8
Entre4 at Portland. Oregon Postofrlc
Second-Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION RAXES.
CT INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
(By Mall or Express.)
Dally. Sunday Included, one year...... 18.00
Dally, Sunday Included, alx montha i
Ually, Bun.iay Included, tnree monmi..
IJoily, Sunday Included, one month....
3ally, without Sunday, one year
T?nliy. without Sunday, six months.....
Dally, without Sunday, three montha....
lally. without Sunday, one month. .....
Sunday, one year --
Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday).
bunday and Weekly, one year....
2.25
.75
fl 00
3.25
1.73
.60
2.00
l.BO
8. SO
BY CARRIER.
Dally, Sunday Included, one year
Dally. Sunday Included, one month...
.00
.75
-HOW TO KEMIT Send poitofflca "VneJ
order, express order or personal cnecK ou
your local bank. Slampi, -oln or currency
are at the sender's risk. Give portoBlca ad
dress In rull. Including county and. state.
POSTAGE KATES.
30 to 14 paea
16 to 28 page....
80 to 44 paKea
46 to 60 tiaees -
1 cent
2 centa
S centa
4 centa
Forelg-n Poena ge. double rates.
IMPORTANT The postal laws r "tr'V
' Newspapers on which postage 1 not luliy pre
paid are not forwarded to destination.
EASTERN BUSINESS OITICB.
The S. C. Beckwlth Sllal AKem-y New
Tork. rooms 43-00. Tribune bulldog. Chi
cago, rooms 510-.M2 Tribune building.
KE1T OS SALE,
(hlcairo Auditorium Annex. Poatofflca
News t'o.. 17S Dearborn street.
St. Paul. Minn. N. St. Marie. Commercial
Etation.
Colorado Springs, Colo. Western News
Deover Hamilton & Kendrlck. 009-013
F-venteenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1.14
Fifteenth street; I. Welnsteln; H. P. Han
sen. Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co.,
Nlntii and Walnut.
Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh. DO South
Third. v
Cleveland. O. Jam" Pushaw. SOT Su
perior street.
Atlantic City, N. J. Kit Taylor.
New York City U Jones & Co., Astor
House; Broadway Theater News Stand.
Onkland. Cal. W. H. Johnston. Four
teenth and Franklin streets, N. Wheatley.
Ogden D. L. Boyle; W. G. Kind. 114
25th street.
Oninlia Barkalow Bros.. 1(112 Farnim:
Wagtath Stationery Co., 130S Farnam; 240
boulh Fourteenth.
urrumruto, Cal. Sacramento News Co.,
43V K street.
Suit Ike Salt Lake News' Co.. 77 Weat
Second street South: Kosenfeld & Hansen.
I.os Angeles 11. 12. Amos, manager seven
street wusons.
- Silo Diego B. E. Amos.
Long ISeuc'h, Cal. B. E. Amos.
Paendfua, Cal. A. F. Horning.
San 1-ranclsco Foster & Orear, Ferry
Xe'8 Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand.
Washington, I. C. Kbbltt House, Penn
sylvania avenue.
Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket
Office.
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1006.
X.OOKINO BACKWARD AND 1'ORWARD.
A youth who had come from Puget
Sound, on foot from Olympla to the
Cowlitz River, down the Cowlitz In a
canoe with a couple of Indians, and
from the mouth of the Cowlitz to Port
land on the eteamboat Willamette,
crossed the Willamette River In a skiff,
at the foot of Stark street, on the
morning- of October 4, 1856. Taking the
road on foot for Oregon City, he arrived
there at 11 o'clock; and from Oregon
City pushed on to the southern end of
Clackamas County that afternoon, to a
point near Butte Creek, arriving there
at 6 P. M., thirty-six miles from Port
land. It was a good day's walk, but
for those times only ordinary work.
Last Thursday, October 4, 1906, this
person, after the lapse of fifty years,
again crossed the Willamette River at
Portland, for observation and retro
spect walking over the Morrison-street
bridge.
Portland in 1868 contained about 1800
, Inhabitants. All business was on Front
street. A few residences were estab
lished as far back as Sixth street and
south as far as Jefferson; but through
out the whole district west of First
street no streets or roads had yet been
opened on regular lines, and only paths,
trails and zigzag roads made by wood
men led the way through stumps and
logs and over uneven places, out Into
the forest. The Canyon road had been
opened, but was yet almost Inaccessi
ble from the nascent' city, and most
difficult of passage or travel when
reached. The Barnes or Cornell road
was even more difficult, for It had
sharper turns and steeper places. It
crossed Canyon or Tanner Creek near
the present Multnomah Field, ascended
the hill through the present City Park,
nd further on entered the ravine, upon
which it followed substantially the
track of the present road to the sum
mit. In many places these roads were
so narrow that teams could not pass
each other, and most of the logs had
been cut out at lengths, or widths, that
gave room for only a single vehicle. In
the Winter there was bottomless mud
though the Canyon road was crosslald
with timber a portion of the way. Ko
one who passes over those roads now
can have any idea of the size of the
trees or the density of the forest then.
The logs, undergrowth, ridges and gul
lies, hills, steeps and sharp turns in the
ravines rendered roadmaking a thing
difficult now to comprehend or believe.
On the East Side, after passing the
narrow strip of low land, of which
Union avenue and Grand avenue are
now the limits, there was unbroken
forest then, and till long afterwards.
The original donation claimants were
the only inhabitants. The only house
directly opposite Portland was that of
James B. Stephens. Others who held)
donation .claims were Gideon Tibbetts
end Clinton Kelly. To the north were
the Wheeler and Irving claims, and to
the south the Long claim. East Port
land then had no name as a town.
Years were to elapse before a begin
ning was made of clearing the site.
The road towards Oregon City, after
reaching the high ground, threaded the
darkest and thickest of forests. With
the exception of the small spot on the
West Side that had been partially
cleared though logs and stumps every
where abounded--tho whole site of the
present city was covered with "the con
tinuous woods where rolled the Ore
gon." So dense was the forest, so Im
pervious to the sun, so cool the shades,
that the mudholes In such roads as had
. been opened scarcely dried the Summer
long.
A flatboat was maintained for a ferry
at Stark street, with a skiff that would
carry a single passenger, or two or
three, which was used when there were
no teams to cross. The East Side, as
we now call it, furnished little traffic
for the ferry. Most of it came from
Oregon City and beyond.
The purpose of the youthful traveler
in coming from Puget Sound was to go
to Forest Grove to school. But he first
had occasion.to go to the southern part
of Clackamas County, and afterwards
to Lafayette, In Yamhill. Thence to
Forest Grove. The various stages of
the Journey were made on foot, after
the manner of the time. The baggage
was bo light that it didn't get the Ro
man name of impedimentum. It was a
single small satchel. President Marsh
was the University at Forest Grove,
and Judge Shattuck the Academy.
Both, of course, were men of all work,
not only in school, but at home. Most
students there were not very many
"boarded themselves." A dollar a week
was supposed to be money enough; two
dollars, luxurious" living.
At that time there was no school at
Puget Sound, except a small private
school at Olympla, kept by Rev. George
F. Whltworth, pioneer missionary, who
still lives at Seattle, and not long ago
was at Portland. His school was a
mixed school, in which only primary
instruction was given, for there was no
demand for higher. In Washington the
public school had not begun; in Oregon
it was making here and there its earli
est start.
In that October, fifty yeans ago, the
weather was fine, as now. The early
rains had washed the smoky dust out
of the atmosphere, and the woods were
fresh and clean, untouched yet by frost.
The cheerful spirits of the young and
loneiy traveler, wno was on nis way rrom i
Puget Sound that week, and who was, )
so far as he knows, the only passenger
on the road, put Nature also in her
cheerfulest mood; for whether we find
Nature kind and genial, or harsh and
sour, depends on ourselves. No stream
was an obstacle; for, though there were
no bridges, one had but to strip and
wade or swim, carrying his clothes In a
close pack on his shoulders or pushing
them ahead of him on a float. Some
times, on reaching a small stream, one
would take the trouble to look for a
footlog over which he might pass, but
not often, for the dense undergrowth
along the stream hid everything and it
was often impossible to break through
it. Besides, to wade or to swim waa
nothing. All young fellows took it as
a matter of course. On the Chehalls,
on the Newaukum, on the Cowlitz,
there was no place where you could get
an outlook not even up and down the
sinuous streams, for any distance. The
great trees and dense undergrowth
shut out everything. Here and there a
first settler was beginning his little
clearing. But within a few years these
first ones usually gave the effort up
as hopeless. The clearing could come
only with more powerful agencies that
attended the railroad. At the Cowlitz
Farms was a prairie of some extent,
that had long been occupied by the men
of the Hudson's Bay Company. It was
the only real nucleus of a settlement
between Portland and Olympla though
here and there at long intervals were
scattered habitations. Where the town
of Chehalls now stands a man named
Saunders Hved, at whose house most
travelers stayed over night; and on the
east fork of the Cowlitz, at its Junction
with the main stream, there was a set
tler named Gardiner, who with his son,
a boy of fifteen, lived the life of a her
mit, yet would help on his way, with
fare of hardtack and bacon, and a roof
when it rained, the traveler who
chanced to drop in on him. To the
wayfarers of the Cowlitz trail he was
known as "Old Hardbread." Mighty
good man he was. v
Western Oregon, fifty years ago, was
so fully settled that the most desirable
lands were all taken. The great dona
tion claims of 640 acres, to man and
wife, covered all or nearly all the open
valley lands. The country then was
everything, the towns comparatively
nothing; and Salem, as the center of
agricultural Willamette, was in many
ways a more important town than
Portland; as was proven by the fact
that even at a later date it was able to
get more votes for the state capital
than Portland. Eastern Oregon was of
little consequence then. In fact, the
hostile Indians had driven out of the
"upper country" the few whites who
had tried to fix their homes there. "Vol
unteers of Oregon and Washington
were still in the field in pursuit of the
hostile Indians east of the mountains;
but at Puget Sound and in Southern
Oregon the contest with the Indians
was practically ended. There were no
white settlers yet in Idaho, which. In
deed, was not made a territory until
1863. A considerable trade had, how
ever, grown up between Portland and
the interior, by way of the Columbia
River, which first was interrupted, and
afterwards supported, by the Indian
war. Fifty years ago there was pretty
regular steamboat movement between
Portland and The Dalles, with portage
connection at the Cascades. Between
Portland and the Cascades the steamer
Senorlta, and between the Cascades
and The Dalles the steamer Mary,
three times a week. It took two days
to make the trip, either way, between
Portland and The Dalles; and in The
Oregonian of October 4, 185.6, W. S.
Ladd, agent, gave notice that the price
of freight by these boats from Portland
to The Dalles was $40 a ton, ship meas
urement. The steamer Belle was at
times one of the boats on the route.
On the Willamette the steamer Port
land ran to Oregon City, and the En
terprise from the falls to Corvallis.
The Multnomah ran between Portland
and Astoria, and the Jennie Clark, un
der Captain Ainsworth, between Port
land and Oregon City. The Willam
ette, the boat on which this writer came
from Rainier to Portland, fifty years
ago, had been brought around Cape
Horn, but she was too expensive for
service here and was taken to Califor
nia. Jacob Kamm and George A.
Pease are the only ones of the early
steamboat men who still live here.
Kamm came to take charge of the en
gines of the Lot Whitcomb, built at
Milwaukle, in 1850. She also was taken,
after a while, to San Francisco, as she
was too large for the trade then on our
rivers. E. W. Baughman, still on the
Upper Columbia and Snake Rivers, be
gan his steamboat career as a fireman
on the Whitcomb. Pease, at the age
of 20, began boating on the Willamette
and Columbia in 1850.
But it is not the present intention to
attempt even a sketch of Oregon's
early steamboat history. The purpose
is merely to set down a few facts as
to the state of the country fifty years
ago. Transportation is great part of
the life even of a pioneer country; and
Portland owed its early growth entirely
to its position in relation to navigation
on the one hand, and to accessibility
from the pioneer settlements on the
other.
With the outer world communication
was had chiefly by steamer from San
Francisco. Fifty years ago the steam
ers came usually twice a month. Lat
est news from the East was from one
month to six weeks old. But it was
matter only of mighty Interest that
could fix the attention of a people so
nearly Isolated from the world and de
voted of necessity to the little life
around them. People here hardly cared
who was elected President in 1856. By
1860 somewhat closer touch had been
gained with the world. Oregon then
for the first time was to vote for
President, and the questions of that
year, resulting in the election of
Abraham Lincoln, quickened the atten
tion of all. Even so late as 1860 the en
tire population of Oregon and Wash
ington was but 62,059, more than three
fourths of which was In Oregon. But
those were days of Idyllic life at least
of idyllic memory; for so happy le the
constitution of the human mind that
hardships and privations are little re
membered, or are turned in after years
into precious recollections.
But our pioneers, most of whom had
come from the Middle West, or Upper
Mississippi Valley, and had had much
experience In pioneer life there, used to
say that life here In our pioneer times
never encountered so many difficulties
or privations as'ln the early settlement
of the older states. The reason was
that the great interior country out of
which the States of . Kentucky, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and Missouri were
formed was remote from the seaboard
and almost inaccessible from it. On
the other hand, access to the Oregon
country was had direct from the sea,
and necessaries of many kinds were
obtainable here, soon after the settle
ment began, which the pioneers of the
old West could not obtain at all. Espe
cially after the discovery of gold In
California, and after the rush thither
began, tools, nails, glass and clothing
could be had here. Our women in Ore
gon did not spin and weave in the
households, as our mothers and grand
mothers did in the older states, in their
pioneer time. Certain luxuries soon be
gan to appear here which our pioneers
had not known in the states whence
they came. Much of our food supply
for a good many years came to us by
sea. Flour and beans from Chile and
sugar from Manila were sold at Port
land and Puget Sound, for general con
sumption. There were dried codfish,
barreled pork, Malaga raisins and Eng
lish walnuts. A few had carpets, pos
sessions unknown to the early settlers
of Illinois and Missouri. Attempts to
imitate fashions in dress were not un
known. As soon as wheat and pota
toes could be grown living became easy
and In a sense luxurious; for there was
every kind of game, excellent fish in all
waters, and the small wild fruits in
greatest abundance. Social life was
open, hearty and free. Every house
was open to the comer, whether neigh
bor or stranger. If night overtook you
and you wished to stay, you knew you
would find welcome. You had to ask
no questions. It was a thing of course.
The country lay isolated so long that
it took on a character of Its own. Man
ners, habits, customs, naturally assim
ilated. One year was very like another.
The few who came Into the country
from year to year, from abroad, soon
and naturally fell into the prevail
ing modes of life. Industry was not
6trenuous. Production was carried
scarcely beyond the wants of our own
people, for transportation was lacking,
and accessibility to markets. Of course
the mercantile Interest in such a com
munity, though the leading one, could
not be very great. The foundations of
a few large fortunes were laid, but the
country in general "got ahead" very
little. As the years wore on there came
some local railroad development; but in
the low state of industry then existing
it had little effect. It was not till con
nection was made by rail across the
continent that the new era began.
Even then, for a number of years, the
progress was slow. It has taken time
for the forces to gather that make for
the modern progress. But now they
are in operation, to an extent and with
an energy that the survivors of the
early time never could have expected
to witness. Portland, as a leading cen
ter of this progress, presents wonderful
aspects. No one who saw Portland
fifty years ago, or thirty years ago,
could have Imagined the city would be
or could be what It is today. And now
we see that its growth is but Just fair
ly begun.
Though there are no sighs or regrets
over the transformation, there are
happy recollections of the olden time.
Much of the character that was then
established remains. Wrought into the
newer forces of the later time, it con
tinues an active, efficient and combin
ing energy, bringing the old and the
new into harmony together, modifying
both. It is through such admixture
that best results to society are at
tained; for it gives variety to the life
of a community; affording to the prin
ciple of conservatism and to the prin
ciple of innovation their due influence
and proportions. Jars it will produce;
but within them lies a principle of
progress, from which the best effects
upon the life of a country may be real
ized. "Something different" has long
been the need of Oregon. It is appear
ing, during these recent years, and the
signs of the transformation that has
so long been necessary are due to it.
Older Oregon, however, never will be
submerged. It ought not to be. But it
needs the newer touch of thought and
action, the fruits of which we are now
beginning to see.
One who has taken part in the active
life of the Oregon country, nearly from
Its beginning; who has borne his share
in Its work of almost every descrip
tion; who has known every kind of
labor and made such essay of it as he
could in wide variety of endeavor; who
has pride in the Pacific Northwest,
happy remembrance of Its past and
unbounded confidence In its future
such an one may, It is hoped, be par
doned an enthusiasm about a country
with which nearly his whole life has
been so closely associated, and cleared
of any imputation of vanity, when he
speaks of an experience which in
cludes so much of personal observa
tion and actual history in the progress
of states great already and destined to
ultimates beyond prophetic conception.
MR. PUT.
Most delightful things are rare In pro
portion to their delightfulness. Mr.
Pipp is not. He Is one of the most com
mon figures in American life, though he
needs the art of the skilled playwright
to bring him out in his true beauty. We
pride ourselves in this country upon
our chivalry to women. It has become
a question whether we should not sub
stitute the word "subjection" for chiv
alry. It is said by many observers that
in American civilization the shrill, fem
inine element is too pronounced; that
it makes our public performances too
passionate and our likes and dislikes
too fickle.
It is also said by some that the ultra
conservatism of the American electo
rate Is due to this predominance of
feminism. Women as a class are gov
erned by fashions. What has been must
continue to be until the . fashion
changes; and fashions change, not by
reason, but by imitation. 'Hence, it is
said, reason, argument, have less influ
ence upon' the American public than
upon any other in the world. We al
ways wait for some other country to set
the example before we dare to initiate
an innovation or adopt a reform. Just
as the women waitifor the Paris mil
liners to tell them what they must
wear. For example, we took the re
formed secret ballot from Australia,
and we never thought of adopting cor
rupt practices acts until the English
had set the example.
We seem to be a Nation of Mr. Pipps
so far as our public life goes. Think
of the absurd abolishment of the army
canteen at the dictation of Mrs. Plpp in
the form of certain women's organiza
tions. Think of our inane and spine-
terlsh literature which Is conformed so
assiduously to the taste of Mrs. PippT
who tolerates nothing "blase," to quote
her own elegant French. Every school
master in America is a Mr. Plpp. He
trembles abjectly before the feminine
element In the school and the com
munity. Every Congressman Is a' Mr.
Plpp, and our woman's clubs and soci
eties are Mrs. Pipps magnified to gi
gantic proportions.
Tins SHOULD EDIFY YOr.
The time ought soon to come, and we be
lieve It will com, when In all large cities
the people, without resorting to actual own
ership of street railways, telephone syBtcms,
etc., will take for their own benefit, as pay
for the use of streets and other privileges,
the greater part of the net profits of the
nominal owiwra beyond a fair Interest, on
their Investments. The time Is drawing to a
close when a corporation can pile up mil
lions upon millions of profits from these en
terprises, while the people are burdening
themselves to Improve, streets and parka
Local Plutocrat Organ.
Truly and indeed! But if the time
had come before the first families of
Portland, owners of the local pluto
cratic organ,- had squeezed the fran
chises of Portland for all there was In
them, "piling up millions and millions
of profits on these enterprises, while
the people are burdening themselves
to improve streets and parks," several
great estates here would be less swol
len, plethoric and dropsical than they
are, and the people o Portland would
still be in possession of many millions
of property that were filched from
them. It is edifying to note that the
cheek of the plutocrat organ now is
equal to pretended condemnation of the
sjsstem out of which its proprietors
and sponsors made their great grabs
and large-handed robberies, which
came to light last year.
WHERE BREVITY IS ESSENTIA!
A word to those who write letters to
The Oregonian: Make them shorter.
This is not a command, but friendly
counsel. Because The Oregonian feels
that one of Its functions Is to give pub
licity to that which is in the public
mind, It has encouraged readers to
write their thoughts on all matters of
general interest. A recent plan to
group letters into a department of The
Sunday Oregonian became impractical
by reason of the extreme length to
which correspondents stretched them.
One page could not contain the letters
received in a week.
Only one remedy Is available if cor
respondents expect The Oregonian to
carry their views on timely topics. Let
ters must be kept within reasonable
bounds. Not one - in a hundred that
reaches 1200 words approximately a
column but would be Improved by con
densation into half the space. The Ore
gonian will not take such liberty with
signed articles.
A common fault with correspondents
Is the tendency to cover too much
ground in one letter. If you have more
than one topic, why not write sepa
rately on each thing that is in your
mind? Or suppose you want to offer
two lines of reasoning on the same sub
ject, the whole to take up a column.
Isn't it quite as effective to split the
article one-half to be published a week
later than the first? If what you write
is worth reading, you will not lack
readers.
Continuing its long-established policy
of allowing free use of its columns for
legitimate public discussion. The Ore
gonian welcomes these letters. The
field every day grows broader, earnest
citizens, not only of Portland, but the
entire Pacific Northwest demand- a
hearing; and in order that all may have
access to the forum whose space, is of
necessity limited, be it repeated: Make
your letters shorter.
COURTESY.
The most courteous man of the Eigh
teenth Century was Lord Chesterfield,
of whom Dr. Johnson, his boorish con
temporary, said that he had the man
ners of a dancing master and the mor
als of Delilah. Since Dr. Johnson was
a great lexicographer, the father of all
lexicographers in fact, we must accept
his definition of courtesy as being ac
curate for that primitive time; but since
then it has changed. To call a man
courteous now does not imply that he
has the manners of Mr. Turveydrop. A
man may. Indeed, be the pink of cour
tesy in the modern sense, though his
manners are rough and brutal. Some
of our most courteous dignitaries would
make but a sorry appearance in a
drawing-room. Their manners and
language appear with more congrulty
and grace in saloons. Another histori
cal character famed for his courtesy
was Lord Bacon; but his was of the
species known among the learned as
auto-courtesy, that is, courtesy which
was directed toward himself and Inured
to his own benefit.
A clear understanding of this subject
requires that the reader should know
the distinction between courtesy and
auto-courtesy. A few illustrations will
best fix it in the memory. We have al
ready said that Lord Bacon was famed
for his auto-courtesy, but we do not
need to resort to the dim shades of
English history to find illustrious ex
amples of Its practice. Mr. McCurdy,
late of the New York Life Insurance
Company, was both courteous and
auto-courteous in the strictly modern
sense. We say that he was courteous
because he bestowed courtesies upon all
h.is relations, while ha was auto-courteous
because he also bestowed them
upon himself. A person with a correct
feeling for language would not speak
of Mr. Perkins as an auto-courteous,
but rather as an extremely courteous
man, from the fact that of the money
he took from the Insurance comrJany he
turned over the entire amount to Mr.
Cortelyou. Had he kept it. as Mr.
Stensland did the Milwaukee-Avenue
Bank deposits, we should have- called
him auto-courteous.
Mr. Ryan, on the other hand, is both
courteous and auto-courteous. He is
courteous because he has bestowed a
courtesy of $12,000 per annum on his
friend Mr. Cleveland, and auto-courteous
because he has acquired for his
own benefit and behoof the control of
the $300,000,000 of the Equitable funds.
On the other hand, his bestowal of the
$100,000 salary upon Paul Morton was
an act of courtesy.
Whether courtesy or auto-courtesy la
the more common virtue is matter for
debate. The newspapers make a ter
rible outcry over each act of auto
courtesy which they have to report, and
call It by harsh names, such as theft,
burglary, embezzlement and the like.
Courtesy, too, which is the same in na
ture as auto-courtesy, is decried by the
vulgar, who call it bribery; but the
manners and customs of high society
never were pleasing to the vulgar and
never will be. There are two kinds of
courtesy, voluntary and involuntary.
A man extends involuntary courtesy
to a robber who holds him up and re
ceives his money. Thus, Dr. Morrison
was involuntarily courteous to the hold
up men who took thirty dollars out of
his pocket; while, on the other hand,
the Southern Pacific Railroad extends
voluntary courtesy to the City Council.
The courtesy which the bank at Rainier
extended to the hold-up men was in
voluntary, while the courtesies which
the trusts extend to the Federal Judges
are for the most part voluntary.
Probably the most courteous body of
men in this country are the United
States Senators. Like Mr. Ryan they ,
show both courtesy and auto-courtesy
in the highest degree of perfection.
What could exceed the courtesy of the
Senate to the Express Trust? On the
other hand, what could exceed the auto
courtesy of Mr. Bailey to himself? The
courteous desires of the Senate are of
ten checked by popular clamor. Thus,
think of the touching courtesy it would
extend to the shipping trust if the
newspapers would only keep still about
it. Still, the Senate, and the House,
too, manage in spite of the public to
distribute a fair number of courtesies.
The Steel Trust remembers Congrees
in its prayers every night. The Sugar
and Tobacco Trusts do the same. "For
all the courtesies we have this session
received. Lord, make us truly thank
ful"; such is the blessing which Is rev
erently said at each directors' meeting.
Next to the Senate, the most cour
teous bodies of men in this country are
the plutocratic corporations, particular
ly the railroads. The courtesies of the
railroads are like the blessings of Provi
dence, falling upon the just and the un
just, from Federal Judges down to
County Commissioners and Assessors.
They are almost as abundantly distrib
uted throughout the Nation as Mr. Al
drich's courtesies to the voters of
Rhode Island or those of Mr. Hearst to
the Democratic delegates at Buffalo.
These courtesies are extended by the
railroad trust out of pure benevolence,
with no thought of a return. In be
stowing a pass upon an Assessor or a
Judge, the railroad lawyer always sends
with it a quotation from scripture to
this effect: "When thou docst alms let
not thy left hand know what thy right
hand doeth. The word "alms" here is
the old-fashioned. Biblical term for
courtesy. The Psalmist says of those
who receive such courtesies, that
"Their right hand Is full of bribes," but
David wrote that psalm. It is the 26th,
in his old age, after his perception of
delicate distinctions had become dull.
Of course, the railroad trust expects
no return for Its courtesies, especially
those extended to Assessors and Judges.
If a return were expected the benefac
tions would not be courtesies. Still,
how rude and vulgar it would be for
Judges and Assessors, to say nothing
of Councllmen, to receive courtesies
continually and return none. Should
we not all be ashamed of their boorish
acquisitiveness? The law of the polite
world Is give and take. When a man
receives a courtesy he must return one.
Otherwise he is not likely to get any
more, for the railroad trust is exceed
ingly particular about the rules of etiquette.
COURTS AND MOBS.
It is stated in the New York World
that within the last twenty-five years
4000 persons have been murdered by
mobs in the United States. Most of the
lynchlngs have occurred in the South
ern States, but not all of them, by any
means. Up to 1893 most of the mob
murders were by shooting, but since
that date a gradually increasing pro
portion has been by fire, sometimes
with tortures of fiendish and Incredible
Ingenuity. If these frightful executions
tended to diminish the number of
crimes in the sections where they pre
vail, one might excuse them, though
regretfully. But they have no such ef
fect. The more lynchlngs the more oc
casion for them is the rule. They act
upon the popular imagination In Indi
ana, Texas, South Carolina and other
regions where they take place exactly
as . the old-time barbarities of legal
slaughter did in England. They tend
to suggest and multiply crime rather
than to prevent it. There is something
in these horrible records to confirm the
belief of certain theorists that crime is
a disease, contagious in character,
which ought to be dealt with by meth
ods of medical science rather than by
those of the criminal courts and mobs.
That criminal jurisprudence in Amer
ica has become a lamentable farce is
now one of the commonplaces of cur
rent literature. Judge Amldon, of the
Federal bench, said openly in an ad
dress which was published in the Out
look, that the administration of crim
inal justice has broken down, and other
eminent Jurists, among them Mr. Taft
and Judge Brewer, substantially agree
with him. As to the fact, which he
stated rather boldly for a lawyer. It is
a matter of common knowledge. Amer
icans have almost ceased to look to
their courts of Justice, either In matters
criminal or civil. The law is looked
upon by the people as a Juggler's art.
The results to which It leads depend
wholly upon the skill of the manipu
lators, are subject to no rules of reason
and are obtained by tricks, deceptions
and devices not one whit more respect
able than those of the late Herrman
or any other practitioner of legerde
main. Among the common people it
has become an accepted rule to avoid
the courtsl Nobody expects much from
them except disheartening delay and
exorbitant expense; while, on the other
hand the courts try constantly to make
the approach to their sacred precincts
more and more difficult. Preliminary
fees are from time to time increased,
new methds of circumlocution invent
ed, and new barriers to Justice erected.
The New York statute forbidding a
policy-holder to sue an insurance com
pany is typical.
It is a maxim among Judges that lit
igation ought to be discouraged. They
forget that courts are instituted for the
sake of litigation, which is thought by
the wise to be preferable to neighbor
hood feuds and reciprocal murders. One
reason, if not the principal one, for the
growing contempt for the law and its
administration in this country is the
systematic thrusting of the common
people out of the courts. The impres
sion grows that they are for the settle
ment of quarrels among the rich. It
may be heard anywhere in this country
and every day In the year that it costs
more than a man of moderate means
can afford to have a case tried out in
court, and that while a poor man can
easily be -convicted of crime, it is al
most impossible to convict a rich one.
This widespread opinion is, of course,
only partially Justified by the facts, but
there is reason for it or it would never
have originated.
Judge Amldon stated that the break
down of our criminal administration
had come about from the presumption
that "error implies prejudice." This
somewhat technical proposition means
simply that if the trial Judge permits
a witness to answer an improper or ir
relevant question, no matter how tri
fling, the Superior Court, upon appeal.
will reverse the decision" or order a new
trial, taking it for granted that the
error Injured or "prejudiced" one of the
litigants. In criminal cases it is al
ways the defendant who takes advan
tage of this absurd presumption. The
effect of it has been to make criminal
trials in many instances as meaning
less as a game of tag. Some of the
"errors" are as senselecs as forgetting
to "stand on wood" or to cry "king's
excuse." With other causes this has
contributed to alienate the confidence
of the people from the courts and cultl--vate
our National disposition to disre
gard the law'and Its machinery.
For the evidence is overwhelming
that Americans are not by tempera
ment law-abiding. The breakdown of
our criminal administration is no more
manifest than the failure of govern
ment in our cities. Both are almost
universally admitted. Mobs in the
South punish negroes by lynching;
predatory corporations In the North se
cure privileges by buying votes and
bribing Councllmen. Murders, crimes
of corporations, crimes of politicians,
holocausts in railroad wrecks and mob
executions all grow from the same root.
We have not yet learned as a people
to live under the rule of law. We per
mit the public good to be sacrificed to
the Individual, not only in the case of
criminals, but in almost every other di
rection. "Public welfare" Is a concept
which we have as yet scarcely formed.
But It Is forming; and as our ideas of
the public good become concrete and
definite, our institutions will conform
to them. Our courts are as good and
efficient as we deserve. Their faults are
our National faults, stripped and pil
loried for us all to Jeer at. It is a dis
couraging thing to say, but it is prob
ably true, that the only permanent rem
edy for these and other lamentable de
ficiencies in our civilization is the slow
process of education.
Eureka, Cal., holds firmly to the order
of 1885, which declared that Chinese
would not be allowed to remain In that
city In any capacity. In the uprising
against Chinese labor in that year, so
general on the Pacific Coast, Chinamen
were treated with great violence, and
made to leave the place. Last week
thirty were sent there from Agtorla to
work in a cannery, but, upon being
warned, left without resistance. The
question with owners of the cannery
now le. Who will be found to take
their places? Labor is scarce, a condi
tion that is felt in every department
in the Industrial world, from the low
est to the highest. The problem is not
one of wages, but of workingmen and
women willing to give service for
wages. The problem will work itself
out in the usual way in due time.
Meantime employers must make the
best of the situation,-and capable, will
ing labor will reap its deserved har
vest. Hateful beyond expression is the de
tective's trick of luring a man to break
the law in order to betray and prose
cute him. When this is accomplished
by playing upon his kindly feelings. It
Is a worse crime than any ordinary
breach o'f the statutes. The Antl-Sa-loon
League's detective who begged the
University Park druggist to sell him
liquor for his stomach ache and then
prosecuted his benefactor, committed
one of the vilest acts in the catalogue
of meanness and treachery. No Judge
approves of such trickery. All men of
sound instincts condemn it. Has the
league declared war on human kindli
ness and neighborly confidence, as well
as on King Alcohol?
Nothing is to be gained. The Orego
nian believes, by explanations of the
rainfall in Western Oregon and West
ern Washington, or by aplogles for it.
Our Tainfall is not greater, but leas,
than that of Iowa, Tennessee and many
other states. Which is to say that it is
not too great; and there are as many
sunny days in Oregon and Washington
as in other states of our Union, and
far more equable climate. Our Boards
of Trade and Chambers of Commerce
would do well not to put themselves in
the attitude of apologizing for the best
climate in America.
The NatlonaL Government, if it is
to meet the demands of different sec
tions of the country for river and har
bor and other improvements, must have
more revenue. It can get it only by
more taxes; that Is, by extending the
tariff on Imports to a greater variety
of articles, and by Increasing the ex
cises known as internal taxes. But
there are politicians who make big de
mands for money, yet rail against the
various taxes by which alone It can
be obtained.
The amount of reckless shooting in
some sections Is appalling. It confirms
what is often said of the low value we
set on human life. The strikebreakers
who recently crossed the continent from
New York to San Francisco fired into
the crowds at the stations on the way
precisely like Russian Cossacks.
Watchmen, detectives and guards shoot
as recklessly and foolishly as green
hunters at a moving bush.
Our notions of right and wrong are
strange. A man who kills another pain
lessly by shooting is hanged; one who
spreads a deadly disease like diphthe
ria through a community and causes
the agonized deaths of half a score is
mildly censured. Civilization has a
long and hard road to travel before it
becomes perfect.
Hogs are a dollar a hundred higher
this year than last and we are Im
porting them, too, at the same time
that we are raising poor crops of wheat
on land that would produce fine crops
of vetch for hogfeed.
Harbormaster Biglin got the surprise
of his life when the Executive Board
dismissed him for shooting at the lurk
ing moon. Did the Executive Board
overlook the fact that the man in the
moon shot back?
Late to bed and early to rise is said
to be Speaker Cannon's motto. Those
who hope to attain Cannon's position
in life by staying up late must not for
get the other requirement.
An Illinois woman is suing for a di
vorce because her husband was
ashamed to be seen carrying the baby.
Who wouldn't be ashamed to carry a
baby of ouch a father?
Detective Mears, too, thought he
wasn't getting enough pay from the
city, and collected a few dollars from
outsiders. Why not? Wasn't he a de
tective? Rabbi Wise, of Tennessee, may suc
ceed our own Rabbi Wise. There is a
sentiment in Portland that the supply
of Wises should always equal the demand.
THE PESSIMIST.
Just look at old Senator Piatt;
With his wife he's having a spat.
She's after his mon".
But Frank her step-son
Says: "Nit! You're not the only one.
Scat!"
e
The Oregon clergyman who marrlad a
couple in Vancouver has subjected him
self to possible arrest and fine, because
he violated a law of the State of Wash
ington. He need not worry. He won't
be arrested unless he goes to Vancouver;
and who would want to go to Vancouver,
anyway?
Of course, no one would be unnelghborly
enough'to Insinuate that Seattle has pad
ded its "exposition subscription returns.
The time is rapidly approaching when
the shivering, dusky porter on the Pull
man will warm up the car until It Is 140
degrees in the shade. A law should be
passed compelling Pullman porters to
wear fur overcoats.
The Cincinnati Enquirer Is responsible
for the story of Norbert Welner. Norbert
Is now 11 years of age. He Is an ardent
student of Darwin, Ibsen and Huxley, and
could read at the age of IS months. Quite
recently he easily passed the Harvard en
trance examination, but they wouldn't let
him in, because he was too young. Not
the least astonishing thing about this
youthful sage is his resemblance to Colo
nel Roosevelt. In ten years from now
he will be the logical candidate for Presi
dent to run against Bryan.
If it requires four shots for a police
man to kill a wounded horse, how many
Innocent bystanders would be killed
should he attempt to wing a flying thief?
One of the things that arouses the
mirth of visitors to Portland is our meth
od of naming our streets. On tlio East
Side, for example, we have such streets
as East Twenty-first street, North. It
has been suggested " that we add to this
Willamette Meridian, so that there would
be no doubt as to Its locality. 308 E. 21st
St. N., W. M., would look Imposing aa
well as scientitlc. If we did that, it would
perhaps be well to change the name of one
of our bridges. Years ago, when one
solitary, shaky, wooden structure spanned
the river, we hailed with Joy the comple
tion of another bridge which was built of
metal; and, with a glow of pride, named
It the Steel bridge. Now we have three
steel bridges instead of one. Perhaps we
would seem less like a rural community
if we gave the first a specific name. Tha
"Third Street Bridge" would do.
Everyone has seen the sweet young
thing" who does things by algebra. She
may be seen in action Just after the
thoughtful young man propounds some
such question as this: "If a man's trou
sers cost twice as much as his vest, and
one-half as much as his coat, and ha
owes the tailor 'steen dollars for the
whole suit, how much will he pay for the
vest?"
"That's easy enough," she says lightly,
"I'll do It by algebra."
To do things by algebra requires pencil,
paper and some experience. The first of
these she playfully extracts from the vest
pocket of the thoughtful young man. and
asks him for a piece of paper. This is
forthcoming in the form of an envelope,
the contents of which he first carefully
examines to see that there Is nothing that
she should not read.
"Er er er um," she begins, "why, of
course. Isn't that silly? Let X be tha
value of the vest."
"An X Is too much to pay for a vest,"
objects the funny young man, who has
seen her doing a mathematical stunt be
fore; "the last vest I bought only cost a
V."
"Ten dollars Is a whole lot for a vest,"
she admits after some thought, "perhaps
five la more like o-o-o-a-ah, you mean
thing! If you do that again, I won't
speak to you."
She then gathers her pretty face into
a frown that Is supposed to be condu
cive to mental concentration, and takes)
another start:
"Let X equal the value of the co no,
that's wrong. Let X equal the value of
the vest. If a vest costs to, then a coat
would cost twen you stop your laughing.
Harry Smith, or I will tell Lucy Ham
mond what you said about her front
teeth." i
By this time her back hair needs fixing,
and after a graceful pat or two, she bor
rows another envelope from the thought
ful young man, and goes to work with
unshaken confidence.
"Er-er-er-um," she says ngaln; "oh, yes,
I see! Four X is the value of the coat
Oh, Mary I Did you see that swell Jacket
in Chipman's. I tried it on and It Just
fit beaut-
"You may think you're funny, Harry
Smith, but you don't know who saw you
Saturday night, and I'm not going to tell,
either, unless. Now! I've got it; twice
X Is the value of the vest."
After a futile struggle with an equation
that won't work right, she arrives at the
conclusion that the thoughtful young man
should buy his clothes ready made, and
save all that bother; and that she would
have got it all right if that mean Harry
Smith hadn't laughed.
Anyway, we all like the sweet, youn
thing,
e e
The Foct's Corner.
The only contribution this week consists
of a poem of four verses. It Is mostly
about blue birds.. As previously an
nounced, our regular rates for poultry are
$8 for two birds, or $4 for one bird; other
birds pro rata. The contributor having
sent In only $4, we cannot print the entire
poem:
IT HAS WINGS. H. U. O.
"You poor little defenseless thins".
Said Km to the blue bird.
Hopping; around on the dry ground.
Never saying- a word.
I don't mind telling that Em Is the lady
who wrote the poem. And then:
Away went the bird with a sons
To the top of a tree.
And Em pitied the bird no more,
Por "It has wings," said she!
If Em will tell why she didn't put salt
on Us tail, we will print the rest of the
poem for nothing. M. B. WELLS.
Engineer for English Channel Tunnel.
London Post.
Sir Douglass Fox, who has been com
missioned to prepare plans for the tun
nel under the English Channel, is one of
the great engineers of today. It Is ow
ing to his constructive genius that tha
Cape to Cairo Hallway was built, as well
as the great bridge across the Victoria.
Falls on the Zambesi River.
I
"Colo" Harvey tiovr a Boniface.
Baltimore News.
"Coin" Harvey, whose book was a sen
sation of the free-silver campaigns, is
now president and general manager of
the Monte Ne (Ark.) Clubhouse, Hotel
and Cottage Company. The concern has
a hotel SOS feet long and a capital of
450,000.