TILEUSUXDAJT.; OREGQXIAX, .gOJftT XyVXP, v P,ECK3IJBKR; . , 9 . ,1906.
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PORTLAND, SI NIIAY, DECEMBER 9, 1006.
THE PLAIN MAN'
Lincoln whs forever talking about the
' plain people. "God must love them,"
lie said, "because he made so many of
them." Who are these plain people,
praised by the politicians, sung by the
poet;", valued by the philosophers and
ewlndled by the plutocrats? Lincoln
was one of them and the type of all.
.Gentle, ehrewd, patient, humorous;
slow to wrath; careful to do no wrong;
free from malice, abounding in char
Ity, but inflexibly determined to do the
right as he saw it and to' slay injustice
when he found it. The plain man is
he for whom the prayer has been an
swered that he should have neither too
little nor too much. He Is In that mid
dle state which Bacon commended and
lAurelius envied. He has more- than the
crust and cruse which contented Gold
smith's hermit, but he has not enough
to make him unmindful of the common
lot and fill him with greed for all that
he does not possess. The plain man
knows when he hae enough. He gives
his youth to instruction, his manhood
to industry and hia age to repose. He
miingles work and play together, nor
does he let his business harden his
heart. He cares more for his wife
than he does for hlo bank account. He
loves his children better than his stock
and the good will of his neighbors bet
ter than gain. ,
He may Be a trifle plow in his intel
lect, but for that he is none the worse.
It is his security againet the agitator
and the flatterer. The politician at
election time praises him with honeyed
words. The plain man ponders, weighs,
smiles and remains unmoved. The agi
tator assails him with hot indignation,
telling him how he is plundered by the
trusts, robbed by the tariff and poi
soned by his grocer; he listens; but he
does not forget that his pocketbook
retains an ample roundness and that
hit stomach etill works fairly well. The
plain man has common sense. This Is
what keeps him in the middle course
between too much haste to innovate
nd too much patience with Injury. At
plight wrongs he smiles, believing ft not
worth while to wax wroth over them.
Hut there comes a time, if wrong per
sists and increases, when he smiles no
longer. Then let the pirate seek the
caves in the mountains and , the rail
road gambler call upon fhe hills to
cover him, for the day of their doom
Is at hand. '
The plain people made this country
in the beginning and they have saved
It in every crisis of its history. The
"Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock
were substantial citizens in good cir
cumstances. They were possibly a lit
tle severe In their religious views; but
think of their physical fiber, their en
ergy In dealing with the Indians, their
shrewdness as legislators1 and .their
vigor as fighters. They conquered the
wilderness, the Winter and the savage.
Who could have done more? It was
the plain people who fought out the
"War of the Revolution. The aristo
crats of that day were tories. During
the war they helped the enemy and
when it was over they fled to Canada.
Washington belonged to the plain peo
ple; so did Franklin. It was1 the .plain,
men of Virginia who went across the
mountains into Kentucky and those of
Xew England who flocked Into Ohio
and settled the great Weft. It was a
regiment of middle-class Germans who
saved Missouri to the Union when the
Rebellion broke out. The aristocrats of
the etate were all rebels. The Civil
War was originated by an oligarchy of
Aristocrats and the scholars and pluto
crats of the North sympathized with
them and despised Lincoln. It was the
Plain people wno understood him,
backed him ' with their blood . and
treasure and brought the. Nation out of
its dire, peril. It was common, every
day: men from Germany and Norway
who made the commonwealths of Wis
consin and Minnesota, where American
ideas ?lave reached their ripest fruitage
and democracy rules with most abun
dant power and promise. It is the
plain people of Oregon who have as
serted the right of man to rule himself
without Intermediaries or superiors;
who have discarded the fetichistic re
straints and bulwarks that? guard privi
lege, arid, not in form, and phrase mere-'
' Jy, but in tern reality, have made the
1 will of the people the highest law. It
was the plain men of the country who
long ago, when Roosevelt was yet a
child, began the revolt against feudal
ism and rapacious privilege which that
great captain now leads to victorious
achievements; and it was the same men
ho stayed the tide of reform when it
threatened to become revolution under
Bryan, waiting for a wiser leader and a
riper time.
What does the plain man want? He
wants justice. What belongs to an
other he does not desire: What others
have sown he craves not to reap. He
envies nobody. But the fruits of his
own industry he believes that he him
self should enjoy. He demands a fair
opportunity to exert his energy. Hs
believes In the eaual right of all men
to work and to reap' the results of their
work. He believes no more in Indus
trial than in political absolutism. The
doctrine of divine right he has forever
discarded and he claims the privilege of
living and working without a king,
either financial or political. .
Will the plain man get what he
wants? He certainly will. Jt may take
him a long time. He may make mis
takes. But delay will teach him pa
tience and his mistakes will make him
wise. The Ideal government and the
just relations between man and money
are slowly . taking shape In his mind
When the concept has becomedear and
definite he will work it out In practice.
Nobody can stay him. . Nothing can
prevent him. . Will it be a; success?
Judging by what he has done in the
past, it will. Philosophers and states
men have offered solutions - of social
problems which have almost invariably
failed in practice. Those of the plain
man have never failed. Where the hu
man race stands today he has placed
It, , Its future course will be as he di
rects. He has done our fighting; he has
done our thinking. If we ever find the
remedy for the deep-seated wrofrg and
ancient evil of the 'world, tt will be
through the workings of the mind, the
conscience and the heart of the plain
man.
SCANDALOUS MR. SHARP.
We are surprised at Mr. Sharp. The
hideousness of his crime appals us. We
are loath to believe that a creature
wearing the human form divine would
.do such a thing. What has he done?
Listen and learn. Mr. Sharp is a coal
dealer in Salt Lake City; where, as
usual in-this free and enlightened land,
the dealers in fuel are united in the
holy brotherhood of a trust. Mr. Har-
riman, or his servants and agents,
which comes to the same thing, having
that fellow feeling for the Salt Lake
coal trust which makes us all kind,
gave it a reduced rate of 50 cents a
ton.
This concession was given to the
trust, mind, not to the consumers. It
was a sort of royal, gratuity from Mr.
Harriman to his loving friends at the
Mormon capital. And it was given
with the implied understanding . that
the low, miscellaneous herd of coal-
buyers should not profit by it. What
earthly reason has the consumer to ex
pect to participate in the .kingly benev
olence of Mr. Harriman?
But Mr." Sharp thought otherwise.
Being, we surmise, of a somewhat vul
gar disposition, with no becoming sense
of hie duties as a haughty coal dealer.
he advertised in the newspapers that
he would share Mr. Harriman's royal
benefaction with the common herd. He
proclaimed openly, shamelessly, crimi
nally, that he would reduce the price of
coal to the consumer 50 cents a ton.
This was treason. It was worse than
treason. It was an insult to the divine
prerogative of the trusts to plunder
the public. It was an entering wedge
of the most dangerous description.
Suppose every coal pirate should Imi
tate his awful example, what would be
come of the trust? It was an attempt
to pauperize the consumer of coal.
The more the consumer pays the
harder he will work; the more produc
tive he will be; the leas his temptation
to while away his hours in languid in
dolence. Mr. Sharp's -act was a direct
assault upon the incentye to industry'.
jec us De tnanKiui tnat ne was prop
erly punished' for it.
How was he punished? Why, In ac
cordance with the theory of Herbert
Spencer that the punishment should fit
the crime. Mr. .Harriman, through his
agents, simply decreed that the egre
gious Mr. Sharp should have no more
coal to sell. Here we have a case, of
prompt and efficient justice. How
brightly it shines in comparison with
the tedious and dilatory proceedings of
our courts of law. It illustrates the
vast advantages of living under a mon
archy rather than a republican govern
ment. In metimj out justice for this
awful' crime Mr. Harriman should not
forget that the - people of Salt Lake
were accessories to Mr. Sharp's offense.
They ought not to escape punishment.
Without the least thought of dictating
to our industrial monarch, we humbly
suggest that they be -deprived alto
gether of fuel for the rest of the Win
ter. THE INDIGENT CONSl'MTTIVE.
A subject that is ever with us and
that appeals strongly to publio sympa
thy is the Indigent consumptive wait
ing for release from suffering that can
only come by death. Sympathy that is
felt for people in this most pathetic
stress is sincere An its way, but unfor
tunately that way does not lead to the
financial assistance that must come if
the comforts of life, even in their sim
plest form such comforts as are nec
essary to insure the small measure of
relief that is possitoie to the patient
is to be given.
It needs no argument to' show that
the poorhouse and the- county hospital
are not equipped for the care of per
sons suffering from consumption. The
Open-Air Sanitarium is performing
commendable and valuable service in
this line, but it is an institution as yet
without state aid or endowment, and
its expenses must be met from the fees
paid by patients. The fee for each in
dividual has been placed at the mini
mum of $10 a week a charge that is
very reasonable in consideration of the
care, attention and expensive food
given, but one which shuts the money
less away from its benefits. It is for
this class for whom appeal hae now
and ethen been made through the col
umns of The Oregonian, ' and through
the charitable' endeavor of the pitying.
There has been for some time a small
sum kept by charitable persons in re
serve for disbursement in cases that
appeal the more urgently for relief.
But a sum that the expense Incident
to the care of one patient at the Open
Air Sanitarium will exhaust in a month
or six weeks is an exceedingly meager
allowance when confronted by a great
need. Various devices are used from
time to time to replenish this" most piti
ful dole so that, like the widow's cruse
of oil, it never becomes utterly depleted-
As an example of this, a , poor
woman, the mother of two children and
utterly destitute, is now-being cared, for
out of this little fund, which is peril
ously near exhaustion. To replenish it,
or in the hope of so doing, a concert
will soon be given, to which sweet
charity will lend her voice in song and
her touch upon ivory keys, to the end
that the entire proceeds for admission
may be turned over to this fund.
,, An expedient of this kind should not
be necessary to raise funds for the care
of. a most unfortunate and pitifully
deserving class of people. The State of
Oregon is opulent in intelligence, . in
sympathy and in material resources.
Thettwo first should combine at the
coming session of the. Legislature to
secure a requisition upon the last that,
applied to the maintenance of the Open
Air Sanitarium, wil be sufficient to
meet the expanses of indigent consump
tives, not only of the class -that seek
its retreat in time to be restored by its
methods to health, but for the hopeless
class of patients who pnly wait death.
A great commonwealth occupying the
front rank in Western civilization can
not afford to turn, a deaf ear to this call
of humanity. The story of an indigent
consumptive wearing away the last
months of life in the common alms
house, occupying the. same room with
fellow-sufferers in various stages of
this dreadful' malady; in constant touch
with death in its visible and most piti
ful form, is one whose sorrowful details
can never be written.,: Its slow mis
eries," its silent- wretchedness, broken
only-. by the hollow cough that pulses
the aff of. fie living charnel-house day
and. night: the feeble efforts at self
help; the-invalid's, feverish longing for
a change . of diet, are some of the inci
dents that make up this etory. It may
be hoped that the attention of the leg
islators of the state will, at the proper
time, be called to a condition which
invites the repetition of this story of,
suffering, to the end that such relief
as a generous commonwealth may give
will be provided for the indigent con
sumptives.
OTHER "JCST-AS-GOOD! REGIONS.
The ."just-as-good" rivalry oT apple
districts in Oregon toward Hood River,
whose fame has stirred the emulation
of neighbor regions, is not contained
wholly within the Beaver. State. The
State of Washington has several fa
mous apple regions, one of them the
Yakima country. The apples of Yak
ima belong to the "just-as-good" class,
like those of Willamette Valley and
Rogue River. Their flavor, beauty and
hardiness put them in the very first
chtse.
The Pacific Northwest region is es
pecially favored for apple culture. Ore
gon and Washington, and also Idaho,
possess apple advantages of varying
character, but essentially similar. It
was an exhibit of Yakima apples in a
store in Salem that gave impetus to
the rivalry in Oregon, through a desire
to show something "just as good" from
the Willamette "Valley, many of whosa
growers encountered the rival claims of
Hood River - producers, in declaring
high merits of Willamette Valley fruit.
The Yakima County Fruitgrowers
Union is an organization energetic and
enterprising. Samples of its Spits-en-
bergs and Roman Beauties, received by
this paper, are proof of the high merit
of its apples. The conditions of climate
and soil, that give Oregon apples their,
excellence, are not confined to the Ore
gon State; they spread over the Oregon
country, including Washington.,
WHERE RAILROADS ARE NOT TO
BLAME.
The congestion of freight in the Port
land terminal yards, "Of which com
plaint Is made, should not be necessary.
With a car shortage on every line;
with urgent demands for moving
freight of every description, there are
over 1000 care standing idle in the
yards, while hundreds of others' await
their turn ,to be unloaded."
Consignees are charged with the re
sponsibility foi a congestion which
threatens1 to be a freight blockade un
less soon relieved. Active and adequate
measures should be taken to relieve
this feature of the car shortage. Con
signees should be allowed reasonable
time, and no more, in which to transfer
freight from cars to warehouses. It
has become a habit to blame railroad
companies for "the aggravations of
traffic of whatever nature, but here,
it seems, the blame is due to con
signees, who are not ready to take the
goods, or for some reason of their own,
at the warehouse end of the transfer,
prefer to take the merchandise from
the cars only as it is needed. Long
headed traffic men should be equal to
this 'situation, and it may be hoped
they will arise promptly to meet it.
PCNISHMJCNT IN SCHOOL.
The acquittal of the County Superin
tendent of Klamath County, after trial
upofri a charge of assault and battery
committed upon a boy attending the
school conducted by the Superintend
ent, is in accordance with the usual
outcome of eases of that .kind. The
facts are not fully related in the news
reports, but it is likely that the circum
stances were pretty much the same as
in a multitude of cases that are within
the recollection of every person who
ever attended a public school. A boy
was disobedient and persisted in wrong
doing. Perhaps his acts were not
grossly evil. Quite likely there was no
single act of insubordination which in
itself would seem to justify -the severe
application of the rod. Nevertheless
the continued defiance of authority and
the unceasing exhibition of a lawbreak-
ing spirit made his conduct extremely
injurious lo the government of the
school. Neither reason nor persuasion
could have" any effect. "Determined to
fufill his duty of maintaining good or
der so that obedient and industrious
pupils could receive that benefit from
the school to which they were entitled.
the teacher finally resorted to the rod.
Possibly the rod was applted more
vigorously- than absolutely necessary,
and perhaps with more severity ' than
the teacher himself intended. Just as
likely the punishment was less than
really deserved. The severity of the
punishment is not the question in such
cases, however, for certain classes of
parents are imbued with the idea that
their children must not be whipped and
they rush oft to court and swear out
a warrant for the arrest of the teacher
as soon as they learn of the castigation.
of a child.. The assault and battery is
easily proven and it remains for the
teacher to prove that the act was jus
tifiable. Fortunately, cases of this kind are
usually tried by-a jury, composed of
men who have attended public schools
themselves and some of Vhom have
children in school. They -know how
some schoolboys behave and how ag
gravating they can be if they try. They
know that teachers do not whip pupils
for- the fun of it. nor for personal re
venge. They know that there are some
children who will not yield to .reason
or persuasion, or any of the milder
forms of punishment, and that under
certain circumstances the sparing of
the rod is not only the spoiling of the
child, but the spoiling- of the school. It
is very rare, therefore, that a jury con
victs a schoolteacher; the exceptional
cases being those in which the teacher
is" grossly lacking in judgment or is
possessed of an ungovernable temper.
It is doubtless true that in some in
stances the infliction of cof-poral pun
ishment Is unnecessary and unwise, but
these cases are the exception ana not
the rule. Child nature has not yet been
so transformed as to warrant the re
versal of Solomon's proverb concerning
the use of the rod.
MRS. EDDY'S PHILOSOPHY.
Some pf Mrs. Eddy's remarks in her
extraordinary letter to the Independent
we do not pretend to understand. They
are beyond us, and one may well con
ceive that they are beyond, most earth
ly intelligences and 'will only become
clear when on the' evergreen shore we
cease to see though a glass darkly
and all the mysteries are unveiled. The
sentence, "This hour, is molten In the
furnace .of soul," for example, un
doubtedly means something, but what
it is we .defy any mere terrestrial in
telligence to say. Still, in this respect
Mrs. Eddy differs not at all from other
.gerat religious, or Inspired, writers. In
the Koran, for example, there are many
passages which have exercised the in
genuity of the devout for many centu
ries without result; while everybody
knows how vainly the most gifted theo
logians have labored to unravel the ob
scurities of our Scriptures. It seems
to be a characteristic, perhaps a neces
sary characteristic, of those who found
new religions, that they cannot express
themselves clearly. This difficulty may
aTise either ' from the fact that their
thought is too weighty for the vehicle
of language, or that it is too thin and
shifty to be caught in the net of words.
Which it. is each, person will decide for
himself according to his prejudices.
Obscure as Mrs. Eddy's language may
be, there Is much to say for the meta
physics which underlie her creed. She
holds with the idealistic monists' who
believe that thought and reality are
identical. It is a mistake to say that
Mrs. Eddy denies the existence of mat
ter. Her genuine belief is that what
we commonly call matter is an illusion.
Of course the appearance to which we
give the name "matter" may be decep
tive. . Many appearances are deceptive,
and this may be one of that kind. It
is usual to say that matter, let us take
a gold eagle, to be specific, has both
subrTtance and qualities. The substance
of the gold eagle is what would be left
if we could annihilate all its qualities,
.such as the yellow color, the round
'shape, the weight, the solidity, and so
on. Of course we cannot see this sub
stance. We see nothing but the color
and those gradations of light and shade
which we interpret as shape and size.
This everybo'dy admits. Neither can
we feel substance. We feel only the
solidity, shape and size, which are qual
ities, not substance. We may go on in
this way and remind the reader that
the substance of the gold eagle, what
ever it may be, is something which
eludes the senses altogether. It is the
qualities alone which appeal to the.
senses." . . . . - .
One might even go farther and say
that, without" Benses to perceive them,
the qualities of the gld eagle would not
exist at all. Nothing-- would ,be left of
it but ita substance, 'whatever that. is.
In the dark there is no color, nor.does
color exist for a blind mai,; If we' vere
all blind there would, be no such 'word
as "color", in any language, nor, vSonld
there be any Idea1 to. correspond to the
word, rlor any reality to. col-respond, to
the idea.- .To" speak in the dialect of
metaphysics, color, exists only in the
mind of the thinking subject.. It is a
.mere interpretation of a form of
thought. Take the quality of weight
again. "It is a variable, fantastic thing
which has no objective reality. Our
gold eagle has not the same weight at
any two places on the earth. On the
planet Mars It would weigh only one-;
quarter of what it does here, and, could
we' carry it very far away into space
remote from any star or planet, it
would have no measurable weight. Still,
our coin would remaiu a gold eagle
just the same after it had lost both its
color and its weight: 0ur going blind
would not make the coin any different
from what it is now; neither would the
Journey Into remote 6pace alter it in the
le'aet. If the coin would remain exact
ly the same as it now'Js, though it
should lose both weight "and color, it
follows that these qualities are not in
any way connected with it, but exist
wholly In the mind. We may argue In
the same manner about all the other
qualities' of the gold eagle and .show
that the annihilation of them all would
not change It in any respect whatever.
We must admit, therefore, that the
gold coin, as an external object, a thing
outside of the mind, is not composed of
qualities and substance. The qualities
cannot possibly be outside the mind.
They are within it. Hence they belong
to the mind, and not to fhe coin. We
must conclude, then, that the coin itself
has only substance. Now, what is this
substance? It is what the great phil
osopher, Kant, called the "Ding an
Sich." It is something that we cannot
see, hear, smell or feel. It is qualities
alone that the senses perceive, whereas
substance remains after all the qualities
have been destroyed. What i:it, then?
What do we know about it? What can
we know, about it? Nothing; absolute
ly nothing. If it had size, we could
know how big it was; but it has no
size. Neither has it shape, color, weight
or solidjty. It has nothing to which we
can give a name or which we can con
ceive. So far as we are concerned, sub
stance stands exactly as if it did not
exist. It does not exist within the
mind, and, so far as we can ever know,
it does nof exist without the mind. It
is a chimera, a dream, an illusion. The
only realities pertaining to our gold
eagle are its qualities and these quali
ties we have shown to be thoughts
Mrs. Eddy has , some show of right,
then, when she says that matter is
thought.
Matter being neither more nor less
than thought, what is disease?
Thoughts are the activity of the mind
and they cohere in groups. One group
we call a gold coin; another we call
the human body. Now, having formed
a coherent group of thoughts, say the
body, the mind may go on and direct
its future activity so as to maintain
that group; or it may act so as to de
stroy it. If the mind acts so a to
maintain the group called the body, we
say that the individual has health. If
the mind acts so as to break up or de
stroy it, we say he has disease. . Dis
ease, therefore, resides in the mind.
This Is the train of reasoning which
Chrlstfan Science bases its doctrine of
healing upon. We do not say the rea
soning is sound. We do not say that it
cannot be refuted.' But it has been be
fore the world for some centuries and it
hae never yet been refuted. It does not
follow, of course, that It never can be,
but clearly the task has Its difficulties.
WTiy do not come of those men attempt
It. who. now try so hard to annihilate
Christian Science by ridicule?
. One or the first Joint committees of
the Legislature at its coming session
should -be a committee to investigate
and report a revision of the laws of
criminal procedure, with a view to pro
moting the administration of' justice.
Too many criminals have been escaping
punishment by' resort' to technicalities
which do not go to the merits of their
cases. Irregularities in the trial court
should not result 'in new trials unless
the errors were prejudicial and not
cured. In appeals in capital cases the
entire record should be taken to the
Supreme Court, so that the court may
view the case as a whole and ascertain
whether the defendant has had a fair
trial. Nothing can be more injurious to
our judicial system . than to have a
judge say, as an appellate judge said
recently, .in New York, that he was
satisfied of the guilt of the defendant
but must dismiss the criminal because
of error in the court below. When such
things can be said there is manifestly, a
serious flaw in our law of criminal pro
cedure. There is need of revision of
some of the Oregon statutes, but the.
work should be done cautiously and
carefully, so that the amendments
themselves shall not afford loopholes
through which criminals may escape. '
- . i
Mark Twain ,1s hardly, a competent
witness for the authors' side in copy
right law reform. To few men is given
the long lease of strength and virility
which shall enable them actively to
pursue their literary' career years after
the copyright on their early work has
expired. We think the genial' old man
errs when he says that publishers reap
the sole benefit of books not protected,
by copyright, statutes. If they had a time
limit of 100 yea,rs, could clearly printed
copies of Thackeray, Dickens, George
Eliot, Hawthorne and Poe be bought
for 25 cents? In these days of mechan
ical ingenuity, when you can start a
ton of paper, strawboard and muslin at
one end of a machine and take out
bound volumes at the other end, a man
with $100 can buy more standard works
than he can read and digest during the
remainder of his yea.-
From Portland market quotations:
Holly, 60 to 7cents a pound, scarce;
mistletoe, 10 cents, in plentiful supply.
Verily, we live In an age of commer
cialism;' still there remains in the heart
of youth some little sentiment, "else
this parasite of the oak would have no
more cash value than potato vines.
Compared with other Oregon products,
mistletoe is too cheap. If the commis
sion men had only thought to organize
a trust after the pattern of dealers in
fuel, there Is no reason why the retail
price of the kissing symbol couldn't be
boosted to 20 cents. a pound regular or
three pounds for four bits on bargain
Fridays. Some one has overlooked an
opportunity. . .
The burning of a - fraternity house
upon the Cornell University campus
has caused widespread consternation.
It was surprising, all circumstances
considered, that the death list was so
small, though it was large enough to
bring sorrow to many hearts and blight
many fond hopes. The delay in giving
the fire alarm . and the. added delay
In getting water are inexplicable fea
tures of the. disaster. The fraternity
spirit disclosed by the misfortune was
most devoted and admirable, members
seeking to "rese'ue fellow-members re
gardless of danger to their own lives.
This spirit of comradeship was a nota
ble feature of a great college disaster.
A worthy effort and one that makes
practical demonstration of the' Christ
mas spirit is that which Is being made
by citizens of. Oregon City to raise a
fund for the benefit of Mrs. George
HanJon, widow of -.Night Watchman
Hanlon, who, while in the discharge
of his duty, was murdered by Smith a
few months ago. The worth of a brave
man is acknowledged in this effort to
assist his family.
Few Americans in private life, taking
a seat in the gallery of Congress, could
unconsciously stop proceedings in that
body as did Mark Twain last Friday.
National affairs stopped moving long
enough -for the distinguished humorist
to feel the warmth of hie country's af
fection. The news Item the other day to the
effect that coffee was very weak had
no reference to hotels and boarding
houses In this city. It was merely giv
ing details of the condition of the pro
vision market in the East.
Since the retail meat dealers' asso
ciation has determined to blacklist cus
tomers who are slow pay, we will all
not only have to pay the present high
prices for meat, but we will have to
pay them quickly.
"Good butter, 40 cents a roll," quotes
the Woodburn Independent, which is
about a cent a mile difference between
the railroad junction and the metropolis.-
It cannot be charged to the car
shortage, either.
Taking an ex parte statement at its
full face value, Portland jobbers who
use .half-empty freighd-ear for ware
house, purposes are not entirely blame
less for the shortage in rolling stock.
Before the Crown Prince, of Servia
had wholly succumbed to a chorus girl
King Peter banished her. This is not a
hint for action at Washington and
Cambridge, and yet It might be. -
' Judging solely by the absence of reT
turns. Dr. Large, ex-officlo chief of the
Washington County Home-Producers'
Association, seems to be enjoying a
well-earned holiday vacation.
When New Yorkers read that Stand
ard Oil has been "cinching" the Metro
politan Gae Company they will have
about as much sympathy for the under
dog as the upper dog. '
Colossal thieves of Utah and. Wyo
ming may find comradeship among
their kind in Oregon. The mills of
Uncle Sam grind slow, but the grist of
1906 is not small.
Several cigar men in Portland adver
tise themselves - as being "the largest
cigar dealers in the world," and they
don't any of them look very big, either.
Possibly in time a great genius will
discover some usefor dull and discard
ed safety-razor blades.
. "Trial marriages!" said the late Mrs.
Castellane. "Just watch me."
CURRENT COMMENT
, . ON OREGON TOPICS
Policy of tie Proposed Irrigation Code Teachers' Wages and Length of
School Year Wood in Public Bnildings Inefficiency of
Legislative Investigating Committees.
THE new Irrigation code, the final
draft of which was made by a
committee of irrigation enthusiasts
at a meeting in Portlad last week, was
formed in the' main by the grouping of
the best portions of the irrigation. laws
of other states. Some changes in lan
guage were introduced in order to adapt
the laws of other states to the needs of
Oregon, but In the general nature and
purpose of the code It is not a departure
from the trend of legislation elsewhere.
The basic idea of the proposed law is that
all water belongs tothe public and the
right of the individual is merely to the
use of it. This principle being estab
lished. It follows that the beneficial use
shall be the measure of the right to the
use of water and that use alone,- without
specific authority from the state, shall
in no wise establish a right. The doc
trine of appropriation to the beneficial
use is not new, even in this state, but the
purpose in declaring the law n this
subject in the statutes as well as in court
decisions, is to form the basis for state
control of the use of water with a view
to preventing waste and determining
where there are surplus waters available
for those who wish to engager in irriga
tion farming. The scheme of state con
trol contemplates the division of the state
into three water districts, with a com
missioner in charge of each, who, with
the State Engineer, shall constitute the
Water Commission, and have the power
to appoint Water Masters, who will have
immediate charge of the -distribution of
water. From all 'decisions of the Water
Commission there will be opportunity for
appeal to the courts. One cubic foot of
water per second for each 80 acres is de
clared a maximum quantity to be allowed,
and all streams are to be surveyed and
the existing rights of all water users de
termined and recorded so that title to
the use of water may be as easily ascer
tained as the title to land. It is under
stood that the proposed code does not at
tempt to interfere with any existing vest
ed rights. Where, however, an irrigator
is using twice as much was as he really
needs, and is in reality wasting half of
it. the new law would compel him to
limit his use to. what he can use .bene
ficially. While It is true. -as published in news
dispatches 'the past week, that Oregon
spends less money per capita attendance
upon her public schools than any other
Western State except New Mexico, It
does not follow, as might be supposed,
that this state gives poorer public school
service. To make an accurate compari
son of the standards of public education
is impossible, for no one can say that
this state or that has on the whole more
capable teachers than any other. Not
even the grades of certificates held by
teachers employed will afford a safe basis
for comparison of the educational sys
tem of one state with another, for the
standards of qualification differ. This
much may be said, however, that only
one state in the West surpasses Oregon in
the length of school year. That state is
California. Oregon offers her children
as much schooling as do other states, but
does it for less money. The number of
days in the school year in each of the
Western States, is as follows:
Montana 107
Vv'yomlng 110
Colorado , l."iS
Nw Mexico ' S.",
Arizona . ... 1'J8
I'tah
Nevada u KH
Idaho i Kill
Washington 1-fl
Orpgon l.'iS
California 1UU
Closely related to this subject of cost
of education and the length of the school
year is that of teachers' salaries. Since
Oregon gives as much schooling as
other states and docs it for consider
ably less money, the cuiestion naturally
presents itself, "Where Is the saving?"
Oregon pays her teachers less than does
any other Wester State. Even New Mex
ico, which is below Oregon in the amount
spent per capita for education, surpasses
Oregon in the average saluries paid to
teachers. The latest figures available for
comparison are obtained from the last
report of the United States Commissioner
of Education for the year 1904-5. From
that report it is learned that the aver
age salaries paid to male and female
teachers In "the Western States are as
follows:
Males. Female.
Montana ' i "ii SO $.v.'.4
Wyoming 7;:.K 4.'t.:itl
Colorado 7:1.47 05. 01)
New Mexico K4.77 til. 77
Arizona SI. H5 (i)..".0
ftah 77.4:s 5..l!
Nevada 10:i. 47
Idaho 7.7 "'.. K4
Washington fin.jl 4!" 70
Oregon i4.'S2 4H.t.i
California :. 87.01 U7.1'J
One of the noteworthy features of the
report of Superintendent Jone., of the
Blind School, who made a tour of the
Kast to investigate the needs of a home
for the feeble-minded, is that the build
ings for such an institution should be con
structed of wood. He found that the lat
est practice in the East is to use wood
rather than brick or stone for structures
of the. kind needed for an institute for
the feeble-minded. The prevailing opin
ion Is that public buildings should bo
made of as lasting material as possible,
that being considered the cheapest In the
end. The use of brick, stone or concrete
is also considered best for the construc
tion of public buildings, because they are
noncombustible. Mr. Jones' observations
lead him to recommend, however, that all
the buildings for- the home for the feeble
minded be not more than two stories high
and of moderate size, and that the build
ings be located far enough apart practi
cally to eliminate the danger of a disas
trous fire. This plan being followed,
some of the reasons for the use of brick
are avoided, and the advantages gained
by the use of wood then outweigh those
which commend the use of more costly
material. In the first place., a wooden
building is much the cheaper.' If it be
well constructed, with sills upon a solid,
dry foundation, it will last M years or
more, which Mr. Jones finds is as long as
buildings generally should be used for
public institutions. With new inventions
and discoveries and new Ideas In sani
tation, a building of whatever material
becomes out of date In the time that a
wooden building will last. If changes are
needed, they can be made much more
easily In wooden buildings than In struc
tures of more lasting material. In two
story wooden buildings, with stairways
properly constructed, there is less danger
of loss of life by fire than in larger
buildings of brick. From every stand
pointcost, safety and adaptability to !
the purpose for which usedMr. Jones-
t considers the wooden building preferable.
and supports his recommendation with
figures and facts gathered from the ex
perience of other states.
Ever since the establishment of the
once recognized custom of wearing stats
socks, the public Institutions, like most
large private institutions, have been vic
tims of more or less petty graft, but adop
tion of better methods of management
has reduced this to the minimum. There
has been no direct effort to discover
thefts from the public, if they existed, ex
cept as the Legislatures have appointed
special investigating committees, whose
chief purpose was to furnish employment
to persons who wanted clerkships. Only
one legislative investigating committee in
a quarter of a century lias discovered
anything crooked in management of pub
lic affairs. It is altogether probable that,
if the engineer at the portage road had
not discovered and exposed Cook's graft,
the next Legislature would have adopted
a report showing that his management of
the road had bern perfect. The methods
usually pursued by an investigating com
mittee could not be expected to result
otherwise than in such a report. clerks
employed are very frequently Incompe
tent, and just as frequently careless. A
public servant would be stupid indeed
who would perpetrate a graft that could
be discovered toy such' a checking of ac
counts as an Investigating committee usu
ally conducts. Deeper probing than has
been the custom in the past will be nec
essary if crookedness such as that exist
ing at Celilo Is to be discovered otherwise
than by accident.
As a matter of fact, prior to 1905 there
had been no practicable means of con
ducting an investigation of public insti
tutions. Xo one but grand juries was
charged with the duty or searching for
wrongdoing. But the Legislature of 1S03
appropriated J10.000. to be expended by
the Governor in any way he might deem
best in the detection of crime. Under
that appropriation, the Governor has
power at any time to employ detectives)
secretly to search for evidence of crime
against the state. Within the limits of
the appropriation he has the same power
at his command that the General Govern
mon exercises through the employment of
the special agents who have made trou
ble for violators of Federal laws in Ore
gon In the last year or two. The Gov
ernor is not required to report to any one
the manner in which he expends this 10,
000, for such requirement would to a Iarg
extent hamper him in the work for which
the appropriation is made.
Heretofore If there was wrongdoing in
the public service, no one in particular
could be held accountable for the failure
to detect it. Now that the Legislature
has placed In the hands of the Governor
the means with which to employ a de
tective, that official can be held responsi
ble in some degree for failure to discover
mismanagement of (a serious nature.
Whilo $10,000 is not avery large sum. It is
sufficient to erfiploy several men for a
considerable time, , If necessary, and to
discover evidence it wrong if any exists.
At the time the appropriation was made
there was some question whether this
sum should be placed In the hands of one
man, to be expended without an account
ing, but it was deemed best that this
should be done. No Governor is likely to
spend the money without showing tangi
ble results of some kind.
The state and the United States main
tain different attitudes toward public in
stitutions. The state assumes that public
duties are being honestly , performed un
less there is evidenco to the contrary,
and no special effort Is made to discover
whether the assumption Is well founded.
It is true that a governing board makes a
visit of inspection at state institutions
quite regularly, and the officials are es
corted through the buildings to see that
everything Is clean and neat. The Gov
ernor personally visits the prison every
month and hears whatever complaints
the prisoners have to make. But the
governing officials are well known to the
heads of institutions, and there is little
likelihood of their ever discovering any
thing radically wrong in management.
The United States employs inspectors
who make visits to postofllces and other
Federal i instil utions at irregular times,
sometimes secretly, and they run down
every hint of wrongdoing in the Govern
ment service. For want of available
funds the state has never been able to
make special investigation of public serv
ice, and as a consequence some grafts
have quite likely gone undetected. While
it Is possible. It does not seem probable
that I S. Cook is the only public servant
who has been guilty of graft in the last
20 years.
Kvolutinn of the ;rnndmnf her.
Chicago Record-llcrald.
Oh. where are the grannies of long ago,
The kind that we find In books.
Who loved to sit and knit all day
In the. sheltered Ingle nook?
They wore alwas'K garbed in softest gray.
Wore their hair In soft, little curls.
And had generoua pockets of peppermint
For good little boys and girls:
They read "rilgnin's Progress" and Bax
ter's "Saint's Rest,"
And oh, 'twas variety rare
To don a best cap. and go out to tea.
Or play at two-hand solitaire:
This i-. at leatt, what the storybooks say.
Now where are those grannies of yesterday
All grandmothers now refuse to grow gray
Or old; at the years they raork;
Hair dressed la pompadour , trim figure
hooked '
Into a smart princess frock!
Garbed a la chauttcuce, she runs her own
car.
Young as the, youngest herself.
In fact, matrimony may enare her again.
For grandma won't stay on- the shelf!
Latest French novels and problem plays
serve ' -To
amuse her by day uTitll dinner,'
Then "bridyc" until morning, and at that
gay game
Grandma plays the hand of a winner!
Kow where are the. grannies of yesterday?
Nobody knows; they have vanished to stay!
Language of the Motor-Car.
Carolyn Wells In ISmart Set.
Skidding around a curve: I am nervous.
Whizzing past a pollc-man: Follow me.
Losing control of the machine: I see my
finish.
Backing: I am so s'c.y.
Punctured tire: Wait for me. " '
Increasing speed: I dare all.
Turning a corner and running into another
ear: Tnls is so sudden!
Plunging: I am of an excitable nature.
Turning upside down: I am roguish.
Meeting a dog: I will run over and see you.
Standing still: I am a self-starter.
Coasting: Everything goes.
Squeaking: I have troubles of my. own.
Running into a tree: I am hurt.
Back tiring: You gave mo such a start!
A muddy road: I'm stuck on you.