initiated the
war upon the deadly tenements of New
York and has waged it courageously
and persistently, not without a victory
now and then, until complete success
seems within sight. . He has fought for
parks, playgrounds, open schoolhouses.
(public roof gardens for children, baths
and pure air.
Not only has he wrought mightily
and well to assuage human misery In
Ohe New York slums, but he has also
written good books. In one of them he
recounts tho details of that grisly woe
which grinds the city poor into mere
human muck; in another he tells his
own story, what ho came from and
how manfully he "struggled upward
until, like another Franklin, he was
found worthy "to stand before Kings."
In still another he narrates the life of
Theodore Roosevelt, who, he thinks. Is
among the bet and greatest of men.
The fourth achievement to praise Mr.
Riis for, certainly not ihe least in
merit, is his conquest of the friendship
and confidence of his hero. So far as
Ihe public knows, he holds no office and
desires none, but no anon stands closer
than he to the President or under
stands better Mr. Roosevelt's intimate
hopes and fears.
"When, therefore, Jacob Riis predicts
n. class war between the privileged
classes and the mass of the American
ipeople, it is difficult not to believ.e that
he reflects more or less definitely some
color of the President's own apprehen
sion. This prediction Mr. Riis made
ftuite recently in Cleveland, if the re
port is true, adding the two interesting
jK)Ints that the contest would obliterate
present party lines and that Roosevelt
jwould be the leader on the people's side.
"The fight," he said, "will be against
Ihe. money power," which is steadily
advancing toward "the enslavement of
all human beings and all homes." It
rmay.at once be urged in reply that our
Reverence for mere wealth in this coun
try is sensibly less now than it was a
year ago, for excellent reasons, and
that the last elections showed the
power of predatory capital to be very
slight against an aroused public senti
ment. All this is true, but one may imagine
Mr. Riis to have had in mind, some sin
ister facts which lie not quite so open
ao casual observation. Let their weight
be what it may, it is perhaps worth
while to recount one or two of them,
since nothing is gained for either os
Irichcs or men by shutting the eyes and
hiding the head in the sand. Consider
this, then. "Workmen, except small
Caxmers, no longer own the tools they
labor with, the materials they manipu
late, or the (buildings that house them.
All these things are owned by capital
ists, and the -laborer, to get a chance
to earn his 'bread, must pay for the
privilege of using' them. That is, the
laborer must buy of the capitalist the
right to work, and for this rlght he
pays a share of what he earns.
This payment, which is -none the less
real because the workman never actu
ally handles 11, is of the nature -of rent,
and, ftp several reasons, it tends con
tinually to increase. In the first place,
ihe pressure of want continually tempts
Workmen to underbid one another,
-which necessarily causes a downward
trend of wages. Organization some
what counteracts this tendency, but the
eat majority of laboring men are not
organized and probably never will be.
-Now, not to desert our theme, a fall in
Vases means nothing less than ran in-
jwafwe of the rent p&ld for -tie nem
to work with. Remembering that poor
families are more fertile than rich ones,
that. In fact, fertility is almost in direct
ratio to poverty. It will be seen that this
downward tendency of wages is some
thing like a law of Nature, and that it
grows stronger and stronger through
the reaction of its own results.
Add to this that. Industry has passed
under corporate control and that cor
porations look only to dividends with
out regard to the worker's welfare.
There is no hope that they will sacri
fice any possible gain to save the la
borer's standard of living. As a matter
of fact. It is currently notorious that
corporations are always ready to sacri
fice the standard of living or the sake
of dividends. They even force wages
downward, or, in other words, increase
the rent upon ppportunlty. One way of
doing this is by opposing labor unions,
another Is by employing women and
children. The latter device absorbs the
labor of a whole family for bread in
stead of conceding it to the efforts of
adult males only, and, of course, rap
idly depresses the standard of living.
Another way to force wages down is by
watering stock. This cuts from the
workman's pay enough to make up the
dividends on the water, ' as President
Roosevelt intimated in his reply to the
railroad employes.
Society thus, by a sort of law of na
ture, falls into two classes between
which t,he line of demarcation grows
ever more distinct. Will there be war
between them, as Mr. Riis predicts?
"War is impossible. One class, the
enormously wealthy, continuously de
creases In numbers; the other, the
workers, continuously increases. It is
a cautious estimate that the Rockefel
ler fortune, should he live to Russell
Sage's present age. will amount to
$8,000,000,000. Practically all the wealth
of the country will, as Judge Grosscup
has shown, by that time -be controlled
by some half-dozen men. The line-up
for a war will display six men on one
side, the rest of the Nation on the
other. Undoubtedly an energetic move
ment for freedom of opportunity will
be initiated, but it will be very peace
ful. What occasion will there be for
war? When the apple is ripe, it falls.
CARE Or YOUNG GIKI.S.
Judge IT. Cx Smith, of Helena, Mont,
recently sentenced a man who had been
guilt of criminal assault upon a
young girl to five years in the peni
tentiary. Before passing sentence he
took occasion to speak as follows to
the throng that always crowds a court
room upon such occasions:
There Is another phase of this matter that
presents Itself to me and that Is the greatest
obligation that rceta upon the parent! f young
girls. Of all the eacred duties ime.ted upon
parents that of protecting their daughters from
danger Is the most sacred and important. In
too many cases this 1 loet sight of. I am
not speaking of anyone In particular, but It is
the solemn, bound on duty of parentis to
make thoir homes pleasant; to guard their
daughters 'from "evil Influence and compan
ion;; to prevent their staying out or the pub
lic streets and at places of entertainment at
all hours of the night with men and boys, to
the end that they may nrri ve -at woman's
estate pure and unsullied, fit to becomes the
wives of honest men and mothers of clean
minded children.
If the precedent of last season is fol
lowed, this advice will be timely In this
city when, with the opening of Spring,
business is resumed at "The Oaks." It
is. Indeed, always timely, but the more
so when attractions are planned that
lure the young and thoughtless Into
paths that lead to shame and dishonor.
With the ruin of 100 young girls, as es
timated by competent authority, as one
of the results of a Summer's "amuse
ment," coupled with lack of parental
vigilance, it will be well for parents to
be jn the alert early and late to pre
vent repetition of this appalling record
the coming season.
A peculiarity in the plea of the Mon
tana Judge is that he addresses it to
'parents" instead of to "mothers" only.
There is no divided responsibility here,
but a joint one, earnest and solemn and
which cannot be met by one parent
alone. It is often necessary to supple
ment maternal admonition by paternal
authority, and precede both by parental
tact In steering young people away
from the most fprmidable rock In the
channel of inexperience and awakening
Nature themselves.
ROOKS TO THE FARM.
In city libraries people go to the
books. The traveling libraries Installed
by the Oregon Library Association take
the books to the people.
This is not what is intended, but
what is actually being accomplished.
Farm homes have ever shown hospital
ity to the passing traveler. Now their
doors are open to Allen and Barr, Mrs.
Bishop and Wilklo Collins, Mrs. Craik
and Margaret Deland, Anthony Hope
and Hawthorne, Tom Brown and Miss
Johnston, Mrs. Alice Hogan Rice and
Jacob Riis, Sir Walter Scott and Frank
Stockton, Mrs. Ward and Booker Wash
ington. Choice spirits they are, who go
to stay as long as they tare wanted
who need no entertaining, but come in
swift succession as fast as one or other
has given of his best to the little soci
ety round the Winter hearth, when the
rain beats on the windows but' the
backlog burns bright.
And It is all almost without cost. A
box of fifty-three good books is sent
from Salem to the country schoolhouse
or literary society at the expense of
freight only, and on promise of restora
tion of any books lost or badly dam
aged. The list before us was published a
few days ago in the "Long Creek Ran
ger," a Grant County paper. It con
tains fifty-three books. The distribu
tion is suggestive of an up-to-date
knowledge of what suits the average
reader. It Is divided as follows: Fic
tion, '31; natural history, 2; travel, 5;
American history, 6; art, 2; mechanics,
1; sociology. 4; poetry, L and 1 miscel
laneous, for It falls under no exact
head. . Possibly our grandfathers would
have put in less fiction; they surely
would have had more poetry, and what
we today should call dry books. But
let It go without destructive criticism.
It is a sure thing that there Is not a
book in the entire list to harm boy or
maiden. And the life and light nd
stimulus to be carried far and wide
are good to think of.
The next box to our Long Creek
friends will contain, it may be hoped,
a book or. two on the history and geog
raphy, political and commercial, of
some other country in the world beyond
the limits of the United States. For,
after all, history does go back of the
Declaration of Independence. And there
are "naturalists who arc travelers,
whose stories carry more Interest, than
the average novel. Then the wonders
of science have been told In simple lan
guage, easily understood by the com
mon people. The poets, too, should
have more than one' in fifty represen
tation. But those who have made o
rood a choice to start with can b trust-
Xd tot ee their chance Stnd recimta
their responsibilities for the good yet
to be done.
So will the teaching of the people not
stop nvlth the closing behind 'boy or
girl of the school door. For the good
book is the teacher one chooses of free
will. Avhose lesson has been tested by
time, and by that common acceptance
into the ranks of good literature whose
seal is above all -college and univer
sity diplomas In" the wide world.
Is one satisfied with the passing visit
of a new-found friend? No more can
one reading of many a good book rec
oncile us to close Its pages and put it
away. Pass the library books on, clean
and unharmed, as. they came to us.
Then set In to save money to buy them.
Make them your own. In every sense.
Intellectual and materiaL Have your
friends ready at your call, to see as
much of and as often as you desire.
A book is a very indestructible posses
sion. If, having owned one. you can
reconcile yourself to part with It. what
better present Is there for your choicest
friend?
The weak point, of the education of
most of us is in the use of the lan
guage in which we speak and write.
Any words, any sentences, by which
our meaning is conveyed are good
enough for us. Full of errors, hot with
hasty and ill-considered sentences, are
both the speaking and writing of most
persons. But insonsible correction
comes from the language of good
books.
So the advent of the traveling li
brary takes rank with the rural mall
and the farm telephone to lift yet an
other -burden of dullness from the life
of the family on the farm.
T.ET HIM 1VORK IT OUT.'
When a lad of fifteen or thereabouts
"cuts school" and runs aawy from
home. It is just s well for his parents
to add their blessing and let him shift
for himself a while. If he has had
proper training up to this time. In his
home, he will take care of himself; if
not. it is too late to coerce him Into
"being good." It 13 well enough to seek
him out and keep up communication
with him. If possible, but it is the
height of folly to attempt to compel him
to stay at home or go to school. What
the young fellow wants or needs Is ex
perience among strangers In the art of
making his way In the world. Later on
In life he will, like the rest of the world,
see where he made his mistake. At
present he sees only through the haze
of inexperience.
"I am letting him work it out for him
self," said -a widowed mother of this
city a few years ago of a bumptious
lad of 17 who had run away from home
and school. "I wrlle to him about
home matters," she continued, "express
a kind interest in him, and send him
little birthday and Christmas tokens,
but have never asked him to come
back," though the wistful look in her
eyes and. the nervous movement of her
lips told of the effort that It cost her
to assume this Indifference. List
Christmas the young man invited him
self home to dinner, was cordially re
ceived, announced that he had secured
steady work In the city, and Intimated
that he would be very glad to board
at homo if his old room was still un
occupied. Of course his room was wait
ing for him, as It had been all the years
of his absence, and he Is Installed there
in, a cheerful worker, under .promise
of helping his mother and sisters until
he has a home of his own. Whether
he keeps this promise or not. his mother
feels that she did the wise thing in let
ting him work out for himself the prob
lem of restless, dissatisfied youth, with
out futile attempt to coerce him.
This incident is recited for the com
fort of anxious parents who are seek
ing runaway boys resolute, self-sufficient
youngsters of from 15 to IS years
who have resolved to leave home and
school and "do for themselves." Let
the boy work out the problem to which
he has voluntarily set himself; it will
do him good.
TO REDUCE RAII.ROAU ACCII1ENTS.
A recent number of the Outlook con
tains a ""oreful presentment of this
subject by Major Charles Do Lnno
Hine, a man of West Point training
and of practical railroad experience.
His view of the subject of railway ac
cidents is that of a man who Is well
qualified to speak upon the subject,
"nothing extenuating and setting down
naught in malice." He regards such
accidents as largely chargeable to the
comparative novelty and. hence, crude
ness of railway organization and prac
tice. This fact, he asserts, calls for
certain broad improvements In general
management, which, while they will In
volve large expenditure to begin with,
will in a few years make full returns
to the roads. In the operation of most
large railway systems, he says, "good
money is wasted through violation of
basic principles of organization and ad
ministration, sufficient In amount to
equip in a few years every mile of rail
road with the most approved block sig
nals and other safety appliances." If
railroads are to avoid governmental
regulation, he thinks that their man
agers must cultivate a solicitude for
human life apart from Its punitive
value In dollars and cents.
Major Hine does not deal wholly in
generalities. Specifying, he finds de
moralization among employes as a
fruitful cause of accidents on railroads,
and this in turn he believes to be due
largely to heavy trains. The latter oc
casion delays, worry, discouragement
and sleepiness, complaint of the latter
being often silenced by payment for
overtime, which, however, does not suf
fice to keep men alert to the point of
safety for the train. He therefore urges
a reaction in railway operation In favor
of shorter freight trains as the first
step toward prevention of accidents.
Again, he regards railroads- as under
staffed with officers. A military regi
ment has one officer to every twenty
four or thirty men. For the million
and a half railway employes there are
but about 10,000 general and subordi
nate Officials, an average of one to
every 150 employes. The insufficient
discipline and supervision of this large
moving force he finds reflected In "un
necessary accidents."
Acquiescence by managers In the de
liberate disregard for safety regulations
In order to "make time" is the third
count in this Indictment, and a de
served stricture is passed upon the "ad
ministrative cowardice" which, when
trouble occurs under this violation of
rules, "lays all the blame upon the poor
fellow at fault." Further immunity
from censure at headquarters comes
not infrequently from the fact that the
same "poor fellow" was Jellied In the
accident and his testimony silenced.
Turning to labor organizations astthe
perpetual thorn in the elde of railroad
managers, Major Hine declares that,
wlille they are often arbitrary, J. heir
MTMiEeti activity, to not infrequently
prompted by Insecurity of tenure, which
Is preventable. An employe, he urges,
"should feel himself enlisted during
good behavior in the army of his road,
since only when possessed of this feel
ing will he do his full duty In prevent
ing accidents." It is unreasonable, he
contends, to expect the track-walker to
be properly vigilant In scrutinizing
every bolt and tie on his lonely beat
when any day it may be his turn to
suffer discharge In order to "reduce the
payroll or because the season Is chang
ing." The railway accident is one of the
great drains upon the commercial life
and productive energy of the country.
It adds each year thousands to the list
of disabled wage-earners and places a
heavy burden upon public and private
charity. Its loss to the world In- active,
useful human life is beyond computa
tion. The contention that It can in a
great degree be obviated by better
methods of railway management in re
gard to the points specified deserves
earnest attention where it will do the
most good among the managers of the
great railway systems of the country.
As a railroad man of experience, speak
ing to railroad men. Major Hine should
have an attentive audience.
STATE AND NATION.
Replying to Mr. W. W. Langhorne,
-who writes The Oregonlan an interest
ing letter upon the seemingly cndless
conflict between the respective merits
of Hamilton and Jefferson as states
men, some of the facts which he ad
duces must be admitted, though It can
hardly be allowed that his Inferences
from them are correct. The Oregonlan
has never asserted that Hamilton's
opinions of "the masses" were just In
all respects. It asserted that "he was
dur greatest constructive statesman,"
and this he might well have been,
though his views of the common people
were erroneous.
That he did distrust the masses there
can be no doubt, but this should not
lower our estimate of his political Judg
ment. "Up to Hamilton's time the
masses had nowhere shown themselves
worthy of confidence. Every popular
government, no matter where organized
or when, had ended In anarchy or des
potism. The elective principle applied
to rulers had failed utterly in every
case. It had failed in Athens, in Rome,
and, most disastrously, in Poland. We
must believe that Hamilton had in
mind, when he opposed elective rluers.
the lamentable example of Poland,
whose recent ruin had appalled the
world. Possibly also he remembered
how viciously the elective principle
was working at that very time
In the "Holy Roman Empire of
Germany." Repeatedly tried under
the most varied conditions, it had
always brought disaster. It had been
discarded even in Holland, the classic
land of liberty. There was absolutely
nothing in all history to Justify con
fidence in the plan of an elected execu
tive. Everything was against lu How
can we blame a statesman for not re
jecting those lessons of history which
constitute his only possible guide to
conduct?
On the other hand, while the hered
itary principle had conspicuously failed
In many cases, nevertheless it then
prevailed In every Important nation
which had a tolerable government.
Such happiness and prosperity as ex
isted In the world anywhere had been
attained under hereditary monarchs.
Can we be surprised at Hamilton's
preference? -Moreover, those who ad
vocated an elective executive did not
wish him to be a ruler In anj real
sense. In their view the Federal Gov
ernment was to be little more than a
shadow: all actual power was to reside
In the sovereign states. They believed
in the people no more than Hamilton
did. What they wanted was a set of
almost independent states, each ruled,
not at all by the people, but by a petty
oligarchy.
The contest in the convention was not
between absolutism and popular rights.
Those who think so 'read history
strangely awry. It was between central
and state authority; and such the con
test continued down to the Civil War.
As a statesman. Lincoln did stand with
Hamilton, for he stood for the Nation
against the state. How cither of them
felt toward the common people is aside
from the present issue. The American
People as sovereign ruler has slowly
emerged and Is still emerging. It is a
very different thing from what either
Hamilton or Jefferson conceived.' Its
capacity Is something entirely new in
history. Its genius for government con
tradicts all precedents and .belles all
prophecies. Jefferson, who was really
the advocate of state oligarchies, has
gained a glory he docs not deserve as
the champion of the people. Hamilton,
who stood for the Nation, and whose
contention has absolutely prevailed,
has gained a discredit he docs not de
serve as a foe to popular rights. Pop
ular rights were not an Issue in the
constitutional convention; the question
was between the sovereignty of the
state and that of the Nation, and,on
this question, all-important then and
since, Hamilton was right. If Jeffer
son's ideas had prevailed, there would
now be no such thing as the American
people. Our country would consist
merely of a wrangling assemblage of
petty oligarchies, all weak and all
tyrannical. Under the protection of
Hamilton's mighty concept the People
has grown to manhood and seized the
reins of power. Which, then, was the
better friend to the masses?
STATE SCHOOL IANDS.
A statement given out by State
Treasurer Moore snbws that In the last
seven years the Irreducible common
school fund has Increased from 52,000.
000 to 54,550,000. Tho money In this
fund is derived from the sales of state
school land donated to the state by'tho
United States. The lands sold are such
as have beea the subject of many
fraudulent transactions in the last ten,
twenty or thirty years.
While all will rejoice that the com
mon school fund ias so rapidly in
creased, there are many who will de
clare that the state has pursued an un
wise policy in disposing of its. lands at
km figures, and that, if the land had
been withheld, either directly or by
fixing the price so high that It would
have been kept until values advanced,
the assets of the common school fund
would now be much greater. This con
tention is undoubtedly true. Still, a
state t hat Is Inviting Immigration, as
Oregon has always done, cannot con
sistently adopt a policy of withholding
land from sale. A consistent course
would have been to offer lands for sale
to actual homeseekers upon such terms
and conditions as would prevent fraud,
and then the state would have retained
title to the vast areas that have fallen
Into the hands of speculators. So loig
mi tM .loe are paMtog Iitto the co
w-
trol of speculators, there is no force to
the argument that the policy of the
state should be to sell Its lands. If the
fands were to be the basis of specula
tion, the state might as well have been
the beneficiary of the speculation. If
they had been wanted by homeseek
ers, the state could not have withheld
them consistently. Manifestly the state
has not pursued a wise course, for the
lands have gone, but not to settlers.
The increase of population has been due
in small degree, if at all, to sales of
state land at low prices.
An advance of from 50 to 100 per cent
will be made on March 1 on all ma
chinery, electrical supplies, and other
manufactured articles shipped from the
United States to Russia. This is the
second increase that has been made in
the duty by Russia, and it is put in
effect partly for the protection of Amer
ican and German manufacturers who
have located In Russia, and partly to
aid her good friend Germany In the re
taliatory tariff war which the Germans
are about to institute against the
United States. We .have better cus
tomers than Russia among the foreign
ers. Even Germany buys more goods
from us than we ship to Russia, but
our trade with the land of the Czar last
year amounted to $16,000,000. This
trade, together with that of Germany,
which is worth many times this
amount, will now be lost by our strict
adherence to the trust-building tariff.
Individually, these protests from - our
former friends and customers may not
be serious, but if every country which
has the same Just cause for complaint
that Russia and Germany have should
decide to fight us with our own weap
ons, there would soon be a commercial
and political upheaval that would
sweep every "standpatter" into obliv
ion. The only excuse over offered by the
International Association of Sailing
Ship Owners for their unfair discrimi
nation against Portland was that ves
sels were delayed in the river by
storms. Nearly every shipmaster who
has sense enough to box the compass
knows that rare indeed are the occa
sions when a ship cannot cross out of
the Columbia, providing It is when it is
safe for her; outside. That Portland is
no worse off than other ports In this re
spect is shown by the following from
the Tacoma Ledger of January 19:
According to advices from Port Crescent,
the ship St. Past la still anchored In Clallam
Bay. The St. Paul. Tvbeat-Uden. was towed
out from Taeoma, a week ago. hut it la evi
dent Captain Snow ha been awaiting the
abatement of the storm along the coast before
venturinf; out. The St. Paul is bound for
San FranclMo.
The British bark Australia, which left Ta
coma. a eottple of days ago, is also at Clallam
Bay waiting for a favorable opportunity to
pas? out.
Since the St. Paul left Tacoma five
grain-laden ships have crossed out of
the Columbia, bound for Europe, and
more than thirty coasters have crossed
In or out during the same period.
We can imagine the surprise and in
dignation of Lieutenant Charles Pen
dleton, of the Manila constabulary,
when he was sentenced to life Imprison
ment for killing a native policeman.
Mr. Pendleton comes from Atlanta, Ga.,
where the "nigger" Is usually required
to stay In the stable and curry the
horses and engage in other menial oc
cupations that do not run counter to
the social sensibilities of men like Pen
dleton. The particular "nigger" a po
liceman that Pendleton killed refused
to light a lamp in a vehicle which Pen
dleton was driving, and, being decently
drunk and having an active apprecia
tion of the great outrage that the of
fensive policeman had thus committed
by his surprising contumacy, Pendleton
pulled his pistol and shot him. Now he
must go to jail merely for asserting the
dignity and social rights of a gentle
man and a soldier. Perhaps one might
be able to fix things differently If Presi
dent Roosevelt would appoint a Var
daman Governor of the Philippines,
When the thlrteen-spired cathedral of
St- Basil, in the Kremlin at Moscow,
was completed. Ivan the Terrible is said
to have asked thb architect whether he
could duplicate the work. With the
pride of an artist he declared he could
surpass it. whereupon Ivan caused him
to be blinded. This masterpiece as well
as other wonders of the Kremlin, which
have loomed large In the news columns
recently, is described In an Interesting
article on page 30 of this issue of The
Oregonlan.
Had the captain of the good ship
Martinique required Monsieur Talgny
to show a sanitary certificate, covering
both health and morals, before allowing
him to come aboard, there would have
been no cause for surprise. As a man
who had rubbc"d elbows with Castro he
would have been a proper subject for
fumigation.
Senator Piles, whose residence Is in
Seattle, demands that his town share
in the commissary trade of Vancouver
Barracks, which he declares Is monop
olized by Portland. With this prece
dent. Senator Gearin may properly de
mand that Portland share in the com
merce created by the Puset Sound
Navy-yard, near Seattle.
Of course Neva will miss its annual
blessing, but Its disappointment will be
as nothing compared with that of the
nihilists who have been planning to
pot the Little Father from behind the
grandstand on the river bank.
The triumvirate now in charge of the
spiritual and material welfare of ZIon
City announces that outside money will
be welcomed. In this respect, at least,
the Dowie policy has not been departed
from. ,.
Let us not Judge too harshly First
Mate Hiller, of the whaler John and
Winthrop, who playfully harpooned
sailors who earned his - disapproval.
Perhaps he .was educated at Annapolis.
While the news reports on the subject
are silent. It Is a safe guess that Joe
Gans, newly victorious pugilist, whoso
fame was In eclipse for some time, is
not on intimate terms with whisky.
The Dowie family and the Clan Mc
Curdy seem to be in the same boat.
Thus on this earth are thrift, frugality
and sanctimonious observance of the
family virtues rewarded.
Next we shall learn, no doubt, that
that angel child Midshipman Meri
wether was wont to open his hazing
seances with prayer.
To reach any department of The Ore
gonlan editorial, business or mechan
ical call up Main Tf7t, which is a pri-
vate exchange.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS CRITICISED.
When the old farmer objected to his boy
studying geography, saying that it his
boy knew the way to the potato patch
that "was enough geography for him. It
was thought that his views were very
narrow. But were they any more nar
row than the views of the professor who
teaches his pupils all about the rivers
of Zanzibar but omits the road to the
potato patch? I may be narrow, too, but
I believe I would rather my boy would
know the road to the potato patch and
no more, than to know all that Is in his
book in geography and not know the
way to the potato patch. There would .
be some excuse for taking the old man's
boy and forever spoiling him for hoeing
potatoes if we fitted him for anything
else.
As a rule, what kind of a product arc
our schools turning out? No doubt a
number of brilliant statesmen can be
pointed out as the product of our schools,
but we cannot deny tho fact that our
schools have spoiled a whole lot of good
potato-diggers, and we need more potato
diggers than statesmen. It may be a de
batable question whether the good that
they have done, outwefghs tho harm or
not.
What are our common schools for? As
I understand It. they arc supposed to
prepare our youths for the practical
affairs of life. They should furnish the
foundation, and a good substantial found
ation It should be, on which they may
erect such a superstructure as meets their
tastes and desires, and the schools arc
overreaching themselves when they at
tempt to add the superstructure.
Thero Is a well-grounded belief that our
common school course of study has too
much In It. and that a3 more and more
has been added it has becn at the ex
pense of the fundamentals. As new mat
ter has been added other and more Im
portant matter has been necessarly slight
ed. To see the volumes In the form ot
text-books that some of our children
have to master, or rather go through, con
firms one In this belief. Pupils are hur
ried on Into algebra and geometry who
can hardly add a column of figures and
get a correct result.
"What shall I do for busy work?" Is a
question often heard at Institutes. Sup
pose you set for your pupils some sums
like those the master used to set for us
In the good old days, before modern
methods came Into use. That would keep
them busy with knitted brows for a while,
and would bo good, wholesome practice
for them. Instead of that they are drilled
for a time on the 13 combinations and
almost before we know It they arc study
ing logarithms.
Are the schools meeting the demand for
a practical education? Send soma young
graduate to a business man and have him
apply for a position. Tho man may ask
him some questions. I won't attempt to
say what he may ask him, but it's dollars
to doughnuts that he won't ask him to
explain the blnomlan theorem. Read the
columns In tho papers headed "Help
Wanted." and sec what the world's de
mand Is for. How often docs tho business
world advertise for a man who can name
tho geological ages or explain the proces
sion of the equinoxes?
"What do you know about bookkeep
ing?" said a buslhcss man to an appli
cant for a position. "I've been teaching
the subject for ten years." responded the
applicant. "That may be, but what do
you know about practical bookkeeping?"
That question could not be satisfactorily
answered, and the position was given to
a young man who had begun by sweeping
out the store. He had grown ud in the
business and was practical, though he had
not got beyond the three R's when .he
went to school.
A man In a freight-house once told
me that when he wanted a tally clerk he
would rather tako one of the men who
had been pushing a truck and give him
the position than give It to an applicant
from some of the schools. Such a man
was not nearly so likely to get to specu
lating on the laws of hydrostatics and for
get his tally. And he wouldn't expect to
be superintendent and general manager
Inside of six months.
Somo time ago a complaint was made
that there was too much In our common
school course of study and legislative ac
tion was suggested to cut it down. "Tell
us what to" cut out," said the superin
tendent. If the complainants answered I
did not sec the answer. They probably
gave up In disgust, knowing that to an
swer would require more time and space
than was at their disposal. One could
not rcry well specify any particular
branch of study that could be eliminated
but in every branch there is a whole lot
of matter that might well be eliminated.
If some practical man should go through
our text-books and cut out the non-essentials
the course of study would be brief
enough.
"The head of a fish Is 12 inches long,
the tail Is as long as the head and half
the body, the body is as long as the head
and tall; how long Is the fish?" Now, of
what practical value Is a problem of the
foregoing character? "Oh," says some
mathematical zealot, "think of the brain
power and mental skill that Is developed
by such problems. They give the pupil
intellectual power that Is useful to liim In
practical life." Tes, about as much as
being ablo to turn a back summersault
will help a man to be a good mechanic.
Are not our schools training a lot of In
tellectual acrobats that are about as much
use in the world as the clown In the
circus?
Seems to me there would be more sense
In having tho pupil figure out the value
of that fish at a certain prico per pound.
What's that you say? He was able to
do that long ago? Are you right sure
he knew it thoroughly? If you arc, you
should have graduated him then, for he
was then prepared to bo of more use In
tho world than he Is now.
"I don't like to study grammar; I'm
going to be a farmer, and I don't see no
use In grammar, nohow"; says some poor,
discouraged puplL Bully for you, my
lad. Stick to your resolution. I glory
in your spunk. We need farmers and .we
have got plenty of shyster lawyers, cood-for-nothlng
doctors and lazy preachers.
Tou will need to know how to figure and
read and write, and the more you can
learn about the culture of the different
cereals and vegetables the better; and
there are some business and legal forms
that you ought to be posted on, but don't
expect to learn them in school. They are
too busy with the more Important
branches, such, for example, as Nature
study, learning whether the apple seed
points to the blow or the stem, or how a
cow stands up. and lies down, and how
a horse lies down and stands up. If you
want to learn how to tell the age of a
horse by his teeth, don't ask your teacher.
Ho hasn't time for such trivial matters.
The milky way Is of much more Import
ance to him than the way to milk. But
stick to your resolution, and you'll make
a good citizen. Bring to the world's mar
ket fromethlitg. fer which there Is a de
Rwnf, aaa yer life will be a success,
whetherye know how to eonjwratQ a
i vorb w: net,
it H. VINCENT".
THE SILVER LINING; '
Joking Is a serious business.
Jerome and Loo nils have made every
body sober up.
Did you ever notice that a large propor
tion of the beautiful residences in town
are owned by physicians? Portland Is not
a sick town, but the thrift of Its pros
perous doctors is very apparent.
.
"Whom God hath joined let no man put
asunder,"
But who's to tell whom God hath joined,
I wonder?
The uninspired might sometimes make a
blunder.
The reason why I weep Is because I
know that tears can't bring her back. I
don't want to be consoled.
A young man who went through the
fortune his father left him was arrested
the other day for stealing a dollar. What
degeneracy! HLs father never thought ot
taking less than a million.'
.
The reason why he Is awfully giddy 13
that every pretty girl turns his head, and
there are many pretty girls in Portland.
The chaplain on a certain battleship
was giving a magic-lantern lecture, the
subject of which wa.o "Notes and Scenes
From the Bible." He arranged with a
sailor, who possessed a gramophone, to
discourse appropriate music between the
suaes. The first picture shown was
Adam and Eve In the Garden of Eden.
The sailor cudgeled his brain, but could
not think of anything appropriate. "Play
up," whispered the chaplain. Suddenly a
large Idea struck the jolly tar. and-to
the great conservation of the sky pilot
and the delight of the audience the
gramophone burst forth with the strains
of "There's Only One Girl In the World
for Me."
Two men were, camping together, and
one morning one of the men remarked,
at breakfast: "Heard a cow bellow In
the swamp just now." Nothing further
was said, and they went about their
business for the rest of the day. Twenty
four hours later, once more at breakfast,
the second man said, "How d'you know It
wasn't a bull?" Again no comment.
Again a pause of 21 hours. Next morning
the first man began to pack up. "Tou
going?" Inquired the other. "Yes."
"Why?" "Because," said his friend,
"there's too much argument in this
camp!"
A new and Interesting point in the
study of the occult is being discussed in
London. It Is the effect of diet on
dreams. If you cat pie you'll dream of
your grandmother. If you cat at a res
taurant you'll dream of being pinched or
subpenaed. If you drink tacks or files
you'll dream ot being a hackdrlvcr. If
you drink milk you'll dream of beginning
life over again. If you cat lightly you'll
dream of starving. If you cat heavily
you'll dream that you arc listening to tho
sermon ot a Presbyterian minister.
Senior Partner We had best have that
young bookkeeper's books examined. IIe
took 12 drinks between here and home
yesterday.
Junior Partner How do you know?
"I was with him. He was treating me."
A friend in need is the friend to feed.
The dull girl stumbled upon a bright
thing. She said that she. had lots" to think
about, but nothing to think with.
'
The Little Boy's Lament.
(Not Original.)
Tommy owns a guinea pig;
Gcorgic has a barrow,
Walter's brother lets him shoot
With his bow and arrow.
Franklin Jones has got a knife,
Willy has a blister,
I've got nothing but a new
L'gly baby sister!
"What sort of a siri to be engaged to is
Miss ?"
"First rate and square as a die. The
last time I was engaged to her she re
turned my ring and presents within three
days, and got up a farewell dinner in my
honor."
a
He tried several dieting fads, thinking
he had dyspepsia and now he has got it.
A friend of mine said -that the reason
why he talked In his sleep was that it
was the only chance he got. "For he wa
a married man."
"How is this book?"
"Oh, worth skipping."
Manners arc the debt we owe to others
Our enemies hr.te us for our faults, and
our friends love us for our virtues that
we do not possess.
.
The cloud of every other man has a sil
ver lining, but our own has no opening
and io glint on the other side. Moral;
cry and shut up, or go to sleep.
Prize Dramatic Criticism.
When a theatrical company playing
"Ghosts" struck Nevada, there was bound
to be some sort of explosion. Two such
diverse elements were bound to strike fire,
and it fell to the lot of the Carson Appeal
to set off the first bomb. "The play is cer
tainly a moral hair-raiser." says the critic,
who describes Mr. Avellng as a "spavined
rake." and Mrs. Avcling as a proud beau
ty who keeps her chin in the air and who
"gives an old tar three hundred plunks
to marry (the hired girl whom Mr. Ave
llng gets gay with). Oswald, the moth
er's only boy, is sent to Paris to paint
views for marines, and takes kindly to
the gay life of the capital, where the
joy of living is the rage, and families are
reared in a section where a printer run
ning a job office solely on marriage cer
tificates would hit the poorhouse with a
dull thud." The Incident of Rcgena and
Oswald is mentioned. Pastor Mandcrs
"has. a spasm," . and "Engstrand, who
runs a sort of soldiers and sailors' can
teen, sets fire to an orphanage and the
boy, who has inherited a sort of mayonnaise-dressing
brain from his awful
dad, tears about the stage In a spell,
breaks some furniture and upsets the
wine. He finally takes rough-on-rats. and
dies a" gibbering Idiot, with his mother
slobbering over him and trying to figure
out in her own mind that he was merely
drunk and disorderly." The virile, clear
seeing Nevada critic thought that the
company "handled the sticky mess as well
as could be expected," though ho was
grieved to note that "Miss Razcto built
up her bustle too high." By way ot gen
eral comment we are glad to reproduce
the critic's last sentence: "As a sermon
on the law of- heredity the play is great,
but after seeing it we arc glad to an
nounce that Haverly's Mlsstrels will re
lieve the Ibaen stoem aext Monday-
i.