The Sunday Oregonian., August 19, 1906, PART FOUR, Image 41

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, AtGUST 19, 1906.
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BT JOHN P1I1I.1P SOUSA. '
.(Copyright, 1006, by D. Appleton A Co.
This article In Its entirety will appear In
tbe September number of Appleion'a
Magazine.) -
SWEEPING across tho'country with
the speed of a transient fashion in
slang or Panama hats, political war
cries or popular novels, comes now the
mechanical device to sing for us a song
or play for us a piano, in substitute for
human skill, intelligence and soul. Only
by harking back to the day of the rollor
i-kate or the bicycle craze, when sports
of admitted utility ran to extravagance
nd virtual madness, can we find a
rarallel to the way In which these In
genious instruments have Invaded every
community in the land.
On a matter upon which I feel so deeply,
and which I consider so far-reaching.
' I am quite willing to be reckoned an
alarmist, admittedly swayed in part by
personal interest as well as by the im
pending harm to American musical art.
I foresee a marked deterioration in
American music and musical taste, an
Interruption in the musical development
of the country, and a host of other In
juries ,to musio in its artistic manifesta
tions, by virtue or rather by vice of the
multiplication of the various music-producing
machines. When I add to this
that I myBelf and every other popular
composer - are victims of a serious in
fringement on our clear moral right in
our own work, I but offer a second res
son why the facts and conditions should
he made clear to everyone, alike in the
interest of musical art and of fair play.
It cannot be denied that the owners
and inventors have shown wonderful ag-
. gressivenesa and ingenuity In developing
and exploiting these remarkable devices.
Their mechanism has been steadily and
marvelouBly Improved, and they have
come into very extensive use. And it
must be admitted that where families
lack time or Inclination to acquire musi
cal technique anS to hear public perform-
.ances the best cjf these machines supply
a certain amount of .satisfaction and
pleasure.
No Expression of Soul.
But heretofore the whole course of music
from its first day o this has been along
the line of making it the expression of
soul states; in' other words, of pouring
into it soul. I
From the days when the mathematical
and mechanical were paramount in music
the struggle has been bitter and Incessant
for the sway of the emotional and the
soulful. And now, in this the twentieth
century, come these talking and playing I
machines and offer again to reduce the
All-Steel Cars Adopted for New York City Tunnel
Development of the First Absolutely Fireproof, Collision-Proof, Sound-Proof Coach. '
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Aug. 13. (Spe
cial Correspondence of, the Sunday
Oregonian.) "All future passenger equip
ment of the Pennsylvania Railroad will
be made of steel. The necessity of pro
viding non-collapsible, absolutely fireproof
passenger cars for the New York tunnel
has simply hastened the day when this
transformation must take place. The car
of the future must be as safe as engi
neering science can make it."
Such was the declaration authorized to
day by General Manager "W. W. - Atter
bury, of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It
followed examination of reports which
have been made on the cos and perform
ance of the new Pennsylvania coach, No.
1651, the first all-steel passenger car to be
built in the world. This car has been
placed temporarily on one of the com
pany's regular local runs, and most min
ute reports are being made as to its work.
The future passenger equipment is to be
of steel, therefore, not only steel frame
and box, but steel and non-combustible
material in every particular. This will
involve a very large expenditure of
money, but the management feel that no
expense should be spared to remove the
danger from fire and collision in future
railroading.
The decision now definitely reached will
call for about 1000 unburnable railroad
company cars to be ready when the New
"Vork tunnel Is completed. It will also
tall for some 00 Pullman cars which must
also be of completely non-combustible
construction. At the request of the Penn
sylvania Railroad, the Pullman Company
is now building the first all-steel sleeper
ever constructed. It will be inspected by
the Pennsylvania officials at a very early
date.
Railroad officials and travelers generally
have been keenly Interested In the result
of the Pennsylvania's experiment with a
new car. Other so-called steel coaches
have been built notably for the New
York Subway but they have been only
partly of steel. The first car to be built
anywhere wherein the main object has
been to secure the elimination of every
.particle of non-combustible material Is
No. ltSl. the reports on which are Just
now In shape to make it possible to base
aennite future action upon them.
The new car weighs 103.650 pounds
against 84.500 for the standard wooden
coach, but it is found that the added
weight very greatly reduces the vibration
.ana adds to the comfort of the passen
gers. No inconsiderable part of the addi
tional weight is due to the great burden
Involved in carrying storage batteries and
battery boxes. All the new cars are to
be lighted by electricity, and the Penn
sylvania will carry no gas illuminated
cars of any kind into its New York tun
nel. The electric wires in the new cars
are all thoroughly insulated in heavy
metal conduits, thus adding to the safety.
Motive power officials believe that the
weight of the present car can be still fur
ther reduced, although it will always be
heavier than the wooden coach. Qoach
No 1651 has a small quantity of combus
- tlble material and in the effort to remove
this absolutely, it may be necessary to
add weight in slight particulars.
The new car Is absolutely non-collapsl-blfi.
It could stand any load or any col
.. Vsion. Its hidden frame is like a cantil
ever bridge, suspended on the trucks as
piors. This safety against telescoping is
secured by the use of enormous steel
girders, the principal feature in the body
of the car being a central box girder 24
Inches wide by 19 inches deep extending
throughout the length of the coach.
In the past, railroads have found that
when trains collided and the body of one
car rose above the body of the next, there
was a tendency for the underframe of the
first car . to sweep the superstructure of
the second car off its underframe. In
the new equipment this is prevented by
the extraordinary strength in the door
and vestibule end-posts, which are, of
course, of very heavy rolled steel.
To show something of the effort made
expression of music to - a mathematical
system of megaphones, wheels, cogs,
disks, cylinders and all manner of re
volving things, which are as like real
art as the marble statue of Eve is lUe
her beautiful, living, breathing daughters.
The nightingale's song Is delightful be
cause the nightingale herself gives ' It
forth. The boy with a penny whistle
and glass of water may give an, ex
cellent imitation, but let him persist, he
is sent to bed as a nuisance. Thunder in
spires awe in its connection with nature.
but two lusty base drummers can drive
vou mad by what might be oalled a fair
reproduction of Jove's prerogative. I
doubt if a dramatist could be inspired
to write a tragedy by witnessing the
mournful development and denouement
of "Punch and Judy," or an actress im
prove her delineation of heroic character
by hearing the sobs or a Parisian 0011.
Wet Garner led to- study language and
manners of the orang-outang and his km
by watching the antics of a monkey-on-a-stick?
Only the Irving Example.
It is the living, breathing example
alone that is valuable to the student and
can set Into motion his creative and
performing abilities. The Ingenuity of a
phonograph's mechanism may incite the
Inventive genius to Its improvement, but
I could not imagine that a performance
by it could ever Inspire embryotlo Men
de'ssohns, Beettiovens, Mozart and Wag
ners to the acquirement of technical skill,
or to the grasp of human possibilities
in the art.
Step by step through the centuries,
working In an atmosphere almost wholly
monopolized by commercial pursuit.
America has advanced art to sucn a
degree that today she is the Mecca toward-
which Journey the artists of all
nations. Musical enterprises are given
financial support here as nowhere else
In the universe, while our appreciation
of music is bounded only by our geo
graphical limits.
This -wide love for tne art springs
from the singing school, secular or sa
cred; from the village band, and from
the study of those instruments that are
nearest the people. There -are more
pianos, violins, guitars, mandolins and
banjos among the working classes of
America than in all tne rest or tne
world, and the presence of tnese In
struments in the homes has given em
nlovment to enormous numbers of
teachers who hRve patiently taught the
to make this car absolutely fireproof. It
is only necessary to state that the floor
ing throughout the car and platform
consists ot an imitation of stone spread
while in a plastic state over the steel
plates of the car. The framing above the
windows is composed of steel plates. The
doors are composed of steel plates pressed
Into a 6hape imitating the wooden doors
used in other cars, and filled with cork
to deaden the sound. The root is con
structed of composite boards covered with
copper sheathing. The Inside lining con
sists of composite boards covered with
fireproof paint.
Nearly all the small amount of wood
used in this experimental car Is protected
by metal. In the future even the greater
part of this wood will be eliminated. The
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INTERIOR OF FIRST tllVBtJRJf ABLE CAR PRACTIC ALLY EVERY PARTICLE OP WOOD IS ENCASED IJT
METAL. THE FLOOR IS OF METAL. CUSHIONS ARE OK FIREPROOFED PLUSH. IT IS COLLISION
PROOF AND FIRE PROOF.
seats are of steel frame, covered with
fireproof plush. The footrests are also
of steel. For the present the armrests
are of wood, but experiments are now
being made with various metals in the
effort to secure a non-combustible mate
rial which will not be cold to the touch.
A coupler arrangement of a new type,
stronger than anything ever used before,
has been designed for this car to avoid
any possibility of breakage and the re
sultant parting or trains.
In the planning of this car no expense
has been spared to build a coach which
should provide the greatest possible
strength; a steel framing which could
not be affected by fire; an Inside lining
which should be absolutely unburnable,
and at the same time would not conduct
heat or sound.
The company has been making elabo
rate-tests to ascertain the effect of the
temperature of the atmosphere on the
steel, as compared with the old wooden
car. It is found that in hot weather the
difference is very slight, and that the
America's Great Bandmaster Points Out What He Considers
the Evils ot Melody Machines..
children and Inculcated a love for mu
sio throughout the various communi-t
ties.
Menace in Machine-Made Music.
Right here is the menace in machine
made music! Tbe first rift In the lute
has appeared. The cheaper of these In
struments of the home are no longer
being purchased as formerly, and all
because the automatic music devices
are usurping their places.
And what is the result? The child
becomes Indifferent to- practice, for
when music can be heard in the homes
without the labor of study and close
application, and without the slow pro
cess of acquiring a technique, it will be
simply a question of time when the
amateur disappears entirely, and with
him a host of vocal and instrumental
teachers, who will be without field or
calling.
A recent writer In the London Spec
tator believes that the exclamation of
the little boy who rushed into his
mother's room with the appeal: "O
mamma, come into the drawing-room;
there is a man in there playlfg the
piano with his hands," is far less ex
travagant tnan many similar excur
sions into the domain of humorous and
human prophecy. He states from obser
vation, that music has been steadily
deollnlng in Great Britain as a factor
in domestic life, and that the Intro
duction of machine-made music into
the household is largely helping to as
sist in the change.
Under such conditions the tide of
amateurism cannot but recede, until
there will be left only the mechanical
device and the professional executant.
Singing will no longer be a fine accom
plishment; vocal exercises, so impor
tant a factor In the curriculum of phy
sical culture, will be out of vogue!
Our National Throat and Chest.
Then what of the National throat?
Will it not weaken? What of the Na
tional chest? Will it not shrink?
When a mother can turn on the pron-
ograph with the same ease that she ap
plies to the electric light, will she
croon her baby to slumber with sweet
lullabys, or will the infant be put to
sleep by machinery?
Clilluren are naturally imitative, and
if, in their infancy, they hear only
phonographs, will they not sing. If they
sing at all, in imitation and finally be
come simply human phonographs
without soul or expression?
steel car shows a decided inclination to
cool off more rapidly than tbe wooden
coach.
AUGUST GARDEN POINTERS
Lots of Things That Ought to Be
Looked After This Month. -
The following hits of advice, intended
for August consumption, are offered to
plant growers by Country Life In
America:
Pinch back chrysanthemums.
House plants taken up this month and
put In pots will make fine plants and
flower well during tho Winter.
Start taking cuttings for stock pot
plants that are potbound.
Keep all runners from violets that are
to be in houses or cold frames.
Also plant pansles and daisies, forget-me-nots
and sllene for cold frames for
early Spring. .
Repot rubber plants, dracaena, palms
and all plants for houses.
Keep carnations cut back to make fine
crowns.
Repot calla lilies.
These pointers may be supplemented
with some more August injunctions, this
time from the Garden Magazine:
Sow New Zealand spinach once a week
during August. It is the hot weather
substitute for common spinach.
Did you ever have any vegetables In
March from your gardsfi? Try corn salad
and Welsh onion. Sow the seeds in Au
gust and cover the corn salad in Winter
with litter.
Some of the most precious flowers oi
Just as far as a spirit of emulation
once inspired proud parent or aspiring
daughter to send for the music teacher
when the neighbor child across the way
began to take lessons, the emulation -!s
turning to the purchase of a rival piano
player to each house, and the hope of
developing the local musical personal
ity U eliminated.
The country dance orchestra of vio
lin, guitar and melodeon had to rest at
times, and the resulting interruption
afforded the opportunity for general so
ciability and rest among the entire
company. Now a tireless mechanism can
keep everlastingly at it, and much ot
what made the dance a wholesome re
creation is eliminated.
The country band, with its energetic
renditions. Its loyal support by local
merchants. Us benefit concerts, band
wagon, gay uniforms, state tourna
ments, and the attendant pride and
gayety, Is apparently doomed to vanish
In the general assault on personality
in music.
There was a time when the pine
woods of the north were sacred to
Summer simplicity, when around the
campfire at night the stories were told
and the songs were sung with a charm
all their own. But even now the inva
sion of the north has begun, and the in
genious purveyor of canned musio Is
urging the sportsman, on his way to
the silent places with gun and rod,
tent and canoe, to take with him some
disks, cranks and cogs to sins' to him
as he sits by the firelight, a thought as
unhappy and Incongruous as canned
salmon by a trout brook.
In the prospective scheme of mechan
ical music we shall see man and maiden
in a light canoe under the Summer
moon upon an Adirondack lake with a
gramaphone caroling love songs from
amidships. The Spanish cavalier must
abandon his guitar and serenade his
beloved with a phonograph under his
arm.
The Phonograph In War.
Shall we not expect that when the
Nation once more sounds its call to
arms and the gallant regiment marches
forth, there will be no majestic drum
major, no serried ranks of sonorous
trombones, no glittering- array of brass,
no rolling of drums? In their stead
will be a huge phonograph, mounted
on a 100 If. P. automobile, grinding out
"The Girl I Left Behind Me," "Dixie"
and "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
How the soldiers' bosoms will swell
at the thotight that they are being led
the holiday season are the ones that have
to be started in August. You must order
your Bermuda lilies and freeslas in Au
gust If . you want weir chaste, fragrant
blossoms in time tor the family reunion
on Christmas day.
Do you know why you see so few white
lilies of the gardens of this country? It
is because tbe best one has to be planted
in August. Unlike other lilies, it has to
make a leaf growth this Fall. Few know
it. Most who do forget it.
The beginner can save a year on straw
berries by buying potted strawberry
plants in August. They may cost ten
cents each, but they are worth It, for if
you set 'Out ordinary strawberry plants
this Fall they will not fruit until 1908.
while potted plants will give you berries,
next Spring.
Most beginners are afraid to plant celery-
They think it is tea special or too
something. Now is your chance to repair
this mistake. Buy celery plants. They
have been twice transplanted and pre-
pared for shipment by express at this
drama tio moment.
Do you realize that August Is the time
to raise perennials from seed? Now is
the appointed time to sow all those
precious old-fashioned flowers that are
full of sentiment and home associations,
and the best place to sow them is In a
cold frame because you can keep heavy
rains from washing away the little seeds
and seedlings. Think of foxgloves, lark
spurs, Canterbury bells and all the well
beloved host!
Like a Dog-Watch.
Mamma had not noticed the clock
striking during all of the afternoon,
and thinking perhaps it had stopped,
she asked little Rlta to go Into the
hall and see if it was running. After
a hastry survey of the long pendulum
swinging back and forth, Rita ran
back and announced: "Why, no. mam
ma; it isn't running. Its standing
fitiu and .wagging its taU,"-
Into the strife by a machine! And when
in camp at night, they are gathered
about the cheery tire, it will not be:
They sang of love, and not of fame,
Forgot was Britain's Rlory;
Each heart recalled a different nam.
But all sang Annie Laurie.
But it will be: - . .
"Whir whir whir Song by the Bung
town Quartet: "Tour Name Is Dennis"."
Shades of Alexander, of Washington, of
Napoleon, of Wellington, of Grant, and
of the other immortal heroes! Never
again will the, soldier hear the defiant
call of the bugle to battle, and the his
toric lines must be changed to:
"Gentlemen of the French guards, turn
on your phonographs first."
And the future d'Auteroches will reply:
"Sir, we never turn on our phonographs
first; please to turn youss first."
It is at the fireside that we look for
virtue and patriotism; for song that stir
the blood and fire the zeal; for songs of
home, of mother, and of love, that touch
the heart and brighten the eye. Music
teaches all that is beautiful in this world.
Let us not hamper It with a machine
that tells the story day by day, without
variation, without soul, barren of the Joy,
the passion, the ardor that is the inheri
tance of man alone.
Legal Rights of Composers.
And now a word on a detail of personal
Interest which has a right to be heard
because it voices a claim for fair play,
far-reaching in Its effects beyond the per.
sonal profit of one or many individuals.
I venture to say that it will come as an
entire surprise to almost every reader to
learn that the composers of the music
now produced so widely by the mechani
cal players of every sort draw no profit
from it whatever. Composers are entirely
unprotected by the copyright laws of the
United States as at present written on
the statute books and interpreted by the
courts. The comparer of the most popu
lar waltz -or march of the year must see
it seized, reproduced at will on wax
cylinder, brass disk, or strip of perforated
paper, multiplied indefinitely, and sold at
large profit all over the country, without
a. penny of remuneration to himself for
the use of this original product of his
brain.
A new copyright bill was introduced in
Congress at the last session, a Joint com
mittee met on June 6 to hear arguments
on the bill as presented, and the follow
ing paragraph was cause for lively dis
cussion on the part of the various talk-
When President. Hayes Was Counted In in 1876
Judge Williams Tells of the Electoral Commission and Oregon's Share in Attempted Bribery
f- AMUEL J. TILDEN was the Demo-
cratic candidate and Rutherford
B. Hayes the Republican candi
date for President In 1876. Growing
out of this election there Svas a bitter
and . protracted controversy as to
which of said candidates had been
elected. The dispute was over the
electoral votes of South Carolina, Lou
isiana, Florida and Oregon. The Dem
ocrats confidently expected to carry
the solid South for Mr. Tllden, and
were greatly disappointed when the
canvassing boards in South Carolina,
Louisiana and Florida certified that
Mr. Hayes had carried those states.
Tremendous efforts were made to
change the result in those states and
arrangements were made to use large
sums of money to that end, all of
which, for one reason or another,
failed of success. Notwithstanding all
the clamor that was made after the
election by the friends of Mr. Tllden.
there Is no reasonable doubt that
Mr. Hayes was fairly elected. So far
as South Carolina and Louisiana were
concerned, the negro votes were solid
for Hayes. These alone outnumbered
the white voters, and besides, there
were a considerable number of white
electors In those states who voted for
Mr. Hayes.
So far as the vote of Florida was
concerned, I have some personal
knowledge on that subject. When it
became known that an effort was be
ing made to change the decision of
the canvassing board In that state, at
the request of Senators Sherman,
Chandler and other Republican Sena
tors, I went down to Florida to pre
vent, if possible, the scheme of giving
the electoral vote to Tilden. I found
William E. Chandler, of New Hamp
shire, and General Lew Wallace, au
thor of "Ben Hur," there, and we to
gether went to work to save the state
for Hayes. There were proceedings In
the courts, to which I gave my atten
tion, and other devices set on foot to
manipulate the returns, but we man
aged to put them in such a shape that
the authorities in Washington would
know how the people voted.
There was a dispute over the elec
toral vote in Oregon. The Republican
candidates for electors were William
H. Odell, J. C. Cartwrlght and John W.
Watts, all of whom were elected by a
majority of more than 1000 votes. Watts
was postmaster at Lafayette and for
that reason Governor Grover decided
that he was ineligible to the place of
an elector and gave a certificate of
election to E. A. Cronin, though Watts
had more than 1300 majority over Cro
nin, who was one of the Democrat can
didates for elector. Odell and Cart
wright refused to recognize the ap
pointment of Cronin and after Watts
had resigned as postmaster elected him
to the vacancy supposed to be created
by his Ineligibility when elected by the
people. Cronin thereupon appointed J.
N. T. Muller and John Parker, who had
not been voted for, as his associates
on the electoral board. Odell, Cart
wright and Watts voted for Hayes. Cro
nin for Tllden and his associates for
Hayes. This was the state of the case
when the returns of the electoral col
lege in Oregon were made to Wash
ington. Hayes had 185 electoral votes and Til
den 184, so that it was only necessary to
change one of these votes from Hayes to
Tllden to give the latter the election. The
Democratic papers throughout the coun
try published Inflammatory articles to
the effect that . Tilden was elected, and
threats were made that the Inauguration
of Hayes would be prevented by force,
and the aspect of the siniatlon was so
serious that President Grant made all the
necessary preparations to prevent by the
military arm of the Government any at
tempt to carry these threats into execu-
lUon, Jia &oio m DemoxUj3 and tbe
ing-marhlne interests and composers rep.
resented:
Paragraph (G) of section I, which pro
vides "that tho copyright secured by this
act shall Include the sole and exclusive
right to make, sell, distribute, or let for
hire any device, contrivance, or appliance
especially adapted in any manner what
soever to reproduce to the ear the whole
or any material part of any work pub
lished and copyrighted after thla act shall
have gone into effect, or by means of any
such device or appliance publicly to re
produce to the ear the whole or any ma
terial part of such work."
I was among those present, and be
came particularly keen on the efforts of
opposing Interests to impress upon the
committee by specious argument and fal
lacious interpretation that the composer
of music had no rights under the con
stitution that they were bound to re
spect; and that remedial legislation was
wholly out of the questtlon until the con
stitution had first been amended
One gentleman went the length of de
claring that he would never have Worked
out his reproducing apparatus, had he
not felt confident that the constitution
gave him the right to appropriate the
brightest efforts of the American com
poser, and he voiced the belief that any
act giving the composer ownership in
his own property would be most uncon
stitutional. Asked if he claimed the right to take
one of my compositions and use it in
connection with his mechanical device
without compensation to myself, hl3 un
selfish reply was: "Under the constitu
tion and all the laws of the land I say
yes, decidedly!"
Asked if he was not protected in his
patents, his anwer was promptly in tho
affirmative, but he seemed wholly unable
to grasp the proposition that a composer
should ask for similar protection on his
creative work.
Asked finally if he desired the consti
tution amended, he replied magnanimous
ly: "No, sir, I want the constitution to
stand as it is."
Of course it must not be overlooked
that in the United States Circuit Court
of Appeals a case has Just been decided
adversely to the composer's rights in the
profits accruing from the use of his com
positions on the talking and playing ma
chines, but this case awaits final ajurti
cation, on appeal, in the United States
Supreme Court. Judges Lacombe, Coxe
and Townsend rendered a decision as fol
lows: "We are of the opinion that a per
forated paper' roll, such as Is manu-
I Senate Republican, and it was perfectly
1 apparent that these two bodies would not
agree uoon a canvass or tne eiecmnu
votes of the states In dispute, and so by
Joint resolution of both houses it was
agreed in effect that the contest irom
the above-named states should be submit
ted to an electoral commission to be com
posed of five members of the House, five
, members of the Senate and five Justices
of the Supreme Court. The following
were the members of the commission:
Senators George F. Edmunds, Oliver P.
Morton. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen.
Thomas F. Bayard and Allen G. Thur
uan; Representatives Henry B. Payne,
Eppa Huntington, Joslah G. Abbott,
James A. Garfield and George F. Hoar.
The following four Justices were ap
pointed by the Joint resolution, they to
appoint the fifth Justice: Nathan Clif
ford, Samuel F. Miller, Stephen J. Field
and 'William Strong. It was generally
expected that these four wuld appoint
Justice Davis, but meanwhile he had
been elected to the Senate from Illinois,
which made it necessary to take some
other Justice, and Joseph L. Bradley was
chosen as the fifth Justice.
Eminent counsel were employed by
both parties. Among those appearing for
the Democrats were Judge Black.
Charles O'Connor, Lyman Trumbull and
Matt Carpenter. Among those appearing
for the Republicans were William M.
Evarts. Stanley Matthews and Samuel
Shellebarger. The case of Florida was
first argued and decided; then in succes
sion Louisiana, Florida and Oregon. The
eight Republicans on the commission, to-
wlt: Miller, Strong. Bradley, Mwaros,
Morton, Frelinghuysen, Garfield and
Hoar, decided that the Republican elec
tors from those states had been regular
ly chosen: tlve seven Democrats, to-wit:
Clifford, Field, Bayard, Thurman, Payne,
Hunter and Abbott, voted that the Demo
cratic electors in those states were regu
larly chosen with the except of Oregon,
as to which they voted that the vote of
Watts should not be counted, but that
the vote of Cronin should be counted for
Tllden. According to the Joint resolu
tion the decision of this commission was
to be final. Consequently Hayes was
elected.
Great dissatisfaction was expressed by
the Democrats at this decision. The Re
publicans on the commission, and espe
cially the Judges, were severely criti
cised for their alleged partisan action,,
but it appears to me. though perhaps I
may be prejudicial, that the partisan ac
tion was more particularly chargeable to
the Democratic commissioners. There
were only two ways open for the com
mission to proceed. One was to accept
the returns made by the legally consti
tuted canvassing board and the other
was to recount the votes.- There were
more than 350,000 votes cast In these three
states, and it was practically impossible
for the commission sitting In Washing
ton to recanvass this immense number
of votes. They therefore resolved not to
go behind the returns, and upon these as
they stood It appeared that Hayes was
elected. It was claimed by the Demo
crats that there were Irregularities and
frauds invalidating these returns, but
Judging from elections in the South since
the war it, is not probahle that there
were more, of these on the side of. the
Republicans than on the side of the
Democrats. As to Oregon, the Demo
crats voted to count the vote of Cronin
for Tllden, though as a Tllden elector he
had been defeated by more than a thou
sand majority against him, so the Re
publicans voted to give the three
electoral votes of Oregon to Hayes, ac
cording to the expressed will of the peo
ple of the state.
I was in "Washington at the time of
the November election. Afterwards and
while the excitement was running ' high
and there were forebodings of trouble.
I wrote a communication to the Wash
ington Star signed "Pro Bono Publico."
in which I suggested that the controversy
about the election be submitted for set
factured by defendant. Is not a copy of
complainant's staff notation, for' the fol
lowing reasons:
"It Is not a copy in fact; it Is not
designed to be read or actually used In
reading music as the original staff nota
tion Is; and the claim that it may be
read, which Is practically disproved by
the great preponderance of evidence, even
if true, would establish merely a theory
or possibility of use. as distinguished
from the actual use. The argument that
because the roll Is a 'notation or rword
of the music, it is therefore a copy,
would apply to the ditk of the phonograph
or tho barrel of the organ, which it must
be admitted are not copies of the sheet
music. The perforations in the rolls are
not a varied form of symbols substituted
for the symbols used by the author. They
are mere adjuncts of a valve mechanism
in a machine. In fact, the machine, or
musical playing device, is the thing which
appropriates the author's proporty and
publishes It by producing the musical
sounds, thus conveying the author's com
position to the publU-."
May I ask, does this machine appropri
ate the author's composition without hu
man assistance? Is the machine a free
"gent? Does it go about to seek whom
it may devour? And if. as quoted above,
the machine "publishes it," in not the
owner of the machine responsible for its
acts?
Is a copyright simply represented by a
sheet of music? Is there no more to it
than the silent notation? The little black
spots on the five lines and spaces, the
measured bars, are merely the record of
birth and existence of a musical thought.
These marks are something beyond tho
mere shape, the color, the length of the
pages. They are only tho form of record
ing the coming into the world of a newly
fashioned work, which, by the right of
authorship, inherent and constitutional,
belongs to him who conceived It. They
are no more the living theme which they
record than the description of a "beauti
ful woman is the woman herself.
Could anything be more blamable, as
a matter of principle, than to take an
artist's composition, reproduce it a thou
sandfold on machines and deny him all
participation In the largo financial re
turns, by hiding back of the diaphanous
pretense that in the guise of a disk or
roll his composition is not his property?
Do they not realize that it the accred
ited composers, who have come into vogue
by reason of merit and labor, are refused
a Just reward for their efforts, a condi
tion is almost sure to arise where all in
centive to further creative work Is lack
ing, and compositions will no longer flow
from their pens: or where they will be
compelled to refrain from publishing their
compositions at all, and control them in
manuscript? "What, then, of the playing
and talking machine?
tlement to a tribunal consisting of mem.
bers of citizens and Justices of the Su
preme Court. When the struggle was
ended there was some discussion in the
newspapers as to who had proffered the
mode of settlement adopted. Some said
It was Edmonds, some that it was New
ton and some that it was others, where
upon The Star came out in an editorial
and stated that I had originated the idea
of a commission such as was afterwards
substantially adopted by Congress. While
the Democrats were bound by the de
cision of the commission they still in
sisted that the returns upon which It
acted were false and fraudulent, and a
committee was appointed by the House
to make an Investigation, which was
made, with a result that sickened and
mado sorrowful those who had moved
In the matter. Numerous cipher tele
grams came Into the hands of this com
mittee showing one of the boldest and
most flagrant attempts by Democratlo
politicians to corrupt the elective fran
chise ever made in this country. Mr.
Manton Marble, an active supporter of
Mr. Tilden, telegraphed from Florida to
a Mr. Pelton in New York for J'JOO.OOO,
saying that he could get the electoral
vote of that state for that amount, but
Pelton demurred to the amount. Marble
then telegraphed hfm that he could get
one electtor for JE0.0OO, but Pelton was
unwilling to pay this until after the vote
had been actually cast for Tilden. One
Weed, a Democratic employe, went to
South Carolina and telegraphed from
there that the board demanded J73,ono for
giving to Tilden two or three of the
electors and afterwards telegraphed Hav
emayer that it looked as though he could
secure the whole seven votes of the state
for J73.000. Subsequently he sent a tele
gram in these words: "Majority of board
have been secured. Cost Is tsb.OnO. One
parcel to be Sent of it)5.0on, one of llO.ono,
j una ui mi to pe in ow or J'JUU DM1R.
roies 10 De acceptea ss parties accept
and give up. Votes of South Carolina
being given to Tilden's friends. Do this
at once and have cash ready to reach
Baltimore Sunday night." But the cash
was not forthcoming.
Many Oregonians will remember what
took place In this state. One J. A. II.
Patrick came to Oregon, and after his
arrival telegraphed Mr. Pat-ton that Gov
ernor Grover could issue a certificate
to Cronin and then said: "Must pur
chase Republican elector to recognize
act with the Democrat and secure vote
to prevent trouble. Deposit $10,000 to my
credit." The difficulty about these ar
rangements seems to have been that
those handling the funds were unwill
ing to pay the proposed) bribe - to an
elector until after the vote was cast
and the election of Tilden secured. I
have adverted to these facts, not to re
open an unpleasant controversy, but to
show, to say the least of it. that it is
not in good taste for the kettle to com
plain of the pot because It Is black. I
will say in conclusion that I believe
Mr. Tilden was a clean man, and If
elected would have made an able and
honest President, and that these at
tempts t" bribe Republican electors were
made without his knowledge or consent
by a lot of desperate and unscrupulous
politicians who tried to elect him with
money when they found he was not
elected by the people.
GEO. H. WILLIAMS.
Heaven
A disappointed spirit utood
Without the Pearly Oate;
"Why not come In?" Saint Peter asked,
"Why stand outnide and wait?"
"My thank." the ptrlt sadly smiled,
"But if lt' Jut the name.
Could you not bore a knothole through
.And let me watch the same?" -
'' If Only.
If tires didn't rout so much.
If naphtha didn't smell.
If grease was pleaalnr to the touch.
If raindrop- never fell.
If chauffers labored for their health.
If dust would keep afar.
I'd put a trifle of my wealth
Into a motor car.